The president said he might extend the deadline if progress were made. Trump also has said that a final settlement wont be possible until he meets with Xi, which some analysts said made it less likely that Chinese negotiators would make concessions before then.
The exact origins of the Ainu are a subject of academic debate, but they are thought to have links to three cultures: the ancient Jomon culture that dominated the islands of modern Japan from 1,400 to 300 B.C.; the later Satsumon culture centered on the north of the main island of Honshu and the northern island of Hokkaido; and the Okhotsk culture from Russias far east.
Such options are fraught with uncertainty because there is no clarity on how Pakistan would react, plus the steps may not have any lasting impact on militant attacks. I do not see any significant strategic options on Indias part, said Ajai Sahni, a terrorism expert and executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi. All the government is going to do now is try to engineer some kind of face-saving event.
Pence, a Christian, prayed privately near the remnants of a crematorium at Birkenau and appeared deeply moved as he signed a memorial book. He spent some three hours at the sites and said later he was still struggling to absorb the enormity of what happened there.
By midafternoon, however, Trump was back on board  agreeing to sign the legislation with the caveat that he would also declare a national emergency in an attempt to use existing government funds to pay for wall construction. It was an option that Republican leaders had urged him to avoid but eventually accepted as necessary to escape the corner in which Trump  and his party  were trapped. McConnell promised Trump he would encourage others to support the emergency in a bid to get the president to sign, according to people familiar with the conversations.
The initial subpoenas from Higdons office demanded that county elections boards turn over all voting records and ballots since August 2013 and that the state elections board produce all voter registration records and absentee ballot request forms since January 2010. The subpoena issued to the state Division of Motor Vehicles demanded all voter registration applications submitted since January 2010 through that agency by people born outside the United States, filled out in a language other than English or using any identification, such as a green card, indicating noncitizen status.
The record in these cases provide overwhelming evidence that the administrations goal in adding a citizenship question was to discourage and deter immigrants and communities of color from participating, Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, one of the groups that has challenged the decision, said in a statement. At the end of the day, the census count stands as one of the most critical constitutional functions our federal government performs and this administration has taken extraordinary steps to jeopardize the possibility of achieving a full and fair count.
Warrens plan is different from all of these (and from clearly constitutional proposals like the 70 percent income tax suggested by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez). It seeks to collect 1 percent of the countrys annual gross domestic product from those people with a worth of $50 million or more  not their income but their wealth. Yet if it is treated as a direct tax under Article I (and not construed as an income tax under the 16th Amendment), it would have to be apportioned among the states according to their percentage of the national population. It is not clear how that would work. Clearly, it would make no sense to tax all Californians to collect 12 percent of the wealth taxes for the super-rich. But if the tax is applied to just the super-rich in a given state, other weird problems emerge, since Article I uses the percentage of the national population as a whole. Some states, such as Kansas or Mississippi, may have fewer deep pockets that would have to carry the whole tax for that state. The affluent people there could pay more than their rich counterparts in New York or California. Even states of similar size can have different numbers of highly wealthy individuals  leading to unequal burdens. A tax applied in this way could not be tied to each persons actual wealth level, which is what Warren is seeking.
Trumps bizarre claim that the subject of an investigation has the right to circumscribe the inquiry into his conduct dates back to a July 19, 2017, interview Trump gave to the New York Times. Asked whether a Mueller probe of his finances would be a red line, Trump answered, I would say yeah. He then offered a rambling defense, saying at one point, I dont do business with Russia.
Trump had two years in which Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate  and could not persuade Congress to give him funding for a wall. He decided to make it an issue only after Democrats won the power to say no. The presidents negotiating strategy  pitching tantrums, walking away from the table, venting on Twitter, provoking the longest partial government shutdown in history  was never going to work. You might think he would have learned something about how Washington works by now, but you would be wrong.
As evidence of the regard in which they were held, LaBarre quoted Massachusetts Gov. John Albion Andrews commendation of the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry when it was launched: In this hour of hope for our common country and for themselves; at a time when they hold the destiny of their race in their own grasp; and when its certain emancipation from prejudice, as well as slavery, is in the hands of those now invited to unite in the final blow which will annihilate the rebel power, let no brave and strong man hesitate. One cannot exaggerate the call sounding in the ears of all men, in whose veins flows the blood of Africa, and whose color has been the badge of slavery. It offers the opportunity of years, crowded into an hour.
An economy is only as strong as its workers, and the share of our population in the workforce is shrinking. In fact, one of the main reasons U.S. economic growth is almost universally expected to slow dramatically  despite what you may have heard from Trump tax-cut cheerleaders  in the coming years is precisely this demographic issue.
I dont know what is in the hearts of the two representatives. But I believe that Muslims should be particularly thoughtful when speaking about these issues because anti-Semitism has spread through the Islamic world like a cancer. (Omar and Tlaib are not responsible for this in any way, of course, but they should be aware of this poisonous climate.) In 2014, the Anti-Defamation League did a survey in more than 100 countries of attitudes toward Jews and found that anti-Semitism was twice as common among Muslims than among Christians, and its far more prevalent in the Middle East than the Americas. It has sometimes tragically gone beyond feelings, morphing into terrorist attacks against Jews, even children, in countries such as France.
Apple and Google have both pledged to review the service, as well they should. The companies cannot end Saudi Arabias sexist system. They cannot even end Absher; if they removed the app from their stores, it would continue to exist on its dedicated government website. But Apple and Google can refuse to facilitate state-approved discrimination  just as every company should be reviewing its cooperation with a regime that sponsors murder and torture of journalists and peaceful critics. If Apple and Google said they would withhold the app from Saudi customers until the tracking functionality was removed, a Saudi regime eager to provide the conveniences of digital life to its citizens might comply  and if not, limiting the movement of women would at least become a bit less convenient.
Nigerian militants threaten economy over election: A militant group in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta has threatened to cripple the economy if President Muhammadu Buhari is reelected Saturday. The Niger Delta Avengers  who want their southern area to get a greater share of the oil revenue it produces  said they backed opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar and his vows to devolve more power to the regions. The Niger Delta Avengers were behind a 2016 wave of violence, including attacks on pipelines and other facilities, that helped push Nigeria into recession.
The facility likely to be leased as a processing center was formerly used as a Hoover manufacturing center that closed in 2014, Escobar said. The 478,000-square-foot building sits on 33 acres just off Interstate 10 in western El Paso. The compromise border funding bill announced this week in Washington includes $190 million for a new El Paso processing center, she said, though she said it hasnt been made clear whether that facility would be at the same location that CBP plans to lease.
The women  Ana Suda and Martha Mimi Hernandez  say the May 16, 2018, incident began after the nursing assistants finished work, put their children to bed and went to the gym together. They then decided to pick up milk and eggs at the Town Pump, a store in the small town about 35 miles south of the Canadian border. Thats when they say a border agent approached them and commented on Hernandezs accent, asking where they were born, according to the lawsuit, which the American Civil Liberties Union filed against CBP on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Great Falls, Mont.
OHIO

Man charged in 1992 truck stop slaying

An Arizona man recently indicted in a 1997 Ohio rape case that authorities say links him through DNA to the unsolved slayings of four women at truck stops in Ohio and Illinois has been charged in one of the Ohio killings.

Forty-nine-year-old Samuel Legg III was indicted Thursday in Mahoning County on aggravated murder and other charges for the slaying of 43-year-old Sharon Kedzierski, whose body was found outside Youngstown in 1992.

Legg pleaded not guilty earlier Thursday in Medina County to two rape counts for the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl.

A former long-haul trucker, Legg will be evaluated to determine if hes competent to stand trial. He was extradited to Ohio last month.

 Associated Press

Students sent to hospitals after eating candy: School officials say 21 students from a middle school south of Atlanta have been taken to hospitals after eating candy and snacks on Valentine's Day. Authorities with the city of South Fulton say it appeared that the Sandtown Middle School students experienced shortness of breath and other reactions. Fulton County Schools spokeswoman Susan Romanick said she didn't know what type of candy and snacks were eaten. She said that question is part of an investigation being done by the school system's police department.

 Associated Press
He has raised $89,000 for his campaign, including a $36,000 loan to himself, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Nelson, a retired Air Force sergeant from Herndon who wants to lower state taxes and boost vocational training in schools, raised $20,300. Also on the ballot is Connie Hutchinson, 64, a former Herndon Town Council member who is running as an independent and says she would be a bridge builder in the legislature. She has raised $2,800.
Among that same group who say abortion is a very important issue to them, a slim 52 percent majority say third trimester abortions should be legal if the womans health is at risk while 42 percent say they should not be legal. Among Virginians who say abortion is less important, 72 percent say such abortions should be legal.
Legislators and ERA supporters took turns at the microphone, pointing to the history of their activism on the issue since before the amendment was ratified by Congress in 1971 and sent to the states. Several recalled demonstrating as children; Del. Kathleen J. Murphy (D-Fairfax) said she watched the ERAs 1971 passage from the visitors gallery at the U.S. Capitol. All said that they could not believe they were still working on the ERAs passage 47 years later.
Julian Castro said: What has always attracted me to the Catholic faith is the social-justice aspect of it. And the vision that I articulated for the country [in his announcement speech] is very much in keeping with the social-justice component of the Catholic faith, of caring for the poor, of understanding that everybody counts in our society, of trying to do what all of us can to sacrifice together so that we can lift everybody up.
Little by little, image by image, we are made aware of the lateral agency in Myanmar art  the multiplicity of influences absorbed into the mainstream, novelist Wendy Law-Yone wrote in a review for the Britain-Burma Society website in 2009. And by the time Ranard stands a few Myanmar artists side by side with the likes of Monet, Rembrandt and Van Gogh, the comparisons are not as far-fetched as they might at first seem.
Some of the loudest voices in the discussion so far have been members of the medical marijuana industry, who could profit if the bill is passed, and those who work with the three anti-opioid treatments already approved by the federal government  methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone  who could lose clients if people turn to cannabis to treat withdrawal symptoms.
In the released transcript, Jackson discloses that both the payment and the other investigation were related to the Trump campaign. Investigators asked about the payment while tracking the flow of money to Manafort particularly from vendors associated with the campaign, she said. The judge said Manaforts lies in the other investigation came as he tried to take back information about others that he had proffered to prosecutors as a person who worked at the highest level of the campaign.
Burdett and others from the group had rallied outside of Harriss office in Salisbury, Md., when a congressional staffer offered to meet with them inside, the state prosecutor said. The staffer told the group that recording was not allowed in the office, but Burdett recorded and live-streamed the meeting anyway, court documents state. Maryland law requires that all parties consent to being recorded.
The PUD, Clarke said, would have allowed several tall buildings, which was too much for the neighboring community. With its repeal, the sites zoning will revert to its educational campus designation. That means the density and heights will be less and some open areas will stay, which she said could remain shared space with the community.
Critics of this model say it constitutes a threat to academia. A workforce that can be fired at will is unlikely to pursue research or explore ideas that could ruffle feathers. Transient instructors, rushing from one course to the next, may have little time to counsel students. And too often, adjuncts are sequestered from the rest of the faculty, without a voice at schools that are propped up by their labor.
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At the staff meeting, according to at least three people who were there, Headmaster Thomas K. Every II described the incidents and showed photographs and a short video displaying the damage. The front window of a car in the houses garage had been smashed. There were gaping holes on the exterior walls of the two-story house and shingles had been tossed off the building. No pictures or video were shown of the damage to the cabin, but it was described as complete destruction by one attendee. Windows were shattered, cabinets torn from walls and doors ripped off their frames.
Wala Blegay, staff attorney at the D.C. Nurses Association, said the union and its nurses have for at least several years been urging hospital managers to fortify the nurses stations, such as with plexiglass barriers often used to protect staffers in other hospitals with violent patients. She said they have also requested that at least one security officer be present at all times in each of the hospitals 11 units.
THE DISTRICT

Police seek man who allegedly exposed himself

Authorities said theyre looking for a man who has exposed himself to passersby in parts of Northeast.

One of the incidents happened around 8 a.m. Monday in the 500 block of L Street NE, not far from the H Street corridor. A video surveillance camera showed the man exposing himself in an inappropriate way, according to D.C. police.

Another incident happened around 8 a.m. on Feb. 4 about a block away in the 400 block of L Street NE. In that incident, police said, a man came up to a victim and allegedly exposed himself in an inappropriate way before he fled. The suspect was also recorded by a video surveillance camera.

Police officials said they believe the two incidents are related, and they remain under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call the police at 202-727-9099.

 Dana Hedgpeth

Calif. man charged with setting fire at pizza shop

A 22-year-old man from California has been charged with setting fire last month to curtains at Comet Ping Pong pizza shop in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Northwest, according to federal law enforcement authorities.

Ryan Jaselskis, also known as Ryan Rimas, is charged with maliciously damaging or destroying by means of fire. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey ordered the Northridge, Calif., man detained until a Feb. 19 hearing in U.S. district court. His attorney with the Federal Pubic Defenders office did not respond to an interview request; relatives could not be reached.

While court documents allege Jaselskis set the Jan. 23 fire using lighter fluid, authorities provided no motive. In 2016, Comet Ping Pong was in the national news when it was targeted by a North Carolina man who showed up at the shop with a fully loaded AR-15 military-style rifle and a revolver seeking to investigate a viral Internet rumor known as Pizzagate.

The man, Edgar Maddison Welch, was investigating a false conspiracy theory that linked Hillary Clinton to an alleged child-sex-trafficking ring. Welch pleaded guilty to assault and a federal firearms charge in 2017 and was sentenced to four years in prison.

 Peter Hermann

MARYLAND

3rd man tied to two homicides is charged

A third man has been arrested and charged in connection with a double homicide in White Oak in late January, police said.

Montgomery County police said Andy K. Panton, 20, of an unconfirmed address, is being held without bond after his arrest Monday.

Authorities said two men  Jordan A. Radway, 23, of Laurel, and Christian D. Roberts, of Silver Spring  were fatally shot Jan. 28 after the pair had gone to sell a quarter-pound of marijuana and arranged the sale with one of the suspects.

They were killed execution-style during a $600 marijuana sale, authorities said. The bullets hit the two men when they were inside a car.

Two other men  Dontaye Jamahl Hunt, 18, and Noah Foster Barnett, 18,  have been arrested in connection with the shootings. Hunt was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, and Barnett was charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

 Dana Hedgpeth

VIRGINIA

Pool worker loses suit against rescuers

A man who nearly drowned in a Fairfax pool cannot hold police or a lifeguard responsible for not pulling him out of the water sooner, a federal judge ruled this week.

While suffering a psychotic break at the private pool where he worked three years ago, Mateusz Fijalkowski entered the water and held himself down by grabbing a drain. Police stopped a lifeguard from jumping in for two minutes and 44 seconds, after Fijalkowski had vomited and released all the air from his lungs.

After he was pulled from the water, he was revived with defibrillators and hospitalized for several days.

Fijalkowski sued, arguing that the delay violated his constitutional rights.

Fijalkowski came to the United States from Poland on a summer job program in 2016. He did not know how to swim or speak fluent English. After the pool incident he returned to Poland, having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

 Rachel Weiner
Proper training is crucial because wheelchairs are not typical pieces of luggage. They can weigh hundreds of pounds, cost thousands of dollars, and include delicate, high-tech features such as joysticks, armrests and headrests that can easily get damaged. Plus, wheelchairs often have parts that are custom to suit unique medical needs, such as specially designed cushions or features that allow the chair to tilt and recline. Loaner chairs without customized features might be unwieldy, uncomfortable or, in some cases, medically detrimental to the user.
The Farallones are fierce. Because of savage weather, perilous currents and ragged rocks, the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary estimates that more than 400 shipwrecks might surround the isolated islands. Local Miwok referred to them as the Islands of the Dead, and mariners called them the Devils Teeth. Compounding the sense of danger is the sharks fearsome reputation, which only now is beginning to recover from decades of misperception and demonization.
Throughout a week I spent in Tokyo in late fall, it became clear that the highball is every drink for everybody. In a no-frills ramen joint, I ordered one from a ramshackle jukebox-like machine that also lets you select your noodles and broth and serving size. It was delivered moments later to my seat in a traditional hefty mug, poured from the Suntory apparatus. I ordered them at a pocket-size bar in Golden Gai, a boisterous labyrinthine district where there are supposedly more than 200 bars in the many multistory buildings and alleys behind them. My friend and I found ourselves at one where thin strips of dried fish are served with every drink. It was a comfortable place, the kind where a regular, a friend of the bartender, arrived from a gig with a guitar that he broke out to play Creedence Clearwater Revival and Tom Petty tunes when he learned we were Americans. Within minutes, the young crew turned the moment into a full-blown hootenanny. I ordered highballs at Samboa Bar, a higher-end spot with an old world vibe. The first one opened in Kyoto in 1918. Now there are 14 throughout Japan. Theyre known for iceless versions. The rationale, I learned, is that ice changes the drink as it melts. Without it, its dilution-free. Here is where a bartender in a crisp, white jacket lined up four glasses and poured the ingredients in quick succession. He worked in the Kyoto location for 10 years, he told me, over which time he learned from a much more seasoned bartender how to perfect his pour.
In the past few weeks, Schultz has begged for applause from a bored audience at Purdue University, awakened an army of haters on Twitter who believe hell get President Trump reelected and told a CNN town hall that when it comes to seeing race he was colorblind. (He walked it back in a recent interview at The Washington Post.) Now, as Schultz tours the country behind a newly released memoir (his second) with a coffee pun title (From the Ground Up), he has joined the list of things people love to hate  alongside dating apps, Crocs and Starbucks.
You can find really cheap cabernet sauvignon, and some of it is pretty good. But for the most part, those are generic red wines. To taste cabernets character, it is worth exploring and spending a little more  it neednt be a lot. The cult cabs and first growth Bordeaux are out of reach for us in the 99 percent, but theres plenty left to experience. One of my perennial favorites is the Cousino-Macul Antiguas Reservas from Chiles Maipo Valley. At as low as $15, it provides consistent value, and has a consistent track record for improving over several years.
Conventional wisdom might lead you to the text in the concert program, which will provide a few details about the history of the piece, along with some of its musical features. The year 1809 was a prolific one for Beethoven, it might begin. It might mention Beethovens growing deafness  this was the only one of his five piano concertos he didnt play himself at its premiere, because he couldnt. And it might tell you that the concertos nickname, Emperor, was assigned not by the staunchly republican Beethoven, but by his publisher. According to one, perhaps apocryphal, story, this was because of the cries of Emperor! with which the first-night crowd greeted this masterpiece.
Trained as an art therapist, Cleveland is drawn to fables of duality and rebirth. Her subjects include a selkie, the half-seal half-woman of Scottish lore, and a woman emerging from a dragon. The face of Baba Yaga, the mythic Slavic forest spirit, peers from inside a bears head, and on her dress is attached a tree on which new human souls are germinating. (The souls, which appear in other pieces, as well, look less like fruit than newly hatched yellow chicks.) With an eye to current events, a Black Lives Matter doll is part policeman, part potential target.
The records also demonstrate how Google was able to keep publicly relevant information out of view. Lenoir, N.C., where Google announced in 2007 that it would build a data center, agreed to treat as a trade secret information about energy and water use, the number of workers to be employed by the data center, and the amount of capital the company would invest, according to the documents. The Google subsidiary, Tapaha Dynamics LLC, then moved to exempt such trade secrets from transparency laws that allow citizens to make public information requests. At one point, according to the documents, Lenoirs city attorney instructed city council members not to answer questions about the project during a public hearing.
Adam Smith, who expostulated the theory of the Invisible Hand in The Wealth of Nations in 1776, believed that most business was narrowly focused on reducing costs and improving quality. He wrote of the individual capitalist: He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. And yet, as Smith recognized, there was magic afoot, or as he wrote further of the producer, he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. . . . By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society.
Rome accepted nickel valued at 40k to guarantee 55 million debt.

Rome city hall is the victim of a 55 million scam involving a roll of nickel wire, in a bizarre tale reported by daily Rome newspaper Il Messaggero.

The story dates back to 1997, according to Il Messaggero, when the city expropriated a plot of agricultural land to use as a bus depot. The owners objected and sued the Campidoglio seeking 65 billion lire in compensation - the equivalent of around 35.5 million - a sum granted subsequently by the courts.

The owners of the land cashed in by passing on the credit - for a lower figure - to a Reggio Calabria financier called Giovanni Calabro, known as "Il Marchese".

In 2004 Calabro retrieved the money in full. However in 2011 the supreme court overturned the decision, requiring the financier to pay the sum back to city hall.

Citing financial difficulty, Calabro convinced the city to accept his offer of nickel - which he claimed was valued at 55 million - as a guarantee. The spool of wire, a microscopically thin thread that if unrolled would be almost 200-km in length, was certified by a Swiss company.

However in mid-2018 Italy's finance police allegedly became involved in Rome's nickel affair following an investigation into the collapse of one of Calabro's companies in Veneto in northern Italy.

Investigators discovered that the "Marchese" had succeeded in selling his Veneto creditors nickel which he claimed was valued at 15 million when in fact it was only worth about 20,000.

The news triggered alarm bells in Rome where Calabro's 55 million nickel was found to be worth just 40,000.

According to Il Messaggero, the Campidoglio has attempted to auction the nickel on six occasions - each time unsuccessfully. It has also spent 200,000 to date in protecting its treasure, not to mention recently renewing the security contract until 2021, valued at 57,000.

Il Messaggero reports that the city is now undertaking "every possible initiative" to recover the debt.

Photo Il Messaggero
25th Bond film to begin filming in April in Italy's European Capital of Culture.

Part of the new James Bond movie will be filmed in Matera, currently European Capital of Culture, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata.

Shooting for the new Bond film is scheduled to begin in Matera on 6 April, with a release date in early 2020.

Locations indentified for filming include the city's historic centre as well as its ancient sassi, the UNESCO-protected cave dwellings.

The movie, which will star Daniel Craig in the lead role for the fifth and final time, will be directed by Cary Fukunaga who takes over the reigns from outgoing Bond director Danny Boyle.

Over the years Bond movies have been filmed in numerous Italian locations including Rome, Siena and Venice as well as Lake Como and Sardinia.

Matera's distinctive landscape has featured in several international productions in the past, including Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, which was partly-filmed there in 2003.
Decatur, IL (62521)

Today

Thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High near 85F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. A few storms may be severe. Low 74F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
WAHOO  Community Action Partnership of Lancaster and Saunders Counties (Community Action) has received a $750,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka.

The grant will allow the agency to expand its Weatherization Program to 100 owner-occupied, low- to moderate-income homes in Saunders and Rural Lancaster counties over the next three years.

This is a great day for Community Action and this community, said Vi See, executive director of Community Action. Having safe, energy efficient housing is synonymous with ones ability to maintain and work toward greater financial well-being. We are thrilled to be able to expand upon our work in this area.

This grant will extend the work of the agencys Weatherization Program, funded by the Nebraska Energy Office, which provides services to increase the energy efficiency of low- to moderate-income homes and decrease utility burdens. Grant funds will not only result in an increased number of homes eligible for weatherization, but also respond to demonstrated need for improvement of housing stock in the area.
Sen. Kirk Watson struggled to impress upon Whitley the horrific lapse in judgment he displayed: If what youre doing is, as you suggest, trying to get the data in the hands of someone who could do something with it in terms of a [voter] maintenance activity, and you werent at least attempting to create the appearance of illegal activity, then theres no reason or explanation for immediately referring 95,000 people to the Office of the Attorney General, as you say, because they have the authority to investigate or prosecute alleged illegal activity in connection with an election.

That, he said, could have waited till you had the verification of numbers.

At another point, Watson asked Whitley if he would be willing to contact the Office of the Attorney General to request it hold off any criminal investigation till the lists are properly vetted by county election officials. Whitleys response: I think thats a reasonable request. Im not sure its appropriate coming from my office because I dont have any investigative authority.

Youre the one who made the referral, Watson said, and blasted it all over the state.

Senators valuing integrity, judgment and transparency will know how to vote on Whitleys confirmation. For voters, its another reason to question last Novembers decisions, including re-electing an ethically compromised attorney general who, rather than showing the discretion appropriate for the states top law enforcement officer, used Whitleys press release to send out a campaign fundraising VOTER FRAUD ALERT. Disgraceful.
It will take courage on the part of debate moderators and panelists to press would-be nominees assembled on the cow-unfriendly, airplane-ending, 100 percent rebuild-of-every-building exercise in massive government coercion (massive or massively being the single most used word in the Green New Deal manifesto), but thats what the media exist to do, right? Not throw underhand softballs at the folks who endorsed this thousand-flowers-of-inanity-blooming spectacle of incoherence. We shall see if they are easily waved off because of AOCs popularity and charisma and a deep-seated reflex to protect the Democrats from the consequences of their own policy choices.
Barbara Walling

Sept. 19, 1938 - Feb. 12, 2019

Barbara Sue (Behringer) Walling, 80, of Axtell, passed away Tuesday February 12, 2019.The funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m., Monday, February 18, at the Bellmead Funeral Home Chapel, with The Rev. Mike Ashcraft officiating. Burial will follow at Axtell Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be from 6 to 8 p.m., Sunday, February 17, at the funeral home.

Barbara was born September 19, 1938, in Waco, to E C and Johnnie (Bettinger) Behringer. She graduated from Waco High School in 1956 and attended Durham Business College. She worked as a secretary for the McLennan Public Schools and Blue Cross Blue Shield. She then worked at Texas Power and Light where she retired after 30 years. She was a dedicated member of The Leroy Church. Barbara loved playing bunko with the gals! She was secretary of the Axtell Cemetery Association and was dedicated in her service to Waco Family Abuse serving as her church's liaison in supporting their ministry.

She was preceded in death by her husband, John I "Jack" Walling, and her parents.
Philip Wright Sherrod, 83, passed away Wednesday, February 13, 2019. A graveside service will be 10:30 a.m., Sunday, February 17, 2019 at Ever Green Memorial Park in Crockett, Texas. A Celebration of Life service will be 3:30 p.m., Sunday, February 17, 2019, at First Baptist Church, Woodville. A visitation with the family will be 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., Friday, February 15, 2019, at First Baptist Church, Woodway.
Former Rosebud Police Chief Quincy Lee was arrested Wednesday after a McLennan County grand jury indicted him on a felony charge of indecency with a child, officials said.

The Texas Rangers submitted the charge the grand jury considered, but the indictment remained sealed at the end of the day Thursday because court officials had not received confirmation Lee is in custody. Details of the allegations behind the charge remain unclear.

Falls County officials said Lee, 40, resigned as chief in Rosebud in August 2017 after a harassment complaint was filed against him that July.

He was arrested in March 2018 on a sexual assault charge in Falls County in an incident alleged to have happened in June 2017. An arrest affidavit Texas Rangers filed in that case states a woman who was on probation reported Lee sexually assaulted her after threatening to revoke her probation if she would not have sex with him.

Lee also turned himself in to Falls County authorities in December on a sexual assault of a child charge.

Lee was in Falls County court for an initial appearance in the sexual assault case when he was arrested on a McLennan County warrant, Falls County Sheriff Ricky Scaman said.
Natural gas is purposely odorized with mercaptan, which gives the gas its rotten egg smell, the lawsuit states. A loss of mercaptan is referred to as odor fade. Odor fade was known to Atmos Energy Corporation to occur when new gas pipe is installed, which is what occurred during the construction of the 117,000 square-foot hospital wing expansion.

Aaron, a Lochridge Priest Inc. employee, was working on logistics scheduling a few feet away from the boiler room when the gas ignited, the suit states. As the distributor and seller of natural gas at the hospital, Atmos failed in its duty to warn workers and the public of the potential of odor fade, leading to the explosion, the suit states.

Aaron spent months in a hospital burn unit after the blast and is still receiving medical care, his attorneys said.

Atmos statement

According to a statement released by Atmos in June and shortly after the explosion, no leaks were found on the companys natural gas system. Testing was conducted and odorant levels in natural gas were found to be in compliance with regulations. The company repeated those findings in a statement Thursday and disowned responsibility for the incident.
Washington, MO (63090)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early. Thunderstorms developing late. A few storms may be severe. Low near 75F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early. Thunderstorms developing late. A few storms may be severe. Low near 75F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
The Independent reported on Tuesday that Downing Street has distanced itself from comments made by Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, in which he outlined plans to send Britain's new aircraft carrier into what the paper described as "disputed waters in the Pacific".

The Defence Secretary had announced that HMS Queen Elizabeth's first mission would take the carrier into a region the paper describes as being one "where China had been involved in an ongoing dispute over navigation rights," and that Secretary Williamson said Britain was ready to use its "hard power".

According to The Independent, Prime Minister Teresa May's official spokesman has since issued a statement saying that the carrier, due to be deployed in 2021, would visit a number of locations around the world, and that the Prime Minister would make any final decisions regarding its route.

"In relation to China, I think we have set out areas where we have concerns  such as around cyber-intrusions against the UK and our allies," the Prime Minister's spokesman was quoted as saying in the report. "But it is also a country with which we have a strong and constructive relationship."

The report by the British paper also quoted Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Jamie Stone, who has questioned the suggestion that the aircraft carrier would be deployed to the Pacific.

"Gavin Williamson is heating up UK defence rhetoric, something which may well be seen as provocation by Beijing. This comes following years of hollowing-out of Britain's military capabilities, with the British Army now at the smallest it has been in decades," he said.

"Rather than flaunting the HMS Queen Elizabeth in the Pacific, the Conservatives should instead be focusing on the pressing issues facing the British armed forces at the moment, including the 15bn shortfall in the MoD's equipment plan over the next decade," said Stone.
A judge admonished a Houston attorney Friday after his office submitted a forged document to the court concerning a court appearance he never made.

Judge Ralph Strother of Wacos 19th State District Court called Chadrick Henderson into his chambers Friday morning and said he admonished him royally over a document Hendersons office filed concerning the courts weekly appearance docket and an alleged meeting with a prosecutor in an attempt to resolve a felony case. No meeting between Henderson and the prosecutor happened that day, as the document indicates.

I made it clear to the attorney that this behavior was not acceptable and was not to be repeated, Strother said.

Henderson blamed the forgery on a legal assistant and said he did not authorize the action, the judge said. Henderson declined comment after the meeting with the judge.

Strother said besides chiding Henderson for the forged document, he told him he has had other problems with Hendersons legal representation of clients and he needs to start handling his business with the court in a more professional manner.
Wings for Christ International in Waco recently presented its first Keith Hull Memorial Scholarship for $5,000 to Texas State Technical College student Whit Palmer.

Palmer, 19, is an aircraft airframe technology and aircraft power plant technology major from Temple. The scholarship is named after Hull, a member of the U.S. Air Force who founded the organization in 1961 in Arizona. Hull moved the organization in 1970 to a spot near Axtell.

This is the first scholarship the group has awarded. The organizations mission is to spiritually and professionally develop aviators to gain pilot hours and fly for mission work to remote areas.

Palmer said the scholarship will help him because a lot of mission organizations discourage workers from having debt.

It means a lot, he said. Ive always liked working with my hands and potentially spreading the good news of the Gospel is eye-opening for me.

Darin Pound, senior pastor at Temple First Church of the Nazarene where Palmer and his family are lifelong members, exposed him to aviation while in high school by taking him flying.
Anderson Fulton, of Crawford, was named to the deans list for the fall semester at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

Texas A&M University-Kingsville released the names of the students who made the deans list for the fall semester. They are Tyler Hennig, of Aquilla; Lane Michna, of Lorena; and Destinee Harris, of Waco.

Jacoby Fortson, a physical education major from Groesbeck, was named to the deans list at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri, for the fall semester.

Applause

Hill College biology instructor Lauri Heintz, and criminal justice program coordinator and instructor Kyle May, were named 2019 honorees of the annual National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Excellence Awards.

Heintz has taught biology of non-majors, anatomy and physiology, and nutrition at Hill College for 13 years.

May has been at Hill College since 2010.

Excellence Award recipients will be celebrated during NISODs annual International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence, May 25-28 in Austin. The annual awards recognize those who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment and contribution to their students and colleagues.

Send submissions to neighborplus@ wacotrib.com.
According to city documents, $3.9 million of the package would cover remediation and demolition of the 301 Events Center building, removal and rerouting of a sewer line, burying of overhead public utility lines, streetscaping around the entire block, upgraded construction materials and professional design costs.

Wacos TIF money is used to incentivize developers to build in downtown and comes from a portion of tax revenue from neighboring properties.

Almost $3 million of the Embassy Suites package is slated for the parking structure, and $450,000 is for the 12-inch diameter waterline.

1 of largest TIF grants

The $7,395,840 package would cover 22.35 percent of the total project cost of about $33 million. It is one of the largest TIF grants ever awarded, approaching the grant for the planned Brazos Promenade riverfront development but falling well short of the $35 million grant for McLane Stadium.

The creativity is really in the leveraging of the Embassy opportunity and bringing additional dollars to the TIF to secure a place in that garage that doesnt take that much more ground of downtown, and also allows the private party to design and construct it on our behalf, Ford said.
The Heart Of Texas Airshow is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 6 and 7 at the Texas State Technical College Airport, 3801 Campus Drive.

Ticket costs range from $15 to $25.

The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds return to Waco for the show, and the all-new F-35 Lighning II demo team will take part. The US Army Special Operations Black Daggers Parachute Team who will open the show and then jump in combat gear later on in the event.

For more information, call 303-862-2869.

Camp registration

Waco Childrens Theatre will have its annual summer camp in June.

The first opportunity to register for the camp will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Lee Lockwood Auditorium, 2801 W. Waco Drive. This will be the best way to secure a spot for this summer.

For more information, call Linda Haskett at 776-0707.

Fish dinner

The Waco Community Choir is sponsoring a fish dinner from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Estella Maxey clubhouse, 1809 J.J. Flewellen Road.

A dinner of fish, fries, salad or cole slaw, dessert and drink costs $10 each.
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It's the one year anniversary of the Parkland, Florida school shooting. On Thursday, supporters of the Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America group honored the 17 lives lost, with a vigil in Huntsville.

The organization came to the Lowell Arts Center where a newly-built statue stands in remembrance.

After the shooting, many people wanted to change the laws for gun control. Now, some people say they are not as concerned with the guns, but instead for safety.

"The gun is tool, that's all it is. I don't like to mow my lawn, but I got a lawn mower. Just because you don't want it, doesn't mean you shouldn't have one to protect your family," said a National Rifle Association instructor, Noell Bishop.

Bishop is a former drug enforcement agent who believes more people should have and carry a handgun. He said knowing how to handle, disarm and properly use a gun should always come first.

"Just because you have a concealed carry permit, the other side of it is, you've got to know the laws," said Bishop.

A father of three, Alex Vardaman, feels the same way.

"I don't think the problem is gun control. It's a problem with the heart," he said.

He said certain people don't need access to weapons like properly armed citizens do. When asked how he feels about the recent mass shootings, he said it's painful to think about.

"It just hurts my heart to even fathom how people select individuals and select few," Vardaman said.

The Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America group wants stricter gun control laws, not only for the children in schools, but to also have safe places in open areas, like community centers and churches.

Alabama lawmakers are currently trying to get rid of the concealed carry permit. If this happens, people won't need a permit to have a gun.
On Thursday, the Hollywood Police Department issued a warning on Facebook of a possible "driveway paving scam."

A report was received of a man driving a green truck with the name "Black Diamond" on the side. Police say he claimed to have leftover materials from a job "down the road" and offered to pave a victim's driveway for a small amount.

Police say the suspect is from out of town and can't produce a business license. Once the work was done, the charge was increased by the thousands. If anyone sees the truck in the Hollywood area, they are asked to notify police at 256-259-1295.

When looking for work to be done, the department says people should remember to ask questions and ask for references and proof of licenses. If in doubt, police say to call the town hall at 256-259-4845.
The State Fire Marshal says a historic house in Florence was intentionally set on fire, and the hunt is on for an arsonist.

The Larimore Home on the campus of Mars Hill Bible School caught fire not once but twice over the summer.

The historic home caught fire on July 11 with minimal damage. Power to the home was cut for repairs.

Then on July 19 it caught fire again, but this time the home was engulfed in flames and the fire caused so much damage the school couldn't salvage it.

Investigators determined this fire to be an intentionally set fire, said Jennifer Bowen, Alabama Department of Insurance spokesperson.

For almost 150 years the Larimore Home stood but all that's left now is a plaque.

For many, the home hosted their weddings and meetings and was an integral part of the Mars Hill Bible School family.

David Williams is a 1969 graduate of Mars Hill Bible School and says along with going to school in the Larimore Home it hosted a lot of other big events in his life.

"Lots of memories. I went to second grade in the first room on the right, he said. When Linda and I were married we had our wedding reception in the Larimore Home.

Dexter Rutherford, president of Mars Hill Bible School, said he hopes whoever is responsible will just come forward and own up to what happened.

"It pains everyone to just think that someone could have actually intended to start the fire, he said. Someone needs to be accountable for that and I hope and pray someone might have some information and can forward that to the authorities and we can truly get to the bottom of it.

Anyone with leads can call the Alabama Arson Hotline at 1-800-654-0775 or report their tips online at http://firemarshal.alabama.gov.

Rutherford said they were able to salvage some windows, doors, and other items from the house and they plan to auction them off. He said they have some options on the table on how to keep the Larimore Home legacy alive.
Shoals Area Crime Stoppers is trying to help police find a Sheffield package theft suspect.

On its Facebook page, the group says about 3:12 p.m. Feb. 7 a man walked up to a home off Hatch Boulevard and took a large package.

The suspect, caught on home surveillance cameras, struggled to fit the box in his silver sedan before taking off.

If you have any information that can help investigators, contact Shoals Area Crime Stoppers at 256-386-868 or send a detailed text message to 274637 (CRIMES). Anonymous tips can also be submitted here on the Shoals Area Crime Stoppers Facebook page.

If the tip leads to an arrest you will be eligible for a cash reward.
The gun company, Remington, is reimbursing several local governments more than a million dollars after they failed to meet certain hiring goals.

WAAY 31 is learning how the City of Athens is planning to use the chunk of money they got back from the company and what people think about the pay-back and the citys plans.

Well, of course, its a shocker," said an Athens resident, Rachelle Allen.

That was Allens response when WAAY 31 told her Remington is now having to pay after not fulfilling their promises to the City of Athens, Limestone County, and other surrounding counties. That promise was to bring a certain amount of jobs to the area.

We do have people seeking jobs," Allen said.

Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks was saddened to hear of Remingtons predicament.

"Of all of my years, this is the first time that someone has not met their goal," he said.

Mayor Marks already has a plan for the City's reimbursed money, which totals a little over $71,000.

Were looking to invest in some more industrial property to keep our future growth going," he said. "Weve had several suppliers for Mazda-Toyota looking at the area, and if we can use that money to look at purchasing, or put a down-payment toward purchasing other land, thats what we intend to do.

Allen said she was happy to hear that.

Athens is the best city to invest in," she said. "Businesses do thrive here. We do bring a lot of outside people in.

She said theres only one thing she hopes to see in the future.

Whatever we decide to use this money for, I just hope it supplies and brings more jobs," she said.

WAAY 31 also spoke with Limestone County commissioners to see how they plan to use the money they got back from Remington, but they tell us they wont decide until March.

The City of Huntsville, Madison County and Morgan County all got refunds from Remington as well.
We talked to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall about how he is working to help others heal after suicide by going public about his life experiences.

Marshalls wife, Bridgette, committed suicide in 2018.

We want to celebrate her life, and yet we dont want to focus on her death, he said of his wife.

Hes also promoting the Not Alone Conference, set to take place in Huntsville and Albertville Feb. 22-23. Learn more here

MORE COVERAGE YOU CAN COUNT ON

* Housing market booming in Madison County

* WAAY 31 I-Team Investigation: Veterans Choice
Huntsville police are investigating two burglaries at local construction sites.

Early Thursday morning, police were called to the Times Plaza construction site on South Memorial Parkway near Bob Wallace Avenue. In the last week, officers responded to the Cecil Ashburn Drive construction site as well.

In both cases, the thieves broke into a trailer and stole thousands of dollars worth of tools. Huntsville police are working to determine if the two burglaries are related.

If you have any information about the robberies, you are urged to contact authorities.
The office of Gov. Kay Ivey issued this press release Friday:

Gov. Kay Ivey has awarded more than $138,000 to three agencies in northeast Alabama to continue efforts to provide services to victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence and to prosecute offenders.

Ivey awarded funds to the Marshall County District Attorneys Office Domestic Violence Unit, Crisis Services of North Alabama Inc. and Domestic Violence Crisis Services. The agencies will use the funds to provide safe shelter for victims, investigate and arrest offenders and to present awareness programs to curtail abuse and assaults.

Domestic violence and sexual abuse destroy lives and tear apart families, Ivey said. I commend these organizations for the work they do every day to prevent domestic violence and assist victims.

The Marshall County District Attorneys Office Domestic Violence Unit ($63,344) will use funds to continue investigating domestic violence cases and prosecuting offenders.

Crisis Services of North Alabama ($53,086) provides services to victims in Jackson, Limestone, Madison and Morgan counties including evidence collection, forensic exams and helping to prosecute offenders.

Domestic Violence Crisis Services ($22,214) will use funds to provide shelter and financial assistance for victims seeking to break free of violent situations. The agency also maintains a 24-hour telephone call line, court advocacy and prevention programs. It serves victims in Cherokee, DeKalb and Marshall counties.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grants from funds made available to the state from the U.S. Department of Justice. Each of the non-profit agencies also rely heavily on locally generated contributions.

Gov. Ivey and ADECA are committed to working with these agencies to help victims overcome abusive situations, ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said.

ADECA administers a wide range of programs that support law enforcement, victim programs, economic development, water resource management, energy conservation and recreation.
2019-2020 School Board - Alexandria Public Schools (L-R) Bob Cunniff (who stepped down from his position in March 2021), Dave Anderson, Angie Krebs, Dean Anderson, Alan Zeithamer, Pam Carlson and Sandy Susag.

Cunniff's position, which is filled temporarily by Jeff Patience, will be on the August primary and Fall Election ballots.
The Trump administration is firing back at a former Federal Bureau of Investigation acting director who says top federal law enforcement officials considered invoking a constitutional amendment to remove the president after he fired then-FBI Director James Comey.



Andrew McCabe, in a CBS News interview, also said he opened an investigation into the president for fear that special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into connections between the Trump campaign and Russia would be jeopardized if he were fired.



The Justice Department, which oversees the FBI, called McCabe's recitation of events "inaccurate and factually incorrect." In a statement, the department also said its inspector general found McCabe "did not tell the truth to federal authorities on multiple occasions, leading to his termination from the FBI."



McCabe was fired by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in March 2018, just short of his scheduled retirement, denying the longtime FBI official his full retirement benefits.

"Andrew McCabe was fired in total disgrace from the FBI because he lied to investigators on multiple occasions, including under oath," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement Thursday.

"His selfish and destructive agenda drove him to open a completely baseless investigation into the president. His actions were so shameful that he was referred to federal prosecutors. Andrew McCabe has no credibility and is an embarrassment to the men and women of the FBI and our great country."



A short time after an excerpt of the McCabe interview aired early Thursday, President Donald Trump called him "a disgrace to the FBI and a disgrace to our Country" in a tweet.

Trump also recalled the 2016 election, in which he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton, in another tweet:

Comey, who was handling the FBI's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, was dismissed by Trump in May 2017.

McCabe told CBS that officials that month had discussed whether to invoke provisions of the 25th Amendment, which allows a vice president and a majority of the 15 Cabinet members to declare a president incapable of handling the duties of the presidency, making the vice president the acting president.

The officials ultimately did note pursue Trump's removal. But McCabe, then the No. 2 official at the FBI, said that soon after he discussed Comey's firing with the president, he ordered the bureau to begin an obstruction-of-justice investigation of Trump and a counterintelligence probe involving his alleged ties to Russia.

In the CBS interview, McCabe said he initiated the investigations to make sure they were firmly implanted should he be forced out.

"I was very concerned that I was able to put the Russia case on absolutely solid ground, in an indelible fashion," McCabe told CBS interviewer Scott Pelley, "that were I removed quickly or reassigned or fired, that the case could not be closed or vanish in the night without a trace."

Manafort case

The comments from McCabe and the forceful administration reaction to them came a day after a federal judge ruled that Trump's campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, had lied to a grand jury and the special counsel about his interactions in August 2016 with a Russian intelligence operative.

Michael Gerhardt, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill, said that while some may question McCabe's motives, "he set in motion a process that seems to have been well worth considering under the circumstances. The American people depend on Justice Department and other executive branch officials who place loyalty to the rule of law above all else."

Gerhardt, a leading constitutional scholar, told VOA that "we trust that a system devoted to the rule of law and the idea that no one is above the law will be effective, especially when it is under fire for political reasons."

The revelation that senior Justice Department officials contemplated calling together Cabinet members consistent with the requirements of the 25th Amendment "is an issue of monumental importance in American history," according to Bradley Moss, a Washington attorney specializing in national security matters.

'Extraordinary measure'

"At no time in American history since the passage of the 25th Amendment in 1967 has an actual, formal vote ever taken place to invoke the provisions of that amendment and remove the president from office against his will," Moss told VOA. "It is an extraordinary measure designed only for the most extreme of circumstances and that will only be viable if the president's own political allies and appointees were to support it."

Associate professor Aaron Coleman, who chairs the history and political science department at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky., also views things moving into unchartered constitutional terrain.

"For the FBI to launch an investigation without a congressional request, a request from the attorney general, a presidential request or a special investigator is historically unprecedented," Coleman told VOA. "Were the FBI to initiate 25th Amendment removal proceedings without congressional authority or guiding legislation, it would, I believe, trigger a potential constitutional crisis."

McCabe, in the CBS interview  which is to air in full on Sunday on the 60 Minutes program  confirmed reports from months ago that Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who appointed Mueller to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 elections, considered wearing a wire to meetings with Trump to document their conversations.

While the Justice Department has stated Rosenstein made the offer sarcastically, McCabe said the suggestion was taken seriously at the time and was discussed more than once.

Ken Bredemeier contributed to this report.
Sitting in her living room, 65-year-old Tatyana Rybalchenko goes through a stack of black-and-white photos from more than 30 years ago. In one of them, she is dressed in a nurse's coat and smiles sheepishly at the camera; in another, she shares a laugh with soldiers on a road with a mountain ridge behind them.

The pictures don't show the hardships that Rybalchenko and 20,000 Soviet women like her went through as civilian support staff during the Soviet Union's 1979-1989 invasion of Afghanistan. Although they did not serve in combat roles, they still experienced the horrors of war.

As Russia on Friday marked the 30th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the memories are still fresh for the nurses, clerks and shopkeepers, predominantly young, single women who were thrust into the bloody conflict.

Rybalchenko enlisted on a whim. In 1986, she was 33, working in a dead-end nursing job in Kyiv, the capital of Soviet Ukraine, and was going through a breakup. One day, she joined a colleague who went to a military recruitment office. The recruiter turned to Rybalchenko and asked if she would like to work abroad  in Afghanistan.

She recalls that she was fed up with her life in Kyiv, "so I told him: 'I'd go anywhere, even to hell!' And this is where he sent me."

Family and friends tried to talk her out of it, telling her that Afghanistan is where "the bodies are coming from." But it was too late: She had signed the contract.

FILE - In this undated photo, medics and nurses wo FILE - In this undated photo, medics and nurses work to treat a casualty in a military hospital in Afghanistan. FILE - In this undated photo, medics and nurses work to treat a casualty in a military hospital in Afghanistan.

At least 15,000 Soviet troops were killed in the fighting that began as an effort to prop up a communist ally and soon became a grinding campaign against a U.S.-backed insurgency. Moscow sent more than 600,000 to a war that traumatized many young men and women and fed a popular discontent that became one factor leading to the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

Rybalchenko, who worked as a nurse at a military hospital in Gardez, was stunned by the many casualties  men missing limbs or riddled with shrapnel. But there was so much work that she found herself shutting off her emotions.

"At the end, I did not feel anything anymore. I was like a stone," Rybalchenko said, shedding her normally perky persona.

Friendships helped, and she befriended a young reconnaissance officer, Vladimir Vshivtsev.

He once confided to her that he was not afraid of losing a limb, but he would not be able to live with an injury to his eyes. She recalled him saying "if I lose eyesight, I'll do everything to put an end to it."

In November 1987, the hospital was inundated with casualties from a Soviet offensive to open the road between Gardez and the stronghold of Khost, near the Pakistani border.

One of the wounded was Vshivtsev, and Rybalchenko saw him being wheeled into the ward with bandages wrapped around his head. She unwrapped the dressing and gasped when she saw the gaping wound on his face: "The eyes were not there."

Vladimir Vshivtsev, a veteran of the Soviet war in Vladimir Vshivtsev, a veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, right, and Gen. Col. Boris Gromov, former Commander of the 40th Army in Afghanistan, greet each other during a meeting at the upper chamber of Russian parliament in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 14, 2019. Vladimir Vshivtsev, a veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, right, and Gen. Col. Boris Gromov, former Commander of the 40th Army in Afghanistan, greet each other during a meeting at the upper chamber of Russian parliament in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 14, 2019.

She persuaded her superior to let her accompany him to a bigger hospital in Kabul as part of a suicide watch. She stayed friends with Vshivtsev, and he later became a leading activist in the Russian Society for the Blind. Decades later, he briefly served in the Russian parliament.

Raising awareness

Alla Smolina was 30 when she joined the Soviet military prosecutor's office in Jalalabad near the Pakistani border in 1985. It wasn't until 20 years later that Smolina started having nightmares about the war.

"The shelling, running away from bullets and mines whizzing above me  I was literally scared of my own pillow," she said.

She put her memories on paper and contacted other women who were there, telling the stories of those who endured the hardships of war but who are largely absent from the male-dominated narratives.

She is trying to raise awareness of the role the Soviet women played in Afghanistan, believing they have been unfairly portrayed or not even mentioned in fiction and nonfiction written mostly by men.

The deaths of Soviet women who held civilian jobs in Afghanistan are not part of the official toll, and Smolina has written about 56 women who lost their lives. Some died when a plane was shot down by the Afghan mujahedeen, one was killed when a drunken soldier threw a grenade into her room, and one woman was slain after being raped by a soldier.

In an era when the concept of sexual harassment was largely unfamiliar in the Soviet Union, the women in the war in Afghanistan  usually young and unmarried  often started a relationship to avoid unwanted attention from other soldiers.

"Because if a woman has someone, the whole brigade won't harass you like a pack of wolves," Rybalchenko said. "Sometimes it was reciprocal, sometimes there was no choice."

She said she found boyfriends to "protect" her.

Denied war benefits

While the war grew unpopular at home, Soviet troops and support staff in Afghanistan mostly focused on survival rather than politics. While Afghans largely saw Moscow's involvement as a hostile foreign intervention, the Soviets thought they were doing the right thing.

"We really believed that we were helping the oppressed Afghan nation, especially because we saw with our own eyes all the kindergartens and schools that the Soviet people were building there," Smolina said.

After Rybalchenko came home, she could hardly get out of bed for the first three months, one of thousands with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder.

When she asked officials about benefits for veterans and other personnel in Afghanistan, she faced hostility and insults. She said one told her: "How do I know what you were actually up to over there?"

In 2006, Russian lawmakers decided that civilians who worked in Afghanistan were not entitled to war benefits. Women have campaigned unsuccessfully to reinstate them.

Rybalchenko eventually got an apartment from the government, worked in physiotherapy and now lives in retirement in Moscow, where her passion for interior decorating is reflected by the exotic bamboo-forest wallpaper in her home.

Smolina, who lives in Sweden, is wary of disclosing all the details about her own Afghan experiences after facing a backlash from other veterans about her publications.

"Our society is not ready yet to hear the truth. There is still a lingering effect from the harsh Soviet past," she said. "In Soviet society, you were not supposed to speak out."
Venezuelas Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza held secret talks in New York with the U.S. special envoy to Venezuela, President Nicloas Maduro revealed.

Maduro told the Associated Press that Arreaza invited special envoy Elliot Abrams to Caracas privately, publicly or secretly.

If he wants to meet, just tell me when, where and how, and Ill be there, Maduro said.

A senior Venezuelan official said Abrams and Arreaza met twice in New York.

There has been no comment so far from U.S. officials. Just last week, Abrams said, The time for dialogue with Maduro had long passed.

WATCH: Neighbors Mull Ways to Get Aid Into Venezuela

Dozens of countries recognize Guaido

The United States was the first of about 50 countries to recognize opposition leader and National Assembly head Juan Guaido as Venezuelan president, not Maduro, whose re-election last year has been dismissed by the U.S. and the opposition as a sham.

Arreaza said Thursday he is forming a coalition of diplomats who believe the U.S. and others are violating the U.N. charter against non-interference in member states.

Arreaza was surrounded by diplomats from 16 other countries, including Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba, when he met with reporters at the United Nations. These countries continue to back Maduro.

We all have the right to live without the threat of use of force and without application of illegal coercive unilateral measures, Arreaza said.

He said the group of diplomats will begin a series of actions within a few days to raise awareness around the dangers that our people currently face. But he gave no information on what they plan to do.

Sanctions denounced

The foreign minister also denounced U.S. sanctions against Venezuela and called the U.S. aid sitting across the border in Colombia a spectacle.

The U.S. has blocked our economy. The cost of the blockade is over $30 billion, and they are sending this so-called humanitarian aid for $20 million. ... Im choking you, Im killing you, and then Im giving you a cookie.

He called Guiados Feb. 23 deadline for delivering that aid absolutely absurd because he said Guiado doesnt control any policemen.

Maduro has refused to allow the food, medicine, and other aid into the country, saying Venezuela doesnt need it and calling it a pretense for a U.S. invasion.

Richard Branson listens to a question at a press b Richard Branson listens to a question at a press briefing in New York, Feb. 14, 2019. Richard Branson listens to a question at a press briefing in New York, Feb. 14, 2019.

He told the AP that all it takes for Venezuela to thrive again is for U.S. President Donald Trump to take his infected hand off the country.

Trump has not ruled out military action in Venezuela, but has not said under what conditions he would send in troops.

Earlier this week, the White House said Trump will speak about Venezuela at Florida International University in Miami on Monday. The school is in a neighborhood that has the largest concentration of Venezuelans in the United States.

The United States has already imposed sanctions on Venezuelas state-run oil company and visa restrictions on top Venezuelan officials.

Benefit concert

Meanwhile, billionaire adventurer Richard Branson announced Thursday he is organizing a benefit concert starring a wonderful lineup of regional and international artists to raise money for aid for Venezuela.

We must break the impasse or soon many Venezuelans will be on the verge of starvation or dearth, Branson said.

He has scheduled the show for Feb. 22 in Cucta, Colombia, where the U.S. aid is stored in a warehouse.
LONDON - The United States has called on Europe to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which Washington pulled out of last year.

At a two-day conference in Warsaw, attended by more than 60 nations Thursday, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence accused European allies of trying to break American sanctions against what he called Irans murderous revolutionary regime.

The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and join with us as we bring economic and diplomatic pressure necessary to give the Iranian people, the region and the world the security, peace and freedom they deserve, Pence said at a news conference.

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and U.S Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talk during a Middle East summit in Warsaw, Poland, Feb. 14, 2019. Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talk during a Middle East summit in Warsaw, Poland, Feb. 14, 2019.

?Pompeo adds pressure

Also attending the conference, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said global pressure was mounting on Tehran.

No country spoke out and denied any of the basic facts that we all have laid out about Iran, the threat it poses, the nature of regime. It was unanimous, Pompeo said.

Unanimous, perhaps, among those countries attending the conference. Some U.S. allies, however, were notable for their absence, including the foreign ministers of France and Germany. Britains representative left the summit early.

All three allies have voiced strong support for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and have launched a payment system to bypass U.S. sanctions on Tehran in an attempt to keep the agreement alive.

WATCH: U.S. Rebukes EU Allies Over Iran Deal

US-European divide

Warsaw-based analyst Piotr Buras of the European Council on Foreign Relations says summit host Poland and some other European states appear closer to Washingtons approach and the United States sees an opportunity.

I have the feeling that the Trump administration doesnt care much about Europes unity, or even more perhaps it really tries to exploit some divisions within Europe, or even deepen them, he said.

Jonathan Eyal of Britains Royal United Services Institute argued Washingtons approach is in fact aimed at bridging transatlantic divides with European allies.

The United States is willing to re-engage with them on a Middle East policy, especially on a very sensitive issue like the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran where the gulf between Europe and the U.S. is very big, he sad. And secondly it is also another attempt by the State Department to remind the White House that the friends in Europe are irreplaceable when it comes to most of Americas foreign policy objectives.

The summit was attended by Israel and several Sunni Gulf states. Qatar, Turkey and Lebanon declined to take part. Iran, which did not attend the meeting, dismissed it as dead on arrival.
The United States ratcheted up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday by sanctioning some of his top security officials and the head of the state oil company, and unveiling plans to airlift over 200 tons of aid to the Colombian border.

The U.S. Treasury said it sanctioned PDVSA chief Manuel Quevedo, three top intelligence officials and Rafael Bastardo, who U.S. officials say is the head of a national police unit responsible for dozens of extrajudicial killings carried out in nighttime raids on Maduro's behalf.

Separately, a U.S. official said U.S. military aircraft are expected to deliver more than 200 tons of humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan border in Colombia, with the shipment likely to take place on Saturday.

The steps are part of a wider effort by the United States to undermine Maduro, whose 2018 election it views as illegitimate and whose government it has disavowed, and to strengthen opposition leader and self-declared president Juan Guaido.

U.S. military aircraft are likely to deliver the aid to the Colombian side of the border with Venezuela on Saturday, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Another U.S. government source who asked not to be named said the food and medicine would go to the Colombian border town of Cucuta on Saturday.

However, it is unclear if any of it will reach Venezuelans. Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse in the oil-rich country that has left millions struggling to buy food and medicine and has fueled an unprecedented migration crisis in the region, has refused to allow supplies in.

An aid convoy supplied by the United States and Colombia arrived in Cucuta last week, where it is being held in warehouses.

"This man Maduro has created a humanitarian crisis," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters in Reykjavik. "As soon as this weekend we will continue to deliver massive humanitarian assistance. Hopefully Mr. Maduro will allow that in to his country."

Guaido invoked constitutional provisions to declare himself interim president last month, arguing that Maduro's 2018 re-election was a sham. Most Western countries, including the United States and many of Venezuela's neighbors, have recognized Guaido as the legitimate head of state.

Maduro retains the backing of Russia and China and control of Venezuelan state institutions including the military. The U.S. Treasury took aim at some of Maduro's allies with its sanctions on Friday.

"We are sanctioning officials in charge of Maduro's security and intelligence apparatus, which has systematically violated human rights and suppressed democracy, including through torture," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

Also targeted was Ivan Hernandez, commander of Maduro's Presidential Guard, which Treasury says has tortured Maduro's opponents and carried out other human rights abuses. Manuel Cristopher, director general of Venezuela's Sebin intelligence agency, and Hildemaro Rodriguez, first commissioner of the service, also were sanctioned.

The Treasury's action freezes all property in the United States belonging to the five as well as that of any entities in which they own 50 percent or more.

In a sign that the Trump administration may be trying to split the men from Maduro, the Treasury Department noted in its statement that "U.S. sanctions need not be permanent; sanctions are intended to bring about a positive change of behavior."

"The United States has made clear that we will consider lifting sanctions for persons ... who take concrete and meaningful actions to restore democratic order, refuse to take part in human rights abuses, speak out against abuses committed by the government, and combat corruption in Venezuela," it said.
CAIRO - The U.S. military denied on Thursday taking part in a raid on an al-Qaida site in the Libyan city of Ubari, contradicting a statement by a Libyan official.

The spokesperson for Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the Presidency Council of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord of Libya, said in a statement late Wednesday that a site with a number of al-Qaida members in Ubari was "raided" by joint U.S.-Libyan forces.

"This joint work between the Presidency Council of the Government of National Accord and the U.S. Government coincided with the meeting of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Foreign Minister Mohamed Sayala at the Global Coalition To Defeat Islamic State meeting last week," spokesperson Mohamed El Sallak said in the statement.

But U.S. Africa Command, which is responsible for American troops in the area, said that although the United States supports what is described as counterterrorism efforts of the U.N.-recognized Libyan government, U.S. forces were not involved in the raid.

"U.S. Africa Command was not involved in the reported raid of an al-Qaeda site in Ubari, Libya, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019," it said in a statement. "U.S. Africa Command has not conducted any air strikes in Libya in 2019."
U.S. President Donald Trump is hailing progress in ongoing trade talks with China, with negotiators set to meet next week in Washington as the March 1 deadline approaches.

"Its going extremely well, who knows what (that) means because it only matters if we get it done. But were very much working very closely with China and President Xi, who I respect a lot, very good relationship that we have, and were a lot closer than we ever were in this country with having a real trade deal," Trump told reporters at the White House Friday.

Earlier in the day, China's President Xi Jinping met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Beijing. The official Xinhua news agency reported Xi said that he hopes the two sides can reach a mutually beneficial deal in their next round of negotiations.

WATCH: High-Stakes US-China Trade Talks to Continue in Washington

A U.S. Treasury Department statement said the U.S. delegation focused on issues such as forced technology transfers, intellectual property rights, cyber theft, agriculture, services and currency.

"Detailed and intensive discussions led to progress between the two parties. Much work remains, however," the Treasury statement said.

Chinese Leader Meets with US Trade Delegation in Beijing Chinese President Xi Jinping met Friday with members of the U.S. trade delegation in Beijing where China and the U.S. are attempting to hammer out a trade deal.U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin posted on Twitter Friday that he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had "productive meetings with China's Vice Premier Liu He."Productive meetings with Chinas Vice Premier Liu He and @USTradeRep Amb. Lighthizer. Chinese President Xi Jinping met Friday with members of the U.S. trade delegation in Beijing where China and the U.S. are attempting to hammer out a trade deal.U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin posted on Twitter Friday that he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had "productive meetings with China's Vice Premier Liu He."Productive meetings with Chinas Vice Premier Liu He and @USTradeRep Amb. Lighthizer.

China's state media report said the talks over the past two days made some progress on difficult and important issues. The statement said although much work remains to be done, the American officials said they were hopeful and willing to work with China to reach a deal in line with the interests of both sides.

This week's high-level discussions were aimed at reaching a deal ahead of the March deadline for an escalation in tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports.

In a tweet on Friday, before meeting with Xi, Secretary Mnuchin said that he and Lighthizer had productive meetings with Chinas top negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He.

Productive meetings with Chinas Vice Premier Liu He and @USTradeRep Amb. Lighthizer. pic.twitter.com/KxOZffFXAa  Steven Mnuchin (@stevenmnuchin1) February 15, 2019

Hu Xijin, the editor in chief of Chinas nationalistic tabloid the Global Times was optimistic, noting that there is a great possibility for China and the U.S. reaching (a) final agreement.

In a tweet, he said, From what I know, during the just-concluded round of China-U.S. trade talks, the two sides have discussed how to draft a document on comprehensively solving China-U.S. trade disputes, namely a MoU, adding that After nearly one year of tough talks, I think the finishing line is nearly in sight.

Despite, Hus optimism, few analysts see anything truly final being hammered out in the 90-day period that ends March 2. At best, most express a hope that the two sides will be able to create a framework that charts the way forward.

White House Upbeat on Beijing Trade Talks A top White House economic adviser is expressing confidence in the current U.S.-China trade negotiations in Beijing."The vibe in Beijing is good," National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters Thursday at the White House. Kudlow provided few details but said the U.S. A top White House economic adviser is expressing confidence in the current U.S.-China trade negotiations in Beijing."The vibe in Beijing is good," National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters Thursday at the White House. Kudlow provided few details but said the U.S.

Last July, President Trump began raising tariffs that were aimed at confronting Chinas unfair trade practices, such as a lack of reciprocal market access and complaints that Beijing steals or forces the handover of technology from companies. The trade tussle also seeks to address Chinas multi-billion-dollar trade surplus with the United States and generous subsidies for state industries.

China has responded by offering to narrow the trade surplus by purchasing more American soybeans, natural gas and other exports, but its willingness to press forward with key structural reforms remains a key sticking point.
U.N. aid agencies are seeking $920 million to provide lifesaving aid for more than 900,000 Rohingya refugees who fled violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh.

The money also will be used to assist more than 330,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis hosting them near the border in the Cox's Bazar region.

Most Rohingya refugees are living in cramped, squalid conditions in Kutupalong, the largest refugee camp in the world. Bangladeshi authorities have been praised for their generosity in hosting the large refugee population. But Bangladesh's state minister of foreign affairs, Shahriar Alam, has acknowledged the difficulties involved.

Repatriation is objective

Alam said the key to resolving the problem is repatriation, and that Bangladesh has been exploring this option with U.N. agencies. Last year, the U.N. and the government of Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the repatriation of Rohingya refugees.

"But unfortunately, the situation in Myanmar is still not conducive for a voluntary, safe and dignified return," Alam said. "So, we are urging the international community to put pressure on Myanmar and engage with them constructively so, as a responsible and responsive member of the United Nations, they take their citizens back without further delays."

FILE - Rohingya refugee women hold placards as the FILE - Rohingya refugee women hold placards as they take part in a protest at the Kutupalong refugee camp to mark the one-year anniversary of their exodus, in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Aug. 25, 2018. FILE - Rohingya refugee women hold placards as they take part in a protest at the Kutupalong refugee camp to mark the one-year anniversary of their exodus, in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Aug. 25, 2018.

In the meantime, he said, action must be taken to support and protect the refugees. Alam said his government had spent about $250 million to get one of the nearby islands ready to relocate and shelter up to 100,000 Rohingya.

"Because the place where they are staying is vulnerable to heavy rain and cyclones," he said. "This is one of the biggest worries that we had from 2018." He said the monsoon and cyclone season was approaching, and he hoped the preparations made so far "will be enough for this year for a safe stay of the Rohingya people."

The U.N. high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, said that in the coming weeks, work must be accelerated to protect the Rohingya from the ravages of the next monsoon season.

A Rohingya refugee boy walks out after collecting FILE - A Rohingya refugee boy walks out after collecting meat from a relief distribution center in the Balukhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Aug. 23, 2018. FILE - A Rohingya refugee boy walks out after collecting meat from a relief distribution center in the Balukhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Aug. 23, 2018.

Grandi said he was optimistic that the money to fund the operation would be forthcoming. He added that several countries attending a donor conference had pledged $132 million and that several other major donors said they would announce pledges in the coming weeks.

"So, I think this figure will quickly rise," Grandi said. "And I think for this type of exercise, having a result immediately like that is not bad. It is a sign, I hope, of continued support for a situation that unfortunately gets protracted."

The U.N. said more than half of the funding would go for food, water, sanitation and shelter. Other key sectors of the appeal include health, site management, and protection for children and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

Rohingya Muslim men collect water from a well at U FILE - Rohingya Muslim men collect water from a well at Unchiprang refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, in Bangladesh, Nov. 16, 2018. FILE - Rohingya Muslim men collect water from a well at Unchiprang refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, in Bangladesh, Nov. 16, 2018.

The director general of the International Organization for Migration, Antonio Vitorino, said addressing the critical needs of the Rohingya refugees was the biggest challenge. At the same time, he said, the impact of the refugees on the host communities in Bangladesh must be addressed.

"The two things go together  that at the same time we address the needs of those who are displaced, we minimize the impacts that the massive displacement of people has in the host communities," Vitorino said.

Competition for resources and jobs has raised tensions between the Rohingya and host communities.

Mahadi Muhammad is divisional director for the group Action Against Hunger on behalf of the organization NGO Platform of Social Action, a consortium of 104 nongovernmental organizations that work in Cox's Bazar. Muhammad told VOA that the platform has some social cohesion programs aimed at easing conflicts between the Rohingya and local residents.

Focus on who is vulnerable



"Most of the programs we have not only for the Rohingya community, but also for the Bangladeshi community who are affected due to this Rohingya crisis," Muhammad said. "Whenever we go for any kinds of program implementation, we focus on the vulnerability, not the ethnicity, whether it is the Rohingya or the Bangladeshi. We always focus on the vulnerability."



U.N. agencies have succeeded in lessening environmental degradation, reducing the prevalence of acute malnutrition, increasing child immunizations and securing other benefits.

They note the situation of the Rohingya remains precarious. Until the root causes of displacement in Myanmar are addressed and the refugees can go home, they say, international support will remain crucial.
A Myanmar court has sentenced two men to death for the killing of a top Muslim lawyer and close adviser to countrys de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

The court in Yangon Friday found the alleged gunman, Kyi Lin, guilty of premeditated murder and illegal possession of weapons for the killing of Ko Ni at the Yangon airport, Jan. 29, 2017.

An accomplice involved in planning the killing was also sentenced to death on similar charges.

The court sentenced two other men involved in the crime, both ex-military, to prison terms. A fifth person, also with ties to the army, the suspected mastermind of the crime, remains at large.

Ko Ni was shot in the back of the head while waiting for a taxicab with his infant grandson in his arms.

He was a vocal critic of the army-imposed constitution that prevents Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president. Aung San Suu Kyis party, National League for Democracy, has branded Nis killing a terrorist act designed to thwart their policies.

The constitution established under Myanmars former junta gives the military broad powers by guaranteeing them a quarter of parliament seats.
Akuac Ring Ariik, a 20-year-old student, met Akok Koch for the first time in 2017. After what Ring describes as a brief conversation, Koch asked Ring to be his girlfriend. She refused.

She was shocked when, on Jan. 5, 2019, her father told her the family had made a decision: She would drop out of school and marry Koch, a man almost twice her age.

Despite her protests, Ring says her family moved forward with marriage plans.

So, she ran away and is now hiding at an undisclosed location in Kenya.

"It is so destructive because now I am a school dropout, I am on a hide, there's nothing like success anymore. My life is at risk, everything, my life, my education. My future is just at risk," Ring said.

Ring's case is not an isolated one. Each year, tens of thousands of young South Sudanese women  many of them younger than 18  are forced into marriages by their families. Activists are trying to eliminate the practice through new laws and by demanding changes in South Sudan's traditional culture.

Lawyer Suzy Natana, who spoke to South Sudan In Focus last year, praised the government for passing legislation protecting girls and women. However, she said the culture in some communities is an obstacle to implementing the laws.

Natana said traditional local leaders should play a role in discouraging forced marriages.

"We need to advocate more ... so that our traditional leaders who command a lot of authority and respect have the ability to change people's perspective," she said.

VOA's South Sudan in Focus spoke to Ring several times, but her family could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts.

Kidnapping accusations

Kenya's Ministry of the Interior has issued Ring a movement pass, a document that allows an asylum-seeker in Kenya to travel to a refugee camp. She could register at a camp in the western city of Kakuma. But she says she has no intention of going there, out of fear that her family could intercept her and force her back to her village.

"All they are doing is now searching for me, to take me to that man because they claim that whether I want or I don't, I must marry him," Ring said.

Ring's family has accused her real boyfriend, Kuc Mayur Kuc, a master's student at London's University of Kent, of kidnapping her. South Sudanese police have issued a warrant for his arrest.

Mayur denies abducting Ring. Speaking to VOA, he says he found out that he was wanted by South Sudanese police authorities through social media.

"She is an adult and she has the consent to travel from South Sudan to Kenya or Uganda. I actually did not force her to travel, she decided to travel on her own," Mayur said in a phone call from London.

Ring wrote a letter to South Sudanese police repudiating the accusation that she was kidnapped. In it, she says her brother-in-law, Makiir Gai Thiep, is leading the family's search for her.

"I write to clarify and dismiss the false spreading information in South Sudan and worldwide that I was kidnapped," reads the letter. "I ran away from [my family] because I was being forced to marry a man I don't want."

200 cows

Ring says Akok Koch offered her family more than 200 cows as part of a dowry. She says no dowry would be enough.

"I told them, it's all about faith. If they leave me to study, with education you can do something better than someone who is just having cows," she said. "I tried to tell them, but they didn't understand. Cows can't do anything with someone's life. And you cannot compare an animal, cows, with someone's life."

Ring says that if her situation is resolved, she would like to attend Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, and study medicine.

For the moment, that dream remains out of reach.
WASHINGTON - Republican and Democratic members of the U.S. Senate asked the Trump administration Thursday to tell them more about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate last year, days after a missed deadline for a detailed report on his death prompted an angry bipartisan backlash.

Ten of the 12 Republicans from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led by Chairman Jim Risch, wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking for more information.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is committed to pursuing all information available in its oversight role and, to that end, is in the process of arranging a classified briefing for the committee, Risch said in a statement.

FILE - Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, arrives for a vote FILE - Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, arrives for a vote on Capitol Hill, May 17, 2018, in Washington. FILE - Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, arrives for a vote on Capitol Hill, May 17, 2018, in Washington.

All 10 committee Democrats, led by senior member Bob Menendez, along with Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Pat Leahy, signed their own letter demanding that Pompeo brief Congress on why President Donald Trumps administration missed last Fridays deadline to report to Congress on whether Saudi government officials and members of the royal family, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, were behind the death of Khashoggi, a legal U.S. resident.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of the Saudi government, was killed at a Saudi consulate in Turkey in October. His death fueled simmering discontent with the Saudis among many in Washington angry over the kingdoms human rights record and heavy civilian casualties in Yemens civil war, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

War powers resolution

Members of Congress have been introducing legislation for months to push back against Riyadh. On Wednesday, the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives approved a rare war powers resolution that would end U.S. support for the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen. A Senate vote is expected within weeks.

While several Republicans had demanded more of a response from Trump last week, Risch told reporters Tuesday: Im really satisfied with the way they are answering questions and giving us information.

Update provided

A State Department representative, commenting on the senators letters, said Pompeo had provided an update to Foreign Relations on Friday and would continue to consult with Congress.

After initially denying his death, Saudi Arabia has confirmed that its agents killed Khashoggi. Riyadh denies its senior leaders were behind the killing.
Islamic State (IS) fighters are targeting civilians who are trying to flee the last territory held by the terror group in eastern Syria, U.S.-backed forces told VOA on Thursday.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed Kurdish-led alliance, said that IS militants hit a road used by civilians to escape violence as the battle to free the town of Baghuz in Syria's Deir el-Zour province enters its sixth day.

"IS has blocked that road to prevent civilians from coming to the SDF," SDF fighter Ali Ahmed said. "They have targeted civilians there, but we have responded to their attacks against civilians."

Ahmed said that some families of IS fighters are among the fleeing civilians.

WATCH: Islamic State Using More Civilians as Human Shields

?Located near the Iraqi border, Baghuz is the last stronghold held by IS extremists in Syria. With the help of the U.S.-led coalition, SDF fighters have pushed out IS from all territories it once held since 2014.

Fierce fighting between IS militants and the U.S.-backed fighters continues as the latter try to gain ground on Baghuz on several fronts.

"We have two main obstacles as we advance on Baghuz," Mustafa Bali, an SDF spokesperson, told VOA. "The first one is that [IS] terrorists are holding on to a number of civilians to use them as a bargain chip for their exit."

Bali said the second obstacle for the SDF forces is that IS has a number of hostages who had been arrested and detained by the militants.

IS controls about 5 square kilometers of territory inside the Syrian town, local military officials said.

Baghuz, Syria

Ivan Hasib, a Syrian reporter covering the battle, told VOA that he witnessed an unusual movement by U.S. military vehicles in the area.

"It seems that even the Americans are trying to rescue those civilians and hostages from IS," Hasib said in a phone interview.

He said the remaining IS fighters in Baghuz are hoping to exchange hostages for a safe exit into the Iraqi desert.

"There must be some sort of negotiations between IS and SDF about the hostages, because even [U.S.-led] coalition airstrikes have stopped since Tuesday night," Hasib said, adding that SDF fighters were forced to pause their military operations on the northeastern front in Baghuz.

"We can't start marching toward it from this side because of civilians. Many civilians are using this road to this side. So we're here to protect them," Mezlum Kobani, an SDF commander, told VOA.

According to SDF officials, more than 5,000 civilians have been rescued from IS in Baghuz.
LONDON - British investigators have identified a Russian military intelligence officer as a third suspect in the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, two European security sources told Reuters.

The sources confirmed a report by the investigative website Bellingcat, which Thursday identified Denis Sergeev, a high-ranking GRU officer and a graduate of Russias Military Diplomatic Academy, as the suspect.

Skripal, a former officer in Russian military intelligence who betrayed dozens of spies to MI6, and his daughter Yulia, were found slumped unconscious on a bench in the southern city of Salisbury in March 2018 after being poisoned with the Novichok military-grade nerve agent. Both later recovered.

Last September, British prosecutors charged two Russians, known by the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, with attempted murder in their absence. Russia has denied any involvement in the poisoning.
MADRID - Spains Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called a general election for April 28 after his minority governments budget proposal was rejected by lawmakers.

The election is Spains third in less than four years, a symptom of an increasingly fragmented political landscape and a sign of how Catalonia will remain a thorny issue for the next leader.

Heres a look at how things unfolded and what to expect from a new general election:

FILE - Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is pho Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is photographed at the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Feb. 13, 2019. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is photographed at the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Feb. 13, 2019.

?How did Spain get here?

There was a time when Spanish politics was largely a two-party business: the Socialists and the conservative Popular Party (PP). Each took turn in power, often relying on the nationalists from regions with a strong cultural identity as their parliamentary crutch.

However, since the 2008 global financial crisis and the recession that followed, Spains political landscape has been shaken, notably with the formation of the anti-establishment Podemos (We Can) party and the pro-business Ciudadanos (Citizens), which was founded in Catalonia as a stern response to separatism.

The heightened fragmentation of Spains political scene led to an inconclusive election in 2015. When Spaniards went to the polls again months later, Mariano Rajoy, the incumbent prime minister from the PP, declared victory but wasnt able to form a government until the 11th hour, when Ciudadanos backed him and the Socialists abstained in parliament.

FILE - Catalan regional President Quim Torra, cent FILE - Catalan regional President Quim Torra, center, applauds in front of a large Catalonia independence flag during a rally in Sant Julia de Ramis, Spain, Oct. 1, 2018. FILE - Catalan regional President Quim Torra, center, applauds in front of a large Catalonia independence flag during a rally in Sant Julia de Ramis, Spain, Oct. 1, 2018.

The Catalonia factor

Separatist sentiment among Catalonias population of 7.5 million grew on the back of Spains economic crisis and came to a head in October 2017 when a separatist coalition led by Carles Puigdemont defied court bans and went ahead with a referendum on independence, which they declared at the end of 2017.

No actions were taken to implement the declaration and no country recognized it. Rajoy took a tough stance against the separatists and Madrid took control of the region.

In June last year, a damaging corruption conviction affecting the ruling PP triggered a no-confidence vote that ousted Rajoy as prime minister and ushered in Sanchez, the young Socialist leader who had returned to favor in his party.

Sanchez, stubborn or naive?

Sanchezs female-majority Cabinet increased the minimum wage, announced measures to create new public-sector jobs and expand universal health care.

But his first weeks in office were plagued with missteps including a U-turn on his approach to migration, increasingly restricting access in line with other European nations. Some moves, like the exhumation of the late dictator Gen. Francisco Francos remains, played to his constituents but was met with eye-rolling by the right wing.

His governments position has remained precarious throughout given that the Socialists control less than 25 percent of Spains lower house.

Sanchezs two meetings with the new Catalan leader, fervent separatist Quim Torra, have yielded some progress in normalizing relations between the central and regional governments, but have galvanized political opponents in Ciudadanos and PP, and given wings to the emerging far-right Vox party.

Thousands of demonstrators hold Spanish flags duri Thousands of demonstrators hold Spanish flags during a protest in Madrid, Feb.10, 2019. Thousands of Spaniards are joining a rally called by right-wing political parties to demand that Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez step down. Thousands of demonstrators hold Spanish flags during a protest in Madrid, Feb.10, 2019. Thousands of Spaniards are joining a rally called by right-wing political parties to demand that Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez step down.

What now?

This weeks rejection of his national spending plan by the secessionists in Catalonia and the parties to the right of the Socialists came after Sanchez refused to accept dialogue on Catalonias self-determination, a right that Spains constitution doesnt allow.

The electoral backdrop has got more complicated in light of Voxs recent gains in the Andalusian regional assembly, the first significant win of the far right in post-Franco Spain.

Sanchezs Socialists lead in the polls but not by enough to form a significant majority in parliament without the support of Podemos and the regional nationalist parties. The prospect of Catalan nationalists joining could well be jeopardized by the trial of a dozen politicians and activists for their roles in the Catalan breakaway bid two years ago.

The trial, as one radio commentator put it, will be a trailer in flames in the middle of the election.

The projections also suggest that significant Vox gains could make the far right a potential kingmaker.
As Ilhan Omar was running last year to become one of the first Muslim women in Congress, several Minnesota Jewish leaders invited her to talk privately about past statements they considered anti-Semitic and anti-Israel.

Most came away dissatisfied by what they heard.

Their concerns were confirmed this week when Omar suggested on Twitter that members of Congress support Israel for money, igniting a bipartisan uproar.

Democratic state Sen. Ron Latz, who hosted the meeting, says he's grateful that she seems to be willing to be engaged in conversations with the Jewish community, but she doesn't seem to be learning from those conversations.

In tweets this week, Omar said she is learning, and she's grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating her on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes.

WATCH: First Somali-American Congresswoman Ignites Controversy Her District
WASHINGTON - These days, Native American Flute Players perform at music festivals across the globe. But few belong to any tribe or nation, something that troubles Darren Thompson, a member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in northern Wisconsin and an award-winning flutist.

This week, he is performing at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in New York, sharing stories and music that speak to the history, trauma and resilience of the Ojibwe people. And of course, to the instrument itself, which the Ojibwe call "bibigwan."

Ojibwe flutist Darren Thompson . Photo by Matt Ke Ojibwe flutist Darren Thompson . Photo by Matt Kelly Ojibwe flutist Darren Thompson . Photo by Matt Kelly

"The Native American Flute' is the name of the instrument, so anybody who picks one up and plays it can call himself a Native American Flute Player,'" said Thompson.

Technically, playing an inauthentic flute violates the U.S. Indian Arts and Crafts Act, passed in 1990 to ban the sale of goods falsely labeled "Native American. But there is nothing to stop non-Native performers from falsely claiming Native American heritage.

"It's not so much the fact that they are playing the flute that bothers me. It's the fact that a lot of them are non-Native and try to play the part of a Native, wearing what they think is Indian' attire. It's offensive, and it perpetuates the stereotype that Native Americans are still running around as they did in the past," said Thompson.

A group of citizens of former Czechoslovakia portr A group of citizens of former Czechoslovakia portraying Native Americans at an "Indianistik" meeting in 1988. Indian hobbyism--the desire to dress or live like traditional Native Americans--has always been popular in Eastern Europe. A group of citizens of former Czechoslovakia portraying Native Americans at an "Indianistik" meeting in 1988. Indian hobbyism--the desire to dress or live like traditional Native Americans--has always been popular in Eastern Europe.

'Singing trees'

Thompson grew up hearing traditional Ojibwe music, but it wasn't an important part of his life until he left the reservation.

"I went to Marquette University, where there weren't any other Native kids," he said. "I was still in Wisconsin, but it was a foreign environment."

Homesickness led him to the music of Navajo/Ute flutist Raymond Carlos Nakai, which evoked memories of his childhood.

"One of the first stories I ever heard came from the elders, who talked about trees," Thompson said. "I remember them saying trees sing to us and give us guidance.I think I was four, and that story came to mind 15 years later when I first heard Nakai playing."

It was then, he said, he understood what the elders had been trying to tell him: Trees do sing  through flutes carved from their wood.

Each flute unique

Thompson bought his first flute from a non-Native vendor at a cultural festival. He taught himself to play, and as he learned, he felt moved to connect to the music of his ancestors  music that preceded government assimilation policies that nearly killed off the Ojibwe language, culture and religious traditions.



"I went out to museums to research actual instruments that were seized 200 years ago and taken into collections," he said. "Store-bought "Native" flutes are similar in construction, but they are tuned to a minor Western music scale. But an authentic one would be tuned to the maker himself."



Traditionally, players carved their own instruments from a single piece of wood  cedar, for example, or ash. Each flute would have two chambers, which allowed the player to breathe, Thompson explained.



No two instruments would have been alike.

Nineteenth Century Ojibwe flute, part of the Crosb Nineteenth Century Ojibwe flute, part of the Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889, Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y. Nineteenth Century Ojibwe flute, part of the Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889, Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.

"The length of the instrument would be the distance from that person's armpit to his first knuckle," he said. "The width would be the same as the width of his thumb. Even the spacing of the finger holes is calibrated to the player's body."



The number of open holes carved into the flute varies.Thompson owns several flutes, some he made himself and others custom made. Some have only four holes, which can produce eight notes. Others have five and six holes, allowing for greater range in melody.

The result is a sound unique to each player  a deep and clear tone that Thompson says "touches a lot of people."



He has wanted to perform at NMAI for at least a decade.



"NMAI has a program called The Art of Storytelling." My performance is unique, in that I try to reintroduce stories and music from history. Songs I've learned that were recorded in the early 1900s, before our culture got erased," Thompson said.

To hear a sample of Thompson's work, click below:

Listen 9ff67d38-334e-4b6c-99ac-cdb43dd31daf_original.mp3

The stories don't just speak to what was lost, but what has survived. And some carry messages that are universal:



"If you take all the four-leggeds, those who walk on all fours, from the Earth, life on Earth would not be able to sustain itself.

"If you take all the winged ones, those that fly in the sky, life on Earth would not be able to sustain itself.

"If you take away all the plants from the Earth, life on Earth would not be able to sustain itself.

"If you take away all the water, and those that live in water, from the Earth, life on Earth would not be able to sustain itself.

"If you take away man from the Earth, life on Earth would flourish."






TIJUANA, MEXICO - Migrants have arrived in Tijuana and other border cities in caravans of thousands, while others come in small groups of a dozen or so. They have often walked for days through Central America, then ridden buses or gotten rides on trucks through the vast expanses of Mexico. In border cities like Tijuana, they find help in shelters run by charities.

Asylum seeker Angela Escalante is here with her husband and 7-year-old son.

The situation is very bad, there are no jobs, she said of her country of Nicaragua, blaming political violence there on President Daniel Ortega. Theres no security so you cant safely walk the streets, she added.

Central American migrants settle in a shelter at t Central American migrants settle in a shelter at the Jesus Martinez stadium in Mexico City, in Mexico City, Jan. 28, 2019. Central American migrants settle in a shelter at the Jesus Martinez stadium in Mexico City, in Mexico City, Jan. 28, 2019.

?Post-traumatic stress

New arrivals say they also face violence from cartels and local drug gangs.

It was around 14 years ago they killed the brother of my grandfather and a son of my grandfather, and because of this, they are still pursuing us, said Jorge Alejandro Valencia, 19, from Michoacan state on Mexicos western coast. He said the criminals later killed his grandfather, and they now are threatening his sister.

Doctors Without Border Survey

Many migrants have been exposed to violence, said Gordon Finkbeiner of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, from organized crime groups that are along the route. What we see and what we attend to is mostly situations of high levels of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder.

A 23-year-old Honduran, newly arrived in a shelter, said a gang demanded he sell drugs, and he could see no escape except to leave his country. He asked not be identified, saying that the gangs monitor Facebook and if his identity is revealed, the gang would target his family.

US citizens wait, too

Africans and Haitians, who relocated from their countries to Venezuela, and Central Americans from Central Americas northern triangle of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, all wait in the citys shelters. Every case is different, and many are complicated.

A woman from Honduras has a 12-year-old son with U.S. citizenship and displays his passport. The boy, named Jimmy, was born in the United States but returned to Honduras with his mother when she was deported.

A middle-aged man named Efren Galindo was born in Mexico and grew up in Texas. Two years ago, he was deported and nearly killed by Mexican drug cartels, he explained as he displayed scars on his back and shoulder.

Ive been 46 years, [nearly] my whole life over there, Galindo said, pointing northward to the United States. Im married to an American citizen. I have four American sons, an American daughter and 16 grand babies, he added.

Migrants from Venezuela, Cuba and Guatemala wait a Migrants from Venezuela, Cuba and Guatemala wait at bridge between Matamoros, Mexico and Brownsville, Texas for immigration officials to allow them to turn themselves in and ask for asylum in U.S., Nov. 12, 2018. Migrants from Venezuela, Cuba and Guatemala wait at bridge between Matamoros, Mexico and Brownsville, Texas for immigration officials to allow them to turn themselves in and ask for asylum in U.S., Nov. 12, 2018.

?Credible fear, big backlog

To be granted asylum, petitioners must demonstrate a credible fear of persecution or torture, and show that they are not only fleeing poverty. Those who have been deported from the United States face added restrictions. Many having been barred from returning for five, 10, 20 years or more.

The U.S. immigration system, meanwhile, is overwhelmed, with a backlog worsened by the recent 35 day partial shutdown of the U.S. government in a dispute between Democrats in Congress and U.S. President Donald Trump over a border wall. U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services said in a statement Jan. 21 that it faced a crisis-level backlog of 311,000 asylum cases that had yet to be interviewed for credible fear.

US Immigration System Overwhelmed

The backlog of all immigration court cases was more than 800,000 in November, according researchers at Syracuse University.

Many detention facilities that house illegal entrants are temporary, according to Border Patrol Agent Tekae Michael on the border south of San Diego.

I know ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is completely overrun, she said. We dont have enough immigration judges to be able to process efficiently and effectively and swiftly.

Mexico is granting temporary papers to Central Americans, and volunteers from U.S.-based groups like San Diegos Border Angels bring supplies to the shelters. Mexican businesses are making donations.

Carlos Yee of the Catholic shelter Casa del Migrante says aid workers like him feel frustrated.

We dont have the power to work through this enormous bureaucracy. We only can say to them, be patient, he said.

The city of San Diego is visible through a border fence, just 30 kilometers north of here, but these migrants in Tijuana face many more hurdles on their journey. Yet, they are still hopeful.
BEIRUT - Lebanon's parliament gave the new coalition government the green light to start working with a vote of confidence on Friday after a televised session to debate its proposed policies.

Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has said the government will prioritize economic reforms needed to bring Lebanon's massive public debt under control.

The government was agreed this month following wrangling over the make-up of the cabinet that had lasted since soon after a parliamentary election last May.

Most of the major parties represented in parliament have places in the cabinet, including those of President Michel Aoun, the Western-backed Hariri and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, as well as the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

The reforms the government plans to pursue could be "difficult and painful," but are required to avoid a worsening of economic, financial and social conditions, its statement of policy said.

The government has pledged a "financial correction" equal to at least one percent of GDP a year over five years, starting with this year's budget.

This would be achieved by boosting revenues and cutting spending, starting with transfers to the state-run power company, which the World Bank has said represents a "staggering burden" on public finances.
Iranian teachers have staged peaceful rallies in at least six cities to protest what they see as government suppression of their rights and to call for better working conditions in their poorly paid profession.

Images verified by VOA Persian and sent from social media users inside Iran showed teachers rallying Thursday outside education departments in the northern cities of Ardabil and Urmia, the northwestern cities of Kermanshah, Marivan and Sanandaj, and in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

It was the largest-scale protest by Iranian teachers since mid-November, when the Telegram channel of the Coordinating Council of Teachers Syndicates in Iran (CCTSI) posted photos of elementary and high school teachers staging sit-ins and holding protest signs in and outside their offices in at least 27 cities. That strike action followed a similar round of nationwide teacher protests in Iran in mid-October.

Social media users in Iran told VOA Persian that the teachers involved in Wednesdays rallies echoed the demands of past protests, such as calling for the release of teachers rights advocates jailed by authorities, the right to teach students in minority languages, the improvement of poorly paid teachers living standards, and an end to government privatization of the education system.

Kermanshah teachers protest, Feb. 14, 2019

   | #    #:      pic.twitter.com/abD9IN2qWf  VOA Farsi (@VOAIran) February 14, 2019

One video of a teachers protest in Kermanshah showed dozens of men and women chanting a demand for the release of jailed Iranian education activists. Three prominent teachers union leaders serving multiyear sentences for alleged national security offenses at Tehrans Evin prison include Mohammad Habibi, Mahmoud Beheshti Langroodi and Esmail Abdi.

Sanandaj teachers protest, Feb. 14, 2019

   | #       #   pic.twitter.com/KHeQLUVs3Q  VOA Farsi (@VOAIran) February 14, 2019

A video of another teachers protest in Sanandaj showed dozens of people gathered on a sidewalk and quietly holding signs with educational demands, such as mother tongue education is a basic right.

Farsi, or Persian, is Irans official language. Article 15 of Irans constitution says the countrys schoolbooks must all be in this language and script. It also says the use of regional and ethnic languages  and the teaching of their literature at schools, alongside the Persian language, is freely permitted.

But a September 2018 report by the Brussels-based Unrepresented Peoples & Nations Organization (UNPO) said Iranian authorities have refused to apply this article and punished activists who advocate for education in a childs mother tongue.

Urmia teachers protest, Feb. 14, 2019

   | #     #        # pic.twitter.com/tXm7TySngk  VOA Farsi (@VOAIran) February 14, 2019

?Elsewhere, a video showed a small group of demonstrators also standing outside a building and holding signs as part of a teachers protest in Urmia.

CCTSI, the umbrella organization for Iranian teachers unions, posted no images or messages about Wednesdays rallies on its Telegram channel, whose last post was Feb. 1. There was no word on why its Telegram channel was silent, in contrast to its dozens of posts during the November protests.

Irans Human Rights Activist News Agency has said Iranian authorities have tightened their grip on labor unions in recent years and shown a particular vitriol toward those representing educators. In November, CCTSI said its strike actions were legal and not associated with any domestic or foreign political faction.

This article originated in VOAs Persian Service.
Speaking Friday about the car bombing in Indian Kashmir, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the terrorists and their patrons have committed a big mistake and will pay a big price for this.

At least 41 paramilitary soldiers were killed Thursday in Indian Kashmir when a bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into a convoy.

The attack, the deadliest targeting security personnel in Kashmir, occurred as 70 vehicles traveled on a main highway near Kashmirs summer capital, Srinagar.

The assault has inflamed tensions with Indias archrival Pakistan, which New Delhi accuses of sheltering and supporting militants that carry out violence in Kashmir.

Srinagar Srinagar, Kashmir Srinagar, Kashmir

Indias foreign ministry said in a statement: We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries.

Indias finance minister Arun Jaitley said India is working to ensure the complete isolation of Pakistan following the attack. This will include withdrawing the most favored nation status India had given Pakistan under World Trade Organization rules.

Jaish-e-Mohammad claims responsibility

Within hours of the attack, India blamed the attack on the Pakistan-based Islamist Jaish-e-Mohammad group.

Pakistan condemned the attack as a matter of grave concern and called on India to investigate it before pointing fingers at Islamabad.

We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the state of Pakistan without investigations, the foreign ministry said.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad, which took responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to a local news agency, said a locally recruited fighter had carried out the suicide bombing.

Forensic officials inspect the wreckage of a bus a Forensic officials inspect the wreckage of a bus after a suicide bomber rammed a car into the bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel Thursday, in Lethpora in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, Feb. 15, 2019. Forensic officials inspect the wreckage of a bus after a suicide bomber rammed a car into the bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel Thursday, in Lethpora in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, Feb. 15, 2019.

?Massive explosion

The brunt of the attack was borne by one bus that had about 44 personnel on board, but the massive force of the explosion also impacted other vehicles in the convoy, in which hundreds of paramilitary personnel were traveling.

Sanjay Sharma, a spokesman for the Central Reserve Police Force whose convoy was targeted, called it a very powerful explosion and said the bus had been completely shredded. Video showed twisted remains of charred metal. Witnesses said the explosion was heard several miles away.

The toll could rise because several soldiers are critically injured, according to officials.

Thursdays attack is the first using a car bomb in nearly two decades. Most militant attacks in Kashmir are carried out by gunmen.

People pay tribute to Central Reserve Police Force People pay tribute to Central Reserve Police Force personnel who were killed in an explosion in south Kashmir, inside a temple in Ahmedabad, India, Feb. 14, 2019. People pay tribute to Central Reserve Police Force personnel who were killed in an explosion in south Kashmir, inside a temple in Ahmedabad, India, Feb. 14, 2019.

?Terror listing

Prime Minister Modi called the attack despicable. In a tweet, he said, I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain.

In a statement, the foreign ministry demanded that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory. It said the government is firmly and resolutely committed to taking all measures to safeguard national security.

Indian officials appealed to the international community to support the proposal to list the radical cleric who heads the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Maulana Massod Azhar, as a designated terrorist. The move is backed by the United States and other countries, but blocked by China.

The attack was deadlier than one in 2016 that killed 19 soldiers, when four heavily armed terrorists raided an army camp in Kashmir. Relations between India and Pakistan had plummeted in the wake of that attack. New Delhi had said it carried out strikes in Pakistani territory to take out militant camps.

The governor of Jammu and Kashmir state, Satya Pal Malik, said Thursdays attack seems to be guided from across the border, a reference to Pakistan.

The Muslim-majority region of Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both. Militant groups fighting in the region either want the territorys independence or its merger with Pakistan.

Analysts said that the latest attack will put pressure on Modi, who faces elections in less than two months, to take a tough stand against Pakistan.
NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed a strong response to a deadly attack on security personnel in Indian Kashmir as New Delhi said that there was "incontrovertible evidence" that Pakistan had a "direct hand" in the assault and called for its complete isolation.

After meeting his security advisers on Friday, Modi promised that those behind the attack will pay a very heavy price and said security forces will be given a free hand to respond to the terrorists.

If our neighbor thinks such attacks can destabilize us, their plans will not materialize, the prime minister said at an event in New Delhi. I assure the country that the forces behind the attack, the culprits behind this attack  they will definitely be punished for their actions."

Indias Modi: Terrorists Will Pay for Kashmir Bombing Speaking Friday about the car bombing in Indian Kashmir, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the terrorists and their patrons have committed a big mistake and will pay a big price for this.At least 41 paramilitary soldiers were killed Thursday in Indian Kashmir when a bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into a convoy.The attack, the deadliest targeting security personnel in Kashmir, occurred as 70 vehicles traveled on a main highway near Kashmirs summer capital, Srinagar.The assault has Speaking Friday about the car bombing in Indian Kashmir, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the terrorists and their patrons have committed a big mistake and will pay a big price for this.At least 41 paramilitary soldiers were killed Thursday in Indian Kashmir when a bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into a convoy.The attack, the deadliest targeting security personnel in Kashmir, occurred as 70 vehicles traveled on a main highway near Kashmirs summer capital, Srinagar.The assault has

The Pakistan-based Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammad has taken responsibility for the suicide car bombing that targeted a paramilitary convoy on Thursday and killed at least 40 soldiers  the worst attack in the restive region in decades.

India accuses Pakistan of providing sanctuary to the Jaish-e-Mohammad and has demanded Islamabad stop supporting terror groups operating from its territory.

Islamabad has rejected any link to the attack. In a statement, the Pakistan foreign ministry said that We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations.

A protestor shouts slogans against Thursday's atta A protestor shouts slogans against Thursday's attack on a paramilitary convoy, in Jammu, India, Friday, Feb.15, 2019. A protestor shouts slogans against Thursday's attack on a paramilitary convoy, in Jammu, India, Friday, Feb.15, 2019.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said New Delhi would take all possible diplomatic steps to ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan of which incontrovertible evidence is available of having a direct hand in this gruesome terrorist incident. He said India is revoking Delhi trade privileges granted to its neighbor in 1996.

Removing trade privileges is seen as a symbolic response -- with trade at a paltry $2 billion between the two countries, it will not have any significant impact.

India accuses the Jaish-e-Mohammad of carrying out some of the deadliest attacks in the country, including an assault on its parliament in 2001 that brought the two countries to the brink of war. The group has been designated a "terrorist" organization by the United Nations, United States and several other countries.

At Least 40 Security Personnel Killed in Indian Kashmir Attack Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad claims responsibility

Kashmir, which lies at the heart of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan, is divided between the two countries. While India accuses Pakistan of supporting militant groups that carry out attacks in Indian Kashmir, Pakistan accuses India of human rights abuses in its only Muslim-majority region.

The latest attack comes more than two years after a militant raid on an army camp in Indian Kashmir killed 19 soldiers and prompted India to mount surgical strikes on militant camps in Pakistan.

That has raised speculation about how New Delhi will respond to Thursdays assault. But even as it takes a tough posture, analysts point out that India does not have many options.

Indian firemen spray water on a road to wash away Indian firemen spray water on a road to wash away blood after an explosion in Pampore, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Indian firemen spray water on a road to wash away blood after an explosion in Pampore, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019.

Security analyst Manoj Joshi at the Observer Research Foundation says any action must be strong enough to reflect Indias anger at this attack, but it should be below a certain threshold so that it does not trigger other problems. It is not an easy thing.

Analysts also point out that the surgical strikes in 2016 had no deterrent effect on militant attacks in India.

The latest attack has been condemned by many countries including the United States, which called "on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region."
Editor's note: We want you to know what's happening, and why and how it could impact your life, family or business, so we created a weekly digest of the top original immigration, migration and refugee reporting from across VOA. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com.

Downsizing the Wall

As the U.S. president holds onto the idea of a new barrier along the border with Mexico, he keeps slamming into the biggest wall Washington can put up - a lack of Congressional funding shattering Trump's dreams for a barrier behemoth. He's unhappy with lawmakers, but faced with the prospect of another government shutdown and Democrats who wanted to rein in his deportation escalation, the president yielded to Capitol Hill this week but then declared a national emergency to collect wall funding from other parts of the government.

The longest winter

Winter in the remotest parts of the desert between Syria and Jordan is bone-chillingly brutal. For 40,000 refugees at Rukban camp, there is no doctor and few supplies. Eight children have died since January. The conditions, described by a refugee nurse, are like "operating in the stone age."

UN Official: Conditions in Syrian Rukban Camp Throwback to 'Stone Age' A senior U.N. official reports the distribution of life-saving aid is nearly complete for 40,000 Syrians stranded in the remote Rukban camp near the Jordanian border. The U.N.s largest humanitarian convoy in Syrias eight-year conflict arrived at Rukban six days ago.This is the second U.N. convoy to reach this harsh desert outpost since November. Corinne Fleischer, the World Food Program representative in Syria and Rukban Convoy team leader, said the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and U.N. A senior U.N. official reports the distribution of life-saving aid is nearly complete for 40,000 Syrians stranded in the remote Rukban camp near the Jordanian border. The U.N.s largest humanitarian convoy in Syrias eight-year conflict arrived at Rukban six days ago.This is the second U.N. convoy to reach this harsh desert outpost since November. Corinne Fleischer, the World Food Program representative in Syria and Rukban Convoy team leader, said the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and U.N.

Refugee situations worsen in South Sudan, Myanmar

Fighting in South Sudan leaves thousands of displaced people without food, water and pushes thousands more into DRC for safety.

New Violence in South Sudan Sends Thousands Fleeing to DR Congo The United Nations refugee agency says a surge of violence in South Sudan's Yei State has displaced some 8,000 civilians and sent an estimated 5,000 people fleeing to the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. Clashes between the South Sudanese army and a rebel group, the National Salvation Front or NAS, broke out on January 19. This was barely four months after the latest peace deal aimed at ending the country's five-year civil war was signed by President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek The United Nations refugee agency says a surge of violence in South Sudan's Yei State has displaced some 8,000 civilians and sent an estimated 5,000 people fleeing to the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. Clashes between the South Sudanese army and a rebel group, the National Salvation Front or NAS, broke out on January 19. This was barely four months after the latest peace deal aimed at ending the country's five-year civil war was signed by President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek

Violence in Myanmar's southern Chin State and Rakhine State prompts more departures.
TAIPEI - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte harshly criticizes a lot of his critics, especially skeptics of his deadly anti-drug campaign. But he got so fed up with one journalist that his government had her arrested, experts suspect. Now Maria Ressa, executive editor of the news website Rappler.com, is facing cyber-libel charges.

Observers say the Duterte government, now in its third year, objects to Rappler.coms numerous articles criticizing the government's anti-drug campaign and the problems in the Philippine armed forces, among other sensitive topics.

Some of these issues are really sensitive to (the presidential office) Malacanang, like the internal problems within the military, and of course these tend to irritate or even aggravate the administration, said Ramon Casiple, executive director with the Philippine advocacy organization Institute for Political and Electoral Reform in Metro Manila.

Award-Winning Philippine Journalist Arrested on Libel Charges An award-winning Philippine journalist and founder of an online news site that has clashed repeatedly with President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested Wednesday by government agents on libel charges.Maria Ressa, executive editor of Rappler, Inc., was arrested following a complaint from a businessman linked to murder and trafficking humans and drugs. The Philippine justice ministry filed the case on behalf of the of businessman, who denies any wrongdoing. An award-winning Philippine journalist and founder of an online news site that has clashed repeatedly with President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested Wednesday by government agents on libel charges.Maria Ressa, executive editor of Rappler, Inc., was arrested following a complaint from a businessman linked to murder and trafficking humans and drugs. The Philippine justice ministry filed the case on behalf of the of businessman, who denies any wrongdoing.

The Rappler.com executive editor, who is also its CEO, spent a night in National Bureau of Investigation custody until a Manila judge let her post $1,905 (100,000 pesos) in bail Wednesday, her news website said. Ressa has been chronicling her legal troubles on Twitter, including details on her posting of bail. Rappler did not respond to VOAs request for comment for this report.

Critics with pre-existing legal problems are easiest to get and Ressa was one, said Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of Singapores public policy school.

Her company Rappler Inc. was already facing tax evasion charges that could shut it down. There are many Duterte critics out there, but they dont have the vulnerabilities like Maria Ressa, so Duterte has no handle against other critics, Araral said.

Sensitive stories

Rappler published stories critical of the Philippine government over extrajudicial killings in his anti-drug campaign and gaps in the impoverished countrys economic growth.

Philippines Stays in Rights Council, Despite Deadly Drug Crackdown The Philippines has been elected to the U.N. Human Rights Council, boosting President Rodrigo Duterte's reputation after two years of criticism of hitman-style killings in his country's crackdown on illegal drugs.Rights groups opposed the country's bid, saying it has no business joining the council, which calls out rights abuses.Duterte, elected in 2016, has openly challenged U.N. special rapporteurs worried about conditions in the Philippines. The Philippines has been elected to the U.N. Human Rights Council, boosting President Rodrigo Duterte's reputation after two years of criticism of hitman-style killings in his country's crackdown on illegal drugs.Rights groups opposed the country's bid, saying it has no business joining the council, which calls out rights abuses.Duterte, elected in 2016, has openly challenged U.N. special rapporteurs worried about conditions in the Philippines.

The media outlets reporting on the Philippine military has questioned officials for considering a renegotiation of the mutual aid treaty with the United States and accused Duterte of abandoning his leftist sentiments in a fight now against communist rebels.

Ressa, a former CNN investigative reporter who co-founded Rappler six years ago, had contacts in government who helped the news website get stories, analysts believe.

The president got fed up with it all, said Fabrizio Bozzato, associate fellow with Taiwan Strategy Research.

Rappler was certainly a thorn in the flank of the Duterte Administration, Bozzato said. I understand that he doesnt take criticism very lightly, so the move against Maria Ressa was to be expected.

The Philippine justice department charged Ressa and her news outlet on February 6 over an article seven years ago about possible ties between a Philippine businessman and a former president of the Philippine Supreme Court. She faces up to 12 years in jail if convicted of cyber-libel.

Fellow journalists and overseas human rights groups have defended Ressa since her arrest.

Duterte Faces New 'Crimes Against Humanity' Complaint Relatives of several people slain in the Philippine president's anti-drug campaign asked the International Criminal Court on Tuesday to prosecute him for alleged crimes against humanity, in the second such request for a ruling on thousands of deaths that have occurred during the crackdown. Lawyer Edre Olalia said a 50-page complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte was sent to an ICC prosecutor by email. Olalia said it accuses Duterte of ordering, inciting or tolerating the drug killings from the Relatives of several people slain in the Philippine president's anti-drug campaign asked the International Criminal Court on Tuesday to prosecute him for alleged crimes against humanity, in the second such request for a ruling on thousands of deaths that have occurred during the crackdown. Lawyer Edre Olalia said a 50-page complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte was sent to an ICC prosecutor by email. Olalia said it accuses Duterte of ordering, inciting or tolerating the drug killings from the

The charges she faces are not justice, but an attempt to gag a media outlet and editor recognized internationally for their professionalism and independence, Christophe Deloire, secretary-general of the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, said in a statement.

Getting tough on the media

The Philippines ranked 133 of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Duterte normally targets critics with verbal criticism or through legal means, political experts say.

He called former U.S. President Barack Obama a son of a whore in 2016 over Obamas comments about the Philippine anti-drug campaign.

Outspoken opposition Sen. Leila de Lima has been quoted saying the government made up charges to arrest her in 2017. She was charged with harboring drug lords.
NAIROBI, KENYA - Members of Kenyas LGBT community are looking forward to a High Court ruling that might decriminalize gay sex. The impending ruling is raising hopes among LGBT persons across the region.

South of Nairobi, in a remote town, models are in training in a safe house tucked in a quiet neighborhood. These are not just any models. These are LGBT refugees from Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

Most fled persecution from their home countries because of their sexual orientation.

Lubega Musa, 27, fled to Kenya in 2015. He, together with other LGBT refugees, started an economic empowerment program called Lunco Haute Cotoure, whose activities focus on fashion, design and music.

There are things we would love to do as Lunco Houte Cotoure for the gay community openly, but we cannot do them because of the law, Musa said. So, if there is change in the law, if same-sex becomes legal in Kenya, we as artists, we work with the gay community. The situation will be much better for us to exhibit our talent, and you know the LGBT community is one that is most talented in the arts.

WATCH: Kenya High Court Ruling on Decriminalizing Gay Sex Awaited

High Court ruling

Kenyas High Court will rule this month on whether to repeal Section 162 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes gay sex.

In Kenya, one can be sentenced to up to 14 years for violating the law.

Activists say the case is a milestone in the fight for LGBT rights in the region.

This is an opportunity for LGBTI people to claim their spaces, said Brian Macharia, a gay rights activist. Whether we win this case or not, there is visibility that is coming by the fact that we managed to get this far at the courts, that we got a lot of Kenyans thinking and talking about this.

Homophobic attacks are common in Kenya, as a majority of the population objects to homosexuality.

Members of the public listen as the High Court in Members of the public listen as the High Court in Kenya begins hearing arguments in a case challenging parts of the penal code seen as targeting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, at the High Court in Nairobi, Kenya, Feb. 22, 2018. Members of the public listen as the High Court in Kenya begins hearing arguments in a case challenging parts of the penal code seen as targeting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, at the High Court in Nairobi, Kenya, Feb. 22, 2018.

?Too soon, some say

Charles Kanjama, the lead lawyer representing the Kenya Christian Professionals Forum in the case, says Kenya is not ready to accept homosexuality.

We think that it is in the interest of our country, as do most other Africans in this continent in which we live, to outlaw homosexuality. That is gay sex in particular, and any manifestations as promotion or propagandizing in favor of gay sex, so that we can try as much as possible to encourage and promote healthy sexual behavior, he said.

Activists in Africa and elsewhere are campaigning against penal codes that criminalize gay sex, most of which date from the colonial period.

The laws in many countries are being overturned. India scrapped them last year. Angola in January.

Kenya might do it in a matter of weeks.

However the High Court rules, both sides are likely to appeal to the Supreme Court if they lose.
SEOUL - The second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in roughly two weeks is being seen by some as cause for optimism, but also as a moment of truth.

Park In-hook, the president of the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies, said during the organization's inaugural trilateral conference on China, U.S., and South Korean issues, theres a lot of emphasis on the February 27-28 talks in Hanoi because there is some phobia that this might be the last chance.

Real results expected in Hanoi

Former U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Joseph Yun said the international community had the right to expect results from the Hanoi summit.

The first meeting (Singapore summit) succeeded in breaking a barrier, [the] second meeting must show results [there] are two underlying issues. One is denuclearization and a second is building a peace process, said Yun.

Pompeo: US Aims to Get as Far Down Road as We Can' with N Korea The United States aims to "get as far down the road as we can" ahead of a summit with North Korea in Vietnam this month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday.Pompeo said he was sending his team back to Asia in the coming days for further discussions around all issues discussed at a groundbreaking Singapore summit last June between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.  The United States aims to "get as far down the road as we can" ahead of a summit with North Korea in Vietnam this month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday.Pompeo said he was sending his team back to Asia in the coming days for further discussions around all issues discussed at a groundbreaking Singapore summit last June between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 

He added there is a fear in the United States that getting into a peace track might lead to the acceptance of nuclear weapons in North Korea.

Many people in Washington are worried about this concept of denuclearization through peace, because that seems to most Americans... backwards. It should be denuclearization first, then peace, said Yun.

Recently, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun spent nearly three days engaged in talks with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Hyok Chol, in Pyongyang. While Biegun called the discussions productive, he also noted that much work still needed to be done.

How Communist Vietnam Will Gain as Host of US-North Korea Summit When Singapore played host in June to the first summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, businesspeople in the city-state made money from summit-themed merchandise and side events. About 2,500 journalists visited, and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was quoted saying the summit would bolster his countrys image abroad. Now Vietnam, as host to a second Kim-Trump summit scheduled for February 27-28, should expect to get even more, country specialists say When Singapore played host in June to the first summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, businesspeople in the city-state made money from summit-themed merchandise and side events. About 2,500 journalists visited, and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was quoted saying the summit would bolster his countrys image abroad. Now Vietnam, as host to a second Kim-Trump summit scheduled for February 27-28, should expect to get even more, country specialists say

"President Trump has made clear, both to North Korea as well as to our team, that he expects significant and verifiable progress on denuclearization -- actions that are bold, and real to emerge from that next summit, said Biegun.

Robert Einhorn, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, said the Trump administration is getting a lot more realistic about whats needed for serious negotiations to take place in Hanoi.

We are unlikely to learn whether Kim Jong Un is really willing to give up his nuclear weapons, Einhorn said. He added that he strongly doubts the Trump administration can secure a commitment from North Korea to completely denuclearize.

North Korea Looking for Home-Grown, Sanctions-Proof Energy Power-strapped North Korea is exploring two ambitious alternative energy sources, tidal power and coal-based synthetic fuels, that could greatly improve living standards and reduce its reliance on oil imports and vulnerability to sanctions.Finding a lasting energy source that isnt vulnerable to sanctions has long been a priority for North Korean officials. Power-strapped North Korea is exploring two ambitious alternative energy sources, tidal power and coal-based synthetic fuels, that could greatly improve living standards and reduce its reliance on oil imports and vulnerability to sanctions.Finding a lasting energy source that isnt vulnerable to sanctions has long been a priority for North Korean officials.

But he added there is an alternative course of action than returning to a strategy of squeezing the North Koreans economically, deterring North Korea's aggressive behavior, and eventually bring about its fundamental transformation or collapse.

Negotiate an interim agreement that would cap, and perhaps reduce, North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities, he said.

Its something Einhorn believes would allow North Korea and the United States to continue negotiations toward the goal of complete denuclearization, but without a deadline.

Such a deal would have some disadvantages, he said, but it could also limit Pyongyangs weapons development progress and open channels of communication that could be used to pursue confidence-building measures to reduce tensions and avoid dangerous miscalculations.

US General Notes 'Little to No' Progress on North Korea's Capabilities North Korea's nuclear and other military capabilities remain unchanged and still pose a threat to the United States and its allies, the top U.S. military commander in South Korea told a Senate hearing Tuesday."Little to no verifiable change has occurred in North Korea's military capabilities," despite Pyongyang's public statements about denuclearization, General Robert Abrams, head of U.S. Forces Korea, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.The comments underscore the stalled diplomacy between the North Korea's nuclear and other military capabilities remain unchanged and still pose a threat to the United States and its allies, the top U.S. military commander in South Korea told a Senate hearing Tuesday."Little to no verifiable change has occurred in North Korea's military capabilities," despite Pyongyang's public statements about denuclearization, General Robert Abrams, head of U.S. Forces Korea, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.The comments underscore the stalled diplomacy between the

Can the process move forward?

Despite a general sense of optimism surrounding the upcoming summit, there is still the possibility of continued stagnation, or the status quo, said Zhang Fangming, chairman of the Academic Committee of the Center for Foreign Policy Studies at the China Foundation for International Strategic Studies.

He said this may happen if [North Korea] refuses to make a nuclear declaration in any form at the current stage or does not accept verification of its declaration.

Another scenario that may perpetuate the status quo revolves around the U.S. Congress response to the summit and if they refuse to gradually lift sanctions against Pyongyang without it first comprehensively abandoning its nuclear program or making a comprehensive declaration.

Zhang said the only correct choice is to jointly make [a] long term and worthy effort for the full denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Tale of Two Cities: Hanoi May Offer Example of Reform to Pyongyang During Summit In 1986, when William Brown, a onetime U.S. intelligence official and government economist, was stationed in Seoul, he ran into a Vietnamese delegation at the Plaza Hotel. They were in town for the Asian Games.Once the delegation learned Brown was an American official, they immediately became formal and, as if they had approved diplomatic instructions told Brown they were very impressed with how the U.S. had built up Seoul and said their government wanted to bury the hatchet with Washington so the U In 1986, when William Brown, a onetime U.S. intelligence official and government economist, was stationed in Seoul, he ran into a Vietnamese delegation at the Plaza Hotel. They were in town for the Asian Games.Once the delegation learned Brown was an American official, they immediately became formal and, as if they had approved diplomatic instructions told Brown they were very impressed with how the U.S. had built up Seoul and said their government wanted to bury the hatchet with Washington so the U

But Kim Sung-han, South Koreas former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said President Trump may agree to something attractive to the U.S. for the easing of sanctions on North Korea.

President Trump could choose a part of the North Korean nuclear problem like ICMBs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) because they are the most threatening to the safety of U.S. citizens, said Kim.

But the problem, according to Kim Sung-han, is that if, after two summits, Trump and Kim do not come to an agreement where Pyongyang declares its nuclear capability, then the United States would be acquiescing to North Koreas tactics.

Handong Global University professor Kim Joonhyung said both Kim Jong Un and President Trump are aware of the criticisms.

He said the Hanoi meeting is very much a moment of truth.

If this [summit] fails, he said, he doesnt think there will be future meetings between the two leaders.

He added that the big question for the upcoming summit is, How much sanctions relief Trump is willing to offer in exchange for [partial denuclearization.]
MEXICO CITY - Mexico's new government is trying to slash the cost of sending cash home for Mexican families living abroad and is hoping competition from fintechs (financial technology) will encourage banks and services like Western Union to reduce commissions and improve exchange rates.

Deputy Finance Minister Arturo Herrera said the government did not plan to place new regulations on the flow of remittances, one of the country's largest sources of foreign currency and a lifeline for millions of poor families.

FILE PHOTO: Arturo Herrera, a nominee for deputy f FILE PHOTO: Arturo Herrera, a nominee for deputy finance minister by Mexico's president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Mexico City, Mexico, Aug. 21, 2018. FILE PHOTO: Arturo Herrera, a nominee for deputy finance minister by Mexico's president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Mexico City, Mexico, Aug. 21, 2018.

Sending remittances

However, the former World Bank executive envisaged that the increasing use of money transfer apps would help bring down the cost of sending remittances. Currently, the commission charged and the foreign exchange rates imposed together take a bite out of each remittance of 8 percent on average. Herrera said that should be brought down to 5 percent.

"That is to say, the cost of transactions must come down by about 40 percent. That is something the fintechs are probably in a better position to do than traditional actors such as banks," Herrera told Reuters in an interview earlier this week.

"Their great advantage is that they can operate in a more efficient and direct way and at lower costs, which should lead to lower commissions, Herrera said.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office on Dec. 1, has made fighting poverty and inequality a centerpiece of his administration. Herrera said bringing down the cost for financial services like remittances would help many of the nation's neediest.

Banking costs are a sensitive issue in Mexico. When Lopez Obrador's ruling MORENA party introduced a bill last year to limit banking fees it triggered a selloff in the stock market. Lopez Obrador distanced himself from the bill.

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pre Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador presents the new economic program for the northern border zone, in Tijuana, Baja California State, Mexico, Jan. 6, 2019. Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador presents the new economic program for the northern border zone, in Tijuana, Baja California State, Mexico, Jan. 6, 2019.

Calm investors

Other changes were better received, with credit ratings agency Fitch saying a bill introduced by Lopez Obrador to loosen restrictions on pension fund managers could lead to better returns and payouts for beneficiaries.

Lopez Obrador has also tried to calm investors' nerves by saying there would be no modifications to the legal framework relating to economic, financial and fiscal matters in the first three years of his tenure.

The government says 24 million Mexicans live in the United States, by far the largest source of money sent home. Mexicans sent a record $33.5 billion in remittances in 2018, a 10.5 percent jump from a year earlier, Mexican central bank data show.

Mexico is already home to 75 startups that specialize in payments and remittances, data from fintech platform Finnovista show, while remittance apps like Remitly and Xoom have been gaining popularity.

Herrera said banks and Western Union would have to make their services cheaper to compete with money transfer apps. He did not say how quickly that would happen.

"I wish we could make it happen immediately," he said.

FILE - A Moneygram logo is seen outside a bank in FILE - A Moneygram logo is seen outside a bank in Vienna, Austria, June 28, 2016. FILE - A Moneygram logo is seen outside a bank in Vienna, Austria, June 28, 2016.

No comment from Western Union

Western Union and its closest rival Moneygram did not respond to requests for comment. The Mexican Banking Association declined to comment on the topic.

Turning to fintechs for change is part of a broader strategy aimed at decreasing the use of the cash in Mexico, Herrera said. He said the Finance Ministry planned to reveal additional measures at the annual Banking Convention in March.

Ninety percent of transactions in Mexico are made in cash, in a system that he said is inefficient and expensive and creates ample opportunities for corruption and money laundering.
Elk Grove, CA (95624)

Today

Generally clear. Low 56F. SSW winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Generally clear. Low 56F. SSW winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.
LONDON - Pressure is mounting on the British government to decide whether it will repatriate  and prosecute when possible  dozens of the Islamic State group's surviving British-born recruits, currently held by U.S.-led Kurdish forces in northeast Syria.

Britain, like other European countries, has been reluctant to take back IS recruits, whether male fighters or so-called jihadi brides as well as their children. A small number have been repatriated to their countries of origin, but hundreds are awaiting political or legal resolution of their cases as their appeals for help have largely been ignored.

The discovery this week in a refugee camp of a pregnant 19-year-old British woman who joined the militant group along with two girlfriends in 2015 has reignited a furious debate in Britain about what to do with surviving IS recruits, especially those who joined when still teenagers.

Public pleas for repatriation of male fighters, as well as IS brides languishing in overcrowded refugee and detention camps in northern Syria, weren't helped this week by the defiance of Shamima Begum, who is nine months' pregnant with her third child. She was a schoolgirl when she sneaked off from her home in east London and joined IS in Syria. She and two friends married IS fighters, in her case a Dutchman who converted to Islam.

Mideast Islamic State Ideology FILE - This Feb. 23, 2015, file handout image of stills taken from CCTV issued by the Metropolitan Police shows Kadiza Sultana, left, Shamima Begum, center, and Amira Abase going through security at Gatwick airport, south England, before catching their flight to Turkey. Shamima Begum told The Times newspaper in a story published Feb. 14, 2019, that she wants to come back to London. FILE - This Feb. 23, 2015, file handout image of stills taken from CCTV issued by the Metropolitan Police shows Kadiza Sultana, left, Shamima Begum, center, and Amira Abase going through security at Gatwick airport, south England, before catching their flight to Turkey. Shamima Begum told The Times newspaper in a story published Feb. 14, 2019, that she wants to come back to London.

She expressed no remorse in an interview with The Times newspaper for joining IS, telling a reporter, "I don't regret coming here." She said the sight of a severed head of a captured fighter that had been discarded by a jihadist "didn't faze me at all." The pregnant teenager did speak of the deaths from malnutrition and illness of her first two children, saying she fled to the Kurds hoping to be returned to Britain for the sake of her still-to-be-born child so her infant can receive proper medical care in Britain's national health service.

"I'll do anything required just to be able to come home and live quietly with my child," she said. She said IS deserved to be defeated. "There was so much oppression and corruption that I don't think they [IS] deserved victory."

Her family, along with the relatives of her friend Amira Abase, have called on the British government to allow both of them back, saying they represent no threat and should be forgiven for their youthful errors. They say they were groomed by IS and too young to be held responsible. Kadiza Sultana, the third girl, was killed in an airstrike in 2016.

"I have no doubt the government should let them back in and teach them, so they learn from their mistakes," said the father of Amira Abase. She is believed still to be with IS forces. Begum's elder sister, Renu, told a British broadcaster she hoped her sibling would be allowed back to Britain. She added that her sister is "pregnant and vulnerable," adding "it's important we get her ... home as soon as possible."

Warning from Britain

There's little public sympathy for the girls' plight, however, and Begum's interview has prompted a media firestorm. In a poll by Britain's Sky News, 76 percent of respondents said the girls should be barred from returning.

Britain's security minister, Ben Wallace, has said the government won't help with Begum's repatriation, although as a British citizen she has the right to return.

But he warned in a statement, "Everyone who returns from taking part in the conflict in Syria or Iraq must expect to be investigated by the police to determine if they have committed criminal offenses, and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security. There are a range of terrorism offenses where individuals can be convicted for crimes committed overseas and we can also use Temporary Exclusion Orders to control an individual's return to the U.K."

FILE - Britain's security minister, Ben Wallace, s FILE - Britain's security minister, Ben Wallace, speaks at the International Security Expo, in London, Britain, Nov. 29, 2018. FILE - Britain's security minister, Ben Wallace, speaks at the International Security Expo, in London, Britain, Nov. 29, 2018.

London's Mayor Sadiq Khan has said that Begum should not be allowed back into Britain, if the security services believe she poses a risk to national security.

But the reporter who interviewed her, Anthony Loyd, said he believes Begum is an "indoctrinated jihadi bride" and urged against "judging her too harshly."

In December, a Belgian judge issued an order for the repatriation of half a dozen children and a pair of Belgian mothers, both IS recruits, from a Kurdish-controlled camp in northeast Syria. The women, Tatiana Wielandt and Bouchra Abouallal, both in their mid-20s, are being held in the al-Hol camp, one of several housing about 584 jihadi brides and 1,250 children, the offspring of IS fathers, most of them foreign fighters.

FILE - A Kurdish female fighter, left, walks next FILE - A Kurdish female fighter, left, walks next to a woman, reportedly the wife of an Islamic State (IS) group fighter, at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp of al-Hol in al-Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria, Feb. 7, 2019. FILE - A Kurdish female fighter, left, walks next to a woman, reportedly the wife of an Islamic State (IS) group fighter, at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp of al-Hol in al-Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria, Feb. 7, 2019.

?US position

Meanwhile, U.S. officials are now threatening to transport British IS fighters detained by the Kurds to the American detention center at Guantanamo Bay for prosecution before military commissions. Washington is especially keen to prosecute two alleged members of the so-called "Beatles" terror gang, Londoners El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, for their suspected participation in the torture and beheadings of Western journalists and aid workers, including American reporters James Foley and Steve Sotloff.

In this June 5, 2018 photo, reviewed by U.S. milit FILE - In this June 5, 2018 photo, reviewed by U.S. military officials, a task force member walks past the Camp 6 detention facility at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba. FILE - In this June 5, 2018 photo, reviewed by U.S. military officials, a task force member walks past the Camp 6 detention facility at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba.

An estimated 800 captured IS foreign fighters are being held by the Kurds. Officials from France, Britain, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands have said for more than a year that they are highly reluctant to accept the repatriation of IS foreign fighters or their wives, despite appeals by the Kurds and the Trump administration to do so. U.S. officials fear the fighters will be able to slip away, if they are not returned to their home countries.

European officials say they represent security risks and that there would be technical and legal difficulties in prosecuting them. Repatriated foreign fighters and their wives would try to use the courts for propaganda purposes, if prosecutions were mounted, they fear. Official British figures show that only one in 10 British IS fighters who managed to return home has been prosecuted. Most have been required to join rehabilitation programs.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met Friday with members of the U.S. trade delegation in Beijing where China and the U.S. are attempting to hammer out a trade deal.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin posted on Twitter Friday that he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had "productive meetings with China's Vice Premier Liu He."

Productive meetings with Chinas Vice Premier Liu He and @USTradeRep Amb. Lighthizer. pic.twitter.com/KxOZffFXAa  Steven Mnuchin (@stevenmnuchin1) February 15, 2019

Another round of negotiations between the two countries will continue next week in Wahington, Chinese state media reported.

Earlier, a top White House economic adviser expressed confidence in the U.S.  China trade negotiations in Beijing.

"The vibe in Beijing is good," National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters at the White House Thursday.

Kudlow provided few details but said the U.S. delegation led by Lighthizer was covering all ground.

That's a very good sign and they're just soldiering on, so I like that story, Kudlow said, And I will stay with the phrase, the vibe is good.

Negotiators are working to strike a deal by March 1, to avoid a rise in U.S. tariffs on $200 million worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent. President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that if talks are seeing signs of progress, that deadline could be pushed back.

When asked Thursday if there would be an extension, Kudlow said, No such decision has been made so far."

Analysts such as William Reinsch, a former president of the National Foreign trade Council and senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, say the talks are complicated by the three main areas under negotiation.

Market access, which I think is well on the way to completion. Some Chinese offers on intellectual property, which I think they are not going to offer what we wantAnd some compliance in enforcement matters.

Reinsch told VOAs Mandarin service that U.S. negotiators are specifically seeking ways to hold China accountable for the commitments it makes in any deal.

Munich security conference



While American and Chinese negotiators continue talks in Beijing, both countries are setting up for another potential face-off in Europe.



The U.S. and China are sending large delegations to Fridays Munich Security Conference in Germany, a high-level conference on international security policy. Vice President Mike Pence leads the U.S. delegation while Politburo member Yang Jiechi will be the most senior Chinese official.

Yang Jiechi is heading the largest-ever Chinese delegation to the conference traditionally attended by the U.S. and its European allies. He is pushing back against Washingtons campaign pressing Europe to exclude Chinese tech giant Huawei from taking part in constructing 5G mobile networks in the region.

U.S. officials say allowing the Chinese company to build the next generation of wireless communications in Europe will enhance the Chinese governments surveillance powers, threatening European security.

Although the technology behind 5G is complex, Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department, said the decisions for European countries is simple.

Given the nature of modern telecommunication, countries do have to make a choice about whether or not they believe that Huawei, given its relationship, not an ownership relationship, with Chinese government, can be trusted to provide the backbone of their future telecommunication system.

Both Pence and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned allies in Poland and other Central European countries this week on the dangers of closer ties with Beijing and collaboration with Chinese firms. In Budapest, Hungary on Monday, Pompeo said American companies might scale back European operations if countries continue to do business with Huawei.

Huawei has repeatedly denied its products could be used for espionage.

U.S. prosecutors have filed charges against Huawei including bank fraud, violating sanctions against Iran, and stealing trade secrets. The company refuted these accusations and rejected charges against its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is currently on bail in Canada following her arrest in December.

This years Munich Security Conference topics include the great power competition between the United States, China, and Russia. Conference organizers have listed US-China tensions as one of their top 10 security issues of 2019.
WASHINGTON - A Chinese film and television star who is suspected of faking his doctoral dissertation has publicly apologized and left his doctoral program at Peking University.

Zhai Tianlin issued a statement of remorse on his studio's social-media Weibo account Thursday as an investigation looked into online allegations that he plagiarized at least part of his doctoral thesis.

A blogger dug into Zhai's academic work and found that more than 50 percent of a paper Zhai published about White Deer Plain, a famous Chinese novel, appeared similar to a paper published by a professor in Anhui province more than 10 years ago, according to the Chinese web portal Sina.

College entrance test reviewed

Another part of his academic record  his score on China's national gaokao college entrance examination  has also come under scrutiny.

Zhai's popularity as an actor was enhanced by his strong academic record before the controversy erupted.That image fell apart quickly after online allegations of cheating. Ridicule of the actor's alleged plagiarism trended at the top of Weibo.

Beijing Film Academy, where he studied, and the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, where he was admitted as a postdoctoral scholar, said they were investigating Zhai's alleged thesis fraud. The controversy started last Aug. 26 when during a live webcast, Zhai was asked if his dissertation could be found on the academic database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CKNI). When Zhai responded, "What is CNKI?" suspicions were aroused online. That criticism and ridicule of the alleged plagiarism has grown recently.

Actor posts acceptance letter

On Jan. 31, the actor posted on his Weibo account a letter from Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, showing his acceptance as a postdoctoral fellow. A few days later, after he played an anti-counterfeiting police officer in a sketch on a variety program, Zhai became the target of public criticism and efforts to expose him ramped up.

In his apology letter, Zhai, who also goes by Ronald Zhai, said he deeply regretted any wrongdoing and that vanity and wishful thinking made him lose his head. He said he was officially leaving the postdoctoral program.

However, Zhai did not admit to plagiarism.

While investigations from the Film Academy and the Guanghua School are not finished, netizens appear to have concluded that Zhai plagiarized his paper.

Professor He Weifang, a professor at the School of Law of Peking University, said it was critical that Zhai, the Film Academy and the Guanghua School produce convincing evidence to dispute or confirm plagiarism as soon as possible.

"The so-called court of public opinion convictions are very common in the internet age," He said, even if the suspicions are not based on real crimes. "It's just that everyone pays particular attention to it. This includes truths and falsehoods in industrial products, food safety and other areas."

He said it is "very important and necessary for us to pay attention to these issues. This includes academia. If you can fake things in academia, then really anything else in this country can be faked." He added that the fact that netizens are questioning alleged fakery "is a very good thing."

'Failure of society'

Li Datong, a former reporter for the China Youth Daily and founding editor of the paper's Freezing Point weekly, said finding out that Zhai falsified his dissertation would not be unusual and reflects "a failure of society."

"Fraud is already mass-scale, the whole society is degenerate, and there is no moral bottom line, which is nothing new," Li said. "Officials are of course like this: Whoever is powerful will have a higher degree. So what comes out is if you can cheat, why can't I?"

Brian Kopczynski of the Mandarin Services translated and contributed to this article.
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CAPITOL HILL - The Democratic party is not a monolith or a rubber stamp for any idea or policy position. That's House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's oft-repeated way of describing the party she leads. But lately, a handful of House Democratic freshman have tested that approach to its limits, revealing cracks between the party's traditional support of Israel and progressives' vocal advocacy for Palestinians.

Newcomer Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a Somali-American, drew widespread condemnation for a tweet last Sunday implying Congressional support for Israel has been bought by money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a lobbying group that supports the U.S.-Israel relationship.

It%27s all about the Benjamins baby  https://t.co/KatcXJnZLV  Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 10, 2019

"It's all about the Benjamins baby," Omar tweeted late Sunday, asserting that politicians' support of Israel is driven by money.

She touched off a firestorm of complaints from Democratic and Republican leaders alike, including Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland. Omar's comment invoked offensive tropes about money or "Benjamins" a reference to $100 bills  that are often used against Jewish people. Her remark was magnified because the freshman holds a coveted seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Elio House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel D-N.Y., speaks during the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on Venezuela at Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 13, 2019. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel D-N.Y., speaks during the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on Venezuela at Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 13, 2019.

"It's shocking to hear a member of Congress invoke the anti-Semitic trope of 'Jewish money.' I fully expect that when we disagree on the Foreign Affairs Committee, we will debate policy on the merits and never question members' motives or resort to personal attacks," House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel of New York said in a statement this week that reflects many of his colleagues' reactions to the tweet.

"Criticism of American policy toward any country is fair game, but this must be done on policy grounds."

Omar apologized for her remarks Monday, tweeting "Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes." But she went on to say that AIPAC continues to be an issue of concern, although the highly influential organization does not make campaign contributions.

Listening and learning, but standing strong  pic.twitter.com/7TSroSf8h1  Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 11, 2019

During a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed Omar's apology as "lame" and called on her to resign. Omar replied by calling the president a hypocrite who has "trafficked in hate your whole life against Jews, Muslims, Indigenous, immigrants, black people and more."

Hi @realDonaldTrump- You have trafficked in hate your whole lifeagainst Jews, Muslims, Indigenous, immigrants, black people and more. I learned from people impacted by my words. When will you? https://t.co/EqqTyjkiNE  Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 13, 2019

The weeklong dust-up underscored growing divisions within a Democratic Party that for decades provided unalloyed support to the state of Israel but that now must adjust to skepticism within its ranks about the Israeli government and that country's policies towards the Palestinians. Trump and other Republican leaders are attempting to use their insistence on unqualified support for Israel as a litmus test to drive a wedge through the Democrats, according to media reports.

FILE - Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., listens to Presid In this Feb. 5, 2019, file photo, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., listens to President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech, at the Capitol in Washington. In this Feb. 5, 2019, file photo, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., listens to President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech, at the Capitol in Washington.

Omar, 37, was born in Mogadishu and spent her formative years in Somalia. She and her family were resettled as refugees in the United States in 1995, after the start of the Somalia civil war, and subsequently moved to Minneapolis, where she learned English and went to school. She studied political science and international affairs at North Dakota State University, before launching a career in politics. She won a seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2016  which made her the first Somali-American elected to legislative office in the U.S. Then last November, she won an open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Omar and Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, became the first two Muslim-American women elected to Congress.

Omar has been accused of anti-Semitic language in previous tweets expressing support for BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions), a movement that aims to end international support for Israel because of what the group calls "oppression of Palestinians." Each time, Omar has apologized and said the controversy was an opportunity for her to learn.

U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams arrives to testify before the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on Venezuela on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 13, 2019. U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams arrives to testify before the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on Venezuela on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 13, 2019.

This week, Omar declined requests to speak with the media following her apology on social media for her "Benjamins" comment. But she showed no signs of backing down from courting controversy on Wednesday, when she challenged U.S. Special Representative to Venezuela Elliott Abrams on his human rights record during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

During the contentious exchange, Omar mistakenly referred to Abrams as "Mr. Adams" and told him she did not understand why "this committee or the American people should find any testimony that you give today to be truthful."

Omar is one of several high-profile Democratic freshman members of Congress who have publicly voiced their support for the BDS.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., arrives to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., arrives to hear President Donald Trump deliver his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 5, 2019. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., arrives to hear President Donald Trump deliver his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 5, 2019.

?Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from a heavily Democratic district in New York, has condemned "the occupation of Palestine." Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman to serve in Congress, is currently seeking support for a congressional delegation trip or CODEL to Palestine later this year. AIPAC has a long history of organizing yearly congressional CODELs to Israel so that members can learn more about the situation on the ground.

Rep. Brian Babin R-Texas, leaves a strategy sessio Rep. Brian Babin R-Texas, leaves a strategy session with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., at the Capitol, in Washington, March 28, 2017. Rep. Brian Babin R-Texas, leaves a strategy session with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., at the Capitol, in Washington, March 28, 2017.

Rep. Brian Babin, a Republican from Texas, urged Democratic leaders in a letter sent Thursday to "please deny Rep. Tlaib's request to sponsor and lead a CODEL to Palestinian territories and exercise your authority as chair to deny your consent to any member of your committee who seeks your approval to participate in such a misadventure."

Last month, 22 Senate Democrats voted against legislation that would facilitate penalties against American companies that boycott Israel. Six of those votes were from Senate Democrats who are running for president.

Republicans see the growing support for Palestine on the part of younger, more progressive members of Congress as a possible opportunity to divide Democratic voters ahead of next year's presidential nomination contest.

A January 2018 Pew Research Center poll shows the partisan divide over Israel is at its widest point in four decades and that Democrats who sympathize more with Israel than with Palestinians has dropped from 38 percent to 27 percent since 2001.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., sp House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 13, 2019. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 13, 2019.

The House Republican leadership unexpectedly added a provision to unrelated legislation Wednesday condemning anti-Semitic language, forcing Democrats to go on the record against Omar's remarks. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California called the vote a defining moment in Congress and for the country.

"Amid the troubling rise of anti-Semitism, including attacks on synagogues and Jewish cemeteries, it is our duty as a nation to stand firmly against intolerance and division," McCarthy said in a statement. The provision passed unanimously, 424 to 0 vote.

McCarthy has also faced criticism about comments invoking stereotypes about Jews. In a now deleted tweet just before the 2018 midterm elections, McCarthy accused three leading Jewish Democratic donors of trying "to buy this election."

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talks Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talks with reporters during her weekly news conference, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talks with reporters during her weekly news conference, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019.

Leadership in both parties will have to step carefully in the coming months, as a high-stakes 2020 presidential race heats up. Both sides will be looking for divisive tweets and off-the cuff remarks to run in campaign ads, firing up the more committed voters at the extreme ends of the parties who tend to show up at polls in early primary contests.

Pelosi faces a tough dilemma. For the first time in decades of polling, the majority of Democrats identify themselves as liberal. The handful of progressive new House members are forcing policy discussions on a range of issues from U.S. support of Israel to climate change to taxation rates that is commanding media attention in a new way.
A top White House economic adviser is expressing confidence in the current U.S.-China trade negotiations in Beijing.

"The vibe in Beijing is good," National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters Thursday at the White House.

Kudlow provided few details but said the U.S. delegation led by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is "covering all ground" ahead of their expected meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow.

"That's a very good sign and they're just soldiering on, so I like that story," Kudlow said, "And I will stay with the phrase, the vibe is good."

Negotiators are working to strike a deal by March 1, to avoid a rise in U.S. tariffs on $200 million worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent. President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that if talks are seeing signs of progress, that deadline could be pushed back.

When asked Thursday if there would be an extension, Kudlow said, "No such decision has been made so far."

Analyst William Reinsch, a former president of the National Foreign Trade Council and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says the talks are complicated by the three main areas under negotiation.

"Market access, which I think is well on the way to completion. Some Chinese offers on intellectual property, which I think they are not going to offer what we want.  And some compliance in enforcement matters," he said.

Reinsch told VOA's Mandarin service that U.S. negotiators are specifically seeking ways to hold China accountable for the commitments it makes in any deal.

Munich Security Conference

While American and Chinese negotiators continue talks in Beijing, both countries are setting up for another potential faceoff in Europe.

The U.S. and China are sending large delegations to Friday's Munich Security Conference in Germany, a high-level conference on international security policy. Vice President Mike Pence leads the U.S. delegation while Politburo member Yang Jiechi will be the most senior Chinese official.

Yang Jiechi is heading the largest-ever Chinese delegation to the conference traditionally attended by the U.S. and its European allies. He is pushing back against Washingtons campaign pressing Europe to exclude Chinese tech giant Huawei from taking part in constructing 5G mobile networks in the region.

U.S. officials say allowing the Chinese company to build the next generation of wireless communications in Europe will enhance the Chinese governments surveillance powers, threatening European security.

Although the technology behind 5G is complex, Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department, said the decisions for European countries is simple.

Given the nature of modern telecommunication, countries do have to make a choice about whether or not they believe that Huawei, given its relationship, not an ownership relationship, with Chinese government, can be trusted to provide the backbone of their future telecommunication system.

Both Pence and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned allies in Poland and other Central European countries this week on the dangers of closer ties with Beijing and collaboration with Chinese firms. In Budapest, Hungary, on Monday, Pompeo said American companies might scale back European operations if countries continue to do business with Huawei.

Huawei has repeatedly denied its products could be used for espionage.

U.S. prosecutors have filed charges against Huawei, including bank fraud, violating sanctions against Iran, and stealing trade secrets. The company refuted these accusations and rejected charges against its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is currently on bail in Canada following her arrest in December.

This year's Munich Security Conference topics include the "great power competition" between the United States, China and Russia. Conference organizers have listed U.S.-China tensions as one of their top 10 security issues of 2019.
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By January 1, 2019, the brand value of Vietnam Airlines reached US$416 million, up 34 per cent year on year, putting it one spot higher on the list of Vietnams most valuable brands.-Photo Vietnam Airlines

By January 1, 2019, the brand value of Vietnam Airlines reached US$416 million, up 34 per cent year on year, putting it one spot higher on the list of Vietnams most valuable brands.

Brand Finance estimated that the carriers 2018 brand value accounted for 10 per cent of its total value, up from 8 per cent in 2017.

Last year, Vietnam Airlines was also honoured as a national brand of Vietnam by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the National Brand Council. The firm was the only aviation company to win the title at the 2018 National Brands.

Since 2007, Brand Finance has announced its annual ranking of the most valuable brands in each country, region and the world. This is the worlds only public ranking of brand value using the widely accepted ISO 10668 Royalty Relief method.

Through evaluating the effect of intangible assets on corporate value, Brand Finance rankings help businesses understand the importance of branding in creating profits to help them build appropriate marketing strategies.
About 100 students in Surabaya city protested against Valentine's day, saying it promoted Western decadence and casual sex. (Photo: AFP/Juni Kriswanto)

About 100 students in the second-biggest city, Surabaya, demonstrated against the chocolates-and-flowers celebration, saying it promoted Western decadence and casual sex.

"Say no to Valentine's now!" chanted the high schoolers, most of them teenaged girls in hijab head coverings. Some held placards with phrases like "Sorry Valentine's Day, I am Muslim".

School principal Arief Himawan warned that couples giving each other chocolates or other treats can quickly lead to sin.

"We want to remind our young generation not to be caught up in Western culture," he told AFP.

Authorities conducted raids in Surabaya, and Makassar city on Sulawesi island to snuff out any celebrations.

In conservative Aceh province - the only place in Indonesia that imposes Islamic law - a fresh Valentine's prohibition was issued, citing religious norms.

People are publicly whipped in the region for a wide range of offences including selling alcohol and gay sex and similar bans have been ordered in previous years.

While Valentine's was off the cards for some, many Indonesians practise a moderate form of Islam and celebrate the day with chocolates and flowers for their loved ones.

Meanwhile in India, more than 10,000 schoolchildren, some as young as six, made a Valentine's Day pledge not to marry without their parents' consent.

The vast majority of Indian marriages are arranged by families and couples who defy tradition to marry outside caste and religion face a severe and sometimes deadly backlash.

Some 10,000 pupils aged six to 17 and even some teachers took a vow at 25 schools to "love and respect their parents till eternity" in the western state of Gujarat - the stronghold of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I will always respect their decision because no one in the world has sacrificed for me like them," said student Samadrita Banerjee.

People in swifty-changing but still largely conservative India also often frown upon unmarried couples who can find themselves being abused and harassed in public places.

Elsewhere, a school association in the southern state of Karnataka alerted teachers and parents to ensure children did not celebrate Valentine's Day by bunking classes to go to shopping malls or the movies, The Times of India newspaper reported.
A corner of Tay Yen Tu Spiritual - Ecological Tourist Area. - Photo baobacgiang.com.vn

Provincial authorities yesterday held an opening ceremony at the Truc Lam Yen Tu Cultural Square in Thuong Yen Cong Ward, Uong Bi City.

Head of Uong Bi Citys Culture and Information Division Le Minh Quang said this years festival included a major art programme called Yen Tu Chao Xuan (Yen Tu Greeting Spring) with new performances.

Visitors to the festival will have the chance to enjoy traditional cultural activities such as dragon and unicorn dancing, traditional martial arts, flower displays, and admiring the Yen Tu yellow apricot flowers, Quang said.

Buddhists offering incense before a procession at the Tay Yen Tu Festival. - VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Dat

Apart from traditional art programmes, they can also participate in folk games like cock fighting, tug of war, con (cloth ball) throwing and chess, Quang added.

In the days ahead of the festival, about 150,000 tourists visited Yen Tu Mountain, up 25 per cent year-on-year, according to the official.

Yen Tu Mountain is located about 50 kilometres from Ha Long City. The area has awe-inspiring scenery, surrounded by ancient pagodas.

The historical relics and landscapes complex includes a system of historical and cultural relics associated with the founding and development of Truc Lam Zen meditation in Vietnam.

These relics are located in the border area between the three provinces of Bac Giang, Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, including five historical and scenic sites of Dong Yen Tu in Uong Bi City, Tran Dynasty Zone, Quang Ninh Province, Tay Yen Tu in Bac Giang Province and Con Son-Kiep Bac-Thanh Mai in Hai Duong Province.

An art performance to open the Yen Tu Spring Festival 2019.  VNA/VNS Photo Trung Nguyen

Tay Yen Tu festival

The Tay Yen Tu (Western Yen Tu) Spring Festival and the Culture-Tourism Week 2019 has also opened in Bac Giang Province.

The two events themed Kham pha vung at thieng Tay Yen Tu(Discovering the Sacred Land of Tay Yen Tu) will take place from February 14 to 20 (from the 10th to 16th day of the first lunar month).

These spiritual, cultural and tourist events are organised to introduce the outstanding cultural values of Bac Giang Provinces tourism, especially the cultural space of Truc Lam Zen Buddhist area in Tay Yen Tu region, to numerous domestic and foreign tourists, thus creating a breakthrough in attracting tourists, according to the provinces website baobacgiang.com.vn.

The events include activities such as the Buddhist statue procession, the opening of a culture-tourism camp, the award ceremony for a Bac Giang tourism photo contest and the launch of a photo contest on Tay Yen Tu.

Spring festival season well underway in VietnamPart of a procession at the Yen Tu Spring Festival 2019 which opens on Thursday in the northern Quang Ninh Provinces Uong Bi City. VNA/VNS Photo Trung Nguyen

Among the highlights of the events are the opening of an exhibition on culture-tourism products of the Truc Lam Zen Buddhist sect in Tay Yen Tu and a display of Vinh Nghiem Pagodas woodblocks, which were recognised as part of the world documentary heritage of Asia-Pacific.

At the same time, Buddhist followers and tourists will have an opportunity to experience Soong hao singing of the Nung people and a "love market" in the highlands of Tan Son Commune, Bac Giangs Luc Ngan District.

Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308), the third King of the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400), ascended to the throne when he was just 21. He was famed for defeating Mongol invaders twice during his 15-year reign.

Spring festival season well underway in VietnamThe Tay Yen Tu (Western Yen Tu) Spring Festival and the Culture-Tourism Week 2019 opens on Thursday in the Bac Giang Province.  VNA/VNS Photo Thanh at

The king abdicated when he was 35 and spent the rest of his life on Yen Tu Mountain practicing and propagating Buddhism. He founded the first Vietnamese School of Buddhism called Thien Tong or Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen on the 1,068m-high Yen Tu Mountain. The 20,000ha site is considered the capital of Vietnamese Buddhism.

Yen Tu became a major Buddhist Centre and King Tran Nhan Tong became its first leader under the religious name Dieu Ngu Giac Hoang-Tran Nhan Tong. He ordered the construction of hundreds of religious buildings on Yen Tu Mountains for teaching and following a religious life.

Besides temples, it also preserves many old religious and cultural documents such as precious prayer-books and monks writings.

Yen Tu was listed as a special national relic site in September 2012.
Eve Visconti, left, (pictured with her best friend Pascale Dunton) operates Arizonas only French food truck, stocked with dishes and pastries that she makes in her Ahwatukee home. Her La Petite Provence appears at various food truck rodeos and special events throughout the East Valley. In addition, she caters private parties and dinners and makes dishes to order for pickup or delivery.
Phidsanu Pongwatana, managing director of MM Mega Market Vietnam

MM Mega Market had quite a vibrant year in 2018. What can you share about your most important achievements in Vietnam over the past year?

For the first time MM Mega Market (MM) officially exported Vietnamese produce to Thailand. Since the beginning of last year, we have been exporting four containers, or an equivalent of 100 tonnes a month, of staple agri-products, including dragon fruit, sweet potatoes, and various snacks.

After almost a year exporting Vietnamese produce to the 700-mall Big C system in Thailand, these products have now been much welcomed by Thai consumers, and that will be a key stepping stone for MM to push forward our exportation in the following year.

Last year, MM also put into operation our Ben Tre fruit platform, raising the total number of active food depots in Vietnam to four. This first fruit depot for MM works to achieve our important strategic goal of exporting Vietnamese fruit to Thailand, China, and some other markets in the region.

With the endless efforts we made in 2018, we were very proud that MM Mega Market Vietnam was awarded the Business for Farmers title by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) for what we did in agri-product imports and exports.

This is a much sought-after award presented by the MARD to honour businesses that make significant contributions and dedication to local rural development, and takes on a leadership role in agricultural restructuring in Vietnam over the past five years.

Whats your take on the retail market and consumer trends for the upcoming year?

I believe that the retail market in Vietnam has great potential for growth. Vietnam is one of the leading countries in terms of expansion of wealthy people in the world, just behind China and Bangladesh. Added to that, the increasing per capita income in Vietnam will also drive gross household spending up over time.

The fast ongoing urbanisation process in Vietnam will also help expand consumer markets further. These are ideal preconditions for retail markets to prosper.

We expect the local retail market of 2019 to be more competitive and consumers to be more demanding. I think that consumers will care more about food quality and safety, product look and designs, services, and convenience when they shop.

We know that MM would also try to export more Vietnamese produce to Thailand in 2019. What are the specifics of this?

After the first year of exporting Vietnamese agri-products to Big C in Thailand and getting positive feedback from the market, we have planned to double output in 2019, to about 200 tonnes a month.

In addition to the traditional exports from this year, MM will continue launching more new and high-value product lines, including frozen catfish, cuttlefish, milk fruit, and especially pomelo to Thailand and other markets.

What strategies does MM have in mind for the next year to grasp opportunities and better meet the needs of consumers?

This year, MM will still continue to focus on food quality and safety through our strategy of expanding and further growing our food platforms all over the country, so that we have complete control of the entire process, from the farm to the table.

To offer customers with the best services possible, MM will work tirelessly to further improve our service quality. Importantly, for 2019, we have planned a groundbreaking launch of new MM malls, most of them in the two major cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This year will be the year MM speeds ahead in Vietnam.
FE Credits CEO and directors were delighted to receive the prestigious The Asian Banker award

FE Credit has been recognised as one of the top 10 largest private companies in the finance, banking, and securities sector, as announced in the annual rankings of Vietnams 500 largest enterprises (VNR500) in 2018, conducted by Vietnam Report. It is also the only finance company within the top 100 largest enterprises in Vietnam across all sectors.

The VNR500 ranking has for 12 years been researched and published based on multiple criteria including enterprise revenues, total assets, and total labour force, as well as their corporate prestige.

In addition to outstanding business results in 2018, FE Credit received 10 further awards from prestigious organisations and broke the record for the most wins in consumer finance (CF) in the history of the Vietnamese banking industry. Highlighted awards included Consumer Finance Product of the Year, from The Asian Banker; and Asias Most Innovative Consumer Finance Brand, awarded by Global Brands magazine.

Meanwhile, in September 2018, Moodys announced a corporate credit rating of B2 for the company. The rating is equivalent to the level of several leading domestic and foreign institutions in Vietnam.

The global recognition reiterates FE Credits outstanding achievements across the year. Whilst its parent VPbanks 2018 annual results has been officially released, the largest consumer finance firm in terms of market share in Vietnam has revealed its stellar performance. While almost all of its competitors witnessed a slowdown, FE Credit still scored an almost 30 per cent increase in accounts and 23 per cent swell in new customers on-year.

FE Credits recent awards in innovation reflected its excellence after years of pioneering the most advanced financial technologies into its business processes.

With three strong awards to its name, the companys credit cards overwhelmingly convinced the judges at the Cards and Electronic Payments International Asia Awards. The Asian Bankers award to FE Credit of Consumer Finance Product of the Year recognised the companys new digital lending process has enabled customers to purchase the desired products online and get instant loan approval, without the need to go to a physical outlet, and have the goods delivered to their doorstep next day.

Meanwhile, Global Brands also recognised FE Credit as Most Innovative Consumer Finance Brand thanks to its outstanding financial solutions in the market that integrate technologies into the lending process, helping to overcome the disadvantages of traditional lending models.

The continuous launches of many new capabilities to deliver fast and easy lending has contributed significantly to the success of FE Credit in the past year. The companys ambition is now to create a financial ecosystem driving financial inclusion in Vietnam and supporting economic progress by driving the wheels of domestic business.
The EU called the move 'non-discriminatory' but nobody doubts the main target is China. (Photo: AFP/Greg Baker)

Under a proposal adopted by the European Parliament, EU countries would supply information on foreign investment to other members if public order or security are concerned.

"We must defend Europe's strategic interests," European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said as he welcomed the vote passing in the assembly in Strasbourg, France.

"And for that we need scrutiny over purchases by foreign companies that target Europe's strategic assets," Juncker said, while insisting Europe will remain open to investment.

The parliament said it now expects European Union countries on Mar 5 to endorse the rules it adopted by 500 votes for, 49 against and 56 abstentions.

They would take effect 18 months later.

They aim to protect sectors like energy, transport, communications, data, space and finance as well as technologies such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence and robotics.

European Parliament negotiatiors added sectors such as water, health, defence, media, biotechnology and food security.

The European Commission, the 28-nation EU's executive arm, has pushed for screening such sectors for more than a year amid growing alarm over China's investments.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said earlier this week the draft is "non-discriminatory" but acknowledged there "is no secret" about concerns over China.

In December, Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip echoed US warnings about the threat posed by telecoms giant Huawei which Chinese law requires to cooperate with Beijing's intelligence services.

Huawei is seen as an attractive investor in EU countries as they prepare to roll out fifth-generation networks that will bring near-instantaneous connectivity, vast data capacity and futuristic technologies.

'SUPERMARKET FOR GREAT POWERS'

Huawei strenuously denies its equipment could be used for espionage.

"Some foreign powers plan their policy of economic conquest abroad," French MEP Franck Proust warned after he steered the legislation through parliament.

"Europe has just armed itself to be able to respond to this kind of strategy and not become a supermarket for great powers," said Proust, a member of the centre-right European People's Party, the largest group in the assembly.

The rules call for sharing foreign direct investment information among EU member states, which can issue comments on FDI targeting other member states.

The Commission can ask for information and send its opinion to the country concerned, which nonetheless makes the final decision.

The new framework will build on and complement various ones in 14 EU countries: Austria, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Britain.

Juncker launched the campaign for investment screening during his annual state of the union speech to the European Parliament in September 2017.

The plan fulfils a request by French President Emmanuel Macron, backed by Germany and Italy, that Brussels draw up a strategy to counter a wave of takeovers by Chinese companies in Europe.

German concerns were sparked by acquisitions at the time in the tech sector, most notably Chinese household goods maker Midea's takeover of industrial robotics firm Kuka last year.
In drive hunting, fishermen force dolphins into a cove where the panicked animals get tangled in nets, suffocate and drown. (Photo: AFP)

In drive hunting, fishermen force dolphins into a cove by beating on boats to disorient them. The panicked animals often get tangled in nets, suffocate and drown.

Activists say some dolphins smash into rocks and die of injuries, while others are killed by fishermen who thrust a long metal rod repeatedly into the body just behind the blowhole to damage the spinal cord.

In the suit filed last week, the plaintiffs are demanding the governor of western Wakayama prefecture revoke a three-year drive hunting permit in the port town of Taiji.

The practice was filmed in the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, which sparked controversy when it thrust the annual hunt into the global spotlight.

Many in Japan felt it unfairly targeted the town's fishing community, but others were horrified by the disturbing footage.

The lawsuit is the first-ever legal challenge to the hunt in Taiji, according to a lawyer involved in the filing.

It argues that the hunting method violates Japan's animal welfare act, which stipulates animals shall not be abused or killed unnecessarily and that - when they must be killed - their pain must be minimised.

"Many Japanese see dolphins as fish and mistakenly believe the animal welfare act does not apply to them," said Ren Yabuki, head of an environmental NGO, who brought the action along with a Taiji resident who asked for anonymity.

"I've seen many times that half-killed dolphins are taken away on small boats, thrashing about in pain," Yabuki said, adding it can take dozens of minutes for the animals to die.

The suit challenges the way the hunt is carried out, rather then all kinds of dolphin hunting.

It also claims fishermen are catching more dolphins than allowed by legal caps.

No immediate comment was available from Wakayama officials on the lawsuit.

Dolphins are traditionally caught for meat in Japan, and defenders of the hunt say it is an important part of local culture and point out that dolphins are not endangered.

Nowadays, an increasing number of dolphins are being trapped and sold live for aquariums rather than killed, as demand rises from China or elsewhere, Yabuki said.

Japan has strongly defended its hunting of dolphins and whales, a rare piece of provocative diplomacy for the country, which has generally pursued an uncontroversial foreign policy since its World War II defeat.

It sparked outrage in December when it decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission, saying it would return to commercial whaling as part of its cultural heritage.


Crazy Horse 3, located at 3525 W. Russell Rd., will invite college students to put down the books for Spring Break Strip Down parties throughout the month of March.

The award-winning gentlemens club will go wild this Spring Break by offering college students 21 or older with a valid university I.D. a complimentary cocktail, expedited entry to the venue and a free ride in the clubs transportation for students staying at a hotel on the world-famous Las Vegas Strip. Crazy Horse 3 also offers a daily happy hour, available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with $5 Patron Tequila and Ketel One Vodka cocktails, $5 Bud Lights and $5 food selections.

Students are encouraged to take advantage of Crazy Horse 3s complimentary limo service, pending availability, using the clubs signature app or by calling 702-673-1700. The easy-to-use app, available for download on all mobile platforms, allows users to personalize their experience with features including table reservations, bottle service packages and dancer profiles.
Michael Boyko co-founded Dynamic Water Technologies in Scottsdale. He said the company can help industrial and commercial users, including hospitals, office buildings and local governments, conserve water.
Valdosta, GA (31601)

Today

Partly cloudy in the morning followed by scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 86F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy skies. Low 69F. Winds light and variable.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

The West will likely orchestrate a state coup in Chisinau and President Igor Dodon's impeachment if socialists win the upcoming parliamentary elections in Moldova, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2019) The West will likely orchestrate a state coup in Chisinau and President Igor Dodon's impeachment if socialists win the upcoming parliamentary elections in Moldova Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said.

In an interview to the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, Patrushev stressed that the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM), which was headed by Dodon before he was elected as the country's president, currently leads the electoral campaign. The party advocates for rapprochement both with Russia and the European Union and opposes "romanization" of independent Moldova.

"However, the West is not satisfied with that. In this regard, the country's right-wing forces with Western support are trying to discredit popularly elected President Igor Dodon, seeking to impose a view that removal of socialists from the election campaign is necessary.

Moldovan society is pushed to a split and conflicts, voters are divided on the principle of 'for or against the West.' This is a usual policy of the creators of 'color revolutions'. We have already witnessed the same in Ukraine in 2014, when the coup was carried out," Patrushev said.

"If socialists win the election the West will likely encourage the country's rightists to create the Moldovan 'Maidan' in Chisinau and push them to impeach the president ... However, I would like elections in Moldova to be fair and impartial," Patrushev added.
Russia, as a permanent UN Security Council member and a country with influence in North Africa, could make a great contribution to bringing Morocco and the Polisario Front to the negotiating table to resolve their years-long dispute around Western Sahara, the minister delegate for African affairs of the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2019) Russia, as a permanent UN Security Council member and a country with influence in North Africa, could make a great contribution to bringing Morocco and the Polisario Front to the negotiating table to resolve their years-long dispute around Western Sahara, the minister delegate for African affairs of the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) told Sputnik.

For decades, Morocco has been involved in a conflict with the Polisario Front movement over control of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that was transferred under control of Morocco and Mauritania in 1973. In 1976, Polisario Front declared that it had established the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. This partially recognized state claims Western Sahara, but controls only a small part of it. The United Nations does not recognize the republic and demands that a referendum on self-determination be held. Morocco pushes a plan for the region's autonomy, while Polisario insists that the status of the territory should be determined by a referendum among the local population.

"Russia could play a very important role in the UN Security Council but also in the North Africa to push the two parts of Morocco, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, to sit down at the negotiation table and support the efforts of the UN Special Envoy [Horst] Koehler," Hamdi Khalil Mayara said, adding that the republic maintained contacts with Russia and had recently held consultations with the country's officials.

According to the minister delegate, the partially-recognized republic seeks a direct dialogue with Morocco with a view to finding a solution which would respect the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination.

"We want to switch to direct negotiations between us and the Kingdom of Morocco to prepare the ground to find a solution which respects the right of the Sahrawi people for self-determination as fast as possible," he stressed.

Mayara went on to note that South Africa  which will hold the African Union (AU) presidency next year  could be another country and a current UN Security Council member, which could also play a role in helping to resolve the crisis around Western Sahara.

"The weight of South Africa, the history of fight against apartheid, and of support to the liberation movement, calls for South Africa through its influence, its international relations to play an important role for a definitive solution to the problems of Western Sahara, which lasted for too long, and to push the international community to respect, international legitimacy, so that the people of Western Sahara could exercise their right for self-determination as fast as possible," he said, when commenting on South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's recent words of support for "the struggle for self-determination by the Sahrawi people."

The minister delegate added that South Africa would host a conference on solidarity with the Sahrawi people in March.

Commenting on the AU initiative to launch the African Mechanism on Western Sahara, whose first meeting was held on Sunday, Mayara said that the organization played a significant role in efforts to settle the protracted crisis.

"There is a decision of the AU which requires the two states to sit down at the negotiation table. The AU has also asked the two parties  Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic  to accept the visit of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights as soon as possible. Our government accepted it, we expect Morocco to accept it in their turn too. The AU and the UN are the two responsible for the issue of Western Sahara," he said.

Russia has repeatedly stressed that the final formula to resolve the dispute should be acceptable to both Morocco and the Polisario Front and provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara through procedures consistent with the principles and purposes of the UN Charter. Moscow also expresses determination to continue working with all the parties to the Western Sahara settlement and supports UN-mediated talks between the two sides in Geneva.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Russia has signed tree defense agreements with Serbia, including on the deliveries of aircraft, during the recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Belgrade, Viktor Kladov, the head of the international cooperation department of Russian state corporation Rostec, told Sputnik in an interview

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2019) Russia has signed tree defense agreements with Serbia, including on the deliveries of aircraft, during the recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Belgrade, Viktor Kladov, the head of the international cooperation department of Russian state corporation Rostec, told Sputnik in an interview.

"This year has started successfully. We have already signed a number of contracts with foreign partners, including three deals during the president's visit to Serbia," Kladov said, specifying that the contracts were dealing with aircraft deliveries.

According to a source in the Russian defense cooperation sector, the contracts envision supplies of Mig-29 jets.
There are no grounds to say that China is somehow squeezing Russia out of Central Asia, since both countries have their own niches in the region and are equally interested in their security and stability, Russian Ambassador in Beijing Andrey Denisov said Thursday.

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2019) There are no grounds to say that China is somehow squeezing Russia out of Central Asia, since both countries have their own niches in the region and are equally interested in their security and stability, Russian Ambassador in Beijing Andrey Denisov said Thursday.

"I honestly do not see any reason to talk about China's forcing Russia out of the Central Asian region. This region is kind of the core of the broad Eurasian space, the balanced development of which is in the interests of both China and Russia," Denisov told Russian journalists in an interview.

According to the ambassador, the two countries have sort of different specializations in the region  China, as a more powerful economy, is very active in the economic area, while Moscow is focused on issues of security and stability in Central Asia.

"In any case, I am unaware [of the cases where] our Chinese counterparts would encroach on those areas in which Russia has established mutually beneficial cooperation with the countries of the region," he stressed.

The diplomat added that China was interested in the stability and security of the region, including as a factor in ensuring the success of its Belt and Road Initiative.

"We, in turn, are interested in exactly the same, based on our interests. So here, there is a platform for joint work, rather than competition," Denisov concluded.

China's Belt and Road Initiative, first announced in 2013, is aimed at developing infrastructure and strengthening ties between the Eurasian countries. The project focuses mainly on the Maritime Silk Route and on the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt.

Russia and China also exchange views on interlinking some of the projects of the Eurasian Economic Union, which the former is a part of, and the Belt and Road Initiative.
Russia, Turkey and Iran on Thursday agreed on several key directions of future interaction in the settlement of the Syrian crisis after a trilateral summit of their presidents in the Russian city of Sochi.

"It is very important that our three countries intend to strengthen cooperation within the framework of the Astana process, which proved its necessity," Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference, following "constructive and businesslike" talks with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts.

"We will continue to enhance our efforts in fighting terrorism, promoting intra-Syrian dialogue and improving the humanitarian situation in Syria," he said.

In particular, the presidents agreed to continue the efforts to eradicate militants in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province and to take additional steps in finally eliminating the tension and reaching stabilization in this region.

Meanwhile, the three countries will help Syria establish a committee to carry out constitutional reforms in the country, Putin said.

"We have agreed to contribute by joint efforts to the most rapid start of work of the constitutional committee, which is to work on the fundamental aspects of the future state system of Syria," he said.

It is necessary to approve the list of participants of the committee, most of which have already been agreed on with the Syrian government and the opposition, and elaborate regulations for the main parameters of its functioning, Putin added.

Russia, Turkey and Iran are guarantors of a ceasefire deal in Syria and have been mediating a peace process for the Syrian crisis since 2016.

Putin said the three guarantor countries have helped to create favorable conditions for Syria's transition to peaceful development.

"We are convinced that a durable stability in Syria can only be reached by political and diplomatic methods in accordance with the resolution 2254 of the UN Security Council and with strict observation of principles of unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country," he said.

He underlined the importance of humanitarian aid to Syria, saying that the three countries have contributed to the return of 1.5 million refugees.

On the other hand, he urged the international community to pool efforts so as to radically improve the situation in Syria, to eliminate acute social problems and to revive the economy.

"We call on all interested states and international organizations, primarily the UN, to intensify aid to Syrians in return to peaceful life and overcoming the consequences of the military conflict," Putin said.

The three presidents also discussed the further development of the situation in Syria after the U.S. announcement of plans to withdraw its troops from Syria's northeastern regions.

"We came to a general conclusion the implementation of these measures could become a positive step. It would help stabilize the situation in that part of Syria, where finally the control by the legitimate government should be restored," Putin said.

Echoing Putin's remarks, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said it would be "good news" for local population if the U.S. completely withdraws its troops from Syria and other countries in the region.

Therefore, he urged Washington to revise its Middle East policy, which is currently exerting negative influence on countries in the region.

"In the past 20 years, America has constantly played a destructive role in our region: in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Syria, and today in Yemen...What we want or hope is that the U.S. will reconsider its policy towards the region," Rouhani said.

He also noted that several things need to be taken into account for the sake of achieving peace and stability in Syria, including no foreign intervention, the assistance of the international community and the fight against terrorism.

Speaking at the press conference, Turkish President Recep Erdogan reaffirmed the importance of resolving the situation in Idlib.

"We do not want new tragedies, new humanitarian crises in Syria, or in other regions, or in Idlib...We will continue to do everything possible to implement the Idlib memorandum," he said.

Erdogan stressed that Turkey will coordinate actions with Russia and Iran in the process of the U.S. troops pullout while taking into account of Syria's territorial integrity and eliminating the threats of terrorism, especially on the border areas.

According to Putin, the trilateral summit is expected to promote further productive work leading to the final restoration of peace and stability in Syria, and the three countries have agreed that the next round of such consultations will take place in Astana in the end of March or the beginning of April.

Regular meetings at the expert level will also be continued with the participation of the guarantor countries' delegations, Syrian parties, government and opposition, as well as UN representatives.
Around the world in three CCPCJs: MUNs tackle SDG16

14 February 2019 - In the year since its launch in New York, UNODC's Model United Nations Resource Guide (created by E4J, the Education for Justice initiative) has gone around the globe and proven to be a powerful resource for thousands of students. Three of the largest MUN conferences in the world have not only incorporated several UNODC mandate areas into their MUNs, but have additionally simulated one of its most important governing bodies during their events, namely CCPCJ, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

In the capital of Qatar, where the Doha Declaration was adopted and for which the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration was created, over 1,600 students participated last month in a Model UN whose theme was, for the first time, Sustainable Development Goal 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

The THIMUN Qatar conference, now the largest secondary level MUN in the MENA region, was organized by the Qatar Foundation in partnership with the THIMUN Foundation. In each simulated committee, at least one discussion was held on issues relating to crime, justice, and the rule of law; the CCPCJ simulation gave students an improved experience as they debated and approved, by consensus, two resolutions dealing with rule of law matters.

The success of this exercise was evident, facilitated by the presence of several UNODC experts and allowing coverage of a large number of important themes such as corruption, crime prevention and criminal justice, cybercrime, firearms trafficking, terrorism, and wildlife crime.

Keynote speaker Neil Walsh, Chief of UNODC's Cybercrime and Anti-Money Laundering Section, spoke to students about the constantly evolving nature of challenges to rule of law: "Cybercrime today is not the same as it was three years ago. The UN needs to constantly adapt to help Member States to fight it. Cybercrime can affect implementation of all the SDGs; to prevent that, we need strong institutions and the rule of law."

The CCPCJ experience was repeated in THIMUN's home base of The Hague, which sees its prestigious yearly MUN conference gather over 3,000 students each time. For its 51 st edition this month, THIMUN included a CCPCJ simulation, with the participation of UNODC experts. With the help of the E4J initiative, 33 teachers took part in a training workshop on its MUN Resource Guide, challenging them to think, with their respective students, on ways in which young people can support SDG16.

For Mayte Steeghs, President of the CCPCJ committee at THIMUN, educating this generation with new tools is increasingly important: "Crime will continue to grow until the paradigm of high profits and low risk is challenged. At THIMUN, we as youth are empowered to look to challenge this paradigm. The CCPCJ gives us the opportunity to start creating the innovative solutions to an ever-evolving problem."

Every year, the General Assembly hall at the United Nations headquarters in New York is overtaken by some 1,400 students at the secondary and tertiary levels, courtesy of the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA). The objective of WIMUN (WFUNA International Model United Nations) is to simulate the UN as it works in real life, meaning that participants have to adopt all of their resolutions by consensus. This month, WIMUN also featured a CCPCJ simulation, developed especially for the occasion by WFUNA's MUN expert Bill Yotive, in consultation with UNODC's Education for Justice initiative. After three days of fruitful deliberations, participants adopted a single resolution by consensus.

Gilberto Duarte, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer at UNODC, reflected at the end of the inspiring event: "WFUNA worked with UNODC to give students the real CCPCJ experience. In fact, this is exactly how the real CCPCJ works, even to the extent that the speaking notes for the chair were exactly as they would have been in Vienna!"

MUN simulation events have enjoyed a big success since their creation, giving students a taste of Member States' multilateral issues and concerns. More recently, an increasing number of organizers and eager students are taking on the challenges of crime prevention, criminal justice, and other aspects of rule of law. The popularity of CCPCJ simulations is spreading, from Cairo to Prague, and from Cancun to the University of Connecticut, to name but a few. With UNODC's MUN Resource Guide offering unique guidance on all matters relating to peace, justice, and the strong institutions which support them, experiencing CCPCJ around the world has become more accessible and real.
Credit U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen with sticking to a worthy objective. She has been working for years now to see that America pays back at least some of the Afghan citizens who risked their lives to help the U.S. in their country.
FINALLY, a fine summer, which we Minnesotans appreciate, having endured winters attempts to depress us, and just when we were about to go into therapy and talk about how emotionally unavailable our dad was, summer came along and here I am on a sunny day with relatives on a porch enjoying a 
ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organization in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory.

ESO provides state-of-the-art research facilities to astronomers and is supported by Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile.

The organization depends on SAP and Bradmark technologies to power its astronomy technology.

Bradmark is a full-service provider for SAP database and technology providing SAP database products, database monitoring technology, and consulting services.

The SAP database is at the core of ESOs operations, said John Lockhart, critical applications support group leader, ESO. It currently sits at the center of the dataflow for the current suite of telescopes.

Its embedded into what we do, said Lockhart. Everything is built around it.

ESO allows astronomers to submit a request for telescope time via a series of web applications that are hosted in Garching, Germany, which if granted allows him or her to upload specifications for one or more telescope observations to the primary server in Garching. The specifications are then replicated to the database server at either of the observatory sites in Paranal, Chile, or La Silla, Chile.

A server at either site picks up this information and uses it to position the telescope and time the observation.

When the observation has been taken, the database is automatically updated to reflect the fact that the request has been carried out and the information is replicated back to the server in Garching.

The image that is the result of the observation is then synchronized with the server in Garching where it is ingested into the ESO archive, keywords are extracted, and it is then loaded into SAP Sybase IQ, a columnar relational database management system. The data is then checked before being made available to the requesting astronomer, andafter a proprietary periodall interested astronomers.

ESO has been utilizing Bradmark Technologies since 2008 and the company provides ESO with Bradmark Surveillance DB.

Bradmark has allowed us to monitor real-time critical periods, Lockhart said. Now, with bidirectional [monitoring] we can keep critical information moving.

ESO started with Sybase ASE on Solaris, and then migrated to Linux, subsequently moving to IQ. Eventually, the agency added bidirectional monitoring which is critical to its workflow.

The use of Sybase (now SAP) technology began in the 1990s, Lockhart explained, when the agency needed to power a space telescope and archive solution for Hubble.

The technology was included into ESO telescope dataflow and, in 1997, EDO added SAP Replication Server and later a mechanism to transfer metadata.

As SAP Sybase grew, so did ESO, according to Lockhart. Were really happy with the support, Lockhart said. Were really happy with everything because they listen to us and provide for us.

SAP is currently assisting ESO in transferring metadata into telescopes in real time, Lockhart explained.

What keeps Lockhart up at night is anxiety surrounding these data transfers. SAP makes sure the data is flowing back and forth.

If we lose a night, those images will never come back. The sky always changes, Lockhart said. What if the telescope caught a supernova but the tech failed? That would be lost.

With Bradmark and SAP, ESO is able to have everything monitored together, Lockhart said. ESO team did not want separate products for each of the database engines.

The flashback capability is a powerful feature that allows ESO to browse the historical SQL transactions and more easily cross-collate events such an unexpectedly high load on a server with the actual set of transaction being run. Even though this feature is new, Lockhart said ESO expects to be using it frequently to troubleshoot performance bottlenecks or unexpected behavior in the application.

We are running the complete suite of metrics with only a few exceptions. Besides that, we have currently configured over 20 alerts, said Lockhart.

In the future, he added, ESO will be expanding the number of alerts to include full end-to-end monitoring of the bi-directional replication environment.

Bradmark have been very supportive and Surveillance has been a great tool for us to monitor things in real time and forecast what can go wrong, Lockhart noted.
NATO chief recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced intentions to quit the INF Treaty as early as in 2007.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the Alliance is preparing for the world with more Russian missiles in Europe.

Speaking at a Munich Security Conference on Friday, Stoltenberg noted the fact that over the past decades, the number of nuclear weapons has been reduced significantly.

"In the early 1990s, the United States and the Soviet Union each deployed 12,000 long-range strategic nuclear warheads. Today there is a limit of 1,550 warheads for each country. There were also almost three thousand intermediate range nuclear weapons in Europe. The INF Treaty banned them all, and brought that number down to zero. But now, the whole nuclear arms control regime is under assault," he said.

"Russia has deployed several battalions of its new SSC-8 missile system, in breach of the Treaty. These missiles are mobile. Easy to hide. And nuclear-capable. They can reach European cities, like Munich, with little warning. They lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons in a conflict," said Stoltenberg.

Read alsoStoltenberg speaks of NATO's expected reaction on Russia quitting INF Treaty

The NATO chief recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced intentions to quit the INF Treaty as early as in 2007.

A treaty that is only respected by one side will not keep us safe. Then it is just a piece of paper. That is why, with the full support of all NATO Allies, the United States has announced its intention to withdraw from the Treaty. This will take effect in six months. So Russia still has a window of opportunity to return to compliance. We call on Russia to take that opportunity," noted Stoltenberg.

Also, he said NATO calls on Russia to "verifiably destroy its intermediate range missiles."

"We want Russia to return to compliance. But we are also preparing for a world without the INF Treaty. And a world with more Russian missiles in Europe. NATO has already started this work. And I will not predict the outcome," Stoltenberg said.

At the same time, he stressed that the Allies will stand "united and measured" and that NATO "has no intention of deploying new land-based nuclear weapons in Europe."
The president says he and Putin could unite the countries as early as tomorrow, but the question is whether the Russians and Belarusians are ready for this.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko claims that his country's sovereignty is "sacred", comparing it to an icon, but at the same time noting that he is ready for integration as far as the peoples of the two countries want it.

"Listen, why should we raise questions of sovereignty of Russia and Belarus? This is an icon, this is sacred. You are a Russian, an ordinary person, so to say, but I'll ask you this question: are you ready today to sacrifice or bargain your sovereignty? I'm not talking about independence now, Lukashenko said at a joint press event with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi Friday.

To me, independence is a relative concept; sovereignty is everything within the borders. No one, not a single state  China is an example of this  ever talks about sovereignty, so we have no problems with sovereignty, even in this context we don't discuss these problems," he added.

Read alsoLukashenko facing huge dilemma: Analyst warns of Russian threat to Belarus

The Belarus leader stressed that the parties proceed from the fact that "today there are two states."

"You know how they formed. It was not me, and neither was it the [Russian] president who initiated the collapse of that state. We share positions on this issue. It so happened that there are two states," he said.

I wish you heard our ministers today You would be happy for them: we didnt shift away at all. Frankly speaking, when they reported, I thought: if we take Ukraine, also a Slavic state, look what a huge gap has been formed in a few years. But we here speak the same language and we understand problems the same way," said Lukashenko.

Read alsoPutin: No state fully independent

"I will express my opinion, I think my colleague and my friend [Vladimir Putin] will agree: we are ready to go as far in terms of unity, in uniting our efforts, states and peoples, as you are ready," Lukashenko said.

"Listen, we, the two of us, could unite as early as tomorrow, no problem with that. But are you, Russians and Belarusians, ready for this? This is a question. Therefore, it is necessary to address the question to yourself. As far as you are ready, so far we will fulfill your will. If they are not ready  no matter how powerful and huge Russia is  today it is not in a position to impose their will on anybody. And of course, we can't either, but we dont need that anyway," he assured.

"So it's you who should prepare, in your minds, in your behavior. Set goals before yourself, I mean the people of Russia and Belarus, and we will implement them. We are your servants," the head of Belarus concluded.
People have crossed the Mayorsk entry-exit checkpoint.

Human rights activist, Director of NGO Eastern Human Rights Group Pavlo Lysianskiy has said 46 people have recently been evacuated from the "gray zone" in Donbas.

Read alsoJFO: Three Ukrainian soldiers wounded in action in Donbas in past day

"According to a decision issued by Commander of the Joint Forces of Ukraine Serhiy Nayev, 46 people have been evacuated from the gray zone. They are now crossing the Mayorsk entry-exit checkpoint. All services worked at night," he wrote on Facebook.

As reported earlier, the Russian-led forces staged a provocation in Donetsk region, having let 46 people enter the Ukrainian-controlled territory when a checkpoint on the Ukrainian side was closed. They knew that the Ukrainian government had closed the Mayorsk checkpoint. Thus, the people were abandoned in the so-called "gray zone."
Two invaders were killed and another four were injured in the past day, intelligence reports say.

Russia's hybrid military forces in the past 24 hours mounted 12 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, with three Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action (WIA).

Read alsoOSCE monitors see howitzers, Grads in occupied areas in violation of withdrawal lines

"Three Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in the past day. According to intelligence reports, two invaders were killed and another four were wounded," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said in an update published on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on February 15, 2019.

Russian occupation forces opened fire from 120mm and 82mm mortars, weapons installed on infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and small arms, attacking the defenders of the towns of Maryinka and Avdiyivka, and the villages of Pisky, Opytne, Verkhniotoretske, Pavlopil, Novoluhanske, Krymske, Khutir Vilniy, and Zaitseve.

What is more, early on February 14, the enemy employed 152mm artillery systems, while attacking the village of Novoluhanske, as a result of which a shell hit a house. Ukrainian members of the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC) are checking information about possible damage.

"On February 14, the enemy also actively used unmanned aerial vehicles for artillery calls for fire. However, four of them were shot down by Ukrainian defenders," reads the report.

"Since Friday midnight, Russian-led forces haven't attacked Ukrainian positions yet," the report said.
The students will continue their studies.

Rector of Kramatorsk-based Donetsk National Medical University (Ukraine) Petro Kondratenko has been removed from office for an attempt to expel 850 foreign students for the alleged failure to pay tuition fees.

The rector who issued an order to expel them and threatened them with deportation was replaced by Oleksandr Herasymenko under an order of the Health Ministry dated February 13. The order was issued in keeping with a decision by Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky district court, the university said on its website.

Herasymenko first canceled the decision on the expulsion of 850 foreign students. The students will continue their studies at the university. The university has set up a commission to probe into the situation.

Read alsoSchool students in occupied Crimea trained to handle firearms  media

The scandal at the university broke out after the money paid by the students through an intermediary firm had disappeared. Yet, the intermediary firm insists the due amount worth UAH 32 million, or US$1.18 million, had been transferred to the university. The latter said it had not received the funds and Kondratenko had issued an order to expel those foreign students who allegedly did not pay the tuition fee.

The rector, who wanted to expel the students, is suspected by the SBU Security Service of Ukraine of bribery. In particular, the SBU on February 7 informed Kondratenko he is suspected of bribery for registration of foreign students, namely he allegedly got two elite BMW cars worth $100,000 in total for this. The cars were seized in Kramatorsk. Kondratenko in turn denies all the allegations and insists he is being prosecuted for uncovering an SBU-patronized scheme.

Donetsk National Medical University moved to Ukrainian controlled territory in 2014 after the beginning of war in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. The university is now based in the Ukrainian-controlled town of Kramatorsk and the Ukrainian-controlled city of Mariupol in Donetsk region, as well as in the city of Kropyvnytsky in Kirovohrad region.
Ukrainian authorities claimed he had lied about losing the passport but then found it on him during the interrogation.

Ukraine has taken the extraordinary step of deporting a senior cleric of the Moscow-aligned Orthodox Church and stripping him of his citizenship, marking a political escalation in the historic rift that has shaken the Eastern Orthodox world and further raised tensions between Kyiv and Moscow.

The move threatens to draw U.S. officials into the spat, since the Ukrainian-born Bishop Gedeon, whose given name is Yuriy Kharon, is said to hold U.S. citizenship, RFE/RL wrote.

U.S. Embassy officials in Kyiv could not immediately confirm whether or not he has U.S. citizenship.

Gedeon, of the Moscow Patriarchate Church in Ukraine, had just touched down at Kyiv's Boryspil Airport after a working trip to the United States when Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) agents detained him over accusations of promoting Russia's military aggression against the country and holding a second passport, reportedly American.

After being held for hours overnight on February 13 and interrogated, the Ukrainian-born cleric was stripped of his Ukrainian passport and then put on a plane to Frankfurt early on February 14, Ukrainian authorities and Moscow Patriarchate officials said in official statements. Ukrainian authorities claimed he had lied about losing the passport but then found it on him during the interrogation.

The deportation of a senior member of the Moscow-aligned church in Ukraine is likely to inflame tensions over the simmering religious dispute that has seen the Russian Orthodox Church split from the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople after it approved the creation of an autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

Read alsoOver 300 parishes of former UOC-MP join new Orthodox Church of Ukraine

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, who led the push for a new Ukrainian Orthodox church "independent" of the Russian Orthodox Church and made it a key part of his reelection campaign, has said the move was done in the interest of national security.

The Ukrainian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, as the Russian Orthodox Church's local arm is known, has been used as a tool by Russian President Vladimir Putin to spread propaganda and foment unrest in the country, Poroshenko and Ukrainian church officials have claimed.

Clerics of the Moscow Patriarchate have spoken out in support of Russia's annexation of Crimea and military intervention in the eastern Donbas region, and they have said that the Moscow Patriarchate is the only canonical church in Ukraine, comments that authorities in Kyiv regard as anti-Ukrainian.

At the same time, Poroshenko and Ukrainian Church officials, including the head of the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifaniy, have called for restraint amid heightened tensions following the creation of the new church.

After clerics of the Moscow Patriarchate expressed concerns about the loss of church property and complained about pressure from authorities, Poroshenko and Epifaniy stressed there would be no forced takeovers of Moscow Patriarchate properties and no pressure applied to their priests.

However, they have publicly encouraged Moscow Patriarchate priests and parishes to peacefully convert to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and Poroshenko signed a law last month allowing for a legal path to do so. Roughly 300 of some 12,000 Moscow Patriarchate churches have joined the new Ukrainian Church since it received independence last month, according to the Religious Information Service of Ukraine.

But in at least a dozen cases, the Ukrainian Security Service has conducted raids on Moscow Patriarchate churches and properties belonging to its priests on the grounds that they committed acts of "treason" and "incited religious hatred."

Some of those priests have been interrogated, according to Archbishop Kliment, a senior member of the Moscow Patriarchate who resides at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, one of Ukraine's holiest sites, where mummified monks rest in underground caves. He told RFE/RL in a recent interview that "Soviet-era tactics" are being used by Ukrainian authorities against his church.

In Bishop Gedeon's case, upon his arrival in Kyiv, SBU agents escorted him to a holding room where they questioned him about remarks he had made regarding Russia's actions in Ukraine, according to a statement on the Facebook page of the Moscow Patriarchate. The statement included a photograph of Gedeon standing in front of the entrance to the U.S. House of Representatives meeting rooms, where he had been earlier in the week for meetings.

A separate report shared by Kliment's office cited the Russian Church as saying Gedeon, who previously lived for years in the United States, was also an American citizen and had sent a request to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and members of Congress to discuss the church issue in Ukraine.

Ukraine's Interior Ministry shared a video on Twitter showing part of the SBU's interrogation of Gedeon.

It was accompanied by a statement that said Gedeon had been put on a plane to Frankfurt.

Later in the video, the cleric is seen saying goodbye to members of his staff who had accompanied him on his trip while being escorted by Ukrainian border guards onto a plane. In a post on Facebook, he said his final destination was the United States but did not say which city. He added that he was "led to the plane by armed gunmen like a criminal!"

In the Interior Ministry video, just before boarding, the bishop turned to the border guards with a final message: "I'll be back."
Manger's lawyers said they would appeal the court decision.

Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky court has ruled to arrest Chairman of Kherson Regional Council Vladyslav Manger, who is suspected of organizing Kherson activist Kateryna Handziuk's murder, for 17 days with bail set at UAH 2.49 million, or US$91,981.

Thus, the court partially granted the prosecution's motion, the Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske reported.

Manger's lawyers said they would appeal the court decision. The full text of the decision will be made public at 16:00 on February 18.

After the ruling was read out, Manger's lawyer Dmytro Ilchenko said his client did not have such money, according to the Ukrainian-based Insider portal.

"Manger does not have such money. We will have to borrow. I will also lend [money to] Vladyslav Manger. We will also turn to those who promised help."

Manger was arrested in the courtroom and taken to the detention center.

The court hearings on the preventive measure for the alleged organizer of Handziuk's murder lasted almost four days.

Read alsoKherson deputy governor suspended from office amid Handziuk murder probe

UNIAN memo. Kherson activist, adviser to the Mayor of Kherson and acting manager of affairs at Kherson City Council's executive committee Kateryna Handziuk, 33, on July 31, 2018, survived an act of acid throwing.

She suffered burns to more than 35% of her body and underwent 11 operations in Kyiv to treat her horrific injuries.

Handziuk died on November 4, 2018. The immediate cause of her death was given as a severed blood clot resulting from the acid attack.

Police originally qualified the attack as an attempted murder committed with extreme cruelty, then its status was changed to completed murder.

Six suspects were detained, one of whom, Mykola Novikov, was later released from custody as charges against him were dropped. The alleged participant in the assassination, Serhiy Torbin, and Mykyta Hrabchuk, another suspect in the case, are in custody.

Three other suspects  Vyacheslav Vishnevsky, Volodymyr Vasyanovych, and Viktor Horbunov  were placed under house arrest.

On November 5, the media reported that Torbin had allegedly received money for the attack on Handziuk from Ihor Pavlovsky, an assistant to Member of Parliament from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction Mykola Palamarchuk. Palamarchuk in turn dismissed any accusations of his possible involvement in the assassination attempt on the activist. He also said he had dismissed Pavlovsky. On November 12, a court ruled to detain Pavlovsky. According to the SBU Security Service, he is suspected of complicity in the Handziuk murder.

Chief Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko announced on December 3 that the investigators had identified all the individuals who had ordered the assassination. He also named Oleksiy Levin (his real second name is Moskalenko) who later was placed on the international wanted list on December 10, 2018, on suspicion of involvement in the Handziuk assassination.

On January 31, 2019, Chairman of Kherson Regional Council Vladyslav Manger announced the suspension of his membership in Yulia Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna Party for the period of the investigation of the Handziuk murder case.

On February 11, Manger was served with charge papers as an organizer of the assassination of Kherson activist Kateryna Handziuk.
The parties separately discussed the ways of strengthening Ukraine's cooperation with the Alliance in response to the threats in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, in particular with a view to increasing capabilities of the Ukrainian Navy.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on Friday met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Munich, thanking him for the Alliance's consolidated support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as for a strong condemnation of Russia's aggressive actions.

Petro Poroshenko highly appreciated NATO's large-scale practical assistance in reforming the security and defense sector of Ukraine in line with NATO standards. Significant progress of the Ukrainian side on this path was noted.

The president underscored the immutability of Ukraines path toward Euro-Atlantic integration, which is now consolidated in the Constitution.

The secretary general commended the adoption of this decision and confirmed that the Alliance continued to adhere to the open door policy.

Read alsoNATO seeks to expand presence in Black Sea area  Stoltenberg

The parties separately discussed the ways of strengthening Ukraine's cooperation with the Alliance in response to the threats in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, in particular with a view to increasing capabilities of the Ukrainian Navy.

In this context, the parties noted the significance of the anticipated visit to Ukraine of the North Atlantic Council of NATO, which should also demonstrate the continued support of the Alliance for Ukraine in countering Russia's aggression.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg informed Poroshenko on the outcome of his earlier meeting with the Russian foreign minister where the NATO chief, in particular, urged Russia to release Ukrainian sailors.
To this, Lukashenko noted that this relates even to Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, following a three-day visit of Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, said that there are simply no fully independent states in the world.

Sovereignty and independence are very close concepts, of course," Putin said at a joint press event in Sochi, according to an UNIAN correspondent in Russia.

At the same time, he added that "there are simply no fully independent states in the world."

To this, Lukashenko noted that this relates even to Russia.

Putin did not argue with the remark, noting that this applies to both large and small countries.

"The modern world is a world of interdependence. See what happens, say, in Western Europe. There, the European Parliament takes more binding decisions for all EU member states than the USSR Supreme Council once took for the Union Republics. Is this independence?" Putin said.

Read alsoIskanders deployed along Ukraine border mean Russia preparing to create "land corridor" to Crimea  expert

According to the Russian president, there is no independence in NATO, either.

Let's take military alliances, such as NATO. Do you think any of the European countries want to have U.S. medium-range missiles in Europe? No one wants them, but they're sitting there, keeping quiet. Where is their sovereignty? But, apparently, they believe that, ultimately, they are generally interested in such an organization, in which they have invested part of their sovereignty," said the President of Russia.

Putin announced that supranational bodies had been created within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, to which the countries had "transferred part of their national authority."

Read alsoLukashenko facing huge dilemma: Analyst warns of Russian threat to Belarus

But even within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, we have interdependence. And we transferred there part of our sovereignty, part of our independence. We did this consciously, realizing that such work provides us with a greater level of competitiveness for each of our countries," said Putin.
The sanctions include visa bans and asset freezes.

The European Union has agreed sanctions against eight citizens of the Russian Federation over a recent Russian attack on three Ukrainian navy boats near the Kerch Strait linking the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

"EU diplomats have agreed to sanction Russia over the Sea of Azov incident," Brussels reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Rikard Jozwiak wrote on Twitter on Friday, February 15.

"Visa bans and asset freezes on around +/- 8 ppl involved in the detention of the 24 Ukrainian sailors should be formalized in upcoming weeks," he said.

Read alsoU.S. senators to try again with tougher Russia sanctions bill  media

UNIAN memo. On the morning of November 25, Russia blocked the passage to the Kerch Strait for the Ukrainian tugboat "Yany Kapu" and two armored naval boats "Berdyansk" and "Nikopol," which were on a scheduled re-deployment from the Black Sea port of Odesa to the Azov Sea port of Mariupol. The Ukraine Navy Command noted that the Russian side had been informed of the plans to re-deploy the vessels in advance in accordance with international standards to ensure the safety of navigation. The Russian coast guard ship "Don" rammed the Ukrainian tugboat, damaging the Ukrainian vessel. As the Ukrainian boats were heading back in the Odesa direction after being rejected passage via the Kerch Strait, Russian coast guards opened aimed fire on them. All 24 crew members on board were captured and later remanded in custody for two months, being charged with "illegal border crossing" (the sailors are facing up to six years in prison). Three crewmen were wounded in the attack. Russian-controlled "courts" in occupied Crimea ruled that all 24 detainees should be remanded in custody, after which they were transferred to the Moscow-based Lefortovo and Matrosskaya Tishina detention centers. Moscow's Lefortovo district court in the middle of January 2019, ruled to keep the Ukrainian sailors in remand until the end of April 2019.
Russia-based supervisors hired residents of Dnipropetrovsk region to spread disinformation.

The SBU Security Service of Ukraine has blocked an attempt of Russian special services to meddle into the presidential elections in Ukraine.

Read alsoUkraine's SBU to block websites threatening national security

A resident of the city of Dnipro has spread information in social networks with public calls to redraw Ukraine's state border. The man was in contact with a resident of the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don by e-mail. The latter supervised his work and set a task of spreading fake news about the situation in Ukraine, particularly in the political and religious spheres, the SBU's press center said.

After the start of the election campaign in Ukraine, the Russian gave his subordinates materials smearing presidential candidates, who were touring of Dnipropetrovsk region, for further distribution. The investigators charged another two residents of the region with the similar crimes.

In addition, a Russian citizen was looking for Ukrainians who possess a pellet or air gun for their further involvement in rallies and riots during the elections in Ukraine.

The investigators opened criminal proceedings against the Ukrainian accomplices of the Russians under the article "Encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine." Pretrial investigation is under way.
On February 14, the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) received a claim stating that MP Tymoshenko has committed criminal offenses.

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has instructed the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) to supervise a probe into information about the illegal enrichment of leader of the Batkivshchyna Party Yulia Tymoshenko.

Read alsoZelensky takes the lead in poll ahead of 2019 presidential vote

On February 14, the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) received a claim stating that MP Tymoshenko had committed criminal offenses under Part 3 of Article 368-2 (illegal enrichment), Article 366-1 (declaring false information) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, according to the PGO's Department of Public Relations and Media.

At the same time, in accordance with the requirements of Part 5 of Article 216 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine, investigations into the abovementioned criminal offenses fall within the jurisdiction of National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).

Under Ukrainian legislation, no other agency is allowed to conduct a pretrial investigation into crimes that are within NABU's jurisdiction (Part 4 of Article 36 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine).

The Prosecutor General's Office instructed SAPO to supervise the compliance with laws during the pretrial investigation to be conducted by NABU (Part 5 Article 8 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Prosecutor's Office").

"Taking into account the above, the prosecutor general decided to forward the claim to SAPO so that it could be considered and handled in accordance with the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine," the PGO said.
Inside a bamboo shelter in the worlds largest refugee settlement, Rohingya refugee Syed Hossain, 27, hoists up his shirt to show a constellation of blisters on his torso.

I noticed the symptoms four or five days ago, he says, noting that five of his children have it too. Ive had pain all over my body, then headache and fever. I wasnt eating.

An outbreak of chickenpox in recent weeks has infected some 5,000 Rohingya children and adults in the vast Kutupalong settlement. While the varicella-zoster virus is often seen as low risk, it has proven more perilous here, among a population who were unable to get vaccinated in Myanmar and are now living in a densely inhabited area with insufficient sanitation and hygiene.

It's more dangerous for the children here in the camp because they are immunocompromised, they don't have vaccination and many of them are malnourished, said Dr. Mahzabin Hoque, a Bangladeshi general practitioner who has worked in the camp since September 2017.

She added: When the varicella first broke out, you would find most of the children with complications like tonsillitis and pneumonia and diarrhoea. And the environment here is more prone to infections, so when the blister bursts, then it's very dangerous.

Rohingya refugee Syed Hossain, 27, shows his chickenpox scars in Kutupalong refugee settlement, Bangladesh.  UNHCR/Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo

Chickenpox is one of a myriad of challenges faced by nearly a million stateless Rohingya refugees who have sought safety in Bangladesh, more than 745,000 after a government crackdown in August 2017 drove them from their homes in Myanmars northern Rakhine State.

In a huge push to meet both their massive needs, and those of the 330,000 local Bangladeshis, the United Nations aid agencies and NGO partners today launched the 2019 Joint Response Plan (JRP).

It seeks US$920 million, more than half of which is earmarked for aid and services such as food, water, sanitation and shelter. Other key sectors include health, site management and activities such as child protection and addressing sexual and gender-based violence, education and nutrition.

Over the past 12 months aid agencies have worked to improve conditions across refugee settlements through the support provided under the 2018 JRP  providing basic assistance, upgrading living conditions and putting in place disaster risk mitigation measures for the monsoon and cyclone seasons. Strides have also been made in boosting access to healthcare, curbing disease outbreaks, and reducing malnutrition.

Our humanitarian imperative today is to stabilize the situation of stateless Rohingya refugees and their Bangladesh hosts."

Funds sought this year would also go to support the Bangladeshis in greatest need in the local community, many of whom rushed to help at the start of the crisis in 2017 as thousands of famished and exhausted children, women and men stumbled in each day under driving monsoon rains. Their swift response, and subsequent generosity, saved countless lives.

Our humanitarian imperative today is to stabilize the situation of stateless Rohingya refugees and their Bangladesh hosts. We are hoping for timely, predictable and flexible contributions in order to meet the goals of this years appeal, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

The greatest needs of both communities are already being addressed with projects ranging from road building to, water and sewage treatment facilities, together with medical clinics that support both refugees and Bangladeshis alike.

Rohingya refugee Noor Salam (in white) talks to his Bangladeshi friend Abdul Quddus at the Physiotherapy and Physical Rehabilitation Centre in Shamlapur.  UNHCR/Firas Al-Khateeb

Among them is a physiotherapy centre funded by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and run by its partner, Gonoshasthaya Kendra which opened in Teknaf last year. The first in the area, it treats around 35 patients per day, two thirds of them from the local community.

Among the patients earlier this month was Noor Salam, a Rohingya refugee and stroke patient who received vital treatment alongside a retired Bangladeshi medical doctor, Abdul Quddus, who was himself also recovering from a stroke.

It is great to have someone here who is not just a friend, but also a good doctor.

It is great to have someone here who is not just a friend, but also a good doctor, Noor told him during a recent session. Noor thanked Abdul for helping translate the local dialect for physiotherapists from northern Bangladesh.

For his part Abdul, who lost his wife last year, appreciates the opportunity to simply get out, make friends and feel useful.

I was unable to walk around the neighbourhood like before and talk to people, he says. Apart from home, this centre has been the only place I have been able to visit for a few months and the other patients became my only friends.
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Published February 15, 2019

The University of Louisiana Monroe's Kitty DeGree School of Nursing and the Counseling and Marriage & Family Therapy programs in the School of Allied Health in the College of Health Sciences, have been awarded a Living Well Foundation grant for the Mobile Bridge to Health for 2019. The grant is for $26,000.





Dr. Rhonda Hensley, Associate Director of Kitty DeGree School of Nursing graduate program, is the principal investigator of the grant. Her vision has always been to establish a clinic site for the less fortunate of the community. With the growth of the nursing program to include nurse practitioner tracks, she is now able to see her vision come to fruition.



The purpose of the grant is to provide mental and medical health services to the homeless and is part of a multi-phase project of the College of Health Sciences and schools of Nursing and Allied Health. This is the pilot and phase one program to establish relationships with DeSiard Street Shelter, Family Promise of Ouachita and the Salvation Army, which provide care to the local homeless population.



Dr. Jana Sutton, Interim Director, School of Allied Health, said, I am delighted that the faculty and students from the schools of Nursing and Allied Health will be providing needed care to the homeless individuals and families in our region. Students will learn invaluable lessons regarding inter-professional education, and thanks to the Living Well Foundation will also be providing vital services to the underserved. This is exactly what education should be!



Dr. Hensley said, The healthcare professions, especially nursing, are based on the concept of caring and service. This project will enable our faculty and graduate nursing students opportunities to engage with underserved populations by providing health screenings to identify potential health issues and intervening in meaningful, respectful ways to help promote health and quality of life for those we serve.



In addition to providing onsite care, the mobile bridge will also collaborate with local hospitals, such as Oschners, to provide extended care for these residents, when needed. This inter-professional collaboration between the two schools and health care providers in the community provides the schools and college the opportunity to meet accreditation standards.



The College of Health Sciences greatly appreciates the support and trust of the Living Well Foundation. Through this funding, healthcare and mental health services will be delivered to individuals that currently lack access to care. This is an opportunity for our college to make a significant impact in changing lives for the better, said Dr. Paula Griswold, Interim Associate Dean, College of Health Sciences.



Dr. Wendy Bailes, Interim Director, Kitty DeGree School of Nursing, stated, Seeing our students and faculty investing in individuals who are the forgotten of society reminds me of why I love my profession of nursing and education. We as faculty truly do have the best of both worlds and I cannot wait to see how this expands!
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Published February 15, 2019

The College of Arts, Education, and Sciences at the University of Louisiana Monroe is hosting the Spring 2019 Art Crawl at several campus locations on Thursday, February 28, from 5-7 p.m. The exhibition in the CAES Deans Conference Room will honor ULMs 50th anniversary as a university.

Admission is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.

Participating galleries include The Walker Gallery, Deans Conference Room, Bry Art Gallery, and the Stubbs Hall senior art student studios.

Participating galleries include The Walker Gallery, Dean's Conference Room, Bry Art Gallery, and the Stubbs Hall senior art student studios.



A showcase of ULM's talented students, faculty, staff, and alumni will be on display throughout the crawl. The Dean's conference room will host an exhibition featuring historic photographs, artworks and creative writing, commemorating 2019 as ULM's 50th Anniversary of being designated as a university. The show in the Walker Gallery features the ULM Art Program's student and faculty work, including paintings, pottery, sculpture, prints and photographs.



In addition, Bry Gallery will display the 26th Annual Jr./Sr. High School Art Competition and Awards Ceremony. The senior art students' studios in Stubbs Hall will be open so that visitors can meet the artists and observe their works in progress.



The College of Arts, Education, and Sciences hopes to enrich the community by giving the opportunity for the community to walk through our beautiful campus and appreciate the outstanding work of each artist.

Dr. Joni Henry Noble, Professor in ULM's School of Visual and Performing Arts, recognizes students' accomplishments, saying, "I am so proud of our ULM Art Majors and all of their efforts to curate and operate Walker Gallery. I hope everyone can attend our ULM Art Crawl and meet these talented artists. In addition, we will be hosting our 26th Annual High School Competition in Bry Gallery."



Awards and scholarships will be given out at 6pm that evening.



"This is one of the most exciting and well-attended events that we host every year. The high school students are always so excited to be recognized and they are so talented," Noble said.



For more information contact Dr. Joni Noble at noble@ulm.edu or 318-342-1383.
Ukraine has called on Coordinator of the Humanitarian Working Group at the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), OSCE Ambassador Toni Frisch to engage in the establishment of the fate of more than 70 Ukrainians who are likely to be held in prisons in occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Ukraine's representative in the Humanitarian Working Group, First Deputy Chairwoman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Iryna Gerashchenko, wrote this on her Facebook page after a TCG meeting in Minsk on Wednesday.

"The Russian Federation and its puppets from ORDLO [certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions] continue the tactics of concealing information about the detainees and have not responded to our inquiries for years. Therefore, since there is no reaction to the fate of the people we are searching for, we have urged Ambassador Frisch to join the establishment of the fate of more than 70 Ukrainians whose detention in prisons is deliberately not confirmed to us (although the Ukrainian side has information and evidence of their illegal arrest). We have reason to worry that several Ukrainians from this list could have been tortured by militants," she said.

Gerashchenko added that Kyiv had also appealed to Ambassador Frisch with the request to urgently visit the hostages in the occupied territories and make every effort to organize the systematic transmission of letters and the opportunity to call relatives. "I hope that such a visit to Luhansk will soon take place," she added.

According to her, the Ukrainian side turned to Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to the Trilateral Contact Group, Ambassador Martin Sajdik with the request to assist the transfer of letters to the relatives of Ukrainian hostages, and he promised to do so.
The United States pays great attention to Kharkiv region, eastern Ukraine and projects that are being implemented.

Head of Kharkiv Regional State Administration Yuliya Svitlychna said this during a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch today, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"The United States pays great attention to Kharkiv region, eastern Ukraine and the projects that are being implemented. I am very pleased that our cooperation is strengthening and expanding," the head of the region said.

According to her, positive dynamics in cooperation between Kharkiv region and the USA has been observed in recent years. "In particular, over the past year, foreign trade turnover of Kharkiv region with the USA grew by more than 14%, and there was also an increase of 23% in the export supplies from Kharkiv enterprises to this country," she noted.

"The Regional Center for Administrative and Social Services was established in Kharkiv region with the support of the United States. The Center demonstrates high efficiency and is in great demand among residents of the region. Also, our region has a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Embassy, signed in 2016, and a plan of joint actions aimed at combating corruption," Svitlychna added.

In turn, Yovanovitch noted that "there is a great partnership between the USA and Kharkiv region." She added that there were a lot of investment and business partnerships between the U.S. and Kharkiv, and "this is very important."

The parties agreed to further deepen cooperation, in particular, in economic and cultural sectors. They also discussed issues of compliance with the law during the election campaign in the region.

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A high-level delegation of Ukraine will visit the international specialized exhibition Aero India 2019, which will start in Bangalore, India, on February 20.

First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleh Hladkovskyi and Ambassador of India to Ukraine Partha Satpathy discussed participation in the event and further bilateral cooperation, the NSDCs press service reported.

During this international event, the Ukrainian side plans to introduce An-132-D transport aircraft, which can completely replace the An-32 aircraft park of the Indian Air Force in the future. Moreover, An-132-D will carry out two demonstration flights.

The Ukrainian delegation also plans to present new equipment and weapons of Ukrainian production. A new counter-battery radar, a deep radar modernization project, missiles for "Pechora" S-125 system, and other defensive products in need for the Indian armed forces will be presented.

According to the NSDC, India today can expand its bilateral cooperation with Ukraine as a country-developer of high-tech equipment and armaments, in particular, gas turbine engines for ships, aircraft engines, and modern armored vehicles. Issues of expanding cooperation will also be discussed during meetings within the framework of the international exhibition.
The United States highly appreciates Ukraines achievements in terms of reforms in the defense sector and calls for further progress.

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan said this during a meeting with Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday, February 14, the U.S. Department of Defense informed in a report.

"Secretary Shanahan praised Minister Poltorak for his leadership in making reforms to Ukraines defense sector and emphasized the need for continued progress in implementing key provisions of Ukraines Law on National Security in support of a secure and democratic Ukraine," the report says.

In addition, Secretary Shanahan reaffirmed U.S. commitment to security assistance efforts to build the capacity of Ukraines forces to more effectively defend itself against Russian aggression.

He condemned Russias unjustified attack on Ukrainian naval vessels near the Kerch Strait, and reaffirmed U.S. commitment to maintain pressure on Russia to immediately return detained crew members and seized vessels.

At the same time, he reiterated that the United States remains steadfast in its support for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

As reported, on February 13-14, a delegation of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine headed by Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak made a visit to NATO Headquarters. The Ukrainian delegation took part in events within a meeting of NATO's North Atlantic Council at the level of defense ministers of NATO member states.

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Russian-backed militants launched 12 attacks, using weapons banned under the Minsk agreements eight times, on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in Donbas over the past day.

In the zone of action of tactical force East, the enemy fired 120mm and 82mm mortars, weapons on infantry fighting vehicles and hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers on Ukrainian positions near Pisky (11km north-west of Donetsk); 120mm mortars and weapons on infantry fighting vehicles  outside Opytne (12km north-west of Donetsk); 120mm mortars - in the area of Verkhniotoretske (22km north-east of Donetsk); 82mm mortars, hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers and small arms  outside Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk); mounted grenade launchers of different systems and heavy machine guns  near Pavlopol (25km north-west of Mariupol); hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers and heavy machine guns  near Marinka (23km south-west of Donetsk), the press center of the JFO Headquarters reports.

In the zone of action of tactical force North, Russian-backed militants used 120mm mortars to shell Ukrainian troops in the area of Novoluhanske (53km north-east of Donetsk); 82mm mortars  outside Krymske (42km north-west of Luhansk); 82mm mortars, mounted anti-tank grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and automatic grenade launchers  near Vilne (70km south-west of Donetsk); mounted anti-tank grenade launchers  in the area of Zaitseve (50km north-east of Donetsk).

In addition, in the zone of action of tactical force North in the morning of February 14, the 152mm artillery bombardment of Novoluhanske village with the usage of Russian Krasnopol high-precision artillery projectile was recorded. As a result, a residential building was destroyed. The fact of bombardment, the presence of fragments of the high-precision projectile and the fact of destruction is being confirmed by the Ukrainian side of the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination.

On February 14, the enemy actively used the unmanned aerial vehicles to correct the artillery fire. Four enemys quadocopters were shot down by Ukrainian defenders in the zone of action of tactical force East.

According to the intelligence, two Russian-backed militants were killed and four more were wounded on February 14.

Today, the enemy has not opened fire yet.

Ukrainian defenders continue to control the enemy on the contact line, adhering to the ceasefire agreements.

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Lubbock, TX (79409)

Today

Mainly clear skies. Low near 75F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear skies. Low near 75F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph.
Female inmates at the Women's Prison in Arouca say conditions are less than ideal, They are complaining about what they say is poor sanitisation of the facility, a lack of ventilation, pails in need of changing and court matters ongoing for years without any resolution.
A 61-year-old federal employee went to the office of Travis W. Watkins Tax Resolution & Accounting Firm for tax relief after the May 2011 tornado completely destroyed his home and belongings, said Travis Watkins of Tulsas Travis W. Watkins Tax Resolution & Accounting Firm.

He withdrew substantial money early from his 401k to re-build his home and sustain the necessities of life," Watkins said. The following year, his brother-in-law prepared his 2011 tax return. However, this relative made a mistake by not including the retirement income withdrawal and penalties. By the time the IRS got around to catching the mistake in 2014, taxes, penalties and interest had ballooned to about $18,000.

So, what happened here?

This is insult-to-injury. Our client got knocked down by an act of God and had to dip into his hard-earned savings. He found out the hard way that a withdrawal like this is a taxable event and subject to a 10% IRS penalty for early withdrawal. Additionally, in many cases, the money you withdraw to live on bumps you into a higher income tax bracket. So, more tax, penalties and interest may be due, Watkins said.

"This client was scared the IRS was going to take his car and keep him from work. To make matters worse, he went to a tax attorney in Norman that held his case for 7 or 8 months without doing anything. While there, penalties and interest continued to accrue, and the IRS started levying his wages. This frustration compounded the fear exponentially, as the Defense Department can revoke the security clearance of employees with tax debt. Like many of our clients in this situation, he had trouble going to sleep and staying asleep at night. He could never really rest because he was worried about it all of the time.

This taxpayer saw Travis W. Watkins Tax Resolution & Accounting Firm on a television commercial and decided to give it a try.

"We were able to diagnose all these problems using the IRS master tax file that it keeps on all taxpayers. With our clients full participation, we were able to design a customized, actionable plan to help him remove all penalties and related interest, given the unique circumstances at play in his case. All in all, he saved about $10,000, which may not seem like a lot in relative comparison to some of the ads you see on TV, but to this gentleman, it meant the world. He was very excited to put this behind him. With the additional time Travis W. Watkins Tax Resolution & Accounting Firm bought him in the penalty abatement process. The taxpayer was able to fully pay the remaining balance and get on with his life. He was so excited about the result, he delivered two bags of Hersheys Kisses to his assigned case worker, as a token of appreciation.

Travis Watkins is a Tulsa tax attorney who limits his practice to helping taxpayers end IRS problems. In 2018, his firm, Travis W. Watkins Tax Resolution & Accounting Firm, was awarded The Oklahomans Readers Choice Award for Best Taxation Firm. Watkins has earned the designation Certified Tax Resolution Specialist from the American Society of Tax Problem Solvers, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping taxpayers solve IRS problems. As a special offer to Tulsa World readers you can get a free copy of Watkins book, The Ultimate Survival Guide to IRS Problems by calling toll free 866-399-1432 and leaving a message 24/7. Watkins can also be reached immediately at 918-771-0220 or visiting TulsaTaxExperts.com.
Kaiser right on health care

George Kaisers article on the Oklahoma health care debate in the Tulsa World (A practical solution for the Oklahoma health care debate, Feb. 3) contains so many common sense solutions that I find myself wondering why we are still even having this conversation.

Well said, Mr. Kaiser.

Martha Payne, Tulsa

No sense gas prices

I think an investigation is in order for gas price fixing in Tulsa. Gas prices rise in a predictable pattern in Tulsa.

Prices jump 15 cents to 20 cents for no reason. When you check most surrounding cities within a 100-mile radius, those stay the same as before Tulsas price jump.

Slowly over a period of one week to two weeks, Tulsa gas prices creep back down penny-by-penny to the price before the jump. It might level off for a week or two, then it jumps again.

Ive tracked prices since December, Oklahoma City has been consistently lower. By comparison, Tulsa prices jump repeatedly. This clearly seems to be price fixing among the biggest sellers in Tulsa. Why should Tulsans have consistently higher gas prices than Oklahoma City when a refinery is across the river from downtown Tulsa?
For example, the state of Oklahoma could require hospitals and other providers to post prices for common services or procedures. Hospitals have already begun posting prices in January, following a regulation introduced by the Trump administration. This is a good start, but many hospitals are posting prices for potential tasks within a procedure, which is too detailed for practical use; a far more helpful approach would be to list prices as packages of care.

Such an approach is commonplace at urgent care centers and could be expanded to other providers. The Surgery Center of Oklahoma, based in Oklahoma City, publishes up-front prices for a range of common surgical procedures and shows whats possible. It would also help to publish list prices, along with a range of prices negotiated by insurance companies.

Equally important, prices should be linked to health outcomes so that patients and providers alike can make more informed decisions about care and avoid a race to the bottom. In Maryland, for example, residents can view costs and quality data for a range of procedures at hospitals across the state through a web-based portal. A similar version could be developed in Oklahoma, but enhanced by combining cost and quality information into a single, easy-to-read view.
OKLAHOMA CITY  Gov. Kevin Stitt has appointed Steven L. Buck as his Cabinet secretary for human services and early childhood development.

Buck is executive director of the Office of Juvenile Affairs.

As Cabinet secretary, he will be responsible for 34 agencies, boards and commissions.

He previously served as health and human services secretary.

Before Joining the Office of Juvenile Affairs in 2016, Buck was deputy commissioner for communications and prevention with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

He holds a bachelors degree in agricultural economics and a masters degree in administrative leadership.

Senate confirmation is required.

Barbara Hoberock 405-528-2465 barbara.hoberock@tulsaworld.com Twitter: @bhoberock

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NORMAN  A hearing in Oklahomas lawsuit against opioid manufacturing companies turned heated Thursday with attorneys for the state accusing Purdue Pharma of orchestrating a smear campaign against lawyers to divert attention from claims that drug companies hid the addictive nature of opioids.

Purdue, especially, has been engaged in a decades-long attack plan, said Bradley Beckworth, one of the outside attorneys assisting Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter in the lawsuit.

Beckworth made his allegation during a motion hearing as state and drug company attorneys steam toward a May 28 jury trial date in Cleveland County District Court.

The lawsuit, filed by Hunter, accuses more than a dozen drug companies of making billions of dollars off the sale of opioids through fraudulent marketing campaigns that misrepresented the addictive properties of the painkilling drugs, leading to thousands of deaths.
"You don't want things so convenient that you don't even know when fraud might be occurring, but on the other hand you don't want it so secure no one can vote," the state election board secretary says.
That includes realigning some functions to meet the administrations priorities, Kisling said.

Were changing some of our job descriptions, he said. Were changing some of our staff. Our field staff around the state were going to be utilizing to call on businesses, working with community leaders to find out what some of the challenges are.

Not surprisingly for someone who became a millionaire with a mortgage company he started on the side, Stitt is attuned to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, Kisling said.

The Department of Commerce has not historically been involved in entrepreneurship programs, he said. We tout ourselves as an entrepreneurial state. And in pockets we are.  (But) in terms of high-technology, high-margin companies, the sort that maybe you start in a garage and some day hires 2,000 people, compared to other states, we dont do that as well.

Besides fostering homegrown business and innovation, Kisling said the priorities include telling success stories, diversification and workforce development.

The lack of an adequate workforce, Kisling said, continues to be the leading obstacle to economic growth in Oklahoma.

The Commerce Department does not create jobs, Kisling said. Our role is to create an environment for that growth to happen.

Randy Krehbiel 918-581-8365 randy.krehbiel@tulsaworld.com Twitter: @rkrehbiel

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U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Thursday that President Donald Trump is left with no choice but to declare a national emergency to secure funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

We need to secure the border, and Democrats refuse to acknowledge an ongoing crisis, Inhofe said after voting against a budget agreement Thursday that avoids a government shutdown but gives Trump far less for the border wall than he wanted.

Instead of a real investment in the wall, it gives the President less than the original budget request and far less than Customs and Border Patrol agents say we need, Inhofe said in a written statement.

Oklahomas other U.S. senator, James Lankford, voted for the measure. Lankford did not comment on the possible emergency declaration, but said the funding package as a whole included money vital for many phases of government.

Though the ... public debate centered on border security, the funding package also included vital funding for 25 percent of the federal governments operations, Lankford said.

In addition to the vital provisions on border security fencing, the bill funds new immigration judges, increases border security agents, and maintains ICEs ability to detain individuals who do not have legal status.
While some may not pay a lot of attention to lying on gun purchase forms, it is a big deal to us, said Jeffrey C. Boshek II, special agent in charge of the ATFs Dallas Field Division.

Thats why we are prosecuting these cases, Boshek said. Its important to make sure that the public understands that we are not going to tolerate this anymore.

Were not going to let people come out and lie on these forms or use their spouses or friends and acquaintances to purchase firearms for them. Its illegal, and its going to help to put a dent in the violent crime and the serial shootings and everything else thats happening in this country.

Shores said four of the five defendants already arrested have multiple felony convictions, while three of the five are also charged with possessing firearms as felons.

Brannon is one of those charged with both possessing firearms as a felon and making a false statement in connection with a firearms acquisition.

According to an arrest affidavit filed in connection with the complaint, Brannon pawned a shotgun July 24 at Grove Ice & Iron, a licensed gun dealer in Delaware County.
The butternut squash soup, always a winter favorite, was thick and flavorful.

The previous three items would be enough for us for dinner on most nights, but we soldiered on with two entrees  gnocchi ($16) and lamb sausage ($18).

The small dumplings in the gnocchi were cooked with cauliflower, cabbage, brown butter, butternut squash and crimini mushrooms. This was a vegetarian dish full of flavor.

I had wanted the lamb ribs appetizer, but it had sold out that night. So I had lamb on my mind, which likely is why I ordered the lamb sausage over the pork schnitzel, which also had caught my eye.

Two sizable links of lamb sausage were served over a mound of warm quinoa, cabbage and butternut squash. It was topped with a yogurt sauce that gave the flavor of the dish a Middle Eastern slant.

We went on a Wednesday night, which is pizza night. We had heard good things about the pizzas. Levain offers two pizzas on those nights, one a vegetarian, and we likely will try a pizza on a future visit.

We havent even touched on our favorite dinner dish at Levain, which I assumed wasnt available pizza nights. Agnolotti is an off-menu special most nights and sells out quickly.
1. Wagoner senior Jacob McElroy wades through some of the gifts that were ready to be delivered on Valentines Day. 2. Wagoner senior Ashlyn Jenkins admires one of the Teddy Bear gifts stashed away in the High School Media Center on Valentines Day 2019. 3. Balloons filled parts of Cowetas Central Elmentary School on Valentines Day 2019. 4. Xxxxxxx 5. Xxxxxxx 6. Xxxxxxx 7. Xxxxxxx 8. Xxxxxxx 9. Xxxxxxx 10. Xxxxxxx

Love was in the air on Thursday, Feb. 14, but so were balloons, Teddy Bears, fragrant roses and flowers, candy, giant cookies and more balloons in the Wagoner High School Library.

The tables were laid out with letters on them. The Valentines stash was sorted by the last name of the receiver. Cupid has been using the Wagoner High Library and Media Center for a once a year deal.

We do this every year, said Librarian Sidney Karr.

The flowers and gifts seemed to constantly flow into the room.

This will be coming in all day, Karr added.
Its also a demonstration that GRDA is serious about its mission to protect the environment and help northeastern Oklahoma grow  that its more than just an electrical utility.

Construction will take two or three years, and almost everything is ready to go, except for necessary federal approval.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other federal officials involved need to make sure the plan is allowed by law and is as good for the environment as it will be for the people; but we hope they can do that with all due speed and with the recognition that the alternative isnt leaving the area in a state of nature, but in a state of man-made dilapidation.
Posted Thursday, February 21, 2019 12:00 pm

Kara L. Packham, 32, 23 S.W. 250th Road, was arrested on three failure to appear warrants with original charges of motor vehicle required to be registered, fraudulent use of credit/debit device, speeding and a felony charge of stealing. Total bond was set at $4,200 with a court date of Feb. 21.

Carla S. Nuckolls, 43, 697 S.E. 550th Road, Knob Noster, was arrested Jan. 30 on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of failure to register motor vehicle. Bond was set at $150.

Evan R. Fountain, 37, 207 N. Mary, Holden, was arrested on two failure to appear warrants with an original charge of non-support and a felony charge of non-support. Total bond was set at $4,000.

Cardell L. Miller, 24, Rolla, was arrested Jan. 31 on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of operating motor vehicle that is known to have not been financially maintained. Bond was set at $300 with a court date of Feb. 21.

Gavin D. Syring, 21, 601 W. Clark St., was arrested on a failure to appear warrant with original charges of possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond was set at $400 with a court date of Feb. 21.

Patrice N. Davis, 38, Kansas City, was arrested on two failure to appear warrants with original charges of two counts of failure to register motor vehicle. Total bond was set at $1,000 with a court date of Feb. 28.

Kendra L. Jordan, 25, 832 E. Prairie Hill Drive, was arrested on three failure to appear warrants with original charges of speeding and two counts of driving while revoked/suspended. Total bond was set at $750 with a court date of Feb. 28.

Dalton C. McLeod, 22, Ankeny, Iowa, was arrested Feb. 3 on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of pursue/take/kill/possess or dispose of wildlife illegally. Bond was set at $200 with a court date of March 1.

Shannon D. Shanklin II, 27, Kansas City, was arrested Feb. 5 on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of driving while revoked/suspended. Bond was set at $300 with a court date of March 7.

Buron K. Rochau, 53, Nixa, was arrested on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond was set at $400 with a court date of March 1.

Brian E. Tripp, 31, Sedalia, was arrested Feb. 2 on two failure to appear warrants with original charges of failure to properly stop and driving while suspended. Total bond was set at $400 with a court date of Feb. 13.

Tonyae M. Curry, 26, Kansas City, was arrested Feb. 5 on two failure to appear warrants with original charges of failure to register motor vehicle and speeding. Total bond was set at $500 with a court date of Feb. 28.

Taylor E. McCoy, 28, Kansas City, was arrested Feb. 6 on a failure to appear warrant with an original charge of failure to register motor vehicle. Bond was set at $200 with a court date of Feb. 28.

Michael G. Brown, 36, 697 S.E. 550th Road, Knob Noster, was arrested Jan. 30 on a probation violation warrant for a felony charge of domestic assault. Bond was set at $25,000 with a court date of Feb. 13.

Raymond E. Titus, 49, Overland Park, Kansas, was arrested Jan. 30 on a probation violation warrant for felony charges of two counts of forgery.

Nathan L. Collins, 55, 623 E. Young St., was arrested Feb. 3 on a warrant for failure to appear for bond supervision with a felony charge of failure to register as a sex offender. Bond was set at $25,000.

Britney Q. Crigler, 28, Wichita, Kansas, was arrested on a warrant with a felony charge of fugitive from out of state.Bond was set at $25,000.

Gene L. Morrison, 36, 204 N. Vine St., Holden, was arrested Jan. 30 on a warrant with a felony charge of stalking and a charge of violation of order of protection for adult. Bond was set at $10,000.

Lawrence S. Stewart, 27, 311 S.E. Highway PP, Leeton, was arrested on a warrant with a felony charge of tampering with motor vehicle and a charge of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond was set at $7,500 with a court date of Feb. 20.

Blake M. Wedge, 25, Warrensburg, was arrested Feb. 1 on a warrant with felony charges of 10 counts of knowingly burning or exploding. Bond was set at $10,000.

Travis E. Bishop, 33, Ottawa, Kansas, was arrested on a warrant with a felony charge of fugitive from out of state. Bond was set at $20,000.

Michael D. Cone, 44, Sunrise Beach, was arrested on a warrant with felony charges of two counts of child molestation. Bond was set at $35,000.

Deputies responded Feb. 7 to the report of stolen guns in the 400 block of North Main, Centerview.

Deputies responded Feb. 4 to the report of theft from an unlocked vehicle Jan. 16 in the 300 block of Southeast 981st Rad, Knob Noster. Multiple theft from auto reports were taken during that time frame of Jan. 16.

Deputies responded Feb. 4 to the report of a stabbing that took place in Warrensburg. A report from the Johnson County Sheriffs Office states the stabbing left the victim in critical condition. Deputies report they are attempting to locate a suspect but have not been able to yet.

Deputies assisted Feb. 2 with a death investigation that was later determined to be due to natural causes.

Deputies responded Feb. 2 to the report of a stolen vehicle in the 100 block of Northwest 385th Road.

Dalton R. Wedgeworth, 21, was arrested Feb. 2 on a charge of driving while intoxicated when deputies conducted a traffic stop in on Northwest Highway 131, just south of Northwest 150th Road.

Deputies recovered a vehicle Jan. 31 reported stolen out of Warrensburg. The vehicle was towed from the scene.
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The Samsung Galaxy A7 has a lot to offer compared to other versions of the A series. This new phone comes with features to die for and the size is just ergonomical for most users - whether you have big or small hands. Samsung A7 has a new camera that will enable you to take pictures that are on another level. The design of the phone is also amazing for its price, and the security for the device is top-notch. In Kenya, the phone is sold at about Ksh. 30,000 because of several convincing reasons, and you can get much better deals on Jumia and other sites.

Image: samsung.com

Source: UGC

Samsung is one of the renowned brands in Kenya that makes great smartphones. This company has been able to dominate the market by making well built devices and Samsung A7 continues with this trend. But does it stand a chance against other amazing smartphones in the market? Read on to find out more about the specs of this device, the good and the bad, as well as reviews from customers who have bought and used this Android device.

What is the price of Galaxy A7?

This phone has varying price points in different stores and locations. It is sold for a price of around Ksh. 28,000 at the trusted eCommerce store; MyShopKE. You can also purchase the device at Avechi for a price of Ksh. 31,000. Other places where you can buy the phone include; Phone Store at Ksh. 31,500 and Phone Place Kenya at Ksh. 30,000.

Overview

Despite being a great phone, Samsung A7 has its good and bad side. Read below some of the pros and cons of the device.

Pros

Excellent glass design

Accurate GPS

Excellent battery life

Top-notch OLED panel

Cons

Takes long to charge

Has a plastic frame

The fingerprint reader is slow

It does not have a USB-C but a MicroUSB

Specs

Specs are everything in a phone, and especially in this great era of technological advances, having a phone that is up-to-date is essentially important. The good thing is that the Samsung A7 has some great specifications up its sleeves that just provide the best experience.

Dimension: 159.8H x 76.8W x 7.5D (mm)

Processor: Octa-Core 2.2GHz, 1.6GHz

Screen size: 6 (153.6mm)

Resolution: 2220 x 1080 (FHD+)

Technology: Super AMOLED

Color depth: 16M

Camera: 24.0 MP + 5.0 MP + 8.0 MP

Front camera flash: Yes

Memory: 4GB RAM, 64GB ROM

External memory: Up to 512GB (MicroSD)

OS: Android

SIM: Single SIM

Network: 4G LTE

Connectivity: MicroUSB, Earjack, GPS, Glonass, Beidou, WI-FI, Bluetooth v5.0(LE up to 2Mbps).

Sensors: Fingerprint sensor, Hall sensor, Proximity sensor, Gyro sensor, Accelerometer, Geomagnetic sensor, Light sensor.

Weight: 168g

Battery: up to 19 hours talk time

Audio and Video: MP4, 3GP, M4V, AVI, WEBM, MKV, 3G2, WMV, FLV, ASF.

READ ALSO: Latest Samsung phones in Kenya and their prices

Hardware

Image: samsung.com

Source: UGC

The hardware part of the phone is well-developed with great sensors, nice aperture, and great focal length. The weight is also very convenient for users who love moving around with the phone. Although the fingerprint sensors are a bit slow, they do tend to provide good security for the owner of the phone.

1. Design

When it comes to the design, Samsung A7 clearly stands out and portrays a great art of perfection. The phone comes in various colours and the sleek design makes the phone quite unique and eye-catching. The features of the phone have been well put into place from the exquisite camera; to the large clear screen display that makes it just look magnificent. You are free to choose the colour that best suits your style.

2. Display

Having a phone that has a clear and efficient display for usage is quite essential, and the designers of Samsung Galaxy A7 went the extra mile to ensure the display is put together in a great way for users to enjoy. Samsung Galaxy A7 display a 6-inch screen display with an FHD+ 2220 x 1080p resolution that is completely suitable for video viewing among other great stuff. Moreover, the contrast of the phone is really great as the colors are well displayed giving users a great view when checking out videos or images.

3. Processor, storage & performance

Image: samsung.com

Source: UGC

This is an area that most users mostly need to look at mainly because it tells how efficient the phone is and the benefits that it can be able to provide you with. Samsung A7 has a CPU speed processor which is the Octa-Core 2.2GHz, 1.6GHz. This is quite an efficient processor as it makes the phone very easy to use and handle things fast.

When it comes to the memory of the A7, there is plenty of room to store everything you want to from pictures, videos, and even music. The phone comes with a 4GB RAM and a 64 GB ROM, as well as an expandable memory of up to 512GB MicroSD. This is a lot of memory space you can take advantage of and save more of your great memories.

4. Battery

When buying a phone, looking at the size of the battery that the phone has is also quite essential. Samsung strives to provide the best battery as new Galaxy A7 battery capacity is 3300 mAh. The phone can go up to 12 hours when using 3G internet, up to 14 hours when using LTE internet and Wi-Fi. When playing videos it can last up to 17 hours, while playing audio can last up to 48 hours. When it comes to talk time, the battery can last up to 19 hours. Another great thing about the phones battery life is that when playing audio while the display is off, it can last up to 74 hours.

5. Speaker & call quality

The speaker quality of the Galaxy A7 is excellent. The audio output has an external amplifier that is loud and clear, with the loudness being above average helping users to have a good experience when playing video or audio. This also makes it easier when making calls as you can clearly hear the person you are talking to without much strain. When using headphones, the sound is also above average with a solid performance making it efficient to listen to music privately.

Software

The impressive hardware is not the only highlight for this phone. Details about the software is also an ear candy. Here is an overview of what the phone's software entails:

1. OS & features

Samsung Galaxy A7 uses the Android version 8.0 Oreo OS. The Galaxy A7 2018 is eligible for the Android pie update unlike other versions, which have reached the end of OS upgrade. The Oreo firmware is quite efficient and its through this efficiency that makes A7 a great phone to use. As mentioned earlier, fingerprint sensors are efficient although relatively slow at times.

2. Camera, video, and image quality

Image: samsung.com

Source: UGC

The camera of the phone is one-of-a kind. It features a 120 degrees ultra-wide lens that eliminates the need for cropping what you do not want to keep in the frame. And the camera also has an intelligent system which adjusts saturation automatically. It also helps keep your images as natural as possible because it features 19 modes to customize images.

The camera also gives you the power of shaping your photos according to how you want them. You are able to add some depths and adjust the photos accordingly to suit your style and needs. The camera also works perfectly in low light areas as you are able to capture clear shots because of the high resolution included.

The phone also has a pro-lighting feature that will make your selfies look better, and whats more is that you are able to adjust the colors of your photos into sharp contrasting colors that will make them look outstanding.

Reviews

From the reviews of Samsung Galaxy A7 on different websites and also customers, it is clear that the phone is categorized as a budget phone with amazing features. The specs of the phone make it stand out and the unique design is well crafted to ensure the phone provides appeal and functionality. You might be asking, Is Galaxy A7 2018 waterproof? Well, the phone is not all waterproof and it can be damaged with just a splash of water and when it falls in water - you might have to consider buying a new one. Below is a comprehensive review of the phone that matches most of the reviews and comments by experienced customers found in leading eCommerce stores.

Verdict

Samsung Galaxy A7 clearly stands out in terms of features and the great advantages that it has to offer. If you are someone who is looking for a phone that is up-to-date with the current technological changes and features, then this can be a good phone to consider. Make sure you check out more information about the phone to learn more and help you make the right decision of whether the phone will suitable for you or not.

READ ALSO:

Samsung S9 Review and Price in Kenya

Samsung Note 5 price in Kenya specs and review

Source: Tuko
Potential Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., speaks during an event organized by the Young Democrats of New Hampshire at Stark Brewing Co., Friday, Feb. 1, 2019, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
The puerile exchanges between the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader marks another low in the tawdry politics of T&T.

Anyone looking on from the outside would find it hard to believe that this country is in a declared state of emergency, struggling with a pandemic that is fuelling daily Covid-19 deaths along with infections by the hundreds, with an economy marked by an increasingly burdensome foreign debt, job losses, collapsed businesses and biting poverty for a growing number of people.
Todays Labour Day is the second to be observed under conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year, imposition of a 19-hour curfew as part of the current state of emergency makes for even greater stringency against public activity.
Staff at the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL) have reached their breaking point as they claim they have not been paid for two months.

The situation has become so dire, employees said they are struggling just to make ends meet.
The House of Representatives will debate a motion of no confidence in Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh at 1.30 p.m. today.

The Opposition motion is filed in the name of Caroni East MP Dr Rishad Seecheran. The Health Minister is expected to speak.

The motion is unusually short. It reads, Whereas the Minister of Health has persistently demonstrated his inability to effectively undertake his duties in the health sector for the welfare of our citizens, be it resolved that this House express its lack of confidence in the Minister of Health and call for his immediate resignation.
Rhythmic African drumming will once again signal the start of Emancipation celebrations this August.

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and its ensuing restrictions on gatherings silenced the annual emphatic sting of palms on stretched animal skin last year. But thanks to the National Action Cultural Committee (NACC), the traditional drum call is set for a virtual return.
shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com

Beijing, February 15

The trade talks between China and the US will continue in Washington next week after both sides made progress but not enough to seal a final deal, ahead of a planned American tariff hike on USD 200 billion of Chinese imports from March 2.

Top officials from the worlds two biggest economies wrapped up the two-days of talks here on Friday in a bid to at least create sufficient goodwill to stave off an escalation of their tariff war.

Both sides have agreed to continue talks in Washington next week after two days of negotiations in Beijing produced progress but not enough to seal a deal to end the trade war, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted officials as saying.

Talks will continue next week among the same group of people, but at a different place, said a source, who declined to be identified.

The last two days in Beijing made progress but not enough to seal a final deal, the source said, adding that the Chinese delegation may leave for Washington on Thursday.

Commenting on the talks, the White House said detailed and intensive discussions led to progress between the two parties. Much work remains, however. Both sides will continue working on all outstanding issues in advance of the March 1, 2019, deadline for an increase in the 10 per cent tariff on certain imported Chinese goods, the White House said in a statement, confirming dialogue would continue in Washington next week.

Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He met US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin here on Thursday and Friday.

Mnuchin tweeted that he and Lighthizer had held productive meetings with Chinas Vice-Premier Liu He.

Later, both the delegations called on Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Xis meeting with the US delegation was stated as reciprocal move as Trump had met the Chinese delegation when it visited Washington in the first week of this month.

This round of talks was held in Beijing in a more relaxed environment as the US President on Thursday hinted that he might slide for a little while the March 1 deadline to increase tariffs on USD 200 billion imports from China in order to reach a deal.

Trump is demanding China to reduce the USD 375 billion trade deficit and protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and more access to American goods to Chinese markets.

He has already increased the tariffs on over USD 250 billion Chinese exports to US and threatened to extend tariffs on USD 200 billion Chinese imports to 25 per cent from current 10 per cent.

As the talks began on Thursday, the new official data said Chinas export growth to the US slowed in January compared with December, while the imports slide widened, indicating a bleak trade picture between the two biggest economies.

Chinas imports from the US edged down by 38.6 per cent year-on-year to 63.7 billion yuan (USD 9.4 billion) in January, compared with a 2.3 per cent yearly decline in December, the state-run Global Times reported.

In terms of exports, China exported USD 279.4 billion-yuan worth of goods to the US in January, up by 1.9 per cent year-on-year, but slowing from the 8.6 per cent growth seen in the previous month, according to data revealed by the General Administration of Customs on Thursday.

Chinas January trade surplus with the US widened by 31.2 per cent to hit 188.4 billion yuan, according to the data.

The sliding exports growth and widening imports decline not only show that the uncertainties of the China-US trade situation is forcing the market to take risk aversion measures, but also reflects that Chinas dependence on US trade is sliding, Bai Ming, deputy director of the MOFCOMs International Market Research Institute, told the Global Times.

Amid the ongoing trade war, Chinas economy sank to a 28-year low in 2018 slowing down to 6.6 per cent year on year. It was the lowest growth since 1990. PTI
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Muscat/Kabul, February 15

Even before any peace push-related drawdowns, the US military is expected to trim troop levels in Afghanistan as part of an efficiency drive by the new commander, a US general told Reuters on Friday, estimating the cuts may exceed 1,000 forces.

US President Donald Trump told Congress this month he intended to reduce US forces from Afghanistan as negotiators make progress in talks with Taliban insurgents, saying: Great nations do not fight endless wars.

US Army General Joseph Votel, the head of the US militarys Central Command, said the decision to reduce some of the roughly 14,000 American forces in Afghanistan was not linked to those peace efforts, however.

Instead, he said it was part of an effort by Army General Scott Miller, who took over the more than 17-year war effort in September, to make better use of US resources.

This is something that he started as he got into the position here and was looking at how we (can) be as efficient and as effective as we can be on the ground, Votel said in an interview during a trip to Oman.

Millers decision represents a reversal of sorts after years in which the US military sought to slow or halt troop drawdowns under Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama, and previously lobbied for more troops under Trump.

It was unclear how far along any troop reductions might already be. The Pentagon says US troop levels in Afghanistan are at around 14,000 but adds the number can fluctuate.

Other sources offered lower estimates. Diplomatic sources believe the efficiency push, which has been raising eyebrows in Kabul, was already driving down US troop levels.

Were watching this very closely, said a senior Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. It is clear General Millers desire to streamline is already having an impact on numbers.

Asked whether Miller would likely cut more than 1,000 troops from Afghanistan under the efficiency drive, Votel said: He probably will.

Votel added that some troops could be moved over the horizon, still remotely supporting the war effort from overseas. That, he said, would also reduce vulnerabilities in Americas longest war.

This is his decision as commander here - how he most effectively uses the resources that he has and trying to be as efficient as he can be, Votel said, without offering a specific estimate of exactly how many troops Miller may withdraw.

Millers spokesman, Army Colonel Dave Butler, declined to speculate on future troop levels. But Butler said Miller would still have surge capabilities into Afghanistan when needed for specific missions.

Costs have increasingly been a focus of discussions between Kabul and Washington. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani recently sent a letter to Trump offering to reduce US expenses in Afghanistan.

How to do this more cost effectively is something that we have been working towards for a long time, Roya Rahmani, Afghanistans ambassador to Washington, told Reuters.

Endless wars

US officials have held several rounds of talks with the Taliban in Qatar since last year in what is widely seen as the most serious bid for peace in the 17-year war. Taliban negotiators will meet their US counterparts on Feb. 18 in Pakistans capital, Islamabad.

US officials have told Reuters the military is planning for what a withdrawal of about half of the 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan would look like.

That has raised concerns about whether a smaller force would be able to support the Afghan military and whether other European armies that rely on American helicopters and other support would pull out.

It also raises questions about how big of a US counter-terrorism force might be able to remain in the country.

Votel declined to discuss any internal deliberations, noting he had not received orders for a withdrawal.

Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan offered a similar reassurance this week, telling nervous NATO allies on Thursday that any potential US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan will be done in a coordinated fashion.

Asked about Trumps concerns about endless wars, Votel said: We dont want to fight endless wars either. We want to accomplish the mission here.

I think the strategy that the president has allowed to get put in place here, the South Asia strategy, focused on reconciliation, has been a good one, he said.

Beyond US troops in Afghanistan, the Pentagon relies on thousands of private contractors.

A recent report by the US Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction noted there were an additional 861 Defense Department civilians and 10,698 contractors who were US citizens.

Diplomats familiar with NATO operations told Reuters they believed the number of contractors was not expected to be reduced along with US troop withdrawals, and could actually increase. Reuters
shalender@tribune.com

Islamabad, February 14

The Taliban said on Wednesday its negotiators would next week meet the top US and Pakistani officials including Prime Minister Imran Khan during a key round of talks in Islamabad as part of the ongoing Afghan peace talks.

Neither Washington nor Islamabad immediately confirmed the announcement by the Taliban. On the formal invitation of the government of Pakistan, another meeting is scheduled to take place between the negotiation teams of the Islamic Emirate and the US on 18th of February, 2019 in Islamabad, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement.

Though there was no official confirmation, diplomatic sources in Pakistan said the Taliban delegation would visit Pakistan and hold talks with both American and Pakistani officials. The Taliban and the US are in a discussion to end more than a 17-year long bloody war in Afghanistan.

The Taliban control nearly half of Afghanistan, and are more powerful than at any time since the 2001 US-led invasion after the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001. Special US Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad recently said after six days of talks with the Taliban representatives in Doha last month that the US has made significant progress in its peace talks with the Taliban.  PTI
shalender@tribune.com

Washington, February 14

The US House has voted overwhelmingly to end American involvement in Saudi Arabia's war effort in neighbouring Yemen, dealing a rebuke to President Donald Trump and his alliance with Riyadh.

The chamber voted 248 to 177 to approve historic legislation that would direct the President within 30 days to remove United States armed forces from hostilities in or affecting the Republic of Yemen, where a years-old conflict has killed thousands of civilians.

Eighteen Republicans joined all voting Democrats in supporting the measure, a striking curtailment of presidential war powers. The vote puts pressure on the Senate to act. The Senate easily passed a similar measure late last year condemning the administration's defense of the Saudi kingdom, but it died as the last Congress ended with the then Republican-controlled House not bringing it to a vote.

Today the House is under Democratic control, and the measure moved swiftly on the floor.

With my resolution passing the House, we are closer than ever to ending our complicity in this humanitarian catastrophe, House Democrat Ro Khanna, said on Twitter. The Senate must quickly pass this resolution and finally reassert Congress constitutional authority, Senator Bernie Sanders said.  AFP

Prez ex-campaign chief lied to prosecutors

US President Donald Trump's former election campaign chairman Paul Manafort breached his plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller by intentionally lying to prosecutors in the Russia probe, a federal judge has ruled. Manafort made multiple false statements to the FBI and special counsel, Judge Amy Berman Jackson said.

Ignores $5.7-bn border wall funding request

The Congress on Thursday aimed to end a dispute over border security with legislation that would ignore Trumps request for $5.7 billion to build a wall on the US-Mexico border. Late on Wednesday, negotiators put the finishing touches on legislation to fund a range of other federal agencies through September 30, the end of the fiscal year. This agreement denies funding for President Trump's border wall, House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey said.
shalender@tribune.com

Moscow, February 14

When the last Soviet tanks rumbled back home across a bridge on the border with Afghanistan 30 years ago, the withdrawal was hailed as a much-anticipated end to a bloody quagmire.

Since then, Moscows view has changed radically. As Russia prepares to mark Fridays anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal, many see the 10-year Soviet war in Afghanistan as a necessary and largely successful endeavour.

Even those who fought in the 1980s give grudging credit to Moscow for leaving a legacy that outshines Washingtons. They point out that Russian left behind a strong army and a 400-bed military hospital that is still among the countrys best health facilities.

The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, driven by fears that the US could try to establish a foothold next to Soviet republics in Central Asia. The In the fierce rebel resistance and infighting that followed, the Soviet Union lost more than 15,000 troops. Estimates of civilian casualties in that period vary widely, from more than 500,000 up to 2 million.  AP
shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com

WASHINGTON

NASA plans to put American astronauts back on the Moon by 2028, with unmanned demonstration missions in 2024 and 2026, the US space agency Chief Jim Bridenstine has said.

Bridenstine on Thursday laid out the space agency's plan to support the development of commercial hardware capable of landing astronauts on the moon, the GeekWire reported.

"This time, when we go to the Moon, we're actually going to stay," he said.

"We're not going to leave flags and footprints and then come home, to not go back for another 50 years." The mission architecture represents a dramatic shift from the way NASA had put humans on the Moon when Apollo 11 in July 1969 put Neil Armstrong as the first man to walk on the lunar surface.

The procurement plan, as laid out in a document known as a Broad Agency Announcement, calls for commercial ventures to propose concepts for a descent module, a space refuelling system and a transfer vehicle by March 25.

In May, NASA would select several companies for an initial six-month phase to study and develop in this line and will allocate up to $9 million to each company, GeekWire reported.

Based on the progress made during the first phase, two companies would be chosen to build hardware for a series of demonstration missions.

The hardware would then be launched aboard commercial rockets and NASA's yet-to-be-built Space Launch System to the Gateway space platform, which the US space agency and its international partners plan to build in lunar orbit during the early 2020s, the report said.

The first demonstration mission, scheduled for 2024, would involve sending down an unmanned descent module from the Gateway to the lunar surface.

The second mission, set for 2026, would be again another unmanned demonstration of the descent module, plus an ascent module to get back from the Moon to the Gateway.

Astronauts would make their first trip to the lunar surface in 2028, using the same three-element infrastructure. NASA's plan calls for four astronauts to spend as long as seven days on the Moon, the report said.  IANS
uttara@tribuneindia.com

Chandigarh, February 15

Punjab minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Friday cancelled his scheduled visit to Lahore to lodge a "strong protest" against the Pulwama terror attack orchestrated by a Pakistan-based terror group in which 42 CRPF men died.

Punjabs animal husbandry and labour minister was supposed to attend an International Buffalo Congress organised by the University of Animal & Veterinary Sciences, Lahore, from February 18-20.

The decision was taken "to lodge a strong protest against the dastardly attack on the CRPF personnel at Pulwama", an official release said.

Sidhu said that he was slated to go to Pakistan along with the farmers of the state to take part in the congress which will be attended by the representatives from different countries, he said in the release.

The gruesome attack on CRPF convoy has shaken me emotionally and in order to show solidarity with the families of the jawans who lost their lives, I have decided to cancel my visit to Pakistan, he further said.

The Punjab Assembly too strongly condemned the attack and passed a resolution for the adjournment of the proceedings of the House for the day.

Some 42 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel (CRPF), many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir. The JeM claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar. Agencies
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Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 15

Punjabs Superintendent of Police Bikram Jit Singh was on Friday granted interim relief against arrest by Justice Ramendra Jain of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

He had moved the High Court apprehending arrest in a case registered in connection with violence following incidents of sacrilege in the state.

He is the second ex-cop to get interim relief from the High Court.

Justice Jain had passed similar orders on a petition filed by Inspector Pardeep Singh.

His counsel Sant Pal Singh Sidhu claimed absence of concrete evidence while seeking anticipatory bail.

Taking up the petition, Justice Jain fixed May 31 as the next date of hearing.

The names of then Moga SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma (now retired), then SP detective, Fazilka, Bikram Jit Singh, inspector Pardeep Singh and sub-inspector Amarjit Singh were nominated as accused in FIR registered at Baja Khana police station in Faridkot district October 21, 2015, for murder, attempt to murder and other offences under Sections 302, 307 and 34 of the IPC, along with provisions of the Arms Act

Bikram Jit Singh and other police officers earlier moved the High Court seeking probe by an independent agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation into four FIRs registered in connection with the sacrilege incidents.

In the petition filed through counsel Sant Pal Singh Sidhu, the petitioners had added they were nominated accused without any concrete evidence and only on the basis of recommendations of commission, which is not permissible as per law and by ignoring the fact surrounding the incident, including that the police party was shot at and that various police personal were injured in the incident.

Going into the background of the matter, the petitioners had claimed two individuals of an illegal and unlawful assembly had died after the police force, dealing with the assembly, was shot at and attacked.

A Commission was constituted under the provisions of the Inquiry Act, 1952, which submitted a report in June, 2016, after which the inquiry officer was substituted and the second report by the new inquiry officer was submitted on June 30, 2018.
Anti-Brexit protesters with their eyes covered with blindfolds attend a demonstration demanding a second referendum, or "People's Vote," in London, Britain, on Feb. 14, 2019. The British House of Commons on Thursday voted against a motion tabled by Prime Minister Theresa May reiterating its support for government Brexit approach. (Xinhua/Tim Ireland)

LONDON, Feb. 14 -- The British House of Commons on Thursday voted against a motion tabled by Prime Minister Theresa May reiterating its support for government Brexit approach.

MPs voted in the largely symbolic votes by 303-258 against the motion which also reiterates that MPs note the ongoing Irish backstop discussions between Britain and European Union (EU).

Conservative rebels abstained on the grounds that the motion implied a no-deal Brexit would be ruled out.

Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn called on the prime minister to admit her Brexit strategy has failed.

"Vote shows there is no majority for the prime minister's course of action," he said.

Analysts have said that the defeat would make it more difficult for the prime minister in talks with the European Union.

Before the votes on the motion, MPs vetoed a Scottish National Party amendment by 315-93 which requires the government to extend Article 50 by at least three months from the current exit date of March 29.

They voted against a Labor amendment calling for the government to hold another meaningful vote by Feb. 27 or declare a deal is no longer on the table and outline its next steps.
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Kulwinder Sandhu/Arun Sharma

Tribune News Service

Moga/Ropar, February 15

After coming to know that her husband CRPF jawan Jaimal Singh had been killed in a terror attack in J&K, Sukhjit Kaur almost fainted on the bed in her room trying to come to terms with the irreparable loss.

Her mother-in-law could be seen trying to console her with a heavy heart with tears in her eyes, her son having fallen victim to a suicide bomber.

The villagers tried all they could to raise the spirit of the aggrieved family saying Jaimal Singh has died a martyr and done the country proud.

Jaimal Singh, a resident of Ghalauti village in Dharamkot sub-division of the Moga distirct, was the driver of the bus that was blown up after the suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden SUV into the bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Awantipora area of J&K yesterday. As many as 42 CRPF jawans were killed and dozens of others injured in the incident.

Jaimal Singhs father Jaswant Singh told The Tribune that his son Jaimal Singh was born on April 26, 1974. He studied from the village school and joined the central force on April 23, 1993. He had spoken to his wife and five-year old son on Tuesday night informing them that his company was being shifted to another place.

Jaswant Singh has demanded from Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India must give a befitting reply to the terrorists and the neighbouring country Pakistan, which is harbouring them. It is high time for India to end terrorism forever so that no other parents or wives lose their sons or husbands in such tragic incidents, he said, his voice choking with grief.

Officials informed us about Jaimals martyrdom late on Thursday night. We were informed that the bus was blown up by the terrorists. We are proud of his sacrifice, said Jaswant Singh.

The family members were yet to get any information on the arrival of mortal remains.

Earlier, as the news reached the village, hundreds of people thronged Jaimals house to console the grieving family and express their solidarity with them.

The villagers said Jaimal was a brave man and a great son who cared a lot for his family.

Kulwider Singh of Rauli village in Ropar district too was martyred in the blast.

Kulwinder, the only son of his parents, was to get married in October at nearby Lodhipur village.
editorial@tribune.com

Our Correspondent

Fazilka, February 14

A key witness in the Bhim Tank murder case has stated in the court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fazilka, that Bhim was murdered at the behest of liquor baron Shiv Lal Doda and his nephew Amit Doda.

Akash, a resident of Abohar, claimed that injured Bhim had told him in the Civil Hospital, Abohar, that he was assaulted at the behest of the Dodas.

After an assault on December 11, 2015, Bhim was rushed to the Civil Hospital, Abohar, and later shifted toa private hospital in Amritsar, where he was declared brought dead. Akash on Thursday recorded his statement after the intervention of the Supreme Court.

The accused had challenged permission to produce Akash as a witness in the final phase of the trial. The High Court entertained the objections, but Bhims mother Kaushalya Devi filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court which directed the trial court to allow Akash to depose within a month of the next hearing.

However, during the trial the counsels for the defendants pleaded that Bhim was not in a position to utter any word at the Civil Hospital due to the impact of the injuries. The next date of hearing has been fixed for February 21.

Booked for fraud

Abohar: A fraud case has been filed against liquor baron Shiv Lal Doda, his nephew Amit and aides Davinder Kumar of Nai Abadi and Raj Kumar of Suraj Nagari. Complainant Mandeep Singh of Tarmala village,Muktsar district, said the Punjab Excise Department had allocated him L-1 licence for 2011-12 and opened a current account with the HDFC Bank, but he had to shut the business in July 2011. He said the accused allegedly opened an account with the Oriental Bank of Commerce on March 12, 2012, using fake documents and used it for transferring Rs 15 crore to other accounts.
harinder@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, February 14

A poem on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by acclaimed Punjabi writer Nanak Singh, which was banned by the British after its publication in 1920, has now been translated into English.

Singh was present at Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919. He was 22 years old at the time. As the British troops opened fire on the unarmed gathering protesting against the Rowlatt Act, killing hundreds, Singh fainted and his unconscious body was piled up among the corpses.

After going through the traumatic experience, he proceeded to write Khooni Vaisakhi, a long poem that narrates the political events in the run-up to the massacre and its immediate aftermath.

The poem was a scathing critique of the British Raj and was banned soon after its publication. Its manuscript was subsequently lost.

After years, the poem has been rediscovered and now translated into English by the authors grandson and diplomat, Navdeep Suri.

Featuring the poem in translation and in original, the bilingual edition is accompanied by essays by Suri, HS Bhatia and by Justin Rowlatt, whose great-grandfather, Sir Sydney Arthur Taylor Rowlatt, drafted the Rowlatt Act.

Nanak Singh (1897-1971) is widely regarded as the father of the Punjabi novel. With little formal education beyond the fourth grade, he wrote an astounding 59 books and received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1962.  PTI
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 15

Wails of a 7-month-old child cuts through the somber ambience at the home of constable, Sukhjinder Singh where grieving friends and family members are assembled.

The baby boy too small to understand what tragedy had hit the family.

Not long back , Sukhjinder was celebrating the festival of Lohri with the family, which was the first for the toddler. The Pulwana terror attack rudely snatching those moments of happiness from them.

Sukhjinder was amongst the 42 CRPF jawans killed in an IED attack by militants on Thursday. The grieving Tarn taran village now awaits the body of its son.

Sukhjinder Singh leaves behind a seven-month-old son, who was born after a gap of eight years.

He had recently come home to celebrate the first Lohri of his son. And left the village recently never to come back. Villagers and family members vented their anger on the attack and demanded that the Centre should avenge the deaths and give a befitting reply to the Pakistan-backed terrorists.

At least 42 CRPF troopers have died and 38 others injured in the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted there in 1989.

A suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district that has left the security establishment stunned.

At least four CRPF troopers from Punjab were killed in the deadly attack on a convoy in Pulwama in neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir.

The four from Punjab include Jaimal Singh of Moga district, Sukhjinder Singh of Tarn Taran, Maninder Singh Attri of Gurdaspur and Kulwinder Singh of Ropar.

A resident of Ghalauti village in Dharamkot subdivision of Moga distirct, Jaimal Singh, 44, was the driver of the fateful bus that was blown up in the attack.

"Our son has been martyred for the country. Though the loss can never be filled, our government and Army should teach a lesson to Pakistan for this cowardly act," father Jaswant Singh said.

Jaimal Singh leaves behind his ageing parents, wife, a 10-year-old son and a younger brother.

Satpal Attri, father of Maninder Singh Attri, said that his son had gone back to join duty on February 13 only and had called him up after reaching Jammu.

"He died the very next day. We are proud of him even though our loss can never be filled," Satpal Attri said. Maninder's younger brother is also serving in the CRPF and is posted in Assam now.

The other trooper from Punjab who also died in the Pulwama attack is Kulwinder Singh from Anandpur Sahib area of Ropar district. He was to get married in 2019 later.

Anti-Pakistan protests were reported from different places in Punjab and Haryana. With IANS inputs
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Washington/Moscow, February 15

Countries from across the globe, including the US, Russia, Australia, France, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh, have condemned the Pulwama terror attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and extended support to India in the fight against terrorism.

At least 42 CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a JeM suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Condemning the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday said perpetrators and sponsors of the attack should be brought to book and reiterated his countrys support for further strengthening counterterrorist cooperation with India.

In a message to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin said, ...We strongly condemn this brutal crime. The perpetrators and sponsors of this attack, undoubtedly, should be duly punished.

The US specifically singled out Pakistan in its statement condemning the attack.

In a stern message to Pakistan, the White House asked Islamabad to immediately end its support to all terror groups and not to provide safe haven to them.

The US calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the US and India, she said.

Australias political leaders also condemned the heinous terror attack. We convey our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and all those injured. Our thoughts are with my friend Prime Minister @narendramodi and the Indian people, Prime Minister Scott Morrison tweeted.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten said it was an atrocious attack. To the family and friends of the soldiers killed and injured  we send our deepest condolences, support, and hope for a timely recovery for the injured, he said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia said it stood with Indias fight against terrorism and extremism and denounced as cowardly the suicide attack.

The strong condemnation came days ahead of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Sauds state visit to India next week for talks with the top Indian leadership.

The UAEs Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said the country condemns this terrorist act and reiterated its principled and unequivocal position rejecting all forms of violence and terrorism.

Afghanistan, which has lost a number of its armed personnel to terrorist attacks, emphasised the need for closer cooperation between countries in the fight against terror.

The Govt of I.R #AFG expresses its condolences and sympathy with the ppl and govt of the friendly country #India due to the loss of 40 #Indian Police, and once again stresses the need for solidarity and closer cooperation of countries in the fight against this common enemy, Sibghatullah Ahmadi, Afghanistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said.

French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affair Jean-Yves Le Drian extended support to India, saying France has always been and always will be by Indias side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms.

I most firmly condemn the heinous attack just perpetrated in India... France has always been and always will be by Indias side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms...I call on every State to fight effectively against terrorist networks and their financing channels and to prevent cross-border movements of terrorist groups, such as the JeM, which has claimed responsibility for this attack, he said.

Nepal said it unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

Condemning the attack, Maldives Preseident Ibrahim Mohamed Solih tweeted that the Maldives will continue to work with India and the international community to combat terrorism.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, Bangladesh remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and maintains a zero-tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities. We would continue to work and cooperate with international community including India to eradicate menace of terrorism.

Other Islamic countriesJordan, Lebanon and Bahrainalso condemned the attack.

Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering tweeted, Bhutan is deeply saddened by the news of the horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir. Bhutan strongly condemns terrorist attack of any nature...

Sri Lankan premier Ranil Wickremesinghe and leader of the Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa condemned the terrorist attack and offered their condolences to Prime Minister Modi.

China also expressed deep shock over the terror attack carried out by the Jaish suicide bomber. China has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

Greece, Estonia, South Africa, Portugal, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore and Dominican Republic also condemned the attack. PTI
uttara@tribuneindia.com

Shillong, February 15

Two persons were lynched by an angry mob in Meghalayas West Garo Hills district and another was critically injured, police said on Friday.

The incident took place at Chanangpara village after the locals were alerted about the suspicious movement of the trio in their car, they said.

A mob of over a 1000 people stopped the car and when they found weaponsa dagger and rodsinside the car trunk, the occupants of the car were fatally attacked leaving two of them dead and one seriously wounded, according to eyewitnesses.

While the victims ran to take shelter in the house of the Nokma (village chief), the crowd barged into the house and dragged them out before thrashing them.

One person, Mokibul Akond, died on the spot while Mikseng Marak was declared brought dead at the Hospital, district Superintendent of Police M G R Kumar.

He said Akond had been charged in a kidnapping case earlier and police are now verifying if the other two also had any criminal antecedents.

The police team that arrived at the village could do nothing but retrieve the bodies of the three and rushed them to the nearest hospitals, according to the SP. PTI
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Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 14

A verbal duel between Congress Kuljit Singh Nagra and SADs NK Sharma on the floor of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Thursday spilled over, embroiling Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and his cousin, Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal.

While the sparring MLAs agreed to a House committee to look into the assets acquired by both in the past 12 years, a suggestion for a similar committee to assess assets of Manpreet and Sukhbir was mooted by Power Minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar, which left the House stunned.

Sources within the ruling Congress claimed a turf war between Kangar and Manpreet Badal, as both represent Bathinda district. That explains Kangars absurd proposal, they said.

It all began after a vitriolic argument between Nagra and Sharma during a debate on a non-official resolution by BJPs Som Prakash on the growing superstition in the state.

Nagra remarked: People, including NK Sharma, flock to pandits. He is wearing a tabeez (thread) and a nag (stone), which should be thrown away. This drew a sharp reaction from Sharma. I am a Pandit. If I go to pandits, your family members too have been flocking to them, he claimed.

The duel ended with Nagra seeking an inquiry into the assets acquired by Sharma in the past 12 years.

It could also look into the assets acquired by me during the same period, he suggested.

To look into the issue, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra proposed a House committee, following which Speaker Rana KP Singh announced an inquiry into Nagra and Sharmas assets, ignoring the suggestion put forth by Kangar.

The debate on the resolution continued for almost three hours.

The BJP leader suggested separate cremation grounds for SCs and non-SCs, which was vehemently opposed by Congress Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and SADs Gurpartap Singh Wadala.
editorial@tribune.com

New Delhi, February 14

Dubbing the CAG report on the Rafale deal useless, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said the principal government auditor has allowed itself to become a joke and failed the people of the country.

The report contains no useful information or conclusion and its motive is to hide the truth, he said.

Chidambaram reiterated his partys demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the deal, saying only it can call for all relevant records. The Comptroller and Auditor General is not god, he said, apparently, rejecting the ruling BJPs contention that the national auditors report should be the final word on the contentious issue.

Even the Parliaments Public Accounts Committee can examine the CAG report and seek the redacted or masked details from CAG, he said. The government has given CAG the details ... it has the details but have not been made public, he said. The CAG allowed itself to become a joke and an honourable government in future will restore the prestige and credibility of the institution, he added.  PTI
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Islamabad, February 15

Pakistan has condemned the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district and said it is a matter of grave concern even as it rejected India pointing out Islamabad's link to the incident without investigations.

At least 42 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Pakistan's Foreign Office, after keeping quiet for hours, issued a statement after midnight.

The attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir "is a matter of grave concern," it said.

We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in the Valley, the FO said.

Pakistan also rejected that it was in any way involved in the attack.

We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations, the FO added.

India on Thursday slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.

The White House asked Pakistan to immediately end "support" and "safe haven" to all terror groups as it strongly condemned the Pulwama terrorist attack.

The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a late night statement on Thursday.

Condemning the attack, the US State Department said in a statement that it was resolutely committed to working with the Indian government to combat terrorism in all its forms. PTI
I dont so much believe that it was the weapon, because it always has to have someone behind it for it to create such mass carnage, Carrico said of shootings. But Im glad that my friends on the other side of the aisle want to have a conversation about it, because the conversation should be about our children and the most vulnerable.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Islamabad, February 15

Pakistan is committed to implementing the decision of the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, a senior Pakistani official said as the countrys delegation left for the Hague on Friday for the oral proceedings in the case that will commence at the world court from February 18.

Indian national Jadhav, 48, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India moved the ICJ in May the same year against the verdict.

A 10-member bench of the ICJ on May 18, 2017, had restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.

Pakistans Attorney General Anwar Mansoor would lead the Pakistani delegation at the ICJ while Director General South Asia Mohammad Faisal would lead the Foreign Office side, a senior official told Dawn.

The ICJ has set a timetable for the public hearing in the case from February 18 to 21 in The Hague and Harish Salve, who represents India in the case, is expected to argue first on February 18.

The English Queens Counsel Khawar Qureshi will make submissions on February 19 from Islamabads side. Then India would reply on February 20 while Islamabad would make its closing submissions on February 21, the daily said.

It is expected that the ICJs decision may be delivered by the summer of 2019.

We are fully prepared with our strongest evidence being the valid Indian passport recovered from Commander Jadhav with a Muslim name, the official told the Dawn, adding that Pakistan was committed to implementing the decision, irrespective of what decision came from the ICJ.

In reply to a question about Iran, the official said the Pakistan government was convinced that Iran had no role in Jadhav episode though he remained there for some time. India wants to drag Iran into this dispute but we will not let it happen, he said.

In New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on Thursday declined to go into the details of the case.

The oral proceedings on the International Court of Justice are commencing on February 18. India will present its case before the court. Since the matter is sub judice it is not appropriate for me to state our position in public. Whatever we have to do, we will do in the court, he said in response to a question.

Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy. Jadhavs sentencing had evoked a sharp reaction in India.

India had approached the ICJ for egregious violation of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963, by Pakistan in Jadhavs case. PTI
sanjiv@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, February 14

Pakistans affability to opening a corridor to the Kartarpur shrine has given way to diplomatic haggling as India ans Pakistan begin the process of finalising four critical aspects. Days after India notified Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district as a crossing point to the Kartarpur gurdwara, Pakistan has proposed an alternative crossing point.

Pakistan is to send its team to India for modalities next month. Indian Foreign Office spokesperson Ravish Kumar expects the technical teams of both countries to take a call on the crossing point. However, India is yet to hear from Pakistan proposing any such meeting.

Both sides are aiming to fast-track the implementation of the project ahead of the 550th anniversary of Guru Nanak in November. This entails a consensus on the exact crossing point for pilgrims, security procedures, issuance of identity cards and the corridors opening and closing time.

India had earlier proposed February 26 and March 7 for the visit of the Pakistan delegation to finalise the modalities. The decision to build the corridor  from Dera Baba Nanak district to the International Border  was taken by the Union Cabinet on November 22.  TNS
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Islamabad, February 15

Pakistan will not make any emotional decision following the withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to the country by India and respond to it after due deliberation, a senior official said on Friday.

India on Friday revoked the MFN status to Pakistan in the aftermath of Pulwama terror attack. Forty-two CRPF personnel were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into their bus in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district on Thursday.

The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the attack on the convoy of 78 vehicles that was on its way from Jammu to Srinagar.

Adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister on Trade Abdul Razzak Dawood told reporters here that a response to Indian decision would come after due deliberation.

India has removed us from the list of MFN nations but we will not make any emotional decision and will issue a response after making due thinking, he said.

Withdrawal of the MFN status would significantly hit Pakistans exports to India, which stood at USD 488.5 million (around Rs 3,482.3 crore) in 2017-18.

But a finance ministry official told PTI that the impact of Indias decision will be marginal.

As the trade between the two countries was just over USD 2 billion dollars and Pakistans exports were a fourth of it.

So, Pakistan is not going to lose much in terms of money in the short term, the official said.

Under the MFN pact, a WTO member country is obliged to treat the other trading nation in a non-discriminatory manner, especially with regard to customs duty and other levies.

Withdrawal of the status would mean that India could impose heavy customs duties and discriminate Pakistani goods vis-a-vis similar items of other trading partners.

He said the decision will, in fact, hurt Indians as after revoking the MFN status tariffs would be more on the about USD 500 million Pakistani exports, including items like cement and salt.

Pakistan exports fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products, bulk minerals and ores and finished leather to India.

But, it is believed that the decision might have long-term consequences as it will further dim the chances of normalisation of trade and tapping the potential of bilateral trade.

The World Bank in report called A Glass Half Full: The Promise of Regional Trade in South Asia estimated that Indo-Pak bilateral trade could reach to USD37 billion if trade barrier are removed.

The trade through the third country would increase as already about USD 3 billion worth goods are trade either through the UAE or Singapore.

India accorded the MFN status to Pakistan in 1996 as part of the WTO free trade regime to treat all members of the world trading body on non-discriminatory basis.

Pakistan was close to reciprocate the Indian move in 2011 when the Cabinet approved the MFN status for India but it was never implemented. PTI
editorial@tribune.com

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 14

A day after Opposition leaders signaled the formation of the United Progressive Alliance-3, BSP chief Mayawati threw a spanner in their works by snubbing the Congress, the party driving a national anti-BJP coalition.

The former UP CM today bracketed the Congress with the BJP, saying both the dispensations were targeting Muslims. The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, like the BJP in the past, has slapped the atrocious National Security Act against Muslims for cow slaughter. Now, the UP BJP government has booked 14 Aligarh Muslim University students for sedition. Both are example of state terror and are condemnable. People should decide what the difference between Congress and BJP government is.

Mayawatis posturing came a day after SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav wished Narendra Modi returned as the PM, putting a spoke in the wheels of anti-BJP sentiments. The punch in Yadavs remarks wasnt lost on anyone, though the SP insisted that the veteran was just being nice.

Everything didnt seem well within even the preliminary anti-BJP front that pledged to draft a common minimum programme soon. At least two leaders  AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee  who attended the Opposition meet that decided to have a CMP and a national pre-poll alliance sounded edgy today about the future of coalitions.

If Congress does not understand that 2019 polls are about defeating BJP and thats what people want, people will teach Congress a lesson. We need to field one candidate against the BJP to ensure consolidation of the anti-BJP vote. But the Congress has more or less said no to our alliance proposal in Delhi, Kejriwal said.

Banerjee was personally learnt to be upset with the all-out attack West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Choudhry launched on the TMC in the House yesterday. The Bengal Congress is opposed to a Congress-TMC alliance in the state.

So far, alliance talks are not going as planned. A potential AAP-Congress alliance in Delhi and TMC-Congress alliance in Bengal have not happened. To top it all, the BSP-SP-Congress coalition in UP is not happening. Theres a long way to go for the UPA-3.

Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the Opposition would meet on February 26 or 27 to discuss the contours of the common minimum programme and a national-level pre-poll alliance. Later, the Congress announced the meeting of its working committee in Ahmedabad on February 26

The parallel announcements reflected lack of coordination in the Opposition camp

"Cong in MP, like BJP in past, has slapped NSA against Muslims for cow slaughter. Now, the UP BJP govt has booked 14 AMU students for sedition."  Mayawati, BSP chief

"If Cong doesnt understand that its about defeating BJP, people will teach it a lesson. We need to field a candidate to ensure consolidation of anti-BJP vote."  Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi CM

"(Arvind) Kejriwal still wants an alliance with the Congress in Delhi and the ball is now in the Congress court." Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal CM
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KV Prasad

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 15

India on Friday decided to mount a major diplomatic pressure to isolate Pakistan on the world stage and announced withdrawal of Most Favoured Nation status for its neighbour even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said those who had perpetrated the dastardly attack in J&K would have to pay a very heavy price.

A day after the attack on the CRPF convoy that led to killing of 42 soldiers and leaving many injured, the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Modi met on Friday morning wherein the members were briefed about the incident and they discussed the current situation.

List of slain troopers

Political parties across the spectrum condemned the incident while the United Nations and major powers of the world joined in speaking against the terror attack. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who briefed about the CCS deliberations said besides steps against Pakistan, the government would convene an all-party meeting on Saturday after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh returned from Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing a gathering ahead of the flagging-off of the Vande Bharat train, Modi said he understood people are seething with anger because of the attack and expectation of do something is natural. Our security forces have been given full freedomwe are fully confident of our soldiers and their bravery. I warn terrorist organisations and their supporters that they have committed a grave mistake and will have to pay a very heavy price, he said assuring the country that those behind the attack would be punished.

While stating that he respected the sentiments of those criticising his government, the PM requested that in this sensitive and emotional hour, everyone should refrain from political tug-of-war and send a message of unity to the world that the country is fighting this war against terror to win.

Without naming Pakistan, Modi said if Indias neighbour thought that by such acts it could destablise the country it is gravely mistaken. If the country that is facing a grave economic crisis thought that by the terror attacks India would be destroyed such dreams would never materialise.

Their plans will never be fulfilled. Time has proved that the route they took resulted in destruction and our path is that of progress, he said reminding that every soldier who offered his life had two dreams--one to defend the country and the other for its prosperity--and the country would dedicate every minute in realising that dream.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, February 15

In a major diplomatic offensive against Islamabad after the Pulwama terror attack, India held a briefing for envoys of 25 countries, including from P5 nationsUS, China, Russia, the UK and Franceto highlight Pakistans role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

Before the briefing, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood to his South Block office and issued a very strong demarche over the attack in which at least 42 CRPF personnel were killed in Kashmirs Pulwama district.

Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against the JeM and that it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories, Gokhale told the envoy.

According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack.

Hours after vowing to isolate Pakistan diplomatically in the wake of the attack, the government undertook the exercise of reaching out to the international community, most of which has univocally condemned the attack by the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based JeM terror outfit.

China expressed deep shock over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by a Jaish suicide bomber, but did not give an assurance to India that it will back New Delhis appeal to list the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based terror groups chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

Apart from the envoys of the P5, Gokhale met the envoys of key countries in Europe and Asia such as Germany, South Korea, Japan, as well as Australia, they said.

All the Heads of Missions were left in no doubt about the role played by Pakistan based and supported JeM in the terrorist attack and our demand that Pakistan ceases forthwith all support and financing to terror groups operating from areas under their control. The foreign secretary also highlighted the role played by Pakistan in using terrorism as an instrument of its state policy, a source said.

The MEA will continue to take all steps to expose the complicity of Pakistan in the Pulwama terrorist attack and demand immediate and verifiable action against JeM and its leader Masood Azhar, the source added.

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, briefing reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, said the MEA will make a major diplomatic push to isolate Pakistan.

India on Friday also withdrew the most-favoured nation status to Pakistan.

Jaitley said those aiding and abating the perpetrators will have to pay a heavy price.

Countries from across the globe condemned the terror attack with nations such as the US, UK, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India in this hour of grief.

Condemning the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin said perpetrators and sponsors of the attack should be brought to book and reiterated his countrys support for further strengthening counter-terrorist cooperation with India. PTI
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Jaipur/Dholpur/Kota, February 15

When Rohitash Lamba, Bhagirath Singh and Hemraj Meena left their homes in Rajasthan earlier this week with the promise that they would return to their families soon, few imagined that it would turn out to be their last visit.

Lamba, Singh and Meena were among the 40 CRPF personnel killed in a terrorist attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

Their families on Friday recalled their passion and love for the country as they grieved the demise of their loved ones.

Barely two months ago, Lamba had expressed his joy on becoming a father on the social media.

He rejoined duty on February 12 after spending several days with his family, including his two-month-old son.

A pall of gloom descended at Govindpura Basadi village near Shahpura, around 65 km from Jaipur, as the news of Lambas death reached.

Former deputy speaker of Rajasthan Assembly and former Shahpura legislator Rao Rajendra Singh met Lambas family members on Friday and expressed his condolences.

He said that Lambas wife fell unconscious on hearing the tragic news and had to be hospitalised.

The family of 27-year-old Bhagirath Singh, a resident of Jaitpur village in Dholpur district, was struggling to come to terms with the loss.

On Friday, the entire village of Jaitpur mourned the death of the young man.

We never knew that he would leave us so early. He had promised his father and family to return soon two days ago but they had never imagined that it would be his last visit home, Jaitpur sarpanch Kapur Chand Gurjar said.

He said that Singhs mother had passed away when he was a kid. His father Parshuram, a farmer, brought up his two sons alone. Singh joined CRPF four years ago, whereas his younger brother Balveer joined Uttar Pradesh Police.

Singh got married to Ranjna four years ago and has three-year-old son Vinay and a-year-and-a-half-old daughter Shivangi.

Hemraj Meenas wife Madhu received a call from the CRPF camp in Jammu around 10 pm Thursday, informing her about his demise.

Soon after the news reached the area, villagers came out their homes and gathered outside Meenas home to pay their tributes.

Kota-Bundi MP Om Birla, local MLA Bharat Singh, former MP Ijayraj Singh, former MLA Bhawani Singh Rajawat and several other dignitaries and administrative officials reached Meenas home and consoled the wailing family.

Hemraj Meena, the only government servant among four brothers and one sister, had been full of love for the country and patriotism since his early days, his elder brother, who runs a tea stall in the village, said.

Hemraj Meena is survived of four childrentwo daughters and two sons.

The bodies of the slain jawans are expected to reach their homes late Friday night or Saturday, officials said.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying CRPF personnel from Jammu to Srinagar.  PTI
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Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 14

Even as the US-made Chinook heavy-lift helicopters have started arriving in India, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has, while pinpointing several infirmities in procurement process, observed that the necessary infrastructure for operating the machines was unlikely to be in place before March 2021.

The CAG said the Air Force had aligned its technical specifications to suit Chinooks and had modified its requirements five times. It pointed out the sanction for infrastructure at the designated airbase in Chandigarh was accorded by the Defence Ministry in March 2018 whereas the contract for procurement of the helicopters was concluded in September 2015, leading to a delay in initiation of works procedure worth Rs 145.98 crore. The CAG tabled its report on IAF acquisitions in Parliament yesterday.

US aerospace major Boeing was contracted for procuring 15 Chinooks to support Armys combat operations, including transportation of troops, artillery guns and other equipment to forward locations. The first four helicopters in semi-knocked down condition arrived by sea at a Gujarat port last week where these are being re-assembled by. After acceptance trials, the copters will be based in Chandigarh.

The IAF had four Soviet-orihin Mi-26, worlds heaviest copters, based at Chandigarh since 1986. One crashed a few years ago and of the remaining three, only one is operational.

Both Chinooks and Mi-26s were evaluated by the IAF to meet its new requirements. Pointing out that air staff qualitative requirements (ASQRs) were revised five times between 2006 and 2009, the CAG said, ASQRs were being drafted in consultation with vendors and were being modified according to what was offered by them rather than the user need.

During field evaluation trials, it was noted that Chinook did not meet eight critical ASQRs and Mi-26 five. Despite these non-compliances, both Mi-26s and Chinooks were cleared based on assurances by the vendors to rectify ASQRs before delivery, the CAG said. Though the Army had projected the requirement for heavy-lift helicopters, its representatives were not associated with field trials.

The CAG, meanwhile, has questioned the Defence Ministrys contention that Chinook not only has low operating cost, its compact size gives it an added advantage of landing in small helipads, thus giving it an edge over Mi-26s.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Beijing, February 15

China on Friday expressed deep shock over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by a Jaish suicide bomber but did not give an assurance to India that it would back New Delhis appeal to list the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based terror groups chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

China has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang told a media briefing here.

We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all forms of terrorism. We hope relevant regional countries will cooperate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability, Geng said.

When asked about Chinas stand on the listing of Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council, he said: As for the issue of listing, I could tell you that the 1267 Committee of Security Council has a clear stipulation on the listing and procedure of the terrorist organisations.

JeM has been included in the Security Council terrorism sanctions list. China will continue to handle the relevant sanctions issue in a constructive and responsible manner, Geng said in an apparent reference to the External Affairs Ministrys appeal to all members of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

China, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC and a close ally of Pakistan, has consistently blocked moves first by India and later by the US, the UK and France to designate Azhar as a global terrorist by the 1267 Committee by putting technical holds.

Asked whether China would be re-looking at the issue in view of the positive momentum in bilateral relations generated by last years Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Geng said: JeM as an organisation has been included in the sanctions list of the Security Council.

As to the listing of an individual, we have always upheld an earnest, responsible and professional manner. We always acted in accordance with the requirement of the situation. We will continue to maintain close communication with India and relevant parties on this issue.

Replying to a question on India not permitting UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), Geng said: Both India and Pakistan are important countries in this region. We hope the two countries can properly resolve (differences) through consultations. We also hope the regional countries can cooperate to uphold stability and peace in this region to curb terrorism.

India on Thursday slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by JeM and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan. PTI
All of this had to be timed carefully and programmed into the system. Langley, under the centers MER lead, Prasun Desai, developed and ran the simulations that determined when to do all of it: the trajectory burns before entry, the correct angle to hit the atmosphere so the craft didnt burn up or skip out, when the parachutes deployed, when the rockets fired and so on.
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Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 15

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the government to ensure that non-bureaucrats were also appointed as Information Commissioners in the Central and state information commission and the vacancies were filled up timely and in a transparent manner.

We also expect that Information Commissioners are appointed from other streams, as mentioned in the (Right to Information) Act and the selection is not limited only to the Government employee/ex-government employee, a Bench of Justice AK Sikri and Justice S Abdul Nazeer said.

The Bench  which had on January 29 wondered why only bureaucrats were appointed as Information Commissioners  directed the government to fill up vacancies, in future, without any delay.

For this purpose, it would be apposite that the process for filling up of a particular vacancy is initiated 1 to 2 months before the date on which the vacancy is likely to occur, so that there is not much time lag between the occurrence of vacancy and filling up of the said vacancy, it said.

This (RTI) Act is enacted not only to sub-serve and ensure freedom of speech. On proper implementation, it has the potential to bring about good governance which is an integral part of any vibrant democracy. Attaining good governance is also one of the visions of the Constitution. It also has vital connection with the development, the Bench noted.

The verdict came on a PIL filed by activist Anjali Bhardwaj seeking direction to the government to fill up vacancies in CIC and state information commissions in a timely and transparent manner. She had also complained that the government was deliberately appointing only bureaucrats and experts from other fields were being ignored.

Welcoming the verdict, Bhardwaj said it would go a long way in ensuring that the 60 lakh people who use RTI law to get basic information in time.

The verdict ensures not just transparency and timely filling up of vacancies in CIC and state information commissions but also makes it mandatory for the government to follow the law and have diversity in composition of information commissions, Bhardwaj told The Tribune.

The top court made it clear that the terms and conditions of appointment as mentioned in Section 13(5) of RTI Act the CIC and Information Commissioners shall be the same as applicable to the Chief Election Commissioner/Election Commissioner.

It would also be appropriate if the said terms and conditions on which such appointments are to be made are specifically stipulated in the advertisement and put on website as well, it said.

This assumes significance in view of recent advertisements put out by the DoPT which didnt specify the terms and conditions of appointments of CIC and information commissioners.

The Search Committee should make public the criteria for shortlisting the candidates to ensure that shortlisting was done on the basis of objective and rational criteria, it said.

On the issue of transparency, the court noted that the Centre was placing all necessary information, including issuance of the advertisement, receipt and applications, particulars of the applicants, composition of Selection Committee, etc., on its website. It asked all states shall to follow it.

Bhardwaj had contended that delay in appointing Information Commissioners was inordinately delaying decisions on appeals before state commissions and CIC. Her counsel had cited the example of West Bengal where there were only four Information Commissioners, including the Chief Information Commissioner, and appeals were being decided after 10 years. In Andhra Pradesh there was no Information Commissioner for 18 months, she said.
sanjiv@tribunemail.com

Lethpora (Pulwama), Feb 14

The local militant, Adil Dar (21), who rammed his car into the CRPF convoy had joined the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in April last year, police sources said.

Dar is the second Kashmiri militant to have been involved in a suicide bomb attack on troops. In 2000, a JeM militant from Srinagar, Aafaq Shah, had blown up an explosive-laden vehicle outside the Armys 15 Corps headquarters.

A JeM spokesperson later claimed responsibility for Thursdays attack and identifed the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmad, alias Waqas Commando, of Pulwama. Before the attack, the militant recorded a video statement, which was later released on the social media.

Police sources said Dar, a Class X passout, was listed as a category C militant. He used to work as a band saw machine operator before joining militancy, a police officer said. Dars family claimed he had left home last year.

We have had no contact with him ever since, said Aarif, his younger brother.

Jaish has been declared a terrorist organisation by the UN Security Council.

However, the India-led proposal to put a ban on Jaish supremo Masood Azhar continues to be blocked by veto-wielding China. Sources say a fresh attempt at moving the proposal is unlikely.  TNS

Explosion was heard 10 km away

The explosive used in the attack was so strong that the blast was heard 10-12 km away, locals said. Some of the bodies were so badly blown up that officials feel it may take some time to identity them. This was the first suicide car bomb strike in Kashmir since the 2001 attack on the Assembly that left 41 persons, including three suicide attackers, dead.
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Mumbai, February 15

Veteran actor Shabana Azmi on Friday said she and her husband, lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar, have decided not to attend Kaifi Azmis birth centenary celebrations in Karachi in the wake of Pulwama terror attack.

The couple was invited to Pakistan by the Karachi Arts Council for a two-day event.

@Javedakhtarjadu and I were invited for a 2 day event celebrating Kaifis Centenary and were truly looking forward to it. I appreciate that our hosts the Karachi Arts Council mutually agreed to cancel the event at the nth hour in the wake of Pulwama attack, Azmi posted on Twitter.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmirs three decades of militancy, a Jaish suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

Azmi condemned the attacks and said she stands united with the grieving families.

Will there be no let to these heinous attacks? These mindless killings. This utter disregard for human lives? Extremely shocking news coming from Pulwama. I strongly condemn the worst terror attack on CRPF convoy, she wrote.

Akhtar, who had penned the CRPF anthem which was launched in 2014, also took to Twitter to pay his condolences.

I have a special relation with CRPF. I have written their anthem before putting the pen to paper I met a number of CRPF officers and whatever I learned, my respect, admiration and love for these braves increased by many a fold. Today I share the grief of the dear ones of the martyrs, he wrote. PTI
shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com

Mumbai, February 15

Bollywood celebrities such as Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra and others expressed shock over the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama that killed at least 37 CRPF personnel on Thursday.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a Central Resrve Police Force (CRPF) bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 37 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

Veteran actor Shabana Azmi called the terror attack a "heinous" crime.

"Will there be no let to these heinous attacks? These mindless killings. This utter disregard for human lives? Extremely shocking news coming from Pulwama. I strongly condemn the worst terror attack on CRPF convoy and stand united with the grieving families (sic)," she wrote on Twitter.

Will there be no let to these heinous attacks?These mindless killings.this utter disregard for human lives?Extremely shocking news coming from Pulwama.I strongly condemn the worst terror attack on CRPF convoy and stand united with the grieving families  Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) 14 February 2019

Actor Rishi Kapoor termed the attack "shameful, shocking, reprehensible".

Shameful shocking reprehensible . Absolute act of cowardice. Perpetrators of this heinous crime cannot be be friends with people of Kashmir. We stand by the bereaved families.  Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) 14 February 2019

"Absolute act of cowardice. Perpetrators of this heinous crime cannot be friends with people of Kashmir. We stand by the bereaved families," he wrote on the microblogging website.

Akshay Kumar said the incident should not be forgotten.

"Numb beyond belief at the dastardly terror attack on CRPF soldiers in Pulwama. May God give peace to their souls and strength to their grieving families. Wishing the injured a speedy recovery. We can't let this be forgotten," he said in a a tweet.

Numb beyond belief at the dastardly terror attack on #CRPF soldiers in #Pulwama. May God give peace to their souls, and strength to their grieving families. Wishing the injured a speedy recovery. We cant let this be forgotten.  Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) 14 February 2019

"My heart goes out for the jawans of our beloved country and their families who lost their lives as martyrs to save our families... #YouStandForIndia," wrote Salman Khan.

My heart goes out for the Jawans of our beloved country and their families who lost their lives as martyrs to save our families... #YouStandForIndia  Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) 14 February 2019

Ranveer Singh said he was disgusted by the "cowardly terror attack on CRPF soldiers in Pulwama.

"My sincere condolences to the families of our brave jawans. Saddened. Angry," he said in a tweet.

Disgusted at the cowardly terror attack on the #CRPF soldiers in #Pulwama - my sincere condolences to the families of our brave jawans. Saddened. Angry.  Ranveer Singh (@RanveerOfficial) 14 February 2019

Actress Priyanka Chopra said, "Absolutely shocked by the attack in #Pulwama...Hate is NEVER the answer!!! Strength to the families of the martyred jawans and the CRPF soldiers injured in the attack." PTI
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Amit Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 14

In a change of strategy, the Pakistan Rangers have been provoking the Border Security Force (BSF) by targeting its posts with small arms almost on a daily basis at night. The BSF has been giving a befitting reply, but so far the exchange of fire has remained confined to small weapons only.

This has led to spike in the tension on the International Border (IB) for the last 15 days. On Wednesday night, Pakistan opened fire with small arms on the BSF posts in the Arnia sector in Jammu. The exchange of fire continued till 4 am. According to BSF sources, the Rangers are daily targeting different posts along the 198-km International Border.

Tension has been rising near the IB for the last 15 days, but the men guarding the border are alert and equipped to deal with any untoward situation, the BSF sources said.

Pakistan is resorting to fire daily. It is trying to provoke Indian forces with small arms but the BSF is retaliating with small calibre arms only. The Indian force never fires unless they (Rangers) start it, he added.

Pakistan continues to violate ceasefire on the International Border since start of this year. Assistant Commandant Vinay Prasad was killed in sniper fire in the Samba sector on January 15. Last year recorded 2,936 ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

These were the highest in the past 15 years with an average of eight cases daily. As many as 61 persons were killed and over 250 injured in the ceasefire violations.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Srinagar, February 15

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday helped carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan after he laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the troops, who were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

Shortly after arriving from Delhi, the Home Minister attended a solemn function here where the remains of 40 CRPF personnel were kept in coffins, draped with Tricolour.

Singh helped carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan before it was flown out of Jammu and Kashmir in a special aircraft, an official present at the function said.

The Home Minister, Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director-General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath-laying ceremony.

The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans. I have paid my last respects to the martyrs of Pulwama. The sacrifice will not go in vain, Singh said.

The dignitaries stood in silence till the coffins were loaded in a truck which went to the Srinagar airport, the official said.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles CRPF travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said those responsible for the attack will pay a very heavy price and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the blood of the people is boiling and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished. PTI
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Arun Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 14

Todays terror incident on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in which nearly 40 CRPF men were killed in a suicide attack by a Jaish-e-Mohammad recruit of Pulwama district in south Kashmir has brought forth the dangerous situation that spotlights Kashmir and the ramifications of which are likely to travel beyond the borders. The toll is the highest-ever in the state.

The toll is more than that of the 2002 Kaluchak (near Jammu) massacre in which more than 30 soldiers, their wives and children were killed in May 2002 when the Indian and Pakistan armies were in an eyeball- to-eyeball position following the December 13, 2001, terror attack on Parliament.

The attack carried out by a local youth, Adil, of Kakpora is not purely local as the Jaish-e-Mohammad group that owned the responsibility for it has its policy and planning headquarters in Pakistan protected by Rawalpindi.

The attack has come less than a fortnight after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of fight to finish against terrorism during his visit to the state early this month. He had specifically mentioned how the Indian forces had subdued terrorism by undertaking surgical strikes against Pakistan after the attack in Uri in September 2016. In the Uri incident, 20 soldiers were killed by Lashkar militants.

Governor Satya Pal Malik has traced the attack to inimical forces across the border, as he said, Visibly it seems to be guided from across the border as the Jaish has claimed the responsibility for it. He also vowed to finish the inimical forces. That is an indication of intensified counter-terrorism in the coming days and a robust response to Pakistans provocations on the Line of Control that separates Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit claimed the responsibility for the attack to spotlight its exploits and to raise the level of confrontation between India and Pakistan which were paving a path of peace and reconciliation with the Kartarpur corridor. The problem, however, is that the so-called non-state actors have the protection and patronage of state actors. No action was taken against Masood Azhar even after the terror assault on the Pathankot airbase in the opening days of 2016.

Former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had warned the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government of the consequences of setting free Masood Azhar, then with Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, and two others in exchange of the passengers and crew of the hijacked airliner IC-814 parked in Kandahar on December 31, 1999.

He had told Vajpayee and LK Advani that it would cost many more lives than were at the stake at that moment. His prophecy has turned out to be true time and again since then.

Within weeks of his release, Azhar founded Jaish-e-Mohammad and mounted severe suicide attacks at prominent places  the first was a car suicide bombing by a local youth outside the gate of Badami Bagh cantonment, Srinagar, resulting in more than 20 deaths in April 2000. The attacks on the Legislative Assembly on October 1, 2001, and Parliament in December 13, 2001, were joint operations by Jaish and Lashkar militant outfits.

Social media is already abuzz with calls for revenge and the government would be judged by the retaliation standards that it claims to have set with the surgical strikes in response to the Uri attack. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already warned: Terrorists will be given a unforgettable lesson for their heinous act.
White House lawyers have told Trump he could reprogram money without declaring an emergency, according to the person familiar with the discussions who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. But Trump is concerned that there is not enough money in those pots to show meaningful progress on the wall and has been determined to declare an emergency, partially for fear of looking weak, the person familiar with the matter said.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

New Delhi/Srinagar, February 15

Asserting that Kashmiri people living in other states could be soft targets in a surcharged atmosphere, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday asked Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to direct all state governments to ensure their safety.

My earnest appeal to @rajnathsingh ji to please issue directions to all state governments to take special care in areas/colleges/institutions where Kashmiris are residing/studying. They are soft targets in a surcharged atmosphere, Abdullah tweeted.

He also asked people to unite against terror and maintain peace.

Kashmiris/Muslims in Jammu didnt attack our CRPF jawans yesterday (Thursday), terrorists did. This violence is a convenient tool by some to shift the blame. Lets unite against terror, lets not allow terror to divide us, Abdullah said.

His remarks came after curfew was imposed in Jammu as a precautionary measure following massive protests and stray incidents of violence over the terror attack in Kashmirs Pulwama on Thursday that killed 40 CRPF personnel.

Giving vent to anger by attacking innocent people because of their ethnicity or religion is no way to honour the sacrifices. Reports of violence and arson in Jammu are deeply worrying. I hope political leaders and civil society are able to ensure cooler heads prevail, Abdullah, who is also the National Conference vice president, said.

He said if the attention of security forces and the administration is shifted to dealing with communal violence in Jammu instead of investigating the attack and preventing further such attacks who are we helping with the arson & violence?

Meanwhile, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said miscreants in Jammu were trying to take advantage of the situation by inciting tension.

Distressed to hear about miscreants in Jammu trying to take advantage of the situation by inciting tension. Guv (Governor) adm (administration) should have preempted this by securing minority dominated areas. Have spoken to IG (inspector general of police) Jammu to deploy additional security, Mehbooba wrote on Twitter.

She said the need of the hour is to show compassion and come together.

It will be a travesty & against the spirit of our secular ethno-cultural values to use this terror attack as an excuse to target minorities. Hour of the need is to show compassion & come together (sic), she said. PTI
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Majid Jahangir & Suhail A Shah

Tribune News Service

Lethpora (Pulwama), Feb 14

In the deadliest attack of the last 30 years of militancy in Kashmir, a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus at 3.15 pm today, killing 42 jawans and injuring a dozen others along the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway in Pulwama. However, the CRPF officials have confirmed 37 deaths so far.

The lone Kashmiri suicide bomber of Jaish-e-Mohammad drove a vehicle laden with 250-kg explosives into a CRPF convoy which was on way from Jammu to Srinagar.

A CRPF bus and another vehicle bore the brunt of the blast at Latoomode in Lethpora, a police officer said.

Such was the impact of the blast that body parts were scattered at least 500 metres from the site of the blast.

Due to the blast, glass panes of several houses in the neighbouring areas were smashed. Other vehicles which were part of the convoy also suffered huge damage. Immediately after the blast, the CRPF men opened fire. At least 78 vehicles of the CRPF were part of the convoy.

It was gut wrenching and gruesome. As guns stopped roaring and we peeked outside, we could see body parts strewn around, mixed with the damaged parts of the vehicle, Abdul Karim, a shopkeeper, said.

Pakistan-based militant group JeM, formed in 2000 by Masood Azhar, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack took place despite a Road Opening Party (ROP) being in place. There was the ROP the convoy was coming and there was an explosion. The nature of the explosion, how did it happen are all subjects of investigation, IGP, Kashmir, SP Pani, said.

A medico said there was utter chaos after the blast.

Todays attack is the deadliest in the history of Kashmir insurgency till date.

On September 18, 2016, 19 soldiers were killed when a group of fidayeen stormed an Army base close to the LoC in Uri in north Kashmir.

HM visit today; NSG, NIA on way

HM Rajnath Singh will hold review meetings with security officials in Srinagar on Friday

NSG commandos and NIA sleuths are being sent to the state to join probe

A 78-vehicle convoy with 2,500 CRPF men had left Jammu for Srinagar around 3.30 am

An explosive-laden SUV rammed into one of the buses triggering a blast at 3.15 pm at Lethpora

Gunshots were heard after the explosion as security forces blocked road, diverted traffic

Major terror strikes

June 25, 2016: Eight CRPF jawans killed as bus targeted at Pampore on the Srinagar-Jammu NH

June 3: Two CRPF men killed in attack on bus at Pampore. Three soldiers die in subsequent encounter

June 24, 2013: Eight soldiers killed after an Army bus ambushed at Hyderpora in Srinagar

July 19, 2008: Ten soldiers killed in an IED blast at Narbal on Srinagar-Baramulla highway

July 20, 2005: Three jawans killed when a car bomber rams into their vehicle

June 24: Nine Army men killed in a car bomb blast on Srinagar outskirts

April 19, 2000: Two soldiers died in the first human bomb attack in the Valley when Army headquarters were targeted at Badamibagh in Srinagar

"Attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack," Modi tweeted.

Attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs. May the injured recover quickly.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 14, 2019

Home Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to visit Jammu and Kashmir on Friday after cancelling his programme in Bihar, officials said.

Todays dastardly attack on crpf in Pulwama (J&K) is extremely painful and disturbing. I bow to each and every CRPF jawan who has sacrificed his life in service to the nation. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured: HM Shri @rajnathsingh   , HMO India (@HMOIndia) February 14, 2019

Condemning the attack, Union minister Arun Jaitley tweeted, "Attack on CRPF in #Pulwama, J&K is a cowardice & condemnable act of terrorists. Nation salutes martyred soldiers and we all stand united with families of martyrs. We pray for speedy recovery of the injured. Terrorists will be given unforgettable lesson for their heinous act."

Attack on CRPF in #Pulwama, J&K is a cowardice & condemnable act of terrorists. Nation salutes martyred soldiers and we all stand united with families of martyrs. We pray for speedy recovery of the injured. Terrorists will be given unforgettable lesson for their heinous act.  Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) February 14, 2019

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti condemned the attack. "Terrible news coming from the valley. A number of CRPF soldiers are reported to have been killed & injured in an IED blast. I condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. My prayers for the injured & condolences to the families of the bereaved," Abdullah tweeted.

Terrible news coming from the valley. A number of CRPF soldiers are reported to have been killed & injured in an IED blast. I condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. My prayers for the injured & condolences to the families of the bereaved. #Kashmir  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) February 14, 2019

"Disturbing news coming in from #awantipura . Twelve of our security personnel have been martyred and several have been injured. No words are enough to condemn the gruesome terror attack. How many more lives will be snuffed out before this madness ends?" Mehbooba tweeted.

Disturbing news coming in from #awantipura . Twelve of our security personnel have been martyred and several have been injured. No words are enough to condemn the gruesome terror attack. How many more lives will be snuffed out before this madness ends?  Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) February 14, 2019

Several other mainstream politicians took to social media to condemn the attack.

Rahul condoles CRPF personnel's death; Cong targets Modi govt

Congress president Rahul Gandhi condoled the killing of CRPF personnel in a terror attack in Pulwama and said it had left him "deeply disturbed".

"I'm deeply disturbed by the cowardly attack on a #CRPF convoy in J&K in which many of our brave CRPF men have been martyred and a large number wounded, some critically. My condolences to the families of our martyrs. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured," he tweeted.
editorial@tribune.com

Suhail A Shah

Anantnag, February 14

Locals and eyewitnesses in the Lethpora area of Pulwama where the suicide car bomb left 39 CRPF personnel dead described the scenes at the place as those of doomsday.

There are no other words than to describe it a doomsday. It was terrifying and gut-wrenching, a local said.

The car bomb rocked the area, 27 km from Srinagar, at about 3.15 pm. The explosion was so powerful that even some people in Srinagar heard it.

The explosion took place in between the lines of the newly constructed saffron shops along the National Highway No. 44.

People in Lethpora said they felt that the sky was falling on their heads.

Our house rocked as if a high-intensity earthquake had hit Kashmir valley. The noise was deafening, Zafar Ahmad, a resident, said.

People only understood it was an attack when the explosion was followed by gunshots that reverberated in the area for about five minutes.

Then came the CRPF men, who were part of the convoy, running towards our houses. Many of them took refuge in our houses and also kept firing shots as they heard guns roaring around them, a resident said.

Shopkeepers in the area said it was mayhem. As the blast rocked the area, people ran for cover, wailing and crying.

But the nightmare was not over for them.

As guns stopped roaring and we peeked outside, we could see scattered body parts lying around with the damaged parts of the vehicles that were hit by the explosion, one of the shopkeepers, Abdul Karim, said

He described the scenes as horrible and gruesome.

I dont think anyone in Lethpora can sleep or eat tonight. It has shaken us badly, another shopkeeper said.

The security forces immediately blocked traffic movement on the NH-44 and diverted vehicles to safer bypasses. Even scribes trying to reach the spot were not allowed to go the place.
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

New Delhi, February 15

The terrorists might have got the information about the movement of a large number of CRPF personnel in Pulwama district, which led to the high number of casualties, officials suspect.

The deadliest terror attack on CRPF in recent times in Jammu and Kashmir claiming at least 41 lives so far took place when over 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm.

Usually, about 1,000 personnel are part of a convoy but this time it was a total of 2,547 personnel.

Not ruling out violation of Standard Operating Procedures when such a huge movement of central forces is taking place in the troubled state, officials requesting anonymity said a clear picture on loopholes, if any, will be known after a thorough probe.

Such a large movement of troops must have been known to a lot of people. There is a possibility of this information reaching to terrorists, a security official suspect.

Moreover, the number of personnel travelling back to the Valley was high as there was no movement on the highway for the last two to three days because of bad weather and other administrative reasons, they said.

The experts of National Investigation Agency (NIA) and NSG have been asked to assist Jammu and Kashmir police in the investigation of the attack.

All aspects of the attack will be probed by the concerned agencies, they said.

The security forces have not faced such a severe terror attack in recent time in the Valley.

On September 18, 2016, four terrorists had attacked Indian Army brigade headquarters in Uri at 5.30 am in which 19 soldiers were killed.

It is the second deadliest attack faced by the CRPF since 2010 when a team of naxals had ambushed its troops in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh killing 76 personnel of the force.

Seven years later, the force again lost 25 of its men to a similar attack by naxals on April 24, 2017 in Sukma, Chhattisgarh.

In the Valley, the force had faced an ambush on June 25, 2016 when Lashkar-e-Taiba militants attacked its convoy in Frestabal area of Pampore on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway killing eight of its personnel. PTI
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 14

The Vidhan Sabha on Thursday paid tributes to Karam Dev Dharmani, former MLA from Ghumarwin Assembly constituency in Bilaspur district, who breathed his last on Wednesday.

Members of the Vidhan Sabha led by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur paid tributes to Dharmani and offered condolences to the bereaved family.

The people of Bilaspur and especially Ghumarwin will remember the service rendered by him and contribution made in the development of the area, Thakur said. The Chief Minister prayed to the Almighty to give peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family members to bear the irreparable loss.

Dharmani remained MLA twice from Ghumarwin from 1990 to 1992 and 2003 to 2007. He also remained vice-chairman of the 20-Point Programme during the Prem Kumar Dhumal government from 1998 to 2003.

Other who paid tributes to Dharmani included Speaker Rajeev Bindal, Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj and Ram Lal Thakur.
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 14

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur today said he would meet both Prime Minister and Defence Minister to ensure that the prestigious Army Training Command (ARTRAC) in Shimla was neither merged, nor shifted from here.

The issue was raised by Leader of the Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri after Question Hour in the Vidhan Sabha.

We have learnt from media reports that there is a move at the level of the Chief of the Army Staff to merge ARTRAC with another Army institute and shift it out of Shimla which will be a big loss to Himachal, he said.

The CM must take up the matter with the Centre as ARTRAC had a special place in the history of Shimla and, earlier, the Western Command was also shifted from here.

We have not received any communication from the Defence Ministry or any other agency regarding its shifting, said Thakur. He, however, said yesterday a delegation of some serving and retired Army officers and locals met him, seeking his intervention in the matter.

Though, I am not aware of the factual position and very often the Defence Ministry has its own way of looking things from the strategic point of view, I share the concern of the House and of personal opinion that ARTRAC must not be shifted out, the CM said.

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi always lauds Himachal for the valour exhibited by its valiant Army soldiers and other paramilitary forces in large number, he said. If need be, I will write to the PM and Defence Minister, he said.

He also said the merger of the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam with the National Thermal Power Corporation would also be taken up with the Centre. Both ARTRAC and SJVNL offices should continue to function from the state capital, he said.

About the centre
editorial@tribune.com

ibune News Service

Dharamsala, February 14

An international conference on wheat started at CSK Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University here on Thursday. More than 200 scientists from UK, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Jordon, Morocco and India are participating in the conference.

In his inaugural address, Prof VL Chopra, a well-known scientist and former Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and former Member of the Planning Commission, said that wheat productivity enhancement through smart practices was a timely and an important issue. He said that wheat productivity was at apex point so to take it to next level was a challenge for the scientists. To break the yield level, work should be done to allow the plant to produce more biomass. He also suggested international collaboration on research issues as all scientists were better equipped to work on wheat.

Dr Michael Baum, Director, Biodiversity and Crop Improvement, International Centre for Agriculture Research in Dry Land Areas, Morocco, said that India was an important country for farm research. Dr Baum said that research emphasis should be on rain-fed production and diseases like yellow rust. He said that support of the government for wheat production was an important factor to scientists all over the world.

Prof Ashok Kumar Sarial, Vice-Chancellor, HP Agriculture University, said that India was second highest wheat producer in the world. He said that wheat was grown all over Himachal Pradesh occupying 65 per cent of the cultivable area. The state was ideal for speed breeding as two crops were raised in a year.

Dr GP Singh, Director, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal, said that earlier research had concentrated on increasing the wheat production but now emphasis was on value addition and finding solutions to new diseases for this important crop.
editorial@tribune.com

Sunit Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, February 14

A day after a Rohtak couple, Ashok Jain and Sonia, was found murdered in their house at Ram Nagar Naya Padao locality here, the CIA-1 wing of the district police today arrested Ashoks brother Anand.

The hunt has been launched to arrest Anands brother-in-law, Rahul, who is also a suspect.

A dispute over their ancestral property was the reason behind the murder, the police have said.

Ashok had six siblings  a brother and five sisters. Ashok was staying in the Ashoks parental house here, while Anand lived in New Delhi.

It was decided among the siblings that Ashok will retain the parental house and will give Rs10 lakh to his brother in lieu of that. He gave Rs1.5 lakh and promised to pay the balance amount in instalments, but he did not keep his word. Nursing a grudge against Ashok, Anand planned to kill him, Rohtak ASP Maqsood Ahmed told the media.

The police said Anand and Rahul reached Ashoks house around 11 pm on Tuesday and told the couple that they would stay for the night. They got up early the next morning.

When Sonia went to serve them tea, Anand and Rahul stabbed her to death. Hearing the noise, Ashok got up. The two also stabbed him to death, the police said.

Ashok had married Sonia, who belonged to another caste, about seven years ago against the wishes of their families.

A murder case was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by Anand, who eventually turned out to be the killer, the ASP said.

Feud over parental house

It was decided among Ashok Jain and his siblings that he will retain the parental house and will give Rs 10 lakh to his brother Anand in lieu of that. He gave Rs 1.5 lakh and promised to pay the balance amount in instalments, but he did not keep his word. Nursing a grudge against Ashok, Anand planned to kill him.
shalender@tribune.com

The Rafale tender stole the political thunder in the Comptroller and Auditor General of Indias (CAG) assessment of 11 capital acquisitions by the Indian Air Force over a time period that spanned both the UPA and Modi governments. Considering that previous CAG reports on coal and 2G had irrevocably damaged the credibility of the UPA government, the Modi government can consider itself fortunate to have escaped unscathed because of the inventiveness of the auditors. The CAG used a never-used formula (called alignment pricing) to declare the Modi tender cheaper than the UPA eras now-cancelled 126 aircraft bid. An audit basically evaluates four criteria in a defence platform: quality, cost-effectiveness, delivery and objectivity. The CAG report gives conditional thumbs up on only two: cost-effectiveness and the delivery schedule. Even these are up for debate.

But the benchmark of objectivity, which includes intangibles such as transparency, fair play and integrity, stands in a grey zone. For instance, the comparison of UPA and NDA-era prices on the basis of a French index is debatable when payments are made in dollars. A dissent note alleging parallel negotiations (dismissed by then Defence Minister Parrikar as an overreaction) went unchallenged, while there was just a mild rap for not signing an integrity pact and succumbing to French refusal on opening an Escrow account. The Modi government was also easily let off the hook for failing to respond to a 20 per cent price cut by a Rafale competitor. Who knows whether Rafale would have still played tough if it had not been the single vendor.

Rafale was one of the 11 purchases studied by CAG and the common tale that emerges is of overambitious services whose requirements are frequently changed, leading to several vendors dropping out; the contract negotiations committee that rarely establishes the benchmark price, which, in turn, makes it difficult to establish the reasonability of the price. Complex and multi-level approval processes further add to the delays. Overall, the existing capital acquisition system is unlikely to effectively support the IAF in its war preparedness and modernisation.
After much thought and deliberation, weve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens. For Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term. While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.
Arati R Jerath

Arati R Jerath

political commentator

The Congress got a bitter taste of the challenges ahead as cracks appeared in Opposition unity at the final sitting of the 16th Lok Sabha before the 2019 General Election. The corridors of Parliament reverberated the entire day with rumblings about the Congress arrogance and its big brother attitude. Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress MPs were furious because the Congress MP from West Bengal, Adhir Ranjan Chaudhury, chose the last day of the Modi governments closing session to lambast the party on the Saradha chit fund scam.

Samajwadi Party MPs were angry because the Congress did not support their protest over the fracas in UP in which several workers, including some MPs, were beaten up by the police after the authorities prevented Akhilesh Yadav from going to Allahabad.

The final blow came from SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav who told the Lok Sabha that he wanted to see Narendra Modi back as Prime Minister. He said this with Sonia Gandhi sitting next to him. She looked away in embarrassment because she had just delivered a fiery speech criticising the Modi governments policies.

Although Sharad Pawar managed to repair much of the damage with an impromptu dinner at his residence the same evening, he was helped by the fact that by then Rahul Gandhi had grasped the importance of being humble and reaching out with a healing touch. The Congress president readily broke bread with sworn rival Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party and irate Mamata Banerjee, who had earlier in the day, warned Sonia Gandhi that she will remember the insult from the Congress.

If reports about the dinner conversation are any indication, it would seem that Rahul has come down to earth with a bump and realised that the ekla chalo signals from his partys recent combative language are disturbing the equilibrium and could end up fracturing a united Opposition fight against Modi and the BJP. Apparently, there was an in-principle agreement at the dinner on a pre-poll alliance and a common minimum programme to give the Opposition a shared narrative.

It took a near-breakdown in Opposition unity to put these two vital pillars of an anti-Modi front on the table for discussion. For a long time now, regional leaders have been chaffing at the lack of initiative by the Congress to bring the non-BJP Opposition together in a structured form.

The mood became fractious after the Congress snatched three Hindi heartland states away from the BJP in the last round of the Assembly elections. Instead of being spurred by the victories and getting down to business with potential friends and allies, the Congress put on airs and developed an inflated idea of its strength.

The entry of Priyanka Vadra into the UP battlefield only reaffirmed the fears of the regional satraps. The Congress seemed to be in aggressive mode, ready to go solo in states like UP and Bengal, where till recently, it had wanted a pre-poll understanding with state parties.

The flurry of activity after the kerfuffle in Parliament suggests that there may be a rethink of sorts. After taking one step forward, the Congress seems to have taken two steps backwards. And here lies the dilemma for the party. How does it walk the fine line between party interest and the larger Opposition interest?

Consider the task ahead. It has to be battle ready to take on the BJP in states where it is in a direct fight (like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat). This means using combative language, boosting the morale of its workers, convincing voters that the party has not rolled over and died, reasserting the Congress identity and so on.

At the same time, it has to accommodate regional partners in other states, even at the cost of surrendering political space. It has to do this without giving the impression that it has bowed to state satraps and reduced itself to one among equals instead of being the pivot of an Opposition alliance. This is particularly important if it wants to win back the middle classes from the BJP. This vote looks for a strong party that can manage fissiparous tendencies that small and caste-based parties introduce in any coalition.

Its a formidable challenge for a party like the Congress which has not lost belief in its divine right to rule, despite its virtual decimation in large swathes of the country and the severe beating it has taken from serial election defeats. Yet, the onus of cobbling together a cohesive anti-Modi front that looks capable of a spirited fight lies with the Congress. It is after all the larger party and the only national party among a flock of regional ones.

Even as the Congress learns to bend without crawling, other Opposition leaders, too, have a responsibility. The efforts to build unity can succeed only in a spirit of give and take, of accommodation and empathy from both sides.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee created a framework for a successful multi-party coalition. He showed that regular communication, consensus building and flexibility were key hallmarks of running an alliance that often pulled in different directions. Although he had interlocutors for all his partners, he never hesitated to pick up the phone and talk personally when the need arose.

Perhaps Rahul Gandhi and the Congress could learn a lesson or two from Vajpayees NDA as they work to put together an alliance of parties for whom the BJP is a common enemy. The ball is in their court.
editorial@tribune.com

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 14

The UT Administration today became the first UT to implement 10 per cent quota for the economically weak among upper castes in government jobs.

The Administration notified the policy, directing all departments to provide 10 per cent reservation to the general category poor in jobs in all civil posts and services.

In a letter issued to the departments, the Administration said the UT had decided to implement the quota in letter and spirit on the directions of the Centre.

The Central Government had passed a law to provide 10 per cent reservation to the general category poor in jobs and educational institutions. An officer of the UT Administration said while the respective states were required to implement it after passing a law in the Assembly, Chandigarh, being a UT, had implemented the directions issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension.

The notification stated that persons who were not covered under the existing schemes of reservation for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and socially backwards classes and whose family had a gross annual income below Rs 8 lakh were to be identified as EWS for the benefit of reservation.

The income shall include income from all sources such as salary, agriculture, business and profession. Persons whose family owns or possesses any of the following assets shall be excluded from being identified as EWS irrespective of the family income: 5 acre of agriculture land and above, residential flats of 1,000 sq ft and above, residential plots of 100 sq yard and above in notified municipalities and residential plot of 200 sq yard and above in areas other than the notified municipalities. The UT has already decided to implement the quota in educational institutions.
editorial@tribune.com

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 14

An application moved by an advocate in the HUDA multiple plots allotment case alleging issuance of threats to him has apparently unearthed a racket involving use of SIM card, issued on phony details.

The advocate, Harmanjit Singh Sethi, had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court alleging that threatening calls were received twice on his mobile number.

Sethi had further alleged that he received first call on the afternoon of January 19. The person making the call threatened Sethi to drag him to Bandra (Mumbai) court before ensuring his arrest. Sethi added that the person threatening him introduced himself as Rahul from Information and Technology Department.

Describing the manner as rude, Sethi had earlier stated that he was receiving blanks calls and threats ever since he started appearing in the multiple plot allotment case. He said efforts were being made to somehow pressurise him to withdraw from the present case.

In a status report placed before the Bench of Justice Daya Chaudhary, the Haryana Police confirmed that two calls were indeed received on his mobile phone. But the SIM card from which calls were made, was obtained by an unknown person in the name of a Faridabad resident.

Panchkula Assistant Commissioner of Police stated that two outgoing calls were made to advocate Harmanjit Singh Sethi from the number mentioned by him in his plea on the previous date of hearing.

The Bench was also told that consumer application form of the particular number revealed that it was issued to one Udayveer Singh of Faridabad. The affidavit added that the SIM card was purchased from Badarpur in New Delhi. The name and address were found to be correct during the verification process. But Udayveer, in his statement informed the police that the SIM was neither purchased, nor used, by him. His version was found to be correct.

The report added the particular number was obtained by an unknown person in the name of Udayveer Singh and was being used by him. Thorough investigation was required in this regard.

Sethi, during the proceedings, contended that he had forwarded a representation to the UT on security issues on February 6. Responding to the submission, UT counsel averred that the representation would take time to reach the quarter concerned through proper channel. As such, additional time was required. Virtually rapping the UT, Justice Chaudhary asserted that a month could not be given for the purpose. Adjourning the matter for February 15, Justice Chaudhary asked the UT to inform the Bench on action taken.
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 14

Despite facing criticism and objection by the Chief Architect and city residents, the Municipal Corporation (MC) House today approved laying of paver blocks in various sectors as the cost of Rs 26 crore.

The House today approved a budget of Rs 1,260 crore for the next financial year.

While Rs 17 crores have been earmarked for laying paver blocks in sectors, the remaining amount will be spent in colonies and villages in the UT.

Eyebrows are being raised over the huge amount being spent on paver blocks at a time when the MC is facing financial crisis.

Though the MC expects grant-in-aid from the UT Administration, it does not have much money for development works to be undertaken next year.

While officials claimed that they have stopped installing pavers along V6 roads after receiving a directive from the office of the Chief Architect in October last year, the agendas placed in the House meeting painted a different picture. Paver blocks are being laid in all wards. The agenda also provides for laying these on V6 and V5 roads.

Meanwhile, SS Bhardwaj, a social activist from Sector 51-A, has written a letter to the UT Adviser, demanding that laying of paver blocks be stopped. The MC is laying paver blocks in any open space in the city by putting traditions, culture and the greenery of the city at stake for the reasons best known to them, he wrote.

MC doubles ward development fund

The MC has enhanced the amount of ward development fund allocated to councillors from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 80 lakh.

Meeting row: Mayor admits mistake

The issue of former Mayor Arun Sood holding a meeting with MC officials in the absence of Mayor Rajesh Kalia on Wednesday rocked the House meeting.

Congress councillor and Leader of the Opposition Devinder Singh Babla raised the issue and said the BJP Mayor was giving a wrong message to officials of the civic body.

Satish Kainth, a councillor, also flayed the incident.

Admitting the mistake, Mayor Rajesh Kalia said he had left the venue of the meeting for an urgent work.

Fund allocation
editorial@tribune.com

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 14

The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation proposed no new tax as its General House approved a budget of Rs 1,260 crore for 2019-20 amid high drama and ruckus.

The MC allocated over Rs 468 crore under the capital head and Rs 791 crore under the revenue head. Roads, infrastructure and upgrade of water supply, sewerage and the storm water system are some of the areas where the MC will focus next year.

The meeting witnessed chaos after Satish Kainth, BJPs expelled councillor, and Independent councillor Dalip Sharma staged a boycott, terming the meeting illegal. Kainth said the Mayor could not hold a meeting as per MC law.

Kainth said for a special meeting, a request from one-fourth of the councillors was required in writing in advance as per Sub-Section 2 of Section 55 (1), Chapter 4, of transactions of business under the Punjab Minucipal Corporation Act. Later, he wrote to the Adviser asking him to look into the matter.

Kainth said there was no request in advance from any councillor and under the Act, it was mandatory to hold the budget meeting in the first week of February every year as per Section 86.

Kainth termed the meeting a wastage of public money and councillors time. He said all expenses of the meeting should be recovered from the Mayor.

Congress councillor Devinder Singh Babla termed the budget unrealistic saying that the MC had no money for development. He said the MC was expected to get Rs 276 crore from its own resources and it had demanded Rs 1,260 crore grant-in-aid from the UT. He said there was no chance of getting additional money from the Administration.
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 14

Residents of the city will soon get another train for Ferozepur. The Railways has decided to extend the daily train running between Ludhiana and Ferozepur to Chandigarh. This train  Sutlej Express  will be completely unreserved.

The Member of Parliament from Chandigarh, Kirron Kher, had urged Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to have better railway connectivity to Chandigarh. She had demanded another train for Ferozepur from the city.

In a letter to Kher, Goyal specified that the Railways had accepted her request and decided to extend Ludhiana-Ferozepur train (14629/14630) to Chandigarh, which would be given effect shortly.

He further stated that this would provide better connectivity to Chandigarh and contribute to social and economic development of the region.

A train, which already runs from Chandigarh to Ferozepur in the evening, was started in February 2015. With the extension of Sutlej Express, residents of the City Beautiful could board a train for Ferozepur, besides Ludhiana and Moga, in the morning.

Presently, the train which runs between Chandigarh and Ferozepur starts at 4:30 pm and reaches its destination at 9.30 pm. The timings of the new train are yet to be decided.
vermaajay1968@gmail.com

Mumbai, February 14

Debt-laden Jet Airways Board today approved a bank-led provisional resolution plan (BLPRP) which will pave the way for conversion of the airlines debt into equity, making lenders the largest shareholders in the company.

The plan proposes restructuring, under the provisions of the Reserve Bank of Indias February 12, 2018 circular, to meet a funding gap of nearly Rs 8,500 crore.

The BLPRP contemplates conversion of lenders debt into 11.40 crore shares of Rs 10 each by allotment of such number of equity shares to the lenders that would result in the lenders becoming the largest shareholders in the company, the airline said in a filing to exchanges.

It said the allotment of 11.40 crore shares will be made at an aggregate consideration of Re 1 since under the RBI circular, lenders can convert debt into equity at Re 1 when the book value per share of a company is negative.

Under the plan, lenders nominees will be appointed to the Board of Directors of the airlines.

The BLPRP envisages the company receiving the requisite approvals from shareholders at their meeting scheduled to be held on February 21.

As of December 31, 2018, the airlines promoter  Naresh Goyals stake was 51% while that of Etihad Airways was 24%. The airlines debt stood at Rs 8,052 crore as on September 30, 2018.

The BLPRP currently estimates a funding gap of Rs 8,500 crore to be met by appropriate mix of equity infusion, debt restructuring, sale/sale and lease back/refinancing of aircraft etc.

The plan will be presented to the consortium of lenders, overseeing committee of the IBA, Board of Etihad Airways and the promoter, for consideration.  PTI

Provisional plan

The bank-led provisional resolution plan will pave the way for conversion of the airlines debt into equity, making lenders the largest shareholders in the company

The plan proposes restructuring, under the provisions of the Reserve Bank of Indias February 12, 2018 circular, to meet a funding gap of nearly Rs 8,500 crore

It contemplates conversion of lenders debt into 11.40 crore shares of Rs 10 each by allotment of such number of equity shares to the lenders that would result in the lenders becoming the largest shareholders in the company

.
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 14

A three-day international conference on Food Security, Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture New Techniques commenced at the Baba Farid Group of Institutions (BFGI) on Thursday.

During the conference, experts shared their views on sustainable production of agriculture according to climate changes. As many as 300 delegates from Australia, South Africa, Philippines, the UK and India are participating in the conference.

Sunil K Marwah, CEO, Food Industry Capacity and Skills Initiative (FICSI), New Delhi, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Padma Shri awardee Dr Sharad P Kale, senior professor, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai; and Dr DS Brar, former head, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Manila (Philippines), also graced the occasion.

Gurmeet Dhaliwal, chairman, BFGI, said, The major motive of the conference is to discuss the issues of the agricultural sector and their solutions. This conference will be beneficial for farmers, students, researchers and scientists of the agriculture sector.

Marwah said, We should do new research to promote agriculture and this can be done only by development of technological facilities, laboratories and foreign techniques.
This gathering is to bring together individuals in agape love. We are our brothers and sisters keepers and its important that we lift one another up and respect, Wiggins said. Its significant we are meeting at a place that was once segregated. We are continuing to congregate across racially lines. Weve come a long way by faith.
Terre Haute, IN (47803)

Today

Thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High 83F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. A few storms may be severe. Low 74F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Pennsylvanias top education official visited Pennsylvania Highlands Community College on Wednesday morning, the latest of several trips hes made to the Johnstown region in the past four months, to hear how local educators will use $498,000 in state funding to address the regions workforce needs.
Here is the amended policy that will be discussed Tuesday: The policy to be discussed would allow transgender students to use the restroom consistent with the students asserted gender identity when the following criteria have been met: (1) the student has appropriate medical documentation from a licensed, treating healthcare provider who specializes in the treatment of transgender individuals; and (2) the student has consistently asserted the students gender identity for a period of at least six months; and (3) the student has undergone treatment recommended by the students healthcare provider, which may include social transition or hormonal therapy for at least six months.
@IsaacAvilucea on Twitter

Isaac Avilucea is The Trentonians main municipal scribe. A two-time prior restraint winner and testicular cancer survivor, he relishes his reputation as the "Mean Girls" reporter that followed his 18-day stay at the now-defunct North Adams Transcript.
Certain species once considered at risk of extinction are actually recovering thanks to conservation efforts. Inspired by those success stories, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists in the Global Conservation Program put together a list of nine wildlife species that have seen a roaring resurgence in their native habitats. Impressively, some of these species have been able to bounce back from the brink of existence in only a few decades; they're proof that in the world of wildlife, it's not all gloom and doom.

1 of 9 Tigers in Western Thailand Mark Evans / Getty Images Long-term work to reduce poaching in Thailand's Huai Kha Khaeng (HKK) Wildlife Sanctuary has paid off for the tigers (Panthera tigris), who went from a population of just 41 in 2010 to 66 in 2019  an increase topping over 60 percent. In addition, tigers dispersing out of HKK provide a solid foundational population for the species to continue to recover throughout the Western Forest Complex of Thailand. The return of this resurgent cat has a halo effect benefiting the bordering Taninthayi region of Myanmar, notes WCS.

2 of 9 Humpback Whales Alfredo Martinez / Getty Images Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) have been hunted to the brink of extinction; some populations dwindled to less than 10 percent of their original population before a hunting moratorium was introduced in 1966. They were listed on the Endangered Species Act in 1973. Despite their dire past, some humpback whale populations have recovered as much as 90 percent of their pre-whaling numbers. Internationally, most humpback populations have increased as a result of worldwide protective regulation, and the IUCN Red List categorizes these large marine mammals as "Least Concern."

3 of 9 Burmese Star Toirtoises Josh More / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Endemic to Myanmar's central dry zone, the Burmese star tortoise (Geochelone platynota) was considered ecologically extinct after skyrocketing demand for the species in southern Chinese wildlife markets of the mid-1990s decimated the population. WCS took the case to heart and initiated an active breeding program in partnership with the Turtle Survival Alliance and the Myanmar Government. The coalition began with around 175 individuals (mostly rescued from wildlife traffickers) and created three assurance colonies at wildlife sanctuaries  complete with breeding centers, husbandry, and veterinary care  to prevent the total extinction of the species. As of 2019, there are an inspiring 14,000-plus wild and captive animals, with some 750 that have been released into wild areas of the sanctuaries.

4 of 9 Greater Adjutant Storks Allen Michaud / Flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0 Due to the unchecked collection of eggs and chicks, along with the destruction of its flooded forest habitat, the worlds rarest stork, the greater adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius), suffered disastrous blows to its population. But with the protection of the flooded forest on Cambodia's Tonle Sap (Southeast Asia's largest lake) by community rangers, the species is experiencing a remarkable turn of good fortune. The Cambodia Ministry of Environment and WCS created a program in which local people are paid to guard nests (rather than deplete them). In just a decade, the greater adjutant population grew from just 30 pairs to over 200 in 2019, which accounts for a whopping 50 percent of the global population, which sits at approximately 800 to 1200 mature greater adjutants.

5 of 9 Kihansi Spray Toads Josh More / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 The Kihansi spray toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis) holds the distinction of being the first amphibian species to be successfully revived in the wild after being declared extinct. These Tanzanian natives were nearly doomed when a hydroelectric dam was built near the Kihansi river waterfall  the only place they exist on earth  which dramatically altered the misty environment they need to survive. The toads were classified as "Extinct in the Wild" by the IUCN in 2009, but not before the Bronx Zoo was asked by the Tanzanian government to collect and breed some individuals while they plotted for the species's survival. Eventually, the government created an artificial misting system to replicate the spray zone from the waterfall; since then, the Bronx Zoo has sent around 8,000 toads back to Tanzania to be released into their natural habitat.

6 of 9 Maleos in Sulawesi Josh More / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 With a focus on nesting ground management, seminatural hatcheries, and local guardianship in Indonesia's Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park, endemic and endangered maleos (Macrocephalon maleo) are on the rapid road to recovery. And thanks to the development of successful egg incubation methods at the Bronx Zoo, over 15,000 maleo chicks have been released into the wild.

7 of 9 Macaws Laszlo Szirtesi / Getty Images Poaching and habitat loss have been bad news for the endangered scarlet macaw (Ara macao) of Guatemalas Maya Biosphere Reserve. Pushed to the brink of extinction with only around 250 left in the MBR, the beautiful birds have been coming back due to 15 years of conservation efforts, including law enforcement monitoring, community-based conservation, field science, and aviculture and husbandry. This has all resulted in significant success, and in 2017 the species reached a significant milestone: Average fledglings per active nest reached 1.14, a 17-year high.

8 of 9 Jaguars Chris Brunskill / Getty Images Pity the jaguar (Panthera onca), the largest cat in the Americas. Threatened by habitat depletion because of forests being razed for development and agriculture, the jaguar has also fallen victim to being killed by humans in retaliation for hunting their livestock. The jaguar is now found only in the extreme northern limits of Argentina in its southern range of habitat, having been eliminated from much of its wider historic stomping grounds across Central America, explains WCS. Thankfully, after more than 30 years of conservation efforts, jaguar population levels are improving. At WCS sites between 2002-2016, populations are remaining stable and steadily improving, averaging 7.8 percent growth per year. According to WCS, jaguars are returning to parts of their northern range  they might soon even be spotted in the southern United States.
Passenger traffic up 6.5% YoY in Argentina and 2.9% in Italy, further supported by growth across most geographies

Corporacion America Airports S.A. (NYSE:CAAP), the largest private sector airport operator in the world by number of airports, reported today preliminary year-over-year passenger traffic growth of 4.0% in January 2019.

Passenger Traffic, Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements Highlights Statistics Jan'19 Jan'18 % Chg. Domestic Passengers (thousands) 4,006 3,661 9.4% International Passengers (thousands) 2,320 2,363 -1.8% Transit Passengers (thousands) 869 897 -3.2% Total Passengers (thousands) 7,195 6,921 4.0% Cargo Volume (thousand tons) 32.8 31.7 3.4% Total Aircraft Movements (thousands) 74.7 74.6 0.1%

Passenger Traffic Overview

Total passenger traffic in January 2019 increased by 4.0% YoY, primarily reflecting growth of 6.5% in Argentina, 2.9% in Italy and 12.3% in Armenia.

In Argentina, total passenger traffic increased 6.5% YoY, mainly driven by 15.5% growth in domestic passengers, benefiting from the launch of new routes and addition of new airlines during 2018. This was partially offset by declines of 5.3% and 5.6% in international and transit passengers, respectively, which continue to reflect challenging macro conditions. International traffic in Argentina, however, posted an improvement from prior months as foreign tourism increased, combined with pre-sales of air travel tickets that took place before the peso devaluation along with installment sales offered by some airlines. In addition, Norwegian Air Argentina opened a new domestic route to Salta in January 2019, adding to its five other domestic routes. Moreover, JetSmart airlines announced it will begin domestic operations in April 2019, starting with the launch of flights to Cordoba, Mendoza, Neuquen and Salta.

In Italy, passenger traffic rose 2.9%, driven by an increase of 4.4% in Pisa Airport mainly related to the addition of frequencies by Ryanair, including the opening of a new route to Prague operated three times a week, and flights by Pobeda to Moscow. In Florence Airport, passenger traffic remained relatively flat, affected by adverse weather conditions, which led to several re-routed or cancelled flights, offsetting the good performance of TAPs connection to Lisbon and the addition of three weekly flights to Madrid by Iberia.

In Brazil, total passenger traffic remained flat with domestic traffic increasing 4.2%, offset by a decline in international traffic mainly as a result of the change in methodology in traffic count by ANAC. Domestic traffic growth in Brasilia Airport slowed down to 3.7% from 7.1% in December, impacted by a reduction in less profitable routes and frequencies by LATAM Airlines as it seeks to optimize operations, and a decline of approximately 20% in seat supply at Avianca Brasil. By contrast, Gol recently announced the expansion of its operations at Brasilia Airport that contemplates the launch of new domestic flights throughout the first half of the year. International traffic at Brasilia Airport declined 12.1% impacted by the new methodology in traffic count applied since June 2018 as discussed above. This more than offset traffic growth resulting from the continued good performance of routes to Miami and Orlando opened by Gol Airlines in November and the addition of a new direct flight to Buenos Aires during December. Based on the prior methodology, international traffic would have increased 25.5% YoY at this airport.

In Ecuador, passenger traffic increased 6.9%, with international passenger traffic at Guayaquil Airport up 9.7%, mainly attributed to the continued good performance of the Spirit Airlines flight to Fort Lauderdale introduced in March 2018 and the increase in frequencies by COPA Airlines. In addition, Aeromexico announced the launch of a new route from Ciudad de Mexico, starting in May with three weekly flights.

In Armenia, passenger traffic increased 12.3% still reflecting strong travel trends from 2018. The launch of new routes in October by Azimuth, serving three Russian destinations, also contributed to passenger traffic growth.

Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements

Cargo volume increased 3.4% in January 2019 mainly as a result a 34.5% increase in Brazil, mainly related to an increase in exports, offset by a decline of 4.1% in Argentina, related to the continued challenging macroeconomic conditions.

Aircraft movements remained flat in January 2019, mainly as a result of increases of 2.4% in Argentina and 14.8% in Ecuador, partially offset by a 6.9% decline in Brazil.

Summary Passenger Traffic, Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements Jan'19 Jan'18 % Chg. Passenger Traffic (thousands) Argentina 3,808 3,576 6.5% Italy 460 447 2.9% Brazil 1,866 1,853 0.7% Uruguay 247 259 -4.6% Ecuador 353 330 6.9% Armenia 212 189 12.3% Peru 249 268 -7.1% TOTAL 7,195 6,921 4.0% Cargo Volume (tons) Argentina 18,845 19,644 -4.1% Italy 1,027 886 16.0% Brazil 6,042 4,493 34.5% Uruguay 1,909 2,019 -5.4% Ecuador 3,733 3,389 10.1% Armenia 859 892 -3.7% Peru 370 387 -4.6% TOTAL 32,784 31,710 3.4% Aircraft Movements Argentina 40,140 39,185 2.4% Italy 4,644 4,533 2.4% Brazil 14,670 15,753 -6.9% Uruguay 3,941 4,535 -13.1% Ecuador 7,154 6,230 14.8% Armenia 1,948 1,739 12.0% Peru 2,164 2,609 -17.1% TOTAL 74,661 74,584 0.1%

About Corporacion America Airports

Corporacion America Airports acquires, develops and operates airport concessions. The Company is the largest private airport operator in the world by the number of airports and the tenth largest based on passenger traffic. Currently, the Company operates 52 airports in 7 countries across Latin America and Europe (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Armenia and Italy). In 2018, Corporacion America Airports served 81.3 million passengers. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange where it trades under the ticker CAAP.

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 2021 Travel Industry Wire
World Trade Organisation (WTO) members took stock of progress in implementing the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) at the 12-13 February meeting of the Committee on Trade Facilitation, a week before the second anniversary of the Agreements entry into force.

Members considered a report from the WTO Secretariat, which found that 141 or 86% of WTO members have now ratified the TFA roughly two years since it entered into force on 22 February 2017 when the WTO crossed the required threshold of 110 member ratifications. Zimbabwe, Cameroon and Ecuador were the latest to ratify the TFA since the last Committee meeting in October 2018. Egypt at the meeting said it would soon ratify the Agreement.

Full implementation of the Agreement, which seeks to expedite the movement, release and clearance of goods across borders, is forecast to slash members trade costs by an average of 14.3 per cent, with developing and least-developed countries having the most to gain, according to a 2015 study carried out by WTO economists. The TFA is also likely to reduce the time needed to import goods by over a day and a half and to export goods by almost two days, representing a reduction of 47 per cent and 91 per cent respectively over the current average.

As of 12 February, the current rate of implemented commitments under the TFA stood at 61.3 per cent. Broken down by level of development, this equates to a 100 per cent rate of implementation by developed members, 60.3 per cent among developing members and 22.8 per cent among least-developed countries (LDCs).

Developed countries committed to implement the Agreement in full upon its entry into force, while developing and least-developed members set their own timetables for implementing the TFA, taking into account their respective capacities. These commitments have been communicated to the WTO in a series of notifications.

Several members remarked positively on the progress made while some noted that much remains to be done to fully implement the Agreement across the entire WTO membership. They called for the timely fulfilment of obligations to implement the TFA, with some noting that 2019 would be an important year with the deadline coming up for LDCs to report on what technical assistance they require and for developing members to notify definitive dates when they would implement provisions of the Agreement for which they had asked assistance.

The Committee reviewed a total of 16 new notifications from members on their respective timetables to implement TFA provisions and other information such as trading procedures and assistance for carrying out the Agreement. Members heard presentations on special procedures for processing and temporarily admitting goods for special circumstances, National Trade Facilitation Committees, and advance Customs rulings for traders who may want clarity on their transactions before the goods are shipped. Members also continued to debate a proposal on formalizing the Committees rules of procedure and heard updates on recent and upcoming activities aimed at enhancing TFA implementation.

The Committee on Customs Valuations held a workshop the next day, 14 February, on linkages between customs valuation and the TFA, which provided opportunities for members and other organizations to share experiences on a national and regional level.

The next Trade Facilitation Committee meeting will be in June.
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If this were purely a visual comparison to discover which car looked more aggressive, that distinction would automatically go to the Civic Si. But its not all about the visuals, especially since the Jetta is more powerful than the Civic and it also has a more sophisticated independent rear suspension that VW doesnt offer on any other Jetta model.

One of the new Jetta GLIs main rivals is the 2019 Honda Civic Si sedan, a very hard contender indeed. The Civic Si has a smaller displacement engine than the Jetta GLI, and has less power, but it is also quite a light car, one renowned for its excellent handling and road manners. It also looks somewhat sportier than the Jetta too, especially if you see its trunk lid-mounted wing, the center exhaust, and the aggressive overall design and stance.

Volkswagen has finally given its Jetta sedan for North America the power, exclusivity, and extra sporting edge that some enthusiasts felt were missing from the package. The new 2020 Jetta GLI has addressed all those concerns and is now a model with enough brawn and sophistication to go head to head with all the sporty sedans in its size and price brackets. If youre into fast driving, then you will be happy to note the new Jetta GLI gets the exact same engine as the (Golf) GTI, a standard limited-slip differential, and a snappy six-speed stick shift.

2020 Volkswagen Jetta GLI vs 2019 Honda Civic SI Exterior

If you put the two vehicles side by side, it is not hard to see that even with the sporty makeover the 2020 VW Jetta has received in GLI guise, its still the more restrained and understated of the two. It really looks like a mini Audi A4 with red accents, and I think that its a look that thoroughly suits it; to my mind it was a much more successful overall design than the larger US-spec Passat to begin with and, with the sporty tweaks (complete with slightly lower suspension,) its even better.

By contrast, the Civic Si appears to have been designed by a group of overly-excited teens who just wanted to give the car as many vents/intakes and as pronounced a wedge shape as possible (even though its a sedan).

The result is not bad (the design does start to grow on you after a while), but its certainly far more polarizing than the subtle, subdued Jetta.

My main issue with it is the sheer amount of real estate dedicated to fake vents in the front and rear, and in my mind, it would have been even more successful had it been a bit more restrained. Even if its designers would have tried to stick to only as much vent space as was needed - none of this ridiculous fakery thats really visible on the rear bumper where it just looks off.

There is just more going on with the Civic from whichever angle you want to view it and, while I again feel the need to stress that it doesnt look bad, Im really looking forward to the refreshed, facelifted model due in the next couple of years . I hope that will bring some much-needed refinement to this design.

The Jetta GLI, on the other hand, is a car you dont have to make excuses for - whoever sees you in one will have a much better idea of why you bought it.

Of course, if they arent an enthusiast, they wont really know that you are indeed driving a performance car.

Its also worth stressing that the 2020 Jetta GLI looks more different to less exclusive variants in the range than the Civic Si; the latter, had it not been for the wing on the back and the Si badges, could pass by unnoticed as just another Civic Sedan. However, the base Civic sedan is certainly sportier looking than the base Jetta, so there is a balance in their respective formulas.

Dimensions

The Honda Civic Si sedan is a fraction shorter overall than the VW Jette GLI, but it has a longer wheelbase - this means its overhangs are shorter and has more of a wheel-at-each-corner look to it. The Honda is also not as tall as the VW and wider at the same time, further reinforcing it as the sportier looking one of the two.

Volkswagen Jetta GLI Honda Civic SI Length: 4.7 meters / 185.1 inches 4.64 meters / 182.5 inches Wheelbase: 2.68 meters / 105.7 inches 2.7 meters / 106.3 inches Height: 1.46 meters / 57.4 inches 1.42 meters / 55.75 inches Width (no mirrors): 1.79 meters / 70.8 inches 1.88 meters / 73.9 inches

2020 Volkswagen Jetta GLI vs 2019 Honda Civic SI Interior

Inside the two vehicles, theres no question as to which one feels the most premium: its the Jetta GLE.

The best compliment that can be paid to the Civic in the Jettas company is that it looks durable and that its very well put together.

But in terms of materials and perceived quality, there is no contest.

The VW is also more advanced inside, with a fully-digital gauge cluster, an infotainment system that is about a decade ahead in terms of look and feel. The Jettas interior, especially the GLIs with all the bells and whistles, just looks like an Audi interior, something befitting of an S3. The Jetta also has a ten-color mood lighting setup (that you might as well just leave in red to match the theme of the car) that the Civic doesnt have.

In terms of design, the Civic is certainly the more daring of the two. Like the Civics exterior, its interior feels more sporty as do the seats that are probably going to be better than the VWs especially in terms of comfort. I really like the basic seats you get in the Si - they look like nice, honest, body-hugging, hot-hatch seats with the subtle Si script hinting that this is indeed no ordinary Civic.

The seats in the Jetta GLI just look and feel harder and less comfortable and, if other sporty VW seats are anything to go by, they probably wont match the Civics for long-distance comfort.

When it comes to steering wheel designs, the VW Jetta GLIs wheel wins hands down - its got nice subtle metal details, red stitching, buttons for essential functions, and the obligatory flat bottom. Holding onto it is a pleasant tactile experience, very similar to what you might feel in a much more expensive car.

The Civic Sis wheel certainly looks more futuristic, and it too has plenty of well-integrated buttons and sporty red contrasting stitching, but it just looks and feels cheaper than what you get in the VW. My two main gripes with it in this company are the quality of the plastic airbag cover and the buttons themselves. Not to mention the fact that it isnt a flat-bottom steering wheel.

Both cars come with six-speed manual gearboxes, but its the Civics shifter that not only looks better but especially feels better than the Jettas. Its a short, stubby thing with quite a big knob on top (for its size) and it has to be one of the single most rewarding six-speed sticks to use in the entire industry. Its the kind of car in which you want to shift gears just for the sake of it, to experience that slick and pleasantly notchy shift action.

Dimensions

In terms of space inside, the Civic translates its extra width into genuinely more shoulder room inside (for both front and rear occupants). Headroom up front is better in the Civic too, but the Jetta has more of it in the rear. Both are tied for rear legroom. Volkswagen has not released trunk capacity information for the Jetta GLI, but if its the same as the rest of the range, then it just beats the Civic Si in this category (its worth noting that the Civic Si has less trunk volume than, say, a Civic EX).

Volkswagen Jetta GLI Honda Civic SI Headroom front 978 mm / 38.5 inches 997 mm / 39.2 inches Headroom rear 945 mm / 37.2 inches 942 mm / 37 inches Legroom rear 950 mm / 37.4 inches 950 mm / 37.4 inches Shoulder room front 1,420 mm / 55.9 inches 1,447 mm / 56.9 inches Shoulder room rear 1,372 mm / 54 inches 1,397 mm / 54.6 inches Luggage volume 399 liters / 14.1 cubic feet 379 liters / 13.4 cubic feet

2020 Volkswagen Jetta GLI vs 2019 Honda Civic SI Drivetrain and Performance

The 2020 Jetta GLI has the upper hand when it comes to displacement, power and acceleration time.

Plus the Civic Si can only be had with the manual gearbox option, whereas the Jetta does offer an automatic option, thereby broadening its array prospective buyers.

Had Honda offered the Civic Si with the only automatic transmission it has (of the continuously variable variety), it definitely would have ruined its sporty edge, while on the other hand, the Jetta GLI is still fun to drive even if you opt for the automatic.

The 2019 Civic Si is powered by a 1.5-liter, turbocharged, four-cylinder with 205 horsepower that peaks at 5,700 rpm. If youre used to older hot Hondas, then its quite low 6,500 rpm redline might surprise you; the engine really does run out of puff not long after that - you have to shift below 6,000 to make the most of its performance.

Torque is rated at 260 Nm or 192 pound-feet, and it makes the car feel quite spritely since it is delivered flat between 2,100 - 5,000 rpm. This broad spread of torque makes the car feel more muscular than the numbers suggest and occasionally having to shift down for more acceleration is never a chore in the Civic Si as it has one of the single best feelings shifters in the business. As far as its sprint time to sixty goes, the Civic Si sedan can do it in just under 7 seconds.

The 2020 Jetta GLI runs a bigger, 2.0-liter, turbo, four-pot with 228 horsepower and as much torque in foot-pounds as the Civics engine in Newton meters...

Twist in the Jetta GLI is rated at 350 Nm or 258 pound-feet, and it should provide noticeably more in gear punch than the Honda.

As standard, the car comes with a six-speed manual gearbox, but a snappy seven-speed dual-clutch DSG is optionally available.

Volkswagen hasnt quoted the 2020 Jetta GLIs sprint time to sixty, but its probably somewhere in the low six-second range.

Volkswagen Jetta GLI Honda Civic Si Engine 2.0-liter turbocharged and direct-injection EA888 TSI 1.5-liter, turbocharged, four-cylinder Horsepower 228 HP 205 HP @ 5,700 rpm Torque 258 LB-FT 192 LB-FT @ 2,100-5,000 RPM

Final thoughts

The Honda Civic Si sedan and new VW Jetta GLI offer two quite different answers to the same question and each have plus points and bad marks. They cater to different audiences in that the Jetta is aimed at more mature buyers who want to drive a factory sleeper which the new GLI really is, especially if you go for the regular model (not the 35th anniversary special edition that has the bigger wheels and spoiler).

On a windy stretch of road, its quite possible that the lighter, more nimble Honda would pull ahead (although this is just pure guesswork at this point) and the more powerful VW would claw its way back on the straights. The Jetta GLI undeniably handles fine with its lowered suspension and higher performance tires, but the Civic Si has quicker steering, nice pedal placement for heel and toe, and that glorious gear shifter.

The Honda is the more noticeable car, yet the VW is the more understated, slightly more powerful, and more expensive alternative. If its all about the interior for you, then you can just ignore the Civic Si altogether and just go straight for the Jetta GLI with its premium-level interior ambiance and the more serious, grown up look. If interior quality isnt your prime concern, then you may actually like the Honda more thanks to its more alive handling and generally sharper, sportier feel.

It also boils down to price when looking at direct rivals from different manufacturers. VW has not announced pricing for the 2020 Jetta GLI, but it should start from just over $30,000 (if the current model is anything to go by; it starts from $30,440). The 2019 Honda Civic Si sedan starts from $24,300, so the difference is quite significant and, if you look at both cars with this in mind, the Honda probably starts to make more and more sense.

But well obviously have to wait for the Jetta GLI to officially debut and have it tested head to head against its rivals. Maybe it will be an unexpected revelation to drive or have some other tricks hidden up its sleeve that will make the higher asking price seem more palatable.

Further reading

Read our full review on the 2020 Volkswagen Jetta GLI.

Read our full review on the 2019 Honda Civic Si.
'Neighbors by Ring' app helps Shawnee police make arrest SHAWNEE, KS (KCTV) - A little over a week after joining an app by Ring, the police in Shawnee arrested a man thanks to help from the community. On Tuesday morning, police were called to the Security Bank at 54th and Roberts after someone called and said that a man in the drive-thru was trying to cash stolen checks.

The not so great people of JoCo assist police in protecting the interests of big banks and help to crackdown on a pettym alleged thief. Next up, narcing on anybody who would dare steal a loaf of bread . . . Read more:
Jennifer Haberkorn covers Congress in Washington, D.C., for the Los Angeles Times. She has reported from Washington since 2005, spending much of that time roaming the halls of the U.S. Capitol. Before arriving at The Times, Haberkorn spent eight years at Politico writing about the 2010 healthcare law, a story that took her to Congress, the states, healthcare clinics and courtrooms around the country. She also covered Congress and local business news for the Washington Times. Haberkorn is a native of the Chicago area and graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis.
Norton Family Premier is powerful on Android and Windows, but it doesn't have many features for iOS.

UPDATED to reflect extension of 6-months-free offer to Sept. 30, 2020. This review was originally published February 14, 2019.

Norton is a huge name in the antivirus world, so it's not surprising that it has one of the strongest offerings in parental-control software.

Norton Family, formerly known as Norton Family Premier, isn't the cheapest option out there, but it can be an incredible value for large families  one $50 yearly license supports an unlimited number of children and devices.

As you would expect, the web filtering is one area where Norton Family really shines. Support for Windows monitoring on top of iOS and Android will be compelling for parents of older children who use more than just a tablet or smartphone. Be aware that there's no software for the Mac, though.

The iOS version is definitely the weak point for Norton Family, but that's almost uniformly the case for parental-control apps, due to Apple's tight control of its mobile operating system. We recommend Net Nanny (formerly Zift) for iOS users, but for large families that use Android and Windows exclusively, Norton Family will be well worth it.

MORE: Best Parental Control Apps

Costs and What's Covered

Norton Family dropped the free tier of its service in early 2018 and moved to a strictly paid option that costs $49.99 per year. (It later dropped the "Premier" from its name.)

This subscription covers an unlimited number of devices and child accounts, so for larger families, it's a good deal. (If you sign up by Sept. 30, 2020, you can get 6 months of Norton Family for free.)

Norton Family Premier subscription options: Norton Family Premier for $49.99 per year

If you happen to also be in the market for an antivirus solution, Norton Security Premium includes a subscription to Norton Family and is $54.99 for the first year and $109.99 thereafter.

Norton Family has monitoring software for Android (4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and up), iOS (9 and up) and Windows (XP with SP3 and up). The parental software is available for Android and Windows, but not iOS. Macs are not supported at all, except for accessing the web interface.

Installation

We tested Norton Family on a Google Pixel 2XL running Android 9.0 (Pie), an iPhone 7 Plus and an iPad Air 2. Web access was done on a 15-inch 2017 MacBook Pro running MacOS 10.13.6 and Windows 10.

The first step in installing Norton Family is creating your account, which you can either do online or via the Android or iOS app.

Regardless of which method you choose, you then add information for one or more children. This is a simple process, requiring only names and birth years, but you can optionally add a child's gender, photo or avatar.

You will also see a section marked Personal Information. If you expand it, you can add a child's Social Security number, phone number, email address or any other information that you don't want your child to share online.

On Windows, this feature will block the child from sharing this information and will notify you if he or she attempts to do so. Unfortunately, none of this works on mobile platforms.

Next, you install the Norton Family monitoring software on any device that your children use. Links to the Windows, iOS and Android downloads are provided. Once the software is installed, you simply sign in to your account and then select the appropriate child for that device.

Norton does a solid job of getting you started by selecting default rules based on the age of your children. While you can have a look at the rules that the app has set by default, having this head start helps the process feel less overwhelming than it would if you started from scratch.

Parental Interface

Norton has made significant changes to the parental user interface since the last time we reviewed its service. The shift to a more minimal interface on the web portal has made everything considerably easier to navigate and understand.

It's still not the best-looking interface, but it's easy enough to find and use each feature. Each child's profile is displayed across the top, and selecting a child brings up her or his personalized House Rules and Activities tabs.

Unfortunately, the Android parental app hasn't enjoyed the same treatment and remains a messy series of lists with toggles. The mobile app does work, but you will want to stick with the web interface whenever possible. There is no parental-interface app for iOS at this time.

App Management

Managing existing apps is strictly for the Android version of Norton Family. You get a complete list of the apps that your child has on her or his device, and you tick the box next to any app that should be blocked.

This feature worked exactly as advertised in our testing, with apps disappearing from the child's device when we toggled them in the parental interface.

This feature doesn't serve as a gatekeeper against the installation of new apps, but parents can control what their children install on Android devices by creating a Google Family Group and by using Apple Family Sharing on iOS devices. You would be well-served to combine these features with Norton Family.

Filtering

Of all the parental-control services that we tested, Norton has the most robust set of tools for both filtering and monitoring web usage. This function held up especially well on mobile devices, where you are able to limit your child to using the Norton browser. It was less successful on a PC  there are too many workarounds with unsupported browsers.

The House Rules for web filtering are split into four sections: Supervision Level, Blocked Categories, Restricted Websites and Allowed Websites. The first two default to preset settings based on the child's age, but you are free to make changes as you see fit.

The three potential levels for Supervision Level are High (which blocks websites); Moderate (a warning is given, but access is allowed); and Low (which only monitors activity).

The Blocked Categories section offers 48 distinct classifications to choose from, ranging from obvious ones like Mature Content and File Sharing to slightly more head-scratching categories like Job Search and Automotive.

Regardless, it's nice to have such a granular level of filtering control, especially when compared with other services, which either target adult content alone or simply do not offer web filtering at all.

For individual sites that you'd also like to block, Restricted Websites can catch anything that falls through the cracks  perhaps a specific site you find objectionable, even if the rest of the category is OK.

Allowed Websites represents the flip side of that. Add a site to that, such as when you or the child disagree with its categorization, and it won't be blocked by the filters, even if it falls into a blocked category.

Time Management

Android and Windows support all of the Time Management features for Norton Family. It's a pretty basic feature set, with one setting for the overall time allowed per device and another for the ability to set a schedule for each day by clicking a set of shaded blocks. On iOS, you are limited to the scheduling component.

The kids will get notifications that apps are being blocked because they ran out of time for the day. They can call whomever you've set as the "Allowed Contacts" in the app, and they can view their "House Rules," but there's no built-in option to ask for more time through the app.

From a user-experience standpoint, this section could use some work. The inability to set an allowance on iOS is disappointing, and you can't set a global allowance across devices -- each Android or Windows device has its own allowance even if they're assigned to the same child.

MORE: The One Google App Every Parent Needs

I also repeatedly had difficulties with changes not being acknowledged by the app on the fly. If I decided to extend a child's curfew on a given night, for example, that would be updated in the web app but would fail to unlock the iOS device.

Texting Management

Supervision of text messages is limited to Android devices. You are able to monitor any SMS message, i.e. "regular" text messages, that your child receives -- including reading message content. You can block messages to or from the device for any existing contact, and you can dictate how new contacts will be handled.

This is not a stealth product. Your child will be able to see the house rules, and anyone corresponding with your child will get a message that the texts are being monitored.

It is also worth noting that MMS messages  those that contain photos or videos or are sent to more than one recipient  travel over the internet instead of over phone lines and cannot be monitored for content. Norton will simply report those as having been sent or received.

Norton Family doesn't log any phone calls made or received. It also doesn't block specific numbers from calling the child's device, or prevent the child from calling blocked numbers. (Nor does it let you listen to recordings of calls, like all the other apps we tested.)

You'll have to go directly into the child's device to block specific contacts on both iOS and Android, and it's not always easy to prevent kids from overriding those blocks.

Location Tracking

Location tracking gives you the present location of your child's device. You can check a child's previous locations by clicking on the timestamps that appear on the map for the current day. For earlier days, click on the Select a Date section and specify a date and a time frame that you would like to view.

It would be nice to see Norton add a geofencing option, as we've seen done on OurPact and Kaspersky Safe Kids. But Norton's location tracking gets the job done, and the ability to view past locations is potentially useful in an emergency or simply to verify that a child takes the appropriate route home if walking or biking.

Extras

You'll find a few other worthwhile additions to Norton Family Premier.

Manage Contacts

Only available on Android, this feature gives the child up to six numbers that he or she can call in the event that the device is locked.

Access Request

This lets your child send you a note from within either of the Norton Family mobile apps if she or he disagrees with a website being blocked or the specifics of a house rule.

I think this is a great feature and wish more of the parental-control apps would adopt something similar. Obviously, these conversations can happen in person, but giving children the chance to present their cases in writing is helpful.

Video Supervision

This is a pretty unique feature for parental-control apps. It gives you a list of the YouTube and Hulu content your child has watched (sorry, there's no support for Netflix) and lets you watch a brief clip from the video. It works on Android, iOS and Windows, and it's helpful if you want a quick glance at what your child is watching. It's certainly much more useful than just seeing video titles in a list.

Social Network Supervision

I don't really see the value of this feature. It is limited to Windows and merely shows you how often your child logs on to Facebook, along with the profile name and age that he or she uses. Given that a teenager's social media usage is much more likely to be on mobile, this feature feels like it wouldn't provide much insight into your child's behavior.

Search Activities

The Search Activities section logs any searches that your child performs on Windows, Android or iOS devices. It makes a word cloud on the main page of the parental web interface for you to view, and you can look at the granular results in a full list if you want to know more details.

Bottom Line

Norton Family remains one of the strongest offerings in the parental-control market. While it doesn't boast the largest feature set or the cheapest price, it manages to strike a balance between the two that results in an amazing value for any family with two or more kids to monitor.

Where Norton Family falls down is in the features for iOS. There is now real competition in that space, with Net Nanny delivering near-feature parity between iOS and Android. But for households that use primarily use Android and Windows, there is little question that Norton Family remains a top option.

Credit: Tom's Guide
Kaspersky Safe Kids is the cheapest good option for monitoring Android, but Net Nanny is better for keeping an eye on Apple mobile devices.

Kaspersky Lab is one of several antivirus companies that have recently added stand-alone parental-control services to their portfolios, and this one's a winner among affordable options.

The free version of Kaspersky Safe Kids monitors a single child's smartphone or computer (Windows or Mac), offering most of the top features found in any parental-control service.

For parents with multiple devices to monitor, Kaspersky Safe Kids' premium option is the most affordable that we tested, selling for $14.99 per year for an unlimited number of devices.

As with most of the parental-control services, the iOS monitoring app has less functionality than the Android equivalent. Much of this is due to Apple's tight grip on the operating system, but other options, such as Net Nanny, do a more thorough job with iOS.

The parental web portal also felt sluggish and could use a refresh to streamline the interface, although parents can use their own smartphone apps instead.

But if your kids use Android devices, and especially if you're on a tight budget, you should absolutely consider Kaspersky Safe Kids. For just $14.99 a year, you'll get an extremely competitive and effective feature set.

In March 2019, Kaspersky Lab filed an antitrust complaint against Apple, alleging that the iPhone maker had forced the removal of Safari browser-blocking and app-management features from the iOS version of Kaspersky Safe Kids.

In August 2020, the Russian antitrust authorities ruled that Apple must remove its recent restrictions on third-party parental-control apps by Nov. 30, 2020, but we do not yet know if or how Apple plans to comply.

UPDATED with news on Kaspersky antitrust complaint against Apple. This review was originally published in February 2019.

Kaspersky Safe Kids: Costs and what's covered

Kaspersky Safe Kids has software available for kids' devices running Android (4.4 KitKat and later), iOS (10 and later), Windows (7 and later) and macOS (10.11 El Capitan and later). With this software, parents rely on the parental smartphone apps or the web portal to monitor and manage their kids' activities.

Kaspersky Safe Kids takes the fairly common approach of offering a limited free version along with a yearly subscription option to unlock the full features of the app.

The premium pricing is pretty amazing, at just $14.99 a year for an unlimited number of child profiles and devices. No competing apps come close to this pricing for a premium service tier covering multiple users and devices.

However, Kaspersky also has one of the most compelling free offerings available, with web filtering, app-usage controls, YouTube search blocking and screen-time management all included.

What you won't get for free are the child locator, social-network monitoring, text and call screening, YouTube search history and real-time alerts. Those are all valuable features for smartphone monitoring, but if you are just trying to monitor a tablet or PC for your kid(s), I would see little reason to jump to the paid version.

Kaspersky Safe Kids: Installation

We installed and used Kaspersky Safe Kids on a Google Pixel 2XL running Android 9.0 (Pie), an iPhone 7 Plus, an iPad Air 2 and a 15-inch 2017 Macbook Pro running MacOS 10.13.6 and Windows 10.

Your first step during installation is to create or sign in to your My Kaspersky account, either on the web or via the mobile app. From there, you create a profile for each of your children.

Names and birth years are the only pieces of information that you need to enter. A variety of avatars are available to assign to each child, or you can upload a photo instead.

One unique touch during installation is that Kaspersky offers age-sensitive advice on how to discuss the app with your child. This is part of a larger feature called Advice for Parents that you will see here and there throughout the app. If you find this irritating, you can turn it off in Settings.

Next, you identify which platforms your child uses and install the software on each of your kid's devices. Kaspersky does a solid job guiding you through the process on each platform; iOS is the most involved, with the need to install a profile via the Safari browser, but no separate downloads are needed.

Kaspersky Safe Kids: App management

The Kaspersky Safe Kids app covers all of the basics with what it calls application monitoring. There are a number of features that aren't supported by iOS. You lose the ability to block apps by category as well as the ability to create specific settings for individual apps.

My primary complaint with this section isn't about any of the features, or lack thereof, but that you end up clicking through a lot of different areas to get everything set up and it's simply not intuitive.

The category blocking for apps is a fairly unusual feature, but it uses the same ideas implemented in most other parental-control apps' web-filtering options. There are 17 app categories listed; you get a choice between Allowed or Forbidden for each.

The one piece of application monitoring supported by iOS as well as the other platforms comes in the age restrictions. This feature uses the age ratings that apps get in their respective stores and blocks anything not rated for the age you listed for your child. Note that you can't grant exceptions if you happen to disagree with the rating an app received.

As of mid-2020, you can also block specific search terms in the YouTube Android app, and on the YouTube web page in Android, iOS and Windows browsers. This doesn't work on Macs.

The final feature for app monitoring in Kaspersky Safe Kids overlaps with time management. On the main application-monitoring settings page, there is a full list of your child's apps, and you can select Forbidden, Allowed or Restricted for each one.

If you choose Restricted, you then get a popup menu that lets you set a time limit for that one app in a given day. This works with the time-management features, so you can, for example, say that your child can use their phone for 3 hours daily but watch YouTube for only 30 minutes.

Kaspersky Safe Kids: Filtering

Kaspersky Safe Kids offers one of the more comprehensive web-filtering feature sets among the parental-control apps that I tested. There are a total of 14 categories (a far cry from the 150 categories offered by MMGuardian but probably enough for most users), and each can be flagged as Forbidden, Allowed, or Warning.

By default, Kaspersky Safe Kids will automatically flag these for each category based on the age of your child, but you can make changes as you see fit.

For websites flagged with Warning, a message will pop up on your child's screen if they try to visit the site. If they opt to visit it anyway, you will be notified. Kids can also request permission to visit a forbidden site, but in that case, they will need your approval.

Sticking with the supported browsers on each platform, everything worked as expected for me. This included Chrome for Android; Kaspersky's own Safe Browser for Android and iOS; and, on desktops, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer and Safari. Blocking alternate browsers is the best option to prevent kids from finding holes in the content filtering.

Kaspersky Safe Kids: Time management

Kaspersky Safe Kids offers a reasonable suite of time-management features to control or simply monitor the time your children spend on their devices. While everything works fine, the user interface is a little clunky and there are a couple of odd limitations.

The first choice you need to make is between Statistics Only and Time Limit. The former will just give you a breakdown of your child's usage but won't restrict them in any way.

The latter is the more traditional feature and can limit the time on their devices either by number of hours per day or according to a schedule. Notably, you can't opt to use both, and all of these settings are per device. I can't fathom the reasoning behind not enabling these two features to work in tandem, as virtually every other service we tested offers this functionality.

Regardless of which time-limiting option you select, you can choose between having the software block the child's access outright when he or she reaches the limit or having the program simply warn the child that the limit has been reached (at which point, you will receive a notification).

On the iOS version of Kaspersky Safe Kids, you can't use the blocking function; instead, the kids will merely be prompted with a warning that they've reached their time limits for the day.

Kaspersky Safe Kids lets a child request additional time, but that feature is limited to computers. I imagine the reasoning is that schoolwork may need to be done on computers, but it feels like an odd omission to not at least make this an option on mobile, as tablets are certainly viable machines for schoolwork today.

Kaspersky Safe Kids: Texting management

Texting management is limited to Android users, but it lets you log all calls and SMS messages, or just one or the other if you prefer. If you have a specific contact you are worried about, you can flag that person for monitoring, and the app will notify you immediately when texts or calls are made to or received from that contact.

To be clear, this feature does not provide you with the content of the messages. It merely tells you that they happened and when. If you are determined to view the content of your child's text messages, then Norton Family Premier offers such a solution, but again, that feature is Android-only.

Kaspersky Safe Kids: Location tracking

Kaspersky Safe Kids has a solid location-tracking offering, which lets you pull up a map of your child's location and set geofences. Both features worked well in our testing.

The geofencing has an interesting twist in that it allows you to set not just the location where you expect your child to be, but also when you expect him or her to be there. For each geofence, you create the area and then define the time frame during which the child should be there each day.

My only two complaints are the lack of a log or location history and the inability to define a small geofence, which would be particularly useful in urban settings. The roughly 700 yards (0.4 miles) for the minimum geofence covers way too much ground.

Kaspersky Safe Kids: Social networks

This feature allows parents to monitor their kids' activities on Facebook and the Russian social site VK. To set it up, you send your child a link through the app that they then need to install in Facebook or VK. This feature works better than the comparable social monitoring available on Norton, but ultimately, given the limited number of services covered, it seems like a losing battle.

Kaspersky Safe Kids review: Bottom line

While it isn't the best option in terms of features, I think Kaspersky Safe Kids covers what most people would consider to be must-have features at an amazing price of just $14.99 a year.

Most of my complaints with the app are directed at the web portal. So, if you're likely to set most of these things once and then just track your child's activity from there, I definitely think you can look past the initial headaches and enjoy the savings Kaspersky offers over other, pricier options.

Image credit: Tom's Guide
Of all of the different versions of the Galaxy S10 that were anticipating Samsung to introduce at its Feb. 20 Unpacked event, the model wed seen the least pre-release peeks of is the expected S10+ Limited Edition.

But with a new apparent leak of the luxury smartphone now surfacing  giving us out first look at its fancy ceramic back  the whole scope of S10 devices is finally coming into focus.

(Image credit: Ishan Agarwal/MySmartPrice)

Twitter leaker Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) on Thursday (Feb. 14) posted what he claims are two digital renders of the upcoming S10+, one in Prism White and one in Luxurious Ceramic White. The side-by-side of the two 6.4-inch phones shows the Prisms chameleon-esc luminosity against the flat and almost brownish Ceramic.

The specs Agarwal lists for the latter match up with the rumored S10+ Limited Edition model, which will likely run on 12GB of RAM, offer a wild 1TB of storage space and cost somewhere around $1,500.

Samsungs upcoming Galaxy S10 phones will all be paced by Qualcomms new Snapdragon 855 processor and come in various screen sizes that all feature in-display, hole-punch selfie cameras. The entry-level S10E (or S10 Lite) wont have the same edge-to-edge, bezel-less design that the other S10 phones will. And the same goes for the premium S10 and S10+ three-lens rear camera and in-display fingerprint reader features.

Though Agarwal has made headlines in the past for offering leaks ahead of Opp, OnePlus and Google Pixel releases, his sources are not as tried and tested as some Twitter leakers. So it wouldnt be a bad idea to feast your eyes on these latest S10+ images with a healthy amount skepticism.

There has been buzz about Samsung making a 5G version of the S10+  or a 5G version of the S10+ Limited Edition. And though that might not come with Samsungs initial introduction of its line of S10 phones, a 5G unveiling shortly after at this months Mobile World Congress, where many companies will be touting its next-gen wireless handsets, isnt out of the question.

Still, we should get most of out Samsung Galaxy S10 news on Feb. 20 at Samsungs San Francisco event. You should at least be able to figure out which color you want to get then.
[February 15, 2019] NSAIDs Overtake Opioids As The Top Workers' Comp Drug Group; Dermatologicals Are Most Costly

A new California Workers' Compensation Institute (CWCI) study finds that non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) have supplanted opioids as the most common therapeutic drug group prescribed to injured workers in California, while payment data show that both dermatological medications and anticonvulsants now rank ahead of opioids in terms of total reimbursements. Using data from 5.75 million prescriptions dispensed to California injured workers from 2009 to June 2018, CWCI analysts examined changes in the prescription and payment distributions among therapeutic drug groups, identified trends in the use of generics, and determined average amounts paid for drugs within each drug group over the past decade. The results show that efforts to curb inappropriate use of opioids - tighter scrutiny via utilization review and independent medical review; restrictions by payers, medical provider networks, pharmacy benefit managers and in the Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule (MTUS) formulary; and growing awareness of opioid risks - are continuing to have an effect, as opioids fell to 18.0% of the prescriptions filled in the first half of 2018, down from 20.2% in 2017, and down from 30.5% a decade ago. Conversely, NSAIDs, often prescribed as non-opioid alternatives to treat pain, surpassed opioids as the top drug group in California workers' compensation in 2016, and since then, their share of the prescriptions has continued to grow, climbing to a record 31.7% of the drugs dispensed to injured workers in the first half of 2018. Anticonvulsants' share of the prescriptions also has increased, more than doubling from 4.1% in 2009 to 9.7% in the first half of 2018, likely due to their growing use as a non-opioid alternative to treat neuropathic pain. The 2018 data show antconvulsants were the third most prescribed drug group, moving ahead of muscle relaxants, which under the MTUS formulary that took effect on January 1, 2018, are not exempt from utilization review, with the exception of limited special fill or perioperative allowances that restrict the quantity of the drug that can be dispensed.



Aside from the changing mix of drugs used to treat injured workers, CWCI's study also found shifts in the distribution of prescription payments. A decade ago, dermatological products accounted for 10.1% of the total drug spend in California workers' compensation, and were the fourth most costly drug group behind opioids, NSAIDs, and ulcer drugs. In the first half of 2018, however, that proportion was up to 17.6%, making dermatologicals the top drug group in terms of total payments. Until a few years ago, growth in dermatological payments was largely driven by high-cost "custom" pharmacy compounded drugs, but with legislative changes that took effect in 2012 (AB 378), high-profile indictments involving compounded drug kickbacks, and more public awareness, custom compounds have become less prevalent, though the study notes two other factors now underlie the continued growth in dermatologlical payments: the increased prevalence of high-cost, mass-produced private label topicals containing one or more active ingredients ( e.g., capsaicin, lidocaine, menthol, or methyl salicylate) commonly found in over-the-counter topical analgesics, which are marketed to physicians for in-office or mail order dispensing; and

capsaicin, lidocaine, menthol, or methyl salicylate) commonly found in over-the-counter topical analgesics, which are marketed to physicians for in-office or mail order dispensing; and increased payments for topicals containing a prescription NSAID (e.g., diclofenac) which are available in a number of formulations and strengths, some of which are exempt from utilization review under the formulary. In addition to the increasing share of the workers' compensation prescription dollars going toward dermatologicals, the study also found that anticonvulsants' share of the drug spend tripled from 4.8% in 2009 to 15.2% in the first half of 2018, so anticonvulsants now rank ahead of opioids as the second most costly drug group. The data show that most of the growth in anticonvulsant's share of the payments occurred over the past four years, coinciding with the decline in opioid use, suggesting the use of certain anticonvulsants in place of opioids. Notably, anticonvulsant prescriptions used in California workers' comp are heavily concentrated in just two drugs, one of which is only available as a brand drug, and that drug accounted for nearly three quarters of the anticonvulsant dollars paid in the first half of 2018.

CWCI has published its study in a Research Update report, "California Workers' Comp Prescription Drug Utilization and Payment Distributions, 2009-2018: Part 1." The free report can be downloaded from the Research section at www.cwci.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190215005531/en/

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[February 15, 2019] Securian Financial Posts Solid 2018

At its annual all-company meeting, Securian Financial announced solid preliminary 2018 financial results, including year-over-year increases in total sales, top-line revenue and earnings. "In 2018, Securian Financial achieved strong financial performance while significantly advancing our strategic priorities and increasing our community commitment," said Chris Hilger, Securian Financial's chairman, president and CEO. "Most importantly, we once again fulfilled our purpose to help our customers protect their loved ones and prepare for the future by paying $5.7 billion in statutory benefits." Performance on key metrics Insurance sales increased 5 percent to $1.3 billion

Annuity sales were consistent with 2017 at $2.6 billion

Top-line revenue 1 increased 7 percent to $5.4 billion

increased 7 percent to $5.4 billion Operating earnings increased 9 percent to $335 million due to strong continued business growth and tax reform

Insurance in force-the financial protection Securian Financial provides to its customers-increased 2 percent to more than $1.2 trillion

Assets under management held steady at $78.5 billion

Capital remained at a level expected to be considered "AAA" by rating agencies Enterprise highlights Rating agency Standard & Poor's upgraded Securian Financial's rating from A+ (Strong) to AA- (Very Strong), citing the company's business diversification, solid competitive positions in the group life and indexed universal life insurance markets, strong capitalization, customer retention and consistent GAAP operating performance. The other three major rating agencies all affirmed Securian Financial's ratings in 2018. 2

The company launched a new Securian Financial brand identity and first-ever national television advertising campaign to raise awareness and familiarity with customers and distributors, attract and etain talent, and support future growth aspirations.

All insurance and annuity business lines achieved retention results of 92 percent or better, reflecting the value the company delivers.



Community giving Securian Financial's contributions to the community from the Securian Financial Foundation, in-kind donations, employee volunteerism and other cash gifts totaled $6.1 million in 2018-a 22 percent increase over 2017 and another big step forward in the company's five-year goal of doubling its community giving to $9.4 million by 2021.

Profit sharing for employees For the 45th consecutive year, Securian Financial will make a profit sharing contribution to eligible employees' retirement accounts. The company's contribution for its 2018 results will be 6.5 percent of annual salary. All eligible employees receive a contribution, regardless of whether or how much they contribute to their retirement plans themselves. Securian Financial also maintains a fully-funded, 100 percent employer-paid pension plan, with employees vested in the pension after five years of service. The company retained 94 percent of its employees in 2018. Per its usual annual cycle, Securian Financial expects to release its 2018 Annual Report, with audited GAAP financial information, in late April. About Securian Financial At Securian Financial, we're here for family. And we're here because of it. We're guided by our purpose: helping customers build secure tomorrows. Since 1880, we've been building a uniquely diversified company that has outlasted economic ups and downs while staying true to our customers. We're committed to the markets we serve, providing insurance, investment and retirement solutions that give families the confidence to focus on what's truly valuable: banking memories with those who matter most. 1. Top-line revenue is Securian Financial's primary management metric for revenue and excludes certain non-recurring revenue. 2. Standard & Poor's rating (fifth highest of 23 ratings). All ratings information as of March 7, 2018. These ratings are assigned to the following Securian Financial Group member companies: Minnesota Life Insurance Company and Securian Life Insurance Company. To learn more about Securian Financial's strength and ratings, visit securian.com/ratings. Securian Financial is the marketing name for Securian Financial Group, Inc. and its affiliates. Insurance products are issued by its affiliated insurance companies, including Minnesota Life Insurance Company and Securian Life Insurance Company, a New York authorized insurer. Minnesota Life is not an authorized New York insurer and does not do insurance business in New York. Both companies are headquartered in St. Paul, MN. Securities and investment advisory services offered through Securian Financial Services, Inc., registered investment advisor, member FINRA/SIPC. DOFU 2-2019

744786 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190215005374/en/

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[February 15, 2019] Ross University School of Medicine & Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Partner to Increase Physician Diversity in the U.S.

African Americans make up only six percent1 of U.S. physicians. With the goal of driving diversity among U.S. physicians, today Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) and Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) announced a new agreement to help more African Americans attend medical school. FAMU and RUSM are establishing an educational pathway program, making it easier for FAMU graduate school students to study medicine at RUSM. Qualified FAMU students who earn full acceptance into the medical school will receive a scholarship covering full tuition for the first semester. FAMU students will spend the first two years of medical school at the RUSM campus in Barbados. "This is an exciting opportunity to partner with the Ross University School of Medicine," said FAMU President Larry Robinson, Ph.D. He added, "For 131 years, FAMU has produced outstanding graduates who are making an impact on society. The University is already noted for being a leading institution of origin for African Americans pursuing degrees in the natural sciences. This partnership will allow us to play an even greater role in the production and development of African-American physicians who will positively change the healthcare outcomes for people from all aspects of society." "African-American doctors are woefully underrepresented in the physician workforce, leading fewer African Americans to see a doctor," said RUSM Dean and Chancellor, William F. Owen, Jr., M.D., FACP. "This has significant negative healthcare outcomes in communities already prone to high rates of chronic diseases. Working with FAMU and other HBCUs, using novel student engagements, validated support programs and senior-level commitments to success, we're working to address that long overdue challenge to increase the diversity of our nation's physicians." RUSM recently announced a similar agreement with Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science. And as part of its continued commitment to addressing diversity in medicine, RUSM's parent company, Adtalem Global Education (NYSE: ATGE), signed on to the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Partnership Challenge created by the Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus, pledging to invest in creating stategic collaborations with HBCUs and working to increase diversity in key workforce sectors.



Having recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, RUSM's 14,000-plus diverse alumni practice medicine throughout North America and across all specialties, including a high percentage of graduates who enter the in-demand field of primary care. RUSM is part of Adtalem Global Education's medical and healthcare education vertical, which also includes American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in Sint Maarten, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Kitts, and Chamberlain University, one of the largest providers of nursing education in the United States. About FAMU

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, founded on October 3, 1887, began classes with 15 students and two instructors. Today, FAMU is one of 12 institutions in Florida's State University System and has nearly 10,000 students. FAMU offers 54 bachelor's degrees, 29 master's degrees, 12 doctoral degrees and three professional degrees. The three professional degrees include the J.D., Pharm.D., and the Doctor of Physical Therapy. The 12 doctoral degree programs include 11 doctoral degrees and one Doctor of Public Health. The 11 doctoral programs are: biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, physics, educational leadership, environmental science and entomology. For more information, visit FAMU.edu. About Ross University School of Medicine Ross University School of Medicine is an institution of Adtalem Global Education (NYSE: ATGE), a global education provider headquartered in the United States. The organization's purpose is to empower students to achieve their goals, find success and make inspiring contributions to our global community. Founded in 1978, RUSM has more than 14,000 alumni and is committed to educating a diverse group of skilled physicians. RUSM is accredited by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions (CAAM-HP, www.caam-hp.org). For more information, please visit: www.medical.rossu.edu. About Adtalem Global Education The purpose of Adtalem Global Education is to empower students to achieve their goals, find success, and make inspiring contributions to our global community. Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE: ATGE; member S&P MidCap 400 Index) is a leading global education provider and the parent organization of Adtalem Educacional do Brasil (IBMEC, Damasio and Wyden institutions) American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, Becker Professional Education, Chamberlain University, EduPristine, Ross University School of Medicine and Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. For more information, please visit adtalem.com 1 U.S. Census, 2016 American Community Survey, PUMS 1-year estimate View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190215005031/en/

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[February 15, 2019] Bid4Assets to Host First-Ever Online Auction for Tax-Defaulted Properties for Sacramento County

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time ever, online auction site Bid4Assets will host a tax-defaulted properties sale on behalf of the Sacramento County Tax Collector's Office. By moving online, the county is exposing this sale to a wider range of buyers in order to return more distressed properties to the tax rolls. Funds generated from the sale support essential county services, which can face shortfalls when taxes go unpaid. "Transitioning our tax sale process online is a natural step for Sacramento County," said Carlos Valencia, Sacramento County assistant tax collector. "Exposing tax-defaulted properties to a nationwide database of bidders gives the county a significantly better chance of returning them to productive use. Many other California counties have found success with Bid4Assets, so their platform seems like the ideal way to achieve this." Bidding opens online on Feb. 25 at 10 a.m. PT with 67 parcels available. Auctions will close at staggering times on Feb. 27 beginning at 3 p.m. PT. "Bid4Assets has a long history of streamlining tax sales in California and we are thrilled to be doing the same for Sacramento County," said Jesse Loomis, CEO of Bid4Assets. "Our platform brings a tremendous number of bidders from across the country to a goup of properties that were previously only available at a live auction. Online sales are cheaper and easier, return more properties to the tax rolls and generally bring higher prices. The proceeds support essential county services."



Bidders must register a free Bid4Assets account and fund a $5,035 deposit before they are able to participate in the sale and deposits are due by Feb.20. View the auction, including a list of the properties, at bid4assets.com/sacramento. About Bid4Assets

Bid4Assets (http://www.bid4assets.com) is an online auction site based in Silver Spring, Maryland. The privately held company auctions distressed real estate for the federal government, county tax-collectors, financial institutions and real estate funds. Bid4Assets is particularly active with county governments in California, where it has conducted tax-defaulted property sales for the counties of Monterey, Humboldt, Yolo, Napa, Riverside, San Francisco, Imperial, San Diego, Siskiyou, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, Santa Cruz and Los Angeles, to name a few. Since its inception in 1999, the company has sold more than 100,000 properties nationwide and grossed over a billion dollars in sales. Media Contact: Sean McLaughlin

Bid4Assets Marketing Manager

301-562-3427

sean@bid4assets.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bid4assets-to-host-first-ever-online-auction-for-tax-defaulted-properties-for-sacramento-county-300796452.html SOURCE Bid4Assets Inc.

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Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Announces Investigation on Behalf of CPI Aerostructures, Inc. Investors

Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces an investigation on behalf of CPI Aerostructures, Inc. investors ("CPI" or the "Company") (NYSE American: CVU) 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 February 8, 2019, CPI announced that its previously issued financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 should no longer be relied upon due to an error related to the Company's billing process which caused an overstatement of revenue.

On this news, CPI's share price fell 8.5% to close at $6.34 per share on February 8, 2019, thereby injuring investors.

If you purchased CPI stock, 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, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9244, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number, and the 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/20190215005037/en/
[February 15, 2019]

Florida Students to Speak with NASA Astronaut Aboard International Space Station

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- University and high school students from Florida will have an opportunity to talk with a NASA astronaut on the International Space Station next week. The Earth-to-space call will air on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Anne McClain will answer questions from students at Florida Atlantic University and the Palm Beach County, Broward County, and Miami Dade school districts. The even will take place at 1:25 p.m. EST Friday, Feb. 19, at the Engineering East building of Florida Atlantic University's Boca Raton campus, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton. Media interested in covering should contact Lisa Metcalf at lmetcalf@fau.edu or 561-297-3022.







Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning, performance and interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics.) Astronauts living in space on the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through the Space Network's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) .

Follow the astronauts on social media at:

https://www.twitter.com/NASA_astronauts

See videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the International Space Station at:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/florida-students-to-speak-with-nasa-astronaut-aboard-international-space-station-300796622.html

SOURCE NASA
[February 15, 2019] Kaplan Learning Institute to Enter into Unique Collaboration with Metis in the Acceleration of Technical Skills for Data Scientists

Kaplan Learning Institute (KLI), one of Singapore's leading corporate training providers, and Metis, a leading provider of data science skills training for individuals and businesses, today officially announced the launch of the Metis Data Science Bootcamp @ Kaplan. The collaboration sees KLI bringing a local perspective to Metis' highly successful bootcamp that runs in the United States (US). Launched by Kaplan Inc. in the US, in 2014, Metis is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET), an agency recognised by the US Department of Education. To be accredited by ACCET, high levels of standards are set, which include demanding review and approval of curriculum, instructional personnel, instructional delivery, and admissions and student services. All Metis bootcamps are designed and taught by data science practitioners. Its alumni in the US have gone on to work at top companies including IBM, Spotify, Facebook (News - Alert) , Deloitte, Apple, and many more. The Metis Data Science Bootcamp @ Kaplan, in Singapore, will allow participants to equip themselves with tech skills in data science tools such as the Python coding environment, Machine Learning, interactive data visualisation and other modern big data tools and architecture. Conducted over a period of 12 weeks, participants in the bootcamp will complete five projects that can be included in their professional portfolio to demonstrate their ability to design, implement and communicate the results of data science projects for business usage, which is a highly-sought after skillset in data science professionals. Upon successful completion of the bootcamp, graduates will receive a Metis Certificate of Completion and transcript, recognised on an equal merit to those received by the bootcamp participants in the US. Supported by both the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) Tech Skills Accelerator (TeSA) Tech Immersion and Placement Programme (TIPP)1, and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), the Metis Data Science Bootcamp @ Kaplan will aid in the development of a digital and connected society. One of the strategies outlined by Singapore's Infocomm Media Industry Transformation Map is the strengthening of the nation's building capabilities in frontier technologies such as Data Analytics. In an era where data analytics can help companies make informed decisions for revenue and growth, proficiency in data analytics is a skill that is highly sought after not only by those within the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, but even across various industry sectors such as finance, retail and healthcare. According to a report by LinkedIn, the data scientist profession is the top emerging job in Singapore. Trainees eligible for the Metis Data Science Bootcamp @ Kaplan, may enjoy course fee support through TeSA TIPP. Participants may also receive support for job placement in tech-related roles from e2i, one of the placement partners for the bootcamp.



Mr Jason Moss, President and Founder of Metis, says, "We couldn't be more excited to bring our bootcamp to Singapore, where the government has made such strong commitments to skilling up its workforce - specifically in training its citizens in AI. Given its vibrant tech scene and multinational business environment, Singapore has become a global hub for tech-savvy talent. We look forward to playing a role in furthering this by combining Metis' track record of excellence in the US with KLI's leadership in Singapore to deliver the region's most efficient, effective path to levelling up data science skills." Associate Professor Rhys Johnson, Chief Operating Officer & Provost of Kaplan Singapore states, "We are delighted to collaborate with Metis from US to bring its esteemed Data Science Bootcamp to Singapore. We believe that the collective experience and close collaboration between the two divisions under Kaplan Inc. will benefit participants and help develop data science capabilities and talents in Singapore. With available support from IMDA and e2i, the bootcamp is made more accessible for Singaporeans aspiring to enhance their technical skills in the field of Data Science."

"There remains a strong demand for ICT skills and talent, of which expertise in data analytics will play a pivotal role in the digital transformation of industries and businesses," said Mr Howie Lau, Chief Industry Development Officer, IMDA. "The collaboration between Kaplan Learning Institute and Metis to offer immersive training and job placement support will be beneficial for individuals who are seeking a rewarding career in the field of data science. Our local professionals can leverage on TeSA to upskill or reskill, thereby seizing opportunities and reaping rewards in the digital economy." "In our move toward the digital economy, acquiring relevant skills in artificial intelligence and data analytics are vital as these will boost our workers' competencies - including the ability to optimise the collection and use of data for customer profiling and intelligence for product enhancement, research and development, and strategic planning. Together with Kaplan Learning Institute and Infocomm Media Development Authority, e2i will outreach to our network of partners, and encourage Singaporeans to level up their digital readiness with the Metis Data Science Bootcamp," said Mr Gilbert Tan, CEO of e2i. About Metis Metis accelerates data science learning for individuals, companies, and institutions by providing corporate training and accredited, immersive bootcamps and preparatory courses. A d/b/a of Kaplan, Metis is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education & Training (ACCET). Kaplan, Inc. is a leading global provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools, and businesses. For more information, please visit http://www.thisismetis.com/. About Kaplan Learning Institute Kaplan Learning Institute, one of the three entities of Kaplan in Singapore, has established itself as one of the leading corporate training and financial literacy providers. Kaplan Learning Institute offers professional certifications and training courses for skills development, providing opportunities for individuals to always stay relevant. These certifications and courses are segmented across 2 departments - Kaplan Financial and Kaplan Professional. They are offered through industry renowned partners such as Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), and Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ), to name a few. To date, Kaplan Learning Institute has awarded over 225,000 professional certificates. With a focus on training excellence, Kaplan Learning Institute has also been accorded a number of honours by its partners, demonstrating its commitment to achieve excellent standards of learning facilities and provision of outstanding student support. Kaplan Learning Institute equips students with the skills and confidence they need to shine in today's workforce, and be ready for tomorrow's challenges. For more information, please visit: http://www.kaplan.com.sg/kli/ About TechSkills Accelerator An initiative of SkillsFuture, TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) aims to build and develop a skilled Information and Communications Technology (ICT) workforce for Singapore's digital economy. TeSA is driven by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and in collaboration with the industry, SkillsFuture Singapore, Workforce Singapore and the National Trades Union Congress. IMDA takes an integrated approach to ICT skills acquisition and practitioner training, enabling professionals to acquire the relevant in-demand skills. To find out more about TeSA and TIPP, please visit www.imtalent.sg/tesa About e2i e2i is the empowering network for individuals and companies seeking skills and solutions for growth. Since 2008, e2i has assisted more than 600,000 individuals through our career guidance, professional development, and job matching services. With an extensive network of partners, e2i offers hiring, training and productivity solutions to businesses. We are an initiative of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) to support nation-wide manpower and skills upgrading initiatives. For more information, please visit www.e2i.com.sg. 1The Tech Immersion and Placement Programme (TIPP) aims to convert non-ICT professionals into industry-ready ICT professionals. They will be placed into tech job roles, after undergoing an immersive training course or mentorship and coaching programme delivered by industry practitioners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190215005316/en/

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[February 15, 2019] Signicast Expands Precision Casting Capabilities into Europe with Acquisition of CIREX

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In a move that will expand the precision casting leader's footprint outside the US, Signicast, a Form Technologies company, has announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire CIREX, a European investment casting specialist based in the Netherlands, from Amsterdam based investment companies Convent and Nedvest. At a time when industry-leading manufacturing customers are demanding precision components to higher quality standards and tighter timeframes, the CIREX acquisition will enable Signicast to better serve its growing international customer base with the highest quality precision cast components in the market. In addition to Signicast's existing three facilities in the US, the combined operation will now have plants in the Netherlands, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Both companies have reputations for their customer focus and in-house expertise, and CIREX capabilities will add to Signicast's skill in automating production to deliver finished high-precision components in a fraction of the time of traditional investment casting methods. Welcoming the acquisition, Clayton Tychkowsky, CEO, Signicast said, "Consistent wth the vision when Signicast was acquired by Form Technologies, the addition of CIREX globalizes the footprint outside the United States into European markets, expanding our services into that region. CIREX is the second acquisition to join the Signicast business following the acquisition of Consolidated Casting Corporation in 2018. It provides us the ability to service global customers seeking a Signicast precision engineered solution outside of North America. This acquisition is a transformational moment for Signicast, representing our first step toward taking our brand global and adding capacity for both existing and new markets. We are excited to have the CIREX employees join our division."



"The acquisition brings CIREX within the Form Technologies family of precision engineering businesses and will give existing CIREX customers access to the full range of capabilities offered by Signicast, Dynacast, and OptiMIM. The new combined operation will also benefit from the Form Operating System, a platform for ensuring customers get the highest precision components, market-leading advice and expertise, and rock-solid business stability," said Jeroen Spoelder, Managing Director, CIREX. Tim Krete, Investment Manager Nedvest said, "We are pleased to have found a new owner for CIREX in such an exceptionally well-run company such as Signicast. It will provide exciting opportunities for management and the employees of CIREX, with whom we have had the pleasure to work with over these past years, to further expand the business in Europe."

William Blair acted as the sole financial advisor to the sellers. In addition, Corp Lawyers acted as legal advisors and Deloitte provided the vendor financial due diligence. About Signicast

Creating the ultimate in precision cast components begins long before any metal is cast. It starts with people. Engineers who can pinpoint components ideally suited to the process. Who use value engineering to minimize costly secondary operations, improving part performance. Then, it's about working directly with customers to ensure their part designs are optimized for manufacturabilityso they get both maximum performance and the best value. Finally, it's about using advanced automation to radically accelerate the production processfrom in-house rapid prototyping through to delivering finished flawless components faster than traditional methods. The result? Our customers get the precision cast components they need, on time and to the very highest quality. About Form Technologies, Inc.

In today's cutthroat global markets, manufacturers must deliver more innovative products, faster than ever before. They must be able to out-think, out-pace, and out-perform competitors if they are to survive and thrive. And there is no room for failure. Form Technologies and its portfolio of companies offer a direct route to sustained competitive advantage. Designing and delivering the highest quality precision components, we give our customers freedom to create the products their customers' value most. We support them with unparalleled expertise from the most knowledgeable professionals in the industry. And, with 29 manufacturing facilities in 19 countries, we have the scale and capacity to deliver virtually any volume, anywhere around the globe. Media Contact: Susan Knowlson, +1-704-927-2789 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/821530/Signicast___CIREX.jpg







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[February 15, 2019] Investment Funds Affiliated with Apollo Global Management Complete Acquisition of Aspen

Affiliates of certain investment funds (the "Apollo Funds") managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, "Apollo") (NYSE: APO), a leading global alternative investment manager, and Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited ("Aspen") (NYSE: AHL), announced today that the Apollo Funds have completed the previously announced acquisition of Aspen. The transaction, which was first announced on August 28, 2018, closed following receipt of regulatory approvals and the approval of Aspen's shareholders. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190215005253/en/ Under the terms of the previously announced agreement and plan of merger, the Apollo Funds have acquired all of the outstanding ordinary shares of Aspen for $42.75 per share in cash, representing an equity value of approximately $2.6 billion. Aspen is now wholly owned by the Apollo Funds, and Aspen's ordinary shares have ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") and the Bermuda Stock Exchange with effect from February 15, 2019. Aspen's 5.95% Fixed-to-Floating Rate Perpetual Non-Cumulative Preference Shares and 5.625% Perpetual Non-Cumulative Preference Shares will remain issued and outstanding and listed on the NYSE. Glyn Jones has stepped down from his position as Chairman of Aspen's Board and Chris O'Kane has stepped down as Group Chief Executive Officer and as a Director with immediate effect. Mark Cloutier has been appointed as Executive Chairman of Aspen's Board and Group Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. In addition to Glyn Jones and Chris O'Kane, Albert Beer, Matthew Botein, Gary Gregg, Heidi Hutter, Karl Mayr, Bret Pearlman and Ron Pressman have also ceased to be directors on the Aspen Board with immediate effect. John Cavoores and Gordon Ireland will remain as Directors on the Aspen Board and will be joined by Josh Black, Alex Humphreys, Gernot Lohr, Gary Parr and Michael Saffer, each of whom have been appointed to the Aspen Board (in addition to Mark Cloutier) with immediate effect. Alex Humphreys, Partner at Apollo, commented: "We are excited for our funds to be acquiring Aspen as it embarks on the next chapter of its development. We are delighted to be working with Mark again following our successful investment together in Brit Insurance. Mark has a long and successful track-record in the insurance sector and we believe he is ideally placed to lead Aspen through a period of transition to substantially improved profitability. We look forward to working with him and Aspen's talented management team to drive value creation over the coming years." Chris O'Kane said: "Seventeen years ago, with 38 colleagues, $600 million of assets and a vision, we formed Aspen. As a result of hard work, determination and an unwavering dedication to our clients, Aspen is now a force in the reinsurance and insurance markets with over $12 billion of assets and around 1,150 employees. I am extremely proud of our accomplishments and I cherish the relationships and friendships, both within Aspen and in the broader market, which we formed along the way.I would like to thank all my colleagues at Aspen as well as our clients and brokers for all their considerable support over the years and it delights me to see Aspen poised to go from strength to strength under the new leadership of Mark Cloutier. I wish Mark and Aspen every success for the future."



Mark Cloutier added: "I am honored to be appointed as the next CEO of Aspen. I truly believe that the company benefits from strong underwriting talent and specialized expertise, which makes it ideally positioned to deliver innovative solutions to the increasingly complex risks faced by its customers. I am very excited about what Aspen can achieve in the coming years. I would like to thank Chris for his key role and support over the last few months and for making the transition from public to private so seamless. He has built an impressive franchise over the past 17 years and we wish him well in his future endeavors." Apollo was advised by Willis Towers Watson and Libero Ventures and Sidley Austin LLP served as its legal counsel on this transaction. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as financial advisors to Aspen and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP served as its legal counsel on this transaction.

- ENDS - NOTES TO EDITORS: About Apollo Apollo is a leading global alternative investment manager with offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, Bethesda, London, Frankfurt, Madrid, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. Apollo had assets under management of approximately $280 billion as of December 31, 2018 in private equity, credit and real assets funds invested across a core group of nine industries where Apollo has considerable knowledge and resources. For more information about Apollo, please visit www.apollo.com. About Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited Aspen provides reinsurance and insurance coverage to clients in various domestic and global markets through wholly-owned subsidiaries and offices in Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. For the year ended December 31, 2018, Aspen reported $12.5 billion in total assets, $7.1 billion in gross reserves, $2.7 billion in total shareholders' equity and $3.4 billion in gross written premiums. Aspen's operating subsidiaries have been assigned a rating of "A" by Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC ("S&P"), an "A" ("Excellent") by A.M. Best Company Inc. ("A.M. Best") and an "A2" by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. ("Moody's"). For more information about Aspen, please visit www.aspen.co. About Mark Cloutier Mark Cloutier has over 35 years of experience working in the international insurance and reinsurance sector in multiple jurisdictions and most recently, he served as Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Brit Group. Prior to this, he held a number of CEO and senior executive positions, including CEO of the Alea Group, CEO of Overseas Partners Re and President of E.W. Blanch Insurance Services Inc. He has been a member of the Franchise Board and Audit committee of the Society of Lloyd's since February 2015 and was appointed to the Nominations and Governance Committee in February 2017. During his career, Mark has worked with a variety of private equity investors including Apollo Management International LP, CVC Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Fortress. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This communication and other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of Aspen contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In particular, statements using words such as "may," "seek," "will," "likely," "assume," "estimate," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "believe," "do not believe," "aim," "predict," "plan," "project," "continue," "potential," "guidance," "objective," "outlook," "trends," "future," "could," "would," "should," "target," "on track" or their negatives or variations, and similar terminology and words of similar import, generally involve future or forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect Aspen's current views, plans or expectations with respect to future events and financial performance. They are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and other risks, uncertainties and contingencies. The inclusion of forward-looking statements in this or any other communication should not be considered as a representation by Aspen or any other person that current plans or expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and Aspen undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. There are or will be important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements, including but not limited factors affecting future results disclosed in Aspen's filings with the SEC (News - Alert) , including but not limited to those discussed under Item 1A, "Risk Factors", in Aspen's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190215005253/en/

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[February 15, 2019] The IR "Light Wave Stripper" Goes Beyond Heat for Multiple Uses

BRADLEY, Ill., Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A lot of interest is being generated by a new product called the Light Wave Stripper which was one of the products featured in "Start Up Alley" at the Greenbuild Chicago Conference held at McCormick Place in Chicago last November. This paint stripping device utilizes advanced infrared technology which passes through the old paint coatings and lifts it off from underneath. Heat guns and the few other DIY infrared units on the market rely on heat to melt the binders to strip paint, with mixed results. The Light Wave Stripper cleanly lifts and removes multiple layers of paint on wood in 60 seconds without the use of any chemicals. A simple scraping action is all that is needed. However, further testing is showing that other uses such as removal of old aggressive adhesive tape, removal of difficult industrial paint on steel and aluminum, and removal of paint on some types of plaster can also be achieved. The Light Wave Stripper was designed for the professional who does volume paint stripping on a regular basis. It can be used indoors or outdoors for paint stripping and other tasks. It works so quickly, efficiently, and easily, that a whole new rhythm of paint removal has to be developed by the end user. Instead of a project taking 2 days, it can take one to two hours depending on its intricacy. It is the profitable process of saving money by achieving difficult work easily, in a short amount of the time, and leaving the wood substrate perfectly clean and unaltered. Chemical use can harm the wood and change the pH which requires that the wood then be neutralized. Anyone who has ever stripped anything knows how difficult and tedious paint stripping can be. Many of the chemicals used in paint stripping are toxic and not safe for humans to breathe or touch. One of the main chemicals in chemical paint strippers is methylene chloride, is known to be hazardous and has been documented to have caused several fatalities. Methylene chloride has recently been banned by several big boxstores such as Lowes, Sherwin Williams, and Home Depot because of this. The Light Wave Stripper can provide an answer for end users, including DYI's through rental of this tool. Several stores have expressed interest in the Light Wave Stripper being provided as a rental tool to DYI's.



The removal of old tape on boats, cars, and airplanes can be a tough job because of the aggressive adhesives that are used to adhere them. The Light Wave Stripper removes these tapes as easily as it does multiple layers of paint in 60 seconds. The military is currently reviewing and testing this method for tape removal off of the bottom of airplanes. Some paints are extremely difficult to remove due to their chemical makeup. The deck paint used on cargo planes and ships is one of example. Typically, this paint is applied to steel decking. The Light Wave Stripper can easily remove this paint off of steel substrates.

"The Light Wave Stripper works differently than infrared devices that are available to the general public", says Gail Wallace, President of Light Wave Stripping. "It is a new advanced form of IR that is super charged." It is a great alternative to using chemicals for stripping. Chemical use adds to the burden of Global Climate Change. Data from the EPA shows in 2015, 3.4 million pounds of methylene chloride went into the environment. In the path of making the environment safer, cleaner, and more sustainable, the Light Wave Stripper continues to surprise its developers with the many potential ways it can to help solve Global Climate Change, a major goal of the company. For more information, please visit our website http://www.lightwavestripping.com or call 815-937-0556. About Light Wave Stripping Inc.

Light Wave Stripping is a 2 year old company focused on the development and commercialization of the Light Wave Stripper. The Light Wave Stripper has a patent pending status. About Gail Wallace

Gail Wallace is the Founder and President of both Light Wave Stripping Inc. and Restoration Works Inc. She has a lifetime interest in preserving historic buildings, which all have original forest wood features. Wallace is a leader in the movement to save this now rare wood and restore it using Green techniques and technologies. She invented and developed the Light Wave Stripper as a method of sensitively removing old paint off of wood. About Restoration Works Inc.

Gail Wallace is founder and President of Restoration Works Inc., a 35 year old company that has focused on the historic restoration of windows and doors. They have restored windows and doors on many high profile buildings such as the Rookery, Orchestra Hall, and the Old Water Tower in Chicago; Silliman College and The Yale Art Gallery at Yale University; Building #3 at the National Institutes of Health; and many other projects in the Washington DC area. Media Contact:

Gail Wallace

Light Wave Stripping Inc.

815-937-0556

209472@email4pr.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-ir-light-wave-stripper-goes-beyond-heat-for-multiple-uses-300796358.html SOURCE LightWave Stripping, Inc.

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[February 15, 2019] Cobalt 27 to Webcast Live at VirtualInvestorConferences.com February 20th 2019



TSX Venture: KBLT

OTCQX: CBLLF

FRA: 27O Cobalt 27 invites individual and institutional investors, as well as advisors and analysts, to attend real-time, interactive presentation on VirtualInvestorConferences.com TORONTO, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Cobalt 27 Capital Corp. ("Cobalt 27" or the "Company") (TSXV: KBLT)(OTCQX: CBLLF)(FRA: 27O), a battery metals streaming and royalty company offering direct exposure to cobalt, nickel and lithium, metals integral to electric vehicles and energy storage systems, today announced that Justin Cochrane, President and COO, will present live at VirtualInvestorConferences.com on Wednesday, February 20th 2019. DATE: Wednesday, February 20th

TIME: 9:15 - 9:45 am ET

LINK: https://tinyurl.com/0220prepr This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the Company questions in real-time - both in the presentation hall as well as the organization's "virtual trade booth". If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event. It is recommended that investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates.>



www.VirtualInvestorConferences.com. Recent Company Highlights

Leading battery metals investment vehicle - From its IPO in June 2017 on the TSX Venture Exchange, to June 2018 , Cobalt 27 raised approximately CAD$800 million in equity financing through four transactions, more than any Canadian mining peer over that twelve-month period. The Company also secured a US$200 million revolving credit facility which remains undrawn.





- From its IPO in on the TSX Venture Exchange, to , Cobalt 27 raised approximately in equity financing through four transactions, more than any Canadian mining peer over that twelve-month period. The Company also secured a revolving credit facility which remains undrawn. Electric Vehicles driving favorable supply and demand fundamentals - Cobalt 27 believes the acceleration of global demand for electric vehicles (EVs), driven by strong improvements to battery technology and increased engagement from traditional automotive manufacturers, combined with widespread rollout of energy storage systems (ESS), will drive positive supply and demand fundamentals over the next 10-15 years, and provide significant value appreciation through the Company's acquisition of cobalt, nickel and lithium-focused assets.





- Cobalt 27 believes the acceleration of global demand for electric vehicles (EVs), driven by strong improvements to battery technology and increased engagement from traditional automotive manufacturers, combined with widespread rollout of energy storage systems (ESS), will drive positive supply and demand fundamentals over the next 10-15 years, and provide significant value appreciation through the Company's acquisition of cobalt, nickel and lithium-focused assets. Building a battery metals supply chain - Cobalt 27 holds over 2,900 tonnes of physical cobalt, the world's largest private stockpile; has acquired a US$300 million 32.6% cobalt stream on the world-class Voisey's Bay Mine in Canada ; and is acquiring an 8.56% joint venture interest in the low-cost, long-life Ramu Nickel-Cobalt Mine in Papua New Guinea. Cobalt 27 also manages 11 royalties and will continue to invest in a portfolio of streams, royalties and direct interests as it builds a battery metals supply chain to meet global demand growth. About Cobalt 27 Capital Corp. Cobalt 27 Capital Corp. (TSXV: KBLT)(OTCQX: CBLLF)(FRA: 27O) is a leading battery metals streaming and royalties company offering exposure to metals integral to key technologies of the electric vehicle and energy storage markets. The Company owns 2,905.7 Mt of physical cobalt and a 32.6% Cobalt Stream on Vale's world-class Voisey's Bay mine? beginning in 2021. Cobalt 27 is undertaking a friendly acquisition of Highlands Pacific which is expected to add increased attributable nickel and cobalt production from the long-life, world-class Ramu Mine. The Company also manages a portfolio of 11 royalties and intends to continue to invest in a cobalt-nickel-lithium-focused portfolio of streams, royalties and direct interests in mineral properties containing battery metals. For further information please visit the Company website at www.cobalt27.com or contact: Betty Joy LeBlanc, BA, MBA

Director, Corporate Communications

+1-604-828-0999

betty@cobalt27.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/822384/Cobalt_27_Capital_Corp_Cobalt_27_to_Webcast_Live_at_VirtualInves.jpg





SOURCE Cobalt 27 Capital Corp

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[February 15, 2019] Tokenization Market : Top players are Gemalto NV, Futurex, Thales e-Security, Inc., CipherCloud, Inc

Tokenization Market - Snapshot Tokenization is a data security system which converts sensitive data into a unique ID, referred to as token, to avoid unauthorized access to sensitive information. This process then preserves all the information in a format that allows the informations security not to be compromised. Tokenization is beneficial for enterprises as it makes it difficult for individuals to hack the system or breach security, to gain access to user data. The advantages of tokenization include the ability to secure sensitive data, reduced data loss, reduced payment card industry data security standard (PCI-DSS) compliance scope, compatibility with other technologies, and overall internal protection. The market for tokenization is forecasted to grow to US$ 6,901.1 Mn by 2026, recording a CAGR of 18.6%.







global tokenization market The major factor responsible for growth of the tokenization market is rising data security concerns in all the data sensitive companies around the world. The tokenization market has experienced considerable growth due to large number of financial firms opting for increasing security in payment processing systems. With increasing credit card fraudulent activities, there is a rise in demand for payment security. Tokenization is often used for credit card processing. The payment card industry (PCI) council describes tokenization as a method in which the primary account number (PAN) is substituted with a surrogate/alternate value called a token.



The tokenization market is driven by the increase in cyberattacks and data breaches. This in turn is boosting the tokenization sector globally. For instance, in May 2017, cyberattacks by the WannaCry ransomware struck several banks, financial institutions, and hospitals. More than 200,000 computers around the world were hacked due to these attacks. Many such cyberattacks have raised concerns about data security. Moreover, they have boosted the demand for security solutions (such as tokenization) even in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The global tokenization market is anticipated to grow significantly during the forecast period, attributed to rapidly growing demand for market surveillance.





Brochure With Latest Advancements and Application @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=27287 However, high cost of implementation and upgrade of hardware required for tokenization is expected to be one of the major restraints pulling back the market growth. The cost of hardware (storage and security), software (synchronization & replication), and technical support required to maintain in-house tokenization is a major concern for organizations, particularly small- and medium-sized organizations and enterprises.



The tokenization market is segmented on the basis of components, solution, enterprise size, and end-use. Based on components, the market has been segmented into hardware, software (on- premise, cloud) and services (managed/outsourced services, professional services). Based on solution, the market has been segmented into payment security, customer data management, compliance & policy management, omni-channel management, and encryption. Payment security solution held the major share in 2016 in the overall tokenization market. However, compliance & policy management, and omni-channel management are expected to display comparatively fast growth during the forecast period. On the basis of enterprise size, the market has been divided as small & medium enterprise and large enterprise. In terms of end-use, the market has been bifurcated into BFSI, retail & consumer goods, government, education, military & defense, automotive, IT & telecom, energy & utilities, manufacturing, and others (hospitality & transportation).



From a geographical standpoint, North America is expected to hold a major share in the tokenization market. Growth in this region is attributed to strong adoption and penetration of tokenization software, hardware and services, as well as considerable application of tokenization in different end-user segments across the region. Asia Pacific region is expected to witness lucrative growth due to rising adoption of such software in India, Japan, Philippines, and Singapore. Furthermore, the markets in Middle East & Africa (MEA) and South America are also expected to grow significantly during the forecast period.



Attracted by this fast technological advancements and rising spending on cybersecurity, many players are driven to develop comprehensive security suites comprised of hardware (HSM), and software. Some of the key players profiled in the tokenization market report include Gemalto NV, Futurex, Thales e-Security, Inc., CipherCloud, Inc., Symantec Corporation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development L.P., Protegrity USA, Inc., TokenEx, First Data Corporation, and CyberSource Corporation As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments.

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[February 15, 2019] Home Energy Management Systems Market: Rising Demand for Energy Conservation

The featured report from Transparency Market Research (TMR), titled Home Energy Management Systems Market  Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013  2019, offers key insights on the market. According to this report, the global home energy management systems (HEMS) market will expand at a remarkable CAGR of 25.0% during the forecast period from 2013 to 2019. In 2012, the global home energy management systems market was worth US$393.8 million and by 2019, the market is projected to be worth US$1,909.4 million.







The report evaluates the world energy market scenario. The report discusses how rising electricity prices worldwide have prompted homeowners to seek alternative means of monitoring and controlling their electricity use. The rising need for saving energy and controlled utilization of energy is expected to drive the demand for home energy management systems (HEMS) in the foreseeable future. Moreover, the variable pricing schemes offered for electric distribution in various regions are also fueling the global HEMS market. In addition to this, the rising connectivity and accelerating smartphone applications will drive the global home energy management systems market.



By functionality, the global home energy management systems (HEMS) market is divided into control devices, enabling technologies, and user interface. Even though control devices such as home lighting and automation and thermostats are dominating the market, enabling technologies are projected to witness the fastest growth in the foreseeable future.





Technology-wise, the global home energy management systems (HEMS) market is segmented into Wi-Fi, Z-Wave, HomePlug, ZigBee, and others such as Wavenis, Insteon, Ethernet, and EnOcean. ZigBee is projected to grow at the highest CAGR, surpassing Wi-Fi as the major technology during the forecasting horizon. This is due to the growing demand of ZigBee in key markets such as North America and Europe. ZigBee is more scalable, compatible with HAN devices, and interference-tolerant as compared to Wi-Fi.



Download PDF Sample for this Research Report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1016 On the basis of geography, the global home energy management systems (HEMS) market is segmented into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World (Latin America, the Middle East and Africa). In 2012, North America led the global home energy management systems market due to large scale deployment of wireless technologies such as ZigBee, Wi-Fi, and HAN (home area network). In 2012, the European home energy management systems market was estimated at US$155.7 million. The European HEMS market is projected to grow with the highest CAGR of 26.2% during the forecasting horizon. As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments.

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[February 15, 2019] Bay Area Luxury Apparel Brand Announces Regulation Crowdfunding Offering

BERKELEY, Calif., Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Stella Carakasi DTC, Inc., a modern lifestyle brand that creates unique and comfortable clothing that transforms the way women feel, has launched a Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg. CF) campaign on the nation's leading equity crowdfunding platform, StartEngine. Stella Carakasi's namesake label began in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2012, and has since been known for their commitment to the environment, size-inclusivity and affordability. The company has been dedicated to sustainable supply chain practices, working directly with mills to develop soft, durable and eco-friendly fabrics. They also manufacture in small batch productions to maintain high-quality standards and minimize waste. In 2018, Stella Carakasi launched their direct-to-consumer line, eschewing the traditional wholesale model and delivering their product directly to their customers. The direct-to-consumer business model eliminates middlemen and the associated costs, to deliver the products customers want without the markup. The Regulation Crowdfunding campaign echoes the company's commitment to the public. The offering, marketed to both accredited and non-accredited investors, give regular people the opportunity to invest in Stella Carakasi DTC, Inc. on the StartEngine funding portal.



"We're pleased to share with the public an opportunity to invest in our vision of eco-friendly, size inclusive and affordable women's apparel," said CEO Steven Boutrous. "We're proud to utilize a trusted brand like StartEngine to educate the public about our company and the opportunities presented by Regulation CF." Individuals interested in the Stella Carakasi DTC, Inc. equity crowdfunding campaign can find more information by visiting: www.startengine.com/stellacarakasi

About Stella Carakasi:

Stella Carakasi DTC, Inc. is the latest exciting iteration in a series of successful businesses driven by a team of fashion industry veterans boasting 25 years together. The brand is committed to a vision of sustainability, size inclusivity and accessibility to all women. Stella Carakasi, a division of Two Star Dog Inc. was founded in 2012. Stella Carakasi DTC, Inc. was incorporated in the state of Delaware in 2018 but maintains a principal office in Berkeley, California. Related Links Reg. CF campaign Company Website Related Video https://vimeo.com/118453002 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bay-area-luxury-apparel-brand-announces-regulation-crowdfunding-offering-300796407.html SOURCE Stella Carakasi DTC Inc.

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[February 15, 2019] Ecolog International Supports Message of Sustainable Peace to Encourage Growth and Development of Economies at Munich Security Conference

MUNICH, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Chairman Nazif Destani will lead the Ecolog International delegation when heads of government, business leaders and academia converge at the 55th edition of the Munich Security Conference, which runs from February 15  17 in Bavaria. The company, which has global business interests in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern and South Eastern Europe, has long believed that sustainable peace is a strategic priority. "We have always credited peace and stability with enabling development in the areas of education, health, and business, all of which contribute to building society," explains Chief Marketing Officer Kaan Savul. "Since our company operates in several regions where peace and security are major concerns, the high-level conversations that take place at the Munich Security Conference are in compete alignment with the vision of many of our non-governmental clients. These NGOs ensure security for civilians in some of the most conflict-ridden places on our planet. As a result, Ecolog International is proud to be one of the main sponsors at the Munich Security Conference."



The company's international business development head Lumri Bexheti joins Ecolog International Chairman Nazif Destani and will be participating in several key roundtable discussions that take place throughout the two-day conference. Ecolog International is a global service provider in areas such as catering, food supply and environmental services, and maintains corporate offices in the Middle East and Europe, with operations in over 150 locations in 36 countries. The company is an official UK Defence Overseas Contractor and was awarded a certificate of merit in December 2018 for its excellent service to the Ministry operating under its Defence Food Programme.

About Ecolog International: Ecolog International is a leading provider of supply chain, construction, technology, facility management and environmental services. We provide turnkey and customized solutions to governments and defence, humanitarian organizations and commercial clients in the sectors of Oil & Gas, Mining, Energy and Infrastructure projects. Our social responsibility programmes encourage partnerships with educational institutions, and implement mobile education facilities in rural communities where we operate.

www.ecolog-international.com

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[February 15, 2019] Schneider Electric Puts Control of Power distribution in Digital Devices; Launches Masterpact MTZ in India

HYDERABAD, India, February 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Strengthens its Industry 4.0 play with this next generation product aimed at efficient power for critical industrial buildings and plants

An industry first, made in India product, with embedded Class 1 metering, which saves time and energy Schneider Electric, the global leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, today announced the launch of Masterpact MTZ, the next generation of high power low voltage circuit breakers, combining the company's legendary performance and reliability with new digital capabilities. Assembled in India, for India, and for the world, Masterpact MTZ is a first-of-its-kind air circuit breaker in the market that provides the customer with multiple benefits of enhanced performance, increased reliability and safety. It is a future ready product that seamlessly integrates within the Smart Panel architecture, and can be remotely monitored and controlled with any supervision system to carry out predictive and preventive maintenance, and asset and energy management. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/654747/Schneider_Electric_India_Logo.jpg )

The world is witnessing a paradigm shift in energy production and management trends, and this has paved the way for the fourth Industrial Revolution. Backed by the technological advancements, it is an industrial era that is focused at enabling faster, more flexible, and more efficient processes to produce higher-quality goods at reduced costs. Being the global leader, Schneider Electric is committed to investing and creating innovative, compliant and future ready products that can meet the needs of Industry 4.0. Commenting on the new launch, Shrinivas Chebbi, President Buildings Business, Schneider Electric India, said, "We at Schneider Electric, are heavily reliant on digitisation to achieve our digital and sustainability goals while continuously improvising on ur product line and services to help our cutomers maximise their operations and become energy efficient. Masterpact MTZ is a pioneering product in the category that is complaint with our energy management goals. Masterpact's connectivity, digital capabilities and ability to be seamlessly integrate into our EcoStruxure Power architecture will deliver significant benefits for end users, specifiers, panel builders and contractors requiring high power breakers as part of low-voltage solutions for industrial sites, critical applications and buildings. Most importantly, Masterpact MTZ will ensure end-to-end digital customer experience for all the stakeholders throughout project lifecycle, improving operational efficiency and safety."



Speaking at the occasion, Anil Chaudhry, Zone President and Managing Director, Schneider Electric India, said, "Masterpact MTZ represents for us a next step in our effort towards digitisation of power distribution, adding to our commitment to a sustainable circular economy." Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure Power is a unified platform that brings together the company's industry leading connected products, edge control, apps, analytics and services into a connected and integrated framework for all areas of the power distribution and management chains. The Masterpact MTZ a digital product that is part of the base layer of connected products in the EcoStruxure architecture.

Product highlights: The new product analyses energy usage efficiently, thus optimising performance and efficiency.

Building on its strengths, the Masterpact MTZ will offer the same ratings, the same tripping performance and the same footprint for seamless, quick integration and retrofitting in switchboards as the current Masterpact range. In addition, the product offers easy integration in Smart Panels and connection to management systems with native embedded Ethernet connection.

Masterpact MTZ protects equipment and activity against cable overloads, short circuits and insulation faults.

Customizing Masterpact MTZ with digital modules can also be achieved anytime, anywhere.

Masterpact MTZ also allows for better safety and reliability, the interactive smart HMI reduces safety risk for local maintenance as no direct contact is required for quick analysis and action through a secure Bluetooth connection.

In case of power outage, customers can minimise downtime and restore power quickly and safely using their smart phone. Key data is saved before tripping (measures, protection settings) and even without power. For more information on Masterpact MTZ, please visit http://masterpactmtz.schneider-electric.com About Schneider Electric: Schneider Electric is leading the Digital Transformation of Energy Management and Automation in Homes, Buildings, Data Centers, Infrastructure and Industries. With global presence in over 100 countries, Schneider is the undisputable leader in Power Management - Medium Voltage, Low Voltage and Secure Power, and in Automation Systems. We provide integrated efficiency solutions, combining energy, automation and software. In our global Ecosystem, we collaborate with the largest Partner, Integrator and Developer Community on our Open Platform to deliver real-time control and operational efficiency. We believe that great people and partners make Schneider a great company and that our commitment to Innovation, Diversity and Sustainability ensures that Life Is On everywhere, for everyone and at every moment.http://www.schneider-electric.com/us Hashtags: #Efficiency #Reliability #Connectivity #LifeIsOn #InnovationAtEveryLevel Media Contact:

Seema Siddiqui

seema.siddiqui@se.com

+91-(0)124-4222036

Corporate Communications

Schneider Electric



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Workplace Computing Devices: Market Intelligence, Sourcing and Procurement, Strategic Sourcing, Pricing Strategies, Category Management Insights Now Available From SpendEdge

SpendEdge, a global procurement market intelligence firm, has announced the release of their Global Workplace Computing Devices Category - Procurement Market Intelligence Report.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190214006027/en/

Global Workplace Computing Devices Category - Procurement Market Intelligence Report. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Organizations are increasing their expenditure on a range of workplace computing device to improve the productivity of the employees. This will act as one of the primary growth drivers for this market. Leveraging 5G network in the business infrastructure will necessitate procuring portable devices such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets which will consequently accelerate the category spend momentum. Get the Free Sample copy of this market intelligence report on workplace computing devices to get insights into strategic sourcing objectives and pricing strategies.

In the global market for workplace computing devices, the US alone account for almost 80% of the category spend. Adoption of cloud computing has improved the security standards in organizations that are enabling them to allow employees to securely use portable devices such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. This is contributing to the category spend growth rate in the US. APAC is witnessing a flux of projects outsourced by the global companies who are setting up their office infrastructure in the developing nations. This will consequently accelerate the category spend growth rate in the region.

Insights offered in this workplace computing devices sourcing and procurement report include supply market forecasts, strategic sourcing, pricing strategies, and category management insights. Such insights are relevant for both the buyers and the suppliers who seek a risk-free and a cost-effective procurement strategy. The category spend segmentation done in this market intelligence report will guide the investors in identifying the best investment areas as well as help them in identifying cost-saving opportunities in the market. Request free customization of this market intelligence report on workplace computing devices to get information tailored to your every requirement.

"Collaborating with service providers who offer product and service bundles can reduce excess spend," says SpendEdge procurement expert Tridib Bora.

This workplace computing devices sourcing and procurement report has estimated the following cost drivers to influence the pricing strategies in the coming years:

Supply pressure is high owing to fragmentation of the supply market

Buyers can enhance their cost savings by engaging in LCCS and long-term contracts

Purchase the full market intelligence report on workplace computing devices here!







SpendEdge is now offering limited-time discounts on report purchases. Buy two reports and get the third one for free.

SpendEdge's procurement market intelligence reports for the information technology category provide detailed supply market forecasts, pricing strategies, strategic sourcing insights. Such information will help procurement managers as well as the suppliers to determine the total cost of ownership and change their procurement strategies accordingly. Additionally, SpendEdge's reports provide category management insights and information on the procurement best practices for the category.

Report scope snapshot: Workplace computing devices

Category pricing insights

Pricing strategies

Total cost of ownership analysis

Supplier cost structure

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Cost-Saving Opportunities

Supplier-side levers

Strategic sourcing insights

Quantifying cost savings by negotiation strategies

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Category ecosystem

Competitiveness index for suppliers

Buyer power

Supplier power score

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SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. To know more, https://www.spendedge.com/request-free-proposal

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190214006027/en/
Bottles of bourdon whiskey line the walls at Ironclad Distillery in downtown Newport News on Friday, March 9, 2018. Located in the former S.W. Holt & Co. warehouse, built in 1913, the distillery looks over the James River, specializes in bourbon whiskey and is named after some of the first Civil War ships to be armored in iron. The grand opening will be March 31.
[February 15, 2019] Recommended Voluntary Cash Offer to Acquire all Shares in NextGenTel Holding ASA

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO AUSTRALIA, JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL OSLO, Norway, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Telecom Holding 3 AS announces that it intends to make a voluntary cash offer of NOK 14.00 per share for all issued and outstanding shares in NextGenTel Holding ASA ("NextGenTel"). The offer values the total share capital of NextGenTel at NOK 325,964,620. The offer price represents a premium of 18.1% over the closing price of the shares on 14 February 2019 and 25.4% over the volume weighted average price of NextGenTel's shares for the three month period prior to this announcement, respectively. Telecom Holding 3 AS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kistefos AS, a private Norwegian investment company wholly-owned by Christen Sveaas. The Kistefos group currently holds 5,824,667 shares in NextGenTel, equal to approximately 25% of the total number of shares. The shares are held under a forwards contract with Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB. Shareholders representing approximately 19% of the total share capital of NextGenTel, including among others Hortulan AS, Tigerstaden AS, Middelborg Invest AS, Datum AS and Eirik Lunde, have already given their pre-acceptances to the offer, subject to customary conditions. All shareholders who have been requested to provide pre-acceptances of the offer have done so. The Kistefos group's ownership and obtained pre-acceptances account for approximately 44% of the total number of shares on a combined basis. The board of directors of NextGenTel unanimously recommends the offer. Lars Thoresen, chairman of the board of directors of NextGenTel said: "Over the recent months the board of directors of NextGenTel has carefully evaluated various strategic options for the company. After exploring various alternatives we have come to the conclusion that the offer from Telecom Holding 3 AS represents a good alternative for NextGenTel and its shareholders and the board has unanimously decided to recommend to NextGenTel's shareholders to accept the offer." Gunnar Jacobsen, investment director at Kistefos AS, said: "We have had a long-term belief in NextGenTel, but have come to the conclusion that the company can best be developed in a private setting. Accordingly, we have decided to make an offer to the other shareholders to acquire their shares." The offer will be subject to the following conditions: (i) The offer shall on or prior to the expiration of the offer period have been accepted by shareholders representing (when taken together with any shares acquired or agreed to be acquired by Telecom Holding 3 AS other than through the offer) more than 90% of the issued and outstanding share capital and voting rights of NextGenTel on a fully diluted basis; <>(ii) All permits, consents and approvals required under applicable competition law for the completion of the offer shall have been obtained and any applicable waiting periods shall have expired or lapsed, in each case without conditions;



(iii) No court or other governmental or regulatory authority of competent jurisdiction shall have taken or threatened to take any form of legal action (whether temporary, preliminary or permanent) that will or might restrain or prohibit the consummation of the offer; (iv) Following the date of this announcement, NextGenTel shall, other than with the prior written consent of Telecom Holding 3 AS, in all material respects have conducted its business in the ordinary course and in accordance with applicable laws, regulations and decisions of competent governmental and regulatory authorities;

The offer will be financed by a combination of equity and committed external debt financing. The offer will not contain any conditions as to financing or due diligence. The complete details of the offer, including all terms and conditions, will be contained in an offer document to be sent to NextGenTel's shareholders following review and approval by Oslo Brs pursuant to Chapter 6 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. The offer period is expected to start in the week beginning on 25 February 2019 and is expected to be three weeks from the date of approval of the offer document, subject to extension by Telecom Holding 3 AS. Shareholders are urged to read the offer document when it is available because it will contain important information. The recommendation from the board of directors of NextGenTel will be included in the offer document. The recommendation from the board of directors of NextGenTel will not be a formal statement made pursuant to sections 6-16 and 6-19 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. NextGenTel will in consultation with Oslo Brs engage an independent third party to give such a statement on its behalf. This notification does not in itself constitute an offer. The offer will only be made on the basis of the offer document and can only be accepted pursuant to the terms of such document. The offer will not be made in any jurisdiction in which the making of the offer would not be in compliance with the laws of such jurisdiction. Telecom Holding 3 AS intends to make a compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares in NextGenTel upon acquiring more than 90% of the shares in NextGenTel under the offer. Further, subject to the outcome of the offer, Telecom Holding 3 AS intends to propose to the general meeting of NextGenTel that an application is filed with Oslo Brs to de-list the shares from Oslo Brs. ABG Sundal Collier ASA is acting as financial adviser to NextGenTel. DNB Markets, a part of DNB Bank ASA, is acting as financial adviser to Telecom Holding 3 AS in connection with the offer. Advokatfirmaet Wiersholm AS is acting as Norwegian legal adviser to Telecom Holding 3 AS and Advokatfirmaet Schjdt AS is acting as Norwegian legal adviser to NextGenTel. For further information, please contact:

Gunnar Jacobsen

Email: Gunnar.Jacobsen@kistefos.no Important Notice: The offer and the distribution of this announcement and other information in connection with the offer may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Telecom Holding 3 AS and NextGenTel assume no responsibility in the event there is a violation by any person of such restrictions. Persons into whose possession this announcement or such other information should come are required to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions. THE OFFER WILL NOT BE MADE IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH MAKING OF THE OFFER WOULD NOT BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICITON. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT IN ITSELF CONSTITUTE AND OFFER. THE OFFER WILL ONLY BE MADE ON THE BASIS OF THE OFFER DOCUMENT AND CAN ONLY BE ACCEPTED PURSUANT TO THE TERMS OF SUCH DOCUMENT The offer is being made for the securities of NextGenTel Holding ASA, a company incorporated under the laws of the Kingdom of Norway, and is being made in the United States in compliance with, and reliance on, Section 14(e) of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Regulation 14E thereunder. The offer will be made in the United States by Telecom Holding 3 AS and no one else. The offer is subject to disclosure and procedural requirements of the Kingdom of Norway which are different from those in the United States. In addition, the payment and settlement procedures with respect to the Offer will comply with the relevant Norwegian rules, which differ from United States payment and settlement procedures. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/nextgentel-holding-asa/r/recommended-voluntary-cash-offer-to-acquire-all-shares-in-nextgentel-holding-asa,c2742093

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[February 15, 2019] Bitstop Unveils Next Generation Bitcoin ATM at EuroCIS Conference

MIAMI, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Bitcoin ATM pioneer Bitstop has partnered with KIOSK Information Systems (KIOSK), the largest custom self-service solution provider in North America, to bring their next generation Bitcoin ATM to market, enabling customers to easily buy and sell bitcoin and other digital currencies. KIOSK, along with their parent company Posiflex, will be featuring the new Bitstop Bitcoin ATM at the EuroCIS conference in Posiflex's booth #C42/Hall 9. Bitstop's Bitcoin ATM software platform paired with KIOSK's industry-leading hardware sets a new standard in the Bitcoin ATM Industry, an industry that has grown from nothing five years ago to over 4,000 Bitcoin ATMs in 2018 (coinatmradar.com). Over 1000 Bitcoin ATMs have been installed in Europe with deployments all over Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Portugal, span >Poland and the United Kingdom. Worldwide, new deployments are happening daily.



Bitcoin ATMs allow retailers to monetize unused floor space and drive additional foot traffic to the store. Bitcoin ATMs are becoming more common in typical retail storefronts such as supermarkets, malls, petrol stations, hotels & airports. On the Bitcoin ATM solution partnership announcement, William Butler, KIOSK CEO, said, "Bitstop is one of the most knowledgeable companies in the Bitcoin ATM industry and we're very happy to be working with them. It's exciting to be on the forefront of a new financial self-service application with such tremendous growth potential."

Andrew Barnard, Bitstop's CEO & Co-Founder, states, "Bitcoin ATMs are one of the few businesses in Bitcoin and Blockchain that can actually produce revenue. That's why we designed an easy Bitcoin ATM solution that other operators can manage along with our support. Our partnership combines Bitstop's deep knowledge and experience in the Bitcoin ATM industry with KIOSK's 25+ years of industry-leading design and engineering experience. The result is a simple, secure and reliable Bitcoin ATM that benefits the consumer, operator and retailer." About Bitstop:

Bitstop is a Bitcoin software platform. Founded in 2013, Bitstop is an early pioneer in the Bitcoin ATM industry whose mission is to build tools and services which make Bitcoin easier and more accessible. Find out more at https://bitstop.co/franchise About KIOSK Information Systems:

As the Market Leader in Self-service Solutions, KIOSK provides proven expertise in design engineering, application development, integration, manufacturing, field support, and managed services for even the most sophisticated self-service platforms. https://kiosk.com/ Contacts Bitstop

Serguei Hernandez, serguei@bitstop.co KIOSK Information Systems

Cheryl Madeson, cmadeson@kiosk.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/822259/Bitstop_Bitcoin_ATM_EuroCIS.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/628363/Bitstop_Logo.jpg

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[February 14, 2019] Military & Veterans May Recover Damages From Corporation That Sold Defective Earplugs to the Government!

3M (News - Alert) agreed to pay the U.S. government a $9.1 million settlement in a whistleblower action for selling hundreds of thousands of defective earplugs for more than a decade that were standard issue, Combat Arms Earplugs (CAEv2) to the military. It was only disclosed to the public after 3M agreed to pay this settlement. Gibbs Law Group, Stueve Siegel Hanson and Isaac Wiles have filed lawsuits against 3M on behalf of service members who suffered hearing injuries. The government alleged that 3M knew these earplugs were defective when they were selling them to the government and that they were "too short for proper insertion in users' ears." This defect caused these earplugs to dislodge from the users' ears and many needlessly suffered permanent hearing injuries. Debbie Gregory, CEO of VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association and a well-known advocate for those who serve, is trying to get out the word to those who have sustained damages as a result of the use of these earplugs: "It is egregious that this corporation placed profits above the well-being of those who serve our nation and protect us. 3M must be held accountable for the harm it caused our military and veterans that will permanently and negatively impact their lives. I am heartened that these three national law firms are pursuing compensation for our nation's service members who were injured from the use of 3M's earplugs. I encourage everyone to spread the word to their own network within the military and veteran communities." The law firms of Gibbs Law Group, Stueve Siegel Hanson and Isaac Wiles have joined forces against 3M on behalf of U.S. militar servicemembers and veterans who sustained hearing injuries as a result of wearing these defective ear plugs. The lawsuits are against 3M and not against the United States government. Legal fees and costs will only be charged when servicemembers prevail in their lawsuits against 3M. Ms. Gregory added:



"This lawsuit provides our servicemembers and veterans a fighting chance without risk to recover monetary damages for their losses, and to send a clear message to those involved to never again put our military at risk. This team of law firms has a long history of advocating for servicemembers, and I am confident they will do everything in their power to fight for the rights of the men and women who were affected." U.S. servicemembers and veterans who used 3M Combat Arms Earplugs and suffered hearing loss, tinnitus and/or other injuries should contact the attorneys at: 1-866-211-4118 or go to www.classlawgroup.com/3M.

About the Legal Team This is a team of three prominent law firms across the nation that includes: Gibbs Law Group, Stueve Siegel Hanson and Isaac Wiles. They have expertise and a track record of successfully litigating class actions, product liability claims and other actions. Their attorneys have extensive experience assisting clients including servicemembers and veterans in recovering monies for personal injuries and other damages caused by defective products. They have a winning track record that has earned them numerous awards for their work, including Best Lawyers in America, Best of the Bar, Leading Plaintiff Lawyers in America, Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California and Consumer Protection MVP. About Debbie Gregory Ms. Gregory is a lifelong advocate for those who serve and is committed to outreach to those who have been harmed by use of these earplugs. She is currently the CEO and founder of VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association with over 7,000 members nationwide. Ms. Gregory is a producer of the nationally televised concert: "America Salutes You" that raises awareness for military and veterans and funds for some extraordinary non-profits that support them. Ms. Gregory also serves in the Defense Department volunteer role of Director of Employer Engagement for California ESGR (Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve). Ms. Gregory is the daughter of a veteran who served with seven of his brothers and died as a result of injuries from his service to our country. Ms. Gregory's father has motivated and empowered her to champion service members and veterans. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190214005978/en/

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[February 15, 2019] VTech Showcases Expanded Collection of Innovative New Toys at 2019 North American International Toy Fair

NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- For more than 40 years, VTech has developed innovative toys that encourage discovery, creativity and developmental milestones through play. Today, the company reveals its new collection of exciting toys that will be on display at the 2019 North American International Toy Fair. The lineup features an expansion into the exciting robotics toy category and additions to VTech's award-winning Kidi line of children's electronics, infant, toddler and preschool lines and the Go! Go! Smart Wheels line. "We're introducing some amazing new products at Toy Fair and we're excited to reveal what we have in store for 2019," said Andy Keimach, President, VTech Electronics North America. "We're expanding into a new product category and have some incredible additions to our established toy lines, delivering even more innovative play experiences for kids." VTech's 2019 range of new introductions includes: Robotic Toys

VTech is making its debut in the robotics toy category with Myla the Magical Unicorn, a colorful robotic unicorn that glitters with lights as she talks and sings, while introducing early concepts of color mixing in a fun way for an enchanting play experience. Kids can customize the color of Myla's eyes, wings and horn with her magic brush and butterfly palette. Myla interacts by moving her eyes and head, and comes with a microphone that prompts her to sing to make playtime truly magical. Children's Electronics

VTech is expanding its popular Kidi line of electronics to offer even more fun, age-appropriate technology. The line will include exciting updates to successful cameras and smart devices, including the redesigned KidiBuzz G2, which now adds AR gaming and live face-tracking photo filters in addition to the ability to send texts, voice messages, photos, drawings and animated stickers over Wi-Fi to a parent-approved contact list. Kids can also visit pre-approved websites and explore more than 40 preloaded learning games and apps. The new kid-safe KidiGo Walkie Talkies feature a secure digital connection and an impressive 650-foot range so kids can go wherever adventure takes them. With a backlit LCD screen, kids can also send preset animated messages between units and play 2-player games. VTech is also introducing Kidi Star Dance, which encourages self-expression whn kids snap on a motion-sensing wristband to learn cool dance moves, complete action challenges, challenge friends to a dance-off or play exciting dance games.



Baby, Infant, Toddler and Preschool Lines

VTech's baby, infant, toddler and preschool lines are expanding with new products designed to engage and encourage little ones through discovery. The innovative new Mix & Match-a-Saurus will let kids interchange nine different tiles that determine the Dino's songs, moods and interactions, allowing them to explore social and emotional skills and age-appropriate concepts of coding while developing fine motor skills. Children will love exploring the impressive Treasure Seekers Pirate Ship, offering a delightful surprise as they open it up to reveal an exciting interactive playset inside. When the included captain or sailor is placed on a recognition point, little buccaneers can strengthen fine motor skills by turning the sails and spinning the steering wheel to navigate the high seas. In addition, the Latches & Doors Busy Board will let children build motor skills as they slide, turn or twist to unlock and open doors and windows of the colorful house. Go! Go! Smart Wheels

Children can rev up the action with awesome additions to the popular Go! Go! Smart Wheels line. New features such as moveable tracks and a new look for the vehicles including a mechanical button for cause-and-effect fun, along with the proprietary SmartPoint technology, bring the playsets and vehicles to life. The new Revved Up Stunt Spiral is a 2-in-1 track set packed with super stunts including a 360-degree loop and jump ramp. It easily connects to the new Revved Up Raceway with a double launcher, and even more stunts, jumps and obstacles for the ultimate Go! Go! Smart Wheels experience. Both new playsets feature interactive SmartPoint locations that respond with fun sounds, phrases and songs.

For more information about VTech's products, please visit www.vtechkids.com. About VTech

VTech is a world leader in age-appropriate and developmental stage-based electronic learning products for children. As a pioneer in the learning toy category, VTech develops high-quality, innovative educational products that enrich children's development and make learning fun. With a rich 40 year history, VTech has not only established itself as a learning authority but also consistently remains at the forefront of innovation with multiple award-winning products, including prestigious Toy of the Year (TOTY) Award winners. The company also has a broad range of award-winning infant, toddler and preschool products available in 31 different languages worldwide, with more than 100 new products introduced every year. In order to further strengthen VTech's position as a learning authority, new products are developed with critical insights from a dedicated team of in-house learning experts. VTech Electronics North America, L.L.C. is based in Arlington Heights, Illinois. VTech Electronics Limited is headquartered in Hong Kong with distribution globally. For more information about VTech's electronic learning products, visit www.VTechKids.com, www.facebook.com/VTechtoys on Facebook or follow @VTechToys on Twitter. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vtech-showcases-expanded-collection-of-innovative-new-toys-at-2019-north-american-international-toy-fair-300796589.html SOURCE VTech

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[February 15, 2019] Grant to Provide Critical Repairs to 12 Homes in Rural Mississippi

A $120,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant from Community Bank of Mississippi and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) will fund the rehabilitation of 12 homes for elderly and special-needs families in rural Mississippi. The George Greene Habitat for Humanity (Habitat) will use the funds to provide critical repairs such as ramp installation for disabled and elderly residents, roof repairs and HVAC upgrades. "We're a small, rural affiliate without a lot of funding options so these grants make a huge difference in our counties," said Sue Trosclair, executive director at Habitat. "We depend on grants like the AHP for helping our residents live more comfortably." This is the second AHP grant the banks have awarded to Habitat, a nonprofit dedicated to providing safe, decent and affordable housing. To date, one home has been rehabilitated and the rest will be completed by the end of 2019. "Community Bank of Mississippi has been around for more than 100 years and our primary focus is serving the community," said Community Bank of Mississippi Senior Vice President Harry Piascik. "We're honored to do so in partnership with FHLB Dallas through the AHP." FHLB Dallas awards AHP grants annually, through members like Community Bank of Mississippi, to support the creation or rehabilitation of affordable housing units, among other uses. In 2018, FHLB Dallas awarded $14 million in AHP grants to 29 projects that will result in 1,853 new or renovated housing units. Of that, $6. million was awarded to Mississippi projects, and will result in 897 new or rehabilitated housing units.



"There is a great need in this part of the country for affordable housing," said Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas. "This grant will help our member, Community Bank of Mississippi, help residents who live on fixed incomes in this rural community." Ms. Trosclair said the need for home rehabilitation projects in her area is so great that the organization is forgoing building new homes in favor of exclusive rehabilitation work this year.

"There were so many critical repairs this year that we decided to extend our efforts to help more families through rehabilitation projects," she said. "Without this grant, we would not have been able to help these 12 families." Visit fhlb.com/ahp for more information on the AHP. About Community Bank of Mississippi Established in 1905 in a small timber community in East Central Mississippi, Community Bank of Mississippi has grown to more than $3.2 billion in assets, 48 offices and more than 800 employees in four states. The bank takes great pride in its values - fairness, integrity, honesty, respect, humility, self-sacrifice and simple kindness - and goes to great lengths to put those values into action every day. For more information, visit communitybank.net. About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank system created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $73.7 billion as of September 30, 2018, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately 825 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. Visit fhlb.com for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190215005395/en/

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[February 15, 2019] Global Mobile Health Market Size study, by Device, Application, Services and Regional Forecasts 2018-2025

Bharat Book Bureau Provides the Trending Market Research Report on "Global Mobile Health Market Size study, by Device, Application, Services and Regional Forecasts 2018-2025 under Life Sciences Category. The report offers a collection of superior market research, market analysis, and competitive intelligence and industry reports.







Global Mobile Health Market Size study, by Device (Blood glucose meters, Pulse oximetry, BP monitors, Apnea and sleep monitors, Neurological monitoring devices, Wearable fitness sensor device & heart rate meters and others), Application (Cardiovascular diseases, Respiratory diseases, Diabetes, Neurological diseases and others), Services (Monitoring services, Diagnosis services, Wellness and healthcare system strengthening solutions, Prevention and Treatment) and Regional Forecasts 2018-2025 Global Mobile Health Market to reach USD 249.3 billion by 2025.



Global Mobile Health Market valued approximately USD 24.7 billion in 2017 is anticipated to grow with a healthy growth rate of more than 33.5% over the forecast period 2018-2025. Supportive regulatory impositions specific to feasibility and quality of mobile-based medical devices along with the rising awareness has had a positive impact on the market. Additionally, growing focus on patient-centric healthcare services is considered as a key trend for the mobile health market globally.





Key driving factors for the mobile health market are growing use of smartphones and tablets along with the growing focus on personalized medicines. According to the Consumer Technology Associations in June 2018, the association has conducted a study on consumer technology ownership. The study reveals that smartphone penetration stood about 87% of homes in the United States. Similarly, as per the report published by the Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) Services, smartphone penetration rate of population rate reached to 44% in 2017 from 39% in 2016 globally. As mobile devices offer various advantages for healthcare professionals to support improved patient outcomes and better clinical decision-making. Furthermore, increasing demand of point of care treatment and diagnosis is expected to create lucrative growth prospects for the market. However, data security and privacy concerns are expected to hinder the market growth during the forecast period.



On the basis of segmentation, the mobile health market is segmented into devices, services and application. The device segment is classified into blood glucose meters, pulse oximetry, BP monitors, apnea and sleep monitors, neurological monitoring devices, wearable fitness sensor device & heart rate meters and others. The service segment is bifurcated into monitoring services, diagnosis services, prevention, treatment, wellness and healthcare system strengthening solutions and monitoring services of which monitoring services is anticipated to grow at a high CAGR owing to the growing need for management of chronic diseases along with post-acute care management. The application segment is classified into cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, diabetes, neurological diseases and others.



Request a free sample copy of Mobile Health Market Report @ https://www.bharatbook.com/marketreports/Sample/Reports/1374920 The regional analysis of Global Mobile Health Market is considered for the key regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as the fastest growing region in terms of market share headed by Japan, China and others. The growth of Asia-Pacific region is witnessed owing to the high penetration of mobile healthcare platforms coupled with rising prevalence of chronic diseases.



The market players include- - Medtronic Inc - Cardionet Inc - Ihealth Lab Inc - Philips Healthcare - BioTelemetry Inc.



- LifeWatch AG - OMRON Corporation - Apple Inc - Qualcomm - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd The objective of the study is to define market sizes of different segments & countries in recent years and to forecast the values to the coming eight years. The report is designed to incorporate both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the industry within each of the regions and countries involved in the study. Furthermore, the report also caters the detailed information about the crucial aspects such as driving factors & challenges which will define the future growth of the market. Additionally, the report shall also incorporate available opportunities in micro markets for stakeholders to invest along with the detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product offerings of key players.



The detailed segments and sub-segment of the market are explained below: By Device: - Blood glucose meters - Pulse oximetry - Apnea and sleep monitors - BP monitors - Neurological monitoring devices - Wearable fitness sensor device & heart rate meters - Others By Services: - Monitoring services - Wellness and healthcare system strengthening solutions - Diagnosis services - Treatment - Prevention By Application: - Cardiovascular diseases - Diabetes, - Neurological diseases - Respiratory diseases - Others By Regions: - North America U.S.



Canada - Europe UK Germany ROE - Asia Pacific China India Japan ROAPEC - LAMEA Brazil Mexico - ROW Middle East & Africa Furthermore, years considered for the study are as follows: Historical year  2015, 2016 Base year  2017 Forecast period  2018 to 2025 Target Audience of the Global Mobile Health Market in Market Study: - Key Consulting Companies & Advisors - Large, medium-sized, and small enterprises - Venture capitalists - Value-Added Resellers (VARs) - Third-party knowledge providers - Investment bankers - Investors Browse our full report with Table of Contents: https://www.bharatbook.com/marketreports/global-mobile-health-market-size-study-by-device-application-services-and-regional-forecasts-2018-2025/1374920 About Bharat Book Bureau: Bharat Book is Your One-Stop-Shop with an exhaustive coverage of 4,80,000 reports and insights that includes latest Market Study, Industry Trends & Analysis, Forecasts & Customized Intelligence, Newsletters and Online Databases. Overall a comprehensive coverage of major industries with a further segmentation of 100+ subsectors.



Contact us at: Bharat Book Bureau Tel: +91 22 27810772 / 27810773 Email: poonam@bharatbook.com Website: www.bharatbook.com Follow us on: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments.

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[February 15, 2019] Global Health Insurance Market Size study, by Type, Product, Provider, Demographics, Provider network and Regional Forecasts 2018-2025

Bharat Book Bureau Provides the Trending Market Research Report on Global Health insurance Market Size study, by Type, Product, Provider, Demographics, Provider network and Regional Forecasts 2018-2025 under Services category. The report offers a collection of superior market research, market analysis, competitive intelligence and industry reports.







Global Health Insurance Market Size study, by Type (term coverage and lifetime coverage), Product (income protection insurance, medical insurance and disease insurance), Provider (public providers and private providers), Demographics (minors, adults and senior citizens), Provider network (Point of service (POS), preferred provider organizations, exclusive provider organizations and health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and Regional Forecasts 2018-2025 Global Health insurance Market to reach USD 1,856.2 billion by 2025.



Global Health Insurance Market valued approximately USD 1010.3 billion in 2017 is anticipated to grow with a healthy growth rate of more than 7.9 % over the forecast period 2018-2025. Rising disposable income and growing awareness regarding health insurance are some trends triggering the growth of the health insurance market over the forecast period. Since healthcare status of population is directly related to the economic development of the country. Hence, rising disposable income is anticipated to supplement the growth of the health insurance market over the forecast period of 2018-2025.





Request a free sample copy of Health Insurance Market Report @ https://www.bharatbook.com/marketreports/Sample/Reports/1374943 Key driving factors for the health insurance market are favorable government policies to promote health insurance along with the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. For instance: Federal government acts as regulator and also insures some public employees, while the 16 states maintain public hospitals. German government proposes many healthcare programs to make citizens aware about fatal diseases. Some programs are initiated to issue health insurance to citizens. Further, government also invests in IT strategy for health involving education, awareness and other public services about health insurance supplemented by law enforced insurances. As a result, the demand for health insurance would increase owing to the rising awareness about health concerns, promoting the growth of the market across the globe over the forecast period. Furthermore, the advent of digital insurance offers lucrative growth prospects for the health insurance market. However, lack of healthcare infrastructure is expected to hinder the growth of the market during the forecast period.



On the basis of segmentation, the health insurance market is segmented into type, provider, products, provider network and demographics. The type segment of global health insurance market is classified into term coverage and lifetime coverage. On the basis of provider segment, the market is diversified into public providers and private providers of which private providers is expected to grow significantly owing to the better claim services. The product segment is classified into income protection insurance, medical insurance and disease insurance. On the basis of demographics segment, the market is bifurcated into minors, adults and senior citizens of which adults holds the leading position owing to the rising health concerns and high prevalence of lifestyle diseases. Also, provider network segment is classified into Point of service (POS), preferred provider organizations, exclusive provider organizations and health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs).



The regional analysis of Health insurance Market is considered for the key regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and ROW. North America holds the leading position in Health insurance market owing to the growing healthcare expenditure. Whereas, Asia-Pacific is expected to emerge as the fastest growing region in terms of market share. The growth of Asia-Pacific region is witnessed owing to favorable government policies regarding health insurance along with the rising awareness about health insurance. Also, high prevalence of life-threatening diseases is also expected to supplement the growth of Asia-Pacific region over the forecast period.



The leading market players include- -Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company Ltd.



-AIA Group Limited, -China Life Insurance (Group) Company -Munich Re Group, -Prudential Financial, Inc -Anthem, Inc.



-Zurich Insurance Group Ltd.



-UnitedHealth Group -Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc -Blue Cross Blue Shield The objective of the study is to define market sizes of different segments & countries in recent years and to forecast the values to the coming eight years. The report is designed to incorporate both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the industry within each of the regions and countries involved in the study. Furthermore, the report also caters the detailed information about the crucial aspects such as driving factors & challenges which will define the future growth of the market. Additionally, the report shall also incorporate available opportunities in micro markets for stakeholders to invest along with the detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product offerings of key players. The detailed segments and sub-segment of the market are explained below: By Provider -Public providers -Private providers By Demographics: -Minors -Adults -Seniors Citizens By Provider Network: -Point of service (POS) -Preferred provider organizations -Exclusive provider organizations -Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) By Product: -Medical Insurance -Disease Insurance -Income protection Insurance By Type: -Term Coverage -Lifetime coverage By Regions: -North America U.S.



Canada -Europe UK Germany ROE -Asia Pacific China India Japan ROAPEC -LAMEA Brazil Mexico -ROW Middle East & Africa Browse our full report with Table of Contents :https://www.bharatbook.com/marketreports/global-health-insurance-market-size-study-by-type-product-provider-demographics-provider-network-and-regional-forecasts-/1374943 About Bharat Book Bureau: Bharat Book is Your One-Stop-Shop with an exhaustive coverage of 4,80,000 reports and insights that includes latest Market Study, Industry Trends & Analysis, Forecasts & Customized Intelligence, Newsletters and Online Databases. Overall a comprehensive coverage of major industries with a further segmentation of 100+ subsectors.



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Andrew "Andy" J. Martin, 78, of Gastonia, NC formerly of Fairmont, passed away peacefully in the presence of his family on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. He was born on May 14, 1943 in Fairmont son of the late John and Mary Coughlin Martin. He is survived by his children: Vickie Lynn (John Raymond)
Zhai Tianlin. (Photo/The Beijing News)

In a public apology on Thursday, actor Zhai Tianlin, who had been hit by plagiarism accusations over his doctoral research papers, said, "I lost myself amid a mentality of vanity and good luck."

Education authorities in Beijing have launched an investigation into Zhai, who has been the target of plagiarism allegations online.

The Beijing Education Commission and the Education Work Committee of the Beijing Committee of the Communist Party of China sent an investigative team to the Beijing Film Academywhere Zhai got his PhDto look into the matter, the academy said on Thursday.

Zhai, 32, is also a postdoctoral candidate at Peking University. He found himself in hot water last week on social media after a netizen accused him of plagiarism.

The academy launched its own investigation on Monday. It completed its preliminary collection of evidence and notified Zhai, it said, adding that it has zero tolerance for academic misconduct and will look into other matters uncovered by netizens.

"After I starred in a few films and TV series, I became full of myself and forgot that honesty is the most important principle," Zhai said in his apology letter posted on Sina Weibo on Thursday.

"Vanity misled me, and I brought this attitude into writing academic papers. I will withdraw from postdoctoral research at Peking University and I am deeply sorry to my school, teachers, fans and the public," he wrote.

Zhai raised a flurry of chatter online in August when he said in a live video appearance he did not know what the China National Knowledge Infrastructure was. CNKI is the largest and most widely used online academic library in China for university students writing theses and dissertations.

A post by a Sina Weibo blogger claimed one of Zhai's papers, which was published in an academic journal, was uploaded to CNKI and the 2,783-word article showed a 40.4 percent similarity with other people's work.

Another post by the same netizen claimed Zhai's doctoral dissertation could not be found in the CNKI database, while all the graduation dissertations written by his classmates were there.

Zhai's studio said on Feb 8 that he obtained a PhD from the Beijing Film Academy in June, and all his academic papers and dissertation were written by him under the guidance of supervisors.

He had met all graduation requirements from the academy and was willing to be held accountable for any academic misconduct, the studio said.

Netizens later said that Zhai's supervisor, Chen Yi, former director of the academy's performance institute, has only a bachelor's degree and has not published any academic papers. Doctoral supervisors at the academy are supposed to have a doctorate themselves and should have published at least eight academic papers and two academic monographs in the past five years.

Peking University notified Zhai in person of the results of its preliminary investigation on Wednesday, the school said on Thursday.

The university is aware of Zhai's desire to withdraw from the postdoctoral program and will act appropriately, it said.
Albany

Fifth-grade teacher Zeo Tavarez-Polanco is heading south during the upcoming Presidents Day weekend.

But rather than Florida or some beach resort, shes heading to the windblown plains of Tornillo, Texas, where shell participate in a teach in comprising teachers from around the nation to protest President Donald Trumps hard line on undocumented immigrants, including those seeking asylum.

They are especially angry over Trump's earlier policy in which children were separated from their parents and held in prison-like detention facilities, such as the tent city in Tornillo.

Its a topic that close to Tavarez-Polancos heart.

Not so much because she is herself the daughter of Dominican immigrants, but because she teaches kids from Ecuador, Mexico and Guatemala as well as Afghanistan and Myanmar, also known as Burma.

The 19-year veteran works in the Albany school districts Delaware Community School which offers a dual language program where students split their week with lessons that alternate between English and Spanish. Some of the students are native Spanish speakers who have learned English during their school careers while others speak English at home but are becoming proficient in Spanish as well.

Either way, when Tavares-Polanco saw news accounts in recent months of kids who were being separated from their parents as part of the Trump immigration crackdown, she got involved. She learned of the upcoming protest through social media including Facebook.

Thats irrelevant, she says of her own background. This is about humanity.

That three-year-old has not done anything to anybody, she said referring to the toddlers who have been separated from their families, with some ending up in detention centers like Tornillo.

The protest is being organized by Mandy Manning, a 2018 Teacher of the Year from Spokane, Wash., who last May handed Trump a stack of letters from immigrant students she teachers.

The effort, known as Teachers Against Child Detention, is supported by the American Federation of Teachers, which is the national parent group of the New York State United Teachers union.

Participants plan to gather outside the Tornillo detention center which is a tent city that was set up to hold undocumented migrant children. The center is being phased out and the kids have been sent elsewhere following protests against the separations.

But it remains a symbol of the governments policy toward undocumented families who have come to the U.S. from south of the border. The center is near El Paso, Texas, and the Mexican border.

During the event, set for this weekend, teachers will offer brief presentations and help staff informational tables that are being set up. And they hope to send a message about how members of the profession feel about the detentions.

The message is simple, said Tavarez-Polanco: Dont use the children.

She grew visibly emotional as she talked about what it must be like for youngsters, in a strange land, to be separated from their parents. This should never have happened, said the Tavares-Polanco, who has two kids, age 2 and 8.

She herself is an example of the American immigration story: Her grandparents and parents came from a rural area in the Dominican Republic to escape the poverty and lack of opportunity there.

She and her five siblings have all been educated and have professions in the U.S. She also has in-laws whove served in the military in Afghanistan. Its all about that opportunity, she said.

Despite her strong feelings, Tavares-Polanco doesnt discuss the separation policy in her classroom. This is not a child-appropriate conversation, she said.

Still, Trumps policies have crept into some lessons. When she was recently teaching a unit on Frances Maginot Line, her students, unprompted, drew parallels with the debate over a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

One of the kids said, Thats what President Trump is doing,  she recalled.

Built after World War I, the French Maginot Line was a series of physical fortifications to guard against future German intrusions. It famously failed during World War II.

rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU
A Rotterdam man faces child pornography, sex abuse, weapons and drug charges after police searched his computer and home.

Chandler B. Whittaker, 23, of 107 Nicholas Court was arrested on Thursday after an employee of a computer repair business called police about questionable images on Whittaker's laptop computer.

Detectives said they found over 100 images containing child pornography and a video of Whittaker having sexual contact with a female child.

They obtained a search warrant for Whittaker's residence and found an illegally modified AR 15 assault weapon, several illegal ammunition magazines, an electronic stun gun, two pairs of metal knuckles and 30.6 grams of marijuana.

Whittaker was charged with five counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child, a count of sexual abuse and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, all felonies. He also was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of marijuana, both misdemeanors.

Whittaker was arraigned in Rotterdam Town Court and sent to the Schenectady County jail on $40,000 bail.

Police said the investigation continues and further charges are possible. Detectives encourage anyone who believes their child may have been subjected to inappropriate contact by Whittaker to contact them at 518-355-7397.
Washington

Congress lopsidedly approved a border security compromise Thursday that would avert a second painful government shutdown, but a new confrontation was ignited  this time over President Donald Trump's plan to bypass lawmakers and declare a national emergency to siphon billions from other federal coffers for his wall on the Mexican boundary.

Money in the bill for border barriers, about $1.4 billion, is far below the $5.7 billion Trump insisted he needed and would finance just a quarter of the 200-plus miles he wanted. The White House said he'd sign the legislation but act unilaterally to get the rest, prompting immediate condemnation from Democrats and threats of lawsuits from states and others who might lose federal money or said Trump was abusing his authority.

The uproar over Trump's next move cast an uncertain shadow over what had been a rare display of bipartisanship to address the grinding battle between the White House and lawmakers over border security.

The Senate passed the legislation 83-16, with both parties solidly on board. The House followed with a 300-128 tally, with Trump's signature planned Friday.

Democrats overwhelmingly backed the legislation, with only 19  most of whom were Hispanic  opposed. Just over half of Republicans voted "no."

Should Trump change his mind, both margins were above the two-thirds majorities needed to override presidential vetoes.

Lawmakers exuded relief that the agreement had averted a fresh closure of federal agencies just three weeks after a record-setting 35-day partial shutdown that drew an unambiguous thumbs-down from the public. But in announcing that Trump would sign the accord, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders also said he'd take "other executive action, including a national emergency."

In an unusual joint statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said such a declaration would be "a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency and a desperate attempt to distract" from Trump's failure to force Mexico to pay for the wall, as he's promised for years.

"Congress will defend our constitutional authorities," they said. They declined to say whether that meant lawsuits or votes on resolutions to prevent Trump from unilaterally shifting money to wall-building, with aides saying they would wait to see what he does.

Democratic state attorneys general said they would consider legal action to block Trump. Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello told the president on Twitter "we'll see you in court" if he makes the declaration.

Despite widespread opposition in Congress to proclaiming an emergency, including by some Republicans, Trump is under pressure to act unilaterally to soothe his conservative base and avoid looking like he's surrendered in his wall battle.

The abrupt announcement of Trump's plans came late in an afternoon of rumblings that the volatile president was shifting toward rejecting it. That would have infused fresh chaos into a fight both parties are desperate to leave behind, a thought that drove some lawmakers to seek heavenly help.

"Let's all pray that the president will have wisdom to sign the bill so the government doesn't shut down," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said after a chaplain opened Thursday's Senate session.

Democrats say there is no crisis at the border and Trump is merely sidestepping Congress. And some Republicans warn that future Democratic presidents could use his precedent to force spending on their own priorities such as gun control. GOP critics included Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who said emergency declarations are for "major natural disasters or catastrophic events" and said its use would be of "dubious constitutionality."

White House aides and congressional Republicans have said that besides an emergency, Trump might assert other authorities that could conceivably put him within reach of billions of dollars. The money could come from funds targeted for military construction, disaster relief and counterdrug efforts.
Washington

William Barr was sworn in Thursday for his second stint as the nation's attorney general, taking the helm of the Justice Department as special counsel Robert Mueller investigates Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Earlier Thursday, the Senate voted 54-45 to confirm the veteran government official, mostly along party lines. Barr, who also served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993 during President George H.W. Bush's administration, succeeds Jeff Sessions. President Donald Trump pushed Sessions out of office last year after railing against his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation.

As the country's chief law enforcement officer, Barr will oversee the remaining work in Mueller's investigation into potential coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign and decide how much Congress and the public know about its conclusion. He'll also take over a department that Trump has publicly assailed.

Democrats, who largely voted against Barr, said they were concerned about his noncommittal stance on making Mueller's report public. Barr promised to be as transparent as possible but said he takes seriously the Justice Department regulations that dictate Mueller's report should be treated as confidential.

Barr will be tasked with restoring some stability after almost two years of open tension between Trump and Justice officials. Trump lashed out at Sessions repeatedly before he finally pushed him out in November, and he has also publicly criticized Mueller and his staff, calling the probe a "witch hunt" and suggesting they are out to get him for political reasons. The criticism extended to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller as special counsel. Rosenstein is expected to leave the department shortly after Barr takes office.

Trump has directed some of his strongest vitriol at department officials who were part of the decisions to start investigating his campaign's Russia ties in 2016 and to clear Democrat Hillary Clinton in an unrelated email probe that same year. Trump has repeatedly suggested that the agents and officials, many of whom have since left, were conspiring against him.

In an interview aired Thursday, fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe told CBS' "60 Minutes" that Justice Department officials discussed bringing the Cabinet together to consider using the Constitution's 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office after FBI Director James Comey's firing.

Three Democrats  Sens. Doug Jones of Alabama, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona  joined Republicans in voting to confirm Barr. GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican who voted no. He cited concerns about Barr's views on surveillance, among other issues.
Amazon on Thursday canceled its plans to build an expansive corporate campus in New York City after facing an unexpectedly fierce backlash from lawmakers, progressive activists and union leaders, who contended that a tech giant did not deserve nearly $3 billion in government incentives.

The decision was an abrupt turnabout by Amazon after a much-publicized search for a second headquarters, which had ended with its announcement in November that it would open two new sites  one in Queens, with more than 25,000 jobs, and another in Virginia.

Amazon's retreat was a blow to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, damaging their effort to further diversify the city's economy by making it an inviting location for the technology industry.

The agreement to lure Amazon to Long Island City, Queens, had stirred intense debate in New York about the use of public subsidies to entice wealthy companies, the rising cost of living in gentrifying neighborhoods, and the city's very identity.

"A number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward," Amazon said in a statement.

The company made its decision late Wednesday, after growing increasingly concerned that the backlash in New York showed no sign of abating and was tarnishing its image beyond the city, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions inside the company.

In recent days, de Blasio had tried to reach Jeff Bezos, Amazon's chief executive, according to one official. But Bezos did not speak with him, nor with Cuomo.

The company's decision was at least a short-term win for insurgent progressive politicians led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., whose upset victory last year occurred in a nearby district.

Her race galvanized the party's left flank, which mobilized against the deal, helped swing New York's Legislature into Democratic hands, and struck fear in the hearts of some local politicians.

On Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez seemed to revel in Amazon's decision, writing on Twitter that "anything is possible."

Not only progressive activists took issue with the Amazon deal: Michael Bloomberg, who championed New York City as a technology hub while mayor, questioned the incentive package earlier this month.

The company also had its supporters  in the city's business community, among some unions and within nearby public housing, where some residents were hopeful that the project would bring jobs. A pair of polls showed broad support around the city and state.

But in the end, it was not enough to persuade the company to ride out the torrent of negative attention.

Amazon did not inform the governor or the mayor of its decision to pull out until Thursday morning, shortly before the company posted its announcement online.

Cuomo and de Blasio reacted in starkly different ways. The governor blamed the newly emboldened Democrats who now control the state Senate for derailing the project.

"A small group of politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community  which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City  the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state," the governor said in a statement.

For his part, de Blasio turned on the company after having steadfastly backed the deal.

"We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world," de Blasio said. "Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity."

A decisive moment appeared to come when the Senate Democrats selected state Sen. Michael Gianaris of Queens for a state board with the power to veto the deal. Gianaris had once supported the efforts to bring Amazon to New York, but became a vocal critic after learning the details of the plan.

Over time, opposition to Amazon had spread from the specifics of the deal to the company's corporate practices. Elected officials and activists in New York drew attention to the company's anti-union stance and its work with federal immigration officials  positions unpopular with Democratic leaders across the country.

Amazon executives felt they had been open to answering questions, submitting to two City Council hearings, with another planned for later this month. They had begun working on a hiring plan, people with knowledge of the planning said, and were encouraged by public support in two polls of voters, conducted by Quinnipiac University and Siena College. While the subsidies were less popular, the deal to bring Amazon, and tens of thousands of jobs, was welcomed by a variety of groups.

On Wednesday, Cuomo had even brokered a meeting between Amazon executives and union leaders who had been resistant to the deal  including from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store union and the Teamsters.

"Amazon and the governor and everybody agreed yesterday on a way to move forward," said Stuart Appelbaum of the retail union, who was part of the meeting. "Shame on them. The arrogance of saying 'do it my way or not at all."'

Some unions supported the deal, and even those opposed had appeared willing to work with Amazon if the company agreed to not work against the unionization of its employees in New York. An Amazon representative, during one council hearing, pointedly said the company would not agree to such terms.

Kathryn S. Wylde, the chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, an influential business group, said the reception Amazon had received sent a "pretty bad message to the job creators" of the city and the world.
On Feb. 20, 2009, Steven C. Raucci, a Schenectady City School District official, was accused of arson in the August 2001 bombing of a Rotterdam home.

Raucci, the school district's facilities supervisor, had been arrested at Mont Pleasant Middle School when he arrived for work.

Among the evidence State Police seized was a small explosive device from his office and three handguns from his Niskayuna home.

It was the first in a series of charges after an eight-year arson investigation by State Police and local agencies around the Capital Region.

Raucci was indicted on 26 counts, including terrorism, arson, conspiracy, weapons possession and criminal mischief related to incidents in Clifton Park, Glenville, Rotterdam, Colonie and Schodack dating to 1993.

After a monthlong trial in 2010, Raucci was convicted of 18 of 22 charges for vandalizing the homes and cars of people he aimed to intimidate. He was acquitted of terrorism.

Click through the slideshow from the Times Union archive of Raucci's arrest, trial and conviction.

His conviction for arson, conspiracy and other crimes in a "wave of vandalism" was upheld in 2013.

Raucci, now 70, is serving a 23-years-to-life sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.
If you're in the mood for art and have no plans for Friday evening, here's an idea: Go to confession.

Not just any confession. And not just any church  you'll have to head to The Church, the Troy artists' space housed inside the former Saint Paul the Apostle Catholic parish. For three hours on Friday and by appointment early Saturday, The Church will present "Hail Mary," an exhibit on sin and repentance mounted inside the confessional booths near the front doors at 2247 12th St.

The group show is small, temporary and secular  irreverent, at times  in its portrayal of reconciliation, one of the seven foundational Catholic sacraments. And yet it fits. The seven contemporary artworks have something to say in the decommissioned space of an ancient religion, one that holds a significant spot in the history of arts patronage. (Three words: Michelangelo. Sistine Chapel.)

"A long time ago, they were the biggest employer of artists. They kept art alive," said Katherine Kim, curator of "Hail Mary." Added Hideyo Okamura, an artist based in North Adams, Mass., "It's an unusual space  but there have been many artworks done for the church."

His contribution to "Hail Mary" is an abstract painting employing shades of purple  a color traditionally associated with penance and Lent. "I thought it's kind of an interesting idea that confessionals, you know  you go in and you come out. It's a type of rebirth and clean slate. And artwork in general does a kind of similar thing." Art can be transformative  "and puts you into a different level or state of mind."

"That's the great thing about art," Kim said. Artists "create something, but it's a commentary at the same time."

The curator  who lives in Hudson with her husband, participating artist Stacy Petty  had been looking for places to mount shows when she heard about The Church, which houses artist studios in former classrooms and hosts events in the sanctuary. "I went to the space, and it was too big  the main church ... but I saw the confessionals, and I said, 'I can do a show in there.'"

Of the six participating artists, only Los Angeles artist Thomas Whittaker Kidd is Catholic. Kim is, too. "I'm Catholic. I grew up Catholic. I went to Catholic school, Catholic college, Catholic everything. So for me, this is kind of interesting to do a show in the confessionals."

Back when Kim was a kid, she'd discuss the rite with her friends. "We were just like, 'What are you gonna say? What are you gonna say?' 'Cause we'd have to go to confession  'I don't know, just say this.' I mean, you don't feel the guilt when you're that young."

What were her sins back then? "Well, lying, I think  that was a big one. 'Let's just say we lied.' Because we didn't know what to do."

For those out there who aren't Catholic, confession goes like this:

You wait until a booth is free  many have little lights over the door signaling a vacancy  then enter it, sit or kneel. (Some churches no longer have booths, and you don't need them, although sitting face-to-face with a priest offers no reassuring anonymity.)

You cross yourself. You tell the priest how long it's been since your last confession. Then you unpack your laundry list of sins. He gives you some penance  maybe a few "Hail Marys," maybe something more concrete. You say an act of contrition. The priest absolves you, you cross yourself again and head out and do your penance.

Walking up to a booth at The Church is a little different. For one thing: No heat. "You should definitely dress warm," said Madison LaVallee, a participating artist with a studio in The Church. The main space is cold, large and bright  white floors, sky-blue ceiling, rose-colored apse. It's empty. It echoes.

The confessionals stand at the front, two booths for the penitents sandwiching one for the priest.

To the left: LaVallee's sculpture, "7 Layer Dip," along with Okamura's "Mea Culpa" and Kidd's "Reaching for a Questionable Creature on the River Jordan."

In the middle: Michael Tong's "Heads of State," a bald, silvery head embodying the cleric in the middle.

To the right: Petty's sculpture, "Pickle Whipped," along with Susannah Auferoth's "Falling" and Kidd's "Riding the Top Knot."

"Pickle Whipped" melds Catholic iconography  specifically, the long, hooked staff known as a crosier  with ornately sculpted elements resembling some kind of a cephalopod. The piece, like his related work in an April exhibit at Holyoke's Readywipe Gallery, is best understood in terms of time travel. Let him explain it:

If you go "Hail Mary" Where: 2247 12th St., Troy When: 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Friday; email wanderingberet@gmail.com for Saturday admission Info: facebook.com/The ChurchTroy; thechurchtroy.com See More Collapse

"It's basically a giant sculpture that has fallen apart over time, like a relic  or like, let's say in the future, we find contemporary art in a field like you do a Roman sculpture buried in some farmer's field. And this is what you have. And you have this story behind it, that of course you're trying to piece together  like, if you went to a museum, and you see a Roman sculpture, and it's in its fragments. But they've pieced it together to what they thought it was, with different parts."

LaVallee's piece, meanwhile, is a densely packed commentary on the seven deadly sins, each biblical transgression portrayed by a different substance  spray foam for gluttony, for instance. She calls such works "material sandwiches" or "material composites," and her aim, with this one, was capturing the humanity behind the sins. Let her explain it:

"So I really am relating things to physical, sensory relationship  to a feeling  and in that way, making the seven deadly sins more digestible  or maybe not more digestible, but more human. ... I'm kind of transforming the whole thing. It will feel like a celebration or a monument to what it means to feel these feels."

Working within the confines of a confessional booth was, she said, a little different from the usual blank-slate gallery space. "We're not a traditional white cube. So that is also kind of interesting and makes you question the idea of where do we see art? Where do we view art? In a traditional space, or in a more non-traditional space?

"And that's really exciting to me, having the show be in a confessional. I mean, it's kind of a cube, but it's not a white cube," LaVallee said. "The space has a voice."

abiancolli@timesunion.com  518-454-5439  @AmyBiancolli
"Capernaum," Nadine Labaki's hectic and heartbreaking new film, borrows its name from an ancient city condemned to hell, according to the Book of Matthew, by Jesus himself. The word has since become a synonym for chaos, and modern Beirut as captured by Labaki's camera is a teeming vision of the inferno, a place without peace, mercy or order.

Its crowded streets and makeshift dwellings hold endless desperation, but the movie is too busy, too angry and too absorbing  too exciting, you might say  to succumb to despair. The sources of its remarkable energy are Labaki's curiosity and the charisma of her young star, Zain al Rafeea, who plays a boy named Zain.

Zain is around 12, though his precise age is unknown to him, his parents or the Lebanese authorities. In some ways, he looks much younger, a skinny urchin with big eyes and an air of worried determination. But he also seems older than his years  hard-working and resilient, with an impressive command of profanity and a steely defiance that can back down grown men.

When we first meet Zain, he is in jail and then in court. He has brought suit against his mother (Kawthar al Haddad) and father (Fadi Kamel Youssef) for bringing him into the world and failing to care for him or their other children. The courtroom scenes that frame the tale of Zain's ordeal at home and his adventures once he runs away serve a few distinct purposes. They offer a measure of comfort  a guarantee that whatever horrors he endures, our hero will at least survive  and also a dose of semi-satirical social critique.

The kindly, avuncular judge (played by an actual retired Lebanese jurist named Elias Khoury) and the officious lawyers representing Zain and his parents speak a language of reasoned inquiry and civic enlightenment. Their rhetorical pomp is meant to show the benevolent, problem-solving authority of the state, which has the power to discipline and protect its citizens. Everything that happens outside the court makes a mockery of this assertion.

At first, Zain finds relief from his disorderly home in the routines of work and the company of his siblings, especially his sister Sahar. He is in constant motion, running errands for shopkeepers in his neighborhood and helping his parents with their almost-legal and brazenly criminal enterprises. When he fails to prevent them from marrying off Sahar, who is 11, to their landlord's son, Zain flees. He seeks refuge in a shabby amusement park, and finds it with Rahil (Yordanos Shiferaw), an African refugee who lives in a nearby shantytown with her toddler son, Jonas (Boluwatife Treasure Bankole).

Zain looks after Jonas while Rahil, who is working illegally with a forged permit, scrubs floors and hauls garbage. The precariousness of their household is agonizing, even as the tenderness that holds it together is touching and understated.

That poverty and cruelty fail to utterly overwhelm kindness and fellow feeling is testament to the strength of Labaki's humanist convictions and also to her instincts as a storyteller.
Sunday

They're young, they're serious and they've been called one of the finest string quartets of their generation. The Doric String Quartet has been making their mark for more than a decade. The quartet, from London, is playing a handful of shows in the U.S. before heading back to England on Feb. 23. One of those performances is hosted by the Union College Concert Series. At Union, Doric will perform Haydn's B-flat major Quartet, Op. 33, No. 4, Bartok's Quartet No. 5, and Mendelssohn's E-minor Quartet, Op. 44, No. 2. 3 p.m. Sunday. $30. Union College, 807 Union St., Schenectady. 518-388-6080; unioncollegeconcerts.org

Sunday

If you've been waiting to see comics Steve Martin and Martin Short perform, you might not want to wait too much longer. Their new show is called "Now You See Them, Soon You Won't." In the performance, Martin and Short talk about their showbiz experiences, their comic influences and share other funny stories. They zing each other with one-liners and put on a few musical sketches. Martin, an accomplished banjo player, will play a few songs with his group, the Steep Canyon Rangers. Not to be outdone, Short sings a few songs with pianist Jeff Babko.

8 p.m. Sunday. $75.50-$179.50. Proctors, 432 State St., Schenectady. 518-346-6204; proctors.org

Sunday

Here come the mutts  and they're a little bit nuts. Ten dogs, all of them rescued from animal shelters, take the stage in "Mutts Gone Nuts," a family friendly "comedy dog-thrill" show. Trained by Scott and Joan Houghton, the puppies catch flying discs, do barrel tricks and dance routines and even jump rope. "Mutts Gone Nuts" also promotes the adoption of animals from shelters. 1 p.m. Sunday. $20. The Egg, Empire State Plaza, Albany. 518-473-1845; theegg.org

Friday

Piano prodigy Joey Alexander taught himself to play piano by listening to his dad's jazz albums. When he was 8, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization invited Alexander to play solo piano for jazz great Herbie Hancock during Hancock's visit to Indonesia. Two years later, Alexander, a Bali native, was invited by Wynton Marsalis to perform at a Jazz at Lincoln Center gala. Alexander, now 15 and a three-time Grammy Award nominee, has released four albums. His latest disc, "Eclipse," features Joshua Redman, Eric Harland, and Reuben Rogers. 7:30 p.m. Friday. $34.50-$44.50. Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, 30 Second St., Troy. 518-273-0038; troymusichall.org

Saturday and Sunday

It's going to be a rocking good time at the third annual Rock and Fossil Fun Fair. There's fun for everyone at the fair, which is going on Saturday and Sunday at the New York State Museum as part of the museum's "School's Out/Museum's In" slate of activities. Kids can bring their rocks and fossils from home and have them identified. They can also take part in any of 10 science activities, have their faces painted and get a balloon animal. And the best part? It's free. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Free. Adirondack Hall, New York State Museum, Madison Avenue, Albany. 518-474-5877; nysm.nysed.gov

Sunday

Integrating footsteps, claps and spoken word, stepping was developed in the early 20th century by African-American college students who belonged to Greek fraternities and sororities. Howard University in Washington, DC, is considered the birthplace of the form, but its roots can be traced much farther backto African and African-American body-percussion styles like the hambone, the ring shout and, of course, tap dance. This weekend, the annual Black History Month Step Show at the Palace features some of the best step teams from the Capital Region and beyond, who are keeping the tradition alive while infusing new energy and innovation. 5 p.m. Sunday. The Palace Theatre, 19 Clinton Ave., Albany. Tickets: $25; students, $20. 465-4663, (800) 745-3000 or http://www.palacealbany.org
Toulouse, France

To passengers, the A380 feels immediately different  spacious, smooth and oddly elegant for a jet so gargantuan. Yet to Airbus, it's become a burden so super-sized that the European manufacturer is ending its production for good.

The A380 is simply too big to sell. With funereal faces, Airbus CEO Tom Enders and other executives made a stunning yet long-anticipated admission Thursday that it was the wrong product at the wrong time, created to feed a demand for 800-seat jets that never materialized.

Less than 14 years after its maiden flight, barely a decade after it started carrying passengers, the A380 is being mothballed.

Just 17 more of the planes will be completed, wrapping up in 2021. Emirates, its last and most loyal customer, said Thursday it's switching to smaller planes instead.

Distraught fans  even within Airbus' own ranks  decried the decision. Unions in Britain, Spain and France fear for the 3,500 jobs Airbus says it might threaten.

One of the jetliner's first test pilots took a more philosophical view. While he's "feeling a bit sad" about the news, Claude Lelaie says the giant plane will be remembered for pushing the barriers of aviation, like the supersonic Concorde.

"Both made history and allowed progress, technological progress," he told The Associated Press from the southern French city of Toulouse, the cradle of Airbus' worldwide operations. "That's business  you have to ensure the success of the company."

This isn't how things were supposed to pan out for the world's biggest passenger jet.

Development talks for the plane began in 2000, meant to be Airbus' 21st-century answer to rival Boeing's 1960s-era 747, and one of the most ambitious endeavors in aviation. Its Rolls Royce engines were quieter than ever, far out on the extra-long wings. Carbon-fiber technology was used for the body to make it lighter and easier to maneuver. Its double-decker construction allowed room for bars, duty-free shops and even showers.

Lelaie was a co-pilot aboard the maiden flight of the superjumbo in 2005, 101 years after the Wright brothers' first flight.

Despite its huge size and weight, he called the A380 a "very nice aircraft to fly"  even on special low-speed flights when they deliberately stalled the plane to test its reactions.

Then French President Jacques Chirac hailed the plane as "a symbol of what Europeans can do together." Airbus' then chief salesman, John Leahy, called it "game-changing" for the industry.

Yet to detractors, the A380 smacked of hubris, a vanity project by managers who saw bigger as better despite an uncertain market for a plane so huge that airports had to modify their runways and gates.

It faced repeated production setbacks and cost overruns. Order cancellations led to a restructuring at Airbus and thousands of job cuts.

One emblematic problem: a standoff between German and French engineers over which software to use to design the cockpit. The company lost a quarter of its market value in a single day in 2006 when the resulting delays became public.

Enders says the A380 wasn't a flight of folly but a carefully studied gamble.

"We didn't stumble into it," he said. "Little did we know how the world would look in 2010, in 2019."

Airlines in fact seemed more interested in mid-size planes for regional routes, notably in Asia, where travel within the region has boomed in recent years. Even on longer routes, airlines seemed to prefer smaller planes that were easier to fill.

Salesman Leahy spent much of the 2000s trying to persuade customers not to cancel orders. The last major order was in 2013, from trusted Emirates.

Enders said he was "knee-deep" in the A380, and personally suffered from its failures, but the only way to get out of this "trap" was to say good-bye.

"The 380 may have just been too large of a step for the market to handle," said Rob Watts, CEO of aviation consulting company Aerotask.

The end came Thursday, as Airbus and Emirates announced that the airline had decided to transfer existing orders for A380s to smaller A350s and A320s.

The chairman and CEO of Emirates, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, said: "While we are disappointed to have to give up our order, and sad that the program could not be sustained, we accept that this is the reality of the situation."

The A380 has been the backbone of the Emirates fleet, based out of Dubai, the world's busiest airport for international travel.

The pall of grief at Airbus headquarters was tinged with a hint of relief, after years of straining to keep the A380 alive.

Airbus quietly prepared for the decision a year ago, building in the 463 million euros ($522 million) in losses the A380 cost the company last year into its 2018 financial results, announced Thursday. The company posted a jump in profit and upbeat forecast for the coming year despite a slew of challenges, including Britain's pending exit from the European Union without a new trade deal.

Even though the A380 wiped billions off Airbus profits in its development phase, Chief Financial Officer Harald Wilhelm says the company is expecting to break even on the overall program before it's scrapped.

Airbus, which has some 130,000 employees worldwide, is focusing on its many other planes, made in facilities from Mobile, Ala., to Tianjin, China.
Albany

A lot fewer New Yorkers have access to high-speed internet than the federal government is reporting, according to a recent study by tech giant Microsoft.

Figures released last year by the Federal Communications Commission estimated that about 394,000 residents in a state of 19.8 million people had no access to high-speed, but Microsoft recently estimated that figure much, much higher at more than 8.7 million people.

"There is strong evidence that the percentage of Americans without broadband access (nationwide) is much higher than the FCC's numbers indicate," according to a statement from Microsoft President Brad Smith. "Their real-world lack of broadband access differs sharply from the picture too often painted by inaccurate data in Washington D.C."

The issue of high-speed internet access is the heart of a dispute in New York between the state Public Service Commission (PSC) and Charter Communications, the owner of Spectrum, which purchased the Time Warner cable system in 2016.

State regulators said Charter failed to live up to an agreement as part of state approval of the sale that the company extend high-speed internet to 145,000 homes in regions without such service.

The PSC alleged that Charter was using expansions in places like New York City  where high-speed Internet is readily available  to satisfy the costly requirement when it was supposed to be expanding in rural areas of upstate. An agreement between the state and Charter is expected later this month to avoid the company having to sell off the system.

For the Capital Region, Microsoft and the FCC paint wildly different pictures of broadband access. Federal data estimates that more than 99 percent of households in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties have broadband access.

High speed bandwidth was defined by Microsoft as 25 mbps (megabits per second), which measures how much and how quickly data can be uploaded or downloaded.

A 1 mbps connection can be sufficient for general Web surfing, while streaming high-definition video can require up to 9 mbps, according to the website Nerdwallet. Frequent uploading and downloading of large files can require 50 mbps or more.

For the Capital Region, Microsoft came in with much lower estimates of broadband availability, with Albany County at the top, with about 73 percent, followed by Schenectady County (55 percent) Rensselaer County (50 percent) and Saratoga County (46 percent).

Washington County had the broadest gap in the state between federal figures (96.5 percent) and Microsoft's estimate (20 percent).

Microsoft said its data were based on actual app downloads, updates, games and other online communications, while FCC data relies on advertised available speeds by internet service providers.

Late Friday, the state Empire State Development defended the state's "nation-leading broadband expansion initiative."

Kristin Weiss Devoe, an ESD spokeswoman, said the Times Union reporting "improperly conflates the concept of "usage" with "availability". It is incorrect to compare Microsoft's usage data with the FCC's analysis of where broadband is and is not available. In this report, Microsoft used data from its software to determine internet speeds that consumers are currently using, which could be subject to myriad variables in addition to the internet service package purchased by the consumer."

In his report, Smith said lack of broadband access is harming the economic potential of underserved rural areas across the country, like Washington County and much of upstate New York.

"Without a proper broadband connection, these communities can't start or run a modern business, access telemedicine, take an online class, digitally transform their farm or research a school project online," he wrote.

He cited federal labor statistics that found the areas with the highest unemployment rates often those with the lowest availability of broadband.

The Microsoft study can be found online at https://bit.ly/2tL9h3q
Webster Groves, MO (63119)

Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High 91F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms before midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 76F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Thomasville, GA (31792)

Today

Partly cloudy with isolated thunderstorms developing during the afternoon. High near 85F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. A few clouds. Low 68F. Winds light and variable.
Local

AG presents bias bill to state Senate committee

MONTPELIER  Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan has given the state Senate Judiciary Committee a draft of a bill that would expand his powers when it comes to hate crimes and bias-motivated incidents.

The bill would also create a working group to establish a system of uniform reporting of biased-motivated incidents and require minimum training standards for law enforcement for hate crimes and bias incidents. It would require the attorney generals office to give the Legislature an annual report on hate crimes and bias incidents as well.

If passed, the bill would allow the attorney generals office to treat reports of bias-motivated incidents the same as it currently treats reports of an unfair act in commerce. The office would be able to investigate incidents where a crime has not been reported, but the incident was motivated by bias, be it racial, religious or otherwise. It would be able to fine those accused of engaging in bias-motivated incidents up to $5,000 and issue injunctions against the offender.

The bill comes after Donovans office recently investigated racial harassment former legislator Kiah Morris endured which she said led to her not seeking re-election last November. Morris was the states only black female member of the House.

Donovan said at the time while what Morris faced was offensive, it was protected by the first amendment and did not rise to the level of a crime.

The fact of the matter is, hate is pervasive in this country, Donovan told the committee Thursday. Theres an historical legacy of hate in this country, but from what I can perceive, the last couple years it seems that there is now a license to openly hate.

He said perhaps that comes from whats going on in with the leadership in Washington D.C., or because of the prevalence of social media where things can be amplified more than ever.

Donovan said addressing hate crimes and bias-motivated incidents is a top priority for his office. He said the bill hes presented to the committee is an important first step, but they arent going to be able to arrest or sue their way out of this problem. He said it starts at the community level.

Donovan said hes starting to see some of that because he has been around the state talking to high school students about hate speech and civil discourse. He noted the students are not as divided as others when it comes to race or religion or gender.

Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, the chairman of the committee, said hate crimes and bias-motivated incidents are an extremely important issue and will be taken seriously. Sears said there is a difference between criminal threatening and saying something repulsive or offensive that can be hurtful.

Julio Thompson, director of the Attorney Generals Civil Rights Unit, said setting up a system where law enforcement can report the bias-motivated incidents they respond to is important. Thompson said while a reported incident may not be a crime, it might be relevant evidence later if the offender involved does commit crime down the road that may be motivated by bias.

You can show a course of conduct by an individual. Part of the challenge in proving a hate crime is to show the motivation, that a criminal act was motivated by bias, he said.

No action was taken on the bill Thursday. Instead, the committee decided it would take a look at the bill and make changes that were necessary, including potentially waiting to implement the training standards the bill calls for until the working group has been established and it can see what training is needed for law enforcement.

eric.blaisdell @timesargus.com
CUMBERLAND  Many questions surround a recent vote, by four Allegany County school board members, that will ask Maryland officials to remove Wayne Foote from the panel. To add more mystery  as to how the situation could play out  theres not a lot of case history on the subject.
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London, February 14, 2019: Thomson Reuters, the answers company, have announced that the winner of the 2018 challenge for a legal tech startup to join the Thomson Reuters Labs Incubator is INTELLLEX, a startup that provides artificial intelligence powered knowledge management solutions for legal professionals.

INTELLLEX will join the Thomson Reuters Labs Incubator programme, launched in 2017, that gives startups the opportunity to enter into a minimum three-month partnership with access to the following:

Exclusive mentoring from Thomson Reuters and the opportunity to network with industry, business and technology experts

Specialist workshops to review, refine and test business ideas

Brand exposure and the ability to leverage the global reach of Thomson Reuters through marketing spotlight opportunities and events

Thomson Reuters legal databases and online business development tools

Thomson Reuters Labs is a global team of data scientists, research scientists and software engineers based in the UK, USA, Canada and Switzerland. The team works with customers, startups and world-class universities to develop innovative solutions to the challenges businesses face today.

The 2018 winner, Singapore-based INTELLLEX, provides a cloud-based knowledge library that enables legal professionals to access prior work product organized by legal concepts and document type.

INTELLLEX uses natural language processing and neural networks to develop artificial intelligence algorithms which can automatically categorize prior work product along legal dimensions such as legal issues, legal questions, or document type. This automatic categorization eliminates the time-consuming process that knowledge management professionals perform when categorizing prior work product manually.

INTELLLEX participates in the Barclays Banks LawTech Incubator (Eagle Labs) which operates in conjunction with the Law Society and 14 other partner law firms.

Jim Leason, Customer Proposition Lead in the Legal Professionals Europe business of Thomson Reuters, says: Our Thomson Reuters Labs Incubator is an important part of our efforts to deliver the technological solutions needed by law firms of the future.

INTELLLEX brilliantly brings together the power of artificial intelligence technology with the more basic need of law firms to organise, search and retrieve their knowledge in an efficient way. We are excited to explore a proof of concept where we may be able to enrich INTELLLEXs auto-categorization algorithms with ontologies and taxonomies that we have developed here in our Europe legal research and know how solutions.

Through working with select startups, we are also better able to accelerate our own projects and identify new trends in technologyits a two-way street.

The development of legal technology is moving fast and law firms are having to invest just to stay competitive. Any firm that falls behind in using technology may find it difficult to catch up, says Leason.

The drive to push for innovation within a particular industry must involve an entire ecosystem. The partnership with Thomson Reuters is a strong validation of the potential of our technology, said Chang Zi Qian, co-founder and CEO of INTELLLEX. We are honoured to be selected by the Thomson Reuters Labs Incubator. The team is looking forward to co-drive the proof of concept project with the Thomson Reuters team over the next few months.

Barry Dooney, Strategy and Operations Manager at Thomson Reuter Labs, says: The calibre of applications for our incubator program has exceeded our expectations. The selection of INTELLLEX into our incubator represents an exciting next phase in the growth of our program as we continue to partner with startups and other market disruptors.

Another recent addition to the Thomson Reuters Incubator program is Digital Claim. This Vienna-based startup uses machine learning technology to support insurance companies in claim recovery, has just secured funding from a US Private Equity fund and has signed contracts with several German insurers.

We are delighted to be working with legal tech startups and giving them a stepping stone to getting their solutions to market, says Leason.

Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is the worlds leading provider of news and information-based tools to professionals. Our worldwide network of journalists and specialist editors keep customers up to speed on global developments, with a particular focus on legal, regulatory and tax changes. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. For more information on Thomson Reuters, visit tr.com and for the latest world news, reuters.com.

CONTACTS

Tina Allen

Senior Director, Public Relations

+44 (0)20 7542 3789

Tina.allen@thomsonreuters.com
The second wave of Covid-19 is sweeping through India, and...

By Dr Monali C. Rahalkar and Dr Rahul Bahulikar
HC dismisses plea against TN govt's Rs 2,000 cash assistance scheme

Chennai, Feb 15 (PTI) The Madras High Court Friday dismissed a PIL challenging the Tamil Nadu government's move to extend a cash assistance of Rs 2,000 each to about 60 lakh BPL families in the state, holding that there was no irregularity or arbitrariness in the decision.

Moreover it was a policy decision of the government to provide special financial help to the poor and those affected by the recent Gaja cyclone and drought and cannot be interfered with, a bench of Justices S Manikumar and Subramonioum Prasad said in its order.

In the public interest litigation, petitioner 'Satta Panchayat Iyakka' -- a non-governmental organisation -- had contended that the number of below poverty line families given by the government was inflated and sought a direction against disbursement of the amount till the correct figure was arrived at based on authentic data.

On Monday, Chief Minister K Palaniswami had announced in the state assembly that the special assistance of Rs 2,000 each would be given to about 60 lakh BPL families across the state, keeping in mind the impact of Gaja cyclone as well as the prevailing drought conditions.

When the PIL came up for hearing Friday, the government informed that 32.13 lakh people in rural areas and 23.54 lakh in urban local bodies had been identified as poor and very poor families

State Advocate General Vijay Narayan also submitted a copy of the report on the process through which the rural poor families were identified.

In the report it was submitted that the Participatory Identification of Poor (PIP) process was conducted in 31 districts covering all the 385 blocks in phases between 2006-07 and 2014-15.

Hence, the government proposed to utilise the household wise data obtained through the PIP in rural areas and the information collected based on the designed parametres in urban areas from time to time, the A-G submitted.

"On going through the report, we are of the view that there is no irregularity or arbitrariness in the special financial help scheme announced by the government," the bench said in its order. PTI CORR VS

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New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) Nine workers were injured after a fire broke out in a three storey nail polish factory in outer north's Bawana industrial area on Friday morning, police said.

A call about the fire was received at 2.48 am after which 12 fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was brought under control by 5 am, a senior officer of Delhi Fire Service said.

The fire officer said it appears that the fire broke out in the basement and spread to the rest of the building, he said.

The injured were rushed to Maharishi Valmiki Hospital where they are being treated for their burn injuries, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Gaurav Sharma said.

The officer said one of the injured sustained around 40 percent burns. The others sustained minor burn injuries.

A case has been registered and the factory's owner, Hemant Bhagwani (34), was arrested, police said.

The workers were on night shift when the fire broke out.

During investigation, the workers told police that the fire originated from the exhaust fan and soon engulfed the entire building, Sharma said.

Police are verifying whether the factory was functioning legally and if it had fire fighting measures in place, Sharma added.

The incident comes days after 17 people were killed in a fire at a hotel in Karol Bagh. PTI AMP NIT NIT DIV

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SC asks Centre to consider eminent citizens, besides bureaucrats for appointment as information commissioners in CIC. PTI MNL SJK URD DV

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New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) The Delhi High Court Friday sought response of the AAP government on a plea by Balwan Khokhar, who along with former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment in a 184 anti-Sikh riots case, seeking parole to file an appeal.

Justice Najmi Waziri issued notice to the AAP government on the petition in which the convict said he wanted parole for a month to file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court's December 17, 2018 verdict.

The high court on December 17, 2018 had set aside the trial court's verdict which had acquitted Kumar in a case related 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 during that period.

The riots had broken out after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 by her two Sikh bodyguards.

The high court had also upheld the conviction and varying sentences awarded by the trial court to the other five -- Khokhar, retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal and former MLAs Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar.

It had also convicted them for criminal conspiracy to burn down residences of Sikh families and a gurdwara in the area during the riots.

The trial court in 2013 had 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.

The high court in its judgement had said that the riots were a "crime against humanity" perpetrated by those who enjoyed "political patronage" and aided by an "indifferent" law enforcement agency. PTI SKV HMP SA
New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) The Supreme Court Friday expressed unhappiness over some lawyers filing defective petitions and seeking wide publicity in the media, while referring to review pleas challenging its verdict in the Rafale case.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said lawyers file petitions in the apex court registry and instead of removing the defects of the pleas, they go to media for wide publicity.

"The other side is not so innocent...The petitioners go to media and claim wide publicity," the bench of Chief Justice Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said while referring to defective review petitions filed challenging its verdict in the Rafale case.

The apex court's observation came when it was hearing lawyers mentioning cases for urgent listing and hearing.

The CJI has asked the registrar (judicial) of the apex court to come and witness the mentioning proceedings so that the registry officials can get their act right and work more efficiently.

Earlier, the apex court had on December 14 dismissed a batch of 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 apex court had rejected the pleas seeking lodging of an FIR and a court-monitored probe in to alleged irregularities in the Rs 58,000-crore deal, in which both the countries have entered into an inter-governmental agreement (IGA).

Several petitions seeking review of the verdict, including one by AAP lawmaker Sanjay Singh, have been filed in the apex court.

The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation. PTI SJK MNL URD SMN
Kolkata, Feb 15 (PTI) A 42-year-old woman Friday sought the Calcutta High Court's permission to terminate her 28-week pregnancy after medical reports suggested that her child would be born with Down Syndrome, along with problems in the oesophagus, heart and abdomen.

Her lawyers, Kallol Basu and Apalak Basu, approached the division bench of the court after its single bench refused permission for the abortion.

Stating that losing a child is a mother's worst nightmare, the woman pleaded that her age and financial status will come in the way of giving the child required treatment and care.

The lawyers also told the division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice B Somadder that the child would suffer in absence of proper medical care owing to the family's humble financial condition.

They said that the petitioner, a homemaker, would approach a registered private facility for the medical process, if permission is granted, as government hospitals are averse to aborting a foetus at such an advanced stage.

Her husband (48) works in a private firm, earning a very modest salary, they reasoned.

The couple have another school-going child who is 13 years old.

The division bench, also comprising Justice Arindam Mukherjee, concluded the hearing and reserved its judgment, which it is likely to be delivered at the beginning of the coming week, given the urgency in the matter.

According to the Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971, permission of high court is required to abort a foetus which is 20 weeks old or more.

A single bench of the high court had on January 29 refused permission to the woman to terminate her pregnancy, when the foetus was 26-week old.

A medical board at the state-run SSKM Hospital had in a report to the court said the prognosis of the baby is likely to be better if it is delivered on completion of the full term of pregnancy.

The board also said test reports have suggested that the foetus was suffering from Down Syndrome, along with defects in the oesophagus, heart and abdomen.

Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty had noted that the report did not mention any threat to the petitioner's life.

Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder that involves birth defects, intellectual disabilities and characteristic facial features. PTI AMR RMS ZMN
Jaipur, Feb 15 (PTI) The Rajasthan government on Friday announced ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh and a job to the family members of CRPF jawans from the state who were among the 40 killed in the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Five CRPF personnel were also injured in Thursday's attack, one of the deadliest in Jammu and Kashmir, when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar. Soldiers Welfare Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said the government stands with the families of the slain soldiers in the tough times.

The state government will give Rs 25 lakh to the wives of martyred soldiers or Rs 1 lakh cash along with 25 bigha land or Rs 1 lakh cash with one MIG house, he said.

Khachariyawas said Rs 3 lakh will given to the parents of martyrs, a job for wife or son or unmarried daughter, besides other facilities.

Earlier in the day, the minister paid tributes to the martyred soldiers at Mahatma Gandhi's statue at the state secretariat. PTI AG DIV

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Chandigarh, Feb 15 (PTI) The Punjab government Friday announced that it would accord a state funeral to the four CRPF personnel from the state who died in the Pulwama terror attack, officials said.

The Deputy Commissioners of the native districts of the slain CRPF jawans have been directed about the same and asked to arrange a Guard of Honour at the time of their cremation, a spokesperson of the Punjab government said.

The four jawans from the state included Jaimal Singh of Dharamkot, Moga, Sukhjinder Singh of Tehsil Patti, Tarn Taran, Maninder Singh Attri of Dinanagar, Gurdaspur and Kulwinder Singh of Anandpur Sahib, Ropar, the official said.

The Punjab Assembly Friday strongly condemned the terror attack and passed a resolution for adjournment of the proceedings of the House for the day.

Around 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into their bus.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir. PTI CHS VSD RHL
New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) Activists of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) Friday protested near the Pakistan High Commission against the terror attack in Pulwama that killed 40 CRPF personnel and demanded that India should shut down the neighbouring country's diplomatic mission in Delhi.

Around 100 youth Congress workers assembled at Teen Murti Marg and raised slogans against Pakistan.

IYC vice president Srinivas BV alleged that there were lapses on the part of the government which led to the attack.

The protesters, who were scheduled to reach the Pakistan High Commission, were detained by police near Chanakyapuri police station at Teen Murti Marg.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a Jaish suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing around 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded on Thursday. PTI NIT VIT TDS TDS SOM

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Srinagar, Feb 15 (PTI) With the bugler playing the 'last post', Home Minister Rajnath Singh turned a pallbearer Friday as the bodies of 40 paramilitary personnel killed in an audacious terror strike in South Kashmir's Pulwama district were sent on their last journey home.

Singh, accompanied by a high-level team comprising officials from the CRPF, NIA and Home Ministry, arrived here Friday afternoon and drove straight to the adjacent CRPF campus where a wreath laying ceremony was held for the slain jawans.

As the bugler played the 'last post' and guard called for 'shok salami shastra' (reversing of arms in honour of fallen soldiers), a two-minute silence was observed after which the Union home minister gave a shoulder to the coffin of a jawan which was being taken to his native place in a special aircraft.

The home minister, Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath laying ceremony.

"The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans. I have paid my last respects to the martyrs of Pulwama. The sacrifice will not go in vain," Singh said.

The dignitaries stood in silence till the coffins were loaded in a truck which went to the Srinagar airport, the official said.

As many as 40 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles of the CRPF travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said those responsible for the attack will pay "a very heavy price" and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished. PTI ACB SKL AAR
Jhansi (UP), Feb 15 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday asserted the security forces have been given permission to choose the timing, place and nature of their response to the Pulwama terror attack, which left 40 CRPF personnel dead on Thursday.

Without naming Pakistan, he told a public meeting that the attack was an outcome of the neighbouring country's desperation as it is in a bad shape and has been forced to go to different countries with a "begging bowl" to meet even its daily expenses.

The prime minister was in the Uttar Pradesh town to lay the foundation stone of a defence corridor in the Bundelkhand region.

Pakistan thinks that it can force India into a bad shape as well, he said, asserting that it has been left behind in development due to policies it has adopted while India has been progressing day and night due to the path it had chosen.

A day after Jammu and Kashmir saw one of the worst terrorist attacks in the state, Modi said every Indian is in anger and he wanted to assure the 130 crore people of India that the sacrifices of CRPF soldiers will "not go in vain".

"Security forces have been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response... This is an India of new convention and policy," he said, drawing big response from the crowd.

He also dwelt at length about the development measures his government has taken for the state.

Modi had cancelled his political events in the wake of the terror attack but continued with government programmes, which included inaugurated of several development projects here and launch of Vande Bharat train in New Delhi. PTI KR JTR NAB NAB DV

DV
Minister denies fresh reports of question paper 'leak'

Kolkata, Feb 15 (PTI) Like the two previous days,

reports poured in on Friday afternoon that images of History

question paper of Madhyamik examination were circulated on

social media shortly after the test began, but the state

education minister said there was no 'leak'.

Purported images of Bengali and English question

papers had also been circulated on WhatsApp on Tuesday and

Wednesday respectively, after the state board's school leaving

examinations began.

Asked about reports of purported images of History

question paper circulated on WhatsApp on Friday, the third day

of the class ten board examinations half an hour after start.

"I have kept a tab on the examination process today.

There has been no incident of any question paper leaked on

WhatsApp before the examination," Chatterjee told reporters.

He said the examination passed off smoothly like the

two previous days and mobile phones were not allowed inside

examination halls.

Chatterjee had discounted reports of any question

paper leak on first two days of examinations.

"If someone clicks a photo half an hour after writing

the paper, can that be termed as question leak? Question leak

happens when it comes out before the commencement of the

examination," he had told a press meet on Wednesday.

He had said some people were trying to malign the West

Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBSEB) that conducts the

Madhyamik examination.

The WBBSEB had lodged a complaint with Bidhannagar

Police Cyber Crime cell against unknown persons for sharing

purported images of Bengali question paper, WBSEB president

Kalyanmoy Ganguly had said.

On Friday's incident, Ganguly said, "If anyone has got

any such image, please share the sender's number with us."

A total of 10,66,000 students are appearing in the

class 10 school leaving examination.

Chatterjee said, "I have continuously been in touch

with district magistrates and superintendents of police during

the day. There is no question paper leak. These are rumours

being spread deliberately." PTI SUS

NN NN
Rahul Gandhi to visit Chhattisgarh Saturday

Raipur, Feb 15 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi

is scheduled to arrive in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district

Saturday to take part in `Adivasi Krishak Adhikar Sammelan'

(convention for tribal farmers' rights).

During the programme at Dhuragaon village, Gandhi will

distribute landdocuments to farmers who have been returned

their lands acquired in 2008 for a Tata Steel project, an

official here said.

He will also distribute Forest Rights Certificates

and farm loan waiver certificates.

Gandhi will also dedicate projects worth Rs 21.75

crore in Bastar division.

Fulfilling its poll promise, the Congress government

inChhattisgarh has been returning to farmers the land

acquired for Tata Steel project which remained unused after

the project was scrapped.

Total of 1,764.61 hectares of land of 1,707 farmers

from ten villages had been acquired by the government in 2008.

PTI TKP

KRK KRK
Washington, Feb 15 (AFP) Donald Trump hailed Pyongyang's "tremendous" economic potential Friday, ahead of a second scheduled summit between the US president and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un.

"Their location between South Korea and Russia and China right smack in the middle is phenomenal. And we think they have a great chance for tremendous economic prosperity in the future," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Pyongyang has yet to provide any official confirmation of the Feb 27-28 summit, which will be the second time the two leaders come together following their June 12 Singapore meeting.(AFP) SMJ

SMJ
Dhaka, Feb 15 (PTI) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who won a historic fourth term, becoming the country's longest-serving leader, has indicated that she will retire after the current term to promote young leaders, according to a media report.

In an interview with the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) 71-year-old Hasina, who assumed office just a month ago, for the fourth time as the prime minister, said she wanted to retire after the five-year term, the Bangladesh daily Dhaka Tribune reported.

"It's the third consecutive term and before that I was prime minister (1996-2001), so it's my fourth term. I don't want to continue for more (time). I think that everybody should take a break so we can accommodate the younger generation," she said.

On Tuesday, at a cultural event in Gazipur, the prime minister said she would like to go back to her ancestral village of Tungipara in Gopalganj to spend her retirement, the daily said.

Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh's founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won the 11th parliamentary elections in December last year with a landslide victory even as Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party rejected the polls marred with violence that claimed 18 lives, making it one of the deadliest polls in the country.

The Awami League chief was pitted against a united opposition Jatiya Oikya Front (United National Front) led by octogenarian Kamal Hossain, an Oxford-educated jurist and former foreign minister.

Her arch-rival ex-premier and BNP hief Khalida Zia, who has been serving a 17-year sentence for corruption, was barred from contesting the polls.

Asked about her plans about the rest of her tenure, Hasina said the fight against poverty will continue to be her first priority.

"Food security, housing, education, healthcare, job opportunities; these are basic needs," she said, "Definitely, every human being wants a better life We have to ensure that." PTI PMS AKJ PMS

PMS
Colombo, Feb 15 (PTI) Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday said it was the time for the Sri Lankan communities to forget the past history and move ahead.

Addressing a gathering in the former LTTE administrative capital of Kilinochchi, he said the island cannot live in the past.

"It is time that Sri Lankan communities forget and forgive the past difficult history and move forward," Wickremesinghe said.

"We all must admit that mistakes were made, apologise to each other and moved forward to achieve reconciliation," her said.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ran its parallel government from Kilinochchi until the Sri Lankan government wrested control of the entire north and east from the liberation group's grasp in 2009.

He also underlined the need for a process of truth and reconciliation.

Last week, the prime minister proposed to the Cabinet to set up a "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" to deal with issues of the post conflict reconciliation.

Wickremesighe said legal action against those responsible may achieve nothing but a lot more could be achieved by forgiving and forgetting the past.

The National Unity government, in the run up to the 2015 presidential election, promised a true reconciliation mechanism by way of a new constitution to address the grievances of the Tamil minority community.

A process which started in 2017 to formulate a new constitution ran into difficulties with pro Sinhala majority nationalists whipping up passions claiming the move was intended to grant Tamils a federal structure for the north and east which would eventually disintegrate the island's unitary character.

The main opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose decisive military action brought an end to the LTTE's three decades old separatist campaign, has dubbed the constitutional making process as one which would pave way for the Tamil extremists to achieve a separate state which they could not do by waging war against the Sri Lankan state. PTI CORR SMJ

SMJ
Mumbai, Feb 15 (PTI) Kartik Aaryan says his upcoming film "Luka Chuppi" has a different, fun take on live-in relationships.

The actor believes Indian society has become more realistic and being in live-in is no longer a big deal.

"Indian society today is more realistic... In a way it is good that our thinking is widening. People are open to thinking in a way which was not there earlier. We are in a good democratic situation where we are free to think, free to say and do things, which are not harming anyone else," Kartik told PTI.

Bollywood has made several movies on the theme of live-in relationship namely "Salaam Namaste", "Cocktail", "Shuddh Desi Romance", "Katti Batti" among others, Kartik says "Luka Chuppi" is different from all them primarily because it is "live-in with family". "This is the first film which is saying that come live-in with family. It is the funny quotient of the film. This has never happened. This is the unique and interesting aspect about the film.

"'Luka Chuppi' was one script that I really loved. It is content driven film which has commercial aspect to it. We are happy that the trailer has got good response and there is positivity around the film," he said.

Also starring Kriti Sanon, the film is set to release on March 1. PTI KKP BK

BK
Mumbai, Feb 15 (PTI) Nagpur-based director Anurag Bhusari, who has made a film on Union Minister Nitin Gadkari titled "Gadkari", says the movie is not a propaganda and merely chronicles facts.

The trailer of the movie was recently released on YouTube and Anurag says the film takes a balanced stand on the life of the Minister.

"Lately, there have been a number of biopics (on politicians) where people said they were like propaganda. But what I can assure the audience is that I have only shown the facts," Anurag told PTI.

"I have not tried to show 'Look how Nitin Gadkari is a good person' but I have shown his struggles. I have shown the facts and everything which has happened with him," he added.

"We have covered his life, growing up years up until 2014, until he became a Union Minister, we have covered everything."

The feature film joins a long list of biopics being made on politicians in Bollywood.

Anupam Kher featured in "Accidental Prime Minister", which chronicled ten years of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office while "Thackeray" brought to life Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray's journey.

Vivek Oberoi will headline a biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the shooting of which is underway.

With a crew of nearly 20 people, Anurag started working on the project last year in September, after a research period of six months and completed the film in under two months.

Shot entirely in Nagpur, the film is made by crowd funding and Anurag says the decision was taken to avoid interference.

"It would have been easy to take a single producer, there were people who were ready to invest in the name of the protagonist but I thought it'll be better if we make it as a crowd funded film because then I have the liberty to make it my way.

"If I had taken a single producer, there would have been a political influence or I would have been asked to make changes in the script. So crowd funding was difficult, but the right process."

When asked if he took permission from Gadkari before making the film, Anurag said, "We never asked him for permission but I had a conversation with his wife Kanchan Gadkari and we met his childhood friend.

"He might have been aware about the film but I never had a word with him."

"Gadkari", which features Rahul Chopda in the lead, is looking for a release on YouTube before March 5. PTI JUR SHD BK

BK
Dharamsala, Feb 15 (PTI) More than 200 scientists from seven countries are participating in the International Group Meeting on wheat being held at CSK Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, Palampur, near here.

Addressing the conference, former Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), V L Chopra, said, "Wheat productivity enhancement through climate smart practices was a timely and an important issue. Wheat productivity was at apex point so to take it to next level was a challenge for the scientists."

He also called for international collaborations on research issues related to wheat.

Michael Baum, Director, Biodiversity and Crop Improvement, International Centre for Agriculture Research in Dryland Areas, Morocco, said India is an important country for farm research.

G P Singh, Director, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) of ICAR, Karnal, said that earlier research concentrated on increasing the wheat production but now the emphasis is on value addition and finding solutions to new diseases for this important crop.

Ashok Kumar Sarial, Vice-Chancellor of the host University, informed that wheat is grown all over the state occupying 65 per cent of cultivable area.

Scientists from countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Jordon and Morocco are taking part in the event. PTI CORR RUJ MR

MR
New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) In the aftermath of a massive fire at a Karol Bagh hotel killing 17 people, the Delhi government has cancelled fire safety licences of 30 establishments in the area in the last two days for various violations.

Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain said that the fire department will intensify its drive against errant hotels across the city to prevent recurrence of Karol Bagh-like incident in the future.

Jain told reporters here that in the last two days, 45 hotels were inspected by department officials in Karol Bagh and of these. Thirty were found to be violating rules and their fire safety certificates were cancelled.

According to the minister, municipal corporations and police have been asked to take necessary action to seal these establishments. On February 12, a fire tragedy at Arpit Palace hotel had claimed the lives of 17 guests.

On February 13, 23 hotels were inspected by the fire department and of this, 13 were found violating fire safety norms. Next day, 17 hotels out of 22 were found to have violated rules. We have written to municipal corporation and police to take steps to seal them, he said.

The minister said that in its report the fire department said that hotel management used carpets and covered walls with wooden material, which fuelled the flames. The minister added that a magisterial inquiry is underway in the matter.

Jain said that the drive will continue against errant hotels violating fire safety norms. PTI BUN RT
Lincoln, NE (68508)

Today

Considerable cloudiness. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.
New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) India on Friday revoked the most-favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan in the aftermath of Pulwama terror attack and, according to sources, is considering punitive actions like significant hike in customs duties, port restrictions and ban on goods imported from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the MFN status to Pakistan stands revoked.

Withdrawal of the MFN status would significantly hit Pakistan's exports to India, which stood at USD 488.5 million (around Rs 3,482.3 crore) in 2017-18.

"As the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has decided to withdraw the most-favoured nation status to Pakistan, the government can take punitive actions under the Customs Act and the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act," sources said.

Under these laws, the government can restrict trade of certain goods, significantly increase customs duties and impose port-related restrictions on Pakistani goods, they said.

The main items which Pakistan exports to India include fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products, bulk minerals and ores and finished leather.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in 1996, but the neighbouring country had not reciprocated.

The MFN status was accorded under World Trade Organisation's (WTO) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this, and are members of the WTO.

Under the MFN pact, a WTO member country is obliged to treat the other trading nation in a non-discriminatory manner, especially with regard to customs duty and other levies. Withdrawal of the status would mean that India could impose heavy customs duties and discriminate Pakistani goods vis-a-vis similar items of other trading partners.

In 2012, Pakistan had committed to giving the MFN status to India but retracted later due to domestic opposition. Instead of MFN, Pakistan said it was working on granting Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) status to India but that also was not announced.

Total India-Pakistan trade has increased marginally to USD 2.41 billion in 2017-18 as against USD 2.27 billion in 2016-17. India imported goods worth USD 488.5 million in 2017-18 and exported goods worth USD 1.92 billion in that fiscal.

Another official source said that it is not obligatory on the part of India to inform the WTO about its decision as it has invoked security clause of the multi-lateral trade rules. India has invoked Article 21 of the WTO which talks about security exceptions.

The government would soon come out with a list of Pakistani items which would face restrictions or high duties.

India mainly exports raw cotton, cotton yarn, chemicals, plastics, manmade yarn and dyes to Pakistan.

Trade experts said that this decision would not have a major implication on bilateral trade between the countries as the value of trade is below USD 3 billion (around Rs 21,385 crore) annually.

"The government should take a carefully crafted step as India's exports are more than imports. If Pakistan will take retaliatory actions, then it would impact more to India," international trade expert with Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Rakesh Mohan Joshi said.

Professor Biswajit Dhar of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said that Pakistan mainly exports to India through Dubai and Singapore, "so we need to target that also".

The CCS meet was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. PTI RR CS MR
Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood to the ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Friday afternoon and issued a very strong demarche in connection with the terrorist attack in Pulwama yesterday, said a statement from the MEA. He conveyed that Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against the Jaish-e-Mohammed and that it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories. The foreign secretary also rejected the statement made by the foreign ministry of Pakistan yesterday, the statement added.

Pakistan's foreign ministry had stated that we strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations. Its spokesperson had added that the attack on Pulwama in Indian Occupied Kashmir is a matter of grave concern. We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in the Valley.

The suicide attack on a bus carrying personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force claimed 40 lives on Thursday. It is the worst attack on security forces in the Valley in recent years. The attack has been condemned across the world, with most of them expressing solidarity with India.
He will next be seen in The Big Bull
Roma  Alfonso Cuarons powerful film about daily life in Mexico in the 1970s  has been nominated for 10 Oscars, including the top prize as best picture of the year. Cuaron has been praised for both his technical and storytelling skills and members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have rewarded him with nominations for direction, cinematography and original screenplay.

Despite its popularity  Roma had limited theatrical release but is available for streaming on Netflix  the film contains some subtle but important elements that have been largely ignored by critics so far.

Two of these elements are Mexicos political context in the early 1970s and the ongoing conditions that have characterized domestic workers lives since.

The main character of Roma is Cleo (played by Yalitza Aparicio, who was nominated for best actress), a domestic worker based on a woman named Liboria Rodriguez (known as Libo) who worked for Cuarons family when he was a child.

Who were Los Halcones?

Cuaron situates Romas characters amid significant historical events: the fight of some Mexicans for social progress and their opposition to a political, authoritarian regime that worked to maintain its privileges through various means.

One of these means is exemplified in the film by the character Fermin  Cleos boyfriend (played by Jorge Antonio Guerrero) who belongs to the paramilitary group Los Halcones (The Hawks).

We know now by various direct sources and United States government declassified documents that high-ranking Mexican government officials secretly organized, financed, trained and armed various groups, including Los Halcones, to help quash social movements in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Los Halcones were composed of around 2,000 young men, aged 18 to 29, distributed in squads of 200 members each.

The squads leaders were middle-class university students who, for their participation, received free education, weekly stipends and the promise of a bright future in the ruling Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI).

The assailants and hit-men were gang members and working class and unemployed young men. They were paid half of what the leaders received.

Los Halcones were also trained by Mexican military and police personnel who, subsidized by USAID, had previously received training at the International Police Academy in Washington.

An attack on Mexican democracy

On June 10, 1971, around 10,000 demonstrators, mainly students, marched to demand improvements to Mexicos democratic, economic and social conditions.

In Roma, Cleo and others pass these demonstrators on their way to a furniture store. They also pass, in a depiction of real life, a long row of riot police trucks and idle police officers, while Halcones patiently wait at the corner.

Armed with canes and M1 and M2 rifles, Halcones attacked demonstrators, producing the second bloodiest event in modern Mexican history (El Halconazo), only after the Tlatelolco massacre of October 1968.

It is estimated that around 120 people were killed and hundreds more injured, including children, women and seniors. Although the military and uniformed police knew beforehand about the attack, they stood by and did nothing.

Masculinity and violence

Fermin belongs to the second-tier group of Los Halcones. In the hotel, he confesses to Cleo: I owe my life to martial arts [to Halcones]. I grew up with nothing, you know?

Portraying the real Halcones youth, Fermins participation offered him certain social mobility but only in exchange for committing atrocities.

Some young mens allegiance to Los Halcones and their corrupt decisions were thus mediated by class aspirations, ideology and violence.

Los Halcones violence also manifested in gender violence. This is depicted in Roma when Fermin dismisses his paternity and threatens to beat Cleo and their unborn daughter if she insists on looking for him.

Moreover, despite his low-class background, Fermin ends the scene yelling gata at Cleo, an upper class-based insult aimed only at domestic servants, reflecting the latters low ascribed social status.

Domestic workers in Mexico

A second element that has not been widely discussed, which Roma touches on, is the historical conditions of domestic workers.

As of June 2018, there were 2.2 million domestic workers in Mexico. Around 95 per cent are women, mostly young and middle-aged (some are even children).

In 2010, 58 per cent of Indigenous women in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area were domestic workers. Many migrated from the countryside to the city. This means that, as Indigenous migration researcher Severine Durin asserts, domestic work is strongly shaped by ethnicity.

It is not a coincidence then that Cuarons former nanny Libo or the characters Cleo and Adela in Roma are (young) Indigenous women.

Disadvantageous labour conditions

Mexican laws do not offer domestic workers the same rights and benefits that other workers enjoy, such as paid sick days and holidays. They can also be dismissed without warning at any time.

Only as recently as December 2018, the Mexican Supreme Court determined that it is unconstitutional for employers to deny domestic workers access to social security, meaning mainly access to public health services.

It is commonplace for domestic workers to face low wages, long working hours and no holidays. Some also experience humiliation, mistreatment and discrimination for speaking their Indigenous language, wearing traditional clothes, practising cultural customs and for their physical traits.

Others experience forced confinement or sexual abuse by the men of the family or teenage sons. Yet, domestic workers are expected to thank their employers for the opportunity to have a job.

Only one in 10 women file a complaint when they encounter a problem with their employers.

Domestic workers with children also need to make extraordinary arrangements for their own children to be taken care of, meaning prolonged separation many times while they take care of other families children. Their caring and affection not only become commodified, but also dislocated.

Not really part of the family

Some employers consider domestic workers as part of the family. However, uneven power relations, class differentials, discrimination and racism make them not really part of the family.

Cuaron mentioned that he was forced to recognize several decades later, and only after he started working on Roma, that Libo was, first, a woman, and second, an Indigenous woman. He then realized that Libo belongs to a world of affective needs, a world of sexual desires, and also to a more dispossessed group, a world of injustice.

In Roma, the family members are unaware of the domestic workers social and personal lives.

When Cleo is taken to the delivery room, the grandmother, Teresa, is asked by a nurse about Cleos second last name, her date of birth and if she has insurance. But Teresa cannot answer those questions.

Cleo picks up after the family dogs, feeds the family, prepares the kids for school, puts them to bed, washes and irons the familys clothes and cleans the house. Still, the grandmother ignores everything about Cleo despite living in the same house (usually, domestic workers sleep and even eat apart from the family).

Cleo is part of the family but she is not really part of the family.

Daily violence

Overall, Roma contains various stories that subtly unveil different forms of violence: poverty, social exclusion and gender-based violence promoted by sexist and misogynistic forms of masculinity.

Moreover, domestic workers quiet but endless work, which in Roma takes over half of the film, hinders uneven power relations mediated by class, gender, age, affection, ethnicity, race and the urban/rural divide.

These factors intersect to maintain domestic workers, mainly (Indigenous) women, in subordinate positions. They are conveniently imagined as part of the family, but they are never really part of the family, neither in Mexico, nor in Canada, nor anywhere else in the world.

This is a corrected version of a story originally published Jan. 8, 2019. The original story said: in 2010, 58 per cent of Indigenous women were domestic workers. It should have said: In 2010, 58 per cent of Indigenous women in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area were domestic workers.

Alejandro Hernandez, Instructor and PhD candidate in Sociology and Political Economy, Carleton University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Finance Trust Bankis licensed as a Tier 1 Commercial Bank after taking over the financialservices business of Uganda Finance Trust Limited (MDI). Finance Trust Bank isa fully-fledged commercial bank serving a clientele of over 400,000 depositors andover 23,000 borrowers, through a network of 36 branches countrywide. The bankoffers a variety of Products and services including; Savings, Current accounts,Loans, Money transfer services and Bills payments to its target market whichcomprises of micro, small and medium entrepreneurs, salary earners and youth.
The InternationalRescue Committee helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered byconflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Itwas created by Albert Einstein more than 80 years and has been working inUganda since 1998. It has particularly working in the conflict zones where tensof thousands of people have been kills and over 1.6 million displaced.Following a peace agreement in 2006, Ugandans are returning home and looking torebuild their lives. The IRC is there to protect women and children fromviolence and exploitation by fostering a safe environment and encouragingeducation, and is supporting farmers and small businesses, and helpingcommunities promote peace and long-term development.
Brenda Darlene (Burnett, Witt, Bollmer) Curtin, 52, of Cincinnati, Ohio passed away June 21, 2021. She was born November 13, 1968, in Cincinnati, Ohio to the late Gladys (Jones) Napier and the late Wilburn Burnett. Brenda was preceded in death by a daughter, Jennifer Witt and sisters Alta Ru
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's lies caught up with him in federal court on Wednesday. The result was a decision that likely means, absent either a deal or a presidential pardon, he'll spend the rest of his life in jail.

The Post reports:

"The judge's finding that Manafort, 69, breached his cooperation deal with prosecutors by lying after his guilty plea could add years to his prison sentence and came after a set of sealed court hearings."

Manafort had denied intentionally lying after his plea deal, but U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District of Columbia found he lied in three of five areas alleged by prosecutors. She said she would factor in his deception on other topics at sentencing March 13.

The subject matter of Manafort's lies goes to the core of possible cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russians linked to Russian intelligence - in this case, Konstantin Kilimnik, who met with Manafort during the 2016 presidential campaign.

In particular, the court found that Manafort lied about his contacts with Kilimnik both during and after the election. Manafort was also found to have lied about "a payment that was routed through a pro-Trump political action committee to cover his legal bills, and about information relevant to another undisclosed investigation underway at the Justice Department."

In some sense, we should have expected this outcome. "No surprise Manafort was caught lying again," says Joyce White Vance, a former federal prosecutor. "The open question is whether Manafort was freelancing or whether others from the campaign were involved."

In previous court filings that were inadvertently released, we learned that special counsel Robert Mueller had evidence that Manafort gave Kilimnik private polling data. This exchange, according to what federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann told a federal judge last week, went "to the heart" of the Mueller investigation.

The Post previously reported that, at a hush-hush August 2, 2016 meeting at the Grand Havana Room, a private cigar room in New York, Manafort, deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates and Kilimnik discussed "a proposed resolution to the conflict over Ukraine, an issue of great interest to the Russian government, according to a partially redacted transcript of the Feb. 4 hearing." It was there that there may have been "a handoff by Manafort of internal polling data from Trump's presidential campaign to his Russian associate."

Manafort finds himself in a much worse position than he was as a cooperating witness trying to whittle down his potential sentence for eight felony convictions handed down last year in Virginia. "Manafort is either the most self-destructive, irrational liar in history, or he is still protecting a secret so dark that exposing it would kill his chance for a pardon," former Justice Department spokesman Matt Miller tells me. "Now that he's facing a jail sentence that could stretch for the rest of his life, we'll find out if his risky gamble will pay off."

This, in short, was collusion - Trump's top campaign official giving material to a suspected agent of a hostile foreign government that the campaign had already been warned was attempting to interfere with our election. Whatever you call it - direct or indirect evidence - this now is one link proven in court between the campaign and the Russians. We know of others, of course, including the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 designed to get dirt on Hillary Clinton, Trump's public call for Russia to go after Clinton's emails, and more than 100 contacts between Russian figures and members of the Trump circle.

Oddly, it was on Wednesday morning that we learned Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, believed there'd been no direct evidence of collusion. That assertion is hard to square with the court's finding later on Wednesday and publicly available evidence. The only question is which of these contacts Trump was aware of and/or authorized, and what the nature of any quid pro quo may have been.

Former prosecutor Mimi Rocah observes, "It isn't surprising to me that the judge found that Manafort lies because prosecutors don't try to void cooperation agreements lightly. But it's still shocking." She notes that "Manafort chose to lie about his dealings with a Russian intelligence officer and spend years more in prison than he would have if he had told the truth. So the looming question that remains in my mind is - why? "

Those speculating that Mueller is wrapping up soon better reset their clocks. With Manafort now under extreme pressure, he could for the first time tell us what exactly is the deep dark secret about Russia and the Trump operation that so many people have lied to cover up.
Letter responses are fascinating.

My disgust, anger, and concern for the country are conflated with hate.

Some say respect is deserved by anyone holding the office of president. I believe respect is earned, not handed out gratuitously to one who oozes contempt for his official role.

One commenter concludes that while my facts are correct, my positions are wrong. Another, with a fondness for endlessly echoing unfounded right wing talking points, employs classic projection, accusing me of that practice. The challenge I issue: actually listen to what Donald Trump says and observe what he does.

What is fact? An economic miracle is taking place in America. The economy was already in its eighth year of expansion when Trump came in. National debt just hit a record high of $22 trillion. The annual deficit is fast approaching $1 trillion, accelerated by the middle class tax cut. Corporate debt is at $9 trillion. America is the 13th-most indebted county globally. Seems the self-proclaimed King of Debt made good on that promise.

40 percent of Americans couldnt come up with $400 to cover an emergency. Economic inequality is extreme. Small business confidence is back down to the level it was when Trump assumed office. Retail sales had the biggest drop in December since 2009.

Five months ago, Wall Streets consensus for Q4 GDP growth was 5 percent. The new forecast has lowered it to almost 0. Given the tax cuts, businesses were supposed to expand production, reinvest, hire millions of people. What they did instead was set new records for buying their own stock, pushing prices to record highs, while laying off employees. Over the past two years, the bot-driven market has seen a net selling of stocks, in aggregate. The exception: self-serving corporate self-buying  over $1 trillion last year, on a faster pace this year to date.

Where is the infrastructure bill, the comprehensive immigration bill (so easy), the health care plan that would cover everyone, do it better and cost less? The horribly unfair trade deficit with China hit a new record high in January. To be clear, Trump totally misrepresents trade deficits; still, his promise was to end it.

Yet wheres the focus? The fictitious national emergency of abhorrent Latin American migrants, that can ONLY be stopped by a wall from sea to shining sea. Its almost finished, did you hear? The wall is very, very on its way. If so, why is more money needed? Why does the CBP say no new walls have been built or financed by Congress based on the prototypes unveiled in 2017? Wheres that elusive check from Mexico (100 percent)?

Do you honestly believe Trumps disproportionate executive time is actually spent on the necessary tasks of governing? No president ever worked harder than me. Seriously?

In the past we held a general set of common values: national security, rule of law, ethics, freedom, constitutional norms, separation of powers. Now one side justifies Trumps outrageous behavior as an acceptable trade-off for activist conservative judicial appointments. How many pro-corporate, Citizens United-loving, anti-woman, anti-worker, anti-civil rights judges are required? What will be enough?

All of this distracts from the real, credible threat of a Russian asset in the White House. He submissively parrots Putins rhetoric, supports his agenda, discredits our country, even eliminating our cybersecurity coordinator and gutting the task forces protecting elections from foreign meddling. Is this putting America first?

Lincoln predicted: America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

Nancee Magilson

Alton
BEIJING, Feb. 14 -- China's exports and imports both rose at a faster-than-expected rate in January, another sign that the Chinese economy remained resilient despite growing external uncertainties.

Total goods trade rose 8.7 percent year on year in January to 2.73 trillion yuan (395.98 billion U.S. dollars), the General Administration of Customs said in an online statement Thursday.

Exports rose 13.9 percent year on year to 1.5 trillion yuan last month, while imports grew 2.9 percent to 1.23 trillion yuan, customs data showed.

The increase in exports was significantly higher than analyst forecasts, partly driven by front-loading by exporters before the Spring Festival, which fell at the beginning of February as compared with the end of February last year, China Merchants Securities said in a research note.

"It could also be the case that the negative impacts brought by previous front-loading activities had peaked in December," it said.

While imports climbed mildly, the data also beat expectations, it noted.

Exports and imports of products under the general trade category rose 13 percent year on year to 1.66 trillion yuan, accounting for 60.9 percent of the total foreign trade, 2.3 percentage points higher than the same period last year, customs data showed.

China's trade with the European Union, ASEAN countries and Japan increased 17.6 percent, 7.8 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, while trade with countries along the Belt and Road registered faster-than-average growth, with the combined trade volume standing at 770.8 billion yuan, up 11.5 percent year on year.

Exports to the United States went up 1.9 percent, while imports tumbled 38.6 percent, the data showed.

Private enterprises played a bigger role, accounting for 42.3 percent of the total foreign trade, up 3 percentage points year on year.

Despite mounting external uncertainties, Chinese officials believed the country is capable of maintaining stable trade growth in 2019.

The gradual recovery of global economy, China's opening-up efforts and pro-trade policies, accelerating industrial upgrading and improving corporate vitality will lend strong steam to the country's trade growth this year, Chu Shijia, head of the comprehensive department of the Ministry of Commerce, told a conference Tuesday.

China has vowed to cut taxes to a larger scale this year, which is expected to boost domestic demand and stabilize growth.

However, downward pressure on imports will still remain unless the pro-growth policies take effect, Huatai Securities said in a research note.
The wife of a Chicago police officer who was convicted of fatally shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald demanded on Thursday to know why her husband was transferred from an Illinois state prison where he was kept from harm to a federal prison in Connecticut where he was assaulted and where she fears he still is in danger.

I dont need people to go into his cell and attack him, an emotional Tiffany Van Dyke said at a news conference. The next time this could happen, they could kill him. I cannot bury my husband.

The Illinois Department of Corrections confirmed Thursday that Jason Van Dyke was moved to federal custody but would not say why. Asked about the attack on Van Dyke, the federal Bureau of Prisons said in an email that it could confirm an assault resulting in minor injuries happened Feb. 7. The bureau declined to provide additional information, citing privacy concerns.

Van Dyke, who is white, was convicted in October of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery for shooting McDonald 16 times in 2014. He was sentenced in January to six years and nine months in prison.

Van Dyke was attacked by another inmate after his transfer to the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, appellate attorney Jennifer Blagg said Thursday. Blagg said Van Dyke was not severely injured and since has been placed in a segregated unit away from most inmates as a precaution.

Blagg said she learned of the attack when she and another attorney were on the phone with Van Dyke talking about a request the states attorney general filed asking the Illinois Supreme Court to review Van Dykes sentence.

We were explaining to him what it meant  when he said another inmate had jumped him and landed a few punches, Blagg said.

Blagg didnt appear at a news conference Thursday with Tiffany Van Dyke and trial attorneys Dan Herbert and Tammy Wendt, who expressed concern that Jason Van Dyke had been placed in the prisons general population with other inmates. They said former police officers would be particularly vulnerable to attack from other inmates  something Tiffany Van Dyke and others told a judge about during her husbands sentencing hearing. While imprisoned in Illinois, Van Dyke had been kept in a segregated unit.

It was as if he was led like a lamb to slaughter, Wendt said of the attack that she said occurred within four hours of Van Dykes arrival at the general population unit.

Van Dyke is the first Chicago police officer in a half century convicted of murder in an on-duty shooting. He was sentenced in January to six years and nine months in prison  a sentence that angered activists. This week, the states attorney general and the special prosecutor who handled the case and has sought a sentence of 18 to 20 years asked the Illinois Supreme Court to review the sentence.

Absent a new sentence, Van Dyke likely will serve only about three years, with credit for good behavior.

Tiffany Van Dyke said the assault was a realization of her worst fears and noted the widespread media attention his case has received in explaining why her husband still might be in danger even though hes imprisoned several states away.

My husbands life, my familys life is national news, she said. At the basic minimum, they were supposed to keep him safe.
A novice politician hailing from the New York borough of Queens gains enormous media attention and a huge and wildly passionate following in part by lobbing irregular critiques at the news media.

Donald Trump in 2015? Yes. But also Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, circa 2019.

Their backgrounds, gender and - especially - their politics are different, but the Republican president and the outspoken freshman Democratic congresswoman from New York share at least one similarity: Neither has been shy about using social media to pummel the press. And like Trump, Ocasio-Cortez has been cheered on by millions of followers when she does so.

Ocasio-Cortez has squared off on Twitter against such varied media outlets as the New York Post, The Washington Post, Politico, the Hill newspaper, CBS News, Fox News and Glenn Beck's BlazeTV for statements she deemed offensive, inaccurate or just tone deaf. And that was just in her first two weeks as a member of Congress.

But there is big difference: Ocasio-Cortez seems to respect the role of the news media, even as she criticizes it. Her jeremiads tend to be surgical rather that the blunt attacks that Trump has aimed at the mainstream media. To date, she hasn't described journalists as "the enemy of the American people."

On the other hand, she has banned reporters from covering her, just as Trump has. But the congresswoman has on occasion doled out praise to the MSM, something nearly unthinkable with Trump. "Public radio is great!" she tweeted late last month. "As is @ProPublica, @frontlinepbs & a great deal of other incredible outlets worth our support."

Journalists probably liked this, too: "The biggest threats to journalism right now are tech monopolies & concentration of ownership," she tweeted after BuzzFeed, HuffPost and other news organizations announced layoffs. "Healthy democracy *requires* high-quality journalism."

But Ocasio-Cortez, like Trump, is pugnacious in the face of perceived slights by news organizations. After she criticized CBS News' hiring practices, National Journal political editor Josh Kraushaar tweeted that Ocasio-Cortez shared Trump's habit of being a "media scold." She let him have it with a mini-lecture on Twitter about race, concluding, "It's not about "quotas." It's about understanding the country you're living in."

The exchange apparently didn't persuade Kraushaar to change his original opinion. "Like President Trump, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez is a master of the muck, using the platform to ... debase our discourse with catchy put-downs instead of engaging in serious debate," he said via email. "Those qualities make her successful on social media, but not necessarily in Washington."

He added, "I welcome good-faith criticism from readers and colleagues, but when a member of Congress uses their power to send a social media mob against their critics, it's an abuse of power."

Ocasio-Cortez's staffers declined to discuss their boss' approach regarding the media for this article. A spokesman, Corbin Trent, responded to a lengthy list of questions with a one-sentence reply: "I think the Congresswoman has spoken for herself plenty on this topic."

Ocasion-Cortez - or @AOC to her 2.8 million Twitter followers - came out swinging again last month after news organizations wrote up her appearance on "Late Night with Stephen Colbert." During the program, Colbert asked the 29-year-old representative how concerned she was when her fellow Democrats tell her to "'wait your turn, go slow, don't ask for so much so fast right now.'"

Colbert then framed his question this way: "On a scale from zero to some, how many f---s do you give" about such comments?

Ocasio-Cortez formed her hand into a circle, smiled and said to applause and laughter, "I think it's zero."

The next day, she lit into the Hill, which accurately summarized its story by using Colbert's language in its headline: "Ocasio-Cortez: I give 'zero' f---s about pushback from other Democrats."

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: "I actually didn't say this, so while I know 'brown women cursing' drives clicks, maybe you accurately quote the whole exchange instead of manipulating people into thinking I said this sentence instead of just the word 'zero.'" The Hill's article did, in fact, quote the exchange.

The Hill's editor, Bob Cusack, stands by the coverage. "Our headline and article was accurate, but in the world of politics, there's a lot of give and take," he said. "The congresswoman objected to it, and that's her right."

She also snarked at Politico, which ran a similar headline, and at the New York Post, which she wrote not only ran with "the false quote, but (added) an angry photo to boot. ... This is how news hysteria develops out of nothing at all."

The response hints at another way in which Ocasio-Cortez is like Trump: She sometimes misstates or exaggerates facts, and is reluctant to own up to it when called on it.

After The Washington Post's Fact Checker column handed Ocasio-Cortez four Pinnochios, the lowest rating for factuality, for her misleading claim that $21 trillion in Pentagon accounting errors could fund two-thirds of the projected cost of universal health care, Ocasio-Cortez clapped back in an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes."

Asked about this dubious statement, she replied, "I think that there's a lot of people more concerned about being precisely, factually and semantically correct than about being morally right," an ends-justifies-means approach that drew some criticism.

She offered an even more convoluted and no more contrite response to the fact-checking of her statements about "living" wages, including her assertion that Walmart and Amazon are "paying people less than the minimum wage." (Amazon chief executive Jeffrey Bezos owns The Washington Post). Glenn Kessler, editor and chief writer of the Fact Checker, rated her statements three Pinnochios, effectively "mostly false."

Alerted by aides that Kessler's column was forthcoming, @AOC replied with pre-emptive sarcasm. She tweeted, "Me: 'I don't think billionaires should concentrate wealth while employing people who are sleeping in cars working a zillion hours to survive.

"Next day: 'That will be TEN PINOCCHIOS to Ocasio, "zillion" is not a number and I found someone who sleeps in a tent, not a car.' "

Last week, Ocasio-Cortez stirred some honey into her vinegary comments about the news media. She tweeted a clip of herself being interviewed on MSNBC and praised "Meet the Press" moderator Chuck Todd for hosting "a thoughtful 20 min conversation that wasn't hung up on conflict, but exploration."

Hard to imagine Trump doing that.
Try checking 1 billion fresh cut flowers for pests and diseases for Valentine's Day.

That's been the job of dozens of agents for the U.S. Custom and Border Protection in the past few weeks leading up to Feb. 14, one of the busiest flower-selling days of the year.

At ports around the country, CBP agents have been working "extremely hard to make sure flowers get to businesses and homes around the country in time for the big day, but they're doing so in a way that ensures the American environment and economy is protected," according to a statement from Kevin Harriger, the CBP's executive director for the agriculture programs and trade liaison office. -

Experts said flowers that are imported can carry what's known as "hitchhiking pests and diseases" that can cause millions of dollars in damage to the U.S. flower industry. Most flowers are safe, but even "one hitchhiking pest or plant disease could cause significant damage to American agriculture," experts from agency said.

And pests do get caught.

In this flower season, more than 1,660 pests were caught from nearly 1 billion flowers at some of the country's busiest ports, according to the CBP. Some of the pests that were caught included spider mites and cutworm moths. Most of the roses and mixed bouquets of flowers that are shipped to the U.S. come from Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador.

Once pests and diseases are found, officials said, they can treat some flowers and release them but may have to send some back to where they came from or destroy them.

The agency thanked its agents in the field on Twitter, saying "It's (hash)ValentinesDay, and we just want to say, thank you to our crew, for making sure no pests got through."
Japan News-Yomiuri

Stand-alone photo: People raise their cameras in Chikusei, Ibaraki Prefecture,Japan, as the sun appears atop Mt. Tsukuba on Thursday morning. The "Diamond Tsukuba" phenomenon, occurring before 7 a.m., drew cheers from 650 observers. The spectacular moment can be seen from the Hakojima flood control basin in the city in late October and mid-February every year. On Thursday, a reflection on the surface of the basin created a "Double Diamond Tsukuba" image.
Catalan nationalism is the cause that keeps dividing Spain as the country faces its third election in less than four years.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is set to call a snap vote on Friday after parliament exposed the dwindling authority of his minority government by rejecting his budget plan in a vote Wenesday. Talks with Catalan independence parties broke down last week, leaving him short of the support he needed to pass his spending plan for 2019.

Tensions in Catalonia have been simmering ever since separatist groups attempted to engineer a split from Spain at the end of 2017 in defiance of the constitution. As Sanchez weighs his options for calling elections, he will be conscious how the regional conflict continues to influence the national political scene in ways he may find hard to predict.

"The Catalan crisis is an open issue," Ignacio Jurado, an analyst with political risk consulting firm Quantio in Madrid, said. "And it's a very fruitful issue for the right."

Since taking office last June, Sanchez has made making peace with Catalan nationalists a cornerstone of his domestic policy, claiming Spain will emerge stronger from efforts to rebuild relations with the region following the conflicts of 2017.

Even so, the tactic has always been tinged with pragmatism: with just 84 deputies in the 350-seat chamber, his Socialist government was always going to need the votes of Catalan separatist parties to pass key legislation.

Sanchez had snatched power last year by persuading a loose coalition that included the separatists to oust his predecessor Mariano Rajoy in a no-confidence vote following a string of graft revelations. Still, the secession issue reared its head again this week as a trial of Catalan politicians accused of rebellion against Spain during 2017's bid for independence got underway in Madrid.

Sanchez's overtures to Catalonia have enraged many Spaniards who believe the Catalans should be punished, not wooed.

A proposal last week by Sanchez's administration to have a mediator help guide conversations between the government and Catalan officials triggered a furious backlash from opposition parties and opened up rifts within the Socialist party.

Government officials said they were putting talks with Catalan leaders on hold but opposition leaders sought to harness the rage of conservative Spain by holding a rally in Madrid on Sunday in favor of national unity. A widely-circulated photo from the event showed the leaders of the People's Party, Ciudadanos and Vox standing together, in what could have been a dress rehearsal for Spain's next government.

The fact that the government was unable to get its budget approved is proof that there was no secret pact with Catalan nationalists, Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero said on Thursday.

"The vote highlighted the lies that had been said that there had been concessions, blackmail, secret pacts with the independence parties," Montero said.

Without a budget, the government can only continue to operate for a short time, Montero said. It's not a question of if Sanchez will curtail his term by calling an early vote but when in 2019 those elections will take place, she said.

"On Friday we will know the date of the elections," Montero said.

Sanchez has already had a taste of how powerful sentiment can be in relation to the Catalan issue. After an election held in December, the Socialists lost control of Andalusia for the first time in 36 years as fury at Catalan independence campaign helped spur support for Vox, an emerging party that's fast attracting conservative voters.

During the budget debate on Tuesday and Wednesday in Madrid, the focus often shifted from the details of Sanchez's spending plan to a debate about how he has handled Catalan leaders' demands for an independence referendum. "The budget played an irrelevant role," Jurado said. The debate was "a covert no confidence vote," he said.

There's no law that forces Sanchez to call elections because he doesn't have a budget. In theory, he could try to extend the existing spending plan approved in the final days of Mariano Rajoy's government and see out his term. But Pablo Simon, a Madrid-based professor of Political Science at Carlos III University, thinks he will try to use the defeat to press home the idea that extremism on both sides of the nationalist debate is harming the country's economy.

"The election call has to be imminent, so he can use the budget narrative to insist that he gave up nothing to separatists, but has tried to maintain a moderate stand between two nationalisms, the Spanish and the Catalan," Simon said in a phone interview. "That's the only card he can play, so the least worst scenario is to call elections now."
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., is running to become the first black female president. But in the early days of the campaign, she's had to answer questions about the "legitimacy" of her "blackness."

Online, stories have circulated suggesting Harris is not African-American because her parents are immigrants and she spent some of her childhood in Canada. During an appearance on the "Breakfast Club" radio show Monday, hosts DJ Envy and Charlamagne Tha God asked Harris about that.

Harris pushed back.

"I'm black, and I'm proud of being black. I was born black. I will die black," she said. "I'm not going to make excuses for anybody because they don't understand."

She went on to criticize those who question her racial identity.

"I think they don't understand who black people are," Harris said. "I'm not going to spend my time trying to educate people about who black people are. Because right now, frankly, I'm focused on, for example, an initiative that I have that is called the 'LIFT Act' that is about lifting folks out of poverty."

Harris' father is a Jamaican immigrant; her mother is a Tamil Indian immigrant. Her husband is a white man from New York. While she was born in Oakland, California - a city with a history of black activism - Harris spent her early childhood in Berkeley, California, and worshiped at a Hindu temple in addition to attending black Baptist services. She attended high school in Montreal before returning to the United States for college at Howard University, a historically black college.

"This whole argument that we're saying she's not black is really ridiculous," Yvette Carnell, co-founder of the African Descendants of Slaves movement, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. "We're saying there is a difference in the justice demands for people who are descendants of slaves in this country and those who were enslaved in Jamaica."

Carnell fleshed out the argument further Wednesday, tweeting:

"Kamala Harris doesn't have that in her lineage. She's anchored in two affluent, immigrant parents. It's really simple. So since Kamala Harris doesn't have this experience in her background, or a track record that expresses this understanding, and she announced during MLK Week, at Howard University, of course she's going to get pressed HARD on the specificity of her (hash) ADOS Agenda."

The ADOS, or African Descendants of Slaves, movement, seeks to draw attention to the policy issues affecting the lives of blacks who descended from American slaves.

Days after Harris launched her campaign, Tressie McMillan Cottom, a sociology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, tweeted a thread on why some voters are asking questions about Harris' black experience.

"People aren't wholesale crazy for debating Kamala's racial solidarity anymore than they debate it with any other candidate," she wrote. "What I am not going to let people do is pretend that black voters are stupid or wrong for doing what people surely do to us, which is question our bona fides."

President Barack Obama - the son of a white American mother and a black Kenyan father who came to the U.S. for college - faced similar questions when he entered the presidential race in 2008. Columnist Stanley Crouch wrote in the New York Daily News:

"When black Americans refer to Obama as 'one of us,' I do not know what they are talking about. In his new book, 'The Audacity of Hope,' Obama makes it clear that, while he has experienced some light versions of typical racial stereotypes, he cannot claim those problems as his own - nor has he lived the life of a black American."

And at the end of 2007, then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., was viewed more favorably than Obama by black voters. Politico published a survey showing that Clinton was rated favorably by 83 percent of black respondents while Obama was rated favorably by 74 percent of black respondents.

Obama spent significant time during the early part of his first presidential campaign highlighting his work in the African-American communities of Chicago's South Side. He highlighted Michelle Obama's background as the daughter of two black parents who grew up in the area, surrounded by households run by descendants of black people enslaved in the South. And he also delivered a speech on race in the lead-up to the election, laying out his perspective on race and racism in the United States.

Harris' approach has been to dismiss the questions and call them divisive.

"This is the same thing they did to Barack," she said in her "Breakfast Club" interview. "This is not new to us, and so I think that we know what they are trying to do. They are trying to do what has been happening over the last two years, which is powerful voices trying to sow hate and division, and so we need to recognize when we're being played."
Artur Waszkiewicz had tried selling his dog and asking his neighbor for cash, but as his appointment with his dealer grew closer, he still didn't have enough money to satisfy his craving for heroin.

But cruising along a section of Normanton in Derby, England, last May, he saw a solution to his problem.

Sofija Kaczan was a 100-year-old Holocaust survivor, a Polish-born widow who had endured a Nazi labor camp before moving to England, according to the BBC. On the morning of May 28, she was walking to church.

But prosecutors said the 40-year-old heroin addict who spotted her was only concerned with one thing about the centenarian, the green handbag she carried at her side.

Waszkiewicz was captured on a surveillance camera slowing down his silver car and mugging the woman. He used so much force to get the handbag that he ripped the handle and bruised Kaczan's arm, the Guardian reported. He also fractured her spine and cheekbone, sending her to the hospital with injuries that would ultimately kill her.

Waszkiewicz left the woman bleeding in the middle of the street. She died on June 8 of pneumonia.

"She was attacked, she was thrown to the ground and her handbag was snatched from her," prosecutor Kate Brunner said during Waszkiewicz's week-long trial for manslaughter and robbery charges. "She was small, on her own, vulnerable - an easy target for a man desperate for money."

Surveillance video later showed him stopping the car to dump the bag.

In court, Waszkiewicz said that he never attacked the 100-year-old widow and had found the bag in the street, the BBC reported. "I didn't rob no one and I didn't see her - if I did see her I would probably ask, 'Miss, is that your bag?' "

But Waszkiewicz did not have a good answer for what he did after he ditched the bag. He fled Derby and drove to his mother's house in London. He scoured his car. And he changed his appearance by lopping off his long hair.

But prosecutors said Waszkiewicz had left behind a piece of physical evidence: A fingerprint on a receipt found in the stolen bag. He was known to authorities because of previous convictions.

When authorities came for him, he was hiding under his mother's bed.

By the time of the arrest, Kaczan was already dead. During the trial, jurors saw some of the final photos of the victim - her neck in a brace, her eyes and arm swollen and marred by purple bruises.

Jurors deliberated for just two hours Wednesday before returning a guilty verdict. Prosecutors had spent the past week speaking about a life snuffed out.

After being freed from the labor camp at the end of World War II, Kaczan had found a happy life in Derby, a city of a quarter million people that is 125 miles northwest of London, prosecutors said.

She enjoyed going to church, having her hair done and attending lunches at the Polish center, followed by games of bingo.

But some painful scars from her past remained. She refused to celebrate her milestone 100th birthday because it was on the same day the Nazis sentenced her to death.

One of her final acts, prosecutors said, was to "pray for her attacker before she died."

On Thursday, Waszkiewicz was sentenced to 15 years in prison for manslaughter and seven years in prison for robbery. During sentencing, his attorney told the court that Waszkiewicz was "not a monster," according to the BBC.

But Judge Nicholas Dean interjected: "What he is is a cowardly, petty criminal. What he did was dangerous. What he did led to awful, awful consequences."

" . . . There is tragic irony in the fact that Mrs. Kaczan had survived the unimaginable horror of a Nazi concentration camp and slave labor, as well as imminent execution, only to meet her end because of the cowardly and sordid actions of a petty criminal and drug addict on the streets of Derby."
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said Thursday that he would be willing to abandon his presidential ambitions midstream if Democrats nominate a centrist who makes it too difficult for him to win as an independent candidate.

Schultz, who made the comments while visiting The Washington Post, has premised his exploration of a presidential campaign on the assumption that Democrats are likely to nominate a candidate that embraces what he calls "far-left" ideas that will turn off enough moderate voters to open space for an independent candidate.

He has paid for internal polling that he says suggest he would be competitive in a three-way race against President Donald Trump and a liberal Democratic candidate such as Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., or Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

A more moderate Democratic nominee, such as former vice president Joe Biden or former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, could complicate Schultz's perceived path to victory.

"I would reassess the situation if the numbers change as a result of a centrist Democrat winning the nomination," Schultz said.

Those comments could influence the internal Democratic debate over the best nominee to take on Trump, giving moderates an opportunity to argue that their nomination would minimize the threat of a Schultz bid.

The comments also shed more light on Schultz's stated goal of avoiding any actions that help Trump win a second term in office, a grave concern for Democratic strategists who have attacked Schultz as a potential spoiler.

"Trump must not serve a second term," Schultz said in a Feb. 7 speech at Purdue University. "As I explore whether to run for office, I will do so with the conviction that my final decision must not make his reelection a possibility. I can assure you no one wants Donald Trump fired more than I."

As it stands, Schultz has said he plans to spend the next three to four months exploring a campaign, with an aggressive schedule of book events and media appearances designed to raise his profile. His campaign team has maintained that early internal polling numbers on his potential bid, including a dial-test poll of his performance at a CNN town hall Tuesday, have been promising.

Schultz on Thursday also sought to clarify his views on race following criticism over his comments during the CNN town hall.

"As somebody who grew up in a very diverse background as a young boy in the projects, I didn't see color as a young boy, and I honestly don't see color now," Schultz said Tuesday during the town hall.

On Thursday, he told The Post he meant that he did not see color as a child growing up in public housing, because everyone got along and his parents had raised him to be open-minded.

"Of course I see color as an adult," Schultz said. "Of course I understand the issues of racial justice."

He pointed to his record at Starbucks, including the short-lived 2015 campaign that tried to encourage customers to have candid conversations about race by instructing baristas to scrawl the words "Race Together" on millions of tall-, grande- and venti-sized drinks. Backlash ensued within two hours of its launch, and he pulled the plug to ensure his employees' safety.

He said that despite that effort's failure, the attempt to respond to the national division over police killings of African-Americans remains one of the company's proudest moments. He said he was inspired by the protests around the killings to hold companywide meetings for employees to speak openly about race and unconscious bias.

Last spring, following the wrongful arrest of two African-American men waiting for a business associate at a downtown Philadelphia Starbucks, the company shut down 8,000 stores for an afternoon to train baristas on how to recognize their racial biases.

If Schultz decides to get in the race, he would have to spend between $37 million and $55 million to gain access to the ballot in all 50 states, according to his adviser Steve Schmidt, a former Republican who managed John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. The process would begin later this year.

Democrats are not likely to select a nominee until spring 2020, meaning that under the timeline Schultz has laid out, he could decide to walk away from a multimillion-dollar campaign investment months after declaring his intention to run for president.

Schultz has been critical of Democratic proposals to expand Medicare to replace private insurance, offer government jobs for the unemployed and impose a wealth tax on the assets of the richest Americans. (He also has cast the policies as representing Democratic orthodoxy, when all of the policies are being debated within the party.) He has argued that the "far left" and the "far right" have corrupted political parties to the point that the only solution is disrupting the entire system with an independent candidacy.

Schultz has said he is undecided on whether he would self-fund his entire effort or seek out political donors, but his aides have made clear that the undertaking would be expensive.

"I think a winning presidential campaign, if you were just to throw a dart on the wall and look at the cost of it, I would stipulate around $1.2 billion," Schmidt said on a recent episode of the Words Matter podcast.

Schultz, who built Starbucks into a global brand over a 40-year career at the company, has a net worth that is estimated by Forbes at $3.5 billion and by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index at $3.85 billion.
MOSCOW - The Red Army veterans took to the stage and belted out songs from the battlefield: clashes with the enemy and a wartime thirst for Russian vodka. A crowd of Afghan war elites finger-tapped along to the familiar beat.

The rock concert was something like theme music for the Kremlin's attempt at rewriting history, turning the defeat in Afghanistan into a patriotic victory for Mother Russia.

"Do you, comrade, remember Afghanistan? Glows of fires, Muslim cries?" sang band Cascade - composed of camouflage and medal-wearing veterans, including a percussionist with an Afghan drum and a keyboard player who lost his leg in combat.

It was just one of the ways Russia is marking 30 years since the Soviet military's humiliating exit from Afghanistan after a decade of war that strained the Soviet military and left a gaping hole in the country's finances.

The withdrawal in February 1989 also had a deeper sting for the Kremlin.

The Red Army was pushed out of Afghanistan by U.S.-backed mujahideen fighters, ending a key proxy battle of the Cold War. Two years later, the Soviet Union collapsed.

Pro-democracy movements in Eastern Europe were gaining steam and becoming less fearful of a Soviet-ordered crackdown.

The Kremlin in 1989 called the Afghan war "a political mistake." Russian lawmakers, urged by President Vladimir Putin, are now trying to make a 180.

On Friday, the date the last Red Army force withdrew from Afghanistan 30 years ago, the Russian parliament plans to pass a resolution declaring the war was justified. Putin then is expected to lead a lavish commemoration ceremony at the Kremlin.

"These courageous men were serving their homeland, they were fulfilling their duty," nationalist politician and Afghanistan veteran Sergey Baburin said at the opening of a photography exhibit last week in the Russian capital, whose self-stated intention was to show the more palatable side of the war.

History makeovers are not uncommon in many countries. Other uncomfortable truths cannot be glossed over - such as how the anti-Soviet mujahideen helped create al-Qaida and the Taliban, which have both opposed the West.

But Russia's remake of the Afghan war is among the most comprehensive and systematic.

It is part of Moscow's wider attempt to mold a historical narrative that fits the current ideology under Putin, whose leadership has projected the image of a strong Russia with an unblemished past.

The parliament resolution denounces the 1989 condemnation of the war, saying it was "at odds with the principles of historical justice," and maintains that Moscow sent troops to Afghanistan in December 1979 at the behest of the Kremlin-backed Communist government in Kabul. (In fact, the Soviet invasion forces overthrew that government, assassinated its leader and installed a rival Communist faction completely beholden to Moscow.)

The rehabilitation of the war also comes amid Moscow's renewed influence in Afghanistan. In recent months Russia has played host to two major meetings between the Taliban and Afghan power-brokers aimed at finding a way to end the current U.S.-led war.

Today's government in Kabul is unlikely to warm to the idea of Moscow's defense of the war, especially given its recent rebuke of President Donald Trump's revisionist praise of the Soviet invasion.

Unlike other initiatives - such as Putin's restoration of the Stalin-era national anthem at the start of his rule or recasting Ivan the Terriblefrom bloody to heroic - the rehab work on Afghanistan came as somewhat of a surprise.

As recently as November, the country's Channel 1 TV station, a state-run heavyweight, has been airing the fictional series "Stormy Weather", depicting war veterans as the dregs of society in the chaotic 1990s. The show received rave reviews.

For some of the conflict's veterans, the government's flip-flop only adds to long-held feelings of despair.

"Such a resolution is really awful," said Valery Shiryaev, who was a decorated military translator in Afghanistan and is now deputy director of independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

"My friends, who are other veterans, do not think the Afghan war was a good thing. It was a terrible mistake."

Around 15,000 Soviet soldiers were killed, along with at least 1 million Afghans. Initially, the war was kept hidden from public view, and draftees were sometimes unaware of their final destination until they arrived in Afghanistan. Once bodies started coming home, a wave of hysteria gripped young men and their mothers across the country.

The 'Afgantsy' - as the veterans are known in Russian - returned to find a crumbling Soviet Union unconcerned by the ordeals they had suffered for the supposed benefit of the motherland.

Afgantsy formed tightknit groups across the country. They regularly meet to reminisce and hold concerts, singing deeply moving tunes whose lyrics are sprinkled with Dari phrases. But this is only for each other.

At the small Museum for the Afghanistan War, tucked away on the outskirts of Moscow, school groups have been visiting with increasing frequency. "Interest in the war is growing, especially with the 30-year anniversary coming up," said the museum's director, Igor Yerin.

An Afghan war vet himself, Yerin has spent decades collecting the masses of war memorabilia for the museum, where Soviet rockets and rations of canned beef compete for space with the ragged clothing of mujahideen fighters.

But even for Yerin, the war conjures up conflicting feelings.

"The reevaluation by the government is not about rehabilitation, but about remembering," he said. "We Russians switch on the soul first, then the brain."
The US Coast Guard (USCG) conducted a port security capacity building programme at the Colombo Port with more than 25 Sri Lankan port officials from February 11 to 13, the US Embassy said today.

In a statement, it said the event strengthened the ports security capabilities through drills that improved agency coordination and the implementation of the ports security plan.

Sri Lankas improved maritime security will not only provide greater protection against terrorism and other threats but also will enhance trade with other countries, contributing to Sri Lankas prosperity, it said.

Lieutenant Matt Arnold, the USCGs liaison to Sri Lanka for Port Security initiatives who headed the program, said Sri Lanka has demonstrated a strong commitment to port security.

This capacity building program helped create the security environment thats essential to increased trade and realizing Sri Lankas goal of becoming a regional hub for commerce, he said.

The USCG's International Port Security Program was established in 2003 to expand understanding of maritime security measures.
WASHINGTON - One is the daughter of an immigrant from Nigeria who wanted to understand the causes of her mom's plight, starting a search that would lead her to Spelman, Oxford, Harvard, Georgetown, the State Department and, eventually, the halls of Congress.

The other was raised by a single mother in trailer parks and public housing in eastern Tennessee, becoming an avowed foe of the ultrawealthy whose Twitter handle reads: "Every Billionaire Is A Policy Failure."

The two have landed the two policy jobs with first-term Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who received about 5,500 job applications for her office - a record, according to experts.

Ariel Eckblad, 31, the congresswoman's legislative director, and Dan Riffle, 37, a legislative assistant, will help steer Ocasio-Cortez as one of the most high-profile members of Congress.

They will help shape how Ocasio-Cortez works as an activist hoping to refashion the Democratic Party, while she also tries to serve as a more typical member building coalitions and moving legislation.

Ocasio-Cortez's team made its first high-profile mistake late last week, as staffers accidentally released and then retracted a fact sheet about the Green New Deal that had won the support of most of the party's 2020 presidential candidates and more than 60 House Democrats.

Many freshman lawmakers avoid the national spotlight, and it is very rare for their staffers to speak out. But just as Ocasio-Cortez is blasting away some of the conventions of politics, so is her team.

In an interview in Ocasio-Cortez's office earlier this month, Riffle, a former pot activist, said: "I remember getting to the Hill thinking, 'The staffers here are going to mostly be activists and idealists.' Then I got here, and I found out that's not true at all. These are careerists. These are people who grew up on the Upper West Side and went to Ivy League schools.

"I don't mean to paint too broad a brush. But these are people who don't think big and aren't here to change the world. They're here because it's a good, safe, stable job, and this is a good platform to get to K Street. Which is what the vast majority of Democratic Hill staffers do."

He added: "They only conceive of the world as it is, and work within that frame. They don't think, 'Here's the system; it sucks and we should burn it down.' "

Other Hill staffers said they didn't want to respond to that view. But Elaine Kamarck, a member of the Democratic National Committee and senior fellow in the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution, a center-left think tank, argued that it misses a key point about the Democratic experience on Capitol Hill the past eight years.

"Perhaps another way to understand the current Hill staffers is that for the past nine years, since the Republicans picked up more than 60 seats in the Congress in the 2010 elections, they have been fighting to maintain the progressive legacy of the Democratic Party," she said. " 'Thinking big' is not an option when you are not in control of the House and you are fighting every day to protect food stamps, Medicaid and the other critical pieces of the social safety net that Republican majorities have attacked."

While Riffle is frequently seen accompanying Ocasio-Cortez around Congress and publicly defending her from critics on Twitter, Eckblad has a somewhat quieter presence on the Hill.

Her resume stands out. She was a Fulbright scholar and a fellow at Yale University, holds master's degrees from the University of London and the University of Oxford and a law degree from Harvard University, taught at Georgetown Law, and worked at the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. State Department.

"There's a school of thought called 'constructivism' that became very important to me," Eckblad said. "The basic premise is that we've created the worlds we live in, and so, maybe, we can re-create them."

Most recently, Eckblad worked for Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., focusing on foreign policy. She first heard of Ocasio-Cortez after the former bartender defeated then-incumbent Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., and Eckblad was excited by what she heard.

"Leadership that pushes people's perceptions of what is possible can be very, very scary," Eckblad said. "Because you don't know what the reaction will be. Will people validate you? Or will they laugh at you?"

Eckblad spent her early childhood in Berkeley, California, where her dad, a Minnesota native, worked as a janitor while in seminary school. Her mom, who was born in Nigeria and lived through the civil war there, took on part-time jobs while working toward medical school. Her mother would tell Eckblad stories of her native country, where she and other children endured long aid lines and bouts of hunger because of food blockades related to the civil war.

"I became deeply, deeply perplexed and troubled by that sort of suffering," said Eckblad, now pregnant with her second child. "And it stuck with me."

Riffle was born to a single mother in eastern Tennessee who worked as a waitress at Red Lobster and drank heavily, he said. In his application to work for Ocasio-Cortez, Riffle wrote that his one meal a day as a child was often his free lunch at school. Riffle was evicted from "most" places he lived with his mother, moving "15 or 16" times.

"It needs to be pointed out how insanely greedy" it is to be a billionaire, Riffle said. "We have to comprehend the scale of $1 billion - just the amount of money we're talking about. Five million dollars is a lifetime's fortune; you can live off the interest of that and still be in the top 1 percent. Five million dollars, times 100, is still only halfway to $1 billion.

"It's a systemic failure on society's part. On one part of the city, we have people with helipads and yachts that they park inside of yachts, and on the other side we have thousands of people who are homeless and children without health care or food. Those things should not exist simultaneously in a society."

Riffle attended Ohio State University and Capital University Law School in Ohio, working tables at Dave & Buster's to help pay the bills, before taking a job in the prosecutor's office in Vinton County, Ohio. Fed up by the number of low-level drug cases he had to prosecute, Riffle later moved to the District of Columbia to take a job at the Marijuana Policy Project, a lobbying group pushing for marijuana legalization.

Riffle went on to work for former Reps. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., and Keith Ellison, D-Minn., becoming the key staffer handling the "Medicare for all" health bill in the House. While working for Conyers, Riffle said, he was deterred by colleagues from his efforts to push toward a single-payer health-care system with the Justice Democrats, an outside group pushing primary challenges against Democrats that later helped Ocasio-Cortez defeat Crowley.

Democrats from the more centrist wing of the party have said Ocasio-Cortez does not understand that she represents an almost uniquely liberal area, which includes Queens and the Bronx and is significantly more diverse than the rest of the country.

"What Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says makes a lot of sense in Queens, apparently, and it tends to get a lot of attention," Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), chairman of the moderate New Democrat Coalition, told reporters last year.

Riffle thinks that's the wrong way to look at it. The key distinction, Riffle said, is not ideological but between the "lawyers, bankers, CEOs and more lawyers" who are members of Congress and the constituents whom they are supposed to represent.

Saikat Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff, worked in tech most recently. Corbin Trent, her communications director, joined Justice Democrats after his food truck in Tennessee burned down. The congresswoman herself was working as an activist and bartender last year.

"People in this office are really ... normal people. . . . And in part because of that, there's a willingness to think outside the box and make mistakes - there's no other office that has that," Riffle said. "They didn't come up in this system. So they don't know how it works. And as a result, they don't feel constrained by it."
Former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe said in an interview that aired Thursday that he authorized an investigation into President Donald Trump's ties to Russia a day after meeting with him in May 2017 out of fear that he could soon be fired.

"I was very concerned that I was able to put the Russia case on absolutely solid ground in an indelible fashion that were I removed quickly or reassigned, or fired that the case could not be closed or vanish in the night without a trace," McCabe told CBS.

The comments marked the first time that McCabe has publicly addressed why he opened an investigation into Trump following the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey, whose post McCabe took over. They came as CBS broadcast a portion of an interview scheduled to air in full on "60 Minutes" on Sunday.

The clip - and journalist Scott Pelley's description of what else he and McCabe talked about - suggests that the former top official plans to pull back the curtain on law enforcement's response to the new president as he promotes his book - "The Threat" - that is set to released next week. Pelley said that McCabe, in addition to talking about his interactions with Trump, described conversations officials had about using the 25th Amendment to oust the president.

The Washington Post and others have reported that McCabe says those conversations involved Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein - though Rosenstein vaguely disputes that. McCabe's mentioning the discussions on "60 Minutes" dredged up old tensions between the two men, in addition to provoking a sharp response from Trump.

About two hours after the clip aired, Trump blasted McCabe on Twitter, calling him "a disgrace to the FBI and a disgrace to our Country."

The Justice Department also disputed some of what McCabe contended.

"Disgraced FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe pretends to be a 'poor little Angel' when in fact he was a big part of the Crooked Hillary Scandal & the Russia Hoax - a puppet for Leakin' James Comey," the president wrote, referring to an FBI investigation into Democrat Hillary Clinton's use of a personal email server while secretary of state in addition to its probe of possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a statement that the CBS interview made it "imperative" that McCabe appear before his committee to answer for "what appears to be, now more than ever, bias against President Trump."

It already had been reported that, in the wake of Comey's firing, the FBI began to explore at that point whether Trump was trying to obstruct justice, and whether the president personally was of concern from a counterintelligence perspective. In the clip that aired on CBS, McCabe did not address specific evidence that led him to believe Trump should be investigated personally.

But McCabe's talking about his mindset during that time period was revelatory. Some at the Justice Department had been concerned that McCabe might have acted too hastily to open a case because of Comey's removal, people familiar with the matter have said.

McCabe also apparently addressed in the interview explosive allegations he made in memos documenting discussions with Rosenstein - although those clips have yet to air. It has been reported that McCabe alleged in the memos that Rosenstein suggested wearing a wire to surreptitiously record the president and/or invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.

During an appearance on "CBS This Morning," Pelley, the correspondent who interviewed McCabe, described the discussions of the 25th Amendment as "counting noses" - or speculating on where various Cabinet members might stand on the question.

Pelley said McCabe disputes the assertion, advanced by defenders of Rosenstein, that the deputy attorney general was not serious about wearing a wire. Pelley said McCabe took the idea to FBI lawyers for a discussion afterward.

That, too, has been previously reported, though McCabe has never before publicly described his allegations.

In a statement, a Justice Department spokesman said McCabe's recitation of events - at least according to a transcript reviewed by officials - was "inaccurate and factually incorrect."

The spokesman repeated Rosenstein's previous response to McCabe's version of his comments on wearing a wire and invoking the 25th Amendment, saying: "The Deputy Attorney General never authorized any recording that Mr. McCabe references. As the Deputy Attorney General previously has stated, based on his personal dealings with the President, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment, nor was the DAG in a position to consider invoking the 25th Amendment."

The spokesman also said that after Robert Mueller was installed as special counsel, Rosenstein "directed that Mr. McCabe be removed from any participation in that investigation."

The meaning of that was not immediately clear. At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in June, the month after Mueller was appointed, McCabe, appearing with Rosenstein, talked of the FBI's providing resources to the special counsel - implying he was still involved at least in that respect.

"We have a robust relationship with the special counsel's office, and we are supporting them with personnel and resources in any way they request," he said.

At the same hearing, McCabe confirmed he was fully familiar with the scope of Mueller's investigation, though he noted that Mueller was still sorting out some details of it. And that some month, he signed a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant that would allow the FBI to continue surreptitiously monitoring former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, one of the early subjects of the Russia probe.

As the interview clip aired, the Atlantic published an excerpt of McCabe's book, in which he describes his interactions with the president after Comey's firing.

In one encounter that he seems to view as particularly troubling, McCabe wrote that Trump pressed in an Oval Office meeting to visit the FBI, even though he had just fired its well-liked leader.

In McCabe's view, Trump was trying to enlist McCabe in a plan to send a sinister message to employees that he had McCabe's protection.

A frequent punching bag for Trump, McCabe was fired from the bureau in March just 26 hours before he could retire, after the inspector general presented Justice Department leadership with allegations that McCabe had authorized a disclosure to the media and then lied repeatedly to investigators about it. The timing of the firing cost McCabe a significant portion of his retirement benefits.

McCabe said his termination was politically motivated and meant to discredit the bureau and the ongoing Russia probe.
Amina Sanusi was getting ready for morning prayers at her home in northeastern Nigeria when she heard gunshots and explosions.

She scrambled into nearby bushes with her two children, but lost contact with her husband. Government soldiers in the fishing town of Baga on the shores of Lake Chad fled too, overwhelmed by the firepower of Islamist militants. Like thousands of others since an upsurge in attacks that started in December, Sanusi, 25, made a 200-kilometer (125-mile) journey by foot and by bus to a camp for displaced people in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri.

"The soldiers tried, but it was too much for them,'' said Sanusi, wearing a black hijab and breast-feeding her daughter in the Dalori camp. "We were so afraid. I still don't know what happened to my husband. I'm praying for him.''

The violence in northeastern Nigeria underscores the insecurity plaguing Africa's biggest oil producer and, by some measures, largest economy ahead of a tight election on Saturday. President Muhammadu Buhari, a 76-year-old former general, is seeking a second term and faces his main challenge from Atiku Abubakar, 72, a businessman who once served as a vice president.

For now, militants loyal to Boko Haram, which has killed tens of thousands of people in the past decade, and a breakaway faction loyal to Islamic State that more recently appeared on the scene, seem to be gathering momentum.

They ambushed the convoy of Borno's governor, Kashim Shettima, on Tuesday while he was campaigning near the border with Cameroon, killing at least three people, his spokesman said. Islamic State's so-called West Africa Province claimed the attack and said that 42 were dead, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

The Islamist insurgency, which is affecting countries across West Africa, is the worst of a series of crises threatening to overwhelm the military and police and undermining Buhari's campaign pledge before his 2015 victory to restore security.

Clashes between farmers and herders over grazing land led to around 2,000 deaths last year, mainly in central parts of the country, according to Amnesty International, while thousands have been displaced in the northwestern state of Zamfara amid a rise in kidnapping and raids on villages. Tensions are also brewing in the oil-producing Niger River delta, where militants intermittently sabotage pipelines and other energy infrastructure.

At least 66 people died in a wave of violence this week in north central Kaduna state, the AP reported Friday, citing a local official. A resident blamed clashes between farmers and herdsmen.

"Africa's most populous country is in for a turbulent few weeks," said Ben West, an analyst at Stratfor, a risk-advisory firm based in Austin, Texas. "Growing unrest across the country creates an environment for Nigeria's many regional and sectarian security threats to fester and spread leading up to and following the election."

While Buhari's credentials have been damaged by the insecurity, according to Ed Hobey-Hamsher, an analyst at Bath, U.K.-based Verisk Maplecroft, the setbacks won't necessarily doom his chances for re-election.

"Buhari has done a good job, even with these new attacks," said Bulama Mani, 35, who arrived in the swelling Dalori camp, which now houses around 20,000 people, three weeks ago after fleeing his home near Baga. "It's better than it was before," he said, explaining that Boko Haram controls much less territory than it did when Buhari came to office.

Abubakar, Buhari's opponent, has focused mainly on reviving an anemic economy and has said little about how he'd tackle the security problems.

Several others in Dalori who didn't want to give their names said Abubakar was unpopular because he did little for Borno while he was vice president between 1999 and 2007, even though he hails from neighboring Adamawa state.

Nigeria's information minister, Lai Mohammed, said this month that the nation was "at the forefront of the battle" against Islamic State and that its members were moving to Borno after the group was beaten back in Iraq and Syria.

"In some of those places, it has become a de facto government," said Cheta Nwanze, head of research at SBM Intelligence in Lagos, the commercial capital. "It appears that the military high command does not have a response to this resurgence."

Nigeria and the United Nations appealed for almost $850 million this year to assist those living in the northeast ravaged by the crisis, which has displaced 2.5 million people across the Lake Chad region.

The Nigerian election commission has said people will mostly be able to vote in Borno, even if they're in the displaced camps. That's the last thing on the mind of Zainab Awali, a 28-year-old tailor and mother of four who arrived in Maiduguri in January after fleeing the violence.

"I don't care about the elections," she said. "Even if we vote, the politicians don't care about us. I'm left with nothing. We're still in shock."
NEAR BAGHOUZ, Syria - Hundreds of people have trudged out of the Islamic State's last stronghold since Tuesday, surrendering to U.S.-backed forces before their final assault to capture the only village still in the militants' hands.

Some of the Islamic State's most die-hard fighters are pinned down in Baghouz, a remote hamlet nestled on a bend of the Euphrates River close to the Iraqi border. There is only one path out of what they once called the caliphate, snaking through the green grass and flowers of eastern Syria. No longer spanning an area the size of Britain, their territory is now visible in its entirety from hills that surround it, covering no more than a square mile.

After three days of fighting earlier in the week, the combat quieted - with a lull in artillery fire and U.S. airstrikes - as the U.S.-supported Syrian Democratic Forces gave the village's remaining inhabitants a chance to flee or give themselves up.

More than 1,200 people had accepted the offer since Tuesday, American aid workers said, walking miles in the darkness toward the SDF militia fighters on the other side of a hill - and on to an uncertain future. Among those departing the village were defeated foot soldiers of the Islamic State.

"Last night looked like a major break," said Dave Eubank of the Free Burma Rangers, a Christian group that specializes in delivering aid in war zones. "To have more than a thousand walking over pretty much at once, someone had to open the door."

More than 38,000 people have left the Islamic State's shrinking territory in eastern Syria since the start of the year, monitoring groups say, but several thousand remain inside Baghouz, packed into tunnels under the village. Some of the most battle-hardened are still believed to be inside, using civilians as human shields and determined to fight to the death.

At its height, the Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliphate had been home to about 40,000 foreign fighters from 110 countries, according to the Soufan Center, a New York-based research group focusing on strategic threats. Almost five years after the militant group's lightning sweep across parts of Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State is surrounded on all sides and the SDF expects to declare victory within days. At a nearby base, the SDF has built a stage for the anticipated victory announcement.

The SDF and humanitarian groups monitoring the situation say nearly all of Baghouz's remaining inhabitants have some link to the Islamic State, in many cases as the wives and children of the fighters. Among them are foreigners who had come to support or fight for the Islamic State. Canadians, Britons and Sudanese nationals are among those who have left in recent days.

Suspected Islamic State members who reach the SDF position are taken away for questioning.

One group that walked across the horizon and up to the rocky outpost mostly comprised men, looking tired though largely unburdened by the hardships of sickness and hunger that other escapees had endured. Two of the men, like others, had wrapped themselves in blankets but appeared to be in fine health.

They were driven away in a flatbed truck, apparently for further interrogation at a U.S.-military site several miles away.

Women and minors are considered civilians under international law and, after being screened, are transferred to displacement camps across Syria's northeast.

At the screening point overlooking Baghouz, women stood in lines before the SDF fighters. The women raised their hands as their bodies were scanned with metal detectors. Last week, a man had tried to smuggle out a hand grenade, fighters said, tucking it under his shirt as he approached the screening point.

Families interviewed Wednesday described a journey in recent months beset by sickness and hunger. None was originally from Baghouz, and all denied any connection to Islamic State fighters. Several said they were Iraqi, although their accents appeared to suggest otherwise.

"It was God's will that we ended up there," said one woman who gave her name as Om Mohamed. "We had no control over his wishes. It was out of our hands."

Stepping out of the screening line, she shouted at the SDF fighters scanning the group one by one: "We've been here for hours and you haven't even given us food!"

At nearly every screening point, the number of children was striking. They were sunburned and barefoot, and it looked as if they were wrapped in as many layers as their parents could manage. Several infants showed signs of malnutrition, crying and straining as their skin stretched tightly across cheekbones and limbs. Many were wounded.

In one circle, an infant lay on her mother's lap, sucking hungrily on a bottle empty but for a layer of congealed milk inside. Another boy coughed as he tried to swallow what appeared to be flour.

Aid workers from the Free Burma Rangers said Wednesday that they had treated two children with gunshot wounds in their heads, apparently from Islamic State snipers trying to prevent people from leaving. One was 6 years old, the other 3.

Civilians have also reached the outpost with phone numbers of militants willing to surrender, several SDF fighters said.

The elimination of the caliphate will raise new questions about how the Islamic State might regroup across the troubled and often lawless stretches of Syria and Iraq.

But for now, with the SDF expecting the military operation to end within days, the militiamen were getting ready to savor a victory.

"Their state is in its final stages here today," said Adnan Afrin, an SDF commander for the operation. "We're talking about hundreds of square meters - that's it. Await the coming days."

-

Mohamed Shikh Ibrahim contributed to this report.
SPRINGFIELD  Fathers rights advocates are making another attempt this year to push for a change in Illinois family law that sparked immense controversy in 2018, equal parenting time legislation.

Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) is the lead sponsor of a bill that would create a rebuttable presumption in divorce cases that both parties should be given equal parenting time with any children of that marriage.

It would also require that when judges in divorce cases deviate from the standard, they explain in writing why they decided one parent should have more time with the children than the other.

That would be a sharp departure from the current legal standard in Illinois, which allows judges wide discretion to assign custody and parenting time in a way that reflects the best interests of the child.

But James Bedell, a psychologist who practices in suburban Chicago and a proponent of the bill, said the best interests of the child standard is vague and flawed, and that equal parenting time actually is in the best interests of children.

Children have a fundamental bonding attachment to each parent, he said. They establish that in the course of the marriage. They establish that in the course of both parents (having) fundamental and equal involvement with the child. And when divorce occurs, there is no necessary reason why a child who has equal access to both parents should suddenly not have equal access to both parents.

A similar bill was introduced in the 2018 session but failed to make it through the House process. Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago), who chairs the subcommittee handling the bill, opened Thursdays hearing by recalling the intense debate last year when, she said, supporters of the measure, engaged in inappropriate and unprofessional behavior, including bullying, threats and harassment of those who opposed it.

One of the individuals who testified had photos of his children posted online on the pages of organizations supporting the bill, she said. Another attorney was attacked online and had to shut down his Twitter account.  Several individuals who took a public position against the bill received ongoing threats via phone calls to the point that law enforcement was called.

Ford also recalled that when those events happened, he and other supporters of the bill had a news conference to say they did not condone such behavior. But he insisted that supporters of the change also deserve to be heard.

This is a very contentious bill and it deserves to have a real discussion, he said.

While individuals on both sides indicated they hope the tone of this years debate will be more civil, opponents of the measure indicated they still have reservations about changing the standard on parenting time.

It is essential that the well-being of children in custody proceedings remain focused on a childs best interests and not on a number, said Danielle Gomez, an attorney with the Cook County Public Guardian, an agency that represents children in highly-contested custody cases.

In particular, Gomez said, children of divorced parents would be adversely affected the most by any change.

They are the ones who will be exposed to additional conflict if they are shuttled back and forth between their parents homes, she said. Children are keenly aware of the discord among their parents, no matter what our best attempts are to alleviate that. They know whats going on, and they perceive that.

The subcommittee took no action on the bill Thursday. Ford said he intends to continue working on details of the plan in hopes of crafting a bill that can pass the full House.

We are here to get it right and do whats in the best interests of the state, he said. Im just hoping that the members of this committee will have an open mind, because I dont know if we have a perfect law on the book today, and so what this bill tries to do is make it more perfect.

According to information on the General Assemblys website, as of Thursday more than 2,500 individuals had signed up as supporters of the measure, while more than 3,300 have signed up as opponents.

The legislation is House Bill 185.
EDWARDSVILLE  Metro East utility design, information technology and meter services company, Donco LLC, is broadening its services to include gas construction.

The new division will focus on services such as gas pipeline construction, gas leak repair, design services and employee training. Donco LLC, Chairwoman and CEO, Candice Fowler, said the company decided to start the new division after realizing it was an area where local options and expertise were in short supply. They plan to provide more jobs for local contract workers and help keep construction dollars in the Metro East and St. Louis.

We recognized that there are hardly any contractors in our immediate region offering gas construction services, said Fowler. We brought in a gas industry expert, Ed Scott, who worked to develop qualifications, best practices and training videos used by the American Gas Association (AGA) and Midwest Energy Association (MEA) today. Expanding our services to fill that gap made sense to us. Not only are we going to help businesses get more jobs done locally, our experts will also be able to ensure that best practices and safety standards are being met.

Gas Operations Superintendent Scott has spent 45 years working in the gas construction industry. Over that time, he has worked as an entry-level service laborer, a journeyman, a foreman and eventually an administrator who trains others on gas construction safety practices. Scott will lead a team of other highly trained gas construction services professionals with a wide range of expertise.

What makes our gas division so unique is that we offer turnkey solutions for large construction projects. Not only will we design and electronically map the project through Doncos Utility Design Services company, we will also build it with well trained, local workers, said Scott. Companies will not only be able to spend less money transporting equipment and workers in from out of state, theyll have the benefit of dealing with just one company for projects, rather than several.

Donco, LLC is a woman-owned firm serving Illinois and the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. It recently received a world-class certification from the Womens Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). The business ranks No. 26 on the St. Louis Business Journals list of 50 fastest-growing private companies and 17 on the publications list of largest woman-owned businesses.

Donco has more than 300 employees in five divisions: gas construction services (http://donco.co/divisions/gas-construction-services/) and metering services (https://donco.co/), information technology (Fowler Technology Services), electrical design (Utility Design Services), and management services (Fowler Management Services). For more information about Donco, LLC go to https://donco.co/ or call Brett Angelico at (618) 797-5299.
WASHINGTON - John D. Dingell, the longest-serving member of U.S. Congress in history, was remembered Thursday by Democrats and Republicans alike as a larger-than-life lawmaker who fought tenaciously for his positions yet maintained deep respect from colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

"John Dingell was a stand-up guy," former president Bill Clinton said. "He was an old-fashioned man who did things in an old-fashioned way that we should adapt for new times."

Clinton was among five politicians who offered remembrances of the Michigan Democrat during a funeral Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington. Lawmakers from both parties filled the pews of the church in Georgetown where President John F. Kennedy once worshiped.

Dingell, who had complications from prostate cancer, died Feb. 7 at age 92. He was eulogized at a funeral Mass on Tuesday in Dearborn, Michigan, by former Vice President Joe Biden.

Those who offered remembrances Thursday praised Dingell for both his fierce devotion to his congressional district and his imprint on a vast array of legislation during his nearly 60-year tenure in Congress, which ended in 2015.

"He was Mr. Michigan," said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., who also praised the long-serving chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee for working with lawmakers in both parties.

"Bipartisanship, he wrote the book. He really did. He nudged us all," Upton said.

Upton served on the committee with Dingell for 24 years. After Upton took over the gavel, he oversaw the unveiling of Dingell's portrait in the committee room.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a civil rights icon, recollected Dingell's support of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a move that threatened his reelection 10 years into his tenure.

"John voted for the bill as an act of conscience," Lewis said. "John did not run from his decision. He stood on the courage of his conviction."

Former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said that Dingell was "a mentor to many of us who served in the Congress" and said he "was revered by Democrats and Republicans alike."

Like others, he recalled Dingell's blunt nature, saying he was not "all honey and no vinegar." Boehner characterized that as "tough love," adding: "You always knew where you stood with Mr. Dingell."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., also touched on Dingell's personality, saying he "never minced words, he never held back."

Hoyer recalled that when he first arrived in Congress, Dingell had already been there for a quarter century. They would go on to serve with one another for 33 years.

"Like many of the freshman at the time, I saw him as larger than life," Hoyer said. "I never stopped looking up to him."

Clinton said that in speaking with Dingell, one could get "your hide ripped off from time to time." But Clinton called that part of "an honest friendship."

He praised Dingell as "a world-class doer" and spoke about the profound influence on his life of his wife, Debbie Dingell, who represents his district in Congress.

During the service, she sat in a front-row pew between Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Patrick J. Conroy, the House chaplain, served as the main celebrant of the Mass, delivering a homily in which he recalled Dingell's deep Catholicism. One of the first to visit Conroy upon his installation as chaplain in 2011, Dingell bonded with the Jesuit priest and even after retiring would ask to visit Conroy.

The priest recalled walking from the Capitol to the office of Rep. Debbie Dingell and praying with her husband. John Dingell would wonder whether he had led a worthy life, Conroy said.

"Father, am I all right with the Lord?" Dingell asked Conroy.

In his homily, Conroy recounted Dingell's work on civil rights and other legislation that reflected the Gospel's Beatitudes, looking finally at Dingell's casket to say yes.

"Recline now in the bosom of your Lord Jesus," Conroy said.
Call for law enforcement agencies to act more responsibly with greater scrutiny

Thank judiciary and AGs Dept. for delivering justice at last

By Nishel Fernando

Two private sector tourism leaders, who had been caught up in a legal battle for over two years initiated by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID), yesterday called for law enforcement agencies to act responsibly and with great scrutiny as their short-sighted actions carry massive consequences.

Tourism industry veterans Nilmin Nanayakkara and Mervyn Fernandopulle, who represented the private sector on the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) board, were arrested by the FCID in 2016 on alleged irregular transactions under the previous regime.



The FCID had alleged the former board directors were among board signatories for the release of Rs.5 million for a Pirith chanting ceremony during the 2015 Presidential election, for which the funds apparently never got released.



They were caught up in a lengthy legal battle for over two years until the Attorney General decided not to proceed with the case, last December.

Speaking to media during a press conference jointly organised by Sri Lanka Associations of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) and The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) in Colombo, Nanayakkara and Fernandopulle shared the hardships and the public humiliation they had to go through due to the actions taken by the FCID in 2016.



While acknowledging the hardships and difficulties that Nanayakkara and Fernandopulle had to undergo, Tourism Development, Wildlife and Christian Religious Affairs Minister John Amaratunga commended the independence of the judiciary for delivering justice to the duo.

Nanayakkara acknowledged the continuous support extended by Amaratunga publicly on several occasions to him and Fernandopulle. He went on to deliver an emotional speech on how his reputation got tarnished while his family members also had to go through a tough time due to unwarranted actions of law enforcement agencies.



No matter how much power you garnered, when you investigate into something, you have to look from both sides. They (FCID) should have considered what would be the situation that they would be in, if a family member of theirs had to go through such a situation, he said.



Nanayakkara emphasised that he was appointed to the SLTPB board by the then minister in-charge of tourism, Basil Rajapasksa, as he was the SLIATO Chairman at that time and SLIATO members recommended him to be appointed to the post.



Nanayakkara recalled that as a SLTPB director, he had not taken a penny from the agency except for a cup of tea offered at board meetings.



We have invested our time, energy and even sometimes our own money. We engaged with the SLTPB whole heartedly due to our admiration for the industry, and not due to any personal gain. We didnt take a cent from the SLTPB. Even I have contributed the incentive I was receiving for participation in SLTPB board meetings to the SLTPB welfare society, he elaborated.



Nanayakkara shared with the audience that he was not only humiliated at the remand custody, but certain individuals also attempted to make financial gains from his misfortune after he was released on bail spending 8 days behind bars.



My troubles didnt end when I was released from the remand custody. Certain low-class individuals in the industry attempted to steal my foreign clientele by calling me a thief. These were the same people who I taught and helped to set up businesses, he said.



In addition, he said that his business had to suffer as he was unable to attend the World Travel Mart (WTM) in 2016 which he had attended every year.



Speaking of the alleged irregular transactions, he said, In 2016, we were taken to remand custody, not because of any allegations that we had abused any of SLTPB funds for our personal gain or misused them, but in fact based on allegations that we attempted to misuse the funds.



Nanayakkara noted that there were several reputed individuals who suffered the same ordeal, though he declined to reveal their names.



He pointed out that both he and Fernandopulle were taken into custody as suspects and were also released as suspects.



The case filed against us was finally withdrawn on December 13, last year, stating that the case wouldnt proceed forward. However, there was never a case filed against us as the accused, he stressed.



Nanayakkara and Fernandopulle expressed their gratitude to the judiciary and the Attorney Generals Department for delivering justice at last.



Pix by Nimalasiri Edirisinghe
WASHINGTON - First came the Senate's rebuke of President Donald Trump's plan to pull U.S. troops out of Syria and Afghanistan. Then came warnings from top GOP senators that they might vote to block the president from using an emergency order to divert federal funds to a border wall.

But Tuesday night's State of the Union address, with thunderous applause and gushing accolades from Republicans, offered a reminder that, for all their policy differences and frustrations, the GOP is still very much the party of Trump.

Republicans erupted in chants of "USA! USA!" There were hearty ovations as Trump boasted of repealing much of President Barack Obama's health-care law and spoke darkly of "mass illegal immigration" and "our very dangerous southern border." Same for his disavowal of socialism.

It was typical of how Republicans have responded to Trump throughout his presidency: with reverence and roars despite the surplus of controversies, scandals and fury.

"Where I have differences with him, I'll tend to talk about them in private," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is up for reelection next year. "There are clearly some differences of view between him and some of my colleagues. But it's not a crack because we are all in the same boat."

Cornyn added that he and others who have grumbled about aspects of Trump's agenda - he once said Trump's call for a massive wall "makes absolutely no sense" and instead argued for bolstered fencing in key spots - are interested in having the president join them on the campaign trail, a testament to the president's sway with the voters whom Cornyn and others count as their base.

Tensions could grow in the coming days as Republicans scramble to avert another politically bruising government shutdown and urge Trump to resist using his emergency powers to bypass Congress and begin building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border - and in the perilous year ahead. There is no way to know how Republicans will react if and when special counsel Robert Mueller issues a report on his inquiry into alleged coordination between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia.

And even Tuesday night, there was tempered applause from GOP lawmakers when the president spoke of drawing "endless wars" in the Middle East to a close.

Yet the scene in the House chamber demonstrated that the appetite for a dramatic break with Trump over his conduct and policies remains limited for now, with most Republican lawmakers more inclined to nudge the combative president than to confront him, knowing he retains a deep well of support among the party's faithful primary voters and activists.

Glancing toward Republicans, Trump assured them that an "economic miracle is taking place in the United States - and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics or ridiculous partisan investigations," a reference to the Mueller probe and congressional investigations being led by newly empowered House Democrats.

Many Republicans stood and applauded Trump at that aside, as if they were assuring him that they, too, would stand by him whatever comes.

Standing before Vice President Mike Pence, who is close to the religious conservative community, Trump went on to ask Congress to pass legislation to curb third-trimester abortions.

To the extent that Republicans have broken with Trump in recent weeks, many GOP lawmakers described this development as a trial period on Tuesday, seeing how far they could go politically in this moment.

"You've got everyone figuring out how much elbow room they have," former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said. "The 35-day shutdown prompted that. That said, they know it's his party and probably won't go too far afield."

Trump continues to garner strong approval from within his own party, with 87 percent of Republicans approving of his performance in a CNN poll released Monday, although surveys show he remains largely unpopular with the general electorate.

Some potential 2020 primary challengers are eyeing bids and sensing vulnerability as Trump struggles within the vexing new confines of divided Washington.

Former Massachusetts governor William Weld recently changed his party registration from Libertarian to Republican as he considers a possible 2020 run against Trump, and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, has said he is "listening" to calls for him to jump into the White House race.

"The cheers and big smiles on the GOP side are a reminder that you shouldn't take politicians' cheers and big smiles too seriously," tweeted conservative commentator William Kristol, a Trump critic. "Most Republican members of Congress would be thrilled if Trump went away, but they're too timid for now to do much of anything about it."

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2-ranking Republican in the Senate, called his colleagues "entrepreneurial" these days.

"The president has some different views and shakes things up a little bit, and, obviously, we all have to adapt to that," Thune said.

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a top Trump supporter who confers with him regularly about the dynamics driving the party in Congress, dismissed the latest examples of GOP fissures with the president as "senators attempting to flex their muscles and show they are independent-minded," and a natural reaction from the party's hawks who have long supported foreign intervention.

"These senators want to talk foreign policy when they're in D.C., but they know when they're back home that most of their voters agree with the president that it's time to get out of these endless wars," Meadows said. "The president knows that, too."

Meadows added, "Are there people who complain? Sure. But I get asked five times a day if I can help a lot of these people get a presidential visit or an endorsement."

- - -

The Washington Post's Scott Clement contributed to this report.
As the bill proposing a $15 minimum wage rocketed through the Illinois legislature in the first two weeks of the 2019 session, employers have been watching and waiting to see how the potential law would impact their businesses.

Senate Bill 1 was passed Thursday by the House, 69-47, and is expected to be signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. If signed into law, the Illinois minimum wage gradually will increase to $15 an hour by 2025, beginning in 2020.

Jacksonville business owners, from retail to agriculture, expect a minimum wage increase to impact their operation, whether that means raising prices, reducing staffing or both. Some declined to comment on the bill because of how the change could affect their employees.

Its definitely going to increase the cost of operation and theyll have to offset that somehow, said Ron Barber, owner of Barber Florist.

The Illinois minimum wage, currently at $8.25 an hour, has not changed since 2010.

A report by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute outlines economic research that suggests the wage hike would result in higher wages and economic growth, with minimal impacts on employment and consumer prices

In one of the studies referenced in the report, a meta-analysis of 64 studies found that a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage is statistically associated with a small 0.2 and 0.6 percent drop in employment or hours and in another study of a wage hike in a California region found the impact was a slight increase in prices.

Regardless of how the statistics work out, individual Jacksonville business owners are not yet certain how the law would impact their operations. One thing many are sure of is that it will.

Barber, who employs one full-time and two part-time workers, said he wont know until its on paper whether he will have to increase prices or hire for fewer hours. He added that the gradual implementation of the new wages will make it easier to adjust.

Whether youre a small business or a large business, its going to impact the way you do business, he said.  Im probably like everyone else  Im not sure how its going to play out.

Though the bill includes a provision for a tax credit for small businesses that is intended to offset the impact of a higher minimum wage, JoAnn Chumley, owner of All Occasions Flowers and Gifts, expects the change to affect her business. All Occasions employs from 10 to 12 people  more during holidays  and all of their wages fall below $15. Both prices and staffing could be affected at her business, she said.

Times Square Sewing Complex owner Sue Fox said of her nine employees, six would have wages impacted by the change.

My most important thing is to always have good products and good service at a fair price, and most people dont want to have their prices raised. Its hard to know if we can balance all of that, she said. Its just a challenge.

The report also estimates that regions outside of Chicago would see the biggest impact from an increased minimum wage because Chicagos minimum wage already is at $12 an hour.

Of the 1.4 million workers in Illinois whose wages would be affected by the increase, nearly a half million are in areas outside of Chicago. Those workers would see their earnings go up by between $6,700 and $8,300  with the greatest impact in the Springfield region.

Lucy Stafford is co-owner of Bishop Hardware and Supply Inc., which owns Ace Hardware stores in Jacksonville and Pittsfield, along with 11 other Ace locations in central Illinois. Altogether, Staffords company employs around 300 people. Its not just employees now making less than $15 an hour whose wages would be affected, she said.

Virtually everyone will be affected, because as you raise the minimum wage, you cant compress and not raise your upper people. Thats just not fair, Stafford said.

Some criticisms of the bill have stemmed from the wide differences in cost of living in Chicago compared to other parts of the state.

The Illinois Retail Merchants Association released a statement in opposition to the bill when it passed in the Senate, asking for an effort to lessen the impact of an unprecedented wage hike, particularly on suburban and downstate employers.

Boyds Music owner Craig Boyd said lawmakers, especially those from the Chicago area, are out of touch.

It costs a lot more to live in Chicago than it does down here. Its just a night and day difference, he said.  I go up there, I pay $28 to park. If we had to pay $28 to park in downtown Jacksonville, there wouldnt be any cars there.

Barber is optimistic that the wage increase ultimately could be beneficial. He sees that many of his customers are minimum-wage workers.

It may help us economically because the people who work in Jacksonville spend most of their money in Jacksonville, he said.

Stafford said her company will adapt, possibly incorporating technology to help employees do their jobs efficiently.

Were a business and thats what business does, is adjust, she said. We always want to treat our employees fairly.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill.  State Rep. Monica Bristow, D-Alton, broke with her party on Thursday to vote against the Democrat-sponsored Minimum Wage/Income Tax Credit bill that would step up Illinois workers minimum wages over the next six years, peaking at $15 per hour in 2025.

The bill passed through the House on Thursday by a vote of 69-47, heading to Gov. J.B. Pritzkers desk. Hes expected to sign the plan into law by Wednesday.

Bristow offered the following written statement Thursday following the vote:

We all want fair pay for working families. Thats been my focus throughout a career spent working to bring good-paying jobs back to the Metro East. This experience has shown me that building an economy that works for everyone requires us to look beyond just the minimum wage. We need to level the playing field for small and medium-sized employers in our community that already struggle to compete with large corporations and face steep competition from Missouri businesses. Too many fear a higher cost of doing business in Illinois will have the opposite effect. Im going to continue to push for solutions that provide stability for employers, and help small businesses create more jobs and raise wages organically for everyone.
JERSEYVILLE  The following felony charges were recently filed by the Jersey County States Attorneys Office:

 Chad E. Ottwell, 25, of the 500 block of E. Pearl Street, Jerseyville, was charged Feb. 14 with obstructing a peace officer, a Class 4 felony; and unlawful possession of a hypodermic syringe, a Class A misdemeanor. According to court documents, on Feb. 13 Ottwell was being searched by a Jerseyville police officer who asked if he had any sharp objects, Ottwell reportedly replied no but the officer was stuck by a hypodermic syringe during the search. Bail was set at $10,000.

 Joseph D. Lowry, 45, of the 23400 block of Berry Road, Elsah, was charged Feb. 12 with domestic battery, a Class 4 felony. According to court documents on Feb. 12 Lowry allegedly struck a family member in the face, and had a previous conviction for domestic battery in 2017. Bail was set at $10,000.

 William A. Friedel, 62, of the 600 block of Broadway, Kampsville, was charged Feb. 7 with aggravated battery, a Class 2 felony. Court records show that on Feb. 6 he allegedly struck a Jersey County Sheriffs Department corrections officer while he was being processed for an outstanding warrant. No bail was listed.

 William S. Matthews, 50, of the 200 block of Elm Street, Eldred, was charged Feb. 14 with unlawful possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, a Class 1 felony; and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony. According to court documents, on Feb. 13 he was found by Grafton police to be in possession of between five and 15 grams of methamphetamine, and less than 5 grams of methylphenlate. He also faces several traffic citations. Bond was set at $25,000.

 Robert L. Elliot, 55, of the 33400 block of N. Apples Tree Road, Medora, was charged Feb. 14 with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a Class 3 felony. According to court documents he was found in possession of less than five grams of methamphetamine on Feb. 13. Bail was set at $5,000.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld told an audience in New Hampshire Friday that he will try to take on President Donald Trump in the 2020 Republican presidential primary, offering the first high-profile challenge to the president's reelection effort.

Weld, 73, said he would seek to determine over the coming months if he can raise enough money to continue his challenge of the president. He said he would run on a traditional Republican agenda of fiscal responsibility and provide a stylistic contrast to Trump.

"It is time for all people of good will - and our country is filled with people of good will - to take a stand and plant a flag," Weld said during a speech Friday at a Politics & Eggs breakfast in Bedford, New Hampshire.

"In every country, there comes a time when patriotic men and women must stand up and speak out," he said. "In our country, this is such a time."

Weld opened his remarks in the first primary state with an unflinching denunciation of the president - "he acts like a schoolyard bully" - and Republicans in Washington who "exhibit all the symptoms of Stockholm syndrome."

"We don't need six more years of the antics we have seen," he said.

Weld's path to the nomination is difficult; Trump remains popular with Republican voters. In an interview this week, Weld noted that even if he does not succeed, a potential side benefit, from his perspective, would be weakening Trump for the general election.

Recent history has demonstrated the effect of such challenges: In 1992, President George H.W. Bush faced a troublesome challenge from the right from commentator Patrick J. Buchanan, who embarrassed the incumbent by winning 37 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire primary and fighting Bush until the national convention. The weakened president lost to Democrat Bill Clinton.

Similarly, President Gerald Ford had to fend off a Republican challenge from Ronald Reagan in 1976 before losing in the general election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.

Weld was elected governor of Massachusetts as a Republican twice, first in 1990. He ran his first campaign as a reformer who supported gay rights and abortion rights.

Weld was blunt about the steep odds against him, given Trump's success at remaking the modern-day Republican Party in his image. But he said that he felt compelled to act after observing the tumult of the Trump campaign and administration.

"I'm here because I think our country is in grave peril, and I cannot sit quietly on the sidelines any longer," he said.

Weld outlined an agenda that was far more specific than that laid out by other presidential candidates so far. He advocated simplifying the tax code and reducing taxes across the board. He favored lowering trade barriers and shrinking the government overall, including eliminating the Education Department.

While those elements are well within Republican orthodoxy, he also departed from it. He said climate change represented a dire threat to the nation and that the U.S. should reenter the Paris climate agreement. Trump has mocked the notion of climate change and announced that the country was withdrawing from the multinational accord. Weld also backed the use of medical marijuana for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

But he was most animated when discussing the flaws of the current president.

"We have a president whose priorities are skewed toward promotion of himself rather than toward the good of the country," Weld said. "He may have great energy and considerable raw talent, but he does not use them in ways that promote democracy, truth, justice and equal opportunity for all."

When asked if he would endorse Trump should he lose the primary, Weld deflected. "I find the current president a difficult act to swallow," Weld said, suggesting he might support a different Republican or an independent candidate.

Weld was elected governor of Massachusetts as a Republican twice, first in 1990, after serving as U.S. attorney for Massachusetts and in the Justice Department in Washington. He ran his first campaign as a reformer who supported gay rights and abortion rights.

He was an erudite and quirky governor; at one news conference, held so he could sign a water-quality bill into law, he jumped into the Charles River wearing long pants and a T-shirt.

Weld was reelected in 1994 with more than 70 percent of the vote, despite Massachusetts's status as an overwhelmingly Democratic state. Shortly after, he set his eyes on Washington and decided to run for the U.S. Senate, challenging John Kerry in 1996.

But Weld lost that race and, in 1997, resigned the governorship after being offered the role of ambassador to Mexico by President Bill Clinton. The nomination stalled and eventually was withdrawn due to Republican objections over his moderate positions.

He moved to New York and in 2005 announced his candidacy for governor there in the 2006 elections. But he made it only halfway through election year before bowing out with little support.

Weld left the Republican Party in 2016 to join former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson on the Libertarian Party ticket. Weld received a rough welcome, winning the vice-presidential nomination on the second ballot at the party's convention only after Johnson suggested that he could not continue as the presidential nominee without him.

"The Libertarian platform is my platform, and neither of the other parties' is," Weld said in an interview with Slate.

On the trail, Weld described his new party as "a six-lane highway going right up the middle between the two parties."

He made news for defending Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over the controversy surrounding her use of a private email server. In the final days of the election, he suggested that voters in swing states cast strategic ballots to stop Trump, even if that meant supporting the Democrat.

"I'm here vouching for Mrs. Clinton, and I think it's high time somebody did," Weld told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.

After the election, Johnson announced his retirement from presidential politics, while Weld traveled the country to assess support for a Libertarian run.

"I can almost feel myself sinking more deeply into the Libertarian Party," he told the libertarian magazine Reason in 2017. "I feel myself broadening and, as I say, even deepening politically."

But the party lost ground in 2018, losing some state offices it had gained during the Obama presidency. Weld announced this month that he was switching back to the Republican Party.

Weld traces his roots in the country back to the 1600s when an ancestor, Joseph Weld, arrived in Boston. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College and earned a law degree from Harvard University.

He has five children from his first marriage, which ended in divorce. His second wife, Leslie Marshall, is a novelist and magazine writer.
SPRINGFIELD  A bill intended to rein in House Speaker Michael Madigans outsized role in state politics was rejected by Democrats in a House subcommittee Thursday.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Margo McDermed (R-Mokena), would have prohibited anyone who is the leader of a legislative chamber from serving simultaneously as a state party chairman.

Madigan, the longest-serving speaker of any state House of Representatives in U.S. history, has also chaired the Illinois Democratic Party since 1998. He is also believed to be the only state-level House Speaker who simultaneously serves as the state party chairman.

McDermed acknowledged the Chicago politicians situation inspired her to offer the bill, but she denied it was aimed specifically at him.

Its not about one person, she said. Its about the ethical conflict that every other state has ruled out.

McDermed said every other state has either statutes, regulations or ethics codes that preclude anyone from holding both positions simultaneously.

Contacted separately, though, an official from the Council of State Governments was unable to say whether any states have legal prohibitions against serving in both rolls, and he suggested that such a ban could raise constitutional issues.

In fact, the bill was referred to a constitutional law subcommittee because, in the words of Chairman Andre Thapedi (D-Chicago), it had possible constitutional ramifications either as a possible violation of equal protection guarantees or as special legislation intended to target one identifiable individual.

McDermed, however, insisted it was meant to address ethical issues about conflicts of interest, and that it would apply to any legislative leader  House Speaker or Senate President  going forward.

Im doing this because it seems to me an inherent conflict of interest and puts someone in a position where governing the state, legislating for the state, is not necessarily consistent with whats best for the political party, and thats what Im trying to get at, she said.

When asked by Rep. Thaddeus Jones (D-Calumet City) who is in a position to say its a conflict, McDermed replied: Its a conflict by its very nature. Nobody needs to say its a conflict. Every person with common sense can see that its a conflict.

Well, I have common sense and I cant see that its a conflict, Jones replied.

On a party-line vote of 3-2, the subcommittee voted against advancing the bill to the full Judiciary Committee on civil law.

Apparently the claim of conflict is not accurate or persuasive to the members of the subcommittee, Madigans spokesman, Steve Brown, said in an email.

The legislation is House Bill 878.
LONDON - When London teenager Shamima Begum fled Britain with two other schoolgirls in 2015 to join the Islamic State, it shocked a nation. Now, she wants to come home.

Begum, 19, is nine months pregnant and living in a Syrian refugee camp. She says she doesn't regret leaving Britain but now wants to return to give birth to her child.

"Now all I want to do is come home to Britain," she said in an extraordinary interview with the Times of London.

Her case raises broader questions about how to deal with the possible influx of Britons who might want to return following the territorial defeat of the caliphate. About 900 people from Britain are thought to have traveled to Syria or Iraq to join groups like the Islamic State, according to the Home Office, and of these, about 20 percent have been killed and 40 percent have returned.

Ben Wallace, Britain's security minister, told the BBC on Thursday that Begum could face prosecution if she returns Britain.

Begum fled to Syria in 2015 when she was only 15 years old. She vanished during Easter break along with Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, two other schoolgirls from the Bethnal Green area of east London. The trio traveled from London's Gatwick airport to Turkey, and then made their way to Syria.

The case stunned Britain. The young women were bright and came from seemingly stable and happy families. Their fleeing was seen as a warning of the lure the Islamic State could have for young Western women.

Sultana is thought to have died in an airstrike in 2016. The fate of Abase is unknown.

Her father, Hussen Abase, told Sky News on Thursday that the girls had "made a mistake" and should be forgiven.

"I'm not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago," Begum said in the interview with the Times.

Begum said that when she arrived in Raqqa, she went to a house for brides-to-be and "applied to marry an English-speaking fighter between 20 and 25 years old." Within 10 days, she was married to a 27-year-old from the Netherlands. They had two children who died of malnutrition and disease.

She said life in Raqqa was mostly "normal," although "every now and then there were bombs and stuff."

She also said that she didn't regret going to Syria and wasn't fazed when she saw the severed head of one of the Islamic State's victims.

Wallace told the BBC that everyone who takes part in the conflict in Syria or Iraq must be "prepared to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted for committing terrorist offenses."

He also said that he wouldn't put British officials' lives at risk to "go and look for terrorists or former terrorists in a failed state. There are consular services elsewhere in the region and the strong message this government has given for many years is that actions have consequences."

Anthony Loyd, the Times correspondent who tracked Begum down in a refugee camp in northern Syria, cautioned about judging her too quickly. He told the BBC she was a "15-year-old schoolgirl who was groomed and lured to the caliphate, and four years later, with that background, she is an indoctrinated jihadi bride."

He also said that she "had no regrets, she was calm and composed but she was also in a state of shock - she had just come out of a battlefield, nine months pregnant, many of her friends dead through airstrikes and all the rest of it - so I wouldn't want to rush to judge her too harshly. We must remember she was a 15-year-old schoolgirl when she left the U.K."
A year after an attacker in a Parkland, Florida, high school gunned down 17 students and faculty and wounded 17 others, the mass shooting - and what happened before and after it - have become the focus of multiple inquiries, including an ongoing criminal case and statewide investigations.

This web of examinations, which range from a death penalty case against the confessed shooter to probes looking at the actions of law enforcement and school officials, are a broad response to a tragedy marked by repeated missteps. One investigation already faulted law enforcement officers and school officials, while another is still looking at the police response. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, R, this week called for a new probe to be carried out by a grand jury looking at Parkland as well as broader school security issues.

The inquiries are likely to continue playing out for months - and possibly years - as Florida continues to reckon with the horrors unleashed inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018.

One of the explorations looking into what happened began soon after the shooting. Police quickly arrested Nikolas Cruz, the former student who confessed to the attack. He was indicted on 34 counts of premeditated murder and attempted murder and, not long after, prosecutors announced plans to seek a death sentence.

The court case against Cruz represents something unusual following an attack on the scale of Parkland: A trial for a suspect charged in a mass shooting, proceedings that could provide an extended, emotional look at the Valentine's Day carnage. Cruz's attorneys, who admit he was the attacker, have offered to have him plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence, which prosecutors have not accepted. Both sides said Thursday they still expect the case to proceed to trial.

In perhaps the most comparable case, a gunman who killed a dozen people inside an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater in July 2012 ultimately faced trial. Three years passed between the movie theater massacre and the jury's decision to find him guilty on all counts during proceedings that lasted several months in 2015. He was sentenced to life in prison rather than the death sentence prosecutors sought. That same year, a self-avowed white supremacist killed nine black parishioners in Charleston, South Carolina; he was convicted in a federal case about a year and a half later and was sentenced to death.

Howard Finkelstein, the Broward public defender representing Cruz, said the trial in South Florida is "a long way off," noting that discovery filings have listed more than 900 witnesses.

Finkelstein, who has said it would be wrong for the state to execute Cruz after authorities missed so many warning signs about him before the shooting, wrote in an email Thursday that a "trial whenever it happens will be a very long ordeal and very painful." He added that a death sentence for Cruz would be followed by "decades of appeals" and reiterated his previous stance that a guilty plea would "end the painful and arduous legal journey immediately."

Prosecutors have rebuffed the plea offers - even before announcing they would seek Cruz's execution, Michael Satz, state attorney for Broward County, called the massacre "the type of case the death penalty was designed for. A spokeswoman for the state attorney's office said Thursday that there has been no change to that posture.

Beyond the court case, other investigations have looked at what happened at Stoneman Douglas as well as how authorities responded to numerous red flags related to Cruz. He had repeatedly drawn the attention of officials on the local, state and federal level, but none of the encounters or warnings - including concerns about his mental state and specific tips to the FBI and Broward Sheriff's Office describing him as a threat to a school - led to actions that might have prevented the attack.

A statewide panel known as the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission released a report detailing numerous problems with the school's handling of security as well as the actions and inactions of law enforcement. The commission criticized the Broward Sheriff's Office, which had several contacts with Cruz before the shooting, for issues with its training and how deputies responded to the gunfire inside the school.

Former Broward County sheriff's deputy Scot Peterson was widely condemned for not rushing into the building to confront the shooter despite arriving there within two minutes of the first gunshots. Peterson, who had been assigned to the school and was shown on video surveillance recordings standing outside the building where the shootings were underway, later said he did not know where the gunfire was coming from, but the commission said he "was derelict in his duty . . . and fled to a position of personal safety while Cruz shot and killed [school] students and staff."

The commission faulted other law enforcement officials as well. Multiple law enforcement officers failed to respond appropriately to what happened, according to the panel, including several who were described as not rushing inside "while shots were being fired."

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is conducting its own investigation into the law enforcement response to the shooting, looking at how the various agencies reacted to the attack. That probe is ongoing.

The public safety commission also found that Stoneman Douglas had numerous security lapses, such as unlocked entrances and classrooms where students were killed with no way to hide from view inside those rooms. A spokeswoman for the school system has said officials are looking at the commission's findings "to deepen our understanding of what happened, who was responsible, and what might have been done differently."

DeSantis cited the commission's report in announcing his decision last month to suspend Scott Israel, the elected Broward County sheriff. Israel argued that he was ousted for political reasons and insisted: "There was no wrongdoing on my part."

On Wednesday, one day before the first anniversary of the attack, DeSantis asked the Florida Supreme Court to impanel a grand jury, which he said would be distinct from the commission because of its broad subpoena power.

"They will be able to compel witnesses, they will be able to compel documents in a way that the Marjory Stoneman Douglas commission was just not able to do," he said during a briefing Wednesday. He added that a statewide grand jury "has a lot of teeth."

In his petition asking the court to impanel a grand jury based in Broward County, DeSantis wrote that the investigation would look into issues relating to the Parkland attack and said "there is a need to examine the crimes and wrongs that precipitated the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting."

He also said the grand jury should look into whether students are being placed at risk due to failures by school officials to follow school-safety laws and whether public authorities are "shirking responsibility."
BUNKER HILL  Seven decades later, Herman Landreth still recalls how his ears popped when the worst of the storm passed nearby. He also remembers the massive damage and pain left behind.

Our house was the only one on our street that wasnt destroyed, said Landreth, 93, of Bunker Hill. Two of my sisters-in-law died in that storm. My brother, Albert, and all three of his sons had broken legs, and they had to amputate my brothers leg. His brothers home and grocery store were also lost.

Monday marks the 70th anniversary of the deadly tornado that ripped through the heart of Bunker Hill around breakfast time on March 19, 1948, killing nineteen. Minutes before, the tornado leveled most of Fosterburg, where nine died.

Another five were killed in Gillespie, bringing the death toll to 33, though some sources report even more. In between, the tornado inflicted serious damage in the Dorchester area.

The storm originated near Alton, damaging a number of homes on Belle and Alby streets around 6:30 a.m., a Friday morning. The Telegraph reported the air was close with an unseasonably warm temperature of 67 degrees. Many in Alton reported that witnesses did not see a typical twister, but a low black cloud that seemed to roll along horizontally at low level.

On Tonsor Road, where several homes were destroyed, thirteen-year-old Delores Curry told the Telegraph that I was ready to leave for school (when) Mom and Dad looked out and saw the clouds coming. Just then the phone rang. Thats all I remember until I woke up out in the yard. She added that her mother was lying between a refrigerator and stove.

Flash, flash, flash

The tornado then continued northeast to Fosterburg, demolishing eighty percent of the town. Area hospitals were swamped by the number of casualties, and some of the less serious injuries were taken to makeshift medical centers in Alton churches.

Within hours, the National Guard blocked entrance to the crippled city. Passes were required to enter Fosterburg until March 23. That day, the Telegraph reported that property losses in Fosterburg were still undetermined because of weather conditions and the fact that most Fosterburg residents are either in hospitals or are still too bewildered by the tornado.

At 6:50 p.m., the tornado roared through Bunker Hill as lightning lit the dark skies and rain fell in buckets. The lightning was just flash, flash, flash, recalled Landreth. I turned off the oil heater, so it wouldnt start a fire. I always remembered how bad the lightning was.

The storm destroyed most of the center of Bunker Hill, including all five of the towns churches. Most of the business district was reduced to rubble, while the bandstand, a town landmark, was leveled. Another central feature of the town, a statue of Abraham Lincoln dedicated in 1904, was knocked off its pedestal.

A lasting impact

At her family home east of town, nine-year-old Betty Zarges was recovering from the measles and would be unable to attend that evenings scheduled school production of Pinocchio. The tornado changed all that, and she got a firsthand look at the damage in nearby Bunker Hill.

My aunt and uncle lost their home, and they stayed with us for a while, said Zarges, 79, who now lives near Woodburn. Shed go into town every day to sift through what was left of their home, and shed take me along.

Even today, Zarges is struck by the psychological effect of the survivors in the days that followed. I think I was kind of a touchstone for my aunt, she said. I think she just wanted me nearby.

When someone loses a home in a fire or something like that, other people try to help, she remarked. But when the entire community has suffered such a loss, its in a different way. Its likely that the next person has lost as much, or more than you, and its difficult to identify with someone else.

Remarkably, a few items were spared. My aunt was digging through the debris, trying to find what was left, remembered Zarges. I was helping her, and I found this little tea set. My aunt said I could keep it. I still have that tea set.

All hands on deck

Outside of town, twenty-one-year-old Lester Lawson heard the approach of the storm, and tried to look out for his young family. The windows were rattling, and my wife and I were worried about our little daughter, in the next room, recalled Lawson, 91. It was a bad windstorm, but we didnt lose that much. Nothing was blown over, where we were at.

But the alarm sounded quickly. We had one of those old phones that I call hoof-and-holler phones, the ones with a hand crank, said Lawson. It was a party line, with six or seven other people on it with you.

It rang ten times, which Id never heard before, recalled Lawson. It meant there was an emergency. I answered, and was told that Bunker Hill had been blown apart by a tornado, and they needed all the help they could get.

Lawson, who operated a trucking business, and a friend drove into town in a two-ton truck to help out. We got as far as the old railroad crossing at the north side of town, and the road was blocked, he said. So we walked up to town, about two blocks or so.

We started looking for people that needed help, and we found one person who needed a hospital, he continued. We made a stretcher out of two-by-fours, and carried him up to Main Street, which runs east-west out of town, where an ambulance could get to him.

There were no trees left

An account in the Macoupin County Enquirer wrote that Bunker Hill looks as if it has been hit by an atom bomb. Illinois State Police and other law enforcement sealed the town, which kept some residents from getting back in.

One was Malvern Mook Allen, a 21-year-old student at the University of Illinois, which was holding classes in a former military hospital in Galesburg. I had an exam at 8:30, and someone said that this town in southern Illinois, Bunker Hill, had been hit by a tornado and was really badly damaged, he said. I went ahead and took the exam, then started for home.

Allen, now 91, hitchhiked for much of the way, over twelve hours in all. When I finally got there it was dark and raining, with strong lightning, he said. When I got to town, two state troopers grabbed me by the shirt and wanted to know what I was doing there. They took me up to Hartleys Cafe, which was still intact, and asked if anyone knew me.

Allens family home was completely wiped out. His mother had survived, though she was found under a bath tub.

There were two tents set up on the first floor, where the house used to be, he recalled. They were U.S. Army-style tents, 12 by 12, which could sleep ten or so. My sister, who was a nurse at Fort Sheridan, found me, and offered me an extra cot.

One of the few buildings still standing was Meissner School, where relief operations set up tents in the yard. We ate meals there for several days, said Allen.

He also recalled the views across town, which had not existed before. We used to be the city of trees, said Allen. Then, there were no trees left. You could stand in our front yard, and look clear across town.

Picking up, moving on

In some cases, the Illinois National Guard and law enforcement were ordered to shoot at looters. On Tonsor Road in Alton, one civilian guard fired at a looter, hitting him in the shoulder. On Palm Sunday, March 21, sightseers in Bunker Hill were so numerous that bumper-to-bumper traffic was reported for ten miles.

Relief efforts continued for days. By Saturday evening in the three affected towns, the Salvation Army reported distribution of 5,000 garments a day, while operating a 24-hour-a-day hot food bar. The mobile unit of the U.S. Army was serving meals and distributing clothing in Fosterburg. The military, Red Cross, and Salvation Army were reportedly serving 1,000 people a day in Bunker Hill.

Volunteers poured in. Some 200 farmers came to town to help in Fosterburg, while students from Blackburn College in Carlinville came to Bunker Hill each day for the next month to help clean up and rebuild. Over 100 Boy Scouts from around southern Macoupin County were joined by local veterans groups on the scene. Some farmers brought bulldozers and tractors into Bunker Hill, to assist in the cleanup.

North of town, there was this group of Amish people from the Arthur area, who set up camp, said Allen. Each day, theyd come into town and bring meals and work, trying to help clean up. They were there every day for at least a month.

Some, though, saw a quick profit. In the days that followed, an East St. Louis company selling steel Quonset huts placed a display ad in a Carlinville newspaper. The heading of the ad blared Tornado Victims! Heres Immediate Housing.

A reported 126 people were injured in Bunker Hill alone, overwhelming hospitals in Alton, Carlinville, and Litchfield. On Easter Sunday in Bunker Hill, services were conducted from a parked tractor, which served as a pulpit for two of the towns four ministers.

The tornado is the sixth-deadliest on record in Illinois history, and is even considered among the worst in American history. The Bunker Hill-Gillespie tornado is published annually in the World Almanac and Book of Facts in its list of notable tornadoes to hit the United States.

Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville, Ill. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.
Global tea promotional campaign to kick-off in China this May

Sri Lankas tea exports to China surpassed the 10 million kgs mark in 2018 for the first time in history, reaching an all-time high of 10.02 million kgs.

However, the growth of tea exports to China slowed down to 1.2 percent last year from a record 30 percent achieved in 2017.



Ceylon Tea exports to China have been steadily growing since 2012, when tea export volumes to China were a mere 3 million kgs.



The Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) expects that tea exports to China will pick up in the coming years, following the launch of the 3-year global tea promotional campaign in China this May.

Speaking to Mirror Business, SLTB Director (Promotions) Hasitha De Alwis said that the promotional campaign will be launched first in China between May 15 and 20 during the SIAL China 2019 exhibition and China International Tea Expo organised by the Ministry of Agriculture of China.



He noted that SLTB has allocated Rs.500 million for the main promotional campaign in China and another Rs.27 million for a PR campaign, which will run simultaneously.



He explained that the promotion campaign in China will focus more on the social media.



The three key elements of the campaign will be key opinion leaders (KOLs), supermarket and hyper market activations and search engine optimisation.

De Alwis noted that the main objectives of global promotion campaign are to increase the Ceylon Tea volumes, increase the valued added Ceylon tea linked to the Lion logo and to link Ceylon Tea with Sri Lanka.



In certain countries they know Ceylon Tea, but they dont know Ceylon Tea is coming from an Island called Sri Lanka, he stressed. (NF)
JERSEYVILLE  Almost every Monday at noon, around 30 members of the Jerseyville Rotary Club meet at Peace United Church of Christ on Glenda Avenue.

As part of their weekly meeting they eat a family-style dinner catered by the churchs kitchen. The kitchen workers buy groceries over the weekend, come in early Monday and stay late into the afternoon so Rotarians can have a delicious lunch and get back to their work days. On a recent Monday, the club expressed its thanks and gratitude not only to those kitchen workers but also to one special person.

Lillie Wilson is the kitchen manager who has cooked for the church since 1952. For 67 years, she cooked meals for various special events and the weekly rotary meetings since the club began in 1953. She runs the kitchen with efficiency, a huge amount of love and devotion for what she does and the people with whom she works. She also cooks some scrumptious food.

Lillie was recognized for her exceptional years of service with a Paul Harris Fellow, a special award of distinction named after the Rotary Clubs founder. A person awarded with a Paul Harris Fellow is chosen because they truly exemplify Rotarys motto of Service Above Self. And Rotary members clearly arent the only people who think Lillie is a special woman. A dozen or so of Lillies family members attended the presentation and lunch, surprising her with their appearance. Lillies children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were on hand to help honor her and her altruistic efforts.

Lillies son, Danny Wilson, said, She has always worked for our church. She was baptized here. I was baptized here. I can remember playing in the basement of the old church building (located on Route 16, where Danceworks Dance Studio is now) while they prepared food. Peace United Church of Christ used to cater lunch once a week for two separate clubs. so we were there a lot.

Danny said that Lillie loves to cook and she hosted her family for years for Thanksgiving and Christmas. When asked why she has worked for so long, Danny said, She volunteers for the church. If the church needed a new roof or heater, then the money raised from catering lunches would help the church to take care of its capital projects, then allow the church to do more of what a church is meant to do  to help people.

Jerseyville Rotary Club President Whitney McIver said, Lillies cooking is legendary amongst Rotary Members past and present. We all know that whatever the kitchen cooks for us, it will be amazing. Lillie is an extremely hard worker and always a joy to work with. Im so excited that shes getting this recognition.

Lillie is no stranger to service organizations, being involved with the Jerseyville Moose for many years. She also worked at the old location of Sinclairs (West) Supermarket in the Bakery and Deli Department. At the church, she has managed the kitchen since the early 1990s and works with a staff of about eight other cooks.

Lillie says she started working simply because the kitchen needed help. Back when she first started, the former manager cooked the meat at her home while the other cooks baked cakes and pies. She says the large onsite kitchen makes it much easier now.

After Lillie was presented with her award, she was invited to sit down and eat lunch with her family. She admitted afterward that she couldnt enjoy it very much because she was worried about what was going on back in the kitchen. When asked how much longer she planned to work at the church she answered, As long as I can. We all work together and thats what helps.

Jerseyville Rotary Clubs regular meetings are held most Mondays at noon at Peace United Church of Christ. It is getting ready to hold its biggest fundraiser of the year - Chili Fest - on Tuesday, March 5 from 11 a.m.  6 p.m. at the Jerseyville KC Hall. To find out more about becoming a member of Rotary or their Chili Fest fundraiser, visit the clubs Facebook page (Rotary Club of Jerseyville).
From impossibly long lines to intrusive searches by humorless agents, today's airport screening process is a hassle for many fliers.

But the screenings of tomorrow could be unlike anything you can imagine - fast, easy, and maybe even friendly. At least that's the assessment of experts.

"Look for more automated screening lines at airports," says Mark Dombroff, an aviation lawyer with the Alexandria, Virginia, office of LeClairRyan. "Look for new technology, which compiles more information faster and involves smaller machines."

In the coming months, observers say, new biometric and other technology could fundamentally change the way the Transportation Security Administration handles screenings. But privacy advocates say technology might create more problems than it solves.

Passengers, meanwhile, have their own ideas about how to fix the TSA - ideas that involve bringing common sense and politeness back to the screening process.

Even so, it's difficult to write off the new technology and its promises. Late last year, for example, Delta Air Lines introduced its first "biometric" terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Technology developed with the TSA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) scans passengers' faces and verifies their identities. With the biometric ID system, as with TSA PreCheck, passengers don't have to remove computers from their bags during screening.

In Los Angeles, the TSA and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority began deploying advanced passenger-screening technology last year. The portable terahertz millimeter-wave screening devices can detect weapons and other security threats by identifying objects that block the heat that radiates from the body.

If these technologies catch on, it's not difficult to imagine a near future without long security lines, invasive searches or full- body scans. The new security checkpoint may not be a checkpoint at all but a secure area passengers walk through without breaking stride.

"With a facial-recognition system, there would be no need for a TSA agent to check your ID," says Marios Savvides, director of the CyLab Biometrics Center at Carnegie Mellon University. "The system captures an individual's iris and full face as they walk by."

That's an exciting future, and it could happen soon. Outside the United States, biometric technology is common. Andrew Coggins, a professor at Pace University's Lubin School of Business, just returned from China, and he reports widespread use of biometric technology there to track visitors.

"When I landed in Shanghai, I had to go to a kiosk where fingerprints of both hands, passport, and my photo were all collected," Coggins says. "From there, I went to immigration control. When I got to my hotel, my picture was taken and matched to the data collected at the airport."

But is that really what passengers want? Some critics are concerned about the privacy implications of biometric technology. They say federal law offers few protections from or restrictions on the use of biometrics such as facial recognition. Last year, the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center filed Freedom of Information Act requests seeking details about the government's secretive biometrics program.

Freedom to Travel USA, a group that advocates for travelers, is concerned about this fast-emerging future. It's pushing for better data security and for new rules governing the implementation of biometric screening to protect travelers from false positive alerts for security threats. It also wants a study on terahertz millimeter-wave devices before they're installed in airports.

"Travelers should be very concerned with being photographed and scanned at airports - or anywhere else, for that matter, when it is done indiscriminately to the masses as proposed," says Wendy Thomson, a spokeswoman for the group.

Passengers are also concerned about the practicalities of screening. Customer satisfaction with airports was up last year, according to the latest report from J.D. Power, a market research company. Overall passenger satisfaction rose to 761 on a 1,000-point scale, 12 points higher than the previous year's results. That included a jump in passenger satisfaction with security screening, mainly attributable to improved communication and cooperation between airport and TSA staffs, according to J.D. Power. But passengers say they're still far from happy with the screening process and see plenty of room for improvement.

For example, some air travelers take issue with the way TSA screeners treat passengers. They complain that screeners are impolite and enforce the rules unevenly. "Maybe the TSA should hire screeners with maturity, who know how to interact with people, and who are not so arrogant," says Shirley Kroot, a retired real estate appraiser from Huntley, Illinois.

Durant Imboden, a Minneapolis-based frequent flier who edits a website about travel to Europe, says the TSA should re-examine its rules before overhauling screening practices.

He points to exceptions made for passengers over 75, who don't have to remove their shoes or laptops during screening, and for members of the military, who may use the expedited TSA PreCheck line. "Obviously, the TSA can't really believe that nobody over 75 is capable of wearing explosive shoe soles, or that no member of the military is a potential security threat," he says. "So why the take-off-your-shoes, take-out-your-laptop, and show-your-liquids rules for ordinary folks?"

Questions like Imboden's have been put to and answered by the TSA. While the agency doesn't comment on specific security measures or the reasons for them, it relies on "unpredictable" tactics to protect the country's transportation systems.

Apparently, the bottom line for passengers is that the TSA should answer a few more fundamental questions before it starts to improve its screening systems with new technology. Are the screening rules effective? Do TSA agents need customer service training? Could the agency benefit from a little more consistency with its screening procedures?

If the agency answered those questions before investing in the latest biometric technology or scanners, maybe tomorrow's airport screenings would be markedly better than today's.
The boat rose and fell relentlessly, one ocean swell after another. I leaned over its stern, fixing my eyes on the decoy floating a few yards away. I had watched it for hours, barely glancing at the elephant seals hauled out on the nearby island.

In my eagerness to see who might nibble on the bobbing object, I was reluctant to look away for even a moment.

I was on a day-long expedition to the Farallon Islands, about 30 miles west of San Francisco. The craggy islands are a familiar sight for Bay Area beachgoers on a clear day, but most people don't know that they support vast seabird colonies and mammals such as sea lions, dolphins, elephant seals and humpback, blue and gray whales.

The Farallones are also home to some of the largest great white sharks on the planet.

My husband Andrew, our friend Neil and I joined a dozen biologists, volunteers and wildlife watchers for the trip - part of Sharktober, an annual Bay Area celebration of the great whites' return from their oceanic migration each September through November. Along with land-based educational events, the excursions immerse aspiring seafarers in the Farallon Islands' natural history and marine ecosystem.

Shark Stewards, a nonprofit group that promotes sound stewardship for sharks and all marine life, organizes the events and tours. Its director, marine biologist David McGuire, led our expedition as one of several weekend day trips during Sharktober.

We boarded the Silver Fox, a chartered 50-foot fishing boat, at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Although thick November fog dulled the sunrise, the forecast was less volatile than usual. I still pulled on my burliest cold-weather clothing, including a waterproof jacket and pants.

The Farallones are fierce. Because of savage weather, perilous currents and ragged rocks, the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary estimates that more than 400 shipwrecks might surround the isolated islands. Local Miwok referred to them as the "Islands of the Dead," and mariners called them the "Devil's Teeth." Compounding the sense of danger is the sharks' fearsome reputation, which only now is beginning to recover from decades of misperception and demonization.

The Farallones are a marine sanctuary protected by a number of state and federal designations. As a result, they're a haven for at least 25 endangered and threatened species, more than a dozen nesting seabird species and 36 marine mammal species. And, of course, the sharks.

We puttered into San Francisco Bay. Fog and water congealed into an indistinct smudge, dampening visibility and sound. A container ship lurked in the mist, occasionally breaking the eerie stillness with a horn blast. We were already in another world.

As if to emphasize the transition, harbor porpoises leaped out of the water before we even saw the Golden Gate Bridge. Eventually, its pylons rose beside us and disappeared into the gloom. We passed Point Bonita lighthouse at the bay's entrance. Periscoping sea lions eyed the boat, and brown pelicans flew overhead.

We were surprisingly close to Marin County's Muir Beach when we saw our first humpback. It exhaled, and the breeze wafted a comically sour plume from its blowhole into our faces.

A tail rose from the water: a California gray whale heading south on one of the world's longest migrations. We turned west into the Gulf of the Farallones, riding against 10-foot swells through the clearing fog. I silently prayed to the motion-sickness patch stuck behind my ear.

We rolled up and down the swells and rubbernecked at whales for 2 hours until we reached the Farallones' granite island ridge, once part of a Southern California mountain range. Ocean waves thundered into jagged, sky-scraping spires.

Around Southeast Farallon Island, thousands of common murres circled in the air. "This is North America's largest seabird colony," McGuire explained. "In springtime, more than 300,000 seabirds nest here."

The boat idled in a cove. Although the islands are off-limits to the public, two strikingly desolate houses sit below a lighthouse-topped summit. For years, hardy scientists have taken shifts researching and living on the island.

I smelled the elephant seals before I saw them squabbling with each other under the cliffs. They are one of the sharks' key food sources. Each fall, between 15 and 50 sharks arrive - most of them large and all of them hungry. They're part of a population of several hundred that scientists have identified from Mexico to British Columbia.

A couple of months later, fattened on elephant seals and sea lions, the sharks depart the Farallones. Some travel to the "white shark cafe" in the mid-Pacific, a gathering place where scientists suspect that they feed and breed. Others swim to Mexico. Their round-trip migration can approach 5,000 miles.

On the deck, a graduate student named Nikki prepared a decoy: a child's stuffed black wet suit with dive fins extending from its legs. Although attracting sharks is forbidden in the protected waters, Shark Stewards holds a permit for the lure.

Nikki chucked it over the side of the boat, where it made a fair impersonation of an injured seal. But would a shark fall for the ruse?

"We need something that looks like a food source, since sharks aren't interested in humans," McGuire said. "That said, sharks are pretty smart. If they see it once, they probably won't investigate it twice."

During the trips, McGuire and his team employ a toaster-size, remotely operated vehicle to observe sharks underwater without disturbing them or altering their behavior. The team records and shares data - including with the public through educational outreach and as part of National Geographic's Open Explorer program.

"These are everyone's sanctuaries," he said. "If people don't experience them, it's harder to appreciate them and understand the importance of protection."

An intern dropped the little robot overboard. It scooted away and disappeared while McGuire operated it from a tablet.

The decoy was getting too close to the boat. I followed McGuire's request to pull its line as we turned, jerking it to mimic a panicked seal.

"Yeah, that's definitely going to attract a shark," said Neil, rolling his eyes.

The motion-sickness medication was losing its battle with the swells and the elephant seals' spectacular stink. Andrew and I felt seasick.

The three of us watched the decoy from the stern. Every once in a while, I fixed my eyes on the island to quell nausea.

We lingered while McGuire and his team operated the robot. Whales breached off the bow and seabird after seabird buzzed the boat. After a couple of hours, Andrew had to take a break. He disappeared into the cabin.

Some people say that we have an innate sixth sense when it comes to sharks, that our hair stands on end and our skin tingles. I had no such premonition. I didn't feel like a shark encounter was imminent. All I felt were nausea and dimming hope.

Maybe that's why I was dumbstruck when I heard a splash.

It was over before I understood what was happening. I turned to the sound. A gigantic shape broke the water just 10 feet from the boat.

A great white shark.

Clearly not fooled by the decoy, it bumped it with its nose and cruised by. The skin on its back was a beautiful smooth, liquid, metallic gray. After a few seconds, it slid back underwater.

Overcome with excitement, Neil and I shouted expletives while pointing at the disappearing eddies.

McGuire confirmed the sighting, and everyone cheered.

This was the moment that Andrew emerged from below deck. He had only been gone for a minute or two. "No," he said. "You didn't see a shark."

I nodded. Now it was his turn to curse.

I'd like to think that I saw the iconic shape of its dorsal fin slice through the water. It happened so quickly, it's tough to be certain. The shark appeared colossal to my inexperienced eye, but McGuire later confirmed that it was somewhat small compared with the Farallones' largest great whites.

"Most sharks here are at least 14 feet long, and they can reach 20 feet," he said. "It was maybe 12 feet."

Daylight was waning. It was time for a final errand: a search for a friend's camera. Commercial diver and documentary filmmaker Ron Elliott lost it when a shark bit him on the hand while he was filming a month before. This was the only bite Ron has suffered in 400 shark encounters during decades of diving the Farallones.

The remotely operated vehicle poked around in underwater nooks and crannies but did not locate the camera. We turned back to the coast.

We sat on the bow during the return trip. Hundreds of maroon sea nettle jellyfish drifted under the boat, and dolphin pods followed our wake. I lost track of the day's whale count after a dozen. Neil occasionally leaned across Andrew and asked me, "Do you remember when we saw that shark and Andrew missed it?"

My head bobbed up and down like a decoy.

- - -

If you go:

- Where to stay

Hotel Diva

440 Geary St.

415-885-0200

hoteldiva.com

Modern hotel conveniently located in Union Square. Rooms from $160.

- What to do

Shark Stewards

415-350-3790

sharkstewards.org

Educational wildlife expeditions open to the public. Trips emphasize natural history and conservation of marine wildlife, including sharks. Open to adults and children over 10 September through November. Day trips run from 7 a.m. until approximately 4:30 p.m. From $150.

Information

farallones.noaa.gov
WASHINGTON - "No man is an island, entire of itself," wrote the poet John Donne. "Soy isla," or "I am an island," says Zilia Sanchez, a Cuban-born artist who works in Puerto Rico. "Soy Isla" also is the title of the Phillips Collection's entrancing exhibition of Sanchez's work, but is it also a response to Donne?

Sanchez's work is relatively little known in the United States, so it's impressive that the Phillips has not only dedicated a major show to her, but has also allowed it to spill out into adjacent galleries and a stairwell. Curator Vesela Sretenovic has built an exhibition that is apparently comprehensive, from the 92-year-old artist's early work (including a 1954 pen-and-ink self-portrait) to the shaped-canvas works that were essential to her output in and after the 1970s to her most recent pieces, which somehow manage to condense and intensify the dominant characteristic of her vision: a playful sense of repose found in the landscape of the human body.

Insularity implies isolation and detachment (Donne's poem is a heartfelt paean to spiritual connectedness), but few minds are as keenly alert to the wider world as those that find themselves apart from it. The continental world may ignore islands (Sanchez's San Juan studio was flooded and severely damaged in 2017 during Hurricane Maria, a touchstone for America's malign neglect of its insular constituents), but people who live on islands can't afford to ignore the world.

One feels Sanchez's insularity throughout the exhibition, as the artist explores and leaves behind colorful abstractions with tropical palettes and earth-toned forays into Art Informel (a European abstract idiom that Sanchez encountered during travels to Europe in the mid- to late 1950s). Other images seem to channel the year she spent studying architecture in Havana, linear designs that look like blueprints for imaginary machines or whimsical flowcharts. Her progress as an artist involves a lot of casting off and refining away, a process of retirement into a space that is nurturing and meaningful to her, no matter what the world thinks. And when Sanchez finally finds the idiom that will be her most engaging and sustained vision - thin canvas stretched taut over biomorphic forms, then painted or "tattooed" with lines and figures - one senses a contented seclusion, a perfect insularity apart from the mainstream, no longer "a part of the main," as Donne would say.

Sanchez didn't invent shaped-canvas paintings, a hybrid sculpture-painting form that projects from the wall and often annihilates the old-fashioned frame. They were popular in the 1960s, when Sanchez started experimenting with them. But she brought to the form a unique and distinctive sensibility, creating erotic maps and topographies of the body, especially the female body. The artist, whose sexuality is best defined as fluid or queer, shapes her canvas works to resemble pointed breasts, folding lips, or rounded torsos and bellies.

When she started making these pieces, she saw them as landscapes, as mountains, until a friend (a gay man) said, "You did breasts, Zilia." As she pursued the idea, her work took on hybrid meanings, full of erotic suggestion, with references to female warriors and the moon (a quintessentially feminine symbol). Their colors are cool, and muted, and sometimes the paintings are covered in thin ink drawings, lines, squiggles, arrows, dotted lines and references to sign language and men holding semaphore flags. Some are large and fill the wall with a paradoxical sense of both grandeur and intimacy, heroic visions of vulnerability, commanding sculptures that depict the minimal but electric space between intertwined bodies.

The Phillips exhibition, and the essays in the catalogue that accompany it, focus on feminine iconography, on Sanchez's elaboration of visual language steeped in the forms of the female body. Her isolation is posited as a function of her sexuality and her femininity, her independence of vision in a male-dominated, New York-centric art world. All true.

But Sanchez is even more insular than that, which makes her work all the more exciting. She deeply admires Picasso ("Picasso is by my side," she says in a short film accompanying the show), which is more than apparent in her work, but also counter to the prevailing views of Picasso as a misogynist and emerging persona non grata in accounts of 20th-century art. Sanchez's feminine forms also are more complicated than landscapes that resemble breasts. Her "breasts" often rise to sharp, mechanical points, and her stretched canvas suggests a severity and tension that belies the idea of skin. Her independence is radical, making it difficult to recast her as a feminist or LGBT artist, or as a standard-bearer of any sort.

A generation from now, if there is some kind of parity in the art world between men and women, straight and queer, mainstream and insular, Sanchez's work may not be read as particularly feminine at all, and there may be more attention to the architectural support beneath the skin of her paintings than there is to their surface drama of curves, hillocks and downy paddocks. Even the tattooing of lines on her shaped canvasses may be read as an aggressive imprint rather than a whimsical overlay. Who knows? Interpretation is in constant evolution, and Sanchez's work is fully multidimensional.

So is "Soy Isla" a response to a white male poet who wrote his greatest poems when his country, England, was emerging on the world stage as a nascent but indomitable colonial power? If it is, it is a trenchant statement of independence, and not just from the art world or contemporary geopolitical forces or the dominant patriarchy of conventional sexuality. It is a statement of independence from connectedness itself, an assertion of radical allegiance to a group of one. The art world, like the world at large, loves the idea of independence and individual vision. But in practice, it doesn't know what to do with truly isolated figures who work outside of structures of influence, reference and critical response.

Will Sanchez be a clod "washed away by the sea," to borrow from Donne? Or does "Soy Isla" have nothing to do with him, the reference merely an accident, which would be an even more profound indication of her insularity? Both seem equally possible.

---

"Zilia Sanchez: I Am an Island"

Through May 19 at the Phillips Collection. phillipscollection.org.
There's a race on to reinterpret recent history, particularly sensational crime cases, trials and other tabloid tragedies, to see how they look in a more modern context. In both television and film, you can achieve this through dramatization or documentary or some combination of the two. The results are often remarkable and unexpectedly cathartic.

After a 2016 FX drama series about the O.J. Simpson trial of 1995, American culture took a moment to revisit its feelings about Marcia Clark, and more or less concluded that we had her all wrong the first time - she was not the blundering termagant, but a hard-working prosecutor coping with sexist media coverage along with incompetence and racism in her witness stand.

With a shifted perspective (and a 2018 FX series), Andrew Cunanan is still the psychopath who murdered Gianni Versace and others in 1997, but do his and his victims' stories also contain lessons in society's ingrained homophobia? Did we, in other words, have him all wrong? Redeemed on the movie screen, Tonya Harding suffered a range of abuse from a coldhearted mother and a hotheaded husband - seems we had her all wrong.

Sometimes these projects get shelved before shooting even begins, fast-forwarding instead to newfound empathies: Monica Lewinsky, a briefly reckless young woman, was made to suffer for an indiscretion far longer than Bill Clinton ever did - we had her all wrong. Princess Diana, devoted single mother who was desperate for a little normalcy - we had her all wrong. Patty Hearst, pardoned domestic terrorist, is now understood first as a rape victim - we had her all wrong.

Which brings us to Lorena Bobbitt, subject of a naturally fascinating but slightly overindulged and unevenly paced documentary series premiering Friday on Amazon Prime, in which the following should come as no surprise: We had her all wrong. Probably.

"Lorena," directed by Joshua Rofe (co-produced by Jordan Peele, among others), is a thorough, four-hour look back at the early morning of June 23, 1993, when Bobbitt, then 22, in what a jury would agree was a moment of temporary insanity ("irresistible impulse" under Virginia law), took a knife from the kitchen of her Manassas apartment and cut off the penis of her husband, John Wayne Bobbitt, then 26, while he slept in their bedroom.

Fleeing the scene, Lorena tossed the severed appendage out the window of her car, into the tall grass across the street from a 7-Eleven. She put the knife in a trash can near the nail salon where she worked as a manicurist.

Details, details, details: Some of you may think the wall-to-wall coverage of the Bobbitt saga was only yesterday, but it really has been 25 long years. Most of "Lorena's" audience probably won't know the facts at the granular and admittedly mesmerizing degree to which Rofe researches and presents them.

And anyhow, we could all stand to start this story fresh, with facts taking precedence over the hoots and hollers that dominated media coverage at the time. The first hour is mostly taken up with recollections of the immediate aftermath: John's bloody trip to the hospital; the discovery by still-blushing law officers of his penis in the grass; the surgical expertise that restored it to full function; a nation reeling from infinite grimaces (men) and attagirls (women) as the story caught fire.

Forgotten in the chaos was a quiet but steady chorus of women's rights advocates who immediately saw in Lorena the telltale signs of a battered wife: traumatized, desperate, pushed to an extreme and all but doomed to serve prison time on a mutilation charge.

Layer by layer - including present-day interviews with Lorena, John and the chorus of attorneys, investigators and reporters who played a role in the story - "Lorena" asks us to stop with the jokes already and listen.

Following a dream to study and live in the United States, Lorena was 17 when she came to Virginia from Venezuela (she was born in Ecuador) in 1988. She met a true-blue American who was literally named John Wayne, a lance corporal preparing to leave the Marines, and married him 10 months later.

By 1993, their marriage had soured. He was chronically unemployed and temperamental. She testified to several instances of marital rape and frequent physical and psychological abuse; police had responded to prior domestic violence calls at their home - some of those calls were from him. (He still denies abusing or raping her.)

Before Lorena's trial in early 1994, John was quickly tried and acquitted on a rape charge and immediately availed himself of a prolonged victory lap through the celebrity sphere; he was lionized by the likes of Howard Stern (who never passed up an opportunity to bad-mouth Lorena) and eventually he (and his penis) accepted a starring role in a porn movie.

Her trial was longer and more complex, but, as "Lorena" shows, her allies were many and resolute. Most movingly, the members of the local immigrant community gathered to greet her with supportive posters and cheers each day at the Prince William County judicial center. They were disgusted by the xenophobic bullying Lorena received and the grossly misogynistic stereotype: fiery telenovela-style Latina takes revenge on the husband who could not please her.

Facing competition from the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding incident (followed a few months later by O.J.'s white Bronco chase), Lorena and John's story faded with the newsprint and VHS archives, perhaps for the better - as the film makes clear, American society lacked both the maturity and empathy to see the case objectively.

"Lorena" spends too much repeating itself on these points as the series flags in its final hour, becoming more of a sermon than an epilogue. The jury acquitted Lorena, but first she had to spend 45 days in the state's psychiatric hospital. John went on to face more allegations of abusing women, eventually doing time (for violating probation in a theft conviction) in the same Nevada prison that would later house O.J.

Where are they now? Here "Lorena" speeds too quickly past its richest and freshest material. John is living in Las Vegas, decked out in the conspicuous signifiers of a proud, 21st-century deplorable - notice the "DJTRUMP" vanity plates and the Punisher-logo T-shirt he wears to the shooting range. He speaks about a difficult childhood, which included sexual abuse. It feels as if we only scrape the surface of whatever lurks beneath.

Lorena, it appears, persisted heroicly - staying in Virginia, earning a college degree, marrying happily and devoting herself to domestic violence awareness, even if getting her message out there means she still has to put up with the usual severed penis jokes.

Shockingly, she still gets lots of unwanted letters and cards from John - so many over the years that she stopped opening all of them. He wants to see her. He wants them to get back together. Think of the moneymaking potential, he writes. "You are always in my dreams," she reads aloud from one. It's sickening and even a little frightening.

Yet she doesn't seem bothered or afraid, just confused about why he won't move on. She's over it.

Which brings us to "Lorena's" central question: Are we over it?

---

"Lorena" (four episodes) available for streaming on Amazon Prime. (Disclosure: Amazon founder Jeffrey Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post.)
Chicago police say they have identified two "persons of interest" in the assault case involving Jussie Smollett, just hours after ABC's "Good Morning America" aired an interview with the "Empire" actor in which he described the alleged attack.

"After a meticulous investigation with the use of advance technology, interviews with the victim and witnesses and transportation records, detectives have identified two persons of interest in the Empire cast member case. No further information available at this time," police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. In a tweet Thursday, Guglielmi said that the individuals that were seen on surveillance tape images released last month "are not yet suspects but were in area of concern and are being questioned."

In the interview that aired Thursday morning, Smollett told Robin Roberts that he is "pissed off" following the attack, which Chicago police are investigating as a potential hate crime.

"I will never be the man that this did not happen to. I am forever changed," Smollett said during the interview, which marked his first detailed public account of the attack. Police say Smollett, who is black and openly gay, was assaulted around 2 a.m. Jan. 29 by two "unknown offenders" who yelled racial and homophobic slurs, poured an unknown chemical substance on the actor and wrapped a rope around his neck.

Chicago police have not made any arrests and have not found video of the alleged assault, leading some people to doubt Smollett's account of what happened. Smollett, who wiped away tears throughout the interview, told Roberts he is angry about the assault, and about people not believing his story.

"At first, it was like, 'Listen, if I tell the truth then that's it because it's the truth," Smollett said. "Then it became a thing of, like, 'Oh, how can you doubt that, like how do you not believe that. It's the truth.' And then it became a thing of, like, 'Oh, it's not necessarily that you don't believe that this is the truth, you don't even want to see the truth.'"

Smollett told Roberts that before the alleged attack, he had gone to a Subway restaurant shortly after landing in Chicago, where the Fox drama is filmed.

He was on the phone with his music manager, Brandon Z. Moore, as he left the restaurant. As he crossed the street, Smollett said he heard someone yell "Empire," which he ignored. It was after hearing homophobic and racial slurs that he turned around and confronted a man in a ski mask.

Smollett said the attacker told him, "This is MAGA country" and used a racial slur before punching him in the face. "So I punched his a-- right back."

"We started tussling," Smollett said. A second attacker began kicking him in the back. "Then it just stopped and they ran off. "

Smollett said his manager was still on the phone, which had fallen out of his pocket. He told Moore that he had just been jumped. Then, Smollett said, he looked down and saw a rope.

"I noticed the rope around my neck and I started screaming," Smollett said. "And I said 'There's a (expletive) rope around my neck."

Police previously told The Washington Post that a thin white rope was still around Smollett's neck when they first came into contact with him, about 40 minutes after the attack. He told Roberts that he was able to give only a body description of his attackers because the entire encounter happened so fast. "It felt like minutes, but it was probably like 30 seconds, honestly," Smollett said.

Smollett addressed reports that he initially hesitated to go to the police about his alleged assault."We live in a society where, as a gay man, you are considered somehow to be weak. And I'm not weak," he said. "We, as a people, are not weak."

Smollett explained that he kept the rope around his neck and didn't change the clothes he had worn during the attack because he smelled bleach and thought his clothes looked as if they had been doused with the liquid. "I wanted (the police) to see what this was."

Police have not confirmed that the substance allegedly poured on Smollett during the attack was bleach. But the New York Post reported this week that its staffers found an "empty hot sauce bottle that was partially filled with a clear liquid that smelled like bleach" near the scene of the alleged attack.

A police spokeswoman confirmed that the bottle was found by New York Post staffers and that it was turned over to the police for analysis. The spokeswoman said that the bottle had not been discovered during earlier searches of the area and that the FBI would assist with the analysis.

The actor said he doesn't "have any doubt" that the two people in the surveillance image released by police are his alleged attackers.

"I want that video found so badly" - for multiple reasons, Smollett told Roberts. "No, 1, I want them to find the people that did it, No. 2, I want them to stop being able to say 'alleged attack.'

"I want them to see that I fought back," Smollett continued, his voice breaking. "And I want a little gay boy who might watch this to see that I fought the f--- back."

"I didn't run off. They did," Smollett said, referring to his attackers.

Smollett has faced increased scrutiny this week amid reports that he gave redacted phone records to police. A spokeswoman for the Chicago Police Department confirmed to The Washington Post that they "received limited and redacted phone records from the victim."

The spokeswoman said the records will be analyzed by detectives, who will follow up with Smollett if additional information is needed. She added that Moore, who police consider a key witness because he said he could hear the attackers over the phone, "has refused to let police examine his phone."

Smollett's publicist released a statement this week noting that "any redacted information was intended to protect the privacy of personal contacts or high-profile individuals not relevant to the attack," something Smollett reiterated in his "GMA" interview. The statement emphasized that Smollett is a victim and that he has cooperated with police throughout the investigation.

"Jussie has voluntarily provided his phone records from within an hour of the attack and given multiple statements to police. Chicago PD has repeatedly informed us that they find Jussie's account of what happened that night consistent and credible," Smollett's publicist said in the statement.

Earlier this month, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told Chicago's ABC7 that Smollett had "been very cooperative and we have no reason, at this point, to think that he's not being genuine with us."

Smollett told Roberts that he believes some have doubted his story because he said his attackers referenced Make America Great Again, President Donald Trump's campaign slogan.

"It feels like if I had said it was a Muslim or a Mexican or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me  a lot more," he said. "And that says a lot about the place that we are in our country right now."

"I come really, really hard against" Trump, Smollett said. "I come really, really hard against his administration, and I don't hold my tongue."

Trump was asked about Smollett's attack in an interview earlier this month. "I think that's horrible," he said. "It doesn't get worse, as far as I'm concerned."

Roberts asked Smollett whether he had seen the president's comments. "I saw it," Smollett said. "I don't know what to say to that. I appreciate him not brushing over it."

Roberts asked the actor, "If the attackers are never found, how will you be able to heal?"

"I don't know," Smollett said, as his eyes filled with tears." Let's just hope that they are. Let's not go there yet."

"I understand how difficult it will be to find them, but we got to," he added. "I still want to believe with every thing that has happened that there's something called justice."
Writing and directing a suspense thriller that explores complex family dynamics is not an easy undertaking. Imagine doing it in a foreign language and country.

Two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi accomplished such a feat with "Everybody Knows," which stars real-life couple Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. For this project, the Iranian director spent two years living in Spain, becoming acquainted with the language and culture and painstakingly working to translate his dialogue from Persian to Spanish.

The result: a film that seemingly has nothing to do with Iran and that is made by the man who has become one of the pre-eminent faces of Iranian cinema.

"When you see it, you forget that it is an Iranian director. You just see a Spanish film and somebody that doesn't play with cliches," Cruz said over the phone from Spain. "The critics, nobody could say anything bad about that in our country, because you saw our culture really reflected there by somebody that understood it very well."

While not unheard of, it's rare for a filmmaker to write and direct a movie in a new language and culture. Abbas Kiarostami's "Certified Copy" takes place in Tuscany and his "Like Someone in Love" is set in Japan. Farhadi made 2013s "The Past" in France. But unlike that film, which includes Persian and has French and Iranian characters, "Everybody Knows" was shot entirely in Spanish and is devoid entirely of any Iranian context.

Farhadi, known for films that weave the drama of ordinary people's lives into tapestries that reveal humanity's complexity, won Iran's first Oscar for 2011s "A Separation" and another for 2016s "The Salesman," on the heels of the Trump administration's executive order barring visa holders from Iran and six other countries. Farhadi chose not to attend the awards ceremony, saying in a statement that it was "out of respect for the people of my country" and the others "who have been disrespected by the inhumane law." Instead, he had Iranian-American engineer Anousheh Ansari deliver his acceptance speech: "Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. They create empathy between 'us' and 'others,' an empathy which we need today more than ever."

In making "each film, you enter a new world and learn new things," Farhadi said in Persian by phone. With his latest, shot in a town northeast of Madrid, he experienced "how similar people all over the world are."

In "Everybody Knows," Laura (Cruz) brings her children to the village where she grew up for her sister's wedding, but calamity overtakes the family when Laura's daughter goes missing, unspooling a web of secrets.

The kernel of the story first came to Farhadi years ago during a family vacation to Spain, when his daughter noticed pictures of a child plastered all over walls in the street. She inquired about the posters to their translator, who explained the child was missing. The idea stuck with Farhadi - a child's disappearance throwing a family into crisis - and five years ago, he began turning it into a film project. (He took a break in the middle to make "The Salesman.")

"Because the spark of the story, the starting point of the story came to me while I was in Spain, throughout all of those years I was thinking about, I thought that it has to happen in Spain," Farhadi said. "I was also traveling to Spain a lot, and while there, I felt their culture was emotionally close to" Iran's.

That similarity comes through in the film: the large family, the joyful and vibrant wedding scene, the hospitality and warmth.

But acquiring that cultural fluency required time and effort. Farhadi took Spanish classes (although not continuously, as he insists "I still haven't learned") and meticulously worked with a translator to turn his Persian script into a Spanish one.

"The work of translating wasn't like three or four times a week," he said. "For every line she translated, we consulted together and talked about each word, what it means, its origin, so I knew how the dialogue translated."

Each morning before filming, Farhadi reviewed a translator's recording of the dialogue for that day's shoot. His mastery of the material was so exact that he could detect if an actor had changed a word as small as "de," meaning "of," Cruz said. "I loved that because he's so present," she said. "He's living for that movie, and he's like that in every project."

In one regard, filming abroad offers more possibilities for a filmmaker from Iran, where movies intended for domestic distribution have to get state approval. The influence of such constraints can be seen, in part, in the long tradition of Iranian filmmakers' use of symbolism.

But filming abroad can also be a difficult endeavor. "It's a different country, with a different culture than the country and culture I was born and raised in," Farhadi said. (While he's open to making another film abroad if the story calls for it, he said, he will mostly make movies in Iran.)

As he immersed himself in Spain, Farhadi realized he had to make changes to his story. Iranian culture is more mysterious and secretive about past indiscretions, and he came to know Spanish culture as more straightforward. The Spanish are more comfortable discussing such secrets, he said.

The film opens with church bells; the religious themes became more prominent as his familiarity with Catholic culture grew. "Much of the film is a story about two people colliding: He believes in God and the other doesn't believe, so it's a challenge between these two," Farhadi said in a mix of Persian and English.

On its surface, "Everybody Knows" is a police procedural (minus the presence of the official police). But Farhadi said his aim was exploring how time affects us and our relationships with others. "If we've done something 16 years ago, that responsibility still remains with us. It doesn't leave us," he said. "The past always comes back to haunt us."

He wrote "Everybody Knows" with Cruz and Bardem in mind. The latter plays Paco, Laura's childhood friend who owns a vineyard and becomes an integral part of the tale. Filming was particularly intense for Cruz, who called the role the most challenging of her career; she spends most of the film navigating various states of desperation and anguish, and during the last month of shooting, she had a fever almost nightly.

"The doctors could not find anything wrong with me," she said. "Of course, it's fiction, but there is a part of you, I think, there is a part of yourself that doesn't distinguish, and maybe it's that 2 percent that is going to affect you."

Cruz called Farhadi a tough but kind and honest director, one who would ask a lot of questions - which can be a rarity among directors - and inspire the actors by sharing a poem or dream he had the night before. "It's a different language he uses," she said. "It's not a fake thing. It's not like a character that he plays."

He is also quite humble, Cruz said, which came through when a reporter asked whether his experience of being Iranian and making such a thoroughly Spanish film provided a lesson for the rest of us.

He's not one to offer counsel to others, he said. "But one thing I experienced myself, and with each film I experience more, and I believe more, is if one makes a film with their heart, truthfully, the film will be better for it."
The European Commission on Wednesday listed Sri Lanka among 23 countries with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing frameworks.

The Commission adopted the new list of third (non-European) countries with weak anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regimes with the aim of protecting the EU financial system by preventing money laundering and terrorist financing risks.

As a result of the listing, banks and other entities covered by EU anti-money laundering rules will be required to apply increased checks (due diligence) on financial operations involving customers and financial institutions from these high-risk third countries to better identify any suspicious money flows, a statement by the Commission said.

The 23 countries are Afghanistan, American Samoa, the Bahamas, Botswana, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guam, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, US Virgin Islands and Yemen.

Vera Jourova, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality said they have established the strongest anti-money laundering standards in the world but they have to make sure that dirty money from other countries does not find its way to our financial system.

Dirty money is the lifeblood of organised crime and terrorism. I invite the countries listed to remedy their deficiencies swiftly. The Commission stands ready to work closely with them to address these issues in our mutual interest, she said.

The Commission adopted list in the form of a Delegated Regulation would be submitted to the European Parliament and Council for approval within one month with a possible one-month extension.

Once approved, the Delegated Regulation will be published in the Official Journal and will enter into force 20 days after its publication.

The statement said the Commission would continue its engagement with the countries identified as having strategic deficiencies in the present Delegated Regulation and will further engage especially on the delisting criteria.

This list enables the countries concerned to better identify the areas for improvement in order to pave the way for a possible delisting once strategic deficiencies are addressed, it said. (Lahiru Pothmulla)
Parkland: Birth of a Movement

By Dave Cullen

Harper. 385 pp. $27.99

---

Here is a sentence you would not expect in a review of a book on one of the country's most notorious school shootings: "Parkland" by Dave Cullen is one of the most uplifting books you will read all year. The United States is a nation pocked daily by gun violence; we are a nation desensitized by the magnitude of our national bloodshed, a place where there are people - multiple people - who are survivors of multiple mass shootings. In an era of Donald Trump and social media, we are also meaner, reactionary, deeply cynical, depressingly divided. At a time of such national exhaustion, a book about a school shooting may not be the one you're inclined to pick up off the shelf. Do it anyway. "Parkland" is a balm.

Cullen, also the author of "Columbine," has with "Parkland" carved out a macabre niche as the country's premier chronicler of mass school shootings. But "Parkland" is anything but dark. Very little of the book focuses on the six minutes and 20 seconds on Feb. 14, 2018, when a gunman walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and killed 17 innocent souls. Instead, Cullen tells us what came next.

You know this story, but you don't. You have probably heard of the main players or seen their faces on television or read their missives on Twitter: Emma Gonzalez with her big eyes and shaved head first calling BS on the many enablers of gun violence. David Hogg, a quick wit in 140 characters, taking on Laura Ingraham and the right-wing news machine. Cameron Kasky sending Marco Rubio stammering and stumbling over National Rifle Association money. The March for Our Lives, one of the biggest rallies in American history, when Gonzalez gave a brief speech and then stared down the camera, tears streaming down her face, for four excruciating minutes - Was she breaking down? Cracking up? - before finally saying: "Since the time that I came out here, it has been six minutes and 20 seconds. ... Fight for your lives before it's someone else's job."

Cullen was there for these moments, but he also describes the before, when Hogg, after surviving the shooting, rode his bike back to school to document the events as a journalist; when Jaclyn Corin, an organizational mastermind trapped in the body of a petite, soft-spoken high schooler, marshaled buses of students to head to Tallahassee to convince legislators that gun violence was a scourge worth fighting; when a ragtag group of drama nerds and student journalists got together in Kasky's living room, kicked out all the parents and decided something must be done. In Cullen's telling, the uprising was fast, organic and initially diffuse. The genius of the Parkland students came in coalescing around a highly disciplined core group while letting other branches grow where needed.

For a politics-hardened reader, stories of earnest activism and kids changing the world are boring at best, insultingly cliche at worst. Cullen deftly navigates what could have easily been a sentimental and patronizing story (not to mention a tedious one). He takes us shoulder to shoulder with his subjects, through their victories and their errors, drawing out the bits of their personalities that are flattened out on a TV screen - Hogg isn't angry but is a surprisingly good mediator of tense situations; Gonzalez is both ethereal and tactical, a force Cullen calls "the head and the heart." Both are just teenagers.

Cullen brings us a large cast of characters, spending more time on the central players but touching on the double-digit list of people who made the March for Our Lives the movement it became: those who worried for a group of kids who flew forward full-bore, and those who were spurred to their own actions after the Parkland shooting. Cullen does not bore us with banalities or mawkishness. He manages to use the word "resilience" only once.

Parents play virtually no role in the Parkland kids' organizing, other than offering role-appropriate demands for chaperones, mental health counseling and sleep. But they do serve as a kind of Greek chorus to Cullen's hero narrative of the students. We see, from his telling, why adults made more risk-averse by experience (and brain development) could never have built this movement, which required risk-taking as much as naivete and determination. Where the voices of the adults do creep in, they are crucial reminders that this is fundamentally a story about children - brilliant, fabulous, preternaturally mature children, but children nonetheless. "I'm terrified," Gonzalez's mother, Beth, tells Cullen. "It's like she built herself a pair of wings made out of balsa wood and duct tape and jumped off a building. And we're just, like, running along beneath her with a net, which she doesn't want or think that she needs."

Among the most affecting are Manuel and Patricia Oliver, whose son Joaquin was killed in the shooting. "Tio Manny" becomes one of the only adults the kids will let into their work; he also works on his own, painting enormous murals he calls his Walls of Demand, then taking a sledgehammer and punching one, two, 17 holes in each one. Inside the holes he places sunflowers, part metaphor and part memorial: On his son's last day on Earth, he brought Valentine's Day sunflowers for his girlfriend, Victoria. After Joaquin's death, Cullen writes, "Tori split the flowers in half, sealed them in epoxy, and made a necklace each for Patricia and Tio Manny, which they hold dear." Joaquin, Tio Manny insists, is right there, not a victim but a leader of this movement. "Parkland" is a story of large-scale action. It is also a story of art, of creating beauty and ruins, and of many, many small kindnesses.

But the real genius of "Parkland" isn't that it's an inspirational tome. Instead, it's practically a how-to guide for grass-roots activism. And most important, Cullen, and the students he writes about, situate this movement as one place on a longer historical arc toward justice. Early on, the Parkland students decide to make their quest about more than the suburban school shootings that dominate the news; they find common cause with teenagers in cities who face endemic violence not inside the classroom but often on their way to it, and whose realities are shrugged off as a predictable outcome of living in "bad" neighborhoods.

The most significant turning point in the story is when the Parkland students meet kids from Chicago who run similar anti-violence organizations, one called BRAVE (Bold Resistance Against Violence Everywhere) and one called Peace Warriors. Peace Warrior Executive Director D'Angelo McDade, then a high school senior in Chicago, introduces the Parkland kids to Martin Luther King Jr.'s principles of nonviolence, a framework that profoundly reshapes and guides their work going forward.

Later in the story, when the Parkland students are on a national tour, they refuse to be interviewed in Chicago unless a local kid is interviewed with them. And what the Chicago kids want is heartbreakingly simple. "I want to see happiness in my community," says one Peace Warrior, Alex King. "I want to see the next generation, I want to see them being able to play outside. Being able to sit on the porch and nothing happen to them. Being able to go to their neighborhood park, being able to go to a friend's house. Being able to go to church. Being able to go to school and be safe. I want to see that joy."

These are the most resonant moments of "Parkland": When we hear the students themselves. Luckily, Cullen is an adept storyteller, synthesizing a cacophony of voices and using his own simply to carry a reader cleanly through. He reacts to the story and the characters along with us, at times concerned, often awed, sometimes frustrated - for example, when the Chicago students, who are just as impassioned, bright and organized as the Parkland kids, see their tragedies and demands ignored by media-makers and politicians alike.

This is a story just a year in. For all of their bluster and effectiveness, the children at the core of Parkland are still young people damaged by an act of horrific violence, savaged by an unforgiving and ideological conservative media, and sometimes sniped at and shunned by their peers. How will that change them? Cullen doesn't quite get there, perhaps because the students themselves haven't gotten there yet, and because this is a story about an evolution in progress, not a revolution complete. Cullen's tale, though, makes you hopeful for what might come next. Optimism about the future: It's a strange feeling.

"Parkland" is a story touched by trauma, but it is not a story of trauma. It is a story born of violence, but it is not a story of violence. Instead, it is something both braver and more precise: It is the story of a carefully planned rebellion.

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Filipovic is the author of "The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness" and a New America Future of War fellow.
For the Olympic gymnast, success comes down to how well she sticks the landing. A flubbed dismount sullies even the most awe-inspiring routine.

Stock-still at their desks, novelists face a similar demand for a perfectly choreographed last move. We follow them across hundreds of thousands of words, but the final line can make or break a book. It determines if parting is such sweet sorrow or a thudding disappointment.

A character in one of Jess Walter's novels says, "A book can only end one of two ways: truthfully or artfully." Alas, most don't end truthfully or artfully, but there are rare exceptions: novels that conclude with such gracefully calibrated language that we close the back cover and feel physically imprinted, as though the words were pressed into us by a weight we can hardly fathom.

The rest is silence.

Some of those great final lines remain markers of our favorite novels, holy relics of our most cherished reading experiences. Others enter into the language, take on a life of their own and eclipse their source.

Here are 23 final lines that I have never forgotten.

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"I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can't stand it. I been there before."

"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (BEGIN ITAL)by Mark Twain(1884)(END ITAL)

"Huck Finn" is the most contentious Great American Novel. The Concord Public Library in Massachusetts banned it soon after it was published. Censors' objections have shifted over the years (from truancy to the n-word), but it's been banned in parts of the country ever since. Even the novel's greatest fans have complained about those tedious final chapters, in which Tom and Huck plot to free Jim from the Phelpses' farm. (Hemingway condemned this section as "cheating.") But that last lonely line is pure genius. In Huck's sweet accent, Twain captures the spirit of an adolescent nation determined to resist domestication and to keep exploring the unknown.

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"There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks lled the air."

"The Awakening"(BEGIN ITAL)by Kate Chopin(1899)(END ITAL)

At the end of Henrik Ibsen's play "Hedda Gabler" (1891), a trapped and passionate woman shoots herself in the head, and her old friend exclaims, "Good God! - people don't do such things." A few years later, Chopin ran right up against those same stultifying expectations in her last novel, "The Awakening," about a wife and mother who falls in love with another man and begins to imagine a different life. Although it inspired considerable condemnation at the time, it's now recognized as one of the earliest modernist novels and a foundational feminist text. The first readers were shocked by the heroine's decision to walk into the sea and drown herself. Even today, Chopin's final image of sensuous natural beauty is deeply unsettling.

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"Beloved."

"Beloved"(BEGIN ITAL)by Toni Morrison (1987)(END ITAL)

Morrison's classic novel about slavery begins with this enigmatic line: "124 was spiteful." We come to understand that animus slowly, as the story of a murdered baby moves backward and forward in time, before and after the Civil War. Of course, former slaves and historians had described the horrors of slavery before, but nearly 125 years after Emancipation, Morrison made the psychological legacy of the South's peculiar institution palpable as no other book ever had. After so much trauma and the exhausting exorcism that concludes the novel, what other ending would do but a final invocation of that child who represents so many snuffed out by our nation's foundational sin? "Beloved."

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"We try, as my sister said. We try. All of us. We try."

"Canada" (BEGIN ITAL)by Richard Ford (2012)(END ITAL)

Ford is better known for his books about real estate agent Frank Bascombe, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize, but this novel is his finest. It's a deeply contemplative story about a man whose inept parents were imprisoned for bank robbery, leaving him and his twin sister to fend for themselves when they were 15. Ford describes the adolescents' harrowing adventures in beautifully polished sentences. But even more arresting is the book's moral struggle to understand and forgive his parents' failings - and his own. That final line, with its simple, imploring repetition, concludes the novel with just the right spirit of affirmation and regret.

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"It's funny. Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."

"The Catcher in the Rye" (BEGIN ITAL)by J.D. Salinger (1951)(END ITAL)

Holden Caulfield would scoff at the idea, but he's served ably as the patron saint of disaffected teens for almost 70 years. His mix of treacly self-pity, witty cynicism and clinical depression speaks for millions of lonely people forced to endure a world of phonies. His final advice, not to tell anybody anything, could have run anywhere in the novel, but it sounds especially poignant at the end of his journey. It's a plaintive acknowledgment that his wandering confession to us has brought him no comfort. Considering Salinger's many decades as the nation's most famous recluse, we're tempted, of course, to consign that same pain to the author.

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"And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!"

"A Christmas Carol" (BEGIN ITAL)by Charles Dickens (1843)(END ITAL)

Dickens didn't "invent Christmas," as a recent movie starring Christopher Plummer claims, but the Victorian novelist certainly taught us how to celebrate it. His story about a reformed miser was an immediate best-seller, and, a few years later, he began offering public readings that attracted enormous crowds in England and America. Repetition - and cynicism - may have reduced Tiny Tim's final prayer to a saccharine cliche, but the tale of lives reformed and saved has lost none of its real sweetness.

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"He was soon borne away by the waves, and lost in darkness and distance."

"Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" (BEGIN ITAL)by Mary Shelley (1818)(END ITAL)

In 1816, Lord Byron suggested to friends vacationing with him in Switzerland that they each write a ghost story. In response to that challenge, 18-year-old Mary Shelley conceived of the world's most famous monster. Although two centuries have passed since Dr. Victor Frankenstein "turned loose into the world a depraved wretch," his creature's plaintive cry still moves anyone who has a beating heart. Tortured by loneliness, the monster ultimately flees to the North Pole, and the doctor dies in pursuit. How brilliant to end the novel with the grieving creature drifting away into the vast darkness - and whiteness - at the end of the world.

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"Reader, I did not even have coffee with him. That much I learned in college."

"A Gate at the Stairs" (BEGIN ITAL)by Lorrie Moore (2009)(END ITAL)

Novels and short stories make different demands on their forms - and their readers. That contrast is most evident in the final moments. Lorrie Moore, one of the best short story writers alive, once said, "The end of a story is really everything," and for many years it seemed she had abandoned novel writing altogether. Then - after a 15 year hiatus - came "A Gate at the Stairs," about a witty young woman trying to figure out adult life in the face of two unspeakable tragedies. You can see in this novel's last words how successfully Moore switches registers. Knowing that the complex power of her book is already complete, the very ending offers a sigh of emotional relief: a wry repudiation of "Jane Eyre."

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"I'll pray, and then I'll sleep."

"Gilead"(BEGIN ITAL)by Marilynne Robinson (2004)(END ITAL)

Perhaps the greatest failure of American literature, which is so bravely explicit about all other aspects of life, is its nervous avoidance of anything explicitly religious. Not so "Gilead," the first book in Robinson's Pulitzer Prize-winning trilogy about two families in Iowa. "Gilead" is not only one of the finest novels of the 21st century, it's also one of the most theological. The narrative comes to us as a sprawling letter written by John Ames, a 77-year-old Congregationalist minister who fears he might die soon. What, he asks himself, must he tell his 7-year-old son before he's carried away to imperishability? In prose of striking clarity, Rev. Ames describes adventures both historical and spiritual. His testimony, sealed with that line from "King Lear," is enough to convert anyone to the power of great fiction.

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"After all, tomorrow is another day."

"Gone With the Wind" (BEGIN ITAL)by Margaret Mitchell (1936)(END ITAL)

Americans have consistently called Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel one of their very favorites. It was a best-seller when it was published during the Great Depression, and just last year, it ranked No. 6 on PBS' "Great American Reads." But like several of our most popular books - I'm looking at you, "To Kill a Mockingbird" - its immortality has been buttressed by an exceptionally memorable film adaptation. All kinds of spot-on criticisms have been leveled against the novel (and producer David Selznick's 1939 movie) for its romanticized racism. But no one can forget Vivien Leigh - (BEGIN ITAL)I mean Scarlett O'Hara(END ITAL) - uttering that blithely optimistic line, which has since slid away from its source and entered our vernacular as an expression of gallows humor. It's also worth noting that Mitchell didn't coin the phrase; it appeared as a well-known maxim in the first volume of Harper's Weekly in 1857.

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"She looked up and across the barn, and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously."

"The Grapes of Wrath" (BEGIN ITAL)by John Steinbeck (1939) (END ITAL)

Four decades later, I can still feel the shock of reaching the end of Steinbeck's novel about an Oklahoma family traveling to California in search of work. Although initially attacked for its fierce critique of unregulated capitalism, "The Grapes of Wrath" was a phenomenal best-seller and won a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize. Even today, millions of people think of the ravages of the Great Depression through the lens of Steinbeck's story. Its final scene, the culmination of a relentless series of hardships, losses and deaths, offers a moment of startling compassion and intimacy - the very milk of human kindness made flesh.

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"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

"The Great Gatsby" (BEGIN ITAL)by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)(END ITAL)

Only months after it was published, Fitzgerald referred to "Gatsby" as a "flop," and copies of the second printing were gathering dust in the publisher's warehouse 15 years later when he died. Now, of course, his story about a handsome gangster is considered one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. It's also one of the most poetic novels ever written, as this gorgeous closing line demonstrates. The mourning narrator, Nick Carraway, places Gatsby's romantic quest in the context of those first Dutch settlers who projected their hopes on the lush shores of this now corrupted country. We know, he laments, that our first dreams can never be realized, but we can't help pining for them anyhow.

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"Are there any questions?"

"The Handmaid's Tale" (BEGIN ITAL)by Margaret Atwood (1985)(END ITAL)

If you haven't read Atwood's dystopian novel since it was first published, you may have forgotten what follows the story of Offred's resistance to the Republic of Gilead. The book ends with an epilogue that takes place at an academic conference in the year 2195. Professor Pieixoto describes the challenges of transcribing the story we've just read from 30 cassette tapes found in an army footlocker. Lapsing into the bland objectivity of academia, the professor warns his fellow scholars to be "cautious about passing moral judgment upon the Gileadean. Surely we have learned by now that such judgments are of necessity culture-specific." The lessons of the past, he notes chillingly, are obscured by the passage of time. When the applause dies down, he asks, "Are there any questions?" Those of us staring at a Supreme Court now tipping away from women's reproductive rights probably have several questions. Perhaps they will be answered in a sequel that Atwood plans to publish in September called "The Testaments."

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"Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?"

"Invisible Man" (BEGIN ITAL)by Ralph Ellison (1952)(END ITAL)

It's possible to measure the weight of a novel by the size of its impact crater. Ellison's masterpiece, which won the 1953 National Book Award, remade the terrain of African American fiction - and American fiction. "I am invisible," the unnamed narrator says at the start, "simply because people refuse to see me," but by the end, no one could ever ignore him. The story he tells - sometimes horrific, sometimes absurd, often both - takes him across the country, from a Southern "state college for Negroes" to Harlem, where he falls in and out with a black activist group. In the final pages, the narrator knows some readers will continue to ignore the relevance of his life: "You'll fail to see how any principle that applies to you could apply to me." But he knows that's not true. In fact, he confesses that the universality of his experience "frightens" him.

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"I wish you all a long and happy life."

"The Lovely Bones" (BEGIN ITAL)by Alice Sebold (2002)(END ITAL)

The plot of Sebold's debut novel sounds equally gruesome and mawkish: Susie, a 14-year-old girl, is raped and murdered by a neighbor, and then she describes her family's reaction from heaven. Theologically, the story is a gooey mess of New Age mysticism, but it's emotionally effective because Sebold got Susie's voice just right. Although she's still a teenager with a teenager's silly attitudes and interests, death has given her preternatural insight into the suffering of those she's left behind. Her simple, final wish looks banal out of context, but after watching her family - and her murderer - for years, it's devastatingly pure.

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"For an instant, everything was bathed in radiance."

"March" (BEGIN ITAL)by Geraldine Brooks (2005)(END ITAL)

The father of the four March sisters is just a minor character in Louisa May Alcott's beloved "Little Women" (1868), but Geraldine Brooks put him at the center of her historical novel "March," which won a Pulitzer Prize. This Civil War story cleverly blends biographical details about the real Bronson Alcott, Louisa May's father, with elements of the fictional Mr. March, who has gone south to serve as a chaplain to Union soldiers. Alcott gives little indication of what horrors may have shaken Father during his fight for abolition, and "Little Women" ends with Mrs. March saying, "Oh, my girls, however long you may live, I never can wish you a greater happiness than this." But by the time March returns to his happy home at the end of Brooks' novel, we know him as the haunted survivor of carnage - and a crushing spiritual crisis. The light of a single lamp brought into his dark parlor arrives like a foretaste of grace.

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"And Madeleine kept squinting, as though Mitchell was already far away, until finally, smiling gratefully, she answered, 'Yes.'"

"The Marriage Plot" (BEGIN ITAL)by Jeffrey Eugenides (2011)(END ITAL)

Every once in a while a novel ends with the satisfaction of a final puzzle piece snapping into place - somehow both inevitable and surprising at the same time. Such is the effect of the last line of Eugenides' most recent novel, which seems in retrospect constructed to bring us directly to these three letters. "The Marriage Plot" is a cerebral romantic comedy about Madeleine, a thoroughly modern young woman who gets her ideas of love from 18th- and 19th-century fiction. Torn between two very different men, Madeleine endures real tragedy before finally correcting her course, which we, her desperate fans, can't know for sure until that very last word. Of course, Eugenides is also echoing the end of James Joyce's "Ulysses," whose last extraordinary sentence is about 4,000 words long and ends with Molly Bloom's boundless enthusiasm: "yes I said yes I will Yes."

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"He loved Big Brother."

"Nineteen Eighty-Four"(BEGIN ITAL)by George Orwell (1949)(END ITAL)

Orwell's classic dystopian novel about a totalitarian state has never gone out of print, but it got a huge boost two years ago from the election of Donald Trump. His administration's unprecedented readiness to lie and to repeat lies aggressively reminds many readers of the Party that rules Oceania. Orwell's protagonist, Winston Smith, works as a reviser of historical records in the Ministry of Truth before becoming a member of a doomed resistance movement. The novel's final scenes of physical torture - including the gruesome "rat helmet" - are undeniably terrifying, but what's most chilling is the government's success at twisting the very minds of its subjects. In that haunting last line, we see the ultimate success of Big Brother's deception, and we feel the full atrocity of what's been done to Winston.

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"He runs. Ah: runs. Runs."

"Rabbit, Run" (BEGIN ITAL)by John Updike (1960)(END ITAL)

When we first meet 26-year-old Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, he decides on a whim to run away from his wife and toddler. It's a "monstrously selfish" act borne of panic over his lost youth and the soul-crushing responsibilities of adult life. Rabbit eventually crawls home, determined to be better, but his flight instinct is not so easily quelled. In the final pages, at the worst possible moment, he flees again, which Updike captures in that closing line swelling with deliverance and cowardice. There is no better portrayal of 20th-century white men than the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Rabbit" series, which went on to include "Rabbit Redux," "Rabbit Is Rich," "Rabbit at Rest" and the novella "Rabbit Remembered." Each book ends with an echo of the first novel's last word, a subtle coda that ties together the stages of Rabbit's life.

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"In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery."

"The Road" (BEGIN ITAL)by Cormac McCarthy (2006)(END ITAL)

This novel, about a man and his little boy walking through an apocalyptic wasteland, mesmerized - and terrified - readers. "The Road" won a Pulitzer Prize and even spurred the normally shy author to agree to speak with Oprah for his first-ever television interview. What accounts for the power of this bleak tale to shake even the most cynical readers? I think it's the tension between the countryside's utter destruction and the father's adamant love, all rendered in a style as spare as a sun-bleached bone. We arrive at the final page in a state of utter desolation. At that moment, McCarthy suddenly breaks away from his characters and describes trout that once swam in mountain streams. After the gray and blood-soaked pages that came before, it's shockingly beautiful and places humanity's horrors against the boundless life of the Earth.

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"Yes," I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?"

"The Sun Also Rises" (BEGIN ITAL)by Ernest Hemingway (1926)(END ITAL)

Hemingway's vaguely autobiographical story about a group of dissipated friends in Europe after World War I has aged well. Its desultory plot and muffled despair still feel strikingly modern. But how painfully ironic that America's most macho author should be remembered for a novel about an impotent man. In this closing scene, the lovely Lady Brett tempts Jake once again to imagine what "a damned good time" they could have had. But Jake isn't having it anymore. The chaos and disappointments of the preceding months have cured him of pointless fantasies, and he dismisses Brett's romantic speculation with this bitter rhetorical question.

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"She called in her soul to come and see."

"Their Eyes Were Watching God"(BEGIN ITAL)by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)(END ITAL)

"The fact that there is no demand for incisive and full-dress stories around Negroes above the servant class is indicative of something of vast importance to this nation," Hurston wrote in 1950. She knew firsthand the deleterious effects of that lack of demand. Her first book, "Barracoon," never found a publisher during her lifetime. Her extraordinary novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" fell out of print and was essentially forgotten, until Alice Walker rediscovered it in the 1970s. Now, fortunately, the tumultuous story of Janie, a black woman in Florida, is firmly rooted in the canon of American literature, and every year new readers "come and see."

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"and it was still hot."

"Where the Wild Things Are" (BEGIN ITAL)written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak (1963)(END ITAL)

The tale of Max, the mischievous boy sent to bed without his supper, was Sendak's greatest achievement, the perfect pairing of text and image. In fewer words than most novelists use in a single paragraph, Sendak managed to capture our fundamental fears and thrills. When Max "gave up being king of where the wild things are," sailed back to his room and found dinner waiting for him, his mother's love is confirmed, and the natural order of his world is restored. For generations of us, this is the first final line that knocked our booties off. And we never forgot it.
Good Riddance

By Elinor Lipman

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 304 pp. $25

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What happens when a writer lays the groundwork for a story and then bulldozes the foundation? About halfway through Elinor Lipman's latest comic novel, "Good Riddance," a central conceit suddenly disappears when an object that fueled tension between two main characters is destroyed.

Does it matter? Lipman tells you straight up in her title. In truth, she's pulling off a clever trick, though it may not be evident until the last page.

Daphne Maritch, a 40-something Manhattanite at loose ends, receives a posthumous gift from her mother: a 1968 New Hampshire high school yearbook. For reasons that will soon be revealed, her mother - a beloved teacher at the school - attended every reunion of that class, making catty comments about certain students and weird imperceptible symbols about others in the margins of the yearbook. Daphne decides, in a most 2019 move, that the item does not "spark joy," and chucks it down the garbage chute.

When Daphne's neighbor Geneva Wisenkorn - with her avoirdupois and loud sartorial choices, surely one of Lipman's most outre characters - plucks the book from the trash and figures out what the hieroglyphics signal, she sets off a farcical plot. Geneva says she's a filmmaker and wants to make a documentary about the class of 1968 and Daphne's mother's involvement with them. But given her lacking oeuvre and her amateur financier (her father), she's more of a deus ex machina who convinces Daphne to take some action on behalf of her own life.

Meanwhile, things get messy. Daphne starts and stops a relationship with another neighbor, travels to New Hampshire to stalk one of her mother's former students, finds her widower father moving to New York City, decides to become a chocolatier then abandons that path, argues with her sensible sister, sings a "woe is me" chorus so often you want to change your Daphne Channel to something more varied. The characters in "Good Riddance" don't necessarily develop; some of them seem to exist only as chess pieces. Daphne functions as the queen, moving any way she likes, but few of her moves make sense as part of a larger theme.

It would be easy, and not messy at all, to say this isn't Lipman's best novel. (For the record, two of my favorites are "My Latest Grievance" and "On Turpentine Lane," both of which also feature first-person female narrators but have sharper plots.) However, when you come to the end of "Good Riddance," you might disagree, and you'll definitely be delighted. Can an entire book function as a shaggy-dog story?

My answer is yes, although for me that twist ending wasn't necessarily worth the trip. What was: Lipman's portrait of Daphne, a modern woman who isn't tidily contemporary, isn't firmly set on any sort of trajectory, whether personal or professional. Despite her complaining, Daphne is an intriguing heroine, and if you love Lipman's work, you may love her, too.

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Patrick is the editor, most recently, of "The Books That Changed My Life: Reflections by 100 Authors, Actors, Musicians and Other Remarkable People."
A little-known company is planning to be a standout in the crowded field of U.S. shale gas exports by slashing construction costs for the massive terminals that turn gas into a transportable liquid.

The founders of Venture Global LNG - Bob Pender, a former energy lawyer, and Michael Sabel, who worked as a banker - don't have previous experience developing projects to ship liquefied natural gas. Still, they plan to build a terminal made of small, standardized units costing about half less than existing plants.

The stakes are high: With global demand rising, Venture's project is one of about a dozen vying to join a second wave of terminals to export soaring U.S. gas production overseas. Venture's strategy is drawing interest, but analysts remain skeptical about the endgame, with rivals that include deep-pocketed oil majors like Exxon Mobil Corp.

"We've done something extremely dramatic," Sabel said in a telephone interview. "We've figured out a way to change the configuration and dramatically lower the cost of a major segment of one of the most fundamental commodities in the world: Energy."

Venture's Calcasieu Pass project in Louisiana is projected to cost about $5 billion, and produce 10 million tons a year of LNG, Sabel said. That compares with about $10 billion for 9 million tons from the first two units of Cheniere Energy's Corpus Christi terminal in Texas.

Global LNG demand may expand by 6 percent annually through 2025, Fotis Giannakoulis, an analyst with Morgan Stanley, said in an interview. At the same time, he sees independent developers challenged in getting their projects built by lower prices for crude, the benchmark for most LNG sold globally, and by mega-projects such as the $10 billion Golden Pass terminal in Texas being planned by Exxon and Qatar Petroleum.

Venture Global may be offering its LNG contracts for about $2 per million British thermal units, given lower construction costs, according to Wood Mackenzie and S&P Global Platts. That's at least 10 percent cheaper than supply offered by competitors like Cheniere Energy Inc.

"We believe we are offering the best liquefaction price in the U.S. market," said Sabel, who declined to disclose pricing for competitive reasons. "There's no question we are going to successfully finance in this market."

Venture Global is adopting Cheniere's model of earning fixed fees off of long-term contracts and then selling LNG based on Henry Hub, the U.S. benchmark.

The company has already inked deals with buyers including Royal Dutch Shell and Spain's Repsol. Analysts, though, say it remains unclear whether Venture Global can attract enough lenders and investors to back the project.

"They're taking a very aggressive and highly competitive approach, pushing the envelope of what engineers may think is possible," said Jason Feer, head of business intelligence at ship broker Poten & Partners Inc. in Houston. "They have to convince banks they can execute the project for the cost they're talking about."

Venture has raised more than $850 million so far, Sabel said, and secured 20-year contracts for 80 percent of Calcasieu Pass's export capacity with companies including Shell and BP Plc. "There's only one definition of success in this discussion," he added. "And that's who the market selects to buy their production capacity from.''

The LNG modules for Calcasieu Pass will be built by Baker Hughes at a facility in northern Italy and shipped to Louisiana. It's a process that will require fewer workers, compared with the typical onsite construction for similar projects: About 2,200 people will be needed to build the terminal, Sabel said, compared with roughly 9,000 for Golden Pass.

"It could certainly create a new model in the world of LNG," Alex Munton, principal analyst for Americas LNG at Wood Mackenzie in Houston, said by telephone. "They are trying something new and there are still some questions outstanding because we haven't seen this being done before."

While Venture Global has kept a relatively low profile compared with publicly traded rivals like Tellurian Inc. and NextDecade Corp., the developer has made significant progress toward getting Calcasieu Pass to the construction stage, Munton said. "They've been the surprise project over the last 12 months in terms of the progress they've made," he said. "They've gone about things in a quietly focused manner."

"It seems that there are buyers that have been willing to put their names behind these contracts," Morgan Stanley's Giannakoulis said. "Of course, all of these contracts are contingent to final investment decision so we will see when they will reach the final investment decision."

Before Venture Global can make a final investment decision on the project and begin construction, it needs approval from U.S. regulators. That's been no easy task: The company made an urgent plea last month to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to green light its proposal, which was tabled at a December meeting amid speculation about a partisan divide at the main agency tasked with permitting energy projects.

The company expects the setback to be short-lived, Sabel said. "Our understanding is the authorization order is ready," he added. "Everything in our view is ready to go and positive."

Venture Global will move forward with Calcasieu Pass as soon as the proposal receives FERC approval, Sabel said. But it remains to be seen whether the company can complete the terminal on time and within budget.

"People are waiting to see if they pull this off," Ira Joseph, head of gas and power at S&P Global Platts in New York, said by phone. "There is a healthy skepticism. You are talking about some very, very low per ton numbers."

- With assistance from Bloomberg's Alix Steel.
Nestle put its ailing Herta lunch-meat business up for sale as Chief Executive Officer Mark Schneider tries to spur sales growth at the world's largest food company through acquisitions and divestments.

The Swiss company's shares rose as much as 3.7 percent to a record as it forecast improved sales and said that it expects to cede control of its dermatology unit by the middle of this year. After 14 billion francs ($14 billion) of deals in 2018, there's no sign Schneider will stop nipping and tucking in his third year on the job.

"He's outside of the longstanding culture within Nestle, which has given him ability to think with a slightly different perspective and act decisively," said Thomas Russo, fund manager at Gardner Russo & Gardner, which has held Nestle shares for 33 years. "And you see the evidence beginning to show."

Revenue accelerated for the first time in seven years in 2018. The food company has been gobbling up smaller, faster-growing brands such as Blue Bottle Coffee and Sweet Earth as health-conscious consumers switch from mainstream labels to niche brands. Nestle, under pressure from activist shareholder Dan Loeb to boost returns, also forecast 700 million francs of restructuring costs this year amid the shake-up.

The company plans to push further into plant-based alternatives for protein as it considers selling Herta, a business with sales of 680 million francs. The field is quickly expanding as Danone adds more almond-based milks and Unilever bought The Vegetarian Butcher, a Dutch maker of meat substitutes. Nestle has been developing the Incredible Burger, which is made out of soy and wheat protein.

"With these portfolio changes, the strategic picture of the group becomes much clearer than one to two years ago, with our focus on food and beverage and nutritional health," Schneider told reporters at Nestle's headquarters in Vevey.

One obstacle is deflation in Europe, Japan and Australia, which contributed to the weakest annual gain in pricing in more than a decade. Nestle will need to raise prices without turning off customers as Schneider seeks to return to mid-single-digit sales growth by next year. Growth was 3 percent in 2018.

Nestle also said it's accelerating its buyback to complete the 20 billion-franc program six months early. Still, Schneider told reporters the company isn't excluding further M&A.

"Acquisitions could easily be financed," he said. "We have strong cash generation, and one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry."

The CEO said portfolio adjustments aren't over. Investors have called for the sale of Nestle's U.S. frozen-food business, which had flat sales in 2018.

"Consumer behaviors change in food and beverage, and we want to bet on areas that are growing fast," he said.

Following criticism by Loeb that the board lacks consumer-goods expertise, Nestle proposed Dick Boer, former CEO of Dutch grocer Ahold, and Dinesh Paliwal, CEO of Harman, the car-stereo maker that was sold to Samsung, as new directors.
SMYRNA, Tenn. - It's not fancy. But in the exurbs of Nashville stands part of a billion-dollar real estate empire.

The Florence Commons community consists of about 300 mobile homes of varying vintages, mostly single-wide, many valued at less than $30,000 apiece, set 20 feet apart from one another. The occupants of some will tell you: The floors buckle. The ceilings crack. The doors don't shut right. Their homes are sinking.

"Okay - it's a trailer park, not a fancy gated community," said Jessica Boudreaux, 33, who lives there with her two daughters. "If people could, they'd live somewhere else."

Yet Florence Commons, along with more than 200 other mobile home parks around the U.S., has produced hefty returns for Stockbridge Capital, a $13 billion private-equity firm, and its major investors.

Their mobile home park company has produced tens of millions for investors in recent years and saw a return on investment of more than 30 percent between late 2016 and the end of 2017, according to documents.

Those ample returns arise in part from their willingness to boost the rents of the mobile home residents. As one investors report on the company put it approvingly: The "senior management team has a demonstrated track record of increasing home rental rates."

It has received $1.3 billion in financing through government-sponsored lender Fannie Mae, which says mobile homes are "inherently affordable." The money helped them buy existing mobile-home parks.

As large financial firms buy more and more U.S. homes, both conventional and mobile, the question of whether such investments benefit tenants or merely exploit them is a matter of dispute.

"They prey on people who can't afford land, people who can't move," said David Barrett, 62, an excavation equipment operator who lives in Florence Commons. "They're taking advantage of - I wouldn't say poor people - but working people. Where do you think their profits come from?"

Yes Communities, the investors' company that owns Florence Commons, says it is helping to meet the nation's need for affordable housing.

Much of the investors' revenue comes from residents who, while they often own their homes, must pay rent for the home lot. At Florence Commons, rent has risen by four percent a year or more, residents said - and most have little choice but to pay up: For practical reasons, they can't move. The dwellings are called "mobile," but they are costly to transport and sometimes owners are contractually forbidden to move them.

The residents at Florence Commons must pay in other ways, too. Rent checks that are six days late incur a 10 percent fee and a threat of quick eviction. If residents fail to cut the grass, the park managers threaten them with fees of $100 or more, residents said. An aggressive towing service has forced some residents t0 pay $200 or more to recover their cars.

The median income for families that live in mobile homes is about $30,000 a year. Adult residents of mobile homes also have lower levels of formal education, according to surveys. About two thirds lack education beyond high school.

"The owners just seem to want to get every dime from us," Boudreaux said.

Officials with Stockbridge Capital, a firm led by Terry Fancher and Sol Raso that focuses on real estate investments, released a statement: "Stockbridge is proud of its association with YES Communities, which has met the affordable housing needs of its residents nationwide for the past 11 years."

Vanessa Jasinski, vice president of marketing for Yes Communities said that the rents at Florence Commons have risen at four percent a year on average over the last six years - slightly higher than the average mobile home lot rate in the area last year, according to figures from Datacomp, an industry analyst.

Jasinski also said that the rules - and fees - for lawn and parking violations are intended to create pleasant surroundings. No park residents were required to pay for grass-cutting last year, she said. She noted that in the past five years, 46 home renters at Florence Commons have purchased homes in the community.

As for the damage caused by mobile homes settling, she said that "it is not uncommon for manufactured homes to settle and experience issues like these. This is true also of site-built homes."

- - -

Over the past three years, some of the biggest private-equity firms - Carlyle Group, Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital - have taken stakes in mobile home parks, according to a forthcoming report by the nonprofit groups Private Equity Stakeholder Project, MHAction and Americans for Financial Reform. The mobile home parks owned by private-equity firms have more than 100,000 home sites, according to the report.

"The firms made these investments seeking to double or triple their money in the space of a few years," said Jim Baker, director of the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, an organization that has been critical of the private-equity industry. "That doesn't lead to affordable housing."

He said residents of these mobile home communities are reporting substantial rent increases, aggressive fees for small infractions and escalating evictions.

Critics of the role of large investors are taking in mobile home parks point to the remarks of Frank Rolfe, an investor who has owned thousands of mobile home lots. Referring to the steady stream of revenue, he said that a mobile home park "is like a Waffle House where the customers are chained to their booths."

In fact, the money that investors can see from mobile home parks is remarkably steady - and growing fast. Between 2004 and 2018, operating income from mobile home parks rose 87 percent according to Green Street Advisors, the global real estate research firm, never once declining, even during the recession.

In the case of Yes Communities, government help supports the investors' returns.

In August 2016, Fannie Mae, the government sponsored lender, said that it was helping to finance Yes Communities. It has now helped, through two banks, to provide about $1.3 billion for Yes Communities. Those loans enable Yes Communities to buy up mobile home parks.

The Yes Communities loan "will preserve affordable housing in communities across the nation," Fannie Mae said in a news release at the time.

"[P]roviding investors with attractive returns helps YES to invest into new communities and markets and meet the affordable housing needs of both existing and new residents," she said.

The terms of the loan to Yes Communities, however, do not limit the rent hikes that face residents. A Fannie Mae spokesperson said rent limits are not in their purview.

"We believe the federal government should be preserving affordable housing, but as far as we can tell, that's not the case with these loans" said Elisabeth Voight, co-director of MHAction, an organization of mobile home residents. "If it were, there would be requirements to keep the rents affordable. These loans should be helping residents buy and run their own communities, not private-equity groups that earn huge profits."

- - -

Stockbridge Capital, which is based in San Francisco and specializes in real estate investments, first invested in the mobile home park operator in 2008. In August 2016, it sold 71 percent of Yes Communities to a fund whose investors include the government of Singapore and a pension fund for public school employees in Pennsylvania. It continues to manage the mobile home park operator.

It is generally difficult to know how much private-equity firms are making, but the Pennsylvania pension fund does issue some figures. Between September 2016 and December 2017, the value of its $179 million investment rose more than 30 percent, according to their public disclosures.

But while Yes Communities is producing ample returns for investors, some residents say the parks have suffered.

"It's really gone downhill," said Kris Wilkin, 47, a state corrections officer who bought a 2003 double wide in Florence Commons seven years ago.

One year, residents said, the community swimming pool didn't open for the summer. Residents also pointed to couches and other trash out lying in surrounding open spaces.

Boudreaux, a medical assistant for a neurologist, agreed. She and her two daughters moved there in 2011.

Florence Commons, she said, was appealing to her because it welcomes people with imperfect credit. At the sales office, where salespeople encourage customers to buy homes in the park, they tell visitors that they can buy a home even if their credit records include a bankruptcy or home foreclosure. Credit scores need be no higher than 550.

"Yes! It Feels Good to be a Homeowner!" the company brochures say. "Contact our homeownership specialist today!"

Boudreaux had come from a mobile home park in South Dakota that was family-owned. There, she said, "if there was an issue, they'd fix it." She expected it would be the same at Florence Commons.

"They said they'd work with us," Boudreaux said.

She bought a double-wide for $34,000.

There are aspects of the park she likes - for one thing, it's conveniently located and there are enough kids in the neighborhood that she's rarely had to drive them to a playdate.

But the company, she says, doesn't respond to basic requests for maintenance - for better drainage, for streetlights, for potholes. The park managers seem unimpressed, she said, by her complaint that uneven settling of her lot has created a crack in her ceiling where the two side of her double-wide are separating.

Meanwhile, the mobile home lot rents are rising.

The loan payments on the home itself, she said, have dropped. But over the last six years, her lot rent has risen from $338 to $437, or almost 30 percent.

"They're almost like slumlords," she said. "If you point something out, they're just like . . . whatever. They just want the rent."
Giant technology companies are moving inexorably into the finance business and could quickly upend the banking industry, according to the financial industry's global watchdog.

In its most detailed report on the impact of what it called "BigTech," the Financial Stability Board said the disruption could introduce new risks into the system by compelling banks to loosen lending standards and take on greater risk.

The FSB, which comprises the G-20's central banks and supervisors, said companies such as Alibaba Group, Apple, Amazon.com and Tencent Holdings could exploit their troves of data and massive customer bases to quickly expand their payments and wealth-management businesses. The competitive threat to banks is compounded because these well-capitalized firms are already at the forefront of technology - artificial intelligence and machine learning-that financial firms just now developing.

Underscoring the challenge, Ant Financial, the Chinese financial services giant controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, on Thursday said that it was acquiring London-based payments company WorldFirst in its biggest move into the U.K. Born out of an online payments system for Alibaba's e-commerce platforms, the business has grown into a financial behemoth with few equals: Its estimated $150 billion valuation dwarfs those of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Alipay and its global affiliates had 1 billion users as of February.

While the increased competition could make financial services more efficient for consumers, the panel urged regulators to be vigilant about the risks to legacy lenders, asset managers and insurers and said it would continue to assess vulnerabilities in the financial system.

The report reflects the views of major bank lobbies, which have called on regulators particularly in Brussels to make sure technology firms face the same restrictions as financial firms do. A group of executives led by Paul Achleitner, Deutsche Bank's supervisory board chairman, and Denis Duverne, the Axa chairman, said last year that traditional banks are at a disadvantage because regulations force banks to share data about their customers with technology firms.
Airbus decided to stop making the A380 double-decker after a dozen years in service, burying a prestige project that won the hearts of passengers and politicians but never the broad support of airlines that instead preferred smaller, more fuel-efficient aircraft.

Production of the jumbo jet will end by 2021, after the A380's biggest customer, Emirates, and a handful of remaining buyers receive their last orders. The Gulf carrier will pare down its current A380 order to 14 from 53. Emirates said separately it would purchase 70 smaller A330neo and A350 widebodies listed at $21.4 billion before customary discounts.

"Today's announcement is painful for us and the A380 communities worldwide" Airbus Chief Executive Office Tom Enders said in a statement. Airbus said as many as 3,500 jobs are affected by the decision.

While the A380 has struggled for years to match its popular appeal with a robust order book, the radical move to cancel the plane outright marks a watershed moment for civil aviation. The A380 was always more than an aircraft, albeit a very large one. Rather, it was the manifestation of Europe's collaborative drive and the continent's industrial ambitions. For Airbus, the airliner sought to create a commanding counterweight to Boeing Co., promising unparalleled space and luxury for increasingly congested airports and the skies above.

But from early on, the world's largest commercial passenger plane with capacity for more than 800 passengers had a hard time, both technically and commercially. Getting the A380 airborne for its maiden flight was severely delayed by wiring glitches that resulted from faulty communications between design teams. When the plane finally embarked on its first commercial flight in late 2007, the financial crisis that would cripple global travel was already on the horizon. Some customers had second thoughts about whether the giant aircraft was the right choice for meager times, and cancellations started piling up.

Airbus had watched enviously as Boeing monopolized the market for very large aircraft with its 747 jumbo, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this month and sold more than 1,500 units. While Airbus was a major force in the single-aisle space with its A320 family, the prestigious long-distance and ultra-large aircraft segment remained the domain of its U.S. rival. With passenger numbers rising every year and major new hubs opening in markets like Dubai, the A380 seemed the obvious choice to address the need for a large people carrier, while picking market share off Boeing.

Dubai did in fact turn into the A380s major sponsor, with Emirates ordering a total of more than 160 units, far in excess of any other airline. But ironically it was also Emirates that contributed to the A380's decline and fall. With Airbus increasingly reliant on a single customer for its flagship product, Emirates could make or break the program by ordering or canceling more A380s. When the airline decided to rethink latest order for 20 units, Airbus saw no choice but to draw down production, given the lack of other buyers.

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"As a result of this decision we have no substantial A380 backlog and hence no basis to sustain production, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years," Enders said.

From its inception, the A380 was a grand European project. The wings, like those of all Airbus aircraft, came from the U.K., components were ferried across the continent from production sites in Germany and France. The giant fuselage tubes were taken by barge and flat-bed truck to the main facility in Toulouse, and the planes were then painted and kitted out in Hamburg. Teams from across the region joined colleagues at other sites during crunch times, the quirky-looking Beluga freight planes would crisscross countries with parts, and the A380 was a popular backdrop at air shows for politicians celebrating Europe's achievements.

But over the past two decades, a new breed of aircraft gained popularity, making life harder for the A380 and the Boeing 747, which has also struggled with the latest passenger version of its iconic hump-backed plane. While the A380 represented an Airbus bet on congestion driving demand for ever-larger aircraft in mega-hub airports, Boeing in the early 2000s decided the future would lie in smaller long-range planes that could economically overfly the hubs and directly connect smaller markets.

Its 777 model and the smaller 787 Dreamliner, as well as Airbus's A350 models, twin-engine planes that pioneered the use of lightweight carbon fiber and efficient engines, helped airlines drastically cut fuel expenses and allowed them to use the planes with quicker turnaround times on smaller point-to-point routes. The giant jumbo aircraft, by contrast, suddenly became too expensive, too heavy and too cumbersome to operate.

Markets where Airbus had hoped to sell its prestige plane hardly caught on or didn't materialize at all. There isn't a single U.S. carrier that uses the A380, Chinese airlines have only bought the model in low numbers, and Japan -- traditionally a big buyer of the Boeing 747 -- has only recently taken delivery of its first A380. Qantas Airways Ltd. formally canceled an outstanding order just last week, and carriers including Air France have pared back their commitments.

Part of the A380s problem is that there is no established second-hand market, typically the domain where prospective buyers can pick up jets at a discount. Singapore Airlines Ltd., the first commercial operator of the A380, learned this just recently, when it returned some aircraft back to its leasing partner, only to see them broken up in France for their parts.

"The A380s might be majestic, but they are going the same way as the magnificent ocean liners of the 1930s - the scrap yard," Bill Blain, a strategist at Mint Partners in London, wrote in a research note. "Too costly to fly anything but near full, and unusable on any less dense sectors, they've struggled to find a niche."

Airbus itself acknowledged that timing may not have been on its side with the A380. While busy airports like London Heathrow have become major magnets for the model, congestion has not been felt acutely enough around the world to shock more airlines into buying the biggest plane. And many operators don't even use the model at full capacity. Most airlines choose to transport no more than about 500 people, instead decking out the cabin with fancy features from in-flight bars to showers and multi-room suites that come with flourishes like butlers and sofas.

Such fripperies were a hit with passengers, who often went out of their way to book a flight on the A380, which promised a more spacious, quieter, more luxurious flight experience than older long-distance models. At a time when flying had lost its jet-age mystique and budget carriers sought to cram as many people onto a plane as possible, the A380 offered a throwback to an era of stylish travel, with plush cabin layouts and free-flowing champagne.

But in the end, it wasn't passenger support, but the lack thereof from airlines that hastened the A380's demise. Like Concorde, the supersonic jetliner that inspired a generation of plane-spotting fans, the A380 was brought back down to earth by the hard truths of commercial board-room economics that gained the upper hand over popular aviation enthusiasm.

- - -

Bloomberg's Layan Odeh and Julie Johnsson contributed.
he following is a reply penned by eminent Lawyer Presidents Counsel Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne to the article titled The Honorable Speaker and the Spirit of Democracyand penned by Malinda Seneviratne which appeared in the Daily Mirror of February 7, 2019.

Clause 46 (1) of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution Bill presented to the previous Parliament provided that the total number of Ministers of the Cabinet of Ministers shall not exceed 30 and the total number of non-Cabinet and Deputy Ministers shall not exceed 40.

Clause 46 (3) of the Bill was a provision that would apply to the next, that is the current, Parliament only: If at the conclusion of the General Election held immediately after the coming into force of this Article, the recognised political party or the independent group obtaining the highest and the recognised political party or the independent group obtaining the second highest number of seats in Parliament agrees to form a Government of national unity, then, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), the number of Ministers of the Cabinet of Ministers and the number of Ministers outside of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Deputy Ministers, may be increased up to forty-five and fifty-five, respectively, if Parliament agrees to such increase, within two weeks of the first sitting of such Parliament.

"There was a robust debate on the clause as a reader of Hansard will observe" "The amendments were not passed when most MPs were half-asleep"



If Clause 46 (3) became law without amendment, the resulting position would be that the total number of Ministers shall not exceed 30 and the total number of non-Cabinet and Deputy Ministers shall not exceed 40. An exception could be made during the next, that is the current, Parliament only but again only if the two largest parties formed a Government of national unity. The increase in the numbers respectively to 45 and 55 had to be done within two weeks of the first sitting of the current Parliament.



On 28 April 2015, during the Committee Stage, the Opposition which initially objected to any increase in numbers later agreed to such a provision but demanded that the provision be made applicable to all future Parliaments and that a definition of a Government of national unity be included. The Government agreed to this. Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe proposed that a Government of national unity be defined as a Government formed by the parties which win the highest number and the second highest number of seats in Parliament. Mr. Dinesh Gunawardena objected to a Government of national unity being restricted to one formed with the second largest party. He demanded that a National Government should be one formed by the largest party with other parties and not necessarily with the second largest party (see Hansard of 28 April 2015, columns 919 to 940).

"If Clause 46 (3) became law without amendment, the resulting position would be that the total number of Ministers shall not exceed 30 and the total number of non-Cabinet and Deputy Ministers shall not exceed 40"



The following definition of a National Government was accordingly agreed to: . National Government means, a Government formed by the recognized political party or the independent group which obtains the highest number of seats in Parliament together with the other recognized political parties or the independent groups.

Thus, the amendments were not passed when most MPs were half-asleep as Malinda Seneviratne contends in the Daily Mirror of 07 February 2019. On the other hand, there was a robust debate on the clause as a reader of Hansard

will observe.



If clause 46 (3) had not been amended at the request of the Opposition, an increase would be possible only during the current Parliament. In the current Parliament too, a Government of national unity would only be a Government formed by both the United National Party and the United Peoples Freedom Party participating. With the exit of the UPFA last year, the number of Cabinet Ministers would have been restricted to 30 and the total number of non-Cabinet and Deputy Ministers restricted to 40.

Jayampathy Wickramaratne
The global aviation industry may be booming, with airlines set for a 10th straight year of profit, but not all investors are benefiting from the bonanza.

While the Airbus A380 remains a hit with passengers, the giant double-decker has been a tough sell with airlines. Airbus SE has managed to deliver just 234 of the jets over the last two decades, a fraction of the more than 1,500 747 jumbo jets that rival Boeing Co. has manufactured in the last half century. As a result, Airbus announced on Thursday that production will cease in 2021.

But it's not just the European planemaker that's troubled by a model it can't sell. Investors in Germany alone have poured 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion) into aircraft funds that have made 21 of the superjumbos accessible as direct investments, according to rating company Scope Analysis. Their aircraft are operated by Singapore Airlines Ltd, Air France and Emirates.

The first aircraft have already come back. Singapore returned five A380s to investment firms Dr. Peters and Doric, and Air France, too, plans to hand back units. The French airline announced last week that it will cut its fleet of double-decker aircraft by half and return the leased jets to their owner. Those returns are a problem for the funds whose investors had hoped for fat returns on a seemingly safe-haven asset and are now finding that these are trading at barely half their issue price on the secondary market. For Dr. Peters alone, whose funds required a minimum investment of at least $10,000, that's some 25,000 investors.

The future value of these investments will be determined in no small part by Emirates. The airline from Dubai is by far the biggest owner and operator of the A380, and brokered a last-minute deal with Airbus that will help keep the manufacturers' production line alive for another two years or so. Still, it may return a total of seven leased superjumbos by 2024, Scope said. Since the funds typically require 12 to 13 years to redeem the outlays used to finance the aircraft, that means investors may end up owning an asset that is difficult to resell and has not yet been paid off.

"Investors that subscribed for the early planes confidently expected their money back when the planes were sold or re-leased at the end of their initial leases," Bill Blain, a strategist at Mint Partners in London, wrote in a research note. "Instead, it could be many years before investors receive their money back - and amounts could be considerably less than expected."

A secondary market so far has not come to fruition, either. Of the five units that were handed back to Dr. Peters, two ended up on a yard in France to get broken up for spare parts. Two others are mothballed and awaiting future deployment. Dr. Peters said it's in "very concrete talks" about follow-on leases with potential interested parties.

The one A380 owned by Doric that did find a new home -- with Portugal's Hi Fly for a six-year lease -- has ended up on the ground more than in the air. After a few tours last year with Thomas Cook Group Plc, Air Austral and Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, the jumbo carrying the registration number 9H-MIP hasn't operated a commercial flight since Dec. 24, according to data compiled by Flightradar24. Hi Fly declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg, while Doric referred to Hi Fly.

"On the first few A380 deals its largely German retail and high net worth retail investors who will suffer, but the lessons will be learnt across the market," Blain said. "Choosing the right aircraft to invest in is critical. Planes that command a ready second-hand market have proved much more positive investments. Generally the more of them, the more predictable the second hand market."

---

Bloomberg's Shelley Robinson and Benjamin Katz contributed to this report.
Being a short note on why I am not a Ceylonese/Sri Lankan nationalist

epending on how you see it, Sri Lanka is either a nation of many cultures or a culture of many nations: Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher and so forth. It is up to us to construct an identity transcending petty labels and it is up to us to ensure that such an identity, once constructed, is adhered to and privileged at all times. The simple truth is that no one outside cares as to whether what we produce, and give back to the world, is made by a Sinhalese Buddhist male heterosexual in his mid-forties. When it goes there, the product becomes distinctly Sri Lankan. 71 years after independence, we seem to have failed to grasp this fundamental reality. We never learn.



On the other hand, that this is somehow a licence to cast aside and forget the ethnic dimensions of grief and grievance, of victory and loss, is taking the argument that we are all one nation too far. Historically, there has never been a Sri Lankan identity, just as there has never been a Ceylonese identity. It is a fairly recent cultural construct, and it depends, for its perpetuation, a vaguely defined, amorphous, and fragile framing of citizenship. It is premised on ethnic and religious labels; for this reason, it never truly transcends those labels. Once again, 71 years after independence, we seem to have failed to understand this fundamental reality.

By 1948, identity politics in Sri Lanka had become so vaguely defined that there were two broad nationalisms: a Sinhala Buddhist nationalism and a Ceylonese nationalism. K. M. de Silva in his work A History of Sri Lanka contends that the latter emphasised the common interests of the islands various ethnic and religious groups, accepting as a reality a plural society.



In other words, it was more accommodative, more inclusive, and more forward looking than the Sinhala Buddhist nationalism which was, in part at least, based on the Buddhist revival of the late 19th century. Such a distinction, between the bigoted and the inclusive, the emotional and the rational, the mono-ethnic and the multi-ethnic, corresponds to the distinction today between those who argue for an ethnicised Sri Lankan identity and those who yearn for a more pluralist identity.

The tragedy was  and this is a tragedy that bedevils us even now  was that both these streams of nationalism were based on misinterpretations of history. Identities are never static, nor are they completely fluid. The evolution of identities, in this sense, is never as clear-cut as historians sometimes present them as. Racial consciousness, as R.A.L.H. Gunawardhana pointed out in The People of the Lion, dates back to 16th century Europe, which was when the term race appeared for the first time. Given this, those who went overboard with their visions of pre-colonial Sinhala Buddhist utopias were presenting a view of the past moulded by contemporary ideology.

"Ceylonism was not a continuation of the nationalism which had flourished before 1815. It was a nationalism catered to an uprooted class and imposed on the people, despite the racial and religious pressures which more than a century of colonial rule had stifled"



On the other hand, that identities are hybrid, that they remain imagined communities, that they are conceived and crafted by a subtle mixture of different groups and interests from one period to another, does not delegitimise the claims of specific identities. Quite the opposite: it is by understanding the grievances of these identities, imagined or otherwise, and their claims, that we can begin to construct a cohesive nationalism accommodative of everyone. The truth, given all this, is that the Sinhala Buddhist considers him/herself Sinhala and Buddhist, and only then a Sri Lankan, because of the fact that his/her identity bears with it a long history of colonisation, exploitation and marginalisation.



The popular, or populist, view is that an all inclusive Sri Lankan identity is, somehow, a panacea for the countrys ills. Historians point out the era that predated the rise of Sinhala Buddhist consciousness in the 20th century, i.e. before the election of the most vilified political leader we ever had, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, was an era in which everyone identified with such an inclusive identity. In this assertion, however, the champions of Ceylonese nationalism are, or tend to be, unaware of history.

First and foremost, Ceylonese nationalism was a reflection of the fact that the country was never a nation in the conventionally understood sense (a contention not only of scholars like Gunawardhana and H.L. Seneviratne, but also of leftist politicians like Hector Abhayawardena). In fact not until the fourth century AD, in the Dipavamsa, that was there a link drawn between nationhood and ethnicity, when the country was referred to as Sihala or the Sinhala island.

Interestingly, not even at the time of the Nayakkar kings was there an identity based on ethnic/religious groups. The rebellions of the Sinhalese nobility against the kings of Kandy, Gunawardhana wrote, were not uncommon even when Sinhala kings were on the throne. What this meant was that even when the Adigars conspired against Sri Vikrama Rajasinghe, it represented a rebellion that had taken more than a century of rule by South Indian princes to transpire. In other words it was politics, not racialism, that had a say in the deposal of the king, which is why it was considered natural that with independence, the political order should return to the nationalism that had supposedly flourished in pre-1815 society.



At the time of independence, a complex interplay of historical forces had therefore conspired to define the country in terms of a cohesive, transcendental, multicultural identity. Even this was clumsily done; when in 1936 the State Council debated on a motion to repatriate all non-Ceylonese from the country, A.P. de Zoysa remarked, the Sinhalese, I think, would be non-Ceylonese. Moreover, this definition of nationality marginalised a profound historical reality. Colonialism.

British rule led to a contortion of the ethnic, religious, and caste demographics that had prevailed in the island until then. From being the most privileged, the Sinhalese Buddhists became, until the entry of South Indian labourers, the most marginalised community. This was reflected even in the way they were counted in the censuses; while forming more than 75% of the population, they were always listed after the privileged groups: the Europeans, the Burghers, the Muslims.



During the period of colonial rule, Sinhala Buddhist consciousness underwent a radical transformation. It is unconstructive to assess history on the basis of arbitrary periodisations, but for the sake of simplifying a complex reality, we can say that, in this respect, British colonial rule can be divided into three periods: from 1796 to 1815, from 1815 to 1835 (until the Colebrooke-Cameron reforms), from 1835 to 1931 and from 1931 to 1947. From Colebrooke-Cameron to the first decade of the 20th century, there was a revival of Buddhism; Obeyesekere and Gombrich termed it, based on affinities they felt it shared with Lutheranism, Protestant Buddhism.

Whether or not it was Protestant being another debate, what is important to note is that the revival was the consequence of two distinct realities: the colonial enslavement of the Buddhists, and the formation of a plantation elite, birthed by the Colebrooke-Cameron reforms, who could not be more indifferent to the revival.

Described as a native civil service class by my friend Vinod Moonesinghe, the rentier/plantation bourgeoisie, who would later make it to the pages of history books as national heroes and founding fathers, were not just indifferent to the revival, but at times were even hostile to it. They saw the world, the world they occupied, in terms of those who belonged to their subculture and those who did not; it was this attitude that made a prominent member of this class, J.P. Obeyesekere, to rant against villagers who got into debt trying to educate their children in English schools.

"The popular, or populist, view is that an all inclusive Sri Lankan identity is, somehow, a panacea for the countrys ills"



Ceylonese nationalism, in that regard, was less pluralist than it seemed; it was defined in economistic terms, more so than the Sinhala Buddhist nationalism which found its single greatest exponent in Anagarika Dharmapala. It was the nationalism of a narrow class that Beckford, in his brilliant study Persistent Poverty, identified as the legatees of colonialism in plantation societies like ours. These nationalists never went beyond attaining Constitutional independence for the countries they led. They couldnt, for to have gone beyond it would have entailed a radical reform of the sector they had made their fortunes in. Of course, they didnt want that.

Ceylonism was not a continuation of the nationalism which had flourished before 1815. It was a nationalism catered to an uprooted class and imposed on the people, despite the racial and religious pressures which more than a century of colonial rule had stifled. Today, there are those who want to become Ceylonese/Sri Lankan nationalists. I for one am thankful that I am not one of them.

UDAKDEV1@GMAIL.COM
He just needed a little relief.

A decade ago, Michael was one of only three doctors on call in a remote community hospital in British Columbia. As a result, he had to be available pretty much all the time.

It was a small hospital, but it wouldnt take much to make you busy, Michael explained.

If just one person came in with a stab wound requiring a chest drain and a hemothorax, that would make you busy. ... One suicide attempt requiring (a patient) to go on the ventilator, that means youre busy all night because theres not a lot of other staff to help.

At the same time, Michaels marriage was beginning to fracture. Feeling he had little support to lean on, he started looking for a reprieve from the stress.

I started taking capsules of various opiates that patients had given me over years and I had them just lying in my office, Michael said. I used them to sometimes give out to patients if they couldnt afford them.

Read more: I was an impaired nurse: Three nurses who battled addiction welcome dramatic shift in approach to discipline and treatment

The drugs that were prescribed for patients but never taken  or drugs returned to him by family members of patients who died  should have been accounted for and destroyed with witnesses, as required by the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Instead, they were diverted, the term used by the medical community to describe theft of narcotics for personal use.

It was just too easy, Michael said. They were just sitting in the cupboard.

The doctors real name is not being used to protect him from potential legal trouble. The Star verified his standing with the B.C. College of Physicians, which lists his medical licence as temporarily inactive; he is now in his second attempt at recovery.

It started foolishly, said Michael. I promised myself I wouldnt become addicted, but I did.

Michaels past shows how easy it can be for a medical professional to become addicted  but also how easy it is to steal controlled narcotics without getting caught. No one would miss a couple of pills, he thought, and he was right.

More than three years after a Vancouver General Hospital aid died of an overdose, resulting in government promises to crack down on the theft of narcotics from hospitals, Health Canada documents obtained by the Star show the problem of missing drugs persists across the Lower Mainland.

Between 2015 and April 2018, the Health Canada documents show hospitals in the region reported more than 7,800 units of various narcotics missing.

Answers are few and far between  prosecutions even more so.

Most disappearances, nearly 85 per cent of the incidents on record, were categorized as unexplained. Of the few cases labelled pilferage, or staff theft, not one has been reported to police. In fact, only four per cent of all the drug disappearances were ever reported to law enforcement.

The vast majority of the missing units  about 5,000  are attributed to three incidents in 2017 and 2018 at Vancouver General Hospital, where staff were found to have been stealing opioids for years.

Much of the rest came from St. Pauls Hospital, where 600 vials of hydromorphone were lost in transit in 2015, and the Pharmacy Distribution Centre, where about 900 missing hydromorphone tablets were recorded as a tabulation error in 2017.

The figures, encompassing a jumble of different drugs, obscure the scale of the losses. When converted into a rough measurement called milligrams of morphine equivalent  a benchmark used to assess potency when patients are prescribed multiple drugs at once  those five cases at Vancouver General, St. Pauls Hospital and the Pharmacy Distribution Centre represent a loss of 71,137 milligrams of morphine. Thats equivalent to 15,800 Tylenol 3 tablets or enough morphine to knock out 49 horses.

As shocking as the numbers are, pain-management expert Dr. Owen Williamson says they likely represent only a sliver of all the drugs that actually go missing.

They may be the tip of the iceberg, said Williamson, president of the Pain Medicine Physicians of B.C. Society. There are just so many ways people can divert that stuff.

Health Canada records wont reflect how much is actually going missing, he said, because of the way drugs are tracked. Most tracking systems assume that drugs dispensed for a particular patient are actually received by that patient. That isnt always the case.

In operating rooms, Williamson explained, it can be easy for staff to draw more liquid narcotic than necessary, swap it into a second syringe and take it home. Hes also seen cases of staff at nursing homes dispensing used fentanyl patches to patients and keeping the fresh ones for themselves.

Wherever you have opioids, youll have people who are inventive at diverting it, he said.

Kerri OKeefe was one of those people. The 36-year-old hospital aid died in August 2015 after injecting an anesthesia drug she stole from Vancouver General  the end of a long pattern of theft.

As reported in the Vancouver Sun, which covered the case, the Ministry of Health responded by directing health authorities across B.C. to improve the security and tracking of pharmaceuticals.

In 2017, the provincial government announced $5 million in additional funding for the B.C. Centre on Substance Use for research on addictions care. Part of that funding went toward new hospital training and monitoring programs for drugs at risk of theft.

Its unclear what effect these changes may have had, as acts of pilferage are rarely recorded as such.

The Health Canada records contain more than 250 cases, accounting for all of the drugs known to be missing from B.C.s Lower Mainland. Only 12 of those cases were officially reported as pilferage.

In one case, a Ridge Meadows Hospital nurse in Maple Ridge found a box of morphine vials that had its bottom cut open. The vials had been emptied, and the package was resealed and stashed on a shelf behind other similar packages. The official cause was unexplained.

At Chilliwack General Hospital, nursing staff found a vial of fentanyl with a needle hole in the rubber plug. Though this was considered a potential diversion situation, it was recorded as unexplained.

Surrey Memorial Hospital experienced multiple losses of hydromorphone, oxycodone and morphine from the in-patient medical unit over the course of 18 days. All unexplained.

Each Health Canada record includes a section detailing steps the hospital plans to take to prevent future losses. Some of the losses resulted in changes to security procedures, like requiring double signatures on paperwork, changing locks, installing security cameras or switching to more secure automated dispensing machines.

At Langley Memorial Hospital, for example, a nurse was removed from the workplace after admitting to repeatedly slicing open blister packs of hydromorphone, stealing the drugs and replacing the capsules with an unknown substance.

However, just as many of the records do not spell out significant changes to security practices. Often the plan is for staff to be more vigilant.

An opioid diversion expert who reviewed the documents says important precautions that could prevent these thefts arent being followed, in large part because the losses are being misclassified as unexplained.

Its insane, says John Burke, president of the U.S.-based International Health Facility Diversion Association. Almost all of these indicated diversion ... Its horrific, in my opinion.

After a career in policing, including a decade running the Cincinnati Police Departments Pharmaceutical Diversion Squad, Burke retired and founded Pharmaceutical Diversion Education Inc., which provides education and consulting work on drug diversion for hospitals, law enforcement and the pharmaceutical industry.

Shown a copy of the Health Canada data, Burke said its clear to him the majority of these cases are not accounting errors or simple discrepancies.

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Guess what? Somebodys stealing, Burke said.

Somebody diverting in this scenario, this is a smorgasbord for them. Theyre going to realize that as long as they dont get caught in the act, theyre probably going to be OK.

In a statement, Health Canada said it collects these reports from all pharmacies across the country, including from private businesses and public hospitals. The department evaluates reports on an aggregate basis to identify trends and identify patterns of diversion.

For example: This could include an assessment of which products are being reported as lost or stolen, in what frequency, and if there are geographic differences in reported diversion.

If Health Canada detects a worrying trend, it may work with hospitals to determine the root cause. It does not conduct investigations and leaves the decision to report to police to individual hospitals.

But Michaels case, which took place outside the Lower Mainland, illustrates a problem with this approach. The narcotics he diverted would never show up in Health Canada data because they were never recorded as a loss.

They would not have been reported missing because they would have already been dispensed to a patient, Michael explained.

Burke said that, based on his research in the U.S., those doing the thieving are careful to cover their tracks.

Some hospital patients will be given prescriptions for painkillers on an as-needed basis, like with morphine, for example. If a patient is in pain, they can request another dose that a nurse can administer without needing to go back to a doctor for a new prescription.

So a nurse could go in and document that they gave a patient a shot (of morphine) when they really didnt, Burke explained.

Or they can do what we call splitting a shot  giving half to the patient and half to themselves ... None of those are going to show up (in the data) because theyre going to make it look like everything is kosher.

Michael said he wasnt anywhere near that devious. He said he never lied to his colleagues about his opioid use; he just wasnt upfront about it.

As he began to realize he was addicted, he considered confiding in his colleagues  but doing so would have required them to report him to the B.C. College of Physicians or be put in legal jeopardy for keeping his secret.

Eventually, keeping that secret himself became too much.

I needed to get some help, Michael said. It was getting to the point where things were just  it didnt feel good. I used to dream about it. I felt terribly guilty. I just needed that monkey off my back.

In 2011, he turned himself in to the college, which he said immediately suspended his licence and launched an investigation into whether his patients care had been compromised.

Michael said his opioid use was relatively light  a capsule in the morning and again in the evening  and that the colleges investigation found his patients had never been put at risk. The college itself would not comment on Michaels case nor its investigation, citing privacy concerns.

But aside from protecting his patients, Michael said the college also protected him from himself, insisting he get a lawyer and connecting him with addictions treatment and supports. He went on leave, got into recovery and began working the Narcotics Anonymous steps, all with the backing of the college.

Michael said his case was never reported to the police.

Burke said that in the U.S. some hospitals actually have armed law-enforcement members as part of special opioid diversion teams. As he sees it, every instance of narcotics being stolen is a crime that should be reported to police.

But Michael questions that approach and the criminalization of addiction overall. Statistics Canada says opioid addiction has killed more than 9,000 Canadians in the past three years. For people like him, it is hard enough to come forward and seek treatment even without the threat of prosecution hanging above their heads.

The B.C. College of Physicians agrees.

Most likely, if the college was made aware of a physician stealing narcotics for personal use, it would consider it a health matter rather than a disciplinary matter, Susan Prins, director of communications, wrote in an emailed statement.

If a physician fails to comply with a treatment and monitoring plan laid out by the college, their status would remain temporarily inactive, Prins said. If they ultimately refused altogether, they would be considered for disciplinary charges and could ultimately lose their medical licence, though Prins said that has never happened in the history of the college.

If the situation involves a theft, the decision to report to the police would be up to the victim of the theft, e.g. the clinic or health authority, Prins wrote.

Records show that Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), the health authority that reported the greatest losses, chose not to report any of the cases to the police  except one obvious smash-and-grab job not perpetrated by staff.

Stacy Sprague is the director of employee wellness for VCH. She said her organization takes roughly the same approach as the College of Physicians, preferring intervention over criminalization.

We really do care about folks who are struggling with this, Sprague said. If people are diverting (narcotics), obviously theres a lot going on there.

Sprague said VCH uses a health-care focused program specially designed for working with people who are used to being caregivers, not someone in need of care.

That type of approach is what helped Michael. Recognizing it was OK to be both a doctor and a patient at the same time was difficult, he said, in part because society tends to put medical professionals on a pedestal.

Anybody can fall victim to this, he said. There is no immunity. People who are addicted come from all walks of life. Physicians are the same as anybody else.

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A showdown over executive pay is taking shape between Premier Doug Fords government and Hydro One after the publicly traded company proposed a cap of $2.78 million for its next CEO.

Energy Minister Greg Rickford warned the province will not approve more than $1.5 million in salary and incentives for the chief executive as a search wraps up with a preferred candidate to replace ousted boss Mayo Schmidt, whom Ford dubbed the six million dollar man in last springs election campaign.

We will not stand by any further and see out-of-control and out-of-touch salaries at Hydro One, Rickford told a news conference Friday, calling on the partially privatized former Crown transmission utility to show respect for Ontarios electricity customers.

The Hydro One board  replaced by the government last summer  quickly fired back, insisting it needs leeway to attract, retain and motivate highly-qualified leadership at the company with $25 billion in assets and annual revenues approaching $6 billion.

We continue to seek the approval of Management Board of Cabinet.

Rickford issued a caution, saying this is not a negotiation and stated total compensation for senior executives should not exceed 75 per cent of the CEO level and pay for directors capped at $80,000.

Hydro One had proposed up to $1.86 million for executive vice president and $140,000 for directors, with $169,500 for the chair of the board.

Rickford described the disagreement as a significant divide between the views of the Hydro One board and the largest shareholder, the people of Ontario.

Hydro One board chair Tom Woods  who was appointed by Ford  noted in a separate letter to Rickford that majority shareholders in the company owned 47 per cent by the province are good with the $2.78 million CEO cap.

As you know, we have been in discussion with a very talented prospective CEO, who we believe would accept the role with compensation as contemplated under the proposed framework, wrote Woods, a veteran investment banker with CIBC.

As we have previously advised, the entire top management team (five individuals) are under retention agreements and it appears likely that all five will depart soon after their agreements mature in the next 2 1/2 months.

New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath said the split public-private ownership of Hydro One engineered by the previous Liberal government is proving unworkable, pointing to a need to bring the company back under full provincial control with a share buyback.

She warned that government meddling in Hydro One  a reference to the Schmidt ouster  has already cost the company $103 million (U.S.) for a kill fee after American regulators cited concerns about political interference in the company, scuttling a $6.7 billion takeover of Avista Corp.

Mr. Fords got to realize he cant keep pretending hes trying to save people money while at the same time undertaking activities that are costing us millions, Horwath told reporters a day after the premier, in launching a new strategy to save auto sector jobs, proclaimed for too long, government has been getting in the way.

In the letter to Rickford, Woods said he recognizes the governments push to reduce electricity bills but said none of Hydro Ones top executive compensation will be charged to customer rates  it will all come out of bottom line company profits, borne by shareholders, not ratepayers.

The government issued an order in August that Hydro One trim generous pay packages, with Rickford refusing to say publicly at the time how low they should go.

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Critics have warned that government interference in pay levels for a publicly traded company will send a chill through the business community.

Under legislation passed last summer, the government retains the power to control executive, CEO and senior executive salaries at Hydro One until the end of 2022.

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OTTAWALiberals are lining up behind Justin Trudeau's denial of allegations that his aides pressured Jody Wilson-Raybould over a criminal prosecution, with one even suggesting she was removed as justice minister because she didnt speak French.

Rocked by the most serious controversy yet to hit his government, the prime minister has the benefit of the doubt said one Liberal, even as ongoing investigations by the ethics commissioner and a parliamentary committee  and perhaps even revelations from Wilson-Raybould herself  threaten more political damage.

There is some tension in the ranks as the drama plays out  one MP called the situation appalling and condemned Trudeaus criticism of Wilson-Raybould for her alleged inaction in flagging any improper pressure.

But another MP seemed to capture of the mood of many as he downplayed the potential political impact, noting he had encountered no reaction from constituents during this break week spent in the riding. Im not at all convinced this is a tipping thing, the Toronto-area MP said.

In fact, he said, the issue may play to Trudeaus advantage in Quebec, where there are concerns that a criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin would exact a steep financial penalty on the Quebec firm and with it, job losses.

While Wilson-Raybould enjoyed a high-profile  and made history as the first Indigenous justice minister  that didnt make her immune from a cabinet shuffle, said the MP who, like others, spoke on background in order to speak to more freely.

Read more:

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If she thinks because of her status as female and because of her status as Indigenous, that somehow exempts her from being there at the pleasure of the prime minister ... then she has a profound misunderstanding of the system, he said.

Yet the allegations that Wilson-Raybould was moved out of the justice portfolio because she rebuffed pressure from Trudeaus office to mediate criminal charges against SNC-Lavalin rather than proceed with a prosecution has become an escalating controversy.

On Thursday, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, chair of the Commons justice committee that will hold hearings into the affair, floated the idea that Wilson-Raybould was replaced by Quebec MP David Lametti as justice minister because of language.

Theres a lot of legal issues coming up in Quebec and the prime minister may well have decided he needed a justice minister that could speak French, Housefather said in an interview with Montreal radio station CJAD.

The idea that she was shuffled because of this unproven allegation to me is quite ridiculous, Housefather said.

The MP for Mount Royal said it was fairly clear that Wilson-Raybould was unhappy at being shuffled but said those decisions are always the prime ministers prerogative.

The prime minister has the undisputed right to choose who is in what cabinet position, and theres millions of reasons that people can be shuffled from one position to another, Housefather said in the radio interview.

Wilson-Raybould has not yet spoken on the matter, citing solicitor-client privilege. But in the letter announcing her resignation, she said she was seeking the advice of former Supreme Court justice Thomas Cromwell on the topics that I am legally permitted to discuss in this matter.

Conservative and New Democrats have urged Trudeau to waive privilege, giving Wilson-Raybould freedom to speak if she wants.

NDP MP Nathan Cullen, whose motion to call the former attorney general and key political staff was struck down by Liberals on Wednesday, said pressure might be the only thing to convince Liberal members of the justice committee to call Wilson-Raybould to answer questions about the affair.

Canadians are really concerned about this. They are maybe having flashbacks to the sponsorship scandal and days of denial and insider corruption, he said. If that continues to be the reaction, then that pressure will build, and I think thats the only thing that will crack open the lid.

Caucus sources said the prime minister sought to reassure MPs during a teleconference call from Winnipeg on Tuesday, hours after Wilson-Rayboulds sudden resignation. The call was for MPs only, not staff.

Trudeau told his caucus that Wilson-Rayboulds resignation was a surprise, reiterated what hed said publicly, and assured them that guys, were OK here, were absolutely confident that nothing untoward or nothing outside of what we could do was done, according to one caucus source.

He said just keep your powder dry and this will all sort itself out, the MP said.

The MP said Trudeau was confident that were OK, adding that many MPs recognize that he needs our help and support now.

There are a lot of newcomers in caucus who havent been through this kind of thing before. Its been a lot of rainbows and unicorns and this is the first bit of rough water that weve faced, but people believe in Trudeau. They know him to be a good person, an honest person. Hes a principled guy.

On the other hand, the MP said, nobody knows what Wilson-Raybould is thinking but in the dispute over whether there was pressure, most are thinking it is an issue of interpretation.

However, the MP was not critical of Wilson-Raybould, and suggested its not unusual for a rookie minister not to have a lot of allies in caucus because theyre new to Ottawa and suddenly land busy jobs.

She was there to make a difference, not really to make a lot of friends.

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Another MP said its obvious the Prime Ministers Office is concerned about how the caucus would react, because in addition to the Tuesday conference call there were followup phone calls by PMO officials the next day to caucus members.

The MP said Trudeau was clearly seeking to shore up support with his call.

I could feel he was under stress, but he sounded sincere, thoughtful. There was no cockiness. Sometimes he can be cocky and shoot from the hip, but there was no cockiness, the MP said, adding that it was a confidence-building call.

The MP, who has since spoken to others as well, said it was clear that many MPs are giving the prime minister the benefit of doubt.

He ascribed support for Trudeau to the level of affection and loyalty towards the prime minister. There would be no comparison to whatever might be felt toward Wilson-Raybould, he said.

That MP suggested the dispute is the result of perceptions and signals crossed: A message given and a message received will always be different.

So the message given by the PMO, obviously there was a message given about this: Are you doing this? Whats this? What are the consequences? Thats appropriate conversation. Message received: Could be pressure. Message received after the divorce papers are filed, after you find out theres a girlfriend, after you find out all those things: Oh, I was being pressured.

To me this looks like revisionist feelings.

She hears it when shes justice minister one way then when shes demoted and looking at her career and her reputation and all that stuff she hears it differently, and says why was I demoted, maybe I didnt do what they wanted me to do, maybe I was being pressured.

The MP had spoken to about half a dozen other MPs, and said, Im hearing the benefit of the doubt going to the prime minister.

But not all Liberals are on board. One MP called the situation appalling and said the governments poor handling of the controversy has only highlighted issues of arrogance, running roughshod over MPs and the problems of centralized decision-making in the prime ministers office.

There is a great political risk because it all attacks the credibility and character of the leader. Hes not coming across well, not at all, the MP said.

He said prime ministers strategic decision to publicly declare that the onus was on Wilson-Raybould to flag any improper pressure only invites her to fight back.

Why would you put her into a situation where youve ruffled more feathers, caused more irritation, caused anger, a bit of anguish? What do you expect her to do? the MP said.

And there have been public expressions of support for Wilson-Raybould from her former cabinet colleagues.

In a statement to the Star Thursday, Carolyn Bennett, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, said that Wilson-Raybouds advice was invaluable as a candidate and member of our team.

Her dedication to fundamental change in Canadas relationship with First Nations is unparalleled  she will continue to be a strong voice and I hope to continue working with her on these critical issues, Bennett said.

Toronto-area MP Jane Philpott, the President of the Treasury Board, took to Twitter earlier in the week to post a picture of her with Wilson-Raybould and an encouraging note: You taught me so much  particularly about Indigenous history, rights and justice ... I know you will continue to serve Canadians.

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Theres always been some art to drumming up support for a governments policies.

Thats especially true when it comes to changes that have a direct impact on an easily identifiable group of people or produce clear winners and losers. The Ford governments revamped autism program hits both those buttons.

According to an increasing number of accounts, though, Childrens Minister Lisa MacLeod swept aside the usual practice of artful negotiation with affected groups in favour of the sledge-hammer approach.

One group says it was threatened by MacLeod with four long years if it didnt provide a supportive quote  without even knowing what the government was going to announce last week.

Another group says the government falsely claimed it supported and was involved in the controversial overhaul of autism services.

And a third group that went public with its criticism of the changes was dismissed by the government as nothing more than professional protesters.

This was all done in an attempt to claim there is broad support for the governments overhaul of Ontarios autism program, which there is not. And for good reason.

The new program spreads existing provincial funding far too thinly in an effort to clear the wait-list for services. So while parents whose children are waiting may receive some funds sooner, it comes at the expense of kids receiving better-funded and necessary services now, and into the future.

The warnings that this new policy will be a disaster, particularly for children on the high-needs end of the autism spectrum who need the most expensive therapy, havent swayed MacLeod.

That broad support for this policy doesnt exist also doesnt seem to faze her  so long as she can put out news releases and Tweets claiming that shes getting broad support.

Indeed, one person with the Ontario Association for Behaviour Analysts  the group that says it was threatened  characterized dealing with MacLeod as more akin to meeting with a mob boss than an elected official.

A government that has genuinely and openly consulted with affected groups, ahead of making changes, and believes its new policy can stand up to fair public scrutiny doesnt run around demanding unknowing and unconditional support.

Now, its possible that the lack of effective push-back on this governments other policy shifts and program changes, which have taken Ontario backwards rather than forward, emboldened MacLeod to act so brazenly with the autism crowd.

Certainly it can be difficult for people and vulnerable groups that rely heavily on provincial policies or funding to speak out against the government of the day. But this governments bully tactics seem to have pushed them into doing just that.

Last week, Bruce McIntosh resigned from his political staff job with MacLeods parliamentary assistant over this issue.

This week, Autism Ontario said it neither proposed nor endorsed the governments plan. The behaviour analysts went public about the governments pressure tactics. And the calls for MacLeod to resign have started.

Premier Doug Ford, not surprisingly, has no time for that. Shes an absolute all-star, Ford told reporters. Shes done an incredible job.

Why would he think any differently? MacLeod is just following his my-way-or-the-highway lead.

This all stems from Fords style of governing.

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He decides the outcome he wants  anything from a smaller Toronto council, to a different provincial deficit number. He ignores any evidence that doesnt support that outcome. He changes whatever rules are necessary to make it happen. And then he declares it a done deal thats supported by the people.

Well, the autism community has pushed back.

And, as any kid in a schoolyard knows, once the first person challenges the bully its easier for the next one.

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We should all be able to agree that a high school teacher should not be allowed to take non-consensual videos of his students breasts to use for his own sexual gratification.

Girls should be able to go to school without the worry that their teacher is going to sexually exploit them using a hidden camera pen.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed with that sentiment.

In its decision, Canadas highest court found that girls do have a reasonable expectation of privacy while they are at school, and convicted high school teacher, Ryan Jarvis, of voyeurism for taking secret videos of his students breasts with his camera pen while talking with them on the school grounds.

The court affirmed it is illegal for teachers to take secret images of students for a sexual purpose, even if the students are in plain view of other people in the hallways, or if they are in view of the schools security cameras.

This privacy protection is not limited to protecting students on school grounds. Chief Justice Wagner said that he would likely have reached the same conclusion even if [the videos] had been made by a stranger on a public street rather than by a teacher at school in breach of a school policy.

This is good news for individuals at risk of having their photos taken without consent while out in public or semi-public spaces, and used for a sexual purpose. Their bodies are no longer open fodder for other peoples sexual gratification.

This decision will be particularly important to groups whose sexual privacy has been historically violated with little legal recourse, including women and girls, young people, Indigenous people, racialized people, and members of the LGBTQ++ community.

For example, research by The eQuailty Project found that of the 76 reported voyeurism trials they examined, 100 per cent of people accused and convicted of voyeurism were men. The victims were predominantly women, girls, or young boys. This decision will increase their right to be free from sexual invasions in public spaces.

No one should be fearful, even while in a public place, that another person is going to secretly take a picture or video of them to take home and use for their own sexual purposes, or worse, to post the images on the internet on a creepshot website so thousands of other people can also pleasure themselves with the image. The thought of someone doing that makes you want to stay inside.

It is important that in an era of ubiquitous surveillance, the Supreme Court recognized that simply because technological advances make new recording possibilities available, that does not mean that individuals have a lowered expectation of privacy.

In fact, advances in technology seemed to be on the mind of the chief justice as he wrote the majority decision. He provides several compelling examples where individuals should be able to expect privacy including from a drone taking high resolution photos of swimmers at a public pool.

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He further emphasized how modern technology allows for ease in storing, manipulating and distributing these images, adding to the potential risks of privacy violations.

At a time when almost everyone has a miniature camera in their pocket, the courts affirmation that we do not abandon our privacy expectations simply by stepping out into public sends an important message about privacy in an increasingly technological and image-based world.
WASHINGTON - The Latest on President Donald Trump and border security (all times local):

4:50 p.m.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler is calling for a hearing in the coming days on President Donald Trumps declaration of a national emergency.

In a letter to Trump Friday, Nadler and other members of the Judiciary panel express their alarm over the proclamation, an effort to get more money for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Nadler says his committee will investigate the serious constitutional and statutory issues the declaration raises and is asking White House and Justice Department officials to appear at a hearing.

He says the decision shows reckless disregard for the separation of powers and your own responsibilities under our constitutional system.

Trump said Friday he would declare the emergency in an effort to bypass Congress, which would not give him full funding for his wall.

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2:50 p.m.

The American Civil Liberties Union says it will file a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trumps emergency declaration to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border.

The Friday announcement came hours after Trump signed the declaration and said he expected legal challenges. The civil rights group will argue that Trumps use of emergency powers is unprecedented and cant be used to build a border wall.

ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero says the declaration is patently illegal. Their legal action would be separate from anything Congress may do.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (puh-LOH-see) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have also raised the possibility of legal action. They say Trumps decision would shred the Constitution by usurping Congress power to control spending.

White House officials say some of the money would come from military construction projects.

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2:33 p.m.

President Donald Trump has signed legislation to avert another government shutdown and pay for limited fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Press secretary Sarah Sanders says Trump signed the bill at the White House on Friday.

The legislation gives Trump 55 additional miles of border fencing, well short of the 200-plus miles he wanted.

The legislation also keeps parts of the government from shutting down at midnight Friday by providing $333 billion to finance several Cabinet agencies through September.

Trump on Friday declared a national emergency at the southern border and is using his executive authority to tap billions of other government funds to build the wall.

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11:25 a.m.

Congress two top Democrats say theyll use every remedy available to oppose President Donald Trumps declaration of an emergency to shift billions of federal dollars into building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (puh-LOH-see) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Friday theyll take action in the Congress, in the Courts, and in the public.

They say Trumps decision to declare an emergency is unlawful. They say it would shred the Constitution by usurping Congress power to control spending.

White House officials say some of the money would come from military construction projects. Pelosi and Schumer say Trump would be using money needed for the security of our military and our nation.

Democrats can file lawsuits and force congressional votes to block Trumps money transfers. Trump could veto the legislation should it pass.

Trump says he expects legal challenges.

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11:20 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he expects legal challenges to his decision to declare a national emergency to erect barriers between the U.S. and Mexico but says hell be vindicated.

Trump announced Friday that he has signed the appropriate paperwork to declare an emergency on the border so he can build a wall.

In a sing-songy tone of voice, Trump then described how the decision will be challenged and work its way through the courts, including up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Critics have accused Trump of abusing his authority.

Trump says he shouldnt be sued but predicts we will be very successful in court.

He adds: Sadly, well be sued and sadly it will go through a process and happily well win.

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11:15 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he needs to use emergency powers to protect the United States from drug dealers and immigrants in the nation illegally.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted a photo of Trump signing the declaration Friday in the moments before his scattershot Rose Garden news conference.

Trump told stories of horrific abuse of women being smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border but didnt provide any evidence. He also said the border wall would be needed to battle drug cartels as part of a virtual invasion from Mexico.

The president declared a national emergency and would find other funds for the wall after expressing unhappiness about a congressional border security deal.

Families of people killed by immigrants in the United States illegally attended the news conference.

Trumps plans have been criticized on Capitol Hill.

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11:10 a.m.

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President Donald Trump says many other presidents have declared national emergencies. But the presidents he has cited did not use emergency powers to pay for projects that Congress wouldnt support.

Emergency declarations by former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were overwhelmingly for the purpose of addressing crises that emerged abroad. Many blocked foreign interests or terrorist-linked entities from access to funds. Some prohibited certain imports from or investments to countries associated with human rights abuses.

A list compiled by the Brennan Center says Clinton declared 17 national emergencies, Bush 13 and Obama 12.

Trump said Friday he will use executive powers to bypass Congress, which approved far less money for border barriers than he had sought. Trump plans to siphon billions of dollars from federal military construction and counterdrug efforts for his long-promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.

The move has drawn criticism on Capitol Hill and is expected to face rounds of legal challenges.

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10:55 a.m.

President Donald Trump says hell be declaring a national emergency so he can build a southern border wall.

Trump did not say on Friday when he would make such a declaration, but the move will allow him to bypass Congress to spend more money to erect barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Congress has given Trump about $1.4 billion for border barriers, well below the $5.7 billion Trump has insisted he needed to build a wall.

To get around Congress, Trump plans to use his executive authority to tap other sources of funding to get a total of $8 billion to build the wall. The White House says Trump plans to tap accounts in the Treasury and Defence departments, but not money earmarked for disaster relief.

Trumps move is expected to prompt lawsuits and challenges in Congress.

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10:50 a.m.

Add the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the groups opposing a national emergency declaration by President Donald Trump to free up budget funds to build his Southwest border wall.

The business organizations stance is not a total surprise. Its opposed Trump administration efforts to restrict legal immigration and to make it harder for young Dreamer immigrants to stay in the U.S.

Still, the chamber usually leans Republican. Its opposition Friday is the latest example of how word of an emergency declaration is splitting the GOP and its constituencies.

Trump plans to sign bipartisan legislation providing nearly $1.4 billion to build border barriers, but that fell short of the $5.7 billion he wanted.

Trump is expected to invoke executive powers to access another $6.6 billion. He says hell sign a national emergency. Thats expected to prompt lawsuits and challenges in Congress.

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10:35 a.m.

President Donald Trump plans to spend about $8 billion on border barriers, far more than Congress has given him for that purpose.

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney says Trump will tap various other sources of money beyond the nearly $1.4 billion in a government funding bill that Congress passed. Trump is expected to sign the bill.

Besides the money from Congress, Mulvaney said Friday that Trump plans to spend $600 million in Treasury forfeiture funds and $2.5 billion in Defence Department counterdrug money. Trump is also tapping about $3.6 billion worth of funds set aside for military construction projects.

Mulvaney says Trump is not tapping disaster relief money designated to help Texas and Puerto Rico following recent devastating hurricanes.

Trumps moves are expected to prompt lawsuits and challenges in Congress.

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12:45 a.m.

Congress has lopsidedly approved a border security compromise that would avert a second painful government shutdown.

But a new confrontation has been ignited. President Donald Trumps plan to bypass lawmakers and declare a national emergency to siphon billions from other federal coffers for his wall on the Mexican boundary is certain to be challenged.

Money in the bill for border barriers, about $1.4 billion, is far below the $5.7 billion Trump insisted he needed and would finance just a quarter of the 200-plus miles he wanted. The White House said hed sign the legislation passed Thursday but act unilaterally to get more. That prompted condemnations from Democrats and threats of lawsuits from states and others who might lose federal money or said Trump was abusing his authority.
CHICAGO - The Latest on the attack on Empire actor Jussie Smollett (all times local):

9:25 p.m.

Chicago police say they have released two Nigerian brothers who had been arrested earlier in the week on suspicion of assaulting Empire actor Jussie Smollett, saying that detectives have additional investigative work to complete.

The men were picked up by police Wednesday at Chicagos OHare International Airport and their apartment was searched Thursday. They were questioned Friday but police were obliged to release them if they had not been charged within 48 hours.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted: Due to new evidence as a result of todays interrogations, the individuals questioned by police in the Empire case have now been released without charges.

Smollett says he was assaulted on Jan. 29 by two men who shouted racial slurs and put a rope around his neck.

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2:05 p.m.

A Chicago police spokesman confirms that the two suspects arrested in the reported hate crime involving black actor Jussie Smollett are black.

Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi also says the suspects were arrested on suspicion of assault and battery. He says department policy prohibits him from naming the victim but says that he can say the two Nigerian brothers were arrested in connection with the case involving the Empire cast member. Smollett is an actor on the television drama and has said he was beaten in a racist, anti-gay attack last month.

Guglielmi also says at least one of the men in custody worked on Empire, but he does not know in what capacity.

The men are being interrogated Friday by detectives. Police picked them up Wednesday at Chicagos OHare International Airport after they flew from Nigeria. On Thursday, police served a search warrant at their Chicago apartment.

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9:55 a.m.

Chicago Police say the two men being questioned in the attack on Empire actor Jussie Smollett are considered suspects.

Department spokesman Anthony Guglielimi said Friday that the men are in custody and have been arrested based on probable cause that they may have been involved in a crime. But he says they have not been charged in the Jan. 29 attack.

Police have identified the men only as two Nigerian brothers. Police have been questioning them since they were picked up by officers at Chicagos OHare International Airport on Wednesday after returning to the city from Nigeria. On Thursday, police served a search warrant at their home.

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Guglielmi says at least one of the men worked on Empire, but he does not know in what capacity.

Smollett told ABC News in an interview that aired Thursday that the men are the ones who hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him, beat him and looped a rope around his neck.

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8:40 a.m.

Chicago police says local media reports that allege the attack against Empire actor Jussie Smollett was a hoax are unconfirmed.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says police Superintendent Eddie Johnson has contacted at least one Chicago news outlet to say investigators have no evidence to support the reporting. Guglielmi says Johnson said the supposed police sources are uninformed and inaccurate.

The reports surfaced late Thursday as investigators questioned two persons of interest in the case who were captured on surveillance cameras in the area where Smollett says he was attacked.

The actor says two masked men beat him after shouting racial and homophobic slurs and tied a rope around his neck early on Jan. 29.

Producers of the television drama also dispute that Smolletts character is being written off the show, calling the reports patently ridiculous.

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See APs complete coverage of the Jussie Smollett case: https://www.apnews.com/JussieSmollett
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Early-run king salmon in the Kenai River can be caught but not kept this summer.

The Anchorage Daily News reports the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is anticipating low returns and on Thursday announced restrictions for both the Kenai and Kasilof (kah-SEE-lawf) rivers.

Fishing for kings in the Kenai will be catch-and-release only from May 1 through June 30 from the river mouth to the outlet of Skilak (SKEE-lak) Lake. Anglers can use only unbaited, single-hooks.

During the same time on the Kasilof, anglers can catch a single hatchery king that measures 20 inches (51 centimetres) or more. No bait will be allowed.

The 2018 early run fell short of Kenai River escapement goals of 3,900 to 6,600 large kings. The forecast for this years early run is 3,200.

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Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com
MADISON, Wis. - Beto ORourke said Friday during a visit to Wisconsin that before deciding whether he will join the increasingly crowded field of Democrats running for president in 2020, he wants to meet with voters in the most honest, raw, real way possible.

The former Texas congressman met with about 20 students at Milwaukee Area Technical College before heading to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a similar event on campus that attracted more than 200 students and faculty.

I came here with not much of an agenda other than to listen to you, he told students at Madison, before speaking against President Donald Trumps border wall and immigration policies as well as urging action to combat climate change.

Are we going to become a country of walls, are we going to turn back asylum seekers? he said. Whatever we care about, it is being decided right now. ... To me that is thrilling.

ORourkes first visit to the battleground Midwest was to continue Saturday when hes scheduled to address the United States Hispanic Leadership Institutes national conference in Chicago. Also Saturday, announced Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, of neighbouring Minnesota, was to launch her first campaign swing in Eau Claire, in western Wisconsin. Klobuchar was then to campaign in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

ORourke reiterated to reporters in Milwaukee that he hoped to make a decision about whether to get into the race as soon as the end of this month. He called Wisconsin an extraordinarily important state for Democrats to win and even said it would be amazing if Milwaukee were chosen to host the Democratic National Convention even though Houston in ORourkes home state of Texas is also a finalist. Miami is the third city under consideration.

Its an extraordinary opportunity for the people of Milwaukee to tell their story, ORourke said. I think there are far too many communities that have been under-represented in the national conversation.

Trump carried Wisconsin in 2016 by less than a percentage point, making him the first Republican presidential candidate to win the state since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Hillary Clinton was heavily criticized for not campaigning in Wisconsin during the general election and Democrats are eager to take it back.

ORourke said Wisconsin is too often overlooked, the conversation does not begin until too late. He said that is what is motivating his visits there and a similar swing that took him through Texas to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado in recent weeks.

Before even deciding or announcing, I want to make sure to get a chance to meet people on a human-to-human level, not in a crowd, not as part of a campaign, but in the most honest, raw, real way possible, he said. I have so much to learn, and I want to make sure Im learning it from anyone who wants to participate and share their stories.

The Wisconsin Republican Party called ORourke an unabashed liberal who has no interest in moving to the middle.

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Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sbauerAP
MINNEAPOLIS - As Ilhan Omars political star was rising last year on her way to becoming one of the first Muslim women in Congress, several Minnesota Jewish leaders invited her to talk privately about past statements they considered anti-Semitic and anti-Israel. Gathering at a state senators home, they hoped to get a better sense of her views while expressing their concerns.

Most came away dissatisfied by what they heard.

Those concerns were confirmed this week when Omar suggested on Twitter that members of Congress support Israel for money, igniting a bipartisan uproar in Washington that included criticism from President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

There seems to be a pattern developing which indicates more of an attitude than mistakes, said Ron Latz, the Democratic state senator who hosted the meeting. And thats whats most troubling. I mean, Im grateful that she seems to be willing to be engaged in conversations with the Jewish community, but she doesnt seem to be learning from those conversations.

Omars liberal Minneapolis-area district includes the largest Somali-American community in the U.S. as well as the suburb of St. Louis Park, a historical hub of the regions Jewish community  making it a revealing listening post for the debate that Omars comments sparked. Where many saw a repeat of blatant anti-Semitism, others saw a young politician done in by her own rush to agitate on social media. And others  Jewish and Muslim  said their support for her is unshaken.

In tweets this week, Omar said she is learning.

Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes, she said in an apology Monday.

But she quickly pivoted back to offence after Trump called her apology lame.

You have trafficked in hate your whole life  against Jews, Muslims, Indigenous, immigrants, black people and more, she tweeted about the president Wednesday. I learned from people impacted by my words. When will you?

Omar made history as the first Somali-Minnesotan elected to the Legislature in 2016 before winning her congressional seat in November. She built her campaign on her back story as a refugee, with a progressive platform that emphasized education, immigration, aid for the poor and criminal justice reform.

Some in her progressive base had no problem with her remarks.

Isaiah Breen, of Minneapolis, said Omar is being held to a double standard given that Republicans often trafficked in anti-Semitic tropes depicting billionaire philanthropist George Soros as a puppet master during the 2018 campaign.

None of these people have ever apologized, and none have endured the scrutiny that Ilhan faces, he said.

His co-worker at a local Jewish non-profit, Aaron Berc, of Minneapolis, said he admires Omar for learning and being willing to listen.

Its striking to me that when a strong woman of colour, a Muslim of colour, starts speaking out on these issues shes attacked for it, he said.

For Latz, from St. Louis Park, Omars troubling statements go back to a tweet from 2012 when she said Israel has hypnotized the world. Omar apologized for the tweet just last month.

He also believes she was not candid about her position when she told a largely Jewish audience at a campaign forum last August that she considered the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which targets Israels treatment of Palestinians, to be unhelpful toward achieving a two-state solution. Omar later said she supports the movement. Latz said those and other tweets and statements by Omar reinforce anti-Semitic attitudes that have dogged Jewish people for thousands of years.

These words have meanings. And they have impact. And theyre hurtful. And they contribute to a general atmosphere that allows people who really do have those kinds of anti-Semitic feelings to act out on them, he said. That creates fear within the Jewish community, he said.

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Abdul Basit, chairman of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, called the criticism unfair and said she raised a legitimate point about politics, lobbyists and money.

I dont believe that in any way Representative Ilhan Omar meant to disrespect our Jewish brothers and sisters, said Basit, who immigrated to Minnesota from Pakistan. She was specifically talking about the impact that lobbyists have in this country when determining their own interest, and the tweet specifically talks about the neglect that has been in this country when it comes to the Palestinian people and their plight.

Some in the citys Somali community said Omar should focus on their concerns rather than getting embroiled in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

At the Karmel Mall, a hub of Somali-owned shops and restaurants, Abdirisak Hassan said he wished Omar would think more before she tweets, adding that he and many in the community feel bad about because the tweets go too far.

Shes new to the politics, he said.

Hassan said Somalis elected Omar to represent them and speak out against Trump and that they expect her to talk about the issues that are important to Minnesota. When it comes to Israel and Palestine, he said thats not something she should be talking about.

In the Somali community, we have many things we need to talk about  our own issues, so we dont need other issues, he said. We have to talk about our issues first. We have to fix a lot of issues we have.

Faysal Abdi, who works at a clothing shop in the mall and drives an Uber, called Omars comments a rookie mistake and said that he thinks shell learn from them. He said its up to the Israelis and the Palestinians to sort out their disputes.

Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman of Temple Israel, a large Minneapolis synagogue, said she had heard from many people concerned that Omars messages have eroded trust. She spoke with the congresswoman by phone Thursday and set a date for a face-to-face meeting, but declined to provide other details. Interfaith dialogue, Zimmerman said, is an antidote to stereotyping and hatred.

I hope she really hears the concerns of her constituents in the Jewish community and our allies, and begins a listening tour of what the communitys concerns are, Zimmerman said.

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Karnowski reported from St. Paul. Jeff Baenen contributed from St. Paul.
OPPOSri Lanka celebrated this Valentines Day with an exciting promotion on Social media where a lucky couple won a romantic dinner at their favorite restaurant courtesy OPPO.

The audience was invited to upload a memorable selfie with his or her partner to the OPPO Facebook page with their thoughts on as towhy OPPOF9 would betheir ideal valentine's giftthisyear. They had to tag him or her on the post and make it "Public" whilst Liking&Sharing the post with the hashtag #OPPOF9 #Valentines_Dinner to enter the competition.

We are truly fascinated by the enthusiasm & passion demonstrated by our audience for this Valentines Day Competition. OPPO has always been very close the youth of this country & this is a testament to the closeness &affection they have towards OPPO commented Bob Li, CEO, OPPO Sri Lanka.

Rangika Hansini & Danushka Fernando from Moratuwa were the lucky winners of the competition who enjoyed a memorable dinner-night at their favourite restaurant.

OPPO F9, the latest addition to its popular F-series comes with VOOC Flash Charging that offers 2 hours of talk with just 5 minutes of charging and an industry first Gradient Color Design. F9 has been designed to offer a unique experience and represent OPPOs technologically advanced and innovative expertise such as an industry first 6.3 inch Waterdrop Screen design, high screen to body ratio of 90.8%, unique gradient color design and a 3500 mAh battery.
AURORA, Ill. - A 15-year employee being fired from a suburban Chicago manufacturing company started shooting Friday, killing five co-workers and wounding five police officers before he was killed by police, authorities said.

Aurora, Illinois, Police Chief Kristen Ziman said 45-year-old Gary Martin was being terminated before he started shooting at the Henry Pratt Co.  which makes valves for industrial purposes  in the city about 40 miles (65 kilometres) west of Chicago.

She told a news conference that in addition to the five employees killed, a sixth worker was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening. A sixth police officer suffered a knee injury while officers were searching the building.

Ziman said officers arrived within four minutes of receiving reports of the shooting and were fired upon as soon as they entered the 29,000-square-foot manufacturing warehouse.

Police said they did not know the gunmans motive.

May God bless the brave law enforcement officers who continue to run toward danger, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at the news conference.

John Probst, an employee at the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora, told ABC7 that he ran out of the back door as the shooting unfolded Friday afternoon.Probst says he recognized the gunman and that he works for the company.

What I saw was the guy running down the aisle with a pistol with a laser on it, Probst said.

Probst said he wasnt hurt but that another colleague was bleeding pretty bad.

Its a shame that mass shootings such as this have become commonplace in our country. Its a shame that a cold and heartless offender would be so selfish as to think he has the right to take an innocent life, Aurora Mayor Richard C. Irvin said.

At Acorn Woods Condominiums where Martin lived, a mix of brick apartments and condos nestled on a quiet street just a mile and a half from the shooting, neighbours gathered on sidewalks near Martins unit talking and wondering among themselves if they knew or had come in contact with him.

Mary McKnight stepped out of her car with a cherry cheesecake purchased for her sons birthday, to find a flurry of police cars, officers and media trucks.

This is a strange thing to come home to, right, she said. She had just learned that the shooter lived close by and his unit in the complex had been taped off by police.

Christy Fonseca often worries about some of the gang-related crimes and shootings around her mothers Aurora neighbourhood. But she never expected the type of phone call she got from her mom on Friday, warning her to be careful with an active shooter loose in the town.

Police cars with screaming sirens revved past her as she drove to her mothers house, where the Henry Pratt building is visible from the porch stoop. it was only when they flipped on the television news that they realized Martin had killed people just a few hundred feet away.

In Aurora, period, wed never thought anything like this would happen, Fonseca, a lifelong resident of the Chicago suburb, said as she looked out at the factory.

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting and monitoring the situation as he prepared to depart for a weekend trip to his home in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump tweeted his thanks to law enforcement officers in Aurora and offered his condolences to the victims and their families. America is with you, he said.

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For The Latest on the shooting:https://bit.ly/2EcHSOO
NEW YORK - President Donald Trumps inaugural committee received a sweeping request for financial records this week from prosecutors in New Jersey, the second subpoena the group has received in as many weeks as its fundraising and spending draws mounting scrutiny.

The committee said Friday that it is in contact with the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office, which issued the request for documents on Monday as part of a civil inquiry into how the committee raised and spent $107 million on inaugural events.

The inaugural committee has told the AP its finances were independently audited and that all funds were spent in accordance with the law. Leland Moore, a spokesman for New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, declined to comment.

The inquiry marks the latest in a series of investigations into Trumps campaign and presidency. The special counsel, Robert Mueller, is investigating whether the Trump campaign co-ordinated with Russia and whether the president obstructed the investigation. In a separate case, federal prosecutors in New York have alleged that Trump directed his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to make illegal hush-money payments to two women in a bid to quash potential sex scandals during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump denies wrongdoing and has called Muellers probe a witch hunt. He also has said he was not involved in the operations of the inaugural committee.

The subpoena, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, resembles the wide-ranging request for documents the committee received last week from federal prosecutors in Manhattan, who are investigating, among other potential crimes, whether foreigners illegally contributed to the inaugural events. Among other materials, the New York prosecutors asked for documents related to any payments made by donors directly to contractors and vendors who worked for the committee.

The latest subpoena contains similar language but specifically asks for records relating to fundraising events and solicitations conducted in New Jersey. It also requests copies of ledgers, tax forms, contracts and all documents related to any benefits provided to donors.

The subpoena gives the inaugural committee two weeks to provide the materials to the attorney generals consumer protection division.

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Associated Press writer Mike Catalini contributed to this report from Trenton, New Jersey.
Last May, officials in Midlothian, Texas, a city near Dallas, approved more than $10 million (U.S.) in tax breaks for a huge, mysterious new development across from a shuttered Toys R Us warehouse.

That day was the first time officials had spoken publicly about an enigmatic developers plans to build a sprawling data centre. The developer, which incorporated with the state four months earlier, went by the name Sharka LLC. City officials declined at the time to say who was behind Sharka.

The mystery company was Google  a fact the city revealed two months later, after the project was formally approved. Larry Barnett, president of Midlothian Economic Development, one of the agencies that negotiated the data centre deal, said he knew at the time the tech giant was the one seeking a decade of tax giveaways for the project, but he was prohibited from disclosing it because the company had demanded secrecy.

Im confident that had the community known this project was under the direction of Google, people would have spoken out, but we were never given the chance to speak, said Travis Smith, managing editor of the Waxahachie Daily Light, the local paper.

We didnt know that it was Google until after it passed.

After the deal went through, Sharka changed its main address to that of Googles headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Site work began last fall.

Read more:

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Amazon and Google are harvesting data in your home by demanding smart-home gadget makers to share it

Google  which has risen to become one of the worlds most valuable companies by transforming the publics ability to access information  has vastly expanded its geographic footprint over the last decade, building more than 15 data centres on three continents and 70 offices worldwide. But that development spree has often been shrouded in secrecy, making it nearly impossible for some communities to know, let alone protest or debate, who is using their land, their resources and their tax dollars until after the fact, according to Washington Post interviews and newly released public records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

With their growing reach into the U.S. economy and in the face of greater political scrutiny, tech giants including Google and Amazon are on a tear to expand  but communities now see their arrival more skeptically for the disruption, environmental impact and higher cost of living they often bring, as well as the incentives they seek, despite their deep pockets.

Local officials say they are pressed to maintain secrecy to lure powerful tech companies, who wish to avoid controversies and keep details about their operations under wraps. On Thursday that ability to play hard-ball was on full display after Amazon pulled the plug on plans to build a sprawling new campus in New York City rather than endure further public criticism of the project.

Amazons yearlong search for a second headquarters was criticized for its use of confidentiality agreements that were so restrictive that officials couldnt comment on their existence, and for playing cities against one another in a quest for government incentives. : Even after pulling out of New York, the Seattle-based company is slated to take in hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks when it builds its second headquarters in Northern Virginia. (Jeff Bezos, the co-founder of Amazon, owns The Washington Post.) Some New York lawmakers were so outraged by the secrecy of Amazons process that they have introduced bills that would ban nondisclosure agreements for development projects in the city and state.

Apple has also sought multimillion-dollar tax giveaways to build a 5,000-person campus in Austin, Texas, its largest facility by number of employees after its headquarters in Cupertino, California. Facebook is slated to receive $150 million in property tax incentives for building a 970,000-square-foot data centre in Utah, the company and local officials announced last year.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced $13 billion in new investments in data centres and offices across the U.S., a move that would grow the companys physical footprint to 24 states and create 10,000 new construction jobs. He said that 2019 would be the second year in the row the company is growing faster outside its home in the Bay Area than in it.

Yet Google has made extensive use of nondisclosure agreements in negotiations for its planned second campus in San Jose, California, the largest after its headquarters in nearby Mountain View. It has plans to build a large new campus in New York City as well as several other development projects, including in Virginia and Nevada, according to public announcements and company statements.

We believe public dialogue is vital to the process of building new sites and offices, so we actively engage with community members and elected officials in the places we call home, Google spokesperson Katherine Williams said in a statement. In a single year, our data centres created $1.3 billion in economic activity, $750 million in labour income, and 11,000 jobs throughout the United States. Of course, when we enter new communities we use common industry practices and work with municipalities to follow their required procedures.

Amazon declined to comment. Facebook and Apple didnt respond to requests for comment.

Confidentiality agreements are common in development negotiations  but the level of secrecy around data centre deals is unusual, experts say.

Public transparency laws are designed to keep the public interest at the contract table, and the way you do that is with information, said Michelle Wilde Anderson, a Stanford Law School professor specializing in state and local government law. If you scrutinize the winners and losers in this bargain, you see that Google is overwhelmingly the winner. Google has a strategic interest in getting their name out of these deals so that they go down more quietly, without public debate.

The Google records were obtained by the advocacy group Partnership for Working Families, which has sued the city of San Jose over its negotiations with Google, arguing that the more than a dozen nondisclosure agreements officials signed with the search were illegal under California law. Partnership for Working Families, which lobbies against issues such as income inequality, argues that secretive arrangements keep the public in the dark about the costs and benefits of corporate projects.

The records date back to 2006, when Google began its first wave of data centre construction  warehouses of servers that house computing infrastructure  as the company raced to fight Microsoft and Yahoo in a war over search and new applications such as Gmail. The documents continue into 2018, offering a rare glimpse into the lengths Google has gone to keep these projects and their impact on the surrounding communities under wraps for over a decade.

Data centres, which can generate significant revenue for communities but use local resources such as energy and water, are sensitive sites for tech companies. If they are attacked, they could wipe out operations for the company. Everything from the technology they use to the location they are in are highly competitive.

The Partnership for Working Families sent Freedom of Information requests to local governments involved in brokering deals for Googles eight existing data centres in the U.S., plus Midlothian, and sent seven additional requests to cities where Google has offices.

Officials in eight of the cities signed nondisclosure agreements, or NDAs, in their real estate dealings with Google, according to the documents. The documents also show that the search giant used shell companies to negotiate to build data centres in five of the six localities with data centres that responded to the records requests, including Midlothian; Berkeley County, South Carolina; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Lenoir, North Carolina; and Clarksville, Tennessee. Googles identity was eventually revealed, but often so late in the process that it precluded public debate.

Sometimes Google formed multiple subsidiaries, with distinct names, to handle different aspects of negotiations for the same site, according to the documents. In Midlothian, for example, Google created Sharka to negotiate the tax-abatement and the site plans, and used a separate Delaware company, Jet Stream LLC, to negotiate the land purchase with a private owner. In Iowa, Google created Delaware-based Questa LLC for the land sale and Gable Corp. for the development deal.

When Googles representatives first approached Midlothian in 2016, they used a code name that was not the same as either of the subsidiaries, Barnett said. (He declined to say what it was.) Google also asked Midlothian officials to sign a confidentiality agreement before they knew the developers identity, Barnett said. He said Google revealed its identity a year later, as the deal approached.

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Barnett said that some confidentiality is always necessary when negotiating competitive development deals. When Im trying to win a project, as all economic developers do, we abide by what the company wants. It would be detrimental to us to not to follow the companys lead, he said. Ive been doing this for 20 years, and my job is to make sure that my city gets the best deal. When a company asks for secrecy, I say yes. You have to build up trust.

Barnett said he did not believe that residents got the short end of the stick. Googles $500 million development would support local businesses, schools and 40 jobs that Google has promised to create over five years. The community wins with this agreement, he said.

The records also demonstrate how Google was able to keep publicly relevant information out of view. Lenoir, North Carolina, where Google announced in 2007 it would build a data centre, agreed to treat as a trade secret information about energy and water use, the number of workers to be employed by the data centre, and the amount of capital the company would invest, according to the documents. The Google subsidiary, Tapaha Dynamics LLC, then moved to exempt such trade secrets from transparency laws that allow citizens to make public information requests. At one point, according to the documents, Lenoirs city attorney instructed city council members not to answer questions about the project during a public hearing.

Williams, the Google spokesperson, told The Post that it considers information such as water and energy usage to be trade secrets because competitors could use it to draw sensitive conclusions about the companys technology.

Wilde Anderson said that Googles nondisclosure agreements, which she said are more stringent than other companies, appeared one-sided, protecting Googles interests above those of the city or the public. Midlothians Barnett said it was written so broadly that he feared even disclosing the existence of an agreement would violate the NDA, echoing similar statements from officials in other locations.

Smaller cities, in particular, face a sizable power imbalance when they go to negotiate with some of the wealthiest companies in the world, Wilde Anderson added. Some are so cash-strapped that they lack a single full-time lawyer, she said. Breaking the rules could mean getting into a costly lawsuit with an adversary with a seemingly endless budget.

Googles huge and well-resourced legal team pushes an NDA across the table, and its just a mismatch of resources, she said. Like many parts of life, you get what you pay for.

In Midlothian, Googles subsidiary had the authority to determine which documents would be disclosed, even if the state attorney general said they were subject to transparency law, according to the records.

Googles secret negotiations also appeared to lead to favourable land prices for the company. In 2008, Google purchased 850 acres of land for a dollar from Council Bluffs Industrial Foundation, a non-profit that works with the city of Council Bluffs, according to deeds from the sale.

In a few cases, Googles secretive moves have prompted a public outcry.

Last year, an unfamiliar company filed a water permit application in South Carolina that would have made it the third largest aquifer user in the area, said Emily Cedzo, air, water, and public health projects director with the Coastal Conservation League, an environmental advocacy group in the Carolinas, who spotted the application.

She discovered via a quick Google search that Maguro Enterprises, the company that applied for the permit, shared an address with the Google data centre that had been built a few years earlier in Berkeley County, South Carolina.

After her group publicized Googles permit application, the agency was flooded with so many public comments that it led to a heated hearing. Dozens of county residents, and even the manager of the local utility, protested the application because they felt it could become a threat to the communitys drinking supply. No one seemed to know how much water Googles Maguro, which had negotiated a nondisclosure agreement with the countys sanitation department, had been using in the first place, Cedzo said.

I can imagine that people were initially excited that Google would want to call the county home, Cedzo said. But when you start digging a little deeper, it looks different.

Today, Googles Maguro entity is the only company in the countys top 10 users of water whose current volume of use is not publicly disclosed. Its application for more water is stalled, and it runs using the water it was previously allotted.

In Midlothian, a July article in the local newspaper, the Waxahachie Daily Light, announcing Googles role in the new data centre elicited hundreds of comments and shares, with many residents complaining about the low number of jobs and the tax incentives. There goes our small town living, one local wrote.

So Google comes in and pays no taxes for 10 years, and only brings in 40 jobs hmm sounds like a great idea, wrote another.

Smith, the managing editor of the local paper, said, Im not going to say weve been lied to, but weve been strung along.

Read more about:
HARTFORD, Conn. - Federal officials say theyve reached an agreement with Connecticut on the states process for identifying registered voters who have died, in an effort to prevent voter fraud.

The Justice Department announced the memorandum of understanding Friday. The agreement calls for state election officials to co-ordinate with the state Public Health Department to remove dead people from the voter database  as required by federal law.

Gabe Rosenberg, a spokesman for Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, says Connecticut officials already had been co-ordinating with local town clerks and registrars of voters to delete dead voters names from the database. Rosenberg says the state will continue to work with local officials. The health department also receives their information from local officials.

The Justice Department has been pushing states to comply with federal voting laws amid President Donald Trumps concerns about voter fraud.
WATERTOWN, N.Y. - Four children and their father were killed in a fire that ripped through their northern New York home.

Hundreds of people gathered in Watertown for a vigil Friday night to Aaron Bodah and daughters Skylar, Erin, Alexa and Merissa.

The girls ranged in age from 4 to 14.

Investigators say it appears the fire started in the kitchen around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. They said pots were left on the electric stove and smoke detectors had no batteries.

A fifth daughter escaped and ran to neighbours for help. She was taken to a hospital. WWNY-TV reported Friday that she was back in Watertown.

Authorities say Aaron Bodahs brother lived in the house and was at work when the fire started.

Mourners placed flowers at a makeshift memorial and released balloons.

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Information from: WWNY-TV, http://www.wwnytv.com
OAKLAND, Calif. - The union representing teachers in Oakland, California, says it will make an announcement Saturday about a potential strike, a day after a neutral fact-finding report was issued.

The Oakland teachers union could announce Saturday whether its 3,000 members will strike after negotiating and failing to reach agreement with the Oakland Unified School District for more than a year.

Teachers in the district say they are paid below their peers it the area, which has one of the highest cost-of-living rates in the nation. They are seeking a 12 per cent raise over three years as well as smaller class sizes. The district has offered five per cent and says it is squeezed by smaller budgets and declining enrolment.

A strike in the city of 400,000 across the bay from San Francisco would follow one by Denver teachers, who ended a three-day walkout after their union reached a tentative deal Thursday.

The strike in Colorado was the latest win in a national movement by teachers demanding better wages and classroom reforms. Teachers in the nations largest school district, Los Angeles, reached a deal following a six-day strike in January.

Meanwhile, the teachers union in Sacramento, California voted Thursday night to seek authorization from members for a strike there, the Sacramento Bee reported Friday.

In Oakland, a fact-finding report from the Public Employment Relations Board was due Friday, with recommendations for compromise.

Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said in a message posted to the districts website that she was pleased with the recommendations and hope to use the report to bring the union back to bargaining.

Union officials did not return repeated calls from The Associated Press Friday.

But Chaz Garcia, the unions second vice-president, told the San Francisco Chronicle that members are not waiting for another offer from the district based on the report. Were going to make our decision based on the fact-finding report and what we feel is best for our students and teachers, Garcia said.

The union said it will release the fact-finding report at its news conference Saturday.

The city of Oakland is preparing for a strike, although Mayor Libby Schaaf is urging both sides to continue negotiating to avoid a walkout. The city plans to open recreation centres and all public libraries for the families of about 37,000 students in the district who would be affected by a strike.

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This story has been corrected to show the number of members who belong to the union.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - An Arkansas lawmaker is proposing that a star on the states flag no longer represent the Confederacy, saying it should instead commemorate the contribution of Native Americans to the state.

Democratic Rep. Charles Blakes legislation filed Friday wouldnt change the design of Arkansas state flag. Instead, it would eliminate language from Arkansas law that says the blue star above the states name on the flag commemorates the Confederate States of America.

Under Blakes proposal, the star would commemorate the Quapaw, Osage and Caddo tribes and the other Native American nations that inhabited Arkansas.

The proposal comes two years after Arkansas Republican governor signed a law removing Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the state holiday that honours civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.
WASHINGTON - If President Donald Trump declares an emergency to build the wall with Mexico, he still needs money to pay for it. And shifting money from other accounts to deliver the $5.7 billion he wants is not without political problems.

The administration has been eyeing several pots of money  including disaster funds, counternarcotic accounts and military construction dollars  to fund Trumps wall, according to congressional aides and White House officials.

White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has said there are various accounts available.

One possibility is shifting a portion of the $13 billion in disaster aid Congress approved last year for Puerto Rico and a dozen states, including California and Texas, hit hard by hurricanes, flooding and other disasters. The money funds Army Corps projects, and the Puerto Rico aid alone totals more than $2 billion.

But Texas lawmakers revolted over White House plans to tap Hurricane Harvey funds, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Thursday they won assurances from the White House that the money wont be used for the wall.

Weve been pretty clear we thought that would be a mistake, said Cornyn, who along with the states governor and other lawmakers urged the White House to stay away from that account. Theres limited pots of money he can get into, but Im pretty confident he wont get into disaster funds.

A more likely option is the military construction account thats used to upgrade bases and facilities.

Congressional aides said there is $21 billion available. That includes about $10 billion in funds from the current 2019 fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, and $11 billion remaining from the previous four years, said the aides. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak publicly about the funding details.

But tapping the military construction money also may hit resistance. The money often goes for improvements to housing, roads, hospitals and other facilities, and can be used to eliminate mould or other hazardous problems at military installations in congressional districts across the nation and around the globe.

As an example, the aides said, there is funding for a medical facility at a U.S. base in Germany that has been partially constructed. If those funds were used, the medical centre could be left half built.

The president can decide to use military construction funds, but it will be up to the Defence Department to determine which specific projects would lose their money, the aides said.

While the president has the authority to take the funds, the aides said that, according to the law, the money must be used in support of U.S. armed forces, and the key question is whether Trump could prove the funds were being spent to actually support troops.

The Defence Department has declined to provide any details on the amount of money available.

Potentially easier to tap is the militarys counterdrug account, so-called Section 284 money, as suggested by Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a Trump ally and leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus. But it falls short of whats needed with about $800 million available.

Using that money would not require declaration of a national emergency, but aides said it is less likely the president would dip into those funds.

Ive obviously suggested 284 for a long time, Meadows said recently. Theres not enough money there, but its a good start.

The White House has been searching for funding as it became clear Congress would not provide the money Trump was demanding to build the wall. Trump had campaigned on the promise that Mexico would pay for it.

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Instead, this week lawmakers struck a bipartisan deal to provide nearly $1.4 billion for fences and barriers along the southern border as part of a broad funding package to avoid another federal shutdown.

Both the Senate and House approved the compromise on Thursday, ahead of Fridays deadline. The White House said Trump would sign it but then declare a national emergency and perhaps invoke other executive powers to build the wall.
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - The Latest on a triple killing at a Southern California home (all times local):

7 p.m.

A man who went to a hospital emergency room has been arrested on suspicion of killing three people at a Southern California home.

Newport Beach police say they arrested 27-year-old Camden Burton Nicholson of Newport Beach on Wednesday night. Its unclear whether he has an attorney.

Irvine police talked to Nicholson in a local hospital Wednesday. They then asked Newport Beach officers to check on the welfare of residents at a large home in a gated neighbourhood.

There, officers found the bodies of two women and a man.

The Los Angeles Times says property records show Nicholson is a relative of the homeowners.

The names of the victims and details of the killings havent been released. Theres also no word on a motive.

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7:35 a.m.

Authorities say two women and a man were found dead in a home in a community in Southern California.

Newport Beach police say officers made a welfare check at the home late Wednesday after a request by police in the nearby city of Irvine.

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They say Irvine police asked for the check after contacting a man in a hospital emergency room. The man has been detained for investigation.

Authorities say the deaths are being investigated as homicides. They say there is no ongoing threat to the community.
SAUSALITO, Calif. - Authorities warn that mudslides are still possible Friday even after a damaging storm moved through California, trapping people in floodwaters, triggering a debris flow that destroyed homes, and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year.

The powerful system swept in from the Pacific Ocean and unleashed rain, snow and wind across the U.S. West into Wyoming, Colorado and Arizona after walloping Northern California and southern Oregon earlier.

The rain mostly ended Thursday night. But officials said hillsides could still loosen and collapse, bringing down mud, boulders and debris.

The ground is still so saturated and the water is still flowing down from the mountains, said April Newman, spokeswoman for Riverside County Fire Department.

The National Weather Service reported staggering rainfall amounts across California, including more than 9.4 inches (24 centimetres) over 48 hours at one location in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles.

A woman pulled from rising water in a low-lying area between those mountains and Los Angeles had a heart attack and died at a hospital, said Capt. Ryan Rolston with the Corona Fire Department. The unidentified woman was one of nine people and three dogs rescued in a flood-control channel where homeless people camp, Rolston said.

A second death was reported in Escondido, northeast of San Diego, where firefighters recovered the body of a man who had been seen paddle boarding in the surging waters of a concrete-lined flood-control channel.

North of San Francisco, a mudslide barrelled over cars, uprooted trees and sent a home sliding down a hill and smashing into another house in Sausalito.

A woman was rescued from the splintered wreckage with only cuts and bruises. Susan Gordon was buried under a tree and mud for two hours while crews dug her out, her son wrote on an online fundraising page.

Chris Parkman said it has been years since a storm so powerful has hit the hillside community, where at least 50 properties were evacuated.

We dont see the rain most of the year. So most of the year you feel safe. But when the big storms come, your safety factor is gone, he said.

Further north, a levee along State Route 37 near Novato was breached, flooding a rural field. Officials were monitoring the area in case water flows onto the highway or train tracks.

A deluge southeast of Los Angeles washed away a section of a two-lane mountain highway. Photos by the state Department of Transportation showed about 75 feet (23 metres) of pavement completely collapsed along State Route 243 near the remote community of Idyllwild.

Were basically stranded right now, said resident Gary Agner, adding that several other roads were closed because of flooding and debris. Im glad I went to the grocery store yesterday.

The risk of flooding led officials to order people out of areas burned bare by a summer wildfire in the Santa Ana Mountains, with flash-flood warnings blanketing a huge swath east and south of Los Angeles. The evacuation orders were downgraded to flood warnings Thursday night.

Authorities also told parts of artsy Laguna Beach to evacuate for much of the day, while the desert resort city of Palm Springs urged residents to stay in place because of flooded streets. In Cabazon, two people marooned on the roof of their flooded car were rescued by helicopter.

Flood advisories extended to Arizona.

Weather was so severe that the Hollywood Walk of Fame had to postpone the dedication of a sidewalk star honouring the band Aerosmith. Knotts Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain theme parks closed.

Trouble also persisted in saturated Northern California, where thousands of people lost power and flooding was possible. Downtown San Francisco saw more than 1.75 inches (4.4 centimetres) of rain over 24 hours.

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A flooded creek led authorities to urge about 300 residents to leave a community about 20 miles (32 kilometres) west of Paradise, a town destroyed last year by the nations deadliest wildfire in a century.

The storm followed more than a week of severe weather in the Pacific Northwest and was the latest in a series of storms that has all but eliminated drought-level dryness in California this winter. Its fueled by an atmospheric river  a plume of moisture stretching across the Pacific Ocean nearly to Hawaii.

Nearly 37 per cent of California had no level of drought or abnormal dryness, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported Thursday. About 10.5 per cent of the state was in moderate drought, and just over 1.6 per cent was in severe drought. The remainder was in the abnormally dry category. The numbers reflect data gathered up to Tuesday.

Atmospheric rivers are long bands of water vapour that form over an ocean and flow through the sky. Formed by winds associated with storms, they occur globally but are especially significant on the West Coast.

Even before the height of the storm, mandatory evacuations were ordered near the wildfire area in the Santa Ana Mountains where officials said there was a high risk of debris flows.

Tim Suber chose not to leave his hillside neighbourhood in Lake Elsinore. He said Thursday that he has lost count of how many times his family has been evacuated between last summers devastating wildfire and this winters storms.

The rain was so heavy that it sounds like a hundred bowling balls a minute are going down the creek behind his house, Suber said. A neighbour had mud in his pool, but so far the area hadnt lost power and culverts and washes were handling the runoff.

The storm delayed flights destined for San Francisco International Airport, closed sections of several key highways, including Highway 1 on the Central Coast, Interstate 5 north of Sacramento, and U.S. 395 in the snowy eastern Sierra Nevada.

Wintry weather closed Interstate 80 in California near the Nevada border and across much of Wyoming and sections of at least four other highways. Multiple avalanches disrupted highway traffic in northwestern Montana near the Idaho border.

In Colorado, high winds shattered windows and downed power poles, leaving thousands in Colorado Springs without power.

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Associated Press writers Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco and Christopher Weber and Amanda Lee Myers in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
It was exactly half a century ago, last month, January 1969, that Nirmali de Silva came into my life. I was a 07 year-old impressionable little brat at Wesley College Colombo and she was our beautiful 23 year-old, Grade 2 class teacher.



My father Justin, also her colleague on the teaching staff at Wesley, had told me that Nirmali Teacher was a distant niece to him. That made her my distant cousin. Wow I felt proud and privileged but kept that secret all to myself without ever revealing it to my classmates.

Years later she must have been very disappointed when she learnt that I had converted to Buddhism (after years of being a Christian) but not once did she ever mention it. She just smiled

My earliest recollections of her are that of an all-enveloping maternal figure. You wouldnt expect a 23-year-old single young woman to be that maternal at that age but Nirmali de Silva was all that and more. She literally spread out her large wings and took us under them  teaching us, guiding us, nurturing us, comforting us and protecting us. Even as little children we felt the tangible largesse of her heart. And we, in turn, loved her deeply from the depths of our little hearts.



I remember how overjoyed we were when she came back again as our Grade 3 class teacher the following year. We couldnt have asked for more. Those two years spent under her tutelage formed a deep and lasting impression in my mind. I admired and adored her as my teacher and class teacher. I loved her as much as I did my own mother.



Nirmali de Silva was born on 30th March 1946 to a family with a very strong and abiding Methodist lineage spanning generations. Her father Rev. Denzil de Silva was the President of the Methodist Conference from 1970-1975. The Methodist Church was an integral part of the de Silva family.

Her husband Hemal Fernando has been the rock of her life since their marriage on 25th September 1969. They were blessed with two children Dimantha and Shaneli and five adorable grandchildren. If she were still alive today, they would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year. What a joyous occasion that would have been.

I remember how overjoyed we were when she came back again as our Grade 3 class teacher the following year. We couldnt have asked for more. Those two years spent under her tutelage formed a deep and lasting impression in my mind

Nirmali Fernando taught at Wesley College for an eventful thirty eight years, from 1964 to 2002. It was also during this time that her father was the President of the Methodist Conference. She came to school from the Methodist headquarters in Kollupitiya.



I remember Daddy telling me that never ever did she flaunt her fathers position, nor did she expect any privileges. She behaved like just another teacher at Wesley College. Such was her simplicity and humility. Similarly, being her colleagues son I was never a privileged student in her class. I was treated just like any other child. She was fair by all.



Years later she must have been very disappointed when she learnt that I had converted to Buddhism (after years of being a Christian) but not once did she ever mention it. She just smiled. What a co-incidence it was years later when it was she who interviewed my son Rahul for admission to Grade 1 at Wesley College.



Nirmali Fernando had this uncanny ability to see the world through the eyes of a child. This gave her great insight and perception and she often took the side of the child. She touched the lives of 38 successive batches of Wesleyites with her love and gentleness.



That night at the A.F. Raymonds Funeral Parlour was sad. To me it was like seeing my own mother in that coffin. Nirmali de Silva was my quintessential mother at my Alma Mater. And as her mortal remains lay there, there was peace on her face.



I still grieve  but Nirmali Fernando now continues on her journey through Sansara. My only wish for her is that that journey be speedy. May she one day attain the Supreme Bliss of Nirvana.

Kumar de Silva
WASHINGTON - The ink wasnt dry on a border security compromise before Jared Kushner had moved on to another enormous challenge.

As lawmakers fine-tuned a border agreement that the presidents son-in-law and senior adviser had been unable to extract from Capitol Hill in earlier talks, Kushner was at an international conference in Poland discussing his efforts to produce a Mideast peace plan. Thats not all thats been crowding Kushners plate: In recent months, he has scored a hard-fought win on criminal justice reform and kept one foot squarely planted in high-stakes trade negotiations.

Its all evidence of Kushners hefty policy portfolio and his coveted seat at President Donald Trumps right hand  but also of the education in the ways of Washington that hes getting along the way. He stumbled in efforts to end the government shutdown and found immigration reform to be a long-term endeavour but keeps a low profile as he plows ahead.

As he spoke to a closed-door audience in Warsaw on Thursday, Kushner acknowledged the magnitude of the Mideast challenge, saying that the regions history has shown that pessimists about Israeli-Palestinian peace were usually right. But, he added: Its the optimists that bring the change.

It was a revealing comment from the 38-year-old adviser charged with some of the thorniest issues facing the administration, demonstrating his willingness to swing big even at the risk of failure. Two years into the administration, Kushner continues to be tagged for his political naivete but also has won praise for his willingness to work across the aisle and act as an honest broker.

Weve had a good relationship, good conversations, and hes kept his word, said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who worked with Kushner on criminal justice. But Durbin added that immigration was a much heavier lift, saying there were forces in the White House that were just unmovable on this issue.

Kushners greatest asset may be his close relationship with Trump, who views him as loyal and trustworthy in an administration marked by rapid turnover and tell-all books. That bond gives Kushner a unique ability to advise the president  he persuaded Trump to back the criminal justice effort  and to speak with rare authority on Trumps behalf.

But Kushner is also shadowed by the flurry of investigations in the offing from newly empowered House Democrats digging into a range of his activities, including his business dealings, his security clearance and his relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi royal suspected of ordering the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

During his remarks in Warsaw, Kushner said Trump had asked him to take on the Israeli-Palestinian assignment to give the long-elusive goal of a peace agreement a shot. He did not give details of the as-yet-unveiled peace plan but spoke in broad generalities about its goal to bring security to Israel and economic opportunity and prosperity to the Palestinians, according to a diplomat who attended the presentation.

The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about a private discussion, paraphrased Kushner as telling an audience eager for details, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the plan would be released sometime after Israels April 9 elections. He said he would not discuss specifics because after studying previous failed peace efforts, he and his team had determined that leaks damaged their prospects by forcing the parties to respond publicly to partial and often inaccurate reports of what they contained.

If theres one thing Kushner knows something about after two years in the White House, it is damaging leaks.

Privately, people are much more flexible, he said.

Kushner was set to continue onto the annual Munich Security Conference, where he was again expected to discuss the plan, according to officials familiar with the outreach effort. While the briefings may please supporters of the Trump administrations broader Mideast policy, including Netanyahu and the Gulf Arabs, they are unlikely to impress Europeans and others who have seen numerous peace efforts fail and are keen to know exactly how the plan will handle the key divisive issues between the two sides.

So far, Kushners record on other complex issues is mixed.

He was credited with getting a major bipartisan criminal justice reform bill over the finish line in December, working with lawmakers, special interest groups and the president. Kushner was able to bring a skeptical Trump on board through his understanding of his father in-laws pressure points. For example, to address Trumps concerns the legislation would make him look weak on crime, Kushner convened groups of red-state governors and law enforcement officials to convince him otherwise.

But his efforts were less successful during the partial government shutdown, when Trump tapped Kushner to work with Vice-President Mike Pence and others on a compromise deal as he struggled to get funding for his long-sought border wall. Bolstered by his recent work on criminal justice, Kushner met with lawmakers and outside groups  holding lengthy private sessions on immigration reform  trying to tap his relationships and chart a path forward.

Yet, Trump ultimately agreed to reopen the government without winning any concessions  and the compromise struck this week falls far short of the $5.7 billion Trump was seeking for border barriers.

Capitol Hill insiders said Kushner may have overestimated his influence and didnt fully grasp the complexities of working on immigration. People close to Kushner countered that he was always aware an immigration deal was going to be a heavy lift, arguing that much of what he was doing was just trying to hear key parties out on what may be possible long term.

Its maybe not a tougher deal  because criminal justice reform was a pretty difficult negotiation, so hes got the qualification to do it  but its just more political, said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who led the justice reform bill to passage. And another thing is, criminal justice reform was bipartisan. This was a highly partisan thing.

Another hot-button issue for Kushner in coming months will be the trade talks with China. He has kept a hand in White House trade policy over the past two years, particularly in backstage discussions as part of Trumps attempts to renegotiate trade deals with China, Mexico and Canada.

Meeting and phone calendars recently obtained by The Associated Press in freedom of information requests to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer show that Kushner and the administrations top trade official have met or talked by phone at least two dozen times from June 2017 to last month. Most details of the meetings were not provided by the trade office, but some information, along with the names of other attendees, sketched out Kushners expansive role in prepping before presidential negotiations and broaching talks in private sessions.

Lighthizers schedule listed talks with Kushner and Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray in July 2017 before the U.S. and Mexico announced a successor arrangement to the North American Free Trade Agreement that Trump had vowed to scuttle. The three men met again in December 2017, in a session also attended by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

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Lighthizer later credited Kushner publicly for his behind-the-scenes negotiating role, saying, This agreement would not have happened if it wasnt for Jared.

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Associated Press writer Stephen Braun contributed to this report.
NEW YORK - Amazon abruptly dropped plans Thursday for a big new headquarters in New York that would have brought 25,000 jobs to the city, reversing course after politicians and activists objected to the nearly $3 billion in tax breaks promised to what is already one of the worlds richest, most powerful companies.

We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion  we love New York, the online giant from Seattle said in a blog post announcing its withdrawal.

The stunning move was a serious blow to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had lobbied intensely to land the project, competing against more than 200 other metropolitan areas across the continent that were practically tripping over each other to offer incentives to Amazon in a bidding war the company stoked.

Cuomo lashed out at fellow New York politicians over Amazons change of heart, saying the project would have helped diversify the citys economy, cement its status as an emerging tech hub and generate money for schools, housing and transit.

A small group politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community, he said.

But Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Citys new liberal firebrand, exulted over Amazons pullout.

Today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers and their neighbours defeated Amazons corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world, she tweeted, referring to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

The swift unraveling of the project reflected growing antipathy toward large technology companies among liberals and populists who accuse big business of holding down wages and wielding too much political clout, analysts said.

This all of a sudden became a perfect test case for all those arguments, said Joe Parilla, a fellow at the Brooking Institutions Metropolitan Policy Program.

Amazon ultimately decided it did not want to be drawn into that battle.

Amazon announced in November that it had chosen the Long Island City section of Queens for one of two new headquarters, with the other in Arlington, Virginia. Both would get 25,000 jobs. A third site in Nashville, Tennessee, would get 5,000.

The company planned to spend $2.5 billion building the New York office, choosing the area in part because of its large pool of tech talent. The governor and the mayor had argued that the project would spur economic growth that would pay for the $2.8 billion in state and city incentives many times over.

After Amazon backed out, De Blasio, who according to his press secretary learned of the decision an hour before it was announced, criticized the company for not doing more to try to win over New Yorkers, saying: You have to be tough to make it in New York City.

In pulling out, Amazon said it isnt looking for a replacement location at this time. It said it plans to spread the technology jobs that were slated for New York to other offices around the U.S. and Canada, including Chicago, Toronto and Austin, Texas. It will also expand its existing New York offices, which already have about 5,000 employees.

Amazon faced fierce opposition over the tax breaks, with critics complaining that the project was an extravagant giveaway  or worse, a shakedown  and that it wouldnt provide much direct benefit to most New Yorkers.

The list of grievances against the project grew as the months wore on, with critics complaining about Amazons stance on unions and some Long Island City residents fretting that the companys arrival would drive up rents and other costs.

Opposition to the deal was led in the Democrat-controlled state Senate by Michael Gianaris, the chambers No. 2 lawmaker, whose district includes Long Island City. Initially among the politicians who supported bringing an Amazon headquarters to the city, Gianaris did an about-face after the deal was announced, criticizing the secrecy surrounding the negotiations and the generous incentives.

Earlier this month, Gianaris was appointed to a little-known state panel that could have ultimately been asked to approve the subsidies.

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The City Council probably would have had to file a lawsuit to scuttle the deal, which was structured to avoid the land use review process that most projects undergo.

In recent weeks, City Council members held hearings at which they grilled Amazon officials about such things as the companys contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide facial recognition technology.

One City Council leader tried to get Amazon officials to agree to remain neutral in the face of any potential union drive. But an Amazon executive would not give such a commitment.

A Quinnipiac University poll released in December found New York City voters supported having an Amazon headquarters 57 per cent to 26 per cent. But they were divided over the incentives: 46 per cent in favour, 44 per cent against.

Construction industry groups and some local business leaders had urged the public and officials to get behind the plan.

Eric Benaim, a realty executive who gets most of his sales and rentals in Long Island City, had led a petition in support of Amazon, drawing 4,000 signatures.

I woke up this morning and I had no clue this would happen. Zero. This news is a shock, and Im devastated, he said.

Andrew Ousley, a business owner who lives near the proposed site, said he had been considering moving out before Amazon moved in.

Now that theyre not coming, Im more likely to stay and see how the neighbourhood continues to grow and evolve in a more organic fashion, he said.

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Associated Press Writers Verena Dobnik, Karen Matthews, Kiley Armstrong in New York; Chris Rugaber in Washington; and Chris Carola and David Klepper in Albany, New York, contributed to this story.
BEIRUT - The young Syrian woman walked on stage and began telling the story of her brothers abduction in the early years of her countrys civil war, wiping away tears as she recalled the 2013 incident that changed her life.

The woman, who identified herself as Mae from a government stronghold in the central city of Homs, said Ihsans disappearance in 2013 turned her into a more tolerant person, despite the eight-year conflict that has killed more than 400,000 people and displaced half the countrys population.

Inside the theatre in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, Syrians from other parts of the country who support rival factions listened carefully to what she said.

Once she was done, 10 Syrian actors dressed in black began re-enacting what Mae had just said, one of them screaming: Ihsan, I miss you a lot! Another walked on stage and said: No matter what our religion or ethnicity is, we are all Syrians.

The group of seven men and three women has been training for three months to do playback theatre during which members of the audience tell their stories and then see them re-enacted on stage  an initiative to get war victims to talk through their trauma, initiate dialogue and help forge reconciliation.

The training was organized by Fighters for Peace, which was founded in 2014 by former Lebanese militia members who took part in their countrys destructive 1975-90 civil war and are now peace activists. They have been using playback theatre for years as part of their campaign to promote peace and try to prevent another breakout of war in Lebanon.

Despite the mostly friendly atmosphere in the hall on the on the top floor of a building in Beirut, tensions boiled over at one point, reflecting the bitterness and hate that nearly eight years of war has created in Syria.

Once they were done reacting, a young man in the audience stood up angrily and shouted at Mae, screaming that the government was to blame for everything that happened over the past years in Syria in a tone that showed he did not care about her brothers fate.

You are hurting me, the woman replied, to which he responded: I want to hurt you, before he burst out of the theatre.

Syrias conflict began in March 2011 with largely peaceful protests against President Bashar Assads rule but eventually turned into an armed insurgency and civil war after a violent crackdown on the protest movement. It has occasionally spilled over to neighbouring Lebanon, where the countrys population is divided between supporters of the Syrian government and others who support the opposition. Related fighting in Lebanon between rival groups in recent years has left dozens of people dead or wounded, mostly in the northern city of Tripoli.

By reacting to what the members of the audience say, we are supporting them morally and helping them heal, said Maher Sheikh Khodor, 28, a freelance photographer and graphic designer from Syria who has been living in Lebanon since 2014.

Khodor, who is from the central Syrian town of Salamiyeh and has been training in playback theatre for months added that the work helped participants meet Syrians from other ethnicities and sects. We are Syrians from all parts of Syria and all of its sects, he said.

Another team member, Hassan Aqoul, 28, said the training broke the ice between us. Aqoul, who has been living in Lebanon since 2012, said those who trained them are experienced and a few days after the training started we started feeling as if we have been friends for a long time.

They have good ideas. They were fighters and now reconciled and discovered that they were wrong, he said.

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Asaad Chaftari, a former commander with the Lebanese Christian right-wing militia, the Lebanese Forces, confessed and publicly apologized years ago for his role in atrocities committed during Lebanons civil war that killed 150,000 people. He is now an active member of Fighters for Peace and for years has been campaigning for peace.

Violence leads to nowhere and this is what we discovered in Lebanon. That at the end, everybody will have to sit together and search for a new way to live in their country, Chaftari said.
MUNICH - The top Pentagon official said Friday he foresees a bigger and stronger American-led international coalition combatting the Islamic State group globally as the U.S. withdraws its troops from Syria.

Pat Shanahan, on his first trip abroad as the acting secretary of defence, made his comment after meeting in Munich with representatives of the dozen or so countries that provide troops in Iraq and Syria.

While the time for U.S. troops on the ground in northeast Syria winds down, the United States remains committed to our coalitions cause, the permanent defeat of ISIS, both in the Middle East and beyond, Shanahan said in remarks to reporters.

The U.S. has about 2,000 troops in Syria and about 5,200 in Iraq.

President Donald Trump said on Feb. 6 that the Islamic State was within a week of losing all the territory it once controlled in Syria and Iraq. He seemed to suggest Friday that the job had been completed.

We have a lot of great announcements having to do with Syria and our success with the eradication of the caliphate and thatll be announced over the next 24 hours and many other things, the president told reporters.

Trumps decision in December to pull out of Syria angered some allies, confounded U.S. military officials and prompted Jim Mattis to resign as defence secretary.

Gen. Joseph Votel, who as head of U.S. Central Command is overseeing military operations against IS in Syria and Iraq, said last week that he was not consulted before Trump made his decision.

In an interview with CNN on Friday, Votel went a step further, saying, It would not have been my military advice at that particular time ... I would not have made that suggestion, frankly.

CNN quoted him further as saying IS still has leaders, still has fighters, it still has facilitators, it still has resources, so our continued military pressure is necessary to continue to go after that network.

Votel is leaving his post shortly.

Shanahan said the United States will continue to support our local partners ability to stand up to the remnants of ISIS, but he did not explain how that will be done.

A senior defence official, speaking later, said Shanahan did not discuss a timetable for the U.S. withdrawal from Syria, which other officials have said is expected to be completed in April. The coalition partners did not take issue with the U.S. withdrawal, indicating they see it as an irreversible decision, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.

The focus of the meeting, on the topic of Syria, was how to avoid a security vacuum once U.S. troops are gone, the official said. No representatives committed to keeping troops there after the U.S. leaves, raising the possibility of clashes between Turkey  a U.S. NATO ally  and the U.S.-backed Syrian fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, which suffered heavy casualties in fighting IS. The Turks view the Kurdish members of the SDF as terrorists and a treat to Turkey.

In his public remarks, Shanahan said that in Syria, IS has lost most of its leadership and resources  though he didnt say its lost 100 per cent of its territory.

Together, we have eliminated the groups hold over 99 per cent of the territory it once claimed as part of its so-called caliphate, he said. We have ensured ISIS no longer holds the innocent people of Syria or Iraq in its murderous iron fist.

IS militants are holed up in the last sliver of land in eastern Syria as U.S.-backed forces are closing in.

As IS retreats in Syria, some worry that substantial numbers of its fighters could migrate beyond the Middle East, to Africa, for example.

Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, commander of U.S. Africa Command, said in an interview with a small group of reporters Friday that he is not yet seeing evidence of IS movements into Africa, although he said this cannot be ruled out.

Shanahan said he and his counterparts discussed the future of their coalition, which was developed during the Barack Obama administration after U.S. forces took on IS directly in 2014 with a return of U.S. troops to Iraq as advisers and the start of a bombing campaign against IS in Syria.

I, for one, envision an even bigger and stronger coalition going forward  one that has evolved to meet the global threat posed by ISISs offshoots and its murderous ideology, he said. It needs to look beyond Syria and Iraq to face the militants broader threat in other parts of the world including Afghanistan and the Philippines, he said.

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The senior defence official said Shanahan was not referring to increasing the number of members in the coalition  now totalling 79  but rather adding to the quality of their contributions, including non-military offerings.

Ursula von der Leyen, the German defence minister and host of the Munich meeting, said there was agreement among participants that the fight in Iraq and Syria is not over.

IS is changing its face at the moment, going more underground and building up networks there, including with other terror groups, partly in a global network that they are trying to expand underground, she said.
PARIS - The Paris prosecutors office has opened an investigation into alleged sexual aggression by Catholic archbishop Luigi Ventura, the Vaticans envoy to France, according to French officials.

Confirming a report published by Le Monde newspaper on Friday, a judicial official and a spokesman at the Paris mayors office said the police investigation targeting the apostolic nuncio came after a young male city employee claimed he was sexually molested inside the French capitals town hall.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to be named in media reports.

The Vatican said it found out about the investigation from media reports, adding that the Holy See is awaiting the conclusions of the inquiry.

Ventura, who has been holding the post within the Holy Sees global diplomatic corps since 2009, is suspected of having groped the buttocks of a young male employee at the Paris City Hall three times during a ceremony on Jan. 17.

Paris City Halls press office told The Associated Press that the victim is a man in his 30s working for the town halls international relations department. He was in charge of welcoming guests at the ceremony.

The Vatican's envoy to France Luigi Ventura, pictured meeting French President Emmanuel Macron, is being investigated for sexual assault after he was accused of molesting an official in the Paris mayor's office during a ceremony earlier this year, a judicial source told AFP on February 15, 2019.





He caressed and fondled his buttocks several times in front of witnesses, a spokesman at the City Hall told The Associated Press. Our employee was very surprised and did not know what to do.

According to the spokesman, Ventura touched the employee three times over a period of about an hour before the young man left the ceremony after reporting the incidents to his superiors. The spokesman said Ventura didnt apologize.

Ventura, who was born in northern Italy near the city of Brescia, turned 74 in December. He was ordained in June 1969 and elevated to bishops rank in March 1995. He was appointed nuncio to France in September 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI, a position regarded as a crowning achievement of a Vatican diplomatic career.

After serving as nuncio to Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Niger, he then held the position in Chile and Canada before landing the French post.

When he turns 75 in December 2019, he will be required, as all bishops are at that age under Vatican rules, to submit his resignation to Pope Francis, who can either accept it or let him stay on a little longer.

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Ventura is the third Vatican diplomat accused of sexual wrongdoing. In June last year, the Vatican tribunal convicted Monsignor Carlo Capella of possession and distribution of child pornography and sentenced him to five years in prison. In 2013, the Vatican charged its then-ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Monsignor Jozef Wesolowski, with sexually abusing young boys. Wesolowski was defrocked by the Vaticans church court, but he died before the Vaticans criminal trial got underway.

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Frances DEmilio and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.
PARIS - The Latest on Britains upcoming scheduled exit from the European Union (all times local):

3:25 p.m.

Britains defence secretary has sought to reassure an audience in Germany that his countrys commitment to supporting European security will remain steadfast after the countrys departure from the European Union.

Gavin Williamson spoke alongside his German counterpart Friday at the opening of the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of global foreign and security policy leaders.

Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, though it hasnt yet agreed on a withdrawal deal. Williamson stressed that our commitment to European security remains steadfast.

He added that we had delivered European security long before the creation of either the European Union or (NATO), and we will continue to deliver it long after we leave the EU.

He said that Britain intends to take Brexit as an opportunity to do more on the global stage.

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10:20 a.m.

Frances Europe minister is urging Britain to hurry up and decide whether its leaving the European Union with or without a deal.

Nathalie Loiseau said on RTL radio Friday that its time for our British friends to decide whether they want to leave amicably or brutally.

She said the EU worked hard to reach a Brexit agreement with British Prime Minister Theresa Mays government, and its a little hard to understand that they cant sell their own proposition.

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May suffered another embarrassing parliamentary defeat Thursday over her Brexit strategy, further raising fears that the country could crash out of the EU without a deal, a development that would see tariffs imposed on trade.

Loiseau said Britain should hurry up and decide for all businesses and citizens affected by Brexit.
CARACAS, Venezuela - The Trump administration is sending another large shipment of humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan border in Colombia, for the first time using U.S. military aircraft as it increases pressure on Nicolas Maduro to give up power, according to a State Department email sent to Congress.

The announcement of additional aid comes as the Trump administration on Friday added Venezuelas oil boss and key intelligence officers to a long list of Maduro loyalists under U.S. financial sanctions.

The 250 tons of food supplies, hygiene kits and nutritional supplements will begin arriving Saturday to the border city of Cucuta, where tons of boxes of emergency aid stamped with the U.S. flag are already warehoused awaiting delivery into Venezuela.

The email sent Friday was provided to The Associated Press by a congressional aide who wasnt authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The aid came at the request of opposition leader Juan Guaido, who the U.S. and dozens of other countries have recognized as Venezuelas rightful leader after President Nicolas Maduro last month was sworn in for a second term widely seen as illegitimate.

Guaido has vowed to deliver the aid over the objections of Maduro, who in an exclusive interview Thursday with the AP said that the offer of U.S. assistance represents mere crumbs compared to hostile efforts to block the countrys oil exports and restrict its access to foreign funding.

While the U.S. military has long supported civilian-led humanitarian assistance missions around the world, this is the first time they are being used to deploy aid for Venezuela. Last year, the U.S. government sent more than $100 million in aid to Cucuta to help Colombian authorities absorb some of the estimated 3 million of Venezuelans fleeing hyperinflation and food shortages.

In slapping new sanctions on Maj. Gen. Manuel Quevedo, the president of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the oil executive had been instrumental in propping up what he called Maduros illegitimate regime.

In the AP interview Maduro said Quevedo had been in India this week looking to drum up new business for PDVSA after the company was itself hit with sanctions aimed at cutting off an estimated $11 billion in profits.

The new sanctions also target four high-ranking intelligence officials, including the head of the feared SEBIN intelligence police and an elite commando unit known as FAES that is accused of several targeted killings.

In a statement, Mnuchin accused the officials of corruption and helping Maduro repress democracy in Venezuela  which includes using torture and other brutal use of force.

We are intent on going after those facilitating Maduros corruption and predation, Mnuchin said, adding that Quevedo and others have syphoned off funds that rightfully belong to the people of Venezuela.

The U.S. sanctions block access to any property the individuals own in the United States and bans U.S. citizens from doing business with them.

As U.S. pressure mounts, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters Friday in Reykjavik, Iceland, that he sees clear signs that Maduro is starting to understand Venezuelans reject him as their leader.

In the AP interview, Maduro said he was willing to meet President Donald Trump at any time or place to resolve the crisis over U.S. recognition of Guaido.

Pompeo said Maduros request wasnt new, but it reflects that hes realizing his crisis-riddled nation rejects his model of governance.

Pompeo wouldnt say whether he would send envoy Elliott Abrams to meet Maduro in Caracas.

Maduro told the AP that his foreign minister has met Abrams twice recently in New York for secret talks.

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Follow Goodman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APjoshgoodman

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REYKJAVIK, Iceland - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrapped up a five-nation tour of Europe in Iceland on Friday after the Trump administration launched a scathing attack on the European Union over its approach to Iran.

Pompeo was in the Icelandic capital for talks with officials on enhancing trade, Arctic policy, threats posed by Russia and other NATO security issues. Pompeo noted that he was the first secretary of state to visit Reykjavik since 2008 and, as he did at previous stops in Hungary and Slovakia, said the U.S. was re-engaging with allies that it had neglected over the past decade.

No more we will take our friends, our true allies, our partners for granted, he said. We simply cant afford to neglect them.

The brief visit to Iceland on his way back to Washington came after a short stop earlier Friday in Brussels, where he met with the EUs top diplomat.

The breakfast meeting with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini came just a day after U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence accused Britain, France, Germany and the EU as a whole of trying to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran.

Pence also called on the EU to join the Trump administration in withdrawing from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

Pence launched his offensive Thursday at a Middle East conference in Poland that underscored a stark two-year trans-Atlantic divide over Iran. Mogherini did not attend the conference and France and Germany did not send Cabinet-level officials to the meeting.

EU diplomats said before the Warsaw conference that it appeared aimed at driving a wedge between the Europeans and Iran, as the 28-nation bloc struggles to keep alive the Iran nuclear deal after the United States reneged on it last year.

Mogherini smiled, shook her head and waved away a question about Pences speech as she sat down with Pompeo and aides at EU headquarters. Neither spoke to reporters.

A senior EU official, who was not present but was briefed on the meeting, said the pair did not specifically discuss Iran. The official, who is not permitted to speak publicly about the talks, said Iran did come up in the context of a discussion about the Middle East.

Iran was in the discussion but it was not a discussion about Iran, he said.

Pences harsh criticism threatened to further chill U.S.-European ties, which are already badly strained on many issues, including trade and defence spending.

Britain, France and Germany, along with the rest of the EU, continue to support the nuclear deal as the best way to prevent Iran from developing atomic weapons.

The senior EU official said Mogherini and Pompeo also discussed the possible use of sanctions against Russia after it confiscated Ukrainian ships and imprisoned 24 sailors near the Sea of Azov off Ukraine.

The EU is working on a travel ban and asset freeze for about half a dozen mid-ranking Russian officials.

EU foreign ministers will discuss the move on Monday, but its unlikely any sanctions will be announced then.

Mogherini and Pompeo also discussed the crisis in Venezuela, the conflict in Syria, Afghan peace efforts, the upcoming North Korea summit, the EU official said. No details were provided.

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Cook reported from Brussels.
WARSAW, Poland - The Israeli government said Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was misquoted by a newspaper on the extremely sensitive issue of Polish behaviour during the Holocaust, seeking to defuse a diplomatic crisis.

However, the Polish government said it considered that response insufficient and expects a clearer explanation.

Netanyahu said a day earlier during a visit to Warsaw that Poles co-operated with the Nazis  wording suggesting that some Poles during the German occupation of Poland took part in killing Jews.

However, the Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying the Poles, which could be taken as blaming the entire Polish nation.

The matter threatened to spark another major spat between the two countries, which clashed last year over a new Polish law that made it illegal to blame the Polish nation for collaboration in the Holocaust.

Poland has even threatened to withdraw from a meeting of Central European leaders that is to take place next week in Israel.

Netanyahu was clearly eager to avoid another potential crisis.

The Prime Ministers comments concerning Poland were misquoted by the Jerusalem Post, which quickly issued a correction clarifying that an error had been made in the editing of the article, Netanyahus office said in a statement.

The Polish Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador for an explanation. But a deputy foreign minister, Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek, said the explanations given by Israel so far are unclear and that Warsaw is still awaiting a clarification that would leave it without any doubts.

Poland has expressed an expectation that the Israeli side will say in a clear way what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meant when he said the words that were quoted by the Israeli media, Szynkowski vel Sek said.

He added, though, that this did not impact on the leaders upcoming meeting slated to start Monday in Jerusalem, where Netanyahu hopes to strengthen Israels political and economic ties with central Europe, a region that is a strong supporter of Israel.

Later, Netanyahus office weighed in with another statement, saying: Netanyahu spoke of Poles and not the Polish people or the country of Poland. This was misquoted and misrepresented in press reports and was subsequently corrected by the journalist who issued the initial misstatement.

The Holocaust is still an extremely sensitive subject in Poland, even nearly 80 years after World War II.

Nazi Germany subjected the country to a brutal occupation, killing nearly 6 million citizens, about 3 million of them Jewish, but almost as many of them Christian Poles.

Poland had an underground resistance movement that fought the Germans and more than 6,800 Poles have been recognized by Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial, for helping Jews at risk to their own lives, more than from any other country.

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However, there was anti-Semitism in Poland before the war and some Poles welcomed the removal of the large Jewish population from their society, while some blackmailed Jews or participated in the killings.

Emotional debates rage to this day over how to characterize the Polish responses to the murder of Jews on their soil.
ROME - Italian police say they have nabbed a fugitive kingpin cocaine dealer who hails from a feuding crime clan involved in the 2007 trattoria massacre in Germany.

Carabinieri paramilitary police on Friday said they arrested Francesco Strangio a day earlier in a hideout in the town of Rose, in Calabria, the regional power base of the ndrangheta crime syndicate.

Strangio had been on the run since a January 2018 conviction, carrying a 14-year prison term, for international drug trafficking.

Authorities say he arranged huge cocaine shipments from South America to German and Belgian ports.

A Strangio clan leader was convicted of the Duisburg restaurant slayings, which left six dead as part of a feud that began on Christmas 2005, when the wife of an alleged mobster was accidentally slain in Calabria.
UPFA MP Susantha Punchinilame said today the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) recorded a statement from him over the chaotic incidents that took place in parliament in November last year.

He told the media after making the statement that the CID had summoned him in connection with a complaint he had lodged with the CID requesting it to conduct an investigation over the incident.

The MP said he had lodged the complaint requesting for an investigation over the speakers conduct on the day when the chaotic situation was reported injuring several MPs and regarding rumours of a possible act of crime that day.

He said he had been summoned on several occasions but could not attend as he was busy engaged in duties in Trincomalee.

The MP said he submitted video clips of the incident taken from his mobile phone to the CID.

An investigation conducted by the CID was in progress over the incident apart from an internal investigation carried out by a committee appointed by the Speaker. (Ajith Siriwardana)

Video by RM
* China and the United States began high level trade talks in Beijing on February 14, state news agency Xinhua said.

* Japan's economy rose at an annualised rate of 1.4 percent in October-December, government data showed on February 14, as consumer spending and capital expenditure rebounded from natural disasters that disrupted corporate activity.

* The Democratic-led US House of Representatives on February 13 approved a resolution that would end US support for the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in the war in Yemen, as many lawmakers sought to push President Donald Trump to toughen his policy toward the kingdom.

* Moscow has agreed to join a short-term mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to monitor Ukraine's presidential election, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

* Egypt and Germany signed on February 13 an agreement to support the Egyptian economic reform program with US$250 million as the second tranche of a US$500-million soft loan, the Egyptian investment ministry said in a statement.

* French President Emmanuel Macron on February 13 said violent "Yellow Vest" protests must come to an end, reaffirming the government's firm stance to manage troublemakers and preserve the country's calm.

* A Chinese envoy on February 13 underscored the importance of political settlement to the Iraq issue while addressing a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Iraq.

* Polish President Andrzej Duda said an increase in the presence of US armed forces on Polish territory was to be expected, following a bilateral meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence in Warsaw on February 13.

* Joint US-Libyan forces raided an al Qaeda site in the Libyan city of Ubari on February 13, according to a statement by a Libyan official. The Pentagon could not immediately be reached for comment.

* Taliban negotiators will meet their US counterparts on Feb. 18 in Pakistan's capital Islamabad as part of accelerating diplomacy to end more than 17 years of war in Afghanistan, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on February 13. But a US State Department representative said in a statement that the United States had "not received a formal invitation to any talks."

* Emirates airline said on February 14 it had reached an agreement with Airbus to reduce its total order of A380 aircraft from 162 to 123 jets. Emirates also said it had signed an new deal with Airbus for 40 A330-900s and 30 A350-900s worth US$21.4 billion.

* A suicide bomber killed 27 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards on February 13, state media said, in a southeastern region where security forces are facing a rise in attacks by militants from the country's Sunni Muslim minority.

* The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Wednesday announced sanctions against two Iran-based entities and their associated individuals.

* Morocco and Spain signed on February 13 11 agreements in Rabat to bolster cooperation between the two countries.

* The Moroccan authorities seized on February 13 1.92 tons of cannabis in the northern city of Tetouan.

* The death toll from Brazil's tragic dam disaster in southeast Minas Gerais state has climbed to 166, the state civil defense agency said on February 13.

* The death toll from a stampede during an election campaign rally on February 12 in Nigeria's southern state of Rivers has risen to 15, a hospital spokesman revealed Wednesday.
WARSAW, Poland - A two-day security conference in Warsaw was supposed to be a crowning achievement for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stamping a seal on his long-held goal of pushing his behind-the-scenes ties with Arab leaders into the open. Instead, the publicity-seeking Israeli leader made one embarrassing misstep after another, distracting attention from his main mission and sending his aides into a nonstop cycle of damage control.

Political opponents at home hammered a string of Netanyahus comments on the diplomatic journey, accusing him of politicizing the military for electoral purposes, leaking a sensitive video that embarrassed Arab Gulf states and apologizing to Poland for another dustup over its role in the Holocaust. Meanwhile, Netanyahus spokespeople were sent scrambling to clarify he didnt mean to encourage war with Iran and that a low-level assistant had accidentally shared the sensitive video.

The missteps began even before takeoff late Tuesday, when before his flight to Poland he told reporters travelling with him that Israel was constantly acting against Iran in Syria, adding even yesterday. It was an apparent reference to an undeclared airstrike that again chipped away at Israels increasingly crumbling policy of ambiguity about its actions in Syria.

Theres one line that must never be crossed. Breaching military confidentiality and bragging about Israeli secret operations can pose a threat to our soldiers, said Benny Gantz, a former military chief and Netanyahus primary challenger in the upcoming April elections. Leveraging Israels security, the highest and most sacred of values, for the sake of campaigning is where we draw the line  and it has to stop.

It didnt get much better for Netanyahu on Polish soil, where some 60 countries took part in the summit, including five Arab foreign ministers making a rare public appearance alongside Netanyahu in a joint show of unity against Iran.

In an off off-the-cuff interview with reporters on a Warsaw street shortly after meeting Omans foreign minister, Netanyahu appeared to call on other participants of the conference to unite around the common interest of war with Iran. Although he used the Hebrew word milchama, or war, his office later changed its official translation and said he was referring to a common interest of combatting Iran.

Then on Thursday, his office briefly leaked a video to journalists showing Bahrains foreign minister, Khalid Al Khalifa, and representatives of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates playing down the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and harshly criticizing Iran. All three nations are well-known critics of Iran, but sharing their addresses to a closed gathering could nonetheless prove embarrassing.

Netanyahus office said the videos release was a technical error and quickly deleted it. But others didnt believe it.

Bibis filming and leaking of things said in a closed meeting for internal electoral needs is an act that is not done, tweeted former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname and adding that relations between nations depend on trust between their leaders. Foreign policy is not internal politics.

Adding to his troubles, his office was forced to clarify he was not singling out his Polish hosts as a nation when he told reporters during a briefing that Poles co-operated with the Nazis. Some media outlets reported him saying the Poles, which set off an angry rebuke from Polish authorities, including a summoning of the Israeli ambassador.

Last year, Poland and Israel were embroiled in a bitter dispute over a Polish law that made it a crime to blame the Polish nation for complicity in the Holocaust. Israeli officials saw it as an attempt by Poland to suppress discussion of the killing of Jews by Poles during and after the wartime German occupation. Netanyahu faced criticism from historians in Israel for not opposing the law, which critics said distorted history.

In the briefing, Netanyahu rejected the suggestions. His office said he was misquoted, though, and blamed the misunderstanding that had upset the Poles on an editing error in an Israeli newspaper.

Instead of the Poles apologizing to us for the millions who perished in Poland during the Holocaust and for their assistance to the Nazis, Netanyahu for the second time apologizes to them, responded Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition Yesh Atid party and the son of a Holocaust survivor. This visit of his to Poland has turned into a complete disaster.

If Netanyahu was seeking a respite from the trips various snafus with a pleasant flight home, he didnt get that either. He was forced to spend an extra night in Warsaw after his plane was damaged shortly before takeoff, marking an inauspicious ending to the turbulent visit.

The prime minister, his wife and the entire entourage were on-board an El Al-chartered Boeing 777 early Friday when a vehicle towing the aircraft on the runway crashed into it. A photo circulated to travelling journalists showed large scrapes in the underbelly of the aircraft.

Netanyahu and his wife were taken off the plane and escorted back to their hotel in the city. Other aides, including Netanyahus national security adviser and his military secretary, spent the night on the damaged aircraft, saying they did not want to go through the hassle of pre-boarding security checks again.

A replacement plane was dispatched from Israel to urgently return the prime minister, and the observant Jews in his delegation, before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath, when travel is prohibited for Orthodox Jews.

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At least that went according to plan. The plane landed back at Israels Ben-Gurion Airport in the late afternoon, about an hour and a half before the Sabbath began at sundown.

____

Follow Heller at www.twitter.com/aronhellerap
SINGAPORE - Asian shares were broadly lower on Friday, tracking a weak Wall Street session as traders awaited the conclusion of U.S.-China talks in Beijing.

Japans benchmark Nikkei 225 retreated 1.2 per cent to 20,886.27 and the Kospi in South Korea tumbled 1.6 per cent to 2,189.50. Hong Kongs Hang Seng gave up 1.5 per cent to 28,015.65. The Shanghai Composite was 0.6 per cent lower at 2,703.60.

Australias S&P/ASX 200 bucked the regional trend, picking up 0.1 per cent to 6,062.30. Shares fell Taiwan and throughout Southeast Asia.

Disappointing data led U.S indexes to a mixed finish on Thursday. According to the Commerce Department, December retail sales fell 1.2 per cent from the previous month, its biggest drop since September 2009.

The National Retail Federation also announced poor holiday sales growth in November-December that it attributed to trade tensions with China and the U.S. government shutdown.

The market is in a defensive stance. Traders are wondering if the latest retail sales figures are a harbinger of more bad news to come, said Song Seng Wun, an economist at CIMB Private Banking.

American and Chinese officials will wrap up two days of negotiations in Beijing later Friday. It is unclear if they will make headway on prickly issues such as Washingtons unhappiness over Chinese technology and trade policies.

The U.S. is set to more than double import taxes on $200 billion in Chinese goods by March 2. But President Donald Trump has hinted that he may hold off on these if both sides made enough progress at the trade talks.

WALL STREET: The broad S&P 500 index dropped 0.3 per cent to 2,745.73. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.1 per cent to 7,426.95 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4 per cent to 25,439.39. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks was 0.1 per cent higher at 1,545.11.

ENERGY: U.S. crude added 34 cents to $54.75 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 51 cents to settle at $54.41 per barrel in New York on Thursday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 44 cents to $65.01 per barrel. It rose 96 cents to close at $64.57 per barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar eased to 110.30 yen from 110.45 yen late Thursday. The euro fell to $1.1288 from $1.1296.
PANAMA CITY - Panamas government says it will build a migrant shelter on its southern border with Colombia, after the latest wave of migrants crossed into the country.

Some 716 migrants, mostly Cubans, entered Panama over the weekend through the jungle province of Darien.

The director of Panamas immigration agency says the latest group also included migrants from Haiti and Africa. Javier Carrillo says the migrants wanted to travel to the United States.

Authorities said Thursday the new $9 million shelter will be able to handle about 400 migrants.

The government had previously planned to build a shelter, but the idea was put on hold. In 2016, thousands of Cubans were stranded in Panama and Costa Rica after Nicaragua refused to let them through.
BERLINOn Friday, tens of thousands of teenagers will skip school to gather in streets, plazas and parks across Europe. Theyre not meeting for a concert or a weekend adventure. Theyre gathering to show the grown-ups that they will no longer play by their rules, and to demand that adults protect their future from climate-change disasters.

These teens are part of a movement that has spread across the European Union and is expanding globally. In late January, some 30,000 students protested in three Belgian cities. The same week, more than 10,000 skipped school in Germany, holding signs that read, Make our planet great again, and There is no Planet B.

The list of countries in which teens are protesting is growing, and theyre organizing whats being billed as a global strike on March 15 that will most certainly include protests in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States.

We dont have time anymore, said 14-year-old Jolante Vogel, who came from Jena, a city in eastern Germany, to attend the Fridays for Future protest in January.

We have to act now, she added. Im worried that one day we cant live on this planet anymore, that there will be vast poverty and storms and that we wont be able to do anything to reverse the trend.

This was Vogels fourth time skipping school to attend a Friday protest, and she said although her teachers understand her reasons, they want her in school. As a sort of compromise, she and her classmates sometimes protest at school and sit in the schoolyard to study.

We dont miss school because were lazy or because we dont want to go to school, said 18-year-old Jakob Blasel, a high school senior from the northern city of Kiel who helped organize the protest in Berlin in January. We cant go to school because we have to strike. We have to deliver an uncomfortable message to our leaders that it cant go on this way.

The teens are following the lead of 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who in August started skipping school on Fridays as an act of protest. Thunberg in December delivered a defiant speech at a global climate change conference in Poland: You say you love your children above all else  and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes, she said to a room full of policy-makers whose climate negotiations have been largely stuck in political gridlock. Until you start focusing on what needs to be done rather than what is politically possible, there is no hope. We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis, she added.

Young protesters across the globe have echoed and amplified that message on social media platforms and in the streets.

People seem to think this is an issue that can be solved another time, but there is no other time, said 14-year-old Zoe Bonnett, who is organizing a strike this week in Bristol, England, according to The Guardian.

Youth protests are growing, rivalling in size some of the more noted protests in Europe, such as the Yellow Vest protests in France, which in its 13th week continued to draw tens of thousands of people, though in diminishing numbers.

This is the first movement that really addresses the older generations for being responsible, said Mathias Albert, a youth researcher and political science professor at the University of Bielefeld. What these young people see is that it is obviously difficult for parts of the older generation  especially those who have specific economic interests  to change their ways.

Despite Germanys image as a global environmental leader, the country is far from meeting its climate goals. Its transportation emissions have gone up over the past three decades. At this rate, it is doubtful Germany will meet its targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions in the mobility sector by 40 per cent  compared to 1990 levels  by 2030, unless it takes drastic steps.

It doesnt make sense to put out targets and not move anywhere near them, said 22-year-old Luisa Neubauer, who is helping to organize the March 15 strike that, in Germany, will focus on putting pressure on the countrys transportation sector to more quickly reduce emissions.

The country is in the process of phasing out coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, which still provides about 40 per cent of the nations electricity. Last month, Germanys coal commission  a group of industry, environmental and government representatives  set a phaseout goal of 2038, eight years later than the date lobbied for by environmentalists. The commissions recommendation is not binding, but it is likely to be implemented by the German government in coming years.

Phasing out coal is a hard sell in Germany. The nations large deposits of coal helped make it an economic powerhouse, and the industry employs about 20,000 people. Coal production also has become a political touchstone for the far-right movement and its protectionist rhetoric. The German politicians are very much afraid of this, said Ortwin Renn, scientific director at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, Germany. They get the support from the regions in which coal is still a major economic factor.

But for the teenage protesters, the economic and political concerns of today are outweighed by their fears over what changes will come in the decades ahead.

Im disappointed, Blasel said about the 2038 announcement. Half of the people who made the decision will be dead or retired by 2050 when the climate crisis will hit us.

He noted that although the commission promised to include representatives from all major stakeholders, it included no youth representatives. Every other political position will be meaningless if we dont have an Earth to live on, he said.

Adult leaders have voiced mixed reactions to the teens missing school to protest.

Albert Rupprecht, a German parliamentarian and a member of the conservative Christian Social Union, part of the countrys ruling coalition, called it completely unacceptable, according to the daily newspaper Die Welt.

However, Katja Dorner, a member of the Bundestag and the environmentally progressive Green Party, sees the youth movement as a positive. I think this sort of engagement is wonderful, and I hope that the schools will be lenient about their absence, she said.

It is too early to tell whether the Fridays for Future protests will continue to grow into a mass movement, said Albert, the University of Bielefeld professor. The youth climate protests havent yet followed the lead of past youth-led movements like those against the Vietnam War and apartheid, which broadened their base by incorporating related issues such as disarmament and demands for social equity, he said.

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Germanys environmental political party, known informally as the Greens, may also benefit from the movement and incorporate some of the teens concerns into its agenda, especially as they reach voting age.

I would expect that if that happens, it would give these protest movements quite a significant boost in political purchasing power, Albert said.

For his part, Blasel said he distrusts political promises. They say they want to do more for climate action, but they are not doing whatever it takes, he said.

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LONDONIn February 2015, a grainy still photo from closed-circuit TV footage that became familiar to almost everyone in Britain showed a slightly built London schoolgirl stepping through the narrow gate of an airport security scanner.

It might as well have been the portal to another world.

With downcast eyes, heavy horn-rimmed glasses and the slightly gawky posture of the 15-year-old she was, Shamima Begum, together with two teenage girlfriends, was about to board a flight from Londons Gatwick Airport to Istanbul, Turkey, a journey that would take them into the heart of the caliphate of Daesh (also known as ISIS or Islamic State).

Now Begum has surfaced at a squalid refugee camp in northern Syria  seemingly unrepentant, heavily pregnant with her fighter husbands child, and voicing a desire to return to Britain.

All I want to do is come home, Begum told Anthony Loyd, a famed war correspondent for the Times of London, who heard a snippet of the heavily veiled young womans distinctive accent and asked whether she were one of the Bethnal Green girls, so named for the East London district from which they vanished.

In her homeland, the electrifying reappearance of a young woman once mourned as the child victim of a cultlike group has triggered an enormous outcry, much of it in the form of furious condemnation.

Read More:

UK official vows to prevent return of Britons who backed IS

Teen who fled U.K. to join Islamic State wants to come home

UK teen girl who travelled to Syria reported killed

Minus some expletives, the prevailing view on social media could largely be summed up as: Leave her to rot. Authorities warned that Begum could face prosecution if she managed to make her way back. But many insisted she should not be allowed to return to Britain at all.

Now 19, Begum told Loyd she had already lost two infant children to malnutrition and disease and said she had fled the groups last stronghold, the Syrian town of Baghuz, out of fear for her unborn child.

But she struck a defiant note as well, telling the paper, I dont regret coming here.

She did, however, voice disillusionment with what she called oppression and corruption within the caliphate. I dont really think they deserve victory, she said.

Four years ago, it might have seemed that little in Britain could rival the outcry over the three schoolgirls disappearance into the maw of a group whose name had become a byword for brutality and enslavement.

The girls flight triggered nationwide hand-wringing over online radicalization, playing to parents fears over the dark secrets that a seemingly happy and well-adjusted child could conceal. And the episode came at what might have been the height of Daeshs ability to win recruits from the West.

Beginning in 2014, Daesh overran huge swaths of Iraq and Syria, imposing a reign of terror that included public beheadings, the sexual enslavement of thousands of Yazidi girls and women, and countless other atrocities.

In Britain, Begum and her friends  Amira Abase, then also 15, and Kadiza Sultana, then 16, were largely viewed as brainwashed girls who had come under the sway of online grooming by English-speaking clandestine recruiters who cleverly played to youngsters longing for attention, affection and the sense of being part of a grand adventure.

The girls families made desperate pleas for their return, but received little word beyond a few communications and some scattered second-hand reports.

Months after the girls fled, word emerged that all three had become fighters brides. And in 2016, Sultana was reported to have been killed in a Russian airstrike in Raqqah, the de facto Daesh capital that fell to allied forces the following year.

Begums re-emergence into the public eye comes at a delicate moment for Britain. Passions are raging over the countrys scheduled departure from the European Union, and the larger Brexit debate has played strongly on themes of sovereignty and a sense of a threatening outside world.

In the years since the girls ran away to join the caliphate, Daesh claimed responsibility for a string of deadly strikes across continental Europe and in Britain. Those included a May 2017 concert arena bombing in the northern city of Manchester that killed at least 22, and an attack on Londons Borough Market and nearby London Bridge the following month that killed eight.

Begums case has left British authorities scrambling, seemingly ruling out any move to pluck her from the refugee camp.

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Im not putting at risk British peoples lives to go and look for terrorists, or former terrorists in a failed state, Security Minister Ben Wallace told the BBC.

The case is complicated by the fact that Begum was a minor when she fled, but now is an adult. The fate of her unborn child, too, was troubling, even to many who said she deserved harsh punishment.

With Daeshs territory having shrunk to a sliver surrounding Baghuz, the case is reigniting what has already been a long-standing debate about how to deal with British nationals who travelled to the region to join extremist groups. The Home Office, the British department in charge of immigration and security, said about 900 Britons are thought to have gone to Syria or Iraq to join Daesh or other militant groups. About 20 per cent of those are believed to have been killed, it said, and an additional 40 per cent have returned.

If she were allowed back into Britain, Begum would not be the first Daesh bride to return. In 2016, a British woman named Tareena Shakil, from the northern city of Birmingham, was sentenced to six years in prison for joining Daesh and encouraging terrorism. Shakil had returned from Syria, where she had travelled with her toddler son; she said going there had been a mistake.

Hussen Abase, the father of Begums friend Amira  who Begum said was widowed but alive in Baghuz when she herself fled  told Britains Sky News that the schoolgirls had made a mistake in running away and urged that they be forgiven.

But Begum herself seemed to draw a sharp distinction between the person she was then and who she is now. Im not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago, she told the newspaper.

As the caliphates territorial footprint has shrunk in recent years, a growing number of accounts of its rule have emerged. Begums story provided details both mundane and horrifying.

She was married, she said, within 10 days of arrival, having applied to wed an English-speaking fighter in his early to mid-20s.

The husband she was assigned was a 27-year-old from the Netherlands, with whom she had two children, a son and a daughter. With food, medicine and access to health care all in short supply, both children died, she said  the girl at 21 months and the boy at 8 months.

Some of Begums observations carried a chilling detachment, including her description of seeing the decapitated head of an executed man  described as an enemy combatant  in a garbage receptacle.

When I saw my first severed head in a bin, it didnt faze me at all, she told the Times of London. It was from a captured fighter seized on the battlefield, an enemy of Islam.

Yet she described life in Raqqah as primarily normal, adding: Every now and then there were bombs and stuff.

Loyd, the journalist who found her, painted a mixed picture. On the one hand, he told the BBC, she had no regrets, she was calm and composed. But he also portrayed the 19-year-old as in a state of shock  she had just come out of a battlefield, nine months pregnant, many of her friends dead through airstrikes and all the rest of it.

Pointing to the fact that she was only 15 when groomed and lured to the caliphate, he said she remained, in his view, an indoctrinated jihadi bride.

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Googles detailed plans for a 350-acre development in the Port Lands came as a complete surprise, said politicians from across the city, the province and the country on Friday.

Yet lobbying records reveal Googles sister company, Sidewalk Labs, has been communicating frequently with a wide swath of elected representatives and staff. And Sidewalks own records mention weekly briefings with all three levels of government.

At city hall, at Queens Park and on Parliament Hill, government officials said the sprawling project revealed by the Star Thursday evening was not part of their discussions with Sidewalk Labs, which was selected only to plan development on a small, 12-acre plot of land known as Quayside.

The revelations left me very highly disturbed because all along the understanding was that this project was for a smart city for the 12 acres, and its very clear that they want to control the destiny of the Port Lands. Thats never been in any kind of agreement, said Councillor Paula Fletcher, whose Ward 14 (Toronto-Danforth) encompasses the Port Lands.

At Queens Park, a senior government official said the plan has no chance of proceeding.

There is no way on Gods green earth that Premier Doug Ford would ever sign off on handing away nearly 500 acres of prime waterfront property to a foreign multinational company, the source said.

Read more:

Opinion | Edward Keenan: Torontos approach to Amazon is a model of how to deal with Google

Googles Sidewalk Labs plans massive expansion to waterfront vision

Auditor generals report urges province to reassess Quayside project

In Ottawa, a spokesperson for Infrastructure Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the deal with Sidewalk hasnt changed.

The scope of the Quayside redevelopment remains confined to a portion of the Port Lands and does not exempt Sidewalk Labs from any of the normal planning or regulatory processes at any of the three orders of government, wrote Pierre-Yves Bourque in an email.

Their reactions came as a report in the Washington Post on Friday described how Google has used anonymous holding companies and confidentiality agreements to buy up land across the United States and secure tax breaks.

In Torontos Port Lands, Sidewalk Labs plans to kick-start development by investing heavily in underground infrastructure and financing a publicly owned light rail transit line, CEO Dan Doctoroff told the Star. In return, the company plans to recoup its investment and make a modest profit from a share of developer fees, increased property taxes and increased land value that come from its investment.

The company estimates this revenue stream, which it proposes to share with the city, could top $6 billion over the next 30 years.

Were prepared to take the risk up front of developing a model to help make that happen, and were prepared to essentially get paid back when weve demonstrated that it can be successful, he said. We dont actually benefit until theres successful development.

On Friday evening, Sidewalk spokesperson Keerthana Rang said: We are excited about the proposal that is coming together and we think Torontonians will be too.

This project is for this city. We will submit a formal proposal for consideration to residents, (Google parent company) Alphabet, Waterfront Toronto and all three levels of government for review, feedback and decide if it should go forward.

An internal Sidewalk presentation from November obtained by the Star claims the company was holding weekly briefings with officials from the three levels of government, and regulatory dispensations have been drafted to allow the plan to go ahead.

Lobbying records show Sidewalk Labs has more than 100 lobbyists registered with the three levels of government, and theyve been communicating actively.

At the city level, Sidewalk Labs has more than 30 registered lobbyists whove held hundreds of meetings and phone calls with city staff about proposed community services, seniors services, technology services and health services for the Port Lands and for Quayside on Torontos Eastern Waterfront.

Sidewalks chief development officer, Joshua Sirefman, met Mayor John Tory to discuss proposed planning strategies for the Port Lands and for Quayside on Torontos Eastern Waterfront on Nov. 21 last year, shortly after the leaked presentation was made.

In a written statement released Friday afternoon, Tory said the city and Waterfront Toronto have not received any formal proposal at this time and no permissions or dispensations have been granted.

Any final proposal from Sidewalk Labs will be given full public scrutiny, subject to public consultation and discussion, and, ultimately, consideration by Waterfront Toronto and city council, Tory said.

At the provincial level, 51 lobbyists from Sidewalk have registered to speak with MPPs about the development of a new mixed-use community on Torontos Eastern Waterfront called Quayside and about the future revitalization of the Port Lands on Torontos Eastern Waterfront.

These communications will involve discussions about potential collaboration between Sidewalk Labs and the provincial government in the areas of transportation, affordable housing, renewable energy, waste management, technology services and community/health services. These communications will also involve discussions about privacy-related matters, the lobbyist registry states.

On Parliament Hill, lobbying records show Sidewalk CEO Doctoroff met with Champagne, the infrastructure minister, in December, and followed up with his political staff and senior public servants multiple times. Doctoroff also met with Toronto-area MPs Marco Mendicino, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Adam Vaughan, Small Business Minister Mary Ng and Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen.

Between August and February, Doctoroff also met with senior public servants and political advisers from the Prime Ministers Office, the Privy Council Office, Treasury Board, Infrastructure Canada and a smattering of other departments.

A federal government source, not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, told the Star that Doctoroffs presentation was limited to the Quayside development rather than Sidewalks more ambitious vision for the Port Lands.

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The Stars report fuelled calls at city hall for an end to Sidewalk Labs contract as a preferred development partner for Quayside.

Councillor Gord Perks said Toronto should pull out immediately from the whole project.

Theres been a stink about this deal from day one and now we have a little better sense of whats really going on. This was never the plan told to people at Toronto city council, said the councillor for Ward 4 (ParkdaleHigh Park).

Theres been bad faith and secrecy and its time for us to walk away and design what we want for that part of the city in an open and transparent manner, and then put it out for tender in a fair and open bidding process.

Councillor Joe Cressy, whose Ward 10 (SpadinaFort York) includes Quayside and who is the city representative on the Waterfront Toronto board, said he was taken aback by the Google plan.

The final proposal will be and must be debated publicly, in a robust manner, and if it does not meet the public interest it will not have my support, full stop, Cressy said.

We have set out an objective to transform 12 acres of publicly owned real estate into a livable, affordable, sustainable neighbourhood. That needs to be done in a way that is not only appropriate but financed in a way that is in the public interest, not in the most convenient manner possible.

We have the absolute right as the city and Waterfront Toronto to say no if we arent satisfied with the deal, Cressy said.

The vast majority of the Port Lands is owned by the city, according to a staff report from March 2018. Only 11 per cent is privately held, while another 11 per cent is owned by the province.

Councillor Fletcher highlighted the investments governments have made in the Port Lands.

The city just passed the Port Lands planning framework; were in the middle of building Villiers Island; our governments are spending $1.25 billion to flood-proof the land and rebuild the mouth of the Don (River); were trying to get an end to some leases to release some land for development. This is a 20- or 30-year plan were working away at.

It looks to me like Sidewalk wants to jump over everything and say they can do everything better and faster. These are very big boots coming into the city.

Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong, Torontos representative on the Waterfront Toronto board from 2010 to 2014, said he never saw the plans that Sidewalk Labs was showing to Google.

From the day that Google came to the city, I was concerned that they had designs on more than Quayside, Minnan-Wong said. Waterfront Toronto and Sidewalk need to disclose their intentions. They havent been completely open with the public. I have always been suspicious Google wants to make a play for the Port Lands, a valuable city asset that needs to be developed properly.

There has to be a discussion on how it gets developed, and it cant be behind closed doors on the 13th floor of 20 Bay St., Minnan-Wong, said referring to the Waterfront Toronto offices.

City council needs to be part of this discussion. Waterfront Toronto will undoubtedly make a play to take control of the Port Lands from the city and we need a vigorous debate at city council, and that hasnt happened yet.

After a curtain of condos sprang up along the west downtown lakeshore, Waterfront Toronto was set up to co-ordinate shoreline redevelopment. Funded by the three levels of government, Waterfront Toronto co-ordinates projects but the city has final say over the fate of the majority of the Port Lands it owns.

Julie Di Lorenzo, a developer who quit the Waterfront Toronto board over concerns about the control being given to Sidewalk Labs, said she was not surprised by the companys ambitions. She questioned the prospect of a company getting a share of property taxes resulting from Port Lands development.

Why would the city need anyone from outside to do tax increment financing when we have the best-in-class in Toronto in finance, green knowledge, infrastructure and development  , Di Lorenzo wrote in an email. Those tax revenues are needed to serve public services provided by democratically elected government.

Kristyn Wong-Tam, who represents downtown Ward 13 (Toronto Centre), tweeted: A tech giant never having built transit + city infrastructure anywhere, or even pitched a dime for the $1.25B for Port Lands flood protection, has the audacity to stake claim for future land value, property taxes + development charges on land they dont own.

David Rider is the Stars City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering Toronto politics. Follow him on Twitter: @dmrider

Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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An eleven-year-old girl is dead, and her father facing a charge of first degree murder, in a case that has shaken the region.

Riya Rajkumar was supposed to be celebrating her birthday, but, instead, became the subject of a late-night Amber Alert on Thursday night.

She was found in her fathers home in Brampton on Hansen Rd. N., near Marshall Dr., hours after she vanished while in the care of 41-year-old Roopesh Rajkumar.

In front of the brown brick duplex, Friday, pink and white balloons blew in the wind, tied to a tree in front of the home, next to a growing pile of flowers and a bright pink teddy bear.

Riya was like the princess of the family, Roopeshs cousin Ryan Ashadalli told reporters outside the home.

She was just full of positive energy. She always had a smile wherever she went, he said, adding she had just returned from a vacation at Disneyland.

I loved her.

Officers had to force their way into her fathers home around 11 p.m. Thursday evening. Rajkumar was arrested by Orillia OPP shortly after midnight, almost 130 km away. He was suffering from a medical issue, Const. Danny Marttini told reporters outside Peel Police 22 division.

The birthdays of the girl and her mother fell on the Thursday.

Its very heart-wrenching, said Marttini, who added that, in the final analysis, theres a mother moving forward without her daughter.

Meadowvale Village Public School posted a statement on its website saying this tragedy has brought tremendous sadness to the students and staff and that grief counsellors will be at the school for as long as needed.

Riya was a well-liked student, and her death is deeply felt by everyone at the school, the statement read. Even students who did not personally know Riya will also be affected by this tragedy.

Rajkumar was taken into police custody shortly after midnight. He was taken to a hospital and then a trauma centre.

Police have charged him with first-degree murder in the death of his daughter.

The girl did not live with her father on a full-time basis, police said, but was dropped off at a Mississauga gas station at about 3 p.m.

In a tragic situation like this, when your daughter goes to spend her birthday, especially on Valentines Day, with her father and you expect your child to come home, my heart aches for this family, Const. Akhil Mooken told reporters shortly after the body was found.

As a parent, I cant even begin to imagine what the mom is going through, and its something that we never want to be involved in, but its a terrible situation.

Police said Riyas mother called the authorities when the pair did not return at 6:30 p.m., and reported that Rajkumar made comments indicating he could cause harm to himself and his daughter.

That obviously set off alarms, Marttini told reporters earlier. It was of extreme concern, which is why she attended the division, saying Ive got that information and Im concerned for the well-being of my daughter. 

After police took measures such as searching where the two were last seen, pinpointing the location of the fathers cell phone and checking areas they were known to frequent, they asked for an Amber Alert to be issued.

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Police visited the fathers home at around 7 p.m., but did not receive a response when they knocked on the door. At about 11 p.m., Marttini said, police forced entry into the house and found the girls body.

At that point in the investigation, we had received enough information that they felt that the 11-year-old girl would, in fact, be in the residence and was in need of assistance, Marttini said. So, with that threat to somebodys life, they were able to force entry.

Asked how long the girl had been dead before police found her, Marttini said she didnt have the exact timeline, and more will come out after the postmortem.

Emergency Management Ontario sent out an Amber Alert on mobile devices just after 11:30 p.m.

Read more: Late-night Amber Alert prompted multiple complaints to 911

Peel Regional Police activate AMBER Alert. Victim is Riya Rajkumar age 11. Suspect is Roopesh Rajkumar age 41. Vehicle is silver Honda civic plate #ARBV 598. Last known location Eastbound 401. If observed, please call 911, the alert read.

Peel police had requested an Amber Alert to be issued by OPP earlier in the evening, but the notification was not sent until after 11 p.m., Marttini said in a phone interview. She could not confirm what time they submitted the form.

A tip from the public, following the alert, led to Rajkumars arrest shortly after midnight by OPP near Orillia.

The brown brick house on Hansen Rd. N. was blocked off with police tape Friday morning, as was the side street, Crawford Dr.

Residents of the quiet residential neighbourhood were shocked.

Emmanuel Okafor saw the Amber Alert on TV late Thursday night and said he was praying it would have a positive ending.

Its unimaginable, said Okafor, who didnt know the family, but has a 6-year-old daughter of his own.

No parent should ever have to bury their kid.

A community program called Neighbourhood Watch Brampton started a fundraiser online to go towards Riyas funeral costs. The original goal was $2,500, but by early morning Saturday, it had already raised almost $8,500.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie tweeted that there are absolutely no words to explain the senseless and tragic loss of young innocent Riya.

As a mother of three, this makes me sick to my stomach. My heart grieves for the mother and family, Crombie tweeted.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown thanked Peel police and the OPP for the quick arrest.

Words cannot describe such a senseless and horrific act, Brown tweeted.

With files from Marjan Asadullah, Ilya Banares, Alexandra Jones and the Brampton Guardian

Stefanie Marotta is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Stars radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @StefanieMarotta

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Googles futuristic development on the eastern waterfront, Quayside, is only the first step in an expansive and ambitious plan to build new neighbourhoods  and new transit  throughout the entire Port Lands, the Star has learned.

In return for its investment in this vision, Sidewalk Labs wants a share of the property taxes, development fees and increased value of city land that would normally go to city coffers.

Internal documents obtained by the Star show Sidewalk Labs plans to make the case that it is entitled to  a share in the uptick in land value on the entire geography ... a share of developer charges and incremental tax revenue on all land.

These future revenues, based on the anticipated increase in land value once homes and offices are built on the derelict Port Lands, are estimated to be $6 billion over the next 30 years. Even a small portion of this could amount to a large, recurring revenue stream diverted from the city into private hands.

Slides from a presentation given to parent company Alphabet in November, marked proprietary and confidential, show Sidewalk Labs does not intend to construct buildings on the majority of the Port Lands, but wants to benefit from its increased value once other developers build there.

The California-based tech giant envisions redevelopment on 350 acres in the Port Lands area  an area almost 30 times larger than Quayside  by financing underground infrastructure and a light rail line. The slides also indicate Googles Canadian headquarters will be built on Villiers Island.

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When the Star asked Sidewalk Labs for comment, the company confirmed the slides were authentic and provided an updated presentation that walked back the scale of what was presented internally.

In an interview, Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff told the Star that Quayside will demonstrate whats possible, but the company aspires to far greater urban innovation.

We dont think that 12 acres on Quayside has the scale to actually have the impact on affordability and economic opportunity and transit that everyone aspires to, Doctoroff said.

Were going to be spending a lot of money in advancing the infrastructure. And where we do that and there are new property tax revenues or developer charges, we only want to get paid back a reasonable return for our investment in that infrastructure.

This land is stubbornly resistant to development, Doctoroff said, and Sidewalk will be financing mass transit and affordable housing in an era in which there is not enough money.

Were prepared to take the risk up front of developing a model to help make that happen, and were prepared to essentially get paid back when weve demonstrated that it can be successful, he said.

To encourage development, Sidewalk will finance an LRT expansion through the area and fund the construction of horizontal infrastructure such as the power and thermal grid, and waste removal.

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This is something that is on nobodys realistic drawing board. We would ensure it gets financed and all we want to do is get paid back out of the increase in value in terms of property taxes and developer charges that are only possible when that LRT gets extended, said Doctoroff.

To be clear, Doctoroff said. We would not own the LRT. It would remain public.

A map included in the leaked presentation shows Sidewalk Labs plans to build 6 million sq. ft. of vertical development on 20 acres in the Quayside and Villiers West areas, leaving additional areas to the east and south for others to build on after horizontal infrastructure is installed.

The same map indicates Sidewalk Labs expects to receive incremental land value, incremental tax revenue and share of development charges for lands where it financed infrastructure.

Sidewalk Labs provided an update to this plan, showing an optional phase three where the LRT and underground infrastructure would be extended across the shipping channel, preparing another 160 acres for development.

This is a way of actually enabling critical infrastructure that isnt happening. What we hope to do is accelerate the development of this whole area by years and years, Doctoroff told the Star.

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The presentation raises questions about the transparency of the waterfront planning process as it appears Googles sister company is already having talks with public officials about lands beyond what theyve been publicly invited to plan for.

One slide states there have been weekly briefings with officials from the three levels of government, and regulatory dispensations, have been drafted to allow the plan to go ahead.

Sidewalk Labs will not purchase very much land to build on. Instead it will incorporate a capital light, asset manager-like approach to be good stewards of Alphabets capital, the presentation states.

The federal, provincial and city governments are spending a combined $2.5 billion to protect the Port Lands from flooding. This public investment was a prerequisite to any development in the area.

The vast majority of the Port Lands  78 per cent  is owned by the city, according to a staff report from March 2018. Only 11 per cent is privately held, while another 11 per cent is owned by the province.

Doctoroff explained that the company is negotiating benchmark values for the city owned land. In the future, when the city sells that land to developers, Sidewalk would be entitled to a portion of the increase in the lands value.

What were really trying to be is a catalyst, and have our interests completely aligned with the public and the public sector because we dont actually benefit until they do through successful development, he said.

Sidewalk Labs, which won a competition to design a futuristic neighbourhood at Quayside on the citys eastern waterfront in October 2017, has made very little about its plans public.

What started out as excitement when Google was selected to develop a master plan for the former industrial lands erupted into controversy last fall, when a slew of consultants and advisory board members resigned in quick succession, citing concerns over how personal data would be collected and used, as well as the secrecy surrounding the project.

Sidewalk then pledged that it would not take ownership of all the data collected in the high-tech development, and proposed a public data trust to manage privacy concerns.

There is no guarantee City Council will approve Sidewalk Labs master plan, originally due last fall, and now slated to be unveiled this spring. But in an effort to prepare public opinion, the company has hired former city councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon to be the Toronto face of the company.

Internally, one slide in the presentation, titled Shaping Public Opinion, shows the company remains concerned about public perceptions.

Despite a steady beat of negative press, our key government, community, and waterfront advocates remain cautiously supportive  and public opinion polling is mostly unchanged from six months ago, it states. The majority of the negative press coverage is rooted in an anti-global tech giant narrative being spun by former RIM co-founder Jim Balsillie and disseminated through the Canadian Council of Innovators.

This underscore (sic) the need for us to provide more positive and concrete examples about the projects benefits for Torontonians quality of life and economic opportunities so the negative narratives do not go unanswered, it states.

The slide includes two polls showing public support for the Quayside project has risen from 52 to 53 per cent between April and November 2018.

Another two polls show 68 per cent of respondents support the project to improve quality of life and develop innovations to address the challenges facing Toronto, and 74 per cent support the project to create thousands of new jobs and billions in new economic investment in the city.

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News of a talk by a Uighur activist spread quickly on campus, ricocheting across WeChat, the Chinese messaging app.

A group of Chinese students at McMaster University learned that Rukiye Turdush, a vocal critic of the Chinese governments treatment of Uighurs, was set to deliver a presentation about the mass internment of Muslims in Chinas far northwest.

They were furious that a woman they considered a separatist would be given a platform to speak. So they rallied in a chat group and reached out to a familiar source of guidance: the Chinese government.

As Turdush gave her presentation that afternoon, a student in the audience filmed her, later shouting at her before storming out.

Students wrote in a WeChat group that they contacted the embassy about the event and were told to watch if university officials were present. They later wrote that they sent photos to Chinese officials.

In the following days, Chinese student groups published a bulletin report about Turdushs talk. The bulletin, which was co-signed by five McMaster student groups, including the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA), noted contact with the Chinese consulate in Toronto.

The incident at McMaster was pieced together using records of a group chat conducted in Chinese and translated by The Washington Post, interviews with three people in the chat room, video footage of the event, as well as the bulletin.

It offers a vivid example of how Chinese students have grown into a vocal and co-ordinated force on Western campuses, monitoring and pushing back against speech they deem critical of China. It is of particular note because it is unusual to find written evidence of apparent coordination with officials.

Though student organizing and heated debate are a common and important part of campus life, contact with the Chinese consulate may cross a line, experts said, and will no doubt renew questions about the Chinese Communist Partys efforts to influence foreign institutions, including universities.

As with many things involving China, there is a continuum, running from what is acceptable to not acceptable, said David Mulroney, who served as Canadas ambassador to China from 2009 to 2012.

Students rallying around a cause is absolutely acceptable, he said, but coordination with diplomats generally goes beyond normal involvement. The fact they want to know which academics attend, hints at desire to stop academic freedom, he said.

Multiple calls to the Chinese Consulate in Toronto went unanswered. The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa did not respond to a written request for comment. Reached by phone, two men in the embassys education section declined to discuss the incident.

Gord Arbeau, director of communications at McMaster, said the school was aware of the incident, but was still looking into exactly what happened.

We are concerned if anyone felt they would be under surveillance while attending an event on campus, he said. This would not be in keeping with our principles of free speech and respectful dialogue that we uphold at McMaster.

A large number of Chinese nationals study on Canadian campuses. According to the Canadian Bureau for International Education, there were more than 140,000 students from China in Canada in 2017.

As the number of Chinese students at foreign universities has grown, educators have expressed concern that student activism carried out with the support or direction of Chinese officials could corrode free speech by making students and scholars, particularly those with family ties to China, afraid to criticize the Communist Party line.

Earlier this week, nearly 10,000 people signed a petition trying to block a Tibetan woman from running for student president at the University of Toronto at Scarborough, because of her pro-Tibetan social media posts. The case was then was written up by Communist Party-run nationalist media in China.

In 2017, students at the University of California at San Diego, after reportedly consulting with the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, mounted large protests condemning the university for naming as commencement speaker the Dalai Lama  the Tibetan spiritual leader who is also considered a separatist and anathema to the Chinese government.

The protests come at a time when the ruling Communist Party under President Xi Jinping has ratcheted up nationalist and ideological education within China, outlawed historical criticism of the party and moved to purge Western influence from textbooks.

Xi in 2016 called on students studying abroad to serve their country, and that year, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued a directive calling for a contact network connecting the motherland, embassies and consulates, overseas student groups, and the broad number of students abroad and ensuring that they will always follow the Party.

There are students who came of age in the Xi era, who may see defending government positions and working with officials as natural and necessary, experts said.

Among some Chinese students who just came from China, they are so used to the government telling them what to do all the time, they need to seek guidance, said Lynette Ong, an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto.

The McMaster incident took place on Feb. 11, when a user named Mr. Shark shared a picture of a brochure for Turdushs talk with a large WeChat group of Chinese-speaking students.

People in the chat expressed disbelief that their government operated mass detention centres, saying they had not seen Chinese news reports about them. (The centres have been widely covered in international media, but many of these reports are censored in China.)

Other students suggested calling the Chinese consulate. Mr. Shark, meanwhile, added more than 100 other students into the group chat to bring Turdushs talk to their attention.

In a conversation with a Post reporter on WeChat, Mr. Shark, who said he is studying engineering and declined to provide more personal details or his real name, said many Chinese students felt that criticism of their country amounted to an attack on themselves.

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He said he had no connection to the government and was motivated by a sense of anger. Many of the other students were in fact disappointed that their embassy did not speak up forcefully to condemn Turdush, he said, adding that Chinese students should rationally express our point of view and let our embassy know this event exists.

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He did not believe freedom of speech on campuses applies to the Uighur activist, he said, because the Xinjiang issue has already been elevated to an ethnic issue.

Its no longer purely an issue about a country, or politics, he said. She is stirring ethnic hatred.

When asked whether he thought university campuses should provide a forum for other polarizing issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said he had no opinions about politics. He chided a Post reporter, who is of Chinese descent, for thinking like a baizuo  Chinese internet slang meaning White liberal.

We study-abroad students dont know anything about politics, we just know our personal interest and our sense of belonging to our nation, he said. If other people hurt us, smear us, we have to counterattack.

On Wednesday, several Chinese student organizations put out a joint statement reproaching McMaster University for hosting a separatist critic of the Chinese government and demanded that the university uphold its duty of supervision.

In a statement, McMasters Muslim Students Association and Muslims for Justice and Peace, the groups who organized the event, said they are highly concerned by what they called an attempt to silence coverage of human rights issues on campus.

Turdush, the activist, said the experience left her unnerved.

As she was set to begin, she said, she saw a student standing at the back of the room, filming the door. As she delivered her presentation, she noticed another student filming her.

I felt like he was sent by the consulate to distract me, she said.

She worried that people filming and potentially reporting students or scholars to Chinese officials could threaten academic freedom.

Uighurs are sending me messages, she said, They ask, how can these guys do this Canada?

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SASKATOONSaskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili says the provincial government isnt doing enough to combat child hunger and child poverty.

A Food Banks Canada report for 2018 shows that Saskatchewan had the highest rate of children using food banks in the country.

The report says 43.5 per cent of individuals who used food banks in the province were children compared with the national average of 35.2 per cent.

Meili says the province should come up with a plan to deal with the problem.

He says Saskatchewan is the only province without a poverty reduction strategy.

Food Banks Canada is a national charity that represents 10 provincial associations, more than 500 food banks and 3,000 food agencies.

No child should be going to school or to bed hungry, but thats the reality facing far too many Saskatchewan families, Meili said Friday.

The poverty underlying food bank usage hurts children and costs our provincial economy billions each year in increased health, social services and justice costs.

Meili said the best way the provincial government could mark the Family Day holiday on Monday would be to announce a plan to reduce child poverty.
This week, the United Nations marked the International Day of Women and Girls in Science with the theme being Investment in Women and Girls in Science for Inclusive Green Growth.According to the UN, Science and gender equality are vital for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.



Over the past 15 years, the global community has made a lot of effort in inspiring and engaging women and girls in science. Yet women and girls continue to be excluded from participating fully in science.



According to data compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at present, less than 30 per cent of researchers worldwide are women. Long-standing biases and gender stereotypes are steering girls and women away from science related fields. As in the real world, the world on screen reflects similar biasesthe 2015 Gender Bias Without Borders study by the Geena Davis Institute showed that of the onscreen characters with an identifiable STEM job, only 12 per cent

were women.



Gender equality has always been a core issue for the UN. Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls will make a crucial contribution not only to economic development of the world, but to progress across all the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the UN says.



Looking at the positive side of the role women play in green growth, we need to reflect on the incredible and extraordinary story of Stella McCartney, daughter of the famous Beatles leader Sir Paul McCartney and animal rights activist Linda. According to the Guardian Newspaper, British Fashion Designer Stella McCartney (OBE) has announced a UN fashion industry charter for climate action. It was launched at last Decembers climate talks in Poland.



The designer hopes the charter will ring some alarm bells while making a business case for sustainable fashion, setting out a path for collective action to enable low-carbon production methods to be scaled up, improving economic viability. There are signs consumers are driving a move towards responsible consumption. A report by the fashion search website Lyst, which tracked more than 100million searches over the past year, shows a 47% rise in searches that combine style and ethics, such as vegan leather and organic cotton.



We really dont have long now, to change things. But I honestly believe its doable  I couldnt do what I do if I didnt believe that, said Ms. McCartney. There is so much guilt and fear attached to talking about sustainability and thats not helpful. What is essential is for the industrys big players to come along with me, because that changes the price point.



Support for the charter has so far come largely from high street brands. Fast fashion is responsible for the lions share of environmental impact, so they are the most important element in effecting real change, said Ms. McCartney.



Another amazing example comes from Sweden. According to the Guardian, following Swedens hottest summer ever, teenager Greta Thunberg decided to go on school strike at the parliament to get politicians to act. Why bother to learn anything in school if politicians wont pay attention to the facts? This simple realisation prompted Greta Thunberg, 15, to protest in the most effective way she knew. She was on strike, refusing to go to school until Swedens general election to draw attention to the climate crisis.



Her protest has captured the imagination of a country that has been struck by heatwaves and wildfires in its hottest summer since records began 262 years ago. Every day for two weeks, Greta sat quietly on the cobblestones outside parliament in central Stockholm, handing out leaflets that declare: I am doing this because you adults are shitting on my future. Greta herself is a diminutive girl with pigtails and a fleeting smile  not the stereotypical leader of a climate revolution.



In Sri Lanka also, we hope girls and women will take more to the science stream and work like Stella McCartney or Greta Thunberg at creative enterprising and imaginative measures to curb climate change and global warming which could have catastrophic consequences if urgent and effective measures are not taken.
MONTREALAn Ottawa physician who navigated the dangerous roads of Haiti Friday to get to the Port-au-Prince airport with three Canadian colleagues says he feel lucky to be alive and is warning others stranded in the strife-torn country not to follow his lead.

Please do not do (what I did), because you can get killed, Dr. Emilio Bazile told The Canadian Press from the airport after a harrowing seven-and-a-half hour journey that ended with his group hiring an ambulance driver to secure safe passage.

It was a dangerous game.

Bazile and his group, which included three health professionals from New Brunswick, decided they would set out early Friday in two vehicles, hopeful that negotiations between the Haitian president and the opposition would end the protests.

But more barricades went up overnight Friday after negotiations failed. We had false hope that things were going to improve, Bazile said. Thats why we went.

Instead, they drove into a lawless nightmare upon leaving Aquin, about 115 kilometres west of Port-au-Prince. They ran into numerous roadblocks and had to detour onto secondary roads.

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It was terrible, Bazile said. You have to pay every time you pass somewhere. You have to pay somebody $500, sometimes they ask $1,000 to allow you to pass.

The Canadian government issued a new advisory for Haiti late Thursday, saying Canadians should avoid all travel to the Caribbean country.

Global Affairs Canada said it heightened its advisory due to ongoing civil unrest throughout the country. The notice warns that the security situation could further deteriorate quickly and that people should consider leaving by commercial means while they are available.

The Canadian embassy in Port-au-Prince has been closed since Wednesday.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced Friday that 113 tourists trapped at a Haitian resort are expected to be flown to safety Saturday.

Legault told reporters in Montreal that helicopters will be used to ferry tourists from the Royal Decameron resort to the airport in the Haitian capital. Air Transat  the travel company with which they booked vacation packages before violence broke out  will then fly them to Montreal.

Legault said three helicopters with room for 20 passengers each will be deployed. They will make two trips to transport the 113 passengers.

Air Transat said in a statement that the evacuation plan was made in co-operation with local authorities, the Canadian embassy in Haiti and the federal government.

Earlier Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ottawa and its diplomatic corps were working to help trapped Canadians get home.

Were also obviously preoccupied with a number of Canadians who are in Haiti right now who are looking to come home to Canada in this crisis situation, Trudeau said. Global Affairs didnt provide an exact figure for the number of Canadians seeking to leave.

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Among them is a team of 26 aid workers with a missionary group from Quebec whose situation remained unchanged Friday.

Another 24 missionaries from southern Alberta were in the country to host a womens conference and work on a housing project. A co-ordinator for the group, Haiti Arise, said its people were safe in Grand-Goave, about 65 kilometres from the capital. They were waiting for a chartered helicopter to take them to the airport to catch a flight home later Friday as supplies ran low.

Everyone seems quite positive when Im talking to them, but you know how it is when you want to go home, and they cant at this time, Michelle Guenther said in a phone interview.

Haitians on Friday vowed to keep protesting until President Jovenel Moise resigns, despite his announcement of upcoming economic measures designed to quell more than a week of violent demonstrations across the country.

Protesters are angry over skyrocketing inflation and the governments failure to prosecute embezzlement from a multibillion Venezuelan program that sent discounted oil to Haiti.

Moise said during a televised address late Thursday that he would not surrender the country to what he called armed gangs and drug dealers, and he accused people of freeing prisoners to kill him. It was the first time Moise had spoken since the demonstrations began, and he made another call for dialogue with the opposition.

On Friday, the Canada Border Services Agency suspended deportations to Haiti. The agency said the stay is a temporary measure to defer removals in crisis situations and will be removed once the situation stabilizes. A CBSA spokesperson did not say how many people have been deported from Canada to Haiti since the beginning of the crisis.

Bazile said amid the chaos, he was most concerned for his Canadian companions, who were very frightened by what was going on. At one point their vehicles were pelted with rocks and glass bottles.

I cried, Bazile said. When they were throwing things at us, I cried. It looked like there was no end to it, all the bad things. There was no end to it.

Taking a break at a home, they heard that emergency vehicles were passing barricades without problem. They decided to order an ambulance to provide safe passage for the final leg of the trip.

We ordered an ambulance, believe it or not, to go to the airport, Bazile said. We paid $250 (U.S.) to the guy driving the ambulance  dont tell me how an ambulance is charging you that. Some members rode inside while the others drove behind.

While waiting for the first of a series of flights scheduled to get him home to Ottawa by Saturday afternoon, Bazile expressed relief. The most important thing  Im out, he said.

Catherine Davies, a nurse from Woodstock, N.B. who was part of Baziles team wrote on Facebook Friday: 7.5 hours of a nightmare drive we are safely at the airport.

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OTTAWAThe Public Health Agency of Canada says at least 30 Canadians who had surgery at a clinic in Tijuana, Mexico are at risk of potentially deadly infection.

But the agency isnt sure, because of the difficulty in responding to health alerts in other countries.

An investigation by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control last month found Canadians underwent weight-loss surgeries at the Grand View Hospital in Tijuana, just like American patients who became infected with an antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria. Tijuana is right next to the U.S. border, close to San Diego.

It may be that we never know the exact number of Canadians involved, said Dr. Howard Njoo, Canadas deputy chief public-health officer. Were trying to ensure that all patients  should be having communications from the treating facility to inform them of their potential risk so that they can do medical follow-ups.

The federal public-health agency issued a notice Wednesday recommending patients who went to the Grand View Hospital, or other Tijuana facilities, starting last August, seek medical help immediately if theyre experiencing signs of infection, including fever, redness, or pus or swelling at the surgical site.

The bacteria involved is called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and its a known hazard in medical settings, especially for patients who have had surgery.

The health agency also warns of risk of blood-borne infections including HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C due to poor equipment sterilization at Grand View. Other patients are advised to avoid the hospital until Mexican authorities give the all-clear.

Medical tourism presents a challenge to health authorities because Canadians are under no obligation to report when theyve had treatments abroad, Njoo said.

We cant demand or track any Canadian who decides to go overseas, said Njoo. Anyone could be going abroad for tourism and if that includes going for an elective procedure in a medical facility thats not something that we would necessarily be aware of.

A 2017 survey by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery found Canadians were the third-biggest market for plastic surgery outside their home country, behind only Americans and Spaniards.

According to Statistics Canada, overseas health-related spending by Canadians rose from $447 million in 2013 to $690 million in 2017.
Five Sub-$14 Buys

You dont have to spend a lot to find a good glass of wine. You just need to know what to buy. By good, I mean one thats a pleasure to drink  well balanced, well made and keeps you coming back for more. Of course, good should also mean honest value for money #pricematters. With that in mind, here are five sub-$14 bottles that over-deliver. Heres to living well  without spending large.

2018 Vina Carmen Alario Sauvignon Blanc, Central Valley, Chile (LCBO 638239 $8.95 in stores and online)

Brand spanking new to Ontario comes this aromatic, articulate Sauvignon Blanc that brims with flavours of pink grapefruit and damp herbs, lime and green pepper. Stylistically, it hovers midway between Marlboroughs full-throttle expression and the Loires more restrained version of the variety  a dry drop thats easy to enjoy on its own but also gastronomically versatile. It works particularly well with pesto pasta topped with crumbled goat cheese, toasted pine nuts and chicken.

Score: 92

2016 Nederburg The Winemasters Cabernet Sauvignon, South Africa (LCBO 111526 $11.95 till March 3, reg. $13.95, in stores and online)

South Africa can deliver serious value for money  especially at the lower price points. And this dry, full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon is a textbook example. Retaining the power and poise for which this grape is known, each sip cloaks the palate with crushed velvet flavours of cassis and cherries laced with toasted spice notes. Its not terribly complex but delivers outstanding concentration, flavour clarity and length for the price. Pour it with all those seasonally spot-on dishes such as stews, braises and meat pies.

Score: 93

2017 Joao Portugal Ramos Loios Red, Alentejo, Portugal (LCBO 89912 $9.30 in stores and online)

Pronounced loy-ohs, this supremely drinkable red is a bit of a find. It hails from a reputable producer  Joao Portugal Ramos  and offers a dry, medium-bodied wash of soft, juicy flavour. Quiet suggestions of damp soil and crushed stone imbue the mixed-berry centre with a touch of talc-like texture on the finish. This blend of Portuguese grape varieties  Aragones (Tempranillo), Trincadeira and Castelao  is sure to appeal to those who gravitate toward the classic table wines of Europe. Pour it with thin slices of cured ham.

Score: 90

2017 Open Smooth Red Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot VQA Ontario (LCBO 357145 $12.45 till March 3, Reg. $13.45 in stores and online)

If youre a fan of Sangria, youll love this silky-smooth, lighter-bodied red bursting with bright flavours of cranberries, strawberries and sugared rhubarb. The bottle packs a whack of sugar  26 g/L, which works out to about a full teaspoon per standard 5 ounce pour  but that sweetness is well balanced by pristine purity of fruit and mouth-watering acidity, so it finishes clean and dry. Works especially well with salty, umami-rich snacks such as shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Score: 89

2017 Santa Julia Pinot Grigio Del Mercado, Mendoza, Argentina (LCBO 545723 $13.95 in stores and online)

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If you like Pinot Grigio but find the style a bit lean this time of year, try this bottle. It offers more richness than most, without compromising the cool, crisp refreshment factor. Think gleaming flavours of mixed citrus that taste shiny and pure with a subtle top note of mango. Pour this vivacious Argentinean Pinot Grigio as a cocktail alternative, or with such flavourful fare as beef rendang.

Score: 89+
Every winter since Ayelet Tsabaris daughter was born, she and her partner Sean pack up to spend a couple months in Tel Aviv, where Tsabari grew up. In the past, theyve considered their time in Israel more like an extended visit, but this year its a potential trial to see whether they might make a permanent move, splitting their time between two countries.

Although shes happy to leave the pounding winter snowstorms behind for Tel Avivs numerous beaches, Tsabari misses her west-end Toronto neighbourhood and its familiar haunts. Theres the local cafe that knows how she takes her coffee, the shop where she buys vegetables, the neighbours who stop to chat. But Tsabari has spent the greater part of her life in transit, not just physically but emotionally as she straddled cultures and languages in pursuit of a sense of freedom. She learned how to make a home anywhere, whether it be nights sleeping in a hammock in a Thai village or navigating the grey and glass landscape of urban Vancouver.

It doesnt matter where I am at this point, movement is going to be a part of it, Tsabari says over Skype from Tel Aviv.

Tsabari explores her nomadic journey in her new memoir, The Art of Leaving, a beautifully written and engrossing story of a young woman who travels the world while slowly learning how to embrace her Jewish-Yemeni heritage and to overcome the murmuring sense of grief she held throughout her life after the death of her father, the first person to show real support for her writing. Its a coming-of-age memoir, filled with plenty of youthful sex, drugs and indiscretions, overlaid with a womans quest to find peace with her own identity.

If theres such a thing as a born writer, Tsabari might be it. I dont remember a time when I wasnt telling stories, she says. There was never really a question growing up that this is what I was going to do. Her first memories were creating comics, even before she could write, dictating the words to her older sister. At age 10, her stories were being published by a Hebrew childrens publication. By the time she was 15, she had a regular gig writing for a teen magazine.

It was such an assured trajectory, and then it all fell apart, Tsabari says.

After Tsabari completed her stint in the Israeli army, where she honed her rebellious spirit  her departure an event she describes as a limp handshake with no eye contact  Tsabari began travelling. If you were to track her locations on a world map, it would be crowded with push pins: New York, Los Angeles, Bangkok, Goa, among them. But with freedom came harrowing moments, like the time Tsabari accidentally drank kerosene, thinking it was water.

Tsabari looks back and observes a penchant for risk-taking and adventure she is no longer attached to, especially now that shes a mother. She discussed those feelings with a good friend who is Lebanese and discovered many parallels in their backgrounds: that growing up in places where theres political conflict or war often results in a higher baseline for what is considered risky or dangerous.

The idea of harm and risk is something that is really entrenched in the Israeli ethos, she says. Theres also growing up with grief, and the idea that there is nothing to lose. I think theres a higher awareness of temporariness, and the nature of life and the need to grab it.

During those years, Tsabari gave up writing, her insecurities and doubts overriding her ability to put pen to paper. It wasnt until much later, after she found a sense of peace living with Sean in Vancouver, that she took those first steps, relearning her craft in English.

I now I take all my risks in writing, she says.

Pushed by the memory of her father and his own later-in-life determination to write poetry, Tsabari found her way back to her childhood pursuit. Her debut 2015 story collection, The Best Place on Earth, was lauded by international media for its unique characters and rare literary depictions of Yemeni Jewish life, and that of other Mizrahi (Middle-Eastern) Jews, taking home that years prestigious Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature.

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Although her debut was critically well received, Tsabari admits shes scared of the response to The Art of Leaving. Memoirs can make any author feel naked and exposed. But it was an urge, something that had to be written, she says.

I went with it because I think thats the only way to live as a writer, or as an artist. I just followed the calling.
It sounds like a fairy tale, but it isnt.

The Green New Deal (GND) is a political and grassroots movement that links climate change with poverty and aims to solve both crises at the same time.

The young movement originated in the U.S. but has quickly gained adherents in Canada and Europe.

The GND is one of the most positive developments of our time, though its staying power is by no means assured.

At least for now, the GND has captured the imagination of Americas political class because of the remarkably wide sweep of its ambitions.

On the premise that environmental destruction is a cause of poverty, and is also in part caused by poverty, the GND links global warming with deprivation.

Thats a connection that experts have been making for at least a decade. But only now is it becoming a potentially powerful movement that is pressing, with urgency, for a multitude of reforms.

Take a deep breath.

The Green New Deal proposes replacing fossil fuels with alternative forms of energy in every part of society. It would also provide universal health care, free college, abundant affordable housing, a federal guarantee of a job and a universal basic income . (I wrote about that last week.)

In confronting poverty, the GND also calls for ending racialized discrimination and confronting abysmal living conditions in Indigenous communities.

Theres more, but you get the idea.

The GND got its official launch only last week. But nascent though it is, GND is the leading topic of discussion in U.S. politics.

Most Democratic candidates seeking the presidency in 2020 have embraced it. Liberal Democrats are joining the GND vanguard at a rapid clip. Many Republicans and conservative Democrats are afraid to criticize it, and some have cautiously endorsed it.

The relative sudden emergence of the GND gives it the appearance of a flash-mob movement.

It is anything but.

The GND is actually a long-delayed, inevitable counter-reaction to decades of middle-class decline and resulting wage stagnation. It is a response to the widening gap between rich and poor  income inequality  that holds back economies such as Canada and the U.S. with skills shortages and diminished consumer spending.

The GND effectively proposes an unofficial merger of environmental and social-justice progressives in hundreds of fields, strengthening the causes of each.

The GNDs overarching mission is rooted in the humanistic theology that Pope Francis drew upon in his milestone 2015 Encyclical on Climate Change and Inequality, a precursor to the GND manifesto in linking global warming with poverty.

The GNDs roots trace to landmark periods of social-justice reform, including the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919, the New Deal, the adoption of universal health care by every advanced economy except the U.S. and Pierre Trudeaus Just Society.

In business parlance, the GND would have progressives in various fields leveraging their association with the broad GND coalition to achieve goals that have long eluded them. That would mark a lessening of progressives working at cross-purposes in pursuit of narrow goals.

For instance, the environmental, or green, movement is so fractured that Paul Hawken, the pre-eminent environmentalist, has said that it cannot be seen  by anyone.

As such, the green movements objectives are easily denied sufficient priority by politicians.

The social-justice movement is similarly atomized, as Ann Pettifor, a fellow of the London-based New Economics Foundation recently noted.

Anti-poverty advocates fighting for social-welfare reforms and environmentalists intent on curbing the CO2 emissions that kill about 4,000 Chinese each day are engaged in a competitive game of raising profiles to advance their causes in isolation. And theyre doing so with minimal success, rather than collaborating, as the GND proposes.

The GND would be fantastically expensive, costing trillions of dollars to fully implement.

It seeks to retrofit hundreds of millions of buildings in the U.S. alone, to make them more energy efficient. And it calls for reinvention of a U.S. education system, currently ranked about 30th in the world, to prepare students for the high-skill jobs of the 21st century.

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If that seems fanciful, the GND would actually roll out over decades. It would see fierce debates and difficult compromises. And it would create hundreds of millions of jobs and unprecedented economic dynamism and tax revenue. It would ultimately be self-financing.

And that money has to be spent in any case.

Our species is at stake. Rising ocean levels that force the relocation of coastal populations will cost trillions of dollars and cause massive economic disruption. And we stand to lose entire inland cities such as Fort McMurray to more frequent and destructive forest fires.

The current global crises of food and freshwater shortages will become more acute as the impact of climate change worsens and as the world adds another 1.3 billion people by mid-century.

If the Green New Deal is infeasible, what do you call managing climate-change impacts? Sarah Ladislaw, a fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote recently. Surely thats infeasible.

In the vast low-income population worldwide, discontent is already manifesting itself in xenophobia, racism and the emergence of demagogic leaders. The consequences of chronic low-income life range from Brexit, a backlash against immigrants, to the violent racist confrontation in Charlottesville, Va.

The GND movement could fade, of course, as Occupy did. Outside the GND movement, hardly anyone knows what it is.

Society could kick the ball down the field yet again.

But the GND is politically potent.

All movements go too far. The reactionary decades of bitter partisan gridlock, fear-mongering and character assassination have about run their course. They have yielded only social divisions and widespread economic misery.

A Corporate America at odds with public policy on climate change, immigration, stalled infrastructure investment and underfunding of education and scientific research will not stand in the GNDs way. Neither will the U.S. Defense Department, which warns that climate change is Americas biggest national-security threat.

The GND, with its hopeful, constructive message, is tailor-made for U.S. politicians now embarked on the next election cycle.

And a Trudeau government now mired in scandal, and already musing about running on a UBI platform in this years election, is likely to take up other winsome GND proposals. It needs to change the topic to have a hope of retaining power.

Finally, as a political phenomenon, the GND commands interest because it cleverly co-opts Trumpism. It embraces Trumps America First populism, but replaces the hollow promise of the Trump version with an optimistic vision that taps into Americas can-do spirit.

Trump recognizes the threat and has quickly begun to demonize the GND. It is, Trump told a rally last week, a socialist plot that sounds like a high school term paper that got a low mark.

That, of course, was among the strongest endorsements GND advocates could hope for.
Justin Trudeaus government weighed the merits of ending a criminal case against SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. in part to avoid Canadian job losses, the prime minister said.

His former attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, quit cabinet this month after a report she was pressured by Trudeaus office to offer a remediation agreement to settle fraud and corruption charges facing the Montreal-based company. The prime minister acknowledged cabinet held talks about the case, but said he didnt express a preferred outcome to Wilson-Raybould.

As a government, we take very seriously our responsibility of standing up for jobs, of protecting jobs, of growing the economy, of making sure there are good jobs right across the country  as there are with SNC-Lavalin, Trudeau said at a press conference Friday in Ottawa. But as we do that, we always need to make sure were standing up for the rule of law and protecting the independence of our justice system.

The comments are Trudeaus widest-ranging yet in a controversy that has rocked his administration. A report last week by the Globe and Mail newspaper raised allegations of judicial interference and the fallout is undercutting his 2015 election pledge to bring real change to government. His Liberals, whose fortunes he revived after they were reduced to third-party status by the Conservatives under Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, have a long track record of questionable back room ties to corporate Canada.

Trudeau said his government has been lobbied on the issue by Quebec Premier Francois Legault, unions, industry representatives, and members of parliament. I can tell you our government did its job, Trudeau said. It was concerned about creating jobs, having a solid economy and also protecting jobs in Canada.

He said it was Wilson-Rayboulds choice to make. She was, at the time, both minister of justice and attorney general and had final say on remediation agreements.

Trudeau said Wilson-Raybould spoke with him about the matter in September. There were many discussions going on, which is why Jody Wilson-Raybould asked me if I was directing her, or going to direct her, to take a particular decision. And I of course said no, it was her decision to make. I expected her to make it. I had full confidence in her role as attorney general to make the decision, he said.

The prime minister said, as he has previously, that anyone concerned about pressure created by those discussions should have come to him if they felt they were inappropriate. It was her responsibility to come forward, it was their responsibility to come forward, and no one did, he said.

Trudeaus industry minister said the remediation agreements, also known as deferred prosecution agreements, were to level the playing field with other countries.

There is a deferred prosecution agreement tool in the tool-box, and really now the onus is on the attorney general or the prosecutor to use that tool, Navdeep Bains told Bloomberg on Friday, while echoing Trudeaus message that jobs are a priority. Thatll be our focus going forward  growth and jobs.

Trudeau moved Wilson-Raybould to veterans affairs, a less-senior portfolio, in a mini-shuffle last month. The SNC-Lavalin story broke afterward, and she quit cabinet this week. Trudeau said he would have never have moved her if his Treasury Board president hadnt resigned, forcing the change. If Scott Brison had not stepped down from cabinet, Jody Wilson-Raybould would still be minister of justice and attorney general, the prime minister said

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Investors should prepare for at least a temporary imposition of auto tariffs before this summer, according to Morgan Stanley.

Although we expect any auto tariffs would be fleeting, the event would certainly create at least some near-term pressure on economic fundamentals and investor sentiment, Morgan Stanleys Michael Zezas and Meredith Pickett wrote in a Feb. 13 note, calling it a low-conviction view.

While Morgan Stanley expects any tariffs to be rolled back quickly, implementation could happen by the summer, the strategists said.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is expected by Feb. 17 to submit to Trump a report on his investigation assessing how imports of autos and car parts impact U.S. national security. Trump has threatened a tariff of as much as 25 per cent and has focused on vehicles from the European Union. The president has pledged to refrain from imposing new levies on cars imported from the EU while the two sides try to reach a broader trade agreement.

In assessing the negative impact of any tariffs, the strategists cited a Center for Automotive Research report from July that said the price of both new and used vehicles would rise, and dealerships would see employment declines and a decrease in revenue.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are also warning investors to brace for the possibility of tariffs.

A report recommending them could come as a slight surprise to financial markets, economist Alec Phillips wrote in a note Friday. He sees a 40 per cent chance of broader auto tariffs at least temporarily, in an attempt to obtain greater concessions from the European Union and/or Japan.

On the broader trade issue, Morgan Stanley said it doesnt expect U.S.-China tariffs to rise on March 2.

We think the feedback loop between weak markets and a more constructive stance for both sides kicked in during the fourth quarter, the strategists wrote. Hence, we see both sides as highly motivated to come to terms.

While Zezas and Pickett think the debt ceiling is unlikely to have much of a market impact, other policy issues on the horizon which may do so include the attempted approval of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, and rhetoric starting to heat up in the 2020 presidential campaign.

Our policy outlook continues to support our colleagues views on U.S. equities (rangebound and likely to test the lows again this year), credit (remains in a bear market), and rates (lower bias on yields into year-end), the strategists said.

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CALGARY - Enbridge Inc. is confident that its Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project will come into service by the end of the year in spite of a renewed challenge launched this week by the newly elected governor of Minnesota.

On Tuesday, Gov. Tim Walz announced that his commerce department would petition the state Public Utility Commission to reconsider its approval of Line 3 through Minnesota, prolonging a process begun by his predecessor.

The $9-billion project to export crude from Alberta to Superior, Wis., where it will connect with pipelines to the U.S. Gulf Coast, is needed by shippers, supported by parties along its route and will create jobs and pay millions in taxes to local governments, said Enbridge CEO Al Monaco on a conference call on Friday.

The project is designed to replace an aging pipeline and restore its original capacity of 760,000 barrels per day, an increase of about 370,000 bpd.

Clearly, this pipeline is critical and it has massive support. With PUC approval, weve reached the final permitting and construction phase of the project, said Monaco on the call to discuss fourth-quarter financial results.

With regulators in all jurisdictions having now approved it, its full steam ahead on the remaining project execution phases.

As long as permits are received in time to get construction crews into the field by June, the Calgary based company will be able to put the pipeline in service before the end of the year, said Guy Jarvis, president of liquids pipelines, on the call.

Previous challenges by the former governor were set aside by the state utilities commission.

A lack of export pipeline space was blamed for steep discounts in western Canadian oil prices last year, leading to production curtailments by the Alberta government that began Jan. 1.

Enbridge said Friday its Canadian Mainline system  the major oil export route for Canadian oil  shipped a record average of 2.68 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter, up from 2.59 million bpd in the same period of 2017.

Full oil and gas pipelines throughout its Canadian and U.S. network and the addition of new services led to fourth-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations.

Adjusted net income for Canadas largest pipeline operator was $1.17 billion or 65 cents per share in the last three months of 2018, beating analyst estimates of $1.12 billion or 62 cents per share as noted by Thomson Reuters Eikon.

A year ago, Enbridge reported adjusted earnings of $1.01 billion or 61 cents per share for the fourth quarter of 2017.

Results were enhanced by operating performance, optimization of deliveries on existing pipelines, synergies from the Spectra Energy acquisition and $7 billion of projects brought into service in 2018, it said.

The results reflected many of the same influences that led to midstream rival TransCanada Corp. reporting net income of $1.09 billion on Thursday, up from $861 million for the same quarter a year earlier.

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Enbridge has a $16-billion inventory of projects which are scheduled to come into service between 2019 and 2023.

Companies in this article: (TSX:ENB, TSX:TRP)
Warren Buffett showing up in your share register can be a bittersweet affair. It confers a certain halo around your stock but also brings confirmation that it had gone to a dark place indeed. Such is the way to read Berkshire Hathaway Inc.s just-disclosed stake in Suncor Energy Inc.

Understanding why Suncor might attract the attention of the Omaha crew requires looking at two charts. The first is Suncors stock price:

The second is Suncors free cash flow, after deducting capital expenditure and dividends:

Unlike many other oil producers, Suncor has stuck pretty doggedly to a mantra of living within its means, covering not just capex from internal cash flow, but dividends too (it has also thrown in buybacks of late). It dipped into negative territory during the crash, but then so did everyone else. More importantly, as the second chart shows, Suncor kept its head during the years leading up to 2014, when most of the industry took $100(U.S.)-a-barrel oil as a signal to spend $120 a barrel. Combine that sort of record with a sharp sell-off taking down the entire sector, and youd be surprised if Buffett didnt take a look.

How should this be read for energy stocks in general? The hopeful interpretation is that a generalist  and not just any generalist  has found something to like in a sector where generalists have all but vanished. Unfortunately, its an interpretation that doesnt really hold up.

Energy isnt a big part of Berkshires portfolio in general, and Suncors weakened stock price, strong cash management and vertical integration in Canadas oilsands make it a special case. That integration is why it has been able to weather savage price discounts for Canadian barrels resulting from Albertas pipeline bottlenecks (see this). Its interesting to note that Buffetts other energy bets in the past decade have tended to focus on large, integrated companies  ConocoPhillips before it split (and retaining Phillips 66 afterward) and Exxon Mobil Corp. Berkshire did also make a foray into pipelines giant Kinder Morgan Inc. in late 2015, but was gone within a year.

There is precious little to read across from all this to the exploration and production stocks struggling to gain traction. They lack Suncors integration and track record of doing right by shareholders. They operate in a relatively fragmented part of the business U.S. shale  that is much more exposed to the swings of the oil price and where just managing to not spend every dollar that comes in counts as shareholder friendly.

There are temptingly low multiples to be found. Fellow Canadian Encana Corp., for example, dipped down to just six times forward earnings in the fourth quarter, while Suncor dipped to just 11 times. But then you remember that Encana did stuff like this, and, as with many of its peers, you realize the stock is cheap for a reason. The one thing E&P companies can take away from Buffetts bet on Suncor is that maybe Suncor does a few things worth emulating.

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Mortgage insurer Radian Group Inc. was in takeover talks with an investor group including Apollo Global Management LLC and Centerbridge Partners LP as recently as last week, before discussions stalled over the terms of a potential deal, according to people familiar with the matter.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which owns 2.4 percent of Radian, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, was also part of the group, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the details are private. Its unclear whether the talks could be revived, the people said.

Representatives for Apollo, Canada Pension and Radian declined to comment. Centerbridge didnt respond to requests for comment.

The talks come amid a pickup in financial services dealmaking in the U.S., as private equity buyers prowl for undervalued banks, insurers and other industry players looking for scale and diversity. This week, Thoma Bravo announced a $3.7 billion (U.S.) deal for mortgage software provider Ellie Mae Inc., while Morgan Stanley agreed to buy stock-plan administrator Solium Capital Inc. for about $900 million.

The talks come amid a pickup in financial services dealmaking in the U.S., as private equity buyers prowl for undervalued banks, insurers and other industry players looking for scale and diversity. This week, Thoma Bravo announced a $3.7 billion deal for mortgage software provider Ellie Mae Inc., while Morgan Stanley agreed to buy stock-plan administrator Solium Capital Inc. for about $900 million.

Radian helps home lenders mitigate losses by selling insurance that covers home buyers who take out mortgages with down payments of less than 20 percent, according to its website. Its mortgage and real-estate services arm helps financial-services firms and governments evaluate and securitize loans and asset-backed securities.
At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans were killed and more than 20 others injured in a blast in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, news agency ANI reports. The blast was triggered by militants to target two vehicles carrying the CRPF jawans.



Death toll in the Pulwama attack is around 40, K Vijay Kumar, advisor to the Jammu and Kashmir Governor, told ANI. The blast ripped through one of the buses the jawans were travelling in. The death toll is likely to go up.



A Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in, PTI report said. The bus which came under the main impact of the blast belonged to 76 battalion of the CRPF. The IED blast reduced the bus to a mangled heap of iron and body parts could be seen strewn around the area, the agency reported.



There were 70 vehicles in the convoy and one of the vehicles came under attack. The convoy was on its way from Jammu to Srinagar, said CRPF (Operations) Inspector General Zulfiqar Hassan adding that the Jammu and Kashmir police have taken over the investigation into the terror attack.



There were about 2500 personnel in the convoy, news agency ANI quoted CRPF Director General RR Bhatnagar as saying on Pulwama attack.

India, (Hindustan Times),

Feb 14, 2019
American country musician Jenny Lewis has released a new breakup ballad featuring Ringo Starr, 'Heads Gonna Roll', taken from her upcoming album, 'On The Line'.

The song is heavy on the pianos with slow swaying vibes and Starr on the drums accompanied by Lewis' mesmerising Stevie Nicks-esque vocals.

You can listen to the full track below.
I felt like I was part of their ceremony. It was fantastic. All that the judges put into this, it just makes it so special, said Deborah Buthusiem, mother of the groom

Pull Quote
The European Union (EU) reiterated the need to repeal and replace Sri Lankas Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in order to bring counter-terrorism legislation in line with international standards.

The members of the EU expressed these views during the 22nd session of the EU-Sri Lanka joint commission which was held on Thursday in Brussels.

The meeting was co-chaired by Ms Paola Pampaloni, Deputy Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service, and Mr. Ravinatha Aryasinha, Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka.

In a joint statement, the EU also reiterated its opposition to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and encouraged Sri Lanka to maintain its moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.

The meeting provided an opportunity to exchange views on the implementation of the UN Resolution on Sri Lanka. The important steps taken by Sri Lanka with regard to establishing an Office on Missing Persons and passing legislation to set up an Office for Reparations were welcomed. Sri Lankas continued commitment to the implementation of the resolution was acknowledged and the EU stressed the need for further progress in the advancement of national reconciliation. The EU expressed its continued readiness to support Sri Lanka in these efforts, the statement said.

The EU and Sri Lanka discussed the EU strategy on Connecting Europe and Asia, which aims to better connect Europe and Asia through transport links, energy networks, digital networks and people-to-people connections, and agreed to deepen their contacts in this field, including in view of the Indian Ocean Ministerial conference to be held in Colombo this year.

In this context, the Joint Commission noted that the European Investment Bank agrees to enhance its lending activities in Sri Lanka in the field of climate change mitigation and adaptation, particularly in support of renewable energy, energy efficiency, urban transport, and other investments which reduce CO2 emissions and/or strengthen resilience to climate change. The support extended to develop the SME sector was welcomed.

The statement further said the preferential access to the EU market granted to Sri Lanka under the GSP+ scheme has clearly benefitted Sri Lanka since the reintroduction in May 2017, with over 2.2 billion of exports under GSP+ during the period June 2017May 2018.

Both sides acknowledged that there was room to make even better use of the concessions granted. Sri Lanka reaffirmed the commitments made to implement 27 conventions on human and labour rights, environment and good governance so as to benefit from the GSP+ scheme, it said.

The EU and Sri Lanka agreed on a series of actions for follow-up before the next Joint Commission meeting in Colombo in 2020.
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Staff reports

Watertown Public Opinion

For those of us who have slid, shoveled and skated through the wildest up-and-down February weather in years, heres a warm thought: corn planters are rolling in southern Texas.

Need another reason to plant a smile on your face? In eight weeks, corn planters will be running all over todays wintry Midwest.

After that brief pleasantness, however, the outlook gets pretty cold pretty fast. Early February reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) strongly suggest that average  not good, not great; just average  2019 crop yields will deliver less than average prices.

Worse, last years trade wars with China, Canada, Mexico and the European Union (EU) continue. And thats despite the finally-finished 2018 Farm Bill that, once again, places American exports at the center of your farm and ranchs profit plan for years to come.

How center?

According to May 2018 data compiled by USDAs Foreign Agricultural Service, exports account for 76 percent of all American-raised cotton, 59 percent of all sorghum, 35 percent of all rice, 50 percent of all soybeans, 46 percent of all wheat, 21 percent of all pork and corn, 16 percent of all poultry, 15 percent of all dairy, and 10 percent of all beef.

That means, on average, American agriculture exports 20 percent of everything it grows. Given our farm policy, in fact, we must export 20 percent of everything we grow if U.S. farmers and ranchers are to have a fair shot at profit.

It also means that todays frozen standoffs between the White House and our biggest, most dependable ag customers must thaw to head off another year of melted margins. Last year, according to a Feb. 7 Wall Street Journal front page story on a recent wave of farm bankruptcies, (M)edian farm income for U.S. farm households was a negative $1,548 despite record productivity

But the fuel for any thaw with any tariff-targeted nation is anyones guess. In fact, todays trade fights with our biggest customers require moves by the White House that the White House isnt prepared to make.

For example, the EU recently reinforced its strong stand against including agriculture in any upcoming U.S.-E.U. bilateral trade talks. Weve made it very clear that agriculture would not be included, the EU trade commissioner repeated Jan. 9.

The White House refuses to acknowledge the EUs stand and, until it does, the talks will remain just that  all talk, no deal.

Thats standoff one; standoff two is equally frozen.

Mexico, the U.S., and Canada continue to operate under the 1993 NAFTA deal even though the White House tariffs against both  and their retaliatory tariffs on U.S. ag goods  have everyone eyeing each other with deep distrust. Yes, there is the pending NAFTA 2.0 deal awaiting approval by all three but, say Mexico and Canada, American tariffs must be removed before any endgame begins.

Even if the Trump administration did remove the tariffs  it requires but a nod  approval of the new trade deal must go through the Democratically-controlled U.S. House of Representatives. The chances of Democrats handing Donald Trump a political victory with the 2020 presidential campaign season well underway is roughly equivalent to the old snowball surviving in, well, you know where.

Last, but not least, is China, which, ironically, may be the easiest trade nut for the tariff-loving White House to crack. The reason is arithmetic: The U.S. buys nearly $400 billion more of Chinese goods than China buys of U.S. goods. As such, any prolonged trade fight between these consumer giants threatens Chinas economy four times more than ours.

In mid-February, that reality began to take root in China-U.S. talks. A wild card, however, is the White House overplaying its advantage. Still, both appear ready to extend their March 1 deadline if a path to reopen trade channels can be seen.

It cant come soon enough because if trade relations with our best ag export customers remain frozen after farm country begins to thaw, its going to be a long, hot summer for ranchers, farmers, and politicians alike.
Staff reports

Watertown Public Opinion

Shelly and Carol Pieper of Watertown recently donated 25 backpacks filled with clothing, blankets and hygiene items to the area REACH program headquartered in Watertown.

REACH stands for respond, educate, advocate, counsel and heal. Its task is to evaluate children for maltreatment concerns that include sexual abuse, physical abuse, exposure to dangerous drugs, witness to violence and neglect.

Shelly Pieper has almost 22 years teaching in the Watertown School District and is currently teaching kindergarten at McKinley Grade School. Her mother-in-law Carol is retired.

REACH consists of members from the S.D. Division of Criminal Investigation, Codington County States Attorneys office, Sanford Childs Voice, Human Service Agency, Beacon Center and the Child Protection unit of the S.D. Department of Social Services.

The REACH team collaborates from when a case is reported until it is resolved. The team meets in person at a medical clinic space in Watertown nearly every Tuesday in order to discuss and respond appropriately to each case. It receives technical support from the Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment at the University of South Dakota.

In 2018 the local REACH team tracked data on 122 children and one vulnerable adult. It identified 91 cases of sexual abuse, 33 of physical abuse, 22 witness to violence, 21 to drug endangerment and 16 to neglect.

The cases were reported from 16 area counties, including ones in southeastern North Dakota and west central Minnesota. Fifty-five cases were reported in Codington County and 23 in Roberts County.
Staff reports

Watertown Public Opinion

The 2019 Watertown Winter Farm Show is in the books! The Farm Show is always a great reunion and so fun to see everyone!

A big thank you goes out to all of the volunteers who helped make the 4-H Leaders Lunch Counter a success. Volunteers are truly the Heart of 4-H! Many volunteers help make our lunch counters run smoothly.

The volunteers consisted of 4-H members, 4-H leaders, 4-H parents, 4-H grandparents, 4-H alumni, and many, many friends of 4-H. The money raised will support 4-H education, trips, camps, scholarships, awards, and much more to support our 4-H youth.

Thank you to all of the volunteers for your time and talent as we greatly appreciate ALL of you. A big thank you to Sandy Struss and Lynnette Moes for all of their time to oversee the lunch counters and make the lunch counters a success along with our day chairs. Everyone worked together to make each day shine!

I enjoyed working with all of you and hope to see all of you again next year! Thank you also to the Extension staff at the Extension Complex for all of their hard work and extra hours including Becky, Kim, Scott, Gordy, Steve M., Steve D. and Tom.

Thank you to the Ag Chamber members for their donations of cups and napkins and for supporting us throughout the year. Thank you to the local businesses with all of their deliveries and help throughout the week. Thank you to Superior Farms for their donation of lamb and the Coteau Hills Cattlemen for their sponsorship of the beef. Thank you to Charlie Rossow and crew for cooking the pork and lamb. You are all helping To Make the Best Better.

Soles4Souls Project

The SDSU Extension 4-H Youth Development Program is partnering with the non-profit organization Soles4Souls and is hosting a shoe drive to help fight global poverty. Our goal is to collect 10,000 pairs of gently used or new shoes to help create jobs in developing nations. If we reach our goal, Soles4Souls will work with a local non-profit agency to provide new shoes to people in need in South Dakota.

Statistics show that on average people in the United States throw away 70 pounds of textiles per year. Only 15 percent is said to be donated or recycled. Its also estimated that 1.5 billion shoes lay idle in American closets. Dont waste a good opportunity! Put your unused shoes to good use and help create real economic change in developing nations.

Soles4Souls utilizes gently used or new shoes as a resource to help entrepreneurs in developing nations with an opportunity to start and sustain a small business (a micro-enterprise) of their own.

Because you donate the shoes you no longer need, Soles4Souls is able to provide a constant quality supply of product to entrepreneurs. Because of you, they can now lift themselves and their family out of poverty. The micro-enterprise program funds the distribution of new shoes to people in need internationally and domestically.

From now to August 1, 2019, please take part in this program to make a change. You can bring your new or gently used shoes of any kind to your local 4-H Extension Office.

Soles4Souls disrupts the cycle of poverty by creating jobs and providing relief through the distribution of shoes and clothing around the world. Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., the organization repurposes product to supply its micro-enterprise, disaster relief and direct assistance programs. Since 2006, it has distributed more than 30 million pairs of shoes in 127 countries. A nonprofit social enterprise, Soles4Souls earns more than half of its income and commits 100 percent of donations to programs. Visit soles4souls.org for more information.

Character quote

There are two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.

 Indira Gandhi

Upcoming events

February 18: Extension Office closed

February 19: 4-H Archery and BB Gun

February 21: 4-H Archery

February 25: Florence Cloverbuds, Group 1

February 26: Florence Cloverbuds, Group 2

March 5: Waverly Cloverbuds

March 7: Watertown Cloverbuds

All 4-H club news for this column must be submitted to the Extension Office by Monday.
Staff reports

Watertown Public Opinion

Everybody talks about the government, but nobody does anything about it. That statement has been true ever since the first barely-sentient creature slithered out of the primordial ooze and filed the paperwork to start a campaign finance committee.

Government is a mystery to many of us. Its like the internet: we dont know where it comes from and we dont understand how it operates. But making a misstep with it can bring misery.

When I was in high school, I was required to take a course called U.S. History. My choice of study would have been The Lifestyle of Hugh Hefner but, sadly, no such class was offered.

A large portion of U.S History dealt with how our government began and how it evolved from a simple, single-celled organism into the tentacled bureaucracy that it is today. It should come as no surprise that the public school that I attended was run by the government.

At mid-February it was decided that we U.S History students should participate in a field trip to the South Dakota State Capital to witness legislative democracy in action. The idea seemed to be that seeing how the sausage is made would elevate our collective opinions regarding sausage.

On the morning of our field trip my bleary-eyed classmates and I piled onto a school bus at zero dark-thirty. Most of us napped during the journey to Pierre. We were as excited as a herd of snails.

Pierre is a prairie town situated on the banks of the Missouri River out in the middle of nowhere. A town that happens to have a majestic, stone-clad Neoclassical capitol building at its center.

Linguistics are a major stumbling block to understanding government. Capitol denotes a particular building, whereas capital describes its city. To confuse things even further, capital can also mean money. Thus, the sentence Johnny the lobbyist went to the capital to distribute some capital at the capitol, is perfectly correct.

The plan was for us students to organize ourselves into orderly groups and take in the goings-on as the state legislature went about its lawmaking business. Like all plans, it didnt survive first contact with reality.

We quickly broke up into small disorderly groups and disbursed ourselves haphazardly throughout the capitol building. Some of us (ahem) tromped up and down the exquisite marble staircases several times before they discovered that there are elevators.

Other groups of high schoolers from other towns were also at the capitol that day. I randomly fell in with a disparate bunch of teenagers that included a pretty blonde girl from Woonsocket. I cannot recall her name, mainly because I was too shy to ask her what it was.

Our ragtag band roamed the ornate hallways, opening doors indiscriminately to see what was inside. Once, purely by accident, we entered a room that proved to be the viewing gallery for the Senate. We watched for a few minutes as some guy stood at the podium and droned on about something majorly boring such as wastewater debenture bylaws. We sensed that we were in danger of actually learning something, so we swiftly exited the gallery.

Gamboling down a corridor, we passed the governor and one of his assistants. I recognized the governor as a local guy who had previously operated a dairy equipment distributorship. It was nice to see that a small-town boy had made good.

The girl from Woonsocket said that she had heard there was a hidden stairway that led to the area above the rotunda and beneath the capitols copper dome. We decided to seek it out.

At length we discovered a small doorway that opened to a cramped set of wooden stairs. We climbed the stairs and soon found ourselves above the rotunda. The rotundas stained glass glowed softly from the lights below. A small window set in the massive dome afforded a commanding view of the Missouri glistening in the midwinter sun. It was not unromantic.

It was also very cold in that unheated space. We quickly decided that wed had enough and went back downstairs.

Weary of the capitol building, we walked outside. We strolled past an artesian fountain that gushed hot water, creating clouds of romantic steam. I thought about holding her hand but was too nervous and awkward.

Then it was time to go. As I trudged toward my bus, I glanced back at the girl from Woonsocket. She tossed me a tiny wave and I waved back.

I didnt learn much about government during that field trip. But I still wonder if I missed my chance to enact something  a bicameral or perhaps a filibuster  beneath that soaring copper dome.

Jerry Nelson is a former dairy farmer who lives near Volga, His book, Dear County Agent Guy, is available at Workman.com and in bookstores nationwide.
Staff reports

Watertown Public Opinion

BROOKINGS  I-29 Moo University Collaboration hosts the 2019 Dairy Beef Short Course March 26 in Sioux Falls at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in conjunction with the Central Plains Dairy Expo.

Dairy beef bull calves should be viewed as more than a by-product of the industry that has value, we need to focus on increasing the value of bull calves and how they can increase the bottom line for dairymen, feeders and processors, said Tracey Erickson, SDSU Extension dairy field specialist.

The 2019 Dairy Beef Short Course will focus on increasing producers understanding of the challenges and opportunities dairy genetics pose the feedlot, packing and retailers; enhancing profitability of dairy beef through proper genetic crosses with dairy cows and beef bulls as well as enhancing health protocols for dairy beef bull calves.

SDSU Extension is part of the I-29 Moo University Collaboration. Established as a multi-state learning community, the I-29 Moo University Collaboration connects extension dairy staff and dairy producers from North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska to share research, information and management practices through workshops, webinars, monthly e-newsletters and on-farm tours.

Registration info

To help cover costs, registration for the 2019 Dairy Beef Short Course is $20 per person and includes lunch as well as materials.

This short course is designed as a pre-educational event prior to the Central Plains Dairy Expo held at the Denny Sanford Premier Center (1201 North Avenue West) March 26, in rooms 1&2.

To register on-line go to https://tinyurl.com/dairybeefshortcourse.

For mail in registration, send checks made out to SDSU Extension, to the following address: Watertown Regional Extension Center, care of Tracey Erickson  Dairy Beef Short Course, 1910 West Kemp Avenue, Watertown, S.D. 57201.

Agenda

9:30 a.m. Registration & Visit with Sponsors

10 a.m. Realizing Full Value in Holstein Steers: Daniel Schaefer, Professor University of Wisconsin  Madison

10:45 a.m. Considerations for Choosing Beef Genetics to Use in Dairy Herds: Warren Rusche, SDSU Extension Beef Feedlot Management Associate

11:25 a.m. Dairy Cattle Impact on Beef Supply and Marketing Opportunities: Brenda Boetel, University of Wisconsin  River Falls

12:15 p.m. Lunch

1:10 p.m. Enhancing the Value of Your Dairy Beef Bull Calf to Meet Health Concerns: Russ Daly, Professor, SDSU Extension Veterinarian, State Public Health Veterinarian

1:50 p.m.  Roundtable Discussion  Building a Carcass for the Future: Jerry Wulf, Wulf Cattle; Kent Pruismann, Rock River Feeders; Erik Loe, Consultant for Midwest PMS and Duane Broek, Select Sires Representative

3 p.m. Participant Q&A

3:15 p.m. Adjourn

For more information call 605-882-5140.
Expert panel in banking and finance appointed to facilitate the firms restructuring

CBs deposit insurance and liquidity support scheme could cover 93% of TFC depositors in full



By Nishel Fernando

The Central Bank suspended the troubled non-banking financial institution The Finance Company (TFC) from taking new deposits and issuing loans with effects from yesterday (15th) as the losses at TFC continued to expand, amplifying the firms already severe liquidity issues.



The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (at its meeting held on 08th February 2019), having considered the weak financial performances of TFC, decided to take a number of regulatory action, as temporary measures, under the provisions of Finance Business Act No. 42 of 2011, with effect from 15th February 2019, with a view to safeguard the interests of the depositors and other stakeholders of the company.



The proposed regulatory measures include suspension of accepting new deposits, restrictions on withdrawal of deposits and restricting disbursement of loans and advances to facilitate the restructuring process of TFC. At the same time, all borrowers of the company are strictly advised to pay their dues, the Central Bank said.

TFC was severely impacted by the failure of a number of financial institutions within the group in 2008, and its financial status deteriorated since then, coupled with severe liquidity issues.



The Central Bank also announced the appointment of an experts panel in banking and finance to facilitate the restructuring process of TFC as previous efforts in identifying prospective investors and restructuring of the company have failed.



The company was seeking a strategic investor/s who could invest US$125 million as a special private share placement to turn around the firm within two years.

Although, several attempts were made to identify prospective investors and to restructure the company, such efforts have not materialized yet. Thus the continuity of the current status will be further detrimental to the interest of depositors and other stakeholders of the company.



With the restructuring process, it is expected to improve the cash flows and facilitate the prospective investors and revival of the company, the Central Bank said.

According to unaudited financial reports, TFCs net losses expanded 55 percent to Rs. 2.6 billion during first nine months of 2018 financial year compared to the same period of the previous year. The basic loss per share stood at Rs.10.39 at the end of the third quarter of 2018.



The accumulated losses at the end of third quarter amounted to Rs. 24.9 billion, which was higher than the total asset base of the company.



The firms total assets have declined to Rs.14.4 billion at the end of third quarter compared with the beginning of the year, when company had a total asset base of Rs.23.5 billion.



Net asset value per share stood at negative Rs.106.5 as at December 31, 2018 compared to negative net asset value per share Rs.90.24 at March 31, 2018.

As at 31st December 2018, high net worth investor Dr. T. Senthilverl held 11.79 percent shares of the firm.



According to the Central Bank, 93 percent of TFC depositors are holding deposits below Rs.600,000 and hence they can be paid their full deposit through the deposit insurance and liquidity support scheme, in case if the firm goes into liquidation.
Dan Crisler

Public Opinion Staff Writer

Halfway through the second month of her gubernatorial term, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem took to the road Friday to lay out her long-term priorities for improving the state.

Speaking before a lunch time crowd of approximately 150 people for nearly an hour at Lake Area Technical Institute, Noem detailed her administrations plans to expand rural broadband access, improve the outdoors experience, and partner with technical institutes to provide more opportunities to help more working age people develop the necessary skills needed for higher paying jobs.

On the issue of broadband, Noem termed the states situation as pretty good but with significant gaps in coverage in certain areas.

Noem relayed an example in Mellette, which is a town of 210 people about 25 miles south of Aberdeen, where broadband access is so limited that its regular practice for parents to drive their children to the Northwestern Area School parking lot in the evenings so the children can access the school wi-fi to complete their homework.

According to Noem, that example is just one where not having convenient access to broadband internet is a detriment.

We cant recruit businesses and families to a town if they dont have the ability get online to do their sales, marketing and bookkeeping, she said. Weve got several towns in South Dakota that lost their newspaper because they dont have good enough internet access.

To rectify that, Noem said her administration is challenging internet service providers to adequately fill the gaps.

Its not necessarily a lack of infrastructure in rural areas. Its a company problem. Weve got some companies that have done a good job covering their territories and some that havent. Noem told reporters. As governor, what Im going to do is really challenge those companies. Im going to make sure theyre accountable. Well offer some dollars to partner with them and with those other companies. But well also challenge them in that they have to be investing (those dollars). If they want to do business in South Dakota, then they have to make sure they get us the infrastructure we need to be successful.

In another priority, Noem said her administration is working with South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks to expand hunting opportunities across the state. With hunting being a significant part of the states tourism economy, Noem said the trends are going in the wrong direction with fewer youths being involved in hunting, the number of licenses declining, and the declining number of pheasants per mile.

We have to be aggressive in going after this in turning the trends around, Noem said.

One of the programs Noem said her administration wants to implement is a trap program to reduce the number of predators that prey on pheasants during nesting season so as to lead to a better hunting season.

Noem also said having expanded hunting opportunities will help get kids moving.

I think we need to expose kids to the opportunities of the outdoors with their families, enjoy a different type of activity and making sure were supporting our culture in South Dakota that were so proud of, she said. We want to get the kids off the Xbox and back out into the live box.

In a third priority, Noem also spoke of expanding opportunities for workforce development. While noting the states low unemployment rate, Noem acknowledged the low wages many working people in the state receive, leading to South Dakota having the highest percentage of working moms in the nation.

Most of the time what that means is there are two parents in the house who both have to work in order to pay the bills, Noem said.

To that end, Noem said her administration plans to work with the states four technical schools to provide more apprenticeship programs to train the students for careers that pay $25 or more dollars per hour.

That workforce development initiative is one part of a larger economic development picture that Noem said the state needs to prioritize.

Terming the next big thing for South Dakota is the next big industry, Noem indicated the state has been stagnant in overall economic development.

Frankly, weve been kind of treading water in South Dakota for about 10 years now. We need to go out and get that next big thing and bring it to South Dakota so that we have opportunity tor really grow, she said.

In addition to laying out her priorities, Noem also took the time to answer audience questions, largely dealing with legislative matters.

Watertown Mayor Sarah Caron opened Fridays luncheon by recognizing distinguished guests and introducing Noem.
Southern Pines, NC (28387)

Today

Mostly cloudy in the morning then periods of showers later in the day. High near 80F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 68F. Winds light and variable.
US embassy urges retiree expats to consider affairs after death

PHUKET: The US Embassy in Bangkok has issued an advisory for Americans living in Thailand as retirees, calling for US nationals to give special consideration to what happens to their effects in event of death.

death

By The Phuket News

Friday 15 February 2019, 04:26PM

Getting your affairs in order can let you get what you want even after death, advises the US Embassy. Photo: Mike Labrum / Unsplash

The notice, titled Why You Should Have a Will, was issued by the embassy today (Feb 15).

You are retired and content, living alongside tens of thousands of US citizens who call Thailand home. Have you given thought to the last piece of the puzzle: having your final wishes carried out? asks the missive.

Every year, the US Embassy in Bangkok, and the US Consulate in Chiang Mai, assist hundreds of bereaved families whose US citizen relatives pass away in Thailand. We have seen the peace of mind that comes from them knowing what their loved ones wanted  and the hardship that comes from confusion and lack of preparation, the notice explains.

Below, we share hard-earned lessons to help you care for your heirs and have your wishes met. Above all, this means writing a will and ensuring someone knows you have one, the notice adds.

The advisory is as follows:

Notifying Loved Ones  Help Us Help You

When we learn of a US citizens passing, we endeavor to find the next of kin and help them work with Thai authorities on next steps like cremation or burial. Though Thai law governs this process, Thai police and hospital representatives frequently rely on the US Embassy or US Consulate for confirmation and to relay instructions from the next of kin.

Sometimes US citizens do not have close family members who can serve as legal next of kin. Your will should clearly designate who you wish to act on your behalf, so we can make sure your wishes are followed quickly. The emergency contact you designate on passport renewals or in your STEP registration (click here) should also have this information.

Do You Want to be Cremated, Buried, or Sent Home to the United States?

When you pass away, do you wish to be cremated, or buried? In Thailand or in the United States? Or elsewhere? Who will pay for the funeral arrangements?

In our experience, decisions on funeral arrangements are among the most difficult, emotionally fraught, and frustrating for friends and family. Death overseas adds another layer of complexity. Frequently, the deceaseds remains are held in a hospital morgue in Thailand pending directions from the next of kin or the decision maker designated in the will. This individual may be asked to pay storage fees, or costs associated with final medical care, before their loved ones remains are released. They must then arrange for cremation or burial, and it gets more complex (and expensive) as they contemplate repatriating the remains to the United States. (The US Embassy and US Consulate can provide information and help to coordinate with local hospitals and police, but has no funds to assist with funeral arrangements or repatriation of remains.)

You can help your family or other designee by indicating your wishes and setting aside sufficient funds to cover any necessary arrangements. Most importantly, make sure they can access those funds by providing them with a power of attorney.

Who Will Inherit Your Assets in Thailand and in the United States?

Thai and US probate processes are separate and are governed by the laws in each country; your will should address both.

Are you separated or estranged, but not divorced? Do you have a long-time boyfriend or girlfriend, but arent married? Do you have multiple children, or numerous siblings? Are you the last living relative?

If you die without a clear primary next of kin, there can be long delays in the settlement of your estate. Worse still, your intended beneficiaries may find they have no recourse if Thai or US law points to a different next of kin and you have not indicated your wishes in a will. And remember, a Thai partner in a common law marriage with a US citizen is not recognised by the United States as next of kin  unless he or she is specified in the will.

Do They Know What You Have?

It is also very important you make a detailed list of your possessions and how you want them to be disbursed. While we have found the probate process in Thailand is typically sufficient to safeguard real property (land, condos, houses, etc.), it can be very difficult to account for other items between the time of death and notification of next of kin. This includes bank book information, cash and jewelry, and objects of sentimental value.

The US Embassy and US Consulate can serve as provisional conservators for your estate if your loved ones are not in Thailand, but we are limited in our ability to immediately secure your possessions. Thai authorities can and frequently do assist at our request, but the surest way you can guarantee your loved ones receive what you bequeath to them is to spell it out in a will. You may wish to have the will translated into Thai and share it with Thai friends, as well.

Who Will Ensure Your Will is Recovered?

Once you have a will, have a strategy for making it known. Thai officials, the US Embassy or US Consulate, and loved ones must all make consequential decisions immediately after a US citizen passes away. Even when we make contact with friends or family members, they frequently do not know if the deceased US citizen had a will.

Make sure your will is stored in a safe, secure, and readily accessible location  such as filed with a law office  and that friends and family, especially the designated administrator, know where it is. You should give them an electronic copy and ensure they know to contact the US Embassy.

Time Now to Sit Back and Enjoy

Thailand has long been a welcoming and gracious host to US citizen retirees. We at the US Embassy and US Consulate are committed to serving your community and helping you to enjoy your well-earned retirement. We hope that you will take the time to ensure your final wishes are articulated and your loved ones are cared for afterwards. Peace of mind, after all, is the goal of the Third Chapter in Life.

The notice adds:

This article was drafted by the American Citizen Services unit of the US Embassy in Bangkok, part of an advice column for US citizens permanently living in Thailand.

For more information that could assist you in planning for your familys future, please visit "US Citizen Services / Death of a US Citizen" (click here.)

US citizens resident in Thailand are subject to Thai law, including for issues related to bereavement. The US Embassy cannot assist in drafting or witnessing a will. This is not professional legal advice. People may wish to consider contacting a legal service provider. (See US Embassy list of legal service providers, click here.)

Stay on top of the latest news and current events with the US Embassy homepage (click here), which includes links to homepages of other US government agencies.
Fully agree with Fascinated No need or reason why the Thai Government to demand that you have an in...(Read More)
Police probe launched after Chinese tourist suffers DCS in try dive

PHUKET: Police have launched an investigation into a Chinese tourist suffering decompression sickness after an incident during a try dive tour at Koh Racha Yai on Wednesday (Feb 13).



By The Phuket News

Friday 15 February 2019, 05:55PM

The Chinese tourist, Li Chunjun, 36, was rushed to Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town. Photo: Chalong Municipality

The probe comes at the request of the Chinese consulate in Phuket.

The tourist, Li Chunjun, 36, was rushed back by speedboat back to Chalong Pier, where EMS workers were waiting for him.

The Andaman Narenthorn emergency call centre was informed of Mr Lis situation at 2:15pm, an emergency medical service official at Chalong Municipality confirmed.

Mr Li was first taken to the Accident & Emergency Centre at Chalong Hospital, then quickly moved to Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town.

The Chinese Consulate in Phuket has since confirmed that Mr Li has recovered and already been discharged from hospital, Chalong Police Deputy Chief Lt Col Somsak Soparak told The Phuket News today (Feb 15).

The Chinese consulate have asked police to investigate this accident. Police are now carrying out an investigation to find out what happened, Col Somsak said.

Capt Ekkachai Siri of the Phuket Tourist Police confirmed late this afternoon that Mr Li was staying at a hotel in Patong.

Mr Li is expected to fly home soon, Capt Ekkachai said.

News of Mr Lis bout of DCS, also commonly called the bends, broke through a Facebook post by local conservation group Go Eco Phuket (see post here), which comprises many local divers working in the dive tour industry.

Go Eco Phuket Secretary Ittiput Schadt told The Phuket News today that Mr Li was exposed to DCS while on a try dive tour off Koh Racha.

This try drive was to a depth of about 10 metres led by a non-certified and non-experienced male guide. The Chinese tourist suffered an embolism, Mr Ittiput said.

Please, the Tourism Business and Guide Registration office should check diving schools on Koh Racha to make sure dive activities are safe, he said.
DMCR steps up after tourism blast over pile of unused artificial reef blocks at Koh Racha

PHUKET: The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) will move to tidy up a pile of artificial reef blocks dumped on sea bed off Koh Racha Yai, south of Phuket, as they have been taregtted as an eyesore for foreign tourists divers.

tourismmarineconstructionenvironmentnatural-resources

By Waranya Prompinpiras

Friday 15 February 2019, 03:47PM

The unsightly pile of unused artificial reef blocks dumped on the sea bed in Kon Kare Bay at Koh Racha Yai, south of Phuket, is drawing fire from tourists. Photo: Go Eco Phuket

The news follows local marine conservation group Go Eco Phuket posting photos of the pile of concrete cubic frames, sitting piled up on the sea floor in Bay 1 off Koh Racha, on its Facebook page on Wednesday. (See here.)

DMCR Phuket office Director Watcharin Na Thalang was unavailable to comment when called by The Phuket News.

However, Nipon Thongyoo, head of the Development of Fisheries and Marine Environment Division at the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) head office in Bangkok, told The Phuket News today (Feb 15) that the Go Eco Phuket post had been brought to the attention of DMCR Director-General Jatuporn Buruspat.

Now, he has ordered me to fix this problem. I plan to do so in the next two to three weeks, but we cannot do anything right now as the wind is too strong, Mr Nipon said.

Go Eco Phuket in their post yesterday confirmed that the pile of blocks sit at the bottom of Kon Kare Bay, on the east side of Koh Racha Yai. Local divers refer to the bay simply as Bay 1.

Go Eco Phuket Secretary Ittiput Schadt told The Phuket News that the pile of blocks is damaging the local dive industry.

Foreign tourists pay money to dive at Racha Yai Island. It is a very beautiful island, but when they dive there, they see a boat that had been sunk to be a dive site and nearby they see these blocks, he added.

At the end of January, a foreign tourist took pictures of these blocks and posted on their own social media with the caption Concrete waste of Phuket tourism, he said.

One pile alone comprises about 20-30 blocks, amongst about 100 blocks strewn across the sea floor, Mr Ittiput explained.

We have asked the DMCR to at least arrange the blocks so they look better, but they just replied that there were strong wind waves on the day the blocks were dropped into the water, he told The Phuket News.

After being informed of the news that DMCR Director-General Jatuporn Buruspat himself had seen the post and ordered for action to be taken, Mr Ittiput said, I am glad that the DMCR gives importance to this issue

If the DMCR is not ready to fix this, either it has not set aside the budget necessary or have the workers available immediately, they can call us for help. We believe that there are many volunteer divers who are willing to help re-arrange the blocks, he said.

We will arrange them according to the form specified by the DMCR. We could even stack them into a beautiful pyramid pattern, Mr Ittiput added.

A similar structure of made from unused artificial reef blocks already stands proud on the sea floor off Koh Racha, right beside the popular standing motorbike attraction for divers. (See here.)
This week The Point discusses the Steelers NFL draft, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, LaMelo Ball returns, and LeBron and teams in the playoffs.
Louise Cowcher, Director Education of the British Council in Sri Lanka, Dr. G.B. Gunawardena, Vice Chairman (Policy) National Education Commission, Prof. W. I. Siriweera, Chairman, National Education Commission

The British Council of Sri Lanka announced this week that it continues to strengthen its longstanding partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka in education and skills development. The British Council has been working for nearly seventy years with the Government of Sri Lanka across a range of ministries and departments. In 2017, British Councils engagement was reframed as its flagship programme TRANSFORM, as encapsulated under the Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Education. Education reform is a major area of focus for government, with many partners working in the area. We want to make a meaningful contribution, says Louise Cowcher, Director Education of the British Council in Sri Lanka. Asking ourselves what a strong education system would really look like, who it would cater to and why, proved to be important in designing a strong programme.

The answer to these questions was simple but revealing; a strong education system would create access for all young people to learning opportunities, provided by a fit for purpose and relevant education system, allowing them to contribute to Sri Lankas economic and social development, while also achieving their full potential and meeting personal aspirations. To achieve this, TRANSFORM tackles: professionalization of the education cadre; systemic reform and quality assurance; the transition from education to employment; research, evaluation and learning; and effective communication. The programme framework pulls British Councils extensive work in the areas of secondary and higher education, skills and English language teacher education. In 2017, TRANSFORM began delivering on the results area of professionalization under the Improving Teacher Education in Sri Lanka project in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. The programme has now turned its focus on the results area of Transitions, which explores the move from education to employment.

A workshop hosted by the NEC at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute addressed the reappraisal of the countrys Career Guidance policy together with key stakeholders in the field

The Careers Guidance project aims to support the development of a robust system that will allow young people to make informed choices about their future education and work, allowing them to contribute to Sri Lankas fast-tracked economic growth. This will certainly help young people gain employment and job satisfaction.Accessto a competent workforce is also a priority for Sri Lanka in fostering private sector led growth, attracting foreign investment and becoming competitive in global markets. Career guidance is an essential tool that can be embedded in school programmes and practices, guiding young people to make informed, non-conventional and eventually profitable choices about their career trajectory after school. TRANSFORM will engage with all key stakeholders from both government and the private sector to ensure the formation of a skilled and competent workforce.

British Council has been invited by the National Education Commission which is the policy making body in all aspects of education in Sri Lanka to collaborate on the reappraisal of the existing Career Guidance policy. At a meeting convened by NEC with the support of the British Council on 24 January 2019, key stakeholders were brought together from a wider range of government departments, education providers and employers representatives to discuss current practices in the implementation of the career guidance policy, its challenges and possible ways forward.

Speaking at the event, Dr. G.B. Gunawardena, Vice Chairman (Policy) National Education Commission said: The need for a reappraisal of the Career Guidance Policy at school level demands an analysis of the present policy context and the situational context to resolve the current issues and concerns that need to be addressed in updating the current policy. The task of National Education Commission is to work towards a coordinated effort by all agencies engaged in Career Guidance Programmes at school level to develop a comprehensive policy on career guidance at school level.

Key issues identified by Dr. Gunawardena includethe need for strong policy; effective and systematic organisational structure for implementation; aqualified cadre of professionals; therole of parents in decision making; co-ordination between agencies.

The participants represented the major stakeholders in the field of career guidance -National Career Guidance and Counseling Centre, Ministry of Education, Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission, National Institute of Education, Department of Manpower and Employment, National Youth Services Council, National Apprentice and Industrial Authority, National Youth Corps, Sri Lanka Foundation, Sri Jayawardenapura University, University of Colombo, The Organization of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Institute of Career Guidance, Assistant Directors of Education, education advisors, principals and teachers of schools.

Prof. W. I.Siriweera, Chairman, National Education Commission, commented: The development of man-power resources required for socio-economic growth is a prime concern of all governments. The British Council has contributed to the enhancement of human resources in the fields of General, Vocational and Higher Education in Sri Lanka. This year, the British Council has embarked on a project related to school-based career development in Sri Lanka with the collaboration of the National Education Commission which is the Policy making body in all aspects of education in our country. As a preliminary step a very successful one-day workshop was held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute bringing most of the stakeholders together on 24th January.
A meritorious act by the Lyceum Bikkhu Education Unit

The introduction of Mahayana Buddhism imposed various challenges on Theravada Buddhism although they remain to be two broader dimensions of Buddhism today. As a means of spreading the words of Buddhism in English, Mohan Lal Grero, founder of Lyceum International Schools has taken the initiative to teach monks and bikkunis in temples.



Therefore, monks and bikkunis in temples around the island will participate in the initiative which is done free-of-charge. The three courses (Certificate, Diploma and Higher Diploma ) are conducted under the supervision of Shane Blok and Upul Grero. With over a decade of experience in his teaching career, Upul Grero is pleased to announce further progressive changes in this years programme as well. The monks and bikkunis who attended the past few courses were able to preach bana in English, he said. Therefore we decided to introduce quicker methods of teaching in order to benefit the attendees. Mohan Lal Grero has been involved with religious activities for quite a long time. While he was away, he was interested in developing this concept in Sri Lanka so that the monks in this country could carry the message forward. This is why this programme is continually taking a newer outlook almost every year.



Monks and bikkunis could attend this course irrespective of their age, as it caters to a wider group. Theres no age requirement to learn a second language, Upul Grero said further. What is required is their dedication. Over 2000 monks and bikkunis have attended this course over the past ten years. Most of them have gone overseas to countries such as Thailand, Canada, Burma and Australia to commence their activities there.

For Venerable students to join and follow the course you can contact the course director Upul Grero on - 0773610391 and Lyceum Nugegoda on 0112829744.
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The Tourism Ministry launched the 2019 Indonesia Muslim Travel Index (IMTI) on Wednesday.

According to kompas.com, the IMTI is based on the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI), a ranking system that evaluates and ranks countries based on how well they cater to Muslim travelers.

In the 2018 GMTI, Indonesia was ranked second after Malaysia. The 2019 IMTI was created to push Indonesias ranking to first place in the 2019 GMTI meeting, which is slated to take place in the middle of the year.

The ministry has selected 10 halal destinations for the 2019 IMTI, namely Aceh, Riau and Riau Islands, West Sumatra, Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara and South Sulawesi.

Read also: Indonesia eyes top position on 2019 Muslim travel index

These destinations will receive assistance and will later be monitored and evaluated based on the GMTI.

The movement of the worlds Muslim travelers is amazing. Indonesia is highly committed to becoming a global player for halal tourism, said Anang Sutono, head of the ministrys halal tourism acceleration team.

Anang said he deemed the commitment was right considering Indonesia was the worlds largest Muslim-majority country.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said Indonesia had developed four aspects of the GMTI ahead of other countries.

He said that the 2019 IMTI would allow each area to be developed as a halal tourism destination. (jes/wng)
Direct flights between Moscow and Indonesia's resort island of Bali have boosted tourism in the Southeast Asian archipelago, said Indonesian Ambassador to Russia Wahid Supriyadi.

"The increase in Russian tourists in 2018 was 6.95 percent from 117,500 in 2017 to 125,700 people," Wahid said, as quoted by kompas.com.

He added that that was the result of efforts by various parties, including tour operators, tourism agents, media companies and airlines in promoting Indonesian tourist destinations to the Russian public.

Wahid said the opening of direct flights between Moscow and Bali's capital of Denpasar by Russian airline Rossiya Airlines in October 2018 was a key factor for increasing the number of Russian tourists.

The direct connection is a convenient travel mode for Russian tourists with a travel time of around 12 hours.

Wahid noted that Indonesia had been recognized as a popular destination for global travelers, including being named the sixth-most beautiful destination by Rough Guides and one of the safest countries for solo travelers at number 9 in the Global Peace Index.

Indonesia even had three of its islands named as the most beautiful islands in the world, according to Travel + Leisure, namely Java at number 1, Bali in second and Lombok in third place.

Read also: Indonesia wants at least 1.5 million Australian tourists in 2019

Various programs by the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow in collaboration with Indonesia's Tourism Ministry seek to lure Russian tourists to Indonesia, such as sales missions, joint promotion programs, the participation in tourism exhibitions, familiarization trips as well as the annual Indonesian Festival in Moscow.

The Indonesian Festival, organized by the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow since 2016, is a platform for the promotion of trade, tourism and investment and also aims to increase people-to-people contact between Indonesia and Russia.

In 2018, the number of visitors to the third annual Indonesia Festival reached 135,000, and for the upcoming festival to be held from Aug. 1-4, the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow has set a target of 140,000 visitors. (liz/kes)
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Linkedin Hla-Hla Htay (Agence France-Presse) Yangon, Myanmar  Fri, February 15, 2019 15:05 860 acca405afacc7201380025f21a04ba3e 2 SE Asia #Myanmar,#HateCrime,Court,sentences,killing,Muslim,lawyer Free

A Myanmar court Friday sentenced two people to death for the murder of a Muslim lawyer and Aung San Suu Kyi advisor, after a drawn-out trial backlit by allegations of impunity with a main suspect still at large.

Ko Ni, whose work and faith made him a target of hate speech online by Buddhist nationalists, was shot in the head at point blank range outside Yangon airport in January 2017, while holding his infant grandson.

The brazen, daytime murder shocked the country and came about eight months after civilian leader Suu Kyi's administration entered office.

Ko Ni was a legal advisor to her National League for Democracy and had been working on plans to amend the 2008 military-drafted constitution, which gifts the armed forces control of defence and a quarter of parliamentary seats.

Critics have said the slow trial fell short of establishing a complete picture of what led to the murder, pointing to the military backgrounds of two suspects on trial and an elusive fugitive thought to be the mastermind.

Judge Khin Maung Maung sentenced gunman Kyi Lin, who also shot and killed a taxi driver while fleeing, "to death until he dies by hanging."

Though Myanmar has the death penalty it has not been carried out in at least 10 years, according to Amnesty International.

The shooter also received an extra 23 years and hard labour for weapons charges and the death of taxi driver Nay Win, who chased him after Ko Ni was gunned down.

Accomplice Aung Win Zaw, who was at the airport, was also sentenced to death.

Two other defendants Zeya Phyo and Aung Win Tun, who assisted at different stages of the plot, received five years and three years imprisonment with hard labour respectively.

Armed police, journalists and diplomats crowded the dilapidated courthouse in Insein, on the outskirts of Yangon, awaiting the verdict.

Myanmar was ruled by military-backed regimes for almost five decades. The 2008 charter enshrines the military's political power by giving it an effective veto over constitutional change.

It also bars presidential candidates with foreign spouses. The clause was believed to be aimed at Suu Kyi, who had a family with a British academic.

Instead she serves as state counsellor, a position that Ko Ni is said to have devised.

The NLD formed a committee this month to discuss changes to the constitution, a move opposed by military MPs.

Ko Ni had been one of the few high-profile Muslims still involved in politics in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, after the NLD failed to enlist any Muslim candidates in its historic 2015 election run.

The case is one of many that have marred the international legacy of former dissident hero Suu Kyi, who was criticised for not going to his funeral.

Suu Kyi's global image lays in tatters for her handling of the Rohingya crisis and the jailing of two Reuters journalists.
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Linkedin Stanley Widianto (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, February 16 2019

Temptations: Ave Maryam, penned and directed by Ertanto Robby Soediskam, portrays the human body as both sacred and carnal.

Ertanto Robby Soediskams turgid film, Ave Maryam, which he writes and directs, is a story of lust and guilt in equal measure.

The Bible portrays lust as many things, including the fact that it exists. King David succumbs to it when he orchestrates the death of Uriah, so that he could marry his wife, Bathsheba  whom he first sees while shes in the shower. Incestuous desires trouble the mind of King Davids son, Amnon, who rapes his half-sister.



In a way, Ave Maryam could be a modern retelling of the sinful Adam and Eve arc. It concerns a nun who lives in a Catholic monastery in Semarang, Sister Maryam (Maudy Koesnaedi).



Along with the younger nuns in the monastery, Maryam takes care of the elderly nuns, inclu...
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15, 2019 12:51 861 acca405afacc7201380025f21a046392 1 City pork,pork-cuisine,Dispute,quarrel,West-Jakarta,neighbors Free

A video clip posted to Twitter, showing two neighbors arguing in the street over the smell of cooking pork, has gone viral on Thursday.

The video clip shows the two men arguing in the street surrounded by a small group of people in a residential area in Cengkareng, West Jakarta.

Ketika tetanggamu masak babi dan harumnya kemana mana. Kemudian kamu mara mara karena sepertinya itu mengusik imanmu.



Rahmatan lil alamin 



2beer!pic.twitter.com/g8nzG4XeYc  Tubiristic (@tubirfess) February 14, 2019

In the clip, a man who has been identified as Kuswanto is seen scolding his neighbor, Doni Pranata, for cooking pork and letting the smell enter his house.

[You are cooking] pork, right? Dont cook it here! Kuswanto is heard saying in the clip.

In response, Doni says in a relatively calm tone that there is no law that prohibits him from cooking in his own house: You dont have any right to intervene in what your neighbor cooks.

The video, which was posted on Feb. 13, had gained 238,000 views at the time of publishing.

Some of the onlookers appear to be siding with Kuswanto, while others sympathize with Doni.

West Cengkareng subdistrict head Boy Raya confirmed the incident, saying that Doni had cooked the pork dish to sell later.

Meanwhile, Pak Kuswantos house is right in front of Pak Donis, and he was bothered by the [smell], Boy said as quoted by kompas.com.

Boy also confirmed that no regulations existed that banned residents from cooking pork, but that Doni had agreed to install a vent so the smells from his kitchen would not escape and affect his neighbors.

The two neighbors have signed an agreement, under which Doni must install the vent by the end of the month. (gis)
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Munich, Germany  Fri, February 15, 2019 07:32 861 acca405afacc7201380025f21a035963 2 World #war,#babies,war,killed,thousands,babies Free

At least 100,000 babies die every year because of armed conflict and its impact, from hunger to denial of aid, Save the Children International said on Friday.

In the 10 worst-hit countries, a conservative estimate of 550,000 infants died as a result of fighting between 2013 and 2017.

They succumbed to war and its effects, among them hunger, damage to hospitals and infrastructure, a lack of access to health care and sanitation and the denial of aid.

It said children face the threat of being killed or maimed, recruited by armed groups, abducted or falling victim to sexual violence.

"Almost one in five children are living in areas impacted by conflict -- more than at any time in the past two decades," said the charity's CEO Helle Thorning-Schmidt in a statement.

"The number of children being killed or maimed has more than tripled, and we are seeing an alarming increase in the use of aid as a weapon of war," she said on releasing the report at the Munich Security Conference.

Save the Children said a study it had commissioned from the Peace Research Institute Oslo had found that 420 million children were living in conflict-affected areas in 2017.

This represents 18 percent of all children worldwide and was up by 30 million from the previous year.

The worst-hit countries were Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The total number of deaths from indirect effects over the five-year period jumped to 870,000 when all children under the age of five were included, the charity said.

It also issued a list of recommendations to help protect children, from steps such as committing to a minimum age of 18 for military recruitment to the avoidance of using explosive weapons in populated areas.

Thorning-Schmidt said the rising number of child casualties was very worrying.

"It is shocking that in the 21st century we are going backwards on principles and moral standards that are so simple -- children and civilians should never be targeted."
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) London, United Kingdom  Fri, February 15, 2019 10:10 861 acca405afacc7201380025f21a03a730 2 World #UK,#Russia,UK,Skripal-poisoning,Russia,agent,suspect Free

A third man suspected of involvement in the nerve agent poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in England last year is a high-ranking Russian military intelligence agent, the investigative website Bellingcat said on Thursday.

Skripal, a former officer in Russian military intelligence who betrayed dozens of spies to MI6, and his daughter Yulia were found slumped unconscious on a bench in the southern city of Salisbury in March 2018 after being poisoned with the Novichok military-grade nerve agent. Both later recovered.

A police officer was also sickened, and a woman who lived nearby died after her partner brought home a fake perfume bottle with what police say was the poison, discarded by the attackers.

Britain has accused two Russian GRU military intelligence officers of carrying out the attack and Bellingcat said it had identified a third Russian agent who was also in Britain at the time and was suspected of being involved.

"Bellingcat can now reveal the true identity and background of this GRU officer, who operated internationally under the cover persona of Sergey Vyachaeslavovich Fedotov," it said.

"In fact, this person is Denis Vyacheslavovich Sergeev, a high-ranking GRU officer and a graduate of Russias Military Diplomatic Academy."

Last September, British prosecutors charged two Russians - known by the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov - with attempted murder in their absence.

Bellingcat was the first to identify the men as Alexander Yevgenyevich Mishkin and Anatoly Chepiga, both of whom worked forRussia's GRU intelligence services.

Two Russians, who identified themselves as Petrov and Boshirov, appeared on Russian TV to say they were innocent tourists who went to Salisbury to see its cathedral, travelling there on consecutive days during a weekend visit to Britain.

The Kremlin has also repeatedly denied any involvement in the incident, accusing British intelligence agencies of staging the attack to stoke anti-Russian hysteria.

Britain's Foreign Office said it had no immediate comment on the Bellingcat report.

On Monday, Bulgaria said it was investigating a possible link between the Skripal attack and the poisoning of an arms dealer in Sofia in 2015.

Bulgarian Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov said Fedotov had visited Bulgaria three times in 2015 and was there in April when local arms dealer Emilian Gebrev was poisoned.
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Linkedin Bobby Anderson (The Jakarta Post) Yangon  Fri, February 15 2019

President Joko Jokowi Widodo recently declared, at a meeting of ulema from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia, that Palestine was on each Indonesians breath.



In December of 2017, he stated anything related to providing support to Palestine is part of the commitment of our country and our people. In 2016 Indonesia hosted the Organization of Islamic Cooperations Fifth Extraordinary Summit of Palestine and Al-Quds Al Sharif in Jakarta.



At that conference, sub-titled A just solution for Palestine, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi expressed concern over Israels use of force against Palestinian civilians, as well as the changing demographics of Jerusalem in favor of Jewish settlers: Jokowi, for his part, urged unity in the struggle for Palestinian rights. Indeed, an independent Palestinian state is one of Jokowis only recognizable foreign p...
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15, 2019 20:06 860 acca405afacc7201380025f21a0536ff 1 National HTI,Supreme-Court,mass-organizations,radical-group Free

The Supreme Court has rejected a case review petition filed by the now-disbanded Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) against the governments instruction to revoke its legal entity status and its disbandment, the court said in its official website.

HTI filed the petition with the Supreme Court after its petition to the same effect was rejected by the Jakarta State Administrative Court in May last year.

The petition is rejected, the Supreme Courts official website stated.

Read also: Indonesia disbands Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir

The rejection means that the organization officially disbanded.

Through a presidential regulation, the government in 2017 disbanded the organization for being against the state ideology Pancasila.

The Law and Human Rights Ministry issued HTIs organizational permit in July 2014. However, the group has since been accused of promoting the establishment of a caliphate. (das)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15, 2019 17:37 860 acca405afacc7201380025f21a04febf 4 Business Scorpion,Lion-Air,plane Free

Passengers of Lion Air flight JT-293 were shocked by the appearance of a scorpion in the cabin of their plane taking them from Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Riau to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Thursday.

The incident was recorded by one of the passengers, who posted a video of it on a social media platform.

Lion Air spokesman Danang Mandala Prihantoro said on Friday that the airline was still investigating the appearance of the venomous animal.

Based on our observation of the video, it seems like a spider, he said as quoted by kompas.com. However, a photograph, which was also posted on YouTube, appeared to show a small scorpion locally known as kalajengking.

Danang said that after receiving information about the discovery, airline ground staff comprehensively checked the cabin but found nothing.

To assure the safety, security and convenience [of passengers] during the flight, the plane was properly examined to eliminate any possible pest threat, he added.

He said flight JT-293 had been well-prepared on Thursday before departing and the Boeing 737-800NG plane had passed thorough pre-flight checks and had been declared safe to fly. (bbn)
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Moscow, Russia  Fri, February 15, 2019 19:47 860 acca405afacc7201380025f21a051f0d 2 Business #USA,#Russia,Russia,detained,US,founder,Baring-Vostok,firm Free

Russia has detained the US founder of the Baring Vostok private equity group in Moscow on suspicion of fraud, a spokeswoman for Moscow's Basmanny court told Reuters on Friday.

Yunona Tsaryova, the spokeswoman, said Michael Calvey, also a senior partner at the fund, was detained on Thursday.

Moscow's Basmanny court will rule later on Friday on whether to hold Calvey in custody, the Interfax news agency said.

Baring Vostok is a major equity fund group in Russia. Its website says it has over $3.7 billion of committed capital.

Calvey, also a senior partner at the fund, set it up in 1994.

Other members of the fund's team were also reported to have been detained.

The same Moscow court will decide later on Friday whether to hold a partner in the fund, Vagan Abgaryan, in custody, Interfax cited the same court spokeswoman as saying.

Baring Vostok was cited by Interfax as saying that Calvey had been detained in connection to a dispute over Russia's Vostochny Bank, in which the fund is a controlling shareholder.

Before starting at Baring Vostok, Calvey worked for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Salomon Brothers
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Linkedin Gemma Holliani Cahya and Panca Nugraha (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta and Mataram  Fri, February 15, 2019 10:10 861 acca405afacc7201380025f21a039fc8 1 National rabies,rabies-infected-dogs,NTB,Dompu,health-ministry,Agriculture-Ministry,outbreak Free

The Health Ministry has said that, from January to February this year, 628 people were infected with rabies nationwide, with at least 12 cases that turned fatal.

Six deaths were recorded in Dompu in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), three in North Sumatra and three in Central and North Sulawesi.

According to Antara, health officials in Ambon reported one fatality and 101 infected in the Maluku city.

The ministrys director for vector-borne and zoonotic diseases, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said the outbreak was caused by low rabies vaccination coverage for both stray dogs and pet dogs.

She further said that giving vaccines to the dogs was the responsibility of the Agriculture Ministry, especially its Animal Husbandry Directorate General.

The coverage [across provinces] is still at 30 percent. We still have 26 other provinces that have not eliminated from rabies, she told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

The ministry said what was more appalling was that NTB, one of nine provinces that had been declared rabies-free, suffered the most from the outbreak.

This happened because the population of stray dogs increased and there is no proper control [for rabies], said the ministry's disease control and prevention director general, Anung Sugihantono. This issue must be dealt with by the Agriculture Ministry.

Rabies is a serious infection of the nervous system caused by lyssaviruses, which is transmitted by the bite of a rabid animal.

The government earlier announced that there were nine regions that had been declared free from rabies, namely Bangka Belitung, Riau Islands, Jakarta, Central Java, East Java, Yogyakarta, Papua, West Papua and NTB.

An emergency status for rabies was declared in Dompu, where the Health Ministry distributed 2,800 antirabies vaccines.

There will be another 600 vaccine bottles from Jakarta, so the supply so far is secure, said NTB Health Agency head Nurhandini Eka Dewi, expressing hope that agriculture officials would soon eliminate stray dogs in Dompu to curb the outbreak.

The Dompu administration recorded a population of over 9,000 dogs in the regency, 4,000 of which were pets while the rest were strays. So far, 1,028 dogs have been put down.

We will continue to eliminate them, NTB Animal Husbandry and Health Agency head Budi Septiani said, adding that the agency had cooperated with members of the Indonesian Shooting and Hunting Association (Perbakin) to put down stray dogs.

For pet dogs, vaccinations were conducted in stages. Her agency was also educating dog lovers on rabies, she said.

The results of tests on brain samples taken from the eliminated dogs show that 10 were positive for rabies.

The animal husbandry agency imposed tight security in the seaport connecting Lombok and Sumbawa islands.

No dog is allowed to go out or enter Sumbawa. The ones in Lombok have been eliminated. The pet ones have been vaccinated, she said.
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Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post) Bengkulu  Sat, February 16, 2019 11:11 860 acca405afacc7201380025f21a0534e2 2 National Muhammadiyah,Haedar-Nashir,Islam,Islamic-groups,politics,polarization Free

Sectarianism is exacerbating political divisions in the country as voters now view politics as a matter of life and death and not a worldly issue in which differences are accepted, the leader of the nations second-largest Islamic organization has warned.

In his opening speech at a leadership meeting in Bengkulu on Friday, Muhammadiyah chairman Haedar Nashir argued that religious absolutism seemed to have pervaded politics and caused division among the people.

Politics is now a matter of life and death that breeds political war and fanaticism [...] Politics is no longer regarded as an issue of worldly affairs, which allows room for differences. It is now associated with faith, which is absolute, he said.

The two-day meeting, which was opened by President Joko Jokowi Widodo, aimed to address rising concerns over the use of religion in politics, particularly ahead of the 2019 legislative and presidential elections.

More than 500 Muhammadiyah national and local executives attended the meeting. The group, which runs thousands of schools and hundreds of hospitals, claims to have about 40 million members across the country.

Haedar warned against what he called the unenlightened implementation of Islam, which could lead to problems such as extremism, intolerance, misinformation, the politicization of religion and also hate speech and hostility.

Religion should be a blessing for all humanity.

During a visit to The Jakarta Post recently, Muhammadiyah secretary-general Abdul Muti said the meeting in Bengkulu would have as its theme The Path of Enlightenment in Religious Life.

The theme has been chosen because the group is concerned about the deepening political polarization in the country, particularly in the presidential election where the candidates are judged on how Islamic they are perceived to be.

We see deep polarization in 2019, Muti said. Through the use of religious symbols and forums for political interests, such religious polarization is very apparent.

Muhammadiyah is therefore calling on people to choose the path of moderation in religion, also known as wasatiyyah, to ease tension during an election year.

We promote the concept [of wasatiyyah] to prevent violence or extremism, Muhammadiyah executive Syafiq A. Mughni said, adding that Muslims should stop mixing religion with politics and focus on assessing the programs of election contenders.

Traditionally, Muhammadiyah has remained politically neutral, although many of its members have been involved in politics.

The group is closely associated with the National Mandate Party (PAN), which is backing Prabowo Subianto in the April election. However, its members or former members are also active in other political parties, including the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), which backs Jokowi.

Muhammadiyah does not endorse any candidate-pair and, therefore, allows its followers the freedom to make their own choices, Syafiq said.

The meeting in Bengkulu is expected to produce a set of recommendations.

In his speech, President Jokowi expressed his concerns about the rise of fake news and how he has been a victim of misinformation. He used the occasion to clarify rumors that he was ever a member of the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

At the meeting, the President, who was born in 1961, displayed an edited photo of him standing in front of PKI leader DN Aidit, who was giving a speech in 1955.

How could it be possible for me to be there when I was born some years later in 1961? he asked, adding that many still believed the falsehood and used it against him politically.

In his speech, the President also reminded his listeners that Indonesia was a culturally and religiously diverse country, which was an asset that Indonesians should preserve.

I call on each and everyone of us to preserve unity, Islamic fraternity and national fraternity for that is the greatest asset the nation has.
It is the largest high-speed catamaran in Vietnam, with a length of nearly 47 metres, a width of 12 metres and a capacity of accommodating 598 passengers.

The fast ferry is equipped with four Rolls-Royce engines, allowing a maximum speed of 35 nautical miles per hour (equivalent to 60 kilometres per hour), which will help shorten the trip from Vung Tau to Con Dao to three hours, nearly 10 hours faster than travelling by the normal ships currently operated in Vietnam.

According to the Phu Quoc Fast Ferry JSC, Con Dao Express 36 has been designed following European standards and meets national standards on high-speed ship classification and construction. As a catamaran, Con Dao Express 36 will have a high level of stability during its operation. Also, a large passenger compartment will keep those aboard from getting tired and reduce seasickness.

Con Dao Express 36 can accommodate 598 passengers.



Con Dao Express 36 will start serving passengers from February 15. The ship will depart from Cau Da Port (Vung Tau) for Ben Dam Port (Con Dao) at 8am and return at 1.30pm on the same day. The fare will be VND660,000 (US$28.38) per trip for economy class and VND1.2 million (US$51.6) per trip for luxury class. Passengers who buy tickets between February 15 and 28 will get a 20% discount on the fare.

The Phu Quoc Fast Ferry JSC is currently operating five high-speed catamarans, including Phu Quoc Express 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, with a capacity of 300 passengers each and a maximum speed of up to 30 nautical miles per hour, across four routes in Kien Giang provinces, namely Rach Gia-Phu Quoc, Rach Gia-Hon Son, Rach Gia-Nam Du and Ha Tien-Phu Quoc.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15, 2019 09:20 861 acca405afacc7201380025f21a0393b5 4 Business oil-palm-tree-growers,replanting-project,assistance Free

The government will simplify requirements for oil palm smallholders to access assistance for the replacement of their old trees through the people's oil palm tree replanting program after the meager realization of the program in 2018.

Indonesian Oil Palm Estate Fund (BPDP-KS) director Herdrajat Natawijaya said the move was based on an instruction from President Joko Jokowi Widodo.

For that, we cut the number of requirements from 27 to 10, said Herdrajat as reported by kontan.co.id in Palembang on Thursday.

Last year, the government targeted to replace oil palm trees in 185,000 hectares of plantations, but it was only implemented in 12,622 ha.

Speaking about the meager implementation of the program in 2018, Hendrajat said it was because of technical issues, particularly because most of the technical recommendations for the program were only received by the BPDP-KS late last year.

Meanwhile, Musi Banyuasin Regent Dodi Reza Alex Noerdin expressed hope that the replanting program of oil palm trees in the regency in South Sumatra would be more successful this year because the majority of the people relied on palm oil.

He said palm oil had improved the welfare of people in the regency, therefore he would take part in fighting back against the negative campaign against palm oil. The fact is that oil palm trees make this area greener and have eradicated poverty, he added. (bbn)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15 2019

Mellow yellow: Two Jakartans try out the electric bicycles provided by China-based rental app Migo at one of its stations in Kota Bambu Utara, Palmerah, West Jakarta, on Wednesday. The electric bicycle entered Jakarta in December last year.(JP/Jerry Adiguna)

In the past few months, distinctive yellow, electric scooters have become an increasingly common sight on the streets of the city.



The China-based electric-bicycle rental app Migo has provided its service in the capital since December 2018, after previously operating in Surabaya, East Java, since 2017.



The service has rapidly gained a following among Jakartans, ranging from students to office workers, however, confusion remains about the legality of the service.



Vincentius Benedict, a final-year undergraduate student in West Jakarta, uses Migo as an alternative to ride-hailing motorcycle taxis, as it is ...
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Linkedin Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15, 2019 12:12 861 acca405afacc7201380025f21a045d97 1 Business Medco-Energi-Internasional,Rimau-block,Enhanced-oil-recovery-EOR,budget Free

Local energy company PT Medco E&P Rimau, a subsidiary of oil and gas giant PT Medco Energi Internasional, will allocate up to 60 percent of the US$41.3 million from its working commitment scheme (KKP) for enhanced oil recovery at Rimau Block in South Sumatra.

Medco E&P Indonesia president director Ronald Gunawan said on Thursday that enhanced oil recovery could maintain or even boost oil and gas production at the block.

Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry data from 2018 show that average oil production at Rimau Block stood at 8,244 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 3.68 million metric standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd).

Ronald, the former Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) president, said the rest of the investment would be allocated for exploration activities, such as seismic drilling and well drilling.

Regarding the date to implement those activities, we need to discuss it further with SKKMigas (Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force), but if you ask me, we want to begin [enhanced oil recovery] as soon as possible, he said.

Medco E&P Rimau inked Thursday a contract extension for another 20 years of operation until 2043 as the current contract will end in April 2023.

Speaking after the signing, Energy and Mineral Resources deputy minister Arcandra Tahar urged Medco E&P Rimau to find new oil and gas resources either within the block or elsewhere.

If there is any potential [for oil and gas], please just search because the prevailing policy allows [the company] to do so, he said, adding that it was also important to maintain current oil and gas production.

Ronald told the press without going into detail that the company was looking at potential sites.

The blocks proven oil reserves stand at 17,675 million stock tank barrels (mstb), while proven gas reserves stand at 17.5 billion standard cubic feet (bscf). (bbn)
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Linkedin Fayaz Bukhari (Reuters) Srinagar, India  Fri, February 15, 2019 13:11 861 acca405afacc7201380025f21a047071 2 World #KashmirViolence,#India,India,Pakistan,kashmir,car-bombing Free

A suicide bomber rammed a car into a bus carrying Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir on Thursday, killing 44 of them in the deadliest attack in decades on security forces in the disputed region, raising tensions with arch foe Pakistan.

The Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack. The Indian government accused Pakistan of letting militant groups operate from its soil and called on it to take action.

Islamabad said it rejected the suggestion it was linked to the attack.

Kashmir is a Muslim-majority region at the heart of decades of hostility between India and Pakistan. The neighbours both rule parts of the region while claiming the entire territory as theirs.

The explosion targeting a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was heard from several miles away, according to witnesses. Mohammad Yunis, a journalist who reached the site minutes later, told Reuters he saw blood and body parts scattered along a 100-metre stretch of the main highway running through the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries," the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement, hours after the attack.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the attack a matter of "grave concern". But in a brief statement early on Friday it added, "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations."

Islamabad has previously denied New Delhi's accusations that it gives material help to the militants fighting Indian rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir. It says it gives only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination.

The White House urged Pakistan in a statement "to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil". It said the attack strengthens U.S. resolve to step up counter-terrorism cooperation with India.

Television images showed a mangled car amid rubble and snow around the site. Reuters photos showed tens of policemen surveying damaged vehicles and one policeman was seen carrying a plastic cover with guns inside.

The death toll stood at 44, a senior police official said.

The Central Reserve Force Police is a paramilitary organisation that is working with the Indian military to quell the 30-year insurgency in Kashmir.

"I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.

Indian forces have sporadically battled Islamist militants in mountainous Kashmir since an armed revolt in 1989 in which tens of thousands were killed, but car bombings are rare.

A video circulating on social media on Thursday purportedly featured the suicide bomber, and showed a young man holding a gun and threatening more attacks. Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the video.

The Indian foreign ministry accused the Pakistani government of giving the militant group Jaish a free run in Pakistan, saying it has allowed the group's leader, Masood Azhar, "to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity".

The last major attack in Kashmir was in 2016 when militants raided an Indian army camp in Uri, killing 20 soldiers.

Tension with Pakistan rose after that incident when New Delhi said the attackers had come from Pakistan to stage the assault. Pakistan denied any involvement.

MODI UNDER PRESSURE

The attack could put Modi, who faces a general election due by May, under political pressure to act against the militants and Pakistan.

Randeep Singh Surjewala, a spokesman for the main opposition Congress party, accused Modi of compromising on security.

"Zero political action & Zero policy to tackle terror has led to an alarming security situation," Surjewala said in one of a series of tweets.

Kanwal Sibal, a former top diplomat, said a diplomatic response from India would not be enough.

"They will have to do something otherwise I think it will be very difficult for government to absorb this blow and be seen to be doing nothing," Sibal told Reuters.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad group is one of the most powerful militant groups operating in Kashmir. It was blamed for a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that led to India deploying its military on the border with Pakistan.

In a statement carried by GNS news agency, a spokesman for the group said dozens of security force vehicles were destroyed in the attack.

Arun Jaitley, a senior minister in Modi's cabinet, said India would retaliate, tweeting that "terrorists will be given unforgettable lesson for their heinous act".

On Wednesday, an explosion at a school in Kashmir wounded a dozen students. The cause of the blast remains unclear.
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15 2019

Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo says his ministry never issued a policy restricting any government offices from holding conferences and meetings at hotels, but he advised they be held in daytime.



Previously, Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani protested against the minister instructing provincial administrations not to organize meetings at hotels during the associations anniversary gala dinner earlier this week. Hariyadi said such a policy would hurt the hotel industry across the country.



I never issued any regulation restricting meetings at hotels, the minister said on Tuesday, as quoted by Antara. He added that most meetings organized by his ministry were in fact held at hotels.



President Joko Jokowi Widodo responded to the complaint by immediately calling on Tjahjo to retract his statement. The minister told me...
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Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Batam, Riau Islands  Fri, February 15, 2019 23:38 860 acca405afacc7201380025f21a057b6c 1 Business iPhone,Apple,Pegatron,Batam,Indonesia,manufacturer,technology Free

Pegatron Corporation, the maker of Apples iPhones, is scheduled to start operating in Batam, Riau Islands, in April this year after the Taipei-based manufacturer agreed to rent a factory in a specially designated economic zone.

The company is planning to invest up to US$300 million in the long run.

The general manager of Batams Batamindo Industrial Park, Mook Sooi Wah, confirmed the company would rent a 2-hectare manufacturing plant in the park.

"The company will officially start operations in April," Mook told The Jakarta Post recently.

Batam Development Industrial Authority (BP Batam) chief Edy Putra Irawadi said Pegatron's total investment could reach $300 million with an initial investment of $40 million. However, he said his side had not heard of confirmation from the company regarding its plan to build a manufacturing plant in Batamindo.

"The company wants to build a large manufacturing plant in Batam as the city has the spare land it needs," Edy said.

A trade war between the United States and China prompted the company to leave the latter and enter ASEAN countries, including Indonesia. In December, it announced its partnership contract with Batam-based listed electronics manufacturer PT Sat Nusapersada for the purpose of assembling various electronic products to be exported to the US.

Pegatron's plan to build a manufacturing plant in April coincides with the government's deadline for the settlement of dual leadership in Batam. Previously, both the Batam Development Industrial Authority (BP Batam) and the Batam administration had the authority to issue business licenses, creating confusion among investors because of frequent policy changes.

There are doubts over the merger plan with the presidential election just around the corner.

Riau Islands' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman Makruf Maulana said the government's decision to merge the two bodies was not fully supported by its coalition parties.

"Let's wait until the presidential election ends and see whether the policy will be implemented. Some politicians in Jakarta still want the central government to meddle in Batam's affairs due to the region's proximity to a number of countries. The central government's role is channeled through BP Batam," he said.

Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister secretary Susiwijono assured that the presidential election in April would not affect the merging process of the two bodies. He said his side would accelerate the transition process, which is currently being led by recently inaugurated BP Batam chief Edy.

The government assigned the Batam mayor as the BP Batam ex-officio chief, although a government regulation for the appointment has yet to be amended. Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution previously said the deadline for the amendment was April 30.

"What we are working on right now are the problems lying right before us, which are the investments and the work plans. We are also reviewing the deputy chief post as the Batam mayor will be busy with his administrative work," Susiwijono said, adding that his side would accelerate the revision of government regulation PP 46/2007 on Batam's free trade zone.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the policy to designate the Batam mayor as the BP Batam ex-officio chief would be implemented soon to put an end to the dual leadership.

"There must be one coalition and one policy, instead of two policies. Both bodies surely need to adjust, so the city administration and BP Batam will be represented by one person and will implement one policy," Jusuf Kalla said during his recent visit to PT Satnusa Persada Tbk in Batam, Riau Islands.

Edy said Batam's status would also be changed to special economic zone (KEK) from free trade zone (FTZ).

"The change of Batam's status from FTZ to KEK does not mean that there will be borders installed in the region. What will be built are virtual borders, meaning there will be documents required for the movement of goods," he said.

Batam Mayor Muhammad Rudi refused to comment as he was still waiting for the policy to be implemented so he could be named ex-officio chief.

However, he promised that the business license would be issued in mere hours under his leadership as opposed to days. (ars)
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Linkedin Rachmadea Aisyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15, 2019 11:11 861 acca405afacc7201380025f21a041f53 1 Business Eurasian-Economic-Union,Indonesia,Trade,cooperation Free

The government has announced it will sign a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) on trade with five countries grouped in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita signed on Thursday a joint ministerial statement with the Integration and Macroeconomics Minister of the EEU, Tatyana Valovaya, to reaffirm their commitment to sign the MoC.

Enggartiasto said that with the MoC, the trade value between the two parties could be doubled in the next five years from the 2017 figure, which was recorded at US$2.79 billion.

We plan to sign the MoC during one of the business forums we will hold this year [...] in either Vladivostok, St. Petersburg [in Russia] or at the upcoming Trade Expo Indonesia, he said at the Trade Ministrys headquarters.

The government planned to sign the MoC in the first half of 2019, he said, adding that the partnership would be in the form of a memorandum instead of a trade agreement because the latter was more complicated for a deal involving a union of five countries.

Valovaya lauded the signing, saying the door remained open for the two sides to turn the memorandum into a free trade agreement after more in-depth talks between Indonesia and the EEU member states of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.

We agree that it is very fruitful to have this business forum as Indonesia is one of the key business partners for the EEU, she said. (bbn)
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Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15 2019

Priska was alone and lonely when she decided to cut herself in an attempted suicide some years ago. She was depressed after the death of her mother and a growing academic burden only exacerbated her mental health condition.



I am an only child. My father is a quiet and reserved person. So I didnt feel like I got the emotional support that I needed at the time, the 26-year-old said, recalling the days when she was at the lowest point in her life when she was a student at the University of Indonesia.



Only after Priska displayed the symptoms of severe depression did her father look for help from a mental health professional. She had also shown behavioral signs of depression such as losing interest in activities once pleasurable and shutting herself off from the world by not going outside of her room for days.



[Emotional] support from those closest to me is...
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15, 2019 16:34 860 acca405afacc7201380025f21a04ea78 4 Business Garuda-Indonesia,Budi-Karya-Sumadi,ticket-prices,comments Free

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said on Friday that the airfare for many Garuda Indonesia flights was still too high, even after the flag carrier  along with other airlines under its operation  had slashed prices by 20 percent on Thursday.

I checked the prices this morning; they are still too high, Budi said as quoted by kompas.com, adding that he had called on Garuda Indonesia to revise down its prices for domestic flights.

He expects other airlines to follow suit and drop their prices as well.

We will monitor [the situation]. If Garudas price is 100, Batik [Air] may charge 95 or 90 and Sriwijayas [tickets] can be even lower, Meanwhile, Citilink [Indonesia] will also make some corrections, he said.

Garuda Indonesia Group  comprising Garuda Indonesia, Citilink Indonesia, Sriwijaya Air and PAN Air  announced on Thursday that it had reduced ticket prices by 20 percent as part of an initiative made by the Indonesia National Air Carrier Association (INACA).

Earlier this week, President Joko Jokowi Widodo urged the domestic aviation industry to lower their airfare in response to complaints made by the Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association (PHRI) about low hotel occupancy rates across the archipelago.

The President also called on state-owned oil and gas holding company Pertamina to lower aviation fuel (avtur) prices, which are often blamed for the high cost of flights. (bbn)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15 2019

White wedding: M. Supriadi, 21, and Nur Aisyah, 20 got married on Valentines Day at the Palmerah Religious Affairs Office in West Jakarta, on Thursday. Many couples choose Valentines Day to tie the knot as it will be easier to remember.(JP/Ghina Ghaliya Quddus)

After having dated for exactly one year, M. Supriadi, 21, planned to marry his girlfriend, Nur Aisyah, 20, on Valentines Day.



Wearing traditional white West Javanese clothing, the couple tied the knot at the Palmerah Religious Affairs Office (KUA) in West Jakarta on Thursday, attended by several family members from West Java and Jakarta.



In Indonesia, Muslim couples must go to the KUA before registering their marriages with the Civil Registration Agency (Dukcapil). Non-Muslims can go straight to the agency.



I set this date on purpose so that it would be easy to remember. I hope that our re...
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Linkedin Kharishar Kahfi (The Jakarta Post)  Fri, February 15 2019

Budi Pego (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)

Heri Budiawan had just returned to Sumberagung village in Banyuwangi, East Java, around August 2010 after working in Saudi Arabia for 10 years and he found that his hometown had changed much because of gold mining in the nearby Tumpang Pitu mountain range.



Before 2014, mining company PT Indo Multi Niaga had carried out exploration to find gold there. Everything changed around 2014 when the company struck gold and began the preconstruction phase for the gold mines. The permit also changed hands from Indo Multi to PT Bumi Suksesindo (BSI).



BSI, a subsidiary of PT Merdeka Copper Gold, took over mining operations in 2012. It has been running the mining operation ever since.



During the preconstruction phase in 2014, Heri, also known as Budi Pego, said residents spotted major changes to their environments landscape. He accused ...
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15 2019

Flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia announced on Wednesday that it had cut its ticket prices by 20 percent in response to complaints about the high cost of domestic air travel.

In addition to full-service Garuda Indonesia, the Garuda Indonesia Group also operates low-cost carrier (LCC) PT Citilink Indonesia, Sriwijaja Air and NAM Air.

This is in line with the aspirations of the people and associations of some industries as well as guidance from the President about the need to decrease airplane ticket prices, said Garuda Indonesia president director Ari Askhara in a statement.

Garuda Indonesia Group believes the ticket price cut is in line with an intensive synergy among all stakeholders to maintain peoples access to air travel.

Previously, President Joko Jokowi Widodo called for the low...
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Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15 2019

The government has made it easier for carmakers to ship their products abroad by simplifying export procedures for completely built-up (CBU) cars in an apparent move to plug Indonesias trade deficit.



The newly issued Customs and Excise Director Generals Regulation No. 1/2019 relaxes administrative requirements for exporters in the automotive sector, which is considered one of the countrys industrial pillars.



The measure was a quick fix intended to boost exports and improve Indonesias trade balance, said Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution in Jakarta recently.



Separately, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the new regulation, which took effect in early February, would cut costs for car producers, which previously had to store their products in warehouses near ports while waiting to complete their export manifests. The ol...
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Linkedin Markus Makur (The Jakarta Post) East Manggarai  Fri, February 15 2019

Cruel to the extreme: Aleksius Dugis, 31, a man with mental illness, has been shackled for 10 years in a rickety shelter near the kitchen of his parents house in Zola village, Kota Komba district, East Manggarai regency, East Nusa Tenggara, on Sunday.(JP/Markus Makur)

It has been almost five years since the country banned shackling for people with mental illness, but the practice continues.



In East Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), where there are almost no psychiatric institutions to treat the mentally ill, shackling is common in many villages.



Aleksius Dugis, 31, of Zola village in Kota Komba district, has been chained by his own family for 10 years and dehumanized.



They place him in an open hut located next to the family houses kitchen, naked, long-haired and not bathed.



When a group of volunteers visited him recently, he was shackled b...
Season 3 of reality series Queer Eye is set to return to Netflix on March 15.

The announcement was made when the Fab Five, its main characters, took to Instagram, sharing a preview trailer of Carly Rae Jepsens upcoming song Now That I Found You.

Read also: 'Queer Eye' to return for third season

Queer Eye features Antoni Porowski (food & wine), Bobby Berk (interior design), Jonathan Van Ness (grooming), Karamo Brown (culture) and Tan France (fashion) who give makeover advice based on their expertise. The third season will see the men based in Kansas City, Missouri, after spending two seasons in Atlanta.

Queer Eye has been widely praised for creating personal makeovers with sensitivity and its heartwarming episodes. A reboot of mid-2000s TV series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, it won three Primetime Emmy Awards in 2018, including Outstanding Structured Reality Program and Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program. (geo/wng)
Nuril Basri has made a name for himself in the literary world through his intimate and comedic takes and observations of the absurdities of Indonesian life and the struggles of the many who feel trapped and pressured by simply living.

However, it was through these honest observations that he managed to spread his name overseas, making him one of the notable figures of Indonesian literature. Like his acclaimed peer Eka Kurniawan, the images that Nuril chooses to focus on involve the coming-of-age struggles of young Indonesians who are faced with the usual pressures that come with living in a judgmental, pressing society like Indonesia.

Dysfunctional families, loneliness, insecurity and, in one book, living as part of a minority in a foreign land are all parts of the world he has crafted.

Characters in his acclaimed 2017 novel Not A Virgin range from cross-dressers, drag queens, fanatical Muslims and basically the everyday scum that exist between the two completely opposite environments of gay bars and Muslim boarding schools.

The books main characters navigate through these toxicly masculine environments in a quest to truly understand their sexual identities.

Such backgrounds were inspired by Nuril's own upbringing. He was born in the staunchly conservative South Tangerang, Banten, and exposed to a disdainful world that feeds his inspiration to write.

During his history of working menial jobs as a minimarket cashier, waiter and language tutor, as well as an internet cafe administrator, the soon-to-be 34-year-old found solace in the art of writing.

His themes are bold enough to make Indonesian publishers think twice about publishing his works.

Nuril claimed that Not A Virgin was rejected by many of them, possibly because of its controversial nature, and that four of his books have yet to be published in Indonesia.

Not A Virgin was first published in Malaysia and later translated into English by the Lontar Foundation. Its Indonesian version was published by Amanah.

Author Dewi Dee Lestari praised Nuril's novel. Nuril Basri tells his story in a way that is at once light, straightforward and humorous. In this novel, he has created something that is both beautiful and moving, a tale that makes us willingly contemplate serious issues, Dee wrote, as quoted on Nurils website.

'Love, Lies and Indomee' will receive its Singapore debut in March and its UK debut in May. (Courtesy of Nuril Basri/-)

Nurils latest book, Love, Lies and Indomee, is a portrait of a cynical stocky woman trying to find love and marriage in absurd situations, shaped by her pessimistic surroundings. All the elements of the story are wrapped under Nuril's usual tarp of Indonesian social commentary: unfairly pressing family members, toxic masculinity held by most typical Indonesian men and a society that demands women adhere to a single personality.

It is considered the spiritual sequel to Not a Virgin.

Love Lies and Indomee, which had already been published in Malaysia under the title Enak (Good), is to receive its Singapore debut in March and its British debut in May, both under the Epigram Books imprint.

Nuril said he still could not find a publisher in Indonesia that wants to publish Enak and he decided to print and market the book himself. I always write in the Indonesian language and then get them translated, he says. "For me the most important thing is to write."

Along with Love, Lies and Indomee, Not A Virgin is to also be published by the British house Monsoon Books and is to make its debut at the 2019 London Book Fair, at which Indonesia is to be the festivals market focus country for this year.

Nuril got the idea for the books concept and main character from the experiences of one of his younger siblings friends who had a history of being picked on because of her size and her dark skin color.

Initially, I wanted this character to just become a supporting character, but I saw that she was the perfect vehicle for showing how such people can choose to be indifferent and careless about it all instead of playing the victim, he says.

In this attitude, Nuril aims to convey the message of body positivity and display the traits of an independent female attitude in a city as judgmental as Jakarta.

The author said a British review of this book claimed that Love, Lies and Indomee essentially functions as the Jakarta version of Bridget Jones Diary.

Its about showing the triumph of women over their harsh social environments by depicting them as strong and carefree enough to get through that, instead of playing the victim, he says. (ste)
NASA is accelerating plans to return Americans to the Moon, and this time, the US space agency says it will be there to stay.

Jim Bridenstine, NASA's administrator, told reporters Thursday that the agency plans to speed up plans backed by President Donald Trump to return to the moon, using private companies.

"It's important that we get back to the moon as fast as possible," said Bridenstine in a meeting at NASA's Washington headquarters, adding he hoped to have astronauts back there by 2028.

"This time, when we go to the Moon, we're actually going to stay. We're not going to leave flags and footprints and then come home to not go back for another 50 years" he said.

"We're doing it entirely different than every other country in the world. What we're doing is, we're making it sustainable so you can go back and forth regularly with humans."

The last person to walk on the Moon was Eugene Cernan in December 1972, during the Apollo 17 mission.

Before humans set foot on the lunar surface again, NASA aims to land an unmanned vehicle on the Moon by 2024, and is already inviting bids from the burgeoning private sector to build the probe.

The deadline for bids is March 25, with a first selection due in May, a tight timeline for an agency whose past projects have run years behind schedule and billions over budget.

"For us, if we had any wish, I would like to fly this calendar year. We want to go fast," said Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

However, he admitted that "we may not be able to."

Read also: Chinas 'fake moon' satellite to be launched into orbit

NASA's accelerated plans flesh out the Space Policy Directive that Trump signed in December 2017, envisaging a return to the Moon before a manned mission to Mars, possibly in the 2030s.

NASA plans to build a small space station, dubbed Gateway, in the Moon's orbit by 2026. It will serve as a way-station for trips to and from the lunar surface, but will not be permanently crewed like the International Space Station (ISS), currently in Earth's orbit.

As with the ISS, NASA would seek the participation of other countries, who could provide some of the necessary needed, such as modules for the Moon station or vehicles to allow landings on the surface.

"We want numerous providers competing on cost and innovation," Bridenstine said.

Before this manned program, NASA is also pushing to send scientific instruments and other technological tools to the Moon in 2020 or even before the end of this year.

The agency is also calling for quick-turnaround bids to manufacture and launch such instruments, offering financial incentives to make it happen fast.

"We care about speed," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "We do not expect that every one of those launches or every one of those landings will be successful. We are taking risks."
Chicago police contested media reports on Thursday that officers were investigating whether "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett staged being physically assaulted because he was being written out of the television show.

Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said there was no evidence to support a report by Chicago ABC7 television, which cited sources familiar with the investigation.

"Media reports about the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate," Guglielmi said in a tweet.

Media reports anout the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate. pic.twitter.com/iSO5YFv452  Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 15, 2019

Smollett, an openly gay African-American who plays a gay character on the hip-hop drama "Empire," told police that two men shouted racist and homophobic slurs and put a rope around his neck on Jan. 29.

In an interview with "Good Morning America" that aired on Thursday, Smollett said he was angry that some people doubted his story, and he suggested the disbelief might come from racial bias.

Twentieth Century Fox Television, the producer of "Empire" released a statement saying: "The idea that Jussie Smollett has been, or would be, written off of EMPIRE is patently ridiculous. He remains a core player on this very successful series and we continue to stand behind him."

Chicago police are questioning two "persons of interest" who surveillance cameras showed were in the area where Smollett said he was assaulted, Guglielmi said in a tweet on Thursday.

The two men know Smollett from working on "Empire" and were picked up at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Wednesday night after returning from Nigeria where they were visiting family, their lawyer told Chicago television station CBS2.

Read also: 'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett angry that some doubt he was attacked

"They do know Jussie, they have worked with him on Empire," attorney Gloria Schmidt said in an interview with CBS2. "They are baffled why they are persons of interest."

Schmidt did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.

The names of the two men have not been released and police have not found any video footage of the assault, which they say is being investigated as a hate crime.

"They are not considered suspects at this time as they are currently being questioned by detectives," Guglielmi said on Twitter.
Is it Hollywood time for Apple?

The iPhone maker appeared set to launch its streaming television service next month, calling on celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and "Star Wars" director J.J. Abrams to join an event at its Silicon Valley headquarters.

Apple remained customarily tight-lipped about its plans amid reports of a March 25 event at its Cupertino headquarters focusing on services, including video and a likely subscription news service aimed at shaking up the world of journalism.

The news comes with Apple under pressure to emphasize subscription-based services to diversify its revenues amid sluggish growth in smartphones, which have delivered the bulk of Apple's profits for the past decade.

With news and streaming video, Apple could potentially disrupt two sectors and move toward reinventing itself once again.

Apple transformed the digital music scene with deals to sell songs through its iTunes store launched in 2003.

An Apple streaming music service launched in mid-2015 now boasts more than 50 million subscribers.

Apple is believed to be investing at least $1 billion in content and has acquired the rights to a new series starring and co-produced by American actresses Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.

The two actresses were expected to join chief executive Tim Cook in Cupertino, with Jennifer Garner also present, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The potential for an Apple service streaming movies or television shows has been a question since the company added the Apple TV set-top device to its lineup 12 years ago.

Bloomberg News reported the video service would compete with rivals like Netflix and Amazon Prime, although details of the service had not been finalized.

Read also: Netflix prices in Indonesia higher than US, report suggests

Apple for news?

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that some news organizations were balking at Apple's plan to take a 50 percent cut of revenues as it beefs up its mobile app to offer newspaper as well as magazine subscriptions.

The disclosure appears to be "attempts to negotiate through the media," according to tech analyst Ben Thompson on his Stratechery blog, who added that if Apple succeeds, "having one place to get all of the best journalism would be amazing."

Some analysts remained skeptical about Apple's plans to disrupt journalism.

"It's hard to justify a 50 percent cut," Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi said in a tweet on the subject.

Apple, known for having music stars perform at its media events, is looking to build momentum for its Apple TV service, with deals to have it installed on television models coming out this year.

During a recent earnings call, Cook confirmed that Apple plans to produce its own shows in a move that could challenge streaming television giants Netflix and Amazon Prime, which have invested heavily in original content.

"We will participate in the original content world," Cook said while discussing Apple's plans for video content including a partnership with Oprah Winfrey.
Elizabeth City, NC (27909)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening followed by increasing clouds with showers developing after midnight. Low near 65F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening followed by increasing clouds with showers developing after midnight. Low near 65F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
A new winner of the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants awards will be announced out of Singapore June 25.

Organizers of the influential global restaurant ranking announced plans to move their red carpet gala event to Singapore, the first time an Asian destination has hosted the groups marquee event.

The ceremony, which will be held at Marina Bay Sands Hotel, will be closely watched by the restaurant world this year, after organizers revealed new rules last month that will ban previous winners from topping the charts.

Read also: Singapore to host world restaurant awards

Throughout the last 17 years, the winner and top 10 list became predictable, with the No. 1 spot dominated by repeat winners like elBulli, Noma and Osteria Francescana.

A series of workshops, masterclasses and collaborative dinners will also take place at the hotel in the run-up to the gala event, allowing visitors and local gourmands to rub shoulders with some of the worlds top chefs.
Face tattoos, once limited to only a very small group of people, have gained new popularity thanks to today's rappers -- but some artists are reluctant to make such a permanent change to a client's appearance.

In New York's East Village, some of the would-be customers entering tattoo parlors are still teenagers -- some of them have never even had any body art, but nevertheless want to indelibly inscribe something on their face.

"Of late, it has become a very big trend because of what they see on TV," said Armando Guevara, who mans the reception desk at Andromeda Studio 33, which also does piercings.

What young people are seeing on television are people like Grammy-nominated rapper Post Malone, the current poster boy of so-called mumble rap, also called SoundCloud rap or emo rap.

The popular sub-genre is characterized by its trap beats and lyrics that often touch on mental health problems and their consequences -- drugs, meds and lots of sex. Words are slurred and sometimes sung.

From Malone to the controversial 21 Savage, Lil Uzi Vert and the late XXXTentacion, nearly all mumble rappers have face tattoos -- breaking with their elders who had little interest in the look.

And when the Mondial du Tatouage, the World Tattoo Expo, opens in Paris on Friday, the trend will certainly be on full display.

Shaggy Johnsen, a 22-year-old New Yorker who had Bugs Bunny inked on his temple, admits he was influenced by his favorite rappers.

"I'm an artist myself," Johnsen said, explaining he's a "freestyle" rapper.

"It's all about how you promote yourself -- how you bring yourself out."

Since getting face ink, Johnsen says he's only gotten positive reactions.

"Everybody likes it," he said, adding that he loves cartoon characters, and he might next go for Tweety or the Tasmanian Devil.

Adam Alonso says face art is a "mask" that he can hide behind.

"I've been hurt in the past so I don't want to be hurt no more so I keep a wall up so people on the streets won't even talk to me," the model and rapper told AFP.

The word AGONY is written under his right eye in large ornate letters.

Alonso insists the tattoos have not hurt him professionally.

"People think that when you tattoo your face, you're not going to make money. But nothing's impossible. I still make money," he said.

"It is to prove I can do the impossible and if I can do it, anyone can do it."

Read also: Jakpost guide to tattoo parlors

Looking for those who are 'not ready'

Guevara is not against face tattoos -- he has several of them, including a huge one inspired by pre-Columbian art that covers about a quarter of his face.

But he advises clients to be extra cautious before taking the leap.

"If you're going to do something on your face that is permanent, think about it. Try it out," says the 40-something Guevara, who is of Nicaraguan descent.

Every morning for months, he drew his planned tattoo onto his face, to get used to it and gauge reactions, before he went under the ink needle.

Many younger customers do not realize the implications of what they are asking for, according to Guevara.

"They don't really know that it's a lifetime thing, that it will deeply impact their life. We turn them away," he says, explaining that minors are not welcomed at Andromeda.

"You're going to have a lot of people that are going to discriminate against you, a lot of places that won't give you housing, that won't give you employment," Guevara said, adding he had been the victim of discrimination over his body art.

"When people see a tattoo on their face, they feel that the person is careless, angry, antisocial or very anarchist," he said. "I'm a good person, hard worker, very intelligent -- but that's not what people see."

Guevara dispelled the notion that face tattoos can be easily removed with lasers, saying such a procedure takes numerous procedures, isn't cheap and can leave scarring.

At Andromeda, those who want face tattoos are required to answer questions about why they want to do it, and how they see it affecting their life.

"If we feel that they're not ready for it, we turn them away," Guevara says.

Some studios refuse to do them on principle, like Fineline Tattoo, which claims to be the oldest parlor in New York -- it opened in 1976, even though tattoos were officially banned in the city from 1961 to 1997.

Mehai Bakaty, the owner of the shop and an artist, says face tattoos were long reserved for gang members and prison inmates who had "given up" on mainstream society.

"You almost wonder, especially in America, if young people are attracted to that sort of things for similar kinds of reasons," Bakaty said.

"They don't have hope of becoming anything more than a checkout clerk," he lamented.

"I think that's kind of the point that these young rap people are trying to make, but I just see the whole scenario as completely irresponsible."
After the immense global success of Black Panther, the movies lead star, Chadwick Boseman, is momentarily stepping away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to star in Da 5 Bloods, Spike Lees forthcoming movie following his international hit, BlacKkKlansman (2018).

Da 5 Bloods tells the story of Vietnam veterans who return to the jungle to find their lost innocence. Chadwick Boseman is joined on the cast by Delroy Lindo, a regular in Spike Lee movies (notably Malcolm X), and Jean Reno, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The script is written by Spike Lee and Kevin Willmott based on an original screenplay by Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo.

Read also: 'The Favourite' rules BAFTAs with most wins, 'Roma' takes top prize

Da 5 Bloods will be Spike Lees first feature film for Netflix. He has previously partnered with the streaming site on the adaptation of his 1986 movie Shes Gotta Have It into a TV series.

Da 5 Bloods isnt the only project Boseman has in the pipeline. He is currently filming 17 Bridges, directed by Brian Kirk (Luther, Game of Thrones), about a disgraced NYPD detective who is given a shot at redemption.

He also stars in Avengers: Endgame, in theatres April 26, in which he reprises the role of TChalla.
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Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15, 2019 10:46 861 acca405afacc7201380025f21a03f3b4 1 Opinion UGM,Gadjah-Mada-University,sexual-abuse-on-campus,Sexual-assault,sexual-violence,Me-Too Free

Gadjah Mada University (UGM) rector Panut Mulyono declared on Feb. 4 that the infamous sexual abuse case involving his students had been resolved in a peaceful manner, only to learn that it had whipped up further controversy.



His press conference was held right after the victim, identified only as AN, also known by her pseudonym Agni, the perpetrator, identified only as HS, and Panut himself signed an agreement supposedly to resolve the case.



Through the agreement, Agni and HS were obliged to undergo separate counseling with clinical psychologists, fully paid for by the university.



Panut added UGM would also pay for Agnis tuition and living costs. He also made sure the School of Social and Political Sciences and the School of Engineering, respectively the faculties where Agni and HS studied, would help them graduate in May, the next graduation schedule.



The press conference was supposed to be a victory of sorts for Panut for having resolved the case after being the bane of UGMs existence for months  but it is exactly where he got it wrong.



Many people took to social media to condemn UGM for siding with the abuser, calling the campus Universitas Gapapa Merkosa (university that accepts rape) and urged parents to protect their daughters by not sending them to UGM, which is among the nations top universities and the alma mater of President Joko Jokowi Widodo.



The wave of support for Agni reflected part of the #MeToo movement, a global campaign against sexual harassment and assault, which went viral following the sexual abuse allegations against American film producer Harvey Weinstein in 2017.



Though protests and actions against rape and sexual harassment began in Indonesia long before the reports on Weinstein, marches in the worlds cities and #MeToo hashtags across cyberspace have helped encourage victims of sexual harassment in many nations to speak up, which was exactly what Agni did last year. On Nov. 5, UGM student magazine Balairung published her testimony, saying HS assaulted her during a community service assignment in a Maluku village on June 30, 2017.



The universitys lack of response prompted not only an online petition signed by hundreds of thousands of people calling the university to punish the alleged rapist, but also offline support, where hundreds of people, including UGM students and lecturers, rallied in a show of support for Agni, holding posters bearing messages like #kitaAgni (WeAreAgni), which fast became a trending topic on Twitter.



UGM should understand that people are not just outraged by the alleged sexual violation among its students; people are even more infuriated by the way the university handled the situation.



Perhaps no campus anywhere is entirely safe from sexual harassment. But headlines were also triggered by the universitys dismissive stance, as expressed by an UGM official who declined to be named, who told the Balairung that HS act was like a cat given salted fish.



Panut later apologized to the public for the slow handling of the alleged sexual assault, acknowledging the victim-blaming culture still shrouding UGM.



Mondays press conference is still far from problem solved for UGM. The images of Panut accompanied by his deputies and deans instead reflected men in power telling the public that they finally solved sexual harassment peacefully on their terms.



Rifka Annisa, an NGO providing legal support for Agni, said Panuts claim that the case was settled peacefully had undermined Agnis fight for justice.



Paying the psychologists, her tuition and ensuring both students graduate in the next scheduled graduation ceremony only reflects the universitys intention to usher the problem out of the campus as soon as possible, showing a lack of real sympathy for the victim.



The #MeToo movement has changed how people talk about sexual violations, giving victims the stage to tell their side of the story, but UGM has not learned to do it.



At the press conference was a telling statement by an UGM deputy rector, Paripurna, who said UGM had agreed not to disclose the result of the investigation by the ethics committee specially set up for the case, but that its recommendation had been of great help in reaching the settlement. This is for the sake of ANs and HSs future, he said.



What he meant was that the university was not willing to talk openly about what really happened and would not take any more action that might ruin HS future  showing how it did not even try to listen to what Agni wanted.



In her testimony published by Balairung, Agni stated she wanted HS expelled and had the lecturers involved in this matter take responsibility for their uncaring attitude, but apparently it was too much to ask for.



Agnis lawyer Sukiratnasari said it was not easy for Agni to opt for an out of court settlement, but it had to be done considering her psychological condition and to minimize further risks of criminalization. This shows us what a victim must consider in deciding on a peaceful settlement.



Balairung had revealed in great detail the incident of June 30, 2017, after which Agni reportedly experienced continued anxiety, unsurprisingly.



If UGM really wants to restore its reputation, Panut and the honorable deans and professors should learn to listen and show real sympathy for what the victim is saying.



Their decision to do otherwise will make this case a forever-stained asterisk attached to UGMs history.
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Linkedin Bobby Anderson (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15, 2019

President Joko Jokowi Widodo recently declared, at a meeting of ulema from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia, that Palestine was on each Indonesians breath.



In December of 2017, he stated anything related to providing support to Palestine is part of the commitment of our country and our people. In 2016 Indonesia hosted the Organization of Islamic Cooperations Fifth Extraordinary Summit of Palestine and Al-Quds Al Sharif in Jakarta.



At that conference, sub-titled A just solution for Palestine, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi expressed concern over Israels use of force against Palestinian civilians, as well as the changing demographics of Jerusalem in favor of Jewish settlers: Jokowi, for his part, urged unity in the struggle for Palestinian rights. Indeed, an independ

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15, 2019 09:01 861 acca405afacc7201380025f21a0389b6 1 Editorial #Editorial,logistics,agriculture,farming,Agriculture-Ministry,agricultural-extension-workers Free

The implementation of regional autonomy in 2001 seems to have sidelined agricultural extension workers, who had greatly contributed to empowering farmers and increasing productivity for nearly three decades since the late 1990s.

But President Joko Jokowi Widodo revisited the vital role agricultural extension services played in boosting the productivity of farmers at a national gathering in Semarang. Central Java, last week. He pointed out that we need 40,000 agricultural extension workers to train farmers in best farming practices, but the governments capacity for recruitment is severely limited by the budget.

He cited the Agriculture Ministrys 2018 data, which showed that the government had recruited only about 6,000 extension workers as permanent employees, while 17,000 others had been employed as temporary contract workers with daily or monthly wages. Jokowi promised to discuss the additional recruitment of agricultural extension workers with the civil service, agriculture and finance ministers in view of their critical role in boosting agricultural productivity.

Revisiting this issue is indeed timely in view of the upcoming second round of the presidential debates on Sunday, which will discuss food, energy, natural resources, the environment and infrastructure.

Agricultural extension workers aid farmers by disseminating new technologies like high-yielding seeds and crop varieties, as well as by guiding them on best practices in fertilizer and pesticide management. Their provision of farmer education improves productivity and produce quality to meet the standards of overseas retailers and buyers.

In addition to permanent employment, however, the government also needs to provide agricultural extension workers with continued access to new technologies and innovative research, whether through training, seamless connectivity or better linkages to research and development institutions. Agricultural extension workers also need continued training to broaden their knowledge and horizons, so they are able to expand their capabilities from the narrow focus on increasing the yield of a limited number of crops to a broader view of farms as agribusiness units.

This is in line with the broader objective of allocating increased village funds from the state budget for rural and agricultural infrastructure to strengthen farmers welfare and empower rural communities. This is a highly strategic plan, as more than 50 percent of the population depends on rural farming as their livelihood.

The government should also encourage the expanded role of private seed companies that employ a large number of extension workers. These companies also contribute greatly to boosting agricultural productivity, notably in food crop farming and horticulture, by promoting their high-yielding seeds directly to farmers.

A national program to boost agricultural productivity should also be supported by improved logistics and market access, not least because most farm products are highly perishable. Smooth logistics also facilitates linkages between on- and off-farm activities and between rural and urban areas for driving sustainable growth in our rural economy.
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Linkedin Francisco Fontan (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 15, 2019 16:14 860 acca405afacc7201380025f21a0a3114 3 Opinion partnership,ASEAN,European-Union Free

In January I joined Federica Mogherini, the European Unions High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in Brussels as she co-chaired the 22nd EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting. It was an impressive occasion and the best attended such gathering anyone could remember, with almost all the 10 ASEAN and 28 EU member states represented by their foreign ministers.



Brussels was preparing for its first big snowfall of the winter, but the reception we gave our ASEAN partners was a truly warm one.



The debate inside the room reflected the depth and breadth of our relations, from conflict in the Middle East, to the importance of the South China Sea and the Rohingya crisis, to promoting trade, investment or higher education.



Much was said but there was also a unity of purpose  a common desire to strengthen EU-ASEAN cooperation including in new areas such as combating unregulated fishin, or launching a new high level dialogue on environment and climate change, and an agreement in principle to upgrade our relations to a strategic partnership.



As Mogherini said after the meeting, this was recognition of the strategic nature of the partnership we already have in many fields. It was an important signal showing that the two most advanced and most successful integration processes in the world stand firmly behind multilateralism and a rules-based global order.



Or as her fellow co-chair Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore and ASEAN coordinator for EU relations, put it we take our partnership to a greater height, we will continue to explore new areas in which we can cooperate and learn from each other, such as cybersecurity, maritime security, connectivity and climate change.



A close and deep partnership between the EU and ASEAN is thus of strategic importance for both regional blocs.



We are certainly pivotal economic partners already. Our private sector is, by far, the first investor in ASEAN, holding a quarter of total stock in the region, and we are ASEANs second largest trading partner. The EU has concluded or is negotiating free trade and investment agreements with a number of ASEAN members, building blocks for an ambitious region-to-region trade and investment framework.



We are working hard to increase transport links and our overall connectivity. If  as I hope  we soon agree the first ever region-to-region Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement, millions of our citizens will benefit and the travel and tourism industry in particular stands to make great gains. We can build on this and establish a comprehensive EU-ASEAN Connectivity Partnership.



While some question globalization and are retreating into economic nationalism, it is important that ASEAN and the EU together seek to bolster global links, make them work for all and show their true value to our shared prosperity. And as ASEAN says, we can leave no one behind.



The EU remains the largest donor to ASEAN, helping the organisation and your governments to reduce poverty and spread opportunity, with over 200 million euros (US$225.59 million) in support of ASEAN regional integration and connectivity, on top of over 2 billion euros of bilateral assistance to ASEAN member states, and the direct efforts of our 28 EU member states.



We will also continue to stand by you after each major natural disaster, from tsunamis to cyclones, putting victims needs above any other consideration.



Cooperation, solidarity and prosperity have long been the hallmarks of our relations. And while they remain so, the rapidly evolving international scene is leading us to focus more on key strategic issues. Our shared ambitions can only realise their full potential in a rules-based, peaceful and stable environment.



This is what makes ASEAN so important for the EU in Asia  not just as a community of ten, but being also the core of the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Regional Forum or the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting+ process.



And this is where ASEAN and the EU are already rightly expanding their security cooperation  from trafficking in persons to cyber-crime, from maritime security to transnational crime and counter-terrorism.



Today we live in no ordinary time. Sea levels are rising, our biodiversity is shrinking and many communities across the world are at risk of displacement or competing for access to basic resources such as water or arable land. We cannot afford to continue on the same path.



Meanwhile, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will affect everyone. Our regions need the ambition, leadership and vision to address those challenges.



Last month we published our ambitions for A Sustainable Europe by 2030, moving to a circular economy, correcting the imbalances in our food system, future-proofing our energy, buildings and mobility and making sure that this transition is fair, leaving no one and no place behind.



No one can achieve these goals alone. And thankfully that is something else we agree on  the foreign ministers spent more time talking about the environment, climate change and sustainable development than anything else. We agreed to deliver together on our United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including on the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Both ASEAN and the EU see regional integration as the most effective way to foster stability and prosperity. We are both committed to addressing global challenges through a system based on rules and multilateralism.



We both have an interest in promoting fair and open markets, in shaping global economic and environmental rules, and in sustainable access to each other through open sea, land and air routes, in full respect of international law.



As global stakeholders, the EU and ASEAN have the responsibility to advance the international rules-based order and preserve our global commons, I have been privileged to have seen our strategic relationship go from strength to strength. I am confident that it has even further to run and that, together, we will play a leading role in developing the global responses needed for the challenges of tomorrow.

***

The writer is the European Union ambassador to ASEAN.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
The Illinois Supreme Court issued an important decision in late January rejecting attempts to gut the states landmark law that bars companies from collecting peoples biometric identifiers  including face recognition scans, fingerprints, and iris scans  without providing a written explanation of what they plan to do with the data and obtaining consent.

The law, called the Biometric Information Privacy Act, has been on the books for over a decade. Its the strongest such law in the nation, and it has provided a robust tool for protecting some of Illinoisans most sensitive data against covert collection, use, and resale.

The question at issue in the case concerns who is allowed to sue for violation of their rights under the law. The lawsuit was brought by the family of a teenager whose thumbprint was scanned when he went to a Six Flags amusement part. Contrary to the requirements of the law, there was no explanation of why he was fingerprinted or how the data would be used.

BIPA allows anyone aggrieved by a violation of its provisions to seek monetary damages and other relief. The defendant in the case, supported by a number of organizations representing businesses that seek to collect biometric data  including tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Amazon  argued that someone can only be aggrieved if they can prove that they have suffered actual damages, such as monetary loss or other concrete harms.

As we explained in a friend-of-the-court brief, however, that interpretation would often leave no means to hold wrongdoers accountable for their violations of BIPAs notice and consent requirements because privacy harms are difficult for the consumer to understand at the outset and discover after the fact. In addition to the ACLU and ACLU of Illinois, the brief was joined by the Center for Democracy & Technology, Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Illinois PIRG Education Fund, and Lucy Parsons Labs.

In a unanimous opinion, the Illinois Supreme Court agreed, holding that an individual need not allege some actual injury or adverse effect, beyond violation of his or her rights under the Act, in order to qualify as an aggrieved person and be entitled to sue.

The act vests in individuals and customers the right to control their biometric information by requiring notice before collection and giving them the power to say no by withholding consent. These procedural protections are particularly crucial in our digital world because technology now permits the wholesale collection and storage of an individuals unique biometric identifiers  identifiers that cannot be changed if compromised or misused, the court explained, quoting a lower courts ruling in another case.

When a private entity fails to adhere to the statutory procedures, as defendants are alleged to have done here, the right of the individual to maintain [his or] her biometric privacy vanishes into thin air. The precise harm the Illinois legislature sought to prevent is then realized. This is no mere technicality. The injury is real and significant.

The courts ruling ensures that the Illinois law remains a meaningful tool for protecting against invasions of privacy. It will have an immediate effect in other cases, including a lawsuit challenging Facebooks collection of face recognition scans  also filed under BIPA  in which we filed a friend-of-the-court brief late last year.

The decision also stands for a larger principle that in an age when companies have ever greater abilities to amass and monetize our personal data, it is crucial that Congress and state legislatures provide strong laws that both protect peoples rights and allow them to sue when companies violate the law. Legislators should reject self-serving industry arguments  similar to the ones made in this case  that consumers dont deserve the right to take companies to court unless they can prove monetary or concrete harm.

As my colleague, Neema Singh Guliani, recently explained in The New York Times, Huge privacy violations have become commonplace. Without a private right of action, consumers have little practical ability to seek relief in cases where their data was mishandled or misused.

Lawmakers nationwide would be wise to follow Illinois lead and ensure that people throughout the country have a way to defend against surreptitious or misleading uses of their biometrics and other private and sensitive data.

Nathan Freed Wessler is a staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project.
SPRINGFIELD  A bill to raise Illinois minimum wage to $15 by 2025 needs only Gov. J.B. Pritzkers signature to become law, and his office said he stands ready to act in the coming days.

Today is a resounding victory for the 1.4 million Illinoisans who will soon get a hard-earned and well-deserved raise, Pritzker said in a news release Thursday. After nearly a decade of delay, I applaud the House and Senate for passing a living wage with the fierce urgency this moment requires.

The House galleries were filled with cheers from advocates  many of them currently making the minimum wage  as the final 69-47-1 favorable vote became official.

Prior to the final vote, Pritzker was on the House floor smiling and shaking the hands of Democratic lawmakers  even as Republican Minority Leader Jim Durkin was lamenting the lack of bipartisanship behind the effort in his floor speech.

This is not the way to start out the General Assembly, Durkin said, adding Republicans had basically been told your interests and your thoughts are not valid and we dont care.

All in Durkins Republican caucus were joined by four Democrats opposing the bill while one, Stephanie Kifowit of Aurora, voted present after two hours of debate.

In their final efforts to derail the fast-tracked bill, Republicans once again shared stories from business owners, universities, colleges and schools within their districts detailing layoffs, closures and increased property taxes.

Rep. Charlie Meier, an Okawville Republican, said the bill would hurt agriculture and small-town businesses such as groceries.

More Information Path to Passage A timeline of events leading to the Legislature's passage this month of a law raising the minimum wage in Illinois to $15 an hour by 2025: July 2010 - Illinois' minimum wage hits its current rate of $8.25 per hour, a rate that remains stagnant for nearly 10 years. 2013 - Senate Bill 68 is introduced in the 98th General Assembly to increase the minimum wage to $9.25 on Oct. 1, 2014, $10 on July 1, 2015, and $10.65 on July 1, 2016. The bill does not receive a vote in either chamber. 2015 - Senate Bill 11 is introduced in the 99th General Assembly to increase the minimum wage to $9 beginning July 1, 2015, and by 50 cents each July 1 until July 1, 2019, at which point the minimum wage would be $11. The bill passes the Senate 35-18-1, but fails to receive a committee hearing in the House. January 2017 - Senate Bill 81 is introduced in the 100th General Assembly to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 by 2022. The bill is carried by Sen. Kimberly Lightford ( D-Maywood) and Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago), both of whom would later usher this session's SB1 through their respective chambers. The bill passes the Senate by a 30-23-2 vote and the House by a 61-53-2 vote, but is vetoed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in August 2017. Jan. 9, 2019 - Senate Bill 1 is introduced in the 101st General Assembly as a shell bill with no substantial language. Jan. 30, 2019 - The Senate Labor Committee has its first subject matter hearing on a minimum wage increase, kicking off discussion on the matter in the 101st General Assembly. Feb. 6, 2019 - Senator Lightford files substantial language detailing the minimum wage hike over a six-year period. On the same day, the Senate Executive Committee adopts Lightford's bill language to increase the wage to $15 by 2025 on a 13-6 partisan vote. Feb. 7, 2019 - Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who campaigned on the passage of a minimum wage increase, joins the Senate Democrats for a private caucus prior to a floor vote on the issue. Minutes later, the Senate votes 39-18 to approve SB1. The group later holds a news conference celebrating the bill's advancement. Feb. 11, 2019 - A group of downstate business representatives hold a news conference at the Capitol blasting the minimum wage increase as an "open invitation" for businesses to leave the state. They also detail potential layoffs, closures and raised rates at their businesses. Feb. 13, 2019 - The House Labor and Commerce committee passes SB1 on a 19-10 partisan roll call and heads to the House for a full floor vote. Feb. 14, 2019 - The Illinois House votes 69-47-1 with only Democratic support to pass SB1. Gov. Pritzker indicates in a news release he will sign the bill "in the coming days." Once Pritzker signs the bill, the minimum wage will follow the following path to $15. Jan. 1, 2020 - Illinois' minimum wage will increase from $8.25 to $9.25. July 1, 2020 - Minimum wage will increase to $10. Jan. 1, 2021 - Minimum wage will increase to $11. Jan. 1, 2022 - Minimum wage will increase to $12. Jan. 1, 2023 - Minimum wage will increase to $13. Jan. 1, 2024 - Minimum wage will increase to $14. Jan. 1, 2025 - Minimum wage will increase to $15. See More Collapse

The small family farms will suffer the worst with the organic farms, orchards, vineyards, wineries, and the livestock industry being hit the hardest of all, Meier said. This is another Illinois law that will yet again put our region at a disadvantage.

Rep. Tom Bennett, a Gibson City Republican, cited a National Federation of Independent Businesses study which said Illinois would see 93,000 jobs lost because of the increase. Rep. Terri Bryant, a Murphysboro Republican, said the bill would cost Illinois public universities $112 million by the time it is implemented.

Republicans also brought up the hundreds of millions of dollars the bill would add to the states expenditures as human service providers  especially nursing homes, 25 of which have closed since 2014 because of inadequate Medicaid reimbursements  universities and other departments request more funding to pay for the higher labor costs.

But Rep. Will Guzzardi, Senate Bill 1s House sponsor, continued to point to data which shows no impact on job losses when communities see an incremental minimum wage increase, and spoke to the dignity of the worker.

The only way to stop being poor is to have more money, he said. And thats what this legislation is going to do. The working poor in our state are going to have more money. We will treat their labor with the dignity and respect it deserves, and we will allow them to provide a better standard of living for themselves and their families.

While Republicans continued to argue that the studies cited by Guzzardi predict only an incremental increase  not an 82 percent spike in six years  many Democrats were convinced by the moral argument.

Rep. Emmanuel Chris Welch of Westchester was among them.

People should not go to work 40 hours a week and still not be able to put food on the table, he said. Dr. King said there is nothing but short-sightedness to prevent us from guaranteeing a livable income for every American. Lets not be shortsighted today.

Rep. Celina Villanueva, a Chicago Democrat, said further progress was necessary and the fight for 15 was only the first step toward worker dignity.

What were really talking about is the dignity and respect of our workers, she said. I dont think 15 is enough. Ive never thought 15 was enough.

Guzzardi said 41 percent of all workers in Illinois make less than $15 per hour, and more of those workers are in their 40s, 50s and 60s than are younger than 25; and 48 percent of African Americans and 61 percent of Latinos make less than $15 per hour.

Those minimum-wage workers will begin seeing their increases in January 2020, when the minimum rate goes from $8.25 to $9.25 before increasing to $10 on July 1, 2020, and $11 on Jan. 1 2021. After that, it would increase by $1 every January until it hits $15 in 2025.

For Iashea Cross, a personal assistant and low-wage worker in the health care field who was in the gallery from Chicago, the bill means a brighter outlook in the future.

I might be able to let go of that second job in the future that I have just to make ends meet, she said. For me, the passage of this bill means that finally we are being recognized as the working people of the state that help it continue to move forward.

The bill also maintains a tip credit, which allows employers to pay tipped workers 60 percent of the minimum wage if tips make up the other 40 percent. A training wage for teen seasonal workers is also part of the bill, and that wage will top out at $13 per hour.

A tax credit for businesses with less than 50 full-time equivalent employees is also part of the final bill, starting at 25 percent of the difference between the current minimum wage and an employees wage in the final quarter of the previous calendar year. It would decrease by 4 percent each year until it hits 5 percent in the final two years.

jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com
ALTON - Dane C. Tannler, 36, of the 300 block of Dry Street, Alton, was charged Feb. 8 with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.

He allegedly possessed a ViperTec stun gun on Thursday after having been convicted of manufacturing or delivering between one and 15 grams of cocaine in 2011. Bail was set at $50,000.

WOOD RIVER - Christian L. Cofer, 23, of the 4800 block of Clifton Terrace, Godfrey, was charged Wednesday with residential burglary.

He allegedly entered a home in the 300 block of Hillview Drive, Wood River, with the intent to commit a theft. Bail was set at $85,000.

ALTON - Robin L. Slow, 31, of the 100 block of Willard Street, Alton, was charged Tuesday with unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

He allegedly possessed less than 15 grams of heroin on Monday. Bail was set at $15,000.

ALTON - Jose A. Ixtepan-Chagala, 25, of the 3800 block of Western Avenue, Alton, was charged Tuesday with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, reckless discharge of a firearm and unlawful possession of a stolen firearm.

He allegedly shot a 9 mm handgun next to the head of a victim on Monday. He was also accused of possessing a stolen firearm. Bail was set at $80,000.

WOOD RIVER - Tyler S. Mason, 24, of the 300 block of First Street, Benld, was charged Tuesday with two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

He allegedly possessed cocaine and hydrocodone on Monday. Bail was set at $15,000.

LIVINGSTON - Dilynn J. Schehl, 27, of the 800 block of Veterans Memorial Drive, was charged Wednesday with aggravated battery and misdemeanor domestic battery.

He allegedly struck a victim in the hand with a pitchfork on Monday. Bail was set at $20,000.

EAST ALTON - Brittany R. Gresham, 30, of the 200 block of Haller Drive, East Alton, was charge Monday with two counts of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon and a count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

She was accused of possessing an LCP Ruger on Sunday after having been convicted of unlawful possession of a controlled substance. She allegedly possessed a .22-caliber long rifle on Sunday after the drug conviction. She also allegedly possessed a prescription sedative. Bail was set at $30,000.

EAST ALTON - Chad L. Evans, 46, of the 100 block of Tomlinson Street, East Alton, was charged Wednesday with unlawful possession of methamphetamine.

He allegedly possessed less than five grams of the drug on Tuesday. Bail was set at $20,000.

ALTON - Morgan N. Selhim, 21, of the 800 block of Washington Avenue, Alton, was charged Wednesday with aggravated battery.

He allegedly spit in the face of an Alton firefighter Monday while the firefighter was performing his duties. Bail was set at $50,000.

ALTON - Samuel T. Carter, 28, of Alton, was charged Wednesday with residential burglary and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.

He allegedly entered a home in the 3800 block of Oscar Street on Tuesday with the intent to commit a theft. He was also accused of possessing a loaded magazine after having been convicted of unlawful possession of a controlled substance in 2015. Bail was set at $100,000.
EDWARDSVILLE  It appears that catering meals to the Madison County Jail during the renovation will save a significant amount of money, but replacing nonfunctioning kitchen equipment could eat up some of those savings.

As part of the three-year renovation project at the Madison County Jail, the kitchen will be shut down for approximately one month, with work beginning March 1. Facilities Director Rob Schmidt told the County Boards Facilities Committee that using a catering company rather than renting a portable kitchen facility will result in a significant savings.

The jail renovation project had budgeted about $80,000 for the temporary kitchen facilities, but going through an Alton-based catering company will cost only $15,925.

Schmidt said they received three proposals ranging up to approximately $35,000.

Once the kitchen shuts down, he said the food would be brought in using hoppers, and then served from a makeshift kitchen. Schmidt noted that Health Department Administrator Toni Corona had been consulted and said it would work.

However, he also said they found out that about half of the equipment in the jail kitchen does not work.

All of it is old, all of it is patched together, he said.

Representatives of the Sheriffs Department said they had been surprised by that, too.

One of the reasons was that because of changes in how food is prepared for prisoners, they only have to provide one hot meal per day which cuts down on equipment use.

Schmidt said replacing all of the nonfunctioning equipment would eat up most of the savings. Using the internet he priced equipment at $58,000, but said there might be additional savings once it is actually bid out.

Part of the discussion was what exactly is needed, both from the use standpoint and if there are any redundancies that need to be in place.

Schmidt said one concern is that the kitchen renovations will be getting under way about the time of next months meeting. Options for dealing with the situation include calling a special meeting or using contingency funds from the construction project. On Thursday, Schmidt said there would be a special meeting once he had confirmed prices.

Schmidt also noted in the meeting that the project is about 44 percent complete, but is expected to slow down because workers will be getting into cell blocks and other areas that will take more time.

There was also some discussion about a lawn maintenance contract for the upcoming mowing season.

In 2017, the county started contracting out lawn care services, both to free up skilled workers for maintenance projects and to get better service.

Schmidt said it has been very successful. Last years cost was about $46,000, but Schmidt said it has also made a major difference in his departments backlog of work orders because it has freed up workers.

When he took over there were approximately 350 work orders, which increased to more than 400. Today the backlog is 183.

Were getting on top of things, he said.

Reach reporter Scott Cousins at 618-208-6447.
Looking back 65 years, I can still remember the medicine cabinet in our bathroom. It was sunk into the wall because it was installed when the house was built, fitting perfectly between two studs. A small slot in the back provided the reason for doing it this way. When one of my fathers razor blades grew dull, he slipped it into the slot where it disappeared as it fell all the way down to the bottom plate of the wall, safely out of the way and never to be seen again.

There were about five shelves full of sundry items in the cabinet: a styptic pencil; Ludens cough drops; a tin of PRID salve; a glass eyewash cup; a pack of Gillette blue blades; a box of Red Cross gauze; a roll of white tape; a bottle of aspirin; Doans Pills; a box of Q-tips; a single edge razor blade; a blue bottle of Bromo Seltzer; and, much more.

The use of castor oil, derived from the castor bean, goes all the way back to antiquity where it was given to pregnant women to induce labor. In Americas early industrial age of the 1840s and 50s, it was used as a lubricant substitute because petroleum oil would not be available until several decades later. During this time, nearby Randolph County was acknowledged as the nations leading producer of castor oil.

I had cousins born in the 1930s who remember their parents giving them a tablespoon of castor oil every spring. The conventional wisdom of the time held that a dose of castor oil cleaned out your system that had become lethargic due to inactivity from the long winter months. It was lovingly referred to as a cathartic purgative.

The summer before I started grade school, my doctor at Christian Welfare Hospital (in E. St. Louis) removed my tonsils. Back then, when children frequently had tonsillitis (sore throat), most doctors recommended that they be removed. What I remember most about the operation was breathing some awful ether that was used as the anesthetic. When my mother had sore tonsils, she always painted them with tincture of Merthiolate from the medicine cabinet.

Anytime my sister or I developed a cough, mother gave us a dose of Father Johns syrup. It was a light brown liquid that consisted of cod liver oil flavored with licorice. If we developed deep coughs, known as the croup, a spoonful of sugar and coal oil (kerosene) was lovingly poured down our gullets.

For a toothache, oil of clove did the trick. For an earache, a few drops of sweet oil were placed in the ear canal and kept in place by a ball of cotton. To treat a cut, some of that dark colored Mercurochrome, a Band-Aid, and a kiss on the forehead from mom sent you on your way.

Im betting that quite a few of you older readers out there have memories of cures and nostrums from yesteryear that make some of my memories sound tame by comparison! It seems to me that I have heard tales about chests being smeared with goose grease, and the use of mustard plasters for bronchitis. My grandmother told me that in her time children wore asafetida bags around their necks to ward off the ague, the grippe, influenza, and other common ailments. What went inside the bag depended on the latest gossip. Asafetida, a key ingredient, is the dried gum exuded from the tap root of several species of Ferula, a perennial herb. The bag might have also included a dead spider, some alum, a wedge of garlic, and some camphor.

Ahh  the good old days!

Bill Nunes, of Glen Carbon, has written dozens of books including The Buster Wortman Story and History of the St. Louis Cardinals, both in color, to Jans Hallmark Shop locations. Nunes taught history for 30 years at Collinsville and Edwardsville high schools.
EDWARDSVILLE  During its bi-monthly public services committee meeting Tuesday, Edwardsville city officials revealed they are planning to raise water rates for the new fiscal year, which starts May 1.

According to a hand-out from the meeting, the current water rates, $4.15 per month per 1,000 gallons and a $5.20 bi-monthly meter charge, do not cover annual operation and maintenance increases and current rates do not account for any system improvements.

Another factor in the decision is Glen Carbons recent announcement that it seeks to no longer buy city water come September. Glen Carbon currently represents 25 percent of the citys income. According to Eric Williams, the director of public works, the village consumed 427 million gallons of water during FY 2017-2018.

He said some projects had been deferred pending a final agreement with Glen Carbon. We are trying to run as lean as we can, said Williams.

City staff proposed the following five-year rate increases per 1,000 gallons  $5.19 for FY 2019-2020; $6.49 for FY 2020-2021; $7.79 for FY2021-2022; $8.18 for FY 2022-2023; and $8.58 for FY 2023-24. The bi-monthly meter charge would rise to $7.50.

City officials said the increases would bring Edwardsville more in line with what other cities charge and on a monthly bill of 5,000 gallons for 2019-2020, would remain cheaper (~$43.50) than Highland (~$51), OFallon (~$52.50) and Illinois-American Water (IAW).

According to Karen Cotton, external affairs manager, the company charges $53.78 a month for using 5,000 gallons of water with a 5/8-inch meter.

However, City Engineer Ryan Zwijack said he pulled the hand-out data for Illinois American Water from its website and that Edwardsville installs one-inch meters. Per IAWs data, the monthly meter charge for a one-inch meter is $47.39. Zwijack added that he could not remember the last time the city installed any 5/8-inch or 3/4-inch meters.

Were subsidizing the water in Edwardsville now, City Administrator Kevin Head pointed out during a Jan. 31 meeting regarding the finances for Plummer Family Park. He said the city deducts $500,000 from its general fund annually as a water subsidy and this increase would free that amount from the general fund for other uses.

While water expenses for the new fiscal year are projected to be less than $6 million, a drop from the current fiscal year, expenses climb starting with FY 2020-2021. Expenses are forecast to surpass $8 million by FY 2024-2025 and approach $10 million by FY 2028-2029 when water plant #2 is slated for a re-build.

The committees three aldermen, Jack Burns, Craig Louer and Janet Stack, couldnt agree whether to support rates that would make the water plant break even within two or three years, but Williams said all seven aldermen want the water plant to be self-sustaining and solvent.

Louer asked why the increases werent steeper and Mayor Hal Patton agreed. Williams said he would not be opposed to that but he was unsure how much the aldermen were willing to take on.

I want to make this as painless as possible, Stack said. She added they need to consider that there are residents who are on limited incomes. Burns agreed with Stack.

There will be changes on the collection side of the citys water equation, too, according to Jeanne Wojcieszak, city clerk.

Currently, customers end up on the disconnect list when they owe $100 or more.

We have customers who leave $100 on their bill month after month after month, Wojcieszak said. For example, a customer who owes $179; they pay $80.

Under the new proposal, those who owe $20 or more will wind up on the disconnect list to motivate more customers to pay the full amount of their bills on time.

She said her department sends disconnect notices to an average of 130 customers per week and of those, an average of 26 customers per week have their water service shut off, typically for failure to pay.

If a customer is disconnected, each reconnection now costs $25 during business hours and $65 for reconnections made on nights, weekends or holidays.

After May 1, Wojcieszak said the $25 reconnection fee during business hours would remain but the after-hours fee would rise to $220 to properly reimburse the city for actual reconnection costs incurred.

The committee voted 2-1 to forward the proposal to the administrative and community service (ACS) committee, using a three-year cycle to reach the break-even point. If the ACS committee approves the plan, it will go to the mayor and full council for first reading on Feb. 19.

In other action, the public services committee:

 Approved installation of a new streetlight and pole into the municipal streetlight system at New Poag and Old Poag roads, east of North University Drive

 Approved awarding a Lancashire Sanitary Sewer Repair contract to Keller Construction, Inc., for $37,850

 Approved the following for the IL 157 Shared Use Path:

* A local public agency agreement for federal participation

* A preliminary engineering services agreement with Oates Associates for $141,788

*A resolution appropriating motor fuel tax funds

The next public services committee meeting will be Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 3:30 p.m. at Edwardsville City Hall, located at 118 Hillsboro Ave.

Reach Charles Bolinger at (618) 656-4700, ext. 31
The Edwardsville Area League of Women Voters and the Edwardsville Branch of the NAACP will be sponsoring two candidate Meet and Greet events.

The first is on Wednesday, March 6 at 7 p.m. in the Wildey Theatre, 252 North Main St., Edwardsville. Candidates for District 7 School Board, aldermanic candidates for Wards 1, 3, 5 and 7 in Edwardsville, and candidates for Hamel president have been invited.
The State of the City Address gave attendees a snapshot of Grand Island, Hall County and the education system.

Community leaders presented brief overviews about their areas of expertise Thursday morning at the event held by the Grand Island Chamber of Commerces Young Professionals at Bosselman Corporate Headquarters.

While Mayor Roger Steele spent most of his time talking about the process the city has gone through working with the state on a vision for the Grand Island Veterans Home campus now that the residents have relocated to Kearney, he also said the state of the city is excellent.

We have wonderful things going on. We are a dynamic city and our growth potential is huge, he said.

One area that will continue to be a focus for the city is revenue and expenses.

We are going to have budget issues for quite a while and so the City Council and I are always going to have to maintain discipline that we live within our means and we do not spend down our reserves, Steele said.

The budget will also be the No. 1 issue facing the county.
Christian Womens Connection will meet Tuesday in Aurora.

The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at Pleasant View Bible Church at Third and Manor streets.

Lisa Gretch of Hampton will present How to Stay Fit & Healthy

Also speaking will be Laura Gonnella of Dawson with Ready, Set, ... Change. She will highlight some of the important changes from her life.

Music will be by Mike Miller of York.

Dessert will be served at a cost of $5.

Reservations and cancellations should be made by Friday by calling Deb Troester at (402) 694-6277 or emailing her at stroester@hamilton.net, or calling Cindy Weir at (308) 249-6197 or emailing her at cbartonweir@gmail.com.
In five traffic stops on Interstate 80 over the course of two days, the Nebraska State Patrol seized 100 pounds of marijuana, with 85 of them coming on an arrest near Giltner.

All five stops happened between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.

At 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, the State Patrol approached a Chevrolet Tahoe parked in a no-parking area on the shoulder of the on-ramp at exit 324 near Giltner. Troopers then found 85 pounds of marijuana in the Tahoe. The driver, Franklin Schillfarth, a 55-year-old Maryland man, was arrested and was lodged in Hamilton County Jail.

Wednesday morning near Kearney, a trooper found three pounds of marijuana located hidden inside a large, older television. A Chevy pickup pulling a trailer was stopped for failing to stay in its lane near Kearney at mile marker 280 at about 9 a.m. The trooper could smell the odor of marijuana in the vehicle and conducted a search. The search revealed personal use marijuana and a handgun. An investigation revealed that the driver was unaware of the marijuana inside the television. The driver, Ryan Taylor, 35, of Florida, was arrested and cited for a concealed handgun violation and personal use marijuana. He was lodged in Buffalo County Jail.
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A teacher in Texas went to great lengths to comfort a child who was being teased.

KTRK reports Meador Elementary School teacher Shannon Grimm noticed something wrong with 5-year-old Priscilla Perez and made it her mission to find out why.

"Friends started to call her a boy, and those words cut deep," Grimm said.

Priscilla was being teased because of her short haircut.



"I would cry because I would think school was not fun," Priscilla said.

The girl even began wearing a hat every day and refused to take it off.

"Anytime I would put my arm around to help her with her work, she would get stiff and nervous," Grimm said.

The teacher decided to take a drastic action to show solidarity. She decided to chop off her long hair.

Ive never had short hair, and I stressed about it for two weeks before making a decision, she told Yahoo Lifestyle.

She asked a stylist friend to do the cut at her home.

I didnt want to be surrounded by mirrors in a salon, she said. I told him to keep going, even if I cried.

Priscilla was so excited to see her teacher's matching haircut, she ran off the school bus that afternoon yelling, "Mom, Ms. Grimm cut her hair!"

"I am going to do other things for my friends in the classroom besides teach them. I am going to show them the love and support that they need to learn," Grimm said.


It seems only fitting that the traditional country band Gunsmoke decided to honor one of the greats of the genre, the late Johnny Cash, with a night that celebrates the country legends music and his upcoming birthday this Saturday, Feb. 16, at Bobby Qs Cue & Co. in Norwalk. The many classic country tunes of Cash, who was born on Feb. 26, 1932, have been on Gunsmokes set lists for decades  the Fairfield County country outfit celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011.

Jeff DeMaio, the groups pedal steel guitarist and vocalist, who co-founded the band with his brother, bassist and vocalist Nick DeMaio III, in 1982, explained how and why Cashs music has been an influence on both of them. His music just transcends all the genres, said DeMaio. Young, old, rock, country, it just seems like Cash navigates through all of that. He was one of those traditional artists that we grew up on. So for us, in particular, its just a natural fit. We do so many Cash songs, we decided to do a special Cash show. And well not only do Johnny Cash, but well cover all of his highway friends, too. Well go into Waylin, and well go into Willie. Its in our wheelhouse.

Traditional country has always been in Gunsmokes wheelhouse, and DeMaio explained why. People can tell when youre playing something that you love, and its something that we were always attached to. We started playing with it, and we continue to play it. When Im not playing, Im listening to Willies Roadhouse. Its not part of a show, its part of all of our lives.

Saturdays set list will include classics like I Walk the Line, Folsom Prison, One Piece at a Time, Chain Gang, and Give My Love to Rose, which is a Cash and Waylin duet thats a little bit more obscure, he said.

Gunsmoke has been recognized as one of the areas premier traditional country music bands over the years. Its a staple on the outdoor summer circuit and has annually been organizing charity fundraisers called Music for Hope since 2010. The band has been inducted into the Connecticut Country Music Hall of Fame and The Country Music and Dance Hall of Fame and performed for two sitting presidents, George Bush in 1994, and George W. Bush in 2002, both at political fundraisers held locally. It received a special citation from the Connecticut General Assembly and appeared on Nashvilles WSM radio on Ernest Tubb's Midnite Jamboree program.

DeMaio explained what he feels is the particular allure of the music. Its the simplicity of it, he said. When you sit down and listen to the traditional side of any form of music, if you concentrate, you can pick out every single instrument and hear it. You can hear the drums, you can hear the fiddle, you can hear the steel guitar. Theres air in there for the music to breathe. You can hear every vocal lyric. I always find that its easier to overplay than to underplay, and I think with country, if its on an instrument, you get an opportunity to play one or two or three little notes, or phrases, that are going to stand out, rather than a big chunk of loud music. Its just more about taste, where less is more. Thats what traditional has always been for me, its that simple approach.

Gunsmoke has several discs out, and future plans have the group returning to the recording studio. We definitely want to do a little more recording, said DeMaio. Weve never done an instrumental CD, so thats something were getting a little more serious about, and we have a lot of instrumentals that we do. Itll be something like an Ernest Tubb and his Texas Troubadours type-of-thing.

Joining the DeMaio brothers are Nicks son, Nick DeMaio IV, on drums, and his daughter, Christina Mae, on vocals, plus Van Manakas on guitar.

We were always hoping that we could get an audience out there that would continue to come and listen to us, and weve been lucky enough to have that, said DeMaio. For more information on the band, visit: http://www.gunsmokeband.com

Bobby Q's Cue & Co. is at 11 Merwin St. in Norwalk. Music starts at about 9 p.m. Theres no cover charge. For information, call 203-831-0354.

Mike Horyczuns Sound Surfing column appears every Saturday in The Hour. Mike can be reached at: news2mh@gmail.com
NORWALK  Police are searching for two suspects who stole shoes off the porch of a Nash Place home Thursday afternoon.

Police were first alerted to the incident around 12:30 p.m. Thursday by a concerned North Taylor Avenue homeowner.

The woman told police she had heard something on her back porch, and when she looked outside she found two males. Police said the woman called police, at which point the two males fled out the back yard and headed south on North Taylor Avenue.

When police arrived, they found a single shoe and two opened packages, which had been addressed to a home nearby on Nash Place, on the residents back porch.

The intended recipient of the packages later told police she was expecting two new pairs of shoes to be delivered that afternoon.

Numerous police officers and vehicles could be seen searching the neighborhood Thursday afternoon.

Police said the suspects are believed to be teenagers. One was reported to be in a gray sweatshirt, and the other in a black one.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police at 203-854-3000.
When Nigerians go to the polls on Saturday, there'll be much more at stake than the presidency and seats in the parliament of Africa's most populous nation.

Democracy is on the back foot in Africa, and a credible and widely accepted outcome will go some way toward offsetting negative perceptions of the world's poorest continent. While most Nigerian elections since military rule ended in 1999 concluded acrimoniously, the last contest four years ago saw the first-ever transfer of power via the ballot box and was hailed as a watershed moment for the nation's almost 200 million people.

"The significance of the Nigerian elections for Africa is tremendous," said Nic Cheeseman, a professor of democracy and international development at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. "A flawed election and the political instability that this could generate would not only undermine confidence in the feasibility of democracy in one of Africa's most important states, but also slow economic growth in West Africa and the wider region."

Recent setbacks in Africa include disputed votes in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya, an attempted coup in Gabon and the violent suppression of anti-government protests in Sudan and Zimbabwe.

A study Cheeseman did of 44 African nations showed almost every criterion used to evaluate the state of democracy slipped between 2015 and 2017. Many states pay lip service to staging elections, but have made little headway in giving their citizens a real stake in their economies, he said.

The legitimacy of Nigeria's election has already been called into question by President Muhammadu Buhari's decision to suspend the chief justice for allegedly failing to declare his assets correctly, just weeks before the vote. The Supreme Court may have to rule on disputes in the vote, which is widely seen as a tight two-horse race between the 76-year-old Buhari, a one-time military ruler, and Atiku Abubakar, 72, a wealthy businessman and former vice president.

Repressive African governments are facing little international pressure because global powers are preoccupied with the U.S. trade war with China, the U.K.'s exit from the European Union and Venezuela's political crisis, according to Moeletsi Mbeki, deputy chairman of the Johannesburg-based South African Institute of International Affairs.

"They are aware that the rest of the world is busy with bigger issues," Mbeki said. "In Africa, things are most likely to get worse before they get better."

Half the 44 nations evaluated by Cheeseman, who analyzed the results of a transformation index compiled by German research institute Bertelsmann Stiftung, have autocratic governments. Mauritius and Botswana were the only two classified as consolidating democracies, while South Africa, which has an election in May, and Kenya were among 15 considered "defective democracies." Nigeria was described as a "highly defective democracy."

An analysis of data from 35 independent sources by a foundation started by Sudanese billionaire Mo Ibrahim paints a somewhat rosier picture.

It showed an overall African governance index reaching a decade-high in 2017, with 34 of the 54 countries registering gains since 2008. But another index that measured sustainable economic opportunities on the continent barely changed over the period, despite a 40 percent surge in the region's gross domestic product.

"Old institutions that have remained undemocratic need to be reformed and the political space needs to be opened for people to participate meaningfully," said Ntsikelelo Breakfast, a lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch's School of Security and African Studies. "That could take a long time, depending on how long the political elite continue ignoring the growing voices of discontent."
A man in Louisiana proposed to his girlfriend in the spot where they met nearly two decades ago.

Nate Pierre got down on his knee and popped the question to his girlfriend, Darcey Crawford, at Folsom Elementary School, in the third-grade classroom where they first locked eyes.
France made a peace offering in a dispute with Italian populist leaders, saying it would soon send its ambassador back to Rome after what Paris saw as meddling in internal affairs.

"Today, I can tell you that the return of our ambassador will happen very soon," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The two neighbors have been "friends and allies for a long time," he added.
NORWALK  Julio Rodriguez can now add Officer of the Year to his burgeoning resume.

The Special Services Division veteran recently received the award Feb. 7, in part, for his work investigating Connecticut drug rings.

Rodriguez, who is the senior task force officer on the Drug Enforcement Administrations Bridgeport-based unit, played a pivotal role in two large drug busts in Norwalk, among countless others around the state, over the past year.

His case work has resulted in the seizure of significant amounts of heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine and crystal methamphetamine from the streets of Norwalk and southwestern Connecticut, said police spokesman Lt. Terry Blake.

In March 2018, Rodriguez spearheaded an investigation targeting members of Mexican drug cartels operating in the greater Norwalk area. Using wiretaps and physical surveillance, Rodriguez and his unit arrested several cartel members and associates, and seized more than 1,000 grams of cocaine.

Months later, Rodriguez put Charles Thelusma, a heroin dealer in Norwalk, behind bars. Thelusma, who police said was a major source behind the citys heroin and fentanyl between 2017 and 2018, was later sentenced to 14 years in prison as result of the investigation.

These two high-profile 2018 cases are only a snapshot of Officer Julio Rodriguezs efforts to remove narcotics from the City of Norwalk, Blake said. Both cases dismantled dangerous distribution operations and removed a significant amount of deadly narcotics from the neighborhoods of Norwalk, undoubtedly saving lives.

This isnt Rodriguezs first award for work shutting down drug trafficking rings. In 2017, he was recognized with a U.S. Attorneys Award for his work with Operation Facedown, an extensive investigation into a drug ring spanning multiple states.

Rodriguez and his unit launched the investigation after a brand of heroin bearing the name Facedown resulted in several fatal overdoses. The operation resulted in the arrest of 10 people and the seizure of substantial amounts of cocaine, heroin and cash.
MILFORD  Knitting comes naturally to Florence Chicos, who started knitting and crocheting when she was a child decades and decades ago.

So on Saturday, Chicos and a dozen other residents at Carriage Green in Milford, a Benchmark assisted living community, was able to help with fulfilling an order for red hats to be distributed to babies born in Connecticut hospitals in February.

Hundreds of people around the state took up knitting needles and crocheting hooks for Little Hats, Big Hearts, which celebrates American Heart month and helps raise awareness of congenital hearth defects.

According to the American Heart Association, which organized the program in connection with the Childrens Heart Foundation, congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect in the country.

Congenital heart defects are structural problems with the heart present at birth.

They result when a mishap occurs during heart development soon after conception and often before the mother is aware that she is pregnant, according to the AHA. Defects range in severity from simple problems, such as holes between chambers of the heart, to very severe malformations, such as complete absence of one or more chambers or valves.

Twenty-seven hospitals in Connecticut are participating in the Little Hats program, from Bridgeport Hospital and Danbury Hospital to Yale New Haven Hospital.

Every baby born at one of the hospitals in February will receive one of the little red hats made by volunteers.

In 2018, more than 200,000 hats were distributed.

Some of the volunteers are personally connected to this program, either having a child who was born with a congenital heart defect or in loving memory of those lost to heart defects and heart disease, states an AHA press release.

The ladies knitting and crocheting in Milford Saturday said they are accustomed to tapping their skills to help out the community.

Joan Callendrillo, retired preschool director at St. Marys School in Milford, sat beside her mother, Marie Montemarano, who lives at Carriage Green.

Callendrillo has knitted hats for babies before, including for Milfords St. Marys Church mission to Haiti program. Knitting was a skill taught to her as a child by her aunt.

Doris Quagliani, executive director of Carriage Green, said the residents and staff at Carriage Green often unite for a cause.

Our mission is to elevate the human connection and keep everyone connected to what matters most, Quagliani said, not just as it relates to our own residents, families and associates inside the community but also fostering strong relations outside of the community too.

Toni Ann McKane, programming director at Carriage Green, said the goal is to create 100 hats by Feb. 1, which will be added to those made at other Benchmark properties and other locations and households pitching in for the cause.

By about 2 p.m. Saturday, Chicos, whose mother taught all her children to knit, had made about six hats: Some she knitted, some she crocheted, and she was helping Pauline Boyum, another Carriage Green resident, get started on the hat pattern.

Like Chicos and Boyum, the women in the room had been practicing the craft since they were children. Vera Overchuck, for example, grew up in the Walnut Beach section of Milford. An older woman living there at the time gathered a group of neighborhood girls, then about 10 and 12 years old, and taught them to crochet.

I thought it would be a nice thing to do in the summer, sitting on the beach, Overchuck said.

The others told similar stories about learning to knit or crochet from a mother or aunt, and they talked about all the hats, slippers, sweaters and blankets they created over the years.

Its a relaxing pastime, Overchuck said.

And with their lifelong skills, most of them could finish a hat in an hour.

For more information about the Little Hats, Big Hearts program, visit heart.org/littlehatsbighearts.
I hate to spend more money ... but its like owning a house. Its not exciting to fix the roof but you have to do it if you want to continue to live there, said council member Mike Smith.

Mayor Ben Flora said he is taken aback by the cost of the smoke test and scoping, but he agrees that the information it provides is valuable.

Council member Sarah Eames also said she felt like the town just got out from under debt by selling Building 6. The structure in Village Park sold for $325,000 to Boone Dominion Process Co. in November.

But we know [these capital projects] are going to be a cost. This is just a surprise when we talk about that kind of expense, Eames said.

Every small town in America is dealing with this problem, Fitzpatrick said. Towns all over Virginia do not have the resources they need to fix and repair aging systems. We are very lucky we have those resources here.

Though we have to spend money  no one likes to spend money  if it continues to be a money drain on us, then years down the road, do we sell it?

BOONES MILL
I was in the sick bank for 21 years, Jamison said. If you value that at $35 a day then I contributed a minimum of $750 to that system and I dont begrudge one dime of it.

I gave it out of the belief that we have to be there for one another ... I dont want that $750 back. I want it to be used. Ive not once heard anything bad about the sick bank. Most people see it as the best of human nature: to be able to give.

We need to honor this system until it runs its course. Gradually, I think it will be gone but I dont want to ax it now, he finished.

School board member Penny Blue said, I think the people who are participating in it feel the way you do Charles, but the concern from the school system is the liability piece. How much of a liability do we really think it is?

Blue and other board members pointed out that the very fact of having children board a bus and enter a school building every day is a liability. Many agreed that the benefit and goodwill created by the sick bank outweigh any risks.

Board member Donna Cosmato, Boone District, said she favors a switch to using an independent board to make sick bank decisions, but she too would like to keep the bank.
As far as crimes go, is unlawfully tampering with an electric meter worse than illegally keeping livestock within the city limits?

In 1952 in Alexander City, Alabama, it appears that it was.

I draw this conclusion after happening upon a copy of a police report from the night the great Hank Williams, the doomed hillbilly Shakespeare with a bad back and a deep thirst, ended up in the pokey, charged with public drunkenness and disorderly conduct for running wild in the halls of the Russell Hotel in Alex City.

I found an authoritative account of the incident and the police report on the great website Saving Country Music (www.saving countrymusic.com), part of an essay on the origin of a photo of Hank emerging from jail, shirtless and looking like he could use a hot shower and a good meal or three.

I had heard the story (a lodge owner and fishing buddy paid his $25 bond and $10 fine) and seen the photo (its frightening) before, but the copy of the police report, which looked more like a citation than the police reports I perused during my days on the cops-and-courts beat, was new to me.
Woman, 25, Gives Birth to Seven Babies Naturally: Reports

A 25-year-old Iraqi woman gave birth naturally to six girls and a boy at the same time, and all the children are reportedly healthy.

According to the Daily Mail, the unnamed woman gave birth in the Diyali Province of eastern Iraq, which is the first septuplet case in the Middle Eastern country.

The local health department issued a statement about the birth, saying the mother and seven infants are perfectly healthy.

The 25-year-old gave birth to six baby girls and one boy  UNILAD      

The father, Youssef Fadl, said he and his wife werent planning to expand their family, and now they have 10 children, the Mail reported.

Photos posted online show the small babies next to one another in the hospital.

Other photos show the newborns lying together after birth.

Last year, a Lebanese woman gave birth to sextuplets, including three girls and three boys. They all survived, the Mirror noted.

More Cases

Meanwhile, in 1997, septuplets were born in Iowa to Kenny and Bobbi McCaughey. They were the worlds first surviving septuplets.

Related Coverage Mother of Americas First Septuplets Dies at 63

It will definitely be different and weird, but I feel that it will be good for us to get out of our comfort zone and meet new people, Kelsey, one of the siblings said after graduating high school several years ago, NBC News reported.

I honestly think it will be good for all of us to be on our separate ways, Kenny, another sibling, said at the time.

Briefs: The worlds first surviving septuplets, the McCaughey siblings are heading to college #ChildrensDay pic.twitter.com/fO3dg7Fa5J  BusinessDay Media (@BusinessDayNg) May 27, 2016

I am not worried about not seeing everyone that much. We have been around each other the past 18 years. I am ready to be on my way, and I think everyone else is, too.

Brandon, another one, said at the time hes going to the U.S. Army.

It will be a little different being without all my siblings, he told the news outlet. But it wont be bad since Ill have contact with them. I think I will have a good experience being on my own, with my new military family. I have been taught to work for the things I want, and to not expect others to do anything for me. That helps with military life because I will need to do everything on my own, with no help at all from others.

20 Years Later, All Grown Up  You Wont Recognize The McCaughey Septuplets | 94.9 THE BULL  https://t.co/Hn2k7Vm7hs pic.twitter.com/Qcuv7b3JOL  94.9 THE BULL (@949TheBull) September 19, 2017

The New York Times reported in 1997 that mother Bobbi ingested a fertility drug after she and her husband had problems in conceiving children.

The pregnancy has captured worldwide attention as both a symbol of the ultimate scientific miracle and a cautionary example of the unwanted consequences of fertility treatments, the Times reported at the time.

First Septuplets in the US

In 1985, the first septuplets were born in the United States, but several of the children died after childbirth.

Last year, the mother, 63-year-old Patricia Frustaci, died.

Patricia Frustaci made headlines in May 1985 when she welcomed seven children  four boys and three girls  at a San Do You Remember?      

With our religious background and all we had gone through to have kids, that just wasnt an option, Frustaci told The New York Times in 1985.

Related Coverage Video: First Set of Septuplets Turn 18

Frustacis children were born 12 weeks premature and had a number of complications, and one girl was stillborn. Three of the other children died after birth.

There is not a day that goes by that we dont talk about them, Frustaci, speaking of her lost children, according to Fox News. There is not a day that goes by that I dont look at their pictures.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) shakes hands with Slovakias foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak on the sidelines of a meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Feb. 12,2019. (JOE KLAMAR / AFP / Getty Images)

US Secretary of State Visits Slovakia for First Time in 20 Years

Europe and the US need each other: 'We are stronger together'

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Slovakia on Feb. 12 during his five-nation European tour.

During his visit, Pompeo said he would be raising American concerns about China and Russias growing influence in Central Europe.

Pompeo met with the countrys top leaders and praised the mutual military and economic cooperation between Slovakia and the United States.

Pompeo said the United States appreciated Slovakias commitment to increase defense spending to two percent of its GDP by 2024.

Slovakia has already purchased U.S. military helicopters as part of a massive effort to modernize its army. Slovakia signed an agreement to purchase the 14 of the most advanced F-16 fighter jets last year.

The visit of Pompeo to Bratislava celebrates 30 years of democracy and attests to the continued friendship between the U.S. and Slovakia. Transatlantic unity is our greatest weapon against the challenges ahead. We are stronger together, wrote Slovakian foreign affairs minister Miroslav Lajcak on Twitter on Feb. 12 during a visit to the Gate of the Freedom in Bratislava, which is a memorial commemorating the occupation of former Czechoslovakia by the socialist Soviet Union.

Visit of @SecPompeo to Bratislava celebrates 30 yrs of democracy & attests the continued friendship between US & Slovakia. Transatlantic unity is our greatest weapon against challenges ahead. We are stronger together, 30 years ago and today.  #CourageToBeFree pic.twitter.com/OctfgSmT9U  Miroslav Lajcak (@MiroslavLajcak) February 12, 2019

Pompeo recalled in front of the monument the time when he patrolled the border of Czechoslovakia as a young soldier in the 1980s. Ive seen with my own eyes how bad communism can be, he said. Ive seen what communism can do, and I dont want it to happen again.

Its an honor to be here. Memorials like this ensure that we dont forget whats at stake.

Pompeo also said that it is necessary to oppose attempts to undermine democracy and freedom.

We are aware of Russias aggressive role in this region. We can see it very clearly in Ukraine, where the illegal annexation continues, Pompeo said, adding that, The United States is ready to be a friend, partner, and ally of Slovakia in the coming decades as well.

Slovak President Andrej Kiska wrote on Facebook:In the discussion with Mike Pompeo, we have agreed that Europe and the U.S. need each other.

EUROPA A USA SA NAVZAJOM POTREBUJUPo 20 rokoch navstivil Slovensko americky minister zahranicnych veci. Ziadny stat, Gepostet von Andrej Kiska am Dienstag, 12. Februar 2019

Kiska also highlighted the ongoing trade cooperation between both countries. The U.S. is one of the most important business partners for Slovakia, with U.S. companies employing almost 50,000 Slovaks, he said.

The last visit by a U.S. foreign minister to Slovakia was 20 years ago.

It was U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright who was herself born in former Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia was separated in 1992 into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Albrights family hid from the Nazis in London during the Second World War and then emigrated to the United States under the pressures from the spreading of communism in Europe.

Albright studied international relations in the USA and became the first woman ever to head the U.S. Department of State in 1997.
US Indo-Pacific, Korea Commanders Outline Challenges

WASHINGTONAccording to the commanders of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. Forces Korea, China continues to grow as a threat and seeks to challenge the global status quo; Russia plays the role of spoiler; and tensions between North and South Korea have lessened dramatically, but with no verifiable change to actual North Korean military capabilities.

The commanders testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Feb. 12. Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) opened the hearing by stating the need for urgent change at significant scale to address  the strategic competition with China. He also observed that with deterrence eroding as China advances its military capabilities, Beijing may conclude it can achieve its goals by force.

The ranking member of the committee, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) expressed his belief that the present level of progress in negotiations with North Korea on its nuclear program didnt justify the reduction in readiness that he believed the suspension in U.S. military exercises with the South Koreans would produce. (Planned U.S.-South Korean exercises were suspended last year as a result of President Donald Trumps summit in Singapore with North Korean President Kim Jong Un.)

China represents our greatest long-term strategic threat to a free and open Indo-Pacific and to the United States, U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. Philip S. Davidson said. China has greatly advanced its capability in all domains, including multiple generations of new fighters, the deployment of hundreds of satellites, and advanced ships and submarines, eroding the U.S.s military advantage in the process.

Davidson also emphasized the Chinese commitment to expand its form of ideology to create a new order, one with Chinese characteristics, led by Chinaan outcome that displaces the stability and peace of the Indo-Pacific that has endured for over 70 years.

Russia regularly plays the role of a spoiler in the region, seeking to undermine U.S. interests and impose additional costs on the United States and our allies whenever and wherever possible, Davidson said. These activities include cyber disruption and disinformation, such as Moscow has employed in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe.

Terrorism and natural disaster also raise significant national-security concerns. Davidson pointed out that the Indo-Pacific region is the most disaster-prone region of the world, and illustrated the enduring terror threat by citing the capture by ISIS of Marawi, Philippines, in 2017.

Gen. Robert B. Abrams, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, noted that while its been 440 days since the last strategic provocation by North Korea, he remains clear-eyed and had not observed activity consistent with a full-court press on denuclearization.

He repeatedly emphasized the reduction of tension on the Korean Peninsula, which had extended benefits in allowing for nascent confidence-building measures, decreased chances of mistakes or miscalculation on either side, and the creation of space for negotiations on the North Korean nuclear program.

In answer to questions from Reed and other senators about the state of readiness of U.S. forces in Korea, Abrams pointed out that operations and exercises, beyond those canceled after last years Singapore summit, do continue. Under questioning from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Abrams noted particularly that there would be no difference to training levels below the battalion command level, and that commanders above that level were proficient in their training, based on their previous commands.

Both commanders stressed the importance of on-time budgets and the relief from budget caps under the Budget Control Act of 2011. To meet the National Defense Strategy, Davidson said theres going to be requirements for investments across all domains, and stressed that maintaining the on-time budgets is crucial to regaining both qualitative and quantitative advantage with respect to China.
Two Missing Sisters Found on Small Island After Unstable Father Abducted Them

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Trump to Get Up to $8 Billion for Border Wall Using Emergency Powers

President Donald Trump will secure up to $8 billion in funds for wall construction after signing a spending bill and declaring a national emergency on the southwest border, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney said on Feb. 15.

Congress passed the spending bill on Feb. 14. The $333 billion package includes $1.375 billion for physical barriers on the southwest border. The amount is far less than the $5.7 billion Trump demanded from Congress last year based on requests from experts at the Department of Homeland Security. Mulvaney said the administration is prepared to transfer an additional $6.7 billion from the Defense and Treasury departments using the national emergency declaration.

According to Mulvaney, the emergency funds would include $600 million from the Treasury Department, $2.5 billion from the counterdrug activity pot under the Department of Defense, and $3.6 billion from the military construction budget.

When Trump temporarily reopened the government three weeks ago, he promised that he would use the executive powers at his disposal to secure funds for a border wall if Congress failed to do so by Feb. 15. The White House announced on Feb. 14 that the president intended to sign the spending bill and declare a national emergency on the southwest border.

President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive actionincluding a national emergencyto ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said. The president is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country.

Shortly after the announcement, the Senate passed the spending bill by a vote of 83-16. The House passed the measure on a partisan vote of 231-180.

The presidents intent to sign the bill ends the prospect of another shutdown but opens the door to legal challenges from Democrats. Sanders said that the White House was prepared for legal challenges to the executive order.

Were very prepared, but there shouldnt be [legal challenges]. The presidents doing his job. Congress should do theirs, Sanders said.

Since taking office, Trump has demanded that Congress fund construction of a wall on the southern border, his landmark campaign promise. Democrats, whose votes are needed to reach a 60-vote threshold in the Senate, have thwarted all attempts. Last year, the president followed through on a promise and refused to sign a spending bill that did not include funds for a border wall. As a result, Congress missed a deadline to fund the government, triggering a partial shutdown in December last year. The shutdown stretched on for 35 days, the longest on record.

On average, approximately 2,000 illegal aliens enter the United States on a daily basis, according to the White House. Many of those who enter have criminal histories or are gang members. Cartels are taking advantage of the porous border to smuggle vast amounts of drugs into the country, contributing to an already devastating opioid crisis. Meanwhile, some 10,000 children are trafficked across the border every year to be sold as sex slaves.

As of Feb. 15, there were 31 national emergencies in effect in the United States on issues like drug trafficking, terrorism, and cybercrime. Trump declared three of the emergencies. The president issued the first national emergency in December 2017, targeting perpetrators of human rights abuses and corruption. Trump issued his second national emergency in September last year, allowing for sanctions against those who interfere in U.S. elections. He declared a third national emergency in November 2018, addressing human rights abuses and corruption in Nicaragua.

An earlier version of this article misstated Mick Mulvaneys title. He is the director of the Office of Management and Budget. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
"Connecticut must do more to protect its children, from restricting access to dangerous drugs to strengthening oversight of the state Department of Children and Families,'' Senate Republican leader Len Fasano said. "One of the most important responsibilities of government is to make sure all our children can grow up in safe and healthy environments. To that end, we are also proposing the state do more to help youthful offenders get the treatment and support they need to deter criminal behavior and make communities safer.
Trudeau Says Wilson-Rayboulds Move Due to Brisons Resignation

OTTAWAJody WilsonRaybould would still be justice minister if it wasnt for the resignation of former Treasury Board president Scott Brison, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Feb. 15, downplaying suggestions she was moved for not giving into political armtwisting.

Trudeau said Brisons decision to leave politics resulted in having to move things around on the team, including shuffling WilsonRaybould into the veterans affairs portfolio.

One of the seniors members of our team stepped down and we had to move things around on the team, Trudeau said. If Scott Brison had not stepped down from cabinet, Jody WilsonRaybould would still be minister of justice and attorney general.

Trudeau was also asked directly if the decision to move WilsonRaybould out of justice had anything to do with SNCLavalin.

Any time, one makes a decision to shift members of cabinet, there are always a wide range of factors that go into making that decision, he said.

Last week, the Globe and Mail reported that WilsonRaybould felt pressured to instruct the director of public prosecutions to negotiate a remediation agreement with Quebec engineering giant SNCLavalin rather than pursue a criminal trial on charges of bribery and fraud linked to the companys efforts to secure business in Libya.

WilsonRaybould proceeded to quit the cabinet on Feb. 12.

Trudeau didnt say what reasons she gave for her resignation. He only said he accepted her decision, even if he didnt totally understand it.

The prime minister faced repeated questions about the brewing controversy during a morning event in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, leading him to say his government was simply doing its job by discussing the issues and ramifications about the SNCLavalin case.

The prime minister said there were obviously many discussions unfolding around the company, including questions asked of him by two different Quebec premiers, representatives of the company, MPs, and a range of individuals.

During a conversation in the fall, Trudeau said WilsonRaybould asked if he would be directing her to take a particular decision, stressing that he replied, No. Trudeau said he told WilsonRaybould any decision on SNCLavalin was hers alone.

It was her decision to make and I expected her to make it, he said. I had full confidence in her role as attorney general to make the decision.

Trudeau also slammed anonymous Liberals who made unflattering remarks about WilsonRaybould by suggesting she was difficult to work with and didnt seem to be a team player.

For her part, WilsonRaybould has cited solicitorclient privilege when asked to speak publicly on the matter.

In a statement issued at the time of her resignation, she said she had sought legal counsel from former Supreme Court justice Thomas Cromwell.

I am aware that many Canadians wish for me to speak on matters that have been in the media over the last week, she said. I am in the process of obtaining advice on the topics that I am legally permitted to discuss in this matter.
Max Benson Calhoun, 67, was indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the March 1973 murder of John Constant Jr. in Monroe County, Tenn. (Monroe County Sheriff's Office)

Tip From Dying Man Leads to Arrest in Dixie Mafia Murder

A man on his deathbed gave police crucial information that could break open a Tennessee cold case from 1973.

On March 16 of that year, authorities found John Raymond Constant Jr. shot dead inside his brand-new Peterbilt tractor-trailer outside Vonore. At least 17 bullets riddled his body, with gunshots splayed across the cab.

It was probably a submachine gun, Richard Fisher, then-district attorney general, told the Knoxville News-Sentinel. They made sure he was dead.

The dying man recently spoke to authorities.

Theyre suffering from whats believed to be a terminal illness and wanted to tell what they knew before they passed, said Steve Crump, 10th Judicial District attorney general. Normally this process would have taken a lot longer.

Authorities havent specified what the dying man told them but Crump said it aligns with the evidence thats accumulated over the years in the case.

The evidence led to charges against 67-year-old Max Benson Calhoun, who remains in jail. Its the first arrest in the case in more than 30 years.

While the case could be solved, the situation is similar to the last time an arrest took place, more than 30 years ago. That was also based on information from a dying man.

Authorities havent said what led to the reopening of the case other than hints at recent new developments. https://t.co/gW4t3DsOqw  knoxnews (@knoxnews) February 12, 2019

The charges were eventually dropped when the case fell apart in court.

I was set up, said Harold Buckner, now 77. It was all based on lies, and if this one goes to court, Ill get up there and tell it all.

Calhouns stepson, Terry Brackett, said that the arrest of his stepfather caught him off guard.

Max Benson Calhoun faces a charge of first-degree murder in the 45-year-old death of John Raymond Constant, found dead the morning of March 16, 1973. Read more: https://t.co/OpdXuqBPrr pic.twitter.com/OPMBKF5ymu  knoxnews (@knoxnews) February 10, 2019

I left work. I was just flying over there, of course, because this just shocked me, Brackett told WBIR. I dont understand this on something that old with what they have, were just waiting for some information.

Crump said his focus is on closing the cold case.

I dont know if its the most celebrated in Monroe County or the most infamous but it certainly is to the Constant family, and thats the way were going to approach it, Crump said.

I dont ever want a family to think that we forgot that something bad happened to them, Crump added.

Man Executed in Texas in 1999 Killed Oregon Woman

A convicted murderer called the Animal, who was executed by the state of Texas in 1999 has been identified by DNA as the person who killed a young woman in Portland, Oregon, nearly 40 years ago.

Anna Marie Hlavka, 20, was found killed in an apartment on July 24, 1979. Authorities said on Jan. 31, her killer, Jerry McFadden, was identified with the same technology that led to an arrest last year in California in the Golden State Killer case.

Hlavka was sexually assaulted and strangled with an electric cord. The Portland Police Bureau said at a news conference that retired detectives submitted evidence to the state crime lab in 2009 for forensic testing.

Authorities said that evidence eventually showed McFadden, who was executed in Texas for the rape and killing of an 18-year-old high school cheerleader, was Hlavkas killer.

The 51-year-old McFadden was a notorious criminal in Texas. He was sentenced to death for a daylong murder rampage in 1986 that took the life of the cheerleader as well as two other people.

Authorities said it took years of research and detective work to determine that McFadden killed Hlavka.

Portland police said an unknown male DNA profile was found in 2011 in evidence collected from the scene of the 1979 slaying. The profile was deemed especially good considering how much time had passed.

From 2012 to 2016, detectives collected and submitted eight subjects DNA profiles in an attempt to identify the killer, but authorities said all came back negative.

Last May, detectives researched forensic genealogy using unidentified DNA profiles from homicides scenes, the technology used to bring about the May 2018 arrest of the suspect in the Golden State Killer case.

Detectives contacted Parabon NanoLabs and the Oregon State Police Crime Lab and it was determined that the evidence from the Portland cold case was a good candidate for that technology.

Scientists were able to map three of the four familial lines of the Portland killer and identified him as McFadden.

Detectives traveled to Texas to interview McFaddens relatives and obtain further DNA samples.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From NTD News
Risk of Flooding, Mudslides Remains After California Storm

SAUSALITO, CaliforniaAuthorities warn that mudslides are still possible on Friday, Feb. 15, even after a damaging storm moved through California, trapping people in floodwaters, triggering a debris flow that destroyed homes, and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year.

The powerful system swept in from the Pacific Ocean and unleashed rain, snow and wind across the U.S. West into Wyoming and Colorado after walloping Northern California and southern Oregon earlier.

Update: SR-243, there are two closures in place. Hurley Flats to I-10, and at Saunders Meadow. pic.twitter.com/LUHRxHYwM2  Caltrans District 8 (@Caltrans8) February 14, 2019

The rain mostly ended Thursday night. But officials said hillsides could still loosen and collapse, bringing down mud, boulders and debris.

The ground is still so saturated and the water is still flowing down from the mountains, said April Newman, spokeswoman for Riverside County Fire Department.

The National Weather Service reported staggering rainfall amounts across California, including more than 9.4 inches over 48 hours at one location in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles.

Widespread rain returns tonight! Expect rock and mud slides in areas of steep terrain and potential for small stream and creek flooding. Some major rivers are also forecast to reach flood stages (Russian at Hopland, Navarro near Navarro, and Eel near Fernbridge). pic.twitter.com/nEoYeukxVk  NWS Eureka (@NWSEureka) February 13, 2019

A woman pulled from rising water in a low-lying area between those mountains and Los Angeles had a heart attack and died at a hospital, said Capt. Ryan Rolston with the Corona Fire Department. The unidentified woman was one of nine people and three dogs rescued in a flood-control channel where homeless people camp, Rolston said.

A second death was reported in Escondido, northeast of San Diego, where firefighters recovered the body of a man who had been seen paddle boarding in the surging waters of a concrete-lined flood-control channel.

North of San Francisco, a mudslide barreled over cars, uprooted trees and sent a home sliding down a hill and smashing into another house in Sausalito.

A woman was rescued from the splintered wreckage with only cuts and bruises. Susan Gordon was buried under a tree and mud for two hours while crews dug her out, her son wrote on an online fundraising page.

Chris Parkman said it has been years since a storm so powerful has hit the hillside community, where at least 50 properties were evacuated.

We dont see the rain most of the year. So most of the year you feel safe. But when the big storms come, your safety factor is gone, he said.

Update: Photo from #Caltrans8 Maintenance crews on SR-243. Closure in effect from Hurley Flats to I10, and Saunders Meadow. pic.twitter.com/p64oyBFcfA  Caltrans District 8 (@Caltrans8) February 14, 2019

Further north, a levee along State Route 37 near Novato was breached, flooding a rural field. Officials were monitoring the area in case water flows onto the highway or train tracks.

A deluge southeast of Los Angeles washed away a section of a two-lane mountain highway. Photos by the state Department of Transportation showed about 75 feet of pavement completely collapsed along State Route 243 near the remote community of Idyllwild.

Were basically stranded right now, said resident Gary Agner, adding that several other roads were closed because of flooding and debris. Im glad I went to the grocery store yesterday.

Caltrans crews working on SR 111 at Windy Point in Whitewater north of Palm Springs #Caltrans8 pic.twitter.com/6KuXYZslno  Caltrans District 8 (@Caltrans8) February 15, 2019

The risk of flooding led officials to order people out of areas burned bare by a summer wildfire in the Santa Ana Mountains, with flash-flood warnings blanketing a huge swath east and south of Los Angeles. The evacuation orders were downgraded to flood warnings Thursday night.

Authorities also told parts of artsy Laguna Beach to evacuate for much of the day, while the desert resort city of Palm Springs urged residents to stay where they were because of flooded streets. Flood advisories extended to Arizona.

Weather was so severe that the Hollywood Walk of Fame had to postpone the dedication of a sidewalk star honoring the band Aerosmith. Knotts Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain theme parks closed.

Trouble also persisted in saturated Northern California, where thousands of people lost power and flooding was possible. Downtown San Francisco saw more than 1.75 inches of rain over 24 hours.

A flooded creek led authorities to urge about 300 residents to leave a community about 20 miles west of Paradise, a town destroyed last year by the nations deadliest wildfire in a century.

The storm followed more than a week of severe weather in the Pacific Northwest and was the latest in a series of storms that has all but eliminated drought-level dryness in California this winter. Its fueled by an atmospheric rivera plume of moisture stretching across the Pacific Ocean nearly to Hawaii.

Nearly 37 percent of California had no level of drought or abnormal dryness, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported Thursday. About 10.5 percent of the state was in moderate drought, and just over 1.6 percent was in severe drought. The remainder was in the abnormally dry category. The numbers reflect data gathered up to Tuesday.

Atmospheric rivers are long bands of water vapor that form over an ocean and flow through the sky. Formed by winds associated with storms, they occur globally but are especially significant on the West Coast.

Even before the height of the storm, mandatory evacuations were ordered near the wildfire area in the Santa Ana Mountains where officials said there was a high risk of debris flows.

Tim Suber chose not to leave his hillside neighborhood in Lake Elsinore. He said Thursday that he has lost count of how many times his family has been evacuated between last summers devastating wildfire and this winters storms.

The rain was so heavy that it sounds like a hundred bowling balls a minute are going down the creek behind his house, Suber said. A neighbor had mud in his pool, but so far the area hadnt lost power and culverts and washes were handling the runoff.

The storm delayed flights destined for San Francisco International Airport, closed sections of several key highways, including Highway 1 on the Central Coast, Interstate 5 north of Sacramento, and U.S. 395 in the snowy eastern Sierra Nevada.

Wintry weather closed Interstate 80 in California near the Nevada border and across much of Wyoming and sections of at least four other highways. Multiple avalanches disrupted highway traffic in northwestern Montana near the Idaho border.

In Colorado, high winds shattered windows and downed power poles, leaving thousands in Colorado Springs without power.

By Terence Chea and John Antczak
Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland, from left, Carroll County Sheriff Tobe Leazenby and Delphi Police Chief Steve Mullin attend a news conference in Delphi, Ind., on Feb. 13, 2019. (Ron Wilkins/Journal & Courier via AP)

Public Urged To Keep Providing Tips In 2 Girls Killings

DELPHI, Ind.Indiana authorities urged the public on Feb. 13, to keep passing on tips in the slayings of two teenage girls killed during a hiking trip, saying on the 2-year anniversary of the crime that the next tip could help solve the case.

Liberty German, 14, and Abigail William, 13, vanished on Feb. 13, 2017, after a relative dropped them off for a hike near an abandoned railroad bridge near their hometown of Delphi, about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis, during a day off school.

They failed to show up at a pre-arranged pickup location, and their bodies were found the next day in a rugged, wooded area following a search.

Police have disclosed few details in their investigation and have not said how the teens were killed.

Carroll County prosecutor Nicholas McLeland during a Wednesday briefing on the crime that the teens unsolved killings is not a cold case but remains under active investigation and hes confident it will eventually be solved.

McLeland said that more than 38,000 tips have been received to date, but urged the public to keep sending tips to authorities to investigate if they believe that information is legitimate and could help investigators.

Public urged to keep providing tips in 2 girls killings: https://t.co/cvKYIXj1AV pic.twitter.com/OUJhmhvhFk  nwi.com (@nwi) February 13, 2019

That could be the missing piece that were waiting on, that ties everything together, he said. Any little tip could be the piece that we need.

Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter spoke directly to the unknown assailant during the briefing, which was also attended by Carroll Countys sheriff, an FBI agent, and other law enforcement officials.

If youre watching, were coming for you, Carter said.

Within days of the killings, investigators released two grainy photos of the suspect walking on the abandoned railroad bridge the girls had visited, and an audio recording of a man believed to be the suspect saying down the hill.

That evidence that came from Germans cellphone. Police have hailed her as a hero for recording potentially crucial evidence.

In July 2017, an FBI artists composite sketch of the suspect was released. It depicts a white man with a prominent nose and a goatee, wearing a cap and what appears to be a hooded sweater. Police said the suspect has reddish-brown hair, stands between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-10 and weighs between 180 and 220 pounds.

A reward of more than $230,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest or arrests and convictions in the teens killings.
Mark Graham with his wife saw Shen Yun at Merriam Theater in Philadelphia on Feb. 14, 2019. (Cathy He/The Epoch Times)

PHILADELPHIAFrom the imperial court of the great Tang dynasty to the horseback-riding tribes of the Mongolian plains to the moon palace of legendary goddess Change, Shen Yun Performing Arts aims to transport the audience across time and space, on a tour through Chinas 5,000-year civilization.

This time-travelling was achieved, said Mark Graham, physician and professor of medicine at Jefferson University Hospital, through the combination of the music, dance, and 3-D backdrop, all of which he appreciated.

I love the choreography, I love the music, and  the strong sense of history, Graham said.

The physician saw the sold-out performance with his wife at the Merriam Theater in Philadelphia on Valentines Day. The company is currently in the midst of its 2019 touring season, in which six equally-large contingents travel to more than 130 cities across four continents.

Graham said watching the performance particularly reminded him of how long Chinas history is, and the diversity of groups within the country.

Its very historical and very spiritual, he said.

Shen Yun uses classical Chinese dance to tell stories passed down over thousands of years of Chinese history. Many of these stories reflect a deeply spiritual culture, one that believed in the divine, and the values associated with these beliefs.

China was once called shen zhou, or land of the divine, a place where belief in Heaven permeated every aspect of society and daily life. The values and principles that stemmed from this belief include ideas such as maintaining harmony between heaven and earth, righteousness, loyalty, and compassion. Such ideas have endured over millennia and are transmitted through stories, classical texts, songs, and other art forms.

The spiritual element communicated in the performance, Graham said, reminded him of Victor Frankls Mans Search for Meaning, a book which explored mans ability to find purpose in life even while enduring tremendous suffering at a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust.

It seems no matter what culture you come from theres this something inside of all that wants to feel that were not alone  that theres some reason for our lives, he said.

The theme of searching for lifes meaning is presented in some segments, including those depicting the persecution of adherents of spiritual practice Falun Dafa in China today. The discipline, which involves meditation exercises and beliefs centered around the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance, was banned almost two decades by the Chinese Communist Party due to its popularity. Since then, practitioners of Falun Dafa have been imprisoned, tortured, and even killed for their faith.

Ronald Harning, Director of Clinical Operations, US at Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, felt privileged after seeing this story presented on stage, due to the very fact that something like this is able to be shown outside of China today. He noted that this likely could not have occurred two decades ago.

These stories were one element of the performance that set Shen Yun apart, said Harning.

[Its] something youve never seen before no matter how many hundreds of times youve come to the theater, this is remarkably different, he said.

With reporting by Cathy He.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time and has covered audience reactions since the companys inception in 2006.
Prisoner of Conscience Killed in Forced Organ HarvestingDaughter Escapes to the United States

Ten police cars accompanied a small group of relatives to view Han Jun Qings body. No cameras or reporters were allowed on the premises.

But his daughter, Han Yu, needs no photograph or article to help her recount exactly what she saw that day.

In an interview with Han Yu, she said: My fathers body was extremely thin. There were wounds on his face. There was tissue missing from under his left eye. His face was bruised green and purple.

I saw a long knife incision, sewn together with black thread, starting at his throat, and going down until it reached his chest, where his clothes covered the rest. I tried to remove his shirt to see where the cut ended, but the police stopped me and forced me out.

Only two people at a time were allowed to enter the room where Jun Qings body lay cold, supervised by two police officers, while uniformed officials surrounded the complex outside.

Later, my aunt and uncle went in, and forced the buttons of his shirt open. They saw that the incision reached from his neck all the way down to his abdomena very obvious knife wound.

They pressed down on his stomach, and found that the inside of his abdomen had no organsit was full of ice. So his body took twice the time as normal to cremate compared to the average male body.

At the time, the world did not yet know that the Chinese Communist Party was secretly practicing forced organ harvesting from prisoners of consciencea practice that has continued unabated to the present day.

The Persecution

When Han Yus father was arrested for the first time, both she and her brother watched as the police dragged him out the door and ransacked their house. At the time, she was 14, a high school student living an ordinary life.

I told the police, youre arresting a good person, and he raised his hand to hit me After about a month, they arrested my stepmother as well, so there was only my brother and I left at home.

Han Yus parents were arrested for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline which teaches virtues, including moral philosophies with Buddhist and Taoist elements. The practice involves meditation, and draws on Chinese traditional cultivation practices such as qigong, a regimen of controlled breathing and gentle physical movements.

Falun Gong was practiced freely in China until 1999, when then Chinese Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin launched a systematic campaign to vilify and destroy Falun Gong.

The police ransacked Han Yus home, and confiscated all materials related to the spiritual practice.

But the police still would not leave the family alone. One day Han Yu received a phone call from a Falun Gong practitioner who asked to stay overnight at her home. When Han Yun went to pick her up the next day, she noticed a police car following her down the street. She returned home after walking around the block.

Within the hour, several police officers arrived at her door and forced their way inside, conducting a search of the premises and interrogating her about where she had gone, and what she had been doing.

The Falun Gong practitioner who had asked to stay with her never called again.

Even without my parents at home, they were still harassing me. Thats when I became really afraid of the police.

At school, parents told their children to avoid Han Yu and her brother out of fear that their families would be implicated.

During that period of time, her 9-year-old brother became very introverted and began to skip school. He suffered more than me because he was very young, Han Yu said.

When her father finally returned home, he was no longer the same man who entered the prison swearing to uphold his beliefs. He took up old habits which he had discarded many years ago after devoting himself to the spiritual practice. His bad temper returned, as well as his gambling habits and excessive cigarette and alcohol consumption. Prior to practicing Falun Dafa, he was a well-known hooligan in the local community.

When he started practicing Falun Gong, the entire family atmosphere changed, Han Yu said. At that time, I was the happiest Ive ever been.

Her father returned from prison with stories of torture. He was often beaten by the guards. Once, he was simultaneously struck with ten electric batons.

After her father recovered, he again gave up his bad habits and swore to hold on to his belief in Falun Gong.

Though he didnt know it at the time, he swore this vow on his life.

Han Jun Qing passed away on May 4, 2004three months after he was arrested for the second and final time.

Han Yu did not know of her fathers incarceration as she was no longer living at home. One day, she received a call.

I was in shock. Panic. I could not accept reality.

I could not believe that they had killed my father. I thought that the call was made by mistake. Not up until I saw his body, did I

Han Yus voice broke off abruptly, pausing for a heavy moment. I could not believe it until I saw his body, and I saw that he was really gone. At the time, my mind snapped. I could not sleep, and when I did, I would have nightmares.

I would dream of my father often.

Following her fathers death, her stepmother was released from prison. But what she had experienced was enough to terrify her into never practicing her beliefs again.

A Journey West to Freedom

As a child, Han Yu practiced Falun Dafa with her parents. After her fathers death, she stopped.

Then, on one night in 2013, Han Yu dreamed of her father.

My father in the dream was quite different. He looked very healthy and alert, and he said he wanted to bring me to a place. I asked him where, and he said, just come with me.

He brought me in front of two elevators. One was going up, and the other going down. He was standing with me in front of the one going up. He was trying to tell me to find what I had lost, and then to stay true to my beliefs.

Soon after her dream, Han Yu traveled to Hong Kong, where she was shocked to discover that there were still Falun Dafa practitioners out on the streets, speaking out against the evil which had persecuted them, and spreading the truth about communist propaganda.

She decided to take up her faith once more.

In 2015, Han Yu traveled to the United States to attend a gathering of Falun Gong practitioners from all over the world. Upon her return to China five days later, she was arrested along with her roommate and landlord, who were also practitioners.

She was interrogated in a police station about her brief stay in the United States, and chained to a metal chair with nothing to eat or drink for an entire day.

Police eventually released her as they did not have sufficient evidence that she was practicing Falun Gong.

However, Han Yu knew that it was time to leave.

Chinese workplaces now require employees to provide their social security numbers, and the phones of citizens are being monitored.

When asked why she chose the United States as her asylum, Han Yu laughed. Why the United States?

Because its free.

On Oct. 15, 2018, Han Yu, now aged 33, arrived in New York.

My first feeling upon coming here isfreedom. In China, I had to be extremely careful when reading a Falun Dafa bookI could never take it outside. Here I can read the book on the subway, do the exercises in parks, even practice in front of the Chinese embassy. I dont have to worry about getting arrested or persecuted.

But to be honest, there is still a part of me that hasnt escaped China, as I still feel an irrational fear every time I see police.

Now on every weekday, in rain or snow, Han Yu stands tall in front of the Chinese embassy, holding up banners and passing out flyers to countless strangers in her own effort to spread the truth about her beliefs and expose the evils perpetrated by the Chinese government.

She hopes to one day bring justice to the people responsible for her fathers death.

During the crackdown, Jiang Zemin had said the following: Defame their reputation, bankrupt them financially, destroy them physically.

He introduced genocidal policies to be performed by what is known as the 610 Office. Examples of such policies include, No measures are too excessive, No responsibility if beaten to death, Consider it suicide if beaten to death, and Cremate the body immediately without confirming the identity.

Yet despite everything she had suffered at the hands of the Chinese police, Han Yu said: I feel actually, the police are quite pitiful. They really dont know the truth. They think that what they believe in is rightbecause people are encouraged not to think independently in China.

If they knew the kind of people we are, they wouldnt persecute us like this.

Han Yu remembers her father with pride as she takes up his mantle. To the very end, he didnt bow to persecution and held to his beliefs.

I will also hold on to my beliefs, and spread the truth everywhereto save more of the people living in China who are being persecuted for what they believe in. I still have friends in prison.
Mary Ann Mendoza, whose son Sgt. Brandon Mendoza was killed by an illegal alien, is next to the Rio Grande, which is the border between the United States and Mexico, in Hidalgo, Texas, on Nov. 5, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

President Trump, Build the Wall

Commentary

President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on Feb. 15, in order to continue building a wall on Americas southern border.

Were going to confront the national security crisis on our southern border, and were going to do it one way or the other, the president said.

Democrats have tried to frame the issue as simply being about fulfilling a campaign promise, while Trump insists its about security for the country.

The only reason were up here talking about this is because of the election, because they want to try and win an election, which it looks like theyre not going to be able to do, Trump said. And this is one of the ways where they think they can possibly winis by obstruction and a lot of other nonsenseand I think that I just want to get it done faster thats all.

Two things can be true at the same time.

Sure, Trumps campaign promise to secure the border was a central theme of his platformspecifically, because walls work. Just ask Israel, where illegal border crossings were cut by 99 percent after its wall went up.

There are real lives affected by criminal (and even non-criminal) elements pouring across our border annually.

Its estimated that at least 90 percent of the heroin coming into the country isnt coming through ports of entry. It comes the old fashioned waypeople walking it across hundreds of miles of wide open border. Some of the stretches that Democrats say have fencing are nothing more than a raggedy barbed wire fence or a simple beam that a 10-year-old could hop.

In addition to drugs, 16,000 children have been trafficked across the southern border; 18,000 women have been sold into sexual slavery, Anna Paulina, the director of Hispanic Engagement for Turning Point USA said on Twitter in January.

I reached out to her for comment on the presidents announcement.

The president has refused to ignore the rape, slavery, and murder of thousands of women and children, while the left actively worked at protecting those that exploit them and pushed for an open-border agenda, she said.

Today should go down in history as a day that the leader of the free worldour presidentchose to take a moral stand against corruption and exploitation, not only in our government, but of the American people and Hispanics in Mexico and South America.

While the material cost of illegal aliens coming into this country exceeds $115 billion per year, the cost to the lives of millions of Americans who are affected by the crime, gangs, and drugs our open border allows cant be quantified. We dont have to look far for painful reminders of the grief and toll taken on families destroyed by illegal aliens.

Just a few days before Trumps declaration, Angel families protested at House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office, demanding action on illegal immigration. One mom mentioned a horrific account and reportedly asked if a rod shoved through the head of a 17-year-old by an illegal alien mattered to her.

Its difficult to know exactly how many people have been killed by illegal aliens, in part because government agencies, over the years, have been unwilling to release all of the data on this issue. But, there are thousands of people who have had to suffer through the terrible lossthe permanent separation of their loved onesbecause they were killed by an illegal alien.

We are sometimes told this is an issue about empathy. So, do we empathize with someone like Raul Silva-Corona, an illegal immigrant [found] high on meth and with a BAC [blood alcohol content] that was three times the legal limit, or the family of Sgt. Brandon Mendoza, the Arizona police officer he killed in a head-on collision?

Do we empathize with the estimated 22 million illegal aliens who flagrantly violated our laws, jumped our border, and cut in line in front of legal immigrants going through the process, or do we empathize with the American citizens forking over more than $100 billion a year to pay for them?

Migrants break through the U.S. border fence just beyond the east pedestrian entrance of the San Ysidro crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, on Nov. 25, 2018. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Not a crisis? Not an emergency? Im old enough to remember that three months ago, in late 2018, there was outrage when a migrant caravan made it to the southern border and was dispersed with tear gas. Real asylum-seekers apply for asylum at ports of entry and in limited circumstances at an embassy. They dont storm a border and physically assault border patrol agents.

If you dont see whats happening at our southern border as a crisis, then youre either not paying attention or consumed with anti-Trump malaise.

President Trump, please build the wall.

Adrian Norman is a writer and political commentator.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A procession of Falun Dafa adherents in white hold memorial wreaths to pay tribute to their fellow practitioners who have died due to torture and persecution in China during a parade in downtown Vancouver on July 16, 2017. (Tang Feng/The Epoch Times)

Over 100 Torture Methods Used in Chinas Prison System

Wide range of tortures inflicted on prisoners of conscience

Editors note: The Epoch Times is publishing a number of articles exposing the use of torture by the Chinese regime against the groups it targets, and the suffering and harm it causes to those subjected to it.

According to human rights observers, the use of torture and abuse in China against persecuted groups remains rampant. Some of the torture methods can be traced back to medieval times, while other reported forms of abuse, such as forced organ harvesting, are unprecedented in history.

Torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment (other ill-treatment) have long been prevalent in all situations where authorities deprive individuals of their liberty in China, reads a 2015 report by Amnesty International, titled No End in Sight: Torture and Forced Confessions in China.

Falun Dafa prisoners of conscience in China are victims of some of the vilest methods of abuse and torture.

The campaign of persecution launched against Falun Dafa adherents by the Chinese Communist Party in 1999 has, in fact, helped solidify the regimes persecution tactics against other groups as well, according to some researchers.

[T]he officials driving the transformation campaign in Xinjiang [the state home to a large population of Uyghur Muslims] are coming to it with almost 20 years of experience, which helps explain how they have managed to launch and implement such a massive campaign within such a short time frame, wrote Sarah Cook, an Asia Research Analyst at Freedom House, in an article for the Jamestown Foundation regarding the CCPs crackdown in the region.

100 Torture Methods

The most common form of torture in Chinese jails, detention centres, and brainwashing centres is said to be the electric baton. Carrying up to 300,000 volts, batons are employed to maximal effect on sensitive parts of the body like the mouth, genitals, neck, and soles of the feet.

But there are many other torture methods usedmore than 100, in fact. This has been borne out by Falun Dafa adherents whove survived Chinas brutal prison system. Other prisoners of conscience in China include House Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, and democracy activists, among others.

According to Status of Chinese People, a website that exposes rights abuses in China, among the 100 types of torture used on Falun Dafa prisoners of conscience are savage beatings, sexual abuse, handcuffing in painful positions for long periods, exposure to weather extremes, force-feeding with urine or feces, cigarette burns, scabies, solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, impaling of fingernails with sharpened bamboo sticks, and bites by dogs or snakes.

Many of the torture methods even have names, like Small Cage (handcuffed to the inside of a small cage in such a way that victims can neither stand nor sit); Hell Confinement (a device with handcuffs and shackles where victims cant walk, sit, use the toilet, or feed themselves); Covering a Shed (suffocation); and Dragging Torture (victims are dragged repeatedly along rough ground).

Then theres the infamous Tiger Bench, where the victim sits on a bench with his or her legs stretched straight out and tied tightly to the bench with straps. Bricks or some other hard objects are put under the victims heels, with more layers added until the straps break, causing unbearable pain.

These torture methods can have devastating effects both physically and mentally, according to Minghui.org, which documents the persecution campaign launched against the Falun Dafa spiritual practice by the Chinese Communist Party in 1999.

Falun Dafa practitioners are also subjected to mental torture in the form of intensive brainwashingthe aim being to break their will so that they give up their faith or go against it. This can lead to long-term depression and despair.

Another torture method is injecting practitioners with dangerous drugs that damage the central nervous system, causing them unbearable pain, mental breakdown, and physical disability, according to Minghui.

Sexual Abuse

In addition to physical torture, rape is used consistently and systematically as a means to humiliate and traumatize female practitioners, Minghui reports.

At the notorious Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, guards threw 18 female practitioners into the mens cells and encouraged the men to rape them at will, which led to the death, disability, or mental instability of the women.

There have been numerous cases of gang-rape of practitioners by inmates throughout the labour camp system (now closed). Children werent immune either. In 2002, a 9-year-old girlthe orphaned child of a practitioner killed by torturewas gang-raped by three men at Changping Mental Hospital in Beijing.

In early 2003, guards at Masanjia shocked a practitioner on the breasts with two electric batons simultaneously for several hours non-stop. As a result, her breasts were completely ruptured.

Other types of horrific sexual abuse that caused women irreparable physical and mental damage include tying several toothbrushes together and twisting them inside the vagina, wiring and shocking the nipples, pumping chili sauce into the vagina, rubbing a thick rope repeatedly across the vagina, stomping on victims breasts, repeated kicking of the vagina, and repeated stabbing or penetration of the vagina with a stick or other implements.

At Shibalihe Womens Forced Labour Camp, guards stripped female practitioners and used a fireplace tong to hook them by their vaginas while at the same time beating their chests and breasts, according to Minghui. They also burned their faces with heated tongs.

Forced Organ Harvesting

Having your vital organs extracted while youre still alive has to be the most extreme form of tortureand one that always ends in death. This is also something Falun Dafa prisoners of conscience have been subjected to since soon after the Chinese Communist Party launched its campaign to eradicate the traditional spiritual practice in 1999.

A 2006 report by Canadian investigators David Matas and David Kilgour found that Falun Dafa prisoners of conscience were being killed on a large scale for their organs to supply Chinas extremely lucrative transplantation industry.

In June 2016, Kilgour, Matas, and U.S. author and researcher Ethan Gutmann released an updated report on the continuation and scale of forced organ harvesting in China. They found that the 169 government-approved transplant hospitals across the country had the capacity to perform more than a million transplants since 2000.

The victim groups are Falun Dafa, Tibetans, Uighurs, and House Christians, with Falun Dafa practitioners being by far the largest. Gutmann estimates that between 450,000 and 100,000 practitioners are being held in Chinas vast prison system at any given time.
Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Burr arrives for a meeting of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in Washington, on Aug. 16, 2018. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Networks Kept No Collusion Senate Investigation Result Off Evening Newscasts, Report Says

Major broadcast networks excluded from their evening news the results of the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation, which found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Yet, in the past two years, the evening newscasts dedicated over 2,200 minutes, nearly fifth of their Trump-related reporting, to the Russia investigation, according to the right-leaning nonprofit Media Research Center (MRC), which went through coverage on ABCs World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News, and the NBC Nightly News between Jan. 21, 2017 and Feb. 10, 2019.

After interviewing more than 200 witnesses and reviewing 300,000 pages of documents, the Senate Intelligence Committee has found no evidence of collusion between the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump and the Russian government, according to both Democratic and Republican sources on the committee.

But the networks not only shut the news out of the nighttime news, but, in case of the NBC and CBS, from their flagship morning shows as well.

NBCs failure to mention this on either Today or the Nightly News is especially egregious, since the story was broken by the networks own Ken Dilanian on Feb. 12, MRC stated in a Feb. 14 report.

Over the past two years, broadcast evening news shows have spent more than 36 hours haranguing viewers about potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Given their keen interest in the subject, you might expect a bipartisan group of investigators finding no material evidence of collusion to be newsworthy. But evidently, youd be wrong.

ABCs Good Morning America dedicated less than one minute to the news on Feb. 13.

Extensive Investigation

The committees investigation started more than two years ago and appears to be close to a conclusion. Its chairman, Richard Burr (R-N.C.), told CBS in an interview published Feb. 7 that investigators have found no evidence to support the allegations of a conspiracy between the campaign and Russia. Anonymous Democratic sources on the committee did not dispute Burrs statements, according to Dilanians report.

Senator Richard Burr, The Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, just announced that after almost two years, more than two hundred interviews, and thousands of documents, they have found NO COLLUSION BETWEEN TRUMP AND RUSSIA! Is anybody really surprised by this?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2019

The committees top Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, disputed Burrs characterization of the evidence, but didnt offer examples.

The president has denied the allegations. Instead, Trump suggests that his opponent, former State Secretary Hillary Clinton colluded with Russia. The president has pointed to the fact that the Clinton campaign paid for a dossier of the opposition research on him compiled by a former British spy using sources with ties to the Kremlin. The FBI used the dossier, without due verification, to spy on a former Trump-campaign associate Carter Page.

The findings by the Senate mirror those released last year by the House Intelligence Committee, which concluded that there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has been investigating the collusion allegations concurrently with the congressional investigations. Mueller issued multiple indictments, but none for colluding with Russia.

Both Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee are expected to conclude their investigations soon. Burr said there were no new questions left to answer. Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, who is overseeing Muellers probe, said the investigation is close to being completed.

Epoch Times staff members contributed to this report.
McCabes Story, If True, Describes Coup Attempt on Trump, Harvard Constitutional Scholar Says

Andrew McCabes acknowledgment of a discussion on the use of 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump is tantamount to a coup plot, according to constitutional scholar and former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz.

By McCabes own admission, he and other top FBI and Justice Department officials discussed on May 2017 whether they could get a majority of Trumps cabinet behind the idea to use the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.

If thats true, its clearly an attempted coup detat, Dershowitz told Fox News Tucker Carlson on Feb. 14.

McCabe, former FBI Deputy Director, tried to justify his position by the allegations that Trumps campaign colluded with Russia and that Trump may have obstructed justice by firing FBI Director James Comey. After close to three years of multiple investigations the allegations havent been substantiated.

Yet Dershowitz pointed to a deeper problemeven if Trump were to commit crimes, the 25th Amendment simply is irrelevant to that, he said.

Thats why you have an impeachment provision. The 25th Amendment is about Woodrow Wilson having a stroke, its about a president being shot and not being able to perform his office.

He further explained that the amendment requires medical assessment and an agreement of two-thirds of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

It has to be on the basis of a medical or psychological incapacity, he said. Not on the basis of even the most extreme crimes, which theres no evidence were committed.

According to McCabe, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was involved in the discussions on invoking the amendment. The Justice Department pushed back in a Feb. 14 statement:

As the deputy attorney general previously has stated, based on his personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment, nor was the [deputy attorney general] in a position to consider invoking the 25th Amendment.

Rosenstein had a strong incentive to distance himself from McCabes remarks, Dershowitzs assessment suggests.

Any Justice Department official who even mentioned the 25th Amendment in the context of President Trump has committed a grievous offense against the Constitution, he said.

The framers of the 25th Amendment had in mind something very specific and trying to use the 25th Amendment to circumvent the impeachment provision or to circumvent an election is a despicable act of unconstitutional power grabbing.

Trying to use the 25th Amendment to try and circumvent the Election is a despicable act of unconstitutional power grabbingwhich happens in third world countries. You have to obey the law. This is an attack on our system & Constitution. Alan Dershowitz. @TuckerCarlson  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2019

Investigator Investigated

McCabe played a key role in the counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign that officially started in late July 2016, in the midst of the presidential election season.

The investigation was tainted with bias and potential abuse of surveillance powers. Text messages between then-FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok and his mistress, then-bureau attorney Lisa Page, demonstrated hatred toward Trump and support for Hillary Clinton. Page served as legal counsel for McCabe.

McCabe personally reviewed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) application for a warrant to spy on former Trump-campaign associate Carter Page. The bureau applied for the warrant using an unverified dossier of opposition research on Trump. The dossier was compiled by a former British spy and ultimately paid for by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

Disgraced FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe pretends to be a poor little Angel when in fact he was a big part of the Crooked Hillary Scandal & the Russia Hoaxa puppet for Leakin James Comey. I.G. report on McCabe was devastating, Trump wrote in a Feb. 14 tweet.

Disgraced FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe pretends to be a poor little Angel when in fact he was a big part of the Crooked Hillary Scandal & the Russia Hoax  a puppet for Leakin James Comey. I.G. report on McCabe was devastating. Part of insurance policy in case I won.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 14, 2019

McCabe was fired from the FBI on March 16, based on the findings of the Justice Departments Inspector General (IG) that he leaked information to the press to boost himself and then lied about it to his boss and investigators.

As of September 2018, a federal grand jury in Washington started investigating McCabes leaks, according to The Washington Post.

Epoch Times staff member Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.
For all their expertise, big-government technocrats can be sadly mistaken, and public policy based on their conclusions can cost hard-working families real money. Were better off letting the market dictate: If the natural gas industry and its allies figure the pipeline makes sense, they should pay for it  not the citizens of Connecticut. Thats why Im encouraging legislators to support proposed House bill 6242, which would prohibit surcharges from being levied on utility customers to subsidize the cost of interstate natural gas pipeline capacity.
People pay tribute to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel who were killed in an explosion in south Kashmir, inside a temple in Ahmedabad, India, on Feb. 14, 2019. (Amit Dave/Reuters)

Car Bomb Kills 44 in Kashmir, India Demands Pakistan Take Action Against Terrorists

SRINAGAR, IndiaA suicide bomber rammed a car bomb into a bus carrying Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir on Feb. 14, killing 44 of them in the deadliest attack in decades on security forces in the disputed region.

The Pakistan-based Islamic terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack. The Indian government demanded that Islamabad take action against terrorist groups operating from its soil.

Kashmir is a Muslim-majority region at the heart of decades of tension between India and Pakistan. The neighbors both rule parts of the region while claiming the entire territory as theirs.

The explosion targeting a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was heard from several miles away, according to witnesses. Mohammad Yunis, a journalist who reached the site minutes later, told Reuters he saw blood and body parts scattered along a 100-meter stretch of the main highway running through the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries, the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement, hours after the attack.

There was no immediate comment from the Pakistani government. Islamabad denies New Delhis accusations that it gives material help to the terrorists fighting Indian rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir. It says it gives only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination.

Television images showed a mangled car amid rubble and snow around the site. Reuters photos showed tens of policemen surveying damaged vehicles and one policeman was seen carrying a plastic cover with guns inside.

The death toll stood at 44, a senior police official said.

The Central Reserve Force Police is a paramilitary organization that is working with the Indian military to quell the 30-year insurgency in Kashmir.

I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.

Indian forces have sporadically battled Islamic terrorists in mountainous Kashmir since an armed revolt in 1989 in which tens of thousands were killed, but car bombings are rare.

A video circulating on social media on Feb. 14 purportedly featured the suicide bomber, and showed a young man holding a gun and threatening more attacks. Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the video.

The Indian foreign ministry accused the Pakistani government of giving the terrorist group Jaish a free run in Pakistan, saying it has allowed the groups leader, Masood Azhar, to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity.

The last major attack in Kashmir was in 2016 when terrorists raided an Indian army camp in Uri, killing 20 soldiers.

Tension with Pakistan rose after that incident when New Delhi said the attackers had come from Pakistan to stage the assault. Pakistan denied any involvement.

Modi Under Pressure

The attack could put Modi, who faces a general election due by May, under political pressure to act against the terrorists.

Randeep Singh Surjewala, a spokesman for the main opposition Congress party, accused Modi of compromising on security.

Zero political action & Zero policy to tackle terror has led to an alarming security situation, Surjewala said in one of a series of tweets.

Kanwal Sibal, a former top diplomat, said a diplomatic response from India would not be enough.

They will have to do something otherwise I think it will be very difficult for government to absorb this blow and be seen to be doing nothing, Sibal told Reuters.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad group is one of the most powerful terrorist groups operating in Kashmir. It was blamed for a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that led to India deploying its military on the border with Pakistan.

In a statement carried by GNS news agency, a spokesman for the group said dozens of security force vehicles were destroyed in the attack.

Arun Jaitley, a senior minister in Modis cabinet, said India would retaliate, tweeting that terrorists will be given unforgettable lesson for their heinous act.

The U.S. ambassador to India, Ken Juster, condemned the attack, saying in a tweet that Washington stands alongside India in confronting terror and defeating it.

The U.S. ambassador to India and press secretary also condemned the attack.

The U.S. Mission in India strongly condemns todays terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. The United States stands alongside India in confronting terror and defeating it. #KashmirTerrorAttack  Ken Juster (@USAmbIndia) February 14, 2019

We express our deep condolences to the victims families, the Indian government, and the Indian people for the loss of life in this brutal attack, the press secretary said.

The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region.

This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counter-terrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India.

On Feb. 13, an explosion at a school in Kashmir wounded a dozen students. The cause of the blast remains unclear.

By Fayaz Bukhari
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg appears at an event organized by the Museum of the City of New York with WNET-TV held at the New York Academy of Medicine in New York, on Dec. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Rebecca Gibian, File)

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Returns to Work for First Time Since Surgery: Supreme Court

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg returned to work on Feb. 15 for the first time since her surgery in December 2018, according to the court.

The Supreme Court press office said that Ginsburg, 85, the oldest justice, was attending the courts closed-door conference.

The justices will decide whether to add new cases in addition to finalizing opinions in cases that were argued before them late last year.

Ginsburg missed Supreme Court arguments for the first time in January and wasnt seen in public for months, stoking speculation about her health and whether her time on the court might be coming to an end. If so, President Donald Trump would get his third Supreme Court nomination, following confirmations for Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

She reportedly attended a performance in Washington on Feb. 4, put on by her daughter-in-law but few attendees spotted her, leaving rumors swirling about her current condition. The next night, she was among the justices who skipped Trumps State of the Union speech. Justices Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, Elena Kagan, and John Roberts attended.

James Ginsburg, Ginsburgs son, said prior to the performance that his mother has been recovering, walking one mile a day and working with her trainer again.

Ginsburg has undergone a number of medical procedures in recent years. In 2014, she underwent a heart procedure to have a stent placed in her right coronary artery. She also broke two ribs in a fall in 2012 and has survived two other bouts of cancer.

Ginsburg, appointed by former President Bill Clinton in 1993, previously vowed to serve until at least 2020.

Im now 85, she said in August, according to CNN. My senior colleague, Justice John Paul Stevens, he stepped down when he was 90, so think I have about at least five more years. She also said that people shouldnt try to set term limits for Supreme Court justices.

Ginsburg has already hired law clerks for at least two more terms.

Ginsburg is by far the oldest justice. Only one other is even above the age of 70, Stephen Breyer, who is 80.

Gorsuch is currently the youngest member at 51. Kavanaugh is 54, Kagan is 58, Sonia Sotomayor and Roberts are 64, Samuel Alito is 68, and Clarence Thomas is 70.

Hollywood A-Listers Sign Get-Well Card

Steven Spielberg, Lady Gaga, Spike Lee, and Glenn Close have a message for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Get well soon.

They and three dozen Hollywood A-listers, from Bradley Cooper to Quincy Jones, have signed a card that was being overnighted to Ginsburg on Thursday.

In the card, Lee refers to Ginsburg as the Judge of Brooklyn. Regina King wrote that she is the true, Super Diva in reference to a shirt Ginsburg wears in the documentary RBG. Laura Dern wrote, You are our grand reminder to use voice + fight for truth.

Director Barry Jenkins even stopped to do a plank in honor of Ginsburgs famed workouts after signing.

Other signatories include Amy Adams, Ron Howard, Ted Danson, Helen Mirren, Stephen Colbert, and Meredith Vieira.

The card was spearheaded by RBG filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy West, who toted it along with them to starry awards season events over the past few weeks including the Directors and Producers Guild Awards, the Oscar nominees luncheon, BAFTA and the Critics Choice Awards.

After Justice Ginsburgs surgery in December, pretty much every actor or filmmaker we met would ask us to pass on their personal good wishes to her, Cohen and West said in a statement. We know RBG is a huge movie bufffrom big Hollywood epics to small indie filmsso we thought shed get a kick out of a get well card from some of the biggest names in the film world.

RBG is up for best documentary at the Academy Awards on Feb. 24.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From NTD News
How Digital Banking Makes You More Vulnerable

Bankingand bank robberyhave entered the digital age and all is not well

Safes and vaults used to be how banks protected your money. Now, the money is completely accessible through your digital identity.

But how safe is your digital identity?

Needless to say, banking has changed. While managing financial assets, providing services, and processing transactions remain retail financial institutions primary functions, theyre also charged with protecting the most prized and valuable assets of all: their customers digital identities. That would include yours, as well as mine. Theyre spending vast sums on it as well. Unfortunately, achieving total security is more challenging than paying interest on a CD or interest-bearing checking account.

Invasive Banking Laws



One of the biggest changes in banking over the past decade or so is how much individual privacy has been eliminated. With various anti-money laundering laws and protocols put in place since the 9/11 attacks, banks have been given new powers aimed to identify sources of funds and recipients of financial transfers. Furthermore, strict limits on how money is transferred or receivedhow much, how often, from whom, to whom, and from wherehave resulted in banks knowing more about their clients lives than ever before.

But that invasiveness has left clients identity incredibly vulnerable. In the past, some banks were slower to adopt client data security tools and protocols necessary to protect personal and corporate client identity details, due to conflicting interests. And even those that did so couldnt be certain that their efforts were successful. Even with the most sophisticated systems in place, that ambiguity remains today.

Data Security a Contradiction?

As you might surmise, data theftin this instance, digital identity theftis sometimes difficult to discern. Thats one reason why financial institutions cant be certain that their protection is working and failsafe. Systems often overlap, sending false positives, creating too much noise in the form of alerts, or leaving unseen security gaps beneath or between them.

These are vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. In other instances, its simply not practical from a banking perspective to add more layers of complex data security.

There are various reasons for this. Added security layers can require additional time for processing transactions, which can have a negative impact on service and costs. In other cases, adding data security measures for one institution may make it difficult for it to engage with corresponding institutions that dont have similar protocols and tools in place. This is common between banks that have regular business correspondence with foreign banking institutions overseas.

Differing cybersecurity protocols, practices, and privacy standards are nothing new. Still, they can hinder or even prevent banking relationships from going forward. Without complementary legal and technological protocols in place, data security systems can disrupt a banks business relationships. The European Unions General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) is a prime example of differing legal requirements that strain foreign banking relationships.

Whats The Risk?

How big of a risk is data theft in your financial institution? It depends. If that sounds like a hedge, thats because it is. As an industry, banking and financial services are a top target of hackers. But as noted above, individual institutions have different levels of data security and protocols in place. Those differences can make all the difference.

Whats more, as noted above, success rates of cyber-defense systems vary due to a host of different factors, and theyre not limited to the systems themselves. Its not just a matter of deploying a data security system that covers data, email, etc. Of course, some systems are better than others, but external factors also play a big role.

Those external factors would include attack techniques, from spear-phishing email attacks, to ransomware that holds data hostage in exchange for a large ransom payment, to many others. Often, its human error by financial institutions employees that enable identity data theft to occur.

Also, as is well-known in the cybersecurity world, data theft and cyberattacks rapidly evolve, forcing defense systems to do the same. Thats easier said than done. Its usually much easier for data criminals to add permutations to their attacks than it is for systems to adapt to them. That leaves cyber-defense systems, well, always on the defensive.

Digital Identity IS Your Money

As banking continues to become more of a digital process, and people bank from their smartphones and other mobile devices, data security challenges grow and proliferate. What does all of this mean for you in practical terms? The bottom line is that your digital identity is now your money.

If that sounds like a simplification, unfortunately, it isnt. Security in banking is no longer about protecting money in a vault. Rather, its about protecting valuable client data in the digital ether. The fundamental challenge is to keep up with the many vectors and vulnerabilities across networks, devices, and institutions. Today, youre more likely to have your digital identity stolen than ever before.

Who Owns Your Identity?

The new realities of digital identities and data theft pose a new question, doesnt it? Simply put, do you own your digital identity or does the bank?

After all, if your digital identity isfor all intents and purposesyour money, then why shouldnt you own it? But believe it or not, you dont have absolute control or say about how your digital identity is protected, who can see it and how your financial institution uses it. This is not an argument against banks, just an acknowledgment of the facts.

Responsibility for Stolen ID?

Given these facts, who should be held responsible if your digital identity is stolen from your bank? If the bank loses your money, its responsible for replacing it. If someone forges a check, youre not liable. If money is drained from your account due to a stolen credit card, your money is replaced.

But in the case of a stolen digital identity thats used to open other accounts, get a loan, credit card, or another form of theft? In the expanding digital world before us, as digital identity theft proliferates, ultimate responsibility for the losses may evolve as well.

James Gorrie is a writer based in Texas. He is the author of The China Crisis.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
How Biased Reporting Brings Us Down While Economy Is Up

Anti-capitalist denial contradicts reality, experience

Have you ever unplugged from legacy media for an extended period? This experiment flips our perceptions toward direct, personal experience, and it reveals the disconnect between long-term trends and what gets reported.

The micro-versus-macro contrast is glaringly obvious in the United States under President Donald Trump. Survey data aggregated in January by the American Enterprise Institute shows people felt optimistic about their own lives, finances, and work prospects. However, even though half or more rated economic conditions as excellent or good, they were more optimistic about their personal situations than they were about the country.

In other words, they were feeling the benefits of technological advances, deregulation, and a lower corporate income tax. Yet, despite the stronger labor market with this centurys lowest unemployment, Americans perceived negative trends for other people in the United States. The mixed feelings arent helped by the vehemently anti-capitalist media.

An Investors Business Daily editorial has correctly observed: The profound leftward ideological bias of the Big Media  Journalists, besotted with their own ideology, are no longer able to recognize their own bias. Unfortunately, this ideological drift toward statismwhich needs oppressed classes to justify its existencehas polluted financial and economic journalism along with other branches.

A team of academic accountants led by Andrew Call of Arizona State University surveyed 462 financial journalists and released the findings in December 2018. The take-home message: just 4.4 percent said they were either somewhat or very conservative, versus 58.5 who were somewhat or very progressive. The remaining 37.1 percent described themselves as moderate.

The Unreported Story: Human Flourishing

Just as the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice, so too does economic development lift all boats, even if you do not hear it in news coverage that inflames and divides. Poverty in many developing nations is plunging, and prosperity is rising in the United States.

In Paraguay, for example, a sophisticated, broad measure of poverty in Social Indicators Research found a stark decline in multidimensional poverty between 2000 and 2015 to 17 percent of the population from 57 percent. Meanwhile, December data showed the U.S. poverty rate down significantly on the previous five-year period. The Heritage Foundation has found that even these poor households, as defined by the Census Bureau, have on average two TV sets, a car, spacious living, and no hunger.

Such has been the enormous rise in prosperitythanks to capitalism, not socialismin recent decades, the Cato Institute has established a website to document the incredible advancements that have proceeded with little fanfare. HumanProgress.org demonstrates the wide gap between the reality of human experience, which is characterized by incremental improvements, and public perception.

In 2018, a team of Harvard University psychologists found people, as their lot improves, keep raising their expectations: When the world gets better, we become harsher critics  this can cause us to mistakenly conclude that it hasnt actually gotten better at all. Progress  tends to mask itself.

The creators of HumanProgress.org believe policies and institutions compatible with freedom and openness are important factors in promoting human well-being, but they let the evidence speak for itself.

Preying on Rational Irrationality

Economist Bryan Caplan, in his classic The Myth of the Rational Voter, describes in detail the common biases of voters. He contends that they are often rationally ignorant: they remain ill-informed because the cost of informing themselves likely exceeds the personal benefits.

So long as people remain superficially informed, if at all, they are fodder for drive-by negative reporting. We have all heard misleading tropes such as the rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer, or states lowering taxes are in a race to the bottom. This fear-based reporting garners eyeballs, while few people devote the time to pull back the curtains on the deception. Meanwhile, people vote with their feet and move to fiscally conservative states to raise their standards of living.

Caplan identified four biases of particular importance. Among them are pessimism and anti-market. The latter is a tendency to underestimate the benefits of the market mechanism.

How much of these biases is instinctive versus propagated is difficult to find out. However, insomuch as innate elements exist, media outlets stoke, foment and make them worse, and they have gone into overdrive of late. Akin to if it bleeds it leads, doomsayer assessments garner attention and calls for intervention, killing two birds with one stone for progressive journalists.

Inform Yourself Toward Optimism

The anti-market bias among us and in the legacy media is real, as is its extreme tilt against Trump and U.S. ideals. Fortunately, there is rising awareness and skepticism of mediaalbeit divided along partisan linesand a long-term transition to independent outlets that seek to revive classical journalism and inspire readers with human-interest stories.

Even if more people are skeptical, however, that does not mean they know how to respond and better assess what to consume. One must think for himself and take the time to consider what sources and platforms deliver precision rather than confusion, lest he be easy prey for deceptions that spread all too easily.

There is no shortcut here, except perhaps to avoid state broadcasters like the plague (see: CBC and the U.S. Agency for Global Media). Not only do these media arms of government waste taxpayer money and misinform, they crowd out legitimate, independent media.

One important ingredient to keep in mind is the speed of the news cycle. So often stories are here today, gone tomorrow, with little impact but negativity. The Nick Sandmann debacleabout a high-school student who grinned at a protesteris a case in point. Like so many other fabricated dramas, it was a distraction from positive long-term trends, which merit our attention and invoke optimism.

We need not be easily swayed by data either, be it long or short term. British author David Boyle explains in his brilliant work, The Sum of Our Discontent: Why Numbers Make Us Irrational, the shortcomings of data so often presented as truth. He quips that politicians cant measure poverty, so they measure the number of people on welfare.

Boyle wants readers to remember the most precious elements of life, such as the quality of our relationships or the joy of new experiences, defy measurement. The more we focus on what can be measured, the less we focus on what cannot. Further, a tendency to compare ourselves with our peers distracts us from our own immense prosperity relative to all past generations.

Reporters only scare us if we give them our attention. A careful consumer of news and student of history sees we have much to be thankful for. A sense for our own proclivities also heightens our awareness of when reporters and commentators are playing to our worst instincts, so the onus is on us to choose whether to take the bait or not.

Fergus Hodgson is the founder and executive editor of Latin American intelligence publication Antigua Report. He is also the roving editor of Gold Newsletter and a research associate with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
George Soros, Founder and Chairman of the Open Society Foundations arrives for a meeting in Brussels on April 27, 2017. (Olivier Hoslet/AFP/Getty Images)

George Soros Declares Cold War on China

Global elitist turns against China (and asks America for help)

Commentary

It was, by any measure, an extraordinary performance. George Soros, doyen of the global elites, declared on Jan. 24 at Davos that the Peoples Republic of China is the chief threat to free societies around the world.

In fact, the eccentric billionaire put the matter even more strongly, saying he wanted to warn the world about an unprecedented danger thats threatening the very survival of open societies.

This mortal danger, he went on to say, arises from the instruments of control that machine learning and artificial intelligence can put in the hands of repressive regimes [like] China, where Xi Jinping wants a one-party state to reign supreme.

Sounding for all the world like he was channeling Ronald Reagan, Soros warned that China, through the use of such technology, was well on the way to becoming totalitarian.

I imagine that his audience emitted a collective gasp at hearing that particular word. Progressives of all stripes have long scoffed that no state can be truly totalitarianin the sense of totally controlling their populations. And here was George Soros, one of their own, using a term which is not only politically incorrect, but virtually banned among their company.

What has shocked Soros into describing China as totalitarian and a threat to the world? He has, it seems, come to learn about that countrys nascent social credit system.

The social credit system is Chinas plan to constantly monitor the electronic behavior of everyone in the country. Their texts, tweets and posts, their comings and goings, their reading habits and their friends, will all be fed into a centralized database where a computer algorithm will assign them a social credit score that will reflect their degree of political reliability.

Those with high scores will receive preferential treatment by the state in education, jobs, travel, and credit. Those with low social credit scores will be denied those same benefits. Most terrifyingly, those whose scores fall too low will be judged a threat to the one-party state. They will be preemptively arrested and sent to re-education camps that already hold millions.

George Orwells nightmare society of constant surveillance is well on the way to becoming the day-to-day lived reality of the Chinese people. Soros is right in characterizing this as frightening and abhorrent.

While acknowledging that China isnt the only authoritarian regime in the world, Soros singled it out because its undoubtedly the wealthiest, strongest and most developed in machine learning and artificial intelligence.

So what does Soros advocate doing in response, besides recognizing the [China] threat?

Here is where he must have stunned his audience again.

Soros praises the Trump administration for identif[ying] China as a strategic rival [as] outlined in a seminal speech by Vice President Mike Pence on October 4th.

Of course, no bona fide member of the global elitenot even a George Soroscan afford to be seen praising the policies of America Firster Donald Trump. So he credits the new policy to Asian affairs advisor of the National Security Council, Matt Pottinger. Trump himself he disses as notoriously unpredictable.

Now I am sure that Mr. Pottinger, whom I respect, made important contributions to Americas new China policy. But everyoneexcept, apparently, George Sorosknows that Donald Trump has been sounding the alarm about Chinas unfair trade practices, currency manipulation, and theft of intellectual property for over two decades.

In other words, Americas tough new policy towards China owes its very existence to Trumps leadership, whether Soros wants to admit it or not.

And he clearly doesnt. In fact, he goes on to bizarrely accuse Trump of violating his own policy: President Trump seems to be following a different course, says Soros, making concessions to China and declaring victory while renewing his attacks on U.S. allies.

Does Soros regard Trumps tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods, his sanctions on Chinese companies, or his arrest of Huawei princess Meng Wanzhou, as concessions? I doubt that Chinese leader Xi Jinping views them that way.

This is a perfect example of Trump Derangement Syndrome. The global elites hate Trump so much that they wont give him credit even when they agree with his policies.

Actually, our newly minted China hawks main complaint is that the current U.S. policy does not go far enough.

[Americas policy] needs to be far more sophisticated, detailed and practical; and it must include an American economic response to the Belt and Road Initiative, argues Soros. The reality is that we are in a Cold War that threatens to turn into a hot one.

Did you get that? One of the leaders of the global elite wants America to save the world again by declaring a Cold War on China.

The good news is that, thanks to President Trump, we already have.

Steven W. Mosher is the President of the Population Research Institute and the author of Bully of Asia: Why Chinas Dream is the New Threat to World Order.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Florida woman Julie Edwards, 53, was arrested on charges of driving while under the influence in Volusia County, Fla. on Feb. 8, 2019. (Volusia County Sheriff's Office)

Florida DUI Suspect Threatens Sheriffs Deputy: My KKK Friends Will Burn Your Family

A Florida woman stopped on suspicion of drunken driving allegedly hurled racist threats at the black deputy who detained her, including saying the Ku Klux Klan is gonna hurt you bad.

Charging documents cited by ABC allege that 53-year-old Julie Edwards made the threats while being investigated for DUI late Thursday, Feb. 7, at a home in DeLand.

Edwards allegedly threatened Volusia County Sheriffs Deputy Brandon King with a visit from the KKK, a cross burning in his yard, and harm to him and his family, the Volusia County Sheriffs Office (VCSO) said in a statement Tuesday.

King, who was responding to a disturbance at the residence, said he found Edwards trying to back up her Lexus and slurring her words, the Miami Herald reported. He also reportedly noticed her breath reeking of alcohol.

Edwards refused to take a breathalyzer test or participate in field sobriety tests, according to the report.

The police report cited by the Herald indicates Edwards also had a prior refusal to submit from a prior DUI, resisted getting into the police cruiser and tried to walk away from the arresting deputy.

As King filled out paperwork, the woman launched into an abusive tirade.

Warning: Racist Language

The VCSO on Tuesday released body camera footage taken by the deputy, in which a female voice alleged to be that of Edwards can be heard uttering threats.

The woman is not seen in the footage.

Watch this if you need any more proof theres no expiration date on ignorance, Sheriff Mike Chitwood said when the video was released on social media.

You may have heard someone made racist threats against one of our deputies, Chitwood continued. Before you go on a racist rant, just remember we have body cams.

The sheriffs final statement before the video warns viewers of the disturbing content of the video.

*Warning: Racist language the sheriff wrote.

As @SheriffChitwood put it: "Watch this if you need any more proof there's no expiration date on ignorance." You may have heard someone made racist threats against one of our deputies. Before you go on a racist rant, just remember we have body cams. *Warning: Racist language* pic.twitter.com/RZDuph1lZo  Volusia Co. Sheriff (@VolusiaSheriff) February 12, 2019

I Will Find You

A voice alleged to belong to Edwards can be heard in the video initially challenging the validity of her detainment, saying You did not see me drive that car, and you did not see my keys in it.

The woman said she would sue and buy me a house because of you.

But then her utterances took a disturbing twist.

Keep it up boy, she can be heard saying. I will find you one day in a corner.

I wont find you, somebody else will, she continues.

Are you making a threat to a law enforcement officer? King asks.

No, I didnt say that, Edwards allegedly responds.

So what do you mean youll find me one day? asked King, who remained calm throughout the exchange.

I didnt say Id find you, I said somebody else will, she said, clarifying: I wont find you. The KKK people will.

All right, thank you for that threat, King continued. Ill add that charge in here, too.

The exchange continued, with the female voice saying the deputy [expletive] with the wrong white people and My KKK friends will burn your family. Should never be here in the first place.

You know whats going to happen to you now? You dont want to know. Youre done. Youre [expletive]. Theyre gonna hurt you bad, the female voice is heard saying.

The woman mentioned the Ku Klux Klan several times, saying at one point that they will burn crosses in front of his home and that [expletive] should have never been let out of slavery.

Youre gonna look like a dumb [expletive], the woman shouts as the deputy drives away from the scene.

KKKs got your [expletive], boy, she says. Burn your [expletive].

Edwards faces charges of resisting an officer without violence, driving under the influence, making a threat against law enforcement and refusing to submit to testing, according to the Herald.

She was booked into Volusia County Jail and was released after posting a bond.

Chitwood praised King for maintaining his composure during the arrest.

Kudos to Deputy King for his calm response to all the racist garbage this KKK Enthusiast could throw at him.
First Lady Melania Trump talks with Amani, 13, of Mombasa, Kenya, during her visit to the National Institutes of Health to see children at the Children's Inn and celebrate Valentine's Day, in Bethesda, Md., on Feb. 14, 2019. (Susan Walsh/AP)

First Lady Makes Valentines Day Art With Pediatric Patients

BETHESDA, MarylandMelania Trump showed love for her new hometown during a Valentines Day arts-and-crafts session with pediatric patients on Thursday, Feb. 14.

At a station where children wrote their favorite things on construction paper hearts, the first lady went with My favorite city is Washington. She signed the heart with her name and stuck it on a board on a wall in the middle of several other hearts.

During the visit to The Childrens Inn on the campus of the National Institutes of Health outside Washington, she also helped make candy boxesand assisted a line of children in filling them up with a variety of sugary treatsand snow globes.

Amani, a 13-year-old boy from Mombasa, Kenya, showed her how to turn a wooden clothespin into a colorful clip.

This is a big project, Mrs. Trump said. Amani has sickle cell disease and is preparing for a bone marrow transplant, the White House said. The first lady told Amani that she will pray for him. He presented her with a red heart-shaped box that held a silver necklace with Hope & Faith inscribed on a silver circle.

The first lady later wrote on Twitter that she Loved sharing an afternoon with such sweet valentines! Your bravery, strength, and love is amazing. She thanked The Childrens Inn and NIH for their lifesaving work.

Loved sharing an afternoon with such sweet valentines! Your bravery, strength, and love is amazing. Thank you to the @TheChildrensInn and @NIH for the lifesaving work you are doing! #HappyValentinesDay pic.twitter.com/VRrZwjWG5r  Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) February 15, 2019

The Childrens Inn is a private, nonprofit residence for children and families participating in pediatric research at NIH. The first lady was at the inn on Valentines Day last year when she was informed by her staff of a shooting at a south Florida high school that killed 17 people.

She was greeted on Thursday by Amber, 9, of San Jose, California. Amber, who participates in a gene therapy trial, was among the children with whom Mrs. Trump spent time during last years visit.

Mrs. Trump is focusing her work as first lady on the well-being of children.

By Darlene Superville
Experts: Deadly Zombie Deer Disease Could Possibly Spread to Humans

Experts from the University of Minnesota told lawmakers in Minnesota that a deadly illness that affects deer could spread to humans.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD), sometimes known as zombie deer disease because of how it makes the ruminant animals look in its final stages.

The U.S. Geological Survey describes the disease as a fatal, neurological illness occurring in North American cervids (members of the deer family), including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose.

It can cause disorientation, abnormal behavior, and ultimately death. Infected animals can live for at least 16 months before dying, and their blood, tissues, and fecal material can remain a source of new infections for years after death, said the University of Minnesota on its website.

There is currently no treatment for CWD.

No reports of humans being infected with CWD have been confirmed.

But Michael Osterholm, the head of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told officials in Minnesota that the disease should be treated as a public health concern.

Osterholm said there will be human cases of CWD in the years ahead, reported the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.

It is probable that human cases of CWD associated with the consumption of contaminated meat will be documented in the years ahead. It is possible that number of human cases will be substantial and will not be isolated events, he said, the report said.

The Pioneer Press noted that scientists have been concerned about the disease because its spread via prions, a type of protein molecules, which makes it similar to mad cow disease. Eventually, mad cow disease spread from cows to humans and is fatal without a cure.

If Stephen King could write an infectious disease novel, he would write about prions like this, he added.

Peter Larsen, an assistant professor at the university, said that a CWD-exposed rock was placed inside a cage with hamsters. The rodents became infected.

If I were to model contamination, the closest thing I can think of is it would be similar to modeling radioactive material, Larsen said.

Last week, University of Minnesota scientists said they are seeking funds to develop a test that can rapidly screen live animals for the presence of CWD, noting that currently, tests can only confirm CWD after the deer is dead, taking days or weeks to get the results back, according to a news release.

Animal studies suggest CWD poses a risk to some types of non-human primates, like monkeys, that eat meat from CWD-infected animals or come in contact with brain or body fluids from infected deer or elk. These studies raise concerns that there may also be a risk to people. Since 1997, the World Health Organization has recommended that it is important to keep the agents of all known prion diseases from entering the human food chain, the CDC states.

24 States

Last month, the CDC stated that the disease has spread to at least 24 states, two Canadian provinces, and Finland and South Korea.

States to have reported CWD include New York, Illinois, Michigan, Virginia, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia.

The illness was first discovered in captive deer in the late 1960s in Colorado, and by the 1990s, CWD was found in nearby areas in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming before spreading to other states.
A pit bull set on fire, Tommie, died five days after being rushed to an animal hospital. (Richmond Animal Care and Control)

Dog Set on Fire After Being Tied to Pole Dies, Animal Control Says

A dog that was tied to a pole and set on fire at a Virginia park on Feb. 10 died on Friday, Feb. 15.

Im so very sorry to share that Tommie just passed away. He had just finished having his bandages changed and stopped breathing; his body simply gave out. Tommie was pain-free and surrounded by people that loved him when he passed, the Richmond Animal Care and Control announced on Facebook.

Needless to say, we are all devastated and angry and sad and terribly disappointed.

The pit bull was found at 7:30 p.m. at Abner Clary Park covered in accelerant and intentionally set on fire, the animal control said on Monday.

The fire left burns over 40 percent of the dogs body. After the flames were doused, he was rushed to the Virginia Veterinary Centers.

I have to say that we dont get rattled by much at RACC, and have witnessed many ugly cases, but this one makes us want to just sit on the floor and cry, animal control said.

Over the next several days, animal control gave people updates on Tommies condition, noting that donations were pouring in and there was enough to cover the dogs medical bill.

In the last update, authorities said that the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for tying the dog up and setting fire to him has risen to $25,000. This increase was a result of individual donations and pledges from The Humane Society of the United States, the Cathy Kangas Foundation for Animals, and the Humane Rescue Alliance.

Tommie says goodnight and thank you to everyone for the love and support today. He is stable and comfortable and we are Gepostet von Richmond Animal Care and Control am Montag, 11. Februar 2019

Richmond Councilwoman Kim Gray said that shes working with police officers to try to prevent future incidents including putting more security cameras in place at the park.

Anyone whos this cruel to animals is a pretty depraved individual, and its scary to think that theyre walking around among us, Gray told WHSV.

State Sen. Bill DeSteph, meanwhile, said what happened highlights the need to pass legislation he sponsored that would increase the penalties for animal cruelty. Right now, under Virginia law, the person is only charged with a felony if a dog or cat dies as the direct result of cruelty.

I dont think the outcome should matter on this: if you beat or torture a dog its a heinous act, and it leads to other heinous acts which should be a felony, DeSteph said.

Firefighters Rescue Dogs

Four Richmond firefighters were hailed for rescuing Tommie from the fire.

Firefighters Dan Del Rocco, Daquane Ford, Michael Tedesco, and Lt. Brandon Bullock said they received the call to respond to a fire. They were inside Richmond Fire Station 5, which is next to the park.

We had just finished eating dinner, Bullock told WTVR. We looked outside the door and you could see the dog in distress in the park across the street.

Meet the Richmond firefighters who rescued dog intentionally set on fire https://t.co/H4GVt0CtJo pic.twitter.com/pk2vaZgqdy  WTVR CBS 6 Richmond (@CBS6) February 14, 2019

While they rushed to the scene, Del Rocco said they feared whoever set the dog on fire was lurking nearby. I wasnt sure if the guy who set the dog on fire was still out there, he said. And if he wasif he was OK with harming a dog Im sure he was okay with harming us.

The dog was running around because the fire burned through the leash that had tied him to to the pole.

He was rolling over trying to put himself out, Del Rocco said. At that point, it was becoming a concern that the dog was also going to get hit on the street. Fortunately, we were able to corner the dog, he hid under a vehicle and we were kind of able to get a rope around him so he wouldnt run into the street.

Anyone with information was asked to call Metro Richmond Crime Stoppers at 780-1000.

From NTD News
A general view of the city of Doha at night in Qatar on Jan. 10, 2011. (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Contain Qatar: an Ally That Finances Terror

The time has come to add tiny, gas-drenched Qatar to Americas list of nations to contain.

Containment is a Cold War-era concept hatched by U.S. foreign service officer George Frost Kennan just after World War II while he served in Americas embassy in Moscow.

In 1946, Kennan penned the long telegraman 8,000-word missive to Foggy Bottom on just how hostile and horrific socialist dictator Joseph Stalins foreign policy had become.

His conclusion: [The] main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.

Likewise with U.S. policy toward Qatar, which must contain the Gulf states jihadi tendencies.

The United States should begin by clarifying that it regards Qatar as a hostile force. A country of only 300,000 citizens, Qatar is so rich it ranks seventh in the world, above the United States, in GDP per capita.

As early as 2004, under Western pressure, Qatar set up a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)but a decade after the FIUs establishment it had not sanctioned a single Qatari for illicit funding, and only one financial crime had been referred to prosecutors.

In 2009, a U.S. diplomat wrote in a leaked cable that Qatar will continue to be an inconsistent partner in combating terrorist financing unless continually prodded.

By March 2014, an Obama Administration official openly acknowledged that Qatar has for many years openly financed Hamasa US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) responsible for at least 557 terror deathsas well as support[ed] extremist groups operating in Syria in a conflict that has killed more than 470,000.

In August 2014, an Israeli diplomat called Qatar the Club Med for Terrorists in the New York Times. That December, a study documented how high-level terror finance networks with links to Qatari territory have benefitted al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups in Syria, Gaza, Somalia, Yemen, Egypt, South Asia, and Iraq.

Worse, said the study, With every important case of suspected terror finance involving a Qatari national in past years, the government in Doha has refused effectively to crack down.

Dubbed the most two-faced nation in the world by a top U.S. official in 2014, Qatar has officially backed the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State while tacitly allowing terrorist financiers to operate, and helping finance Islamic State, according to the report.

Long-simmering Grievances

In June 2017, President Donald Trump correctly charged that the nation of Qatar has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level.

Yet minutes before Trump spoke, then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson call[ed] on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt to ease the blockade on Qatar, imposed because of Qatars longstanding support for terrorism, with the proximate cause of a disputed statement by Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani that there was no reason behind Arabs hostility to Iran.

Two weeks later, a State Department spokesperson pronounced herself mystified at the Saudis failure to produce proof of the terror funding the United States has had proof of for years, and perhaps decades.

She asked, Were the actions really about their concerns regarding Qatars alleged support for terrorism or were they about the long-simmering grievances between and among Gulf countries?

Such long-simmering grievances might include Qataris attempts to overthrow secular governments throughout the Middle East and North Africa and replace them with Islamic ones.

According to Kyle Shideler, an expert in Islamic networks, the blockade began in part because Qataris were using Islamist networks they had helped construct, both violent groups and nonviolent or political Islamist groups, to try to overthrow a number of Arab states.

Shideler charged Qatar succeeded in Egypt and Libya, and attempted to do so in Syria, with the connivance of the Obama Administration, which had been convinced that democracy in the Middle East led by Islamist parties was the wave of the future.

An Airbase

In part with sophisticated use of propaganda, Qataris feel secure in the worst kind of bad behavior, Shideler concluded, pretending to be an American ally, because so far they could tell the United States, We have an airbase, and we help you bomb the bad guysthat we are also funding.

It apparently worked again: By April 2018, the Trump administration was telling Congress it planned to approve a deal to sell $300 million in Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems to Qatar, including 5,000 high-explosive warheads and the same number of rocket motors.

The next day, Trump met with Emir al-Thani, praising him as a great gentleman and a friend of mine.

Predictably, seven months later, a Qatari diplomat appeared in the Gaza Strip with suitcases stuffed with $15 million in cash, which he delivered to Hamas leaders, approved by both the United States and the UN.

And just as predictably, days later Hamas jihadis attacked Israeli commandos in Gaza, killing an Israeli officer and wounding a soldier. In defending themselves, the Israelis killed seven terrorists, including a top Hamas military commanderto which Hamas and its allies responded by firing hundreds of rockets into Israel.

Such a pattern will continue to self-replicate indefinitely until stoppedand may not be stopped as long as the United States maintains a base in Qatar.

Accordingly, as part of a policy of containing the Gulf country, the United States should also order the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from it.

The United States currently has ties to the radical nation center on Al Udeid Air Base, which serves as forward operating headquarters of United States Central Command, a headquarters of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Central Command, and home of the USAF 379th Air Expeditionary Wing.

As of June 2017, Qatars propaganda arm, Al Jazeera, claimed the base had more than 11,000 U.S. and U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition forces from which more than 100 aircraft operate, figures confirmed by Military Times.

The Al Udeid Air Base is the first line of defense for Qatar in every disagreement with the United States. Bureaucrats in the Pentagon and State Department push back on any attempt to rein Qatar in by bringing it up.

Fair enough, Trump should say: Then its time to eliminate that liability.

Funding American Universities

But most important, the United States needs to get Qatari funding of the U.S. educational system under control.

Thats right: The same government sheltering 9/11 sleeper agents and underwriting much of Hamas bloodshed, Libyas chaos, Egypts first coup, and even Syrias thermonuclear catastrophe is also helping educate Americas youth.

According to one expert, Qatar has become the single highest funder of American universities.

Indeed, according to figures released in December 2018, Qatar was No. 1 among foreign funders of U.S. universities, at more than $1 billion from 2011 to 2016. (Figures gathered by the The Epoch Times show that from 2012 through late 2018 now top $1.3 billion.)

The top recipient at over $332 million, Georgetown University, is home to the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, run from its inception by Dr. John Esposito, a magnet for Arab and Muslim money. Renowned Middle East scholar Martin Kramer once said that Esposito, more than any other academic, contributed to American complacency prior to 9/11. The Centers flagship project is The Bridge Initiativedubbed The Bridge to Shariah Initiative by the Center for Security Policy.

The next two top recipients are Northwestern University ($277 million) and Texas A&M ($225 million). A&M is currently in the middle of a legal battle over release of its contracts with Qataris.

What they contain is a mystery, but a clue might be found in the materials underwritten by the Qatar Foundation International (QFI), an affiliate of the Qatar Foundation (QF), given that QF provided 91 percent of the funds from Qatari sources to A&M from 2012 through June 2018, according to an Epoch Times analysis.

QFIs flagship resource, the Al Masdar web portal, contains thousands of lesson plans about the Arabic language and Middle Eastern culture and politics. Among them are Terrorist, Freedom Fighter, or Something in Between? That in turn links to articles such as Is There a Good Terrorist?

According to one analysis, in the lesson plans Israeli and American military forces are accused of terrorism, and the Iraq War was carried out to feast on the Iraqi economy.

QFI has also sponsored an Arab-American community association headed by the controversial Islamist Linda Sarsour.

Worse, QF itself has openly supported terror organizations and radical ideologues and puts on programs with viciously extremist speakers.

Finally, at least one lesson plan, Express Your Loyalty to Qatar, openly espouses allegiance to the tiny Islamic dictatorship.

The U.S. government should consider a moratorium on all Qatari funding to U.S. universities pending a review of those materials.

It is past time for the United States to own up to the truth about Qatar: It leverages its vast wealth to undermine America and its allies at home and overseas including with outright violence and terrorism, while it leverages its key military facility and underwriting of U.S. schools to keep Americans in line.

Its time for us to contain Qatar.

Christopher C. Hull holds a doctorate in government from Georgetown University. He is president of Issue Management, Inc., distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute, senior fellow at Americans for Intelligence Reform, and author of Grassroots Rules (Stanford, 2007).

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Some might argue that Old Saybrook, and residents of many other towns, can afford higher taxes. Old Saybrook has already seen its share of state aid reduced by over 50 percent ($1.2 million in 2014 to approximately $500,000 in 2019), savings that the state will continue to reap for years to come. Sen. Looney wants millions more, and thats just from Old Saybrook residents. This increased tax burden will hit hard in most communities statewide and will fall almost exclusively on real property owners by increasing their residential property taxes, which is unquestionably one of the most regressive taxes we impose in Connecticut.
Chinese Regime Front Group Infiltrates New York Lunar New Year Parade

The annual Lunar New Year Parade is a celebration of Asian-American culture. It also celebrates the contributions made by Asian-Americans. However, a so-called anti-cult organization recently hired people to hold up Chinese flags behind police barricades along the parade route.

Dragon dancers, costumed ladies, and a marching band the Lunar New Year Parade held on Feb. 9 in Flushing, New York was a festive display of Asian American culture.

However, roughly 100 spectators along the barricades held up red China flags, seen as a symbol of the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) rule over China. The national flag was only adopted after the Party established the Peoples Republic of China in 1949.

The flag holders did not appear to have a political agenda though. Most came for money.

When asked by undercover reporters with the Chinese-language Epoch Times, one of the flag holders replied thusly:

Did they give you money?

Yes.

How much?

20 dollars

An organization closely tied to the CCP hired locals to hold up the flags.

At 11 a.m. at the start of the parade, Li Huahong, the head of a CCP front group known as the Chinese Anti-Cult World Alliance (CACWA), was observed instructing flag-bearers in the area to unfurl their flags. She also was seen ordering flag-bearers to stand in their designated area.

In the past, the CACWA has harassed and intimidated local adherents of Falun Gong, a spiritual group that is currently banned and heavily persecuted in mainland China.

Last year, the group had displayed Chinese flags during the parade, in breach of a rule stipulating that participants must only carry American flags. The group also put up banners bearing hate speech against Falun Gong on their float. They were disqualified from participating in the parade until 2020.

But the organization still found other ways to participate.

Get over here. One person at one of these fences. You were told to stand here, you cant just move around aimlessly.

Flag bearers are instructed to say theyre only volunteers.

If somebody comes to talk to you, dont talk to them. What money? No moneys involved, we are all volunteers.

And to not share.

Can we get one those flags?

No, you have to register first. You can only get one if you have registered in advance.

To reach quotas, some who appeared to be team leaders sought out spectators to join in. One team leader was caught giving a flag to an undercover reporter.

I can give you one, come here.

Do you know each other?

Yes, we do.

Others just came for the money.

Whats this about?

I dont know, my sister asked me to come here?

Is there money involved?

Yes, there is.

The organization had one objective.

We are here to oppose Falun Gong.

The presence of the flags upset many spectators.

They can have lanterns, thats Chinese tradition, and something joyful. This shouldnt be here, this flag, its a form of influence.

They should investigate these people, see what their backgrounds are.

After the parade, a man counted the flags and distributed cash payments.

A 2018 report by Washington think-tank the Hoover Institution raised concerns about CCP influence on Chinese-American communities, says that the Chinese regimes focus on diaspora communities has intensified in recent years.

Such activities not only interfere with freedom of speech within the United States but they also risk generating suspicion of Chinese Americans even though those who accept Beijings directives are a very small minority, the report stated.

From NTD News
Migrants stand together along the U.S./Mexican border wall as they wait to turn themselves over to the U.S. Border Patrol in El Paso, Tex., on Feb. 12, 2019. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Border Apprehensions Surge 400 Percent in El Paso, Smugglers Try to Overwhelm Us, Agent Says

Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal trespassers increased by nearly 440 percent in the El Paso Sector in the past four months compared to a year ago. Local Border Patrol officials believe the human smugglers and drug cartels are trying to overwhelm the authorities in order to get more contraband through.

The El Paso Sector, covering some 270 border miles in westernmost Texas and the whole stretch across New Mexico, used to be one of the least eventful. During the slow months of October 2011 to January 2012, it averaged about 20 apprehensions of illegal border crossers a daya rather light workload for an agent force of 2,400 (pdf).

Fast forward to those same months seven years later, and the workload has increased more than 14-fold, while the workforce remains the same.

Most of the blame falls on human smugglers and drug cartels, who work hand in hand and have moved their operations toward El Paso from south Texas, where increased Border Patrol presence starting a few years ago made their operations difficult, according to Ramiro Cordero, Border Patrol Special Operations Supervisor in the El Paso Sector.

They did start hitting us here in El Paso, Im going to say about a year, year and a half ago, little by little, he said in a Feb. 14 phone call.

Since the 2019 fiscal year started in October, however, the influx has intensified. Four months in, the nearly 35,000 apprehensions have already surpassed the number of apprehensions for the whole of fiscal 2018.

While most of the trespassers try to cross in the El Paso metro area, large numbers have also started to show up further west, in the desert, Cordero said.

Since October, the agents caught 27 groups of more than 100a total of about 5,500in the area of Antelope Wells, a small port of entry in the desert some 31 miles east of the Arizona border.

They think that by saturating our agents there  all of our attention is going to begin to focus on that, Cordero said.

Multiple times in the past month, he said, agents have caught or detected narcotics smugglers trying to sneak in just as the agents are busy dealing with the illegal trespassers further down the border.

Its a strategy. Its kind of like taking two bites at the apple, he said. From their point of view, theyre making money out of thisillegal aliensbecause of course they do, and at the same time they think that they can get other stuff through.

Illegal immigrants have routinely acknowledged they pay thousands of dollars to human smugglers, so called coyotes, whose smuggling routes are, in turn, controlled by the cartels.

Different Crisis

Along the whole southwest border, apprehensions reached more than 200,000 so far in fiscal 2019, up some 84 percent from the same period the year before.

While its true that two decades ago the Border Patrol was catching more than double the trespassers it does today, Cordero cautioned against simple comparisons.

Back then, most of the trespassers were adult Mexican men, whom Border Patrol is skilled at promptly turning around.

We can process them, send right back within a couple of hours, he said.

Most now are coming from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Through propaganda being spread in those countries, the migrants believe that if they cross the U.S. border with a child, the United States will let them in, Cordero said. And theyre not wrong. U.S. immigration laws dont allow deportation of non-Mexican minors to Mexico. They also cant be held in detention for more than 20 days.

Most of the current migrants go through a completely different process than was common before, Cordero said. Its tying our hands.

Barriers

While the El Paso metro area at least has border fences, the desert areas only have vehicle barriers, which are about five feet high and are easy to climb over.

President Donald Trump said on Feb. 14 hes examining a Homeland Security funding bill that would allow him to build another 55 miles of border fencing. Those would be, however, in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, which has faced an even larger influx of illegal crossings than El Paso.

Reviewing the funding bill with my team at the @WhiteHouse!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 14, 2019

The White House said on Feb. 14 that Trump will declare a national emergency to secure funds for the physical barrier along the U.S.Mexico border and use the emergency powers to redirect other funding towards the wall construction.

President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive actionincluding a national emergencyto ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

The President is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country.

Such a move would be likely challenged in courts by his opponents.
Mexican police and military personnel guard the outside of an old factory where around 1,800 Central American migrants are being held in Piedras Negras, Mexico, on Feb. 8, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Body Pulled From Rio Grande on US-Mexico Border

U.S. border patrol agents pulled a dead mans body from the Rio Grande separating the United States and Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 14, not far from a temporary shelter in Piedras Negras, Mexico which is housing some 2,000 migrants who are mostly from Central America.

It was not immediately clear if the man was staying at the shelter, but it appears he may have been trying to swim across the river to Texas before drowning.

In recent days, several small groups of migrants have attempted to cross the river to reach Eagle Pass, Texas on the other side.

Security has been tight on this stretch of the border with border patrol agents making their presence known as migrants wait to process paperwork at the temporary shelter on the Mexican side of the border.

Border Patrol Rescues Migrant Family

A Salvadoran family was rescued from the Rio Grande border river between Mexico and the United States late on Sunday night, before they were returned back south of the border, according to local reports.

According to local reports, the family of seven included two babies and two minors. They unsuccessfully tried to swim across the Rio Grande from Piedras Negras, Mexico to Eagle Pass, Texas, before they were rescued, and attended to by medics south of the border.

Security has been tight on this stretch of the border with border patrol agents making their presence known as some 2,000 Central American migrants wait to process paperwork at a temporary migrant shelter on the Mexican side of the border.

Many are seeking passage into the United States, but some who have permission to stay in Mexico are considering working locally.

President Donald Trump has hardened his stance on immigration, and specifically against the caravan of migrants. He has sought to suspend the granting of asylum to migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, seeking fresh ways to block thousands of Central Americans traveling in caravans from entering the United States.

He has also said any migrants seeking asylum will have to wait in Mexico whilst the claim is heard.

The Right to Protect Borders

Juan Andres Martinez grew up in Piedras Negras, but emigrated to Eagle Pass in 2000. Like many locals, its common to pop over to Mexico to visit family or go shopping. Martinez runs a martial arts academy in Eagle Pass, and with his brother, another one in Piedras Negras.

He said he has never seen anything like the caravan of 1,800, nor the U.S. or Mexican responses to it.

If they want to come aggressively to the United States, its going to be hard for them. Here in Eagle Pass, we feel safe because we have a lot of security right now, Martinez said. Theres some entity or somebody out there thats maybe giving them the idea that this border is much easier to cross when, in reality, its really not.

Martinez suggests the caravan came to Piedras Negras because it has become too dangerous to go to Tijuana.

I think [here] its safer from the cartels. Thats why they didnt want to go through Tamaulipasbecause of the cartels, he said.

In Piedras Negras, its a Los Zetas cartel faction called Cartel del Noreste that operates, according to Robert Bunker, an instructor at the Safe Communities Institute, University of Southern California.

They are in conflict with Zetas Vieja Escuela (Old School Zetas) who are a faction tied to a Gulf Cartel remnant, Bunker said.

Martinez said he supports President Donald Trumps efforts to secure the border.

I support what hes doing as far as stopping illegal immigration. Any state, any territory, any country has the right to protect its borders and only allow people in under the right circumstances, he said. We all have necessities. We all have needs. These people are coming here looking for a better way of life, but unfortunately, theres laws that need to be followed.

The Epoch Times reporter Charlotte Cuthbertson contributed to this report.
Beto ORourke addresses the crowd at a rally in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 11, 2019. (Christ Chavez/Getty Images)

Beto ORourke Says Hed Absolutely Tear Down Border Wall in El Paso

Beto ORourke, former congressman and potential candidate for the 2020 presidential election, said that if given the chance, he would tear down the existing border barrier in El Paso, Texas.

Absolutely, Id take the wall down, said ORourke, who represented the region during his term in congress, in an interview on MSNBC.

Beto ORourke when asked, since Rep. @DanCrenshawTX asked on Twitter, if he would tear down the walls that are already in place: Yes and I think a referendum to do so would pass. pic.twitter.com/ENZuYvdqEa  Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) February 15, 2019

The fencing that surrounds El Paso, which is near the Mexican city of Juarez, has become a point of contention in recent political skirmishes.

If You Could Snap Your Fingers

ORourkes comment came in response to a question posed on Twitter by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas. If you could snap your fingers and make El Pasos border wall disappear, would you?

Crenshaw added, Because this DHS graph shows that when the wall was built, illegal crossings dropped significantly.

.@BetoORourke should answer a simple question tonight with respect to the border debate: If you could snap your fingers and make El Pasos border wall disappear, would you? Because this DHS graph shows that when the wall was built, illegal crossings dropped significantly. pic.twitter.com/JgquXfw2Ee  Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) February 11, 2019

The Republican representative posted another set of graphs which appear to correlate the erection of barriers with drops in illegal border crossings.

For all the critics trying to find ANY other explanation for why El Pasos illegal crossings dropped after building a fence, Crenshaw wrote, how do you explain these graphs? How do you explain what we see in Brownsville, where fencing dramatically reduces crossings?

For all the critics trying to find ANY other explanation for why El Pasos illegal crossings dropped after building a fence, how do you explain these graphs? How do you explain what we see in Brownsville, where fencing dramatically reduces crossings? pic.twitter.com/I3QQ7aEHDD  Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) February 12, 2019

Walls Are Not Immoral

President Donald Trump held a rally in El Paso on Monday, where he again made a case for building a border barrier.

Safety is the birthright of every American, which is why we must finish the wall. Walls are not immoral, as what was said [by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)]. Human trafficking is immoral. Drug trafficking is immoral, child smuggling is immoral  Open borders are dangerous and immoral, Trump said.

Trump highlighted El Paso as an example of the success of border fencing, pointing to a fall in crime rates as barriers were erected.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), one of the speakers before Trump, also emphasized the effectiveness of physical barriers.

We saw in El Paso where there was high traffic of illegal crossings, we built a wall and the crossings plummeted, he said.

Cruz also called on the Democrats to let go of hate and anger to reach over the aisle and make America safe.

Stop sitting there as you did in the State of the Union, he said. To the Democrats in Washington, the path forward is not open borders and socialism.

El Paso Crime Rates

El Paso metro area crime rates dropped precipitously in the 1990s, from more than 800 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 1995 (pdf) to less than 660 in 1999 (xls), FBI data shows.

The rate kept decreasing, down to about 437 in 2008 and 356 in 2017less than the national average of nearly 383.

It is difficult, however, to determine how much of the decrease can be attributed to the fence, parts of which were erected in El Paso in the 1990s.

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, which is located directly across the border, has significantly higher levels of violence. Juarez had 1,247 murders in 2018, UPI reported, while in the same year El Paso had only 23 murders.

Safe El Paso

ORourke, who, like Trump, also held a rally in El Paso on Monday, claimed at the event that the citys relatively low crime rates were not because of walls, but in spite of walls.

He doubled down on his assertion that walls do little to prevent crime in the NBC interview, saying, Heres what we know: after the Secure Fence Act, we have built 600 miles of wall and fencing on a 2,000 mile border. What that has done is not in any demonstrable way made us safer.

The wall has not saved lives. It has ended lives, ORourke said, adding that the fencing has forced migrants to take longer, more dangerous routes, leading to the deaths of some 4,000 people trying to enter the United States.

Theyre dead, over the last 10 years, as we have walled off their opportunity to legally petition for asylum to cross in urban centers, like El Paso, he said.

Big Beautiful Wall

Trump panned ORourkes claims that the wall hasnt had an impact on crime rates: They are full of crap when they say it hasnt made a big difference, he said at his rally.

The President declared, Today we started a big beautiful wall right on the Rio Granderight smack on the Rio Grande.

The White House said on Feb. 14 that Trump will declare a national emergency to secure funds for the physical barrier along the U.S.Mexico border.

President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive actionincluding a national emergencyto ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

The President is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country.

The Epoch Times staff writer Peter Svab contributed to this report.
Arizona Man Connected by DNA to 4 Slayings Indicted in Ohio

CLEVELANDOhio authorities charged a man on Thursday, Feb. 15, with aggravated murder in the 1992 slaying of a woman at a truck stop, one of four such killings they say he is linked to through DNA evidence.

Samuel Legg III, 49, was extradited in January from Arizona to face charges in the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl. He pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape at an arraignment in that case on Thursday in northeast Ohios Medina County. Authorities say DNA also links Legg to that case.

Breaking: Samuel W. Legg III has been indicted for the 1992 murder of Sharon Kedzierski, according to the Austintown PD, @bobjonesTV reports. Officials announced Wednesday DNA led to his indictment on a 1997 rape in Medina Co. He was arraigned this morning in that case. pic.twitter.com/Lxi8NQJN7E  Jordan Vandenberge (@NEWSjordanv) February 14, 2019

A judge ordered that Legg, a former long-haul truck driver with what authorities say is a history of mental illness, be evaluated to determine if he is competent to stand trial.

Hours later, Legg was indicted in Mahoning County on aggravated murder charges in the April 1992 slaying of 43-year-old Sharon Kedzierski at a truck stop near Youngstown. A coroner ruled that Kedzierski died of blunt force trauma to the head, face, and chest.

Austintown police confirm Samuel Legg has been indicted for 1992 murder of Sharon Kedzierski. Her body was found at a truck stop. Legg is also suspected in 3 other murders and a 1997 rape case out of Medina County. @WEWS pic.twitter.com/b1BDHfxBvp  Bob Jones WEWS (@bobjonesTV) February 14, 2019

Little else is known publicly about the other truck stop slayings. Authorities have said three of the four were in Ohio in the 1990s and the fourth was in Illinois.

Leggs court-appointed attorney declined to comment after the Medina County hearing. Its unclear if Legg has an attorney yet for the Mahoning County murder charges.

Legg was originally a suspect in the 1997 rape, but no charges were filed because of detectives concerns at the time about the victims credibility, Medina County Prosecutor Forrest Thompson told The Associated Press on Thursday. Thompson took office in January 2017. Authorities say Legg had given a ride to the teen, who was hitchhiking home to Lexington, Ohio, after visiting her boyfriend in Cleveland.

Thompson said investigators got a break in the rape case in December while technicians with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation were looking for matches to DNA from the truck stop slayings. Because there was no exact match in the bureaus database, technicians used updated technology to search for a male family member whose DNA profile was similar to the unknown suspects. A match was made and an investigation pointed to Legg as a suspect not only for the truck stop slayings, but the 1997 sexual assault as well.

Thompson subsequently reopened the rape case, focusing on Legg.

We decided there were questions unanswered in the original investigation, Thompson said. I thought the decision not to prosecute was premature.

Murder indictment against Samuel Legg in Mahoning County. @WEWS pic.twitter.com/tUx3pylXGz  Bob Jones WEWS (@bobjonesTV) February 14, 2019

Thompson said he and a Medina County sheriffs detective flew to Arizona in mid-January, where they obtained a DNA sample from Legg, who was living in a group home in Chandler. The new sample confirmed Leggs link to the rape and homicides, Thompson said.

Legg had minor brushes with the law over the years, Thompson said, but nothing that would have required him to provide a DNA sample until it was obtained in January.

Thompson said he expects the publicity surrounding Leggs case will attract attention from other law enforcement agencies with similar unsolved slayings.

We should not be surprised if there are other victims, he said. The people who do these crimes dont quit on their own without some kind of interruption.

By Mark Gillispie
American Renewal: In the Presence of Our Enemies

Commentary

Ronald Reagan once made a humorous statement about the left: The trouble with our liberal friends is not that theyre ignorant; its just that they know so much that isnt so.

What todays left has come to believe, however, is much different than in the days of Reaganits far worse.

What they want, in almost all cases, is contrary to the spirit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of goodness. If they win, what they will unleash on the United States will be the same thing they have done elsewhere, Venezuela being their newest paradise foundor, more truthfully, paradise lost.

Losing our cold civil war isnt just a matter of different governance, a different lifestyle, or a different opinion. Its really a matter of choosing life or death.

Venezuela

In 2017, I wrote about what happened in Venezuela. The most salient point: Venezuela was once the most prosperous country in South America. It is now one of the poorer nations in the world. Food is hard to find, toilet paper is scarce, and civilization as the citizenry once knew it is gone.

Venezuela got there because leftists promised a better life for all. They promised the evil capitalists would be punished and that their citizens would all be better off. They promised free health care. They promised free education. They promised free everything. Venezuela chose poorly. It chose to believe the siren song of their future workers paradise. It knows now.

We all should know.

And like the fool choosing the wrong cup in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Venezuela died a horrible death. It lost all the greatness of Western civilization. Its people have little left, having virtually lost everything, and now are mired in simply trying to survive each day. The thing Venezuela lost the most was common decencythe decency to pursue higher goals, the decency to pursue goodness for peoples lives.

When it comes to the left, it cant be said strongly enough: If they win, we, our children, and our grandchildren will be ravaged like Venezuela. Like Russia was. Like China was. Like every socialist paradise the left has ever set up.

We would fail as a nation. We would be reduced to a snarling mob. The reign of terror that was unleashed during the French Revolution would be nothing compared to what would happen here.

Like I said, this isnt simply a different kind of governance: Its a matter of choosing life or death. Choosing not to fight the left is to choose death. Choosing to allow the left to cast its spell is to choose poorly.

Promises

Medicare for all is the new slogan. Sounds great, yes? Why, lets give it a try. After all, we could have a health care system as good as that in England, or Cuba for that matter. Didnt Michael Moore try to tell us Cuba had the best health care ever? Oh right, only the powerful elite gets to use it, the party leaders. And England? God help you if you are visiting and get sick over there. Its sort of like what the Veterans Affairs system was here; you die waiting in line.

Let me suggest when you hear this promise that you ridicule it. Laugh at it, scorn it, make them be known as fools. They can be free to speak lies, but we should be free to heap scorn on them with the truth, the truth being that they already ruined a major portion of our health care with the Affordable Care Act. If they get another crack at it, the Cuban system awaits: Health care only for the Kamala Harrises, the Elizabeth Warrens, the Cory Bookers, or whoever else demagogues their way to power. And theyll keep promising you more, as you get less. They will destroy the system for all. Bank on it.

And now, the promise of a green life for all. Aint it grand? No more fossil fuels; well have safe wind, safe solar, and safe spaces. No more polluting airplanes, just clean high-speed trains. All our homes and businesses will be centers of non-polluting energy. Paradise for all. Once again, its not just what they know is not so; what they want to do is flat-out deadly for us all.

We here in the Midwest are living in the throes of the current polar vortex. Let me remind you of something you all should know: Take away fossil fuels here, and we would have deaths along the lines of what the Plague brought. Greenness is a seriously demented promise. And if you think they wont mandate that we stop using fossil fuels to prevent their ridiculously wrong (and pathetic) theory of global warming destroying the planet, I have a bridge to sell you.

After all, this is only the ninth or 10th time we were supposed to all die from their ecological pronouncements. Yep, thats right. I first read it from a group known as the Club of Rome, which said we would all be hapless, dead, or starving by the 1990s. Al Gore has only postponed his deadline a couple of times now. Oh, and that claim that snowfall would be a thing of the past? I can tell you while looking out my window, thats not true. But theyll tell you with a smile thats just weather, not climate. Or that 97 percent of all scientists say the science is settled. Neither of which is true. Once again, what they know isnt just not so, their lies are damnably dangerous to everyone.

We need to step up our game here. Too many people believe the baloney the left is spouting about fossil fuels ruining our planet. Theyre outright falsehoods, like their solutions. Just ask the French yellow vests what will happen if you buckle to this nonsense. The gas costs of Obamas nightmare $4 per gallon would double. They would trade the fruit of civilization for a bowl of narratives.

As for me, I like knowing I have heat. I like knowing we can live a good life. I like knowing we have an incredible civilization that has brought more to every person living here than once thought possible for kings. I dont like knowing the left wants to take it away by lies, deceit, and promises to a gullible electorate.

Fearless Passion

We need to step up our game. We need to realize who our enemies aremeaning the radical leftand what they will bring after promising us paradise to gain power: Venezuela. What is of paramount importance is to realize how on the edge we are right now. If we fail to destroy the left through the ballot box, we will be on a quick path to a third-world existence.

Let me introduce a construct that I call the Gideon Brigades. The story told describes Gideons army as being selected for their intensity. Gideon was instructed by God to pick the soldiers who demonstrated their passion when drinking water from a river. A small forceyet fearless and faith-filledthey would conquer because of these qualities. In this civil war of today, we are going to need this kind of fearlessness, faith, and passiontraits that the late Andrew Breitbart demonstrated. We are standing on a precipice; the war is in the balance. We are finally fighting back, and for the first time in decades, we are beginning to win.

The left is beginning to fail; they are showing themselves as the party that owns the paths to death. They want to practice infanticide as you watch, to make us a self-loathing people, and to ruin the economic engine that has done the world such good. They must be defeated.

As leftist masks come off, we need to choose wisely. We need to understand that there is a consequence to losing this war. For now, as we teeter on the edge, we need to become, join, or simply ally with the Gideon Brigadesunrelenting passion, faith, and fearlessness until the left is defeated.

Its genuinely a matter of life and death.

David Prentice is a writer and novelist from the Midwest.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Graffiti painted on a sidewalk by someone opposed to the location of an Amazon headquarters in the Long Island City neighborhood in the Queens borough of New York, photo taken on Nov. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Amazon Dumps NYC Headquarters and Its Promised 25,000 Jobs

NEW YORKAmazon abruptly dropped plans Feb. 14 for a big new headquarters in New York that would have brought 25,000 jobs to the city, reversing course after politicians and activists objected to the nearly $3 billion in tax breaks promised to what is already one of the worlds richest, most powerful companies.

We are disappointed to have reached this conclusionwe love New York, the online giant said in a blog post announcing the withdrawal.

The stunning move was a serious blow to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had lobbied intensely to land the project, competing against more than 200 other metropolitan areas across the continent that were practically tripping over each other to offer incentives to Amazon in a fierce bidding war the company stoked.

Amazon announced in November that it had chosen the Long Island City section of Queens for one of two new headquarters, with the other in northern Virginia. The company had planned to spend $2.5 billion building the New York office.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Citys new liberal firebrand, exulted over Amazons pullout.

Today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers and their neighbors defeated Amazons corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world, she tweeted, referring to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

The governor and the mayor had argued that Amazon would transform the Long Island City neighborhood into a high-tech hub and spur economic growth that would pay for the $2.8 billion in state and city incentives many times over.

Cuomo complained in a Feb. 14 statement that a small group of politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community. And the mayor criticized Amazon for not doing more to try to win over New Yorkers.

You have to be tough to make it in New York City, de Blasio said.

In its announcement, Amazon said it has 5,000 employees in the city and plans to increase that number.

It said it does not plan to look for another headquarters location at this time and will continue with its move to build new offices in Arlington, Virginia, and Nashville, Tennessee. The Arlington site is expected to be the same size as the New York one, with 25,000 employees. The Nashville office is expected to have 5,000.

Amazon faced fierce opposition over the tax breaks, with critics complaining that the project was an extravagant giveawayor worse, a shakedownand that it wouldnt provide much direct benefit to most New Yorkers.

The list of grievances against the project grew as the months wore on, with critics complaining about Amazons stance on unions, and some Long Island City residents fretting that the companys arrival would drive up rents and other costs.

Opposition to the deal was led in the Democrat-controlled state Senate by Michael Gianaris, the chambers No. 2 lawmaker, whose district includes Long Island City. Initially among the politicians who supported bringing an Amazon headquarters to the city, Gianaris did an about-face after the deal was announced, criticizing the secrecy surrounding the negotiations and the generous incentives.

Earlier this month, Gianaris was appointed to a little-known state panel that could have ultimately been asked to approve the subsidies.

It is unclear whether the City Council had any power to scuttle the deal. But City Council members held hearings at which they grilled Amazon officials about the companys labor practices, its contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide facial recognition technology, and other issues.

By Joseph Pisani and Alexandra Olson. Associated Press Writers Verena Dobnik, Karen Matthews, Kiley Armstrong David Klepper in New York and Chris Carola in Albany, New York, contributed to this story.
The John Harvard statue looks over Harvard Yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. A final round of arguments is scheduled for in federal court in Boston in a trial alleging racial bias in the university's admissions system on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Admissions Bias Lawsuit Against Harvard in Judges Hands

BOSTONA federal judge will now decide whether Harvard University intentionally discriminates against Asian-American applicants, an allegation made in a 2014 lawsuit that was debated in a final round of arguments Feb. 13.

Lawyers for both sides clashed at Bostons federal courthouse, largely recapping cases they made during a trial that ended in November. The case will be decided by United States District Judge Allison D. Burroughs, although any ruling is expected to be appealed.

The case carries implications for other United States schools that consider race in admissions decisions as a way to bring a diverse mix of students to campus. It has added fuel to a national debate about whether and how race should influence admissions.

Admissions bias lawsuit against Harvard in judges hands https://t.co/5gD7P9hF59  7News Boston WHDH (@7News) February 14, 2019

The lawsuit argues that Harvards admissions office holds Asian-Americans to a higher standard and uses a subjective personal rating to limit their admission to the elite Ivy League school.

Students for Fair Admissions, the group behind the lawsuit, says students of Asian descent have the strongest academic records yet receive the lowest scores on the personal rating, which scores applicants on traits including courage and likability.

Harvard says it uses race only as one of many factors to choose from more than 40,000 applicants a year. It says race can only help, never hurt, an applicants chances of getting in.

On Wednesday, lawyers for Students for Fair Admissions argued that Harvards admissions officers arent evil and may simply have fallen prey to racial stereotyping, but the group said their treatment of Asian-Americans still amounts to intentional discrimination.

Adam Mortara, a lawyer representing the group, said Harvards own admissions records show that students of Asian descent are treated differently from how students of other races are, yet the school has failed to provide any explanation.

Harvard has yet to come up with any race-neutral explanation for the Asian penalty in the personal rating, he said. No Harvard admission officer was willing to come here and testify as to why this is happening.

Harvards lawyers countered that the group failed to provide any direct evidence of discrimination. They noted that no students came forward during the trial to say they were wrongly rejected from the school.

Its not just that SFFA has failed to provide a smoking gun, they failed to find evidence of a single victim of discrimination, said Seth Waxman, a lawyer for Harvard.
Funi the Panda enjoys eating her birthday cake to celebrate her first Australian birthday at Adelaide Zoo on August 23, 2010 in Adelaide, Australia. Funi, meaning 'Lucky Girl', turns four years old today. Funi, who shares an enclosure with Wang Wang, are the only Giant Pandas in the Southern Hemisphere and the first to live permanently in Australia. (Morne de Klerk/Getty Images)

Adelaide Zoo Calls for More Tax Dollars to Fund Chinas Panda Breeding Program

Adelaide Zoo has called for its two giant pandas, on loan from China, to stay longer.

The 10-year agreement that brought Wang Wang and Fu Ni to Australia expires in November but Zoos SA chief executive Elaine Bensted says an extension would be welcome.

Wed be thrilled to see Australias involvement in giant panda conservation extended and for Adelaide Zoo to continue to be home to the Australasias only Giant Pandas, Bensted said.

Adelaide Zoo is asking the federal government for more taxpayer money to fund their panda breeding program despite five failed attempts at making baby pandas, according to The Guardian.

Were talking with the government and we hope to have an answer in the near future, Bensted said. Ultimately, the decision rests with the Australian government as they provide the funding that goes to giant panda conservation in China.

The Australian taxpayer has already paid around A$1 million ($709,440) a year to Chinas environmental conservation and panda breeding programs to keep the two pandas in captivity, ABC reported.

China Daily, a newspaper owned by the Chinese regime, reported that 70 percent of the A$1 million fee funds the protection of Chinas natural habitats, 20 percent goes to panda breeding studies, while it is unknown where the remaining 10 percent goes.

So far, the Australians have paid A$9.1 million ($6.5 million) to China and Adelaide Zoo has given no estimates on how much more funding would needed until the two pandas produce offspring.

We are confident that our purpose-built facilities and our experience in the last nine years give us the best chance possible to successfully breed giant pandas.

The call for pandas to stay longer also comes after the zoo said the window for Fu Ni to give birth this year had passed after she was artificially inseminated during her brief breeding season in September last year.

Senior veterinarian Ian Smith said his team had been treating Fu Ni as though she was pregnant but were never able to confirm she was carrying a baby.

Its quite possible Fu Ni was at one stage pregnant but the window has now passed during which time she would have given birth, he said.

Hormonal and behavioural signs indicate she experienced either pseudo-pregnancy or an unsuccessful pregnancy.

During a pseudo-pregnancy, hormonal changes and behaviours are identical to those of a true pregnancy, making it very difficult to determine if a giant panda is actually pregnant or not.

It is Fu Ni and partner Wang Wangs fourth attempt at breeding and the Zoos Chief Executive Elaine Bensted said they remain hopeful to try again.

We have always known that breeding the Southern Hemispheres only Giant Pandas was going to be incredibly challenging, Ms Bensted said.

Wang Wang and Fu Ni have been at Adelaide Zoo on loan from China since 2009.
Methodist leaders say the denominations big-tent philosophy is one of its greatest strengths. In their view, theological and intellectual diversity strengthens the church. The goal of many who want to tackle the sexuality decision  both in North Texas and beyond  is to find a way to keep everyone at the table.

After the 2016 General Conference came dangerously close to a full breakdown over LGBT issues, the Methodist Council of Bishops appointed the Commission on a Way Forward to propose a solution to the stalemate. Beginning Feb. 23, a special session of the General Conference will meet in St. Louis to debate and vote on the commissions work.

Youll undoubtedly see a flurry of headlines about the conference  and not all of them will be nuanced. So heres what you need to keep in mind: The gathering is a significant and complicated moment in the life of this denomination, which will continue to do good works in North Texas no matter what the churchs worldwide leadership decides.

The two options most in play are the One Church Plan, endorsed by the Council of Bishops, and the Traditionalist Plan, preferred by the most theologically conservative congregations, which include churches in the U.S. as well as overseas.
This should be a lesson to the manufacturing association. You cant recruit and retain workers when you pay them so little. Why work in manufacturing when Target, Amazon, and a number of other companies already pay a minimum of $15? Answer: there is none.
This year, the event will be held on the largest scale ever, consisting of three major activities: the fourth International Conference promoting Vietnamese Literature, the third International Poetry Festival and the 17th Vietnam Poetry Day.

Various attractive activities

Running from February 15-21 (the 11th to 17th day of the first lunar month), the 2019 Vietnam Poetry Day is expected to bring poetry lovers myriads of unique and attractive events. Notably, the third International Poetry Festival will be the successful continuation of the first and second Asia-Pacific Poetry Festival.

This years event will feature the participation of around 200 poets, writers, translators, researchers, publishing houses and communicators from over 50 countries and territories worldwide. Many foreign guests are familiar with Vietnamese people as well as having significantly contributed to Vietnamese literature, such as poet Fernando Rendo (Colombia), co-chairman of the Russian Writers' Association Vadim Telekhin, and poet An Quan Van (the Republic of Korea) who translated the collection 'Nhat Ky Trong Tu' (Prison Diary) by President Ho Chi Minh into Korean.

The fourth International Conference promoting Vietnamese Literature will officially open on February 16, at the Vietnam-Soviet Friendship Labour Cultural Palace in Hanoi. In the afternoon of the same day, both Vietnamese and international poets will participate a seminar themed Vietnamese literature  the vitality of a peace-loving nation as well as exchange with students from the Hanoi University of Culture and Hanoi National University of Education.

On the morning of February 17, the 17th Vietnam Poetry Day will be held at Van Mieu  Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature), featuring poems on the countrys sovereignty over its seas and islands and the righteous war to defend the northern border (1979-2019). Notably, the Poetry Day will be also celebrated in Ha Long and Bac Giang cities in the northern provinces of Quang Ninh and Bac Giang, respectively. An International Poetry Gala Evening on the same day is expected to attract the interests of numerous visitors.

Party and State leaders will host a meeting with delegates at the Presidential Palace the day after and then they will visit Ha Long Bay and join the International Poetry Day in Ha Long city. On February 19, the participants will attend the opening ceremony of the Vietnam Poetry Day in Bac Giang city.

Promoting Vietnamese literature

The 2019 Vietnam Poetry Day, which is observed as a festival, will not only highlight poets but also expand to the fields of prose, research and translation, towards promoting Vietnamese literature to the world. Poet Nguyen Quang Thieu, Vice Chairman of Vietnamese Writers Association, said that there were not any Vietnamese-English bilingual literary works introduced at the previous international conferences and festivals. However, three bilingual works have been published for this years event, including Ten centuries of Vietnamese literature by Phong Le, the poem collection titled Song nui tren vai (Country on our shoulders) by 44 poets and the collection of Vietnamese modern short stories Mot loai chim tren song (A bird on the wave) by 22 authors. Despite the few works in the books, the foreign poets, writers and researchers can outline the basic portrait of Vietnamese literature and contact the authors by themselves.

In addition, exchanges and seminars on literature will be interwoven into activities, such as an exchange programme between delegates and students and a seminar within the framework of the international conference promoting Vietnamese literature.

In particular, the International Poetry Gala Evening at the Temple of Literature is considered an important spotlight, helping international friends to feel the traditional cultural features imbued with Vietnamese identities through poetry.

Poets Tran Dang Khoa and Nguyen Quang Thieu expressed their hope that the event would create concrete connections between domestic and foreign writers, poets and researchers. Notably, Vietnamese writers can promote their translations and publishing activities to bring their works to the world.

The uninterrupted organisation of cultural and literary events and the careful preparation of outstanding works are some of the efforts to help literary promotion activities to be more effective in the near future.
Theyre wonderful, Tennell said. To see local people, local guys, step up and do something locally meant so much. A lot of folks go off and do other things in other cities, but to have local people give back to the community  thats huge.

The Program Insurance Group donated the picnic table in front of the house so workers would have a place to sit and eat as the house develops. The building team said that people outside the construction and homebuilding industries have also been looking for ways to help. Courtney Pitman and Tyan Magruder said area residents and companies have donated lunches for site workers.

It symbolizes a lot about this house. It shows a sense of togetherness, with all different trades and people coming around to sit and eat a delivered meal, Courtney Pitman said of the picnic table and the donated lunches. She said the team has asked workers and volunteers to sign the table, and they also hosted an event late last year at which people could sign studs for the house.

Jimmy Pitman said they are midway through the Sheetrock process, and the team leaders all said they are about 45 percent to their monetary goal.
A neighborhood conservation overlay, which has been met with both strong support and opposition from residents, was approved Thursday by the College Station City Council for about 127 acres in the historic Southside area.

The overlay is a type of zoning district that will be placed over the existing general suburban zoning for the area south of the Texas A&M University campus generally located southeast of George Bush Drive between the lots on the west side of Fairview Avenue and the lots on the east side of Lee Avenue. The councils vote in favor of the overlay was unanimous aside from Councilwomen Linda Harvell and Elianor Vessali, who live in the area and recused themselves from the vote and discussion.

Three additional standards will be placed on new development within the boundaries of the Heart of Southside overlay, which includes the College Park, South Oakwood and Dulaney subdivisions, and parts of Woodson Village Phase 1 and 2. Applicants for the overlay believe the following development standards they selected will help preserve the character of the Southside area:

 A maximum building height of 33 feet, which is a reduction of the current 35-foot maximum and is intended to prevent three-story structures from being built. The median building height of existing properties is 20 feet.
Texas A&M University President Michael K. Young acknowledged in a message Thursday that past A&M yearbooks included photos that depicted blackface, misogyny and other shocking content, which he called offensive and inappropriate.

An email to students, which was also posted on Youngs website and social media, stated that a team of archivists at Cushing Library began digitizing every page of every Texas A&M yearbook in 2013. While scanning the pages, the team was unequivocally appalled by some of the photos included and grappled with whether to censor the content or refrain from scanning the pages to prevent embarrassment to the school.

According to Youngs message, the team followed the example of the Library of Congress and digitized the books exactly as they were printed, to stick to the commitment for the protection of the record of history, regardless of our view and perspective decades later.

The librarys website notes that some content would be offensive and that those views are not endorsed. In fact, we disavow those views, Young wrote.
Bob has served in a variety of roles since joining The Daily Times in the 90s. He currently is editor of the business section. When someone gets promoted, retires or gets hired at a new job in Blount County, he's the man to email.

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Connolly replaced the Boston law firm of Holland & Knight, who withdrew from the case last month after King issued an extremely critical ruling in December in which the judge accused Small and other attorneys for the sisters of "attempting to take advantage of Mr. Carmans pro se status and lack of legal training.'' King cited an attempt to file Carmans medical records without a seal as the latest in a series of uncivilized, bordering on unethical conduct that has resulted in a tremendous waste of judicial resources as additional hearings have needed to be scheduled and additional orders issued.
MILFORD - Francis Bunn Jr. passed away at Chestnut Park Nursing Home on June 22, 2021. He was the son of the late Francis L. and Lois (Day) Bunn. There will be no celebration of life for Fran. He would want everyone to spend time with their families making memories, doing what he loved best 
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Prohibition-themed Signature Event at America's Car Museum will Drive the Blues Away on Feb. 22

TACOMA, Wash. (Feb. 15, 2019); On February 22, America's Automotive Trust (AAT) will kick off its 2019 Signature Event season at America's Car Museum (ACM) with a Prohibition-themed evening featuring live music, southern bites from Tacomaas best chefs and locally sourced spirits, cocktails, beer and wine a called aDrive the Blues Away: Bootleggers Blowouta???.

The 18^th Amendment to the Constitution took effect on January 17, 1920, effectively banning the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol throughout the United States. Poor economic conditions and demand for whiskey led farmers and families to begin producing and distributing homebrewed moonshine throughout the United States.

To ensure success, budding bootleggers would modify their vehiclesa engines, suspensions and more in an effort to outwit law enforcement. Skilled drivers as young as 14 used knowledge of local roads and awhiskey carsa??? to safeguard their livelihood as they raced to make deliveries, building the foundation for what would become stock car racing.

"Prohibition and automobiles are intimately linked as the ban on alcohol laid the groundwork for stock car racing and America's love affair with speed," said AAT Vice Chairman David Madeira. "This year's Drive the Blues Away is a great way for locals and visitors to usher in the springtime and celebrate all things automotive at Americaas Car Museum.a???

Drive the Blues Away, now in its fifth year, is one of America's Automotive Trust's annual Signature Events that brings Tacoma visitors and locals together at Americaas Car Museum for an evening of live music, festive food and libations to pay homage to Americaas automotive heritage.

This year's jamboree will feature bevvies from Heritage Distilling Co., Copperworks Distilling Company, Glass Distillery, Temple Distilling, Jim Beam, Gig Harbor Brewing, Pacific Brewing, Narrows Brewing Company, Elysian, Budweiser and Hedges Family Estate. Award-winning chefs from Dirty Oscaras Annex, Cooks Tavern, Southern Kitchen and Carrs will help bring the Roaring a20s back to life nearly a century after the Prohibition took effect.

Additionally, live music from Good Co and Whiskey River will keep the mood lively as guests enjoy the Montecristo Cigar Lounge, gaming tables, a hidden speakeasy and more.

"While the 21^st Amendment officially brought Prohibition to an end, the era had a lasting impact on our nation's automotive heritage," added Madeira. aWead like to thank our sponsors the LeMay Family Collection, Hagerty, Titus-Will, Commencement Bank, Olympic Eagle Distributing and Heritage Distilling Co. for their support in making this a memorable evening for all.a???

Tickets to Drive the Blues Away are available for $45 for general admission or $35 for ACM Members. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at www.americascarmuseum.org/DriveTheBluesAway (file:///C:\Users\ABice\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Outlook\OL34HCWM\www.americascarmuseum.org\DriveTheBluesAway) .

About LeMay; America's Car Museum Drive Home Event)

America's Car Museum (ACM), a member of America's Automotive Trust, is an international destination for families and auto enthusiasts to celebrate Americaas love affair with the automobile and learn how it shaped our society. Based in Tacoma, Wash., the stunning 165,000-sq.-ft. facility has been recognized as one of MSNas 10 Best Automotive Museums worldwide, USA Todayas 10

Best Museums in Seattle and KING5's Best Museum in Western Washington. ACM serves as an educational center for students of all ages, features 12 rotating exhibits and hosts AATas annual Signature Events. For more information, visit americascarmuseum.org (https://www.americascarmuseum.org/) .

To purchase tickets or become an ACM member: Click HERE

About America's Automotive Trust

America's Automotive Trust (AAT), headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, is a not-for-profit corporation that seeks to secure Americaas automotive heritage and to transfer the skills and knowledge necessary for the future of collector vehicles and the enthusiast community for generations to come. AAT is made up of four founding entities: LeMay a Americaas Car Museum, the RPM Foundation, Club Auto and the Concours Club.


EUGENE, Ore.-Arcimoto, Inc. unveiled the Rapid Responder, a pure electric three-wheeled vehicle designed for first responders to efficiently and more quickly reach emergencies, as well as for security and law enforcement applications.

Arcimoto also announced that it has agreed in principle to test the Rapid Responder Fleet in pilot programs with the City of Eugene, the Eugene Springfield Fire Department, and the city of Eastvale, California. Arcimoto anticipates that the first production Rapid Responders will be delivered in 2020.

Arcimotos ultra-efficient three-wheeled platform offers real advantages for rapid response applications. We believe that its small-footprint, maneuverability, and instant torque will allow first responders to more quickly move through congested urban cores during emergencies, and its extraordinary efficiency will help fleets meet their long term emissions goals, said Mark Frohnmayer, President of Arcimoto. More than anything, we are excited to create a vehicle that helps save lives.

This pilot program is about finding the right tool for the job. In addition to our current fleet of engines, we see the advantage of a highly-efficient, small-footprint vehicle to help with low acuity calls, and the potential to reduce operational costs, while being better for the environment, said Fire Chief Joe Zaludek of Eugene Springfield Fire. We also think the Rapid Responder will have the added benefit of being a real hit at the annual Christmas Light Firetruck Parade.

The City of Eastvale is excited to test this vehicle for a number of reasons, said Bryan Jones, City Manager of Eastvale, CA. They are electric, quiet, and air-quality friendly, which is important for the greater Inland Empire Basin. They can be run on solar power from Southern Californias plentiful sunshine, and they dont require us to fill up on gas, so it will reduce operating costs. I could see these would be great for first responders during special events or medical calls when a fire engine may not be required.

Technical Specifications
Caracas: Russia is "very much concerned that some hotheads may be considering a military action against Venezuela", according to its ambassador to the UN.

Vassily Nebenzia told reporters at UN headquarters in New York on Thursday, US time, that military intervention "would be a very bad development."

Demonstrators chant "Maduro out" during an anti-government protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Urena, Venezuela. Credit:AP

Nebenzia said that even those Latin American countries supporting Venezuela's opposition against President Nicolas Maduro "are categorically against any military action and intervention into Venezuela."
Washington: President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will declare a national emergency to fulfil his pledge to construct a wall along the US-Mexico border.

Trump said he will use executive powers to bypass Congress, which approved far less money for his proposed wall than he had sought. He plans to siphon billions of dollars from federal military construction and counter-drug efforts for the wall. The move is already drawing bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill and expected to face rounds of legal challenges.

"I am going to be signing a national emergency," Trump said from the White House rose garden, as he claimed illegal immigration marked "an invasion of our country".

He said he went through Congress and "made a deal... but I'm not happy with it".
The police chief told reporters that officers arrived within four minutes of receiving reports of the shooting and were fired upon as soon as they entered the warehouse.

Aurora, Illinois, Police Chief Kristen Ziman told a news conference that the gunman was 45-year-old Gary Martin and said he was an employee at the Henry Pratt Co. in the city about 65 kilometres west of Chicago. It is believed he was about to be fired.

A gunman has opened fire at a manufacturing plant in suburban Chicago on Friday, killing five people and wounding five police officers before he was fatally shot, police say.

Hospitals reported treating at least seven patients from the shooting, though their conditions weren't released. Two of the officers were airlifted to trauma centres in Chicago, Ziman said. Officials did not say the total number of people injured other than the police officers. Police said they did not know his motive.

Live TV reports showed dozens of first responder vehicles outside a building housing the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora, a city of about 200,000 people.

Several ATF teams responded to the shooting and were at the scene, according to the agency's Chicago spokeswoman, and the FBI said it also was responding.

John Probst, an employee at the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora, told ABC7 that he ran out of the back door as the shooting unfolded Friday afternoon. Probst says he recognized the gunman and that he works for the company.

"What I saw was the guy running down the aisle with a pistol with a laser on it," Probst said.
New York: The phrase "norm-shattering" is used regularly to describe Donald Trump. From his aggressive tweeting to refusing to release his tax returns, Trump is happy to throw tradition to the wind.

The presidential norms Trump breaks are usually rhetorical or stylistic. Most probably will not have long-term consequences.

That changed on Friday Australian time when Trump said he was about to declare a national emergency in order to free up billions of dollars to build a wall on the Mexican border.

US President Donald Trump is preparing to declare a national emergency on border security. Credit:AP

This is norm-breaking of a truly profound kind, with ramifications that go far beyond the issue of border security. Trump's move could transform the power dynamics in Washington DC for decades to come, expanding the authority of the president at the expense of Congress.
New workers will be up to $50,000 better off by the time they retire but still face the prospect of insurance policies draining their superannuation account under a last-minute deal pushed through by the Coalition and the Greens.

The Morrison government will now almost certainly be forced to take its superannuation insurance policy to the election after it carved out the $2.6 billion measure in a bid to get a ban on exit fees and a crackdown on multiple super accounts through the Senate.

It is estimated eliminating exit fees and multiple accounts will save workers up to $6 billion, or $50,000 each by the time they retire.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann. Credit:AAP

But the measures provide just a 10th of the potential $500,000 benefit predicted by the Productivity Commission if dud providers were banned from providing superannuation and workers were defaulted into a list of top 10 operators once in their lives. The government has yet to formally respond to those recommendations.
Senator Michaelia Cash has denied she referred the Australian Workers Union to the national regulator because of Bill Shorten, and told a court she had no knowledge of controversial police raids until she saw them on television.

Senator Cash gave evidence in the Federal Court in Melbourne on Friday during a civil trial brought by the AWU in an attempt to halt an investigation by the Registered Organisations Commission, which regulates unions and employer associations.

The AWU says the police raids on its offices in 2017 were part of a politically-motivated, and therefore unlawful, investigation by the commission.

During about four hours in the witness box, Senator Cash said she referred the AWU to the commission in August 2017 after a newspaper reported the union donated $100,000 to activist group GetUp! in 2005 and 2006.
Two men have been injured after they were shot in the early hours of the morning in Perth's eastern suburbs.

The men, both believed to be in their 50s, were at a business at 1am on Friday on Clayton Road in Bellevue.

He remains in a critical condition. Credit:Allen Newton

Circumstances surrounding the incident are not clear, but police said at one point the two men received shotgun wounds.

One man received non-life threatening injuries, but the other man was transferred to Royal Perth Hospital in a critical condition.
A 'mystery' man in intensive care at a Perth hospital has become the subject of a search to try and identify him.

The man, believed to be about 50 years old, was found in Northbridge in the early hours of Thursday, February 7.

He is currently in a serious but stable condition at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

The man has tanned skin, is about 170cm tall, is bald, and has a medium build and hazel eyes.

When found, he was only wearing Dunlop-brand shorts. He has no other identifying marks or tattoos, and had no possessions with him.
Do we care more about asylum seekers wanting to get to Australia than the plight of Aboriginal children already living here?

A 29-second grab sent Twitter into meltdown, but do we really care? Credit:Twitter

On Saturday night, having read the devastating report into the suicides of 13 Western Australian Aboriginal children and young persons by State Coroner Ros Fogliani, I began an interview with former WA Police Commissioner Karl OCallaghan on my Sky News program, The Front Page, with this:

While as a nation we cannot stop talking about the Phelps Medivac Bill, where Dr Phelps said This humanitarian and medical crisis must have a solution, it seems we dont want to talk about what is happening in our own backyard. It begs the question: Do we care more about refugees and asylum seekers than Aboriginal children in remote communities, or is it that its all just too hard in the wake of the Stolen Generation?

This 29-second portion of my introduction was tweeted and viewed more than 50,000 times.
Firefighters inspect the damage from the blaze. Credit:Jason South

Residents of a Melbourne CBD tower block which was damaged in a blaze likely to have been fuelled by combustible cladding have been told it could be up to a year before they are able to permanently return to their apartments.

Those in the damaged apartments have also been left angry after their belongings were packed up without their consent leaving them with a bill of almost $2000 to recover their possessions.

An email sent to residents from the owners' corporation this week detailed the extent of the damage to the Neo200 tower on Spencer Street, and the effect ongoing works would have on residents, almost a fortnight after the February 4 blaze.

It is understood at least 14 damaged apartments require "major works" following the fire, with those residents advised they should consider entering a six to 12-month lease in alternative accommodation.
A Thai masseur has been jailed for sexually assaulting 16 vulnerable female customers at a Brisbane clinic and will be deported once his time is served.

Pongsakorn Mekingrailas was working at Authentic Thai Massage in Stafford when he preyed on the women over an 18-month period from July 2016 to January 2018.

The judge said the masseur had abused the trust of his customers, who were in a particularly vulnerable position because they were part-naked. Credit:File image

The 34-year-old appeared in the Brisbane District Court on Friday, where he pleaded guilty to 18 counts of sexual assault.

The court heard he touched 10 women's vaginas, sometimes on top of their underwear and at other times underneath.
A soldier has been accused of smuggling a 16-year-old girl into Brisbane's Enoggera Barracks in the boot of his car and raping her.

Police arrested the 24-year-old man on Thursday and charged him with one count of rape.

One of the entrances to the Gallipoli Barracks in the Brisbane suburb of Enoggera. Credit:Google Maps Street view

It will be alleged the rape occurred on January 14.

The accused was released on bail and will appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on February 26.
Experts fear Australia has lost the battle against cane toads, saying the invasive pest species is here to stay.

Instead of focusing on eradicating cane toads, a federal parliamentary committee has been told efforts should be focused on halting the spread of the toads to ecologically sensitive areas.

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy has been conducting an inquiry into control measures for cane toads and whether they need to be altered.

In a submission to the committee, the CSIRO said standard control measures - which ranged from toad-proof fencing to sending people into the field to pick up and remove toads - were not having a long-term effect on toad populations.
Residents in Sydney's inner west fear they may have inhaled the asbestos found at a WestConnex construction site after workers started demolition for the M4-M5 link.

Haberfield resident Sharon Laura was walking her dog on Saturday when she noticed workers pulling down sections of an old car yard.

The WestConnex tunnels under construction, between Concord and Haberfield. Credit:AAP

Ms Laura hadn't been forewarned of the works so she called the Westconnex community information line, which she'd been told operated 24/7 - but nobody was available to answer her questions.

"After I got no response we asked the contractors who were there on site to check, they made a phone call to their supervisor, we asked about asbestos, we were told everything was OK, everything was approved and the work would be proceeding," Ms Laura said.
But the Coalition has got special form on border and boat-people scares and this puts the Navy in a difficult position. Loading Recall that HMAS Adelaide intercepted SIEV IV (Suspected Irregular Entry Vessel) carrying 223 passengers seeking entry to Australia in October 2001, a month before the election. The facts later found by two Senate inquiries were that the vessel had not been deliberately sunk. Nor had women threatened to throw their babies overboard or had actually done so to ensure rescue and transfer to Australia. Rather the vessel had sunk because of the force of the towing and no babies went into the water before the sinking.

The naval crew knew this. The crew reported it to the captain. Later it was revealed that someone on then Defence Minister Peter Reiths staff had warned of the lack of evidence, but Reith and Prime Minister John Howard denied this. Who cares? By then the election had been won. Never let the truth and a good scare campaign get in the way of electoral victory. A huge number of Australian voters cannot be relied upon to ignore an unmeritorious scare campaign. Fear is a powerful emotion. But things may well go beyond a mere scare campaign.

1960s British prime minister Harold MacMillan was once apocryphally asked what a prime minister most feared in politics. He replied: Events, dear boy, events. Those, however, were the days when government politicians responded to events and did not make them up with creative ribbon-cutting opening events for new infrastructure in marginal electorates, or silly hard-hat and orange-vest visits to mines and manufacturing sites. And in those days it was harder to control events, like economic downturns, wars or revolutions. Loading These days governments can make events, like invasions of Iraq. These days, desperate governments might well seek to both create and control events.

Now let us turn to Section 68 of the Constitution which reads: The command in chief of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth is vested in the Governor-General as the Queen's representative. In effect, it means that the government of the day controls the armed forces with little or no parliamentary oversight. Australia went to war in Iraq twice under Section 68. Under Section 68, the government of the day instituted the turn-back policy. Equally, it could order a tactical reversal of that policy so that just one or two boats could get through in the next month or two so that Labor could be blamed. Bear in mind, too, that there is a relationship between Border Force and people smugglers. Recall that in 2016 Border Force officers were accused of paying $32,000 to people smugglers to return their boats and people cargo to Indonesia. That is a lot of money for a people smuggler who would be paid twice  once for loading the refugees and again for taking them back to where they came from.

So if Border Force officers could bribe people smugglers to return refugees, it is not beyond their operational capacity to bribe them or just tell them that they can organise one or two trips to Australia with impunity. The Navy could be ordered not to touch them. Moreover, Navy personnel could be ordered never to say anything about it. Maybe this is a tad conspiratorial, but recall the event-creation of the children overboard scandal. The Navy carried out orders and said nothing, as would be proper for them. Meanwhile, the Australian public got duped by a scare campaign. And after the election was won, who cared? Dont let it happen again. We should care. Naval officers should make sure the record is kept for posterity even if not immediately available for political feasting.
Parliament House's executive chef David Learmonth can oversee thousands of meals on a busy sitting day but for Enlighten, he has created a fine dining degustation menu in one of the most exclusive venues in Canberra.

The Members and Guests Dining Room at Parliament House will be the location for the dinner, giving patrons a unique view of Enlighten, when buildings in the Parliamentary Triangle are illuminated.

Lerida Estate general manager Andrew McFadzean and Lake George Winery owner Sarah McDougall with Parliament House executive chef David Learmonth matching wines for a degustation menu for Enlighten. Credit:Elesa Kurtz

The dinner, on Saturday, March 9, is being presented by Learmonth, a hatted and Michelin star chef, who joined Parliament House in mid-2017 from a previous job as chef at the NSW Parliament House.

His past work has included cooking overseas on super-yachts for the likes of Beyonce, Bono and an Arab sheikh. And now the father-of-two is responsible for catering across Parliament House.
A young boy in the floodwaters of the suburb of Hermit Park in Townsville. Credit:Dan Peled

Eastlake Football Club in Canberra has a special connection to a footy club doing it tough in post-floods Townsville.

Eastlake is the owner of the Canberra Demons AFL team. Some of the Demons coaching staff hail from Townsville  stationed there with the army  and worked closely with Jamie Fogg, senior coach of the Hermit Park Tigers footy club in Townsville.

The Hermit Park Tigers have more than 350 players, including more than 250 juniors.

During the devastating floods last week, the Hermitage Park Tigers lost everything.
Maher, who lives in Gordon, fulfilled the role while still living in Canberra, travelling to Sydney two days a week, doing the rest remotely. He has been credited with growing what was a small, grassroots charity into "one of Australia's most recognised suicide prevention and mental health promotion campaigns''. R U OK? chief executive Brendan Maher in Canberra in 2015. Credit:Rohan Thomson Now Maher has announced he is leaving the role, finishing up in March. "I'm coming on to six years with the organisation and I kind of had a plan to stay there for three,'' he said. "And I just feel the organisation is in incredibly good shape and I want to leave while I'm in a good position and not at a stage when I perhaps might have run out of puff.

"It's a good opportunity to give the organisation a fresh set of eyes and ideas.'' A former general manager of Lifeline Australia, Brendan is looking for a new challenge. Brendan Maher with his partner Tanya Senior. He is also step-dad to her children Ayden Senior, Shannon Senior and Jade Cargill. "I'm keen to stay in the community sector if I can and I've got a very strong interest in mental health and suicide prevention,'' he said. "I'll be staying on the board of R U OK?, providing it works with wherever I go next.''

And he wants to stay in Canberra. He lives with his partner of 14 years, Tanya Senior, and is step-dad to Ayden, Shannon and Jade. "I love Canberra and moving to Sydney for this role [with R U OK?] really wasn't an option and I'm very grateful to the board that they allowed me to have that flexible working arrangement. "Canberra is where the family is. The pace of Canberra gives you space you need to work in this [mental health] environment.'' R U OK? founder Gavin Larkin with his wife Maryanne at their Sydney home in 2010. Credit:Marco Del Grande R U OK? started with an idea by Sydney adman Gavin Larkin, who was driven by the loss of his father Barry to suicide in 1995.

The first R U OK? Day was held in 2009. It was billed as "a national day of action dedicated to reminding everyone that any day is the day to ask, 'Are you ok?' and support those struggling with life ''. The organisation started with a staff of three and 10 years later, runs with a still-lean workforce of nine. Gavin Larkin died of lymphoma in 2011. His 15-year-old son Gus died as a result of a brain tumour two years later. Larkin's legacy looms large. "Gavin was a big personality,'' Maher said. "He wasn't going to let the slow-turning wheels of this sector stop him from initiating his idea. He came from a place of lived experience. Gavin was highly motivated to bring some meaning and address the regrets he might have had about what he could have done when [his father] Barry wasn't going so well. "He traumatised himself about what he could have said and what he could have done and he used his influence to start this movement.''

Gavin's wife Maryanne is still very much involved with R U OK? She adores Maher. "He's very affable and people take to him,'' she said. "He is just a natural being. He's experienced and just a very, very good people person. Good listener, good leader. I'm very sad to see him go. He's been a very good anchor for me and the kids and keeping us close to the organisation.'' Maher graduated from the University of Canberra in 1998 with a bachelor of communication, majoring in advertising and marketing. He joined the advertising agency that would eventually be known as Zoo Communications and from there, went to Lifeline, one of his clients at the agency. In 2013, Maher arrived at R U OK? with this solid grasp of the mental health sector and a head for business. He helped grow the organisation into a thriving and sustainable charity. CEO of R U OK? Brendan Maher and partner Tanya Senior at home in Tuggeranong. Credit:Dion Georgopoulos

"I think what I brought to the role was an understanding of what happens at the crisis level, at the pointy end, after seven years with Lifeline, but I've also spent the last six years in an upstream role, where we're looking at what we can do as human beings when we see someone who is a little bit bent out of shape and how can we get alongside them and have a conversation long before they need a bigger intervention like Lifeline or perhaps hospitalisation,'' he said. Maher quadrupled annual revenue during his tenure with R U OK?. No mean feat in the competitive not-for-profit sector and especially for a charity that prides itself on not "rattling tins''. Under Mahers stewardship, R U OK? also attracted national corporate partners including Virgin Australia, Audi, Sensis, Twinings, Flight Centre Foundation, Connor and Yellow. In the last 12 months, more than 100 countries have enquired about adopting the R U OK? framework to implement in their respective corners of the world. Its remarkable to consider that R U OK? has generated global interest and may help save lives beyond its country of origin one day in the future,'' he said

R U OK? is also a brand awareness success story. In 2018, an estimated 80 per cent of Australians were aware of R U OK? Day, with one in four of those people taking part in a significant way. Former Canberra radio host Tanya Hennessy is an ambassador for R U OK? Day. Credit:Simeone De Peak Maher hopes the organisation, now in its 10th year, is in a position where it will continue to make a meaningful impact on the country's suicide rates when he hands over to the next CEO. The 2017 Australian Bureau Statistics revealed 8.7 people took their lives daily - up from 8.3 the previous year with Australian men accounting for six of those deaths, each day. Maher says it is difficult to pinpoint one factor which could prevent suicide.

"Thats a really difficult question because suicide is such a complex issue. Interventions come in many different forms. Sometimes the person in crisis reaches out for help at a critical time, other times it requires a direct intervention from someone else to keep them safe,'' he said. "However, I believe if we all had the confidence and skills to have a conversation with someone in crisis, the community as a whole would be better equipped to support someone who is thinking about suicide. Better equipped because we understand some of the signs and behaviours and know what steps to take. "In reality, most of the population arent equipped to have conversations with people in crisis. These are conversations often too big for most of us. "Gatekeeper training programs like ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training); Mental Health First Aid and online training like QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer), provide some valuable skills and guidance on supporting someone who is at risk of suicide. My experience of the training is that it can be pretty confronting, challenges a lot of the assumptions we might have made, but can be incredibly valuable.'' R U OK? chair Mike Connaghan said of Maher, Its thanks to Brendans business acumen and his experience within the sector, that R U OK? is in such good shape. He will be missed.
Joyce met Richard Marshall who worked at the Bank of New South Wales in Maryborough in 1947. Richard was a good friend of her brother Les, and as Les was not much of a letter writer, Joyce wrote letters to Richard on his behalf. Eventually, Joyce became a good friend of Richard. Richard took Joyce to Ballarat to meet his parents, and they said she was a good girl and not to let her go. Even Alwyn Richard's brother said if he could find a good girl like Joyce he would have got married.

Joyce wanted to be a nurse after leaving school in 1946, which would have suited her loving and caring nature. However, her Dad did not want it, so Joyce started her life of service helping her Dad in his successful chicken hatchery business. She did attend Maryborough Technical School and learnt dressmaking and studied music and obtained her LLCM on the piano.

Joyce Margaret Marshall was born in Maryborough on Saturday, May 30, 1931, the first child of Henry and Heather Cole. As the oldest child, Joyce was looked upon as a leader by two sisters and two brothers. The family lived in the small town of Carisbrook about eight kilometres from Maryborough and Joyce attended Carisbrook Primary School and Maryborough High School. She was also a parishioner at Carisbrook Methodist (now Uniting) Church.

Richard Marshall left the bank and went to Melbourne and Joyce also for work. They both went to the Burnley Methodist church. Joyce taught Sunday School, and Richard played the piano. Joyce's friends became his friends, and they became quite an item, very active in church activities. Joyce lived in Richmond, and Richard lived in Elsternwick. Joyce had a photo of Richard on her desk at work, and people thought he was a film star because of his curly hair, and fresh and innocent face.

Joyce had two 21sts in 1952  one at Burnley and one at Carisbrook and Richard attended both. June Buchanan her good friend wanted her to go to Papua New Guinea on the mission field with her. Joyce would have made a good missionary, but she was now more interested in Richard, and by 1954 they were engaged. On January 22, 1955, Joyce Cole and Richard Marshall were married at the Balwyn Methodist Church, and Joyce Cole became Joyce Marshall. They lived in Balwyn with Mr Clarke, an old friend until they moved into their new house at Ringwood in August 1955. They lived there ever since until they died.

The first son Peter was born on January 6, 1956, the second son Stephen on October 17, 1957, and third son Christopher on April 7, 1961-so three sons by 29.

Joyce and Richard became very active at Ringwood Methodist church, and with no car, it was walking in the morning for church and back again in the afternoon for Christian Endeavour. Joyce was a teacher there, and Richard kept on playing the organ until their third son Chris got pneumonia and meningitis and went to Fairfield Hospital. Joyce was also active in pastoral care and women's fellowship and walked everywhere visiting. Richard walked to the station to catch the train to Melbourne. Joyce used a trolley for shopping. The only holidays were to Maryborough, Ballarat, Warragul and Yarrawonga to visit relatives.

Joyce also kept her boys well dressed and clean, and when they went to school, she used to work in the canteen and taught Religious Instruction in schools. In 1965, Peter and Stephen moved from Ringwood School to the newly opened Southwood school. In 1967, she asked her second Stephen what he would like for his next sibling, and he said a baby sister. Mum said she would see what she could do and on October 22, five days late Catherine a daughter was born. Steve used to bathe, feed and change Cathy and was like a mum to her.
Violet left school on her 15th birthday and worked in one of the many Yorkshire woollen mills for 10 shillings a week after an unpaid two-week "training" period. Questionable safety standards meant workplace accidents were common but injured workers were rarely compensated. Violet's mother and nephew each lost a finger in mill accidents.

Violet was born near Leeds, Yorkshire on 19 June 1919, only six months after the end of WWI. She had one brother who was eight years her senior. Both her brother and father were colliery workers; a dangerous, low-paid and arduous occupation at the time. The atrocious working conditions coal miners endured are laid bare in George Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier.

Violet Pawson died earlier this year aged 99 years and seven months. She didn't achieve great things in her life and is not noted for her contribution to the community. She was an ordinary woman, the quintessential working-class, mid-century British migrant and therein lies the merit in her story.

Violet Pawson died aged 99 years and seven months.

Violet married at an early age, eager to escape a strict father and to set up her own home. When war broke out again in 1939, her new husband received his call-up papers for the army. On the home front, young women were pressed into service for the war effort. Violet worked at ROF Thorp Arch, one of sixteen Royal Ordnance Factories in England which filled shells, grenades and cordite charges with explosive powder and detonators around the clock. She worked a combination of shifts in special shoes, a fireproof suit and a turban. Over 900,000 women were engaged in this dirty and dangerous work. Those who handled sulphur came to be called 'Canary Girls' because their hair and skin turned yellow. Two women were killed at ROF Kirby in Lancashire, and the factory partially destroyed, when a tray of fuses exploded.

Blackout conditions were in force around the towns and citizens had to carry a gas mask in a special shoulder bag when out and about. Upon hearing the air-raid siren, people scurried into the shelters with their masks and a few precious, personal items. Crime rates soared as opportunistic thieves took advantage of the empty streets and homes.

Violet's husband returned from the war suffering from what would later become known as PTSD. He took refuge in alcohol, and the marriage didn't last. She met her second husband Thomas, who had served in the Royal Navy, at a local dance in 1947 and a son, Vincent, was born in Leeds in 1956.

An intensive advertising campaign on British TV in the 1960s promoted Australia as a land of sunshine and opportunity and the ideal place to bring up a family. One memorable ad showed a young lad reaching out of the kitchen window to pluck a piece of fruit from a back-yard tree. This campaign, plus favourable reports from family members already settled, persuaded the family to emigrate to Australia in 1968 as "10-pound Poms" in search of a better life. They settled in the Dandenong area as jobs at GMH, Heinz and International Harvester for newly-arrived migrant workers were plentiful. Thomas was a qualified electrician, and Violet worked at several factories, mainly on assembly lines. Due to the repetitive nature of these tasks, she would later suffer RSI in her hands.
Oil and gas giant BP says renewable energy will rapidly become the worlds main source of power within the next 20 years, as the planet shifts towards a lower carbon future.

"The pace at which renewable energy penetrates the global energy system is faster than for any fuel in history," BP said in its latest annual Energy Outlook report.

BP is predicting a future that is powered more by renewables than coal or gas. Credit:Ararat Wind Farm

The report looked at a number of scenarios for changing energy demand globally, and said in all forecasts there will be a massive boom in demand and more generation will be needed to supply it.

"The increase in energy over and above the evolving transition scenario is roughly the equivalent of China's entire energy consumption in 2017," it said.
DRUID is an app developed by UMass researcher Michael Milburn to give people a way to self-assess their own impairment from drugs and alcohol before getting behind the wheel. The goal is to complete the tasks sober to set your baseline. Once you have that baseline, it takes a person just 2 minutes to test whether theyre OK to drive. The Courant reporters decided to try the app themselves. (Sober, of course.)
Medibank Group chief executive Craig Drummond has warned Labor's proposal to cap health insurance premium rises could see smaller players squeezed out of the market.

As Medibank underscored its strong financial position in a robust first half result released on Friday, Mr Drummond said Medibank was ready to pounce if a distressed rival faltered in a "challenging environment".

CEO Craig Drummond says Medibank would put itself forward as a "white knight" if needed. Credit:AAP

The Labor opposition has promised that, if elected at the election tipped for May, it will immediately establish a Productivity Commission inquiry, as well as impose a 2 per cent cap on annual premium increases for two years.

Speaking to analysts, Mr Drummond, a former investment banker, likened the potential situation to the global financial crisis, which saw smaller banks like St George and Bankwest swallowed by better capitalised rivals.
Healius, formerly known as Primary Health Care, cut its earnings outlook after a benign winter flu season and a costly pay dispute in its pathology business dragged on its first-half financial results.

"Modest recovery was evidenced in October and November but subsequent months have seen inconsistent growth rates across the divisions," the company said in a statement filed with the ASX on Friday.

Healius said it expects conditions to normalise in the June half and unveiled productivity programs to lift earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) by $10 million during that the period. But that wasn't enough to save it from having to cut its full-year net profit guidance to $93 million to $98 million from $100 million.

Hopeful for a better second half: Healius chief executive Malcolm Parmenter. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Unfazed by the profit warning, Healius shares closed1 higher at $2.87 on Friday, which may reflect the fact that the company's new forecast is more in line with analyst estimates. Citi's full-year forecast was as low as $90 million before the results.
Banking executives face up to 15 years in jail under tough new laws to stamp out white-collar crime as the corporate regulator prepares to crack down on misconduct in the sector.

On Friday, the Senate passed a long-awaited bill that drastically increases the penalties for white-collar crime.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission's deputy chairman, enforcement, Daniel Crennan, QC, welcomed the passing of the bill on Friday.

Australian Securities Investments Commission deputy chairman enforcement Daniel Crennan, QC. Credit:AFR

"Now ASIC will be in a position to pursue extremely harsh civil penalties and criminal sanctions against banks, their executives and others where they have breached the corporate laws of Australia designed to protect its citizens," Mr Crennan said.
New Orleans police on Friday arrested an 18-year-old man accused of knocking out a Denver tourist in the Central Business District last weekend.

Mark Gregory Hunter Jr., of Belle Chasse, surrendered to police within hours of being publicly identified as a suspect in the attack on Whit Allen, who came to New Orleans to celebrate his 30th birthday. Hunter faces a count of second-degree battery.

Hunter had another brush with the law in late January, when he was arrested in connection with a massive, illegal street bike rally that rolled through New Orleans on Mardi Gras day last year.

Allen told WWL-TV that he was knocked out about 2 a.m. Sunday at the corner of Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue.

He said he and his friends were near their hotel when they spotted a group of young people on a "party bus" heckling a homeless woman with obscenities. Allen said he and his companions shouted at the people on the bus to stop bothering the woman, prompting some of the bus passengers to step down from the vehicle and confront them.

Allen said he was punched from behind and knocked unconscious as he was walking away from an exchange of words with those who had been on the bus. He told WWL-TV he lost several teeth, broke his jaw and was hospitalized.

He is back home in Denver but has months of doctor's and dentist's visits ahead of him to repair the damage.

One of Allen's companions called 911 when a second member of their group started getting battered, police said.

Police said they found the party bus at Canal and North Rampart streets, about four blocks away, but were told that those involved in the fracas had left.

Investigators said they later determined it was Hunter who had struck Allen and obtained a warrant to arrest him. Authorities announced Hunter was wanted in the case on Friday morning, and he turned himself in at New Orleans police headquarters in the afternoon.

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Police havent said how they were led to Hunter or whether they intend to book anyone else in the attack on Allen. However, law enforcement sources said that investigators have multiple eyewitness statements implicating Hunter.

Court documents show Hunter landed on law enforcement's radar after professing his allegiance on social media to the "New Orleans Bike Life" movement which organized a 150-participant dirt bike and ATV "rideout" that shut down a stretch of Interstate 10 in the city on Fat Tuesday 2018.

The riders' wheelies, revving engines, trick riding and general takeover of city streets as well as a portion of the interstate highway were well-documented on social media and created an uproar even on a day known for wild happenings throughout New Orleans.

Louisiana State Police investigators found video clips of the rally on social media and identified Hunter in them. They obtained a warrant to arrest him and dozens of others on various criminal counts, including aggravated obstruction of a highway.

Hunter was 17 at the time of the rideout, making him old enough to be booked as an adult. Authorities jailed him on Jan. 22, but he was soon released on a $3,500 recognizance bond.

Judges can grant recognizance bonds in cases involving nonviolent crimes, such as obstructing a highway.

Prosecutors are still evaluating whether to file charges against Hunter or the others linked to the Mardi Gras rideout, District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office said. Hunter is due back in court for that case on Feb. 20.

In Louisiana, aggravated obstruction of a highway can carry up to 15 years in prison, but there is no mandatory minimum punishment.

Second-degree battery convictions can carry up to eight years in prison but also don't require a minimum sentence.
St. Tammany Parish Government recently rented the entire fourth floor of the Towers Building in Slidell to two state agencies, according to a spokesperson for the parish.

The Louisiana Workforce Commission and Louisiana Rehabilitation Services are splitting 4,841 square feet of space on the fourth floor of the six-story Towers Building.

The Workforce Commission, whose mission is to serve the states employers, job seekers and workforce partners, is occupying about 65 percent of the fourth floor. Rehabilitation Services, which helps the disabled find jobs, is using the remainder.

The agencies combined rent is $81,700, said Amy Bouton, a parish government spokeswoman.

Renting open space at the Towers Building became a priority for parish government after voters said no for a second time in March, 2018 to a 1/5-cent, 10-year tax measure that would have continued financing operations at the St. Tammany Parish Justice Center in Covington. Voters already had rejected a -cent, 20-year tax renewal in 2016 by a wide margin.

Failure to pass the tax proposal caused an $18 million shortfall in the parish budget. Obligated to provide a courthouse (by state law) and a balanced budget (by parish charter,) parish officials began looking at ways to raise some of the lost funds.

Leasing space at the parish-owned Towers Building was discussed as early as last June when a panel commissioned by St. Tammany Parish President Pat Brister made suggestions on how to corral the budget shortfall.

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Though money gained by leasing the fourth floor is a marginal amount of the $18 million gap, its a smart move, Brister said.

It was critical that we try to preserve Parish Government offices and services in the Slidell area, as we went through cost-saving measures in parish-owned facilities, she said. We have been fortunate to have found tenants that can add value to the services already in the Towers Building, and we will continue to find efficiencies in all areas of our operations.

The parish also is pursuing potential tenants for the sixth floor of the building, Bouton confirmed.

The 4,871-square-foot top floor currently is home to parish offices, a conference room and a levee board office, none of which is frequently used. Bouton said the parish is marketing the space to other governmental agencies.

The parish purchased the Towers Building in 1991 for use as a public health unit. It eventually was converted into office space for parish agencies. The building, located on Old Spanish Trail on the edge of Olde Towne Slidell, was heavily damaged in Katrina and sat vacant for more than five years before re-entering commerce in 2011.

Brister has noted publicly on several occasions the value in keeping parish services easily accessible to east St. Tammany residents. Most parish agencies maintain locations at the Towers Building, including the District Attorney, Public Defender, Registrar of Voters, Assessor, Clerk of Court, Parish Council, Levee Board and the Parish President. There is a permits office on site, as well as a branch of the Louisiana Office of Public Health.

The building also is used as a polling location throughout the year.
Former New Orleans mayors Moon Landrieu, far left, and Mitch Landrieu, right, stand with their family, including former U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, back right, during the inaugural ceremony for new Loyola University New Orleans President Tania Tetlow on Friday, November 16, 2018.
Like most, I share in the sufferings of spam calls and experience the same frustrations expressed by John Singleton in his Feb. 12 letter, but the writers perception of poor service or congressional apathy toward the issue is disconnected from recent action weve taken to address it. (This outlets spotty coverage of the work we do in Congress to represent our constituents  its readers  could be implicated here, but lets not get hung-up on that.) What matters is this: We have been plugging away to answer your call to do something about spam.

Earlier this month, we introduced a bipartisan bill to force the network of federal telecom entities to come up with a solution for these unsolicited nuisances. We are also doing last touches before reintroducing a second bill thats much more fun: an FTC pilot program that puts a bounty on these spam-swindlers, turning the tables and putting you in a position to make money off of them.

Puns aside, these bills are just initial efforts to fix a real problem. Okay, one more: when spam calls die, we should all do a toast at the reception.

Garret Graves

U.S. Congress

Baton Rouge
The president is supposed to be the president of the United States of America. Is that what we really have? No! What we have is a president o
The allegations of unlawful political contributions against three State Police commissioners, as well as their responses to the claims, were sent Thursday to Gov. John Bel Edwards to determine if there is cause for their removal.

State Police Commission Chairman Eulis Simien Jr. and commissioners Jared J. Caruso-Riecke and Chief Harold Pierite Sr.  who were all initially appointed by Edwards to the board  have denied any wrongdoing after they were accused last month of making political donations that violate the same rules they are tasked with investigating and reviewing for troopers.

State law and board rules prohibit commissioners, along with all state troopers who are classified as state employees, from engaging in political activity, directly or indirectly.

The matter cannot be decided by this commission," Jason Hannaman, the executive director of the commission, said at the board meeting Thursday. "The sole authority for removing a commissioner is constitutional a power of the office of the governor, if there is a sufficient cause."

Three Louisiana State Police commissioners under probe for possible unlawful political donations Three members on the board that enforces State Police rules are under an internal investigation over possible illegal political donations, all

Shauna Sanford, a spokeswoman for Edwards, said they received the complaints and reports from the State Police Commission for Riecke and Simien, but were still awaiting the reports for Pierite.

"After those investigations are complete, the Governor will determine whether to take any further action," Sanford wrote in a statement Thursday. The allegations are based on campaign finance contribution records publicly available online through the Louisiana Ethics Administration.

Reicke, in a statement to the board, called the claim that his company donated $500 in 2017 for an event for state Rep. Mark Wright, a Republican from St. Tammany Parish, erroneous. He provided a letter from Wright, who took credit for what he called a mistake in record-keeping. The donation details have since been updated in the Ethics Administration's online records, now noting that his brother Denis Riecke made the donation, not Riecke & Associates.

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Simien is accused of making political donations amounting to more than $5,000 to both Edwards and East Baton Rouge Metro Councilwoman Erika Green's campaigns in 2017 through his company Simien and Simien LCC, where he is a partner.

Jimmy Simien, Eulis Simien's brother, wrote in a letter provided to the board: I alone made the decisions without any input from Eulis, who was not involved in either the decisions, events, or the contributions.

Pierite is accused of making multiple donations totaling $120 to the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Political Action Committee throughout 2017. Pierite did not deny making those contributions, but argued that neither the state constitution nor the rules of the State Police Commission explicitly prohibit commissioners from making contributions to a political committee.

This is a unique case because as a member and elected chief of police of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe, Commissioner Pierite's involvement or contributions to the political committee stem from this membership in the tribe," his attorney wrote in a letter to the board. However, the attorney also noted Pierite has since halted these automatic monthly donations to the PAC.

Louisiana State Police Commission gets two new members after three quit during investigation The Louisiana State Police Commission, which has been embroiled for the past few months by claims that both commissioners themselves and some 

Similar allegations three years ago led to three commissioners resigning, amid an investigation over thousands of dollars in political donations by them or their companies during their terms on the board.

The State Police Commission on Thursday also dismissed a complaint over a political donation from the Louisiana Troopers Charities, in the form of an $800 check to the Acadiana Strong Political Action Committee. An investigation found that was an error in records, and the donation had actually come from the PAC for the charity organization  not the other way around  to help purchase officer safety equipment.
And so here we are talking about Kane Brown, a bi-racial country star. Kane Brown just released his second album, Experiment, at the end of last year. He got his start by posting videos of himself doing covers on social media. And then, once he became an emerging star, he continued posting videos of himself and his fiance dancing to Drake tunes. Brown, who has split his time between Georgia and Tennessee, has spoken and sung about his experience of racism, about struggling with the economic hardships of low-wage earners and of striving to take care of the ones he loves while pursuing his dreams.
Only members of Delta Kappa Epsilon were supposed to know what happened inside their fraternity house on LSU's campus.

Arrest warrants released Friday suggest DKE members operated under a code of silence meant to conceal abusive hazing rituals that led to the arrest of nine current and former students this week. Pledges came forward in recent months and told their stories to university administrators and police: their fraternity brothers had beat them, doused them with gasoline and urinated on them.

+8 LSU hazing complete coverage: See allegations, past problems, more of DKE fraternity, members Nine members of LSU's Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity were accused Thursday of participating in abusive hazing rituals that included beating pl

The last two DKE members accused of hazing were arrested Friday after seven arrests the day before. Their arrest reports provide a window into the culture of secrecy that shrouds initiation practices at fraternities and sororities across the country. One of the warrants describes a pledge being accused of "narcing"  "in this case the act of telling a non DKE member information about what goes on inside the house."

Police searched the DKE house on Dalrymple Drive and found the "chapter room" on the third floor as described by pledges. Writing on the walls referenced initiation rituals and included an explicit threat: "All narcs will die."

'It's not pretty'

It's unclear how and when the hazing allegations were reported to university administrators. But the university announced Friday that some had heard a rumor about the DKE chapter  and those administrators have been placed on leave pending an investigation.

Greek life leaders said they were disappointed their effort to improve behavior among students appears to have failed so spectacularly after the 2017 hazing death of freshman Maxwell Gruver. But they said holding members accountable is an important first step and an appropriate outcome of the DKE allegations.

"Have we eliminated all issues? Of course not," said Interfraternity Council President and Tau Kappa Epsilon member Justin Landry. "But overall, as a community, if we keep moving in the direction that we're moving in right now, I think we'll be in a fantastic spot in three or four years."

Former council president Christopher Dupre said the victims at the DKE house had benefited from new policies that protect whistleblowers and let students report misconduct anonymously.

"We're working with LSU to help make the changes necessary in our community and then boom, this happens," he said. "It's not pretty, but these things were able to come to the surface because of the policies that are put in place to empower people to come forward."

More allegations

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According to the arrest warrant for Blake Chalin, 20, of Gretna, a pledge accused of "narcing" was beaten up at Chalin's residence. The pledge was told to get into the "bows and toes" position, which is a plank with only toes and elbows touching the ground, and remain there while being kicked and punched.

Chalin then made the pledge take a "new boy shower." That ritual  which was described in several previous arrest reports  involves pledges holding a milk crate filled with ice and cayenne pepper or creole seasoning above their heads while standing in a cold shower and looking up. As the ice melted, the pepper would drip into their eyes.

Investigators found milk crates throughout the house, "but especially in the showers on the second floor and the shower in the outdoor ice room."

Chalin was elected as the chapter's New Member Educator in November 2018, investigators noted in his arrest report.

Which LSU fraternity and sorority chapters are currently in disciplinary hot water? See full list Nine LSU Delta Kappa Epsilon members were arrested Thursday and Friday on hazing allegations that allege some poured gasoline on pledges and f

The other member arrested Friday was Shakti Gilotra, 22, who police said was involved in "a lot of incidents of hazing." A victim told investigators Gilotra "made him walk barefoot on broken glass while he threw objects at him."

"The victim stated that he was trying to be careful while walking on the broken glass but still received visible injury and cuts to his feet," police wrote in the warrant. The victim later "had to pull pieces of glass out of his feet."

Gilotra, of Kenner, faces one count each of felony second-degree battery and misdemeanor criminal hazing. Chalin, of Gretna, faces three counts of misdemeanor criminal hazing.

Can't see video below? Click here.

Advocate freelance reporter Jackie DeRobertis contributed to this report.
Building formerly occupied by LSU's Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, seen Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019 on Dalrymple Drive on the LSU campus. Nine members of the fraternity have been arrested and accused of hazing and other related offenses after the national organization  one of the oldest fraternities in the nation  closed its LSU chapter last month.
The LSU AgCenter and its marijuana-growing partner questioned an inexplicable disparity in how the state agriculture department is regulating it compared to Southern University, as it outlined an 18-month regulatory process it has been through trying to win approval to produce medical marijuana.

Lawsuit: State agriculture department testing medical marijuana is 'irreconcilable conflict of interest' A New Orleans company is suing the Louisiana agriculture department for how it is handling the testing of medical marijuana, arguing the agenc

In a four-page letter sent to the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry on Wednesday, officials representing the LSU AgCenter and GB Sciences described a regulatory process that appears rife with miscommunication and delays. The officials said they were frustrated with the process they've faced trying to get suitability approval from Louisiana State Police, and suggested the agriculture departments process for getting that approval is a moving target.

The letter, along with documents released by the agriculture department Thursday, sheds light on the extensive red tape in Louisianas medical marijuana program, which still doesnt have product available after repeated false starts and delays. Lawmakers approved a medical marijuana program about 3 years ago, and set it in motion with new legislation about 2 years ago.

The correspondence also exposes growing tension between the leaders of LSU's marijuana operation and the state agency that regulates it. Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain has said his department is working as fast as it can to move the process along, while patients have become increasingly frustrated with the delays.

The agriculture department released a long list of documents and emails outlining the problems associated with GB Sciences' regulatory filings made over the past year and a half. The most recent information provided by GB Sciences and LSU had dozens of omissions, according to a letter sent earlier this month by Louisiana State Police.

Agriculture department spokeswoman Veronica Mosgrove declined to comment further.

Spending at Louisiana's two medical marijuana producers differ sharply in 2018 The two companies authorized to grow medical marijuana in Louisiana spent wildly different amounts on their operations in 2018, new records sh

But LSU and GB Sciences questioned why the deficiencies are being released in a "piece-meal manner that will slow down GBSL's ability to complete" the process, the letter said.

LSU AgCenter coordinator Ashley Mullens and GB Sciences Louisiana President John Davis wrote their frustration with LDAFs process was further aggravated when they found out the agriculture department and state police traveled out of state last month to help Southern Universitys marijuana-growing partner, Pennsylvania-based Ilera Holistic Healthcare, to wade through the suitability process.

LDAFs announcement and this disparity in treatment are inexplicable, the officials wrote.

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Ilera Holistic Healthcare recently bought out the majority interest in Southerns original partner, Advanced Biomedics, after that firm failed to make any progress. It is now lagging behind LSUs program.

LSU and GB Sciences letter came in response to Louisiana State Police outlining multiple errors and omitted persons in the university and GB Sciences application. That letter represented the third deficiency letter sent by State Police outlining problems with the application.

The suitability process is an investigation by Louisiana State Police that looks into the background of a business and its major shareholders, and is traditionally done for casino operators. The state police gaming enforcement decision is in charge of the suitability process for the marijuana licensees in the state.

GB Sciences has for months cited regulatory delays at the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, which in turn said GB Sciences only recently turned in necessary paperwork to move the process forward. Mullens and Davis fired back against that notion this week.

It would be a misrepresentation of the documented history to suggest GBSL has only recently submitted suitability information, they wrote.

GB Sciences received regulatory approvals for its planned facility in south Baton Rouge as well as its first batch of product, manufactured in a smaller, temporary pod while it waits for full approvals. The firm also won approval for its standard operating procedures, another step in the process. Still, the company cant begin operations until it wins suitability approval.

Bill Richardson, LSUs vice president for agriculture, said in a statement that the school finalized its contract with GB Sciences in September 2017 and has worked closely with the agriculture department since then to get approved to begin growing marijuana.

We are looking forward to concluding this suitability process so we can provide a steady, uninterrupted supply of medicine for the patients of Louisiana, he said in a statement.
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For months, Ken Bobbs tried to keep things going.

He kept open the two ice cream shops  Sub Zero and Professor Bob Beans Coffee and Ice Cream Lab  that he and his wife of 22 years owned and operated in Lafayette.

But in September, about five months after Kathy's unexpected death, he decided to close Professor Bob Beans at the shopping center at Ambassador Caffery Parkway and Kaliste Saloom Road.

Kathy Bobbs, who was president and CEO of Womens and Childrens Hospital, had worked at her office just across the street from the ice cream shop for 18 years before her death in April.

It was just too close for the grieving widower.

I didnt like visiting it much, being that close in proximity to all the triggers, said Bobbs. That kind of made it a pretty easy decision to not want to be in that location in that part of town. Youre reliving it over and over. It never goes away when youre married to someone for a long time.

Bobbs opted to close that location and focus on his other store, Sub Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream, across town at 2916 Johnston St.

Kathy Bobbs' death shocked the community. She was involved in a number of community activities, including the United Way and One Acadiana. During One Acadianas annual celebration Wednesday, CEO Troy Wayman got emotional in discussing Kathy Bobbs, who would have been the groups chairwoman this year.

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She and Ken enjoyed great success in their professional, entrepreneurial and community activities, said Leona Boullion, interim CEO at Womens and Childrens Hospital. That "success was made possible by the resilience, effort and talent both brought to every endeavor. I have little doubt that, strengthened by their time together, Ken will continue that legacy.

Lafayette hospital president and community leader Kathy Bobbs dies unexpectedly at 59 Kathy Bobbs, a longtime leader in the Acadiana healthcare and business communities, died unexpectedly Saturday at age 59  a "profound loss" f

Now with only one store to operate, Bobbs plans to close Sub Zero and resurrect Professor Bob Beans on Johnston Street. Along with architect Brent Fricke, he will redesign with store with a science theme that he expects to appeal more to children, with brighter colors to give customers the feeling like theyre walking into a science lab.

Staff there will continue to make ice cream with liquid nitrogen.

Its kind of appeals to them with the professor, Bobbs said. Our design here, even more so with the original Bob Beans, will be more kid-centric. A little more playful with the designs.

Once that happens, Bobbs will hand the store over to his son Chris Castille. Bobbs will spend more time with his five children and 13 grandchildren, including a 4-month-old who was born after his wife died.

He also plans to be an international tour director in places like Alaska, Canada and Europe.

I like rafting, hiking and that sort of stuff, he said. I will let the kids know my schedule well in advance. I wont be tied to any profession or job.
We kept our admissions at $5 so that everybody could afford it, but it takes a lot of $5 to fill up this rink. It takes a lot of $5 to pay $96,000 in taxes, Rich City Skate co-owner Buddy Alexander  who goes by Buddy Love  says in the 86-minute film, which is scheduled to premiere on HBO at 7 p.m. Monday.
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Chris Cruz, a longtime IT leader in state government, is resigning from his position as deputy state chief information officer and chief deputy director of the California Department of Technology.Cruz, 54, toldon Feb. 14 that he's taking the position of chief information officer and IT director for San Joaquin County. He'll leave the state at the end of March.Reaction to the news of Cruz's resignation came quickly Thursday afternoon."Chris Cruzs leadership as deputy CIO has been beneficial and significant to the state and to me personally," said Secretary Marybel Batjer of the Government Operations Agency, which encompasses CDT. "His knowledge and sound counsel will be sorely missed. I wish him all the best in his new position, as he continues building upon his tremendous experience.Cruz's immediate boss, state CIO and CDT Director Amy Tong , echoed Batjer's sentiment:"Chris Cruz has been a valuable asset to CDT during his four-year tenure as Chief Deputy Director and Deputy State CIO. I am sure he will bring that same value and dedication to his new position as IT director and CIO for the county of San Joaquin. We thank him for his past service and wish him the very best.In his 27-year career in government and business IT, Cruz has won numerous awards and accolades for leadership. The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) in October named him one of three recipients of a NASCIO State Technology Innovator Award, which honors outstanding individuals who have made contributions to advance state technology policy through the promotion of best practices, adoption of new technologies and advancements in service delivery."As deputy CIO for the state of California, Chris Cruz is a visionary leader in digital technology for the department, the state and the nation," NASCIO said in bestowing the award. "From driving SaaS [software as a service] solutions and a single statewide email solution to serving as an ambassador both at home and across the country, Chris has been instrumental to Californias continued success."Cruz has been a leading advocate within state government for several principles of IT governance: organizational change management, agile development, recruiting and retention of personnel, and aligning state agencies' IT needs with their business missions.In his CDT role, Cruz and Tong oversaw a department of nearly 1,000 and more than 130 CIOs within the executive branch. They managed an operating budget of $300 million and had shared responsibility for the state IT project portfolio of nearly $3 billion.Before his appointment to his current CDT position in June 2015, Cruz held top IT leadership positions with the state Department of Public Health, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Health Care Services. Cruz received the 2015 Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers award frommagazine,sister publication; the 2013 Best of California Demonstrated Leadership in Management of IT Award; the 2011 Outstanding CIO Leader Award; the 2010 Innovation and Vision Award; and the Center for Digital Governments* 2009 Outstanding CIO Leader of the Year Award.But the San Joaquin County opportunity "was just too good a job to pass up," Cruz said."The people and environment in San Joaquin County impressed me," he said in an interview Thursday. "I'm looking forward to working with my new team. I'm excited to be joining the family and continuing their success in innovation, technology and security."The San Joaquin County CIO position had been held by Jerry Becker for more than 12 years until he was promoted in October to assistant county administrator. Becker and his team in San Joaquin County have won numerous accolades for achievement in the public sector, includingmagazines CIO 100 Award, Computerworld Laureate, Top Ten County  Digital Counties Survey by the Center for Digital Government, and the Center for Digital Governments Best of California  Project Excellence Award.San Joaquin County in December made public its recruitment for an "innovative and dynamic" successor to Becker himself an award-winning CIO before he was promoted last year.Successful candidates will have experience leading the business of information technology in a large complex organization, and be a transformative leader and business partner with exceptional interpersonal, customer service, and verbal communication skills, says the countys job posting.Because the state and San Joaquin County have reciprocity, Cruz's retirement benefits will follow him, and he needn't return to state service in the future in order to maintain his health care and other benefits. The Folsom resident said he'll commute to the new job, which is about an hour's drive each way.Cruz has a bachelor's degree in business management from Sac State and a master's in leadership management from UC Davis.The CIO and deputy CIO positions are gubernatorial appointees, and no decision has been announced about Cruz's successor.Techwire's
A study by German scientists from Jena and Hamburg, published today in the journal Nature, shows that artificial intelligence (AI) can substantially improve our understanding of the climate and the Earth system. Especially the potential of deep learning has only partially been exhausted so far. In particular, complex dynamic processes such as hurricanes, fire propagation, and vegetation dynamics can be better described with the help of AI. As a result, climate and Earth system models will be improved, with new models combining artificial intelligence and physical modeling.

In the past decades mainly static attributes have been investigated using machine learning approaches, such as the distribution of soil properties from the local to the global scale. For some time now, it has been possible to tackle more dynamic processes by using more sophisticated deep learning techniques. This allows for example to quantify the global photosynthesis on land with simultaneous consideration of seasonal and short term variations.

Deducing underlying laws from observation data

"From a plethora of sensors, a deluge of Earth system data has become available, but so far we've been lagging behind in analysis and interpretation", explains Markus Reichstein, managing director of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, directory board member of the Michael-Stifel-Center Jena (MSCJ) and first author of the publication. "This is where deep learning techniques become a promising tool, beyond the classical machine learning applications such as image recognition, natural language processing or AlphaGo", adds co-author Joachim Denzler from the Computer Vision Group of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (FSU) and member of MSCJ. Examples for application are extreme events such as fire spreads or hurricanes, which are very complex processes influenced by local conditions but also by their temporal and spatial context. This also applies to atmospheric and ocean transport, soil movement, and vegetation dynamics, some of the classic topics of Earth system science.

Artificial intelligence to improve climate and Earth system models

However, deep learning approaches are difficult. All data-driven and statistical approaches do not guarantee physical consistency per se, are highly dependent on data quality, and may experience difficulties with extrapolations. Besides, the requirement for data processing and storage capacity is very high. The publication discusses all these requirements and obstacles and develops a strategy to efficiently combine machine learning with physical modeling. If both techniques are brought together, so-called hybrid models are created. They can for example be used for modeling the motion of ocean water to predict sea surface temperature. While the temperatures are modelled physically, the ocean water movement is represented by a machine learning approach. "The idea is to combine the best of two worlds, the consistency of physical models with the versatility of machine learning, to obtain greatly improved models", Markus Reichstein further explains.

The scientists contend that detection and early warning of extreme events as well as seasonal and long-term prediction and projection of weather and climate will strongly benefit from the discussed deep-learning and hybrid modelling approaches.

Source: Press Release
What just happened? The Canadian federal government is partnering with former handset maker BlackBerry to collectively invest $350 million in the advancement of autonomous vehicle technology. According to experts, Canada's harsh weather means driving systems developed in the US may not be suitable up north.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and BlackBerry CEO John Chen jointly announced the investment at BlackBerrys campus Friday morning. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the government contributed $40 million from its Strategic Innovation Fund to help develop what Trudeau described as software thatll serve as the central nervous system of future self-driving vehicles.

The publication said BlackBerry committed $310.5 million of its own money which will help to create 800 new jobs and maintain 300 further positions over the next decade. The erstwhile mobile giant is also promising 1,000 co-op job placements for students from select Canadian post-secondary schools and will create scholarships for indigenous students and women.

Richard Yu, a professor at Carleton University's school of information technology who has been collaborating with BlackBerry to develop and test self-driving autonomous vehicles, said Canadas harsh weather has to be accounted for.

We cannot just use the technologies developed in the U.S., so we need to have some big investment, especially from the government and from local industry.

BlackBerry bowed out of the smartphone industry in 2016, handing off its rights to Chinese tech company TCL. It then announced the QNX Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Center (AVIC), a research center to create autonomous driving software.

Second image courtesy Olivier Le Moal via Shutterstock
In context: If you have been following our coverage, you know that Epic Games is facing a storm of lawsuits related to its dance emotes. It started when the rapper 2 Milly filed a copyright claim saying that the studio was profiting off his dance move the Milly Rock.

The initial lawsuit by 2 Milly seemed to spark a deluge of similar complaints. Fellow rapper BlocBoy JB is suing. Two juveniles commonly known as Orange Shirt Kid and Backpack Kid, with the help and coaxing of their parents, have also jumped onto the dog pile wanting a slice of Epic's lucrative Fortnite pie.

More notably than most would have to be Alfonso Ribeiros case stating that he is owed money for the Carlton Dance, which he originally performed on the television show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Epic mimicked the iconic dance and gave it the not-so-original name Fresh.

Documents from the US Copyright Office, uncovered by The Hollywood Reporter, revealed that the registrar denied issuance of copyright to Ribeiro for his dance moves. This decision should not come as a surprise if youve been reading along.

Like Ribeiro, 2 Milly was also applying for copyright protection after the fact. As we reported at the time, the USCOs guidelines for copyrighting dance moves are very clear.

To qualify for registration, a choreographic work or pantomime must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression in such a way that reveals the movements in sufficient detail to permit the work to be performed in a consistent and uniform manner. Individual movements or dance steps by themselves are not copyrightable, such as the basic waltz step, the hustle step, the grapevine, or the second position in classical ballet. The U.S. Copyright Office cannot register short dance routines consisting of only a few movements or steps with minor linear or spatial variations, even if a routine is novel or distinctive.

Therefore, the few moves that make up the Carlton, Milly Rock, or any of the other brief dances that Epic has stolen cannot be copyrighted.

Ribeiros lawsuit was iffy even were his moves able to be copyrighted. For one, his dance is not all that original. In fact, in 2015 he admitted that his jig was based on moves by Eddie Murphy and the nervous dance Courtney Cox did in Bruce Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark video. Furthermore, since Ribeiro performed the steps while employed by NBC and during the course of his work on the show, that would make NBC the copyright owner, not him.

While his copyright protection request has been squashed, his lawsuit has not been settled yet, but it does not look good. Earlier this week Kotaku reported that Epic has asked for a dismissal of 2 Millys complaint. It argues that the moves are too short to copyright. The USCO denial of Ribeiros request would seem to support that reasoning. Lawyers add that the Swipe emote is also different enough from the Milly Rock to avoid infringement.

It will be interesting to see how the courts rule on all these cases, but I think that once one of them goes down the rest will fall in short order.
Why it matters: If Facebook and the FTC can agree on the terms, a settlement would save lots of time and millions of dollars in legal fees. It would also put the social network one step closer to putting this whole debacle behind it.

Facebook is reportedly negotiating a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that would put an end to the agencys investigation into the companys privacy practices, sources familiar with the matter tell The Washington Post.

The two sides reportedly havent agreed on an amount yet but according to one source, were looking at a multi-billion dollar fine that would be the largest the agency has ever levied against a technology company.

Up to this point, the largest fine the FTC has ever imposed against a tech company regarding the protection of consumer data was the $22.5 million penalty Google got hit with in 2012.

A spokesperson confirmed with the publication that it is in discussions with the FTC but declined to provide any additional information. Should the talks sputter out, the FTC may be forced to take the issue up in court. A legal fight of that magnitude would likely drag on for years and accumulate millions of dollars in legal fees.

Facebooks most recent troubles with the FTC started last year following the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. The bigger issue, however, is that this latest issue might violate a 2011 agreement the social network made with the agency to settle previous privacy issues.

Lead image courtesy Ink Drop via Shutterstock
Why it matters: OpenAI project has developed an algorithm that can make up news stories that seem real. Users simply feed it a few words on a topic and the AI autonomously writes a story.

Artificial intelligence is growing at a rapid rate. Breakthroughs and creative uses seem to make headlines weekly. Applications have been developed to do everything from legal analysis of contracts to brewing better beer to someday beating you in a debate or Dota 2.

Now it seems that the Elon Musks OpenAI team has discovered an algorithm capable of producing believable fake news articles. When given only a few words to start, the AI can create a news story on any topic that seems real and would take dedicated fact checking to debunk. Here is just one example:

Russia has declared war on the United States after Donald Trump accidentally fired a missile in the air. Russia said it had identified the missiles trajectory and will take necessary measures to ensure the security of the Russian population and the countrys strategic nuclear forces. The White House said it was extremely concerned by the Russian violation of a treaty banning intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The US and Russia have had an uneasy relationship since 2014, when Moscow annexed Ukraines Crimea region and backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

An OpenAI algorithm completely fabricated the above story after feeding it the words, Russia has declared war on the United States after Donald Trump accidentally 

"Its very clear that if this technology matures  and Id give it one or two years  it could be used for disinformation or propaganda."

The technology is not perfect. Plagiarized passages are commonly found. Stories are also often disjointed seemingly making little sense, but once in a while, it creates something compellingly realistic. With refinement, it could reliably be used to generate propaganda.

Its very clear that if this technology maturesand Id give it one or two yearsit could be used for disinformation or propaganda, said OpenAIs Policy Director Jack Clark. Were trying to get ahead of this.

Part of getting ahead is publicly announcing the accomplishment so that people are aware that machines could be used in this fashion. The other part is OpenAIs decision not to release the full version of the algorithm. It did give the tool to MIT Technology Review for research purposes but said it would only make a simplified version of the text-generation software available to the public.

Natural-language processing expert Richard Socher with Salesforce is less concerned about the technologys misuse and is more optimistic about its use as a general purpose language-learning system.

I think these general learning systems are the future, said Socher. You dont need AI to create fake news. People can easily do it.


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The borderless promise of e-commerce doesn't mean one size fits all. Your business can have customers from around the globe, but if you want to keep them and grow, it is crucial to understand local shopper preferences and behaviors, and be able to respond to them. Without localization, you won't have an effective go-to-market strategy, and your opportunity for growth will stall.

Sure, the advent of selling online means that conventional borders no longer exist. Consumers are expected to spend US$1 trillion on cross-border e-commerce by 2020, according to a report by McKinsey.

Also, online buyers are not afraid to purchase goods from foreign merchants, as a recent KPMG study confirms, with international sales making up more than 40 percent of the total for the countries located in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

However, selling across borders is not the same as selling at home. If you can't create a localized, trusted and customized experience for shoppers, you definitely will suffer from low conversion rates -- or even worse, fail to win their business at all.

Shoppers may be willing to browse an offshore merchant, but the quality of the buying experience and how much the vendor is trusted factor heavily into consumers' decision-making.

Localization is critical, as it contributes to the trust that is so important to global buyers. Vendors need to start by crafting a localization strategy. However, many don't understand what the minimum requirements need to be and where to begin.

Following are a few things to consider.

Audit Your Local Audience, Markets and Resources

Once you have prioritized your markets and determined which ones you want to optimize, focus on auditing the unique aspects of those markets that will impact buying behavior the most.

Any strategy that doesn't consider the language, culture, preferences, needs and even idiosyncrasies of the local market is doomed to fail.

Connecting with global buyers requires an approach that treats each market differently. This means localizing each aspect of the buying experience, which includes everything from the payment method, currency, prices, text, labels and messages, to date and time, phone number, graphics, formatting, punctuation and addresses.

Creating an audit of the market will help you determine the must-haves to be successful in the region.

Translating Your Site Is Not Enough

Many sellers still believe that translating a site into the local language solves the localization issue. It doesn't. English is the language of the digital world, but the reality is that in most countries, 80 percent of transactions occur in the local language.

However, translation is only a small piece of the puzzle. Localizing content, product, all documents, pricing, communication and onboarding also should be considered. Ultimately, support must be offered in the local language, too.

Consider a Different Layout, Flow and Shopping Cart

Besides language translation, there are many localization elements to consider. The design of a website for China should differ greatly from one for Japan -- even if you're selling the same product. Likewise, user experiences that work in Europe don't always have the same impact for shoppers in North America or other regions.

As with website content layout and flow, buyers expect your shopping cart to reflect their local preferences and norms. Conversion rates for non-localized shopping carts are significantly lower.

This involves localizing every aspect of the cart -- which means text, labels, messages, dates, times, phone numbers, prices, graphics, formatting, number of steps in the ordering process, length of forms, information that is prefilled and more.

It's essential that you research the best layout and flow that will work in each region, and then fine-tune them by testing different versions and comparing their conversion rates.

Online shoppers in France, for example, prefer carts with a blue and white color scheme and a more formal tone to their text.

French customers also react better to positive language versus negative -- such as "what to do" instead of "what not to do." Plus, in France, they are very fond of the Carte Bancaire payment method.

On the other hand, in China you need to offer Alipay as a payment method or WeChat Pay. In our experience, businesses that sell in the Chinese market conduct more than 50 percent of their transactions via Alipay alone.

It's not just payment or colors schemes either. Cultural and societal considerations are critical. In China, it is recommended that you avoid the number four, which is considered unlucky.

In some countries, selling online can be more difficult for foreign companies. For example, Latin American countries such as Brazil, Chile and Argentina have stringent currency laws that make it illegal even to publish prices in currencies other than the local one. In addition, it's a prerequisite that customers have a nationally issued bank card for any payment purposes.

You need to know the lay of the land in every country you want to have a presence in.

The Price Needs to Be Right

An important deciding factor when buying online is the price. While some aspects may be beyond your control, such as shipping and handling or fulfillment, many others are not, such as regional-appropriate pricing.

Just because your product is priced competitively in one market, that doesn't mean the same is true in another. Transparency can be accomplished by giving shoppers the option to view the price in their local currency. However, a better practice is to use GeoIP detection technology, which identifies the shopper's location and displays the local currency automatically.

Being able to set the pricing by location allows you to adjust your strategy to the economic reality of each market, and to the costs that you incur by doing business in that particular geography.

Payments Change Everything

Payment localization isn't just a matter of convenience. It's a determining factor in the buying decision, and it's a good way to establish a level of trust and comfort that no amount of marketing or promotion can provide.

In addition to increased conversions, card purchases transacted with the combination of a local payment method, gateway and merchant bank have a much higher chance of being approved than any type of foreign payment.

However, creating the necessary infrastructure to localize payments is neither cheap nor easy. The typical payment processor will be able to provide coverage only for a single country or region.

That means you'll need to source and sign a processor for every region or country in which you intend to sell, as well as set aside time and resources to integrate and maintain them. If your plans include expansion into multiple markets, finding an e-commerce platform that can help you scale is the best option.

To be successful on a global scale requires payment capabilities that involve more than just completing transactions. Advanced payments can be an invaluable tool to increase conversion or renewal rates, reduce churn, and improve the customer experience.

Among them are solutions such as credit card updating services, which ensure that recurring billing remains intact by updating a customer's card expiration date automatically, or intelligent payment routing, which redirects the payment through to the most appropriate gateway or processor, and configurable retry logic, which recovers up to 20 percent of failed transactions due to soft declines.

Local Customer Support Is a Must

Seventy-eight percent of consumers have abandoned a transaction because of a bad service interaction, according to American Express.

Hence, it's critical to your localization strategy to provide good shopper support -- from providing a local phone number, a localized email system (sent in local languages and during business hours) and even a toll-free number.

Additionally, email follow-ups, order recovery, lead management, and even marketing messages all need to be localized for an optimal experience.

The Certainties in Life Are Death and Taxes

OK, let's not get too gloomy here. Even taxes can be manageable. Regardless of where your company is based, you're legally required to properly manage and collect sales and value-added taxes levied on each transaction. The amount, the authority responsible for collecting it, and the rules governing it can differ from country to country.

You need to know how much tax to charge and which entities and businesses are exempt. Many of these details can be automated with templates that support pan-regional commerce and have GeoIP location detection to identify the shopper's country of origin.

Other details, such as how and where to distribute the tax proceeds, must be handled by the seller (as the merchant of record) or its proxy. Companies wanting to accelerate sales can leverage a digital commerce provider to act as a merchant of record in each country. In addition to tax handling, such providers can manage all the financial aspects of the transactions, leaving you with just the proceeds.

Data Protection Compliance: A Reality

We're increasingly seeing more regulation to protect citizens' personal information across multiple borders. In the case of GDPR, any company that interacts or does business with EU citizens or EU-based companies must comply.

New laws in the U.S., such as in California and Vermont, have similar mandates protecting local citizens and businesses. Compliance is essential as a result, because the failure to comply can result in crippling fines.

Hence, it makes business sense for merchants to work with an e-commerce partner that has an established governance structure that supports broad compliance, and that conducts regular compliance assessments and audits.

Where Do We Go From Here?

E-commerce continues to represent a huge opportunity for businesses, with no signs of slowing down. However, the companies that capitalize on this growth the best will be the ones that have comprehensive strategies in place to deal with optimizing sales in prioritized markets. This includes plans for international growth in which localization plays a critical role.

However, as we've seen, global e-commerce isn't one size fits all. It requires careful consideration of the marketplace you are entering, and it may seem truly beyond the scope of most companies.

Before expanding, businesses need to arm themselves with knowledge about where to prioritize their efforts. They also need to choose a partner with the right combination of skills to get them there: expertise in global e-commerce capabilities, relationships, even access to local affiliates and resellers that can help any merchant penetrate into a local market quickly, effectively, and with the right knowledge and marketing power behind them.

Erich Litch is president and chief operating officer of 2Checkout.


Seminole, FL (33772)

Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High around 85F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms before midnight. Low around 75F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- New York State Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter today endorsed the community grid option to replace the Interstate 81 viaduct through Syracuse.

Hunter, whose district includes most of the elevated portion of the highway south of downtown, explained her decision in an interview with several reporters Friday morning on the top floor of the Crown Plaza hotel, which overlooks the highway.

The debate over the future of 81 has dragged on for years, and its become increasingly clear that a community consensus just isnt possible, she said. The time for debate and discussion is over. Now we must take action.

Until today, Hunter was one of the few local lawmakers who hadnt taken a position on what to do with the aging highway that bisects Syracuse. Most are split between two options: A street level grid and a tunnel beneath the city.

Hunter said the decision making process has dragged on too long, and a final decision has been languishing in governmental purgatory. She felt it was time for her to make a choice and support it vocally in Albany with both the governor and the Department of Transportation.

I dont feel like I can get any more information from my constituents. Its been years, she said. Weve done phone calls, meetings, forums... and its not moving. It hasnt changed. We need to be able to make a decision to move forward. Its going to take strength and loud leadership...but its time. Its enough.

Pam Hunter represents the 128th district in the New York Assembly.

The grid, Hunter said, would displace the smallest number of people and businesses. It would also free up land to be developed and added to the tax rolls. She called it the least disruptive of the available options.

State officials have estimated a tunnel would cost at least $3 billion and take up to 10 years to completed. Replacing the viaduct would cost $1.7 billion. The community grid would cost an estimated $1.3 billion.

The DOT is expected to release a draft environmental impact statement early this year, which will recommend an option for replacing the highway. That report has been repeatedly delayed and the community has been harshly divided on which option to choose.

Hunter said she met last week with the DOT commissioner to voice her support for the grid. She also urged the department to more clearly communicate information about the project and what steps come next. Theres been a lot of misinformation, she said, and DOT needs to do a better job to correct it.

Hunter represents the Assemblys 128th district, which includes downtown Syracuse, the South Side, part of the east side and the towns of DeWitt, Salina, Onondaga and the Onondaga Nation.

Many of Hunters colleagues are split on what to do with I-81.

In favor of the grid are state Sen. Rachel May, Assemblyman Al Stirpe and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, among others.

Supporting a tunnel are state Sen. Bob Antonacci, Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon and nearly all leaders of the towns and villages outside of the city.

U.S. Rep. John Katko has not endorsed an option. He is in the midst of hosting a series of community forums about the project. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand supports the community grid. Sen. Chuck Schumer has not taken a position.
I wasnt happy working in the corporate world, Genser said. I thought maybe I would teach. In graduate school I took a class on paper making and it was the medium that led me to making all of this work. I never thought Id be a fine artist because I never had anything to say subject matter wise. I didnt have anything I could generate on my own.
WASHINGTON  Central New Yorks two congressmen Friday invited Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to visit the region, urging him to consider the area for its HQ2 campus after the collapse of a deal in New York City.

Reps. John Katko, R-Camillus, and Anthony Brindisi, D-Utica, sent Bezos a letter, showing bipartisan support for Amazon to move forward with an investment in New York state.

While it is unfortunate that political battles downstate have blocked this investment in New York City, we agree with the governor and our colleagues representing Upstate communities -- New York should still be home to Amazon and we welcome its growing operations, the congressmen wrote.

Katko and Brindisi added, Upstate New York is ready and willing to be open for business.

Other Upstate New York lawmakers and county government officials made a similar plea to Bezos on Thursday after Amazon pulled out of a deal to bring its corporate campus and 25,000 jobs to Long Island City in Queens.

Amazon cited the reluctance of some state and local lawmakers to work with the company as the driving force behind its decision to turn down about $3 billion worth of government economic incentives and abandon the project.

Although Amazon said it would not move forward with a search for a second East Coast headquarters to join one planned for Arlington, Va., Katko and Brindisi are among those asking the company to consider a more welcoming business climate in Upstate New York.

The congressmen told Bezos that Upstate New York offers a dynamic workforce, affordable housing, and an abundance of world-class colleges and universities.

Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has issued a statement blaming other Democratic politicians in New York for Amazons decision to abandon plans for an HQ2 site in Long Island City.

Amazon chose to come to New York because we are the capital of the world and the best place to do business," Cuomo said Thursday. Bringing Amazon to New York diversified our economy away from real estate and Wall Street, further cementing our status as an emerging center for tech and was an extraordinary economic win not just for Queens and New York City, but for the entire region, from Long Island to Albanys nanotech center.

However, a small group (of) politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community  which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City  the states economic future and the best interests of the people of this state. The New York State Senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity."

Cuomo didnt name any specific names, but Newsday reports his spokeswoman Dani Lever singled out NY State Senator Todd Kaminsky as the dean of Long Island delegation.

[He] tanked the Amazon plan by placing a stalwart Amazon opponent on the government approval board to pander to the local socialists, Lever said Thursday. Senator Kaminsky cowered when he should have shown courage."

The Amazon deal would have brought 25,000 jobs to Long Island City in Queens and as much as $30 billion in revenue. In exchange, the state and city agreed to give the retail giant $3 billion in tax incentives.

Some questioned why Americas most valuable company -- headed by the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos -- needed incentives to come to NYC. According to the Wall Street Journal, opposition grew among left-leaning activist groups in the rapidly gentrifying area of Northern Queens, where the Democratic Socialists of America helped U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez beat longtime incumbent Joe Crowley last year and secure a Democratic majority in the New York State Senate for the first time in a decade.

Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC, celebrated Amazons exit. She previously criticized the tax incentives, saying such money could be used towards improving the citys subway system and investing in local communities.

Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazons corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world, she tweeted Thursday.

Amazon said Thursday that local opposition was the main reason it is dropping its New York City plans, despite 70 percent of Empire State residents supporting the investment. The company said it would keep its planned HQ2 site in Virginia and an expansion in Nashville, Tennessee, but would not replace its NYC plans with another HQ2 site.

Concerns have now been raised about whether Amazons departure would hurt the rest of New York state and possibly deter other tech companies from coming to NY. Cuomo, however, managed to still express optimism.

The fundamentals of New Yorks business climate and community that attracted Amazon to be here  our talent pool, world-class education system, commitment to diversity and progressivism  remain and we wont be deterred as we continue to attract world class business to communities across New York State," the New York governor said.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld is launching an exploratory committee for a possible 2020 presidential bid.

The Republican governor announced Friday in New Hampshire that hes considering challenging President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination in the primary race.

I hope to see the Republican Party assume once again the mantle of being the party of Lincoln. It upsets me that our energies as a society are being sapped by the Presidents culture of divisiveness in Washington, Weld said in a statement. Because of the many concerns, Ive established an exploratory committee ... as a Republican in the 2020 election.

Trump is heavily expected to be the Republican nominee for president in 2020. Only one elected president has ever sought but did not receive his partys nomination for a second term: Franklin Pierce, 14th U.S. President from 1853 to 1857.

According to CNN, Trump still has strong approval ratings among Republicans, recently scoring 89 percent in a Gallup poll. In N.H., Trump was polling slightly lower at 83 percent among GOP voters in an October University of New Hampshire poll.

I think there definitely is a path to victory, but you want to test the market a bit. I look forward to talking to a variety of people. You want to make sure the motion doesnt fail for lack of a second but it wont, Weld told the New Hampshire Union Leader on Thursday. Everyone I have talked to says you are running as an R, count me in.

Weld, known as fiscally conservative but socially liberal, was governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997.

According to Fox News, the 73-year-old Weld switched parties and ran in 2016 as the Libertarian vice presidential nominee and running mate for Libertarian presidential candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. Weld recently returned to the GOP, re-registering as a Republican in the Boston suburb of Canton.

A few other Republicans are also rumored as possible challengers to Trump. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is planning a trip to Iowa on behalf of Never Trump Republicans; Ohio Gov. John Kasich said hes considering a run; and Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse has reportedly shown interest.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The retired auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Syracuse, the Most Rev. Thomas J. Costello, died today.

Costello, who served as bishop for more than 40 years, was 89.

We thank him for a lifetime of service to the church and in a very special way for his service to the Diocese of Syracuse," Bishop Robert Cunningham said in a news release."

Costello, a native of Camden, served as a priest of the diocese for nearly 65 years. He was ordained a priest on June 5, 1954, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He was appointed an assistant pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Syracuse where he served from 1954-1959.

Costello served as a secretary in the Diocesan Tribunal for one year before being named superintendent of Catholic Schools from 1960-1975. In 1975, he was named pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Syracuse where he served until 1978. He was named vicar general of the diocese in 1978 and served in that role until 2009.

Costello received many papal honors including being named a papal chamberlain with a title of monsignor in 1965, elevated to honorary prelate in 1971 and titular bishop of p erdices and auxiliary bishop of Syracuse in 1978. He was appointed by Pope Paul VI and ordained auxiliary bishop on March 13, 1978 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Syracuse.

Costello served on many boards in the community, including Jubilee Homes, Le Moyne College, the then Syracuse Interreligious Council, WCNY, Loretto and more. He was very active on the national scene belonging to many committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, including chairman of the communications committee.

Costellos legacy will most notably be being a man of deep faith and a man of the people, according to the diocese. He had no tolerance for any injustice. He was in the forefront of speaking against racism, poverty, inequality, violence and more."

Costello marched in Selma, Alabama, with Dr. Martin Luther King, fought for employee rights, spoke against the death penalty, promoted the respect and dignity of all life, encouraged interfaith dialogue and equality for all. He very much believed that we are called to be peacemakers and he strived to live his life emulating that belief," the diocese said.

Funeral arrangements are pending.
AUBURN, NY  The intensive care unit chief at Auburn Community Hospital says he briefed the hospitals CEO on a weekly basis last year about a slew of staff complaints concerning a doctor accused of endangering patients and verbally abusing staff.

Thats why Dr. Hal Feinberg says he cannot understand why the hospital waited months to take action against the problem doctor, Jeremy Barnett.

No matter what I said it fell on deaf ears, Feinberg said.

Feinberg joins a chorus of voices accusing the hospital of failing to act when told of Barnetts behavior. A state Health Department inspection, uncovered by Syracuse.com/The Post-Standard, faulted the hospital for dragging its feet for months before investigating complaints about an unnamed ICU doctor.

The doctor was subsequently identified as Barnett in two lawsuits that accused the hospital of inaction. One of those lawsuits says hospital administrators praised Barnett for increasing the number of patients admitted to Auburns ICU. It alleges Barnett did this by admitting people who did not need ICU care or patients the hospital was not equipped or staffed to treat.

An official of 1199 SEIU, the union representing Auburns nurses, said Thursday the group also complained about Barnett to hospital management.

Read our continuing coverage

Feinberg, 67, is a cardiologist board-certified in critical care who has been practicing 39 years at hospitals in five states. Hes been at Auburn five years.

Feinberg said hes never seen another doctor create as much havoc in a hospital as Barnett.

Other institutions would never allow transgressions like this without a hammer coming down, he said.

Fineberg said he was interviewed by health department inspectors.

Scott Berlucchi, left, CEO of Auburn Community Hospital, and Dr. Hal Feinberg, the hospital's ICU chief.Auburn Community Hospital and provided photo

Auburn hired Barnett in 2017 to work on its intensive care unit. Feinberg said he and Barnett worked different shifts so he did not witness Barnetts alleged bad conduct. But staff regularly came to him with their complaints, often telephoning or texting him when he was off duty. The complaints began in late 2017, Fineberg said.

Feinberg said he was driving on the Thruway one night when a nurse called from the hospital to tell him Barnett had just searched her cell phone messages to see if she had complained about him. He then interrogated and berated her, Feinberg said.

I got one after another of these phone calls, Feinberg said.

Feinberg said about 100 doctors, nurses and other hospital employees came to him last year complaining about Barnett.

Feinberg said the two most serious complaints about Barnett have been outlined in lawsuits pending against the hospital.

One complaint alleges a patient with a blocked artery died after Barnett rejected the advice of a surgery team that recommended the patient be transferred to another hospital. The other complaint says Barnett refused to transfer a patient with seizures who needed specialized electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring not available at Auburn hospital. The patient was eventually transferred after several days of inappropriate testing, according to a lawsuit.

The hospital has refused to answer questions about Barnett. A woman who answered the phone in the ICU earlier this month said Barnett no longer works at the hospital.

Feinberg, who has been on medical leave since late December, said staff members told him the hospital let Barnett go late last month.

Barnett has not returned phone calls.

The hospital did not respond to Feinbergs account of his conversations with CEO Scott Berlucchi and the hospitals handling of the complaints.

In a prepared statement the hospital said it has not engaged in any wrongdoing. Complaints levied by employees are personnel matters, on which we cannot comment, the hospital said.

Feinberg said Barnett had a Jekyll-Hyde personality. He said Barnett would be on his best behavior when he was in Feinbergs presence. The trouble happened when Feinberg was off duty.

Feinberg said nurses told him how Barnett would yell and scream at other doctors.

He would do it right in front a of a patient room in the ICU. Being horribly abusive and disparaging to the horror of certain families, he said.

Feinberg said nurses told him stories of Barnett berating them to the point of tears.

Barnett often boasted and embellished his skills, according to Feinberg. He said Barnett billed himself as a pulmonary specialist, even though he didnt have the credentials to back up that claim. Feinberg said Barnett also claimed he could read electroencephalograms -- tests used to find problems related to electrical activity of the brain  even though he wasnt qualified to do so.

Barnett is board-certified in internal and critical care medicine, state records show.

Feinberg said he has been friends with Berlucchi, the CEO, for more than 20 years. They previously worked together in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Feinberg said Berlucchi recruited him to Auburn.

Feinberg said Berlucchi and other hospital officials initially told him Barnett was being hired temporarily to fill in on the ICU for Dr. Gregory Serfer, while Serfer was temporarily in Puerto Rico providing emergency care after Hurricane Maria. Serfer, who resigned last year, is one of the two former Auburn doctors suing the hospital.

Feinberg said it soon became clear hospital officials wanted to bring Barnett on permanently to replace Serfer and maybe eventually put him in charge of the ICU and critical care.

I said to them, Youve got to be kidding, Feinberg recalled. You dont even know the individual. No one has reviewed his background or work history.

When Barnett was appointed to the medical staff, the hospital was supposed to review 10 of his medical records to confirm his competency. But the hospital never did that, according to the state inspection report. This may have led to adverse patient outcomes, the report says.

When he started hearing complaints about Barnett, Feinberg went to Berlucchis office to tell him. Feinberg said there were so many complaints he was going to Berlucchis office weekly, sometimes twice a week.

We have to fix this. Its unacceptable behavior, Feinberg said he told Berlucchi.

Feinberg said Berlucchi told him to advise staff to put their complaints in writing. Feinberg said when staff did begin submitting written complaints the hospital still did nothing.

So Feinberg told frustrated nurses to complain to their union, 1199 SEIU. The union in turn advised nurses to report their complaints as a group to the hospitals human resources department, said Ruth Heller, a union executive vice president. She said nurses also complained to the state. Union leaders discussed the issue with hospital management, Heller said.

Once the union got involved, Feinberg said Berlucchi called him and asked, What do you want me to do with him?

Feinberg said he advised Berlucchi to send Barnett a letter threatening dismissal if he made another misstep.

The hospital sent the doctor a letter June 26 telling him to stop the inappropriate behavior. The letter, cited in the states inspection report, said the hospital had substantiated complaints about Barnetts conduct, including name calling, verbal abuse, use of profanity and insults, disruptive behavior in front of patients and families, inability to control his emotions and sexual harassment. The inspection report said the hospital did not follow up to make sure Barnett complied.

After the letter was issued, many incidents involving Barnett continued to occur   any one of which should have created grounds for immediate dismissal, Feinberg said.

If you have information about these issues at Auburn Community Hospital, contact James T. Mulder at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com.
New Yorks farmers are waiting for changes in the states hemp industry after President Donald Trump signed a new farm bill into law last December.

The 2018 Farm Bill, amongst other provisions, is expected to open new doors for struggling farmers and expand hemp as a mainstream commodity with legislation that makes growing the high-value crop legal across all 50 states.

Although industrial hemp cultivation has been legal in New York since 2015, it was initially allowed under a pilot program. The state offered a limited number of research licenses to those interested in growing, processing and selling hemp for research purposes, starting with colleges and eventually expanding to farmers and businesses.

The reason they were a research pilot program is because the 2014 Farm Bill required that states be allowed to conduct research to see whether industrial hemp was viable for states, said Jennifer Gilbert Jenkins, an assistant professor of soil science and agronomy at SUNY Morrisville. Now that industrial hemp is legalized, that guise of having all of the grow for research is gone.

Thats only good for the agricultural community and for farmers in general, said Daniel Dolgin, co-owner of Eaton Hemp, formerly known as JD Farms. Three years ago, he and his business partner, Mark Justh, became the first private farm licensed to grow hemp under New Yorks pilot program.

This year, theyre launching a new brand of organic hemp-based foods. Theres a growing market for these types of products, which also includes CBD oil, fibers and paper. Kirstan Conley, a representative from New York States Department of Agriculture and Markets, said that industrial hemp is projected to hit $1 billion in sales in the U.S. by 2020.

But as research partners, Dolgin and Justh faced several challenges while growing hemp, including importing and planting hemp seeds. (The first crop required a permit from the Drug Enforcement Administration and were planted under armed guard.)

Now, hes hoping itll be easier to access and use seeds from other states and countries under the new farm bill. Thats because the new legislation also removes hemp from the Schedule 1 controlled substance list, the same classification in which drugs like heroin, LSD and marijuana fall under.

Thank you Mother Nature for the bountiful hemp harvest. And @gianfortefarm for running your big green machine as always. Look for product launches featuring these very seeds over @eatonhemp #EatonHemp #JDFarms #OrganicHemp #Organic #Hemp #HempHarvest2018 #Harvest #Superfoods #SuperSeeds Posted by JD Farms on Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Gilbert Jenkins added that hemp is just like any other field crop now, meaning that farmers can apply for crop insurance. This is important because farmers are still new to growing hemp in various climates.

Its just like any new technologytheres always the first people who are willing to try out something new, and then theres people who lag behind because they want to see first if its safe, Gilbert Jenkins said. This is adding a bit of safety to it, and so itll increase the people who are willing to try it."

However, both Dolgin and Gilbert Jenkins dont expect these changes to come anytime soon, especially with last months government shutdown. The state is still waiting for the USDA to release specific parameters under the new farm bill, Conley explained. As of now, hemp growers must still follow guidelines created under the 2014 Farm Bill.

Despite the wait, hemp growers like Dolgin are excited for whats to come.

You want to add an alternative crop that is valuable and viable, especially in Upstate New York where the dairy industry isnt doing too well and people are going to find better uses for their land, he said. Hemp is a great alternative that is also ecologically friendly, has a lot of value and different market applications.
Syracuse NY - A new Latin Jazz project featuring Cayuga Community College faculty members and the College's Visiting Artist will bring Latin jazz to downtown's Jazz Central Theater. The "Cayuga Latin Jazz Project" will perform a free public show 7 p.m. on Friday February 22nd at Jazz Central, 441 E. Washington St., Syracuse. The group includes three members of the college's music faculty: Associate Professor of Music and Recording Arts Michael Cortese on drums, faculty members Rick Balestra on guitar and Andrew Carroll on piano, and the College's Spring 2019 Brunell Visiting Artist Mike Dubaniewicz on saxophone and flute. Completing the sextet's instrumentation are Chris Colabello on electric bass and Dave Donley on congas and percussion.

The group was formed to entertain and inform the public about Latin Jazz in all its forms in public and educational settings. "When we were approached to support this unique project, I immediately jumped at the chance to present them in Syracuse," said Larry Luttinger, CNY Jazz Executive Director. "These musicians are the very best at what they do, with long and distinguished resumes, every one, indicative of the quality arts training available to Cayuga Community College students. I can hardly wait to see what they've put together. What a strong concept, to tour regionally in support of their burgeoning performing arts curriculum."

The band will perform music by Latin jazz luminaries Ray Barretto, Michel Camilo, Paquito D'Rivera, Dizzy Gillespie, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Daniel Freiberg, among others.

Who: Cayuga Latin Jazz Project

Where: Jazz Central, 441 E. Washington St, Syracuse 13202

When: Friday February 22nd 7:00 pm

Tickets: FREE admission
Readers of all ages are invited to attend Seuss Saturday in Hamilton on March 2 with a focus on exploring all the places youll go in terms of potential careers and artistic pursuits.

The day kicks off at 10:30 a.m. at the Hamilton Public Library with the village of Hamilton mayor, RuthAnn Loveless, making a public declaration establishing Seuss Saturday 2019. Following the declaration attendees can enjoy reading of Oh, the Places Youll Go in conjunction with talks with librarians, a local author and reporter to learn about these careers as places you might go.

At 11:30 a.m. the Hamilton Movie Theater will be offering a free showing of Dr. Seuss on the Loose, a short animation hosted by The Cat in the Hat who introduces three stories: The Sneetches, The Zax and Green Eggs and Ham. From noon to 1 p.m., the Colgate Bookstore will host another opportunity to explore places you can go with members of the community speaking about their careers and offering interactive workshops, including a massage instructor, veterinarian, equine rehabilitation specialist, Friends of Rogers Environmental Education Center, first responders, among other guests.

Wrapping up the day, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Arts at the Palace, attendees can explore the places you might go in the arts with a presentation and workshop with local children from The Spot Dance Center, music and sing-along with a local musician, and an art project.

Admission to all programs and activities is free. Attendees can pick up a Seuss Saturday Passport at the Hamilton Public Library and collect stamps from all four events to win prizes.

"Duncan" book cover.

Retired Syracuse University professor Dennis McCort will be publishing his first novel this month -- a goal that came specifically from his years in academia.

...I taught the German novel for 40 years at SU (1968-2007), and when I retired I felt a sort of aesthetic obligation to try my own hand at the genre about which Id been shooting my mouth off for so long," he said. "I could analyze and criticize the novels of others, but could I take the same criticism as an author?

McCort says that Duncan, a thriller that follows the actions of a pedophiliac serial killer named Samuel Clause who goes by Santa, is the product of his lifelong addiction to suspense movies, thriller novels and scary campfire stories.

As Santa travels up the East Coast leaving devastation in his wake, readers are also introduced to the Driscoll family who live in a town in Upstate New York where they each try to overcome their own personal struggles, including young Nate who sees his stuffed gorilla, Duncan, as his only defense. As the two stories converge the tension of the thriller comes to a boiling point.

McCort shares in his book description that Duncan is a novel not only for readers addicted to thrill rides and maddening suspense, but also those who are curious about the abnormal psychology of the pedophiliac killer.

Duncan will be published on Feb. 26 and is currently available for pre-order from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Author events

David Lloyd author and poet, who is also director of Le Moynes creative writing program, will host a master class and public reading on Feb. 26 on the Wells College campus as part of the Wells College Visiting Writers Series. The master class, titled On Sestinas and Stories: Writing across Genres, will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the Faculty Parlors lounge, located on the first floor of the Colleges Main Building. The public reading will take place the same evening at 7:30 p.m. in the Art Exhibit Room, on the third floor of Macmillan Hall. Admission is free for both events, and all are welcome.

Wells College states that The Visiting Writers series presents several events each semester featuring authors who have distinguished themselves in poetry, fiction or nonfiction. These writers not only give public readings of their workthey also conduct writing workshops, participate in classes and discussions, and often hold individual conferences with interested student writers. The series is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. For more information about the series visit the Visiting Writers website.

The second half of the 2018-2019 Gifford Lecture Series presented by the Friends of the Central Library will kick off on March 4 with guest Louise Penny, author of a series of best-selling mystery novels centered around Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec. On April 2 author David Grann will be speaking about his upcoming book, The White Darkness. Grann received acclaim for his previous publication, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. And on May 7, the lecture series will conclude with Colm Toibin. Toibin has published many books but may be best known for his novel Brooklyn which was made into an award-nominated film in 2015.

All three of the events will be held at the John H. Mulroy Civic Center from 7:30 to 9 p.m. on the respective event dates. Tickets are still available through the Friends of the Central Library website, where you can also learn more about all the authors featured this season.

Have a book to share?

Are you a local author or have you come across a book set in Central New York? Tell us about it. Send a brief description of the book and the author and well add it as a candidate for coverage. Write us at features@syracuse.com.
UTICA, N.Y. -- A 46-year-old Utica man is accused of raping and impregnating a mentally disabled minor, according to New York State Police.

Roger C. Herne was charged with second-degree rape and third-degree rape, both felonies, according to state police.

Herne is accused of having sexual intercourse with a female under the age of 17 who is mentally disabled. As a result of the allegation, the victim gave birth to a child, state police said.

The rape allegedly occurred in March of 2017 in the city of Utica. Following a yearlong investigation, an arrest warrant was issued by Oneida County Court. Herne was then taken into custody Thursday by members from the Oneida County Sheriffs Warrants Unit, Utica Police Department and United States Marshals.

Herne was transported to the Oneida County Court and remanded to the Oneida County Jail on $50,000 cash or bond.

The victim was offered services through the Oneida County Child Advocacy Center. An order of protection was requested for the victim.
ROME, N.Y. -- An Oneida County man is accused of assaulting his 2-year-old son, Rome police said.

Brandon J. Shugars, 24, is accused of picking up the child by his ears and slamming his head through the sheetrock after the toddler went to the bathroom on the floor, police said.

Officers responded to a domestic dispute at Shugars residence in Rome. During the course of that investigation, officers inquired about injuries that were observed on the 2-year-old boy.

The child sustained multiple scrapes and bruises to the left side of his face and head. The boy was transported to Rome Memorial Hospital for treatment, police said.

Shugars was charged with misdemeanor charges of criminal obstruction of breathing and fourth-degree criminal mischief for the domestic dispute incident, police said. He was charged with second-degree assault, a felony, for the child abuse incident, police said.

Shugars is currently being held at the Oneida County Jail.
The victim went into the kitchen and, when he came out, there was a second person  he couldnt tell if it was a man or a woman  in his living room wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood over his or her head and dark sunglasses, according to the warrant. Both were holding handguns, and the second person  who police believe was Jenkins -- also had a knife, the victim told police.
FRANKFORT, N.Y. -- A Herkimer County man is facing child pornography charges after an investigation into inappropriate behavior" involving two Oneida County children, according to New York State Police.

Robert M. Corrigan, 49, of Frankfort, was charged with possessing a sexual performance of a child, a felony, according to Trooper Jack Keller, a spokesman for the state police.

The Oneida County Child Advocacy Center was investigating Corrigan due to allegations that he may have displayed some grooming habits towards two female juveniles, Keller said. Keller described the grooming habits as potentially inappropriate acts such as sleeping in bed with the children and photographing the children naked in the bathtub.

During the investigation by the advocacy center, Corrigan was found to be in possession of child pornography and was arrested on Tuesday, Keller said.

He was arraigned in Frankfort Village Court and taken to the Herkimer County Jail on $2,500 cash bail or bond. An order of protection was requested for both girls.

The children were offered services through the Oneida County Child Advocacy Center, a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary team that fights child abuse by providing services for child victims and aggressively pursuing offenders.
The suspect in the Chilis double homicide in DeWitt this fall is now facing the death penalty after he was charged today in federal court.

William Wood, 33, was charged with two counts of using a firearm in furtherance of a homicide and one count of interference with commerce by threats or violence during a robbery. The charges were revealed in a federal indictment unsealed in court this afternoon.

The death penalty was last considered in Central New York in the case of David Renz, who was convicted of raping a 10-year-old girl and killing Liverpool school librarian Lori Bresnahan after abducting them in the parking lot of Great Northern Mall in Clay. Federal officials ultimately decided against pursuing a death penalty case.

In the Chilis double murder, Wood is facing life in prison without parole if he is convicted of first-degree murder. He is accused of shooting and killing two workers at the Chilis restaurant on Erie Boulevard. Kristopher Hicks and Stephen Gudknecht died in what law enforcement officials have said was a robbery for $875.

DA Bill Fitzpatrick, who is prosecuting the state case, said he was in touch with U.S. Attorney Grant Jacquith, whose office is handling the federal charges, the day after the murders.

Four others have also been charged in connection with the case.

He appeared in court today before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge David Peebles. Wood was led into the courtroom in an Onondaga County Justice Center jumpsuit and shackles. He is represented by Randi Bianco of the Federal Public Defenders Office.

Bianco entered a not guilty plea on Woods behalf.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Fletcher appeared as the prosecutor. Asked by the judge to read the charges and maximum penalties against Wood, Fletcher said he was facing up to 20 years on the interference with commerce count, and faced the death penalty on the two firearms charged.

If the U.S. Attorneys Office chooses to seek the death penalty against Wood, it would have to apply to the U.S. Department of Justice Capital Case Review Process. That means newly-appointed U.S. Attorney General William Barr would have to sign off before prosecutors could pursue the death penalty.

The Associated Press reported months ago there has been an uptick in federal death penalty cases under the Trump administration over the last two years. Still, executions in federal cases are rare. Only three inmates have been executed for federal crimes in the U.S. since 1988, when federal capital punishment was restored by Congress.

Wood is being held at the Syracuse jail without bail on the state charges. He waived his right to a bail hearing on the federal charges.

Public Affairs Reporter Julie McMahon covers federal courts, government and issues affecting taxpayers. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Four Syracuse men and one Bronx man have been charged for their roles in a heroin and fentanyl distribution ring, according to a Thursday release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of New York.

The five men were caught with more than 2 kilograms of heroin, which was broken into 62,000 individual bags, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

The five men are accused of being part of a heroin distribution ring, which trafficked drugs from New York City to Syracuse, according to two criminal complaints filed in the Northern District of New York.

The following five men were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl:

Gavin Ballog, 29, Syracuse

Yan Morales, 29, Syracuse

Brian Morales, 28, Syracuse

Juan Santa, 27, Syracuse

Jesus Manuel Lopez Mendez, 34, the Bronx

Ballog, Yan Morales, Bryan Morales and Santa were arrested and charged on Feb. 2, officials said. Lopez Mendez had been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement when he was arrested and charged Thursday, they said.

The five were also caught with two handguns, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

The five men have appeared in federal court in Syracuse and are being held without bail. If convicted the men face 10 years to life in prison, a fine of up to $10,000,000 and at least 5 years of supervised release.
MORRISVILLE, N.Y. -- Two ducks were found dead and a woman was charged with animal cruelty Thursday after she didnt give them proper food or water, according to New York State police.

Ciara A. Neil, 35, of Morrisville, faces eight counts of animal cruelty after she didnt give six chickens and two ducks proper water or food, police said.

The ducks were found dead on Neils property on Williams Road in Munnsville, police said.

She has been issued an appearance ticket and is set to appear in Town of Stockbridge Court on Feb. 28 at 6 p.m., police said.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- More people flew in and out of Syracuse Hancock International Airport in 2018 than in any year since 2007, despite a construction project that disrupted vehicle and pedestrian flow for much of the year.

Passenger traffic totaled 2.32 million for the year, a nearly 12 percent increase from 2017, according to the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority.

It was the highest passenger count at the airport since 2.36 million people flew in and out in 2007. The Great Recession struck in 2008, depressing air travel. Passenger traffic hit a low of 1.98 million in 2012.

Airport director Christina Callahan said new service from low-cost carriers drove much of the increase last year.

Frontier Airlines began operating at the airport in July and currently flies to three Florida cities -- Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa. It also flies to Denver and Raleigh/Durham, N.C., seasonally.

In November, Allegiant Air added flights to Punta Gorda, Fla. It also flies to St. Petersburg and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and will start service to Sarasota, Fla., in April.

Bringing in additional destinations stimulated a lot of new traffic, Callahan said. Were seeing new, organic growth. Were not seeing Delta passengers now flying on Frontier or American passengers now flying on Allegiant. Were seeing net new passengers.

The airport completed a $62.4 million renovation of the passenger terminal in October. The road in front of the terminal was closed for much of the work, forcing vehicles to take detours and requiring pedestrians to maneuver around the construction, both in and outside the building.

Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
Sen. Carrico, a longtime friend of the family and a onetime state trooper, was among the about 1,500 people who attended Dowells funeral, which was held at Chilhowie Christian Church last Saturday.

Trooper Dowell was the departments 66th line of duty death.

He was a Chilhowie High School and Radford University graduate. Dowell graduated the Virginia State Polices 122nd Basic Session in November 2014. Since graduation he has been assigned to the Virginia State Police Appomattox Division; his latest assignment was on patrol in Area 20, which encompasses the City of Lynchburg and Amherst and Campbell counties. He has been a member of the Appomattox Division Tactical Team - the equivalent of a SWAT Team  since 2015.

The General Assembly was already in the process of adopting a resolution in honor of Dowells life and service.

Dowell is survived by his parents, Mike and Becky Dowell, and his sister, Erica, among other family members.
The unofficial Mayor of Max Meadows, Dunford was well-known in town and a fixture at the local convenience store, where customers often bought him beer and cigarettes.

Puckett arrested Dunford at the Max Meadows post office on Nov. 4. The previous day, after receiving reports of someone defecating in the post office lobby, the deputy told Dunford to stay away from the post office.

In his incident report, Puckett said he suspected Dunford was going to run so he used a one-step technique to take him down. According to the report, Dunford was taken to the Wythe County Sheriffs Office, where the Wythe County Rescue Squad checked him out.

Puckett then took Dunford before a magistrate and obtained warrants for trespassing and obstruction of justice. Dunford was then transported to the New River Valley Jail.

According to jail Superintendent Gregory Winston, Dunford entered the jail at 7:12 a.m. He was released from jail on bond at 6:59 p.m. Winston said Dunford was offered medical services when he arrived and again around lunchtime. He could not provide specifics about any medical treatment because health information about inmates is protected.
The woman testified that Linaburg had sex with her even though she told him to stop.

She said Linaburg threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the attack.

On July 26, the woman told a motel manager that she was assaulted and the manager called the Wytheville Police Department.

Officer Kelly White said Linaburg told him he knew why he had come to the motel, but said he was being given false information.

White later arrested Linaburg after a second woman accused Linaburg of a sexual assault in December 2018.

The officer said Linaburg eventually admitted to being in the motel room with the first woman but said the sex was consensual.

Linaburg was charged with aggravated sexual battery related to the December 2018 accusation, but that charge was dropped on Thursday.

Commonwealths Attorney Mike Jones said the woman had moved out of state and refused to return to court. In fact, Thursdays hearing had been continued twice as the commonwealth tried to get both of its accusers to show up for the preliminary hearing.
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Most foreign patients, who choose to treat infertility in ISIDA clinic in Ukraine, come to us for IVF programs with donation of eggs. It is not surprising, because nowadays the efficiency of these programs is really high  up to 75%. This high rate is achieved due to the use of healthy donor eggs, which make it possible to obtain embryos with high implant potential.

In which case doctors recommend doing IVF with eggs donation? Sometimes they have no other choice than to diagnose the absence of healthy, suitable for fertilization eggs. For example, one possible obstacle that destroys your hopes of having healthy pregnancy with genetically native children may be hereditary diseases. In this, as well as in a number of other situations, doctors recommend having IVF with donor eggs.

The egg donation program is completely anonymous. For those patients who need IVF with egg donation, ISIDA clinic selects donor from own database, which includes more than 860 candidates. All of them undergo careful selection, detailed medical and psychological examination. ISIDA clinic guarantees that the donor will be as close as possible to the patient's phenotypic characteristics and blood group. Usually, when choosing a donor, such factors as height, weight, hair and eye color, nationality, education, family and children status, blood type and Rh factor are considered.

There are also quite strict requirements and restrictions in relation to the health of the future donor, namely:

 the age of the female donor should be in between of 18-32 years;

 the donor must already have healthy children, at least one child;

 the absence of negative phenotypic malfunctions is another requirement for the donor;

 a potential egg donor must also have satisfactory somatic health.

ISIDA`s medical staff applies all their knowledge and experience while fighting for the most important thing - the birth of healthy children. Every day, we strive to become even better and improve the level of the services provided in the interests of our patients, while adhering to the European protocols of treatment and maintaining an individual approach to each patient. Diagnosis and treatment of infertility in ISIDA involves application of all modern medical technics and methods, and one of the latest innovations in clinic is refined approach to IVF programs with donor oocytes, which guarantee obtaining the exact number of blastocysts.

ISIDA clinic offers the following programs with egg donation:

1. In vitro fertilization (IVF) with your own donor oocytes (when choosing this program, you must specify the relations between the donor and future parents);

2. In vitro fertilization (IVF) with donor oocytes (at least 2 blastocysts guaranteed);

3. In vitro fertilization (IVF) with vitrified donor oocytes (at least 2 blastocysts guaranteed) with medications for the recipient.

IVF programs with eggs donation include the following services:

 consultation with a doctor during the entire treatment period;

 synchronization of donor and patient cycles;

 preparation of the recipient for pregnancy. Controlled ovarian donor stimulation;

 ultrasound and hormonal monitoring throughout the treatment;

 puncture of follicles and aspiration of donor oocytes;

 oocyte fertilization (ICSI) and embryo culture;

 single embryo transfer during the treatment cycle;

 one-day hospital stay after puncture of follicles and embryo transfer;

 pregnancy diagnosis: blood test for HCG and ultrasound.

It is important for us that our patients always feel themselves in reliable hands! Therefore, you can be sure  if you try treatment with egg donation, you will get certain result of at least 2 or 4 embryos, therefore, your chances of having successful IVF program will increase significantly choosing ISIDA.

Contact us!

Phone: +380 (44) 455 88 14; (044) 490-95-24

Viber: +380 (67) 333 88 14

Skype: ISIDA International

Address: 65, Vatslava Gavela Blvd, Kyiv, Ukraine

https://isida-ivf.com
Boat racing is a long-standing sport held by Huong Thuy residents on the Lunar New Year (Tet) to pray for favourable weather, abundant crops and peace. This years event brought together more than 400 athletes, divided into ten teams, from communes and wards across the town.

According to Vice Chairman of the Huong Thuy town Peoples Committee Do Xuan Giao, the festival aims to preserve the traditional sport event of the locality, while encouraging the people to eagerly exercise and enhance fitness in service of production activities.

Following are some photos of the boat racing festival.

The participating teams compete fiercely on Vuc River.

* On the morning of February 13, thousands of locals and tourists rushed to the mountainous commune of An Xuan, in Tuy An district, to join the animated atmosphere of the traditional horse race on Thi Thung hill, a revolutionary base of Phu Yen province.

The festival opens on the ninth day of the first lunar month at the Thi Thung hill tunnel national historical relic. This is one of the two remaining traditional horse races in Vietnam and has become a favourite cultural and sporting event among many locals and tourists, from both at home and abroad.

This years tournament featured 32 amateur horsemen from five communes across the two districts of Tuy An and Dong Hoa. Notably, the participating horses are not professional, but are those used for carrying agricultural products everyday, which has created a unique and exciting feature for the race.

After eight laps, horseman Nguyen Thanh Trung, from Tuy An districts An Hiep commune, was the first to reach the finishing line, together with the horse no. 1.
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We dont hesitate to get a can out to zap the buggers, or pour pesticides all over our precious plants.

But theyre little things that make a big impact, and a large part of why the worlds insects are hurtling down the path to extinction.

The first global scientific meta-analysis, published in the Biological Conservation journal, looked at 73 studies conducted around the world.

More than 40 per cent of insect species are declining - and the rate of extinction is about eight times faster than that affecting birds, mammals and reptiles. Based on current trends, insects could be extinct within a century.

There is currently no formal research to suggest this is happening in New Zealand, however, Bug Man Ruud Kleinpaste says it could well be a glimpse into our future.

This is something that has been going on for a long time, so this does not come as a surprise at all, says Ruud.

At this stage, there is no evidence that the same things are happening in New Zealand, he says. I wouldnt be surprised if it was happening here, but maybe not to the scale youd find in places where there are so many people and so many alterations of the environment.

Ruud says he knows of many scientists who are collecting data in New Zealand, but is unaware of when this data will be released.

I know of many people who are doing splatter tests, which is one of the quickest ways of collecting our insect populations.

By getting into your car in Tauranga and driving all the way to Queenstown, you can identify the number of species on your windscreen and the number plate and do it again each year.

This gives you an indication of whether the insect populations are going up or down.

Like it or not, insects run the planet alongside fungi and bacteria. If the population of insects does decline, this could affect the complete ecosystem of New Zealand.

Ruud says if we have fewer insects, birds will not have as much to eat, pollination will be at risk and, in seven years time, we will be under 10ft of poo, because there will be no insects to remove it.

Insects also do seed dispersal and composting, he says. They are predatory, so they carry out pest control, and insects keep the balance of populations down by carrying disease.

Currently, New Zealand has one of the least modified ecosystems on the planet he says, but that doesnt mean we shouldnt change the way we do things.

We are quickly stuffing it up, says Ruud. There are too many people to the square metre, economic growth and development is taking over, were still not very good at keeping our native ecosystems intact and were still using too many poisons in New Zealand.

Even if its not happening yet in such a dramatic fashion, there is no doubt that if its happening somewhere else, it will eventually happen here.
Click the image above to watch the video

Children with fireworks are suspected of starting a scrub fire in Gate Pa overnight.

The blaze in Humber Crescent was reported just after 9pm and was under control by around 10pm.

A resident claims youngsters with fireworks started the fire, officials are investigating.

A bystander at the scene told SunLive hed seen children lighting fireworks, then the scrub fire broke out. The witness says he stopped them early and prevented more fireworks being lit.

Police and several fire trucks, including a tanker, attended the scene.

The fire was at the end of the street in a public reserve.




The Ministry for Primary Industries says New Zealand's primary products are continuing to clear the border in China as usual.

This follows recent reports suggesting delays.

There is scrutiny on China for signs of retaliation against exporters as a result of a block put in December, on Chinese company Huawei, supplying 5G mobile technology to Spark.

That came after the Governments spy agency the GCSB advised the 5G mobile technology of Huawei could be used by China to spy on New Zealand.

Now New Zealands biggest seafood exporter Sanford has come out saying it is experiencing administrative issues thats causing delays in getting its salmon shipments cleared through Chinese ports since the end of January.

MPI's director market access, Tim Knox, says New Zealand products continue to be cleared into China.

"We have not received indication of anything out of the ordinary in China's border clearance procedures for New Zealand products, says Tim.

New Zealand has an extensive trading relationship with China, valued at more than $28 billion a year.

As with any large trading relationship, temporary technical trade issues can occur from time to time with products at the border.

Each month China Customs publishes a list of food import non-compliances that have led to product rejection at the Chinese border.

No New Zealand product appeared on the latest December 2018 list.

Non-compliances concerning New Zealand products in 2018 were the lowest since monitoring began.

"There are established mechanisms for resolving temporary technical trade issues, which includes working constructively with Chinese authorities and exporters.

"The overall picture is one of a significant trade relationship working effectively, in both directions."
Brian Rogers

Rogers Rabbits

www.sunlive.co.nz

The big news this week: The North Pole is moving. Scientists have released an updated position for True North.

And this is where it gets confusing.

Because True North has not moved, only Magnetic North.

But because magnetic is used to locate True, then True is not truly where Magnetic suggests it might be, nearby.

Im not sure whether anyone has told Santa Claus about this, and he will have some serious mail re-direction issues ahead of him.

As if he didnt have enough to contend with, battling the Polar Vortex.

Magnetic meanderings

Apparently the North Pole has been moving so fast that scientists have released the updated position a year ahead of schedule.

The Earths North Magnetic Pole is wandering about 55km a year. It crossed the international dateline a couple of years ago, moving away from the Canadian Arctic and towards Siberia.

But Magnetic North is not the same as True North - its the shell be right version and the variation differs, depending on where you are on Earth.

So the actual pole may still be in the usual place but the Magnetic Pole, which has sort of conveniently been located more or less in the same neighbourhood, is not being so helpful any more.

Donald Trump wont be happy about the implications for True North, and is likely to call it Fake North. Despite the fact its not True Norths fault; its humans who decided True and Magnetic were close enough to use one to find the other.

It clearly has affected Mr Trumps moral compass.

Wildlife wandering

It has upset the wildlife, such as bears not knowing which of the two poles they should reference their lives around. Some have been diagnosed as bi-polar bears.

This week polar bears have also been in the news, because climate change is supposedly forcing them to wander the streets. Theyve lost their bearings.

This reminds of a story my Dad told me: How do you trap a polar bear? Dig a hole in the ice, and when the bear comes along and bends over and looks inside, you poke him in the ice hole.

Shifty science

Youd think all the people of Poland will be getting a bit agitated, too. Theres no way of knowing where this madness will stop.

It also raises questions about the South Pole, according to my astute knowledge of science. And I know quite a lot, because my brother and I got a microscope when I was nine.

If you shift the top pole, the bottom one may move as well. Moving the poles will affect a whole lot of people around the world, but none more so than Desiree at Showgirls, who relies on a fixed pole for her dance routine. It will get pretty messy if all the poles start moving around willy nilly during her session.

Star crossed

If the North Pole is cruising around, the perceived position of the South Pole is therefore moving, and this creates problems for the stars. It may explain why the Southern Cross is, well, cross.

You would be, if youd spent hundreds of millions of years burning in the sky to show people where to find south, only to hear that some other pole on the other side of the world is getting flaky and ruining your star maps.

Maybe the Southern star group should be renamed the Angry and Cross.

Naki attacky

In other loosely-connected science news, the Met Service rain radar showed some peculiar images this week.

Theres either an anomaly with the radar, or the aliens are attacking.

The rain radar this week showed unusual beams across the North Island.

It could be that New Plymouth, long suspected of hosting aliens, has finally launched the attack of death rays aimed directly at the Bay of Plenty.

Ive spent a bit of time in the west and theyve always been a strange bunch in the Naki, seeming to come from another time and place - another planet, or solar system, or maybe even the 1970s.

The death ray beams stretched directly from New Plymouth right across the North Island. We suspect the rays emanate from the ludicrous wind wand, which is a clever disguise for a death ray gun.

If that is the case, and if the wind wand has a practical use, my perception of the Taranaki people goes up a notch because it sure as hell doesnt have any artistic merit.


the complete review - literary history



The Shahnameh



by

Hamid Dabashi



general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

Title: The Shahnameh Author: Hamid Dabashi Genre: Non-fiction Written: 2019 Length: 232 pages Availability: The Shahnameh - US The Shahnameh - UK The Shahnameh - Canada The Persian Epic as World Literature

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Our Assessment:

B : admirably enthusiastic advocacy, but gets a bit too wrapped up in (academic) debates over 'world literature' See our review for fuller assessment.



Review Summaries Source Rating Date Reviewer Publishers Weekly . 26/11/2018 .



From the Reviews :

"Whether he succeeds in his ambition "to alter the very notion of world literature," his book will surely drive readers to seek out the poem for themselves." - Publishers Weekly

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review 's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

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The complete review 's Review : In The Shahnameh, Hamid Dabashi wants to make the case for this literary classic that is probably not that well-known to most readers, the Persian epic completed by Ferdowsi in 1010. Dabashi repeatedly writes about his classroom experiences teaching the Shahnameh, introducing it to a new audience, and he brings much of that cheerleading enthusiasm to this book -- as well as his obviously deeply informed familiarity with the text, in its original and English translation. He has admirably great ambitions here, too: By the end of my book, I hope you will rush to read the Shahnameh in the best translation available in your mother tongue, and even if you didn't then through my book you will gain a solid and reliable command over what the book is all about and why people consider it a world-class epic, and what sorts of lesson it has to teach us even today. I will read the Shahnameh with you, place you in its history, tell you about its author, guide you through its illustrious labyrinth, and then we sit down together and wonder at its magic. Dabashi (admirably) likes to spell things out, and so he also explains early on: I intend to write my book in a very simple and widely accessible prose for colleagues, students, and other educated readers alike, inviting them to enter this amazing book and find their own whereabouts in the bosom of its wonders. To facilitate the widest possible reach of my book I intend to follow a simple progression of chapters in a straightforward roadmap. The complicated emotions and deeply dramatic events will do the trick themselves. For all his good intentions, the academic in him apparently will out, the promised 'very simple and widely accessible prose' drifting off (or leaping off a cliff ...) into academic jargon for stretches at a time (having mostly to do with a critique of/debate about (the definition(s)) of 'world literature' he gets quite worked up over). This makes The Shahnameh a work that, while helpfully introducing the general reader to the Shahnameh also does get a bit academically specialized (which may frustrate the general reader, 'well educated' or not).

Dabashi's text does dive deep into much of the work, and presents a good overview of both it and its place, specifically in Persian literature and history (as also, as happens with (national) epics, regimes try to use it for their own purposes); beyond that (and arguably getting slightly (or more ...) off track), he uses it to make the case -- at considerable length -- for a reconception of (the apparently academic category/field/notion of) 'world literature'.

Dabashi can fairly easily convey the significance of the Shahnameh in Persian culture -- and not just by noting that one of his sons is: "named after a Shahnameh hero" (a still widespread phenomenon in Iran). It is a monumental work that Persian readers have engaged with for the past thousand years, and continues to have an important place in contemporary Persian culture; as Dabashi puts it, it: "is no antiquarian relic. It is a living organism". It is in many ways also a fundamental text -- including, as Dabashi notes: Ferdowsi did not just preserve the Persian language with this epic undertaking. He in effect crafted that language and made it possible. While giving a good overview of the stories it contains, Dabashi perhaps doesn't do quite enough to try to convey the sheer magnitude of the work -- or the limitations facing specifically readers-in-English when trying to access it. At more than fifty thousand couplets, it is an immense work (the Iliad and Odyssey combined have just over 27,000 (shorter) lines). Dabashi does note that most readers come to it in translation, and takes into account some of the implications of that -- but then devotes surprisingly little space to considering what options they have, and what they involve.

Dabashi understandably relies on and refers to mainly Dick Davis' Shahnameh (first published in three volumes, 1997-2004; now conveniently available as a 1000-page Penguin Classics volume), and lauds Davis as the work's "best translator". He does, however, note some of that version's inadequacies, expressing disappointment that Davis did not, for example, include the prolegomena ("It is like going to see a Mozart opera and suddenly realizing that the conductor has opted to dispense with the overture !") and did not translate the repeated 'admonitions' (a feature Davis: "alas considers boring"), changing some of the feel of the text. Interestingly, Dabashi does not focus much on a more fundamental change -- Davis presenting the translation largely in prose, with only occasional shorter sections in verse --, the consequences of which readers coming to the work in English might be more interested in/concerned about. (Indeed, Dabashi specifically notes Ferdowsi took familiar stories and re-presented them in poetry, and wonders: "what does it mean to say that these stories existed before and that Ferdowsi put them into poetry ?" He also goes on to suggest, for example, that: "The enduring poetry dismantles the politics of its prosaic intention". That would seem to leave rather an elephant-in-the-room sized question of what it means to re-present that in prose in the English rendering .....)

Disappointingly, too, Dabashi does not discuss alternative English translations at any length, in particular Reuben Levy's very condensed prose version (1967), which was, until Davis' translation came out, the only readily accessible popular version (it was long the only English-language version I had access to) -- and, I suspect, as such quite influential (and, of course, misleading in how very miniaturized it presented the epic) --, while the Warner-brothers' (Arthur George and Edmond) massive (nine-volume !) verse translation (1905-1925) aren't discussed as possible alternatives to the Davis version. (The Warners seem to get short shrift everywhere, and one wonders whether the lack of (especially critical and scholarly) success of that translation impacted the reception of the Shahnameh generally (in the English-speaking world) in the twentieth-century.) (For a good introductory overview of the English translations of the Shahnameh, see the Encyclopdia Iranica entry.)

It's all the more surprising that Dabashi does not examine more closely the texts available to foreign readers because he is so very well aware of how significant this issue is -- noting that: One of the main culprits in domesticating, nativizing, exoticizing, and thereby categorically alienating and deworlding the Shahnameh from itself and its readers is in fact this bizarre phrase of making it accessible to "the Western reader" when translating it into English. Who exactly is this "Western reader" facing a translated Shahnameh ? What sort of a creature might that be ? He makes a good point -- illustrated also with examples from his classroom -- how the experience and background readers bring to the text play a role in the reading -- but it's also something that could be explored at considerably greater length (taking into account also the issue of the forms different translations take in trying to make it accessible).

Dabashi does trace some of the literary antecedents to Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, but gives only a limited sense of these; his treatment of Ferdowsi's version as the be-all and end-all has some appeal, but readers less familiar with the culture out of which it arose might wish for more about this. Dabashi does a better job of placing it in its historical context and position -- the political situation, then and also later -- but the literary environment remains fuzzier -- with Dabashi given to grandiose pronouncements such as: Like a towering cypress tree rising from fertile ground, Ferdowsi's Shahnameh remains a landmark sign of an entire political and literary history that had anticipated it. Little is known about the author, which mostly suits Dabashi, who wants to focus on the text per se -- an admirable try-to-ignore-the-author approach that he argues in this case hasn't been pushed nearly far enough yet: The study of the Shahnameh in fact needs to progress exactly in the opposite direction, not taxing it to squeeze nonexistent biographical data about Ferdowsi (more than is possible or trustworthy) but toward a renewed attempt at coming to terms with the work's literary character, its poetic disposition, and above all its dramatic idiomaticity. Yet, again, additional context -- especially literary context -- regarding Ferdowsi, such as more about the literature and general culture he might have been exposed to, would have been helpful. As is, Dabashi's very sweeping pronouncements sometimes get him in trouble, undermining some of his claims and arguments. Did he or did he not know Arabic or Pahlavi ? This is like asking if Shakespeare or Dante or Goethe knew Greek and Latin. Perhaps they did, perhaps they did not. How does that probable knowledge or ignorance add or subtract from the force and elegance of their respective poetry or gift of storytelling ? These are biographical questions that might occasion some convoluted scholarly debates but add very little, if anything at all, to our understanding of Ferdowsi's poetry. If he means to convince through his comparison to the presumably-meant-to-be-relatable/familiar (to his 'Western' readers) examples (Shakespeare, Dante, Goethe) he fails completely. Presumably, he chose these three (Western) giants because he sees their work -- certainly Shakespeare's plays and poems as a totality and Dante's Divine Comedy -- as comparably defining their creators, as he argues the Shahnameh does Ferdowsi (which might do for Shakespeare, is debatable for Dante, and is hard to argue for the super-prolific Goethe). Presumably, also, Dabashi is alluding to Ben Johnson's observation about Shakespeare, that he had: "small Latin and less Greek". Dabashi's claim is fair enough, perhaps, regarding Shakespeare. As to Dante, it sounds a bit silly: after all, Dante also wrote extensively in Latin, while his use of the vernacular in the Divine Comedy is, in no small part, a reaction to Latin(-as-literary-language), expanding the concept of the literary/poetic into the vernacular, making it both a foundational and defining work in a way similar to what Dabashi seems to argue for the Shahnameh and the Persian language. Indeed, surely it's unthinkable not to consider the Divine Comedy's poetry (and 'gift of storytelling') in relation to the language not chosen, Latin. (Dante's lack of Greek -- and lack of access to original sources -- also seems clearly evident from the Divine Comedy and its treatment of Greek literary references, such as Inferno 26 (about Ulysses); this, too, seems relevant -- and is surely a fascinating chapter in the story of the transmission of literature (Dante living in a time when (original) Greek literature was not widely accessible or circulated).)

More troublingly, Dabashi's casual suggestion that Goethe perhaps knew Latin and/or Greek or perhaps didn't suggests he has not engaged very closely with Goethe's understanding of and engagement with world literature. Given how critical Dabashi is of what he presents as the Goethean conception of world literature, this is problematic. Certainly, Goethe's ambit was limited -- and extremely Eurocentric. However, Goethe's reading was extensive -- and included a great deal of original (rather than translated) material. In keeping with the German schooling (of the elite) of the day, he of course learnt Latin and Greek, and his continued engagement with classical Greek literature (including translating from it) suggests a very strong command of the language. (He also was fluent -- certainly in reading -- in French, English, and Italian; he seems to have made some stabs at Hebrew as well, though it's unclear how far he got with that.) Aside from familiarity with the literatures of all these languages, in both translation but especially the original, Goethe was also clearly influenced by the foreign: his exercises in translation were also a means for him to experiment with language and poetry, while his reading of foreign texts taught him or inspired new tricks that he could apply in his own writing, not so much synthesizing the foreign, but building on it. For Goethe, 'world literature' was an active concept -- the texts something to use in his own writing -- rather than just a passive one (to read, and perhaps analyze and compare texts, or consider them literary-historically) and he was surely among the foremost practitioners of using specifically and distinctively foreign literatures in his own. (Of authors of the pre-post-colonial age (very roughly, before 1945) Joyce is among the few who similarly sweepingly actively digested the foreign, though he was much more purely linguistically-focused than Goethe -- and arguably his ambit was considerably more limited (and specifically Eurocentric) than Goethe's.) Faust, The Sorrows of Young Werther, and much else may seem like works of pure, individual poetic genius, but Goethe's (extensive) writings are unthinkable without the immense body of (foreign-language as well as German) literature he was familiar with and engaged with; yes, (some of) the individual works can stand, or at least be considered, on their own, and apart, but certainly in examining Goethe's work as a whole (and it is a very big whole -- an order of magnitude larger than Dante's (whose, in turn, however, also extends considerably beyond just the Divine Comedy)) this background is nothing less than foundational.

Dabashi suggests Ferdowsi's familiarity with Arabic and/or Pahlavi is immaterial to appreciation of the Shahnameh. Perhaps so -- but his suggestion that Dante's and Goethe's language-background have little to do with their masterpieces is mistaken, and one suspects there might be some value to a closer understanding of just what Ferdowsi was familiar with as well. The fact that so little of Ferdowsi's biography is known plays into Dabashi's hand of claiming the work is all that matters; of course the same can be said for Homer -- yet that doesn't mean that (as much) knowledge (as possible) about Homer's life and background, isn't helpful in appreciating his work. But clearly Dabashi sees things differently: the exaggerated anxiety over the oral and written sources of inspiration for the Shahnameh has been at considerable cost to the integrity of the text as singular act of creative consistency. Today we no longer worry much about the historical sources of Shakespeare's dramas, nor should we be any more attentive to the textual and oral sources of Ferdowsi's stories. Dabashi allows for some contexts -- political and historic, as well as the Persian tradition of the epic -- but tends towards presenting the Shahnameh, at least in its creative respects, as a work of genius ab nihilo; one suspects there's considerably more to say about the contexts of Ferdowsi's work -- specifically the works he was, and might have been familiar with -- than Dabashi allows for. (Interestingly, Dabashi repeatedly complains about how overlooked the Shahnameh has been outside Persia/Iran -- and specifically in academia; one would imagine familiarizing ('outside') readers with the literary and cultural contexts -- the what-led-up-to-it -- would, in fact, be tremendously helpful in making the case for the significance of Ferdowsi's accomplishment (as opposed to Dabashi's approach, which almost tends towards one of just-consider-the-text, almost in a vacuum).

One interesting way of seeing the Shahnameh Dabashi proposes is its way of seeing, as he argues for the "visuality" of the Shahnameh's "dramatic mechanism", suggesting: Ferdowsi has a cinematographic mind. His mind works like a camera, his poetry reads like a script, his hemstichs and lines cut, frame by frame, edit, sequence by sequence, with the most impeccable precision and flow. The result is the primacy of the visual over the verbal. He gives some examples of this -- though some avisual readers (like myself -- I can't picture a thing; I digest and appreciate description, but it doesn't come (visually) to life in my mind's eye) might not be fully on board. As he notes also, the Shahnameh is particularly well-known for its illustrated editions, pictures to go along with the story, which certainly brings to mind the visual -- but the additional step of seeing it as cinematic is perhaps also, in part, an effort to help make the text relatable to a contemporary audience, who might be able to think in such terms (as the Shahnameh's audience simply couldn't for the first nine centuries of its existence, since there was no such thing as film). Indeed, Dabashi several times uses contemporary examples as glosses -- "imagine her as Brienne of Tarth if you are a Game of Thrones fan", he suggests.

In introducing the significant stories and storylines from the Shahnameh Dabashi gives a good taste and overview of what is found there. While he notes how impressive Ferdowsi's use of language is he tacitly acknowledges that most of his readers will only come to it second-hand, in translation, and so he focuses more on effect and the larger picture of the epic. He is at particular pains to situate the Shahnameh as a unique -- and also for that reason significant -- epic -- which also brings him to the other main object his book: to rage against the popular-academic conception of 'world literature' and to look for a new one (with, of course, the Shahnameh in central position).

This is a strange sort of debate, and presumably appreciation of what Dabashi does here depends where you're coming from. As someone reading and writing from well without the academy, even his premise -- that the Shahnameh is not included, much less treated appropriately, in the corpus of 'world literature' -- comes as a complete surprise (and does not reflect the reading-world and -community I inhabit). Dabashi notes repeatedly how the Shahnameh, and other 'non-Western epics' are left out of academic works on the subject of 'world literature', and notes how completely Eurocentric the concept remains; presumably, this is an accurate reflection of the field -- but that is also just the 'field', and influential though that is, there's also something of the ivory tower to it. (Indeed, much of this debate reads like those about the vogue of French literary theory, which rarely seemed to relate closely to most readers' real-world experience of reading.) It would never have occurred to me not to consider the Shahnameh, or the Mahabharata or Ramayana, as 'world literature', ever since I've been aware of them (say, my mid-teens -- i.e. some forty years ago). Admittedly, they never featured in the least when I studied literature in the academy (B.A., in comparative literature, Brown University, 1985) -- but then very little literature did: theory and actual books-you-read are very different things there; my 'literary' reading as a college student was 90+% extracurricular (god bless university libraries !).

This (scholarly) world Dabashi writes from is apparently also a place where: Here we must be clear: the only reason anybody cares to read what these Western European or North American scholars think of what they call "World literature" is that they write their speculations in English, or in French or German, or some other tongue they believe is a "European language." If they did so in Arabic, Persian, Bengali, or Chinese nobody would care less what they fantasize or insist on calling "World literature." This, too, is a foreign world to me. I would love to read what those writing in Arabic, Persian, Bengali, or Chinese have to say about world literature. To the extent I have, however, I have only found it deeply local-centric (Chinese literary history which barely peeks beyond the borders) or positioning itself in relation to 'Western' literature (so, for example, Japanese writers on the subject, from Natsume Soseki to Mizumura Minae -- whereby Japan of course also falls into the colonialist camp for a significant modern period (cf. early and mid-twentieth century fiction from Korea and Taiwan ...). Similarly, most African writing on world literature I have read (e.g. Taban Lo Liyong or Ngugi wa Thiong'o) write (these books) in the colonizers languages. Among the few alternatives -- not mentioned by Dabashi -- is the Soviet approach to 'world literature', certainly also a problematic one, and 'imperialist' in its own way, but at least suggesting a broader (well, very limited, but limited in an entirely different way) concept of 'world literature', and introducing readers to a very different reading (and collection) of literary works. (Dabashi is right to criticize the ideological (ab)use of the Shahnameh by, for example, regimes in modern Iran and indeed to be put off by ideological reading generally -- hence not even bothering with the Soviet approach -- ; nevertheless, it does offer another way of considering and indeed another world of 'world literature'.)

Dabashi's bashing of Western academic 'world literature' -- a term, in italics and in scare quotes, he repeats (presumably for that very reason) ad nauseam -- is emphatic and relentless. He has no tolerance for it, denouncing it as: childish and juvenile. It is simply astonishing how long this world has gone without realizing its own vacuity. Only an imperial hubris could have so sustained it. Today the Eurocentric world has theorized itself into universal nullity. It is clueless about other worlds it has not just ignored but also in fact concealed. He is similarly unimpressed by attempts to token-expand this 'world literature' by integrating 'outside' works into the received definition (amusingly suggesting of the scholars engaging in such exercises that: "the more they do so the more they appear like the Christopher Columbus or the Indiana Jones of literary theory"), and does make the valuable suggestion that the object should not be to convince Western academia of the worth of the Shahnameh (so that they can slot it in their system), but rather to look entirely beyond and bring it to a much broader audience (including making it: "meaningful and significant to people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America"), and bringing it to them specifically not refracted though the Western lens of what is 'world literature'. So: My purpose here, as is quite evident, shares that sentiment and completely dismisses that plea to bring the Shahnameh into the pantheon of this "World Literature" as it is theorized today. My first and foremost purpose is once and for all to dismantle the very idea of "World Literature" as we have received it, from Goethe to [David] Damrosch and beyond, and put the masterpieces of world and worldly literatures outside any scare quotes, after we have ascertained why it is that they are masterpieces, on an equal footing for a renewed global reading on the fertile ground of what Spivak rightly calls "the death of a discipline." So also Dabashi explicitly tries to situate the Shahnameh as worthy -- specifically by differentiating it from the (Western) epics that the academics are presumably so hung up on -- not denying their value, but suggesting the Shahnameh stands out in other ways as well, notably as: "neither an epic of conquest nor an epic of defeat but an epic of perpetual, historical defiance". What this new 'world literature' -- presumably also requiring a new label -- would be like isn't entirely clear beyond these generalities, but his explanations of the Shahnameh's qualities being appreciatable beyond familiar categories seems quite plausible.

A nice point -- which I'm surprised Dabashi doesn't make earlier and more central to his study -- is the observation that: The story of the Shahnameh as a "modern epic" is epitomized in the fate of the Shah Tahmasp " and its dismemberment (literally) as an imperial text into colonial and postcolonial state-building projects. [...] (T)he destruction of this precious copy of the Shahnameh is a perfect allegory of what has been the postcolonial fate of the Persian epic. (See Sheila R. Canby's The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp for more on that outrageous story.)

Dabashi's beef with 'world literature' certainly has validity -- but surely resounds much more strongly in the echo-chambers of the ivory-tower room that is the academy, and considerably less so in the wide-open space of the real (reading) world. So, for example, I was amused to see him complain -- completely justifiably: Why is it that a monumental novel like Mahmoud Dolatabadi's Kelidar, a modern epic and a world text, entirely foregrounded on the tragic heroism of the Shahnameh, at one and the same time, does not even enter [Franco] Moretti's horizon ? Is Iran not on this planet and part of this world ? Doesn't an epic written in Persian merit the term "epic" ? Why, if not ? Whatever the answer to such critical questions might be, the result of them is the serious compromising of the moment when Moretti and Eurocentric theorists like him come near the term "world." What is the point of even informing these theorists what Mahmoud Dolatabadi's Kelidar is all about, give a synopsis of it, describe its plots and characters, literary prowess and dramatic power ? They have, by virtue of writing in Italian or English or French, claimed and coined the term "World Literature" -- entirely oblivious of the presence of the Italian colonialism in Libya or British and French colonialism in the rest of Asia and Africa. The oversight of Kelidar is indeed a great one -- but look who is overlooking. Yes, these are the high-priests of academia, and that matters -- a lot, but also mainly and mostly in that rather rarefied world. For what it's worth, I posted reviews (inadequate, of course, but at least something) of the first two books (of ten) of Kelidar -- the only parts accessible to me in any language that I read (it hasn't been translated into English) on this site already in 2002, its epic and other qualities perfectly obvious to me. Moretti's imprimatur, or lack thereof, had and has no influence on me; Dowlatabadi has been part of my conception and understanding of 'world literature' since I first encountered his work. (The far bigger hurdle to getting at any sort of 'world literature' remains that of access -- generally via translation; the fact that Kelidar is not available in English, or indeed apparently in its entirety in any other language (my feeble little voice clamoring for it not making nearly enough of an impression, apparently), is the sticking point, as it is with the bulk of what I imagine to be 'world literature'. Though, yes, it's true, surely the stamp-of-approval of acknowledgment by the powers that be in the comparative literature departments, checking off 'epic' and 'worthy', might help in that regard .....)

The Shahnameh frays a bit, pulled apart by Dabashi's two different ambitions, introducing Ferdowsi's classic work and demolishing the literary-department concept of 'world literature' (that: "imperial wet dream of European literature" ...). He does make, and maintain, a connection, the Shahnameh presented as a text that could be part of an entirely reconceived idea of 'world literature', but it does ultimately pull the book in two different directions. Dabashi's enthusiasm also sometimes manifests itself in bold and absolute pronouncements, and more showing rather than telling might have been more convincing.

While perhaps not all readers will "rush to read the Shahnameh" after finishing this work, they will at least be quite well-informed as to what they're missing if they don't -- and should be convinced of the importance of this monumental epic.

- M.A.Orthofer, 14 February 2019 - Return to top of the page -

: The Shahnameh: Columbia University Press publicity page Reviews: Asian Review of Books

Publishers Weekly The Shahnameh: Cambridge Shahnama Project - a comprehensive collection of manuscripts of the Shahnama

Shahname synopsis at the British Library

Shahnama: 1000 Years of the Persian Book of Kings at the Smithsonian

The Epic of Iran by Reza Aslan Hamid Dabashi: Official site Other books of interest under review: The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp: The Persian Book of Kings by Sheila R. Canby

by Sheila R. Canby See Index of Persian and Iranian literature

See Index of Books on Books

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About the Author : Hamid Dabashi teaches Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He was born in 1951. - Return to top of the page -  2019-2021 the complete review



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the complete review - art book

The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp



by

Sheila R. Canby



general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

The Persian Book of Kings

With 530 color illustrations, including all 258 illustrated folios of the Shah Tahmasp Shahnama

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Our Assessment:



(-) : a stunning work in a very attractive edition

See our review for fuller assessment.

Review Summaries Source Rating Date Reviewer Abstracta Iranica . Vol.37-39 (2018) Frantz Chaigne

From the Reviews :

"Si la qualite remarquable des reproductions est source de delectation, lintroduction (p. 13-18) et le long essai  The Material World of Shah Tahmasp  (p. 21-60) de Canby apportent de precieux eclairages scientifiques." - Frantz Chaigne, Abstracta Iranica

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review 's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.



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The complete review 's Review :

Firdausi's 50,000-verse epic from 1010, the Shahnama, is: "the towering monument of Persian literature", as Sheila R. Canby writes in her Introduction. Illustrated editions did not follow quickly after it was completed, but eventually some began to be commissioned and produced, and this one, the Shah Tahmasp Shahnama, was commissioned around 1522 and is widely considered the foremost illustrated edition. Presented to the Ottoman sultan in 1568, it was bought by Edmund de Rothschild in 1903, and then sold to Arthur A. Houghton in 1959 (which is why it is also often referred to as the 'Houghton Shahnameh'). The then-still-intact manuscript was -- outrageously and unconscionably (though, disappointingly, not criminally-actionably) -- then pulled apart by Houghton; 78 illustrations were presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while others were sold and auctioned off; after his death in 1990 his heirs: "traded the binding, text, and remaining 118 illustrations with the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art".

As Canby notes: "Its folios will never be reunited, but at least they can meet again as pages in a modern book". Limited editions collecting all the illustrations were published in 1981 and 2011, while this edition, which also: "includes an extended introduction and a concise synopsis of each narrative episode" now makes the work (somewhat more) accessible.

It is a remarkable volume. Each of the 258 illustrated pages is reproduced, at about three-quarter scale of the original -- sufficient to appreciate most of the detail, and certainly giving a good impression of each depicted scene. A nice touch too is an appendix of a 'Dramatis Person'-gallery of well over a hundred of the significant named characters -- close-ups of the figures from the relevant illustrations.

The 'Notes on the Folios' provide information about which collection each piece is in, as well as brief summaries of the depicted scenes. These do get at the gist, but are hardly a substitute for the text-proper, and indeed the stories of the Shahnama would be hard to follow relying solely on these illustrations and brief descriptions. There may be over 250 illustrations, but they are nevertheless only highlight- and significant scenes; the epic itself is, of course, a much more far-reaching work. Nevertheless, these beautiful illustrations are certainly a welcome complement to the text and should enhance any reading of it.

Canby's Introduction focuses more on this illustrated manuscript than the Shahnama as literary work -- i.e. readers would do well to refer to other texts (such as Hamid Dabashi on The Shahnameh) or preferably the Shahnama itself (in, for example, Dick Davis' translation) to get a better understanding of the work as a whole. It does, however, serve as a good, brief introduction to the work in hand.

A longer, second -- also richly illustrated -- essay by Canby considers: 'The Material World of Shah Tahmasp', as Canby points out that the illustrations feature: "details of the world, not of ancient Iran, but of the period in which the manuscript was produced, the first half of the sixteenth century" -- i.e. neither what might be expected in the age when the stories themselves take place (set many centuries earlier) nor indeed from Firdausi's time. As such, these provide interesting insight into that era, revealing about a variety of utensils and objects in use at the time. So, for example, she notes twenty-six examples of incense burners -- all the more interesting because few actual Safavid incense burners appear to have survived. Here, too, the focus is more on the pictorial -- elements of the illustrations -- than the literary work -- and relevant to this specific version rather than the text in general -- but it's certainly of interest as such.

Presumably, The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp can't compare to the 1981 two-volume edition of The Houghton Shahnameh by Martin Bernard Dickson and Stuart Cary Welch (Harvard University Press), including its much more detailed discussion of the creation of the manuscript and art, but that limited (and prohibitively priced, at US$2,000) edition is hard to come by under the best of circumstances. The folios may not to be quite true-to-life size here, but the production value is still superior, the illustrations a treat for anyone interested in the art of this period, or in the Shahnama.

Obviously, the literary text should come first -- but for those bitten by the Shahnama-bug, this volume is a treat.



- M.A.Orthofer, 14 February 2019

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:

Hamid Dabashi on The Shahnameh: The Persian Epic as World Literature

See Index of Persian and Iranian literature

See Index of Books on Books

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About the Author :

Sheila R. Canby is the Curator in Charge of the Department of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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As the Ukrainian presidential election, scheduled to take place on March 31, draws ever closer, Western politicians are going out of their way to protect it from Russian meddling. This protection, which became a sort of peculiar Anglo-Saxon sport in the United States and the UK, will figure highly on the agenda of the meeting of the European Unions foreign ministers on February 18, slated for a discussion of the coming Ukrainian election. A naive reader of the Western press might wonder why the president of the newly Westernized Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, has an approval rating of just 14%, trailing the comedian Vladimir Zelensky with his 21.9% and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko with her 19%. Obviously, some meddling must have taken place

A COUNTRY THATS A THREAT TO ITSELF

Upon a closer look, however, the Ukrainian election appears to be more in need of protection from its own forms of Ukrainian extremism and what to the untrained eye might appear to be idiocies, rather than from any meddling from the Russian side. Suffice it to present a brief list of the recent suggestions and real policy moves (some of them coming from the very top echelon of government) which were made in the heat of electoral hysteria. Not surprisingly, most of these suggestions and moves are tied to Russia.

Presidential candidate Vitaly Kupryi simply suggested that Ukraine should officially declare war on Russia, obliging president Petro Poroshenko to announce an immediate mobilization and to use a special law to start moving troops against the aggressor. Since Kupryi is a deputy in the Supreme Rada (the Ukrainian parliament), his draft bill, which enjoys the support of a group of equally belligerent deputies, has been officially registered and waits to be reviewed by parliamentarians. Until now, the Supreme Rada has demurred from traveling along this somewhat suicidal path, preferring other, longer, more oblique routes toward a catastrophe. Last week, the Rada made Ukraines road towards NATO and the EU legally binding through another special law, altering Ukraines constitution, where the neutral, non-bloc status of the country had been enshrined since the 1990s. The parliamentarians also continued working on a draft bill, which makes denial of Russian aggression against Ukraine (that is, stating the truth that the war in the Russian-speaking eastern regions of Ukraine is a civil conflict) a criminal offence, punishable by several years in jail. The leading candidate, acting President Petro Poroshenko, has not allowed his parliament to outpace him in belligerent idiocies. He declared the visits by Russian citizens of the Russian-speaking Crimean peninsula to be heinous crimes  breaches of the Ukrainian border, which should all be punished by several years in Ukrainian jail. (6.8 million Russian tourists visited Crimea in 2018 alone, so theoretically Poroshenko could land Ukraine into the Guinness Book of World Records as the country with the highest potential prison population).

FAKE CHOICE: EITHER PUTIN OR POROSHENKO

As for Russian meddling in the elections, some of the candidates, including Poroshenko, are manufacturing this meddling themselves, by continuously campaigning not for Ukraine, but rather against Russia and its president Vladimir Putin. For example, Poroshenkos campaign ad, which was unveiled on the day his candidacy officially launched on January 29, showed a Photoshopped image of the acting Ukrainian president confronting his Russian colleague, with the caption: Either Poroshenko or Putin.

The reason why Poroshenko continuously tries to redirect the attention of voters away from the countrys real problems and toward Russias ostensible invasion is obvious. Ukraines catastrophic economic situation does not leave Poroshenko any room for self-promotion. Economically, this candy billionaire, who became rich working in all the governments, from Kuchmas to Yanukovichs, turned up to be rather helpless, says Mikhail Pogrebinsky, the head of the Kiev-based Center for Political Research and Conflict Studies.

In the last quarter of the year 2018, the average income of a Ukrainian household was 9,400 hryvnas (about $350). This prompted the IMF to declare Ukraine the poorest country in Europe: Ukraine has even bested Moldova for this dubious honor, a nation that was previously at the top of the poverty rankings with an average salary of $375. Oleg Lyashko, a flamboyant nationalist candidate from Ukraines Radical party, accused Poroshenko of taking us to Europe via Africa.

A SAD END FOR THE FOREIGN SAVIORS

No wonder Poroshenko stopped talking about fighting corruption and introducing Western standards of state management, the two pillars of his plans for Ukraine at the beginning of his presidency in 2014. The parachuting of foreign specialists into the government (the Georgians Mikheil Saakashvili and Alexander Kvitashvili, the Lithuanian national Aivaras Abromavicius, as well as an American citizen, Natalie Jaresko) ended in dishonorable resignations, coupled with scandals and mutual accusations. When he quit, former Minister of Economy and Trade Abromavicius and former Governor of Odessa Saakashvili accused Poroshenkos entourage of far-reaching corruption, much worse than the practices under the former president, Viktor Yanukovich. It is interesting to note that both Saakashvili and Poroshenkos first prosecutor general, Vitaly Yarema, initially justified violent protests against the corrupt Yanukovich in 2013 and 2014, when 38 policemen were killed by the US-supported peaceful protesters from Maidan. But they both now acknowledge that corruption schemes have become even more intricate and harmful for society today compared to the Yanukovich era. Not surprisingly, Yarema was fired days after making such statements.

The rule of oligarchs over the economy and the extortion of bribes from citizens by state officials have not diminished since Yanukovichs rule, writes a popular Kiev-based blogger and political expert Viktor Datsyuk. What is even worse, the greediness of the ruling elite destroyed the oligarchic consensus that had existed in Ukraine for years. In Datsyuks opinion, this may lead to a new Hobbesian war of all against all in Ukraine.

SUBMISSION TO THE WEST AS THE NEW CONSENSUS

Upon a closer look, again, a certain oligarchic consensus still exists in Ukraine, and that consensus is based on the total submission of the local oligarchs to the overseers of Ukraine, who operate from Washington and Brussels.

At the peak of the presidential campaign, Ukraine simply exploded with anger when Poroshenko refused to obey a ruling from Kievs administrative court. The court removed Ulyana Suprun from her office  an American of Ukrainian descent, the last of the foreign specialists still operating in the Ukrainian government with an American passport. Legally, the ruling of the court was correct: Suprun has been performing the duties of the countrys health minister without being officially appointed in due course and in violation of a law that prohibits non-citizens of Ukraine from occupying government positions.

I gave her citizenship through my own decree, Poroshenko said, brushing off questions about Suprun NOT relinquishing her American citizenship, as required by the Ukrainian law.

The last time the Western elite was so up in arms to protect a foreign specialist inside the Ukrainian elite was in 2017, when Poroshenko suddenly canceled his own decree granting Ukrainian citizenship to Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Georgian president. At the time, Saakashvili was in Western Europe, but somehow he made his way back to Ukraine through a border checkpoint inside a crowd of supporters in September 2017, and was met by chance on the Ukrainian side of the border by the heads of influential Rada factions Yulia Tymoshenko (the Fatherland party) and Andrei Sadovoy (from the Samooborona, or Self-Defense movement). Somehow, the border checkpoint was also visited at that moment by Valentin Nalivaichenko, the former head of the fearsome Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).

They all embraced Saakashvili with grim faces, not quite in keeping with a miraculous and spontaneous breakthrough across the heavily guarded border.

A few months later, when Saakashvili somehow fell out of grace with his Western supervisors and was evicted from Ukraine by Poroshenkos special forces via a chartered flight to Europe, his friends Tymoshenko and Nalivaichenko did not lift a finger in his defense.

THE INEVITABLE INCUMBENT

Obviously, after the US and the EU allowed Poroshenko to eject Saakashvili from Ukraine without punishment, it became clear that they had no other serious alternative to Poroshenko. Most likely, they will allow Poroshenko to win, using the hugely negative public image of Tymoshenko (70% of Ukrainians do not want to see her as their president under any circumstances).

As for the people who are suggesting realistic alternatives to the current disastrous course, they are being stigmatized as Russian agents or, worse, Putins friends.

This is not a situation in which no news is good news, though. Poroshenkos continued hold on power in Ukraine means the continued threat of another war in the Donbass, the persecution of political opponents, and dispossession and the loss of legal status for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate. So, Poroshenko should not complain, when, as he himself told journalists, Vladimir Putin refused to take his phone call. I did not want to help Poroshenko in his electoral campaign, Putin explained. He had a good reason to say so.
It was billed as a peace and security conference on the Middle East, held in the Polish capital Warsaw this week. The much-vaunted US-led summit was anything but about peace and security in the conflict-ridden region. It was intended as a war summit against Iran.

Even the venue, Warsaw, had an unwitting Orwellian twist to its name. Warsaw? More like War Foresaw.

For several months, the Trump administration had been organizing the ministerial-level two-day summit held this week. As it turned out, major powers gave the conference a clunking big miss, knowing full well that the event was a thinly veiled attempt by Washington to organize an Iran-bashing summit. How stupid do the Americans think the rest of the world is? They are shameless in their arrogance.

Russia, Turkey, Qatar, Lebanon as well as most European leaders decided to stay away from the venue. This was in spite of the White House sending a high-level delegation led by Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Also in attendance was Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner, best buddy of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed, and spectacularly unqualified peace tribune for the Mideast.

The de facto boycott by other powers can be seen as a sign of times of Washingtons diminished role, if not its fraudulent claims of being a diplomatic arbiter.

The reason for the absence of Russia and others was because they knew the American agenda was to drum up international support for antagonizing Iran with intensified economic sanctions. Despite its claims of being a peace and security conference, few nations believed that it was anything other than a war summit to galvanize international support or acquiescence for Washingtons obsessive aggression towards Iran.

The fact that the US-led conference in Warsaw was avoided by so many international powers, conspicuously the European Union, shows that Washingtons days of self-proclaimed global leadership are numbered. Washingtons credibility is spent. Indeed grossly in arrears.

The farce is almost beyond words. After decades of illegal warmongering and regime-change machinations in the Middle East, how could Washington expect anyone to take its conference this week on peace and security to be taken seriously with a straight face?

Misplaced arrogance or delusion are the only explanations for Washingtons belief that it could organize such a conference  and expect that anyone of significance would attend.

For years, Washington has been swinging a sledgehammer in the region, destroying whole nations, from Afghanistan to Iraq, from Libya to Syria, killing millions of civilians with its criminal imperialist wars. Peace and security called for by the United States? Give us a break from the sickening delusional pretense.

President Donald Trumps unilateral abrogation of the international nuclear accord with Iran last year is testimony to the rogue state nature of the US. Yet, Washington in its arrogance expects others to attend a conference this week on the Middle East and its pejorative depiction of Iran as a rogue state.

It should be noted that while the US tried to rally the conference in Warsaw  and so evidently failed  the leaderships of Russia, Turkey and Iran were gathered in Sochi to continue diplomatic efforts at resolving the war in Syria. Nothing could highlight more the irrelevance and moral bankruptcy of Washington. Its conference in Warsaw aimed at increasing tensions with Iran was largely ignored, meanwhile Russia and others were continuing earnest diplomatic efforts to actually bring about a peace settlement in Syria  a country ravaged by eight years of war largely sponsored covertly by Washington.

Why Warsaw, or rather War Foresaw? Poland has been obsequiously sucking up to Washington over recent years, buying INF-busting American missiles systems and even calling for a new US military base on its territory, proposed, ingratiatingly, with the name Fort Trump.

The contradictions are choking. Trump is accused by domestic political opponents of being a Russian stooge and yet Polands anti-Russian government is laying down the red carpet for American militarism under Trump to antagonize Russia.

The farcical US-led Middle East conference could not be held in any self-respecting European country because of the glaring contradiction of Trumps hostility towards Iran cutting across the European Unions commitment to upholding the international nuclear accord with Tehran.

Trumps so-called peace and security conference this week was an Orwellian masquerade for drumming up war against Iran. Germany, France and others committed to the nuclear accord knew that they could not possibly host such an absurd event.

The true belligerence underlying the Warsaw conference was betrayed by Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu, who on his way to the venue, bragged that it was about forming a war front against Iran.

The Warsaw summit was thus intended as a war conference against Iran. Fortunately, the event has fizzled into irrelevance due to the absence of Russia and major European powers.

However, it nevertheless shows that Washington is intent on starting another war in the Middle East  against Iran. Its propaganda effort may have misfired this week, but the non-event at least demonstrates the warmongering intent the US harbors towards Iran.

Fortunately, too, it can be averred that Washingtons decades of criminality, duplicity and deception have finally caught up with it. Nobody in their right mind can believe anything that US rulers say  especially in regard to peace and stability for the Middle East. Washingtons every word on the subject is an Orwellian parody.
The 2020 US presidential elections are well underway with at least six Democrat contenders so far throwing their hats into the ring. For his part, incumbent President Donald Trump has newly minted a cause for his re-election  saving America from creeping socialism.

During his State of the Union speech last week, Trump conspicuously warned fellow Americans of the putative evil of socialism. He lambasted the socialist dictatorship of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, then fatuously and falsely leveled all the economic misery of the South American country on the alleged failings of socialism. As if years of US economic sanctions against the country and recent confiscation of oil assets have nothing to do with Venezuelas turmoil.

In the next lines of his annual nationwide address, Trump then linked US political opponents with Venezuelas socialist President Maduro, retorting: And some people want to bring socialism to the United States!

The logic is revealing. First, that the president should even mention socialism in this Union address in such a pointed way shows that there is a foreboding concern among the American oligarchy  of which supposed maverick Trump is a consummate insider  that there is a surging interest in working class rights, propelled by a popular disdain towards capitalism and a growing affinity with socialism.

Secondly, the pejorative bracketing of political opponents in the US with the Maduro regime in Venezuela is a tried-and-trusted method of political smearing. Any would-be contender for the White House who speaks out about class issues and the systematic social failings of capitalism will be, it is calculated, denigrated as a socialist stooge in league with Venezuelas Maduro.

For the 2016 election, Trump ran on the ticket of Make America Great Again. For the 2020 campaign, the emerging re-election slogan will be along the line of Keep Socialism out of America.

Trumps erstwhile promises to salvage the American carnage and reinvent American greatness have transpired to be empty gimmicks of a sales conman. More than halfway into his presidency, the vast majority of ordinary working Americans are no better off, maybe even worse off. Trumps bragging about overseeing the worlds hottest economy is all hot air, as detailed by American economics professor Richard Wolff. The boost in stock market indicators rather than a reinvigoration of the real productive economy is very much down to the massive tax giveaways to the super-rich and corporate executives that this real-estate-magnate-turned-president has bestowed.

The continuing deterioration in social conditions for most Americans has resulted in an increased popular hostility towards corporate capitalism, Wall Street and what more and more citizens correctly perceive as a plutocracy masquerading as democracy. The alienation from capitalism and the myth of the American Dream has resulted in a growing openness among ordinary citizens to socialism. The corruption and misery of capitalism is driving people to search for alternatives. Polls have shown majorities of US public expressing a positive identity with socialist politics. It is no longer a taboo concept. This is quite a shocking achievement in the US, where decades of government, news media and academic propaganda have tried to expunge any notion of socialism from the American mind.

A reflection of the trend is seen in the increasingly critical rhetoric among certain Democrat politicians about economic injustice. The Bernie Sanders wing of the party, which includes new wave Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Tulsi Gabbard, have openly articulated the word socialism  which again is something of a dramatic development in the US after decades of McCarthyite witch-hunting and Edgar J Hoover-like demonization of socialists as traitorous Reds.

The latest Democrat to announce their bid for the White House is Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. During her contender speech last weekend at a rally for Blue Collar communities, Warren spoke scathingly of the failure of the American system. She talked about the chasm between the oligarchic one per cent in American society and the massive poverty of the rest. It was an implicitly radical speech.

Trump is very much in that top one per cent of super-rich who have siphoned off Americas wealth during decades of neoliberal capitalism, overseen by both Republican and Democrat administrations belonging to the two parties of Big Business.

There is, however, an awareness among the more leftwing side of the Democrats that the party has to break from its sponsorship links to Big Business and Wall Street  as epitomized by Hillary Clinton in the 2016 race  if it is to win the White House in 2020.

Trump should be an easy target for a genuine contender who can expose his empty conman talk about caring for American workers. Trumps blatantly pro-rich tax banditry would also be a field day for a socialist candidate to make huge political hay. So too would his continuation of American imperialist warmongering, as most clearly manifested in the Trump administrations outrageous interference in Venezuelas democracy.

Donald J Trump, the big-mouth realtor, knows that he is vulnerable to a genuine political offensive from the left. There is a groundswell of opposition to the system among ordinary citizens  if it can harnessed by a confident socialist candidate. That would explain why Trump has lately discovered the threat of socialism to our great country.

The trouble is that it is doubtful if such a counter-candidate exists in the present US political landscape. In Elizabeth Warrens rally at the weekend, she seemed to studiously avoid using the words capitalism or socialism. Her rival Democrat candidate, New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, reportedly distanced herself in media interviews from being identified as a socialist following Trumps Red-baiting State of the Union speech last week.

Over the next year in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, we can expect more such withering attempts by Trump and the establishment political class to find common cause in denigrating any opponent who sounds too much like a socialist, even if that opponent doesnt actually use the word themselves.

The irony is rich, or maybe that should be super-rich. Trump has complained about opponents in Washington and the corporate media for waging a witch-hunt against him over his alleged links to Russia. Yet this oligarchic conman has no scruples or hesitation in using witch-hunt tactics to defile opponents who are labelled as evil socialists.

This desperate maneuver by Trump to use socialism as a bogeyman is unwittingly a signal that Americas plutocracy does actually view the resurgence in class politics and socialism as a real threat to its privileged siphoning off of wealth under capitalism.

Can American voters find a candidate who courageously takes up their cause? That is the kind of breakthrough that America and the rest of world needs.
Morristown has a new police officer: Nathan Wolfe, hired Monday by the town select board.

Wolfe was recommended by Chief Richard Keith, who worked with his officers to pick one person from a pool of applicants to fill the departments full-time opening.

We switched it up this time, said Keith, who normally makes the decision himself on whom to recommend for an opening.

Wolfe grew up in central Vermont and earned a bachelors degree in criminal justice at Norwich University in 2011. He served four years in the U.S. Army and joined the Lamoille County Sheriffs Department after graduating from the Vermont Police Academy in May 2016. Wolfe is the second Lamoille deputy to join the Morristown department in the last year; Peter Hughes was the first last August.

Wolfes first day with Morristown will be Friday, March 1; he will be paid $22.20 per hour until he moves up one step on the departments pay scale on July 1. Wolfe will be reassessed by Keith and the select board after a one-year probationary period before being reappointed as a tenured member of the department. Wolfe holds several instructor certifications, which Keith said could come in handy down the road.

Hes well qualified, theres no question, Keith said. Were pleased to have him on board.

The police job has been open since longtime officer Michael Reeve resigned Dec. 8. Keiths department will be back to full strength  nine patrol officers and one detective  when officer Kevin Laplante returns this spring; he was injured while on duty in mid-December, and is recovering from surgery.

In another bit of housekeeping, current Morristown officer Lance Lamb was reappointed as a full-time officer. Lamb, who has been with the department for several years, was out with an injury when his one-year probationary period ended in December 2016 and he was never officially reappointed, despite now being a tenured officer.

It was just an oversight, Keith said.

Other business

In other business Monday:

 The select board reviewed updated plans for the Lawrence Brook Solar project just off Route 100 between Stowe and Morristown. The 2.2-megawatt facility is a collaboration among Morrisville Water & Light, the Vermont Public Power Supply Authority and Encore Renewable Energy. The project is at 3780 Laporte Road  Route 100  on property owned by the Davis family.

The board has concerns about how 7,800 solar panels would look on a 24-acre parcel so close to the state highway. In response, the developers presented plans Monday for a line of softwood and hardwood trees that will screen the project from passing drivers.

Some board members still have reservations about a solar project right on the main artery between Stowe and Morristown, town administrator Dan Lindley said, but the consensus among board members was that the trees are better than nothing.

Morrisville Water & Light General Manager Craig Myotte expects to request a certificate of public good for the project from the Vermont Public Utility Commission later this winter; if all goes well, construction could begin this summer.

 Town Clerk Sara Haskins said select board members need to run Town Meeting Day next month until a new moderator is elected. David Polow, the longtime town moderator, was re-elected last year but will be out of town on March 5. So, someone else will have to be elected at the beginning of this years meeting to run everything after that. Polow recommended that Haskins ask former Speaker of the House Shap Smith to run for moderator; Haskins said Smith is interested but the decision is up to voters.

 The board promoted Allen Stearns, who has been with the highway department for just over a year. Stearns will now be paid $18.69 per hour as a Tech 2, Step 1 employee. The board also accepted the resignation of highway employee Reney Audet, who was with the department for about six months, according to Lindley.

 The board directed the Morristown Conservation Commission to look into acquiring a small island in Kenfield Brook. The Lamoille County Planning Commission is interested in turning over possession of the island to the town, and Lindley expects further discussion later in the year.

 The board appointed Greta Quintin as a new volunteer with the Morristown Emergency Medical Services Department and welcomed new department chief William Mapes, who started on Monday, Feb. 4.

 The board accepted a retirement letter from longtime lister and listing coordinator Charlie McArthur, effective March 8. A retirement party and open house will be held in McArthurs honor at the town offices on Portland Street on the morning of Friday, March 1.

Another lister, Richard Tomlinson, is not running for re-election, so to cover the listers duties, the town is contracting with Vermont Appraisal Co. until June 30, when there should be a full three-member board of listers again. Morristown has contracted with the company to assess commercial properties for the last decade, Lindley said; from now until June 30, it will also be paid to assess residential properties. Morristown will pay Vermont Appraisal $4,500 per month for the work, with part of that coming out of the towns reappraisal fund.

 Community Development Coordinator Tricia Follert updated the board on a dog park proposed in the village. The park will likely be at the intersection of Copley Avenue and Park Street, but funding still needs to be found, Lindley said.

 A final discussion was held on the design of bathrooms that will be built this year at Oxbow Riverfront Park. The concrete building will have two bathrooms, but board members are still debating if each bathroom should have a separate, enclosed stall for the single toilet in each room. Lindley hopes to advertise for bids this spring, with construction this summer or fall.
Too often, Missourians who are paying faithfully for their health insurance end up with thousands of dollars of medical debt. For example, a patient goes to a network doctors office for some tests. The patient has private insurance, and labs for blood tests or for anesthesia, radiology and pathology are completely covered, as long as the labs and procedures are processed through a certain lab or facility or doctor.

Unfortunately, the doctors office ignores the instructions on the patient's insurance card, or there is just human error, and sends the blood tests to a different lab, or the procedure is performed by medical staff not in the patient's network. Now the patient is stuck with a $400 bill or worse.

In 2018, Missouri lawmakers passed SB 982, which bans surprise medical bills for patients who are treated by an out-of-network physician at an in-network emergency room. This bill, championed by Missouri Health Care for All, is a great first step, but there is lots more work to do.

Missouri should build on its success and pass legislation to protect people from all surprise medical bills when they had no reasonable opportunity to choose an in-network provider.

Ed Shew  Lake Saint Louis
The book Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House, by Ex-White House communications aide Cliff Sims, has clearly set off Trump, who has been known to make employees sign non-disclosure agreements in both his business and political organizations. Trumps campaign claims in its filing not that Sims book contains lies, but that hes not allowed to tell even the truth.

Sims countersuit argues that Trumps organization is attempting to intimidate him out of his First Amendment rights  which pretty much sums up the whole purpose of non-disclosure agreements. They generally dont stand up in court anyway, but thats not the point: This president routinely tries to silence his critics with legal threats. Heres hoping a court finally slaps this practice down, hard.

Polar bear invasion

Anyone who still doesnt believe the overwhelming scientific consensus that the earth is warming at alarming rates, try telling that to the terrified residents of Novaya Zemlya, a group of Russian islands in the Arctic Ocean that is being overrun by polar bears.
If the President proceeds with the declaration, it'll likely be challenged in court and by Democrats in Congress, as critics have argued that Trump cannot use the national emergency authority to free up taxpayer funds and build the border wall he has long promised to his political supporters.

Even among members of his own party, support for the President was tepid at best. Veteran Republican senators raised various doubts about using his emergency powers to try to build the wall. Some said they wanted to wait and see exactly what Trump will declare and are skeptical he will do more than use existing executive authority.

"I do (support that decision) if that's what it takes to do it," said Sen. Jim Inhofe, the Republican chairman of the Armed Services committee. "I just don't want it coming out of defense."

"But what I want doesn't seem to make that much difference," he added.

Other rank-and-file Republicans, including Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, said they were worried that it would set a new precedent for a Democratic president to set liberal policies without engaging Congress.
A spokesman for the coroner's office says at least one person is dead following a shooting at a business in suburban Chicago.

Kane County coroner's office spokesman Chris Nelson says at least one person was killed in the attack Friday afternoon at the Henry Pratt Co. building in Aurora.

At least four police officers and several others were hit in the shooting, according to news reports.

The shooter has been "apprehended," according to a tweet from the city of Aurora.

Mercy Medical Center and Rush Copley Medical Center are receiving patients from the shooting in Aurora, according to Olga Solares, spokeswoman for Mercy, CNN reported.

Other than the confirmed death, there is no official word on the number of others who might be dead or injured.

Clayton Muhammad, the director of communications for the city of Aurora, told ABC-7 that the officers are in stable condition following the shooting at the Henry Pratt Co. building Friday afternoon.
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Luebbering noted that the states food stamp program, known as SNAP, also saw a significant decrease in enrollment last year. He said the decline in both programs indicated there was an environmental effect on enrollment.

If we saw a 70,000 drop in (Medicaid) and I saw nothing in SNAP, we would be having a different conversation, he said. The problem is, we saw a 50,000 caseload drop in SNAP that has nothing to do with the new (Medicaid alert) system.

McBride said he struggled to accept the financial explanation, noting that other states did not have as significant an enrollment drop despite their healthy economies. He pointed to Tennessee as the only state with a bigger drop-off  topping Missouris reduction with a 9 percent decline.

Luebbering added that the Missouri department had not sent out annual renewal letters to all Medicaid recipients since about 2015. Part of the drop-off could be credited to the states need to catch up for those few years. Other states already had automated systems in place.

McBride pushed back, asking Luebbering how sure he was that all 70,000 Missourians who were no longer enrolled didnt need Medicaid anymore.
It is a well-established principle of discovery that the deposition of a high-level public official is generally impermissible, Pearson argued in his Thursday filing. He cited several cases in which subpoenas were quashed in similar instances.

Gross said that such an argument would be valid if he could obtain the information he sought from the attorney generals office, not the attorney general himself. In this case, Gross said, the only person who knows the information he seeks is Hawley himself.

Lets say I subpoena Josh Hawley, and I really wanted to know something about something his office did, Gross said. Thats fine, they could say, Well actually, hes really busy, hes a senator. You should talk to a staff member. 

Pearson also said that Hawley had not been served with a subpoena personally, in violation of civil procedure rules.

Plaintiff did not deliver a copy of the subpoena to Senator Hawley; instead, his agent merely left it with a member of Senator Hawleys staff, the filing said.

Gross said he was planning to have Hawley served personally this weekend.
The attorney generals office last year dismissed another complaint Sullivan made against the council, ruling that the council did not violate the Sunshine Law in December 2017 when it filed last-minute legislation that cut $31 million from the county budget.

Sullivan had filed the complaint because the Missouri Sunshine Law requires a public body to post a meeting agenda 24 hours before a meeting. The councils agenda posted for the Dec. 12 meeting did not point to any effort to slash county spending, and Sullivan said he felt the last minute changes shut out the public from providing input. But the attorney generals office ruled that the law did not prohibit governmental bodies from adding items to an already-posted agenda as long as the public was informed about the new items with appropriate advance notice and the additions were not made with the intent to circumvent the Sunshine Law.
Bell has told the council that his office has an informal agreement with Affinia Healthcare, a St. Louis-based nonprofit organization formerly known as Grace Hill Health Centers, which provides primary and preventive health care at several locations.

Bell said in an interview this week that his office has already started sending some opiate-dependent defendants to get medical treatment at Affinia. He would not discuss specific cases but said none of the cases involved violence. Affinia has agreed to treat 200 St. Louis County defendants a year. The organization uses Suboxone to treat opioid addicts in a 60- to 90-day program.

When someone is arrested, that can have a negative stigma toward a future employment, Bell said. So, for your low-level offenders who just need treatment  not only will they not get a conviction, we wont even formally file charges. The stick is if they dont go through with the programs and the treatment that they need, they can, and potentially would still be, charged.

Discussion about the Affinia partnership started even before Bell upset McCulloch in the August Democratic primary. Bell said he began talking with groups that could provide drug treatment, and connected with Kendra Holmes, chief operating officer for Affinia. The two have appeared together several times at news conferences and meetings.
ST. LOUIS  A three-day warrant amnesty program will be held March 4-6 in St. Louis Municipal Court.

Defendants with outstanding warrants for many types of city ordinance violations can show up in court on those days to pay fines without facing arrest. Once the warrant has been resolved, defendants will get a new court date or be put on a payment plan.

As in a similar program last year, the amnesty excludes people charged with driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident or with violations related to prostitution.

Bench warrants often are issued for the arrest of people who fail to show up for scheduled court appearances. Such defendants normally can be arrested and forced to pay for bail in addition to a fine for the initial charge.

The court, at 1520 Market Street, will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 4 and March 5 and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 6. Defendants should bring valid photo identification with their name on it.

"We encourage individuals who have not yet resolved a warrant to use this program as an opportunity to fulfill their obligations to the law without facing undue hardship," Court Administrator Richard Torack said.
ST. LOUIS  A St. Louis man charged in a shootout last year that killed his friend in the citys Patch neighborhood will get a seven-year prison term as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

Addrian J. McKissic, 32, of the 5200 block of South Grand Boulevard, pleaded guilty Friday to felony counts of involuntary manslaughter, illegal gun possession and misdemeanor evidence tampering in the death of his friend Ronald Floyd. Floyd was accidentally shot to death by a passenger in McKissic's car during a shootout last June in the 500 block of West Davis Street.

Formal sentencing will be held after the resolution of pending gun and drug charges in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.

In the hours before the shooting, McKissic exchanged a series of angry text messages with another man over a woman who had dated both of them, charges said. McKissic told the man, your so tough Ima have to pop u. He also sent a text to the woman threatening the other man and saying, ...lets play I live guns.
JEFFERSON CITY  A Springfield-area lawmaker has proposed forcing poachers to pay restitution  an initiative that if implemented could generate more than $2 million each year for public schools.

Lawmakers have filed similar legislation in the past, but measures to increase penalties for poachers have fizzled in recent years. The Springfield News-Leader reported in 2016 that Missouri's poaching laws are lenient compared to neighboring states, and critics said enforcement was lacking.

Missouri conservation agents said this week that two elk were shot and killed on Feb. 8 in the Log Yard area of Shannon County, bringing to five the number of known elk killings since the species was brought back to Missouri in 2011. The creatures are a protected species in the state.

Officials said the two elk were left to rot, and that poachers did not harvest any meat. They said the animals were likely shot for fun or out of spite.
A St. Louis man has been charged in the armed robbery of the U.S. Post Office in Richmond Heights in December, according to the U.S. attorney for in the eastern district of Missouri.

Dywane Upchurch, 38, of St. Louis is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, assault with a dangerous weapon in the course of the robbery and violent crime stemming from the armed robbery of the post office.

On Dec. 8, 2018, Upchurch allegedly entered the Post Office on Big Bend Boulevard and threatened employees with a 9 mm semi automatic pistol. He stole about $8,800 in cash, the prosecutor's office said.

If convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, Upchurch faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Assault with a dangerous weapon in furtherance of a robbery could mean 25 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The violent crime charge carries a mandatory sentence of five years.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Richmond Heights Police Department.

This story was updated to correct spelling of Upchurch's first name.

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A man who kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and their child in mid-Missouri and led police on a chase into Illinois, then killed an innocent motorist in a carjacking attempt, killed himself during a shootout with police late Tuesday, according to the Illinois State Police.

The alleged carjacker, Leslie K. Austin, 39, died during an exchange of gunfire with police in Bond County, Ill., but died from a self-inflicted gunshot to his head, according to the Illinois State Police.

He allegedly shot his ex-girlfriend several times. Police said on Friday that she remained hospitalized and that her condition was stable. The couple's 10-year-old child was not hurt.
PINCKNEYVILLE, Ill.  A jury took 59 minutes to convict a man for gouging out a man's eyes last year in an attack that left the victim blind.

Allen J. Fisher of Swanwick, Ill., was convcited Thursday of two counts of aggravated assault plus a count of intimidation for the April 7, 2018, attack that left Robert Pfister blind.

During Fisher's trial, Pfister testified that he was driving near Fisher's property to look at an old schoolhouse when he realized another car was on his bumper. Both drivers stopped, Pfister said.

As the men exchanged words, he testified, Fisher jumped out of his car and attacked him. Pfister said that Fisher threw him into a ditch, put his thumbs behind Pfister's ears and pressed his fingers into his eyes.

Pfister testified that he apologized to Fisher, who moved his hands to put more fingers into his eye sockets. When another vehicle honked its horn to get Fisher to move his car, he got up and kicked Pfister in the head.

Pfister lost his left eye from injuries and is not likely to see from his right eye again.

Pfister said after the verdict he was relieved by the verdict and glad the trial was over.

Fisher's sentencing was set for April 24.

Amanda St. Amand  314-340-8201 @mandystlpd on Twitter astamand@post-dispatch.com
Schuster figured the man wanted to carjack him. Schuster stayed put. He leaned back in his seat, so the door post blocked his view. If the man fired at Schuster, Schuster hoped the post would save him. Then, the man drove off.

Schuster, of Sorento, Ill., said he normally keeps a gun in his car with him. But the day before, Schuster had taken the gun inside his home to oil it so it wouldn't rust. He left it at home.

Schuster reasons that, if he had his gun, the chase would've ended right there.

"I would've shot," he said. "Wouldn't even have blinked an eye. It would've been over."

Gregory Price Gregory Price, via KTVI Channel 2.

Instead, Austin continued east on Route 140 for another mile or two and killed a motorist who had pulled to the side of the road. That man, Gregory Price, 67, was from north St. Louis County. Police say Austin, 39, of Jefferson City, killed Price in a carjacking attempt.

Schuster can't help but replay in his mind the confrontation with Austin. In retrospect, Schuster says, he wonders why police didn't do more to stop Austin's vehicle when it was traveling so slowly.

"I'd have thought they could have blocked him in," Schuster said. "If I'd have known what was going on, I would've blocked off the highway. I try to help the police. They have a hard job."
The sheer number of potential victims has created unique problems. Law enforcement officials have unidentified victims who may be linked to Littles murder spree as well as accounts from Little himself of women he killed, including two he said he met in St. Louis and killed in the Metro East.

Little himself has offered to help  albeit in a grim way.

On Tuesday, the FBI released 16 portraits painted by the serial killer of his victims. Little has included rough dates and locations of where the assaults took place. In some instances, he has included possible names. But the images  colorful and precise renderings of the victims  offer a dark window into the storehouse of mental detail the serial killer has carried around for years.

Authorities say Littles portraits have helped them identify some victims.

He has an artistic ability that you wouldnt expect for someone like him, a detective from Prince Georges County, Md., working to link Little to Maryland cold cases, told The Washington Post in December. Were hoping that this sketch will produce some phone calls.
Joe Holleman Joe Holleman is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Joe Holleman 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. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Seven STLers will be picking up honors next month from the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

The Irish fraternal organization will wax eloquent about St. Louis Collector of Revenue Gregory F.X. Daly, who has been named its 2019 civic leader of the year.

Also picking up honors will be former St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch, who has been named the grand marshal for the order's annual St. Patrick's Day parade, and 2019 labor leader of the year, Frank Jacobs, business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1.

The event  officially the "Judge James Dailey Wahl Memorial Hoses, Handcuffs and Hardhats" to honor the group's longtime leader who died in 2016  also highlights notable work from police and firefighters.
In fact, its her deeply rooted faith in Jewish values that compels her to speak out for equal rights and justice, she says. Shes a member of Jewish Voices for Peace and has a fellowship with the Jewish Womens Archive, a nonprofit historical organization. She says shes luckier than other students doxxed by the site since her employment has not been affected.

Canary Mission is not the only shadowy group online attempting to intimidate and silence college students. Its not the only organized effort that wants to equate criticism of Israeli policies with anti-Semitism.

Hurwitz heard about one young man who legally changed his name after being blacklisted. He was worried about his application to medical schools. Others have had to delete all their social media accounts after getting harassed and being told to kill themselves.

Its a deliberate attempt to shut down dialogue on Palestinian issues, she said.

Shaadie Ali, of Madison, Wis., graduated last year from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in geological engineering and geology. His name and photo appeared on Canary Mission after he attended a conference in 2017 on Students for Justice in Palestine. He did not speak at the conference.
Since the 2016 election of President Donald Trump and the publication of J.D. Vances memoir Hillbilly Elegy that same year, Appalachia has returned to the national spotlight as media and academia struggle to make sense of the region and its people. Who are the residents of an area that stretches from northern Alabama and Georgia, through Kentucky and West Virginia, all the way to southern New York?

Matthew Ferrence joins the debate with his new book, Appalachia North, but hes here to clear up a few things: Pennsylvania is part of Appalachia, and the area is more than its stereotypes. In fact, to understand Appalachia, one must look at its history, its contradictions and repeated attempts to redefine itself.

Using his personal story, Ferrence takes us into a world defined by its bodies of water, its hills and its defunct coal mining industry. The closed mines have polluted creeks and destroyed the economies of numerous communities.
A spokesman for the show said that the cancellation of the tryout was not related to the Sundance documentary in any way, but what was a consequence of the recent strike by the Actors Equity union against so-called workshop presentations of new musicals. That strike was quickly settled, with actors gaining a new deal giving them a shared interest in 1 percent of a shows future profits, but the timing of the strike, the spokesman said, threw off development plans for the Michael Jackson musical.

However, the union put out a statement Thursday questioning the logic of that statement and complaining that the actors and stage managers working on the show had not been informed of the change. The developmental lab that was scheduled for this production, the union said, was delayed by 12 days during the strike. It is difficult to understand how a modest delay in February would impact a run that was scheduled for late October.

The cancellation nixes the planned centerpiece of Broadway in Chicagos fall. We will just need to be patient as our desire to have the show in Chicago builds even bigger, said Lou Raizin, president of Broadway In Chicago.

The New York spokesman said that the current plan is to launch the national tour in Chicago, but that is likely to be at least two years away and will be dependent on how the show fares in New York.

Copyright 2019 Tribune Content Agency.
"I doubt that Walmart will do anything under the current conditions," said Bob Sacks, a publishing veteran who produces a daily industry newsletter. "The checkout line is still big business."

An AMI spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, and Walmart declined to comment.

The tabloids that shoppers peruse while waiting to pay for their weekly groceries come via a web of publishers, wholesalers and distributors, and any disruption to that supply chain can have a big impact. Magazines are one of the few items in a supermarket where the retailer doesn't set the price  publishers do  so retailers negotiate a complex set of discounts and rebates to make money on each issue. Walmart, which is responsible for about one in four magazines sold in the U.S., also doesn't have to pay its own workers to restock the magazine shelf, which boosts its margins.

That setup worked fine when there were hundreds of wholesalers in the U.S. to negotiate with, but most of the middlemen, facing declining sales and saddled with huge fixed costs like trucks and drivers, have gone kaput or consolidated over the past decade. The 2009 imbroglio between publishers and wholesalers over surcharges led to the demise of Anderson News, and five years later another big wholesaler, Source Interlink Distribution, went out of business after a feud with Time Inc.
The Florissant Marketplace anchored by a Schnucks grocery store on Lindbergh Boulevard has been acquired by a New York investment firm.

Polimeni International, based in Long Island, acquired the 146,257 square-foot shopping center for $16.6 million. It had been owned by an entity of California-based Strategic Realty Trust.

The market has consistently maintained occupancy levels at, or in excess of, 95 percent for nearly a decade, and many of the tenants are respected national brand names, CEO Michael Polimeni said in a statement.

The brokers for the deal were CBRE, Inc. led by company vice president Chase Young of the St. Louis office.

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Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar says he exercises his public communication duties according to the laws in force and any allegations regarding such violations of the law by the Prosecutor General's Office are only meant to destabilize the Public Ministry.

"Regarding such statements made by some media institutions concerning the public communication activity of the Public Ministry, the Prosecutor General from the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation of Justice, Augustin Lazar, specifies the following: In my capacity as prosecutor general, I exercise my public communication duties according to law. Any such allegations regarding violations of the law by the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice are only meant to destabilize the Public Ministry," stated Augustin Lazar in a release to AGERPRES on Friday.

Augustin Lazar's reaction was triggered by the luju.ro Website informing that the Section for Investigating Magistrates extended the investigation "in rem" in Laura Codruta Kovesi's case, for favouring the perpetrator and forgery, in relation to a release issued on January 9, 2017 by the Prosecutor General's Office.

"Prosecutors of the Criminal Investigation Section of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation ordered the initiation of criminal proceedings for abuse of office, in the case of the information made public, by means of registrations broadcast by the media, about a series of statements made by former deputy Sebastian Ghita. Investigation in this file covers all the aspects presented to the public opinion by the previously mentioned person through the broadcasts. In this context, we specify that, after verifications, it resulted that the Romanian Police was the bringing the defendant Nicolae Popa to the country, and the costs related to the transportation were fully paid by this institution," the statement of the Prosecutor General's Office stated.

Luju.ro says that, following the checks, the Section for Investigating Magistrates found that the statement contained unrealistic data, because the file opened in January 2017 did not refer to "all aspects" signaled by Sebastian Ghita, but only aimed at recording the discussion between Traian Basescu and Sebastian Ghita concerning the decision of the judge Camelia Bogdan in the ICA privatization file.
President Klaus Iohanis believes the budget proposed by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) - the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) ruling coalition, adopted by Parliament on Friday, shows the majority coalition's total contempt for Romanians' expectations, "who want a responsible and credible governance."

"On the Executive level, however, things are completely different from what the citizens want, and this budget represents the most eloquent example of a governance putting the Romanians' future on hold," the Presidential Administration points out.
The three regional hospitals the government pledged to deliver will be built with European funds from the next programming period, because the technical documentation stage will be completed somewhere towards the end of this year or early next year, Minister of European Funds Rovana Plumb said on Thursday evening.

Read also: Volume of construction works down 4.1pct in 2018

"We pledged to build three regional hospitals with European funding. The budget allocation for these regional hospitals was made in 2015 and is of only 150 million euro for all three. A regional hospital is a major investment that also requires technical documentation that cannot be done overnight. Nothing has been done in 2016, and talks with our consultant - the European Investment Bank - my colleagues from the Health Ministry and the Development Ministry are working with only kicked off in 2017; everything technical must be completed in due time, but this cannot be done overnight. There is a multitude of technical elements. This is not just about the feasibility study, also included here are the technical project, the construction project and mapping," Rovana Plumb said at Digi TV.

According to the minister, the cost of the technical documentation is 40 million euro per hospital, and the drafting phase will be completed by the end of 2020 or early 2021. Subsequently, the tender for the award of the three hospitals' building contracts will be organised.

"If there are no challenges - although we are accustomed to having them - construction may start towards the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021 at the earliest, which means that we will enter the next programming period. For the current programming period 2014 - 2023, as we have 3 more years, we intend to pay for these documents from the allocated money and the actual construction will be carried out with European funds from the next programming period," Plumb explained.

Rovana Plumb emphasized that in the current programming period the money will be used only for the design of the technical documentation.

The Minister of European Funds refrained from advancing any deadline for the completion of the hospitals, saying she wanted to steer clear of uncertainties.

The minister also said that the first trialogue on a part of the legislative package that underlies the absorption of European funds will take place next week in Brussels.

AGERPRES .
Carmen Iohannis, the wife of President Klaus Iohannis, was heard at the Prosecutor General's Office in the file opened following a denouncement related to the sums of money earned on renting a building, according to judicial sources.

Read also: EU Funds Minister:'Planned regional hospitals to be built with European funds from next programming period'

The Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice (PICCJ) officials did not want to reveal the day she reported at the Prosecutor's Office, but according to sources, Carmen Iohannis's hearing was held last week.

Initially, the file was handled by Cristian Lazar, deputy chief prosector with the Criminal Investigation and Criminology Section of the Prosecutor's Office. Subsequently, the case was taken over by another prosecutor, after Lazar's mandate expired and it went to another prosecutor's office.

Carmen Iohannis was subpoenaed at the Prosecutor General's Office in November and December 2018. In November, she conveyed to the prosecutors that she could not attend the hearings because she was accompanying the President on a visit to the UK, and in December she announced the prosecutors she cannot go to the Prosecutor General's Office due to health reasons.

The first lady was subpoenaed to be heard in a case opened following a complaint filed by SC Jurindex Media SRL, the company managing the Lumeajustitiei.ro site, represented by journalist Razvan Savaliuc, against President Klaus Iohannis, his wife, Carmen Iohannis, as well as against the notary public Radu Gabriel Bucsa, reported to have committed several offenses, including abuse of office, intellectual forgery, money laundering and the setting up of an organized criminal group.

Initially, the denouncement was registered in May 2018 with the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), then forwarded to the Prosecutor's Office with the Alba Iulia Court of Appeal and subsequently to the Prosecutor General's Office.

The complaint lodged with the Prosecutor's Office shows that the Iohannis family refused to give back to the state the sum of 320,000 euro, money coming from renting a building in Sibiu that would have been illegally acquired. In November 2015, the Brasov Court of Appeal definitively decided to cancel a contract for the sale of a real estate in Sibiu owned by Klaus and Carmen Iohannis.

AGERPRES .
Former head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) Laura Codruta Kovesi said Friday that she filed two appeals with the Attorney General's Office for the recusal of prosecutor Adina Florea and of the head of the Magistrates' Investigation Section.

Read also: Social Security Budget Bill for 2019 clears Parliament

"I was informed about the charges against me and that I was a suspect. I filed two requests for the recusal of the case prosecutor and of the chief prosecutor of the section. After informing me, the chief prosecutor told me they would notify me about their response to the two requests for recusal. The reasons [for recusal] are the ones set out in the Code of Criminal Procedure, namely challenged impartiality," Kovesi said as she left the Attorney General's Office, where he was called in a case regarding the return to Romania of disgraced investor Nicolae Popa, manager of a late national investment fund.

She added that no preventive measures had been taken in the case.

Kovesi was greeted upon leaving by a throng of sympathisers who encouraged her. They shouted "Codruta, do not forget, we are on your side!" "PSD - red plague", '' Tudorel, resign!''.

Her fans had laid tulips for her on the stairs to the Attorney General's Office.

AGERPRES .
Aerodynamic cabs for trucks, more safe and more efficient in energetic terms, will emerge on the market starting with September 1, 2020, the Ministry of Transport informs on Friday.

"Today, the Permanent Representatives' Committee confirmed the provision agreement between the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Parliament regarding the modification of the Directive on the maximum length of trucks, so as to bring forward the introduction of longer, aerodynamic cabs. The rounded design of the frontal part of the cab will significantly reduce fuel consumption and improve safety," reads a release of the MT.

According to the said source, before emerging on the market, the aerodynamic trucks must meet the necessary requirements for certification. These requirements will be introduced by November 1, 2019.

Subsequently, Parliament and the Council will have an informal vote to conclude this proposal during the current legislature of Parliament.
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Long-duration spaceflight does weird things to the human body, even at the molecular level, but so far theres no reason to think humans couldnt survive a two-and-a-half-year round-trip journey to Mars. That was the bottom-line message Friday from a NASA official and two scientists as they revealed more results from the agencys Twins Study, which examined physiological changes in astronaut Scott Kelly during his nearly year-long sojourn in space while his twin brother, Mark Kelly, stayed on Earth.

The full report has not yet been published, but reporters got a summary at a news conference at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in Washington. Among the highlights: Scott Kellys bloodwork showed that his immune system quickly ramped up when he went into space, as if, at the cellular level, his body felt under attack.

Its almost as if the bodys on high alert, said Christopher Mason, associate professor of computational genomics at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Some of the physiological effects of microgravity have long been known, such as impaired vision, bone loss, muscle loss and disruption to the wake-sleep cycle. The new research shows changes at the cellular level, including changes in gene expression.
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SCOTTSBLUFF  Western Nebraska Community College will host Criminal Justice Career Day Wednesday, March 6 at the John N. Harms Center on the Scottsbluff Campus from 9 a.m. until 2:15 p.m. Check-in for the event begins at 8:30 a.m.

Those interested in a career in criminal justice are encouraged to attend and RSVP to the event by Monday, March 4 at wncc.edu/admissions/visit-campus.

Wednesdays Career Day gives prospective students a look into nearly every corner of the criminal justice profession, and provides them opportunities to ask questions and learn first-hand from the professionals in the field.

In attendance at the Criminal Justice Career Day will be detectives, crime scene investigators, advocacy representatives, police officers, deputy sheriffs, Nebraska State Patrol troopers, and correctional officers.

Were very fortunate to have such a impressive group of professionals in different areas of the field attend this event, said WNCC Criminal Justice Instructor Tiffany Wasserburger. The students will really receive a full menu of career options within the criminal justice field, and will have the rare opportunity to learn and ask questions from true experts.
One of those bills with a fiscal note would allow Nebraska farmers to grow industrial hemp, which Stinner said has the potential to become a multi-million dollar crop, especially in arid western Nebraska.

When the bill was presented to the Legislature, the Nebraska State Patrol requested $300,000 for a spectrum machine that identifies THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, so they can assure the crop really is industrial hemp.

Unfortunately, Stinner said, the legislation could be derailed because of a required expenditure of funds.

I hope well get a better revenue report than I expect from the Economic Forecasting Board in February, Stinner said. Were down $80 million for the months of November, December and January. Their forecast was supposed to have us up $69 million.

He said some of the deficit might have been caused by the Legislatures reconciling estimates of state tax dollars to changes in the federal tax code. Senators will probably revisit the numbers once the revenue report comes in.

Other major issues the Legislature must tackle this session include Medicaid expansion for some 90,000 new recipients at a cost of $62 million in fiscal notes so far.
Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) have arrested seven people and seized 100 pounds of marijuana during five traffic stops this week on Interstate 80. All five stops happened between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, according to a press release from the Nebraska State Patrol.

Nine pounds of marijuana was seized by troopers making stops near Kimball, according to a press release from the Nebraska State Patrol.

At approximately 1:55 p.m. Tuesday, trooper located more than two pounds of marijuana after stopping an eastbound Toyota Yaris for speeding at mile marker 18 near Kimball. The driver, Jessica Reyna, 25, of Sacramento, California, and passenger, Chase Sinclair, 29, of Charlotte, North Carolina, were both arrested and are being held at the Kimball County Jail.

In a second stop near Kimball, at about 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, a trooper discovered seven pounds of marijuana after stopping an eastbound Hyundai Sonata for speeding near Kimball at mile marker 18. The driver, Christopher Seligman, 35, of Maryland, was arrested and jailed at the Kimball County Jail.
SCOTTSBLUFF  A Colorado man has been accused of sexually assaulting an art student when she was 15 years old.

Steven J. Barraza, 45, of Englewood, Colorado, appeared Friday in Scotts Bluff County Court to be arraigned on a charge of first-degree sexual assault, a Class IB felony.

Allegations against Barraza surfaced in July 2018 when a social worker contacted the Scottsbluff Police Department to report that a 19-year-old woman had accused Barraza of assaulting her when she was 15 years old.

The woman had been interviewed by an investigator with another police department in October 2018, advising that she had taken art lessons from the defendant in 2013 to 2014. The woman told the investigator that Barraza had been messaging her on a private messaging app and had been giving her gifts. In February 2014, she alleged, the man picked her up and took her to his home, where he sexually assaulted her.

She alleged Barraza assaulted her a second time, taking her to a hotel room and providing her alcohol.
While Dick has made an impact at SBPS, Myles is excited to continue their working relationship.

Im proud of Andrew, he said. We work so closely with ESU that he will continue to be important to our district, just in a different way. I believe with all the employees in the district, Im very anxious to support growth. I consider it a success for all of us when you see someone achieve his professional goals.

Myles has not worked out the details on what happens to Dicks current role at the high school, but he said, Changes like this can be very good. No one likes to see a good leader go, but the fact that hes just going down the street makes it a lot more palatable.

Before entering the workforce, Dick attended the University of Nebraska  Lincoln where he majored in business, but a sign in the hallway caused him to change his path.

I was walking through the teachers' college one day and saw a sign about a post-baccalaureate teaching program and decided to pursue that teaching certificate after earning my Bachelor of Science in business, he said.

He comes from a family of educators and saw the certificate as an opportunity to broaden his career opportunities.
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Ogden jazz icon Joe McQueen may be gone, but his memory and legacy live on. One physical reminder of his life, McQueen's lifelong home at 3158 Grant Ave., has now become available for sale. The house received extensive remodeling, but as investor Richard Casperson has said, "Joe's energy is 
F ashion shows are normally a spectacle, featuring luxuriant fabrics and ground-breaking designs.

This London Fashion Week, one show will be a little different. Sure, there will be models and clothes, but the space above their heads will be animated with dramatic lightning bolts, smiling tiger heads and laughing skulls, taunting the audience.

This is because Central Saint Martins (CSM) is holding the first-ever mixed reality catwalk as part of its MA show today. Ten lucky FROW attendees will watch the show wearing Magic Leaps One headsets and get to witness designer Gerrit Jacobs designs come to life in more ways than one.

Liam Gallaghers model son, Lennon Gallagher, will be leading the show. As well, there will be screens around the catwalk, demonstrating the sights to spectators not wearing the headsets.

Augmented reality vs mixed reality vs virtual reality Augmented reality: technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user's view of the real world



Mixed reality: a form of augmented reality, that sits between AR and VR, using a headset, like the Magic Leap One Virtual reality: a computer-generated simulation of a 3D image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way, facilitated by a helmet with a screen inside

Jacobs mixed reality show is powered by Three Mobiles 5G technology, thanks to a new partnership between the telecom and the university. CSMs Kings Cross campus is officially the UKs first live and permanent 5G installation, and the partnership will allow students to experiment and push the limits of the technology.

Speaking about the partnership, Shadi Halliwell, Three Mobile CMO, told the Standard: Fashion has such an amazing story to tell and what were going to be able to show is the inspiration of the collection, walking along with the clothes, and to tell the designers story.

Theres an immediate attraction to [this partnership] for us rather than 5Ging up a shopping mall or a stadium. We can make the story of fashion much more meaningful and I think thats what customers want.

Creative agency Rewind worked closely with Jacob, using his designs and inspirations behind the collection in order to bring them to life in mixed reality.

Runway shows are a really nice example of what mixed reality could do, but it could be in shops, [or] on the streets, Jacob tells the Standard. All we do as designers is work on creating the context of the world around us, and to make it become a reality is, to me, an opportunity in every aspect of presenting clothes.

I think for every designer it would be a great opportunity [to work with mixed reality].

This is only the start of Three and CSMs partnership. Theres going to be a 5G lab set up on the campus for students to use and its likely that further events throughout the year will be powered by the technology.
S usan Boyle is releasing a brand new album to mark a decade since she shocked the Britains Got Talent judges with her Les Miserables performance.

The Scot, who still lives in her childhood home in West Lothian, stunned Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan with her powerful rendition of I Dreamed A Dream back in 2009.

Having seemed to initially write Boyle off, Cowell was awestruck as Boyle sang, with Morgan admitting that it was an incredible performance.

And now Boyle, who is currently appearing on Americas Got Talent: The Champions , is ready to celebrate a decade in the business with a new album.

Back in the spotlight: Susan Boyle is currently on America's Got Talent: The Champions / Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images

After five years away from the spotlight, the 57-year-old has said that she is managing things a lot better and is prepared for life in the limelight  even if being worth 20million doesnt matter to her.

Im managing things a lot better now. It was a slow process. Everything is with me, she told The Sun. But Im coping inside a lot better now and Im ready - more than ready - for whats coming.

Susan Boyle left speechless as she gets the Golden Buzzer on Americas Got Talent- The Champions in big TV comeback

I can cope with the pressure now. I know how to control myself better. I dont get so worked up about things. I got a lot of help and Im managing a lot more effectively.

Boyle also told the publication that being a multi-millionaire didnt really faze her.

First audition: Susan Boyle wowed on stage in 2009 / ITV

She said: I just want to entertain people, I want to make them happy. Money doesnt bother me.

Boyle explained that her niece lives in the 300,000 five-bed property that she bought while she opted to stay in her mums house in Blackburn, West Lothian, where there are lots of memories.

The star also opened up about being diagnosed with Aspergers in 2013 and her struggles with mental health, saying that is easier to talk about health now.

Britain's Got Talent - Manchester Auditions 1 /8 Britain's Got Talent - Manchester Auditions Kirk Andrew Cleaver / SplashNews.com Kirk Andrew Cleaver / SplashNews.com Getty Images Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images Getty Images Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images Kirk Andrew Cleaver / SplashNews.com Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images
N ewlywed Hailey Baldwin has opened up about how scary it is to be young and married, amid reports that she and husband Justin Bieber have postponed their second wedding ceremony.

Speaking to close friend Kendall Jenner on a special Valentines Day edition of the models Beats1 radio show, the 22-year-old revealed the challenges of tying the knot at such a young age.

Its definitely scary to be this young and be married, she said. Its a scary thing but its also the person that Ive literally been in love with for so many years.

She told Jenner that coming to terms with the idea of being with someone forever had been a particular challenge, as she described herself as an independent person who was never really in any serious relationships before getting together with Bieber.

I feel like hes my best friend, she said. And we just get to do life together forever, now. I think the forever aspect for me is just like, you dont think about that until you get married. And then youre like, OK, this is really like, this is forever. Meaning like, there is no end."

Baldwin went on to reveal that "trying to cohabitate with someone and learn how to like, do life with another person" had been "interesting" and "so different."

Justin Bieber sings Happy Birthday to new wife Hailey Baldwin

But I think thats also what its like when youre in a serious relationship. You have to consider another person," she said.

Thats why I say its scary because I didnt have any of that experience before. I went from being a baby, not having a lot of experience, to being married.

Justin Bieber's goes for new haircut with Hailey Baldwin - In pictures 1 /17 Justin Bieber's goes for new haircut with Hailey Baldwin - In pictures Hailey Baldwin helps Justin Bieber with his haircut at Cutler Salon in New York SplashNews.com Hailey Baldwin and Justin Bieber departs Cutler Salon in New York with his new haircut SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com

Baldwin and Bieber officially tied the knot last September in a low-key courthouse ceremony in New York City, and confirmed the news a few months later when the model changed her Instagram handle to @HaileyBieber.

They had reportedly been planning a second wedding celebration for their family and friends, but reports suggested earlier this week that the planning is now on hold to allow Bieber, 24, to focus on getting well mentally.

They will have a wedding ceremony with family and friends eventually, a source told People.
L ondon-born rapper 21 Savage claims he was deliberately targeted and tracked with a helicopter by immigration agents who said, We got Savage when they arrested him.

The 26-year-old, whose real name is Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was seized on February 3 by officials who claim he is British and in the US illegally.

In his first interview since being released on a $100,000 bond, the Grammy-nominated star said he was pulled over while driving in Atlanta.

He told Good Morning America: I just seen guns and blue lights. And then I was in the back of a car. And I was gone. They didnt say nothing. They just said, We got Savage.

21 Savage Arrest

It was definitely targeted. There was helicopters. The Atlanta-based rapper clarified there was one helicopter.

His legal team suggested 21 Savage was the victim of a vendetta by officials at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following his criticism of President Donald Trumps family separation policy at the US-Mexico border. ICE officials said the British citizen overstayed his visa and has an October 2014 felony conviction in Fulton County, Georgia.

They said he went to the US legally when he was 12, but his visa expired a year later and he has lived in the US illegally ever since. He was born in 1992, at Newham Hospital, east London.
The Canadian agency was required to examine if Vietnams carbon steel welded pipe sector operates in accordance with the market economys principles.

Vietnams Ministry of Industry and Trade has coordinated with relevant ministries and sectors to supply full information for the CBSA during the investigation and onsite verifications.

With the aforesaid conclusion, CBSA calculated the dumping margin of Vietnamese exporters based on their actual production costs.

This is the first anti-dumping investigation case in which Canada concluded that a Vietnamese manufacturing industry operates according to the market economys principles, without the involvement of the Government.

The dumping margin of the two Vietnamese enterprises that export the product to Canada was concluded only at 3 percent and 4.9 percent, much lower that that of other exporters from Turkey, Pakistan, and the Philippines.

This has helped Vietnamese businesses maintain their competitiveness advantages while exporting this product to Canada.

From February 15, 2019, Canada will begin to impose anti-dumping duties on carbon steel welded pipe from Vietnam, Turkey, Pakistan, and the Philippines, according to the margin that CBSA had concluded if the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) rules that there is damage to the domestic manufacturing industry.
RTHK: North Koreans head to Vietnam via Beijing

Twelve North Korean officials  including Kim Jong Un's de-facto chief of staff  were en-route to Vietnam on Friday ahead of a second scheduled summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

The North Koreans had arrived in Beijing and were expected to board a plane bound for the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, Yonhap said, with the high-stakes meeting now less than two weeks away.

"A group of 12 North Koreans, including Kim Chang Son, were on the boarding list," Yonhap said, citing a source in the capital.

Kim Chang Son was part of the team overseeing protocol in the run up to the first Trump-Kim summit and Yonhap said the delegation was expected to have discussions with US officials on the logistical preparations for the Hanoi meeting.

The identities of the 11 other officials were not reported.

Pyongyang has yet to provide any official confirmation of the February 27 to 28 summit, which will be the second time the two leaders come together following their June 12 Singapore meeting. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2019-02-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A row has erupted over Donald Trump's plans to declare a national emergency to get funding for his border wall.

On Thursday, the US President agreed to sign a border security compromise to avert another government shutdown.

But a new row has erupted after he announced plans to bypass lawmakers and declare a national emergency to siphon billions more for his wall on the Mexican boundary.

Money in the bill for border barriers, about $1.4 billion, is far below the $5.7 billion Mr Trump insisted he needed and would finance just a quarter of the 200-plus miles he wanted.

The White House said he would sign the legislation but act unilaterally to get more, prompting condemnations from Democrats and threats of lawsuits from states and others who might lose federal money or said Trump was abusing his authority.

The uproar over Trump's next move cast an uncertain shadow over what had been a rare display of bipartisanship to address the grinding battle between the White House and lawmakers over border security.



President Donald Trump's second year in office - in pictures 1 /25 President Donald Trump's second year in office - in pictures Donald Trump in the Oval Office AFP/Getty Images March 2018 Stormy Daniels, an adult film star and director whose real name is Stephanie Clifford is interviewed by Anderson Cooper of CBS News' 60 Minutes programme CBS News/60 Minutes March 20 Donald Trump meets with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House AFP/Getty Images June 09 German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks to U.S. President Donald Trump during the second day of the G7 meeting in Charlevoix city of La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada Reuters June 12 Donald Trump meets with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un at the start of their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore AFP/Getty Images June 12 A two-year-old Honduran asylum seeker cries as her mother is searched and detained near the U.S.-Mexico border in McAllen, Texas Getty Images June 21 U.S. first lady Melania Trump walks from her airplane to her motorcade wearing a Zara design jacket with the phrase "I Really Don't Care. Do U?" on the back Reuters July 13 Demonstrators gather in Trafalgar Square, London during a 'Stop Trump' march as part of the protests against the visit of US President Donald Trump to the UK PA July 13 Donald Trump and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II inspect a Guard of Honour, formed of the Coldstream Guards at Windsor Castle AP July 13 Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa meet at Chequers Reuters July 14 Trumps visit to Britain - Baby blimp July 14 Reuters July 16 Donald Trump meets with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, Reuters August 29 Cindy McCain, wife of US Senator John McCain, touches the casket during a memorial service at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix Reuters October 4 Protestors rally against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Getty Images October 6 Protesters rally against the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, outside of the Supreme Court, Getty Images October 02 Jamal Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 Reuters October 11 Donald Trump meets with rapper Kanye West (R) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC AFP/Getty Images October 11 Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian posed for a photograph together at the White House Donald Trump/Twitter October 23 President Donald Trump speaking about developments regarding the killing of Jamal Khashoggi EPA October 27 Donald Trump speaks to the media at Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base AP October 30 Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump put down stones from the White House and flowers at a memorial outside for those killed at the Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue AP November 07 CNN correspondent Jim Acosta does a stand up before the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington AP November 07 A White House staff member reaches for the microphone held by CNN's Jim Acosta as he questions U.S. President Donald Trump during a news conference following Tuesday's midterm U.S. congressional elections Reuters November 07 Donald Trump looks on as a White House aide takes away a microphone from CNN journalist Jim Acosta during a news conference in the East Room of the White House AP December 11 Michael Cohen arrive at federal court for sentencing with his children, Samantha and Jake, and wife Laura Shusterman AP

Both the Senate and the House have voted in favour of the legislation.

The Senate passed the legislation 83-16, with both parties solidly on board, while the House followed with a 300-128 tally,

President Trump is expected to sign off on the plans on Friday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the President has indicated he is prepared to sign the government funding bill but could declare an emergency at the same time.

With the new legislation passed, politicians spoke of their relief that the agreement had averted a fresh closure of federal agencies.

It comes just three weeks after a record-setting 35-day partial shutdown.

TODO: define component type apester

In an unusual joint statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said such a declaration of a national emergency by the President would be "a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency and a desperate attempt to distract" from Mr Trump's failure to force Mexico to pay for the wall.

Ms Pelosi and Mr Schumer also said "Congress will defend our constitutional authorities".

The national emergency strategy, expected to be declared by Trump on Friday, is also dividing Republicans.

Senator Susan Collins, a Republican moderate, said in a statement: "Declaring a national emergency for this purpose would be a mistake on the part of the president."
A judge has ruled that the trial of a man accused of murdering a British-born toddler in Australia cannot proceed.

Three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer, from Bristol, vanished from a beach in New South Wales in 1970.

A year later, a 17-year-old boy claimed in a police interview to have murdered her however investigators did not have enough evidence to support his confession.

He was not charged.

Cheryl Grimmer pictured with her father / NSW Police

Cheryl went missing shortly after her family relocated to Australia from Bristol.

Her body has never been found.

The case was reopened in 2016 and the suspect, who cannot be named due to his age at the time of the alleged killing, was arrested and charged in 2017.

Now aged in his 60s, the British-born suspect pleaded not guilty and a trial was arranged for May.

The alleged killer then mounted a challenge against the admissibility of the police interview in the New South Wales Supreme Court.

The girl has never been found despite a large search at the time / Fairfax Media

On Friday, Justice Robert Hulme ruled the interview was inadmissible as evidence.

"The Crown accepts that its case cannot succeed without it," he said in his judgment.

Mr Justice Hulme said that the interview should not be admitted in evidence due to the "particular circumstances of the case".

"These circumstances primarily relate to the manner in which the interview was conducted and the particular vulnerability of the accused at the time," he said.

Cheryl Grimmer's brother Ricki Nash said: "We're just a bit numb, a bit shocked. No words can describe how I feel at the moment."

Another of her brothers, Stephen Grimmer told the BBC in 2016: "My mum and dad have passed on now not knowing, and we want to know too before we pass on."
I SIS bride Shamima Begum could have her British citizenship stripped to prevent her return from Syria, according to reports.

Officials believe there are potential options which could revoke her citizenship or allow her passport to be taken away, the Times reports.

In addition to this, the Home Secretary Sajid Javid has vowed to try to prevent her return to Britain.

He told the Times: "We must remember that those who left Britain to join Daesh are full of hate for our country.

"My message is clear - if you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your turn."

Shamima Begum when she was 15 and fled to join IS / PA

He also echoed Security Minister Ben Wallace's comments that she could face prosecution if she were to come back to the country.

This comes after the 19-year-old from Bethnal Green teen ran away from London four years ago to Syria to join ISIS while she was still at school.

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In a Times interview Begum revealed she wants to return to the UK to give birth after losing two children while in Syria.

Following this, speaking to the Daily Mail, Shamima's brother-in-law Mohamed Rehman said: Shes put us all though a lot of heart ache. Shes also gone through a very difficult time herself.

"Shamima's mother broke down when she heard her voice.

"Until the interview with her appeared in the newspaper we didn't know if she was alive or not. So you can imagine, this has come as a shock to us all.

At one stage we thought she was dead. There has been no contact with her in almost 2 years. Shamima's mum just cried and told her to come home."

(L - R) Kadiza Sultana, 16, Shamima Begum, 15 and Amira Abase, 15 going through security at Gatwick airport / PA

Despite reports that she could face being banned from the country, there are legal issues to this.

Britain's former counter-terrorism tsar said the east London schoolgirl will have to be accepted into the UK if she still only has British citizenship.

Lord Carlile told BBC Radio 5 Live if Ms Begum has not gained a second citizenship of another country she will be allowed back to her homeland.

This is because under international law it is not possible for a person to be made "stateless".

The question of how authorities manage the return of UK nationals who travelled to IS territory has been the subject of fierce debate since the group came to prominence and here have been mixed reactions to Begum potentially returning.

Womens Equality UK said: Shamima Begum was groomed as a child, forced to marry and bear children.

Past trauma isn't undone by arbitrary ideas of adulthood and our desire for remorse. The shameful response from government shows how little they have learned from recent Child Sexual Exploitation cases.

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said under our law she is entitled to return, but said she should the law should continue to take its course if she has committed offences.

Begum was one of three schoolgirls, along with Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, from Bethnal Green Academy who left the UK in February 2015.
P olice have shot down claims that an alleged attack on Empire star Jussie Smollett was staged.

The actor is alleged to have been beaten in a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago last month.

There had been reports suggesting that Mr Smollett may have staged the incident along with two men after he feared he was being written out of musical drama Empire.

However, detectives have issued a statement denying this is the case. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said: "Media reports about the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives.

"Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate."

Police released CCTV images of "persons of interest" over an alleged assault on Empire star Jussie Smollett. / AP

Fox, the network which produces Empire, released a statement to say Mr Smollett was "core" to the show and was not being written out.

Mr Smollett, who is black and came out as gay in 2015, is alleged to have been attacked by men who shouted homophobic and racist abuse in Chicago on January 29.

The 36-year-old made a tearful appearance on Good Morning America this week and said he had been "forever changed" by the alleged attack.

He said: "I will never be the man who this didn't happen to.

Attacked: Jussie Smollett / Victoria Will/Invision/AP

"I am forever changed and I don't subscribe to the idea that everything happens for a reason, but I do subscribe to the idea that we have the right and responsibility to make something meaningful out of the things that happen to us, good and bad."

Asked what message he wanted to send by speaking about the attack, he replied: "I want young people, young members of the LGTBQ community, young black children, to know how strong they are, to know the power they hold in their little pinky."

Mr Smollett has starred in Fox's musical drama Empire since 2015. He plays Jamal, the gay son of a music mogul, played by Terrence Howard.

No arrests have been made in connection with the alleged attack.
M I6 boss Alex Younger today warned that Britons returning from Islamic State were potentially very dangerous and stressed public safety must be the first consideration.

The head of the Secret Intelligence Service also spoke out against triumphalism as the terror group is being crushed territorially in Syria and Iraq, stressing that destroying it was a generational battle.

Mr Younger did not want to comment specifically on the case of Shamima Begum, 19, from east London, who revealed yesterday she wants to come home despite expressing no regrets at becoming an jihadi bride.

But Mr Younger warned of the risk posed by Britons coming back to the country having joined IS.

They are likely to have acquired both the skills and connections that make them potentially very dangerous and also experienced extreme radicalisation, either in their journey to that place or when they are there. That fact needs to be uppermost in our minds.

Head of MI6 Alex Younger / EPA

As we approach this admittedly extremely complex and difficult problem, public safety is the first thing that we will consider.

It follows from that that anyone who has put themselves in this situation can expect to be questioned and investigated and potentially prosecuted if they return to our jurisdiction.

Mr Younger emphasised that the so-called IS caliphate was now in its end game, with the extremist militants clinging to the last square mile of land that they hold in eastern Syria in the village of Baghuz.

The few hundred remaining IS fighters are being targeted by precision-strikes in a US-backed operation which was expected to clear them out shortly, with US President Donald Trump poised to declare a victory.

However, in a rare interview with journalists at the Munich Security Conference, Mr Younger said: We are not triumphant because I think from triumphant you get to hubris.

Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) gather around a humvee armoured vehicle near the battered Islamic State-held holdout of Baghouz in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor / AFP/Getty Images

The reality is this is a societal, generational problem that we face in the West and it can only be addressed at that level.

So, of course, the military defeat of the caliphate does not represent the end of the terrorist threat. You cant use military force to kill an idea but you can use it to denigrate and disrupt the sharpest end of the problem.

In the interview before talks with Bruno Kahl, president of Germanys Federal Intelligence Service, and Bernard Emie, head of the French DGSE national foreign intelligence agency, Mr Younger also stressed that, amid Brexit turmoil, Britain had an unconditional security offer to Europe.

There are people alive in our three countries today because of terrorist attack plans that we have successfully disrupted, showing the value and importance of co-operation to all sides, he said.

He emphasised the importance of the strategic partnerships between the UK and its allies to counter hybrid threats from Russia and other nations and terror groups, adding: We will show steel in defence of our citizens and our interests.

He believes Russia is seeking to target elections in the West to reduce the quality of political trust in institutions and discourse. Pledging an assertive response, Mr Younger added: We have been really, really clear with them that whatever they think they are trying to achieve with this concerted campaign of covert and overt action to denigrate our quality of institutions and alliances, its not going to work, its going to come at too high a cost.

Discussing whether there was still a threat to Novichok poisoning victims Sergei and Yulia Skripal, he explained: We assess that there is a standing threat from the GRU and the other Russian intelligence services and very little is off-limits.

Mr Younger signalled he did not favour an outright ban on Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei being involved in a 5G network in Britain, but warned against monopoly suppliers in key areas of national infrastructure.

The spy chief also warned of the re-emerging threat posed by al Qaeda.

The capture of Baghuz and nearby areas would mark the end of a devastating four-year global campaign to end Islamic States hold on territory in Syria and Iraq, their so-called caliphate.

At the height of the groups power in 2014, IS controlled nearly a third of both Iraq and Syria.

Mr Trump has said the group is all but defeated, and announced in December that he would withdraw the 2,000 US forces from Syria.

But Mr Younger warned: As you would expect, Daesh (IS) is a resilient organisation and it is reorganising essentially returning to its natural state as an asymmetric, transnational terrorist organisation.

We see it therefore morphing, spreading out ... within Syria but also externally ... this is the traditional shape of a terrorist organisation.

Al Qaeda, which has always been in a rivalry, an almost zero-sum relationship with Daesh, has undergone a certain resurgence as a result of the degradation of Daesh and is a force that should also be taken seriously.
A man has been charged over the death of his wife after he trapped her in a hot tub by partially closing the lid while she was bathing in it, police have said.

Eric Huska, 58, was charged with involuntary manslaughter after police saw surveillance video that showed the incident at the couple's home in Wheeling, Illinois, police said.

They said his wife, Laura, 57, who had been drinking, was in their private outdoor hot tub when she became distressed and unable to get out of the tub.

Wheeling Police told the Chicago Tribune that Huska intially tried to help her out but then "partially closed the lid" while she was still in it and went inside the house.

The paper said the lid was described by police as heavy and six to eight inches thick.

Officers said that when Huska returned, his wife was "floating and unresponsive."

Mrs Huska later died after paramedics were unable to resuscitate her.

Her death was ruled a homicide caused by drowning from entrapment, according to the Tribune, citing a the Cook County's medical examiner's office.

Wheeling police told the paper alcohol was a "major factor" in the death.

Police have not provided a motive and have charged him with manslaughter, which carries a sentence of up to 14 years if convicted.

Huska's bail was set for $10,000 on Tuesday,
A dad has launched a desperate appeal after his ex-partner vanished with their three-year-old daughter after flying to Britain.

Australian yoga teacher Peter Uhd, 57, said he believes Victoria McKay, 43, and Ruby McKay-Uhd are living in a camper van somewhere in the UK.

Ruby has been at the centre of family court proceedings involving her mother, also a yoga teacher, and father in Australia.

Mr Uhd has urged anyone with information about the pair to help.

Missing Ruby McKay-Uhd is thought to be living in a camper van with her mother / PA

He said: "Please, anybody who may have been at a camp ground, has links with alternative communities or lives in a farming area who may know their whereabouts."

"I'm a desperate father who just wants to see my little girl again.

"I am desperately worried about her living in a van."

A High Court judge overseeing Ruby's case raised the alarm earlier this week.

Victoria McKay was born in Birmingham but had been living in Australia for more than 20 years / PA

Mr Justice Keehan, who is based in the Family Division of the High Court in London, said on Tuesday that he is very concerned about Ruby's welfare.

She was wrongfully brought to the UK by her mother in September and a family court judge in Melbourne, where Mr Uhd lives, had ordered her return to Australia.

Mr Uhd is Australian, Ms McKay was born in Birmingham but had been living in Australia for more than 20 years, and Ruby was born in Australia, lawyers say.

The case has been heard in private but Mr Justice Keehan lifted an identity bar in the hope that publicity would help find the youngster and her mother. He also authorised the publication of photographs.

Lawyers representing Ruby's father had asked the judge to allow the girl's disappearance to be revealed.

They said all other efforts to trace her and Ms McKay have so far failed.

Lawyer James Netto, who is also representing Mr Uhd and is based at London law firm Dawson Cornwell, said Ms McKay and Ruby are thought to be living in a blue Renault Trafic camper van, registration E527 HPC.

He said Ms McKay has one relative in Birmingham and others in the Littlehampton area of West Sussex. Mr Netto said she had also spoken of possibly travelling to Scotland.

He said Ms McKay, who also uses the surnames Booty and Garrick, is a qualified yoga teacher and veterinary nurse.

Ms McKay and Ruby might be living on campsites, caravan parks or farms, he added.
A t least four police officers and multiple civilians have been shot at a steel mill in Aurora, Illinois.

Police arrested a gunman after the shooting at the Henry Pratt Company.

Schools in the area were on lockdown during the attack, which took place around 3pm local time.

The culprit is believed to be an employee of the company, according to survivors. There would have been around 30 people in the building at the time of the shooting.

John Probst, an employee who escaped the building, told ABC7 Chicago that he saw a coworker holding a pistol with a green laser beam.

He told the local news station that he saw other coworkers injured and that the shooter was firing indiscriminately.

Mr Probst added: "One of the guys was up in the office, he said this person was shootin', and, he come running down and he was bleeding pretty bad, and the next thing you know he was walking back and forth, I heard more shots, and we just left the building."

Witnesses reported seeing at least 30 police cars at the plant in southwest surburban Aurora.

Rush Copley Hospital tweeted that they had received two victims with non-life-threatening injuries.

The officers who were injured are in a stable condition, according to City of Aurora Director of Communications Clayton Muhammad.

The local school district told parents: "There are reports of an active shooter at the Henry Pratt building near Cleveland and Prairie just east of Luigi's Pizza, as a result, we are holding all district students in place for their safety, there is a police presence in the area.

"Per directions from the county sheriff, the District has been advised to go into soft lockdown situation across the district.
S chool students blocked Westminster Bridge in central London for more than four hours today as part of a national day of action to demand the Government tackle climate change.

In London, hundreds of eco-aware children, many in uniform, descended on Parliament Square for the unprecedented walk-out.

By the afternoon the demonstration had progressed to Westminster Bridge, which was blocked in both directions as children refused to calls by authorities to move.

Mounted police were used to move the protesters off the roads as they blocked traffic during the demonstration.

Climate Change Protest at Parliament Square - In pictures 1 /32 Climate Change Protest at Parliament Square - In pictures A climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster, London PA Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster PA Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire Young demonstrators hold placards whilst standing on a statue of war-time Prime Minsiter Winston Churchill AFP/Getty Images Schoolchildren take part in a student climate march in Parliament Square Getty Images Police officers talk to protestor as students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement take part in a climate change protest on Parliament Square, Westminster PA Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square PA A climate change protest in Westminster, London Alex Lentati Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster, PA Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement outside the gates of Downing Street during a climate change protest PA Three year old Violet Wicks from London during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster, London. PA People take part in a "youth strike for climate change" demonstration in London. Reuters Students from Graveney School, Tooting join the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster, London. PA Schoolchildren take part in a student climate march Getty Images Banners at a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster, PA Schoolchildren take part in a student climate march Getty Images A girl looks on as people take part in a "youth strike for climate change" demonstration in London Reuters People take part in a "youth strike for climate change" demonstration in London Reuters Schoolchildren take part in a student climate march in Parliament Square Getty Images Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster PA Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster PA Protesters at a Youth Strike 4 Climate demonstration outside Shire Hall in Cambridge PA Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Canterbury high street in Kent PA Schoolchildren take part in a student climate march in Briighton Getty Images Getty Images AFP/Getty Images PA PA PA PA PA PA

The protest was inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who demonstrates every Friday outside her countrys parliament to urge leaders to tackle climate change.

Police moved protesters off roads / Simon Lewis

Todays action was organised by the Youth Strike 4 Climate group, aimed at drawing attention to an alarming lack of government leadership on climate change.

Students blockaded Westminster Bridge during the protest / Sarah Hall

Pictures shared on social media showed a swarm of protesters marching onto Westminster Bridge shortly after 1pm.

The group blocked the road for several hours chanting and carrying placards with slogans such as "fossil fuels our anger" and "system change not climate change".

A student holds up her placard as members of the police attempt to clear the roads around Parliament Square / Getty Images

Meanwhile some demonstrators took to London's famous red buses during the protest, which centred in Parliament Square.

Others scaled traffic lights or statues in the square, or sat down in front of double-deckers, prompting the Metropolitan Police to intervene.

A number of protesters were led off in handcuffs after being removed from the road by police.

One group, who looked to be in their late teens, took over an open-top tourist bus, climbing to the top deck and conducting their protest from there.

'Don't go breaking my Earth' / REUTERS

The students took their protest to Downing Street, stopping in front of the gates to chant "save our planet".

Hannah-Jane Kenton, 11, from Hitchin Girls School in Hertfordshire, was among the first to arrive outside Parliament this morning.

She said: We need to do this. The leaders are all wasting time arguing over Brexit when they could be discussing important things  our world is dying, they are not listening.

Cyrus Jarvis, 15, from London Academy said: We want the next generation to have a future. Were coming down here to get that change now.

People take part in a "youth strike for climate change" demonstration in London. (REUTERS) / Reuters

We want the politicians to actually listen to the scientists and young people. Climate change isnt reversible so we need to act now.

At Streatham and Clapham High School, a member of the Girls Day School Trust, the children wrote to local MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan calling for action.

Amelia Semple, 12, said: We are the generation who has to make the change.

Three year old Violet Wicks from London during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster, London. (Nick Ansell/PA Wire) / PA

Lottie Gill, 17, added: I think a lot of people are quite naive about it. Its important to keep the issue going. It shouldnt just be one day in school. It should be every day.

Deputy head teacher Gill Cross, said if it was up to her they would all be protesting, but added: Clearly educating is incredibly important, and the more educated they are, the more able they are to change things like this.

Meanwhile pupils throughout the UK were protesting in towns and cities.

In Belfast, a small but passionate crowd of young people gathered outside City Hall.

Outside Cambridgeshire County Councils offices in Cambridge students carried banners bearing slogans including there is no planet B, global warming isnt a prediction - its happening and when did children become the adults?.

Children also gathered in Brighton, with some waving banners refusing to take exams and calling for immediate action on climate change.

They cheered as they were joined by Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas.

Downing Street said that while it was important for young people to engage with issues like climate change, the disruption to planned lesson time was damaging for pupils.

"Everybody wants young people to be engaged in the issues that affect them most so that we can build a brighter future for all of us," a No 10 spokeswoman said.

"But it is important to emphasise that disruption increases teachers' workloads and wastes lesson time that teachers have carefully prepared for.

"That time is crucial for young people, precisely so that they can develop into the top scientists, engineers and advocates we need to help tackle this problem."

The First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon backed the protestors on Twitter, describing their actions as a cause for optimism in an often dark world.

While she said the Scottish Government was a "world leader" in acting against climate change, the urgency of the issue meant "it is right that we are all challenged to do more and that we hear the voice of the next generation".
B rits are set for another day of glorious sunshine with the temperatures expected to soar to 16C for the second day in a row.

Thursday saw the warmest Valentines Day since 1998 in the UK, with temperatures reaching 16.1C in the town of Bala in Gwynedd, north Wales.

The mercury dipped as low as -3.3C overnight but temperatures are expected to climb after a chilly start to Friday, with the risk of potentially troublesome fog across most of southern England.

The balmy conditions are being caused by a stream of tropical air which has travelled from the Canary Islands off the north-west coast of Africa.

This morning patches of dense fog are expected to cause travel disruption across a swathe of southern England.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning stretching from Cornwall to London and Kent that will be in place from 5am until 11am.

Forecasters said not everywhere would be affected, but some dense patches could reduce visibility to as low as 50 metres in a few places.

Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said: "It will be another mild day for many parts of the UK.

Animals in the Snow 2019 - In pictures 1 /23 Animals in the Snow 2019 - In pictures Frenchie the French Bulldog chases snowballs in the village of Tintwistle in the High Peak district Getty Images Kiri the Kune Kune pig enjoys the snow at ZSL London Zoo London Zoo Humboldt penguins enjoy the snow at ZSL London Zoo London Zoo Asian short clawed otters at ZSL London Zoo London Zoo Asian short clawed otters at ZSL London Zoo London Zoo Ducks on a frozen near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales PA A Shetland pony grazing in a field near Scalloway on the Shetland Islands after recent snowfall PA A swan sits on frozen Sefton Park Lake in Liverpool PA Red deer graze in the snow on January 30, in Glen Etive, Scotland Getty Images A dog lies in the snow by Mow Cop Folly Reuters A husky dog enjoys a walk on Camp Hill, Woolton PA Sheep grazing in a field near Tingwall on the Shetland Islands after recent snowfall PA A dog enjoys a fresh and frosty morning walk in East London Jeff Moore A red deer grazes in the snow in Glen Etive, Scotland Getty Images Dogs play in the early morning light on Primrose Hill as the sun begins to rise Getty Images A horse stands in the morning sun as a frost covers the ground of Basingstoke Common in Hampshire PA Luke, a five year old yellow Labrador plays in the snow at Moss Farm Leisure Complex in Northwich Reuters Grouse on a wall in a wintry scene at Nenthead in Cumbria PA A red deer grazes in the snow in Glen Etive, Scotland Getty Images Sheep enjoy the snow in the mountains near Killakee, to the south east of Dublin PA A dog enjoys a fresh and frosty morning walk in East London Jeff Moore Luke, a five year old yellow Labrador plays in the snow at Moss Farm Leisure Complex in Northwich Reuters Dogs play in the early morning light on Primrose Hill as the sun begins to rise Getty Images

"People getting out first thing this morning might think it's a bit nippy out there and there are some fog patches in central and southern England.

"But there will be a lot of sunshine around later once that clears."

But the balmy weather is not expected to last.

As we go into the weekend there will be a change in the weather, Mr Snell added.
T housands of students are set to go on strike at 11am on Friday as part of a global youth action over climate change.

Strikes are taking place in 60 towns and cities across the country from Cornwall to the Scottish Highlands.

Students in the UK are demanding the Government declare a climate emergency and take active steps to tackle the problem, communicate the severity of the ecological crisis to the public and reform the curriculum to make it an educational priority.

They also want recognition that young people have the biggest stake in the future, should be involved in policymaking, and that the voting age should be lowered to 16.

But the National Association of Head Teachers said: "Pupils should only be out of school in exceptional circumstances. While NAHT supports the right of young people to express themselves, first and foremost, pupils should be in school during term time."

Schoolchildren across UK strike over climate change

Anna Taylor, of UK Student Climate Network, said: "We're running out of time for meaningful change, and that's why we're seeing young people around the world rising up to hold their governments to account on their dismal climate records.

Pupils demonstrate with posters for climate protection in front of the city hall in Hamburg, northern Germany / AFP/Getty Images

"Unless we take positive action, the future's looking bleak for those of us that have grown up in an era defined by climate change."

However school leaders and Education Secretary Damian Hinds have warned students they should not miss lessons to take part in the strikes.

The movement has already seen school strikes in Australia and European countries including Belgium, and has been inspired by teenager Greta Thunberg, who protests every Friday outside Sweden's parliament to urge leaders to tackle climate change.

The strikes come in the wake of a UN report which warned that limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, beyond which climate impacts become increasingly severe, requires unprecedented action.

That includes cutting global carbon dioxide emissions by almost half within 12 years.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg protests every Friday outside Sweden's parliament / EPA

London mayor Sadiq Khan, speaking at the National Clean Air Summit at the Tate Modern on Thursday, said he understands why children feel "very strongly" about pollution and climate change and called for politicians to take "great strides to clear up the air across our country".

He said: "I say to my fellow politicians, we can be the first generation to get it and find solutions, or the last generation not to get it."

The strike is being supported by environmental campaign groups and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, who will address students on their walkout in Brighton.

Sadiq Khan said he understands why children feel "very strongly" about pollution and climate change / Getty Images

Ms Lucas, who described the action as "inspiring", said: "Our children recognise that this is a climate emergency.

"They are striking this week because they know we cannot carry on as normal.

"Teachers work hard to prepare students for their future but right now that future is at serious risk."

Students and young people are set to follow up on February's action with a second round of strikes taking place on March 15 as part of a global youth strike.
T housands of school students have skipped classes today to demand governments take action on climate change.

Strikes took place in 60 towns and cities across the country from Cornwall to the Scottish Highlands, in the face of "an alarming lack of Government leadership" on climate change.

In London, hundreds of eco-aware children, many in uniform, descended on Parliament Square for the unprecedented walk-out, which has caused a headache for teachers keen to support the cause but unable to condone authorised absenteeism.

While it would usually incur a 60 fine, parents at some schools indicated teachers will turn a blind eye.

Climate Change Protest at Parliament Square - In pictures 1 /32 Climate Change Protest at Parliament Square - In pictures A climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster, London PA Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster PA Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire Young demonstrators hold placards whilst standing on a statue of war-time Prime Minsiter Winston Churchill AFP/Getty Images Schoolchildren take part in a student climate march in Parliament Square Getty Images Police officers talk to protestor as students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement take part in a climate change protest on Parliament Square, Westminster PA Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square PA A climate change protest in Westminster, London Alex Lentati Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster, PA Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement outside the gates of Downing Street during a climate change protest PA Three year old Violet Wicks from London during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster, London. PA People take part in a "youth strike for climate change" demonstration in London. Reuters Students from Graveney School, Tooting join the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster, London. PA Schoolchildren take part in a student climate march Getty Images Banners at a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster, PA Schoolchildren take part in a student climate march Getty Images A girl looks on as people take part in a "youth strike for climate change" demonstration in London Reuters People take part in a "youth strike for climate change" demonstration in London Reuters Schoolchildren take part in a student climate march in Parliament Square Getty Images Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster PA Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster PA Protesters at a Youth Strike 4 Climate demonstration outside Shire Hall in Cambridge PA Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Canterbury high street in Kent PA Schoolchildren take part in a student climate march in Briighton Getty Images Getty Images AFP/Getty Images PA PA PA PA PA PA

The movement was inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who protests every Friday outside her countrys parliament to urge leaders to tackle climate change.

Hannah-Jane Kenton, 11, from Hitchin Girls School in Hertfordshire, was among the first to arrive outside Parliament this morning.

She said: We need to do this. The leaders are all wasting time arguing over Brexit when they could be discussing important things  our world is dying, they are not listening.

Students from Graveney School, Tooting join the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster, London. (Nick Ansell/PA Wire) / PA

Cyrus Jarvis, 15, from London Academy said: We want the next generation to have a future. Were coming down here to get that change now.

We want the politicians to actually listen to the scientists and young people. Climate change isnt reversible so we need to act now.

At Streatham and Clapham High School, a member of the Girls Day School Trust, the children wrote to local MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan calling for action.

Amelia Semple, 12, said: We are the generation who has to make the change.

Lottie Gill, 17, added: I think a lot of people are quite naive about it. Its important to keep the issue going. It shouldnt just be one day in school. It should be every day.

Deputy head teacher Gill Cross, said if it was up to her they would all be protesting, but added: Clearly educating is incredibly important, and the more educated they are, the more able they are to change things like this.

Outside Cambridgeshire County Councils offices in Cambridge students carried banners bearing slogans including there is no planet B, global warming isnt a prediction - its happening and when did children become the adults?.

One protester stood on the steps of the council's building with a megaphone and led chants of 'whose future? Our future' and 'hey, ho, fossil fuels have got to go'.

People take part in a "youth strike for climate change" demonstration in London. (REUTERS) / Reuters

Jasper Giles, a six-year-old pupil at University of Cambridge Primary School, was at the protest with his mother Alissia Roberts.

His mother said: "I think it's worth taking a day off school to show support for this movement. I think it's really important and it will gather momentum."

Maria Boznikoba, 40, attended with her eight-year-old daughter Gwen who is home-schooled.

Three year old Violet Wicks from London during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster, London. (Nick Ansell/PA Wire) / PA

"I really worry for the future of my daughter and I don't want her to be dealing with the stuff we're going to leave behind," she said.

Ten-year-old Zachary Hird, a pupil at Cambridge's Newnham Croft Primary School, attended with his mother Diane Hird.

He said: "We don't want climate change and people just have to change their ways as we don't want the world as it is right now.

"We just want to make people aware of it.

"We were talking about it in our class so we just came along."

Asked how he felt about missing lessons for the day, he said: "I feel climate change is more important - the world dying is a lot more bad than just, yeah."

Meanwhile, in Brighton, students held banners that said they were refusing to take exams, while others read: "Why should I clean my room when the world is in such a mess". They then chanted for climate action immediately.

Roseanne Steffen, 21, a student at the University of Sussex, said: "We're protesting against the governmental inaction over climate change. We're also part of an international movement for the demanding of much more concentrated action.

"We think our leaders have been acting irresponsibly towards this issue and it should have been made a number one priority years ago.

"We've had the climate science for 20 plus years and we've been in denial about it, so we need to react urgently.

"The UK Government and particularly Britain in its history has been a key emitter of carbon. Ever since the industrial revolution, we've been polluting the atmosphere.

"We've been really lucky as a university to have the support because they have been doing the research on climate change and it's looking bleak. They understand the imperative of action."

Downing Street said that while it was important for young people to engage with issues like climate change, the disruption to planned lesson time was damaging for pupils.

"Everybody wants young people to be engaged in the issues that affect them most so that we can build a brighter future for all of us," a No 10 spokeswoman said.

"But it is important to emphasise that disruption increases teachers' workloads and wastes lesson time that teachers have carefully prepared for.

"That time is crucial for young people, precisely so that they can develop into the top scientists, engineers and advocates we need to help tackle this problem."

The First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon backed the protestors on Twitter, describing their actions as a cause for optimism in an often dark world.

While she said the Scottish Government was a "world leader" in acting against climate change, the urgency of the issue meant "it is right that we are all challenged to do more and that we hear the voice of the next generation".
T he Shamima Begum case has prompted fresh questions about how the UK manages those returning or attempting to come back from Syria after joining ISIS.

The pregant 19-year-old was discovered in a refugee camp earlier this week by The Times and said that she wanted to return to the UK to have her child.

Her comments have divided opinions on whether she should be allowed to return to the UK and be re-educated.

But what options do authorities have in such instances?

Arrest and prosecution

Home Secretary Sajid Javid has said those who make it back "should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted".

Sajid Javid has warned those who come back to the UK to be prepared for "questioning" (Photo: GARETH FULLER/AFP/Getty Images) / AFP/Getty Images

But authorities have faced difficulties obtaining evidence to prove someone committed crimes in Syria.

Figures disclosed in the Commons last year suggested that only around one in 10 returnees has been prosecuted over "direct action" in Syria, although ministers say a significant proportion of those who have come back were assessed as no longer being of national security concern.

New legislation which passed earlier this week made it an offence to enter or remain in overseas terror hotspots, officially termed "designated areas".

Managed return

Powers known as temporary exclusion orders (TEOs) were introduced in 2015. They can last for up to two years and can be imposed on those suspected of involvement in terrorism abroad, making it unlawful for them to return to the UK without engaging with authorities.

The powers were unused in 2016, while nine TEOs were issued in 2017.

Removal of citizenship

In cases where the Government determines that such action is "conducive to the public good", it can deprive an individual of their British citizenship.

The power can be used in a range of circumstances, including national security cases. Figures for 2017 show that 104 people were deprived of their citizenship - up from 14 in the previous year.

The Government is barred from using the powers if it would render someone stateless, except if the individual was naturalised as a British citizen and is believed to be able to acquire citizenship of another country.

The UK would have to re-admit Ms Begum if she has no other nationality / EPA

Former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Lord Carlile has said the UK would have to re-admit Ms Begum if she has no other nationality.

TPIMs

Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIMs) allow the Home Secretary to impose a range of disruptive measures on individuals who are suspected of posing a threat to security but who cannot be prosecuted, or, in the case of foreign nationals, deported.

Restrictions can include relocation to another part of the country, electronic monitoring and limits on the use of phones and computers. As of the end of August, six TPIMs were in force.

Deradicalisation

Returnees could be referred to the Government's 40 million a year Prevent programme, which aims to stop people being drawn into terrorism.

There were 7,318 individuals referred to Prevent in 2017/18. In most cases, referrals are found to require no further action or passed to other services, but when authorities conclude there is a danger the person could be drawn into terrorism, they can be supported through a voluntary scheme known as Channel.

Prevent is backed by ministers and police, but has been described as "toxic" by critics, and the Government announced earlier this year that it would be independently reviewed.
S ajid Javid has warned he "will not hesitate" to prevent the return of Britons who travelled to join Islamic State, as debate raged over what should happen to runaway schoolgirl Shamima Begum.

Setting out a hardline stance on Friday, the Home Secretary said those who left the UK to join IS were "full of hate for our country".

Ms Begum, who fled to Syria in 2015, has said she would "do anything required just to be able to come home and live quietly with my child".

Her family have pleaded for the 19-year-old, who is heavily pregnant, to be shown mercy and be allowed to return home to east London.

Sajid Javid pictured outside Downing Street on Thursday / Henry Nicholls/Reuters

Her case has received high-profile backing, with former MI6 chief Richard Barrett saying the teen should be given a chance "if we are to stand by our values".

But speaking to The Times, which broke Ms Begums story on Thursday, Mr Javid said: "We must remember that those who left Britain to join Daesh (IS) were full of hate for our country.

"My message is clear: if you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return.

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If you do manage to return you should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted."

Her pleas have been rejected by others, including the brother of Alan Henning, the British aid worker beheaded by Jihadi John. Reg Herring said she should "absolutely not" be allowed back.

Labour shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: "We are not in favour of making people stateless.

Former Met Police Chief Superintendent reacts to news IS schoolgirl Shamima Begum wanting to return to UK

However, if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that anyone who is entitled to return to this country either committed or facilitated acts of terrorism, they should be fully investigated and where appropriate prosecuted.

Ms Begum is currently at a refugee camp in northern Syria. Any hopes of a rescue mission by British officials have been quashed as the government ruled out an effort inside Syria to assist her.

While refusing to comment on individual cases, Mr Wallace told the BBC: "I'm not putting at risk British people's lives to go and look for terrorists or former terrorists in a failed state.

Ms Begum was one of three schoolgirls, along with Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, from Bethnal Green Academy who left the UK in February 2015.

Ms Sultana was reported to have been killed in an air strike in 2016.
B AFTA winner Olivia Colman has made a heartfelt appeal for people to donate stem cells after losing her school friend to blood cancer.

The Favourite actress revealed how a transplant gave classmate Pip hope in the darkness.

In a video for the charity Anthony Nolan, the star describes how her friend, who was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of 31, didnt make it.

Colman urges the public to sign up to the charitys stem cell register, which she and husband Ed Sinclair joined in 2008, so that others have a chance of living. In the film, she says: Sadly my friend Pip didnt make it, but together we can make sure more people like Pip do make it. We want more people on the register. Its just a little swab of the mouth  Without you there is no cure.

Pips only chance of survival had been a donor who could provide a perfect match, according to Colman. Soon a donor was found in Australia. Anthony Nolan did an amazing thing, Colman said. She became patron of Anthony Nolan in July last year.

About 2,000 people in the UK need a stem cell transplant every year. Donations from young men and people with black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds are needed in particular.
T he family of ISIS bride Shamima Begum have called for the government to help bring her home to face "British justice."

Ms Begum's family said they are "shocked" by the comments she made in a bombshell interview with the Times where she pleaded to be allowed to return to the UK to give birth on the NHS.

Ms Begum's family have pleaded for the 19-year-old, who is heavily pregnant, to be shown mercy and to be allowed to return to her family in east London.

They said they fear she is in danger from ISIS sympathisers after giving the explosive interview, adding that as a British citizen "Shamima has every expectation to be returned to the UK and be dealt with under the British justice system."

Shamima Begum when she was 15 and fled to join IS / PA

The discovery of Shamima by the Times in the al-Hawi refugee camp in the north of Syria sparked a national debate as to whether she should be brought back to the UK.

(L-R) Kadiza Sultana, 16, Shamima Begum, 15 and Amira Abase, 15 going through security at Gatwick airport at the time they first fled to Syria

Yesterday, the Government ruled out an effort inside Syria to assist Ms Begum.

Security Minister Ben Wallace said: "I'm not putting at risk British people's lives to go and look for terrorists or former terrorists in a failed state.

Amira Abase fled to Syria with Ms Begum

"There's consular services elsewhere in the region and the strong message this Government has given for many years is that actions have consequences."

Begum, now aged 19, fled to Syria in 2015 after being groomed by ISIS when she was 15 years old.

In a statement, her family said: "We, the family of Shamima Begum, have taken a few days to process all that has happened in the past years, and indeed in the last 72 hours.

"The news that Shamima is alive and well has come as a shock to the entire family.

Kadiza Sultana, 16, is believed to have been killed in an airstrike in 2016 / Metropolitan Police

"We had lost all hope of ever seeing her again. We are relieved to know that she has been able to escape from IS territory. This in itself was a huge risk because if she had been caught that would have meant imprisonment and death at the hands of ISIS.

"We like everyone else were utterly shocked by what we heard Shamima say in her interview with The Times. But to us, those are the words of a girl who was groomed at the age of 15; we are also mindful that Shamima is currently in a camp surrounded by IS sympathisers and any comments by her could lead directly to danger to her and her child.

"Given Shamima's four-year ordeal, we are concerned that her mental health has been affected by everything that she has seen and endured."

They added: "Now, we are faced with the situation of knowing that Shamima's two young children have died - children that we will never come to know as a family. This is the hardest of news to bear. The welfare of Shamima's unborn baby is of paramount concern to our family, and we will do everything within our power to protect that baby who is entirely blameless in these events.

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"As a British citizen, Shamima has every expectation to be returned to the UK and be dealt with under the British justice system. Shamima's child who will also be British has every right as a total innocent to have the chance to grow up in the peace and security of his home.

"We welcome an investigation in what she did while she was there under the principles of British justice and would request the British government assist us in returning Shamima and her child to the UK as a matter of urgency."

Earlier this evening, Home Secretary Sajid Javid set out a hardline stance saying those who left the UK to join IS were "full of hate for our country" and should not be allowed to return.

Mr Javid said: "We must remember that those who left Britain to join Daesh (IS) were full of hate for our country.

Sajid Javid said those who left the UK to join IS were "full of hate for our country" / Henry Nicholls/Reuters

"My message is clear: if you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return.

If you do manage to return you should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted."

Begum, Amira Abase, then 15 and Kadiza Sultana, 16, were pupils at Bethnal Green Academy in east London when they fled the UK in February of 2015.

They flew from Gatwick Airport to Turkey after telling their parents they were going out for the day.

A lawyer for Ms Sultana's family said in 2016 that she was believed to have been killed in a Russian air strike.

The fate of Ms Abase is unclear. After Begum's interview her father Abase Hussen said he had not heard from his daughter since she left, but the comments gave him renewed hope that she may be alive.

Begum's plea to be returned to the UK sparked a national debate after the interview in which she said was not affected by the sight of decapitated heads in a bin. In it, she said she would "do anything required just to be able to come home and live quietly with my child".

Interviewer Anthony Loyd, who found Ms Begum, said she was a "15-year-old schoolgirl who made a terrible mistake... and we must do our best to rehabilitate her amongst our own people".

Her case has received high-profile backing, with a former MI6 chief saying the teenager should be given a chance "if we are to stand by our values".

But others rejected her plea, including the brother of Alan Henning, the British aid worker beheaded by Jihadi John, who said she should "absolutely not" be allowed back.

Richard Barrett, a former director of global counter-terrorism at MI6, suggested it would be "unreasonable" to expect the Syrian Defence Force to look after her indefinitely.
A British woman groomed by ISIS says teenager Shamima Begum should be allowed to return to the UK.

Appearing on This Morning, Kimberley Miners, a former glamour model, said she needs to realise whats happened and what she has done but shes still somebodys child.

Ms Begum, 19, told a reporter inside a refugee camp in Syria that she would like to return to the UK as she is nine months pregnant.

Her comments have divided opinions on whether she should be allowed to return.

Shamima Begum was located in a refugee camp in Syria earlier this week / EPA

Ms Miners who was groomed by ISIS recruiters to become the next White Widow Sally Jones said that the teenager is not apologetic because shes still very young.

She added: Coming from that experience, being in that situation myself and I was an adult when I was groomed, it took me a good two years to realise what was going on and how it affected me and how I was brainwashed.

Under the right deradicalisation courses I think she could return.

Ms Miners said British born Islamic State militant Naweed Hussain contacted her on Facebook after she began sharing videos showing the plight of children affected by the Syrian war.,

(L-R) Kadiza Sultana, 16, Shamima Begum, 15 and Amira Abase, 15 going through security at Gatwick airport at the time they first fled to Syria to join ISIS

He contacted the former page three model every day and shared propaganda including dozens of images and videos and even a bomb making manual.

I lost a baby and was going through a really bad time and I was so close to going. Im so glad I didnt, she said.

I was at such a low point that when youre in that situation, you dont know what youre doing. So like I say its taken me two years to realise and I still dont quite understand what happened.

She said that she started to believe the propaganda and go against what she had been brought up to believe.

Mr Hussain convinced Ms Miners to change her name to Aisha Lauren al-Britaniya and she struck up friendships with women already living in Syria.

The 29-year-old burst into tears when discussing how she was groomed by ISIS / This Morning

15-year-old Amira Abase who travelled to Syria from London with Shamima and another teenager were among Ms Miners Facebook friends.

Ms Miners was arrested in October 2016 after dropping out of a course aimed at stopping her online behaviour.

She said that her parents were shocked upon hearing their daughter had been radicalised.

They feel partly to blame because obviously they didnt realise what was going on and I feel so ashamed of myself for doing that to them, to my whole family because theyve had abuse and the trouble that came with it.
T he boss of a UK chemical firm has been hailed "an absolute hero" for taking on Jacob Rees-Mogg over the impact of leaving the European Union on business.

Dani Loughran, the managing director of Aston Chemicals in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, was widely praised by viewers after she gave an impassioned speech on Question Time last night about how Brexit is already affecting her business.

Dr Loughran claimed her firm is being forced by "bypass the UK for half of our business" due to the looming threat of trade barriers and increased costs caused by Brexit.

She said: "We are all going to lose employment, taxes and our underfunded and overstretched public services are going to suffer.

"And when that happens it's not going to be the Rees-Moggs and the Johnsons that are going to suffer, it's going to be us  the working people of the UK."

Mr Rees-Mogg insisted that Brexit "will be good for British business".

Impassioned: 'No-deal would be catastrophic' / BBC

Viewers shared their support for Dr Loughran online, who lauded her "sensible" comments.

One wrote on Twitter: "Make that lady PM, spoke more sense in a minute than Theresa May in three years."

Addressing the Question Time panel on Thursday, which included Mr Rees-Mogg and Labour's Lisa Nandy, Dr Loughran said Brexit was already impacting her business.

"Over the past 30 years we've grown from nothing to a medium-sized company employing people here, bringing products from around the world and selling them in the UK and in Europe," she said.

"Because of the trade barriers that are being put up by Brexit, and the duplicated regulations, the massively increased costs we are now having to bypass the UK for half of our business.

Jacob Rees-Mogg said Brexit will be good for British business / BBC

"And I don't want to do this, I want to employ people in the UK, I want to pay UK taxes and support UK services, but because of people like the ERG [European Research Group]and their hardline Brexiteer stance I'm having to do this."

Dr Loughran added: "We are all going to lose employment, taxes and our overstretched and underfunded public services are going to suffer.

"And when that happens it's not going to be the Rees-Moggs and the Johnsons that are going to suffer, it's going to be us  the working people of the UK.

TODO: define component type apester

"Any Brexit deal is going to be worse than what we've got. The worst case scenario is a no-deal Brexit, which would be absolutely catastrophic.

"But the Brexiteers just don't seem to care, or don't know actually what they are trying to do.

"Because this is going to be massively damaging, long-term for the UK."

Her speech was met with applause from the audience as others praised her online.

Julian Smith wrote: "The most sense that I have heard on QT for years."

While Andrew Skea said: "The lady is right. She expressed my views perfectly. Brexit is going to be a bureaucratic nightmare for British exporters. The EU has been my domestic market for 20 years. It will now be hampered by terrible bureaucracy."

And Sue Tizard wrote: "Completely agree, we are being continually lied to by the government. We'll be worse off if Brexit happens and they'll blame everyone but themselves."

Mr Rees-Mogg replied by saying that the European Union is a "failed economic model".

He said: "We are freeing ourselves from this failed economic model to have a better one, where we will be able to engage with the rest of the world rather than hiding behind the barriers that it thinks will help protect it - but in fact have led to low economic growth."

He added: "We are going to be freeing ourselves so that we can be more economically successful.

"We can lower the prices of goods in this country by cutting tariffs, we can have cheaper food, clothing and footwear benefitting most of all the least well off in our society.

"Do I think industry will benefit in the end? Overwhelmingly, it will be good for competitiveness and good for British business."

Speaking to the MailOnline today, Dr Loughran accused Mr Rees-Mogg of deliberately avoiding the negative consequences of his hard-Brexit stance.

Thursday's debate also saw Mr Rees-Mogg accused of "justifying the use of concentration camps" by a fellow panellist as he defended the legacy of Sir Winston Churchill.

During an exchange with Grace Blakeley, a research Fellow on IPPRs Commission on Economic Justice, Rees-Mogg talked about concentration camps - bringing in Glasgow as a statistical example.
A new Burger King burger that contains more than a whole days allowance of saturated fats and half a day's worth of calories has been blasted by health experts.

The Texas BBQ King packs in half a pound of beef, smoked bacon and crispy onion rings, coming in at 1,130 calories.

It also contains 27g of saturated fat and 1560mg of sodium.

NHS guidelines state that men should not have more than 30g of saturated fat a day and women should have no more than 20g of saturated fat per day.

The guidelines also recommend that adults should not eat more than 2.4 grams of sodium per day.

Chair of the British Obesity Society Jane DeVille-Almonds said these types of high calorie meals from fast food outlets are a "big problem" because many people treat them as a snack between meals.

As per usual the fast food industry is contributing massively to obesity in this country, she said.

The government guidelines say women are allowed 2,000 calories per day and men are allowed around 2,500 but this is a gross overestimation for about 90 percent of the population.

1100 calories in some instances is the daily allowance for some people.

People dont realise that people are eating this in addition to their ordinary meals.

Often people have this as a snack in between meals and are accompanied by fizzy drinks and fries.

She added that fast foods and fizzy drinks are "the scourge of 21st century.
T here are many things Charli Howard misses about London but the stiff upper lip isnt one of them. In America, its cool to talk about your feelings, says the Peckham-born model and co-founder of body positivity campaign All Woman Project.

Howard, 27, went viral after she shared a letter on Facebook, calling out her UK modelling agency. Heres a big F**K YOU to my (now ex) model agency, for saying that at 5ft 8in tall and a UK size 6-8, Im too big and out of shape to work in the fashion industry. I refuse to feel ashamed and upset on a daily basis for not meeting your ridiculous, unattainable beauty standards.

She moved to New York and signed with a US agency three years ago.

Howard says the city has tapped [the emotions] within her. New York is a lot more forward-thinking in terms of feelings. If youre meeting a friend and they say, Ive got therapy today, its not looked down on. Its actually positive to talk about how you feel.

Charli Howard attends the Roland Mouret front row during London Fashion Week in September 2018 / Dave Benett

Which is exactly what her new podcast is all about. Called All the Feels, the six-part series is a chance to listen to the stories of people whove had extraordinary experiences: how it feels to be born into a cult, how it feels to be a Victorias Secret model, how it feels to be transgender, to name a few.

Howard is nosy, which is how the podcast came about. I love learning about peoples lives, she says. Everyones experienced something that you havent gone through but would love to know about.

She uses the example of trans model and activist Munroe Bergdorf, who she interviews in episode three. Shes one of those people who is attacked quite a lot in the tabloids  people like Piers Morgan love to shut her down  and actually when you speak to her you realise shes had this quite tough life of not knowing who she was as a person and having to fight people even now. Shes almost 30 and shes still having to fight to be recognised.

Munroe Bergdorf at the Fashion Awards / AFP/Getty Images

Unlike most podcasts she listens to, Howard wanted to talk to normal people from all walks of life, not just celebrities. Interviewees include a woman who has terminal cancer and another who works as an escort, alongside big names, such as Victorias Secret model Leomie Anderson.

Her proudest interview was the escort from Liverpool who completely broke down the stigma attached to sex workers. Shes really happy with her life and works for the NHS on the side, says Howard. I hope [the interview] breaks peoples ideas of what prostitution is.

Body positivity also remains a topic close to Howards heart. Four years since her scathing post directed at her former modelling agency, she says theres still a long way to go.

She recently wrote a love letter to herself for Agent Provocateurs Valentines Day campaign. I think that we beat ourselves up as women all the time and we dont have to, she wrote. After all, loving yourself starts from within. She wrote it on a plane across the Atlantic. Apparently its a thing with the altitude. It really heightens your emotions. Her words resonated: the post was liked more than 9,000 times on Instagram. A lot of people said they cried, which is amazing.

She thinks Bryony Gordons two podcasts, Mad World and If I Can Do It, are great for opening up the conversation about mental health, as is Fearne Cottons Happy Place, which has amazing guests.
U p to eight Cabinet ministers are indicating they will resign if Theresa May lets Britain crash out of the European Union without a deal, the Standard has learned.

Some say they will quit unless the Prime Minister takes action by the end of this month to prevent a no-deal Brexit by backing an extension to Article 50.

Senior MPs said Mrs May was running out of time to paper over the cracks and predicted a High Noon on February 27 when MPs are due to stage key Brexit votes, including on postponing the March 29 deadline.

Dominic Grieve, the former Attorney General and leading remain campaigner, said he knew of a dozen ministers who will resign if necessary to delay Brexit, including around six Cabinet members.

If the Prime Minister refuses to do that, I think they face a very difficult choice, he told the BBCs Today programme.

Conservative MP Dominic Grieve / AFP/Getty Images

Cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom, asked if ministers would quit to prevent no deal, told the programme: Resignations from government do happen... People have very, very strong heartfelt views about leaving the EU or remaining within it. That is a matter for them as individuals. Several ministers are understood to have written private letters to the Prime Minister indicating they are ready to walk out if she does not avoid a disorderly Brexit by default on March 29.

Countdown to Brexit: 42 days until Britain leaves the EU

Among senior ministers who would quit rather than support a no-deal exit are Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, Justice Secretary David Gauke, Business Secretary Greg Clark and Mrs Mays de facto deputy, David Lidington.

Others who feel strongly include Education Secretary Damian Hinds, Scottish Secretary David Mundell, immigration minister Caroline Nokes, and energy and clean growth minister Claire Perry.

Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd / EPA

The Tory truce was shattered last night when a fifth of Tory MPs, mostly hardline Eurosceptics, inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Prime Minister by 303 votes to 258 on a motion they felt weakened the threat of no-deal as a negotiating tactic.

Downing Street said Mrs May will return to Brussels within days to carry on with talks but warned that the vote had made no deal more likely. Mr Grieve said that if she failed to remove the threat of no deal there could be resignations on a scale that might bring down the Government. I think we are talking about a dozen or even more. Not entirely in the Cabinet, some are junior ministers.

He said: My understanding is that many of them have made representations directly to the Prime Minister, indicating their concern and telling the Prime Minister that if by the end of February there is no deal that has been got through the Commons, we ought to extend.

TODO: define component type apester

Mr Grieve said Eurosceptic Tory MPs were willing to crash out of the EU because they have a vision of the future of our country which I dont share, a future of the country turned into the Singapore of the north-east Atlantic.

He added: They seem to be completely cavalier about the risks that the country might run if we leave with no deal. Thats a risk which I, and many others of our colleagues, are not prepared to accept.

Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt made clear he would not tolerate keeping no deal on the table for much longer. He said in a tweet exchange with Brexiteer David Davis: No. We wont. We are not leaving without a deal. If you want to leave, youd better agree one. In the next fortnight would help.

Brexit: Leave and Remain supporters gather in London on 29 January 1 /25 Brexit: Leave and Remain supporters gather in London on 29 January Pro-EU and pro-Brexit protestors discuss the vote and ongoing political processes as they demonstrate near to the Houses of Parliament Getty Images A man holds a 'Stop Brexit' sign aboard a campaign bus travelling down Whitehall in Westminster, London PA Pro-Brexit demonstrators chant slogans outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters Anti-Brexit demonstrators protest outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters A leave supporter vapes electronic cigarette in front of a group of remain supporters AP Pro-Brexit protestors dressed as suffragettes demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Images An anti-brexit supporter holds banners in London AP Pro and anti Brexit protestors discuss the vote and ongoing political processes as they demonstrate near to the Houses of Parliament Getty Images Pro-Brexit and anti-Brexit protesters hold banners in London AP A campaigner dressed as Charlie Chaplin walks by the Houses of Parliament PA A leave supporter holds banners at the parliament gates AP Pro-Brexit, left and anti-Brexit protesters hold banners in London AP Pro-Brexit demonstrators protest outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters A leave supporter holds banners in front of remain supporters during demonstrations in London AP Police officers stand near Pro-Brexit and Anti-Brexit posters outside the Houses of Parliament, in Westminster, London Reuters Leave supporters hold placards in front of remain supporters during demonstrations in London, AP A pro-Brexit protestor sets fire to a roll of toilet paper decorated with the EU flag as she demonstrates near the Houses of Parliament Getty Images A pro-Brexit protestor sets fire to a roll of toilet paper decorated with the EU flag as she demonstrates near the Houses of Parliament Getty Images Leave supporters hold placards as they take part in demonstrations near the parliament in Londo AP Leave and remain supporters hold placards as they take part in demonstrations near the parliament in London AP Pro-Brexit activists hold placards and wave flags as they demonstrate opposite the Houses of Parliament in London AFP/Getty Images A remain supporter, left and a leave supporter, center, discuss during demonstrations in London AP Pro-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster Getty Images v Reuters Anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate on a double decker bus outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster Getty Images

Ms Leadsom, a Brexit supporter, said the Government was absolutely leaving no deal as a potential default outcome. The Prime Minister carries on, she said. The one problem with last nights vote is that it allows the EU to continue with this pretence that they dont know what we want. They do know what we want.

Recriminations were flying about how last nights vote, which was meant to show unity behind the PMs negotiating demands, became a public show of divisions. Former business minister Anna Soubry accused the European Research Group, headed by Jacob Rees-Mogg, of acting like a party within a party  with its own leader, policies & whipping system  its own damaging agenda based on blind ideology.
A ngry Tory loyalist have turned on the party's Brexiteers after Theresa May suffered another humiliating Commons defeat.

On Thursday, the pro-Brexit European Research Groups "collective decision" to abstain from Thursday's lost vote sparked turmoil for the Tory party.

With some Remainers failing to vote and five Conservative MPs voting with the opposition, the Government was left with a defeat of 303 to 258 votes.

Though some ministers insisted the result was largely symbolic it underlined the depth of the divisions inside the party.

The ERG, led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, abstained from Thursday's vote / Getty Images

The ERG had not liked the wording of the motion as they believed it took the prospect of a no-deal Brexit off the table.

Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood described the ERG's actions as "provocative" and accused them of operating as a "party within a party".

Under pressure: Theresa May / EPA

Tory backbencher Jonathan Djanogly said the ERG was seeking to "pull the UK off the cliff".

He also added he had seen nothing to show the Government had the determination to stop it.

Pro-Remain MP Anna Soubry said Mrs May needed to stand up to the group she described as the "purple Momentum"  a reference to left wing grassroots group which helped propel Jeremy Corbyn to the Labour leadership.

Anna Soubry has called for action to resolve the turmoil / AFP/Getty Images

She told BBC2's Newsnight: "If she carries on like this, then we all know what is going to happen.

"Our party will become yet again unelectable and we will fall into the wilderness.

Business Minister Richard Harrington previously accused the ERG, led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, of "treachery" and called on them to join former Ukip leader Nigel Farage's new party.

But ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker dismissed the row as a "storm in a teacup", suggesting the group's critics should "grow up".

He said the ERG had not been prepared to be "co-opted" into ruling out a no-deal Brexit by voting for the Government motion.

Conservative MP Steve Baker has said critics of the ERG need to grow up / REUTERS

The wording of the motion, which endorsed the approach set out in a series of Commons votes at the end of January, had angered the ERG members.

In January, MPs voted for a Government-backed amendment calling on ministers to reopen negotiations with Brussels on the Northern Ireland backstop, which the ERG supported.

The Commons also voted for a non-binding cross-party amendment rejecting a no-deal break with the EU.

Mr Baker further insisted Thursday's vote would not affect the Prime Minister's negotiating mandate with Brussels.

Defeated: Theresa May's Brexit strategy was rejected again in the Commons / PA

"It's time for some people to grow up and think about what is in the national interest," he said.

The defeat had been largely unexpected with most attention focused on the next set of votes due on February 27.

That vote is expected to see a concerted cross-party push to prevent a no-deal break.

Despite her loss on Thursday, Downing Street insists the Prime Minister will continue with her negotiating strategy with ministers dismissing Thursday's vote as merely a "hiccup".

Jeremy Corbyn has also been criticised by MPs from his party / Getty Images

In the wake of the loss, Downing Street chose to turn its fire on Mr Corbyn by accusing the Labour leader of risking a no-deal Brexit by putting party before country.

The Labour leader responded by saying that it was time for Mrs May to accept her strategy had failed.

He then urged her to come forward with a new plan which could command broad support among MPs.

TODO: define component type apester

Labour leader Mr Corbyn is also struggling to keep his party together though, with impatience among some MPs at his unwillingness to back a second referendum and rumours of a breakaway party.

Chris Leslie, one of the Labour MPs linked with a possible split, said they were being "played for fools" by the leadership.

While another critic of Mr Corbyn, Chuka Umunna, said it was the Labour leader's job to keep his party together not his backbenchers.

"When I joined the Labour Party, I intended to be a member on my death-bed. Ultimately whether we keep the party together is a matter for the leadership," he told Sky News.

But shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon told BBCs Newsnight he was not expecting a split and said: "I certainly hope that no Labour MP elected as a Labour MP leaves the Labour Party.

Following the vote, Mr Corbyn said the Government needed a new strategy on Brexit.

He called for one which could bring MPs together and avoid the the "catastrophe" of no-deal.

"The Government cannot keep on ignoring Parliament and ploughing on towards March 29 without a coherent plan," he said.
C abinet minister Andrea Leadsom has said the Government is absolutely" determined to keep a no-deal Brexit on the table as an option.

The Leader of the Commons remarks came despite another minister Alistair Burt saying during a series of late-night tweets that there would not be a no-deal Brexit.

Ms Leadsom told the BBCs Radio 4 Today programme that the Government was determined to use the threat of a no-deal Brexit in its negotiating strategy with the EU.

"The Government does not want no-deal, but it is there because that is the legal default position, and any competent government must prepare for all eventualities," she told Today.

Brexit pressures: Theresa May / EPA

Earlier in the programme Remain-backing Tory backbencher Dominic Grieve said that a dozen or so ministers could resign if Mrs May refuses to extend Brexit talks beyond the March 29 deadline.

Asked about the prospect of ministers resigning to block no-deal, Ms Leadsom said: "Resignations from Government do happen... People have very, very strong heartfelt views about leaving the EU or remaining within it. That is a matter for them as individuals."

Remain-supporter Conservative MP Dominic Grieve / AFP/Getty Images

On Thursday afternoon, Mrs May lost a Commons vote on a motion that reiterated support for the Government to continue to engage with the EU on alternatives to the controversial Irish backstop arrangement in the deal which is designed to prevent a hard border.

But the pro-Brexit European Research Group abstained from the vote because they believed that the wording reflected that Mrs May was taking a no-deal Brexit off the table. With some Remainers failing to vote and five Conservative MPs voting with the opposition, the Government was left with a defeat of 303 to 258 votes.

Ms Leadsom defended Mrs May's decision not to remain in the Commons to hear the result of Thursday's vote in which she suffered a humiliating defeat: "The Prime Minister just this week spent two hours and 18 minutes answering questions in the chamber.

TODO: define component type apester

"Since October, she has spent 39 hours in the chamber answering questions. She has shown such commitment to make herself available to the House.

"The vote yesterday didn't change anything. The Government's position remains to resolve the issues of the backstop and then come back to Parliament with a fresh meaningful vote. It's essential we crack on with that work, and that's what we are doing."

The pro-EU Tory backbench MP Mr Grieve said that resignations could bring down the Government within the next few weeks.

Brexit: Leave and Remain supporters gather in London on 29 January 1 /25 Brexit: Leave and Remain supporters gather in London on 29 January Pro-EU and pro-Brexit protestors discuss the vote and ongoing political processes as they demonstrate near to the Houses of Parliament Getty Images A man holds a 'Stop Brexit' sign aboard a campaign bus travelling down Whitehall in Westminster, London PA Pro-Brexit demonstrators chant slogans outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters Anti-Brexit demonstrators protest outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters A leave supporter vapes electronic cigarette in front of a group of remain supporters AP Pro-Brexit protestors dressed as suffragettes demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Images An anti-brexit supporter holds banners in London AP Pro and anti Brexit protestors discuss the vote and ongoing political processes as they demonstrate near to the Houses of Parliament Getty Images Pro-Brexit and anti-Brexit protesters hold banners in London AP A campaigner dressed as Charlie Chaplin walks by the Houses of Parliament PA A leave supporter holds banners at the parliament gates AP Pro-Brexit, left and anti-Brexit protesters hold banners in London AP Pro-Brexit demonstrators protest outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters A leave supporter holds banners in front of remain supporters during demonstrations in London AP Police officers stand near Pro-Brexit and Anti-Brexit posters outside the Houses of Parliament, in Westminster, London Reuters Leave supporters hold placards in front of remain supporters during demonstrations in London, AP A pro-Brexit protestor sets fire to a roll of toilet paper decorated with the EU flag as she demonstrates near the Houses of Parliament Getty Images A pro-Brexit protestor sets fire to a roll of toilet paper decorated with the EU flag as she demonstrates near the Houses of Parliament Getty Images Leave supporters hold placards as they take part in demonstrations near the parliament in Londo AP Leave and remain supporters hold placards as they take part in demonstrations near the parliament in London AP Pro-Brexit activists hold placards and wave flags as they demonstrate opposite the Houses of Parliament in London AFP/Getty Images A remain supporter, left and a leave supporter, center, discuss during demonstrations in London AP Pro-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster Getty Images v Reuters Anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate on a double decker bus outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster Getty Images

Mr Grieve told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "My understanding is that many of them have made representations directly to the Prime Minister indicating their concern and telling the Prime Minister that if by the end of February there is no deal that has been got through the Commons, we ought to extend.

"If the Prime Minister refuses to do that, I think they face a very difficult choice, because unless we as a Parliament and as the House of Commons start to work together to take the necessary steps to prevent no-deal happening, no-deal could just occur. It could all be so chaotic, it might just happen by accident.

"My view is that if they feel she is not taking those steps, I think they are going to have to resign."

Countdown to Brexit: 42 days until Britain leaves the EU

Asked how many ministers could resign, Mr Grieve said: "I think we are talking about a dozen or even more. Not entirely in the Cabinet, some are junior ministers."

On the number of Cabinet ministers who could resign, he said: "I'm always hesitant to speak on behalf of colleagues, but I think we are talking of up half a dozen."

Foreign minister Mr Burt had tweeted to respond to a claim from eurosceptic former Brexit secretary David Davis that the Government was ready to take the UK out of the EU without an agreement. He said: "No. We won't. We are not leaving without a deal. If you want to leave, you'd better agree one. In the next fortnight would help."

And the Foreign Office minister later added: "There is a majority in the House to reject no deal. Let's Leave, with the Agreement, and the chance of a new relationship with the EU. Honours both Leavers and those who voted to Remain. Let's all make the compromise."

Commenting on last nights vote, the deputy chairman of the European Research Group of Brexit-backing Tory MPs, Steve Baker, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This whole mess is a storm in a teacup. What we needed to achieve here was to send a signal that we are not going to be associated with taking no-deal off the table."

He rejected suggestions that the ERG had undermined Mrs May's efforts to secure concessions from the EU by raising doubts in Brussels over whether she can deliver a Commons majority for a deal.
B ritish holidaymakers have been left fuming after Brexit uncertainty reportedly led an airline to cancel flights from Liverpool's John Lennon Airport.

Dozens of passengers expecting to fly to Rome and Alicante complained their flights with Blue Air had been cancelled - yet they said tickets were still available to buy online.

John Lennon Airport said the "Brexit impasse" had left the Romanian carrier "unable to receive the necessary clarity" around its ability to operate flights between the UK and countries other than Romania.

While Blue Air will continue to operate flights between the two countries, services from the UK to any other country could be affected if the UK leaves the EU without a continuation of current EU legislation.

Brexit - what happens now?

Blue Air flights between Luton and Turin are also expected to be affected.

Blue Air did not respond to requests for comment but the airline's official Twitter account has blocked at least one angry customer on the social network.

The man, who declined to give his name, said he received an email on Wednesday saying his flight to Rome on March 6 had been cancelled for "operational reasons".

He told the Press Association: "On replying asking for a refund I got an automated response which asked to fill in a form which I think was in Romanian."

TODO: define component type apester

Sara Kavanagh, 27, was due to fly to Rome for her wedding anniversary on March 18 but also received a cancellation email.

The marketing manager, from Manchester, said: "We've looked online and they have two other flights available but for three times the price we paid in January.

"My flights were before March 29 so really Brexit shouldn't be an issue here," she added.

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: "We are committed to ensuring that flights between the UK and EU continue, and the European Commission has published a proposal to make sure this happens.

"This clearly shows that in the event of no deal, both sides are committed to maintaining connectivity."
F our moped robbers have been convicted for their part in a series of raids targeting high-end boutiques in London, including a failed smash-and-grab on jewellers Boodles using a stolen 4x4.

The armed gang stole mobile phones before attempting smash and grabs at high-end West End boutiques.

Shocking footage showed the gang trying to ram a Land Rover into the front of Boodles jewellery store while armed with axes, samurai swords and sledgehammers.

The gang, based in Islington and Camden, were active for more than a year, but were caught after stealing 90,000 worth of Saint Laurent handbags from the Sloane Street store.

The gang were armed with axes, sledgehammers and samurai swords during the Boodles raid / SWNS.COM

Alfie Warry, 21, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary at Saint Laurent, while Harry Doyle, 18, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit the Boodles robbery.

Reece Salmon, 20, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit moped robberies but was found not guilty for the Boodles raid.

Miguel St Martin, 21, was found guilty for his part in the Boodles raid, while he had already admitted the moped muggings and the Saint Laurent raid.

Mr Doyle was also found guilty of GBH after 48-year-old Petar Dimov tried to intervene in the Boodles attempted robbery.

They stole 90,000 worth of Saint Laurent handbags / SWNS.COM

The builder was set upon by the gang and needed eight stitches to his knee, now walks with a limp and battled a lung infection caused by the stabbing.

Four other teens have already been convicted for their part in the robberies, and they will all be sentenced at a later date.

During the Boodles raid, St Martin, Doyle and others tried to ram the rear doors of the store using a stolen Land Rover Discovery, which failed, before unsuccessfully trying to break the doors down with sledgehammers.

A month later, the gang struck again, with St Martin, Warry and others burgling the Saint Laurent store.

A helmet and the axe recovered from the raid on Boodles / Metropolitan Police Service

They smashed in the door before stealing 90,000 worth of handbags and fleeing on mopeds.

Officers traced St Martin to a hotel in Kings Cross, where they found a zombie knife, four stolen phones and two Saint Laurent handbags.

The discovery of the handbags led officers to investigate the Saint Laurent burglary, and they found clothing worn by the suspects in the hotel room.

Police found a sword in their investigation into the gang / Metropolitan Police Service

Detective Sergeant Danny Watts of Operation Vocare, said: "These gang members were big operators in north and central London. However, we secured a number of significant convictions and sentences against them and they have been taken off the streets.

"We are committed to taking every opportunity to divert, disrupt, detect and prosecute those involved in these moped related crimes."

The gang uncover the mopeds used in the raid on Boodles (Metropolitan Police Service) / Met Police

Detective Constable Phelim Redmond, Flying Squad and officer-in-charge for the Boodles jewellery store armed robbery, said: "This was a brazen attempt to rob Boodles jewellery store and a cowardly, vicious attack on an unarmed member of the public who bravely intervened.
A man who was dubbed a "lookalike" of Friends actor David Schwimmer has denied fraud and theft charges in court.

CCTV images of Abdulah Husseni released by Blackpool Police went viral after they noticed his likeness to Mr Schwimmer.

Judge Beverley Lunt at Preston Crown Court asked at the start of the trial on Friday: Is this the Ross from Friends case?

Joe Allman, prosecuting, replied: It is the one with the doppleganger, your honour.

The 36-year-old defendant, from Tehran, who had a shaved head and wore grey tracksuit bottoms and a blue shirt, pleaded not guilty to the theft of a wallet in Blackpool on September 20 last year.

Mr Husseini appeared in court via videolink / Blackpool Police

He also denied five fraud offences by allegedly using or attempting to use a stolen Halifax bank card on 17 occasions in shops between September 20 and November 5 last year.

The image shared by Blackpool Police showed a man leaving a restaurant and carrying what appeared to be a carton of beer cans.

Social media users pointed out the likeness to Mr Schwimmer's character Ross Geller in the popular US sitcom.

Mr Schwimmer responded to the picture by posting a video to his Twitter account of him scurrying through a convenience store carrying a crate of beer before looking up furtively at a CCTV camera.

He wrote: Officers I swear it wasnt me. As you can see I was in New York.

"To the hardworking Blackpool Police, good luck with the investigation."

He added the hashtag 'itwasntme' to the post.

Mr Husseini is accused of stealing a coat, a phone and a wallet from Mr Basrai's restaurant in Blackpool on September 20.

There was no application for bail by the defendant, from Spencer Road, Slough, west London.

A trial date for the Blackpool theft and fraud offences was set for July 4.
A man has been charged with murder following a fatal stabbing in East Dulwich.

Police were called to reports of a man having been stabbed in Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, at about 2.35am on Sunday.

The victim, 39-year-old Dennis Anderson from Lewisham, was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 3am.

Jahmel Micheal Riley, 24, has since been charged with murder as well as possession of an offensive weapon, Scotland Yard said.

Flowes have been left at the scene of the incident / Getty Images

The force said he will appear in custody at Bromley Magistrates' Court on February 15.

Road closures were put in place following the incident on Sunday morning.
A school dinner lady who acted as the banker in a scheme to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into prison has been spared a jail sentence after a judge said she had been led astray by her convict son.

Amanda Grannells, 56, received payments into her bank account for her son Garys illicit trade behind bars. Goods were sneaked past guards, thrown over prison walls and even flown in on drones.

When her home in Shepherds Bush was raided, police found a Jimmy Choo shoebox in her bedroom containing mobile phones wrapped in clingfilm ready to be smuggled into prison.

Detectives discovered the grandmother, who was on benefits and earned a small wage as a school dinner lady, had received payments from the friends and family of serving prisoners and money from at least one corrupt prison officer.

Her son, a serial burglar, had 15,000 of the drug Spice hidden in a hole in the wall of his cell at HMP Pentonville, as well as a phone which revealed his mothers role in the smuggling operation.

Grannells gave out his mothers home address and bank details to potential customers, telling one client she could explain the smuggling techniques, adding: Mum will have it all.

At Blackfriars crown court on Tuesday, Gary Grannells, 30, was jailed for three years and four months for the smuggling operation, and will start serving his sentence in December when he has completed a separate prison term for three burglaries.

Judge Rajeev Shetty told Mrs Grannells she had facilitated her sons operation and knew full well what was going on. But he imposed only a 16-month prison sentence suspended for two years, as well as 70 hours of community service, telling her: You committed these offences because of loyalty and ties of blood rather than any deep-seated criminality.

The court heard Mrs Grannells, who has lost her job, is the registered carer of her mother, who has dementia, and has no previous criminal convictions.

Grannells, who has 17 convictions for 32 offences, including supply of drugs, has spent most of his adult life behind bars and has been repeatedly caught with mobile phones in his cells at prisons including Pentonville, Wormwood Scrubs, and High Down.

Prosecutor Martyn Bowyer told the court detectives had identified 11 transactions where Mrs Grannells had received money on behalf of her son between August 2014 and February 2017. In some cases, the cell number of the prisoner buying the goods from her son had been added in pence to the payments as an ideal way to identify the payee, Mr Bowyer said.

He added that the number of mobile phones smuggled into prisons across the country has reached epidemic levels, and authorities are now installing phones in cells to try to counter the illegal trade. Judge Shetty said: Drugs and phones are often used as currency to extort, oppress, and pressurise other prisoners. All of this undermines the prison system and public confidence in it.

"Mrs Grannells had facilitated her sons operation and knew full well what was going on"

Grannells, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply, and causing an unauthorised conveyance of list B items into prison. Mrs Grannells admitted being concerned in an arrangement which facilitates control of criminal property.

They both originally stood trial alongside Steven Stocker, Steven McMonagle-Stocker, Mary Proctor and Carmen Leon in February last year, but the case collapsed when it emerged evidence from the phone in Grannellss cell had not been given to defence lawyers.

Conspiracy charges against the four defendants were then dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.
L ets be honest  think of Paris and you think of food. Bubbling croque monsieurs eaten on a pavement table; rare steak and salty frites in a candlelit bistro; rotisserie chicken that surrenders under the gentlest nudge from a fork ...

But while you can never go wrong with the classics, theres an emerging wave of new trends, cuisines and experiences breathing a bit of life into the city.

David Cohen runs food tours in Paris, taking people around craft beer spots in Montmartre or heading half an hour out of the French capital for chestnut- and mushroom-hunting in the forest of Saint Germain (facebook.com/secretparistours). I always say the easiest way to describe Paris is that were 10 years behind London, David tells me over flat whites in Anticafe Louvre. Whatever has become cool in London, well get in 10 years.

Take street food, for example. Its taken a little longer for Paris to embrace its charms than elsewhere. Le Camion Qui Fume first hit the scene in 2011, a bright blue-and-red truck selling California-style burgers. And boy were they a hit  some days saw hour-long lines of people looking for their fix. They now have three restaurants and two trucks.

On the day I visit, one of their trucks is parked up in front of MK2 Bibliotheque, alongside a couple of others selling hot dogs, wraps and the like. On other days there is more of a blend  theres an Afro-Caribbean truck, New Soul Food, doling up spicy braised chicken with cassava, as well as the Thai Tooq Tooq.

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The Peninsula Paris

A couple of years back I visited a disused train depot in the 12th arrondissement, which was transformed into Grand Train, a pop-up collective of bars, food stalls and train memorabilia. Though it was only around for a few months, the space was impressively cool  vintage train carriages sat alongside craft beer stalls, and hipster couples slow-danced under a disco ball next to Formica chairs and graffiti.

So I was glad to hear the concept has been revived in a slightly different guise. Ground Control is right by the Gare de Lyon, with the same hodgepodge vibe of cocktail bars and food stalls, from Argentinian BBQ to African fusion. And every few months La Residence restaurant takes on a new refugee chef who showcases their native cuisine.

This diversity stretches to the mainstream restaurant scene too. Im staying in The Peninsula Paris, a luxury hotel where you can eat scallop souffle in rooftop restaurant LOiseau Blanc, as the Eiffel Tower sparkles before your eyes. But you can also tuck into authentic Cantonese in LiLi, where lacquered duck crackles on the tongue and wobbly dim sum bursts with flavour.

Wild & the Moon

And if you can believe it, the city synonymous with so much wine and cheese has started to embrace the healthy. Vegan restaurants and wholefood cafes are popping up all over the city, with Wild & the Moon leading the way. When I duck into its flagship store in Saint-Honore, impossibly pretty girls sit among hanging plants and distressed mirrors, nursing matcha mylks and spirulina popcorn.

The Cod House Maki black cod

If you think that sounds like an Insta-paradise, wait until you get to The Cod House. Alongside the bistros of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, this breezy joint serves up Japanese tapas and yuzu cocktails. The young and the hip gather underneath a giant neon sign reading Oh My Cod, tucking into glistening hunks of black cod and thick slivers of miso aubergine.

Tasty bites: 'crispy poulet from The Cod House

But theres a niggling feeling that I just cant shake. The Californian burgers and Japanese croquettes are all well and good but to ignore the bistros on the street feels ... well, it feels wrong. So I dive into the teensy Bistro Ernest, struggle to order a glass of sauvignon blanc from a woman who clearly doesnt consider what Im speaking to be French, and sit for a minute among men who are jovially throwing back coffees.

But despite all the differences, one thing binds almost all the restaurants in Paris  the giant wholesale Marche de Rungis, where most of their ingredients come from. As part of whats called The Peninsula Academy, the hotel offers exclusive access and experiences all over the city. Which is why, at 3am, I prise myself from the comfiest bed and head off to the market with Christophe Raoux, executive chef at the hotel.

Marche de Rungis tuna

He takes me between the cavernous buildings and stalls, excitedly gesticulating and chatting to his favoured suppliers, whispering about why you should never buy scallops that look like these, and where he finds the best tuna.

Im a very good hunter. And fisher. And drinker and eater! I just like to live, he says, as he eyes up the hares plopped down before us.

Id been told that the restaurants throughout the market were exceptional (particularly for a 5am steak), though Id been expecting more of a workmans caff vibe. But LArrosoir, with its greenery-draped terrace and glossy mahogany bar, is like an exhaustion-induced mirage.

We order a plate of flaky pains au chocolat and freshly squeezed OJ before the city has even rubbed the sleep from its eyes  and I think about how, sometimes, you simply cant beat the classics.

Details
In technical terms, Kate Middleton might be a 'commoner', but she led a quietly luxurious lifestyle before marrying into the Royal Family.

Since becoming the Duchess of Cambridge Kate has swapped the wild nights out at Mahiki for state dinners and Cartier tiaras, but how much family money did she have before marrying Prince William?

She might have replaced Topshop frocks with Gucci blouses but she grew up quite comfortably. Read on for details about her family's party planning business and information on her current luxurious lifestyle - and of course, to see how Prince Harry and Meghan Markle compare.

What was Kate Middleton's net worth before she married William?

Strictly speaking, Kate doesn't have any self-made wealth, but she was previously involved in the business owned by her parents, events company Party Pieces. Formerly an air hostess, Carole Middleton set up the company to spend more time with her family.

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In 1987, I had two young children and was pregnant with my son, James. We had come back to the UK from living abroad and I was a full-time mum. I didnt want to miss out on my children growing up, so I considered starting my own business, Carole told Good Housekeeping. Party Pieces was as a result of my personal need for my own childrens parties. You had to hunt high and low to find suitable party supplies. I found suppliers and put up notices in my daughters playgroup that said Planning a Party? and started getting orders. My memories of those early days are very vivid.

The business eventually grew and in 1995 moved to a warehouse. After University, Carole's children, Kate, Pippa and James Middleton worked for the business too. Catherine started the First Birthday brand  she chose the products and looked after all the imagery and the catalogue production. Pippa set up the blog, as we didnt have one. James came up with the idea of personalised cakes and got them off the ground for us, she told GH, saying that she still asks them for business advice. Now, even Prince George and Princess Charlotte have been spotted helping out.

Party Pieces is worth an estimated $50 million. Kate worked for her parents after she graduated from St Andrews University (where she and Will met) but also briefly worked as an accessories buyer for Jigsaw.

Before moving in with Prince William, Kate lived in a Chelsea apartment owned by her parents - the flat was recently put on the market by her parents Michael and Carole for 1.95 million.

Where does Kate Middleton's wealth come from?

The Duchess's personal net worth is estimated to be between $7 and $10 million - a number based on the value of her family's business.

Most of Kate's expenses as a Royal Family member are funded by Prince Charles. He pays for her staff, wardrobe, and her official visits are covered by the countries she travels to. Charles has approximately $28 million in the Duchy of Cornwall fund, which is used to pay for the expenses of the 'Fab Four.'

Kate has to pay full price for her designer outfits. Both Duchesses arent allowed to accept freebies or loans from designers - which Markle, as a high profile actress, would have been used to doing before her marriage. Instead, their stylists pull pieces for free, send back what they arent going to wear, and then buy the winning options. So all that Gucci Kate has been spotted wearing lately is being paid for in full.

Kate has received valuable and elaborate gifts from the Royal Family, including her engagement ring, which originally belonged to Will's mother Princess Diana. Its a 12-carat sapphire surrounded by 14 sparkling diamonds and set in white gold. Before their wedding Will also gave her a pair of sapphire and diamond earrings to match.

Getty Images

Prince Charles gifted Kate an Art Deco diamond jewelry set as a wedding gift, while his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, gave her a gold charm bracelet.

Queen Elizabeth also gifted the couple Anmer Hall, their own home in Sandringham, after their 2011 nuptials. The Hall was renovated at a cost of 1.5 million. It's now estimated to be worth 30 million.

Where does Prince William's money come from?

William is reportedly worth between $30 to $40 million. According to Business Insider, much of Prince Williams wealth is from an inheritance he came into on his 30th birthday.

Both Prince Harry and Prince William reportedly received the same inheritance from Princess Dianas trust when they turned 30 - about $16 million, along with her jewelry.

They also received a $450,000 per year investment portfolio when they turned 21 and get an allowance from the Duchy of Cornwall. The allowance is reportedly $4.6 million, as of 2015. The millions cover their staff, travel, and wardrobes.

It has also been reported that Prince Harry received more than William from their great-grandmother, who died in 2002. She knew he would not inherit the Duchy of Cornwall, which will become Prince Williams when Prince Charles becomes King.

What is Prince William's net worth? Is it the same as Harry's?

Prince William and Prince Harry are both estimated to be worth somewhere around $30 million.

Prince William previously worked as a helicopter pilot for East Anglian Air Ambulance, but he donated his $62k-a-year salary to charity.

Though he's retired from his work as a helicopter pilot, he has his own Augusta A109S Grand Helicopter, valued at approximately $13.6 million - a gift from Queen Elizabeth.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announce their engagement on November 27, 2017 / AFP/Getty Images

Meghan Markle was worth a reported $5 million when she married Prince Harry - making the couple worth an estimated $45 million.

Her income came from her Suits stardom, movie cameos, and lifestyle blog, The Tig.

Overall, Prince William and Kate Middleton are worth a bit more - while Prince Harry and Prince Williams net worth is almost even, Kate's estimated $7 million of personal wealth would put her slightly ahead of Meghan.

And once Prince William inherits the Duchy of Cornwall, he'll be the one paying for his family's activities.
You might not know exactly who Derek Blasberg is or what he does, but youve probably seen him all over Instagram.

Youre about to see him at London Fashion Week, where he'll be hitting the shows and co-hosting a YouTube party with Victoria Beckham - Blasberg also teamed up with Beckham at Fashion Week last September to celebrate ten years of her brand.

Derek and Victoria Beckham / Getty Images for YouTube

Like a preppy, polite version of Kim Kardashians BFF Jonathan Cheban (better known as @Foodgod to some) for the country club set, if there's an A-list party going on Blasberg will be there. On his Instagram feed you'll see him lunching with Reese Witherspoon, striding out with supermodel Karlie Kloss, and sitting front row at New York Fashion Week with Irina Shayk.

He counts Gwyneth Paltrow has a close friend - although the Goop founder was skeptical at first. When I first met him, I was a little dubious, Gwyneth Paltrow told The Cut in 2016. I was like, Are you a professional best friend of celebrities? And why are you everywhere at once? Whats your deal? (Then: After ten seconds, I fell completely in love with him.)

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His friendships span the globe. He was spotted at Princess Eugenie's wedding, hanging out with Liv Tyler, Demi Moore, and the Delevingne family (Cara is a good pal.)

Derek arriving for Eugenie's wedding / Getty Images

The next gen love him too - he's snapped photos with Kaia Gerber, Luka Sabbat, and Lily-Rose Depp.

Blasberg has amassed 830,000 Instagram followers who love to live vicariously through his fabulous life, whether he's snuggling up in Aspen between Katy Perry and Kate Hudson or hitting the Chanel Couture show in Paris. His witty captions show an easy relationship with some of the most famous women in the world. "Lunch was 45 minutes. But it took about an hour to find the right lighting" he wrote under a recent selfie with Victoria Beckham.

Derek and Katy Perry / Getty Images

So how exactly did Blasberg become the ultimate BFF to the stars?

Who is Derek Blasberg?

Growing up in St. Louis, Missouri, Blasberg had dreams of life in Manhattan, telling Vogue he wrote New York or bust on his bedsheets in marker pen.

He eventually moved to the city to attend New York University. While living in the dorms there Blasberg met a model who introduced him to her Elite agent and started writing bios of models for the agency, and then for Models 1 in Europe. He then went on to intern at W and Vogue. In 2010 he wrote Classy, a tongue-in-cheek guide to social climbing for the 'extremely modern lady.'

His upbeat coverage made him popular with stars. It would be easier to write that all the girls were smoking in the bathroom, or to say that everyone was bored or social climbing, he told The New York Times in 2010. But I dont think anyone wins from those kinds of stories.

Blasberg has served as a columnist for Style.com and as an editor-at-large at Harpers Bazaar. As Vanity Fairs 'Our Man on the Street' Blasberg started interviewing celebrities for the magazine in 2015, including Jessica Alba and Lady Gaga.

Simon Doonan and actress Chloe Sevigny celebrating Derek Blasberg's book / Getty Images

Blasberg has more recently come to lead YouTubes new division dedicated to fashion and beauty content partnerships.

I'm looking forward to bridging the world of YouTube creators with the global style and beauty industries in this newly created role and department, he said in a statement.
T he food has arrived. The plate is beautiful and abundant, and your hand begins to twitch towards your phone; those 83 followers on Instagram aren't going to find out about this on their own.

Sound familiar? Its probably time your dining out took a digital detox.

As more and more of us become slaves to our smartphones, some restaurants, bars and pubs across the capital are taking a stand to cut out the distractions and get us to switch off within their walls.

From historic boozers to a brand-spanking new bar, these are our picks of the London restaurants, bars and pubs where you cant use your phone. Have we missed somewhere? Email ailis.brennan@standard.co.uk.

The bar at Angelina

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At new Dalston venue Angelina, youre going to get to know your bar neighbours whether you want to or not. In the restaurant, chefs Daniele Ceforo and Robin Beparry are making unlikely bedfellows of both Italian and Japanese cooking, while the bar hidden at the back of the dining room has been turned into a little piece of Tokyo. Golden Gai is a drinking spot that seats just six people, named for an area of Shinjuku famously home to more than 200 tiny bars. To ramp up the intimacy and encourage sociability late into the night, phones are strictly banned in the diminutive room.

56 Dalston Lane, E8 3AH, angelina.london

The French House

Adrian Lourie

This Soho watering hole isnt keen on phones  in fact, its not that keen on anything with a power switch. The mantra at the Francophile venue is no music, no machines, no television and no mobile phones, which makes The French House a hit with the citys storytellers and the occasional famous face dodging phone cameras. They're strict on their ban, too, and will happily kick out anyone breaking the rules. The deal is the same upstairs in Neil Borthwicks dining room, where the former Merchants Tavern chef cooks up British ingredients with a French twist. Its just you, some beignets and a fine glass of fairly priced French wine  who needs Twitter?

49 Dean Street, W1D 5BG, frenchhousesoho.com

St John

Stefan Johnson

Fergus Henderson has some stern words for phones that appear on the tables at his Michelin-starred Clerkenwell restaurant. They are the barrier to conviviality, he says. Your phone is not your tool for eating, it should not be on the table with your knife, fork, glass and bread. Known around the world for stripping British food back to basics, St John wants dinner to be about the simple joy of eating  and that means paying attention to the little sign outside the dining room that asks you not to use a phone within its walls. Those who cant bear the technological separation may use them in the bar  but we suspect even this is a bit far for Henderson.

26 St John Street, EC1M 4AY, stjohnrestaurant.com

The Clink

You cant use your phone at this Brixton restaurant, but that's nothing to do with digitally detoxing  its because it's in a prison. The Clink is a charity which runs a restaurant in HMP Brixton, where your meal is cooked and served by current inmates, who are involved in rehabilitation training courses aimed at reducing reoffending. For security reasons, all diners need to leave their phones either at home, or in a limited number of lockers outside the reception area. When you do, you get the chance to fully immerse yourself in a unique  and pretty great  dining experience that does a little bit of good for the world.

HMP Brixton, Jebb Avenue, SW2 5XF, theclinkcharity.org

The Nags Head

Euan Munro/Flickr

Going without your phone may make you feel like youve stepped back in time  The Nags Head takes that sensation and runs with it. The walls of this tiny, low-ceilinged Knightsbridge pub are littered with bric-a-brac from across many, many decades, from pewter mugs to bugles, period posters to old arcade machines. Dont, however, be tempted to Instagram it  The Nags Head proudly displays its aversion to mobile phones on visible signs, and the rule banning them is ruefully enforced. Tempted to take a snap for the gram? The landlord, Kevin Moran, will have you out of there.

53 Kinnerton Street, SW1X 8ED
While it is tempting to while away an entire day reclining on Clapham Common, youre going to get hungry at some point.

Good news then, as this leafy corner of south west London is filled with plenty of spots to grab a bite to eat  and tearing yourself away from the free-of-charge greenery doesn't have to mean breaking the bank.

From burgers to brunches, pizzas to ceviches, take a look at our pick of some of the delicious dishes you can get in SW4 with change from a tenner.

Smoked salmon eggs Benedict at Balans Soho Society - 9

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Start your day sunny side up on the south side of Clapham Common at Balans Soho Society. The Clapham branch of this London mini-chain has got most tastes covered with a menu that ranges from prawn jambalaya to jerk chicken samosas, but it's on its popular brunch menu where you get the most bang for your buck. The Eggs Benedict comes with a topping option of H. Forman & Son smoked salmon, with the customary poached eggs and hollandaise.

16A Clapham Common South Side, SW4 7AB, balans.co.uk

House ceviche at Mommi - 7.90

Theres always a party going on at Mommi, and the menu is just as lively. Miamis Venice Beach meets the Lima coast, with a Peruvian-inspired spread keeping things light and bright. The main dishes tip past the 10 mark, but parties can order starter plates to share, including this signature ceviche dish: cubes of seabass, tuna and salmon are cured in mango tigers milk, and served with slices of sweet potato and red onion.

44-48 Clapham High Street, SW4 7UR, wearemommi.com

Fiordilatte mozzarella pizza at Radio Alice - 7.50

Radio Alice founders Matteo and Salvatore Aloe have brought their signature sourdough pizzas to Clapham all the way from their native Italy, where they opened their first restaurants in Bologna. The Clapham restaurant is the second spot for Radio Alice, serving up organic pizza bases that take 24 hours to make topped with the likes of this extra creamy fiordilatte mozzarella version, with tomato and basil.

67 Venn Street, SW4 0BD, radioalicepizzeria.co.uk

Baked courgette and feta rosti at Megans - 8.50

At Megans, brunch is the most important meal of the day  so much so, that they serve it at all hours, seven days a week. The offering goes a little beyond the usual suspects too: the Megans version of a Full English features shakshouka, and theres half-baked cookie dough for the sweet toothed. As well as standard Benedicts, you can also have your poached eggs with courgette and feta rostis, served with tomato and spinach for extra healing greenery.

55-57 The Pavement, SW4 0JQ, megans.co.uk

Curry goat roti at Roti Joupa - 5.50

This High Street takeaway is one of veritable legend in SW4. Roti Joupa serves up Caribbean food fast and without fuss, specialising in filled rotis. Curry goat is the go-to here, that comes wrapped in a super soft roti  a pancake-like bread with roots in India  cooked on a traditional tawa plate. At 5.50 you can also afford to stock up on sides including doubles (curried chickpeas with flatbread) and fried tilapia fish.

12 Clapham High Street, SW4 7UT

Oysters at Counter Culture - 3.75 each

Nic Crilly Hardgrave

Robin Gill is the undisputed culinary king of Clapham. His multiple restaurants in the area have all received high critical acclaim, from modern British dining room The Dairy to Italian-inspired spot Sorella (on the former site of another Gill hit, The Manor). Counter Culture describes itself as The Dairys naughty little brother, a 16-seater snack bar that sells food by the bite or two. The menu changes frequently, but regulars include a fermented potato flatbread with nduja and cultured cream for 4.50, and oysters, which are reimagined with different garnishes, but are always sourced from Dooncastle in Gills native Ireland. Sure, they're not particularly good value, but a couple of these with a drink is a little moment of perfection.

16 The Pavement, SW4 0HY, countercultureclapham.co.uk

Fritter 2.0 burger at Honest - 8.50

Honest started out as a south London outfit, before they went on to conquer across the City and beyond. While meat-eaters are served very well by its high quality British beef burgers, veggies dont miss out with Honests fritter burger: a fried patty of cauliflower, sweetcorn and chickpea is topped with cheddar, hot sauce, lime and coriander mayo and salad. The veggie burger clocks in at 8.50 (with rosemary salted chips), and the basic beef burger is also available in budget for 9.

75 Venn Street, SW4 0BD, honestburgers.co.uk

Meat Lover pizza slice at Joe Public - 4.50

More pizza? You can never have too much pizza. Joe Public caters for appetites both big and small at its Clapham location where its tantalisingly topped pies are available both by the slice or as a mega 20-inch behemoth. The latter is sadly out of your price range, but slices start at 3.50 for tomato, mozzarella and parmesan, with this Meat Lover pizza  topped with beef, sausage, pepperoni, bacon and caramelised onion  coming in at 4.50.

4 The Pavement, SW4 0HY, joepublicpizza.com

Smoked wings at Red Dog Saloon - 7.50

The pit masters at Red Dog Saloon are taking this low and slow, bringing Austin-style barbecuing from Texas to Clapham. Among the roster of slow roasted meats and towering burgers are these Hickory smoked chicken wings, which come tossed in your choice of either buffalo or barbecue sauce, with blue cheese or ranch dip on the side. Six wings will cost you just 7.50.

27-31 Bedford Road, SW4 7SH, reddogsaloon.co.uk

Tuna and truffle mayo sushi roll at Tsunami - 7.60

If youre splashing out slightly and cant resist the allure of Japanese food, Tsunami is the Clapham spot for you. Many of the main dishes on offer here are outside of a 10 budget, but a few sneak in. This cut sushi roll includes fresh tuna fish inside with a luxurious dollop of truffle mayonnaise on top and comes in at six pieces for 7.60. Tuna lovers who can stretch to 10.60 can also try the tuna tataki, featuring seared slices of fish and daikon with a ginger and ponzu sauce.
T here are two things that Chris, the mononymic star of Christine and the Queens, knows about next weeks Brit Awards: what shes going to wear, and that she isnt going to win.

When the musician born Heloise Letissier in Nantes was nominated in 2017 in the International Female category, she lost out to Beyonce. This time shes up against Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello, Cardi B and Janelle Monae. This is why I didnt prepare a speech! she says, showing me the losers clap that she has been perfecting  polite and dignified  and doing a sharp impression of the kind of non-questions shes ready to be asked on the O2 Arena red carpet. SO, THE ALBUM, she says, thrusting a pretend microphone at my face.

The press pack wont have any trouble spotting her, anyway, in what she promises will be something quite severe and leathery but sexy, Matrix-inspired. Trinity goes to the Brits. When we meet in the bar of a discrete hotel on a Paris side street shes sporting a loudly checked, belted suit and scruffy white trainers, one ring in her right ear like a pirate, hair cropped even shorter than on the androgynous cover of her second album, also called Chris. She speaks English fast and fluent, with the mannerisms of a silent movie star  exaggerated movements of the hands and face and impeccable comic timing.

Her new image caused some confusion when she reemerged last year, having sold 1.3 million copies worldwide of her 2014 debut album, Chaleur Humaine, and become one of French pops biggest international successes. With tour posters showing her posing below the name Chris with tine and the Queens scribbled out messily and her hair in a wet quiff, people kept asking if she was transitioning.

It was more ambiguous than that. I really liked the intensity and the ambivalence of it, says the 30-year-old. I liked the idea of not getting rid of the name totally, but perverting it instead. It can be joyous or violent. There is a matador energy and bravado [in the album cover photo], lots of defiance, but also a bit of humour I hope. Its like kids dressing up and playing tough guys. The story can be understood in different ways.

As she reflects on the albums September release, it sounds like she faced more resistance in France, where Chris has sold less than a tenth of its diamond-certified predecessor, than in the UK, where it was high on many albums of 2018 lists and her concerts, a mix of modern dance and dreamlike spectacle, were reviewed rapturously (though even here it spent just 4 weeks in the UK top 40, compared with 25 for her debut).

The best albums of 2018 1 /43 The best albums of 2018 Ariana Grande - Sweetener Getty Images for iHeartMedia Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino AFP/Getty Images Christine and the Queens - Chris AFP/Getty Images Brockhampton - Iridescence Getty Images for Coachella Jon Hopkins - Singularity Getty Images Anna Calvi - Hunter Getty Images Brockhampton - Iridescence Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy Getty Images for iHeartMedia Cat Power - Wanderer Kevin Kane/Getty Images for UNDP Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel Getty Images The Good, the Bad and The Queen - Merrie Land Getty Images Drake - Scorpion Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Coachella Father John Misty - God's Favourite Customer AFP/Getty Images Florence + The Machine - High as Hope Getty Images for KROQ/Entercom George FitzGerald - All That Must Be Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Coachella Idles - Joy As An Act Of Resistance AFP/Getty Images Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer Getty Images for Global Citizen Jorja Smith - Lost and Found Getty Images for Coachella Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour Getty Images for Billboard Kali Uchis - Isolation Getty Images for Coachella Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth Getty Images Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears Getty Images Lily Allen - No Shame Getty Images for Malibu Little Mix - LM5 Getty Images for MTV Logic - YSIV Getty Images for iHeartMedia Lykke Li - So Sad So Sexy Getty Images MHD - 19 AFP/Getty Images Mitski - Be The Cowboy AFP/Getty Images Mumford and Sons - Delta Getty Images for iHeartRadio Nao - Saturn Getty Images for Pitchfork Natalie Prass - The Future and The Past AFP/Getty Images Novelist - Novelist Guy AFP/Getty Images Pusha T - Daytona Getty Images Rae Morris - Someone Out There Getty Images Rejjie Snow - Dear Annie Getty Images Snail Mail - Lush Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Vulture Festival Suede - The Blue Hour AFP/Getty Images The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships AFP/Getty Images Tove Styrke - Sway Getty Images Troye Sivan - Bloom Getty Images for NGV Years and Years - Palo Santo Getty Images Thom Yorke - Suspiria Getty Images Kendrick Lamar - Black Panther Getty Images for Coachella

There was a difference in the UK, where it was fantastically received and also understood, she says. French people were more conservative. They didnt really want me to change. They were like, What did you do with your hair? Are you representing us like that? In the record I wanted to address nuance and hesitations and intricacies, but at the same time Im working in pop music, where nuance is complicated to address. Im still a woman  Im just Chris with short hair, working a femininity that is masculine. People do want clear answers, but even on the first record I was trying to escape clear answers.

Nevertheless, since her striking TV appearances at Glastonbury and on The Graham Norton show in the same month in 2016, her influence has been huge. Madonna and Dua Lipa took clear inspiration from her videos. On the day we meet, shes amused to see a tabloid article in which Howard Donald reveals that hes become open to gender fluidity since listening to Christine and the Queens, under the headline Pansexual? Id Take That.

Chris defines herself as pansexual and dates men and women, with considerable drama by the sound of things. Its been an intense year, with the record being received differently and also my personal life was like  she makes an exploding sound and expands her hands. The crisis in Chris. Personally I was a wreck but artistically I was like, Oh, thats interesting. I should pitch that to Netflix.

She was expecting the second album to shake things up a bit. She was listening to Eminems second release, The Marshall Mathers LP, where the rapper deconstructs the Slim Shady persona that brought him such success. Before, I had the freshness of someone arriving. We love people that we discover. So how can I be no longer fresh and enjoy it? Should I slightly destroy it? There is a sense of perversion of the small legacy that I found really interesting.

Her sound shifted from classy dance pop, blurred at the edges (such as her biggest hit, Tilted) to something more raw, sweaty and funky. Listening back to Chaleur Humaine, I was like, Oh, its actually a really melancholic, nocturnal, soft record. Thats part of me but its not all of me, she explains. When I wrote the second record I was just out of a gigantic tour  two years on stage every night sweating. You have more stamina immediately. I was way more comfortable in my own skin thanks to everything that happened on the first record. I was living more. I had more stories of desires and frustrations. I started to write songs that were really more funky right away.

On her most recent tour, she used her background as a theatre student to present a show that was a long way from standard arena pop dazzle but still visually unforgettable: grand painted landscape backdrops, a gentle snowstorm, falling lines of sand, a surprise balcony appearance, and dancers who eschewed formation routines to tell a story in movement.

Some people were surprised at the theatricality of it. There were points where they didnt know whether they should clap. I wanted to invite people in differently. It was an interesting challenge to think of big venues as something fragile. I wanted something really bare and exposed and naked.

She knows it will have to be adapted for the outdoors when she embarks on a long summer of festival appearances, including a headline slot at Hackneys All Points East, but you can bet shell find a way to make it equally stunning.

I ask if she might make another change to her future shows and stop performing a snippet of Michael Jacksons Man in the Mirror, given that a new documentary has renewed negative focus on the late superstars personal life. He and his sister Janet are clearly among her biggest musical influences  she also played Janets Nasty at recent gigs.

Typically for her, its not so simple. I cant deny the influence. Its a question now more than ever: can we enjoy the artist knowing what we know about them? Its conflicting for me, but I prefer to watch it and not know what to do than push it away, she says. Id rather address the conflict than just say bye to Michael Jackson because it feels impossible. Maybe pop music is better than us.

The Brits organisers are missing a trick by leaving this extraordinary performer in the audience next Wednesday, but she seems content to stand apart. That feeling of being an outsider is going to linger on with me even though at some point Im not any more, because Ive been feeling it so strongly since I was young. You cant really get rid of that, she says. It doesnt seem obvious because Im doing a job where Im exposing myself, but Im quite an introvert. Im afraid of everything except being on stage.
T he worlds of fashion and film have gone hand in hand since the earliest days of cinema, with each industry influencing and inspiring the other.

Stylish costume and set designs are recognised during awards season every year, and the look of a movie is always so critical to the filmmaking process too. The most stylish films  from James Dean's Rebel Without A Cause to The Great Gatsby and beyond  can have great influence on our fashion choices too.

With the arrival of London fashion week, there's no better time to revisit the fantastic documentaries and feature films exploring life in the industry.

From from the September Issue to the Devil Wears Prada, these are the best fashion films ever made.

Zoolander

Zoolander trailer

Have you ever wondered if there was more to life than being really, really, really ridiculously good looking? Ben Stillers 2001 Zoolander is a hilarious and often outrageous pastiche of the fashion industry, featuring cameos from just about every celebrity going in the early 00s.

Coco Before Chanel

Coco Before Chanel

French film Coco Before Chanel explores the early days of legendary fashion designer Coco Chanel, chronicling her unlikely route to fame and acclaim. Audrey Tautou delivers an elegant performance in the 2009 movie, which treats its subject matter with the greatest respect and admiration.

Bill Cunningham  New York

Bill Cunningham  New York trailer

Its amazing to think that barely anyone outside the industry had heard of the legendary photographer Bill Cunningham before the release of this fascinating documovie. Cunningham is known far and wide to some of the worlds biggest fashion insiders but never received the worldwide recognition he deserved before the film.

Whizz round New York with Bill, a total eccentric with his signature blue jacket and bike, as he snaps some of the most prominent figures of the fashion world. His greatest quote? "Fashion is the armour to survive the reality of day-to-day life". Since its release, Cunningham sadly died after suffering a stroke in his Manhattan home in 2016.

A Single Man

A SINGLE MAN - Trailer

Tom Fords directorial debut is nothing short of breathtaking. Starring Academy Award winners Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, the film follows George (Firth) a gay widow who begins a relationship with his student Kenny, thoughtfully portrayed by Brit Nicholas Hoult. Like Fords latest flick Nocturnal Animals, the entire film looks like its hot of the press of a glossy magazine worthy of a prime spot on your coffee table. Moore  Fords longtime fashion muse  also stuns.

Fresh Dressed

Fresh Dressed trailer

Kanye West, Nas and Puff Daddy are just some of the huge artists who contribute to this 2015 documentary about the history of Hip Hops urban fashion. The doc takes an in depth look at the way music and fashion interact with each other, and how fashion has represented one of the strongest influences on society as a whole through the years.

Valentino: The Last Emperor

OFFICIAL TRAILER Valentino The Last Emperor HD

Famed designer Valentino Garavani is the subject of this 2008 documentary, which celebrates his life and work. The film explores his enduring influence on the industry, from opening his first fashion house in 1959 to becoming one of the most widely revered designers of the past 60 years

Mademoiselle C

Mademoiselle C Official Trailer

Mademoiselle C focuses on the fascinating life of Carine Riotfeld, who was Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Paris from 2001 to 2011. Its a chance to get to grips with the inner workings of the industry, as we see Riotfeld engage with the biggest names in fashion and run a hugely influential fashion title.

The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada trailer

"Thats all"  the iconic words of Meryl Streeps infamously celebrated portrayal of Runway editor Miranda Priestly (a thinly-veiled caricature of Anna Wintour) still sends shivers down the spine of fashion interns to this day. For those who havent seen it, know that this Oscar-nominated film isnt just a fashion movie, this is the fashion movie. It's the perfect chance to reminisce in the head-to-toe looks of the 2000s, and revel in the glory days on those glorious Prada and Chanel ensembles.

Dior & I

Dior and I - Official Trailer

Dior & I Raf Simons' first haute couture collection as artistic director of Christian Dior is the centrepiece of this insightful 2014 documentary. The buildup to this unconventional collection doesnt always go smoothly, but the journey from design to final display is always compelling.

Gia

Gia TV movie trailer

Angelina Jolie stars in HBO film Gia, which tells the heartbreaking true story of Gia Carangi. The 1998 movie documents Gias rise as one of the USs first supermodels, before being caught in a downward spiral of drug addiction. It makes for a pretty harrowing watch at times, but its a film well worth seeking out.

Saint Laurent

SAINT LAURENT International Trailer (2014)

Lea Seydoux and Gespard Ulliel star in the French Biographical film Saint Laurent, which takes a closer look at the enigmatic character of designer Yves Saint Laurent. The film portrays the hugely influential French designer at the height of his creative powers, all the while struggling with personal issues in the late 60s and 70s.

The September Issue

The September Issue trailer

Quite possibly one of the most important films in the fashion canon. Follow in Vogue editor and Chief Anna Wintours footsteps for a two hour odyssey of magazine corporate drama. The film marked the first time that anyone actually got a look in to the goings-on of a real-life fashion magazine. The fascinating flick tracks the creation, shoot and inspiration behind American Vogues 2007 September issue  the most read and important issue on the fashion bibles calendar. The heated debates between Wintour and former creative director Grace Coddington are the films major highlight.

Jeremy Scott: The Peoples Designer

Jeremy Scott - The People's Designer - Official Trailer

Moschino mastermind Jeremy Scott has made a huge impact on the fashion world in recent years. This 2015 film analyses his journey from small town boy to Creative Director of a major fashion house, while celebs such as Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry speak about his influence and unique style.

Iris

Iris Official Trailer 1 (2015) - Iris Apfel Documentary HD

Albert Maysless 2014 film Iris focuses on the acclaimed interior designer and eccentric fashion queen Iris Apfel, who at the grand age of 96 is still one of the most recognisable and likeable stars in the entire industry. Its a great opportunity to spend ninety minutes in Iriss company, learn more about her world and take in her incredible style.

Inside British Vogue

Absolutely Fashion_ Inside British Vogue _ Trailer - BBC Two

The American offices of Conde Nast have inspired a great deal of screen time over the years  but what about us Brits? In 2016, this BBC documentary series went behind the scenes of British Vogue in the final year of Alexandra Shulmans 25 year tenure as the magazines Editor In Chief. Expect Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham and a minor barney with Anna Wintour over who gets Rihanna.

Phantom Thread

Phantom Thread - Trailer

In what Daniel Day-Lewis has said will be his last ever film, the triple Oscar-winner plays fictional high society couturier Reynolds Woodcock. As obsessive in his personal life as he is in his professional pursuits, Woodcock embarks on a troubled relationship with a young, beautiful waitress. Phantom Thread is this seasons must-have.

In Vogue: The Editors Eye

In Vogue: The Editor's Eye trailer

Anna Wintour may have the spotlight in The September Issue, but this HBO documentary casts a wider look at the fashion editors that put together US Vogues legendary photographic spreads. Charting the changing face of fashion and the magazine (the two are interchangeable are they not?), editors including Grace Coddington, Polly Mellen and Babs Simpson discuss what it takes to keep Vogue in vogue.

Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf's

Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's Official Trailer
A group of next-generation activists are set to protest against climate change in London and cities across the UK today.

The Youth Strike 4 Climate will follow strike action that was taken by students in February and March.

They have been inspired by Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old climate change activist from Sweden who has been skipping school every Friday since August 2018 to lobby the Swedish government into action on global warming.

So what exactly are the demands of our students and how can clean air measures reduce the effects of global warming?

What is the Youth Strike 4 Climate?

The Youth Strike 4 Climate is organised by the UK Student Climate Network and the UK Youth Climate Coalition.

Students taking part in the strike say they are being forced into action due to an alarming lack of action from the Government in preventing climate change.

They are calling on the government to include young people in decision making related to global warming, to have a say in their future.

How does air pollution contribute to global warming?

Global warming is the heating of the earths temperature, which is generally caused by greenhouse gases. These gases are given their name because they absorb infrared radiation (heat energy) from the earths atmosphere and radiate it back to the earths surface.

Polluted air contains gases such as carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas.

Emissions of carbon dioxide are mostly associated with car exhausts  and anything else that involves burning fossil fuels such as petrol.

This means that our use of petrol and diesel cars is producing greenhouse gases that are heating the earths temperature.

How could the Youth Strike 4 Climate help to reduce global warming and air pollution?

Inspired by Greta Thunberg, students all around the world have been taking strike action to demand governments make a change to prevent global warming.

Greta is demanding that Swedish politicians legislate to reduce carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. This would reduce the effect of greenhouse gases on global warming.

In the UK, students are demanding the government declares a state of climate emergency and change the school curriculum to include education about the effects of climate change.

The Youth Strike 4 Climate is also asking for more influence in decision-making and for the voting age to be lowered to 16.

How can cities work to reduce air pollution?

City leaders around the world have been taking steps to reduce air pollution by cutting down cars.

Low emissions zones have been implemented in cities like Madrid and Oslo, while London is preparing for the Ultra Low Emissions Zone which will come into effect in April.

The ULEZ will impose extra charges on cars that do not meet European standards which set limits for pollutants from car emissions.

Speaking at a Clean Air Summit at the Tate Modern, Sadiq Khan pledged to double a 23 million scrappage scheme designed to help those in financial need upgrade their cars to greener options.
Burberry, Victoria Beckham, Vivienne Westwood and Christopher Kane are undoubtedly the big draws at London Fashion Week.

Since its beginnings though, London Fashion Week has been known globally for championing up-and-coming designers. Most notably uncovering the likes of Richard Quinn, Mother of Peal, Rejina Pyo, Molly Goddard, Matty Bovan and Ashley Williams.

Always proud to put young designers in the spotlight, the schedule for this season's five-day event is no different and is awash with newcomers.

Here are 9 designers to keep an eye on...

Bethany Williams

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Bethany Williams London Fashion Week Men's AW18 / PA Archive/PA Images

Bethany graduated from London College of Fashion in 2016 with a MA in Menswear and has since been tackling social change through fashion, often creating collections in collaboration with charities, as well as producing one hundered percent sustainable clothing.

Tuesday, February 19 will be her London Fashion Week debut, having previously shown her collection at London Fashion Week Men's.

HANGER

The Doresu jacket, 374.99 by HANGER / Samona Olanipekun

Created by Claire Yurika Davis, HANGER brand reflects her own British-Japanese heritage. She's created sustainable, seasonless and sci-fi-inspired items, the majority of which are made out of latex - ironic considering Davis herself is highly allergic to the material.

In 2016 the young designer was awarded the 'Fashion Discovery Award' from ASOS and the brand is currently stocked on ASOS, Opening Ceremony and Selfridges.

Wesley Harriott

Wesley Harriott Spring Summer 2019 (Chris Yates/ Chris Yates Media ) / Chris Yates/ Chris Yates Media

Another ASOS Fashion Discovery winner, Wesley Harriott is inspired by his love of women. Filled with feminist inspiration, from women in comic books and anime, to the ladies in his own life, he creates empowering outfits with a futuristic edge. His clothes have already been seen on SZA and Kylie Jenner.

Nabil Nayal

Nabil Naya lshow during Fashion Forward in 2017

Syrian born Nayal has been flourishing in the fashion industry. In 2015 he was shortlisted for the prestigious LVHM Prize and was a finalist in 2017. He has gone on to win many other awards including Royal Society of Arts Award, the Graduate Fashion Week 'Best Womenswear' Award and the British Fashion Council MA Scholarship Award.

Nayal's designs merge old and new, often with an Elizabethan focus, but he also experiments with modernity, becoming the first fashion designer in the world to use 3D printing in 2010.

ZILVER

Sustainable and stylish brand Zilver / Zilver

With sustainability and responsibility at its core, ZILVER, founded by Pedro Lourenco, is a brand one step ahead of the ethical fashion movement.

Having debuted at LFW last season, the brand works closely with Eco Age in order to provide transparency about all its suppliers and materials. The label also has a recognisable aesthetic, full of clean and structural silhouettes with a streetwear edge.

Malene Oddershede Bach

Malene Oddershede Bach Spring/Summer 2019 presentation (Chris Yates/Chris Yates Media ) / Chris Yates/ Chris Yates Media

Bringing a splash of Danish flare to London, Bach creates contemporary feminine creations, which are often adorned with florals, ruffles, embroidery and other delicate details that exude an ethereal feel.

The brand appeared on the LFW schedule for the first time last season, but her designs are already becoming a regular in the wardrobes of the A-list, including Emily Blunt, Gemma Chan, Rose Leslie and Claudia Schiffer.

Milo Maria

Milo Maria at London Fashion Week Spring/Summer collections in 2017 / Getty Images

Fusing menswear tailoring with feminine fluidity, Maria creates the best of both worlds. Favouring modernity and a minimal aesthetic, her label, which launched in 2017, has already been seen on Lady Gaga and Rita Ora.

Katie Ann McGuigan

Merit Award Winner Katie Ann McGuigan shows at Fashion Scout during London Fashion Week in 2017 / Getty Images

If you like bright and bold knitwear, McGuigan designs are the one for you.

The Ireland native graduated from the University of Westminster with a BA in Fashion Design Womenswear in 2016, and after internships at Alexander McQueen and Marc Jacobs, has become a regular on the Fashion Scout catwalks, winning the Fashion Scout Merit Award and now progressing to the main schedule.

Supriya Lele

Supriya Lele during the Fashion East catwalk show during London Fashion Week in 2018 / AFP/Getty Images

The British Indian designer started off at Fashion East before being awarded full NEWGEN sponsorship from the British Fashion Council and making her debut on the main schedule last season. Autumn/winter 2019 will be her second solo presentation at London Fashion Week.
T he study you reported on this week [Thousands of teenage cannabis smokers at higher risk of depression, February 13] is one that must be taken seriously, irrespective of whether a causal connection has been established.

We know that in adolescence the maturing teenage brain is particularly vulnerable to the deleterious effects of many drugs. This risk is partially acknowledged in British law, with legally mandated point-of-sale age challenges for alcohol and tobacco. It is incoherent that no such safeguards are in place to protect children from the potential harm of cannabis.

Its class-B status does not stop it being the most popular illicit drug among teenagers  a Survation poll last year confirmed UK teens found it easier to acquire than alcohol. This is unsurprising since, in a market controlled by criminals, vendors dont ask for ID.

Since various US states started legalising cannabis in 2014, its use by adolescents has dropped. Last month, it was at its lowest since 1994. Such moves do not send the wrong message but rather allow greater control over messaging. The clear and graphic health warnings on cigarettes  only possible in a legal market  have directly contributed to the recent decrease in smoking. Those who are serious about reducing the harms associated with cannabis use should prioritise evidence over ideology, and move to legally regulate its sale.

Eddie Jacobs

Policy Officer, The Beckley Foundation

EDITOR'S REPLY

Dear Eddie

I agree that any link between cannabis use and depression among adolescents is of serious concern but Im not convinced by your argument.

To begin with, it is hard to imagine that the state could permit the consumption of the most harmful skunk variants of the drug, other than possibly in tiny amounts, when the provision of larger quantities would lead to the very health problems you want to avoid. That means an unregulated, criminal market would still exist to supply those who wanted more or stronger forms of cannabis.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that although cannabis use has risen slightly in recent years, the long-term trend is down. So far as evidence versus ideology is concerned, it seems to me that those who advocate drug legalisation are often the most inflexibly committed to their beliefs. Theres no perfect answer to this problem but giving a green light to self-harm looks to me like a mistake.

Martin Bentham, Home Affairs Editor

Churchill was no villain, McDonnell

You have to hand it to shadow chancellor John McDonnell, he never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

When he could be pragmatic and sensible he chooses the opposite. When asked whether Churchill was a hero or villain he chose villain, because in 1910, Churchill, when Home Secretary, deployed troops during a miners strike in south Wales. Was Churchill wrong to do so? Without question he was.

But to describe Churchill as a historical villain is to ignore the enormity of his achievement in galvanising Britain to stand alone in 1940 to fight Hitler and the Nazis. If Lord Halifax had become prime minister in 1940 this country would have sued for peace and allowed the twisted ideology of Nazism complete control of Europe.

It is ironic that John McDonnell uses his right to free speech to disrespect Churchill, the very man who secured those freedoms that McDonnell, and all of us, so readily enjoy.

David Doe

Social care crisis not down to Brexit

Repeated delays to the publication of the social care green paper cannot be excused by Brexit [Brexit has delayed plans to deal with adult social care crisis, minister admits, February 12]. With every delay, the 850,000 people with dementia are being further neglected by a broken system.

The possible impact of post-Brexit immigration rules on the social care workforce is enough to prompt immediate action. The most vulnerable in our society should not be made to wait any longer  and we urge the Government to act now.

Sally Copley

Alzheimers Society

Children now have new idols

I read with interest your story on VidCon [145 to learn to be online star with Joe Sugg at YouTube expo, February 13].

Older readers may wonder why anyone would pay to meet someone they havent heard of but attendees of VidCon are paying for the chance to learn more about  and possibly meet  their idols.
M y first interaction with the honours system was when my late father, Naz Bokhari, received an OBE. His tireless work in education, as the first Muslim headteacher and in the community as an activist for a more cohesive and integrated society, had long been recognised and appreciated by those who knew him.

The wider recognition, in the form a national honour, was a vindication of his efforts. Not only were we proud, as his family, but so were all those in the local community who had benefited from his work, and of course people from other minority backgrounds who then realised that their work may also lead to such deserved recognition.

This was when I witnessed the power of the honours system. I then saw this again, myself, when I was lucky enough to receive an award for mentoring young people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Those young people felt valued and recognised through the award as well. When a person from a BAME community is honoured for their achievements, the rest of that community vicariously feels a sense of dignity and gratification too. It means much more for the community as a whole.

In the context of, in some respects, an increasingly fractious and polarised society, the awarding of honours can act as a way to heal wounds, providing recognition for communities that may feel increasingly disenfranchised. These communities are not looking for favours, they just want fairness in the system.

In recent years we have seen the honours list become more representative and diverse, with now almost half of recipients women and 12 per cent from ethnic minorities. There are, however, a number of barriers that prevent more representation from minority communities. Many people dont even know that they can nominate anyone for an honour. We need to ensure that we are getting that message out to harder-to-reach communities.

Second, people from minority backgrounds often dont believe these honours are meant for them. We have to make clear that the system is in place precisely so that all those who are deserving of an honour are recognised, no matter what their background.

Last, the process of nomination may seem daunting, but it neednt. The Government sets out very clear guidelines, on how to nominate someone, at gov.uk/honours. All you will need to do is fill out an online form, describing in no more than 500 words why your nominee is deserving of an award: it may be because of the amounts of money they have raised or the number of people they have helped. Remember, you must highlight the impact the nominee has had in their community  not just how nice they are. You also need two supporting letters of reference.

Now is the best time for us to boost the diversity in the honours system, so nominate someone today.
P arliament is speaking clearly. Really. Its just that Theresa May isnt listening.

When a slim majority of MPs voted in Parliament a fortnight ago demanding a fundamental change to her own Brexit deal, she hailed it as a game-changer. When a larger majority of MPs voted yesterday to defeat a motion supporting her whole strategy , as we predicted they would, No 10 dismissed the result and said nothing had changed.

But both votes tell us the same things, whether the Prime Minister chooses to hear them or not.

First, there is not, and will never be, a majority for Mrs Mays Brexit deal. That was clear with the historic parliamentary defeat in January, and that was reinforced yesterday when a substantial hardcore of Tory Brexiteers again showed they were not willing to compromise just to get a form of Brexit over the line  and the Labour Opposition, unsurprisingly, again demonstrated that it will never rescue a Tory government from humiliation.

This will, we predict, still be the case when the Prime Minister returns from her pointless efforts to secure some kind of concession from Brussels on the Irish backstop.

We know, because every conceivable voice in the EU has told us repeatedly that this concession will not involve reopening the withdrawal agreement.

So there will be no change to the enduring legal force of the backstop. They will not add anything like a real time limit, as otherwise it wouldnt be a backstop.

There are hints today that even the British Government has now given up the pretence that they will.

What Mrs May will get, we now predict, is some form of a legal opinion from the Commission or Council which says that since, by definition, a withdrawal agreement is not the same as an agreement on a permanent future status, it is theoretically time- limited.

The EU may even chuck in an indicative date on when they hope to have that permanent agreement just to be helpful to Mrs May. But it will be a piece of sophistry, and everyone involved knows it.

Key battle

The Irish backstop, as the British negotiators helpfully told us this week, was always seen as more like a bridge to a future agreement  locking the whole UK, or failing that just Northern Ireland, on a path to a permanent customs union.

The EU has made it very clear there will be no permanent agreement unless we walk over that bridge, and that is what the withdrawal agreement seals in law.

No clever words from a Brussels lawyer, or change to a political declaration that Mrs May secures, will change that.

The hardcore Brexiteers of the European Research Group will see straight through the fig leaf, and yesterdays vote shows that they are not the types to back down.

The second thing Parliament tells us is that while a broad majority is against leaving the EU without a deal, there is still no majority for any of the specific courses of action required to prevent that legally mandated default happening.

In other words, there is no majority for an alternative deal like Norway Plus, no majority for revoking Article 50, no majority for a referendum or election, and no majority yet for delay.

But that might change in two weeks time.

As we report, up to eight people who sit around the Cabinet table have now indicated  some in writing to the PM  that they will resign if Mrs May does not rule out leaving the EU without a deal and instead delaying if no deal is agreed.

High noon is set for the next big parliamentary clash on February 27.

These eight people are putting the national interest at the apparent cost of their political careers  although those leadership hopefuls in the Cabinet, who sympathise with them but are trying to keep their heads down, should remember that many post-war Tory leaders were those who had resigned at key political moments.
He told us that he wanted corners that played with a dog mentality. He just want dogs out there on the island," junior Alexander Smith said of his new position coach.
Global will now focus on its assets in Namibia.

Chief executive Peter Hill said: "The publication by the Italian Government of a clear hydrocarbon plan would be a welcome development for all operators in the region although the coming 18 months is likely to be an uncertain period for the industry.

"We are, to an extent, insulated from much of it pending the appeals process on our Applications and our objective will be to bring this court process to a satisfactory conclusion before the end of the moratorium on exploration activities.

"We still believe that the permits we have applied for contain good prospectivity and we remain of the view that in time our Italian assets could provide material upside for our shareholders.
R OYAL Bank of Scotland chief executive Ross McEwan today issued a stark warning about the risks to the economy from Brexit, even as he unveiled a massive dividend hike, of which 1 billion will go to the government.

McEwan, the Kiwi who can be credited with rescuing a bank destroyed by Fred Goodwin, said: It is clear that the economy is slowing. That will start to be felt. We are starting to feel it.

McEwan said the Bank of England, not usually regarded as overoptimistic, could be underestimating the hit to the economy, since big companies have been holding off investment for at least the past year.

If this goes on for a long period of time were going to see the economy slowing down more than the Bank of England suggested, he added. RBS saw profits double in 2018 to 1.6 billion.

It is paying a final dividend of 3.5p a share and a special dividend of 7.5p a share, far higher than City analysts had pencilled in and 1.6 billion in total.

RBS has many thousands of small shareholders.

The governments remaining stake in RBS is worth about 18 billion, but at a share price today of 240p thats far below the 500p buy-in price.

McEwan said: We want to help the government reduce its stake should the opportunity present itself. It is their decision whether they keep the money in the bank or put it into schools and hospitals.

Investec analyst Ian Gordon thinks the government should be out of RBS entirely by 2023.

A YouGov poll yesterday said only one in 10 Britons is comfortable with the idea of selling the stock at a loss. Gordon says RBS shares are a buy and that todays figures suggest those next week from Lloyds and Barclays should be strong.

McEwan was paid 3.6 million this year, todays annual report reveals, slightly up on last year. He holds 2.8 million shares in the bank.

Chairman Sir Howard Davies pointed out that, now the bank has settled with the US Department of Justice with a $4.9 billion (3.8 billion) fine for mortgage bond mis-selling, it has much greater clarity on the state of its finances.

So the bank will be cash-rich even if the UK economy tanks. We have started the process of significant shareholder return, he said. We are a very strong bank.

RBS made cost savings of 278 million over the year and is paying out bonuses to staff of 335 million, down 8 million from last year. There were 78 staff paid more than 880,000.

McEwan agreed that customer service needs to improve as the shift to digital banking grows, and that RBS will spend 1 billion this year on just that. Not everything we pilot will be a complete success, he said.
U nder-pressure Mr Kipling cakes maker Premier Foods on Friday axed plans to sell off its Ambrosia custard brand for a possible 100 million.

In a move that could disappoint some shareholders who have seen a tough three years at Premier Foods, the company today said talks with potential suitors for the custard and rice pudding division have concluded.

The manufacturer said it has been in detailed discussions with a small group of potential buyers since New Year. However, it added: The board has concluded that in the present business climate the [sales] process will not result in a satisfactory financial outcome.

When Premier Foods first announced it was eyeing a disposal in November it did not give a price. Analysts predicted it could go for 90 million or 100 million.

Investec analyst Nicola Mallard said today that potential buyers could have been trying to take advantage of what they might have believed to be a forced seller as well as Brexit fears which have had a dampening effect on M&A.

The firm, also behind brands such as Oxo and Bisto, has been under pressure to boost returns since 2016, when Schwartz spices owner McCormick abandoned a potential 65p-a-share bid valuing Premier Foods at 537 million.

Premier Foods boss Gavin Darby last year narrowly survived a shareholder rebellion to oust him. He stepped down last month after six years. No permanent replacement has been found.

Hong Kong-based Oasis Management, which owns a 11.9% stake, last year said Premier Foods was zombie-like under Darby.

Oasis has previously urged the firm to sell the Batchelors noodles arm. It thinks that could raise 200 million to pay down the groups 496 million debt pile. Most recently US activist investor Paulson, which last year called for Darby to be replaced, raised its stake in the business.
WESTPORT  About a week ago, the Board of Finance and Representative Town Meeting voted to overturn the Board of Educations plan to house all sixth-graders at the elementary schools next year in light of the continued closure of Coleytown Middle School due to mold issues.

Instead, the groups voted to place all of towns middle school students at Bedford next year and appropriate $1 million to get portable classrooms there to accommodate the addition of Coleytown students.

The Board of Education voted at its Feb. 11 meeting to fast-track the purchase of six portables for Bedford instead of seeking state funding for the plan, which would have slowed the process of obtaining the portables, according to schools Chief Financial Officer Elio Longo.

Heres what else we know about some frequently asked questions regarding the Bedford portables plan:

Where will the portables be located?

A Request for Proposal listed on the towns website provides a map of where the six portable classrooms will be located. Two classroom portable building will be placed to the left of Bedford near the multipurpose field, while a four classroom portable building will post alongside the schools right side, according to the map.

Towns Zoning Board of Appeals approved the portables placement in the fall when the BOE hoped portables could be ordered for the current school year to alleviate crowding at Bedford due to the influx of Coleytown students who arrived at the school following Coleytowns closure in September, education board Chair Mark Mathias said.

What will the portables include?

The portables will have power and internet access but will not include plumbing for bathroom facilities. The portables will be close enough to the main Bedford building bathrooms to meet building codes, Mathias said. Each portable will its own heating, ventilation, and air conditioning unit, which will keep the classroom dry and prevent against mold growth, Mathias said.

All of the portables will have ramp and stair access per the RFP.

How much will the portables cost?

The town has appropriated $1 million to lease portables at Bedford, but the final price will remain unknown until the RFPs are submitted in about two weeks and a vendor is selected, Mathias said. Per the RFP form, vendors will propose a price to design, furnish, deliver and install the six portables.

The contract also calls for complete removal of the portables at the termination of the lease. In addition, the vendor will be responsible for the installation of fire alarms for the portables and other accessory work to the buildings, which is all to be included in the up to $1 million allotted funds.

How long will the portables be in place?

The RFP outlines a one-year portable lease with the option to extend the deal for a second year should Coleytown remain closed for two more school years, Mathias said. The BOEs hope is only a one-year lease will be necessary, he said. Recent reports suggest remediation on the Coleytown building may allow for a fall 2020 reoccupation of the school.

Which students will be taught at the portables?

The plan is under development and the administration has not yet recommended a plan to the BOE regarding which students will be taught in the portables, Mathias said.

Will any middle school students be taught at Staples High School?

This year, the Coleytowns eighth-grade students have been taught at an annex at Staples High School, but no middle school students will be housed at Staples next year, Mathias said.

At the Feb. 11 BOE meeting, the board voted to educate all sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students at Bedford commencing in the fall 2019 school year.

What else should I read to understand this story?

More mold found at Coleytown Middle School

Parents voice concerns over persistent mold

Westport parents call for greater transparency regarding mold at school

After school evacuation, Coleytown parents question health impacts of schools ongoing mold issues

Coleytown Middle School closed for the week due to health concerns

Westport Health Director said he didnt recommend, or see the need, for Coleytown to be closed

Superintendent: Mold prompts relocation of Westport students

Following closure, student relocation goes smoothly

$400K approved for Coleytown mold cleanup; parents demand timeline for remediation

Decision on Coleytown may be delayed to Thanksgiving

Westport school to remain closed after mold problems grow

Options emerge for Coleytown, but still no answers

Committee meets to address Coleytown student relocation

Westport school board narrows in on K-6 model

Board approves K-6 school plan amid Coleytown closure

Task force to assess viability of returning to Coleytown next fall

Residents, town officials blast $3.6M portable classroom cost

Report: Coleytown Middle School unlikely to open before 2020

BOE reaffirms commitment to K-6 plan, despite pushback

Finance board rejects $4M for portable classrooms

RTM approves $1M for Bedford Middle School portables

Bedford portables plan fast-tracked

Who is covering this story?

Westport News general assignment reporter Sophie Vaughan can be reached at 203-842-2638, by email at svaughan@hearstmediact.com or on Twitter at @SophieCVaughan1.

Westport News Editor Liana Teixeira can be reached at 203-842-2582, by email at LTeixeira@ctpost.com or on Twitter at @lianateixeira14.
An online petition calls for selling Montana for $1 trillion to "eliminate the national debt."

The change.org petition says, "We have too much debt and Montana is useless."

Nearly 5,000 people signed the petition as of mid-Friday.

The U.S. national debt as of Jan. 31 was nearly $22 trillion. It surpassed that amount this month, NPR reported.



People shared diverse reasons for signing the petition:

One person said, "I'm Montanan and hoping to join Canada without the moving costs. Let's do this. Please adopt us."

Another individual said, "I'm Canadian and making Canada bigger is cool."


HARTFORD  Days before Gov. Ned Lamonts first budget is unveiled, a small group of advocates who help individuals with disabilities live independently met with his No. 2.

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz met with employees and clients of one of the states five independent living centers Friday.

The centers help individuals navigate the complex service system. The centers help people with housing, education, employment and medical needs.

Gregory Johnson told Bysiewicz how the center helped find him housing after he left a nursing home and was unable to climb three flights of steps to his apartment.

Not only did they help find him housing, but they taught him how to use the paratransit bus service to help him run his errands.

They give you information that makes the transition much easier, Johnson said.

Jacqueline Pinney, executive director of Independence Unlimited, said they save the Money Follows the Person program about $10 million a year by giving their clients the support they need to maintain their independence.

Pinney said shes personally helped 300 to 400 clients transition out of nursing homes.

Jade Vail, an advocate and options counselor at Independence Unlimited, said she was homeless and unemployed in 2008 when she started coming to the center.

She said they helped find her an apartment and as her advocacy skills developed they eventually hired her.

The centers also operate on a shoestring.

The federal government gives each center about $180,000 a year and the state contributes about $309,000 to the five centers.

Thats in a state where about 20 percent of the population is considered disabled.

We really believe the centers are the most cost-effective thing the state has, said Charles Conway, executive director of Access Independence.

Its easy to cut funds, Conway said. But sometimes I think its important to think about where we cut and how we cut.

The states contribution to the five centers had been around $529,000 a year until it was cut in 2015 to its current level of about $309,000.

Bysiewicz said the budget Lamont will present next week will hold the line on spending and is not raising taxes.

She said they think theyve found some creative ways to close the $1.7 billion deficit in the first year and $2.3 billion deficit in the second year of the state budget.

She said if they are able to grow the economy 3 percent per year, then Connecticut will have the revenue it needs to address the unfunded pension liabilities, which are arguably a bigger problem for the state than the more immediate budget deficits.

She declined to indicate how much spending the two-year budget would cut, but based on the drips and drops of information that have been released its going to have to cut spending by hundreds of millions of dollars. And the way the budget is structured there are only a few places that can be cut. Social services, along with higher education, are two areas of the budget that are on the top of the chopping block.

Hes an unknown entity, Conway said referring to Lamont.

Lamont, who has never held statewide office, understandably, isnt looking forward to announcing where hes going to cut spending in advance of his budget address.

Lamont has already said he doesnt plan on increasing the income tax and he wants to broaden the sales tax to include things like digital downloads. Its unknown how much revenue those proposals will raise or at what rate he would set the sales tax for certain items. He also wants to spend about $500 million less on borrowing annually.

However, restoring the $200 property tax credit to middle class homeowners is going to cost an additional $55 million and getting rid of the business entity tax will require him to find about $45 million.

So while the Lamont administration may have revealed some of its proposals, its unclear how exactly Lamonts budget will be balanced.
STAMFORD  Stamford High School will hold its sixth annual Cinderella Project, offering of brand-new and gently-used prom gowns, graduation dresses, tuxedos, special occasion shoes and jewelry for low prices.

The event will be held at Stamford High on March 28, from 6:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The event will also be held at Westhill on March 21.

Every year all money raised for each school is given back to those who need assistance with the high cost of prom tickets through the help of school administrators.

Many brand-new designer dresses from New York showrooms and samples from boutiques, including A Step Ahead in Stamford, will be available to students for $20 and students receiving free or reduced-fee lunch get the dresses for free, said Holly Hyman, the founder and director of the program whose son graduated from Stamford High three years ago.

Each year hundreds of beautiful dresses are donated and collected and the selection keeps getting better and better as more people hear about my program, she added.

Students can come in during the day to select and try on their choices. Make-up, nail polish and manicure gift cards are given out as door prizes while supplies last.

Students who receive subsidized lunches can get the dresses for free.
STAMFORD  Five retailers have recently left or plan to soon exit Stamford Town Center. The changes are not likely to end with that group.

The turnover at the downtown mall shows the local impact of a sector hit by the ongoing march of e-commerce and a series of bankruptcies and closings. Constraints on many customers disposable incomes and competition from other shopping centers compound the challenges. But mall officials and a number of retail experts said Class A retail complexes such as Stamford Town Center are not about to be swept away like many of their lower-end counterparts.

Its a lot easier to backfill the spaces in a Class A mall, than in a Class B mall, said Garrick Brown, vice president of Americas retail research for commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. In retail, there are haves and have nots. Class A malls are still the haves.

Retail retrenchment

Each of the latest store closings at the mall reflects companywide struggles.

J. Crew and Armani Exchange both closed on Jan. 27. In the past couple of years, J. Crews parent company has shut down dozens of locations, including the one at the Danbury Fair mall. Armani Exchanges parent company has shuttered a number of stores as part of a 2017 restructuring.

The Walking Co.s outlet went dark on Feb. 10. Its parent firm filed again for bankruptcy last year.

The Ann Taylor storefront is set to close on Feb. 23. Its departure fits into a 2017 plan by its parent company to close up to 667 locations.

And Gymborees outlet at the mall is also going out of business. The company is closing all of its stores, which include locations at Danbury Fair and tje Westfield Trumbull mall.

Its true that bankruptcies create vacancies, Robert Taubman, the CEO, president and chairman of Stamford Town Centers owner, Taubman Centers, said on a call Thursday with investment analysts. But in high-quality real estate, they also create the opportunity to improve the merchandising of a center.

Parent company gains

Taubman Centers owns the Stamford mall and 19 other major U.S. shopping centers.

On Thursday, the firm reported 2018 revenues of about $640 million, up 2 percent from 2017.

At the same time, it saw annual increases in key categories  including a 9 percent rise in tenant sales per square foot and a 4 percent uptick in rent per square foot.

Were pleased with what weve accomplished operationally and strategically this year, Robert Taubman said.

In the past couple of years, however, Taubman Centers has faced questions about its management.

Jonathan Litt, founder of Stamford-based hedge fund Land & Buildings  whose offices are coincidentally located next to the mall  was elected last year to the companys board after a two-year campaign to reform the firm.

Before his election, Litt had said Taubman was a business plagued by poor governance  and, in turn, underperforming earnings  but one that still owns quality properties.

The bottom line is Taubman owns an extraordinary portfolio of malls, Litt said in an interview last year. The future of the Taubman malls is bright  and it gets lost in the whole retail-real estate narrative. Were quite excited about these assets and the markets they operate in.

Litt declined to comment this week, referring questions to Taubman officials.

Ongoing challenges

While e-commerce has shaken brick-and-mortar operations, it still accounts for a modest share of retail revenues  about 10 percent in the third quarter of last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

But its growth is unrelenting: Digital third-quarter sales increased 14.5 percent year-over-year.

Overall, third-quarter U.S. retail sales grew about 5 percent from a year ago.

But many consumers finances have deteriorated.

Only 20 percent of consumers were better off in 2016 than they were in 2007, with precious little income left to spend on discretionary retail categories, according to a study last year by professional-services firm Deloitte.

Meanwhile, luxury retailers are consolidating their footprints. In 2014, Saks Fifth Avenue closed its department store at Stamford Town Center  replaced soon after by a lower-market Saks Off 5th outlet. The Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off 5th chains are both owned by Hudsons Bay Co.

Six miles west, Hudsons Bay doubled-down on its high-end offerings in downtown Greenwich. A Saks shoe shop opened at 20 E. Elm St., in October 2016. It was followed in February 2017 by a Saks clothing boutique and then in May 2017 by a Saks jewelry store, both at 200 Greenwich Ave. That trio joined Saks Fifth Avenues flagship Greenwich store, long-established at 205 Greenwich Ave.

Some of the biggest names and luxury items arent going to be in malls such as Stamford Town Center anymore, said Christian Bangert, a Stamford-based managing director with commercial real estate firm Newmark Knight Frank. Those brands are looking to be in the markets where their consumers are. The Saks consumer is more of a Greenwich consumer, than a Stamford consumer.

Looking long term

Despite the closings, Stamford Town Center retains a number of other apparel retailers and other key assets.

All three of its anchor spaces are filled  by Barnes & Noble, Macys and Saks Off 5th.

But those mainstays have not dispelled growing questions about the malls long-term prospects.

Rumors have percolated on social media about possible interest in the site from the University of Connecticut. UConn opened its first residence hall in the city in 2017, and it is further increasing its student housing.

Taubman and UConn officials denied the speculation. Both parties told Hearst Connecticut Media that the university has no plans to lease or buy any of the mall property.

The mall long ago diversified beyond retail. Its restaurant row on Tresser Boulevard replaced a one-time Filenes Basement department store.

On the north side of the mall stands Bow Tie Cinemas long-standing Landmark 9 theater.

Class A malls have an ability to reinvent their centers, Brown said. Were seeing a trend of them moving toward experiential concepts, including restaurants.

Meanwhile, Stamford Town Center will soon have another peer in the area. The SoNo Collection mall is scheduled to open in October in Norwalk, off Interstate 95s Exit 15. Its anchor tenants would include Bloomingdales and Nordstrom department stores.

Even with SoNo Collection opening, I dont see Stamford Town Center going away, said NKFs Bangert. Were going to see it continue to change because were seeing an evolution of retail.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; Twitter: @paulschott
On 13 February, the European Parliament will vote on the newly proposed EU-Morocco Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA). In spite of two rulings from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concluding such an agreement could not be applied to Western Sahara as that would constitute a violation of the right to self-determination, the geographical scope of the proposed deal refers explicitly to the last colony in Africa - rendering its legal foundation highly questionable.



No less than 110 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have signed a motion calling on the European Parliament to refer the proposed fisheries agreement to the CJEU for an advisory opinion, before casting its vote on the proposed deal.



The list of signatories contains heavyweights such as the Chair of the Committee for International Trade, Bernd Lange (Germany, S&D), two Vice Chairs of the Committee for Fisheries, Renata Briano (Italy, S&D) and Linnea Engstrom (Sweden, Greens/EFA), and Vice Chair of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala (Finland, Greens/EFA).



The motion will naturally be voted on before MEPs will cast their vote on the proposed SFPA.



What is however not on the agenda of Parliament's plenary session, is an actual debate on the suggested EU-Morocco fish deal. "Astounding, given that even the Parliament's Fisheries Committee has not had sufficient time to debate - let alone thoroughly evaluate - the proposal", says Sara Eyckmans of WSRW. "It is evident that there is a lot of effort being poured into having as little debate as possible about including Western Sahara in the EU's bilateral agreements with Morocco. But one would expect the elected representatives of the peoples of the EU to at least demand the chance to make an informed decision, or to have an open discussion on this matter."



Last month, hours before Parliament would vote on extending the EU-Morocco trade relations into occupied Western Sahara, leading MEP on the trade file Marietje Schaake (Netherlands, ALDE) announced that she wanted a court referral. "Asking for a legal opinion does not mean we implicitly reject the Council decision or do not wish to cherish and maintain the close ties we have with our partner Morocco. Instead, it reaffirms the value the European Parliament attaches to core principles of international law", Schaake stated. (SPS)



062/SPS/WSRW

https://www.wsrw.org/a105x4450




Someday skips ahead three months into the future for the opening of Regina and Delilahs restaurant. Before the show and the characters can move on, theres unfinished business to be wrapped up in Twelve Seconds.





Ashley stalks Jeri (Constance Zimmer) until the other woman, extremely guilt-ridden, gets the subway vote back on the table. At that point, Ashley comes clean to Gary and Delilah. That was never going to be a pleasant conversation, and she has bombshells to drop left and right. Jon had a second life insurance policy, the Rutledge policy, that he named his friends the beneficiaries of, so that the money wouldnt be taken away as payment for his debts. He also named the unknown Barbara Morgan as the fourth beneficiary. Ashley is clearly in a world of hurt, and Ochoa gives a devastating performance. But the secrets she kept threaten to permanently alienate her from the people who best understand her loss. When Ashley reveals Jons letter to Delilah and the children, its the final straw for Gary and Delilah who order her to leave. (Stephanie Szostak hugs that blue envelope close, and tears just fall.) Ashley tells her not to sell the buildings Jon dug himself into a hole for. They will be a worth a fortune, if the subway vote goes through. Ultimately, Delilah decides to not bet on the subway vote, making a deal with a buyer Katherine and Carter found. She wasnt willing to gamble her familys financial security. (Katherine mentions that the sale wouldnt completely cover the debt, but the money owed hasnt been brought up in the three month flashforward yet.)Before leaving for Barcelona, Ashley tells Gary that the buildings were more than an investment to Jon. He visits Jons apartment with Delilah and makes a startling discovery: the window is the view from the painting Jon gave him. It was also painted by a B. Morgan. This information paired with Jons reference that the man he wanted to be died long before he met Delilah suggests a number of sad possibilities. Gary dons his detective hat and tracks down Barbara Morgans address. The last name on the door is Nelson, and the woman (Drea de Matteo) who answers says Barbara moved a few years ago. It seems to be a dead end. Later, though, you see her watching Jons video apology to Barbara and hear her talking to an offscreen son (Chandler Riggs?), so she just might not be telling the truth. Jons story just got much more painful, but his description of how he suffered for years is an accurate recounting of what its like to be afflicted with depression. And when he thanks Delilah and the kids in the letter for giving him so much happiness..Twelve Seconds takes place about a month before Valentines Day, and Katherine is ready to start exploring the dating scene. She invites her coworker Hunter over for dinner. Grace Park nails all the associated excitement and nerves that Katherine is feeling. She deserves some romance. It is immensely disappointing when Hunter reveals, the next morning, that he accepted the partner position she was denied. You know that Katherine was actually happy to be turned down, but this is one hundred percent some information he should have dropped the night before. She sends him packing, so upset that she doesnt clear their breakfast dishes. Eddie sees those when he comes to pick up Theo for a sleepover. That sight combined with the need to get out of limbo for Theos sake prompts Eddie to talk to Katherine about officially filing for divorce. In Someday, Gary embarks on a new mission to push to Delilah and Eddie back into the dating pool. Its hard to say for sure if their friends are truly blind to Eddie and Delilahs unresolved feelings or they suspect those feelings and want to quelch them. Just going off of how Eddie is lost in wonder when he looks at Delilah after three months apart, he is not ready to let go. On the other hand, Delilah gets help with the restaurant licenses from charming restaurant owner Andrew Pollock (James Tupper). They have a very natural chemistry, and he doesnt flinch when Gary interrogates him about his intentions either. Hes also a widower, and theres ingredients for a beautiful friendship there.The restaurant opening hits a snag when Regina makes an unpleasant discovery. Her mother lied about where the investment money came from. It came from her Uncle Neil. The way that Christina Moses falters and has to reach for the counter to support herself coupled with the pain and anger in her face lets you know this is very bad. The scene where Rome and Maggie sit on the bed with Regina and listen to her story is emotional warfare at its most impactful. And how she blamed herself for letting her uncle touch her and tried to convince herself it wasnt that big of a deal. Maggie compassionately but firmly reminds her she was just a child, and Rome wraps his arms around her. Their support prompts Regina to confront her uncle who is sick in a hospital three hours away. Rome and Maggie travel with her, only for Regina to find her uncle has already died. At first, she grieves that she wont get closure. Then her mother shows up. Earlier, Regina talked about how her mother first didnt believe 12 year-old Reginas account and later tried to make Regina think she misunderstood what happened. Regina prepares to duck out the back way. However, Maggie asks her to consider another possibility, that her mother was a victim too and couldnt acknowledge her daughters pain because it meant recognizing her own. Maggie clearly states this isnt an excuse, but it can perhaps be somewhere to start anew. Regina walks out to meet her mother and asks the hard questions. Shelly begins to cry, and mother and daughter turn the page.Maggie is everyones rock throughout both episodes, sometimes accompanied by a darling pink wig. She learns that her tumor has shrunk half of the percentage it needs to for her to get the operation, which sends Gary into a gleeful spiral that Maggie does her best to temper. When Rome and Gary hilariously fail to give Sophie good driving lessons, Maggie steps out of her comfort zone to do it herself. The two young women end up bonding over how their parents just want to protect them. Sophie encourages Maggie to tell her parents the truth. Its not revealed for sure if she did though.The restaurant opening is a beautiful note to end the episode on, a tapestry of enchanting moments that highlight the emotional bonding and kinesthetic synergy that has developed among this ensemble. Hard to pick a favorite moment. Eddie washing dishes. Maggie sneaking up to snap pictures of Delilah before giving her a hug. Shelly telling Regina how proud she is. For this one night, they are wrapped in a cocoon of love and friendship, safe from all harm.Rome decides to go back on his medication to make sure hes able to support Regina. Its a tough choice, but his devotion to her is incredibly romantic. And his story on the show shouldn't be underrated. Romany Malco is giving a voice to the very real struggles small and big that millions of people try to cope with every day. And Rome's story, while not the same as Jon's in its roots, provides a hopeful alternative.Jons mysteries were the least interesting part of the show for me up to this point. Now, I am desperate to learn the truth about his past.The scene with Regina revealing she was a survivor was so well done. I sometimes feel that shows will milk stories like this for melodrama, but here it was so organic and honest and delivered a meaningful, valuable message without shouting.I am furious with Hunter. Just furious.Allison Miller is priceless.
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Spoilers ahead

Following a one-week hiatus, an awesome, fun-filled, action-packed episode of "The Orville" would've been a treat for fans when it returned to our screens last night. Instead, however, it was  as they say in "Mad Max: Fury Road"  mediocre.

Entitled "Deflectors," this was the third episode this season  out of just seven  to focus heavily on Moclan culture. Thankfully, though, the primary plot also revolved around Lt. Talla Keyali (Jessica Szohr), the replacement Xelayan and newest addition to the crew who we were first introduced to in " All the World Is Birthday Cake " (S02, E05). [ 'The Orville' Actor Mark Jackson Teases Season 2 Revelations About Isaac ]

Sitting in a streetside cafe in a holosuite simulation of 1940s America, Cmdr. Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki) breaks up with her beau, Cassius (Chris Johnson), in a move that just about everyone in the Alpha Quadrant saw coming, except poor Cassius. How else could the unresolved sexual tension between Grayson and Capt. Ed Mercer (Seth MacFarlane) continue?

Meanwhile, an acclaimed Moclan engineer named Locar (Kevin Daniels) comes on board the Orville to help modify the deflector shields. It turns out that he's also an ex-boyfriend of Lt. Cmdr. Bortus (Peter Macon), which causes a little friction between him and his mate, Klyden (Chad L. Coleman).

During a simulated attack with a Moclan cruiser aimed to test the effectiveness of the new shields, Locar seems to have some natural chemistry with Keyali. She thinks nothing of it since the Moclan race, and therefore Moclan romance, is (almost) entirely male  even reproduction occurs between two males  until she returns to her quarters after her shift has finished to find him there.

Locar tells her that he is actually attracted to females, something that does occasionally happen to a Moclan male, but it is forbidden on his homeworld and he will be persecuted should this secret ever be known. Keyali is understanding and sympathetic; she takes him to the 1940s America holosuite simulation that Grayson was enjoying earlier, where she teaches him to dance. Inevitably, they kiss.

As is usually the way, both in real life and on TV, this tender moment is interrupted by a call for Keyali to deal with a minor security situation  a talking, triffid-like "gift" from Cassius needs to be removed from Grayson's quarters. Locar waits patiently for her return, but when the door to the holosuite opens, a mysterious figure enters and disintegrates Locar with a blaster weapon.

Needless to say, everyone is a bit shaken and a murder investigation begins. During a briefing with the Orville command crew, Keyali explains that Locar had expressed feelings for her, but this is dismissed by the captain of the Moclan cruiser as absolute nonsense.

Using the holosuite playback feature, Lt. Cmdr. John LaMarr (J. Lee) and Isaac (Mark Jackson) begin trying to identify the mysterious individual, since their visual representation has (in)conveniently become corrupt within the holosuite software.

Keyali insists on leading the investigation and has an emotionally charged confrontation with Bortus. The episode actually improves from this point as it tackles the issue of being gay in an unforgiving environment from a flipped perspective. Bortus himself has more of an open mind than most Moclans  and in particular his mate, Klyden  as a result of the issues they faced when their child was born female in the excellent Season 1 episode "About A Girl" (S01, E03). However, he also knows that any opinion outside the norm will result in upset and upheaval, especially since Klyden has very strong views that are in line with traditional Moclan culture.

LaMarr and Isaac finish piecing together the digital clues from the holosuite to reveal that it was in fact Klyden who had murdered Locar. [ Biggest Space Movies to Watch in 2019 ]

Lt. Keyali (Jessica Szohr) finds romance in a holosuite simulation with ship visitor Locar. (Image credit: Michael Becker/Fox)

Turns out that long before this incident, Bortus knew that Locar had feelings for people of female gender, but chose to say nothing. Klyden, on the other hand, did not know, and he'd been following Locar around the Orville  more as the jealous lover than anything else  and had accidently stumbled on Locar's secret. He confronted Locar and threatened to expose him.

Despite Klyden having both the method and the motive, LaMarr isn't entirely convinced, suggesting that the digital playback was almost too easy to piece together. This leads Keyali to deduce that Locar had faked his own death, using Klyden's vehement sexist views as a way to frame him for the murder. Her suspicions turn out to be correct, and she finds Locar hiding in a shuttlecraft in the landing bay.

We learn that suicide on Moclus shames the family of the deceased, hence the attempted fake murder. Keyali suggests that Locar request asylum on the Orville, but with somewhat unconvincing reasoning he chooses to return to the Moclan homeworld and face his fate rather than hide any further.

Unfortunately, you have to wait until just a few minutes from the end to once again glimpse "The Orville" at its best, with the most powerful scenes in this episode.

In the briefing room Klyden expresses his thanks to Keyali for clearing his name and says he owes her a debt of gratitude. "You want to repay me?" she says. "Here's how. When you see me in the corridor, walk the other way. Locar didn't hurt you, he didn't hurt anyone. All he wanted was love and yet, because of you, his life is over. For no reason except your own prejudice."

He walks out without saying a word and the scene cuts to a handcuffed Locar being escorted from a courtroom on Moclus to be locked away, accompanied by "The White Cliffs of Dover" by Glenn Miller playing softly in the background. Released during World War II in 1941, the lyrics are about looking forward to peace and the end of war. This nicely ties together both the holosuite scene in the beginning of the episode and of course the lyrics themselves.

Despite the moving finale, this episode feels like a lull in "The Orville." Moclan culture has now been thoroughly explored; it's time to let another life-form have more screen time. Given what Jackson said in a recent interview with Space.com, we very much hope the pace will pick up soon.

"We've got a couple of two-parters coming up and they are epic. We have huge space battles coming up as well," Jackson said.

Indeed, according to Jackson, future episodes promise a deeper look into Isaac's past. "You're gonna see his backstory," Jackson said. "You are gonna find out how he got his name, actually. And it wasn't how I thought he got his name. So that was interesting."

Season 2 of "The Orville" is on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox in the U.S. It can be watched on demand on Fox Now and Hulu. It's also available on Fox.com in the U.S. In the U.K., it's on Thursdays at 9 p.m. GMT on Fox. The first season of "The Orville" is available to buy on DVD and a season pass can also be purchased from Amazon .
NASA announced yesterday (Feb. 13) the end of its Opportunity mission on Mars, and to commemorate the rover's record-breaking 15 years on the planet, the agency released this stunning photo originally taken in 2010.

In it, the rover looks back at its own tracks on the Red Planet using its navigation camera, which helped the team of engineers back on Earth guide the rover. Opportunity snapped this image on Aug. 4, 2010, during its long journey from Victoria Crater to Endeavor Crater, a nearly 12-mile (19 kilometers) trek across the Martian surface.

NASA released this image, originally captured by the Opportunity rover on Aug. 4, 2010, to commemorate the end of the Mars Exploration Rovers mission. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

At the time, Opportunity was deep into its extended mission and the larger Mars Exploration Rovers mission was recovering from the recent loss of Opportunity's twin, the Spirit rover . Spirit got stuck in the Martian sands in March 2010 and was unable to move itself enough to keep charging its solar-powered batteries through the frigid winter.

Opportunity continued wandering the planet on its own until June 2018, when a massive dust storm darkened the Martian skies so much that this rover, too, couldn't power up. NASA spent more than eight months waiting for the skies to clear and trying to rouse the rover before officially calling an end to the Mars Exploration Rovers mission yesterday.
WASHINGTON  NASA really wants to land astronauts on the moon in 2028 . But to do that, the agency is looking to commercial space companies to build the landers, space tugs and refueling stations required to make a moon exploration effort that lasts.

"This time, when we go to the moon we're going to stay," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told a roomful of space industry representatives here Thursday (Feb. 14). "So, we're not going back to the moon to leave flags and footprints and then not go back for another 50 years. We're going to go sustainably. To stay. With landers and robots and rovers  and humans."

The gathering at NASA's headquarters comes a week after the agency unveiled what it calls a Broad Agency Announcement calling on commercial space companies to submit ideas for lunar landers, tug-like transfer vehicles and refueling systems to gas up those vehicles for reuse. Interested companies have until March 25 to submit their ideas, with NASA aiming to make selections in May and issue contracts of up to $9 million for follow-up studies in July (just in time for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing ).

"This is going to be fast," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations. "We're going to need the best and brightest from you in industry. We're going to need the best and brightest from the international partner community to pull all this off."

NASA's renewed push to the moon comes from Space Policy Directive 1 , an order signed by President Donald Trump in December 2018 directing NASA to return astronauts to the moon in a sustainable way.

The 21st century lunar architecture will use NASA's planned Gateway , an orbital space station near the moon, as a way station for astronauts en route to the moon. Transfer vehicles at the Gateway will ferry lunar landers to and from low lunar orbit. The landers (which consist of a descent element and reusable ascent element that carries the crew) would then make the final trip to the lunar surface.

Refueling spacecraft based at the Gateway will then resupply the transfer tugs and returning ascent vehicles for return trips to the moon. NASA leaders described it as an "open architecture" designed to foster new capabilities to explore the moon.

"We're doing it in a way that we've never done before," Bridenstine told reporters before the industry presentation.

Image 1 of 3 (Image credit: NASA) NASA's Moon Return Plan: 2024 The first phase of NASA's return to the moon with astronauts begins in 2024 with an uncrewed decent vehicle landing test as the agency builds up its Gateway station in cis-lunar space. The descent vehicle, at this stage, is not reusable. Image 2 of 3 (Image credit: NASA) 2026: Uncrewed Lunar Lander Full Test In 2026, NASA envisions a full-up uncrewed lunar landing on the moon. The test would use a tug-like transfer vehicle to move to low lunar orbit from NASA's Gateway station, then land. The lander's ascent element would return to orbit and be ferried back to the Gateway by the tug. Image 3 of 3 (Image credit: NASA) 2028: Astronauts Back On the Moon In 2028, NASA will send four astronauts to the moon for a lunar landing from the agency's Gateway station, supported by refueling spacecraft. The lunar ascent and transfer vehicles will be reusable. Astronauts would stay on the moon for up to a week at a time.

NASA envisions having multiple providers for lunar vehicles, Bridenstine said, similar to how two companies (SpaceX and Northrop Grumman) fly cargo missions to the International Space Station for the agency today. SpaceX and Boeing, in another example, expect to begin flying astronauts to and from the station for NASA later this year.

"We want many different participants, both commercially and internationally," Bridenstine said. "The purpose of the open architecture is to enable us to get to more parts of the moon than we've ever been able to get to before."

There are three main phases for NASA's return to the moon. Here's how it works:

First, in 2024, the space agency aims to launch the Orion spacecraft and European Service Module to the Gateway on the Space Launch System , NASA's new megarocket. A lander descent module will then launch to the Gateway on a commercial rocket for an uncrewed test landing demonstration on the lunar surface.

In 2026, an Orion spacecraft will launch astronauts to the Gateway along with the ascent element of a crewed lunar lander. Two commercial rockets will then launch a transfer vehicle and descent element of the lander to the Gateway. The transfer vehicle will fly the combined lunar lander from the Gateway to low-lunar orbit, then detach so the lander can descend to the moon's surface in an uncrewed full-up landing test. The transfer vehicle and lunar ascent element then return to the Gateway.

In 2028, the entire system comes together. A crew of four astronauts will launch to the Gateway in an Orion spacecraft on a Space Launch System rocket. They'll deliver an airlock to the station while they're at it. A series of commercial launches then follow, including two cargo and refueling missions (one for the Gateway and one for the transfer vehicle and lunar ascent element), and a new lunar descent element.

The astronauts will then use the transfer vehicle to fly their lander into low lunar orbit, detach and make the trip to the lunar surface. If this NASA plan is realized, the space agency could have humans back on the moon about one year before the 60th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing.

One other takeaway from NASA's pitch on Thursday: The space agency doesn't just have its sights set on the moon.

"We're going to take as much of this as possible and the replicate it at Mars," Bridenstine said.

And while NASA is pushing forward on plans to return astronauts to the moon, the space agency is also forging ahead on its lunar science program.

Next week, the space agency will announce 12 science payloads it is developing for future flights to the moon under its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program , Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's associate administrator for science missions, told reporters here. Those payloads will need rides to the moon, possibly as early as this year , and NASA is relying on commercial launch providers to step up to the plate.

"We care about speed," Zurbuchen said. "We want to start taking shots on goal."
The lunar home of China's Chang'e-4 lander , which landed on the far side of the moon Jan. 3, now has a name: Statio Tianhe.

Statio means a post or station in Latin and is also used in the formal name for the Apollo 11 landing site, Statio Tranquillitatis; Tianhe is an ancient Chinese name for the Milky Way sky river that is used in a folk tale called "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl." The location is near the previously named Von Karman Crater .

The International Astronomical Union, which oversees all formal names for features in space and on solar system bodies, unveiled the new landing mname for the Chang'e-4 mission today (Feb. 15), along with names for four other nearby sites explored by the lander and its Yutu 2 rover. One is a mountain now called Mons Tai, after a mountain in China's Shandong province just south of Beijing. [Chang'e 4's Photos from the Moon's Far Side!]

The other three newly named far-side features are all craters, now known as Zhinyu , Hegu and Tianjin , all of which honor Chinese constellations. The first two relate back to the same tale from which Tianhe comes: Zhinyu is the name of a fairy in the story, and Hegu includes the star Altair, which in China carries the name of the tale's cowherd.

Chang'e-4 and its rover, Yutu-2, have both gone dormant for their second frigid, two-week-long lunar night. When the sun rises again over their neighborhood, they should power back up and resume their scientific explorations of the far side of the moon.
Georgetown, SC (29440)

Today

Thunderstorms likely in the morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 81F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy in the evening. Thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
Ted Booker

South Bend Tribune

SOUTH BEND  Narrow sidewalks that closely straddle Indiana 933 near the University of Notre Dame can be uncomfortable to use, and theyre sometimes covered by snowbanks.

But to solve that problem, a multiuse recreational path has been planned that would be safer for pedestrians and bikers.

A group called the 933 Corridor Improvement Association applied Thursday for a $1.6 million state grant to build a 12-foot-wide path that would be several feet from the roads west side.

The asphalt path would connect to the East Bank Trail terminus at Angela Boulevard and run north along Indiana 933 for 1 mile to connect with the LaSalle Trail at Douglas Road.

The group will find out this spring if it is awarded money from the Next Level Trails Grant Program, which is run by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. If the grant is awarded, it would take roughly a year to design and build the path.

The path is part of a $16 million corridor improvement project planned by the association, whose members include South Bend-based commercial real estate development firm Holladay Properties, University of Notre Dame, Saint Marys College, Holy Cross College and religious congregations of the Holy Cross priests, sisters and brothers.

The project calls for reconstructing the 1-mile stretch of Indiana 933 between Angela and Douglas so that it is safer. A landscaped median would replace the center turn lane.

Holladay Properties is involved because the corridor improvements, including the bike path, must be made for it to move forward with a $65 million to $75 million mixed-use development on Notre Dame-owned property at the northeast corner of Indiana 933 and Douglas.

Paul Phair, Holladays vice president of development, said the road needs to be safer to complement the project, which calls for 252 apartments, 52 town homes, commercial offices and retail shops.

He said the road project would be a big improvement for the area.

The goal is to convert the road from a state highway to more of local thoroughfare thats more safe and comfortable for pedestrian movement as well as auto traffic, he said.

For the road project to move forward, however, the state would need to first relinquish to the county a 6.5-mile section of Indiana 933, which runs north from Angela to State Line Road.

And as part of the same deal, the state would relinquish a 9.5-mile stretch of Indiana 931 in the southern part of the county.

Negotiations for the deal have lingered for more than a year. But Bill Schalliol, the countys economic development director, said he is hopeful an agreement will be reached later this year.

Schalliol said the state would need to offer the county at least $20 million for the deal to work, and the payment would account for maintenance expenses for 10 years.

He said taking over the stretch of Indiana 933 would enable the county to develop a Dixie Highway Economic Development Area that could include tax increment finance districts to facilitate projects. The area would need to be approved by the County Council and Board of Commissioners.

Schalliol said the county plans to develop a TIF district where Holladay has planned its mixed-use development.

The district would enable property taxes captured by the development to go toward the road project planned by the 933 Corridor Improvement Association. Under the plan, the county would issue bonds for the road project that would be paid off with taxes from the development.

Two other TIF districts may also be created to accommodate various projects, Schalliol said.

We might look to have one in the town of Roseland area and one from Cleveland Road to State Line Road, he said.
Physical access control: Critical steps to ensure a smarter future

Steven Kenny, Axis Communications, looks at the benefits of physical access control systems within smart environments, and how knowledge gaps and dated methods can inhibit adoption. Physical security is becoming more dynamic and more interconnected, as it evolves. Todays modern access control solutions are about so much more than simply opening doors, with digitalisation bringing multiple business benefits, which would simply not be possible using traditional models. Digital transformation While the digital transformation of processes and systems was already well underway, across many industries and sectors, it is the transformation of physical security from a standalone, isolated circuit, to a network-enabled, intelligent security solution that brings many benefits to the smart environment. Yet, with more organisations now looking to bring their physical security provision up to date, there are many considerations that must be addressed to maximise the potential of access control and video surveillance. Not least of which is that connecting physical security devices to a network presents risk, so it is increasingly important for IT teams to play a role in helping to facilitate the secure integration of physical and network technologies, as these two worlds increasingly converge. Improved access control in smart environments These urban constructs are capable of reducing waste, driving efficiencies and optimising resources The smart city offers significant benefits, reflected in the US$ 189 billion that is anticipated to be spent on smart city initiatives globally by 2023. These urban constructs are capable of reducing waste, driving efficiencies, optimising resources and increasing citizen engagement. Technology, which is increasingly being incorporated to protect access points within the smart environment, can take many forms. These range from simple card readers to two factor authentication systems, using video surveillance as a secondary means of identification, right through to complex networks of thermal cameras, audio speakers and sensors. Frictionless access control During the COVID-19 pandemic, frictionless access control has provided an effective hands free means of accessing premises, using methods such as QR code readers and facial recognition as credentials to prove identity. Frictionless access control brings health and safety into the equation, as well as the security of entrances and exits, minimising the risk of infection, by removing the need to touch shared surfaces. Such systems can be customised and scaled to meet precise requirements. Yet, an increasing integration with open technologies and platforms requires collaboration between the worlds of physical security and IT, in order to be successful. Barriers to adoption Traditional suppliers and installers of physical security systems have built up a strong business model around their expertise, service and knowledge. Network connectivity and the IoT (Internet of Things) present a constantly shifting landscape, requiring the traditional physical security vendor to learn the language of IT, of open platforms, IP connectivity and software integration, in order to adapt to market changes and remain relevant. Many are now beginning to realise that connected network-enabled solutions are here to stay Those who cannot adapt, and are simply not ready for this changing market, risk being left behind, as the physical security landscape continues to shift and demand continues to increase. With end users and buyers looking for smarter, more integrated and business-focused solutions from their suppliers, it is clear that only those who are prepared will succeed in this space. Time will not stand still, and many are now beginning to realise that connected network-enabled solutions are here to stay, particularly within smart constructs which rely on such technology by their very nature. The importance of cyber hygiene Connecting any device to a network has a degree of risk, and it is, therefore, imperative that any provider not only understands modern connected technologies, but also the steps necessary to protect corporate networks. Cameras, access control systems and IP audio devices, which have been left unprotected, can potentially become backdoors into a network and used as access points by hackers. These vulnerabilities can be further compromised by the proliferation of connected devices within the Internet of Things (IoT). While the connection of devices to a network brings many advantages, there is greater potential for these devices to be used against the very business or industry they have been employed to protect when vulnerabilities are exploited. Cyber security considerations Cyber security considerations should, therefore, be a key factor in the development and deployment of new security systems. Access control technologies should be manufactured according to recognised cyber security principles, incident reporting and best practices. It is important to acknowledge that the cyber integrity of a system is only as strong as its weakest link and that any potential source of cyber exposure will ultimately impact negatively on a devices ability to provide the necessary high levels of physical security. The future of access control There is a natural dispensation towards purchasing low-cost solutions There is a natural dispensation towards purchasing low-cost solutions that are perceived as offering the same value as their more expensive equivalents. While some have taken the decision to implement such solutions, in an attempt to unlock the required benefits, while saving their bottom line, the limited lifespan of these technologies puts a heavier cost and reputational burden onto organisations by their association. The future of access control, and of physical security as a whole, will, therefore, be dependent on the willingness of suppliers to implement new designs and new ways of thinking, based around high-quality products, and to influence the installers and others in their supply chains to embrace this new world. Cyber security key to keeping businesses safe In addition, cyber security considerations are absolutely vital for keeping businesses safe. The integration of cyber secure technologies from trusted providers will provide peace of mind around the safety or corporate networks, and integrity of the deployed technologies. As we move forward, access control systems will become data collection points and door controllers will become intelligent I/O devices. QR codes for visitor management and biometric face recognition for frictionless access control will increasingly be managed at the edge, as analytics in a camera or sensor. The future of access control presents an exciting and challenging time for those ready to accept it, to secure it and to help shape it, offering a true opportunity to innovate for a smarter, safer world.
Termen extins: CJI anunta un concurs de grant pentru selectarea unei echipe care va crea un instrument sau instrumente ce vor fi utilizate la lectiile de Educatie pentru media
Roy Chapman, 73, of Nancy, passed away Tuesday, June 22, 2021 at his residence. Arrangements are pending and will be announced later by Morris & Hislope Funeral Home. Condolences may be expressed to the family at: www.morrisandhislope.com
In 2017, a long list of local politicians signed a love letter to Amazon, urging the company to come to New York City  but some of them had a change of heart when a secretive deal was reached to attract one of the worlds most valuable companies by offering billions of dollars in tax incentives.

On Thursday, in a move that shocked observers, the company penned its own letter, officially breaking up with New York and abandoning its plans to build a new HQ2 headquarters in Long Island City, citing the vehement opposition from state and local politicians. The company said its commitment to a new headquarters required long-term positive, collaborative relationships with elected officials.

While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City, the company wrote in the letter.

Heres how New Yorks elected officials and other key players are responding to the bombshell announcement.

THE DEAL-MAKERS

Gov. Andrew Cuomo

The governor, who led the effort to recruit Amazon and negotiated the state subsidies offered to the company, critized local officials for opposing the deal, singling out the state Senate for the tremendous damage it had done  undoubtedly referring to the nomination of state Sen. Michael Gianaris to an obscure state board that could have blocked the deal.

"Amazon chose to come to New York because we are the capital of the world and the best place to do business, the governor said in a lengthy statement. We competed in and won the most hotly contested national economic development competition in the United States, resulting in at least 25,000-40,000 good paying jobs for our state and nearly $30 billion dollars in new revenue to fund transit improvements, new housing, schools and countless other quality of life improvements. Bringing Amazon to New York diversified our economy away from real estate and Wall Street, further cementing our status as an emerging center for tech and was an extraordinary economic win not just for Queens and New York City, but for the entire region, from Long Island to Albany's nanotech center.

However, a small group politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community -- which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City -- the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state. The New York State Senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity.

The fundamentals of New York's business climate and community that attracted amazon to be here - our talent pool, world-class education system, commitment to diversity and progressivism - remain and we won't be deterred as we continue to attract world class business to communities across New York State."

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio

The mayor, who worked behind the scenes with Gov. Andrew Cuomo to secure the deal, took a jab at Amazon in a statement he issued on Thursday.

You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity. We have the best talent in the world and every day we are growing a stronger and fairer economy for everyone. If Amazon cant recognize what thats worth, its competitors will.

IN THE MIDDLE

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins

The Senate majority leader nominated Gianaris to serve on the Public Authorities Control Board, which could have blocked the Amazon deal, but she also has members of her conference who supported Amazon  including some Long Island Democrats who feared killing Amazons HQ2 would brand them as anti-business.

This is proof of why it is so important to have an inclusive and transparent process from the beginning. It is unfortunate that rather than engage in productive discussions about a major development, Amazon has decided to leave New York, Stewart-Cousins said in a statement. This process was clearly flawed and did not include the affected community nor their legislative representatives until after the deal was signed. This was not the same process that was followed in other areas including Virginia and that is clearly why this deal failed.

LEADING THE OPPOSITION

Several Queens elected officials emerged as the most high-profile opponents of the plan once it was announced: first-term Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a democratic socialist who has quickly become a progressive icon since her stunning primary win last year; New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who would have had significant sway over the project had Amazon not bypassed the standard land use process; and state Sen. Michael Gianaris, who was recently nominated to a state board that might have blocked the Amazon deal. New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson also had blasted the mayor for cutting the council out of the process.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazons corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world, the congresswoman said in a Twitter post.

Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazons corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world. https://t.co/nyvm5vtH9k  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 14, 2019

State Sen. Michael Gianaris

The Queens lawmaker, a vocal critic who might have gained the power to veto the deal, said the decision revealed Amazons unwillingness to work with the Queens community. Gianaris, a Democrat, represents the state Senate district where Amazon would have built its second headquarters.

Like a petulant child, Amazon insists on getting its way or takes its ball and leaves, Gianaris told The New York Times. Gianaris, gesturing to the companys statement questioned, Even by their own words, Amazon admits they will grow their presence in New York without their promised subsidies. So what was all this really about?

New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer

When our community fights together, anything is possible, even when were up against the biggest corporation in the world, Van Bramer tweeted. I am proud that we fought for our values, which is a fight for working families, immigrants, & organized labor.

New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson

I look forward to working with companies that understand that if youre willing to engage with New Yorkers and worth through challenging issues New York City is the worlds best place to do business, Johnson said in a statement. I hope this is the start of a conversation about vulture capitalism and where our tax dollars are best spent. I know Id choose mass transit over helipads any day.

MAYORAL CANDIDATES

Johnson is one of the early frontrunners for mayor in 2021  along with New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who both weighed in. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams did not immediately issue a statement about Amazon.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer

In a tweet to Mayor de Blasio, Stringer said, @NYCMayor with all due respect, you made this deal in secret with no community input from LIC residents. While Amazon is no angel, they played by your rules. The early takeaway from this: don't be afraid of transparency and community inclusion.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

It's unfortunate that @amazon was unwilling to grasp the concept that massive taxpayer subsidies require equivalent concessions to the people providing them. This is a simple aphorism: if you want charity, you have to be charitable, tweeted Diaz.

PUBLIC ADVOCATE CANDIDATES

With a special election looming this month to fill a vacancy in the New York City public advocates office, the issue of Amazon had frequently come up on the campaign trail. Heres how the candidates reacted  including Assemblyman Ron Kim, who is running on the No Amazon line.

Assemblyman Ron Kim

This is a huge victory for the grassroots activists and community leaders who spoke with one collective voice to say no to Amazon. I was the first elected official to stand against the HQ2 deal because it ignored the needs of everyday people and prioritized one of the worlds wealthiest corporations instead, Kim said in a statement.

Nomiki Konst

Na na na na...na na na na...Hey hey hey... GOODBYE, tweeted Konst. Now that weve taken on (and won) blocking Amazon corporate welfare, can we do the same with real estate developers who have starved NYC of the resources to sustain itself? questioned the candidate.

Former New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito

The Amazon deal was a mess. $3 billion in subsidies for a trillion dollar company, pushed through by 2 men who think community engagement is a joke, tweeted Mark Viverito. This is why you bring local residents and stakeholders to the table *before* claiming victory.

New York City Councilman Rafael Espinal

"Amazon's decision shows the company isn't ready to make the commitments that a pro-union city like New York deserves. I have been against Amazon's plans from the start, and especially against subsidizing one of the world's wealthiest businessmen, said Espinal in a statement. Their latest anti-union statements confirmed that Amazon is not the right type of company to be rolling out a red carpet for ... We have seen today that people power beats corporate power.

New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams

"Two weeks ago when asked, 'Let's assume that Amazon is here ...' I was one of the only ones to refuse to allow that assumption, Williams said in a statement. After countless activists, grassroots organizers and everyday New Yorkers fought back against Amazon's secret bargain with the mayor and governor, we're proud that our message was clear: We won't be bulldozed by the world's richest man, who denied honest discussions and open negotiations about jobs and benefits to everyday New Yorkers.

Assemblyman Michael Blake

It is very disappointing that Amazon is canceling their proposed plan to move to Long Island City. A collaborative deal would have brought jobs and justice to New Yorkers, Blake said in a statement. It is a shame that Amazon walked away from the deal and a shame we dont have more of a strategy as a city around what to do now. As a signatory of the original letter to start the conversation for Amazon to come to New York City, I was excited about the opportunity to work with New Yorkers and Amazon to develop a tech hub in Queens that benefits the entire city, while also preserving necessary labor protections.

New York City Councilman Eric Ulrich

It never ceases to amaze me how the loud voices of a few, could destroy the chance at a better life for so many. @amazon had big plans in store for the borough of Queens, and we blew it! tweeted the councilman.

OTHER PRO-AMAZON POLITICIANS

Rep. Carolyn Maloney

In a series of tweets, the representative expressed her disappointment over her home districts loss of prospective jobs, but the long-term supporter said that the deal couldve been improved. Disappointed that NYC wont be home to 25K+ new jobs from HQ2 & that LIC will lose out on infrastructure improvements that would have accompanied this project. This is not the Valentine that NY needed, tweeted Maloney. The deal could have been improved. There were legitimate concerns raised and aspects that I wanted changed. I was ready to work for those changes. But now, we wont have a chance to do that and we are out 25K+ new jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in new investments, she said.

Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, whose district overlaps with the proposed Amazon site, did not immediately comment.

New York City Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr.

NY1 reporter Gloria Pazmino confirmed Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr., a member of the New York City Council and a supporter of the deal (who recently lost his committee chairmanship after making anti-gay comments), reportedly railed against Van Bramer, who he says organized opposition againstAmazon. Diaz blamed Van Bramer for the loss of 25,000 jobs. Youre telling me thats not power? Thats power, said Diaz, according to Pazminos tweet.

OTHER ANTI-AMAZON POLITICIANS

State Sen. Julia Salazar

A long-time opponent of the plan - and, like Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described democratic socialist - Salazar once said that New Yorkers deserve better than a deal that sells workers & communities short. Today she tweeted, Never underestimate the power of organized people.

New York City Councilman Costa Constantinides

From the beginning, the process of luring Amazon to western Queens ignored the community and proposed a giveaway of $3 billion to a multi-billionaire dollar corporation, the Queens councilman said in a statement. It is no shock to anyone that this was a disaster from the start and bad policy. New York City has long-standing processes in place to ensure that any project  from a sidewalk cafe to a corporate headquarters  considers the communitys needs. Our objections were never answered and we rightfully opposed this bad deal. Today is the natural result of plugging your ears to the legitimate concerns of the people and bypassing them in favor of corporations."

PRO-AMAZON GROUPS

Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City

How can anyone be surprised? We competed successfully, made a deal and spent the last three months trashing our new partner. The reception Amazon received sent a terrible message to the job creators of the city and the world.

Tech:NYC Executive Director Julie Samuels

Amazons decision to withdraw from New York is no doubt a blow to our local economy and the tens of thousands of people the company wouldve employed here, said Samuels in a statement. New York City is today one of the most dynamic tech hubs in the world, but there is no guarantee we will maintain this status in the future, which makes this news so disappointing. Its especially disappointing given the overwhelming local support for the deal and there can be no doubt that bad politics got in the way of good policy here.

Long Island Association President and CEO Kevin Law

Amazons decision to withdraw its plans for our region will go down as one of the biggest debacles in New York State history, and the elected officials who are responsible for this epic disaster should be ashamed of themselves for jeopardizing thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in tax revenue and should also consider resigning.

ANTI-AMAZON GROUPS

New York Communities for Change Executive Director Jonathan Westin

#ByeJeff and good riddance! Make no mistake: strong, effective community organizing is what defeated Amazons $3 billion backroom deal. Many low-income New Yorkers of color and immigrant New Yorkers came together to build a movement against the HQ2 deal for Long Island City, Queens. From day one, Amazon, Governor Cuomo, and Mayor de Blasio completely underestimated the diversity and intensity of the opposition to this awful deal, said Westin in a statement. "Countless New Yorkers saw what Bezos, Cuomo and de Blasio refused to see: Amazons expanded corporate presence here would do far more harm than good."

New York Working Families Party State Director Bill Lipton

"This is a good day, but if our victory on Long Island City is to have lasting impact, it must be the beginning of a nationwide movement to challenge an economic and political system where corporations call all the shots, Lipton said in a statement. Today's victory wouldn't have been possible without the fierce advocacy and leadership of union workers at RWDSU and community groups like Make the Road New York and New York Communities for Change. Now we need to build on it, and continue to work towards an economic and political system that works for the many, instead of the privileged and powerful few.

UNION DIVISIONS

Amazons original plan had divided the citys unions, with 32BJ SEIU and the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York getting deals to work with Amazon  while other unions - especially the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union - raising concerns.

32BJ SEIU President Hector Figueroa

The news that Amazon has decided to cancel its plans to build its second headquarters in New York City is a disappointing development for working people in our city. This is a lost opportunity for Queens and New York on many levels. Of course, the loss of 25,000 direct jobs and many more indirect ones as well as the billions in revenue that the project was expected to bring into our city is unfortunate, said Figueroa in a statement. For labor however, this is also a missed opportunity to engage one of the largest companies in the world and to create a pathway to union representation for one of the largest groups of predominantly non-union workers in our country.

Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York

We are stunned by todays unfortunate news. Politics and pandering have won out over a once-in-a-generation investment in New York Citys economy, bringing with it tens of thousands of solid middle class jobs. This sends the wrong message to businesses all over the world looking to call New York home. Who will want to come now? We will remember which legislators forgot about us and this opportunity.

Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union

Rather than addressing the legitimate concerns that have been raised by many New Yorkers Amazon says you do it our way or not at all, we will not even consider the concerns of New Yorkers  thats not what a responsible business would do, tweeted Chelsea Connor, RWDSUs director of communications.

Teamsters President George Miranda

"New Yorkers made it clear that Amazon wasn't welcome in our city if it would not respect our workers and our communities. Apparently, the company decided that was too much to ask. We are committed to fighting for the rights of workers throughout the Amazon supply chain and supporting their demand for a voice on the job, said Miranda in a statement.

JOURNALISTS AND PUNDITS

Nick Reisman, State of Politics

This year in New York politics somehow keeps topping itself.  Nick Reisman (@NickReisman) February 14, 2019

Amazon did very little to turn elected officials to their side in this. In the end it was mostly left up to Gov. Cuomo to make the argument.  Nick Reisman (@NickReisman) February 14, 2019

calm before the storm https://t.co/e2mSoPiYdq  Nick Reisman (@NickReisman) February 14, 2019

Laura Nahmias, Politico

Amazon broke up with New York City on Valentine's Day! Ice-cold.  Laura Nahmias (@nahmias) February 14, 2019

A local coffee shop owner and longtime Queens resident in Long Island City, being interviewed on @NY1, calls Amazon's decision to pull out of the deal in Queens one of "the saddest days in New York City's history"  Laura Nahmias (@nahmias) February 14, 2019

My feeds and my inbox are an even mix between Democrats either rejoicing or bemoaning the death of the Amazon deal. Seems like a microcosm of an economic split within the party at large, and backlash to neoliberalism  Laura Nahmias (@nahmias) February 14, 2019

@NY1 gets @AOC on the record on the demise of the Amazon deal. She says Google did a better job than Amazon of coming in to the community, for example. pic.twitter.com/FVDrkP8jXv  Laura Nahmias (@nahmias) February 14, 2019

Harry Siegel, The Daily Beast, NY Daily News, FAQ NYC

Marking this as the moment the rising left in New York stopped fighting the power; became the power https://t.co/P1ZbxEGI6N  Harry Siegel (@harrysiegel) February 14, 2019

Marking Amazon exit as the moment when @AOC's potent rhetoric first translated into policy  Harry Siegel (@harrysiegel) February 14, 2019

Feb. 13: Amazon makes $11 billion profit in U.S., pays $0 in federal taxes and collects $129 million rebate. https://t.co/Vi0bNymG8D



Feb 14: https://t.co/5h61krtAVG  Harry Siegel (@harrysiegel) February 14, 2019

Everyone saying the grassroots took on the world's richest man and won here should take a minute to consider how they're defining victory.  Harry Siegel (@harrysiegel) February 14, 2019

awful lot of bullshit in a small package here pic.twitter.com/gXu8GuFw6C  Harry Siegel (@harrysiegel) February 14, 2019

I must be losing track: That's where in NYC? https://t.co/Ol2ILLrfB2  Harry Siegel (@harrysiegel) February 14, 2019

Jillian Jorgensen, NY Daily News

NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME https://t.co/gB8zKhRc2R  Jillian Jorgensen (@Jill_Jorgensen) February 14, 2019

Elected officials should talk to reporters. Putting out a Twitter statement isn't the same as answering informed questions. https://t.co/jKmVFKei7e  Jillian Jorgensen (@Jill_Jorgensen) February 14, 2019

A source observes that in the scheme of NYC heat-taking, this wasnt event so hot: Jeff Bezos couldnt last one month working at NYCHA.  Jillian Jorgensen (@Jill_Jorgensen) February 14, 2019

In some ways, this tweet really just sums up the entire ethos of the de Blasio tenure. https://t.co/uogF0FauoR  Jillian Jorgensen (@Jill_Jorgensen) February 14, 2019

Grace Rauh, NY1

Also true, as companies like Google can attest. https://t.co/22MXG2g4Ge  Grace Rauh (@gracerauh) February 14, 2019

You have to be tough to make it in New York City https://t.co/Ri6Ie1l84g  Grace Rauh (@gracerauh) February 14, 2019

Its not clear Mayor de Blasio will have an avail or speak about Amazon pulling out of NYC this afternoon. De Blasios press sec says he will address the issue during his speech at Harvard tonight.  Grace Rauh (@gracerauh) February 14, 2019

Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams and Assemblyman Michael Blake.
Ravenquest to exclusively sell seeds from award-winning Amsterdam-based seed producer Dutch Passion

Posted by Publisher Internet

RavenQuest BioMed Inc. (the ?Company? or ?RavenQuest?) ? (CSE: RQB, OTCQB: RVVQF, Frankfurt: 1IT  http://www.commodity-tv.net/c/search_adv/?v=298814) is pleased to announce it has entered into a Letter of Intent to be the exclusive distributor of seeds from award winning, Amsterdam-based, cannabis seed producer Dutch Passion.

Having won 50+ Cannabis Cups awarded for high-THC and high-CBD varieties of cannabis which are particularly easy to grow, Dutch Passion invented?feminized cannabis seeds?in the 1990?s and helped pioneer the success of?high-THC Autoflower?cannabis in more recent years. Dutch Passion is one of the world?s oldest cannabis seedbanks and one of the few remaining original seed companies, offering a variety of original classic cannabis varieties as well as some of the very best new varieties, available in Regular, Feminized as well as Autoflower seeds.? Dutch Passion was founded in the 1970?s and formally established as a seedbank in 1987.

RavenQuest believes that its arrangement with Dutch Passion will address two distinct market segments in Canada for home-growers and micro-cultivators: Premium market ?Dutch Passion? and value-market ?SeedStockers?, which will also be sold under RavenQuest?s private label.

Dutch Passion seeds will give Canadian home-growers and (micro) Licensed Producers access to a wide selection from over 60 premium seeds including Cannabis Cup award winning ?Orange BudO?, ?Power PlantO?, ?Glueberry O.G.O?, ?MazarO?, ?CBD Skunk HazeO? and ?EuforiaO?.

?We are thrilled to partner with Dutch Passion to sell these high-quality seeds across Canada. Working with Eric Siereveld, CEO of Dutch Passion, has been a pleasure? stated George Robinson, CEO of RavenQuest. ?Canadians are now permitted to grow up to four plants at home. This is a significant, high margin business segment and a new revenue stream with excellent near-term growth potential. As part of RavenQuest?s ongoing commitment to deliver the best of the cannabis plant to Canadians, we look forward to partnering with such a respected name in the seed business? Robinson continued.

Dutch Passion CEO, Eric Siereveld, commented that ?We are excited to make some of the world?s best seeds available to grow-enthusiasts and (micro) LP?s in the Canadian marketplace. Canada has shown a healthy and progressive acceptance of cannabis, which is reflected most recently in adult-use legalization allowing home cultivation. Working with RavenQuest as our exclusive distributor is a perfect fit for Dutch Passion, given both companies? passion for the cannabis plant in all its forms. RavenQuest believes all great cannabis products begin with the plant itself. We couldn?t agree more.?

About Dutch Passion

Dutch Passion is a Dutch company with over 30 years? experience in the development and distribution of cannabis seeds. Dutch Passion is focused on producing high-quality, high-THC cannabis genetics and on providing attentive customer service through its experienced customer service team. Dutch Passion?s diverse seed collection of international cannabis genetics dates back to the 1970s, with all varieties having passed strict tests designed to ensure ease of growth, heavy yields and high-quality results. In the 1990s, Dutch Passion invented feminized cannabis seeds and, more recently, helped to pioneer the success of high-THC auto-flowering cannabis seeds plus new genetics high in other cannabinoids. Further information about Dutch Passion can be found on their website at www.dutch-passion.com.

About RavenQuest BioMed Inc.

RavenQuest BioMed Inc. is a diversified publicly traded cannabis company with divisions focused upon cannabis production, management services & consulting and specialized research & development. RavenQuest is a licensed producer with facilities located in Markham, Ontario and Edmonton, Alberta.

RavenQuest maintains a research partnership with Montreal?s McGill University focused upon cultivar (strain) recognition, plant stabilization and yield maximization of the cannabis plant. The Company focuses on partnerships with Indigenous communities.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of RAVENQUEST BIOMED INC.

?George Robinson? Chief Executive Officer

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 press release, which has been prepared by management.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are ?forward-looking information? with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements with respect to the belief that the arrangement with Dutch Passion will address certain markets in Canada, the entering into of a definitive agreement with Dutch Passion and the potential of the cannabis seed market in Canada. The Company provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to those identified and reported in the Company?s public filings under the Company?s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.
Rajant Delivers CCTV Network Solution for Recent High-Profile Public Safety Events

The success of these public safety projects was shared at the Police National Technical Conference

Malvern, PA, 15 February 2019. Rajant Corporation, the exclusive manufacturer of Kinetic Mesh? networks, has provided a detailed technology briefing on the success of recent high-profile public safety projects for the United Kingdom monarchy. Rajant?s role in the royal weddings was shared with technical teams from the Police community in December 2018.

Rajant worked alongside Thames Valley Police to boost the already significant public safety and security arrangements at the weddings of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle and Princess Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank in Windsor last year. Together, the entities were responsible for providing additional video surveillance coverage, which included deploying the Rajant wireless infrastructure, for secure and stable CCTV.

The briefings at the conference described how the additional surveillance was required to cover the hundreds of thousands of visitors and guests in Windsor during both weddings to catch a glimpse of the royal couples. The whole area was securely monitored with footage made available at multiple surveillance points and delivered in real-time in high-definition. This comprehensive security was deployed with maximum efficiency thanks to Rajant?s Kinetic Mesh? network in key points where network fibre infrastructure, for the essential additional cameras, was unavailable.

A member of the Thames Valley Police team stated, ??Our brief was to provide supplementary CCTV coverage for the Royal Weddings. It became quite apparent during the design process that using conventional point to point/multipoint would not suffice in the urban environment of Windsor. A true mesh network would better provide the resilience and coverage we required. Rajant was identified as a supplier of mesh networking equipment, available in both the police and licence-exempt frequencies, with ease of deployment making Rajant?s mesh network a superior solution.?

?For both high-profile events, Windsor saw a significant increase of well-wishers coming into the town to watch the carriage rides. Delivering additional CCTV systems, which could then be monitored by police and security services, was a top priority. Given the route for the post-wedding processions by the royal couples was through the winding streets of Windsor and up through Windsor Castle?s Long Walk, Thames Valley Police decided to enhance the existing extensive CCTV coverage with dynamically deployed supplementary cameras,? said Chris Mason, Director of Sales for EMEA at Rajant. ?The Operational team put a project in place to rapidly deploy a solution which, when combined with the existing capabilities, could comprehensively monitor each day?s route to ensure public safety.?

The Kinetic Mesh? technology seamlessly integrated with existing communications infrastructure at key locations. This enabled large amounts of mission-critical video data to be delivered with high throughput and low latency across the network, giving the police the visibility they needed. According to Thames Police, ?The imagery provided over the Rajant network was several seconds ahead of the television broadcasters covering the event and met the expectations of our users.?

Rajant worked alongside the Thames Valley Police to deliver the project in just three days. Deploying eleven cameras with thirteen of Rajant?s BreadCrumb? nodes, delivery of fast, stable and high-definition CCTV was achieved. The network utilised multiple high-bandwidth frequencies, ensuring that the massive amount of wireless output from broadcasters, other security organisations and the general public did not prevent transmission of the key imagery.

Mason added: ?Rajant?s focus is to ensure public safety requirements are provided quickly and securely for authorities, and these two projects were no different. Rajant is developing its portfolio of Kinetic Mesh technologies to address the requirements for enhanced public safety and security by enabling organisations such as Thames Valley Police, to deploy networks extremely quickly in response to planned or unplanned events. Showcasing these deployments for the first time at the Police Conference was a great privilege. We highlighted the key capabilities of our technology as well as illustrating how events of this scale can have rapidly deployed, secure, reliable communications. We are pleased to have played a part in making both wedding days enjoyable, but most importantly safe for all involved.?
TUV Rheinland exhibit at leading international fairs Mobile World Congress and embedded world

Posted by Publisher Telecommunication

TUV Rheinland will be exhibiting at upcoming international fairs, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from 25 to 28 February 2019 and the embedded world trade fair in Nuremberg from 26 to 28 February. As a digital player for testing and certification in the wireless / IoT market, the global testing service provider will participate in both fairs with its own booth and offer numerous expert talks on current topics such as Global Radio Type Approval, 5G, IoT Privacy, dotdot and much more. \For us, the Mobile World Congress is one of the key trade fairs within the Wireless/IoT sector. Our service portfolio at our booth fits perfectly of this year\-\-s topic Intelligent Connectivity?, says Stefan Kischka, Vice President Wireless/IoT.

Expert Talks at the fair events

As a partner for testing and certification worldwide, TUV Rheinland\-\-s expertise includes all relevant wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, WI-SUN, Zigbee, Thread, Sigfox, LoRa, NB-IoT or 2G/3G/4G as well as 5G. Interested fair visitors can exchange themselves to these and further topics directly locally with the TUV Rheinland experts. In addition to direct discussions, the TUV Rheinland experts also offer expert talks. Among others, William Graff, Chairman of the TCB Council and TUV Rheinland specialist for FCC certification, will present everything worth knowing about FCC at MWC and present the new TUV Rheinland TCB Webstore. Gunter Martin, specialist for IoT Privacy, will talk about the legal requirement of GDPR and will provide some recommendations for users and suppliers. Andreas Renz will give an expert lecture on 5G and Martine Segeners on Market Access Services. Registration for the expert talks at MWC and Embedded World can be made at www.tuv.com/mwc2019 and www.tuv.com/embeddedworld.

TUV Rheinland Wireless/IoT global Lab network is growing

Last year, TUV Rheinland opened two new state-of-the-art testing facilities in Shenzhen, China, and Nuremberg, Germany. Due to this extension TUV Rheinland now has 15 Wireless/IoT Labs worldwide: in Silicon Valley, Sweden, India, China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Germany and is thus present in the relevant key markets. \We are growing together with our customers in the IoT industry and providing them our wireless IoT services at the right time and in the right location globally,\ says TUV Rheinland expert Stefan Kischka.

Special Lab Tour Event at Embedded World

Interested Embedded World participants will have the opportunity to get to know the new Wireless/IoT laboratory in Nuremberg at a special Lab Tour Event on 27 February. TUV Rheinland experts will give an exclusive guided tour and present the latest test equipment. After the tour there will be time to discuss any open topics directly with the TUV Rheinland experts over drinks and snacks. The places for this tour are limited. Registration can be made directly at the TUV Rheinland stand at Embedded World or via the link https://go.tuv.com/LabVisit

TUV Rheinland at the Mobile World Congress (MWC)

25 to 28 February 2019, Barcelona / Spain

Hall 8.0, Booth E11

Special event: Blue Hour on 26 February 2019 at 17:00 on the TUV Rheinland booth

Further information and registration for the TUV Rheinland-Expert Talks at www.tuv.com/mwc2019

TUV Rheinland at the embedded world

26 to 28 February 2019, Exhibition Centre Nuremberg

Hall 3, Booth 3-531

Special event: Wireless/IoT Lab Tour, TUV Rheinland Nurnberg

Further information and registration for the TUV Rheinland-Expert Talks at

www.tuv.com/embeddedworld

All press releases from TUV Rheinland on wireless topics such as SIGFOX etc. can be found here.

Video Wirelss Lab at TUV Rheinland at Youtube

TUV Rheinland ist ein weltweit fuhrender unabhangiger Prufdienstleister mit 145 Jahren Tradition. Im Konzern arbeiten uber 20.000 Menschen rund um den Globus. Sie erwirtschaften einen Jahresumsatz von knapp 2 Milliarden Euro. Die unabhangigen Fachleute stehen fur Qualitat und Sicherheit von Mensch, Technik und Umwelt in fast allen Wirtschafts- und Lebensbereichen. TUV Rheinland pruft technische Anlagen, Produkte und Dienstleistungen, begleitet Projekte, Prozesse und Informationssicherheit fur Unternehmen. Die Experten trainieren Menschen in zahlreichen Berufen und Branchen. Dazu verfugt TUV Rheinland uber ein globales Netz anerkannter Labore, Prufstellen und Ausbildungszentren. Seit 2006 ist TUV Rheinland Mitglied im Global Compact der Vereinten Nationen fur mehr Nachhaltigkeit und gegen Korruption. Website: www.tuv.com
Educational Robots Market by Commercial Sector, Analysis and Outlook to 2023

OverviewMarket Research Future (MRFR) announces a half-cooked research report on the global educational robots market. The report looks into all aspects of the market?s historical performance in order to present a clear picture of the market?s present condition and future growth prospects. According to the report, the global educational robots market is expected to rise at a CAGR of 17.36% over the 2018-2023 forecast period, rising from a value of USD 625.34 million in 2017 to USD 1,540.28 million in 2023.

Get Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/6686

The increasing research and development in the robotics sector is a major driver for the global educational robots market. The progressive development of more advanced and efficacious robotic systems is likely to be a major driver for the educational robots market over the forecast period. The development of humanoid robots represents a major opportunity for players in the educational robots market. Humanoid robots are currently too expensive for a large majority of educational institutes, but are expected to come in vogue as prices drop due to consistent technological progression over the forecast period and beyond.

Segmental Analysis:

The global educational robots market is segmented by component, type, application, end use, and region.

By component, the global educational robots market is segmented into hardware and software. The hardware segment is further subdivided into sensors, CPUs, control systems, actuators, and others. The hardware segment is likely to remain the leading segment in the global educational robots market and is expected to be the fastest growing segment over the forecast period.

By type, the global educational robots market is segmented into humanoid and non-humanoid robots. Humanoid robots are expected to exhibit rapid growth over the coming years due to the strong demand from the education sector and are expected to be the fastest growing segment over the forecast period.

By application, the educational robots market is segmented into formal education and informal education. The formal education segment is further divided into robot teachers and robot teaching assistants. The formal education segment is leading the educational robots market at present, however, the informal education segment is likely to be the fastest growing over the forecast period.

By end use, the educational robots market is segmented into elementary and high school education, higher education, and special education. Elementary and high school education is the leading segment in the educational robots market at present, while the higher education segment is likely to be the fastest growing over the forecast period.

Get Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/educational-robots-market-6686

Regional Analysis:

Geographically, the global educational robots market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world.

North America is likely to be the dominant market for educational robots over the forecast period due to the early adoption of the technology in the region. Educational robots are already commonplace in North American countries such as the U.S., where the highly promising research scenario in the robotics sector has also helped the growth of the educational robots market. The strong research and development scenario in the U.S. is likely to make it the dominant regional market for educational robots over the forecast period.

APAC is also likely to be a promising market for educational robots over the forecast period due to strong progress in countries such as China. Many key players in the global educational robots market are prioritizing the high-volume APAC market in order to maximize their profits. Comau, an Italian company, recently launched e.DO, a robotic aid to learning STEM as well as humanities topics, in China.

Competitive Analysis:

Leading players in the educational robots market include SoftBank (Japan), BLUE FROG ROBOTICS (France), Aisoy Robotics (Spain), QIHAN Technology Co. (China), ROBOTIS (South Korea), ST Robot Co. (South Korea), Hanson Robotics (Hong Kong), PAL Robotics (Spain), Probotics America (US), Wonder Workshop (US), Ozobot & Evollve, Inc. (US), Makeblock, Co. Ltd (China), and Modular Robotics (US).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Executive Summary

2 Scope Of The Report

2.1 Market Definition

2.2 Scope Of The Study

2.2.1 Research Objectives

2.2.2 Assumptions & Limitations

2.3 Markets Structure

3 Market Research Methodology

3.1 Research Process

3.2 Secondary Research

3.3 Primary Research

3.4 Forecast Model

4 Market Landscape

Continued??.

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Global Educational Robots Market, By Region, 2018?2023

Table 2 North America: Educational Robots Market, By Country, 2018?2023

Table 3 Europe: Educational Robots Market, By Country, 2018?2023

Table 4 Asia-Pacific: Educational Robots Market, By Country, 2018?2023

Table 5 Rest Of The World: Educational Robots Market, By Country, 2018?2023

Continued??.

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LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 1 Global Educational Robots Market Segmentation

FIGURE 2 Forecast Methodology

FIGURE 3 Porter?s Five Forces Analysis Of Global Educational Robots Market

FIGURE 4 Value Chain Of Global Educational Robots Market

FIGURE 5 Share Of Global Educational Robots Market In 2017, By Country (In %)

Continued??.

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PHILIPSBURG:--- The General Pension Fund of Sint Maarten, APS in collaboration with Dr. Jay Haviser hosted a tour and presentation of the restoration of the Marys Fancy Plantation for Dutch Minister of Education, Culture & Science Ms. Ingrid van Engelshoven and her support staff on February 4th. Dr. Jay Haviser, Director of SIMARC gave a presentation of the restoration project, including information on the National Heritage Center. Dr. Haviser spoke adamantly about the restoration project, stating that the approach of APS towards this project is an example of renovation/restoration done right. SIMARC is responsible for the execution of the archaeological digs, tree inventory, and consultation. The collaboration with SIMARC grants young locals the opportunity to be actively involved in the project as well.

We are happy to be able to host Minister Engelshoven and her delegation. Once completed, we believe Marys Fancy restoration project will be another prime monument that both locals and visitors can enjoy for many generations to come. - Mrs. Kendra Arnell - Manager Projects.

The delegation included Minister of Education, Youth, Culture, and Sport (MEYCS) Mr. Wycliffe Smith and his support staff, representatives of the Inspectorate of MEYCF, representative of the Netherlands Mr. Chris Johnson, Mr. Erwin Arkenbout and several other government officials. APS officials included Mr. Oscar Williams - Manager Pension Administration & Reporting and Mrs. Kendra Arnell - Manager Projects.
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):---The Inspectorate of TEATT (Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport & Telecommunications) are working with stakeholders to further enhance relations which is mutually beneficial to both parties concerned.



Management of the Inspectorate TEATT, representatives of Section LVV (Livestock, Agriculture & Fisheries) of the Inspectorate met with representatives of several Veterinary Clinics operating in the country, namely, the St. Maarten Veterinary Clinic, The Animal Hospital of St. Maarten, and the Animal Care Clinic.



It was decided during this meeting that the Inspectorate TEATT and the Veterinary Clinics will meet on a quarterly basis with the next meeting set for May 8.



A number of topics were discussed that are related to animal welfare and the protection of the country as well as emergency preparedness interventions for animals in the event of natural and man-made disasters, the latter which is based on Article 14 of the Organization Decree, Ministry of TEATT and is also a requirement of the Ministry of TEATTs Disaster Preparedness Plan.



Other issues that were discussed were licensing and registration of veterinarians; stray animals; microchipping of animals; guidelines for the importation of animals; disaster preparedness plan for veterinarians; and veterinarian disease surveillance reporting.



The meeting took place in the conference room of the Inspectorate at its offices on the Juancho Yrausquin Boulevard, Point Blanche.
Few will disagree that upstate New York is lacking in access to high-speed, reliable broadband internet, but the severity of the problem may be vastly underestimated. A report released by Microsoft earlier this week found that about 8.7 million people still aren't using internet at broadband speeds in New York."

That figure dwarfs previous estimates by the Federal Communications Commission, which put the number of New Yorkers without access to high-speed internet at around 400,000. Among the reasons Microsoft cites for that gap: counties the FCC has listed as making broadband available dont actually do so; and in some rural areas, high-speed internet is too cost-prohibitive for many residents.

What has been clear  even before Microsoft released this report  is that much like residents lethargic routers, New Yorks efforts at expanding broadband arent working fast enough. Last summer, the state Public Service Commission moved to kick Charter Communications out of New York for allegedly failing to follow through on the companys promise to expand broadband access, which at least shows that regulators are taking the problem seriously.

Gov. Andrew Cuomos Broadband for All initiative received some scrutiny this week as Howard Zemsky, CEO of Empire State Development  which oversees the governors broadband program  answered questions from state legislators about its status. Zemsky noted that the state has committed $500 million to address the problem, but state Sen. James Seward, who represents New Yorks largely rural 51st district, recommended that the Cuomo administration up its investment in broadband.

For the rest of today's tech news, head over to First Read Tech.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Electoral Council recently moved to its new offices on Charles Voges Street 7 in Philipsburg. In the past year, the Electoral Council has made several decisions that were published in the National Gazette.

By virtue of Article 22 of the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties, the Electoral Council is required to delete the registered reference to be placed above the list of candidates of a political party if the party failed to submit a list of candidates for the last parliamentary election.

The United Peoples Party Association, The Democratic Party of Sint Maarten and the One St. Maarten People Party, which have been registered with the Electoral Council, did not participate in the 2018 parliamentary elections.

Consequently, by Decision No. 2/2018, Decision No. 3/2018 and Decision No. 4/2018, respectively, the Electoral Council has deleted the reference UP of the political party The United Peoples Party Association, the reference DP of the political party The Democratic Party of Sint Maarten and the reference O.S.P.P. of the political party One St. Maarten People Party, from the register of references.

In accordance with Article 22, of the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties, the Electoral Council decides to cancel registration of a political party upon its request. Two political parties requested to cancel the registration of their respective parties due to inactivity of the political parties. Subsequently, the registration of the political parties Helping Our People Excel Association and Millennial Advancement Party have been canceled by Decision No. 1/2018 and Decision No. 1/2019, respectively.

Based on Article 25 of the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties, an interested party may file an appeal against these Decisions with the Court in First Instance no later than the sixth day following the date of publication of these Decisions in the National Gazette.

All involved political parties have been informed of the aforementioned by the Electoral Council Decisions.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The field of Democratic contenders putting themselves forward to challenge Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election will be one of the biggest in the partys history. A year away from the first primaries, in which the Republican and Democratic candidates for president are selected, five senators have already declared they are running and more candidates are expected to nominate in coming weeks. Unlike in the 2016 election  where Hillary Clinton was the dominant contender  there is no clear frontrunner and each candidate comes with a set of strengths and weaknesses. The huge field of potential candidates reflects the optimism among Democrats that they can beat Trump. His approval ratings have never been over 50 per cent and Republicans suffered a big defeat at last year's midterm elections. Meet the contenders  and probable contenders  for 2020 so far. Elizabeth Warren. Credit:Bloomberg Elizabeth Warren

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An ultra-millionaire tax on America's 75,000 richest families  to build an economy that works for everyone. The two-term senator from Massachusetts is positioning herself as the policy wonk candidate in the field, reflecting her past experience as a bankruptcy law expert at Harvard University. Warren is from the progressive wing of the party and has put a proposed new tax on Americans with large fortunes at the centre of her campaign. She also wants to impose new regulations on the banks, introduce single-payer healthcare and make college more affordable. While very much anti-Trump, Warren says the Democrats must do more than just remove him from office. Donald Trump is the symptom of a badly broken system, she said recently. Warren has previously talked about native American ancestry being part of her life story, earning her the derisive nickname Pocahontas from Trump. Last October she released the results of a DNA test showing she had some native American DNA. Instead of clearing up the issue, the move angered native American tribes and continues to dog her to this day. Bernie Sanders. Credit:AP Bernie Sanders Trump is somebody who clearly does not respect democracy.

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Along with Trump, the Senator from Vermont was the break-out star of the 2016 campaign and did better against Hillary Clinton in the primaries than anyone had expected. Sanders has played a major role in pushing the party to the left over recent years and his support for single-payer healthcare has now become mainstream in the party. His policy positions  such as making college free  have a cut-through clarity some of his rivals lack. But it is unclear how much of Sanders support in 2016 came because he was the only viable alternative to Clinton. This time he faces a wide array of rivals including some, such as Warren, who are almost as left-wing as he is. Sanders also has a poor track record with minority voters. The fact he is technically an independent not a Democrat still rankles some in the party. And, at 77, he is even older than Biden. Kamala Harris. Credit:AP Kamala Harris Sitting across the table from the big banks, I witnessed the arrogance of power. A former prosecutor from California, Harris is hoping to appeal to two crucial constituencies in the Democratic Party coalition: women and African-American voters. The daughter of a Tamil Indian mother and Jamaican father, Harris launched her campaign on Martin Luther King jnr Day and has highlighted being a graduate of a black college. Unlike Warrens more ideological positioning, Harris has focused on broad themes such as a return to national unity and decency. She drew about 20,000 people to her campaign launch in Oakland, California, an achievement that solidified her status as one of the frontrunners for the nomination.

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But Harris has only been in the Senate for two years, meaning she has less national experience than some of her rivals. Her past tough on crime positions as a prosecutor may also count against her with primary voters who prioritise criminal justice. Amy Klobuchar. Credit:Alamy Amy Klobuchar My grandpa worked 1500 feet underground in the mines in Northern Minnesota. Another former prosecutor, Klobuchar hails from the midwestern state of Minnesota. She will highlight popularity there  including in rural areas that usually vote Republican  to argue that she can defeat Trump in key swing states such as Iowa and Wisconsin. Klobuchar has a record as a hard-working and productive senator with a more moderate outlook than some of the other candidates. She impressed during the hearings on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh with her calm yet probing questioning. But Klobuchar is still little known outside of her home state and needs to raise her profile. Reports have recently emerged that she treats her staff in a demeaning way, denting her Minnesota nice image. It remains unclear if she can appeal to left-wing and minority voters who make up large chunks of the Democratic primary electorate. Cory Booker. Credit:Bloomberg

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Cory Booker Its not just about whos our president  its about who we are. Its time for us to pull together. Before entering the Senate in 2013, Booker was the mayor of Newark, a New Jersey city with high levels of poverty. His parents were among the first black executives at IBM, a fact he often mentions in his speeches. Like Barack Obama, he served as a community organiser and attended a prestigious Ivy League college before entering politics. He projects an optimistic outlook  love is one of his favourite words  and has championed criminal justice reform to reduce the number of people in prison. At age 49, Booker would be one of the youngest presidents in US history. He would also be the first vegan president and just the third unmarried president (19th-century presidents James Buchanan and Grover Cleveland were bachelors, although Cleveland married while in office). Not afraid of the limelight, some find Booker too over-the-top  most notably in the Brett Kavanaugh hearings when he compared himself with Spartacus. Kirsten Gillibrand. Credit:Alamy Kirsten Gillibrand To turn up the volume on your voice, we have to take on the people who profit from the status quo.

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I first met Howard on an Italian coastguard boat during a rescue of a wooden refugee boat somewhere between the coast of Libya and Sicily. It was 2008, well before the Arab Spring, and I was on assignment for The Sydney Morning Herald. Convinced he was a press agency photographer and that we'd been scooped, I furiously (and deliberately) stood in his frames to spoil them. In fact, he was taking photographs for a book on migration for National Geographic, which he ensured was sent to every member of the US Congress. At lunch in Decatur a decade later, he chides me right back with a gale of laughter. "Don't you remember? I was on the other boat taking photos for the book and all I could think was, 'Who is that white woman on the deck spoiling my pictures?' " It wasn't until the rescue crew hosted a dinner on the jetty a few days later that I learnt his identity. A natural raconteur blessed with palpable joie de vivre, he was great company even for the coastguards, whose English was minimal. Still, my most vivid memory is of watching agog as he happily plopped his host's fragrant, artisanal Sicilian gelato into his Coke to make spiders. We stayed in touch, chatted by email, shared events of interest. Then, a year or so later, I travelled to Africa to write about his foundation's food security programs. For more than a week, we travelled in a convoy of jeeps bristling with men and machine guns, burrowing deep into rural, conflict-torn Congo and the mountains of Rwanda. Howard's foundation had funded myriad projects in the region, including an ambitious trial of alternative fuels in a bid to save the rare mountain gorilla and protect villagers from the militia that controlled the charcoal trade. By then, the foundation was funding projects to the tune of about $US65 million a year, much focused on his dogged quest to experiment with biological and sustainable ways of upping farm productivity by regenerating Africa's depleted soils. Howard had also continued working on what are now eight photographic books documenting his travels, recording the fragility and resilience of humanity in distress. As we drove between villages, he regaled us with rollicking tales of being bitten by a cheetah, arrested in Bosnia, having a face-to-face meeting with an African warlord, and having an AK-47 pushed into his chest. He also spoke candidly about his family, the siblings' free-spirited and unorthodox mother, his legendary arch-conservative Republican congressman grandfather (his namesake), and the life lessons learnt from his Democrat-voting, much loved, if sometimes emotionally distant father. One day, explaining why alcohol doesn't touch his lips  he drinks gallons of Coke, like his father  he described his maternal grandfather, a Church of Christ minister and staunch prohibitionist. It was he who put the young Howard on his knee and told him not to drink.

"I'd say, 'Why not, Grandpa?', and he'd reply, 'Because every time you drink alcohol it kills brain cells and Howie, you don't have any to waste.' " He delivered the story with a great peal of laughter, but at the time it struck me as a little cruel, making me wonder, too, what it was like to grow up  and live constantly  in the shadow of a global titan. In Africa with an orphaned mountain gorilla; the species dwindling population was an early focus of his philanthropy. Credit:Courtesy of Howard G. Buffett Ensconced in his sheriff's red Ford Raptor truck on our first evening on patrol in Decatur, handgun on his belt, multiple radios blaring, on-board laptop open on a stand, Howard looks as happy as a kid surrounded by his favourite toys. Since he took on the sheriff's job he's made it a rule for himself to "really talk and listen" to the people he meets. "I could never have dreamed that you would find children who have not been fed properly in Decatur, living in filthy houses," he says. "This has been a huge education for me, knowledge you can't get unless you are out on the streets every day and you can walk into people's homes and really see how they live." As we drive around town, he talks about meeting a child who started using cocaine at age eight; a girl whose baby was born with cocaine addiction; and a woman who told him she would kill for her next shot of heroin. "If people are willing to do that, the question for me is 'Why'?" Howard says. "I have learnt a lot from drug addicts, from their history and experiences. Locking them up is not going to solve the problem, it is not going to get them off drugs. The problem we have in the US is that we don't have enough places to put them in for treatment and a shortage of resources to properly help when they get out of treatment." Back in his sheriff's office the following morning, a stream of visitors passes through, reflecting a diary that is regularly packed from 7am to 11pm. Paperwork is piled haphazardly on the desk, while two phones and an iPad are open and pinging incessantly. By the middle of 2019, Howard says, regardless of their ability to pay, Decatur's citizens will have access to a brand-new drug detox and rehabilitation centre, spread over a nine-hectare campus complete with specially built transitional housing for the most vulnerable. A walking track and working orchard are on the plans, all of it funded by Howard's foundation.

He insists he would never have embarked on this project were it not for his experience as sheriff, along with the advocacy of Tanya Andricks, chief executive of Decatur's only free hospital and medical centre, who even talked him into incorporating a dental clinic in the new centre. "I finally got Howard there when I reminded him that smiling matters," Andricks says. "I told him that when you are ashamed to smile, it is hard to heal, it is hard to seek employment, and it is hard to rebuild a sense of selfworth that has been shattered. He understood that straight away." That afternoon, I'm given a tour of a multimillion-dollar residential police academy under construction on the city outskirts, also funded by Howard's foundation. The new facility will offer US police training curricula, using state-of-the-art equipment and innovative teaching techniques aimed at encouraging rookie police and corrections officers to think differently  and more empathetically  when contemplating the use of force to uphold the law. Tad Williams, the academy's commander and a former Marine and Illinois state police colonel, believes Howard's legacy will go beyond bricks and mortar. "I've been black-and-white all my career. Howard taught me the greys," says Williams. "He taught us to help when people deserve help  we used to be 'Crime, just lock 'em up'." Williams refers to the ongoing debate over the shooting of unarmed black men by police officers. "Police academies turn out kids who are often still living with Mom and Dad. Weeks later, they are finished training and out in communities, drawing guns," he says. "Howard has given us the opportunity to teach kids from the ground up what it means to lead by example, to be disciplined  that if you take action out there on the streets, there will be a reaction." Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum, is one of America's most esteemed thinkers in the field of law enforcement reform. He has worked with Howard over the past couple of years and says his contribution, particularly in funding the further education of senior American police, is little known but highly significant. Awarded an OBE in the UK for his own extensive work with British and US police, Wexler says Howard has paid for significant research studies and programs, including one which took leading officers from 25 American state police departments to the UK to see firsthand how unarmed police forces deal with knives and violent crime. "What he has done in Decatur  well, I have never known a situation where a sheriff, someone actually in law enforcement, who knows and truly understands it, is a philanthropist, too, and can see something that's broken and just [try to] fix it," he says. "I think this job has changed him. When he came in as a new sheriff, he was kind of a tough guy. He has evolved, he has seen the impact of the drug epidemic and it has had an enormous impact on him. The most significant was his recognition of the medical need  that arrest does not cure addiction."

Adds Howard's operations lieutenant and Democrat candidate for the sheriff's job, Tony "Chubby" Brown: "Obviously, it is incredible for us that he has the resources to bring in the very best people to help us evaluate how to do things better, serve our community better. But the thing we're most grateful for is that we've seen we cannot just arrest our way out of this problem. We have had this warrior mentality in the US, but we are not at war. We need to be protectors; we need to do things to help individuals become more productive. Our mentality has changed." A creature of habit, Howard has lunch early when he's working  11.30am  and often at the same eatery, Bizou. Over a meal of mayo-slathered coleslaw, a four-cheese toastie and a gallon of Coke, I ask if he's managed to win over all his officers  he oversees 53 deputies and 73 correctional officers  with this new humanitarian approach to law and order. "Not all of them are there yet. I've been surprised by some who are thinking differently, though. I had a deputy I thought was a real hard-arse come in and say, 'Hey, let's put this guy in treatment.' " The following night, I watch Howard and his young patrol partner as they're called to a house where an armed military veteran in his 40s has barricaded himself in the basement, threatening suicide. For two hours, they stay with the man, their own guns drawn, as a trained negotiator is called in to talk him into putting down his own pistol. Once he's surrendered his firearm, the man is cuffed and taken to hospital. Exhausted, Howard follows the ambulance and waits to speak to the man alone in his hospital bed, quietly reassuring him he will not face charges and will receive psychological help. "So, what is the next step? Is it to screw his life up or try and help him?" Howard asks later, visibly shaken by the close call. "He had a job and would have lost it if we had charged him. What would that achieve? He felt he had failed his wife, failed his child, he couldn't see a way out. Law enforcement officers can  and should  make decisions to help people." In an email a few weeks later, Howard tells me the man was sent to a specialist PTSD clinic in Arizona. "He has just returned home, told me it's the first time he could sleep without having nightmares ... he spent 18 months in combat in Iraq."

Warren Buffett, left, has named Howard, right, as his successor to take over the non-executive directorship of his investment company when he dies. Credit:Getty Images Warren Buffett's own life story is, of course, the stuff of legend. Born with canny intuition and a prodigious mathematical brain, he made his fortune picking undervalued stocks for investment and sticking by them. Buffett senior's gentle eccentricities are well known: he still lives in the family home in Omaha, Nebraska  bought for $US31,500 in 1958  loves hamburgers, drinks litres of Cherry Coke every day, and is notoriously thrifty. Howard says his dad's philosophy has changed little since childhood, and it has clearly rubbed off. "I could have been born black or Hispanic in America. But I was not. It was a lesson I learnt as a child from my mom, too. She said that with privilege comes responsibility." When Howard was five, the family opened its home to a young Sudanese refugee  one of the first to arrive in the US  who lived with them until she finished university. Looking back on his childhood, and despite his father's legendary thriftiness, he lacked nothing. "To be able to get out of bed every day, focus on school, prepare for a test and not worry about being abused or being hungry, about what might happen to your sister: that is a huge advantage." Howard muses that he himself was not an easy child, restless, "moving all the time" and a bit of a handful as a teen. Finding a path in his 20s was vexed. He tried college, studying political science in three different colleges, but didn't like it. Then he took on a series of jobs, working as a packing clerk, then for a construction company and ploughing cornfields in Nebraska. It wasn't until he began driving a bulldozer and digging basements that he decided working the land would be his path. He learnt to farm by trial and error, establishing a pattern that would continue throughout his life. As a philanthropist, he's been an unabashed autodidact: naturally intuitive and hands-on in choosing the projects he funds, even more so when pondering whether there's a better way to get more bang for his billion or so bucks. In Decatur, the 32-hectare farm he's rented from his dad since 1993 is now part of 770 hectares of commercial soy and corn operations, with a turnover of $US1 million. "I am surprised, honestly, about how well things have worked out " he tells me pensively in the car one night. "I mean, I've always been really focused on something when I need to be, but I tend to want to do a lot of things at once and I have a lot of ideas all at once  Yeah, my brain races. I am surprised it has all worked out okay."

Yet Howard's conservative steel is visible in his view on the US border with Mexico. He is adamant the US has no hope of properly addressing its domestic drug epidemic if it cannot improve border security, but describes US President Donald Trump's plan to build a wall as simplistic and unworkable. In his 2018 book, Our 50-State Border Crisis, Howard explains graphically the complex economic and political forces that drive the drug trade in Mexico; personal views informed by extensive observational work done on his foundation's land holdings in Arizona and Texas border country. He is no fan of Trump's threats and insults to Mexico, describing them as counterproductive: "Patrolling our borders effectively today needs a combination of law enforcement, intelligence gathering, and foreign adversary engagement skills  tactics beyond basic law enforcement." Decades of work leading and assessing the foundation's programs in conflict-torn countries has cemented his belief that the absence of the rule of law lies at the heart of "pretty much everything", from poverty and food insecurity to forced migration. His foundation, he says, has struggled to deliver programs in countries where local law enforcement could not be trusted to protect the people it was designed to help. "People leave their homes and attempt to migrate because they feel unsafe, because they cannot protect their land and families, they cannot go to work without feeling threatened and local law enforcement and police cannot be trusted. We worry so much about terrorism overseas and yet in the US, the drug cartels, who contribute to the death of our own people every single day, continue to flourish in the absence of the rule of law [over the border]," he says. "These are issues that affect our own country, our own people, here, right now." Howard, who turned 64 in December, flagged in his foundation's most recent annual report that this "front seat education" on the social and criminal issues facing communities across the US marks the opening of a new chapter in his philanthropic work. Leaving the sheriff's position  he did so in November  feels "bittersweet" but will open up more time for the foundation's work, as well as his farms. A return to his volunteer position as undersheriff will allow him to "stay engaged". "I might be the only guy around that accepted a demotion with a smile," he writes in an email not long after finishing up. (On the other hand, his father has tapped him to be his successor and take over the non-executive directorship of Berkshire Hathaway when he dies.)
Warsaw: Just before a US-sponsored conference that was supposed to be about Iran but isn't, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu changed the subject back again. At the conference in Warsaw, he said, Israel would be meeting in public with Arab foreign ministers "to advance the common interest of war with Iran," according to a tweet from his office.

Yikes. Twitter pounced. Headlines blared. The Prime Minister's office swiftly erased the tweet and claimed there was a translation error. A new tweet changed "war with Iran" to "combating Iran."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Warsaw on Thursday. Credit:AP

It's tempting to think of this as a blunder. A better way to see Netanyahu's tweet is as a so-called Kinsley gaffe, named for the editor Michael Kinsley: when a politician accidentally tells the truth.

In other words, Netanyahu was right the first time. Israel and America's Arab allies are indeed at war with Iran. And despite efforts this week to entice war-weary European allies to join the effort, for Arab and Israeli delegations the conference was a chance to further coordinate their campaign against Iran.
It has been hard for NSW state politics to compete with the excitement of Canberra this week, where the federal government lost its first vote in the lower house since 1941 and one senator admitted to smearing blood on another's office door.

Yet, in one respect, the week was crucial for the outcome of the March 23 state election. Premier Gladys Berejiklian dodged a bullet this week which could have killed her chances of retaining majority government.

For a brief moment it looked possible that Prime Minister Scott Morrison could decide to call an early election after he lost the historic vote on the medevac bill which will make it easier to bring asylum seekers from Nauru and Manus to Australia for treatment.

If Mr Morrison had gone to Yarralumla and handed in his resignation, the state and federal elections would have run simultaneously. Indeed, it may have been necessary to invoke constitutional provisions for moving the fixed-term election date of the NSW state election to ensure the two ballots were not held on the same day.

In that case, the chances were high that Ms Berejiklian's relatively scandal-free and stable government would be tainted with the ills of the federal coalition. Voters would have turned their anger about everything from the sacking of Malcolm Turnbull to climate change to the banks on Ms Berejiklian.
Mulling over the Prime Ministers Closing the Gap statement this week, Indigenous leader Professor Tom Calma sounded, for a moment, just plain weary - weary of the endless tide of words washing in and out of Canberra over the perennially vexed question of how best to address Indigenous disadvantage.

We have got no end of reports, he said on Thursday, just hours after Morrison had delivered his statement. Senate estimate reports, House of Representatives reports that have been done, joint committee reports that sit on a shelf in parliament and don't get implemented.

We have got no end of reports: Indigenous leader Professor Tom Calma. Credit:Rohan Thomson

One, in particular, was bothering him  a report done by the Australian Law Reform Commission on Indigenous incarceration rates, requested by former attorney-general George Brandis, and delivered to government in December 2017. It is still awaiting a response, he says.

Calma is the co-chair of Reconciliation Australia, and says Prime Minister Scott Morrisons promise of equal partnership with Indigenous representatives in redesigning the Closing the Gap process is welcome. Its what we have been calling for since 2008. But he remains wary. The proof is in the pudding.
It is, of course, not his fault ASIO now finds itself as an outrider to a government department that has sought to centralise and co-ordinate the governments approach to crime, terrorism, and threat, or supposed threats, to national security. ASIO resisted being conscripted, as did its then duty minister, the then-Attorney-General George Brandis. Nor is it Lewiss fault both his minister, Peter Dutton, and chief bureaucrat Mike Pezzullo, are both of authoritarian bent. Neither of those who regard themselves as Lewiss master are famous for tolerating dissent or calls for caution or moderation. Nor is it Lewiss fault the Australian Federal Police, another agency supposedly independent of government, is under the Home Affairs security blanket. Also independent, at least in part, is the Australian Border Force, a paramilitary and uniformed body of Pezzullos creation, comprised of old customs agents and immigration officials and invited now to think its prime and supreme purpose is to defend the nation at its borders. The AFP behaves rather more as a department of state, pathetically anxious to please the government of the day. The department seems to lack internal checks and balances, and sometimes seems to put outcomes ahead of process and sound management, and seems to lack people with the courage to stand against any of the enthusiasms of its secretary. Loading But it is the combination of all of this, along with the ambitions of the secretary to co-ordinate and perhaps homogenise the information going to government, that should cause people to remember some of the reasons why bodies such as ASIO and the AFP were placed outside the bureaucracy, with statutory independence, in the first place. Astute leaders of such bodies might also appreciate that they do not acquire increased authority and prestige by being enveloped by unaccountable co-ordination bodies, having their opinions shaved into a consensus view before going to the higher councils of government. ASIO, after all, has direct access to the prime minister and sits on official national security committees. It has power of access to officials who need to know security information in the exercise of their duties. Why would it think its functions were better served by being absorbed into a monolithic departmental view at a lower level of the system?

Lewis has been Director-General for nearly five years. During his term, official histories of the organisation, commissioned by a predecessor, have been published. These have made it clear that during ASIO's first 25 years its efficiency and effectiveness were seriously compromised by popular perceptions, particularly on the Labor side of politics, that it was an organ of the Liberal Party. This was a perception that was initially unfair but, the official history concedes, tended to become true as officers became embittered by its reputation and institutionally hostile to Labor. It took the organisation another decade to become reasonably relaxed and comfortable with Labor governments, but a degree of mutual suspicion remains. In Australia, if not everywhere else, suspicion of powerful security agencies and strong civil liberties perspectives, tend to come from the left of politics. A steady pattern of abuse of ASIO information, and public perceptions that it has been willingly used to bag or discredit leading Labor figures, could easily bring back party and public distrust. The ASIO of today is a quite different body from the organisation of cold warriors, but its capacity to perform its functions necessarily depends on public confidence in its integrity  not only within government but also within the communities of Australia among which it must do its work. Even when ASIO is carrying out its proper functions with efficiency, integrity and discretion, its reputation and capacity to do its job can be adversely affected when its advice is leaked for purely partisan purposes, and subsequently declassified to amplify a message that the agency is entirely at one with Liberal ministers and appalled by the approach of the Labor Party. It is notable that Pezzullo asked the AFP to investigate the leak, particularly when it was obvious that the leaker was not a million miles from the office of his minister, Peter Dutton. It was consistent with what Pezzullo has done when there have been leaks before, even when they have been convenient to the government of the day. It may also have followed a prompt from ASIO, alarmed at the way the government was enlisting its advice for purely political purposes. But if so, it might have been better had ASIO itself protested, loudly and publicly. ASIO's...capacity to perform its functions necessarily depends on public confidence in its integrity.

Pezzullo, of course, manifested a touching faith in the ability and the will of the AFP to find, let alone prosecute a leak. Its record is not good in this regard, even when the source has seemed fairly obvious, and even when an investigation has seemed to involve the application of considerable resources, budget and time. Time that has suited the government, since it has invited the public to forget. Even beyond the leaking of ASIO and Home Affairs classified advice this week, was the spectre of ministerial officers answering questions about leaks to the media about AFP raids on the Australian Workers Union. We are yet to discover if the failure of the matter to proceed was a consequence of caution and lack of will inside the office of the director of public prosecutions, or the failure of detectives to establish all the pathways by which confidential information reached the public domain. If I were in ASIO, I would have extra reasons for alarm about its material entering the public domain. It is by no means clear that the entry into Australian waters of asylum seekers is always, prima facie, a matter of national security interest, thus engaging ASIOs duties and responsibilities. It is true the definition of security was amended to include "the protection of Australias territorial and border integrity from serious threats". But, various apocalyptic statements by Pezzullo over the years notwithstanding, it is not clear that the nations sovereign veil is rent whenever there is an unwanted visitor, let alone ones with a perfect right to approach us in search of our protection. Loading Nor is it clear (and ASIO has not responded to my question on the matter) what the difference between a "serious threat" and "a threat" is. Perhaps organised expeditions by the dreaded people smugglers could be a serious threat, if one accepted all of the chains of logic by which it seemed to be apparent to Lewis and Pezzullo (and no doubt General Angus Campbell were it not an "on water" matter) that any relaxation in the oppressiveness of conditions on Manus and Nauru would "send a message" to the people smugglers. The bill was not about relaxing, in any significant degree, the odious regime of denying Australia as a place of refuge to people fleeing oppression. It was about allowing such people access to medical care. If the agencies were exercised about the subtleties of underlying messages, they should not have lent themselves to the hysteria generated by Morrison and Dutton.
Labor will axe the Morrison government's program that allows first home buyers to access their superannuation, vowing to follow through with a key recommendation from the Financial Services Inquiry to use super solely to look after Australians in retirement.

With new figures showing the First Home Super Saver Scheme is attracting a small fraction of new entrants into the property market, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has confirmed Labor will phase out the scheme while also legislating an objective for super.

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has confirmed Labor will axe the First Home Super Savers Scheme while setting a legislated objective for superannuation. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The scheme, which enables first time buyers to access extra savings put into their superannuation account, was introduced in the 2017 budget by then treasurer Scott Morrison. He argued it would help young people accelerate their savings to buy into markets in which prices were growing at double-digit rates.

Between the start of the program on July 1 last year and the end of January this year, 2374 people have made requests to access their super under the program. That equates to fewer than 4 per cent of all first home buyers to have been granted a home loan over the past 7 months.
A task force charged with tackling school segregation in New York City released a series of proposals Tuesday designed to make the citys schools more representative of their broader neighborhoods.

At the center of the report is a push for each school in New York City  home to one of the most segregated school systems in America  to be more representative of district  and borough-level demographics.

To jump-start that process, the School Diversity Advisory Group zooms in on nine of the citys 32 separate geographic districts as ripe for integration and argues those regions should be required to come up with diversity plans.

But the groups recommendations do not clarify how they should be implemented, and the responsibility for translating them into policy will fall to Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has shown little appetite for sweeping integration initiatives during his first five years in office.

Here are four questions well be watching about what happens next:

Mayor Bill de Blasio has not prioritized desegregation. Will that change?

Since his election in 2013, de Blasio has only reluctantly talked about school diversity, refusing to use the words integration or segregation in public statements or even in policy documents. He has repeatedly said that segregation is the result of housing patterns and 400 years of American history  factors he argues are beyond his control.

But advocates in recent years have helped elevate the issue, now seen as one of the citys most high-profile education problems, and the task forces report could create new pressure to act.

There are also some more recent signals the mayor may be open to changes. He has proposed overhauling the admissions process at the citys elite specialized high schools to make them more racially representative (though the change requires cooperation from state lawmakers).

The city has approved diversity initiatives that are more limited in scope, such as middle school integration plans in part of Brooklyn and Manhattans Upper West Side and Harlem. And his new schools chancellor, Richard Carranza, made an appearance at the press conference unveiling Tuesdays report and has repeatedly said segregation is unacceptable.

The criticism of my predecessor Chancellor [Carmen] Farina was that she didnt do anything about this, Carranza said last May, referring to school segregation. And here I am in my first month actually engaging in this conversation.

The report says nine districts should be required to come up with desegregation plans. Will the education department embrace top-down mandates?

De Blasio and his first schools chief, Farina, supported hyper-local efforts to promote integration, but argued such plans needed to happen organically instead of as mandates from the education department.

Some local communities have embraced that, including one swath of Brooklyn that chose to eliminate selective admissions across all of its middle schools in an effort to make them more diverse  an effort that bubbled up from parents and activists.

The mayors advisory group, however, is recommending that nine districts across the city be required to create diversity plans. With the specialized high school plan as one big exception, de Blasio has not embraced that kind of policymaking, instead emphasizing that any proposal should come from the local level. He did not attend the press conference announcing the report Tuesday.

I really do believe that from the ground up is the best way to make lasting change, de Blasio said in September in response to a question about top-down segregation efforts.

Even if the mayor embraced a more active city role in crafting integration efforts, how would that work?

The biggest question mark at the center of the new report is what tools should be used to ensure that schools are more representative. Its authors hint at some possibilities: taking a look at selective enrollment policies that exacerbate segregation; new admissions procedures that take demographic factors and parent choices into account; and shaking up racially divided gifted and talented programs.

But while the advisory group says a more detailed report will come later this school year, their first set of recommendations do not offer a clear answer, and the policy options they suggest could come with tradeoffs and political headaches.

Take selective admissions, a process where some schools use test scores, attendance, and other factors into account in enrolling students. Screened programs proliferated under the Bloomberg administration, partly to keep more affluent and white parents enrolled in public schools. Though Carranza has suggested that screening is antithetical to public education, reducing screens could also make integration more challenging if it causes middle class families to flee the system.

Still, the advisory group emphasized that the report is just a first step, and Carranza said he is eager to dive in.

I look forward to working with Mayor de Blasio in making the recommendations in the report truly the topic of conversation, Carranza said. Ill have a lot more to say about the specific recommendations and how we move forward together.

How quickly could changes get off the ground?

De Blasios second term is already underway, so any changes under his watch would have to come within the next three years.

Previous local integration efforts have taken years to gain traction. In Manhattans District 3, for example, an effort to redraw local school zones required scores of community meetings and years of advocacy efforts. Additionally, a city grant program designed to help districts create their own integration plans is already behind schedule.

For its part, the mayors advisory group says its efforts are designed to be systemic and last beyond de Blasios tenure. The recommendations include hiring a chief integration officer, who would be responsible for ensuring schools make progress toward their integration goals and who could help ensure continuity after de Blasio leaves office.

Christina Veiga contributed to this story.

Originally published on Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
The Ministry of Finance recently submitted a proposal to the prime minister on the promulgation of a decree on a special preferential import and export tariff scheme for Vietnam to implement its commitments under the CPTPP for the 2019-2022 period.

This decree is expected to enter into force in the first half of this year.

Under the proposal, as for export tariff commitments for the CPTPP, Vietnam promises to erase all export tariffs for the majority of items that are currently subject to this type of tariff, in accordance with a roadmap of five-15 years after the CPTPP comes into force. Actually, the CPTPP took effect on January 14, 2019 for Vietnam.

A number of important items such as fossil coal, crude oil, and some types of ores and natural minerals (70 items) are permitted to continue their export tariffs.

Vietnams preferential export tariff scheme covers 519 tariff lines, with different levels of average tax rates to be truncated step by step, with 2019 (19.1%), 2020 (17.4%), 2021 (15.7%), and 2022 (14.1%).

Meanwhile, as for import tariff commitments for the CPTPP, Vietnam promises to erase close to 100% of tariff lines, under a roadmap.

Specifically, 65.8% of tariff lines will see a 0% import tax rate immediately after the CPTPP takes effect. Furthermore, in the fourth and 11th years after the entry into force of the deal, a total 86.5% and then 97.8%, respectively, of tariff lines will also enjoy a 0% import tax rate.

The remaining items will witness a 0% import tax rate in the 16th year or depending on tariff quotas.

Vietnams preferential import tariff schedule includes 10,216 tariff lines. The average tax rates will be reduced gradually, from 9.1% in 2019 to 7.7% in 2020, 6.3% in 2021, and 4.8% in 2022.

Removing state ownership in enterprises

Under the CPTPP, after the deal comes into force, all SOEs of all member states are required to operate equally under the market mechanism. Besides, they are banned from conducting anticompetitive practices, while having to make all their operational information transparent.

Specifically, under the deals Chapter 17, each member state, shall ensure that each of its designated monopolies does not use its monopoly position to engage in, either directly or indirectly, including through its dealings with its parent, subsidiaries or other entities the party or the designated monopoly owns, anticompetitive practices in a non-monopolised market in its territory that negatively affect trade or investment between the parties.

Also under this chapter, all SOEs of CPTPP member states have to ensure transparency in operation and information provision.

Specifically, each Party shall provide to the other parties, or otherwise make publicly available on an official website, a list of its state-owned enterprises no later than six months after the date of entry into force of this agreement for that party, and thereafter shall update the list annually.

However, this regulation shall not apply until five years from the date of entry into force of this agreement for Vietnam.

Notably, on the written request of another party, a party shall promptly provide the following information concerning an SOE or a government monopoly, provided that the request includes an explanation of how the activities of the entity may be affecting trade or investment between the parties.

The information requested relates to the percentage of shares that the party, its SOEs or designated monopolies cumulatively own, and the percentage of votes that they cumulatively hold, in the entity; a description of any special shares or special voting or other rights that the party, its SOEs or designated monopolies hold, to the extent these rights are different than the rights attached to the general common shares of the entity; the government titles of any government official serving as an officer or member of the entitys board of directors and the entitys annual revenue and total assets over the most recent three year period for which information is available.

Great benefit

According to a CPTPP governmental report delivered to the National Assembly, in general, the CPTPP will greatly benefit Vietnam as its GDP is roughly US$11 trillion, or 13.5% of global GDP, including Japan as the worlds third largest economy. Its total export-import turnover is over US$10 trillion.

Under a study recently conducted by Vietnams Ministry of Planning and Investment, the CPTPP can expand the countrys GDP and export turnover by 1.32% and 4.04%, respectively, until 2035. Total import turnover will also likely rise by an additional 3.8% until 2035.

In terms of investment attraction, CPTPP commitments about services and investment will help Vietnam improve its investment climate and attract more foreign direct investment (FDI), said the report. In terms of institutional reforms, CPTPP will help Vietnam further its improvements of the local business and investment climate in favour of enterprises.

Also according to the study, CPTPP will also increase the number of jobs by an additional 20,000-26,000 jobs per year.

Under statistics by the MPI, as of 2018, CPTPP member states had approximately 7,570 valid investment projects in Vietnam, with total registered investment capital of more than US$124 billion, accounting for 36.45% of the countrys total registered FDI.

To break down the figure, Australia had investments worth US$1.865 billion in Vietnam, while many other nations also had big investments, such as Brunei (US$1 billion), Canada (US$5 billion), Chile (US$15,000), Japan (US$57 billion), Malaysia (US$12.5 billion), Mexico (US$58,000), New Zealand (US$92.1 million), and Singapore (US$46.62 billion).
A nation has a brain, a mind (just as it has a heart, a soul) and knowing that, our canny and electorally desperate prime minister Scott Morrison is shamelessly poking and prodding at the nations amygdalas.

The amygdala (the brain has two of them, one in each hemisphere) is sometimes described as almond-shaped and referred to as the seat of fear. When prodded (and Morrison and his ministers have been taking a cattle prod to the nations amygdalas in recent days, warning us of multiple Armageddons) the amygdala gets us into a state of pulse-quickened, muscle-tensed, pupil-dilating anticipation.

The Prime Minister warned of several threats to our nation during his address to the National Press Club on Monday. Credit:AAP

And in these same few days in which the nations amygdalas are being cunningly stimulated by politicians, some of the nations brains bliss-registering places have been stimulated by Kate Miller-Heidkes deserving win in last Saturdays Eurovision-Australia Decides.

Back to that blissful outcome, to how Mozart will be on our team, Kates and Australias, when Kate performs at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel-Aviv in May, in a few moments.
Labor also argues it has not changed the "fundamentals" of border protection and that this is simply a humanitarian decision confined to the cohort of people currently on Manus and Nauru. Furthermore, it has always had differences with the Coalition on asylum seekers - for example, its commitment to abolishing temporary protection visas. Finally, Labor believes a fight on border protection was inevitable anyway. "The moment Scott Morrison became prime minister there was always going to be a drumbeat on boats," says Labor frontbencher Tony Burke, who was immigration minister under Kevin Rudd mark II. "The moment he became leader that was going to be a theme of the election campaign. Nothing that has happened this week changes that." An Australian vessel patrols the waters near the Norwegian ship Tampa in 2001. Credit:AP So, will the medical transfer changes restart the boats? Independent expert views dont bear this out. Restricting the new policy to the cohort currently on Manus and Nauru - a change insisted on by Labor only at the 11th hour - was fundamental to this. A former official with experience in border protection said people smugglers would use any argument they could find to persuade people to get on boats, but doubted it would work now.

"It is likely that some smuggling syndicates would try to make something of it and you might get a couple of goes that are justified on this basis, but I dont see it opening floodgates," he said. "Im not desperately concerned about it. The sort of people who fork out $US5000 to $US10,000 are going to want a lot of assurance. Who is going to want to be in that first body of people who are in just as bad a situation as they were before but have lost their money?" The former official said a couple of boats are likely to "test the waters" if Labor wins power anyway, irrespective of the latest bill. "Labor has to be ready to deal with it," he said. "They have to be careful about the surrounding narrative. They cant do what Rudd did." Two prominent national security experts and ex-officials, Jacinta Carroll of the Australian National University and John Coyne of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, similarly said this week the change could prompt fresh boat attempts but was unlikely to unleash a flood. Antje Missbach, a migration expert who was until recently at Monash University and who has done extensive field work with asylum seekers in Indonesia, said people-smuggling networks were still in place, but she doubted this would prompt a new flow of boats because turnbacks were a more powerful obstacle.

"The biggest disincentive for them [asylum seekers] was always being turned back and losing money and winding up back where they started," she said. "It was always turnbacks that was more decisive." That said, some of the 14,000 asylum seekers still in Indonesia were living in dire situations and might be desperate enough to think theyd be the lucky ones whod get through. "If you are really desperate, you might not make the most rational choice. Hope is a tricky beast," Missbach said. "People would talk about overwhelming the border protection system with, say, 10 boats. Youd think, 'really? That requires a lot of co-ordination. You dont even have functioning GPS'." The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age made multiple requests over two days to speak with Australian Border Force commissioner Michael Outram and OSB chief Major-General Craig Furini, but the requests were declined or ignored by the Department of Home Affairs. Then there is the alleged risk posed by those who come from the group of about 1000 on Nauru and Manus Island. Government ministers have made some striking claims about those people. Wildest of them all was Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, who told Sky News: "This is going to be able to get spivs and rapists and murderers on to our shores." He then equivocated when forcefully challenged by presenters Kieran Gilbert and Laura Jayes.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says that among the potential transferees is a man who had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old. Attorney-General Christian Porter mentioned a man who had been charged but not convicted of four counts of sexual penetration of a minor in Papua New Guinea. Another man has a history of violence and is accused of committing a murder in another country. Porter told Parliament the government might need to assess 300 individuals in 72 hours, the maximum time frame for the minister to veto a transfer under the law. A person can be rejected if theyve been sentenced to jail for a year or more and the minister thinks they still pose a criminal risk, or if the minister believes the person is a risk to national security. Attorney-General Christian Porter Credit:Alex Ellinghausen In the end, the government is trying to push two conflicting suggestions: that some of these people constitute a dangerous risk based on their past behaviour, but also that not enough is known about these 1000 people to make it safe to bring them here. Labor's immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann says the law as passed provides sufficient protections anyway. He says even in a case where an asylum seeker was charged with a major crime but not convicted or sentenced, they could be deemed a "serious threat to border and territorial integrity" under the ASIO Act, and thus refused entry by the minister.

"We are confident that what we have done is belt-and-brace the situation after our security briefings," Neumann says. "We're very happy to rely on our legal advice  if you're a serious threat in that way to Australia and its people, we are confident that our amendments and the legislation passed would cover that." The Coalition, however, senses that Labor is not 100 per cent confident on the politics. MPs note the opposition did not spend time gloating about its historic defeat of the government - the first on legislation since 1941. It moved the focus quickly back to banks and, by Friday, a call for a royal commission into discrimination against people with a disability. One Liberal MP says Labor was "due a strategic error" but he "can't believe they've opened up this fight". Another pervasive sentiment among government MPs leaving Canberra this week was that they now had something to work with and "we won't die wondering". Burke sees the politics differently. He accuses Morrison and his ministers of deliberately "lying" about the medical evacuations bill, and argues voters will mark them down for it. "One thing thats true of Australian politics is that overreach always catches up with you, and this week in lying about what has been passed by the Parliament, the government overreached terribly," Burke says.

Many questions remain about how this new system will work in practice. Coleman, the minister in charge, says he will consider every case on its merits and won't reject the doctors' recommendations as a matter of course. Anyone who is transferred here will remain in immigration detention unless the minister decides otherwise. Perhaps the bigger question is what happens to the refugees and asylum seekers once they have received their treatment. Both sides insist the transfers are only temporary. As deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Friday: "Once people's medical treatment is complete they should return to Manus Island and Nauru and be very quickly resettled in third countries." Some of the crossbenchers who voted with Labor to pass the bill allowing medical evacuations of Nauru and Manus. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer History indicates that once people are in Australia, lawyers frequently seek injunctions to prevent their forced removal offshore. Asked if a Labor government would fight such injunctions in the courts, Plibersek said she was "not going to make blanket generalisations about complex matters". Jana Favero, director of advocacy at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, was careful when asked about the possibility of legal action to let people stay. "That is another fight to have," she said. "We are dealing with the immediate medical need thats in front of us. Those next steps have not been thought through."
When Tim Hollo decided he would put his hand up for Greens' preselection, at top of mind was the task of renouncing his British citizenship, but he had no idea how long or difficult it would be to renounce another citizenship he wasn't even sure he had.

As MPs began resigning or were shown the door by the High Court, Mr Hollo began the process of investigating up to seven different entitlements to citizenship in December 2017 - a story that involves 14 months of legal wrangling, thousands of dollars and a 75-year-old Hungarian wedding certificate.

"I knew it was going to be complicated, I had no idea how difficult, how lengthy, how costly it was going to end up being," Mr Hollo said.

Tim Hollo's paternal grandparents' Hungarian wedding certificate, which was needed to renounce his citizenship.

His mother was born stateless in a large Russian-Jewish community in Harbin, China, which did not recognise the foreigners as citizens. Mr Hollo's maternal grandparents were both born stateless - his grandmother in Germany, descended from Russian immigrants, and his grandfather also born in Harbin. His mother and her parents were expelled from China during the Cultural Revolution, finding their way to Australia as refugees.
The ACT government's net debt has risen more than $100 million in just six months, with the government drawing on borrowings to fund some $86 million in new spending pledges over the next four years.

Despite voicing warnings about the state of Treasury's coffers and rising levels of debt publicly last year, former Treasury policy director Dr Khalid Ahmed said the latest figures showed the problem was only growing.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr's budget update shows the territory government heading into the red next year. Credit:Karleen Minney

Chief Minister Andrew Barr on Tuesday released the government's mid-year budget review, showing his planned $36 million deficit for 2018-19 had already shrunk to just $1.5 million, with a deficit forecast next year of $27 million.

Despite heading into the red, Mr Barr's budget review included about $22 million in new spending promises this year, growing to about $85 million by 2021-22 and Mr Barr pointed to not having to draw on his $50 million Treasurer's advance to fund the new measures.
The commission was told on Friday that Informer 3838 would "co-operatively assist" its investigations. Loading The commissioner also revealed that a secure mailbox would be opened for three weeks for members of the public to make submissions about the cases, anonymously if required. "We are now calling for public submissions and from Monday 18 February people will be able to make these submissions via the secure online portal of the Commision's website. "We encourage individuals and agencies who can contribute to the investigation ... to make a submission."

Commissioner McMurdo said police believed only one of their contacts, a male solicitor who met with officers in April 2014, possibly breached their professional obligations but that the accuracy of their information would investigated. Police referred to the solicitor as a "community contact" and "given the risks posed by his profession", he was not approved as a police informer and his file was deactivated in May 2014 without intelligence being obtained, the commissioner said. Police disclosed there was another lawyer, now deceased, who had provided information. This lawyers death is the subject of an "ongoing homicide investigation," the commissioner said. It is understood he was slain mafia lawyer Joseph "Pino" Acquaro, although he was not named in Friday's royal commission hearing.

Joseph 'Pino' Acquaro was gunned down in Brunswick in March 2016. The 54-year-old, who represented several prominent Melbourne gangland and Calabrian crime figures, was shot and killed as he left his Lygon Street cafe Gelobar in Brunswick East in March 2016. His client list included convicted drug trafficker Francesco Madafferi and underworld identity Rocco Arico. Last year homicide squad detectives charged 69-year-old Vincent Crupi with murder in relation to Mr Acquaro's death. More details of other police sources were detailed in the commission's hearing.

Commissioner Margaret McMurdo on Friday. One was a court clerk who was registered from January 8, 2011 until May 11, 2016 and had "access to information by virtue of their roles", Commissioner McMurdo said. Another, registered from October 1, 2009 until May 11, 2016, was possibly a court clerk or legal secretary with a law firm but was not a practising lawyer. Police had said this person was not "privy to any legal advice" and the information they supplied did not come from meetings between any lawyer and client. Another was possibly a legal secretary in a corporation who was considered a "community contact" but not an informer, in 2015.

And another was a self-proclaimed legal adviser, but was not a registered legal practitioner, and they too were not registered as an informer, but had a file initiated from December 2015 until January 2016. But, from Friday's hearing, it seemed most of the commission's work will focus on Informer 3838. Given the registered number 3838, the lawyer turned supergrass and shared information about Melbournes criminal underbelly, some of whom were her own clients. In her decade-long career as a barrister, Informer 3838 represented a cross-section of Melbournes underworld. becoming a trusted adviser to drug traffickers, murderers and Mafia figures. Mr Winneke said Informer 3838, given the acronym EF, was first registered as a human source in 1995, and again in 1999 before her deregistration in 2009.

The inquiry will also investigate the conduct of current and former members of Victoria Police in their recruitment and handling of her, as well as the force's management of human sources more broadly. Mr Winneke said the commission will investigate if any legal advice was sought by Victoria Police before or during 3838s registration. He said her status and information was not disclosed to the state or commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. "The commission will examine whether this apparent situation is in fact correct, and if so, why there was no such disclosure," he said. Commissioner McMurdo said the commission expected to receive hundreds of thousands of documents from Victoria Police alone and it would have to establish secure premises to store the sensitive information.

The maze of suppression and non-publication orders that prevent 3838 from ultimately being identified is being "steadily addressed" by the commission, Commissioner McCurdo said. "This has not been straightforward," she said. "As much as possible, the commission intends to hold hearings in public." Those hearings will start on a date yet to be fixed, and the commission will be required to report by December 1 this year. It does not have the power to quash convictions, change sentences or order retrials.

Mr Winneke said the significance of this royal commission cannot be understated. "The legitimacy of our criminal justice system relies on the process being fair and even-handed," he said. "All members of the community, including importantly the victims of criminal activity, must be able to trust that the justice system and the individuals working within it ... will adhere to the highest standards of integrity and propriety." The at-times chequered history of Victoria Police's handling of human sources was also touched upon in Friday's hour-long hearing. Two high-profile police informers have been murdered while under the care of Victoria Police or Corrections Victoria, including Terence Hodson  who was killed along with his wife Christine Hodson  and Carl Williams.

The Hodson murders were linked with corruption in the drug squad in the early 2000s and subsequent reviews found handling of informers was secretive, unaccountable and police had little, if any, control over informers. The royal commission was announced following a damning High Court decision that described Victoria Police's conduct in their use of Informer 3838 as "reprehensible" and her use had "debased fundamental premises of the criminal justice system". It came after the Director of Public Prosecutions and Victoria Police fought an epic two-year legal battle over whether the barrister's former clients should be informed that her dual role as a lawyer and informer had compromised or contaminated their criminal cases. The DPP notified 20 convicted criminals their cases could have been tainted, including Faruk Orman, the gangland getaway driver convicted of murdering Victor Peirce. Drug traffickers Rob Karam and Tony Mokbel, who earlier this week was stabbed in maximum security prison after boasting that he would overturn his conviction due to the scandal, are also appealing.
At the heart of the controversy is a clear philosophical divide between two arms of the criminal justice system - lawyers and police. Lawyers claim the barristers obligation to maintain confidentiality meant police should never have used her information. Police argue they broke no laws in using her as a source and had an obligation to use any material they could to stop the underworld war. What we now know is she was not alone. Police say there were up to seven other informers who have provided information, which may breach professional privilege. While they are not all lawyers, Melbourne solicitors and barristers who work in the criminal law have been in a flat spin since the news broke. Loading Some are concerned they could have been registered without their knowledge years earlier, even though they had not provided confidential information. Others fear that violent clients who were found guilty might jump to the conclusion that their lawyers conspired with the police against them. They may add two and two and reach for a .38 pistol. The main issue will be whether some of 3838's clients did not get fair trials, or were forced to plead guilty on the back of tainted evidence.

While the nature, value and legitimacy of her information will be examined by the royal commission (there are already murmurings that the July deadline for an interim report may be too tight), what is established is that she was spectacularly ill-suited to being a double agent. For years she refused police security, preferring to hide in plain sight, and while the underworld knows her name she had managed to live a relatively normal life in open society. This has now changed. Former colleagues shun her, she is blackballed by some relatives and parents in her social circle are turning away, not wanting their children in potential danger. Her way of life is collapsing. Drug dealer and killer Carl Williams is arrested, November 2003. He came to believe that 3838 was a snitch. Credit:Angela Wylie Since losing the High Court case in December, police have been trying to perform a massive magic trick. They are attempting to make 3838 disappear, at least from the public records. Many of the online stories that can track her have gone, property records with her name have been sealed and photos buried. Legally, they are trying to put a very identifiable genie in a very anonymous bottle. Like a Soviet leader who is out of fashion, it is as if she didnt exist.

So this is what we can say without increasing the risks or breaching suppression orders (gulp). Her family is the template of a successful migrant dynasty, succeeding in the restaurant and legal trades. A student at an elite girls school, her father died when she was a teenager. She was determined to experience all sides of Melbourne University life, dabbling in student newspapers and embracing left-wing politics while passing her law degree. Even then she either gravitated to bad company or began to make a series of poor choices when it came to her social network. Around the halfway point of her degree, she struck what could have been a career-ending hurdle. In 1993 police raided her Rathdowne Street home and seized methamphetamines valued at $82,000, half a kilo of cannabis and prohibited weapons. While two men faced more serious charges, she pleaded guilty to possession and use. No conviction was recorded, allowing her to embark on her legal career. In 1995, while still a student, she was registered as a police informer. But the system was so flawed that this fact was only discovered accidentally in late January, when a file was found in a cardboard box in police storage.

3838 registered as a police informer not once but several times. Credit:Illustration: Jo Gay Now police have told the royal commission she was also used as an informer in 1999 and five other witnesses who may have breached professional privilege have been identified. By 1998, as a very young barrister, she had started to construct a brand. In a business dominated by middle-aged men in suits she was a flashy dresser, with a reputation as a hard worker and player. In a profession that frowns on self-promotion, she was happy to drip-feed gossip columnists with naughty girl stories dubbing her a hotshot legal eagle. Soon after she became a barrister, Melbournes underworld went to war on October 13, 1999, when drug dealer Carl Williams was shot and wounded by gangsters Jason and Mark Moran. It was around this time that she registered as an informer for a second time - four years before the Purana Gangland Taskforce was established. Just months after the taskforce began, she started to secretly meet one of its key investigators. She says she told him of how Williams was trying to control witnesses and of solicitors perverting the course of justice and conspiring with criminals to try to ensure a number of gangland murders would remain unsolved.

Tony Mokbel: Ambushed in prison. Always wanted to get out of jail, but not in an air ambulance. Credit:AAP Around that time she considered leaving the Criminal Bar to open a juice bar in Asia. Instead she went back to her old ways, working and socialising with heavy crooks while secretly talking to police. In September 2005 she again became a registered informer: My breaking point came when I was threatened by Tony Mokbel to ensure that a first-time offender, who was operating pill presses and manufacturing tens of thousands of MDMA pills for him, kept his mouth shut and pleaded guilty. Certainly according to another police source, codenamed Witness B, there was such an event, but it was more than two years earlier. In April 2003, after a Mokbel drug lab was raided in Rye, Witness B and Tony's brother Horty Mokbel went to a side street near the St Kilda Road Drug Squad office to wait for the arrested men to be released: [3838] was there as well, she was coming in and out of the station and she would come and speak to Horty and me around the corner. Witness B claimed Drug Squad detective Paul Dale rang 3838 with the tip that one of the arrested men was considering talking.

A Mokbel drug lab goes up in smoke. Credit:Pat Scala She said that Dale must have realised that [the suspect] was about to start talking about the Rye drug job and who was involved and he wanted to give up everyone. [She] said that Dale then rang her to get her to come and talk to [the suspect]. [She] said that on that day she convinced [the suspect] not to roll [talk]. One of the challenges for the royal commission is to establish when 3838 was acting as a barrister, with an obligation to provide confidential and sound legal advice, and when she was acting as a co-conspirator, trying to shut down police investigations and stop witnesses talking. Certainly the interested parties, including police and senior prosecutors, were surprised when Premier Daniel Andrews announced a royal commission. In the otherwise glacial world of legal process, it was supposed to be short and sharp, reporting by the end of the year. That aim has already been blown apart by the news that police had up to seven other informers who may have broken privilege. If the inquiry drills back to a cocaine bust nearly 20 years ago, it has the capacity to blow the lid on what was then widespread drug use and improper associations. And if 3838s initial claim that she provided information on solicitors perverting the course of justice and conspiring with criminals is true, the commission could expose the underbelly of both the law enforcement and judicial systems.
Two boys in north Queensland have had their birthday wishes come true thanks to a police officer who travelled on a rescue boat to deliver presents after they were cut off from town in Charters Towers.

Cousins Nait Jonsson, 7, and Nathan Liddell, 11, were trapped when the Hann River flooded their road earlier this month, knew they would miss a chance to celebrate their birthdays, which were days apart.

Mother of the seven-year-old, Heather Jonsson said she saw the Hann River block Gregory Development Road on February 3, with vehicles arriving in the early hours and having no way to cross.

Police from Charters Towers in the Townsville District have been out and about over the past few weeks, assisting with the evacuation of stranded motorists and the re-supply of grazing property owners in the area. Credit:Queensland Police Service

"We noticed the river went from 0.6 metres to 1.2 meters within two hours," she said.
Four teenage girls have been taken to hospital after overdosing on a prescription medication at a high school on the Gold Coast.

The girls were taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital. Credit:Robert Shakespeare

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman said paramedics were called to Southport State High School on Smith Street at 8.30am on Friday.

He said the incident was reported as an overdose of an unknown substance.

They were taken to the Gold Coast Hospital in a stable condition.
The former chief executive of Ipswich City Council, his wife and two businessmen have been sentenced in Brisbane District Court on Friday for corruption.

Carl Wulff, 66, his wife Sharon Oxenbridge, 50, and businessmen Wayne Myers, 64, and Claude Walker, 61, all pleaded guilty in December after they were charged following a lengthy Crime and Corruption Commission investigation into the council's dealings.

Carl Wulff arrives at the Brisbane District and Supreme Court in December. Credit:Jono Searle - AAP

Wulff, who has already spent 57 days in prison, was sentenced to 4 years prison for the two charges of corruption, served concurrently.

He was also sentenced to six months served cumulatively for the third charge of attempting to pervert the investigation.
Posted Friday, February 15, 2019 1:13 pm

In the front lobby of Washington States legislative building stands a larger-than-life bronze statue of Marcus Whitman, an exact replica of one located in the National Statuary Hall in Washington D.C.

This, and other commemorations of Whitman, have come under recent debate about whether or not he is the best representation of Washingtons history.

Whitman was a physician who brought many settlers to Washington by covered wagon. In 1847, after a measles outbreak killed many whites and Native Americans, Marcus Whitman and his family were murdered by members of the Cayuse tribe. Sides disagree on whether this attack was justified legal retribution, or an act of revenge.

Rowland Thompson, a Whitman College Graduate, spoke in opposition to Senate Bill 5237, which would create a work group to replace the statues in both capitals.

This bill presumes to do a character assassination on someone who was alive 170 years ago, Thompson said. I think that you really need to think this through pretty carefully if youre going to head down this road.

Whitman has a county, mission, and college named after him in Washington, and is one of the states top honorees. The creation of a work group, which according to the bill would include historians, archeologists and legislators, would cost over $91,000.

State Government and Tribal Relations chair Sam Hunt, D-Olympia, suggested that SB 5237 would not move past committee. The bills prime sponsor Sen. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, said that the goal of the bill was simply to start a conversation about the issue. Four other Democratic senators from western Washington signed on to the bill.

I think we benefit from looking at our history and recognizing that we as a society embrace ideas and images that fit the times in which we live, Sen. Carlyle said. Theres a healthy, open civic discourse. This is what makes a healthy democracy.
A woman has been charged with assaulting police after she allegedly hurled a television at officers in inner Sydney on Friday night.

Police say the woman, 29, verbally abused them and spat in the face of a male leading senior constable when officers went to a Woolloomooloo home at about 11pm to probe a stolen property matter.

The woman allegedly shut a door on another officer when police tried to arrest her, causing a cut to the constable's forehead.

She then threw the television before running towards the male officer, who fired his Taser at her.

The woman was arrested and paramedics treated her at the property.
A 21-year-old man was arrested at Sydney Airport on Thursday after allegedly attempting to import 80 kilograms of MDMA into Australia.

US citizen Eric Haddock was arrested by Australian Border Force officers after he allegedly travelled to Australia from the United States to receive the consignment of MDMA and enable its distribution in Sydney.

The drugs were detected on Tuesday by Australian Border Force officers, allegedly concealed in a commercial-grade electro-magnet. The matter was referred to the Australian Federal Police, who located 83 bags of a brown crystalline.

A 21-year-old man from the Unites States was arrested at Sydney Airport on Thursday after allegedly attempting to import 80 kilograms of MDMA into Australia. Credit:AFP

The man first arrived in Australia on Wednesday, flying into Melbourne on a flight from the United States. The next morning, police allege the man travelled to Sydney to take possession of the illicit substances which had arrived via air cargo from Germany.
A man will spend at least 20 years behind bars after he was found guilty of the execution-style murder of his long-time friend in Sydney's inner-west.

Bill Panagakos, 45, was shot dead at close range late on March 4, 2014  his birthday  on the corner of a Petersham street.

Gazi Safarjalani arrives at court in February 2019. Credit:AAP

He was hit by five bullets from a .38-calibre handgun: twice in the head, once in the face and once in the back, with the fifth bullet causing an abrasion on his arm.

Witnesses reported seeing two men approaching Mr Panagakos before the shooting and a dark-coloured car driving away afterwards.
Former Australian Taxation Office deputy commissioner Michael Cranston said he was "just doing my job" after he was exonerated of misusing his senior position in the public service to pass information on to his entrepreneur son.

An emotional Mr Cranston was on the verge of tears yesterday as he stepped down from the dock in the Downing Centre District Court and hugged his wife, Gloria, after the jury found the 40-year ATO veteran not guilty of two dishonesty charges while employed as a Commonwealth public official.

Mr Cranston said outside court that he was "absolutely shocked" when he was charged.

"I just know looking at what I did, I was just doing my job, passing on a matter. I declared my conflict about my son and thats what I do everyday," he said.
When the government feels obliged to tell the world about a new batch of apartments it wants built, it tends to employ the ruse these days of talking about parks instead. Its the parents trick of cloaking a trip to the dentist in the promise of future chocolate.

More parks and open space, declared the announcement about the redevelopment of Waterloo in inner Sydney. Those interested in what was actually planned had to do their own sums to see the proposal in fact represented a scale of residential development never seen in Australia. And yet, somehow, Gladys gang described that as more parks.

The dissembling is not an aberration. Rather theres been an incoherence that long ago seeped into the governments planning and development policies and which, with an election around the corner, has hardened into gobbledygook and doublespeak.

It is understandable, to some degree, that governments and oppositions will say what they need to get to the other side of an election. But what is striking in the context of the impending state election is the lack of ambition to improve an area of policy that is so contentious, and so in need of an overhaul. That area being the process of determining what and how changes are made to the way land is used in Sydney and NSW.
Police had no choice but to shoot dead "toxic" Tinder stalker Paul Lambert on a freeway after he stabbed his ex-girlfriend and doused her with petrol, a NSW coronial inquest has found.

Lambert, 36, began dating Mid North Coast doctor Angela Jay long distance after matching with her on Tinder in August 2016.

Paul Lambert was the subject of 10 apprehended violence orders from five separate women, including his former wife. Credit:Facebook

The relationship, which lasted less than two months, deteriorated after Lambert became "controlling and possessive", threatened suicide, lied about deaths and created a false identity, findings by the NSW Coroner released on Friday reveal.

But Lambert's "insidious" manipulations were part of a much larger history of abuse against women, Acting State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan found.
Thanks to Jean Nassif, visitors to Parramatta have fewer spots to park their cars; fortunately for the property developer, he has ample garage room for the familys new yellow Lamborghini.

Mr Nassifs company, Toplace, has been in a stalemate with the City of Parramatta council over a major residential development in which Toplace dug three basement levels for which it did not have approval.

The stand-off has meant that Parramatta locals and visitors do not yet have access to more than 700 CBD parking spots, which were to be returned for public use in return for Toplaces development rights.

But the debacle of the non-compliant basement is not Mr Nassifs only recent worry. In the past week, a video posted to social media depicting the moment in which he gifts a new car to his wife Nissy Nassif has become something of a meme, opening up his developer lifestyle to fun at its gauche expense.
At Steven Glass's funeral, his closest friends and loved ones were discovering things about him they didn't know and connecting with people that they had never met before. It's not that Steven was secretive, he was simply a man who got things done, quietly, without fanfare, and with no expectation of recognition.

Steven was born in Melbourne in 1960 to John and Ellen Glass. His mother's family escaped Nazi Germany, and his father was a Holocaust survivor so, from childhood, Steven was attuned to the suffering of others, which inspired his commitment to social justice.

Steven Glass was the son of asylum seekers.

After the family moved to Sydney in the early '70s, Steven completed school and an electrical engineering degree in quick succession, before realising that his true calling lay in the law. Steven made his name and reputation as a fearsome commercial litigator at Gilbert + Tobin, where he was a partner for more than 20 years. However, his real passion was his pro-bono work.

Many of the causes Steven championed were legally complex and socially controversial. He defended David Hicks when the government tried to take the proceeds of his book sales. He fought Senator Nigel Scullion, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs to prevent the government from revoking a $10 million grant to a charity that provides support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who suffer from a debilitating neurological disease. Once, he successfully secured the release of a young Indigenous client with an intellectual disability from unlawful detention by issuing a writ of habeas corpus.
A second tobacco giant has announced a Formula 1 sponsorship deal before the Melbourne Grand Prix, sparking fears big cigarette companies are teaming up with racing to flout advertising bans at motorsports events.

British American Tobacco this week announced it had signed a deal with McLaren, which has several purposes.

McLaren drivers Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris in racegear with the 'A Better Tomorrow' slogan

BAT will use McLaren's F1 cars to advertise its "A Better Tomorrow" initiative, which will promote "less risky" tobacco and nicotine products. But it will also work closely with McLaren Applied Technologies to collaborate and share technology "expertise" including batteries and design.

BAT chief marketing officer Kingsley Wheaton said the partnership would allow the company to "drive greater resonance" of its products, including e-cigarettes.
Posted Thursday, February 14, 2019 4:10 pm

Benito Marquez, a 17-year-old Lewis County teen charged in the beating death of Randle teen Benjamin Eastman III, is expected to plead guilty in the case during a hearing on Friday, Feb. 22.

Marquez and his brother Jonathan Adamson have both been charged in Eastmans death, and are facing an identical set of charges: first-degree murder, first-degree rape, tampering with physical evidence and unlawful disposal of remains.

Specific details about the plea agreement will remain vague until the hearing concludes, said Marquezs attorney, Shane ORourke. The hearing on Friday, which is set to be a plea only and will not include a sentencing, will start at 3:30 p.m. in Lewis County Superior Courts department 2.

Theres certain reasons until that time  I cant give any specifics about what that entails, said ORourke, who added later: The details are essentially ironed out, we think, but there are a couple loose ends and things that need to be tied up, so I cant give any information other than that at this time.

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer cited legislation called the Miller-fix, when asked if Marquezs age factored into negotiations with ORourke on a fair outcome and plea deal.

The Miller-fix, according to a post from the Washington Defender Association, essentially mandates that a juvenile receive a 25-year sentence for an aggravated murder conviction  with an opportunity for release after serving the minimum 25 year sentence.

Meyer called it a presumptive release date, regardless of sentence.

But the main driver for me, he needs to be held accountable, and we need to make sure that Mr. Eastman has justice. I dont care what your age is. You dont have the right to take away someone elses life, Meyer said.

Meyer said he and ORourke were in consistent and frequent communication to reach an agreement.

Weve been working really diligently to get this case resolved. There are things that weigh in their favor, things that weigh in my favor. Both Shane and I have been around long enough to kind of be able to read a case and think, OK, were gonna be in the same ballpark as to where a case is going to end up, said Meyer.

Marquez has been in solitary confinement  on $10 million bail  in the Lewis County Jail since July 2, 2018. When asked if the negotiations have moved quickly considering the severity of the charges, Meyer said that they have, thanks to frequent communication among parties. He added: But, its not like it was a whodunit type of case.

Meyer said he couldnt comment how this latest update on Marquez might affect Adamsons case.

Adamson and Marquez are accused of beating Eastman to death. The teen was reported missing by his father on June 27, 2018. Deputies later found Eastman buried in a shallow grave on June 28, according to court documents. Documents also indicate deputies believe the two were responsible for Eastmans death because of interviews with the two suspects.

Adamson currently has a jury trial set for the week of Aug. 5.
The Environa bandstand as it appears on the front cover of the 1978 booklet 'Undiscovered Canberra', by Allan J. Mortlock and Bernice Anderson. Today, apart from its ghostly online map-only streets, all that remains of his grand plan are a number of striking monuments such as bandstands and a 12-metre-high obelisk which he constructed to further lure prospective buyers. Please note, Environa is private property so is not accessible to the public without explicit permission from the landowner.

Belconnens road to nowhere Many readers, often new residents of Belconnen, are perplexed about the fenced-off road parallel to Joynton Smith Drive which leads from Coulter Drive to Westfield Belconnen. Why close what appears to be a perfectly good road? asks one perplexed newcomer. The abandoned busway leading into Westfield Belconnen. Credit:Tim the Yowie Man The back-story: This road is actually an abandoned purpose-built busway which ran from Coulter Drive to Belconnen Mall and was closed due to the expansion of the mall and the construction of the new bus interchange in 2009. Over the last decade this one-kilometre stretch of road has become an eyesore; strewn with trolleys and all sorts of household rubbish. When your Akubra-clad columnist visited this week, I also found over a dozen pairs of discarded underwear. The mind boggles.

However, the cyclone fencing preventing vehicles from using the discarded road as a sneaky car park will soon be removed, for according to a spokesperson for the ACT government, the road is about to be re-purposed as part of the new Belconnen bikeway. Construction on the bikeway, which will connect The University of Canberra and other public institutions on the east side of the Belconnen Town Centre with suburbs to the west is expected to start mid this year, reports the spokesperson. Inaccessible roadside rest stop Ive often pondered what the history is with that abandoned lookout that sits just off the Monaro Highway on the final downhill run towards the Johnson Drive roundabout, overlooking Theodore, says Bryce England of Jerrabomberra, who sometimes cycles past it on his way to work in Hume. Is it perhaps an example of infrastructure that was completed but never actually commissioned into service? he asks.

Theres not much of view from the lookout at this abandoned rest area on the Monaro Highway at Theodore. Credit:Bryce England The back-story: Far from never being used, the lookout is actually part of a roadside rest area that was closed permanently to vehicles in 2007 in response to resident complaints. A number of streets, including Freda Gibson Circuit, are within 60 metres of the rest area and you can imagine it could be very noisy, especially at night if used by trucks. In order to respond to the risk associated with fatigue, the ACT government advises it is currently exploring new rest area locations further south on the Monaro Highway.

Bypassed bypass 1965 tourist map of Canberra featuring Monash Drive. Credit:Courtesy of Leith Bade For many years Leith Bade of Queanbeyan has found it curious that some older maps of Canberra show a Monash Drive as a significant bypass of Canberras inner north running along the northern base of Mt Majura and Mt Ainslie. I have a copy of an old 1960s BP tourist map of Canberra and find it interesting as it shows the state of Canberra when Watson to the north and Narrabundah to the south was the entire extent of Canberra, reports Bade, who wonders whatever happened to Monash Drive? The back-story: The proposed Monash Drive, slated to run along the eastern side of Hackett, Ainslie and Campbell, connecting Antill Street with Fairbairn Avenue, was initially pencilled in by the National Capital Development Commission - now the National Capital Authority - in the early 1960s.

However, as a result of both the construction of the Majura Parkway, and the light rail, both built to improve traffic flow in the inner north, late last year the ACT government wrote to the NCA asking for an amendment to the National Capital Plan to remove the corridor as a future roadway. No word on a response yet. Watch this space. Do you know of any phantom roads in our region? Please let me know. Spotted Yet another object gobbled up by a tree. Credit:Nicholas Corby Prompted by this columns recent series on objects eaten by trees (Appetite for the Bizarre, November 6), several readers, including regular correspondent Nicholas Corby, have submitted photographic evidence of even more metal objects embedded in trees.

Powerline conundrum. Credit:Mark Handley Corby spotted this horse shoe well and truly embedded in a tree near the junction of the Goobarragandra and Tumut Rivers, west of Canberra. Meanwhile, Mark Handley of Queanbeyan has submitted a photo what looks like a power line that has previously grown through a long-gone tree, near his parents home in Adelaide. I cant remember the tree, having left home many years ago, but it appears as if the power authority thought it best to remove the tree and leave the remaining block of wood to avoid damaging the power cable, reports Handley. Perhaps there needs to be a register of such oddities?

Simulacra Corner Can you 'see' the face in this tree? Credit:Victoria Richardson Victoria Richardson of Richardson was recently amused when she noticed this tree in the Jamison Centre car park. Is he smoking a cigar or poking his tongue out? she asks. As an aside, are there any other Canberrans out there with surnames matching their suburb? Contact Tim: Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick.

Where in Canberra? Do you know the location of this door? Credit:Tim the Yowie Man Clue: Stay clear! Degree of difficulty: Medium

Last week: Congratulations to first-time entrant Helen Delahunty of Deakin as the first reader to correctly identify last weeks photo, sent in by Amanda Horne, as a freshly painted mural near the intersection of Flinders Way and Mugga Lane. It was created by Geoff Filmer of Graffik Paint  the same artist who painted the TARDIS on the steps near Red Hill Lookout, reports Helen, who says it brings a smile to my face every day I walk past it. A number of steam enthusiasts were quick to identify the engine which Filmer confirms is an impression of the oldest functioning steam locomotive in Australia, the 1210, which was built in 1878 and used to be based at the Canberra historical Railway Museum. The mural near the intersection of Flinders Way and Mugga Lane. Credit:Amanda Horne
She wanted to remain anonymous and believed he had only about seven to 10 plants at the home. But the effort to get her brother help would soon spin out of control. After the illegal raid police charged the man with cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis to sell, a crime carrying 25 years jail. At a pretrial hearing last week to exclude evidence from the trial, the court heard the sister had called police in November 2017 asking them to do something. The police gave evidence that the sister told them her brother had left the house and said I think hes selling them or at least disposing of them, and that they believed his former partner might be involved.

Police said they acted then to enter the home under emergency search powers. Those powers require an officer to believe it is necessary to enter to prevent the loss of evidence and that the situation was so serious and so urgent it could not wait for a warrant. One officer agreed under cross-examination that the emergency search could only be exercised in a genuine emergency, which included where it wasn't possible to get a warrant without risking loss of evidence. But the police had not tried to get a warrant over the telephone, a process the officer agreed can take less than an hour. After the police gave evidence that day, lawyers for the man called the sister to court at the last minute, and she gave extraordinary evidence, having up to then refusing to give a statement.

The woman, a public servant, admitted she had made the calls to police in an effort to get her brother help. She also said that when she had called police that day she was pressured to go to her brothers home and confirm the plants were still there, so that police could act straight away. She was hesitant and told the officer she didn't want her brother to know it was her. But the woman said she asked her boss permission to leave work and when police called her back during the visit she said there werent as many plants as first thought, a few baby plants. But police had then allegedly urged her to get out of the house because they were on their way.

The sister denied telling police her brother had left the house to sell the plants or that she believed he was involved in selling at all, and denied saying the former partner was involved at all. The court earlier heard that the police officer who took the call made no notes of the conversation. At the end of the days hearing Justice David Mossop exercised his discretion to exclude from the trial evidence obtained unlawfully. Prosecutors abandoned the case this week. The man's defence lawyer Charlene Harris, from Aulich Law, told The Canberra Times the case needed to be dismissed. "Police investigative powers can infringe our basic rights," she said.
Emergency department doctor Katie Walker always knew there was more she could do to help her patients, but felt her hands were tied behind her back by the huge amount of clerical work that took up a large part of her day.

She wondered if there was a relatively simple solution that could also cut waiting times and make hospitals more efficient.

Will Dunlop is an ANU medical student was head scribe in a recent trial. Credit:Jamila Toderas

It was this frustration that led her to spearhead an Australian-first study that trialled the role of scribes in a few emergency departments across Victoria.

Scribes are trained to complete clerical data entry associated with a patients visit to the emergency

department, allowing doctors to concentrate on core medical tasks instead.
The finishing touches are being put to an important religious building in the ACT.

The Sri Lankan community has been building a special "stupa" or pagoda which is to be formally finished with a ceremony on Saturday and officially opened a week later.

Designer of Canberra's first Stupa, Gavaragiriye Indasumana, at the Buddhist Centre in Kambah. Credit:Dion Georgopoulos

There are several Buddhist temples in the territory but a stupa is viewed as the very essence of Buddhism. It's a domed structure to hold relics of the life of the Buddha, the ancient teacher and founder of the religion. Stones from temples associated with him are often used.

This will be the first stupa in the ACT.
Warm and fuzzy it's not, but American politics is, weirdly, full of hugs. There was that time in 1979 when Jimmy Carter, overcome with emotion, embraced the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev  only to be shown up six months later when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Remember the grainy footage of Bill Clinton embracing a young woman in a beret at a rally in 1996? Later we'd know her as Monica Lewinsky, but back then the hug was just another example of the president as a consummate people person.

Illustration: Simon Letch. Credit:

In 2009, when Michelle Obama put an arm around Queen Elizabeth II's shoulder, the British press reached for their smelling salts at the first lady's flouting of protocol. Obama later explained that the two of them were bonding over their uncomfortable shoes, and that the hug was just "what's instinctive to me any time I feel connected to a new person". Even Donald Trump, noted germophobe, likes a hug. It's famously how he introduced himself to James Comey, only to later fire him; the FBI director later told a friend he was "disgusted" by the physical contact.

Whether a national aversion to ceremony or a conscious rejection of Old World ways, hugging is so rife in the US that it's not even restricted to people you actually like. It's the default greeting on first dates, a way of wrapping things up at the conclusion of business meetings  in short, the go-to move any time you need to acknowledge that talking is about to, or has taken, place. Much like the exclamation point in emails, something which was once special has become standard. Not using it is a mild but distinct act of aggression.

Hugging in Australia is, for the most part, viewed as an intrusion on carefully policed personal space. Viewed under the harsh light of the Australian sun, pressing one's body against another seems intrusive, a violation only forgivable if you're an AFL player mid-tackle.
BELLE DE JOUR (101 minutes) M

An international hit that gave staunch surrealist Luis Bunuel a new identity as a European arthouse favourite, this 1967 masterpiece stars Catherine Deneuve as a bourgeois housewife who turns tricks in the afternoon. It's designed to tease the viewer in more than one sense, blurring the border between reality and dream. Screens as part of the Young at Heart film festival. Digitally projected. Palace Westgarth, Saturday, February 16, 3.45pm and Palace Balwyn, Sunday, February 17, 1.20pm.

Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour.

FRENZY (116 minutes) M

After decades in Hollywood, Alfred Hitchcock returned home to London to shoot this blackly comic 1972 thriller about a modern equivalent of Jack the Ripper, a career summary that recycles many of his favourite themes and devices while doubling down on his grim view of human nature. Screens as part of a Hitchcock retrospective. Digitally projected. Lido, Classic and Cameo, Sunday, February 17, 4pm.
Fiona Lowe has been a midwife, a sexual health counsellor and a family support worker; an ideal career for an author who writes about family, community and relationships. Her new novel, Home Fires, is published by HQ Fiction.

PRIDE & PREJUDICE

Fiona Lowe.

Jane Austen

It was my 15th summer, we were camping and I'd run out of books. My mother handed me her school prize edition of Pride and Prejudice and said, "Read this". At 100 pages, I said, "It's so boring". She said, Keep reading". Later, I said indignantly, "That horrible Mr Darcy!". She said, "Keep reading". Much later, I breathed out, "Oh, Mr Darcy". My mother smiled. I've been hooked on happy endings ever since.
I knew I wanted to write a novel that paid homage to hip-hop. As a teenager, hip-hop was how I saw myself when I didn't see myself in books. And I could never seem to find books that gave hip-hop its due. For so many kids, hip-hop is their music, hip-hop is their culture; it speaks to them when other things don't. I mean, white suburban kids are the biggest consumers of hip-hop.

Few first novelists have the kind of success Angie Thomas saw with The Hate U Give, which has spent 100 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list and been made into an acclaimed movie. Perhaps even fewer write a second novel that gets as many advance raves as Thomas' On the Come Up. It's set in the same fictional community, Garden Heights, but Thomas turns her attention away from Starr (the protagonist in her first novel) to the world of hip-hop, and Brianna, a talented teenager who lives and breathes it.

On the Come Up. By Angie Thomas.

I had this character, Bri, and I knew she had to be a rapper, but that's all. I got the idea for the plot after The Hate U Give, when I began to deal with challenges to the novel, people trying to censor it. A police union in South Carolina spoke out against the book being on a summer reading list. The union was concerned that it created anti-police sentiments. And it was challenged by some school districts, because of the language ... I knew it wasn't really about the language, it was the subject matter.

So when I was dealing with my own censorship, I thought of the rappers who had meant so much to me, like Tupac, Biggie, Lauryn Hill and Nas, and how they went through it. I was raised knowing that when hip-hop spoke up, it was always challenged. My mantra is: I want to write the way rappers write. They can make us laugh, they can make us cry, they can make us uncomfortable, they can make us feel empowered. When they use hip-hop well, they're being authentic and true to themselves. When you write for teenagers, they know phoniness a mile away.

How did you set about creating the character of Brianna, who is very different from Starr?

It was always going to be a whole different book from The Hate U Give, but when I did think about Bri in relationship to Starr, it was with the idea of going in the exact opposite direction. Bri's family is not as stable and functional. Who's to say a young lady with a family like that doesn't deserve to have her story told? People tell me, "I love how Starr handles herself." Well, here's a young lady who speaks from her heart and speaks without thinking. I hope some readers walk away learning that even black kids from the same place are totally different.
Loading "Were the law more accommodating, we would seek to give our riders greater security without sacrificing their flexible supplier agreements," the Deliveroo submission says. Uber says its transport and food delivery platform will also make a submission to the Victorian inquiry into the on-demand workforce within a week. An Uber spokeswoman says it supports the French government's proposal to allow online platforms to improve driver protections as part of a social charter under existing laws. Uber believes that everyone should have access to a set of affordable and reliable social protections, whatever category of employment they are in," the spokeswoman says. But legal experts say a "third way" is just a new way of denying workers the full range of benefits, including minimum rates of pay, superannuation, sick leave and rights against unfair dismissal.

Tax authorities are chasing Foodora, which exited the Australian market last year, for unpaid tax and superannuation liabilities to its "employees". Former Foodora delivery rider Josh Klooger won an unfair dismissal case against the company. Separately, former Foodora rider Josh Klooger, represented by the Transport Workers Union, won an unfair dismissal case which found he was an employee and not an independent contractor, as claimed by Foodora. Shae McCrystal, a professor of labour law at the University of Sydney, says the Fair Work Commission's decision in Klooger's favour would have spooked other companies, including Uber and Deliveroo, prompting Deliveroo's latest push for a new legal definition to cover its contract riders. The Victorian government - and federal and NSW Labor parties, if they are successful at the polls - have flagged tightening the regulation of the on-demand economy. In my view, the reason Deliveroo is doing this is because it is staring down the barrel of potential rulings that its riders are in fact employees, and that would mean those riders would be subject to benefits of the Fair Work Act, McCrystal says.

Every time you talk about a third category of worker, a 'third way', what you are really talking about is creating a category of worker that is denied the protections of labour law and you are talking about complicated models where the boundary lines get shifted. That encourages employers to shift workers into these more grey areas where they get fewer protections and less pay." Loading Deliveroo Australia country manager Levi Aron "categorically" denies that Deliveroo is trying to institutionalise and legitimise the exploitation of riders, saying they earn an average of $22 an hour for an average of 15 hours of work per week. He says the Fair Work Ombudsman looked into Deliveroo's operations last year and decided against taking action. Aron warns that any move to reclassify riders as employees would remove the flexibility they value. While Deliveroo is open to a conversation about providing benefits including sick pay and third-party insurance, Aron believes that riders, who provide their own bicycle and phone, are best placed to manage their superannuation. "We are looking at a way to embrace the digital economy and move forward without leaving Australia behind while many other countries move forward," Aron says. "We are dealing with decade-old legislation."

In a new research paper, McCrystal and professor of law Andrew Stewart from the University of Adelaide, show how attempts to create a "third way" between employee and contractor have failed in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Soon to be published in the Australian Journal of Labour Law, their paper says sham contracting is best addressed with an expanded definition of employment that presumes all workers to be employees, unless they are clearly running their own business. The creation of an intermediate category of workers simply creates new opportunities for some labour contractors to manipulate contract arrangements to fall within their preferred legal definition, they say. Employment law Professor Andrew Stewart from Adelaide University. Credit:James Brickwood "Trying to solve the problem of this blurred line between employment and contracting by introducing an intermediate category simply ends up taking rights away from employees," Stewart says. "In Britain, workers who arguably should be treated as employees get put into this intermediary category instead. On the plus side it confirms they have some rights, but also confirms there are many other rights that employees have that they don't have." In Spain, the creation of an intermediate category of worker, known as TRADE, set the bar for inclusion so high that few self-employed workers fell under the new definition. To be covered, a worker needed to draw at least three-quarters of their income from services to a single client.
Small businesses are urged to speak up about mental health challenges, particularly when bills loom, with the tax office and utilities providers pledging to keep customer mental health and wellbeing front of mind.

It comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison attended a small business mental health roundtable in Canberra this week, placing mental health care planning top of the agenda for Australia's smallest companies.

Supporting small businesses facing mental health and cashflow issues has been flagged a top priority. Credit:Erin Jonasson

The Australian Taxation Office followed up its attendance at the round table with a pledge to better support businesses facing mental health issues, including providing training around mental health to 6,000 front line staff.

The ATO reminded small businesses that payment plans and early intervention are available. Close to 800,000 plans were entered into in the past 12 months.
Posted Friday, February 15, 2019 9:41 am

A physical education teacher at McDermoth Elementary School in Aberdeen was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of a 2017 sexual assault of an 11-year-old male relative in Marysville.

Ryan Michael Harless, 35, was arrested by Aberdeen Police as he left work, then transported to Marysville.

The victim's mother called police Feb. 7 after the victim, now living in Florida, told her about the assault, said Marysville police Cmdr. Mark Thomas.

A second relative has come forward, reporting that he was victimized by Harless several times between June 2004 and June 2005, when he was 11 years old and living outside Snohomish County, said Thomas. Additional charges from those alleged assaults are being reviewed by prosecutors.

Harless appeared in Everett District Court Thursday afternoon on one count of first-degree rape of a child. Bail was set at $100,000.

"Our experience in cases of this nature is that there could be additional victims that have not yet come forward," said Marysville Det. Craig Bartl. "We are asking that any victims please contact their local law enforcement agency and make a report."

The Aberdeen School District was made aware of the arrest shortly after it was made.

School Superintendent Alicia Henderson told The Daily World that Harless has been employed by the district since 2012 and said there had been no complaints or disciplinary action against him during his employment. He has served as the physical education teacher at McDermoth during his entire time with the district.

She said on Thursday district administrators talked to faculty at McDermoth about the situation and would be posting a statement on the district Facebook page.

"We encourage the community, if they have concerns about Mr. Harless, to contact the police department as this is an active investigation," said Henderson.

Asked if any decisions have been made regarding Harless' employment with the district, Henderson said, "No. At this time there has not been any action taken about his employment. He is not at work today because he is in custody."

Henderson said the district is cooperating fully and the investigation does not involve any students of the Aberdeen School District. Anyone who thinks they may have information that would aid the investigation is asked to contact Detective Jeff Weiss at the Aberdeen Police Department, (360) 533-8765, she said.

"As always, the safety of our students remains a primary concern," said Henderson. "The District will keep itself apprised and will take all necessary steps to ensure the least possible disruption to the learning environment. To that end, we ask our community's assistance regarding the tenor of social media conversations while the legal process plays out."
Decade-low office vacancy rates in Melbourne and Sydney should be shouted from the rooftops, right?

The Property Councils latest Office Market Report paints an optimistic picture, as the amount of empty office space across Australia falls to 8.5 per cent, and Sydney and Melbourne post the lowest vacancy rates in 10 years.

A squeeze on space means rents rise with very little effort required on the part of landlords or leasing agents. Yet, we know customers expectations are changing and the competitor landscape is evolving.

Sydney city office market is at a 10-year low for vacancy levels. Credit:Louie Douvis

In a buoyant market, theres little impetus on incumbents to change. Why take the risk? Why spend the money? Why push people beyond their comfort zones when things are ticking along just fine?
The then Wesfarmers-owned Coles sold the newly developed Gaffney Street shopping centre in mid-2016 for just under $38 million at a record low yield of 4.94 per cent. The centre came with new 15-year leases to Coles and Liquorland - a classic passive set and forget investment for cashed up private investors. Coles' Coburg North store. Title deeds show the 6283 sq m centre was sold to a company called Gaffney Street Property, which is owned by Indonesian-born Raymond Joe. Its on a large 18,500 sq m site with 15 shops on the corner of Sussex Street and returns $2.27 million a year.

Just 9 km north of the CBD, the supermarket is the biggest is in the fast-growing and gentrifying area. CBRE agents Justin Dowers, Mark Wizel and Kevin Tong are selling the property by an expressions of interest campaign that closes on March 22. Given recent neighbourhood centre deals, it is expected to fetch between $40 million and $50 million. Late last year, supermarket giant Coles - now spun off from Wesfarmers - sold the Aurora Village centre in Epping, in the outer north, for about $44 million. Six degrees One of Cremornes oldest warehouse conversions - and a very early 1990s Six Degrees project - goes to auction next month.

The three-level building, visible from the train line running through the hot office precinct, is a landmark among the low rise warehouses. Cremorne has become a commercial powerhouse since the propertys development with large offices now the highest and best use for the area. A warehouse conversion in Cremorne. The 368 sq m building is on a 305 sq m site, zoned commercial 2. It has been subdivided into three apartments; the bottom two are leased and return $54,684 a year. Teska Carson agents Matthew Feld and Michael Taylor are auctioning the property on March 7 and expecting between $3-$3.5 million.

The property is well suited to its current use but it also offers options for an investor/developer to look at maximising the site value, Mr Feld said. While Cremorne development prices have reached around $14,000 sq m, 5 Stewart Street, on the other side of Richmond railway station, recently fetched $17,400 a sq m. "There is absolutely no doubt that Cremorne remains one of the most sought after city fringe areas of Melbourne and demand is continuing to drive the construction of new office and residential projects, he said. Office play A syndicate is offloading a Box Hill office property and expecting more than $20 million for the much storied asset.

Title deeds show the 30 year old office at 19-23 Prospect Street was purchased just eight years ago for $13.24 million from Qualitas directors Andrew and Alan Schwartz. Former developer-builder turned investor, the Becton Group, also owned it for a time, after buying it in 2007 from Henkell Brothers. Becton bought hundreds of millions worth of property just before the global financial crisis and soon collapsed under a weight of debt and weakening values. Henkell Brothers had sold the asset, along with several other properties, at what they correctly picked as the peak of the cycle. The three-level 4304 sq m office building is on a generous 1999 sq m of Commercial 1 zoned land in the heart of Box HIlls office precinct. GormanKelly agents Aldo Galante and Mario Nobrega are marketing the property in conjunction with Colliers agents Peter Bremner and Andrew Ryan. Expressions of interest close on March 8.

It returns around $1.28 million a year in rent with an average lease term of 3.57 years. Mr Bremner said the impressive skyscraper height limits in the area will attract the attention of developers. Family funds Nearby, on the other side of Box Hill Central, a family investment vehicle, Polmac, is selling a row of shops on the corner of Main and Market streets. The property at 42-50 Main Street includes a level one office space and four ground floor shops that open on to one of the busiest pedestrian thoroughfares in Melbourne.

Shops are on offer in Main Street, Box Hill. The strip is sandwiched between the entrance to Box Hill train station and the Vicinity-owned shopping centre. CBRE agent Lewis Tong, who is marketing the building with Rorey James and Leon Ma, said It returns just over $300,000 a year in rent with leases that could allow access to the building from as early as 2021. Box Hills busy retail CBD is very tightly held and boasts zero vacancy. Last year, a three-storey shop at 27 Market Street, on just 144 sq m of land, fetched $8.8 million. Mr James said This is a corner site and we think it will go for more.
A Liberal senator and Macquarie Telecom have hit back at Huawei, accusing it of trying to intimidate companies like Telstra and Google from supporting a think-tank critical of the Chinese telco equipment provider.

Huawei Technologies Australia director of corporate and public affairs Jeremy Mitchell emailed a letter to local representatives at Google, Telstra and defence contractor Thales on Wednesday as reported by this masthead. The three businesses have commercial relationships with the Chinese equipment provider and are sponsors of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Huawei was banned from Australia's 5G networks in 2018. Credit:Konstantinos Tsakalidis

ASPI had published reports and articles regarding trust and security in Australia when using China-based businesses. Huawei was banned from participating in Australia's high-speed mobile network build 5G last year by the government.

Mr Mitchell criticised "negative comments about Huawei from an ASPI spokesperson" and said the company was "extremely disappointed in the way ASPI has conducted itself".
As AMP was breaking investor hearts on Thursday its new boss Francesco De Ferrari was handing out the roses.

I wish you a very nice St Valentines Day, and dont forget St Valentines Day is about love and warmth when you produce your piece, the debonair new boss of the 170-year-old company told this reporter at the conclusion of a quick interview following AMPs dire full year results for 2018.

AMP's recently appointed chief executive Francesco De Ferrari is hear to win the hearts of investors. Credit:Janie Barrett

AMP certainly needs something special to swoon the market after warning its 2019 could be just as bad as its woeful 2018.

De Ferrari's first full year result was a horror story headlined by the fact that existing customers pulled $4 billion more from AMP products than was brought in from new customers after the nation's biggest wealth manager was accused of repeatedly not doing the right thing by its clients at the royal commission.
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It was about 45 years ago or more when I came in contact with a rare silver wine taster in a Greenwich Village antiques store. I happened to walk into this small shop, located on Bleecker Street, and was greeted by a lovely young lady. She asked me if I was looking for anything special, and I replied, Old silver.

Within seconds, she tackled a heavy-looking duffle bag and poured a load of silver, mostly forks and spoons, on the countertop.

It took me only a few seconds to zero in on a two-handled cup that looked quite interesting. Once it was in my hands, I realized it was very early in date and, before I knew it, she said I could have it for $20. Since it was in great condition, I took the plunge and off I went.

At this time in my life, I had few reference books on the subject, so I decided to show it to a silver dealer with whom I had become friendly early on in my collecting career. I soon learned that the four crisp hallmarks of the silversmith were easy to identify and realized it dated to the years of the English King Charles II  1660-1685. A set of initials belonging to the original owner were also still legible, and the S-scroll handles, which actually looked like thin wires, were also original, making this a valuable early piece of English silver.

This fabulous taster, sad to say, did not last long in my possession. I sold it to a friend of mine who collected early English silver. I still regret selling this unusual taster after all these years, realizing now that they can fetch thousands of dollars when placed on the auction block. If you look on eBay, you will see one or two being offered for sale, with prices well into the thousands. As the saying goes, You cannot cry over spilt milk.

But I still think of that rare Charles II taster after all these years.

I wondered every now and then if I would ever have the opportunity to come upon another example for such a decent price. Well, I guess my luck did not run out, since I recently spotted another wine taster being offered for sale by a dealer at the flea market on 25th Street in Manhattan. It was an early Sunday morning, around 7:30 a.m., when I decided to shell out the $5 entrance fee in order to get in before 8 a.m. (at which time it costs $1 to enter). I did not want to wait a half-hour, watching all the early birds running about, before I had my chance to look for goodies.

It took me a total of five minutes to spot a dirty, unpolished wine taster resting on a sellers table. I quickly retrieved it and realized it was not only authentic, but dated to the years of Charles IIs reign. The owner was not only asking too much for it, but had no idea of what it was actually used for. After paying for it, I placed it in my coat jacket for safekeeping and headed home.

When I got back, I thought this piece needed some loving care, so I decided to polish it. What a complete difference. Some people have no imagination into what something could like once polished, especially a piece of silver. There were three hallmarks of the maker, but I have yet to make them out.

WHAT IS A WINE TASTER?

Wine tasters were created in England around the third quarter of the 17th century. There were only a limited number being made, partially because wine was not yet a national product.

Wine tasters were highly cherished in early times, and many have survived in pretty good condition. There were those that were plain with no decoration whatsoever, and there were those that demonstrated floral designs together with the initials of its original owner.

By the year 1700, the need or want for wine tasters decreased dramatically. During the 19th century, wine tasters became popular once again and being made in abundance.

Wine tasters  whether with one handle or two  were actually utilized by a merchant taster. He could wear it around his neck on a long silver chain and taste vintages before purchase.

In other instances, the server or butler would first taste the wine, making sure it was suitable for consumption.

These small lovely works of art are now highly collectible and rarely can be purchased for under $2,000 or $3,000. Those that still bear the original makers marks and are not rubbed, meaning you can identify the silversmith, are worth collecting. Some 30 or 50 years ago you could by these for a song, but times have changed, obviously, so one must now search high and low to find a genuine wine taster that is affordable.

These little treasures are not functional in todays world, since we no longer have to worry about our wine being poisoned. I might never know who the initials belong to, but it is nice to own one and know it lasted after so many generations of good use. The pleasure of owning something of great antiquity is such a joyous affair.
Last month, the mayor announced that he was funding a 200-bed homeless shelter for women and children at 44 Victory Blvd., in Tompkinsville, several hundred feet away from an existing homeless shelter for women and children run by Project Hospitality. The site is one of the most valuable pieces of property in the area because it is zoned for a mixed-use tower that can add residents and income to a neighborhood that is the focus of revitalization efforts. As is its practice, the city is offering the property owner, Freehold S L Limited, a long-term lease well above market rate as an incentive to complete the deal.

The location, 44 Victory Blvd., is just steps away from Minthorne, a row of boutique eateries created by businessman Gary Angiuli, who has been able to attract visitors from Brooklyn and beyond to hang out in the area. In addition to providing a home for cool businesses like Flagship Brewing Co., Daddy Os BBQ and OHenrys Publik House, Angiuli is funding the construction of an elevated park adjacent to the train tracks as a community amenity.

About a mile down the road is Empire Outlets, a project which Community Board 1 demanded be added to the Request for Proposal issued by NYC EDC when they wanted to build the New York Wheel. CB 1 knew that shopping was the best way to get tourists off the boat and onto Staten Island to spend money. It also knew that the community needed a place to shop.

Adjacent to EO is Lighthouse Point, another project spearheaded by CB1 and just a train stop away is another project supported by the community  Urby, a unique mixed-use project designed to attract young urban professionals. Together, these projects represent approximately $1 billion of private investment into Downtown Staten Island.

Over the last five years, the city has awarded millions of dollars in grants to the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, the Staten Island Downtown Alliance, Staten Island Arts and the Staten Island Business Outreach Center to retain and attract businesses to the area. All anyone has to do is walk along Bay Street to know that the investment is paying off. So, where is the common sense in opening a 200-bed homeless shelter in the heart of a district where billions of dollars have been spent on revitalization? Why arent our elected officials leading the protest and demanding a more sensible solution to supporting the 1,400 Staten Islanders who are now homeless?

Homeless shelters are dangerous and expensive. In 2018, there were more than 2,500 criminal complaints logged within New York City shelters  528 were felonies. Homeless services experts agree that the answer to reducing homelessness isnt to open shelters, but to create more permanent affordable housing, which saves money while truly helping individuals get back on their feet.

Within the Bay Street corridor we have an excellent example of this type of housing. The Rail, located in Stapleton, is a beautiful building with wonderful amenities. Those who live there are not stigmatized by the community, because everyone who lives there is part of the neighborhood. They shop in local stores. Children attend local schools and they have a home they can call their own.

The Department of City Planning spent the last several years and considerable cost to create a plan to rezone the Bay Street corridor. If adopted, the plan will protect the 1,700 low-income residents living in the corridor, plus add more permanent affordable housing within newly built, multi-unit residential buildings -- similar to what was done at The Rail. Unfortunately, representatives of City Planning did an extremely poor job explaining what the rezoning would do, which caused the community board to vote against it. The next stop for the plan is the borough president. I urge him to support the very sensible rezoning plan and to oppose the construction of a homeless shelter only blocks away from where one already exists, because it is the common sense thing to do.

(Leticia Remauro is the former chairwoman of Community Board 1 and secretary for the Staten Island Downtown Alliance.)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The NYPD Arson and Explosion Squad and the FDNY Bureau of Fire Investigation continue their probes into the blaze that burned the Cargo Cafe only days after the restaurants grand re-opening.

Police arson investigators suspect that an unknown person intentionally damaged the building by starting a fire on Monday morning in the rear of the restaurant at 120 Bay St., according to a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation.

No arrests have been made in the incident, according to an NYPD spokeswoman.

The FDNY has not revealed any information about the probe except to confirm that it is ongoing.

However, Edward Gomez, owner of the restaurant, believes the cause was arson based on what he said he was told by investigators.

It definitely was intentional, Gomez previously told the Advance, adding that he had no idea who would do such a thing or why. Its a malicious act toward the Cargo neighborhood and community.

Gomez previously said that investigators were gathering surveillance video from the area, but that none was available from Cargo Cafe. The old surveillance system -- with outdated cameras and an inoperable recording system -- was dismantled during the recent renovation.

Cargo had received, but not yet installed, new cameras and other surveillance equipment, Gomez said.

Ive had the unfortunate luck of being in so many fires, Gomez previously said of blazes at restaurants under his ownership . I get all these comments. All Ive ever done is try to do good for the area and to survive as a small, mom-and-pop restaurant.

Fire at Cargo Cafe in St. George closes restaurant days after re-opening. Posted by Staten Island Advance on Monday, February 11, 2019

The restaurateur said he has never profited from any of the fires and has dedicated himself to charity efforts in the community.

Manhattan Da Noi burned twice in accidental grease fires, he said. Da Noi in Fort Wadsworth went up in smoke due to faulty HVAC equipment, Gomez said.

The all-hands blaze at Cargo was battled by about 60 firefighters and EMS personnel and 12 units and was initially called at 5:19 a.m. as a dumpster fire, according to a spokeswoman for the FDNY.

The fire extended to the roof of the about 100-by-40-foot commercial building before it was brought under control at 5:59 a.m. Monday without any injuries, according to the spokeswoman.

The building was heavily charred in the rear where a dumpster was located.

Gomez previously said he didnt think the fire started in the dumpster, in part because it was emptied by a private sanitation company around midnight. He claimed investigators told him that the fire began when an accelerant was thrown at the building.
CITY HALL -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed the Child Victims Act into law Thursday, a bill that will allow New Yorkers who were victims of sexual abuse as children to hold their abusers accountable as adults.

"This bill brings justice to people who were abused, and rights the wrongs that went unacknowledged and unpunished for too long, Cuomo said. By signing this bill, we are saying nobody is above the law, that the cloak of authority is not impenetrable, and that if you violate the law, we will find out and you will be punished and justice will be done."

Previously, child sexual abuse offenses could not be prosecuted after five years from their occurrence and civil lawsuits could only be brought within three years from the victim's 18th birthday.

The bill will allow victims of sexual abuse to sue their abuser anytime before they turn 55.

There will also be a look-back period -- a one-time, one-year window that allows victims to file lawsuits against their accusers, no matter when the abuse occurred.

The bill also eliminates the need to file a notice of claim of sexual offenses committed against a minor and allows the Office of Court Administration to enact rules and regulations for the timely adjudication of revived actions.

The law has been years in the making, and Cuomo last month blamed the Catholic Churchs opposition to the law for holding up its passage.

We have Eminence Dolan saying that the look back  would be very strangling to the church, Cuomo said, according to a New York Post report. He said it targeted the Catholic Church. I didnt say that. His Eminence said that.

In January, the New York State Catholic Conference published a legislative memorandum reversing its opposition, and supporting passage of the Child Victims Act as part of its ongoing work to address sexual abuse of minors by clergy.

The Church owes it to survivors to be a part of the solution to this epidemic of evil, and to play a role in the healing of those who have suffered, the memorandum reads. We believe this begins by working constructively with lawmakers to pass an amended Child Victims Act (CVA).

More than 15 priests with ties to Staten Island have been the subject of sex or pornography-related accusations over the years, including Rev. Jack T. Ryan, who served for years as a pillar of the Staten Island community.

When sex allegations were filed against a priest, sometimes they would result in criminal charges being filed, but in other instances, punishments would be decided by the church and not prosecutors.

Some are gearing up for a wave of new accusations against Catholic priests following the passage of the law, particularly as part of the look back period.

Attorney Jayne Conroy told The Buffalo News: I think in New York state it will be an onslaught.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.
CITY HALL -- Underlying the citys plan to establish new Staten Island homeless shelters, including a proposed 200-family shelter in the heart of the Bay Street Corridor rezoning, is the de Blasio administrations aim to house more than 1,300 homeless Staten Islanders on their home borough.

But the question some elected officials and civic leaders are asking: How can we be sure that the number of Staten Island homeless is accurate?

We want to take care of our homeless families, but the city has been unable or unwilling to prove their numbers are accurate, said Congressman Max Rose (D-Staten Island Staten). Islanders deserve to be treated as partners when the city is undertaking any project, and building a homeless shelter is no different. I am not going to sit back and do nothing while our questions go unanswered.

The city, however, insists it has confidence in its method for determining homeless are in fact from a particular borough, a method they say they have shared with some Island reps including Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) and Borough President James Oddo. Congressman Rose said the city has yet to provide the information to him.

Councilwoman Debi Roses office (D-North Shore) said Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks walked them through the process during a recent meeting at her district office.

Borough President James Oddo said: This is the time in the process for the public to demonstrate, in clear and vivid terms, its thoughts on the proposed location of the homeless shelter. I encourage all residents to make their voices heard loud enough for City Hall to hear.

HOW THE CITY DETERMINES WHERE HOMELESS ARE FROM

The city said it compiles last known addresses for homeless New Yorkers -- or "associated addresses" -- using the Department of Homeless Services temporary housing application.

Human Resources Administration, or HRA, residence records affiliated with cash assistance, Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or other public benefits before someone applied for shelter are also used.

Supportive housing programs could be included, city officials said. Single room occupancy, or SRO, units wouldn't be counted unless they were actual permanent housing.

The Staten Island Ferry terminal, or parks and other public space, are only counted as a last known address when no other prior residence before that can be established. But in those cases, the community district is logged as "unknown.

According to the city, hotels, motels, churches, transitional housing programs, hospitals, emergency rooms and drug rehabilitation facilities or programs on Staten Island wouldn't be counted as last known addresses for homeless in the shelter system.

Drop-in center for the homeless run by nonprofit Project Hospitality on Central Avenue in St. George would not be counted either.

MOST ISLAND HOMELESS FROM NORTH SHORE

The city says there are currently 618 households -- or 1,332 individuals -- from Staten Island experiencing homelessness who are living in city shelters around New York City. However, Staten Island just has one city shelter big enough for 140 people.

As of mid-December, the North Shore had 972 individuals in city shelters -- the highest number of homeless from the Island. There were 83 Staten Islanders from Mid Island in city shelters; 67 individuals in city shelters from the South Shore; and another 210 individuals from Staten Island in city shelters with no known address.

The city said often those who cannot readily provide a verifiable address are individuals who are survivors of domestic violence, those who enter the shelter system from foster care or homeless off the streets who cannot provide a verifiable prior address other than a shelter.

Sometimes, the city said there are clients in the system who have incomplete address or street address information that do not match the zip code or a street name is misspelled.

When clients last known address is a shelter, the city said it tries to identify prior residential address information that they use when they are at the point of making borough-based placements.

Homelessness doesnt discriminateit impacts every community across the five boroughs, including Staten Island. The implication that Staten Islanders are immune from this citywide challenge is a disservice to those residents whove lost their homes in the borough and undermines our efforts to provide them with the borough-based opportunities they deserve as they get back on their feet. We invite everyone to come to the table with a focus on how to most effectively support our neighbors in need, rather than denying their existence, A DHS spokesperson said.

Since the city shared plans for the 200-family shelter at 44 Victory Blvd. in Tompkinsville, which is expected to bring as many as 500 mostly women and children, North Shore residents and elected officials have expressed outrage over the citys decision to put the new shelter in the heart of the Bay Street Corridor rezoning.

They also say they were left out of the citys site selection process.

The North Shores Community Board 1 voted earlier this week to sue the city to stop the homeless shelter from coming to Victory Boulevard, while local civic associations and home and business owners have vowed to stop the city from building the shelter at that site.

Asked by a Staten Islander on the Brian Lehrer Show last Friday whether he would consider another site for the 200-family shelter, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he is open to having a dialogue with community leaders about additional sites.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Todays archive page is from June 20, 1925.

The Richmond County Coal Merchants Association publishes an ad in the Advance urging readers to buy coal.

Will there be a strike when the agreement between miners and operators expires on August 31st, 1925?" the ad asks.

Readers are warned that dealers cant guarantee conditions or prices after Sept. 1.

If you have trouble viewing the page below, click here to enlarge it.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  During his 21-year career at the Department of Transportation, deckhand clerk Steven T. Bonamo greeted thousands of passengers over the public address system each time they rode the Staten Island Ferry.

After his death last month at the age of 61, the beloved employee, whose voice was known to countless riders, was given a touching and fitting final farewell with the boats he devoted to which he devoted so much of his career.

Following his funeral Mass on Jan. 28, a 14-vehicle entourage proceeded to the kiss-and-ride section of the St. George Ferry Terminal as a grand spectacle of vessels voyaged through the glimmering waves of the New York Harbor. The entire DOT staff stood in salute to Bonamo as the procession arrived. The Alice Austen ferryboat then began a traditional blast of whistles, which were then echoed by six other ferries in the harbor.

DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg was among those in attendance.

Even complete strangers were in the midst of the crowd, present to express their condolences to Bonamo and his family, as they stood respectfully to witness the tribute.

Bonamo, a native Staten Islander, spent his adult life serving the city of New York in multiple capacities. He was a compassionate, hardworking crew member who dedicated 21 years to the DOT.

He wore many hats for the department, including foreman for a period of time. Bonamo worked tirelessly in his position, reporting directly to the ferry terminal supervisor at the Staten Island Dock office.

Bonamo worked closely with the ferry captains, and guided them to the docking slips. He would help to settle disputes that took place onboard, and was the go-to person for getting the job done, whatever it may be, his coworkers said. Steven was loved by his co-workers, who said they were like one big family. It is said that even the K-9 police dogs all loved Steven, especially when he fed them during work.

He spent years at the Staten Island Ferry greeting thousands of passengers during rush hour over the P.A. system, directing them to their ferry to Whitehall terminal and later on back to St. George, said an email sent by co-workers Frank Lamiquiz and Chris Morris to Bonamos family after his death.

He worked 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. daily, and often committed to overnight shifts when he knew he would be needed.

Bonamo was described as having loved his job, and is said to have loved every job he has ever held.

Bonamo gave 100 percent to wherever he worked and would give the shirt off his back to someone in need, his coworkers said. Before his career as a ferry worker, Bonamo worked heroically on Staten Island as an EMT.

He spent 20 years as an EMS first responder, answering the call when a disturbed man went wild with a sword on the Staten Island Ferry, to years later volunteering during the 9/11 recovery effort, said Morris and Lamiquiz in the email.

From the young age of 17, when he first began, Bonamo has helped save lives and was awarded a commendation certificate in 1992. He has delivered 53 babies and was also a much-admired instructor of EMS.

I am honored to have known my friend Steve Bonamo," said Bill Amaniera in a letter of condolence posted on Dignity Memorial. As my first partner in EMS, Steve always knew how to get the job done. How to adapt, how to improvise, how to listen to someones problems or concerns.He was a true professional and someone who will never be forgotten.

Bonamo believed in living life to the fullest and loved to fish during his free time.

He died on the morning of Jan. 24, after several years battling cancer of the mouth, throat complications, and having both hip and knee replacements.

However, even Bonamos failing health could not keep him away from the job that was so near and dear to his heart.

Bonamo worked with a smile on his face up until his final day, his friends said.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- A police sergeant burst into Hot Shotz bar in Pleasant Plains Wednesday with a shocking request: Can we get ice so we can put an arm on it?

Bar owner Lucille Borgese said she of course was shocked, as a second officer quickly scooped ice into a black garbage bag.

Emergency personnel had responded at about 10:40 p.m. to the vicinity of the Pleasant Plains train station on Amboy Road, where, police said, a 37-year-old man had lost his arm after placing it in the path of a moving train.

The man, who was identified by sources as Jason Kilcullen, somehow left the station and flagged down officers on Gilbert Place near Penton Street, a few blocks from the tracks.

Borgese said officers at the scene described a trail of blood that led emergency personnel to the severed arm, at which point they enlisted her help in potentially saving it.

As soon as he walked out with the bag, you heard the ambulance take off ... it was the talk of the bar for the next two hours .

Spots of dried blood could be seen Thursday near the entrance to the train station.

Staff at Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze were trying to reattach the arm, police said.

The man was expected to survive, and no criminality is suspected in the incident, the police spokesman said.

The reason why the man put his arm in harms way is unclear, although he is regarded as emotionally disturbed and tried something similar in the past, said a source with knowledge of the investigation.
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This is the third in a three-part series of articles on employee handbook updates. This article focuses on global handbook policies. The first article reviews changes to California law, and the second part explores federal and state workplace compliance trends.

Businesses based in the U.S. generally create a handbook for their employees that explains workplace policies and procedures, employee benefits, and other important informationbut a handbook may not be needed for worksites abroad. Here are some factors that U.S.-based employers should consider when developing policies for international locations.

Think about what purpose a local handbook would serve, said Donald Dowling, an attorney with Littler in New York City. In the U.S., handbooks usually contain a lot of information about benefits and paid time off and observed holidays. But in some countries, such as France, vacation days, holidays and health care coverage are dictated by law, so employees aren't going to look to the handbook for information about these benefits.

Employers should find out if similar businesses in the applicable country have handbooks, Dowling suggested. "What do the local companies know that we don't?"

Perhaps developing an internal guide for the HR department about the country's workplace laws is a better option than creating an employee-facing handbook, he added.

Employment at Will

The employment-at-will doctrine applies in every U.S. state except Montana. Under this doctrine, businesses and workers have the right to terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any lawful reason (or no reason at all).



As a result, employers can also change the conditions of employment, Dowling noted. Employers in the U.S. usually include a disclaimer in their handbook stating that the company can change or revoke its policies at any time.

However, as a general rule, it's best to assume that countries outside the U.S. don't recognize the concept of at-will employment, said Carson Burnham, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Boston. Businesses may be forbidden from making one-sided changes to contractual employment terms.

[SHRM members-only toolkit: Introduction to the Global Human Resources Discipline]

In some countries, employers are encouragedor even requiredto give workers detailed individual employment contracts that spell out the conditions of employment, Dowling said. Employees generally have a vested right to those benefits, so employers are locked in.

"Imagine if you had to change the U.S. handbook to state, 'This handbook won't change,' " he said. "It can be that strict in some places."



Local Differences

It's helpful to consider how certain terms that are used in the U.S. translate in other countries, Burnham said. For example, U.S. handbooks often refer to "retaliation" in policies without explaining it, but many countries don't have similar anti-retaliation laws.

"Retaliation" often gets translated to mean "revenge" or some other concept that incorporates physical violence, she said. It goes without saying that a manager shouldn't physically harm an employee who has complained about a workplace issue, but the policy may be ineffective if the employer fails to explain more-subtle forms of retaliation.

How policies are communicated to employees is critical in determining whether they will be enforceable and taken seriously, she added. Most countries in Europe and some in Asia require employers to engage in a great deal of consultation with existing employees before a policy can be adopted. This is an impediment to quick distribution, but companies that don't engage in the consultation process may appear to be ignoring local law, she said.

Global Code of Conduct

It's a good idea to establish a global code of conduct (or code of ethics) that explains what behaviors are acceptable and how the company expects employees to treat one another, Burnham said. The code of conduct can also provide global employees with information about U.S. laws that apply worldwide, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and insider trading prohibitions.

"There's no magic distinction between a handbook and code of conduct, but a handbook can sometimes be too granular," Dowling said. After employers remove all the U.S.-specific benefits and legal information from the handbook, they may wind up with a global code of conduct that sets cross-border standards on harassment prevention, insider trading, bribery and other broad issues, he said.

The code of conduct can harmonize U.S. policies on harassment and discrimination prevention with bullying, mobbing and moral-harassment-prevention rules in Europe, Latin America and parts of Asia. Burnham noted that many employers opt to protect workers from bullying and harassment through company policies, even when there isn't a legal remedy available. "This sends a message to the workforce that the policy comes from the company's ethical principles."

Employers may still want to establish country-specific leave of absence, vacation and other policies that are required by local jurisdictions and don't lend themselves to harmonization, Burnham noted.

Key Considerations

If U.S. businesses develop policies for international locations, Burnham recommended that they take the following steps:

Clarify that any global policies are subject to local law and include language stating that local law will govern in the event of a conflict.



Remove at-will language, since it is generally unenforceable and can be perceived as invalidating the entire set of policies.



Consider the key substantive differences between U.S. laws and non-U.S. laws, particularly when it comes to bullying, harassment and whistleblowing.



Review any confidentiality requirements for local compliance. Many employers have boilerplate confidentiality policies that could conflict with an employee's right to disclose legal issues or seek help from an ethical standpoint.



Multinational organizations need to be crystal-clear about who is covered by the handbook, particularly if they have different policies for different locations, Dowling said.


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More than 30,000 workers at approximately 45 companies in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, recently went on strike demanding a 20 percent salary increase, plus a one-time annual bonus of $32,000 Mexican pesos (approximately USD $1,700), to reach an agreement and resume their work activities.

Matamoros, located near the Mexico-U.S. border, is home to a conglomeration of manufacturing factories known as "maquiladoras." The strikes reportedly caused the maquiladoras industry a loss of USD $50 million a day (see Sharay Angulo, Daina Beth Solomon and Sandra Tovar, "Factories in Matamoros losing USD $50 million a day amid strikes," El Universal, Jan. 31, 2019). But to date, most of the companies have agreed to the workers' demands.

The strikes were called by the members of the Union of Laborers and Industrial Workers of the Maquiladora Industry (known as "SJOIIM"Sindicato de Jornaleros y Obreros Industriales de la Industria Maquiladora). Their demands disregard the government's recent increase in the minimum wage. As we recently reported, on Dec. 26, 2018, the CONASAMI (Mexico's National Commission of Minimum WageComision Nacional de los Salarios Minimos) increased the daily minimum wage for the border area, from $88.76 pesos to $176.72 pesos (approximately from USD $4.61 to $9.17), representing a 100 percent increase. However, in its official decree, the government declared that the increase in the minimum wage was actually only 5 percent, designating the remaining amount as an "independent recuperation amount" (known as "monto independiente de recuperacion"), designed to restore and strengthen employees' purchasing power.

Further, SJOIIM demanded the 20 percent increase, plus the one-time bonus, based on a clause of the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that establishes that employee salaries shall be increased based on the amount resulting from the application of the minimum wage percentage increase and on common practice between the companies and SJOIIM. SJOIIM argued that to comply with such clause, the increase amount must be multiplied by 365 (instead of applying the increase directly to the daily salary), resulting in the $32,000 Mexican pesos bonus they demanded.

While most companies have agreed to the workers' demands, other companies in Matamoros that are not subject to a CBA or similar contractual obligations with SJOIIM are dealing with illegal work stoppages and have been threatened with a strike if they fail to agree to the 20 percent salary increase and the bonus payment. Without a complete resolution, this situation may reach the entire Mexico-US border area and beyond, impacting employers' bargaining power throughout the entire country, especially if employees begin demanding a wage increase higher than the typical 4 or 6 percent.

Monica Schiaffino is an attorney with Littler in Mexico City. Ignacio Bermudez Elizondo is an attorney with Littler in Monterrey, Mexico.  2019 Littler. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission.
HARRISBURG  One year ago Thursday, a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., killing 17 students and staff members and injuring 17 others.

The massacre set off months of student-led protests and nationwide lobbying for action to restrict access to firearms and better protect schools.

In Pennsylvania, the tragedy spurred action on some fronts. On others, advocates for stricter gun laws say theres been little meaningful headway.

Key developments statewide have included:

 State lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf agreeing to make $60 million available to school districts to beef up security in 2018-19.

 The governor and auditor general convening a special task force that held hearings across the state before releasing a report calling for schools to improve communication, provide better access to mental health treatment for students, and improve security.

 The state Legislature sending the governor the first gun-control law passed in Pennsylvania in decades.

 A special state police team that analyzes the security of public facilities like schools performing more than twice as many reviews last year as it did in 2017. The team did 104 assessments in 2018, compared to 42 in the prior year is adding to staff to further increase the number of reviews it can do in 2019, said state police spokesman Ryan Tarkowski.

 The state rolling out a new anonymous tip line to allow students to report threats made by other students. The Safe2Say Program got 615 tips in its first week, including one that officials say may have prevented a school shooting.

Stricter gun laws

Pennsylvania didnt respond as aggressively to the Parkland shooting asn other states, said Marybeth Christiansen, a spokeswoman for Moms Demand Action.

While Pennsylvania passed a gun control measure, it was legislation aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, she said. Measures that more directly dealt with the factors at play in school shootings died in legislative committees without getting aired before the full General Assembly.

Not enough happened in Pennsylvania, she said.

Christiansen said gun safety advocates hope that will change this year.

State Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery County, last week announced plans to introduce legislation creating extreme risk protection orders in Pennsylvania. The extreme risk protection order creates a way for family members to get a court to cut off access to firearms if an individual appears to pose a threat of harm to themselves or others, Christiansen said. As a result, the measures are sometimes referred to as red flag laws.

Christiansen said state Sen. Tom Killion, R-Chester County, is expected to sponsor identical legislation in that chamber. The support from the Republican sponsors of the bill reflects the bipartisan appeal of the measure, Christiansen said.

That was the exact scenario on Parkland, where you had a young troubled gentleman with gun, Christiansen.

Florida passed a red flag law three weeks after the Parkland shooting. Its one of 13 states that have extreme risk protection orders. The others include: Indiana, Oregon, California, Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Massachusetts, Illinois, Rhode Island, Washington, and Vermont.

The extreme risk protection order proposal isnt the only gun control measure that advocates have been trying to get through the General Assembly.

In late January, Gov. Wolf threw his support behind measures that would require background checks for all gun purchases. Legislation to close loopholes allowing people to buy firearms without going through background checks has already been introduced in both chambers of the General Assembly. State Rep. Christopher Quinn, R-Delaware County, introduced a measure to require background checks for sales at gun shows.

Eleven Democrats have signed on as co-sponsors but Quinn is the only Republican to put his name as a sponsor of the bill. Thirteen senators have sponsored similar legislation in that chamber, with only one Republican, Killion, among them.

Security measures already in the works ahead of shooting GROVE CITY  Within weeks of the mass shooting one year ago Thursday in Parkland, Fla., Grov

Kim Stolfer, president of Firearms Owners Against Crime said he is cautiously optimistic that those gun control proposals wont get any more traction this year than they did in 2018.

He said that existing mental health laws could have been used to intervene to get treatment for the Parkland shooter before he acted.

The courts, law enforcement and the school system failed society, it wasnt a failure due to the availability of an implement, Stolfer said.

He said the red flag legislation is a George Orwell special that creates potential that gun owners will lose their Constitutional rights to own firearms without having adequate due process rights to defend themselves against the accusations made to try to seize their weapons.

School safety

While the gun control legislation has been slow coming, the state has made funding and other assistance available to help schools improve their security.

That included the January launch of the Safe2Say program which allows students to pass along tips by phone, using a website or a Smartphone app.

Under the program, emergency tips are forwarded to 911 dispatchers as well as to the school. Other tips related to student well-being that arent emergency in nature are forwarded only to the school to be handled by teams of school staff.

There was a lot of criticism about Safe2Say when it was first being implemented  but its been effective, Penn Cambria Superintendent William Marshall said.

Marshall is one of four administrators who serve on Penn Cambrias response team. Once something is reported, were notified immediately and the team reacts immediately, he said.

In the first week it was available, school officials in Luzerne County credited the tip system with alerting them and allowing them to intervene to forestall a potential school shooting at Hazleton Middle School, according to the state Attorney Generals office. In that incident, a 14-year-old made a threat on Snapchat. When police went to the students home, they discovered that there was a loaded handgun sitting on a nightstand where it could have been accessible to the student, according to the attorney generals office.

Conneaut School District Superintendent Jarrin Sperry said planning for school security has almost become another full-time job for school administrators on top of their traditional duties.

We tweak it all the time. A lot of those things are in-house and really arent public knowledge  you want to keep the kids as safe as you can, he said.

The first round of grants from the $60 million school safety pot of money included in the current years budget was awarded in October. The budget indicated that every school district that asked for school security money was entitled to $25,000. That October award provided $12.4 million split between 496 school districts.

The funding was awarded by special School Safety and Security Committee overseen by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

School districts could use the funding for a variety of things, including security planning or adding security technology, or hiring mental health counselors or establishing collaborative programs with behavioral health professions.

Seventy-six percent of the school districts said they intended to use their $25,000 grants for security planning or purchasing technology, according to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

The commission declined to provide detailed information about what type of technology or specifically what school districts are doing with their funds.

Due to the sensitive nature of these grants, the School Safety and Security Committee has chosen not to release details that, if disclosed, could potentially be used to harm school students and staff, School Safety and Security Committee Chairman Charles Ramsey said in an emailed statement.

Of the remaining funds, $7.5 million must go toward programs to reduce community violence, and the other $40 million will go to school districts through another round of funding through competitive grants. The school districts that get those grants will be announced in April, according to Ramsey.

How much the state will make available in similar grants next year is somewhat unclear. Wolfs budget calls for $30 million, but that consists of contributions from the executive office and court system funds, said J.J. Abbott, a Wolf spokesman. Administration officials estimated that the Legislature would add at least $15 million, he said.

Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre County, made it clear that lawmakers will be taking a look at the issue.

School safety is still paramount, he told reporters after Wolfs budget address.
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JUBA, South Sudan  Brutal sexual violence committed with pervasive impunity and a level of premeditation persists in South Sudans northern region, the United Nations said on Friday.

At least 134 women and girls were raped, including some as young as 8, between September and December last year, according to a report issued by the U.N. Human Rights Office and the U.N. Mission in South Sudan. An additional 41 females suffered different forms of sexual and physical violence, said the report.

Even though South Sudan signed a fragile peace deal on Sept. 12 to end the countrys five-year civil war, which killed almost 400,000 people, the United Nations warns that endemic conflict-related sexual violence continues in northern Unity state. The U.N. investigation comes soon after outrage that followed a report by the medical charity Doctors Without Border, which said that 125 women and girls had been raped, whipped and clubbed in a 10-day period in the Unity region at the end of November.

Almost 90 percent of the women and girls were raped by more than one perpetrator and often over several hours, said the U.N. report. Pregnant women and nursing mothers were also among the victims, including one mother who was nine months pregnant.

The volatility of the situation in South Sudan combined with the lack of accountability for violations and abuses committed throughout Unity, likely leads armed actors to believe that they can get away with rape and other horrific forms of sexual violence, said Michelle Bachelet, the U.N high commissioner for human rights.

Most of the attacks were carried out by youth militia groups loyal to First Vice President Taban Deng Gai as well as South Sudans government army, said the report.

Internal documents detailing the locations, scale and dates of the attacks showed that the areas where they occurred are under control of forces allied to the First Vice President, according to a South Sudan security expert who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to speak to the press.

The government is conducting its own investigation into the charges, however, after a preliminary inquiry it denied that the accounts were real.

Sam Mednick is an Associated Press writer.
AL-OMAR OIL FIELD BASE, Syria  The offensive on the last enclave held by the Islamic State in eastern Syria has been blunted by the discovery of hundreds of civilians still living there, a commander with the Kurdish-led force fighting the extremists said Friday.

The U.S.-backed force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, launched the offensive to liberate the Islamic State-held village of Baghouz a week ago, after more than 20,000 civilians, many of them foreign wives of Islamic State militants, were evacuated through a corridor from the area in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.

In Washington, President Trump said the White House will make an announcement about Syria and the fight against Islamic State by Saturday. He did not give details, but his comments contrasted with the picture painted by SDF commanders, who said the battle has been progressing slowly.

We have a lot of great announcements having to do with Syria and our success with the eradication of the caliphate, and that will be announced over the next 24 hours, Trump told journalists at the White House.

Adnan Afrin, the Kurdish commander, said in the past three days Islamic State militants brought up hundreds of civilians from underground tunnels to make the SDF and U.S.-led coalition aware of their presence.

He estimated that around 1,000 civilians, including women and children, are still in the area. He added that militants were hiding among them and using them as human shields.

This was a surprise. We did not imagine there would be this number of civilians left, Afrin said.

He said they were likely to be families of Islamic State militants, but their discovery nonetheless has blunted the offensive. We do not want to cause a massacre against civilians in the last (Islamic State) pocket, he said.

A blitz of air strikes and shelling last week was believed to signal the end of the campaign against Islamic State in its last toehold in Syria of about 1 square mile.

Sarah El Deeb is an Associated Press writer.
NEW DELHI  India accused Pakistan on Friday of orchestrating a suicide bombing that killed dozens of soldiers in Kashmir, the worst attack there in decades, promising an appropriate response and calling on world leaders to isolate its neighbor.

Pakistan has denied involvement in the attack, in which at least 40 Indian soldiers were killed Thursday when a driver slammed an explosives-packed vehicle into a paramilitary convoy. But by Friday, India had recalled its ambassador to Pakistan for consultations in New Delhi.

With national elections in India set to take place by May and Prime Minister Narendra Modi facing a close contest, analysts say he risks looking weak if he does not respond. Modi was elected in 2014 on promises to crack down on Kashmirs militants and to adopt a tougher line on Pakistan. The nuclear-armed rivals have gone to war three times since independence in 1947, with two of the wars fought over Kashmir.

We will give a befitting reply; our neighbor will not be allowed to destabilize us, Modi said after an emergency meeting with security advisers on Friday. Our security forces are given full freedom to respond.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India would use all diplomatic means to ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan, of which incontrovertible evidence is available of having a direct hand in this gruesome terrorist incident.

The streets of Jammu, in Kashmir, the part of the disputed Himalayan region that India controls, were generally quiet on Friday after a curfew was imposed. But anti-Pakistan protests broke out in parts of India, with demonstrators calling on the government to retaliate.

Scores poured into Delhis streets, wearing the saffron-colored scarves of Modis Hindu nationalist party, pumping their fists in the air and waving signs that read: Attack Pakistan. Crush it.

But Indias options for putting diplomatic pressure on Pakistan are limited. Pakistan is largely shielded by its alliance with China, which has used its veto power at the U.N. Security Council to protect it, while propping up Pakistans sputtering, increasingly isolated economy.

Indias options for a military response are also limited, analysts say, with the disputed border blanketed in thick snow and Pakistani troops on high alert.

Maria Abi-Habib, Sameer Yasir and Hari Kumar are New York Times writers.
Amid a torrent of rain, the Russian River's banks near Guerneville swelled above flood stage Thursday afternoon and continued to rise into the evening until reaching a peak at 3 a.m. Friday

Flood stage on the North Bay River is 32 feet and Friday morning the waterway reached 35 feet. The water level isn't expected to drop below flood stage until 10 p.m. Friday.
We now know the name of the man who killed a mountain lion "with his bare hands" and how he did it. Spoiler alert  he used more than his hands.

Travis Kauffman, a 31-year-old employee of an environmental consulting firm, identified himself Thursday at a Colorado Parks and Wildlife news conference as the trail runner who

was ambushed by a young cougar.

Kauffman was jogging down a trail in the foothills outside of Fort Collins on Feb. 4 when the attack occurred.

KUNC reporter Luke Runyeon, who has known Kauffman for about five years, was the first to interview him and learn of the details of the encounter, which Kauffman called a "full-on fight for survival." Here are the highlights of what happened, according to Kauffman.

Kauffman had started his descent after making an arduous climb up to an icy ridge in the Horsetooth Open Space. While he often wears earbuds to listen to music when he runs, on this day he decided to forgo them.

He would later tell Runyeon that he is convinced that decision saved his life.

About a quarter-mile down the West Ridge Trail, he heard pine needles rustling behind him.

When he turned around he saw the cat  a juvenile weighing about 40 pounds (originally it was reported at 80 pounds)  running straight at him. He waved his arms and screamed, but the cougar kept coming.

Then it lunged at his face. Kauffman threw up his arms to ward off the attack, but the mountain lion clamped its jaws on his wrist and hand and wouldn't let go. It clung to him bear-hug style while thrashing with its legs.

Clawed on his back, thighs, neck and face, Kauffman tried to throw off the cat, but couldn't break its grip on his wrist. They rolled off the trail and slid about 20 feet down a slope, locked in combat.

"But during that fall, the cat ended up on its back and it still had my wrist this whole time in its mouth," Kauffman told Runyeon.

"I was pretty worried about its claws sinking into my stomach and groin area."

But now on top, Kauffman had the advantage. He managed to pin the mountain lion's hindquarters with his leg and searched desperately for a weapon with his free arm, but only found dry-rotted sticks. Eventually he grabbed a "pretty big" rock and tried to pound the cat on the back of the head, but the angle prevented him from being able put much force behind his blows.

The cougar twisted his his back legs free and scrabbled at Kauffman's calves and thighs. Kauffman scrambled to counter the pummeling hindquarters and eventually managed to pin them once again with his left leg. Then he swung his right leg around.

"I got my right foot onto its neck," he told Runyeon. "And then I was able to get some weight onto its windpipe and that's what eventually suffocated it."

It took a long time for the cougar to die. In all, he said the battle lasted about 10 minutes.

The cat did not release its grip on his wrist until it was dead.

Kauffman, bleeding from lacerations and scrapes, was able to half-run down the mountain. He was aware that the cat that attacked him was a juvenile and worried that its mother might be nearby.

He encountered three hikers, a man and a married couple, who helped him down to the Soderberg Open Space Trailhead. The woman drove him to a hospital while the men went to fetch Kauffman's truck at the trailhead where he had begun his run.

Doctors put more than two dozen stitches on his face and secured his wrist with a brace.

MORE: 'We did it for safety': Napa family faces backlash after killing mountain lion

When Colorado Parks and Wildlife visited the scene of the attack, the dead mountain lion had already been partially eaten. Its sex could not be determined.

Kauffman is back running, even though his wounds have not fully healed. He is perhaps more aware of his surroundings when pounding along a trail now than he was before the attack.

He had heard the mountain lion before he saw it, which allowed him to turn and defend himself. Had he not been alerted by those rustling pine needles, who knows what would have happened?

You can read the full story of Kauffman's cougar encounter and listen to Runyeon's interview with him here.
Trevor Appelkvist of the Township of Red Rock works in the tractor, and on the left is Matthew Blackman, a park warden from Parks Canada alongside Colin Crowell, a visitor experience and product development worker with Parks Canada  Nipigon Branch. Appelkvist was on the site Thursday to plow the ice trail in preparation for the Ice and Fire event on Family Day at the Red Rock Marina breakwall.
Chinese Ambassador to Burundi Li Changlin (2nd L) and Burundian Foreign Affairs Minister Ezechiel Nibigira (2nd R) sign a handover document on the China-aided Burundian state house at the signing ceremony in Mutimbuzi district, north of Bujumbura, Burundi, on Feb. 14, 2019. The handover is a sign of sincere friendship and cooperation between China and Burundi, Li said at the signing ceremony on Thursday. (Xinhua/Chinese Embassy in Burundi)

BUJUMBURA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Burundi Li Changlin and Burundian Foreign Affairs Minister Ezechiel Nibigira on Thursday signed a handover document on the China-aided Burundian state house.

The handover is a sign of sincere friendship and cooperation between China and Burundi, Li said at the signing ceremony in the new state house in Mutimbuzi district, north of Burundi's commercial capital Bujumbura,

The Chinese embassy has mobilized translators to render Burundi's National Development Plan into the Chinese language, which will help identify priority areas for cooperation between the two sides, said the envoy, adding that the Sino-Burundian cooperation will focus on improving the well-being of Burundian citizens and working conditions of Burundian civil servants.

Nibigira thanked China for offering a state house that Burundi had never owned since the country's independence on July 1, 1962.

"This is the first time in Burundi's history to get such a nice infrastructure. It proves the strongest political and diplomatic relations existing between Burundi and China," said Nibigira.

The Burundian government will do its best to continue boosting Sino-Burundian relations, he added.

Burundian Second Vice-President Joseph Butore also attended the ceremony. Before signing the document, officials of Burundi and China had a tour of the state house.

The complex, with the total construction area of over 9,900 square meters, consists of the president's office building, rooms for guards and equipment, and watchtowers.

[ Editor: Zhang Zhou ]
SAN JOSE (BCN)



One suspect has been shot following a standoff with law enforcement officers Thursday evening in San Jose, Santa Clara County sheriff's officials said.



As of 8:04 p.m., a sheriff's spokesman said a suspect had been shot. Spokesman Sgt. Reginald Cooks did not know the condition of the suspect.



Earlier Thursday evening a hostage was rescued safely from a vehicle near North First Street and Trimble Road and another suspect was taken into custody.



Sheriff's officials said one of the suspects shot at deputies during a pursuit.





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More than 17,000 PG&E customers remain without power in the Bay Area as of Thursday afternoon following an atmospheric river that brought heavy rain and strong winds through the region.



The stormy weather caused substantial damage across the Bay Area, including a mudslide in Sausalito that hospitalized a woman, destroyed two homes and prompted the evacuation of dozens of others. A levee breach was also reported in Marin County in the area of state Highway 37 and Novato Creek.



Multiple school districts in Sonoma County canceled classes for the day because of flooding and other storm-related issues. San Francisco State University and San Jose City College also briefly closed because of weather-related power outages.







BART's Board of Directors voted unanimously Thursday morning to designate an unnamed throughway adjacent to the Fruitvale station as "Oscar Grant III Way."



The roadway connects 33rd Avenue and 35th Avenue.



The motion was made by Director Robert Raburn, who represents the district containing the station, and was seconded by Director Lateefah Simon.



Grant, a 22-year-old black man from Hayward, was fatally shot by a BART police officer at the Fruitvale station early on the morning of New Year's Day in 2009.







Eleven asylum seekers from Central America and several advocacy groups sued the administration of President Donald Trump in federal court in San Francisco Thursday, challenging a new policy that forces them to return to Mexico while they pursue their asylum claims.



The policy, known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, was announced by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Dec. 20 and began to be implemented on Jan. 28.



The lawsuit claims the policy exposes the asylum applicants to extreme danger in Mexico and denies their right under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act to seek asylum.







Counties around the Bay Area have made special offers for couples getting married on Thursday for Valentine's Day.



Contra Costa County made the historic John Muir House available for ceremonies, while in San Mateo County, the county clerk's office has extended hours.



Santa Clara County offers express marriage ceremony service at its customer service windows and the use of its wedding chapel for nuptials with up to 22 family members or friends of the couple getting married.



In 2018, Santa Clara County's Office of the Clerk-Recorder performed 39 weddings on Valentine's Day, nearly double the typical 20 ceremonies on a regular weekday.







Ever since the deadly Camp Fire tore through Paradise in November, an East Bay nonprofit has been running food and other supplies to Butte County to help those displaced by the disaster.



Every Sunday and Monday the White Pony Express, based in Pleasant Hill, sends two volunteers and a refrigerated delivery truck capable of carrying more than 2,000 pounds of fresh food to Butte County.



Many of the people they're serving are elderly or disabled, largely due to the demographics of the Paradise area before it was destroyed. Moreover, many of the people affected lack access to the transportation they'd need to visit a grocery store or other distribution point.







A Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety officer was taken to a hospital after being exposed to possible fentanyl while processing a suspect at the department's headquarters Wednesday night.



The case began around 10:35 p.m. when officers responded to a report of someone urinating in public in the area of the See's Candies store at 1238 W. El Camino Real.



A man was arrested and officers discovered he had a small package in his possession that contained suspected narcotics, public safety officials said.



While processing him and the evidence in the case, a patrol officer was exposed to the substance and immediately had a medical emergency, according to the department.



Officers treated him at the scene and he was taken to a hospital, where he is in stable condition as of Thursday morning, public safety officials said.







An Amtrak train struck a vehicle that had accidentally turned onto the train tracks in Emeryville late Wednesday night, but no one was injured in the collision, a police captain said.



The collision was reported around 11 p.m. at the tracks in the area of Shellmound and 67th streets.



Two people in a vehicle were following GPS directions but, likely due to bad weather and low visibility, accidentally turned onto train tracks, Emeryville police Capt. Oliver Collins said.



Shortly afterward, an Amtrak train was coming toward the vehicle. The two people inside were able to get out before the train hit the vehicle in what Collins called "somewhat of a slow-speed impact" that nevertheless destroyed the vehicle.







State Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, introduced a bill Thursday that would authorize state officials to enter into an insurance policy that pays out when California has unexpected costs for disaster response.



The proposed California Disaster Insurance would function like home insurance, but it would allow California to pay a premium to an insurance company using a portion of existing emergency funds that would then trigger a payment to the state in the event of a disaster.



California spent $947 million in 2017-2018 through an emergency fund for firefighting, more than $450 million than budgeted, according to Cal Fire.



Firefighting costs have overrun Cal Fire's emergency budget in seven of the last 10 years, and California has experienced 11 of the top 20 most destructive fires in its history since 2007, Dodd said.







Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, have introduced legislation to ban the sale of guns and ammunition at the Cow Palace in Daly City.



In addition to banning gun and ammunition sales, Senate Bill 281 introduced Wednesday would also transfer the state-owned venue's entire 68-acre property from the hands of the California Department of Food and Agriculture to a locally controlled joint powers authority, Wiener's office said.



The proposed Cow Palace Joint Powers Authority would then have full control over the site and would be responsible for designing a new strategy, including the construction of housing and mixed-use development.





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SAN MATEO (BCN)



The San Mateo Police Department joined social media in early 2012. Since then, the department's total followers across platforms has reached over 54,000, a majority of which are on the SMPD Nextdoor.com page.



Capt. Dave Norris, who joined the department in 1993, says that while the department has made a significant effort in expanding its overall social media presence, they rely most on the private hyper-local platform Nextdoor because of the website's rules on verifying members.



"When we look at our metrics and our numbers with Nextdoor, these are real people who live in the city of San Mateo who are receiving direct information from us," Norris said. "Who are helping us to impact crime. Who we are able to provide good preventative information to."



Community policing programs such as "Neighborhood Watch" have helped San Mateo police tackle crime, but social media has redefined how the department responds to criminal activity.



"Every time we've had a good image that we can put out to the community for some type of crime that's occurred, we have had some kind of traction on it," Norris said.



"We will get calls, we will get tips. They're not always perfect. They don't always match up. But we do get a response from the community every time we put these things out so we know that that leverage we're putting into that is working," he said.



While social media can be an asset to law enforcement, when community members have a platform to share their opinions, it can be a stage where bias and false suspicion can take root.



"We are very sensitive to what has been described in other venues as weaponization of the police. In other words, you're calling because it's suspicious but you're not giving us a reason why you think it's suspicious," Norris says.



When it comes to Nextdoor, Norris emphasizes that due to the site's privacy settings, investigators cannot view community discussions unless members opt to forward a message to the department.



Once a message is forwarded to police, they will reach out directly to the concerned resident to assess the situation.





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Residents living along the Russian River and its tributaries are being asked by Sonoma County sheriff's officials to evacuate if they live below 36 feet sea level, a sheriff's spokesman said.



The river is forecast to crest at 36 feet at 1 a.m. Friday and will not fall below flood stage until 10 p.m.



Flood stage is 32 feet, according to the National Weather Service.



"There could be several thousand people affected," sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Spencer Crum said.



He said they don't know exactly how many people because some homes are vacation homes.



Sheriff's officials have put out advisories on Nixle, Nextdoor, Facebook and Twitter and they sent out wireless emergency alerts and reverse 911 calls.



Major damage isn't expected, Crum said.



"We don't' typically get major damage until 40 feet," he said.



Weather officials said as of 4 p.m., the river was at 33.5 feet. An interactive map of flood stages on the river can be found at https://socoemergency.org/.



Crum urged people to avoid driving on roads that are flooded.



"Turn around, don't drown," he said.



Residents and visitors can get updates on the storm on the Sonoma County website. Locations of sandbags can also be found on the county's website.





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VALLEJO (BCN)



Vallejo police said Thursday that the Solano County coroner's office has confirmed Willie McCoy, 20, as the driver who was fatally shot by officers in his vehicle at a Taco Bell drive-thru Saturday night.



Police said McCoy was identified by a latent finger print examination.



McCoy, known as "Willie Bo", was a local rapper with the group FBG, according to Facebook posts.



Police, who responded to the 900 block of Admiral Callaghan Lane around 10:35 p.m. said he was asleep with a gun on his lap in his locked vehicle that was still in drive.



Police said McCoy suddenly woke up, officers told him to keep his hands visible, and McCoy was shot when he quickly reached for the handgun in his lap.



The gun, a loaded 40-caliber semi-automatic with an extended magazine, was reported stolen in Oregon, police said.





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DUBLIN (BCN)



Police in Dublin are asking for the public's assistance in locating a missing teenager.



Max Joseph Merrell, 14, was reported missing by his family on Tuesday. He is described as a white male, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, 145 pounds and with blue eyes and red hair.



He was last seen wearing a red beanie, a black NASCAR jacket and blue jeans. He was carrying a skateboard.



He was reported to be with a group of friends on Tuesday around 6:30 p.m. at the Arco/AMPM Mini Mart at 7249 Village Parkway in Dublin before he went missing.



Police said he is familiar with multiple forms of public transportation and is known to frequent skate parks in Dublin and in San Francisco.





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REDWOOD CITY (BCN)



A San Mateo County Sheriff's Office deputy is facing criminal charges for allegedly using excessive force on inmates, including slamming one inmate's head into a closed elevator door.



Prosecutors say deputy Blake Lycett, 42, beat three inmates in August 2018. The alleged assaults were all caught on the Maguire Correctional Facility's surveillance cameras.



The first two incidents happened while inmates were being booked into the jail on Aug. 18, 2018.



Inmate Luis Cardenas was arrested for being drunk in public, and was not cooperating with deputies' commands as they were trying to book him into jail. So Lycett jumped on top of him and punched him in the back and in the back of the head, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.



The same day, Milan Jackson was being booked into jail for allegedly trespassing on Caltrain property and he was not cooperating with deputies. Lycett struck him multiple times, Wagstaffe said.



On Aug. 22, inmate Zephaniah Coon was refusing to go back into his cell. Deputies got Coon on the ground and Lycett kneed him multiple times in the torso before pushing his head into a closed elevator door, according to Wagstaffe.



Deputies and prosecutors spent months investigating the case, Wagstaffe said.



"The debate will be whether this truly is excessive force," Wagstaffe said in an interview Friday. "Experts tell us it was not appropriate."



Wagstaffe also said that Lycett's use of force reports, written up after the incidents, are not accurate.



"The use of force reports ... were not consistent with the video and our interviews with other officers," Wagstaffe said.



Lycett was charged with the three crimes, all misdemeanors, on Wednesday. He was arraigned Friday morning and appeared through his attorney, Gregory Thoming, who asked for a continuance to review more records in the case, according to Wagstaffe.



Another hearing is scheduled for March 15. Thoming could not be reached for comment Friday.



Lycett was put on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal case and an internal investigation, according to SMCSO Det. Rosemerry Blankswade. He has been working for the sheriff's office for six years.



"This is not conduct we condone or believe represents the dedicated personnel here at the Sheriff's Office," Sheriff Carlos Bolanos said in a news release. "We take these allegations very seriously and want to thank everyone who came forward."





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SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



The San Francisco Sheriff's Department on Thursday said an investigation into allegations of abuse at the hands of deputies at San Francisco jails is currently underway.



In a letter to Public Defender Jeff Adachi, dated Jan. 31, San Francisco Sheriff Vicki Hennessy responds to Adachi's formal complaint regarding what he says are "deplorable conditions at the San Francisco jail and ongoing and repeated misconduct by SFSD deputies."



According to Hennessy, she first learned about recent allegations of abuse happening at both Jail #2, located at 425 Seventh St., and Jail #5, located at 1 Moreland Drive in San Bruno, on Dec. 2 through both Adachi and internal sources.



"I take these allegations seriously. I immediately identified this as a priority and launched a full investigation that same day, directing Internal Affairs employees to interview all complainants and witnesses," she said in the letter.

"I have taken steps to ensure a thorough investigation and fair treatment of complainants and witnesses. Our department will not pre-judge the outcome of this investigation until we have concluded our examination and review of the facts," she said. "We have made some personnel moves as well as assigned additional supervisory support to ensure the integrity of this investigation. I also am reviewing our inmate living area search policies to ensure best practices."



Hennessy also disagreed with Adachi's use of the word "deplorable" to describe jail conditions, but noted that Jail #4, located at the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant St., is "an embarrassment" because of its "outdated correctional design."




Volunteers with the Pajama Program will collect pajamas, books and monetary donations at the Fairmont San Jose Friday to help children and teens in Silicon Valley, hotel officials said.



From 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. donations will be collected at the front drive of the hotel on South Market Street for the 12th Annual Open Your Heart Pajama Drive.



The Pajama Program, a national nonprofit, believes that each child deserves a loving good night, including clean, warm pajamas and an enchanting bedtime story.



"By providing pajamas, we help to create a warm and nurturing bedtime environment for vulnerable kids living under difficult circumstances," Pallie Zambrano, president of the Bay Area chapter of the Pajama Program, said in a statement.







A standoff involving a suspect with a shotgun is over after law enforcement shot the person Thursday night, a spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office said.



Deputies tried to stop a stolen black SUV around 5 p.m. near Pearl and Chynoweth avenues, spokesperson Sgt. Reginald Cooks said. The SUV stopped and when deputies got out to talk to the occupants, the driver sped off. Deputies got back in their vehicle and started pursuing the SUV, Cooks said.



He said during the pursuit one of the suspects fired multiple shots from a shotgun at deputies and some bullets hit a deputy's vehicle. Cooks said the suspects ditched the SUV and a foot pursuit ensued until the suspects carjacked a UPS truck and took the driver hostage.



Cooks said the suspects drove off in the UPS and another pursuit began. Law enforcement officers deployed a spike strip to disable the truck but the suspects were able to keep going until they stopped at North First Street and Trimble Road.



He said two SWAT-type teams and hostage negotiators arrived and law enforcement officers were able to take the female suspect in custody and rescue the UPS driver. Cooks said there was a back-and-forth between law enforcement and the other suspect until he ran and was shot.







A second lawsuit was filed Wednesday against Union School District for allegedly failing to prevent suspected sexual misconduct by a former music teacher who was arrested and charged in connection with the case in 2017.



Samuel Neipp, 34, of Gilroy, was a music teacher at Dartmouth Middle School in 2008 when the plaintiff, Jane Doe, began attending the school. She was 12 years old at the time and Neipp was in his 20s, and he allegedly began grooming her for a sexual relationship that apparently lasted three years.



Attorneys said Doe, who is now 22, decided to file the lawsuit in 2017 when she was a senior in college after learning that there were additional girls targeted by Neipp. She reported the abuse for the first time and he was arrested in October 2017.



Administrators at the school are accused of not initiating an investigation into Neipp's behavior and allowing him to continue spending time with her at the school.



Neipp is also named in the lawsuit and is currently awaiting trial for charges of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14 years old, oral copulation, possession of child pornography and extortion, after being accused of threatening to release nude images of Doe.







The San Francisco Sheriff's Department on Thursday said an investigation into allegations of abuse at the hands of deputies at San Francisco jails is currently underway.



In a letter to Public Defender Jeff Adachi, dated Jan. 31, San Francisco Sheriff Vicki Hennessy responds to Adachi's formal complaint regarding what he says are "deplorable conditions at the San Francisco jail and ongoing and repeated misconduct by SFSD deputies."



According to Hennessy, she first learned about recent allegations of abuse happening at both Jail #2, located at 425 Seventh St., and Jail #5, located at 1 Moreland Drive in San Bruno, on Dec. 2 through both Adachi and internal sources.



"I take these allegations seriously. I immediately identified this as a priority and launched a full investigation that same day, directing Internal Affairs employees to interview all complainants and witnesses," she said in the letter.



"I have taken steps to ensure a thorough investigation and fair treatment of complainants and witnesses. Our department will not pre-judge the outcome of this investigation until we have concluded our examination and review of the facts," she said. "We have made some personnel moves as well as assigned additional supervisory support to ensure the integrity of this investigation. I also am reviewing our inmate living area search policies to ensure best practices."







A three-alarm fire has been contained Thursday evening in a warehouse in San Leandro, Alameda County Fire Department officials said.



As of 6:47 p.m. the fire in a rear warehouse at Georgia Pacific in the 2800 block of Alvarado Street was contained.



No injuries have been reported, fire officials said.







Residents living along the Russian River and its tributaries are being asked by Sonoma County sheriff's officials to evacuate if they live below 36 feet sea level, a sheriff's spokesman said.



The river is forecast to crest at 36 feet at 1 a.m. Friday and will not fall below flood stage until 10 p.m. Flood stage is 32 feet, according to the National Weather Service.



"There could be several thousand people affected," sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Spencer Crum said.



He said they don't know exactly how many people because some homes are vacation homes. Sheriff's officials have put out advisories on Nixle, Nextdoor, Facebook and Twitter and they sent out wireless emergency alerts and reverse 911 calls.



Major damage isn't expected, Crum said.



"We don't' typically get major damage until 40 feet," he said.



Weather officials said as of 4 p.m., the river was at 33.5 feet. An interactive map of flood stages on the river can be found at https://socoemergency.org/.





















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BERKELEY (BCN)



Activist group By Any Means Necessary is staging a news conference Friday afternoon at the University of California, Berkeley campus to address President Donald Trump's declaration of a state of emergency on the U.S. Mexico border.



"Trump's border wall is a monument to racism ... a giant declaration that the Latina/o population of the Western Hemisphere and immigrants coming from across the world, 'you are not welcome here,'" organizer Yvette Felarca said in a statement.



Other BAMN activists have called the wall a fundamental attack on the basic principle of American liberty.



Today's news conference is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. on the steps of Sproul Hall on the campus of UC Berkeley.





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SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



Eleven asylum seekers from Central America and several advocacy groups sued the administration of President Donald Trump in federal court in San Francisco Thursday, challenging a new policy that forces them to return to Mexico while they pursue their asylum claims.



The policy, known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, was announced by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Dec. 20 and began to be implemented on Jan. 28.



The lawsuit claims the policy exposes the asylum applicants to extreme danger in Mexico and denies their right under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act to seek asylum.



It also alleges the policy change violates the Administrative Procedure Act because it was adopted without a reasoned explanation and without a chance for public notice and comment.



The 11 plaintiffs are from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Ten were forced to return to Mexico between Jan. 30 and Feb. 5 after crossing the border and one other is in Tijuana.



U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Steven Stafford said, "The Department of Justice will defend the Department of Homeland Security's lawful actions in court.



"Congress has explicitly authorized the Department of Homeland Security to return aliens arriving from a contiguous foreign territory to that territory during that alien's immigration court proceedings," he said.



The lawsuit contends that the provision cited by the Justice Department doesn't apply to most asylum seekers.



One plaintiff in the case is an indigenous Guatemalan who suffered brutal beatings and death threats from a death squad, according to the lawsuit.



Another is a former Honduran police officer who worked undercover in narcotics and who fled to seek asylum after his identity was revealed to drug traffickers. Traffickers then killed his brother, thinking that the victim was the officer, the lawsuit says.



The lawsuit asks for an order declaring the policy illegal and for an injunction blocking its implementation.



The defendants include Nielsen, the Homeland Security Department, Citizenship and Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and officials with those agencies.



The lawsuit contends, "The conditions in Mexico will make it difficult if not impossible for asylum seekers to meaningfully exercise their right to apply for asylum.



"Asylum seekers who are attacked, kidnapped, or killed in Mexico will be wholly unable to pursue their asylum applications," the lawsuit says.





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A girl has gone missing from Santa Rosa Thursday and police are asking for help finding her, police said.



Jada Falls, 11, went missing from Francis Binkley Elementary School at 4965 Canyon Drive. She wasn't at the school when a relative went to pick her up, police said.



Jada is about 4 feet 10 inches tall, 125 pounds and was last seen wearing a purple jacket with a white shirt and white and black striped pants.



Jada might be with her mother, but police aren't able to confirm that, police said.



Anyone who sees Jada is asked to call Santa Rosa police at (707) 528-5222.





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An 84-year-old man was killed and an 85-year-old man was seriously injured Thursday in Santa Cruz County when a tree fell on a Cadillac Escalade they were in, according to the California Highway Patrol.



The two elderly men were headed northbound on state Highway 17 south of Summit Road when a tree toppled over around 3:30 p.m.

ALSO: Atmospheric river wipes drought off the map in Bay Area



The tree collided with the Cadillac, causing a pileup of around 10 total vehicles. Only the people in the Cadillac were injured.



The driver, who lives in Aptos, suffered major injuries, according to a news release from the CHP. The other man was killed.



The Santa Clara County Coroner's Office is investigating the death, and a spokeswoman said Friday that authorities had not yet confirmed his identity.



A spokesman for the CHP did not immediately return a call asking for more information.




Darla Shine, the wife of White House communications director Bill Shine, appears to be tweeting about childhood diseases, claiming that illnesses, such as measles, mumps and chickenpox, "keep you healthy & fight cancer."

Health experts warn that the claim is not true and adds to misinformation that could cause harm.

Shine, who has been known to tweet out stories with anti-vaccination claims, wrote Wednesday on Twitter that "The entire Baby Boom population alive today had the #Measles as kids."

She added that: "I had the #Measles #Mumps #ChickenPox as a child and so did every kid I knew - Sadly my kids had #MMR so they will never have the life long natural immunity I have. Come breathe on me!"

Her account is not verified by Twitter, but notes that she is the wife of Bill Shine, "assistant to #POTUS."

Len Lichtenfeld, interim medical director of the American Cancer Society, told The Washington Post on Thursday there is no evidence that contracting measles makes a person healthier later in life or helps prevent cancer.

In addition, Lichtenfeld said, "It's easy to forget the disease burden that came with measles when we were young."

"It is a real illness with real consequences," he said. "Fortunately, for most people, those consequences were not serious, but it is an infection and it can cause life-threatening events. It can cause pneumonia and it can cause meningitis. Fortunately, those complications are rare but do occur - and children did die as a result of measles infections.

"I think over time, it becomes part of our past and it tends to become less relevant and less important as we move along in time and we forget how serious a problem it was for those who grew up in that generation."

Researchers are increasingly concerned about a potentially deadly neurological disorder that can develop as a delayed complication of measles after the virus has lain dormant in people's bodies for numerous years.

Measles is highly contagious.

Before the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963, most children did contract the illness - an estimated 3 to 4 million patients each year in the United States, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of those, 48,000 were hospitalized, 400 to 500 died and another 1,000 suffered from a severe complication known as encephalitis, a condition in which the brain swells due to an infection.

In 2000 - almost four decades after parents began vaccinating their children - measles was declared eliminated in the United States.

CDC data shows that from 2000 to 2018, there was an average of 140 measles cases per year in the United States. And there were three reported fatalities during that time - one in 2002, one in 2003 and one in 2015.

But there have been numerous outbreaks in recent years, amid an anti-vaccine movement that has been sustained, in part, by fraudulent research from 1998 that purposed to show a link between vaccination and autism. Numerous studies have provided conclusive evidence that vaccinations do not cause autism.

It's still an issue. The World Health Organization recently named "vaccine hesitancy" as one of the "Ten threats to global health in 2019":

The reasons why people choose not to vaccinate are complex; a vaccines advisory group to WHO identified complacency, inconvenience in accessing vaccines, and lack of confidence are key reasons underlying hesitancy. Health workers, especially those in communities, remain the most trusted advisor and influencer of vaccination decisions, and they must be supported to provide trusted, credible information on vaccines.

Amid backlash, Shine said on Twitter on Wednesday that she's "Not sure why what I tweet is so interesting, I'm not a politician, I have no influence."

Shine shared a CNN article about how doctors at the Mayo Clinic had given a cancer patient "a highly concentrated, lab-engineered measles virus similar to the measles vaccine" and then she went into remission.

Lichtenfeld, with the American Cancer Society, explained that the measles virus alone is not being used to treat cancer but, rather, a version that has been manipulated to specifically invade certain cancer cells.

"It's far different in any way, shape or form from giving patients an illness in order to try to treat a cancer," he said. "That is simply not what we do."

"Measles doesn't protect us from cancer. Chickenpox doesn't protect us from cancer," Lichtenfeld added. "These are diseases that kill. These are diseases that used to affect millions upon millions of people and it's very easy to forget the lives that were lost or the lives that were impacted significantly as a result of the measles epidemic because we tend for forget. We didn't live through or we don't remember it or we weren't aware of it. Let me assure you, it was a very serious disease and we don't need to see it come back."
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency to bypass Congress and build his long-promised wall along the nations southwestern border even as he agreed to sign a spending package that does not finance it, the White House said Thursday.

The announcement came just minutes before voting began on the spending measure, which then cleared both houses, ending a two-month war of attrition that closed much of the federal government for 35 days and threatened a second shutdown Friday. The Senate passed it 83-16, and the House followed later in the evening, 300-128.

But if he declares a national emergency to access billions of dollars for his wall, Trump could instigate a constitutional clash over who controls the federal purse and test the bounds of presidential authority in a time of divided government. Democrats and some Republicans instantly condemned the move, with some vowing to challenge it through legislation and lawsuits.

The emergency declaration combined with the $1.375 billion in the spending measure dedicated to fencing and other reprogrammed funds would allow the president to put together about $8 billion for barriers along the border, according to an administration official, more than the $5.7 billion he had been seeking from Congress.

President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action  including a national emergency  to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border, said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. The president is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border and secure our great country.

Trumps announcement capped hours of last-minute drama as he came under pressure Thursday morning to not sign the spending legislation from conservative figures like Laura Ingraham, who denounced it on Twitter as a monstrosity and a Total SCAM!

A balky president considered telling Republican leaders to put aside the measure, brokered by both parties, and instead pass a short-term bill to keep the government open while allowing him to resume efforts to win border wall money, according to a Republican briefed on the situation.

Such a move would have unraveled the delicate bipartisan balance favored by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the majority leader, who wanted to move beyond the wall fight. In a telephone conversation Thursday, Trump asked McConnell whether the spending measure included any hidden provisions or land mines, and the senator reassured him it did not, according to a person familiar with the call.

Ultimately, Trump was persuaded to sign the bipartisan spending measure after all, and at least some close to the president doubted that he was ever really wavering and instead was just enjoying the suspense.

But McConnell chose not to take a chance, rushing to the floor and interrupting a colleagues speech to announce Trumps decision, in effect locking it in before he could change his mind.

In agreeing to end the spending fight for now, however, Trump essentially started a new one with his vow to declare a national emergency, one that crosses party and ideological lines as liberals and conservatives alike objected to what they called presidential overreach.

Seven Senate Democrats, including four announced or possible presidential candidates, immediately introduced legislation intended to block Trump from diverting money from disaster relief for the wall. Some House Democrats, including Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, began endorsing a joint resolution to essentially nullify a national emergency declaration.

A parade of liberal advocacy organizations sent out pre-written statements promising to challenge any such declaration in court as an outrageous abuse of power by an unstable and increasingly autocratic president, as one of the groups, Public Citizen, put it.

The president is doing an end run around Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California told reporters. She suggested that Trump was setting a precedent for future Democratic presidents to act on issues like gun control  precisely the scenario that scares Republicans.

You want to talk about a national emergency, lets talk about today, Pelosi said, reminding Trump that it was the anniversary of the shooting massacre last February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Seventeen students and staff members were killed. Thats a national emergency. Why dont you declare that emergency, Mr. President? I wish you would.

Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, echoed her criticism and said Congress would defend its prerogatives. The public was more opposed to the emergency declaration than they were to the wall, he said in a brief interview. And they were opposed to the wall.

About a half-dozen Senate Republicans quickly spoke out against the move, as well. I dont think this is a matter that should be declared a national emergency, said Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. We as legislators are trying to address the presidents priority. What were voting on now is perhaps an imperfect solution, but its one we could get consensus on.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said such a declaration was of dubious constitutionality, while Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida called it a bad idea. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said, We have a government that has a Constitution that has a division of power, and revenue raising and spending power was given to Congress.

Still, other Republicans backed Trump, including an ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, as well as Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who faces re-election next year. He feels that declaring a national emergency gives him that flexibility that he wants and needs, so Im supportive of that, Capito said of the president.

For goodness sake, we tried for 35 days in December and January, right, to get the Democrats to do what everyone knows needs to happen except Democrats, said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. I support the national emergency declaration 100 percent.

Among the Republicans who privately warned Trump against an emergency declaration was McConnell, who expects that House Democrats will pass a nonbinding resolution disapproving it in a form that the Republican leader cannot block from a floor vote. At least five or six Republican senators are likely to vote against the president, making a majority along with the Democrats.

A person familiar with the discussions said that McConnell said that he has warned Trump that he has less than two weeks to try to persuade wavering Republicans to support his national emergency effort, otherwise he will face the prospect of a bipartisan rebuke by Congress.

The spending legislation that passed Thursday includes the seven remaining bills to keep the remainder of the government open through the rest of the fiscal year at the end of September. House and Senate negotiators unveiled the 1,159-page bill Wednesday just before midnight, leaving little time for lawmakers to actually digest its contents.

The border security compromise tucked into the bill is perhaps the most stinging legislative defeat of Trumps presidency. It provides $1.375 billion for 55 miles of steel-post fencing, essentially the same deal that Trump rejected in December, triggering the shutdown, and far from the $5.7 billion he demanded for more than 200 miles of steel or concrete wall.

The measure prohibits construction in certain areas along the Rio Grande Valley and includes a provision, pushed by Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, granting communities on the border time to weigh in on the location and design of the fencing.

The bill also prohibits funds from being used to keep lawmakers from visiting and inspecting Department of Homeland Security detention centers, following a number of highly publicized instances where Democratic lawmakers tried to visit detention centers and were turned away.

Lawmakers were drawn by the other six parts of the spending package that finance a number of agencies, including the IRS, which is in the middle of tax-filing season, and the Commerce Department. Allocations include $77 million to address the opioid epidemic, as well as money for natural disasters, including nearly $4 billion to wild-land fire programs and $12.6 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agencys disaster relief fund.

The package also negates an executive order that Trump signed to freeze pay for federal civilian workers, and instead extends a 1.9 percent pay increase. Vice President Mike Pence, Cabinet officials and other high-level political appointees will receive raises of about $10,000 a year that had been frozen during the shutdown.

Negotiators failed to resolve other matters, including back pay for federal contractors caught in the middle of the shutdown and an extension of the Violence Against Women Act, which expires Friday  although grants under the act are funded in the spending bill.

Trumps aides have told him he can add to the $1.375 billion by reallocating money from other related programs using his traditional discretion but a national emergency would allow him to access even more money. Exactly how that would work was still being debated; there were multiple drafts of the emergency order circulating within the government this week.

A Defense Department official said one likely scenario would be to divert up to $2.5 billion in counternarcotics funds to the Army Corps of Engineers. The administration would then transfer existing federal land along the border to the Defense Department and acquire or condemn private land.

The Army Corps could then go ahead and build a wall or other barrier to secure the Defense Departments property using the newly diverted funds. Dozens of miles of barrier could be built this way, according to the official, who asked not to be identified discussing alternatives before the White House was ready to disclose a specific plan.

Legal experts have said Trump can muster serious arguments that he can take declare a national emergency under current law, but it would almost surely prompt a court challenge from critics arguing that he is usurping two centuries of congressional control over spending.

Under Article I of the Constitution, Congress has the power to appropriate funds. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law, it says.

But Congress has passed laws in the past providing presidents with authority in national emergencies, laws that remain on the books. Indeed, 31 national emergencies declared by Trump and his predecessors remain active.

Scholars pointed to two laws that could be used by the Trump administration to justify a presidential expenditure for his border wall without explicit legislative approval.

One permits the secretary of the Army to direct troops and other resources to help construct projects that are essential to the national defense. The other law authorizes the secretary of defense in an emergency to begin military construction projects not otherwise authorized by law but needed to support the armed forces.

Legal challenges could ultimately lead to a confrontation at the Supreme Court. The court is led by a five-member conservative majority, but it has shown skepticism of presidential excesses in recent years, reining in both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama when the justices concluded they had overstepped their authority.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (C), also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (L) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin jointly chair the opening ceremony of a new round of high-level economic and trade consultations in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2019. This round of high-level consultations will conclude on Friday. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States started a new round of high-level economic and trade consultations in Beijing on Thursday morning.

The opening ceremony of the talks was jointly chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

This round of high-level consultations will conclude on Friday.

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[ Editor: Zhang Zhou ]
CHICAGO  The investigation into Empire actor Jussie Smolletts account of being beaten in a racist, anti-gay attack took another turn Friday when Chicago police said two men who had been questioned about the attack have been arrested on suspicion of a crime.

Police did not say what crime they may have committed, and they have not been charged, but spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said police consider them to be suspects in the attack.

The two men  whom police have identified only as Nigerian brothers  were picked up at Chicagos OHare International Airport on Wednesday and taken into custody after returning from Nigeria when police learned that at least one of the men worked on Empire, according to Guglielmi. He said he did not know what the mans job was on the television drama.

He confirmed that a search warrant was executed at the Chicago apartment where the men lived but did not give any information about what exactly police found.

Guglielmis comments followed a furious 24 hours that included local media reports that the attack was a hoax. Police say those reports are unconfirmed. Producers of the television drama also disputed media reports that Smolletts character, Jamal Lyon, was being written off the show, calling the idea patently ridiculous.

Guglielmi reiterated Friday that there was no evidence to say that this is a hoax and that Smollett continues to be treated by police as a victim, not a suspect.

Smollett, who is black and openly gay, told ABC News in an interview that aired Thursday that the men police took into custody on Wednesday were the ones who hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him, beat him, threw an undetermined chemical substance and looped a rope around his neck before running off. Smollett has said he was attacked while getting food at a restaurant in downtown Chicago.

Guglielmi said police have not found any surveillance video showing the attack itself, though they continue to look for such evidence.

Don Babwin is an Associated Press writer.
The U.S. government has stopped force-feeding a group of men on a hunger strike inside an El Paso, Texas, immigration detention center, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.

The dramatic reversal comes as public pressure was mounting on ICE to halt the practice, which involves feeding detainees through nasal tubes against their will. Last week, the United Nations human rights office said the force-feeding of Indian hunger strikers at the facility could violate the U.N. Convention Against Torture.

On Wednesday, a federal judge said the government had to stop force-feeding two of the detained Indian immigrants, but warned that if their health started to decline he would consider ordering force-feeding again, their attorney said. On Thursday, all force-feeding at the detention center near the El Paso airport had stopped, according to ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa.

This is a win for us, said Louis Lopez, who is representing Malkeet Singh and Jasvir Singh in the case heard in El Paso. They have a First Amendment right to protest.

In federal court Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama heard from Dr. Michelle Iglesias about how men detained in the El Paso facility are restrained and have feeding tubes pushed through their noses. The judge asked specifically whether they had some other way they could protest, and sought details about the Singhs physical condition.

What are the physiological and psychological effects of allowing a hunger strike to continue unabated by force-feeding? he asked.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said last week the office views force-feeding as potential ill treatment that would go against the convention, ratified by the United States in 1994.

The Geneva-based offices statement echoed concerns raised by 14 Democratic lawmakers who have asked ICE for more information about nine Indian men who have been force-fed through nasal tubes. The men went on hunger strike to protest their treatment, and on Thursday a total of 12 men, including 9 Indian nationals and 3 Cubans, continued to refuse food. Last month, ICE began non-consensual feeding and hydration after a federal judge issued a court order allowing the practice.

Medical staff at the facility continue to closely monitor the health and vital signs of all the hunger strikers to ensure they continue to receive proper medical care, Zamarripa said.

Martha Mendoza and Garance Burke are Associated Press writer.
BEDFORD, N.H.  William Weld, a former Massachusetts governor who ran for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2016, became the first Republican to take a serious step toward challenging President Trump in 2020.

Speaking Friday at a breakfast in New Hampshire, Weld said he has created a presidential exploratory committee. He blasted Trump for leaving the nation in grave peril.

We have a president whose priorities are skewed towards promotion of himself, Weld said. He may have great energy and considerable raw talent, but he does not use that in ways that promote democracy, truth, justice and equal opportunity for all. To compound matters, our president is simply too unstable to carry out the duties of the highest executive office in the land.

The move makes Trump the first incumbent president since George H.W. Bush in 1992 to face a notable primary challenge. Other Republicans eyeing a presidential campaign include former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.

Trump remains very popular with Republicans, so he faces little risk in losing the GOP nomination. But primary challenges often foreshadow trouble. Bush and Jimmy Carter lost their bids for a second term after facing challenges from within their own party.

Asked to comment on Welds campaign, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders responded: Who?

Stephen Stepanek, the chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, pointed to Welds past support of President Barack Obama and said he didnt expect his campaign to get very far among Republican primary voters.

The Republican Party is a big tent, but someone who endorsed Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 as the Libertarian Partys vice presidential nominee really needs to think about how welcome he is in the Republican Party, Stepanek said.

Weld, 73, ran on the Libertarian party ticket in 2016 with former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, receiving about 4.5 million votes, or a little more than 3 percent of the national vote.

While holding the line on spending and taxes, Weld as governor embraced liberal positions at odds with national Republicans on abortion and gay rights.

Holly Ramer and Bob Salsberg are Associated Press writers.
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AURORA, Ill. An employee of a manufacturing company opened fire in its suburban Chicago plant Friday, killing five people and wounding five police officers before he was fatally shot, police said.

Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman identified the gunman as 45-year-old Gary Martin and said he was believed to be an employee at the Henry Pratt Co.  which makes valves for industrial purposes  in the city about 40 miles west of Chicago. She told a news conference that officers arrived within four minutes of receiving reports of the shooting and were fired upon as soon as they entered the 29,000-square-foot manufacturing warehouse.
About one-fifth of the schools in the San Francisco Unified School District are failing to adequately serve students and need help, according to the state Department of Education.

The California School Dashboard, a new tool that measures educational accountability, identified 27 schools in the district that require comprehensive or targeted assistance. Nine of those were rated as "lowest performing," in the bottom 5 percent of all state schools.

The federal law known as ESSA, the Every Student Succeeds Act, requires that states release the names of the bottom 5 percent and additionally identify schools with one or more groups of students whose performance meets the criteria for "lowest performing." A total of 1,640 schools statewide made the list, with 780 in the lowly 5 percent.

The education department sent notices on Jan. 31 informing school district superintendents and charter school administrators of the schools needing an intervention. California hasn't released the names of poorly performing schools since 2013, when API test scores were discontinued.

RELATED: Best Bay Area school districts for 2019, according to Niche

Schools determined to be eligible for comprehensive support and improvement (CSI) and additional targeted support and improvement (ATSI) must develop plans aimed at increasing student achievement and improving outcomes.

All high schools, including charter schools, with a graduation rate of less than 67 percent averaged over two years made the CSI list.

Here the San Francisco Unified schools that made the comprehensive support and improvement list because of substandard graduation rates:

Five Keys Independence HS (SF Sheriff's)

S.F. International High

Wells (Ida B.) High

Independence High

Marshall (Thurgood) High

The state rated these S.F. Unified schools' performances in the bottom 5 percent of all Californian schools:

Harte (Bret) Elementary

Brown Jr. (Willie L) Middle

Cobb (William L.) Elementary

Lick (James) Middle

Mission Education Center

Revere (Paul) Elementary

Tenderloin Community

Visitacion Valley Elementary

Visitacion Valley Middle

California identified these S.F. Unified schools as eligible for additional targeted support and improvement because the performance of one or more groups of students meets the criteria for "lowest performing":

Galileo High

O'Connell (John) High

Carmichael (Bessie)/FEC

Milk (Harvey) Civil Rights Elementary

Huerta (Dolores) Elementary

Hillcrest Elementary

Sanchez Elementary

Hoover (Herbert) Middle

Denman (James) Middle

Aptos Middle

Everett Middle

Rooftop Elementary

Creative Arts Charter

"We recognize that there are also schools with a high concentration of underserved students or schools where certain subgroups are not being as well served," said S.F. Unified Public Relations Manager Laura Dudick in an email. "We are focused on the work of eliminating these disparities and have existing evidence-based strategies in place for school improvement."

But Dudick also noted that many SFUSD students met or exceeded state academic standards in 2017-18.

"Approximately 40 percent of the 121 preK-12 schools in SFUSD ranked high to very high (as defined by the California School Dashboard) in both English Language Arts and math, and 10 schools in the district have a proficiency rate above 75 percent in both ELA and math," she said.

The ranking and review site Niche ranked the San Francisco Unified School District as the 19th best school district in the Bay Area for 2019.

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Read Mike Moffitt's latest stories and send him news tips at mmoffitt@sfchronicle.com.

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A gunman took a UPS driver hostage inside his truck, led police and sheriffs deputies on a chase across San Jose, shot at officers and then engaged in a standoff Thursday night that ended with the safe release of the driver and the gunman getting fatally shot by a law enforcement officer.

The pursuit began around 5 p.m. when deputies with the Santa Clara County Sheriffs Office tried to pull over a black GMC near the Ohlone/Chynoweth Light Rail Station in San Jose, but when one deputy approached the vehicle  later determined to be stolen  a man and woman inside the car drove away from the scene, said Sgt. Reginald Cooks, a spokesman for the Sheriffs Office.

The pair led deputies to Curtner Avenue and Communications Hill Boulevard, where they ditched the SUV and fled on foot, Cooks said. At some point thereafter, the pair came across a UPS truck with the driver still inside  and they carjacked the vehicle and held the driver hostage.

While deputies continued pursuing the pair in the truck, one of the suspects opened fire on officers with a shotgun. Sheriffs deputies did not return fire, Cooks said.

No one was injured by the gunfire, but he said at least one of the shots hit a deputys patrol car.

Deputies deployed spike strips near Highway 87 and Taylor Street, but the truck continued on its rims after the tires blew out, Cooks said.

The UPS truck finally came to a stop on North First Street near Trimble Road, where a standoff ensued. At one point, the woman emerged from the UPS truck and surrendered to police. At another point, the hostage was allowed to go free.

Dozens of San Jose police cruisers, Santa Clara County sheriffs cars and California Highway Patrol officers pulled up behind the truck as negotiators tried to make contact with the gunman.

NBC Bay Area was broadcasting live when the gunman ran from the UPS truck and was shot by a law enforcement officer. The gunman could be seen collapsing onto the pavement.

Cooks said the Sheriffs Office does not know who fired the single shot.

It was immediately unclear if the gunman was holding the shotgun when he was shot, Cooks said.

Cooks said that, in general, anytime that we discharge a weapon it is not taken lightly, and that law enforcements role was to ensure the safety of the public.

Officials said the suspect  whose identity has not been released pending family notification  shot at deputies during the pursuit.

The woman will likely face a host of charges for her involvement in the carjacking and hostage incident, Cooks said. She was not immediately identified by police.

UPS is grateful that our driver was released and were thankful to local police who responded to the situation, said UPS officials in a statement to The Chronicle. We are assisting local authorities as we can.

Chronicle staff writer Tatiana Sanchez contributed to this report.

Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor
This article, Netflix offices in LA locked down amid search for gunman, originally appeared on CNET.com.

Netflix's office in Los Angeles were briefly locked down Thursday afternoon as police searched for a man with a deadly weapon in a nearby parking lot.

Photos posted to social media showed several Los Angeles Police Department vehicles swarmed outside the Sunset Bronson Studios, which houses offices for Netflix and KTLA TV. Employees were told to shelter in place as a precautionary measure after reports of a gunman near the studio came in at 3:53 p.m.

Officers quickly detained a suspect, LAPD Officer Tony Im said, adding that the situation had been resolved.

Netflix representatives didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Developing
So you made it through SF Beer Week. Congratulations! Now let's get to it.

The beer news hasn't ebbed with the sunsetting of this year's event. A number of Anchor Brewing employees have delivered a letter to brewery management declaring their intent to unionize. Workers involved with the efforts wrote in a public petition that they are "sick of poverty wages, inaccessible benefits, and lack of respect." The brewery hasn't yet commented on the efforts, or posted to social media since February 7.

In other San Francisco beer news, Sierra Nevada Brewing has acquired SF-based Sufferfest Beer Co., a gluten-removed brewery founded in San Francisco in 2016. The purchase underscores the excitement around the burgeoning category of gluten-free and gluten-removed beers. As the CEOs tell it, neither company was necessarily looking to partner when they met at a conference by chance last fall, but they ultimately decided it would be a mutually beneficial business move.

What's the next trend in beer? If you ask brewers around town, they might give you one simple word: "kveik." The type of traditional Norwegian yeast drastically speeds up valuable production time (good for brewers) and is still very expressive (good for drinkers). Get acquainted with the yeast and its local fans here at Eater.

Across the Bay, the owners of the space at 6309 College Ave. announced in a newsletter that Mikkeller Oakland is officially gone. But there's good news too: They're returning the bar back to its original form as Trappist Provisions. According to the team behind the bar, they simply felt it was time to get back to pouring some Belgian beers.

Is the future of beer non-alcoholic? Maybe, says a report by Axios. Research suggests that while beer growth has largely stagnated over the last five years (that includes both craft and macro), non-alcoholic beer as a category has burgeoned 3.9 percent on average for the last five years. So what's with the uptick in NA sales? It's a mixed bag, primarily consisting of health awareness and international legalities.
More than 6,800 wines from 37 states and wine regions in the United States, Canada, and Mexico were entered into the 2019 competition.

Out of this enormous field of entries, the following wines stood out to be declared the best of the best, receiving the prestigious American AgCredit Sweepstake award. Included with each sweepstakes winner are tasting notes by Mike Dunne, contributing wine writer to the Sacramento Bee.

Sparkling Sweepstake

Trump Winery 2014

Monticello Methode

Champenoise Blanc de Blanc, Charlottesville, Va.

From a field of 23 candidates, the Trump stood out for its fine color, precise beads, boldness and persistence. Its citric fruit was buoyed by snappy acidity and complicated with a yeastiness more often identified with Champagne than American sparkling wine.

Sparkling Sweepstake

Goose Watch Winery NV Finger Lakes Brut Rose,

Rumulas, N.Y.

More Information For a comprehensive listing of all the Best of Class, double gold, gold, silver and bronzeawards, visit www.winejudging.com. See More Collapse

Goose Watch, Finger Lakes, Pinot Noir and all the rest of this sparkling wines long name each evoke images of nobility, endurance and excitement, and those same characteristics are realized in the glass when the wine is poured. This sparkler is simply beautiful, from its bright pink robe through its restrained boldness to its crisp finish.

White Sweepstake

Castello di Amorosa 2017 Napa Valley Reserve

Chardonnay, Calistoga, Calif.

A sunny and solid chardonnay that stands out for the clarity of its ripe fruit, zesty acidity, tapping spice and evocation of creme brulee and pears in its persistent finish.

Rose Sweepstake

Turkovich Family Wines 2018 Yolo County Rosa of

Grenache, Winters, Calif.

In the clarity and brilliance of its color, the allure of its fragrance and the honesty of its fruity flavor, this is a rose that could lead to a stampede among vintners to round up all the grenache they can find in Yolo County.

Red Sweepstake

Los Positas Vineyards 2016 Livermore Valley Estate

Malbec, Livermore, Calif.

The vineyard to produce this vivid malbec must have been planted on soil brought to Livermore Valley from Cahors in France, malbecs historic home, where the variety continues to generate exceptional wines. Nonetheless, for character, fine-line complexity and a vigorous, well-balanced finish, Cahors has met a worthy competitor in this wine.

Red Sweepstake

St. Annes Crossing 2016 Dry Creek Valley The Ranch

Zinfandel, Kenwood, Calif.

If you dont want zinfandels representative jammy boysenberry fruit, sweetness and oak in your zinfandel, move on. This has so much of all that that you will want to belly up to the tasting counter with a forklift to help with the lifting.

Specialty Sweepstake

4R Ranch Vineyards & Winery 2017 Texas Nectar Nero Rose, Muenster, Texas

A truly original dessert wine for its distinctive floral aroma, smooth texture, lush fruit and seamless integration of sugar and acid. The hummingbird of the label speaks for all of us as we flock to this feeder.

Specialty Sweepstake

Prager Winery and Port Works Napa Valley 10 Year Old Tawny Port Noble

Companion, St Helena, Calif.

Few wines are as aptly named as this, with Noble Companion apparently referring to the wines warm and generous fruit, bouquet of roses and bowl of welcoming nuts. Sit down with a fellow noble companion and start sipping, nibbling and chatting. The night cant help but be a winner.

Label Sweepstake

Bonterra Organic Vineyards 2016 California Equinox Red Label Winner, Hopland, Calif.
For Malika Junaid, co-founder and principal architect of M Designs in Los Altos, boundaries between indoor and outdoor fade behind an attitude that anything is possible. Take, for example, the solar-powered airport hangar door that opens to the scenic view of her Los Altos Hills home, as if you could take flight straight over the bay.

It was important for me to design the house so that it merges with the environment, Junaid says. That meant working closely with M Designs structural engineers to design the door to withstand a high-end aluminum finish and double-pane glass with an awning-style lift. Not knowing what it would ultimately cost, Junaid kept a buffer in terms of the houses overall $10 million budget and was pleased when they came in just under the estimate.

It had never been done in a residential setting before, says Junaid, of the hangar door. She notes that the goals are different in an airport setting, where interior details are less important. We had to alter the door quite a bit to make it work.

Junaid, 44, launched M Designs nearly two decades ago with her business partner, architect Chip Jessup, who had hired her at another firm. I remember getting off the phone and going, Boy, that was intimidating, he says of their first encounter. She was very self-possessed and very articulate, and I thought, We should hire this woman. Few women, in fact, make it up the ranks, much less to the top of the field. Nearly half of U.S. architecture students are women, yet just 30 percent go on to practice and just three of the worlds 100 largest firms are led by women. (There is also a 20 percent salary gap in the U.S. that favors male architects.)

Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle

She does not see barriers, says her husband, Junaid Qurashi, an engineer turned tech investor who helped the design-minded partners on the business side of things. The two met through a likely source: their moms, both pioneering women in their own right. Junaids mom was the first female television host in Pakistan (she is now a senator there), and Qurashis mother was one of the first female TV producers/directors in the country. Both grew up in Pakistan, although Qurashi moved to the United States as a teenager.

Our first meeting was just amazing, says Qurashi. Shes extremely talented, bold, very courageous.  I was blown away.

Junaid had decided that she wanted be an architect early on  at age 12. A trip with her family to New York City in 1988 influenced her affinity for modernism. That was a total game changer for me, she says. It was very much like a moving city, very high-tech at that time.

Her parents, always supportive, encouraged her to pursue her studies at a prestigious architecture school in Lahore, Pakistan. We were always taught our culture and what to retain, she says, but also to explore our passions.

But after a brief stint there, Junaid came to the U.S. in 1995 seeking a more tech-forward curriculum and ultimately earned her degree at Louisiana State University, despite warnings from friends abroad to avoid the Southern U.S.

To me, the South, it was fun, she recalls. That was the beauty of U.S., the open-mindedness, people stepping in to help or speak up for you when needed or giving you opportunity to do what you wanted to do. That was the exciting part.

After graduating, she moved back home to Pakistan and worked for two years. It took Qurashi a year to persuade Junaid to marry him and move back to the United States in 2001, right around her 26th birthday. When he sets his mind on something, there is no moving him, jokes Junaid. She took her husbands first name rather than last name as her surname  I wanted to take his moms but that was a bit too unusual, she says.

Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle

The couples move to the Bay Area opened Junaids eyes and ears to progressive and sustainable building practices. When I moved to California I was fascinated that solar panels were encouraged and widely used, water usage was carefully reviewed, she recalls. This made me want to make sure our projects were as sustainable as possible.

Junaid was in the process of launching M. Designs as well as finishing a home in downtown Los Altos for her growing family (she was pregnant with her second child). It was her first experiment incorporating sustainable features that were also cost-effective (rainwater harvesting, solar energy, designing for orientation to make air conditioning unnecessary). It was also one of the first green-certified homes in Los Altos. Although unintentional, it was an amazing thing for us to have for marketing, she says.

Placing herself at the forefront of sustainable architecture  this was before California building codes and requirements changed in favor of the planet  Junaid founded the Green Learning Institute in 2009.

We realized that we didnt know a lot about the technical part of sustainability, so we started training classes to understand what green is and do you really need to break your bank to achieve this? A year later, she was awarded an Environmental Quality Award from Menlo Park for the single-family home that she designed in the city for client.

The design process for Junaids Los Alto Hills home, where they moved last summer, became a family affair. Qurashis Star Trek fandom inspired the Enterprise-like dining table, suspended over the indoor swimming pool, which features a tile mosaic of The Creation of Adam (Junaids favorite painting). The pneumatic vacuum elevator  which operates without cables or pulleys  continued the Star Trek theme, an idea that formed during a family trip to the International Builders Show in Las Vegas.

The elevators were on display, and the first thing my daughter said was, This is like, Beam me up, Scotty!

Nearly everything in the house is electrical and solar-powered, she notes.

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While most parents lament the teen years when closed doors become a thing, Junaid and her husband figured out a life hack  designing a completely open space, encompassing the kitchen, living space, dining space and the familys neighboring study spaces.

I think technology is doing enough to separate families, says Junaid.

Our communication is almost 24/7, adds Qurashi. And the kids like that.

Still, the imaginations of two young teenagers can challenge even the most accommodating of parents. They wanted to do a bungee jump into the pool, says Junaid. I wanted to, but I was like, OK, lets stop.

Designing with family in mind and certainly the lifestyles of her clients, including executives from Apple, Facebook and Google, takes precedence over Junaids personal aesthetic. She is attuned to peoples anxieties and their concerns, and for that matter, she is really good at opening peoples eyes to whats possible, says Jessup. Case in point: a client who requested a replica of a house she had already designed.

I said, You know, Ill design that house and youll think, Wow, it looks fantastic, and you would hate living in it because this house, or this architectural style, is just not the way you live your life.

Her commercial and residential work ranges from the futuristic appeal of her current home to the traditional, inspired by her home country and travels to Europe, but one commonality remains: They are centered around open spaces and a sensible approach to sustainability. But which of the many is her favorite?

Theyre like children, right? she says. I love all of them.

Theresa Gonzalez is a Bay Area freelance writer. Email: style@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @theresagonzalez
Canada often serves as Americas colder, nicer, saner foil, and its handling of marijuana policy exemplifies its more pragmatic side. While federal, state and even local governments in the United States hurtle in different directions on cannabis, our northern neighbor dispensed with much of the confusion by legalizing the drug at the national level last year.

Two Bay Area business deals this week presaged the literal dividends of that decision. Canadian cannabis concerns acquired the Oakland mega-dispensary Harborside as well as three San Francisco dispensaries owned by Apothecarium. The former transaction, valued at $153 million, is a reverse takeover in which a smaller Toronto company is acquiring its larger Oakland counterpart, which also has a San Jose dispensary and will retain most of the ownership of the resulting firm. Another Toronto company is buying Apothecarium for $118 million in cash and stock.

Both of the purchasers are publicly traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange, which listed about 50 American cannabis companies last year. That will give the firms valuable access to capital markets and dramatically increase their ability to grow in more than the cultivating sense.

That is in sharp contrast to the companies situation in the United States, where then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions was still mulling a war-on-drugs-style crackdown on marijuana even as Canada was moving to legalize it. Federal authorities were moving to shut down Harborside until 2016.

Cannabis remains illegal for medical or recreational purposes at the federal level and in 17 states. The nations law enforcement agencies are still making more than 600,000 arrests a year on marijuana charges, most of them for possession, a figure that has been rising in recent years despite increasing legalization. Such arrests disproportionately affect minorities.

The costs and harm of continuing criminalization are in addition to the economic benefits forgone in states that have changed course. Cannabis legal limbo cuts it off from regular banking and financial services, let alone the stock market.

Former California Treasurer John Chiang at one point advocated a fleet of armored cars to help the state collect marijuana taxes paid with huge quantities of cash. His successor, Fiona Ma, proposed special state-chartered banks to provide services to marijuana businesses; this week, she was among those urging the new Congress, in its first hearing on marijuana, to take steps to give the industry access to conventional financial services.

Both California and Canada have yet to sort out the many complications of ending marijuana prohibition, from ensuring that it doesnt encourage more use among minors to making the legitimate industry more attractive than the black market.

The difference is in the minimally coherent national policy that remains sorely lacking in the United States.

In contrast to his former attorney general, President Trump has occasionally gestured toward a more forward-looking marijuana policy.

Given his fixation on trade with our northern neighbor, perhaps Canadas emerging advantage in the industry will push the administration in the right direction.

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.
Affordable and workforce housing across the state grows further beyond the means of both working-class and low-income Californians. As reaffirmed in his State of the State speech last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom is to be commended for setting an ambitious goal of constructing 3.5 million residential units by 2025.

Ensuring a ready supply of affordable homes must be a top priority if California is to provide economic prosperity for its workforce. The governor himself acknowledges the obstacles to overcome to bring his vision to reality  California Environmental Quality Act reform, land costs, rising materials costs, and so on. However, the most important factor to successfully meet our states housing needs is through greater investment in workforce development programs.

California lost 200,000 construction workers in last decades recession and, despite the economic recovery, there is only one apprentice entering the pipeline for every five journeymen who retire. While the governors proposal calls for 500,000 units to be built annually, California saw only 120,000 homes built in 2018. The last time California produced more than 300,000 homes in a single year was 1986.

To meet the governors challenge, California would need to add 400,000 workers to the single-family and multifamily construction rolls. During Californias post-WWII economic boom, public high schools provided a steady stream of skilled students to build needed housing and infrastructure. In todays technological world, educators and parents alike are steadily pushing students toward college and high-tech careers, neglecting the trade industries we depend upon daily.

Wood shop and metal shop  once commonly found in high schools and middle schools across California  are enjoying a resurgence, but far too slowly to meet the demands for construction, not to mention the governors plan.

The Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange operates programs that expose high school students to rewarding career opportunities in construction, moving them along to community college certification programs or apprenticeship programs without the burden of student loan debt. As successful as our programs are, more are needed.

The formula for student achievement must be revisited to stress the importance and opportunities presented through Career Technical Education, which provides students with skills demanded in the labor market while preparing them for postsecondary degrees in technical fields. While the academic benefits of career technical programs are clear  increased graduation rates and higher grade point averages  its the quicker routes to employment and higher incomes that cannot be overstated. The mean hourly wage in construction exceeds $27, providing for solid working-class careers.

To ensure California has the housing we so desperately need, and to ensure that every student can pursue promising and in-demand careers, we call upon the governor and Legislature to place career technical education on equal footing with college preparation in both priority and funding.

Timothy Murphy is the CEO of the Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange. Its members include general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at SFChronicle.com/letters.
If President Trump has some sort of grand policy plans in mind for the United States, hes chosen not to share many specifics with his countrymen.

He wants some kind of wall, upgrades for aging infrastructure and new foreign trade agreements that so far dont much differ from existing ones.

Despite all the options afforded by social media, he conducts no equivalent to the thoughtful fireside chats that President Franklin D. Roosevelt employed so effectively using that newfangled radio thing. What we get from Trump are announcement bursts on Twitter that typically catch aides and departments off-guard.

Such was the announcement late last year that hed be withdrawing the 2,000 or so U.S. Special Operations forces from Syria, now that the Islamic State was defeated. We are pulling back in Syria, he said. Were going to be removing our troops. No one was surprised that Trumps America First attitude involved less active foreign military involvement by U.S. forces. Yes, Trump was elected to do Washington differently.

But such seemingly impetuous decisions without the careful mulling of various outcomes and strategies often require walk backs and bring serious problems.

And the consequences go beyond the damaging departure of Defense Secretary James Mattis, a career Marine and combat veteran who was the wisest and most respected member of the handpicked Cabinet that Trump vowed would be the best in history.

There are allies, too, who joined the U.S. effort on the basis of trust, now left short. They may well think two or three times before committing to future Trump ideas.

And, of course, the Free Syrian and valiant Kurdish forces could have signed their own death warrants in that hostile neighborhood by siding with and fighting for the departing Americans.

Then there is the jihad reality that does not warrant a Trump Mission Accomplished banner.

Truth is, the Islamic State is not defeated. The terrorists have lost their territorial caliphate, a major achievement that President Barack Obama dodged, Trump promised and Mattis engineered. Trump hints hell officially pronounce the Islamic State doom soon.

But its murderous survivors will now melt into the warming sands of Iraq and Syria, only to emerge for ambushes and explosions at times and places of their choosing. Thats an ominous guerrilla strategy negating much of the Americans biggest advantage: air power.

And it casts doubt on Trumps assurances the United States can strike wherever Islamic State forces pop up. Smart bombs are smart, but theyre counterproductive against a homicide bomber in a crowded market.

Trumps strategy does match his widely welcomed determination to extricate U.S. fighting forces from, well, fighting in so many places. Great nations do not fight endless wars, he said in his State of the Union address.

Such a bold declaration is certainly debatable because great nations are constantly challenged and not on their own timetable. The 9/11 shock required retaliation. A perceived unwillingness to fight actually invites more challenges. See North Koreas 1950 invasion of South Korea, a war thats yet to officially end.

Trumps emissary to craft an Afghanistan peace (i.e., a U.S. troop withdrawal) predicts a truce with the Taliban by July. Such public optimism never arrives on time, but it can feed an expectation that an end to our bloody 9/11 engagement nears.

Trumps eagerness to disengage there tacitly acknowledges a hard truth: After almost 19 years of nonstop combat and casualties, multiple deployments and defense cuts, the U.S. military is battered.

It still may be the most effective and valiant fighting force. But morale is badly bruised, and equipment has been pushed to the limit. Some aircraft units must cannibalize spare planes to keep others flying.

Whats being called the small footprint-long arm approach could provide needed breathing space for retooling, retraining, refurbishing while the recent defense spending boost moves through the acquisition, construction and deployment pipeline.

One of those ubiquitous unidentified D.C. sources was recently quoted saying that Trump had wondered aloud about sending troops to Venezuela to overthrow the dictator Nicolas Maduro. Such a drastic mistake would fit the U.S. historical stereotype in Latin America but would go against Trumps own developing trend.

It is important to remember though that despite winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Obama was also in his third year in office when he fell for the temptation of intervening militarily to oust the dictator Moammar Khadafy, leaving Libya today a crippled, lawless land.

Trump wisely maintains that all options are on the table, which is what he said before that one-night barrage of 59 Tomahawks against the Syrian airfield that launched a chemical weapons attack on civilians.

Foreign news is an American afterthought as usual. So, media pay little attention to the pattern of troop draw-down decisions abroad. More fascinating to them for the moment is the outbreak of Democratic presidential candidates for the 2020 election in 90 weeks.

But heres another big picture that Trump is not sharing. Barring unforeseen events in the coming months, the president is positioning himself to credibly claim in 2020 several major achievements with a potential to expand his political base beyond the loyal but inadequate re-elect plurality:

That he squashed the Islamic State, ended the United States longest war, brought thousands safely home and oversaw record employment numbers, all while protecting the homeland with potent pockets of strategically placed, little-noticed military power.

Even for an unpopular president, not a bad platform to contrast against an excited field of generally inexperienced newbies squabbling over how high to raise taxes and which free stuff to hand out.

Andrew Malcolm is a veteran domestic and foreign correspondent. He writes this column for McClatchy. Twitter: @AHMalcolm.
In a case that could cost California and other immigrant-rich states congressional representation, Electoral College votes and billions of dollars in federal aid, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administrations request Friday to bypass a lower court and decide whether the government can add a question on U.S. citizenship to the 2020 census.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced in March 2018 that the once-per-decade census would include a citizenship question for the first time since 1950. He said the information would help the government enforce the Voting Rights Acts protections for racial minorities by helping to design election districts in which minorities would make up a majority of the eligible voters.

Opponents contended the administrations real motive was partisan  to reduce population counts, and thus political representation, in Democratic strongholds with immigrant families fearful of contact with the government. During a trial in San Francisco last month, a former Census Bureau statistical adviser testified that the bureaus own staff report in August estimated that a citizenship question would reduce participation by at least 5.8 percent among households containing noncitizens, regardless of their legal status.

The census count stands as one of the most critical constitutional functions our government performs, and this administration has taken extraordinary steps to jeopardize the possibility of achieving a full and fair count, Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said Friday.

The Trump administration denies any illicit intent and says census-takers would conduct follow-up visits to households that failed to respond to the initial questionnaire. In Supreme Court filings, government lawyers also argued that courts lack authority to second-guess Ross decision, and that the only ones responsible for any undercounts would be individuals who unlawfully refuse to fill out or return the census form.

State and local governments have offered evidence, however, that Ross decided to add the citizenship question after meetings with immigration hardliners, months before he heard from the Justice Department in December 2017.

In a ruling last month that found Ross had acted illegally, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman of New York said administration officials had used the Justice Departments request to obtain cover for a decision that they had already made.

The Supreme Court had previously rejected the Trump administrations request to block the trial in Furmans court. But on Friday, the court granted immediate review of the administrations appeal of Furmans ruling, which normally would have been heard first in a federal appeals court. The justices will hear arguments in mid-April and rule by the end of June.

The stakes are momentous. Each states U.S. House seats, which also determine Electoral College representation, are based on census population counts. Furman said California, among other states, faced a substantial risk of losing at least one House seat if the citizenship question was added. In addition, census figures determine the distribution of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds to state and local governments nationwide.

The suit before the Supreme Court was filed by 18 states, led by New York, and a number of local governments including San Francisco. In a related case, a federal judge in San Francisco heard closing arguments Friday in a suit by the state of California and cities including Los Angeles, Oakland and San Jose. That case includes the additional argument that the administration would be violating a constitutional requirement to count every U.S. resident, regardless of citizenship, in the census.

The case is Department of Commerce vs. New York, No. 18-966.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@BobEgelko
When a Border Patrol agent asked two Spanish-speaking women  one of them former California resident  for identification in a Montana convenience store, and later held them for 40 minutes, they asked why he was doing it.

His answer, recorded on video: Speaking Spanish is very unheard-of up here.

The incident was humiliating, traumatic, and a violation of the constitutional guarantee of equality, the women, both native-born U.S. citizens, said in a lawsuit filed Thursday in a Montana federal court by the American Civil Liberties Union against the agent and his employer, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Theres been a very troubling pattern of singling people out based on their language, their race ... abusive conduct by Customs and Border Protection, an out-of-control agency, said Cody Wofsy, an ACLU attorney in San Francisco. He said the agency had engaged in similar conduct under President Barack Obama and has been further emboldened by the Trump administration.

Customs and Border Protection said it would not comment on a pending lawsuit.

The agency, which enforces immigration laws within 100 miles of the border, has a regional office in the northern Montana town of Havre, where the incident took place in May. The women, Ana Suda and Martha Hernandez, have lived in the town for some time  Suda since 2014, Hernandez since 2010  and are active in the towns strong and vibrant Spanish-speaking community. They work as nurse assistants at a care center to support their families, the suit said.

On this night, the women said, they went to a gym to exercise, then stopped at a Town Pump convenience store to buy milk and eggs before returning home. As they waited in line, chatting in Spanish, Border Patrol Agent Paul ONeal stepped in behind them. Hernandez said hello to him in English, the suit said, and ONeal told her she had a strong accent and asked where they had been born.

When he insisted he was serious, the women told him their birthplaces  Suda in El Paso, Hernandez in El Centro (Imperial County)  and he then placed them in detention and demanded identification papers, the suit said.

Both showed him their Montana drivers licenses, and he let them leave the store but kept them in detention, in view of passing drivers, the womens lawyers said in the court filing. They said he ordered them to move to the front of his car and take their hands out of their pockets.

Other uniformed officers soon arrived, including ONeals supervisor, the suit said. Suda asked if they would have been detained if they had been speaking French, and the supervisor said, No, we dont do that.

After about 40 minutes, ONeal returned their licenses and let the women leave. Since then, the suit said, the women and their families have been shunned and excluded by other members of the Havre community and no longer feel comfortable speaking Spanish in public.

The suit cited some similar incidents in the past. In 2004, Border Patrol agents in Havre detained five men in a work crew, apparently because they were speaking Spanish, a detention that the federal appeals court ruled illegal. A local couple, including a woman who was four months pregnant, has sued Border Patrol agents who detained them in the town for over 24 hours even though both of them had documents proving their legal immigration status, the suit said.

And Suda and Hernandez said they were dancing at a local bar in February 2018 when a plainclothes Border Patrol agent took photos of them and sent them to other agents with a message, There are two Mexicans at the bar.

The women said they avoided being detained only because one of the agents replied that both of them were friends of his wife.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
Not yet a week has passed since 21-year-old Willie McCoy was fatally shot by Vallejo police, but his family has already completed the checklist of a nightmare.

They have viewed the body, and lost count of the bullet holes. They have watched the bystanders cell phone video of the shooting, heard the gunfire ring out like packs of firecrackers. And they have heard the account from police, who said they approached an unconscious driver in a fast-food drive-through who reached for the gun on his lap as he awoke.

Though some details remain unclear, theres little mystery as to what happened last Saturday night. But for McCoys brothers and cousin, the bigger questions lie in the whys.

Why did this have to end with McCoys death?

If that was their child, would they have immediately reacted in the same way? said Marc McCoy, Willie McCoys older brother. Or is there another, a peaceful route you could have went? Thats my question.

About 20 of Willie McCoys family members gathered at his older brother Kori McCoys home in Hercules on Thursday evening to mourn together. Some of the women sat on the living room floor and wiped away tears as Willie McCoys three brothers and cousin spoke to reporters from the kitchen table.

Willie McCoys youngest brother challenged one detail of the police account, when officers said they tried to open the car door to retrieve the gun, but the door was locked. The family and their attorneys said one of the car windows was busted out and replaced with plastic  couldnt they have torn through that?

They didnt try any peaceful solution that would have stopped them from taking his life, Marc McCoy said.

It was like execution by firing squad, with six people with fully loaded guns, Willie McCoys cousin, David Harrison, added.

The family said Willie McCoy, a budding local rapper, was dealt a harsh hand growing up but had flourished in recent years.

He lost both parents before he became a teen, and for a while was shuffled through foster homes. When he was younger, Willie McCoy got into minor trouble but by about 17 he was on track, Marc McCoy said.

Willie McCoy had just returned to the Bay Area after performing some shows out of state, his family said. While he was close with several family members, he had a soft spot for his young nieces and nephews. Hed bring them lunch, or come cheer them on at their games, family members said.

He was like their protector, Marc McCoy said.

Vallejo police were called to a Taco Bell drive-through line on Feb. 9 around 10:30 p.m., after reports that a driver, later identified as Willie McCoy, was slumped over in a silver Mercedes with a gun on his lap.

Officers initially called to the scene found the man unresponsive. But the driver suddenly moved as officers worked to assess the situation, police said.

The officers told the driver to keep his hands visible, however the driver quickly reached for the handgun on his lap, police said in a statement. In fear for their own safety, the officers discharged their weapons at the driver.

McCoys death has reignited a conversation on this particularly volatile scenario: How should police engage an unconscious person who has a gun?

Officers in similar cases have spent up to an hour working to peacefully rouse the individuals, shouting through loudspeakers or deploying nonlethal force like beanbags. The controversy comes in the crucial moments when the person wakes up, perhaps startled, and makes a move officers deem threatening.

In at least two other instances, both in Oakland, officers made split-second decisions to open fire. Such was the case with 30-year-old Demouria Hogg in 2015 and with 32-year-old Joshua Pawlik in March. Both men died of their injuries.

Police say individuals put themselves in these situations, and that their actions are responsible for the fatal outcomes. But critics say police dont account for the possibility that their presence could, in itself, cause this reaction.

The American Civil Liberties Union weighed in on Willie McCoys death on Thursday, and touted a new bill that would narrow the standard for officers to legally use deadly force.

Instead of requiring that officers avoid using deadly force whenever possible, current law allows police officers to use deadly force and take someones life even when officers have other options, said Peter Bibring, police practices director of the ACLU of California. This permissive approach continues to result in far too many people  especially people of color  ending up dead at the hands of police.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com
As President Trump has pursued an America First agenda in trade, some Bay Area companies have sought exemptions to new tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum imports, seeking to protect their business from the impact of escalating tensions with global trade partners.

The U.S. government imposed tariffs on a number of categories of goods in 2018, arguing that low-priced foreign imports were unfairly subsidized. The first wave, with duties of around 30 percent, included items like solar panels and washing machines. They were followed by tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, which officials said would spark a broader boom in the American economy.

In their filings for tariff exemptions, which the Commerce Department began accepting soon after the fees were first imposed, the Bay Area companies argued that the charges would affect their business.

Primrose Alloys, a metals trading firm in Burlingame, has applied for more than 2,000 tariff exemptions, citing reasons including no U.S. production and insufficient U.S. availability for the products it sells. It has received 229 tariff exemptions, been denied 246, and is awaiting approval on an additional 1,910 applications.

The company imports over 500 shipping containers of specialty metal products a year and sells in nearly every state, its website says.

For seamless instrumentation tubing, a type of steel pipe it imports from South Korea, Primrose wrote in exemption filings that Korean tubing is reasonable cost, significantly lower than U.S. producers, offering the end user market large savings, with high quality. Primrose did not return calls for comment.

Bus maker Gillig in Livermore received five tariff exemptions and was denied two. The company declined to comment.

Businesses across the country have filed more than 50,000 applications for exemptions from the steel and aluminum tariffs with nearly 27,000 applications pending approval, according to an Associated Press analysis of exemption requests filed with the Department of Commerce.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

At least 370 companies have been granted more than 14,000 exemptions. Of the applications that have been processed, 75 percent of the companies asking for exemptions have received them. For steel in particular, the department has approved nearly 14,000 requests, with 59 percent of the total going to firms with a foreign corporate parent. More than 661 million pounds of steel imports from China have had tariffs waived, the analysis showed.

The United States is set to increase the 10 percent tariffs on Chinese goods to 25 percent March 2 if trade negotiations between the two countries come to an impasse. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a tweet Thursday that he had a productive meeting with Chinese trade representatives.

China was also hit with a separate 10 percent tariff on $200 billion worth of goods. The country retaliated by imposing tariffs on U.S. goods, primarily agricultural products. Tariffs have also affected large trading partners with the U.S., including the European Union, Canada and Mexico.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Shwanika Narayan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com Twiter: @shwanika
Zander Brandt keeps getting jolted awake.

First, it was at 1 a.m. on Nov. 1 with excruciating pain in his midsection. As I told you recently, he wound up receiving an appendectomy at San Francisco General Hospital and wound up with $92,470 in charges.

A week after the column ran, he was roused from sleep for a much more pleasant reason. A representative from his insurance company, Aetna, phoned from Florida at 6:30 a.m., apparently forgetting about the time difference.

The time was a little annoying, but the news was great. Brandt would instead owe just his $250 co-pay. Was it because of the column?

Oh, 10,000 percent, said Brandt, a 31-year-old project manager at a financial technology company. He said Aetna had previously told him any decision on lowering his bill would take six to eight months.

Insurance companies and hospitals arent really going to be proactive about this so theyre forced to be reactive when bad press comes out, he said.

S.F. General wouldnt comment on Brandts case, but a spokeswoman with Aetna said in a statement: Although San Francisco General is not currently a participating provider in Aetnas networks, we reached out to the hospital and negotiated a rate for this claim. Mr. Brandt will not be financially responsible for any amount other than his co-pay. We appreciate the hospitals cooperation and assistance.

Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle

Brandt and his wife celebrated that night with empanadas and mojitos.

I was 100 percent thrilled, he said.

It was one happy ending in the many stories stemming from an unfair billing system at S.F. General that has left thousands of unwitting patients like Brandt with huge bills.

At issue is the hospitals policy of not entering into contracts with private insurance companies and instead charging the full rack rates approved each year by the mayor and Board of Supervisors. Because there are no contracts, the insurance companies can pretty much pay whatever they want, and the hospital sticks patients like Brandt with the rest. That has repeatedly added up to eye-popping bills of tens of thousands of dollars for more common ailments such as appendicitis, migraines and broken bones.

While the Department of Public Health, which runs the hospital, previously estimated the number of patients affected last year at 300, it now says that number is likely to be as high as 1,700.

Mayor London Breed and the hospital agreed this month to halt what is called balance billing for 90 days while the hospital comes up with a fairer system. That is likely to include entering into contracts with some private insurance companies, setting an out-of-pocket maximum for patients, and expanding who may qualify for charity care.

But the question of whether patients hit with big bills before the 90-day pause are still on the hook remains as clouded as a San Francisco day in July. This month, hospital CEO Susan Ehrlich said, The retroactive part of it is what we need to study.

Rachael Kagan, spokeswoman for the citys Department of Public Health, said Wednesday: We are pausing all outstanding patient bills. ... When a new patient billing policy is determined, that will be applied.

A pause is good. A cancellation would be even better.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin has called a hearing for Thursday on the hospitals billing practices. In preparation, he met Wednesday morning with Ehrlich, public health chief Greg Wagner and other health officials.

According to Peskin, they dont want to issue a blanket statement zeroing out all previous bills because they still want to wring as much money out of patients private insurance companies as possible. But they also know they cant leave people like Brandt on the hook for the difference if that number is sky high.

They said, Look, if people call us, theyll get counseling and well work it out with them, Peskin said.

Another tidbit he gleaned is that the hospital drops bills if theyre unpaid for four years, though the patients credit ratings can be damaged. Peskin said the number of people with outstanding bills received within the past four years is several thousand.

Peskin said he told the health officials he wants them to stand up in the hearing and announce they will send letters to every patient with an outstanding bill explaining it will be taken care of by the hospital. Well see Thursday whether they take him up on that challenge.

In the meantime, I decided to try to help a couple more patients. One was Tyler Pousson, 33, who lives on Nob Hill and works in tech. He was riding his motorcycle on Lombard Street in February 2018 when a car pulled in front of him, and he swerved and fell.

My knees were a little sore. I scraped my arm and hand. My helmet got a little banged up, he recalled. But there was nothing serious at all.

A witness called 911, and an ambulance arrived.

Next thing I knew, they were telling me to lie down, not move, that whole jazz, you know? he said, adding he had no say in where the ambulance took him, and paramedics insisted on driving across the city to S.F. General, the citys sole trauma center.

Hospital staff did tests and kept him overnight for observation, but nothing was wrong other than a few bumps and bruises, Pousson said.

The bill for determining nothing was wrong? A whopping $58,482.20.

His insurance company, United Healthcare, paid $34,222.68. He showed me a bill from the hospital for $24,259.52 with the words in red type, PAST DUE. He couldnt pay it, and the bill was sent to collections.

I dont get how I have insurance, and Im stuck with a bill for $24,000, Pousson said this month. It makes me lose faith in the medical system and the local government, especially. Its really stressing me out. Its one of those things that keeps you up at night, and you wonder how youre going to get out of this.

The best way to get out of it, it seems, is media coverage. On Tuesday, I asked the hospital about Poussons case. A spokesman said he couldnt comment because of privacy laws. On Wednesday morning, Pousson received a call from the treasurers office, which serves as the citys collections agency, telling him his account is on hold and the hospital is reviewing his case.

This may be a good sign, he told me.

Do the right thing, S.F. General!

The hospital did do the right thing for Griffin Knight  eventually. Knight (no relation) had a similar story as Brandt, waking up with severe pain in May, heading to S.F. General and receiving what may be the worlds most expensive appendectomy. Well, the second most expensive, after Brandts.

The hospital billed his insurance company, Aetna, $82,000. Aetna paid about $10,000, and Knight owed the rest. He showed me a copy of a bill from S.F. General for $70,248.50 and letters reading, PAST DUE.

Knight, a 24-year-old consultant who lives on Russian Hill, said Monday hed spent 80 hours trying to sort out the mess and had made no progress. He was considering hiring a lawyer or even filing for bankruptcy.

Im 24, and this was my first real encounter with the medical system, and its been kind of a nightmare, he said.

I asked S.F. General about his case Tuesday, and again the hospital spokesman cited privacy laws. On Wednesday, Knight received a call from the hospitals accounting department.

They said that they will be wiping the entire charge, and I will only owe a $200 co-pay, he said. I am ecstatic!

It was the right decision by the hospital, and one that needs to be repeated many more times.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf
Dr. Huong Le spends an average of 45 minutes with each of her dental patients during their visits, so she gets to know them well, especially the older ones who come in more than twice a year.

She hears about their families, stories from their home countries and, often, how lonely they feel. More than once, Le and her staff at Asian Health Services have heard their patients express suicidal thoughts.

Le, a dentist of more than 30 years, realized she needed to respond to her patients cries for help. Her dental clinic, located near Oaklands Chinatown, started depression screening for patients 65 and older in 2017.

Then Le took the concept one step further last year by hiring a full-time mental health counselor and giving her an office at the dental clinic, where she can see patients immediately should they need it. Later this year, the depression screenings and counseling services will expand to patients 12 years and older.

When you have someone who is telling you theyre going to go home and kill themselves, and you think, Im a dental provider what can I do?  that was one of the moments when I knew, wow, we need someone, a professional who is trained in this, here, said Le, the chief dental officer at Asian Health Services.

The community health clinic, which operates several sites in Alameda County, primarily caters to Asian immigrants, a group that often shuns behavioral health services because of the stigma associated with mental illness.

While the kind of immediate, in-house handoff offered by Asian Health Services is available at many medical clinics, its a new concept at community dental clinics and virtually unheard of at private dental offices.

The model is winning praise from experts as an innovative way to make mental health services accessible to hard-to-reach populations.

Dr. Irene Hilton, a dental consultant at the National Network for Oral Health Access, said she hadnt heard of any other community dental clinics featuring mental health practitioners.

Doing so totally makes sense, she said. You cant really engage in self-management of a chronic disease, including gum disease, or cavities, if youre not in the right frame of mind.

Dr. Lorna Flamer-Caldera, past president of the New York State Academy of General Dentistry, called dental offices an untapped resource for mental health care.

Depression affects such a large segment of the population that all avenues that can be used to steer patients should be utilized, she said.

Flamer-Caldera doesnt screen for depression at her dental office, but shes trained to look for signs of it. She encourages patients to visit their primary care doctors if she thinks they would benefit from professional help.

At Asian Health Services, patient check-in includes a survey form that asks whether the patient feels anxiety or sadness or has had negative thoughts. Positive responses lead to an invitation to chat with Zona Keo, the social worker and mental health counselor Le hired. Follow-up appointments with Keo also can be made.

Low-income immigrant populations who visit community health centers often dont seek mental health services on their own, Keo said, and they face transportation, language and cultural barriers.

She believes its critical to offer her services in a place patients already plan to visit, like a dental clinic.

Stereotypes and misconceptions about mental health are common among the clinics older immigrant patients, but even some younger patients are reluctant to seek help, Keo said.

We have patients whose parents were refugees, and they feel guilty to talk about mental health because they think, Well, my parents went through an actual struggle  they went on a boat, swam across a river, walked through bombs, and here I am complaining about mental stress, she said. So they keep quiet.

To avoid scaring patients away, Keo refrains from using terms like emotions or therapy.

I have to feel out the patient and say what I think is appropriate for each individual, said Keo, who speaks the Cambodian language Khmer in addition to English.

Donna Jung, a social worker at Asian Health Services, noted that having a mental health provider on site makes it easier for patients to avoid saying theyre going to therapy, because its a dental office.

Some patients dont even tell their families out of fear of being stigmatized or worrying their kids, Jung said.

So far, Keos list of referrals from the dental clinic has been short, and patients frequently cancel appointments or say they feel better after one visit, she said.

She expects more traffic when the clinic starts screening younger patients later this year, and patients become more familiar with her role.

I want patients to know were here for them, she said, and that this is a dental office but also a safe space for mental health.

Ana B. Ibarra is a writer for Kaiser Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. KHN is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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Charles H. Woods of London, KY, passed peacefully June 18, 2021, at Baptist Hospital in Lexington after a courageous battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife, Charlene; his daughter Lindsay Reedy (Aaron); and grandchildren, Tanner, Arden, and Nolan. He also leaves behind his nephew, Cr
Washington, D.C., February 15, 2019 - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against four individuals and related businesses for their roles in two microcap frauds and unlawful securities offerings. In sum, the alleged illegal transactions resulted in proceeds of more than $25 million.

According to the SEC's complaint, from approximately December 2012 to June 2013, microcap stock financier Magna Group, which was founded and owned by Joshua Sason, engaged in a scheme to acquire fake convertible promissory notes supposedly issued by penny stock issuer Lustros Inc. and then to convert those notes into shares of Lustros common stock. The defendants then sold the shares to unsuspecting retail investors, who did not know that the shares were fraudulently acquired and were being sold illegally. The defendants' sales of the Lustros shares also had the effect of destroying the value of the Lustros shares held by the public. The complaint alleges that Marc Manuel, Magna Group's former head of research and due diligence, personally negotiated and executed the sham transactions.

The complaint also alleges that in November 2013, Magna Equities II, which was also wholly-owned by Sason, and Manuel, purchased another fake promissory note from Pallas Holdings. Magna Equities II and the note's issuer, NewLead Holdings, Ltd., later agreed to retire the fake debt in exchange for shares of the issuer through a court-approved settlement agreement. To obtain approval of the settlement, Sason and Magna Equities II falsely swore to the court that the fake promissory note was a bona fide debt of NewLead. Kautilya "Tony" Sharma and Perian Salviola, who controlled Pallas Holdings, are alleged to also have participated in the scheme.

The Commission's complaint alleges that Sason violated Sections 5 and 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act") and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5(b) thereunder, and that he is liable as a control person for the violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder by Magna Group, Magna Equities II, and a third entity alleged to have been involved in the NewLead scheme, MG Partners, Ltd. ("MGP") (collectively, the "Magna Entities"). The complaint alleges that Manuel violated Sections 5 and 17(a)(1) and (3) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder, and that he is liable for aiding and abetting the violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder by Sason and the Magna Entities. The complaint alleges that Magna Group violated Sections 5 and 17(a)(1) and (3) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder. The complaint alleges that Magna Equities II violated Sections 5 and 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The complaint alleges that MGP Group violated Sections 5 and 17(a)(1) and (3) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder. Finally, the complaint alleges that Sharma, Salviola, and Pallas Holdings each violated Sections 5 and 17(a)(1) and (3) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder, and that each aided and abetted the violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder by Sason, Manuel, and the Magna Entities. The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, a civil money penalty, penny stock bars, and any other relief the Court may deem just and proper.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Lee A. Greenwood, Philip A. Fortino, John O. Enright, Christopher Ferrante, Diego Brucculeri, and Sheldon L. Pollock of the New York office. The SEC's litigation will be handled by Messrs. Fortino, Greenwood, Enright, and Alexander M. Vasilescu. The case is being supervised by Sanjay Wadhwa.
Carolyn DeFord's mother disappeared 20 years ago during a trip to the grocery store. This year, DeFord turned the same age her mother was when she went missing.

In the lambent light, to a crowd of over 100 people wearing red, praying and singing, DeFord joined other activists from Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) in sharing their experiences with violence -- and the lack of response to that violence -- toward Native American women.

MMIW activist Roxanne White walked the crowd through her story of watching her cousin shoot and murder her aunt in front of her.

"I do this work because I survived," White said. "I shouldn't be standing here."

RELATED: Report ID's 506 cases of murdered, missing Indigenous women

White not only had firsthand experience with violence toward Native American women, but hears about it regularly through the work she does.

"It's astounding to me, it's heartbreaking when these families come to me and say my auntie or my sister was found by a ravine and she has blunt force trauma to her head and her body and they [the police] called it an accident or a suicide," White said. "Hopefully I get to break some cycles with my sons and give healing"

VIDEO: Roxanne White leads the crowd in a chant of the names of murdered or missing indigenous women and men





The activists and candle holders were gathered at "wbaltx" Intellectual House on University of Washington's campus to hold the third annual vigil for missing and murdered indigenous women, hosted by First Nations.

This year, the vigil was accompanied by legislation in Washington, and several other states.

House Bill 1713 was introduced to the Washington state Legislature in late January. It focuses on the improvement of response by law enforcement to cases of missing and murdered Native American Women.

RELATED: Seattle Women's March 2019: Equality still 'not an easy fix'

Its five sections call for recognition of the high rates of violence toward Native American women -- the U.S. Department of Justice said on some reservations, they are murdered at a rate 10 times the national average for women -- and the introduction of liaison positions held by Native American women and legislative task forces that help federal, state and tribal authorities respond to cases.

Another bill passed into law last year approved the ordering of a study to determine how to increase reporting and investigation of missing Native American women.

"We are targeted because there is no consequence," DeFord told SeattlePI. "No one looks for us and no one gets in trouble."
At the heart of the Great Lakes region, Detroit was one of Conde Nast's must-visit destinations for 2018. Not only is Detroit known as a leader of American industry, the city's diverse communities also boast major contributions to music, art and architecture. Detroit was the first U.S. city to be named a "City of Design" by UNESCO, and is known as the home of Motown Records and the birthplace of techno. The city also offers many historic museums and arts institutions.

Using travel site Skyscanner, weve sifted through the cheapest flights between Seattle and Detroit in the next few months, including some standout hotel options and favorite local attractions.

(Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in the articles may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Prices and availability are subject to change.)

Cheapest Detroit flights

Currently, the cheapest flights between Seattle and Detroit are if you leave on May 2 and return from Michigan on May 5. Spirit Airlines currently has tickets for $249, roundtrip.

There are also deals to be had in April. If you fly out of Seattle on April 27 and return from Detroit on May 1, Frontier Airlines can get you there and back for $270 roundtrip.

Top Detroit hotels

To plan your stay, here are some of Detroits top-rated hotels, according to Skyscanner, that we selected based on price, proximity to things to do and customer satisfaction.

The MotorCity Casino Hotel (2901 Grand River Ave.)

Photo: Trip by Skyscanner

If you're looking to treat yourself, consider The MotorCity Casino Hotel. The hotel has a 4.7-star rating on Skyscanner, and rooms are currently available for $178.

This Detroit casino hotel is near the Masonic Temple and Fox Theatre.

The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit (1114 Washington Blvd.)

Photo: Trip by Skyscanner

Another 4.7-star option is The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit, which has rooms for $179/night.

This hotel is located close to the airport. Attractions in the neighborhood include the Joe Louis Arena and GM Renaissance Center.

The Atheneum (1000 Brush Ave.)

Photo: Trip by Skyscanner

A third option is The Atheneum. The 4.7-star hotel has rooms for $129/night.

Featured Detroit food and drink

If you're looking to snag a bite at one of Detroit's many quality eateries, here are a few popular culinary destinations from Skyscanner's listings that will help keep you satiated.

Slows Bar BQ (2138 Michigan Ave.)

Photo: Trip by Skyscanner

For a popular option, check out Slows Bar BQ, which has an average of 4.8 stars out of 22 reviews on Skyscanner.

"Now if you love baby back ribs, this spot has ribs that come sliding off the bone," wrote visitor Lou.

Green Dot Stables (2200 W. Lafayette Blvd.)

Photo: Trip by Skyscanner

For another popular option, check out Green Dot Stables, which has five stars from six reviews.

"Each slider, side, salad or dessert you order ranges from $2 to $3," wrote reviewer Kenny.

Public House (241 W. 9 Mile Road)

Photo: Trip by Skyscanner

Don't forget the essentials: where to get a drink. One solid option is the Public House. With five stars out of five reviews on Skyscanner, the spot has proven to be a local favorite.

What to see and do in Detroit

Detroit is also full of sites to visit and explore. Here are two popular attractions to round out your trip, again from Skyscanner's listings.

The Detroit Institute of Arts (5200 Woodward Ave.)

Photo: Trip by Skyscanner

First up is The Detroit Institute of Arts.

Visit the Detroit Institute of Arts for a chance to immerse yourself in beautiful artwork and robust collections. The museum features over 60,000 pieces, including collections from America, Asia, Africa and Europe.

"What a fantastic house of art and culture," wrote visitor Dj. "This has to be one of the most unique and special museums in the USA. ... A must stop for all visiting or living in Detroit."

The Henry Ford Museum (20900 Oakwood Blvd.)

Photo: Trip by Skyscanner

Lastly, consider checking out The Henry Ford Museum in nearby Dearborn.

The building offers exhibits ranging from early aviation to famous inventions. Car-related pieces include Ronald Reagan's limousine and the last known 1896 Duryea model.

This story was created automatically using flight, hotel, and local attractions data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
President Trump is "exceeding his authority" and "violating the Constitution" with the President's declaration of a national emergency to build his wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Thursday.

The AG, who has sued the Trump administration 33 times, sent clear signs that lawsuit No. 34 is in the offing.

"My legal team has been reviewing this issue for some time," Ferguson said in a statement. "In short, declaring a state of 'emergency' to build his wall is unlawful. We are working with members of our congressional delegation to determine if this action depletes federal funds flowing to Washington."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday announced Trump's plan to use his emergency powers to fund a wall on the nation's southern border. Congress's refusal to hand over more than $5 billion for the wall sent the government into its longest shutdown in history in December, and a compromise funding still didn't include funds for the wall.

The essence of the emergency declaration is that it allows Trump access to wall money that has not been explicitly authorized and appropriated by Congress.

RELATED: Ferguson v. Trump: Judge's census ruling is AG's 18th victory

"The law is 100 percent on my side," Trump, a non-lawyer, said this week.

Ferguson would beg to differ.

"If Washington is harmed, my office will take appropriate steps to block this unlawful action, just as we've blocked more than a dozen illegal and unconstitutional policies of this president," said the Attorney General.

Ferguson was the first AG to legally challenge -- successfully -- Trump's Muslim Travel Ban No. 1. By winning victories in U.S. District Court, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, he forced the Trump administration back to the drawing boards.

He has won or joined in 17 legal victories, often in tandem with Democratic attorneys general from such states as New York, California, Oregon, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Ferguson has yet to lose, although some victories are under appeal.

The AGs have sued over issues ranging from appliance efficiency standards that the Trump administration wanted to delay, to a pending challenge against the citizenship question it wants to insert in the 2020 census.

RELATED: Wash. AG Bob Ferguson pens open letter to sheriffs: You could be held liable

"The President is doing an end run around Congress," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.

Specifically, it is an end around the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, on which Washington Sen. Patty Murray and House members Derek Kilmer, Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse sit. Herrera Beutler and Newhouse are Republicans.

Murray reacted angrily, saying late Thursday:

"For President Trump to declare a state of emergency and circumvent Congress and the American people based on lies and a manufactured crisis is an outrageous, horrific and un--American abuse of power and I can only hope that he listens to people across the country and reverses course immediately."

Murray is engaging in politician hyperbole. Ferguson is likely going to court.
The Washington State Senate, on a 28-19 roll call, voted to abolish the death penalty in the Evergreen State.

"One step closer to justice for all," tweeted Gov. Jay Inslee, who imposed a moratorium on capital punishment five years ago.

The State Supreme Court ruled against the death penalty last October on grounds its implementation has been arbitrary and racially biased. The legislation passed Friday, SB 5339, replaces executions with life in prison without parole for those convicted of aggravated first degree murder.

RELATED: Wash. Supreme Court declares death penalty unconstitutional

The legislation passed the Senate last year on a 26-22 vote, but Democratic leaders in the state House of Representatives did not bring it to the floor for a vote. With a larger Democratic majority, sponsors are hoping the situation will be different this year.

The legislation had one Republican sponsor, State Sen. Maureen Walsh, R-College Place, whose district includes the Washington State Penitentiary. "This seems to be a flawed policy," Walsh said in debate.

Walsh has outlined practical flaws in capital punishment, namely the enormous cost burden that prosecuting a capital case puts on small towns and rural counties. She has also cited the years of uncertainty as cases are appealed.

"I have the deepest personal respect for how important this issue is for victim families and I'm so grateful for the reflection and grace of the dialogue in the Legislature," said State Sen. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, the legislation's chief sponsor.

"I'm pleased that our state is on the path toward joining the global movement toward abolishing the death penalty."

But State Sen. Keith Waggoner, R-Sedro Wooley, voted no. "I believe there must be consequences for incarcerated individuals who commit murder," he said in a statement, citing the 2011 murder of Monroe Reformatory worker Jayme Biendl.

The state has put to death 78 inmates since 1904. Its last execution, on Gov. Christine Gregoire's watch, was in 2010.

RELATED: The Grim Reaper recedes  Just 24 percent in poll back death penalty

Washington voters in 1976 chose to restore the death penalty by what was then a two-to-one margin. Opponents, under the banner of the Committee Against Hanging, traveled Western Washington in a flatbed truck made up with a gallows and noose.

According to a Public Policy Polling survey, taken last year for the Northwest Progressive Institute, opinion has changed and Washingtonians now prefer life without parole over executions.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia have abolished executions, while Oregon, Pensylvania and Colorado have moratoriums in place. By far the largest number of people put to death comes in Texas.

Newly elected State Sen. Joe Nguyen, D-34, put a message in capital letters on his Facebook page: "I JUST VOTED TO BAN THE DEATH PENALTY."
HEMINGWAY, S.C.  Hemingway Mayor Grady Richardson has retired effective Thursday. He served as the towns mayor for nearly 23 years and was re-elected in July.

Richardsons wife, Jenny Richardson, delivered his letter of retirement to members of the Hemingway Town Council and the media before the start of a council meeting on Thursday.

In the letter, Richardson said he was fiercely attacked with venom spewing words in an attempt to inform the council of where Hemingway Town Administrator Joe Lee not only failed to follow through on several items from past council meetings, but also told an outright falsehood when telling the truth would have better served the town.

Richardson said that in his opinion, previous councils have had disagreements but members have never attacked each other. But that changed at the council meeting on Jan. 10, he said.

It is apparent that the differences between the town administrator, the majority of council members and myself are such that I feel we are at an impasse, Richardson said. I feel without the support of the majority of the council members to question the actions of the administrator, I can no longer be an effective Mayor to do what is in the best interest for the citizens of the Town of Hemingway.
FLORENCE, S.C.  SPC Credit Union of Hartsville held a ribbon cutting at its new facility in Florence at 1312 Celebration Blvd. on Thursday.

Checks were presented to West Florence High School, Wilson High School and South Florence High School and the McLeod Foundation as part of the celebration.

SPC operates in Darlington, Florence and Marlboro counties.

We are so excited to be here, said Linda H. Weatherford, president and CEO of SPC, and to bring a new approach with a hometown, local feel.

We have been in banking for almost 80 years, said Weatherford. We are rooted in history but embracing our future.

She said the newest facility and its services represent a good collaboration of the two.

Weatherford said this branch has an open retail space concept, which is new for the credit union. There are no teller lines and no drive-through window, she said.

This branch is connected by a video center to the main office in Hartsville where customers have access to all of the services and can have one-on-one conversations. The credit union also has a computer station where associates can help customers set up all of the online needs.
DeLoach was not available for comment.

Haley, 57, has served on the Sonoco board since 2011 and is the chief executive officer of Gosiger Inc., a privately owned distributor of computer-controlled machine tool and factory automation systems based in Dayton, Ohio.

John was the unanimous choice of the board to become chairman, based on his extensive executive management experience and the leadership he has provided to the board over the past eight years, including chairing the financial policy committee, Micali said. The board has been planning succession for the past several years, including appointing John as vice chairman last year to work alongside Harris and be mentored by one of the top leaders of corporate governance.

In addition to serving on the Sonoco board, DeLoach is a trustee of the Duke Endowment. He formerly served on the boards of Duke Energy, Milliken & Company, Goodrich and Progress Energy.
At retirement, DeLoach will have served as chairman of Sonocos board for 14 years, including executive chairman since 2013. He was first elected to the board in 1998 and became chief executive officer of the company in 2000 and chairman in 2005 before retiring from day-to-day leadership in 2013.

There are few words to describe how fortunate Sonoco and the board have been to have Harris as our chairman for the past 14 years, said James M. Micali, Sonocos lead independent director. In addition to his tenure in senior management of the company, Harris has served with the board to develop a stronger and more diverse team that has worked diligently to represent the best interests of shareholders, employees and the communities where Sonoco operates.
A new MDC study may resolve a decades-old debate in immunology: A team led by Prof. Klaus Rajewsky reports in Science that distinct progenitor cells are not required for the development of B1 cells. Instead, the team's experiments show that B1-typical B-cell receptor can reprogram B2 cells into B1 cells, suggesting that B1 cells emerge as a consequence of their special B-cell receptors.

In the fight against diseases, one thing is absolutely vital: B-cells. These particular cells, which belong to a class of white blood cells called lymphocytes, are the only cells in the immune system capable of making antibodies. The Y-shaped proteins latch onto foreign structures such as bacteria or viruses, thus marking them as intruders for elimination by phagocytes and other immune cells.

B1 cells are already present in newborns and play an important role in natural immunity

There are two types of B cells. B2 cells, which make up the largest portion of the white blood cells in the body, mainly circulate in the blood and in the lymphoid organs such as the thymus, spleen, lymph nodes, and bone marrow. B1 cells, on the other hand, are mainly present in the peritoneal and pleural cavities, and hence in the areas around the intestinal tract and the lungs. They respond to a wide range of foreign proteins, called antigens, but also to some of the body's own antigens -- and in a different manner than the highly specialized B2 cells.

B1 cells constitute the majority of all B lymphocytes in newborns, but in adults the proportion of B1 cells drops to only a few percent. This is one of the reasons why B1 cells are considered carriers of natural immunity -- i.e. the innate immune system -- while B2 cells are mainly responsible for adaptive immunity, which emerges, for example, after an infection or a vaccination.

For decades, immunologists have debated the origin of B cells

Until now, it was unclear how the different types of B cells developed. "Some immunologists think B1 and B2 cells emerge from different progenitor cells," says Dr. Robin Graf, one of the lead authors of the Science article and a member of the Immune Regulation and Cancer research group at the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin, which is headed by Prof. Klaus Rajewsky. "Other immunologists believe special autoreactive B-cell receptors trigger the formation of B1 cells."

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The new study, in which also other scientists from Rajewsky's group who were at the time in Cologne and Boston played a major role, now provides clear evidence for the validity of the second hypothesis. "We replaced the B-cell receptor in mature B2 cells with a B1-typical B-cell receptor, which is found in nature only on B1 cells," explains Graf.

The manipulated B2 cells assumed the properties of B1 cells

This procedure transformed the B2 cells into B1 cells. "We were able to show that the cells acquired the B1-typical surface markers," reports Graf. The manipulated B2 lymphocytes also took on the functional properties of B1 lymphocytes. "When we transplanted them into mice, they were homing to those parts of the body where B1 cells are naturally found," says the MDC researcher.

In addition, the cells began to spontaneously produce antibodies. "That's also a typical feature of B1 cells," explains Graf. What's more, once the B1-typical receptor was expressed on the B2 lymphocytes, the cells started to multiply in great numbers over a period of one to two weeks. This strikingly resembles the natural development of B1 cells at early stages -- a process that has barely been studied.

The end to a longstanding debate is in sight

Later in the study, Graf measured the activity of thousands of genes in the manipulated B2 cells. "Here we found that the same genes were active in these cells as in normal B1 cells," reports the scientist.

Graf expects that the new study will convince immunologists that B1 cells emerge as a consequence of the specificity of their B-cell receptors.
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have used one of the most advanced microscopes in the world to reveal the structure of a large protein complex crucial to photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert sunlight into cellular energy.

The finding, published in the journal Nature, will allow scientists to explore for the first time how the complex functions and could have implications for the production of a variety of bioproducts, including plastic alternatives and biofuels.

"This work will lead to a better understanding of how photosynthesis occurs, which could allow us to improve the efficiency of photosynthesis in plants and other green organisms -- potentially boosting the amount of food, and thus biomass, they produce," said lead researcher Karen Davies, a biophysicist at Berkeley Lab. "This is particularly important if you want to produce renewable bioproducts that are cost-effective alternatives to current petroleum-based products."

Discovered decades ago, the protein complex targeted by the researchers, called NADH dehydrogenase-like complex (NDH), is known to help regulate the phase of photosynthesis where the energy of sunlight is captured and stored in two types of cellular energy molecules, which are later utilized to power the conversion of carbon dioxide into sugar. Past investigations revealed that NDH reshuffles the energized electrons moving among other protein complexes in the chloroplast in a way that ensures the correct ratio of each energy molecule is produced. Furthermore, NDH of cyanobacteria performs several additional roles including increasing the amount of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) available for sugar production by linking CO 2 uptake with electron transfer.

In order for scientists to truly comprehend how NDH executes these important functions, they needed a molecular blueprint indicating the location and connectivity of all the atoms in the complex. This is something that even highly powerful transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technology simply could not provide until very recently.

"Research on this enzyme has been difficult and experimental results confounding for the last 20 years or so because we have lacked complete information about the enzyme's structure," said Davies. "Knowing the structure is important for generating and testing out hypotheses of how the enzyme functions. The resolution we obtained for our structure of NDH has only really been achievable since the commercialization of the direct electron counting camera, developed in collaboration with Berkeley Lab."

Prior to this invention, explained Davies, a staff scientist in Berkeley Lab's Molecular Biophysics and Integrative Bioimaging Division (MBIB), determining the structure of a single molecule could take several years because cryo-TEM imaging relied on film, meaning that each exposure had to be developed and scanned before it could be analyzed. The main limitation, however, was that most images turned out blurry. When you directed a beam of electrons at a molecule, the charged, high-energy particles excited the atoms in the molecule, often making them move at the moment of exposure. This meant that researchers needed to take and process hundreds, if not thousands, of film images in order to get an accurate glimpse of an entire molecule.

The new electron counting camera solves this problem by taking digital movies with an extremely high frame rate, so individual frames can be aligned to eliminate blurring caused by beam-induced particle motion.

In the current study, first author Thomas Laughlin, a UC Berkeley graduate student with a joint appointment at MBIB, isolated NDH complexes from membranes of a photosynthetic cyanobacterium provided by the Junko Yano and Vittal Yachandra Lab in MBIB and imaged them using a state-of-the-art cryo-TEM instrument fitted with the latest direct electron detector. Located on the UC Berkeley campus, the cryo-TEM facility is managed by the Bay Area CryoEM consortium, which is partly funded by Berkeley Lab.

The resulting atom density map was then used to build a model of NDH that shows the arrangement of all the protein subunits of NDH and the most likely position of all the atoms in the complex. By examining this model, Davies' team will be able to formulate and then test hypotheses of how NDH facilitates sugar production by balancing the ratio of the two cellular energy molecules.

"While the structure of NDH alone certainly addresses many questions, I think it has raised several more that we had not even thought to consider before," said Laughlin.

Among the many Berkeley Lab scientists focused on advancing knowledge of fundamental biochemical and biophysical processes, Davies and her staff also use direct electron camera cryo-EM to investigate how variations in the organization of photosynthetic complexes, caused by changes in growth and light conditions, affect the efficiency of photosynthesis. Her project on electron flow in photosynthesis is supported by a five-year DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program grant that was awarded in 2018.
When influenza viruses that infect birds and humans meet in the same cell, they can shuffle their genomes and produce new strains that might have pandemic potential. Think of this process, called reassortment, as viruses having sex.

In the last several years, public health officials have been monitoring two varieties of bird flu viruses with alarming properties: H7N9 and H5N8. Scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have been probing the factors that limit reassortment between these strains and a well-known strain (H3N2) that has been dominating the last few flu seasons in the United States.

The good news is that "packaging signals" on the bird flu viral RNA genomes were often incompatible with the H3N2 viruses. That means it could be difficult for segments of the genome from the bird viruses to get wrapped up with the human viruses. Mix + match still occurred at a low level, particularly with H5N8.

The results are scheduled for publication the week of Feb. 11 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"What we see is that sequence differences between the human and avian viruses limit the potential for reassortment," says Anice Lowen, PhD, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Emory University School of Medicine. "But the low level of compatibility could be more significant if reassortant viruses have an advantage, for example, because of pre-existing immunity. It highlights the continued need for surveillance."

Graduate student Maria White, who conducted most of the experiments, emphasizes that she was not handling intact infectious avian flu viruses, which could be dangerous. Rather, she took just a bit of genetic information from them: the packaging signals for the hemagglutinin-encoding segments.

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Hemagglutinin is one of the main external proteins enabling the virus to bind and infect our cells. And packaging signals are parts of the viral RNA genome that tell an infected cell to wrap up that piece of RNA into a new virus. They're sort of like our chromosomes, but much smaller.

White inserted only the packaging signals into H3N2 viruses, which are studied in the laboratory under biosafety level 2 conditions. Careful and rigorous, but no space suits needed. She found that the hybrid viruses still were able to replicate well.

However, when she co-infected the hybrid viruses with standard H3N2, the hybrids were not taken up into newly produced viral particles as well as H3N2. A similar thing happened when White co-infected guinea pigs, and had those guinea pigs in the same cage with a healthy animal. Mostly regular H3N2 virus was transmitted, but she did detect transmission of viruses with H5 packaging signals.

"These findings suggest that H5 packaging signals are sufficiently compatible with H3N2 viruses to allow a low level of transmission," the authors write.

White says the packaging incompatibility could come from interactions between viral RNAs as well as between bird flu RNA and human flu protein. She adds that other factors could come into play in determining compatibility, such as differences in which tissues the viruses like to infect.

Regular reports of H5N8 outbreaks come from poultry farmers around the world, but so far H5N8 has only been a problem in birds. The concern is that humans frequently come into contact with the birds, giving an opportunity for cross-species transmission and reassortment with seasonal flu viruses, Lowen says. Additional risk comes from the possibility of point mutations that could further alter the properties of reassorted viruses.

White is in the Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis graduate program. Research specialist Hui Tao and assistant professor John Steel, PhD contributed to the paper.

This work was funded in part by the Emory-UGA Center of Excellence in Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS), Health and Human Services Department contract HHSN272201400004C and by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI125268).
BEVERLY  The theft of nearly 18,000 pills, most of them opioids, from Beverly Hospital is the largest incidence of its kind from a Massachusetts hospital reported in the past decade, state officials have confirmed.

But that confirmation came only after The Salem News requested information on the number of drug thefts from hospitals in the state and the amounts taken over the past decade  and discovered that no state agency is keeping track of that information.

And, it turns out that the Beverly case could be among the largest pill thefts in the United States, according to one expert, who adds a caveat: There is also no national system to track drug diversions, even as the country is coping with a drug overdose crisis.

"I think the problem is bigger than most people realize," said Charlie Cichon, executive director of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators.

Lisa Tillman, 50, of Salem, a former Beverly Hospital pharmacy technician, was charged last fall with larceny of drugs, months after hospital officials say they discovered in an audit that Tillman was exploiting a feature of their new, automated medication dispensing machines to mark pills as expired, then remove them from the machines.

Questioned by a state trooper, Tillman acknowledged taking the pills, including OxyContin and Percocets, during what she termed a "rough time" in her life, according to the trooper's report. But she denied that she was selling any of them, according to a police report, instead insisting that she took some of the pills herself and flushed the rest down the toilet.

Tillman, who has pleaded not guilty, is due in court again on Feb. 27.

She could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

After The Salem News reported on the case in October, the newspaper filed a public records request in an effort to determine the scope of drug thefts from Massachusetts health care facilities.

Last month, the Department of Public Health provided records that show just two hospital drug diversion cases of more than 10,000 doses during the past decade: the Beverly Hospital incident, and a case involving two nurses at Massachusetts General Hospital found in 2013 to have taken nearly 16,000 pills. (The agency initially forgot to include the MGH incident in its response.)

There were a significant number of incidents that fell below the 10,000-dose threshold, officials also confirmed  so many that the newspaper agreed to modify its original request for diversions of more than 100 pills, after officials said they had turned up enough reports to fill two banker's boxes.

Unknown impact

Cichon, a former Baltimore police detective and investigator for the Maryland Medical Board, said that currently there's virtually no way to know the full extent of the problem.

One report by a health care compliance analytics firm, Protenus, estimated the total number of pills diverted from all sources at roughly 20 million a year  but acknowledges that the figure is based on news accounts or other publications reporting on incidents, and not on any official database.

That's because no such database exists.

And laws on reporting requirements vary from state to state.

In Massachusetts, hospitals, nursing homes and pharmacies are required to report diversions to the Department of Public Health Drug Control Program, as well as to any licensing authorities overseeing a doctor, nurse or other licensed employee, such as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician, said Ann Scales, a spokeswoman for the state DPH.

Federal regulations require pharmacies to report lost medications that are on the list of controlled substances to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The varying reporting requirements mean that in many states, cases often go unreported, potentially masking the size of the problem.

"That's been an issue in this field with everyone trying to put their arms around how big the diversion issue is," said Cichon.

And even when some states require health care facilities to report diversions by doctors, nurses or pharmacists, they may not have similar requirements for lower-level employees, such as pharmacy techs, said Cichon.

'We're being undermined' "It bothers me that with so much attention on the opiate crisis, we're being undermined by drugs being diverted into the hands of vulnerable people."  State Rep. Paul Tucker, D-Salem, a former police chief and detective.

Melvin Patterson, a spokesman for the DEA, said the agency's Diversion Control Division doesn't have a tally of the number of missing drugs.

The agency does keep track of the amounts of controlled prescription drugs ordered from distributors by state, and also collects data from states with prescription drug monitoring programs that track the numbers of pills prescribed in the state. Massachusetts has such a prescription management program.

But the DEA does not calculate the difference between the two figures, which would give an idea of how many pills end up diverted, Patterson said. Not all states submit that data, he added.

Patterson said the DEA Diversion Control Program has just 450 employees to oversee some 1.8 million entities registered to prescribe or dispense drugs.

'A huge gap in knowledge'

Cichon said that without media coverage of drug diversion incidents, there's often no way to know the extent of the issue.

The Tillman case came to the attention of the public only as a result of a reporter being at the courthouse and hearing about it after Tillman's arraignment.

The DEA also has jurisdiction to investigate diversion cases and was apparently notified of the Beverly Hospital incident. No one from the Boston field office responded to requests for comment on whether there is an ongoing investigation.

Scales provided figures for 2018 that showed a total of 12 criminal investigations involving the DPH last year in Massachusetts.

State Rep. Paul Tucker, the Salem Democrat, said he did a double-take when he first read the number of pills allegedly diverted from Beverly Hospital.

"How much is going on that we don't know about?" said Tucker, a former Salem police chief and before that, detective. "This really points out a huge gap in knowledge."

"This is one issue at one facility," said Tucker, who has pushed legislation aimed at combating the opioid crisis. "I have to wonder how deep and what the magnitude of this problem really is."

"It bothers me that with so much attention on the opiate crisis, we're being undermined by drugs being diverted into the hands of vulnerable people," said Tucker.

He said he thinks the issue warrants at least some discussion with the DPH to see if there are ways to tighten accountability, such as requiring periodic audits, in order to determine the full scope of the issue.

"Hopefully the majority of facilities are doing things properly," said Tucker. But unless the scope of the problem is brought to light, he said, there's no way to know for sure.

Cichon said it's virtually impossible to gather data from the DEA, in his experience. And by the time any sanctions  such as the $2.3 million penalty paid by Massachusetts General Hospital in 2015  are reported, it's several years later.

"I don't want to say these cases are rare, because how do we know about them, unless you put a story in the paper and I Google it?" said Cichon. "What isn't being made public?"

Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis.
Danvers, MA (01923)

Today

Rain showers early with overcast skies later in the day. High 73F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will become overcast later during the night. Low 66F. Winds light and variable.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and Algerian Minister of Culture Algeria Azzedine Mihoubi in Havana on February 7th

"It is the first time that Algeria is invited to honor a literary event of great magnitude in Latin America, an occasion that will serve to appreciate and learn about the Algerian culture," said President of the official Cuban Book Institute, Juan Rodriguez Cabrera at a press conference.

120 exhibitors from 20 countries, new publishing houses, 354 authors and book experts have confirmed their participation.

The event will pay tribute to the Cuban writer Eduardo Heras Leon, winner of the National Prize for Literature (2014) and the National Publishing Prize (2001).

Algeria will bring the largest delegation to the fiesta, followed by a good representation from Cuba, Mexico, Argentina and the US.

The 28th edition fair will be dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution and the 500th anniversary of the founding of Havana.

Havanas International Book Fair is an annual public festival held in February and March to promote Cuban government sanctioned books and writing.

The 28th International Book Fair will then continue its journey through all the provinces of the island to finish in Santiago on April 14th./.
Dhaka, Feb 15 (AFP) Bangladesh police have stopped 43 Rohingya refugees from being smuggled to Malaysia by boat with a dozen women claiming they were abducted by traffickers, officials said Thursday. Acting on tip-offs, police found the refugees at two separate places in the southeastern border district of Cox's Bazar, raising the number of Rohingya being rescued from the traffickers to more than 100 in less than a week.

About 740,000 of the Muslim minority fled Myanmar for Bangladesh after a military clampdown in the Buddhist-majority nation in August 2017. They have joined another 300,000 Rohingya who have already been living in overcrowded camps in Cox's Bazar following previous bouts of violence. Officials fear many may end up being exploited by an internationally organised human smuggling racket who have previously sent thousands of Rohingya to Malaysia by boats until Bangladesh

launched a crackdown in 2015 following the discovery of mass graves of refugees in Thailand. Rapid Action Battalion, an elite police unit, said they rescued 12 women -- mostly in their 20s -- from a residential room in Cox's Bazar city early Thursday morning and arrested two alleged traffickers for "abducting" them. "The young women from the refugee camps were lured by the traffickers. They were promised they would be sent to Malaysia.

They were then brought to Cox's Bazar and kept in a house," RAB spokesman Mashkur Rahman told AFP. Rahman said they were treating it as a case of abduction after the women claimed they were confined in a room without consent. In another drive late Wednesday, Cox's Bazar police rescued another 31 Rohingya from the southern island of Maheshkhali, some 110 kilometres (70 miles) away from the overcrowded Kutupalong refugee camp.

Local police chief Provash Chandra said the 14 women, 11 men and six children were hiding in a coastal forest at Maheskhali waiting to board a Malaysian-bound boat. "They paid some 20,000 taka ( 240) each to the traffickers for the journey," he said.

He said they arrested a woman trafficker and were "searching for others".

An analyst said the latest discovery of Malaysia-bound Rohingya was a "dangerous" sign and shows the desperation at more than 30 refugee camps where the Rohingya live in bamboo and tarpaulin made shanties in squalid conditions. "It is very natural for the desperate refugees to attempt the risk to search for a better future," Tasneem Siddiqui, who heads a Bangladeshi think tank on migration issues, told AFP.

"They know the way is full of obstacles, yet many think this is their only way out," she said. Authorities fear that more Rohingya will try to take boats to Malaysia while the Bay of Bengal remains calm before the arrival of monsoons at the end of March.
In the terrorist attack on CRPF Convoy yesterday at around 4pm, in Pulwama District J&K, four jawans from Punjab were also killed. The slain soldiers include Kulwinder Singh from Nurpur Block Rupnagar, Sukhvinder Singh from village Gandivind Dhattal Tarantaran, Jaimal Singh from Kasba Kot Ise Khan Moga, and Maninder Singh from Dinanagar Gurdaspur. A pall of gloom has descended over the state due to their demise.

There is a wave of Anti-Pakistan emotions at the moment. The terrorist outfit responsible for the attack is Jaish-E-Mohammed, and it has its base and handlers in Pakistan. Punjab Vidhan Sabha passed a resolution condemning the attack and was adjourned in mourning.

It is reported that Sukhvinder Singh had a talk with his brother the morning of 14th February, and later in the day his family got the news of him being a victim in the attack. He is breaved by his family, including his wife and an eight month old son.

Jaimal Singh from Moga was the driver of the bus carrying 39 personnel, which was attacked by the terrorists. He too died on the spot. He is bereaved by his wife. His brother naseeb Singh stays in Malaysia, and is on his way back after receiving the news of his brothers demise. Kulwinder Singh from Rupnagar was to get married in November this year, but fate had an ugly ending in store for him.

27-year old Maninder Singh is the son of a retired Punjab Roadways employee Satpal Singh. He has brothers employed in the CRPF. He had joined his duty two days back, after meeting his father. His mother had already passed away. He had done B.Tech and had joined the CRPF a year back.

Whereas his father says he is proud of his sons sacrifice, but he is angered at the inaction of the Government. He mourns the loss, but asks the Government to take some firm steps to improve the situation, and avoid more loss.
Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh strongly condemned the terrorist attack on Army convoy in Pulwama, and the Punjab Vidhan Sabha was adjourned till 18th February, 11am, after unanimously passing a resolution condemning the barbaric attack.

The CM said, that the time of talking peace with Pakistan was far from over now after this dastardly attack, and there should be retaliation against the neighbor harbouring terrorists and blatantly causing carnage in our nation.

He cautioned Pak Army Chief, General Qamar Jawed Bajwa, from causing unrest in India, and warned him not to aim spreading terror in Punjab through various terror outfits. He said that it is not a Punjab of 80s today, and a fully motivated force of 81000 men is standing guard, fully equipped, which has passed the test of fire during the bygone era of terrorism the state witnessed. The force and intelligence of the state have already busted as many as 28 terror modules in the recent months.

He accused Pak of playing a double game, with on one hand, the Pak PM Imran Khan talking of peace, and starting University in the name of Guru Nanak, and on the other hand the ISI, hand in glove with Pakistan army wreaking havoc in our country.

The resolution passed in the Vidhan Sabha read, The house strongly condemns the barbaric attack by Jaish terrorists on the convoy of the CRPF in Pulwama that left 41 brave personnel dead and many others injured. Most of these personnel were on their way back to join their duties to defend the borders of India after their holidays. The sacrifice of these martyrs should not go waste and I urge the centre to ensure a befitting response to this attack on our country.

The attack exposes the double standards of the Pakistan government, who on one hand is talking of peace and on the other actively supporting these terror outfits in J& K. We are all with the families of these martyred soldiers in their hour of grief and extend our heartfelt condolences to them.

Speaking in the House, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) member Bikram Singh Majithia said that the chief minister had spoken like a soldier and a true Indian. Such a big tragedy had never occurred earlier, he said, adding that the Houses request for condemnation of Pakistan and Prime Minister Imran Khan should be placed on record. Dubbing Imran as an ISI puppet, he said the attack had exposed their double standards.

Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema soughta compensation of Rs 1 crore and jobs for the kin of the four deceased victims from Punjab, to which the Chief Minister later told media persons outside the House that it was a small issue and would be done.

The CM said, that he hoped that this attack and the resultant action would not affect the Kartarpur Corridor plans and that the Sikh Sangat would be able to do Khule Darshan Deedare of the gurudwara, visa-free, as planned. He said, he had confidence that the Corridor plan would be well protected, but there is a need of change in Pakistans attitude regarding the issue, if it really wants peace between both nations.
Puducherry, Feb 15 (PTI) Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and his ministerial colleagues continued their dharna outside the Raj Nivas for the second day on Thursday protesting Lt Governor Kiran Bedi's "negative stand" towards his government' proposals awaiting her approval. Narayanasamy, his ministers and party MLAs had on Wednesday night slept on a pavement close to the Raj Nivas wearing black shirts.

They have been demanding that that the Lt Governor accord sanction to 39 government proposals, including a free rice scheme.

Functionaries of different wings of the ruling Congress and the DMK have also joined the protest. Bedi left for New Delhi early on Thursday morning under tight security of the Rapid Action Force (RAF). A source in the Raj Nivas told PTI that she would return on February 20 and has invited the chief minister for discussion over the issues raised by him on February 21.

Asserting that their protest would continue till the government proposals were cleared, the chief minister said, "Even if it is not possible to immediately concede all the 39 pleas, the Lt Governor can give her nod to some of the important schemes including the free rice scheme and grants."

"When people's representatives are holding agitation in support of their charter of 39 demands since Wednesday seeking approval of Lt Governor, it is amusing indeed that Bedi had left for Chennai enroute Delhi," PWD Minister A Namassivayam told PTI. "This shows that she does not respect the popular government. This is the height of her vanity."

On the helmet rule, Namassivayam said the government had asked the police not to be very stern against those not using helmets while driving two wheelers as awareness needs to be raised at least for a month before making the wearing of helmets compulsory. He, however, clarified that they were not against the helmet rule as the Supreme court's directive to implement the rule should be complied with by all.

Meanwhile, barricades were erected around the Lt Governor's office to keep agitators at bay as a section of volunteers of different political parties raised slogans against the deployment of the RAF around Raj Nivas and at various vantage points.

Chief Minister Narayanasamy had led an agitation in front of the Parliament on January 4,

demanding that the Centre sanction statehood for Puducherry and replace Kiran Bedi as the Lt Governor. The Lt Governor and the government headed by Narayanasamy had been at loggerheads over various issues ever since Bedi assumed office in May 2016.
Jammu, Feb 15 (PTI) Curfew was imposed in Jammu city Friday as a precautionary measure following massive protests and stray incidents of violence over the terror attack in Pulwama in the Kashmir Valley in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, officials said. The Army has been requested to help the administration in maintaining law and order and conduct flag marches, they said. Curfew was imposed as authorities feared a communal backlash, officials said.

Protesters, particularly in the old city, refused to disperse even after loudspeakers announced that curfew was imposed. "We have imposed curfew in Jammu city as a precautionary measure," Deputy Commissioner of Jammu Ramesh Kumar told PTI.

According to officials, there was complete bandh in Jammu city and there was no traffic on roads and all shops and markets were closed.

Jammu city was rocked by massive anti-Pakistan protests with people taking to the to streets in dozens of places, including Jewel Chowk, Purani Mundi, Rehari, Shaktinagar, Pacca Danga, Janipur, Gandhinagar and Bakshinagar. According to some reports, there were clashes in Gujjar Nagar area where some vehicles were damaged due to pelting of stones. However, police swung into action and prevented a major clash.

Raising anti-Pakistan, anti-terrorists slogans, protesters burnt tyres on many roads. The agitators, mostly youth, put up barricades on roads demanding revenge. Led by the Bajrang Dal, the Shiv Sena and the Dogra front, people took out candle light marches in the city and held anti-Pakistan protests. The Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industries (JCCI) had on Thursday called for shut down in Jammu protesting terror attack.

This decision was taken by JCCI President Rakesh Gupta long with his office bearers and Presidents of different affiliated associations including transport operators associations.Protesting the Pulwama attack, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Jammu, suspended work in all the courts in Jammu, including the high court and tribunals.

"The suspension of work by the association is a mark of respect to the CRPF jawans killed in the Pulwama attack and to express our solidarity and sympathy with the bereaved families," J&K High Court Bar Association Jammu President, B S Slathia said.
New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) The Congress has "more or less" ruled out an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday, a day after he had participated in a meeting with opposition leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Responding to a question on an alliance with the Congress, he said it has "more or less ruled out the alliance (with AAP)".

Asked whether the AAP was more eager for an alliance with the Congress, he said the BJP would benefit in a three-cornered contest.Moving forward on a united anti-BJP front for the Lok Sabha elections, top opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee Wednesday agreed to work together to prepare a common minimum programme to oust the Modi government and to consider forging a pre-poll alliance.

The meeting, hosted by NCP president Sharad Pawar at his residence here, also saw Congress chief Gandhi and Kejriwal coming together for the first time.
ROTHERHAM peer Lord Nazir Ahmed has been accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour and exploiting his position to try and have sex with women.

The allegations emerged as part of a BBC Newsnight investigation aired last night (Thursday), which also raises questions about the adequacy of the code of conduct in the House of Lords.

Lord Ahmed, who is one of Britain's first Muslim peers, denies the allegations against him and said one of the women was trying to damage my reputation.

He said the woman had given inconsistent accounts of her alleged complaints.

Newsnight said it had spoken to several women who "have been extremely upset by inappropriate sexual approaches" by Lord Ahmed and that "requests for political help were met with requests for sex".

One complainant Tahira Zaman (43) said Lord Ahmed, who is a married man with three children, repeatedly asked her out to dinner.

She told Newsnight that at first she had declined, but agreed after Lord Ahmed said he had written to the police asking them to help her case.

Speaking on Newsnight Ms Zaman said: "I said that's very kind you have done this letter, he sent me another message and said; 'Now you can be kind and say yes to dinner'."

They met at a restaurant in East London, she claims, and he was insistent she should come back to his East London home.

She claims Lord Ahmed (61), whose main home is in Rotherham, sat on top of her and she had felt pressured to have sex with him.

He continued to pursue her, she said, and they had a two-month affair which only ended because he had made it clear he wasn't going to leave his wife.

Another woman told Newsnight that when she asked Lord Ahmed for help he suggested she should spend the night at his London home.

Last January, Ms Zaman complained about Lord Ahmed's behaviour to the Lords' Commissioner for Standards, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff.

"Lord Ahmed used my trust to repeatedly have intercourse with me," she told the commissioner. "I feel I have been preyed upon due to my vulnerability and used by Lord Ahmed.

"This I believe is in breach of the ethical code of conduct for a Lord as he used his status to escalate his 'personal interest'."

After twice reviewing her case, the Commissioner said she was unable to investigate and concluded the code could not have been broken because when Lord Ahmed offered to help her and write to the police, it was not part of his parliamentary work.

In a statement, Lord Ahmed said: I completely deny the allegation that I have exploited my position to pursue an inappropriate relationship with any member of the public (vulnerable or otherwise) or that I have acted inappropriately in the presence of women either in my personal or professional capacity.

The complainant has previously attempted to damage my reputation by reporting her allegations to the authorities and media outlets.

The House of Lords' Commissioner for Standards, Ms Lucy Scott-Moncrieff CBE, assessed the complaint and decided that it did not engage parliamentary inappropriate behaviour about me. She decided to take no further action.

The complainant asked the Commissioner to review her decision and acting upon this request, the Commissioner re-examined her reasoning and reached the same conclusion. The allegations have been rejected by others as being without merit and given these outcomes it is regrettable that the BBC has chosen to proceed with this broadcast.

I take my duties as a Parliamentarian extremely seriously and would not act so as to undermine my personal or professional reputation. I am disappointed in the way in which the complainant has pursued this matter having provided inconsistent accounts of her alleged complaint.

Whilst I accept that complaints should be fully investigated, I have fully cooperated with the process. There have been no adverse findings against me and it cannot be in the public interest to broadcast the unfounded allegation that I have exploited my position as a Parliamentarian.

It is with regret that the timing of this broadcast is when my wife is in a critical condition in intensive care. I therefore ask that my and my familys privacy is respected at this time.

Lord Ahmed sat as a Labour councillor in Rotherham between 1990 and 2000 and was chairman of the party's South Yorkshire branch between 1993-2000.

He resigned from the Labour party in 2013 days before he was due to face a hearing over alleged anti-Semitic comments.

In 2009, he was jailed for dangerous driving after admitting sending text messages moments before his car hit a stranded driver on the hard shoulder.
William Abrahams

A MONSTROUS MAN has been jailed for 20 years after being found guilty of 14 child sex offences against three victims committed over three decades.

William Abrahams (71) abused three schoolgirls in the Swinton area between the early 1980s and 2016.

On Wednesday, he was found guilty of six counts of indecency with a child, three counts of rape and five counts of sexual assault following a two-week trial.

Abrahams, of Kirkcaldy, Scotland, abused three girls who were all under the age of 13 at the time of his offences.

An investigation into Abrahams was launched in 2016 when one of the victims made disclosures to a schools officer, who notified police.

Sentencing him, Jugde Roger Thomas described Abrahams as a monstrous man who had shown the worst betrayal of trust one can think of.

Speaking after the sentencing, Det Con Scott Walker said: After one of the victims spoke to police about what happened, she said she felt stronger for telling someone. All three of the victims in this case have shown immense courage in coming forward and seeing the case through the court process.

Following the initial disclosure in 2016, we began to gather evidence and further allegations against Abrahams came to light from other victims.

We were then able to bring him in for interview and eventually charge him. He was in a position of trust with each young victim in this case, which he blatantly betrayed, taking the opportunity to commit these terrible crimes, with the hope that they would never come forward to report them.

However, he has significantly underestimated their bravery in not only reporting what happened, but giving evidence during the trial. For this, they should be commended and I only hope that knowing he has been jailed for what may well be the rest of his life can provide some closure to their ordeal.

Det Con Walker added: Im pleased he is now behind bars for such a significant length of time and I hope that this sends out a clear message to victims that they will be listened to, were here to help and to ensure you get justice.
In 1855, Virginia was set to elect a new governor. The states dominant Democratic Party faced a new challenge: The rising power of the Know-Nothing Party, a virulently anti-immigration and anti-Catholic party that had erupted out of New England in response to Irish immigration. The Know-Nothings had won control in Massachusetts and now hoped to win in Virginia, which would set the stage for the party to wage a national campaign in the 1856 presidential election. According to a 1998 article by The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the Know-Nothings were considered the favorites in the governors race. Then along came Henry Wise. By this time, Wise was a Democrat again, but was mistrusted by the party elite. He was considered a hothead. However, many delegates thought him to be a better campaigner than the party favorite. And if he lost, well, maybe the party would be rid of him once and for all. And thats how Wise became the Democratic nominee for governor. Wise hit the campaign trail . . . with an enthusiasm Virginians had not seen for many years, if ever, the magazine reported. Wise laid into the Know-Nothings. He blasted their anti-immigration stance as anti-American and many other choice words. That might mark Wise as progressive by todays standards except . . . Wise also accused the Know-Nothings of being abolitionists. The Know-Nothings were far more interested in keeping out foreigners than addressing slavery, but they were a Northern-based party and the South by 1856 had a negative view of Northerners in general. If voters werent moved by Wises appeal to American open-mindedness toward immigrants, they were galvanized by his defense of slavery. Wise won, narrowly and somewhat unexpectedly. He did especially well west of the Blue Ridge, where slavery wasnt much of an issue but voters appreciated his support for them years before. It was fitting that a county in far Southwest Virginia soon was named after Wise.
The museum, next to Longwood Park, is in the historic 1845 Williams-Brown House at 801 E. Main St. and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

For more information, call 389-6760 or visit salemmuseum.org.

Goodies needed for Roanoke Valley Audible Egg Hunt

The sixth annual Roanoke Valley Audible Egg Hunt will be April 13, but a few items are needed before blind and visually impaired children can hunt for the beeping eggs.

Members of the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators are donating most of the parts, and local bomb squad members are assembling the eggs, which transmit sounds so seekers can find them.

Organizers also are seeking candy-filled eggs and other Easter basket goodies that will be given to the children in exchange for their beeping eggs.

Plastic eggs may be filled with wrapped candy, small prizes, stickers or loose change. Small toys, chocolate bunnies, stickers, small books and non-sugar items also are needed for the baskets.

Organizers need the items by April 1.
CHRISTIANSBURG  A third candidate has entered this years race for the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors District E seat.

Lonnie Linkous, who owns the Christianburg-based Redline Tire and Lube, said this past week that he plans to run as a Republican for the seat that has been occupied by fellow Republican Darrell Sheppard since 2016.

For me personally, its just the right time, he said. I just want to give voters of District E a choice.

Linkous, 49, said he also hopes to fill a void that will be left by Chris Tuck, a Republican and the District B supervisor who doesnt plan to seek re-election this year.

I really, really appreciate Chris service, Linkous said.

Linkous acknowledged sharing a political party with Sheppard and the fact that the District E incumbent has often voted along the sames lines as Tuck. Linkous, however, said he has found Sheppard, a retired Virginia Tech cop and current school bus driver, to not have been vocal enough in his tenure as a supervisor.

With Montgomery County being one of the most rapidly growing municipalities in Virginia, the locality needs strong planning to deal with and make the best out of the growth, Linkous said.
RICHMOND  Legislation that would require a mandatory minimum sentence of six months for anyone who maliciously kills or injures a police dog advanced from a General Assembly committee on Friday.

The Spotsylvania County commonwealths attorney pitched the idea for the bill to Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania. A police dog was shot in 2016 during an incident that started with a traffic stop. A man who shot and wounded K9 Dux also fired at deputies and punched one officer. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

K9 Dux made an appearance before a subcommittee of the House Courts of Justice on Wednesday. The full committee voted on Friday to send SB 1675 to the House floor.

Junk science bill killed

Legislation that would have given more recourse to people convicted of crimes on the basis of junk science died in a General Assembly panel Thursday.
Please think about the lives you could be saving, the McGhees letter said. The next time it could be your loved one.

Still, Bell said he just wanted that person calling for help to tell investigators who provided the drugs.

McDougle argued there are other ways to track down dealers. He added that the person who overdosed could tell police, but not if the y die because no one called 911 out of fear of going to prison.

Mike Doucette, executive director of the Virginia Association of Commonwealths Attorneys, said the association was opposed to the bill when it was first introduced. But after hearing testimony from Dillon McGhees parent in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee last month, the group changed to a neutral position.

He said the Dillons Law would not substantially impede the ability to prosecute drug dealers.

Bell asked for the committee to take up another bill while he spoke quietly with McDougle. After a few minutes, Bell returned to his seat. He said hed been persuaded, and he asked that the committee advance the bill to the House floor for a vote.

It did so unanimously.
Language barriers could also present a major obstacle in the events following a mass casualty, Perkins said. The school division has more than 1,300 students enrolled in its English Language Learners program, and more than 40 languages  including Nepali and Haitian Creole  are spoken by non-native English speaking students. Interpreters took part in the drill to help family members interact with school staff to find their child.

Some school staff members served as observers, taking notes throughout the day on the interaction between staff and the role-players. William Fleming High Principal Archie Freeman served in his official capacity throughout the day, taking all the steps to ensure proper coordination between staff, the school division and authorities.

Perkins said he will hold multiple debriefings with administrators, then begin compiling notes from staff to create a formal report. He said he was impressed by some of the initial results, but just as hed hoped, the drill exposed many areas in need of improvement.
The Roanoke County School Board agreed Thursday to add another layer of security for Cave Spring High students attending a temporary campus made up of classroom trailers.

Crew will install a 12-foot wooden privacy fence on the Chaparral Drive side of the modular campus as a visual screen, the board decided in a 4-0 vote. Chairman Don Butzer was absent from the meeting.

The board also approved additional security measures, after a presentation by Superintendent Ken Nicely, who did not disclose the measures based on concerns doing so would jeopardize safety.

School board members agreed to spend up to $50,000 from minor capital reserves to pay for the security work. The vast majority of those funds will cover the cost of the unspecified security installation. The campus has only one point of entrance, where visitors are required to check in as they would at other county school buildings.

Nicely said the recommendation for more security came after consultation with law enforcement. Chain-link fencing already surrounds the campus. The privacy fence will be positioned behind the chain link fencing near Chaparral Drive.
She was a devoted churchgoer, said Wallace, noting she and her sister, Hope, were raised in the church. She loved to praise the lord.

Levi Dent, a minister who spearheaded the vigil, said he met Pierson 15 years ago when he would go into Sheetz for coffee.

She loved people, he said. The main thing is she loved people. ... If she could have, she would have pushed someone out of the way and saved them.

Pierson had been working at the jail kitchen for about a year, Wallace said. Throughout her life, Pierson worked hard. Sheetz, Dollar Tree, HopeTree Family Services. She also did hairdressing.

She was a lovely grandmother of three and mother of two, Wallace said.

On social media, an outpouring of prayers blossomed.

Those of us who grew up with Linda know that she made everyone in her presence feel loved and special, Toni Ward Belton, principal of Roanoke Academy for Mathematics and Science, wrote on Facebook.

The Virginia Sheriffs Association, a lobbying group, wrote on Twitter that it expresses its deepest condolences to the Roanoke Sheriffs Office and to the family of Linda Pierson.
I read with interest a recent article in The Roanoke Times about the Virginia Womens Monument in Capitol Square in Richmond, and the 430 women named on the monuments Wall of Honor, 27 of whom were from Southwest Virginia. Each of them had a specific calling in life. My life began with one of them...

I was pleased to see that Orleana Hawks Puckett, who I remember as Aunt Orleans, was honored for her midwife duties from 1889 to 1939. I was one of those 1,000 babies. On a warm night in August 1930 in a remote area of Carroll County, it became time for me to be born. My father hitched two oxen to the wagon to bring Puckett to our house for the event. She was 95 years old. All went well, and she stayed with us for a couple of days just to be sure.

When my father asked her how much he owed her, she said, Whatever you want to give me. He gave her a pound of wool, a setting of eggs to hatch and a dollar.

Im thankful that she was there. She was the first person I saw. I have a copy of my birth certificate signed by her.
In culinary school, Kyanka said she had a class assignment that involved forming a business plan. Looking back, she noticed she described a gluten-free, vegan bakery in a college town  long before she discovered Blacksburg.

Kyanka moved here when her husband got a job in the area. She set up the farmers market stand just to see how things would go. When her treats started selling out, Kyanka said she was blown away by the local appetite for vegan and gluten-free treats.

If I look back at my paper, its almost prophetic, she said. It was our goal, and then it just kind of happened. Its surreal.

Sweet Rebellion plans to sell the same baked goods that performed well at the farmers market, but itll also add dishes like wraps and possibly fruit smoothie bowls. It will carry savory items like croissants and flat bread, as well as donuts and cream puffs.

Everything will be 100 percent vegan and gluten-free, she says.

The gluten-free part I kind of had down because I did my internship at the gluten-free bakery, Kyanka said. The vegan part is the tricky part, to be honest with you.

The secret, she says, is experimentation.
Australian rapper Masked Wolf's recent Top 10 hit has been hanging around since 2019 but got a recent bump from TikTok, as its opening  which goes silent before Wolf's first line and a hard-hitting beat drop  make it perfect for the video platform. It's the rare song that peaks at the very beginning, which makes it ideal to cross-fade into mixes; you don't need to hear the whole thing to get the full effect.
Young lion cub seized from exhibition in Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen, Q.R.  The Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection has seized a young lion cub found being used for tourist opportunities along the citys popular Fifth Avenue.

In a statement, the agency says they have imposed the suspension for the use of the animal being exhibited in a local area of Fifth Avenue in Playa del Carmen for not having the Management Plan updated and approved by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources or authorization granted by the Secretariat for its use.

In response to various reports and complaints about the presence of wildlife on this site, Profepa personnel, with the support of Federal Public Security personnel, carried out an inspection visit to the site that manages wildlife in a confined manner.

As a result of the inspection visit, an African lion breeding animal of about three months of age was found inside the facility.

At the time of the inspection, the owner of the cub presented an original invoice which accredits the legal acquisition, however, the inspected could not present the Management Plan or approval from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in accordance with theThird Article of the Regulations of the General Law of Wildlife nor the authorization granted by the Secretariat for the use of the African lion in possession.

Therefore, the temporary total suspension of activities of the African lion was enforced with the lion being housed in federal facilities as a safety measure.

In accordance with the General Wildlife Law, the violator could receive a fine and a penalty of six months to nine years in prison.
Another large sinkhole emerges in Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen, Q.R.  A large sinkhole has been reported to city authorities after it was spotted near the beach on Luis Colosio Avenue.

The city says they responded to an emergency 911 call after the appearance of the large sinkhole. Personnel from the Municipality of Solidaridad along with the directorates of Zofemat, Civil Protection, Environment and Climate Change and local firemen arrived to analyze the sandy indent.

Emmanuel Hedding Medina, deputy director of Civil Protection and Fire, reported that a brigade was moved to the scene with personnel from the Directorate of the Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone, to attend to the report.

When they arrived, they found A hollow area of around 4 meters in diameter by 3 meters deep. According to the information that we have on the part of the experts, the sinkhole was originated by the recent rains.

Photo: Ayuntamiento de Solidaridad

It is a mangrove area and in the vicinity is a cenote, explained the official.

The sinkhole issue has been handed over to the Directorate of Environment and Climate Change since the hole is located in a federal area.

Earlier this month, a sinkhole was found in the roadway of Arco Vial in the citys west side, however, that hole was the result of an underground city water leak.

Last year, a natural sinkhole formed on the beach in central Playa del Carmen, that, after two weeks, simply covered itself in and disappeared.
Register File Photo

Waco Elementary School students travel through the line and choose among several options. Kentucky was ranked fifth on the Annual School Breakfast Participation Scorecard Thursday by providing 66 percent of low-income students with the breakfast and nutrition they need to be able to thrive during the school day.
This years MOTOR TREND awards recipients were evaluated against six key criteria: safety, efficiency, value, advancement in design, engineering excellence, and performance of intended function. Judges for each program come from MOTOR TREND staff but also included two special guest judges for Car of the Year, legendary car designer Tom Gale and product development guru Chris Theodore, and one special guest judge for SUV of the Year, automotive engineering expert Gordon Dickie.

This year brought many strong contenders to the table, making our job that much more difficult, said MOTOR TREND Editor-in-Chief and SVP of Content Edward Loh. Rest assured, the awards are being presented to the best of the best in the industry.

2019 MOTOR TREND Car of the Year Winner: Genesis G70

When evaluating this years contenders for Car of the Year against the six key criteria, the Genesis G70 was the clear winner for MOTOR TREND judges. Hyundais luxury brand has produced a truly exceptional car the judges describe as very good at almost everything, and hitting all the right notes.
So, we were talking about all those things, and we were 20 minutes or so into our conversation, and I see on my cellphone Unknown pops up. Well I know the way it pops up, its either going to be someone from Schumers office or McConnells office calling about something, he continued. Or maybe the White House. You never know.

Turns out it was the White House, specifically, President Trumps assistant. Manchin told the kids he needed to put them on pause for a few minutes, and all Stout and Williams saw from their vantage point, they explained, was a black screen. A few moments later, Manchin came back and told the students he had a little surprise for them.

Manchin put the phone on speaker, and the president started to chat with the kids.

Stout said: Not everybody in the room you know is politically for Trump, but in that moment that didnt matter, just that fact that youre going to listen to the president talk to a small group of kids. Everyone had a smile on their face and was just so surprised and couldnt really say anything. We just listened to him and smiled.
The Senate is proposing to reduce its contribution to Henricos general fund by $1.8 million. The House proposal reduces general fund revenue for the county by $400,000.

The local budget as proposed does not include funding for teacher raises, but school officials said they expect to update the budget depending on what happens with the state budget.

Sorensen said the school systems finance staff has some idea of how it can cover the funding gap, but declined to say whether it will reduce costs, draw more money from special funds or request more local funding.

We always know where we can go if something occurs, he said. Internally weve talked about it, but we havent made any recommendations to the superintendent yet.

In a public hearing on the school systems budget Thursday, more than a dozen students, parents and teachers spoke out against the countys plans to cut funding from the regional MathScience Innovation Center.

Members of the Blue Cheese Robotics Team from Deep Run High School made up about half of the speakers. They said reducing funding for the MathScience Innovation Center could hamper the school systems efforts to promote STEM education.
The affidavit said interest in Samuels was prompted by an ATF firearms trafficking investigation begun in 2016 in New York that involved the purchase of firearms from Virginia.

Last August, an unidentified confidential informant told law enforcement that he or she knew Samuels and an associate were trafficking firearms to Baltimore and that the purchaser was in Baltimore. The informant, a felon, is currently under electronic monitoring.

The informant said Samuels' firearms customer in Baltimore had been locked up and that Samuels was looking for a new buyer. The informant introduced Samuels to an undercover ATF agent who posed as the informant's out-of-state cousin, authorities allege.

Investigators said that from Aug. 18 until Jan. 29, Samuels allegedly sold the undercover agent and the informant 36 firearms, starting with a semi-automatic, AR-15-style handgun equipped with a drum magazine for $1,000.

According to the affidavit, the deals were done outside an address in the 300 block of East 9th Street. The largest single transaction was for 12 firearms for $10,000. At least one involved a man said to be an associate of Samuels.

At one point Samuels allegedly asked the undercover investigator if he or she was taking the firearms to New York. The agent said he or she was taking them to New York, and Samuels allegedly indicated he once had someone he dealt with in New York.
Asked to explain himself, Rohrbacher told the judge that he transported the drugs for money in order to pay for his medical bills and to have a lifestyle that would enable him to better care for his health. But, he said, Theres no denying the stupidity. ... I made a very, very poor decision.

Gibney later retorted: A poor decision is wearing a tie that doesnt match your shirt. This is way beyond that.

Gibney noted that while marijuana might be legal in some states, it is against federal and Virginia law.

Court documents show authorities were alerted by an informant in November 2017 that Rohrbacher would be transporting multiple kilograms of marijuana to the Richmond area. (A kilo is 2.2 pounds.)

Police obtained a search warrant to track Rohrbachers cellphone. Shortly after authorities determined that he was headed back into Virginia from an undisclosed location, he was stopped and arrested by Chesterfield police and DEA agents on Nov. 24, 2017.

When a narcotics dog alerted to the presence of illegal drugs in the vehicle and trailer, authorities searched the trailer, turning up the marijuana hidden in boxes.
Henrico County police and Child Protective Services are investigating a report of a sex offense at the Tuckaway Child Development and Early Education Center location in Varina.

Police said no charges have been filed. But an employee has been placed on leave, according to a spokeswoman for Tuckaway, which has six locations in Richmond and the counties of Henrico and Hanover.

The center where the alleged offense took place is at 1501 Midview Road.

"A Child Protective Services investigation began Wednesday," said Catherine Hoffman, Tuckaway's director of center relations. "We immediately began an internal investigation. We have been focused on the safety and protection of all of our children and clients. We have a deep trust with our families that's been built over years."

Hoffman said families at the involved location have been notified about the investigation.
MANSFIELD -- Kairi Robertson had the first correctly spelled word of the night Thursday. More importantly, the Madison Middle School seventh-grade student also had the last.

By correctly spelling "circumflex," a mark placed over a vowel in some languages to indicate contraction, length, or pitch or tone, Robertson outlasted 35 other students to win the annual Tri-County Spelling Bee.

Crestline seventh-grader Drake Moyer was the runner-up, failing on his last word, "ad nauseam," a Latin term for argument or other discussion that has continued to the point of nausea.

Just don't ask Robertson, the daughter of Rachel Robertson and Joshua Robertson, which of her seven correctly spelled words made her most nervous.

"I don't really know. I don't even remember what my words were," Robertson said with a laugh afterward, celebrating her first-ever spelling bee win. She said she finished fourth in the Richland County Spelling Bee in January and finished in the top nine in her school spelling bee.

The winner of the Richland County event, Ontario eighth-grader Alexis Shaver, went out in the fourth round in the Tri-County contest, missing the word "hirsute," an adjective used to describe someone or something covered with coarse stiff hairs.

Robertson, the only Madison student competing Thursday, said she didn't practice for the event, saying she comes by her spelling skills naturally. She admitted she is not fond of reading.

"I am dyslexic, so it's kind of hard," said Robertson, adding art is her favorite subject. "I had absolutely no time (to practice) because I get caught up with my brothers.

"My mom tried to practice with me in the car, but most of them I got wrong. Then again, she was giving me adult words off some random website," Robertson said with a laugh.

It was her first try at the Tri-County Spelling Bee and Robertson, who said she has done spelling bees since the third grade, promised she will be back.

"I will go as far as I can," she said.

FAST FACTS: There were 36 students competing -- 12 each from Richland, Crawford and Morrow counties. The youngest was Anique DiLorenzo, a fourth-grader from Highland. She lasted until the fifth round, finishing in the top four.

Four students went out in the first round, five in the second, eight in the third, 15 in the fourth round and two in the fifth round. In that fateful fourth round, 11 consecutive students misspelled words as the competition got tougher.

Natalie Holmes, a seventh-grade student at Lexington Junior High, was second among 53 contestants in the Richland County Spelling Bee. She went out in the fourth round on Thursday evening, missing on the word "eschew."

Rachel Teynor, a seventh grader from Colonel Crawford Local Schools, was the Crawford County Spelling Bee winner in January. She went out in the third round at the Tri-County event, missing the word, "sirloin."
MANSFIELD -- The maternal grandmother of a 1-year-old child, whose parents both died in a kidnapping/murder earlier this week in Kentucky, has been granted temporary custody of the boy.

An attorney representing Ernestine Williams of Mansfield obtained temporary custody through a Richland County Domestic Relations Court order. Williams is the grandmother of Kylo Williams, who turned 1-year-old on Feb. 1.

According to a motion filed Tuesday from attorney Dawn Fesmier Pigg, the child has lived with Williams, both normally and during the mother's absence. The motion said Williams and the child have a close bond.

A court spokesman said Friday the motion for temporary custody was granted and a hearing is scheduled March 13 at 1:15 p.m.

The child is the son of Skylar Williams and 24-year-old Ty'rell Pounds, both killed in Kentucky earlier this week.

A report from the Mansfield Police Department called Pounds an ex-boyfriend of Williams. The two Mansfield residents were litigating the parental rights and responsibilities for the child, according to paperwork filed in Domestic Relations Court.

It was not the first court filing between the two. According to a Mansfield police report, on Jan. 18 Williams accused Pounds of rape in a September, 2018 incident. No charges have been filed in that case, according to the Richland County Prosecutors Office.

Pounds allegedly abducted Williams, 20, at gunpoint from The Ohio State University Mansfield campus just before noon on Monday. Authorities believe he drove her south on Interstate 71 and led Kentucky State Police on a car chase before being stopped. KSP reported he shot Williams and was then killed in a gun battle with troopers.

The court motion, filed before the fate of the two was known, notes "the child and grandmother have a close bond and (seeks) temporary custody to her to ensure safety and well-being of the child until his mother is located and or able to resume care of this minor child."

On Monday, Pounds posted a chilling note for his son on his Facebook page stating to his family "there is nothing you guys could have done to stop me!!"

In the post, Pounds told his son, "Your mother kept me away from you and I was fighting for you through the court system."

Pounds was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of the shooting in Kentucky, according to authorities.

The incident shook the Mansfield campus and drew widespread attention.

"Please join me in expressing our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Skylar Williams. Her death is a terrible tragedy that has left our campus community deeply shocked and saddened," said Norman Jones, Dean & Director of Ohio State University Mansfield. "My thoughts and prayers are especially with all those who knew and loved her."

On Monday afternoon, The Ohio State University Mansfield posted a notice on its website that Williams was forced into a car at gunpoint while standing in a parking lot on campus at approximately 11:45 a.m.

According to a Mansfield Police report filed on Monday at 1:56 p.m., Pounds' roommate reported Pounds and Williams were both at his Wood Street apartment. The roommate stated Williams wasn't hurt, but she was crying. The roommate noted Pounds had a gun and was very serious. He took the roommate's keys and his phone and allegedly stole his vehicle.

The roommate said he knew Pounds was going through custody issues with Williams and the two left before the roommate could get dressed. The roommate went to a friend's house to call police but they were already there when he arrived.

In an update at 2:05 p.m., the school posted on its website that authorities believe Pounds stole a vehicle at gunpoint. Pounds apparently drove south on I-71 and crossed into Kentucky. He drew the attention of authorities near Louisville, and led them on a multi-county car chase. Authorities reported two attempts at using stop sticks were unsuccessful.

Pounds crossed Highway 329 in Oldham County and attempted to re-enter the interstate, according to authorities. Due to public safety concerns, the primary Kentucky State Police unit performed a legal intervention stop to prevent Pounds' vehicle from re-entering the highway. The vehicle came to rest on the ramp, and an unidentified trooper attempted to apprehend the subject.

Authorities stated that while attempting to apprehend the suspect, the trooper heard a gunshot coming from within the vehicle which he perceived as an immediate and deadly threat to himself and the female passenger, Williams. The trooper drew his service weapon and fired, at which time the suspect (Pounds) was struck, resulting in his death at the scene.

During this event, the female passenger (Williams) was struck by at least one round of gunfire. Williams was transported by Oldham County EMS to the University of Louisville Hospital, where she was pronounced dead by the Jefferson County Coroner.

According to Pounds' Facebook page, he graduated from North Central State College in April 2018. He was a Mansfield Senior alumnus.

Williams' Facebook page said she attended Mansfield Senior and Madison. She was studying physical therapy at OSU-Mansfield.
MANSFIELD -- Mansfield area churches will host a two-hour prayer service every night in March, at a different location each night.

The March of Prayer will focus on any concerns that participants bring. The event came about following two years of conversations by clergy and drug addiction counselors regarding the opioid abuse problem in the area.

As helpless as we may feel in trying to make a difference in the problem, it became apparent that couching everything in prayer was necessary for any faith-based response, says the Rev. Paul Lintern, one of the coordinators.

Several prayer events throughout the community led to the thought that a persistent schedule of prayer services involving a cross-section of churches would have a positive effect on Mansfield. But it would be best with as little agenda as possible.

Each congregation in our community has an unique way of worshipping God. The aim isnt performance, but rather an organic expression of prayer and praise. This is an opportunity for us to celebrate the diversity found in God's kingdom. Theres not a right or wrong way to do this when the focus is Him, says Jordon Baker, 21, also a coordinator of the event.

Baker guide the Point of Grace House of Prayer and leads regular prayer services at Point of Grace, 2 Marion Ave., and through out the community.

While Baker will participate in worship leadership in a handful of the sites, most of the churches will provide all of the leadership and hospitality for their own service, to host a prayer service of music and scripture, prayers and praise in the style familiar to the host.

We are hoping for people to visit as many of the sites as possible, praying for their hosts, listening with their hearts, responding as they hear, Lintern says.

Living Hope Community Church , 670 Kentucky will host the first event, Friday, March 1, and the pattern of the scheduling simply follows the responses of clergy as they picked dates

We began scheduling these host sties in December and filled the last day just last week, according to Lintern, who added that other churches that still want to participate will claim days in April.

Ontario United Methodist just took April 1 as their date, no fooling, he smiled.

Information about each nightly event is found on Facebook at March of Prayer.

A March of Prayer Schedule

A March of Prayer Schedule

6-8 pm. daily of prayer, praise, worship, Word

Friday, March 1  Living Hope Community Church, 670 Kentucky Ave.

Saturday, March 2  Point of Grace House of Prayer, 2 Marion Ave

Sunday, March 3  Zions Refuge, 1400 Lucas Rd. (Rte. 39)

Monday, March 4 -- St. Peter Catholic, 60 S. Mulberry St.

Tuesday, March 5  Linden Road Presbyterian, 160 S. Linden

Wednesday, March 6  Oakland Lutheran Church, 2045 Olivesburg Rd. (Rte 545)

Thursday, March 7  Mansfield Four-Square Gospel, 393 Davidson St.

Friday, March 8  Ambassadors Of Christ, 152 Cline Ave.

Saturday, March 9  The Way, 172 Sturges Rd.

Sunday, March 10  Mansfield Alliance, 291 W. Cook Rd.

Monday, March 11  Holy Trinity Lutheran, 525 Lexington Ave.

Tuesday, March 12  Crossroads Community, 1188 Park Ave. West

Wednesday, March 13  Mansfield First EPC, 399 S. Trimble St.

Thursday, March 14 Southside Christian Church, 2055 Middle-Bellville Rd.

Friday, March 15  Sar Shalom, 2510 W. Fourth St.

Saturday, March 16 Shiloh Baptist, 130 E. Second St.

Sunday, March 17 Belmont Community, 1119 Belmont Ave.

Monday, March 18  Grace Fellowship, 365 Straub Rd. East

Tuesday, March19  Kingdom Grace Fellowship, 105 Reba Ave.

Wednesday, March 20  Potters House, 374 Willowood Dr. East

Thursday, March 21  Journey Life, 2578 St.Rte. 39

Friday, March 22  Oasis of Love, 190 Chester Ave

Saturday, March 23  Freedom Ridge, 2200 Bedford Blvd.

Sunday, March 24  Open Bible , 1150 Rayfield Dr.

Monday, March 25  First United Methodist Church, 12 N. Diamond St.

Tuesday, March 26  First Christian Church, 300 W. Third St.

Wednesday, March 27  First English Lutheran Church, 53 Park Ave. West

Thursday, March 28  Church Requel, 2 Marion Ave.

Friday, March 29  Fusion, 220 Industrial Dr., Lexington

Saturday, March 30  Community Life Ministry (at First UMC), 12 N. Diamond St.

Sunday, March 31  Mosaic, 296 Park Ave. West

A list of addresses and site directions is found on Facebook // March of Prayer

Text Paul Lintern at 419-571-9920 or e-mail Jordon Baker at jordonbaker737@gmail.com
ASHLAND -- Ashland University trustees, after reviewing a law firm's report on the university's hiring practices and substance abuse policies, affirmed their support for president Carlos Campo, but cited a "clear lapse of judgement" on Campo's part.

The board of trustees hired Barnes & Thornburg in January to conduct "a thorough and independent review" after Carlos Campo's son Brandon, who was also a university employee, pleaded guilty to drug possession and endangering children.

During the sentencing hearing, Ashland Municipal Court Judge John Good said Brandon Campo purchased illegal drugs from a university student. The judge also detailed Brandon Campo's extensive criminal record and questioned the university's judgement in hiring Brandon Campo.

In a letter sent to the university community Thursday, trustees said Barnes & Thornburg "found no evidence that President Campo attempted to influence the hiring of his son into an entry-level position in the admissions office. Further, the report found that no university policies had been violated in the hiring process."

The letter went on to say the board has taken action to strengthen the university's nepotism policy, approving a stricter policy that prohibits hiring of anyone in the direct line of oversight of a family member without the prior approval of the executive committee of the board of trustees.

The board concluded Carlos Campo's actions in dealing with his son's employment at the university constituted a clear lapse of judgement, according to the letter.

"President Campo should have recognized the potential risk in this situation and should not have allowed the university to hire his son," the letter states. "The board expressed their concerns in meetings with the president, and the president has expressed his deep regret for his actions."

Despite the lapse, trustees said they weighed the facts and circumstances surrounding the facts, as well as Carlos Campo's past performance, and affirmed its support for the president.

"The trustees recognize that President Campo has, during his three-year tenure, encouraged a culture of academic excellence and student success, while leading the university from a period of serious financial stress to a more secure financial position, and through a crucial reaccreditation process," the letter states.

Trustees also noted Campo received a very favorable personnel evaluation by the Association of Governing Boards in fall 2018.

"At a time when many universities are struggling, under President Campo's leadership, Ashland University is in a stronger position today than when he arrived," trustees wrote in the letter.
MANSFIELD -- Hiring is a challenge for 92 percent of employers in Richland, Ashland and Crawford County, despite "competitive wages," according to a recent survey by the Richland Community Development Group (RCDG).

Clint Knight, the organization's workforce development director, explained Friday at a Regional Manufacturing Coalition (RMC) meeting that average wages at area manufacturers are generally within only a few cents difference when compared to wages in Wayne County and not as far off from Delaware County's wages as he had expected.

"It was surprising to me because I would have thought the cost of living would have caused (Delaware's average wages) to be much higher, but it did not come out that way," Knight said. "So regionally, overall, we're competitive. Our wages are competitive. And as employers, it's clear that we've risen to the challenge of the competitive job market, looking at these specific jobs."

Results showed that assemblers and fabricators in Richland, Ashland and Crawford counties make an average of $15.86 per hour, while the same positions (on average) are paid $15.82 per hour in Wayne County and $16.25 per hour in Delaware County. Production workers are paid an average of $14.24 per hour locally, $14.31 per hour in Wayne County, and $15.42 per hour in Delaware County, according to data Knight cited from Kent State University's Stark program.

Laborers, freight stock and material handlers made an average of $15.01 per hour in Richland and its two adjacent counties, $14.22 per hour in Wayne, and $16.15 in Delaware.

The difference between local wages and Delaware County's wages is a more noticeable in maintenance and repair and welders, cutters, solderers and brazers. Local employers pay an average of $21.78 per hour for maintenance and repair, while Wayne County pays an average of $21.51 per hour, and Delaware County pays an average of $23.45 per hour.

Welders, cutters, solderers and brazers make an average of $18.39 per hour in Richland, Ashland and Crawford Counties, which compares to those who make an average of $18.27 in Wayne County and $21.21 per hour in Delaware County.

Knight also put 2018's average wages head-to-head with 2015 average wages and found that wages for many positions have risen between 6 and 46.8 percent.

Average wage for CNC programmers rose from $22.91 per hour to $24.28 per hour in that time, and wages for laborers, freight stock and material handlers rose from from $14.12 per hour to $15.01 per hour average.

Maintenance and repair wages, however, showed -- by far -- the most significant increase. The survey showed local wages have rose by 46.8 percent between 2015 and 2018. Wages increased from $14.83 per hour in 2015 to to $21.78 per hour in 2018.

"I would guess if you walked out to your maintenance department, you'd probably see the majority of your maintenance people is probably where you need to be focusing on succession planning and making sure you train younger workforce to be prepared for that," Knight said. "I would think the increase in pay would be reflective of the demand we have for maintenance."

But employers struggle across the board to fill positions, especially skilled ones, Knight said, citing the survey where employers listed lack of skilled, qualified candidates and lack of applicants as the top two reasons for their hiring challenges.

"Potentially, everyone is working. It's a tight labor market," Knight said.

This means the pipeline for skilled employees is either graduating high school seniors or current employees, Knight explained. Training, he said, is key to filling needs.

"It shows that every employer is needing skilled employees, which is important for both the employee and the employer to know so that we can find ways to rise to that need," Knight said.

The third and fourth top reasons for hiring troubles, as noted by employers, were low work ethic and attendance and too low wages.

One audience member wondered if profit-sharing programs could increase work ethic. She noted that educating employees about how it works and its importance would be necessary.

Only 25 percent of employers in Richland, Ashland and Crawford counties reported a profit-sharing program, according to the survey. About 50 percent offer health savings accounts, and 68 percent offer 401K plans.

But Knight said, the young workforce might be most likely to ask about paid time off.

"We spend a lot of time talking about millennials, Generation Z. How do we engage them? How do we attract them, and how do we keep them?" Knight said. "And one of the things we've learned is that work-life balance is something that is key to this age group."

The local average for paid time off days is just below the national average, according to data presented by Knight. The national average is 10 PTO days after one year of employment, while the local average is 8 days.

"The national average seems to be trending upwards compared to what we're doing regionally, so I think this is something we should take note of," Knight said. "Do I think we need to go out and change out PTO policy to 10 days on day one? I don't think so, but I think this is something we should be aware of as we're trying to engage and attract this workforce that is coming right out of high school. These are things that are important to them."

Wellness programs, Knight said, may also be of interest to this demographic. According to the survey, only 25 percent of employers in Richland, Ashland and Crawford currently offer them.

"When you talk about employee engagement -- how we show our employees that we are investing in them and that we care about them, which is also something that is very important to this young workforce that we're working to attract and keep -- employee wellness is key to that," Knight said.

The survey was conducted with partnerships through the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce, Grow Ashland, North Central State College, the Richland-Crawford Workforce Development Board and the Crawford Partnership for Education and Economic Development. The data was collected and organized by Kent State's Stark program.

Knight hopes employers will use the results to better inform their decisions.

"Having this information shows how employers compare within the county and outside of the county to each other. That's important in an extremely competitive job market," Knight said.
When a legislative body formed in the reformist Gorbachev era gathered in Moscow in December 1989 to reflect on the U.S.S.R.'s failed war in Afghanistan, its assessment of the military effort that had left 15,000 Soviet troops and millions of Afghans dead was unequivocal.

"The Congress of People's Deputies of the U.S.S.R. holds that the decision deserves moral and political denunciation," read the statement condemning the December 1979 invasion that commenced a near-decade-long campaign and hastened the Soviet Unions demise in 1991.

But on the 30th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the public mood in Russia is much changed, and Russian legislators have stepped out in support of an initiative to overturn the 1989 resolution and pronounce the invasion as a just and necessary move.

Yet despite widespread expectations that the State Duma would approve a defiant draft resolution reversing that earlier judgement, the timing was apparently not right.

While reports indicated that the measure had support from on high, the vote on the measure appears to have been delayed. On February 15, the Kommersant daily reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was among the officials who urged the resolution be postponed.

Analysts believe that a resolution justifying the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan would jeopardize Russias role as a peace broker in the region, amid ongoing talks in Moscow between the Taliban and the Afghan opposition.

I think they decided to temporarily mute this topic, at least until these talks with Afghanistan are over, Vyacheslav Polovinko, a political analyst for the independent newspaper Novaya gazeta, told RFE/RL. Theyll likely find another excuse, another moment to pass it.

But it is clear that efforts to rewrite the experience of the Afghan war -- along with other aspects of Soviet history brought into the open during the cathartic 1990s -- are not going away. The trend of public opinion, at least, seems to be on the legislators side.

In a survey by state-run pollster VTsIOM, timed to coincide with the Soviet withdrawal anniversary, 42 percent of respondents said the Soviet Union should not have sent troops into Afghanistan, while 31 percent supported the move.

Only five years ago, another poll by the independent Levada Center found that 68 percent condemned the decision to invade, and only 9 percent backed it. In 1991, a Levada survey showed a gap of 88 percent against to 3 percent in favor.

Russian officials have seized on the changing mood.

On November 21, veteran Duma deputy Nikolai Kharitonov stood up to address fellow lawmakers at a special session of the Russian parliament devoted to the anniversary. For years, he told them, the Duma had been too soft on the question of Afghanistan -- the time had come to change the narrative.

Dismissing the December 1989 resolution as "inconsistent with the principles of historical justice," he challenged his colleagues.

"Is there anyone in this auditorium who agrees?" he asked, referring to the 1989 resolution condemning the war. "I expect that the deputies of the Duma's seventh convocation, who regularly adopt polar opposite stances depending on their political views, will be united on this question."

His proposal resulted in the draft resolution, approved during the November session by representatives of all parties in the Duma, that was expected to be passed on February 15.

Critics call the effort to restore the original Soviet arguments for invading Afghanistan a brazen attempt to justify other wars the Kremlin is involved in today, amid falling public approval ratings for the Russian government.

In Syria, Moscow is propping up the regime of Bashar al-Assad, and in eastern Ukraine it has provided military and personnel assistance to pro-Russia separatists fighting Ukrainian forces. Both campaigns have dragged on for years.

"The Afghan war was one of the greatest mistakes made by the communist regime. Justification of that war is justification of the war in Syria," Andrei Zubov, a historian critical of the Russian government, told RFE/RL as the Duma mulled the draft resolution. "Society's support for Putin and his foreign policy is dropping, and what's happening in Syria and Ukraine is provoking an increasingly negative reaction. In this situation, the parliament is trying to compensate for that."

In an interview with state news agency RIA Novosti , Gorbachev, now in his late 80s, condemned the effort to discredit the original resolution his government passed in 1989.

"I consider the proposal totally unacceptable and irresponsible. What facts, what arguments do its authors cite? How can you deny that the decision was made by a close circle of people, skirting the constitution and going against the opinions of the experts and military leadership? Or that it led to huge loss of life? Or that thousands of families lost their sons, fathers, and brothers?" he said. "This immoral initiative should be decisively rejected. I believe the country's leadership should make its views clear."

When queried about the draft resolution on February 15, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied, "I'll leave that without comment," according to TASS. "Our main task is to remember the heroes who discharged their duty."

Included in the draft resolution is a pledge to continue subsidies for those who fought in Afghanistan.

Back then, "Afghan syndrome" became a popular diagnosis for crippled soldiers struggling to adapt after the war; today, many of them feel historical justice is gradually beginning to triumph.

"We returned and they didn't notice us at all. It wasn't a figure of speech when they said, We didn't send you there.' They said it to us openly, directly in the eyes," Andrei Kuznetsov told RFE/RL.

Kuznetsov was an 18-year-old conscript with six months of military training when he was dispatched in May 1987 to Bagram, Afghanistan, as part of the 345th airborne division of the Soviet Army. A year and eight months later, he returned to "a totally different country."

Today, he works as a groundskeeper at Vnukovo airport outside Moscow and subsists on a meager salary. He rejects the parallels some make between the Afghan war and today's campaigns in Syria and Ukraine, and supports the Duma's resolution. He only wishes it had come sooner.

"It's high time they reassessed that war. They should have done it a long time ago," he said.
KYIV -- A high-ranking regional official suspected of organizing the killing of Ukrainian anticorruption activist Kateryna Handzyuk last year has been arrested.

The Shevchenko district court in Kyiv at about 3 a.m. on February 15 ordered that Vladyslav Manher, head of the regional council in the southern region of Kherson, be held in pretrial detention until March 3 or pay a 2.5 million-hryvnya ($91,000) bail. He has been charged with organizing a contract murder with "special cruelty."

Manher was transferred to a detention center. His lawyers said they would appeal the ruling.

The Prosecutor-General's Office announced on February 11 that Manher was a suspect in the high-profile case.

Handzyuk, a 33-year-old civic activist and adviser to the mayor of the Black Sea port city of Kherson, died in November -- three months after she was severely injured in an acid attack.

WATCH: Kateryna Handzyuk died six weeks after making an impassioned video from her hospital bed, in which she listed dozens of attacks on civic activists that police have failed to resolve.

The killing outraged Ukraine, with activists accusing the authorities of failing to complete the investigation or identify the mastermind.

Prosecutor-General Yuriy Lutsenko said on February 11 that prosecutors had obtained enough testimony from witnesses about Manher's alleged role in Handzyuk's death, adding that the attackers had received "no less than $4,000."

According to a document posted by Lutsenko on Facebook, Manher felt "personal enmity" toward Handzyuk because of her efforts to expose "illegal deforestation" in the region.

If convicted, the 48-year-old Manher could face up to life in prison.

Manher said earlier this week in a televised interview that he had nothing to do with the deadly attack.

Five suspects, including a police officer, were detained last year on suspicion of involvement in the attack on Handzyuk.

Two of them have been placed in pretrial detention, and the others are under house arrest.

Handzyuk's death came amid a wave of attacks on Ukrainian civic activists. Human rights activists have accused law enforcement agencies of failing to thoroughly investigate the cases and even of possible complicity in some of the attacks.

The United States and the European Union have called the attacks unacceptable and urged the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.
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Thirty years after Soviet troops retreated from Afghanistan, veterans of that conflict can now be found on the front lines of eastern Ukraine.
The U.S. military is expected to trim troop levels in Afghanistan by more than 1,000 soldiers, a U.S. general told Reuters on February 15.



U.S. President Donald Trump told Congress this month he intended to reduce U.S. forces in Afghanistan as negotiators make progress in talks with Taliban insurgents.



However, U.S. Army General Joseph Votel, the head of the U.S. military's Central Command, said the decision to reduce some of the 14,000 American forces in Afghanistan was not linked to those negotiations.



Instead, he said it was part of an efficiency drive by the new commander, Army General Scott Miller, who took over in September, to make better use of U.S. resources.



"This is something that he started as he got into the position here and was looking at how we [can] be as efficient and as effective as we can be on the ground," Votel told Reuters during a trip to Oman.



Asked whether Miller would likely cut more than 1,000 troops from Afghanistan under the efficiency drive, Votel said: "He probably will."



The U.S.-Taliban talks are aimed at finding a negotiated end to Afghanistan's 17-year war.



The United States has been attempting to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table with officials in Kabul.

The Afghan government has been absent from the U.S.-Taliban talks, prompting anger and frustration in Kabul.

The Taliban considers the Kabul government a Western puppet and has so far refused to directly negotiate with it.

Based on reporting by Reuters
An explosion has partially destroyed a residential building in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, killing two people, local officials say.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry's Krasnoyarsk branch said on February 15 that the incident was caused by a natural-gas explosion late the previous evening.

It destroyed six apartments in a three-story block in the regional capital.

The blast follows at least two similar incidents in recent weeks.

Five people were killed on January 13 when a gas explosion partially destroyed a residential building in the town of Shakhty in the southern Rostov region.

In the Ural Mountains city of Magnitogorsk, 39 people were killed on New Year's Eve in a blast that officials also blamed on a gas leak, although the Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for that incident.
Tajikistan's Interior Ministry says prominent opposition figure Sharodiddin Gadoev has returned to the Central Asian country from abroad and "is sorry for his deeds," while a colleague claims that he was abducted in Russia.

The ministry said in a brief statement that the 33-year-old leader of the opposition Group 24 movement, who has been living in self-imposed exile in the Netherlands for the last several years, arrived in Dushanbe via Moscow on February 15.

"May the misdeeds I have committed be evaluated in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Tajikistan," the ministry quoted Gadoev as saying.

According to the ministry, Gadoev also said other Tajiks wanted in Tajikistan should return home.

Gadoev was wanted in Tajikistan on suspicion of smuggling and forgery.

Gadoev's mother told RFE/RL that she was unaware of her son's return to Tajikistan.

One of Gadoev's colleagues, opposition activist Alim Sherzamonov, who lives in a European Union country, wrote on Facebook that Gadoev had traveled to Russia for personal reason and was abducted there and taken to Tajikistan.

In his last post on Facebook, on February 2, Gadoev criticized government plans for a new highway connecting Dushanbe with the city of Bokhtar.

Tajik opposition activists abroad elected Gadoev as the leader of Group 24 in March 2015, days after its founding leader and Gadoev's cousin, Umarali Quvatov, was shot dead in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Tajik authorities banned Group 24 as extremist after it called on Tajiks to participate in antigovernment protests in Dushanbe in 2014.

At least three people were sentenced to lengthy prison terms in Tajikistan in 2015 after being convicted of belonging to Group 24.

Last year, Gadoev announced that he had created a new movement in the Netherlands called Reforms and Development in Tajikistan.

He said at the time that his new movement's goal was to establish a "free and democratic society in Tajikistan."
BRUSSELS -- EU officials have agreed to extend for another year the bloc's arms embargo against Belarus, several sources familiar with the negotiations who are not authorized to speak on the record told RFE/RL on February 15.

Hungary initially wanted to link the extension of the embargo to the swift adoption of the Belarus Partnership Priorities, an EU document outlining the bloc's future relationship with Minsk in areas such as people-to-people contacts, environmental issues, economic cooperation, and human rights that has been under negotiation for two years.

The Partnership Priorities document was close to being signed in 2018, but Lithuania insisted on including several safeguards regarding the Astravyets nuclear power plant that is being built with Russian assistance in Belarus just 50 kilometers from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.

Under pressure from the other 27 EU member states, Budapest backed down on the demand to formally link the two issues, but there was an agreement that Belarus would host what sources call "a high-level event" within the framework of the Eastern Partnership in October.

The Eastern Partnership is a multiprong initiative aimed at bringing Belarus and five other former Soviet republics closer to the EU without implying future EU membership.

The embargo, which has been extended annually since its introduction in 2011, is expected to be approved by the bloc's ambassadors next week and officially extended just before the February 28 deadline, together with the visa bans and asset freezes imposed on four individuals believed to have played key roles in the unresolved disappearances of four Belarusians in 1999 and 2000.

During the rollover process in the last two years, Hungary managed to exempt biathlon rifles and other arms used in sports.
BRUSSELS -- EU diplomats have agreed to impose asset freezes and visa bans on a number of Russians involved in the capture and detention of 24 Ukrainian seamen during an incident near the Kerch Strait in November, several sources familiar with the negotiations who are not authorized to speak on the record have told RFE/RL.

The exact number of people to be sanctioned has not been established yet, but it is believed to be around eight individuals who are either officers who were involved in the Kerch Strait incident or Russian judges who oversaw the subsequent detention of the Ukrainians.

The incident occurred on November 25 when Russian Coast Guard vessels fired on and then captured three Ukrainian Navy vessels and their crews while they were on their way to the Ukrainian port of Mariupol. Moscow accuses them of illegally entering Russian territorial waters.

The Kerch Strait, near the Ukrainian region of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, is a narrow passage that connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

A push to adopt the sanctions in December floundered due to French, German, and Italian opposition. However, according to diplomats, the continued detention of the crews by Russia has brought the EU together on the matter of additional measures.

EU foreign ministers will discuss Ukraine when they meet in Brussels on February 18, but the sanctions are expected to be approved by EU ambassadors later this month.
A Russian teenager who attacked a teacher with a meat cleaver and fired an air gun into her face during an assault in September 2017 has been sentenced to seven years and three months in prison.

A court in the northeastern Moscow suburb of Ivanteyevka convicted the boy, who has not been identified because of his age, and pronounced the sentence on February 15.

The defendant was 15 years old when he attacked the teacher on September 5, 2017.

Three children who jumped from school windows during the incident were hospitalized -- one with a broken bone and others with lesser injuries.

The sentencing comes less than two months after a court in the city of Perm, 1,150 kilometers northeast of Moscow, sentenced a 17-year-old boy to nine years and eight months in prison after convicting him of a knife attack at his former school that left 12 people hospitalized.

On December 18, the Perm court found the teenager guilty on 30 charges of attempted murder and of damaging school property.

School attacks have been rare in Russia and other former Soviet republics, but in recent months there have been several such incidents in Russia, as well as a gun-and-bomb attack on a college in the Ukrainian region of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Authorities say an 18-year-old killed 20 people in that incident in October before fatally shooting himself.

In neighboring Belarus, a teenager was arrested after he stabbed a teacher and a student to death and wounded two classmates.

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 axe, several knives, and a gas canister to his school. He was hospitalized for a day after he swallowed rat poison. Nobody else was hurt.

On December 4, the Russian parliament's lower house passed a bill banning "online Columbine communities" that lawmakers say encourage violence among schoolchildren.

Columbine is a high school in the western U.S. state of Colorado where two students staged an attack in 1999, killing 12 fellow students and a teacher before fatally shooting themselves.

With reporting by REN TV and TASS
Police in North Macedonia have prevented a planned "terrorist act" by supporters of the Islamic State (IS) militant group, the Western Balkan country's Interior Ministry says.

The ministry on February 15 said the authorities launched several raids after exchanging intelligence with a "partner country regarding IS supporters' "potential plans and intentions for committing a terrorist act."

It said the raids took place in "several locations...taking away objects and devices related to the possible attack."

The U.S. Embassy in Skopje on February 15 also issued a security alert to its citizens traveling to the country, warning of "a heightened risk of terrorist attacks inspired by extremist ideology in North Macedonia."

Authorities in the country in 2016 estimated that some 150 Macedonian nationals had traveled to fight alongside Islamic insurgents in Iraq and Syria.

Most of them came from the country's mainly Muslim ethnic-Albanian minority, which represents about one-fourth of the population of 2.1 million people.

The country recently changed its name to North Macedonia from Macedonia after an agreement with Greece to settle a long-standing dispute. Athens opposed the use of the name Macedonia, which is also the name of a northern province of Greece.

The agreement and normalization of relations with Greece will help clear the way for North Macedonia to join NATO, most likely later this year or early 2020, and eventually the European Union.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
SOFIA -- A Bulgarian historian has uncovered a document contradicting communist-era rumors that exiled dissident Georgi Markov worked as an agent abroad for Bulgarian foreign intelligence before his 1978 assassination.



Markov was a celebrated Bulgarian novelist and playwright who defected to become one of that country's most famous dissidents for his stinging criticism of communist society and its leaders.



He was poisoned in London in the infamous "umbrella murder," ascribed to an agent or operative of the Bulgarian communist regime's repressive secret police, the Committee for State Security (also known as State Security, or DS).



Rumors that Markov was a State Security agent or informer, or even a double agent, have persisted, fueled mostly by communist-era reports after his defection in 1969 and interviews and books about him by secret-service veterans.

"We concluded that the writer Georgi Markov did not belong to the [Bulgarian foreign] service's undercover apparatus and there were no contacts with him on an agent-operational or other basis," said the 1990 response to an internal State Security request for an investigation into whether Markov had worked with its First Main Directorate, responsible for foreign intelligence.



The Markov killing, in the heart of a Western capital, represented an audacious blow by a Cold War foe that resonated within Soviet-era dissident circles and still stings the Bulgarian national consciousness.



His killer has never been identified, and historians and journalists continue to pore over vast archives that could turn up new clues to that and other crimes.

Historian Valery Katsunov, a member of the state Commission for the Archives of the Communist Secret Police from 2007-18, provided the State Security letter to RFE/RL contributor Dimitar Kenarov.



Dated December 17, 1990 -- one year after the communist government fell -- it was a response from the First Main Directorate's successor, the National Intelligence Service, to questions about a possible inquiry.



It was signed by Dimitar Kendimenov, a former secret-service officer who was in Britain when Markov was killed; the head of the intelligence service's archive, Radko Todorov; and Major General Rumen Toshkov, the head of the reconstituted National Intelligence Service.



There were suggestions by Soviet-era security sources -- possibly aimed at discrediting Markov or shifting suspicion to Western intelligence agencies but mostly dismissed among serious scholars -- that the former chemical engineer and award-winning writer secretly worked for Bulgaria's State Security or its foreign directorate after fleeing the country in 1969.

As an emigre, Markov worked for the BBC and Deutsche Welle and contributed to RFE/RL, where he produced a series of satirical programs called Personal Meetings With Todor Zhivkov, that skewered Bulgaria's communist leadership.



Zhivkov led the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1954-89.



In 1978, Markov was on his way to the BBC offices on Zhivkov's birthday, September 7, when he felt a sting in his right leg while waiting for a bus on London's Waterloo Bridge. He turned around to find a man picking up an umbrella.



"I'm sorry," Markov, on his deathbed, recalled the man saying in a foreign accent. The man then hurriedly crossed the street and hailed a taxi.



Four days later, Markov was dead of what doctors said was poisoning by ricin, traces of which were found in a tiny pellet embedded in his leg.

Ten days before Markov was attacked, Bulgarian emigre journalist Vladimir Kostov had been struck as he rode an escalator on the Paris Metro by a ricin-filled pellet identical to the one that felled Markov. He survived that poisoning.



Bulgarian officials began an investigation into Markov's killing shortly after the 1989 fall of Tidor Zhivkov's communist government. It was closed in 2013 having failed to identify, charge, or arrest any suspects, and cited the destruction of many documents in Markov's file.



Former Soviet KGB officers Oleg Kalugin and Oleg Gordievsky claimed separately that the KGB was involved in the Markov killing, and even described how ricin-filled pellets were loaded into umbrellas used to carry out assassinations.



Multiple journalistic investigations have incriminated a Dane of Bulgarian origin, Francesco Gullino, code-named "Piccadilly," in Markov's assassination. Gullino, who acknowledges having worked as a Bulgarian foreign agent for many years, has denied the charge.



"I'm sorry. I wish I could give you a straight answer...but think for a moment: If I was, if I were the murderer, [do] you think I should, I [should] just say it?" he told an investigative reporter in Wels, Austria, in 2013.

Written by Pete Baumgartner based on reporting by RFE/RL contributor Dimitar Kenarov and RFE/RL Bulgarian Service Director Ivan Bedrov
Some residents of condemned Soviet-era housing blocks in the Kuntsevo district of Moscow -- known as "Khrushchyovka" after Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev -- have been waiting 10 years to relocate. But many are now reluctant to move in to new apartments because of what they say are major flaws.
A spate of anonymous bomb threats to institutions in Moscow has led to several evacuations, although no explosives have been found, Russian authorities say.

The state TASS news agency quoted an unidentified law enforcement source as saying e-mailed threats late on February 14 and early the next day prompted the evacuation of some 5,000 people from at least 10 institutions, including the Russkoye Radio broadcaster, two major railway stations, and two remand prisons.

The evacuations were canceled after the buildings were searched and no explosives found.

Anonymous bomb threats have become a particular problem in Russia in recent years. On February 5, dozens of buildings in Moscow and the surrounding region, including the seat of the Moscow regon's government, were evacuated following threats that turned out to be hoaxes.

In January, e-mailed bomb threats prompted evacuations in the Siberian regions of Kemerovo, Khakasia, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Altai, and Krasnoyarsk.

In late 2017, tens of thousands of people were evacuated from schools, shopping centers, theaters, government buildings, and other facilities across Russia amid a wave of anonymous telephone bomb threats.

With reporting by TASS
Kosovo President Hashim Thaci says he sees "good momentum" in efforts to reach a deal this year to normalize relations with neighbor and rival Serbia despite their differences, according to an interview published on February 14 by the Associated Press.

Thaci is scheduled to participate in a Security in Southeast Europe panel on February 16 with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic as part of the Munich Security Conference in the German city.

Tensions remain high between the Balkan neighbors, two decades after their bloody war ended. Western states, including the United States, have urged the two sides to move to normalize relations.

Kosovo was a province of Serbia in 1999 when NATO launched air strikes to stop the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanians by Serbian forces during a two-year war. To this date, landlocked Kosovo, with a population of 1.8 million people, is still guarded by NATO troops.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Although 116 countries recognize Kosovo, Serbia and Russia do not.

Thaci and Vucic have made efforts to normalize relations, but several difficult issues continue to divide the two sides.

Kosovo angered Serbia in December when its parliament voted to transform its lightly armed security force into a full-fledged army.

Vucic called on the UN to "curb" and "tame" Kosovo and also dismissed what he said was the "so-called sovereign right" of Kosovo to form its own military.

Vucic said he was "very much worried, very much concerned and even a bit afraid" about the implications of a Kosovar army.

The United States has expressed support for Kosovo's move to create a national army, while NATO said the move was "ill-timed." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also expressed concerns.

Russia vehemently opposed the Kosovo move, with UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya saying expanding the army was a "blatant violation" of Security Council resolutions and called the creation of the army "illegal.

Kosovo has also imposed a 100 percent tariff on Serbian imports, saying the levy will stay until Serbia recognizes Kosovo's sovereignty and reaches a normalization agreement with its neighbor.

Belgrade responded by saying the tariff is hurting its businesses and that it will not participate in further dialogue until the measure is lifted.

Tensions could arise this weekend, as Kosovo traditionally marks its declaration of independent from Serbia on February 17 in the capital, Pristina.

With reporting by AP and European Western Balkans
India has demanded that Pakistan crack down on terror groups operating from its territory after a deadly suicide bombing claimed by a Pakistan-based Islamist group killed 44 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir.



Hours after the February 14 attack, the Indian Foreign Ministry called on Islamabad to "stop supporting terrorists and terror groups" who use Pakistan as a base and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries."



The Kashmir bombing, claimed by the Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e Mohammad (JeM), was the deadliest attack in decades on security forces in the disputed region.



The Indian Foreign Ministry accused the Pakistani government of providing the militant group with a safe haven and allowing its leader, Masood Azhar, "to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity."



"I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.

Arun Jaitley, a senior minister in Modi's cabinet, told a live TV broadcast on February 15 that India would retaliate, asserting that New Delhi had "incontrovertible evidence" of Pakistan's involvement in the attack.



He said India will take all possible diplomatic steps to ensure "complete isolation" of Islamabad in the international community. Those responsible will have to "pay a heavy price," he added.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry on February 15 called the attack a matter of "grave concern," but it said it strongly rejected "any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations."

Security officials said a militant rammed an explosive-filled van into a convoy of paramilitary police, targeting a bus that was carrying at least 35 personnel. At least 20 people were wounded, many critically.



Muneer Ahmed Khan, a senior police official, said the convoy was hit as it reached the southern town of Lethpora near the larger city of Srinagar. The targeted bus was destroyed and at least five other vehicles were damaged, he said.



Sanjay Sharma, a spokesman for India's paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force, said the explosion was "so powerful that one cannot recognize whether the vehicle was a bus or a truck. Just pieces of mangled steel remain of the vehicle."



The White House issued a statement also urging Pakistan "to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil."



It added that the tragedy would serve to strengthen U.S. resolve to heighten counterterrorism cooperation with India.



India has long accused Pakistan of supporting militants in Muslim-majority Kashmir, a Himalayan territory divided between the two nuclear archrivals but claimed in full by both since independence from British colonial rule in 1947. The countries have fought two wars over the region.



Pakistan denies the allegations, saying it only provides diplomatic support to the Kashmiri struggle for the right to self-determination.



The last major attack in Kashmir was in 2016, when militants that New Delhi said came from Pakistan raided an Indian Army camp in Uri, killing 20 soldiers. Islamabad denied any involvement.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP
Romania's former chief anticorruption prosecutor was questioned on February 15 by a controversial investigative agency, hours before flying to Brussels for an interview for the newly established job of EU public prosecutor.



Laura Codruta Koevesi headed Romania's National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) for five years until last year, when she was dismissed by the leftist government in what many observers say was an attempt to sideline her after the DNA's conviction rates for high-level graft jumped across the political spectrum during her tenure, drawing EU praise.



Koevesi has now emerged as the front-runner to get the newly established job of head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, due to become operational at the end of 2020.

The new EU agency will tackle financial fraud across the European Union.



On February 12, just days after it was revealed that Koevesi was the leading contender for the new EU post, the newly established and much-criticized Section for the Investigation of Criminal Offenses in the Romanian judiciary subpoenaed her for hearings on February 15 as a suspect in a corruption case.



The agency said she is accused of demanding a bribe to pay for the repatriation several years ago of a Romanian accused of corruption who had fled the country.

Koevesi said the the summons was "clearly an attempt to stop my candidacy for EU prosecutor."



The accusation against her, the agency says, was registered based on a denunciation made by another fugitive former Romanian politician and businessman who has fled to neighboring Serbia, despite the fact that Romanian police officially admitted they had paid for the repatriation of the accused.

Koevesi left for Brussels later in the day after being questioned by the agency.

Several hundred people rallied in her support on February 15 outside the government headquarters in Bucharest, the scene of huge anticorruption protests in 2017 and 2018.

The European Commission and the U.S. Embassy have warned the investigative agency in Bucharest that its actions were being closely watched.

With reporting by g4media.ro, Reuters, and AFP
ASTANA -- Kazakh authorities have deported two observers from the Italian Federation for Human Rights (IFHR) after not allowing them to meet a Kazakh judge who was fired following the acquittal by his court of an opposition activist earlier this month.

Colleagues and friends of Lyudmyla Voloshyna and Valeriy Yavtushenko, both Ukrainian nationals, told RFE/RL that police detained the two observers in Astana on February 14 and brought them to a court that ordered them deported.

The two left Kazakhstan early on February 15.

The Ukrainian consul in Astana, Ivan Almashi, told RFE/RL that Kazakh authorities did not allow him to meet with Voloshyna and Yavtushenko while they were in custody or to attend their court hearing.

"This is a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," he said. "We will prepare a special note regarding this."

Media reports quoted police as saying that Voloshyna and Yavtushenko were deported because they had declared the purpose of their stay in Kazakhstan as private, while in fact they were conducting a mission for a human rights group.

An IFHR representative in Poland, Maksim Sytnikov, told RFE/RL the two monitors were scheduled to meet with Malik Kenzhaliev, the former chief judge of the western city of Aqtau. Kenzhaliev was fired after his court on February 6 acquitted opposition activist Aigul Aqberdieva in a high-profile case.

Aqberdieva was accused of making social-media posts that called for the overthrow of the government. Her husband, Ablovas Zhumaev, was convicted on the same charge in September and sentenced to three years in prison.

Both defendants declared their innocence and said the charges against them were politically motivated.

Kenzhaliev said in several video statements released on February 11 that his dismissal was politically motivated. He asked international human rights organizations and Western governments to help him and his colleagues.

However, on February 14, after it became known that Voloshyna and Yavtushenko had been detained, Kenzhaliev issued a new video in which he retracted his earlier statements.

"I am stating officially that I do not need any legal help from international human rights organizations or foreign governments," he said. "I ask that my name not be used for various insinuations by people both inside the country and abroad."

He said that he had misunderstood the situation around the Aqberdieva acquittal and praised the policies of President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his government regarding reforms of the judicial system.
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka will not to take part in the February 15-17 Munich Security Conference because he is in Russia holding talks with President Vladimir Putin, Belarusian officials say.

The Foreign Ministry said on February 15 that Lukashenka had been invited to take part in a panel on East-West ties along with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Ukraine, as well the Georgian prime minister, and OSCE Secretary-General Thomas Greminger.

The statement added that Belarusian Ambassador to Germany Dzyanis Sidarenka and Belarusian KGB head Valeriy Vakulchik will take part in the Munich conference.

Lukashenka and Putin on February 15 wrapped up their three-day talks in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi.

Putin told reporters after the talks that he and Lukashenka discussed issues related to the Union State of Russia and Belarus -- the alliance established in the 1990s, though it exists mostly on paper.

Lukashenka also stressed the importance of the Union State, adding that Belarus "is ready to integrate with Russia to the extent the Russian and Belarusian peoples would want" but that nothing is going to restrict the two nations' sovereignty.

Although Lukashenka has strained relations with the West, he now speaks frequently of the need to protect Belarus's sovereignty against potential threats from the east.

Belarus is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization, regional groupings observers say Putin uses to bolster Moscow's influence in the former Soviet Union and to counter the European Union and NATO.

Wariness about Moscow's intentions toward its neighbors has risen in the wake of Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and its military, political, and economic support for militants in parts of eastern Ukraine, leading to an armed conflict in which more than 10,300 people have been killed.

The EU eased sanctions against Belarus in 2016 after the release of several people considered political prisoners, but has criticized Lukashenka's government for a violent March 2017 clampdown on demonstrators protesting an unemployment tax.

With reporting by Interfax, TASS, and BelTA
ASTANA -- Hundreds of angry mothers in Astana have demanded concrete measures by the city authorities following the deaths of five children from a single family in a house fire in the Kazakh capital.

The women gathered at an Astana concert hall on February 15 to call for proper housing, more places for children in public kindergartens, and increased social allowances for families with more than one child.

The five girls, aged from 3 months to 13 years, died in a fire on February 4 while both parents were away working overnight shifts. The incident shocked many in Kazakhstan, prompting protests and initiating a call to boost state support to families with more than one child so that both parents do not have to work to survive.

After the girls' funeral on February 5, mothers in Astana and several other cities held protest rallies.

The gathering on February 15 became tense when the city officials tried to talk to the mothers. The women demanded to see Astana Mayor Bakhyt Sultanov, but instead representatives of the city administration were sent.

When Deputy Mayor Nurlan Nurkenov tried to talk to the women, they shouted at him and demanded that he speak Kazakh rather than Russian. The protesters chanted that they wanted to see the mayor.

The microphones were switched off, and the women surrounded Nurkenov and his assistants shouting at them and not allowing them to speak.

Some of the women were then invited into the center's performance hall, where Sultanov appeared on the stage.

Sultanov spoke for eight minutes, saying that officials were looking into the situation faced by families with many children and that a special commission was collecting proposals from people on how to provide such families with better housing and increased social allowances.

But even before Sultanov finished speaking, the women began shouting, demanding "concrete answers" and requesting microphones so that they could speak as well.

Sultanov had to leave the stage.

The situation calmed down after former lawmaker and civil rights activist Zauresh Battalova appeared on the stage and called for order. The women then read out their demands.

The government has also been criticized for failing to declare a national day of mourning to commemorate the fire victims.

Emergency-service officials told RFE/RL earlier that the girls' father was employed by a car-repair company and the mother worked at a plant that produces payment cards.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
A court in Moscow has extended the detention of the American founder of investment company Baring Vostok, Michael Calvey, who is accused of large-scale fraud, a charge which he rejects.



Moscow's Basmanny district court on February 15 said it had extended Calveys custody by 72 hours and accepted a request by his lawyers to reschedule a hearing into the accusations so they could have more time to provide documents supporting the financier.



"The detention has been extended for 72 hours. The meeting is postponed until 13:00 Moscow time on February 16," Judge Artur Karpov said in reading the ruling.



Calvey was present for the custody hearing and said he was willing to cooperate and wouldnt hide from the investigation and the court.



I agree to any house-arrest conditions," the lawyer said in a statement on Calvey's behalf, which also asked the court not to take him into custody.



The lawyer told the judge that the accusations against his client stemmed from a disagreement between his fund and Vostochny Bank.



"The reason he [Vostochny Bank board member Sherzod Yusupov] filed a report with law enforcement agencies is that he himself and his partner, Mr. Artyom Avetisyan, have been parties to a major corporate conflict regarding Vostochny Bank. And not only are they involved in the conflict, they also oppose us," the lawyer said.

The apprehension of one of Russias most prominent investors is likely to send a cold chill through the financial community, many members of which rushed to defend Calvey.

German Gref, head of Sberbank, Russias biggest state bank, told reporters that Calvey was a decent and honest man, while Kirill Dmitriyev, the head of Russias sovereign wealth fund, said he would personally vouch for the American investor.



This is not going to play well with the investor community, nor I think [with] the U.S. government and Congress, Timothy Ash, an emerging markets strategist for BlueBay Asset Management, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

[Its a] disaster from a Russian PR perspective, he added, noting it could have an impact on sanctions legislation that has been introduced by U.S. senators to punish Russia for meddling in U.S. elections and for its actions in Ukraine.

Richard Hanrahan, citizen services officer at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, attended the hearing just as he did last month when Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, was jailed on an espionage charge he says is false.

Baring Vostok confirmed in a statement that four other employees were also detained in connection with the case and face similar charges.



"The actions of law enforcement are not directly related to the activities of Baring Vostok and other portfolio companies," the statement posted to the company's website said.

A court spokeswoman said Baring Vostok partner Vagan Abgaryan would also face a custody hearing on February 15.

The case stems from a protracted dispute with Vostochny Bank shareholders. Baring Vostok owns 52.5 percent of the bank. Prosecutors accused the defendants of embezzling 2.5 billion rubles ($37.5 million) by persuading Vostochny Bank shareholders to approve a share sale at an unrealistically low price.

Interfax also reported that former Vostochny Bank CEO Aleksei Kordichev was among those detained and that he would also face a custody hearing on February 15 at the Basmanny district court.

A defense lawyer told Interfax that "the criminal case is based on materials provided by the [Federal Security Service]."

Kirill Dmitriyev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, was quoted by Reuters as saying he would personally vouch for Calvey, saying that he and his team were highly professional and committed to ethical standards.

Bernard Sucher, a U.S. investor and entrepreneur who worked in Moscow for two decades, told RFE/RL that Calvey "helped pioneer private equity in Russia and is viewed around the world as its unofficial leader."



"He's a good man, and the news that he has been detained for any reason at all is astonishing," Sucher said.

Founded in 1994, Baring Vostok is one of the largest private-equity firms in Russia and the former Soviet Union, according to the firm's website. It manages more than $3.7 billion in assets. It is particularly active in the technology sector and owns a stake in the Yandex search engine.

Before founding Baring Vostok, Calvey worked for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Salomon Brothers. He is a member of the board of directors of the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, D.C.

With reporting by Reuters, RBC, AP, and TASS
Air India has resumed service to Iraq for the first time in 30 years, with the initial flight carrying Shi'ite pilgrims landing on February 14 in the shrine city of Najaf.

Pradeep Singh Rajpurohit, India's ambassador to Baghdad, said, "This is the first time in the last 30 years" that a plane had arrived in Iraq from India.

"We are very fortunate that the holy city of Najaf has been chosen as the first destination," he said, adding that the effort to restore direct links had long been in the works.

The plane took off from Lucknow, the capital of India's Uttar Pradesh state. As it landed, the crew and pilgrims were welcomed by Iraqi officials.

Najaf, some 150 kilometers south of Baghdad, hosts the tomb of Imam Ali, Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law and founder of Shi'ite Islam.

Years of conflict and sanctions during Saddam Hussein's rule and unrest and instability afterward prevented airlines from offering service to Iraq, and many have not yet resumed operations there.

Based on reporting by AFP and NDTV
In a bid to promote and strengthen political conformity, China has opened a new training camp in Tibets Shigatse prefecture for Party workers tasked with enforcing Tibetans support of Communist Party rule from Beijing, a Washington-based Tibetan advocacy group said on Thursday in a new report.



The camp, run under paramilitary supervision, will help shape the thinking of thousands of cadres now regularly sent across Tibet to monitor and manage the views of Tibetans in monasteries, schools, and private homes, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) says.



Citing reports in Chinese state media, ICT said that training in the camp includes flag-raising ceremonies and the singing of patriotic songs, along with an emphasis on self-criticism and the need to correct peoples thinking.



The training does not only target individuals political beliefs and the need for compliance to Party policy, but also their personal lives, with strict supervision in the camp possibly indicating suspicion of the loyalty of the cadres themselves, the rights group said.



The new institute for training Party cadres on a paramilitary basis in Shigatse appears to be consistent with this acknowledgement at the highest levels of the Party that it has not fully secured the allegiance of officials or the broader Tibetan public, ICT said.



Chinese doubts over the political reliability of the Tibetan public have already cast a shadow over celebrations this year of Losar, the Lunar New Year, with police filling the streets of the regional capital Lhasa and government workers forbidden to visit monasteries, sources told RFA in earlier reports.



This years Losar was preceded by public speeches by Chinese officials urging Tibetans loyalty to Beijing and denouncing Tibetan government workers caught harboring religious faith and worshipping in secret, one Lhasa resident told RFAs Tibetan Service.



A matter of particular concern to Beijing is the persistence of Tibetans loyalty to exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who is regarded by Chinese leaders as a dangerous separatist intent on splitting Tibet away from Chinese rule.



If any [Party] member has the wrong attitude on this subject, it would be a serious problem, an unnamed regional commission for discipline inspection official says in a Feb. 1 Global Times report cited by ICT.



A Feb. 12 tweet by Col. Vinayak Bhat, a retired Indian intelligence officer and satellite imagery analyst, meanwhile points to what Bhat calls new prison camps and high-security monasteries being built in the Tibet Autonomous Region and other Tibetan areas of China.



Images included in the tweet show facilities in what appear to be early or nearly completed stages of construction, with some compounds surrounded by double fencing, though no dates or specific locations are given for the images shown.



Reported by RFAs Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.
The top official in eastern Myanmars Kayah state on Thursday justified as legal action a bloody police crackdown on peaceful protesters demonstrating against a newly inaugurated statue of the countrys independence hero General Aung San in the state capital Loikaw.

Chief Minister L Paung Sho said police upheld due process in handling the rally on Tuesday during which they fired bullets and a water cannon at some of the 5,000 ethnic Karenni protesters, injuring 21 of them.

The police followed their procedures, he told RFA's Myanmar Service. For instance, they marked three lines that [the protesters] should not cross, but they crossed the first line, then the second, and eventually the third one, leading to the unwanted incident. I feel sorry about that.

As a chief minister I have nothing to say about the police actions which were in line with standard procedures, but I feel sorry about them, he said.

Police fired on the protesters who demanded that that officials remove or relocate the gold-colored statue from a public park.

Many accuse the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party of pushing Aung San monuments in ethnic minority states where residents would prefer having statues of their own heroes, rather than one of Aung San, who came from the majority Bamar ethnic group that dominates the country.

The demonstrators also called for L Paung Sho and the states minister of planning and finance to resign, arguing that they are responsible for the discontent.

Beyond the legal boundary

Tuesdays protest follows other demonstrations by young Karennis last week outside the state headquarters of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party in Loikaw.

Fifty-five people who led the rallies have been arrested and charged with unlawful assembly under Myanmar's Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, and with incitement and defamation under the countrys Penal Code.

Maw Moe Myar, a protest leader and member of the Union of Karenni State Youth (UKSY), said that demonstrators had submitted a letter to local authorities about the peaceful rally 48 hours before holding it in accordance with the law.

But ordering the police to shoot went beyond the legal boundary, he said. Such a practice has no room in a democratic system, but only in authoritarian states.

Kyaw Htin Aung, leader of a technical group that supports the UKSY, said that police acted unlawfully when they fired upon the protesters.

He now faces a charge under Section 20 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, which requires that demonstrators get advance permission from authorities for public rallies.

The unlawful and forced actions of the authorities led to the current situation, and then the protesters were accused of breaking the law, he said.

The state government practiced a legal double standard in dealing with the demonstrations, he said.

Those demonstrators who opposed the statue will face charges, but the actions of those who demonstrated in support of the local governments actions are ignored, Kyaw Htin Aung said, referring to other locals who publicly rallied in support of the decision to erect the statue.

So the Kayah state government led by the chief minister is responsible for the crackdown, he added.



Myanmar police block protesters as they gather near a statue of General Aung San during a demonstration in Loikaw, capital of eastern Myanmar's Kayah state, Feb. 12, 2019. Credit: AFP Politically motivated protests?

The Kayah state government said local police and township administration officials had been told to drop the charges, but officials at the Loikaw Township Court said they have not received any formal instructions as of today when the detained activists were taken there.

The next hearing for those arrested and charged will be on Feb. 20.

L Paung Sho told RFA that the local government would not handle the cases directly, but instead form a committee to negotiate with the parties involved to have the charges against the protesters dropped.

He also said officials would not intervene in the talks which the committee has already called for and has set a Friday deadline for the parties to respond.

The chief minister also suggested that the rallies were politically motivated, but added that he did not want to reveal which political forces were behind them.

The main opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) on Thursday denounced the local governments actions against the protesters and said it would assist those who led the rallies, though the activists tuned down the offer.

Dee Di, a member of the negotiation committee, pointed out that citizens have marked the anniversary of the birth of Aung San on Feb. 13 during crackdowns and arrests in the past by posting leaflets and distributing poems about the general.

I dont know which information the authorities are using to say that the actions of the younger generation are politically motivated, he said. The political objective of our younger generation is the national equality that General Aung San had promised. We cannot accept any politics that wont bring national equality.

Aung San, father of Myanmars current de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, played a key role in freeing Myanmar from British colonial rule 70 years ago and in signing a pact with ethnic minority leaders to grant their groups ethnic autonomy within the independent nation.

But decades of civil war have prevented successive governments from forming a democratic federal union that includes ethnic minorities.

Since coming to power in 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi has spearheaded the 21st-Century Panglong Conference, a reincarnation of the peace negotiations with Myanmars ethnic groups that were started by her father to end fighting between ethnic armed groups and the government military.



Reported by Thiha Tun for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Nandar Chann and Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
An independent group of overseas Chinese students has hit out at Communist Party-backed student groups on overseas campuses, following reports that they threatened and harassed Uyghur and Tibetan activists campaigning against Beijing's human rights violations.



The Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars in USA (IFCSS) said it was "deeply concerned" about reports that have emerged from universities in the United States, Canada, France, Ireland, and the Netherlands of the coordinated targeting of activists campaigning against China's treatment of ethnic minorities.



It said that "apparently organized pro-CCP (Chinese Communist Party) students harassed, abused and threatened Uyghur and Tibetan students, concerned scholars and activists," in incidents at McMaster University and the University of Toronto in Canada, and Duke University in the U.S.



Similar reports have also emerged from students at the University of Strasbourg in France and University College Dublin and from activists in the Netherlands, it said.



"We strongly denounce these Chinese students efforts to stymie free speech and suppress the truth about the ongoing genocidal crimes committed by China's murderous regime," it said.



The group called on authorities in the countries concerned "to protect Uyghur and Tibetan students and scholars from intimidation on campus and guard their citizens of Uyghur and Tibetan backgrounds against foreign threats at home."



It called on police to investigate possible crimes that may have been committed, and to investigate the role of the Chinese government in the incidents.



Threat to son



Uyghur activist Rukiye Turdush, whose lecture on the mass incarceration of Uyghurs and other ethnic minority Muslims in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) was disrupted by Chinese students, said in a video statement that German broadcaster Deutsche Welle had reported that the students had discussed locating her son.



"According to [this evidence], these students tried to threaten my son," she said. "I am here: you can deal with me. I don't understand why they look for my son. It's quite disturbing."



A message in a screenshot of a group chat cited by the Deutsche Welle article said: "We should figure out who her son is."



Turdush said the issue was a violation of academic freedom in Canada, and of the freedom of speech.



"The Chinese consulate, using these students, infiltrated [the] academic field in Canada," Turdush said, calling on the Canadian government and Western society to stand up for democracy. "This is a war between atrocity and liberal democracy," she said.



In one screenshot shared by journalist Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Chinese students at McMaster discuss the use of video equipment to record Turdush's presentation.



The group, titled "MU Rationally Oppose Xinjiang Independence" was created specifically to oppose this particular lecture, and some of its members reported being in contact with the Chinese consulate, which asked them to observe whether other Chinese nationals and university officials were present, according to a screenshot posted to Allen-Ebrahimian's Twitter account.



Turdush said she was also "verbally insulted" during the discussion that followed her speech, and that the students had issued a statement via the Beijing-backed Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) using language identical to the Chinese government's official statements on Xinjiang.



Ties to consulate



"When I read the joint statement, I heavily suspected that these students have some connection with the Chinese consulate, and [that] they are instructed by the Chinese consulate, because the language of the statement echoed the CCP and the Chinese consulate," she said. "I strongly believe that these students are instructed by the Chinese government."



She added: "More than two million, probably several million, Uyghurs are locked up in concentration camps and subjected to physical and psychological torture, and that 1.6 million Han Chinese [officials] have been posted in Uyghur homes and Uyghur families, spying on Uyghurs, grossly violating Uyghurs' privacy."



"Uyghur individuals' physical and mental autonomy is totally taken away," Turdush said.



Expanding influence



Meanwhile, Canada-based Chinese activist Sheng Xue, who spoke out against a similar incident targeting a Tibetan activist, said the Chinese government continues to extend its influence at every opportunity, far beyond its borders.



"The CPC's control over the Chinese isn't just at home, but has woven a huge network through the international community," Sheng tweeted.



"It uses money, vested interests, intimidation, lies and so on to control countless Chinese throughout the international community," Sheng wrote.



"Overseas students bear the brunt; they do not have the nationality of other countries to protect them and they may have to go back to China, so they become cannon fodder for the Chinese Communist Party overseas."



Reports also emerged this week that Tibetan student Chemi Lhamo, 22, had received a torrent of hate messages after being elected student president at the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus (UTSC).



One comment read: "China is your daddy  you better know this," while another threatened her, saying "we will make sure things get done so u won't survive a day. Peace RIP."



'This won't affect me'



Meanwhile, a petition calling on Lhamo, who has been active in the Free Tibet movement, to step down garnered nearly 10,000 signatures, and screenshots calling Lhamo a "Tibetan separatist" were shared via social media.



Lhamo issued a statement saying she wouldn't be influenced by the hate mail.



"They won't affect me; on the contrary. I hope that this incident will make more people aware of freedom and democracy," she said.



"This isn't just about me; it's about the Chinese government's infiltration of Canadian universities," she said.



Requests to UTSC for comment went unanswered by time of writing on Thursday.



Reported by Liu Fei for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Fok Leung-kiu and Ma Lap-hak for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy vowed again on Friday to go back to Cambodia after more than three years abroad, defying threats by ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen to arrest him but declining to set a clear date for his return.



My plan is to return to Cambodia in 2019, the president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, now banned by court order in Cambodia but active outside the country, told RFAs Khmer Service in a conversation on Skype from his self-imposed exile in Paris.



I wont travel home alone, though, Sam Rainsy said.



There are party members, workers from Thailand and Korea, and other supporters who will join me. And when I return, I wont allow Hun Sen to arrest me, he said, calling for Hun Sen to be arrested instead following his return.



Millions of people will capture Hun Sen, and he will then be prosecuted on charges of brutality against his own people, of murder, and of treason, he said.



Speaking to RFA, Sam Rainsy declined to set a firm date for his return, which he had earlier set for March.



There are reasons that I cant talk about this right now, he said, pointing to a possible European Union suspension of Cambodias preferential trade access owing to a deterioration in the Southeast Asian nations labor and human rights record over the last year and a half.



We will wait until the international community sanctions Hun Sen, and then we will go to Cambodia to bring him to justice, he said.



We wont allow anyone to persecute us, Sam Rainsy said, responding to threats by Hun Sen in a leaked phone call Thursday to destroy remaining CNRP structures in Cambodia before sanctions come into effect.



And we cant continue to bow our heads.



Attempts to reach government spokesperson Phay Siphan for comment were unsuccessful Friday, though in a leaked audio clip posted on several Facebook pages in Cambodia Thursday morning, Hun Sen said that statements by Sam Rainsy should now simply be ignored.



To weaken [Sam Rainsys] popularity, it would be good not to respond to him, Hun Sen said. We dont need to talk so much about Sam Rainsy.



Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Richard Finney.
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Lebanon, IN (46052)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 79F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. A few storms may be severe. Low 72F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Be honest ...

How fast would you drive if there were no danger of a ticket?

Would you adhere to building compliances if there were no penalties?

Would you think twice about eating in restaurants if they were never inspected?

Would you text while driving if there were no cops on local roads?

A lot of people live recklessly despite the potential of penalties. The same goes for businesses. Restaurants may shrug off a fine resulting from a failed inspection, but express outrage when we publish their shortcomings to potential customers.

So, it makes us uncomfortable to discover the state agency in charge of protecting the air we breathe has apparently been easing up on factories, gas stations and marinas that cough up toxins.

A Hearst Connecticut Media review of inspections over the last eight years points to a 40-percent decrease in inspections by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Its not hard to do the math. Budget cuts = fewer jobs. Fewer jobs = fewer inspections.

That doesnt necessarily mean polluters are taking shortcuts, but consent orders calling for contamination cleanup are also down by 40 percent.

Weve been hesitant to take a deep breath since former Connecticut DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee referred to the state as the tailpipe of America in 2016 in response to studies that the most troubling ozone levels in he Northeast were hovering across Fairfield County.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Ned Lamont sided with DEEPs response to Hearsts data, countering that the numbers dont give a complete picture, that computers are filling in for a depleted workforce.

That picture remains a tad hazy. Reductions in pesticide inspections mean those chemicals you spray into the lawn may not meet state standards.

Former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy redirected DEEPs mission when he took office by adding Energy to its name and responsibilities. Lamonts appointment of Katie Dykes to succeed Klee underscores the states needed commitment to reimagine its energy strategy.

But state and federal leaders must take heed to ensure Connecticut protects its air, particularly since it is vulnerable to pollutants from other states at a time when federal regulations are more lax than they have been in generations.

President Donald Trumps anti-regulations approach has, for example, resulted in a reported 30-year low in criminal prosecutions by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The climate is changing, and being shoved in the wrong direction.

This puts more pressure on states to be environmental watchdogs. Some leaders saw the Hearst report as proof of existing concerns. State Rep. Joe Gresko, D-Stratford, a vice chairman of the Legislatures Environment Committee, said The reduction in staff has had a negative impact on the environment and whats really scary is the number (of DEEP employees) retiring in the next four years.

Connecticuts Congressional delegation as well as Lamont and state leaders need to work together to fiercely defend our environment.

We wont breathe any easier until they do.
TORRINGTON  Daniel Gervais, accused of killing his wife in April 2017, pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree manslaughter and tampering with evidence Friday.

Gervais was arrested and charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence in May 2017. Gervais is scheduled to be sentenced April 26, according to a court clerk.

Gervais called Litchfield County Dispatch at 4:05 a.m. on April 22, 2017, reporting that he believed his wife, Phyllis, had fallen during the night and died, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Shes not moving, he said. Shes on the floor.

Torrington firefighters arrived on scene first at Cider Mill Crossing. No lights were on when Lt. Walter Dixon of the Torrington Fire Department walked inside and found Daniel Gervais sitting in a bedroom, according to the affidavit.

Gervais calmly told Dixon that his wife was in the kitchen, and the two proceeded into that room, which is connected to the homes living room.

Dixon saw blood on the ceiling, on the rear wall and on the blinds adjacent to the table in the room where the body was found, the affidavit says.

Firefighters did not find a pulse when they checked the body  she was cold to the touch and rigor mortis had set in, according to the affidavit. A doctor from Charlotte Hungerford Hospital pronounced Phillys Gervais dead at approximately 4:31 a.m.

A Torrington Police Department officer arrived on scene and determined there were no obstructions or items on the floor and nothing in the immediate area of Phyllis to suggest a cause for her to fall, the affidavit says.

A broken glass coffee table with blood on it and a bloody towel on the floor were documented. In all, police collected 57 separate pieces of evidence at the scene, including bloody clothing from a basket, sponges, washcloths and a 24-inch steel rod with blood on it found on a shelf in the garage.

Torrington police detectives arrived on scene at about 6 a.m., the affidavit says. Detectives determined someone attempted to clean up the blood that was on the floor around Phyllis body, and someone had also left traces of blood in a nearby bathroom, the affidavit says.

Daniel Gervais was unable to tell the detectives whether his wife was taking any medication that could have caused her to fall but that she was prone to tripping, the affidavit says. He also told them they never had an argument, but that he slept in a separate room because she was a busy body who liked to do things late at night when he wanted to sleep. He sleeps with headphones on, he told police.

Police said he gave conflicting information about how soon he had called 911 after finding his wife, what they had done the night before, how his right arm got injured and why he had blood on his shoes, according to the affidavit. Gervais told police had was suffering from short-term memory loss after suffering two strokes.

Gervais first told police he had not gone within 10-15 feet of his wife, but later said he could have gone up to the body, according to the affidavit. He gave alternate descriptions of the route he took, after waking up in the early morning hours to find her on the floor.

Deputy Medical Examiner Maura DeJoseph determined the injuries Phyllis sustained were from blunt impact from at least three strikes of a weapon and ruled her death a homicide, the affidavit says.

During court proceedings, Gervais competence to stand trial was called into question. He was found incompetent to participate in his own defense on Sept. 12, 2017, then sent to the Whiting Forensic Division of the Connecticut Valley Hospital.

At the time, a clinical team with the Office of Forensic Evaluations, a subgroup of the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, concluded he displayed significant deficits that interfered with his ability to learn, retain, or apply information that was presented to him during an evaluation.

He was then deemed competent to participate in his own defense in November, according to a report entered as an exhibit in the case.

According to the report, Gervais complained of short-and-long-term memory loss while being evaluated at the facility, but demonstrated an ability to recall information from both the relatively distant past and the near-term, including details regarding his children, businesses, property, and family life, and learned the regulations of life in the unit. He also demonstrated an understanding of court proceedings and roles, the report said.

(I)t is the unanimous opinion of the treatment team and this writer that Mr. Gervais now demonstrates a sufficient understanding of the proceedings and has the ability to assist in his defense, said Julie Pratt, competency monitor, in the report. Throughout his WFD admission, Mr. Gervais has asserted that he has significant memory deficits stemming from the stroke he suffered in January 2017, but his self-report is not consistent with his demonstrated capacities over the past two months.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
At the reception (Photo: baogiaothong.vn)

He added that the direct flight, which had been closed, if re-opened, would satisfy the demand for travel between the two countries people and tourists.

According to Ambassador Olksiy Shovioplias, the negotiations of the Convention on International Direct Railway Traffic were officially carried out in late 2016 by the Organization for Cooperation of Railways (OSJD), and so far 50 of 73 articles of the draft convention have been completed.



During the negotiation sessions, Vietnam and Ukraine, as OSJD members, have actively joined in reaching a consensus on the provisions, he said, expressing his hope that the two sides would continue to share a common voice with the following provisions.

Noting that Vietnam always strictly realizes rules of treatment, as the role of a OSJD member, Deputy Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong confirmed that Vietnam would have active viewpoints for reaching a consensus on following provisions with other members.

Supporting the Ukraine Ambassadors proposal on opening the Kiev - Ho Chi Minh city direct flight, he said the Vietnamese side would make favorableconditions for Ukraines airlines./.
Del. Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha, sponsored House Bill 2538, which expands the definition of "financial institutions" that can "provide banking services for the fees, penalties, and taxes collected" through the medical marijuana program, then later transfer the money to the state. (WV Legislative Photography/Perry Bennett).
Source:

February 15, 2019 22:53 IST

Rediff.com Photograph: Umar Ganie for IMAGE: Security officials pay tribute to the slain CRPF personnel at headquarters of the force in Srinagar on Friday.

The Jammu and Kashmir police has detained seven persons from Pulwama district in south Kashmir in connection with the deadly terror attack that killed 41 Central Reserve Police Force personnel near Awantipora, officials said on Friday.

The youths were detained from Pulwama and Awantipora during the night on suspicion of links with the planning of the suicide attack, the first-of-its-kind in which a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist detonated an explosive-laden vehicle near a CRPF bus.

A National Investigation Agency team, along with explosives and forensic experts, collected the materials required for a forensic evaluation of the scene of crime.

Considering the status of the scene of crime, the team will continue with sifting of the material on Saturday as well.

The outcome will be made known once the analysis is over.

The overall planning of the terror strike is believed to be done by a Pakistani national, Kamran of JeM, who has been operating and moving in the Pulwama, Awantipora and Tral areas of south Kashmir.

The 'fidayeen' (suicide attacker) was identified as Adil Ahmad from Kakapora in Pulwama. He had joined the JeM in 2018.

According to initial investigations, the plan for the terror strike was hatched in the Midoora area of Tral.

The police are also looking for another local JeM overground worker, who was instrumental in arranging the explosives.
Source:

Last updated on: February 16, 2019 00:17 IST

IMAGE: Security personnel keep vigil outside High Commission of Pakistan as security was tightened following anti-Pakistan protests in the capital after the Pulwama terror attack, in New Delhi, on Friday. Photograph:Arun Sharma/PTI Photo

In a major diplomatic offensive against Islamabad after the Pulwama terror attack, India held a briefing for envoys of 25 countries, including from P5 nations -- the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and France -- to highlight Pakistan's role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

Before the briefing, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood to his South Block office and issued a very strong demarche over the attack in which at least 41 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed in Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Pakistan must take 'immediate and verifiable action' against the Jaish-e-Mohammed and that it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories, Gokhale told the envoy.

According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack.

Hours after vowing to isolate Pakistan diplomatically in the wake of the attack, the government undertook the exercise of reaching out to the international community, most of which has univocally condemned the attack by the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based JeM terror outfit.

China expressed deep 'shock' over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by a Jaish suicide bomber, but did not give an assurance to India that it will back New Delhi's appeal to list the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based terror group's chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

Apart from the envoys of the P5, Gokhale met the envoys of key countries in Europe and Asia such as Germany, South Korea, Japan, as well as Australia, they said.

"All the Heads of Missions were left in no doubt about the role played by Pakistan based and supported JeM in the terrorist attack and our demand that Pakistan ceases forthwith all support and financing to terror groups operating from areas under their control.

"The foreign secretary also highlighted the role played by Pakistan in using terrorism as an instrument of its state policy," a source said.

The ministry of external affairs will continue to take all steps to expose the complicity of Pakistan in the Pulwama terrorist attack and demand immediate and verifiable action against JeM and its leader Masood Azhar, the source added.

Meanwhile, in a tit-for-tat move, Pakistan also summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad and lodged a protest against India's allegation of its role in the attack.

Though the Foreign Office has not issued any statement, sources said the FO summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and rejected 'baseless allegations made by India' against Pakistan on the Pulwama attack.

A short video clip of the Indian diplomat leaving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also circulating in the social media.

Meanwhile in a tweet, FO spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua on Friday briefed ambassadors of the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and China on the Pulwama attack and rejected India's allegations.

'FS today briefed P5 Ambassadors at MoFA. Rejected Indian allegations on Pulwama attack,' he tweeted.

'FS said Pakistan has pursued a constructive approach towards India. Pakistan's offer of dialogue and the #Kartarpur initiative are a clear evidence of this. Ratcheting up tensions in the region will be counterproductive,' Faisal added.

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, briefing reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, said the MEA will make a major diplomatic push to isolate Pakistan.

India on Friday also withdrew the 'most-favoured nation' status to Pakistan.

Jaitley said those aiding and abating the perpetrators will have to 'pay a heavy price'.

Countries from across the globe condemned the terror attack with nations such as the US, UK, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India in this hour of grief.

Condemning the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin said perpetrators and sponsors of the attack should be brought to book and reiterated his country's support for further strengthening counterterrorist cooperation with India.
Source:

Last updated on: February 15, 2019 17:42 IST

Pakistan cannot weaken India by orchestrating attacks and those responsible will pay a 'very heavy price', Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned on Friday as echoes from the Pulwama terror strike rang across the country with families awaiting the bodies of their loved ones in coffins wrapped in the tricolour.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses before the flag off ceremony of Vande Bharat Express, India's first semi-high speed train, in New Delhi. Photograph: Kamal Singh/PTI Photo

Security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists, the prime minister said, a day after 40 Central Reserve Police Force soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into their bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the attack on the convoy of 78 vehicles that was on its way from Jammu to Srinagar.

All efforts would be made to isolate Pakistan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood and lodged India's strong protest, official sources said.

Making it clear that India means business, the Cabinet Committee on Security, which met on Friday morning, decided to withdraw Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan.

It would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

India granted MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but it has not yet reciprocated.

In a hard-hitting speech at the launch of the Vande Bharat train 18 in New Delhi, Modi said the 'blood of the people is boiling' and forces behind the act of terrorism will definitely be punished.

"Security forces have been given complete freedom, the blood of the people is boiling...Our neighbouring country, which has been isolated internationally, thinks such terror attacks can destabilise us, but their plans will not materialise," Modi said.

Addressing a public meeting in Jhansi later in the day, the prime minister again did not name Pakistan but said the attack was an outcome of its desperation as it is in a bad shape and has been forced to go to different countries with a 'begging bowl' to meet even its daily expenses.

Asserting that the sacrifices of CRPF soldiers will 'not go in vain', he said, "Security forces have been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response... This is an India of new convention and policy."

Briefing reporters after the CCS meeting, which is unusual, Jaitley said all efforts will be made to ensure that perpetrators of the attack are brought to book.

Jaitley said the Ministry of External Affairs will launch an all out effort to isolate Pakistan and all diplomatic efforts will be launched in this regard.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal observe two-minute silence for the CRPF personnel who were killed in the Pulwama terror attack on Thursday. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

Describing the terror assault as an attack on India's soul, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said his party as well as the entire opposition was fully supportive of the government and the security forces.

"I want to make it very clear that the aim of terrorism is to divide this country and we are not going to be divided for even one second, no matter how hard people try," he told reporters.

As the government and politicians reacted to the attack and the families of those killed came to grips with the enormity of the tragedy, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh travelled to Srinagar and laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the troops.

The remains of the 40 CRPF personnel, many of whom were returning from leave to rejoin work in the Valley, were kept in coffins, draped in the tricolour, ready to make their final journey home.

Singh gave a shoulder to the coffin of one the jawans killed.

Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath laying ceremony.

"The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans," Singh said.

As if in echo, the younger brother of V V Vasanth Kumar, who had left his home in Kerala's Wayanad district on February 8 and was one of those killed, said his sacrifice would never be forgotten.

"My elder brother died for the country and we are proud of his sacrifice," Sajeevan told PTI.

Vasanth Kumar's mother Shanta and wife Sheena are inconsolable and his two young children have not yet been informed.

Their grief found resonance in 39 other homes across the country.

Protests against Pakistan broke out in several parts, including in Jammu city where curfew was imposed.
Source:

Last updated on: February 15, 2019 11:34 IST

Union minister Arun Jaitley said the ministry of external affairs will launch an all out effort to isolate Pakistan and all diplomatic efforts will be launched in this regard.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attend meeting of Cabinet Council of Security at Lok Kalyan Marg. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

India on Friday withdrew the 'Most-Favoured Nation' status to Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack that left nearly 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel dead.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said all efforts will be made to ensure that perpetrators of the attack are brought to book.

He said those aiding and abating the perpetrators will have to pay a heavy price.

Briefing reporters outside the Prime Minister's residence, he said the ministry of external affairs will launch an all out effort to isolate Pakistan and all diplomatic efforts will be launched in this regard.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be visiting Srinagar on Friday and would convene an all-party meeting most likely on Saturday to brief political parties on the incident so that the nation speaks in one voice on the issue.

The Cabinet Committee on Security meet was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.
Source:

Last updated on: February 15, 2019 18:02 IST

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday helped carry the coffin of a slain Central Reserve Police Force jawan after he laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the troops, who were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Shortly after arriving from Delhi, the home minister attended a solemn function in Srinagar where the remains of 40 CRPF personnel were kept in coffins, draped with tricolour.

Singh helped carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan before it was flown out of Jammu and Kashmir in a special aircraft, an official present at the function said.

The home minister, Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath laying ceremony.

The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans. I have paid my last respects to the martyrs of Pulwama. The sacrifice will not go in vain, Singh said.

The dignitaries stood in silence till the coffins were loaded in a truck which went to the Srinagar airport, the official said.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles CRPF travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said those responsible for the attack will pay a very heavy price and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the blood of the people is boiling and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished.

All photographs: Umar Ganie/Rediff.com, ANI
Last updated on: February 15, 2019 14:30 IST

Massive anti-Pakistan protests rocked different parts of the country in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack in which at least 37 Central Reserve Police Force personnel lost their lives.

In Jammu, demonstrations and candle light marches were held at dozens of places.

Another protest took place in Bhopal by the workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who also expressed their grief over the loss of lives.

One of the workers said, "Very painful and shameful incident. The terrorists are bred by Pakistan. We want Prime Minister Modi to attack Pakistan and teach it a lesson".

People take to the streets in Jammu protesting the Pulwama terror attack. Photograph: PTI Photo

Protestors raise slogans against Pakistan during a demonstration against the Pulwama terror attack, in Patna. Photograph: PTI Photo

Shiv Sena activists raise slogans during a protest against the Pulwama terror attack at Lalbaug, in Mumbai. Photograph: PTI Photo

A demonstrator reacts next to burning cars during a protest against the attack on a bus that killed 44 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in south Kashmir. Photograph: Mukesh Gupta/Reuters

Photograph: Sahil Salvi/ Rediff.com Muslims shout slogans against Pulwama terror attack in Mumbai's Bhendi Bazar.

People burn pictures of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan during a protest against Pulwama terror attack on CRPF convoy. Photograph: PTI Photo

School students from Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad pay tribute to the CRPF personnel, killed in Pulwama terror attack. Photograph: ANI

WATCH: Youth hold protest against Pakistan in Jammu

People hold protest against Pakistan and terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar. Photograph: ANI
Source:

Last updated on: February 16, 2019 00:06 IST

From Harpur in Uttar Pradesh to Gudigere in Karnataka, many villages across the country that send out young men to the armed forces were joined in grief Friday, a day after the suicide attack on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Kashmir.

At many places, grief combined with anger over Thursday's terror strike that killed 41 jawans.

Bonomala Santra, 70, mother of Bablu Santra, at Bauria village in Howrah district in West Bengal. Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

"No doubt we are proud that my son gave his life for the motherland but the government should take tough steps against the attackers, Pankaj Tripathi's father Om Prakash Tripathi said in Harpur in UPs Maharajganj district.

"The time for talking is up, its time to take revenge," he said.

On the streets, villagers shouted slogans, calling for revenge. 'Badla lo, badla lo, Pakistan se badla lo', they chanted.

IMAGE: Family members mourn the death of CRPF jawan Pankaj Tripathi at their residence in Maharajganj, UP. Photograph: PTI Photo

Tempers also ran high in Deoria's Jaidev Chapia, the native village of 30-year-old Vijay Kumar Maurya.

He left for Jammu only on February 9, after spending time in the UP village with his family which includes a one and half year old child.

IMAGE: Family members of CRPF jawan Ratan Thakur at their residence in Bhagalpur, Bihar. Photograph: PTI Photo

"I am proud that my son gave his life for the nation but the government should give a befitting reply to Pakistan as soon as possible, his father Ramayan Maurya said.

"The action should be so strong that Pakistan dare not enter our territory and kill our soldiers ever again, he said.

In jawan Bablu Santra's Chakkashi Rajbangshipara village in West Bengal, his wife and mother wailed and his nephew talked of revenge.

IMAGE:: Family members of CRPF jawan Kaushal Kumar Rawat at his residence in Agra. Photograph: PTI Photo

"We want the killing of mama', and those who died with him, avenged. Those behind the cowardly attack must be taught a lesson they don't forget, Raghubir Mondal said.

When Santra came home on leave a month-and-a-half ago, he had urged the nephew to prepare for the test which could land him a job in the Central Reserve Police Force.

Mondal said his uncle was a hard-working man, who lost his father at a young age. As a college student, he supported his family by selling fish.

At Khudawal village in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district Ashwini Kumar Kachhhi is remembered by some for his smile.

IMAGE: Family of CRPF personnel Jaimal Singh in Moga, Punjab. Photograph: ANI

"Martyr Ashwini Kumar always wore a smile on his face whenever he met me," recalled Vinay Asathi. "He used to encourage the youth of our village to join the armed forces."

Over the years, the village has lost three men who became soldiers.

CRPF jawan Bhagirath Singh and his brother were raised by their farmer father Parshuram in Rajasthan's Jaitpur village after their mother died.

IMAGE: Family and relatives of CRPF personnel Ramesh Yadav at his home in Varanasi. Photograph: ANI

He loved guns, village sarpanch Kapur Chand Gurjar recalled.

In a village in Punjab's Tarn Taran, Sukhjinder Singh also was fond of the uniform.

"He was very patriotic. Since childhood, he wanted to join the armed forces, said panchayat member Angrez Singh.

"The entire village is in shock and disbelief and there is anger among the people, he said.

IMAGE: Family members of CRPF jawan Sukhjinder Singh, at his residence of Gandiwind Dhattal village in Patti sub-division of Tarn Taran district, Punjab. Photograph: PTI Photo

Also from Punjab was Jaimal Singh, said to be the soldier who drove the bus into which a terrorist rammed an SUV packed with explosives.

The jawan had spoken to his wife and five-year-old son over the phone only on Tuesday, his father Jaswant Singh said.

H Guru from Gudigere village in Karnataka's Mandya district too had called home just hours before the attack.

"I should have spoken to him over phone. He had called me in the morning, but I couldn't speak to him. I really feel devastated, his wife Kalavathi said.

Guru was among the jawans who had returned to their unit only days back.

IMAGE: Bereaved family members of CRPF martyr Ram Vakil at their residence in Mainpuri, UP. Photograph: PTI Photo

Tilak Raj from Jawali in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra went back to work on Monday, after celebrating the birth of his son last month.

Pankaj Tripathi left Harpur three days ago, wrapping up a two-month vacation with his wife Rohini and a three-year-old son.

On Friday, the family awaited his return -- this time it would be in a coffin wrapped in the tricolour.

Families of Rohitash Lamba, Bhagirath Singh and Hemraj Meena in Rajasthan recalled their passion and love for the country as they grieved the demise of their loved ones.

IMAGE: Bereaved family members and relatives of CRPF martyr Amit Kumar, at his residence in Shamli. Photograph: PTI Photo

Barely two months ago, Lamba had expressed his joy on becoming a father on the social media.

He rejoined duty on February 12 after spending several days with his family, including his two-month-old son.

A pall of gloom descended at Govindpura Basadi village near Shahpura, around 65 km from Jaipur, as the news of Lamba's death reached.

Former deputy speaker of Rajasthan Assembly and former Shahpura legislator Rao Rajendra Singh met Lamba's family members on Friday and expressed his condolences.

He said that Lamba's wife fell unconscious on hearing the tragic news and had to be hospitalised.

The family of 27-year-old Bhagirath Singh, a resident of Jaitpur village in Dholpur district, was struggling to come to terms with the loss.

WATCH: In Unnao, grief descends on family of slain CRPF jawan Ajit Azad

On Friday, the entire village of Jaitpur mourned the death of the young man.

"We never knew that he would leave us so early. He had promised his father and family to return soon two days ago but they had never imagined that it would be his last visit home," Jaitpur sarpanch Kapur Chand Gurjar said.

He said that Singh's mother had passed away when he was a kid. His father Parshuram, a farmer, brought up his two sons alone. Singh joined CRPF four years ago, whereas his younger brother Balveer joined Uttar Pradesh Police.

Singh got married Ranjna four years ago and has three-year-old son Vinay and a-year-and-a-half-old daughter Shivangi.

Hemraj Meena's wife Madhu received a call from the CRPF camp in Jammu around 10 pm Thursday, informing her about his demise.

Soon after the news reached the area, villagers came out their homes and gathered outside Meena's home to pay their tributes.

Kota-Bundi MP Om Birla, local MLA Bharat Singh, former MP Ijayraj Singh, former MLA Bhawani Singh Rajawat and several other dignitaries and administrative officials reached Meena's home and consoled the wailing family.

WATCH: Pakistan must be given befitting reply: Slain soldier's father

Hemraj Meena, the only government servant among four brothers and one sister, had been full of love for the country and patriotism since his early days, his elder brother, who runs a tea stall in the village, said.

Hemraj Meena is survived of four children -- two daughters and two sons.

"The perpetrators must be punished for killing my father, our jawans, even if it means carrying out surgical strikes across the border," demanded the daughter of CRPF Head Constable Maneswar Basumatari in in Kalabari village in Assam's Baksa district.

Basumatari, the head constable CRPF 98 Battalion is survived by his daughter, Didmaswari, wife, Sunmati, and son.

"We want justice. Give a befitting reply to the cowards responsible for the Pulwama attack," said an inconsolable Didmaswari on Friday.

Talking to reporters at the family's residence, she also demanded that the government should look after the family now.

Basumatari had recently visited home, said the slain head constable's wife with tears running down her face.

She was unable to talk further.

The distraught family of Sudip Biswas, another victim of the Pulwama terrorist attack from West Bengal, waited for his mortal remains to arrive home.

Sudip, a 27-year-old, from Nadia district of West Bengal, had joined the CRPF as a jawan in 2014.

"The body will come to Kolkata by flight via Delhi, a CRPF officer told me around 3:15 pm today. The body is in Jammu airport now. I think it will reach here tomorrow," Samapta Biswas, Sudip's brother-in-law, said.

Sudip had called up his father on Thursday to enquire about his health.

Around 24 hours later, his family received a phone call enquiring about the distinguishing marks on his body.

Around 9 am, the caller informed Samapta about the terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy at Pulwama.

"He asked me if there was any ring on Sudip's finger. I said no. He asked me where are the moles on his body. I informed him and the line got disconnected. Soon after, the man rang up again and said Sudip is no more," Samapta said.

Sudip's had last talked to his father Sanyashi, an agricultural labour, on Thursday morning when he was working in the field.

IMAGE: Family of CRPF personnel Maninder Singh mourns his death in Gurdaspur. Photograph: ANI

"He asked me to complete the work quickly and return home. He enquired about my health.... There were talks about his marriage. He had said the house needed to be renovated first," Sanyashi Biswas said.

The wails of Sudip's mother Mamata and sister Tumpa, Samapta's wife were the only sounds in an otherwise quiet house at Hanspukuria under Tehatta police station area.

"Toton (Sudip's nickname) had talked with a neighbour shortly after 3 pm yesterday. Later my sister's son told me his phone was switched off. He also informed me about the..." and she stopped mid-sentence as neighbours and relatives tried in vain to console her and her daughter.
Last updated on: February 15, 2019 10:20 IST

Pakistan, meanwhile, said the terrorist attack in Pulwama district is "a matter of grave concern" even as it strongly rejected Indian media and government's allegations of the country's link to the strike "without" probe.

Photograph: Umar Ganie/ Rediff.com IMAGE: Army soldiers at the site of suicide bomb attack at Lathepora Awantipora in Pulwama district of south Kashmir,.

The United States on Friday asked Pakistan to immediately end "support" and "safe haven" to all terror groups as it strongly condemned the Pulwama terrorist attack.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for the attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday that left at least 37 Central Reserve Police Force personnel dead and many critically wounded.

"The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a late night statement on Thursday.

"This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India," she said in a strongly-worded statement issued by the White House.

Sanders said the United States condemns in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attack in Pulwama by a Pakistan-based terrorist group.

"We express our deep condolences to the victims' families, the Indian government, and the Indian people for the loss of life in this brutal attack," said the White House Press Secretary.

Condemning the terror strike, the US State Department said in a statement that it was resolutely committed to working with the Indian government to combat terrorism in all its forms.

"The US condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack today on an Indian Central Reserve Police Force convoy in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino said and extend his deepest condolences to the deceased paramilitary personnel and their families.

The UN designated, Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed responsibility for this heinous act. We call on all countries to uphold their responsibilities pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions to deny safe haven and support for terrorists, Palladino said.

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

India slammed Pakistan over the attack carried out by JeM and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

Meanwhile, Pakistan said the terrorist attack in Pulwama district is "a matter of grave concern" even as it strongly rejected Indian media and government's allegations of the country's link to the strike "without" probe.

In a tweet, FO spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said, "We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in Valley."

US lawmakers extend solidarity and support

Several US lawmakers expressed solidarity with India and said that the two countries stand united in condemning and defeating terror.

Cutting across party lines, over 50 Congressmen and Senators took to social media to express their solidarity with the people of India and called for strict action against the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and its state sponsors.

"I strongly condemn the terror attack in Kashmir. The United States stands with our friends in India, and I send heartfelt condolences to the families that lost loved ones, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer tweeted.

Senator Robert Menendez said he was outraged by the terror attack, "one of the deadliest in the region since 1989".

Senator Johnny Isakson strongly criticised the terror strike and pledged the US' support to India in defeating terrorism.

Today, more than 40 Indian military police were killed by a radical Islamist terrorist group in the deadliest attack in 30 years on Indian forces in Kashmir. I send my deepest condolences to the soldiers injured and killed in this senseless attack, to their families, and to India, a critical ally in the global war on terror, said Senator John Cornyn, Co-Chair of Senate India caucus.

Senator Tom Cotton said the US stands with its "partner India as it recovers from a terrorist bombing in Kashmir. Jaish-e-Mohammed and its state sponsors must face consequences for this attack".

"My heart is with the victims of the #KashmirTerrorAttack. The United States stands with our Indian allies against those behind this heinous act of terrorism," Senator Mark Warner, who is co-chair of the Senate India Caucus and Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, posted on Twitter.

Senator Chris Coons expressed his condolences to the families of those affected and said the world must stand united in condemning and defeating terror.

Congresswoman and Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard said, "We stand with the people of India in condemning the terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir, and send our condolences and prayers to the victims families. We must all stand up against these jihadists and their ideology.

Heartbreaking. My thoughts are with the families of the victims of heinous terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir today. We must confront terror and defeat it, wherever it occurs, Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said.

Congressman Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said countries must not allow terrorist groups like JeM to operate with impunity.

Senator Ben Cardin said, Praying for the victims, and their loved ones, of this heinous terror attack that's already taken 45 lives. I will continue to monitor the situation and hope to be briefed when more information is available."

Congresswoman Grace Meng said she was "devastated" by the terrorist attack on the CRPF convoy, while Congressman George Holding, Co-Chair of the House India Caucus, said the US stands with India in their collective effort to end violent extremism and terrorism.

Congressmen Brian Fitzpatrick, Dan Crenshaw, Al Green, Don Bacon, George Holding, Joe Wilson, Jeff Van Drew, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Frank Pallone, Michael McCaul, Joe Morelle, Will Hurd, Brad Sherman, Ted Yoho and Congresswomen Elissa Slotkin, Paul Gosar also expressed outrage at the attack and sympathized with the affected families.
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Last updated on: February 15, 2019 15:13 IST

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday described the Pulwama terror assault as an attack on India's soul and said his party as well as the entire opposition was fully supportive of the government and the security forces.

IMAGE: Congress President Rahul Gandhi addresses a press conference to condemn Pulwama terror attack. Photograph: Arun Sharma/PTI Photo

No amount of hatred or anger can do anything to the love and affection that India is built on, Gandhi said at a press conference along with former prime minister Manmohan Singh and senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and A K Antony.

"This is a terrible tragedy. This type of violence done against the most important Indians, our soldiers, is absolutely disgusting. I want to make it very clear that the aim of terrorism is to divide this country and we are not going to be divided for even one second, no matter how hard people try," he said.

Asserting that the terror incident was an "attack on India's soul", Gandhi said those who have done this should not get the impression that they can harm the country in any way.

They should know that the country does not forget these things, Gandhi said, a day after an explosives laden truck rammed into a CRPF convoy in Pulwama outside Srinagar, killing 40 soldiers.

Asked about the government's statement that security forces will be given a free hand, the Congress chief said, "This is a time of mourning. This is a time of respect. We are fully supporting the government and our security forces.

"We are not going to have any conversation other than the fact that our most beloved people have been killed, their families need us, and we are going to stand with them."

There is going to be no other discussion from the Congress party over the next couple of days on this matter, he asserted.

IMAGE: Gandhi with former prime minister Manmohan Singh. Photograph: Arun Sharma/PTI Photo

Thursday's attack, for which the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed has taken responsibility, is one of the biggest terror attacks in recent years.

Asked about comments by politicians calling for a strong response to the attack, Gandhi said, "I don't want to get into these comments. I am very clear, I am hurt, every single person is hurt, and I want to tell the families of the security forces that we are standing with you and our full force is with you."

"We will support the government in its actions. The entire Congress party and all of the opposition, in this difficult time, are going to stand with our jawans and the government," he added.

Singh told journalists that the priority was to convey to the families of those who have been killed and those seriously injured that "we are with them in condemning this act of terrorism".

"We shall never compromise with terrorist forces. Whatever the country requires, we will work together as one united nation to deal with this menace of terrorism," he said.

The former prime minister described terrorism as a scourge and said it was something with which India could never compromise.

"As the Congress president said, today is not a day to raise contentious issues. Our role today is to convey to our soldiers, their families, our heartfelt condolences... We will do all that is necessary to keep this country united in support of anti-terrorist measures," he said.

Azad said the Pulwama strike was an attack on the entire country.
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Last updated on: February 15, 2019 16:31 IST

The toll in the terror attack on Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district has risen to 41 even as a full Court of Inquiry has been ordered by the force headquarters in Delhi, a senior official said Friday.

List of CRPF jawans who were travelling in the ill-fated bus

Photograph: Umar Ganie/ Rediff.com IMAGE: A damaged vehicle of CRPF being taken away from the site of suicide bomb attack at Lathepora Awantipora in Pulwama district of south Kashmir.

A Jaish suicide bomber Thursday rammed a vehicle carrying about 100-kg of explosives into a bus carrying CRPF personnel in Pulwama district.

A total of 41 personnel have been killed in Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmir. Five troops are injured, the senior official said.

While 38 personnel have been identified, DNA and forensic tests are being conducted on three bodies, he said.

Among the killed is a personnel of the CRPF road opening party who was tasked to sanitise the highway route for convoy movement, the official said.

In the wake of the incident, the CRPF has issued a high vigil alert to all its formations in the Kashmir Valley and other places in the state and has asked its units to be in full preparedness.

A Court of Inquiry has been ordered into the incident, the official said.

State wise list of CRPF personnel martyred in IED blast in J&K on 14/02/2019 State No of martyrs Assam 1 Bihar 2 Himachal Pradesh 1 J&K 1 Jharkhand 1 Karnataka 1 Kerala 1 Madhya Pradesh 1 Maharashtra 2 Odisha 2 Punjab 4 Rajasthan 5 Tamil Nadu 1 + 1* Uttar Pradesh 12 Uttarakhand 2 + 1* West Bengal 1 + 1* Total 41 * Personnel could not be traced so far. Search/Indentification is still on.

The force also posted a message on its official Twitter handle saying: We will not forget, we will not forgive.

We salute our martyrs of Pulwama attack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged, the social media post said.

CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar and senior officials of the force have left for Kashmir as part of a team led by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to assess the situation.

They are also expected to meet the injured who are admitted to the 92 base hospital of the army in Srinagar, they said.

More than 2,500 CRPF personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm on Thursday.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar, officials had said.

Police identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmed, who officials said joined the Jaish in 2018.

He was driving a vehicle packed with over 100 kg of explosives on the wrong side of the road and hit the bus, in which an estimated 39-44 personnel were travelling, head-on, an official at the spot had said.

The powerful explosion, which reduced the bus to a mangled heap of iron, was heard many kilometres away, including in some parts of Srinagar adjoining Pulwama district. It is estimated that about 70-80 kgs of high grade explosive was used in the blast.
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Last updated on: February 15, 2019 12:17 IST

Photograph: Umar Ganie/ Rediff.com IMAGE: The scene of the blast which killed 40 CRPF troopers, February 14, 2019.

Jammu and Kashmir police had shared an intelligence input, uploaded on a private Twitter account a couple of days back, with all security agencies in which Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed had threatened to carry out the suicide attack on security forces, officials said Thursday.

At least 37 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district that also left many critically wounded, officials said.

The input shared by the state police had attached the Twitter handle that carried a 33 second video of troops in Somalia being attacked by terrorists in a similar fashion as was replicated on Thursday on a bus carrying CRPF personnel at Pulwama in South Kashmir.

The Twitter handle "313_get" is not open for public viewing.

It carried a threat "InshaAllah...its will same in Kashmir...endian are flying in parts...InshaAllah (sic)".

The Twitter handle is being operated using the virtual private network making it difficult for the security agencies to establish the location of its operator, they said.

The same was shared during the meeting held two days back and all security formations were alerted about a possible terror attack similar to that carried in the Twitter handle.

Jammu and Kashmir police had also prepared a dummy video to explain how terrorists may possibly carry out such an attack, the officials said.
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February 15, 2019 18:19 IST

Civilian traffic will be restricted on highways and major roads in Jammu and Kashmir during the movement of convoys of army and security forces, Home Ministry Rajnath Singh announced on Friday, a day after 40 Central Reserve Police Force jawans were killed in an audacious suicide attack.

Photograph: Umar Ganie/ Rediff.com IMAGE: Soldiers stand guard near the site of Thursday's suicide bomb attack in Lethpora in Kashmir's Pulwama district.

In a veiled reference to separatists and hardline Hurriyat Conference leaders, Singh also said the security given to people getting funds from Pakistan and its snooping agency Inter-Services Intelligence should be reviewed.

Civilian traffic movement will be restricted for some time during movement of army and security forces convoys. This may cause inconvenience and I apologise for this but this is necessary for safety of jawans, he told reporters after a high-level security review meeting in Srinagar.

The home minister is on a visit to Jammu and Kashmir following the worst terror attack on security forces in the state in the past three decades.

Some elements in Jammu and Kashmir have links with the ISI and terrorist organisation. We will win decisive war against terrorism, he said.

He said he has instructed the state government to ensure communal harmony.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying CRPF personnel from Jammu to Srinagar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said those responsible for the attack will pay a very heavy price and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the blood of the people is boiling and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely punished.
Last updated on: February 15, 2019 15:07 IST

China on Friday expressed deep "shock" over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by a Jaish suicide bomber but did not give an assurance to India that it will back New Delhi's appeal to list the United Nations-proscribed Pakistan-based terror group's chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed and many injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

"China has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families," spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang told a media briefing in Beijing.

"We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all forms of terrorism. We hope relevant regional countries will cooperate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability," Geng said.

When asked about China's stand on the listing of Azhar as a global terrorist by the United Nations Security Council, he said: "As for the issue of listing, I could tell you that the 1267 Committee of Security Council has a clear stipulation on the listing and procedure of the terrorist organisations".

"JeM has been included in the Security Council terrorism sanctions list. China will continue to handle the relevant sanctions issue in a constructive and responsible manner," Geng said in an apparent reference to External Affairs Ministry's appeal to all members of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

China, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC and a close ally of Pakistan, has consistently blocked moves first by India and later by the US, the UK and France to designate Azhar as a global terrorist by the 1267 Committee by putting technical holds.

Asked whether China would be re-looking at the issue in view of the positive momentum in bilateral relations generated by last year's Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Geng said: "JeM as an organisation has been included in the sanctions list of the Security Council.

"As to the listing of an individual, we have always upheld an earnest, responsible and professional manner. We always acted in accordance with the requirement of the situation. We will continue to maintain close communication with India and relevant parties on this issue".

Replying to a question on India not permitting UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan, Geng said: "Both India and Pakistan are important countries in this region. We hope the two countries can properly resolve (differences) through consultations. We also hope the regional countries can cooperate to uphold stability and peace in this region to curb terrorism".

India on Thursday slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by JeM and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.
Last updated on: February 15, 2019 18:45 IST

'Definitely, they are going to attempt this, not only in Kashmir but elsewhere, maybe in the Jammu area and beyond.'

'They would want to expand the battle space and the conflict area.'

Photograph: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com IMAGE: The scene of the blast which killed 40 CRPF troopers, February 14, 2019.

Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd) served nearly a decade in the Kashmir valley. He commanded a Rashtriya Rifles battalion in Jammu and Kashmir which fights terrorism in the state.

Currently, a Distinguished Fellow at the United Services Institution of India, Brigadier Kumar tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih, "Wars are not fought on anger and emotions. Wars are fought on strategy and capability. The response should be at a place and time of your choosing. We must prepare, look at ground realities, hone in on the targets and strike hard."

As an officer who has conducted counter-terror operations in the Kashmir valley, what about the modus operandi of Thursday's attack is most worrying?

This is a war. It is asymmetric and hybrid in nature. The strategy of terror organisations does not remain consistent. When they fail in one strategy, they come up with another to surprise the security apparatus.

They suffered great losses in 2017-2018 at the hands of the security forces; their leadership was wiped out. They had to retaliate to lift sagging morale.

The modus operandi was the use of minimum force for maximum impact.

It is troubling that such large amounts of explosives eluded scrutiny. It must have taken a long time of preparation. What were the lapses?

It takes time to radicalise and prepare someone who is ready to die for jihad.

Secondly, 90% of operations by security forces should be related to intelligence -- which means efforts to gather intelligence should be 90% and the strike back should be 10%.

We have to understand this is a war which has nexus with Pakistan, China, jihadi elements in the Middle East and the disaffected people of Kashmir.

This is not an insurgency.

To decode this nexus, 90% efforts are needed to build up intelligence base. Success is not possible unless you have intelligence about where these terrorists are, what they are eating, where they are sleeping, where they are going.

If a terrorist action is not pre-empted, then how can a safe environment be created?

A detailed intelligence network is needed which includes artificial intelligence. There has to be data mining of social media so that cushions can be developed against such terror strikes.

Can similar attacks be expected in the future?

India is going to face unprecedented attacks in the run up to the elections.

Such an attack was launched after 2004 and it has reaped them great success.

Definitely, they are going to attempt this, not only in Kashmir but elsewhere, maybe in the Jammu area and beyond.

They would want to expand the battle space and the conflict area.

Security forces have eliminated many terrorists. You have written that elimination of terrorists does not mean elimination of terrorism. As someone who led a number of missions in the valley, what do you think needs to be done?

A layered strategy is required. In hybridity of operations, when one tool doesn't succeed, the other tool must.

There is need to harden targets so as to not give exposed flanks. There should be no violation of SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures).

The hallmark of such operations is that intelligence imparts every bit of information that impacts operations.

Thirdly, there has to be deterrence.

The fear of loss of life has to felt by terrorists. When they say they are not scared of death, it is a lie.

I have led many operations where they have begged for their lives.

But more importantly, unarmed jihadis, who assist in providing logistics, have to be brought to book.

There is a debate in India about how to handle these overground workers. Make laws that deter these elements for carrying out these anti-national activities.

They are spewing venom and mobilising youth to become terrorists.

Fourthly, this conflict can't be just resolved by military action.

You say we have been unable to defeat the narrative of jihad in Kashmir.

Perception and psychological warfare, including cyber war, is required.

Most terrorists live in the future. In the hope that one day they will succeed. Therefore, it is important to defeat the idea than defeat the individual.

There were intelligence alerts about IED attacks. Why are such alerts not taken seriously?

Without substantive information, it is not possible to respond to alerts.

When I was commanding the Rashtriya Rifles, terrorists had put (a) Rs 5 lakh (bounty) on my head and on my company commanders.

We knew that, but intelligence could not tell us who and where these terrorists were.

There is a difference between information and intelligence.

If information had been converted into intelligence, the CRPF would not have moved its convoy.

Intelligence has to be accountable and has to adapt technology.

The Indian Army formed a psychological warfare brigade in 2004 even much before the UK. But it was shut down in 2005. The Technical Support Division raised by (then army chief) General V K Singh was shut down.

These retrograde steps will not make us move ahead.

What do you think India's response should be?

Wars are not fought on anger and emotions. Wars are fought on strategy and capability. Governments can come and go, but strategies must be constant.

The response should be at a place and time of your choosing. The national security apparatus can't go into limbo when electioneering takes place because mature democracies don't function like this.

Most importantly, action should not be taken in anger because it has chances of high failure.

We must prepare, look at ground realities, hone in on the targets and strike hard.

That would be the use of hard power?

India has to use soft power too. Pakistan is in a precarious economic situation. India should use diplomatic power to press the international community to not support a terrorist State financially.

Sun Tzu says if a leader is sensitive to provocation, he is likely to lose the war. You should not be like a wave that fades away after hitting the shore.

You should be like the tsunami which takes off from the deepest part of the ocean and strikes so hard that nothing can stop it.

How can the problem of homegrown terrorists be dealt with?

Post the killing of Burhan Wani, social media has created homegrown terrorists of disaffected youth.

This threat will spill over to the rest of the country.

There is disaffection with the State, above that there is homegrown terror which is more potent and lethal.

You write about the government's inability to morally exclude these terrorists.

It took the ideology took almost 100 years to convince the Islamic world that the idea of the Caliphate is not dead after the Ottoman empire. That ideology can't be rolled back in 5 to 10 years.

Moral exclusion starts when changes are made in education and social organisations which are responsive. When democratic structures are created that do not thrive on communal and religious bias, when moderate and nationalistic leaders debate with hardliners.

A concentrated strategy has to be adopted to defeat this idea and it will take a long time.
February 15, 2019 13:48 IST

'The military aim should be to inflict punishment on the Pakistan army for every act of terrorism on Indian soil for which there is credible evidence of its involvement,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).

Photograph: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com IMAGE: The scene of the blast which killed 40 CRPF troopers, February 14, 2019.

There is a time for restraint and there is a time for action. This is a time for action, not restraint.

A troop-carrying vehicle in a CRPF convoy was attacked by a car-borne suicide bomber belonging to the Pakistan army and ISI-sponsored Jaish-e-Mohammad near Letipura, Pulwama, in the Kashmir valley on February 14, 2019. Approximately 40 CRPF personnel were killed and many others were seriously injured.

The attack near Pulwama is a point on a continuum: A low-intensity limited war on the Line of Control since 1947-1948 and a three-decade-old proxy war to bleed India through a thousand cuts through State-sponsored terrorists and support for disaffected elements in the Kashmir valley.

How should India respond to this grave provocation that is unquestionably beyond India's threshold of tolerance?

The response will be guided by an assessment of the situation, the aim to be achieved, options available and the likely reaction of the Pakistani Deep State, its allies and the rest of the international community.

It is clear as daylight that Pakistan's quest to destabilise India and keep the pot boiling in Kashmir will not change.

India's response should be swift, but with long-term objectives, multi-disciplinary in approach, comprising military and non-military, overt and covert actions and carefully calculated to avoid untoward military escalation.

The Cabinet Security on Security met on the morning of February 15th and took stock of the situation. The armed forces have been given a free hand to formulate appropriate retaliation strategies.

The government has decided to isolate Pakistan internationally as a State sponsor of terrorism and, as a first step, announced the withdrawal of 'most favoured nation' status accorded to Pakistan.

It is necessary to formulate a comprehensive long-term national-level strategy to counter Pakistan's proxy war. The political aim should be to raise the cost for Pakistan's Deep State to wage its proxy war with a view to eventually making the cost prohibitive.

The aim of Indian diplomacy should be to isolate Pakistan in the international community and work towards having the country branded as a terrorist State by the UN security council. India should take the first step in this regard and make a declaration to this effect.

If necessary, India should withdraw its high commissioner from Islamabad and scale down the size of its mission. Other measures, including those pertaining to a review of the Indus Waters Treaty, must also be considered.

The aim of measures in the economic field should be to choke Pakistan's economy, which is the nearly bankrupt Pakistani State's weakest element. The imposition of unilateral economic sanctions is a measure that India could consider especially if the UN security council fails to impose such sanctions at India's request.

India could also use its buyer's clout with defence MNCs to ensure that companies that sell weapons and defence equipment to India refrain from doing business with Pakistan.

The military aim should be to inflict punishment on the Pakistan army deployed on the LoC for every act of terrorism on Indian soil for which there is credible evidence of its involvement or the involvement of its organs such as the ISI.

For each subsequent act of terrorism, the scale and the intensity of the dose should be increased by an order of magnitude.

Military operations designed to inflict punishment should include artillery strikes with guns firing in the 'pistol gun' mode to destroy bunkers on forward posts with minimum collateral damage; stand-off PGM strikes on brigade and battalion HQ, communications centres, logistics infrastructure, ammunition dumps and key bridges; and, raids by Special Forces and border action teams.

Every Pakistani post through which infiltration takes place should be reduced to rubble by artillery fire.

The use of air strikes, particularly those with precision-guided missiles launched from stand-off range on the Indian side of the LoC, on terrorist training camps and infrastructure in POK, is also a viable military option.

Counter-proxy war operations should be supplemented by covert operations. Since the remaining roots of militancy are now in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Pakistan is not inclined to bring to justice the leaders of terrorist organisations like the Lashkar e Tayiba and the Jaish e Mohammed, terrorists whom they call 'strategic assets', they must be neutralised through covert operations.

When the Pakistan army begins to hurt and bleed, gradually the Deep State will realise the futility of its nefarious designs on India.

While Pakistan may not give up its claims on Jammu and Kashmir, it will be forced to come to the negotiating table to discuss a long-term solution to the dispute through peaceful means.

In the wake of the Pulwama suicide bombing, India stands united as a nation; its political parties stand together. India has the support of almost the entire international community as the world is tired of the crippling impact of fundamentalist terrorism.

Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd) is a former Director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi.
Last updated on: February 15, 2019 11:50 IST

'The future does not look very promising for peace in Kashmir,' warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).

IMAGE: The scene of the blast which killed 44 CRPF troopers, February 14, 2019. Photograph: PTI

First and foremost, all Indians must understand that suicide attacks are very difficult to prevent except at the planning stage.

The Pulwama suicide attack on a CRPF vehicle on February 14, 2019 falls in that category. It was the biggest terror attack in the three decade-old insurgency in the Kashmir valley.

Going back in history, on October 23, 1983, two truck bombs struck buildings in Beirut, housing American and French service members of the multinational force in Lebanon, a peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese civil war. The attack killed 307 people: 241 US and 58 French peacekeepers, 6 civilians and the 2 attackers.

It was the largest single day toll for the American Marines after World War II. Close to 9 tons of explosives were used in that attack.

The initial reports about the Pulwama attack speak of at least 200 kg of explosives used in this attack.

Large military convoy movement on the Jammu-Srinagar highway is a routine affair. On a visit to the Kashmir valley in October 2018, I saw that roads are extensively patrolled and areas sanitised during all such movements.

In the old days when the highway was just a two lane affair, strict convoy discipline used to be imposed in terms of a 'gate' system with civil vehicles not permitted while military movement was on.

Ironically, with the four-lane and divided highway built, this has given way to permission to civil vehicles to ply alongside the military convoys.

It is precisely this weakness that the suicide car bomber exploited to carry out his attack.

In Kashmir, all roads have check posts that routinely check all vehicles. Therefore, the movement of the vehicle filled with explosives is impossible unless there has been a lapse at some check point or the explosives were loaded into a vehicle close to the vicinity of the attack. In which case, the complicity of the local population is indicated.

This still leaves the question unanswered as to the source of the explosives. Was the deadly cargo smuggled from across the border or diverted from some construction site within the valley?

The NIA, which has begun its investigation, will be able to find answers to these questions. Once evidence is gathered, the culprits, including over ground supporters and helpers, must be dealt with severely.

The timing of the attack and its owning up by the Pakistan-based Jaish e Mohammad is curious. After a long period of tension, a Pakistani negotiating team is scheduled to visit India for talks on the Kartarpur corridor. Many in India and Pakistan see this as an opportunity to start a peace dialogue.

It is very likely that organisations like Jaish do not relish this prospect. Given the fact that India faces a general election in a few months, the Narendra Damodardas Modi government that prides itself on a strong defence policy is unlikely to take it lying down.

A retaliatory strike, either on the ground or by the air, is a very likely response from India. This would naturally raise tensions between the two countries with a real possibility of escalation unless Pakistan cracks down on Jaish. Given the support the Kashmir cause evokes in Pakistan, that seems unlikely.

Jaish is known to play with fire. The December 13, 2001 attack on Parliament was also its handiwork. India and Pakistan nearly went to war as a result, an outcome Jaish wanted.

Saner elements in Pakistan see the danger in this brinkmanship, but obviously Jaish is no longer in its control.

In its long term political interest, Pakistan would not want to muddy the waters before elections in India as that would boomerang on it with a strong government returning to power in India.

Pakistan's interest is in seeing a weak coalition government take charge in India after the 2019 election.

The future does not look very promising for peace in Kashmir. As I wrote in these columns this week, the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan will embolden radical elements in the Kashmir valley and one must expect more -- not less -- suicide attacks in the years to come.

India ought to take a comprehensive approach in reacting to the Pulwama attack. The action must include putting the United Nations on notice regarding the ban of Jaish, withdrawal of our case from the UN since the UN and its observers have failed to stop cross border attacks and strengthening our domestic response to would-be suicide bombers.

Three years ago, in the same Kashmir valley, soldiers who fired on a Maruti car that refused to stop at a check point, were punished. This sent a very wrong message to the men at ground zero.

If we had robust protocols to deal with defiant vehicles, maybe the sentries who saw a civil SUV intrude into a military convoy could have been stopped even at the cost of firing on it.

While the government will surely retaliate appropriately to the Pulwama outrage, we must also give the necessary leeway to the men on the spot to take decisions to stop suicide attacks.

A multi-pronged approach is the necessity for the future as we have to learn to live with greater threats to internal peace as a blowback of Afghan peace.

Colonel Anil A Athale (retd), a military historian, specialises in counter insurgency.
Last updated on: February 15, 2019 12:23 IST

For now Walmart has said it remains optimistic about India. But that could change without prior notice, says Nivedita Mookerji.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

American brokerage firm Morgan Stanley put out a warning note recently that Walmart may exit Flipkart, similar to what Amazon had done in China, if theres no clear path to profitability.

While Flipkart chief executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy countered that theory immediately in a communication to the company employees, its surprising that Morgan Stanley mentioned Amazons exit from China but not Walmarts from several foreign markets over the years.

Even though a few changes, however life-changing they may be, in the e-commerce rules may or may not make the American retail major leave India, exit is nothing new for Walmart.

Last year, it realised that it was tough to win the UK market alone.

So, it sold a majority stake in its UK arm ASDA to the UKs second biggest supermarket chain Sainsbury for around $10 billion.

It was around the same time that it was buying a controlling stake in Flipkart for $16 billion.

Brazil was yet another market where it sold some 80 per cent stake to private equity firm Advent International as recently as in June 2018.

While it wanted to beat the top player Tesco in the UK through the deal with Sainsbury, the move in Brazil was prompted by an under-performing business.

Walmarts exits had started more than a decade ago when it didnt have a good going in Germany and South Korea.

China hasnt been a great story either for Walmart till it partnered with JD.com to take on Alibaba.

In Japan too, it recently withdrew from general merchandise retailing so that it could use its resources more effectively in other geographies.

There have been other break-ups as well, including the one with the Bharti group a few years ago, though Walmart stayed on looking for a better future in India. And then Flipkart happened.

That brings us back to the current confusion over Walmarts India plans.

If conspiracy theories are to be believed, the American major has not exactly been on top of the world after the much anticipated Flipkart deal due to shareholders concern.

According to one such theory, Walmart may have been looking for a way out of the deal soon after its shares plunged and market cap eroded.

A ''no'' from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) may have provided the company an escape route, but Walmart swam through the regulatory processes.

There was no doubt then that the biggest retailer of the world was here to stay in India, though its multi-brand retail dreams had been shattered long ago.

Online looked like a safe bet despite some fringe protests by trade bodies against international hold over e-commerce companies and deep discounts that they were offering.

Once the Flipkart founders -- Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal -- were out of the scheme of things, Walmart had settled down to compete with Amazon and plan things ahead of Reliances entry into e-commerce.

But the e-commerce universe turned upside down when the government issued revised foreign direct investment (FDI) guidelines that meant doing the online retail business in a completely different way from February 1.

Walmart-owned Flipkart and Amazon were at the receiving end, while domestic traders bodies such as CAIT claimed victory as the government refused to even extend the February 1 deadline.

The most obvious interpretation was that the government didnt want to annoy domestic traders lobby, a large voter base, ahead of a crucial Lok Sabha poll.

After all, throughout its term, this government held on to its promise made to the traders back in 2014 that FDI wouldnt be permitted in multi-brand retail.

In the middle of all the chaos when Amazon and Flipkart (Walmart) are busy restructuring sellers and products on their respective marketplace platforms to comply with the latest e-commerce rules, conspiracy theorists are again wondering if the regulatory changes may offer an escape route to the international majors from a market that looks tough to operate in.

As foreign investors depend more rigidly on board approvals for every investment and business decision, policy stability is critical to them.

A continuing policy flip flop, like the one in e-commerce currently, could possibly force them to look out.

For now, Walmart has said it remains optimistic about India.

That could change without prior notice.

Flash back to October 2013: Then Walmart Asia chief executive Scott Price had chosen Bali to famously say, "Frankly, the FDI has passed".

That ended a partnership that had begun on long-term promise.

Exit, whether partial or full, is not uncommon for any business, including in retail.

Tesco, Walmart, Carrefour and others -- everyone has done it routinely. And it can happen again.
The number of patients diagnosed with measles in the United States continues to grow with 75 new cases reported in the last week, bringing the total to 839 confirmed cases in 23 states.

The United States is presently seeing the highest number of measles cases since the disease was considered eliminated in this country in the year 2000. Measles is reported in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, and Washington.

The American Red Cross has been involved in a worldwide battle against measles for years and continues its global fight against the disease. See the latest here.

Since 2001, the Red Cross and our partners in the Measles & Rubella Initiative have vaccinated more than two billion children in 88 countries around the world to protect them from both of these deadly diseases. Our partners in this lifesaving program include the United Nations Foundation, the CDC, UNICEF and World Health Organization. With this latest outbreak here at home, the Red Cross wants everyone to know about measles  just how contagious it is, how to recognize it, what you should do if exposed to measles and more.

HOW DID THIS OUTBREAK HAPPEN?

Measles is still a common disease in some parts of the world and travelers either bring measles into the U.S. or someone from this country gets measles while traveling and brings it home. The disease can spread in a community where a large number of people have not been vaccinated, which the CDC reports is what has occurred.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia require vaccinations for children entering kindergarten, however all states also provide medical exemptions to these requirements and some states also offer exemptions for religious and philosophical reasons.

TELL ME ABOUT MEASLES

According to the CDC:

Visit here to see what parents should know.

Measles is a highly contagious virus that lives in the mucus of an infected person. It can spread to others through coughing and sneezing.

The measles virus can live for up to two hours in a space where the infected person coughed or sneezed. If other people breathe the contaminated air or touch the infected surface, then touch their eyes, noses, or mouths, they can become infected.

Measles is so contagious that if one person has it, 90% of the people close to that person who are not immune will also become infected.

Infected people can spread measles to others from four days before through four days after the rash appears.

Early symptoms include high fever, a cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Two or three days later small while spots may appear inside the mouth. Within three to five days the red measles rash breaks out on the face and spreads down the body to the feet. The patients fever may go to 104 degrees or higher. In a few days the fever goes down and the rash fades.

If you have been exposed to measles, call your doctor immediately and let them know. Your doctor can determine if you are immune to measles based on your vaccination record, age, or laboratory evidence, and make special arrangements to evaluate you, if needed, without putting other patients and medical office staff at risk

AM I AT RISK FOR MEASLES?

The CDC considers you protected from measles if you have records showing at least one of the following:

You received two doses of measles-containing vaccine  applies to children in grades K-12 and adults in a high risk setting, including students pursuing higher education, healthcare personnel and international travelers.

You received one dose of measles-containing vaccine  applies to a pre-school aged child or adult not in a high risk setting.

A laboratory confirmed that you had measles at some point in your life.

A laboratory confirmed that you are immune to measles.

You were born before 1957.

The best protection against measles is measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, which provides long-lasting protection against all strains of measles. Your child needs two doses of MMR vaccine for best protection - the first dose at 12 through 15 months of age, the second dose 4 through 6 years of age.

You can find more information from the CDC here.

HOW DO I CARE FOR SOMEONE WITH MEASLES?

The Mayo Clinic makes the following recommendations:

If you or your child has measles, keep in touch with your doctor as you monitor the progress of the disease and watch for complications.

Get rest and avoid busy activities.

Drink plenty of water, fruit juice and herbal tea to replace fluids lost by fever and sweating.

Use a humidifier to relieve a cough and sore throat.

If your patient finds bright light bothersome, as do many people with measles, keep the lights low or wear sunglasses. Also avoid reading or watching television if light from a reading lamp or the television is bothersome.

The patient may also take over-the-counter medications such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen or naproxen to help relieve the fever that accompanies measles. Don't give aspirin to children or teenagers who have measles symptoms. Though aspirin is approved for use in children older than age 3, children and teenagers recovering from chickenpox or flu-like symptoms should never take aspirin. This is because aspirin has been linked to Reye's syndrome, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition.

Children with low levels of Vitamin A may have a more severe case of measles. Your doctor might recommend Vitamin A, which may prevent serious health consequences and death. Be sure to check with your doctor before starting a Vitamin A regimen, since your health needs are unique.

In a recent CNN Opinion post, Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross and Kathy Calvin, president and CEO of the United Nations Foundation had this to say about measles: In the United States, Europe and Latin America, we're seeing more and more headlines proclaiming a child has suffered due to measles -- a disease that is easily preventable by vaccination.

As the disease surges to its highest levels in more than a decade, it's imperative that we all come together to stop the world from backsliding any further -- and that means ensuring everyone gets vaccinated. Unless we act -- and fast -- more people will get the virus and die. And many of the victims will be children.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

If you would like to join the worldwide fight against measles and rubella, donate to the Red Cross Measles and Rubella Initiative. Text PREVENT to 90999 to give $10 to the Red Cross and help us vaccinate children against measles.
Riverside County, and the rest of the state, reopened June 15 with capacity limits and physical distancing requirements removed for most businesses and events. However, other safety measures may be needed based on the type of business or event.
An aerial view of the World Ag Expo in Tulare shows only a small amount of the event's exhibitors and visitors on Thursday morning.
This composite rendering shows what the completed FishPass structure would look like once the Union Street Dam in Traverse City is demolished and the new structure is built. Three people spoke at a recent public comment session for a Department of Environmental Quality permit that would allow the demolition and construction.
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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

judge Katy Perry and actor Orlando Bloom are ready to get married!Katy, 34, and Orlando, 42, got engaged on Valentine's Day, as they both shared the same photo on Instagram showing off Katy's unique engagement ring. Numerous heart-shaped balloons could also be seen covering the ceiling."Full bloom," Katy captioned the image, using a play on her future husband's name."Bloom" may also have significance when it comes to the ring, which boasts a colorful pink stone in the middle of an arrangement of diamonds shaped like a flower.And Orlando captioned the photo, "Lifetimes," on his own Instagram account.Katy's mother also shared -- but later deleted -- a few sweet photos from the couple's engagement party on her Facebook page, captioning them, "Look who got engaged on Valentines Day!!"Earlier in the day on February 14, Orlando suggested he had found his soul mate and seemed to tease a marriage proposal may be in the works on Instagram.Orlando posted an image that read, "A shallow person will have only shallow relationships. Real love is not one person clinging to another, it can only be fostered between two strong people secure in their individuality. Antoine de Saint -- Exupery, author of The Little Prince wrote in a work called Wind, Sand and Stars, 'Love is not two people gazing at each other, but two people looking ahead together in the same direction.'"He wrote alongside the quote, "Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda. February 14, 2019. Got nothin but love for ya'll."Katy also gushed about Orlando earlier in the day, sharing an adorable picture of her man taking a nap and snuggling with their two miniature poodle dogs."Will u be my teenage dream?" Katy captioned the photo, referencing one of her biggest hit songs.The couple began dating in January 2016, and over the next 12 months, Katy was introduced to Orlando's eight-year-old son Flynn with his ex Miranda Kerr and the pair met with each other's parents, according to People.However, Katy and Orlando announced they had decided to split in February 2017. The breakup was allegedly amicable and they remained friends.About a year later, rumors of a reconciliation began to swirl when the former lovebirds were spotted vacationing in the Maldives, according to People.The couple continued to travel together and date, and then Katy finally confirmed in May 2018 she and Orlando were back together by disclosing on the finale, "I'm not single."ABC announced in December the second season of its revival will premiere with a two-hour episode on Sunday, March 3 at 8PM ET/PT.The network had renewed for the 2018-2019 season in May of last year.At the time, the network also confirmed Katy, Luke Bryan , and Lionel Richie will return to the series as judges for Season 17.Although is returning with a second season on ABC, the show previously aired on Fox for 15 seasons from 2002 to 2016.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 02/14/2019



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

stars Larissa Christina Dos Santos Lima and Ashley Martson have confirmed they will appear on Season 4 of : Happily Ever After? when the show returns to TLC.While an exact premiere date has not been announced by TLC yet, : Happily Ever After?'s fourth season is scheduled to debut this spring.The only couple TLC has formally announced for Season 4 of the Happily Ever After? spinoff so far are Chantel Everett and Pedro Jimeno , who were featured in a promo that aired during 's Season 6 Tell-All reunion special in January.However, both Larissa and Ashley from Season 6 of the reality series confirmed earlier this week on social media they filmed footage for : Happily Ever After?.When asked if she'd ever participate in a future season of , Larissa replied during a Q&A session with fans, "I already finish in early December happily ever after," according to In Touch Weekly.Larissa further validated her starring role on Season 4 of the spinoff by telling fans she plans to fast forward scenes with her estranged husband Colt Johnson and mother-in-law Debbie Johnson when watching Happily Ever After?.Reports Larissa and Colt's time on TLC would continue began circulating in December when Colt's cousin, John Maymoun, told RadarOnline -- prior to the couple's latest domestic violence incident and Colt's subsequent January 11 divorce filing -- that Larissa and Colt were in the process of filming Season 4 of : Happily Ever After?.Meanwhile, Ashley talked to RadarOnline about how she and husband Jay Smith were involved with the series while discussing her recent admission that she and Jay allegedly scammed their fans, leaked her own personal stories, and staged a lot of the problems in their relationship."We filmed for Happily Ever After? and we have notified them that we quit the show," Ashley told RadarOnline."The final straw was when our story started to become inconsistent because of what we were being asked to hide and not tell followers."Ashley claims TLC and producers manipulated her into pretending her relationship with Jay was on the rocks after she caught him with a Tinder profile, flirting with other women, two short days after their Las Vegas wedding.Ashley said while she and Jay led fans to believe they broke up in December 2018, they never actually separated after getting married.The fact Ashley and Jay were faking their split was huge news since Ashley went as far as filing for divorce, although she withdrew the paperwork in court days later."I stayed by his side after the Tinder scandal. They wanted us to keep everything private and say we weren't together, but when people were seeing us out they thought we were lying. We never confirmed or denied our relationship status," Ashley explained.Ashley therefore blamed the show for having "ruined" the credibility of her marriage to Jay."We want our old life back. We're over being celebrities. We want to go back to our lives and focus on our relationship... We will continue to work on our brand. We have a pajama and underwear line coming," Ashley revealed to the website. Nicole Nafziger and Azan Tefou , who appeared on Season 3 of : Happily Ever After?, will also reportedly star on the next season of Happily Ever After?'s spinoff."They started filming a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving," a source told RadarOnline in late November of Nicole and her fiance."It's all about her next trip to Morocco and what her family thinks about it."
Most Republicans saw it coming for weeks. After taking a beating from his base for losing his shutdown fight against Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President Trump was determined to regain his footing.

Building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border was the singular promise that defined his 2016 campaign  and declaring a national emergency is the only way left to demonstrate his continued resolve after Congress tied his hands this week and give him only a paltry down payment for the undertaking.

The budget compromise Congress passed Thursday to avert another government shutdown contains only $1.375 billion for 55 miles of new border barrier, much less than the $5.7 billion for 200 miles that Trump had sought.

So what if declaring a national emergency angers the establishment on both sides of the aisle in the process? Thats exactly the type of in-your-face contempt for Washington norms that handed Trump the White House keys in the first place and will likely invigorate his troops girding for what will undeniably be one of the nastiest re-election fights in history.

The presidents allies cheered the emergency declaration as a way to continue portraying Democrats as the party of open borders. Even though polls show most Americans dont favor a wall, the out-of-the mainstream label is hardly a leap when combative young Democrats are pushing a 70 percent top tax rate and jettisoning plane travel while some party leaders want to expand a womans right to choose to late-term abortions.

Even before the presidents announcement, Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Trumps strongest defenders in the Senate and someone who normally pushes for increased defense spending, was signaling his support for redirecting money from military construction projects in order to get the wall funded.

Go into the defense bill and move money aroundand build this damn wall, Graham told Fox News Wednesday night. Declare this a national emergency, because it is. Move money around and secure this border.

Rush Limbaugh was also fully on board. If they have to declare a national emergency and go through the courts and have the Democrats go through the motions of trying to stop it, then all the better, he said before Trumps announcement. Let Democrats demonstrate as often and as loudly as they can, they do not want border security.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who considers himself an institutionalist, also gave his seal of approval Thursday, along with members of the House Freedom Caucus, those limited-government advocates who repeatedly rapped President Obama for his reliance on executive actions to circumvent Congress.

But if those endorsements sounded a little half-hearted, there are plenty of reasons why. For starters, Trumps re-election is a tossup at best and many conservatives worry future Democratic presidents will utilize national emergencies precedent to push through their priorities such as elements of the Green New Deal or gun control.

Also, there are also far more Senate Republicans up for re-election than Democrats this cycle  22 GOP seats are on the line, while Democrats only need to protect a dozen. Republicans slightly expanded their majority last November, but they still hold just a slim edge of 53 to 47 Democrats, including two independents.

Trump has benefited immensely from the GOP Senate majority, which helped him fill two Supreme Court vacancies and numerous lesser judicial seats. If Republicans maintain their Senate majority in a second Trump term, they will provide the only firewall he has to prevent Democrats from bouncing him out of office via impeachment proceedings.

While those prospects right now look good, Republicans hold on the upper chamber is far from certain. That 2020 stage is already being set: Democratic media darling Beto ORourke met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last week to talk about a potential run against Sen. John Cornyn, a top GOP leader.

ORourkes presidential ambitions recently suffered a self-inflicted wound when he bizarrely posted a photo of his trip to the dentist on Instagram. But he remains a near-giant killer, having come close to beating Sen. Ted Cruz in the once ruby red state of Texas. If ORourke takes a pass, former Obama Health and Human Services Secretary Julian Castro, who has announced his own White House bid, is also waiting in the wings.

Little wonder why Cornyn has been downright glum about Trumps decision to declare a national emergency.

I think its a dangerous move, he said Thursday. One, because of the precedent it sets. Two, because the president is going to get sued and it wont succeed in accomplishing his goal, and three, because I think Mrs. Pelosi will then introduce a resolution which will pass the House, then come over here and divide Republicans. So it strikes me as not a good strategy.

Meanwhile, the national emergency declaration likely boosts the re-election campaigns of Republicans like Graham and McConnell who represent states that went to Trump by high margins. Still, with Republicans defending nearly twice as many seats as Democrats this cycle, odds are Republicans will lose some of them  the question is only how many.

Making that row tougher to hoe for any fellow Republican is a risky gambit at a time when a member of the new class of combative freshmen Dems is dropping the f-bomb while calling for Trumps impeachment.

The National Emergency Act gives presidents the ability to declare national emergencies but lays out a process by which Congress can terminate such a declaration by joint resolution. Such a resolution would be considered privileged, meaning if the House passed it then the Senate would be required by law to vote on it within 18 days. There would be no way for McConnell to block it.

If the joint resolution were to pass and Trump vetoed it, theres little chance that two-thirds of the Senate would vote to override his action. But the real problem is that it would force Republicans to go on the record  by casting an up or down vote  for the first time on Trumps full-scale border wall.

Some are referring to such a resolution as a political grenade  forcing Republicans to choose between backing their president on his signature issue or voting against what many conservatives believe is a dangerous precedent for executive overreach.

Democratic House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler issued a statement Thursday night saying he would fully support the passage of such a resolution and would pursue all other available legal options to halt Trumps national emergency declaration.

Sen. Susan Collins, a centrist Republican from Maine who is also up for re-election this cycle, not surprisingly called Trumps decision a mistake.

She said the National Emergencies Act was intended to apply to major natural disasters or catastrophic events, such as the attacks on our country on 9/11.

Such a declaration would undermine the role of Congress and the appropriations process; its just not good policy, she said in a statement issued Thursday night. It is also of dubious constitutionality, and it will almost certainly be challenged in the courts.

Pelosi herself said she might take legal action to challenge Trumps authority, while Public Citizen, a left-leaning consumer rights advocacy organization, promised to sue if Trump moves forward with the declaration.

If this invocation of emergency on false pretenses is tolerated, it could justify almost limitless abuses of presidential and military power, including far-reaching clampdowns on civil rights, the group said.

Ultimately, this is illegal. If we are to have any faith in the courts, they must step in and stop it, Sam Berger, vice president for democracy and government reform at the Center for American Progress, told RealClearPolitics.

Those squarely behind building the wall believe Trump could break ground on a pilot building project with part of the money Congress did provide while waiting for the Supreme Court to weigh in.

He could build a prototype wall and then track the crime and other statistics related to its construction, Matt OBrien, the director of research at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said in an interview. If then you see a 70 percent decrease in crime and a similar decrease in attempts to get over the border, he has a good argument that walls work.

But hes a guy who likes big deals and big projects  so he might go for getting as much of the project as possible, OBrien said.

Trumps go-big-or-go-home gambit helps him energize his base, something he must do to have a shot at holding the White House. If it works, its a great short-term solution, but he cant count on Senate Republicans being with him on the other side to keep him in office long past the balloon drop and confetti.
Why Are Leading Democratic Presidential Candidates Endorsing 'the Green Dream, or Whatever They Call It'?

There's an old joke about an egotistical politician whose disgruntled speechwriter, just before quitting, prepares a draft that promises the moon, and specifics for how to pay for it, on the first two pages, and leaves the third page blank except for the words "You're on your own now."

That's the position that freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal package, co-introduced by Sen. Edward Markey, has left the several Democratic presidential candidates who rushed to endorse it. AOC (as she's often called) herself has tried to repudiate some of it, as an early draft or a Republican prank. New York Times and Washington Post reporters have indulged her alibis.

But someone wrote it, someone whose goal is to "achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and" -- incidentally -- "create economic prosperity for all" in just 10 years.

One representative plank: "build out high-speed rail at a scale where air travel stops becoming necessary."

Another: "create affordable public transit available to all, with goal to replace every combustion-engine vehicle." A third: "Work with farmers and ranchers to create a sustainable, pollution and greenhouse gas free, food system that ensures universal access to healthy food."

Sounds kinda drastic, especially if you sometimes fly several hours to vacation or visit relatives, or if you drive an SUV or a pickup truck, or eat meat from methane-emitting cattle or hogs.

But in their FAQs, which they maintain was sent out by mistake or something, AOC's folks assure voters that their goal is "net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren't sure that we'll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast." These people who say they couldn't put out the right press release assure us they "can ramp up renewable manufacturing and power production, retrofit every building in America, build the smart grid, overhaul transportation and agriculture" in 10 years.

By this point, it should be apparent that the Green New Deal -- "the green dream, or whatever they call it," in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's words -- is never going to happen. If you had any doubt, this week, California's new Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, announced he was ditching his predecessor Jerry Brown's state high-speed rail line, which he said "would cost too much and take too long." It was sold to voters in 2008 as costing $40 billion. Current estimates are it will take $77 billion until completion in 2033.

But it's worth reflecting on what the GND tells us about American leftists. Far from encouraging 21st-century technology, they want to abandon 20th-century tech (planes, non-electric autos) and go back to 19th (trains). Far from accommodating individual choices, they want to boss everyone around.

Those family farmers they extol will have to wait to get to town if their electric vehicle is out of juice because the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining and they're still waiting for the "affordable public transit" to reach their farm. Maybe they can use bike lanes.

And it's not at all clear that coastal sophisticates will be content to be stuck on slow-moving trains and stuck off on sidings for 20 or so hours out in what they like to call flyover country until someone cleverer than Gavin Newsom can gin up the federal printing press to pay for high-speed rail tracks between Manhattan and Hollywood.

Those on the political left -- whether struggling Generation Z bartenders from Queens or rich homeowners in Brentwood, California -- share a withering contempt for and thinly veiled hostility toward ordinary middle-income people, raising families and shopping at malls and navigating enormous SUVs (needed for kids car seats) into the fast-food carryout lanes.

Leftists love to confine vulgar people to rail lines -- high-speed rail or urban subways -- and force them into high-rise apartments, which they design. They hate single-family-home suburbs and the automobile that let ordinary people go where they want to go, when they want to and with as many stops as they like.

Voters feel differently. In France, where most people live beyond walking distance of the Paris Metro, the gilets jaunes have led a successful rebellion against a carbon tax, i.e. a tax on driving. In Washington state last November, voters, even in the county that includes Seattle, soundly rejected a carbon tax.

Now Markey says it's unfair to bring the Green New Deal to the Senate floor. The label polls well. But, he suspects, the substance won't. So why have presidential candidates Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren endorsed this foolishness?

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WASHINGTON -- President Trump has been insisting for so long that any investigation of his personal finances would cross a "red line" that people may have overlooked the outrageousness of his claim. But this self-declared immunity is about to change.

We're entering a new phase of the Trump-Russia investigation, where the president's efforts to contain the probe are failing. Information he tried to suppress about his business and political dealings is emerging -- with more to come.

"There are no red lines except what's necessary to protect the country," Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said in an interview Monday. Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told me he plans to request information, perhaps by subpoena, from Deutsche Bank, a major Trump lender, and that "our work on Trump's finances has already begun."

A Deutsche Bank subpoena would be especially sensitive. Trump was enraged by a December 2017 report that special counsel Robert Mueller had subpoenaed the bank's records about its dealings with Trump, telling his then-lawyer John Dowd, "This is bull----!" according to Bob Woodward's book "Fear."

The red line apparently held, then. Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow told Reuters: "No [Deutsche Bank] subpoena has been issued or received." One government source speculates that Rod Rosenstein, then deputy attorney general, blocked any attempt to compel disclosure of the bank's Trump file records to avoid getting himself or Mueller fired.

But this ring-fencing of Trump's finances is ending. Schiff told me: "We do want information from Deutsche Bank, and we have every expectation that they will cooperate with us."

A Deutsche Bank spokesman reiterated to me a previous statement that the bank "has received an inquiry" from the House Intelligence and Financial Services committees, which are working in tandem, and is talking with those committees "to determine the best and most appropriate way of assisting them ... [and] providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations."

The president's relationship with Deutsche Bank intrigues investigators for several reasons: Trump turned to the big German bank two decades ago, when U.S. banks wouldn't extend him more large loans. The Washington Post estimated in 2016 that Deutsche Bank had $360 million in outstanding loans to Trump's companies. Deutsche Bank also lent $285 million to Jared Kushner's family real estate company in October 2016.

Investigators have noted other points of interest: Deutsche Bank, unusually, managed its lending to Trump through its private-banking division, rather than normal commercial lending. Finally, the bank has been implicated in Russian money laundering, paying $630 million in fines in 2017 to settle U.S. and British charges that it had improperly transferred $10 billion from Russia.

Trump last week tweeted his indignation at Schiff for "looking at every aspect of my life, both financial and personal," calling the House probe "Unlimited Presidential Harassment."

Trump's bizarre claim that the subject of an investigation has the right to circumscribe the inquiry into his conduct dates back to a July 19, 2017, interview Trump gave to The New York Times. Asked whether a Mueller probe of his finances would be a "red line," Trump answered, "I would say yeah." He then offered a rambling defense, saying at one point, "I don't do business with Russia."

Matt Whitaker, until Thursday the acting attorney general, became a Trump favorite before joining the administration when he echoed the president's line, telling CNN in August 2017 that if Mueller investigated the Trump Organization, "I think that would be crossing a red line."

Some of Trump's assertions about not having business dealings with Russia have since been shredded. Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, admitted in a guilty plea last November that discussions about building a Trump Tower in Moscow continued until at least June 14, 2016, six months later than Cohen had told Congress they stopped.

(One clause in Trump's signed 2015 "letter of intent" for the Moscow project proposed that the fitness facility there would be called a "Spa by Ivanka Trump.")

Trump told reporters in November that in continuing the Trump Tower discussions through the 2016 campaign, he was just hedging his bets. "There was a good chance that I wouldn't have won, in which case I would have gotten back into the business, and why should I lose lots of opportunities?"

As Schiff explains: "Trump Tower Moscow is all you need to know about why you can't let the subject of an investigation draw his own line in an investigation. He says he wasn't doing business with Russia and he was -- and seeking Kremlin help."

Sorry, Mr. President, but that red line is turning blue. As investigators move into the once-forbidden zone, the likelihood grows that the public will finally learn the truth.

(c) 2019, Washington Post Writers Group
First they came for your wallet. Now Democrats want your car and your hamburgers -- making summer cookouts a thing of the past.

But those aren't the only liberties the left wants to abolish in the name of fighting climate change. Radical liberals led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., also want to minimize air travel. It's all outlined in their Green New Deal, a proposal to fend off a supposed climate apocalypse.

Never mind that China, the world's largest polluter, emits more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than the U.S. and the EU combined or that the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and China are dumping more plastic waste and debris into the ocean than the rest of the planet is. Far-left lawmakers pushing the utopian Green New Deal don't want to talk about that or the fact that China opens a new coal plant every week on average, illustrating that the Green New Deal isn't really about protecting Mother Earth from the effects of climate change; it's about giving Democrats and big-government socialists control over the entire U.S. economy -- and our lives.

It's a massive power grab under the guise of curtailing the alleged "cataclysmic" effects of climate change -- a pseudoscience that is far from settled.

Many esteemed climatologists and meteorologists, including MIT professor emeritus Richard Lindzen, have opposed the hysteria surrounding climate change. They say the earth is entering a cooling phase and warn that enviro-alarmists shouldn't overestimate carbon dioxide's effects on the atmosphere. In a 2015 interview on my Boston Herald Radio show, Lindzen told me, "Not only has there been a hiatus in temperature increase, but we have fewer hurricanes than we traditionally have."

When I asked about reports that sea levels were rising, he explained that they've "been rising since the end of the last ice age, at a fairly slow rate. That's normal. And it was going on long before industrialization." And when it comes to alarmist proclamations that we must reduce our carbon footprint or risk seeing the world come to an end, Lindzen said, "Climate scientists, until this latest hysteria, used to refer to warm periods, which was most of the earth's history, as being climate optima. It has nothing to do with decarbonizing. We need carbon dioxide; it is essential to life on earth. And we don't have any known replacement at the moment."

Given that there are conflicting data on climate change, it's unfathomable that any rational human, much less a lawmaker, would want to destroy the U.S. economy and the millions of jobs that go with it by supporting the infantile Green New Deal.

It's also worth noting that even if there is catastrophic man-made climate change happening and America reduced its carbon footprint to zero -- an impossible task in a modern industrialized economy -- radical lawmakers still wouldn't eliminate climate change, with China and the rest of the world polluting the atmosphere and oceans ad nauseam.

That's all the more reason Americans should refuse to hand their cars, barbecues and airplane tickets -- our entire way of life -- over to a 29-year-old congresswoman with "big ideas."

Just because an idea is "big" doesn't make it good.

COPYRIGHT 2019 CREATORS.COM
In 2016, I dissented. I said that, even though I had been an elected Republican, I could not support Donald Trump for president. I found him to be an amoral man and an unprincipled politician. I was and remain horrified by Christian voters who rally to the man as some sort of savior and twist their faith to suit their politics.

Protestors showed up at my home to threaten my family. Armed guards protected us for months. My children were repeatedly bullied at school. They were threatened at the grocery store by a man who yelled at them about me. For many, I was now just giving comfort to the enemy.

People tried to have me fired from radio. My speaking opportunities dried up. My television contract got canceled. My income fell over 60 percent. Even going to church offered us no refuge. One woman told my wife, in a Bible study no less, that she wanted to punch me. Walking from Sunday school to the sanctuary often turned into a jousting match of blunt criticism or passive-aggressive rejection.

In November of 2016, I voted third-party. Without needing me, Trump won. Three years later, I find myself ready to vote for him in 2020. So what changed?

First, it is obvious at this point that we are in a pagan society that perhaps was never as Christian as I presumed. In 2016, most of my evangelical friends cast their lots with a man on his third wife who treated fidelity the way Judas treated the Apostles' moneybags. Instead of looking for their Savior in heaven, they decided to go with political Jesus.

We live in a country where those of us who think character and morals count are in a definite minority. We can sit it out or stay engaged. Many of my friends have understandably chosen to sit it out. I have chosen to stay engaged.

Engagement requires me to make a few choices. I can try to throw in with a third party. I did that in 2016, and the candidate I voted for has been an unending embarrassment ever since. I could vote Democrat, but that's not happening. Or I could try to work within the Republican Party I have long belonged to and try to be a voice of conscience within.

Second, the president was a hypothetical in 2016. He had been a Nancy Pelosi-donating Democrat. He had praised Planned Parenthood. Even after securing the Republican nomination, he suggested that universal socialist-style health care and taxing the rich were good policy suggestions. But his record in office has shown him to be a pretty conventional Republican president.

The president has cut taxes and helped our economy weather the Chinese economic slowdown by mobilizing capital. He has moved our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. He withdrew from the Paris Agreement and Iran deal. He has developed a mature Western Hemispheric foreign policy. He has made solid executive and judicial appointments. He has rolled back regulations. While I have policy disagreements with him, overall, I am pleased with what he has done.

Third, the Democrats have gone hard left. Across the country, they are championing infanticide. Their Green New Deal proposes to pay people unwilling to work, ban the combustion engine and economically destabilize the nation. They scream about white nationalism on the right, but are fostering growing American anti-Semitism. They want to use government to punish and silence people of faith. Even now, Senate Democrats are openly opposing judicial nominees merely for being committed Christians.

Lastly, I have the same concerns I have always had about the president's character. But just because Democrats have a smile on their face as they defend killing children does not mean they have better character. Having chosen to participate in the political process, given the choice between an incumbent of bad character and any of the Democrats with their bad character, I will go for the guy whose demeanor is off-putting but who isn't trying to drive Christians out of public life while defending killing children and wrecking our economy with religious zeal in the form of a Green New Deal.

COPYRIGHT 2019 CREATORS.COM
In his Theses on Feuerbach, the young Karl Marx proclaimed, [P]hilosophers have only hitherto interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it (emphasis in original). Mission statements of several of our preeminent colleges and universities follow suit. The primary purpose of liberal education, according to these formal pronouncements, is not to understand the world but to remake it.

Mission statements provide organizations the opportunity to present considered opinions about their primary goals. Yet little recognition is found within the mission statements of our institutions of higher education that among their chief responsibilities is conserving the wisdom of the ages and of our civilization in particular  for its intrinsic merits, as essential to the pursuit of truth; for guidance in understanding the nations fundamental principles and constitutional order; to grasp the diversity and unity of the worlds cultures and peoples; in the name of liberty of thought and discussion; as an antidote to the conceits and blind spots of the age; and to orient sensible reform.

Consider Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, three of the best-known names in higher education. Their undergraduates disproportionately ascend to the top ranks of the professions, media, and government. Their graduate students fan out to teach in colleges and universities throughout the country. What is learned at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton does not  and is not intended to  stay at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.

According to Harvard Colleges mission statement, through exposure to new ideas, new ways of understanding, and new ways of knowing, students embark on a journey of intellectual transformation. By means of a diverse living environment, where students live with people who are studying different topics, who come from different walks of life and have evolving identities, intellectual transformation is deepened and conditions for social transformation are created. For Harvard, gauzy change counts for nearly everything; safeguarding and transmitting what is best in the nation and the civilization in which it is rooted count for little.

Yales mission statement declares that the university is committed to improving the world today and for future generations through outstanding research and scholarship, education, preservation, and practice. To accomplish this, Yale emphasizes, it maintains a community dedicated to free speech and diversity. Absent is any assurance that the university community also dedicates itself to the study of the history and ideas  literary, political, economic, scientific, philosophical, and religious  out of which liberal education and the culture that nourished it emerged.

Princeton buries its mission statement in a 2016 PDF titled Princeton University Strategic Framework. In it, the university proclaims its pervasive commitment to serve the nation and the world. It seeks to further this noble aim through a liberal arts education marked by a commitment to innovation, free inquiry, and the discovery of new knowledge and new ideas, coupled with a commitment to preserve and transmit the intellectual, artistic, and cultural heritage of the past. That is laudable. But the university provides scant content or elaboration. It certainly does not connect preserving and transmitting the heritage of the past to examining and carrying forward the tradition of freedom that undergirds the nation in which Princeton has flourished.

In contrast, Princetons website prominently features an easy-to-reach page, loaded with glossy photos, titled In the Service of Humanity. This cosmopolitan motto apparently supersedes the phrase taken from former Princeton and U.S. President Woodrow Wilsons Princeton in the Nations Service and its 1996 expansion to include and in the Service of All Nations. Especially compared to its lavish online celebration of the tapestry of ways in which Princetonians are changing the world, the universitys account of its commitment to enabling students to understand the ideas and events that formed and sustain their nation is subdued and perfunctory.

The mission statements of outstanding small liberal arts colleges such as Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore offer similarly fuzzy endorsements of liberal education for its contribution to a morally rich and publicly spirited life. And a number of our leading public research universities  including UCLA, University of Texas, University of Virginia, University of Wisconsin  affirm their devotion to examining, preserving, expanding, and transmitting knowledge as a preparation for serving the common good. But they do not specify the core of that knowledge nor the qualities of mind and character that liberal education aims to cultivate.

For a wholehearted embrace of liberal education these days, one must turn to avowedly Christian universities. Schools such as Liberty University (evangelical), the University of Dallas (Catholic), and Hillsdale College (nonsectarian Christian) explicitly place at the center of their missions the pursuit of wisdom through the many-sided study of Western civilization and of the principles and institutions that gave birth to constitutional government in America.

But it is those paragons of progressive faith  Harvard, Yale, and Princeton  that dominate the academy and set the tone for elite culture and national politics.

Their conversion of liberal education into social justice consciousness-raising and vocational training for political activism subverts colleges mission and distorts civic life. It polarizes the electorate by teaching that one partisan set of views about political society is redeeming and incontestably correct and the other is deplorable and indisputably false. It deprives students of historical knowledge and comparative frameworks, leaving them unable to assess accurately the nations shortcomings and appreciate its virtues. By marginalizing study of the American constitutional tradition, it impedes the formation of workable policies and viable compromises for a divided nation.

To cultivate a generation of thoughtful reformers  and preservers  it is necessary to restore a proper liberal education, one whose point is not to remake the world, but to understand it.
Silicon Valley is awash with Saudi money. The Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, has pumped billions of dollars into U.S. startups in recent years, part of an economic diversification strategy spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. But reports of recent turmoil at the fund, coupled with the reputational fallout over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents, could jeopardize what's become a comfortable funding stream for Silicon Valley.

Top western executives are leaving the PIF, according to a report from late Decembersometimes leaving behind pay packages of $1 million and guaranteed bonuses. Several officials left within 18 months of beginning their tenure, while one, a former head of strategy, lasted just weeks.
This weeks Historiat post focused on Calvin Coolidges deft use of the radio, at that time a new medium of mass communication, to reach the American people. While doing research for the post it quickly became apparent to me that Silent Cal is one of the most understudied presidents in American history, on par with the likes of Grover Cleveland, Chester Arthur, or Rutherford Hayes. Here are 10 Reasons to Love Silent Cal:

10. He was a small government conservative, which is probably why he doesnt get a lot of attention from historians, who lean overwhelmingly to the left of the political spectrum. Small government conservatives avoid crazy world wars and expansive, expensive federal policies that attempt to remake American society into a utopian image. Often, they are elected to clean up the messes made by predecessors who tried to use their power to fight major wars and remake American society. Coolidge was one such example of a small government republican foisted into the role of president in order to clean up the mess made by a big government ideologue.

9. Fought against racism. Silent Cal spoke out often against the chronic racism of the South and its party, the Democrats. Lynching had gotten so bad in the 1920s that the Republican Party made anti-lynching legislation part of its platform in the early part of the 20th century. Coolidge tried to push through anti-lynching legislation that would make that heinous act a federal crime, but as an executive there was not a whole lot he could do about it except use his bully pulpit (which he did, and often). He used his bully pulpit (and the new medium of radio) to speak out in favor of racial equality and against the white supremacist ideology that dominated the South and the Democratic Party at the time. Kurt Schmoke, the President of the University of Baltimore, has a great, short essay on Coolidges fight against the K.K.K. during his presidency.

8. A true constitutional federalist. Coolidges anti-lynching stance is all the more remarkable because he was, by and large, a man who sought to keep the federal government limited. The lynchings were so heinous, however, that Coolidge and other Republicans believed federal legislation was necessary to fight the Klan. Americas 30th president was far more careful when it came to other kinds of federal legislation, though. Coolidge vetoed several bills given to him by Congress, including a spending bill that would have given World War I veterans significantly more money thanks to a budget surplus (Coolidges veto was overridden). Coolidge also routinely vetoed farm subsidies, and at one point deigned to remind the American people that farmers have never made much money, and I do not believe we can do much about it. In five years Coolidge vetoed 50 bills (music to a libertarians ears).

7. Coolidge was quiet, and quite against Washington social life. Ever wonder where Coolidge got his nickname Silent Cal? It wasnt until he got to Washington, as vice president to Warren Harding, that Coolidge became known as Silent Cal. Apparently the socialites who invited him and his lovely wife to parties thought he was odd because of his silence, and mockingly nicknamed him Silent Cal. For Coolidge, though, the nickname was a badge of honor. In the world we live in today, where bombasts and outright demagogues grab all the headlines, Coolidges words are all the more important: The words of a President have an enormous weight, and ought not to be used indiscriminately. If only todays political class had as much respect for history and power as Coolidge.

6. Foreign policy. Republicans were elected back into the presidency after Woodrow Wilsons disastrous campaign to make the republic into a world power. Part of the Republican platform called for the U.S. to stay out of the newly created League of Nations, and Coolidge did just that. While not opposed to the idea of a League of some sort, Coolidge did not think the League of Nations as it was constructed would serve American interests. Coolidge was not an isolationist, though. Instead, he harkened back to an earlier era, and focused on maintaining consistency in regards to the Monroe Doctrine. The Coolidge administration recognized a new revolutionary government in Mexico, established a police force in the Dominican Republic, and continued to occupy both Nicaragua and Haiti. Coolidges only foreign visit during his presidency was to Havana (ninety miles off the coast of American soil), which marked the last time an American president would visit the island until Barack Obama did so in 2016. Many historians give Coolidge low marks for his foreign policy, arguing that he did too little, and as a result contributed to the rise of fascism in Europe and East Asia. The reality, though, is that Coolidge had a sophisticated, constitutionally focused, tradition-based understanding of international relations, and placing the blame of fascisms rise on Coolidge and other Republicans instead of on Woodrow Wilson, who sought to make the world safe for democracy by destroying three old, multi-ethnic empires and replacing them with democratic polities, is disingenuous (at best).

5. Native Americans. Coolidge and other Republicans were not content with fighting anti-black racism and anti-Semitism. In June of 1924, Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act, which gave all Native Americans living on reservations American citizenship. This was no small feat, as just a generation before Americans and Indians were engaged in a brutal struggle for control of the lands west of the Mississippi, and few Americans thought that Indians deserved to have equal political status with whites. With one simple, quiet stroke, Coolidge took a big step towards equalizing the three American races that Tocqueville did such a good job describing in 1835.

4. A team player. Coolidge did not like Herbert Hoover, but he refrained from publicly criticizing him. In an age where loyalty and cooperation are viewed as weaknesses, especially in the realm of politics, Coolidges team mentality was refreshing. Coolidge was such a good team player, in fact, that he went to bat for Hoover during his run for presidency in 1929. Coolidges sophisticated small government republicanism clashed mightily with Hoovers vulgar technocratic utopianism, but the Republican Partys commitment to ending the racism of the Democrats held the two clashing ideologies together throughout Coolidges one full term and both of Hoovers runs for president. Without Coolidges public support for Hoover, it is unlikely that the republic would have made as much progress as it did in regards to fighting racism and anti-Semitism.

3. Stepped down after one term. Unlike Franklin Roosevelt, who continued to seek the power of the presidency long after its burdens affected his health, Coolidge chose to look after himself and his family after his first full term in office, and refused to seek a second term. When GOP operatives came calling for him in 1932, after Hoovers disastrous term was nearing its end, Coolidge politely declined to run again. Clearly, Coolidges presidency was not about power, and his refusal to re-enter politics after a full term as president speaks volumes about his sophisticated small government republicanism. (One a somewhat related note, dont forget to check out 10 Dictators Who Gave Up Power here at RealClearHistory.)

2. Immigration. At odds with the rest of his anti-racist administration, Coolidges immigration policy was his weakest link. Although he was not opposed to immigration personally, and although he used the bully pulpit to speak out in favor of treating immigrants with respect and dignity, Coolidge was a party man, and the GOP was the party of immigration quotas in the 1920s. Reluctantly, and with public reservations, Coolidge signed the Immigration Act of 1924, which significantly limited immigration into the United States up until the mid-1960s, when new legislation overturned the law.

1. Debt. Under the Coolidge administration, the federal debt was significantly reduced (by about one-quarter), even though the Republicans inherited a $22.3 billion deficit from the disaster that was World War I. Coolidge remained the last president to put a significant dent into the federal deficit until Bill Clinton came along in the 1990s. While not terribly exciting or sexy, the reduction in federal debt is probably the most important contribution that Calvin Coolidge made, as President of the United States, to the republic. In an age where Democrats and Republicans spend and spend and spend, the administration of Calvin Coolidge continues to look better and better.

Further thoughts

Coolidge does not get the attention of historians the way Andrew Jackson or Teddy Roosevelt do, but there are a number of studies dedicated to Americas 30th president. Three books on Coolidge worth reading are Robert Sobells Coolidge: An American Enigma (2015), Robert Ferrells The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), and Amity Shlaes Coolidge (2014).

Have a good weekend.
The back-and-forth trade disputes initiated by the United States, against our allies Canada and the EU and other global powers like China, might seem like a far-off concept for many people. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has dismissed the impact of our unilaterally-imposed U.S. tariffs on imports as a rounding error, implying that most Americans would never notice its costs. But these tariffs are taxes on Americans that have wide-ranging consequences in communities across the country, and the burdens imposed on the natural gas and oil industry put us at the center of a trade war that shows few signs of ending.

Natural gas and oil support 10.3 million U.S. jobs throughout the country, nearly 8 percent of the U.S. economy. When the industry is affected by burdensome and protectionist government trade policies, the consequences are anything but trivial. The tariffs on imported steel under Section 232 cause uncertainty and cost increases for affected U.S. energy projects, hurting companies, workers, and ultimately consumers across the country. The steel tax, as the Section 232 tariffs are often referred to, added $40 million to a Plains All American pipeline project in the Permian Basin in West Texas. According to EIA, crude oil output in the Permian is expected to increase by over 1 million barrels per day by 2020 compared to December 2018 levels and will constitute 36% of U.S. production.

The surge of the natural gas and oil output requires additional pipeline capacity to bring this oil to the U.S. Gulf Coast for export and for refining into products we consume. The new Plains All American pipeline, which has generated 2,600 construction jobs, is dependent on specialty steel not produced in the United States, which had to be imported from Greece. This American energy project, with thousands of construction workers, was affected negatively by the tariffs imposed by this administration on European allies.

These trade policies can be especially damaging to energy infrastructure projects thanks to quotas. These measures restrict the amount of steel American companies can import altogether, meaning that projects could be significantly delayed when steel is stopped at the border because quota limits are reached. The U.S. has already imposed steel quotas on Argentina, Brazil and South Korea, and now we are discussing potential future quotas with Canada and Mexico.

Those quotas not only run counter to the spirit of free trade that underpins the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal, they actively hurt American businesses that rely on imported materials in order to build new projects and create jobs. In addition to U.S. tariffs and quotas, retaliatory tariffs from China have significantly affected the export markets for American natural gas and the outlook for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities here in the United States. With a rapidly growing but still nascent LNG industry, the United States depends on access to overseas markets to help grow the American natural gas sector and create jobs.

Reuters recently reported that only six LNG vessels went from the United States to China in the second half of 2018 as a result of retaliatory tariffs, down from 25 for the same period in the previous year. That decline raises serious red flags. Last year Chinas LNG purchases, however, reached an all-time high. The fact that American LNG exports to China have dropped so precipitously shows that when the United States is unable to fill the energy needs of a major overseas market, other countries will readily fill the void.

The United States is right to fight to put us on a level market-based playing field globally. The current approach, however, is causing ongoing pain for the energy industry  an important driver of the U.S. economy that provides affordable and reliable energy for consumers. The administration needs to shift course quickly, before the impact of its trade policies becomes even more painful. Our economy and our workers are depending on it.

Dr. Aaron Padilla is Senior Advisor for International Policy at the American Petroleum Institute (API). He leads APIs work to determine and represent the natural gas and oil industrys public policy positions on key international issues, including trade, and global economic policy, and sustainability.
On Feb. 11, Norway's intelligence agency severely criticized Russian jamming of GPS signals. The Norwegians said the Russian GPS signal disruption exploits that occurred last fall during NATO's Trident Juncture military exercise were not only a military concern but "also a threat to civil aviation in peacetime."

When Trident Juncture concluded in November, both the Finnish and Norwegian governments protested the GPS disruption. Norway blamed Russian transmitters at a military base located on the Kola Peninsula -- in the Arctic, east of Finland.
Stockholm-based production company Dramacorp, founded by Patrick Nebout in a joint venture with Beta Film, has announced its first commission from NENT Group in the form of Cryptid.





The 10 x 22young-adult (YA) short-form horror series  both NENT Groups and Dramacorp's first short-form horror project  centres on the idyllic lakeside town of Morkstad, whose peaceful existence is suddenly shattered by a series of terrifying and unexplainable events. The show, based on an original pitch by graphic novelist Sylvain Runberg, is penned within a writer room with novelist Anna Jakobsson Lund as lead writer.Daniel di Grado (NENT Groups Hidden; SVTs Jordskott; Alena) and David Berron (NENT Groups Hidden and Black Lake) will direct the series. Executive producers are Dramacorps Patrick Nebout (SVT-StudioCanals Midnight Sun; TV4-CMores upcoming spy-thriller Hamilton), Mia Sohlman (Hamilton; SVTs Blue Eyes;) and NENT Groups Fredrik Ljungberg, with Hadis Jabbari ( NENT Groups The Lawyer) producing.Production on the series starts in August in Finland. the series will premiere exclusively in the Nordic region on Viaplay in early 2020.Cryptid is our first foray into short-form production and the horror genre, so we thought wed aim for another first in the process and create a new genre  Nordic Comic Noir, with a unique tone and look inspired by pop graphic novels, said Patrick Nebout. Cryptid is an elevated, sexy, scary coming-of-age thriller with a supernatural twist. We were drawn to it not only because its a clever, edgy horror series for a young-adult audience, but because its genuinely very different...This is definitively not your typical Nordic Noir, so dont expect the usual brown-grey shades and look. This show is a very colourful and scary ride.
For the six months ended 31 December 2018, Eutelsat posted revenues of 658.1 million, down 4.4% compared with the same time in 2017. Overall operating verticals revenues was 660.4 million, a yearly fall of 2.3%, of which video applications accounted for 432.1 million, down 2.5% on an annual basis. These contributed to H1 EBITDA of 546.2 million, slipping 5.1% on an annual basis.The first half results showed that the video applications business line now accounts for two-thirds of all revenues. Eutelsat said that the year-on-year fall reflected lower professional video revenues in a context of continued price pressure as well as the impact of a lower contribution from Fransat. excluding these two factors it said that pure broadcast revenues were broadly stable. Second quarter revenues stood at 215 million, down by 2.4% year-on-year but broadly stable on a quarter-on-quarter basis.At 31 December 2018, the total number of channels broadcast by Eutelsat satellites stood at 7,067, up 3.8% year-on-year. HD penetration continued to increase, standing at 1,500 channels up 17.6% compared with a year earlier. This implied a penetration rate of 21.2% compared with 18.7% a year earlier.The company noted that its revenue profile reflected an anticipated back-end loading in the second half of its finance and gearing was further reduced. It also said that during the six months it has continued to build the foundations for its return to growth. Indeed Eutelsat revealed that it had sealed the first deals for the CIRRUS, hybrid satellite-OTT turnkey delivery solution as well as closing regular capacity contracts.We continued to leverage all components of cash generation, said Eutelsat chief executive Rodolphe Belmer commenting on the first half results. With the LEAP cost-savings plan on track, the effective application of design-to-cost to the HOTBIRD replacement, the successful 800 million bond issue in October and the disposal of our stake in EUTELSAT 25B...we continue to target a broadly stable top-line for our operating verticals for the year as a whole, and we are confident in our ability to deliver strongly on our profitability, discretionary free cash flow and de-leveraging targets.Going forward, Eutelsat was bullish about the video business in general which it said was set to improve in the coming quarters. The company noted contracts signed with the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation and the Association of Ethiopian Broadcasters for capacity on EUTELSAT 8 West B, representing multi-transponder capacity including incremental resources plus a new multi-year, multi-transponder contract with Afghanistan Broadcasting System for capacity on the EUTELSAT 53A satellite. Eutelsat will also now sell capacity directly to beIN Media, reflecting the direct approach implemented in the MENA region.
Lenord + Bauer and STMicroelectronics are working to develop a demonstrator neuronal network for assessing bearing vibration data onboard a vehicle, reducing the amount of data which needs to be transmitted to a central monitoring system.
Substantial investment in heavy and light rail is envisaged under the National Transport Authoritys Draft Integrated Implementation Plan for 2019-24. Tony Miles investigates
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In Maryse Meijers outstanding and disturbing collection, Rag, her fragmented writing style produces an intense and distilled view of isolated momentsor, conversely, makes the outrageous or aberrant seem ordinary. Meijer picks 10 scary books by women.

As a writer, I know Im on the right path when I feel afraid to sit down to work every day; and as a reader, Im most drawn to stories that confront the terrors, as well as the beauties, of being human. Horror and its handmaidensfear, disgust, revulsion, dread, panicare great teachers; by daring us to look away, they invite us to look closer. If you want to know what sickens a society, investigate its most disturbing art; the answers, usually, are there.

None of these titles would be classified as horror in your local bookstore, because horror itself is not the point of these narratives; rather, their power to disturb is the result of their unflinching insistence on exposing the horror (which in daily life is treated as mundane, if it is treated any way at all)of life, sex, and love under patriarchy. Representing work from Japan, Canada, Argentina, France, Austria, England, and the U.S., speaking from the 1930s to today, these 10 women writers are just a handful of storytellers whose work has kept me up at night, wondering about my own relationship to the fantastic horrors they depict.

1. The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns She just stood there. Her bones were small and her shoulders sloped; her teeth were not straight either; so, if she had been a dog, my father would have destroyed her. So begins Comynss harrowing tale about Alice, the daughter of a highly disturbed vet, who discovers a secret power she will eventually use against those who seek to humiliate her. Alices voice, speaking to the reader with an eerie calm, belies a lifetime of suppressed rage; and her ability to recognize the animal nature in everyone around her is a reminder that the bestial need not be a symbol of debasement, but of a source of power and solidarity. The Vets Daughter reminds us that the man who thinks he's superior to all Othersanimal and otherwiseis often the most dangerous animal of all.

2. The Drivers Seat by Muriel Spark Sparks The Drivers Seat is an awfully funny and disturbing story about a woman intent on destroying herself by convincing a man to murder her: but first, she has some errands to run. Viciously degrading everyone who stands in the path of her desire, whether its a hapless clerk in a department store or her fellow passengers on an airplane flying her to her ultimate rendezvous, Lise is repulsively unlikable. Likewise, Sparks prose provokes extreme discomfort; everything is pushed to a grotesquely sensuous hysteria; colors clash, sounds scream, and emotions run the most exaggerated highs and lows, making Lises longing for annihilation seem both terrible and logical at the same time, a cancerous response to the objectification and erotic limitations placed on the female body

3. The Embalmer Anne-Renee Caille A brief, impressionistic novel recalling the narrators fathers memories of his work patching up the dead, this slim book is made up of just as much white space as actual text, and it is in these gaps between scenes of extraordinarily vivid evocations of deaths that the experience of The Embalmer begs the question: how, in the face of certain death, do we make sense of life? In what ways does our suffering connect to the experiences of our families, friends, neighbors, and stranger? And what is the nature of work, artistic and otherwise? The deaths described, whether freakish or mundane, do justice to the pathos of all loss, giving the reader a singular experience of her own mortality. Timeless, plotless, disjointed, there is just the slimmest sense of a cohesive narrative connecting the second-hand tales, as fragmented, and fragile, as life itself.

4. My Heart Hemmed In by Marie NDiaye Two schoolteachers in a small-town French community slowly become, for reasons unknown, intolerable to their neighbors; abandoning her husband, who seems to be rotting from the inside out, strange physical ailments and unexplained transformations force Nadia to seek refuge at her sons ominous mountaintop estate, while something inside her belly grows and grows. More gothic than Dracula in mood, and ten times as terrifying, this is a novel whose horrorphysical and atmospheric, precise yet inexplicablefeels timeless; it could have been written at any moment in the past two hundred years. A nightmare of a book that raises plenty of questions about community, class, and motherhood, but offers no answers.

5. House of Mist by Maria Luisa Bombal A dreamy ghost story about a woman who marries a heartless husband, reminiscent of Daphne de Mauriers Rebecca and Patrick Hamiltons Gaslight, this haunting, disorienting story is like a body wrapped in endless layers of gauze; you know theres something solid at the core, but you can never quite touch it. As Helga, first an orphan and then a lonely bride, tries to make sense of life on a fog-enshrouded estate in the woods, cruelly but subtlety bullied and taunted by Daniel, fantasy and reality become hopelesslyor, perhaps, hopefullyblurred; by the end of the novel one feels that the fantasies Helga indulges in arent about escapism, but truly about escape; for a woman trapped in a world where her body is never absolutely her own, the only way out is through the imagining of a new world, where she is the teller of her own tale. House of Mist is often described as an early example of magical realism, and I agree that term works beautifully here; this is a novel that proves that sometimes the best way to depict the real is by way of magic.

6. Toddler-Hunting and Other Stories by Taeko Kono Family curses, dangerous obsessions, and sexual violence saturate this collection of startling imaginative stories. In the title piece, a childless woman who despises little girls becomes obsessed with the desire to dress little boys in beautiful, expensive clothes; in Theater, a wife estranged from her husband develops a dark attachment to a cruel hunchback and his beautiful, masochistic wife; and in Snow, a family tragedy drives an unwanted to daughter to fulfill a deadly wish. What is most remarkable about Konos work is how she treats taboo subject matter; without sensationalism or surprise, and never with the aim to shock, but rather to gently instruct us in all the ways in which shame can destroy, and desire liberate. Creepy, sympathetic, and strange, these masterful stories unsettle, comfort, and devastate in equal measure.

7. In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes Written in 1947, this noir masterpiece is narrated by a chillingly rational psychopath who stalks Los Angeles in search of young, single women. Hughes resists the sensational, keeping the violence mostly off-stage; instead, what makes Hughess novel so compelling and so disturbing is its focus on the mundanity of her killers life and motives; many readers will recognize the toxic masculinity seething beneath the surface of a charming, intelligent man who, feeling the world has not given him what he is owed, unleashes his rage on the bodies of women. Its fast-paced, beautifully written, and almost suffocatingly dark in tone, and yet In a Lonely Place manages to resist cynicism, embracing instead a message of empowerment at its climax, refusing to glorify violence at the expense of its female charactersa truly radical stance that ennobles the murder-mystery genre.

8. The Necrophiliac by Gabrielle Wittkop A genteel, mild-mannered antiques dealer details his romantic and sexual obsessions with the corpses he digs upand the result is less disgusting and more emotional than one might expect a (fictional) necrophiliacs diary to be. A stunning example of how the most precise, unflinching descriptions of horrific acts can push a reader beyond terror into the realm of understanding, sympathy, and, even, tenderness, revealing, through its examination of a particular perversion, the perversion of all desires born of loneliness. A troubling, exquisite gem of a book that has been unnerving European audiences since its publication in 1972.

9. Greed by Elfriede Jelinek This nearly plotless novel, about a girl who is drowned by a policemen in rural Austria, takes a typical murder mystery/detective story and turns it viciously inside out; there is no mystery, and the protagonist of the story is not the victim or those seeking justice for her, but the polluted lake in which she dies. Jelinek describes the toxic body of water with an intensity of sensual detail that is both ravishing and sickening, as if the lake itself was the body of a beautiful murdered girl. A relentlessly bleak examination of patriarchy, bourgeois values, and violence against women, it is also an elegy for the natural world, polluted by the metaphorical murderers indifference to all Others, human and otherwise: this is horror with an uncompromising moral vision.
Amazon will no longer build a headquarters in Long Island City, Queens, following grassroots resistance from New Yorkers and adverse reactions from some lawmakers and unions. The deal, a rare initiative championed by both Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, would have created more than 25,000 jobs in the New York metropolitan areain return for nearly $3 billion in incentives from New York State.

Amazon issued a rather lengthy statement about its decision to abandon its move to New York. The statement reads:

"After much thought and deliberation, weve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens. For Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term. While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.

"We are disappointed to have reached this conclusionwe love New York, its incomparable dynamism, people, and cultureand particularly the community of Long Island City, where we have gotten to know so many optimistic, forward-leaning community leaders, small business owners, and residents. There are currently over 5,000 Amazon employees in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island, and we plan to continue growing these teams.

"We are deeply grateful to Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio, and their staffs, who so enthusiastically and graciously invited us to build in New York City and supported us during the process. Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio have worked tirelessly on behalf of New Yorkers to encourage local investment and job creation, and we cant speak positively enough about all their efforts. The steadfast commitment and dedication that these leaders have demonstrated to the communities they represent inspired us from the very beginning and is one of the big reasons our decision was so difficult.

"We do not intend to re-open the HQ2 search at this time. We will proceed as planned in Northern Virginia and Nashville, and we will continue to hire and grow across our 17 corporate offices and tech hubs in the U.S. and Canada.

"Thank you again to Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio, and the many other community leaders and residents who welcomed our plans and supported us along the way. We hope to have future chances to collaborate as we continue to build our presence in New York over time."

New York politicians who had opposed the deal quickly took to Twitter to celebrate its cancellation:

Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazons corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world. https://t.co/nyvm5vtH9k  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 14, 2019

Defeating an anti-union corporation that mistreats workers and assists ICE in terrorizing immigrant communities is a victory. Defeating an unprecedented act of corporate welfare is a triumph that should change the way we do economic development deals in our city & state forever.  Jimmy Van Bramer (@JimmyVanBramer) February 14, 2019

In his own statement, Governor Cuomo blasted his own Senate for scuttling the deal:

"Amazon chose to come to New York because we are the capital of the world and the best place to do business. We competed in and won the most hotly contested national economic development competition in the United States, resulting in at least 25,000-40,000 good paying jobs for our state and nearly $30 billion dollars in new revenue to fund transit improvements, new housing, schools and countless other quality of life improvements. Bringing Amazon to New York diversified our economy away from real estate and Wall Street, further cementing our status as an emerging center for tech and was an extraordinary economic win not just for Queens and New York City, but for the entire region, from Long Island to Albany's nanotech center.

"However, a small group politicians put their own narrow political interests above their communitywhich poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island Citythe state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state. The New York State Senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity.

A statement from Mayor De Blasio, contrasting the governor's shifted the blame to Amazon:

"You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity. We have the best talent in the world and every day we are growing a stronger and fairer economy for everyone. If Amazon cant recognize what thats worth, its competitors will."
Click Here to go to PublishersWeekly.com
The Boston Athenaeum has announced major expansion plans that will add nearly 20,000 sq. ft. to the historic independent library. The long-term lease for a space adjacent to the existing Beacon Street location will add room for growing collections, events, and the librarys existing catalogue of more than half a million books.

Contiguous space has become available only a handful of times in the last century, said John S. Reed, president of the librarys board of trustees. We appreciate the singular opportunity to enter into a long-term lease. Reed said the project will take approximately two years to complete.

The library first opened in 1807 and moved to its current location on Beacon Hill 42 years later. Its members have been some of the most distinguished writers in American history including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, Francis Parkman, and Amy Lowell. Rare books and collections line the librarys shelves, including 17th century documents from Boston, portions of George Washingtons personal library, rare works on Native American languages, and a large collection of contemporary artists books.

While there have been occasional renovations over the last 170 years, the library has been in need of additional space, not only for members but also for employees. We will be able to move employees out of improvised workspaces that developed over time in the architecturally-significant rooms at [the current location], and into connected, efficiently-organized offices [in the new location], said Creelea Pangaro, the vice president of the librarys board.

In addition, the library will be adding to its salon-like spaces in which members have gathered for generations.

The expansion plans follow the announcement last week that library director Elizabeth Barker intends to step down at the end of March. According to The Boston Globe, Barkers four year tenure was marked by disputes with staff and the resignation of numerous employees.

Pangaro said the expansion is a proud moment for the institution. [It] will build on the librarys legacy and demonstrate our investment in its continuation and betterment, far into the future.
Copyright in the digital age has long been a contentious topic, but its probably fair to say the issue has never really decided a general election. But that could change this spring in the European Union.

After a delay, and a lengthy negotiation process, EU leaders this week announced a deal on the EU's 2016 Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Marketwhich includes two tweaked but still controversial measures: Article 13, which compels online platforms to scan user-uploaded content for allegedly infringing items; and Article 11, the so-called link tax.

In an official EU press release, Axel Voss, a member of the European Parliament from Germany, praised the deal as a step toward protecting creators and creative industries from a handful of large tech firms. The deal, Voss said, "helps make the internet ready for the future, a space which benefits everyone, not only a powerful few.

Of course, as with any copyright action in the digital agebut especially with this specific legislationthere is strong opposition. On the EFF website, Cory Doctorow calls the final deal the worst version of the proposal yet. And, he notes the timing of the bills next steps: perilously close to the EU elections. As it stands, the bill should head to the European Parliament for a vote before the whole body during the March 25-28 session or the April 15-18 session, Doctorow notes. And the EU parliamentary elections? They are set for May.

The Members of the European Parliament are going to be fighting an election right after voting on this Directive, Doctorow writes. Let's get real: no EU political party will be able to campaign for votes on the strength of passing the Copyright Directivebut plenty of parties will be able to drum up support to throw out the parties that defied the will of voters, and risked the destruction of the Internet as we know it

Copyright reform is no stranger to hardball politicsSOPA, anyone? But that a copyright proposal might actually sway a general election is a development worth watching.

Editor's Note: The Week in Libraries column will be off next week February 22. The column will return with the March 1 newsletter.

Reserve Reading

Meanwhile, back in the U.S., will net neutrality be an issue in the 2020 elections? The Hill notes that Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar raised the subject in her speech announcing her candidacy.

From Wired, the ever-visionary Kevin Kelly writes about the next wave of tech disruption, an augmented-reality fueled era he calls Mirrorworld. "We are now at the dawn of the third platform, which will digitize the rest of the world. On this platform, all things and places will be machine-readable, subject to the power of algorithms. Whoever dominates this grand third platform will become among the wealthiest and most powerful people and companies in history, just as those who now dominate the first two platforms have."

From the local CBS affiliate in Greenville, South Carolina: after "multiple threats," deputies will be on-hand at the Five Forks Library this weekend to ensure security during a scheduled Drag Queen Story Hour event.

From SF Gate, here's how you handle such threats: After protests, an estimated 500 attend East Bay library's 'Drag Queen Story Hour.

From BoingBoing, a cool little piece on the a 1930s WPA program that sponsored librarians on horsebackall womenwho delivered books to rural Americans.

Over at Book Riot, a librarian shares some memorable patron interactions.

In Tacoma, the News Tribune has an editorial on a Washington House bill, that would require local libraries to install pornography filters.

CityLab asks: Should Libraries Be the Keepers of Their Cities Public Data?

Huffington Post remembers the late Tomi Ungerer, the award-winning author and illustrator who apparently once stopped a mob of prudish librarians with a well-placed F-Bomb at an ALA conference.

From Oregon Live a look at how Oregon State archivists are sharing their treasures via social media.

From The Guardian, a report that the a revolutionary AI system that can write news stories and works of fiction have declined to release the system, because it is so good and "the risk of malicious use so high" that it needs more time to discuss its ramifications. The company is supported by Elon Musk, so, chances are this is a pretty good shot at PR, or attracting investors.

From Atlas Obscura, a look at how a conflict between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking students divided a historic library collection.

The Economist looks at the popularity and success of Oodi, Helsinkis new central library. "Visitors will find few books on its shelves: since it opened in December, a staggering 70% of the 100,000-odd collection has been borrowed," the article reports, and roughly 60% of the citys population visited the library in its first month."

In Indiana, local affiliate WANE 15 blew the lid off this scandal. Apparently, a part-time employee at the Allen County Public Library started a petition after discovering that the library has been "purging" books from its shelves. "The library says they get rid of books every so often to make room for storage," WANE 15 reported. Imagine that?
UBX Cloud India is a quickly growing market with a connected consumer population. Were excited to open an office in Coimbatore to further contribute to this growth, said Steve Panovski, founder of UBX Cloud.

UBX Cloud, a global cloud service provider, today announced it has opened a branch office in India. Mohamed Ali, a longtime UBX employee, has been awarded the role of branch manager. The new office will provide global technical support, systems engineering and serve as a base for regional sales operations in India.

India is a quickly growing market with a connected consumer population. Were excited to open an office in Coimbatore to further contribute to this growth, said Steve Panovski, founder of UBX Cloud. With a local office presence now in place, our goal is to help even more companies migrate their infrastructure to the cloud and improve the reliability of their critical business systems.

UBX Cloud was founded in 2008 in metro Detroit and has data centers in the United States, India and Latin America. India is an important part of our growth strategy in Asia, said Steve Panovski, With our team in Coimbatore, supported by our global headquarters in metro Detroit, were looking to continue to build out the team and grow our business in India under the leadership of Mohamed Ali.

UBX Cloud was built upon a simple idea: Provide turnkey enterprise managed cloud solutions that are easy to scale at a flat rate. Great customer relationships are at the heart of all that we do at UBX Cloud and in that respect, we want to remove the guesswork of support and metered billing that is found in the public cloud sector, said Steve Panovski.

About UBX Cloud

UBX Cloud is a Michigan-based cloud service provider with data centers in the United States, South America and India. Our services include Managed IT-as-a-Service, Private/Hybrid Cloud, Disaster Recovery, Cloud Workspaces, Veeam Cloud Backup, and a variety of custom IT consulting services. Our team of IT Engineers helps organizations of all kinds maintain uptime and ensure business continuity. For more information, please visit us at https://www.ubxcloud.com or call 1-888-509-2568.


I look forward to focusing our services on companies located in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area, which is one of the most thriving economies in America

Hawkins Parnell & Young, LLP is pleased to announce that Troy Helling has been appointed partner-in-charge of HPYs Dallas office. Helling will be responsible for the management and strategic expansion of the office, which represents prominent individuals to local businesses and corporate clients in a variety of litigation.

Troy is a forward-thinking and capable leader whose guidance will help support the firms overall strategy and grow our presence in the North Texas region, said Jack Sibley, managing partner of HPY. He has an impressive track record litigating cases throughout the state of Texas. Troy is widely respected within the firm and community.

I am excited for the opportunity in my new role, added Helling. For the existence of the Dallas office we have primarily represented Fortune 500 companies based in states outside of Texas. I look forward to focusing our services on companies located in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area, which is one of the most thriving economies in America.

HPYs Dallas office opened in 2003 in response to growing client demands. For more than 15 years the Dallas office has defended national clients coast-to-coast alongside a team of 140 attorneys in HPYs offices across the country. The firm has 18 lawyers licensed in Texas.

Helling represents local businesses in Texas to large global corporations in high-risk litigation throughout the United States. He has extensive experience litigating commercial disputes, employment matters, breach of contract, non-compete provisions, fraud, and deceptive trade practice claims.

Helling received his undergraduate degree from Texas Christian University in 1992 and his law degree from University of Tulsa College of Law in 1998. He is the program chairman for the North Dallas Chamber Board and a committee member for Richardson Area Young Life.

About Hawkins Parnell & Young, LLP

Hawkins Parnell & Young, LLP is a national defense litigation firm that has represented many of the largest and most well-known companies in high-risk litigation and business disputes. The 250-strong litigation team works with clients to develop winning defense strategies and, if necessary, try cases to verdict in all 50 states.
2019 MIAMI Chairman of the Board Jose Maria Serrano Hundreds of thousands of visitors will be coming to South Florida from Feb. 14-24 to participate in boat shows, art festivals, wine festivals and more"

The MIAMI Association of Realtors (MIAMI) is presenting South Floridas biggest open house showcase during the regions busiest 10 days of the year, Feb. 14-24. MIAMI expects more than 2,000 properties at every price range to host open houses in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties. More than $1 billion in houses and condos are participating. View listings: SouthFloridaOpenHouseSearch.com

Hundreds of thousands of visitors will be coming to South Florida from Feb. 14-24 to participate in boat shows, art festivals, wine festivals and more, 2019 MIAMI Chairman of the Board Jose Maria Serrano said. We are using this opportunity to showcase our incredible Miami real estate market with 10 consecutive days of open houses with properties at every price range.

More than 136,000 domestic and international visitors will generate at least 100,000 hotel room nights during the 78th annual Miami International Boat Show on Virginia Key from Feb. 14-18. Art Wynwood (Feb. 14-18), the Coconut Grove Art Festival (Feb. 16-18), the South Beach Wine and Food Festival presented by Food & Wine (Feb. 20-24), the South Miami Rotary Art Festival (Feb. 23-24) and the Artigas Arts Festival (Feb. 16-18) are some other events occurring between Feb. 14-24.

Open House Showcase Smart TV Social Media Contest

South Florida Open House Showcase visitors and listing agents each have a chance to win one of four 50 Toshiba LED 4K TV with HDR Fire TV. Visit MiamiRealtors.com/OpenHouseWeekend for details.

Open house visitors can become eligible to win by taking a selfie with the open house visible in the background and then post your photo on one or more of the following: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Posts must include all three of the following: MLS # (provided at the open house by the Realtor), #OpenHouseShowcase and SouthFloridaOpenHouseSearch.com

Open house listings agents can become eligible by first having their open house listing appear on SouthFloridaOpenHouseSearch.com. The agent profile photo must appear on the listing on SouthFloridaOpenHouseSearch.com.

Deadline for all social media posts is 10 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019. An open house visitor and an open house listing agent will be chosen randomly from list of all eligible posts. Realtors and Realtors family members and employees of the MIAMI Realtors, CoreLogic, Rapattoni and Proxio are not eligible.

Open Houses Sell Properties

Open houses have long been proven effective in buying and selling homes. Open houses, especially in the first few weeks when the home is on the market, make it convenient for the buyers to come and see the house without an appointment. With the holidays approaching, more home buyers are taking time off work to visit open houses. Buyers can see so many more homes in less time.

With more people searching for homes via the Internet, buyers are now walking into open houses knowing about the propertys neighborhood and schools. Many buyers are seeking open houses because they are ready to draw up a contract, especially in a high-demand market like Miami.

MIAMI offers its members many services to enhance their open houses. MIAMI products & services available: http://www.miamirealtors.com/services. In addition, MIAMI has held RPR open houses tips & tricks, iUSE photography and Property Panomras courses and webinars this week.

MIAMIs First Two Open House Weekends Brought Major Exposure to Listings

MIAMI hosted its first South Florida open house weekend on September 15-16, 2018. More than 1,611 MIAMI properties participated. The listings got major exposure with more than 3,100-page views with an average of 4 minutes and 44 seconds per visit.

MIAMI hosted another successful open house weekend on Dec. 8-9, 2018. MIAMI also organizes MIAMI Broker open houses for Realtors every week throughout the year.

About the MIAMI Association of Realtors

The MIAMI Association of Realtors was chartered by the National Association of Realtors in 1920 and is celebrating 99 years of service to Realtors, the buying and selling public, and the communities in South Florida. Comprised of six organizations, the Residential Association, the Realtors Commercial Alliance, the Broward-MIAMI Association of Realtors, the Jupiter Tequesta Hobe Sound (JTHS-MIAMI) Council, the Young Professionals Network (YPN) Council and the award-winning International Council, it represents 47,000 real estate professionals in all aspects of real estate sales, marketing, and brokerage. It is the largest local Realtor association in the U.S. and has official partnerships with 204 international organizations worldwide. MIAMIs official website is http://www.MiamiRealtors.com
So many issues are hiding in plain sight...albeit in a 10 point font.

Hosting a website online has become a necessity for most businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs. With a wide variety of hosting platforms and companies to choose from, each offering different plans, price points, and features, it seems easy enough to find a well-suited hosting package and sign up immediately.

As a business grows, so too does its website, often requiring more resources or different features than a particular plan can support. This disparity is eased by plan upgrades, addon services, and even switching to a different hosting platform.

But this may not be profitable, or even possible, depending on the chosen host. Most web hosts have hidden caveats, fees, and rules buried in the Terms of Service, which the account holder would have already agreed to during the sign-up process. This disproportionately affects small businesses and non-profits who do not have teams on hand to hammer out contracts, or the spare funds available to pay whatever fee the host has set. Some hosts may even hold a website hostage, refusing to allow the transfer or download of data until all fees and conditions have been met.

For example, newer hosts like Wix and SquareSpace use proprietary builders and software. This makes the creation of a website simple and streamlined, but leaves little room for users who wish to transfer elsewhere or explore their options. Websites built with proprietary software cannot be transferred anywhere else, since no competing platform will be capable of supporting the same software. Even with hosts like Weebly, who allow other companies to offer the Weebly builder to their clients, will not allow the transfer of a website, even if both hosts support Weebly. This makes transferring completely impossible without a complete rebuild of the website - something most small businesses don't have the budget for.

Even if you avoid proprietary website builders altogether, traditional hosts can still put up roadblocks to the easy movement and complete management of your website. Hosts like FatCow, Dreamhost, and iPage use proprietary control panels, software required for users to manage and set up their websites. While this does not eliminate the possibility of transferring, it can lead to complications or incomplete transfers, since common control panels such as cPanel cannot properly decode websites created through a proprietary control panel.

Even users who stick to cPanel and build their sites in universally-supported HTML can experience major issues with hosting companies. Regardless of the control panel or structure of a website, the ability to take backups should be universal, but some hosts will either refuse access to backups for transferring users, or block backups altogether, leaving the website trapped on their hosting platform.

Most of these problems can be avoided by sticking to common software and maintaining a good backup policy on the user-end, but many hosts still have hidden fees or rising rates coded into their terms. Although raising prices between sign-up and renewal is an industry standard, the rate at which those prices increase varies wildly. HostGator's rates nearly double between sign-up and renewal, and BlueHost's rates almost triple. iPage will not only surprise you with a renewal bill four times more expensive than what you paid for sign-up, but tack on a $50.00 fee just to cancel your service with them. You'll have to pay iPage if you want to stop paying iPage.

These hidden terms and fees aren't exclusive to one host, either. A staggering number of hosts are actually subsidiaries of a conglomerate called EIG, who has their own core set of policies and price hikes they expect their subsidiaries to adhere to. This means that even if you manage to transfer away from one host, you could be transferring to another host owned by the same parent corporation, with startlingly similar terms and conditions.

With so many issues hiding in plain sight (albeit in a 10 point font,) many small business owners or non-profit directors may be looking for alternatives to hosting a website. While that is definitely an option, and can work if the circumstances are just right, the hosting industry still has some straight shooters with fair pricing, user-first policies, and upfront terms and conditions.

Both GreenGeeks and HostMetro offer introductory rates of $2.95 per month. GreenGeeks is a great choice for people or organizations aiming to protect the environment, while HostMetro offers fixed rates (at $2.95) for the more budget-oriented clients. LiquidWeb only offers fully-managed hosting, which is expensive, but well worth the price considering the host will fix any and all problems with your website, instead of causing more. WebHostingPad also scored high marks in both flexibility and honesty for a shared host, especially considering their $3.49 per month rate for renewals, which is second only to HostMetro's fixed-rate $2.95.

Finding a good hosting company is possible, it just takes a concerted effort, detailed research, and time. Luckily, people looking to launch a new website or transfer to a new host don't have to start from scratch. RateMyHost has already done most of the work, poring over Terms of Service, cold-calling support lines, and ironing out the details into summarized reviews and rankings.

For more information on hosting companies and launching your first website, visit ratemyhost.com
LNE 2019 Best Product Award Nothing makes me happier than hearing from so many women about how much our Decollette pad helped them look and feel better.

SilcSkin  silicone anti-wrinkle pad pioneer and creator of the original and #1 selling Decollette pad  was awarded LNE & Spas Best Product for 2019 in the Neck and Decollete category for the second time. The Decollette Pad was selected based on rave reviews from LNE & Spa readers and attendees of the International Congress of Esthetics and Spa. Developed by two-time Emmy award winning make-up artist Camille Calvet over a decade ago, SilcSkin silicone pads are the secret to preventing and smoothing out wrinkles and scars without chemicals or surgery. Winners are featured on LNEOnline.com: https://lneonline.com/lne-spa-best-2019.

We are incredibly honored to be recognized by Les Nouvelles Esthetiques & Spa again this year, said founder of SilcSkin, Camille Calvet. Nothing makes me happier than hearing from so many women about how much our Decollette pad helped them look and feel better.

Camille discovered the benefits of silicone when working on set as a special effects make-up artist in Hollywood two decades ago. On set one day, she realized after removing silicone material, the skin appeared smoother. This discovery led to the development and launch of the original Decollete silicone pad by SilcSkin (http://www.silcskin.com) in 2003.

Today, SilcSkin is a complete non-invasive anti-aging silicone beauty line that treats and prevents wrinkles on the chest, neck, face and hands overnight. Made from 100% medical grade silicone in the U.S.A under sterile lab conditions, SilcSkin pads are developed using a perfected platinum curing process for a stronger and longer lasting product. SilcSkin pads are waterproof, hypoallergenic, contains no fragrance and allergy causing latex, urethanes or adhesives. Reusable for up to 30 days, SilcSkin is soft and comfortable and simple to use while you sleep. The product is sold at more than 1500 retailers worldwide including high-end ecommerce and catalog.

About

Les Nouvelles Esthetiques & Spa is an internationally recognized magazine and organization established in Paris in 1952 dedicated to bringing inspiration, support and up-to-date knowledge to the world of skin care and spa. LNE & Spas Best Product 2019 marks the 9th annual edition of their Best Product Awards in 46 product and equipment categories in the beauty industry.

Founded in 2003 by Emmy award winning make-up artist Camille Calvet, Calvet Cosmetics, LLC pioneered the use of silicone as a non-invasive anti-wrinkle solution. The company launched with the original #1 selling silicone anti-wrinkle pad called the Decollette Pad designed to combat wrinkles in the chest area. Today, the companys SilcSkin line includes six distinct sets of anti-wrinkle silicone Pads targeting the chest, neck, brow, eyes and mouth areas, Hand Treatment and gentle alcohol free Cleanser. Designed to return skin to a more youthful and supple appearance, SilcSkin Pads remove wrinkles while sleeping. Learn more about Calvet Cosmetics and SilcSkin at http://www.SilcSkin.com and follow on social media at http://www.instagram.com/SilcSkin, http://www.facebook.com/SilcSkin or http:// http://www.twitter.com/SilcSkin.

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Sam Katchmar, an American-born son of Ukrainian immigrants who grew up in Poland during the Second World War and afterward returned to the US, where he enlisted in the Air Force and served until his retirement as master sergeant, has completed his book What If Hitler Won World War II?: a provocative reimagining of the global postwar order.

Sam writes, This book is about the possibility that Hitler and the Germans won the Second World War in 1945.

Published by New York City-based Page Publishing, Sam Katchmars book is a thought-provoking essay imagining different outcomes for the Second World War.

Readers who wish to experience this work can purchaseWhat If Hitler Won World War II? at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional New York-based, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not overwhelmed with logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and the like. Its roster of accomplished authors and publishing professionals allows writers to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues to focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
There are few things more important than passing a passion for service to others, particularly the future generations.

For the second consecutive year, Reminder Services, Inc. - a provider of automated communications for the healthcare industry - has awarded $5,000 in scholarships to physical therapy students who exhibit academic excellence and a strong sense of personal commitment continue their education.

Established in September 2017, the ReminderCall.com Physical Therapy Scholarship provides financial assistance to college sophomores, juniors, seniors or graduate students enrolled in an accredited physical therapy program for the 2018-19 academic year with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0.

The winners of the 2018-19 ReminderCall.com Physical Therapy Scholarship are:



Diego Galaviz, California State University-Dominguez Hills

Kevin Le, Saint Paul College - A Community and Technical College

Savannah McMillen, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

Carl Meyer, Marquette University

Jennifer Thomas, Campbell University

I hope to be a teacher not only in the clinic, but someday also to future physical therapists. There are few things more important than passing a passion for service to others, particularly the future generations. I also want to contribute to or perhaps found a non-profit physical therapy service that is able to narrow the healthcare disparity I see every day, said Meyer, a first-year graduate student.

International Scholarship and Tuition Services, Inc. (ISTS), an independent scholarship management company, hosts the online application process, selects recipients and disburses awards for the program. Learn more at https://www.remindercall.com/physical-therapy-scholarship/.

About Reminder Services, Inc.

Reminder Services, Inc. is a Silicon-Valley based company that provides automated appointment reminders. The ReminderCall.com system lets therapists send appointment reminder calls, reminder text messages and reminder emails to patients. We work with an impressive list of Physical Therapy EHRs, EMRs, and scheduling software products. Therapists can customize everything, from voices and languages to delivery dates, times and frequencies. We help adhere to FCC, TCPA, CANSPAM, HIPAA and CASL guidelines.
Before It Happens: a probing call for change at the grass-roots level, is the creation of published author Rebecca Leach, who lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with her husband and their dog and cat.

Leach writes, In early 2017, after years of seeing things around the world change faster and faster into something unrecognizable to me, I was compelled to write a book. This book is about what is happening with the weather, the land, and with people. Its about where weve been, and where we are, and where we are going. There are many topics addressed. Its a chance to review the mind-set of society and change course. By doing that, we can stop the bleeding and heal. If we continue to do what we have been doing, nothing is going to change for the better. It will just keep getting worse and worse. There is still hope if we take the right path. Come and read through the pages of this book. Think it over. Really think it over. It could change your life. And maybe even change the life of someone you love or care about.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Rebecca Leachs new book is a clear-eyed, level-headed, scripture-based prescription for many of the worlds perceived aches and ills.

With wisdom and insight, Rebecca Leach looks deep into the heart of America and the world to diagnose where it all went wrong, understanding there is a difference between a well-intentioned idea and the execution of it.

View a synopsis of Before It Happens on YouTube.

Consumers can purchaseBefore It Happens at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Before It Happens, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.


(From top left)Dato' Sri Che Khalib Mohamad NohChairman,PTP; PR Venketrama RajaChairman,Ramco Group,Virender AggarwalCEO,Ramco Systems, Marco NeelsenCEO,PTP, at ERP Transformation Signing Ceremony

Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd (PTP), a member of MMC Group has sealed an agreement with Ramco Systems (Ramco) to upgrade the ports current Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) system.

The upgrade is part of PTPs continuous efforts in empowering its digital strategy and enhancing its operational efficiency. In addition, it is also to supplement the ports growing customer demand and requirement of the industry.

Marco Neelsen, Chief Executive Officer of PTP in his statement remarked that the latest digital roadmap is testament to PTPs commitment in providing best in class service for our customers.

Given the pace at which technological advancements are changing the world, it is imperative for PTP to remain competitive and attractive. By investing in the latest technology, we are establishing our terminal as one of the best equipped and most technologically advanced terminal port in the region.

We also wanted to choose a digital solution partner with tools that can aid us in our growth as well as give us the right platform to integrate to advanced technologies. With the product and service that Ramco provides us, we believe it will benefit us well.

Virender Aggarwal, CEO of Ramco Systems stated, as one of the leading trusted ERP software providers, our main objective is to enable the end-to-end digital transformation for our client organisations. PTP, being one of the worlds premier and biggest transhipment ports will expand our expertise while we continue supporting their vision with our technologies and innovations.

Ramcos ability to offer a single integrated suite covering ERP, Finance, HR, and Asset Management all on the same platform coupled with capability to bring latest technology features such as Artificial Intelligence, Chatbots, Mobility and much more has been the key differentiator driving large conglomerates to embark on a digital transformation program, added Aggarwal.

Under the agreement, Ramco will implement its comprehensive ERP suite comprising Procurement, Inventory, Finance, Maintenance, Human Capital Management, Treasury, Loan Management, as well as Planning & Budgeting.

Ramco ERP has been delivering significant innovation, cost savings, and superior business processes to global organisations. Ramcos focus on usability, context-awareness, mobility, overall flexibility and comprehensive functionality has enabled smooth technological transitions for customers.

About Port of Tanjung Pelepas

The Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) is Malaysias largest container terminal. The port delivers reliable, efficient and advanced services to major shipping lines and box operators, providing shippers in Malaysia and abroad extensive connectivity to the global market.

PTP is grouped under MMC Port Holdings Sdn Bhd (MMC Ports), Malaysias largest integrated logistics service provider. MMC Ports is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MMC Corporation Berhad, a leading utilities and infrastructure group with long standing credential and capabilities in ports & logistics, energy & utilities and engineering.

Its terminal operations are backed up by state-of-the-art facilities, equipment and information technology systems linked to all port users. To date, the Port is operating with 14 berths totalling 5.04 km in linear wharf design. The ports container yard is one of the largest container storage facilities in the region with the capacity to handle up to 10.5 million TEU annually.

PTP was accorded Free Zone status in March 1998 and was also appointed as a Free Zone Authority by the Government on 16 June 1999 to administer both the Commercial Free Zone and the Industrial Free Zone. PTP Free Zone provides various advantages to cargo importers and exporters and the direct connection to the port terminal also provides efficient and cost effective container movement between the Free Zone and the port, creating convenience for the container trade.

PTP is also a joint venture between MMC Corporation Berhad (70%), a utilities and infrastructure group and APM Terminals (30%), a leading global ports group with a global port network in 62 countries.

For more information, please visit http://www.ptp.com.my/

About MMC Corporation Berhad

MMC Corporation Berhad (MMC) is a leading utilities and infrastructure group with diversified businesses under three divisions, namely Ports and Logistics, Energy and Utilities and Engineering.

Its key businesses under the Ports and Logistics division include the operations of Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd, Johor Port Berhad, Northport (Malaysia) Bhd, Penang Port Sdn Bhd, Tanjung Bruas Port Sdn Bhd, JP Logistics Sdn Bhd and Kontena Nasional Berhad. Internationally, MMC has presence in Saudi Arabia via Red Sea Gateway Terminal Company Limited, a container port terminal within the Jeddah Islamic Port.

Under the Energy and Utilities division, MMC is the single largest shareholder of both Malakoff Corporation Berhad and Gas Malaysia Berhad.

MMC's Engineering division has continued to stamp its presence in its sector with a leading role as the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) and underground works package contractor for the 51 km Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT) Sungai Buloh- Kajang project (SBK Line) and Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya project (SSP Line). Prior to this, MMC has successfully completed the 329 km Ipoh-Padang Besar Electrified Double Tracking Project as well as the innovative Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) motorway, the first of-its-kind, dual-purpose tunnel in the world.

MMC continues to make inroads in the industry, securing key civil and infrastructure projects in the country namely Langat Centralised Sewerage Treatment Plant, Langat 2 Water Treatment Plant and Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) Pengerang Cogeneration Plant. MMC also has a 20% effective interest in Borneo Highway PDP Sdn Bhd (BHP), the appointed project delivery partner for the Pan Borneo Highway Project in Sabah.

In other businesses, MMC wholly-owns Aliran Ihsan Resources Berhad, a company which specializes in the full spectrum of water treatment and Senai Airport Terminal Services Sdn Bhd, the operator of Senai International Airport in Johor Bahru - a major aviation hub and the main air transportation gateway to Iskandar Malaysia. The Group Property arm of MMC manages close to 6,000 acres of industrial developments in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor and Kulim, Kedah, namely Senai Airport City, Tanjung Bin Petrochemical & Maritime Industrial Centre (TBPMIC) and Northern Technocity (NTC). The Senai Airport City, TBPMIC and NTC developments come under the ambit of the Group Property's three operating companies  Senai Airport City Sdn Bhd, Seaport Worldwide Sdn Bhd and Northern Technocity Sdn Bhd respectively.

Enquiries

Please log on to http://www.mmc.com.my or call:

Azrini Reezan Abd. Latiff, Head of Corporate Affairs, Port of Tanjung Pelepas

Tel : +6019 791 4669 / +607 504 2222 (extension 8602)

Email: azrini(at)ptp.com.my

Azlina Ashar, Head of Group Corporate Communications, MMC Corporation Berhad

Tel: +6019 6688 990 / +603 2071 1124, Fax: +603 2026 2431

Email: azlina.ashar(at)mmc.com.my

About Ramco Systems:

Ramco is a next-gen enterprise software player disrupting the market with its multi-tenant cloud and mobile-based enterprise software in HR and Global Payroll, ERP and M&E MRO for Aviation. Part of the USD 1 billion Ramco Group, Ramco Systems focuses on Innovation and Culture to differentiate itself in the marketplace. On Innovation front, Ramco has been focusing on moving towards Active ERP leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning by building features such as Talk It - which allows transactions to be carried out by simple voice commands, Bot it  which allows users to complete transaction using natural conversations; Mail It  transact with the application by just sending an email; HUB It - a one screen does it all concept built to address all activities of a user; Thumb It  mobility where the system presents users with option to choose rather than type values and Prompt It  a cognitive ability which will let the system complete the transaction and prompts the user for approval.

With 1700+ employees spread across 24 offices, globally, Ramco follows a flat and open culture where employees are encouraged to share knowledge and grow. No Hierarchies, Cabin-less Offices, Respect work and not titles, among others are what makes the team say, Thank God its Monday!

Winner of the HR Vendors of the Year 2018 Awards for Best Payroll Software;

Winner of 2018 ISG Paragon Awards Australia, for Best Imagination Award;

Only APAC vendor to be positioned in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financials, Cloud HCM, EAM and ERP;

Winner Payroll Innovation Award for 2018 by Global Payroll Association;

Positioned as Achiever in Everest Group's Multi-Country Payroll Platform Assessment

For more information, please visit http://www.ramco.com/payroll

Follow Ramco on Twitter @ramcosystems / @ramcohcm and stay tuned to http://blogs.ramco.com

For further information, contact:

Vinitha Ramani

+91 44 6653 4204

vinitharamani(at)ramco.com
OnlineMasters.com, a trusted source for unbiased college rankings and higher education planning, announced the release of their Best Online Master's in Emergency Management Programs for 2019. The research identifies the top programs in the nation based on curriculum quality, program flexibility, affordability, and graduate outcomes.

In addition to insights gained from industry professionals, OnlineMasters.com leveraged an exclusive data set comprised of interviews and surveys from current students and alumni. Each online degree program was analyzed with only 30 making it to the final list. The methodology incorporates the most recent data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and statistical data from the National Center for Education Statistics. Most importantly, only programs from accredited nonprofit institutions were eligible.

Job stability is one the top benefits of a career in emergency management, says Barbara Montgomery, Program Recognition Manager. There will always be a need for professionals to respond to natural disasters or crisis situations, and advanced degree holders will gain a competitive edge.

Students who pursue a masters in emergency management can also gain managerial roles in homeland security, public safety, law enforcement, and logistics. The steady job growth in this market is just one of many reasons OnlineMasters.com researched, analyzed, and ranked the Top Masters in Emergency Management programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit https://www.onlinemasters.com/best-degree-programs/emergency-management/

2019 Best Master's in Emergency Management Degree Programs (in alphabetical order):

Adelphi University

American Military University

Arizona State University

Arkansas State University

Arkansas Tech University

Bellevue University

Boston University

California State University - Long Beach

Capella University

Eastern Kentucky University

Georgetown University

Grand Canyon University

Jacksonville State University

John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Lander University

Liberty University

Millersville University

National University

Nova Southeastern University

Penn State World Campus

Saint Leo University

Southern New Hampshire University

Thomas Jefferson University

University of Alaska Fairbanks

University of Central Florida

University of Florida

University of Maryland - Baltimore County

University of Nebraska Medical Center

University of Nevada - Las Vegas

Virginia Commonwealth University

About OnlineMasters.com

OnlineMasters.com provides proprietary and unbiased research to help students discover their options for the best graduate programs. The organization aims to inspire students to think big and make an impact in society through the pursuit of higher education. With user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, OnlineMasters.com enables students to make informed decisions about earning a masters degree online.


Omron's A2W Wireless Pushbutton won the WTWH LEAP award in the category of Switches & Sensors. 'Great product and technology; an implementation of low-low-low power. Excellent! Great concept to eliminate complex wiring in a crowded electrical circuit and other applications.' - LEAP Award's comment for Omron's A2W wireless pushbutton.

Industrial automation solutions provider Omron Automation Americas is honored to have been chosen as the winning finalist in the category of Switches & Sensors for the LEAP Awards. Run by business-to-business publisher WTWH Media, LLC, this prominent design engineering competition celebrates the most innovative new products in a variety of technology areas.

Omrons winning product is its A2W Wireless Pushbutton, a battery-free device that improves flexibility through eliminating the need to install extra infrastructure including wiring and conduits. Overall, the A2W offers manufacturers more freedom, less maintenance and world-class reliability with a 922.2 MHz frequency band that allows it to reduce interference while providing highly reliable wireless communication.

Comments from the judges singled out the pushbuttons exceptionally low power requirements as well as its ability to reduce complexity on the production line. Great product and technology; an implementation of low-low-low power. Excellent! they wrote in their summary. Great concept to eliminate complex wiring in a crowded electrical circuit and other applications.

The LEAP Awards  short for Leadership in Engineering Achievement Program  honor the best product designs in 14 categories, including Additive Manufacturing, Connectivity, Hydraulics, Motion Control and several more. Omron was also a finalist for its CIP Safety Controller in the category of Industrial Automation.

Omron is proud to have been selected for the award and looks forward to continuing its efforts to design and launch innovative new products that help manufacturers improve their throughput and flexibility.

To learn more information on the A2W Wireless Pushbutton, please click here.

About Omron Automation

Omron Automation is an industrial automation partner that creates, sells and services fully integrated automation solutions that include robotics, sensing, motion, logic, safety and more. Established in 1933 and currently headed by President Yoshihito Yamada, Omrons 36,000 employees help businesses solve problems with creativity in more than 110 countries. Learn more at omron247.com.


Summa Mining Logo The 58 Nevada claims have a long history with several former owners, including the infamous Howard Hughes.

Summa LLC recently gained ownership of 58 patented mining claims in and around Tonopah, Nevada. The non-jury trial was originally held March 14-15, 2018, but after an extensive legal battle between Jablonski Enterprises Ltd. and Summa LLC, the final decision for case No: CV36740 was filed in favor of Summa LLC.

The 58 Nevada claims have a long history with several former owners, including the infamous Howard Hughes.

Due to a death of a former owner of the mining claims, Jablonski attempted to acquire the mining claims with power he did not have. Jablonski did not act in good faith regarding the purchase of the mining claims   The Fifth Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada in and For the County of Nye, in its Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Judgment."

The Court found Summa LLC to be the appropriate and rightful owner of these claims.

Days after the decision Summa LLC sold the first of the Patented Mining Claims awarded in legal battle. Soloro Metals bought the Copper Chief Claim (#2044), a patented lode mining claim in Clark County, Nevada. As part of the agreement, Summa LLC retains .005 (one half of one percent) Net Smelter Returns royalty on the sale of any minerals Soloro Metals mines for the duration of Soloro Metals ownership.

The 15.80-acre mining claim, priced at $103,000, is one of 5 mining claims in Clark County owned by Summa LLC.

About Summa LLC

Summa LLC is a Nevada-based, privately held company with mining claims in Clark County, Esmeralda County, Mineral County, Churchill County and Nye County. For more information about Summa LLC or to view Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Judgement, visit Summa LLC at http://summamining.com/
Blood Moon Rising: Shawnee Friends Mission Series, Book 2: a highly dramatic story that delves into a womans harrowing moments of slavery and a quest for liberation. Blood Moon Rising is the creation of published author, Margaret Mendenhall, a local pastor, teacher, and womens conference speaker.

Mendenhall shares, Its 1858. The Kansas-Missouri border seethes with racial hatred between antislavery and proslavery factions. Amid this unrest, Mia arrives in Kansas Territory from Indian Territory to visit her grandparents at the Shawnee Friends Mission. The pleasant trip she has planned turns into a terrifying ordeal as she finds herself in the clutches of slave traders. Coming from a Quaker upbringing, her antislavery convictions are tested when she escapes slavery and certain death through the quick wit and sharpshooting of David Taylora slave owner. Although Mia and Davids conflict of beliefs takes them in different directions, Mia cannot get him off her mind or out of her prayers. David follows a bloody path led by a madman bent on destroying the abolitionists. Will Mias prayers be enough to save the life of the man who saved hers?

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Margaret Mendenhalls new book follows the unparalleled resolve of one woman despite the woes of abuse and conflict.

This book also exudes with powerful virtues of faith, godliness, and compassion in life.

View a synopsis of Blood Moon Rising: Shawnee Friends Mission Series, Book 2 on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase Blood Moon Rising: Shawnee Friends Mission Series, Book 2 at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Blood Moon Rising: Shawnee Friends Mission Series, Book 2, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Lori Grote celebrating with Landings of Huber Heights residents My passion is paying attention to things you are naturally drawn to. They are often connected to your path, passion and purpose. For me, its helping people enjoy a purposeful life

Landings of Huber Heights, a Meridian Senior Living Community, is proud to recognize the contribution of Lori Grote as their Executive Director. Landings of Huber Heights joined the Meridian Senior Living portfolio on April 5, 2018 with Lori Grote as Executive Director. Ms. Grote successfully fulfills her role in meeting the needs of the residents, families, and staff. She oversees the overall management and the day-to-day operations of the facility, while maintaining compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Her position also manages the hiring, training and supervision of qualified staff while ensuring continuity and consistency in delivery and quality of services. Furthermore, Ms. Grote establishes a working relationship with regulatory agencies, family members, and community advocates to ensure an optimal environment for residents.

Ms. Grote brings more than twenty years of experience to Landings of Huber Heights in healthcare administration and marketing for memory care, assisted living, home care, and hospice to their team. In addition to her experience, she is a Certified Dementia Practitioner and certified as a Facilitator for Memory Care Support Groups. Her expertise in healthcare management ranges from budgeting and program planning to staff training and development. Previously, she has held various positions within other healthcare organizations including Administrator, Executive Director of Operations, Director of Memory Care, Director of Operations and Marketing, and Operation and Marketing Manager.

My passion is paying attention to things you are naturally drawn to. They are often connected to your path, passion and purpose. For me, its helping people enjoy a purposeful life, states Ms. Grote. I strive to create purpose, excitement and learning. My favorite quote, The things that excite you are not random. They are connected to your purpose. Follow them.

Ms. Grote has achieved multiple accomplishments in her field. She has been awarded three-time Regional Manager of the quarter, top five for sales in the district every month for four years, implemented new memory care programming for patient purposeful quality of life, and created programs for team building and employee and customer satisfaction.

Landings of Huber Heights Assisted Living and Memory Care is located at 6200 Bellefontaine Road, Huber Heights, OH 45424. For more information about Landings of Huber Heights visit: landingsofhuberheights.com or call (937) 236-1800.

About Meridian Senior Living:

Meridian Senior Living, LLC, a privately held company, owns and operates senior housing communities across the United States. With more than 7,000 beds, Meridian is currently the eighteenth largest senior housing operator in the United States. Meridian prides itself on providing the highest quality care and affordable living options to residents in their own communities. Although large in scale, Meridian focuses its growth effort on building state-of-the-art properties in cities outside major markets. For more information on Meridian Senior Living, visit us online at http://www.meridiansenior.com.
ALFs: Doorways To Heaven: a defining narrative that imparts a lesson of unconditional love for elders, especially those living within the walls of the home for the aged. ALFs: Doorways To Heaven is the creation of published author, Jim Plautz, a prolific minister assigned to an ALF.

Plautz shares, ALFsDoorways to Heaven is a book about Gods forgotten children, the elderly that live in Assisted Living Facilities. We should do more for this lost generation and take care of their souls as well as their bodies. There are no wheelchairs in heaven.

Many of the elderly are Christians who believe Jesus Christ died on the cross to provide a path to everlasting life, for those who love God and love their neighbor as well as themselves. Lets remind them of Gods love. Some are Roman Catholics that have been celebrating mass on Sundays, for fifty, sixty, or seventy years. Now, when they need God most, their church is failing them. Eucharistic ministers visit them once a week, usually on Wednesdays. Once a month a priest will offer mass. Is this enough? Shouldnt the church be doing more?

Yes, priests and deacons are busy on Sundays, but why not use eucharistic ministers to offer communion services on Sundays at ALFs with ten or more Catholics? Invite all Christians and offer blessings to non-Catholics. Its not a mass, but its better than nothing. It allows ALF residents to read liturgy, receive Holy Communion and pray together on Sundays  the Lords Day.

Many residents are in their eighties or nineties. The lucky ones can remember the good times. Although their bodies are deteriorating, their minds are sharp. Some are World War II veterans; some are mothers and grandmothers who sacrificed material goods for their children. This book tells some of their stories and offers a format for conducting a Sunday Communion Service and includes commonly used Christian prayers. Examples are offered based upon the authors experience.

Who should read this book? ALF residents, children considering placing their parents in an ALF, eucharistic ministers conducting communion services, and ALF activities directors and caregivers will find this book meaningful. We can do more!

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Jim Plautzs new book conveys a powerful testament of practicing the Christian faith within the elders facilities by evangelization through proper, meaningful rites.

View a synopsis of ALFs: Doorways To Heaven on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase ALFs: Doorways To Heaven at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about ALFs: Doorways To Heaven, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
The Bear: a riveting account of a young boys determination to overcome the challenge of Bear Mountain and himself. The Bear is the creation of published author, James C. McElroy, a teacher, principal, and assistant superintendent of schools in New Jersey with a doctorate in education from Rutgers University.

McElroy shares, Will Cogswell, a woods-wise boy of twelve, is spending the summer with his grandparents deep in the woods of Washington's Cascade Mountains. His grandparents are owners of the resort, Bridal Veil Falls Lodge. Two lodge guests, Jaime and Petey, challenge Will's abilities as a woodsman in an effort to get him to lead them to the top of Bear Mountain. Will gives in to the visiting boys mocking, and the three set out on what will become a life-changing experience. Bear Mountain lives up to its name, and all three boys find themselves in a frightening highly dangerous situation. The harrowing experience teaches Will some valuable lessons. Don't try to be someone different from who you really are. More importantly, Will is reminded that a person of honor always keeps his word.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, James C. McElroys new book also exudes with the thought-provoking notion of honor as a pivotal virtue that every man must possess.

View a synopsis of The Bear on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase The Bear at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about The Bear, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
My Life Story God's Love Story He Cares For You: a glowing testimony of a blessed life, is the creation of published author Jackie Bauder, a baptized Seventh-Day Adventist and mother of two from Enid, Oklahoma.

This book is a testament of how the Lord has helped me and my family throughout our lives, Bauder shares, providing for and helping us with the choices we make in our daily lives. The meaning of this book is very special. It outlines the details of how God has taken care of us. The colored, underlined, and capitalized words point out just how much God does care about us.

I pray that whoever reads this book, finds that God is there for them, even though they may not think he is. I also pray that this will lead everyone that chooses to read this to a better relationship with God, as it has with me in writing it.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Jackie Bauders new book is an engaging compilation of anecdotes, diary entries, lists, biblical puzzlings, personal notes, psalms of praise, and other meditations over the course of the authors life as a witness to Gods grace.

Throughout the volume, Bauder encourages praise, worship, and prayerful meditation in the reader through her own disarmingly fervent example.

View a synopsis of My Life Story God's Love Story He Cares For You on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase My Life Story God's Love Story He Cares For You at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about My Life Story God's Love Story He Cares For You, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Keeping full coverage on old cars can be a costly mistake. If your car is around 10 years old, you may want to check its current value and compare it with how much you will get after a claim. said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Carinsurancehints.com has released a new blog post explaining why drivers should reduce coverage on old cars, thus getting cheaper car insurance premiums



A cars value gets down over time. Like many other things, a cars value depreciates over time. When offering claims, insurance companies use the term Actual Cash Value (ACV). This is the value of the car at the moment accident, not the original value. This is usually significantly lower, depending on the age of the car. A car models current value can be checked through various specialized websites.

A ten-year-old car has a really low value when compared with its initial value. If the car has full coverage, it may not be worthy. It only takes a simple math test to figure out if the policyholder is overpaying or not. Get online quotes from https://www.carinsurancehints.com.

Check if the annual cost of full coverage insurance is more than 10% of the cars replacement value. If the answer is yes, then the client may be overpaying.

The cost of replacing entirely an old car or even some parts may be too high. For old cars, some parts may be too scarce. Finding and repairing the car can be costlier than the current value.

Carinsurancehints.com is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.

For more information and money-saving tips, please visit https://www.carinsurancehints.com.
There is nothing more rewarding than finding, connecting and guiding successful business owners through the many steps necessary to conclude a sale, said Christine Motta, an agent with Comer Business Brokers.

Wild Birds Unlimited, a Glastonbury, CT specialty retail store, announced that Roger and Jennifer Fontaine have acquired substantially all of the assets of the company from its current owner, Ronald Bailey. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Wild Birds Unlimited is the largest retail franchise specializing in bringing people and nature together. It offers a wide variety of products such as bird seed, feeders, baths, houses and many other bird-feeding and observatory supplies, with more than 325 stores throughout the United States and Canada.

This CT location was started back in 1990 and purchased by Ron Bailey in 2004. It has been supplying the central part of the state with quality products, information and guidance on backyard birding since its inception. Ron Bailey, a bird lover at heart, and with the assistance of his knowledgeable staff, has grown the business while educating its loyal customer base for over 14 years now. This is an emotional sale for Ron. Although his dream of operating the store full-time himself was never reached due to a demanding career, his passion for the product never waned. Ron shared, Im confident that I found the right person, in Roger, to continue servicing my customers as they have come to expect. His fresh energy, affection for the brand and determination guarantees he will be very successful. He also added, Christine Motta of Comer Business Brokers worked tirelessly to find the right buyer for my unique business. This was a complex transaction between seller, buyer, franchise and landlord. Christine was a tremendous communicator and mediator and researcher and worked with all parties to come to the right outcome for everyone. She was truly amazing and encouraging to work with and I am very thankful.

Wild Birds Unlimited is a trusted name in the birding community and Roger is ready to share his love for birds every opportunity he gets. Roger is leaving a long-standing corporate career to manage the store full-time with the assistance of his wife. Roger stated, Jennifer and I are looking forward to building off of Rons strong customer base and continuing to grow and expand the business in Glastonbury and throughout its surrounding towns. Roger also added, purchasing this business was a lot more involved than I expected, and I was grateful for the encouragement, guidance and suggested resources offered by Christine Motta of Comer Business Brokers. Now, we look forward to bringing people and nature together through the joy of bird feeding!

It was a pleasure to work with Ron and Roger on the sale of this niche retailer, offered Christine Motta, an Agent with Comer Business Brokers who assisted the owner with this transaction. There is nothing more rewarding than finding, connecting and guiding successful business owners through the many steps necessary to conclude a sale.

About Comer Business Brokers, LLC

Comer Business Brokers, LLC, is a full-service business brokerage firm located in Fairfield County and services the entire state of Connecticut and Westchester County, NY. Christine Motta, a former business owner and past client, now shares her knowledge of business and the sale process with CTs small business owners. She works closely with Irina Comer, the owner and founder of Comer Business Brokers, who has more than 15 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions of all types and sizes. Prior to starting her career in business brokerage industry, she spent 10 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers advising local, national, and international companies on transactional issues, including valuation, diligence, structuring and positioning. After obtaining her MBA from New York Universitys Stern School of Business, Irina worked with mergers and acquisitions division of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. For a full list of services and listings please refer to http://www.comerbb.com.
Dr. Martin Courtney is pleased to offer the LANAP protocol gum disease treatment and LAPIP protocol for ailing dental implants to the Northridge and surrounding areas. Dr. Courtney's decision to become LANAP protocol trained makes him part of a growing population of dentists looking to provide their patients with top-tier care without sacrificing patient comfort.

"The LANAP and LAPIP protocols are able to address the growing problem of gum disease in our community, which people often do not seek treatment for," said Dr. Courtney. "Just as effective as traditional surgery, these treatment methods provide the benefit of being less painful for patients."

The LANAP protocol can be performed in as little as one treatment session, and is safe to use on patients with health concerns such as diabetes, heart disease, and hemophilia, without discontinuing medication. It is the only scientifically proven laser gum disease treatment FDA cleared to regenerate the bone and tissues lost to gum disease.

Gum disease is a chronic bacterial infection that rarely has any symptoms in its early stages. Despite the lack of symptoms or pain, the disease can still cause serious damage to your mouth, leading to loss of teeth, which has been tied to decreased lifespan. Additionally, several other serious illnesses like cancer, heart disease and diabetes have suggested links to gum disease.

LANAP treatment users laser energy to target the source of gum disease, without harming or removing any healthy gum tissue, decreases pocket depth, and allows the body to recover from the chronic infection without the need for scalpel or sutures. In cases of failing dental implants, the LAPIP treatment is used to treat peri-implantitis and save the implant. Patients report less pain and less post-op sensitivity and a quicker recovery when compared to traditional osseous surgery. The LANAP treatment is a patented procedure that requires doctors to complete advanced training from the Institute for Advanced Laser Dentistry (IALD).

For information on the LANAP gum disease treatment, call Dr. Courtney's office at (818) 456-0246 for an appointment.

About Dr. Courtney

Dr. Martin C. Courtney received his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from USC School of Dentistry in 1983. He has been providing excellent, gentle dental care to his patients for over 32 years. Dr. Courtney stays current with the latest advancements in the dental field by taking twice as many education courses as required by state law. Dr. Courtney is a member of the American Dental Association, California Dental Association and San Fernando Valley Dental Society.
Let My People Go!: a nudge in the right direction, is the creation of published author David G. Drach, a modern-day prophet reaching out to modern-day disciples.

Drach writes, We know that the New Testament is not written in classical Greek form. It is, however, Hebrew in its thought pattern and sentence structures. This should be anticipated, as the writers were predominantly born-again, Spirit-filled, tongue-talking Hebrew Christians. The Message that they passed on to us must be interpreted from this perspective in order to arrive at the truths they intended to convey to us. A failure to interpret and receive their writings from their perspective results in a twisting of the scriptures and a skewed, distorted picture of the Gospel Message.

In delivering the message of the Gospel, we as believers and ministers are called by God to carry the mail. As the mailmen of God, we have no right to change in any way the content of the Message we carry. When we do this, we find that there are a small number of Greek words upon which their Gospel Message is built. These words become the threads of revelation, that when woven together, reveal the true picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

With the exception of the apostle Paul, most of the New Testament writers were not scholars, but blue-collar workers; fishermen, tax collectors, etc. People like us. If it was not too deep for them to write, it is not too deep for us to understand. After all, Jesus Promised that the same Holy Spirit who inspired those men would guide you into all the truth (John 16:13).

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, David G. Drachs new book is a soul-bracing reminder that Christs Gospel is simple to understand but takes courage and trust to receive and live as it was originally intended.

Drach posits that, ultimately, the lives of modern Christians must demonstrate the same Gospel as that of the first disciples, and if there is any discrepancyand there isthen this book will help to show the way back.

View a synopsis of Let My People Go! on YouTube.

Consumers can purchaseLet My People Go! at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Let My People Go!, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.


Chris background in building successful medical device companies will be a major asset.

ControlRad, LLC, a privately-held medical technology company, focused on dramatically reducing the amount of radiation exposure during fluoroscopically guided procedures, is pleased to announce that Chris Fair has joined its senior management team as Executive Vice President and President of the Mobile C-arm business.

Mr. Fair has been a leader in the musculoskeletal and regenerative marketplace for over 25 years including taking part in several successful exits. Most recently, Mr. Fair was the Chief Executive Officer of Spinal Elements, a Kohlberg & Company operating company focused in the spinal implant marketplace.

Chris is an outstanding addition to our team, says Guillaume Bailliard, ControlRad CEO. As we move into an accelerated growth mode, Chris background in building successful medical device companies will be a major asset. Chris will be responsible for building the mobile C-arm business, among other key corporate initiatives.

I am honored to join Guillaume and his team to help build a rock-solid foundation for sustainable and scalable success. ControlRad is perfectly positioned to change the lives of thousands of patients and medical staff around the world. I am excited to have the opportunity to help make such a profound difference, says Mr. Fair. In my career, I have seen a few technologies at an early stage that you know will significantly impact the health and safety of so many lives. ControlRads platform does that as well as provides unparalleled protection to nurses and surgeons treating the patient.

Chris currently sits on the Parker H Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience Advisory Board of the Georgia Institute of Technology as well as several privately held medical and regenerative medicine technology companies. Mr. Fair graduated from the University of Richmond Robins School of Business.

About ControlRad

ControlRad is a privately held medical technology company developing innovative products that dramatically reduce the lifetime risk of radiation exposure from fluoroscopically guided procedures (FGP) for patients and healthcare professionals. These products are designed to improve safety without compromising image quality or workflow. This is accomplished with an integrated set of proprietary components, which optimize the X-ray beam to deliver optimal image quality in the clinically-relevant region while maintaining appropriate resolution in the periphery. ControlRad is headquartered in Philadelphia and has engineering development facilities in Kfar Saba, Israel. For more information, visit https://www.controlrad.com.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce has adopted a bold new brand identity that reflects the business group's warmth and strength, engaged and collaborative spirit, and passion for innovation and effectiveness.

As part of the updated identity, the group has adopted a new name --The Chamber -- and tagline -- For a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro. In addition, The Chamber has adopted a new logo mark that features a central blue circle surrounded by concentric C shapes in complementary colors. The mark is designed to represent The Chamber's deep roots in Chapel Hill, with work that radiates out to the greater community of Carrboro, Orange County, Chatham County and beyond. The three "Cs" also convey the group's core mission of building community, collaboration and connection.

"This new brand captures who we are as an organization and what we stand for, both in name and in look and feel," said Aaron Nelson, President and CEO of The Chamber. "We're excited to roll it out and position The Chamber as an inclusive and growth-oriented organization."

To develop the new brand identity, The Chamber worked in close partnership with Rivers Agency, a full-service integrated marketing firm based in Chapel Hill with world-class clients, including Fantastic Sams, Research Triangle Park (RTP), Capel Rugs and CREE Led. The process included more than a year of board retreats, membership surveys and discussions with key stakeholders, as well as consideration of more than two dozen creative concepts.

That discovery process informed the creation of the new brand, which includes three versions of a more contemporary logo, an updated color palette, and a new minimalist font that works well in both print and online formats all created by Rivers Agency.

The Chamber's board and staff introduced the new brand identity to more than 400 community leaders at the group's 76th annual meeting held on Feb. 1. Reagan Greene Pruitt, Immediate Past Chair of The Chamber and Vice President, Marketing & Community Engagement, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, led the presentation.

Rivers Agency is updating marketing collateral with The Chamber's new brand, including social media properties, email and ad templates, letterhead and business cards. These new assets provide The Chamber team with the foundation to carry the brand forward and implement it more broadly. To ensure the new brand is applied consistently, easy-to-use brand guidelines were developed and are available to The Chamber's partners.

For media inquiries, contact Rivers Agency:

publicrelations@riversagency.com

919-932-9985
Catan Fashions Bridal Salon Every bride deserves a memorable shopping experience.

Catan Fashions, one of the most prominent names in bridal attire in the greater Cleveland area, is proudly celebrating their one year anniversary. Founder and designer Patrice Catan moved Catan Fashion and new bridal salon concept to Broadview Heights, Ohio from Strongsville in 2017 after a brief retirement.

Catan Fashions offers brides-to-be hundreds of exclusive bridal gowns styles, sized 0-30 designed by Patrice Catan. All of these gowns can be customized to provide that one of a kind feel every bride deserves. Patrice also has designed a bridesmaid collection that offers hundreds of colors with a simple pricing structure; $199 for Long Dresses and $179 for Short Dresses. Catan Fashions also carries the hottest Mother of the Bride and Groom and Special Occasion, Flower Girl Dresses and First Communion Dresses. Ice the Cake with Catan Fashions finishing touches like veils, headpieces and jewelry.

For over three decades award-winning entrepreneur and bridal designer, Patrice Catan has built a name in the wedding industry that is synonymous with hard work, integrity and style. She has earned numerous accolades and business awards, including the Gold Award for Best Bridal Retail, every year since 2003. As founder of Catan Bridal, once the largest bridal salon in the nation, Patrice has serviced tens of thousands of brides and has also been a featured speaker and expert at bridal events across the country.

Catan credits her career successes to her father, Pat Catanzarite, a pioneer in the crafts industry who opened his first small artificial flower store in 1954 which eventually grew into Pat Catans Craft Centers, one of the countrys largest importers, manufacturers and wholesalers of crafts and craft-related products, now with thirty-five stores in Ohio and Pennsylvania. In February 2016, the Pat Catan Craft Centers were sold to Michaels.

Please note Catan Fashions is NOT affiliated with Pat Catans Craft Centers or Michaels and will NOT be affected by the recently announced closures.

For more information on Catan Fashions, contact them through their website or call 440-736-7755.

Company: Catan Fashions

Address: 9194 Broadview Road

City: Broadview Heights

State: OH

Zip code: 44147

Telephone number: 440-736-7755

Email address: palberty@catanfashions.com
Determine your innate culture code and put the building blocks in place to intentionally build a culture that matches your company mission and vision.

The HR West Conference announces that Dianna Wilusz, CEO/Founder of The Pendolino Group, will be speaking in March 2019 on the topic of Cracking the Code: The Elusive Nature of Culture.

In this session, conference attendees explore the multifaceted, multifarious, and multiform state of culture and participate in using a newly designed, online assessment to quickly measure their organizations innate culture versus their desired culture to uncover the highest leverage gaps and develop an action plan to quickly align their team to the company mission and vision. Fans of Dianna Wilusz and The Pendolino Group get $100 off conference registration when they use promo code PRESENTER19.

Though organizational culture dominates many HR discussions, 78% of companies report that culture initiatives either fail to take root or result in unintended, negative consequences. Because we all project our own values and expectations on the notion of culture, we struggle to find consensus. Using her hallmark, high-energy approach, Dianna and her co-presenters, Brenda Tan and Geoff Lorigan, will quickly engage you to determine your innate culture code and put the building blocks in place to intentionally build a culture that matches your company mission and vision. The Pendolino groups workshops at HR West events have consistently scored 4.75 or greater on participant satisfaction and engagement. Brenda Tan, a contributing member of The Pendolino Group, is Sr Director of Total Rewards at Audentes Therapeutics. Geoff Lorigan is Founder and Advisory Board Chair at the Institute for Strategic Leadership.

March 11-13, 2019 will bring three days of professional development, insightful discussions, networking, and practical tools for attendees to take back to their workplaces. Attendees create their own attendee experience with more than 80 concurrent sessions (most for HR recertification credits) to address specific professional and organizational needs.

As the premiere HR conference on the West Coast, the HR West Conference selection committee receives hundreds of speaker proposals for the concurrent session slots and scores them based on the conferences prestigious criteria. Dianna Wilusz was selected in a highly competitive speaker proposal selection process.

For a full agenda and more information, visit HRWest.org.

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About The Pendolino Group

The Pendolino Group is a premier Human Resources consulting firm, headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, specializing in the Four Pillars of Business Success: Strategic Planning & Visioning; Compensation & Benefits; Leadership, Training & Development; and Performance & Engagement. The Pendolino Group targets Human Resources and Business Process Design as the cornerstone for optimizing overall business performance and growth. They focus on fostering human resourcefulness and inspired performance by creating a rewarding collaborative workplace that generates significant business results. For more information visit https://www.PendolinoGroup.com. You can also find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PendolinoGroup.

About HR West

The HR West Conference, where you go to find out Whats Next, is produced by Next Concept HR Association, the second-largest HR association in the U.S. Convening annually for 35 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, the conference takes place in one of the most innovative places on earthhome to the worlds leading-edge companies. Practicing HR in the West requires skills beyond the ordinary. Join these three phenomenal days of learning, networking and inspiration. More than 80 concurrent sessions (most for HR recertification credit or ATD points) to address specific company needs March 11-13, 2019. Follow #HRWest19 on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for the latest online conference buzz. For more information visit http://www.HRWest.org.
Businesses and organizations seeking trusted opinion and market research data can once again rely on the most-recognized name in the field to provide them with the insights they need to drive their success. Dr. Angus Reid, Canada's longest-practicing pollster, is pleased to announce the formation of his newest company  Angus Reid Global.

Data-driven, client-focused, and technologically advanced, Angus Reid Global is an opinion and market research organization designed to disrupt the research landscape with the same vigour that technology has transformed everyday lives  by being responsive, intuitive, engaging, social, and mobile.

Over the past 40 years, 10 million people across Canada have participated in Angus Reid surveys  answering the questions that matter to the country and to decision-makers, says Dr. Angus Reid, Chairman, CEO, and founder of Angus Reid Global. With this new company, that tradition of trust and excellence meets the mobile-social-digital age, backed by a team that is passionate about delivering insightful data that informs decisions across all sectors of our society and economy.

An Accomplished Insights Team

Dr. Reid also announces the formation of a new leadership team, headed by a highly accomplished and experienced research professional as President and Chief Operating Officer, Ed Morawski.

Research is changing  because people and technology are changing, says Ed Morawski, speaking on the new reality of research. And while data and technology power our organizations, ultimately, we are in the people business; all of us  from research managers to company founders, from politicians to brand managers. People and their opinions, experiences, behaviours, and attitudes affect every single thing we do and every single decision we arrive at. Thats why getting trusted, immediate, and insightful information is so powerful.

Morawski is joined by a seasoned team of research and opinion community experts. Demetre Eliopoulos is Senior Vice President and Managing Director of the companys public affairs consultancy. Cailey Asher is the teams Senior Vice President of Strategy and Development, helping businesses and organizations identify their research needs and connecting them to the right solutions. And Sonia Bishop heads up panel operations as Senior Vice President of Operations.

Canadas Most Trusted Opinion Community

At the heart of Angus Reid Global lives the Angus Reid Forum, comprised of a representative and inclusive group of Canadians from coast to coast. The Angus Reid Forum is more than a research panel; its a community. Deeply profiled and engaged respondents provide thoughtful answers to client questions. Forum members can be reached wherever they are online via text, email, or social media.

Intuitive, mobile-first, and built to deliver quantitative and qualitative results, Angus Reid Globals technology elevates the data collection experience, driving ever more powerful data outcomes to businesses and organizations across the country and beyond.

A Question of Integrity

"At a time when there is so much concern over privacy and the inappropriate use of big data, the Angus Reid Forum sets a new standard for transparency, giving its members unprecedented control over the content they share," adds Dr. Reid. And with a beautifully designed survey experience that is mobile-first and respectful of respondents time and effort, the Forum delivers quality and integrity on every front.

For decision makers across the country  from the boardroom to government chambers, from the startup shared space to the product launch team  opinion data is essential. Asking the questions that matter will yield the answers that count. Angus Reid Global is on board  and online  to deliver.

For more information about Angus Reid Global, visit: http://www.angusreid.com or follow on Twitter @angusreidinc.

For further information or to set up an interview with Dr. Angus Reid please contact:

Tim Travis

Director of Marketing

tim.travis@angusreid.com

778.991.2524

About Dr. Angus Reid:

Dr. Angus Reid has spent more than four decades asking people what they think and feel about top social, governance and economic issues. From 1979 to 2001, he was founder and CEO of Angus Reid Group, which grew into the largest research firm in Canada, with revenues of $60 million. It was sold to Ipsos SA in 2000. In 2003, he joined his son Andrew's research software start-up, Vision Critical, as CEO. When he retired as executive chair in 2014, Vision Critical had revenues over $100 million.

Reid is author of the best-seller "Shakedown: How the New Economy is Changing our Lives" (1996). He received a Ph.D. in Sociology from Carleton University in Ottawa, is the recipient of a Canada Council Doctoral Fellowship, holds three Honorary doctorates, and has been inducted into the Marketing Hall of Legends.

About the Angus Reid Forum:

The Angus Reid Forum is Canadas most well-known and trusted online public opinion community consisting of engaged residents across the country who answer surveys on topical issues that matter to all Canadians.

About Angus Reid Global:

Angus Reid is Canadas most well-known and respected name in opinion and market research data. Offering a variety of research solutions to businesses, brands, governments, not-for-profit organizations and more, the Angus Reid Global team connects technologies and people to derive powerful insights that inform business and policy decisions.

Data is collected through a suite of tools utilizing the latest technologies. Prime among that is the Angus Reid Forum, an opinion community consisting of engaged residents across the country who answer surveys on topical issues that matter to all Canadians.

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Advantage GPS, a Procon Analytics company that captures and translates raw data into actionable business intelligence and assists in the mitigation of financial losses to automotive finance companies, has announced a strategic partnership with the American Recovery Association (ARA), the worlds largest association of certified, trained and compliant recovery and remarketing professionals.

Exponential increases in the cost of operating an automobile recovery business  rising costs of trucks, diesel prices, insurance, compliance, and training  has made more it difficult for these businesses to operate profitability and has forced many out altogether. In addition, a recent report from S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices saw auto default rates increased 10 basis points to 1.03 percent to close out 2018, representing the largest sequential rise since another 10-bps leap from August to September in 2017. Indicating the need for strategic partnerships such as this.

The partnership is designed to enhance the ability of ARA members to more quickly and less expensively locate and recovery finance company collateral. ARA has already announced a Unity Initiative in 2019 with Time Finance Adjusters, a national recovery trade association, and together they plan to strengthen their relationships with other leading trades associations including: the National Automotive Finance Association; American Financial Services Association; National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions; the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association; state and regional trades associations; and technology experts serving the industry, such as Advantage GPS.

The strategic alliance between ARA and Advantage GPS comes at a time when the recovery association is moving forward with important initiatives to improve the health of the industry, work more closely with their finance partners, and employ cutting-edge technology and artificial intelligence, said David Meyer, president of Advantage GPS. We have just launched our newest product line, the low-cost, 4G, wire-free Revo family of GPS devices, which dovetails perfectly with the goals for recovery association.

Revo, the first wire-free GPS device in the marketplace is made possible through the introduction of powerful, long-lasting batteries coupled with sophisticated hardware and software, to provide a powerful, smart, and useful tool to mitigate losses for finance companies, and also reduce costs for recovery agents.

The Advantage GPS platform includes smart impound lot technology, including all locations of ARA members across North America, and automatically creates geofences around the ARA impound lots and sends lenders alerts when one of their vehicles enters. This along with risk mitigation dashboard that is powered by artificial-intelligence greatly enhances the ability for finance companies to mitigate losses, while making it easier for recovery companies to locate and access vehicles.

My relationship with Less and ARA has stemmed for nearly 2 decades, added Meyer. Its exciting to partner with him and his team once again.

Less McCook, executive director, of the American Recovery Association, said he has known Meyer and understands the GPS collateral protection device industry well.

We fully welcome working with an innovative group focused on eliminating outdated technology in the market, McCook said. In our industry its crucial to track and implement the latest technologies to help our members thrive. Employing artificial intelligence to assist recovery agents in locating vehicles is a game-changer. We will look back on this, and wonder how we every did our jobs without it.

McCook said he looks forward to a long-term relationship with Advantage GPS and looks to work even more closely in the future.

Our Unity Initiative with TFA and the enhancement for our relationships with a variety of national trade associations, and companies like Advantage GPS, will only serve to create a better and more profitable environment for our members, McCook added.

About Advantage GPS

Advantage GPS by Procon Analytics provides GPS technology and innovative data analytics that empower BHPH dealers and vehicle finance companies to make smarter, faster and more profitable business decisions. The companys seasoned leadership team has been revolutionizing risk mitigation tools and real-time automotive analytics to help lenders protect vehicle assets, reduce delinquencies and speed up recoveries when needed for over a decade.

For more information visit http://www.advantagegps.com/revolution/ or call 1-800-553-7031.

About American Recovery Association

American Recovery Association (ARA) is the worlds largest association of certified, trained and compliant recovery and remarketing professionals. ARA members specialize in locating and repossessing collateral on behalf of lending institutions including banks, savings institutions, finance companies, credit unions, rental/leasing companies, and auto, truck and equipment dealers. All members are certified independent business operators.

For more information visit its website at http://www.repo.org or call 972.755.4755.
Victoria is set to create 12 new suburbs across greater Melbourne, in a state bid to lower house prices.

State treasurer Tim Pallas will announce today the rezoning of the land over the next few years, according to The Australian Financial Review.

The new suburbs will include Beveridge North West, Wallan South and Wallan East, Merrifield North/Kalkallo Basin, Shenstone Park, Lindum Vale, Craigieburn West, Pakenham East, Officer South Employment precinct, Croskell, Kororoit Part 2 and Aviators Field.

The new suburbs will create around 50,000 new homes.

"The Andrews Labor government is planning for 12 new communities to sustain Melbourne's 15-year land supply, which is critical for keeping house and land packages affordable," Pallas told the AFR.

It is expected to be a challenge for the government to ensure that the newly rezoned housing areas have access to basic services such as public transport.

A study by Infrastructure Australia in October revealed that around 1.4m people residing in Melbourne's outer suburbs do not have immediate access to public transport services.
GUEST OBSERVATION

This week, an animal rights charity, Aussie Farms, unveiled an interactive map of factory farms, slaughterhouses and other animal exploitation facilities across Australia.

The groups website says the map "is an effort to force transparency on an industry dependent on secrecy. We believe in freedom of information as a powerful tool in the fight against animal abuse and exploitation".

The map  which also encourages visitors to upload photographs or videos obtained at the properties  drew ire from some farmers and politicians. National Farmers Federation President Fiona Simson called it a gross invasion of privacy and told the ABC it bordered on terrorism. She also said Aussie Farms should be stripped of its charitable status.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud was equally unimpressed, calling the map an attack list for activists. He said it posed biosecurity and other personal risks by encouraging vigilantes to break into properties.

So what does the law say about publicising materials like the map, or airing footage that may have been obtained when trespassing on private property?

Footage obtained through trespass

The law is somewhat ambivalent when it comes to trespassing on property to photograph and film the conduct of landowners. Trespassing itself is only one factor to be weighed up by the courts in determining whether to protect farmers interests.

Courts will only ban the use of footage obtained from private properties as a last resort. They will do so only if the trespasser acted in a manner that the average citizen would regard as unfair, and if the owner would suffer irreparable harm if the publication were to go ahead.

The leading case on this subject is the 2001 case ABC v Lenah Game Meats. Activists had placed a hidden camera without permission inside a factory in Tasmanias Lenah Valley. They later retrieved the camera, which contained evidence of cruelty to brush-tail possums being processed for export.

On objection from the meat processors, a lower court granted an injunction, banning the ABCs 7.30 Report from airing it on the show. The ABC appealed to the High Court.

The High Court lifted the injunction. It decided that although the footage had been filmed without the owners permission and involved a trespass, it was more important for the evidence of animal cruelty to be screened.

The public interest in witnessing greater transparency into suspect meat processing methods trumped the interests of a private business trying to shield its practices from public scrutiny.

What about just punishing trespassers?

So, if they cannot stop the publication, can the farmers targeted by Aussie Farms punish the trespassers privately through the courts?

Farmers can sue for damages (compensation), but they would need to find the actual trespassers and be able to quantify their losses, both of which may be difficult.

Also, what if the people supplying the footage were not trespassers but whistle-blowing employees? There is no joy for farmers here either, because there is no trespass.

Can farmers stop someone who is simply filming over the fence? The law does not assist landowners here either. We go back 80 years to find a High Court decision that says the rights of an occupier or owner dont include a right to prevent neighbouring occupiers from looking over the fence, or filming from adjacent land.

What about filming from drones? The old law was if you owned the land, you owned the sky. This is no longer the case. The rule today is you own the land and sky to a depth and height only for your reasonable use and enjoyment of the land.

Unless the drone is a persistent nuisance, there is no remedy for breach of privacy.

What about revealing personal details?

But surely there must be a remedy for farmers whose personal details, such as names, addresses and maps of their properties, can be found online? Well, no, not unless the farmer can establish, under defamation law, he or she suffers an injury to their character by that publication.

The test is: does that website, in naming people who it asserts may be cruel to animals, hold them up for contempt or ridicule, and harm their reputation in the eyes of right-minded observers? Its not an easy case for farmers to win, because few people are going to think less of farmers just because they are slaughtering meat for the market.

The defendant may argue a right-minded person would give some leeway for primary producers in putting food in the marketplace, so the activists information-spreading exercise cant be defamatory.

And if there was clear evidence of cruelty, the activists have a defence against a claim for defamation because what they were saying was true.

One would hope a constructive dialogue will emerge out of this that will usher in a world of best-practice farming. This should improve the live animal export business, which remains perpetually under a cloud. But its unlikely the use of the term terrorism by the critics of Aussie Farms is an ideal start for any such dialogue.

Rick Sarre, Adjunct Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Different Countries follow different traditions on Valentine's Day. It may not be all rosy flowers or chocolates or teddy bears. Let's find out how people celebrate in different countries.

Denmark Source: Courtesy:Pixabay Denmark Snowdrops, a kind of fresh pressed white flowers, are exchanged as a mark of love. Cards with pics of the sender, called 'Lover's Cards', are one of the favourites among sweethearts. 'Gaekkebrev', a letter with jokes/poems/rhymes are also sent as a token of one's love. If the receiving girl can guess the sender, the number of letters of sender's first name marked in 'dots', she receives an easter egg else the sender receives one.

France Source: Courtesy:Pixabay France Valentine's cards are the favourites among the people. A remarkable tradition was followed on Valentine's day when men and women pair off by filling in houses faced opposite to each other which was later banned by the French administration citing violence in such events. Men would pick women in the opposite house by calling their name and the unmatched ones would gather for a bonfire camp at night.

South Korea Source: Courtesy:Pixabay South Korea Feb 14th is a day of celebration for the men in South Korea. Men receive gifts in the form of chocolates, candles, and flowers with favour returned the next month, March 14th, by the men and celebrated as 'White Day'. Couples who are single celebrate their status by eating dark bowels or black paste noodles on April 14th observed as 'Black Day'.

Wales Source: Courtesy:Pixabay Wales Love is expressed by drawing images and symbols on 'Love spoons', wooden spoons carved by men. These spoons are now given as gift token on marriages, anniversaries and birthdays.

China Source: Courtesy:Pixabay China Valentine's day is celebrated as 'Qixi'. Women bring melon and other fruits to a star named 'Zhinu' to get good husbands. Chinese people look to the sky for the stars 'Zhinu' and 'Niulang' on this day. According to Chinese history, 'Zhinu',the daughter of the heavenly king, had love marriage with 'Niulang', a cowherd and had twins from the marriage. 'Zhinu' was forced to return back to the stars by her father and was only allowed to meet 'Niulang' once a year during 'Qixi'.

Japan Source: Courtesy:Pixabay Japan Women gift their men with homemade chocolates on the first date and the favour is returned by men on Valentine's day with gifts and hampers.

Taiwan Source: Courtesy:Pixabay Taiwan Peanuts and chocolates are the major gifts received by Taiwanese women. Theme restaurants are also in place for the couples to spend some precious time.

England Source: Courtesy:Pixabay England Women place five bay leaves on each corner and in the center of the bed to dream about their future partners. Also, the wet bay leaves with rosewater are also kept across their pillows. Unmarried women would gaze out of their window before sunrise and the first man she sees is supposed to be her future husband or would be a lookalike of the one she will marry.

United States of America Source: Courtesy:Pixabay United States of America Valentine cards are widely used by people for expressing love in the US, making the day the second most card-sending holiday after Christmas. Flowers, gift hampers, teddy bears and chocolates form the secondary options.

Italy Source: Courtesy:Pixabay Italy Poetry readings and music festivals are organized across the country. Chocolates are exchanged among the lovers and extremely popular among the chocolates is Baci Perugina, small chocolate covered with hazelnuts with romantic verses in four languages. Women wake up early before the dawn to get first sight of a man who may be her future husband or a lookalike of her future husband.

Brazil Source: Courtesy:Pixabay Brazil Normally Brazilians celebrate 'Lovers' Day' instead of Valentines Day on June 12th. People spend time with family and relatives with meals cooked at the gathering. Music concerts and night festivals are organized across the country. On the following day, single women pray to Saint Anthony to bless them with a good husband.

South Africa Source: Courtesy:Pixabay South Africa Young women follow an age-old Roman tradition called 'Lupercalia' and wear the name of their love-partner on their sleeves. Flowers, chocolates, and festivals also set the tone for the festival.

Singapore Source: Courtesy:Pixabay Singapore Unmarried women go to Singapore river and pray till night for a perfect partner by throwing mandarin oranges in the river. People believe getting married on this day brings more love and charm in their life. Concerts and open-ground events are also organised for couples and young ones.
Chicago, Feb 16 : Police have responded to a shooting at an industrial park in Aurora, a suburb about 65 km from the US city of Chicago.

Citing the Aurora Daily Herald, the BBC reported that police officers and several civilians have been injured in the attack on Friday.

A nearby school has been placed on lockdown. The FBI sid they are responding to assist the police.

Swat teams are at the scene and police are urging nearby residents and employees to stay away or shelter in place.

Several hospitals have been put on notice, and are ready to begin accepting patients, according to a broadcaster WGN-TV.

The shooting is thought to have happened at Henry Pratt Company, a manufacturing company that makes valves.

An employee at nearby Capitol Printing told ABC7 that they are currently hiding in a closet.

Witness John Probst, who works at the plant, told ABC7 that he saw the attacker, whom he recognised as a colleague.

He said the man was carrying a handgun equipped with a laser sight, but this has yet to be confirmed by officials.
Mumbai, Feb 16 : Noted actor Manoj Bajpayee has condemned Thursday's terror attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Jammu and Kashmir, and said the Central government is capable enough to tackle the situation.

Manoj said this here on Friday while interacting with the media at Cine And TV Artistes' Association (CINTAA) and 48 Hour Film Project's first edition of 'Act Fest 2019', along with Sara Ali Khan, Ronit Roy and Divya Dutta.

The citizens of the country should have faith in them (government) and support them in such trying circumstances, he said.

In the worst-ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989, a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber on Thursday rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, killing at least 45 troopers and leaving 38 critically wounded.

"Words will fall short to express our anger for this kind of heinous act. My prayers are the families of soldiers who have lost their dear ones in the tragedy and it's their irreparable loss," Manoj said.

"I feel scared and hurt... I get angry whenever I hear of such evil acts... I am feeling really sad to hear about what has happened in Jammu and Kashmir," Sara Ali Khan said.

More than 2,500 CRPF personnel were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.

The Pakistan-based JeM terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.
Abuja, Feb 16 : At least 66 people were killed on Friday by unidentified gunmen in Nigeria's Kaduna state, officials said.

The Kaduna state government said in a statement that eight settlements were attacked, Xinhua news agency reported.

The attack took place on the eve of Nigeria's presidential election.

Twenty two children and 12 women were among the victims.

The state government said the cause of the violence was unclear, and warned against any reprisal attacks.
Mumbai, Feb 16 : Celebrated actor-comedian Johnny Lever and his daughter Jamie, also a comedian, have addressed the topic of nepotism in Bollywood in a lighter vein.

The father-daughter duo came at the ActFest, organised by Cine and TV Artistes' Association (CINTAA) and the 48 Hour Film Project, on Friday.

Tickling the funny bone, Jamie and moderator of the session, actor Vrajesh Hirjee quickly acted out a skit on nepotism fight between National Award winning actress Kangana Ranaut and filmmaker Karan Johar.

As the audience clapped after enjoying the act, Vrajesh asked Jamie if she believes about the existence of nepotism.

Jamie, who was sitting next to her father, responded: "I think everyone has their own journey and I see no reason to compare. Everyone has their own struggle."

Johnny shared the story of how his daughter convinced him of her career choice as a stand-up comedian.

"In London, at her debut stage performance, she had got a standing ovation. And she never mentioned about me... whenever she stood in a queue for an audition. I never recommend my daughter to anyone, for any show," he said.

The debate on nepotism started in 2017 when Kangana appeared at the chat show "Koffee With Karan" hosted by Karan Johar, she called Johar "flag bearer of nepotism in Bollywood".

The comment not only raised many questions on the whole system of Bollywood work-culture and favouritism but also a series of response and counter response made the matter controversial.
Bengaluru, Feb 15 : Condemning the deadly terror attack on CRPF troopers in Kashmir, Karnataka BJP's Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday protested China's backing to dreaded Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) head Masood Azar.

"Though the United Nations has been trying to outlaw and declare Azar a global terrorist, China is the only country repeatedly blocking India's bid to get such a resolution passed," said Chandrasekhar in a statement here.

JeM has reportedly claimed responsibility for the Thursday's terror attack on a CRPF convoy near Awantipora in Kashmir's Pulwama district in which 45 of its troopers died and many injured.

"China's culpability in allowing Azhar to roam around and mount terror attacks against India must be accounted. Heading the Pakistan-based terror outfit, he lives and moves freely in Pakistan," said Chandrasekhar.

Exhorting India to hold Pakistan responsible for Azar's conduct and support to his terror activities, the industrialist lawmaker said China is the principal financial sponsor of Pakistan, which is bankrupt and run by its Army to pursue a perverted objective to avenge its defeat in the 1971 Bangladesh war.

"Pakistan has a perverse way of looking at issues and approaching things even as the US signals withdrawing from Afghanistan. As Pakistani Army fears a power vacuum in the war-torn country, it wants to occupy it by keeping India and its troops engaged with terror attacks in Kashmir," the MP said.

Calling upon the political parties to be united in the war against terrorism, the city-based MP said though Pakistan failed militarily and through covert wars over the decades, India should avenge the sacrifice of the CRPF troopers through all means and force at its disposal.

"We must focus our anger and angst on Pakistan and China as a tribute to the CRPF troopers and others who laid down their lives to protect our country and secure our borders," Chandrasekhar added.
Kolkata, Feb 15 : Central, a premium retail store chain of Future Lifestyle Fashions, is expecting to touch around Rs 3,000 crore topline by end of the current fiscal, an official said on Friday.

"This year, we will close at Rs 3,000 crore plus for Central. We will end the year with 47 stores. We are opening two more in Bangalore by March and plan to open around 6-7 stores every year," the retail chain's CEO Vishnu Prasad said at the launch of its second store 'Metro Central' in the city at the iconic heritage building which had housed Metro Cinema.

"Considering growth from our existing stores, our target is to grow at 15 per cent per annum. This is year-on-year basis from same store growth," he said.

These are large format stores measuring between 50,000 sq ft to 3,30,000 sq ft, he said, adding that at present there are 45 stores in 25 cities operating over 3 million sq ft of retail space across India.

Prasad remained optimistic about increasing the business in the brick and mortar model.
Kolkata, Feb 15 : About Rs 12,000 crore of Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) was collected from West Bengal during the current fiscal till December 2018, an official said on Friday.

The overall CGST collection for the entire fiscal from the state is expected to exceed the Rs 18,000-crore target for the financial year ending March 2019, the official said.

"The target for the state is to achieve Rs 18,000 crore CGST in this financial year. Till now Rs 12,000 crore have been collected until December 2018. We hope to exceed the target by the end of this fiscal," Pandiyaraj G.V., Assistant Commissioner of CGST and CX (South), said at a session organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce.

He said the filing of refund, which is still semi-online, would be addressed.

Pandiyaraj also said if a person or business fails to file GST return for two consecutive months, fine would be slapped.

According to him, e-way bill will not be issued unless the return is filed as the system would not work.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : Representatives of industry and exporters on Friday voiced concerns with the government, including the sharp fall in export credit, delay in the refund of input tax credit (ITC) and withdrawal of GSP benefits by the US, at a meeting here of the Board of Trade chaired by Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, an official statement said.

The most recent issue concerns Indo-American trade relations and relates to the US decision to withdraw the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) that grants some Indian exports duty-free preferential access to US markets, which is to take effect shortly.

"The representatives of industry expressed concerns about decreasing flow of credit to the export sector, retrospective effect of pre-import conditions, delays in the refund of ITC, withdrawal of GSP benefits by the US, exports to Iran and availability of incentives for exports to neighbouring countries," a Commerce Ministry statement said.

"The issues raised by the trade were addressed by the senior officials and will be taken up in the forthcoming meeting of Committee of Exports and GST Council."

Besides Secretaries of different departments and other senior officials, the meeting was attended by all major trade and industry bodies, export promotion councils and industrialists, the statement added.

According to the ministry, on the occasion the Commerce Minister launched a new online 'Anytime-Anywhere' export awareness course to train, mentor and hand-hold potential exporters.

A mobile app of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade was also launched, where exporters can log their grievances, apply for licences, besides accessing information on trade notices, circulars, foreign trade policy and trade fairs.
New York, Feb 15 : President Donald Trump declared a State of Emergency on Friday to fund his campaign promise of building a wall on the Mexican border after the Congress resolutely refused to give him the money he wanted.

Trump backed away from his threat to again shutdown the government if the legislature did not vote $5.7 billion for the border wall and approved the bipartisan funding bill without the allocation, and instead resorted to the Emergency.

He cited the drug-smuggling problems and the "15,000" people who came to the border in convoys from Central America and are camped there hoping to cross the frontier, as reasons for his Emergency.

Unlike in India, an Emergency of the type that Trump is planning does not bring sweeping powers or allow suspension of civil rights and arbitrary arrests, but only enables limited action in government operations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party's leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, declared that imposing an Emergency would be "a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency".

Pelosi said that challenging the Emergency in court was an option.

Announcing the Emergency at the White House, Trump said that he expected a cases to be filed in a federal court with judges favouring the Democrats which he would lose and a subsequent appeal, but would ultimately prevail in Supreme Court.

Trump also called on the Democrats to work with him on broad immigration reforms that would include ending immigration of relatives of citizens, but move towards a merit-based preference for immigrants.

Congress passed the bill on Thursday with $1.375 billion for a 55-mile fence, nowhere near the $5.7 billion Trump had demanded for the wall along the Mexican border that he had promised during his election campaign.

The measure was hammered out by lawmakers from both parties after Trump allowed the government to reopen after a 35-day shutdown in a showdown over the wall funding.

Trump had threatened to veto any bill without the money he demanded for the wall, but is now agreeing to it while making good on his threat to impose an Emergency to get money for the wall.

Calling the Emergency a "presidential over-reach" and "a dangerous precedent", Democratic Party Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi said: "The Constitution maintains that only Congress has the power of the purse and may appropriate funds. This is not a Constitutional power any President has."

Pelosi said a legal challenge was "an option and we'll review our options".

Several lawmakers from Trump's own party were against an Emergency declaration. Republican Senator John Cornyn called it a "dangerous step", saying: "The President is going to get sued and it won't succeed in accomplishing his goal."

He added that if Pelosi introduces a resolution against the Emergency, it will split the Republicans.

According to media reports quoting the White House officials, Trump plans to spend a total of $8 billion on the border barrier. While there is $1.375 billion allocated in the spending bill, he wants to make up the rest by diverting money from the military construction budget and funds seized from drug smugglers and dealers.

Trump had said during his election campaign that he would make Mexico pay for the border wall - an unrealistic claim that has continued to haunt him as he sought funding in the US budget.

While government was under a shutdown with all but the essential services operating and 800 government employees under temporary layoff, Trump scaled back his idea of a wall to a series of metal slats along the border.

Having had to back down from his funding demand with Pelosi standing firm amid growing opposition to the shutdown, Trump sees the Emergency as the only way for him to build his barrier and save his credibility among his most steadfast supporters.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)
New Delhi, Feb 15 : India on Friday started the process to isolate Pakistan internationally in the wake of Pulwama attack with Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale meeting at least two dozen envoys in the national Capital, including those from the P-5 nations, sources said.

India also summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood earlier in the day and made a strong demarche over its continued support to terrorist outfits such as Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) which has claimed responsibility for the Thursday's deadly attack on CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulawama that left at least 49 troopers dead and many others injured.

According to sources, the Foreign Secretary met around 25 ambassadors, including the P-5, all South Asian countries and other important partners like Japan, Germany, Korea and others.

P-5 refers to US, Russia, China, France and United Kingdom - which are permanent members of the UN Security Council.

During his meetings with the foreign envoys, Gokhale highlighted the role played by Pakistan in using terrorism as an instrument of its state policy.

"All the heads of missions were left in no doubt about the role played by Pakistan-based and supported JeM in the terrorist attack and our demand that Pakistan ceases forthwith all support and financing to terror groups operating from areas under their contro", said a source.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Union government has called an all-party meeting on Saturday in the wake of Thursday's terror attack on Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Sources said the meeting is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the Parliament Library Building.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to brief all the parties about the gruesome attack and the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Gurugram, Feb 15 : Students, teachers, lawyers and various organisations on Friday took to the streets in different parts of this Millennium City to express their anguish and anger and lodge a strong protest against the Pulwama terror attack that claimed lives of close to 50 CRPF troopers in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

Over a thousand students and teachers from Government College for Girls here on Friday organised a protest march, demanding that India take a stringent action against Pakistan, separatists and their supporters, militants and terrorist outfits.

They also observed a two-minute silence as a mark of respect to the slain troopers.

The Gurugram Bar Association, largest in the state, with over 2,000 registered members, suspended the work for the day to pay tributes to the martyrs.

Lawyers protested, burnt national flag of Pakistan and handed over memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Amit Khatri for the President of India seeking strongest action against terror trainers, funders, supporter of Pakistan and leaders and sympathisers of militants in India.

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based terrorist outfit, claimed responsibility for the attack in which a suicide bomber on Thursday afternoon rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus that was part of a large convoy of the force on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, killing over 45 troopers.
Chandigarh, Feb 15 : To protest against the dastardly attack on the CRPF convoy at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab Cabinet Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Friday cancelled his scheduled visit to attend the International Buffalo Congress in Lahore city in Pakistan.

Sidhu said in a statement here that he was going to take part in the International Buffalo Congress, which is being organized by the University of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Lahore from February 18 to 20.

He said that the gruesome attack on the CRPF convoy had shaken him emotionally, and in order to show his solidarity with the families of the troopers who lost their lives, he decided to cancel his visit to Pakistan.
Kolkata, Feb 15 : Childhood cancer comprises almost 3-5 per cent of the total cancer cases in India, experts said here on Friday, expressing concern over the low cure rate due to lack of available data.

"The disturbing reality is that the cure rate of pediatric cancer is almost 80 per cent in the developed countries. When we see the data from major cancer centres, it actually can match up to the Western standard but this data is not enough," Haemato-Oncologist Vivek Agarwala said at an awareness programme conducted by Narayana Superspecialty Hospital, Howrah.

According to the Indian Council for Medical Research, cancer in children constitutes approximately 3-5 per cent of the total cancer cases in India.

Agarwala said a large portion of the incidence of childhood cancer in society is still not addressed.

Also, a large section who don't have access to premier institutes are often diagnosed late due to financial crunch and that is why the overall treatment rate in India is low.

"Probably, the government and society at large are not considering it a big problem as it is just around 5 per cent. We are always campaigning for breast and cervical cancers," Agarwala said.

"We must remember this 5 per cent of cancer is majorly curable if given proper treatment," he said.

Leukaemia and retinoblastoma (a form of cancer where children have a white eye) are the two common forms of cancer in children.

Talking about awareness and symptoms that parents need to watch out for, he said: "Symptoms are different for different cancers, but children who have cancer have poor growth, poor weight gain and decreased appetite. One must get their children evaluated on seeing these symptoms".

On International Childhood Cancer Day, the hospital organised a 'Sit and Draw competition' with pediatric patients and rewarded the winner.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Pulwama attack has forced the forces to go back to the operation table to rework the entire security matrix as they fear that deployment of troops will be impacted in the state if the vehicle-ramming tactics by terrorists become a norm.

The officials said the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had the intelligence input about a possible attack using Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs) around the anniversary of Afzal Guru's hanging on February 9, but it was never envisaged that terrorists will use car bombing to target convoys.

As an immediate measure, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has already announced that traffic would now be stopped during the movement of security forces' convoys even on busy roads such as the Jammu-Srinagar Highway where the attack took place.

A senior official said the road was never sanitized earlier because of inconvenience it caused to the people and admitted that even the road opening party (ROP) could not detect the suspicious vehicle.

Reacting to the criticism that the movement of troops, around 2,500 of them, made them easy targets, the officials said the large transportation was planned to deter any ambush, but it failed because the vehicle-ramming tactics was not factored in.

The officials admit that deployment of troops will now become a big challenge.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : Faced with public outrage over the Pulwama terrorist attack, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government is being pressured by some of its MPs to give a "muscular response" to Pakistan.

As the attack comes ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP MPs from Uttar Pradesh recalled the surgical strikes against Pakistan which sent a signal across the globe that India would no longer sit back and tolerate attacks such as the ones in Pathankot and Uri. They expected the Modi government's response to be like the September 2016 surgical strikes on militant across the border to "teach Pakistan a lesson".

The last major terror attack in India was on September 18, 2016, when militants raided an Indian Army camp in Uri, killing 20 soldiers. India responded with a surgical strike on suspected militant camps across the border in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 10 days later.

IANS spoke to various BJP MPs from Uttar Pradesh and sought to know what expectations they had from the government and many of them, while recalling the surgical strikes, said the government would take an "appropriate" action.

Union Minister Santosh Gangwar, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Bareilly, condemned the attack and said that it had once again exposed Pakistan's character.

"We will definitely take some major steps in the coming days. My sympathies are with the families of those CRPF personnel who were killed. It seems Pakistan is not ready to understand. The sacrifice of our soldiers would not go in vain. We are sad. We can not repay for the loss, but would certainly take whatever action is required," he said.

BJP's Meerut MP Rajendra Agarwal described the attacks as unfortunate and said that the government would explore all options.

"It was a very unfortunate incident. It appears to be a security breach as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir (Satya Pal Malik) has also said. The Cabinet Committee on Security has met today and I hope the government is working on all options to isolate Pakistan on international fronts," he said.

He said what "military action" government would be taking is not something to be disclosed but "we should not forget that the sugical strike emerged as one of the options after Uri".

"After this attack, India has taken the lead in the fight against terrorism. The entire world should stand by India. People are outraged. We are not a weak nation now. People have faith in this government. I hope the Prime Minister and his government would do something," he told IANS.

RSS ideologue and BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha called the issue "very sensitive" and said the Prime Minister was as anguished over the incident as common people are and it was evident when he said the perpetrators of the attack had committed a "grave mistake" and that they would pay a big price for this.

"We need to understand the sentiment behind what the PM has said. It represents the feelings of the people. This government is aware of the people's feelings. It's the government's job to make a strategy, but it is definite that they will do their best to defeat mercilessly those supporting terrorism inside and outside the country," he said.

Another BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj said the government would do its best.

"People have lots of expectations from this government and the government would definitely give a muscular response," he said.

Among the CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama attack, 12 are from Uttar Pradesh, the state which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha and where the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party had forged an alliance to oust Modi.

Those killed from the state are Awadhesh Kumar Yadav of Chandauli, Pankaj Kumar Tripathi of Maharajganj, Amit Kumar of Shamli, Vijay Kumar Mourya of Deoria, Ram Vakeel of Mainpuri, Mahesh Kumar of Allahabad, Pradeep Kumar of Shamli, Ramesh Yadav of Varanasi, Koushal Kumar Rawat of Agra, Pradeep Singh of Kannauj, Shyam Babu of Kanpur Dehat and Ajit Kumar Azad of Unnao.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The mortal remains of 40 of the close to 50 CRPF troopers killed in the terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday were brought to Delhi on Friday evening.

The bodies were air-transported in a special plane from Srinagar to Palam airbase.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Centre and the state government to file a detailed reply on a public suit seeking protection of transgender rights in the national capital.

The Delhi government, in a reply filed earlier, stated that it has taken various steps and initiatives with respect to empowerment and development of the transgender community in the national capital.

The court asked the state government to file a detailed reply with documents mentioning details of meetings, formation of committees and steps taken for the welfare of transgenders in the city.

The Central government told a division bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V. Kameswar Rao that the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 has been passed by the Lok Sabha in December 2018.

The court has asked the Centre to file a reply with reports from the Rajya Sabha on the Transgender Rights Bill.

The court has listed the matter for further hearing on July 23.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by two students of Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies-- Rashi Jain and Mihir Garg -- who have raised the issue that Supreme Court directions on transgender rights have not yet been implemented.

In the plea, they said that transgenders had been denied basic right to education, employment opportunities and access to a dignified life.
Shillong, Feb 15 : Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Friday said that entry and exit points will be set up in Meghalaya to check the influx of illegal immigrants.

"We have finalised locations for entry-exit points in 4-5 areas with the maximum flow of people. Hopefully in the next four months, we will be able to start the work on these in East Jaintia Hills, Ri Bhoi, West Khasi Hills, North Garo Hills and West Garo Hills," he told journalists.

Sangma said his government has also almost completed the permission work for entry-exit points at Mendipathar railway station in the North Garo Hills. "Home Minister James K Sangama and Urban Affairs Minister Hamlet Dohling will visit the railway station for inspection in a few days. The entry-exit point in Mendipathar would be opened very soon," he said.

On the demand for Inner Line Permit (ILP), the Chief Minister said the government was exploring all possible options to ensure that illegal immigration is curtailed without the economy getting impacted.

"That balance has to be maintained, and the government has to be careful and take all aspects into consideration before putting in place any policy or system. We are not closed to any idea, but we would like to explore something that will suit our state, its economy and its people," he said.

Calling entry-exit points the infrastructure and Inner Line Permit (ILP) the mechanism to check illegal immigrants, he pointed out that the government now needs to have a system. "Otherwise even with ILP in place, how will you check if you do not have a system in place?" he asked.

Sangma, who led a delegation from the Northeast to Delhi to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2106, is being hailed as a "hero" after the Bill was not passed in the Rajya Sabha. Asked if illegal immigrants is an issue after the stalling of the Bill, Sangma said, "Illegal immigrants are an issue, they have been an issue and they will be an issue in the coming years too. That was the reason the sentiments against the Citizenship Amendment Bill were so strong. Its stalling is courtesy the collective effort of the people."
Hyderabad, Feb 15 : The Telangana High Court on Friday directed its judicial registrar to take into custody state Legislative Assembly Secretary V. Narasimhacharyulu and Law Department Secretary Niranjan Rao in a contempt of court case.

The two senior officials were later set free after they furnished Rs 10,000 sureties each.

Justice V. Siva Sankara Rao ordered the custody of the officials in a contempt case filed by two former Congress MLAs for not implementing the court orders for restoration of their Assembly membership last year.

Congress MLAs Komatireddi Venkat Reddy and S.A. Sampath Kumar were disqualified by then Speaker S. Madhusudhanachary in March 2018 for unruly behaviour during the Governor's address to the joint session of the state legislature.

They were charged with throwing microphone, which allegedly injured Legislative Council Chairman Swamy Goud. The MLAs denied the allegations.

The Legislature Secretary subsequently notified the vacancies for the constituencies the two Congress MLAs were representing.

On a petition challenging their disqualification, the Congress legislators moved the High Court which on April 17 restored their Assembly membership and set aside the government notification to declare vacancies for Nalgonda and Alampur (SC) constituencies.

As their membership was not restored, the MLAs filed contempt petition against then Speaker and officials. The same was pending when the Telangana Assembly was dissolved in September last year.

In the Assembly elections held on December 7, both Venkat Reddy and Sampath and also the Speaker were defeated.

The High Court had taken serious note of the officials made respondent in the case not appearing before it despite the notices.

Last week, the High Court had issued bailable warrants against the Assembly Secretary and Law Secretary with a directive to Hyderabad police to produce them in the court. However, both the officials voluntarily appeared before the court.

The court on Friday issued notices to Madhusudhanachary, the Director General of Police and the Superintendents of Police of Nalgonda and Gadwal districts to appear before the court on March 8.

The judge also took exception to certain remarks made by Additional Advocate General J. Ramachandra Rao during the hearing last week.
Cape Town, Feb 15 : South African authorities have said that controversial businessman Ajay Gupta, a member of the India-born Gupta family who own a business empire in the country and are accused of collaborating with former President Jacob Zuma in looting the state coffers, is no longer wanted by the police in a corruption case.

An arrest warrant for Gupta, issued in February 2018 on corruption charges, was cancelled on Thursday, the BBC reported on Friday.

The authorities had sought to question Ajay Gupta on allegations that he attempted to bribe former Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas and offered him the post of Finance Minister if Jonas helped the Gupta family with its business ventures in South Africa.

The Guptas deny any wrongdoing.

Jonas told the commission investigating state corruption that Ajay Gupta had offered him $42 million to take up the post of Finance Minister. He claimed this happened during a meeting set up by Zuma's son Duduzane.

Corruption charges against Duduzane Zuma were provisionally withdrawn last month, while evidence continued to be heard by the corruption commission.

As a consequence, the police said, they had to withdraw the arrest warrant against Ajay Gupta.

Former President Zuma was earlier accused of letting the Guptas interfere in ministerial appointments. The family reportedly wields enormous political influence in South Africa, with critics alleging that it tried to "capture the state" to advance its business interests.

As much as they are alleged to have influenced the hiring of ministers, they are also accused of trying to fire ministers who may have got in the way of their business interests.

One of the highest profile among the suspected Gupta-linked firings was former Finance Minster Pravin Gordhan, who later accused the family of being involved in "suspicious" transactions worth about $490 million, which they deny.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : With over one crore downloads at Google Play store in four years since its launch, the Narendra Modi (NaMo) app, the official app of the Prime Minister, has established itself as a major platform to share the opinions of the government and -- to some people's disliking -- of the party he belongs.

The controversy surrounding the ownership of the app or why the "official app" of the Prime Minister is being used to promote party propaganda is, however, not new.

The fresh controversy to hit the app in the election year is the accusation that it is being used to spread false propaganda against BJP's political rivals by some users.

At the centre of this allegation is the "My Network" feature that promotes news feed from a handful of accounts.

This section works just like a social media platform where people can like and comment on the posts. It also allows users to "repost" and share the post on other social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Twitter among others, making it easier for the users to spread the word seen on the app.

In a blog post in January, journalist Samrath Bansal reported that while some of these accounts share regular political updates, their Facebook pages openly circulate fake news, making millions of NaMo app users vulnerable to misleading information.

It seems BJP is not unaware of the fake news problem on the NaMo app.

Amit Malviya, head of BJP's IT cell, acknowledged that there is "some scope for misinformation" on the platform and "multiple posts have been taken down", according to the blog post.

If you thought the NaMo is all about 'know about the activities of the Prime Minister', listening to his "Mann Ki Baat" state addresses, and keeping track of the "positive" news about the government that he leads, you would be underestimating to what extent the platform is being used to run the PM's public relations efforts.

The "Merchandise" section in the app is already selling wristbands and T-shirts with "NAMO AGAIN" tag, all apparently in preparation for the upcoming general election.
Mumbai, Feb 15 : Celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar and Rajinikanth have condemned the terror attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Rajinikanth expressed his anger over the attack, in which 49 troopers were killed, saying enough is enough.

"I strongly condemn the unpardonable violence of the terrorists at Pulwama in Kashmir enough is enough! Time has come to put an end to all these barbaric acts.

"My heart goes out to the families of the jawans who lost their lives and are injured. To those brave hearts departed... May their souls rest in peace," he said in a statement.

Big B said he is "distressed and disturbed" after the attack.

A suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district.

Following the terror attack, film fraternity members described it as "barbaric", "tragic" and a "heinous crime against humanity". They said they were heartbroken at the news of the attack.

Here's what others have tweeted:

Amitabh Bachchan: Distressed... Disturbed.

Lata Mangeshkar: I condemn the terrorist attack in Jammu-Kashmir's Pulwama district. I would like to pay a tribute to the martyrs. I am with the families of these soldiers in this moment of grief.

Shah Rukh Khan: Heartfelt condolences to the families of our valiant jawans. May the souls of our countrymen who laid their lives down for us rest in peace.

Salman Khan: My heart goes out for the jawans of our beloved country and their families who lost their lives as martyrs to save our families... You stand for India.

Aamir Khan: I am heartbroken to read about the terrorist attack on our CRPF jawans in Pulwama. It's so tragic. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the jawans who have lost their lives.

Ranveer Singh: Disgusted at the cowardly terror attack on the CRPF soldiers in Pulwama -- my sincere condolences to the families of our brave jawans. Saddened. Angry.

Hrithik Roshan: Deeply grieved on hearing about the Pulwama attack. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the jawans martyred.

Rajkummar Rao: Pulwama terror attack is a heinous crime against humanity. My condolences go out to the families of our soldiers who have lost their lives. May our martyrs rest in peace and the perpetrators of the crime brought to justice.

Neil Nitin Mukesh: My respects and condolences with the families Pulwama terror attack.

Saqib Saleem: Shocked and deeply saddened at the attack on our soldiers in Pulwama. Heart goes out to the families of the deceased soldiers. When will this hatred stop?

Disha Patani: Shocked! I salute and stand in solidarity with our Armed Forces. This deplorable act of cowardice and terror should be dealt with unforgiving urgency. No family should lose their sons like that, no soldier should be martyred like this. Deepest condolences to the families.

Juhi Chawla: Deeply saddened to hear the barbaric attack on our brave soldiers. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the bravehearts.

Pooja Bhatt: The day hate won. Are we going to let hate have the final say or through this dark and excruciatingly painful phase, find the capacity and courage to give love one last chance?

Nora Fatehi: Deeply saddened to know about the cowardly attack on CRPF Jawans convoy in Pulwama. My prayers and condolences for bravehearts' family who lost their lives.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : IDBI Bank has sounded out its new owner LIC seeking another tranche of up to Rs 12,000 crore to meet its huge provisioning requirements amid mounting losses.

The fresh support is required to cover for non-performing assets (NPAs) in the January-March quarter.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) completed acquisition of 51 per cent controlling stake in IDBI Bank on January 21. The bank received total capital of Rs 21,624 crore from the insurer in the four-month period prior to formalisation of acquisition.

Recently IDBI and LIC officials met Department of Financial Services senior officials and are said to have taken up the matter of fresh capital infusion. LIC has not commented so far.

In the backdrop of capital infusion from LIC, the bank has achieved regulatory capital requirement as on December 31, 2018, and its common equity tier-1 (CET-1) capital improved to 9.32 per cent as on December 31, 2018, against 6.62 per cent a year ago.

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IDBI Bank Q3 loss has widened threefold to Rs 4,185 crore. Total income decreased to Rs 6,190.94 crore for the quarter, compared with Rs 7,125.20 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

The bank's gross NPAs shot up to 29.67 per cent of gross advances during the quarter, against 24.72 per cent in the year-ago period. However, net NPAs declined to 14.01 per cent of the total advances, from 16.02 per cent in the December 2017 quarter.

As a result, the bank's provision for bad loan increased to Rs 5,074.80 crore in Q3, compared with Rs 3,649.82 crore a year ago.

Provisions and contingencies for the September-December period spiked 30 per cent to Rs 4,179.12 crore against Rs 3,205.56 crore in December quarter last fiscal.

Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans stood at 24.72 per cent at end-December compared with 24.98 per cent in the previous quarter and 15.16 per cent a year ago.

IDBI Bank, with its highest NPAs, had got the maximum Rs 10,610 crore from government last year to maintain regulatory capital in January last year.

(Anjana Das can be contacted at anjana.d@ians.in)
Dehradun, Feb 15 : Uttarakhand Chief Minister T.S. Rawat on Friday announced an ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh each for the family members of the state's three CRPF troopers who were killed in the deadly attack in Pulwama in Kashmir on Thursday.

In a statement here, the Chief Minister said that the dependents of the martyrs will get jobs as per the government's policy.

Condemning the attack in the strongest words, Rawat said a befitting reply will be given for the dastardly act.

"In this hour of grief, we all are standing with the family members of the martyrs," the Chief Minister said.
Mumbai, Feb 15 : National Award winning actor Manoj Bajpayee says one needs to develop a thick skin to survive in the film industry.

"We need to have thick skin to survive in the film industry. I have spent quite some time here, and have realised that you get friends usually with success and they go away during your tough days," Manoj said.

The actor on Friday opened up about the mantra to survive in the industry during an interactive session with Sushant Singh, actor and general secretary of CINTAA, at the ActFest.

Looking back at how people treated him during his struggling days, the "Aligarh" actor said: "One of my friends invited me for his film's premiere where media was also present to click photographs of celebrities. They saw me and one photographer said 'he is not important, don't take his photograph'."

He continued: "And I just thought 'when my film will be successful, people will come again to click my photograph'. I don't let vanity affect me."

Manoj believes he was the "happiest when I had no acting offers".

"Because that was the time when I worked on myself to develop my skill."

The actor also condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, saying it is "very sad".

"We can't imagine what their families must be going through," he added.

ActFest is being organised by CINTAA (Cine and TV Artistes' Association). The two-day festival features popular artistes participating in discussions, conducting workshops or giving lectures on various aspects of the art. The event is conceived and designed by The 48 Hour Film Project, India.

Talking about the fest, he said: "It is a great initiative where actors are coming and sharing their journey."
Srinagar, Feb 15 : No more civilian traffic will be allowed in Jammu and Kashmir when convoys of security forces move on roads, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced on Friday.

"It has been decided that whenever convoys of security forces move on roads, civilian traffic will not be allowed during that period for some time," he told the media here after meeting senior officers of various security agencies.

"I regret the small inconvenience that will be caused to people on this account," he added.

The decision came a day after a suicide bomber rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, killing 49 troopers.
Guwahati, Feb 15 : Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has started a survey for installing mobile towers along the highly sensitive India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh.

The installation of mobile towers is expected to better the connectivity in the area.

BSNL's Chief General Manager (CGM) for Assam Circle, Sanddep Govil, said this on Friday while addressing a press conference and added that the installation of mobile towers along the India-China border has been cleared by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

Govil said the government has approved a proposal for setting up 2,000 mobile towers along the border in Arunachal Pradesh.

There are no mobile towers along the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh due to various reasons, including bad terrain. This makes it difficult for the security forces, including the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), to maintain a strict vigil along the border.

There have been instances of intrusion by the Chinese army at different locations in Arunachal Pradesh. The security forces operating along the border here have for long demanded the installation of mobile towers for better connectivity in the region.

Govil said that BSNL is investing about Rs 200 crore for rolling out 4G services in Assam, which will be made available from March this year.

"All the equipment has already arrived at the Kolkata port and is likely to reach here by the end of this month. A total of 3,500 base transceiver stations (BTS) will be added as part of the 4G expansion plan. The launch of 4G services will lead to the capability of using 23 TB of data by the customers per day," Govil said.

He added that the public sector undertaking has been growing in Assam faster than its growth in the country. "The market share of Assam BSNL for the wireless segment is 11.07 per cent compared to the overall market share of 9.71 per cent in the country," Govil said, adding that at present BSNL has a customer base of 25 lakh in the state in the mobile segment.

Asked about revenue generation, the CGM said that revenues from telecom have gone down.

"But there is scope of revenue generation for us, as we have recently given 35,000 closed user group (CUG) connections under the National Health Mission. We have also been asked by the government of India to connect the courts and jails and provide connections to the treasuries," Govil said.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Pulwama attack is being seen as a revival of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) whose cadre strength had shrunk drastically in recent years.

Sources said the Pakistan-based terror group founded by Masood Azhar was on a recruitment drive in Jammu and Kashmir to increase its strength as it lost almost its entire leadership with its numbers coming down to barely half-a-dozen just three years ago.

On the target of JeM are young Kashmiris who manage to escape the radar of the security agencies because of their low-profile background. Adil Dar, who drove the explosive-laden vehicle into the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy was one such young recruit who was just a year old in the organization.

The local sentiment after the killing of Burhan Wani in 2016 made the atmosphere conducive for JeM recruitment drive.

Sources said that another distinct trend that has emerged is the shortened life-span of these young recruits. Because of action by security forces, most of these youngsters get killed within a few years of joining the terror groups unlike in the past when an average life-span of a terrorist was anywhere between 10 and 12 years.

The JeM had worked under the shadow of Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen, the two dominant groups, but it has been involved in almost every attack on security forces this year. The revival attempts started last year when the outfit began carrying out daring attacks. According to estimates by security agencies, its numbers have swelled to nearly 100 after the local recruitment efforts.

Intelligence officials are of the view that instead of blaming Pakistan, answers should be demanded from China for shielding JeM as Beijing has been stalling move to declare Masood Azhar as designated terrorist under 1267 sanctions of the UNSC.
Mumbai: People protest against suicide attack on a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in which atleast 45 soldiers lost their lives; in Bhendi Bazar of Mumbai on Feb 15, 2019. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai: Shops remain closed in Mumbai's Bhendi Bazar to protest against suicide attack on a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in which atleast 45 soldiers lost their lives; on Feb 15, 2019. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai: People protest against suicide attack on a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in which atleast 45 soldiers lost their lives; in in Bhendi Bazar of Mumbai on Feb 15, 2019. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, Feb 15 : Thousands of Muslims on Friday hit the roads in south Mumbai's minority-dominated Bhendi Bazaar area, spontaneous shutdowns were observed in different parts of the city, and several groups and political parties protested against Thursday's Pulwama terror attack which left close to 50 CRPF troopers dead.

Muslims led by leaders of several NGOs took out a procession on Mohammed Ali Road -- south Mumbai's trading hub -- carrying the Indian Tricolour, banners, placards and raising anti-Pakistan and anti-terror slogans this afternoon.

The entire area observed a total shutdown and reverberated with slogans of "Pakistan Murdabad", "LeT Murdabad", "Down with Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed" and "JeM Murdabad" as thousands peacefully staged protest marches in Saifee Jubilee Street, Handiwala Mosque and Sunni Bilal Mosque here.

Earlier in the day, the Maharashtra government announced an ex-gratia of Rs 50 lakh to the families of two troopers from Maharashtra martyred in the Pulwama attacks.

"We have announced Rs 50 lakh for the kin of the martyred jawans and the Maharashtra government will take responsibility of their rehabilitation. 125 crore Indians are their family members," Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said condemning the attack.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) units in Mumbai led by Raj Purohit, Ram Kadam and other leaders organised demonstrations in the city and suburbs against Pakistan and flayed the terror strikes.

Maharashtra Congress President Ashok Chavan and Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam organised a special condolence meeting at the party headquarters and other cities in the state condemning Pakistan and demanded strict action against the terror groups by India.

Both Chavan and Nirupam said the government must ensure that the sacrifices of the troopers do not go in vain and added that as per Congress President Rahul Gandhi's statement, the party would fully support all endeavours of the government in this regard.

The Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists burnt Pakistan flags, the Nationalist Congress Party and others organised similar protests and demonstrations at various locations in Mumbai and other parts of the state.

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray demanded immediate retaliation and said the government should "hit back with full force".

"Alliances, elections -- all this can continue, but don't spare Pakistan. Now a surgical strike is needed inside Pakistan. The entire country is united to give a befitting answer to the Jaish-e-Mohammed and teach a lesson to Pakistan it will never forget," Thackeray said.

The Sena has also demanded convening a special Parliament session to discuss the Pulwama crisis and the future course of action.

The Bharat Diamond Bourse, Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council and Mumbai Diamond Merchants Association organised a joint condolence meeting for the martyred troopers at the BDB Complex in Bandra Kurla.

Many private and government offices arranged a two-minute silence to mourn the victims, and protests were held at major railway stations on the Mumbai suburban sector with lakhs of home-bound commuters joining to raise slogans in solidarity with the CRPF troopers.
Agartala, Feb 15 : Bibliomania gripped the people of Tripura as the 37th edition of the Agartala Book Fair kicked off on Friday.

Tripura Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki inaugurated the 12-day book fair in the presence of Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath, Agartala Municipal Corporation Mayor Prafulla Jit Sinha and other dignitaries.

The Chief Minister in his brief speech said the state government was keen to organise book fairs at the district, sub-divisional and block levels.

"Share a good book among your friends and family members to spread the knowledge and motivate excellence in all spheres of the society," Deb said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government had introduced three awards -- Atal Bihari Vajpayee Life-Term Achievements in combined feats, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya National Integration Award for outstanding contribution in the field of social service and the Kalikinkar Debbarma Award for excellent performance in classical music.

Book Fair Committee Vice-Chairman Ashish Kumar Saha said these three new awards, along with many other awards introduced by the previous Left Front government, would be handed out during the book fair.

Book sellers and publishers from Bangladesh, Kolkata, New Delhi, Guwahati, besides Tripura are taking part in this year's book fair with the theme "Tripura with Heritage and Glory".

Over 500 poets coming from more than 10 linguistic backgrounds will recite their poems at the book fair, the second largest in eastern India after the one held in Kolkata.

The cultural functions at the inaugural ceremony were postponed in memory of the slain CRPF troopers, killed in the suicide attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.
Mumbai, Feb 15 : In the wake of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar and his wife actress Shabana Azmi have decided not to attend an event in Pakistan.

Akhtar on Friday took to Twitter to share that they will not be joining the event, being organised by the Karachi Art Council.

"Karachi Art Council had invited Shabana and me for a two-day literature conference about Kaifi Azmi and his poetry. We have cancelled that," he tweeted.

A suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district. The death toll in the horrific suicide bombing rose to 49 on Friday.

The Thursday horror was the worst loss to security forces on any single day in Jammu and Kashmir since a separatist campaign broke out in 1989.

Condemning the attack, Shabana said that she is "filled with pain and grief".

"For the first time in all these years, I feel weakened in my belief that people to people contact can force the establishment to do the right thing. We will need to call halt to cultural exchange.

"There is no way we can carry on with cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan even as our martyrs are laying down their lives for us. I stand in solidarity with the grieving families," she added.
Jerusalem, Feb 15 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday expressed solidarity with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in the wake of the dastardly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 45 CRPF personnel.

"To my dear friend, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, we stand with you, the security forces and the people of India following this heinous terrorist attack," Netanyahu said on Twitter.

"We send our condolences to the families of the victims," the Israeli leader added.

The international community led by the US strongly denounced the Thursday strike by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) during which an operative of the group crashed a car bomb into a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway.

US President Donald Trump asked Pakistan to "end immediately" the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil and said that the attack strengthened "our resolve to bolster counter-terrorism cooperation and coordination between the US and India".

It was the worst ever strike on security forces on any single day since a separatist campaign broke out in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989.
Srinagar, Feb 15 : The death toll in a horrific suicide bombing on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir rose to 49 on Friday after four more of the injured troopers succumbed to their injuries here, an official said.

The latest casualties were occupants of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) vehicle that was following the CRPF bus rammed by a SUV packed with explosives on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district on Thursday.

A CRPF official said that all 44 occupants of the targeted CRPF bus had died and five others in the other vehicle had also passed away.

Another 34 troopers were being treated in an Army hospital here for multiple injuries.

The Thursday horror was the worst loss to security forces on any single day in Jammu and Kashmir since a separatist campaign broke out in 1989 and drew international condemnation.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Supreme Court on Friday tagged with the main matter -- challenge to 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict on title suit -- a plea challenging the 1993 central law for the acquisition of Ayodhya land, including the disputed site.

Tagging the plea with the main matter, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said the plea would be heard along with the main matter on the next date of hearing.

A group of Lucknow residents, including two lawyers, Shishir Chaturvedi and Sanjay Mishra, describing themselves as devotees of Lord Rama, have moved the top court challenging the acquisition of the land at Ayodhya.

The petitioners have contended that the Parliament has no legislative competence to pass a law taking over/ acquiring the land belonging to the state as it squarely falls within the exclusive domain of the state legislatiption>

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New Delhi, Feb 15 (IANS) A Delhi court on Friday reserved for February 19 its order on lawyer Gautam Khaitan's bail plea, who was sent to judicial custody in a case of laundering of black money.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar heard both the parties.

Enforcement Directorate's (ED) counsel and Special Public Prosecutor D.P. Singh said that Khaitan's bail plea must be rejected as he is a habitual offender and a master launderer.

He also said that there are chances that he can influence witnesses or tamper with evidence.

However, Khaitan's lawyer Siddharth Luthra said that his client will follow all terms and conditions imposed by the court.

The defence counsel argued that there was no longer any need to keep Khaitan in custody and, hence, he should be released on bail.

Currently in judicial custody, Khaitan was arrested on January 25, a week after the Income Tax Department raided his offices and various other properties in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).

The ED said that Khaitan was "controlling" the modus operandi and was responsible for routing money, misusing his connections and clients, including the ones inherited from his father, to launder money through a variety of accounts in Dubai, Mauritius, Singapore, Tunisia, Switzerland, the UK and India.

Agency officials said the accounts included those belonging to his undisclosed shell companies outside India.

Khaitan was arrested in September 2014 for his alleged involvement in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal.

He got bail in January 2015 and was again arrested along with Sanjeev Tyagi, another accused in the case, on December 9, 2016, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He later secured bail.

The CBI charge sheet had described Khaitan as the brain behind the AgustaWestland deal.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Kashmir Police on February 8 had sent an intelligence input to the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB, Army and the Air Force warning of a possible IED attack, according to a letter written by the state police Inspector General.

It is not known why despite the early warning, the CRPF allowed its 78-vehicle convoy carrying 2,547 security personnel to go from the transit camp in Jammu to Srinagar -- a 270-km stretch.

In the worst-ever attack since militancy erupted in the state, 45 CRPF personnel died and many others were injured on Thursday afternoon when a suicide bomber belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed rammed his vehicle packed with improvised explosive device (IED) into a bus carrying Central paramilitary force personnel.

The intelligence input, sent on behalf of the Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, asked all security agencies to "sanitize areas properly before occupying your place or deployment as there are inputs that IEDs could be used".

Marked "Extremely Urgent", the letter accessed by IANS, was marked to the Deputy Inspector General of Central Reserve Police Force, South Srinagar; DIG CRPF, North Srinagar; DIG CRPF North Kashmir, Baramulla; DIG CRPF South Kashmir, Awantipora; DIG CRPF South Kashmir, Anantnag; DIG Sashastra Seema Bal, South Headquarters (Special Operations) Kashmir and all Senior Superintendents of Police of Kashmir zone.

The information was also shared with Inspector General, CRPF, Kashmir operations sector, IG CRPF, Srinagar sector, IG Border Security Force Headquarter Kashmir, all range Deputy Inspector Generals of Police of Kashmir zone, Brigadier General Staff (operations) at the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, the DIG Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Air Force, , the Commandant Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and SSP, Armed Police, Control Room Srinagar.

The letter also mentioned that it should be for "all concerned".

A suicide bomber, affiliated with Pakistan-based JeM terror group, rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, killing 45 troopers and leaving the security established stunned. The incident took place around 3.15 p.m., triggering a deafening explosion.

The JeM later claimed responsibility for the horror and released a video clip of the suicide bomber, a 'commander' identified as Adil Ahmad Dar, which it claimed was shot before the young man carried out the strike in Lethpora, about 30 km from here.

So devastating was the attack -- one report spoke of 200 kg of explosives, including probably RDX, packed into the SUV -- that the CRPF bus was left in a mangled heap, many of its occupants losing their limbs.

CRPF officials said the bus which was the main target of the militants was completely destroyed while another CRPF vehicle was partly damaged. "It is difficult to believe how anyone in that bus could have survived," said a police officer.

This is the worst single attack in Jammu and Kashmir since a nascent Pakistan-backed separatist campaign began in 1989. It is also the worst attack carried out by militants after the one on the Uri Army camp on September 18, 2016 left 19 soldiers dead -- forcing New Delhi to launch 'surgical strikes' on terrorist camps in Pakistan.

Officials said the reason why so many CRPF personnel were on the move at one go was because the Srinagar-Jammu highway had been shut for the past two days due to bad weather. The convoy left Jammu before dawn.

(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in)
Geneva, Feb 15 : The UN refugee agency on Friday said it would raise $920 million in a new plan to aid 900,000 Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh.

Over half of the solicited money, also meant to assist 330,000 vulnerable Bangladeshi hosts, is needed to meet the basic needs such as food, water, sanitation and shelter of the refugees who have fled from Myanmar to the neighboring country since 2017.

The rest of the fund will be utilized to finance programmes related to education, health and the protection of women and children, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

"Our humanitarian imperative today is to stabilize the situation of stateless Rohingya refugees and their Bangladesh hosts. We are hoping for timely, predictable and flexible contributions in order to meet the goals of this year's appeal," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi was quoted as saying by Efe news.

The UNHCR in a statement said that the 2019 Joint Response Plan sets out a comprehensive humanitarian effort shaped around three strategic objectives.

"By bringing together 132 partners - UN agencies, international and national NGOs and government bodies in a collective effort - the plan aims to deliver protection to refugee women, men, girls and boys, provide life-saving assistance and foster social cohesion," it said.

IOM Director General Antonio Vitorino said that the UN agencies were reiterating "our commitment to meeting the dire needs of this population and urge the international community to support these efforts".

More than 745,000 Rohingya refugees have fled violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State since August 2017, while 200,000 members of the community had earlier escaped to Bangladesh.

Most of the refugees live under harsh conditions in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar area near the Myanmar border, which has become the biggest refugee camp in the world.

"I repeat my call to Myanmar to take urgent action to address the root causes of this crisis which have persisted for decades, so that people are no longer forced to flee and can eventually return home in safety and dignity," Grandi said.

Last year, the Joint Response Plan could raise just $655 million against a target of $950 million.

Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingyas, a mostly Muslim minority, as its citizens and considers them Bangladeshi immigrants.
Paris, Feb 15 : The Pope's envoy to France is being investigated for allegedly committing sexual assault against a Paris city hall worker, officials said on Friday.

Archbishop Luigi Ventura, who was appointed by the former Pontiff Benedict XVI in 2009 to represent the Vatican's interests in France, has been accused of inappropriately touching a young man who welcomed him during an official ceremony at the capital's city council.

The ecclesiastical diplomat, aged 74, allegedly let his hand wander on the local government employee during the annual New Year's reception held on January 17 at the HAtel de Ville building's arcade hall, Efe news reported.

Officials said that the investigation was launched on January 24, when the case was referred by city authorities to the office of Paris prosecutor RAmy Heitz.

The story was first reported by French daily Le Monde.

Ventura, who was born in the northern Italian province of Lombardy, was ordained a priest in 1969 before joining the Vatican's diplomatic service in 1978.

A doctor of letters licensed in canon law, he served in the Church's legations to Brazil, Bolivia and the UK.

His first assignment holding the position of apostolic nuncio - as the papal envoys are officially known - was at the shared legation to three French-speaking West African countries: the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Niger.

In 1999, he was moved to Chile for two years before Pope John Paul II appointed him nuncio to Canada, where he served for eight years until his move to Paris.

This latest sexually-tinged scandal comes amid an avalanche of thousands of abuse allegations against Catholic priests that emerged in recent years, many of them involving underage victims.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : India has called its High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajya Bisaria to New Delhi "for consultations" in the wake of terrorist attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama, sources said on Friday.

At least 45 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed as an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into the force's convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on Thursday.

Pakistan-based militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

India on Friday also announced, after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), that it has withdrawn most favoured nation (MFN) status accorded to Pakistan and would work to isolate the western neighbour internationally.

The External Affairs Ministry in a statement on Thursday called upon the international community after the attack to support its bid to get the JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar declared a "designated terrorist" by the United Nations.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : A least nine labourers suffered burn injuries when a massive fire broke out in a nail polish manufacturing factory here in the early hours of Friday, a fire officer said.

"Around 2.48 a.m, the Delhi Fire Service control room received information about a fire in a nail polish factory at West Delhi's Bawana Industrial area. Fifteen fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the fire, which started from a chemical container," the officer said.

"The fire was doused by 5 a.m. but during the rescue operation, nine labourers were found injured from the spot. The victims, identified as Bablu (20), Chhoto (21), Ram Singh (21), Kanhaiya (21), Jaggi (22), Pappu (22), Ravi (25), Holi Lal (28) and Birpal (40), were admitted to a nearby hospital, where they are undergoing treatment," he added.

"The victims were working when a chemical container caught fire," the officer said.

This is the fourth major fire incident in the national capital over the last few days. On Tuesday, 17 people had lost their lives in a devastating fire at Hotel Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Supreme Court on Friday tagged with the main matter -- challenge to 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict on title suit -- a plea challenging the 1993 central law for the acquisition of Ayodhya land, including the disputed site.

Tagging the plea with the main matter, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said the plea would be heard along with the main matter on the next date of hearing.

A group of Lucknow residents, including two lawyers, Shishir Chaturvedi and Sanjay Mishra, describing themselves as devotees of Lord Rama, have moved the top court challenging the acquisition of the land at Ayodhya.

The petitioners have contended that the Parliament has no legislative competence to pass a law taking over/ acquiring the land belonging to the state as it squarely falls within the exclusive domain of the state legislature.

The state legislature has exclusive powers to make provision relating to the management of the affairs of religious institutions working in the state, the petition added.

The petition also contended that The Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act, 1993, infringed upon Article 25 of the Constitution guaranteeing freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.

The petitioners have sought direction to restrain the Central and Uttar Pradesh governments from interfering in puja, darshan and performance of rituals at places of worship "situated within the land admeasuring 67.703 acres acquired ... particularly at the land belonging to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, Manas Bhavan, Sankat Mochan Mandir, Ram Janmasthan Temple, Janki Mahal and Katha Mandap."

The Centre had on January 29 moved the top court seeking its nod for giving a part of the 67 acres of undisputed land to Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas and other original owners.

The Centre had moved the top court for the modification of its March 31, 2003 order, directing the observance of status quo on the acquired 67 acres of undisputed land.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas owns about 42 acres of the undisputed land out of the 67 acres which was acquired way back in 1993.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas had approached the government seeking the return of the 42 acres of land which the Centre in its application on Tuesday described as "superfluous."
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The conflict waging along the unsettled border between the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan can lead to higher rungs of escalation between the two nuclear weapon-armed states, says Harcharanjit Singh Panag, who retired as a lieutenant general of the Indian Army in 2008.

Referring to the Ceasefire Line (CFL), based on the Karachi Agreement of 1949, which was converted into the Line of Control (LOC) following the Shimla Agreement in 1972, Panag says that barring short spells, "the line has always been on fire".

"Both sides claim that they are responding to unprovoked firing. But the Indian generals are saying on record that the LoC warfare is being utilised to compel Pakistan to stop the proxy war in J&K. And the Pakistan Army spokesperson too says on record that in response to the Indian Army action across the LoC, they are deliberately targeting villages along the Working Boundary (WB) based on demographic factors," he says.

Panag has made these observations in the foreword to Happymon Jacob's just-released book, "Line on Fire: Ceasefire Violations and India-Pakistan Escalation Dynamics".

"Let alone the bloody past, the present situation itself highlights... that ceasefire violations are intrinsically linked to the escalation ladder and may lead to a war between India and Pakistan," asserts Panag, who was appointed as an Administrative Member of the Armed Forces Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench, after retirement.

Panag spent 10 years on the Line of Control, from the rank of Second Lieutenant to an army commander when the entire 1,125 km, less the Working Boundary, was under his command.

He draws from his personal experience to contend that the Army viewed the issue as "a military management problem to be handled based on the political and operational environment".

"Our actions were focussed on quid pro quo response to incidents triggered by a host of complex factors and unilateral retribution for perpetrating the proxy war, the direct and indirect support for which comes through the LoC," he adds.

Jacob, who teaches disarmament studies at the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University here, explains the causes of ceasefire violations in the book, and the crisis escalation between India and Pakistan, as well as the dangers of ceasefire violations-linked escalation under nuclear conditions.

Panag mentions that he has a major disagreement with the author with respect to his conclusion that the proxy war is not a major reason for ceasefire violations.

"In my experience, the opposite is true," he says, recalling that before the proxy war began, ceasefire violations were more manageable and the guidelines of the Karachi Agreement were generally adhered to.

"Post 1989, the perception on the Indian side is that the Pakistan Army manning the LoC connives and facilitates the movement of terrorists and material support for the proxy war. Hence, it must be deterred through unprecedented retribution and compellence," he asserts.

Panag says that ceasefire violations have become a part of the "operational strategy" and points out that they have the potential to spiral into a major escalation, and even lead to a J&K-centric limited war.

The 400-page book, published by Oxford University Press, has been endorsed by two of India's former National Security Advisors (NSA), M.K. Narayanan and Shivshankar Menon, along with Lt. Gen. (retd) Tariq Waseem Ghazi, former Defence Secretary of Pakistan.

(Saket Suman can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in)
Kolkata, Feb 15 : A day before he was killed along with 44 colleagues in a horrific suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir, trooper Bablu Santra telephoned his home in West Bengal and asked his mother if everyone in the family had taken their meals or not.

Santra, 39, also wanted to know if his daughter had boarded the school bus safely, his inconsolable mother, Bonomala Santra, said on Friday.

She told journalists who called on her in West Bengal's Howrah district that Santra joined the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) "for the sake of the family".

"Now we have lost him," the sobbing Santra said.

"He studied hard and sold goods before being selected as a jawan. We had to send him for the sake of earning bread for the family," she added.

The trooper was transferred to Jammu and Kashmir recently and he was to retire in the coming year, his mother said. Earlier, he was posted in Manali in Himachal Pradesh.

The dead man's last telephonic conversation with the family was on Wednesday.

"He asked us if we had taken our meals and if his daughter had boarded the school bus safely," the mother said.

The trooper's wife is so shattered that she refuses to speak to anyone.

West Bengal Co-operation Minister Arup Roy visited the family and promised them assistance from the government.

In the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989, a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district killing 45 troopers.
Mumbai, Feb 15 : From Amitabh Bachchan to Lata Mangeshkar and Shah Rukh Khan, a string of Bollywood celebrities took to social media to condemn the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, which killed 45 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers.

Bollywood stars described it as "barbaric", "tragic" and a "heinous crime against humanity". They said they were heart broken with the news of the attack, which took place on Thursday.

In the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989, a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, killing at least 45 troopers and leaving the security establishment stunned.

Here's what the celebrities have tweeted:

Amitabh Bachchan: Distressed... Disturbed.

Lata Mangeshkar: I condemn the terrorist attack in Jammu-Kashmir's Pulwama district. I would like to pay a tribute to the martyrs. I am with the families of these soldiers in this moment of grief.

Shah Rukh Khan: Heartfelt condolences to the families of our valiant jawans. May the souls of our countrymen who laid their lives down for us rest in peace.

Salman Khan: My heart goes out for the jawans of our beloved country and their families who lost their lives as martyrs to save our families... You stand for India.

Aamir Khan: I am heartbroken to read about the terrorist attack on our CRPF jawans in Pulwama. It's so tragic. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the jawans who have lost their lives.

Ranveer Singh: Disgusted at the cowardly terror attack on the CRPF soldiers in Pulwama -- my sincere condolences to the families of our brave jawans. Saddened. Angry.

Hrithik Roshan: Deeply grieved on hearing about the Pulwama attack. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the jawans martyred.

Rajkummar Rao: Pulwama terror attack is a heinous crime against humanity. My condolences go out to the families of our soldiers who have lost their lives. May our martyrs rest in peace and the perpetrators of the crime brought to justice.

Neil Nitin Mukesh: My respects and condolences with the families Pulwama terror attack.

Saqib Saleem: Shocked and deeply saddened at the attack on our soldiers in Pulwama. Heart goes out to the families of the deceased soldiers. When will this hatred stop?

Disha Patani: Shocked! I salute and stand in solidarity with our Armed Forces. This deplorable act of cowardice and terror should be dealt with unforgiving urgency. No family should lose their sons like that, no soldier should be martyred like this. Deepest condolences to the families.

Juhi Chawla: Deeply saddened to hear the barbaric attack on our brave soldiers. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the bravehearts.

Goldie Behl: Terrible sights of the tragedy in Kashmir! My heart goes out to these jawans who were killed in a terrorist attack in Kashmir yesterday. Let us all pray for their bereaved families!

Kunal Kapoor: My heartfelt appeal to people, to come forward and support Ketto (a fund-raising organisation) for their campaign to rehabilitate the families of CRPF martyrs. India, lets stand up for those who gave their lives for our safety. Jai Hind.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The international community has strongly condemned the terror attack by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 45 CRPF personnel, with US President Donald Trump asking Pakistan to "end immediately" the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil.

"The US calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence and terror in the region. This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counter-terrorism cooperation and coordination between the US and India," Trump's Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

"We express our deep condolences to the victims' families, the Indian government and the Indian people for the loss of life in this brutal attack," the statement added.

China's Foreign Ministry on Friday also denounced the attack, hoping that "relevant regional countries will cooperate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability".

It added that the "JeM has been included in the UN Security Council terrorism sanctions list and that China will continue to handle the relevant sanctions issue in a constructive and responsible manner".

An operative of the JeM group crashed a car bomb into a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway on Thursday, making it the worst ever attack on security forces on any single day since a separatist campaign broke out in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989.

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah stressed the "need for solidarity and closer cooperation of countries in the fight against this common enemy".

"Terrorism is a cancer in the region and it requires collective efforts to root it out," Ghani said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned the "brutal crime" and said that "the perpetrators and sponsors of the attack, undoubtedly, should be duly punished".

Putin reiterated Moscow's "readiness for further strengthening counter-terrorist cooperation with Indian partners".

The European Union in a statement said that "as a strategic partner of India, the EU reaffirms its full solidarity at such a difficult moment".

Saudi Arabia also denounced the "cowardly" attack and said it stands with India against terrorism and extremism.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said her country "remains steadfast in its support of the global fight against terrorism," reaffirming a resolve "to prevent radicalization and defeat terrorism in all its forms".

Indonesia and Australia also slammed the strike.

The attack further damaged the already tense India-Pakistan diplomatic relations, with New Delhi saying it had evidence of Islamabad's involvement in the carnage. It also withdrew the Most Favoured Nation trade status it had granted to Pakistan in 1996 under the World Trade Organization rules.

However, Pakistan dismissed accusations that it has links with the militants who carried out the attack. "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations," said the country's Foreign Ministry in a statement.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : Cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions are empowering differently-abled people with tools that support independence and productivity, a top Microsoft executive said here on Friday.

The software giant last year launched its five-year, $25 million "AI for Accessibility" programme that harnesses the power of AI to amplify human capability for the more than one billion people around the world with a disability.

"At Microsoft, we believe there are no limits to what people can achieve when technology reflects the diversity of everyone who uses it," Sriram Rajamani, Managing Director, Microsoft Research India, said on the inaugural day of the two-day "Accessibility Summit - Empowering for Inclusion" here.

Real time speech-to-text transcription, computer vision capabilities and predictive text functionality are just a few examples of how AI is useful to people with disabilities.

Inaugurating the summit, Shakuntala Doley Gamlin, Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities at the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry, said that a strong public-private partnership can go a long way in empowering the differently-abled with equal access and opportunity.

Microsoft hosted the summit in collaboration with the National Association of the Deaf and National Centre for Promotion of Employment of Disabled People (NCPEPD), a non-profit organisation.

The two-day conference will also combine a rich mix of master classes and access to Microsoft's "AI for Accessibility" resources for the developer community with a showcase of inclusive technology, Microsoft said.

The showcase will feature technology-based projects from non-profit organisations, assistive technologies developed by leading technology companies, Microsoft partners as well as Microsoft solutions, the company added.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : Six Indian artists will showcase their artwork at the 2019 edition of Art Bahrain Across Borders (ArtBAB), Bahrains foremost international art fair.

The theme of the fourth edition of the fair is "Legacies", which will explore the nearly 50-year-old Bahraini contemporary art scene and its foundation in the Kingdom's rich art heritage.

"Indian galleries and artists generally have prominent presence at the fair every year. This year also, I am delighted to announce that we have received confirmations from six Indian artists to take part. The art fair's 2019 edition would be an exciting amalgam of Bahraini art and cutting-edge trends from the art industry," said Kaneka Subberwal, Fairs and Programme Director at ArtBAB 2019.

Two artists from Mumbai's Cosmic Heart Gallery with a flair for contemporary, abstract art, Natasha Lalla and Shailan Parker, will display their work at ArtBAB 2019.

They will be joined by four emerging contemporary artists from Delhi's Seed Art Gallery - Pratik Sharma, C.H. Gandhi, Farhad Hussain and Rohit Sharma.

The fair enjoys the patronage of Princess Sabeeka Bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of the King of Bahrain, and will be organised from March 6 to 10.
London, Feb 15 : Exposing children and adults with autism to immersive virtual reality (VR) can help alleviate their fears and phobias, say researchers.

A team from the UK's Newcastle University developed 'Blue Room', a virtual environment, which requires no goggles. Here a person can comfortably investigate and navigate through various scenarios working with a therapist using iPad controls but remain in full control of the situation.

"For many children and their families, anxiety can rule their lives as they try to avoid the situations which can trigger their child's fears or phobias," said Professor Jeremy Parr from Newcastle's Institute of Neuroscience.

"To be able to offer a treatment that works, and see the children do so well, offers hope to families who have very few treatment options for anxiety available to them," Parr added.

Autism can affect a child's learning and development, often resulting in impaired social and communication skills and many also have fears or phobias which can be very distressing but are often overlooked.

For the study, detailed in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, the team involved a small group of children with autism aged 8-14 years. Half received treatment in the 'Blue Room' straight away and half acted as a control group, receiving delayed treatment six months later.

"People with autism can find imagining a scene difficult which is why the 'Blue Room' is so well-received. We are providing the feared situation in a controlled way through VR and we are sitting alongside them to help them learn how to manage their fears," explained Morag Maskey, researcher from Newcastle.

The results showed that overall 40 per cent of children treated showed improvement at two weeks, and 45 per cent at six months.

In a separate study, published in the Autism in Adulthood journal by the same team, the VR treatment was shown to be effective in autistic adults.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 904 crore of D.S. Kulkarni Developers Ltd (DSKDL) for cheating and siphoning off deposits worth Rs 1,084 crore from Maharashtra investors for more than a decade.

Kulkarni Developers had cheated the investors promising better returns on their money from 2006 to 2017, the agency said on Friday as it attached the properties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The attached properties include land, buildings, flats, LIC policies and bank balance.

The immovable properties estimated at Rs 895 crore are spread over Pune, Fursungi (near Pune), Kolhapur, Sangli and Solapur in Maharashtra, Bengaluru and in the US.

The movable assets comprise bank deposits of Rs 4 crore and LIC policies worth Rs 5 crore.

The ED had initiated the probe on the basis of an FIR and chargesheet filed by the Pune police which mentioned that DSKDL Group chairman Deepak S. Kulkarni, wife Hemanti and their son Shirish, along with others cheated around 35,000 investors in Maharashtra.

The Kulkarnis are accused of forming eight partnership firms -- D. S. Kulkarni and Company, D.S. Kulkarni and Associates, D.S. Kulkarni and Brothers, D.S. Kulkarni and Sons, DSK and Sons, DSK and Associates, DSK Construction, DSK Enterprises -- under the veil of DSKDL with the sole motive to collect the funds from the public mostly based in Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, besides other cities of Maharashtra.

They fraudulently projected these partnership firms to be part and parcel of DSKDL, an ED statement said.

"Although, none of these eight firms have any profit generating business, yet the accused in connivance with others, cheated the public and collected funds from them in the guise of different deposit schemes..."

The ED said the money trail established that the depositors' money was layered through various high value sham transactions under the guise of capital borrowing, advances against property, director's loan among 40 group companies of the DSK group to project it as untainted money and finally laundered to DSKDL, DSK Global Education, DSK Southern, DSK Motors, DSK Developer corporation (US) and other DSK group firms and in the bank accounts of Deepak Kulkarni, his family members and close relatives.

The laundered money was further utilised to purchase land in India and the US in different construction projects of DSKDL for operative expenditure of the DSK group firms, for repayment of bank loans, for payment of premium of high value life insurance policies and conspicuous consumption.

DSKDL purchased land at Fursungi for Rs 332 crore between 2006 and 2009 for the development of a Special Economic Zone. However, in the entire land purchase dealing, the agriculturists got only Rs 147.85 crore and the remaining funds amounting to Rs 184.46 crore were siphoned off to the account of Hemanti Kulkarni, the ED said.
Madrid, Feb 15 : Spain's Prime Minister Pedro SAnchez said on Friday that the country will hold early general election on April 28, paving the way for the beginning of campaigning.

SAnchez, 46, of the Socialist Party, said he was asking for the Parliament to dissolve and for the polls to be held one month before regional elections in the country, Efe news agency reported.

"I have proposed the dissolution of Parliament and call for elections on April 28," SAnchez was quoted as saying.

Sanchez came to power in June by triggering a successful no-confidence vote against his predecessor Mariano Rajoy's minority conservative Popular Party government.
Beijing, Feb 15 : China on Friday indicated it would continue to block India's bid to declare Masood Azhar as an international terrorist whose outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed to plot the worst-ever attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 45 CRPF troopers.

China has repeatedly blocked India's bid to ban Azhar at the UN, citing lack of evidence against the man who was the mastermind behind the Mumbai terror attack and has plotted dastardly attacks on Indian Army camps.

To India's renewed appeal to the international community, including China, to designate Azhar as an international terrorist in the aftermath of Thursday's attack, Beijing indicated it won't budge from its position.

"We are deeply shocked by this attack. We offer our condolences and sympathies to the injured and families of the bereaved. We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all forms of terrorism," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said here.

"We hope all relevant regional countries will cooperate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability."

Asked if China will rethink its decision on Azhar, Geng said: "As to the issue of the listing, I can tell you that 1267 Committee of the Security Council has clear stipulations on the listing and the procedure of terrorist organisation and individuals and the JeM, which has taken the responsibility of the attack, has been included on the Security Council counter-terrorism list.

"As to the listing of the individual, we have always dealt with the issue in an earnest, professional and responsible manner."

Geng said Beijing will remain in touch with India to ban Azhar at the UN but will handle the issue in a "constructive and responsible manner".

India had to free the dreaded terrorist in exchange for the release of the passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in 1999.

China is a veto-wielding member at the 1267 panel of the Security Council which deals in designating outfits and individuals.

Beijing has repeatedly blocked India's proposal to ban Azhar at the UN. In 2016, it cited lack of evidence against the man. In 2017, the proposal by the US and France met the same fate as Beijing again vetoed their resolution.

This has become one of the sticking points between New Delhi and Beijing.

China has always defended its ally Pakistan on the front of terror and heaped praised on it in its fight against the menace. Beijing has also made huge investments in Pakistan as part of its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.

(Gaurav Sharma can be contacted at sharmagaurav71@gmail.com)
On Board Vande Bharat Express, Feb 15 : Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Friday said the high-speed Vande Bharat Express is the first step to heralding the bullet train in India.

"I am very happy that Vande Bharat (formerly Train 18) is an icon of our engineering efficiency and skills," the former Union Minister told IANS on board the train that touches 160 km an hour, the fastest on Indian Railways.

"This train passes through Kanpur, which I represent in the Lok Sabha now, Prayagraj and Benares which I had represented in the past. This train originates from Delhi, my place of birth," Joshi said.

He said he was also happy that this train was a culmination of the seeding of a vision for a future railway system which may lead to the development of a bullet train that will be completely designed and manufactured in India.

"We should be prepared to face the challenge and make improvements in our engineering skills and economies of scale so that its acceptability is for all. The fares should be acceptable for the poor sections too.

"The safety of the system should also be ensured because we should be careful about the safety on the system keeping in mind terror attacks like (in) Pulwama. Therefore, we should be careful about protection of the railway system," he said.

Joshi also said that all political parties should take a unified approach on combating Pakistan-sponsored terrorism without trying to score political points.

"I feel the country must take a unified stand on whatever decisions (are taken) to combat Pakistan-sponsored terrorism without any difference of opinion. All parties should devise a common approach and wholeheartedly join them.

"No place should be allowed to support terrorism and bigotry and no one should try to draw political benefit at the cost of the country's interest," Joshi told IANS on board the train that links New Delhi and Varanasi and was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning.

Joshi was reacting to the worst ever terror attack on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday that left 45 CRPF troopers dead at the hands of a suicide bomber in Pulwama district.

Joshi described Thursday's incident as a ghastly attack which deserved condemnation of not only in India but everyone across the world to create an international bulwark for crushing terrorist elements.

"These are aspects of international consolidation of democratic and peaceful societies."

Second, Joshi said, terrorist elements and tendencies should be identified in the country and such platforms should be demolished.

For this, psychological efforts were needed to change the mindset of people, especially youth, to create abhorrence for violence.
Jammu, Feb 15 : Authorities on Friday imposed curfew in Jammu city after mobs protesting against the terrorist strike in the Kashmir Valley turned violent, torching some vehicles and damaging several others.

District Magistrate Ramesh Kumar said the curfew had been clamped to maintain law and order.

Police said the violence began in the city's Gujjar Nagar area.

Police used tear smoke and batons to bring the situation under control after which curfew was imposed, initially in Gujjar Nagar, Talab Khatikan, Janipur, Bakshi Nagar, Chenni Heemat, Bus Stand and some other places in old city area and later extended to entire Jammu.

Tension spread to other "sensitive areas" of the city as news about the violence in Gujjar Nagar spread.

"People are advised to maintain calm and not play into the hands of anti-social elements who want to exploit the situation for their nefarious objectives," a police officer said.

One of the 45 CRPF soldiers killed in Thursday's suicide bombing in Pulwama was identified as Naseer Ahmad of Rajouri district in the state.

A protest shutdown was called on Friday by the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI).

Jammu transporters association, the local Bar association and the National Conference have extended support to the shutdown.

Rakesh Gupta, President of JCCI, an influential body of local traders and industrialists, told IANS: "We condemn the brutal attack and stand in solidarity with the families who have lost their dear ones in this attack.

"I appeal to the people belonging to different sections of the society to maintain the traditional harmony and brotherhood for which Jammu has been known ever since the fires of violence spread in the (Kashmir) Valley."
Bengaluru, Feb 15 : The IAF inducted Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal from the 112th helicopter unit at the Yelahanka air base in the city's northern suburb as its first woman flight engineer, said the Defence Ministry on Friday.

"Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal has scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman flight engineer after completing the course at the Yelahanka Air Force Station," said the Ministry in a statement here.

Commissioned as a warrior on January 5, 2015, in the engineering branch of the Air Force, Hina served as chief of firing team and battery commander in a frontline surface-to-air missile squadron before her selection to the flight engineers' course, which she completed on Friday.

"During the six-month course, Hina trained with her male counterparts, displaying commitment, dedication and perseverance," said the statement.

Hina, who hails from Chandigarh, graduated in engineering from the Panjab University.

"My achievement as the first woman flight engineer is a dream come true as I had aspired from childhood to wear a soldier's uniform and take to sky as an aviator," said the statement quoting Hina.

As a flight engineer, Hina will be posted at the operational helicopter units of the Air Force to operate in demanding conditions spanning the icy heights of the Siachen glacier to the Andaman sea.

"I am enthusiastic about my stint in aviation and look forward to embrace the challenges in the service," said Hina.

Becoming more gender inclusive, the Indian Air Force (IAF) since 1993 has commissioned women in the officer cadre and inducted many of them as pilots to operate military aircraft and choppers.

In 2018, the flight engineer branch, which was the domain of male air warriors, was opened to women officers.

"A flight engineer is a member of an aircraft's flight crew who monitors and operates its complex aircraft systems requiring a specialised skill set," added the statement.
Srinagar, Feb 15 : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh arrived here Friday to pay tributes to the CRPF troopers killed in Thursday's terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district and to discuss the security situation.

Rajnath Singh will take part in the wreath laying ceremony on the bodies of the troopers at the Humhama Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Badgam district.

He will review the overall security in the state in the aftermath of the suicide attack -- the worst terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989.

Informed sources said the Minister will be briefed on the security situation by senior officers of the state and central intelligence agencies, state police, Army and paramilitary forces.

Earlier, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) met in New Delhi, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A total of 45 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed when a suicide bomber of the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) outfit rammed an explosive-filled SUV into a CRPF bus in Lethpora area on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.
London, Feb 15 : UK Prime Minister Theresa May has suffered another significant defeat in the House of Commons over Britain's withdrawal from the European Union, dealing a blow to her hopes of uniting the Conservatives around a renegotiated Brexit deal.

May failed to win support for her EU strategy after the pro-Brexit European Research Group (ERG), led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, abstained on a government motion on Thursday because it appeared to rule out a no-deal Brexit, the Guardian reported.

The defeat marked the end of a temporary truce over Brexit among Conservative MPs, who had voted last month in favour of May's strategy if she could get concessions from Brussels on the issue of the Northern Ireland backstop.

MPs voted by 303 to 258 - a majority of 45 - against a motion endorsing the government's negotiating strategy.

The defeat has no legal force and Downing Street said it would not change the Prime Minister's approach to talks with the EU.

May had earlier assured European negotiators that she could get a majority for a revised Brexit plan, if they made some concessions. But this latest show of disunity from lawmakers and rebellion from within her own party, appeared to confirm suspicions that legislators cannot come together around any plan they could accept.

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn urged May to "admit her Brexit strategy has failed" and to come forward with a plan Parliament would support.

The voting figures showed it was not just hardline Brexiteers that failed to support the government - a number of Tory Remainers also declined to vote - as more than a fifth of the party in the Commons failed to back the government.

Five Conservative MPs - Brexiteers Peter Bone, Sir Christopher Chope, Philip Hollobone and Anne Marie Morris, and the pro-Remain Sarah Wollaston - even voted with Labour against the motion.

Downing Street blamed Corbyn for the defeat, saying he had "yet again put partisan considerations ahead of the national interest" by voting against the government's motion.

No. 10 had earlier warned that defeat could damage May's negotiating position as she seeks to make changes to the controversial backstop "insurance policy" in her deal to avoid customs checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Also, a Scottish National Party amendment, backed by the Liberal Democrats and calling for Britain's departure from the EU on March 29 to be delayed by three months, was defeated by 93 votes to 315 after most Labour MPs abstained.

Deputy Chairman Steve Baker of pro-Brexit group ERG told the BBC that they still supported efforts to get "alternative arrangements" to replace the controversial Irish backstop plan, describing May's defeat as a "storm in a teacup".

In Brussels, diplomats said the result showed that the Prime Minister was incapable of commanding the support of her party on key votes and that she needed to work cross-party. "No one can take any good from this," said one diplomat.
United Nations, Feb 15 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the suicide attack on Indian security forces in Kashmir and called for bringing the attackers to justice.

Answering a reporter's question at his briefing on Thursday, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: "We strongly condemn today's attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district and express our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and to the government and people of India."

He added a "call for those behind the attack to be brought to justice."

An operative of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) group crashed a car bomb into a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force in Lethpora area of Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway on Thursday, killing 45 troopers and wounding 38.

Asked about India's demand for placing JeM head Azhar Mohammed on the UN's list of international terrorists, Dujarric replied: "The issue of listing terrorist organisations is one that is left... is in the hands of the Security Council."

Azhar has had the protection of veto-wielding China, which blocked requests to declare to have him designated as a terrorist by a Sanctions Committee of the Security Council.

After the attack, India renewed its call for declaring him a global terrorist facing sanctions.

"We reiterate our appeal to members of international community to support a proposal to list terrorists, including JeM Chief, as a designated terrorist under 1267 Sanctions Committee of UN Security Council and ban terror organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan," the External Affairs Ministry said.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)
New York, Feb 15 : After another snub by Congress for funding his border wall, President Donald Trump will declare a State of Emergency on Friday in order to divert money to his pet project and back away from his threatened government shutdown, according to the White House.

Unlike in India, an Emergency of the type that Trump is planning does not bring sweeping powers or allow suspension of civil rights and arbitrary arrests, but only enables limited action in government operations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party's leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, declared that imposing an Emergency would be "a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency".

With the threat of another government shutdown looming, Congress passed a bill on Thursday with $1.375 billion for a 55-mile fence, nowhere near the $5.7 billion Trump had demanded for the wall along the Mexican border that he had promised during his election campaign.

The measure was hammered out by lawmakers from both parties after Trump allowed the government to reopen after a 35-day shutdown in a showdown over the wall funding.

Trump had threatened to veto any bill without the money he demanded for the wall, but is now agreeing to it while making good on his threat to impose an Emergency to get money for the wall.

"President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action -- including a national Emergency -- to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border," his Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Thursday.

The declaration of an Emergency will be challenged in court.

Calling it a "presidential over-reach" and "a dangerous precedent", Democratic Party Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi said: "The Constitution maintains that only Congress has the power of the purse and may appropriate funds. This is not a Constitutional power any President has."

Pelosi said a legal challenge was "an option and we'll review our options".

Several lawmakers from Trump's own party were against an Emergency declaration. Republican Senator John Cornyn called it a "dangerous step", saying: "The President is going to get sued and it won't succeed in accomplishing his goal."

He added that if Pelosi introduces a resolution against the Emergency, it will split the Republicans.

According to media reports quoting the White House officials, Trump plans to spend a total of $8 billion on the border barrier. While there is $1.375 billion allocated in the spending bill, he wants to make up the rest by diverting money from the military construction budget and funds seized from drug smugglers and dealers.

Trump had said during his election campaign that he would make Mexico pay for the border wall - an unrealistic claim that has continued to haunt him as he sought funding in the US budget.

While government was under a shutdown with all but the essential services operating and 800 government employees under temporary layoff, Trump scaled back his idea of a wall to a series of metal slats along the border.

Having had to back down from his funding demand with Pelosi standing firm amid growing opposition to the shutdown, Trump sees the Emergency as the only way for him to build his barrier and save his credibility among his most steadfast supporters.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)
New York, Feb 15 : President Donald Trump has called out Pakistan directly on the car-bomb attack on CRPF personnel by terrorists based there and declared that it will only strengthen efforts by India and the US to strengthen their cooperation in fighting terrorism.

"The United States condemns in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attack by a Pakistan-based terrorist group that killed over 40 Indian paramilitary forces and wounded at least 44 others," Trump's Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Thursday night.

"The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence and terror in the region," her statement said.

"This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counter-terrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India," the White House statement warned.

A 'fidayeen' of the Pakistan-based the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) group rammed an explosive-laden SUV into a bus carrying CRPF troopers in Lethpora area of Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway on Thursday killing 45 and wounding 38 in the convoy.

This was the worst terrorist attack in Kashmir.

Condemning the attack, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: "The United States is resolutely committed to working with the Indian government to combat terrorism in all its forms.

"The UN designated, Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed responsibility for this heinous act," said a statement issued in Washington by his Deputy Press Secretary Robert Palladino.

"We call on all countries to uphold their responsibilities pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions to deny safe haven and support for terrorists," the statement said.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)
Jaipur, Feb 15 : The Rajasthan Assembly might have passed a bill granting five per cent reservation to Gujjars in educational institutions and government jobs but the community's leaders are highly sceptical of this clearing judicial scrutiny as it has been shot down on two previous occasions in 2009 and 2015 when a similar quota was granted.

The reason? The Rajasthan High Court held on both occasions that the five per cent quota exceeded the 50 per cent limit laid down by the Supreme Court. Thereafter, a bill to grant 1 per cent reservation was also shot down in 2010 on the ground that the matter was taken up without conducting a proper survey.

Experts say the five per cent quota would require a constitutional amendment to raise the limit.

The community currently enjoys a 1 per cent reservation in educational institutions and government jobs after a fourth bill was introduced on this in 2017. Demanding that this be raised to 5 per cent, the Gujjar Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti had resumed its agitation on February 8, blocking rail tracks and roads in many areas of the state and bringing transportation to a grinding halt.

On Wednesday, the state Assembly passed a bill granting the Gujjars five per cent reservations. Governor Kalyan Singh signed the bill on the same night.

But the Gujjars refused to give up their stir, which entered its seventh day on Thursday.

"We have shown the bill to legal experts and after studying the bill, our community is dissatisfied with it. This can again get stuck in court. Hence, the government should give it to us in writing assuring reservations for us," Gujjar Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti patron Col. Kirori Singh Bainsla told IANS.

"We are well aware of inconvenience to the people. But what surprises us is why the government is not aware of the inconvenience being caused to our people," he said.

The agitators have not slept since the stir resumed, staying awake through the night, sitting on the railway tracks under the open sky in the chilly weather.

"The political parties have been promising us this reservation since many years. Even this time, we were promised reservation in the Congress manifesto. In fact, the Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot, represents our community and he promised us our right.

"However, after forming the government, the Congress forgot this promise. We warned them of this agitation on January 20, however, no one took us seriously. Not even a single official came to us to open talks and hold discussions," said Vijay Bainsla, another Gujjar leader.

"Now, when we started this stir, the entire mechanism of passing the bill was finished in six days - that's it! Doesn't this show that the political leaders are not ready to work till they face protests and agitations," Bainsla said.

In the 13 years since 2006, the Gujjars have staged six agitations on the railway tracks, blocking the crucial Mumbai-Delhi route. Four of the agitations were staged under BJP rule and twice when the Congress was in power.

Each time, the railways incurred losses of crores of rupees and passengers faced the blues as and when trains were diverted. This time around, the railways say losses of over Rs 350 crore have been incurred.

(Archana Sharma can be contacted at archana.s@ians.in)
Wayanad : Feb 15 (IANS) The family of V.V. Vasanth Kumar, who was among those martyred in the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, said they are proud of him for laying down his life for the country.

The Thursday suicide attack on a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel left 45 dead while 38 others were injured.

The 40-year-old Kumar returned to Srinagar earlier in February to take up his new assignment, his brother Sajeevan told the media.

"He had come on a leave for 10 days. He had completed 18 years of service and was due to take retirement in less than two years time. We are proud of him as he has laid down his life for the country," said Sajeevan, adding "we expect his body will be brought here".

Hailing from Lakidi, near here, Kumar is survived by his mother, wife and two young children.

On Friday morning, Wayanad district authorities arrived at the home of Kumar and pledged all support to the bereaved family.
Mumbai, Feb 15 : As Amitabh Bachchan completed his 50 years in the Hindi film industry on Friday, his son and actor Abhishek Bachchan celebrates the "talent and brilliance" of the megastar.

Abhishek took Instagram to pen down a heartfelt post for his father on his 50 glorious years in Bollywood. The "Yuva" actor also shared a photograph of himself wearing a sweatshirt with a print of Amitabh's photograph on it.

"Icon! To me, he is so much more. My father, best friend, guide, best critic, greatest support, idol - hero! 50 years today he started his journey in films. Even today, his passion and love for his craft and work is the same as I'm sure it was on the first day.

"Dearest Pa, today we celebrate you, your talent, your passion, your brilliance and your immense influence," he wrote alongside the image.

The 43-year-old actor said he cannot wait to see what the 76-year-old thespian has in store for the "next 50 years".

"The coolest thing he taught me today... As I went, in the morning to wish him for completing 50 years of being an actor and to tell him that I was leaving for work - I asked him 'where he was all ready to go to?' He said - to work'," he wrote.

In February 1969, Amitabh signed his debut film "Saat Hindustani" directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas.

After that, he went on to give some of the iconic films like "Deewaar", "Mard", "Sholay", "Don", "Coolie", "Silsila", "Agneepath" and "Piku".
Hyderabad, Feb 15 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Friday decided to cancel his birthday celebrations in the wake of the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief stated that as the entire nation is in a state of mourning, he desired to cancel all celebrations on account of his birthday falling on Sunday.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, appealed to the party leaders and workers not to celebrate the event in any form.

In a statement, he condemned Thursday's terrorist attack on CRPF Jawans in Pulwama district. He stated that he is extremely moved by the grave loss of lives in the ghastly incident.

The Chief Minister conveyed deep condolences to the bereaved martyrs' family members and wished speedy recovery of the injured.
Bhuj : , Feb 15 (IANS) In a small school near Bhuj in Gujarat, a group of class five students sit attentively in class, their eyes glued to an LCD screen. The opened science books on their laps have come alive on the screen before them, as an animated character explains the nuances of the chapter in their native language, Gujarati. Efficient learning, experts say, happens when students enjoy the experience, and in hundreds of schools across Gujarat, digitised school textbooks are opening up children's minds like never before.

Learning Delight, the hand that is turning the wheel of change in 10,000 government schools, mostly in rural and semi-urban areas across the state, has been digitising the state curriculum since 2011, and has the approval of the Gujarat Council of Educational Research and Training (GCERT). The idea is simple: use technology to aid classroom teaching to make the learning process more engaging, more efficient - and definitely more fun.

So much so, that in a survey done in 350 schools where they have a presence, Parinita Gohil, co-founder of Learning Delight, said, "The dropout rate among children studying between Class 1 and Class 8 has come down by 6-7 per cent in the past five years."

It all started a decade back when two friends, Harshal Gohil and Vandan Kamdar, who were doing their MBA, realised that there was a huge gap in education between schools in different settings. Outdated teaching methods, lack of interest among students and teachers, and gender discrimination were some of the common problems. This led the two to use technology and design, an e-learning tool that would aid classroom teaching.

"Harshal and Vandan began with a survey in five schools. Here they found that although there was no dearth in infrastructure - the schools had computers - there was scepticism about using them," Parinita Gohil, who is married to Harshal Gohil, told IANS. The resistance mainly arose because "most teachers were not comfortable with the English language, were scared of using the computer, and apprehensive if the computers would replace their role".

Therefore, the offline computer software that they developed was designed in such a way that a teacher's presence was necessary in the class. The medium of instruction was Gujarati. "So be it any subject - science, math, social studies - the content was digitised in a way that through animation, riddles, puzzles, and stories textbook learning is made more interactive and fun," Parinita Gohil said. The experts who designed the digitised content also had teachers on board.

There has, however, been an exception in this digitisation process - the language textbooks, be it English, Hindi, or Gujarati, have been left out. "We don't want children to leave reading their books. So, while we have digitised the grammar lessons, language textbooks have been left as they are," she said.

Next in the pipeline is a mobile phone app being developed with a similar software and a foray into Rajasthan, for which software has been developed in Hindi and in tandem with the Rajasthan state education board.

(Azera Rahman can be contacted at asera.rahman@gmail.com )
Patna, Feb 15 : A cattle trader was shot dead and his money was looted by criminals in Bihar's Samastipur district, police said on Friday.

Police officer Amit Kumar said Mohd Mumtaz was killed after Rs 5 lakh cash looted from him by three motorcycle-borne men near Gangauli Manda Chaur late Thursday evening.

According to police, Mumtaz along with a friend was on way to Bachwara after buying cattle from a village when the criminals surrounded them. The criminal demanded money from the victim and shot him dead when he tried to resist.

His friend managed to escape from the site and raised an alarm, forcing the criminals to flee.
Mexico City, Feb 15 : The Mexican city of Piedras Negras, which borders the US, has announced to relocate a group of 120 Central American migrants after altercations that left four people injured in recent days.

The migrants will be transported before February 22 to Monterrey, Hermosillo, Reynosa, Saltillo and Acuna, where they have been promised formal work, Efe news quoted authorities as saying on Thursday.

Of the group of 1,672 Central American migrants who arrived in Piedras Negras on February 4, 1,400 still remain in the city, the others having been repatriated, relocated in shelters in other cities or having acquired jobs. At least 40 managed to legally enter the US, authorities said.

The decision to relocate the 120 migrants was made after the migrants staged a protest at the shelters where they had been housed.

Meanwhile, in Eagle Pass, Texas, across the border from Piedras Negras, the US Defence Department has not lowered its guard and at least 2,000 troops and immigration personnel have been deployed to prevent migrants from illegally entering the US.
Port-au-prince, Feb 15 : The political and economic crisis in Haiti has worsened eight days after violent protests began against the government led by President Jovenel Moise.

The protest, in which nine persons have died so far, began on February 7, coinciding with the second anniversary of Moise's rise to power, whose resignation the protesters demand, Efe news reported on Friday.

While people are in the streets, desperate for food and water, the President has remained silent since February 9 when he called for dialogue, which was rejected by the leaders of the protest.

In a press conference on Thursday, Senate President Carl Murat Cantave urged Moise and Prime Minister Jean Henry Ceant to speak to the nation while calling for dialogue to resolve the crisis.

He said that "after a week of crisis the country needs responsible leaders".

The capital remains paralyzed as schools, banks, petrol stations and several business establishments are closed.

Transport in the capital remains precarious, with only motorcycles providing service, and several streets are blocked.

A woman citizen said it is "very serious what is happening in the country" and the poor "are the one who suffer the most".

The violence in the streets as a result of the demonstrations has forced some embassies to temporarily suspend some services.

The protests, which have increased insecurity in this Caribbean nation and caused a climate of chaos and uncertainty, are taking place amid a severe economic crisis, aggravated by a sharp depreciation of the gourde -- the official currency -- and by the electricity crisis resulting from the shortage of gasoline.
Washington, Feb 15 : Facebook is negotiating a multi-billion dollar fine with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the social media giant's past privacy practices.

According to a report in The Washington Post on Thursday, the specific amount is yet to be determined but it would be the largest fine the FTC has ever levied on a tech company.

"If talks break down, the FTC could take the matter to court in what would likely be a bruising legal fight," said the report.

Facebook confirmed it was in discussions with the FTC but declined to comment further.

The largest fine ever imposed by the FTC to safeguard consumers' data was a $22.5 million penalty that Google paid in 2012.

The FTC opened its probe into Facebook in March 2018 after the Cambridge Analytica data scandal that breached the privacy of 87 million users came into light.

"Facebook faces a moment of reckoning and the only way it will come is through an FTC order with severe penalties and other sanctions that stop this kind of privacy misconduct going forward," Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) was quoted as saying.

Consumer advocates have urged the FTC to fine Facebook exceeding $2 billion.

Washington DC's top prosecutor Karl Racine has also sued Facebook in the first significant US move to punish the firm for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Facebook is currently being probed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the FTC and the Department of Justice.

In the UK, the company was fined 500,000 pounds over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the maximum fine the British data regulator can impose.

Bigger trouble may arise from the Irish data protection regulator, which is investigating Facebook for multiple admissions of security flaws, in what is being seen as the first major test of Europe's new privacy rules as dictated by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Washington, Feb 15 : US President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency to fund his planned border wall with Mexico, the White House has said.

He will sign a border security bill to avert a government shutdown, but also act to bypass Congress and use military funds for the wall, a statement said.

Senior Democrats have responded by accusing him of committing a "gross abuse of power" and a "lawless act", the BBC reported on Friday.

The Congress passed the bill on Thursday which does not meet Trump's demands for wall funding. It now has to be signed by the President to become law.

The compromise legislation passed by Congress includes $1.3 billion in funding for border security, including physical barriers, but it does not allot money towards the border wall for which Trump had wanted $5.7 billion.

"The President is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement on Thursday.

She added he would "take other executive action - including a national emergency - to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border".

Speaking on the Senate floor on Thursday, however, Republican leader Mitch McConnell indicated his support for the move, saying the President was taking action with "whatever tools he can legally use to enhance his efforts to secure the border".

In a 83-16 vote, the Senate on Thursday passed the border security bill. The House of Representatives later also backed the measure, by 300 to 128.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has already suggested a legal challenge from Democrats should the President make an emergency declaration.

She and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also issued a joint statement condemning the move.

"Declaring a national emergency would be a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency and a desperate attempt to distract from the fact that President Trump broke his core promise to have Mexico pay for his wall," they said.

Republicans fear this will set a precedent for presidential power that Democrats can someday use to circumvent the will of Congress.
Srinagar, Feb 15 : The toll from Thursday's terror attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Jammu and Kashmir rose to 45 as two more troopers succumbed to their injuries, officials said on Friday.

Besides, 38 others were wounded in the worst-ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

The attack took place around 3.15 p.m. on Thursday when a 'Fidayeen' bomber belonging to the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) terror outfit rammed an explosive-laden SUV into a bus carrying CRPF troopers in Lethpora area of Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway, officials said.

"None among the 44 CRPF men travelling in the bus that took the full impact of the suicide bombing survived," a CRPF official said.

"An injured person in another bus has also succumbed taking the death toll to 45," he added.

The official said the injured (38) CRPF men are being treated in the Army base hospital in Badamibagh cantonment area of Srinagar.

The CRPF convoy of 78 vehicles was coming from Jammu to Srinagar. The convoy carried 2,547 CRPF personnel.

The attack happened even as an intelligence input had warned of its the possibility 48 hours earlier.

The audacious attack, the worst-ever since armed insurgency started in the state in 1989, was carried out by the JeM.

The intelligence input had said: "Chatter inputs reveal that JeM outfit has hinted to carry out IED attacks along the routes of security forces across Jammu and Kashmir. A video uploaded by the outfit has also been shared with all concerned. It is as such suggested that security forces need to be put on alert to thwart any such attempt by terrorists."

Informed sources said the intelligence input was shared with all security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

The video that was uploaded along with the threat message showed a truck carrying troops in Somalia blown up in a powerful improvised explosive device (IED) blast. In the message, the JeM had warned of a similar type of blast.

A video released by the JeM after the attack identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmad Dar alias Waqas Commando, belonging to Kakapora town of Pulwama district.

Police sources said the bomber rammed his explosive-laden SUV into the CRPF bus and is believed to have been killed in the explosion.

There is, however, no official confirmation about the bomber's death .

Senior police and CRPF officials reached the spot immediately for post blast analysis.

The explosion was so massive that its sound was heard 10 km away.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefed by National Security Advisor (NSA), Ajit Doval about the incident on Thursday.

Modi would chair a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) at 9.15 a.m. in Delhi on Friday.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, accompanied by Union Home Secretary and other senior officers of the ministry, is likely to arrive here on Friday.

A 12-member team of national Investigation agency (NIA) and another team of t he national security guards (NSG) are also expected to arrive here to assist the police in the investigation of the terror strike.
Srinagar, Feb 14 : In the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989, a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, killing at least 43 troopers and leaving the security established stunned.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the horror and released a video clip of the suicide bomber, a 'commander' identified as Adil Ahmad Dar, which it claimed was shot before the young man carried out the strike inoopers were killed and 15 others injured in an audacious suicide attack by militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Feb 14, 2019. All the injured have been shifted to the Army's Base Hospital in Srinagar. (Photo: IANS)' />

Srinagar, Feb 14 (IANS) Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the killing of CRPF troopers in a suicide attack and blasted central Minister Jitendra Singh for "playing politics" over the bloodbath.

"I condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. My prayers for the injured and condolences to the families of the bereaved," the National Conference leader tweeted after a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a CRPF bus and detonated it.

"Jaish (Jaish-e-Mohammad) has claimed the blast as a suicide (fidaeen) attack reminiscent of the dark days of militancy pre 2004-05," Abdullah added.

After Minister of State Jitendra Singh in a tweet called "to question those who while living in India describing themselves as mainstream Kashmir politicians tend to be apologetic about these terror activities", Abdullah hit back.

"Shame on this apology for a Minister! Mainstream Kashmiri politicians condemned the attack hours before the PM even got around to saying anything. This man has the audacity to play politics with the dead and injured CRPF soldiers," he said.
Jerusalem, Feb 15 : Israeli and US army concluded a joint exercise simulating the defence of Israel from surface-to-surface missile attack, the Israeli military has said.

The Juniper Falcon 19 exercise, which was held from February 10-14, involved the US European Command and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Xinhua reported.

According to a statement by the Israeli army, more than 300 US troops participated in the exercise alongside some 400 IDF soldiers.

"The Juniper Falcon 19 exercise was conducted as part of the joint annual training plan and signified the deep strategic partnership between the two militaries," the statement said on Thursday.

During the exercise, the forces simulated receiving a US heavy-lift aircraft, deploying the infrastructure and employing shared teleprocessing and communications systems, it added.

The Hebrew-language Ynet news site reported that the exercise created a scenario under which an Israeli airstrike on an Iranian site in Syria or Lebanon triggers a missile attack and the United States is called to help.

"This year's exercise focused specifically on our ability to rapidly deploy and integrate forces with the IDF," said Jeffrey L. Harrigian, Deputy Commander of US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa.

Juniper Falcon is an annual joint exercise between Israeli and US forces.

This year's drill took place amid heightened regional tensions over the US plan to withdraw all forces from Syria, Israel's northern neighbour.

Israel has become increasingly concerned about the presence of Iranian forces in war-torn Syria, where they fight alongside the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Israel sees Iran as its arch-enemy and has carried out hundreds of deadly airstrikes in Syria, saying the attacks target Iranian sites in the country.
MECCA, Calif. and HOUSTON, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunpin Solar, a California-based solar developer, and Direct Energy Business, part of Direct Energy, one of North America's largest energy and energy-related services providers, and a subsidiary of Centrica PLC, announce a renewable energy power purchase agreement (PPA) for the full output of the recently completed ColGreen North Shore Power Plant. The renewable energy PPA covers the full 96.75 MW DC / 74.8 MW AC capacity of the solar project and will serve Direct Energy Business' retail energy customers in California. This agreement is one of the first instances an energy service provider (ESP) has enabled a project of this size in California.

"California is a very competitive market for utility-scale solar developers, and I am proud of the Sunpin Solar team for the successful implementation of this new innovative Structured PPA with Direct Energy Business. This agreement sets the stage for our plans to build at least another 200 MW of solar in California," said Tom Li, President of Sunpin Solar.

Situated on 485 acres of land in the city of Mecca, CA, near the Salton Sea, the project has been operational since January 2019. The ColGreen North Shore Solar Power Plant is interconnected to the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) Utility grid and has delivery capability into the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) territory. The single-axis tracking system has an expected annual production of over 210,000 MWh, which would be enough solar energy to power 22,300 homes per year according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.

"Energy Service Providers like Direct Energy Business can enable investments in renewables to help California reach its energy policy goals," said David Brast, Senior Vice President, North America Power and Gas, Direct Energy Business. "As California continues to evolve into a competitive energy market, we will work with suppliers like Sunpin Solar to deliver more energy choices for our Direct Access (DA) and Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) customers. This renewable energy PPA with Sunpin Solar is an important milestone in this journey and aligns with Centrica's commitment to provide products and services that lead to a lower carbon future."

The ColGreen North Shore Solar Power Plant displaces the CO 2 equivalent of over 100,000 acres of trees and will offset greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of over 32,000 vehicles driven each year, per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. The project created 425 local jobs at the peak of construction in an area classified as disproportionately burdened by pollution and with population characteristics more sensitive to pollution by the CalEPA. The completion of the project was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on February 15th.

About Sunpin Solar

Sunpin Solar is a leading solar energy development and investment company that acquires develops and finances utility-scale solar projects globally. Based in Irvine, California, Sunpin Solar is primarily focused on superior project development, asset management, financing, engineering, procurement, construction management and operations of commercial and utility photovoltaic solar plants. Sunpin Solar has developed and built projects in California, Massachusetts, Maryland, Illinois, and several other states. Sunpin Solar currently has more than 600 MW's in its development pipeline. For more information, please visit: www.sunpinsolar.us

About Direct Energy

Direct Energy is one of North America's largest retail providers of electricity, natural gas, and home and business energy-related services with over four million customers. Direct Energy gives customers choice, simplicity, and innovation where energy, data, and technology meet. A subsidiary of Centrica plc (LSE: CNA), an international energy and services company, Direct Energy, its subsidiaries and/or affiliates, operate in 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and four provinces in Canada. To learn more about Direct Energy, please visit www.directenergy.com.

SOURCE Direct Energy

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http://www.directenergy.com


"I love rice, but found myself eating a lot less because of the empty calories and all the carbs," said Keith Belling, the founder of RightRice and popchips. "Rice is a large category that was ripe for innovation. And it is an exciting opportunity to be making another one of America's favorite foods healthier, especially since rice is beloved across so many cultures. Furthermore, it is a dream to be one of the first brands ever to launch nationally in collaboration with both Whole Foods Market and Amazon."

Thanks to this grain-novation, rice is no longer a filler or empty carbs on the side of the plate. RightRice soaks up sauces and flavors just like traditional rice and it is perfect as a healthier side or in a classic rice dish like paella. Anything you can cook with rice, you can cook with RightRice, so the culinary options are wide open to an array of creative recipe ideas.

"Whole Foods Market is committed to identifying innovative new products that support our customers' commitment to eating more wholesome foods, and we are excited to launch RightRice as its exclusive retail partner," said Christina Pearson, Global Category Manager for Whole Foods Market. "Keith's vision of a 'righter rice' offers shoppers a delicious, high protein, lower carb rice option we know they will love."

RightRice is debuting in four varieties: Original (ready to be seasoned your way), Lemon Pepper, Spanish and Garlic Herb. Each flavor comes in a 7 oz. pouch (about 4 servings) at a suggested retail of $3.99, and is non-gmo, vegan, kosher and gluten-free. RightRice is available in the rice aisle at Whole Foods Markets nationally and online at Amazon.com.

For more information, visit https://www.rightrice.com or check out @RightRice on Instagram, and @eatRightRice on Facebook and Pinterest.

About RightRice

Popchips founder and former CEO Keith Belling loved rice, except for the empty calories and all the carbs. That's what inspired him to create RightRice, a tasty new rice grain that's made from vegetables. It's what we all love about rice, but made even right-er. RightRice is a complete, plant-based protein that's delicious, nutritious, and easy to cook. Every bowl of RightRice has more than double the protein, five times the fiber, and almost 40 percent fewer net carbs than a bowl of white rice. Just like rice, RightRice soaks up your favorite flavors and sauces. Original RightRice is ready to season your own way, or you can try one of our delicious, already seasoned varieties like Lemon Pepper, Spanish or Garlic Herball using real herbs and spices, nothing artificial, non-gmo, vegan and a complete source of protein, all with a low glycemic index. RightRice is available exclusively in Whole Foods Markets nationally and on Amazon.com. RightRice launched in 2019 and is headquartered in San Francisco.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Amanda Molina

[email protected]

www.KonnectAgency.com

SOURCE RightRice

Related Links

http://www.rightrice.com


WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- New statistics released this week show that Americans with disabilities saw a slowdown in job gains compared to those of the previous year. The Disability Statistics Compendium, released by Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire, shows that the employment rate for people with disabilities has risen to 37 percent. The Compendium also shows that geography has an impact on employment outcomes for Americans with disabilities. People with disabilities in North Dakota are twice as likely to have jobs as West Virginians with disabilities.

RespectAbility

The newly published 2018 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium compiles data collected by the Census Bureau. The Compendium is intended to equip policy-makers, self-advocates and others with clear statistics on disability in America today. Out of more than 20 million working-age people with disabilities, 7.5 million have jobs. This data also shows the serious gaps that remain between disabled and non-disabled Americans. 37 percent of U.S. civilians with disabilities ages 18-64 living in the community had a job, compared to 77.2 percent for people without disabilities.

"Our nation was founded on the principle that anyone who works hard should be able to get ahead in life," said Hon. Steve Bartlett, current Chairman of RespectAbility, who co-authored the Americans with Disabilities Act when he was in Congress. "People with disabilities deserve the opportunity to earn an income and achieve independence, just like anyone else."

Further analysis by the nonpartisan advocacy group RespectAbility shows that 111,804 people with disabilities entered the workforce in 2017. That number is down from the previous year's increase of more than 343,000 new jobs for people with disabilities. Different factors explain the slower pace of job growth. A slowing economy is one factor, as is changing patterns of growth in different sectors of the economy. One lesson is clear to Andrew Houtenville, PhD, of UNH's Institute on Disability: "There is still a long way to go toward closing the gap between people with and without disabilities."

"Employment rates only tell part of the story," added Philip Kahn-Pauli, Policy and Practices Director at RespectAbility. "When you look across the intersection of disability and race, you find serious gaps in outcomes." Only 28.6 percent of African Americans with disabilities have jobs compared to the 38.6 percent of Hispanics with disabilities and 41.2 percent of Asian Americans with disabilities who have jobs.

Some states have higher employment rates for people with disabilities than others. North Dakota leads the nation with 56.3 percent of its citizens with disabilities employed and is closely followed by South Dakota with a 51.3 percent disability employment rate. One of the biggest surprises in this year's data is Vermont. Under Gov. Phil Scott, Vermonters with disabilities have seen a 5.7 percent increase in jobs, bumping their employment rate to 47.2 percent. For a full break down, please see the table below:

Ranking State Total # of Working-Age PWDs # of PWDs Employed Disability Employment Rate (%) PWDs Job Gains and Losses

U.S. 20,444,249 7,572,805 37 111,804 1 ND 37,320 21,019 56.3 -2267 2 SD 49,546 25,419 51.3 -904 3 UT 150,964 74,754 49.5 -13 4 NE 112,418 55,391 49.3 2068 5 MN 305,082 145,697 47.8 617 6 VT 47,113 22,234 47.2 1728 7 KS 191,769 89,069 46.4 4807 8 MT 69,553 31,935 45.9 -1484 9 IA 170,186 77,746 45.7 -2670 10 WY 41,825 19,063 45.6 578 11 CO 311,449 141,691 45.5 10033 12 AK 53,087 23,815 44.9 -275 13 ID 125,743 54,948 43.7 4858 14 HI 59,469 25,546 43 -810 15 NH 84,234 36,069 42.8 -676 16 MD 335,461 141,870 42.3 4353 17 WI 339,267 142,285 41.9 -1441 18 VA 500,771 204,103 40.8 10471 19 RI 75,806 30,787 40.6 7758 20 WA 480,828 194,948 40.5 1156 21 CT 189,419 76,096 40.2 1381 22 NV 183,918 73,968 40.2 -9485 23 TX 1,622,962 647,977 39.9 3796 24 IN 477,660 184,343 38.6 8964 25 IL 691,453 263,464 38.1 20681 26 OR 288,493 109,027 37.8 -9887 27 MA 396,597 149,633 37.7 -1014 28 NJ 428,932 161,729 37.7 2154 29 OK 339,773 127,608 37.6 4040 30 PA 880,799 329,760 37.4 6406 31 MO 463,964 172,283 37.1 8040 32 DE 52,947 19,576 37 -708 33 OH 840,199 309,665 36.9 4725 34 AZ 428,198 156,194 36.5 5,760 35 CA 1,980,677 721,536 36.4 19745 36 ME 112,442 39,424 35.1 3067 37 GA 661,498 227,895 34.5 -8682 38 NY 1,099,574 378,951 34.5 11473 39 FL 1,258,361 428,638 34.1 23953 40 LA 361,642 122,683 33.9 2240 41 MI 727,451 246,196 33.8 -8138 42 NC 689,612 232,875 33.8 -16355 43 NM 169,264 57,005 33.7 7921 44 TN 538,061 179,049 33.3 4679 45 SC 376,889 122,789 32.6 -6977 46 AR 285,023 87,920 30.8 2473 47 KY 430,265 129,954 30.2 -3972 48 MS 265,344 73,203 27.6 -2875 49 AL 418,429 112,030 26.8 -3,769 50 WV 188,696 49,199 26.1 -4173

Only 111,804 people with disabilities entered the workforce in 2017, down from the previous year's increase of more than 343,000 new jobs for people with disabilities.

Florida experienced the biggest growth in job numbers with over 23,000 people with disabilities entering the workforce. Of the 50 states, 29 states saw job gains for Americans with disabilities.

experienced the biggest growth in job numbers with over 23,000 people with disabilities entering the workforce. Of the 50 states, 29 states saw job gains for Americans with disabilities. Vermont , under Gov. Phil Scott , becomes one of the top 10 states with the best employment rates, and Rhode Island , under Gov. Gina Raimondo , jumps from 47th in the nation to 19th.

Of the 50 states, 29 states saw job gains among the disability community, while people with disabilities lost economic ground in 21 states. Census Bureau data shows an astounding 23,953 Floridians with disabilities gained new jobs. Illinois saw the second biggest job gains for people with disabilities with over 20,000 new jobs even as 50,000 people without disabilities left Illinois' workforce.

Rhode Island deserves credit for seeing a major turnaround. As reported by RespectAbility, Rhode Island under Gov. Gina Raimondo ranked 47th in the nation last year with an abysmal 30 percent disability employment rate. As a result of a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice, Rhode Island began to close shelter workshops where people with disabilities had been paid subminimum wages. Through sustained efforts to promote competitive, integrated employment, Rhode Islanders with disabilities are now experiencing new success. Over 7,000 people with disabilities entered the workforce in 2017, pushing Rhode Island to stand 19th in the nation. As bipartisan consensus grows around ending subminimum wages, Rhode Island shows that transformative success is possible.

What is the story behind the numbers? What is driving these changes? The answer is simple. According to Vincenzo Piscopo of the Coca-Cola Company: "People with disabilities bring a unique skill set that it is very valuable for companies." He went on to add, "As it relates to employment and competitiveness in the workplace, we have to stop thinking of disability as a liability and start thinking of it as an asset."

Brand name companies such as JP Morgan Chase, Coca-Cola, Ernst & Young, IBM, Walgreen's, Starbucks, CVS and Microsoft show people with disabilities are successful employees. These companies also know that these workers improve the bottom line. "People with disabilities bring unique characteristics and talents to the workplace," said RespectAbility President Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi. "There are no limits to what they can do when given the chance."

As more companies hire employees with disabilities, conversations are shifting to focus on inclusion. "Disability inclusion is no longer about automatic doors, curb cuts, ramps, and legislation," says Jim Sinocchi, Head of the Office of Disability Inclusion at JP Morgan Chase. "Today, the new era of disability inclusion is about "assimilation"  hiring professionals with disabilities into the robust culture of the firm."

According to the Census Bureau, there are more than 56 million Americans living with a disability. Disabilities include visible conditions such as spinal cord injuries, visual impairments or hearing loss and invisible disabilities such as learning disabilities, mental health or Autism.

Voter research, done by RespectAbility, shows how disability issues connect to all aspects of American life. "Fully three-quarters of likely voters either have a disability themselves or have a family member or a close friend with disabilities," said former Representative and Dallas Mayor Steve Bartlett. "People with disabilities are a politically active, swing vote, and candidates should take note of important issues they care about."

As 2019 moves into 2020 and the political campaign season heats up, continuing job growth for people with disabilities will be a crucial indicator of the health of the American economy.

For more statistics related to jobs for people with disabilities, please visit www.RespectAbility.org/Statistics.

Media Contact:

Lauren Appelbaum

Phone: 202-517-6272

Email: [email protected]

Related Links

RespectAbility Website

Statistics on Jobs for People with Disabilities

SOURCE RespectAbility

Related Links

https://www.respectability.org


NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Norwegian, the World's Best Low-Cost Long-Haul Airline and Value Airline of the Year, will introduce new nonstop service from New York to Athens and Chicago to Barcelona for the 2019 summer season.

Service from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Barcelona-El Prat Airport begins June 7, 2019; and service from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Athens International Airport begins July 2, 2019. Both new routes will be summer seasonal until October 26, 2019.

"Norwegian is fully committed to the United States and have answered our passengers' growing demand for more destinations from both New York City and Chicago. Already serving most of Europe's top destinations, Athens is an exciting addition to our transatlantic route network. Barcelona, which we added two and half years ago from the U.S, is performing so well that we are adding both a new route, from Chicago, and increasing frequencies from both New York City and Los Angeles," said Matthew Wood, SVP of Commercial Long Haul and New Markets for Norwegian.

"Greece is a top holiday destination and Norwegian's exciting announcement allows for more Americans to experience all the magic that Greece has to offer. This news is a response to our call for enhancing air connectivity between Greece and the United States and we thank Norwegian for answering the demand. We welcome Norwegian to Greece and expect this new route to contribute in the growing numbers of tourists to our country," said Elena Kountoura, the Minister of Tourism of the Hellenic Republic.

The new Athens service from New York JFK will operate four times a week, with fares from $159.90 in Economy and $669.90 in Premium one way, including taxes. With Athens, Norwegian now offers 13 European nonstop destinations from the New York City area this summer. Since July 2018, Norwegian is the largest non-North American airline to serve the New York City area, based on passenger numbers, according to data from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The new Barcelona service from Chicago will operate four times per week, with fares starting at $199.90 in Economy and $669.90 in Premium one way, including taxes. Additionally, Norwegian will increase the frequencies of its highly successful Barcelona route to daily service from Newark Liberty International Airport, while the Los Angeles to Barcelona service will increase to six flights weekly. In total, Norwegian now offers five nonstop routes to Barcelona from the United States: Chicago; Fort Lauderdale; New York City/Newark; Los Angeles; and Oakland/San Francisco.

Norwegian operates one of the world's youngest and greenest fleets, and has been named the Most Fuel-Efficient Airline on Transatlantic Routes by the International Council on Clean Transportation twice. These new routes will be operated by Boeing 787 Dreamliners, offering a Premium and Economy cabin. Premium includes a dedicated check-in counter, fast track security, wide recliner seats with more legroom than any other airline's premium economy, premium meals and select drinks, as well additional checked-in luggage and CashPoints. Premium Flex ticket holders can also enjoy lounge access.

All flights are available at Norwegian.com/us, and to find the most affordable fares, go to the low fare calendar. Passengers on all of Norwegian's routes are eligible to join Norwegian Reward, the airline's award-winning loyalty program and can earn CashPoints every time they fly, book a hotel or rent a car. In 2018, Norwegian Reward was named Program of the Year Europe and Africa for the second consecutive year.

Media Contact:

Anders Lindstrom

[email protected]

954 648 2989

To download high-res images, find all Norwegian's press release and other information, please visit media.us.norwegian.com.



About Norwegian

Norwegian is the world's fifth largest low-cost airline and carried more than 37 million passengers in 2018. The airline operates more than 500 routes to over 150 destinations in Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Thailand, Caribbean, North and South America. Norwegian has a fleet of more than 150 aircraft, with an average age of 3.8 years, making it one of the world's youngest and "greenest" fleets.

Norwegian has been named the Most Fuel-Efficient Airline on Transatlantic Routes by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) twice. Norwegian has been voted 'Europe's Best Low-Cost Airline' by passengers for six consecutive years at the SkyTrax World Airline Awards 2013-2018, along with being named the 'World's Best Low-Cost Long-Haul' Airline' for the past four years. Norwegian employs approximately 11,000 people worldwide.

Follow @Fly_Norwegian on Twitter, join the discussion on Facebook and keep up with our adventures on Instagram. For more information on Norwegian and its network, visit norwegian.com.

SOURCE Norwegian

Related Links

http://norwegian.com


"This state-of-the-art facility shows what's possible when two mission-driven organizations collaborate," said Michael J. Dowling , president and CEO at Northwell Health. "Northwell Health's laboratory expertise, along with exciting new technology deployed here, will help turn tests around faster and more efficiently. That's good for all of the communities served by Northwell and NYC Health + Hospitals."

"The pooled expertise from our two health systems, combined with staff having the latest technology at hand, will benefit all our patients," said Mitchell Katz, MD, president and CEO at NYC Health + Hospitals. "The high volume of testing combined with greater efficiency from the overhead costs of operating just one large facility will save significant money for both our health systems. Such an endeavor is possible only with a partner like Northwell that shares a vision for and commitment to the highest quality of care."

"I am so pleased that NYC Health + Hospitals and Northwell will be partnering to open this new clinical laboratory. This state-of-the-art facility will not only provide well-paying jobs, but will also improve the quality of healthcare for residents in Queens and surrounding areas," said Congressman Tom Suozzi. "I want to thank Dr. Mitchell Katz, President and CEO of Health + Hospitals; and Michael J. Dowling, President and CEO of Northwell Health for their crucial involvement in creating a better healthcare system for my constituents and other people in the region."

"I am excited to hear that NYC Health + Hospitals continues to find innovative ways to upgrade and expand upon the excellent service they provide throughout Queens. The new Clinical Laboratory of New York will result in greater efficiency and cost savings for Health + Hospitals and its partner Northwell Health," said Assemblyman David I. Weprin. "I want to thank Dr. Mitchell Katz, President & CEO of Health + Hospitals, the nation's largest public health care system, and Michael J. Dowling, President and CEO of Northwell Health, New York State's largest health care provider, for partnering to advance medical care in New York."

"The partnership between NYC Health + Hospitals and Northwell Health will improve the efficacy and delivery of treatment for patients in Queens and beyond," said Council Member Barry S. Grodenchik. "In addition to the sharing of resources and standardized levels of service, the $47 million project represents a significant investment in our community, and I am pleased that the lab has opened here in Little Neck, Queens."

"I'm thrilled to see this historic facility being established right here in Northeast Queens," said Council Member Paul Vallone. "The patient services, medical expertise, and jobs that the new Clinical Laboratory of New York will bring are greatly welcome. I look forward to seeing this great work done by Northwell Health and NYC Health + Hospitals continue to grow."

The LEED Silver-certified centralized laboratory, located at 59-25 Little Neck Parkway, primarily performs microbiology tests, including molecular diagnostics, from local hospitals, clinics and physician offices, incorporating the latest technology and advanced robotic testing systems. The facility is administered by Northwell Health Labs, which performs more than 30 million tests each year between its Core Lab, hospitals, physicians' offices, nursing homes and clinical trials, and handles more than 200,000 surgical pathology specimens annually. In addition, some six million non-urgent tests from NYC Health + Hospitals will be processed at the Clinical Laboratory of New York at Little Neck and Northwell's Core Lab in Lake Success, enabling all public hospital laboratories to focus on urgent testing.

The 36,000-square-foot, two-story lab is part of the Clinical Laboratory of New York (CLNY) Alliance formed in 2014 by Northwell and NYC Health + Hospitals to integrate laboratory services through a shared reference lab. The facility, which began operations earlier this month with 176 employees, will eventually grow to include 210.

The lab's opening represents the culmination of a years-long effort to standardize information systems and equipment and establish joint standards committees.

Northwell made the upfront investment to build the Little Neck facility, which will provide enhanced service levels to physicians and patients in the community, while also bringing additional jobs to the city. The joint project is expected to save NYC Health + Hospitals more than $20 million annually.

"Just as important as this amazing new facilityand it really is amazingis the underlying framework that our partnership with Northwell has created," said Kenra Ford, chief of staff to system chief medical officer and senior assistant vice president of laboratory services at NYC Health + Hospitals. "With standardized equipment and lab information systems, we are well established for a future of growth and change, ready to tackle whatever the future holds to best serve our patients."

The Little Neck facility is one of two new facilities for CLNY, as later this month Northwell Labs moves its Core Lab operations from 10 Nevada Drive in Lake Success to the health system's Center for Advanced Medicine at 450 Lakeville Road in Lake Success. The expansive $59.6 million, 101,000 square-foot facility has 84,000 square feet of clinical space, including the largest chemistry and hematology automated line of its kind in North America. The new Core Lab site includes laboratory medicine, anatomic pathology and administration.

To handle additional volume generated by the new Little Neck and Lake Success labs, Northwell has hired about 90 new employees over the past year. In total, Northwell Health Labs has a workforce of more than 1,300.

"This is an exciting time as Northwell Health Laboratories takes a step forward with new equipment and facilities to match our already excellent staff," said Dwayne Breining, MD, executive director of Northwell Labs. "Our partnership with NYC Health + Hospitals, along with the Core Lab expansion, is an investment in the health of all New Yorkers."

About Northwell Health

Northwell Health is New York State's largest health care provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, nearly 700 outpatient facilities and more than 13,600 affiliated physicians. We care for over two million people annually in the New York metro area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 68,000 employees  16,000-plus nurses and 4,000 employed doctors, including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners  are working to change health care for the better. We're making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. We're training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu.

About NYC Health+ Hospitals

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city's five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system's trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health planall supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NYCHealthSystem or Twitter at @NYCHealthSystem.

Contacts: Terry Lynam, Northwell Health

516-321-6702 / [email protected]

Bob de Luna, NYC Health + Hospitals

212-788-3339 / [email protected]

SOURCE Northwell Health

Related Links

https://www.northwell.edu


PLAINFIELD, Ill., Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Fire Sprinkler Association extends its heartiest congratulations to our partners in life safety: Plainfield Fire Chief Jon Stratton, Fire Marshal Mary Kay Ludemann, their Board of Trustees and the Village of Plainfield, Illinois, upon the enactment of the Plainfield Historic Commercial District Fire and Life Safety System Grant Program.

The grant program is designed for existing commercial structures that require the installation of a fire sprinkler system in the historic downtown area. The Village the and Fire District will split the cost of the reimbursement grants 50/50.

Chief Jon Stratton says: "The primary goal of this program is to enhance the safety of the business environment while lessening the financial burden a business/property owner may incur, but it also encourages the reuse and repurposing of Plainfield's oldest structures. By incentivizing this safety requirement, the hope is to expedite this change creating an all-around safer business district for all property owners, businesses and patrons."

Fire Marshal Mary Kay Ludemann states that this program is in combination with the new tax reform act, which allows a business owner to expend the total cost of a system, which will remove all financial and political obstacles to retrofitting a building as needed.

NFSA commends the Mayor of Plainfield, Michael P. Collins and the Village Trustees, along with the Fire District Board President William Barnes and the District Trustees for supporting the initiative and making the program a reality.

"It's always a pleasure to promote proactive leadership that creates public policy that enhances and preserves the history of our communities," shares Shane Ray, NFSA President. "We use the tagline it's not preserved until it's protected for a reason and it's great to see Plainfield's leadership preserving their community in this way."

The nuts and bolts of the program:

20% of the total cost of qualified improvements below and maximum grant reimbursement of $20,000 (or maximum $100,000 total project cost of qualified improvements).

The following are the qualified improvements that can be considered reimbursable under this GRANT program:

Fire sprinkler system equipment/installation.

Associated fire alarm systems/installation.

Architect costs directly associated to the fire sprinkler system installation (qualified cost not to exceed 10% of the construction costs). (A similar program in neighboring Lockport utilized video gambling funds and fire district tax breaks.)

The National Fire Sprinkler Association would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mayor Steven Strait and the building and city official of Lockport, Illinois for also implementing a fire sprinkler grant program.

About the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA): NFSA was founded in 1905 and wants to create a more fire safe world, and works to heighten the awareness of the importance of fire sprinkler systems from homes to high-rise and all occupancies in between. The Association is an inclusive organization made up of dedicated and committed members of a progressive life-saving industry. This industry manufactures, designs, supplies, installs, inspects, and services the world's most effective system in saving lives and property from uncontrolled structural fires. For more information about fire sprinklers, how they work and access to additional resources and information, visit www.nfsa.org for the latest material, statistics and a dedicated team of fire safety advocates ready to serve all stakeholders in order to fulfill the vision of a safer world.

Contact: Vickie Pritchett

615-533-0305

SOURCE National Fire Sprinkler Association

Related Links

http://www.nfsa.org


NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Michel Larroche is recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Platinum Lifetime member in the field of Manufacturing in recognition of his role as CEO of Materne North America.

Providing quality, healthy snacks on the go, Materne North America has made healthy fruit and yogurt snacks since 1881 with the creation of the applesauce and puree factory in the north of France. In April of 2008, GoGo Squeeze commenced being sold in the United States and sold over one million pouches by November of that year.

With over thirty four illustrious years of experience in the field of manufacturing, Michel Larroche has served in his current capacity as CEO of Materne North America for the past eight years. Throughout his career, Mr. Larroche has attained extensive expertise in business expansion internationally, helping to change the mindset to more healthy choices.

While pursuing his educational endeavors, Mr. Larroche attended Agro Paris Tech in France where he earned his Ph.D. in Biology, Genetics, and Agronomy.

To further enhance his professional development, Mr. Larroche is an esteemed member of several prominent organizations including the Food Association of France and several private leadership organizations catering to the food manufacturing industry.

Charitable to various organizations, Mr. Larroche volunteers at his children's school locally and contributes to entrepreneur groups in Asia.

For more information, please visit www.gogosqueez.com

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE Continental Who's Who
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- El Torito in Monterey has a brand-new look and is celebrating with a grand re-opening party on Tuesday, February 19th. The local hot-spot invites the public to join in on the celebration which will feature a complimentary taco bar from 3 p.m.  9 p.m.

Guests will enjoy a refreshed restaurant with a remodel that includes: New hard-wood flooring throughout, a new color aesthetic, new upholstery, improved ocean views, and an expanded bar area featuring nine, flat-screen televisions.

"It's an amazing restaurant made all the better with the new look," said Randy Sharpe, CEO for Xperience Restaurant Group. "The new look in Monterey is the start of many remodels happening in 2019 at El Torito."

The re-fresh is the first of many renovations planned for El Torito under their new management, Xperience Restaurant Group, which purchased the restaurant company in October of 2018.

ABOUT EL TORITO:

Founded in California in 1954, El Torito continues to be a pioneer in the California full service Mexican casual dining restaurant segment. El Torito is a destination where relentless hospitality creates memorable experiences. The welcoming Hacienda setting, food you crave, and genuine hospitality all combine to make guests feel like they are part of the El Torito family. For more information visit www.eltorito.com.

ABOUT XPERIENCE Restaurant Group (XRG):

Headquartered in Cypress, Calif., Xperience XRG Restaurant Group is one of the nation's leading operators of casual and fine dining brands. Xperience XRG brands include Acapulco, Chevys Fresh Mex, El Torito, El Torito Grill, Las Brisas, Pink Taco and Sinigual. For more information, please visit www.xperiencerg.com.

SOURCE El Torito

Related Links

http://www.eltorito.com


International Society for Applied Biological Sciences (ISABS), Mayo Clinic and St. Catherine Hospital are organizing " 11th ISABS Conference on Forensic and Anthropologic Genetics and Mayo Clinic Lectures in Individualized Medicine " ( http://www.isabs.net ) in Split, Croatia, June 17 th - June 22 th , 2019. The Conference is supported by The American Academy for Forensic Sciences and conference topics include: personalized and regenerative medicine, pharmacogenomics, molecular diagnostics, stem cell therapy, epigenetics, biobanking, microbiome, cancer genetics, immunotherapy, forensic and anthropological genetics, ancient DNA analysis, etc.

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click: https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8494251-isabs-medicine-conference-in-split-croatia/

More than 50 invited speakers from Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School, Columbia University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, MIT, Duke University, Max-Planck-Institute, Case Western Reserve University, Penn State University, Wistar Institute, George Washington University, Erasmus MC University, etc., as well as 500 participants will attend the Conference. Three Nobel Lectures will be given by prof. Robert Huber (Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry), prof. Avram Hershko (Technion), prof. Paul Modrich (Duke University).

Prof. Dragan Primorac, ISABS President said: "The future of medicine will rely on personalized treatments. During ISABS 2019 Conference we will envision the power and advances of personalized medicine that will create significant value for the healthcare system. Bringing together internationally renowned scientists to facilitate research and education of young scientists in individualized medicine speaks volumes about our dedication. We will also discuss significant progress in forensic and anthropological genetics in the last years."

International Society for Applied Biological Sciences (ISABS) is the Association of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and a leading society in forensic, anthropologic genetics and personalized medicine. ISABS Scientific Committee comprises four Nobel Laureates and world's top physicians and scientists.

According to U.S. News & World Report, Mayo Clinic is the #1 hospital overall and in more specialties that any other US hospital.

St. Catherine Hospital is a European center of excellence and the first European hospital to be awarded "Global Healthcare Accreditation."

Royal Philips, leading health technology company, is enabling patient-specific care with first-time-right decision-making and targeted therapy.

More information on "11th ISABS Conference on Forensic and Anthropologic Genetics and Mayo Clinic Lectures in Individualized Medicine" are available at http://www.isabs.net

Contact:

ISABS 2019 Organizing Committee

[email protected]

Severina Evic

[email protected]

Mobile: +385-91-244-55-89

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/819639/International_Society_for_Applied_Biological_Sciences.jpg )

Video:

https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8494251-isabs-medicine-conference-in-split-croatia/



SOURCE International Society for Applied Biological Sciences (ISABS)
While Edible makes no judgments about individuals for their alleged reasons for under-performing this Valentine's Day, the four-tiered collection exclusively curated for "I'm Sorry Day," allows consumers to apologize according to the severity of the Valentine's Day fail. With irresistible boxes of gourmet chocolate covered strawberries or love-themed fresh fruit arrangements, your loved one will be tempted to forgive you  or just simply tempted. Either way, someone in the relationship wins.

We've all been there. So how bad is it?

The 2019 Edible "I'm Sorry" collection is available for pick-up or delivery. To learn more about the collection and to find a location near you, visit ediblearrangements.com.

About Edible Arrangements

With more than 1,200 franchise locations open or under development worldwide, Edible Arrangements, LLC is the world's largest franchisor of shops offering creatively designed fresh cut fruit arrangements. Edible store locations also carry the company's rapidly expanding Edible Treats line which features all-natural, fresh fruit smoothies, chocolate Dipped Fruit, Froyo Fruit Blends, fresh fruit salads, and treats. Since its founding in 1999 in East Haven, Conn., the company has been recognized as an industry leader, ranking first in its category in Entrepreneur magazine's annual "Franchise 500," Entrepreneur's Top 40 of "Fastest Growing Franchises" and "America's Top Global Franchises" as well as being included among the "Inc. 5000" list of the fastest growing privately-held companies. Edible fresh fruit arrangements, chocolate Dipped Fruit, fresh fruit smoothies, can be ordered online at edible.com, or through any local Edible store.

SOURCE Edible Arrangements

Related Links

https://www.ediblearrangements.com


LONDON, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Grow Biotech, ECH and IPS Specials have made history by importing the first bulk shipment of cannabis-based medicines to the UK since the Home Office formally acknowledged the medical benefits of cannabis last November - marking a significant step forward for the fledgling British legal cannabis industry, while greatly improving the ease of access for patients.

British medical cannabis start-up Grow Biotech collaborated with IPS Specials and European Cannabis Holdings (ECH) to facilitate the import. Grow Biotech's team of specialists made this possible by working alongside doctors to address their concerns regarding quality assurance and compliance for the prescriptions they have written, bridging the gap between existing cannabis medicines and accepted pharmaceutical standards.

The shipment has been exported by the Office of Medical Cannabis of the Netherlands and will be delivered directly to the patients from a pharmacy in the UK, with additional stock retained to ensure continuity of supply. The stock includes Bedrocan Flower Afina, and Bedica Flower Talea, which are used to treat a range of conditions including chronic pain and multiple sclerosis.

Dr. David McDowell, who sits on the ECH's medical board said, "The fact that we are now in a position to write prescriptions that can actually be fulfilled is a huge achievement. Patients no longer need to worry about how they can access their medication, which will mark a positive step change in their journey and finally provide the relief that they are looking for, and we can now finally provide."

This will lay the cornerstone for the British medical cannabis industry's international supply chain and proves that challenging regulations can be adhered to through innovation and creativity.

Dr Henry Fisher, R&D Project Manager at Grow Biotech said: "We are building a team that will help take the UK medical cannabis industry's infrastructure to the next stage, constructing a scalable and reliable system to meet patients' needs and to support doctors' understanding of medical cannabis as a potentially valuable treatment for particular conditions. Our aim is to encourage greater understanding of cannabis medicines in the UK."

Ashok Patel, Founder and Executive Chairman of IPS Specials said, "If manufacturers and producers are willing to take a measured approach, we can and will continue to navigate a pathway for medical cannabis in the UK."

Tony Dutta (IPS Specials), Dr Fisher and Hari Guliani from Grow Biotech are all available for interview.

About Grow Biotech

Grow Biotech is a British company developing revolutionary processes, techniques, tools and formulations to bridge the gap between existing cannabis medicines and accepted pharmaceutical standards.

About IPS Specials

IPS Specials is a pharmaceutical importer, distributor and manufacturer with over 17 years' experience in unlicensed and licensed medicines.

About European Cannabis Holdings

ECH is shaping the future of legal cannabis while firmly entrenched at the forefront of the European industry. This unrivalled group of companies provides leadership, innovation and growth through a portfolio of companies that provide ECH with a fundamental anchor in the cannabis investment market, while helping it define this emerging industry.

Contact details

For any media-related inquiries please contact:

Grow Biotech Press Office | [email protected]

SOURCE Grow Biotech; ECH and IPS Specials

Related Links

http://www.growbiotech.com/


MADISON, Wis., Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Goods Unite Us , a Madison based women-led app and website that gives the politics of over 4,000 brands and companies, was just featured in O, The Oprah Magazine. The feature was part of The High Five -- a whole handful of things to cheer about this month. The team at Goods Unite Us is thrilled because exposure to 10M+ readers obviously increases eyes on the start-up's mission to get corporate money out of politics.

Goods Unite Us is a B2B company that is pre-revenue. Across both platforms (app and website) it currently has around 140K monthly active users. The company's mission - to bring transparency to corporate money in politics and empower consumers to vote with their wallets - is grounded in its Campaign Finance Reform Score , a score that is based solely on publicly available data about how much money the company and its senior leaders contribute to politicians and PACs and to which party.

Exposure in O Magazine came largely by surprise a few months ago when the Goods Unite Us team received an unsolicited email requesting more information. The feature in Oprah's magazine says:

"Attention red-, blue-, and purple-leaning shoppers: The free app Goods Unite Us uses public financial disclosure from more than 4,000 brands to reveal (a) if a company kicks in any money to political campaigns and (b) which party it favors."

"Being in Oprah's magazine is a huge honor," says Abigail Wuest, the company's CEO, "especially because everything Oprah touches seems to turn to gold."

The company is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin - a state that is very politically active and where people care about issues affecting politics and democracy. Goods Unite Us just closed a $500K seed round last month and has three co-founders: Abigail Wuest (CEO), Amy Miller (COO), and Brian Potts. The company is also about to start raising a Series A financing round in March or April 2019.

SOURCE Goods Unite Us

Related Links

https://www.goodsuniteus.com


The conference offers unparalleled professional development and networking opportunities. As the only conference to offer commercial and operational insights into the entire phosphate value chain, it is the must-attend event for professionals in the fertilizer, feed and industrial phosphates industries. The unique dual-streamed agenda covers market forces shaping investment and pricing, through to the latest technical developments.

This year the conference will also focus on how the industry is responding to changing dynamics of phosphate demand, in terms of new phosphate products and the evolving relationship with consumers.

The event's keynote speakers include Bruce Bodine, Senior Vice President, Phosphates at Mosaic whose presentation promises to be a fascinating insight into the latest developments and future strategy of the increasingly globally integrated supply chain of this phosphates industry leader. An agronomy keynote will be given by Dr Robert Mullen, Director of Agronomy at Nutrien; who will explore how, through strategies such as vertical integration, the global phosphates supply chain can become more ag-centric and prepare for the next generation of relationships between fertilizer producers and consumers. These industry leaders are part of a programme that includes speakers from other phosphate producers such as OCP, JR Simplot and ITAFOS.

Chris Lawson, CRU's Head of Fertilizer Analysis, will present CRU's outlook for the phosphate markets in the opening keynote session. He notes that the industry faces some key questions in the future: "The phosphate market has continued to strengthen over the past year, supported by higher production costs in China and capacity consolidation in North America. This has helped to offset capacity additions in Morocco and Saudi Arabia, and prices are forecast to continue their upward trajectory over the next five years as demand growth remains robust. Trumps trade wars, China environmental policy, closing capacity and emerging market concerns are all key questions facing the industry, and will be covered at length at the 2019 conference," said Mr. Lawson.

Business leaders from producers, traders, engineering, technology and equipment providers, and consumers, meet at this annual event to engage in high-level networking, negotiate business contracts and share industry knowledge. The event features plenty of networking opportunities and the chance to discuss technical issues and source solutions with over 60 exhibitors offering the latest innovations and services to the industry.

For details about the event visit: http://bit.ly/2X4LfyD

To request a press pass or further information about the event please contact [email protected]

About CRU

CRU offers unrivalled business intelligence on the global metals, mining and fertilizer industries through market analysis, price assessments, consultancy and events.

Since our foundation by Robert Perlman in 1969, we have consistently invested in primary research and robust methodologies, and developed expert teams in key locations worldwide, including in hard-to-reach markets such as China.

CRU employs over 280 experts and has more than 11 offices around the world, in Europe, the Americas, China, Asia and Australia  our office in Beijing opened in 2004 and Singapore in 2018.

When facing critical business decisions, you can rely on our first-hand knowledge to give you a complete view of a commodity market. And you can engage with our experts directly, for the full picture and a personalised response.

CRU  big enough to deliver a high-quality service, small enough to care about all of our customers.

About CRU Events: CRU Events has a well-established portfolio of events for the metals, mining and fertilizer industries, including Wire & Cable, World Optical Fibre & Cable, World Copper and CRU Ryans Notes Ferroalloys. For more information visit www.crugroup.com/events

SOURCE CRU
ATLANTA, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Cox Enterprises Inc. today announced that it has reached an agreement with funds (the "Apollo Funds") managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, "Apollo") (NYSE: APO) to buy a majority interest in Cox Media Group's broadcast television stations, including the company's radio, newspaper and TV properties in Ohio. Cox Enterprises will maintain a minority stake and will join the Apollo Funds in forming a new company to operate these stations, which will be headquartered in Atlanta, Ga.

Cox Media Group's high-performing TV stations serve some of the most desirable markets in the country and reach a combined 31 million viewers nationwide. With a deep focus on investigative journalism, these TV stations are leading local news and information outlets, and cornerstones of the communities they serve. The stations, which represent Cox Media Group's entire television portfolio, are:

WSB-TV, ABC Atlanta, Ga. WFTV-TV, ABC Orlando, Fla. WRDQ-TV, Independent Orlando, Fla. WSOC-TV, ABC Charlotte, N.C. WAXN-TV, Independent Charlotte, N.C. WPXI-TV, NBC Pittsburgh, Pa. WHIO-TV, CBS Dayton, Ohio KIRO-TV, CBS Seattle, Wash. WHBQ-TV FOX, Memphis, Tenn. WFOX-TV, FOX Jacksonville, Fla. WFXT-TV, FOX Boston, Mass.

KOKI-TV, FOX Tulsa, Okla. KMYT-TV, My Network Tulsa Okla.



Cox Media Group also provides programming, sales and other operations services for WJAX-TV, CBS Jacksonville, Fla.

In addition to WHIO-TV, the Apollo Funds will acquire a majority stake in Cox Media Group's other media platforms in Ohio:

Dayton Daily News WZLR, 95.3 FM and 101.1 FM Springfield News-Sun WHKO, 99.1 FM Journal-News WHIO, 95.7 FM and 1290 AM

Cox Enterprises began exploring strategic alternatives for the stations last July with the goal of finding a motivated strategic partner with a shared vision for the future and the resources to continue investing in the business to build scale. Apollo intends to maintain the successful management and operating structure Cox Media Group's TV business has created.

"These stations have decades of experience breaking barriers and delivering the news and information their communities need daily," said Alex Taylor, president and CEO, Cox Enterprises. "We wanted to find a company that is committed to investing in broadcast television now and in the future, and we found that in Apollo."

"We are extremely excited for our funds to acquire a majority interest in Cox Media Group's broadcast television stations and are humbled by Cox Enterprises' decision to entrust us to steward these stations and carry on the Cox legacy. We have an extraordinary amount of respect and admiration for the journalistic integrity, news quality, and commitment to community across Cox Media Group's broadcast stations," said David Sambur, Senior Partner at Apollo. "We look forward, in collaboration with Cox Enterprises, to supporting the high standards to which each station operates and contributing to the platform's future growth and prosperity."

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory review and closing conditions.

Barclays PLC, Moelis & Company LLC and BDT & Company, LLC served as the financial advisors and Eversheds Sutherland LLP and Covington & Burling LLP served as the legal advisors to Cox Enterprises in this transaction.

RBC Capital Markets LLC, Guggenheim Partners LLC, and LionTree Advisors, LLC served as the financial advisors and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and Greenberg Traurig, LLP served as the legal advisors to the Apollo Funds in this transaction.

About Apollo Global Management

Apollo is a leading global alternative investment manager with offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, Bethesda, London, Frankfurt, Madrid, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. Apollo had assets under management of approximately $280 billion as of December 31, 2018 in private equity, credit and real assets funds invested across a core group of nine industries where Apollo has considerable knowledge and resources. For more information about Apollo, please visit www.apollo.com.

About Cox Enterprises

Cox Enterprises is dedicated to building a better future through our leading communications, automotive services and media companies. Our major operating subsidiaries include Cox Communications, Cox Automotive and Cox Media Group. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Cox is a global company with over $20 billion in annual revenues and brands that include Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book and Cox Homelife. Founded in 1898 by Ohio Governor James M. Cox, the company is a family-owned business committed to its people, communities and the planet. To learn more about Cox, visit www.coxenterprises.com.

About Cox Media Group

Cox Media Group (CMG) is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company. The company's operations include broadcast television stations, radio stations, daily newspapers and non-daily publications. Additionally, Cox Media Group operates the National Advertising Platform businesses of CoxReps , Gamut and Videa ; and offers a full suite of local and regional advertising services through its Local Solutions and Ideabar businesses. For more information about Cox Media Group, please visit www.coxmediagroup.com .

SOURCE Cox Enterprises
"It's a privilege to support the organizations in our communities that have close and meaningful connections to Clune's staff," said Bill Abromitis, CEO of Clune Construction. "Clune's charitable culture is one we are very proud of. It is a direct reflection of our commitment to our employees and the organizations they personally care about."

2018 recipients are:

Chicago Police Memorial Foundation is dedicated to honoring the lives of our fallen heroes who have been killed or catastrophically injured in the line of duty. Clune's donation will go toward servicing the families of those who have selflessly served and protected Chicago and its residents by ensuring their sacrifice is not forgotten.

The Fresh Air Fund is a New York-based organization that gives children from low-income communities the opportunity to experience outdoor summer adventures that unlock their limitless potential. Clune's donation will help provide these life changing programs for thousands of New York City children.

The Battle Buddy Foundation was founded by combat veterans with the combined mission of assisting veterans, of all eras, in the acquisition of service dogs, while providing a network of peer support and activity, and promoting education and awareness of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), the current veteran suicide epidemic, and the life-saving benefits of highly trained service dogs.

Los Angeles Regional Food Bank fights hunger and food insecurity within the Los Angeles area by acquiring food and distributing it to those in need through local charitable organizations.

Clune's donation will be used to provide 10,000 meals to Los Angeles residents who need assistance putting food on the table for their families.

The Guardsmen provides access to high-quality educational and outdoor activities for San Francisco's inner-city youth. Clune's donation will enable The Guardsmen to provide these opportunities to kids who would otherwise not have the chance to experience them.

Boulder Crest Retreat's 37-acre Virginia retreat provides combat veterans and their families a getaway that integrates evidence-based therapies in a safe, peaceful space. The donation they received from Clune will allow them to provide services to veterans dealing with combat-related stress through strength and growth based training.

The Prader-Willi Syndrome Association provides emotional support and a sense of hope, strength and connection for individuals with Prader-Willi Syndrome, their families and the professionals who treat them. Clune's donation will go towards the organizations' parent-mentor program, a popular initiative that helps family members support their loved-ones who have Prader-Willi Syndrome.

Clune's Pledge for Cancer Research

Clune made an annual contribution to Gateway for Cancer Research, a national, non-profit organization committed to funding innovative, cutting-edge cancer research. The donation is part of a $1 million pledge Clune made to Gateway. Each year Clune continues to provide a contribution as part of its partnership with the organization.

In addition to these donations, Clune contributes to numerous charities and their employees donate their time to various causes throughout the year.

About Clune Construction Company

Clune Construction Company is a national general contractor with offices in Chicago; Los Angeles; New York; San Francisco; and Washington, DC. Today, Clune employs more than 500 employees and manages over $1 billion in commercial and mission-critical projects annually. Clune Construction believes that the hallmark of its success is grounded in their dedication to consistently delivering it clients' projects on time and under budget, with honesty, integrity and strong emphasis on client satisfaction. Learn more at www.clunegc.com.

SOURCE Clune Construction Company
CHICAGO, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second consecutive year, the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame (MAHF) has inducted a key staff member from Chicago agency closerlook, inc. Associate creative director Dan Morrill has been recognized as a "Future Famer" for his contributions to the medical advertising community at the MAHF Awards Dinner. The event was held at The Pierre, New York, a Taj Hotel.

The MAHF award is one of the highest distinctions given to individuals in the industry. Founded 20 years ago, the organization recognizes retired executives who have shaped the medical advertising industry through their creative accomplishments. Individuals recognized as "Future Famers" are those whom the MAHF believes are destined to someday leave their mark on medical advertising. "Future Famers" are young executives who have been in medical advertising for less than five years and are also involved in various community service programs.

Morrill isn't the first "Future Famer" from closerlook to be inducted. Last year, account director Chelsea Patton received the "Future Famer" distinction.

"To have our team members be acknowledged is an honor," said CEO David Ormesher. "We strive to create a culture where great talent can be nurtured. We're pleased that Dan Morrill is being recognized because he truly has made a significant impact on our clients' programs."

According to Ormesher, Morrill has a unique ability as a writer to bring brands to life. His approach to storytelling creates content that boosts engagement. Prior to joining closerlook, Morrill worked on content development in the B2B space, writing about technology advances, e-commerce, travel and sports. His diverse experience helps add depth to his storytelling abilities. Morrill has been with closerlook for three years.

ABOUT CLOSERLOOK, INC.

Established in 1987, closerlook is a full-service digital agency helping biopharmaceutical companies promote new therapies that help improve the lives of patients and those who care for them. With offices in Chicago and New York, closerlook has won multiple awards for its unique ability to create engagement and foster loyalty through strategy, design, development and execution of responsive campaigns. For more information, contact 312-640-3700 or visit the website at closerlook.com .

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Marita Gomez

630-936-9105

SOURCE closerlook, inc.

Related Links

http://closerlook.com


VANCOUVER, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - CANNAMERICA BRANDS CORP. ("CannAmerica Brands" or the "Company") (CSE: CANA) (OTCQB: CNNXF) is pleased to announce that on February 14, 2019 it entered into a letter of intent ("LOI") to provide an exclusive license to manufacture and distribute CannAmerica Brands branded CBD infused products in Europe with Winchester MD Limited ("Winchester").

Winchester is a Europe based arms-length entity that operates a revenue producing online retailer under the brand HempElf and offers a variety of CBD products through its store. Winchester is seeking property in a number of regions in Europe for their new manufacturing facility, which CannAmerica Brands is not required to provide funding for.

CannAmerica Brands and Winchester intend to enter into a definitive agreement by April 15, 2019. Under the terms of the LOI CannAmerica Brands will provide Winchester with supplies and equipment in exchange for a per unit royalty payment that is to be determined in the definitive agreement.

"The Company is excited to expand CannAmerica Brand's reach into Europe and thrilled to be doing so with a partner that has been quickly building a reputation as a provider of high-quality CBD products" said Dan Anglin, CEO and Co-Founder of CannAmerica Brands.

For more information, please visit www.cannamericabrands.com.

On Behalf of the Board,

Dan Anglin

CEO and Director

(314) 495-4589

About CannAmerica Brands Corp.

CannAmerica Brands is a U.S. marine veteran founded and operated portfolio of cannabis brands with licensing agreements in the states of Colorado, Nevada and Maryland. The Company aims to maximize the value of its brands by employing strong brand management teams, marketing and licensing the brands through various distribution channels, including dispensaries, wholesalers and distributors, in the United States and internationally. The Company's core strategy is to enhance and monetize the global reach of its existing brands, and to pursue additional strategic acquisitions to grow the scope and diversity of its brand portfolio.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws or forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding future estimates, plans, objectives, timing, assumptions or expectations of future performance, including that the Company is anticipated to enter into a definitive agreement with Winchester by April 15, 2019 and Winchester will manufacture and distribute CannAmerica branded CBD infused products in Europe are forward-looking statements and contain forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". Forward-looking statements are based on certain material assumptions and analysis made by the Company and the opinions and estimates of management as of the date of this press release, including that the Company will be successful in entering into a definitive agreement with Winchester by April 15, 2019 and Winchester will successfully manufacture and distribute CannAmerica branded CBD infused products in Europe. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Important factors that may cause actual results to vary, include, without limitation, the Company will not be successful in entering into a definitive agreement with Winchester by April 15, 2019 and Winchester will not be able to manufacture and distribute CannAmerica branded CBD infused products in Europe. Although management of the Company 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 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 and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE CannAmerica Brands Corp.
LONDON, Feb. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- EY announces the appointment of Barbara Angus to the role of EY Global Tax Policy Leader. The EY global tax policy network of professionals advises companies and engages with governments on the development and implementation of policy initiatives in more than 140 jurisdictions across the globe. Based in Washington, DC, Barbara will focus on engagement with key policymakers and clients globally.

Barbara was previously Chief Tax Counsel for the Committee on Ways and Means of the U.S. House of Representatives, where she played an integral role in the development of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), the most significant change to the US tax code in more than 30 years.

Kate Barton, EY Global Vice Chair  Tax, says:

"Today's shifting tax landscape requires new levels of agility and preparedness as countries around the world undertake tax reform. Barbara's deep knowledge of international tax law and direct hand in shaping the current US tax code give her a unique perspective to help clients comply with and apply the complexities of the laws in a rapidly changing global landscape. I'm thrilled to welcome Barbara back to EY at this time of incredible change."

Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX), the lead Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, says:

"Few in Washington match Barbara's intelligence, leadership and work ethic. Her efforts changed history, helping us create a tax code that works for families and Main Street businesses. I am so thankful for her guidance and friendship these past three years and wish her all the best in this next chapter  she will be missed dearly by our Committee."

Barbara Angus, incoming EY Global Tax Policy Leader, says:

"Following US tax reform, as governments face revenue pressures in an ever-changing global economy, tax policy is being debated in jurisdictions around the world. It is critically important for companies to be actively engaged as developments play out across the countries where they do business. I am excited about the opportunity to be part of the global EY network, providing coordinated support to clients as they participate in the global tax policy dialogue and prepare for shifts in the global tax environment."

About EY

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

This news release has been issued by EYGM Limited, a member of the global EY organization that also does not provide any services to clients.

Virginia Milazzo

EY Global Media Relations

+1 212 360 9261

[email protected]

SOURCE EY

Related Links

http://www.ey.com


MANHATTAN, N.Y., Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- ATSG, a tech-enabled managed services and solutions company, today announced its asset acquisition of HighStreet Network Solutions (HNS), the managed services and infrastructure engineering division of HighStreet IT. With clear synergies to ATSG's existing rediManage and rediTech operations, the acquisition provides ATSG with both local and global expansion, inclusive of additional large-scale delivery centers in both the NY Tristate and offshore, significant commercial presence in the Long Island marketplace and further deepens a long-standing operating history within the Cisco Partner Ecosystem.

"HNS provides an exciting opportunity fully aligned with ATSG's rapid expansion strategy, especially within our target markets and global delivery capabilities," said Anthony J. D'Ambrosi, President, ATSG. "The additional geographic and service offering adjacency continue to strengthen both our client base and ability to execute, inclusive of our multicloud, managed services, project engineering, unified communications, collaboration and security offerings, to further service our enterprise customers."

The acquisition of HNS accelerates ATSG's plans for growth and is the third acquisition over the last twenty-four months; ATSG previously acquired QTS in 2017 and VDX in late 2018. ATSG will continue to evaluate investments and alliances that strategically enhance their tech-enabled managed services and overall Technology Solutions as Service digital transformation offerings.

For more information on ATSG's acquisition of HNS, visit www.atsg.net, email [email protected] or call (914) 984-2400.

About ATSG

ATSG is a tech-enabled managed services and solutions company focused on innovative solutions to enhance the end-user experience. ATSG provides technology solutions as a service to a variety of customers; leveraging their portfolio of rediCloud, rediTech and rediManage, which includes deep expertise in technology consulting, wireless and network, unified communications, collaboration, cloud solutions, data center, mobility and productivity solutions.

ATSG is a privately held company headquartered in Briarcliff Manor, New York. For more information on ATSG, please visit us on the web at www.atsg.net, like us on LinkedIn, follow us on Twitter or become a fan on our Facebook page.

Media Contact: Elizabeth Kubycheck

Chief Marketing Officer

630.601.8698

SOURCE ATSG

Related Links

http://www.atsg.net


SAN DIEGO, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ashford University announced today that AU NFP received determination from the Internal Revenue Service that it is exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501 (c) (3). This determination is one of the steps needed in the process of separating from Bridgepoint Education and converting to an independent, self-governed institution. AU NFP is a nonprofit California public benefit corporation.

"We are pleased with the information we received from the Internal Revenue Service, bringing us closer to becoming an independent, self-governed institution," said Dr. Craig Swenson, Ashford University president and CEO. "Once completed, we will focus on what we do best innovative curriculum and instruction, and providing access to learning to help students achieve their goals."

The final conversion and separation is subject to additional approvals.

About Ashford University

Where heritage meets innovation  that's Ashford University. At Ashford, students discover relevant degree programs, innovative technology, and cherished tradition. Ashford offers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs online, allowing students to balance life by providing the flexibility to do school work anywhere, anytime. For more information, please visit www.ashford.edu, www.facebook.com/ashforduniversity, or www.twitter.com/AshfordU.

Contact: Lauren Coartney

858.513.9240 x11636  [email protected]

SOURCE Ashford University

Related Links

http://www.ashford.edu


AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A positive prevention initiative designed to promote inclusion in middle schools was celebrated earlier this month by Big Sandy Junior High in Big Sandy, TX, Arp Junior High in Arp, TX and at Bowie Middle School in Odessa.

Representatives from Superior HealthPlan hosted an assembly in honor of National No One Eats Alone Day, created by the non-profit Beyond Differences. Students participated in activities designed to teach them about social isolation and the negative impact it can have on a student's health and academic performance. They then demonstrated inclusion and sat with students at lunch who they didn't know, or who may have felt left out. They were given ice breaker topics to discuss to highlight their commonalities.

Social isolation affects millions of students and has been identified as a precursor to bullying, self-harm and community violence. Students have shown that if they are given the tools, they will stand up for others as empathetic and caring activists, not passive bystanders.

"Once again we were proud to join local schools in Texas in supporting this important cause," said Mark Sanders, President and CEO of Superior HealthPlan. "We believe these kinds of partnerships are critical in helping to spread a positive message of inclusion, which often can help improve holistic health and academic performance."

"Social isolation is a preventable public health problem," says Laura Talmus, co-founder and executive director of Beyond Differences. "We've learned through teachers and families that No One Eats Alone Day is a powerful step and positive initiative that can change the culture in schools to be a more welcoming place for all."

The three schools joined more than 2,250 schools across the country to celebrate National No One Eats Alone Day. The initiative reached more than 1 million students in all 50 states.



No One Eats Alone Day is sponsored by the Centene Charitable Foundation.

About Superior HealthPlan

Founded in 1999, Superior HealthPlan is a managed care company that delivers quality healthcare throughout Texas. Committed to transforming the health of the community, one person at a time, Superior supports active local involvement in all 254 Texas counties with 3700 employees in 9 offices throughout the state. Superior is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation, a leading multi-national healthcare enterprise offering both core Medicaid and specialty services. More information on Superior can be found at www.SuperiorHealthPlan.com.

SOURCE Superior HealthPlan

Related Links

http://superiorhealthplan.com


Student volunteers, like Schaeffer, who take part in Hands-Only CPR training with Operation Smile, teach the skill to patients and their families while attending an Operation Smile medical mission.

Operation Smile, an international medical charity that has provided hundreds of thousands of free surgeries for children and young adults in low-and-middle-income countries who are born with cleft condition or other facial difference, has trained 33,000 people in life support resuscitation.

"We celebrate this major milestone especially during American Heart Month," said Maimunat Alex-Adeomi, Director of Education and Training at Operation Smile. "The investment in offering life support courses enables Operation Smile to continue to provide well qualified medical volunteers to care for children around the world suffering from a cleft condition, as well as contribute to the overall local health infrastructure and its ability to effectively care for patients in countries where we work," she added.

Operation Smile is an International Training Center with sites in nearly 30 countries. It's an achievement reached, in part, thanks to Operation Smile's long-standing alliance with the American Heart Association, the world's leading voluntary health organization devoted to a world of longer, healthier lives. The two organizations began their collaboration in 2003  resulting in Operation Smile offering American Heart Association training courses in Basic Life Support, Hands-Only CPR, Pediatric Advance Life Support, Pediatric Emergency Assessment Recognition and Stabilization, and Advanced Cardiac Life Support.

"Cardiovascular disease is the world's leading killer, so we're working globally to build healthier lives," said John Meiners, Chief of Mission-aligned Businesses at the American Heart Association. "Joining forces with organizations like Operation Smile to make our life-saving trainings available to more people around the world is essential to our mission and we are proud to have reached this milestone in collaboration with them."

Alex-Adeomi adds, "We're proud that about 85% of the medical volunteer positions filled on our missions last year were held by healthcare professionals from low-and-middle-income countries; a majority of them received training and education from Operation Smile," said Alex-Adeomi.

The American Heart Association training courses are offered to parents, caregivers, healthcare providers and student volunteers like Schaeffer who says, "despite being nervous that day in Starbucks  I'm happy I had the skills to help someone in need."

About Operation Smile: Operation Smile has provided hundreds of thousands of safe surgeries for those born with cleft lip, cleft palate or other facial deformities. With more than three decades of expertise, Operation Smile creates solutions that deliver free surgery to people where it's needed most. As one of the largest medical volunteer-based nonprofits, Operation Smile has mobilized thousands of medical volunteers from a wide range of medical specialties from more than 80 countries. Operation Smile engages public-private partnerships to advance health care delivery, train local medical professionals to provide surgical care for patients in their communities, donate crucial medical equipment and supplies, and increase access to surgical care so that everyone living with cleft is treated. Visit www.operationsmile.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. ###

CONTACT

Nicole Bell, Director of Public Relations

O: 757.321.3229 | Cell: 757.708.0379

[email protected]

SOURCE Operation Smile

Related Links

http://www.operationsmile.org


REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- It's time to celebrate Presidents Day, the most underappreciated U.S. holiday, with the trip of a lifetime! WOW air is offering $45 one-way flights to Iceland from New York (EWR), Boston (BOS), Detroit (DTW) and Baltimore/Washington, D.C. (BWI). Flights are available to book starting Presidents Day, February 18, for travel between March 1 - May 31, 2019.*

Springtime is one of the most desirable seasons to visit Iceland. Between witnessing Iceland's Northern Lights, the glaciers on Diamond Beach and Reykjavik nightlife, there's sure to be an activity to please even the worldliest traveler.

"We are thrilled to offer travelers an opportunity to explore Iceland this spring in honor of Presidents Day," said Skuli Mogensen, founder and CEO of WOW air. "At WOW air, we are committed to making travel more affordable and accessible to all, from the experienced globe-trotter to travel newbies and those in between."

The offer applies to 1,000 seats on selected flights, only when booked on a return trip.

For more information or to book flights, visit www.wowair.us.

*$45 fares available from New York (EWR), Boston (BOS), Detroit (DTW) and Baltimore/Washington, D.C. (BWI) to Iceland (KEF). Based on lowest one-way WOW Basic fare booked on www.wowair.us. Includes all taxes, fees and carrier charges. Available for travel March 1 to May 31, 2019.

About WOW air

WOW air offers the lowest fares, a modern fleet with the lowest emissions and the biggest smile; this is the WOW air promise to its valuable customers. The airline services 26 destinations across Europe and North America including Dublin, London, Paris, Berlin, and Copenhagen.

Established in November 2011 by Icelandic entrepreneur Skuli Mogensen, the purple airline flies with Airbus A320 and Airbus A321 models. WOW air boasts one of the world's youngest fleet, with an average aircraft age of just 2 years.

WOW air was named the 2018 CAPA Low Cost Airline of the Year. Additionally, WOW air was ranked as the 7th best low-cost airline in Europe at the 2013, 2014 and 2015 Skytrax World Airline Awards and was the youngest airline in the top ten.

For additional information and bookings please visit https://wowair.us/.

SOURCE WOW air

Related Links

https://wowair.us


"This lab will serve as the campus' primary hub for students to develop and expand their information security skills, preparing them to enter this high demand field and take on the cyber security threats of the future," said UCF President Dale Whittaker. "We are grateful for Lockheed Martin's longtime partnership and strong commitment to our students' success."

The National Institute of Standards and Technology estimates there are more than 13,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in Florida alone. That trend will continue, as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts jobs for information security analysts will grow 28 percent by 2026.

"The future battlespace will be heavily reliant on cyber even more so than we're seeing today," said Stephanie C. Hill, deputy executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems. "By working with institutions like UCF, through labs like this one, we'll all better understand and accelerate our shared capabilities and potential to adapt and innovate in the fifth domain."

In 2018, Lockheed Martin donated $1.5 million to UCF to help create the Cyber Innovation Lab and encourage the next-generation of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) talent to collaborate and solve today's challenging cyber problems. The company's donation will fund software and technology support to the lab, and employees will also provide cyber training and professional mentoring to engineering students.

"Having a centralized space will streamline the way we organize our meetings and practices," said [email protected] President David Maria, a senior studying computer engineering. "With this lab, we can practice for competitions, host workshops and speakers, provide cyber security tools and resources, and give our student members a sense of community and help get them ready for future careers. It's not just a practice space. It's a home for us."

The 970-square-foot lab is located in UCF's Engineering I building and will serve as a learning hub for the more than 350 students participating in cyber programs at UCF. [email protected], a four-time national champion in competitions like the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition and the U.S. Department of Energy CyberForce Competition, will also use the lab as its primary practice center.

In Orlando, Lockheed Martin employs approximately 2,500 UCF graduates, with plans to expand its cyber workforce. The company's local Cyber Solutions business grew 400 percent over the past five years and expects that growth to continue as the nation seeks offensive and defensive cyber security capabilities to address the evolving cyber threats.

To learn more about cyber at Lockheed Martin, visit www.lockheedmartin.com/cyber.

About the University of Central Florida

Founded in 1963 with a commitment to expanding opportunity and demanding excellence, the University of Central Florida develops the talent needed to advance the prosperity and welfare of our society. With more than 68,000 students, UCF is one of the nation's largest universities, offering more than 200 degree programs at its main campus in Orlando, medical school, and more than a dozen other locations in Central Florida and online. UCF was ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the nation's top 10 most innovative universities and rated by Kiplinger and Forbes as one of the best college values in America. For more information, visit ucf.edu.

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

SOURCE Lockheed Martin

Related Links

http://www.lockheedmartin.com


ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Unilever Food Solutions announced today the launch of Knorr Intense Flavorsa line of professional liquid seasonings created with real, natural ingredients and prepared through authentic culinary processesthat can help foodservice operators set their dishes apart with an exciting, distinctive range of bold flavors.

(PRNewsfoto/Unilever Food Solutions)

"We know that as trends and diner demands evolve, chefs and restaurateurs are under more pressure than ever to deliver creative, inspiring and flavorful menu options," said Chef Einav Gefen, Corporate Executive Chef at Unilever Food Solutions, North America. "Knorr Intense Flavors offer a creatively intuitive format for chefs to experiment with flavor and make their dishes stand out. It's just the latest step in Unilever Food Solutions' ongoing journey to provide chefs with impactful, sustainable and useful menu solutions and inspiration that excites their guests."

Marking Unilever Food Solutions' entry in the liquid seasoning category, the Knorr Intense Flavors line is made with authentic culinary processes like smoking, fermenting and roasting and can be used across every stage of the cooking process including marinating, seasoning and finishing. Knorr Intense Flavors are vegan, gluten-free and made with natural ingredients.

To develop the global range of five variants, Unilever Food Solutions drew inspiration from today's top trends in culinary ingredients and flavors:

Miso Umami provides a deep umami taste of miso fermented for 2 months, porcini mushroom and seaweed for a richness, depth, balance and roundness.

provides a deep umami taste of miso fermented for 2 months, porcini mushroom and seaweed for a richness, depth, balance and roundness. Roast Umami provides a rich caramelized flavor of slow roasted onion and garlic.

provides a rich caramelized flavor of slow roasted onion and garlic. Citrus Fresh provides the zesty, fresh and fruity taste of mandarin, lime and yuzu, and is made from 750 g of citrus fruit per 13.5 oz. bottle.

provides the zesty, fresh and fruity taste of mandarin, lime and yuzu, and is made from 750 g of citrus fruit per 13.5 oz. bottle. Deep Smoke provides the flavor of natural sugar smoked over charred American hardwoods for a barbecue smokiness as well as a warm richness.

provides the flavor of natural sugar smoked over charred American hardwoods for a barbecue smokiness as well as a warm richness. Wild Mushroom Earth provides a deep earthy flavor of wild mushrooms including porcini and Boletus.

The Knorr Intense Flavors line is now available across U.S. and Canada. Interested foodservice operators should reach out to their local distributors for availability and pricing per case (four 13.5 fl. oz. bottles). For more information and recipes, foodservice professionals should visit www.ufs.com/intenseflavors.

About Unilever Food Solutions

Unilever Food Solutions is the foodservice company of Unilever and the global market leader serving 800 million consumers every year across 100 meal occasions every day. Our 230 chefs across the company work to provide foodservice professionals and operators with menu inspiration, recipe development and culinary training/trendspotting.



About Unilever United States, Inc.

Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2.5 billion consumers a day. In the United States, the portfolio includes brand icons such as Axe, Ben & Jerry's, Breyers, Caress, Degree, Dollar Shave Club, Dove, Good Humor, Hellmann's, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Love Beauty and Planet, Magnum, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond's, Popsicle, Pure Leaf, Q-tips, Schmidt's Naturals, Seventh Generation, Simple, Sir Kensington's, St. Ives, Suave, Sundial Brands, Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto, TAZO, TIGI, TONI&GUY, TRESemme and Vaseline. All of the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies.

Unilever employs approximately 8,000 people in the United States  generating more than $9 billion in sales in 2017.

Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan underpins the company's strategy and commits to:

Helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being by 2020.

Halving the environmental impact of our products by 2030.

Enhancing the livelihoods of millions of people by 2020.

The USLP creates value by driving growth and trust, eliminating costs and reducing risks. Globally, the company's sustainable living brands grew 46% faster than the rest of the business and delivered more than 70% of the company's growth in 2017.

For more information on Unilever U.S., its brands, and the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan visit: www.unileverusa.com

Contact:

Meredith Lowe, Edible

[email protected]

212-704-8111

SOURCE Unilever Food Solutions

Related Links

http://www.unileverusa.com


COLUMBIA, S.C., Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The South Carolina Court of Appeals has affirmed a $14 million verdict against Texas-based Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE) on behalf of the family of a maintenance worker who died from mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos on a Celanese job site.

The three-judge panel unanimously affirmed on Feb. 13 a 2015 trial court damages award to Dennis Seay's wife and estate. That court awarded $12 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages after finding negligent safety practices at the Celanese plant where Mr. Seay worked from 1971 to 1980.

Mr. Seay worked for Daniel Construction Co., a maintenance services provider at a Celanese polyester plant in Spartanburg. Mr. Seay and his family sued Celanese in September 2013, a month after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a fatal form of lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure. He died a year later at age 70.

The suit alleged the company was negligent for failing to warn Mr. Seay of the danger of asbestos found in gaskets, packing and insulation materials at the facility and failing to provide safe working conditions and adequate protections against asbestos dust.

"Celanese was fully aware of the asbestos hazards encountered by contractors like Dennis, yet they had a widespread company policy of concealment that their executives memorialized in a memo," said Simon Greenstone Panatier trial lawyer Chris Panatier. "They stated that any inquiries from employees about hazards should be met with statements by the company that 'emphasize that the data is inconclusive' and that 'exposures were being monitored and controlled below appropriate limits.' It wasn't true, and the jury saw that."

The plaintiffs' appeal was led by Blake Hewitt of Columbia, South Carolina-based Bluestein Thompson Sullivan. The court rejected numerous challenges filed by Celanese, including claims that Mr. Seay was not a statutory employee. The ruling also rejected claims that jurors had engaged in premature deliberations and had considered outside influences in reaching the verdict.

The case is Angela D. Keen et al. v CNA Holdings LLC, Appellate Case No. 2015-001603. The Seay family is represented by Mr. Panatier of Simon Greenstone Panatier PC in Dallas; and John D. Kassel and Theile Branham McVey of Kassel McVey and Mr. Hewitt of Bluestein Thompson Sullivan in Columbia, South Carolina.

Simon Greenstone Panatier, P.C. is a nationally recognized trial law firm with a reputation for creative and aggressive representation of clients in a wide variety of catastrophic personal injury matters. Visit http://www.sgptrial.com/.

Media Contact:

Robert Tharp

800-559-4534

[email protected]

SOURCE Simon Greenstone Panatier, P.C.

Related Links

http://www.sgptrial.com


ERBIL, Iraq, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- When Marwan was a child, he dreamed of being a teacher.

However, poverty made that dream out of reach to Marwan as he grew up. Instead, he became a farmer in Sinjar, a town in northern Iraq.

Then in 2014, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) attacked Sinjar and surrounding villages in what has been internationally recognized as attempted genocide of the Yazidi people. Tens of thousands of Yazidis, including Marwan, fled to escape ISIS.

Now, almost five years later, hundreds of Yazidi adults and thousands of Yazidi children have found hope in an unexpected placeinside the camps for internally displaced people (IDP) in the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI) where they've ended up.

This hope has come from an innovative STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) program for K-8 students that has taken root in the U.N. camps and surrounding schools. The STEM program, launched in 2015, is aimed at bringing relevant and lifelong skills to children living in the camps while at the same time helping them build skills to cope with conflict.

"The idea with this program is to give children engineering problems to solve where they actually make something," said the program's visionary Mark Gelfand, founder of the Gelfand Family Charitable Trust, a charitable foundation that partners with community leaders to develop capacity for quality STEM education in communities on the cusp of rapid development. "It helps distract them from the really incredibly challenging things going around them. This is why it is so successfulit focuses on something positive and forward-looking."

In 2018, the program directly reached 2,500 students in the camps and around Erbil, the capital of KRI, and has resulted in students becoming more engaged and curious in STEM.

KnowAtom has been involved with the KRI STEM program since it launched. KnowAtom's role has been to provide educator training, next generation STEM curriculum, and hands-on materials to the camps so that students are able to learn as scientists and engineers.

"This STEM program provides us with the opportunity to honor the depth of potential within this generation of Iraqi children," said KnowAtom founder and CEO Francis Vigeant. "We've seen these STEM skills serve as a source of hope and a productive coping mechanism for both students and teachers involved."

The program has also provided the volunteer Iraqi teachers with extensive professional development and hands-on experience and a next generation STEM skill-set that will serve their careers and students well beyond the camps, according to one aid group observing the project. Because of safety concerns, KnowAtom is not identifying the aid group.

"The teachers will benefit from the extra training provided, which helps them be able to present these materials to the students," this aid group said. "In reality, we are providing the teachers [with an] education program that benefits them as much as it does the students."

This is true for Marwan, an adult Iraqi IDP who has had the opportunity to realize his childhood dream of being a teacher. Marwan had initially struggled to find work in his camp or the nearby city because his skill-set was primarily limited to farming.

However, since he discovered the STEM program, Marwan has had the opportunity to teach, and to learn more about STEM in the process. "This will allow him to renew his dream and innovate in life and in his society," a translator said.

Like Marwan, Hasan is another Iraqi IDP teacher who has been given the opportunity to pursue a dream through this STEM program. Hasan fled from his hometown of Sinjar when ISIS attacked in 2014. He fled through the mountains of Zagros under hostile fire and found his way to a U.N. camp for internally displaced people in northern KRI.

He graduated from high school in the camp with a dream of pursuing a college degree. At the same time, he was also determined to participate in the STEM program so he could help teach students from his village.

This presented a challenge because the STEM program has a requirement that STEM teachers be at least 20 years old, and Hasan is just 19 years old.

However, Hasan didn't let his age get in his way. His determination won over the STEM program's Iraqi director.

"Hasan's motivation and his confidence made me rethink [how to] find a way to help him get involved and give him this hope that he needs for his future career, which is to be an English teacher at the university," the program director said. "I was sure that this program would give him a great start for his future career, which is teaching students."

When another volunteer educator, Amer, joined the STEM program as a volunteer teacher, it changed how he saw education. According to a translator, Amer said he was amazed because he saw for the first time how a program can focus on innovation and produce a generation of children who have the hope and skills to become scientists and engineers.

Amer is so motivated by this mission that he sometimes gets extra materials to bring to his own children so they can experience the hands-on exploration and discovery provided by KnowAtom at home.

And this, ultimately, is the goal of the program, according to Gelfand.

"When the kids are interested, the adults get interested," Gelfand said. "It motivates everyone. It's how I always thought education should be taught, what I wish my education was when I was a kid. I know how it's changed entire countries because it represents a pathway out of dependency toward the creation of wealth for the country."

Vigeant agrees.

"When we support IDP students and teachers to solve problems and answer questions for themselves, we enable a community to fulfil its dreams," Vigeant said. "By providing curriculum, materials, and professional training, we hope to give these teachers and children a future limited only by their willingness to explore."

About KnowAtom

KnowAtom makes real science possible in every K-8 classroom. We provide a complete K-8 solution designed for mastery of the Next Generation Science Standards: fully aligned curriculum, integrated hands-on materials, and targeted professional development. Our research-based, classroom-tested tools and techniques bring students' own ideas to life with hands-on materials and technology.

To learn more, visit www.knowatom.com or call 617-475-3475.

Media Contact:

Kim Gavrilles

617-475-3475 ext. 2020

[email protected]

Related Images

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amer-is-a-volunteer-teacher-with.png

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hasan-is-one-of-the-youngest.png

Related Links

KnowAtom

Related Video

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SOURCE KnowAtom

Related Links

http://www.knowatom.com


NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The following roundup is a collection of stories dealing with the HIMSS 2019 conference and is appropriate for special sections and for general use.

For each story included in this package, you will find the first paragraph of the release below, as well as its headline linked to the full text.

This is the latest in a series of event-related roundups PRN will carry as part of its regular Cision Roundup News Service. Coming up in 2019 are roundups on:







Package Name Slug Distribution Date Toy Fair 2019 I Toy Fair 2019 Feb. 15 Toy Fair 2019 II Toy Fair Feb. 22 Mobile World Congress 2019 I Mobile World Congress 2019 Feb. 22 Mobile World Congress 2019 II Mobile World Congress Mar. 6 NAB 2019 I NAB 2019 April 5

HIMSS 2019 II Cision Roundup

1. At HIMSS 2019, Cybersecurity Hack Demo from SecurityMetrics to Put Focus on Network Security

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Next week, SecurityMetrics, an industry leader in data security and compliance headquartered in Orem, Utah, will travel to the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference in Orlando, Florida.

2. QuartzClinical Unveils Hospital Market Intelligence Tool Using Big Data and Machine Learning

CHICAGO, Feb. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Joining the healthcare business intelligence sector is a new sophisticated market intelligence tool that provides unparalleled insight into hospital clinical performance and costs. Based on over 30 billion data points, financial reports, quality metrics, and clinical outcomes data, QuartzClinical has used its expertise in big data and machine learning to develop a new insight tool into hospital performance.

3. Swoop to present at HIMSS on the power of real-world data, interoperability and machine learning to improve patient outcomes

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Swoop, an emerging leader in healthcare marketing, will present at the HIMSS conference on how newly available real-world data sources and machine learning techniques can be used to improve patient outcomes as the market evolves toward precision medicine and specialty care.

4. VivaLNK Launches IoT-Enabled Medical Wearable Sensor Platform for Continuous Patient Monitoring

CAMPBELL, Calif., Feb. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- VivaLNK, a leading provider of connected healthcare solutions, today announces its IoT-enabled medical wearable Sensor Platform, complete with a range of sensors, edge computing technologies, and an Internet of Health Things (IoHT) data cloud. This unique platform captures human vitals and biometrics, and delivers data from the patient to edge computing devices, as well as to the cloud, for application integration and analysis.

5. Hyland Healthcare Brings New Solutions, Expert Speakers and Interoperability Demonstrations to HIMSS19

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyland Healthcare, a leading global provider of connected healthcare solutions, will demonstrate how to "see your whole patient" at HIMSS19. The company is highlighting its comprehensive suite of content services and enterprise imaging solutions in booth 2759, while Hyland experts participate in discussions on artificial intelligence, payer-provider collaboration and post-acute care. Hyland Healthcare's full product suite will also be tested in the HIMSS19 Interoperability Showcase.

6. QuartzClinical Wins Frost and Sullivan Best Practices Award

CHICAGO, Feb. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The QuartzClinical cloud-based healthcare data analytics platform was awarded the 2019 Frost and Sullivan Best Practices Award. Earning first place in the Machine Learning-Powered Data Analytics category, QuartzClinical was recognized for its innovative use of big data, advanced machine learning, and proven real-world applications.

7. Resideo Upgrades Telehealth Software Platform, Improving Remote Patient Monitoring

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Resideo Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: REZI)announced today a refresh of the company's LifeStream telehealth software platform to manage remote patient care. Enhancements in the latest LifeStream update include patient health surveys, a pain monitoring scale, nearly 100 educational videos, and an updated user interface to help healthcare professionals improve patient care, reduce readmission rates and drive efficiencies.

8. QuartzClinical Announces Cutting-Edge Machine Learning-Powered Data Warehousing and Clinical Registry Tools

CHICAGO, Feb. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- At the HIMSS19 conference in Orlando, Florida, QuartzClinical announced the availability of a new suite of sophisticated machine learning-powered data warehousing and clinical registry tools. With bank-level encryption and native HIPAA compatibility, these new tools solve the issues present in the prior generation of software tools while automating the data acquisition, storage, and retrieval needs faced by today's healthcare enterprises.

9. QuartzClinical Announces New Lean Six Sigma Performance Improvement Tools

CHICAGO, Feb. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- At the HIMSS19 conference in Orlando, Florida, QuartzClinical announced the integration of sophisticated lean six sigma performance improvement tools into its award-winning cloud-based healthcare analytics platform. Utilizing best practices in performance improvement, this series of tools offers hospitals immediate access to lean and six sigma methodologies that can jumpstart their quality improvement efforts.

If you would like a copy of the complete schedule, or if you would care to comment, please email [email protected]. We welcome suggestions. Copies of previous packages will be available for the media. Cision roundups and photos are also available on the PR Newswire Web site.

Photos that accompany releases are available for download from PRNewswire.com.

SOURCE PR Newswire Association LLC
RIVERSIDE, Ill. and FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Did you know libraries are one of the most valuable (and free) resources available to entrepreneurs seeking to launch a small business? That's why Gale, a Cengage company, has partnered with EveryLibrary, a national non-profit organization dedicated to non-partisan political action on behalf of libraries, to launch a nationwide campaign to help raise awareness of the services libraries offer to entrepreneurs and startups.

How Libraries and Gale Support Entrepreneurship

"Libraries are economic development engines in their communities," says John Chrastka, executive director of EveryLibrary. "Librarians help starters and entrepreneurs shape their ideas into viable products or businesses while helping established small businesses understand and grow their market. That's why we are so excited to partner with Gale. Their information solutions are the market intelligence and business informatics that every entrepreneur needs to succeed. We want to share the powerful story about librarians and the impact of business reference services to support the local economy and to create individual and family prosperity."

The campaign will run throughout the year with the first event kicking off during National Entrepreneurship Week, February 16-23, 2019, where EveryLibrary and the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA) will host a free webinar titled: Libraries and Incubators Tuesday, February 19 at 2 p.m. EST. The webinar brings together libraries and other innovation ecosystem builders to share insights and best practices about business development. Leigh Ann Cusack, senior director of product development for public libraries at Gale, will participate in the presentation outlining a path for business planning and share insights and recommendations on useful tools available through public libraries. Additionally, Community Reference Manager, Kim Gile from the Kansas City Public Library will offer insider insight into how libraries are economic drivers with examples from across the United States. Register for this webinar.

"Public libraries have always played a powerful role in connecting people with the resources and learning they need to be successful in life. However, most entrepreneurs are unaware of the free business resources and staff expertise that their local libraries offer that can guide them throughout every stage of business planning, said Paul Gazzolo, senior vice president and general manager at Gale. "Through our partnership with EveryLibrary, our goal is to change this by driving awareness of the value that libraries provide to the entrepreneurship ecosystem."

For more information visit the Gale Entrepreneurship webpage or EveryLibrary's Entrepreneurs blog.

About Cengage and Gale

Cengage is the education and technology company built for learners. The company serves the higher education, K-12, professional, library and workforce training markets worldwide. Gale, a Cengage company, provides libraries with original and curated content, as well as the modern research tools and technology that are crucial in connecting libraries to learning, and learners to libraries. For more than 60 years, Gale has partnered with libraries around the world to empower the discovery of knowledge and insights  where, when and how people need it. Gale has 500 employees globally with its main operations in Farmington Hills, Michigan. For more information, please visit www.gale.com.

Follow Gale on:

About EveryLibrary

EveryLibrary is the first and only national political action committee for libraries. Since 2012, EveryLibrary has helped nearly 100 libraries with their local ballot measures to renew or extend funding. With an 80% win rate, EveryLibrary has helped local libraries secure over $320 million per annum in stable tax funding for building projects, collections, programs, services and staffing. As a donor-supported organization, EveryLibrary provides all their campaign consulting pro-bono and free of charge to both the library's Informational Communications Campaign as well as the local ballot support committee. You can learn more about EveryLibrary's history of campaign support at everylibrary.org.

Media Contact:

Kayla Siefker, Gale, a Cengage company

248-699-8456

[email protected]

SOURCE Gale, a Cengage company

Related Links

https://www.gale.com


JUPITER, Fla., Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of the agreement by Congress and the president to end the government funding stalemate, the EB-5 program will be authorized thru September 30, 2019. Many may be aware that over the past few months Iowa Rep. Steve King proposed to terminate the EB-5 program. However, his bill garnered zero support, illuminating how lawmakers view the future of EB-5.

(PRNewsfoto/U.S. Immigration Fund)

Ron Klein, partner at Holland & Knight and member of the firm's Public Policy & Regulation Group said, "separate from the Appropriations bills, there is new legislation being drafted, which includes visa relief, increase of the investment amount, and other reform provisions." He continued, "due to the new change of leaders in the house and the senate, who are expressing a more favorable view of the EB-5 program, we believe there is a better opportunity to pass legislation this year."

Between the government shutdown, and the temporary re-opening, few things have changed for EB-5. EB-5 regional centers have not been terminated and petition data for Q3 FY2018 remains unpublished. The only change during the defined timeframe is the U.S. District Court ruling which removes petition denials on the basis of investing loan proceeds not secured by the individuals own assets.

For years, US Citizenship Immigration Services (UCSIS) has challenged EB-5 petitions where funds originated from a property loan, where 100% of the property collateral was not fully owned by the investor. Property ownership has been particularly scrutinized by USCIS in this regard, leading to illogical situations, one being where an investor owning part of the property collateral was less valid than an investor owning none of the property collateral at all. This ruling ensues the November 30, 2018 court approved EB-5 class-action law suit which also challenged USCIS' denials based on cash vs. indebtedness. This decision is an encouraging advantage for investors interested in the EB-5 program.

U.S. Immigration Fund (USIF) will continue to provide informed updates as the reauthorization of the program is announced. With the positive progress seen since the shutdown and re-opening of the federal government, optimism is high for future of the EB-5 program.

U.S. Immigration Fund provides outstanding EB-5 project opportunities backed by 30+ years of collective real-estate development, financing and banking experience. USIF has formed and sponsored highly successful regional centers throughout the United States, jointly assisting nearly 6,000 EB-5 investors and their families to date. USIF will continue to follow this story closely and provide updates.

Contact:

U.S Immigration Fund

115 Front Street suite 300, Jupiter, FL 33477

(561) 799-1883

[email protected]

SOURCE U.S. Immigration Fund

Related Links

http://www.visaeb-5.com


SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Clark Construction is proud to be a sponsor of the first Black History Month Celebration presented by the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) February 9 at the Fillmore Heritage Center. The celebration highlighted the achievements of local African-American leaders in strengthening their neighborhoods, creating local educational and economic opportunities for youth to ensure they have a bright future in San Francisco, and promoting a cooperative relationship between the police department and local communities.

Under the leadership of San Francisco Chief of Police William Scott, SFPD's first-ever Black History Month event honored the contributions and history of African-Americans in San Francisco. According to Chief Scott, "A successful police department must be a partnership between the community and officers." He intends for the event to become an annual tradition celebrating and strengthening the ties between the SFPD and the communities the department is sworn to protect and serve.

The Fillmore Heritage Center is located in the heart of the Fillmore district, a historically African-American neighborhood in San Francisco with a rich cultural heritage, but also a legacy of economic marginalization. Mayor London Breed, noting she was born and raised in the district, expressed optimism about the future, while acknowledging work left to be done.

"Honoring and respecting our history and our culture, and how much we have contributed to what the city is today, we have come such a long way," stated Mayor Breed, "We are still here, and we still matter."

Marivic Bamba Chennault, Director of Community Relations and Small Business Development for Clark Construction, joined Chief Scott, Mayor Breed, and Supervisor Vallie Brown in presenting SFPD Black History Month awards to several individuals whose contributions exemplify the theme of building strong communities with bright futures. Awardees included:

Reverend Dr. Amos Brown , Pastor, Third Baptist Church; President, San Francisco NAACP

Pastor, Third Baptist Church; President, San Francisco NAACP Sheryl Davis , Executive Director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, former San Francisco Commissioner 2011-2016

, Executive Director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, former Commissioner 2011-2016 Reverend Dr. Arnold Townsend , Associate Minister, Without Walls Church; Vice President, San Francisco NAACP

Associate Minister, Without Walls Church; Vice President, San Francisco NAACP Morgan Tucker , student; community activist; police cadet and aspiring police officer

"Brotha Clint" Sockwell led a libation ceremony in remembrance of ancestors, and the nation's great leaders who fought for civil rights, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Medgar Evers. "Black history is American history," said Sockwell. "Know black history, know American history."

"We want to acknowledge and celebrate the many, many contributions of the African-American community to our nation, and to the intricate fabric of San Francisco, especially the Fillmore district," said Bamba Chennault.

SOURCE Clark Construction Group
ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Bloomberg Law today announced the publication of Legal Malpractice Litigation, a new treatise that provides practitioners with a comprehensive analysis of the issues they are likely to encounter in this area of law, whether bringing or defending a claim. The book, which was authored by Lance Entrekin of The Entrekin Law Firm, is available on Bloomberg Law and can be ordered in print at http://onb-law.com/yNjW30nBzuT.

The book is organized entirely around the practical realities of legal malpractice litigation and includes discussion of the fast-growing area of claims by non-clients as well client claims. Legal Malpractice Litigation also provides state-by-state coverage of all important areas where jurisdictions significantly differ.

"There was a need in the market for a clear, well-organized treatise that provided a state-by-state breakdown, showing how states differ considerably in important areas of legal malpractice law," said Entrekin. "Our goal was to address this need, for both the specialist and the lawyer trying their first case in this area."

Discussion topics include:

The importance of establishing whether there is an attorney/client relationship and the criteria used by the different states

The distinction between negligence claims versus breach of contract or fiduciary breach claims

A state-by-state breakdown of the elements of negligence as well as the bases for a fiduciary breach claim

The role of expert testimony in establishing negligence

Other claims made by clients and non-clients against attorneys, including a summary of statutory causes of action

Exceptions each state makes to allow negligence and fiduciary breach claims against attorneys by non-clients

Current trends in legal malpractice litigation

About Bloomberg Law

Bloomberg Law helps legal professionals provide world-class counsel with access to actionable legal intelligence in a business context. Bloomberg Law delivers a unique combination of practical guidance, comprehensive primary and secondary source material, trusted and exclusive content, news, time-saving practice tools, market data and business intelligence. For more information, visit www.bna.com/bloomberglaw.

SOURCE Bloomberg Law

Related Links

http://www.bna.com/bloomberglaw


ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Diabetes Association announced today it is awarding this year's prestigious Pathway to Stop Diabetes grants, totaling $4.875 million dollars, to three researchers, with each scientist receiving $1.625 million dollars over a five-year grant term to support breakthroughs in basic science, clinical science, technology, care and potential cures in the field of diabetes. Since its inception in 2014, the Pathway program has been an innovative initiative designed to transform diabetes research by attracting brilliant scientists to diabetes research through substantial financial support, as well as professional mentorship and guidance. Pathway grants are awarded in three categories: 1) Pathway Initiator, for postdoctoral fellows who are transitioning from training to independent research; 2) Pathway Accelerator, for diabetes researchers early in their independent careers; and 3) Pathway Visionary, for scientists established in another field who are interested in applying their expertise to diabetes research for the first time.

2019 Pathway to Stop Diabetes grant recipients and the focus of their research include:

Ebony B. Carter , MD , Washington University in St. Louis , in St. Louis, Missouri , receives a Pathway Accelerator Award for her clinical research project titled, "Targeted lifestyle change group prenatal care for obese women at high risk for gestational diabetes: a randomized controlled trial."





, in , in , receives a for her clinical research project titled, "Targeted lifestyle change group prenatal care for obese women at high risk for gestational diabetes: a randomized controlled trial." Sarah A. Tishkoff , PhD , University of Pennsylvania , in Philadelphia , receives a Pathway Visionary Award for her basic research project titled, "Genetic risk factors for diabetes in populations of African Ancestry."





, , in , receives a for her basic research project titled, "Genetic risk factors for diabetes in populations of African Ancestry." Matthew J. Webber , PhD, University of Notre Dame , in Notre Dame, Indiana , receives a Pathway Accelerator Award for his bioengineering project titled, "Hypoglycemic rescue with glucose-responsive glucagon delivery devices."

"We are incredibly proud we have been able to support 32 researchers through the Pathway to Stop Diabetes research grant since 2014," said the ADA's Chief Scientific, Medical and Mission Officer William T. Cefalu, MD. "Each recipient helps investigate novel methods to better detect, diagnosis, manage, and someday possibly cure diabetes. Such innovative thinking leads the way to increased knowledge about the inner workings of diabetes, ultimately improving the lives of millions of people living with diabetes. Congratulations to Drs. Carter, Tishkoff and Webber. We look forward to their impactful discoveries as Pathway grant recipients."

Pathway awardees are selected by the ADA's Mentor Advisory Groupeminent scientists from diabetes and other fields who review the core elements of exceptional science in selecting an applicant: rigorous thought processes, keen intellect, and capacity for innovation, creativity and productivity. The advisors also provide the Pathway grant recipients with mentorship and scientific and professional guidance throughout the term of their grant. In addition to the substantial and flexible financial support and mentorship, the program provides grant recipients with networks for communication and collaboration, special symposia and speaking engagements, and unique collaborative opportunities that will accelerate the advancement and translation of their science, and lead to breakthrough discoveries.

"Pathway to Stop Diabetes provides exceptional scientists with a unique combination of funding resources and human collaborative networks necessary to perform the multidisciplinary, innovative research required to bring us closer to a cure," said Silvia Corvera, MD, Chair of the ADA's Mentor Advisory Group and Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts. "We are thrilled to welcome the newest recipients of Pathway awards into this elite group of researchers. Together with previous Pathway award recipients, this group of scientists will make extraordinary contributions to diabetes care and impact the lives of millions of people living with or at risk for diabetes."

Pathway is supported by more than $52 million in contributions from corporate sponsors, including Novo Nordisk, 2019 Pathway Visionary sponsor; Eli Lilly and Company, 2019 Pathway Discovery Sponsor; AstraZeneca and Merck, 2019 Pathway Initiator sponsors, along with generous support from several corporate contributors, individuals and foundations. The funds allow the Pathway grant program to extend support to individuals who are just starting their independent research careers, as well as to exceptional scientists already established in other fields of research who want to apply their expertise to diabetes.

"As a founding sponsor of Pathway to Stop Diabetes, Novo Nordisk has been proud to support this program, which not only delivers the highest quality research in diabetes but also nurtures our most promising scientists of the future," said Stephen Gough MD, FRCP (UK), Senior Vice President and Global Chief Medical Officer, Novo Nordisk A/S. "The research carried out as part of the Pathway to Stop Diabetes is not just great ground-breaking science but is also likely to reduce the burden of disease for people with diabetes."

Since launching in 2014 Pathway has awarded more than $52 million to 32 leading scientists. Each awardee is selected from a highly competitive application pool of only one nominee per institution; approximately 100 applications are received each year. Their list of accomplishments to-date is notable:

Eight Pathway Initiator awardees secured their first independent faculty positions;

Ten patent applications have been filed by Pathway scientists to protect the intellectual property they have uncovered; and

Nearly 120 manuscripts published in peer-reviewed journals by Pathway awardees.

"As long as people continue to live with diabetes, research that leads to better outcomes is needed," said Sherry Martin, MD, Vice President of Medical Affairs, Eli Lilly and Company. "Lilly supports the Pathway Program because we are committed to finding new ways to improve the lives of people who are affected by this condition. With federal funding under increased pressure, diabetes research is at risk without important initiatives such as the Pathway Program. We applaud the American Diabetes Association for its commitment to funding this important work."

The ADA is now accepting nominations for the 2020 class of Pathway awardees. The Pathway program seeks to bring new investigators and new perspectives to diabetes research. Supporting scientists with different backgrounds and experience is critical to achieving that objective. Pathway accepts nominations for exceptional investigators with medical and scientific backgrounds who propose innovative basic, clinical, translational, behavioral, epidemiological and health services research relevant to any type of diabetes, diabetes-related disease state or complication. Pathway solicits nominations for candidates in all disciplines as applied to diabetes, from medicine, biology and chemistry to engineering, mathematics and physics. In addition, nomination of scientists from diverse backgrounds, including minority groups that are underrepresented in biomedical research, is strongly encouraged. Applicants must be nominated by a U.S. accredited academic and non-profit research institution prior to submitting an application. Institutions may nominate a maximum of one investigator per grant cycle. For more information on the nomination process, visit diabetes.org/pathway.

About the American Diabetes Association

Approximately every 21 seconds, someone in the United States is diagnosed with diabetes. Nearly half of the American adult population has diabetes or prediabetes, and more than 30 million adults and children are living with the disease. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the nation's leading voluntary health organization on a mission to prevent and cure diabetes, as well as improve the lives of all people affected by the disease. For nearly 80 years, the ADA has driven discovery by funding research to treat, manage and prevent all types of diabetes, while working relentlessly for a cure. Magnifying the urgency of this epidemic, the ADA works to safeguard policies and programs that protect people with the illness, those at risk of developing diabetes and the health care professionals who serve them by initiating programs, advocacy and education efforts that can lead to improved health outcomes and quality of life. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383) or visit us at diabetes.org. Information is available in English and Spanish. Join the conversation with us on Facebook (American Diabetes Association), Twitter (@AmDiabetesAssn) and Instagram (@AmDiabetesAssn).

Contact: Michelle Kirkwood, 703-299-2053

[email protected]

SOURCE American Diabetes Association

Related Links

http://www.diabetes.org


Kafnu Alexandria draws the new generation of creators into its community

SYDNEY, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- International hospitality group Next Story Group marks the market entry of its genre-defining Kafnu brand into Australia with the opening of Kafnu Alexandria in Sydney. Kafnu Alexandria, set to open on Friday, 1 March, is the Group's fourth Kafnu property and it joins the growing international Kafnu network which has properties in Hong Kong, Taipei and Bengaluru.

Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190214/2375429-1LOGO-a

Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190214/2375429-1LOGO-b

All Kafnu members have access to all Kafnu properties around the world. This enables members to stay connected to the Kafnu community and continue to enjoy the benefits of engaging spaces, locally-relevant facilities and thoughtful amenities when they travel for work and leisure.

Kafnu takes its name from a hamlet in Himachal Pradesh in the northern part of India, where adventurers rejuvenate, refresh and reflect before their ascent towards the Himalayan summit. Combining the best elements of a shared work space, boutique hotel and social community, Kafnu properties are strategically-located and designed to foster co-creation, co-exploration and co-innovation. Kafnu aims to elevate the individual and collective potential of its members, who include creators and business owners, and to support them in their journey to success by providing the ideal environment for them to work, rest and socialise.

The 3,000-sqm Kafnu Alexandria is located next to the iconic The Grounds of Alexandria, within one of Sydney's thriving creative and industrial hubs. Kafnu Alexandria is also just 5 minutes from Sydney Airport. Members enjoy 24/7 access to the unique and convenient facilities that span two levels. Multiple work space configurations and meetings rooms support productivity, while purpose-built media production and podcast studios offer added utility to tech-savvy members. There are also 16 luxuriously furnished guest rooms for a good night's rest and a bespoke gin bar, where members can unwind and socialise. A virtual fitness studio ensures that members can stay on track with their fitness regimens, and as an added convenience, Kafnu membership also comes with GoGet car membership.

"We are excited to introduce the Kafnu brand to Australia," said Simon Hall, General Manager of Kafnu Alexandria. "What sets Kafnu Alexandria apart is our positive community culture, which encourages members to share experiences, learn from one another, work together and inspire one another to achieve even more. We are building a vibrant community of hyphenates, entrepreneurs and trailblazers, and we will support their success through bespoke activities, including talks, workshops, seminars, and industry-specific events that facilitate networking and collaboration."

About Next Story Group

Next Story Group creates and transforms urban spaces into thriving communities by harnessing the power of human imagination and innovation. The group currently owns, manages and franchises 37 hotels and resorts in Australia and Thailand, bearing its brands including Next Hotels, Sage Hotels and LinQ Hotels. It also manages four Kafnu properties in Hong Kong, Taipei, Bengaluru and Sydney. For more information: www.nextstory.com

Related Links

http://www.nextstory.com



SOURCE Next Story Group
Daily Mail

February 15, 2019

Killer robots are a grave threat to humanity and should be banned, the worlds largest gathering of scientists was told.

As yet, robot soldiers and security guards armed with lethal weapons are largely science fiction concepts.

But advances in artificial intelligence mean it is only a matter of time before robots with the power to select and attack targets without human input become widespread.

Scientists and human rights campaigners told the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Washington DC lethal droids able to select targets without human help represent the third revolution in warfare after gun powder and nuclear weapons.

Just as international agreements greatly restricted the use of landmines, similar international agreements should be used to prevent robotic killers becoming established.

Mary Wareham of Human Rights Watch, co-ordinator of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots said: Public sentiment is hardening against the prospect of fully autonomous weapons.

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This article was posted: Friday, February 15, 2019 at 8:03 am

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Chris Menahan

Information Liberation

February 15, 2019

Two adult brothers of Nigerian descent, one of whom appeared as an extra on the show Empire with Jussie Smollett, had their home raided by Chicago police Wednesday night for allegedly helping Smollett stage a fake hate crime against himself, according to a new report.

Both men reportedly left for Nigeria on the day of the attack, according to Charlie De Mar of CBS Chicago.

BREAKING:Police raided the home of two persons of interest in Jussie Smollett case last night. Both men are of Nigerian decent and have appeared as extras on the show. Police took bleach, shoes electronics and more.Officers asked family if they knew #Jussiesmollett. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/PDSFtf5jwb  Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) February 14, 2019

This information is according to family who says home was ransacked. I asked family why they think police picked the two brothers up for questioning and they replied by saying the men left for #Nigeria the day of the attack. @cbschicago  Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) February 14, 2019

EXCLUSIVE: Attorney for the two persons of interest in #JussieSmollett case just spoke with her clients. Updates to follow our conversation. @cbschicago #Empire #JussieSmollett pic.twitter.com/pR0Mf56OJe  Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) February 14, 2019

MORE: This is inside the home of two men in police custody listed as persons of interest. According to family they left for Nigeria the same day (but hours after) the alleged attack on Jussie Smollett. @cbschicago #JussieSmollette #Empire pic.twitter.com/5QzdR89VIr  Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) February 15, 2019

TOP SOURCE: We [investigators] believe the non-cooperating 2 witnesses are co-conspirators in a potentially staged attack vs. Jussie Smollett. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/sro7CDtJjP  Brad Edwards (@tvbrad) February 15, 2019

TOP SOURCE:  indicators point to Smollett orchestrating the event . @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/t3T5kQmeko  Brad Edwards (@tvbrad) February 15, 2019

UPDATE: Attorney for two men in custody says she spoke with CPD detectives and charges (at least against the two brothers In custody) are expected before 5:45pm Friday. That is when the 48-Hour hold expires. @cbschicago #JussieSmollett #Empire #Chicago  Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) February 15, 2019

Also on the inventory list taken from the brothers home was Script-Empire. Attorney says men have appeared as extras on #Empire. #Jussiesmollett #Jussiesmollett @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/ijiSV18j6n  Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) February 15, 2019

From CWBChicago:

Chicago police today are questioning two persons of interest in the Jussie Smollett hate crime investigation, according to a department spokesperson. Both are African-American. Smollett, who police say has been questioned throughout their investigation is also being interrogated. The persons of interest were arrested at OHare airport on Wednesday night, police said. Smollett said in an interview aired on Good Morning America today that he believed the two persons of interest seen in the CPD images were the persons who attacked him. I dont have any doubt in my mind that thats them. Never did. TMZ reported that the persons of interest are an actor who has appeared with Smollett on Fox televisions Empire and a person who was traveling with the second actor. These individuals are believed to be the potential persons of interest who were seen in low-quality images released by Chicago police days after the alleged attack, according to a police spokesperson. TMZ also reported that police used rideshare and/or taxicab records to identify the persons of interest and to track their movements on the night of the purported attack.

CWBChicago shared this tip they got last week:

They suspect police had these suspects in their sight all along and used the heavily redacted phone records Smollett handed over to nail them because he removed their calls from the list.

As CWBChicago reported: Investigators already received Smolletts complete phone records via a subpoena served on his service provider, according to a source close quoted by CWBChicago on Feb. 4.

A source familiar with the records provided by the Empire star states that Smollett downloaded his phone activity into a spreadsheet and then deleted certain phone calls before handing over the records. He did the [detectives] job for them because then they only had to focus on the numbers he deleted.'

Chicago PD are denying the report:

Media reports anout the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate. pic.twitter.com/iSO5YFv452  Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 15, 2019

New exclusive: @JussieSmollett "person of interest" who has appeared on Empire as an extra lives in Lakeviewabout 3 blocks from @RahmEmanuel per second source. The other "POI" is his brother, who lists a South Side address. #Chicago #JussieSmollett  CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) February 15, 2019

This is probably a good time to check out some of his hilarious acting on this sympathetic segment from ABC News posted just hours ago:

All the Democratic front-runners and all the top Democrats went all in on this obvious hoax:

The racist and homophobic attack on Jussie Smollett is a horrific instance of the surging hostility toward minorities around the country. We must come together to eradicate all forms of bigotry and violence. https://t.co/2accVEJrCG  Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 29, 2019

.@JussieSmollett is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know. Im praying for his quick recovery. This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.  Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 29, 2019

New York State calls this attack on Jussie Smollett what it is  a hate crime. Homophobia and racism will not be tolerated  not now, not ever. https://t.co/h6wDa7SVsX  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 30, 2019

What happened today to @JussieSmollett must never be tolerated in this country. We must stand up and demand that we no longer give this hate safe harbor; that homophobia and racism have no place on our streets or in our hearts. We are with you, Jussie. https://t.co/o8ilPu68CM  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 30, 2019

This is a sickening and outrageous attack, and horribly, it's the latest of too many hate crimes against LGBTQ people and people of color. We are all responsible for condemning this behavior and every person who enables or normalizes it. Praying for Jussie and his family. https://t.co/eylvxhLT0u  Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) January 29, 2019

The vicious attack on actor Jussie Smollett was an attempted modern-day lynching. I'm glad he's safe. To those in Congress who don't feel the urgency to pass our Anti-Lynching bill designating lynching as a federal hate crime I urge you to pay attention. https://t.co/EwXFxl5f2m  Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) January 29, 2019

This is a truly awful hate crime that has no place anywhere in this nation. No one should be attacked because of the color of their skin or who they love. Jussie, please know that many people across IL and our country are sending love your way. https://t.co/Aui0M5q9Ne  Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) January 30, 2019

There is no such thing as racially charged. This attack was not possibly homophobic. It was a racist and homophobic attack. If you dont like what is happening to our country, then work to change it. It is no ones job to water down or sugar-coat the rise of hate crimes. https://t.co/QAi0IYtSeR  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 30, 2019

Jussie is my friend  a very talented & beautiful human being. It is so hurtful that homophobic haters would dare hurt someone so loving and giving. I'm dedicated to finding the culprits and bringing them to justice. Jussie did not deserve to be harmed by anyone!  Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) January 30, 2019

The racist, homophobic attack on @JussieSmollett is an affront to our humanity. No one should be attacked for who they are or whom they love. I pray that Jussie has a speedy recovery & that justice is served. May we all commit to ending this hate once & for all.  Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 30, 2019

NAACP president Derrick Johnson suggested the so-called attack was directly linked to President Trump:

[Updated with more tweets from top Democrats and updated details on the incident.]

This article was posted: Friday, February 15, 2019 at 7:27 am

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American Mirror

February 15, 2019

Its no wonder the federal government has budget problems after Nancy Pelosis performance today.

As the House Speaker gave her weekly brief press conference, she could be seen suffering brain freezes, confusing millions and billions, and at one point, caught herself holding up only five fingers while talking about six bills.

After suffering an early brain freeze while talking about her colleagues being in North Carolina for a funeral, Pelosi struggled to explain the committees that have already begun their work.

Weve already had a committee, uh, uh, uh, committees, the, uh Ways and Means Committee and the Oversight Committee Government Reform and Oversight Committee, she struggled to say.

Pelosi continued to struggle while discussing the committees, before suffering a brain freeze mid-sentence, causing her to stop and stare at reporters while groping for words, and blurting out advocating for.

Speaking off the top of her head proved to be difficult, as she stopped to search her notes for what she was supposed to say.

A d v e r t i s e m e n t



Pelosi said sentence instead of census, and far instead of fair.

While talking about the amount of money Democrats want to spend, she mistakenly said $1 billion instead of $17 billion, then said $9 million before changing it to $9 billion.

After ticking off the list of bills Democrats want to pass, she said, We have the six appropriations bills, before realizing she was holding up only five fingers.

Looking at her hand, she held up her other thumb to complete her point  but that devolved into another brain freeze and struggles to speak.

Pelosi stuttered as she denounced a report that President Trump may declare a national emergency over illegal aliens flowing over the southern border.

The President can declare an emergency on something that he has created as an emergency it, it, it, it, an illusion that he wants to convey, she said.

Pelosi said un-rend instead of end-run.

She repeatedly said viral as a reporter asked her about freshmen members like Ilhan Omar saying outlandish things.

She went on to take pride in the diversity of her caucus.

This article was posted: Friday, February 15, 2019 at 7:31 am

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Breitbart

February 15, 2019



The Hungarian prime ministers spokesman has said that fighting illegal migration is basically not possible without physical infrastructure, and that failing to do so is a sign of weakness.

Zoltan Kovacs, Secretary of State for International Communication in Prime Minister Viktor Orbans conservative-national populist government, told Townhall that in 2015, when Germanys Angela Merkel invited migrants into Europe unilaterally, his country was overwhelmed.

We were not able to stop them because there was no fence and we were not much prepared as neither was Europe prepared fighting illegal migration is basically not possible without physical infrastructure and that is physical barriers at the borders today, he explained.

Unlike many other European leaders, particularly in the continents west, Prime Minister Orban chose to meet the challenge of the migrant crisis through robust border security, rapidly rolling out and reinforcing a series of southern border fences manned by an expanded border guard  reduc[ing] the number of illegal migrants to zero, basically zero, according to Dr Kovacs.

Number of illegal border crossings on the external Schengen borders of Hungary: 2014: 44 709

2015: 391 384

2016: 18 236

2017: 1 418

2018 (until 20 December): 441 Source: International Communications Office, Hungarian Government

Dr Kovacs told Townhall his government was reluctant to wade into the domestic political debates of other countries when pressed on the question of a southern border wall between the United States and Mexico, but left little doubt as to Budapests position in offering to share our experience.

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Meltdown goes into overdrive

Paul Joseph Watson

PrisonPlanet.com

February 14, 2019

Anti-Trump leftists reacted with horror to the news that the president is about to declare a national emergency to build the wall, labeling Trump a dictator.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that Trump would be signing a spending bill to keep the government open but will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time, which McConnell would support.

BREAKING: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says Trump is signing the spending bill and he is declaring a *national emergency* pic.twitter.com/Y4BeSBENcs  Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) February 14, 2019

Within minutes, liberals adopted alarmist rhetoric, claiming that the decision proves their already held belief that Trump is a dictator.

Judd Legum tweeted that Trump had been forced to act like a dictator because he couldnt get Mexico or Congress to pay for the wall.

What do you want? A WALL! And who is going to pay for it? MEXICO! Well, funny you should mention it, Im actually going to try to get Congress to put it in the budget and if that doesnt work Ill just declare a national emergency & try to build it anyway like Im a dictator  Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) 14 February 2019

Max Temkin, founder of Cards Against Humanity and former consultant for Barack Obama, compared the declaration to Hitler seizing power after the Reichstag fire.

when your dictator fabricates an emergency in order to seize unconstitutional powers pic.twitter.com/IJuUrpqphI  Max Temkin (@MaxTemkin) 14 February 2019

An executive declaring a national emergency to circumvent a legislative body is straight out of the dictator textbook. Dont let anyone try to claim otherwise, because historically, this is how its worked, commented journalist Kris M. Wernowsky.

An executive declaring a national emergency to circumvent a legislative body is straight out of the dictator textbook. Don't let anyone try to claim otherwise, because historically, this is how it's worked.  Kris M. Wernowsky (@kriswernowsky) 14 February 2019

Former Democratic Congressional candidate Dr. Dena Grayson followed suit.

??BREAKING?? Wanna-be dictator @realDonaldTrump will sign the budget bill, but will declare a national emergency to build his wall, even though there is NO EMERGENCY.?? Prediction: the courts will BLOCK Trumps ILLEGAL declaration NON-emergency.??

https://t.co/RPSbo9X1Hj  Dr. Dena Grayson (@DrDenaGrayson) 14 February 2019

Leftist heads on Twitter exploded.

Trumps national emergency action is the stuff of a fascist dictator and should be opposed in every possible way. It is profoundly racist and un-American, claimed one user.

Trump's 'national emergency' action is the stuff of a fascist dictator and should be opposed in every possible way. It is profoundly racist and un-American.  glennwsmith (@glennwsmith) February 14, 2019

Egypt was under national emergency for 30 years. 8 years ago this week, the people rose up and removed their dictator. We dont have to wait 30 years, screeched another user.

Egypt was under national emergency for 30 years. 8 years ago this week, the people rose up and removed their dictator. We dont have to wait 30 years.  AMG (@ymasumac) February 14, 2019

Welcome to the kingdom of Trump first dictator of America. We have got to get this clown out of office, asserted another.

So Trump tells Turtle Boy Mitch that he will sign the legislation keeping the government open but will declare a national emergency so he can funnel money into his wall of hate. Welcome to the kingdom of Trump first dictator of America. We have got to get this clown out of office  Lizard Boy (@Ratsjw) February 14, 2019

We have a national emergency, our president is a dictator, blazed another.

We have a national emergency, our president is a dictator  EA Consultants (@BarbaraatEA) February 14, 2019

Trumps emergency declaration is inevitably going to be tied up in court, meaning it will receive due process and thereby prove that Trump is not in fact a dictator.

Leftists: Emergency declaration makes Trump a dictator! Also leftists: Ha! It will be tied up in courts! Not a dictator then.  Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) February 14, 2019

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This article was posted: Thursday, February 14, 2019 at 4:28 pm

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Well challenge him in Congress, well challenge him in the courts

Steve Watson

Prison Planet.com

February 15, 2019

As news broke of President Trump preparing to declare a national emergency to open up funding for border security, one Democrat immediately vowed to derail the move before it has even begun, calling it fake.

Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro, who has repeatedly called for Trump to be impeached, vowed to terminate the declaration through a joint resolution in the House, saying that he does not believe Trump has the legal authority to go ahead.

I dont think that its a national emergency. I think this would be a fake emergency. Castro told CNNs Wolf Blitzer:

Castro also took to Twitter to spread the fake emergency term and declare his intentions to derail it:

If @realdonaldtrump declares a national emergency to fund his border wall, Im prepared to introduce a resolution to terminate the Presidents emergency declaration under 50 U.S.C. 1622. (National Emergencies Act) #FakeEmergency  Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) February 14, 2019

Other Democrats jumped on the bandwagon.

And I will cosponsor it. This #FakeEmergency is a disgrace. https://t.co/YXwZX0hUhw  Bobby L. Rush (@RepBobbyRush) February 15, 2019

I will cosponsor this resolution. If the House passes it, under the National Emergencies Act the Senate will have 15 days to vote up or down. This isnt about building or stopping the wall; its about defending the Constitution. https://t.co/Q6hvx5T6CI  Tom Malinowski (@Malinowski) February 14, 2019

I thank my colleague, @JoaquinCastrotx, for his diligence and duty to protect our lands. I will support him in this endeavor. #FakeEmergency https://t.co/7L0MPlG5Ij  Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (@RepGonzalez) February 14, 2019

Gun violence is a national emergency Climate Change is a national emergency Income inequality is a national emergency Access to healthcare is a national emergency Building a wall on the southern border is not.  Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (@repcleaver) February 14, 2019

I am prepared, if the president does declare a national emergency to build his border wall, to file a joint resolution under the National Emergencies Act that would essentially terminate his declaration, Castro noted.

Castro, whose twin brother Julian Castro, is running for President in the 2020 election, also said that Congress should challenge Trumps declaration.

We would have a vote either on my resolution or somebody elses on the House floor, and it is my understanding that that resolution would have to be voted upon in the Senate, Castro said.

And there have been very critical comments that have been made by senators, including Republican senators, about the presidents ability and the wisdom of declaring a national emergency for this purpose. the Congressman added.

Well challenge him in Congress, well challenge him in the courts, and I think the American people will challenge the president, Castro said.

This article was posted: Friday, February 15, 2019 at 8:55 am

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Sputnik

February 15, 2019

While SDF commanders have claimed that they are currently liberating the last village held by jihadists in eastern Syria, hundreds of civilians and former terror group members are fleeing the Daesh-controlled area, with their former lovers not infrequently putting a spoke in their wheels.

Daesh* fighters have shot fleeing families trying to escape from Baghuz, the last remaining Daesh enclave located not far from the border with Iraq in Deir ez-Zor province, according to a coalition commander, British Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika said, cited by British media.

While over 1,500 civilians have fled the last Daesh stronghold in Syria in the last several days, arriving at so-called screening points, where new arrivals are checked by SDF members, hundreds reportedly remain trapped inside. According to Ghika, those arriving to be screened are the wives of Isis [Daesh] fighters, some of whom sustained gunshot wounds while fleeing from Isis.

Those fleeing, as well as the coalitions efforts to recapture the territory have, meanwhile, been considerably hindered by tunnels in the area, IEDs and suicide cars and bombs that slow down the advance of our forces, said Adnan Afrini, the SDF commander in Baghuz, who portrayed the area surrounding Baghuz as a rabbit hole:

There is a network of tunnels that the terrorists are using, and our forces need to clear the tunnels very delicately to avoid counter-attacks and explosives, he said.

The battle to claim victory over the terrorist groups last speck of land is now drawing to an end, Kurdish commanders said, with Mustafa Bali, a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesman, stating that the fighters who remained there appeared to be among the most experienced Daesh elite who continue to fight fiercely.

Those fleeing, as well as foreign fighters, who along with their families, at some point joined Daesh, are reported to be being intimidated by the terrorist group, which is threatening them with death if they leave the fight:

A d v e r t i s e m e n t



They said that the Kurds would humiliate our women, that men would search them. They said we were walking into the jaws of wolves. They intimidated people and we had to be smuggled out. It was very dangerous, said Jumah Hamdi Hamdan, 53, a former Daesh supporter who fled the area together with his family on Saturday.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the US-led coalition may finally defeat and declare victory over Daesh in the region in the coming days:

Our brave warriors have liberated virtually 100 percent of ISIL [territory] in Iraq and Syria soon it will be announced, soon, maybe over the next week, maybe less, but it will be announced we have 100 percent, he told a rally in the US city of El Paso.

Separately, in December, Trump asserted that the US is altogether pulling its troops out of the region, announcing that Daesh had been beaten.

* Daesh (aka Islamic state/ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia

This article was posted: Friday, February 15, 2019 at 7:39 am

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Chris Menahan

Information Liberation

February 15, 2019

Failed Texas senate candidate and potential Democrat 2020 presidential candidate Robert Francis ORourke told MSNBC on Thursday he would absolutely tear down the walls already in place on our southern border.

Beto O'Rourke when asked, since Rep. @DanCrenshawTX asked on Twitter, if he would tear down the walls that are already in place: Yes and I think a referendum to do so would pass. pic.twitter.com/ENZuYvdqEa  Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) February 15, 2019

From The Hill:

Former Rep. Beto ORourke (D-Texas) said Thursday he would absolutely take down the border wall in El Paso, Texas, arguing that the structure has not made the city demonstrably safer. MSNBC host Chris Hayes posed a question from Rep. Dan Crenshaw about whether ORourke would get rid of the wall if he could snap your fingers and make it happen. Yes. Absolutely. Id take the wall down, ORourke said on All In during an interview near the border on Thursday. ORourke, who represented El Paso in Congress for three terms, added that he believes city residents would pass a referendum to remove the wall if it were put up for a vote.

He went on to say 4,000 migrants died trying to illegally invade the country because the walls made it so hard for them to stroll right in.

Remember though folks, as the New York Times assured us: Democrats do not want open borders!

This article was posted: Friday, February 15, 2019 at 7:21 am

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Southbury, CT (06488)

Today

Cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later in the day. High near 80F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies during the evening will give way to cloudy skies overnight. Low 66F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Ghana shortlists vendors for nuclear power plant Ghana's efforts to generate power from nuclear technology has reached an

Electricity demand rises 10% in 2020 despite virus Despite the impact of the global pandemic on economic activities, demand for

Video: Hearts of Oak tame Legon Cities to regain top spot Hearts of Oak have moved to the summit of the Ghana Premier League once again
JESSE ADCOCK/Adirondack Daily Enterprise PhotoThe Village of Saranac Lake plans to renovate this building it owns at 3 Main St., adding to the police department in the back and possibly returning the village offices there, where they were from the 1980s until 2011.
MERRILL [mdash] Florence Collins, 89, formerly of Merrill, N.Y., died Friday, June 24, 2021, at the Plattsburgh Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Plattsburgh. Born on Sept. 17, 1931, in Ellenburg, N.Y., she was the daughter of Carl A. and Blanche (Bombard) Ormsbee. She was married to Willia
Now that COVID-19 cases are declining and the majority of Minnesotans have received vaccinations, what activities are you most looking forward to resuming this summer?

You voted:
Atlantic City has had difficulty in shielding its visitors from unpleasant urban realities such as poverty, crime and drug use, which is often visible right outside the doors of the citys casino hotels.

In recent years, city and state officials have tried to address those issues by removing or relocating programs designed to serve the poor, substance addicted or those suffering from other mental health issues from the Tourism District.

The process has produced mixed  and sometimes conflicting  results.

Social service agencies in Atlantic City are sprinkled throughout the Tourism District, providing assistance for those dealing with financial, health or other complicated issues.

A clean syringe exchange program, a methadone clinic, a substance abuse treatment center and a soup kitchen, in addition to city and county office buildings that provide various social services, are all currently, or were until very recently, located in an area of the resort that officials would like to promote.

Some providers feel a centralized location is critical to ensuring those who need the most help are able to find it.

Volunteers of America, a faith-based nonprofit that provides a host of social services, received funding from the state Department of Community Affairs in 2015 to launch a prison re-entry program in Atlantic City on Pennsylvania Avenue. Officials with VOA said that having a location in the Tourism District of Atlantic City makes sense because that is where they can have the most impact.

We chose our office location ... based on where we were starting to see a need in the community, said Amanda Leese, Regional Director for Atlantic City, Volunteers of America Delaware Valley, Inc. So, I think its really important to look at the fact that social service providers often place their offices where they have community residents most in need so that residents are able to access services. Its easier than having to travel throughout the city or the county. I think we all need to keep that in mind.

City Council President Marty Small Sr. has publicly referred to Atlantic and Pacific avenues  two of the citys main business thoroughfares  as resembling a scene from a zombie movie as a result of those who flock to Atlantic City for social services from out-of-town looking for Greyhound therapy, a reference to the bus line bringing people in with a one-way ticket.

Pull quote We have to have that attitude that we dont want our streets to look like this anymore. We need drastic change.  Marty Small, Atlantic City Council President

We have to have that attitude that we dont want our streets to look like this anymore, Small said. We need drastic change.

The portrait those realities present to tourists, residents and potential investors is one that officials are working to change.

Its going to take a concerted effort between both the city and (the state), said Small. The city has some momentum, and were looking at capitalizing it more. But as I said, how are we going to consider ourselves a world-class destination when we cant even take care of home?

State and city officials, cognizant of the delicate balance needed to clean up the streets while providing social services, have made efforts toward compromise.

In 2015, the city and the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority  which has land-use and zoning authority in the Tourism District  took the first step as part of its Pacific Avenue Midtown Redevelopment Project when the state agency spent more than $8 million to purchase the John Brooks Recovery Centers location on Tennessee Avenue and helped outfit its new location in Pleasantville.

Last year, City Council acted on an ordinance to relocate the needle exchange program from Tennessee Avenue. Some council members even considered the idea of a mobile unit.

But Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who also serves as commissioner of the state agency with direct oversight of Atlantic City, said a mobile program was not a solution she favored.

Oliver said the syringe exchange program will be relocated and that she intended to take a hard look at also expanding the services provided. She said financial assistance from state agencies, such as the CRDA or the health department, would help to expand the program.

None of us wants to see this solely as a syringe exchange program, Oliver said. What we want to do more aggressively is to encourage people to transition off of drug dependency. And so, were having discussions about the availability of treatment beds (and) the availability of stronger counseling within the needle exchange program to move people off of a dependency on intravenous drugs.

Besides addressing issues with drug use, officials have also focused on those who require more basic provisions, such as food assistance.

On Feb. 7, city officials effectively shut down Sister Jeans Kitchen, a 28-year-old soup kitchen on the corner of Pennsylvania and Pacific avenues. The city declared the 163-year-old church, which housed the charity, unsafe and closed the building.

A deal between Sister Jeans and the CRDA for $1 million in funding to outfit the former St. Monicas Catholic Church, outside the Tourism District, expired, and the soup kitchen is now without a home.

Those who relied on Sister Jeans were shuffled to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, which sits just outside of the Tourism District behind the Atlantic City Convention Center.

CRDA Executive Director Matt Doherty has publicly stated that the state agency will play a supportive role to policy objectives put forth by Oliver and the state Department of Community Affairs.

The state agency will mainly provide financial resources to support those policies, as evident by recent actions taken by the board.

CRDA recently approved funding for 45 additional Class II police officers for the Tourism District. The authority also provided the funding to create the Atlantic City Initiative Project Office, a recommendation outlined in the states transition report co-authored by Jim Johnson, who served as special counsel to Gov. Phil Murphy.

Johnsons report focused on quality of life issues in Atlantic City and provided an outline for stakeholders, from both the public and private sectors, to move the resort in the right direction. Johnson said social services are needed in Atlantic City but decision-makers must strike the delicate balance between offering them and doing so in a way that benefits the larger goals of the city.

We want to make sure the services that are provided are provided in an effective way, said Johnson. But, we want to do more than just address the need that is right in front of our faces. Its important to provide people with (meals or treatment), but its better to provide people with a way out and up from their circumstances. Those are the sorts of discussions that we have launched with both the (Murphy) administration and stakeholders here in Atlantic City.

People are talking about how to reinvent Atlantic City. Join the conversation here.

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Critics of Mazzeos assessment bill say it would be more expensive than the current system of municipal assessment. The municipal model is working well, except in Atlantic City, where successful casino appeals sent the city into hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and near bankruptcy, critics say.

But Mazzeo is confident the Gloucester County model is the way to go. And he said a subcommittee of the Atlantic County Mayors Association came to the same conclusion, although some mayors disagreed with the subcommittee.

By contrast, Republican Freeholder John Risley, who is running for state Assembly, has proposed a plan to keep municipal assessors in the jobs but supplement their work with a small county office.

Im not against countywide assessment. But we need to find the right approach, Gatto said. Our understanding is (the Gloucester plan) would add 20-plus employees and a pretty hefty price tag.

She said she hopes Mazzeo comes to the meeting with an open mind, to perhaps take a different approach.

Overassessment of casino property and the resulting successful appeals resulted in Atlantic County having to refund almost $80 million over the past 10 years, county data show.
Liberal immigration error

Liberals seem to be taking over the country. Nancy Pelosi disregards peoples safety and welfare yet is House speaker. Because of her hatred for President Trump, she is willing to allow thousands of illegal immigrants to swarm the country. This costs legal citizens billions of dollars each year in welfare, medical, education and crime costs.

Some are good people looking for a better life, but so are many that have applied for legal citizenship. Now the illegals just form a caravan and storm the border. All they have to do is put one foot across the border to be entitled to a hearing at a later date. Then they can disappear in the U.S. and have children who are legal citizens. U.S. laws are working against us.

Most Democrats are sheep that fall in line behind Pelosi. Many previously have spoken in favor of a wall like Sen. Chuck Schumer, President Obama, President Bill and Hillary Clinton. Walls and fences work. Obama put up iron barriers that kept veterans out of the WWII Memorial during the 2013 government shutdown.
Zompa, Luciano Antonio, - 95, known by family and friends as Gene, passed away on February 12, 2019. Born Jan 7, 1924 in Providence, Rhode Island, Gene spent his adult life in Atlantic City and Ventnor NJ. After 72 years of marriage, he is survived by the love of his life, Rose D. (Giglia) Zompa. and his children Eugene (Susan) Zompa, Guy (Patty) Zompa, Lorraine (John) Richmond, and Lisa (Gery) Nietupski, grandchildren Guy, Jr, Tim (Giselle), Trevor (Christie), Kristen, Nicole, Anabelle, and great-grandchildren Zoey, and Luke. He is also survived by his two older sisters Rose and Claire. He is predeceased by his oldest daughter Linda Zompa Freedman, his parents Gaetano and Cesearina (Celia) Zompa, as well as 4 of his siblings, Mary, Pat, Anna, and Honey. Gene grew up working on his family farm, taking produce to market before heading to school each day. He graduated from Cranston High School and even though he was under age had his mother sign for him so he could do his duty and enlist in the Army Air Force. He served as a Sgt. in Europe in World War II as an ROMG, a radio operator mechanic gunner. Gene landed by boat in Algiers, Africa before serving in Italy and the US. Memories of Italy are living in tents with water everywhere. Before shipping out Gene did his basic training in Atlantic City where he met his future bride at a USO dance on Steel Pier. They fell in love through their correspondence during the war and made plans to marry. That's what they did in 1946 right after he came home. They lived in Rhode Island for a short time where Linda the first of their five children was born. He attended Brown University on the GI bill. They settled in Atlantic City where Gene went to Atlantic City Business College/NJ College of Commerce. He was a sales person for Sun Ray Drugs, delivered Coca Cola, and was a Prudential Insurance agent. In the 1950's Gene and Rose owned and operated the Providence Hotel on Georgia Avenue. Gene was very friendly and enjoyed talking with visitors from all over who came to vacation in Atlantic City, many of them coming back year after year to either stay at the hotel or just to park in the lot and say hi before they headed to the beach or boardwalk. They later purchased the apartment building next door at 21 North Georgia where they would spend the next 4 decades before moving to Ventnor. In retirement he enjoyed working part time as a mutual clerk at area race tracks, where he remembers once taking a bet from Princess Grace Kelly. In his later years, he loved going to the casino with Rose. When getting to the casino was no longer possible, in his 80's and 90's he discovered free online slot machines and spent hours in front of his laptop, building up his virtual billions. Also in his later years, Gene thoughtfully and faithfully prayed twice a day for the cares and worries of his loved ones. He would often check on situations to see how they were developing. He would assign a number to each intention and tick them off on his fingers. His prayers were always answered. Visitation will be held at Holy Trinity Parish: Blessed Sacrament Church in Margate on Saturday, February 16th, 11 am with a funeral Mass at 12 noon. A military burial will follow at Atlantic County Veterans Cemetery in Estelle Manor. Arrangements by the George H. Wimberg Funeral Home, Linwood Ventnor. Condolences can be extended to family at ghwimberg.com.
This home has been so special to our family, and the fact that its standing and still here is enormously important, Birnbaum said in a statement released by the Institute for Justice, for which McNamara is a senior attorney. Im grateful for the outcome, and Im grateful for having been able to fight for so long.

In June 2013, CRDA attempted to buy the Birnbuam property for $238,500 as part of the authoritys South Inlet Mixed Use Development Project. When Birnbaum refused, CRDA filed a complaint seeking a judgment that the authority had duly exercised its power of eminent domain, the ability of government to take private property for public use.

In November 2014, Mendez granted the CRDAs application to use eminent domain. But the Birnbaums filed a motion for reconsideration based on significant changes to the core principle of the CRDAs plan, namely that Revel Casino Hotel, a primary driver of the proposed development plan, had closed and that certain funding sources for the authority were being redirected by legislation in Trenton.
But enforcing the legislation is tough.

There are only four officers in Atlantic and Cape May counties to police each port and hundreds of acres of expansive marshes.

Another issue: Night is when turtle thieves usually come out. Headlights from conservation officers vehicles can be seen from miles away, and alert poachers to put away their gear, Snellbaker said. Sometimes, officers station themselves in areas known to be trafficked and simply wait.

Gathering enough evidence to prove poachers are selling the turtles also takes time, and court battles can drag out. After four years, Mazzeo only recently settled his case for $6,000, Snellbaker said. Mazzeo did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

There are hundreds of places it could occur, Snellbaker said. Its a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

Fines for skirting the ban can be up to $25,000 per day for each violation, but it is determined on a case-by-case basis. The state can look at any economic benefits the poacher gained while assessing penalties, according to the statute.
The Diocese of Camden will continue to update the list of 57 clergy accused of child sex abuse it released Wednesday, but the list has still shaken some parishioners faith in the church.

From this point forward, any new credible allegation, no matter when the incident occurred, will be added to the list maintained on the diocesan website, said Michael J. Walsh, director of communications for the diocese.

The last reported incident occurred in 1995, according to Walsh.

Joanne Schweitzer McGaha attended 12 years of Catholic school, first at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Cape May and then graduating from Wildwood Catholic in 1970.

When I was growing up, you had the utmost respect for a priest. You would never even think of something like this, and its just sad, said Schweitzer McGaha, of Cape May. I think its just an awful thing that the church would cover it up, and theyre still covering it up.

The Diocese of Camden said it must inform law enforcement of any allegation by virtue of a 2002 memorandum of understanding. Any new claims are turned over to county prosecutors.
Atlantic City acted as a stop in a cross-country drug investigation that resulted in the arrests of two California men, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced Thursday.

Isabel Otanez-Sanchez, 25, and Jesus Zavala-Torres, 33, both of San Jacinto, California, are accused of shipping more than 30 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and conspiring to send an additional 5 kilos of fentanyl to New Jersey, Carpenito said in a news release.

Each man is charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

In September, law-enforcement officers received information that an individual known as Pancho, later identified as Sanchez, was shipping large quantities of narcotics from California to New Jersey. On Jan. 28, Sanchez agreed to send 30 pounds of methamphetamine to a law-enforcement confidential source in Atlantic City. Torres and Sanchez hid 28 packages of methamphetamine inside a salvaged vehicle that was shipped to New Jersey from California via a car carrier service. Agents recovered the methamphetamine from the cars gas tank, Carpenito said.
The three Class II, or seasonal, officers involved in the arrest, Thomas Cannon, John Hillman and Robert Jordan, did not face criminal charges.

Weinman appeared on ABCs Good Morning America a week after her arrest, when video of the incident recorded by a bystander went viral.

She said she cooperated when police asked her to take a Breathalyzer test because of the sealed alcohol container she had on the beach. She said when the test came back negative, the officers still didnt leave.

The video of her being thrown into the sand and the officer pounding on her head  that garnered international attention, Dicht said, adding its been stressful for Weinman. People recognize her. They know her name. Its good for her to put this behind her.

Weinmans plea was accepted with a civil reservation, Dicht said, meaning her testimony and plea cannot be used against her in any subsequent civil cases. There are currently no open civil cases, he said.

I think everybody wants this behind us, said Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. She wants to come back to Wildwood. (She says) its her happy place. After the year  everyones welcome here, just follow and obey the law.
Added Assemblyman John Armato, D-Atlantic, If NJ Transit wants to come to Atlantic City, they better bring answers.

State Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti will attend the South Jersey meetings, as will NJ Transit representatives.

The public deserves answers and better communications on progress to restoration of an acceptable level of service. As a request of our committee, we hope the commissioner and NJ Transit use these opportunities to not only truly listen to riders experience but use them to inform their action to resolve the continuing problems facing this agency, said committee Chairman Daniel Benson, D-Mercer, Middlesex.

Two small busloads of angry commuters, students and people who use the line for recreation traveled to Newark this week from Atlantic County to demand quick resumption of the Atlantic City line.

They described how the loss of the line since last September has affected them personally, and how disappointed they have been by NJ Transits estimates of when it will reopen, first in early 2019, then in March, now as late as June.

Executive Director Kevin Corbett reiterated at the meeting the line will reopen sometime in the second quarter.
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP  Newly seated U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew will give the commencement speech to Stockton Universitys 2019 graduates, the college announced Friday.

Van Drew, D-2nd, who was elected to Congress in November to fill the seat vacated by longtime Rep. Frank LoBiondo, had represented South Jersey residents for many years as a state senator and assemblyman.

We are honored that Congressman Van Drew has agreed to be our commencement speaker this year, Stockton President Harvey Kesselman said. He has a long history of public service to New Jersey and his constituents. We look forward to him sharing his insights with our graduating students.

Van Drew, a dentist and resident of Dennis Township, took his seat in the House of Representatives last month and was named to the Agriculture and Natural Resources committees.

It is such a great honor, and it truly is sincerely humbling, Van Drew said of being asked to speak.

He said he hasnt begun writing his speech but wants to leave the students with something meaningful and not be too long.

At its meeting next week, Stocktons Board of Trustees will consider awarding Van Drew an honorary degree during the graduation ceremony May 10 at Boardwalk Hall.

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Political thugs on Thursday attacked members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The PDP has alleged that the thugs are loyal to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the thugs armed with dangerous weapons simultaneously stormed two meetings of the PDP members at Igboroko and Ijebu areas of Owo, the hometown of the state governor.

A third attack was also carried out on the home of PDP chieftain in the area, Ladi Ojomo, who was a member of the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2011.

During the attacks, some members of the PDP, including Ogunyase Damilola and Olayanju Olasunkanmi, were injured and are now receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre in Owo.

A power bike belonging to a member of the opposition party was also set ablaze during the attack.

Sporadic shooting

They started shooting sporadically with the intent of killing Honourable Ojomo and threatened other opposition party members, and vowed to kill anyone who opposed APC and Governor Akeredolu, a witness recalled.

They are APC thugs loyal to Governor Akeredolu and have been moving around Ijebu Owo area of the Owo LG to disrupt meetings of opposition PDP.

The governor has denied the allegations.

But the police confirmed the development, saying officers have been moved to the area to restore normalcy.

Police Public Relations Officer, Femi Joseph, told PREMIUM TIMES that the development was unfortunate, but the perpetrators had fled after the attack.

He did not confirm if they were APC or PDP thugs.

He said the police had launched a manhunt for the perpetrators.

Yes, it is true, there was a clash of supporters of the two parties, and we are investigating the matter, said Mr Joseph.

We stepped in as soon as we were alerted, and our first objective was to bring the situation under control, and that we have done.

Now we have launched a manhunt for the perpetrators and we will get them and make them face the full wrath of the law.

Peaceful protest

Following the attack, a large number of PDP members staged a peaceful protest to the A Division of the Police in Ijebu Owo.

They urged the security agencies in the council to ensure the security of lives and properties.

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In an open letter to Mr Akeredolu, the PDP Chairman in Owo LGA, Olafimihan Asaba, appealed to the contending parties to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.

Mr Asaba, who reminded the governor that the PDP worked for his emergence in the 2016 governorship poll in Owo, lamented that the APC was head-bent on causing chaos in the area.

For APC thugs who are your boys and indigenes of Owo and also well known to us all to shoot at their kinsmen and PDP members who were holding their polling unit meetings peacefully at Igboroko and Ijebu yesterday is a sad development and very criminal in this clime, the letter stated.

Mr Governor, over the years, you have always portrayed yourself as a man that believes in a decent politics free of bitterness and calumny. We know you to be an advocate of free and fair election.

Apart from the destruction of the PDP flags and burning of flex banners at the PDP Secretariat previously by APC boys under the supervision of your Special Assistant on Natural Resources, Mr Fatai Lawal.

The PDP state leadership, headed by Clement Faboyede, had earlier accused the APC of plotting to cause violence across the state.

The information at our disposal has fingered some leaders of APC in Ondo State to cause electoral violence; and first on the list is the Deputy Governor, His Excellency Agboola Ajayi, said Mr Faboyede.

He is exploiting all opportunities and avenues, including the use of thugs to cause violence in this election. It is an open secret that he has mobilised thugs and some unofficial security agencies to harass and detain our party leaders in the Southern Senatorial District.

We are appealing to the whole world to please talk to the Deputy Governor to allow a free and fair election. It is worthy to note that he has sworn an oath to protect lives and properties; he is the Deputy Governor of the state and not of APC.

Denial

However, the Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Olorunleke Akeredolu, refuted the allegations against his boss and the state government.

He said the PDP was only raising a false alarm.

He also described the allegation as both distasteful and regretful,.

He explained that rather than planning to cause mayhem, the deputy governor had met with former militants in order to ensure they ensure peace in the coastal communities during the elections.
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has suspended his call that Igbos boycott the general elections.

Mr Kanu stated this on his Twitter handle Thursday evening. The tweet was also shared by IPOB on the Radio Biafra Facebook page.

Having confirmed this evening that all our preconditions and terms have been met, signed, sealed and delivered; I hereby call-off the election boycott across Biafraland on Feb. 16, 2019, the IPOB leader who is on self-exile wrote.

I dedicate this historic victory to the formidable #IPOB family worldwide.

The comment by Mr Kanu is coming few days after he had an exclusive interview with BBC Journalist, Chiagozie Mwomwu, where he reiterated IPOBs initial decision to shun the elections across Biafra land, a term he uses for South-east Nigeria.

We want to send a very clear and unmistaken message to humanity that we are serious about Biafra. We will lock Biafra down on the 16th to convey this message that

Biafra is all that we are seeking is all that we want not Nigeria, he was quoted as saying during the interview.

It is not immediately clear why Mr Kanu decided to suspend the boycott. He did not also give details of the preconditions and terms he said he had confirmed to be met.

During a recent live broadcast on Radio Biafra, Mr Kanu said the boycott can only be called off if the government agrees to sign the documents given to them.

Pics of Nnamdi kanu boycott call off on radio biafra Facebook page

Those pressuring me to call off the election boycott know what to do. Sign that document I gave to you and I will call off the election boycott, you know what the document contains.

Then, he did not also reveal what is contained in the documents given to them.

Mr Kanu has been at the vanguard of the call for an independent Biafra Republic from the Nigerian state through a referendum.

The IPOB leader, who is facing charges of treasonable felony at the Federal High Court in Abuja, had called for a boycott of elections in Anambra in November 2017 if the government failed to set a date for a referendum.

The call for a boycott failed as thousands participated in the election.

Two months before the Anambra election, a clash occurred between IPOB members and soldiers when the military commenced an operation in South-east states.

Since then, Mr Kanus whereabouts remained unknown until his reappearance in an online video showing him praying in Israel 13 months after he disappeared.

His call for boycott of the elections has been condemned by Igbo leaders including the Ohaneze Ndigbo, an Igbo soci-political group.

Nigerias presidential and federal parliamentary elections hold on Saturday. State elections hold two weeks later on March 2.

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The Nigerian police have vowed to end the reputation of Rivers State for bloody elections by ensuring the the polls this time are violence-free.

In Rivers, echoes of deadly violence followed the previous general elections, widely dismissed as a sham by observers.

For instance, the last rerun elections in the state on December 10, 2016 were marred by widespread violence.

The mayhem claimed many lives, including at least one police officer. The level of irregularities was sohigh that more than three weeks after, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could not conclude the process with declarations of all the results.

Yet, the commission was supported at the elections with the largest deployment of security operatives. There were 28,000 police officers, supported by the army and navy manning the coastal areas.

The elections had earlier been conducted in March 2016 but had been marred by violence, forcing INEC to cancel it midway.

But, this time, as the elections start on Saturday, the have police vowed to change the narrative, assuring of a peaceful exercise.

Election must be peaceful this time around, said Omoni Nnamdi, the spokesperson for th police in the state, in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Friday. The narrative must change. We are good to go.

Mr Nnamdi said 15,544 police officers, including from the special protection unit and counter terrorism unit, supported by sister security and military bodies, have been deployed for the polls in Rivers.

The state has a total of 4,442 polling units and 2,424 polling points.

He said the teams for the local government areas outside Port Harcourt, the state capital, were deployed two days ago to both the land and water areas.

We have put enough in place, he assured, hinting at collaborations with community leaders, training of personnel and public sensitisation.

There has been enough of sensitisation and appeals for peaceful conduct and all that has gone down well with the target audience.

Meanwhile, some supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state embarked on a protest on Thursday.

Some of the protesters allegedly threatened to disrupt the elections tomorrow, because their candidates for the National Assembly, governorship and state legislature elections were not accepted by INEC following a court order.

On this development, Mr Nnamdi said it was just a protest and assured the threat would amount to nothing.

Some hoodlums wanted to hijack the peaceful protest. But nobody can disrupt the elections. There is no cause for alarm.

Since Thursday, PREMIUM TIMES has observed a bustling Port Harcourt with businesses running. Entering the city, scores of children, with their parents, were sighted having fun at an amusement park near Bori Camp, creating an atmopshere of peace and calm ahead of the polls.

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But INEC office on Aba Road is heavily guarded by armed police operatives. Excpet that place and the Moscow Road which hosts the state police command, there is no other place with heavy security presence in the city.

Except for the position of the president, the Peoples Democratic Party, which rules the state, will be in the elections without a challenge from its main rival, the APC.

The APC is not allowed to field candidates for other categories of elections because of a court order following internal crisis between actors in the camps of Rotimi Amaechi and his earstwhile ally, Magnus Abe.

Mr Amaechi is the Minister of Transportation and the director-general of the President Muhammadu Buhari reelection campaign. Mr Abe is a senator.
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Nigerias president, Muhammadu Buhari, did not sack Nsima Ekere as the managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), an aide to the president has said.

The aide, Ita Enang, said Mr Ekere, who is the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State, had resigned his appointment with the NDDC before its board was dissolved by Mr Buhari.

Mr Enang, a former senator, is a special adviser to the president on national assembly matters (Senate).

Mr Enang made the clarification on Thursday when he squared off in a live radio debate on Inspiration FM 105.9, Uyo, with the Commissioner of Works in Akwa Ibom, Ephraim Inyang.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom, in an attempt to make political capital from the issue, has been insisting that Mr Ekere was sacked from the NDDC.

The works commissioner, Mr Inyang, was at the debate to reiterate this viewpoint, among other campaign issues.

Before now, Mr Ekere had made his resignation letter public with the hope it would put an end to the controversy.

I think he (Mr Inyang) is not having the fact correct or he is deliberately not telling the truth, Mr Enang said at the heat of the debate.

The NDDC board is always for four years, and if a person is appointed into that board and he does not complete his tenure for any reason, the successor to that office would take the office for the remaining tenure.

You remember that Sir Dan-Abia was the managing director of the NDDC. After two years, when this government came in, he completed two years.

The board was dissolved and another board was constituted with another Akwa Ibom son as a successor to complete the term of Akwa Ibom as managing director. So, Nsima Ekere was brought in to complete that term.

As a matter of fact, that board lived a little more than two months beyond its time.

Nsima Ekere was not sacked; he completed the term and resigned. And of course, the law says if you have to contest an election, you must resign at least 30 days to the day of the election. Nsima is the candidate of the APC, so he had to resign about 38 days to the day of the election.

Having resigned, the president looked and saw that the board has completed the remaining two years of the Dan-Abia-led board, and they had to dissolve the board.

And since the Senate is on vacation for elections, they could not have kept a vacuum, and now appointed interim management made up of acting managing director, acting executive director, finance, and acting executive director of projects, Mr Enang said.
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The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has said that the recent ruling by the Supreme Court does not stop it from contesting the forthcoming coming general elections.

Nigerians will this Saturday elect a new president, senators, and members of the House of Representatives, while governors and state lawmakers will be elected on March 2.

A high court judgment which nullified the primaries that produced Tony Cole as the APC governorship candidate in the state has been upheld by the Supreme Court.

The nullification also affected the APCs candidates for Senate, House of Representatives, and House of Assembly elections in the state.

The quagmire the party has found itself in today is as a result of a power struggle within the party between Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation, and Magnus Abe, a senator from the state, who has been aspiring to be fly the partys flag in the governorship election against Mr Amaechis wish.

After a meeting of the State Working Committee of our party in the State today in which we meticulously deliberated on the recent court rulings of various courts especially the decision of the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt yesterday to further re-affirm two earlier orders that stayed the execution of the judgments of the lower court, our conclusion is that the APC and its candidates will now, most certainly, be on the ballot this Saturday, the APC in Rivers state said in a statement on Thursday.

No order or judgment given since, including orders given by the Supreme Court on both jurisdiction and representation have said otherwise, said the statement signed by Chris Finebone, the partys spokesperson in the state.

The statement in parts reads:

We opted not to rely on a media circus to convey our right to be included. Unlike the many news reports that were suggesting we were dead and buried, we have since seen the orders and the Supreme Court judgment on the stay of execution which proves beyond reasonable doubt that INEC has an obligation to relist APC or risk being sanctioned for excluding us and disobeying a subsisting court order.

We hail once again both decisions of the stay of execution, taken by the Court of Appeal recently and their reaffirmation of both yesterday. These decisions mean that nothing is stopping INEC from placing APC on the ballot. We welcome the moves by INEC to put us back on the ballot, as the alternative would have confirmed once and for all, the genuine fear that they are working for the PDP.

We wish to state advisedly that obedience to the rule law is the best antidote to anarchy. In the circumstances, we urge INEC to speedily implement the rule of law and return our great party to its rightful place. We are only demanding a right to compete.

I want to once again hail the decision of the Supreme Court to refuse moves by Senator Magnus Abe and his lawyers to appeal the stays of execution. Nobody is in any doubt now that the Supreme Courts throwing out their appeal against our stays of execution speaks volumes. In summary, it means that the stays still subsist. That is the clear position of the law. The stay orders, the details of the Supreme Court judgment and our formal letter to INEC are hereby attached for your perusal.

We have passed the stage of worrying if we will be on the ballot. We must now prepare to punish those who have been trying to keep us out of the elections with our votes. With these same votes, we must give Mr President our full support. He stood by our leader because our leader had always stood by him and if you want to keep getting what you are getting, you have to keep doing what you are doing.

Everybody must come out and vote APC to deny PDP any sight of government and help our President secure his second term in office.
The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has said there are no security-related roles in the election for certain security outfits in the state on the election days.

These include the state vigilance service, local Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) and other civilian security volunteers.

The governor said all civilian security volunteers should be content with voting and returning home, like every citizen of the state, after casting their votes.

According to him, the only recognised security agencies to be seen on election days is the Nigeria police force, who will be assisted by personnel from the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Nigerian Immigration Service, the Nigerian Customs Service, the Federal Road Safety Commission and the Kaduna State Traffic Law (officials).

The governor, who disclosed this in a state broadcast on the 2019 elections on Friday morning, February 15, said even police orderlies of officials are also not on election duty, and should therefore not be seen in uniform on the election days.

The main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna, a few days ago, raised an alarm over the alleged state governments plan to use Civilian JTF known as  Yan Kato da Gora and other local vigilantes, during the election.

Mr El-Rufai said security agencies, led by the police, will be properly deployed across the state to protect the right of every citizen to vote for candidates of their choice, without intimidation or harassment.

He explained that the 2019 general elections present a chance for the people to play their role as masters and choosers.

With your vote, you choose the parties and candidates in whom you wish to entrust our commonwealth, your livelihoods and future prospects for the next four years.

Voting is a serious responsibility, a solemn obligation and a right that was earned by sacrifice and struggle in many polities. Choice is at the heart of democracy, and I urge you all to go out on election day and freely cast your vote the way you want.

The government is determined to ensure that the elections are conducted as a festival of democracy. That means that there is no room for violence, intimidation, voter suppression or any unlawful activity. Nothing and nobody will be allowed to impair the ability of any citizen to freely cast their vote.

The police will be assisted by personnel from the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Nigerian Immigration Service, the Nigerian Customs Service, the Federal Road Safety Commission and the Kaduna State Traffic Law Enforcement Agency.

The government wishes to stress that all personnel of the police, and other agencies that are deployed for official election duty will wear proper identification tags. Orderlies of officials are not on election duty, and should therefore not be seen in uniform on election day.

During the elections, the Nigerian Armed Forces will be in the background, but on standby to assist in any circumstances that threaten to overwhelm the police.

The military has been deployed in areas that have recently been menaced by bandits to secure these places and protect the rights of their residents to vote, all these in line with their rule of engagement.

It is important to declare that there is no security-related role in the election for civilian volunteers. All volunteers, including those of the Kaduna State Vigilance Service, should be content with voting and returning home, like every citizen of Kaduna State, he said.

The governor also urged residents that there is no reason to be afraid to exercise their right.

He asked residents to shun any form of violence and to promptly report any threat or suspicions of unlawful activity to security agencies.

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday re-arraigned Babangida Aliyu, a former Niger State Governor, Umar Nasko and Tanko Beji, before Justice Mikailu Abdullahi of a Niger State High Court sitting in Minna.

They are facing a seven-count charge of fraud to the tune of over N2 billion.

One of the charges reads in part: That you, Tanko Beji, sometime between 1st January, 2011 and 31st May, 2011 in Minna within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, abetted the commission of criminal breach of trust by intentionally aiding Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, the former governor (also known as Chief Servant) of Niger State to dishonestly convert to his own use the sum of N937,110,500 which was withdrawn from Niger State Government House Security Account.

They pleaded not guilty to the charges, a statement by the spokesperson to the EFCC, Tony Orilade, said.

Ayodele Olajide, SAN, counsel for Mr Aliyu, thereafter applied for the bail of his client urging the trial judge to allow the politician continue with the bail previously granted him by the former judge.

The earlier bail should stay since the defendants have not contravened the bail conditions, he argued.

Counsel for Messrs Nasko, Mamman Osumam aligned with the arguments of Olajide that the bail should subsist.

Justice Abdullahi granted their prayers and adjourned to February 21 and 22, 2019 for mention.

Recalled that the EFCC initially arraigned Mr Aliyu, his then Chief of Staff, Mr Nasko and Mr Beji, a former deputy chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, before Justice Aliyu Maiyaki in 2017 for the charges.
Fifteen ward chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council of Borno State on Friday defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The defectors created confusion when they stormed Government House Maiduguri to declare their support for the ruling party.

Their defection came a day to a crucial election in which two of the PDPs strongest candidates are vying for senatorial and House of Reps seats in the same constituency.

Maiduguri Metropolitan Council is one of the largest in Borno State. Apart from being the state capital, it is also a federal constituency, as well as the largest voting centre within Borno Central senatorial district.

The outgoing governor, Kashim Shettima, is the APC candidate for Borno Central and faces a former occupant of the seat, Abba Aji, the candidate of the PDP.

The 15 ward chairmen said they left the PDP because the party has not offered them any convincing argument that it would do better than what the ruling APC has done for the state in the past three years and nine months.

Kabiru Babagana, the chairman of Bolori II Ward, spoke on behalf of the defectors.

We the 15 ward chairmen and our secretaries have decided to leave the PDP because the leadership has always failed us when it comes to times of election, said Mr Babagana.

Besides, the ruling APC has done so much for Borno state since 2015. The APC-controlled federal government has not only helped us to decimate Boko Haram but also helped to rebuild our schools, hospitals and markets.

After a thorough consultation with our supporters in the 15 wards, we concluded that posterity will not judge us kindly if we continue to oppose a government that has done so much for us and brought succour to our people.

Another speaker, Mukhtar Sheriff, who is the chairman Mafoni Ward, said they left the party because the government in Borno state has left them with no option.

We are humbled by the achievements of Governor Kashim Shettima, who despite our state of insecurity has done his best to keep our state running, said Mr Sheriff.

And we have decided to join him and his governorship candidate so that we can all build a better Borno state.

It is for that reason that we decided to leave the PDP with its baggage of controversy to join the ruling APC and support all its candidates from the president down to House of Assembly here in Maiduguri.

The defectors were received by the current member of the federal House of Representatives, Kadiri Rahis, who is also a candidate in Saturdays election.

Mr Rahis said the governor appreciated their decision to join the party. He urged them to come out en masse to vote for the party in the Saturday and subsequent elections.

He also advised them to vote quietly and avoid any act of violence.

Efforts to get a reaction from the PDP state secretary, Baba Ahmed, failed as his phone could not be reached at the time of filing this report.

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A group, Initiative for Vulnerable Women and Children (SIVWOC), has warned President Muhammadu Buhari of imminent loss of National Assembly seats for the All Progressives Congress (APC) due to alleged imposition of candidates, including some that it said forged their certificates.

In a press statement signed by Safiya Bauchi, the group recalled that primary elections conducted by the APC were fraught with irregularities, disrespect for the rule of law, subvertion of the will of the people, excesses of party leaders.

This, the statement continued, has led to a great risk of the partys exclusion from the 2019 general elections in Zamfara, Rivers States and in Bauchi State, where no fewer than four APC candidates for National Assembly were caught in a web of certificate scandals, ranging from forging university degrees to forging their dates of birth, thereby lying on oath.

Read the full statement below:

Support Initiative for Vulnerable Women and Children (SIVWOC) No. 1, Gubi Dam Road, Bauchi  Bauchi State

February 14, 2019

OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI ON HOW WICKED APC LEADERS ARE UNDERMINING THE PARTY IN BAUCHI STATE BY IMPOSING CERTIFICATE FORGERS ON THE PEOPLE

Your Excellency Sir,

We are Initiative for Vulnerable Women and Children (SIVWOC). We are dedicated to the cause of vulnerable women and women.

As critical stakeholders in the Nigerian Project, we owe you and the nation a duty to assist in cleansing our system and ridding it of bad elements who, not only soil their image with criminal tendencies but also that of this great nation.

Mr. President sir, the primary elections conducted by your party, the All Progressives Congress, APC was widely condemned as a sham. As we speak, your party risks exclusion from the 2019 general elections in Zamfara and Rivers States, due exclusively to the excesses of some members of the party, whe have great disdain for and do not

respect the law, due process and above all, the popular will of the teaming Nigerian masses, that form your critical mass.

We all have seen and read about the sham of an election that took place in Bauchi State. Surprisingly, your party endorsed the charade and legitimised it. Mr. President sir, we are afraid that your party is now at the risk of losing several National Assembly seats in the courts, even if the party wins, to the opposition as a result of the reckless imposition of candidates that saw the emergence of certificate forgers as candidates in the Saturdays election.

Your Excellency sir, in Bauchi State, no fewer than four APC candidates for National Assembly were caught in a web of certificate scandals, ranging from forging University degrees to forging their dates of birth, thereby lying on oath. Below is the detail of our findings, and the candidates involved, in an investigation that span two to four months;

1. HALLIRU DAUDA JIKA (Current Member Representing Darazo/Ganjuwa Federal Constituency and APC Senatorial Candidate for Bauchi Central Senatorial District).

For Haliru Dauda Jika, multiple issues abound. For instance, in his National Assembly profile, it was recorded that he finished his National Diploma in Civil Engineering from Kaduna Polytechnic in 2015, however, in both his INEC form CF001 for 2015 and 2019 shows that he listed that he finished his National Diploma in 2004.

More so, he also stated that he obtained his WAEC in 1999 according to his National Assembly profile, while both his INEC form CF001 for 2015 and 2019 shows that he listed 2000 as his year of graduation.

Perhaps more shocking in the case of Haliru Dauda Jika, is the issue of different dates of birth. Information obtained from his 2015 INEC form CF001 shows that, in his CV, he claimed that he was born on 18th September, 1976, while in his Certificate of Primary Education; he claimed he was born on 10th July, 1979. Again in his Statutory Declaration of Age, declared on his behalf by his father, it stated that he was born on the 17th Day of April, 1976.

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On his WASSCE dated June 2014, his date of birth reads that he was born on April 17, 1979. In all, he has four different birth dates. What a fraud!

Another shocking finding is the case of his WAEC statement of result of 2000 submitted in his INEC form CF001, which shows that he only got one credit in Hausa, while he had six passes in six subjects, F9 in Technical Drawing and a pending result in one subject, Wood Work. But the curious issue here is that he stated that he had ND in Civil Engineering from Kaduna Polytechnic, which raises the nagging question, could he have gotten admission to study Civil Engineering in Kaduna Polytechnic or could he have been admitted by Kaduna Polytechnic to study Civil Engineering with just one credit in Hausa Language and six passes in six subjects, with F9 in Technical Drawing and a pending result in Wood Work? The answer is unquestionably, no.

2. MOHAMMED GARBA GOLOLO (Member Representing Gamawa Federal Constituency, Bauchi State and APC candidate for same position).

Mohammed Garba Gololo is a name that is very familiar to Nigerians, especially if we recall his alleged sex scandal while on official assignment representing Nigeria in far away United States. This same man lied on oath that he graduated from Lagos State University, LASU with two degrees  Bsc Business Administration and MBA Business Management in 2002 and 2005 respectively. A thorough scrutiny of the two certificates casts a doubt as to their authenticity.

As patriotic Nigerians who admire Mr. Presidents zeal and commitment to the fight against corruption, we took it upon ourselves to undertake an investigation. Our investigation has yielded result. The Lagos State University has in a letter with reference number LASU/REG/STUM/147, dated 1st November, 2018, responded to our request for verification and authentication of the two degrees presented by Mr. Gololo in his Form CF001 in which they denied issuing the certificates and also said they have no records of Hon Gololo attending any of the two courses in the university. We attach the letter here for your perusal.

Mr. President sir, with these established case of forgery against Hon Gololo, we strongly believe that the APC is going to lose Gamawa Federal Constituency to the opposition in a court of law, in the event that the party wins the election.

3. ABUBAKAR DALHATU ABDULLAHI (APC candidate for House of Representatives in Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency)

Mr. Abubakar Dalhatu Abdullahi, who seems to be a novice was imposed on the good people of Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency. He leaves in far away Lagos, only coming home once in a while.

This man stated on oath that he graduated from Kantana-Dull Primary School in 1980. However, our investigation revealed that the Kantana-Dull Primary School itself was established in 1978, with 45 pupils and, Mallam Adamu Jumba Mbat as its pioneer headmaster. In the 1970s, primary education took seven years to complete. Now for a school established in 1978, we wonder how a pupil graduated from the school just two years after its establishment. His Primary School Certificate is primitively forged. Therefore since he does not have a genuine Primary School Certificate any further academic qualifications he claims to have cannot be true. Its therefore an evidence of great compromise by the APC agents who screened him if ever such an exercise was done. Any serious party Agent could have easily noticed that this man is a fraud and screened him out but that didnt happen.

4. Ibrahim Mohammed Baba (Member Representing Katagum Federal Constituency and APC Candidate for same)

A look at Ibrahim Mohammed Babas National Assembly profile and his INEC Form CF001 both for 2015 elections and the current 2019, shows different things entirely.

For instance, in his National Assembly profile, he claimed that he obtained the following qualification with dates:

Perusing his profile on the National Assembly records claims he finished his ND Programme from Kaduna Polytechnic in 1994, while the Kaduna Polytechnic result in his INEC form CF001 in 2015 shows that he graduated in 2000.

Again on the case of his B.Sc in Accounting, the record in his National Assembly profile reads, BSc. Accounting, 2006 while the record in his INEC form CF001 also in 2015 shows that he graduated in 2008.

For the post graduate programme in his National Assembly profile, he claimed he did Masters in Finance, and finished in 2008, whereas in his 2015 INEC form CF001, it was recorded that he studied Masters in Financial Economics and that he finished in 2011.

Surprisingly, in his 2015 INEC form CF001 he listed his educational qualifications to include, FSLC, WAEC, ND, B.Sc. MSC, but in INEC Form CF001 for 2018 he only listed FSLC and WAEC as his educational qualifications.

The question that is begging for answer is, could he have issues with all his tertiary results, which qualified him to be the Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, that he refused to list them in his 2018 INEC form CF001? Mr Ibrahim like others is a big fraud and voting for him ll amount to wasting votes. He too is a sure candidate for jail on grounds of perjury(laying under oath).

These faces of fraud cannot be entrusted to represent the people. Mr. President sir, there is certainly a looming tsunami which will sweep away APC victory in Bauchi State. All because there was no primaries in Bauchi. The Governor simply imposed his stooges on the people and the APC should prepare to pay dearly for his acts of indiscretion. We are still investigating other candidates. It appears the case is shockingly endless.

Mr. President sir, women and children are always the worse victims of bad leadership. Thats why we are concerned about the situation in Bauchi State.

Signed:

Safiya Abdullahi Bauchi

For: SIVWOC
KOGI EAST ELDERS COUNCIL (KEEC) AND HER CASH-AND-CARRY BUT TOTALLY INCONSEQUENTIAL REJECTION OF PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI AND ENDORSEMENT OF ATIKU ABUBAKAR

Yesterday, the Kogi East Elders Council (KEEC) once again proved that they serve no other interest than that of their members, families and cronies.

The group which likes to believe that she controls the thoughts and actions of Kogi East people informed the world late yesterday that they have cast their lot with Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2019 Presidential and General Elections.

KEECs endorsement of all PDP candidates is not a problem at all as they are well within their rights to back any candidate of their choice.

The problem is when they are too ashamed of their ruined reputations to endorse in their own names, but go ahead to ascribe their unfortunate conduct to the innocent Kogi East communities, in particular, the proud and upright people of the great Igala and Bassa Kingdoms.

Who indeed is surprised that Ahmadu Ali, Nicholas Ugbane, Gabriel Aduku, Attai Aidoko, Ibrahim Idris, Idris Wada and other members of the inconsequential PDP support group they call Kogi East Elders Council have endorsed PDPs line up of misfits in any election?

Everyone knows that these men are the founding fathers and leaders of the PDP, and that they, their families and friends benefitted the most from the 13 and 16 years respectively during which the PDP ran wild in Kogi State and Nigeria, wrecking our social fabric and mismanaging lives and destinies for the living and those yet unborn.

It is when KEEC lies to the world that the 9 local governments of Kogi East have resolved to support the PDP on February 16 that we must rise up and prove that they lied. We must show that these men are merely PDP operatives still suffering severe pains from the rebuke our people and the rest of Nigeria gave them in 2015.

They rejected their partys nemesis, President Muhammadu Buhari, because he disconnected them from our public resources and not because of any acts or omissions of Governor Yahaya Bello as they have claimed.

Their reasons, as usual, do not add up. Even if Governor Bello has offended them by removing their mouths from sucking our blood, should they attack an innocent President Buhari? It shows that their sense of justice remains undeveloped.

They have taken refuge in their partys latest sign-on, Atiku Abubakar, not because they think he can improve on anything President Buhari has accomplished in office, but because of his well publicised plans for his friends, those whom he insists are entitled to be enriched with assets taken from the poor and given to the rich.

The only reason the promoters of KEEC have decided to score an own goal against the Igala and Bassa Kingdoms so late in the ongoing political season is their own selfish interests. But without mincing words, we hereby let them know that we are not fools, and that we not only reject their rejection of President Buhari and APC, but we reject them and their PDP party of corruption and confusion.

This affront is doubly offensive. They have not only lied that we in Kogi East sent them when we have not. They have tried to take Kogi East and Kogi State from the forefront of Mr. Presidents supporters to the rear. In 2015, Kogi State was among the first to embrace Change by booting out the PDP from our Government House. We cannot now take a backseat to anyone in 2019 by going back to swallow our own vomitus.

These undertakers are the same men who did nothing by way of developmental projects for Kogi East when they held sway in Kogi State and at the federal level for over one and a half decades. Even in their own villages, we saw nothing to suggest our people were in power except their fancy cars and newspaper reports of how they were painting Abuja and the pleasure capitals of the world red with wealth stolen from us.

Yesterday, they suddenly found the temerity to claim that we have followed them to reject the party which has achieved more for us in 3 and a half years than they did in 16 years or more.

These political elders think they are smart. They want to kill two birds with one stone. They claim Buharis sin is Bello and we cant but wonder how? Given that Governor Yahaha Bello and the APC have only been in office for 3 years in Kogi, you have to wonder how their sense of judgment works. If they left behind strong foundations, would the house Bello is building for Kogi not have gone up faster now?

How many of their villages saw electricity for the first time under Bello? Can they count? How many more are poised to receive electricity this year under Bellos Operation Light Up Kogi East? Can they number? How many of our communities across Kogi East have received portable water for the first time under Bello? Can these merchants of power count? The road projects bisecting Kogi East and heading towards the South East, is it that they have not seen it? At what point should human beings step up and be ashamed for their own misdeeds?

How could President Buhari have offended them through Governor Bello so that he must not be voted in February lest Bello come back in November? If anybody has neglected and offended Kogi East Senatorial District and deserve to be boycotted, is it not these same people and their party PDP?

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In community after community across Kogi East Governor Bello is changing the narrative as fast and as much as time and finances allow. In Ankpa, Umomi, Idah, Okpo, Ogugu, Ette, and a dozen other places, are they not seeing the strong efforts of the Bello they call a stranger despite their mess which he inherited? A stranger who has yet to spend even one-quarter of the time they cumulatively wasted for us in office?

How can Kogi East, or any people with sense, conscience or principle join these men to endorse a PDP which wasted the most prosperous seasons of Nigeria and raped our motherland nearly to death over an APC which has made giant strides in every sector in just over 3 years in power?

They should know that we understand their grievances, that we know Buhari and Bellos sins in their eyes. Their access to Kogis money has been cut off. Their pipelines into the civil service to find small change for their dependents has been blocked. Their ability to leverage and mortgage Kogis resources and votes for their own advancement has been brought to an end. They can no longer sell their people for personal profits in the corridors of power in Abuja.

We know that Bellos worst offence in the eyes of KEEC and her members is that he did not just remove their leprous hands from the public till and other dishonest privileges but that he did it using a relatively young team in government, led by a strong contingent from Kogi East.

These yesterday men cannot fathom how young people whose families and communities were not considered good enough for political thugs and household helps during their reign have suddenly become the leaders of today.

They cannot forgive Bello for appointing unknown and unconnected persons as Chief of Staff, Commissioners, Special Advisers, Senior Special Assistants, Board members, party leaders, and even GYB special coordinators who report direct to the Governor from the grassroots.

Bellos appointees have built churches and mosques abandoned for decades, market stalls and village halls, farm roads and rural water schemes. The long abandoned Igala Unity House is nearing completion through the galvanising actions of ICDA and some appointees, among many others.

They KEEC elders are angry because these newbreed appointees empowered by Governor Yahaya Bello have empowered tens of thousands of other youths while individually and collectively accomplishing more for Kogi East in 3 years than they did in 16.

KEEC should know that we understand their selfish politics. They are angry because Governor Bello rendered them moribund so they want to render His Excellency useless. They can only try, but they will fail. The God Who created all men equal will continue to discomfort them.

Their endorsement of PDP today in the name of our people, while it achieves nothing, archives beyond doubt that these men remain the sworn enemies of the best interests of Kogi East and indeed all of Kogi State.

We let them know that even if you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. They never loved us while in power and they have not grown to love us while out of power. Instead of remorse and repentance for their sins, they are fighting to restore their oligarchy over us. It will not work.

The final word is that Governor Yahaya Bello has helped Kogi East to see through this men and we cannot be held in their spell anymore. We will join the rest of Kogi State and Nigeria to return President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC to a second term in office at all levels.

When we vote we will be voting for identifiable and unprecedented benefits accruing to us from the APC Administrations of Governor Yahaya Bello and President Muhammadu Buhari.

We will be voting for the concrete road by Dangote from Shintaku  Gboloko  Mozu  Dekina to connect Bassaland and Igalaland.

We will be voting for the comprehensive flood and erosion control works for Ibaji after the flooding of last year.

We will be voting for a brand new Army Forward Operational Base in Dekina.

We will be voting for the collaboration with Central Bank of Nigeria to develop multibillion cashew crop processing zone in Kogi East.

We will be voting for the proactive and swift response to the flooding which hit all the 9 LGAs of Kogi State last year during which the Governor, the Vice President and the President worked together to reduce the human and environment impact of the natural disaster to a minimum.

Kogi Easterners are also stakeholders in any good thing which happen anywhere in Kogi State so we will be voting for the Abuja  Lokoja Road to be completed on scheduled since 16 years of PDP could not do it.

We will be voting for the completion of the Lokoja  Okene stretch too because too many of our people, not to mention other Nigerians, have come to grief, and some have died, on it.

We will be voting for the Ajaokuta  Itobe Road since the PDP failed to do it in 16 years.

We will be voting for the Ilorin  Kabba Road which the PDP ignored for their 16 years.

We will be voting for the longest concrete road in Nigeria under construction by Dangote from Obajana  Kabba which is daily used by our people.

We will be voting for the reconstruction of Ekuku  Idoma  Obehira road traversed daily by our people.

We will be voting for the construction of Adavi  Eba  Ikuehi  Obeiba  Obokore road.

We will be voting for the rehabilitation of Lokoja  Ganaja Road.

The last four roads are the first phase of the new road-for-tax initiative under Executive Order 7 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari. Kogi alone got four roads, dont ask me how. Some states could not lobby even one.

We will be voting for release of the $1bn approved by the Federal Government of Nigeria for the completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex Limited. The importance of ASCL to the employment and wealth creation landscape of Kogi State apparently eluded KEEC members when they were in power. That is the only explanation for why they attracted no government attention to it in 16 years

KEEC members who refused to use their influence as National Chairman of PDP, serving minister, serving governors, members of Board of Trustees, members of National Executive Council, members of National Working Committee and friends of Presidents to benefit us for 16 years cannot come now to influence us against Buhari and Bello who have used their father-son collaboration to bring so much more home for us in less than 4 years. It will not work.

On Saturday, being the 16th of this month of #FeBuhari2019 we will go out as Kogi Easterners and Kogites of all extractions and persuasions and we will vote President Muhammadu Buhari and APC for a second term. We will vote them because they have shown us good faith and because we need more.

I, Edward Onoja, is a bona fide son of Kogi East and a witness to the perfidies of those who are now hiding behind KEEC because they dare not show their faces to our people in their own name. I am also a witness to the massive positive differences that Buhari and his son Bello have made.

I am a witness and I ask KEEC to hear me and hear me well: His Excellency, President Buhari will be reelected on Saturday and the APC will do exceptionally well among our people. In November we will repeat the feat with His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello. By the end of their respective second terms, the paradigm shift will be so much that KEEC will be a forgotten memory.

We have seen what good and forthright leadership, by even strangers, can do and we cannot return to slavery and bondage. We have seen the light,We reject in totality all forms of darkness and those who run errands for it.

EDWARD ONOJA

Chief of Staff to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and Director-General, APC Campaigns Council, Kogi State.
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The Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ), Abuja, in partnership with the African Studies programme of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Washington, D.C. is conducting a gendered analysis of the 2019 Nigerian elections.

The project is headed by Dr Chiedo Nwankwor, whose work at Johns Hopkins SAIS focuses on Gender Studies and Identity Politics in Africa. The project will make inquiry into the gender dimensions of electoral processes in Nigeria, highlighting the role that gender equality plays in building democratic societies.

According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), current data indicate a gender voter registration gap of about six per cent, with 52.86 per cent male registered against womens 47.14 per cent, foreshadowing a voting gender gap.

The project will examine changing conceptions of gender in society, factors that induce and limit womens political participation, their impact on governance outcomes and interrogate the persistence of male dominance in politics.

Johns Hopkins SAIS brings decades of scholarly research that combines rigorous theoretical research with policy-focused scholarship. Furthermore, the African Studies programme boasts consistent scholarship with a focus on the African continent and Nigeria, in particular. PTCIJ lends its robust work on investigative journalism in Nigeria, which creates an intersection between journalism, technology, data sciences and decision sciences for the promotion of accountability and development.

This project will deploy teams to each of the 109 senatorial districts in the country. The polls will examine past political behaviour and current voting patterns in the recent presidential and state elections.

Dr Nwankwor will be assisted by Elor Nkereuwem, a doctoral candidate at the Johns Hopkins SAIS. The project team in PTCIJ will be headed by Oluwatosin Alagbe. Ms Alagbe is the deputy programme director at PTCIJ.
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in Saturdays Presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, has raised the alarm that the Managing Director of Activate Technologies Limited, Mohammed Sani Musa , whose company supplied the machines used in printing the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Niger East Senatorial district for tomorrows poll.

In a press statement issued on Friday in Abuja by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Atiku stated that the revelation is a result of his teams extensive intelligence gathering network to identify and prevent the ruling party from rigging the election.

The statement said, It is public knowledge that Sani Musa, popularly known as Sani 313 is a card carrying member of the APC and a close associate of several stalwarts of the party, including President Muhammadu Buhari who apparently pushed his nomination. But shockingly, the APC Senatorial candidate for Zone B of Niger State,Mr. Mohammed Musa, has a contract with INEC to supply key voting materials in an election he is participating in, which is a clear conflict of interest and raises questions of probity and oversight in the issuing of INEC contracts.

The INEC contract was to upgrade the card readers and to print PVC cards. Further investigations have shown that the upgrade consisted of pre-programming the card readers to accept fake replica PVCs (copies of genuine PVCs) that the firm printed in Nigeria. These two activities were undertaken so that the APC could boost its vote tally in its strongholds or force votes in Polling Units at PDP strongholds to be null and void by over-voting .

Our investigation also identified the seven States where this activity was due to take place and we have therefore informed the Observer Community and our own extensive network of over 176,000 Party Agents so that they can forestall this activity by checking cards as allowed under INEC guidelines.

Given that that Mr.s Musas previous company, Act Technologies, had a contract to supply and install PVC card printers in the INEC Headquarters, it does beg the question why Mr Musas new company, Activate Technologies, was given a subsequent contract to print PVC cards itself?

Other investigations have revealed that an employee and Director of Activate Technologies and an APC member, Mr. Mohammed Keffi, was filmed at Abuja Airport Domestic Departure Lounge on 29th December opening an official INEC envelope and then handling multiple ballot forms which he was checking off against his mobile phone. Sources also confirmed that this person was one of the people who was loading the fake card numbers into the upgraded card readers in the Residence of the former Governor of Akwa Ibom, as well as other Card Reader Farms in Abuja and Kano. These farms are under guard by members of Government Security agencies.

The PDP Presidential Candidate said while Alhaji Sani Musa has the right to hold any public office in spite of his line of business, it is morally unjustifiable to allow a well-known supplier of sensitive INEC materials to partake in an election in which the key materials to be used for the poll were supplied by him.

A search at the Corporate Affairs Commission showed that most of the directors in Act Technologies are the same as those in Activate Technologies.The directors of Activate Technologies except Musa (now APC candidate) include: Abubakar Musa, Kabiru Abdullahi Bawa, Suleiman Danladi, Akinsuyi Akin Najeem. Activate Technologies located on Ganges Street, Maitama, learnt that is shares the same address as Act Technologies.

He lamented that Activate Technologies was given contracts by INEC to supply PVCs for the 2019 general elections in spite of the fact that the owner of the firm is a candidate in tomorrows poll.

A copy of one of many such contracts with reference number INEC/HQ/PROC/ICT/S106/1 dated October 4, 2017 and signed by the Secretary to INEC, Augusta Ogakwu, stated that the firm would need to print 112, 218 PVCs,  Atiku said.

Mr Musa had attempted to hide his ownership via proxy shareholders who have been revealed as members of his own family. However his position as Founder and MD of Activate Technology Limited was clumsily exposed to the world via his Linked-in page where he bragged about his firm to secure more business for it. The expression Pride cometh before a fall comes to mind and is a suitable epitaph for the arrogant and brazen people who form this failed government.

Our candidate and the Party has conducted extensive research into what the APC will be attempting to do to shore up their collapsed vote share in these elections having studied what we call the Osun Playbook. We have been able to implement extensive preventative measures to pre-empt their plans. So the Nigerian public can go out and vote confident in the knowledge that their vote will count. Our candidate has said on record that even if you do not vote for me, please go out and vote as this election is not about me, it is about Nigeria and your future.

So we would like to ask General Buhari, the self-declared reformed democrat whether what happened in Osun was an exception to his promise or his definition of what free and fair means?

We believe that on the basis of what we have exposed here today the Nigerian public can make up their own minds about this question and demonstrate their views at the polls tomorrow, secure in the knowledge that their votes will count.
Eighteen parties will not be fielding presidential candidates in Saturdays elections.

These parties are:

Congress of Patriots (COP)

Alternative Party of Nigeria (APN)

Legacy Party of Nigeria (LPN)

Modern Democratic Party (MDP)

Movement for The Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD)

New Generation Party (NGP)

New Progressives Movement (NPM)

Alliance for Democracy (AD)

Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM)

Peoples Progressives Party (PPP)

Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN)

United Peoples Congress (UPC)

United Progressives Party UPP)

Young Democratic Party (YDP)

Youth Party (YP)

Zenith Labour Party (ZLP)

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Democratic Alternative (DA)

There are 91 registered political parties, out of which 73 parties are fielding presidential candidates, leaving 18 political parties not fielding presidential candidates.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on January 17 released its final list of presidential candidates.

Among the 73 candidates, two parties; the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) have issues although both parties are listed on INECs final list.

ACPN has its name and the name of its candidate on INECs list but the partys presidential candidate, Oby Ezekwesili, withdrew from the race even though the deadline for withdrawal and substitution had elapsed.

SDP, on the other hand, has only its party name on INECs list because the party failed to send the name of its candidate, due to court cases.

Some of the parties highlighted that finance was a hindrance to fielding candidates, while some said no one showed interest to run. PREMIUM TIMES could not reach others to highlight their reasons for not fielding presidential candidates.

Danjuma Ali, the national chairman of MRDD, said the party, due to economic circumstances, had to stop. Initially, the party had a primary and he was the presidential candidate.

He noted that after a review of the situation, the party decided to support the incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari for a second term.

My party had a primary. Personally, I was the presidential candidate of the party. But subsequently, we sat down and looked at all what we intended to do. Looking at (that), we discovered that (what) we intend doing, cannot, particularly on the economic aspect, cannot survive without certain key infrastructures.

We discovered President Muhammadu Buhari is doing well, so, we decided to support him, he said.

On the other hand, the national secretary of AD, Akinboye Fasogbou, said no one showed interest and the person who did from the diaspora did not show up.

He said although his party did not meet to take a unified decision, he could say the party was in support of Atiku Abubakar, being part of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) and Afenifere, who have both endorsed the candidacy of Mr Abubakar.
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A non-governmental organisation, Connected Development [CODE], has launched a technology that would enable it observe and report security challenges during the nations upcoming presidential and gubernatorial elections.

The technology tagged, Uzabe, is an Open Situation Awareness Room (OSAR) initiative.

In a statement signed by the communications officer for CODE, Kevwe Oghide, on Wednesday, he said Uzabe would enable it gather security intelligence during the electoral process

CODE has partnered with technology giant, Ushahidi, on using Uzabe as an Open Situation Awareness Room (OSAR) for gathering real-time security intelligence and observing the electoral process, Ms Oghide said.

With Uzabe mapping tool, CODE will establish early warning systems for communities and voters; and strengthen mitigation and emergency response during elections, she added.

According to her, the organisation aims to use the tool to improve the quality of elections in Nigeria.

Riding on CODEs participation in observing electoral processes since 2013 in Kenya, 2015 in Nigeria and 2016 in the USA, the organisation seeks to, again, ensure peaceful electoral process, promote national reconciliation and improve quality of elections in Nigeria using Ushahidi technology tools, she said.

CODE says its mission is to improve access to information and empower local communities in Africa.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive of CODE, Hamzat Lawal, said Uzabe would help in promoting transparency and accountability in the elections.

Uzabe will strengthen citizens participation and engagement in deciding a better future for our country. The technology platform helps the Nigerian citizens to give situation and iWitness report from all polling units, across the 36 States, in real-time, Mr Lawal said.

Using Uzabe technology tool to observe the election and report intelligence, is a way of protecting our democracy. Our intention is to provide real-time reports on security intelligence, he noted.
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he All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of inducing major actors ahead of the Saturday election with money.

The APC, in a statement by Lanre Issa-Onilu, the partys national publicity secretary, said this is because the opposition party feels it will lose.

The opposition party resolved to monetarily induce major actors and institutions in the electoral process with a view to compromising them ahead of the elections.

The APC said in this regard, the main opposition party has perfected plans to share money to persons and actors considered critical to the success of the elections.

It did not provide any evidence of its allegations.

The PDP, it alleged, has also perfected plans to distribute between 5 to 10 million dollars to the states for logistics and mobilisation on Election Day.

According to the APC, PDPs targets are INEC officials, security agencies and observers to make them agreeable to their rigging plots and other evil machinations.

The APC also alleged that the PDP is using faceless bloggers to attack frontline security agencies on social media as part of their plan to discredit the agencies.

The party, therefore, urged all to be on high alert and resist this real and imminent threat by the PDPs uncovered plans during the elections.

The party also alleged that the attacks on some facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), syndicated fake news and planted false reports on the elections are part of the PDPs strategies ahead of the Elections.

INEC offices in Plateau, Abia and Anambra States in the past one week have been destroyed by fire, leaving voting materials ruined.

The PDP had also accused the APC of being behind these incidents.
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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is considering postponing Saturdays presidential and national assembly elections, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

Multiple sources close to the electoral commission said the postponement being considered is due to some logistics challenges being faced by the commission in many states.

The electoral body is facing difficulty distributing sensitive electoral materials to some states of the federation, an official said.

A formal announcement is expected on Friday night, our sources said.

It is unclear at this time what the new election date would be.

There will definitely be a postponement but we are yet to take a decision on the new date, an official said.

Another official said the commission is considering fixing the elections for Sunday.

Our sources said INEC commissioners are currently locked in a meeting at the agencys headquarters in Abuja.

Some of the states where the logistic challenges are said to occur include Niger and Ekiti.

PREMIUM TIMES published a report by the News Agency of Nigeria where the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Niger State said ballot papers for two of the states three senatorial districts were missing as of Friday evening.

Ekiti Laments

In Ekiti, the former governor of the state, Ayo Fayose, accused INEC of deliberately hoarding materials for the presidential, Senate and House of Representatives elections in some states to frustrate the PDP.

Mr Fayose said he was aware that ballot papers and result sheets for presidential and senatorial elections were not in Ekiti State as at 9 p.m. on Friday, adding that only materials for the House of Representatives were distributed.

According to his spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, Mr Fayose said similar situations already reported in Oyo, Taraba, Edo, Niger, Ogun, Rivers and other states.

The INEC Commissioner in charge of publicity, Festus Okoye, did not answer or return multiple calls from PREMIUM TIMES.

INEC had scheduled the national elections for Saturday while the governorship and state assemblies elections are scheduled for March 2.
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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Niger on Friday said that elections for the senatorial positions of Niger East and Niger North may not hold on Saturday as the ballot papers meant for the zone are missing.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Samuel Egwu, made the declaration while interacting with journalists in Minna.

The issue has been reported to the INECs Headquarters in Abuja for urgent attention.

The officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria saddled with the responsibility of securing the electoral sensitive materials have gone to Abuja for the last batch of the sensitive materials for Saturdays elections in the state, so we are waiting, he said.

Mr Egwu said that 85 per cent of the needed facilities for the conduct of free and fair elections in the state had been provided with the non-sensitive materials already moved to various destinations across the 25 local government areas of the state.

He said that the commission trained 23,000 ad hoc staff for the elections in the state.

The REC also said that 2,181,400 eligible voters would participate during the general elections in the state.
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The suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, has pleaded not guilty to charges of false asset declaration brought against him by the Nigerian government.

The CJN is facing six charges for the alleged offence.

Mr Onnoghen, who was brought before the tribunal on January 14, is accused of failing to declare bank accounts used for the transfer of foreign currencies aftee his appointment as CJN.

After taking his pleas, Mr Onnoghens lawyer, Chris Uche, asked for the bail of his client.

The request was immediately granted by the tribunal chairman, Danladi Umar, without hearing from the prosecution.

An application for an adjournment was made by the defence counsel, and was not objected by the prosecution.

Mr Onnoghen, who refused to take a seat inside the dock, was still standing at the time of filing this report.

Donning a black suit with a brown tie, Mr Onnoghen stood with his hands wrapped around his back for most parts of the proceedings.

He arrived the CCT at about 10.00 a.m. on Friday, two days after the tribunal ordered his arrest.

The justice had boycotted earlier hearings, as he contested the powers of the tribunal to hear the case of alleged asset falsification against him.

On Friday, Mr Onnoghen arrived the tribunal in the Jabi district of Abuja at about 10.00 a.m. amidst heavy security.

His convoy of Toyota Land Cruisers parked outside the tribunal hall for several minutes before Mr Onnoghen walked into the court room flanked by aides and security.

Mr Onnoghen was suspended by President Muhammad Buhari after charges were filed against him at the CCT.

His suspension, widely deemed unconstitutional, sparked widespread condemnation with many Nigerians alleging political motivation.
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The suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, has arrived the Code of Conduct Tribunal where is facing charges of alleged corruption.

The tribunal ordered Mr Onnoghens arrest on Wednesday after he was repeatedly absent from hearings.

The justice had contested the powers of the tribunal to hear the case of alleged asset falsification against him.

On Friday, Mr Onnoghen arrived the tribunal in the Jabi district of Abuja at about 10.00 a.m. amidst heavy security.

Convoy suspected to be carrying the suspended CJN, Walter Onnoghen as they arrive CCT. Convoy suspected to be carrying the suspended CJN, Walter Onnoghen as they arrive CCT.

His convoy of Toyota Land Cruisers parked outside the tribunal hall for several minutes before Mr Onnoghen walked into the court room flanked by aides and security.

Walter Onnoghen inside CCT Walter Onnoghen inside CCT Walter Onnoghen inside CCT

Mr Onnoghen was brought before the tribunal on January 14 on a six-count charge for his alleged failure to declare some bank accounts in his asset declaration form.

More details coming
PT: You ran into controversy over your recent attempt to define interference, intervention and observation, body bags and all of that, what do you really mean?

Nasir El-Rufai: Let me just say what I dont mean. My statement is not an invitation to anyone to attack election observers or any foreigner that is here to witness our election or cover the elections because observation is not interference, it is not intervention.

However, we must look at the context. What is the context? Few weeks ago, the Chief Justice of Nigeria was suspended, properly in my view by the president. There was a coordinated response in a statement from the US, UK and the EU which were most misinformed and quiet condescending in my view.

Why? The statements, clearly, were coordinated. The statement sought to justify the leaving in office of a Chief Justice that has admitted to not declaring his asset. A Chief Justice that has admitted to having sums of money that he cannot explain based on his established income. Anywhere in the world, anywhere in the UK, US and EU such a person will be asked to leave office until he is proved innocent. But these same countries that have this same standard in their own countries are telling us we shouldnt have such standards in ours. I thought that was quiet distressing and friends dont do that to each other.

So after the statements were issued and the government responded, it was then outreaches were made to find out this and that, but I thought that the facts of the Onnoghen case were very clear.

That was one. The second thing is that those statements tried to link the suspension to the elections. Justice Onnoghen was not conducting elections, he does not even adjudicate over elections until the last beat and even when cases come to the Supreme Court, unless if he is a member of the Supreme Court panel, he is not even part of it. Election tribunals are constituted by the President of the Court of Appeal, not the Chief Justice of Nigeria, so he has no role in elections in Nigeria until they get to the Supreme Court and 90% of all election cases end up at the Court of Appeal, only the governorship and the Presidency goes to the Supreme Court.

Yet, these countries tried to link the suspension of Onnoghen with the elections. Why? Where is the link? So, for us in the APC, the federal government and the state government, it is an indication that there is some foundation being laid to discredit the elections in advance, discredit the judicial process in advance just because a public officer, who has monies that he cannot explain; a public officer who has asset that he did not declare in violation of our constitution, is being brought to justice.

So, we began to look at it from this angle. What do we see happen? PDP now releases a poll showing that they will win the election, and they got one or two newspapers to do the same thing. Look at that poll, its a national poll, but what was the sample size? 1500! I do polls here in Kaduna, the minimum sample size we use is 2500. Kaduna State. But you do a national poll by some unknown name, with 1500 respondents and you say you will win the election, so we noted that. Then we hear insiders in PDP telling us that they are looking at the Venezuela option. What is the Venezuela option? You know what is happening in Venezuela. Elections were held, there was a winner. But some countries did not like the winner or the result, so they encouraged the opposition guy to swear himself in, declare himself president and now there is pressure to intervene in Venezuela. What is intervention in international law? It is the use of force.

PT: So were you suspicious there might be use of force, like military intervention?

El-Rufai: Yes!

PT: So if it ever comes

El-Rufai: We will fight back. Nigeria is a proud country, an independent country and will not accept anyone interfering in that way in our affairs.

Election observation is not interference, its not intervention. Election observers are welcome. We invited them, and they add credibility to the process. But they should not be the foundation for discrediting the election and inviting intervention. This was my point.

But rightly or wrongly, what I said was twisted and misrepresented. We issued a clarification, and I had some conversation with some of the embassies, they called me because we are friends. Are you against election observers? I said No! in fact, I met with the EU election observers a couple of days ago here on this desk and they asked questions and so on, but even from their questions, I had concerns because the questions they were asking was like they were given the question by PDP. But we answered the questions. We are open. There is nothing to hide. But I believe that this government has a track record of credible elections and non-interference in the operations of INEC, for everyone that means well for Nigeria to wait until the elections are done. But when you start without any fact, without any fact, without any reason, to forecast the result of an election or try to discredit an election in advance, then we have to be vigilant.

Like play, like play, some people can throw us into crisis, because they feel that if they dont have power, let everything collapse. We came from opposition, we are used to losing elections, we dont protest, we dont bring the country down because of those elections, President Buhari lost election three times, he didnt march people into the streets.

Look at the crowd that follow him. You think if President Buhari calls people out, this country will not be shut down? But he never did. He respected the courts and went through the process, even if he didnt agree with the outcome of the system. He respected the institutions. Here we are, with a political party that has ruled Nigeria for 16 years, trying to discredit every institution, because they want to cause chaos, if they dont win and we are going to remain silent and allow it to happen? No! Some of us have to speak out and sound a note of warning, and thats what I did.

PT: Your party suggested to the United States not to grant Atiku visa. Eventually, they did. Did you see that as a sign of bias?

El-Rufai: Look it is a prerogative of a country to grant a person visa or not to grant him visa, I didnt think that was an issue at all. No matter what the background is, even if the US were unwilling to grant Atiku visa or whatever, and I dont think they are unwilling. I think they wanted him in the country, he just never applied all these years. The moment he became the candidate of a major political party, he would go to America and come out. Even if they have charges against him, they will seal the charges because if they arrest him they are interfering in the outcome of an election. So long as he is the presidential candidate, he has partial immunity. So, even if there some issues in the US, they will not activate those issues now because they will not want to be accused of so openly, of taking out a presidential candidate of a major political party. I dont know why all the ecstasy about Atiku visa and so on and so forth. The test of whether Atiku can go to the US or not would be after the election, when he loses, when there are no issues about his candidature. Then he can visit the US and we will know for sure, the thinking of the department of justice with regards Atiku. But for now its neither here nor there. But as I said, it is the prerogative of a country to grant visa or not to grant visa but I dont think it is a matter that the Nigerian government or anyone can be getting involved in, frankly.

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PT: Now lets come to Kaduna. Do you sincerely believe you will win this election given that a section of the state indicating they will not vote for you? Most of your friends and associates when you came in are now in another party, have falling out with you. Do you still stand a chance?

El-Rufai: I think I will win the election. In fact, I am reasonably confident I will win because the polls indicate that I will.

But let me take all the things that you said. You said a part of the state said they will not vote for me. It is not correct. Yes, a part of the state has a large number of people that said they will not vote for me. But there are some that will still vote for me. That is one.

Secondly, I am not a stupid man. Anyone that knows me can accuse me of certain things but not stupidity. We have worked very hard in this state. We have delivered on many of our promises and it is visible to anyone, even our enemies admit that we worked. Even those that said they will never vote for me admitted that we have done more work in 3  years than PDP did in 16 years. It is just that they dont like me, which is fine. To like or not to like a person is a human right and its ok, but I think based on our record and what we have done in this state, we deserve to be re-elected and the indicators are that we will be re-elected.

PT: You talked about polls, what did the poll say?

El-Rufai: The poll shows that we will win very clearly by a significant margin, even better than the 2015 elections. But we will wait, in a few weeks, the answer will be given. So we are confident, we are campaigning very strongly. The other party is not even campaigning. We have gone to all 23 local governments. I missed six, I went to two yesterday. I am going to two tomorrow and we will cover them before the elections and after the presidential election we will do another round of mop up. So, we are campaigning very strongly. The other party is not because they have no story. They have ran this state for 16 years and they have done little or nothing. We are just fixing the damage that they wrought on the state.

But you talked about my associates. As I said a couple of days ago on NTA, when we formed the APC, we knew that it was a combination. It was like food salad, and there were some people who joined the APC because it was a platform to contest elections. They didnt believe in its ideology. They didnt believe in Buharism or anything like that.

It was just an opportunistic decision because at the time, due to the lack of popularity of Jonathans government particularly in this part of the country, they knew that this was the party that will win and many of them moved. We knew that an equilibrium would be reached in which they would leave because they dont fit and most of the problems we have had as a government, as a party, is because of these opportunistic members in the national assembly and in some of the states. You have seen what happened, they have gone back to where they came from.

It is the same thing in Kaduna, each and every one of those who left were originally PDP members who realized that based on the political temperature of the state, that this time, the PDP was going to lose and they joined us. We were in CPC, they joined us for that election circle. Some of them joined us just to contest, like Isa Ashiru who contested against me in the primaries and I defeated him. He has gone back to where he came from because he only came to APC to contest and when he lost, he made no contribution to our success in 2015. None, apart from sending me N10 million two days to the election which I gave to the campaign council. He made no contribution. So he has gone back to PDP. I defeated him in the primaries and by the grace of God, I will defeat him in the secondary election.

So, the people you are talking about that have left, Hunkuyi, the same thing, he came from PDP. We got him the senate seat. He contested. He won largely because it was APC. Now he is contesting under the PDP, we will see who will win the election. The people voted for APC, they didnt vote for Hunkuyi and that will be proved in a few days.

Shehu Sani story is similar. He has moved to PRP. We will see whether on his own, he will win the senate seat. In many ways, I am happy that many of these people that keep saying they brought me into office, that they put me in the government House and they will remove me. I am happy that they are all contesting elections and we will see how they will do in the elections vs how I will do. It is matter of weeks, lets wait and see. And at the end of the day, election is not about a few prominent individuals, the days of political godfathers is going, if not gone. It is the vote of the people that decide and I am convinced that we are well connected to the people of this state not to worry about the wounded feelings of any political actors. It is the people that we are connected with. It is the people that we are working for and they realise it and I think on Election Day they will come out and support us.

PT: I am aware governors of north western states used to meet here in Kaduna and brainstorm on how to curb the issues of insecurity in the region but that appears to have ceased. Yet there are several there are several security challenges in the zone, the worst being the Zamfara banditry. You hardly wait for the federal government before acting on security issues in your state. Is there a template that can be used by states such as Zamfara and the rest?

El-Rufai: When we came into office, the biggest regional security challenge we faced was cattle rustling and we met as north west governors plus Niger to look at it because we are all affected by the forest ranges that the cattle rustlers were using as their hideout. Thats why we started meeting here and when we met we all agreed that we needed to finance a military operation to fight the rustlers.

We needed to cooperate because these rustlers move from state to state using the forest ranges and it was very clear to all of us as governors that we needed to do that, so, thats how the meeting started. We contributed N100 million each to fund a military operation because the military said they did not have a budget for it and we needed it done.

That was done and that has led to a large extent in decimating cattle rustling. Subsequently, the cattle rustlers moved to kidnapping and we needed a similar operation and we met, unfortunately, at that time, the kidnapping was more in two or three states so the other states refused to contribute. I will not mention the states, but the other states refused to contribute and we were then all left to deal with the problem at our own levels.

My point to them even then was look we are one community, if there is kidnapping in Kaduna and we start fighting the kidnappers, they are likely to move to a neighbouring state. So, why dont we work together to wipe them out. But some people didnt see it, some governors felt they should go and make peace with the bandits, give them money and collect arms from them and so on. I didnt believe in that, I believe, based on my interaction with Fulani Ardos (leaders) in Kaduna that the only solution to these bandits is to wipe them out. I still believe that, and that is the stance of the Kaduna state government. No negotiations, we wipe them out.

Of course, if they kidnap a person, we allow the families to negotiate until the person is released. Then we go after them and to tell you the truth, 90% of the case, we got the kidnappers because we have the technology to do that. And next month or this month, we are likely to bring into service our drones. That will be able to actually chase the kidnappers and see where they are going and be sending live video feeds of what is happening. So we have invested in technology from radio frequency trackers to drones and so on that will enable us get to the bottom of this by the grace of God. We are on it.

So, this is the history of the meetings and this is the reason why they have stopped, but we still meet as North-West governors, but we meet in Katsina. That meeting was a special meeting because it was not just north west, we added Niger because the forest range also included Niger State. We have north west governors forum and we meet in Katsina not Kaduna. Kaduna is the headquarters of northern states governors forum.

Coming back to the question you asked. You know it is not quite correct to say that I didnt wait for the federal government when we had crisis. The federal government controls all the security assets. We are chief security officers, but the security assets are all federal. Of course, we support them strongly. We provide logistics, so we have influence, but a governor can be incapacitated if his commissioner of police or his Army commander refused to cooperate with him because he cannot give them orders as such. That is the reality, but it hardly ever happens because governors fund a lot of support to security agents so they usually do what you ask them to do unless if it is blatantly wrong.

What we did when we had our last crisis is what we always do. The reason why the media only saw it this time was because it was Kaduna and the media was in Kaduna. When we had crisis in 2016 in Kafanchan, I went to Kafanchan. I like to be on the ground whenever there is crisis because it is my responsibility. The security agencies will tell you dont go it is not safe and my response to them is if I dont go as governor of the state, I am the most protected person in the state. If I cannot go to a crisis location, I am the most protected person of the state, what about the other citizens of the state that I swore to protect? So, I always go. I went to Kafanchan, thats when they sent naked women to demonstrate and all that. I dont care. I always go to crisis point because I want to reassure people that we are doing something about it and I am here, I am with you. It gives people confidence and a sense that the government is doing something. You cant sit in government and only see Police and so on, that is what we do all the time, the only difference is that it happened here in Kaduna and you media people are all here so you can see it.

Now, what we always do is to ask the federal security agencies to come and work with us and if they have any financial requirement, logistic requirement, we provide it. That is what we do and that any governor can do. You dont need any template, any governor can do it.

We are luckier in Kaduna because we have One Division Headquarters here. But there is virtually no state government headquarters that you dont have at least a battalion of the Army. So you can use them and they are available. And any time I needed more support, mobile Police to be brought from another state, whenever I call the Inspector General of the Police, all the IGs that we have worked with, they have always responded. If we need the Army, whenever I call the Chief of Army staff, chief of Defence staff, they always responded. The Chief of Air Staff always send support. So the federal security agencies are always willing to come in and support, all you need to do is ask and sometimes support them financially. Sometimes you dont even need to support them. For instance, the operation Safe Haven in southern Kaduna is totally funded by the Chief of Defence Staff. We dont spend much money there. There are some that we have to spend money but most of the time, all you need to do is ask and maintain relationship. So, this is what we are doing and I dont think its any special template as such.

Let me conclude by one caveat, every security challenge differs from state to state. The nature of the conflict in Kaduna is not the same as the one in Zamfara state. The nature of the conflict in Plateau is not the same as the one in Benue. They all differ and the difference is this: the state governor, the permanent secretary security for the state and the SSG who oversees security must together understand the nature of their own security challenge and design solutions and deploy the security assets to meet those challenges. Because what works here in Kaduna may not necessarily work in Zamfara.

And finally what we have realised and what we are doing is the need to empower communities to take security into their own hands, rather than just saying its the job of the police. Because we have only 13,000 policemen, they cant cover the state. We need 30,000. We have only 13,000.

So, what we realized is that we need to use community leaders, volunteers and our vigilante service to complement the efforts of the Police. That means providing some allowances to village heads, district heads and ward heads to provide intelligence about criminal activities before they grow and blossom. That is the template that we are working on now, it has existed before during the old days of the northern region, but went into disuse once the local government reforms removed the powers of the emirs and chiefs and vested it on local government chairmen.

Thats what we are working on and with the drones we are deploying, our drones can fly for 600 kilometres. So we can move from one end of the state to another to gather intelligence.
Words have been exchanged, war songs chanted and battle drums beaten but what is yet to be seen in the unending theatrics of power tussle in Imo state is who laughs last.

With the presidential and National Assembly elections only on Saturday, Imo West Senatorial Zone appears to be the first battleground for the sitting governor, Rochas Okorocha, to save his political career in the state.

It is also poised to put to test the might of the political actors and friends turned enemies embroiled in a supremacy battle in the state.

The two leading actors angling for Imo west senatorial seat are Mr Okorocha and Osita Izunaso, a former senator of the zone. The duo is central to the current crisis rocking the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which saw the birth of parallel factions in the party.

Imo State became volatile since Mr Okorocha began rooting for his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, to succeed him in office.

This did not go down well with the opposing Allied Forces, which pulled the rug from under the governors feet during the partys congresses.

The aftermath of the congress saw Mr Okorocha lose the partys structure as Mr Izunaso reportedly used his influence as a national officer to facilitate the installation of new officers at the three levels of the party.

Mr Izunaso, the then APC national organising secretary, was said to have acted in concert with other political bigwigs in the state, including the deputy governor, Eze Madumere; a former senator, Ifeanyi Araraume; and the senator representing Imo North, Ben Uwajumogu.

Mr Okorocha had cried to high heavens after the congress but that could not stop his opponents from further disgracing him at the party primaries which instead of his anointed candidate produced Hope Uzodinma, the senator currently representing Imo West as APC governorship candidate.

This was hatched under the supervision of the partys national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, who has been on a warpath with the governor since then.

APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomole Photo: Oriental Times

This outcome was strange to Nigerias politics where the governors determine who get what in their states.

Meanwhile, Mr Izunaso also had his own predicament as he failed to return as the partys national organising secretary. He was defeated by one of his challengers, Emmanuel Ibediro, who was propped up by Mr Okorocha.

Imo West: Okorochas first battleground

In a bid to save their waning political careers in the state, Messrs Okorocha and Izunaso are set to again face off on Saturday when they rekindle hostilities in the chase for Imo west senatorial seat. The former is running under the APC while the latter left the party to become the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate in the race.

Messrs Okorocha and Izunaso are up against a member of the House of Representatives, Jones Onyereri, who is contesting under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The National Organising Secretary of All Progressives Congress, APC, Osita Izunaso. [Photo credit: Housing news]

The district has 12 local government areas out of the 27 in the state and has since 1999 retained the governorship seat of the state for 16 years through Achike Udenwa (1999  2007) and now Mr Okorocha (2011  2019) who ruled two terms each.

Not done, the current senator representing the zone, Mr Uzodinma is also contesting for governor under the ruling APC.

Okorochas slim chances

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Will Mr Okorocha who was said to have boasted of retiring kingmakers in the state such as Mr Udenwa; a former governor, Ikedim Ohakim; and Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu among others, be retired himself if he loses?

Or will Mr Izunaso usher in a new part for himself in APGA with the Imo West Senatorial seat?

Mr Onyeriri, the PDP candidate is not a pushover as the party gears up to snatch power from the APC.

Mr Onyereri is the chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Currency.

The running battle between Mr Okorocha and the opposing APC faction might, however, cut down the governors chances at the polls.

Last month, he was suspended by the disciplinary committee of the party for alleged anti-party activities. He was said to have openly sponsored his anointed candidate, Mr Nwosu who is now flying the flag of another party, Action Alliance.

He was also accused of open denunciation of APC and its governorship candidate despite carrying the partys ticket for Imo West senate seat.

Mr Izunaso and Mr Ararume  APGAs governorship candidate  on the other hand, left APC together in the wake of the crisis to resume hostilities with the embattled governor.

Mr Okorocha seems to be fighting a battle on all sides. He must now rely on his political strength and power of incumbency to win the election.
PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 13:37:29

Vertical turbine pumps are classified as a type of centrifugal pump. In vertical turbine pumps, motor is located above the ground level and is connected to the impellers at the bottom of the pump via vertical shaft. These pumps are generally driven by a diesel engine or by an AC electric induction motor. Vertical turbine pumps are usually used where submersible pump cannot be used. Vertical turbine pumps are also known by deep well turbine pumps. The usage of vertical turbine pumps is mostly found in wide range of municipal, agricultural, and industrial applications. Moreover, vertical turbine pumps are highly versatile & adaptable in terms of location and pump length. The higher advantages offered by the vertical turbine pumps compared to its drawbacks is driving the market growth. This growth is expected to be higher in the future owing to growing expenditure by the government of various countries on the agriculture sector. Furthermore, the market is projected to grow with a decent pace in the future. As the life span is higher making the replacement rate of the vertical turbine pumps very low.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-8444 Global Vertical Turbine Pumps Market: DynamicsGrowing investments in infrastructure development activities coupled with rising demand for wastewater treatment plants in developing regions such as Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa is driving the global market for vertical turbine pumps. Moreover the higher advantages offered by vertical turbine pumps compared to other pumps is also making it more popular across the globe. Additionally, the higher preference of vertical turbine pumps also due to low priming issues owing to the impellers already submerged in liquid.In vertical turbine pumps, maintenance of the pump head is quite difficult. It needs a lot of headroom for its maintenance. This is the only challenge faced by the manufacturers of vertical turbine pumps across the globe.Global Vertical Turbine Pumps Market: SegmentationThe global vertical turbine pumps market can be segmented on the basis of stage, end use and region.On the basis of stage, the global vertical turbine pumps market is segmented as:Single Stage Vertical Turbine PumpsMulti-Stage Vertical Turbine PumpsOn the basis of end use, the global vertical turbine pumps market is segmented as:Agriculture & IrrigationPower GenerationOil & GasMunicipalGeneral IndustryChemicalMiningGlobal Vertical Turbine Pumps Market: Regional OutlookIn terms of demand, Asia Pacific is anticipated to dominate the global market during the forecast period. This can be attributed to the rapidly increasing population of the region. This in turn leads to the establishment of all the industries at healthy pace and hence this is going to create significant demand for vertical turbine pumps in the future. Moreover, the healthy demand for vertical agriculture turbine pumps from agriculture & irrigation end use segment of the region is expected to create healthy demand in the future. Additionally, in global vertical turbine pumps global market, Latin America & Middle East & Africa is also going to play important role owing to demand from agriculture and underground water extraction activities of the respective regions. Moreover, the market in North America and Europe is expected to grow significantly owing to presence of some of the leading manufacturers in the regions.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-8444 Global Vertical Turbine Pumps Market: Market ParticipantsThe global market for vertical turbine pumps is moderately fragmented as there are significant number of manufacturers across the globe. Although, names of some of market participants engaged in the manufacturing and sales of vertical turbine pumps are mentioned below:National Pump Company.Grundfos Pumps CorporationPentair Aurora PumpSimflo PumpProcess SystemsNeptuno Pumps LtdaSintech Precision Products Ltd.XylemFlowserve
Protein Labelling Market

PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 10:37:44

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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: https://www.futuremarketinsights.comSEO Manager3479183531

Various biological research often involves the use of molecular labels that are attached to a protein of interest to facilitate detection or purification of the labeled protein and/or its binding partners. Proteins can be labeled during cell growth by incorporation of amino acids containing different isotopes, or in biological fluids, cells or tissue samples. The main applications for protein labeling are biological processes monitoring, reliable quantification of compounds and specific detection of protein modifications and isoforms in multiplexed samples, enhancement of detection sensitivity and simplification of detection workflows. There are multiple types of labels available, their varied uses are preferable for specific applications. Typically, three different types of tags are employed: stable isotopes, mass tags, and fluorophores, to the target protein or sequenceProtein Labelling Market: Drivers and RestraintsIncreasing healthcare expenditure is majorly driving the market. Increase in the R&D expenditure leading to a reduction in process complexity for protein labeling by companies coupled with improvement in existing technologies that are anticipated to accelerate growth. The market is witnessing a number of new product launches and growing adoption of bioengineering technologies to speed up the market growth.Development in the technology to produce advanced dyes that rapidly conjugates with the specific peptides or nucleotidein order to detect their presence and further purification process more accurately are expected to make the process more efficient and will have positive impact on the market. Improvements in accuracy, resolution and procedures used in techniques such as fluorescence & biorthogonal tagging are estimated to grow over the forecast period.The adoption of IT technology anticipate to automate and ease up the research and development and expected to boost experimentation and research. Also, technological advancement and upcoming innovation in Global Protein Labeling market such as computer-controlled systems for fluorescence and laser-confocal microscopy are creating scope for the market.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2817 Protein Labelling Market: SegmentationOn the basis of products, the protein labeling market is segmented into reagents, kits, and services. Whereas based on application, the protein labeling market is segmented into cell-based assays, fluorescence microscopy, immunological techniques, mass spectrometry, and protein microarray. Global Protein market further segment by labeling technique and contribute considerable market share through in-Vivo and in-Vitro techniques.Segmentation by ProductReagentsKitsServicesSegmentation by ApplicationCell-based assaysFluorescence MicroscopyImmunological TechniquesMass SpectrometryProtein MicroarraySegmentation by Labelling TechniqueIn-VivoIn-VitroProtein Labelling Market: OverviewGlobal Protein Labeling Market by product includes reagents like enzymes, monoclonal antibodies, proteins, probes/tags, kits and service markets. The reagents used for protein labeling accounted for the largest share of revenue. The larger share can be augmented due to high demand for labeling of peptides, antibodies and proteins at reaction locations of functional amino acids, and development of novel reagents that have chemo selective capabilities & amino acid cross linking abilities. The market is expected to witness a significant growth rate during the forecast period.Protein Labelling Market: Regional OverviewThe geographic segments for Protein Labelling are North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, Latin America and Middle East and Africa. North America is further segmented into the U.S. and Canada. North America has the most lucrative market and accounts for over 45% of the global revenue in 2015. North America generates highest revenues across the globe due to presence of most major players in the region working on enhancing their portfolios on offer and rise in adoption of protein labeling in tandem with development of genomic sequencing and personalized medicine are the major factors accounting for the regions dominant position. While Asia Pacific is poised to witness the highest growth rate from 2015 to 2026. Untapped APEJ countries such as China, India, and Korea are the most emerging economies and expected to create huge opportunity for Global Protein Labeling Market. Improved healthcare spending, infrastructure development and favorable government policies are the key factors which are expected to drive the APEJ market.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2817 Protein Labelling Market: Key PlayersMajor participants of the protein labeling industry include Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., General Electric Healthcare Life Science, Merck Millipore, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, PerkinElmer Inc, Promega Corporation, LI-COR Inc., New England Biolabs, Eurogentec S.A., Kirkegaard & Perry Laboratories (KPL).
Geographically, global preclinical MRI Equipment market is classified into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. Some of the major players in the global custom assay market are Bruker Corporation, Agilent Technologies, Simens Healthcare, Aspect Imaging, FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation

Preclinical MRI Equipment Market

PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 10:38:59

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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: https://www.futuremarketinsights.comSEO Manager3479183531

Currently, non-invasive and in-vivo imaging modalities have become quite popular in the study of animal models longitudinally. Preclinical imaging is a non-invasive technique used to visualize living animals in order to study various diseases quantitatively, in real time, with the ability to monitor the disease progression rate at molecular level. Suitable models for preclinical in-vivo studies include, positron emission tomography scanners (PET), single photon emission tomography scanners (SPECT), ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), compute tomography etc. Preclinical MRI imaging technique employs use of large magnets that help generating magnetic fields, carefully targeted electromagnetic pulses, and computer software in order to obtain organ level anatomical images with high spatial resolution. These generated magnetic fields results in formation of paramagnetic atoms including hydrogen, gadolinium, and manganese created by the radiofrequency (RF) coils inside the MRI machine. The machine then captures the relaxation of the atoms at the time when the RF pulse is ceased thus generating an image based on the resonance characteristic of the body part being studied. The preclinical MRI equipments are used in study of various life threatening disorders including cancer, cardiovascular disorders, neurological and infectious and inflammatory diseases etc. Apart from this the device can also be used in the transitional research and new drug development.Preclinical MRI Equipment Market: Drivers and RestraintsPreclinical MRI equipment market is expected to be driven by increasing research and development activities in order to examine key pathophysiological episodes at each disease stage and in development of novel therapeutic drug in treatment of various disease indications. Furthermore, launch of new preclinical MRI equipments with advanced MRI technology and additional innovative features is further expected to drive the revenues of preclinical MRI equipment market. For example, BioSpec 3T Preclinical MRI System by Brukur is a multi-purpose, preclinical MRI system that is used for studying mice and rats.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2891 The system delivers expanded range of RF coil for multipurpose applications is with superior cryogen free design. Preclinical MRI equipment offers reduced biological variability with expanded opportunity to deliver unique information in distinct forms. This will also result in substantial reduction in the number of animal models required in studying several diseases. Furthermore, integration preclinical MRI equipment machines with other imaging modalities such as PET, SPECT and CT has also resulted in significant revenue generation in global preclinical MRI equipment market. Such hybrid imaging modalities not only deliver functional information but also delivers efficient and unique tools to evaluate new chemical entities and candidate drugs. Challenges including high cost of the device is restricting the use of preclinical MRI equipment into clinical practice, inadequate infrastructure provision and lack of skilled professionals in some of the emerging economies is expected to hamper the market growth of preclinical MRI equipment market over the forecast period.Preclinical MRI Equipment Market: SegmentationTentatively, the global preclinical MRI equipment market has been segmented on the basis of modality, end user, and geography.Based on as modality, the global preclinical MRI equipment market is divided into following:Bench top preclinical MRI equipmentStandalone preclinical MRI equipmentBased on application, the preclinical MRI equipment market is divided into following:OncologyCardiologyNeurologyInflammatory and Infectious diseasesOthersBased on retail end user, the preclinical MRI equipment market is segmented as below:Academic and Research InstitutesBiotechnology and Pharmaceutical CompaniesDiagnostic CentersContract Research OrganizationsPreclinical MRI Equipment Market: OverviewPreclinical MRI equipments are widely available for preclinical imaging and research purpose. The global market for preclinical MRI equipment is expected to generate higher revenues over the forecast period. This is attributed to extensive ongoing studies in order to diagnose and evaluate several diseases. Also launch of many preclinical MRI equipments in the market with highest level of accuracy and sensitivity is expected to drive the revenues of preclinical MRI equipments over the forecast period. A recent trend in preclinical imaging is increasing use of multimodality MRI imaging technique with large diameter bore better suited for imaging of whole animal body.Preclinical MRI Equipment Market: Regional Wise OutlookGeographically, global preclinical MRI Equipment market is classified into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. The market in Asia Pacific and Japan is expected to grow at significant CAGR due to growing number of research institutes in countries such as India, Australia and Japan, thus leading to extensive research in the field of clinical biology. North America will continue to hold largest share in the preclinical MRI equipment market as majority of the key market players located in the U.S. coupled with presence skilled professionals in the region which are culture positive to innovation. Europe is expected to take second largest share in the global preclinical MRI equipment market. This is attributed to new preclinical MRI machines launches in the region by several manufacturers.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2891 Preclinical MRI Equipment Market: Key PlayersSome of the major players in the global custom assay market are Bruker Corporation, Agilent Technologies, Simens Healthcare, Aspect Imaging, FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, MR Solutions Ltd., Perkin Elmer, Inc., Mediso Medical Imaging Systems and others. Companies often provide custom assay services, where user can define their requirements and specifications and assay is built accordingly by the manufacturer.
PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 13:13:46

Global Market for Pharmaceutical Solvents Projected to Witness Sluggish GrowthA majority of medicines & drugs produced in the world are derived from formulating Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), and such processes require alcoholic solvents such as ethanol, isopropanol, propanol and propylene glycol.Production of pharmaceutical solvents continues to be concentrated in the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region as leading API suppliers and drug manufacturers in the world have based their production units in countries such as South Korea, China and India, among others.Nevertheless, the production of pharmaceutical solvents in the world continues to be riddled with challenges emanating from stringent manufacturing regulations imposed by governments. Administration authorities regulating industrial activities in a region are curbing the production of pharmaceutical solvents which contain high volumes of inflammable fluids. An alarming rise in the incidences of casualties reported in pharmaceutical solvent manufacturing plants as well as health risks of being exposed to volatile liquids present in several pharmaceutical solvents will continue to be a major challenge for drugmakers in the coming years.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1939 According to Future Market Insights, the global market for pharmaceutical solvents will expand at a sluggish pace, registering a 3.5% CAGR (in terms of value) during the forecast period 2016-2026. More than 2,000 kilotons of pharmaceutical solvents were estimated to be sold in 2016, projecting that the global pharmaceutical solvents revenues amassed in the year surpassed US$ 2,713.2 million. In the report, titled Pharmaceutical Solvents Market: Global Industry Analysis & Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026, Future Market Insights expects that by the end of 2026, an approximate of US$ 4.1 billion revenues will be accrued through global sales of pharmaceutical solvents. Over the projection period, the APEJ pharmaceutical solvents market will account for over 30% of the global revenues, primarily due to the regions potential for large scale production of drugs, medicine and other pharmaceutical products. Meanwhile, North America and Western Europe are anticipated to incur a slight dip in their collective share towards global market value, procuring combined revenues of nearly US$ 2 billion by the end of 2026.Alcohol  Dominant Chemical Group for Pharmaceutical SolventsFormulation of pharmaceutical products is mainly instrumented by mixing alcoholic solvents with API and other pharmaceutical ingredients. During production of medicinal fluids, alcohols tend to serve as the inactive ingredients or excipients, helping in stabilising the chemical composition of resultant compounds. Hence, the global market for pharmaceutical solvents will continue to witness higher adoption of alcohols as the constituent chemicals used for production. By the end of 2026, more than 700 kilotons of alcohols will be consumed for global production of pharmaceutical solvents. Besides, esters are also expected to be a dominant chemical constituent in production of pharmaceutical solvents, and are estimated to have accounted for more than US$ 400 million revenues in 2016. On the other hand, manufacturers of pharmaceutical solvents are also augmenting their production techniques to include ether chemicals. During the forecast period, the global revenue share of ethers will exhibit an impressive growth by accounting for more than 16%.Fire Hazards Repressing Rampant Production of Pharmaceutical SolventsLeading manufacturers in the global pharmaceutical solvents market are being weighed down by government and administrative authorities for limiting their production potential. Presence of volatile chemicals in pharmaceutical solvents has led to imposition of strict regulations regarding production, storage and transport of pharmaceutical solvents. Subsequently, health hazards impact the pricing of pharmaceutical solvents as employees working in solvent manufacturing units demand better insurance cover and incessant salary hikes, which ends up spiking the production costs for companies.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1939 Prominent players in the global pharmaceutical solvents market are being compelled to remodel their production methods by including innovative techniques that constrain the fire hazards during manufacturing. Competitive landscape of the global pharmaceutical solvents market is fragmented into raw material suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors. Companies such as The Dow Chemical Company, Clariant AG, BASF SE, and Alfa Aesar are recognised as global manufacturers of pharmaceutical solvents, while leading raw material suppliers in the global market include Mitsui Chemicals, Exxon Mobil Corporation and Eastman Chemical Company. Other companies profiled in the report include, Yips Chemical Holdings Limited, Merck KGaA, and Procter & Gamble Chemicals.
Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the  Pediatric Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection Market to Incur Meteoric Growth During 2016  2026 report to their offering Upcoming

Future Market Insights

PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 12:20:39

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Future Market InsightsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.comFMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/Web: https://www.fuManager+1-347-918-3531

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common virus that causes respiratory infection. The virus infects lungs and respiratory passage. RSV infection is common among adults who experience symptoms like mild cold however in infants and older people the infection can be very serious. RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia among infants. RSV infection is limited to the respiratory tract. The virus inoculates in the lower respiratory tract and spreads into the respiratory system through cell to cell transfer in syncytia. RSV infection has very high incidence rate. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost all children get RSV infection by the age of 2 years. Moreover the Respiratory syncytial virus spreads very quickly through cough, sneeze and touching the infected surfaces which delivers the virus into the host body.The recovery period for RSV infection is around 1 to 2 weeks among infants, the virus still remains in the body and can spread easily to another person. Owing to high incidence rate, the market for pediatric syncytial virus infection is expected to witness robust growth over the forecast period.Pediatric Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection Market: Drivers and Restraints  Growing incidence of RSV among children is expected to increase demand for RSV infection treatment products. Rise in the birth rate is expected to propel demand for RSV treatment products over the forecast period. According to the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the global population is expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030. This increase in the baby boomer population is expected to add to the patient pool of the RSP virus and thus in turn increase demand for RSV infection treatment over the forecast period. RSV infection can occur at any age however the infection rate among children varies as compared to adults.Among infants and children, nearly 25 out of every 40 children suffering from RSV infection, exhibit signs of bronchiolitis or pneumonia. Owing to severity of the infection the awareness among public regarding the RSV infection is growing which in turn is expected to boost demand for respiratory syncytial virus infection treatment. Increase in the risk of acquiring RSV among children is associated with the community settings like attending school, exposure to environmental pollutants etc. with changing social dynamic structure the incidence rate of RSV infection is expected to grow rapidly over the forecast period. However absence of definitive treatment, side effects and limited efficacy of the drugs available in the market and dependency in symptom based treatment in several cases is expected to hamper revenue growth of the pediatric respiratory syncytial virus infection market over the forecast period.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2345 Pediatric Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection Market: Segmentation  By Therapy, Bronchodilators, Alpha agonists, Ribavirin , By Distribution Channel, Hospital Pharmacies, Drug Stores, Retail Pharmacies, Clinics; Pediatric Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection Market: Overview  The global market for pediatric respiratory syncytial virus infection is expected to witness robust growth owing to increasing incidence rate of the RSV infection and growth in the birth rate.Pediatric Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection Market: Region  wise Outlook  Globally the pediatric respiratory syncytial virus infection market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Globally RSV is responsible for nearly 18% of the total child deaths. North America and Western Europe are expected to be the leading markets in the global pediatric respiratory syncytial virus infection market. High awareness and easy available diagnostic tests are expected to boost demand for RSV infection treatment products in these regions. Japan and APEJ are expected to follow next in terms of demand for the treatment of pediatric respiratory syncytial virus infection market. Eastern Europe, Latin America and MEA markets are also expected to witness above average growth over the forecast period. Absence of population based studies in developing countries is a major challenge in assessment of RSV related infections in these countries.Pediatric Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection Market: Participants  Some players in the global pediatric syncytial virus infection market are Ablynx NV, Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Artificial Cell Technologies, Inc. is conducting studies for development of vaccine against RSV. The companys vaccines is into pre  clinical development and preparing for IND filing to conduct phase 1 trials. Astellas Pharma Inc. entered into strategic partnership with ClearPath Development company for building a vaccine portfolio for Respiratory Syncytial Virus, AstraZeneca is conducting observational studies of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Hospitalizations among U.S. infants. Bavarian Nordic., a biotechnology company is building a antibody based treatment against RSV, which is currently into phase 2 clinical trials.
PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 09:09:49

Future Market Insights has published a new report titled On-site Preventive Care Market: Global Industry Analysis (2012-2016) and Opportunity Assessment (2017-2027). The report states that the standards set in the workplace for the safety of workers and the need to adhere to workplace norms have triggered the demand for on-site preventive care. Moreover, the increasing incidences of workplace illness has also made it an obligation for employers to follow employee safety codes and adopt on-site preventive care. As a result, the global on-site preventive care market is expected to witness a CAGR of 7.1% from 2017 to 2027. The market was worth around US$ 16,135 Mn in 2017 and is likely to touch a valuation of US$ 32,063 Mn approximately by the end of 2027.On-site clinics enable employees to receive the required essential care at the time of emergency without having to leave the workplace. The clinicians in these clinics also aid employees in searching for a primary care physician who they can consult with on a regular basis. As a Future Market Insights analyst quotes, Changes in lifestyle among the working class have incessantly impelled employers to establish certain behavioural standards within the workplace. This is one of the core factors responsible for the growing adoption of on-site preventive care in several organisations across the globe. Request to View Sample of Research Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5518 Burgeoning Penetration of Workplace Wellness Programmes to Bode Well for the MarketIn the recent past, workplace wellness programmes have earned the merit of being one of the most adopted healthcare services in the world. It has been further expected that its adoption will increase in the coming years owing to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. This act is expected to promote an increase in the employee-based coverage of workplace wellness and also promote these programmes through several provisions. Moreover, the growing incidences of chronic diseases among the working population have also become a matter of concern and this has compelled employers across the globe to adopt as well as promote workplace wellness programmes.Furthermore, employers who have adopted on-site preventive care services have reported enhanced performance ranging from heightened morale and cost savings to productivity. The death of time, access, and cost along with misunderstanding of the benefits of prescribed wellness programmes result in the underutilisation of primary care services. As a result, employees flood emergency rooms, missing out on critical preventive care measures and also leave chronic conditions go unmanaged. In this regard, on-site clinics provide employees with the necessary support without having to leave their work and plus the clinicians also work together with the patients in a cohesive environment to address their various health related issues.North America and Western Europe to Compete Neck and NeckIn 2017, North America held a share of 37.0% in the global on-site preventive care market closely trailed by Western Europe. The dominance of North America can be attributed to the several policies implemented by the U.S. government pertaining to employee safety and the adoption of certain employee codes of safety. The U.S. is also an extremely mature market owing to the high adoption of workplace wellness programmes.Request customized copy of report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-5518 Companies to Innovate Services in the Global MarketIn order to stay ahead of the competition, several companies operating in the global market are focussing on innovating their existing services and integrating new services. Some of the leading companies in the market are Premise Health, OnSite Care, Inc., PrevMED, RepuCare, Healthcare Solutions Centers, LLC, McCormack & Kale Motiva Health & Chiropractic, Inc., Marino Wellness, Kinema Fitness, and TotalWellness.
The Global IoT Analytics Market Research Report Forecast 2022 is a valuable source of insightful data for business strategists. IoT (Internet Objects) is one of the paradigms that change the evolution of Internet-based computing, which has a positive impact on the market, including healthcare, manufacturing, smart cities and sustainable living.

IoT Analytics Market

PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 22:23:24

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New report on IoT Analytics Market is projected to grow at CAGR of +30% by 2025

QYReports



Jones John



(Sales Manager)



The Work Lab,



FC Road, Pune, MH, India



+91-9764607607



sales@qyreports.com



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+91-9764607607

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# 649 Words

QYReportsJones John(Sales Manager)The Work Lab,FC Road, Pune, MH, India+91-9764607607sales@qyreports.comwww.qyreports.comSales Manager+91-9764607607

IoT analysis means analyzing diverse sets of data from multiple sources, such as actuators, sensors, and smart devices. It provides the IoT Analytics Market industry overview with growth analysis and historical & futuristic cost, revenue, demand and supply data (as applicable). The research analysts provide an elaborate description of the value chain and its distributor analysis. This IoT Analytics Market study provides comprehensive data which enhances the understanding, scope and application of this report.According to Research report on Global IoT Analytics Market has projected to grow at CAGR of +30% during the forecasting period.For Sample Copy of this Report@: https://www.qyreports.com/request-sample?report-id=98073 Some of the Key Players of this Market: IBM Corporation (US), Microsoft Corporation (US), Oracle Corporation (US), SAP SE (Germany), Cisco Systems, Inc. (US), Dell Technologies.The forecast of the sales growth of the market sales has also been calculated on the basis of type, application, and region. A section on the evaluation of market effect factors has shed light upon some of the most crucial aspects such as an environmental change due to economic or political reasons, change in consumer preference, and technological evolution in associated sectors. This study has been expected to provide the much-required insight of how the sales will fare in the foreseeable future.To Avail the Discount on this Report@: https://www.qyreports.com/request-sample?report-id=98073 There has been a huge demand for the market in a lot of global accomplishments and that is why quite a few market players have had the keen and motivation to go to the source of the pattern to keep an eye on the extensive market performance. With the most prosperous research information, the market players were able to strengthen the indulgence of the global IoT Analytics Market.Objective of IoT Analytics Market Study:- To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 05 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global IoT Analytics Market .- To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth.- To analyze the IoT Analytics Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc.- To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW).- To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective- To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by technologies, by applications and sub-segments.- To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market- To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Global IoT Analytics Market.To know more about Report Visit @: http://qyreports.com/enquiry-before-buying?report-id=98073 After studying key companies, the report focuses on the startups contributing towards the growth of the market. Possible mergers and acquisitions among the startups and key organizations are identified by the reports authors in the study. Most companies in the IoT Analytics Market are currently engaged in adopting new technologies, strategies, product developments, expansions, and long-term contracts to maintain their dominance in the global market.Reasons for Buying this ReportThis report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamicsIt provides a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growthIt provides a six-year forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to growIt helps in understanding the key product segments and their futureIt provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitorsIt helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segments
PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 13:13:54

Environment pollution legislation will continue to drive the adoption of vapour recovery units, especially in developing regions. Rising awareness on reducing the impact of pollutants, combined with regulatory pressures on providing workers with safer working environments will continue to influence installation decisions. Potential economic benefits of installing vapour recovery units are expected to drive adoption; however, high initial costs can impede growth. The prevailing oil crisis in the Middle East is expected to have a ripple effect on the global vapour recovery market, with global revenues declining to US$ 471 Mn in 2016, down from US$ 481 Mn in 2015. The long-term outlook on the market remains positive, with the global market expected to increase at a moderate CAGR of 3.2% during the forecast period 2016-2026.North America, the largest market for vapour recovery units, will witness further proliferation of compressor-based VRU; however, the market will continue to have a low presence of players engaged in distribution of VRU at downstream process. John Zink, AEREON and ZEECO are key players in the production and distribution of VRU at downstream process.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-993 VRU installations will continue to increase at a steady rate in Europe. While the current oil crisis will negatively impact the market in Middle East, the market will grow moderately in the long run. Asia Pacific and Latin America will witness moderate growth, and like North America, compressor-based VRUs will witness steady demand.VRU installations will continue to remain higher in upstream process vis-a-vis downstream process. Increasing preference for VRUs over flare gas recovery technologies will continue to impact VRU installations for upstream processes. The upstream process will continue to account for leading revenue share of the global vapour recovery unit market. By application, storage tank vents will continue to account for leading market share at upstream, whereas marine loading will remain a key application segment at downstream process. By end-use, oil & gas will remain the most attractive sector for VRU manufacturers and distributors, followed by brewery & food processing.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-993 Key market participants covered in the report include Hy Bon/EDI, PSG Dover, AEREON, Petrogas Systems, John Zink Company, LLC, Cimarron Energy Inc.,Wintek Corporation, Accel Compression Inc., Whirlwind Methane Recovery Systems, LLC.
Growth of the global laparoscopic devices market is mainly driven by rising private and foreign investments as well as adoption of the subscription commerce based model for product selling. Due to intense competition, manufacturers of laparoscopic devices are reducing prices of their products to remain competitive in the market.

PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 12:03:14

Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers key insights on the global laparoscopic devices market in a publication titled Laparoscopic Devices Market: Global Industry Analysis 2013  2017 and Opportunity Assessment 2018  2028. In terms of value, the global laparoscopic devices market is projected to register a healthy CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period due to various factors, regarding which FMI offers vital insights in detail. Increasing demand for minimally invasive procedures is expected to bolster overall growth of the laparoscopic devices market globally.Global Laparoscopic Devices Market: Segmental InsightsThe global laparoscopic devices market is segmented on the basis of product type, therapeutic application, end use and region. On the basis of product type, the market has been segmented into direct energy system devices, internal closure devices, trocars, insufflation devices, hand access instruments, robotic assisted surgical systems and laparoscopes. Direct energy system devices product segment is expected to register impressive CAGR of 7.0% during the forecast period. On the basis of therapeutic application, the market is segmented into bariatric surgery, colorectal surgery, general surgery, gynecological surgery and urological surgery. Colorectal surgery is expected to dominate the overall laparoscopic devices market throughout the forecast period and register a value of US$ 2,605.5 Mn by 2018 end. On the basis of end use, the global laparoscopic devices market is segmented into hospitals, clinics and ambulatory surgical centers. In terms of end use, the ambulatory surgical centers segment is expected to witness fastest growth during the forecast period.Request to View Sample of Research Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-497 Global Laparoscopic Devices Market: Factors Impacting Revenue GrowthGovernment initiatives to offer better healthcare amenities coupled with increasing healthcare FDI influx is boosting overall demand for laparoscopic devices worldwide. Moreover, over the last few years, there has been significant growth in the number of skilled laparoscopic surgeons in developing regions, but at a comparatively slower pace compared to that in developed regions. Furthermore, demand for minimally invasive therapies is expected to offer momentum to overall sales of laparoscopic devices worldwide. In the last few years, bariatric surgery procedures have increased worldwide due to rising demand for obesity treatment. According to the World Obesity Federation, obesity rate is predominantly higher in developed regions than in developing regions. This has led to a surge in demand for bariatric surgery. Much of the demand is for minimally invasive therapies that are safer than conventional surgical procedures. As per the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), the number of bariatric surgeries increase 5% to 6% each year. In tandem, sales of laparoscopic devices have also increased worldwide.Global Laparoscopic Devices Market: Regional AnalysisThis report covers trends driving revenue growth of each segment and offers analysis and insights of the potential opportunities offered in the laparoscopic devices market in all regions of the world. North America is expected to dominate the market throughout the forecast period. Foray of leading North American companies into the direct energy system devices market over the last few years is expected to boost overall sales of these devices in the region. For instance, Olympus entered into this product segment in 2012 and since then has been investing significantly on product promotion in the market in North America. Increasing adoption of laparoscopic devices in Western Europe is marked by high rate of gastric and bypass surgeries performed in Sweden and Germany. As per independent estimates, in 2014, Germany witnessed 30% increase in gastric and bypass surgery procedures. Rise in demand for minimally invasive therapies in Western Europe is expected to boost growth of the bariatric surgery therapeutic application segment over the forecast period.Request customized copy of report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-497 Key PlayersKey players in the global laparoscopic devices market include Olympus Corporation, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Medtronic, Stryker Corporation, Smith & Nephew, CareFusion Corporation (Sub. Becton, Dickinson and Company), Ethicon US, LLC. (Sub. Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc.), KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG, Richard Wolf GmbH, Endocontrol SA and Tekno-Medical Optik Surgery GmbH. A large number of players operating in the laparoscopic devices market are focused on entering into collaborations and partnerships with local distributors and retailers in order to enhance their market presence globally. This strategy also enables companies to increase product visibility across key regional markets. Companies are focusing on instilling competitive capabilities to strengthen their market presence worldwide.
PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 13:37:13

Electro-pneumatic train brakes are modern rolling stock braking systems that offer improved performance as compared to traditional pneumatic brakes. Electro-pneumatic train brakes are a part of train safety systems and are thus critical components. Hence, with the increase in train production and repair activities, the demand for electro-pneumatic brakes is expected to witness significant growth in the coming years.Railway is an effective, reliable and preferred means of mass transportation for passengers and freight. With technical advancement and increasing train speed and load, train brakes have also evolved to reliably and safely stop the train. Electro-pneumatic train brakes are designed to overcome the operational lag of the traditional pneumatic braking systems. They use electronic controls for the faster control of traditional air brakes to increase effectiveness, enhance reliability, optimize air pressure control and reduce stopping distance.Electro-Pneumatic Train Brakes Market: Market DynamicsRailways are an integral part of public transportation systems and are expected to play a crucial role in the years to come, owing to the increasing passenger density and globalization across regions. Governments around the globe are significantly investing towards the development of railway infrastructure, which has been driving the growth of the electro-pneumatic train brakes market. Furthermore, with technical advancement, high speed trains are gaining traction and such trains require reliable and high speed and load braking systems. Moreover, to meet the growing demand for transportation, authorities across various countries are investing on strengthening their railway networks, which is expected to augment the growth of the electro-pneumatic train brakes market. Further, with the increasing inclination towards safety and security along with the stringent rules & regulations implemented by authorities and governments of developed and developing countries regarding the safety of passengers and freight is a prominent driver for the growth of the electro-pneumatic train brakes market.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-8427 Market participants across the global electro-pneumatic train brakes market are emphasizing on improving the robustness and reliability of their electro-pneumatic braking systems. Hence, increasing research & development activities towards product enhancement, supported by government initiatives and funding, are expected to drive the growth of the electro-pneumatic train brakes market over the forecast period. However, high initial cost and presence of counterfeit products from China-based manufacturers are countering the growth of the market to an extent.Electro-Pneumatic Train Brakes Market: SegmentationThe global electro-pneumatic train brakes market is segmented on the basis of brake type and train type.On the basis of brake type, the global electro-pneumatic train brakes market can be segmented as:Self-lapping brakesRetardation controllersVariable load controlP-wire controlOn the basis of train type, the global electro-pneumatic train brakes market can be segmented as:Passenger trainsFreight trainsMetro trainsHigh speed trainsOthersElectro-Pneumatic Train Brakes Market: Regional OutlookEurope is expected to hold a significant share of the global electro-pneumatic train brakes market. The market in the region is expected to be driven by the increasing need for repair and refurbishment. The North America electro-pneumatic train brakes market is expected to be a lucrative region for market participants, with growth being driven by the increasing demand for trains in the region. Asia Pacific, with booming industrialization, rapid urbanization and population growth, is witnessing a need for a proper transport network, which is set to augment the growth of the electro-pneumatic train brakes market during the forecast period. The electro-pneumatic train brakes market in developing countries such as China and India is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period, owing to the increasing government investments for the development of public transport and high-speed train networks in the country. The Middle East & Africa electro-pneumatic train brakes market is expected to grow at a relatively moderate pace when compared with other regions.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-8427 Electro-Pneumatic Train Brakes Market: Market ParticipantsExamples of some of the market participants operating in the global electro-pneumatic train brakes market include Knorr Brake Company, Wabtec Corporation, DAKO-CZ A.S. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Inherited orphan blood disorders therapeutics market has been segmented on the basis of disorder type, therapy Type, distribution channel and Region. Some of the players in the global inherited orphan blood disorders therapeutics market are Biogen Idec, amida Cell, Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Sangamo BioSciences, Global Blood Therapeutics

Inherited Orphan Blood Disorders Therapeutics Market

PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 10:36:22

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Future Market Insights

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# 658 Words

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: https://www.futuremarketinsights.comSEO Manager3479183531

Blood disorders are mainly affect the one or more parts of the blood and prevent blood from doing its basic functions in the body. Blood disorders may be acute or chronic based on the cause and part of the blood system affected. Many blood disorders are inherited and some are acquired over the course of lifetime in a human being. Orphan diseases are those diseases which affect the fewer than 200,000 people which has been not adopted by the pharmaceutical companies owing to little financial incentives for discovery or marketing. There are several blood disorders which are considered orphan owing to lesser prevalence. Inherited blood disorders are seen due to genetic abnormalities in the patient population. Inherited orphan blood disorders includes sickle cell anaemia, thalassemia, and Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) which are less prevalent. There are very few therapeutic options available for addressing inherited orphan blood disorders.Inherited Orphan Blood Disorders Therapeutics Market: Drivers and RestraintsInherited orphan blood disorders therapeutics market is driven by the increasing prevalence of inherited blood diseases in the developing and under developed economies. In addition availability of high unmet needs, increasing product pipeline for treating orphan blood disorders expected to create demand for these treatment options over the forecast period. Inherited orphan blood disorders therapeutics market is driven by increasing governments and regulatory bodies support by means of research and development investment, fast track approval for discovering newer treatments for these disorders. Apart from aforementioned factors financial incentives, premium pricing for these products helps to achieve significant revenue growth over the forecast period.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2759 Inherited orphan blood disorders therapeutics market hindered by the lack of awareness among healthcare professionals and patients about the disorder and treatments. The market restrained by slow adoption of treatments due to cost associated with it and absence of permanent cure for these diseases.Inherited Orphan Blood Disorders Therapeutics Market: SegmentationInherited orphan blood disorders therapeutics market has been segmented on the basis of disorder type, therapy Type, distribution channel and Region.Based on the disorder type, the global inherited orphan blood disorders therapeutics entry market is segmented into the following:Sickle Cell AnemiaThalassemiaHereditary Angioedema (HAE)Based on the therapy type, the global inherited orphan blood disorders therapeutics market is segmented into the following:Blood transfusionBone Marrow TransplantAntibioticsAnalgesicsHydroxyureaIron ChelationFolic AcidC1-inhibitorskallikrein inhibitorOthersBased on the end user, the global inherited orphan blood disorders therapeutics market is segmented into the following:HospitalsPharmaciesDrug StoresInherited Orphan Blood Disorders Therapeutics Market: OverviewInherited orphan blood disorders therapeutics market is witnessing significant changes due to increasing product pipelines and rising awareness among clinicians about the disorders. Companies continuous investment in creating awareness and implementation of registries by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expected to change market dynamics over the forecast period.Inherited Orphan Blood Disorders Therapeutics Market: Region-wise OutlookGeographically, global inherited orphan blood disorders therapeutics market is classified into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America will remain key market for global inheritedorphan blood disorders therapeutics market due to rising R&D activities by key players, better reimbursement policies, and availability of advanced healthcare infrastructure helps to maintain larger market share in the globalinheritedorphan blood disorders therapeutics market by the region. Asia Pacific is anticipated to present growth opportunity owing to large untapped market and growing governments interventions for improving healthcare infrastructure in the region.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2759 Inherited Orphan Blood Disorders Therapeutics Market: Key PlayersSome of the players in the global inherited orphan blood disorders therapeutics market are Biogen Idec, amida Cell, Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Sangamo BioSciences, Global Blood Therapeutics, Mast Therapeutics, Genetix Pharmaceuticals Inc., Emmaus Medical, Inc., Prolong Pharmaceuticals, Calgene Corporation, Invenux LLC, Optinova Ab, HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals, and Acceleron Pharma. to name a few.
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.

PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 09:06:31

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Office: Dublin 2Suite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandHead of Marketing+353-1-4434-232

Neuralgia is an abnormal symptom with effects like sharp, burning, and mostly severe pain, due to an irritated or damaged nerve. The causative nerve may be from anywhere in the body, The damage caused by the nerve is associated with several factors like aging, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, shingles infection, and more. Therefore, Neuralgia Treatment for the pain is directed towards its roots or its site of origin. Potential Neuralgia Treatment may include surgery to relieve the pressure, control of sugar level in the blood of diabetic patients, physical therapy or body massage, epidural injections to 'turn off' pain signals and reduce inflammation directed at a particular nerve or nerve group, and medicinal Neuralgia Treatment to reduce the pain. The Neuralgia Treatment market is driven by the occurrence of common neuralgias such as trigeminal, postherpetic, glossopharyngeal, and occipital neuralgia. More uncommon Neuralgia Treatment may be required for periorbital and auricular neuralgias.Get Free Exclusive Sample Copy of This Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=2282 Neuralgia Treatment Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe global Neuralgia Treatment market is primarily driven by the increase in the geriatric population around the world. The disorder is more common in people aged 50 years or more, which drives the Neuralgia Treatment market. Although, it can occur at any age. Adults suffering from multiple sclerosis and diabetes also have a high risk of developing neuralgias, which also significantly contributes to the Neuralgia Treatment market. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS) 2018 report, the incidences of new cases is approximately 12 per 100,000 people per year. The disorder is more common in women than in men. If pain still persists even after conservative Neuralgia Treatment for several months, it is recommended to undergo spine surgery. Neuralgia Treatment involving spine surgery comes with high medical costs, and is unaffordable for people from low income regions such as Asia and Africa, where most people often remain untreated.Overall, drug-based Neuralgia Treatment therapy will remain the first line of treatment for many, and will contribute majorly to the global Neuralgia Treatment market. However, nerve blocks surgery and other procedures may be necessity in a few cases as far as Neuralgia Treatment is concerned.Neuralgia Treatment Market: OverviewOverall incidence estimates for various neuralgias conditions are as follows: 4.3/100,000/year for Trigeminal Neuralgia, 3.3/100,000/year for Postherpetic Neuralgia, 0.7/100,000/year for Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia, and 3.2/100,000/year for Occipital Neuralgia. Based on such indices, the Neuralgia Treatment market is poised to grow at a significant rate. In the Neuralgia Treatment market, pharmacologic agents will remain as the primary line of treatment for many. The most common neuralgias that drive the Neuralgia Treatment market include trigeminal, postherpetic, glossopharyngeal, and occipital neuralgia. These neuralgias differ in their pathophysiology, topography, complications, and treatment approach, necessitating awareness amongst individuals.Ask For Customized Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=RC&rep_id=2282 Neuralgia Treatment Market: Regional OutlookGlobally, North America, which includes the U.S., is expected to majorly contribute to the Neuralgia Treatment market. Aggressive healthcare investments and increasing awareness among people about Neuralgia Treatments will contribute to the growth of this regions market. Asia Pacific is anticipated to have the second-largest market share in the Neuralgia Treatment market, primarily due to the largest geriatric population in the world present in China, India, and Japan. In addition, improved living conditions and better health care initiatives by governing bodies will also fuel the growth of the Neuralgia Treatment market. Europe, with its rising prevalence of chronic pain disorders in its developed and developing countries, will be the third-largest contributor to the Neuralgia Treatment market. Latin America and the Middle East & Africa are expected to show considerable growth in the neuralgias market in the near future, thanks to some of the developed and emerging economies such as GCC countries, Brazil, and Mexico, which are evolving with good healthcare governance.Neuralgia Treatment Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players operating in the global neuralgias market are Allergan Plc, Merz Pharma GmbH & Co., Biogen, Inc., Merz Pharma GmbH & Co., Abbott Laboratories, Trigemina Inc., Pfizer Inc., Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline Plc. F, Lupin, and others.The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, and 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 segment. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.For more information on this report, please visit: https://www.factmr.com/report/2282/neuralgia-treatment-market About Fact.MR Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFactMR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@ factmr.com Web: www.factmr.com/ Read Industrial News : http://insiderstribune.com/
Computerised physician order entry market hindered by the time and money it takes to install a CPOE system. The market restrained by slow adoption due to healthcare setups resistance, largely because of the disturbance to existing healthcare settings and the cost of application, which includes CPOE training.

Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) Market

PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 10:35:10

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Computerized physician Order Entry (CPOE), which refers to the system in which physicians directly place orders electronically, with the orders transmitted directly to the recipient. This can be beat example of digital transformation of physicians prescribing pattern. Computerized physician order entry is the method of entering medication orders or instructions electronically instead of on paper charts. A prime advantage of CPOE is that it helps to mitigate errors pertaining to transcription or poor handwriting of medication orders. CPOE systems are designed to emulate the workflow of the paper chart. CPOE systems are frequently used in conjunction with e-prescribing systems, by which the healthcare professionals made cognizant to a current medications of the patient and drug allergies. CPOE systems were basically designed to improve the patient safety by reducing medication orders, but recent systems permit electronic ordering of consultations, procedures, and tests as well. CPOE permits to enter medical order into Electronic Health Records (EHR) directly by HCPs or other staff members. The CPOE acronym can be understood differently as computerized physician order entry, computerized prescription order entry, and computerized provider order entry.Computerized Physician Order Entry (COPE) Market: Drivers and RestraintsGlobal Computerized Physician Order Entry (COPE) market is driven by the conscious initiatives of the various governments across the globe for the patient safety. In U.S. According to the provisions of the Healthcare Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, healthcare organizations that achieved meaningful use compliance by 2011 were eligible to receive incentive payments and moreover those who have failed to achieve that standard by 2015 may incur financial penalties. Computerized Physician Order Entry (COPE) market is driven by several advantages the system bring in to the healthcare setups that include reducing problems with handwriting, drug names misinterpretation, drug interactions, and specification errors. Computerised physician order system helps in quick transmission to the laboratory, pharmacy, or radiology department this helps in recommending alternative tests or treatments that may be safer or lower cost.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2754 Computerised physician order entry market hindered by the time and money it takes to install a CPOE system. The market restrained by slow adoption due to healthcare setups resistance, largely because of the disturbance to existing healthcare settings and the cost of application, which includes CPOE training. The implementation of CPOE has proven to be a complex process that led to abandonment of the systemComputerized Physician Order Entry (COPE) Market: SegmentationGlobal computerized physician order entry market has been segmented on the basis of Component, Deployment Mode, Type, End User and Region.Based on the componenttype, the global computerized physician order entry market is segmented into the following:SoftwareHardwareServicesBased on the deployment mode, the global computerized physician order entry market is segmented into the following:Web-basedOn PremiseCloud-basedBased on the type, the global computerized physician order entry market is segmented into the following:Integrated CPOEStandalone CPOEBased on the end user, the global computerized physician order entry market is segmented into the following:HospitalsClinicsAmbulatory Surgical CentersPharmaciesLaboratoriesComputerized Physician Order Entry (COPE) Market: OverviewComputerized physician order entry market is witnessing significant changes due to fast growing inpatient and outpatient settings in across the globe. The majority of hospitals and outpatient practices now use some form of CPOE in U.S. Computerized physician order entry market is gradually progressing, and is chiefly driven by government proactive measures to improve infrastructure and healthcare IT, for reducing healthcare expenditure. Players in the COPE market launching newer products, upgrading the older versions, collaborating with the new entrants to improve their market presence and revenues.Computerized Physician Order Entry (COPE) Market: Region-wise OutlookGeographically, veterinary pain management drugs market is classified into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America will remain key markets for computerized physician order entry market due to governments proactive measure for the implementation of COPE moreover, increasing awareness among healthcare fraternity and availability of advanced healthcare infrastructure helps to maintain larger market share in the globalcomputerized physician order entry market by the region. Asia Pacific is anticipated to present growth opportunity owing to large untapped market and growing governments interventions for improving healthcare infrastructure in the region. Europe market expected to grow at moderately owing to recent statutory requirements by the European Commissions eHealth Action Plan.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2754 Computerized Physician Order Entry (COPE) Market: Key PlayersSome of the players in the Global Veterinary Pain Management Drugs market are Medical Information Technology, Inc., Siemens Healthcare, Carestream Health, Allscripts, Athenahealth, Inc., Philips Healthcare and Cerner Corporation, eClinicalWorks LLC, GE healthcare to name a few.
Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the  Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Market Estimated to Experience a Hike in Growth by 2026 report to their offering Upcoming

Future Market Insights

PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 12:21:34

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Future Market InsightsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: abhishek.b@futuremarketinsights.comFMI Blog: https://www.fmiblog.com/Web: https://www.fuManager+1-347-918-3531

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a blood and bone marrow disease that usually gets adverse slowly. It is one of the most common types of leukemia in adults. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes.It may affect red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is the second most common cancer in adult males. About 90% of chronic lymphocytic leukemia is diagnosed in middle age. Incidence rate of CLL is high in men and women over 50 years of age or middle age. It is rarely seen in people under age 40, and is extremely rare in children. In CLL, majority of the blood stem cells become abnormal lymphocytes healthy white blood cells. The abnormal lymphocytes may also be called leukemia cells. These abnormal lymphocytes are not able to fight infection very well. Also, as the number of lymphocytes increases in the blood and bone marrow, there is less room for healthy white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. This may cause infection, anemia, and easy bleeding which may result in death. In 2016, American Cancer Society has estimated that in the United States about18,960 new cases of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)and approximately 4,660 deaths by CLL are observed up till now.Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Market: Drivers and Restraints : Increase in aging population is an impetus for the growth of the CLL market. The increasing incidences of cancers in developed and developing countries such as India, and Brazil are expected to boost market growth. Moreover, exceptional regulatory designations offered to certain drugs. CLL is a disease which affects a minute percentage of the population, thats why they are treated by a few marketed drugs only. A small or medium number of patients creates a very small market for these drugs. So it may or may not be profitable for companies to develop these drugs as recovering the research and developments of the drug expenses would be difficult.Thats why collaboration agreements and co-development are some of the key strategies adopted by top market players. For example, recently GlaxoSmithKline plc and Genmab A/S, have entered into co-development and collaboration agreement for drug Arzerra (ofatumumab), used in the treatment of relapsed CLL. Other two important drivers for CLL treatment market are family history of blood disorders and excessive exposure to harmful chemicals. Another trend that is expected to inspire market growth is a rise in the development of combination of drug therapies. Combination therapies for the treatment of CLL were available only in the form of chemotherapy combination drugs. Previously approved combinations were only few.However , stringent regulatory guidelines are expected to hamper market growth. Moreover, the high overall treatment cost for the therapy is another factor inhibiting the market growth. For example, GA101/RG7159 was launched in the market in 2014 by Genentech Inc (U.S.). The drug costs approximately at $409,580 for patients who take them annually.Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Market: Segmentation :The global chronic lymphocytic leukemiamarket is classified on the basis of type, route of administration, type of drug, end user. Based on type, the global chronic lymphocytic leukemiamarket is segmented into the following: Acute myeloid (or myelogenous) leukemia (AML), Chronic myeloid (or myelogenous) leukemia (CML), Acute lymphocytic (or lymphoblastic) leukemia (ALL), Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) Based on Drug Route Administration (ROA) the global chronic Lymphocytic Leukemiamarket is segmented into the following: Oral, Parenteral Based on types of chemo drugs used the global chronic lymphocytic leukemiamarket is segmented into the following: Purine analogs., Alkylating agents, Corticosteroids , Other drugs Based on end user global chronic lymphocytic leukemiamarket is segmented into the following: Hospitals, Private Clinics, Diagnostic Laboratories, Research Laboratories, Research Institutes, Drug StoreChronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Market overview: Conventionally, the CLL therapeutics market is dominated by the parenteral segment. In the parenteral ROA, the drug is administered by the intravenous, subcutaneous, intrathecal, or intramuscular routes. But slowly oral drugs are expected to capture vast market share. Drugs delivered by oral route are absorbed rapidly and the onset of action is fast. Moreover, oral ROA is essential during emergencies when there is a need for greater patient compliance.For example:  Imbruvica, rituximab, idelalisib are oral tablets given to CLL patients alone or in combination. The efficacy of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and idelalisib (Zydelig) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) suggests the drugs could potentially replace chemoimmunotherapy completely for some patients.Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Market: Regional Overview : Region wise, the global chronic lymphocytic leukemiamarket is classified into regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America dominated the global market for chronic lymphocytic leukemiadue to good reimbursement policies for diagnostic, therapeutic procedures and number of government organizations investigating the efficiency. After North America this market is followed by Europe due to increase in the number of patients suffering from CLL. Asia Pacific region is expected to perceive a significantly faster growth over the forecast period due to a number of branded drugs will become available over the next four years, with the expanding patient pool receiving greater access to such new treatments.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2481 Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Market: Key Players : Some of the key players in the market of near patient molecular solution are F. Hoffman-La Roche, AbbVie, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Gilead Sciences, Novartis, and Johnson & Johnson.
PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 13:37:40

Borosilicate glass is a type of glass in which silica and boron trioxide are the main constituents in the formulation of glass. Borosilicate glass contains eighty one percent silica, twelve percent boric oxide, five percent soda and two percent alumina.Borosilicate glass is manufactured by melting & combining silica sand, boric oxide, alumina and soda ash. The process of manufacturing depends upon the product geometry. Borosilicate glass has various properties, which include low thermal expansion coefficient, high thermal resistance, high chemical corrosion resistance, high mechanical strength and low gas melting temperature, among others. Owing to these diverse properties, borosilicate glass has a variety of applications ranging from cookware to laboratory equipment. In addition, borosilicate glass is widely used in medical implantable devices as well as electronic devices.Borosilicate glass is also used in solar panels and in rear windshields in certain automotive vehicles. Borosilicate glass is manufactured under several trade names, which include Pyrex, Borosil, Supermax, Endural, etc. Despite high thermal resistance, borosilicate glass can be cracked due to sudden or uneven temperature variations. Moreover, borosilicate glass cannot be heated with strong alkaline solutions or phosphoric acid, and these are some of the drawbacks associated with the usage of borosilicate glass.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-8451 Borosilicate Glass Market: DynamicsAdvancements in medical and healthcare technologies is one of the major factors driving the borosilicate glass market, owing to its extensive usage in implantable medical devices and other medical applications such as bone cement, ampoules, prosthetic eyes, etc. Increasing disposable income is leading to growth in the consumption of electronic devices, which is leading to the growth of the electronic and semiconductor industry. This is, in turn, boosting the demand for borosilicate glass. Rising population, growing urbanisation and increased spending capacity have boosted the consumption of consumer and home appliances, which is also boosting the borosilicate glass market. Furthermore, increasing solar power projects in developing countries will fuel the market for borosilicate glass. Growth of the automotive industry is positively impacting the borosilicate glass market.On the other hand, increasing R&D activities and the increasing number of research collaborations with universities and institutes to enhance the properties of borosilicate glass is also contributing to the growth of the borosilicate glass market. However, oxygen torch is required during the process of manufacturing borosilicate glass. The high price of oxygen gas and restrictions on the use of oxygen cylinders are some of the factors hampering the growth of the borosilicate glass market.Borosilicate Glass Market: SegmentationThe global borosilicate glass market can be segmented on the basis of type and end-use industry.The global borosilicate glass market is segmented on the basis of type as:Non-alkaline-earth borosilicate glassAlkaline-earth-containing borosilicate glassHigh-borate borosilicate glassThe global borosilicate glass market is segmented on the basis of end-use industry as:Laboratories & PharmaceuticalsElectronics & SemiconductorLightingHome & Commercial AppliancesAutomotiveBorosilicate Glass Market: Regional OutlookRapid growth of population, along with increasing urbanisation and rise in disposable income, has increased the consumption of consumer & home appliances in the Asia Pacific region. In addition, the growth of the electronic and semiconductor industries in countries, such as South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan, has also boosted the borosilicate glass market in the region. Moreover, government initiatives for the development of solar power stations in countries such as China & India have also contributed to market growth. Owing to the above-mentioned factors, Asia Pacific is estimated to be a prominent market for borosilicate glass.Despite being mature economies, regions such as North America and Western Europe will be promising markets for borosilicate glass due to its increasing adoption for various applications. The implementation of solar power projects, along with increasing urbanisation and rising spending capacity, is expected to make Latin America a lucrative potential market for borosilicate glass. The Middle East and Africa is expected to collectively become a strong market for borosilicate glass owing to its increasing demand for various end-use applications.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-8451 Borosilicate Glass Market: Key ParticipantsExamples of some of the market participants operating in the global borosilicate glass market are:Corning Incorporated, AGC Inc., SCHOTT AG, GVB GmbH, Hangzhou AiJias glass Products Co., Ltd., Swift Glass, Borosil Glass Works Ltd., Hilgenberg GmbH, Gerresheimer AG, Noble Glass Works Pvt. Ltd. and Kavalierglass of North America, Inc.
Biologics Contract Manufacturing Market

PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 10:30:07

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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: https://www.futuremarketinsights.comSEO Manager3479183531

Biologics are genetically engineered proteins which originate from human genes. These drugs target the specific parts of the immune system. Biologics are entirely different from chemically synthesized drugs. There is wide range of biologics products include vaccines, blood components, allergenic, somatic cells, gene therapy and recombinant therapeutic proteins. Biologics are constituted as nucleic acids or proteins or may be cells and tissue from living entities. Biologics are isolated from different sources such as animal, human or microbes by using different biotechnological methods. Biologics are a complex mixture, and it is heat sensitive product and highly susceptible to microbial contamination. Therefore manufacturing of biologics needs very aseptic environment and skilled professional. Hence, the demand for biologic contract manufacturing has shown subsequent growth. The pharmaceutical companies are signing an agreement with CMOs for the manufacturing of biologics.Biologics Contract Manufacturing Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe factors driving the growth of biologics contract manufacturing are growing number of drug development by traditional pharmaceutical companies and the entrance of various small manufacturers in the pharmaceutical market. Increasing rate of drug approval by FDA and number drugs in the pipeline has also boosted the growth of biologic contract manufacturing market. Increase in generic drugs competition and rise in patent expiry has also propelled the growth of biologics contract manufacturing market. Increasing geriatric population and increasing the prevalence of diseases such as cancer are driving the growth of biologic contract manufacturing market. Production of biologics requires highly skilled professional and aseptic environment which will restrain the growth of this market. Beside that production of biologics are very complex and costly method which can again hamper the growth of this market.Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2679 Biologics Contract Manufacturing Market: SegmentationBased on product type biologics contract manufacturing market is segmented into followingAntisenseCell TherapyGene TherapyGrowth FactorsInterferonsMonoclonal AntibodiesRecombinant HormonesRNA InterferenceVaccinesOthersBased on indication biologics contract manufacturing market is segmented into followingAutoimmune DisordersBlood DisordersCancerCardiovascular DiseasesDigestive DisorderEye ConditionGenetic DisorderInfectious DiseasesMusculoskeletal DisordersNeurologic DisordersRespiratory DisordersSkin DiseasesOthersBased on geography biologics contract manufacturing market is segmented into followingNorth AmericaLatin AmericaWestern EuropeEastern EuropeAsia Pacific excluding JapanJapanMiddle East and AfricaBiologics Contract Manufacturing Market: OverviewBiologics contract manufacturing is expected to show significant growth over the forecast period. Biologics cover around 10-15% of revenue from overall revenue generated by leading pharmaceutical companies. Biologics contract manufacturing market is expected to show double growth in every five years. This market is growing because of traditional pharmaceutical companies are unable for meet the need required for the production of biologics, besides that they are also the lack of skilled professional. Biologic contract manufacturing market can be classified by product type and indication. On the basis on product type biologic contract manufacturing market is classified as antisense, gene therapy, cell therapy, growth factors, interferons, monoclonal antibodies, recombinant hormones, RNA interference, vaccines and others. From all product type monoclonal antibodies is expected to dominate the biologic contract manufacturing market.Biologics Contract Manufacturing Market: Regional OverviewRegion-wise contract manufacturing market is classified as North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America is expected to dominate the biologics contract manufacturing due to rise in FDA approval in last decade. Western Europe and Asia-Pacific then follow this market. Western Europe is projected to show subsequent growth due to the high availability of skilled professional for the production of biologics. Asia-Pacific region is expected to show the fastest growth over the forecast period owing to rise in the number of CMOs.Request to View TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2679 Biologics Contract Manufacturing Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in biologics contract manufacturing market are Boehringer Ingelheim, Lonza, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies U.S.A., Inc., Rentschler Biotechnologie GmbH, Celonic AG, AutekBio Co. Ltd., WuXiAppTec, Kemwell Biopharma, Shasun Pharma, Intas Pharmaceuticals, Syngene, Piramal Pharma Solutions, AAIPharma Services, Alpax Pharmaceuticals, Cantab Biopharmaceuticals Ltd, 3P Biopharmaceuticals, and BIBITEC GmbH.
PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 13:37:52

The continuously changing world and the technological enhancement in the field of communication becoming more connected thereby creating the need to boosting the technology in an automobile at a faster pace- automotive radar, NFC (Near Field Communication), cellular connectivity, and wireless power are now integrated into the mid and high-end automobile.Automobile is no longer just a means of transportation but has been embedded with various communication interfaces and devices. Automotive NFC (Near Field Communication) is basically a short range bidirectional communication technology which allows interaction distance of few centimetres at a specified data transfer rate. Automotive NFC is a set of communication practice that allows two electronic equipment, among which is usually one is a portable device such as a smartphone, to establish communication by bringing them within the short distance of other which is fixed to the part. A subset of NFC, RFID appears to expand beyond mobile phones to automobile applications. This can be seen as a differentiating factor for many new in-car functions for the customers and also can simplify the existing in-car functions. Near-field communication stack for an automobile is a runtime software which implements the NFC protocol stack.Request For Report Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-8465 Automotive NFC Market: DynamicsDemand for Automotive NFC (Near Field Communication) is estimated to increase over the forecast period due to growing usage of vehicles and increasing preference by end users to have an convenient communication system installed in the vehicle. Automotive NFC consumption is highly dependent on the production and new sales of automobile across the globe. Attributes, such as rising per capita income and increased spending by the general population are expected to increase the sales of automobile in the developing economies which are expected to boost the consumption of Automotive NFC in the long-term scenario. Also, individual preference towards the adoption of new technology and innovative products is also expected to fuel the growth of the Automotive NFC market. Increase in the sales of high-end automobiles life have also increased the market of automotive NFC and anticipated to fuel the growth of Automotive NFC market over the forecast period as well.However, the factors such as low general awareness and low adoption rate in developing economic countries has been seen as a restraint to the growth of the automotive NFC market over the forecast period. However, the prevailing trend to use new technology device for improved results will contribute towards the growth of the demand for automotive NFC market, during the forecast period.Automotive NFC Market: SegmentationBased on the type, the Automotive NFC market can be segmented as follows:106 Kbit/s212 Kbit/s424 Kbit/sBased on the Application, the Automotive NFC market can be segmented as follows:On Board UnitsCar KeysOtherBased on the sales channel, the Automotive NFC market can be segmented as follows:AftermarketOriginal Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)Based on the vehicle type, the Automotive NFC market can be segmented as follows:Passenger CarCompactMid-sizePremiumLuxurySUVLight commercial vehicleHeavy commercial vehicleAutomotive NFC Market: Regional OutlookEurope, followed by North America, is expected to hold a major share in the global Automotive NFC (Near Field Communication) market and is expected to behold it even in the forecast period. The Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market in the Automotive NFC market owing to high growth in new vehicle sales in the region. North America and Europe are a mature market and it is expected to hold more than half of the market share of the global Automotive NFC market. Rest of the world is estimated to account for a relatively small share of the Automotive NFC market.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-8465 Automotive NFC Market: Market ParticipantsSome of the examples of the market participants operating across the value chain of the global Automotive NFC market are:Sony CorporationNXP Semiconductors N.V.Broadcom Inc.Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.STMicroelectronics N.V.Panasonic Corporation
PR-Inside.com: 2019-02-15 17:12:01

Investment to accelerate Anaquas growth in the rapidly expanding Intellectual Property Management space

Anaqua Receives Major Investment from Astorg

Amanda Hollis

PR Manager, Anaqua

617-375-2626

ahollis@Anaqua.com

Anaqua, the leading provider of innovation and intellectual property management solutions, today announced that the business will receive a significant equity investment from Astorg, a leading European private equity firm. As part of this transaction, Astorg will become the controlling shareholder of Anaqua, replacing Insight Venture Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners, both of which have been investors since 2013.

The transaction will accelerate Anaquas global organic growth and acquisition strategy. This announcement follows the recent launch of AQX, Anaquas leading-edge software platform. With the integrated AQX platform, Anaquas customers can seamlessly access analytics and tech-enabled services to transform their IP assets into business success.

Astorg is exclusively focused on investing in global B2B niche market leaders with a clear vision and demonstrated ability to drive growth, create value and enjoy long-term relationships with their clients.

Astorg will be a great partner going forward and this strengthens Anaquas capacity to pursue strategic growth initiatives, said Bob Romeo, CEO of Anaqua. This is a clear vote of confidence in Anaquas direction, products, services, people, and clients.

From our initial interactions with the Anaqua team, we recognized a unique ability to consistently deliver innovative market-leading, differentiated solutions, said Francois de Mitry, Managing Partner of Astorg.

Anaquas unique partnership with its clients combined with a clear vision to transform IP into business success will be a game-changer for the IP industry, said Michael Beetz, Director of Astorg.

Since our investment in 2013, we have enjoyed partnering with Anaqua to drive exceptional growth as the company has become a leader in the Intellectual Property industry, said Richard Wells, Managing Director of Insight Venture Partners, Anaquas current controlling stakeholder. We wish the company and the management team well as they enter this next phase of scaling.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.

William Blair & Company, LLC served as financial advisor and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP served as legal advisor to Anaqua. Evercore Inc served as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal counsel to Astorg.

About Anaqua

Anaqua is a premium provider of integrated, end-to-end innovation and intellectual property (IP) management solutions, serving 50% of the top 25 U.S. patent filers, 50% of the top 25 global brands, and a growing number of the most prestigious, forward-looking law firms. The companys global operations are headquartered in Boston, with offices across Europe and Asia. Anaquas IP platform is used by nearly one million IP executives, attorneys, paralegals, administrators, and innovators globally. Its solution suite merges best practice workflows with big data analytics and tech-enabled services to create one intelligent environment designed to inform IP strategy, enable IP decision-making, and streamline IP operations. For additional information, please visit Anaqua.com.

About Astorg

Astorg is an independent private equity group with over 8 billion of assets under management. Astorg seeks to partner with entrepreneurial management teams to acquire global companies and create value through the provision of strategic guidance, experienced governance and adequate capital. Astorg enjoys a distinct entrepreneurial culture, a long-term shareholder perspective, and a lean decision-making body enhancing its reactivity. Though not specialized, Astorg has gathered valuable industry expertise in software, healthcare, business-to-business professional services and technology-based industrial companies. Astorg has offices in London, Paris, Luxembourg, Frankfurt and Milan.

About Insight Venture Partners

Insight Venture Partners is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high growth technology and software companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. Founded in 1995, Insight currently has over $20 billion of assets under management and has cumulatively invested in more than 300 companies worldwide. Its mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. Across its people and its portfolio, Insight Venture Partners encourage a culture around a core belief: growth equals opportunity.

For further information about Insight Venture Partners: www.insightpartners.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190215005
The bipartisan bill to fund the government is a disaster. As I explained here, per Mark Krikorian, it is unlikely to enable more than minimal wall building.

In addition, it appears to prevent ICE from detaining or removing any illegal immigrant who has, in effect, any relationship with an unaccompanied minor. Among other evils, this will create an incentive for illegal immigrants already here to order up kids from Central America as human shields against deportation.

President Trump should have stayed on top of congressional negotiations and made it clear that he would not sign such a bill. Instead, he seems to have been asleep at the switch.

Now, the White House says Trump will sign the bill, which has overwhelming support in both chambers of Congress. However, it also says Trump declare a national emergency and, in response to said emergency, move money around to fund the building of more wall. From what Ive heard, the administration will find around $8 billion for this purpose.

There are, nonetheless, serious problems with signing the bipartisan funding bill. First, declaring a national emergency will do nothing to address depriving ICE of the ability to detain or remove illegal immigrants who can claim a relationship with an unaccompanied minor.

The White House says the Department of Homeland Security will interpret this loophole narrowly and vigorously enforce its narrow interpretation. Well see. Im skeptical of relying on bureaucrats. Moreover, a narrow interpretation will, I imagine, produce court challenges in which the administration might not prevail.

Second, its far from clear that the administration will prevail when its redirection of funds/declaration of emergency is challenged in court. Indeed, as I explained here, by signing a bill that funds the wall at a particular level, Trump may undermine his case that an emergency exists because the wall isnt funded a higher level.

Third, if Trump does prevail, it will be at a cost. That cost will be a precedent for moving funds around based on future claims of national emergency. Democrat presidents can be expected to use the precedent Trump sets aggressively and for bad purposes.

Any way you look at it, Trump has botched this battle. Theres no outcome that wont produce harm.

I doubt that Trump cares, unless the harm is to him politically. He likely sees this as a case of win-dont lose. He wins if he gets to spend $8 billion or more on the wall. The harm caused by expanding presidential power wont inflict any pain on him.

He doesnt lose politically (or might not) if the judiciary blocks him. As long as Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh vote for his position, he can blame activist liberal judges appointed by other presidents.

Trump won the nomination in large part because Republican voters were disgusted at how little Republicans achieved even with control of both the House and Senate. This was the constant drumbeat from Sean Hannity and other important Trump supporters.

The wall fiasco, even if Trump gets to spend $8 billion (the initial price tag was $25 billion), is an example of how Republicans have underachieved even with control of the House, the Senate, and the White House.
Senator Amy Klobuchar  Minnesotas own presidential candidate  proudly joined all but three of the Senates other Democrats to vote yesterday against the confirmation of William Barr as Attorney General. Her tweet below provides the short form of her stated rationale.

My statement on AG nominee William Barr: pic.twitter.com/ghbg67uWX8  Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) February 14, 2019

Klobuchar gave a speech on the floor of the Senate in which she provided the long form of her stated rationale (below). As Klobuchar noted at the outset of her floor speech, she had already stated her opposition to Barr in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Thankfully, Barr was confirmed yesterday over Klobuchars opposition. He was a stellar nominee and should be an excellent Attorney General. He is now one of the most well qualified candidates ever to serve as Attorney General. Among other things, Barr has previous experience as Attorney General, the last time around under President George H.W. Bush. On that occasion the Senate confirmed Barr by a voice vote after he cleared the Judiciary Committee by unanimous vote.

Klobuchar predicated her opposition to Barr on her disagreement with Barrs view of executive power. She purports to maintain a more limited view of the presidents constitutional authority (a view that she never advanced during the Obama administration). Despite her reputation as a moderate, Klobuchar reliably toes the Democratic Party line on the thinnest of pretexts (Barrs expansive view of executive power), as in this case.

When a Democrat next wins a presidential election, perhaps in 2020, he or she will need to staff his Cabinet and fill vacancies on the Supreme Court. The Klobuchar Kriterion establishes senatorial disagreement with a nominees views as fair ground on which to oppose the nominees. Indeed, Klobuchars floor speech alludes to her previous opposition to the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. She says her view of executive power differs from theirs.

If the Klobuchar Kriterion applies to a Democratic presidents likely nominees, why should any conservative Republican ever vote in favor of their their confirmation (for any reason other than pure political calculation)? Someone should ask Senator Klobuchar and her fellow candidates to answer the question.
Following up on the dueling rallies in El Paso this past Monday night, a long-time reader who lives in El Paso writes:

I wanted to alert you to a local news item near my home in El Paso, Texas and offer a little perspective. Its hard to an illustrative example this profound. On the very night the president held a rally here, prompting the predictable chorus of denunciations and media fact checking about his assertions that walls work to keep Americans safe, more than 300 illegal immigrants were apprehended entering the country at a spot where existing fencing stops. This happened about six and a half miles from where the president spoke.

I agree with the presidents critics that violent crime here was never anywhere near as terrible as weve seen in places like Chicago and Detroit and that the reduction in in our crime rate started well before the current fencing was installed along the border. But statistics dont tell a complete story here. I can vividly remember a time when border bandits used to enter the country at night and rob motorists on a road that runs along the border between the suburb of Sunland Park, NM and downtown El Paso. The prevailing wisdom was to never use Paisano Drive after dark. Bandits would block the road with old couches or other obstructions, conduct their robberies, and then slip back into Mexico before U.S. authorities could arrive.

In the late 1990s, the wall/fence went up in this area, and the robberies ceased. I couldnt immediately find local news reports about this little crime wave, but here is an AP wire story from 1995. I now freely travel on Paisano Drive at night without concern for my familys safety.

Im attaching a two photographic overviews for claritys sake. The wider view shows West El Paso, Sunland Park, New Mexico, and the Ciudad Juarez shanty suburb of Anapra, Mexico. I live two miles from Mexico, just north of the prominent oval shape  a water feature at the Sunland Park (horse) Racetrack. Paisano Drive is the road marked US 85, just west of Interstate 10.

The tighter view shows where current fencing that runs between New Mexico and Chihuahua, Mexico stops at the base of a small mountain, Mt. Cristo Rey, which rises up about 1,000 feet from the desert floor.

In recent years, the conventional wisdom has been never to climb Mt. Cristo Rey alone, because bandits have been known to rob hikers there. Heres one relatively recent account.

El Paso is a fairly large city of about 700,000 people. The overall citywide statistics drown out and provide cover for a false narrative. Its obvious to anyone willing to make sense of what their own lying eyes are telling them. Fence/wall = No crime. No fence/wall = crime.
A hometown Challis woman has opened a new H&R Block franchise at 610 U.S. Highway 93 in Challis She and her employees are now taking clients for tax preparation, payroll and bookkeeping services.

Jenny (Frost) Jacobson, daughter of Challis residents Lewie and Jeanie Frost, hosted a grand opening for her new Challis office last weekend along with her sister Rayna (Frost) Westergard, and Misty Stegeman, employees at the Challis branch. Jacobson also owns H&R Block franchises in Salmon and Hamilton, Montana, where she now lives.

I think this location will bring a lot of people in, hopefully, Jacobson said. The office is located between Gateway Mini Mart and Service and Holiday Lodge Motel on U.S. 93 north.

Jacobson is sort of succeeding her maternal grandmother, Madge Yacomella, who owned an H&R Block franchise next to Buxs Place bar several years ago. Jacobson learned the tax preparation business from her grandmother, working for Yacomella in 1996 and 1997.

Yacomella was severely injured in auto accident in 2016, from which she has since recovered. Jacobson and her two sisters, Rayna and Karen (Frost) Peek took over Madges business to get her clients taxes filed by the April 15, 2016 filing deadline while Madge was still in the hospital and later going through physical therapy and rehabilitation.

After the accident, Madge Yacomella decided she didnt want to remodel her office to H&R Block standards, so she retired her franchise.

Jacobsons handy husband, Britt, did all the remodeling of the old Gateway auto parts store to both H&R Blocks and his wifes standards.

Jacobson was working at the H&R Block franchise in Hamilton, Montana when her boss died in 2001. She decided that year to take over as owner and in 2005 opened her second H&R Block franchise in Salmon. Jacobson employs seven people at the Hamilton office, three in Salmon and two in Challis. Thats not counting her two young nieces, Ava 4, and Emma, 7, who will be spending some time at the Challis office with their mother, Rayna Westergard.

If Jacobson and her Challis crew prepare your 2017 taxes, they promise money in your pockets before the Internal Revenue Service issues a return, despite the federal government shutdown, even if the shutdown drags on past the April 15 deadline. Thats because H&R Block offers clients refund advance, which is a zero interest loan. The business offers a new service, Jacobson said: up front pricing, where tax preparation specialists tell you in advance how much it will cost to prepare your return, based on how complex your finances are.

In addition to tax preparation, Jacobson, Westergard and Stegeman offer payroll and bookkeeping services. All three are trained in IRS and Idaho tax preparation and each year take additional classes to update their knowledge on the latest tax code changes.
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A community activist's lawsuit against the Guam Election Commission has been dismissed on a technicality, but that hasn't discouraged the plaintiff, Ken Leon-Guerrero, who said Friday he will continue to seek election reform through a different approach  this time in the Legislature.

There is a lot of support for election reform among new senators, Leon-Guerrero said.

During a hearing Friday, he said GEC violated people's right to vote by not counting certain votes.

Regardless, Superior Court of Guam Judge Vernon Perez noted that Leon-Guerrero did not provide any formal response to GEC's motion to dismiss.

Ken Leon-Guerrero filed the lawsuit in September 2018, hoping to force GEC to count 907 primary election ballots that were voided because voters selected one or more candidates on the Republican and Democratic sides of the ballot. In the primary election, voters are supposed to stay on one party's side of the ballot for partisan races. If voters didn't follow the instruction against crossing over, their ballots were not counted.

But the primary moved into the general election while the lawsuit's pace wasn't keeping up. Lou Leon Guerrero became the Democratic nominee and ultimately won the gubernatorial race in November 2018. Leon-Guerrero campaigned for then-gubernatorial candidate Frank Aguon Jr., who narrowly lost to Lou Leon Guerrero.

Moving past the dismissal of his lawsuit, Leon-Guerrero said he is working with Sen. Joe San Agustin. The senator confirmed to The Guam Daily Post that he is considering introducing legislation similar to what he introduced in the previous legislative term but failed to pass.

Leon-Guerrero's focus is to lobby for lawmakers to do away with taxpayer-funded primary elections that simply decide who will represent the Democratic and Republican parties in the general election.

The primary election is an optional process, he added. Every election, the political parties choose an open election so "taxpayers will have to pay for the primary election instead of the parties themselves," he said.

"By deferring the cost from the political parties to the taxpayers, it is in effect a taxpayer-funded event and taxpayers have a reasonable expectation that their vote will be counted," Leon-Guerrero added.

The government of Guam and GEC filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in December 2018, claiming that Leon-Guerrero failed to expeditiously pursue his case, and his concerns about the primary became moot.

Leon-Guerrero also failed to challenge GEC's motion to dismiss.

Leon-Guerrero had been representing himself in court.

The judge acknowledged the challenges plaintiffs face if they represent themselves without an attorney's counsel.

"We're supposed to be fair to the process. We're supposed to be precise," Perez said. "Unfortunately for you, (there are) some things I could not tell you to do ... I appreciate what you're doing, but as I will always tell people who come in here, self-represented, it is always the advice of the judge to secure legal representation."

Leon-Guerrero said he did not respond to the dismissal motion because he did not see any difference in GEC's position. He admitted the "technical fault" was his.
A man who was convicted of sexual assault in Spain was arrested on Guam and efforts are underway for his extradition to serve his sentence.

Dario Gualtieri was named in a complaint filed in the District Court of Guam on Friday.

The complaint originally was filed confidentially until Gualtieri was taken into custody.

According to court documents, on June 3, 2015, Gualtieri was convicted of sexual abuse by the government of Spain. He was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay 12,000 euros, or about $13,542, in restitution.

He was found guilty of raping a woman he met at a nightclub in Seville, Spain. The two shared a taxi ride home and Gualtieri escorted the woman to her home and walked in under the pretext that he wanted to make sure she did not need any assistance, court documents state.

Once inside the womans home and after she had rebuffed his advances, Gualtieri sexually assaulted her.

Gualtieri was found working at a company on Cabras highway in Piti.

The government of Spain intends to submit a formal request for extradition.
ROSCOE, Minn. The Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District is hosting a Central Minnesota Farmers Fair on March 7 at Roadside Tavern in Roscoe.

Topics will consist of how to seek approval for tiling and ditching, climate condition trends and outlook, tiling and ditching with water resources in mind, Discovery Farm and tile monitoring results, the importance of organic matter and if cover crops can reduce nitrate leaching.

The Farmers Fair will be from from 9:20 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and is designed to be an interactive learning opportunity.

There will be a variety of presenters and vendors offering information on their products and services. The day will be wrapped up with a raffle drawing.

Local farmers will also be on-hand to share their personal experiences when it comes to conservation-minded farming.

Registration will begin at 8 a.m., and the cost per person will be $30 a the door. Preregistration cost is $10. The deadline to pre-register is Feb. 25.

Registration can be done online at stearnscountyswcd.net, or checks (with the names of attendees) can be mailed to the Stearns County SWCD, at 110 2nd St.. S., Suite 128, Waite Park, MN 56387. Registration can also be done by stopping by the office during regular weekday hours.

The registration fee includes lunch provided by Roadside Tavern, as well as morning and afternoon refreshments.

For more information and updates on weather-related cancellations, visit stearnscountyswcd.net.
South Carolina lawmakers broke along party lines in supporting the president's emergency border declaration, with Republicans calling it a forceful response to a problem out of control and Democrats labeling it a made-up crisis and constitutional overreach.

The presidents declaration of a manufactured national emergency in order to erect an ineffective, wasteful and medieval wall sets a dangerous precedent," House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said.

He called on Congress to "challenge this egregious abuse of power and uphold the checks and balances that are the foundation of our republic.

Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, however, accused his "friends on the Democratic side" of ignoring the responsibility of effective border security as he fully supported the president's use of a national emergency.

Scott added it is no secret in Washington that hatred for the president "drives the policy-making decisions of those on the left, no matter how beneficial the policies are for families across the country."

In the moments after President Donald Trump's White House press conference announcing he would invoke executive power to fund an expanded wall on the Mexican border, South Carolina politicos issued statements and received press calls about the president's actions.

Lost in part of the debate is that the president's move also sealed a budget agreement that avoided another government shutdown at midnight Friday. More than 3,000 federal employees in South Carolina were affected by the partial closure that ran for 35 days last month, cutting off at least two paychecks.

Comments from some of the state's seven Republicans in Washington were uniform in their support of the White House.

"I stand firmly behind President Trumps decision to use executive powers to build the wall-barriers we desperately need," said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, R-Myrtle Beach said hundreds of thousands of low-skilled illegal immigrants cross the border every year, depressing wages and "stealing jobs from the Americans." He also pointed to the drug problem and illicit drugs coming across a "porous southern border."

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"If the president faces a legal challenge, the courts will have the final say, Rice said in backing Trump.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill, said congressional Democrats put Trump "in a box and basically left him no other choice but to do this."

"If you see the caravans that we did and see the people that are flooding the borders and talk to the people down there, it's definitely a crisis," he said, adding the move "does cede a lot of power to the executive."

Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-Laurens, concurred with other Republicans in the delegation, as did Upstate U.S. Rep. William Timmons.

"I agree with President Trump that there is a crisis at our border that we must address," said GOP Rep Joe Wilson, R-Lexington. "We must stop drugs, human trafficking, and terrorism from coming into our homeland. The safety of the American people depends on it.

Gov. Henry McMaster, an early Trump supporter, also chimed in, saying he didn't blame people for wanting to come to the United States but that many are coming for the wrong reasons.

"And if the Congress and Democrats in Congress won't let him do it, then he'll find another way, and I support him," McMaster said of the president.

State resources are being used in the border region, though minimally. About 15 S.C. National Guard members are at the Southwest border taking part in Operation Guardian Support. They are working in aviation and personnel support, the guard said.

While two S.C. Guard helicopters were assigned to the mission earlier, none are currently there.

Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham of Charleston joined Clyburn in speaking out against Trump's move that circumvents Congress.

"This move by the executive branch represents a gross overreach in presidential authority and circumvents the checks and balances given to Congress by the Constitution," he said. "The Framers intended for Congress to have the exclusive power of the purse and I am incredibly concerned by the dangerous precedent this sets.
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The Coast Guard base in Charleston, and areas around it, can get swamped by the combination of tide and rain that floods Lockwood Boulevard near its docks. File/Staff
Mary Katherine, who also goes by MK, covers health care for The Post and Courier. She is also pursuing a master's degree in data science. She grew up in upstate New York and enjoys playing cards, kayaking and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
 Flash

The international conference on the Middle East ended in Warsaw on Thursday. During the two-day discussion, the United States and the EU have held different views on Iran issue, and didn't reach any agreements specifically.

The conference, which started on Wednesday, was co-organized by Poland and the U.S. The main topics included the political situation and the role of Iran in regional development, the situation in Yemen and Syria, the security and stability in the Middle East.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed the unstable situation in the region on Iran's "destabilizing influence". He said earlier on Thursday that peace and stability in the Middle East cannot be achieved "without confronting Iran".

In his closing remarks at the end of the conference, Pompeo said that "more sanctions and pressure on Iran is needed". He also urged other countries "oppose giving money to (Iranian President) Hassan Rouhani".

But the EU has different positions on Iran issue. "The European Union believes that maintaining the peaceful character of the Iranian nuclear program, calls for keeping the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, in place. The United States abandoned this agreement and imposed sanctions," said Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz.

"The nuclear deal with Iran plays a positive role in the long term," Czaputowicz said at the end of the conference.

Last year, the U.S. withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions. Other countries of the deal, including major European powers such as Germany, France and Britain, have since tried to keep the deal alive.

The conference on the Middle East was attended by the representatives of more than 60 countries. The U.S. invited Israel and Arab states, but not Iran.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini didn't attend the conference, and neither did foreign ministers of France and Germany, which sent lower ranking staff instead.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that Iran will stand firm in the face of U.S. sanction pressures.

Washington is targeting the Iranian nation with an "economic, propaganda and psychological war," Rouhani was quoted as saying by Press TV.

However, the Iranians will defend their dignity and independence, and will not "surrender to the enemy," he said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday that the anti-Iran meeting in the Polish capital Warsaw is "doomed to fail," semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

"This is another attempt by the United States to pursue its policies vis-a-vis Iran, which has not been forged properly," Zarif was quoted as saying.
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On February 11, the Russian state-owned media outlet RIA Novosti published an op-ed criticizing Ukraines renaming of towns and other toponyms in accordance with the countrys law on de-communization.

RIA Novostis headline read: Not Odessa, but Kotsyubeyev! Why does Kyiv erase the real names of cities. According to the article, Alexander Vasiliev, a former deputy of the Odessa (Ukrainian: Odesa) city council and historian, implies Ukrainian nationalists would prefer Odessa be called Khadjibey-Kotsyubeyev, as it was known before the Russian empire conquered it from the Ottomans in the late 18th century. Although he admits that it's unlikely that anyone will actually decide to change the name. Vasiliev does not identify the Ukrainian nationalists (or any Ukrainians at all, for that matter) who supposedly prefer the old name. Polygraph.info found no indications that anyone in the Ukrainian media, or among Ukrainian politicians or government officials, have discussed such a proposal regarding changing Odesas name. In fact, the idea seems to have been absent from Ukraines public discourse.

The changing of names is part of the Law of Ukraine No. 317-VIII "On condemning Communist and National-Socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regimes in Ukraine and banning propaganda of their symbols, adopted in 2015. Under this law, the names of cities and other geographic features originating from the Soviet period must be changed. In some cases, the names have reverted back to their pre-revolutionary names, but in other cases new names have been devised, as the law does not require the new names to be historic names. For example, Dnipropetrovsk, named for both the Dnipro river and the Ukrainian Bolshevik leader Grigory Petrovsky, did not revert to its last pre-revolutionary name, Yekaterinoslav, which was in honor of Russian Empress Catherine the Great (Yekaterina in Russian) and thus reflected the legacy of Ukraines colonization by Russia. Instead, the city was simply renamed simply Dnipro.

The RIA Novosti article also questioned a recent initiative to rename Dnipropetrovsk region -- named after Dnipropetrovsk city -- to Sicheslavska region. It noted that the Rada deputies who proposed the name change claimed that in 1918-1921, residents of then Yekaterinoslav intended to change the citys name to Sicheslav -- derived from the term sich, which denoted a military-administrative organ used by Zaporozhian Cossacks.

The town of Komsomolsk in the Poltava region was renamed in 2016 because it was named after the Komsomol -- the Communist youth league of the Soviet Union. In accordance with Law No. 317-VIII, it was renamed Horishni Plavni. In this case, the city had no pre-revolutionary name, given that it was founded in 1960 as a mining town.

Incidentally, the same cannot be said for Odessa: while the city was renamed under Catherine the Great, the name derives from the ancient Greek city of Odessos, which is believed to have been located in that region.

Ukraines decommunization law and many of its provisions have been criticized both inside and outside the country. Legitimate complaints tend to focus on its top-down implementation and the substitution of Soviet-approved history with equally distorted, politicized narratives. Still, it is ultimately up to each country to decide how it names its cities and geographic features.

It's also worth noting that Russia has also changed the names of many cities, particularly when they conquered them as the Tsardom of Moscow expanded and evolved into the Russian Empire. After the fall of the Soviet Union, some cities such as Leningrad and Sverdlovsk were changed back to their pre-revolutionary names of St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. In the Soviet era, Stalingrad was given the generic name of Volgograd (city on the Volga) rather than its historic name, Tsaritsyn.
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Donald Trumps crushing defeat in the U.S. Senate yesterday revealed that impeachment is now a very real possibility, according to MSNBCs Lawrence ODonnell.

The host of The Last Word said that the politics in Washington have changed, and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell may now be willing to allow the president to be impeached.

The president was weakened today, in more ways than Trump voters  and probably anyone in the White House  actually understands, ODonnell announced.

Mitch McConnell turned the ship of the United States Senate around and started heading away from Donald Trump for the first time, he continued. Mitch McConnell decided he no longer needs Donald Trumps support to bring a bill to a vote  and that alone is a devastating blow to Trumpism in the United States Senate.

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The budget vote was 83-16 in the Senate, indicating that a majority of Republican senators voted against Trump.

ODonnell was joined by NBC News national affairs analyst John Heilemann to continue the discussion.

I think that is a watershed moment in this presidency because, to me, it is the most important math calculation of all math calculations that every United States senator has to do, Heilemann suggested.

Does it cost more to stick with Trump? Or  does it cost more to abandon Trump? For two years and two months, the answer has been it would cost us more to abandon him, he explained.

At this moment, on this issue, and potentially now on many more issues going forward  and some of great consequence including the existence of the Trump presidency  this will be the moment where Republican Senators have figured out theres a different math game in town, he continued. And that could be incredibly bad news for President Trump.

Theyre now using a different algorithm to calculate their self-interest, he argued. Thats all its ever about with these people, is self-interest. Then he added:

To me, the reason this is significant is not about the shutdown, its not about the wall. Its an answer to the question of people whove been asking us for two years, saying theres no way Trump will ever be impeached and convicted in the U.S. Senate, because they have no guts, no spine.

And I keep saying, it doesnt have anything to do with guts and spine, it has to do with when the Republicans do a different math, and the math says, we are free to leave Trump because we stick with him it costs us more.

I think the important thing here is that this kind of thinking is the kind of thing that leads them to challenge Trump on a variety of other things, not because of spine, but because of self-interest.

And potentially to challenge him on the question of his entire presidency, because its not going to be about spine or principle or caring about America  its about them being able to keep their jobs.

ODonnell and Heilemann Know Trump Is Doomed

Lawrence ODonnell and John Heilemann are both knowledgeable insiders who understand how Washington works better than almost anyone. So when they say that yesterdays Senate vote has much larger implications for Trumps presidency we can believe them.

Their discussion reinforces what millions of us already know: the Trump presidency is doomed. And if Mitch McConnell and other GOP senators also believe this is true  and are willing to make it happen  that is big news indeed.

CLICK HERE to watch ODonnell and Heilemann discuss Trumps future.
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Former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld told an audience in New Hampshire this morning that he will take on President Trump in the 2020 Republican presidential primaries.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld looking to challenge President Trump in 2020 Republican primary

Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld looking to challenge President Trump in 2020 Republican primary https://t.co/1iC7CVbRVr pic.twitter.com/eCxbeV4wLq  CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 15, 2019

The announcement comes as a mild surprise, and represents the first legitimate GOP challenge to Trumps reelection bid.

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It is time for all people of good will  and our country is filled with people of good will  to take a stand and plant a flag, Weld said during a speech Friday at a Politics & Eggs breakfast in Bedford, New Hampshire.

In every country, there comes a time when patriotic men and women must stand up and speak out, he said. In our country, this is such a time.

The 73 year-old Weld told reporters that he will try to determine over the coming months if he can raise enough money to continue his challenge to Trump. He said he would run on the old-time Republican agenda of fiscal responsibility. He also said he plans to offer a significant contrast to the current occupant of the White House.

In his remarks today in the first primary state Weld openly denounced the president, saying he acts like a schoolyard bully. He also offered strong criticisms of other Republicans in Washington who he said exhibit all the symptoms of Stockholm syndrome.

We dont need six more years of the antics we have seen, he added.

Weld will obviously have a very difficult path to the GOP nomination. Trump is still very popular with core Republican voters who will determine the winner of Republican primaries.

In an interview this week, however, Weld said that even if he does not beat Trump, a potential benefit of running, from his perspective, would be weakening Trump for the general election. And in the past strong primary challenges to incumbent presidents have often led to defeats in November. Examples of this include Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush, all of whom lost reelection bids.

Weld was elected governor of Massachusetts as a Republican twice, first in 1990. He ran his first campaign as a reformer who supported gay rights and abortion rights.

Just last month another Republican former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, said that in his opinion it was time for someone to step up and challenge Trump in the 2020 GOP primaries. And apparently his colleague Bill Weld heard the call, and is doing exactly with Mitt Romney asked him to do.
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NBCs Chuck Todd seized on and called out a new lie that Trump was building that Obama wanted to go to war with North Korea.

Trump said, When I came into office, I met right there in the oval office with President Obama. And I sat in those beautiful chairs and we talked, it was supposed to be 15 minutes, it ended up being many times longer than that. I said whats the biggest problem? He said by far, North Korea. And I dont want to speak for him. But I believe he would have gone to war with North Korea. I think he was ready to go to war. He told me he was so close to starting a big war with North Korea.

Chuck Todd called out this obvious lie on MSNBC, Hes amping up a new lie about President Obama wanting to go to war with North Korea which is something he dangled that a little bit earlier in the state of the union. Hes advanced it some, saying it was going to be a full-fledged war. Thats something we need to note and call out. I dont think anybody would believe that we were anywhere close and that President Obama was anywhere close to a war with North Korea.

Video:

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Watch Chuck Todd call out Trump's new big lie that Obama wanted to go to war with North Korea. https://t.co/lqfw3UE0wB pic.twitter.com/xmSN30xpbY  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) February 15, 2019

Obama was never close to war with North Korea

As Chuck Todd said, this is a lie. It is impossible to believe that the president who pulled troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan and spent eight years avoiding getting the US into another war was suddenly eager to fight a war with North Korea. The reality is that it was Trump who was tweeting insults at North Korea and threatening to invade or bomb them. Trumps appeasement of Kim Jong-un has been a total disaster. His summit with Kim resulted in North Korea keeping their nuclear program going while playing Trump on the world stage.

Todd was right. Trump is cooking up a new lie to try to make himself look like a successful foreign policy president, and it is vital the media kill this falsehood in its tracks.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Many people in Washington now believe that Republicans need to change their strategy in order to avoid losing control of the U.S. Senate after the 2020 elections.

Conservative Jennifer Rubin sounded the alarm for Republicans in her Washington Post column, but she is not the only one who is aware of the problem. She says that if GOP senators keep sucking up to Trump they face a potential senate wipeout in 2020.

There are two reasons for this:

Unlike 2018, Republicans are facing a much tougher re-election map for the Senate in 2020.

The GOP will be severely harmed with Trump at the top of the ticket, due to his historically low approval ratings (and historically high disapproval ratings).

According to the Cook Political Report:

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So far, the 34 Senate contests on the ballot in 2020 feature 12 Democratic incumbents, 20 Republican incumbents and two GOP open seats. And only one incumbent  GOP U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas  has a war chest over $5 million.

Rubin points out what everyone knows: Senate incumbents political future is now inextricably bound with Trumps.

She wrote:

If Trump is polling around 40 percent, the final report from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is damning, and the economy, as many experts predict, has cooled off, you do wonder whether Republican senators might be more inclined to turn on the president, pressuring him to step down (with the implicit threat of impeachment proceedings hanging over them).

Presently, the concern for Senate Republicans should be: What, other than the shutdown, the attempt to end the Affordable Care Act and passage of the unpopular tax cut can they claim to have accomplished?

Judges, I suppose. But that alone is unlikely to save them if Democrats have the wind at their backs.

Many 2020 Senate Races Look Problematic for the GOP

Texas

Cornyn might draw a very competitive challenger, one with 100 percent name recognition in the state. According to Politico, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer met with Beto ORourke last week to discuss a possible 2020 Senate campaign Cornyn. Changing demographics could help give Beto a victory if he runs for the senate again.

Maine

Susan Collins is reviled more than ever due to her support for Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh and her false claim that he would defend Roe v. Wade. She will likely lose to a strong Democratic candidate.

Colorado

Cory Gardner is looking weak, and Colorado is looking more like a solid blue state every year. LIke Collins, Gardner will also likely lose to a strong Democratic candidate.

Arizona

This is another purple state that is rapidly becoming blue. Current GOP Senator Martha McSally lost her Senate race in 2018 and was then appointed to the John McCains seat. There is nothing to indicate that she will fare better in 2020 than she did last year, especially against a strong candidate. And the bad news for her is that Gabby Giffords husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, just announced that he will run. Chalk this up as another likely Democratic senate victory in 2020.

Georgia

The Democrats new star, Stacey Abrams, may challenge Sen. David Perdue, a dependable Trump sycophant whose only claim to fame is his effort to reduce legal immigration. He is not that popular, and Abrams would have a good shot at winning  assuming she can overcome GOP voter suppression efforts.

North Carolina

GOP senator Thom Tillis will be running in a presidential swing state that is trending blue. If the Democratic presidential candidate does well here the coattails could sweep a Democrat to victory in the senate race also.

Iowa

This is a state that went for Obama twice, and many Trump voters in the Hawkeye State have turned against Trump for many reasons, including how his tariffs have destroyed the farm economy. (Iowa is the #1 soybean exporting state in the country, and many farmers are now losing money, thanks to Trump.)

GOP senator Joni Ernst was once seen as a rising star but now is seen as very vulnerable. Three out of Iowas four U.S. Representatives are now Democrats, so it is extremely possible that a Democrat could take back the senate seat also that for many years was held by liberal Tom Harkin.

Democrats Need to Win Three Senate Seats to Take Control

It should be pointed out that if Democrats pick up a net of just three senate seats, and also win the presidency, they will be in control of the senate since a Democratic vice president would vote to break all ties.

It is still early in 2019, and many things will change between now and the 2020 elections. But those changes may hurt Republicans, especially if Mueller comes out with more indictments and if the House Democrats hold hearings on Trump crimes and corruption that last throughout 2020.

Another factor hurting Republicans is their support for an Obamacare lawsuit that restrictions health insurance for people with pre-existing health conditions.

Even though yesterdays Senate vote showed that many GOP senators (including McConnell) are now standing up to the president, it may be too little too late.

The Democrats chances of winning back control of both houses of Congress, as well as the presidency, are looking better every day.
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Chinese Ambassador to Burundi Li Changlin and Burundian Foreign Affairs Minister Ezechiel Nibigira on Thursday signed a handover document on the China-aided Burundian state house.

The handover is a sign of sincere friendship and cooperation between China and Burundi, Li said at the signing ceremony in the new state house in Mutimbuzi district, north of Burundi's commercial capital Bujumbura,

The Chinese embassy has mobilized translators to render Burundi's National Development Plan into the Chinese language, which will help identify priority areas for cooperation between the two sides, said the envoy, adding that the Sino-Burundian cooperation will focus on improving the well-being of Burundian citizens and working conditions of Burundian civil servants.

Nibigira thanked China for offering a state house that Burundi had never owned since the country's independence on July 1, 1962.

"This is the first time in Burundi's history to get such a nice infrastructure. It proves the strongest political and diplomatic relations existing between Burundi and China," said Nibigira.

The Burundian government will do its best to continue boosting Sino-Burundian relations, he added.

Burundian Second Vice-President Joseph Butore also attended the ceremony. Before signing the document, officials of Burundi and China had a tour of the state house.

The complex, with the total construction area of over 9,900 square meters, consists of the president's office building, rooms for guards and equipment, and watchtowers.
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Former Democratic congressman Beto ORourke of Texas took it straight to Donald Trump on Thursday night, saying that walls make the country less safe and he would support tearing down the fence that was built in El Paso in 2008.

When MSNBCs Chris Hayes asked ORourke whether he would support taking down the existing wall in the border city, the former congressman said, Yes, absolutely, Id take the wall down.

The rising Democratic star said that the wall is a monumental waste of money and it has led to the death of migrants legally seeking asylum in the U.S.

Video:

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Beto ORourke says, if he could, he would remove the existing border wall in El Paso. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/6HH4uHVTHU  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) February 15, 2019

ORourke busts the myth that walls translate to safety:

Heres what we know. After the Secure Fence Act we have built 600 miles of wall and fencing on a 2,000-mile border. What that has done is not in any demonstrable way made us safer. Its cost us 10s of billions of dollars to build and to maintain and it has pushed migrants and asylum seekers and refugees to the most inhospitable, the most hostile stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border, ensuring their suffering and death. More than 4,000 human beings, little kids, women and children, have died. Theyre not in cages, theyre not locked up, theyre not separated. Theyre dead over the last 10 years as we have walled off their opportunity to legally petition for asylum, to cross in urban centers like El Paso, to be with family, to work jobs, to do what any human being should have a right to be able to do, what we would if faced with the same circumstances they were.

Walls dont make America safer

Beto ORourke is going straight after Donald Trumps message that a wall is necessary to keep the country safe. El Paso is a leaving and breathing example of that.

While the border city has had a fence since 2008, its been one of the safest major cities in the country for more than a decade. Even the Republican mayor of El Paso admits that the wall has had little to no impact on crime in the city, which has been falling since the 1990s.

What the wall has done is make it more difficult for migrants, particularly women and children, to legally seek asylum. It has created an environment in which these legal asylum seekers are forced to take more dangerous  and often fatal  paths to the U.S.-Mexico border.

As Beto ORourke said on Thursday, walls arent just ineffective and wasteful, but they have created a deadly environment for those legally seeking a better life in the United States.

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Speaker Pelosi made it clear that Democrats are ready to not only sue Trump over any national emergency declaration to build a wall, but a future Democratic president will act on the precedent that Trump will set.

According to The New York Times:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said Democrats were reviewing our options in responding to Mr. Trumps anticipated declaration and did not rule out a legal challenge.

The president is doing an end run around Congress, she said.

She also raised the possibility that Mr. Trump was setting a precedent for Democratic presidents to come, precisely what Republicans fear.

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You want to talk about a national emergency, lets talk about today, Ms. Pelosi said, reminding Mr. Trump that it was the first anniversary of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Thats a national emergency. Why dont you declare that emergency, Mr. President? I wish you would.

Trumps national emergency declaration has been the worst keep secret in American politics for months. Democrats in Congress have been preparing to sue Trump as soon as he declares the emergency.

What is likely to happen is that Democrats will get the courts to block Trump from moving or using any appropriated funds to build his wall. There will also be a second wave of lawsuits from victims of natural disasters will sue Trump for stealing their relief funds.

The presidents wall is going to end up tied up in court for years. There is a strong possibility that Trump will be impeached or voted out office before the cases are settled. Democrats arent going to sit back and watch Trump trash the Constitution.

Pelosi and Schumer knew that this day was coming and Democrats are ready to fight.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Let Bette hear from you: banjack303@verizon.net. Search YouTube for Look Whos Cooking with Bette Banjack, as well phoenixvillenews.com (search bar: Banjack) for this column. Find Bette on Facebook by searching Bette Banjacks Downtown Kitchen. Her book, 2 Cups of Yesterday, is available at Gateway Pharmacy or by contacting her.
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More than 8,000 individuals have been detained in association with the "Yellow Vest" protests, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on Thursday.

The movement started on Nov. 17, 2018 to protest high living costs and unfair economic policies in France.

French police have arrested 8,400 people since the movement began three months ago, with 7,500 remaining in police custody, Castaner was quoted as saying by state-run France Info radio.

He also said 1,300 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters had been wounded.

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said the violent "Yellow Vest" protests must come to an end.

"The events in recent days related to the movement take a new turn following violence against the home of the Speaker of the National Assembly, parliamentary offices, the Republic's institutions, but also violence against some of our fellow citizens because of their beliefs," Macron said, according to government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux.

For the 13th consecutive weekend in a row, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across French cities last Saturday.

As in recent weeks, disturbances have flared up in the capital after groups of demonstrators broke away from the designated route and threw bottles and other projectiles at police, who responded with tear gas.

Video footage showed a vehicle of the anti-terrorism Sentinelle force in flames. Some motorbikes, cars and bins were set on fire, and shop windows were smashed in popular tourist areas in the French capital.
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U.S. President Donald Trump is prepared to sign a bipartisan bill on spending and border security to avert another government shutdown, but also declare a national emergency to obtain funds for his long-promised border wall, the White House said Thursday.

"President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action - including a national emergency - to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

"The President is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country," she said.

Minutes earlier, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell broke the news of Trump's plan. He made the announcement on the Senate floor and said the Senate will soon vote on the bill that's needed to avoid a partial federal shutdown Friday.

Shortly after the announcement, the Senate voted 82-16 to pass the spending and border security bill, which was expected to be voted on Thursday night by the House of Representatives.

The bill, once approved by the Congress and Trump, will keep the government open past a midnight Friday deadline. It would include 1.375 billion U.S. dollars for physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump had previously demanded 5.7 billion dollars in funding for the border wall, his signature campaign promise. The fight over the funding of the border wall between the White House and congressional Democrats led to the record-breaking 35-day federal government shutdown which ended late January.

A national emergency declaration, which would allow the president to bypass Congress and use the military to build the wall, is widely expected to spark lawsuits challenging the president's authority.

In opting to declare a national emergency, Trump would seek to access funds for the wall that Congress had not explicitly authorized for the purpose, said a New York Times report, calling it a provocative move that would test the bounds of U.S. presidential authority in a time of divided government.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House, said her party is "reviewing our options" in responding to the anticipated emergency declaration.

"The president is doing an end run around Congress," she said.

"You want to talk about a national emergency, let's talk about today," Pelosi said, referring to the first anniversary of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Just before Wednesday midnight, House and Senate negotiators unveiled the 1,159-page bill allowing the federal government to open through the end of September, leaving little time for lawmakers to actually digest its contents.
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A recently created federal program to protect the vast Delaware River watershed will receive $6 million this year as part of a sweeping bill signed Friday by President Donald Trump to fund federal agencies and avoid a partial government shutdown.

The Delaware River Basin Restoration Program received $5 million in funding in its initial year, 2018. The $1 million increase this year in the Interior Department budget is a good sign, say those involved in watershed conservation efforts.

The Delaware River Basin Restoration Program represents a critical investment in the future of our region," said Sandra Meola, director of the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed. "The program provides funding required to restore habitat for fish and wildlife species, keep our watershed clean and healthy, expand recreational access, and provide job opportunities.

The basin, commonly referred to as a watershed, comprises 12,500 square miles of land in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware that ultimately drain into the river either directly or through tributaries. About 15 million people depend on the Delaware River for drinking water.

In 2016, Congress passed a bill that led to the creation of the restoration program. The goal is to conserve and restore habitat for fish and other wildlife, improve water quality, reduce flood damage, and provide recreational activities.

The $6 million will go into a conservation fund overseen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to support environmental and conservation organizations through a series of grants for boots-on-the-ground conservation projects.

Meola said the basin is threatened by overdevelopment, storm water runoff, flooding, stream erosion, and loss of wildlife habitat. She said the restoration projects will address those needs.

Jacquelyn Bonomo, CEO of PennFuture, said restoring the basin is crucial for Pennsylvania. The Schuylkill and Lehigh River are large tributaries of the Delaware River.

From the Poconos down to Philadelphia, nonprofits and state and local governments will be able to apply for fiscal year 2019 Delaware River Basin Restoration Program funding for site-specific projects that result in cleaner water, more green space, and restored wildlife habitat, Bonomo said.

The government restoration program is separate from the Delaware River Watershed Initiative, a partnership of conservation organizations also working to protect the basin and funded largely privately by $100 million in grants from the William Penn Foundation. However, organizations hope to use money from both programs as part of conservation projects.

The money for the restoration program comes as part of the spending package approved by the Senate on Thursday and signed by Trump on Friday. It included funding through Sept. 30 for the Departments of the Interior, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture, and other agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency. Trump signed the spending plan after declaring a national emergency to build a border wall.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Bank officials and others urged Congress on Wednesday to fully open the doors of the U.S. banking system to the legal marijuana industry, a change that supporters say would reduce crime risks and resolve a litany of challenges for cannabis companies, from paying taxes to getting a loan.

Most Americans live in states where marijuana is legally available in some form. But there's a problem when it comes to banks: Most don't want anything to do with money from the cannabis industry for fear it could expose them to legal trouble from the federal government, which still considers marijuana illegal.

That conflict has left many growers and sellers in the burgeoning pot industry in a legal dilemma, shutting them out of everyday financial services like opening a bank account or obtaining a credit card. It also has forced many businesses to operate only in cash  sometimes vast amounts  making them ripe targets for crime.

Banking, government and industry representatives at a House committee hearing in Washington urged lawmakers to pass a proposal that would allow pot businesses to access loans, lines of credit and other banking services, while sheltering financial institutions from prosecution for handling pot-linked money.

California Treasurer Fiona Ma, whose state is home to the nation's largest legal pot market, called the measure a critical step for the rapidly expanding industry.

Gregory S. Deckard, who spoke on behalf of the Independent Community Bankers of America, said the cloud of legal uncertainty was inhibiting access to banks while creating safety hazards for businesses.

The proposal, he said, "would offer the needed clarity" for more financial institutions to welcome the marijuana industry as customers.

But others had concerns.

Republican Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri said the proposal would create confusion while marijuana remains illegal at the federal level. He questioned how banks would identify criminal operators and pointed to how Congress handled hemp, the low-THC cousin of the cannabis plant, which was removed from the list of federally controlled substances.

With the banking legislation, "we are putting the cart before the horse," he said.

Legalization advocates have reason to celebrate that the hearing simply took place before the Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions Subcommittee. The proposal, or similar versions, have languished for years.

"Lawmakers are not being asked to weigh in on whether marijuana should be legal or not. They are simply looking at whether banking services should be available to these businesses in states where it is already legal," said Mason Tvert of the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group.

The number of banks and credit unions willing to handle pot money is growing, but they still represent only a tiny fraction of the industry.

The hearing came just days after Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden proposed legislation that would give states a free hand to allow legal cannabis markets without the threat of federal criminal intervention. The proposal would take marijuana off the federal controlled substances list and remove federal criminal penalties for individuals and businesses acting in compliance with state marijuana laws. An identical proposal is pending in the House.

___

Blood is a member of APs marijuana beat team. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MichaelRBloodAP. Follow APs complete marijuana coverage: https://apnews.com/Marijuana .
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Andy MacPhail stands by Gabe Kapler.

In his annual spring-training news conference, the Phillies president said Friday that the club wasnt surprised by any details that emerged in reports of Kaplers response to two of his players being involved in the assault of a 17-year-old girl in 2015. Kapler, hired last year to manage the Phillies, was overseeing the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system at the time.

Ive been in a position of hiring people since November of 1986  general managers, managers, scouting directors, farm directors  and in my entire history, theres never been a hire that was as fully vetted as this one was, MacPhail said. And all the stuff that was regurgitated again this winter, there was nothing in there that made me think that the vetting was anything but very thorough, very impartial and very fair. We were satisfied then when we hired [Kapler]. Were satisfied today.

Neither Kapler nor the Dodgers contacted police after the victims grandmother e-mailed Kapler to alert him that the girl had been assaulted by two women in the hotel room of a minor-league player. Instead, Kapler attempted to arrange a dinner meeting between the girl and the two players, but the girl declined.

According to a Washington Post report last month, the girl later told police that that she was sexually assaulted by one of the players. Kapler has denied any knowledge of that alleged incident.

MacPhail strongly supported both Kapler and the Phillies decision to hire him after the 2017 season.

I dont think everything he did was a great idea, being Captain Hindsight,  MacPhail said, but there was nothing new that I became aware of.

At the end of last season, after the Phillies fell apart down the stretch, MacPhail said he planned to speak with Kapler about toning down his overwhelming positivity in his comments to the media. MacPhail said they met for two hours last fall at a location in Fishtown.

If you know anything about Gabe, he is willing to adjust if you can make the case, MacPhail said. I see it every day. And I told him what I thought. We had a good discussion. I think Ive already seen areas where I think he understands. Im not asking him to throw anybody under the bus. Theres just a way to do it and a way not.

Back in my days in Minneapolis [as the Twins general manager], we used to talk about energy, effort and enthusiasm. Does any one of you that cover Gabe [not] think that every day that he comes to this ballpark that hes giving you energy, effort and enthusiasm? So, Im on him.

Leading man

Kapler said the Phillies will give second baseman Cesar Hernandez a long look in the leadoff spot during spring training.

With Cesar and his performance in the first half of last year, he is an ideal leadoff hitter, Kapler said. He sees a lot of pitches, fouls balls off, has a great eye at the plate, spits on balls in the dirt, can drive the ball out of the ballpark. Those are all things we value in the top spot of the lineup. Kapler ascribed the same characteristics to left fielder Andrew McCutchen, who led off for most of the second half last season with the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees. But McCutchen also has enough pop to bat in the middle of the order.

Hernandez, the Phillies primary leadoff man during the past two seasons, had a .378 on-base percentage through the all-star break last year before tailing off while playing through a fractured toe.

Extra bases

Position players are due to report to camp on Sunday. The first full-squad workout is set for Monday.  Shane Victorino will come to camp next month as a guest spring-training instructor, joining 2008 Phillies teammates Jimmy Rollins and Chad Durbin. Other guest instructors include Bobby Abreu, Dan Plesac, Jim Eisenreich and Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt.
On Friday morning, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in an attempt to secure funding for a border wall after Congress came up short. He intends to use the ploy to get an extra $6.5 billion through the emergency on top of the money Congress just approved in a funding bill. Trump maintains that there is a crisis at the border: We have an invasion of drugs, an invasion of gangs, and its unacceptable.

But there is no emergency at the border. Illegal crossings of the U.S.-Mexico border, measured by apprehensions by Customs and Border Patrol, in recent years are at their lowest in decades.

Thats not to say the country is not facing a real crisis. In fact, its facing a number of emergencies that are leading to loss of life and property. Solving them will take a lot more than a wall  but even a fraction of the $8 billion would make a big difference.

Opioid crisis

In 2017, more than 70,000 people in America died of an overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This staggering number has actually lowered life expectancy in America. And while some drugs do enter the U.S. from other countries, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration they do so through legal entry ports, not areas without a wall. Concrete steps could include suspending regulations that prohibit doctors from prescribing lifesaving medication such as methadone and buprenorphine and ensuring that every Medicaid program covers multiple treatment options.

Housing affordability

According to Harvards yearly State of the Nations Housing report, more than 38 million households nationwide pay more than 30 percent of their annual income on housing  the standard of affordability. One reason is that government support for housing has been falling short for years. The solution to this crisis includes building more affordable units, subsidizing existing units, and increasing wages. With $8 billion we could dramatically increase the number of housing choice vouchers or double the budget of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program to promote construction of affordable housing.

Gun violence

In 2017, nearly 40,000 people in America died of gun violence  the most in decades. There are more firearms than people in the United States, which explains why, when it comes to gun violence, the U.S. is an outlier compared with other rich democracies. If America truly cares about victims of violence, regardless of the perpetrators country of origin, we would invest in gun buyback programs, ban assault weapons, and implement a universal background-check system.

Climate change

There is no more imminent threat to the U.S. than climate change and the need to act before 2030, according to a report by the United Nations. That means transitioning our economy to one based on renewable energy, and punishing the biggest polluters. That includes placing carbon emission limits, providing tax incentives to developers to build energy-efficient buildings, and incentivizing consumers to make better environmental decisions.

By creating a border emergency, Trump has made sure we keep ignoring these real threats to America. Its time for all of us to take them seriously.
On Friday, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency after saying that he will sign a funding bill that will avoid a government shutdown. In December, Trump shut down large portions of the federal government because Congress would not give him the $5.7 billion he requested for a border wall. The shutdown ended after 35 days  the longest shutdown in U.S. history  with a temporary funding bill to give congressional Democrats, Republicans, and the White House time to negotiate a deal. On Thursday, Congress passed a spending bill that will fund the government until Sept. 30th and avoid another shutdown. Trump is expected to sign the bill even though it appropriates only $1.375 billion for the wall  much less than Trump wanted.

But Trump is poised to find funding for the wall anyway by declaring a national emergency  a constitutional right of a president to spend money without the permission of Congress in times of crisis.

Declaring a national emergency is not rare and many other presidents have done it  often multiple times. But, declaring a national emergency over an issue so political, and in such clear contradiction to appropriation decisions of Congress, has drawn criticism from both sides over norm-breaking, the precedent it sets, and politics of fear. Heres a roundup of what people are saying about this big news.

Emergency? What emergency?

To declare a national emergency there needs to be a crisis, emergency, some imminent threat to the nation that is moving quickly and hence there is no time to respond to it by the regular channels that provide checks and balances. Many pushed against the notion that illegal crossing of the southern border is an emergency. MSNBC host Chris Hayes was at the border last night and tweeted a calm photo of El Paso with the caption, What the emergency looks like.

Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson wrote a column that argues there is no national emergency at the southern border but there is one in the White House: [declaring a national emergency] does not give Trump the right to fund projects that Congress will not approve. Authoritarian leaders do that sort of thing. The puffed-up wannabe strongman now living in the White House is giving it a try. Robinson also points out that illegal crossings of the border are in a two decade low, challenging the notion of an emergency.

Fox News host Sean Hannity pushed back against the idea that that there is no true emergency by tweeting about the rise of increase in overdose death that is attributed to fentanyl in border states (fentanyl overdose deaths have been increasing all over the country and according to the Drug Enforcement Administration the majority of it enters the US through legal ports of entry.)

A break from norms

The editorial board of the Chicago Tribune wrote a scathing editorial critiquing Trumps emergency declaration. They situate Trumps decision in historical context: In recent decades presidents have sought to expand their authority through the use of executive action. Trumps threat to assert powers previously invoked during times of military conflict or natural disaster takes presidential prerogative to a new level.

The editorial board of the New York Times echoed the sentiment: This fit of presidential pique is about more than a wall. It constitutes a reordering of the power dynamic between the branches of government. Mr. Trump aims to usurp one of Congresss most basic responsibilities, the power of the purse. Confronted with this power grab, every lawmaker should be bellowing in alarm.

But some are arguing that Trump is not fighting hard enough. Conservative pundit Ann Coulter, who some believe was the impetus of the shutdown by critiquing Trump last week, tweeted that the national emergency declaration is not enough.

See you in court

The president doesnt get automatic funding for a border wall when he declares a national emergency. His declaration will be challenged and it would be up to the courts to decide if there is indeed a true emergency at the border, and if a border wall is the solution.

The American Civil Liberties Union has tweeted that the declaration is a clear abuse of presidential power.

Elizabeth Goitein, of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, wrote for the Washington Post that it is unlikely for the courts to block Trumps emergency declaration: the National Emergencies Act, passed by Congress in 1976, will not make things easy for anyone preparing litigation to stop Trump. The law gives the president complete discretion to declare a national emergency; there is no definition of emergency and no criteria that must be met. As a result, most judges would tend to defer to the presidents determination that an emergency does exist, however much of a stretch it might seem.
The opening days of 2019 continue to remind us that the impact of the opioid epidemic, both in Philadelphia and across the nation, is profound. But there are glimmers of hope in our city. We can build on that hope if we take this moment to reflect on the sources of the affliction, and support efforts to rebuild individual lives and reshape communities.

More than 10 years ago, when Mural Arts first partnered with the Citys Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS), the agency was in search of innovative strategies to connect people to mental health and substance-use disorder treatment. They wanted a creative solution that might better engage individuals and address the complex knot of mental illness, addiction, housing insecurity, poverty, and racism.

Social isolation can create the conditions for estrangement from family, alienation from community, and disconnection from services. When we feel isolated, it can worsen the symptoms of mental illness and addiction, and deepen the challenging effects of trauma.

We believe we can begin to reverse this pattern of isolation. At the Storefront Hub in Kensington, a once-empty store has become a thriving community center  a place of hope. Here, Mural Arts and dedicated partner agencies (Impact Services, Prevention Point, and New Kensington Community Development Corporation) have been working together since March of 2017 to support resilience and recovery.

The Storefront serves as a workshop for visiting artists, a safe space for neighbors, and a learning hub for anyone interested in art-making, personal and public safety, or self-care. Certified peer specialists  people with lived experience  play a vital role in welcoming community members and connecting them to treatment, services, and supports as requested.

The model is intentionally interdisciplinary and uses multipurpose spaces with a complex and nuanced fabric of services, programming, support, education, and activity. The activities at the Storefront reduce isolation, build acceptance, and engage people  both those struggling with addiction and those in recovery.

Mural Arts textile artist Kathryn Pannepacker, who has worked at the Storefront for almost 18 months, teaches weaving on Tuesdays. The goal of each session is to create two small weavings on a handheld tapestry loom: one to share with the group and one to tie onto your own wrist during the closing ritual for the days activities.

The Healing Blanket Projects intent is to offer belonging, meaning, and purpose to the lives of those who work and make with Pannepacker. At the end of each weekly session, participants reflect together on what they have made that day, and reinforce their participation in the group  a connecting bridge to which they return with increasing regularity.

As the city implements the Philadelphia Resilience Project, its new, coordinated approach to fighting the opioid epidemic and revitalizing the Kensington area, we envision expanding the Hubs role as a connector. We will continue to reduce isolation among different kinds of neighbors and provide a platform for the voices and choices of the community. When given space to grow, hope can be the first step toward sustainable renewal.

Jane Golden is executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia.
In my 19 years of serving as an evangelist and block captain in Kensington, Ive encountered many abandoned buildings and nuisance properties.

When you have access to a vacant building, you have access to criminal activity, such as prostitution and drug dealing. In a residential community with mothers, fathers, and children, vacant buildings create spaces for people to overdose on drugs and be taken advantage of sexually. The city has not dealt with these places properly, and they instill fear in neighbors.

One such property was on the 1900 block of Clementine and Amber. Drug dealers went in through the back and took over the property. They sold sex and drugs out of the building, and there were a couple of shootings in the area. Neighbors were afraid to call the police because they feared retaliation from the drug dealers.

Eventually, somebody must have called Philadelphias Public Nuisance Task Force, which handles nuisance property complaints, and the city came to board it up. But it was terrible. The neighbors were so scared that it took almost two years to close it off.

Closing off vacant buildings is important because it reduces the trafficking of drugs and sex and reduces the risk of fires. Many of the abandoned buildings catch on fire because the wiring is old and not maintained. However, due to Kensingtons large number of abandoned buildings, closing off a building is only a temporary solution. Its too easy for dealers to find a new location.

Now that the house on Clementine and Amber is boarded up, theres another vacant building across the street where these illegal things persist. People enter the new location through a back alleyway and continue to squat. Although the Fire Department was there at least once, the building remains a nuisance, and people actually live in there. The neighbors continue to fear retaliation and the likely chance of a fire.

Im not afraid to call, but calling isnt exactly a solution, either. Calling the Public Nuisance Task Force to put in a report on the property means it will investigate the property. Unfortunately, this process can take up to a month or 45 days to complete. The owner of the property is notified, and the property is shut down by the nuisance hotline.

Many of these problems start with people living in Section 8 housing, which is the citys rental assistance program for families with low income. Some people may participate in illegal businesses to provide for their families. If they leave or are removed from their house, another vacant building is added to the community unless it is rented to someone else right away.

Thats not to say that these homes should be used as expensive rentals, either. This creates other problems such as homeowners not conducting sufficient background checks on renters, not properly maintaining the properties, or not adhering to residential zoning laws.

For example, a property near my house was temporarily vacant after the homeowner died. His son took over the place to use drugs. After a woman overdosed and died on the property, the man was caught selling and using drugs, and police marked it as a nuisance so that a new owner could purchase it. The woman who now owns the property rents it out to three men. She has done it better, but she is still breaking residential zoning laws by renting to multiple tenants. Her neighbors do not know the tenants or if they have criminal backgrounds.

To solve these problems, community members must attend meetings and voice their concerns, and city officials must actively listen and respond to our demands. More community members should sign up to be block captains, and the city should host more cleanups to take care of needles and trash. Property owners must be held responsible for their properties and for their renters, residents must be informed about their neighborhoods, and residential zoning laws must be followed.

Rather than vacant and crime-infested buildings, Kensington needs more residential homes and shopping centers, community buildings, and things like movie theaters and playgrounds. This area shouldnt be a forgotten neighborhood. We deserve homes that foster love  not fear  just like the rest of Philadelphia.

Theresa Farrell has been a block captain in Kensington for 19 years. A version of this piece previously appeared in the Kensington Voice, a community-driven news initiative that amplifies traditionally underserved voices, illuminates the neighborhoods complexity, challenges, and resilience, and explores existing and potential solutions to problems facing the heart of Kensington.
Our family has called the Riverwards, specifically Fishtown and Port Richmond, home for generations. Weve always believed this is a wonderful area to live with a great sense of community. This past weekend my grandparents home, where they lived for more than 60 years, was destroyed. My grandmother is 94 and has lost all of her and her late husbands belongings, including their home  one of the few things she still recognizes. Construction being performed at a neighboring property compromised the integrity of her home. The damage was so extensive it required immediate demolition of both the neighboring home as well as my grandparents home.

My grandparents home was the nucleus of our family. We gathered every Sunday, for birthdays, graduations, sporting events, new jobs and often just because  just because we knew someone would be there. My grandparents had 10 children so someone was always there. Their home was our first stop after the birth of both of my children on the way home from the hospital. I remember as a child raiding my moms Christmas stocking, which hung on the mantel every year; even after her passing, I could count on that stocking being there at Christmas. Those stockings and that mantle are gone  somewhere in a pile of rubble with many other artifacts accumulated over 60 years of living and building a home. These things cant be replaced.

It was surreal to watch the home where we built so many memories collapse right in front of us. Our family is lucky to have a strong support system, comprised of family and a community acutely aware that this could have happened to any one of us.

Its hard to know exactly what would have prevented this situation, but the community, the city, and state need to take measures to ensure this does not happen again. Its time to impose harsher consequences on the types of unscrupulous behavior that lead to this tragedy. Implementation of changes that target those driving this behavior as well as those performing the work could include:

Require developers to provide neighbors with their direct contact information as well as a description of planned work to the property so resident can be aware,

Implement a bond system where any developer must present a secured bond prior to work to ensure any potential damage to neighboring properties can be remediated,

Provide neighbors a greater voice in what is happening around them and provide them with a mechanism for recourse when they are wronged by a developer or investor. Ive heard numerous stories from other neighbors about how their house was damaged as a result of contractors/investors and no city or state agency could assist.

Make it more difficult to hide behind LLCs and so-called shell businesses,

Revision or repeal of the real estate tax abatement. While this law served as a catalyst to boost interest in the city, it has become a mechanism to provide additional incentive for developers by increasing potential interest in the house and making it a more profitable transaction for the investor/developer. Because of tax abatement, developers sometimes make decisions that arent in the best interest of the existing residents.

A coordinated effort by police and L&I to proactively surveil construction and respond to reports of suspicious activity; a dedicated unit to focus on such work,

Provide an easy, direct way for residents to report L&I emergencies (many reports via 311 have a 10-plus day turnaround, which gives those on site plenty of time to complete activities)

My family and I urge our city and state leaders use this tragedy as a catalyst to implement change to protect our residents, especially the most vulnerable, like my grandmother. As for our family, we are focused on rebuilding the home that once stood within this great community and housed all our family memories. This unfortunate event has brought Fishtowners together, old and new, as one community to support my grandmother. We are appreciative of this. This camaraderie is a reminder of why our family has chosen to call this area home and why we dont fault others for wanting to do the same.

Jennifer Romaniw is longtime resident of Fishtown and Port Richmond. She is the granddaughter of Mrs. Clovena Klenk, whose home was destroyed.
Adrianne Gunters multiple sclerosis had gotten so bad, she could no longer work or go to school. Desperate to make ends meet, she applied for Social Security disability benefits. Despite her well-documented illness, the Social Security Administration initially turned down her application, and she had to file an appeal. After waiting a burdensome 788 days for a hearing, and depleting all of her savings, she was finally able to argue her case before a judge, who agreed her disability was severe enough that she could not work.

Adrianne had to wait two long years before she could qualify for the disability benefits that she needs to survive. Unfortunately, for many other people struggling to get by, the wait time could get even longer in 2019, if Social Security forces Pennsylvania to introduce a new step to the appeals process for disability determinations, called reconsideration review.

When someone applies for Social Security disability benefits, the case is first evaluated by a state disability agency. If the state agency finds that the person does not have a disability, the person can request a hearing before a Social Security judge. Reconsideration review is a mandatory second review by the state agency before the person can request a hearing. This second review does not usually involve any new evidence or contacting a claimant  it is often just a rubber stamp of the first decision, delaying the persons opportunity to make a case directly to a judge.

 READ MORE: After 878 days, federal government tells West Philly woman with multiple sclerosis that she is disabled; may apply for benefits

Social Security allowed Pennsylvania to abolish the reconsideration review step years ago. But starting in April , Social Security is planning to add reconsideration back to the appeals process. As a result, Pennsylvanians with disabilities will have to appeal not once, but two times before getting to talk to a judge about their disability claims.

Social Security says that reconsideration will allow some applicants to receive decisions sooner. But the percentage of people who will receive an earlier decision as a result of reconsideration review is very small, around 12 percent, per the agencys numbers.

And the costs of this additional review step are huge. Adding a new layer of bureaucratic red tape will extend the already too-long appeals process. Social Security data show that most people will have to wait more than 100 extra days before they can argue their cases before a judge. Thats on top of the two years many people already have to wait.

Pennsylvanians already have some of the longest waits in the country for decisions on disability cases. During those long waits, people deplete their savings accounts or go into debt. They go without basic necessities that could keep them healthy, like prescription drugs, doctors visits, and fresh food. Some people fall into homelessness. Pennsylvanians with disabilities should not be pushed into these positions.

Even worse, adding this level of review will prevent many qualified applicants from pursuing the appeals process. Many people will become discouraged by the delays. And others will miss extra appeals deadlines because they are struggling with their disabilities. Experts from the Office of the Chief Actuary estimate that roughly 7,500 applications would be withdrawn each year because of the new red tape. Adrianne says that that if she had to go through another step, she would have probably given up because she was so sick and going through the process was so discouraging.

Pennsylvania is one of 10 states that eliminated reconsideration in 1999 to make the application process easier for people with disabilities. In its push to revive reconsideration, Social Security says that it wants every state to have the same review process.

If uniformity if the goal, lets instead raise our standards in all states, and eliminate reconsideration nationwide. States like Pennsylvania that do not currently require reconsideration should not be forced to reintroduce it. We are making progress on our wait times. Reconsideration, we fear, would detract from this progress.

U.S. Reps. Dwight Evans and Brendan Boyle, both Democrats from Philadelphia, are members of the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees Social Security. Jennifer Burdick is supervising attorney at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia.
The accountant prepared my taxes this week. Usually, I get a refund, something I can use to buy myself a few extra lattes and my monthly SEPTA pass. This year, thanks to changes in the tax code, I will now end up owing the government. In fact, Im thinking that President Donald Trump will be able to use my contribution to build one steel slat at the southern border (youre welcome, Donald).

After the initial explosion of anger, Im fine. But Ive heard a lot of other people complaining about how the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That very well may be true, and I feel compassion for the folks who normally would have gotten a refund to pay their property-tax bill or cover their kids tuition for summer camp, and who will now have to figure out where to cut and scrimp and make do.

But Im also annoyed at the over-the-top rhetoric about billionaires and paupers. That language is regularly used by some of the newest members of Congress, including the Democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez  Sandy, as her friends called her before she became famous enough to have three names  wants a 70 percent tax on those making more than $10 million, wants Medicaid for all, and wants to get rid of cows and airplanes.

Frankly, shes not the only one. Ive noticed over the last decade or so that the real fault line in society isnt race, or gender (all 87 of them), or religion, but class. Its so funny to realize that in a country based upon the idea that you can be whatever you want to be as long as you work hard enough, envy has become a fundamental value.

Case in point: An artist named Joe Boruchow decided to paint a picture of the Union League flying the Confederate flag, despite the fact that it was founded to help destroy the Confederacy. He created his work of art out of anger. The anger was produced when he was marching down Broad Street a few years ago with all of the other social-justice warriors who hate Trump, and saw a bunch of horrible people standing on the balcony at the league, drinking and laughing and smoking cigars. No felonious activity. No bigoted displays of blackface. Not even someone munching on a Chick-fil-A sandwich  which as we know would have angered our mayor, who wanted to ban the fast-food joint from the City of Brotherly Love because of its CEOs stance on same-sex marriage.

Nope, the artist was annoyed because while he was marching down the street, a bunch of arguably affluent people were having a very nice time. It was the microaggression of the microbrew set. According to Boruchow: They were sipping martinis, chomping on cigars, and laughing at us. At the time, no one in our group realized that these people were the ones we should be protesting.

I realized that this is exactly the type of animus that motivates Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, and that 70 percent tax on the rich. Its the reason that people erect those inflatable rats at construction sites if some entrepreneur commits the mortal sin of hiring nonunion labor. Its the ridiculous idea that poverty bestows virtue, and that wealth is a sign of a corroded soul (and, yeah, I know that whole thing about it being easier to fit a camel through the eye of a needle than to get a rich man into heaven, but God got a little melodramatic there).

I am not a rich woman. I will not have a cushy retirement, and I budget like pretty much everyone else I know. That may come as a surprise to the folks who write and tell me that Im a wealthy lawyer and know nothing about suffering. Next time you see me on the Broad Street subway, say hi.

But Im not envious, either. I dont begrudge someone for having a larger bank account than I do (unless that person came by it dishonestly). Bankrupting some to give to others out of a misplaced sense of entitlement is un-American.

I mean, last time I checked, the guillotine was French.
For the last year, Dana has been sleeping outside and in abandoned buildings in Kensington. The situation wasnt ideal, but it worked for her until July, when she was assaulted by two men. That was when Dana, who requested her name be withheld for this story, started staying at a shelter whenever she could. But sometimes, the shelters limited schedule  which, at the time, required people to leave from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.  wasnt enough and she found herself, like many of the other people experiencing homelessness in Kensington, walking the streets searching for food, water, and bathrooms until she could return.

Housing struggles are common in Philadelphia, the poorest of the 10 biggest cities in the United States. In 2018, nearly 11,000 people experiencing homelessness were served in the citys emergency shelters, safe havens, or transitional housing, and the poverty rate hovered at around 26 percent.

Some longtime Kensington residents like Dennis Payne wonder if vacant buildings in Kensington could be converted into housing for the neighborhoods growing population of people experiencing homelessness.

When you tell me, Not with my tax dollars and not on my block, these people were at one point taxpayers, said Payne. As far as Not on my block  well, theyre already on my block.

Between 2017 and 2018, the number of people living on the street in Kensington more than doubled from 271 to 703, and the neighborhood currently has two shelters with a total of 80 beds. In December, the city said it would open 30 more shelter beds in the area by January, but due to pushback from some residents, it wont be ready because the city cannot lock down a location.

Jamie Moffett, of the now-defunct Kensington Renewal Initiative, just finished renovating a handful of abandoned houses in the 19134 zip code. Moffetts original goal was to convert them into owner-occupied homes for longtime renters in the neighborhood, but after some trouble refinancing his properties, he is renting them through a property management company instead.

When asked what he thought about converting abandoned homes into housing for people experiencing homelessness, he was skeptical. I dont see a way for that to happen unless theres some magic government money Im not aware of, Moffett said.

However, Moffett admits that its cheaper to house people in row homes than in shelters, because the average rent in Kensington is less than the cost of sheltering someone for a month. In 2016, the average median gross rent was $812.60 for the five census tracts  161, 163, 177.01, 177.02, and 178  Kensington Voice uses for Kensington, according to the U.S. Census American Community Survey.

At a meeting on Nov. 27 at McPherson Square Library, Liz Hersh, the director of the citys Office of Homeless Services, said each shelter bed costs the city $45 per day, or an average of $1,350 a month  well above the neighborhoods average rent. One person spending a year in permanent supportive housing costs the city about $12,500 each year  about $1,040 a month  which is also more expensive than the neighborhoods average.

Unlike some of the West Coast cities where they just dont have enough housing stock, Hersh said, we really do have housing stock, and that could be renovated, rehabbed, or demolished and replaced.

The Jumpstart Kensington initiative is focused on revitalizing blighted properties to fill some of the needs Hersh mentioned through a mix of affordable and market-rate rentals and owner-occupied homes.

Jumpstart Kensington, which is modeled after Jumpstart Germantown, trains cohorts of developers and provides them with training, networking, mentoring, and loans. Its goals include supporting scattered-site rehabilitation, which entails renovating two or three vacant houses on a given block and improving neighborhood safety by reducing the number of broken-down properties.

A survey in 2017 found that half of Jumpstart Germantowns loans were for rentals and the other half were for homeownership, which he called a perfect balance.

However, funding for initiatives like Jumpstart Kensington, which relies on money from Impact Services through JP Morgans PRO Neighborhoods award, can be difficult to secure in the first place.

At Seventh and Somerset Streets, Orens Brothers Real Estate is working on a state-funded project in partnership with Mosaic Development Partners and Veterans Multi-Service Center. Theyre converting the remains of Thomas Edison High School into the Edison 64 veteran community  a $10 million project to create a 66-unit apartment complex. A veteran multiservice center on the first floor will provide employment assistance, among other services.

But according to Chad Orens, the assistant project manager of Edison 64, development deals like Edison 64 dont happen without government funding, which is scarce for nonprofit housing projects. For developers looking to make a profit, Kensington can be a high and risky investment, Orens said.

For this reason, developers look toward more lucrative zip codes like 19123 (Northern Liberties) and 19146 (Point Breeze) for investment.

For developers, it comes down to someone having the foresight that in 15 years a property is going to be a gold mine, said Orens, citing the neighborhood surrounding Temple University as an example. Residents like Payne are aware of the foresight Orens described and are wary of wealthy developers with intentions of buying vacant properties and selling to more affluent populations.

Some of these lots which are only worth $1,200 will have $300,000 homes on them," Payne said. These buildings are going to be torn down, and theyre not going to be used for the people of Kensington."

Henry Savage, Evan Easterling, and Erin Blewett are students at Temple Universitys Klein College of Communication and writers for Kensington Voice, a community-driven news initiative that amplifies traditionally underserved voices, illuminates the neighborhoods complexity, challenges, and resilience, and explores existing and potential solutions to problems facing the heart of Kensington.
President Donald Trump has referred to the situation at the United States-Mexico border as a humanitarian crisis. Hes expected to declare a national emergency to address it and fulfill a promise to build a wall between the two nations, the White House announced Thursday. A potential 2020 challenger to Trump, Howard Schultz, was in Philly for a Q&A this week. The former Starbucks CEO revealed details of a conversation he had with the former manager of the Philly location where the controversial arrest of two black men took place last year. Theres a lot more to the Philly accent than youse, and wooder. In fact, experts say our way of speaking is the gold standard.

Reading this online? Sign up here to get this newsletter delivered to your inbox every morning.

 Ray Boyd (@RayBoydDigital, morningnewsletter@philly.com)

President Trump will sign a bill to keep the government from experiencing another shutdown. Simultaneously, he will declare a national emergency on the southern border, the White House announced Thursday.

The White Houses decision came just as a short-term funding bill was set to expire today.

The bill allocates some money for border security, but comes up far short of the $5.7 billion Trump demanded for 200 miles of wall between the United States and Mexico. Declaring a national emergency for what the president has called a humanitarian crisis at the border is an effort to bypass Congress to get the funds needed for a wall. Legal challenges are expected to follow.

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was challenged in Philly this week by Melissa DePino, the woman who posted video of two black men being handcuffed and led out of a Philly Starbucks last year. The incident quickly sparked a national conversation about racial bias.

During a Q&A, Schultz, whos considering a run for president, said the manager only called police after she felt a threat." But DePino tells a different story.

Schultz revealed details of a private conversation he had with the stores former manager  one he says convinced him that the incident was a form of racial profiling.

Dont take it for granted when someone asks you for wooder. Phillys way of speaking influences culture and has actually become one of most studied dialects in the world.

Researchers continue to unearth things about Phillys accent. Their biggest takeaway: its constantly changing.

The nitty-Gritty of Philly English is not a total mystery to language researchers. But its hard to predict whats next. Will youse ever be a thing of past? There are still more stones to be turned.

What you need to know today

Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly

 Hopefully you had a wonderful Valentines Day, Philly. Thanks for sharing the love, @vatinoshotz.

Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and well pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out!

Thats Interesting

Opinions

When I first walked into The Washington Post newsroom in l961 as its first black female reporter, I felt like I was about to dive into a sea of white men while carrying two extra weights they didnt have to carry. ... Diversity among reporters produces more views from various communities and that can help increase public knowledge, awareness and understanding.  Dorothy Butler Gilliam, author and The Washington Posts first black female reporter, on racial diversity in newsrooms.

As the House Judiciary Committee considers legislation to expand background checks for firearm purchases, former prosecutor George Parry argues that more checks will not prevent deaths.

Several of Phillys iconic 24-hour diners have closed their doors, but those that are still open serve a vital role for employees and patrons alike, Columnist Mike Newall writes.

What were reading

A Daily Dose of | Love

Most of us find the perfect meal at Phillys Italian Market. Lee and Mariella Esposito found each other. Our video journalists captured their love story in the mini-documentary The Italian Market: Love on 9th Street.
A few days before the Pennsylvania primary last May, a group of left-leaning Philadelphia women held a nonpartisan forum so voters could get to know the candidates for lieutenant governor.

When Carmina Taylor, a leader with Philly Women Rally, announced the organizations the group had partnered with, she named Republican Women for Progress.

One of her fellow organizers walked out.

Deja Lynn Alvarez, who went on to serve as the co-president of Philly Women Rally and one of the lead organizers of this years Womens March on Philadelphia, said she was blindsided to learn the organization had partnered with Republicans, wondering: Why are you giving these people a platform?

Philly Women Rally eventually splintered. At the heart of its split was a question that has dogged feminist organizations for years: Is the womens movement, led largely by liberals, about ideology or about support for all women? And as Republican women fight for equality within their own party, some are asking where they fit in.

Alvarez, who recently announced a run for Philadelphia City Council, sees the current womens movement  which in many ways was spurred by the first Womens March in 2017  as a liberal one that has a responsibility to fight the Trump administration. Identifying as a Republican today, she said, is akin to aligning yourself with the White House.

If youre Republican at this point, she said, youre anti-immigration. You're anti-LGBTQ. Youre basically a racist.

Plenty of Republicans reject that, and say they face the same problems the Womens March and other movements like #MeToo rail against: wage inequality, sexual harassment, and a lack of support from their own party leaders. At the same time, they face hostility from a Trump wing in their party, said Malliga Och, an assistant professor of global studies at Idaho State University, whose research has focused on conservative women. Essentially, they have no home.

The Year of the Woman (on one side)

Diana Irey Vaughan, a longtime Washington County commissioner whos made two runs for statewide office, said that while the Republican Party recruited her to run for state treasurer in 2012 and lieutenant governor last year, some of the support it promised never materialized. She lost both races to men.

[Women] have to work, still, twice as hard proving ourselves to receive the same type of support and acknowledgment that men receive, said Vaughan, who added that shed like to see a womens movement that represents all women regardless of ideology  one that leads to more women elected to public office on both sides of the aisle.

Women on the left made historic headway this year in Harrisburg and Washington, but the Year of the Woman didnt yield the same results for Republicans.

In Congress, the number of Republican women dropped this year, according to an analysis by Och and Shauna Shames, an assistant professor of political science at Rutgers-Camden. Of 36 freshman women elected to the House, one is a Republican, they found.

The danger of a too-narrow feminist movement is that it is too easily dismissed. Shauna Shames, asst. professor of political science

Shames said Republican women face greater barriers to election. The Republican Party doesnt have as strong an infrastructure for recruiting, training, and fund-raising for women, she said.

Women also struggle more in Republican primaries when the electorate tends to be more male and more conservative. Shames said women tend to be less conservative than men on the whole and are less likely than Democrats, who are largely more open to engaging in identity politics, to be celebrated for their womanhood.

Shames, who used to work with the National Organization for Women, said the question of whether to engage with and back Republican women has long been a point of contention in feminist movements. But, she said, the research is clear: Governments function better when theyre representative of the constituents, and feminist movements should support that even when there are ideological and policy differences.

Its essential that we have a movement and strong organizations based around the concerns of women as a group, not just the liberal women, and not just women who identify as feminists, she said. The danger of a too-narrow feminist movement is that it is too easily dismissed.

Christie Whitman, the first and only woman to serve as governor of New Jersey and a moderate, pro-abortion-rights Republican who supported Hillary Clinton in 2016, has been critical of her partys lack of recruitment of women and said it would help if leaders spoke out when members of the party act and behave like misogynists.

She said feminist movements like the Womens March certainly started as empowering women, but may have gotten away from those roots in favor of an increasingly liberal agenda.

I dont think it has to stay that way, Whitman said, adding that women have the unique ability to fix partisan bickering.

Maybe the divide will be less charged in a post-Trump America, said Ariel Hill-Davis, a York, Pa., native whos the director of policy for Republican Women for Progress, a national organization of anti-Trump women in the GOP.

Ill be curious," she said, "whether people can scale back the heightened emotional response and have trickier conversations around having a space where women across the full spectrum can come together and ask for better, increased representation.

A more moderate Womens March?

While this years Womens March on Washington featured a large number of women who went to protest the Trump administration, about one-quarter of the crowd were first-time marchers, most of whom self-identified as moderate, according to a survey by Dana R. Fisher, a University of Maryland sociology professor who researches social movements.

Among those who stayed home this year, though, was Jennifer Pierotti Lim, a Republican who last year spoke at the Womens March in Roanoke, Va., and in 2016 addressed the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

Lim is the cofounder of Republicans for Hillary, which morphed into Republican Women for Progress and is an anti-Trump group that wants to reform the GOP to work better for women. She said she wants her group to be like the EMILYs List of the right  that is, a massive recruiting and fund-raising PAC that supports female candidates.

She initially supported the Womens March organization but said the groups leadership is too far from the ideological center.

For all of the conversations about intersectionality, if they wanted to be truly intersectional, they would have people on their steering committee who are Republicans or women not from the coasts  women from the middle of the country, Lim said. We dont have a wide enough scope of representation.

Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa has seen a gap between Womens March leadership and attendees since the first year when her Texas-based New Wave Feminists was removed from the list of sponsors after an article questioned why the group, which is antiabortion, was officially participating.

But Herndon-De La Rosa and her group attended the march anyway and had an overwhelmingly cool experience, she said, as dozens of women thanked them for being at the march and said that while they may not agree on abortion access, they can work together on other issues like immigration, police brutality, and the death penalty.

Today, she said, shes disappointed the leadership of the Womens March leans so far left and said its gotten away from what once seemed to be its mission: being the backbone of the modern womens movement.

I wanted it to be a feminist movement, she said of the Womens March. But when you listen to the stuff theyre talking about, theyre not celebrating conservative women getting elected.
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Phillys way of speaking is famous. Its been impersonated on national TV, inspired internet characters, and sparked memes. Its also one of the best-studied dialects in the world.

The city is the gold standard when it comes to studying language patterns, largely because of William Labov, the famed University of Pennsylvania linguist who for decades has been recording how Philly talks.

His work has helped to set up a corpus, or database, that researchers can use as a diving board for other important linguistic work in Philadelphia, from looking closely at who exactly is changing the white accent to American Sign Language in Philly to the Puerto Rican community and African American English.

Everybody has an accent, said Josef Fruehwald, co-author of a landmark 2013 Penn study on Phillys changing dialect. Even people who dont think they have an accent. Its just nobody comments on their accent, but everybodys got a distinctive way of speaking.

Heres a look at what researchers are learning about how Philadelphians communicate.

Young women

Linguists say young women tend to be at the forefront of language changes  in Philadelphia and across the globe.

In some ways, why is a million-dollar question in sociolinguistics, said Meredith Tamminga, assistant professor of linguistics at Penn and director of the universitys Language Variation and Cognition Lab. A 2012 New York Times article on the subject noted, as Paris is to fashion, the thinking goes, so are young women to linguistic innovation.

Interested in the influence of an individual within the group, Tamminga homed in on young women by analyzing conversational speech in pairs of young, white women ages 18 to 29.

We said, OK, well, if were going to pick one group to focus in on and learn about how changes are driven forward, we might as well pick the group that is sort of at the forefront of these changes,  she said.

Tamminga and her team are beginning to look at the findings, analyzing the relationship between words that many Philadelphians are saying more distinctively over time  like plate, pronounced more like pleete, or fight like foit or tooth like t-eww-th  and the words that are becoming less distinctive, like thought, home, and down.

The idea is basically to say ... so weve learned all these things about the way the groups differ, now pick just one group and look inside of the group and say, how do those people differ from each other?" she said.

American Sign Language in Philadelphia

Jami Fisher, senior lecturer of foreign languages and director of the ASL program at Penn; Tamminga; and Julie Hochgesang, an associate professor at Gallaudet University, a private university for the deaf in Washington, began the Philadelphia Signs Project about five years ago to document ASL in Philly.

Sometimes people say that [the Philadelphia ASL variation] is strange or weird, which you dont often get, or you dont regularly get for like, Indianapolis, for example, or Rochester, Fisher said, noting the variation is fading. You just dont have deaf people say, Oh, those people in Indianapolis sign so weird. 

What she can say is that there are lexical variations. Older signers might extend the same sign for Wanamakers, the now-closed regional department store, that theyd use for store  like the way Coke can sometimes mean soda.

Right now, the data are used to understand ASL generally, but more will be known about Phillys variety with additional information, including more African American and Latino signers.

Ultimately, our long-term goal is really to understand what makes Philadelphia signs Philly, and in order to do that, we need more data, not just in Philadelphia participants, but just in general," Fisher said.

African American English

African American English in Philly has been researched by Labov and others, and an online corpus outside Penn is being built to record regional varieties, but there needs to be more done to compare whats happening in Philly with whats happening elsewhere, said Sabriya Fisher, assistant professor of cognitive and linguistic sciences at Wellesley College and a recent Penn graduate.

Many people have found theres a tendency for African Americans in a given location to approximate the local white accent, but were starting to find some cases where theyre doing something completely different, she said.

Theres more going on in Philly linguistically than what we know about the white community. Sabriya Fisher, Wellesley College

Obviously, there are words like jawn that originated in the citys African American community, but Sabriya Fisher also said that whats known to researchers as a neutral /ae/ system is characteristic of the African American community in Philly.

 READ MORE: Jawn? Ocky? Philly kids schoolteachers with new handbook

Though Sabriya Fisher hopes to research more distinguishing factors, her recent work found that aint used in the past tense instead of didnt  as in, at that time, I aint really know what it was"  had increased over the 20th century. She examined speakers in Philly, but its not a finding isolated to region.

Theres more going on in Philly linguistically than what we know about the white community, which we have quite a bit of information on  the white Philadelphia dialect compared to what we know in the African American community," she said.

Phillys Puerto Rican community

Philly is home to one of the biggest communities of Puerto Ricans in the United States.

Grant Berry, a language engineer for Amazon who studied the community as a visiting scholar at Penn in 2017, analyzed vowel patterns used by Puerto Ricans in North and Northeast Philly, looking in part to determine whether the white Philly accent was influencing Puerto Rican English speakers.

 READ MORE: What does it mean for Phillys Latin dance scene that its studios are in flux?

Everybody has an accent. ... everybodys got a distinctive way of speaking. Josef Fruehwald, "One Hundred Years" co-author

Berry also found that younger and more educated white Philadelphians are trying to back away from the vowel that makes wooder so distinctive to the area. Though Puerto Ricans are also backing away from that vowel, the way they do depends on their sex, with men using a well-known pattern called the caught/cot merger."

So the vowels in cot, like a bed, and caught, like he caught the ball, merge together and sound the same, he said.

 READ MORE: Philadelphia Latinos connect with Caribbean roots through ornate porch gates

Berry observed that Puerto Rican speakers were adopting characteristics noted in African American English, like th-fronting, when th sounds become "f" sounds, likely because of where Phillys Puerto Rican communities are  between historically white and black communities.

There are real practical reasons to adopt patterns of African American speech within the Puerto Rican community, and we havent really looked at that yet, Berry said.

High schools

Betsy Sneller, a recent Ph.D. graduate from Penn and a postdoctoral research fellow at Georgetown University, noticed a change happening to what she describes as abstract rules that govern pronunciation in Phillys white accent.

Her research took her back to high school, where she found differences among three categories.

Students in what she labels elite public schools like Masterman School and Central High School are ditching the Philly system, but students in special-admissions Catholic schools, like Roman Catholic High School and Nazareth Academy High School, are using both. Students in local Catholic schools, like Little Flower High School and Archbishop Ryan High School, are sticking with the Philly system.

To me, this was really exciting because its the first like real-time recording data that shows, yeah, speakers are able to learn these two complex systems and vary between them, she said.

Looking ahead

The work thats already been done has helped researchers study the nitty-gritty of Philadelphia English, but researchers agree they cant say exactly whats next. Language isnt a predictive science.

There are more stones to be turned over.

In terms of language variation and change and patterns of sound change, theres no city thats been studied more than Philadelphia, Berry said. Yet still, theres so much more work that needs to be done.
Inside a former ammunition plant in one of Philadelphias river wards, the tick-tick-tick-tick would be instantly recognized by any 30th Street Station regular.

Split-flap boards!

On a recent afternoon, two were hanging on a workshop wall in design-and-build firm Oat Foundrys new headquarters in Bridesburg, their motor-driven carousels of letters and numbers imprinted on die-cut plastic flaps spinning out test messages. Soon, those would be shipped to a brewpub in Saskatchewan and a trade show in Germany.

A third is for in-house use, a workhorse of sorts with more than 10 million spins (and counting) on it to determine the lifespan of an Oat Foundry flip-style board.

The regions most familiar flip-style board was pulled out of service last month from its prominent perch in the middle of 30th Street Stations soaring great hall, where it announced arriving and departing trains since the 1970s. Built by Italian manufacturer Solari, it became technologically obsolete and expensive to fix. Its replacement is a larger digital sign, with smaller ones installed above the stairways to all the platforms, augmented by overhead announcements to better serve the visually impaired.

Yet, undeterred is Oat Foundry, a company founded by six Drexel engineering alum specializing in split-flap boards in use throughout the world including, more locally, at Honeygrow restaurants and the recently opened Shakespeare & Co. bookstore/cafe on Walnut Street. The six-year-old company, however, is not pinning its hopes entirely on the old-school boards, learning early on that essential to the survival of every start-up is an ability to pivot.

We envisioned making pretzel-vending machines, John Halko, 28, Oat Foundrys product manager, laughingly said of the early days, when the company evolved from an entrepreneurial bond the founders developed over a senior design project in 2013: a soft pretzel vending machine.

When their client for that Drexel project opted against going any further with the machines  which earned the guys an A in class  they didnt panic. They got down to basics.

We knew we could build stuff and tried our damnedest to make money on it, Halko said. Its not very eloquent, but we just followed the money.

Which is how they came to make split-flap boards. They were asked by Honeygrow, then a new fast-casual restaurant chain offering customizable stir-fry and salads with a location inside 30th Street Station, to reproduce a more modest-sized, affordable version of the Solari board for them.

It required Oat Foundry to develop a program that would flip the Rolodex-like cards in each display board module to match the sound that seemed to be endearing  evident from the outcry over the Solari signs removal  to many Amtrak passengers.

The sound was critical, said Mark Kuhn, Oat Foundrys CEO. That was what was most evocative of 30th Street. Its a very familiar sound.

The initial rollout to Honeygrow was 20 displays, their primary purpose as a real-time order up notification that integrated with the point-of-sale system and as a marketing tool, Kuhn said. As Honeygrow started shifting away from using them, Oat Foundry bought the exclusivity rights to them, Kuhn said.

"We really owe Honeygrow a lot. It was our first taste with product development, he said.

Oat Foundrys next break came when it was hired to create a split-flap board for a new craft beer tavern next to Wrigley Field in Chicago. That job, said Kuhn, was validation for us that people outside the Philadelphia region like this, too.

But this was a company built by problem solvers and with We build cool stuff as its tag line.

Now, Oat Foundrys portfolio includes a range of product design and other services, including creating of an industrial-scale coffee machine for BKON LLC in Moorestown that uses reverse vacuum infusion to convert the usual 24-hour cold-brew process to 15 minutes, and conducting in-depth engineering research to help Fishtowns Weckerlys find a new ice cream sandwich cutting machine capable of handling the family-owned micro-creamerys growing demand.

And helping enable the launch of a LaColombe Draft Latte into space.

Thats how you celebrate a launch, said the never-understated LaColombe cofounder and CEO Todd Carmichael, who raved about an adventurous culture at Oat Foundry that he said is rare among engineers.

Ive never heard, Its not possible, Carmichael said of proposals hes brought to Oat Foundry, including creating a new mobile device that can toast a pastry with a USB cord, and, yes, helping send a can of latte beyond Earths bounds with a custom-made launch vehicle  complete with heaters, a few GoPros, parachutes, and a GPS tracking device.

Oat Foundry is a place I go where everything is possible, Carmichael said.

One of Philadelphias 100 fast-growing businesses in 2018, Oat Foundry moved in January from Bensalem to the redeveloped Frankford Arsenal complex just off I-95 at the Bridge Street/Harbison Avenue exit  the location chosen largely because each of the Drexel six lives in Philadelphia, Kuhn said.

> READ MORE: Philadelphia 100: Fast growth + historic low unemployment = hiring challenges

For Sean Rossiter, 28, Oat Foundrys president and product manager, the primary passion is growing a small business located in Philadelphia, where I grew up.

The companys five-year lease is for 5,200 square feet to accommodate a staff that has grown to 8 full-time and 10 part-time employees, and an expanding workload that contributed to $857,000 in revenue in 2017, up from $146,000 in 2015, according to its Philadelphia 100 application. Kuhn said the company no longer makes its annual revenue public, saying only that its now in the millions.

Oat Foundrys split-flap signs have evolved to now include flaps that display pictures, not just letters and numbers, and vibrant colors, not just black and white. Yet they make up just 50 percent of Oat Foundrys revenue and falling as we build out other parts of our business, Kuhn said.

Thats not to say he doesnt believe theres a future for Oat Foundrys signs, whose modern technology enables messages to be changed in real time from a cell phone.

There will always be space in the world for these types of signs," Kuhn said. "In the event the world stops asking for them, well be sad, but it wont be the end of Oat Foundry.
In Alice Johnstons kitchen, I was unsure which view was more impressive  the sunlit surface of Kirkwood Lake, or the paperwork on the table chronicling the decades-long battle to get toxic elements removed from the water, the lake bottom, and the surrounding landscape.

Thats not even all of it, Johnston said, pointing to the foot-and-a-half-tall stack of correspondence, reports, and test results. They detail the lead, arsenic, and other contaminants that have long flowed from a 19th-century industrial complex in Gibbsboro into Kirkwood Lake in Voorhees.

The lake is part of a complicated Superfund site that lies mostly upstream in Gibbsboro. It was there that the Sherwin-Williams Co. operated a paintworks  founded by John Lucas in 1852  from 1930 until the late 1970s. The man-made, 25-acre lake is part of the Hilliards Creek tributary of the Cooper River.

It was beautiful when we moved here, said Ed Kelleher, a member of Johnstons small but determined citizens group known as the Kirkwood Lake Environmental Cleanup Committee. Now its a witchs brew.

At long last, Sherwin-Williams has been at work, overseen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on portions of the Gibbsboro site and is preparing to remove and remediate contaminated soil on Johnstons property and those of five other homeowners along Steven Drive. That work could start as soon as April 1.

But Johnston and some of her Steven Drive neighbors call the plan unacceptable. Theyre concerned about potential risks from contaminants being excavated and transported along a temporary roadway to be built between their backyards and the lake, and about having their lives disrupted by problems for which they were not responsible.

The crux of the thing is, they want to come in and tear down every tree, build a road, work for three to six months, and then come back several years later to do the lake. Theyre putting the cart before the horse, said Johnston. Why cant they do these things concurrently?

A reasonable question. I tried to get an answer from Sherwin-Williams, where a too-busy-to-talk spokesperson referred me to www.swhilliardscreek.com, a website that does contain useful information.

Mary Mears, spokesperson director for the EPAs Region II, which includes New Jersey, said via email that the agencys overall approach is to prioritize residential cleanup, such as Sherwin-Williams already has completed in Gibbsboro, before other aspects of the project.

We will oversee this work [to the Kirkwood properties] to ensure that it ... minimizes disruption and inconvenience to property owners, she said, adding that an evaluation of the bodies of water on the entire Superfund site should be completed next year, with remedy selection the following year.

EPAs approach has been to address the higher contamination upstream first, Mears said. And taking note of requests to address the lake sooner rather than later, EPA remains open to opportunities that could address those concerns.

Camden County has been working with the EPA, Sherwin-Williams, and Johnstons group on whether the lake  so loaded with sediment that its just a few inches deep in many places  could be dredged before remediation work upstream in Gibbsboro is completed.

We own the lake, so we hired experts to identify what would happen to it if we waited, and they concluded that the lake would be dead, said Freeholder Jeff Nash.

Sherwin-Williams has always been extremely amenable to discussing a resolution to the lake problem as long as it meant the company wasnt going to have to redredge it later on," he said. And the county does not want redredging the lake to detract in any way from the work thats going on upstream in Gibbsboro.

In a statement, U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, whose district includes Gibbsboro and Voorhees, said he has been advocating for remediation of the entire site since taking office five years ago.

Ive been focused on speeding up the work on the Gibbsboro/Kirkwood Lake Superfund site [by] working to bring all parties to the table after a decades-long delay, the Camden Democrat said, adding  accurately, in my view  that more has been done in these past few years than in the past 30.

Norcross also said he will "continue to work with the EPA, Sherwin-Williams, local and county governments, and community members to get a concurrent clean-up solution in place and acted upon, and to ensure that this project continues to progress.

For Johnston and her allies along the lake, the prospect of six months of noisy, dirty, disruptive construction  not to mention the removal of beloved trees and other landscape amenities  nevertheless looms large.

I am devastated, Johnston, who has twice beaten breast cancer, said. I dont know if I can handle this ... remediation. Weve had to live with this for 40 years. And they cant come up with something better?"

I would think they could.

When we first started talking about this [cleanup], I was 62. I am now 77," Kelleher said. "My wish is that when this is finished, I will still be on this side of the grass.

That makes two of us.
ATLANTIC CITY  A New Jersey appellate court has sided with Atlantic City piano tuner Charlie Birnbaum in his long-running fight to keep his family home in the shadow of the Ocean Resort casino from being seized by the state through eminent domain.

His advocates hailed the decision, released in a 29-page ruling Friday, as another salvo in a nationwide  backlash against the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the infamous case of Kelo v. City of New London, which allowed the government to take peoples homes for private development."

Since Kelo was decided, greater judicial and legislative scrutiny of redevelopment-based takings has occurred," the court wrote in Fridays ruling.

Birnbaum retained the right to keep the home his parents, who were Holocaust survivors, bought in 1969, because the states Casino Reinvestment Development Authority could not provide assurance that its plans for the property and surrounding area would proceed in the reasonably foreseeable future, the court ruled.

A CRDA spokesperson said the agency would respect the courts decision."

When the case was first decided in 2016, the casino, then called Revel, had declared bankruptcy and shut down. It has since reopened as Ocean Resort but is still plagued by financial problems. A New York hedge fund that was one of its largest lenders recently took control from Denver developer Bruce Deifik as losses continued to mount.

The area around casino, once known as Paulines Prairie, remains largely undeveloped, though the Boardwalk as it runs by and around it toward the inlet, facing Brigantine, has been handsomely rebuilt and a North Jersey developer is leasing new apartments. Under Gov. Phil Murphy, the CRDA has largely shifted its focus from land acquisition and has sought to auction off some of its tax-exempt holdings.

Birnbaums mother, Dora, lived in the house on Oriental Avenue until 1998, when she was killed during a home invasion. Birnbaum, who lives in Hammonton with his wife, rents out the upper floors and uses the first floor for his piano-tuning business.

In a statement, Birnbaum said of the ruling: This home has been so special to our family, and the fact that its standing and still here is enormously important."

The court upheld an earlier decision by Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez, who ruled that the CRDAs proposed stockpiling of land for future redevelopment was not sufficient justification to seize private property such as Birnbaums house. The CRDA had offered him $238,000.

"CRDA never had a plan for this home other than knocking it down and then thinking really hard about what they might want to put there instead, said attorney Dan Alban of the Virginia-based Institute for Justice, which opposes eminent domain cases nationally and represented Birnbaum.

If that reasoning was enough to let them take this home, it would be enough to let them take literally any home they wanted, for any reason or for none," he said.

Adam Gordon of the Fair Share Housing Center, which filed an amicus brief in the case, praised the ruling and said, Eminent domain should not be used to displace working families and other low-income communities as part of a wholly speculative development scheme with no demonstrated public benefit.

Under a state takeover of Atlantic City, the CRDA has recently shifted its focus to help casinos and businesses focus more on issues affecting city residents, nearly 40 percent of whom live in poverty. The original idea for the area around the Ocean Resort included a mixed use of tourism-focused residential, retail, and commercial uses.

Eminent domain has a rocky history in Atlantic City, including a successful fight against then-casino owner Donald Trumps efforts to seize a home owned by Vera Coking. Trump wanted her property to expand a porte cochere of the former Trump Plaza. The land was eventually obtained by Carl Icahn in 2014 through an auction.
President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency in an effort to secure resources that could make plans for his long-demanded wall along the U.S.-Mexico border a reality.

On Friday, Trump said he signed the emergency declaration in order to quicken the process of building the controversial wall. Also Friday, the president signed a funding bill that will prevent another government shutdown.

The bill passed both the House and Senate Thursday, a day before the shutdown deadline, and will provide $1.375 billion for 55 miles of border fencing. Trump has long pushed for more than $5 billion to construct 200 miles of barriers, resulting in an impasse that late last year resulted in a 35-day partial shutdown of the federal government.

Its a great thing to do, Trump said during a speech at the White House about the declaration. Because we have an invasion of drugs, an invasion of gangs, and its unacceptable.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Thursday the emergency was meant to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border.

But what exactly does that mean? Heres an explainer on Trumps plan and what powers it gives the president.

What is a national emergency?

Trump is able to enact a national emergency thanks to the National Emergencies Act, which was passed in 1976 and gives the president greatly enhanced powers during emergencies  specifically, more than 100 statutory powers that cover a broad range of issues, from agriculture to public contracts, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan public policy and law institute. The powers Trump may be most interested in, however, would focus on the use of armed forces and military construction projects, according to the center.

While a national emergency adds many options to the presidents arsenal, it doesnt mean he has complete freedom to do what he wants. Elizabeth Goitein, of the Brennan Center, outlines the process in the January/February edition of the Atlantic:

Aiming to rein in this proliferation, Congress passed the National Emergencies Act in 1976. Under this law, the president still has complete discretion to issue an emergency declarationbut he must specify in the declaration which powers he intends to use, issue public updates if he decides to invoke additional powers, and report to Congress on the governments emergency-related expenditures every six months. The state of emergency expires after a year unless the president renews it, and the Senate and the House must meet every six months while the emergency is in effect to consider a vote on termination.

Why would Trump want to declare a national emergency?

Passing laws through Congress is a lengthy process, and it's become obvious that a clash between a Democratic-ruled House and GOP-majority Senate won't make what he wants easy.

We can call a national emergency and build it very quickly, Trump said last month. But if we can do it through a negotiated process, we are giving that a shot.

By both signing the bill and declaring a national emergency, Trump hopes to secure the money drawn out in the spending package and combine it with funds from other programs that could result in $8 billion for barriers along the border, according to the New York Times.

How can the declaration be challenged?

The state of emergency could be thrown out by a vote in the House and Senate, which would then need to be approved by the president himself, according to PBS, or a two-thirds vote in each chamber to overrule a veto. House Democrats are already poised to take action.

Its very likely the battle will reach the courts.

Because the [National Emergencies Act] and related military construction authorities do not appear to have been employed to construct barriers along the U.S. border, the invocation of such authorities for that purpose would raise a variety of novel legal issues, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service released last month.

And not just one lawsuit, but many of them with an ultimate decision probably coming out of the Supreme Court, according to the Washington Post.

Any crisis on our border is of President Trumps own making, said Xavier Becerra, the attorney general of California and a likely litigant, according to the publication. Family separations, child detention, turning our backs on asylum seekers, and more. There is no national emergency. If Trump oversteps his authority and abandons negotiations with Congress by declaring a fabricated national emergency, we wont only call his bluff, we will do what we must to hold him accountable. No one is above the law.

When have emergencies been declared in the past?

National emergencies arent unheard of.

Theyre declared for all kinds of things, Kim Lane Scheppele, a professor at Princeton Universitys Center for Human Values, told USA Today. Theyre absolutely common, which is why nobody blinks an eye about the whole thing  and then you get a case like this.

There have been nearly 60 emergencies declared before, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. For example, President George W. Bush declared one after the 9/11 terrorist attack, and in 2009, President Barack Obama declared the swine flu outbreak an emergency. Trump has announced three himself since taking office.

 READ MORE: Trump declares a national emergency over a non-existent crisis. Here are 4 emergencies that we actually face. | Editorial

 READ MORE: Do walls really work for border security and immigration?

 READ MORE: Construction of border walls exploding around the world, as Trump demands billions for barrier at Mexico line

 READ MORE: The moral case against even $1 for Trumps wall | Will Bunch
AURORA, Ill. (AP)  A gunman opened fire at a manufacturing plant in suburban Chicago on Friday, killing five people and wounding five police officers before he was fatally shot, police said.

Aurora, Ill., Police Chief Kristen Ziman identified the gunman as 45-year-old Gary Martin and said he was a 15-year employee at the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora, a city of about 200,000 people roughly 40 miles west of Chicago.

Ziman said Martin was being terminated Friday afternoon before he opened fire at the warehouse.

She told reporters that officers arrived within four minutes of receiving reports of the shooting and were fired upon as soon as they entered the 29,000-square-foot manufacturing warehouse.

"May God bless the brave law enforcement officers who continue to run toward danger," Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at the news conference.

Hospitals reported treating at least seven patients from the shooting, though their conditions weren't released. Two of the officers were airlifted to trauma centers in Chicago, Ziman said. Officials did not say the total number of people injured other than the police officers. Police said they did not know his motive.

Tameka Martin, who identified herself to WBEZ Chicago as the sister of the gunman, said Martin had been laid off from Henry Pratt two weeks ago. She said Martin had worked there at least 20 years.

He shot officers, so if they did shoot him and kill him, they was, I guess, defending themselves. Martin told WBEZ.

Several ATF teams responded to the shooting and were at the scene, according to the agencys Chicago spokeswoman, and the FBI said it also was responding.

Tiffany Probst, 38, a legal assistant said her best friend saw a post on Facebook about the shooting and she started texting that your dad might be inside!

Her father, John, has worked as a machinist in the building for over 40 years. He has three grown children and has five grandchildren. Probst raced down to the factory but it was all blocked by police.

I knew there was no way to call him because hes old school and never has a cell phone, she said. Then she heard from friends father was giving TV interviews and talking with the police.

Hes safe and talking to the news, she said. Hes not much of a talker, but when it comes to this, I can tell by his voice hes real shaken up. We are looking forward to giving him a hug.

The company makes valves for industrial purposes.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D., Ill.) tweeted Friday that she was following the situation. This is a scary, sad day for all Illinoisans and Americans, Duckworth wrote. Thank you to the brave first responders who risked their lives this afternoon and apprehended the shooter.

My heart breaks for Aurora, Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D., Ill.) tweeted. Im tracking updates on the situation with my staff. Thank you to the members of law enforcement who are responding to the emergency.

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting and monitoring the situation as he prepared to depart for a weekend trip to his home in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump tweeted his thanks to law enforcement officers in Aurora and offered his condolences to the victims and their families. America is with you, he said.

At Acorn Woods Condominiums, where Martin lived, a mix of brick apartments and condos nestled on a quiet street just a mile and a half from the shooting, neighbors gathered on sidewalks near Martins unit talking and wondering among themselves if they knew or had come in contact with him.

Mary McKnight stepped out of her car with a cherry cheesecake purchased for her sons birthday, to find a flurry of police cars, officers, and media trucks.

This is a strange thing to come home to, right? she said. She had just learned that the shooter lived close by and his unit in the complex had been taped off by police.

Christy Fonseca often worries about some of the gang-related crimes and shootings around her mother's Aurora neighborhood. But she never expected the type of phone call she got from her mom on Friday, warning her to be careful with an active shooter loose in the town.

Police cars with screaming sirens revved past her as she drove to her mothers house, where the Henry Pratt building is visible from the porch stoop. It was only when they flipped on the television news that they realized Martin had killed people just a few hundred feet away.

In Aurora, period, wed never thought anything like this would happen, Fonseca, a lifelong resident of the Chicago suburb, said as she looked out at the factory.

Presence Mercy Medical Center was treating two patients and a third had been transferred by helicopter to another hospital, spokesman Matt Wakely said. Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital each had one patient from the shooting, spokeswoman Kate Eller said. Rush Copley Medical Center received three patients from the shooting and all are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, spokeswoman Courtney Satlak said.

This article contains information from the Washington Post.
The Philadelphia District Attorneys Office on Friday said that it appealed a recent ruling beneficial to convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal because it was concerned that the opinion  which would allow Abu-Jamal to reargue his appeal before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court  was too broad and could impact an untold number of other cases.

In a three-page document filed in Abu-Jamals case, prosecutors Nancy Winkelman and Peter Carr said that they believed some of the language in Common Pleas Court Judge Leon Tuckers December opinion was problematic." Tucker ruled that Abu-Jamal should be allowed to reargue his appeal because former Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille  who was Philadelphia district attorney during the early portions of Abu-Jamals post-conviction efforts  did not recuse himself when the case reached the state Supreme Court.

Although Tucker rejected a claim by Abu-Jamals lawyers that Castille had personal significant involvement" in Abu-Jamals case as a prosecutor  a topic the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on in a separate case in 2016  Tucker said Castilles involvement as a justice still created the appearance of impropriety, and that Abu-Jamal thus should be allowed to again take his appeal before the states highest court.

Prosecutors, in their filing Friday, said they were concerned that Tuckers opinion could require any top prosecutor who becomes a judge to be recused from any case that had been pending before joining the bench, which they believed would have widespread consequences.

Judith Ritter, one of Abu-Jamals attorneys, said Friday that prosecutors were mischaracterizing Tuckers decision, which she said was a proper interpretation of the law.

The case awaits a decision from the Superior Court, which could take months.

Abu-Jamal, 64, a former Black Panther and radio reporter, is serving a life sentence for the Dec. 9, 1981, shooting death of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, 25, at 13th and Locust Streets.

The case, one of the most controversial in city history, has sustained interest as the appeals process has continued.

Faulkners widow, Maureen, was ejected from a courtroom in October for arguing with Tucker over the extended appeal process. And earlier this month, District Attorney Larry Krasner  elected on a pledge to curb mass incarceration  was uninvited from speaking at a Rebellious Lawyering conference at Yale Law School due to his handling of Abu-Jamals appeal.
On a sunny Wednesday afternoon this month, a recent La Salle University student left his home on the edge of campus and began walking along North Lambert Street. Thats when a man with a knife approached, and took his iPhone, his debit card, and ID.

The incident marked the seventh robbery since Jan. 1 within 500 feet of the campus in the citys Logan neighborhood. In the previous two years, police had logged only a single robbery in the same radius.

The robberies have prompted a pledge by university administrators to bolster security but also stoked tensions on the Catholic school campus. There have been no injuries but also no arrests in the robberies, five of which involved armed assailants, and nearly all against students.

Theres always been these incidences since Ive been at La Salle for the past four years, but this year has gotten increasingly bad, said Katherine Young, a La Salle senior.

More than 2,200 people signed an online petition declaring that students were scared to walk in broad daylight around campus. On Monday evening, 300 filled a town-hall meeting devoted to the topic, and the conversation grew heated.

Students complained about a lagging safety text-alert system, a lack of security for off-campus students, and inadequate shuttle and escort systems.

We dont see any security, we feel like were left out to dry, Derek DeFusco, a junior who lives near campus, said in an interview after the meeting. Students are literally arming themselves.

University officials say theyre doing what they can  including sending more security alert texts, outfitting campus safety officers in yellow vests for visibility, and collaborating with the Philadelphia Police Department to increase the presence of officers in unmarked cars.

Dawn Soufleris, La Salles vice president for student affairs, also said the school has spent a year developing a public-safety plan that includes installing more than 100 cameras and incorporating a GPS tracker into the universitys app that notifies safety contacts if students dont reach their destinations.

The university already has 54 unarmed public safety officers, some of whom provide student escort and shuttle services, as well as more than two dozen students who staff security booths. Through a grant, La Salle pays for a Philadelphia police officer on campus seven nights a week between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m.

But Soufleris said the school faces limitations in preventing off-campus incidents, which is outside its security forces jurisdiction.

Thats difficult for our students to understand the differences in terms of the boundaries, she said.

Unsolved robberies are a citywide problem and crime in that area isnt uncommon. From 2012 to 2016, 27 homicides occurred within a half-mile of nearby Olney and Chew Avenues, according to an analysis by Philadelphia Weekly.

Still, the timing isnt great for La Salle, which enrolls nearly 5,200 undergraduate and graduate students. Like many universities, it has struggled with finances, plunging enrollment, and questions about its long-term viability.

At Mondays meeting, Soufleris said the security problem wasnt unique; she said other city schools have experienced an uptick in thefts.

But data on crime near the five major universities in the city  Temple, Penn, St. Joes, Drexel, La Salle  indicate that only La Salle has had a spike in robberies so close to campus. And the seven robberies since Jan. 1 are more than occurred near all the other schools combined, data show.

In an email to students late last month, Soufleris and Amanda Guthorn, the assistant vice president for public safety, encouraged them to use campus shuttle and safety escort services, walk in groups, tuck away cell phones, and report crimes.

Some students havent been satisfied with the universitys response. I can talk to somebody about it, but thats not going to stop me from being robbed when Im walking back from the library at night, said sophomore Brianna Santiago.

Others expressed concerns that more security on campus would make some students feel unsafe while failing to address off-campus security.

We do not want armed police officers roaming through our academic buildings, junior Brandon Robbins-Cartagena said at the meeting.

In an interview later, he said the school needs to consider a broader effort. As a person of color  I think we should be advocating for a relationship with the people who live in our neighborhood, and a team effort to combat gun violence and crime, Robbins-Cartagena said.

Ernest Ransom, police captain of the 35th District, which includes La Salle, echoed that theme, stressing the importance of maintaining relationships with community residents. "We have to work to make the community understand that you are a part of it, he told students, not apart from it.

Soufleris insisted the town hall was just the start of the conversation.

Its the La Salle community, but we also believe its everybody around that is in the outside community, she said in an interview a day after the meeting. It has to be a full effort by everyone, so its really just the beginning. Were just going to stay vigilant and help our students the best we can."
White people have told Kisha McKinney for years that shes not like other black people  the way she talked or dressed or acted didnt fit their stereotype.

Its why she, like many other people of color, was particularly put off by statements this week by Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO and a potential independent presidential candidate. Schultz was widely and swiftly criticized after he said during a CNN town hall event Tuesday that he doesnt see color."

Though the expression has been panned for years, McKinney said she doesnt think some white people realize that it can be hurtful and even offensive.

They think the statement is leveling the playing field, but to me its upholding these ideas of superiority," said McKinney, 45, of University City. Its really saying, I dont really see what makes you you.

Schultz used the expression in the context of a conversation about an incident that took place in a Philadelphia Starbucks last April, when two black men who didnt purchase anything while waiting for a meeting were arrested after the white manager called police. The incident sparked national outrage after a video went viral.

As somebody who grew up in a very diverse background, as a young boy in the projects, I didnt see color as a young boy," Schultz, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native, said during the town hall, and I honestly dont see color now.

Shortly after the televised event, CNN commentators wondered whether Schultzs answer  in response to a question about racial profiling  was out of touch.

We want you to see our color, said CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers, who is black. We want you to see the benefit of the diversity we bring to the table, all of our talents and richness of the culture that we represent. We dont want you to whitewash that or eliminate the fact we do bring that to the table.

The color-blind ideology and related expressions arent new, and neither is criticism of them. Locally, as early as 1998, former Philadelphia City Councilwoman Augusta Clark was vocal about the issue when she spoke to teachers in Camden.

If youre color-blind, and you dont see color and you dont see race, she told them, youll miss the problems that may arise, and your teaching wont be as effective as it can be.

The expression has been so widely mocked as denying the experiences of people of color that it was a running joke in pop culture. Comedian Stephen Colbert has long poked at the expression, saying once: Im not racist, I dont even see race, not even my own. On The Office, boss Michael Scott, portrayed by Steve Carell, once said he was collar-blind in the context of a conversation about blue- and white-collar workers.

>> READ MORE: Howard Schultz confronted by woman who shared viral Philadelphia Starbucks arrest video at Free Library event

Other public figures have taken heat more recently for using the phrase. Conservative political commentator Tomi Lahren, no stranger to controversy herself, insisted she doesnt see color during a 2016 interview on Comedy Centrals The Daily Show With Trevor Noah during a conversation about how shes repeatedly slammed movements such as Black Lives Matter.

I dont believe in that at all when people say that, responded Noah, a South African of biracial ancestry. There is nothing wrong with seeing color. It is how you treat color that is more important.

Schultzs assertion that he doesnt see color also appears to not align with values espoused during anti-bias training that took place at Starbucks locations across the country after the Philadelphia incident last year. As reporters at CNN pointed out, being color-blind to race was rejected in training materials.

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson also spoke against it in a video, saying, Growing up, this term called color-blind described a learning behavior of pretending not to notice race. That doesnt even make sense."

McKinney said shes noticed an evolution over the years in terms of how other white people see the expression.

There was a point in time, especially for whites, where they would see that as being a positive thing to say, or coming from a good place, she said. Theres definitely been more conversation around these topics over the years, and the last couple of years, people are having more of a reckoning.

John Romano, 40, of Fairmount, is white and said hes certain he used some version of the expression I dont see color over the years, thinking it was the right thing to say. That was until he met his wife, who is black, in 2005, and then spent 13 years teaching at Girard College, where the vast majority of his students were black.

They told him of their experiences and now, he said, saying I dont see color is akin to saying I dont see your identity.

My biggest thing that Ive learned is that I need to sit back a bit, and try to listen and to be an ally the best way I know how, he said. This isnt a white person saying, This is how you should feel. This is a white guy saying, I said the same thing 15 years ago, until I had to have a real eye-opening experience.

Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a professor of history, race, and public policy at Harvards Kennedy School and author of the book The Condemnation of Blackness, said, "If were going to do something differently in the 21st century than what was done in the 20th century, its going to take a whole lot more white people in everyday experiences to be anti-racist and to stand up for racial justice.

He pointed to Melissa DePino, a white woman who was present during the Starbucks incident and on Wednesday confronted Schultz during an event in Philadelphia, which led to him saying the manager who called police in April 2018 told Schultz she probably wouldnt have done so if the men had been white.

Thats what makes the critique of systemic racism so important," Muhammad said. Its not just what happens to black people, but what doesnt happen to white people.

In an interview Thursday, DePino, who shot the video of the April incident, said that I dont see color is a common expression used by people who dont believe they hold racist views.

"They dont understand how embedded those views are, she said. "If you cant see color, you cant be part of the solution, because you dont understand what the problem is.

>> READ MORE: An unlikely outcome of Starbucks: Kindred spirits and a social media campaign

Michelle Saahene, the black woman whose voice is heard on the viral video defending the two men, and who has formed with DePino an organization to oppose racism, said: You cant be an effective ally if you dont see color.

Muhammad added its critical to teach children from a young age to make sense of skin color differences.

Ellen Youssefian, a piano teacher living in South Jersey, is white and grew up in Southwest Philadelphia hearing her fathers mother, who was born in 1899, sometimes say derogatory things about black people. But her mother challenged what she and her siblings heard.

When they heard the negative language, Youssefian, who grew up Irish Catholic, said, her mother always said, Love everyone. Were all Gods children.

When her two children, now in their 20s, were growing up, Youssefian, 60, said she and her husband taught them not to see race. Today, shes rethinking that.

The terminology we learned to use to rebut what the previous generation had taught us is not working," she said.

Her son and his wife now live in Point Breeze.

They love Philadelphia," she said. They love the different races, the different colors.
High in the baby-blue sky above Curry Hammock State Park in the Florida Keys, a very small merlin falcon with a very big attitude repeatedly attacked an osprey five times its size.

"Look, it's pecking the osprey," said Luis Gles, binoculars pointed up at a 30-degree angle to the battleground 100 feet above us. "They are scared of nobody. They attack even peregrine falcons."

The merlin wheeled, darted, and dove again on the osprey. Then the two birds broke off hostilities  the merlin to continue its migration to its wintering grounds far to the south and the osprey to hunt for a fish dinner.

"When I arrived, I was in love with peregrine falcons," said Gles, a native of Colombia who now lives in Miami. "But merlins stole my heart."

The temperature was fast climbing to 90 degrees on this humid, shirt-soaking day in late September. Gles stood in the sun on the second-floor observation deck of the building that houses the parks bathrooms. He searched the sky for migrating raptors  birds of prey, a group that includes falcons, hawks, ospreys, eagles, and kites  as they passed on their months-long journey to the Caribbean or Central and South America.

Gles and two other experienced birders had been hired by the Florida Keys Audubon Society to count raptors as part of the Florida Keys Hawkwatch, an annual census of migrating birds of prey. For the last 12 years, Curry Hammock State Park on Little Crawl Key has hosted this Hawkwatch, one of more than 100 fall surveys conducted around the country in collaboration with the Hawk Migration Association of North America.

In the late summer and fall, tens of thousands of raptors fly over the Keys as they journey from their breeding grounds in Canada and the northeastern United States. Because raptors prefer not to fly over large bodies of water, the Keys act as a natural funnel, compressing the birds into a concentrated stream. Curry Hammock in the fall is one of the few places in the world where birders can expect to see migrating peregrines. I guarantee it, Gles said.

His confidence is not misplaced. Counters here logged 1,506 peregrines on Oct. 10, 2015, the highest daily count ever recorded anywhere in the world. This season during the count, 3,588 peregrines were spotted, including 500 on Oct. 13. When this years count ended on Oct. 31, 19,067 raptors of all species had been tallied  an average of 46 birds an hour over the two-month Keys Hawkwatch.

"Visitors are absolutely welcome at the Hawkwatch," said Chris Payne, a native of Somerset, N.J., who is a member of the counting team and a lifelong birder. "Engaging guests is a crucial part of our work because increasing public interest is the best way to ensure that the raptors we observe are protected for future generations."

Theres a peregrine, Gles said.

Above us, a fast-moving bird with a fighter-plane profile was making a beeline south for Cuba. Its migrating. You can tell by the height.

He shifted his binoculars slightly to the right.

"Looks like another peregrine. Adult.

Spotters counted only southbound migrating birds. It was sometimes hard to tell migrants from residents. Several ospreys make their permanent home in the Middle Keys. Counters don't record an osprey until it makes its move south.

A dozen small birds flashed by and headed over the water. Barn swallows. Theyre heading straight to Cuba, said Lindsey Duval, of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the third member of the counting team.

Duval entered the barn swallows in a separate notebook that records non-raptor sightings. A glance at its pages revealed a menagerie of birds that could have been named by Dr. Seuss: worm-eating warblers, short-billed dowitchers, lesser yellowlegs, northern parulas, yellow-billed cuckoos.

"We count every bird," Payne said.

One team member acts as the official counter, the others as spotters. Every hour, the counter records the number and kind of raptors seen in the previous hour. At the end of the day, daily totals for each species are uploaded to Hawkcount.org. Non-raptor counts are uploaded to Ebird.org, maintained by the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology.

Peregrines are the star attraction at the Florida Keys Hawkwatch. Their name derives from peregrinus, which means wanderer or foreigner in Latin. Falconers prize female peregrines; particularly able hunters can fetch up to $25,000 in the bird bazaars of the Middle East.

These crow-size birds cruise at 20 to 50 mph but can reach more than 200 miles an hour in a stoop  their characteristic hunting dive. (Fun raptor fact: Peregrines can ball up their feet into fists when they dive and literally KO a small bird out of the sky.)

"I've got another peregrine," Gles said. "Fingers. Two glasses up.  No, no, no. It's a merlin."

Most sightings were measured in seconds, a test of birders eyesight and identification skills. To meet the challenge, spotters spoke in a cryptic code passed down from one team of hawk-watchers to the next.

Spotters called out the birds altitude in glasses  how many viewing planes up from the horizon the bird is flying. A call of two glasses told spotters to lift their binoculars two planes up from the horizon, or roughly 30 degrees.

They also called out a landmark over which the bird was flying. In this flat landscape, the reference points were nearby trees and power poles. Two buttonwood trees with crowns that poked above the scrub were "Big Bob" and "Little Bob." A cluster of dead, leafless trees was "the Fingers."

Spotting the birds is only the first step. Identifying these fast-flying birds is a bigger challenge, even for experienced birders.

For falcons, the best indicator is their wing shape  they have very pointy wings, Payne said. By contrast, hawks have broad wings with feathers that extend like fingers from the wingtips.

Size is another tip-off. The peregrine is our largest falcon, Payne said. They are much larger and chunkier, as opposed to the kestrel, the smallest of the three species.

Spotters scrutinize how the birds flap their wings. The peregrine has a big, powerful flap that comes right from the base of the wing, Payne said. Merlins are like Energizer bunnies; they just flap like crazy. And kestrels, if you take a banana peel and flap it up and down, it looks like a kestrel flapping  real loose and floppy.

It was approaching 4:30 in the afternoon. The counting team had added a half-hour to its regular day to try to spot another osprey, which would bring the total count of the birds to 1,600 for September.

There, up high, said Jeff Payne, Chris father.

An osprey angled southward toward Cuba. The count was over for the day.

Chris Payne sat cross-legged in front of a well-used white tally board that listed raptor species. He erased the previous days count and entered this days: 47 peregrine falcons, 37 ospreys, 25 merlins, 11 broad-winged hawks, six northern harriers, and a handful of other raptors  136 birds in all, including the days prize, a rare short-tailed hawk.

"It is hard to appreciate the sheer bulk of birds that move through a single area each fall without seeing it yourself, day after day, for a whole season," Payne said. "Personally, the variety of raptor species and number of peregrine falcons are what sets [the Keys] above other hawkwatches for me."

Curry Hammock State Park: 305-289-2690 or floridastateparks.org and search for Curry Hammock.

Additional information: keysaudubon.org or floridakeyshawkwatch.com
The midnight waitress works by a simple motto: Come in rested and ready.

Its a credo that has carried Linda Harris through 27 years at the Mayfair Diner, every one of them spent on the overnight shift. As soon as she arrives (early, at 10:30 p.m.), the midnight waitress fills the ice creams. Readies the puddings. Makes sure the breads are sliced and the soup ladle ready.

Because in the early hours at the Mayfair, you never know whats going to happen.

The pleasantly intoxicated could stagger in  or the streakers who sometimes bolt from the bathroom on a booze-fueled dare. The counter could fill with the quiet nighthawks who show Linda photos of their dogs. Or the hours could pass slowly, with Linda puttering and cleaning to pass the time. Or, she could be ping-ponging between eight or nine booths, never forgetting the little things  the toast, the sides, the little cup of honey mustard.

The little things are what make the most importance, Linda said one recent icy night, as the clock above the Mayfairs multicolored tiled counter neared midnight.

In recent months, one could be forgiven for thinking the end of the 24-hour diner had come to Philadelphia  what with the iconic Oregon and Penrose Diners shortening their overnight hours. Two Midtown diners and the late, great Little Petes are already gone.

Though plates will no longer clatter through most of the wee hours in South Phillys deepest recesses, the 24-hour diner is still for now very much alive in Philadelphia. Nestled downtown is the last of the Midtowns, and the South Street Diner. Farther north, theres Lindas beloved Mayfair, and stretching south, the Broad Street and the Melrose, all owned by the citys diner dynasty: the Petrogiannis family.

Yes, staffing is a challenge, and UberEats stings, said Manoli Lagoudakis, who manages the Mayfair, and whose uncle Michael Petrogiannis owns the empire.

But were still going strong, he said of his spot.

What was really lamented when word came that the Oregon and Penrose would close at a reasonable hour was the loss of the particular aura of a diner at night. The liminal, dreamlike landscape of a Formica counter at 2 a.m. The sense that, once you pass into that neon glare, you are no longer in the world at all.

A late-night diner is a place where secrets are kept. The staff has a motto at the Broad Street Diner, too: Whatever happens on third shift stays on third shift, said waitress Donna Miller.

Its a place, too, where the waitresses call each other family. We stick up for each other and defend each other, said manager Amy Rockelman. And they console each other: Like on a recent Thursday, when Donna began crying. She keeps a photo taped to the inside of her order book  of her son, Johnny, who took his own life 18 years ago. Its still a daily struggle, and the women know that. That Thursday, Amy took Donna into the kitchen, held her and prayed by the waffle-maker.

A late-night diner is a place where you can get a little philosophical over the pancakes. Like at the South Street Diner, full to bursting on a recent Sunday morning, when Eric Mattson, 29, and Kristan Pagliei, 24, sat in a corner booth, on what didnt start as a date but was rapidly moving toward one.

Hes a poet, Kristan told me.

I dont know, maybe, said Eric, who by day works construction. What does that even mean?

A late-night diner is a place where some pay the bills in between dreams. Like Jessica Sessions, a 29-year-old waitress at the South Street Diner who was working one of her last shifts before shipping off to boot camp. The mother of three hopes to own her own restaurant, with all-day service, and a big outdoor patio. She thinks a soldiers life, and the benefits that come with it, might help her save enough. Im not going to get there doing this, she said.

And a diner is a place that, for some people, becomes the dream.

All these nights, for nearly a third of a century, have made Linda Harris happier. Before the divorce that led her to seek the job in the first place, she was scared of the world. On the midnight shift, she learned to really like people.

Her daughters, 11 and 15 when she started, learned that their mother would always be there for them. But to do that, she just had to be at the diner while they slept. And Linda learned that the police officers who visited the Mayfair were fond enough of the place and the people who worked there to drive past her house in the dead of night to make sure her girls were safe.

She learned to laugh with the drunks, to indulge the old-time regulars  so many of whom have passed  and even the kids who she wishes would show her a little more respect these days.

Youll go to a table, and theyll go, Well, thanks, Hon. Im not nobodys Hon.

Linda turns 70 soon. She has a job at the Mayfair as long as she wants to work, her boss recently told her. And shes not going anywhere.

I have a very big fondness of being here, she said. Someone asks me where I work, Ill tell them Im a server at the Mayfair Diner, and Im very proud to say that.

Before the end of her midnight shift, she makes sure all her tables are clean and everything is stocked to her satisfaction. That coffee is ready for the new shift. That the sinks, the soda machine and milkshake mixers are shining. And then she goes home, and has her tea, and plays with the dogs, and the midnight waitress sleeps.
The first card was postmarked Hartford, Conn. I assumed it was sent by a reader from my old paper who was nice enough to follow my work when I moved to Philly, and even nicer for hand-writing a note of appreciation.

But then a day or so later I got a batch of similar postcards. And the next day, another. And then I was sure I had missed something.

I noticed the words Postcard Underground written or rubber-stamped on several of the cards.

Postcard what?

A Google search turned up some clues  mostly a handful of stories by people who were just as humbled then stumped as I was by the cards mysterious arrival. The authors sometimes signed their first name, maybe a last initial, but offered few other clues to the coordinated random acts of handwritten kindness sent to people and causes they find inspiring. Such as:

A faculty member at Montana State University Billings with the courage to speak publicly about her Muslim faith. A Minnesota nonprofit for people who have lost limbs. A retired Minnesota Public Radio reporter whose colleagues tracked down the postcards mastermind to a Sue from Minnesota  or so they thought.

Clearly, theres a Minnesota nice connection. But the cards are postmarked from all over the country, including California and Seattle and Denver and Boston, which, as a Boston University graduate, I can attest isnt exactly known for being wicked friendly.

The cards that suddenly appeared in my office mailbox lauded my attention to gun violence, including a story about the lasting challenges faced by gunshot victims who survive that I wrote with David Gambacorta.

Your work on gun issues is important and appreciated, read one card. Some renamed me Helen Gubinas, but this was coming from a good place, so no hard feelings.

Like those before me, I tried to figure out how the writers connect and communicate. I noticed one sender from Minneapolis had included, inadvertently I think, her first and last name. I wont out the kind writer, but her name was unique enough to turn me into a detective for about a week, leaving messages for at least half a dozen Minnesotans who are probably wondering just whats in the Philadelphia water. (If I did stumble on the right person, Id love to hear from you. Maybe youd consider letting me join the group  because who doesnt want to be part of a secret society of kindness that cuts through the noise, especially when these days noise seems to be the countrys official language.)

I think thats why another piece of correspondence, tucked between the second batch of postcards, left such an impression.

This time, it was a thick envelope. More postcards, I thought. But when I opened it, I saw that it was handwritten cards from Philadelphia students, intended for a man I had written about a couple of months ago.

In November, Luis Berrios was shot in the back during an attempted robbery. While still lying in his hospital bed, he drafted a letter forgiving the people who shot him.

The students from Liguori Academy, a private, independent high school in Kensington, were floored, their English teacher Carolyn Bjornson later told me. And like the Postcard Underground, they were inspired to write him.

Mia Rettberg, a sophomore, said that like most of us, she usually communicates through texts and emails and various other electronic platforms that promise to keep us connected but seem to have the opposite effect. Writing the letters by hand forced her to choose her words more carefully, she said.

It seemed a lot more serious.

The letters were all great, but a line in one of them stood out for me.

I want you to know that you are being heard, wrote Katie Brown.

A simple declaration that perfectly sums up why those postcards make such an impact. And why Berrios was so touched when I sent him a text  the irony of that wasnt lost on me  with a photo of all the letters. These days its nothing short of miraculous when someone or something cuts through the noise to tell you that you are seen, and heard.

Berrios was back in the hospital with some complications from his gunshot wound, but was buoyed by the cards I promised to bring to him.

Them cards! he texted back.

Them cards, indeed.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether the Trump administration can ask residents for their citizenship status in the 2020 census, a question that could change how the federal government distributes hundreds of billions of dollars to communities.

Oral arguments are scheduled for the second week of April, according to the courts order. The justices should decide the issue by late June. The citizenship question has been destined for the high court since the administration announced its intention in March to include it in next years census for the first time since 1950.

The justices will hear the administrations appeal of a lower court ruling that blocked the question. The administration bypassed the federal appeals court to speed a decision, since the Census Bureau must soon finalize questionnaires.

Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are among the dozens of states, cities, and counties that have filed more than a half-dozen lawsuits to prevent inclusion of the question. The governments fear that including the inquiry about citizenship will scare residents and deter them from completing the questionnaires, the results of which determine how the federal government distributes hundreds of billions of dollars in funding. Population counts from the census also determine the allocation of seats in the U.S. House and the boundaries of voting districts.

Mayor Jim Kenney said a question about citizenship politicizes an essential element of our democracy.

Adding a question about U.S. citizenship to the 2020 census will add unfair obstacles to the constitutional mandate that all people be counted," Kenney said in a statement. This is yet another example of the Trump administration inciting fear among our immigrant communities and pushing them further into the shadows.

Kenney reminded Philadelphians that the information they provide in the census is federally protected and cant be used against them. Local and state governments and advocacy groups have been trying to calm immigrants fears about telling the Census Bureau they are not citizens while the issue plays out in court.

The Census Bureau itself has said that adding a citizenship question would likely decrease responses in non-citizen households. An estimated 261,000 residents in the Philadelphia region are not citizens, about 5 percent of the total population.

The Trump administration seeks to include the question over objections from the bureau about both depressed counts and increased costs.

Last month, a federal judge in New York ruled that the administrations attempt to add the question was unlawful. The judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the census, overstepped his authority and violated federal law.

The American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement Friday: Adding this question would cause incalculable damage to our democracy. We look forward to defending our victory.

The government says the question will give a more accurate count of residents who are eligible to vote. But the federal judge said the federal governments stated reasoning contradicts evidence provided by the Census Bureau and federal law, which says the government should use administrative records, not direct questions in a census, when possible to collect information.

Although lawsuits over the citizenship question are ongoing and include a trial in San Francisco that was nearing its conclusion Friday, the Supreme Court will decide the issue with the case out of New York.

The liberal American Constitution Society said Friday the citizenship question would mean people of color and immigrants will go uncounted, meaning these communities will get less money and less representation in Congress. The organization urged the Supreme Court to block the question, but acknowledged that due to the courts 5-4 conservative majority, that may be a faint hope.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Fifty-four people involved in two telecom fraud cases were sentenced to jail recently, the Sichuan High People's Court said on Thursday.

Liang Ting-wei, a resident of Taiwan who led 21 other criminal suspects in the first case, was sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison and fined 1 million yuan ($147,702).

Su Chien-chuan, also from Taiwan and the leader of 31 suspects in the second case, was jailed for 12 years and fined 1 million yuan.

The sentences were announced on Jan 31 by the Meishan Intermediate People's Court in Sichuan province.

The two groups of suspects stood trial in the Meishan court on Oct 15 and Nov 6.

In the first case, the court was told that Liang set up a telecom fraud organization in a villa in Bali, Indonesia, in early 2016 targeting residents on the Chinese mainland.

Six core members of Liang's organization were from Taiwan and the others were mainland residents.

Liang formulated the management system and handled all the management affairs of the organization. Yeh Hsin-chih, another Taiwan resident, was responsible for setting up and maintaining network communications equipment and sending voice information randomly through virtual telephone numbers.

In 2017, from April to July, the organization randomly sent more than 2.7 million fraudulent voice messages to telephone subscribers in many provinces and municipalities on the mainland.

Its telephone operators pretended to represent post offices, police and prosecutors on the Chinese mainland and fabricated credit card payment alerts and criminal accusations, along with use of personal information, to lure victims to transfer money to designated accounts.

More than 200 victims sent money to the organization's accounts as it defrauded them of more than 9.7 million yuan.

In the second case, four core members of Su's organization were from Taiwan.

From June 2016 to July 2017, Su and Tsai Chen-yu committed telecommunication fraud in a villa in Indonesia's East Java province.

Telephone operators impersonated employees of public security bureaus and prosecuting departments on the Chinese mainland to defraud mainland residents.

In 2017, between March and July, it defrauded people of a total of more than 24 million yuan.

Ordinary people suffered huge losses to make the fraudsters rich, said judge Yu Ning of the Meishan court.

A victim surnamed Wang said that one day in March 2017 he received a telephone call from a man claiming to be a policeman in Shandong province.

The con artist said Wang was suspected of involvement in a money laundering case and would be the subject of a probe by the Shanghai Public Security Bureau. The fraudster then transferred the call to another person posing as a Shanghai policeman. That person said the case had been transferred to the procuratorate. At that point, a phony prosecutor using the name Ye Guoxin asked Wang to transfer money to him 11 times. Total sums exceeded 510,000 yuan.
President Donald Trump weighed 243 pounds at his physical on Feb. 8, meaning he is now considered obese.

He has gained four pounds since his previous official checkup 13 months ago, giving him a body mass index of 30.4. A person with a BMI of 30 or above is defined as obese.

Obesity, which affects more than 90 million U.S. adults, is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That does not mean Trump is suddenly at much higher risk for those conditions. They also are associated with being overweight, which he was at his previous checkup in January 2018. The presidents BMI then was 29.9, at the upper end of being considered overweight for a man of his height, listed at 6 feet 3 inches.

The president was examined by physician Sean P. Conley this month at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the White House said Thursday. Conley, a Navy commander, said he was assisted by a panel of 11 board-certified specialists.

After taking into account all the laboratory results, examinations and specialist recommendations, it is my determination that the president remains in very good health overall, Conley said, in a memo released by the White House.

The presidents blood pressure was measured at 118 over 80. The lower of those two numbers, called diastolic blood pressure, is considered borderline high, according to the most recent guidelines from the American Heart Association. Conley described the presidents liver, kidney, and thyroid function as normal.

During his physical, Trump received the Shingrix vaccine, which protects against the debilitating disease of shingles. He also got the Pneumovax 23 vaccine, which reduces a persons risk of pneumococcal infection and is recommended by the CDC for all adults age 65 or older.
Beginning in the summer of 2016, Larry Weller, then 70, experienced bouts of laryngitis, even though he hadnt had a respiratory infection. His family physician referred him to an ear, nose, and throat specialist who ramped up the dose of his acid-blocking medicine. Acid reflux can sometimes cause a hoarse voice. Weller, who lives in Bloomington, Ill., had been diagnosed with reflux years earlier and had taken medication that controlled the problem.

But after three months on a high dose of the drug, his hoarseness lingered.

It didnt change anything, recalled Weller, a retired agronomist.

In October 2017, the ENT performed a videostroboscopy, a procedure that uses a scope to inspect the vocal cords. He discovered leukoplakia, a typically benign condition characterized by white patches, in Wellers larynx. The doctor told Weller he thought the patches looked suspicious for cancer and scheduled a biopsy.

The biopsy showed no cancer but did reveal signs of an airborne infection common in the Midwest called blastomycosis. The fungal infection, which can be caused by inhaling decaying leaves or soil, is often harmless. But some people, especially those with weakened immune systems, can develop flulike symptoms that are sometimes severe. Weller had been hauling bags of seeds in his car and soon afterward was short of breath.

The ENT prescribed a potent antifungal drug to knock out the infection.

It didnt help. A week later, Weller experienced a severe sore throat. The doctor prescribed azithromycin, an antibiotic, for a possible strep infection.

Still no better, Weller was referred to a second otolaryngologist, who sent him to an infectious-disease specialist, who in turn advised that he see a gastroenterologist. Other than suspected blastomycosis, nothing was found.

With the help of his wife, a veteran nurse, Weller tried to coordinate care with his family physician. That was hard, he said. The doctor was ill and her group practice seemed severely overloaded.

They would often cancel appointments at the last minute," Weller recalled. "I was very frustrated.

Other than prescribing more drugs, some of which made him feel worse, no doctor seemed to know what might be causing Wellers proliferating symptoms.

In November 2017, Weller had an unsettling incident at an Italian restaurant while celebrating his oldest granddaughters 18th birthday.

A few bites into his favorite short ribs, he felt a wave of fatigue engulf his jaw. Chewing became laborious. Swallowing was an impossibility. Weller surreptitiously spit food into his napkin, relieved to see the others werent paying attention to him.

A week later, Weller saw his primary-care doctor. His ability to chew and swallow had returned, although he could consume only soft food. And if he wasnt careful, he would choke, sometimes aspirating what he was eating.

His fatigue had worsened to the point that he was unable to walk across his average-sized yard without stopping several times to rest. And his gait was off: When he walked, Weller said, his feet flapped. His doctor ordered a chemical stress test and an echocardiogram.

The cardiologist told me its not your heart  its fine, Weller recalled. Youre going to have to look elsewhere.

Feeling increasingly desperate, Weller decided to see what he could unearth online.

Solution

While taking azithromycin for possible strep, Weller had read the warning label. It cautioned that the drug should not be taken by people who have myasthenia gravis because it can aggravate the disorder. Weller had never heard of myasthenia gravis (MG), a chronic neuromuscular autoimmune disorder that causes weakness in the muscles responsible for breathing and movement. But he had felt dramatically worse after taking the drug  and it turned out he hadnt even had strep.

His search led him to the Mayo Clinic website and a description of symptoms that sounded awfully familiar: muscle weakness, fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty chewing and swallowing, and gait disturbances. Symptoms typically improve with rest.

Weller discovered that he had nearly every MG symptom listed except the most common: double vision and droopy eyelids known as ptosis. The disorder, caused by a transmission error between nerves and muscles, can be diagnosed through a blood test. The test measures the level of an antibody that disrupts normal communication at the neuromuscular junction  the place where nerve cells connect with the muscles they control.

Weller called the Mayo Clinic but was unable to wrangle an appointment with the neurology department in Rochester, Minn., so he decided to see what he could accomplish locally.

He was scheduled to see his family doctor in mid-December, but the appointment was canceled at the last minute. He arranged instead to see a nurse practitioner. Then he compiled a list of symptoms  numbering more than a dozen  along with a page of questions. His goal was to get a blood test used in the diagnosis of MG.

His strategy worked. The nurse practitioner ordered a test for acetylcholine receptor antibodies, which can help distinguish MG from other neuromuscular disorders.

I really credit her with listening and doing what I asked, Weller said.

Five days later, Weller learned that his hunch was correct.

His AChR antibody level was roughly 1,200 times higher than normal. He had MG, which affects about 20 per 100,000 people in the United States.

Im very confident a neurologist would have recognized this, said James B. Caress, a professor of neurology at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., who specializes in treating MG. (Wellers neurologist and primary-care doctor declined to be interviewed.)

Difficulty chewing, Caress said, is a classic sign of the disorder, which killed Aristotle Onassis in 1975, before treatment had improved. Its possible that a family physician, especially one practicing in a small metropolitan area  the Bloomington region has a population of about 168,000  might never have seen a case, he added.

Caress speculated that doctors might have been misled by the fungal infection.

Whether Weller actually had blastomycosis is unclear. No confirmatory test was performed, Weller said.

Weller and his wife were in Louisiana visiting their daughter when he learned the result of the antibody test. The couple drove home a few days before Christmas, but a few hours after starting the 720-mile trip Wellers right eyelid suddenly drooped shut. It was his first experience with ptosis.

That was the low point, he said.

A neurologist in Peoria determined that Weller had a severe case of MG and was at risk for one of the most feared complications of the disorder: a breathing crisis that occurs because the muscles that control respiration become too weak to function. A crisis can require emergency treatment including a ventilator.

Weller immediately began taking prednisone, a corticosteroid that suppresses the production of antibodies, along with other medicines.

For the last year he has undergone plasmapheresis every other week. The treatment, which filters the blood in a manner similar to dialysis, removes antibodies, but its effects wear off quickly.

Weller said he feels confident in his neurologist, who is treating several other people with MG.

In the last two months, his health has deteriorated for reasons that arent clear. Its a roller coaster, he said. I get up, take my meds, and see how I am today.

Weller wishes hed pushed for an explanation of his prolonged hoarseness and other symptoms much sooner.

I would tell people to pay attention to whats going on, Weller said. Nobody knows your body better than you.
I wonder what you would call fibbing as it relates to the feud between Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel.

A bald-faced lie?

I dont know, but Im pretty sure Stephen Merchant is skirting the truth when I ask him about the Diesel joke that turns up in his new movie Fighting with My Family, co-starring Johnson, who reportedly cant stand his Fast and Furious franchise co-star.

Merchant wrote and directed Fighting, so he either authored the little Diesel zinger that Johnson (playing himself) drops during the movie, or he sat chuckling in his directors chair as Johnson improvised it.

Merchant pleads amnesia.

I cant remember, Merchant said, cheerfully and almost credibly, during a recent stop in Philadelphia to promote the movie. Its a collaborative medium, you know. And I dont want to take credit if it wasnt me.

Merchant says hes not even sure the feud between Johnson and Diesel is real, and if it is, hes not sure it predates the completion of the Fighting with My Family script.

Sure. Its all one big coincidence.

Anyway, whats unarguably real is what you see in Fighting with My Family, drawn from a 2012 BBC documentary (The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family) about Saraya Knight, a British woman (played by Florence Pugh) from Norwich who grew up in a family of low-rung professional wrestlers, learned the trade from mum (Game of Thrones Lena Headey) and dad (Shaun of the Dead's Nick Frost), and eventually auditioned for a WWE slot with her brother Zak (Jack Lowden).

Saraya, better known by her stage name Paige, gets the coveted gig, her brother does not, and the film goes on to tell the parallel story of Paiges grueling WWE tryout ordeal (under the guidance of Vince Vaughn), and of the rift that develops between a brother and sister once so close.

Merchant is known for his work in comedy  he originated The Office in the UK with pal Ricky Gervais  but he pushes the dramatic elements in Fighting with My Family.

I hate to use the dreaded word dramedy, but it fits. I dont think Id classify it as one or the other. Certainly, I loved the opportunity to work on dramatic scenes. As a fan, those are my favorite movies. I love The Apartment, Billy Wilder. Its funny tonally but then halfway through, Shirley MacLaine tries to hill herself, so its a pretty dark film in many ways. For me, even going back to The Office, there were always moments of real sadness and real emotion.

Merchant says hes been influenced significantly by GoodFellas and The Sopranos. You can find funny moments, he notes, but all the humor is grounded in realism, which was a priority in Fighting, a movie that expands on the gritty tone of the documentary, which Johnson saw and loved and immediately envisioned as a feature film.

It would have been an easy story to Hollywoodize, or at least Americanize, but Johnson wanted to keep it close to its cultural roots. He thought of Merchant  the two have been friends since costarring in Tooth Fairy in 2010.

To his credit, he wanted someone British to sort of give it that authenticity, Merchant said.

Merchant acknowledges that he was not at the time an authentic wrestling fan. He was charmed by the documentary, but it wasnt until he attended a live match with Johnson that he got it.

Someone described [wrestling] as soap opera in spandex, and once I heard that, it made more sense. And I went to WrestleMania with Dwayne, and once you see it live, you see how complicit the audience is in the stories being told, the way everybody understands the levels of reality, creating a knowingness that is unique to wrestling. Its a very special kind of energy  everyone is part of the willing suspension of disbelief, and of course there is great showmanship. I was very much won over by it."

His challenge was to create that energy on screen, but also to articulate the human story underneath  showing how a deep bond between brother and sister is frayed when one climbs the ladder to stardom and one does not.

As Paige goes on to the WWE circuit, Zak stays behind, and Merchants script devotes time to his less glamorous but worthwhile mission of using wrestling to help at-risk youth and the disabled.

You know, its always a bit rich when someone like me, whos in the public eye, starts to pontificate about fame and how its not important, but I do believe that. And I put that belief into Zak. I went to visit that wrestling school, and I saw those people, and they worship him. The stories he told about what he does were very moving to me. Theres no manual for teaching a blind kid to wrestle, but he did it.

And I think its an important message. We live in this time when more and more, being a celebrity is seen as the most important thing you can be, the thing that validates you. But this is a guy who was doing really important work, making a real difference in peoples lives. And so as much as this is a movie about Paige, its also a movie about him, because his story is valuable too.
A retired U.S. Marine from South Jersey filed a federal suit in Philadelphia on Thursday, claiming that defective earplugs manufactured by 3M were the direct cause of his deafness.

Capt. Matthew Morrison (retired), 35, served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia between 2007 and 2013. During his deployments, Morrison was exposed to to extensive live-fire training of heavy machine guns, rockets, small arms, explosives and other munitions.

As directed by protocols, Morrison  like hundreds of thousands of other Marines  wore standard issue 3M Dual-Ended Combat Arms earplugs, according to court papers.

The suit alleges fraudulent misrepresentation and negligence. It claims 3M knew the earplugs were faulty.

3M declined to comment on specific litigation matters at this time.

In July 2018, the company agreed to pay $9.1 million to resolve allegations that it fraudulently supplied the U.S. with defective earplugs. Filed by Philadelphia attorney Robert Mongeluzzi, the suit states the plugs caused Morrison to become 100 percent deaf in his right ear because the design allowed them to imperceptibly loosen in the wearers ear, thus allowing damaging sounds to enter the ear canal.

Mongeluzzi is seeking a jury trial.
Logansport, IN (46947)

Today

Thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High near 80F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall possibly over one inch..

Tonight

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. Low near 70F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.
Michiganvotes.org

The Petoskey News-Review

House Concurrent Resolution 1, Disapprove executive order abolishing environmental regulation review panels: Passed 22 to 16 in the Senate

To disapprove Gov. Gretchen Whitmers Executive Order No. 2019-02, which reorganizes and renames the state Department of Environmental Quality (henceforth the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy), creates several new bureaus within the department, and abolishes three other bureaus created by legislation enacted in 2018 and signed by former Gov. Rick Snyder.

The abolished entities are an environmental rules review committee tasked with assessing the reasonableness of new environmental regulations; an environmental permit appeal panel to review permit-related grievances from individuals and business; and an environmental science advisory board to advise the governor on environmental issues.

An executive order has the force of law unless it is disapproved within 60 days by a majority of those elected and serving in both the House and Senate. Both bodies have now done so, thereby halting the executive order.

Senate Bill 2, Require conviction for seized property ownership forfeiture: Passed 36 to 2 in the Senate

To establish that property seized from a person because it may be associated with a suspected drug-related crime is not subject to civil asset forfeiture unless the individual is actually convicted or accepts a plea bargain. This would not apply to police seizures of property worth $50,000 or more. The bill also authorizes a process allowing individuals who have lower value property seized to just give it up, and revises procedural details for reimbursement claims by a person with an ownership interest in the seized property (for example the issuer of a vehicle loan).
Staff reports

The Petoskey News-Review

GAYLORD  Rosemarie Cruz, an eighth-grade student at St. Mary Cathedral School, participated in the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Patriots Pen Scholarship essay contest, and her essay on this years topic, Why I Honor the American Flag, earned several top awards.

After winning at the post and district levels, on Jan. 26 at a special VFW banquet in Kalamazoo, Cruz placed fifth in the state out of 12 final entrants. She will be receiving a scholarship check for $500 from the Michigan VFW.

In addition, she will be honored at the Gaylord VFW Post 1518 Scholarship and Tributes Night Dinner on Saturday, April 27, at the Eagles Hall in Gaylord, where she will also read her award-winning essay.

VFW Post 1518 and the Auxiliary of Gaylord support the national VFW Patriots Pen Scholarship program for middle-school students in which students compete for scholarships by writing a 400-word essay on a patriotic theme.

The local post received 98 essays this year that were evaluated and submitted seven essays to District 13, which includes 18 posts, for further judging.

Only one essay from the each district can go to the state level for scholarship consideration of up to $1,000. If one entrant is fortunate enough to become a state winner, then there is the potential, at the national VFW level, to win a $30,000 scholarship.

VFW Post 1518 is proud of Cruz and her dedication to our veterans and congratulates her on this achievement.
Sean Miller (231) 439-9394 semiller2@petoskeynews.com

The Petoskey News-Review

Those who enjoy locally grown food and regularly shop at farm markets shouldnt see much of a difference in crop offerings come spring.

Winter is a seasonal reality that local farmers face every year in Northern Michigan and, even with the numerous storms, high winds and many inches of snow the area has seen since the beginning of the year, farmers take it on as another challenge to their livelihood and job.

The jury really is still out really on how the winter will affect the next growing season, but we havent had weather cold or extreme enough yet to be damaging, said Pond Hill Farm owner Jimmy Spencer.

Spencer, who has been working his farm for 22 years, has only had one year when he lost crops and doesnt foresee that happening this year.

I feel like weve seen it all, he said. There are no guarantees, but we are ready.

One factor that keeps Spencer from worrying too much about his crops come spring and summer is the amount of snowfall the area has seen. Even with the cold temperatures, the snow acts as a sort of blanket and keeps the ground warmer than it would be without snow.

The snow really is a good thing and weve had it all winter this year, he said. Although the ground is frozen, its not like weve had it some years when its been this cold with no snow.

The snow is also benefiting other farms that regularly use hoop houses.

Brian Bates at Bear Creek Organic Farm in Petoskey thanks a combination of snowfall with the sun for the growth the farm is able to achieve year-round.

Everything does take longer, though, and what I always tell people is that I now have to shovel a path, thaw things out and its more expensive, he said jokingly.

Bates explained that he actually wants it to snow and admits, possibly, more so than other people would like it to. The more snow, the better.

It (the snow) does a good job insulating the greenhouses and hoop houses. It kind of causes an igloo effect and makes the heating of the houses more efficient, he said.

Bear Creek Organic Farm, at least this time of year, has limited crops it grows and doesnt see the colder temperatures as a defining factor on whether or not the operators can keep growing them.

Bates gave an example with kale and spinach.

Last year on Jan. 28 the high temperature was 7 degrees with a low of minus 7. In an unheated hoop house the temperature was 22 degrees, he said. When its insulated with the snow, and if we are lucky enough to see some sun, that brings the temperature up even more inside those things.

Bear Creek Organic Farm has also recently invested in LED grow lights to help with inconsistent sunny days. The farm expects cold days but uses the lights to help with the darker and cloudier days without sunlight.

The only real defining factor Bates mentioned on how his farm does during the winter is the amount of foot traffic seen at local farm markets.

The less people there are, the less we do in sales. If the weather isnt conductive to shopping that is the biggest problem for us honestly, he said. One week, we even had a market get canceled and we lost 10 percent of our sales that week. Either way though, we are still growing.
The customs of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region seized some 40 kg of suspected rhino horns on Thursday at Hong Kong International Airport, a record haul of rhino horns seized from arriving air passengers.

The rhino horns, with an estimated market value of about 8 million HK dollars (about 1.01 million U.S. dollars), were found in two check-in carton boxes belonging to two male passengers from Johannesburg, South Africa. They were planning to travel to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, by air.

The two men, aged 28 and 33, were intercepted and arrested by customs officers at the airport, and the suspected rhino horns were found during customs clearance.

To provide a stronger deterrent against the smuggling and illegal trading of endangered species, the penalties under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance have been increased drastically since May 1, 2018 in Hong Kong.

Any person importing, exporting or possessing specimens of endangered species not in accordance with the Ordinance will be liable to a maximum fine of 10 million HK dollars and imprisonment for 10 years. The specimens will also be forfeited upon conviction.

On Feb. 8, 2019, two defendants were sentenced to 16 months in prison in Hong Kong for smuggling about 24 kg and 17 kg of agarwood. It was the heaviest sentence handed down so far for illegal import of endangered species under the ordinance. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 7.84 HK dollars)
I am responding to Trump supporters railing against investigations involving Trump. One op-ed writer to the Patriot-News talked about our most trusted institutions such as the CIA and/or FBI cannot be trusted to steadfastly follow our laws. The chorus of Trump world opposing the Mueller and congressional investigations continues to ramp up.

There are multiple allegations, indictments and guilty verdicts against numerous people in Trumps campaign, including Paul Manafort, Don Trump Jr and others who colluded and conspired with the Russians in the 2016 election. The many evidences of collusion with Russia include sharing data, establishing back channels to Russia, and removing the sanctions. Theres also the fact that during the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump lied to the American people a number of times when he said he has no business dealing with Russia when his lawyer was in in Moscow negotiating with the Russians on the Moscow Trump Tower.

The evidence of the Trump administration being Russia-friendly is pervasive. From the Helsinki capitulation, removing sanctions, and doing everything he can to dismantle NATO, Putin could not have a more complaisant U.S. president.

Concern is from all segments of the political spectrum, including conservative columnists George Will and Jennifer Rubin. The men and women of the FBI, CIA and others involved in this investigation include Republicans and Democrats. These folks are not partisan hacks. They are American heroes who truly love their country. These investigations must be protected at all costs if we are to remain as a democracy.

ROBERT K. BOMBERGER, Lower Paxton Twp.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez along with other socialists and left-wing politicians have been on a seek and destroy mission to demonize capitalists in our country. They are using their power to attempt to redistribute other peoples wealth by progressively taxing the rich. According to the socialists and others, wealthy capitalists are enemies of the state. Before we trade in our American capitalist system for a socialist regime, do we know if well be getting a bargain?

Socialism is an economic system of collectivization and government centralization of the production and distribution of goods. AOCs Green New Deal,(GND) is a perfect example of socialism. The GND will centralize government control of our health care, energy usage, business, homes, travel, technology, labor, finance, education, including social engineering projects. This government control will cost us higher taxes, the loss of private businesses and private property rights, free markets, economic growth, a decrease in standard of living and will bankrupt our economy.

Capitalism is an economic system that allows trade and private ownership of business and industry for profit. Our American capitalist system encourages innovations, competition and creates jobs. Throughout Americas history, wealthy capitalists like Ben Franklin, George Washington Carver, Jonas Salk and Bill Gates were and are the entrepreneurs, philanthropists, inventors and scientists who have been given the freedom from government interference to make our country the envy of other nations. Gary Kasparov (former Russian world champion chess player) said, A society that relies too heavily on redistributing wealth eventually runs out of wealth to redistribute. Once you give power to the government, its nearly impossible to get it back, and it will be used in ways you cannot expect.

MARCIA BRUNELLI, Havertown
The March for Our Lives rally in support of gun control on March 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. AP/Alex Brandon

One year after the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida and a handful of states have passed stricter gun laws, but little has changed with the federal governments firearms policy.

Polls conducted after the Florida shooting showed that a majority of Americans supported stronger gun laws  including tighter restrictions on purchases and a ban on assault weapons  in the wake of the shooting.

Students demanded that elected officials do something, and many adults echoed that sentiment.

But policy does not always follow public opinion. Why are the publics pleas on this and other issues ignored?

Im a pollster and a political scientist who has examined the issue from different perspectives.

Ive found three major reasons that policy does not always follow public opinion: the structure of the U.S. government, the overlooked complexities of public opinion and the influence of voters and interest groups.

Citizens dont make policy

First, the United States is a republic, not a direct democracy. Citizens choose representatives who make policy decisions; citizens do not make those decisions directly. The Founders, who were not all fans of democracy and feared mob rule, established our governmental structure over 200 years ago, and those foundations remain today.

While about half the states have some form of initiative or referendum process to allow voters to directly enact policy, there is no such provision in the U.S. Constitution. And for those who advocate the repeal of the Second Amendment as a way to restrict gun ownership in the U.S., thats not accomplished directly by citizens, either. Such changes would have to be voted on by elected representatives in Congress and legislatures across the country.

The composition and rules of Congress are also crucial, especially in the Senate, where each state has two votes. By design, this allocation of senators disproportionately represents the interests of less populous states.

Architect of the Capitol

So California and New York, the first and fourth largest states and ones that favor stricter gun laws, comprise about 18 percent of the population of the United States but only 4 percent of the senators. Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Idaho, which tend to favor gun rights, comprise about 2 percent of the population and 12 percent of the Senate.

The House of Representatives, where each state is guaranteed at least one representative, also advantages lower-population states, albeit to a much lesser extent. The House is also subject to the partisan drawing of districts which has advantaged Republicans  who tend to support gun rights  since the 2010 Census.

The ubiquitous use of the filibuster, which can allow a Senate minority to block majority-supported legislation means most substantive legislation must get 60 votes in the Senate to pass. In a closely divided Senate, 60 votes are almost impossible to muster.

In addition, national sentiment is not mirrored in every state or congressional district.

Policy often doesnt follow polling

Second: Polling and public opinion are not as straightforward as they seem. Focusing on only one or two poll questions can distort the publics views regarding gun control.

Polling numbers generally show strong support for gun control measures such as universal background checks and an assault weapons ban.

Simultaneously, most Americans think that additional gun control measures wont reduce violent crime. This is not surprising because most Americans dont blame guns for these tragedies.

We should also keep in mind that gun control is not the only issue in which policy does not follow opinion. Other such issues include foreign aid and abortion.

And policy that reflects the will of the people may collide with legitimate legal constraints. Crafting legislation that disqualifies those we all agree should not possess firearms but protects the rights of law-abiding citizens is quite difficult.

For example, the American Civil Liberties Union opposed an order that would have prevented Social Security recipients with mental disabilities who have others managing their benefits from purchasing firearms. Assault weapons are difficult to define  and thus legally ban  because semi-automatic rifles can be used for hunting, too, as can AR-style rifles, although they are not commonly used for that purpose.

People vote, not polls

Finally, the influence of voters and interest groups can counteract the influence of the majoritys opinion in swaying policy.

Who votes matters. Gun owners are more likely than non-owners to vote based on the issue of gun control, to have contacted an elected official about gun rights, and to have contributed money to an organization that takes a position on gun control.

Such differing rates of political activity are to be expected because many gun owners fear their rights are or will be restricted, and that drives them to the polls. But the frequent appearances of gun control advocates in the news can lead to the erroneous impression that they are more passionate than gun rights supporters.

AP/Jacquelyn Martin

The National Rifle Association is a critical player in this discussion. In some ways a victim of its own success, the gun owners rights group is thought by many to have outsized power that it wields indiscriminately. In the last year, however, the organizations finances and membership have diminished.

Its critics have called it a terrorist organization with blood on its hands and legislators who support gun rights have been referred to as NRA-complicit bloody hannded (sic) mass murder enablers.

At the major national annual conference for conservatives in February 2018, known as CPAC, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre responded to that criticism by talking about a socialist agenda. He said NRA critics and the elite wanted to eradicate all individual freedoms.

The rhetoric is toxic, and both sides are guilty.

Whatever power the NRA possesses is a result of its membership and their votes. It claims approximately 5 million members, who pay attention to the groups candidate ratings and generally vote accordingly.

Many others who are not members also agree with the group as evidenced by its consistent favorable ratings, typically measured in the 50 percent-plus range. Support for stricter gun laws typically increases after a mass shooting, but it tends to revert back to the trend line over time.

Elected officials want votes. There is no doubt that money is essential for political campaigns, but votes, not money or polls, are what determine elections. If a group can supply votes, then it has power. As such, the NRA is very powerful in some parts of the country and quite weak in others.

Many factors influence how legislation is drafted, amended, enacted and implemented. Searching for a direct causal connection from public opinion to specific policies, including gun control, may be akin to a search for the holy grail.

Our elected officials care more about the opinions of those who vote for them than what the nation as a whole thinks. On most issues they represent the interests of the majority of voters in their districts  or they get voted out of office.

This is an updated version of an article originally published on March 7, 2018.

Harry L. Wilson, Professor of Public Affairs, Roanoke College

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Three people were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force on Thursday, accused of involvement in a drug deal-turned-shooting that occurred in Dauphin County last November.

The U.S. Marshals Service described the case as follows:

Lower Paxton Township police responded to a report of a shooting on Oxford Road in November 2018, and found a man lying in the street with an apparent gunshot wound. Police determined the shooting was the result of an attempted robbery during a drug deal.

On Feb. 11, police got warrants charging Blayze Traynham, 22, Kristin Bennett, 21 and Matthew Bashore, 42, with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. Police also charged Bashore with aggravated assault and firearms not to be carried without a license. Bennett was also charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

The U.S. Marshals Service were requested to assist in apprehending all three, the Marshals said.

On Thursday morning, members of the Fugitive Task Force arrested Bashore and Bennett at a residence in the 100 block of Heather Drive in Lower Paxton Township, the Marshals said. Traynham was detained in a traffic stop in Swatara Township.

United States Marshal Martin J. Pane stated, Our society must not tolerate such violence and should be committed to ensuring that dangerous fugitives are brought before the court. We are committed to ensuring this and it is my sincere hope these arrests bring some sense of calm to the citizens of Lower Paxton Township and the surrounding communities.

The USMS worked with the officers from the Lower Paxton Police Department, Swatara Township Police Department, Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, Dauphin County Probation and Harrisburg Bureau of Police.
Susquenita School District does not have a policy on reporting suspected child abuse, but its superintendent assures that should not be interpreted as its employees being fans of convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky.

One day after the district was called out by state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale at a state Capitol news conference for being the only one in the state without such a policy, the districts Superintendent Kent Smith took issue with how DePasquale presented that information by bringing Sanduskys crimes into it.

The assumption that because we dont have a policy that somehow we are Sandusky lovers and practice not paying heed to anything. Its ridiculous, he said.

Nonetheless, Smith said he is beginning the process of developing a policy to present to his school boards policy committee despite feeling that the district hadnt run afoul of the law in any way.

At his news conference on Thursday, DePasquale shared the findings of his Bureau of School Audits survey of districts regarding their compliance with the update to the states Child Protective Services Law enacted four years ago in the aftermath of the Sandusky scandal.

One of the changes made to that law that grew out of the Sandusky case was a requirement for mandated reporters  individuals who work with or supervise children  to report suspected abuse directly to ChildLine (1-800-932-0313), the states child abuse hotline.

This change was intended to make sure that no one at the local level could sweep reports of suspected child abuse under the rug, DePasquale said. Pennsylvania school districts had four years to update their policies to reflect this change.

For any school district to not have updated its policy within that time, he said, is simply unacceptable. It is as if they have not learned a single thing from the Jerry Sandusky debacle, DePasquale said.

That law doesnt explicitly require district to enact a child-abuse reporting policy. However, it is implied a district should have one and make it part of the child abuse recognition and reporting training that staff are mandated to receive.

The school entity cannot fully comply with the complete extent of the training requirement without there being a policy on which to train, said Annette Stevenson, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

Her association is working with Susquenita as well as the 103 other districts  about a fifth of the states school districts  that serve more than 240,000 students that DePasquales team discovered had outdated child abuse reporting policies as of Feb. 1. DePasquale also took those districts to task for their lack of attention to this matter.

I am calling out these [103} districts because parents have a right to know when their school district is not doing all it can to train its staff to best protect children from abuse and neglect, DePasquale said. Among those 103 locally with an outdated policy are Harrisburg and Steelton-Highspire in Dauphin County and Newport and West Perry school districts in Perry County.

Districts having no policy or an outdated one is concerning because clarity and consistency in the policies and messaging to mandated reporters is critical or abused kids can fall through the cracks, said Cathleen Palm, founder of the Center for Childrens Justice, a non-profit in Pennsylvania. So while school employees may get training on recognizing child abuse and how to report it every five years, if they go to find the school policy, that may not only be different but wrong."

She also reminded that the potential for criminal or civil liability increases for the mandated reporter if the messages are mixed and the mandated reporter fails to act.

DePasquale pointed out that his staff found no evidence of any child who was harmed as a result of districts having no or an outdated child abuse reporting policy,

Further, he said 40 districts didnt have a policy or had an outdated one until after his office called to inquire about it. Locally, those districts include Carlisle Area and West Shore.

DePasquales spokesman Gary Miller said on Friday the auditor general is pleased to learn that Susquenita is in the process of updating its policy and will lose the distinction as being the only district in Pennsylvania without one.

Despite not having a policy, Susquenitas superintendent said the district adheres to state law and the Public School Code, which requires school personnel to be trained to call ChildLine first about suspected abuse or neglect, and then report it to a designated school official.

Further, he said it requires criminal history background checks and child abuse clearances for employees, contractors and volunteers; reviews employment history of new hires, and follows all the laws addressing child abuse and practices related to that.

Smith said the auditor generals staff called him five times since last fall, saying they were doing a survey of districts on how many had child-abuse reporting policies. He said he was never once told that his district was the only one in the state that didnt have one.

He didnt find that out until after DePasquale shined the spotlight on his district at his news conference. That made him furious, saying it felt like a slap in the face to our board, to our employees, to myself as superintendent.

They were trying to compare us to Sandusky and everything else like we dont care about this. Its the farthest from the truth, Smith said. To me, its was bullying and intimidation to try and get us to create something that we didnt have nor did we feel we needed.

But in light of the attention given to this lack of a policy, his districts school board will review its policy and practices as it relates to child abuse reporting.

I just feel that this was all done the wrong way, he said. Susquenita was wronged, if you will, in how this was handled.

A full list of the districts that were not in compliance with this child abuse reporting requirement as of Feb. 1 can be found on the auditor generals website.
A pair of felony robbery charges has been filed against a man that Harrisburg police said displayed a gun and robbed a Subway restaurant Monday on N. Third Street.

Richard Ciccocioppi, 27, faces two felony counts of robbery while threatening bodily injury, online court documents show.

According to Harrisburg police, officers were called Monday to the 900 block of North Third Street, where the robbery was reported.

An employee at the Subway told investigators that a man wearing dark clothing walked into the restaurant and demanded that she open a cash register, police said. The man was later identified as Ciccocioppi, police said.

The employee did not open the register and then ran to the store room, police said.

Ciccocioppi left the restaurant without taking anything, police said.

Later, investigators reviewed security footage, which showed that Ciccocioppi pulled a handgun from his waistband and held it at his side during the robbery, police said.

The footage also showed Ciccocioppi fleeing in a white Ford SUV, police said.

According to police, Ciccocioppi was arrested Thursday, and online court documents show that he was arraigned on his charges that afternoon before Magisterial District Judge Barbara W. Pianka.

He is to appear for a preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. Feb. 27.

As of Thursday afternoon online court documents showed that Ciccocioppi remained incarcerated in Dauphin County Prison unable to post $15,000 cash bail.
PALMER, Pa. (AP)  Authorities say a man accidentally ran over and killed his wife in the driveway of their Pennsylvania home.

Police in Palmer Township, Northampton County say the accident occurred around 3 p.m. Thursday, moments after 66-year-old Debra Mitchell got out of the car.

Mitchell was walking toward the back of the vehicle when she apparently fell, possibly due to a medical problem. Authorities say her husband, 66-year-old Terry Mitchell, was unaware she had fallen and ran over her as he backed out of the driveway.

Debra Mitchell was pronounced dead at the scene. Her husband was not injured.

According to LehighValleyLive.com, Northampton County Coroner Zach Lysek said there is nothing that leads him to believe there was any type of domestic issue involved in the incident.
After deliberating for eight hours Thursday, a Cumberland County jury had yet to reach a verdict in a trial over a June 2016 murder at an American Legion post in Carlisle.

The jurors are weighing the case against Robert Rocky Anderson, who is accused of gunning down Daniel DJ Harris in the Haines-Stackfield American Legion post on West Penn Street.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Metzger is seeing a first-degree murder conviction and a death sentence for the 41-year-old Anderson. She claims Anderson killed Harris amid a long-running feud among their families.

Defense attorney Heidi Eakin has argued that the prosecution case is based on speculation and that no viable evidence ties Anderson to Harris slaying.

The jury deliberated about an hour Wednesday, then considered the case for a full day Thursday. At one point, the panel asked to see video evidence and hear recordings of wiretapped phone calls again. The jurors also asked President Judge Edward E. Guido to instruct them again on the legal application of circumstantial evidence.

Guido sent the jurors home just before 5 p.m. Thursday with orders to take up the case again Friday morning.
After deliberating more than 13 hours Cumberland County jury Friday afternoon convicted Robert Rocky Anderson Jr. of first-degree murder for a fatal June 2016 shooting inside the Haines-Stackfield American Legion post in Carlisle.

Starting Saturday morning, that same jury will hear arguments on whether Anderson, 41, should receive a death sentence for that crime.

Andersons murder conviction came despite defense attorney Heidi Eakins argument that Carlisle police didnt prove Anderson killed Daniel DJ Harris.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Metzger argued that Anderson killed Harris during a long-running and violent feud between their families.

The jurors, who looked drawn and tired after weighing Andersons guilt or innocence over a three-day span, also convicted him of illegally possessing a firearm and reckless endangerment.

The lead investigators in the case Detective Sergeant Daniel Freedman and Officer Jeffrey Kurtz, contended that Anderson walked into the legion on West Penn Street early on June 11, 2016 and shot Harris eight times as Harris sat in a booth.

Witnesses were uncooperative, police said. The murder weapon was recovered three month after the killing in the trunk of a car driven by a Philadelphia man. That gun had been stolen in Carlisle in 2015 by a cousin and nephew of Anderson, investigators said.

Eakin argued, unsuccessfully, that police focused on Anderson and ignored other possible suspects, including the Philly man.

Anderson smiled as sheriffs deputies removed his handcuffs before the jury entered the courtroom to render its decision. He did the same after the verdicts were announced.

President Judge Edward E. Guido said the death penalty phase of the trial will commence Saturday morning. That phase, where the jury will determine only whether a death sentence should be applied, will be argued by Metzger and another of Andersons attorneys, Michael Palermo.

Metzger will argue regarding aggravating factors in support of executing Anderson. Palermo will argue for mitigating factors against putting his client to death.
A month since China's TV series "Nirvana in Fire" debuted in Argentina, the viewers here have been hooked on the romantic period drama.

Based on a historical novel of the same name, the series has ignited enthusiasm to learn more about China's history and culture.

Argentina's America TV network, which began broadcasting the series on Jan. 7 during the midnight slot, soon had a hit on its hands. Viewers were gripped by the tale of a young man who sets out to vindicate his family's honor amid warring rival dynasties in sixth-century China.

"We are surprised it has done so well and that people are amazed by the material," said Liliana Parodi, who is in charge of programming for America TV, adding that the series bridges "the distance between one country and the other," offering Argentinians "a very positive look at China."

The program marks the first time America TV has aired a show that is "so distinct" from the ordinary contents of the network, and it has been so well-received by the public, she explained.

"From the time we were young, we have always been captivated by that millenary country, with its history, its politics, its number of people, its output. Each of us has a very direct tie to that country," she added.

"Nirvana in Fire" has generated hundreds of comments on social networks, "not just from members of the Chinese community, but from many Argentinians," said Mercedes Demasi, a representative of Argentine production agency Integra Industrias Culturales, which helped to bring the series to Latin America.

The series has something for everyone, from court intrigue to romance, from lush landscapes to elaborate royal costumes, all offering a window into Chinese customs, lifestyles and ways of thinking, she added.

Angie Behrmann, an Argentine painter who specializes in Chinese calligraphy, said she watched the series to practice her Chinese, but was fascinated by the story and the way it was told.

"The production level had me gripped. Everything is really well done. The plot is exceptional, it is really well written. Everything that takes place is so exciting," she said.

The painter said she has learned more about Chinese culture and gotten to know different places in China thanks to the series. "The country was opened up to me. It's as if I were to show you Argentina through a series."

"I liked it a lot because I learned a ton about the culture, the right way to address people, how to speak, what to do, what not to do, how they think differently. It was very enriching to see the series," she added.

Claudia Brumec, another fan of the show, said: "I am watching it because it is an oriental culture very different from our own, because it has that matter of wisdom, of learning from experience, of calm, of patience, of going beyond the obvious."

"The first episode really caught my attention: the landscapes they showed, the messenger pigeon, the costumes, the staging, the palaces... All these things that we are not accustomed to are very interesting," said Brumec, adding that "you can tell a lot of work went into it."

"Nirvana in Fire" was a resounding success in China, where it was viewed by millions and won some 50 awards of different categories.
A Hershey woman is accused of stealing and killing a dog that investigators found burnt remains of, according to police.

Hummelstown police said a one-year-old miniature Pinscher/Poodle mixed breed dog named Bambi was reported stolen from a residence in the borough in April.

The owner, not named by police, said she knew the person who took her dog, police said. At the time, several attempts to locate the suspect were made but not successful.

Three days later, a small animal carcass was discovered on fire at the suspects residence in the early morning hours, police said.

The remains were collected and tested by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, and a DNA test was done at another facility to determine if the animal was Bambi.

Police said on Thursday, Hummelstown police arrested Kathryn Grace Grecia on charges of aggravated cruelty to animals, tampering with evidence and theft.

Grecia was arraigned and released on $5,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 26, according to online court documents.
Accused of sharing child pornography over the online messaging app Kik, a Lancaster County man now faces of pair of felony charges, online court documents show.

James V. Feaster Jr., 29, of Pheasant Lane in Lititz was arrested Thursday after he confessed to sharing child porn images through the app, which he used while at home and at work, according to a criminal complaint filed by state police.

State police said they were first notified about the possible sharing of child pornography in January, when they were contacted by a law enforcement officer in North Carolina, who discovered that an illegal video was uploaded by a computer that used a central Pennsylvania internet provider.

That file had been uploaded on Oct. 16, 2018, police said.

By using a search warrant, police said they were able to learn that the computer address used to upload the video was registered to Feaster.

Police then began to monitor the Kik username under which the video was uploaded, and, according to the complaint, they found that a number of child pornography files had been uploaded under the username last October.

According to the complaint, the uploaded files depicted children engaging in sex acts.

On Thursday, investigators used a search warrant to enter Feasters Warwick Township home, where they seized his cellphone, police said, adding that the phone was taken for forensic analysis.

Feaster was at the home with family members at the time of the search, police said.

Shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday, Feaster was interviewed by police, and, during the interview, he admitted to using the Kik account to share child pornography, according to the complaint.

He confessed that he used the account at home and at work, police wrote in the complaint, which noted that some of the images he viewed included children as young as 6.

Online court documents show that Feaster faces felony charges of disseminating photos or videos of child sex acts and criminal use of a communications facility.

He was arraigned on the charges Thursday morning before Magisterial District Judge Edward A. Tobin, and he is to appear for a preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. Feb. 25.

As of Thursday afternoon, online court documents showed that Feaster remained incarcerated in Lancaster County prison unable to post $450,000 cash bail.
Voters in Harrisburg may be asked to give their approval to new maps that would consolidate the citys 15 existing wards into five wards.

Several factors are driving Harrisburg officials to consider redrawing the citys wards, city Solicitor Neil Grover explained to city council members Wednesday. They include population changes; concerns about making sure voting precincts -- the places where voters cast their ballots -- comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act; designing the countys reapprotioned judicial districts; and updating the citys election equipment, as mandated by Gov. Tom Wolf.

The third-class city code gives city council the general power to draw ward lines and to change ward lines, Grover said. The city has 28 precincts, and changing the wards will likely affect the number of precincts, he said.

Before a referendum can be put on the ballot, city council would have to approve a resolution to create a five-member commission consisting of registered voters from Harrisburg who are considered to be impartial, Grover said. The commission would review the ward maps that have been redrawn by the Dauphin County Elections Bureau and decide whether to recommend them to city council.

The county has been working on the maps, which are essentially done, Grover continued.

The county has made a proposal, Grover said. It has done a lot of work with their (geographic information system) people, to try and bring this back to proportionality, which was the original intention in the state Constitution and the election law. We have populations that are out of proportions, cause they were drawn so long ago.

Any new maps would have to keep existing census tracts intact, divide the citys population equally, Grover said. State House and Senate districts and federal Congressional districts would be unaffected.

A majority of the five-member commission has to agree on whether to recommend a map, and two-thirds of city council members and Dauphin County Commissioners have to vote in favor of the recommended new ward map.

Assuming all that is approved, then the county has to petition the courts to approve those lines under the election code," Grover said.

Once that happens, the proposed maps would go to voters for approval, Grover said. The earliest that could happen would be November 2019, he said.

President Wanda Williams said Harrisburgs precinct landscape is changing because some businesses and union halls no longer want voters to use their sites to cast their ballots; and United Methodist churches are closing. Grover speculated that the election board may have to use its power to mandate the use of schools on election day because options are becoming limited.

The countys election bureau has been invited to city councils work session on March 5.

This is a first step in the process, Grover said. The referendum can only be considered in a municipal election or general election. No later than 90 days before the election, it needs to go to the county board of elections.

Councilman Ben Allatt asked Grover to send members a timeline of deadlines.

County and city officials could try to publish proposed new wards online, Grover said, for both city officials and the public to inspect.

If voters dont approve the referendum, the ward lines would stay the same as they are now, said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. I suspect some precincts within those wards might still get updated to new locations that are ADA accessible.
LOS ANGELES  It was billed as the most ambitious public works project since the transcontinental railroad opened up the West.

The high-speed rail network would transform California  cleaner air, less congested freeways and airports, and more limited suburban sprawl with a whole new style of housing around rail stops.

Fresno could become a bedroom community of the Silicon Valley, the California High-Speed Rail Authority said a month before voters approved Proposition 1A in November 2008.

Yet bite after bite, huge cost overruns, mismanagement, political concessions and delays ate away at the sleek and soaring vision of a bullet train linking San Francisco to San Diego. A project meant to drive home Californias role as the high-tech vanguard of the nation was looking more and more like a pepped-up Amtrak route through the Central Valley.

During his first State of the State address Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he was scaling back the $77 billion project. Though his wording was open to interpretation, it appeared to sound the death knell, not necessarily for the project itself, but for the original dream.

The Democratic governor said he supports finishing the controversial high-speed rail line between Bakersfield and Merced but needs to reassess the crucial legs connecting major urban centers in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles.

Social media erupted with quips about Bakersfield joining such storied bullet train destinations as Madrid, Tokyo, Milan, Beijing and Paris.

Even Morocco, with an economy 4 percent the size of Californias, managed to build high-speed rail linking Casablanca, Rabat and Tangier.

But Newsom did not actually call for any of the route to be cut. More than anything, his comments signaled that he had deep reservations about the viability of the project and would not be the same booster Gov. Jerry Brown was.

President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday night about the shift, declaring the project a green disaster and demanding that California return $3 1/2 billion in federal funds: We want that money back now.

Finishing the Central Valley portion of the line first has long been the plan. The question left unanswered after Newsoms speech is how aggressively Sacramento will pursue connecting the line to the Bay Area and to Los Angeles, said Rebecca Saltzman, the vice president of the Bay Area Rapid Transit board of directors.

She said she was heartened that Newsom has committed to finishing environmental review documents for the line across the state  a key step toward construction and a process that can take years, even for projects that are smaller and less controversial.

But to succeed, Saltzman said, the project needs someone who will make high-speed rail a priority, such as Brown, whose dedication is the reason its gotten so far, she said.

We need to see a champion emerge, Saltzman said. We need to keep the momentum going.

The momentum has been halting. Ten years after voters approved it, the project is $44 billion over budget and 13 years behind schedule.

A state audit in November blamed flawed decision-making, organizational faults and poor contract management by the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

Now many experts dont believe the train would make the trip from L.A. to San Francisco in the two hours and 40 minutes mandated in the bond measure.

The original plans to build elevated viaducts between Los Angeles and Burbank and through the Silicon Valley  on which the trains could travel 220 mph  were met with community opposition. Now plans call for the trains to share commuter tracks, moving at much slower speeds and subject to delays.

The rail authority also waded into a morass trying to acquire the land it needed in the Central Valley. The agency originally estimated it would cost $332 million to buy up properties to build the route. But cutting through orchards, vineyards and dairies with vast and sophisticated irrigation and trellis systems proved more complicated than expected. The land acquisition is now budgeted at $1.5 billion and tied up in endless litigation.

Somebody  drew a line for a route on Google Earth and had no idea of what was on the ground or how they are affecting it, Michael Dias, a Hanford lawyer who defends farmers and is a grape and nut grower, told the Los Angeles Times last year.

And then theres Californias geology to contend with. In 2016, engineers said they had to dig a 13.5-mile tunnel through the Diablo Range because their earlier plans cut too close to the San Luis Reservoir. But boring through the unstable mix of hard sandstone, weak shale and boulders has put the estimated cost of that single stretch between $5.6 billion and $14.4 billion.

Even before these problems came to light, Californians had buyers remorse over the growing price tag. In 2013, a University of Southern California Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll found just 43 percent of residents wanted the project to go forward.

It did  mostly through sheer force of will of Brown.

The high-speed rail links us from the past to the future; from the south to Fresno and the north, Brown said in 2015 at a groundbreaking ceremony in Fresno. This is truly a California project, bringing us together today.

Some say the most significant effects of Newsoms announcement Tuesday may not be in scaling back the bullet train, but in marking a shift in what elected leadership thinks is possible in an increasingly complicated state.

It comes across as such a narrowing of ambition and horizon, said Miriam Pawel, who wrote The Browns of California, a biography of the Brown political dynasty.

One of the things that was a signature of Brown, in all his incarnations, was the ability to look very far ahead and see that something that seems like it would be really difficult and expensive and take forever  that in the end, well look back on it and wonder how we lived without it, Pawel said.

But certainly it was vastly cheaper and easier to build monumental projects in the past.

When Browns father, Gov. Pat Brown, championed the State Water Project in the 1950s, the environmental movement did not exist and environmental laws had not been passed, making construction far quicker, cheaper and easier.

Its a reflection that its so much more complicated to build in California now, Pawel said. Its a very significant difference, clearly.

Now the rail authority faces the need to secure $50 billion in additional funding to complete the project, while Newsoms priorities lay elsewhere.

Paul Dyson, president of the nonprofit Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada, said Newsoms comments were very vague and wishy-washy and could hamper future efforts to secure funding and complete the project.

Even if he didnt cancel the project, he used such a negative tone that if he is to go to the federal government, or to private enterprise, to look for new funds, theyre not going to be very enthused, Dyson said. If he sends such a negative message, why would they get on board?

Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called Newsoms comments Tuesday very short-sighted.

LaHood said it was difficult to say how Californias decision would affect the rest of the country, because no other region was actively pursuing high-speed rail. Theyve been way, way ahead of the curve, he said of the state.

James Moore, a USC engineering professor who researches transportation projects and is a longtime critic of Californias high-speed rail project, defended Newsom, saying he was just being realistic.

He said the project was set up to fail because the bond measure that California voters approved included a stipulation that the train would pay for its own operation, meaning it could not receive operational subsidies. That is exceedingly rare across the world, Moore said. Just two high-speed rail lines operate at a profit: Paris to Lyon, and Osaka to Tokyo.

If the rail option is more expensive than aircraft, and slower than aircraft, who are we going to attract? Moore said.

He said Newsom needed to go further and halt the project altogether because continuing to build a white elephant in the farmlands is a vast waste of money.

Hes refusing to rip off the Band-Aid, Moore said. Slowly peeling off the Band-Aid is not the solution.



2019 Los Angeles Times

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Marquell Rentas contends he shouldnt have to spend at least 20 years in prison for firing a rifle at a Lancaster County police officer.

After all, Rentas argued in an appeal to the state Superior Court, he was just 17 when he pulled the trigger. And anyway, he missed.

In an opinion issued Friday, the state judges found that Rentas punishment isnt excessive, is constitutional and is going to stick.

The 20-year minimum jail term Rentas is serving for firing at West Hempfield police Sergeant Timothy Coyle is just part of a 30 - to 62 year prison sentence the teen is serving for the July 2016 incident in Columbia.

Police said Rentas and his cousin, Trenton Nace, found a rifle when they were house-sitting at the home of Rentas aunt. Rentas then used the gun to shoot at police. No one was injured.

Rentas was tried as an adult and convicted on charges of attempted murder of a police officer, assault of a law enforcement officer and reckless endangerment.

On appeal to the state court, Rentas claimed his sentence for shooting at Coyle violated the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. He argued that crimes involving actual injuries to police officers carry lesser penalties.

The Superior Court disagreed in an opinion by Judge Maria McLaughlin. She discounted Rentas argument that Pennsylvania improperly imposes harsher punishments for the crime than other states.

We reassert today that the basis for imposing a severe penalty where an offender attempts to injure a police officer through the discharge of a firearm, regardless of whether injury occurred, is entirely rational, McLaughlin wrote.

She found as well that the 20-year minimum sentence Rentas challenged is not cruel and unusual punishment because it is not grossly disproportionate to Rentas crime.
Patna: On the fourth day of the Bihar Assemblys Budget Session, opposition leaders once again created ruckus both inside and outside the Assembly and chanted slogans against the NDA government alleging it was protecting key accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal involving rape and other abuse of very young girls.

Former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Rabri Devi said that despite strong rebuke by the Supreme Court, the Nitish government continued to interfere in the ongoing investigation to protect certain senior NDA ministers and officials.

This government has tried to engage in interfering with the law and an ongoing investigation. Both Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi should resign from their posts on moral grounds, Mrs. Devi said.

Continuing her assault on the state government, the RJD leader said that if CBI only cooperated with the ongoing probe, it would find some very big names emerge during the investigation.

Nitish administration is clearly trying to protect the accused in the girls shelter home case otherwise why would the Supreme Court had to reprimand the state government? It is only due to the pressure from the opposition that a CBI probe was ordered into the case otherwise it would have been brushed under the carpet like many other cases in this government. she said.

The former Chief Minister also accused the state administration of abusing the power of CBI and other investigative agencies to settle personal and political scores.

People of Bihar are fed up with these fake cases and will teach a lesson to the NDA in the coming elections, Mrs. Devi predicted.
Patna: Loser parties in the just-concluded students' union election of Patna University created ruckus on Wednesday when they claimed massive irregularities in the electoral process following the discovery of a ballot-box in a garbage dumpster just outside the Urdu Department.

Chanting anti-Vice Chancellor slogans and demanding nullification of the entire election in which the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) emerged as the biggest winner with Independent candidate Divyanshu Bhardwaj walking away with the prize catch of President's post, protestors representing various left groups including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Janata Dal  U, said that while the ballots were counted at Patna Science College, how did one ballot box ended up in the dumpster in Patna College.

The ballot box also contained dummy voting cards that raised the ire of the students.

"Votes were cast at booth in Patna College after which they were to be taken to Patna Science College under strict security so how did they end up in the garbage dumpster near Urdu Department at Patna College," the protestors wanted to know.

The also accused the university administration of rigging the election to favor ABVP, the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

University officials, however, said that the ballot box found in the dumpster was simply a 'training model' used to train the officials on duty during the election.

"We had asked the district officials to send us some dummy ballot boxes and dummy ballots so we could train those who were working at the polling booths. This is a common practice and there is nothing nefarious about it. The real ballot boxes were sealed and sent to the counting station under full security," the university proctor said.

Protestors also questioned the educational background of Divyanshu Bhardwaj saying he obtained a fake degree from Himalaya University after failing political science from B N College.

"If scrutinized, the university will find that he does not qualify to run for any post in the Patna University Students' Union," said Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) candidate and general secretary of the students' wing of the party Awadhesh Kumar Lal.
Agamemnon, a play co-produced by the national theatres of China and Greece, will premiere at the National Theatre of China (NTC) in Beijing between Feb. 20 and March 2, the NTC announced Thursday.

The drama is about the legends of Agamemnon, king of Argos who led the Greek army in the Trojan War and was killed by his wife for sacrificing his own daughter for the war.

Luo Tong, the translator of the play script, said the Chinese-Greek bilingual drama will try to make the poetic lines in the original work more accessible to the audience.

The negotiation on cooperation and exchanges between the NTC and the National Theatre of Greece started two years ago, and a bilingual co-production by the two sides, a drama based on a traditional Chinese tragedy, "The Orphan of Zhao," was staged in Athens last year.

Stathis Livathinos, the artistic director of the National Theatre of Greece and the Agamemnon play director, hailed the play as an extraordinary experiment between the two theatres.




POTLATCH  With scorching temperatures expected in the next week and above-normal temperatures possible the rest of the summer, the new splash pad at Potlatchs Scenic 6 Park is likely to be the citys most popular attraction.
Patna: Tragedy struck in Patna on late Monday evening when a private bus carrying at least 72 people to a wedding event lost control and fell more than 20 feet in a ditch killing a dozen passengers and injuring at least 30 others.

The incident occurred around 8:00 pm near Kantap-Gopalpur embankment under Gaurichak police station at the outskirts of the state capital.

The bus was going from Abdullachak village to Babhaul village near Punpun when the driver lost control of the wheel allowing the bus to roll over the embankment and fell more than 20 feet below in the mud.

Officials reported the driver was able to eject himself out of the bus and disappear.

People from the nearby villages rushed to pull survivors from the wreckage. At least four were dead on the spot while eight others died either at the hospital or while being transported to the hospital, Gaurichak police station in-charge Sanjay Kumar said.

Injured were being treated at the Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) where some remain in critical condition. The number of casualties could go up, hospital officials said.

Irate villagers then torched the bus to express their anger and demanded monetary compensation for the victims' families including a government job in the Nitish administration.

Authorities are investigating the accident and are also trying to establish the identity of the driver who, some survivors said, appeared to be drunk.
Patna: Shell-shocked by the complete obliteration in the just-concluded Patna University Students' Union (PUSU) election, the left on the campus went on a rampage on Monday accusing the University of rigging the polls in favor of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

{gallery}newsimages2018/feb/021918{/gallery}Members of the All India Students' Association (AISA) and All India Students' Federation (AISF) took out an 'angry march from Patna College to the university office just a few hundred yards away where they broke the main gate in an attempt to corner Vice Chancellor Ras Bihari Singh to seek re-election at many booths.

Led by AISA's Mokhtar Ansari and AISF's Sushil Kumar, the protestors demanded resignation of the Vice Chancellor, re-counting of the ballots, and a high-level probe into what they describe as 'clear collusion' between the university officials and the BJP.

"We have found massive irregularities in the entire electoral process including collusion, coercion, and threat of violence to cast vote for chosen candidates. As a result, the left parties have suffered immeasurable defeat in the hands of fascist forces," Ansari said.

The students handed over a memo of their grievances to the Vice Chancellor who, in turn, has invited them for a talk on February 22.

Meanwhile, ABVP, the biggest winner in the PUSU Poll, dropped the idea of a victory rally in the campus at the request of the district administration that said that it was not prepared to deal with any contingency with emotions running high among the losers.
New, on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:

Lasting Happiness Comes from Living the Way Jesus Christ Taught: A Video Supplement for Come, Follow Me Lesson 8: Blessed Are Ye

***

Im a bit late on this one, but I provide a link just in case you missed it when it was new. Dont miss the video:

Prophet Invites Arizonans to Turn Homes Into Sanctuaries of Faith: President Nelson also meets with local faith, civic and government leaders

***

Yet another item for your Christopher Hitchens Memorial Religion Poisons Everything File:

Church Leaders Distribute Donations to Global Humanitarian Partners: Giving machines generate more than $2.3 million

***

Well . . .

Video: Millennials react to Book of Mormon pickup lines for Valentines Day

And, again: Well . . .

***

Some will enjoy this:

Southern Baptist Shares How The Book of Mormon Musical Led to His Conversion in Hilarious Video

***

I think Ill share a rather embarrassing story that involves President Russell M. Nelson.

But, first, a word about Pope Shenouda III (1923-2012), who served as the 117th patriarch of the See of St. Mark  officially, the Pope of Alexandria and the Patriarch of All Africa on the Holy Apostolic See of Saint Mark the Evangelist of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria  which made him the head of the Coptic Christian Church of Egypt.

Baba Shenouda, as he was called, was famous for being, umm, not especially ecumenical in his outlook. And not merely toward Latter-day Saints, whom he made every effort  successfully  to block from gaining legal recognition in Egypt. (As the most powerful Christian figure in Egypt, he had considerable clout with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.) Once, while I was staying at the Universite Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, in Lebanon, I had an evening chat with a Lebanese friend there, a Jesuit priest and a very significant scholar. He himself was exasperated by Shenouda, who was notably hostile to Catholics and to various minority Christian churches in the Middle East. The medieval monks, my friend said, had a neat solution for popes like Shenouda. They did? I replied. What was it? A little drop of poison in a cup, he replied, et voila! A new election!

Anyway, I served for several years on what was called the Middle East Advisory Committee of the Church. (Im not sure that it exists anymore, not at least with non-General Authority involvement.) It was chaired by various members of the Twelve during that time, including Elder Holland, Elder Uchtdorf, and, for the longest period (I think), Elder Nelson.

We typically met twice annually, when the area presidency responsible for the Middle East were in Salt Lake City for General Conference from their base in Europe.

One day, with Elder Nelson presiding, we were discussing the challenge of gaining legal recognition in Egypt, and Pope Shenoudas opposition came up as a topic.

Pope Shenoudas opposition wont always be a factor, I said. Hes well over eighty, so he wont be in office too much longer.

As soon as I said it, it dawned on me that he and Elder Nelson were very nearly the same age. He took no apparent offense, but I spent the rest of the meeting trying, as unobtrusively as I could, to remove my foot from my mouth.
As noted in the graphic image presented below, Samsung offered trade-in savings for the Galaxy S9 as high as $300. Then Apple began offering larger than usual trade-in values for iPhones in December 2018 that have extended through to 2019. Samsung who was hit harder than Apple in Q4 2018 is now getting the word out that their new Galaxy S10 will offer customers huge trade-in values up to $550, almost double last year's trade-in offer.

The Korea Herald reports today that the new Galaxy S10 that launches next week and ships on March 9th will offer customers up to US$550 in trade-in value.

The original Yonap report states that "Preorders for the Galaxy S10 and S10+ are expected to come with Galaxy Buds, Samsung's wireless earphones that can be wirelessly charged by placing the case on the back of the new smartphone.

In other Samsung news, Engadget reports that they've just announced their new Galaxy Tab s5e tablet with a 10" display at 2,500 x 1600 with built-in Bixby 2.0 for $400. It ships in Q2. The new tablet doesn't off S Pen support and so Apple's 9.7 iPad offers a superior value for the same price with Apple Pencil support.

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Apple has reportedly acquired the London-based startup DataTiger. CEO Philipp Mohr's Profile describes his company as one that is "re-thinking the whole marketing experience."

He further notes that "Were building a highly scalable marketing solution that is truly fit for the era of user-demanded personalization, AI-assisted marketing, large volumes of data, real-time data requirements, and tight data privacy. We want to bring the stale era of 'email-list thinking' and slow, campaign-based marketing to an end."

In another LinkedIn section an Overview of the company is presented as follows:

"DataTiger is a set of tools that enables you to build marketing software that puts your data to work. Using DataTiger is the fastest and easiest way to increase retention & monetisation. With our platform you can individually optimize the marketing flows for your customers in real-time across all channels. DataTiger can be used as an online tool, importing your data and set up user flows in minutes, with all of your data living in the cloud - or it can be fully customized in-house, building your own marketing solution via our APIs + open-source front-end components."

Bloomberg notes that "Apple uses several forms of digital marketing, such as emails to tout new products and push notifications to encourage users to subscribe to services like Apple Music."

The company's legal name is noted as Operatedata Ltd.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.
This week Comedy Dynamics released Henry Rollins Keep Talking, Pal on a variety of streaming and digital platforms, including iTunes. Its billed as a stand-up special, which is a bit surprisingnot just because of the angsty tough guy rep Rollins earned as the frontman for Black Flag and Rollins Band, but because hes been performing spoken word shows for over 30 years without ever calling it stand-up. When I first heard of Keep Talking, Pal, I immediately wondered how it was different from his decades of spoken word performances.

Rollins doesnt hesitate to answer me when I ask him that. Its not, he says. Mystery solved.

Keep Talking, Pal is an hour of Rollins speaking directly to the crowd in a way hes been doing since the mid 80s. He shares stories of his life and career, frequently departing on tangents and asides, with political comments peppered throughout. Its more focused on laughs than his spoken word usually isits more the funnier material of that years tour, he says of the material he chose for the specialbut anybody whos seen or heard Rollins talk before will recognize it as his work. Its not quite stand-up, as Rollins immediately admits, but its not too far removed from it.

When asked how he feels about Keep Talking, Pal being marketed as stand-up by both Showtime and Comedy Dynamics, the always-gregarious Rollins again doesnt pause before snapping into an answer. Ill take it, he says. Ill take it, if it gets somebodys eyeballs on what Im doing.

If you were to see me tonight in a theater somewhere in the world, a lot of it would be like [the special], he adds. But itd be mixed in with some stuff thats not necessarily trying to make you laugh. [This] show is specifically targeted with the more humorous material. I just left out the other hour, the stuff that was a bit more otherwise. Its the truth but not the whole truth.

Despite self-consciously avoiding the comedy tag in the past, Rollins isnt a stranger to it. Hes long used humor in his spoken word shows, but usually to lighten a mood that can otherwise get very heavy. The way I register information quite often the funny parts occur to me, he says. However Ive never wanted to call it comedy because I talk about stuff like when youre in South Sudan, pulling dead soldiers out of the soilnot funny!so I need the room to talk about that stuff without some guy yelling at me hey youre not making me laugh every seven seconds, what are you doing in this club. So I would never dare call myself a comedian.

Heres how it came together. A few years ago Rollins agent told him Showtime was interested in filming one of his spoken word sets to air on the premium network. A network executive had seen Rollins do a set at a festival, one that was shorter than his typical spoken word show, and wanted to basically put what they had seen straight on the air. So they shot two performances that were both a little bit over an hour, and as typical with stand-up specials, edited the two together into the best possible hour-long. And today, six months later, Comedy Dynamics has released it for wider consumption.

Still, he staunchly avoids calling himself a comedian. Part of it is respect for true professionals and the years of hard work it takes to master stand-up, but part of it is his own anxiety over that kind of performance. Im around comedians, he explains. I see that kind of pressure. I wouldnt want it for all the money in the world. Like if you put me in a comedy club and said go, I wouldnt know what to do. Id have to hope that my thing, whatever that is, would get me through.

Keep Talking, Pal might not be true stand-up, per se, but its obvious that Rollins could have succeeded if he had pursued a career in comedy. His timing might not be that of a world-class comicif youve heard Rollins talk before, you know that his words flow out in torrents, which is good for story-telling (and interviews) but not always optimal for landing a punchlinebut between his strong presence and his impatience for societys bullshit, hes got the speaking truth to power part down pat.

Rollins might self-consciously avoid the comedian tag, but he isnt entirely modest about his comedic instincts. This is going to sound really lame, he says, but it comes naturally to me. Im not saying Im a natural comic, but comedic beats, thats a lot of time how I see life. So Im not trying to be funny but it ends up going there pretty often, and more often the older I get. And that very well could beand youll see when you turn 60you start to let go of some things. Where youre not necessarily as self-absorbed or precious about things. Once your hair goes and everything hurts, youre like, okay, screw it. And so you can loosen up a little. I think that has been part of my particular aging process, where if I see a bad review of something of mine when I was 20 Id need to come over there and straighten you out, now, honestly, I laugh my ass off.

Keep Talking, Pal is available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and elsewhere.

Garrett Martin edits Pastes games and comedy sections. He also writes about music, travel, food, theme parks and more. Hes on Twitter at @grmartin.
Friday, the giant, orange s*** hit the fan. President Donald Trump declared a state of national emergency so he could override Congress and allocate approximately $8 billion for a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, all because Congress isnt including his xenophobic plans in their legislation (though they caved to his other demands). It cannot be overstated what a substantive break from presidential norms this is.

People with an ounce of sense arent taking Trumps actions lying down. According to The Hill, Californias Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement: President Trump is manufacturing a crisis and declaring a made-up national emergency in order to seize power and subvert the constitution. Our message back to the White House is simple and clear: California will see you in court.

President @realDonaldTrump signs the Declaration for a National Emergency to address the national security and humanitarian crisis at the Southern Border. pic.twitter.com/0bUhudtwvS  Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) February 15, 2019

Newsom also pointed out the irony that federal funding hasnt been routed to help out with real disasters like the wildfires that swept across his state last year. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra chimed in at a news conference: This is not 9/11. This is not the Iran hostage crisis of 1979. This is a president showing his disdain for the rule of law and the U.S. constitution.

Trump admitted in his address, as per The Hill, I could do the wall over a long period of time. I didnt need to do this, but Id rather do it much faster.

Becerra countered, President Trump got one thing right this morning about his declaration when he said he didnt have to do this. Hes right. In fact, he cant do this.
SPRINGFIELD  A group of House Democrats have formed an official caucus they say will champion a liberal agenda to provide a better direction for Illinois.

Among their legislative priorities are increasing the states minimum wage to $15 per hour, legalizing recreational marijuana, and campaign finance reform. The minimum wage increase has been approved by the Senate and House and awaits Gov. J.B. Pritzkers signature.

The Progressive Caucuss 16 members, most of whom are from Chicago and the suburbs, also plan to consider other initiatives, such as a progressive income tax and expansion of Medicare.

We are a group of legislators who believe in a progressive vision for our state, one where our government guarantees stability and decency for all Illinoisans, said state Rep. Carol Ammons, caucus co-chair from Urbana.

The group met for several months over the summer to prepare for session, she added, writing bylaws, discussing strategy and crafting a framework of beliefs.

That evolved into the caucuss Statement of Principles, based on an idea there is an unjust concentration of power at the very top of government, said co-chair Will Guzzardi, a representative from Chicago.

Were talking about the wealthy and powerful, systemic interests in our state, the very few  the elite  who control a disproportionate amount of both financial resources and power, he said. The folks who are connected, who are reaping the benefits from being connected, who are shutting everybody else out of the process.

There are 118 members of the House, 74 of whom are Democrats. These 16 Progressive Caucus members did not form to harness voting power, said Kerri Milita, assistant professor of politics and government at Illinois State University. Rather, the formation of a caucus, especially a small one, is often seen as a formal predecessor to major policy change.

When you have a formal caucus, rather than just an informal group of people, parts of its platform can gain some public traction and if it seems to be really popular with the public, parties will often adopt those as their own, Milita said. The power of these smaller caucuses is really more the power to set the agenda rather than to force legislation through.

She added that even though the Democratic Party holds a supermajority in both chambers, there is a lot of variation within the policy priorities of its members. This caucus is one way for the more liberal of them to push their agenda.

Guzzardi succeeded on one of the caucus goals this session  the House approved a minimum wage hike from $8.25 to $15 per hour Thursday that he sponsored. At a news event earlier Thursday, Guzzardi said it was a key priority for his group.

We know that $8.25 is not a living wage anywhere in this state  its a poverty wage, its a wage that keeps families trapped in the cycle of poverty  and that in order to lift families out of poverty and to help grow our states economy, we need to raise the minimum wage, he said.

This is Pritzkers first major policy push, and he asked lawmakers to approve the measure in time for his budget address Feb. 20.

The governor also indicated his support for legalizing recreational marijuana. State Rep. Kelly Cassidy of Chicago, with Sen. Heather Steans, is leading the groups efforts to accomplish that.

The pair spent about two years working to develop a plan that Cassidy said she hopes will become the national gold standard. They are laser focused on approaching their legislation with a social justice perspective, she added.

One legislative item the Progressive Caucus is pursuing that Pritzker has not given a position on is campaign finance reform.

Chicago state Rep. Theresa Mah outlined the groups ideas, which have not yet been submitted as legislative proposals this session. A candidate could choose to forego accepting large donations, in favor of small-donor ones that are matched several times over by a public fund through state government.

Its a way to minimize the outsized voices of big donors and special interests and magnify the political power of everyday people and democratizing political participation, Mah said at a news event Thursday.

The system is employed successfully in New York City, Mah added, where it diversified both the donor base and New York City Council.

We believe one of the biggest obstacles in passing progressive legislation is our broken campaign finance system, she said. We have members on both sides of the aisle who are beholden to big money, and big money interests, to their reelection, and too often serving the interests of donors is what keeps people from doing whats right.

There are holes in this proposal, though. Illinois owes about $7.3 billion in unpaid bills, among other financial liabilities, so finding a source of revenue for this system could prove difficult. Additionally, a wealthy, self-funded candidate could opt into this program and double-dip.

Ann Lousin, Illinois constitutional scholar and law professor at The John Marshall Law School, said a better system would mimic an old federal program  Illinois should offer a $100 tax credit for donors to political campaigns independent of the size of the donation.

She said the state would lose revenue, but it would be administratively easy and less susceptible to manipulation.

Guzzardi said the Progressive Caucus members are looking forward to hearing Pritzkers budget address next week, and are seeking progressive sources of revenue to help balance our states budget.

Other members of the group include state Reps. Celina Villanueva, Delia Ramirez, Sara Feigenholtz, Robyn Gabel, Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, Greg Harris, Rob Martwick, Joyce Mason, Aaron Ortiz, Lamont Robinson, Anne Stava-Murray and Maurice West.

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WASHINGTON, D.C.  A bill to keep the federal government open until September advanced Thursday without the support of one Central Illinois representative who said it did not go far enough to secure the U.S. southern border.

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap, voted against a package that included nearly $1.4 billion for border security, which fell well short of the $5.7 billion sought by Republican President Donald Trump for a wall on the Mexican border.

"While I am not supportive of shutting down the government, I have made it clear from the beginning of this process that we need to secure our southern border, and the legislation passed this evening simply does not do enough to address the humanitarian crisis and the illegal activity occurring at our border," LaHood said in a statement.

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, supported the deal, as did Democratic U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin.

"Last Congress, I voted time and time again for significantly more funding for a border structure, but each time, Democrats and Republicans let the perfect become the enemy of the good, and because of that, we now must face the realities of a divided Congress," Davis said in a statement.

"Despite (U.S. House) Speaker Nancy Pelosi promising no wall, there will be 55 miles of new border structure along parts of our southern border, nearly $1.4 billion in funding to build border structures, 1,200 more border agents, and significant investments in surveillance technology because of this bill," Davis said.

"This bill ensures the federal government doesnt shut down, federal workers are paid, and our border will be more secure than it was yesterday," Davis added.

Durbin, one of the Senate's highest-ranking Democrats, said in a statement: "For 35 days, we said to the president the following: If you will end your government shutdown, we will sit down at the table and negotiate a solution on border security. We kept our word."

Durbin said he wasn't happy with the increased funding for border patrol agents and detention beds for undocumented immigrants in federal custody, but there are elements of which he is proud.

"First, Democrats made clear from the start that we believe in smart and effective border security, and therefore pushed for investments that really work to keep America safe such as technology at ports of entry and customs personnel. ... Second, we insisted on humanitarian assistance. ... Lastly, we rejected the administrations demand for changes in our asylum laws that would undermine our legal and moral obligations to provide safe haven to families and children fleeing persecution."

"I also hope he will back down from his reckless threat to engage in an unprecedented abuse of presidential power by wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on a fake national emergency that will likely be blocked by the courts," she said.

Contact Derek Beigh at (309) 820-3234. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_beigh

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BLOOMINGTON A sense of relief washed over Kristen Braffet on Thursday as she picked up paperwork that erased a teenage mistake from her record  and started a new chapter in her life.

Now 31, Braffet returned to McLean County this week to pick up the judge's order sealing her felony conviction.

"The chains just fell off my body when I picked it up. I erased the last 12 years of my life," she said.

Now married and living in Kentucky, Braffet is the mother of three and plans to attend the University of Louisville School of Law.

As a teenager, she did not understand the harm of a felony conviction.

Her immediate dismissal from her house cleaning job and refusals from future employers to hire her was the beginning of the consequences that have followed her for more than a decade.

During her weeklong visit to McLean County to see family, she also made the rounds to see people who helped her get her life on track after the felony.

Braffet stopped by the courtroom where her former lawyer, Scott Kording, now serves as a judge. She also visited Prairie State Legal Services, the agency that handled her records sealing, and Project Oz, the Bloomington center for at-risk youth that provided her with transitional housing and employment assistance.

A felon may request that their records be sealed but an expungement is limited to those with misdemeanor charges. Still, the removal of a low-level records through expungement is beneficial, according to Braffet's lawyer, Adrian Barr.

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"For many people, expungement means a fresh start to becoming self-sufficient. People who made mistakes in their youth report a weight being lifted off their shoulders," said Barr, Prairie State's managing attorney.

For people with felonies, having their records sealed means "they now have hope for success in obtaining full-time employment with opportunity for advancement and better housing for their families. Our clients thank us for helping them move forward with their lives," said Barr.

Project Oz program manager Cheris Larson said agency staff always enjoys seeing former clients who have overcome their challenges.

The transitional housing program that helped Braffet has doubled in size since 2006 and now has 17 clients, including a segment for single mothers. A guiding hand from caring adults can make the difference for youth at risk to become homeless and unemployed, said Larson.

"We can advocate for them. We just want to give them another chance," she said. For example, some teens struggle with bad credit attributed to their parents' actions, said Larson.

Braffet said Project Oz "felt like the only chance I had after I had burned all my bridges."

Thanks to Prairie State's legal assistance, she can now check "no" on employment applications, asking if she has a felony conviction. To test the impact of the closed records, one of her first acts was a search of the local court's website to see if her conviction was still listed.

"To not see it there was a blessing," she said.

Braffet is considering a career in family law. She also plans to help others remove their criminal records from public view.

Her brief stint in jail with two women accused of murder taught her a lesson she would like educators to share with young people.

"We need to educate people about the consequences of their decisions. If you know about the possible outcome, you're less likely to engage in the behavior," she said.

Contact Edith Brady-Lunny at (309) 820-3276. Follow her on Twitter: @pg_blunny

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BLOOMINGTON  McLean County officials will head to the nation's capital next month to ask for help with four big community projects.

Bus station

Connect Transit has an eye on federal funding for its proposed downtown station  though waiting for Illinois Department of Transportation action on funding a consultant study of possible sites is holding up the project, said General Manager Isaac Thorne. The system worked with the city to pick out a few viable locations but isn't currently revealing them, he said.

Thorne, who will go to Washington, D.C., as part of the trip, said his message to the U.S. Department of Transportation will be similar to previous years: the city needs a bus transfer station to keep riders safe and comfortable and to clear up congestion at the current transfer area on Front Street.

The station could cost $10 million to $14 million and take several years to finish, including the consultant's site study and an environmental analysis.

"I think we're starting to maybe see the light here. We're making some progress," said Thorne. "I'm hoping this is something we can get done in the next four to five years."

Underpass

Normal also is waiting for a partner to move while in pursuit of federal funding for its proposed underground pedestrian crossing at Uptown Station.

"We need to clear the plans through Union Pacific, and that hasn't happened," said Public Works Director Wayne Aldrich, who will also be on the trip.

Normal hopes the underpass will help passengers get more easily from Uptown Station to its southernmost railroad track and close the gap between uptown and a proposed "Uptown South" redevelopment project.

The town has prepared a fact sheet on the underpass to present to federal officials listings its cost as $24.63 million, including $7.38 million from the town, and completion by 2022. Aldrich said that's an optimistic schedule.

He noted the town may still receive a $16 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration, has a promised $1.25 million from the Illinois Commerce Commission and is working to raise money from private donors.

The town's share includes $1.5 million it's already spent for a study from consultant WSP USA.

"Once we get federal funding, it opens the doors up to the FRA," said Aldrich. "Once the FRA is involved, it does encourage the other agencies, including the railroad, to expedite reviews."

ISU hopes the U.S. Small Business Administration can help fund a small-business incubator and makerspace to promote local business and provide educational opportunities.

John Baur, ISU's associate vice president for research and graduate studies, said the university is working with community partners on what could be a large co-work space including tools to make prototypes.

Plans are fuzzier for Route 66, which celebrates its centennial in 2026.

Officials will meet with the National Parks Service to discuss possible programs to celebrate the occasion, said Aldrich. One early concept is a geographic database of trail history available to the public.

Contact Derek Beigh at (309) 820-3234. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_beigh

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DECATUR  Police accuse a Decatur mother, Twanka L. Davis, of leaving her 2-year-old daughter to starve and freeze to death amid filthy, rodent-infested conditions in their home, according to a sworn affidavit.

The affidavit states that Davis was arrested Wednesday afternoon and booked on preliminary charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and endangering the life and health of a child. Preliminary charges are subject to review by the Macon County State Attorneys Office.

The child was taken from her mother in 2018 during an investigation of child abuse and placed in foster care, police said. She was returned to her mother in August.

DCFS is investigating allegations of abuse and neglect in this case. We have had prior contact based on previous allegations of abuse and neglect," said Jimmie Whitelow, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, speaking Thursday evening. He would not answer any further questions about the family's history with DCFS.

Decatur Ambulance Service personnel said they found the body of Ta'Naja Barnes wrapped in a soiled blanket that smelled of urine after police were sent to the home in the 1800 block of East North Street at 7:48 a.m. Monday to investigate an unresponsive child, according to the affidavit.

Medical staff indicated the core temperature of the child was so low it would not register on their device, police officer James Wrigley said in the affidavit. Officers on scene at the residence documented the overwhelming smell of urine, feces and rotten food/garbage. Officers documented the temperature on the thermostat inside the residence registered at 45 degrees.

Wrigley said the thermostat was actually set to 75 degrees, and the temperature in the home rose while police were there.

Ta'Naja Barnes was pronounced dead at the emergency room of HSHS St. Marys Hospital at 8:06 a.m. Monday. Wrigley said an autopsy was performed Tuesday, and the preliminary findings were physical neglect, malnourishment, dehydration and cold exposure. He said the childs weight was just 21 pounds.

While she was in foster care in July, Ta'Naja was seen by a doctor. She weighed 25.8 pounds at the time, Wrigley wrote.

Wrigley said Davis, 21, and her 25-year-old boyfriend have a 1-year-old son that is also the boyfriend's child. He slept in his parents bedroom where there was a heater that had been in Ta'Najas room; Wrigley said Davis told police she had removed the heater on Sunday and placed it in her bedroom to replace one that was broken.

Twanka admitted that she routinely turns the heat off in the residence at night and had turned it off on Saturday and Sunday evening, said Wrigley. Twanka admitted she would not stay in temperatures in the 30s and 20s for a long time period of time because she would freeze to death.

Wrigley said the low temperature on Sunday, the day before Ta'Najas body was found, had a high of 32 and a low of 20 degrees.

Documenting further the conditions in the house, Wrigley said Ta'Naja was kept in a bedroom bare of furniture except for a toddler bed with no sheets or blankets. In the middle of the room, littered with rodent feces, was an empty two-liter bottle and a empty half-pint vodka bottle which Davis said she had used to give her daughter water.

Davis is quoted as telling police she had given Ta'Naja a meal of red beans, rice and chicken around 7 p.m. Sunday, the last time she had seen her. Twanka explained that she told Ta'Naja to eat her dinner and Ta'Naja had told Twanka no. Twanka advised she noticed Ta'Naja had not eaten her lunch.

The mother told police she had next checked on her daughter at 7:30 a.m. Monday, finding her lying on the floor uncovered. Twanka advised she shook Ta'Naja who was unresponsive, and then she called 911.

Wrigley described living conditions in the house as appalling, with the stench of garbage and urine throughout. The only bathroom had a toilet filled to the brim with a dark brown colored liquid and the plumbing to the kitchen sink was disconnected. Signs of rodent and insect infestation were everywhere.

The couple's son was removed from the house and placed in protective custody. Wrigley noted he weighed 28 pounds and is one year and two months younger than his half-sister.

Questioned about the neglect and death of her daughter, Davis said she gave her food but doesnt control if she eats it ... Twanka accepted no responsibility for the death of her child, said Wrigley.

Davis remained held in the Macon County Jail Thursday night in lieu of posting $1 million bail. She is due to appear in Macon County Circuit Court Feb. 21.

Court records show that Davis and her boyfriend are also litigants in an ongoing case involving the city of Decatur.

Amy Waks, assistant corporation counsel for the city, said the couple has violated city ordinance by failing to have trash collection service active for their North Street home.

She said the city has filed a petition for the court to enforce an administrative judgment that requires Davis and her boyfriend to obtain garbage service and to pay related fines and fees within a certain period.

Records show the city case was opened Oct. 31. The couple is due to appear in court for that case on Feb. 27.

Photos: 2018-19 McLean County jail mugshots

Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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LINCOLN  A new partnership involving Heartland Community College will help a Lincoln firm address its need for truck drivers while providing a path to employment for graduates of Heartland's truck driver training program.

The CDL Train to Hire program was developed by Heartland in partnership with Sysco Central Illinois in Lincoln and the Logan County Economic Development Partnership.

Under the program, scheduled to begin in April, eligible participants will go through four weeks of training in Heartland's Commercial Drivers License program, then take the Illinois Class A CDL permit exam. This will be followed by a 12-week apprenticeship at Sysco Central Illinois.

Those who successfully complete the apprenticeship portion will be eligible for a full-time Class A delivery truck driver position at Sysco Central Illinois.

Not all truck-driving students will be sent to Sysco, the college said. Qualified applicants interview with Sysco and be sent to the apprenticeship program four at a time. Sysco will accept people for the position as long as they have the need.

This program will present an opportunity for members of our Logan County community to enter into our industry with a Class A Commercial Driver's License, said Camilla Zuckero, senior director, inveestor relations and external communications for Sysco. We are confident that both Heartland and Sysco's training program will be able to train these candidate to be successful.

Heartland spokesman Steve Fast said, One of the things we've made a big effort to do is reach out to area businesses and find ways we can partner together to fill gaps in employment.

He said the college tries to customize when we can to meet the specific needs of businesses in the district.

In addressing the specific needs of Logan County, the college has been working with the Logan County Economic Development Partnership, said Fast.

Bill Thomas, LCEDP executive director, said, We've been working with Sysco for the past several years, as we do with several employers around the county.

Knowing of Sysco's near-constant need for truck drivers, Thomas said he contacted Illinois Central College and Heartland to see if we could create a pipeline.

Sysco generally looked for drivers with a minimum of one-year experience, Thomas said, so he approached them about the possibility of using an in-house apprenticeship program in conjunction with the truck-driver training program.

Zuckero said, We hope to prove that Cysco Central Illinois is the employer of choice for Logan County, and after completing the program, they will maintain a long-term career with us.

The four weeks of training before the state CDL exam will take place from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at Heartland's CDL program in Normal. Heartland also offers an eight-week session of evening classes from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Fast said the starting pay for commercial truck drivers ranges from $40,000 to $90,000.

Anyone interested in the Heartland CDL Train to Hire program can call Laurie Mueller at 309-268-8179 or email her at Laurie.Mueller@heartland.edu.

Contact Lenore Sobota at (309) 820-3240. Follow her on Twitter: @Pg_Sobota

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Tiki Pineapple, known for its dairy-free Dole soft serve ice cream, is opening its first two Michigan locations in Midland.

A location at 1908 S. Saginaw Road in Midland Plaza (near Jimmy John's) is set to open Saturday. The second location in the Midland Mall will open in early March, according to Michael Enderby, co-owner of Tiki Pineapple.

He said the Midland market is particularly attractive because it is "up and coming," and noted the South Saginaw location was appealing because it is near The Dow Chemical Co. and is at a popular corner.

Patrons can pick from the seven Dole flavors -- strawberry, raspberry, pineapple, lemon, lime, orange and mango.

The ice cream is fat free, dairy free, gluten free with no artificial colors, Enderby said, and is friendly to people who are intolerant of dairy products. The chocolate and vanilla flavors are lactose free. (The ice cream has calories -- 90 per four-ounce serving -- a typical size twist ice cream cone, Enderby said.)

The company has locations in South Carolina and Florida, where everyone knows what a Dole Whip is, he said.

"In Florida, Dole Whip has a huge following," Enderby said, and is especially popular at theme parks.

The Dole Whip is pineapple soft serve ice cream served in a cup or cone with a large selection of fresh fruit toppings, including pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, mango, kiwi, bananas, mandarin oranges -- "pretty much almost every fruit" -- and seasonally, passion and star fruits.

The ingredients arrive in Midland from Hawaii, where the Dole plantation is located, Enderby said.

Another popular item is the Dole Float, which features Dole Whip ice cream with a splash of pineapple juice and topped with crushed pineapple and a cherry.

The menu also features Dole smoothies mixed with pineapple juice and not the typical dairy or yogurt.

The Midland locations also will feature gourmet wraps and salads, tiki Hawaiian chili, coconut water, tropical juices and cookies.

"We are thrilled to be getting into the Midland area market to showcase our delicious treats with our unique and fun tropical decor concept -- we are not your typical looking ice cream shop," Enderby said.

The shops will be flavored with Hawaiian decor, including masks and totems, bamboo border -- "very bright and warm," he said.

The new Midland Mall location will feature a tiki hut inspired storefront with tropical accents throughout.

Enderby, who was born in Saginaw, grew up in Florida and then returned to Michigan, said he and co-owner James Idzior are bringing other Tiki Pineapple locations to Michigan. One will go into a newly constructed building in a Gaylord plaza and they are scouting the Grand Rapids and metro Detroit areas.

The South Saginaw location will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.

For more information, connect with 989-486-8485, www.tikipineapple.com or www.facebook.com/tikipineapple
Ottumwa, IA (52501)

Today

Cloudy in the morning, then thunderstorms developing later in the day. High 82F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms. Low 69F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
UPDATED Tuesday, Feb. 19: The driver of the car, 23-year-old Jeremiah Libbee of Hillsboro, has been discharged from a hospital and booked into the Washington County Jail, authorities said. He is accused of third-degree assault, attempt to elude, reckless endangering and driving while suspended.

Authorities said on Monday that the passenger who was rescued from the car, a 21-year-old Gaston woman, remains at a Portland hospital and is stable. They said the woman is considered a victim in the case, which remains under investigation.

***

A driver fled police, lost control of a car and crashed into a creek Friday morning in Washington County.

The driver was discovered downstream, helped ashore and taken to a hospital, an official said. But a passenger remained stuck in the crashed car, which was in the middle of Gales Creek along Oregon 6, and required a rescue.

The Washington County Sheriffs Office said North Plains police initially chased the driver, who fled on the highway that runs from U.S. 26 to U.S. 101. The driver left the highway near a rural Shell gas station, took out an oak tree and went down a steep embankment and into the creek, said Forest Grove Fire & Rescue spokesman Matt Johnston.

Johnston said the passenger, a woman, was submerged up to about her waist.

Water rescuers went out to her and made sure she was OK, Johnston said. She was trapped and couldnt exit the car.

Three tow trucks then pulled the car up a steep embankment and back onto the highway, Johnston said, and firefighters extracted her from the car.

Johnston said the woman was partially submerged in the the water, which is cold runoff from snow in the Coast Range, for at least a half-hour.

He suspected she has hypothermia but didnt know the extent of any other injuries.

Johnston said she was conscious and alert the whole time and was taken to a trauma hospital.

Time was really of the essence to try to get her out, he said.

Kellon Obrist, a truck driver from Tillamook, saw the crash unfold.

He told The Oregonian/OregonLive he was hauling lumber to Portland from the coastal city when a couple friends who were also hauling lumber told him over the radio that a high-speed chase was coming his way.

Obrist said he started to slow down and that his instinct was to cross the center line and cut off the car. But he saw the driver lose control and decided not to cut off the car.

A law enforcement officer put spike strips across the highway, Obrist said, and the driver either hit or avoided the spikes, lost control and went into the creek.

Obrist said he jumped out of his truck and went over to the embankment. Someone else asked the woman in the car if she was trapped. She was screaming for help at the top of her lungs, Obrist said.

Obrist asked if anyone else was with her, and she said there wasnt. He left and made it to Portland later Friday morning.

The highway had reopened by about 11:20 a.m., according to the sheriffs office.

It wasnt immediately clear what spurred the chase.

-- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

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Gil began meeting the girl off school grounds on multiple occasions to engage in sexual activity between 2017 and 2019, when the girl was between 13 and 14 years old and Gil was between 41 and 42 years old, prosecutors said. The alleged abuse took place in Gils car and at the girls home when her parents were not there, prosecutors said.
Text messages between a Portland police lieutenant and Joey Gibson, the leader of right-wing group Patriot Prayer, in 2017 and 2018 show the officer provided Gibson a heads-up on counterprotesters movements during demonstrations and warned Gibson to tell group members with active warrants to avoid drawing police attention, revelations that spurred two city leaders to call for an inquiry.

Hundreds of texts, reported Thursday by Willamette Week and the Portland Mercury and later released on the Portland Police Bureaus website, show a friendly rapport between Gibson and Lt. Jeff Niiya, a more-than-20-year member of the Portland Police Bureau. He routinely reaches out to protest leaders to learn what officers should expect during demonstrations. But the exchanges between Niiya and Gibson appear to echo concerns of critics who believe the Portland Police Bureau protects Patriot Prayer members and their affiliates during city demonstrations that often turn violent, and targets people opposing them.

Some incidents cited by critics include several anti-fascist demonstrators being injured by flash-bang grenades released by Portland officers during an Aug. 4, 2018, protest of a Patriot Prayer rally in downtown Portland.

Before that protest, Niiya texted Gibson that officers would move to keep Patriot Prayer members separated from people opposing them.

No patriots going to them no Antifa to you, Niiya wrote. If they get close we will be in between.

Some of the texts show Niiya told Gibson where opposing groups were holding protests, whether or not they were linked to a Patriot Prayer demonstration, Willamette Week reported.

In one message, Niiya alerted Gibson that several antifa members were heading toward him during a Dec. 23, 2017, protest. The Mercury reported Niiya said, we will have officers nearby but you may want to think about moving soon if more come.

Gibson often texted Niiya and asked him to investigate people based on videos made by the group or comments left on Patriot Prayers Facebook page, The Mercury reported. Its not clear if police investigated anyone at Gibsons suggestion.

Texts also show Gibson revealed plans to run for U.S. Congress representing Washington before he formally announced his candidacy publicly.

(Youre) running for office?!! Niiya said. Good for you. County level?

Gibson replied that he was running for Senate and it would take a miracle for me to win but people are backing me so we will see what happens.

I will be using Portland and Seattle protesters as a part of the campaign so it will impact you guys unfortunately, so I (apologize) now ahead of time."

DOCUMENTS: EMAILS AND TEXT MESSAGES BETWEEN PORTLAND POLICE LIEUTENANT AND JOEY GIBSON

Its unknown if Niiya has similar rapports with anyone affiliated with groups that oppose Patriot Prayer. He exchanged hundreds of texts in 2017 with activist June Davies, who at times marched alongside antifa.

Davies at times asked Niiya about friends arrested or under investigation and discussed police presence at activist events, The Oregonian/OregonLive found. Portland police said in 2017 that officers routinely communicate with organizers and activists to determine appropriate police response.

We dont take sides in these conflicts, Niiya told The Oregonian/OregonLive in 2017. I dont like us standing between the two groups and, if theres a march, I dont like us marching alongside them.

He said he wanted protest leaders to police themselves as much as possible and that officers would intervene if they witnessed people breaking the law.

Mayor Ted Wheeler called the text messages disturbing, said that they appeared to encourage Gibson and that incidents like this contribute to public distrust of the Portland Police Bureau. He said hes asked Police Chief Danielle Outlaw to launch an investigation and report back to me expeditiously.

It is imperative for law enforcement to remain objective and professional, and in my opinion, these text messages appear to cross several boundaries, Wheeler said in a statement. They also raise questions about whether warrants are being enforced consistently and what information is being shared with individuals who may be subject to arrest.

Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty in a statement Thursday said the texts didnt shock or surprise her and confirmed that there are members of the Portland police force who work in collusion with right-wing extremists. She said news of the text exchanges should be used to help buoy police reform that calls for policing that treats all community members with respect and allows for peaceful protest free of intimidation and bias.

Hardesty said she and other community groups are calling for an independent investigation into correspondence between police officers and members of alt-right groups and individuals.

The incidents we hear about are not one offs but everyday examples of a broken policing system in Portland that must be addressed, Hardesty said. I look forward to supporting actions of accountability. I ask that the Mayor and Police Chief Outlaw take swift action and I will also be here to demand justice if that call is not met.

Outlaw issued a statement late Thursday night after posting all the text messages and emails between Gibson and the lieutenant on the bureaus website.

I have directed an internal investigation to review the context of these communications and determine if any Bureau directives were violated,'' she said in the statement. "If anything is identified that is deemed outside of our values and directives, it will be addressed.

 The Oregonian/OregonLive
Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill said this week that his office made mistakes by prosecuting some mentally ill homeless people accused of low-level crimes, and pledged to instate policies that roll back the punitive sanctions employed at times by his agency.

In an interview Tuesday at his office in the county courthouse, Underhill said wrongheaded decisions to pursue those cases came as his agency made miscalculations in its position that pursuing convictions would help mentally ill people get treatment.

That is often not the case, as The Oregonian/OregonLive reported in an investigation published in January. It showed how mentally ill homeless people charged with low-end crimes get locked up in Oregons jails and state mental hospital for extended periods at great public expense, with little benefit to those individuals or society.

The process  where mentally ill arrestees are sent to the Oregon State Hospital for treatment until deemed able to assist their defense  costs taxpayers as much as $35 million a year, the news organization found. People accused of misdemeanors who fall into that system often end up confined for far longer than a person convicted of those crimes would spend in jail, the investigation showed.

Oregons elected prosecutors play a central role in that procedure as they hold the power to decide whether to file charges and seek convictions for low-level crimes, including those committed by homeless people or those with mental illness. Those defendants may commit crimes such as trespassing, disorderly conduct or using the bathroom in public by virtue of their mental state or lack of housing.

Underhill, the top prosecutor in Oregons most populous county since 2013, adopted a reflective and at times conflicted tone in an interview Tuesday, expressing disappointment at what he described as punitive elements of the justice system, the complexities of cases involving mental illness and a lack of funding for alternatives.

His office previously worked with other agencies to come up with an another pathway to respond to cases involving mentally ill people accused of low-level crimes, he said. But it didnt take hold and his office has moved on to working on other programs, he said.

We need to revisit our practices, Underhill said, adding, We dont need convictions in these areas. We dont need jail. Theres no tally or checkmark that has us thinking weve just succeeded in this area.

Asked whether prosecutors should decline to pursue more cases against mentally ill people charged with misdemeanors, Underhill said he is uncomfortable with a do nothing approach.

If we do nothing  and we can do nothing, thats a choice  then have we assisted the situation or the person? I think the answer is no, Underhill said. Can we do too much sometimes? I think the answer is yes. And we dont want to be doing that anymore.

To me, its very complicated, he continued. Maybe we do need to just have less involvement at all, period. Im conflicted about this.

A successful outcome, he said, would be one under which a defendant receives effective help for their mental illness.

Thats what were trying to do, Underhill said, although concededly I think weve missed the mark on many occasions in the past.

Underhill said he will expand a program his office runs, called Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, through which people charged with low-end drug offenses have their charges dismissed if they meet program requirements, to apply to mentally ill defendants charged with some misdemeanors.

Id like the L.E.A.D. model to be as successful in the area of mental health-involved, he said. Frankly, Id like it to be more successful.

Underhill said he will also draw up policies to train and empower his deputies to make the right decisions in the moment, such as deciding to drop a case, and will request money from the board of county commissioners to hire two special attorneys. Those officials would assist with misdemeanor cases that involve homeless and mentally ill people, Underhill said, and ideally help his deputies reduce mistakes that we make.

Underhill said he will support measured reforms  initiatives he called a bit ideal and probably Pollyannish  but stood by prosecution as a last resort that he said can prod defendants into treatment.

Please help me understand, if were not there as that last option where are we? What should we be doing? Underhill said. Were yearning for the right answer.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

GFriedman@Oregonian.com; 503-221-8209
By Greg Sargent  (c) 2019, The Washington Post

On Friday, President Donald Trump declared that the situation at the southern border constitutes a national emergency. He announced he will sign a declaration to this effect, invoking the power to appropriate funds not authorized by Congress to build his wall.

Trump told all kinds of lies about how drugs come into the country, dismissing the idea that they mostly come through ports of entry (which they do) and claiming a wall will stop them (which it won't).

"We have an invasion of drugs, an invasion of gangs, an invasion of people, and it's unacceptable," Trump said. In so doing, Trump made a claim that is subject to examination: That those things constitute a national emergency, justifying his appropriation of extraordinary powers to address it.

What's at stake in this battle is a simple dilemma: Can the president declare a national emergency, and appropriate all the powers that this confers on him, when there isn't any national emergency?

"That is the fundamental question," Elizabeth Goitein, who has extensively researched national security law for the Brennan Center for Justice, told me.

Or, to put the question somewhat differently: Can the president declare a national emergency, no matter what the actual facts on the ground show? Is there any point at which presidential bad faith matters?

The basic problem we face right now in this regard was created by Congress. The post-Watergate National Emergencies Act, or NEA, places various constraints on the powers the president has when he declares a national emergency. For instance, it requires the president to say which other statute he is relying on to exercise the particular authority he plans to employ under his declared emergency.

The NEA also creates a mechanism by which Congress can terminate the emergency by passing a resolution through both houses doing that. The House is likely to try this, but it's unclear whether the Senate will go along. Trump would probably veto it anyway, though it's still worth doing to get GOP senators on the record.

But the NEA doesn't define what an emergency is, giving the president tremendous discretion to do that himself. The core question we now face is whether that discretion is limitless.

There will be lawsuits against Trump's national emergency declaration. Protect Democracy and the Niskanen Center just announced that they will represent local border communities in such a lawsuit.

There are several basic ways of challenging Trump's national emergency in court. The first is to challenge the idea that the statute Trump is invoking to find the precise power he wants to exercise actually does give him that power.

According to multiple reports, Trump is relying on a law that allows the defense secretary to "undertake military construction projects" that are "not otherwise authorized by law" if they are "necessary" to support "use of the armed forces." This would reportedly allow him to tap some $3.5 billion in funds.

Robert Chesney, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, tells me that this is vulnerable to challenge, because it requires that this "use of the armed forces" is actually being employed in the emergency in question.

"This doesn't work for just any emergency -- it has to be an emergency in which use of the military is required," Chesney said. Trump, of course, will claim that the military is in fact being used to counter his border emergency, since he sent in troops. But in this case, those troops are not actually repelling arriving migrants, so there's no way to credibly argue that a wall is "necessary" to support what the military is actually doing.

"There's a better chance than normal that a judge could second guess this," Chesney said.

But perhaps the bigger question concerns the second way to challenge Trump's national emergency: By arguing that there isn't any national emergency, and that at some point, this has to matter.

There is simply no credible metric by which there is any national emergency at the border, let alone one that a wall would address, as The Post's fact-checking team recently documented. Unauthorized border crossings are at historic lows. The type of migration that actually is spiking is comprised of asylum-seeking families and children, but they are mostly turning themselves in to seek asylum, so a wall is utterly irrelevant to that problem. Drugs mostly enter through ports of entry.

But for legal purposes, do the facts on the ground matter at all?

According to Goitein of the Brennan Center, since passage of the National Emergencies Act, the courts have not once considered the question of whether a national emergency can be declared invalid on the grounds that there isn't any national emergency. Another legal expert told Charlie Savage the same.

That may now change. To reiterate, this problem was created by Congress: By failing to define what a national emergency is, it left enormous discretion to the president to do it himself.

As we saw in the case of Trump's thinly veiled Muslim ban, the Supreme Court is inclined to grant the president incredibly broad discretion when it comes to national security decisions. Though Trump widely and openly telegraphed that his motive was discrimination against Muslims, the court upheld the ban as constitutional on the grounds that its motive was was pretextually neutral. Because of the court's reluctance to substitute its own policy judgment for the president's, Trump's extraordinary levels of bad faith didn't matter

But is there a point at which that bad faith will matter? Possibly, in the case of his new national emergency.

"Yes, there is no statutory definition of a national emergency, and yes, the president has incredibly broad discretion," Goitein told me. "But even the broadest discretion can be abused. The word emergency isn't completely meaningless. So you could see a judge say, 'As deferential as I can possibly be, I still can't see how this qualifies as an emergency.'"

Chesney of the University of Texas agreed. "The president is given sweepingly broad authority to decide when there's a national emergency, and we can understand why," Chesney said. "But there does have to be an outer boundary role when it's manifestly clear that there is not actually an emergency."

"There must be great deference, but it's not unlimited deference," Chesney added "It's not unreviewable."

One hopes so. We will soon find out.

-- Greg Sargent writes The Plum Line blog. He joined The Post in 2010, after stints at Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine and the New York Observer.
The Saudi Arabian government on Thursday offered its most forceful denial yet of allegations that it has helped Saudi students studying in the U.S. skip bail and flee the country while facing criminal charges.

The notion that the Saudi government actively helps citizens evade justice after they have been implicated in legal wrongdoing in the U.S. is not true, said the statement issued by the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Contrary to some media reports, Saudi diplomatic missions in the United States do not issue travel documents to citizens engaged in legal proceedings.

An embassy spokesman released the statement to CNN in response to a report by the network that reviewed the findings of an Oregonian/OregonLive investigation.

The rebuttal comes as federal law enforcement officials this week launched a multi-agency investigation into how a growing number of Saudi students accused of serious crimes escaped prosecution.

The Oregonian/OregonLive has found cases in at least eight different states of students vanishing after being charged with serious crimes, including manslaughter and sexual assault.

The revelations have generated national attention and prompted U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, both Oregon Democrats, to seek answers on Capitol Hill.

In five Oregon cases, the suspects all were young men studying at a public college or university with assistance from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the time of their arrest. In at least four of those cases, the Saudi government paid the defendants bail and legal fees. Three surrendered their passports. U.S. authorities confirmed at least two returned to Saudi Arabia.

Two of the students in Oregon were accused of rape, two with hit-and-run driving and one was accused of having a trove of child pornography on his computer.

Officials with the U.S. Marshals Service and Department of Homeland Security told The Oregonian/OregonLive last year they believe the Saudi government helped at least one of these suspects, Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah, flee the U.S. before his 2017 trial in the hit-and-run death of a Portland teen.

Prosecutors in Ohio allege Saudi officials helped orchestrate the escape of a manslaughter suspect in 1988.

Wyden and Merkley are now demanding to know whether the Saudi government has played a role in the disappearance of the other fugitives.

The Saudi Embassy previously said that, as a policy, its government will cover the cost of bail for any citizen jailed in the U.S. who asks for assistance.

The government Thursday noted that hundreds of thousands of Saudi nationals have studied in the U.S. since the 1960s.

The overwhelming majority of Saudi students enjoy productive stays in the United States, and many have contributed positively to their local communities, the statement said.

These cases represent clear aberrations and are not a reflection on the large Saudi student population in the country, the overwhelming majority of which is law-abiding.

Read the embassys entire statement below.

The Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and all of its officials strictly adhere to all U.S. laws while inside the United States.

The Saudi government also advises all of its citizens to strictly observe the laws and regulations of whichever country they visit or reside in. When a Saudi citizen is incarcerated in the U.S. and contacts the Saudi Embassy or a consulate seeking legal assistance, the embassy or consulate will assist the citizen by posting bail and retaining counsel.

It is worth noting that hundreds of thousands of Saudis have studied in the United States over the past five decades. The overwhelming majority of Saudi students enjoy productive stays in the United States, and many have contributed positively to their local communities. Those students who have experienced legal issues comprise a small fraction of the total number of Saudis who have studied in the United States since the 1960s. These cases represent clear aberrations and are not a reflection on the large Saudi student population in the country, the overwhelming majority of which is law-abiding.

Perhaps most importantly, and contrary to some media reports, Saudi diplomatic missions in the United States do not issue travel documents to citizens engaged in legal proceedings. The notion that the Saudi government actively helps citizens evade justice after they have been implicated in legal wrongdoing in the U.S. is not true.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632
Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty filed an ordinance Friday that would delay a new city requirement that property owners affix earthquake warning signs to their unreinforced masonry buildings, structures that are at risk of collapse during a major tremor.

Hardesty introduced the ordinance one day after U.S. Magistrate Judge John Acosta ordered a two-month delay in enforcement of the placard requirement. Acosta is expected to hear arguments in a lawsuit over the placard rule brought by building owners during that time.

In a statement, Hardesty said she introduced the proposal because building owners have told me loud and clear that they dont understand the new rules and face financial difficulty performing retrofits.

The ordinance would give owners of private buildings until late 2020 to put the warning signs on their buildings.

With an expanded timeline, we will look for ways to offer financial support for these important safety upgrades and give building owners more time to examine the inventory, Hardesty said, adding that she wants to simplify the compliance process.

Hardesty announced Jan. 31 that the Portland Fire Bureau, which she oversees, will not enforce the placard requirement.

The City Council adopted the mandate in October 2018 at the behest of ex-Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who Hardesty was elected to replace. The placards to be placed on brick masonry buildings would say: This is an unreinforced masonry building. Unreinforced masonry buildings may be unsafe in the event of a major earthquake.

The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People has opposed the proposal, saying it would promote gentrification in Portlands historically black neighborhoods and would harm local churches with a predominately black membership.

An initial vote on Hardestys ordinance is set for Feb. 20.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

GFriedman@Oregonian.com

Correction: An earlier version of this article misidentified John Acosta as a U.S. district court judge. He is a magistrate judge.
The estate of a pregnant woman who died when a driver crashed into a Mexican foods grocery store in Beaverton has filed a $3.3 million lawsuit against the driver and the store.

The estate of Elena Velasquez-Pelico alleges driver Suha Al Naisani had backed out of a parking spot next to the Salsa Market and thought she had put her SUV in drive when she stepped on the accelerator and suddenly reversed into the store. Velasquez-Pelico, who was shopping inside, was fatally struck on the afternoon of Nov. 8, 2016.

Velasquez-Pelico was eight months pregnant.

Police didnt issue any citations, according to the estates attorney. The Washington County District Attorneys Office decided not to pursue any criminal charges.

The suit claims the grocery store and its owners were negligent for failing to erect bollards or other protective barriers between the parking lot and store.

Al Naisani couldnt be reached for comment.

Alicia and Uriel Estrada, described in the suit as owners of the commercial shopping mall that includes the grocery store, didnt immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.

Velasquez-Pelico, 37, was rushed to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center and was conscious upon arrival but died less than two hours after she was struck, said Portland attorney Brendan Dummigan. Doctors couldnt save her unborn baby, either.

Dummigan is representing the estates of Velasquez-Pelico and her unborn baby. The $3.3 million that the lawsuit seeks also includes damages for that loss of life.

The store is at 4265 S.W. Cedar Hills Boulevard.

Velasquez-Pelicos common-law husband, Francisco Javier Perez-Sanchez, is the personal representative of her estate, according to the suit. She lived in Beaverton with Perez-Sanchez and her three children, who were ages 6, 12 and 17 at the time of her death.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Washington County Circuit Court. Read the suit here.

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

o_aimee

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Portland police Lt. Jeff Niiya has been removed from the Rapid Response Team and barred from communicating with any protest organizers as the bureau investigates his frequent text messages and emails with Joey Gibson, the leader of the right-wing Patriot Prayer group.

The Police Bureau also has scheduled a "listening session' next week to hear public concerns about the lieutenants communications with Gibson in 2017 and 2018 before, during and after protests in downtown Portland. Many of the rallies and demonstrations turned violent as Gibson and his supporters clashed with counter-protesters, often led by self-described anti-fascist demonstrators, or antifa, dressed in black with their faces covered.

"It is imperative that we come together to hear peoples concerns and ideas,'' Police Chief Danielle Outlaw said Friday in a statement as the bureau announced restrictions to Niiyas assignment. "2019 is a year for solutions. We would like for the public to have the opportunity to share with the Portland Police Bureau their ideas for how to move forward.''

By the end of the day, Mayor Ted Wheeler said he and the chief would provide training for officers around how to identify white supremacy and that he would order an independent investigation to review the existence of bias in the actions of the (Police Bureau) leading up to and during demonstrations involving alt-right and anti-fascist protesters.

Chief Outlaw agrees this is a necessary next step and is more than ready to work with me on this, Wheeler said in a statement. I have heard from the people of Portland. I agree we must do more to ensure that we adhere to the values affirmed by the resolution recently passed by City Council to condemn white supremacist and alt-right hate groups.

The police chief earlier said she would launch an internal review of the texts and emails to determine if any bureau directives were violated.

Niiya has served as a bureau liaison to protest organizers since Occupy Portland in 2011. The hundreds of messages released by police show an ongoing rapport with Gibson. Niiya sometimes alerted Gibson to counter protesters movements during demonstrations. He provided information to Gibson on the level of police presence to expect at certain protests.

The lieutenant also informed Gibson about an arrest warrant for Gibsons sidekick, Tusitala Tiny Toese, that could cause Toese problems if he acted out during a protest. (Gibson and Toese have since parted ways.)

Niiya asked Gibson repeatedly about the number of supporters the Patriot Prayer frontman expected to show up and where in the city. Other communications were more chummy, with Niiya congratulating Gibson when Gibson shared that he planned to run for a U.S. Senate seat or ending messages by wishing Gibson a great weekend.

Niiyas email and text message exchanges with Gibson, first obtained by Willamette Week and Portland Mercury and then released late Thursday by the Police Bureau, generated immediate criticism from the mayor, City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty and multiple community leaders.

City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly joined in later, saying in a statement: This revelation has only served to confirm suspicions and deepen the divide between the PPB and the community. All members of our police bureau must follow our rules and uphold our progressive values, not aid and abet groups and individuals bent on doing harm to our communities and responsible for terrorizing our city.

Community activists quickly took to social media, decrying the communications as evidence of what theyve complained is the bureaus leaning toward protecting Patriot Prayer members and their affiliates while targeting counter-protesters during the clashes.

The Pacific Northwest Antifascist Workers Collective issued a call on Twitter to demonstrate outside City Hall on Friday to demand the city and Police Bureau "be held accountable for supporting, protecting and collaborating with violent ultra nationalists and fascists who perpetrate violence in our city.'' About two dozen activists gathered, saying the mayor should leave his post as police commissioner and that independent investigators should review the Police Bureau.

9 Activists rallied outside City Hall in Portland Friday

The Oregon chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Oregon Justice Resource Center and Western States Center issued a statement, saying the "warm texts and helpful tips to Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson is just the latest news showing an inappropriate and disproportionate response to alt-right groups'' from police.

Lt. Craig Morgan, president of the Portland Police Commanding Officers Association, criticized Wheeler and Hardesty for what he called their rush to judgment that may "enflame and prejudice'' the bureaus investigation and outcome.

"The PPCOA is confident the investigation will reveal that Lieutenant Niiya was acting in the best interest of the city of Portland and its community members. Lieutenant Niiyas actions were within Portland Police Bureau (PPB) Directives and Policy,'' Morgan wrote in response. " Lieutenant Niiya was given direction by PPB management to establish relationships with known event or demonstration organizers to assist the bureau in its planning and to develop a shared understanding of the organizers needs and objectives. Furthermore, PPCOA believes the investigation will show Lieutenant Niiya always communicated with dignity, courtesy, and respect.''

The bureaus listening session is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, at the Maranatha Church, 4222 N.E. 12th Ave.

(Gordon Friedman of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.)

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

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A plane headed from Seattle to California was diverted to Portland when a 21-year-old Washington man refused to sit down and approached the cockpit, according to a federal complaint filed in court Thursday afternoon.

Douglas B. Smyser is accused of interfering with a flight crew aboard Compass Air flight 6054 Wednesday night.

Smyser, who was headed to a drug rehab home in Malibu, Calif., told authorities that he had ingested methamphetamine by eating it prior to the flight and became paranoid and suspicious, according to the complaint.

The flight was diverted to Portland International Airport when the crew became concerned about Smysers actions and landed at 7:51 p.m. Wednesday. There, FBI agents and the Port of Portland police took Smyser into custody.

Smysers behavior caused concerns shortly after he boarded in Seattle.

While the plane was taxiing, a backpack reported to have been thrown into the aisle by Smyser began to vibrate, FBI agent Damon Bateson wrote in the complaint. An electric razor was inside and had been activated, and Smyser later claimed the bag as is.

About 20 to 30 minutes into the flight, Smyser began pacing the aisle, refused to sit down and told a crew member that someone in the back row of the plane had a gun, Bateson wrote.

The captain secured the cockpit doors and diverted the plane to land in Portland because the crew was concerned Smyser might rush the cockpit, the complaint says.

Upon descent into Portland, Smyser approached the cockpit and had to be restrained by a passenger until the flight landed, the federal agent wrote.

Smyser initially resisted by flailing his arms but the passenger was able to use his body weight to get Smyser back into a rear seat and held him there until the plane landed, according to the complaint.

Smyser is being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center. Hes expected to make his first appearance in U.S. District Court in Portland Friday afternoon.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

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A federal judge Thursday ordered the release of Kenneth Earl Hause, the 61-year-old national president of the Gypsy Jokers Outlaw Motorcycle Club, who is charged in an alleged racketeering conspiracy.

But U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones placed Hause on home detention with electric monitoring and said he must resign immediately from his role as leader of the motorcycle gang and not associate with any current or former Gypsy Joker members as he awaits trial.

Hauses defense lawyer, Todd Bofferding, called his client a "man of honor'' and described him as an ailing grandfather who has the widespread support of his local community in Aumsville -- from the chief of police to waitresses in the small Marion County town of about 3,580 people.

Hause also cant get the medical care he needs in jail for his congenital heart failure, Bofferding said. Though he has a past criminal record, its old and he hasnt been convicted of a crime in 15 years, his lawyer said.

I dont believe hes now the man the government believes he is, Bofferding said.

Prosecutors vigorously opposed Hauses release, contending that at his direction as the "Wiz'' or "The Boss of the gang, fellow Gypsy Jokers kidnapped, tortured and murdered a former club member.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Mygrant called Hause the chief enforcer of this criminal enterprise, a motorcycle club he said that prides itself on being a 1 percenter group of outlaws, apart from the 99 percent of motorcyclists who abide by the law.

Hause has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering.

Four co-defendants who remain in custody are accused of racketeering but also are charged in the 2015 torture and killing of former club member Robert Huggins, who was kicked out for stealing money and for his intravenous drug use, prosecutors said. The killing was in retaliation for Huggins burglary and robbery at the Woodburn home of Portlands Gypsy Jokers president Mark Leroy Dencklau. Dencklaus then-girlfriend was tied up during the robbery.

Once Dencklau learned of the robbery, the first call he made was to Hause, and Hause went to Denklaus house, Mygrant said. For the next 25 days, the clubs members carried out a manhunt for Huggins, ultimately kidnapping him and dumping his body in Woodland, Washington, where he was found dead, according to prosecutors.

This organization had a hit out for Bobby Huggins, and the prime shot caller was this man, Mygrant said of Hause.

Hause, his hair pulled back in a pony tail with a bushy gray beard, wore a black-and-gray-striped jail suit as he sat beside his lawyer in the Portland courtroom.

Hauses lawyer argued that prosecutors have no evidence that ties Hause to Huggins murder. All they have is a phone call, but theyre guessing what was discussed during the call, he said.

Hauses wife heard him on one end of that call offering emotional support to Dencklau upon hearing of the robbery, Bofferding said.

At no time did he order a hit, the defense lawyer told the court.

The judge then asked the prosecution: Do you have a witness wholl testify this defendant directly ordered the torture murder?

We do not, Mygrant answered.

Prosecutors, though, argued that Hause had engaged in brutal beatings of club members and barroom brawls with rivals, distributed methamphetamine and issued threats to kill those who talked to police. His violent behavior didnt result in arrests or convictions in recent years because he was protected as others feared his reprisals if they went to police, Mygrant said.

Investigators in this case have already moved several witnesses out of state, fearing intimidation from the defendants or their supporters, prosecutors said. Dencklau, for example, is accused of sending two Gypsy Jokers to find a key witness in the case, according to Mygrant.

During a search of Hauses house in Aumsville in January, investigators found a photo of a man that had the word snitch scrawled on it, according to court documents.

He may not be the person who personally goes out and intimidates witnesses, but he has the ability to influence others, Mygrant told the judge.

A defendant can intimidate potential witnesses just as easily from behind bars as from home, Bofferding argued. The judge agreed.

Jones decided to release Hause, citing his long-standing family ties to Aumsville, his motorcycle repair business there and his medical issues. The judge added that its hard to detain Hause without the government having direct proof that he issued an order to kill Huggins.

The judge requested monitoring of Hauses cellphone and told him not to leave home, except for doctor appointments or court hearings.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

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If built, a proposed construction project along a problematic 1.7-mile stretch of Interstate 5 in the heart of Portland will dramatically reduce travel times, improve safety for bicycles and pedestrians through the area, and slightly reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

Thats according to an assessment released Friday by the Portland and state transportation departments. The two governments released their Environmental Assessment, kickstarting a 45-day public comment period.

The report is the most detailed analysis yet of the more than $500 million project to add wider shoulders, merging lanes and cover a section of I-5 through the Rose Quarter broadly between the I-405 and I-84 interchanges. The project includes a new pedestrian and bike bridge over the freeway and other street-level improvement the report says will make it safer for everyone to get around.

The city and state have been working on the project since 2010, and state lawmakers in 2017 agreed to contribute $500 million to the effort. The Rose Quarter section of I-5 is a key bottleneck across the state, and a proposal to address it drew support from outside the metro area.

As recently as last month, it appeared the project would include just 30 days for public comment, but that was subsequently extended to 45 days after concerns from Commissioner Chloe Eudaly and local advocacy groups.

According to a press release from the Oregon Department of Transportation, the reports authors modeled air pollution and determined building the project would result in slight improvements compared to if Oregon didnt build anything. The estimated reduction in emissions caused by the project would likely be due to the higher speeds and less idling on the highway and reduced congestion from the project, the state said. Projections also include slightly decreased carbon emissions.

The highway project would result in more volume through the area, the report said, but that would translate to quicker travel times by 2045 if the project didnt move forward in most cases

Morning commutes would still be roughly one minute longer through the area for southbound travelers in 2045 if the project is built. Afternoon commuters would see nearly two-minute savings, the report said.

Northbound commuters would see negligible time savings under most scenario.

Its far from a universally loved idea in Portland proper. Advocacy groups have argued for years the money would be better spent on local initiatives to boost biking, walking or transit instead of to address a freeway bottleneck. Others have urged the city and state to dream bigger, expressing dismay that the project would cap the freeway in a small geographic area but not allow for buildings to be built there.

Jillian Detweiler, executive director of the nonprofit The Street Trust, said Friday that she would comment on the report once she had time to digest it.

Rukaiyah Adams, chief investment officer for the Meyer Memorial Trust, has been part of an effort to push for a bigger vision for the surface-level neighborhood surrounding the freeway, also declined to comment, saying she hadnt read the full report. She plans to address it in mid-March.

Adams and others so-called Albina Vision, which has been designed by architect Timothy Eddy and his firm, encapsulates a broader 90-acre area surrounding the freeway. Those organizers say the city and state need to dream bigger.

At a planning and sustainability commission meeting in January, Eddy said the freeway caps did not go far enough to stitch together the community torn apart by the freeway and the arena district decades prior.

We dont want anything to preclude better bigger ideas that may be coming down the road for this district, he said last month.

Eudaly didnt immediately respond to a request for comment on the report or its assessment that it would result in lowered greenhouse gas emissions. In a blog post last month, Eudaly said a project that focuses exclusively on the comfort of highway drivers is unacceptable.

This is why the City partnered with ODOT to ensure that this venture prioritizes the needs of pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers, she said. It should make it dramatically easier and safer for people walking, biking, taking transit, and driving in the Rose Quarter.

The advocacy group No More Freeways PDX said it planned to release a reaction Tuesday to the Rose Quarter report.

Marshall Runkel, Eudalys chief of staff, signaled that while she might have different preferences for spending millions of dollars, she doesnt have the professional expertise to second guess the technical analysis of PBOT and ODOT engineers.

Its clear the project has evolved and improved from its original iteration. Thats the goal of well designed public processes, he said in an email.

Regarding the reports reference to climate change and a reduction in emissions, Runkel said this project is unlikely to have any meaningful impact.

The legislature funded the project, the funding was for highway projects, he continued, If it was the Commissioners call about where to spend half a billion dollars, I doubt she would have selected this project.

Meanwhile, the state and city plan to hold an open house March 7 on the project and a public hearing at the Oregon Convention Center March 12 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Online comments are possible through the I5Rosequarter.org website.

Here are some other takeaways from the 108-page report:

- ODOT says this stretch of highway had 881 crashes between 2011 and 2015, with most occurring on the southbound stretch of I-5.

- The report claims the project would not create new capacity or add substantial capacity to the existing highway. Opponents have called it a freeway widening project.

- The diagrams show the project considers adding a 12-foot shoulder on each side of the north and southbound sections of I-5 (shoulders exist currently, but their size varies). The project would add a 12-foot auxiliary lane for merging throughout the area. The shoulders give more capacity for emergency responders to get through traffic and for cars to pull over if involved in a crash.

- New bridge: The plan calls for a new pedestrian and bike bridge over I-5 at Clackamas Street.

- Flint Avenue: Flint Avenues overpass would be removed, creating a terminus at Tillamook Street and diverting traffic onto Vancouver Avenue.

- Hancock-Dixon: A new vehicle/bike/pedestrian crossing will be built connecting North Dixon Street on the west of the freeway to Northeast Hancock Street on the east side.

- On ramp: The onramp onto I-5 southbound at Wheeler Avenue will be relocated north to Weidler.

- A 36-foot wide center median multi-use path will be created on North Williams Avenue between the Moda Center and Broadway.

- The freeway will be capped between an area just south of Northeast Weidler and just north of Broadway. The plan calls for bike and pedestrian uses or open space on those capped sections of freeway.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen

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In Fridays Quickly column, I think the public servant has finally figured out that the American people love the Trump train and have no interest in the Green New Deal at a price tag of $80 trillion. Climate change is a hoax, and the outlook for the Democrats is bleak to say the least. Too much fairy dust coming from the dreamers, whoops, snowflakes who are looking for a free ride, so go get a job there. And if the president doesn't want a dog, who cares?
The year-over-year median home sale price dropped in January for the first time since February 2012 in metro Portland, according to new numbers from the Regional Multiple Listing Service.

The months median sale price of $384,900 represented a 1.3 percent decline from a year earlier. While home prices typically drop in the winter, its been nearly seven years since they fell on an annualized basis.

The aggressive price increase we saw in the past few years simply became unsustainable as too many potential homeowners were priced out of the market, said Tim Duy, a University of Oregon economist. Prices just became too high.

Mortgage rates also spiked in the waning months of 2018, which further curbed buying power. And the end of the year also brought a great deal of economic uncertainty, including a tumbling stock market and the shutdown of parts of the federal government.

The red-hot housing market of two years ago  which saw prices climbing by 10 percent annually  has cooled dramatically. Home price gains have been slowing since 2017, and sales have slowed, too. The listing service said 1,451 homes were sold in January, a 10.9 percent decline from a year earlier.

And recently homes on the market have been stacking up. There were more than 4,700 homes for sale in January, representing a 3.3-month supply. Though thats a slim inventory by historic standards and suggests a sellers market, its the highest observed in Portland since 2015.

Sellers are feeling their power erode, with homes sitting on the market longer and more of them selling for less than the listed price. The typical home sold in January was on the market for 76 days, from listing to the day an offer is accepted.

The real estate brokerage Redfin reported a dramatic decline in bidding wars over houses over past year. Its brokers faced competing bids for 19 percent of their homebuyer clients offers in January, a decline from 53 percent at the same time last year. (Despite the decline, Portland remained one of the most competitive markets by that metric.)

Daryl Fairweather, the real estate companys chief economist, said buyers backed off as homes got too unaffordable, and prices dropped as a result.

Thats good, because that means buyers might come back to the table, and theyll have more homes that are affordable to them, she said.

New listings continued to hit the market in January, suggesting homesellers havent lost faith. (Most have gained tens of thousands of dollars in equity in recent years from price appreciation alone, even with Januarys decline.)

Duy said the price decline is surprising but likely reflects a flattening of price gains rather than a market reversal.

We forget how abnormal this market had gotten, Duy said. You got very, very low inventory for a couple of years, and it wasnt the same conditions driving the housing boom of the last decade. There is much more real money flowing in.

And unlike the 2008 financial crisis, price declines are unlikely to send the market spiraling into a morass of defaults and foreclosures, Duy said. Most homeowners have a significant amount of equity in their home, and loan qualifications are far more strict.

The report covers the Oregon side of the metro area, including Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Columbia and Yamhill counties.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com; 503-294-5034; @enjus

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Artificial Implants Market 2027 by Top Leading Players Asahi Kasei Medical, Boston Scientific Corporation, ABIOMED, Berlin Heart, BIOTRONIK, Bicon, Exactech, Cochlear, Zimmer Biomet and B. Braun Melsungen AG

Artificial Implants Market High Demand

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An implant is a medical device designed to replace a missing biological structure, support the damaged body part, or enhance an existing biological structure. Artificial implant is the process of replacement of a biological structure through a medical device. This medical device can be heart, dental fixtures or similar body parts enhancing or strengthening the damaged or existing biological structure. Medical implants are artificially manufactured or so called as manmade, contrast to the transplanting organs or tissue. Some of the implants include electronic devices too such as pacemaker while others are bioactive.Worldwide Artificial Implants Market Analysis to 2027 is a specialized and in-depth study of the Artificial Implants Industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global Artificial Implants Market with detailed market segmentation by product/application and geography. The global Artificial Implants Market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the Market status of the Artificial Implants players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.The artificial implants market is anticipated to grow in the forecast period owing to driving factors such as grown incidence of disabilities and organ failures, technological advancements and high incidence of road accidents. The market is likely to showcase opportunities for the untapped markets and growing awareness among patients.Request for Sample Report @Top Dominating Key Players:1. Asahi Kasei Medical Co. Ltd2. Boston Scientific Corporation3. ABIOMED4. Berlin Heart5. BIOTRONIK, Inc.6. Bicon, LLC7. Exactech, Inc.8. Cochlear Ltd.9. Zimmer Biomet10. B. Braun Melsungen AGAs leading companies in Artificial Implants Market continues to broaden their addressable market, by expanding its current product portfolio, diversifying its client base, and developing new applications and markets, all the prominent players faces an increasing level of competition, both from start-ups as well the leading global technology and industrial companies in the world. Various companies in the value chain are acquiring other local players and operating through joint ventures with retailers in the market to maintain their position in market and provide efficient solutions to its customers.Key Benefits- To provide detailed information regarding the major factors (drivers, restraints, opportunities, challenges, and trends) influencing the growth of the global Artificial Implants Market To forecast the size of the market segments with respect to four major regional segments, namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World (Latin America and the Middle East & Africa).Artificial Implants Market  Global Analysis to 2027 is an expert compiled study which provides a holistic view of the market covering current trends and future scope with respect to product/service, the report also covers competitive analysis to understand the presence of key vendors in the companies by analyzing their product/services, key financial facts, details SWOT analysis and key development in last three years. Further chapter such as industry landscape and competitive landscape provides the reader with recent company level insights covering mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, collaborations, new product developments/strategies taking place across the ecosystem. The chapters also evaluate the key vendors by mapping all the relevant products and services to exhibit the ranking/position of top 5 key vendors.The Artificial Implants Market report is a combination of qualitative as well as quantitative analysis which can be broken down into 40% and 60% respectively. Market estimation and forecasts are presented in the report for the overall global market from 2018  2027, considering 2018 as the base year and 2018  2027 forecast period. Global estimation is further broken down by segments and geographies such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa and South America covering major 16 countries across the mentioned regions. The qualitative contents for geographical analysis will cover market trends in each region and country which includes highlights of the key players operating in the respective region/country, PEST analysis of each region which includes political, economic, social and technological factors influencing the growth of the market.Inquire about Discount on this Report @Reason to Buy: Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the Global Artificial Implants Market. Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies. The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Artificial Implants, 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.About Us:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Automotive and Defense.Contact Us:The Insight partners,Phone: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.comWebsite:
Mens Underwear Market 2025, Booming Globally with Top key players - American Eagle Outfitter Inc., Philips-Van Heusen Corporation, Hanesbrands Inc. Jockey International Inc

Mens Underwear

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An underwear is usually made up of suitable material or fabric in order to provide comfort and protect the internal body parts. Increasing awareness regarding health & fitness and personal hygiene among men is a major driving factor for the growth of the mens underwear market. Furthermore, increasing demand for stylish and trendy underwear such as geo-prints launched by the Australian company 2eros in 2016 are expected to fuel demand for mens underwear, which in turn is expected to drive the growth of the market during the forecast period (2018  2025). Wide availability of products related to intimate apparels for men coupled with discounts with online e-commerce websites such as Amazon providing 20-30% discount on brands such as Jockey and Hanes, which is expected to drive growth of online shopping for underwear worldwide.The specialty store segment held a dominant position the market and it is expected to retain its dominance in the global underwear market over the forecast period. This is attributed to increasing number of specialty stores, which are most preferred to purchase underwear due to the large variety of options available at these stores. For instance, HanesBrands launched a pop-up shop in 2017, in North Carolina in the U.S. providing customers with up to 75% discount on their undergarments. Furthermore, online channel segment is gaining significant traction, as market players are focused on offering their products through online distribution channels to expand their customer base. These distribution channels enable manufacturers to offer a large product portfolio along with providing discounts and receiving immediate feedback of the customers.Download PDF Brochure of this Report Made by an Industry Experts @Asia Pacific was the most dominant market in terms of revenue share in 2016 and is expected to continue its dominance over the forecast period. Asia Pacific mens underwear market was valued at over US$ 2.3 billion in 2016, due to high demand for underwear due to the high male population in the region especially in China and India that account for the highest male population globally. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the male population in China and India stood is reported to be 700 million and 640 million respectively in the year 2016. Increasing penetration of international underwear brands such as Hanes, Jockey, and Calvin Klein in emerging economies in Asia Pacific is expected to spur the demand for mens underwear. Hence numerous international players are looking to enter the Asia Pacific mens underwear market due to the huge untapped market in this region. For instance, Perry Ellis International agreed on a new license agreement with Good People Co. Ltd for selling mens underwear and loungewear in South Korea in 2018.Among product types, boxer briefs segment was dominant segment accounting for 36.57% of the market share in 2016 and is expected to increase to 37.91% by 2025. The trunks segment is expected to grow at the fastest rate, with CAGR of 6.31% during the forecast period. Boxer briefs are a fusion of men's underwear that are long and similar to boxer shorts, however have a tighter and more comfortable fitting like briefs thus providing better comfort and protection. This is a major factor that is expected to drive the demand for boxer briefs in the global mens underwear market.Some of the leading players in the mens underwear market include American Eagle Outfitter Inc., Philips-Van Heusen Corporation, Hanesbrands Inc. Jockey International Inc, Perry Ellis International Inc., Naked Brand Group Inc., Ralph Lauren Corporation, and Berkshire Hathaway IncTalk to Analyst :About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Worldwide Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Market Size Key Players  Fisher Scientific UK, Becton Dickinson, Cryoquip LLC.

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The Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Market research report assembled by Market Study Report, LLC, delivers a comprehensive analysis on the newest market drivers. The report also offers extracts regarding statistics, market valuation and revenue estimates, which further strengthens its status in the competitive spectrum and growth trends embraced by leading manufacturers in the business.This report studies the global market size of Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes in key regions like North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa, focuses on the consumption of Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes in these regions.Request a sample of this premium report at:ACD or acid citrate dextrose is a solution of sodium citrate, citric acid and dextrose in water which is primarily used as an anticoagulant to preserve blood specimen. ACD tubes are specialized tubes utilized to preserve the whole blood specimen for future testing purpose. There are several types of acid citrate dextrose tubes available in the market. ACD tubes are primarily utilized in hospitals, clinics and diagnostics centers worldwide.Geographically, North America and Europe contribute to the maximum share for ACD tubes owing to increasing awareness for safe blood storage, blood transfusion, rise in geriatric population and better health care standards. These regions have better reach to technological advancements and can invest resources in procuring the best health care solutions. Over the forecast period Asia Pacific region is expected to have the fastest growth for these devices due increase in public and private health care expenditure to meet global standards coupled with increase in awareness about hygiene factors in blood transfusion and blood preservation is a major driver in Asia-pacific region. Technological advancements and increase in health care spending will reduce the affordability constraint and further accelerate the adoption of ACD tubes across health care facilities, diagnostic centers and clinics in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.The global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes market is valued at xx million US$ in 2018 and will reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx% during 2019-2025. The objectives of this study are to define, segment, and project the size of the Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes market based on company, product type, end user and key regions.This research report categorizes the global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes market by top players/brands, region, type and end user. This report also studies the global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes market status, competition landscape, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, sales channels and distributors.The following manufacturers are covered in this report, with sales, revenue, market share for each company:Fisher Scientific UKBecton DickinsonCryoquip LLC.Market size by Product6.0 mL8.5 mLMarket size by End UserHospitalsDiagnostics CentersHealth Care ClinicsMarket size by RegionNorth AmericaAsia-PacificEuropeCentral & South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaRequest a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:The study objectives of this report are:To study and analyze the global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes market size (value & volume) by company, key regions, products and end user, breakdown data from 2014 to 2018, and forecast to 2025.To understand the structure of Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes market by identifying its various subsegments.To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).Focuses on the key global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes companies, to define, describe and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competition landscape and recent development.To project the value and sales volume of Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes submarkets, with respect to key regions.To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes are as follows:History Year: 2014-2018Base Year: 2018Estimated Year: 2019Forecast Year 2019 to 2025This report includes the estimation of market size for value (million US$) and volume (K Units). Both top-down and bottom-up approaches have been used to estimate and validate the market size of Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes market, to estimate the size of various other dependent submarkets in the overall market. Key players in the market have been identified through secondary research, and their market shares have been determined through primary and secondary research. All percentage shares, splits, and breakdowns have been determined using secondary sources and verified primary sources.For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2018 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.Table of Contents1 Study Coverage1.1 Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Product1.2 Market Segments1.3 Key Manufacturers Covered1.4 Market by Type1.4.1 Global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Market Size Growth Rate by Product1.4.2 6.0 mL1.4.3 8.5 mL1.5 Market by End User1.5.1 Global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Market Size Growth Rate by End User1.5.2 Hospitals1.5.3 Diagnostics Centers1.5.4 Health Care Clinics1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Executive Summary2.1 Global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Market Size2.1.1 Global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Revenue 2014-20252.1.2 Global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Sales 2014-20252.2 Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Growth Rate by Regions2.2.1 Global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Sales by Regions2.2.2 Global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Revenue by Regions3 Breakdown Data by Manufacturers3.1 Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Sales by Manufacturers3.1.1 Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Sales by Manufacturers3.1.2 Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Sales Market Share by Manufacturers3.1.3 Global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)3.2 Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Revenue by Manufacturers3.2.1 Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Revenue by Manufacturers (2014-2019)3.2.2 Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Revenue Share by Manufacturers (2014-2019)3.3 Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Price by Manufacturers3.4 Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Manufacturing Base Distribution, Product Types3.4.1 Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Manufacturers Manufacturing Base Distribution, Headquarters3.4.2 Manufacturers Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Product Type3.4.3 Date of International Manufacturers Enter into Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Market3.5 Manufacturers Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans4 Breakdown Data by Product4.1 Global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Sales by Product4.2 Global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Revenue by Product4.3 Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Price by Product5 Breakdown Data by End User5.1 Overview5.2 Global Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Breakdown Data by End User6 North America6.1 North America Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes by Countries6.1.1 North America Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Sales by Countries6.1.2 North America Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Tubes Revenue by Countries6.1.3 United StatesMore 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:
2019 Clinical Trials Market | By Leading Players: Quintiles IMS, Paraxel International Corporation, Charles River Laboratories, ICON plc, SGS SA, Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC, Wuxi AppTec Inc.

Clinical Trials

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The Clinical Trials Market peaks the detailed analysis of industry share, growth factors, development trends, size, majors manufacturers and 2024 forecast.The 95 Pages of report also analyze innovative business strategies, value added factors and business opportunities. The Clinical Trials report introduces market competition situation among the vendors and company profile, revenue, product & services, latest developments and business strategies.Download Exclusive PDF Sample Of This Report@The report focuses on the Clinical Trials in global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Top Key Players Covered In This Report: Quintiles IMS Paraxel International Corporation Charles River Laboratories ICON plc SGS SA Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC Wuxi AppTec Inc. and more.Market segment by Application, split into Interventional Observational Expanded AccessThe study objectives of this report are: To analyze global Clinical Trials status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. To present the Clinical Trials 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 Contents1 Report Overview2 Global Growth Trends12 International Players Profiles12.1 Quintiles IMS12.1.1 Quintiles IMS Company Details12.1.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.1.3 Clinical Trials Introduction12.1.4 Quintiles IMS Revenue in Clinical Trials Business (2013-2018)12.1.5 Quintiles IMS Recent Development12.2 Paraxel International Corporation12.2.1 Paraxel International Corporation Company Details12.2.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.2.3 Clinical Trials Introduction12.2.4 Paraxel International Corporation Revenue in Clinical Trials Business (2013-2018)12.2.5 Paraxel International Corporation Recent Development12.3 Charles River Laboratories12.3.1 Charles River Laboratories Company Details12.3.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.3.3 Clinical Trials Introduction12.3.4 Charles River Laboratories Revenue in Clinical Trials Business (2013-2018)12.3.5 Charles River Laboratories Recent Development12.4 ICON plc12.4.1 ICON plc Company Details12.4.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.4.3 Clinical Trials Introduction12.4.4 ICON plc Revenue in Clinical Trials Business (2013-2018)12.4.5 ICON plc Recent Development12.5 SGS SA12.5.1 SGS SA Company Details12.5.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.5.3 Clinical Trials Introduction12.5.4 SGS SA Revenue in Clinical Trials Business (2013-2018)12.5.5 SGS SA Recent DevelopmentContinued..Click Here for Purchase Full Report with Full TOC @About Us:Report Hive Research delivers strategic market research reports, statistical survey, industry analysis & forecast data on products & services, markets and companies. Our clientele ranges mix of global business leaders, government organizations, SMEs, Individual & Start-ups, top management consulting firms, universities etc. Our library of 700,000 + reports targets high growth emerging markets in the USA, Europe Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific covering industries like IT, Telecom, Semiconductor, Chemical, Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, Energy & Power, Manufacturing, Automotive & Transportation, Food & Beverages etc. This large collection of insightful reports assists clients to stay ahead of time & competition. We help in business decision-making on aspects such as market entry strategies, market sizing, market share analysis, sales & revenue, technology trends, competitive analysis, product portfolio & application analysis etc.Report Hive Research500, North Michigan Avenue,Suite 6014Chicago, IL - 60611United StatesWebsite:Email: sales@reporthive.comPhone: +1 312-604-7084
By 2024, Automotive Robotics Market will surpass 210,000 units | ABB, Comau, FANUC America Corporation, KUKA Robotics, Omron Automation, Rockwell Automation, Universal Robots A/S

Automotive Robotics Market

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In 2016, APAC automotive robotics market was approximately USD 2.0 billion. The region is attributed to have highest overall industry share owing to products motion control technology. Further, the region has substantial number of vehicle manufacturing facilities contributing to the automotive industry growth. Europe is estimated to have 3.5% CAGR from 2017 to 2024.Get Sample Copy of This Report @SCARA robots used in the automobile industry will cross over 33 thousand units by 2024. This can be credited to increasing usage in applications such as high-speed assembly and handling operations. Rising demand for reduced bottlenecks and optimized productivity will boost the product penetration.Parallel robots will witness over 4% CAGR by 2024. Micro-manufacturing automation is a key factor that will fuel the product demand over the forecast time frame. High speed, stiffness, and flexible fixturing are the benefits supporting the product demand.Software and services segment is projected to cross USD 1 billion in 2024. Improved software programming has enhanced the quality that will further propel the industry growth. Software loaded in the product will enable real time decision making in the production process supporting the industry growth rate.Company profiled in this report based on Business overview, Financial data, Product landscape, Strategic outlook & SWOT analysis: ABB Comau SpA Denso Wave Durr AG Fanuc Corporation Harmonic Drive System Kawasaki Heavy Industries KUKA Robotics Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp Omron Corporation Panasonic Welding Systems Co. Ltd. Reis Gmbh & Co. Rockwell Automation Seiko Epson Corporation Staubli Universal Robots YRG Yaskawa Electric CorporationMake an Inquiry for purchasing this Report @Growth in automobile industry is creating positive impact over the implementation of advanced products to meet the customer demand. Improved focus of vendors on automation solutions to eliminate risk factors arising from labor will spur the demand for automotive robotics. Additionally, extensive usage of robotics will lead to reduction of labor costs and thereby increase OEMs profitability.Automotive robotic controllers are the most commonly used hardware with a CAGR of over 4% in the forecast period. High acceptance of robotic arms is required in areas, where repetitive tasks are performed. Easy installing, lightweight model, and space-saving ability are the features, accelerating the robotic arms industry growth.Handling operations dominated the automotive robotics market share in 2016 owing to lifting tasks meeting several demands of the automakers. Safety regulations for these advanced products has resulted in employees well-being coupled with minimized associated injuries.Browse Report Summery @Global industry consists of several players and the key players are ABB, KUKA, Fanuc, and Yamaha acquiring significant market share in 2016. Other notable players include Omron Corporation, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Rockwell Automation, Staubli, and Universal Robots.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:Blog:
Forensic Technology Market to boost $22,905 Million Value by 2023 : Asia-Pacific is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during forecast period

Forensic Technology Market

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Forensic technology is widely used in the court of law with an objective to investigate crime. Increase in crime rates and higher need for solving finesse crimes using advanced technologies are expected to drive the growth of the global forensic technologies market.A new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, "Forensic Technology Market by Product and Service: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014-2022," the global forensic technology market was valued at $9,458 million in 2015, and is projected to reach $22,905 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 13.4% from 2017 to 2023. Biometric devices segment held more than one-third share of the total market in 2016.Request Sample/ TOC Report @Forensic technology involves the use of data/sample collected from the crime scene. The market has witnessed significant growth in the recent past due to development of new types of technologies to solve crimes.Advent of new technologies such as alternative light photography, ballistic photography and DNA sequencer and rise in incidence of crime are the key factors that drive the market growth. In addition, rise in government initiatives to support forensic research such as funding availability are anticipated to fuel the demand for forensic technologies globally. However, lack of results obtained from these technologies restrict the market growth.The drug analysis service segment generated the maximum revenue, accounting for more than one-fourth of the global forensic technology market in 2016. However, DNA profiling segment is estimated to exhibit the highest growth rate of 17.1% during the forecast period.Key Findings of the Forensic Technology Market: The services segment is expected to grow at a significant CAGR of 15.4%, during the forecast period. The chemical analysis segment accounted for more than one-fourth share of the global forensic technologies by services market in 2016. Biometric devices accounted for nearly two-fifths share of the global forensic technologies market by product in 2016. France and Germany collectively contributed for nearly one-third share of the European forensic technology market in 2016. Japan is the major shareholder in the Asia-Pacific forensic technology market, accounting for more than one-fourth share in 2016.Asia-Pacific is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 14.8% during the forecast period, owing to surge in crimes such as homicide, sexual harassment, and thefts. In addition, technological advancements to develop cost-effective technologies such as automated fingerprint identification, alternative light photography, and link analysis software present lucrative opportunities for market players in the near future.Send Enquiry on this report @The major companies profiled in the report are 3M Company, Agilent Technologies Inc., Belkasoft, Eurofins Medigenomix Forensik GmbH, GE Healthcare, LGC Limited, MorphoTrust USA, NMS Labs, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., and Ultra Electronics Holdings plc.About usAllied Market Research, a market research and advisory company of Allied Analytics LLP, provides business insights and market research reports to large as well as small & medium enterprises. The company assists its clients to strategize business policies and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.Allied Market Research provides one stop solution from the beginning of data collection to investment advice. The analysts at Allied Market Research dig out factors that help clients to understand the significance and impact of market dynamics. The company amplies clients insight on the factors, such as strategies, future estimations, growth or fall forecasting, opportunity analysis, and consumer surveys among others. As follows, the company offers consistent business intelligent support to aid the clients to turn into prominent business firm.Contact:David Correa5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free (USA/Canada):+1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022, +1-503-446-1141UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1(855)550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:
Smart Mobile POS Market Size 2019 by Top Key Players: Fujian Centerm, Ingenico (Landi), Newland Payment, PAX Technology, SZZT Electronics, Xinguodu, Verifone, NEWPOS, Smartpeak, Elo Touch, Clover Network, Justtide, Hisense, Wintec

Smart Mobile POS Market

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The Smart Mobile POS Market research report by Market Study Report, LLC, is a compilation of pivotal insights pertaining to market size, competitive spectrum, geographical outlook, contender share, and consumption trends of this industry. The report also highlights the key drivers and challenges influencing the revenue graph of this vertical along with strategies adopted by distinguished players to enhance their footprints in the Smart Mobile POS Market.This report focuses on the Smart Mobile POS in global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Request a sample of this premium report atMarket Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Fujian Centerm Ingenico (Landi) Newland Payment PAX Technology SZZT Electronics Xinguodu Verifone NEWPOS Smartpeak Elo Touch Clover Network Justtide Hisense WintecAndroid POS is the POS device combined with the technology of Android operating system.Unlike the traditional POS terminal, Android POS Device can link itself to several checkout terminals in your counter and operated by main computer. With the Android technologies added, the device is programmed; it can track your usage, record sales, monitor updates of dollar changes, calculate orders and payments, and tally inventory sales based on items saved in your system.This POS system gives you control on your business where security control on the cash register have and limit the number of employees who can open this. The Android POS Device is capable of keeping tracks and records of companys sales.Checking the businesss profit is much easier compared to tedious manual checking. It can help to improve marketing strategies and technique by analyzing the condition of the business. Thats why even small-scale businesses need the help of such device to make their job a lot easier and faster.The Asia-Pacific will occupy for more market share in following years, especially in China, also fast growing India and Southeast Asia regions.North 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 Smart Mobile POS.The worldwide market for Smart Mobile POS is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly xx% over the next five years, will reach xx million US$ in 2023, from xx million US$ in 2017, according to a new study.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report atMarket 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 etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversHandheldDesktopMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoRetailRestaurantHospitalityOtherThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Smart Mobile POS market.Chapter 1, to describe Smart Mobile POS Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Smart Mobile POS, with sales, revenue, and price of Smart Mobile POS, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Smart Mobile POS, for each region, from 2013 to 2018;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2013 to 2018;Chapter 12, Smart Mobile POS market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2018 to 2023;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Smart Mobile POS sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceTable of Contents1 Market Overview2 Manufacturers Profiles3 Global Smart Mobile POS Market Competition, by Manufacturer4 Global Smart Mobile POS Market Analysis by Regions5 North America Smart Mobile POS by Countries, Type, Application and Manufacturers6 Europe Smart Mobile POS by Countries, Type, Application and Manufacturers7 Asia-Pacific Smart Mobile POS by Countries, Type, Application and Manufacturers8 South America Smart Mobile POS by Countries, Type, Application and Manufacturers9 Middle East and Africa Smart Mobile POS by Countries, Type, Application and Manufacturers10 Global Smart Mobile POS Market Segment by Type11 Global Smart Mobile POS Market Segment by Application12 Smart Mobile POS Market Forecast (2018-2023)12.1 Global Smart Mobile POS Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate (2018-2023)12.2 Smart Mobile POS Market Forecast by Regions (2018-2023)12.2.1 North America Smart Mobile POS Market Forecast (2018-2023)12.2.2 Europe Smart Mobile POS Market Forecast (2018-2023)12.2.3 Asia-Pacific Smart Mobile POS Market Forecast (2018-2023)12.2.4 South America Smart Mobile POS Market Forecast (2018-2023)12.2.5 Middle East and Africa Smart Mobile POS Market Forecast (2018-2023)12.3 Smart Mobile POS Market Forecast by Type (2018-2023)12.3.1 Global Smart Mobile POS Sales Forecast by Type (2018-2023)12.3.2 Global Smart Mobile POS Market Share Forecast by Type (2018-2023)12.4 Smart Mobile POS Market Forecast by Application (2018-2023)12.4.1 Global Smart Mobile POS Sales Forecast by Application (2018-2023)12.4.2 Global Smart Mobile POS Market Share Forecast by Application (2018-2023)13 Sales Channel, Distributors, Traders and Dealers14 Research Findings and Conclusion15 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:
UK IVF Services Market Value set to reach $685.4 Million by 2022 : Adoption of IVF services is increasing globally and expected to create biggest opportunities

UK IVF Services Market

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The emerging trend of delayed pregnancies and increasing average age of parenthood over the last decade drive the growth of the market. Moreover, rise in trend in same sex couples seeking parenthood through IVF treatment propels the growth of the market. Favorable government policies such as after Human Fertilization and Embryology Act in 2008 has favored single mothers and lesbian couples to opt for IVF treatment. In addition, there is growth in polygamy and polyandry, though, to a smaller level, which increases the need for alternative reproductive treatments.New report published by Allied Market Research titled, UK IVF Services Market by End User and Cycle Type: Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014-2022, the UK IVF services market is estimated to reach $685.4 million by 2022, registering a CAGR of 7.7% from 2016 to 2022.Request Sample/ TOC Report @The UK has recently accepted the three parent IVF methods, commonly banned in other parts of the world. This method is anticipated to boost the growth of UK IVF services market owing to its inherent benefits of avoiding genes linked mitochondrial DNA diseases in babies.However, ethical and religious issues related to surrogacy majorly restricts the market growth. For instance, Catholic Herald raised questions over the growth in number of perishing embryos and has demanded revaluation of the IVF legislation in the UK. The total number of IVF embryos allowed to perish has increased-from 6 in 1990 to 169,644 by 2013. This has largely limited the adoption of IVF technologies among infertile couples.The fertility clinics segment is anticipated to dominate the market during the forecast period in terms of volume and revenue. This is because the fertility clinics provide technologically advanced and wide range of fertility treatments under one roof for patients.Key Findings of the UK IVF Services Market: Based on cycle type, fresh IVF cycles (non-donor) is projected to be one of the fastest growing segment at a CAGR of 8.3% from 2016 to 2022, in terms of revenue Based on end users, fertility clinics is projected to be the one of the fastest growing segment at a CAGR of 8.9% from 2016 to 2022, in terms of revenue Based on cycle type, fresh IVF cycle (non-donor) is projected to be the one of the fastest growing segment at a CAGR of 7.6% from 2016 to 2022, in terms of volume Based on end users, fertility clinics is projected to be the one of the fastest growing segment at a CAGR of 8.2% from 2016 to 2022, in terms of volumeKey players in the UK IVF services market includes companies, hospitals, surgical centers, fertility centers, and clinical research institutes. These includes Lister Fertility Clinics, The Bridge center, and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.Send Enquiry on this report @About usAllied Market Research, a market research and advisory company of Allied Analytics LLP, provides business insights and market research reports to large as well as small & medium enterprises. The company assists its clients to strategize business policies and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.Allied Market Research provides one stop solution from the beginning of data collection to investment advice. The analysts at Allied Market Research dig out factors that help clients to understand the significance and impact of market dynamics. The company amplies clients insight on the factors, such as strategies, future estimations, growth or fall forecasting, opportunity analysis, and consumer surveys among others. As follows, the company offers consistent business intelligent support to aid the clients to turn into prominent business firm.Contact:David Correa5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free (USA/Canada):+1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022, +1-503-446-1141UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1(855)550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:
Vehicle Tracking Market 2019 by Top Key Vendors Calamp : Cartrack : Fleetmatics : NexTraq : Teletrac Navman : Telogis : TomTom

Vehicle Tracking Market

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Vehicle Tracking Market for Heavy commercial vehicles are anticipated to witness growth at over 12% from 2017 to 2024 owing to rising demand for transportation of passengers & goods along with increasing construction activities. Vehicle tracking market from light commercial vehicles will account for a significant share over the forecast timeframe owing to rising transportation of light weight goods. Increasing domestic and international courier services will further propel the industry growth.Get Sample Copy of This Report @Vehicle tracking market from wired devices is estimated to cross 92% volume share by 2024. Substantial revenue generation can be attributed to their high deployment in vehicles and provision of the advantages. Regular technological advancements such as enhanced satellite view and mobile tracking are pushing the customers to increasingly adopt these devices. Wireless product segment is anticipated to grow significantly owing to their easy portability and compact size.Fleet management will grow substantially from 2017 to 2024. This can be attributed to provision of the benefits such as customer satisfaction, fuel monitoring and speed detection, real-time monitoring, and maximizing vehicle utilization. Vehicle tracking market from cargo logistics will grow owing to advancements in mobile technology. These advanced devices allow continuous two-way communication with the fleet. Cost effectiveness as compared to the other counterparts will further escalate the revenue generation till 2024.Company profiled in this report based on Business overview, Financial data, Product landscape, Strategic outlook & SWOT analysis:1.Calamp2. CarTrack3. Fleetistics4. Fleetmatics5. Garmin6. Geotab7. Laird Plc.8. Maestro Wireless Solutions Ltd.9. Meitrack Group10. Mio11. Navotar12. Nextraq13. Orbocomm14. Robert Bosch15. Teletrac Navman16. Telogis17. Teltonika UAB18. TomTom19. US Fleet Tracking20. Verizon NetworkfleetMake an Inquiry for purchasing this Report @Vehicle tracking market from active devices will exhibit highest volume share over the next eight years owing to provision of benefits such as automatic reassignment, accuracy in delivery time information, and versatility in networks. Passive technology is likely to grow till 2024 owing to its quick and easy installation.North America vehicle tracking market is anticipated to capture the highest volume share over the next eight years. Presence of key automobile manufacturers along with technology providers across the region will primarily contribute to the revenue generation. Various regulatory authorities such as Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) are mandating the installation of these devices in vehicles, further supporting the regional dominance.Asia Pacific will also account for a significant share in the global market owing to the substantial automobile production coupled with stringent regulations, especially in developing countries.Browse Report Summery @Fleetistics, Calamp, Maestro Wireless Solutions Ltd, Navotar, Garmin, and Mio are among the prominent participants in the vehicle tracking industry. The competitors are focusing on increasing the product penetration across the globe. They are increasingly partnering with online distributors such as Amazon, eBay, TrackMe, GPS-Track, etc. to enhance their visibility. This has led to the high growth of these online channels.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:Blog:
The GOP (the "Grand Old Party") is going to have to come up with a new name. There's certainly nothing "grand" about it anymore. It's been taken over by a gang of lawless hooligans, led by the likes of Jim Jordan, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, and the chief and most lawless hooligan of all, Donald Trump, with his constant lies and his fake national emergency. So much for what was once the party of Lincoln and Eisenhower. This is a very sad time in American history.
Breastfeeding Accessories Market Industry Analysis| Top Companies: Medela, Pigeon Corporation., Ardo medical AG, Ameda, Inc., Philips, NUK USA LLC, Whittlestone Inc, Hygeia Health Inc., Buttner-Frank GmbH

U.S. Breastfeeding Accessories Market size, By Product, 2013-2024 (USD Million)

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Breastfeeding Accessories Market size was over USD 650 million in 2016, with projected growth of over 10% CAGR from 2017 to 2024.Increasing awareness regarding importance of breastfeeding coupled with rising breastfeeding rates will drive the market growth over the forecast timeframe. Spurring number of working mothers will propel business expansion. Working mothers rely on usage of technology solutions such as breast pumps for breast milk collection owing to busier schedules and haste to rejoin work post maternity.Adoption and implementation of policies such as the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes which forbids the promotion of various breast milk substitutes will boost market growth. Approximately 135 countries across the globe have incorporated some provisions of this code.Request for a sample of this research report @Presence of favorable reimbursement scenario for breast pumps has fostered the usage of accessories market across the regions. The demand for breastfeeding accessories such as breast milk storage bags and cleaning products will escalate over the coming years.Aggressive marketing campaigns undertaken by milk formula manufacturers has increased the adoption of breast milk substitutes, such as infant formulas. Growing acceptance of breast milk substitutes among new mothers should impede industry growth. Furthermore, high cost incurred due to frequent replacement and repurchase of breastfeeding accessories will restrain business growth.Breast milk bottles dominated the global market and is expected to follow a similar trend over the forecast years. Compatibility of bottles with breast pumps as well as for feeding purpose and the ease of milk storage should boost industry demand.Browse Full Report Details @Sore nipple cream demand will grow at a rapid pace due to growing number of new mother population experiencing nipple soreness and tenderness. Ability of sore nipple cream to soothe and protect soared nipples coupled with improved healing should boost product usage.Nipple shields will witness lucrative growth due to its ability to provide improved latch-on if the mother has flat or inverted nipples. It protects sore or damaged nipples and assist infant feeding through mothers breast. Nipple shields also help in overcoming latch-on problems due to engorgement.Company profiled in this report based on Business overview, Financial data, Product landscape, Strategic outlook & SWOT analysis: Medela Pigeon Corporation. Ardo medical AG Ameda, Inc. Philips NUK USA LLC Whittlestone Inc Hygeia Health Inc. Buttner-Frank GmbHU.S. accounted for the largest breastfeeding accessories market share in 2016. Increasing breastfeeding rates will serve to be a high impact rendering factor for business growth. Increasing number of live births at hospitals assists mothers in initiating and continuing breastfeeding rates. Growing technology adoption such as breast pumps for breast milk collection owing to hectic work schedules and lack of mandated paid maternity leaves will fuel market growth. Encouragement and support provided to breastfeeding mothers through breastfeeding advocacy groups and lactation consultants will further augment the market expansion.Russia breastfeeding accessories market is slated to exhibit lucrative growth during the forecast timeframe. Presence of breastfeeding culture with high lactation initiation rates will boost breastfeeding accessories demand. Increasing professional support for breastfeeding along with breastfeeding friendly legislations will further propel market growth.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Brazil breastfeeding accessories market is anticipated to witness rapid growth over the forecast period. Increasing promotion of breastfeeding coupled with rising breastfeeding rates will drive future market growth. Presence of extensive human milk bank network will boost industry expansion.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:
Emerging Trends for Social Commerce Market 2019, By Key Players are- Facebook, Pinterest, Tencent, Twitter, Weibo, Alibaba, Etsy, Fab, iQIYI, LinkedIn, PayPal, Qwiqq, Qzone, Reddit, Renren, Tumblr, Yahoo!

Social Commerce

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Social commerce is a subset of electronic commerce that involves social media, online media that supports social interaction, and user contributions to assist online buying and selling of products and services.Request a Sample Copy of this Report@The social commerce market statistics estimates that in terms of geographic regions, APAC will be the major revenue contributor to the social commerce market throughout the forecast period. The increasing internet penetration and the rising purchasing power of the middle-class population have made APAC the fastest-growing market for social commerce. This will positively influence the social commerce market size.During 2017, the laptops and PCs segment accounted for the major shares of the social commerce market. Factors such as the availability of a wide screen and the assistance of viewing multiple screens at once to compare the prices offered by the competing social commerce websites, will contribute to the growth of this industry segment in the coming years. This in turn, will have a positive impact on the social commerce market growth.In 2018, the global Social Commerce market size was xx million US$ and it is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of xx% during 2019-2025.This report focuses on the global Social Commerce status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Social Commerce development in United States, Europe and China.The key players covered in this study Facebook Pinterest Tencent Twitter Weibo Alibaba Etsy Fab iQIYI LinkedIn PayPal Qwiqq Qzone Reddit Renren Tumblr Yahoo!To make an enquiry on report@Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Laptops and PCs Mobiles Tablets E-readers Internet-enabled TVsMarket segment by Application, split into B2B B2C C2CMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers United States Europe China Japan Southeast Asia India Central & South AmericaSome Point from Table of Content:Chapter One: Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.4.1 Global Social Commerce Market Size Growth Rate by Type (2014-2025)1.4.2 Laptops and PCs1.4.3 Mobiles1.4.4 Tablets1.4.5 E-readers1.4.6 Internet-enabled TVs1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global Social Commerce Market Share by Application (2014-2025)1.5.2 B2B1.5.3 B2C1.5.4 C2C1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years ConsideredChapter Two: Global Growth Trends2.1 Social Commerce Market Size2.2 Social Commerce Growth Trends by Regions2.2.1 Social Commerce Market Size by Regions (2014-2025)2.2.2 Social Commerce Market Share by Regions (2014-2019)2.3 Industry Trends2.3.1 Market Top Trends2.3.2 Market Drivers2.3.3 Market OpportunitiesBrowse full report@About Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email ID: sales@orbisresearch.com
Liquid Biopsy Market Analysis 2025 - Top Key Players are : Bio-Rad Laboratories, Myriad Genetics, Janssen Diagnostics, Trovagene, Guardant Health, GRAIL, MDX Health SA, Biocept, Qiagen, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG

Global Liquid Biopsy Market

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Worldwide Liquid Biopsy market research to 2025 is a specialised and in-depth study of the Liquid Biopsy business with attention on the worldwide market trend. The report aims to supply summary of world Liquid Biopsy market with elaborate market segmentation by product/application and Geographics. The Worldwide Liquid Biopsy market is predicted to witness high growth throughout the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market standing of the Liquid Biopsy players and offers key trends and opportunities within the market.Liquid Biopsy is a process that involves the use of advanced technology and communication in the field of logistics. It helps in improving the supply chain, enhancing overall efficiency and providing customer-centric solutions to the consumers. Adoption of Liquid Biopsy technology has resulted in enhanced performance and quality of logistics as well as an improved partnership with various supply chain associates. It offers opportunities to drive changes in both operations and customer engagement.Get | Download FREE Sample Copy @Worldwide Liquid Biopsy Market was valued at USD 576.43 million in 2016 and is projected to reach USD 3747.18 million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 23.12% from 2017 to 2025.This report is deeply helpful archive with incorporation of so much reaching market data connected with the crucial elements and subdivision of the "Worldwide Liquid Biopsy Market" which will have an effect on the event things of the business. The report could estimably encourage exchanges and leaders to deliver the difficulties and to choose up blessings from passing targeted "Worldwide Liquid Biopsy Market".Leading Liquid Biopsy Market Players: Biocept, Inc. Qiagen F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. Myriad Genetics Janssen Diagnostics, LLC Trovagene Inc. Guardant Health Inc. GRAIL MDX Health SA.Global Liquid Biopsy Market, By Circulating Biomarker Overview Circulating Tumor Cells Circulating Tumor DNA (CTDNA) Cell-Free DNA Extracellular Vesicles (EVS) OthersGlobal Liquid Biopsy Market, By End User Overview Reference Laboratories Hospitals and Physician Laboratories Academic and Research Centers Other End UsersGlobal Liquid Biopsy Market, By Application Overview Cancer Applications Lung Cancer Breast Cancer Colorectal Cancer Prostate Cancer Liver Cancer Other Cancers Non-Cancer ApplicationsGlobal Liquid Biopsy Market, By Product And Service Overview Assay Kits Instruments ServicesGlobal Liquid Biopsy Market, By Clinical Application Overview Early Cancer Screening Therapy Selection Treatment Monitoring Recurrence Monitoring"Worldwide Liquid Biopsy Market" is inquire regarding report of thorough nature that involves information in reference to major territorial markets, current things. This incorporates key territorial territories, as an example, North America, Global, Asia-Pacific, and then forth and also the premier nations, as an example, Global, Germany, UK, Japan, South Korea and China.Ask For Discount @The "Worldwide Liquid Biopsy Market" report endeavours to construct commonality of the market through sharing elementary knowledge connected with the angles, for instance, definitions, arrangements, applications and market review, item determinations, manufacturing forms, price structures, crude materials and therefore the sky is that the limit from there. Besides, it endeavours to research the important territorial markets, together with the item Worth, Benefit, Limit, Generation, Supply, Request and Market development rate. It to boot examines conjecture for the equivalent. The report lands up with new enterprise SWOT investigation, speculation plausibleness examination, and venture come examination.Likewise, this report acknowledges stick purpose investigation of targeted dashboard and causes peruses to form aggressive edge over others. It conveys essential info and bits of data connected with variables driving or keeping the event of the market. It brings a nine-year estimate assessed supported however the market is needed to perform.It helps peruses in understanding the key item areas and their future. Its steerage in taking knowledgeable business selections by giving total instincts of the market and by framing an in depth examination of market subdivisions. To mixture up, it in addition provides positive styles and customised SWOT investigation of 1st market subdivisions.Table Of Content1 Introduction Of The Global Liquid Biopsy2 Executive Summary3 Research Methodology Of Verified Market Intelligence4 The Global Liquid Biopsy Outlook5 The Global Liquid Biopsy, By Systems6 The Global Liquid Biopsy, By Service7 The Global Liquid Biopsy, By Verticals8 The Global Liquid Biopsy, By Applications9 The Global Liquid Biopsy, By Geography10 The Global Liquid Biopsy Competitive LandscapeReason to Buy- Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the global Liquid Biopsy market- Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies.- The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Liquid Biopsy 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.Complete Report is Available @About Us:Verified Market Research' has been providing Research Reports, with up to date information, and in-depth analysis, for several years now, to individuals and companies alike that are looking for accurate Research Data. Our aim is to save your Time and Resources, providing you with the required Research Data, so you can only concentrate on Progress and Growth. Our Data includes research from various industries, along with all necessary statistics like Market Trends, or Forecasts from reliable sources.Contact Us:Mr. AnkushCall: +1 (650) 781 4080Email: sales@verifiedmarketresearch.com
Anti-Suicide Drugs Market to be on High Growth Trajectory Post Launch of Anti-Suicidal Drug | Explore By Expert like Pfizer, Inc., AstraZeneca plc, Eli Lilly and Company, Allergan plc, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Merck & Co., Inc.

Global Anti-Suicide Drugs Market

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Suicidal thoughts can be aroused due to various underlying factors such as financial burden, social issues or drug side effects. Treatment for suicidal thoughts includes psychotherapy, medications, addiction treatment, and family support. Anti-depressants and anti-psychotics are the most widely used medications for treating suicidal tendencies. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 800,000 people die due to suicide annually. Development of an effective anti-suicidal drug could be a major breakthrough in reducing the death toll. Currently, non-profit organizations such as Stop Suicide, Stop Youth Suicide, and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention are providing moral and social support to people with reported suicidal thoughts. This however, is ineffective until the organization is alerted of the person at risk for suicide.Request For Sample Copy of Research Report @Anti-Suicide Drugs Market - Regional InsightsAnti-Suicide Drugs Market to be on High Growth Trajectory Post Launch of Anti-Suicidal DrugNeuroRx Pharma has developed a novel anti-suicidal product Cyclurad (D-cycloserine and Lurasidone) which is indicated for Acute Suicidal Ideation/Behavior (ASIB) in Bipolar Depression. The estimated commercialization of the drug post-2020 is expected to be a major breakthrough innovation for the anti-suicide drugs market. Moreover, introduction of other such novel drugs for suicide would augment the anti-suicide market growth. People with major depressive disorder and risk for suicide would greatly benefit from such novel drug therapies.High Suicidal Rates to Contribute Towards the Positive Anti-Suicide Drugs Market OutlookAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), suicide accounted for 1.4% of the total deaths worldwide in 2012, accounting for around 800 thousand deaths each year. Russia, India, Republic of Korea, Guyana, Lithuania, Sri Lanka, Hungary, Kazakhstan, and Japan are among the nations with high suicidal rates as per the WHO 2012 data. Emerging nations therefore possess immense opportunity for anti-suicidal drugs. However, being the first ever oral anti-suicidal therapeutic drug, companies are likely to capture the anti-suicide drugs market in developed regions such as North America and Western Europe. This mainly due to rapid adoption of new therapies and accessibility to healthcare facilities in these regions as compared to emerging economies.Anti-Suicide Drugs Market - Competitive AnalysisAnti-Suicide Drugs Market to Gain Initial Traction in Developed EconomiesMajor players operating in the global anti-suicide drugs market include Pfizer, Inc., AstraZeneca plc, Eli Lilly and Company, Allergan plc, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Merck & Co., Inc., H. Lundbeck A/S, NeuroRx, Inc., and Johnson & Johnson. High healthcare expenditure in developed economies of North America and Europe is responsible for a higher market size of anti-suicidal drugs in these regions. Moreover, developed regions offer better healthcare infrastructure and are usually early adopters of new therapies. The anti-suicide drugs market in North America and Europe is expected to gain significant traction during the latter half of the forecast period, with the launch of anti-suicidal drug. Increasing healthcare expenditure in emerging economies and high prevalence of suicides in these regions is expected to bring about a paradigm shift in the market. Companies are expected to focus on capitalizing on lucrative opportunities in these regions at the turn of the following decade. This would ensure sustained growth for the market in the foreseeable future.Browse Research Report At:Market TaxonomyThis report segments the global anti-suicide drugs market on the basis of chemistry type, and geography. On the basis of chemistry type, the market is categorized into anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs, anti-psychotic drugs, NMDA antagonist and antibiotic analogs. For comprehensive understanding of market dynamics, the global anti-suicide devices market is analyzed across key geographical regions namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and Middle East. Each of these regions is analyzed on basis of market findings across major countries in these regions for a macro-level understanding of the market.Detailed Segmentation:By Chemistry Type:Anti-Depressants and Anti-Anxiety Drugs, Anti-Psychotic Drugs, NMDA Antagonist, Antibiotic AnalogBy Geography:North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, AfricaMarket DynamicsOff-label use of these drugs for suicidal ideation has been a practice for years, as there are no approved anti-suicide specific drug yet. However, the dynamics is expected to change in the following few years with the launch of first oral therapeutic drug for acute suicidal ideation. This would disrupt the use of antidepressants and anti-psychotic drugs for the treatment of suicidal tendencies. Suicidal incidences are high in low and middle income countries according to the WHO 2016 statistics. Although the incidence in Asia, East Africa, and Eastern European region is high, these regions lag in terms of availability of affordable medications and healthcare facilities. Therefore developed economies of North America and Western Europe are key target regions for manufacturers in the near future. Rampant economic growth and projected strengthening of the healthcare infrastructure in emerging economies in towards the first half of the following decade is projected to shift the focus of these companies towards highly populous regions of India and China in the long run.Grab Your Report at an Impressive Discount @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
Southern Blotting Market Rising Focus on Next-generation Products Drives Growth Explore By Global Players BioRad Laboratories, Agilent Technologies, ThermoFisher Scientific, Perkin Elmer Inc., Aplegan

Global Southern Blotting Market

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Molecular biology has gained significant momentum over the last decade with increasing R&D spending on development of therapeutic drugs. It has wide role across various healthcare industry verticals- most prominent in clinical trials and diagnostic purposes. Among such technology, southern blotting has gained significant traction offering substantial market opportunities for the players across value chain. The technique was first introduced in 1970s to detect presence of DNA fragment in samples. The technique not only helps in molecular R&D but also to detect some of the most chronic diseases  cancers and genetic diseases  prevalent across world.For In depth Information Get Sample Copy of this Report At:North America to dominate the southern blotting market owing to increased government funding and availability of technologies in the regionThe southern blotting market report covers market analysis across regions  North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa.Global southern blotting market is witnessing a positive trend with North America and Europe as the main engine of growth. North America and Europe are expected to capture a major chunk of the market before easing out to Asia Pacific market by 2021.North America currently represents the largest regional market for southern blotting industry followed by Europe. Rise in genetic disorders, HIV prevalence, and on-going clinical research across various therapeutic application are some major factors driving the growth in the region. North America is expected to be primarily driven by U.S.  accounting for over 87% of the regional market in 2015.Penetration rate of southern blotting instruments and consumables in Asia Pacific is low compared to developed regions. However, is expected to witness huge growth over the time frame. China and India are two major power engines of Asia Pacific.Southern Blotting Market - Competitive AnalysisSome of the key players in the skin replacement market include BioRad Laboratories, Agilent Technologies, ThermoFisher Scientific, Perkin Elmer Inc., Aplegan, Applied Bio systems, Cleaver Scinetific Ltd, Pall Life Science Laboratories.Browse Research Report At:Market Taxonomy:Coherent Market Insights has segmented the southern blotting market byProductApplicationEnd-userOn the basis of product, instruments are expected to be the attractive segment driving huge revenue for market players.By application, scientific research holds key market share of overall industry. However, is expected to lose considerable market to medical diagnosis.Drug discovery advancement along with demand for effective therapeutic treatment for genetic diseases is expected to bolster the southern blotting market worldwideOver the last few years, many rare diseases surfaced globally. Moreover, rare genetic diseases are on rise owing to changing lifestyle and environmental concerns. As per the estimates, there are over seven thousand rare genetic diseases prevalent globally with over 11% of U.S. population living with these diseases. Over 80% of these diseases are genetic in nature. As a result, pharmaceutical companies are spending heavily on R&D to develop effective drugs. Increased R&D spending coupled with increasing diagnostic cases is expected to create substantial opportunity for players engaged in southern blotting industry.Forensic science is also expected to increase the overall sales of market to some extent.Though the market is expected to create substantial opportunity over the forecast period, players might find difficulty in capitalizing emerging regions wherein lower government funding along with high product pricing is a major cause of concerns for the players.Request for Customization of This Exclusive Report At: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
Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Market is Projected to Rise by US$ 14725 Mn  Forecast to 2022 | Global Key Players - Solta Medical, Syneron Medical, Photomedex, Cynosure, Lumenis

Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Market

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BusinessIndustryReports have new report on Global Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Market 2019-2022. The report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends. The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.This Report covers the Major Players data, including: shipment, 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.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery market size to maintain the average annual growth rate of 10.55% from 6610 million $ in 2014 to 8930 million $ in 2017, market analysts believe that in the next few years, Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery market size will be further expanded, we expect that by 2022, The market size of the Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery will reach 14725 million $.Aesthetic Medicines and cosmetic surgery is a developing clinical subspecialty and field in scientific research which comprises all kind of medical procedures whose purpose is to improve the physical appearance and satisfaction of the patient including all non-invasive and minimally invasive cosmetic procedures. Aesthetic Medicine and Cosmetic Surgery is an exciting field and a new trend in modern medicine.Some of the factors like lesser side effects, an increment in healthcare expenditure and better results are expected to drive the aesthetic medicine and cosmetic surgery market. However, poor reimbursement structures and potential health risks associated with the procedures can hamper the growth of the aesthetic medicine and cosmetic surgery market.Key Players:1 Allergan, Plc (A Division Of Actavis Plc)2 Solta Medical, Inc.3 Syneron Medical Ltd.4 Photomedex, Inc.5 Cynosure, Inc.6 Lumenis Ltd.7 Johnson & Johnson and more................Purchase this report online with 125 Pages, List of Tables & Figures and in-depth Table of Contents on Global Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Market Outlook 2019-2022 @The report covers the Segments and sub-segments of the Global Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Market by:Regions:1 North America Country (United States, Canada)2 South America3 Asia Country (China, Japan, India, Korea)4 Europe Country (Germany, UK, France, Italy)5 Other Country (Middle East, Africa, GCC)Product Types:1 Facial Aesthetic2 Energy-Based Devices3 Breast Implants4 Skin LightenersIndustry Segmentation:1 Clinics And Medical Spas2 Beauty CentersKey questions answered in the report include:1 What are the key factors driving the Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery market?2 What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the global Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery market?3 What are the challenges to Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery market growth?4 Who are the key vendors in the global Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery market?5 What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the global Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery market?6 What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the global Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery market?Grab Your Report at an Impressive Discount @Table of Content:1 Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Product Definition2 Global Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Manufacturer Share and Market Overview3 Manufacturer Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Business Introduction4 Global Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Market Segmentation (Region Level)5 Global Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Market Segmentation (Product Type Level)6 Global Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Market Segmentation (Industry Level)7 Global Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Market Segmentation (Channel Level)8 Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Market Forecast 2019-20229 Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Segmentation Product Type10 Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Segmentation Industry11 Aesthetic Medicine And Cosmetic Surgery Cost of Production Analysis12 ConclusionAbout us:BusinessindustryReports.com is digital database of comprehensive market reports for global industries. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Media ContactBusiness Industry ReportsPune  Indiasales@businessindustryreports.com+19376349940
Top Key Players of Chemotherapy Market | Pfizer Inc., Eli Lilly & Company, ImClone Systems Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Schering-Plough by the end of 2023

Chemotherapy Market

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According to the analysis offered by Market Research Future (MRFR), the global chemotherapy market has been presumed to strike a CAGR of 6.2% during the forecast period 2017 to 2023. Chemotherapy is an effective treatment for cancer which infuses drugs into the bloodstream to target specific cancer sites. The growth trajectory of the market is anticipated to be dominated by the rising burden of the disease.Chemotherapy is excessively used for the treatment of different types of cancer such as lung cancer, bone cancer, blood cancer, etc. The technological advancements in the treatment are further expected to boost the future trajectory of the chemotherapy market.Get Sample Copy @Emphasis is placed on research & development for bringing more precision and effectiveness. It is prognosticated to have a favorable impact on the expansion of the chemotherapy market. On the flip side, factors such as the high cost of treatment and poor reimbursement policies remain impediments to the market growth. In addition, the side effects of the treatment such as hair loss, hearing impairment, alopecia, etc. are projected to further hinder the proliferation of the chemotherapy market in the upcoming years.Competitive Dashboard:Some of the key players profiled in this MRFR report are Sanofi (France), Eli Lilly & Company (U.S.), GlaxoSmithKline (U.K.), Novartis (Germany), Pfizer Inc. (U.S.), ImClone Systems Inc. (U.S.), AstraZeneca (U.K), Schering-Plough (U.S.), Bristol-Myers Squibb , Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries (Japan), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd ( Switzerland), Boehringer Ingelheim (Germany), Merck & Co., Inc. (U.S.), CELGENE CORPORATION (U.S.), Amgen Inc (U.S.), Chemo Espana SL (Spain), Bayer AG (Germany), and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Japan).Market Segmentation:On the basis of drugs, the global chemotherapy market has been segmented into anti-tumor antibiotics, topoisomerase inhibitors, alkylating agents, antimetabolites, mitotic inhibitors, and others. The alkylating agents segment has been further sub-segmented into mustard gas derivatives, ethylenimines, alkyl sulfonates, hydrazines and triazines, and others. The anti-tumor antibiotics segment is further sub-segmented into anthracyclines and chromomycin. The topoisomerase inhibitors segment has been sub-segmented into Topoisomerase I inhibitors and Topoisomerase II inhibitors.On the basis of indication, the chemotherapy market has been segmented into lymphoma, leukemia, breast cancer, lung cancer, myeloma, ovarian cancer, sarcoma, and others.On the basis of the route of drug administration, the global chemotherapy market has been segmented into oral and intravenous.On the basis of end-user, the chemotherapy market has been segmented into hospitals, research institutes, and others.Regional Analysis:By region, the global chemotherapy market has been segmented into Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. Americas is expected to thrive significantly in the foreseeable future. The rising burden of cancer is poised to dive the expansion of the chemotherapy market in the region over the assessment period. Other factors that are likely to propel the expansion of the regional market are changing lifestyle, advancements in healthcare, rising healthcare expenditure, etc.Europe is projected to witness considerable growth owing to the availability of funds and government support for research & development. Also, Asia Pacific is likely to flourish during the projection period due to rapid developments in the healthcare sector. It is estimated to strike a comparatively higher CAGR across the review period. Meanwhile, the Middle East & Africa resonates growth opportunities owing to the increasing awareness about the disease.Industry News:In May 2018, Advanced Chemotherapy Technologies, North Carolina, has started working on large coin-sized implant for delivering chemo agents into the pancreas.In September 2018, Alan B. Pearson Regional Cancer Center in Lynchburg announced the installation of Dignicap Cooling System that cools down the scalp by 37 degrees for preventing hair loss during chemotherapy.In December 2018, a team of experts is reported to work on the development of dry powder for inhaled chemotherapy. The Belgian spin-off project, InhaTarget Therapeutics, aims at treating lung cancer locally.Browse Complete 100 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with Respective Tables and Figures @About US:Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact Us:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
PD-L1 Biomarker Testing Market Overview 2017 - 2027: Growth & Demand, Emerging Trends, Analysis by Assay Type, Future Prospects & Forecast by Agilent Technologies, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, AstraZeneca, Ventana Medical Systems

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Immunotherapy is one of the most exciting field in the area of cancer research. Immunotherapy has the power to manage immune system, recognize the cancer cell and fight against it. Our immune system has T- cell that fight against diseases, infections including cancer. The cancer cell represents the protein known as PD-L1 protein. The PD-L1 protein binds to the receptor on the T cell. The PD-L1 protein, that is expressed on the cancer cell inactivate the T cell from attacking the cancer cell. The companies are involved in the research and development in the cancer research by inactivating the protein on the cancer cell e.g. the antibody drug candidate blocks the PD-L1 protein on the cancer cell, so that it does not bind to the PD-1 receptor on the T cell. The PD-L1 protein is the important target and mostly studied in cancer research. Governments in developed countries such as the U.S. raise funds for cancer research to aid in the diagnosis and treatment. Clinical trials are also funded by governments to support companies in developing effective therapy for cancer diagnosis and treatment. The companies are advancing research in the field of immunotherapy and is targeting PD-L1/PD-1 pathway to address different immune pathway for cancer research.The pharmaceutical companies are focusing on development of different receptor ligand interaction for chronic diseases such as cancer, in order to make sure that next-generation drugs be more efficacious. In April 2016, the U.S. Government allocated US$ 5.2 Bn for the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a Federal Government agency, for cancer research and training. The budget increased by 5.3% as compared to the previous year. NCI conducts clinical trials on cancer patients who require repetitive diagnosis to check the prognosis of cancer. The monoclonal antibodies, that blocks the interaction between checkpoint molecules PD-1 on T cells and PD-L1 on cancer cells are into pipeline, clinical trials are on the way ,if approved will act as a driving factor for revenue generation. Research funding from governments and improving reimbursement scenario for cancer therapy would aid the growth of global PD-L1 biomarker testing market.Request Sample Report @PD-L1 Biomarker Testing Market: Drivers and RestrainsMajor growth drivers in this segment are rise in prevalence of cancer, constantly growing list of cancer biomarkers, increasing discretionary funding for cancer research, increased medicare coverage for cancer diagnosis and treatment, research in the field of cancer immunotherapy, insurance coverage and reimbursement issues and others are some of the factors boosting the PD-L1 biomarker testing market, drug candidates have been designated as orphan drug to gain accelerated approval and it also allows the company to benefit from a seven year marketing exclusivity, if approved for the particular indication. The FDA undertakes accelerated approval process to bring these therapies to the market faster and make them available for patients in need. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) statistics, the global biomarkers market for companion diagnostics is was valued at US$ 5.2 Bn in 2012 and is expected to rake US$ 8.4 Bn by 2016 Also, strict regulations, need huge investment of time and money, invest in expensive clinical utility studies, and there is no guarantee that the product will get coverage, and others are some of the factors restraining the market growthPD-L1 Biomarker Testing Market: SegmentationThe global PD-L1 Biomarker Testing market has been classified on the basis of product type, application, end user and geography.Based on Assay Type, the global PD-L1 biomarker testing market is divided into following:PD-L1 IHC 22C3 AssayPD-L1 IHC 28-8 AssayPD-L1 (SP142) AssayPD-L1 (SP263) AssayBased on the disease indication, the global PD-L1 biomarker testing market is divided into following:Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)Gastric or Gastroesophageal Junction (GEJ) AdenocarcinomaBladder CancerOthersBased on the End User, the global PD-L1 Biomarker Testing market is divided into following:Hospital Associated LabsIndependent Diagnostic LaboratoriesBiotechnology and Pharmaceutical CompanyCancer Research InstitutesOthersPD-L1 Biomarker Testing Market: OverviewThe PD-L1 Biomarker Testing market is segment based on assay type, disease indication, end-user and geography. Based on the product type, PD-L1 biomarker testing market is segmented on the basis of PD-L1 IHC 22C3 Assay, PD-L1 IHC 28-8 Assay, PD-L1 (SP142) Assay, PD-L1 (SP263) Assay and others. Maximizing market penetration on install base, strategic partnerships to enhance consumer base are some of the factors expected to drive the growth of the market. Based on the disease indication segment, the PD-L1 Biomarker Testing market is sub-segmented on the basis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), Gastric or Gastroesophageal Junction (GEJ) Adenocarcinoma, Bladder Cancer and others. On the basis on end user, the PD-L1 Biomarker Testing market is segmented on the basis of hospital associated laboratory, independent diagnostic laboratories, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, cancer research institutes and othersPD-L1 Biomarker Testing Market: Regional OverviewRegion wise, the global PD-L1 Biomarker Testing market is classified into regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America is estimated to account for major share due to increased awareness and technological advancements in the U.S., demand for new and advanced diagnostic equipments, Kits and others, government initiatives and funding for production of cost-effective monoclonal antibodies in the U.S. Europe is expected to account for second largest market share due to easy approval procedure for diagnostic tests, Significant increase in cancer diagnosis rates in primary care settings in U.K. Germany, France and other European countries. Significant economic development has led to an increase in healthcare availability in Asia Pacific region providing an opportunity for companies to penetrate Asia Pacific regions. Rising investment in cancer research by government is driving market growth, rise in cancer awareness are some if the factors driving growth in Asia Pacific regionRequest to View TOC @PD-L1 Biomarker Testing Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in global PD-L1 Biomarker Testing market are Agilent Technologies, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, AstraZeneca, Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. Genentech Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck & Co., Inc., Pfizer Inc. and othersABOUT 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 centers in the U.S. and India.FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. 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Best Statistical Report of Rigid Electric Power Steering Market Trend Expected to Guide by 2025: Focusing Top Key Players like JteKT, Nexteer, ZF, Robert Bosch, NSK, Hyundai Mobis, Showa Corporation, Etc.

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Up Market Research offers a latest published report on Global Rigid Electric Power Steering Market Research Report 2019 delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. The report contains 97 pages which highly exhibit on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability.Request Sample Copy Of this Report @Rigid Electric Power Steering Market research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period. It is a professional and a detailed report focusing on primary and secondary drivers, market share, leading segments and geographical analysis. Further, key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report. The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Scuba Diving Fins Market global status and trend, market size, share, growth, trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 2018  2025.The scope of the report extends from market scenarios to comparative pricing between major players, cost and profit of the specified market regions. The numerical data is backed up by statistical tools such as SWOT analysis, BCG matrix, SCOT analysis, PESTLE analysis and so on. The statistics are represented in graphical format for a clear understanding on facts and figures.The generated report is firmly based on primary research, interviews with top executives, news sources and information insiders. Secondary research techniques are implemented for better understanding and clarity for data analysis.The report for Rigid Electric Power Steering Market analysis & forecast 2018- 2025 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Region- wise Analysis Rigid Electric Power Steering Market covers: North America Europe China Japan India Southeast Asia Other regions (Central & South America, Middle East & Africa)For More Information On This Report, Please Visit @The Major Players Reported In The Report Are: JteKT Nexteer ZF Robert Bosch NSK Hyundai Mobis Showa Corporation Delphi Thyssenkrupp Mitsubishi ElectricGlobal Rigid Electric Power Steering Market: Product Segment Analysis: Rack assist type (REPS) Colum assist type (CEPS) Pinion assist type (PEPS)Global Rigid Electric Power Steering Market: Application Segment Analysis: Passenger Cars (PC) Commercial Vehicles (CV)The Report Covers In- Depth Analysis As Follows: Chapter 1 Overview of Rigid Electric Power Steering Market Chapter 2 Global Market Status and Forecast by Regions Chapter 3 Global Market Status and Forecast by Types Chapter 4 Global Market Status and Forecast by Downstream Industry Chapter 5 Market Driving Factor Analysis of Rigid Electric Power Steering Market Chapter 6 Rigid Electric Power Steering Market Competition Status by Major Manufacturers Chapter 7 Rigid Electric Power Steering Market Major Manufacturers Introduction and Market Data Chapter 8 Upstream and Downstream Market Analysis of Rigid Electric Power Steering Market Chapter 9 Cost and Gross Margin Analysis of Rigid Electric Power Steering Market Chapter 10 Marketing Status Analysis of Rigid Electric Power Steering Market Chapter 11 Report Conclusion Chapter 12 Research Methodology and ReferenceRequest Complete TOC Of this Report @Rigid Electric Power Steering Market Analysis and Forecast 2018- 2025 report helps the clients to take business decisions and to understand strategies of major players in the industry. The report also calls for market- driven results deriving feasibility studies for client needs. UpMarketResearch ensures qualified and verifiable aspects of market data operating in the real- time scenario. The analytical studies are conducted ensuring client needs with a thorough understanding of market capacities in the real- time scenario.Global Rigid Electric Power Steering Market: Key Stakeholders: Manufacturers Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers Subcomponent Manufacturers Industry Association Downstream VendorsIn this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Rigid Electric Power Steering Market are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2018 Forecast Year 2018 to 2025Key Reasons to Purchase: To gain insightful analyses of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Rigid Electric Power Steering Market and its commercial landscape. 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Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.You can also ask for region wise market research report, as below: Rigid Electric Power Steering Market  Global Market Status & Trend Report 2013- 2025 Top 20 Countries Data Rigid Electric Power Steering Market  North America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Rigid Electric Power Steering Market  South America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Rigid Electric Power Steering Market  Europe Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Rigid Electric Power Steering Market  EMEA Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Rigid Electric Power Steering Market  Asia Pacific Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Rigid Electric Power Steering Market  China Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Rigid Electric Power Steering Market  India Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Rigid Electric Power Steering Market  United States Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025About UpMarketResearch:The UpMarketResearch () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. 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CRM Analytics Market by 2023 with Prominent Industry Players IBM Corporation, Oracle Inc., SAS Institute Inc., Accenture PLC, Infosys Ltd.

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Customer relationship management analytics (CRM analytics) includes different applications that evaluate data about the customers of a company and present it in a way that smarter decisions can be made. The emergence of CRM analytics has enabled enterprises to communicate with their customers faster and convert data accumulated about the consumers into valuable information. As a result, many software enterprises have built products that can analyze customer data intelligently.Download Sample Report:CRM Analytics Market Growth Driver and Trends:There are several drivers, restraints, and opportunities influencing market growth worldwide. In the present scenario, customers preferences have become extremely dynamic. CRM helps understand buyers behavior, interpret attitudes, identify patterns, and further analyze the data insights & structure personalized campaigns for products. This works as a major market driver for CRM analytics.Concerns over data management, quality & integration has hindered the progress of the market to some extent. Nonetheless, the growing need of an enterprises marketing team to design a plan, execute and evaluate campaigns across different platforms and make a smarter decision is likely to create greater opportunities for the market.CRM Analytics Market Segments:The CRM analytics market is segmented by types, end-customer, industry, deployment model and geography. Based on types, the market segments discussed in the market research report consist of sales analytics, marketing analytics, customer analytics, and others. The end-customers covered in the report include small and medium business enterprises and large enterprises. Industries served by CRM Analytics market are BFSI, retail, manufacturing, IT & telecom among others.For Purchase Inquiry:On the basis of deployment model, the market is bifurcated in terms of on-premise deployment and on-cloud deployment. Regions explored in the report include North America, Europe, Asia -Pacific and LAMEA. Key market leaders are also covered in the market research report. List of companies discussed in the report includes IBM, Oracle, Accenture, SAS Institute Inc., Infosys and many others.About Us:Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Contact:David Correa5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free (USA/Canada):+1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022, +1-503-446-1141UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1-855-550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:
It's a massive overreach, critics of the Green New Deal say. But any effort to address climate change that is commensurate with the scale of the problem is going to look like an overreach. Worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases  the cause of global warming  are beginning to level off, but they need to start falling, and fast, if we are to spare our grandchildren and great-grandchildren an ecological nightmare.
UK Pharmacy Market by Top Key Players Asda, Boots, Chemist 4 U, Chemist Direct, Cohens Chemist, Day Lewis, Express Chemist, LloydsPharmacy, Morrisons, Pharmacy2U, Rowlands, Sainsbury's, Superdrug, Tesco, Well Pharmacy

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"The UK Pharmacy Market 2012 - 2017", report offers comprehensive insight and analysis of the pharmacy market, the major players, the main trends and consumer attitudes. It provides in-depth analysis of the following: the hot issues impacting the market, strategies for success, market sizes, retailer profiles, retailer market shares, and consumer data. Consumer data is based on our 2018 UK Pharmacy survey, using a panel of 2,500 nationally representative consumers.The UK Pharmacy market reached 15.6bn in 2017, a rise of 1.7bn on 2012. The growing trend of self-care and health & wellbeing has encouraged spending on OTC & other health, with the category outperforming the total market over the five years to 2017. NHS receipts accounted for 69.6% of the total UK pharmacy market, a drop of 2.1 percentage points compared to 2016, emphasising the governments NHS funding cuts.Get Sample Copy of this Report@Scope:- While Boots pharmacy market share dropped back in 2017, it has retained its lead over the rest of the market, accounting for over 20% of the sector.- OTC & other health accounted for 30.4% of the total pharmacy market in 2017, an increase of 2.1 percentage points on 2012 as the health & wellness trend continues to grow.- The impact of funding cuts was evident in 2017 as pharmacy numbers contracted by 0.2%.- Prescription penetration is highest among over 55s with 89.9% needing a prescription in the last 18 months.Reasons to buy:- Utilise the detailed data and insight on the market including NHS receipts, OTC and other health to inform future growth strategies.- Learn how the UK's ageing population and growing interest in health & wellbeing will impact the market and consider whether you are investing in the right product categories.- Identify which retailers are dominating the pharmacy market and adapt your strategy to better position yourself against rivals.Make an Inquiry before Buying@Key Players: Asda Boots Chemist 4 U Chemist Direct Cohens Chemist Day Lewis Express Chemist LloydsPharmacy Morrisons Pharmacy2U Rowlands Sainsbury's Superdrug Tesco Well PharmacyKey Points from TOC:THE HOT ISSUESMarket drivers and inhibitors in pharmacyMain issues in pharmacy:2018/19 funding negotiations due to start, but prospects bleakProviding advanced services offer pharmacies relief from government cutsHealth & wellness trend drives OTC volumesNHS England restricts prescriptions for minor ailmentsConsumer demand for convenience makes online investment essential in the pharmacy sectorStrategies for successWHAT PEOPLE BUYHeadlinesThe sector at a glanceOverall sector sizeCategory growth in pharmacyCategory dynamics: NHS receiptsCategory dynamics: OTCCategory dynamics: Other healthNHS prescription itemsSpend per headWHERE PEOPLE BUYHeadlinesChannels of distributionPharmacy numbersMarket shares of top eight playersPharmacy and health & beauty market shares of top eight playersAnticipated changes in market sharePharmacy market sharesNHS revenue market sharesOTC & other health market sharesRetailer profilesWell PharmacyRowlandsBootsLloydsPharmacySuperdrugTRENDSHeadlinesPrescription usersPopulation changesProportion of consumers who would go to a pharmacist for minor medical conditionsWhat would encourage pharmacy usageWhat would encourage pharmacy usage by demographicPharmacy preferencePharmacy preference by demographicMost shopped health & beauty categories by demographicOnline size and growth rates of the health & beauty marketChannels and fulfilment methods used for health & beauty by demographicReasons for not ordering a prescription online and by demographicMETHODOLOGYWhat is includedMarket sizingGet More Information about this Report@About Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Info:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email id: sales@orbisresearch.com
Global Onychomycosis Market Witness to Grow Remarkable CAGR by 2025 | Business Players: Abbott Laboratories, Glaxosmithkline, Pfizer, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Galderma and more

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Onychomycosis: Onychomycosis, also known as tinea unguium, is a fungal infection of the nail. Symptoms may include white or yellow nail discoloration, thickening of the nail, and separation of the nail from the nail bed. Toenails or fingernails may be affected, but it is more common for toenails to be affected. Complications may include cellulitis of the lower leg. Onychomycosis occurs in about 10 percent of the adult population. Older people are more frequently affected. Males are affected more often than females. Onychomycosis represents about half of nail disease.Global Aspects of Onychomycosis MarketThe Onychomycosis Market report provides detailed profile assessments and current scenario revenue projections for the most promising industry participants. The Global Onychomycosis Industry report focuses on the latest trends in the Global and regional spaces on all the significant components, including the capacity, cost, price, technology, supplies, production, profit, and competition.Get Exclusive Sample of Report on Onychomycosis market having 98 pages, profiling more than TOP 5 Market Players and supported with tables and figures is available atFollowing Top Companies are mentioned in this Onychomycosis Market Report:Abbott Laboratories, Glaxosmithkline, Pfizer, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Galderma, Janssen Biotech, Bristol Meyer Squibb, Topica Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi, Novartis etc.Global Onychomycosis Market Research Report 2019 include all basic information related to the global Industry and forecast till 2025. The Onychomycosis Market research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every aspect of the market, including regional markets, technology, types, and applications. The objectives of this study are to define, segment, and project the size of the market based on company, product type, end user and key regions.Market Segmentation:On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoDistal Subungual Onychomycosis, White Superficial Onychomycosis, Proximal Subungual Onychomycosis, Candida OnychomycosisOn the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users,Children, Male Adults, Female Adults, Senior CitizensThe Report Covers Following Regions: United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, Central & South AmericaRequest For Special Discount:Research and Development of this Report:The Onychomycosis Market Report Analysis of upstream raw materials, downstream demand, and current market dynamics is also carried out. In the end, the report makes some important proposals for a new project of Onychomycosis Market before evaluating its feasibility. Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2018-2025 global Onychomycosis Market covering all important parameters.Research methodology of Onychomycosis Market:Research study on the Onychomycosis Market was performed in five phases which include Secondary research, Primary research, subject matter expert advice, quality check and final review.This report includes the estimation of market size for value (million USD) and volume (K Units). Both top-down and bottom-up approaches have been used to estimate and validate the market size of Onychomycosis market, to estimate the size of various other dependent submarkets in the overall market. Key players in the market have been identified through secondary research, and their market shares have been determined through primary and secondary research. All percentage shares, splits, and breakdowns have been determined using secondary sources and verified primary sources.View Complete Report with Table of Content:About 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.Contact Person: RohanEmail: sales@inforgrowth.comUS: +1-909-329-2808UK: +44 (203) 743 1890Address: 6400 Village Pkwy suite # 104, Dublin, CA 94568, USA
Global Cybersecurity in Financial Services Market is Register CAGR 9.81% Growth during 2018-2023 | Key Players  Experian Information Solutions Inc., IBM Corporation, Accenture PLC, Airbus SE, AlienVault Inc, etc.

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A recent study on Cybersecurity In Financial Services Market by KD Market Insights provides analysis of various factors that can affect the market share. The titled report " Cybersecurity In Financial Services Market: Market Size, Trends, Share & Forecast 2018-2023 " broadly covers the analysis of key market drivers, challenges and trends and gives a better understanding about the forces that shape competition within the industry.Cybersecurity involves a set of techniques that are designed to protect the integrity of networks, programs, and data, from unauthorized access, cyberattacks, and damages. Of late, cyberattacks in the financial services sector have increased manifold. Cyberattacks against financial services firms increased by over 70% in 2017, which reflects that the financial services sector is currently vulnerable to such attacks. In the future, adoption of effective cyber security techniques will become a necessity to reduce the risk of cyberattacks and illegal use of systems, networks and technologies. According to KD Market Insights, the global cybersecurity in financial services market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 9.81%, leading to a global revenue of USD 42.66 Bn by 2023.Request for Sample @The report begins with an overview for Cybersecurity In Financial Services Market. The research report broadly covers analysis of key market drivers, challenges, opportunities and trends. The study also provides separate analysis to understand market size, projections and macroeconomic indicators of global regions that affects the market share. The report also offers an extensive coverage of various industry players along with their recent product launches and market activities. The report also goes through porters five analyses for getting a better understanding about the forces that shape competition within the industry. There is a timeline considered for useful analysis i.e. 2017 is considered as base year, 2018 as estimated year and 2019-2023 as forecasted year.The research also does a separate geographical analysis that comprises both the region wise and country wise analysis. The geography covered in the report is North America (U.S. & Canada), Europe (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Russia and Rest of Europe) , Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand and Rest of Asia Pacific) Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Rest of Latin America) and Middle East & Africa (GCC, North Africa, South Africa and Rest of Middle East & Africa). As per the report, Asia Pacific is likely to be the market giant in the upcoming years.Considering the competition, the major vendors providing Cybersecurity In Financial Services Market across the globe are  Experian Information Solutions Inc., IBM Corporation, Accenture PLC, Airbus SE, AlienVault, Inc, etc.These vendors have adopted various types of organic and inorganic growth strategies, such as new product launches, business expansions, partnerships and collaborations, and mergers and acquisitions, to expand their offerings and further expand their presence in the Cybersecurity In Financial Services Market.Browse Full Report With TOC@Table of ContentChapter 1: Executive summary1.1. Market scope and segmentation1.2. Key questions answered1.3. Executive summaryChapter 2: Global cybersecurity in financial services market  overview2.1. Global market overview - market trends, market attractiveness analysis, geography-wise market revenue (USD Bn)2.2. Global - market drivers and challenges2.3. Value chain analysis  cybersecurity in financial services market2.4. Porters Five Forces analysis2.5. Market segmentation on the basis of end user industries (banking, insurance, stock brokerages, credit unions, investment funds, card and mobile payments, and governments)2.5. a. Banking revenue - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.5. b. Insurance revenue - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.5. c. Stock brokerages revenue- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.5. d. Credit unions revenue- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.5. e. Investment funds revenue- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.5. f. Card and mobile payments revenue- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.5. g. Government revenue- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.6. Market segmentation on the basis of solutions (mobile enterprise management, endpoint security, identity and access management (IAM), mobile security, security information and event management (SIEM), content security, data loss prevention (DLP), datacenter security and firewall)2.6. a. Revenue from mobile enterprise management - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.6. b. Revenue from endpoint security - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.6. c. Revenue from identity and access management (IAM)- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.6. d. Revenue from mobile security - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.6. e. Revenue from security information and event management (SIEM) - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.6. f. Revenue from content security - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.6. g. Revenue from data loss prevention (DLP) - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.6. h. Revenue from datacenter security - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations2.6. i. Revenue from firewall - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observationsChapter 3: North America cybersecurity in financial services market - market overview3.1. Market overview- market trends, market attractiveness analysis, geography wise market revenue (USD)3.2. North America - market drivers and challenges3.3. Market segmentation on the basis of end user industries (banking, insurance, stock brokerages, credit unions, investment funds, card and mobile payments and government)3.3.a. Banking revenue - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.3. b. Insurance revenue - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.3. c. Stock brokerages revenue- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.3. d. Credit unions revenue- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.3. e. Investment funds revenue- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.3. f. Card and mobile payments revenue- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.3. g. Governments revenue- Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.4. Market segmentation on the basis of solutions (mobile enterprise management, endpoint security, identity and access management (IAM), mobile security, security information and event management (SIEM), content security, data loss prevention (DLP), datacenter security and firewall)3.4. a. Revenue from mobile enterprise management - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.4. b. Revenue from endpoint security - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.4. c. Revenue from identity and access management (IAM) - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.4. d. Revenue from mobile security - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.4. e. Revenue from security information and event management (SIEM) - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.4. f. Revenue from content security - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.4. g. Revenue from data loss prevention (DLP) - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.4. h. Revenue from datacenter security - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observations3.4. i. Revenue from firewall - Historical (2015-2017) and forecasted (2018-2023) market size (USD Bn), key observationsContinue....Check for Discount @About KD Market InsightsKD Market Insights has come with the idea of helping business by intelligent decision making and thorough understanding of the industry. 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Glaucoma Therapeutics Market 2017 - 2027 | Key Players are Novartis AG, Allergan, Merck & Co.

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Glaucoma is the eye disease that damage the patient eye nerve optics. The formation extra fluid up in the front part of the eye results the damage to eye nerve optics. Glaucoma is of two type, primary open-angle glaucoma and angle-closure glaucoma which is also referred as closed-angle glaucoma or narrow-angle glaucoma. Open-angle glaucoma is the most common type glaucoma. Primary glaucoma gradually happens when the eye does not drain the fluids. This result the building of pressure on eye nerve optics. Open glaucoma causes no change in the eye vision and it is painless too. Closed-angle glaucoma happens very close to the drainage angle which results the blocking of drainage angle of eyesight. This is a very acute type of glaucoma. This type of glaucoma may affect the vision of the patient and it may cause severe pain to the eye and the headache. Glaucoma is generally treated with eye drops, pill, traditional surgery, laser surgery and sometimes the combination of these methods. The aim of glaucoma treatment is to avoid the vision loss of patient wherever if the vision of particular patient is already lost then it is irreversible by glaucoma treatment. Regular consumption of medication as prescribed by the physician is very necessary for the proper treatment of glaucoma. The drugs of glaucoma have very fewer chances of effects which has increased it adoption the global market.Glaucoma Therapeutics Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe change in the lifestyle of people has resulted in the rise in the prevalence of glaucoma globally. Increasing prevalence of glaucoma is the primary factor driving the growth of glaucoma therapeutics market around the globe. Glaucoma is more prevalent among the people above the age of 60. Rising geriatric population thought the globe is also responsible for the robust growth of glaucoma therapeutics market over the forecast period. Increasing preference of physician towards the laser surgery for the treatment of glaucoma will propel the growth of glaucoma therapeutics market over the forecast period. Less awareness among the people about the glaucoma treatment will deter the growth of glaucoma therapeutics market to some extent. Moreover, lack of availability of skilled professional for laser surgery in under developing economies will also hamper the growth of glaucoma therapeutics market.Request Sample Report@Glaucoma Therapeutics Market: SegmentationThe global Glaucoma Therapeutics market is classified on the basis of treatment type, glaucoma type, and geographic region.Based on treatment type, Glaucoma Therapeutics market is segmented into following:Eye DropsMedicationLaser SurgeryTraditional SurgeryBased on glaucoma type, Glaucoma Therapeutics market is segmented into following:Open-angle glaucomaClosed-angle glaucomaGlaucoma Therapeutics Market: OverviewGlaucoma Therapeutics market is expected show exponential growth over the forecast period due to increasing prevalence of glaucoma throughout the globe. According to the journal published at NCBI, glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness among the people worldwide. By treatment type, medication eye drops segment will hold the maximum market share for the global glaucoma therapeutic market due to its high preference by the physician for medication during the early stages of treatment. Laser surgery is more preferred than tradition surgery by booth surgeon and the patients owing to the low risk of failure. By glaucoma type, closed glaucoma will dominate the maximum market share attributed to its more prevalence then open glaucoma.Glaucoma Therapeutics Market: Regional OverviewBased on geographic region Glaucoma Therapeutics market is classified into seven key regions, North, America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, APEJ, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America is expected to dominate the glaucoma therapeutics market owing to high healthcare infrastructure. Western Europe and APEJ then follow North America glaucoma therapeutics market. The favorable reimbursement scenario is responsible for the high growth of glaucoma therapeutics market in Western Europe. APEJ region has also shown the substantial growth for glaucoma therapeutics market due rise geriatric population. In APEJ region China and India are expected to be the major market for glaucoma therapeutics over the forecast period. Latin America and Middle East and Africa is the least lucrative market for glaucoma therapeutics due to less awareness among the patient about the glaucoma.Request to View TOC @Glaucoma Therapeutics Market: Key PlayersSome of player across the value chain of Glaucoma Therapeutics market are Novartis AG, Allergan, Merck & Co., Inc., Akorn, Inc., Bausch & Lomb Incorporated, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer and Santen and others.Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. 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Continuous Fiber Composites Market is likely to grow at a healthy CAGR of 6.5% over the next five years

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Continuous Fiber Composites Market: HighlightsComposites have earned their way onto various end-use industries, propelled by a long list of their advantages including high strength-to-weight ratio, excellent corrosion and creep resistance, low-maintenance cost, and lightweight. The materials have a disruptive journey of more than eight decades and are efficaciously gaining penetration in both high-performance as well as cost-sensitive end-use industries. The penetration of composites is not likely to cede here and will penetrate more in the coming years.Composite is one of the most versatile materials with the combination of different fibers, resins, and core materials. The availability of different manufacturing processes further raises the complexity of these materials. Also, there are different forms of fibers including continuous, chopped, and milled, whose selection is based on different requirements of applications including part strength, part cost, part geometry, and part complexity. Continuous fiber is one of the most common fiber forms used in various end-use industries including electronics, wind energy, automotive, and sporting goods.The global continuous fiber composites market is likely to grow at a healthy CAGR of 6.5% over the next five years, driven by a host of factors including an organic growth of composite rich end-use industries including automotive and aerospace & defense; introduction of stringent government regulations regarding the fuel efficiency enhancements and the carbon emission reductions; and superior performance of continuous fiber composites over traditional metals including aluminum and steel. Both glass, as well as carbon fibers, are increasingly used in various applications, owing to their distinct advantages.Go through the detailed TOC of the report:orRegister here for a Free Sample of the Report-Continuous Fiber Composites Market: by Form TypeThe continuous fiber composites market is segmented into the form type as Woven Fabrics, Non-Crimp Fabrics, Unidirectional Tape, and Others. Woven fabric is projected to remain the most dominant form type in the market during the forecast period, driven by a high usage in various end-use industries including wind energy, automotive, and electronics. Non-crimp fabric occupied a considerable share of the market, driven by an increased usage in wind energy. The fabric allows an easy flow of resin and provides good mechanical strength in multiple directions.The unidirectional (UD) tape is likely to be the fastest-growing market over the next five years. UD tape offers the advantages of high impact strength, high mechanical strength at one direction, and excellent chemical and corrosion resistance. The fiber is gaining the traction in the aerospace & defense and automotive industries.Continuous Fiber Composites Market: by Reinforcement TypeBased on the reinforcement type, the continuous fiber composites market is segmented into Glass Fiber Composites, Carbon Fiber Composites, and Other Composites. Other composites mainly include aramid fiber composites. Glass fiber composite is projected to remain the most dominant segment of the market during the forecast period, driven by a wide array of advantages including low cost, good mechanical performance, and excellent corrosion and abrasion resistance. The fiber mainly competes with metals including steel and aluminum and is considered an ideal material in highly cost-sensitive markets, such as wind energy, automotive, marine, and building & construction.On the other side, carbon fiber composite is likely to witness the highest growth during the same period. Carbon fiber is catching worlds attention, driven by a host of factors including the demand for lightweight materials in order to fulfill the stringent government regulations of different countries regarding the fuel efficiency. Ongoing efforts for reducing the cost of carbon fiber further elevates its potential in many cost-sensitive industries. Carbon fiber offers a series of advantages in which the most important is an extreme lightweight coupled with excellent aesthetics.Continuous Fiber Composites Market: by End-Use Industry TypeBased on the end-use industry type, the continuous fiber composites market is segmented into Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Wind Energy, Electronics, Sporting Goods, and Others. Wind energy is likely to maintain its dominance in the total continuous fiber composites market during the forecast period. Wind blades, spinners, and nacelles are the major composite applications in the wind energy and largely fabricated with glass fiber composites using continuous fiber composites. Increasing wind turbine installation across the globe is the prime driver for the demand for composites in this industry. China, India, the UK, Germany, and the USA are likely to remain the growth engines of the market for the segment over the next five years.Aerospace & Defense and automotive are likely to be the fastest-growing markets during the forecast period, driven by an increasing penetration of composites in structural to semi-structural applications. Stringent regulations regarding the fuel efficiency enhancements are the major factors driving the demand for composites in these segments. All the major OEMs are introducing composite rich vehicles and aircraft in order to meet the industry requirements. For instance; Boeing developed the B787 aircraft program, a next-generation aircraft, with 50% composite content of the total structural weight of the aircraft. Similarly, Airbus developed the A350XWB aircraft, another next-generation aircraft, with more than 50% composites content of the total aircrafts structural weight.Automotive is also following the footsteps of the A&D industry. Major automakers are working closely with composite industry stakeholders with regards to increasing the composites content in their upcoming vehicle models. For instance; BMW developed BMW i3 vehicle using carbon composite passenger cell. It is the worlds first mass-produced model in the auto industry with high carbon composites content.Continuous Fiber Composites Market: by RegionBased on the regions, Asia-Pacific is likely to remain the largest market during the forecast period, driven by China, India, and Japan. High installations of wind turbines, high automobile production, high electronic parts manufacturing, upcoming indigenous commercial and regional aircraft (COMAC C919 and Mitsubishi MRJ), and the opening of assembly plants of Boeing and Airbus in China are some of the major factors driving the demand for continuous fiber composites in the region.Europe is likely to witness the highest growth during the same period, driven by aerospace & defense and automotive industries. Europe is the manufacturing capital of premium and electric vehicles where advanced composites are efficaciously gaining traction. All the major premium and electric automakers are increasingly increasing the composite content in order to address the EU norms regarding the carbon emission reduction targets. Furthermore, they would like to excel the aerodynamics and aesthetics of their upcoming models. Increasing production rates of the A350XWB and A320 family including neo versions are further likely to boost the demand for continuous fiber composites of the region in the coming years.Continuous Fiber Composites Market: Key Players and their StrategiesThe global continuous fiber market is highly competitive with the presence of a large number of global as well as regional players in which some of the players are vertically integrated from fiber manufacturing to intermediate products manufacturing to composite parts manufacturing. Some of the major global players are Owens Corning Corporation, Saertex GmbH & Co. KG, Sekisui Jushi Corporation, Chomarat Group, Hexcel Corporation, Toray Industries, and SABIC Corporation.Almost, all the major players own distinct capabilities and are serving specific product segments. For instance; Owens Corning Corporation leads the woven textiles market, whereas Saertex GmbH spreadheads the non-crimp textiles market. It is important to note that this reduces the overall competition as they do not have the presence in all the form types.Most of the major players are focusing on the development of innovating products addressing existing as well as upcoming market requirements. At the same time, they have been forming strategic alliances including mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, and collaborations, to remain competitive and to quickly gain the market share.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 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 analysisMarket 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 factorsThe global continuous fiber composites market is segmented into the following categories.Continuous Fiber Composites Market by Form Type: Woven Fabrics (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Non-Crimp Fabrics (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Unidirectional Tape (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Continuous Fiber Composites Market by Resin Type: Thermoset Composites (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Thermoplastic Composites (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Continuous Fiber Composites Market by Reinforcement Type: Glass Fiber Composites (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Carbon Fiber Composites (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Other Fiber Composites (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Continuous Fiber Composites Market by End-Use Industry Type: Aerospace & Defense (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Automotive (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Wind Energy (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Sporting Goods (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Electronics (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Continuous Fiber Composites Market by Region: North America (Country Analysis: The USA, Canada, and Mexico) Europe (Country Analysis: Germany, France, the UK, Russia, and Rest of Europe) Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Rest of Asia-Pacific) Rest of the World (Sub-Region Analysis: The Middle East, Latin America, and Others)Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm offering a wivde 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
Waste To Diesel Global Market 2019: Key Players  Covanta Energy Corp., Foster Wheeler A.G., Plastic2Oil Inc., Green Alliance, Klean Industries Inc.

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Waste To Diesel IndustryDescriptionWiseguyreports.Com Adds Waste To Diesel -Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities and Analysis Of Top Key Player Forecast To 2024 To Its Research DatabaseThis report researches the worldwide Waste To Diesel market size (value, capacity, production and consumption) in key regions like United States, Europe, China, Japan and other regions.This study categorizes the global Waste To Diesel breakdown data by manufacturers, region, type and application, 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.Global Waste To Diesel market size will increase to Million US$ by 2025, from Million US$ in 2017, at a CAGR of 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 Waste To Diesel.This report focuses on the top manufacturers' Waste To Diesel capacity, production, value, price and market share of Waste To Diesel in global market. The following manufacturers are covered in this report:Covanta Energy Corp.Foster Wheeler A.G.Plastic2Oil Inc.Green AllianceKlean Industries Inc.Ventana Ecogreen Inc.Solena Group CorporationRequest for Sample Report @Waste To Diesel Breakdown Data by TypeOil & fat wasteMunicipal wastePlastic wasteWaste To Diesel Breakdown Data by ApplicationGasificationPyrolysisDepolymerisationIncinerationWaste To Diesel Production Breakdown Data by RegionUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanOther RegionsWaste To Diesel Consumption Breakdown Data by RegionNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaMalaysiaPhilippinesThailandVietnamEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalyRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaGCC CountriesTurkeyEgyptSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaThe study objectives are:To analyze and research the global Waste To Diesel capacity, production, value, consumption, status and forecast;To focus on the key Waste To Diesel manufacturers and study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in next few years.To focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the market.To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market.To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.Leave a Query @Table of ContentsGlobal Waste To Diesel Market Research Report 2018-2025, by Manufacturers, Regions, Types and Applications1 Study Coverage1.1 Waste To Diesel Product1.2 Key Market Segments in This Study1.3 Key Manufacturers Covered1.4 Market by Type1.4.1 Global Waste To Diesel Market Size Growth Rate by Type1.4.2 Oil & fat waste1.4.3 Municipal waste1.4.4 Plastic waste1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global Waste To Diesel Market Size Growth Rate by Application1.5.2 Gasification1.5.3 Pyrolysis1.5.4 Depolymerisation1.5.5 Incineration1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Executive Summary2.1 Global Waste To Diesel Production2.1.1 Global Waste To Diesel Revenue 2013-20252.1.2 Global Waste To Diesel Production 2013-20252.1.3 Global Waste To Diesel Capacity 2013-20252.1.4 Global Waste To Diesel Marketing Pricing and Trends2.2 Waste To Diesel Growth Rate (CAGR) 2018-20252.3 Analysis of Competitive Landscape2.3.1 Manufacturers Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)2.3.2 Key Waste To Diesel Manufacturers2.4 Market Drivers, Trends and Issues2.5 Macroscopic Indicator2.5.1 GDP for Major Regions2.5.2 Price of Raw Materials in Dollars: Evolution...8 Manufacturers Profiles8.1 Covanta Energy Corp.8.1.1 Covanta Energy Corp. Company Details8.1.2 Company Description8.1.3 Capacity, Production and Value of Waste To Diesel8.1.4 Waste To Diesel Product Description8.1.5 SWOT Analysis8.2 Foster Wheeler A.G.8.2.1 Foster Wheeler A.G. Company Details8.2.2 Company Description8.2.3 Capacity, Production and Value of Waste To Diesel8.2.4 Waste To Diesel Product Description8.2.5 SWOT Analysis8.3 Plastic2Oil Inc.8.3.1 Plastic2Oil Inc. Company Details8.3.2 Company Description8.3.3 Capacity, Production and Value of Waste To Diesel8.3.4 Waste To Diesel Product Description8.3.5 SWOT Analysis8.4 Green Alliance8.4.1 Green Alliance Company Details8.4.2 Company Description8.4.3 Capacity, Production and Value of Waste To Diesel8.4.4 Waste To Diesel Product Description8.4.5 SWOT Analysis8.5 Klean Industries Inc.8.5.1 Klean Industries Inc. Company Details8.5.2 Company Description8.5.3 Capacity, Production and Value of Waste To Diesel8.5.4 Waste To Diesel Product Description8.5.5 SWOT Analysis8.6 Ventana Ecogreen Inc.8.6.1 Ventana Ecogreen Inc. Company Details8.6.2 Company Description8.6.3 Capacity, Production and Value of Waste To Diesel8.6.4 Waste To Diesel Product Description8.6.5 SWOT Analysis8.7 Solena Group Corporation8.7.1 Solena Group Corporation Company Details8.7.2 Company Description8.7.3 Capacity, Production and Value of Waste To Diesel8.7.4 Waste To Diesel Product Description8.7.5 SWOT AnalysisBuy Now @Continued...Contact Us: Sales@Wiseguyreports.Com Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (Us) Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (Uk)About Us: Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres: Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt Ltd Pune  411028 Maharashtra, Global Ph: +91 841 198 5042
Global Self-Healing Concrete Market Analysis By Top Companies like CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V., Basilisk, Sika AG, LafargeHolcim, BASF SE, Tarmac Trading Limited, HEIDELBERGCEMENT AG, Breedon Group plc, Firth, Buzzi Unicem USA Inc.

Global Self-Healing Concrete Market

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The global demand at the End-user segment is increasing day by day for the Self-Healing Concrete market due to which Self-Healing Concrete market is rapidly changing the face of industry. This report on the Self-Healing Concrete market is a walk through to all the market definition, classifications, applications and market trends.The report gives inside and industry Outlook on Self-Healing Concrete market. It helps in imagining the arrangement of the Self-Healing Concrete market complete analysis regarding type and applications, featuring the key business resources and key players. Self-Healing Concrete Market development divisions and distinguishes factors driving change.Global Self-Healing Concrete Market is set to witness a significant CAGR inducing a high amount of growth of the market in the forecast period of 2019-2026. The report contains data from the base year of 2018, and historic years of 2017. This rise in market value can be attributed to the increasing construction projects globally and searching for a long-time solution to cracks and fissures in concretes.Download PDF Sample Copy of Report@Global Self-Healing Concrete Market By End-Use (Building & Construction, General Industrial, Residential Infrastructures), Geography (North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa)  Industry Trends and Forecast to 2026Market Drivers: Increased construction projects globally is expected to drive the market growth Increased benefits and higher return on investment over traditional type of concrete is expected to drivethe market growthMarket Restraints: Lack of awareness and integration of the product in a number of regions is expected to restrain themarket growth Vulnerability and high cost of raw material prices is expected to restrain the market growthMarket Definition:Concrete has been a major part of our historic and architectural presence in the past and it is expected to stay that way, as it is a viable material for the construction and has been used in a number of significant monuments that have withstood since long. But, with time it starts to undergo physical disadvantages in the forms of cracks, through which water seeps through and there is an increased risk of corrosion to the steel structure. Self-healing concrete solves this problem through the covering of cracks.Key Market Competitors: Global Liquid Filtration MarketFew of the major competitors currently working in the self-healing concrete market are CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V., Basilisk, Sika AG, LafargeHolcim, BASF SE, Tarmac Trading Limited, HEIDELBERGCEMENT AG, Breedon Group plc, Firth, Buzzi Unicem USA Inc., Kwik Bond Polymers, Wacker Chemie AG, Civilworks, Crown Polymers Corp., NEI Corporation, Polycoat Products, Acciona, Alstom, Spintech LLC, Fosroc Inc., and DowDuPont.To Avail 10% Discount On This Report Mail Us on :- sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comSegmentation: By End-Useo Building & Constructiono General Industrialo Residential Infrastructures By Geographyo North Americao South Americao Europeo Asia-Pacifico Middle East & Africa South Africa Egypt Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Israel Rest of Middle East & AfricaKey Developments in the Market: In July 2015, Polycoat Products acquired Crown Polymers LLC, establishing an independent organization operating autonomously and creating a global leader for various applicable industries. In November 2017, Green Basilisk announced that they had raised seed money from SHIFT Invest, which will be used for the expansion of its production capabilities and global market reach and share focusing in asia.Competitive Analysis:Global self-healing concrete market is highly fragmented and the major players have used various strategies such as new product launches, expansions, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions, and others to increase their footprints in this market. The report includes market shares of self-healing concrete market for global, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, South America and Middle East & Africa.Key Insights in the report: Complete and distinct analysis of the market drivers and restraints Key Market players involved in this industry Detailed analysis of the Market Segmentation Competitive analysis of the key players involvedInquire about this report from our experts atAbout Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com
API Management Market Distribution Channel 2019: IBM, Google, Microsoft, Axway, MuleSoft, Nexright, Oracle, Red Hat, Sensedia, SnapLogic, Software AG, Apiary, CA Technologies, Dell Boomi,

API Management Market

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Global API management market is expected to reach million by 2025 and is projected to register a healthy CAGR of 19.3% in the forecast period of 2018 to 2025.The application programming interfaces (APIs) are a set of protocols, tools and subroutines that are used to develop software applications. These APIs are the intermediate of communication code and software programs, thereby assuring the smooth flow of operations. Further, it helps in monitoring the data of the application, which has become one of the most important parts of the organization. It can be developed by an organization either for internal use or can be purchased from third-party providers. It also offers enhanced customer experience and ensures ease of data management. API management helps in building and publishing web APIs, controlling access of application and also enforces usage policies. Also, it helps in collecting and analyzing the usage statistics as well as provides a report of the performance. The API management includes components such as gateway, publishing tools, reporting and analytics and monetization.FREE | Get sample copy of this report @Top Key Players: Axway, Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated, Microsoft, Rogue Wave Software, Inc., SAP SE, Oracle, Red Hat, Inc., CA Technologies, Inc., Fiorano Software and Affiliates, Software AG, Boomi, Inc., International Business Machines Corp., Nexright, SnapLogic, TYK Technologies, digitalML, Mashape Inc., Mulesoft, Inc., Sensedia, Tibco Software, Inc., WSO2, Inc., Amazon Web Services Inc., and others.MicrosoftFounded in 1975 and headquartered in Redmond, U.S. Microsoft deals in empowering digital transformation for the era of intelligent edge and intelligent cloud. Microsoft focusses on providing Software, PC and Devices, Entertainment, Business, Developer & IT and Others. Its business segment includes API management platform which deals in different products and services. These products include Microsoft Azure and have wide application in retail and consumer goods, government, healthcare, discrete manufacturing and banking and capital market.The company has its geographic presence in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America and Middle East and Africa. Some of the subsidiaries of Microsoft are Yammer, Skype Technologies, Xamarin, AltspaceVR, Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Research, Microsoft Mobile and among others.Amazon Web Services, Inc.Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Seattle, U.S. Amazon Web Services, Inc. offers IT infrastructure services to business commonly known as cloud computing. The company has its subsidiaries and they are Annapurna Labs, AWS Elemental, Sqrrl, Harvest.ai, Peritor GmbH, Amazon Web Services Japan K.K. and others. The company has its geographic presence in U.S., Canada, Asia Pacific, China, Europe, South America. Some of its subsidiaries are Annapurna Labs, AWS Elemental, Sqrrl, Harvest.ai, Peritor GmbH, Amazon Web Services Japan K.K. and others. The company deals in various products and solution which comprises of Analytics, AR and VR, Game Development, Internet of Things, Machine Learning, Database, Backup and Restore, Business productivity, Customer Engagement, Mobile Services and many more. Database Automation lies under Database segment as AWS Database Migration Service.Speak To Industry Experts, Request For Details Report@Market Trends: On the basis of type the global API management market is segmented into carbon identity management, maps & location, speech/ voice. On the basis of solution the global API management market is segmented into API portal, security, monetization, API gateway, API analytics, API lifecycle management and administration. In 2018, security segment is growing at a specific CAGR.Topics Covered:1.Introduction2. Market Segmentation3. Executive Summary4. Market Overview5. Premium Insights6. Global API Management Market: Regulatory Scenario7. Global API Management Market, By Type8. Global API Management Market, By Distribution Channel9. Global API Management Market, By End User10. Global API Management, By Geography11. Global API Management, Company Landscape12. Company Profiles13. Related ReportsClick Here for Table of Content to Better Understanding of Report @Restraint:INCREASING CONCERN ABOUT API SECURITYThe API management solution consumers regularly face threats from the bad bots, hackers and internal threats on their mobile apps software. One of the major challenges that the enterprises are facing is to ensure the complete safety of the data. Due to this reason, Microsoft creates a certification authentication policy that mutually connects the back- end service and API management gateway to solve the malicious API traffic interception. In April 2015, according to the Conde Nast Company, major instances of cyber security hacks and software attacks are rising at an alarming rate, more than 120% estimates the number of connected devices through API management gets cyber-attack due to poor coding standards that doesnt allows integration of API in a perfect ecosystem.Make an Inquiry for Discount On this Report@About Us:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com
Sri Lanka Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband Market Growth Analysis, Challenges and Industry Key Players  Mobitel, Dialog Axiata; Etisalat Sri Lanka | 2018-2023

Sri Lanka Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband Market 2023

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WiseGuyReports.com Sri Lanka - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses report has been added to its Research Database.Scope of the Report:Sri Lanka - TelecomsSri 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 NetworkContinued..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.Contact Us: Sales@Wiseguyreports.Com Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (Us) Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (Uk)
Global Automotive 3D Printing Market to Grow at a CAGR of +26.8% During Forecast Period 2019-2025 By 3D Systems Corporation, Arcam AB, Autodesk Inc., EnvisionTEC, Hoganas AB, Optomec Inc.

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In the new research report, titled Global Automotive 3D Printing Market the report highlights the important trends and dynamics affecting the growth of the market, including the limitations, drivers, and opportunities. A number of research tools such as Porters five forces analysis and SWOT analysis have been exercised to provide a precise understanding of this market. The report gives data on the technological progressions that are bound to happen in the upcoming years or are happening as of now.The global automotive 3D printing market which was represented a CAGR of approximately +26.8% in the midst of the estimate time span of 2019-2025.Request A Sample Copy Of Report: Click Here3D printing in the automotive industry is now essential, additive manufacturing applications become more numerous, driving the development and adaptation of processes and technology to meet the specific needs and address the constraints of this rapidly evolving sector. The automotive industry is one of the pioneers in the use and integration of 3D printing in its processes.Top Key Players:3D Systems Corporation, Arcam AB, Autodesk Inc., EnvisionTEC, Hoganas AB, Optomec Inc., Ponoko Limited, Stratasys Ltd., The ExOne Company, Voxeljet AG.Segment By Regions/Countries, This Automotive 3D Printing Market Report CoversUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaRegionally, the report explores the impending of the Global Automotive 3D Printing Market in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East & Africa and Latin America. In addition to this, the countries generating high revenue in these mentioned regions have also been examined along with comprehensive coverage and innovation in these countries. The challenge for this market is the augmented use of casting and stamping process. The industry entails to expand the efficiency of logistics to meet the needs of the Technology industry.Ask For Discount@The segments of the Global Automotive 3D Printing Market study integrates the growth conditions and definition of the market modules. The global market is categorized into its type, product type, material type, application, vertical, and end-use applications. In the next piece, the market has been categorized in terms of presentation. The presentation segments of the global market are also mentioned in this statistical surveying research report.By Type, The Automotive 3D Printing Market Can Be Split IntoProductsServicesMaterialsBy Application, The Automotive 3D Printing Market Can Be Split IntoInhouseOutsourcedFor More Information: Click HereIn This Study, The Years Considered To Estimate The Market Size Of Automotive 3D Printing Are As Follows:History Year: 2015-2018Base Year: 2018Estimated Year: 2019Forecast Year 2019 to 2025Table Of Content:The Global Automotive 3D Printing Market Report Contains:1. Global market overview2. Global market competition by manufacturers, type and application3. USA/China/Japan/Europe/India and Southeast Asia are the regional analysis of automotive 3D printing (volume, value and sales price)4. Analysis of global market by manufacturer5. Automotive 3D printing manufacturing cost analysis6. Industrial chain, sourcing strategy and downstream buyers7. Marketing strategy analysis, distributors/traders8. Market effect factors analysis9. Global market forecast (2019-2025)10. Conclusion of the global automotive 3D printing market11. AppendixAbout Us:Report Consultant - A global leader in analytics, research and advisory that can assist you to renovate your business and modify your approach. With us, you will learn to take decisions intrepidly. We make sense of drawbacks, opportunities, circumstances, estimations and information using our experienced skills and verified methodologies.Our research reports will give you an exceptional experience of innovative solutions and outcomes. We have effectively steered businesses all over the world with our market research reports and are outstandingly positioned to lead digital transformations. Thus, we craft greater value for clients by presenting advanced opportunities in the global market.Contact us:Rebecca Parker(Report Consultant)Akasaka biz tower,5-3-1 akasaka minato-ku,Tokyo, JapanContact No: +81-368444299sales@reportconsultant.com
According to the website for the Healing Arts Center in Valparaiso, where Smith is on staff, Very slowly, the medical community is taking notice  not only of the existence and prevalence of Lyme disease in our area, but of the effects chronic Lyme can wreak on our health. It is going to be a long process, however, in getting people to recognize the scope of this ever-increasing problem.
Solar Simulator Market Distribution Channel 2019: Spire Solar, Solar Energy International, Solar Energy World, Solar Philippines, Solar Nederland, Solar Nederland, Solar Light Company,

Solar Simulator Market

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Solar Simulator Market report aims to examine the developments of market including its market improvements, developments, positions and others.This report on the Solar Simulator market offers explanatory knowledge on the market parts like dominating players, drivers and restraints, production, revenue, consumption, import and export, and the most effective development within the organization size, deployment type, inside, segmentation comprised throughout this analysis, also major the players have used various strategies such as new product launches, expansions, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions and others, to increase their footprints in this market in order to sustain in long run, additionally to present the clear view point of Solar Simulator market.FREE | Get sample copy of this report @Solar Simulator Market accounted for USD 5.75 billion in 2016 growing at a CAGR of 7.1% during the forecast period of 2019 to 2026. The upcoming market report contains data for historic year the base year of calculation is 2016 and the forecast period is 2019 to 2026.Topics Covered:1.Introduction2. Market Segmentation3. Executive Summary4. Market Overview5. Premium Insights6. Global Solar Simulator Market: Regulatory Scenario7. Global Solar Simulator Market, By Type8. Global Solar Simulator Market, By Distribution Channel9. Global Solar Simulator Market, By End User10. Global Solar Simulator, By Geography11. Global Solar Simulator, Company Landscape12. Company Profiles13. Related ReportsClick Here for Table of Content to Better Understanding of Report @Top Key Players: Newport Corporation, Meyer Burger Technology AG, Gsolar Power Co., Ltd., Spire Solar, Solar Light Company, Abet Technologies, Inc., Sciencetech Inc., Spectrolab Inc., OAI, Asahi Spectra Co., Ltd., Iwasaki Electric Co., Ltd., Nisshinbo Mechatronics, Inc., Endeas Oy, Wacom Electric Co., Ltd.,For Any Inquiry Regarding Report Visit @Company Share Analysis:The report for solar simulator market include detailed vendor level analysis for market shares in 2016 for Global, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and South America specifically. Also impact and development analysis of key vendors is registered in the market and factored on the basis of Vendor Positioning Grid Analysis which measures the vendors strengths and opportunities against present market challenges, measure providers ability to identify or satisfy present market needs, map providers market vision to current and upcoming market dynamics among others. The report also measures technology life line curve and market time line to analyze and do more affective investments.Report Overview:Global Solar Simulator MarketBy Geography; Light Source (Xenon arc lamp, Metal halide arc lamp, LED lamp, UV lamp, QTH lamp);Dimension (Class AAA, Class ABA, Class ABB);Application (PV Cell/Module and Material Testing, UV Testing Of Materials and Products, Automotive Testing, Biomass Study)Key reason to Purchase the report1. To describe and forecast the Solar Simulator market, in terms of value, by process, product type, and industry.2. To strategically profile key players and comprehensively analyze their market position in terms of ranking and core competencies, and detail the competitive landscape for market leaders3. To describe and forecast the market, in terms of value, for various segments, by region North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and Rest of the World (RoW)4. To provide detailed information regarding the major factors (drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges) influencing the Solar Simulator market growth5. Market Development: Comprehensive information about emerging markets. This report analyzes the market for various trocars across geographies.6. To strategically analyze micro markets with respect to individual growth trends, prospects, and contribution to the overall marketQuestions? Well Put You On The Right Path Request Analyst Call @About Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com
HANWELL TO REVOLUTIONIZE ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING FOR BIOTECH AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES IN THE U.S.

Hanwell wireless solutions are revolutionizing the environment monitoring market within vital biotech and pharma sectors across the USA via the opening of a subsidiary company, Hanwell Inc. and office in Virginia Beach.Hanwell Inc. provides a local presence with local employees to support existing pharma customers across the country. The company concluded that a U.S. base was necessary to best serve these customers, who need to comply with the demanding regulations within the sector - as well as develop a local distribution network to ensure efficient and effective customer service across all states.Centralized environmental monitoring is invaluable to biotech and pharma companies not only to avoid a potential disaster from equipment failure, but also to save time and reduce the chance of human error. Incubators, air flow chambers, water baths, cryogenic chambers, and fridges, are just some of the equipment that can be monitored via a single system with sensors calibrated to each individual application, and brought together at one or more instantly accessible points such as a PC or tablet. Any compromised conditions trigger immediate alarms and the comprehensive data collection and analysis, keeps the authorities happy and significantly reduces paperwork.Reliable, sophisticated environmental monitoring systems are at a premium following years of poor value and sub-standard options. Hanwell intends to overturn that perception with the provision of high quality, long-range, British-engineered monitoring solutions at an affordable price. The company can prove that its wireless technology is like no other on the market and is willing to put its money where its mouth is with a guarantee that it will work  or your money back!Hardware that can live up to this promise needs software that can do the same. In fact, the company is bringing to the US, its new, state of the art software platform that provides real-time data and audit reporting capabilities for multiple sites, zones, and sensor groups, all accessible by unlimited users with controlled permissions, any time, anywhere, across the world. The initial reaction has been extremely positive, as Vice President of Global Sales, Derek Richardson explains:Weve only scratched the surface within the USA over the last few years. All that is about to change. Hanwell provides premium products with unrivalled wireless range. Wireless technology like ours is so unique, that there is a feeling of disbelief that it works due to the limited technology otherwise available. This is why we are willing to put our money where our mouth is and guarantee it works or your money back, with long range wireless penetration through buildings, along with higher quality sensors and electronics at an affordable price  whats not to love?Its going to be a challenge to change perceptions, but were completely confident in our product and intend to totally change the wireless market. We urge users of environmental monitoring technology to contact us for a free demonstration.Hanwell is renowned in particular for its leadership in monitoring systems, designing and manufacturing British-engineered wireless telemetry, and their complete solutions vital to helping organizations meet the needs of strict regulations across the globe. Its commercial teams are expert not only in the companys own systems, but also in the local regulations and requirements affecting the customers operations.Hanwell has developed an unrivaled reputation within the pharmacy sector for drive and innovation  backed by reliable, robust and technologically superior products. The companys customer promise is to provide trusted British environmental monitoring for ultimate peace of mind  and at an affordable price.Hanwell Solutions Ltd encompasses more than 100 years of accumulated experience in designing, engineering and manufacturing first-class British electronic instrumentation. The companys industry specific environmental monitoring and control systems lead the way in accuracy, radio telemetry and software, and the firm operates in the pharmaceutical, industrial, heritage, food and healthcare sectors under a Quality Management System which complies with the requirements of ISO 9001.Hanwells Mission Statement defines the organization and its primary objective: To offer the worlds most reliable, consistent and accurate environmental monitoring solutions that protect and preserve what matters most to our clients.Louise JeffreyHanwell Solutions LtdPendle HouseJubilee RoadLetchworthHertfordshireSG6 1SPsales@hanwell.com+44 (0)1462 688070
Dental Implants Market : Illustrious Players  Straumann Group, Dentsply Sirona, Henry Schein, Danaher Corporation, Zimmer Biomet, and Osstem Implant

Dental Implants Market

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France market is estimated to grow at 4.2% CAGR over the forecast period due to rising elderly patient pool suffering from oral health disorders in the country. Furthermore, presence of industry players focused on dental and regenerative implant dentistry will augment regional market size.Canada market was valued over USD 84.0 million in 2017 and is forecast to grow at a rapid pace in the coming years. Favorable reimbursement scenario for dental implants along with rising number of people with tooth loss will foster market size. For instance, Oral and Maxillofacial Reconstruction Program covers 100% of treatment costs for surgical placement of dental implants in Ontario should increase adoption rate of dental implants in the country.India market will grow at significant 7.4% CAGR over the forecast period due to increasing awareness and growing concern for oral hygiene coupled with rapidly surging geriatric edentulous population in the country. Rising dental tourism in India owing to cost-effective and affordable treatment will accelerate industry growth.Request sample copy of this report @Some of the key industry players operating in global dental implants market are Straumann Group, Dentsply Sirona, Henry Schein, Danaher Corporation, Zimmer Biomet, and Osstem Implant. The industry players resort to merger and acquisition along with new product launch to expand their market foothold in the industry.Dental Implants Market size is set to exceed USD 5.2 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights.Rising prevalence of oral health disorders such as tooth decay, periodontal disease, and dental caries across the globe will act as a primary driver for global market growth. Approximately, 10-15% of the total population in the developed countries are suffering from severe periodontitis. Poor oral hygiene, smoking, diabetes are major risk factors associated with periodontitis. Such factors will stimulate demand for dental implants over the forecast period.Rapidly growing geriatric population base with tooth loss in developed regions is another major factor driving the market outlook. Developed countries such as U.S. and Germany have huge edentulous population that increases the demand for dental implants among elderly base to replace their missing teeth.Make Inquiry about this report @Presence of supportive awareness programs such as MaxiCourses launched by American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID) with an aim to educate practitioners on implant dentistry will fuel industry expansion.Rapid advancements in implant technology along with increasing demand for cosmetic surgery and dental implants to improve esthetic appeal will favor industry growth. Excessive cost associated with dental implants coupled with limited reimbursement policies in developing countries will hamper business growth.Tapered implants segment dominated the overall market with a share of over 77.5% in 2017 and is expected to show a similar trend in the future; this is attributed to advantages offered such as primary stability, maximum bone and soft tissue attachment.Titanium implants market segment valued USD 2,644.0 million in 2017 owing to its biocompatibility along with increasing usage for the fabrication of dental implants. Zirconium implants will grow at a rapid pace in the coming years owing to increasing demand for metal-free implants along with its aesthetic superiority over other implants.Dental implant business in clinics held the largest revenue in 2017 followed by hospitals. Advanced technologies offered in multi-speciality hospitals will boost the demand for dental implantation surgeries in such facilities thereby propelling segmental market size over the coming years.Dental implants industry research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecast in terms of revenue in USD million from 2013 to 2024, for the following segments:Dental Implants Market by Product Tapered implants Parallel walled implantsDental Implants Market by Material Titanium ZirconiumDental Implants Market by End-use Hospitals Dental Clinics OthersThe above information is provided for the following regions and countries: North Americao U.S.o Canada Europeo Germanyo UKo Franceo Spaino Italyo Russia Asia Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao South Koreao Australia Latin Americao Brazilo Mexicoo Argentina Middle East and Africao South Africao Saudi Arabiao IsraelGlobal 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.comBlog :
Safes and Vaults Market Growth, Opportunities & Forecast, 2017 - 2023

Safes and Vaults Market

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There is an increase in the adoption of safes and vaults in the retail industry due to presence of cash intensive environment, which has high demand for cash management safes. The safes and vaults market is influenced by the rise in demand for technologically advanced products, constant need to improve infrastructural security, and growth associated with non-banking sector. However, increase in penetration of digital transaction solutions limits the market growth.The Global Safes and Vaults Market was valued at $4,727 million in 2016, and is projected to reach $6,907 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 6.0% from 2017 to 2023. Safes and Vaults Market are integrated security products developed to facilitate the safety of valuable assets in case of high-risk situations. These products establish a technologically secure environment that helps in the protection of monetary assets, arms and ammunition, documents, critical records, media files, and others during variety of circumstances such as fire situation, toxic incident, extreme weather condition, theft, burglary, robbery, intrusion, and others.Request Sample Report:Safes and vaults form an integral part of physical security solutions. These products are able to create safe environment to cater to the high-risk situation specific needs of customers, which allows it to become one of the most popular industry solution worldwide. Further, the unprecedented growth in the banking and retail market predominantly drives the safes and vaults market for protection of valuable assets in the physical security ecosystem. The global safes and vaults market is estimated to witness significant growth in Asia-Pacific and LAMEA, on account of rise in demand for technologically advanced products in countries, such as India, China, Germany, and Japan. The safes and vaults market share is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.0% from 2017 to 2023, owing to increase in demand for application-specific products in the developed and the developing regions.Key players in the safes and vaults market are involved in the introduction of new features and capabilities, to enhance their existing product portfolio. This is anticipated to increase the product penetration and enable key providers to establish themselves in the emerging markets. For instance, in May 2017, Odon Inc. introduced the illumiSAFE and the illumiSAFE mini which is a personal safe disguised in the form of a lamp. These safes are one of the most technologically advanced personal safes available in the market. It features activation by smart phone or RFID key, wireless and off-site connectivity and other advanced capabilities.Request Purchase Enquiry:Key BenefitsIn-depth analysis of the market and dynamics is provided to understand the market scenario.Quantitative analysis of the current trends and future estimations from 2017 to 2023 is provided to assist strategists and stakeholders to capitalize on prevailing opportunities.Porters Five Forces analysis examines the competitive structure of the market and provides a clear understanding of the factors that influence the market entry and expansion.A detailed analysis of the geographical segments enables identification of profitable segments for market players in the global safes and vaults industry.Comprehensive analysis of the trends, sub-segments, and key revenue pockets are provided.Detailed analysis of the key players operating in the industry and their business strategies are anticipated to assist stakeholders to take informed business decisions.Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.David Correa5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free (USA/Canada):+1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022, +1-503-446-1141UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1-855-550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:
Anticoagulants Market to Soar Through Key End-use Industries During the Forecast Period 2025

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Anticoagulants are utilized to take out the danger of blood clumps in the body. Anticoagulants prevent the platelets from clinging to each other and coagulating proteins from restricting together. These are usually utilized in the treatment of DVT (deep vein thrombosis), atrial fibrillation, pneumonic embolism as well as managing moderate and high danger of stroke.Anticoagulants are essentially segmented as warfarin, therapies, LMWHs (low molecular weight heparins), DTIs (direct thrombin inhibitors) and factor Xa inhibitors. Of these, the heparin is an injectable anticoagulant broadly utilized in hospitals for fast anticoagulation. LMWHs are directed about two times every day as subcutaneous infusions to care for DVT. These are more advantageous to utilize in contrast to heparins, as LMWHs could be self-infused at home. Warfarin is generally prescribed as a component of long-haul anticoagulant treatment for patients with atrial fibrillation to help diminish the danger of stroke by over 60%.The worldwide market for anticoagulants is segmented on the basis of several types of anticoagulant drugs as well as applications. In terms of the types of anticoagulants, the worldwide market is categorized into Dabigatran (Pradaxa), Betrixaban, E Eliquis (Apixaban) Rivaroxaban (Xarelto), as well as doxaban, The application category is additionally subcategorized into heart valve replacement, DVT, myocardial infarction, cardiac arrhythmia, coronary artery diseases, and cardiovascular diseases.Request For Report Sample:On the basis of geography, North America regional market for anticoagulants is considered to foresee a huge market attractiveness. This is mainly a result of augmented awareness regarding remedial applications of anticoagulants in ailment management in the region. The U.S. is believed to be the foremost regional market for anticoagulants in North America, trained by Canada. In Europe, the U.K., France, and Germany account for the majority of the overall market shares of the anticoagulants. The Asia anticoagulant market as well is anticipated to reflect higher growth pace over the approaching five years to come. This is due to a bunch of market players are establishing production facilities in the region. In addition, the increasing populace is, in addition, boosting up the overall market expansion in the region. Japan, China, and India are considered to remain the quickest expanding markets in Asia for anticoagulants.The growing geriatric populace is the foremost driver for the worldwide market for anticoagulants. In addition, rising investment in the pharmaceutical sector for R&D activities as well as the introduction of innovative oral anticoagulants drugs have boosted the market growth. Recently Daiichi establishes anticoagulant Lixiana, an OD tablet for enhancing medication compliance in patients. Moreover, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Pfizer, Inc. have offered fresh studies for Eliquis(apixaban) clinical as well as real-world data.Request For Report TOC:On the other hand, strict regulations arranged by a variety of governments impede the expansion growth of the worldwide anticoagulants market. Recently, US FDA holds up approving for AndexXa for thought review of the data. On the other hand, FDA green-lights Bayer Xarelto 10 mg once daily dose for extended treatment of venous thromboembolism. In addition, the danger of complications and side-effects related to the consumption of oral anticoagulants, in addition, impedes the expansion of the worldwide market for anticoagulants. Growing figure of mergers and acquisitions of drug production companies is a foremost trend of the worldwide market for anticoagulants, for instance, Espero Pharmaceuticals and Armetheon plans to merge for developing cardiovascular medications.The foremost market players active in this market are Baxter International Inc., Abbott Laboratories, Merck & Co., Inc., AstraZeneca plc, BioVascular Inc., Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Genentech Inc., Novartis AG, and Sanofi.Report Analysis:Research Report Insights (RRI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver a host of services including custom research reports, syndicated research reports, and consulting services which are 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 trendsResearch Report Insights (RRI42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website:Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com
5G Network Equipment Market 2024 Key Information by Top Key Players: Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, etc.

5G Network Equipment Market

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There has been an extensive growth in the use of smartphones across the globe. This is also a result of the growing dependency of people on smartphones and the internet to undertake their daily chores. The growing number of internet users is also a result of decreasing internet prices and increasing adoption of IoT and other smart technologies.Global 5G Network Equipment Market Research Report 2019, presented by Garner Insights will help you take informed decisions, know opportunities, plan new projects, plan effective business strategies, explore drivers and restraints and give you a vision on the industry forecast. The report provides the latest information on the present and the future industry trends, allowing the readers to identify the products and services, hence driving the revenue growth and profitability. The research report provides an in-depth study of all the leading factors influencing the market on a global and regional level, including drivers, restraints, threats, challenges, opportunities, and industry-specific trends.Fill the form for an Exclusive Sample of this Report @With this 5G Network Equipment market report, all the participants and the vendors will be in aware of the growth factors, shortcomings, threats, and the lucrative opportunities that the market will offer in the near future. The report also features the revenue; industry size, share, production volume, and consumption in order to gain insights about the politics and tussle of gaining control of a huge chunk of the market share.Global 5G Network Equipment market key players (sales revenue, price, gross margin, main products etc.):Below mentioned companies are analyzed upon their revenue, price margins in the 5G Network Equipment market and main products they offer:Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, NEC Corporation, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., ZTE Corporation, Nokia, Ericsson AB, Cisco Systems, Inc., CommScope, Hitachi, Ltd., Airspan Networks, Inc., Equinix, Inc., Qorvo ,By Component TypeSmall Cell, Macro Cell, AAU, RRU, BBU, RF Filter, Energy Supply Equipment, Phase Shifters,The complete value chain and downstream and upstream essentials are scrutinized in this report. Essential trends like globalization, growth progress boost fragmentation regulation & ecological concerns. The report covers technical data, manufacturing plants analysis, and raw material sources analysis of 5G Network Equipment as well as explains which product has the highest penetration, their profit margins, and R&D status. The report makes future projections based on the analysis of subdivision of the market which includes global market size by product category, end-user application, and various regions.What does the report cover with respect to the regional landscape of the market?The report, with respect to the geological spectrum of this scope, analyzes examines each geographical segment of the market with supply, import, export, consumption, and production in these regions to provide a complete understanding of the market.Basic information with detail to the market share held by the regions in company with the trade, deal, that every geography explanations for have been given in the report. Our business offerings show the fresh and the trustworthy information helpful for businesses to give strength to a competitive edge.Get Exclusive Discount, Click Here@Moreover, the report includes analysis of different products available in the 5G Network Equipment market on the subject of production volume, revenue, pricing structure, and demand and supply figures.The report highlights profitable business strategies of market competitors along with their business expansion, composition, partnership deals, and new product/service launches.Customization of the Report:This report can be customized to meet the clients requirements. Please connect with our sales team (sales@garnerinsights.com), who will ensure that you get a report that suits your needs.About Garner Insights:Garner Insights is a Market Intelligence and consulting firm with an all-inclusive experience and vast knowledge of the market research industry.Our vast storage of research reports across various categories, gives you a complete view of the ever changing and developing trends and current topics worldwide. Our constant endeavor is to keep on improving our storage information by providing rich market reports and constantly improving them.Contact Us:Kevin ThomasContact No: +1 513 549 5911 (US)+44 203 318 2846 (UK)
Connected Health Devices Market Trends and Forecast 2018 - 2028 : Koninklijke Philips NV, Boston Scientific, Honeywell International Inc., Medtronic Inc., GE Healthcare, Fitbit, Inc

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Connected Health Devices Market IntroductionTodays medical devices have undergone tremendous transformations with the changing perspectives of consumers triggered by increased consciousness towards health and wellness. Convergence of advanced technologies with the healthcare industry has enabled healthcare professionals, including doctors and diagnostic service providers, to obtain real-time insights into their patients health. Thereby, increasing health-consciousness among consumers and needs for improving patient outcomes and quality of healthcare services among healthcare professionals is triggering demand for connected health devices.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Connected Health Devices Market  Notable DevelopmentsKoninklijke Philips NV, Boston Scientific, Honeywell International Inc., Medtronic Inc., GE Healthcare, Fitbit, Inc., NXP Semiconductor NV, Aerotel Medical System Ltd., Abbott Laboratories, McKesson Corporation Garmin Ltd., Qualcomm Inc., Stanley Healthcare, Omron Healthcare, Inc., Draeger Medical Systems, Inc., Body Media, Inc., AgaMatrix, Inc., and Apple, Inc., are among the leading players in the connected health devices market.Medtronic Inc.  one of the leading medical device company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland  launched a mobile app, MyCareLink HeartTM that can communicate with its portfolio of connected pacemakers, in January 2019. The company also declared that the new smartphone app is compatible with companys Medtronic BlueSyncTM technology-enabled pacemakers and it will eliminate the need for any remote monitoring hardware or a dedicated bedside monitor for patients. The app help healthcare professionals as well as patients to access pacemaker data including pacemaker battery information, updates on physical activity transmission success history, while answering common questions about how to live with a pacemaker.Garmin International, Inc., a U.S.-based technology company in the connected health devices market, recently announced that it has collaborated with ActiGraph, leading provider of medical-grade wearable activity and sleep monitoring solutions, to introduce innovative connected health devices by combining its wearable devices and ActiGraphs data analytics platform. The company aims to introduce powerful connected health devices that can be used for various patient monitoring applications, clinical trials, and remote patient monitoring, as well as for academic research.Stanley Healthcare  the healthcare business division of the company Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. and a leading stakeholder in the connected device market, launched a new cloud-based solution  the STANLEY Healthcare AeroScout Links  for real-time monitoring of different conditions and aspects of the environment of care, in February 2018. The new cloud-based IoT platform integrates a cloud-based network with smart sensors to help healthcare service providers to monitor cold storage and various other operations for offering efficient patient care. With the launch of such connected health devices and platforms, the company aims to target small hospitals, pharmacies, and outpatient service providers to gain momentum in the connected health devices market.Request TOC of the Report @Connected Health Devices Market DynamicsIncreasing Growth of the MedTech Industry is Driving Growth of the Connected Health Devices MarketRapid advancements and innovations in technologies have been influencing growth prospects of various industrial sectors. The healthcare industry has been welcoming connected health devices with the increasing quest for improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare services and patient outcomes. Leading technology companies are foraying in to the healthcare industry to capitalize on the profitable opportunities and increasing demand for high-tech health devices. Staggering growth prospects of the MedTech industry and a rise in demand for personalized next-generation healthcare devices is expected to boost growth of the connected health devices market in the upcoming years.Internet Connectivity Challenges in Emerging Economies will Impact Market Penetration of Connected Heath DevicesEven though the healthcare sector in emerging economies, such as India and China, has been witnessing exponential growth, the penetration of internet connectivity is significantly low in developing and underdeveloped countries. Thereby, despite the high sales potential and lucrative opportunities in the healthcare sector in developing countries, issues associated with connectivity are creating major challenges for players in the connected health devices market.Increasing use of smartphones and emergence of technological advancements is expected to make the Asia-Pacific region more lucrative than ever for connected health devices market players. Leading companies are focusing on investing to resolve connectivity issues to meet the burgeoning demand for connected health devices in emerging economies, and to ultimately gain momentum in the global connected health devices market.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Convergence of Cloud Technology and Healthcare Industry will Augur Well for the Connected Health Devices MarketThe healthcare industry is undergoing tremendous transformations with the adoption of technological advancements to improve quality and efficiency of various healthcare services. Growing awareness about the significant value that cloud-connected health devices offer to patients and medical service providers is boosting adoption of connected health devices. Top healthcare industry players, health device manufacturers, and other stakeholders in the connected health devices market are working closely with cloud service providers to sync with and leverage the emergence of the trending cloud technology.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.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Aeroengine Fan Blades Market is likely to be US$ 8,059.8 million opportunity in 2023

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Stratview Research has launched a research report on Aeroengine Fan Blades Market. The objective of this report is to identify the Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity of Aeroengine Fan Blades Market from 2018 to 2023.This 256-page report is segmented in five ways to provide a 360-degree holistic view. The segments are  by Aircraft Type (Narrow-Body Aircraft, Wide-Body Aircraft, and Others) by Engine Type (Turbofan Engine, Turboprop Engine, and Others) by Material Type (Titanium & Alloys, Composites, and Others) by Manufacturing process Type (Hand Layup, Resin Transfer Molding, and Others) and by Regiono North America (Country Analysis: The USA, Canada, and Mexico)o Europe (Country Analysis: France, Germany, the UK, Poland and Rest of Europe)o Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China, Japan, Singapore, and Rest of Asia-Pacific)o Rest of the World (Sub-Region Analysis: Latin America, the Middle East, and Others)Stratview Research, has presented the study of Aeroengine Fan Blades 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.Key aeroengine fan blade manufacturers are Safran Aircraft Engines, GE Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, Albany/Safran, CFAN Company, and GKN Aerospace. Development of lightweight fan blades with an ease of manufacturing process, reduced operational cost, improved thrust or performance and formation of strategic alliances are the key strategies adopted by the major players to gain a competitive edge in the market.Go through the detailed scope:Market.htmlOrGet a free sample of the report:Experimental and computational analysis have been carried outFan blades are among the most important components of an aircraft engine. There has been an evolutionary change in the design, size, structures, materials, and manufacturing process of fan blades over the past few decades. A large number of experimental and computational analysis have been carried out in engine fan blades, which have resulted in change in design and efficiency of blades. Lightweight, increased engine thrust and efficiency, low-operating-cost, and laminar airflow into the engine are some focal points of development that are being achieved through the advancements in fan blade technologies.Curved, Lighter, Thinner, and Fewer are the four big needs in aeroengine fan blades observed in the industry. Composites have gradually been becoming the material of choice for achieving these four industry needs. Besides being thinner and fewer in number; composite fan blades also spin faster that ultimately helps to generate higher thrust and by-pass ratio. GE Aviation was the first company to incorporate carbon composite materials in aero engine fan blades for a jet engine. The era of composite fan blades started way back in the 1990s with GEs GE90 engine powering Boeing 777 aircraft program. This became a huge success for GE Aviation as it helped B777 in gaining excellent thrust and be among the most fuel-efficient and reliable commercial aircraft. GE Aviations success in composite fan blades influenced its adoption in succeeding generations of commercial engines including GEnx and the new GE9X.Organic growth of the aircraft industryAs per Stratview Research, the aeroengine fan blades market is projected to grow at a healthy rate over the next five years to reach US$ 8,059.8 million in 2023. Organic growth of the aircraft industry, increasing share of wide-body aircraft in commercial aircraft deliveries, increasing penetration of composite fan blades in newer aircraft engines, increasing fan diameters of newer aircraft, and an expected increase in production of LEAP engines, are the key growth drivers of aeroengine fan blades market.Narrow- and wide-body aircraft to remain the growth enginesThe aeroengine fan blades market is segmented based on the aircraft type as Narrow-Body Aircraft, Wide-Body Aircraft, Very Large Aircraft, Regional Aircraft, Business Aircraft, and Military Aircraft. Narrow- and wide-body aircraft are likely to remain the growth engines of the market during the forecast period. Increasing production rates of key programs, such as B737, A320 family, B787, and A350XWB; market entry of new players, such as COMAC and Irkut; introduction of variants of existing best-selling aircraft programs, such as B737 max, A320neo, and B777x; and an increasing demand for lightweight composite fan blades are likely to offer a sustainable growth platform for fan blades in these segments in the coming years.Turbofan aeroengine fan blades to remain the most dominantBased on the engine type, turbofan aeroengine fan blades are likely to remain the most dominant as well as the fastest-growing segment of the market during the forecast period. Turbofan engines are the most commonly used engine type in the commercial aircraft, which is the major why and wherefore behind their dominance in the market. Increasing production of turbofan engines to support the increasing commercial aircraft production rates, as well as increasing penetration of lightweight composite fan blades, are substantiating the demand for fan blades in the engine segment.Titanium blades to remain the most dominant materialBased on the material type, titanium blades are likely to remain the most dominant material type in the market during the forecast period of 2018 to 2023, whereas composite blades are likely to experience the highest growth during the same period, driven by their usage in the newer variants of engines, such as LEAP engines, which are empowering the worlds best-selling models fuel-efficient variants (B737 max and A320neo) and GEnx engine empowering B787. Aeroengine fan blades have been undergoing a disruptive transformation from the traditional metallic blades to composite blades. Epoxy resin with carbon fiber is the predominantly used material type for manufacturing composite fan blades. These materials are giving good competition to the most widely used material for fan blades i.e. Titanium.North America to remain the largest marketBased on regions, North America is projected to remain the largest market during the forecast period, driven by the worlds leading aeroengine manufacturers i.e. GE Aviation, CFM International, and Pratt & Whitney. Most of the major engine manufacturers have assembly plants in the region to support major aircraft OEMs. The USA is likely to remain the growth engine of the regions market over the next five years.Asia-Pacific is likely to witness the highest growth during the same period,driven by a host of factors including increasing demand for commercial aircraft to support rising passenger traffic, opening of assembly plants of Boeing and Airbus for B737, A320, and A330 aircraft programs; upcoming indigenous commercial and regional aircraft (COMAC C919 and Mitsubishi MRJ), and rising aircraft fleet size.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 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, 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 factors. Research MethodologyThis report studies the Aeroengine Fan Blades Market, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. The rich quality of insights is outcome of -o Extensive secondary research,o Rigorous primary interviews with more than 15 industry stakeholders across the value chain.o Validation and triangulation of data with Stratview Researchs internal database and statistical tools.o More than1000 authenticated secondary sources, such as company annual reports, fact book, press release, journals, investor presentation, white papers, patents, and articles have been leveraged to gather the data.Click Here for Other Reports from Stratview Research in the Aerospace & Defence 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.400 Renaissance Center,Suite 2600,Detroit, Michigan, MI 48243United States of AmericaPhone No. +1-313-307-4176Email-sales@stratviewresearch.com
SURGICAL ROBOTS FOR THE SPINE: MARKET SHARES, STRATEGY, AND FORECASTS, WORLDWIDE, 2019 TO 2022 : to reach $2.77 billon by 2022

Surgical Robots

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Press Release  15 Feb 2019Research and Development News --. .Latest Update "Surgical Robots for the Spine: Market Shares, Strategy, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2016 to 2022" with Industries Survey | Global Current Growth and Future.' 'Worldwide spinal surgical robot markets are poised to achieve significant growth with the adaptation of robotic technology to the second most widely performed surgical procedure, spinal surgery. Aging of the population and hospital cost reductions through decreased length of stay are key market driving forces. Spinal surgical robots increase spine surgery repeatability and accuracy.Back conditions can result in instability and compression of the spinal nerves, causing back pain and/or radiating pain in the legs. Robotic procedures offer significant cost savings in terms of pre- and post-operation care costs and length of stay at hospitals. Technological advances and breakthroughs leverage new materials and new sensor configurations. Sophisticated software is further evolving product implementation.. . Get Sample Report_' 'In the United States, there are 1.34 million spinal operations performed annually, worldwide there are 4.83 million annually. Patients have problems with degenerative conditions and injury. 11 million people in the U.S. and 78 million people worldwide suffer from chronic back pain in 2015, indicating the potential for more surgery if the accuracy and pain relief can be alleviated with better surgery from robots.Sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction is responsible for up to 30 to 35 percent of lower back pain. Surgery is performed to relieve the pain when other means do not work. Robots improve the accuracy of procedures and reduce the complication rates in spinal surgeries. The Mazor robots are flexible. Mazor Renaissance disposable kits are designed to easily adapt the RBT Device to a multitude of surgical applications and for the different mounting platforms utilized by the surgeon. Renaissance spine accessories are offered. Mazor Renaissance accessories include trays of reusable surgical tools.Pre-operative planning of the procedure is used for intra-operative control of the system. The surgery is performed according to the pre-operative plan. Renaissance provides increased safety and precision in corrective surgery. It allows surgeons to plan ahead before entering the operating room. Mazor Robotics advanced 3D planning software is used before surgery to create the procedure with modification and customization for each patients condition. During the operation, the physician does the actual work; Renaissance guides the surgeons tools according to the predetermined blueprint to place the implants safely and with the highest level of accuracy in the exact planned locations.Robot-guidance increases the accuracy and safety of surgical procedures. It allows these procedures to be performed with less intra-operative radiation exposure to patients and health care providers. Robot-guided spine surgery allows surgeons to perform less invasive surgical procedures with smaller incisions, less bleeding, faster recovery and shorter hospital stays.. . More Clear Details get Full Table of Contents_' 'Minimally invasive surgeries to increase repeatability and accuracy through the use of robots. Surgical robots improve the accuracy of procedures and thus reduce the complication rates in surgeries. Robotic procedures offer significant cost savings in terms of pre- and post-operation care costs and length of stay at hospitals. Technological advances and breakthroughs leverage new materials and new sensor configurations. Sophisticated software is further evolving product implementation.Clinically efficient solutionsClinically less complex surgeryShorter length of stayMinimally invasive surgeryFinancially lower costOperationally more simpleOld people have trouble making their joints last as long as they do. The patient stability and the relief from pain provided by the robot surgery is compelling. The major suppliers are looking at providing spinal robots that are based on the Mazor state of the art devices.Spinal surgery has evolved dramatically over the years as advances in technology have made it possible to improve surgical techniques. Mazor is the market leader by far in the spinal surgical robot market, the only company with measurable market share. Spinal surgery involves the modification of the affected area of the back bones and nerves. The implantation of one or more screws or components is a very delicate surgery. The robot can achieve better precision than can a skilled surgeon. The robot is more consistent.Reconstructive spinal surgery depends on precision instruments. Robots are expected to grow significantly in surgery.Once, the penetration of spinal robots achieves the level of 35% of penetration in a country, all spinal surgeons will demand that hospitals offer spinal surgical robot capability because the outcomes are more predictable and better. The surgeons can give better pain relief to their patients, so naturally, given a choice of hospitals, they will pick the one that has the robot that gives superior outcomes.Spinal surgical markets have been impacted by the reduction in insurance payments. Payment reductions have forced hospitals to act as businesses. The cost of delivering care has become as much a factor as providing quality care when making decisions about patient improvement in condition. Cost-cutting has been made in the supply chain. Suppliers are examined closely for quality and cost.The number of suppliers is sure to increase. As Mazor grows its penetration of the market, the larger market participants in spinal surgery equipment will surely follow. Mazor is positioned to continue to dominate the market. As the first providers it builds a strong base of surgeons who are trained in using the equipment these surgeons will continue to purchase updated robots as they are offered to the market.The new are pressured to improve prices and efficiencies. Hospitals, physicians, and care providers have been financially incentivized to create accountable care organizations (ACOs). Coordinated patient care plans and value-based purchasing were rewarded. The med device buyer shifted from physicians to the ACOs and smart buying groups.Use of the robotic spinal surgery represents a key milestone in reconstructive surgery. Robots provide an opportunity to transform orthopedics. New materials and new designs are bringing that transformation forward. By furthering the growth of innovation with spinal surgery robots, patients can get better treatment. By enhancing the surgeon and patient experience is is likely that the entire market will grow rapidly.The worldwide market for spinal surgical robots is $26 million anticipated to reach $2.77 billon by 2022. The complete report provides a comprehensive analysis including procedure numbers, units sold, market value, forecasts, as well as a detailed competitive market shares and analysis of major players success, challenges, and strategies in each segment and sub-segment. The reports cover markets for surgery medical specialties and sub-specialties.Companies Profiled- Market LeadersAccel SpineAlliance SpineAlphatec SpineApollo SpineAscendx SpineBack 2 Basics Spine- Market ParticipantsAccel SpineAlliance SpineAlphatec SpineApollo SpineAscendx SpineBack 2 Basics SpineBoston ScientificBrainlab AGCaptiva SpineCentinel SpineElektaGlobus MedicalK2MLife SpineMazor RoboticsMedactaMedtronicMicroPort Scientific CorporationNLT SpineNuVasivePrecision SpineShenzhen Advanced Institute Spinal Surgical RobotSi-BoneSIGNUS MedicalSpinal ElementsSpineartSpineGuardSpine FrontierSpineologySpine Smith PartnersSpine Surgical InnovationsSpine ViewSpine WaveSt. Jude MedicalStryker / MakoWright / TornierX-spineZyga TechnologyZimmer BiometContinue.....About Researchmoz,ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074
Corporate Advisory Services Market: 2025 Rising Business Outlook By Top Leading Companies such as IBM, PwC, Accenture, BSI Group, ETS, Deloitte Consulting, FTI Consulting, McKinsey

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What are Corporate Advisory Services? Corporate Advisory Services means the advisory services that are provided to the various corporate bodies regarding the financial aspect of their operations. These services may be provided by the advisory panels of the companies or by professional bodies who deal in such services.The Global Corporate Advisory Services Market Research Report analyzes opportunities in the stakeholder market by identifying the high-growth sectors of the market. The extensive report of market provides in-depth ideas into the key drivers and restraints, promising trends, emerging opportunities, recent technological advancements. This report includes basic, secondary and advanced information related to the global status and trends of the scuba diving pin market, market size, market share, growth, trend analysis, segments and forecasts for 2019-2025.Request Sample Copy of this Report@:Corporate Advisory Services Market research report offers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis. The global market report involves leading key players such as IBM, PwC, Accenture, BSI Group, ETS, Deloitte Consulting, FTI Consulting, McKinsey and Company, and The Boston Consulting Group etc.The Key factors driving the growth of the market such as the growing need to make accurate business decisions and to avoid bad business proposals leading to high potential financial losses. This report focuses on market status, growth opportunities, key markets and key players. Corporate Advisory Services is an industry that adapts its business model to globalization.The regional analysis of the Corporate Advisory Services Market, which qualifies readers to plan an enlargement of their business. The study objectives are to present the Public Cloud Business Process Services development in United States, Europe and China. The growth of each of these countries and regions has been considered on the basis of price, local consumption, share, export, import, and local supply.Get Reasonable Discount on this Premium Report @:Global Corporate Advisory Services Research Report has been observed using tools such as SWOT Analysis and Porters Five Forces. 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 Porters Five Forces Analysis. This report has provided a comprehensive analysis of the driving factors, interview values, and sales of the Global Market.The Study Objectives of This Exclusive Report: To study and examine the global Corporate Advisory Services market size by company, key regions, products and end user, breakdown data from 2015 to 2019, and forecast to 2025. To understand the structure of Corporate Advisory Services market by recognizing its various subsegments. To share detailed information about the key factors prompting the growth of the market. Focuses on the key global Corporate Advisory Services companies, to define, describe and analyze the sales volume, worth, market share, market competition landscape and recent growth. To project the value and sales volume of Corporate Advisory Services submarkets, with respect to key regions.For More Information:About Research N Reports:Research N Reports is a new age market research firm where we focus on providing information that can be effectively applied. Today being a consumer driven market, companies require information to deal with the complex and dynamic world of choices. Where relying on a sound board firm for your decisions becomes crucial. Research N Reports specializes in industry analysis, market forecasts and as a result getting quality reports covering all verticals, whether be it gaining perspective on current market conditions or being ahead in the cut throat global competition.Contact:Mr. Sunny Denis10916, Gold Point, Dr, Houston, TX - 77064.Contact No. +1-888-631-6977sales@researchnreports.com(Research N Reports)
The Roosevelt facility has a profound historical significance to the faculty, alumni, students and parents, such that our priority is to ensure that everything prudently and fiscally possible is done to allow the learning community to return to the facility, said EdisonLearning President Thom Jackson.
Arts and Crafts Tools Global Market 2019: Key Players  Crayola, FILA Group, Office Depot, Newell Brands, Staples Inc

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Arts and Crafts Tools IndustryDescriptionWiseguyreports.Com Adds Arts and Crafts Tools -Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities and Analysis Of Top Key Player Forecast To 2024 To Its Research DatabaseThis report studies the global market size of Arts and Crafts Tools in key regions like North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa, focuses on the consumption of Arts and Crafts Tools in these regions.This research report categorizes the global Arts and Crafts Tools 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.Arts and Crafts Tools include the Color Pencil & Pen, Crayon, Art Marker and Craft Tools of Arts and Crafts Tools.The classification of Arts and Crafts Tools includes Color Pencil & Pen, Crayon, Art Marker and Craft Tools, and the proportion of Color Pencil & Pen in 2017 is about 60%.Europe is the largest consumption region of Arts and Crafts Tools, with a consumption market share nearly 25% in 2017. China is the second largest consumption region of Arts and Crafts Tools, enjoying consumption value market share nearly 21% in 2017.Market competition is not intense. Crayola, FILA Group, Office Depot, Newell Brands, Staples inc, Shanghai M&G Stationery and Faber-Castell are the leaders of the industry. Their revenue account 60.34% of the global market.In 2017, the global Arts and Crafts Tools market size was 3940 million US$ and is forecast to 5430 million US in 2025, growing at a CAGR of 4.1% from 2018. The objectives of this study are to define, segment, and project the size of the Arts and Crafts Tools market based on company, product type, application and key regions.The various contributors involved in the value chain of Arts and Crafts Tools include manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, intermediaries, and customers. The key manufacturers in the Arts and Crafts Tools includeCrayolaFILA GroupOffice DepotNewell BrandsStaples IncShanghai M&G StationeryFaber-CastellSociete BICPilot-PenKokuyo CamlinPentelFiskarsPelikan HoldingMundial SABeifa GroupWestcottRequest for Sample Report @Market Size Split by TypeColor Pencil & PenCrayonArt MarkerCraft ToolsMarket Size Split by ApplicationHome UseCommercial UseEducational UseOtherMarket size split by RegionNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeMalaysiaPhilippinesThailandVietnamEuropeGermanyGCC CountriesThe study objectives of this report are:To study and analyze the global Arts and Crafts Tools market size (value & volume) by company, key regions/countries, products and application, history data from 2013 to 2017, and forecast to 2025.To understand the structure of Arts and Crafts Tools market by identifying its various subsegments.To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).Focuses on the key global Arts and Crafts Tools 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 Arts and Crafts Tools with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market.To project the value and volume of Arts and Crafts Tools 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.Leave a Query @Table of Contents1 Study Coverage1.1 Arts and Crafts Tools Product1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Key Manufacturers Covered1.4 Market by Type1.4.1 Global Arts and Crafts Tools Market Size Growth Rate by Type1.4.2 Color Pencil & Pen1.4.3 Crayon1.4.4 Art Marker1.4.5 Craft Tools1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global Arts and Crafts Tools Market Size Growth Rate by Application1.5.2 Home Use1.5.3 Commercial Use1.5.4 Educational Use1.5.5 Other1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Executive Summary2.1 Global Arts and Crafts Tools Market Size2.1.1 Global Arts and Crafts Tools Revenue 2016-20252.1.2 Global Arts and Crafts Tools Sales 2016-20252.2 Arts and Crafts Tools Growth Rate by Regions2.2.1 Global Arts and Crafts Tools Sales by Regions2.2.2 Global Arts and Crafts Tools Revenue by Regions....11 Company Profiles11.1 Crayola11.1.1 Crayola Company Details11.1.2 Company Description11.1.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Arts and Crafts Tools11.1.4 Arts and Crafts Tools Product Description11.1.5 Recent Development11.2 FILA Group11.2.1 FILA Group Company Details11.2.2 Company Description11.2.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Arts and Crafts Tools11.2.4 Arts and Crafts Tools Product Description11.2.5 Recent Development11.3 Office Depot11.3.1 Office Depot Company Details11.3.2 Company Description11.3.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Arts and Crafts Tools11.3.4 Arts and Crafts Tools Product Description11.3.5 Recent Development11.4 Newell Brands11.4.1 Newell Brands Company Details11.4.2 Company Description11.4.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Arts and Crafts Tools11.4.4 Arts and Crafts Tools Product Description11.4.5 Recent Development11.5 Staples Inc11.5.1 Staples Inc Company Details11.5.2 Company Description11.5.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Arts and Crafts Tools11.5.4 Arts and Crafts Tools Product Description11.5.5 Recent Development11.6 Shanghai M&G Stationery11.6.1 Shanghai M&G Stationery Company Details11.6.2 Company Description11.6.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Arts and Crafts Tools11.6.4 Arts and Crafts Tools Product Description11.6.5 Recent Development11.7 Faber-Castell11.7.1 Faber-Castell Company Details11.7.2 Company Description11.7.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Arts and Crafts Tools11.7.4 Arts and Crafts Tools Product Description11.7.5 Recent Development11.8 Societe BIC11.8.1 Societe BIC Company Details11.8.2 Company Description11.8.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Arts and Crafts Tools11.8.4 Arts and Crafts Tools Product Description11.8.5 Recent Development11.9 Pilot-Pen11.9.1 Pilot-Pen Company Details11.9.2 Company Description11.9.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Arts and Crafts Tools11.9.4 Arts and Crafts Tools Product Description11.9.5 Recent Development11.10 Kokuyo Camlin11.10.1 Kokuyo Camlin Company Details11.10.2 Company Description11.10.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Arts and Crafts Tools11.10.4 Arts and Crafts Tools Product Description11.10.5 Recent Development11.11 Pentel11.12 Fiskars11.13 Pelikan Holding11.14 Mundial SA11.15 Beifa Group11.16 WestcottBuy Now @Continued...Contact Us: Sales@Wiseguyreports.Com Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (Us) Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (Uk)About Us: Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres: Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt Ltd Pune  411028 Maharashtra, Global Ph: +91 841 198 5042
Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) Market 2019: Top Key Players are Raytheon Company, Mitsubishi, Thales, Airbus, SES, Space Systems Loral, etc.

Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) Market

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Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) Market 2019 Report analyses the industry status, size, share, trends, growth opportunity, competition landscape and forecast to 2025. This report also provides data on patterns, improvements, target business sectors, limits and advancements. Furthermore, this research report categorizes the market by companies, region, type and end-use industry.Get Sample Copy of this Report@Global Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) market 2019 research provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Global Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) market analysis is provided for the international markets including development trends, competitive landscape analysis, and key regions development status. Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins.Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) Market research report spread across 98 pages with top key manufacturers and list of tables and figures.Inquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on this report @Global Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) market competition by TOP MANUFACTURERS, with production, price, revenue (value) and each manufacturer including Raytheon Company Mitsubishi Thales Airbus SES Space Systems Loral .This report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, covering North America Europe China Japan Southeast Asia IndiaGlobal Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) Market providing information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also carried out. The Global Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) market development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered.With tables and figures helping analyze worldwide Global Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) market, this research provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Order a copy of Global Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) Market Report 2019 @Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers North America Europe China Rest of Asia Pacific Central & South America Middle East & AfricaMarket segment by Type, the product can be split into WAAS EGNOS MSAS GAGAN SDCM OthersThe study objectives of this report are: To analyze global Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. To present the Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) 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.There are 14 Chapters to deeply display the global Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) marketChapter 1: To describe Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) Market Overview, Introduction, product scope, market opportunities, Application.Chapter 2: To analyze the Top Manufacturers of Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS), with sales, capacity, production, revenue, and price of Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS), in 2014 and 2019.Chapter 3: Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS), to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers with capacity, production, share by region, sales, revenue, gross margine and market share in 2014 and 2019.Chapter 4: To show the global market by regions, supply, consumption, with sales, export-import, revenue and market share of Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS), for each region, from 2014 Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) to 2019.Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 To analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, with sales, analysis by application, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions.Chapter 10 and 11 To show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, strategy analysis and factor analysis from 2016 Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) to 2019.Chapter 12 Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) market forecast, by regions, type, with sales and revenue, growth rate, price Forecast from 2019 to 2025 Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS).Chapter 13: Connected Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS).Chapter 14: To describe Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.About Us:Research Reports World is the credible source for gaining the market reports that will provide you with the lead your business needs. At Research Reports World, our objective is providing a platform for many top-notch market research firms worldwide to publish their research reports, as well as helping the decision makers in finding most suitable market research solutions under one roof. Our aim is to provide the best solution that matches the exact customer requirements. This drives us to provide you with custom or syndicated research reports.Contact Us:Name: Mr. Ajay MoreEmail: sales@researchreportsworld.comOrganization: Research Reports WorldPhone: +1424 253 0807/+44 203 239 8187Contact Us:Name: Mr. Ajay MoreEmail: sales@researchreportsworld.comOrganization: Research Reports WorldPhone: +1424 253 0807/+44 203 239 8187
Luxury Bedding Market to Grow Rapidly in Future | Global Key Players - Frette Inc., WestPoint Home LLC, Hollander Sleep Products LLC, Crane & Canopy Inc., Sampedro LDA, Anichini Inc., Sleepy's, LLC, Peacock Alley Inc., Fabtex, Inc.

Luxury Bedding

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Luxury bedding is used for decorative purpose for aesthetic beauty and for comfort. Luxury bedding are made of natural materials such as silk and cotton, which are anti-microbial and are free of chemicals. Colored luxury bedding have soft hues made of organic vegetable dyes. Most of the luxury bedding are produced in Europe, where the use of chemical ingredients is restricted.Download PDF Brochure :Most of the luxury bed items are of white and ivory color. Luxury mattresses and pillows are supposed to provide neck and back support during sleep, conforming to body and relieving pressure points. Luxury sheets and bedding also induce deep slumber as they are less abrasive to touch and softer due to better weaving, ample threads, and rawness of materials.The global luxury bedding market was valued at US$ 2.02 billion in 2017, and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 2.6 % in terms of revenue, during 2018 2025. Luxury bedding offers benefits such as peace of mind and aids in deep sleep, which is expected to be major factor for increasing demand among consumers, which in turn drives growth of the global luxury beddings market.Europe accounted for the largest revenue share of 33% in the global luxury bedding market in 2017, and is expected to maintain its dominance over the forecast period. The main factor attributed for growth of Europe in luxury bedding market is due to high presence of key players and new strategies employed by them for business expansion. For instance, in 2017, Eden council company acquired luxury bedding company which has been supplying bedding products to high end hotels in Europe.Asia Pacific is expected to account for significant market share in the global luxury bedding market, in terms of revenue over the forecast period. Launches of new brands by key players and increasing number of start-ups of luxury bedding in the region is expected to drive growth in the market. Key players and startups are employing similar strategies as traditional luxury brands to expand business.Major Players in the Global Luxury Bedding MarketSome of the key players operating in the global luxury bedding market include Frette Inc., WestPoint Home LLC, Hollander Sleep Products LLC, Crane & Canopy Inc., Sampedro LDA, Anichini Inc., Sleepy's, LLC, Peacock Alley Inc., Fabtex, Inc., Luolai Lifestyle Technology Co., Ltd, John Cotton Group Ltd, Anderson Avenue, Eastern Accents, and DownTown Company.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
Global Advanced Protective Armour Market Data Survey Report 2025

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The Global Advanced Protective Armour Market to 2023 offers definite inclusion of guanidine Advanced Protective Armour industry and presents fundamental market patterns. The statistical surveying gives chronicled and estimate advertise size, request and generation figures, end-use request subtleties, value patterns, and friends offers of the main Global Advanced Protective Armour Market makers to give thorough inclusion of the guanidine carbonate.Get sample copy of report:Table of Contents1 Advanced Protective Armour Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Advanced Protective Armour1.2 Advanced Protective Armour Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Advanced Protective Armour Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)1.2.2 Global Advanced Protective Armour Production Market Share by Type (Product Category)1.2.3 Thermal Protective Clothing1.2.4 Chemical Clothing1.2.5 Biological Clothing1.2.6 Ancillary Protection Clothing1.2.7 Ballistic Clothing1.2.8 Other1.3 Global Advanced Protective Armour Segment by Application1.3.1 Advanced Protective Armour Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application1.3.2 Law Enforcement1.3.3 Agriculture1.3.4 Forestry1.3.5 Government1.3.6 Utilities1.3.7 Industrial1.3.8 Other1.4 Global Advanced Protective Armour Market by Region1.4.1 Global Advanced Protective Armour Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect1.4.4 China Status and Prospect1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect1.4.7 India Status and Prospect1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Advanced Protective Armour1.5.1 Global Advanced Protective Armour Revenue Status and Outlook1.5.2 Global Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production Status and Outlook2 Global Advanced Protective Armour Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers2.1.1 Global Advanced Protective Armour Capacity and Share by Manufacturers2.1.2 Global Advanced Protective Armour Production and Share by Manufacturers2.2 Global Advanced Protective Armour Revenue and Share by Manufacturers2.3 Global Advanced Protective Armour Average Price by Manufacturers2.4 Manufacturers Advanced Protective Armour Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Advanced Protective Armour Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Advanced Protective Armour Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Advanced Protective Armour Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region3.1 Global Advanced Protective Armour Capacity and Market Share by Region3.2 Global Advanced Protective Armour Production and Market Share by Region3.3 Global Advanced Protective Armour Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region3.4 Global Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin3.5 North America Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin3.6 Europe Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin3.7 China Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin 3.8 Japan Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin 3.9 Southeast Asia Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin3.10 India Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin4 Global Advanced Protective Armour Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region4.1 Global Advanced Protective Armour Consumption by Region4.2 North America Advanced Protective Armour Production, Consumption, Export, Import4.3 Europe Advanced Protective Armour Production, Consumption, Export, Import4.4 China Advanced Protective Armour Production, Consumption, Export, Import4.5 Japan Advanced Protective Armour Production, Consumption, Export, Import4.6 Southeast Asia Advanced Protective Armour Production, Consumption, Export, Import4.7 India Advanced Protective Armour Production, Consumption, Export, Import5 Global Advanced Protective Armour Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Advanced Protective Armour Production and Market Share by Type5.2 Global Advanced Protective Armour Revenue and Market Share by Type5.3 Global Advanced Protective Armour Price by Type5.4 Global Advanced Protective Armour Production Growth by Type6 Global Advanced Protective Armour Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Advanced Protective Armour Consumption and Market Share by Application6.2 Global Advanced Protective Armour Consumption Growth Rate by Application6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 Global Advanced Protective Armour Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 3M7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Advanced Protective Armour Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 3M Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Kimberly-Clark7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Advanced Protective Armour Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Kimberly-Clark Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Royal TenCate7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Advanced Protective Armour Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Royal TenCate Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Teijin Aramid7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Advanced Protective Armour Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Teijin Aramid Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 BAE Systems7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Advanced Protective Armour Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 BAE Systems Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Armor Source7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Advanced Protective Armour Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Armor Source Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Ballistic Body Armor7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Advanced Protective Armour Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Ballistic Body Armor Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Blucher GMBH7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Advanced Protective Armour Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 Blucher GMBH Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Donaldson7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.9.2 Advanced Protective Armour Product Category, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 Donaldson Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.10 Espin Technologies7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.10.2 Advanced Protective Armour Product Category, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Product A7.10.2.2 Product B7.10.3 Espin Technologies Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin7.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.11 Honeywell Safety7.12 Innotex7.13 Ceradyne7.14 Alliant Techsystems (ATK)7.15 Ansell7.16 E.I.Du Pont De Nemours and Company7.17 Mine Safety Appliances Company (MSA)7.18 Polymer Group (PGI)7.19 Tex-Shield7.20 Rheinmetall AG7.21 Point Blank Enterprises7.22 Morgan Advanced Materials PLC7.23 Eagle Industries7.24 Survitec Group7.25 M Cubed Technologies8 Advanced Protective Armour Manufacturing Cost Analysis8.1 Advanced Protective Armour Key Raw Materials Analysis8.1.1 Key Raw Materials8.1.2 Price Trend of Key Raw Materials8.1.3 Key Suppliers of Raw Materials8.1.4 Market Concentration Rate of Raw Materials8.2 Proportion of Manufacturing Cost Structure8.2.1 Raw Materials8.2.2 Labor Cost8.2.3 Manufacturing Expenses8.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Advanced Protective Armour9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers9.1 Advanced Protective Armour Industrial Chain Analysis9.2 Upstream Raw Materials Sourcing9.3 Raw Materials Sources of Advanced Protective Armour Major Manufacturers9.4 Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders10.1 Marketing Channel10.1.1 Direct Marketing10.1.2 Indirect Marketing10.1.3 Marketing Channel Development Trend10.2 Market Positioning10.2.1 Pricing Strategy10.2.2 Brand Strategy10.2.3 Target Client10.3 Distributors/Traders List11 Market Effect Factors Analysis11.1 Technology Progress/Risk11.1.1 Substitutes Threat11.1.2 Technology Progress in Related Industry11.2 Consumer Needs/Customer Preference Change11.3 Economic/Political Environmental Change12 Global Advanced Protective Armour Market12.1 Global Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production, Revenue12.1.1 Global Advanced Protective Armour Capacity, Production and Growth Rate12.1.2 Global Advanced Protective Armour Revenue and Growth Rate12.1.3 Global Advanced Protective Armour Price and Trend12.2 Global Advanced Protective Armour Production, Consumption , Import and Export Forecast by Region12.2.1 North America Advanced Protective Armour Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import12.2.2 Europe Advanced Protective Armour Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import12.2.3 China Advanced Protective Armour Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import12.2.4 Japan Advanced Protective Armour Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import12.2.5 Southeast Asia Advanced Protective Armour Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import12.2.6 India Advanced Protective Armour Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import12.3 Global Advanced Protective Armour Production, Revenue and Price Forecast by Type12.4 Global Advanced Protective Armour Consumption Forecast by Application13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 Appendix14.1 Methodology/Research Approach14.1.1 Research Programs/Design14.1.2 Market Size Estimation14.1.3 Market Breakdown and Data Triangulation14.2 Data Source14.2.1 Secondary Sources14.2.2 Primary Sources14.3 DisclaimerBy this report online:About Market Density:Market Density is your one stop market research and industry analysis reports' library providing business data and intelligence information on thousands of micro markets with global as well as regional coverage.Market Density offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Market Density understands how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available.Contact Us:Email: Support@marketdensity.comWebsite:Phone: +1 669 264 16564340 Stevens Creek Blvd,Suite # 172,San Jose, CA 95129
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Pakistan rejects charges, denies any link with Pulwama attack

International

oi-Vikas SV

Islamabad, Feb 14: Pakistan on Thursday issued a statement saying that "elements in the Indian media and government" are trying to blame Pakistan for Pulwama terrorist attack without investigations. Pakistan condemened the dastardly attack which left at least 40 CRPF personnel martyred and called the attack in South Kashmir as "matter of grave concern".

"Attack in Pulwama in Kashmir is a matter of grave concern. We have always condemned acts of violence anywhere in the world. We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations," reports quoted Pakistan Foreign Office as saying.

India had earlier lashed out at Pakistan for providing safe haven to Jaish chief Maulana Masood Azhar.

In the wake of dastardly attack on CRPF convoy in South Kashmir's Pulwama which left around 40 jawans martyred, India reiterated its demand that the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar be declared as terrorist.

[From mason to fidayeen: Why Jaish picked a local for the Pulwama suicide attack]

It was Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist who rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the bus in which the CRPF personnel were travelling. The vehicle belonged to 54 battalion of the CRPF. The blast reduced the bus to a mangled heap of iron and body parts could be seen strewn around the area.

"This terror group is led by international terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by Government of Pakistan to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity," MEA statement said.

Condemning the Pulwama terror attack, which left around 40 jawans martyred, in strong terms, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday confirmed that the attack was carried by Pakistan backed terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). The Home Minister said the government will not hesitate to take any action.

['Sacrifices of security personnel won't go in vain': PM Modi on 'dastardly' Pulwama attack]

"The attack was carried out by Pakistan backed Jaish e Mohammed. A strong reply will be given and I assure the people of the country this. The country pays tribute to the brave jawans who were martyred. Whatever response needs to be given, we will not hesitate," Singh told news agency ANI.

Rajnath Singh will go to Srinagar tomorrow. A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security will be held tomorrow in the national capital. NIA and NSG teams will also head for Kashmir to aid the police in probe.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday condemned the terrorist attack at a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama in strong words and said "sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain".

[Pulwama attack: Around 40 CRPF jawans martyred; NSG, NIA investigators to join probe]

Around 40 jawans were killed and several injured when a suicide bomber rammed a Scorpio car laden with over 300 kg of explosives into a CRPF convoy in Awantipora town of Pulwama district today. The Jaish-e-Mohammad bomber, a Kashmiri local who carried out a suicide strike on a bus carrying CRPF jawans, had loaded his vehicle with over 300 kilograms of explosives.
China again declines to back India's request on JeM Chief Masood Azhar

International

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Beijing, Feb 15: China on Friday condemned the Pulwama terror attack carried out by a Jaish suicide bomber but once again declined to back India's appeal to list the Pakistan based terror group's chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN.

"China has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families," spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang told a media briefing here.

"We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all forms of terrorism. We hope relevant regional countries will cooperate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability," Geng said.

Pulwama attack: Time to break the block and have China's bouncer, Maulana Azhar banned

When asked about China's stand on the listing of Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council, he said: "As for the issue of listing, I could tell you that the 1267 Committee of Security Council has a clear stipulation on the listing and procedure of the terrorist organisations". "JeM has been included in the Security Council terrorism sanctions list.

China will continue to handle the relevant sanctions issue in a constructive and responsible manner," he said in an apparent reference to External Affairs Ministry's appeal to all members of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as a global terrorist. China, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC and a close ally of Pakistan, has repeatedly foiled India's bid to list Azhar as a global terrorist, saying there is no consensus in the top organ of the world body on this issue.

Pulwama payback: India withdraws Most Favoured Nation status given to Pakistan

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.
When oppression becomes unbearable, Pulwama happens, justifies senior Pakistani journalist

India

oi-Shubham Ghosh

New Delhi, Feb 15: As India mourned the horrific suicide terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday, February 14, that killed over 40 CRPF jawans, a senior Pakistani journalist came up with his viewpoint on the tragedy that left the Indian side upset.

Ejaz Haider, a senior editor and security affairs expert, took to Twitter hours after the attack saying those who believed that no one should lose his/her life will not celebrate the deaths of the Indian soldiers, adding that India and the Narendra Modi-Ajit Doval establishment needed to realise that when oppression becomes unbearable, things like Pulwama attack follow.

J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik says 'Pakistan is talking nonsense'

In another tweet, Haider said the 22-year-old suicide bomber, Adil Dar Shaheed, avenged the daily oppression and humiliation of Kashmiris by sacrificing his life and killing soldiers. He also warned saying India needs to begin the negotiation seriously on the right to self-determination which he called a "peremptory norm".

those of us who believe that no one should lose his/her life will not celebrate the killing of those soldiers. but, equally, India and its Modi-Duval establishment needs to realise that when oppression becomes unbearable, there are consequences. and this is what happens. #Kashmir  EH (@ejazhaider) February 14, 2019

Adil Dar Shaheed avenges everyday oppression and humiliations of Kashmiris by sacrificing his life and taking on #CRPF soldiers (hard target) by killing them. it's still time for India to begin negotiating seriously on the right to self-determination, a peremptory norm.  EH (@ejazhaider) February 14, 2019

Reactions came in sharply after Haider posted his tweets. Here are some of them:

Not surprising to see Pakistani journalists supporting Islamist jihadi terrorism. This is why Pakistan remains the biggest factory of blood-thirsty moronic savages.  Aarti Tikoo Singh (@AartiTikoo) February 15, 2019

Not surprised! thought you were one of the decent, saner voices of Pakistan but your true nature comes across in this tweet.Wait for the payback because respond we will!  Navin (@CKNavinKishore1) February 15, 2019

We will hit back and hit back hard .. you havent forgotten 1971 n will never ever forget 2019  Subhash (@subhash_b11) February 14, 2019

Mr. Haider...its not your fault. Your DNA is such! Fear the day when your entire terror producing nation will be swiftly and surely annihilated. Kyuki tum logo ke paap ka ghada bhar chuka hai. #Pulwama  WassupIndia (@IndiaWassup) February 15, 2019

Same goes for you. Hope your nation is wiped off map someday.  Rohit (@IRohitBatra) February 15, 2019

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 10:49 [IST]
Dogs must be able to listen to commands and perform commands without treats, walk loosely on a leash and get along with other dogs and people. They must also be at least one year of age, free of skin problems and be current on all vaccinations.
By Devdutt Pattanaik Economic Times

Published on 9th February, 2019, in Economic Times.

One of the things that you notice when you travel to countries like Australia and Singapore is the obsession with rules and regulations, and the rigorous implementation of systems. A car parked in the wrong place is immediately fined, not using seat belts in the backseat, is immediately fined.

The system is so strong that people live in constant fear of violating rules that result in an expensive fine. Consequently, we find a highly compliant society, where through discipline and rigorous implementation of rules, we have an organised society. It does not necessarily imply that the people are inherently compliant, it means they have been domesticated by a stringent application of rules.

In countries like India, it is almost impossible to implement such levels of compliance without having an extremely authoritarian regime, where the central command decides how everybody is supposed to live  the kind which exists in China today.

India, being a democratic country, is full of diversity and naturally, finds it difficult to achieve that level of compliance. In fact, a German expat once commented that getting people to work together, in an Indian office meeting, is like trying to herd cats, for nobody seems to respect time.

If we compare the eastern and western part of the world, we realise the value placed on discipline and compliance. Something that is missing in India. The Western world, which includes the Middle Eastern States, Europe and America, has implemented, over a thousand years, the practice of Abrahamic religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In all three religions, every devout person is expected to visit a place of worship, once a week, Friday in case of Muslims, Saturday in case of Jews and Sunday in case of Christians.

So, for a thousand years, people were expected to follow a particular rule. This creates a habit in people for following rules and thereby, the construction of a culture of compliance, in the Western world.

You find a similar attitude of celebration in the value of compliance in China, through the Confucian system which valued obedience. In it, the subject is considered virtuous, if he obeys the ruler, the woman is virtuous if she obeys the man, and the young are virtuous if they obey the elders. Thus, a system of clear hierarchy is established and one is celebrated for following the rules. Thus, culture becomes organised, domesticated, venerated and glamorized.

Thus, in the Oriental world of China and the occidental world of the West, rules and rituals have created a culture of compliance, that is evident even today, when one visits these cities. And in each case, it is through a system of stringent discipline and implementation of punishment.

In the West, the religious doctrine says that those who follow the rules, like halaal, will go to heaven, Jannat. Those who dont follow Haram or break the rules will go to hell, Jahannum. This model of compliance is found even in corporations where, if you follow the rules and are complaint, you are considered favourably for following the values of the company and, eventually, get a bonus and a promotion; while if you defy the rules, you are likely to be reprimanded, disciplined, receive a memo or even be sacked.

India, by contrast, doesnt really follow a compliance model. There is no single Hindu ritual that all Hindus are expected to follow. All Hindus follow different gurus, different deities, different rituals, different philosophies. If at all, you find a level of compliance, you would find this in caste-based groups, as can be seen from the Patel agitation and the Maratha agitation. You find this in communal structures and these communities, or caste-based organisations, many a time, have become vote banks.

Such compliance is also found in gurudoms, with the gurus decision being followed blindly by his followers, and in religious sects and cults, where following the authority is considered virtuous. Such pockets of compliance do exist, but you dont find an overall submission in India, which explains why India seems to be a land where people have to be herded like cats to get work done.
South Africa: E Cape's job creation efforts reaping rewards

Despite the perennial challenges of a constrained global and domestic economy, a tight fiscal environment, and a long drought season, the Eastern Cape economy has made a positive contribution towards creating employment and improving lives.

These is according to Eastern Cape Premier Phumulo Masualle who delivered the State of the Province Address on Friday.

The provinces employment drive was boosted by its two Industrial Development Zones (IDZs) and the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC). Combined, the three entities attracted investments of above R30 billion, creating over 29 000 jobs during the 2018/19 financial year.

These investments clearly demonstrate confidence in our economy, said Masualle.

These investments include foreign direct investment from a range of companies, including the Chinese motor vehicle manufacturing company BAIC, Goodyear South Africa, Yekani Manufacturing, Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen and South African Breweries.

Various road network improvement projects also contributed towards creating jobs and benefitting SMMEs in the province.

During the financial year, the province partnered with South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) to rehabilitate the N10 to Alexandria, Peddie to East London, the R58 between Aliwal North, Lady Grey, Barkley East and Elliot, and the R63 between Bedford, Adelaide, King Williams Town and Komga.

Many will testify to the improved condition of the R61 between Mthatha and Bizana which made the province a construction site. We have spent more than R850 million on access roads and bridges for increased access to schools, health institutions, tourism entities and agricultural facilities.

As we speak, over 3 500 km of gravelled roads in the province were re-gravelled, while over 75 000 km of gravel roads were bladed. Furthermore, in partnership with the Department of Defence, five bridges in the Bawa village of the Mnquma Local Municipality were replaced, he said.

Such road infrastructure work, he said, benefited over 100 SMMEs and created about 2 000 employment opportunities.

In his speech Masualle decried the downgrading of Mthatha Airport from a CAT 4 level airport to a CAT 3 level, saying the decision had affected the businesses and employment in the area.

Since that fateful decision the provincial government responded with speed to fulfil the compliance requirements of the airport in line with SACAA [South African Civil Aviation Authority] regulations, he said.

Masualle said the province was also able to create jobs in the energy sector and tourism sectors.

In recognition of the crucial role of SMMEs in growing the economy, through the Eastern Cape Development Corporation, we have provided financial support to the tune of R578.2 million.

"Furthermore, through the Jobs Stimulus Fund, we disbursed R26.3 million, thus saving 2632 jobs.

"Further non-financial support was provided to cooperatives and SMMEs. Our progressive government policy of 30 day payment period has also been welcomed by the business community, he said.

Masualle did, however, concede that there is still a lot of work required to monitor and ensure that it is effective and achieves its intended objectives of promoting business functionality and sustainability.

Augmenting all the above efforts for job creation is the Expanded Public Works Programme, through which we created more than 430,000 temporal work opportunities, benefiting 61% women, 7% youth and 1% people with disability, he said.

Since 2014, Masualle said, the province has prioritised agriculture which is regarded as a significant economic game changer.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-02-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Most Favoured Nation: What does Pakistan stand to lose?

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

New Delhi, Feb 15: India has withdrawn the 'Most Favoured Nation' status granted to Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack in which 37 CRPF jawans were martyred.

What is 'Most Favoured Nation' status?

Under the WTO agreements, countries cannot normally discriminate between their trading partners. Grant someone a special favour (such as a lower customs duty rate for one of their products) and you have to do the same for all other WTO members.

This principle is known as most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment. It is so important that it is the first article of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which governs trade in goods. MFN is also a priority in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) (Article 2) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) (Article 4), although in each agreement the principle is handled slightly differently. Together, those three agreements cover all three main areas of trade handled by the WTO.

Post Pulwama attack, India to withdraw Most Favoured Nation status given to Pakistan

National treatment: Treating foreigners and locals equally Imported and locally-produced goods should be treated equally - at least after the foreign goods have entered the market. The same should apply to foreign and domestic services, and to foreign and local trademarks, copyrights and patents. This principle of "national treatment" (giving others the same treatment as one's own nationals) is also found in all the three main WTO agreements (Article 3 of GATT, Article 17 of GATS and Article 3 of TRIPS), although once again the principle is handled slightly differently in each of these.

Treating foreigners and locals equally Imported and locally-produced goods should be treated equally - at least after the foreign goods have entered the market. The same should apply to foreign and domestic services, and to foreign and local trademarks, copyrights and patents. This principle of "national treatment" (giving others the same treatment as one's own nationals) is also found in all the three main WTO agreements (Article 3 of GATT, Article 17 of GATS and Article 3 of TRIPS), although once again the principle is handled slightly differently in each of these.

When did India grant MFN status to Pakistan?

India granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, a year after the formation of WTO. After the Uri attack in 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the MFN treatment accorded to Pakistan. Pakistan still hasn't granted India with MFN status.

What did India get?

Pakistan came up with a globally popular Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) agreement. The reason Pakistan has chosen to adopt the NDMA with India is due to political mistrust and a history of border conflicts.

Pakistan allows only 137 products to be exported from India through Wagah/Attari border land route. The bilateral trade between the countries stood at USD 2.28 billion in 2016-17. India mainly exports cotton, dyes, chemicals, vegetables and iron and steel while it imports fruits, cement, leather, chemicals and spices.

Most Favoured Nation status to Pak stands withdrawn



MEA will engage with international community to ensure that convention on international terrorism is adopted



Security forces will ensure those responsible for this heinous attack pay a heavy price: Union Minister @arunjaitley pic.twitter.com/4IX7NrUvC4  PIB India (@PIB_India) February 15, 2019
We're with Govt, security forces: Congress

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

New Delhi, Feb 15: Congress party extended support to the government of India and security forces in the wake of the ghastly attack on CRPF jawans in Pulwama.

In a press conference Congress President Rahul Gandhi said, "This is a terrible tragedy. This type of violence done against our soldiers is absolutely disgusting. We are all standing together with our jawans. No force can divide or break this country."

"This is a time of mourning, sadness, and respect. We are fully supporting the government of India and our security forces. We are not going to get into any other conversation apart from this, " said Gandhi.

Most Favoured Nation: What does Pakistan stand to lose?

Also, Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condoled the death of CRPF jawans. Manmohan Singh said, "Today is the day of mourning. Our country has lost close to 40 armed forces jawans and our foremost duty is to convey to their families that we are with them. We shall never compromise with the terrorist forces."
Revenge for Pulwama: Let us begin with the separatists says Amar Bhushan

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 15: Following a high-level meeting in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, the Indian government said that it had withdrawn the most favoured nation status given to Pakistan. With Kashmir witnessing one of the most ghastly attacks, there is considerable pressure under the government to act against Pakistan.

There is already talk that there could be another surgical strike in the days to come. However, the experts feel that a surgical strike would not happen immediately as the element of surprise would be lacking.

Why the decision to allow civilian vehicles along with Army convoys was changed

Former officer with the Research and Analysis Wing, Amar Bhushan speaks with OneIndia about the possible options before the government to avenge the attack at Pulwama, which claimed the lives of nearly 44 CRPF jawans.

Bhushan says that what pains him is that we are following the same old policy on Kashmir with a bit more aggressiveness. He says that withdrawing MFN alone does not solve the problem. He says that the government should start by withdrawing the security that has been given to the separatists. All of them should be arrested and lodged in jails down South. Bhushan further says that this policy of too much democracy in Jammu and Kashmir will not solve the problem.

He also said that all benefits should be withdrawn from the separatists and they should be let to fend for themselves. Let us not kid ourselves and say that they work as our sources. That is a lame excuse to give, Amar Bhushan also says.

He goes on to add that he wished that this government had introduced a Bill in Parliament withdrawing Article 371. The Bill should have been passed in the Lok Sabha and had been defeated in the Rajya Sabha, a joint session of Parliament should have been convened. I am aware that the matter would have gone to court, but a bold statement on the intent of the government would have been made.

Pulwama payback: India withdraws Most Favoured Nation status given to Pakistan

I feel that the government would have earned a lot of good-will had the issue relating to Article 371 was taken up. On such issues, it is important to be a Napolean rather than a Nero.

The other option would be to go for all-out anti-terror operations with a more sustained effort. More Army can be brought into Jammu and Kashmir for this purpose, Bhushan also adds. It is also important that we suspend all relations with Pakistan, Amar Bhushan also adds.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 14:00 [IST]
RDX not used in Pulwama attack, suggests preliminary probe

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Feb 15: The preliminary probe into the Pulwama terror attack that killed at least 44 CRPF Jawans in South Kashmir's Pulwama district, suggested that highly explosive substance - RDX - may not have been used.

Initial investigation has suggested that instead of RDX, ordinary chemicals, which are used in making fertilisers, were used to make explosives in the Pulwama attack.

The info regarding the nature of the explosives used in attack emerged after forensic experts from the central probe agencies like NIA and the NSG collected samples from the attack site in Pulwama on Friday.

Why the decision to allow civilian vehicles along with Army convoys was changed

It can also be recalled that RDX - the Research Department Explosive - has not been used in any terrorist attack in Kashmir in over a decade and the terror outfits have largely relied on Ammonium Nitrate based explosives in Kashmir in recent years.

If security agencies confirm that RDX has been used then it must be ascertained how it entered Kashmir. Whether it was smuggled across the border, or was it made locally. If made locally then how were the raw materials procured? These are few of the questions that the probing agencies will have to ponder over.

What is RDX?

RDX is an organic compound, a white solid without smell or taste, widely used as an explosive. RDX is an organic compound, a white solid without smell or taste, widely used as an explosive. A more powerful explosive than TNT, it was used widely in World War II and remains common in military applications. It is considered as a military grade explosive. RDX was widely used during World War II, often in explosive mixtures with TNT such as Torpex, Composition B, Cyclotols, and H6. RDX, when exploded in air, has about 1.5 times the explosive energy of TNT per unit weight and about 2.0 times per unit volume.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 17:55 [IST]
Pulwama suicide attack: Both IB and police had warned of Jaish led strike

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Srinagar, Feb 15: At least four Intelligence Bureau warnings were issued before the deadly attack at Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir in which nearly 44 CRPF jawans were killed.

Apart from the IB warnings, the J&K police had shared an input, which was uploaded on a private Twitter account, a few days back in which the Jaish-e-Mohammad threatened to carry out a suicide attack on the security forces.

Pulwama attack: Over 40 CRPF jawans martyred; NSG, NIA investigators to join probe

The tweet shared by the police carried a 33 second video of troops in Somalia being attacked by terrorists in a similar manner. A similar modus operandi was used by the Jaish terrorist, Adil Hussain Dar at Pulwama.

The twitter handle "313_get" is not open for public viewing. It carried a threat "InshaAllah...its will same in Kashmir...endian are flying in parts...InshaAllah (sic)".

The twitter handle is being operated using the virtual private network making it difficult for the security agencies to establish the location of its operator, police officials said.

The same was shared during the meeting held two days back and all security formations were alerted about a possible terror attack similar to that carried in the twitter handle.

Jammu and Kashmir police had also prepared a dummy video to explain how terrorists may possibly carry out such an attack, the officials said.

Pulwama suicide strike worst since 2001 J&K legislative assembly fidayeen bombing

In addition to this there were both general and specific warnings issued about a big strike by the Jaish-e-Mohammad. IB officials had also warned that the terror group would carry out something big to commemorate the death anniversaries of both Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 5:36 [IST]
Pulwama Revenge: 'Ready to sacrifice another son', says father of martyred CRPF Jawan

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Feb 15: Father of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan Ratan Thakur who was martyred in on February 14, in Pulwama terror attack has stated that he would not hesitate to send his another son to fight for India.

Ratan Thakur was among the 40 soldiers who were martyred in Jammu and Kashmir after Jaish-e-Mohammed attacked a CRPF convoy. Dozens of jawans were seriously injured.

Ratan's father, who stays in Bhagalpur, Bihar, said he lost his son in service of the nation. ''I have sacrificed a son in Mother India's service, I will send my other son as well to fight, ready to give him up for Mother India, but Pakistan must be given a befitting reply,'' he said.

CRPF Personnel Ratan Thakur's (who lost his life in #PulwamaTerrorAttack ) father in Bhagalpur: I have sacrificed a son in Mother India's service, I will send my other son as well to fight, ready to give him up for Mother India, but Pakistan must be given a befitting reply.#Bihar pic.twitter.com/rI6cM38Agh  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Meanwhile, mortal remains of the soldiers have been brought to New Delhi.

Revenge for Pulwama: Let us begin with the separatists says Amar Bhushan

The US, in a statement on Thursday evening (14 Feb) expressed grave concern against the attack. China again declined to back India's appeal to list JeM chief Masood Azhar as global terrorist by the UN following the Pulwama attack. Beijing had earlier today condemned the terror attack, saying it was deeply shocked over the incident and firmly opposed to terrorism.

At least 44 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed his SUV, laden with 300 kilograms of explosives, into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Kashmir's Pulwama district. Scores were injured in the Kashmir terror attack.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 14:25 [IST]
In Pics: PM Modi meets J&K Leaders to chalk out future course of action

At all party meet, PM Modi says priority is to strengthen democracy at grassroots in J&K

Pulwama attack updates: Police in Pulwama appeals locals to leave encounter site

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Feb 17: The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has called for a nationwide trade bandh or shutdown on Monday (February 18). The bandh has been called to express solidarity with the families of security personnel who were killed in the Pulwama terror attack.

The traders body also said that the Bharat Trade Bandh across the country will be peaceful and only business establishments will remain closed. Essential items and public transport have been kept out of bandh.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the soldiers killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, which were brought to Delhi on Friday evening, have started reaching their respective hometowns.

At least 44 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed his SUV, laden with explosives, into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Kashmir's Pulwama district. Scores were injured in the Kashmir terror attack.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed the responsibility for the attack. The suicide bomber was identified as Adil Ahmed Dar, native of Kakapora tehsil in Pulwama district, who officials said joined the terror group in 2018.

Pulwama suicide attack: Both IB and police had warned of Jaish led strike

Here are the updates after terrorist attack on CRPF convoy at Pulwama:
In Pics: PM Modi meets J&K Leaders to chalk out future course of action

At all party meet, PM Modi says priority is to strengthen democracy at grassroots in J&K

Pulwama attack: CRPF vows to avenge the heinous attack

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

New Delhi, Feb 15: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) vowed to avenge the ghastly attack on jawans at Pulwama, jammu and Kashmir.

CRPF tweeted, "WE WILL NOT FORGET, WE WILL NOT FORGIVE: We salute our martyrs of Pulwama attack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged."

Pulwama suicide attack: Both IB and police had warned of Jaish led strike

On Thursday, an explosives laden truck rammed into a CRPF convoy in Pulwama outside Srinagar, killing 37 soldiers in one of the biggest terror attacks in recent years.

WE WILL NOT FORGET, WE WILL NOT FORGIVE:We salute our martyrs of Pulwama attack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged. pic.twitter.com/jRqKCcW7u8  CRPF (@crpfindia) February 15, 2019

Earlier in the morning, after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India had withdrawn Pakistan's most favoured nation status and was working on a plan to isolate the country internationally in the wake of the attacks. "The most favoured nation status to Pakistan stands revoked," Jaitley said.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh accompanied by Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, leave for Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir for the wreath laying ceremony. They would convene an all-party meeting most likely on Saturday to brief political parties on the incident so that the nation speaks in one voice on the issue.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 13:40 [IST]
Keep the faith, we are with her in this struggle: Subramanian Swamy to Kangana Ranaut

Pulwama attack: 'BJP is capable of re-tooling itself and smash Pakistan', says Subramanian Swamy

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Feb 15: BJP MP Subramanian Swamy said that Kashmir and it's full fledged recovery "both territorial and peace restoration" should be the only issue in this 2019 Lok Sabha election. He added that BJP has failed in the Valley.

[Pulwama attack updates: PM Modi chairs high-level meeting amid calls for Surgical strike 2.0]

Taking to Twitter, Swamy said,''Kashmir and it's full fledged recovery both territorial and peace restoration should be the only issue in this 2019 LS election. Ask for a mandate for it.''

''BJP have failed in Kashmir and failed to properly retaliate. But BJP is capable of re-tooling itself and smash Pakistan. The opposition is in a surrender mood since long. That is the bottom line in this election. Either this possibility with BJP or give up Kashmir,'' he further said.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a suicide bomber from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district on Thursday. PM Modi is holding the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on the attack shortly, while Home Minister Rajnath Singh is schedule to visit the Valley after the meeting. All ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party have also cancelled their political rallies for Friday.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 10:28 [IST]
Pulwama attack: 80 kg high-grade RDX used by Jaish terrorist

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Feb 15: High-grade RDX explosive, weighing about 80 kilogram, was used in a suicide attack on a CRPF bus that killed 40 security personnel in one of the deadliest terror strikes on security forces in the Kashmir Valley in three decades, officials said on Friday.

The attack in Pulwama has prompted the CRPF to tweak the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the movement of its convoys in the future, by providing additional security personnel in the buses that transport troops to and from the Kashmir valley.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh had also said in Srinagar that civilian traffic movement during plying of convoys will be restricted. The officials said a post-blast investigation conducted by security agencies has found that "high-grade RDX" of about 80 kilogram was detonated in the blast that was carried out by a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist after he rammed his explosive laden SUV into the ill-fated bus--HR 49 F 0637--from the left side.

[Pulwama attack: Time to break the block and have China's bouncer, Maulana Azhar banned]

The suicide attack took place at the 272nd milestone on National Highway near Latoomode in Pulwama at about 3:33 pm. The officials said the scattered remains of the bus, reduced to blackened bare frames after the blast, does not reflect that an improvised explosive device (IED) was used to target it. The fatal damage can be wreaked by a better grade of explosive like RDX, they said.

The attacked bus was the fifth in the convoy of 78 vehicles which also included as many as 16 bullet-proof protection bunker vehicles that had joined the convoy an hour back from the last halt spot of Qazigund to guard troop movement. The suicide attack was a novel way to ambush the convoy by ramming an explosives laden vehicle, leaving little for the mobile contingent's protection units to do, the official said.

The terrorist drove the vehicle on the highway from a link road on the Kakapora-Lelhar side and was moving parallel to the bus belonging to the 76th battalion, and the investigators suspect the explosion was triggered, killing all 39 occupants.

Assistant Sub Inspector Mohan Lal, deployed on the highway as part of the road opening party (ROP), also got trapped in the blast and was the 40th trooper to be killed. The last such convoy had moved from Jammu to Kashmir on February 4 in 91 vehicles and had 2,871 personnel but all went well that day, they said.

[China again declines to back India's request on JeM Chief Masood Azhar]

The movement of convoys was shut for the last few days due to bad weather in the valley.

The killed personnel hailed from Uttar Pradesh (12), Rajasthan (5), Punjab (4), West Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Bihar two each and one each from Assam, Kerala, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. There were 27 constables in service profiles of combat, cook, driver and bugler, 12 head constables and an ASI.

PTI
In the nearly five-mile stretch on Half Day between Rand Road in Lake Zurich and Waukegan Road in Bannockburn, Howard said there are no stations on the south side of the road. The only one is a BP on the northwest corner of Half Day and Milwaukee.
Pulwama attack: 7 persons detained, planner said to be identified

India

oi-Vikas SV

Srinagar, Feb 15: Seven persons have reportedly been detained from Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama in connection with Thursday's terrorist attack on CRPF in which over 40 jawans were martyred, said reports.

The Jammu and Kashmir police has detained seven persons from Pulwama district in south Kashmir, a PTI report quoted officials as saying on Friday.

The overall planning of the terror strike is believed to be done by a Pakistani national, Kamran of JeM, who has been operating and moving in the Pulwama, Awantipora and Tral areas of south Kashmir.

The youths were detained from Pulwama and Awantipora during the night on suspicion of links with the planning of the suicide attack, the first-of-its-kind in which a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist detonated an explosive-laden vehicle near a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus.

A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team, along with explosives and forensic experts, collected the materials required for a forensic evaluation of the scene of crime. Considering the status of the scene of crime, the team will continue with sifting of the material on Saturday as well. The outcome will be made known once the analysis is over.

The "fidayeen" (suicide attacker) was identified as Adil Ahmad from Kakapora in Pulwama. He had joined the JeM in 2018.

According to initial investigations, the plan for the terror strike was hatched in the Midoora area of Tral. The police are also looking for another local JeM overground worker, who was instrumental in arranging the explosives.

The martyred CRPF personnel hailed from Uttar Pradesh (12), Rajasthan (5), Punjab (4), West Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Bihar two each and one each from Assam, Kerala, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. There were 27 constables in service profiles of combat, cook, driver and bugler, 12 head constables and an ASI.

OneIndia News with PTI inputs

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 23:19 [IST]
Pulwama payback: India withdraws Most Favoured Nation status given to Pakistan

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Feb 15: The government on Friday has also announced it will withdraw the most favoured nation tag given to Pakistan, effectively closing down trade further between the two countries.

Union Ministers Arun Jaitley said that India will withdraw most favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. He also said that People who are responsible and have supported this act of terrorism will have to pay a heavy price for it.

Speaking to media, Jaitley said,''CCS observed 2 minutes silence in memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice for the country and placed on record the gratitude of the whole nation, and expressed condolences for the bereaved families.''

''MEA will initiate all possible diplomatic steps which have to be taken to ensure the complete isolation from the international community from Pakistan of which incontrovertible evidence is available of having a direct hand in this gruesome attack,'' he said.

Pulwama attack: Time to break the block and have China's bouncer, Maulana Azhar banned

Meanwhile, Home Minister Rajnath Singh will shortly be leaving for the site where Jaish e Mohammed (JeM) militants targetted the CRPF convoy in Kashmir's Awantipura. Experts of anti-terror commando force the National Security Guard (NSG) and investigators of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have left for Jammu and Kashmir.

At least 39 CRPF personnel were killed and many others were injured in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in. Over 2,500 jawans were part of the 70-vehicle CRPF contingent of its three battalions.
Please sanitise area properly IEDs will be used, an intel warning that fell on deaf ears

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Srinagar, Feb 15: Before occupying your place of deployment, please sanitise the area properly as there are inputs of use of IEDs (improvised explosive device). Matter most urgent.

This was a note by the Intelligence dated February 8 2019 and was issued to the Jammu and Kashmir police.

A 35 kilometre stretch on Srinagar-Jammu highway which has become a death-trap for our jawans

In addition to this there were many more inputs shared by the Intelligence about the possibility of a deadly attack by the Jaish-e-Mohammad to commemorate the death anniversaries of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat.

At least four Intelligence Bureau warnings were issued before the deadly attack at Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir in which nearly 44 CRPF jawans were killed.

Apart from the IB warnings, the J&K police had shared an input, which was uploaded on a private Twitter account, a few days back in which the Jaish-e-Mohammad threatened to carry out a suicide attack on the security forces.

The tweet shared by the police carried a 33 second video of troops in Somalia being attacked by terrorists in a similar manner. A similar modus operandi was used by the Jaish terrorist, Adil Hussain Dar at Pulwama.

From 0 in 2016 to 60 in 2019: Jaish went from dormant to deadly in 3 years

The twitter handle "313_get" is not open for public viewing. It carried a threat "InshaAllah...its will same in Kashmir...endian are flying in parts...InshaAllah (sic)".

The twitter handle is being operated using the virtual private network making it difficult for the security agencies to establish the location of its operator, police officials said.

The same was shared during the meeting held two days back and all security formations were alerted about a possible terror attack similar to that carried in the twitter handle.

Jammu and Kashmir police had also prepared a dummy video to explain how terrorists may possibly carry out such an attack, the officials said.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 7:08 [IST]
Parcel meant for Chaina, Punjab, lands in China; thanks to postal service

India

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Chandigarh, Feb 15: What we call this? A comedy of error?

Balwinder Kaur of Chandigarh had posted a parcel of medicines for her ailing mother who resides in Chaina near Faridkot in Punjab. Kaur was told the parcel will take two to three working days to reach the destination which it never did. After almost two weeks, it came back to Kaur herself.

Chandigarh's General Post Office in Sector 17 sent the parcel of the crucial medicines for blood to Beijing, China, instead of the given Chaina in Punjab.

Also Read | Courier boy finds new born baby in parcel sent to orphange

Kaur and his family were so upset with the blunder since the parcel included life-saving drugs that they approached the consumer forum and lodged a complaint. The GPO at Sector 17 has been ordered to pay Rs 5,000 to Kaur for 'deficiency in services'.

The parcel that Kaur posted for her mother on January 18 had the full postal address on it: "China, Tehsil Jaito, District Faridkot, Punjab".

When she tracked the progress of the delivery of the consignment with the docket number provided by the postal department, she was in for shock. The parcel had left the shores of India and landed in China because of the post office's goofup.

As per a report by The Indian Express, the package was sent from Chandigarh to Delhi from where it left for China and it all happened between January 19 and 27. And after all the drama, it came back to Chandigarh a day before February started.

However, the National Sorting Hub department of the said GPO at Sector 17 refused to apologise and said postal offices are exempted from any liability for loss, wrong delivery and damage of goods.

It was only after a through probe that the forum asked the GPO to pay Rs 2,500 to Kaur as compensation and an additional Rs 2,500 as litigation cost.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 11:23 [IST]
Overwhelmed by grief and rage, martyrs families protest outside Pak embassy

India

oi-Vikas SV

New Delhi, Feb 15: Overwhelmed by grief and rage, a group of family members of the martyrs reportedly staged a protest outside the Pakistan Embassy in New Delhi. The group that calls itself Swabhiman Desh Ka demanded strong action against Pakistan.

In one of the most ghastly attacks, nearly 44 CRPF jawans were martyred, after a suicide bomber of the Jaish-e-Mohammad rammed into the bus in which they were travelling. Adil Hussain Dar, a resident of Pulwama, Kashmir was identified as the suicide bomber. He said in a video that was released by the Jaish after the attack that by the time people would watch it, he would be dead. He also said that he had joined the Jaish a year back.

[For Pakistan to have a deniability factor, Jaish recruited local for Pulwama attack]

Following a high-level meeting in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, the Indian government said that it had withdrawn the most favoured nation status given to Pakistan. With Kashmir witnessing one of the most ghastly attacks, there is considerable pressure under the government to act against Pakistan.

In Chakkashi Rajbangshipara village of Howrah district of West Bengal, the family of Bablu Santra, one of the martyrs, tries to come to terms with his death in the horrific suicide bombing on Thursday. They demand that the killing be avenged and perpetrators taught a lesson they don't forget, reported India Today.

Santra is survived by his wife, a four-year-old daughter and mother, the martyred jawan's nephew Raghubir Mondal said Friday after receiving the news of his death from CRPF authorities by phone.

[Revenge for Pulwama: Let us begin with the separatists says Amar Bhushan]

In Uttar Pradesh's Deoria, the native place of 30-year-old CRPF jawan Vijay Kumar Maurya who was killed in the Pulwama terror attack, a proud father seeks a befitting reply to Pakistan, the report further said.

Father of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan Ratan Thakur who was martyred in on February 14, in Pulwama terror attack stated that he would not hesitate to send his another son to fight for India. Ratan's father, who stays in Bhagalpur, Bihar, said he lost his son in service of the nation.

Union Minister Arun Jaitley, who resumed charge as finance minister on Friday, said the government will initiate all possible diplomatic steps to ensure Pakistan's complete isolation from the international community for having a direct hand in this attack.
Not a single tweet on Pulwama attack from US President Trump; Americas dry support means little

India

oi-Shubham Ghosh

New Delhi, Feb 15: US President Donald Trump has in the past blown hot-and-cold over Pakistan's support for terrorists despite taking help from the US and doing nothing to eliminate the menace.

He has also spoken in favour of India over the Afghanistan issue, asking New Delhi to play a bigger role in Afghanistan. For the experts, it was a deliberate move to put Islamabad under pressure.

After Pulwama, it's high time India talks tough with China on Masood Azhar

It was thus expected that the president of the world's only superpower would come out speaking his mind on Twitter, the medium he trusts the most, after over 40 Indian jawans lost their lives in a horrendous terror attack in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, February 14.

It was afterall a massive opportunity for the US to pile on pressure on Islamabad on the question of counter terrorism. But to everyday's surprise, Trump did not pen a single tweet on the tragedy - the deadliest on the Indian armed forces.

The White House though made a routine statement asking Pakistan to immediately end "support" and "safe haven" to the terrorist groups and condemned the attack which is said to be conducted by Jaish-e-Mohammad led by Maulana Masood Azhar.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the attack "only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India".

Trump recalled Florida terror attack of 2018 but nothing about Pulwama

How much do these words mean for the US in reality? The fact that Trump did not spend a tweet over the attack gives quite a feeble impression about the resolve.

The president was rather seen commemorating the first anniversary of a terror attack that took place in a school in Florida killing at least 17, including students.

It is absolutely fine for the chief executive of a country to do so but given the fact that the US has a lot at stake in its foreign policy, zero mention of the Pulwama killings raises a question mark over the Trump administration's seriousness in dealing with matters abroad.

When oppression becomes unbearable, Pulwama happens, justifies senior Pakistani journalist

Trump's inconsistent policies has bolstered Pakistan's confidence

In December, Trump had sought help from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on the question of peace in Afghanistan and it shows how much inconsistent and weak the foundations of the current American leadership are.

Such weakness has made even states like Pakistan, which has friends in China and Russia now, grow in their confidence and it doesn't give two hoots to what the maverick Trump does.

This virtually puts India alone in its fight against terrorism. Given the fact that China and Pakistan will continue to back each other, even on the question of terrorism, and old ally Russia not really eager to get into the mess (the BRICS summit of 2016 is a point to remember), New Delhi has only Washington to look forward to in its battle against terrorism.

But the way Trump has discredited the administration and shown little interest of substance in putting things in the right perspective, India has a lot to worry about and needs to take care of its own interests all by itself.
In Pics: PM Modi meets J&K Leaders to chalk out future course of action

PM said he wants remove 'dil ki doori and Dilli ki doori': Omar Abdullah after meet on J&K

At all party meet, PM Modi says priority is to strengthen democracy at grassroots in J&K

Pulwama attack: 'Pakistan will pay heavy price, have given forces free hand', says Modi

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Feb 15: Train 18 - rechristened as Vande Bharat Express -was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. Modi on Friday said Pakistan will have to pay a heavy price for the terror attack in Pulwama a day after a car bomber belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammad killed 37 CRPF jawans.

The government has also announced it will withdraw the most favoured nation tag given to Pakistan, effectively closing down trade further between the two countries.

Before launching Vande Bharat Express, Modi said ,''I pay tribute to soldiers who lost their lives in Pulwama Attack. Our security forces have been given full freedom. We have full faith in their bravery. The forces behind this act of terrorism & those responsible for it, will be definitely be punished.''

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished.

"My condolences to families of those martyred in Pulwama attack, those behind the terror strike will pay a very heavy price," Modi said.

"I am thankful to all nations which condemned Pulwama attack and urge them to come together to crush terrorism. The forces behind this act of terrorism and those responsible for it, will be definitely be punished," he said.

According to the railway officials, PM Modi launched the new train at 11 AM on February 15 from New Delhi Railway Station.

Pulwama attack updates: Modi says Pakistan will pay heavy price

Meanwhile, Train 18 recently became India's fastest train, hitting a speed of over 180 kmph during a trial run. It would soon start replacing the Shatabdi Express trains and run between Delhi and Varanasi.

For travelling between New Delhi and Varanasi, the passengers will have to shell out 30-40 per cent higher fare than they do for Shatabdi Express, Railway Ministry officials said on Monday.

A New Delhi-Varanasi journey by the indigenously built high-speed train would cost Rs 3,310 and Rs 1,760 for Executive Class (EC) and Chair Car (CC), respectively, inclusive of taxes.
2 years of Pulwama terror attack: Will not forget, say Rajnath Singh, Shah

India-Pak bilateral relations likely to worsen in coming days

India

oi-Hardeep Singh Bedi

New Delhi, Feb 15: A day after ghastly Pulwama attack, the bilateral relation between India and Pakistan touched a new low on Friday.

Its notable that a convoy of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was attacked by a suicide bomber on Jammu- Srinagar highway in Pulwama on Thursday in which 40 CRPF jawans lost their lives.

Since Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has taken the responsibility of the attack, Islamabad faced New Delhis ire.

In the morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security to finalise Indias strategy post Pulwama attack.

Generally, government of the day doesnt brief media after such crucial security meeting, but Finance Minister Arun Jaitley along with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed media persons.

He made an important announcement when he said that India has withdrawn the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan.

[Most Favoured Nation: What does Pakistan stand to lose?]

The Most Favoured Nation clause is the first clause in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It is a treatment accorded by one state to another to ensure non-discriminatory trade practices between the two countries vis-a-vis other trade partners.

Now, Pakistan stands to lose concessions on tariff, freer markets and a free flow of goods that come with the MFN status.

Thereafter, Prime Minister told the nation that the government understands the anger of the countrymen and hence the security forces have been given a free hand to safeguard countrys interests.

"The security forces have been given a free hand in the wake of the Pulwama attack. The forces behind this act of terrorism and those responsible for it will be definitely be punished," he said at the inauguration of the Vande Bharat Express in New Delhi.

[Pulwama payback: India withdraws Most Favoured Nation status given to Pakistan]

Later, he reiterated the same statement while addressing a rally in Uttar Pradeshs Jhansi. PM Modi also said that Pakistan must know that this is new India.

India also appealed to the United Nations (UN) to declare JeM chief Masood Azhar a globally designated terrorist, but as usual China saved Azhar.

New Delhi has also called Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria to Delhi for consultations in the wake of Pulwama attack.

Its notable that just a day before the Pulwama attack, the US government on Wednesday had issued an advisory and urged its citizens to reconsider their travel to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir because of "terrorism and the potential for armed conflict" between India and Pakistan.

Prime Minister Modi also told Jhansi rally that the government has given freedom to the Indian security forces to decide day, time and nature of the reply of Pulwama attack.

All above developments indicate that the bilateral relations between New Delhi and Islamabad are likely to worsen in the coming days.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 20:03 [IST]
2 years of Pulwama terror attack: Will not forget, say Rajnath Singh, Shah

How will Pulwama attack affect Indian politics?

India

oi-Hardeep Singh Bedi

New Delhi, Feb 15: The gruesome suicide attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Thursday in Jammu and Kashmir is likely to affect Indian politics just ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

It is notable that a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) on Thursday rammed explosive laden van into two buses of a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying some 2,500 CRPF personnel on Jammu-Srinagar Highway near Pulwama.

The attack left 40 CRPF personnel dead, which has deteriorated bilateral relations between India and Pakistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government had avenged similar terror attack in Uri with a surgical strike in Pakistani territory in 2016.

After the Pulwama attack, Prime Minister Modi has once again announced that terrorists and their supporter Pakistan will have to pay a heavy price for killing CRPF personnel.

[For Pakistan to have a deniability factor, Jaish recruited local for Pulwama attack]

He has openly announced that security forces have been given a free hand to decide the day, time, place and nature of response to the Pulwama attack.

The JeM suicide bomber attacked just a day after the 16th Lok Sabha conducted it last business day on Wednesday.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Modi government tabled the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report on the controversial Rafale deal in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Its notable that Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders have been mounting a direct attack on Prime Minister Modi over Rafale deal by alleging that the Prime Minister has committed corruption by giving advantage to his friend Anil Ambani.

Since Prime Minister Modi terms himself as a chowkidar (watchman), who protects interests of common Indians; Rahul and Congress party have coined a slogan chowkidar chor hai (watchman is a thief) over Rafale deal.

After the CAG report was tabled, Rahul along with other Opposition leaders protested at the Parliament premises and raised chowkidar chor hai.

[Pulwama: Graded 'C' terrorist, suicide bomber Abdul Dar was never under radar]

On the same day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal organized a rally against Narendra Modi government at New Delhis Jantar-Mantar in which several Left party leaders, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other opposition leaders participated.

Later, these leaders held a meeting at Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawars residence in the national capital to unite the opposition against Prime Minister Modi and the BJP for the ensuing General elections.

The other aspect is that the BJP and Modi government have denied the allegations over Rafale deal and accused the Congress and other opposition parties of playing politics over Indias security.

The governments stand has been that the Rafale jets are a must to strengthen Indian Air Force.

Now considering the mood of the nation and simmering tension between India and Pakistan post Pulwama attack, it will not be easy for the Congress and other Opposition parties to raise the Rafale issue because the BJP will use such attacks on itself to its favour.

If India gives reply to Pakistan through its security forces over Pulwama attack, chances of which are high, then also it will not be comfortable for the opposition to question the response as they did after 2016 surgical strike.

The BJP had hailed 2916 surgical strike as an unprecedented strategic manoeuvre, and boasted of being the only party to teach Pakistan a lesson.

Sensing the political advantage BJP could get, the Opposition had questioned the surgical strike.

Kejriwal was first to cleverly question the surgical strike in a short video message. He had saluted Modi and urged him to disprove Pakistan's claims with proof that India did not cross the Line of Control to launch the attack.

After that Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam also demanded proof of surgical strikes at a press conference.

The BJP had used the questioning to paint Congress and other Opposition parties as a lot that were questioning the valour of Indian Army and speaking language that supports Pakistan.

["Please sanitise area properly IEDs will be used," an intel warning that fell on deaf ears]

The Opposition also said that Modi government was not the first one to conduct surgical strike as previous governments had also allowed such strikes across the border but did not use them for political gain as the Modi government was doing.

Politics depends on perception and the opposition also knows that it failed to dent the Modi government over surgical strike.

On Friday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi also addressed a short press conference to condemn Pulwama attack and announced full support to the government.

At the time of filing this report, Congress core group meeting was underway at former Congress President Sonia Gandhis residence over Pulwama attack.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 21:09 [IST]
'He wanted to become a cleric, no idea why he choose this path', says Father of suicide bomber

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Feb 15: Adil Ahmad Dar, the 22-year-old terrorist who allegedly carried out the Pulwama terror attack on Thursday, 14 February, in which at least 37 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed, was trained for this specific "operation".

Accused of carrying out one of the deadliest terrorist attacks the state has ever witnessed, Dar lived just 10 kilometres away from the attack spot in Gundibagh.

Who was Adil Ahmad Dar?

Adil Ahmad Dar was the son of Ghulam Hassan Dar who had studied till Class 12 and then took a course in religious studies. Dar started to work at a sawmill owned by a neighbour. In March last year, he left his family and joined militancy in the Valley. His father, Ghulam Hassan Dar, is a small-time vendor.

Dar is one of the three brothers who wanted to become a cleric and had already memorised eight chapters of the Quran.

RDX not used in Pulwama attack, suggests preliminary probe

However, Dar was not the first member of his family to join militancy. His cousin, Manzoor Rashid Dar, son of Abdul Rashid Dar, joined the Lashkar-e-Taiba in 2016. He survived for only 11 days before being killed in a gunfight on June 30, 2016. Tauseef Ahmad, other son of Abdul Rashid Dar also went to join militancy in March last year. Four days after he went missing, Adil left home too. While Tauseef returned after 14 days, Adil did not.

According to Scroll, Dar's family had last seen him on the afternoon of March 19, 2018. He had been working as mason's assistant at a construction site. That afternoon, Ghulam Hassan Dar said, his son came home for lunch, took his cycle and left home. "Days later, a photo of Adil wielding a gun went viral on social media," said his father. "We had no idea he would choose this path."

According to police officials, Dar was recruited to Jaish's fidayeen squad after the outfit's previous fidayeen militant, Fardeen Ahmad Khanday, was killed in 2018.

On the evening of February 14, Jaish-e-Mohammad released a pre-recorded 10-minute long video statement. It featured 19-year-old Adil Ahmed Dar, also known as Waqas Commando, from Gundibagh, in South Kashmir's Pulwama district. He said that he was directly recruited to Jaish's fidayeen squad. "Fidayeen" is an Arabic term that means "those who sacrifice themselves". Dar declared, "By the time this video reaches you, I will be in Heaven."

Why the decision to allow civilian vehicles along with Army convoys was changed

According to Central Reserve Police Force figures released on Thursday evening, 37 of its men were killed. Unofficial figures put the toll at 42 so far. At least five personnel of the paramilitary force were also injured.
The original paperwork for the project also did not involve the addition of a traffic light, but The Roanoke Group offered to pay for a stop light at Lake Street, even though the proposed subdivision wouldnt connect to the intersection, later on in the process.
FS Gokhale meets Chinese envoy, discusses proscribing Masood Azhar with him

India

oi-Vikas SV

New Delhi, Feb 15: Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on Friday reportedly met 25 Heads of mission based in New Delhi in a bid to garner support to isolate Pakistan diplomatically after Pulwama attack. According to reports, Gokhale met Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui separately during Friday's meeting over Pulwama attack. The Foreign Secretary spoke on Jaish-e-Mohammed and Pakistan and mentioned the matter of listing of Masood Azhar by UNSC.

ANi reported whle quoting sources that the Foreign Secretary also highlighted the role played by Pakistan in using terrorism as instrument of its state policy. India wants immediate and verifiable action against JeM and its leader Masood Azhar

All Heads of Missions were left in no doubt about the role played by Pakistan based and supported Jaish-e-Mohammed in the terror attack, said reports.

India's demand that Pakistan ceases forthwith all support and financing to terror groups operating from areas under their control is likely to be taken seriously, reports further said.

Apart from P-5 countries, Gokhale also met representatives from South Asian countries, South Korea and Japan, among others.

[Pulwama attack: Time to break the block and have China's bouncer, Maulana Azhar banned]

P5, include the following five governments: China,France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

China on Friday condemned the Pulwama terror attack carried out by a Jaish suicide bomber but once again declined to back India's appeal to list the Pakistan based terror group's chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN.

[China again declines to back India's request on JeM Chief Masood Azhar]

China, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC and a close ally of Pakistan, has repeatedly foiled India's bid to list Azhar as a global terrorist, saying there is no consensus in the top organ of the world body on this issue.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 22:05 [IST]
From 0 in 2016 to 60 in 2019: Jaish went from dormant to deadly in 3 years

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Srinagar, Feb 15: The Jaish-e-Mohamamad on Thursday carried out one of the most lethal strikes in Jammu and Kashmir, in which nearly 44 CRPF jawans were martyred. Adil Hussain Dar rammed an explosive laden Scorpio car into a bus carrying the jawans in Pulwama.

Security officials have always warned that the Jaish is the deadliest terror group in the Valley and poses the highest threat due to the kind of attacks it can carry out. Ironically this group has grown leaps and bounds over the past couple of years. From being dormant, the Jaish has become the most dreaded groups in the Valley over the years.

Pulwama suicide attack: Both IB and police had warned of Jaish led strike

Currently the Jaish has a terrorist strength of over 60 in the Valley. It has also created suicide and sniper squads in the Valley.

The security forces say that while the Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayiba have been dented largely, the Jaish on the other hand has become deadlier. The terror group did not have a single terrorist in the Valley in 2016. However in the past three years, it has managed to grow in terms of strength and numbers in the Valley.

The Jaish headed by Maulana Masood Azhar was founded in 2000. However after making a deadly start in the Valley, it had become dormant for long. It is since the Pathankot attack that we have begun to witness that the group has been raising its ugly head once again.

The group may not have the numbers that the Hizbul Mujahideen has, but it is more deadly than another terror group in the Valley. If one were to do a comparison of the numbers, the Hizbul has anything between 200 to 300 operatives in comparison to 40 to 60 that the Jaish has.

Now, what makes the Jaish so lethal? First and foremost, these terrorists are highly trained and have state of the art weapons. The M4 Carbine was first brought into the Valley by this group. The other factor is that the group puts in place a plan before staging an attack. It undergoes the entire process of recruitment, training, reconnaissance and then carrying out an attack.

The Hizbul Mujahideen on the other hand shows its dominance through its numbers. Most of their terrorists are untrained and do not have powerful weapons. The recent plea by the Hizbul Mujahideen commander through a video message complaining about the lack of weapons or outdated ones is a clear indicator of what the strength of the outfit is.

An Intelligence Bureau official explains to OneIndia that the Hizbul was a fading outfit, brought back to life by a social media campaign by slain commander of the outfit, Burhan Wani. This went on to become a fad and their presence became restricted largely to the social media through which they indulged in propaganda.

The Jaish on the other hand which is nurtured by the Pakistan army and ISI has grown in terms of strength. Pakistan has been investing more into this group and with a free flow of funds and access to the best possible weaponry has gone on to become extremely lethal. Moreover the Jaish focuses on big operations and attacks at Nagrota and Pathankot are proof of this.

Jaish bomber released a chilling video before striking at Pulwama

Over the past couple of months, several local youth have been making a beeline towards this outfit. The Jaish, however uses only its Pakistani terrorists in big attacks. The locals are tasked with gathering information and logistics, security officials say. The choice of Pakistani terrorists for major attacks is due to the fact that they are highly trained. These terrorists undergo extensive training before they are launched into the Valley, officials also say.

Officials also admit that the encounters with the Jaish terrorists especially those from Pakistan are the hardest. Firstly they are highly trained, secondly they have sophisticated weapons and more importantly they are ready to die. They plan only in terms of fidayeen attacks and this makes the encounters difficult the officer added.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 5:48 [IST]
Bikaner land scam: ED attaches Rs 4.62 cr worth assets of Vadra's company

India

oi-Vikas SV

New Delhi, Feb 15: Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 4.62 crores of Congress president Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law Robert Vadra's company Sky Light Hospitality and others in connection with Bikaner land scam case, reported ANI.

Vadra was grilled on Tuesday (February 12) along with his 75-year-old mother, Maureen, in connection with the probe into an alleged land scam in Bikaner.

Vadra on Saturday (February 9) appeared before the ED for the third time in connection with a probe into allegations of money laundering in purchase of assets abroad.

[Robert Vadra grilled by ED for third time in money laundering case]

Vadra was asked by the Rajasthan high court to cooperate with the agency. The Rajasthan high court had earlier asked him and his mother to cooperate with the agency after they approached it, seeking directions that no coercive action is taken against them by the ED.

[Bikaner land scam: Priyanka Gandhi reaches Jaipur to be with Robert Vadra, Maureen Vadra]

The ED had registered a case in connection with the deal in 2015, taking cognisance of a clutch of FIRs and chargesheets filed by the Rajasthan police after the Bikaner tehsildar complained about alleged forgery in land allotment. It is understood that the agency wanted to question him on the operations of Skylight Hospitality Private Limited, allegedly linked to him, which purchased land in the area.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 20:49 [IST]
Arun Jaitley framed bill on Art 370 nullification that can withstand legal challenge, says his wife

Jaitley statue at Kotla: Angry Bedi asks DDCA to remove his name from stands, quits membership

Arun Jaitley to take charge as Finance Minister today

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Feb 15: Union Minister, Arun Jaitley, who returned from the United States after undergoing treatment will take charge as the finance minister.

Sources tell OneIndia that Jaitley will take charge from Piyush Goyal who held the portfolio, when he was away in the US. He will also attend the cabinet committee on security meeting today, which was called after the Pulwama attack.

'Lies of 'Mahajhootbandhan' stand exposed by CAG report': Arun Jaitley

Jaitley missed presenting the sixth and final Budget of the Narendra Modi government before the general elections. In his absence, the charge of the finance ministry was given to railways minister Piyush Goyal.

Jaitley, however, has been active on social media, tweeting and writing Facebook posts. he had also met reporters through a video call from New York and fielded questions on the Budget. He also gave interviews on the subject.

In an interview to PTI in New York after the Budget presentation, Jaitley said he was on recovery course and his return to India in time to reply to the Budget debate in Parliament will depend on when his doctors allow him to leave.

"It depends on my treatment here, which is all over. I am on the recovery course. It's when my doctors allow me to go back. As of present, as I understand, Piyush Goyal will be replying (to the Budget debate in Parliament)," he said.

'The Dynast' spreading lies on Rafale, says Jaitley; Rubbishes conflict of interest allegation

The Budget session of Parliament ends on February 13, and debate on the Interim Budget has been taken up in the Lok Sabha.

Jaitley, 66, had flown to New York last month for the treatment, after being reportedly diagnosed with soft tissue cancer, which required surgery.

This was his first overseas visit after he underwent renal transplant surgery on May 14, 2018, at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

He had stopped attending office at the beginning of April last year due to his kidney ailment and was back in North Block on August 23, 2018. Even then, Goyal had manned the ministry for about 100 days.

In September 2014, Jaitley underwent bariatric surgery to treat weight gain that he suffered because of a long-standing diabetic condition.
AMU student suspended for objectionable tweet on Pulwama attack

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

Aligarh, Feb 15: A Kashmiri student from Aligarh Muslim University has been suspended for his objectionable tweet on Pulwama attack and an FIR has been registered against him.

The student has been identified as,Basim Hilal, a student of Aligarh Muslim University. He has been booked under section 153A IPC & Section 67A of the IT Act.

Omar Saleem Peerzada, AMU PRO, said, "We've come to know of the highly objectionable tweet. Taking immediate cognizance he has been suspended by AMU administration. We won't let the University be discredited. We've zero tolerance. He hails from Kashmir and was a BSc Mathematics student."

Pulwama payback: India withdraws Most Favoured Nation status given to Pakistan

Basim Hilal, was one of the first ones to celebrate the Pulwama terror attack. His handle, however, was suspended by Twitter minutes after the tweet, according to reports.

At least 44 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed his SUV, laden with 300 kilograms of explosives, into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Kashmir's Pulwama district. Scores were injured in the Kashmir terror attack
After Pulwama, its high time India talks tough with China on Masood Azhar

India

oi-Shubham Ghosh

New Delhi, Feb 14: The dastardly suicide attack that killed over 40 CRPF jawans in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday will put Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government before some serious questions both on the home and foreign fronts.

Just months before a national election in which Modi will seek to renew his mandate, this deadly terror attack on a CRPF convoy will leave the Government of India with the task of reviewing not only internal security but also foreign policy options.

The fact that Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack and released a video of the suicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar, also brings into question Modi's China policy besides the perennial Pakistan policy.

A 35 kilometre stretch on Srinagar-Jammu highway which has become a death-trap for our jawans

What will initiatives like those in Wuhan do if China doesn't care for anti-terrorism?

When Beijing has continued to object the international procedure to designate JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar as a terrorist, then what do instances like the informal summit that took place in Wuhan in China between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in April last year mean in reality?

China has several reasons to veto labelling Azhar as a terrorist as that would hinder India on many fronts - economic, geopolitical and strategic - but what is New Delhi's stance vis-a-vis Beijing when it knows the latter has been deliberately stalling a counter-terrorism initiative only to see India, one its closest competitors, to bleed?

In Wuhan, Modi and Xi had agreed on a number of issues like reducing border tension, dialogue to pre-empt conflict, cooperation and commitment to counter-terrorism but in reality, it is clearly seen that China has little plan to deviate from its deep-rooted strategy of continuing to back all-weather ally Pakistan to keep India busy attending its security challenges.

This is a very well-crafted strategy and one feels disappointed to see New Delhi not taking on Beijing sternly yet on more relevant issues related to JeM and Azhar.

Pulwama attack: Time to break the block and have China's bouncer, Maulana Azhar banned

The two sides decided to take up some joint economic project in Afghanistan which is absolutely vague and instead, the two sides should have spoken in details on why Azhar is still being backed by China. As per informed sources, the two national leaders did not get into the specifics on Azhar in Wuhan.

The Pulwama tragedy will put New Delhi under a fresh challenge as now, it has to somehow devise a Pak-China policy to bolster its security.

After the tragic instances in Pathankot and Uri, this another big attack in the Modi era and China cannot disown the moral responsibility for it backs the JeM chief for its own narrow gains by cornering India.

The Wuhan talks were more about breaking the ice after the Doklam standoff but after the Pulwama disaster, it is in India's interests to convey a strong message across to the Chinese.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 9:07 [IST]
Abu Talha Hazari: The terrorist who introduced fidayeen attacks in Kashmir

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Srinagar, Feb 15: The suicide or fidayeen attack at Pulwama, which claimed the lives of nearly 44 CRPF jawans is the deadliest since the 2001 attack on the Jammu and Kashmir assembly complex.

The attack came at a time when the security forces had almost managed to bring down terrorism to a large extent in the Valley. The manner in which the Pulwama attack was carried out is a major worry for the security forces and they say that vehicle ramming and more such suicide attacks could well become the norm in the days to come.

J&K CRPF camp attack: 'Afzal Guru ka badla' inscribed on terrorist's weapon

Fidayeen attacks in Jammu and Kashmir were introduced by a Lashkar-e-Tayiba commander, Abu Talha Hazari. In the 1990s, he was the most wanted terrorist in the Valley. He was however killed following a fierce encounter in Srinagar in 2000.

Officials say that Abu Talha was audacious in his attacks. Before carrying out a major attack, he would call press persons and tell them where he was heading to follow the news closely. In 1999, he had called up some persons from the media and told them the details of the operation, he was about to undertake.

He had said that he would be going to the Army headquarters. A few hours later the Army HQ was attacked by Talha and his men.

5 jawans martyred, 3 terrorists killed in CRPF camp attack, J&K

Officials tell OneIndia that Talha was the one who had introduced and trained several persons in the Valley to undertake Fidayeen attacks. A year after his death in 2000, a suicide attack was carried out at the complex of the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly. Over 30 persons had died in the incident after Jaish-e-Mohamamad terrorists had rammed their explosive laden vehicle into the complex.

Officials say that the attack in Pulwama is clearly very worrisome. We fear that vehicle ramming could become a norm in the Valley.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 6:00 [IST]
A 35 kilometre stretch on Srinagar-Jammu highway which has become a death-trap for our jawans

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Srinagar, Feb 15: The highways of terror have once again come to the forefront, following the ghastly attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed the lives of nearly 44 jawans.

The stretch between Bijbehera town and Pampore has become extremely dangerous for security forces. This 35 kilometre stretch falls on the Srinagar-Jammu highway and terrorists have often targeted the forces on this route.

From 0 in 2016 to 60 in 2019: Jaish went from dormant to deadly in 3 years

This has been raised at several meetings and it was decided to install CCTVs at several locations. However this exercise has not been entirely effective as many areas are still not covered. In addition to this many CCTVs were not working as well, a senior officer informed OneIndia.

The decision to spruce up security along the highway was taken after the year 2017 witnessed several attacks on convoys travelling along the highway. Further it was also decided that when the convoy travels, no civilian vehicles would be allow to enter in between.

Despite these measures being taken, a suicide bomber of the Jaish-e-Mohammad rammed his explosive laden vehicle into a bus carrying the CRPF jawans. Officials say that this attack calls for several course correction measures. We need to closely look into the routes that the terrorists use. For instance terrorists have crossed over through the Jhelum river and attacked convoys along the same routes.

Pulwama suicide attack: Both IB and police had warned of Jaish led strike

On the other hand, while the Army has managed to gun down several top commanders, there is also a need now to tackle the over ground workers. There are still many OWGs who remain and this is what is making it easy for terror groups to re-group despite them facing a high number of casualties, the officer also noted.

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Story first published: Friday, February 15, 2019, 6:49 [IST]
The writers, who live in Omaha, are board members of MilkWorks, a nonprofit community breastfeeding center.

In the midst of property tax relief and global warming, it was heartwarming to learn that 6-month-old Barrett Brotzel made the news last month by doing something entirely normal. He sought nourishment (he was breastfed) on the floor of the Nebraska Legislature in the arms of his mother, State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh.

By removing one of the many breastfeeding barriers that Nebraska women face, Cavanaugh is paving the way for other families. Research shows that breastfeeding has benefits for moms and babies, reducing health care costs, employee absenteeism, chronic illnesses, breast and ovarian cancer, maternal depression and the risk of SIDS.

Its a pretty big order, but one that was helped along by The World-Herald reporter who broke the news on Baby Barrett, as well as three legislative bills that will make breastfeeding a bit easier for all Nebraska babies.

We are encouraged to see leadership from both the legislative and executive branches to support mothers and babies.
According to Lake County DOT officials, stronger controls for those left turns will, among other things, eliminate cars merging at the same time from both directions on Hunt Club onto eastbound Grand. As it is now, motorists end up jockeying across lanes to get to either the Gurnee Mills entrance on the north side or toward the Tri-State Tollway entrance on the south.
Police say Thomas F. Funke of Nebraska City was killed Thursday morning in a crash in southeast Lincoln.

Funke, 79, was the father of Nebraska Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Funke, according to News Channel Nebraska.

The crash occurred about 9:30 a.m., when Funke's SUV drove into the rear of a semitrailer truck at Nebraska Highway 2 and South 91st Street, according to Lincoln police. NCN video from the scene shows the truck had stopped at an intersection.

Funke was the sole occupant of the Ford Explorer, and he was wearing a seat belt, police said. No one else was hurt.

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We absolutely have a crisis at the border, but as a constitutional conservative, I dont want a future Democratic president unilaterally rewriting gun laws or climate policy, Sasse said. If we get used to presidents just declaring an emergency any time they cant get what they want from Congress, it will be almost impossible to go back to a constitutional system of checks and balances. Over the past decades, the legislative branch has given away too much power and the executive branch has taken too much power.

Reps. Adrian Smith, and Jeff Fortenberry, both Nebraska Republicans, have criticized Obamas actions in the past.

Fortenberry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement, Smith expressed no objection to Trumps declaration.

President Trump is right: criminals who wish to do us harm should not be allowed unrestricted access to our country, Smith said. Speaker Pelosi and her party have had months to follow through on promises theyve made for decades to stem the tide of illegal drugs and human trafficking across our southern border, but instead they succumbed to the petty politics of the moment.
Stinner estimated that actual receipts are running about $80 million less than the October forecast.

The difference could make it difficult to put money into the states cash reserve fund and could dampen hopes of increasing property tax relief.

Tax Commissioner Tony Fulton, however, said the states financial picture could change in April, when income taxes are due.

He pointed to estimated individual income taxes as the chief area where receipts are falling short. He said the federal tax changes may have led to people changing their tax filing behavior.

Gov. Pete Ricketts noted budget planners will know more after the forecasting board meets later this month and again in late April.

We will continue to closely monitor receipts, he said.

Discrimination amendment. An amendment to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation briefly threatened a bill aimed at making museums, theaters, art galleries and other cultural institutions eligible to use tax-exempt bonds Thursday.
The bill also requires that the memorandum of understanding would set a procedure for determining when students should be referred for prosecution, when parents should be notified or present, when officers should notify students of their rights, and for complaints. More than half of Nebraska districts with school police do not require that a parent be notified when their child is questioned about an incident at school. Even fewer law enforcement agencies have policies about parental notification, according to the ACLU report.
When Matthew Lesleys wife tried to hand him divorce papers last month, he allegedly told her that he would kill himself in front of (her) so that she would have to live with the guilt.

Kristina Lesley outlined that threat in a protection order requested Thursday  Valentines Day  against her estranged husband. It was a stark warning of what was to come.

Shortly after noon on Friday, Matthew Lesley went to Uta Halee Academy, where Kristina Lesley is listed as a program director on the academys website, and fatally shot himself.

The Douglas County Sheriffs Office said the 37-year-old mans actions were directed at a staff member who was possibly in an estranged relationship. Authorities said that person, who was not identified, was not at the school Friday.

No Uta Halee residents or staff members were harmed, according to Tanya Martin, the schools principal, and the Sheriffs Office said the shooter did not go to the cottages where students stay.

Uta Halee is a residential treatment center for young women who have dealt with abuse, neglect, trauma and mental illness. The campus is at 10625 Calhoun Road in the Ponca Hills neighborhood north of Interstate 680 and west of NP Dodge Park.
The U.S. has few troops in either country. In Iraq, where other military powers have forces on the ground, the 2,000 U.S. forces are enough to spark a major conflict. There has been direct combat with Russian forces, which fortunately did not escalate.
A second case of a rare paralyzing illness this season has been confirmed in a Douglas County resident, health officials said Friday.

The child confirmed to have acute flaccid myelitis has been released from the hospital.

The case is the fifth in the state this season.

The latest case is the final one in Nebraska that had been under review by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Adi Pour, the Douglas County Health Departments director.

A previous Douglas County case was confirmed by federal investigators in December. Two cases were confirmed late last year in the Sarpy/Cass Health Departments jurisdiction, and one was corroborated in northeast Nebraska late last month.

It is important to remember AFM remains extremely rare, Pour said.

The condition mostly affects children and as of yet has no clear cause.

Symptoms tend to occur about a week after a child has had a fever and respiratory illness. They include sudden muscle weakness, including in the face, neck, back or limbs.

CDC officials say at least half the patients do not recover from the paralysis and some have serious complications.
What it comes down to more than anything is being yourself and being authentic and sharing your experience, Bowles said. Its not a performance. When you perform, its more like theater. The audience becomes critical. When you share a story, you make yourself vulnerable, and you are who you are.

And the audience tends to sympathize. The night, Bowles said, is meant to feel like a dinner party, albeit with a much larger audience.

The idea for the program came from poet and novelist George Dawes Green, who spent many summer evenings on a back porch in Georgia sharing stories with a group of friends. A screen on the porch let in moths attracted by the light, so the group started calling themselves The Moths. After moving to New York City, Green hoped to recreate the feel of those nights and founded The Moth in 1997.

Since then, the program has featured more than 34,000 stories at events on six continents. The Moth Radio Hour is broadcast on more than 480 radio stations, and the podcast has more than 52 million downloads annually.
Youre basically in George and Marthas living room. The set is realistic and cozy  comfy chairs, a loveseat (ironic, given the action), a desk, newspapers strewn about, a well-stocked bar and a mantel decorated with bric-a-brac. But its far from comfortable. You are so close that you feel as though you are in the line of fire. Cantiello uses his space to its fullest advantage.

3. Cantiello and his crew sweated the details.

The background music (quiet enough to almost be just a hint of sound), the lighting (illuminating the living room as it would any house in the hours before dawn) and the props (I loved the brandy decanter, the collection of books, the throw pillows).

4. Having said that, it did have a major distraction.

The set had a fireplace with a picture hanging over it, but you could always see a person behind the picture. I dont know if it was the sound man or the prompter (something Ive never seen elsewhere in Omaha), but whatever it was, it was always on my mind.

5. With this show, PART continues its string of offering a variety of well-presented programming.
Offaly will take centre stage this week as Birr brothers Oisin and Ronan Murphy give their first Irish TV interview on the Ray D'Arcy Show.

They will talk to Ray about hurling, appearing in Vogue magazine and walking the catwalks in Milan and Paris.

She's one of Britain's most formidable broadcasters, Kay Burley joins Ray to talk about her 30 year career as the face of Sky News.

Actor Seana Kerslake and 10-year-old newcomer James Quinn Markey join Ray to talk about their starring roles in the Irish horror movie The Hole in the Ground, which won rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival, with one reviewer calling it the "best Irish horror film of all time".

Comedian and actor Katherine Lynch gives Ray the backstage gossip from touring with Menopause the Musical and after two decades in comedy, she tells Ray how she learned her craft in the gay bars of Dublin.

And in the aftermath of Dry January, we'll be hearing about the experiences of people who turned their backs on the booze.

The Ray D'Arcy Show, Saturday 16 February at 9.50pm on RTE One.
Imagine going to sleep after a day of heavy snowfall and waking up the next morning to find that all that white snow has turned black overnight. Thats exactly what the people of Kiselevsk and Prokopyevsk, two cities in Russias Kuzbass region experienced earlier this week.

Photos and videos recently shared on social media by worried citizens of the two Russian cities show the grim reality of living in a coal mining area  snow covered fields and streets blanketed by a thick layer of coal dust and soot that literally turns the snow from white to pitch black.

Photo: VK

Weve all seen dirty snow in urban areas before, but the black snow in Kiselevsk and Prokopyevsk is a rare and disturbing sight that has locals concerned about the air they breathe every day. Many of them have taken to social media to voice their concerns and pressure authorities into taking action against the nearby coal processing plants, but local officials claim that the problem is complex.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by  42  (@region42_kemerovo) on Feb 12, 2019 at 6:54pm PST

Andrey Panov, Deputy Governor of the Kemerovo Region for Industry, Transport and Ecology, told reporters that because the development of gas networks in the region has never been particularly supported most buildings still rely on coal boilers for heating, so private households and local businesses all contribute to the heavy pollution. Vehicle exhaust fumes are also to blame, Panov adds.



Anatoly Volkov, the general director of the Prokopievskaya coal plant near Prokopyevsk, told a local television channel that his company uses special shutters that protect the nearby city from hazardous compounds, but its hard to believe that the plant is not at all responsible for the blackening of the snow.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by   (@novosti_nvkz) on Feb 12, 2019 at 3:51am PST

A team of inspectors from Russias environmental agency has been dispatched to the two coal processing plants to investigate whether the pollution limit was exceeded, and local officials have announced a meeting with coal mining companies to discuss environmental issues.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by   (@koliak666) on Feb 11, 2019 at 2:13am PST

Interestingly, while most of those commenting on the photos and videos of black snow in Kiselevsk and Prokopyevsk, criticized the Government for the situation, some actually described the phenomenon as strangely beautiful.
Policing the sales

I am also concerned about the ABC Boards ability to adequately police the sale of what is a destructive substance. Remember, one of the agencies the ABC Board funds with dollars from its stores is itself.

Take away that revenue, and the ABC Board would not be able to inspect, license and investigate stores and restaurants that sell any form of alcoholic beverages to ensure their compliance with state laws.

Just like prisons and Medicaid, the ABC Board would be dependent on funds from the General Fund. We all know the struggles the Legislature has had patching together the General Fund budget.

Lets be frank about alcohol. It is not just any commodity, and we shouldnt treat it like buying bread, milk or eggs. Alcohol is a mind-altering, addictive drug. It kills more people each year  88,000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  than all illicit drugs combined, including opioids.

Excessive drinking costs the U.S. economy $249 billion each year, the CDC says. It costs Alabama more than $3.7 billion.
The Virginia property where an Auburn-related capital murder suspect, Derrill Ennis, resided was searched again for evidence, the Lee County District Attorneys Office confirmed Friday.

As with any case, we dont quit looking for evidence until the trial is over, Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes told the Opelika-Auburn News.

Ennis was arrested in August 2018 while in Virginia on charges of capital murder  burglary and capital murder- kidnapping in connection to the 2006 disappearance of 24-year-old Lori Ann Slesinski, of Auburn.

The property in the Pilot, Virginia, area and building structures within the property were searched by Virginia State Police earlier this week.

Among the buildings searched were his home and various workshops where he built his teepees, Hughes said.

Evidence was collected during the search, but no further information was provided regarding the evidence or search.

In late January, Lee County prosecutors announced the decision to pursue the death penalty, according to previous reports.
Latest News Mortgage growth drives record bank profits Report determines factors contributing to increase in mortgage lending

Who are savvier with their savings? Men or women? Who are savvier with their savings? Men or women?

A host of lenders have come to the defence of the mortgage broking industry in Australia since the Royal Commission final report was published, with the recommendation to replace trail commissions with borrower-paid fees coming under heavy fire from the sector.

Trail commissions in Australia were described by Commissioner Hayne as money for nothing, though when it comes to trail in New Zealand, Auckland mortgage adviser Kris Pedersen says the situation is vastly different  trail usually stops when ongoing advice stops, meaning advisers are strongly incentivised to maintain contact and act in the customers best interests

The Commissioner has been saying that trail in Australia is effectively money for nothing, Pedersen told NZ Adviser. Apparently 80% of mortgages in Australia are on a variable rate basis, so actually, that does make sense. But in New Zealand, we can push hard to make sure that clients are getting the best pricing they can throughout the life term of a mortgage, and most mortgage brokers do a very good job at that. In Australia, theyre receiving trail even if theyre not necessarily giving much by way of management after the initial settlement.

If you look at customer outcomes, trail really does encourage mortgage advisers to continue to manage the mortgage on an ongoing basis, Pedersen explained.

If the client begins dealing directly with the bank, in most cases, the adviser would lose that trail. Theres an incentive in place there for the adviser to continue to manage the mortgage, and its not just money for nothing. By contrast, having higher upfront commissions just tells advisers that they need to do a good job on the introduction side, and there isnt the same incentive there to continue to ensure that mortgage is as well suited to the client as possible throughout its life term.

Pedersen says that trail commissions also allow an adviser to maintain a support staff through potential quiet periods or downturns, and they help with increasing regulatory pressures and the costs that arise as a result. He says getting rid of trail commissions would push many brokerages to become one-man bands, a situation which would serve neither the adviser nor the consumer.

There certainly is a bit of nervousness with regards to whats going on, Pedersen concluded. The part thats quite unusual is that this was an investigation into banking conduct, and the banks seem to have gotten away scot free while the mortgage brokers are taking all the heat. If they take mortgage advisers out, that would have a massive detrimental effect on the market and would massively boost main bank market share. This doesnt make sense, as this was really meant to be an investigation into the big four.

Neither the FMA nor RBNZ have yet commented on the Royal Commission final report, though a Reserve Bank spokesperson said they are reviewing the report and considering the implications for New Zealand.
Without the beach and rock breakwater structures that were engineered to withstand significant storms and absorb wave energy during periods of high lake water levels, the damage could have been significantly worse, said Liz Gogola, director of communications and marketing for the park district.
What is your name for the playground game in which one child chases the rest and anyone who is touched becomes the pursuer?

For each question, choose whichever answer comes closest to how you talk casually with friends. Lets get one thing out of the way first:

I was raised in

Ireland or the U.K. I wasn't raised there, but I want to play anyway! We dont have enough data to make a reliable map for this question yet. of

Your map The map shows places where answers most closely match your own, based on more than respondents who said they were from Ireland or Britain. How did we do? Let us know where you were raised, to help make this quiz better. Want to keep going? We have dozens more questions. Click the button below to continue answering, or keep reading to explore which words define your dialect best. More, please! Most distinctive maps Here are the answers most characteristic of the location our quiz placed you.

Do you call the common playground game tag, tig or it? Is that bit of bread on the table a roll, a bap or a bun? And do the words but and put rhyme when you say them out loud?

The answers to these questions and others like them divide the various regions of Ireland and Britain just as much as, say, the question of soda, pop or coke splits the United States.

The way that people speak  the particular words they use and how they sound  is deeply tied to their sense of identity. And its not just about geography. Education, gender, age, ethnicity and other social variables influence speech patterns, too.

These dialect markers are so ingrained into peoples sense of self that they tend to persist well after they move away from home. Identity is what underlies most people's retention of at least some of their local features, said Clive Upton, professor emeritus of English language at the University of Leeds, because ultimately what we say is who we are.

In Ireland and Britain, the local dialect can change wildly just 10 or 20 miles down the road. Theres a vast amount of variation over a small area, especially when compared with a place like the United States.

Language differentiation takes time, so the longer a language has to simmer in one location, the more diverse it becomes, said Raymond Hickey, a professor of linguistics at the University of Duisburg-Essen. English speakers first settled in Ireland in the late 12th century, and Old English has its beginnings in, no surprise, England, almost 1,600 years ago. So it has had plenty of time to diversify.

Do you have suggestions or English language regionalisms that youre curious about? Please let us know.

For dialectologists, the patterns of peoples speech reveal a great deal about the historical development of the English language. Regional dialect variation allows you to hear echoes of earlier forms of the language  it isnt just about chronicling, Oh, thats a funny noise or Oh, thats a strange word, Mr. Upton said. Underneath all that its very seriously trying to get to grips with the question of how language changes.

And the English language is always changing. While some of the finer village-by-village accent distinctions in Ireland and Britain are eroding, there is no evidence that regional speech differences are about to disappear, regardless of technological changes. We are not about to start all speaking the same way anytime soon  thats not how language works. People always form linguistic communities, each with its own speech patterns. Additionally, a generational component built into language development ensures that English will continue to evolve.

Each generation wants to separate themselves from the previous one, Mr. Hickey said. That change is not going to stop. Youre not going to get teenagers who want to dress like their parents and listen to the same music as their parents, and theres a linguistic aspect to that as well.

As English continues to spread around the world, it will lead to an increasing number of new, emergent varieties of world Englishes. It doesnt belong to England anymore, Mr. Upton said. Just as you in North America have done things with it and own it yourselves, so people in Africa and the Far East and so on are doing the same. Its all very exciting.
11 of 11

A dog named King won best in show honors at the 143rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City.

What breed of dog is King?
Still, Bavis illustrated the continued increase in ETHS students ACT scores, which rose from a less than 21 composite score in 1972 to 24.9 in 2017. He pointed to the 2002 drop in the Illinois average student score  from just under 22 to about 20  in 2002, when the state started requiring all juniors take the college entrance exam, not just those hoping to further their education.
DUNN: Never type your name into Reddit! Dont do it. Just dont.

ROBIN: Well, I didnt have you around to tell me. Some of it was snarky and negative.

LIEBER: Chanel, did you worry about how hard it might be to make the idea of preparing for death palatable to people of all ages?

REYNOLDS: I could be their mother, daughter, sister or co-worker. I could be them.

LIEBER: Hence the book. And its profane subtitle, which echoes the name of your website. In the book, you call out the tighty whitey sanitized language that gets in the way of raw honesty in this realm. But why excrement?

REYNOLDS: I was standing by the foot of my husbands bed in the intensive care unit, and I turned to my friend when I still couldnt get into my husbands phone, and remembered that the will was drafted but not signed and I didnt know if the life insurance had been on autopay and I hoped nothing bounced and didnt know if he had disability insurance or not. And I just said, Oh, my God, I dont have my shit together at all.

And if that was happening to me , what was going on with everyone else in the I.C.U.? It was like the camera zoomed in and pulled out at the same time: We were all so screwed, and none of us had any idea.

LIEBER: Gaby, you write about what you call the three buzzkill musketeers of getting better at money: shame, embarrassment and anxiety. Does talking bluntly about our money stories and failures dispense with those feelings, or put us at a bigger risk of experiencing them more acutely?

DUNN: Im still very bad with money. Its about relatability. I was just going over my taxes with my accountant, and I was crying. But at least Ive made crying about taxes my brand.
Dubai International Airport, one of the busiest in the world, was forced to briefly shut down departing flights on Friday because of what it said was suspected drone activity, the latest instance in which a major airport had to restrict air traffic over concerns about the remotely controlled devices.

The airport said in a statement that flight departures were suspended between 10:13 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. because of concerns about drone activity. Incoming flights were allowed to land, and the airport said on Twitter that operations were back to normal.

Dubai Airports has worked closely with the appropriate authorities to ensure that the safety of airport operations is maintained at all times and to minimize any inconvenience to our customers, the airport said.

The Dubai airport has grown rapidly in recent years, a reflection of changes in the region, and it has emerged as a busy hub for travelers heading all over the world.
The official, who said he was not authorized to speak publicly about an investigation while it was in process, said that the employee, whose name has not been made public, was in his 30s and worked for the citys international relations department. On the day he said the sexual assault took place, he was charged with greeting and guiding the archbishop before the ceremony.



Archbishop Ventura, the apostolic nuncio to France, has been the Vaticans diplomatic representative in Paris since 2009, and he has regularly attended the ceremony, during which the mayor meets with religious leaders and the diplomatic corps. But the City Hall official said this was the first time a city employee had complained about the archbishops behavior.

The employee accused Archbishop Ventura of touching his buttocks on three occasions, the official said, first when the Vatican envoy arrived at City Hall, greeting him and complimenting him on his physical appearance. The employee said he thought the gesture might have been involuntary, according to the official.

But the archbishop touched the mans buttocks a second time several minutes later, this time more forcefully, according to the official, who said there was no more doubt for the employee that this act was voluntary.

The employee sought to distance himself from the archbishop, going to another room, but the archbishop followed him and touched his buttocks a third time, the official said. In that instance, four other City Hall employees were witnesses.
Thousands of students streamed out of schools across Europe on Friday, waving placards and carrying banners as they marched as part of a coordinated walkout to demand action on climate change.

In London, students chanting, Save our planet! gathered in Parliament Square, where they brought traffic to a standstill. Others held signs that read, Change the politics not the climate.

About 200 students gathered outside the Ministry of Ecology in Paris, saying they hoped to repeat the demonstration every week until their demands were heard. They urged the government to reduce Frances greenhouse gas emissions by at least 4 percent per year.
MADRID  A center-left government has fallen. The two-party system has collapsed. The far-right is on the rise. At first glance, Spain seems a lot like other parts of Europe these days. And it is.

But the decision on Friday by Spains Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, to call for an early general election in April  the countrys third since late 2015  is also an echo of deeper, particularly Spanish dynamics at play.

A secessionist drive in the prosperous northern region of Catalonia has challenged both the countrys territorial integrity and the core arrangements of the 1978 Constitution for Spain, one of Western Europes youngest democracies.

The result is the rise of a new nationalism across Spain, which in many ways has yet to fully reconcile the divisions left by the darkest chapters of its recent past, including dictatorship and civil war.
WARSAW  In Budapest this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned bluntly of security threats from Russia and China, but he did not overtly criticize the assault on liberal democracy by Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, who has systematically stripped the courts, media and academia of their independence.

And in Warsaw this week, Vice President Mike Pence spoke out against Iran, but had no harsh words for Poland, the first European Union member to face possible sanctions from the bloc for weakening democracy and the rule of law. Instead he praised Poland, still shaken by the killing of a leading opposition politician last month, as a bastion of freedom in Central Europe.

The trips by Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Pence made it clear that the erosion of democratic values and institutions in Eastern and Central Europe does not rank high on the Trump administrations agenda. Just as striking, two years into President Trumps term, is that no one was at all surprised.

We know very well that the Trump administration is not interested in this topic, said Roman Kuzniar, a professor at Warsaw University and a foreign policy adviser to Polands former President Bronislaw Komorowski. They are coming from a different planet. From the moon. They are not a part of the global pro-democratic movement.
What can we expect this year?

A significant shift in American foreign policy under President Trump has further changed the dynamic.

Seth G. Jones, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the conference would reflect a world in which the United States and Europe are increasingly at odds.

The Americans have traditionally been the harbingers of the growth and protection of the order, Mr. Jones said. And now we have the U.S., at least some of the U.S. figures like the president, questioning that.

On the agenda for the 2019 conference are discussions of the future of the European Union; trade and international security; arms control; and the implications of power struggles between the United States, China and Russia. Senior officials from all of those countries will attend.

Divisions between the United States and Europe on several security issues, including the Americans abandonment of the Iran nuclear deal, have placed the allies at odds. Recent American decisions to pull back from conflicts abroad  with Mr. Trump announcing the withdrawal of troops in Syria and plans to downsize Americas role in Afghanistan  have left European allies wondering who will step in.

There is a broader question in Europe, including among countries gathering in Munich, about what the U.S. role in the world is, Mr. Jones said. Its not necessarily isolationist policy, but definitely one operating with much more international restraint than previous administrations. And who fills that vacuum?

Americas changing role and internal divisions will be on display.

The United States is bringing its largest-ever delegation to the conference, with Vice President Mike Pence and Patrick Shanahan, the acting defense secretary, representing the Trump administration. A congressional delegation includes the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
LONDONDERRY, Northern Ireland  Gary Donnelly, a city councilor in Londonderry, has fought for years to end British rule in Northern Ireland. After the 1998 peace agreement many of his allies put aside the struggle to expel the British and reunify with the Irish Republic, but not Mr. Donnelly.

Now, in the unremitting gloom that has been Northern Irelands lot in recent years, he has sighted a beacon of hope in Britains withdrawal from the European Union, or Brexit. As the possibility grows of Britains crashing out with no deal, so, too, does the likelihood of the reimposition of a hard border with the Irish Republic that many people see as a dire threat to peace and stability.

But Mr. Donnelly has a different take. While he shares a sense of alarm about a hard border, he also thinks talk of its return has brought much-needed clarity to the Irish question.

Brexit has highlighted the absurdity of partition, Mr. Donnelly said. Others had always been brushing it under the carpet.
Historically in Sri Lanka, the job of executioner has been difficult to fill.

Since 1976, when the government placed its moratorium on executions, the government has regularly advertised the hangman job, hoping to have a candidate trained and ready in case executions resumed. Before then, the post of hangman passed from father to son.

But since the moratorium, just three men have held the post, and all of them abandoned it before carrying out a single execution.

The last one, P.S.U. Premasinghe, 45, landed the job five years ago but resigned in shock at the first sight of the gallows at the main prison in the capital, Colombo, days after he began training. The prison authorities gave him a month to reconsider; he did not. The position has remained open since.

After Mr. Sirisenas announcement this month that hangings would resume, prison officials began compiling lists of drug offenders on death row. And the Ministry of Justice and Prison Reforms decided this week to import a new noose; the one at the gallows now was brought in from Pakistan 12 years ago and has never been used in an execution.

Despite the 1976 moratorium, judges in this majority-Buddhist country have continued to hand down death sentences, none of which have been carried out. About 1,300 people are on death row, 48 of whom were convicted of drug crimes.
Four men were convicted Friday in the killing of a prominent adviser to Myanmars leadership who was shot in the head while holding his infant grandson at Yangon International Airport in 2017.

The killing of the adviser, U Ko Ni, is widely believed to have been a political assassination. But the supposed mastermind has not been found, and what role, if any, the countrys powerful military had in the killing was not revealed in the lengthy trial of the four suspects.

Mr. Ko Ni, 65, was a high-profile lawyer; a member of the governing party, the National League for Democracy; and a Muslim in a predominately Buddhist country riven by religious and ethnic violence. He was also a legal adviser to Myanmars leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

His killing has hindered the governing partys efforts to change the political system, in which the military that once ran the country as a dictatorship still maintains vast authority.
NEW DELHI  India accused Pakistan on Friday of orchestrating a suicide bombing that killed dozens of soldiers in Kashmir, the worst attack there in decades, promising an appropriate response and calling on world leaders to isolate its neighbor.

Pakistan has denied involvement in the attack, in which at least 40 Indian soldiers were killed Thursday when a driver slammed an explosives-packed vehicle into a paramilitary convoy. But by Friday afternoon, India had recalled its ambassador to Pakistan for consultations in New Delhi.

[On August 5, India revoked Kashmirs special status.]

With national elections in India set to take place by May and Prime Minister Narendra Modi facing a close contest, analysts say he risks looking weak if he does not respond. Mr. Modi was elected in 2014 on promises to crack down on Kashmirs militants and to adopt a tougher line on Pakistan. The nuclear-armed rivals have gone to war three times since independence in 1947, with two of the wars fought over Kashmir.

We will give a befitting reply; our neighbor will not be allowed to destabilize us, Mr. Modi said after an emergency meeting with security advisers on Friday, according to Reuters. Our security forces are given full freedom to respond, he added.
GENEVA  Some women were tied to trees, raped for hours and then beaten. Others who resisted were pummeled with rifle butts, sticks and cable wire. The assailants were armed men, mostly from forces aligned with South Sudans government.

Nearly five months after South Sudans warring leaders signed an agreement to end five years of conflict in the country, which was only founded in 2011, the United Nations on Friday listed those horrific practices to voice alarm about an upsurge in sexual violence there that started late last year.

United Nations investigators said they had documented the rape of 134 women and girls in northern areas of South Sudan in the last three months of 2018. Fifty of the victims were children, one of them just 8 years old. Another 41 women and girls suffered other forms of sexual and physical abuse.

Many rape victims had dispersed to remote areas that could not be reached by road, and the actual number of attacks was much higher, the investigators said, noting that the violence had continued this year, albeit on a smaller scale.
SAO PAULO, Brazil  The Brazilian police on Friday arrested eight employees of the giant mining company Vale on suspicion of first-degree murder as part of a criminal investigation into a dam rupture that killed over 160 people.

The dam, filled with mining waste and sludge, burst three weeks ago, sending a tidal wave of mud crashing down on the company cafeteria at a mining complex in Brumadinho in southeastern Brazil. The torrent continued downhill, slamming into homes and contaminating rivers. At least 166 people were killed and 147 remain missing.

The eight people arrested were fully aware of the instable situation of the dam, the judge, Rodrigo Heleno Chaves, said in the arrest warrant, citing evidence collected over the last three weeks.

He said a drastic variation that was recorded in monitoring instruments just days before the collapse, along with anomalies registered since mid-2018, should have prompted an immediate evacuation.
We told each other about our families. I identify as a first child. But Im actually the second of three kids, because my parents had a child who died of cancer before I was born. When I was growing up there were few pictures of him. But whenever I glanced at a family photo  of me and my younger brother and my mom and dad, I looked for the blank space where he would have been. I didnt feel sad when I did this, not exactly. But I did feel a sense of longing at missing out on something that was supposed to be mine and, by a cruel twist of fate, wasnt.

If my younger brother was being annoying, I would imagine my older brother as the opposite. He was fun, and more grown up. He had good ideas for pretend games involving bows and arrows. He was someone who would do everything first  swim in the neighbors freezing pool, go to overnight camp and sleep in a bunk with spiders  and tell me about it afterward.

In my imagination he was always older than me, even though once I was past the age of 4, I was older than he would ever be. A lot of who I am was predicated on the fact that he was gone. The joy my parents had in all my little accomplishments, and also the ever-present  but never discussed  vein of sadness that ran through everything we did as a family.

I should have had two siblings. Maybe my two boys should too? I imagine the amplification of my already full life. I think of the sweet weight of a baby in my arms, the soft pad of a toddlers footsteps in the hall, reading our worn Maisy board books one more time.

Because this third child is hypothetical, she or he can be anything I imagine. My two kids are so different, so distinct in their appearance and personalities. My oldest is full of ideas and interest in the world; hes mechanical and distractible. Every day he says things that strike me with their insight and creativity, but he also would walk out the door with no pants on if we let him. My youngest has big feelings and big opinions  especially about colors and clothes and food. Hes as spirited as his wild curls. Its amazing to think they are who they are because they were conceived on a certain day, at a certain time. That sperm, that egg.

I always joke that there are two ways to tell the story of how I met my husband. He tells the romantic comedy version: How we sat together on some warm stone steps in the Roman Forum and traded iPods. Ate green grapes out of a bowl full of ice at an outdoor cafe, and stood hand in hand under the deep and geometric dome of the Pantheon. Said reluctant goodbyes at the Termini on a gray morning, the whistle of trains in the background.

Im always a little embarrassed by this version. When hes done telling it, I laugh and say something like: The short version is I married my vacation hookup.
Call spoofing has gained in popularity. Scammers know their targets are getting smarter, often not answering phones when a number is not recognized. In order to improve their chances they are spoofing, which is a computer tactic to deceive your caller ID by changing the number to one more recognizable. Scammers are using local hospitals, businesses, doctors offices and even school phone numbers to lure people into answering their phones. If you do not recognize a phone number, let the call go to voicemail. If you answer and realize it is a robocall or scammer asking for personal information, simply HANG UP. Do not engage in conversations or push numbers to speak with someone in an effort to be removed from a call list. These tactics do not work. After you hang up, block the caller, if you are able.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said as much as she warned Republicans of the dangers of the presidents plan.

Im not advocating for any president doing an end run around Congress, she said. Im just saying that the Republicans should have some dismay about the door that they are opening, the threshold they are crossing.

Ms. Pelosi has a point. In the ever escalating partisan fights in Congress, the party that considers itself wronged by raw exercise of power typically seeks quick revenge when it has the opportunity to do so. Cases in point: the decision by Democrats in 2013 to eliminate the 60-vote threshold for filibusters on most nominations, the Republican blockade in 2016 against Judge Merrick B. Garlands nomination to the Supreme Court and the elimination in 2017 by Republicans of the 60-vote threshold on Supreme Court nominations.

In the Republican case against the Obama administrations spending, a lawsuit initiated by John A. Boehner, the speaker at the time, claimed that the executive branch was spending more than $130 billion in subsidies under the Affordable Care Act that Congress had never agreed to spend. In a surprising decision in 2015, Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of Federal District Court in Washington sided with Republicans and said that if the House could not sue to protect its appropriations power, it was in big trouble.

The House of Representatives as an institution would suffer a concrete, particularized injury if the executive were able to draw funds from the Treasury without a valid appropriation, she wrote in her ruling. The case was later essentially made moot when Mr. Trump took over from Mr. Obama, but the ruling against the White House stood.

The border wall case is somewhat different because the White House is using its declaration of an emergency as a justification for steering federal dollars to the wall against the wishes of Congress. But Democrats and some Republicans insist there is no emergency in the sense that the law was intended to cover. They say such action by the president would be an unmistakable defiance of Congress, which made its views evident in the spending legislation that did not provide the authority for the president to build the wall he wants.
As President Trump declared a national emergency on Friday to bypass Congress and build his long-promised wall, he again painted a portrait of a lawless, chaotic border and cited arguments about the effectiveness of the kind of barrier he has in mind that were not rooted in facts.

Illegal border crossings have been declining for decades. While families are overwhelming an immigration system devised to handle single men, a border wall would not prevent them from seeking asylum, which is legal. Research does not show that immigrants commit more crimes than native-born Americans. And a wall would do little to prevent drugs and human trafficking at the border, as official ports of entry are the main route into the United States for both.

Cumulatively, Mr. Trumps unsupported or misleading statements undercut his rationale for declaring an emergency, a step that is widely viewed as testing both constitutional and political norms and is sure to draw legal challenges.

What Was Said

In El Paso they have close to 2,000 murders right on the other side of the wall. And they had 23 murders. Its a lot of murders. But its not close to 2,000 murders right on the other side of the wall in Mexico.

This is misleading.

Mr. Trump is correct that there were 23 murders in El Paso last year, compared with more than 1,200 murders in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. But the disparity predates the existence of border barriers separating the two towns.
WASHINGTON  The Commerce Department is expected to submit a report to President Trump in the coming days that could give the United States authority to impose tariffs on foreign cars and car parts on the basis of protecting national security, setting up another potential skirmish with Americas trading partners.

An administration official confirmed that the report would be submitted to the White House before a Feb. 17 deadline. The president has 90 days to make a determination on auto tariffs after receiving the report, which is not expected to immediately be made public.

The document stems from Mr. Trumps request to the department last year to investigate whether imports of automobiles pose a threat to national security. It remains unclear exactly what the Commerce Department will recommend, but analysts say they expect the document to outline a range of options for the president, whether that means doing nothing or imposing tariffs or quotas on imported cars and parts.

While Mr. Trump has long threatened to hit allies like Europe with car tariffs, it is not clear whether he will actually take that step. The administration is fighting multiple trade battles at once, including with China, and other countries have warned Mr. Trump that any move to impose tariffs would warrant reciprocal action.
While the court is unable to determine  based on the existing record, at least  what Secretary Rosss real reasons for adding the citizenship question were, it does find, by a preponderance of the evidence, that promoting enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, or V.R.A., was not his real reason for the decision, Judge Furman wrote. Instead, the court finds that the V.R.A. was a post hoc rationale for a decision that the secretary had already made for other reasons.

Judge Furman had called for Mr. Ross to be questioned under oath, but the Supreme Court blocked that order in October. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, said the court should have gone further, shutting down all pretrial fact-gathering in the census case. Justice Gorsuch added that there was no indication of bad faith in Mr. Rosss conduct.

Theres nothing unusual about a new cabinet secretary coming to office inclined to favor a different policy direction, soliciting support from other agencies to bolster his views, disagreeing with staff or cutting through red tape, Justice Gorsuch wrote at the time. Of course, some people may disagree with the policy and process. But until now, at least, this much has never been thought enough to justify a claim of bad faith and launch an inquisition into a cabinet secretarys motives.

In November, the Supreme Court rejected a request from the Trump administration to halt the trial, over the dissents of Justices Thomas, Gorsuch and Samuel A. Alito Jr.

In his ruling last month, Judge Furman relied on evidence in the so-called administrative record, meaning the materials the government said Mr. Ross had considered before making his decision.

Evidence presented at the trial showed that Mr. Ross had wanted to add the question long before the request from the Justice Department. The letter from the Justice Department, Judge Furman wrote, was an attempt to launder their request through another agency  that is, to obtain cover for a decision that they had already made.

Documents disclosed in the case showed that Mr. Ross had discussed the citizenship issue early in his tenure with Stephen K. Bannon, the former White House chief strategist and an architect of the Trump administrations tough policies against immigrants, and that Mr. Ross had met at Mr. Bannons direction with Kris Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state and a vehement opponent of unlawful immigration.
WASHINGTON  A former Air Force sergeant who defected to Iran did severe damage to American intelligence operations, and is suspected of revealing the names of double agents run by United States military intelligence, some of whom had their cover blown after her defection, according to former counterintelligence officials.

Monica Elfriede Witt, 39, the former Air Force counterintelligence agent, is also accused of exposing the names of eight American military counterespionage agents, and she had knowledge of how the United States intercepted foreign communications, the governments most important stream of intelligence. She also knew the inner workings of American military operations across the Middle East.

Ms. Witts indictment on charges of providing American secrets to Tehran was made public this week. Her alleged activities came at a time when American intelligence operations were already plagued by the penetration of a top-secret communications network by China and Iran that had deeply damaged spying operations abroad.

When Ms. Witt defected to Iran in August 2013, defensive measures were taken in an attempt to reduce the damage she could inflict, according to a former senior intelligence official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, like others involved in the case, because of its sensitivity.
New Jerseys attorney general has stepped into the investigation of President Trumps $107 million presidential inaugural fund, issuing an administrative subpoena for the funds financial records, including any that document fund-raising in the state.

The action, taken last week by the states consumer protection office, came on the heels of a subpoena issued this month by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. Federal investigators are examining whether all donations to the fund were reported, as required, and whether any foreigners illegally contributed money using Americans as straw donors.

The New Jersey subpoena also demands records of any contributions made on behalf of foreigners, who are barred from contributing to inaugural funds, campaigns or political action committees in the United States. It also covers audits, contracts with vendors, documents related to the nonprofit organizations tax status, and any records of advertisements, direct mailings or fund-raising events in New Jersey.

Unlike the earlier subpoena from the United States attorneys office in the Southern District of New York, the New Jersey request does not name any individuals or companies.
WASHINGTON  Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, went to bed Wednesday night cautiously optimistic that a shutdown crisis that had stretched back to December had finally ended.

Then President Trump awoke in a rage Thursday, feeling cornered into accepting a bipartisan funding deal struck earlier in the week that would deprive him once again of money for his long-promised wall along the southwestern border. Conservative commentators who had been cajoled into accepting the deal Wednesday were breaking their silence on Thursday.

By midmorning, after a particularly unpleasant meeting with the secretary of homeland security, Kirstjen Nielsen, the president was threatening to torpedo the deal, according to two people briefed on the exchange. Several hours and several phone calls later, Mr. McConnell had persuaded Mr. Trump to once again agree to sign the bill to avert another government shutdown looming at midnight Friday.

But persuasion came at a price: The president would declare a national emergency to try to secure wall funding without congressional approval, he told the majority leader  and Mr. McConnell would have to back him.
FORT WAYNE, Ind.  At a federal courthouse in Tennessee, a judge signed an order allowing an ailing inmate to go home.

But he died in a prison hospice before he heard the news.

At his wifes home in Indiana, as she was getting a wheelchair, bedpans and other medical equipment ready for his arrival, the phone rang.

It was the chaplain, said the wife, Marie Dianne Cheatham. He said, Im sorry to have to tell you. And my heart fell through the floor. I knew what he was going to say.

For years, terminally ill federal prisoners like Ms. Cheathams husband, Steve, have in theory had the option of what is called compassionate release. But in practice, the Bureau of Prisons would often decline to grant it, allowing hundreds of petitioners to die in custody. One of the provisions of the new criminal justice law, signed by President Trump on Dec. 21, sought to change that, giving inmates the ability to appeal directly to the courts.
Good morning.

(Want to get California Today by email? Heres the sign-up.)

This week, my colleague Tim Arango wrote about the rocky, contentious rollout of a new law that requires police departments to make public more records about officers conduct.

The law suddenly made California  which has one of the nations highest rates of police shootings  among the most open states when it comes to police records. For decades, it has been one of the most secretive.

The change has caused friction between law enforcement agencies and those pushing for transparency, including journalists and family members of people who have been killed by the police.

Thats where Tim picks up the issue today:

More than a quarter of a million dollars to provide public police records?

The San Diego Sheriffs Department this week told KPBS that it would cost $354,524.22 to provide records on police shootings that the television channel had requested under a new state law.
For decades, researchers and physicians tended to think about pregnancies as either planned or unplanned. But new data reveals that for a significant group of women, their feelings dont neatly fit into one category or another. As many as one-fifth of women who become pregnant arent sure whether they want a baby.

This fact may reshape how doctors and policymakers think about family planning. For women who are unsure, it doesnt seem enough for physicians to counsel them on pregnancy prevention or prenatal care.

In the past we thought of it as binary, you want to be pregnant or not, so you need contraception or a prenatal vitamin, said Maria Isabel Rodriguez, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Oregon Health and Science University whose research focuses on family planning and contraceptive policy. But its more of a continuum.

The new data comes from a recent change in the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions big survey of new mothers, now allowing them to answer a question about their pregnancy desires by saying I wasnt sure. It shows that some women want to avoid making a decision about becoming pregnant, or have strong but mixed feelings about it. A new analysis of the 2014 results from the Guttmacher Institute combined these results with data from abortion providers. It found that in 9 percent to 19 percent of pregnancies, the woman wasnt sure what she wanted at the time.
David and Willman were two hours early. Their families gathered to witness their vows, with her grandparents, Allan and Ruth Willman, arriving first, followed by her parents, Cindy and Tom, who brought a bouquet for their daughter and a boutonniere for David. Ruth loaned Willman a ring and the topper from her own wedding cake from 60 years earlier for good luck.
If this is a Monday night, its hard to imagine what Friday looks like. About 300 people are spilling out of a club onto Avenida Eduardo Conde in the Santurce district of San Juan. The space Im in has limited seating, but the stools are empty anyway because everyone is standing. One window sells fluffy, fist-sized empanadillas and stacks of lightly salted tostones while another one hands over cans of Medalla beer at a furious pace. Everyone is here for bomba and plena, two distinct but closely linked Puerto Rican musical traditions that can trace their roots to the African slaves brought to the island starting in the 17th century.

The first set is all plena: A dozen men fill the stage, their fingers ricocheting off circular pandereta drums, providing a bedrock for the call-and-response vocal lines. The lyrics are largely improvised and often lewd and full of thinly veiled social and political commentary. There are repeated mentions of the venue were in, La Terraza de Bonanza, and calls to dance la plena and love la isla. Judging by the expressions on the faces of the people around me, the lyrics hold several inside jokes that fly right over my head .

After about an hour, theres a 10-minute break and the set changes to bomba, an even older musical tradition (and a kind of cultural parent to plena) anchored by barrel-like drums. Women take center stage. A trio of vocalists face the drummers and a revolving cast of dancers leap, twirl, grin, shout and have me so transfixed that its a full 15 minutes before I realize I forgot to hit the record button on my camera.

I came to Puerto Rico, my first stop as this years 52 Places Traveler, hoping to see an island well on its way to recovery, a year and a half after Hurricane Maria. I knew I would see progress, especially when compared to the fresh devastation that my predecessor Jada Yuan saw just five months after the hurricane when she visited the island. What I didnt expect to see were the omnipresent smiles, the sense of optimism shared by so many people I met, from pig roasters to young entrepreneurs, and from the meticulously manicured cobblestoned streets of Old San Juan to the roller-coaster hills in the center of the island.
It was an encouraging demonstration. But the experimental system relied on the easy access to personal data in China, where privacy regulations are less restrictive, and was confined to diagnosing common ailments.

That step-by-step approach is the counsel for business in a new book by Thomas Davenport, The AI Advantage: How to Put the Artificial Intelligence Revolution to Work (MIT Press). Mr. Davenport, a professor of information technology and management at Babson College, is a seasoned expert in using digital data to streamline operations and spot opportunities. And hes been at it since well before the current A.I. wave, which is both a technological evolution and a branding craze.

His advice to mainstream companies is that the best course is often to use basic A.I. tools to automate mundane office tasks in operations like accounting, billing, payments and customer service  and to avoid moon shots.

One of Mr. Davenports prime examples of a misguided moon shot was IBMs initial efforts to apply its Watson technology to diagnosing cancer. That was a high-profile science project that proved more difficult, time-consuming and costly than anticipated, though IBM continues that work with several leading cancer centers.

Speaking of IBM, the company was out in San Francisco this week for its annual Think conference, which attracted more than 25,000 attendees. Its executives presented its Watson and cloud technology as the trusted path for companies across the industrial spectrum that want to embrace A.I.

IBM cannot compete head-on with Amazon, Microsoft and Google in the big-spending game of building out massive data centers to provide the infrastructure layer of cloud computing to one and all. So it is seeking to shift the competition.

IBM talks about chapter two in the cloud market. Increasingly, it says, companies will run not only new applications but also their legacy software on the cloud, either private clouds in their own data centers or on IBMs cloud. The next stage of cloud computing, Virginia Rometty, IBMs chief executive, told Jon Fortt of CNBC, is going to be driven by the modernization of mission-critical apps. Thats our sweet spot.
Oh, yes, we are pleased, she said. It speaks to certainty that we know what we are doing and put a lot of planning and effort early on into it.

From the beginning, Virginia officials said, their preparations differed sharply from those of other cities that applied to Amazon. Residents and others were generally welcoming, in contrast to the steady drumbeat of protests in New York.

For years, the region had planned and made improvements to roads, subways, trains and bike lanes to accommodate a major corporation like Amazon, Ms. Backmon said.

A bipartisan state board of legislative leaders that reviews major incentive deals had many hours of discussions on Amazon before an agreement was reached for the new campus, said Stephen Moret, who runs the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.

The fact that that group exists and was so heavily engaged periodically throughout the 14 months was a major contributor for how well things have rolled out at the state level, Mr. Moret said in a recent interview. He said Arlington and Alexandria officials had been briefed about Amazon in closed sessions multiple times as well.

Late last month, the Virginia legislature overwhelmingly passed a $750 million incentive package for Amazon, which the governor signed into law. It provides Amazon with $550 million in grants for the first 25,000 jobs it creates, and $200 million more for creating 12,850 additional jobs in subsequent years.

Officials in Nashville, which landed a smaller development project from Amazon, with about 5,000 jobs, also drew distinctions between their approach and New Yorks. The city and Tennessee offered a combined $102 million in tax incentives, significantly less per job than New Yorks multibillion-dollar promise. And Nashvilles offer didnt come with some of the attention-grabbing perks that New Yorks did.
Of the many delights working at a magazine offers, one is the opportunity to collaborate with people who think differently than you do. The best magazines Ive worked at are the archetypal American high school remade: You have the newspaper and speech and debate team kids (now the text editors); the drama-club kids (now the fashion department); the skateboarders (now the art directors); and the film society kids (now the photo editors). The result, when it works, is a mostly joyful, if sometimes contentious, collective, a group of people all trying to create something using their particular skills and kinds of intelligence. Magazine staffs adhere to a hierarchy, but too much systemization frustrates the fundamentally communal nature of the organization  it is e pluribus unum at its finest, creative people attempting to solve a riddle together.

This is a romantic way to consider your industry, of course, but when you work in a creative or semi-creative field, youre always looking to related businesses to find either kinship or difference: How do they conceive of not only what they do, but how and where they work? Last year, I went with a few of my colleagues to the Hermes headquarters on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore in Paris for tea. The tea (and housemade madeleines) were excellent, and we had to monitor one another to make sure we didnt slip the sugar cubes, glittery little sculptures in the shape of the Hermes H, into our coat pockets as we left. But what most impressed me were the curious anachronisms of the place. Just a few steps from the private dining room, with its Hermes china and homemade jams and butter-sweet air, was one of the companys glass-doored leather studios, where artisans were finishing hand-stitched leather saddles. Lining the walls were bookcases stacked with ledgers detailing the workshops century of orders, the handwriting chronicling the customers names, addresses and desires growing fainter and more spidery as you paged ever backward. This was the kind of atelier that could easily have been moved to the suburbs, to some far-flung satellite location, and yet here it was in the middle of Paris, occupying a large slice of wildly expensive real estate in the six-story building it shared with the executives offices and, downstairs, the boutique itself.
Its the store that will be selling you the mattress, and not the factory, said Buddy Delaney, president of Best Mattress in Columbia, S.C. Mr. Carlitz added, The more legitimate stores insist that a mattress manufacturer provide the staff ongoing sales training as technology evolves.

Dont search for vague terms like best mattress for back pain

Regardless of what some retailers advertise, there is no one great mattress line for back pain. Back pain comes in different shapes and sizes. A mattress thats good for one person may not be good for another, said Dr. Jonathan Kirschner, a physiatrist at New York Citys Hospital for Special Surgery.

A 2003 study published in The Lancet reported that those participants who slept on medium-firm mattresses experienced less back pain than those who slept on firm mattresses. But mattress firmness levels arent standardized, so try a range and take your pillow along. Lie in the position you sleep in and ask your partner or a friend to make sure your spine is in a roughly straight line. If it is, and youre comfortable, you may have found the right mattress.

Dont expect much from the warranty

A 10-year warranty doesnt guarantee a good-as-new mattress for a decade. It covers only a manufacturers defects, said Terri Long, whose family has owned Longs Bedding & Interiors in New York City since 1911. Such issues might include collapsed borders or sprung springs, which normally happen within the first year of ownership. But most sagging and body indentations are considered normal wear and tear. Thats why its so important to find out about the density of the foam and the gauge of the springs, and to glean what you can about durability from owner reviews.

Dont rush

Instead of dropping by a store after work, shop on a weekend when you have plenty of time and youre fresh, said Robin Azevedo, CEO of the San Francisco Bay Area  based McRoskey Mattress Company. After all, a bed of straw can feel good if youre exhausted.

Once youve narrowed your options, lie in the positions you sleep in for 15 to 20 minutes, noting whether your spine is aligned and your hips and shoulders are cushioned. You may need a month to know whether you like your mattress. If yours comes with a trial period of 30 or more days, take advantage of that. Its not just about how you feel when you lie down, said Ron Rudzin, CEO of The Saatva Company. You have to feel good when you wake up.

Dont buy just because its on sale

When a seller promises a one-day-only discount, keep your wits about you. If youre not sure about the mattress, dont buy it.
Ill start with the big question: Why interviews, as opposed to other story forms?

I had struggled in the past to find ways to creatively frame people in the traditional profile format. Meaning: You start with a scene, explain why the person is relevant in the culture and then offer supporting quotes from people that know them. I just feel like there are a lot of other writers who are much more capable than I am of figuring out how to do that in fresh ways.

Then there are people who are geniuses at trying to pin down a subject on a specific line of thinking or get their specific position on an issue. It's a kind of interviewing that I admire very much and don't think I'm particularly good at. I enjoy using the interview to give you a sense of who the subject is and what they think about.

What was the first interview you did where you felt you succeeded in that?

One stands out for me, for a different reason: When I worked at Spin magazine, I did an interview with Lou Reed, who was sort of famous for being very difficult and aggressive with journalists. My experience with him bore out that his reputation was deserved. It was a difficult, combative interview, one that made me feel like I had failed in some fashion, because he seemed so negative in his responses to my questions  to my whole being.

But when I went back to the transcription and was putting the interview together, I realized that just because he didn't like me or my questions, it didn't mean that something had gone wrong. I had to internalize that lesson: The truth of the interaction is the thing that you're trying to get across.

Establishing rapport is a big part of what you do. How do you that?

Its just like anytime you meet someone for the first time. Sometimes you just realize very quickly that this person seems to be comfortable.
Its not a scientifically based accusation  its an ideologically based one, said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior analyst for Religion News Service who visits the Vatican frequently and has written several highly regarded books about the Roman Catholic hierarchy. One of the problems is that Catholic bishops have never allowed any kind of research in this area. They dont want to know how many gay priests there are. Independent studies put the percentage of gay men among Catholic priests in the United States at 15 percent to 60 percent.

In a telephone interview on Thursday, Martel stressed that the 80 percent isnt his estimate but that of a former priest at the Vatican whom he quotes by name in the book. But he presents that quotation without sufficient skepticism and, in his own words, writes, Its a big majority.

He says that In the Closet of the Vatican is informed by about 1,500 interviews over four years and the contributions of scores of researchers and other assistants. I covered the Vatican for The Times for nearly two years, and the book has a richness of detail thats persuasive. Its going to be widely discussed and hotly debated.

It depicts different sexual subcultures, including clandestine meetings between Vatican officials and young heterosexual Muslim men in Rome who work as prostitutes. It names names, and while many belong to Vatican officials and other priests who are dead or whose sexual identities have come under public scrutiny before, Martel also lavishes considerable energy on the suggestion that Francis predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, and other towering figures in the church are gay.

Perhaps the most vivid of the double lives under Martels gaze is that of Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo of Colombia, who died a little over a decade ago. According to the book, he prowled the ranks of seminarians and young priests for men to seduce and routinely hired male prostitutes, sometimes beating them up after sex. All the while he promoted the churchs teaching that all gay men are objectively disordered and embraced its ban on priests who are believed to have deep-seated homosexual tendencies, whether they act on them or not.

Part of my concern about the book is the timing of its release, which coincides precisely with an unprecedented meeting at the Vatican about sexual abuse in the church. For the first time, the pope has summoned the presidents of every Catholic bishops conference around the world to discuss this topic alone. But the book is also bound to shift attention away from child abuse and onto gay priests in general, once again falsely conflating in peoples minds homosexuality and pedophilia, said the Rev. James Martin, a best-selling Jesuit author, in a recent tweet. Hes right.

The book doesnt equate them, and in fact makes the different, important point that the churchs culture of secrecy  a culture created in part by gay priests need to conceal who they are  works against the exposure of molesters who are guilty of crimes.
Nearly 30 years ago, the United States used its diplomatic clout to persuade Israel and its Arab neighbors to meet publicly for the first time, at the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference, which opened the door to greater Arab acceptance of Israel.

On Wednesday and Thursday, leaders of Israel and Arab states met publicly again, at an international conference in Warsaw staged by the Trump administration. But the goal of this meeting, drawing officials of some 60 nations, was not peacemaking. It was to rally support for economic and political war with Iran, for which the United States has found little enthusiasm among allies since withdrawing from the 2015 deal that restricts Irans nuclear program.

Administration officials initially tried to promote their agenda under an amorphous seeking peace in the Middle East rubric. But there was no denying the real purpose, especially when Benjamin Netanyahu, Israels militantly anti-Iran prime minister, sent out a since-deleted tweet that proclaimed an open meeting with representatives of leading Arab countries, that are sitting down together with Israel in order to advance the common interest of war with Iran.

Mr. Netanyahus office on Thursday released a video of a closed meeting in which senior Arab officials played down concerns about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and defended Israels right to defend itself, while denouncing Iran as the greatest threat to regional peace.
The relationship anchoring the world that the Munich Security Conference sought to buttress has been drained of meaning.

This is why Wolfgang Ischinger, the former German ambassador to the United States, wrote in his welcoming remarks of a reshuffling of core pieces of the international order and a leadership vacuum. Who carries aloft the flag of liberalism and its values with anything resembling the autocratic convictions of the new strongmen  Vladimir Putin in Russia, Xi Jinping in China, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, and Donald Trump in the United States?

Its no longer worth pretending that Trump is not in the authoritarian camp. The shock has passed. Europeans have internalized the shift. The best they can offer as libertys beacon in Americas stead is Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Merkel. He is being yellow-vested, and she is in her twilight years.

If there is a particular foreboding hanging over this conference, it lies in the fact that the sonderweg, or (loosely) wayward path, of Trumps America has occurred just as Europe splinters. Brexit is weeks away. Spain has just called yet another election. In France and Germany and Spain, the major political parties are losing power or disintegrating, challenged by nationalist xenophobes, leaving a fragmented political topography. Instability is inevitable.

Trump favors such fragmentation because he believes it will leave weaker European powers more susceptible to his winner-takes-all bullying. Europeans have no illusions about this. The old order has frayed to the point of dissolution. It was based on the conviction that words have meaning. For Trump, they do not, as his declaration of a national emergency on the southern border with Mexico underscores. Without meaning, no law, no treaty, is worth the paper its written on. This is the real danger confronting the West.

During the Warsaw theater, Roxana Saberi of CBS News confronted Pompeo on the hypocrisy of the United States denouncing human rights abuses in Iran while embracing Saudi Arabias Mohammed bin Salman, who, in the assessment of the C.I.A., ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist. Pompeo lost it, twice calling Saberis legitimate inquiry a ridiculous question.

European powers see such braggadocio for what it is. They are contemplating the world without its postwar American anchor. Cometh the emergency-declaring strongman. Hes pitched camp in Washington, no less.
To the Editor:

Re Charging Ahead, Under a Feminist Banner (news article, Feb. 14):

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is on the wrong track in appealing to women with her feminist campaign for president. We will vote for the best person for the job, male or female.

Appealing purely on gender terms is an insult to women, who want to be equal to men for their ability. This is not what feminism is all about.

Carla Wallach

Greenwich, Conn.
How did you get into this industry? I lost my job. Thom McNamee, the former owner of the bar and my best friend, passed away. Soon afterward, the bar was for sale. I thought it would be a good way of keeping my friend with us and have a job I would love to do. Im a bar first, restaurant second.
In the resulting atmosphere of crisis and upheaval, a new coalition can bring a new reconstructive president to power. When that happens, Skowronek wrote, governing priorities are durably recast, and a corresponding set of legitimating ideas becomes the new common sense. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a reconstructive president. So was Ronald Reagan. The assumptions of New Deal liberalism governed American politics from 1932 to 1980. The assumptions of the conservative movement have dominated thereafter, though perhaps not for much longer.

Viewed through this schema, Donald Trumps presidency looks more like the end of a cycle than the end of the Republic. Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign and the early months of the Trump administration, the constitutional law professors Jack Balkin and Sanford Levinson exchanged letters arguing about the durability of our system; the letters will be published this spring as a book, Democracy and Dysfunction. Balkin is the more sanguine of the two, in part because he sees Trump fitting into Skowroneks model.

Trumps presidency, wrote Balkin, could be what Skowronek called disjunctive, meaning one in which a president allied with an aging political regime promises to restore its dominance and former greatness, is unable to keep all of the elements of his coalition together, and as a result presides over the regimes dissolution.

If this analysis is correct, intrepid activists have a chance to decide what comes next. In the next few election cycles, a new regime will begin, offering the possibility of a new beginning in American politics, wrote Balkin.

The young progressives pushing the Green New Deal have a similar sense of historic opportunity. Waleed Shahid, communications director for the Justice Democrats  the group that recruited Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for Congress  frames the Green New Deal as an overarching vision for political renewal.
We have spent the last few years researching migrant flows into the United States, and this data is consistent with research our team has conducted with roughly 300 returned Central American and Mexican migrants. For the most part, Central Americans were detained after crossing the border as they awaited an asylum hearing, while the majority of Mexicans spoke of being raised in the United States, playing by the rules and being apprehended for minor traffic violations  speeding, a broken taillight or driving without a license. None of the handful of deportees who were found guilty of more serious crimes had languished in immigration detention. They had been summarily deported after serving time in federal prison.

Detention facilities also hamper the ability of both prospective refugees and undocumented migrants to gain asylum or to successfully plead their case to remain in the United States. Such facilities limit inmates communication with the outside world, a situation further compounded by their remote location. And once locked up, detainees are deprived of the means to earn the income required to hire the professional lawyers they need to have a realistic chance of success.

The treatment migrants receive in detention centers is inhumane. While the traumas that detained children face are well documented, the adult immigrants we interviewed also told countless stories of abuse, including racist taunts, physical aggression and the deprivation of their most basic needs.

Jason, a young man voluntarily traveling back to Mexico by bus, was apprehended on the bus and detained because his visa had expired two weeks earlier. He was sent to a detention facility. He told us of begging for food, only to have a guard toss a burrito onto the floor of a fly-infested cell that reeked of excrement. Israel Concha, a young man stopped for speeding and separated from his pregnant wife, described an immigration hearing in which he was prevented from even touching his newborn son.

Such stories make it easy to see why Democrats pushed to shrink ICEs capacity to detain people. But cutting back on capacity will not solve the abuses of immigration detention. In fact it is more likely to make things worse (a fact that Democrats have quietly conceded by allowing ICE to adjust the facilities capacity if they need to, which is why Republicans claim the actual number of beds allowed is much higher).
Most of all, they really believed they were more than whatever they actually were doing, whether slinging better ads by sucking up our data, or taking a vig f or getting us a date or a car, or in Amazons case, selling us piles and piles of stuff in really cheap and convenient ways.

Thats why only a few years ago, it would have been easy for Amazon to saunter into a place like Long Island City, Queens. In fact, the online giants effort to decide where its second headquarters would be was originally greeted with enthusiasm, with multiple municipalities going to comical lengths to bring in the promised 25,000 high-paying jobs.

There is, of course, no such thing as a second headquarters  this was a marketing circus from the start. But everyone bought into the narrative, especially the media, painting it as if it was going to be a much more transformative opportunity than it ever could be. Saturday Night Live got at the heart of it with a sketch a year ago, in which the reps from various cities bowed and scraped, offering all manner of delicious foods and financial gimmes to the worlds richest man.

It was satire, but really, was it?

It cut too close to home for many, who wondered why, in an era when all kinds of public services are being cut and the citys infrastructure is crumbling, a trillion-dollar corporation was getting so much. When it was revealed exactly how much  $3 billion in tax breaks after largely secret negotiations between civil potentates like Gov. Andrew Cuomo and faceless Amazon execs  the situation was ripe for disruption. (Was it curious that Mr. Bezos was never the ringmaster in these negotiations? Not to me. He often stays behind the scenes in these situations.)

Tech people are always bragging about how they move fast and break things, as Facebooks now-unfortunate motto put it, while seeking out new markets. This time, the disruption came from newly emboldened activists, with high-profile figures like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (whose district is adjacent to the Queens area where the complex was planned) weighing in with some choice words about the deal.
Yet Moscows thinking on Afghanistan today appears to mirror its approach 30 years ago. Back then, the Soviet leadership did not expect that the government in Kabul would last without foreign troops and was hoping to build some kind of coalition government with its allies at the core. This time around, Russia is not a party to the fighting, but the thinking is similar: As Russian officials say openly, they do not believe that the United States and its allies will be able to stabilize Afghanistan. The government of Mr. Ghani will not last without foreign troops. Much more worrying from Moscows point of view (and indeed, Washingtons) is the presence of the Islamic State or Al Qaeda. Moscow may not like the Taliban, but Russian officials see the groups participation in a future government as the only realistic possibility for a durable peace. And since the Taliban is unlikely to be going anywhere, it makes sense for Russia to secure some good will with the movement.

What Moscows strategy supposes, however, is that the Taliban can be persuaded to become one of the parties to a settlement, rather than the absolute master of the country. As recent talks in Doha showed, Washington is not opposed to such an outcome.

Getting to an agreement will be difficult. On the one hand, the Talibans stated position is much like that of the mujahedeen in the 1980s: They want all foreign forces removed and refuse to recognize the government in Kabul as legitimate. On the other hand, the idea of the Taliban returning to power in Kabul is obviously hard to stomach for many in the West, as it is for many Afghans. Not only have the Taliban themselves wrought much destruction in their own country, but thousands of lives and billions of dollars have been spent fighting them.

Critics of both the Soviet and American-led wars often say that the people of Afghanistan should decide their own fate without the interference of outsiders. That would be just, but it is unlikely: The regional and global powers that have intervened in Afghanistans civil wars since the late 1970s will not let that happen, if only because they fear their own loss will be someone elses gain.

But the reality is that the losses suffered by the Soviets in the 1980s and by the United States and its allies since 2001 are a fraction of what the people of Afghanistan have suffered over the past 40 years. Russia and the United States  and China, Iran, Pakistan and India  are all hoping to shape Afghanistans future. Back in 1989, getting Afghanistans warring parties to agree to a peace deal was difficult enough. Then the rivalries, ambitions and lingering mistrust among outside powers destroyed whatever prospects for peace had been created by the Soviet withdrawal. This time, other countries should take every opportunity to secure peace for Afghanistan.

Artemy Kalinovsky (@artemymk) is senior lecturer in East European Studies at the University of Amsterdam and the author, most recently, of Laboratory of Socialist Development: Cold War Politics and Decolonization in Soviet Tajikistan.
Tom J. Cade, an ornithologist who was a leader of a remarkable effort that re-established the majestic peregrine falcon on the East Coast after the pesticide DDT had wiped it out there, died on Feb. 6 in Boise, Idaho. He was 91.

The Peregrine Fund, a conservation organization he helped found, announced his death.

Dr. Cade was director of the ornithology laboratory at Cornell University in the late 1960s when he and others began contemplating how to help the endangered peregrine falcon. The bird had disappeared from the East Coast and was struggling elsewhere in the United States because use of DDT had had the unintended effect of weakening the shells of its eggs.

Dr. Cade rallied falconers, conservationists, universities, businesses and more to join in trying to reintroduce the bird in areas where it had once thrived. But that required overcoming all sorts of obstacles, including how to breed birds in captivity and how to acclimate them to life in the wild.

By the early 1970s Dr. Cade and associates had successfully bred peregrine falcons in captivity, and by 1980 falcons released in the East had reproduced in the wild.
Luis M. Neco, who became the highest-ranking Puerto Rican official that the New York City police had ever appointed when he was named a deputy commissioner in 1968, died on Sunday at his home in West Palm Beach, Fla. He was 87.

His death was confirmed by his son, Matthew Neco.

Mr. Neco, who was born in Puerto Rico and moved to the Bronx with his family when he was 3, was an assistant corporation counsel during the Lindsay administration when Police Commissioner Howard R. Leary recruited him to be a deputy commissioner, in charge of the departments license division.

The division oversaw the granting of gun permits, which it continues to do, and the accrediting of cabdrivers, which has since been delegated to a separate commission.

Testifying in 1968 in favor of gun regulation before a presidential commission on violence, Mr. Neco said that because of the citys strict eligibility standards, not a single homicide had been committed in New York in recent years by anyone who had passed muster in the rigid application process and been given a legal gun permit.
Jack Taylor, a volunteer landmarks preservationist, died on Feb. 8 in Manhattan after bequeathing to New Yorkers an enduring legacy that includes the historic Ladies Mile Shopping District and the storied Democratic Party headquarters known as Tammany Hall. He was 93.

His death was confirmed by a cousin, Taylor Wilcox.

In the early 1960s, many preservationists were galvanized by their failure to save Manhattans Pennsylvania Station, a defeat that spawned a groundbreaking municipal law under which Grand Central Terminal was declared an official city landmark in 1967.

Mr. Taylors epiphany as a preservationist came in the early 1980s after he retired as a magazine editor. Luchows, the 19th-century German restaurant at 110 East 14th Street in his neighborhood  famous for its oompah bands and frequented in its prime by Diamond Jim Brady, Lillian Russell and Victor Herbert  was closing and was threatened with demolition.

Was it an architectural landmark? Was it a cultural landmark? Just what was it? he said in an interview in 2004 with the New York Preservation Archive Project. It didnt really matter to me then, because I didnt know the ropes very much. But it just seemed to be something that the City of New York would be the worse without.
The jury cleared the jail on charges that its policies denied prisoners necessary care.

Ms. Sunderland likened her experience to the plight of the characters in Jon Krakauers book Into Thin Air, which she read in jail, about a doomed climbing expedition on Mount Everest. The book spoke to her.

Sometimes people have an inborn, personal vision where they must do something, and theyll risk everything to accomplish what they want, she said. People would say, Why would someone do all this just to climb a mountain? But to the climbers, it meant the world to them. Who I am in life  people say thats not something someone should want to be. The way I see it is, thats who I am. Ill do whatever I can to achieve that, as strange as it seems to some people.

Ms. Sunderland felt as early as age 4 that she was born into the wrong gender (she prefers feminine pronouns even in references to her childhood). She wore her sisters dresses in private and worried about what other children thought of her. She liked her female self  It was a good feeling, she said  but felt a lot of anxiety and depression at home.

Her father, she said, was intimidating and critical, with a short temper she feared setting off.

By adolescence she thought she might be gay but did not have any gay friends; with her straight friends, she felt she didnt belong.

I wished I could just go someplace away and be who I want to be, she recalled, but not here.

Like the climbers in Into Thin Air, she felt compelled toward something, but did not yet know how to get there. She dropped out of high school and used drugs to deal with the tensions in her body and at home. When that did not work, she took enough pills to black out and woke up in a hospital.

I just couldnt take it anymore, she said in court, and I didnt see any other way of getting out of myself.

Her life at home was stifling. She was in the wrong home, the wrong body, feeling increasing desire to transition, like a weight she was carrying around.
In the last four years, the school, led by a team of talented and ambitious young instructors, has seen its enrollment more than triple  there are around 170 students now, up from 50. But that success may ultimately jeopardize the school. The surge in students has led to increased anxiety about its relationship with Bronx Community College, which has allowed the school to operate out of its music department on Saturdays free of charge.

Were really at capacity now in this location, said Douglas W. Meyer, the conservatorys music director and treasurer. He described the programs arrangement with the college for the last three decades as an essential part of its operating model. Were able to provide competitive compensation to our teachers and the lowest possible tuition rates to our students because we are the recipient of the largess of the college, for which we are eternally grateful, he said.

The good news is, we dont have to maintain permanent facilities, Mr. Meyer explained. The flip side is that were here at the pleasure of the college.

Changes to the arrangement , he said, could easily pose an existential threat; a rise in costs to offset rental payments, for example, could push the price of lessons beyond the reach of many students.
Mr. Zakaria sits in his study, which he describes as the heart and soul of his home.

Credit... Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York Times
The robbers often, though not always, belong to organized crews that in some cases have been known to hit a different location every week or so. Last year investigators determined that there were 19 separate patterns, each one typically involving a different crew.

When we see one you can almost set the clock because were going to start getting others till we catch them, Chief Shea said.

Christopher Ransom, the 27-year-old accused robber shot inside the T-Mobile store on Tuesday, was also being sought for a series of phone store robberies going back to October, the police said. The most recent happened on Jan. 19 when, the police said, Mr. Ransom brandished what appeared to be a gun and stole several cellphones and about $850 from a RSK3 Wireless shop in South Jamaica, Queens.

The police said Mr. Ransom had an accomplice in the T-Mobile store robbery who arrived with him in a cab and waited outside the store while he went inside. That person was being sought for questioning on Friday, the police said.

Mr. Ransom, who was still recovering in a hospital, was arraigned on murder, assault and robbery charges on Friday afternoon via a closed-circuit video link to state Supreme Court in Queens, the district attorneys office said. A judge ordered him held without bail. A criminal complaint said he had demanded employees open a safe full of iPhones just before the police arrived.

Mr. Ransom is not alone in being suspected of hitting several stores. Late last year prosecutors accused one man, Khalif Watson, of a particularly prolific robbery spree. He was accused of robbing phone stores in Brooklyn and Queens on five days in late March and early April.

In most of those robberies, investigators said, Mr. Watson brought along a laundry bag to use to carry off his haul. Mr. Watson has since pleaded guilty to racketeering charges that include not only robbery charges, but accusations of murder.
By Wednesday, a senior Amazon executive in charge of real estate, John Schoettler, arrived from Seattle for a meeting convened by Mr. Cuomo in his Manhattan offices between Amazon and unions. By the end, the unions and the executives seemed to be making progress toward a resolution.

That night, the company decided internally to pull the plug.

The choice blindsided Mr. Cuomo and Mr. de Blasio.

Out of nowhere, they took their ball and went home, Mr. de Blasio said on Thursday night.

He learned of the decision in a phone call from Jay Carney, an Amazon vice president and a former spokesman for President Barack Obama, according to a person briefed on the call. Even as the deal was in peril, Mr. Carney, who oversees the companys press and government relations, never went to New York to meet with officials, three people with knowledge of the meetings said.

Amazon can deliver toothpaste in traffic-snarled Manhattan on the same day an order is placed. But when it came to navigating the politics of New York, the company appeared out of step, a giant stumbling onto a political stage that  despite its data-driven success  it never fully understood.

Amazon underestimated the power of a vocal minority and miscalculated how much it needed to engage with those audiences to make HQ2 a success, Joseph Parilla, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, said, referring to the second headquarters search.

The company, in particular, failed to develop a robust strategy to address the growing influence of the progressive left in New York, led by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of Queens, who was elected in November and was a fervent skeptic of the deal.

The political winds changed so swiftly that local lawmakers in Queens who had signed a letter in 2017 trying to woo Amazon refashioned themselves as champions of the opposition in recent months.
It is no exaggeration to say that Sergei Bondarchuks 1960s adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy novel War and Peace is a singular feat of filmmaking that can never be repeated.

If it were, a director would have to match the resources at Bondarchuks disposal  a virtually unlimited budget, props from Russias great museums, thousands of extras from the Soviet army  and engineer sprawling battle sequences using no computer-generated effects.

The extraordinary support behind War and Peace is apparent in every lavish frame of its seven-plus hours, and it is staggering to witness  even more so in the new, meticulously assembled digital restoration opening Friday at Film Society of Lincoln Center, where it is screening in four parts.

A home release by Criterion is in the works, but theres a reason Lincoln Center is showing it only in Walter Reade Theater, its largest.
The New Zealand comedy The Breaker Upperers adds some welcome irreverence to the homogenized mix of Netflix comedies. This collaboration between Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami  who wrote, directed and star together  exhibits their fairly irresistible comic chemistry, even if the conceit of the movie wears a bit thin.

Their characters, Jen (Van Beek) and Mel (Sami), operate an agency that helps clients too wimpy or sneaky to end their own relationships. Each case requires its own form of deception. The two are introduced posing as police officers who tell a woman (Celia Pacquola) that her husband  who is about to flee to Rio  has disappeared.

This is not an airtight line of work; for starters, as the movie acknowledges, it relies on Jen and Mels never running into anyone they deceive. But the business does supply Sami and Van Beek with a steady stream of gags until it becomes clear that the films real subject is their friendship. Mel has too much empathy to be a good liar, while Jen has grown wistful over the rocky end of one of her own past relationships. A cloud of mawkishness looms, though it never quite overshadows the rest.
When Harrison Ford went onstage to present best picture at the 1999 Oscars, it seemed obvious that he would be handing the statuette to his old Raiders of the Lost Ark pal Steven Spielberg for the World War II drama Saving Private Ryan. After Ford opened the envelope, the director John Madden recalled, in my head, he seemed to take an extraordinary amount of time to absorb what he was reading. Then Ford announced Maddens film, Shakespeare in Love, and it was completely surreal.

Nobody could have predicted that outcome eight months earlier, when Ryan opened to rapturous reviews and terrific box-office returns. (It ultimately earned more than $485 million worldwide.) Should we just FedEx the Oscars over to Spielbergs house now and save everybody the trouble of voting? one academy member was quoted as saying in Variety.

Harvey Weinstein had other ideas. The Miramax mogul had established himself as a master Oscar campaigner, having shepherded such disparate films as My Left Foot, The English Patient and Pulp Fiction to wins in major categories in previous years. Now, through sheer force of will, it seemed, he wanted to pull off one of the biggest upsets in Academy Awards history.

Hes a man of extraordinary passion and determination, whether anybody likes it or not, Madden said of Weinstein, who now faces five charges including rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault. Weinstein has denied the accusations. He was obviously a force of nature within the industry, and in other ways we hadnt understood and are appalled to look back on.
[After this column was published, the academy reversed its ruling on the Oscars telecast.]

When it comes to this years Oscars, short seems to be the buzzword.

Just look at all the controversial decisions the academy has made over recent months in pursuit of a shorter Oscar telecast. Some of these ideas have been quickly withdrawn, like reducing the number of best-song performances, though the academy continues to cling to its latest unpopular move of presenting four categories during commercial breaks.

While those acceptance speeches will be edited into a montage shown later in the broadcast, the plan has still drawn fire from directors, editors and cinematographers whose films would be affected. But if the academy is so determined to trim the Oscar ceremony to the categories the general public is most invested in, isnt it time instead to have a conversation about whether the three short-film Oscars should still be part of the main show?
The following report compiles all significant security incidents confirmed by New York Times reporters throughout Afghanistan from the past seven days. It is necessarily incomplete as many local officials refuse to confirm casualty information. The report includes government claims of insurgent casualty figures, but in most cases these cannot be independently verified by The Times. Similarly, the reports do not include Taliban claims for their attacks on the government unless they can be verified. Both sides routinely inflate casualty totals for their opponents.

At least 78 pro-government forces and 23 civilians were killed in Afghanistan during the past week. The deadliest attack took place in the area of Sorkhsang in Arghandab District, Zabul Province, where 14 police officers were killed and four others were wounded in Taliban assaults on three outposts. Two outposts collapsed to the Taliban during the fighting. The Times also confirmed seven incidents in Takhar Province, in Northern Afghanistan, a number of which were tied to an offensive launched by security forces to clear the Taliban in Dasht-e-Qala District this week. In Helmand, at least 10 civilians were killed by American airstrikes in Sangin District, among them women and children.

[Read the Afghan War Casualty Report from previous weeks.]

Feb. 14 Takhar Province: two civilians killed

Two civilians were killed and one civilian was wounded in fighting between two militia groups in the Do Rahichi village of Cha Aab District.

Feb. 13 Faryab Province: eight security forces killed

The Taliban attacked the center of Almar District, killing eight members of security forces and wounding 12 others. Two Humvees were destroyed in the attack. The fighting continued until late Thursday.
When Chuh A first laid eyes on Rex Ny nearly two decades ago, he just knew it was love at first sight.

He was a 14-year-old who had arrived in the United States just a year earlier, transplanted from Kontum, Vietnam, to Greensboro, N.C. Ms. Ny, who was 12, was a fellow immigrant from Kontum; she had arrived at the age of 4.

I got my eye fascinated, he said.

The two shared a very special bond: Theyre both Montagnards, the indigenous people of Vietnams Central Highlands, and the children of those who had aided American troops during the Vietnam War before emigrating to the United States.

Vietnam has long discriminated against Montagnards for their ethnicity and Christian religion, according to human rights groups, and their American alliance during the war only intensified this persecution. Tony Ngiu, Mr. As 73-year-old father, spent nine years in hard labor at a Communist re-education camp after the war before making it to the United States. Tens of thousands of Montagnards assisted American soldiers. An estimated 3,000 took refuge in the United States, according to the government-funded Voice of America, settling largely in North Carolina.
BEIJING  United States officials said on Friday that they had made progress during a week of trade talks with their Chinese counterparts, but big sticking points remain and the two sides plan to continue negotiations next week in Washington to try to end the trade war.

The United States and China are trying to reach an agreement ahead of a March 2 deadline, when President Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent. On Friday, Mr. Trump suggested for the second time in a week that he would push the deadline back if the two sides were edging closer to a deal.

There is a possibility that I will extend the date, Mr. Trump said during remarks at the White House, noting the complexity of the negotiations. I will do that at the same tariffs we are at now; I would not increase the tariffs.

Mr. Trump said the discussions with Beijing were going extremely well but added that the only thing that mattered was whether the two sides could reach a deal that resolved his concerns about Chinas trade practices.
The board members declarations were prompted by incidents including the discovery earlier this month of swastikas on a handful of street signs in downtown Mokena, which police attributed to juvenile vandalism, a spokesman for the board said. Similar graffiti had happened in the village last year as well.
A tough crowd awaits.

Mark Carson, a founder of the manufacturer and retailer Fat Brain Toys, is among those wary of Toys R Us rising from the dead. He said he still had a bitter taste in his mouth after the company shut down without fully repaying him. But the amount he was owed  less than $100,000  was dwarfed by the outstanding balances of many other vendors, he said.

Im not going to roll the dice on their new business, he said. Im open to working with them, but its not like Im desperately waiting for them to come back.

The collapse of Toys R Us had far-reaching effects. Tens of thousands of workers lost jobs. Competitors were undercut when liquidation sales flooded the market with deeply discounted goods. Vendors locked into exclusive contracts with the chain scrambled to find new outlets. Last week, Hasbro, the worlds largest toymaker, blamed the unprecedented store closings for holiday earnings that fell well short of expectations.

It was traumatic for the industry, said Richard Gottlieb, the founder of Global Toy Experts, a consulting firm. How traumatic? Mr. Gottlieb said that the last time he saw Geoffrey at an industry event, he didnt know whether to hug him or punch him in the face.

The toy business is under plenty of pressure beyond the demise of Toys R Us. Shoppers are defecting to mobile apps and video games. Birthrates are slumping, shrinking the market. Sears, another big seller of toys, narrowly escaped liquidation.

President Trumps trade war with China, where 85 percent of the toys sold in American stores are made, is also a threat. Retailers are asking toy makers to deliver spring orders early, in case the White House adds more tariffs on Chinese imports. Representatives of Hasbro, Lego, Mattel and other toy companies were in Washington last week lobbying against escalating the trade war.

If you are a manufacturer of toys, you are in a pretty tough position, and so are the retailers, because at this point in time, no one knows whats going to happen, said Lutz Muller, the president of the consulting firm Klosters Trading.
But the rules are complex, and the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service didnt clarify many details until October; more guidance is still expected. The recent government shutdown didnt help.

That said, opportunity funds are beginning to gain steam. The main questions for investors  such as what kind of investment gains are eligible for investment in an opportunity fund  generally have been answered, Mr. Miller said.

The benefits are pretty significant, Mr. Miller said.

Heres how it works

Opportunity funds let investors postpone federal taxes on recent capital gains until the end of 2026; they can also reduce the taxable portion of those gains by as much as 15 percent, after seven years. Further, investors can eliminate taxes on additional gains from investing in the fund itself, if they hold the investment for 10 years.

So, if you have investments that have appreciated, you can defer capital gains taxes by selling the investment and reinvesting the money into an opportunity fund within six months. Almost any sort of capital gain qualifies, whether from the sale of stocks or mutual funds, or other investments, including the sale of real estate or a business. (One investor in Fundrises opportunity fund, Mr. Miller said, invested a gain from the sale of a dialysis clinic.)

Just the gains on an investment  rather than the entire proceeds of a sale  must be reinvested in the opportunity fund. Thats highly unusual and one reason opportunity funds may appear attractive, said Jeffrey Levine, chief executive of BluePrint Wealth Alliance.

Say you sold stock for $500,000, and $300,000 of it was a gain. Just $300,000 must be rolled into the opportunity fund and the remaining $200,000 can be used as the seller wishes, according to an example provided by Tim Steffen, director of advanced planning at Baird Wealth Solutions Group, part of Robert W. Baird & Company.

By putting money in the fund, investors not only delay having to pay tax, but are also eligible for a partial exclusion of the tax on the reinvested gains. If you remain in the fund for five years, you will reduce the taxable gain by 10 percent; if you hold it an additional two years, for seven total, you will further reduce the taxable gain by another 5 percent.
Burning Mans chief executive has disinvited one camp for wealthy attendees and warned a dozen others as it outlines steps the organization has taken to return the event to its egalitarian roots, according to a blog post the organization posted over the weekend.

Burning Man disinvited Humano The Tribe, a turnkey or plug and play camp that catered to the moneyed class and was cited for not complying with the organizations requirement to not foul the environment. Twelve other camps received warnings. Burning Man, once a low-key gathering which now attracts celebrities and billionaires, is attended by 70,000 participants who gather to create music and art in the Nevada desert every August.

The announced changes also include adjustments to ticket pricing at the event, which will make it easier for an economically diverse crowd to attend. The executive, Marian Goodell, decried what she called convenience culture. Critics have contended the recent influx of wealthy attendees who pay to stay in prepackaged camps upend the ethos of radical inclusion and community the event was founded upon.

Our job is to shine a light on an issue and do our part, Ms. Goodell said in an interview Thursday. Because you are building a community, you need to act like a community. You dont have transactions and businesses. You dont have velvet ropes.
MOSCOW  The American founder of one of the oldest and largest Russia-focused private equity firms was detained on fraud charges in Moscow on Friday in a case that jolted the countrys business community.

The founder of Baring Vostok, Michael Calvey, appeared in a Moscow court along with three of his partners and two other associates. Mr. Calvey, 51, was ordered held for three days, and his formal arraignment was scheduled for Saturday, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. The five others were put under arrest for two months.

If found guilty, they could face up to 10 years in prison, the court said.

A state investigator said Mr. Calvey and other executives at his fund were suspected of embezzling 2.5 billion rubles ($37.48 million) by persuading shareholders in a Russian bank to accept a stake in another firm at an inflated price, according to news reports.

Speaking to the court through his lawyer, Mr. Calvey denied his involvement in any fraud scheme and offered his full cooperation. He said the case against him had been prompted by a corporate conflict within a bank Baring Vostok holds a stake in, Interfax reported.
Blockchain, the ingenious database technology best known for underpinning the faddish digital currency Bitcoin, is reviving the utopian fantasies of the early internet era. In an influential manifesto from that time, A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace, published in 1996, the essayist and activist John Perry Barlow opposed the idea of government regulation of the internet, offering instead an anarchical vision of an online world in which a decentralized network of people existed free from all authorities and intermediaries save for their own social contract. Whatever else Barlows statement might have been, it was not prophetic. The online world today is full of authorities and intermediaries  search engines, social media platforms, cloud computing services, internet service providers  all of which exert considerable control over cyberspace and are themselves shaped by laws and regulations. It is hard to imagine a cyberlibertarian paradise emerging from that.

Or it was hard to imagine, until blockchain came along. The first blockchain was the database introduced in 2009 as the infrastructure of Bitcoin; it is where every transaction involving Bitcoin is stored. Because this database is distributed (it is supported only by the network of its many thousands of users, with no central or controlling nodes) and because, thanks to a cunning design, it can essentially guarantee the integrity and authenticity of the information it stores, it demonstrates that a functioning currency does not require a bank or equivalent centralized institution. Whether Bitcoin itself ends up being successful is not what matters. What matters is the discovery that the underlying blockchain technology can obviate the need for centralized authorities in contexts where they were once thought to be indispensable. This includes social, political, economic and legal transactions involving not just currency but also stock certificates, deeds to plots of land, titles to copyrighted works, remittance payments, food supply chains, votes in an electoral system and so on.

For the John Perry Barlows of today, blockchain represents a new opportunity to free people from governments, corporations and other sources of centralized control. (Indeed, a few true believers, made rich during the recent digital currency boom, are spending millions of dollars on potential experimental communities where rights and contracts would be implemented using blockchain technology.) But for the legal scholars Primavera De Filippi and Aaron Wright, the innovative promise of blockchain, though real, has been exaggerated. As they argue in BLOCKCHAIN AND THE LAW: The Rule of Code (Harvard University, $35), the growth and evolution of this technology will follow a similar path to that of the internet itself: from anarchic potential to a more regulated and controlled reality. They also argue that this is desirable  that blockchain visionaries looking to free people from the hegemony of governments and corporations could wind up surrendering themselves (and others) to the whims of a much more powerful enemy: namely, the self-governing code of blockchain itself.

To understand why many proponents of blockchain assume, contrary to De Filippi and Wright, that the technology can and should remain impervious to external control, it helps to understand some details about how such a technology works. Imagine you want to send someone a certain amount of Bitcoin as payment for a service provided. Rather than having the payment go through a bank to be authorized, as it would if you paid with a check or credit card, the proposed transaction is shared with and authorized by the entire Bitcoin network. To determine whether you have enough Bitcoin to make your payment, the computers on the network search through the history of all previous Bitcoin transactions. If your transaction is valid, it is added to a list, or block, of recent pending transactions. Every 10 minutes or so, the latest block is collectively verified by the network and added to the chain of all the previous blocks. Everyones Bitcoin account balance is updated accordingly. This communally maintained history of total transactions  a copy of which is shared with every node of the network  is the blockchain.
(Updated June 26) More than 20 candidates have announced a bid for the presidency, and many of them will lay out their policy positions on Wednesday and Thursday during the first Democratic presidential debate. Often, politicians release books pegged to their announcements to drive interest and give voters a chance to get to know them. Here is a guide to some of those books, which can provide insight into the candidates priorities and worldview.

Senator Michael Bennet, Democrat of Colorado

The Land of Flickering Lights: Restoring America in an Age of Broken Politics (2019)

This book does not lay out specific policy proposals, but rather reads like a sweeping diagnosis of the nations political ills, which include, in Bennets view, a desperate aversion to bipartisan discussion and a crippling reliance on short-term thinking, wrote our reviewer.

Joseph R. Biden Jr., former vice president

Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship and Purpose (2017)

Though Biden has a three-book deal with Flatiron, his last book was this memoir of his son Beaus last year of life. (He died in 2015.) Whats most remarkable about this book, wrote our reviewer, is that it gives us full visibility into the agony and strangeness of caring for and mourning his son while fulfilling his duties as vice president. But its also a political book, she added, one in which Biden touts his accomplishments and makes frequent forays into the wetlands of foreign and domestic policy.

Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey

United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good (2016)

Booker, raised in New Jersey and a former mayor of Newark, argues in this book that American politics should be reoriented around compassion and solidarity. He told The Times that writing it was far, far more difficult than I had expected, and he cried when writing about the toughest parts of his life, including the death of a mentor.
The two brothers arrested in connection with the reported attack on the Empire star Jussie Smollett were released without being charged on Friday, a police spokesman said. They are no longer considered potential suspects.

Due to new evidence as a result of todays interrogations, the individuals questioned by police in the Empire case have now been released without charging and detectives have additional investigative work to complete, Anthony Guglielmi, the Chicago Police Department spokesman, said in a statement.

That announcement was the latest twist in an investigation that started late last month, when Smollett told the authorities that he had been attacked early one morning by two masked men who yelled homophobic and racial slurs at him in downtown Chicago. Smollett also told the police at the time that the assailants had tied a rope around his neck and poured a chemical substance on him.

But the two people who were arrested are acquaintances of Smollett, a lawyer for the men said. At least one had appeared on Empire, a fact that had fueled social media speculation that at least parts of Smolletts story were not true.
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.

Trumps Surprising Bypass

With President Trump expected to sign a compromise bill to keep the federal government open, and then declare a national emergency to build his border wall, James Corden mused on what would be an unprecedented action in the name of border security.
A crude joke by the Korean-British pianist Hyung-ki Joo set the tone for the evening: I know Im not Yuja Wang, but some girlfriends do call me Huge-a Wang.

Mr. Joo and his comedy partner, the Russian-German violinist Aleksey Igudesman, were performing with Ms. Wang, the superstar pianist, on Monday as part of her Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall. Igudesman & Joo, as they call their duo, are trained (and skilled) musicians who imbue classical music with laugh-out-loud humor.

But their concert with Ms. Wang was riddled with jokes about her sexual appeal and Chinese heritage that ranged from unpleasant (God, shes so hot) to offensive. (It smells of sweet and sour chicken, Mr. Igudesman said of a box with Ms. Wang inside.)

In my review, I described some of the jokes and said they were a shame, especially considering that much of the evening was delightful: Ms. Wang was as impressive as ever, and Igudesman & Joos music-based comedy was virtuosic.
Why the Creator made one black and the other white we know not, the Pennsylvania court said in its decision, Murphey wrote. God has made them dissimilar with those natural instincts and feelings which He always imparts to his creatures when He intends that they shall not overstep the natural boundaries He has assigned to them.
There are ominous notes coming from New York City Opera.

The company, which has struggled to raise money since emerging from bankruptcy in 2016 and was forced to sharply curtail its current season to cut costs, announced this week that its board chairman  and biggest benefactor  was stepping down.

The departing chairman, Roy G. Niederhoffer, a hedge fund manager who played a key role in the effort to revive City Opera after it closed and filed for bankruptcy in 2013, said in an interview that he was leaving the board for personal reasons, explaining that he needed more time to focus on his growing business and young family.

But his move comes at a troubled moment.

City Opera had planned to open this season with Robert Wards opera The Crucible, but it canceled the production as part of its efforts to halve the years operating budget after failing to hit fund-raising targets. Its board is down to a mere three members. It has largely spent the more than $5 million in bequests it received after emerging from bankruptcy, and its modest endowment is shrinking. The companys most recent financial report notes that its difficulties raise substantial doubt about New York City Opera, Inc.s ability to continue as a going concern.
One exception is a solo for Thomas F. DeFrantz. He nearly trips as he runs, as if exhausted by trying to escape. When he goes into his misalignment, tilting and twisting slowly, he looks like hes grooving, perhaps in pleasure. Yet this pleasure is haunted by a ghost of pain, some internal disturbance that surfaces before long.

I strained to detect such complexity elsewhere. The six other dancers, a diverse group that includes Ms. Westwater, have varying levels of articulation and thrust. Mainly, they move independently, apart, coming and going as if by whim, so it registers as a change when they pair off or line up or synchronize briefly. They touch one another tangentially, someones head resting on someones shoulder for a moment; or two people embrace, at once collapsing onto each other and holding each other up.

The interest of all this, formal and human, is continually undermined by Ms. Westwaters method. The willful disorganization drains energy like a self-sabotaging leak. Its telling that the climax of the piece, if it has one, involves the dancers drifting off one by one, to crowd around the pianos and assist in an accumulation of hammered notes.

Thats beautiful (as is the subtle visual design by Seung Jae Lee and lighting by Roderick Murray), but it concedes the greater power of the music. And that imbalance, the works ultimate misalignment, continues into a coda in which M. Lamar takes over at the piano, offering his own brilliant and ghostly echo of Eastmans sound while the dancers return to what they did before or nod off in their chairs. Spatially, music is peripheral in Rambler. In almost every other way, its the central draw.
One of those requests came from Patricia Barretto, the president and chief executive of the Harris Theater in Chicago, who said that as soon as she heard about the ballet, she was determined to present it. The ballet couldnt be more relevant to the cosmopolitan city we live in, she said in a telephone interview. She added that the cost of bringing the 95-member company for four performances was high, around $1 million: But we really believed in the importance of bringing this to Chicago.

What does it mean to re-envision a classical ballet? Why has this one sparked so much interest? Here is a primer on Giselle, and edited excerpts from a conversation with Ms. Rojo and Mr. Khan.

The story

Giselle, set to a score by Adolphe Adam, is among the earliest of the 19th-century classical ballets that populate the repertory of most big ballet companies. Choreographed by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot (and later reworked by Marius Petipa) at a time when poets and artists were fascinated by the supernatural, Act I tells the tale of a young peasant woman, Giselle, seduced by Count Albrecht, who has disguised his noble origins. Once his betrayal is revealed, Giselle goes mad and dies of a broken heart. In Act II, she reappears as a Wili  one of the spirits of young woman betrayed by their lovers, whose mission it is to dance any man they encounter to his death. But when Albrecht visits her grave, Giselle defies her destiny to protect him from the Wilis, redeeming his actions through her love.

Giselle isnt an obvious candidate for revision or modernization, partly because it still works so well in its original form, partly because its evocation of the supernatural is so rooted in its time. And the ballet has already had one radical  and very successful  reworking in Mats Eks 1982 version, set in a mental hospital.

Why did you think this was a good idea?

TAMARA ROJO I wanted to do a classical ballet from a new point of view, and I wanted the hardest one, the unquestionable one: Giselle. I had seen the Bjork film Dancer in the Dark, and I kept thinking: This is Giselle, and it is possible to tell this story in a new context. And it can be just as heartbreaking and disturbing, perhaps more, because I can relate to it. I had commissioned Akram to do Dust, a short work for the first mixed bill I did as director; knowing the spirituality of his work, his talent for narrative, I thought he would be the perfect person to take it on.

AKRAM KHAN When Tamara asked me, I did think a bit: Are you mad? I had barely seen a ballet, and knew nothing about Giselle. I watched it on a DVD, then watched Mats Eks version, which really blew me away. Then I thought, I really dont want to do this!
WARSAW  It was supposed to be a summit meeting of historical adversaries that gathered to unite against a common foe, Iran. But any expectation that nations with deep-rooted conflicts of their own would display a newfound amity seemed troubled from the start.

For a number of Trump administration officials, including Mike Pence, a vice president who has gained much of his foreign policy experience on the job, solving the problem seemed to be as simple as sharing a meal.

I believe we are beginning a new era, Mr. Pence said Wednesday night at a dinner in the Polish capital, Warsaw. It was part of a summit meeting organized by the Trump administration that drew together officials from Middle Eastern countries  including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Yemen  that are known for being on opposing, not cooperating, sides.

The vice president said he looked forward to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and the foreign ministers of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates all breaking bread together and, later in this conference, sharing honest perspectives on the challenges facing the region.
Time robbed Narcissus of his good looks, but through a volcanic blast, almost 2,000 years and many tons of ash, his beloved  his own reflection  has gazed unwaveringly back.

On Thursday, the mythological figure of Narcissus re-emerged to the public from his perch on a wall in Pompeii, where archaeologists announced they had uncovered a remarkably well-preserved fresco depicting his story: The hunter who fell in love with his reflection in a pool.

The fresco was unearthed in a home where, last November, archaeologists excavated a bedroom fresco of Greek mythology, the rape of Leda by the god Zeus in the form of a swan. Both works survived the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D., which buried the Roman city of Pompeii in fire, pumice and ash.

Alfonsina Russo, the director of the excavation, said in a statement that the beauty of these rooms had caused the archaeologists to change their plans and work on the room and its surroundings. In the process, she said, they found the new fresco in the atrium, a part of the house where wealthy Romans would have conducted business.
Thursday was a chaotic day in Washington, from the former deputy F.B.I. directors confirmation that the bureau considered invoking the 25th Amendment against President Trump to the presidents plan to declare a national emergency to build a border wall.

Here is a recap of some of the biggest stories:

Trump said he would declare a national emergency to build a border wall

Congress approved a spending package that would avert another government shutdown, and the president said he would sign the bill  but also declare a national emergency to build a wall along the southern border. That move supersedes Congress and will test the limits of presidential power.

The bill passed by Congress allotted $1.375 billion for fencing, a much smaller amount than the $5.7 billion Mr. Trump wanted for a border wall. The president is doing an end run around Congress, said Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker.
The administration may seek to couple that statute with separate laws to claim Congress has already authorized various border barriers.

Still, none of those laws are a perfect fit, specialists say, raising technical disputes that will give litigants plenty to argue about in court. But a more fundamental question for what kind of historical precedent Mr. Trumps move establishes is whether courts will even allow themselves to address whether it is true, as a matter of fact, that a national emergency exists on the border that a wall would resolve.

Critics note that the number of people crossing the border illegally is far lower than it was a generation ago. The relatively new phenomenon of caravans of migrants consists largely of families who present themselves to border officials and request asylum, rather than trying to go deeper into the interior on their own. Most illegal drugs are smuggled in through ports of entry. And there has been no instance in the modern era of a terrorist attack on domestic soil that was committed by someone who sneaked in across the southern border with Mexico.

Still, the Justice Department would surely argue that courts should not even consider the facts, but instead should defer to the presidents determination that an emergency exists. There is a long history of courts being reluctant to substitute their own thinking for the presidents in security matters  or declaring that it is a political question for the two politically elected branches to work out between themselves.

Congress enacted the main umbrella law that has governed how and when presidents may invoke emergency power statutes, the National Emergencies Act of 1976, during the era of post-Watergate overhaul.

At the time, while bestowing broad discretion on presidents to decide whether an emergency existed, lawmakers also created a powerful check and balance against abuse: Congress could end the declared emergency if majorities in both chambers voted for a resolution to do so. To keep a presidents partisan allies from bottling up such a measure, the law says that if one chamber passed such a resolution, the other one must bring it up for a vote within 18 days.

House Democrats have made clear they will pass such a resolution if Mr. Trump declares a border emergency, forcing Senate Republicans to take a stand on whether his move is legitimate. While Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, said on Thursday that he would support Mr. Trump, it would take only a handful of Republican senators to break ranks for the resolution to pass anyway.
Can Congress stop Trump from declaring an emergency?

No, Congress does not have the power to stop the president from declaring a national emergency. But when lawmakers granted the president emergency powers in the first place, they built a check into the law.

Under the National Emergencies Act, the House and the Senate can take up what is called a joint resolution of termination to end the emergency status if they believe the president is acting irresponsibly or the threat has dissipated. Representative Joaquin Castro, Democrat of Texas and the head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said late Thursday that he was ready to introduce such a resolution if Mr. Trump followed through. With a comfortable majority in the chamber, Democrats will most likely pass it or a similarly worded resolution.

I will fully support the enactment of a joint resolution to terminate the presidents emergency declaration, in accordance with the process described in the National Emergencies Act, and intend to pursue all other available legal options, said Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

To keep a presidents party from bottling such a measure up, the law says that if one chamber passes such a resolution, the other one must bring it up for a vote within 18 days. Though Democrats are in the minority in the Senate, they would need only a handful of Republicans to join them to pass the resolution there and send it to Mr. Trumps desk. It is easy to imagine a half-dozen or more Republican senators joining Democrats out of concern for the precedent that Mr. Trumps declaration will set.

What would Mr. Trump do next?

As with any other bill that comes to the presidents desk, Mr. Trump can veto a joint congressional resolution terminating the national emergency, though supermajorities in both the House and the Senate could ultimately override him.
A spokesman for Customs and Border Protection declined to provide information about the encounter or to comment on the lawsuit, which also names Mr. ONeal, the acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan and 25 unnamed John Doe defendants the A.C.L.U. said were involved in the episode.

As a matter of policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not comment on pending litigation, Jason Givens, an agency spokesman, said in an email. However, lack of comment should not be construed as agreement or stipulation with any of the allegations.

Efforts to locate Mr. ONeal on Thursday evening were not immediately successful.

In a statement, the A.C.L.U. said that it was unconstitutional for law enforcement or immigration agents to detain people because of their language, accent or race. Cody Wofsy, a lawyer with the organizations Immigrants Rights Project, said he saw the case as a part of a broader pattern of abusive conduct by an out-of-control agency.

This is an opportunity for the courts to step in and say there are constitutional limits on what C.B.P. can do, he said. This is certainly nothing new based on what we have seen over the last couple of years of the Trump administration. The agency has been emboldened to act on some of its worst impulses.

The case highlights concern over the far-reaching power of Customs and Border Protection, whose agents have the authority to detain and question people up to 100 miles from an international border, a vast area that is home to almost two-thirds of the population of the United States.

Havre, a remote farm city of about 9,000 people, is home to a Customs and Border Protection field office with 183 agents who have jurisdiction over more than 450 miles of the Canadian border. The city is about 35 miles from the border.

In 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that border agents illegally detained five Latino men in Havre in 2004 and said that apparent Hispanic ethnicity, although a relevant factor in the reasonable suspicion inquiry, cannot by itself justify an investigatory stop in a border area.
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Except as an interjection, God is also absent from the second monologue, A Life, in which Mr. Gyllenhaal plays Abe, another loving husband and recent father. But Mr. Paynes play, an earlier version of which was performed as The Art of Dying in 2013, is structured as a competition between two possible tragedies instead of a straightforward retelling of one. At first the options alternate at a leisurely pace, but eventually they flicker so fast they blur.

Despite a shapeless green cardigan and black sweatpants, Mr. Gyllenhaal is unconvincing as a zhlub. Still, he is priceless with pressured dialogue. From a scenario that builds panic artificially, he mines surprisingly genuine humor, and eventually pathos, by focusing on Abes avoidance rather than expression of pain. Unable to communicate real feelings directly  he keeps telling us what he should have said as if that counted  hes like a mouse in a maze of emotions, banging into walls and instantly changing course.

But if A Life (not to be confused with Adam Bocks terrific play of the same name) suggests that failures of communication are the human condition and a source of unhappiness, it does not rise to the level of tragedy, modern or otherwise. What eventually happens, though sad, is common and natural, involving neither gross unfairness nor a meaningful challenge to faith.

It may be that Mr. Payne, who played the role in the 2013 production, was too close to the material to let it go where it needed to. (He has said that the story is somewhat autobiographical.) Still, as he did in Constellations, which posited an ever-branching multiverse of outcomes to a basic romantic premise, he finds ingenious ways to let structure compensate for character development. Here, the converging plot shows us just how much stuff  failure and redemption, delusion and emergency  gets funneled into a life, and how little control we have over any of it.

Im not sure that adds up to much, and it seems to me that Ms. Cracknell, whose pacing and use of the stage are otherwise superbly delicate, may have been compensating for that when she appended a schmaltzy (albeit effective) coda.

But even if A Life is a bit of a comedown from Sea Wall, the two make smart companions. Certainly they are a model of showbiz synergy; the two actors are currently appearing together in the Netflix movie Velvet Buzzsaw, and Mr. Gyllenhaal previously starred in Constellations on Broadway.

The monologues also speak to each other. Though they were written independently  Sea Wall originated at the Bush Theater in London in 2008  the Publics production, marking the New York premiere of the combo platter, makes it seem as if they were designed to be bookends. Certainly the performances give you plenty to ponder in showing how we now read life, with or without fate, as everyones tragedy.
That is the goal, she said. Because in this day and age the school nurse has become the childs access to care. A lot of students may not have a regular physician or their parents may be trying to triage at home to save money. A lot of times on Monday well see kids who were hurt or sick over the weekend but the parents opted to wait until the school nurse looks at them before paying a high deductible or co-pay.
Despite a cease-fire agreed to in December around the port of Hudaydah , a lifeline for humanitarian aid and site of one of the fiercest battles, Yemeni civilians continue to be killed in the fighting and millions more face a devastating famine.

Congress passed the War Powers Resolution over President Richard Nixons veto in 1973 because of the way presidential authority had been used to extend the Vietnam War. The measure passed by the House on Wednesday invokes that act because many lawmakers say President Trump exceeded his authority by deploying American forces and weapons into the Yemen conflict without a formal declaration of war. As of the end of 2018, nearly 100 American military personnel were believed to be advising or assisting the coalition war effort, although fewer than 35 are based in Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Trump has threatened to veto the bill if it is passed by the Senate, arguing that the support provided to the Saudis has been limited and the congressional resolution would undermine the presidents constitutional powers. An override would be difficult, but congressional action could still pressure the administration to pull back support for the Saudi campaign and bring hope to long-suffering Yemenis that their agony could soon end.

The civil war has metastasized since 2015, when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Arab allies in the Persian Gulf intervened against Houthi rebels, Shiites backed by Iran.

As the fighting, and Saudi bombing, intensified, thousands of children have starved to death, thousands more civilians have been killed in the fighting, 14 million are on the brink of famine and more than a million suffer from cholera.
In the nature of national emergencies, some definitional leeways are unavoidable. But Congress could readily specify certain conditions that must exist before the president can make such a declaration and thus arrogate to himself extraordinary powers  curtailing liberties, seizing property, spending funds appropriated for other purposes and suspending protective laws  that Congress would not otherwise be likely to grant him in advance, or perhaps ever. (Indeed, Congress has the power to override Mr. Trump's declaration and it should in this case  though it probably wont.)

One can easily specify some of the factors in a national emergency condition that any responsible Congress would insist on before allowing such a declaration to take effect: magnitude (the feared incremental harms of the condition are very large, not just marginal); geographic scope (those harms should be nationwide even if the triggering condition is more localized); extraordinary (the condition should be rare, if not unprecedented); imminence (the anticipated harms should be so close in time that Congress cannot deliberate); and likely effectiveness (the presidents action should promise to substantially solve the problem).

Reasonable people may disagree, of course, about precisely how Congress should define and weigh these factors, how they should be applied to the facts on the ground and whether other factors should be considered. President Trumps wall cannot survive such a rigorous analysis: Even assuming that recent illegal border crossings harm the nation, they are not greater (indeed, they are probably fewer) than in recent decades; Congress has been deliberating (in its fashion) for decades about immigration reform, including border walls; and many Americans believe that the wall would be ineffective and a bad idea. Congress simply disagrees with the president about which border security measures would do the job  an instance of decidedly normal politics.

But my larger claim  that Congresss delegation to presidents of vast, essentially unconstrained power to declare national emergencies has been an irresponsible surrender of its constitutional responsibilities  does not depend on whether my assessment of this particular case is correct. Not since the New Deal has the Supreme Court struck down a statute for this kind of standardless delegation of legislative authority to administrative agencies, but the Roberts court  activist, conservative and suspicious of broad delegations of power to agencies  recently reached out to review a case, Gundy v. United States, that gives it an opportunity to revive the long-dormant and doubtful non-delegation doctrine.

Another way to make the National Emergencies Act more compatible with the rule of law is through a procedure that would broaden participation in all future decisions to declare national emergencies. Under one such reform, the president would have to consult with the leaders of both parties in Congress before issuing a declaration. Even if Congress could not override such a declaration, members would have to take a public position on the facts and reasons invoked as justification by the president. If time were of the essence (not so in this case; Congress has legislated about a wall for more than a decade), their responses would have to be expedited . With such a procedure in place, judicial review of the declaration could be narrow, if at all.
Second, the Chinese have changed their economic focus so that their economy can directly replace ours. The regimes Made in China 2025 policy is an attempt to go up the value chain and dominate high-tech industries like aerospace, robotics and biotech.

According to a report just released by Marco Rubio, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Chinas artificial intelligence industry has grown by 67 percent over the past year and has produced more patents than its U.S. counterparts. One estimate suggests China is investing as much as 30 times more capital in quantum computing than the U.S. My colleague Thomas L. Friedman notes that China already has the No. 1 and No. 3 drone manufacturers in the world, and it is way ahead of us on technologies like facial and speech recognition.

All this would be fine if China were simply competing, but its not. Its stealing. A commission led by retired Adm. Dennis Blair and former U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman estimated in 2017 that the annual loss to the U.S. economy from Chinese intellectual property theft was between $225 billion and $600 billion.

Some of the theft is done through hacking. Some of it is done by surreptitiously buying tech firms through shell companies in order to seize the technologies. Some of it is pure espionage and thuggery. Sometimes China offers to give American companies access to its markets in exchange for the technology, and then after China has digested the knowledge it closes off access. This is not competition. This is replacement.

Third, Beijing is trying to seize the controlling centers of the new tech economy. If China can set the standard for 5G communication and dominate artificial intelligence and quantum computing, then it will be able to write the rules and penetrate the fibers of our society and our lives in ways that we cannot match.
There is nothing unusual about floods in north Queensland. Every summer, somewhere in the tropical north, a cyclone generates enough rain to inundate the low-lying suburbs of coastal towns, decimate banana crops and wash topsoil and fertilizers onto the Great Barrier Reef. (The reef is undergoing mass coral bleaching because of warming seawater, but thats last years story.) Laconic residents are interviewed every wet season standing in the debris of their cyclone-battered homes, clad in Stubbies (shapeless gabardine shorts that expose bum-cracks and, on a bad day, drooping genitals), drinking stubbies (small brown bottles of beer), making understated comments about the danger and the damage: Yeah, it got a bit windy there for a while. Reckon me roofs being recycled in Fiji by now  

The difference this year is that there hasnt been a cyclone. This is just rain  endless rain, filling dams far beyond their capacity, swelling rivers, drowning two young men who allegedly fled the scene of a looting. The extent of the livestock losses wont be known until the floodwaters recede, but gut-wrenching photographs of cattle bogged so deep in mud they appear to be made from the stuff, blood leaking from bullet-holes in the skulls of the animals that had to be put down, are an indication of the horrors to come.

While North Queensland floods, Tasmania burns. The prehistoric forests of the southwest wilderness, usually too damp to sustain extensive fires, have been ignited by lightning strikes. High temperatures, warming seas and lack of rain have made the forests vulnerable. Burning in terrain too rugged to access by road, the fires have been impossible to control. Recent rain has alleviated the situation, and the area has even experienced its first snow of the year, but the fires continue to smolder, ready to flare again when the weather dries. Unlike the fire-dependent forests of the Australian mainland, which have evolved from millenniums of Indigenous burning practices, the old-growth Tasmanian forests do not regenerate after fire. Separated from the continental land mass around 12,000 years ago, the small pendant island that hangs off the southeast corner of the continent shares its vegetation with the Gondwanan remnants of New Zealand and South America. The burned tracts of ancient forest are gone for good.

Australia is no stranger to fire, floods and drought. For anyone who has grown up outside the southern cities, extreme weather events are a part of life. Droughts that last for five or six or even 10 years are common; cyclonic rains regularly bring floods to the northern part of the continent; every summer sees the inhabitants of the southern and coastal forests on bushfire alert. But this level of extreme weather is new, and likely to be a new norm.

We have moved into a new age of climate volatility. According to the 2018 State of the Climate Report, compiled by the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Southern Hemisphere oceans are absorbing most of the extra heat generated by global warming. Sea surface temperatures in the Australian region have risen around one degree Celsius since 1910, with eight of the 10 warmest years on record occurring since 2005. The starkest evidence is the rate of warming in the seas around Tasmania, which is occurring at more than twice the global average. Records reveal an equivalent one-degree rise in land temperatures, accompanied by a steady shift in rainfall patterns, with rainfall increasing in northern Australia, while the south becomes more prone to drought. Prolonged periods of high temperatures are much more frequent, and bushfire seasons are longer.
You have to be tough to make it in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio boasted, choosing to jeer at Amazon as it canceled its plans on Thursday to build a new headquarters in Queens, after some local officials angrily criticized its proposal.

What a strange thing for the mayor to take pride in. Its certainly true that you have to be tough these days. But thats because the subways dont work, the streets are gridlocked, the housing is unaffordable, the shelters are overcrowded, and the schools are segregated and often inadequate. Now think how much tougher itll become for the typical citizen  not the ones who ride in chauffeured government cars  if New York gets a reputation for the smugness of its politicians and their hostility to business.

There were all sorts of problems with the deal New York cut to bring Amazon to the city, and Amazon is no paragon, but its abrupt withdrawal was a blow to New York, which stood to gain 25,000 jobs and an estimated $27 billion in tax revenue over the next two decades. This embarrassment to the city presents a painful lesson in how bumper-sticker slogans and the hubris of elected  and corporate  officials can create losers on all sides.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mr. de Blasio, in a rare fit of comity, rolled out the red carpet for Amazon, for what would have been one of the biggest economic deals ever in the state. They offered the company $3 billion in tax benefits to build a campus in the Long Island City neighborhood. But it was clear as soon as the company, governor and mayor announced the deal in November that not all New Yorkers felt welcoming.
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When President Trump said on Twitter that an Uzbek man charged with using a pickup truck to kill eight people SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY, the mans lawyers asked a judge to bar prosecutors from seeking execution, saying the decision had become too politicized.

But a federal judge in Manhattan ruled on Thursday that prosecutors could seek capital punishment despite the presidents comments.

Defense lawyers had argued the presidents tweet and other statements he made on Twitter had put political pressure on the attorney general at the time, Jeff Sessions, to seek a death sentence. The lawyers pointed to public reports that Mr. Trump was considering firing the attorney general for not following his wishes, and said Mr. Sessions would not be able to make an impartial decision.
Also, its very unlikely that an officer in that type of situation would know how many other officers had previously fired their weapon. For example, the seventh officer to shoot in a sequence would not have likely known in what order they were shooting, the police have said after similar incidents.

Another case: Five officers, 50 shots

When the police opened fire on Tuesday, they riddled the glass front and side of the T-Mobile store with bullets  at least 16 holes were visible the following day.

That scenario might have caused a phenomenon that an expert witness described as blowback at the 2008 criminal trial of three officers who shot and killed Sean Bell, an unarmed driver leaving his bachelor party in Queens in 2006.

In that case, officers, believing the men in the car had a gun, fired 50 rounds at Mr. Bell and his two passengers as they attempted to flee in a car. At the trial in State Supreme Court in Queens, a crime scene analyst, Alexander Jason, said that bullets passing through Mr. Bells car windows might have caused glass to blow outward, making it appear to the officers that they were being shot at.

All three officers who faced criminal charges  two others involved in the shooting were not charged  in the case were acquitted. But in 2010, New York City agreed to pay more than $7 million to settle a federal lawsuit filed by Mr. Bells family and two friends.

The fear factor

Experienced police officers say the adrenaline that flows during a live gunfight can push an officer to fire more than he even realizes.

One of the officers in the Sean Bell incident, Detective Michael Oliver, fired an eyebrow-raising 31 of 50 rounds, first emptying his pistol, which held 16 rounds, reloading it with a 15-round magazine and then emptying it again.
In speaking to Amazon, they dont lay the blame on any single entity. They realize that there was political opposition on every front, she said in an interview. And that is because this is a flawed process. The process should not get two years down the road, practically, before you actually bring in the community.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson

Mr. Johnson had applauded Mr. Gianariss efforts to block Amazon, and he affirmed his criticisms of the company on Thursday.

I hope this is the start of a conversation about vulture capitalism and where our tax dollars are best spent, he said in a statement.

Unions

Opponents to the deal constantly pointed to Amazons anti-union reputation. Amazon officials said at a recent hearing that they would not remain neutral if their employees tried to unionize.

But the citys unions were divided on the deal, and their reaction to its collapse was equally split.

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which had vehemently opposed the deal  Amazon presents a direct threat to retail workers  said the company had taken an unacceptable, uncompromising approach.

Rather than addressing the legitimate concerns that have been raised by many New Yorkers, Amazon says you do it our way or not at all, we will not even consider the concerns of New Yorkers, Chelsea Connor, a spokeswoman for the union, said.
Shortly after news broke on Thursday that Amazon was abandoning its plans for a campus in Long Island City, Queens, local elected officials and activist groups who had opposed the deal held a celebratory rally near the site where the company had planned to build its new offices.

But along with those cheering the deals demise, many hecklers from another faction appeared  those who supported Amazon coming to New York and blamed opponents for torpedoing a deal that would have brought sorely needed jobs and improvements to the community.

Where you gonna get the jobs? one heckler shouted.

[For the full story on Amazons decision to pull out of New York, read more here.]

And so, as the Amazon news reverberated around New York City and beyond on Thursday, perhaps nowhere did it get a more divided reception than in Long Island City, the neighborhood that would have undergone the biggest transformation as a result of the deal.
JONAS MEKASS WALDEN: DIARIES, NOTES AND SKETCHES at Light Industry (Feb. 16, 7 p.m.). The microcinema Light Industry honors the writer, filmmaker and experimental-cinema godfather Jonas Mekas, who died last month at 96, with this 16-millimeter screening of an extraordinary diary film. Compiling footage that Mekas shot with a Bolex camera from 1965 to 1969, Walden is at once a time capsule, a poetic treatise on the changing seasons in New York and a candid chronicle of major figures in that decades avant-garde scene. Mekas seems as delighted with the wedding of P. Adams Sitney and a visit to the filmmaker Stan Brakhages family as he is with the fantastic color swirl of a circus show or a performance by the Velvet Underground. Doors open for this free screening at 6:30 p.m. Be warned that getting a seat at Light Industry can be a cutthroat affair, and B.Y.O. lumbar support.

lightindustry.org

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PROGRAMMERS NOTEBOOK: ON LOVE at BAM Rose Cinemas (Feb. 14-21) and VALENTINES DAY MASSACRE 2019 at Anthology Film Archives (Feb. 14-21). Two straggler series in the Valentines Day repertory cinema sweepstakes both construe love more broadly than simple romance. At BAM, Yasujiro Ozu and John Cassavetes explore the difficulties of parental and sibling relationships, while Rainer Werner Fassbinders 1974 Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (showing on Tuesday) reworks Douglas Sirks All That Heaven Allows, imagining a forbidden bond between a Moroccan man (El Hedi ben Salem) and a much older West German widow (Brigitte Mira). Anthology adds two Paul Thomas Anderson movies, Punch-Drunk Love (on Saturday, Sunday and Thursday) and Phantom Thread (on Saturday and Sunday, and separately at BAM on Thursday), to its annual massacre docket, which once again features films by Albert Brooks, Elaine May, Maurice Pialat and Andrzej Zulawski.

718-636-4100, bam.org

212-505-5181, anthologyfilmarchives.org

WAR AND PEACE at the Film Society of Lincoln Center (Feb. 15-21). The space and arms races between the United States and the Soviet Union get most of the attention, but the Russian filmmaker Sergei Bondarchuks 1968 Tolstoy adaptation represents a landmark in the Cold War film race. To say the movie pulls out all the stops is severely understating the matter. Designed to beat the cinematic epics of the 1960s at their own game, the film contains enough battlefield extras to populate a Baltic city, a duel to rival Barry Lyndon (before Barry Lyndon), snowfall that upstages Doctor Zhivago, a ballroom sequence that makes The Leopard look cheap  and thats just in the first three hours. Given that the film runs longer than seven, the stun factor is relentless. The Film Society will screen the movie in four parts; a ticket package is available.

212-875-5601, filmlinc.org
What Im hoping that the district can find is a seasoned superintendent thats done this work before, thats familiar with how to manage a board, thats familiar with knowing how to manage principal staff or administrative staff, thats familiar with understanding how to collaborate efficiently and effectively with community, he said. This isnt necessarily a district that you come to to be trained. Its a district you come to with skills in place. Thats professionally what I would hope that the board of education would be able to bring in to our district. Thats not what we had before.
MARCO FUSI AND THE KUKURUZ QUARTET at the Italian Academy (Feb. 20, 7 p.m.). This quartet  pianos, not strings  is joined by a leading new-music violinist for a sprawling, free program that culminates with another contribution to the Julius Eastman revival, a performance of his Gay Guerrilla. Before that, there is music by Salvatore Sciarrino, Giacinto Scelsi, John Cage and Marcel Zaes.

212-854-2306, italianacademy.columbia.edu

[Read about the events that our other critics have chosen for the week ahead.]

WANG LU at Miller Theater (Feb. 21, 8 p.m.). This Chinese-born composer benefits from the first of Millers spring composer portraits, and from the advocacy of the new-music royalty on hand to perform her pieces: the International Contemporary Ensemble and Yarn/Wire. Theres one world premiere, A-PPA-Aratus, as well as Childhood Amnesia, Rates of Extinction, Urban Inventory and Siren Song.

212-854-7799, millertheatre.com

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC at David Geffen Hall (Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m.; through Feb. 23). Matthias Pintscher leads the Philharmonic this week, and the conductor-composer brings along one of his own works, the violin concerto Mareh, in which Renaud Capucon is the soloist. Also on the bill are Ravels Alborada del gracioso and Stravinskys The Firebird, performed in its entirety. After the concert on Feb. 23, Pintscher curates a Nightcap concert in the Kaplan Penthouse, with Nadia Sirota as the host.

212-875-5656, nyphil.org

RUSSIAN NATIONAL ORCHESTRA at David Geffen Hall (Feb. 20, 8 p.m.). Nothing more imaginative than an all-Rachmaninoff program is on offer here, but from an orchestra with a unique sound and personality. Kirill Karabits conducts the Symphonic Dances and the Piano Concerto No. 2; Mikhail Pletnev is the soloist.

212-721-6500, lincolncenter.org/great-performers
Our guide to new art shows and some that will be closing soon.

HILMA AF KLINT: PAINTINGS FOR THE FUTURE at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (through April 23). This rapturous exhibition upends Modernisms holiest genesis tale  that the male trinity of Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian invented abstract painting starting in 1913. It demonstrates that a female Swedish artist got there first (1906-7), in great style and a radically bold scale with paintings that feel startlingly contemporary. The mother of all revisionist shows regarding Modernism. (Roberta Smith)

212-423-3500, guggenheim.org

BLACK CITIZENSHIP IN THE AGE OF JIM CROW at the New-York Historical Society (through March 3). This exhibition about Reconstruction and its aftermath doesnt draw explicit parallels to todays politics. But perhaps it doesnt have to. Reconstruction can be a challenging story to tell, given how it cuts against deeply held American ideas about steady moral progress. It can also seem like a very abstract story, dominated by Constitutional amendments, legal battles and court decisions. Black Citizenship, which fills three small upstairs galleries, covers the legal and political landmarks, but it also includes poignant artifacts that show how ordinary people fought the battle for  and against  racial equality on the ground. (Jennifer Schuessler)

212-872-3400, nyhistory.org

ROCHELLE FEINSTEIN: IMAGE OF AN IMAGE at the Bronx Museum of the Arts (through March 3). In her career survey, this wisecracking Bronx native proves that she can do just about anything with painting. She can chronicle history or tell a joke. She can alchemize linen, photographs, newspapers, cardboard and photocopies into art. She can teach you something about looking and life. A whiz with color, she sprays and squeezes paint, and stains with it. Several works feel like odes to color charts or to the color theory art students learn in school. A morbid strain runs through other works as Feinstein grapples with and battles the forces trying to shut down painting in favor of other media. (Martha Schwendener)

718-681-6000, bronxmuseum.org

LUCIO FONTANA: ON THE THRESHOLD at the Met Breuer (through April 14). The art of this Argentine-Italian modernist looks a bit like it comes from another planet, and it might as well, given how seldom we see it in New York. The Met Breuer show, with single environments at the Met Fifth Avenue and El Museo del Barrio, is the artists first museum survey here in over 40 years. This wouldnt be especially notable  plenty of his Latin American peers never get seen at all  were Fontana, who died in 1968, not so influential a figure. The threshold in the title refers not only to the early phase of his career, which the Met Breuer show highlights, but also to his position as a forebear of contemporary art as we know it. Things we take for granted  installation, new media and the poly-disciplinary impulse that defines so many 21st-century careers  Fontana pioneered in the 1950s. (Holland Cotter)

212-535-7710, metmuseum.org
For more than 40 years Ms. Boone, 67, has been a fixture in the ever-changing art world, rising from secretary to gallery owner, showing the work of artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, sometimes courting controversy and occasionally becoming embroiled in high-profile disputes. She is one of the most prominent art world figures to face prison since 2002, when the former chairman of Sothebys, A. Alfred Taubman, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and fined $7.5 million for leading a price-fixing scheme with Christies that swindled customers out of more than $100 million.

Prosecutors with the United States attorneys office had asked that Ms. Boone be sentenced to as much as three years in prison for the crimes she had pleaded guilty to  two counts of filing false tax returns. They said Ms. Boone had reported false business losses, used business funds to pay for more than $1.6 million in personal expenses, like renovations to her home, and then falsely claimed those personal expenses as business deductions.

But her lawyers had asked for a sentence of home confinement, probation and community service. They also submitted more than 100 letters attesting to her good works from friends, artists and collectors including the Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei, whom she once represented.

Ms. Boone was born in Erie, Penn. and had a childhood that her lawyers described as marked by tragedy and poverty. Her father died at an early age, they said, and her mother struggled daily to survive. But after opening her own gallery in 1977 in SoHo, she quickly gained attention while selling works by Basquiat, Julian Schnabel, David Salle and Ross Bleckner. In 1982, when she was 30, New York magazine published a story about her titled, The New Queen of the Art Scene.

Her gallery was considered by many to be at, or near, the white hot center of the 80s art boom. The works she displayed there, the critic Roberta Smith wrote in The New York Times, were seen as slanting heavily toward an overtly macho form of Neo-Expressionist painting.
As day four of the State of Missouri v. Alex Catterson trial unfolded, repetitive cross-examination inquiries by the defense left some members of the gallery frustrated and some members of the jury nodding off.

Thursday began with the continuation of Maryville Public Safety Officer Sarah Kahmann, who took the witness stand at the end of Wednesdays session. Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rice quickly pulled over a TV from the left side of the courtroom and played approximately 35 minutes of body camera footage from the night Catterson was taken into custody.

The footage showed Kahmann handing Catterson papers to sign, giving consent for the police department to obtain the event data recorder from his truck. After that, they moved into a small room with a large blue square on the wall. In it were a few chairs, a computer, fingerprinting equipment and photography equipment.

Kahmann conversed with Catterson as she entered his information into the computer. He frequently asked about McCoy, to which Kahmann responds she has not heard anything but will update him when she does.

I feel like youre just not telling me, honestly, Catterson said frustrated.

He sat slouched in a chair against the wall next to the computer.

Is there any way I can get another beer before I go to jail? Catterson said.

Kahmann responded, Absolutely not.

Catterson occasionally tried to make jokes and hold a conversation, but the environment was obviously awkward for both of them. Kahmann had him stand so she could record all 10 of his fingerprints. As the fingerprinting process ensures, Catterson belches loudly and complains about his hands hurting.

Kahmann tried to assure Catterson that the sooner they get the fingerprinting done the sooner he could sleep.

The sooner we get done the sooner I go to f------ jail, Catterson said.

Kahmann had Catterson sit once the fingerprinting was complete. As he waited for further instruction, he asked about his breathalyzer test.

What was my breathalyzer? Catterson said. Was it over the limit?

Kahmann responded by telling him it was over the legal limit. Catterson asked what the legal was and when given an answer, he said he knew it would be.

I could have told you guys that, in fact, I think I did tell you guys that, Catterson said.

Kahmann finished inputting Cattersons information, took his mugshot and transported him to the Nodaway County Jail where the footage concluded.

Rice pushed the TV back into the corner of the room and Cattersons attorney, Samuel Scroggie, questioned Kahmann about her knowledge of McCoys state.

While Kahmann admitted she had an idea of McCoys status, she did not officially hear McCoy had died until the next day.

Scroggie stood up and walked closer to the witness stand repeating his question yet again.

Scroggie went on to fumble through more questions about Kahmanns involvement with the investigation, asking if she was the lead investigator and what evidence and reports she had access too. After seemingly coming to no relevant conclusion, Scroggie went on to question Kahmann about the probable cause statement she wrote.

The statement included facts such as Cattersons vehicle struck a building, a woman inside the building sustained lethal injuries, Catterson smelled of alcohol and his breathalyzer test showed a .207, which Kahmann said was all probable cause to charge him with DWI.

Scroggie returned to his seat and sat with an open palm and a pen between his fingers, gesturing to Catterson.

Did you even ask Mr. Catterson what happened? Scroggie said.

Kahmann replied that they had multiple conversations about what had happened at the police station where Catterson had admitted to being drunk and hitting a girl with his truck.

Is there any place in your probable cause statement that he had felt some sort of mechanical break in his vehicle at the time of the incident? Scroggie said.

Kahmann said there was not.

Scroggie circled back to questioning her knowledge of the status of McCoy during her time with Catterson. Scroggie continually had to slow down, getting ahead of himself, before restarting his questions. Some members of the gallery audibly sighed and mumbled complaints under their breath in regards to Scroggies repetitive inquiries.

After nearly half an hour of Scroggie asking Kahmann why she never shared her suspicions of McCoys state with Catterson, Rice called four objections in a matter of minutes in regards to relevance.

Most objections were met with Scroggie withdrawing and restating his question or moving on to another topic. After another objection from Rice and the attorneys, Circuit Judge Roger Prokes had to convene to discuss the issue.

Throughout the next half hour, Scroggie stammered through questions having a difficult time deciding what he wanted to say. Several topics were revisited until Prokes finally stopped the conversation, as no new points were being discussed, and allowed Kahmann to step down from the witness stand.

Next to be called to the stand was Maryville Public Safety shift supervisor Rex Riley.

Rice asked Riley similar questions to what he had asked other police officers Wednesday, inquiring about his background, education, certification and his role in responding to the incident.

Riley wrote a report following the incident including things such as road conditions, temperature among other details regarding the crash. When Rice asked permission to admit the report as evidence, Scroggie objected claiming the report included opinion.

Scroggie argued that labeling the roads as dry in the report was an opinion, as no one could say any road is completely dry or clean. Scroggie also said the temperature recorded in the report was an opinion as Riley had not recorded a specific temperature, rather he chose the option on the report that read, freezing.

Rice was given an opportunity to continue questioning Riley and revisited the topic of road conditions, inquired about tire tracks and how speeding and alcohol were involved in the crash. Rice argued that the opinions Scroggie spoke of were simply observations.

Prokes allowed the report to be admitted as evidence in full. Upon admitting the evidence, Prokes called for a lunch break.

While waiting for everyone to return from lunch, those in the gallery socialized. Catterson could be seen speaking with his family in an animated manner. McCoy's mother sat amongst family friends, chatting while occasionally clutching a necklace with her daughters face on it accompanied by a necklace that featured angel wings.

Prokes entered the courtroom and made his way to the judges chair, he set down his cane; framed by an American flag and the Missouri state flag, he zipped up his robe and asked for everyone to stand as the jury filed into the jury box.

Elizabeth Kogan, the third witness of the day, came from the Missouri Highway Patrol crime lab in Jefferson City. Kogan is a toxicology analyst and was the one to test Cattersons blood.

Kogan explained how she tests, stores and transports blood within the lab and said her results showed Catterson had a blood alcohol content of .235.

She explained that at .03 and .05 an average person will start to display signs of intoxication, but at a .235 one could expect to see a person heavily intoxicated experiencing impaired vision, impaired balance and coordination, impaired perception and comprehension, poor reaction time, slurred speech and vomiting.

Kogan also said there is a chance that Cattersons blood alcohol content was higher at the time he began to operate his vehicle if his body had not yet begun attempting to eliminate the alcohol in his system.

Maryville Public Safety Officer John Vaught was next to be called to the stand.

Vaught explained his role in responding to the incident. Vaught drove the ambulance to the hospital after and helped with chest compressions on McCoy on the way from the ambulance into the hospital. Vaught stayed at the hospital, speaking of how once they arrived CPR was performed on McCoy for several minutes, but Dr. John Symonds eventually stopped efforts because they were not successful in reviving her.

Upon leaving the hospital, Vaught returned to the crash site to take photos for evidence. After Rice had permission from the judge to admit the photos for evidence, they were shown blown up and placed on large, white poster boards displayed on easels.

The series of photos displayed the front of Cattersons truck which had sustained severe damage, the deployed airbags on the inside of the truck, a tire that had fallen off his truck and lay in the snow across the street and tire tracks from the intersection of fourth street and Buchanan that crossed into the wrong lane and then veered into The Palms.

While looking through the photos of the tire tracks, McCoysm suitemate Riley Buckman leaned forward placing her arms on the top of the bench in front of her. She rested her head on her arms and began sobbing quietly, bouncing her leg. A woman sitting on the bench in front of her reached back to console her.

McCoys mother stood in the aisle to the right of the bench Buckman was sitting on, tears streaming down her face watching as Vaught detailed the route the truck took just moments before crashing into the building and killing her daughter.

Once the photos had been put away, Maryville Public Safety detective Ryan Glidden was called to the stand and the woman who had been consoling Buckman grabbed a tissue and covered her face, attempting to muffle her cries.

Glidden testified that he had requested Catterson be taken to the hospital to have blood drawn to test his blood alcohol content. He also ordered for McCoys body to be transported for an autopsy.

Glidden was dismissed after answering several questions and one more witness remained.

Following the last witness, Prokes had the jury deliberate on how to move forward with the trial. Due to the late start Tuesday, Feb. 12, Prokes discussed the possibility of having to come in Saturday for deliberation.

The trial will continue at 9 a.m. Friday with four witnesses left to testify and the remaining evidence to be presented in the Division I Courtroom at the Nodaway County Courthouse.
That condition, sometimes called AFib, causes an estimated 130,000 deaths a year, according to the American Heart Association. About 4 million Americans have the disease, and that number is expected to roughly double by 2050, the American College of Cardiology predicts.

But there's optimism in the heart health community.

"There is great hope for a bright future through medical advancements, prevention, and treatment of primary risk factors such as high cholesterol or hypertension, and a focused endeavor for the next several years to better understand and treat AFib and heart failure," said Erin Crawford, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association in Northwest Indiana.

Waldrop's condition caused him to retire as a construction electrician and business manager at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He believes stress and caffeine brought it on.

He had always been an active guy. He was a distance runner. "I'd go out and ride the bike for 30 miles as hard as I could," he said. Did that strain his heart? he wondered.

Either way, it was fixed, with open heart surgery at a Chicago hospital. Part of his aorta is now prosthetic, he said.
Under strong pressure from Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday that it will move ahead this year with a process that could lead to setting a safety threshold for a group of highly toxic chemicals in drinking water.

Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the immediate focus would be on two of the most common chemicals in the group, both of which have been phased out by manufacturers but remain in the environment and have suspected links to health threats ranging from cancer to decreased fertility.

By the end of this year, the EPA will "propose a regulatory determination" for the chemicals, the next step toward establishing limits under the Safe Drinking Water Act, Wheeler said in Philadelphia as he released the agency's policy for dealing with the substances.

The EPA has faced criticism from lawmakers in both major political parties as an increasing number of states have discovered perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known collectively as PFAS, in public water systems and private wells. The synthetic chemicals are found in firefighting foam, nonstick pots and pans, water-repellent clothing and many other household and personal items.

Environmentalists have criticized the agency, saying it had not acted fast enough.
INDIANAPOLIS  Two lawmakers representing Porter County at the Statehouse are hosting a town hall meeting Saturday in Portage and Feb. 23 in Chesterton.

State Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage, and state Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, said they're interested in getting constituent feedback on the various proposals pending before the Indiana House and Senate.

"I want to give our constituents an update on the work being done at the Indiana General Assembly," Moseley said. "I also want to hear their thoughts about legislation currently being debated at the Statehouse and other issues they are concerned about."

The Portage meeting is set for 9 a.m. Region time Saturday at Oakwood Hall, 2100 Willowcreek Rd.

The Feb. 23 event is at 12 p.m. in Chesterton Town Hall, 726 Broadway.

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"It seems like a relatively small change, but a lot of punch is packed into the word park. People know what a national park is and what experiences to expect at a national park. They have finally aligned our magnificent lakefront to the name it deserves. More people will come visit the dunes, because to the traveling public a national park is more desirable than a national monument or a national heritage site.

"We'll get more recognition of our spectacular assets, because they changed a word. It's a word that has a lot of power."

The Indiana Dunes is already Indiana's top tourist attraction with 3.6 million visitors in 2018, Indiana Dunes Tourism Promotions Director Dustin Ritchea said. Combine attendance at the state and national parks, and Indiana Dunes is expected to be the equivalent of the seventh most visited national park in the country after Yellowstone.

"It flip-flops with Brown County as No. 1 in the state," Ritchea said. "Now it will be in a very elite group nationally."
"The state's involvement is extremely important," she said. "I don't think this is something that the city could ever undertake alone, nor would we ever intimate that. I think it's how the partnership looks to the community, the business community and the citizens of the city of Gary."

"We believe that the city should have the majority appointments on the board, whether it's seven members or whether it's nine members.

State Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Bremen, the Appropriations Committee chairman, is sponsor of the measure.

Mishler said he committed to boosting Gary's economic prospects after he and others in Senate leadership visited Gary a few years back, toured the city with former state Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, and came to recognize the potential for large-scale development.

During the hearing, numerous Gary business and community leaders thanked Mishler for his focus on Gary and agreed with him that the city has an amazing opportunity at Buffington Harbor, including Rogers; Gary Port Authority Chairman Kenneth Stalling; Denise Dillard, vice president of the Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority Board; Chuck Hughes, Gary Chamber of Commerce executive director; and Vanessa Allen-McCloud, president of the Urban League of Northwest Indiana.
We are adding a couple of new songs and whatnot for this show so that should be fun. We have a little bit of a soul revue built into the show as a nod to what we started doing. The throwback soul thing was really popular at that time so we have a little bit of that.
CROWN POINT  A man pleaded guilty and was placed on probation Thursday for attempting to intimidate a witness in an East Chicago murder case.

Issac S. Facen, 27, of East Chicago, admitted in a plea agreement that Robert S. Currie persuaded him to take steps between Dec. 17, 2017, and Jan. 30, 2018, to prevent a witness from cooperating in the prosecution of Currie for murder.

Facen pleaded guilty to one count of felony obstruction of justice. In exchange for his plea, the Lake County prosecutor's office dropped two additional charges of obstruction of justice.

Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez sentenced Facen to two years in the Department of Correction, all suspended and to be served on probation.

Facen admitted in his plea agreement that he showed up to Currie's bond hearing Jan. 30, 2018, with the intent to scare the witness.

Currie asked Facen in recorded phone calls from Lake County Jail to attend the hearing so witnesses will think twice and tell the truth when they testify about the shooting, court records state.
CROWN POINT  A man observed his sister staring at a wall with "evil eyes" hours before the woman nearly severed their father's penis with a pair of scissors, court records allege.

Darlene G. Wozniak, 53, is accused of lunging at her 78-year-old father, punching him in the face and body and cutting him Dec. 13 at their Dyer home.

Police arrived at the home to find the father screaming in pain in one of two hospital beds set up in the living room, Lake Criminal Court records state.

The father told police Wozniak has a mental condition, according to court records. He was taken to an Illinois hospital for treatment.

Wozniak's brother told police he visits the house several times a day and was inside the home about 8 p.m. when he noticed Wozniak was "acting strange," according to a probable cause affidavit in the case.

"She was staring at the wall with 'evil eyes,' something he knows Darlene does" when she is having a psychological episode, court records state. "He was concerned about Darlene and hid all the knives in the home from her."

Wozniak went to her room, so the brother assumed she was asleep and left the house.
SCHERERVILLE  Hammond couple Allen Koelling and Susan Hale looked into each other's eyes as they said I do, sealing 20 years in the making with a kiss and a walk down the aisle, hand-in-hand.

They were among the 19 couples to get married and renew their vows on Valentine's Day at Albert's Diamond Jeweler's.

She grew up down the street from us, I knew her since she was this small, Koelling's mother, Nora Kutsenda, said of her new daughter-in-law as she motioned knee-height. This is like the final link to a happy relationship.

Koelling and Hale have been together for 11 years and have a combined family of a 13-year-old son, 19-year-old daughter and 21-year-old daughter.

He's my support, he's my rock, Hale said of her new husband and long-time love. He's always there for me.

The couple said their Valentine's Day at Albert's will be remembered forever. Joshua Halpern, an owner of Albert's, said the jewelry store has been hosting Valentine's Day weddings and vow renewals for 21 years. Halpern said his own parents got married on Valentine's Day 51 years ago.
A party celebrating all things Region and poking fun at Northwest Indiana stereotypes returns to the Hammond Civic Center for the fourth straight year Saturday with a "Region Academy Awards" theme.

219 Day will take place from 6 to 11 p.m. Saturday. Hammond is billing the 219 area code-inspired holiday invented by Twitter humorist Region Rat Rants as "fun, weird and wacky event that celebrates everything we love about the Region."

This year's festivities will include a lighthearted awards ceremony recognizing honorees in categories like "Region Rat of the Year" and "Most Likely to Wear Shorts in Winter."

Visitors can sample local craft beers, try various Region food vendors, and play a number of games that include Giant Jenga, Giant Connect 4, eight-person foosball, skee ball, and human foosball. The 1990s tribute band Fool House and blues-rock-folk artist Davy Knowles will perform live music throughout the evening.

Attendees can snap pictures at a selfie booth, get temporary tattoos and enter in a raffle to win a car.

The popular rat pinata is coming back, as are the You Know Youre From da Region If.. white boards where people can write jokes all around the Civic Center.
This is the perfect next step in the expansion of our Toyota Heavy Duty line, said Jeff Rufener, president of Toyota Material Handling USA. Hoist has been a great manufacturer of heavy-duty equipment for years and brings a group of passionate, talented associates that will help us in our role as a full-line equipment supplier. We are excited about the future of Hoist Material Handling.

Hoist moved to Northwest Indiana from Bedford Park, Illinois, in 2016. The company had been looking to expand because of growing sales, but was landlocked in Bedford Park, where it has retained a manufacturing satellite office. The Indiana Economic Development Corp., Regional Development Authority and the city of East Chicago provided financial incentives nearing $15 million to assist in the relocation, which often has been touted by local economic development officials as a major coup.

Hoist Material Handling will be led by Vice President and General Manager Dan Kossow, Vice President of Engineering Bob Miller, Vice President of Sales Stu Jacover and Vice President of Operations Ryan Delaney.
In written testimony supporting the rate increase, NIPSCO President Violet Sistovaris said that an increase in energy options for industrial customers, which account for more than half of NIPSCO's electricity demand, and a shift away from coal toward natural gas and renewable sources, prompted the strategic shifts, including an accelerated depreciation schedule for the coal plants.

"Despite currently strong economic conditions, NIPSCO electric operations continue to face declining industrial usage driven by the development of customerowned generation and uncertainty in some industrial markets based on international trade conditions," Sistovaris said in her testimony. "In addition, the industry is in the midst of a transformation toward increased reliance on gasfired and renewable generation... It is crucial that NIPSCO be in a position to evolve in alignment with this transformation."

NIPSCO claims its "new service structure" for industrial customers would enable it to retain them as retail customers, while allowing the industries to take advantage of other energy opportunities. NIPSCO acknowledges that the new system "will result in a near-term shifting of some fixed costs currently being recovered from the industrial customers to other customers," but, according to testimony from other NIPSCO executives, it "will establish a more sustainable rate platform going forward."
Peggy Boston, of Woodstock, with Tom Constable, of New Market, attended a public meeting Wednesday night to hear the details about Woodstocks proposed bicycle and pedestrian plan.
The Oak Lawn Community High School Speech Team members have qualified for eight events in the IHSA State competition in Peoria after placing in the top three in the Sectional final. Noah Swanberg and Abigail Moore were Sectional champions in Dramatic Duet Acting; Bianca Honeycutt and Jada Jackson were tournament runners up in Humorous Duet Acting; Abby Moore took 3rd in Dramatic Interpretation; Marlene Favila took 3rd in Radio Speaking; Bianca Honeycutt took 3rd in Poetry Reading; Kendallyn Julkowski took 3rd in Impromptu Speaking; and Alondra Camacho took 3rd in Informative Speaking.
Star Parker is an author and president of CURE, Center for Urban Renewal and Education. Contact her at www.urbancure.org.
From the start, the mood on the stage Thursday morning at the JW Marriott during the 2019 Indiana Latino Legislative Breakfast reflected the frayed nerves of the Latino population in the state and nation.

As Marlene Dotson, ILI president and CEO, announced the group's legislative prioritiesincluding education, health, immigration, and encouraging diversityshe referenced the ongoing fallout from the Trump administration's family separation policy.

We're living in very difficult times, she said. No children should be living in fear that they will going to be separated from their parents today. These are difficult times, and we have every right to be angry. What we are experiencing today is deeply unfair, unjust, and anti-American.

The legislative panel was moderated WRTV's Rafael Sanchez, and included Republican House of Representatives Speaker Brian Bosma, Democratic Minority House Leader Phil GiaQuinta, Republican Majority Senate Floor Leader Mark Messmer, Minority Senate Floor Leader Tim Lanane, and Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-Munster.

After Sanchez welcomed the panel to the stage to the sounds of Miley Cyrus' Party in the U.S.A., he called for civility.

I say that now because I don't want to have to call you out for incivility, because I will do that, he said.

IN-STATE TUITION AND FINANCIAL AID FOR UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS

The first question was centered on one of ILI's legislative priorities: Ensuring eligibility for in-state tuition and financial aid opportunities for undocumented students by restoring state statues.

Bosma said he regretted that in-state tuition had not been implemented in the past, but said it would have to be remedied in Congress.

We'll have to deal with the DREAMer situation at the federal level, he said, referring to the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act.

Reardon said a bill which would do exactly thatHouse Bill 1030, authored by Rep. Earl Harris, D-East Chicagohad not received a hearing.

We have, in fact, addressed issues in a bipartisan fashion that we didn't wait for the federal government to act on. And, I think this should be one of those, she said.

Reardon said it didn't make fiscal or moral sense to abandon these students at this point in their lives.

We have already invested in their education K-12, she said. If we allow those kids to continue their education and be contributing members of Indiana society, it's best for all of us.

INFANT MORTALITY

When asked what could be done to address the higher instance of infant mortality in some areas of the state, Lanane said education had to be part of the answer

We need to make sure women understand, everyone understands the importance of pre-natal care, he said.

In response, Reardon referenced Senate Bill 352, authored by Sen. Jean Leising, R-Rushville, which would have allowed a minor who is at least 16 years of age and pregnant, in labor; orpostpartum; to consent to health care concerning the pregnancy, delivery, and pospartum care.

I would say women do understand. I would say it's a lot of the men in the Senate who don't understand, she said, of the bill's failure. These are teens that are alone. These are not teens who can get parental consent. These are people in a bad situation, and they can't even consent to an emergency, lifesaving C-section if they're pregnant and alone.

We have to make health care decisions for ourselves, she said.

Bosma retorted by mentioning House Bill 1007, authored by Rep. Cindy Kirchhofer, R-Beech Grove, which would require the Indiana State Department of Health to establish a perinatal navigator program.

HATE CRIMES

Indianaalong with South Carolina, Arkansas, Wyoming, and Georgiais currently one of only five states in the country without a hate crimes law on the books.

In the past bills have failed in committee, but Messmer and Lanane said it was time to move forward.

I think the tide is generally with the enactment of this type of legislation, but we do get sort of bogged down in some of the details, said Lanane.

Bosma said he was having a hard time convincing much of his caucus it was a real problem.

The folks that are here, except for Mark, represent urban or suburban areas, he said. Seventy percent of the members of the House are from rural areas, highly rural areas, and in reality they're not hearing about this at home even from business leaders. So, we're trying to educate.

It's time to address the issue, he said.

Messmer said in his experience, hate crimes legislation polled well across the state among multiple constituencies.

It's not an issue need to be scared of, he said. Just deal with it.

DRIVER'S LICENSES FOR UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

When asked about another of ILI's legislative prioritiesallowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses or recognize licenses from other statesBosma once again deferred to Congress on the issue.

It's not possible under current law, he said. This is a thorny issue. This one is difficult. It's a federal issue.

GiaQuinta said most of the calls he was hearing for this type of legislation were from law enforcement.

Reardon agreed.

This is a public safety issue, she said. We need to make sure people have driver's licenses and insurance.

SCHOOL SAFETY AND GUN SAFETY

Indiana has seen high profile shootings recently at schools including Richmond and Noblesville.

Bosma said more funding was being allocated for school safety funding, but GiaQuinta said the focus was in the wrong place.

There are too many bills promoting the use of firearms, said GiaQuinta. We should promote gun safety, and not more gun use.

Lanane said he was not in favor of arming teachers, which many Statehouse Republicans support.

When I talk to teachers, they tell me they want to teach, he said. They don't want to be armed. They don't want to have to be the professionals to stop somebody in that terrible, terrible situation.

In defense of the idea, Messmer pointed to Jay County Schools, which have installed guns available to trained teachers and staff hidden in biometric safes.

I represent a rural district, he said. We don't have the luxury of having a city policeman or a state policeman 40 seconds away from where my students live.

In rural America, sometimes that is a choice you have to make, he said.

Reardon took the opportunity to suggest Indiana should require all licensed gun owners in the state to undergo similar training.

I'm very happy to hear the endorsement of proper gun training, she said. I don't understand why it would be so difficult to train people to use firearms when they get a firearms license. We need to start figuring out how to keep guns out of the hands of people that shouldn't have them.

Bosma said he disagreed that not enough was being done to address gun safety. He referenced the Red Flag Law, which addresses circumstances where it would be appropriate for a police officer to take custody of a citizens firearms, by way of a warrant, or immediately when exigent circumstances are present and it can be clearly articulated the safety of the public was in jeopardy, according to the Indiana State Police.

What Trump tried to propose and the NRA freaked out about, we did five years ago, he said.
Align with the United States, or prepare to risk the security threats that come with accepting the Chinese regimes investmentsthat was the message U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo conveyed while on a four-day European tour of Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland that began on Feb. 11.

The three countries are members of Beijings 16+1 initiative to intensify cooperation with 16 central and eastern European countries, including in the infrastructure, finance, and technology sectors.

Since 2012, Beijings investments under the platform have totaled more than $20 billion, according to the initiatives official website. Chinese loans given to fund infrastructure projects, however, come with a caveat: the projects must use China-made materials.

Pompeo urged those countries lured by Chinas investments to consider the risks carefully, especially in regard to working with the embattled Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

What is imperative is that we share with them the things we know about the risks that Huaweis presence in their networks presentactual risks to their people, to the loss of privacy protections for their own people, to the risk that China will use this in a way that is not in the best interest of Hungary, Pompeo told reporters at an impromptu news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Budapest on Feb. 11.

Huawei is the worlds biggest telecom equipment manufacturerand a key player in the 16+1 project. The company lists on its website various projects in which it supplies these countries with telecommunication networks, railway telecoms systems, and digital platforms for businesses.

Security concerns over Huaweis relationship with the Chinese Communist Partyincluding that the companys products could be exploited by Beijing to conduct espionagehas sparked the U.S. administration to warn its allies against cooperating with Huawei in rolling out the next generation (5G) of mobile communications.

Pompeo pointed out that if Hungary were to use Huaweis system, it could hurt U.S. national security. That is, if that [Huawei] equipment is co-located where we have important American systems, it makes it more difficult for us to partner alongside them, he said.

Huawei already provides more than 70 percent of the Hungarian population with mobile telecommunication equipment and services, according to the companys website.

Pompeo delivered the same message to Slovakia and Poland.

Beijings Goals

The 16+1 Initiative is part of Beijing larger flagship foreign-policy project: One Belt, One Road (OBOR). In a five-year plan outlining OBOR goals from 2015-2020, Beijing proposed Warsaw to be the trading center for promoting trade between China and the other central and eastern European nations in 16+1.

China would finance local roads, railways, ports, airports, telecommunications, oil and gas pipelines, and other infrastructure projects. China would also cooperate with the 16 nations in developing the internet of things and big datasectors that the Chinese regime seeks to aggressively develop for its own national interests.

Observers have already seen the effect of Chinas influence in Hungary.

In April 2018, 27 of 28 EU ambassadors jointly released a report criticizing Chinas OBOR for flouting international transparency norms while furthering Chinese interests, according to German business newspaper Handelsblatt. The lone EU country that didnt participate was Hungary.

Huawei

All three countries that Pompeo visited are among Huaweis target markets. Poland, the largest economy in eastern Europe, is the companys most important market for 5G technology.

Huawei was the supplier for two of Polands largest 5G trials, one run by France-based mobile operator Orange-France Telecom, the other run by mobile operator T-Mobile, a subsidiary of the German firm, Deutsche Telekom.

But amid the international uproar over Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhous arrest and fraud charges, Huaweis expansion in Poland hit a snag.

After Polish authorities arrested Huawei executive Wang Weijing, and Orange employee Piotr Durbajlo in January over spying allegations, the companys future in that country seems doomed.

Media reported that Polish officials plan to ban Huawei from the countrys 5G network, while Orange announced in December that it wouldnt use Huawei for its 5G core networks in France.

Experts consider the Huawei ban in Poland a done deal.

Arresting a spy means end of the discussion, Reuters quoted a Polish official as saying on Jan. 24. I think the Chinese will not be present in 5G in Poland.

Grzegorz Malecki, a consultant from Polands Institute of Security and Strategy think tank, also believes the arrest of the Polish Huawei employee is significant.

[The arrest] has the potential to disrupt Polish-Chinese relationsso the reason behind this decision, taken at the highest governmental level, must have been more important than keeping a good relationship with China, Malecki told the Financial Times on Feb. 10.

Meanwhile, Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini told reporters on Jan. 30 that there has yet to be evidence that Huawei poses a security threat.

The politicians should be careful not to become a tool in a trade war or fight between competitors, Pellegrini said, referencing the United States trade dispute with China.
Screen capture from video about Acadia Teacher Fellows Photo by Emma Forthofer, Friends of Acadia/NPS

February 14, 2019

Contact: Christie Anastasia, 207-288-8806

BAR HARBOR, MAINE  The National Park Service (NPS) is recruiting six Acadia Teacher Fellows to spend the summer learning about Acadia National Parks diverse natural and cultural resources, and ways to protect them. Teachers will be selected to work on Mount Desert Island and at Schoodic Point. Acadia National Park invites full-time, K-12 public classroom school teachers to apply online by March 1.



The Acadia Teacher Fellowship program strives to connect teachers and students to national parks. Priority is given to classroom teachers from public schools with students who are underrepresented, economically disadvantaged, or have limited access to parks. Priority is also given to teachers from Maine schools who do not requiring housing.



Many classroom teachers dream about living in and learning about our national parks, said Superintendent Kevin Schneider. Acadia Teacher Fellowships are helping make those dreams come true.



Acadia Teacher Fellows will receive weekly stipends, teaching materials from Eastern National, the parks bookstore partner, and shared park housing as available. Additional benefits include a free class field trip to Acadia or a national park site near their school, plus assistance with designing an outdoor classroom at their home school.



The Acadia Teacher Fellowship program at Acadia National Park is generously funded by Friends of Acadia. For more information on the Acadia Teacher Fellowship program please contact Kate Petrie, Supervisory Education Coordinator, Acadia National Park, 207-288-1312 or e-mail us.
Feb 14, 2019 NR

Moonshine Cinemas, an Overseas distribution company is excited to announce its next project of Yuva Samrat Naga Chaitanya and Samantha's Majili which is Slated to release on April 5th as Ugadi Special. Overseas premieres on April 4th. Overseas Audience is eagerly waiting to see the Blockbuster Combination; the real-life couple on the silver screen once again in the direction of Shiva Nirvana who directed a heartwarming film like Ninnu Kori previously.

Gopi Sundar who is known for scoring soothing music is composing tunes for this film while Vishnu Sharma cranked the camera. Shine Screens Banner is Bankrolling this Project. The Promotional Material of the film released by the makers so far is very exciting and many more promotions are planned ahead. Magnum Movies is releasing the movie in the entire Overseas. USA Premieres are planned in a record number of theatres in Naga Chaitanya career. Theater list will be announced very soon. Click the Movie button below for more info:

Majili

Samantha Akkineni Pictures
Yes. I will do my part to conserve household energy usage, even if I'm uncomfortable in my home.

No. It is too hot to conserve household energy usage.

I already conserve, even before ERCOT requested it.

Maybe, depending on the reason ERCOT provides and whether or not I am home during that time.

Vote

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SamMobile has reportedly spotted security updates for the Samsung Galaxy S6, which should bring its patch level up to January 2019. This is not hugely unusual, except for the fact that this phone is now nearly 4 years old. It joins a very short list of devices this age to still receive official software support from its OEM.

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In November 2018, we noticed that the Samsung Galaxy S6 had received a new security patch directly from its OEM. Now, SamMobile has reported that the 2015 flagship has another one. This upgrade raises the S6s patch level to January 2019. This report is based on claims that S6 units in the United Arab Emirates have installed this software. These devices have the basebands G920FXXU6ESA1 and G925FXXU6ESA1.

These claims suggest that Galaxy S6s in other regions may also be able to download this new update soon. However, we also know that they will not see any other kind of upgrade from Samsung. The OEMs plans for the latest version of Android (9.0 or Pie) definitely leave this model behind. Therefore, the S6 will stay firmly on Oreo (Android 8.x) for the foreseeable future.

Then again, this ability to commit to security-related support for such an old device is not shared by many other OEMs. Google does not even support the comparably senior Nexus 6P at this point. One of the only companies to come close is OnePlus. Its 3-year-old flagship series has been promised an upgrade to Pie, and also received a new update in November 2018. However, it has not seen another since then, and its Pie-based ORA is probably the last one it will ever see.
HARRISBURG  The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced this week that four Bradford County schools will receive funding to purchase new food service equipment for cafeterias, according to state Sen. Gene Yaw (R-23).

Competitive grants have been awarded to Morrow Elementary School, Towanda Elementary School, Towanda Area Senior High School and Northeast Bradford Elementary School.

These funds will allow schools to purchase equipment to serve healthier meals, improve food safety, and expand access, Sen. Yaw said. The equipment will be a great investment to the school facilities.

Funding for the grants was made available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is awarded to schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program and have 50 percent or more of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals.

Schools awarded funding include:

Towanda Area School District

Morrow Elementary School ($7,840.59) Dishwasher, Door Type

Towanda Area School District

Towanda Elementary School ($7,736.76) Walk-in Freezer, Modular, Self-Contained

Towanda Area School District

Towanda Area Senior High School ($7,391.59) Convection Oven, Electric

Northeast Bradford School District

Northeast Bradford Elementary School ($30,452.95) Dishwasher, Conveyor Type

The funding is part of package of competitive grants awarded to 79 elementary, middle and high schools through a program administered by the state Department of Education.

For more state-related news and information, visit Senator Yaws website at www.SenatorGeneYaw.com or on Facebook and Twitter @SenatorGeneYaw.

CONTACT:

Nick Troutman

(717) 787-3280

The post Sen. Yaw: Grants Will Fund Food Service Equipment for Bradford County Schools appeared first on Senator Gene Yaw.
North Augusta, SC (29841)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies with a few passing clouds. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable.
We were all taught in school to evaluate ideas and people in order to more realistically grade their benefit to us as a society or to each of us as an individual. This is becoming increasingly difficult each day because of skewed presentations that face us in electronic media. But I, up to this point, had retained trust in our local written journalism. Sigh...

Recently, I realized that I too am being manhandled by the manipulation of television outlets as well as online and radio sources. I had understood that these media outlets require less regulation and fewer sourcing requirements of the facts than a printed newspaper. However, last week was a new first for what I thought was the REAL news.

Obsolete racist and disgraced Republican Congressman Steve King was featured on the front page, above the fold, of our own Nonpareil. The article repeated for the umpteenth time his irrelevant and insensitive meanderings into the lost hills. This myopic news was quickly passed over by readers in search of stories that actually concern them or matter to their families.

Later (page 3-A), was an article describing someone who actually can and (with any luck) might solve our countrys problems by listening, outlining solutions, implementing moral principles in a bipartisan  dare I say  democratic manner, and utilizing collective ideas to benefit us all.
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No. There could be numerous possible pathways to the autopsy findings. So that would be speculation, Young answered, and likened the situation to the The Lady, or the Tiger? short story by Frank Stockton.

Which door has the tiger? It basically comes down to a guess, Young continued. He later said the CPR Jazlynn received may have caused her injuries if it was done improperly.

Jazlynn was given CPR by a Council Bluffs Police officer who arrived at the home after Jennings and the girls mother called 911 when they found she was not breathing. The officer received CPR training at least five times during his career in law enforcement and the military, according to the state.

Wilber asked Young if he had built a scenario in regards to the possibility the girls injuries were accidental. Young said no, that he relies on what is logically and scientifically valid.

Wilber then asked how the injuries would be classified as either accidental, intentional or something else.

Im not asking you if Colonel Mustard did it in the dining room with the candlestick, Wilber said. Im asking you what you think.
We need your help in identifying the top one or two priorities to focus our efforts and resources to support our communities. Please complete this short survey using your personal experiences to guide your response, the survey tells residents.

The county Public Health Department is housed within the Planning Department. As part of its expanded role in taking over many health services from the City of Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie Public Health opened a clinic on Fourth Street in October.

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The facility offers free and confidential sexually transmitted disease/infection testing and treatments, including HIV testing and referrals, along with immunizations services, flu shots and other vaccines. Disease investigations in the county are based out of the clinic.

Now comes a collaboration of multiple area agencies on the survey.

In the 2018 County Health Rankings and Roadmaps from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program housed at the University of Wisconsin, Pottawattamie County ranked 90th in health outcomes  explained as a representation of how healthy counties are within the state. Determining factors include length of life, quality of life, health behaviors, medical access, socioeconomic factors and physical environment.
The Council Bluffs Community School District Board of Education has approved a plan to provide early retirement incentives to up to 25 administrators and/or certified staff who have at least 25 years of service in the district.

It is a measure many school districts are using and offering, Superintendent Vickie Murillo said after the boards Tuesday meeting.

The school district estimates it will have a budget shortfall of $3.5 million in the 2019-20 school year, according to board materials. The 2 percent increase in per-pupil funding approved by the Iowa House Monday night, if passed by the Senate and signed by the governor, would not be enough to offset rising costs, officials said. In addition, the districts allotment will actually decrease by $125,000 because of an enrollment drop of 70.88 students this year.

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Qualified applicants would receive a payment of $5,000 in July 2019 and July 2020 and $650 per month paid into a health reimbursement account for three years beginning in July 2019. Participants could remain on the districts health plan for three years or until age 65. In this case, any unused portion of the monthly $650 insurance incentive would be put into an HRA account in monthly payments after the retiree turns 65.
Payless ShoeSource is possibly looking at closing its U.S. stores.

According to Reuters News Agency, the retailer plans to close approximately 2,300 stores after filing for bankruptcy later this month.

A week ago Bloomberg News reported that Payless is preparing for its second trip to bankruptcy court with a plan that could drastically shrink the size of the discount shoe chain, per people with knowledge of the matter.

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The retailer sought loan to get through bankruptcy proceedings, Bloomberg reported. A representative for the Topeka, Kansas-based company declined to comment to the news outlet.

Reuters said Payless had been trying to find a buyer, without success. The outlet noted there's a "small chance" a buyer could emerge after the bankruptcy filing, which could help save the stores.

According to the Payless website, the privately-held company was founded in Topeka in 1956 and today employs more than 18,000 associates worldwide.

The Nonpareil reached out to the Council Bluffs Payless ShoeSource, where a store associate said a manger wouldn't be available until the afternoon.

- This story is developing.
Park District should take stronger action: The park district has taken baby steps to reduce their ludicrous spending. The only problem is they grabbed low hanging fruit and are taking the easy way out. Hiring private security and laying off police men is an insult to the taxpayer. Why cant they lower our tax rate? They could start by slashing that fat executive pay Ive been reading about. They can cut through their well layered marbled management and hire a park management company for less cost and no long-term pension. Making the park district work with less may force some people to actually work. Theyd no longer need to attend holiday breakfasts or lunches, find ways to spent their ridiculously $9,000 vehicle allowance and would stop prancing about as they chase photo opportunity with politicians.
The story goes that in 1909 a group of black New Orleans laborers who called themselves The Tramps saw a skit at a downtown theater called There Never Was and Never Will Be a King Like Me. The Tramps were so amused by that depiction of the Zulu king that they decided to switch up their Mardi Gras tradition and parade as Zulus themselves.

On that Fat Tuesday, the groups king, William Story, wore tattered pants and a crown he fashioned out of a lard can. He carried a banana stalk as his scepter.

What, exactly, was the joke? Who was being lampooned? The Africans who had established a kingdom on the southern tip of that continent? Rich, white people Uptown who pretended they were royalty and aristocracy every Carnival?

Whatever the joke was and whoever the joke was meant to ridicule, lets acknowledge this: The monarch with his lard-can crown and raggedy pants couldnt have imagined that future kings would be invited to stop by Gallier Hall Fat Tuesday mornings to be toasted by the mayor of New Orleans. He couldnt have imagined that his band of merry-making black laborers would grow to include people of all colors and all walks of life.

If he knew that he was starting a tradition that would endure  this year makes 110 years  would he have kicked things off with a different joke?

Black people in 1909 would have had no reason to believe that Jim Crow would ever end or that integration would ever come. Would the originators of the Zulu parade have painted their faces black if they knew that one day the people thronging the New Orleans streets to see them would include more than working class black people? Would they have painted their faces black if they knew their group would one day include white people whod do the same?

Its unclear what the original joke was meant to be, but it seems obvious to me that it was a joke told by working-class black people of New Orleans to other working-class black people of New Orleans. Throughout history, marginalized groups have told jokes among themselves that they didnt intended for the larger population to hear and certainly didnt intend for the larger population to join in on.

But somehow, the Zulu clubs bizarre tradition survived the civil rights era, survived the Black is Beautiful and Black Power eras, even survived an influx of white members.

The question now: Can the tradition survive 2019? More importantly, should it?

In January, Mike Ertel, Republican secretary of state for Florida, was outed for having put on blackface at a 2005 Halloween party. Ertel, who was also in drag, wore a T-shirt that read, Katrina victim.

Then Ralph Northam, a Democrat whos the governor of Virginia, said that, in an offensive photo in his medical school yearbook, hes either the guy wearing a guy wearing a Klansmans robe or the guy standing next to him in blackface. Then Northam said Oops, he couldnt be sure he was either of the people in that photo, but that in 1984 he did wear blackface to try to look like Michael Jackson.

As if blackface is the way to look like the star on the cover of Thriller.

After Northam, Mark R. Herring, Virginias Democratic attorney general, said he used blackface when he was in college to costume as the rapper Kurtis Blow. Across the country, reporters are scouring old yearbooks to see which of their public officials were benighted enough to paint their faces black for photographs.

On Feb. 11, Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul acknowledged that a 1993 photograph of two officers wearing blackface was published in a Police Department yearbook.

All over the country, people whove worn blackface are being called out for it, no matter how many years ago they exhibited that stupidity.

What, if anything, does that mean for the New Orleans group that has been using blackface openly and without apology?

Former New Orleans City Councilman Oliver Thomas, who hosts the Good Morning Show on WBOK-AM1230, asked his listeners that question Feb. 6. Thomas brought up Zulu, he later said, because he knew Zulu would be called to account for its tradition.

Thomas  who has participated in at least one Zulu parade and, thus, blackened his own face  said he didnt find any of the callers arguments in favor of blackface persuasive. He also admits that in order for him to put the paint on his face, he had to ignore a voice inside him telling him he shouldnt do it.

Even if he were to concede the point, he told his listeners, that black people blackening their faces is different than white people blackening their faces, how can it be OK at this point for white Zulu members to paint their faces black but not OK for white people who arent?

Zulu historian Clarence A. Becknell Sr., didnt respond to multiple messages requesting comment about his clubs tradition. However, in a Tuesday evening press release, the club makes the curious argument that they use black makeup and not blackface.

The press release also argues that the clubs members have nothing but love for the Zulus of South Africa and that the costuming traditions are meant to honor them.

But that argument is undercut by a statement Zulu king Milton Bienamee made to the New Orleans States-Item in 1967. For each of the previous two years, the Zulu club had yielded to pressure from the civil rights community and tried out a new look that included masks but not face paint. We are moving with the times, Bienamee had said in 1965.

But after that two-year experiment, Bienamee said, No more of that dignity stuff. Were going back to the old tradition  African face image, grass skirts and earrings in the nose.

Bienamee explained that as financial secretary I fought hard to get this years parade back on the fun level. Some other groups still want to fancy us up.

It cant be true that Zulu was trying to honor the Zulus of South Africa and grew weary of being dignified. If they balked at the idea of being dignified, then that must mean that they didnt hold the Zulus of South Africa in high regard.

And the record shows that Africans who witnessed the Zulu parade didnt feel honored. In 1961, the Louisiana Weekly published a resolution from the New Orleans chapter of the African Students Union of the Americas, which said students decried the unrespectable way in which the clowning is carried on.

Bianamees explanation in 1967 that there were groups that wanted to make Zulu fancy is an unmistakable jab at the NAACP, which had been calling Zulu an embarrassment for more than a decade.

There is a wide feeling that the parade degrades and ridicules the Negro race, Clarence Laws, a field secretary for the NAACP said in 1956. There were people in New Orleans who loved the parade, he said, but it has become a stereotype, an insult to the race and many Negroes are disgusted with it.

In 1961, as the countrys civil rights movement was shifting into a higher gear, a group called United Clubs Inc. convinced every black Carnival organization but Zulu to forgo that years celebration. The Louisiana Weekly describes the protesters as the thinking Negroes of this community.

So, what did that make the black people who were in Zulu?

Under the headline Zulu Turns Its Back on Negro Community," a Louisiana Weekly editorial provides the answer: The controversial Zulu Aid and Pleasure Club has decided, despite pressure from 99% of the Negro community, to parade as usual for the good white folks.

Last week the Zulus were on the verge of calling the farcical, disgraceful spectacle off when New Orleans esteemed and internationally known Mayor Morrison injected himself into the matter.  Smiling and shuffling like the Uncle Toms of another day, the Zulus left the mayors office for a meeting where the membership (20) was to vote on whether to parade or not.  For a few thousand dollars, New Orleans business interests have literally hired the Zulu Club to clown, dance and jump for the visiting tourists.

If youre a confused black person from out of town whos seeing the Zulu parade for the first time, you will almost certainly encounter a black person born in New Orleans who explains that the Zulu parade was originally intended to mock Uptown whites in general and Rex in particular.

The originators of the parade thought the white people Uptown thought too highly of themselves, and, thus, mocked their sense of faux royalty with a display of faux royalty of their own.

Its an interesting theory, but its curious that theres no mention of Rex or any white Uptowners in the history published on the clubs website.

Trimiko Melancon, the director of African and African American Studies at Loyola University, suggested Tuesday that if the members of Zulu were making a political statement, they may have been aiming it at those that the newspaper story refers to as the thinking Negroes.

A group of laborers painting themselves obsidian black and parading around in untamable hair, Melancon said, can be read as a deliberate provocation of the professional classes whose complexion and grade of hair were likelier to be closer to white peoples.

The Zulu members adopted a look that was the complete opposite of what a person holding any kind of power in New Orleans was expected to look like.

But does any of that matter? If the original Zulu parades were meant to lampoon the snobbery they detected in white people or other black people, is that reason enough to have its members parading around in blackface  er, black makeup  in 2019?

Its an unequivocal no from Malcolm Suber, one of the leaders of Take Em Down NOLA. The group has made it its mission to remove all symbols of white supremacy from the cityscape. Suber made it clear in a Wednesday interview that blackface is as much a symbol of white supremacy as any Confederate monument. And, so, he said, just like his group demanded that the city take em down, they are equally adamant that Zulu take it off.

Earlier this month on Twitter, media critic Lindsay Ellis addressed the oft-heard criticism that a brilliant satirical comedy like Blazing Saddles," which turns the repetition of virulent racial epithet into the films biggest joke, "could never be made today because of the PC police.

Political correctness has nothing to do with it, Ellis argued. Blazing Saddles could be made today; it would just land with a deafening thud. She said comedy is a tricky genre because it is the quickest to age and the most likely to age poorly. A comedys success depends just as much on when it hits as the quality of the writing.

One of the reasons that movie works is black people were just coming into political power then, not unlike the way the black sheriff was coming into town.

Zulu is still trying to work a joke that began 110 years ago. If comedy is the quickest to age, its fair to ask when did black people parading around in blackened faces stop being funny.

Dont expect any argument if your answer is, It never was.

Most importantly, if Zulu doesnt change, if it continues to demand that its members paint their faces black, please dont misconstrue that as permission for anybody else to do the same.

Jarvis DeBerry is a columnist on the Latitude team at NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Latitude is a place to share opinions about the challenges facing Louisiana. Follow @LatitudeNOLA on Facebook and Twitter. Write Jarvis at jdeberry@nola.com or @jarvisdeberry.
It is time for members of Louisianas Republican congressional delegation to stand up for the rule of law and stand against President Donald Trumps bogus claims of a national emergency to meet his political aims to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

Louisiana lawmakers should be ashamed if they dont stand up to preserve the Constitutions separation of powers and express conservative opposition to concentrating so much control with one man or office. The very ideals of our democratic republic are at stake here.

The House and the Senate each will have a chance to vote for a resolution that puts Congress on the record against this power grab. The Republicans in the Louisiana delegation have been mostly in lockstep with the president to this point. But this is not about party, its about country and the foundation of how our nation works.

You can be for a wall but against an attack on our constitutional system.

Trump declares national emergency over border wall

Five years ago, Trump said executive action on immigration being considered by then-President Barack Obama was unconstitutional and could lead to impeachment. Obama was considering an order to halt deportations for the undocumented parents of children born in the United States.

So were looking now at a situation, it should absolutely not pass muster in terms of constitutionality, but it depends on what these justices do, Trump said.

There simply is no valid basis for declaring an emergency at the border, when illegal crossings have been at historic lows and there is no evidence of an invasion that might trigger this war-like response. Any crisis is being caused by an increase in the numbers of families with children from Central America seeking asylum, which might require additional facilities, personnel and even troops.

But starting construction on a wall that could take 10 years to complete will have absolutely no impact on anything that might be construed as an emergency or a crisis. Lawmakers who support such a naked power grab by the president are doing a disservice to the office they hold and the people they represent.

This is nothing but pure partisan politics at its worst.

The president couldnt get money for his wall when his own party controlled the House, Senate and White House. He even rejected a bipartisan offer for financing a wall in return for a path to citizenship for Dreamers last year. And he was prepared to sign off on a spending bill last month before conservative pundits heaped scorn on his retreat and he decided to dig in for the sake of his own ego.

Democrats have offered more money for border security, but the president and many of his supporters have now decided that a 2,000-mile wall is the only thing that will keep our country safe.

Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, the second-ranking Republican in the House, has suggested that Democrats only oppose the wall because of their resistance to Trump, noting that some of them had supported less grandiose barriers in the past.

From the day President Trump took office, Democrats have vowed to oppose him at every turn in an effort to appease their radical-left base, putting the politics of obstruction over the security of our country, Scalise said in an op-ed for Fox News.

Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-Alto, an announced candidate for Louisiana governor this year, said Thursday (Feb. 14) also couched his support for the president in partisan terms.

If President Trump needs to declare a national emergency to keep out the drugs and gangs, so be it," Abraham said, "because its pretty clear that Democrats only goal is to score political points with their radical open-borders base, even if it means sacrificing national security.

And yet, a GOP-controlled Congress failed to deliver the wall funding, and the high-turnout mid-term elections that put the Democrats back in control of the House should be a clear signal that the presidents policies are losing support across the country.

Stealing money from authorized disaster-aid projects in California and Puerto Rico only makes things worse and supports the theory that this is only about politics and Trumps desperate attempt to extricate himself from a trap of his own making. Even if this is just a negotiating ploy, Republicans should make it clear that they cannot condone such actions.

The most frightening prospect is for Congress to allow the president  any president  to usurp its authority and assert his own will in its place. It is a clear abuse of the Constitution, and we will all suffer for it.

Tim Morris is a columnist on the Latitude team at NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Latitude is a place to share opinions about the challenges facing Louisiana. Follow @LatitudeNOLA on Facebook and Twitter. Write to Tim at tmorris@nola.com.
Less than two years ago, Louisiana lawmakers came together in a rare moment of bipartisanship to pass common-sense, proven reforms to the states criminal justice system. Unfortunately, critics immediately began to denounce the reforms.

Using flawed statistics and anecdotal evidence misleads the public about the benefits of the reforms, and this was the case with Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaros most recent comments. So, what is the truth?

DA Leon Cannizzaro is dead certain in his convictions

Before these reforms, Louisianas criminal justice system was fundamentally broken. Lengthy incarcerations for nonviolent offenses increased costs and reduced public safety. Law enforcement officials and community leaders from across the political spectrum agreed on solutions rooted in the successes achieved by other conservative states such as Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and many others.

For example, Texas has remained a leader in these kinds of reforms, and because of its efforts, the state has seen its crime rate fall by more than 30 percent, the lowest since 1961.

While it is still too early to draw definitive conclusions, the initial data is extremely promising for our state. Louisiana is tracking similarly to the successful outcomes achieved in other states. State records show that since implementing the reforms, the re-arrest rate from those benefitting from the reforms is 19 percent, well below the national average, and the reincarceration rate has dropped nearly 10 percent.

Critics and supporters of criminal justice reforms must ground their positions in accurate, fact-based data, not anecdotes and faulty information. The facts prove that these reforms are vital to the future of Louisiana and our country. We must give them time to continue working.

James M. Jay Lapeyre

M. Pres Kabacoff

Michael Cowan

Smart on Crime Louisiana steering committee members

New Orleans
The Blind Tiger, a small restaurant chain that got its start on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, will expand its presence in St. Tammany Parish.

The Blind Tiger already has a restaurant in the Slidell area and will soon open another in Covington. Now, the Madisonville Town Council has paved the way for a Blind Tiger restaurant to be built at the DeZaire Marina.

The council on Wednesday (Feb. 13) approved a zoning variance to allow The Blind Tiger to operate at the marina, which is at 205 Main St.

Shane Waller, Louisiana operations manager for the restaurants, said Friday that "in the perfect world'' the company would begin construction in Madisonville in the fall. The restaurants feature an open-air layout and a coastal vibe, with burgers, fresh seafood and drinks. The Madisonville restaurant will seat 120 to 130 people, somewhat smaller than the typical Blind Tiger size, Waller said.

"Wed like to come into Madisonville and be what the old Friends was 10 years ago,'' he said.

Madisonville Mayor Jean Pelloat said the councils approval is for the restaurant concept and its location. Officials will still have to sign off on the actual building plans and designs, he added.

Pelloat said The Blind Tiger will absolutely be a welcomed addition to the town.

Its totally secluded,'' he said the DeZaire Marina location. "Itll have more than the required parking.

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DeZaire Marina is on Bayou DeZaire, which leads into the Tchefuncte River.

New life for iconic Slidell spot?

Parking and restaurants in Madisonville have been closely linked in recent years, following the saga of the Friends Coastal Restaurant.

Friends had operated out of an old cottage on the Tchefuncte River for decades when it was destroyed by the one-two punch of Hurricane Isaac in 2012 and a 2013 fire. A new, much larger restaurant was rebuilt in its location, but opened to a swirl of controversy stemming from its size and the parking and traffic pressure it put on the surrounding neighborhood.

That version of Friends closed in 2017, but last December the Town Council approved several measures to pave the way for its new owners to convert the site into a mixed-use property with a scaled-down restaurant.

Waller, who lives in Mandeville, said St. Tammany Parish has been a good market for the chain. The Slidell restaurant has been open nearly two years, and the restaurant in Covington, which is on the Bogue Falaya River next to The Chimes, will open in 15 to 20 days.

"We love St. Tammany,'' Waller said.
A Mississippi man has been indicted on murder charges in the 2016 killing of a 35-year-old man in the 7th ward.

Drew Bourgeois, 30, also known by his nickname Creep was indicted Thursday (Feb. 14) on charges of obstruction of justice in a homicide investigation and with the second-degree murder of Matthew Twig Spooner.

Bourgeois, of Bay St. Louis, faces a mandatory lifetime prison sentence if convicted of murder. He is currently incarcerated at the Wynn Correctional Center, where he is serving a 10-year sentence for illegal possession of a firearm by a felon.

Bourgeois was arrested by Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office deputies inside an Old Jefferson hotel room on July 14, 2016 where he was hiding out with a gun, drugs and his girlfriend, according to District Attorney Leon Cannizzaros office.

A Mississippi family waits for answers after 7th Ward killing

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He was arrested eight days after Spooner was found dead after being shot in the head inside the kitchen of his home in the 2000 block of N. Miro Street. Bourgeois has also been indicted for the murder of Spooners friend Jeremy Fountain, whose body was found five days later on July 11, 2016 in a wooded area near Shoreland Park in Waveland, Miss.

Hancock County (Miss.) Coroners office said that Fountain had been dead for several days.

Investigators in Mississippi said at the time that they believed the two killings were connected and may have occurred on the same day. Bourgeois was arrested for Fountains murder, but was not initially named a suspect in Spooners killing.

Both victims were connected to Bourgeois and both had been killed by gunshots to the head, according to Cannizzaros office.

Spooner was a father of three young children, ages 11, 9 and 3 at the time of his death.
A new sliding-scale counseling clinic offering mental healthcare to uninsured and under-insured New Orleanians has opened at Loyola University.

The clinic, which is hosted by the Loyola Center for Counseling and Education at 2020 Calhoun St. in Mercy Hall, opened in early February. Dr. John Dewell, LPC-S, the clinical director of the clinic said that they have already started seeing patients and hope to eventually expand their capacity to about 50 clients a week this year.

Graduate students from Loyolas Center for Counseling and Education will be able to do their internship year training and providing counseling services at the clinic, Dewell said.

The student counselors will be supervised by Dewell, who is also the chair of the Counseling Department at Loyola, and eventually additional senior clinicians as the clinic grows.

This is an easy way for us to fill a gap in services for families and make mental healthcare more accessible, Dewell said.

The clinic will slowly expand to include various forms of therapy, including individual, group and play therapy geared to children ages five and up.

In addition to receiving support from Loyola University, which provided the space, the clinic has also partnered with the New Orleans Musicians Clinic & Assistance Foundation and the Preservation Hall Foundation. The partnership will help them extend low-cost mental health services to musicians and entertainers who receive medical care at the NOMC, Sarah Zoghbi, the co-founding Director of Program Development said.

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Im really stoked about working with this demographic. Its a population that doesnt make a lot of money. So you can go to this clinic pay a small co-pay and not have to rely on having health insurance, she said.

The clinic opened with the intention of addressing the serious gap in mental health services for underinsured and uninsured populations in the New Orleans-area. Louisiana ranked 38 in the United States for access to Mental Health Care, according to the 2019 Mental Health America report. The report estimated that there were about 599,000 adults in Louisiana with a mental illness or about 17 percent of the population.

The states broken mental health system and its subsequent impact on Louisiana residents has been detailed in the NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune series, A Fragile State.

It is our sincere hope to fill a gap in the community by providing high quality services for those in needs, said Dewell. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

The clinic is offering free and confidential phone consultation before booking initial appointments. The clinic is open from Monday to Thursday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Appointments can be made by calling 504.864.7858 or by emailing LCCE@loyno.edu.

More information is available online here.
Most members of the Louisiana Ethics Board either didnt return phone calls from a reporter or didnt want to comment publicly on whether the board will vote to allow political campaign funds to be used for child care expenses during its Friday (Feb. 15) meeting.

The Times-Picayune and NOLA.com left emails and phone messages for nine of the 10 ethics board members this week. Five of 10 members were able to be reached, but many declined to comment on how they intended to vote. A reporter could not find contact information for Board Member Liddell Smith of Shreveport.

The board is deliberating Friday -- for the second time -- on political candidate Morgan Lamandres request that she be allowed to use campaign funds for child care while doing campaign work. The board rejected her first appeal in November, when it voted 5-2 that campaign cash could not be used for child care. That was a reversal of a decision the ethics board had made in 2000, when it ruled that a male elected official could use his campaign funds for child care expenses.

Lamandre, an attorney for a sexual assault victim advocacy group in Baton Rouge, is running for the House District 66 legislative seat, which Rep. Rick Edmonds, a Republican, holds. She has two children under the age of 8 and said she is seeking early guidance about child care from the ethics board to avoid getting hit with a fine later.

The boards ruling against Lamandres request for child care coverage in November sparked public outcry, which motivated Lamandre to ask them to look at the issue again this week.

Campaign money cant be used for child care, Louisiana Ethics Board rules

The Louisiana Legislatures Womens Caucus urged the ethics board to reverse its decision and two New Orleans legislators have said they will file legislation ensuring that child care is considered a legitimate campaign expense. Even Lamandres political opponent, Edmonds, said he thought she was making a reasonable request.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who picks the members of the ethics board, has also said he hopes the board makes a different choice this time around.

In a tweet the night before the boards second vote, Edwards wrote: Caring for children and running for office are both full-time jobs. Louisianas working parents should not be discouraged from serving the people, & I hope the ethics board will reconsider its prior ruling on childcare expenses when it meets tomorrow.

Yet ethics board members reached by The Times-Picayune and NOLA.com appeared to be conflicted about the issue. A few said the campaign finance laws enacted by the Legislature -- which ban the use of campaign funds for personal expenses -- are too vague and its not clear they allow child care to be a legitimate expense.

I understand the issue and I sympathize with the issue of childcare, said Louis Leggio, a retired pediatrician and ethics board member reached by phone Wednesday. But unfortunately its not written in the law. We dont make the law. The Legislature makes the law.

Leggio abstained from voting when Lamandres request came up in November. He didnt think it was allowed by the law, but he didnt want to vote against Lamandre. She needs to request her legislator address the problem in the Legislature and clarify it, he said this week.

Louisiana Legislatures Womens Caucus wants child care ruling reconsidered

Even if the Legislature votes to allow campaign funds to be used for child care, such a law would not go into effect for another few months. The Legislatures lawmaking session doesnt start until April. It would be faster for Lamandre to have the ethics board rule in her favor.

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Board chairman Bob McAnelly, reached by phone Wednesday, said he still had mixed feelings about whether child care was a legitimate campaign expense. McAnelly voted against Lamandres request in November, but said he hadnt made up his mind about how he was going to vote on Friday yet.

You have to pick things that you want to do and which things you cant do, he said. There are only 24 hours in the day and you are probably going to give up something if you run for office.

McAnelly said one of the concerns he had with Lamandres request was a lack of specifics. He said the ethics board in 2000 -- which he was not a part of -- had an easier time approving then-Baton Rouge Metro Council Member Darrell Oursos request to use campaign funds for child care expenses because Ourso had been very specific about how he would use that privilege. Ourso had asked to use campaign money for child care during election fundraisers, other political candidates fundraisers and community events he attended as an elected official, according to documents provided by the ethics board.

In her situation, she is asking us to tell her ahead of time what she can and cant do. It is difficult for us  or probably impossible for us  to respond," said McAnelly. If she can give us a concrete example of what she is anticipating using the money for, we can address that.

McAnelly chafed at the accusations of sexism that have been hurled at the board in the wake of their initial ruling. He said the board did not rule in favor of Ourso -- but against Lamandre -- because of her gender.

But the accusations of sexism didnt just come because of the outcome of the ruling. It was also some of the ways in which Lamandre was addressed during the hearing. Bruneau made more than one comment about Lamandres personal responsibility during his remarks to her at the November meeting.

Nobody forces you to run for public office. But you have a child and that is your primary responsibility to provide for that child. But I dont think you need to be raising money to run for office to do that, and I dont think that is the intent of the statute, he said at the time.

Whats a legitimate campaign expense in Louisiana also has been interpreted liberally over the years. Candidates are allowed to use campaign funds for community organization dues, meals, fuel, auction items and flowers for constituents. Then-Gov. Bobby Jindal used his state campaign account to cover much of his out-of-state travel to places such as Iowa and New Hampshire before he announced his failed presidential bid.

Louisiana politicians also spent $310,000 from their campaign accounts to ride in Mardi Gras parades from 2009 to 2012, according to campaign records.

New Orleans lawmakers will introduce legislation to allow campaign funds to be used for child care

Board Member Peppi Bruneau, a former Republican legislator from New Orleans, voted against Lamandres request and was the most outspoken about his opposition to it. This week, he declined to say how he would vote, but seemed to share some of the same skepticism he had a few months ago. I dont think its the ethics board decision to make law. I think its the position of the Legislature, he said.

The two other board members who were reached did not want to speak on the record about their feelings on the child care issue ahead of the vote. La Koshia Roberts, of Lake Charles, declined to talk to a reporter when she was approached in person after an ethics board meeting Thursday.

Paul Harvey Colomb, of Lafayette, said he had given a lot of thought as to how he would vote, but didnt want to share it with a reporter when reached by phone Wednesday. Colomb is a new member of the ethics board, appointed in December, and wasnt on the board when it voted on Lamandres request previously.

I have a feeling about that, but I would rather not say until the meeting, he said.
The Louisiana Department of Health urged healthcare providers around the state to be on the lookout for measles cases as other parts of the United States continue to report new cases.

Louisiana has not reported any measles cases so far this year. Two confirmed cases were reported in New Orleans last year. Those cases involved travelers who contracted the illness while traveling abroad. Both adult patients were not vaccinated with the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella).

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified 101 individual measles between Jan. 1 and Feb. 7 in 10 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

Measles is highly infectious and can be spread through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks, according to the Department of Health. It can take up to 12 days after exposure for a person to exhibit symptoms.

With Texas and Georgia in such close proximity, there is a possibility for measles to move across borders into Louisiana," Dr. Alex Billioux, the assistant secretary for the Office of Public Health, said in a statement. "Healthcare professionals need to be on the alert for signs and symptoms of this highly contagious disease among their patients so that we can prevent similar outbreaks from occurring here.

Healthcare providers should report any suspected cases to the Office of Public Health Infectious Disease Epidemiology Hotline at 1-800-256-2748 to coordinate lab testing. Symptoms can include high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Patients will eventually develop a rash that spreads across the body.

Residents can contact the Orleans and Jefferson Health Units at 504.658.2540 for more information on how and where to get vaccinated. HealthMap Vaccine Finder, a web-based app, also allows users to search for vaccine locations in their area by vaccine type.
Physicists from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, dubbed LIGO, in Livingston Parish will receive a major update in equipment thanks to a $20.4 million award from the federal government.

The National Science Foundation is awarding funding to the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which are the organizations managing LIGO, according to a Thursday (Feb. 14) news release from Caltech. The LIGO facilities in Livingston and in Hanford, Wash., fall within a federally-funded project that made history in 2015 after making the first detection of ripples in space and time, called gravitational waves.

Three LIGO scientists received the Nobel Physics Prize in 2017 for their roles in detecting the waves that essentially compress and stretch the universe  a concept predicted a century ago by Albert Einstein to provide a new understanding of the cosmos. One of the Nobel Laureates, Rainer Weiss of MIT, is also an adjunct professor at LSU.

LIGO detects gravitational waves from the violent collision of two black holes. The LIGO facilities are scheduled to turn back on this spring in its third run of the Advanced LIGO phase, Caltech stated. LIGO scientist Michael Zucker said in a statement that Advanced LIGO has 11 confirmed gravitational-wave events over the last three years.

The new funding will support Advanced LIGO Plus, which is expected to commence operations in 2024, Caltech stated. In other words, the funding will be used to improve the detectors at each LIGO observatory, said Anne Kinney, an assistant director for the National Science Foundation, in a statement.

The Advanced LIGO Plus operation will increase the volume of deep space the observatory can survey by as much as seven times, Caltech stated. Kinney stressed these detections may reveal secrets from inside supernovae and teach us about extreme physics from the first seconds after the universes birth.

The twin LIGO observatories will significantly increase the number and strength of their detections. Advanced LIGO Plus will reveal gravity at its strongest and matter at its densest in some of the most extreme environments in the cosmos, Kinney said.

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LIGO Executive Director David Reitze said in a statement that they expect the Advanced LIGO Plus upgrade to detect gravitational waves from black hole mergers on a daily basis to greatly increase societys understanding of this dark sector of the universe.

Gravitational-wave observations of neutron star collisions, now very rare, will become much more frequent, allowing us to more deeply probe the structure of their exotic interiors, Reitze stated.

The LIGO observatories have also observed a collision of two dense, dead stars called neutron stars. That merger gave off gravitational waves and light waves, which were detected by dozens of telescopes in space and on the ground. The neutron star merger observations confirmed that heavy elements in the universe, such as platinum and gold, are created in neutron star smashups, Caltech stated.

The U.S. governments new grant is part of a joint international effort in collaboration with the United Kingdom Research and Innovation organization and the Australian Research Council, which are contributing additional funds to LIGO, Caltech stated.

Scientists witness huge cosmic crash, find origins of gold

Wilborn P. Nobles III is an education reporter based in New Orleans. He can be reached at wnobles@nola.com or on Twitter at @WilNobles.
Redistricting reform requires the General Assembly to submit an amendment to the Illinois Constitution  providing voters the opportunity to put a new system in place. We have been working on this issue for many years, but the Democrat majority has not allowed a vote in either the House or the Senate.
The release of 159 million gallons of acidic water during a catastrophic failure of the waste gypsum stack at Mosaics Uncle Sam fertilizer manufacturing facility can be contained on an adjacent stretch of farmland without affecting the nearby Blind River and Maurepas Swamp, company officials told federal and state environmental officials on Monday (Feb. 11).

But just one week earlier, company officials warned the same environmental regulators that as much as 339 million gallons of water as acidic as lemon juice could be released during a catastrophic failure of the holding pond atop the waste pile, and that such a release could make its way through ditches, streams and culverts into the Blind River ecosystem.

Mosaic fertilizer briefs EPA on contingency plans if wall failure releases hazardous wastewater

Information included in the presentations and in documents filed with the state Department of Environmental Quality and federal Environmental Protection Agency indicate that the dramatic difference between the two presentations represents so-far successful efforts to avoid a disaster:

Rapid work conducted by employees and contractors to remove water from the pond atop the 200-foot-high waste pile.

Several of the files, including the slides from the two presentations, have shown up on DEQs Electronic Data Management System online database several days after being received by state officials, and after the presentations were made.

A daily update of conditions at the site for Wednesday did contain some disconcerting news: the dike along the north face of the gypsum stack moved outward an inch or more during the previous 24 hours, significantly more than the daily average of just over 6/10ths of an inch that had been measured since early January.

But state officials are more concerned about the overall efforts to reduce the risks at the site, said Gregory Langley, a spokesman for DEQ.

Its just one data point. We dont have anything to indicate a sustained overall increase in movement, Langley said. We are looking at the larger picture. LDEQ remains on high alert.

Langley said state regulators have not yet begun what could be a significant enforcement action against Mosaic.

We are focused on responding to the emergency condition, he said.

Its that slumping north face of the gypsum stack that has environmental regulators, the company and local residents so worried. A huge pond atop the stack, held back in part by that northern dike, still held 589 million gallons of water on Wednesday, despite significant efforts to move part of the water into several ponds and reservoirs elsewhere on the Mosaic site.

During its Feb. 4 presentation, company officials presented maps showing the results of computer modeling that predicted what would happen if a breach resulted in the release of the top 10 feet of water in the elevated pond, equivalent to 339 million gallons, a third of the water needed to fill the Mercedes Benz Superdome.

The presentation included a slightly less dramatic release of just the top five feet of water in the pond, equivalent to 159 million gallons of water.

Notes accompanying the maps outlining the bigger release say the breach would develop over about 17  hours, digging a trench down the northern edge of the stack, filling a ditch at the bottom with as much as 20 feet of water that then spreads north and east through adjacent farmland, in some locations reaching depths of 4 to 5 feet before moving across or under Louisiana 3125 into more farms and eventually into wetlands that flow into the Blind River. The floodwaters would be as much as a half-foot deep in a large segment of the wetland area in St. James Parish east and northeast of the highway and east and north of the plant site.

The five-foot breach map shows that much less of the floodwater would escape east of the road, but some would still make its way through ditches and creeks into the Blind River.

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The Feb. 11 presentation includes only a map for a breach resulting in a five-foot drop in the pond, and shows none of the water escaping east beyond Louisiana 3125 or farther north than Louisiana 3214. The land contained by those two highways is all farmland owned by Mosaic. There are no residences.

Assumptions accompanying the Feb. 11 map say the failure mode is not likely to occur as rapidly as the 17 minutes predicted by the model.

More importantly, it assumes that dams are in place on numerous ditches or streams leading offsite, and that culverts beneath the two roadways will be blocked once a breach begins.

It also assumes that workers have completed building a 9-foot-high dike between the existing dike on the northern side of the stack and Louisiana 3125.

And it also assumes that the water level in the pond atop the stack will already have been lowered by moving 200 million gallons of water into a 110-acre reservoir elsewhere on the site.

In its Monday presentation, Mosaic officials also made their case against shutting down the fertilizer plant while emergency repairs are made to the gypsum stack and to block the potential effects of flooding.

When operating, the plant crushes phosphorus rock and removes gypsum, which is pumped in a water slurry to the top of the gypsum stack. According to a response to DEQ questions filed by the company on Wednesday, the plant is averaging 4.68 million gallons of slurry, with 25 percent in solids, to the stack each day. The company is pumping 6 million gallons of water from the pond atop the stack back into the plant each day for reuse.

About 159 million gallons of water also has been moved from the pond to the 110-acre reservoir since Jan. 30., leaving 539 million gallons in the pond as of Wednesday. Theres room to move another 177 million gallons into the 110-acre reservoir.

According to the companys calculations, keeping the plant operating will result in reducing the water in the pond by 2.7 million gallons of water a day. Thats because some of the recycled water from the pond ends up becoming part of the phosphoric acid produced by the plant, part of the water becomes bound up with the gypsum as its disposed in the stack, and the heated condition of the slurry when its added to the stack increases the amount of water that evaporates into the atmosphere.

The companys estimates are in part based on expected rainfall at the site, which averages 62 inches a year, some of which ends up in the pond.

In its presentation, the company said that its now adding the gypsum slurry to the southern edge of the stack, which actually is the fourth section of the gypsum disposal site, and that their calculations of the weight and pressure added to the stack indicates it is not increasing the slumping on the northern side.

The water level in the pond is below the area where fresh gypsum is deposited, and the water level will continue to drop as a result of removing water from Stack 4 to other storage facilities within the plant, said Callie Neslund, a spokeswoman for Mosaic. The continued lowering of the water level will result in lowering the pressure behind the north slope.

In other words, continued operations present no additional risk as gypsum is now being stored on the south side of the gypsum stack over 1,500 feet away from the north slope, she said. The ongoing operations are important to water management because the facility produces significant thermal energy which encourages evaporation and helps reduce the amount of water stored on site.

Rainwater that falls on the site but doesnt come in contact with the gypsum is allowed to be released into the Mississippi River. In addition to its acidity, water contacting gypsum could pick up minute quantities of two radioactive elements, radium and uranium, that are found in phosphate rock.

Samples of non-contact stormwater released to the river taken last Friday, Monday and Tuesday indicated they contained no uranium and only tiny amounts of radium well below federal limits for drinking water.

Mark Schleifstein covers the environment and is a leader of the Louisiana Coastal Reporting Team for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Email: mschleifstein@nola.com. Facebook: Mark Schleifstein and Louisiana Coastal Watch. Twitter: MSchleifstein.
A toppled oil platform that has been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico for more than 14 years may have released much more oil than recent estimates have indicated, possibly pushing the total volume well beyond BPs Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.

New research indicates 2,100 to 71,400 gallons of oil are escaping each day from the Taylor Energy platform site, about 10 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River. The high estimate of 71,400 gallons per day is more than two times larger than the highest potential rate cited by the Coast Guard when it ordered Taylor to fix the problem late last year.

At the higher rate, and added up over the past 14 years and four months, the Taylor leak could top the 2010 BP disaster by more than 241 million gallons, potentially making it one of the largest  and slowest  oil disasters in history.

University of South Florida marine scientist Shaojie Sun presented the new oil release estimates at the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Conference in New Orleans last week. He stressed that his estimated range is extremely wide. While the total Taylor Energy release could soar as high 375 million gallons, it may also be as low as 11 million gallons.

Either way, the Taylor site has been an unchecked and overlooked problem for far too long, said Ian MacDonald, an oil spill expert and oceanographer at Florida State University.

There is a significant oil flow from that site, he said. It doesnt vanish into the ether with no impact.

Coast Guard and Taylor Energy disagree over source of 14-year Gulf oil leak

The BP disaster, by comparison, spilled about 134 million gallons into the Gulf over 87 days in 2010. While the Taylor leak could be larger, oil from the Deepwater Horizon platform gushed at a much faster rate over a shorter period of time. It devastated the coastlines of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and west Florida, whereas the Taylor leak appears to flow away from the coast due, in part, to its proximity to the Mississippi River, which pushes the oil out to sea.

Its unclear how much ecological harm the Taylor leak has caused.

We dont know what natural resources have been damaged in any scientific sense or any (economic) sense, MacDonald said. Until recently, much of the research at the site had been led by Taylor, which presented the leak as having a negligible effect on the environment.

Suns research was limited to assessing the leaks size, and did not explore environmental damage. He based his assessment on more than a decades worth of satellite imagery of the Taylor site and surrounding area. To calculate the oils thickness, Sun used a standard estimate of 95 percent thin oil and 5 percent thick oil used by oil spill responders. Thin oil is about .04 microns, and thick oil is 5 microns. A human hair is about 70 microns in diameter.

The oily discharge has increased over the years, according to Suns analysis. In 2005, the sheen was visible on about 40 percent of the cloud-free satellite images. Between 2006 and 2011, the sheen was visible 70 percent of the time. The percentage grew to about 80 percent after 2012. On average, the sheen covered 7.7 square miles.

Taylor disputes Suns discharge estimates.

Theyre based on generalities, said Wade Bryant, an environmental scientist hired by Taylor, noting Suns reliance on standard oil thickness estimates. They are not directly related to exact measurements at the site.

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12 years after Gulf oil platform destroyed, feds start investigating environmental damage

The wells at the Taylor site were relatively low in pressure. The former platforms production of about 46,000 gallons of oil per day required pressurized gas injections. Christopher Reddy, a marine scientist hired by Taylor to assess the site, has said its unlikely the platform site could leak at the much higher estimated rates without pressurization.

Taylors platform, known as MC-20 Saratoga, was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan on Sept. 15, 2004. The storm triggered an underwater mudslide that snapped the 550-foot-tall platforms legs and buried a cluster of wells. Taylor plugged some of the 28 wells and installed three pyramid-shaped oil containment structures.

For much of the past decade, the Coast Guard and other federal agencies have relied on Taylor to track the leaks volume and lead oil containment efforts. That changed late last year after an independent study requested by the federal government estimated the leak at 10,500 to 29,000 gallons per day  a far greater amount than any estimate from Taylor or federal regulators.

The Coast Guard directed Taylor to eliminate the surface sheen with a new containment system. When Taylor balked, the Coast Guard went ahead and hired a marine contractor, Belle Chasse-based Couvillion Group, and is billing Taylor for the work.

Taylor filed a federal lawsuit in December asking the court to toss out the Coast Guard order. The work is unnecessary and could cost Taylor up to $1 billion, the companys representatives said. Taylor also sued the Couvillion Group, arguing that the contractor lacks experience with the leak site and could make the problem worse.

Buried oil from Deepwater Horizon disaster still harming wetlands

Taylor rejects comparisons with the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Their leak has been gradual over years rather than weeks, and theres been no discernible environmental harm to marine life or any land area, a Taylor spokesman said this week.

The Coast Guard and Taylor disagree over whats causing the sheen. Taylor maintains that the seafloor is saturated with oil spilled when the platform was destroyed in 2004. The oil is slowly escaping from the muddy seafloor, causing a sheen on the waters surface, according Bryant and other scientists working for Taylor.

Its very loose sediment there and its almost totally saturated with oil, Bryant said. When you disturb it  every time you drop anchor or take a sample  it stirs the pot more.

Couvillions efforts to fix the problem will likely release more oil, Bryant said.

Coast Guard officials say the sheen is coming from one or more leaking wells rather than the oily seabed. Federal environmental agencies have calculated that the sites sediment contains between 97,000 and 346,000 gallons of oil. According to the Coast Guard, these volumes are insufficient to be a source of the oil releases. If all the oil in the sediment had been released over the past eight years, the average daily release would be just a few dozen gallons per day.

It is not feasible that the source of the oil sheens could only be remnant oil being released from the sediments only, the Coast Guard said in a letter to Taylor.
Every once in a while, we run across a photo in The Times-Picayune archives that's so striking that it begs a simple question: "What in the name of Momus Alexander Morgus is going on in this New Orleans photograph?" When we do, we've decided, we're going to share it -- and to attempt to answer that question.

Date: Feb. 25, 1963.

Photo credit: U.S. Navy.

What its not: An enemy invasion of New Orleans.

What it is: Three U.S. Navy submarines -- the USS Sea Poacher, the USS Grenadier and the USS Threadfin -- wind their way up the Mississippi River toward New Orleans, as seen through the periscope of another sub, the USS Tirante. Based at the time out of Key West, Florida, the subs were among a Navy contingent, including a total of six vessels and 2,400 sailors, that spent Mardi Gras 1963 in the Crescent City.

The submarines were accompanied by the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier based in Pensacola, Florida, and described by local newspapers as the largest ship ever to dock in New Orleans to that point; and the USS Orleans Parish, a minesweeper based then at Charleston, South Carolina.

The Orleans Parish (see photo below), also known as LST 1069, served as a tank landing craft during World War II, after which she was converted into a minesweeper, serving for a time as the flagship of Mine Squadron 8. She was eventually decommissioned in 1966 and sold to the Philippines government in 1976.

All six vessels berthed at wharves along the New Orleans riverfront the weekend before Mardi Gras and were opened daily to the public. During the ships local visit, 40 local high school students -- from Easton, East Jefferson West Jefferson, Behrman and Nicholls high schools -- boarded the Threadfin for a brief excursion, including a dive beneath the surface of the Mississippi.

Five of the vessels departed on Ash Wednesday, with the Grenadier leaving four days later.
A study from Tulane Universitys Education Research Alliance for New Orleans claims a New Orleans-based data tracking service shows promise in significantly reducing the number of school suspensions over time.

Kickboard is a school data tracking service introduced in 2009 that lets teachers record and track student data on the prevalence of tardiness, late homework submissions, and other behaviors that can be shared with other educators in the school. The idea behind Kickboard is that teachers can use the data to identify trends in student behavior in order to address them.

Starting in 2009, the study analyzed 70 schools, including 40 New Orleans schools, over a seven-year period and found Kickboard reduced the number of suspensions per student by 26 to 72 percent. It also reduced the number of suspension days by at least 52 percent, the study stated.

A 2013 article from NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune stated teachers at ARISE Academy in the St. Claude area also used Kickboard to give educators a quick way to identify strengths and weaknesses in instruction using report card data. The teachers also shared how individual students behaved throughout the week to let the system calculate who earned attendance to the school's Friday celebrations.

New Orleans nonprofit gets funding to expand in-school vision screenings

Most recently, schools in places like St. Louis, Missouri, used the software to incentivize good behavior by allowing students to earn virtual dollars in Kickboard every day by wearing their uniforms correctly and coming to school on time, according to a report by The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The findings on Kickboard come after a Tulane study in 2017 found that black students in Louisiana are more than twice as likely as white students to be suspended, which also stated black students receive slightly longer suspensions than white students after fights involving one white student and one black student. The Kickboard study released last month stated suspension and expulsion rates are two to three times larger among students of color, low-income students, and those with disabilities.

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Tulane researchers Nathan Barrett and Douglas N. Harris also acknowledged some uncertainties within the research. Kickboard aims to affect mostly non-academic outcomes, meaning a reduction in the number of suspensions and expulsions might harm the learning environment for other students. However, researchers found no evidence of a reduction in achievement and some limited signs of increases in standardized test scores.

Some evidence also suggests Kickboard caused the reduction in discipline incidents. However, researchers stressed that the reductions were also partly driven by changes in discipline strategies. Those revised strategies include giving students an errand to complete to give them an opportunity to cool down or uses of positive phrases such as we walk in the halls instead of dont run in the halls, according to Kickboards website.

Despite carrying out many types of analysis, we cannot completely rule out that Kickboard schools were also adopting changes in their discipline policies at the same time and that these changes led to reduced suspensions, the study stated.

The universitys full study is available online.

New Orleans public schools roll out program to cut student absences

Wilborn P. Nobles III is an education reporter based in New Orleans. He can be reached at wnobles@nola.com or on Twitter at @WilNobles.
Over the last decade, the Health and Education Alliance of Louisiana, also known as HEAL, has supported schools in New Orleans by providing vision and hearing screenings as well as mental health counseling and expertise in preventative health care for students in need. The program hopes to expand its reach in August.

The bulk of HEALs work involves screenings to help schools identify students who may be struggling academically because they need a hearing aid or glasses. Up to this point, most of that work has been done in New Orleans and Tangipahoa Parish.

HEAL is now being funded by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation, which recently announced a $300,000 grant to fund the programs expansion. The program aims to expand in-school screenings locally and across Louisiana over the next three years.

Constance Bellone, HEALs CEO, said nearly half of 4th and 8th graders failed their vision screening when the organization first started testing children 10 years ago.

They didnt need textbooks and computers, they needed eyeglasses," Bellone said, noting the need for screenings remains high.

New Orleans public schools roll out program to cut student absences

Medical experts say health-related issues are among the most common barriers to learning for children. But research from the national Childrens Health Fund indicates only about two-thirds of children nationwide had their vision tested within the timeframe set by clinical guidelines. About 18 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds have impaired vision because of an uncorrected vision problem.

HEAL and Bellone say their results show a strong correlation between vision screenings and academic improvement. Starting in 2014, the group tracked results among 6,000 students at four New Orleans charter schools over a three-year period. The study found vision screening failures dropped from 48 percent to 17 percent after the program implemented annual screenings at the schools. In addition, grade point averages went up between 25 and 60 percent in schools where HEAL operated.

Up to this point, the program has screened 45,000 children at 40 schools statewide. Bellone said HEAL is currently working with the ARISE Schools charter organization to provide services at ARISE Academy in the St. Claude area and Mildred Osborne Charter School in New Orleans East.

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HEALs small staff typically works with three to four schools at a time. Its program runs about three or four years in each school, Bellone said. In the programs first year, HEAL employees work with parents and school staff to provide health care expertise. The nonprofit then trains school employees on screening program best practices for the remainder of the program. The nonprofits goal is for a school to be able to provide the program on their own by the time HEALs three-year stay is over.

Moving forward, Bellone said the nonprofit plans to work with up to four New Orleans schools at a time. Theyre currently in talks with the Orleans Parish School Board to have the school district provide 50 percent of the funding to schools that want to continue the program on their own. Schools would have to come up with the other half. Medicaid dollars are also available to reimburse schools that are providing screenings to children who qualify. Bellone noted hearing and vision screenings received in school do not count toward the personal healthcare benefits of students.

Part of HEALs work will focus on ensuring schools have plans in place to access that funding. The Louisiana Department of Education also provides school districts a handbook to help schools implement health service programs through Medicaid.

Blue Cross Foundation president Michael Tipton said he hopes his organizations donation will spur will addition investment in childrens health care initiatives citywide.

Educators can only do so much on their own, but basic health care is a vital support, Bellone added.

Its our job as health care providers to work collaboratively with them to take care of these kids in school, she said.

Orleans School Board to spend $1.3 million on mental health services

Wilborn P. Nobles III is an education reporter based in New Orleans. He can be reached at wnobles@nola.com or on Twitter at @WilNobles.
Poor performance scores, a low graduation rate, subpar teacher salaries and a lack of public confidence persist as major challenges for the Jefferson Parish Public School System. But new leadership in the schools offers an opportunity for improvement, in hopes of preparing the futures workforce, keeping Jefferson competitive and boosting economic prosperity.

Those are the key messages of a troubling new report card the Jefferson Community Foundation and Jefferson Business Council issued Friday (Feb. 15). Its the first such assessment the two groups have provided in almost five years, and represents an attempt by key stakeholders from outside Louisianas largest public school system to spark public interest in Jefferson schools less than three months before voters are asked to raise property taxes for school employee pay.

Using familiar data, the report card calls high-quality education one of the foundational pillars of a prosperous and thriving community" yet casts Jeffersons progress since 2010 as uneven. Providing a successful system that supports both students and educators requires broad-based support and investment from the entire community, it says.

Two taxes too much, Jefferson Parish School Board decides

Twice in its four pages, the report alludes to schools Superintendent Cade Brumley, whose hiring by the School Board in March has been hailed by Jefferson Business Council members active in public education and School Board politics.

The recent appointment of the new school superintendent provides a unique opportunity to take stock and create a strategy to provide our children with the quality education they deserve and gain the support of the community as a whole, the report says.

Indeed, the report card was issued three days after the School Board adopted just such a strategy, in a five-year plan that Brumley drafted. The strategic plan sets ambitious goals to advance public education by 2024.

This is a bit of a damning report," Brumley said of Fridays assessment. Then he pivoted to the strategic plan: But it sits beside this. Im super-optimistic.

Can Jefferson schools vault from C grade to A in five years? School Board commits to goal

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Among the disturbing metrics cited in the report card from the foundation and Business Council:

ACT scores  Jeffersons 18.7 composite score for 2017-18 trails Louisianas 19.3 and the countrys 20.8. The ACT maximum is 36 points.

Voters will have a say on teacher salaries May 4. Thats when the School Board is asking whether to increase property taxes by $27 million a year to raise employee pay.

Foundation and Business Council leaders rallied behind Brumley, the new School Board that took office in January and the tax proposal as imperative for Jeffersons future. Said Louis Lauricella, whose Lauricella Land Co. owns Elmwood Center and other real estate: The business community is absolutely committed to this. We realize were at an inflection point.

Read the new report card:

. . . . . . .

Clarification: The embedded report card at the bottom of this story is slightly different from the version originally published here, as a result of modifications made by the Jefferson Community Foundation and Jefferson Business Council.

Drew Broach covers Jefferson Parish politics and education, plus other odds and ends, for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Email: dbroach@nola.com. Facebook: Drew Broach TP. Twitter: drewbroach1.
Quinton Dupre, a suspect in an Elmwood carjacking, was arrested Tuesday (Feb. 12) in Old Jefferson, according to authorities.

Dupre, 20, of Mt. Whitney Drive in Marrero, was booked with armed robbery, second-degree kidnapping and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, a Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office arrest report said.

Kenner man accused of raping 5-year-old girl

The victim, a 23-year-old woman, was a friend of Dupres. He asked her for a ride from the West Bank to a cellphone store in the 1100 block of South Clearview Parkway in Elmwood around noon on Jan. 15, said Capt. Jason Rivarde, spokesman for the Sheriffs Office.

Dupre went inside the store. But when he returned to the car, he pulled out a pistol and pointed it at the womans neck, authorities said. Dupre ordered the woman to drive him back to Marrero.

He told the women to stop her vehicle, a gray 2014 Nissan Sentra, near the intersection of Betty Boulevard and Rue Louis Phillipe. He then ordered her to hand over her property, which included two iPhones, her wallet and cash, authorities said.

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The woman said Dupre fired the gun twice at her after she got out of the car, an incident report said. The woman hid in the backyard of a nearby home until Dupre left and she walked to a nearby service station to call a relative, authorities said.

Investigators obtained a warrant for Dupres arrest on Jan. 16. He was arrested about 6 a.m. Tuesday at an apartment building in the 700 block of Central Avenue in Old Jefferson, the report said.

Dupre was booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna where he was still being held Thursday on a $550,000 bond for the charges related to the carjacking.

But Dupre was being held without bond on two counts of parole violation. Dupre was sentenced to two years in prison on Feb. 23, 2018 after pleading guilty to aggravated assault of a police officer with a firearm, Jefferson Parish court records said.

He also has convictions of obscenity, simple escape and two counts of battery of a police officer.
Louisiana State Police arrested a technician accused of taking more than $41,000 from the ATMs he was hired to service.

Christian Washington, 32, of Harvey, was booked with felony theft in Orleans and Jefferson parishes. He also has outstanding warrants for theft in St. Tammany, Washington, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary and Tangipahoa parishes, according to Trooper Melissa Matey, spokeswoman for State Police Troop B.

Marrero boys shooting death eerily similar to 2010 tragedy, mom says

A trooper that is a member of the U.S. Secret Service Financial Crimes Task Force began investigating the case in October, according to Matey. Washington worked as a field service engineer for Nautilus Hyosung America Inc., an ATM retailer, an arrest report said. His job was to maintain ATMs and update the internal software.

The company provided Washington with a key to access ATMs for his work, the arrest report said. But Washington began helping himself to cash in the ATM safes in addition to servicing the machines, authorities said.

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The thefts occurred between June 2017 and April 2018. Troopers believe Washington stole a total of $41,540 from ATMs in eight parishes, Matey said. He is accused of stealing $25,820 of that money from Jefferson Parish ATMs, an arrest report said.

Washington was arrested Feb. 6 and booked into the Orleans Parish Prison on one count of theft valued over $1,500. Bond was set at $5,000, according to court records.

He was then booked at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna with theft valued over $25,000 on Feb. 8, an arrest report said. Bond was set at $50,000, but the jail waived the amount because of crowding at the jail.

Washington was still being held Friday (Feb. 15) at the Gretna jail on warrants from the other six parishes, Matey said. State Police troopers are expected to transport him to St. Tammany Parish where hell be booked on charges related to the case. Afterward, hell head to the next parish with a warrant for his arrest, Matey said.
Police arrested an 18-year-old man after police say he attacked a group of tourists from Colorado Sunday (Feb. 10).

Mark Hunter turned himself into the New Orleans Police Department Friday afternoon and was booked with second-degree battery in connection with an early morning attack at the edge of the French Quarter and Central Business District, police said.

The beating left one man, Mark Whittaker Allen, 30, hospitalized with missing teeth and a shattered jaw, Allen told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.

Blown away by the violence of it: Group of tourists attacked by party bus passengers on Canal Street

In a news release Friday morning, NOPD said the group of tourists, who said they exchanged words with a group of people on a party bus near Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue, started walking away from the site of the argument when one of the people from the bus allegedly punched the victim from the rear on the right side of his face and knocked him unconscious.

One of the tourists then called 911, as an assault reportedly began on a second victim, the release states.

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Allens friend Matt Wasserman suffered a bruised eye in the attack, said Gabrielle Lee, Allens girlfriend who was among the five-person group.

Sarvenaz Chaichian, also among the group of college friends from Colorado, said the altercation started when the Colorado friends witnessed people yelling obscenities at a woman on the street who appeared to be homeless. She said Wasserman told the group to stop, prompting nearly two dozen people, mostly teenage boys, to get off the bus and approach the group of five tourists with clenched fists.

This type of violence is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the City of New Orleans, NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said in a statement Wednesday night. I can assure the victims and public, the NOPD is working hard to identify and locate those responsible ... and bring them to justice.

Anyone with information on this incident or the whereabouts of Mark Hunter is asked to contact NOPD 8th District detectives at 504-658-6080. Provide information anonymously through Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.

NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reporters Emily Lane, Hanna Krueger and Laura McKnight contributed to this story.
New Orleans prosecutors have re-indicted a woman accused of killing her toddler daughter in 2013, after last year dismissing the charge when they were unable to locate a key witness in time for trial.

The second-degree murder indictment wasnt a surprise, as District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro said when his office dismissed the charge they intended to reinstitute their case against Michelle Harris when prosecutors were ready to move forward.

Harris defense attorney, Nandi Campbell, said shes disappointed but not surprised by the actions of the district attorney.

His blatant disregard for due process flies in the face of the constitution, she said. This will be the fourth time he has charged my client with homicide since 2013.

Court records show the state has had trouble locating their key witness since at least last August. Assistant District Attorney Angad Ghai requested a continuance at an Aug. 17 trial setting, telling Criminal District Judge Tracey Flemings-Davillier the witness, who is employed as a truck driver, was out of state.

Flemings-Davillier granted the continuance, but denied Ghais request for another one three days later. Prosecutors that day dismissed Harris murder charge.

On Aug. 21, court records show prosecutors charged Harris with manslaughter in a bill of information. The following week, they presented Harris case to a grand jury, and she again was indicted on a murder charge.

Cannizzaros office said Thursday the necessary witness still could not be located for subpoena service before the scheduled Nov. 13 trial date, and the case was dismissed after Flemings-Davillier again denied the states request for a continuance.

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Harris, 34, was arrested Sept. 25, 2013, in the death of her 23-month-old daughter, Zion.

Police said Harris kicked and whipped the toddler the day before. The Orleans Parish Coroners Office said Zion died from blunt-force trauma injuries, including a lacerated liver and kidney.

Harris bond was set at $1 million after her indictment four months later, and she remained in jail until Flemings-Davillier ordered her release last September.

The judges order came about a week after Campbell and co-counsel Sarah Chervinsky filed a motion citing Harris right to release within 120 days of indictment.

Since shes been out of jail, Campbell said Harris has been working two jobs and is focused on building her life after sitting behind bars for five years on a charge that she is completely innocent of.

Ad hoc Criminal District Judge Dennis Waldron issued a warrant for Harris arrest Thursday after the indictment was read.

Cannizzaro said his office has not forgotten this defenseless young victim, nor will we allow her killer to escape responsibility for her cruel and abusive conduct.

We will secure this witness, the jury will hear critical testimony and we are confident that we will bring justice for little Zion.
There is no such thing as a zero-tolerance policy, Craig said. In a scenario of five students involved in an infraction, they may get different punishments because maybe one is a frequent flier and this is their third or fourth time. People don't get to know that. The public may think (the punishment) just doesn't seem fair but they don't know that we have been dealing with the student and family in the past.
Sacha Elmore dropped to her knees in her Algiers home Thursday morning (Feb. 14), quivering, sobbing and screaming after she read about the death of Marquis Thomas Jr., a 9-year-old boy from Marrero shot in the head by a bullet accidently fired by his 18-year-old cousin.

Elmore, 36, didnt know Marquis. But she immediately recognized the raw grief that crept back through her as she poured over the accounts of the tragedy  details that eerily mirrored the 2010 accidental shooting death of her own 9-year-old son, George Elmore.

Marrero boy, 9, dead in accidental shooting; cousin arrested

George was shot in the back of the head by a 15-year-old relative who had been handling a gun in a bedroom at his grandmothers Marrero house nine years ago.

Whatever this childs parents are feeling, I felt like I was feeling it all over again, Elmore said through tears Thursday evening.

Like Marquis cousin, Kamone Thomas, Georges relative was arrested and booked with negligent homicide. And like the Thomases must, Elmore has had to contend with the heartbreak, the turmoil and the fallout of a homicide amongst family.

She had no flowery words.

People are going to tell you it gets easier, she said. People are going to tell you, Just pray. Everybody is going to have an opinion about what to do. But nobody is ever going to understand that pain.

2 boys, 2 guns

Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office deputies were dispatched to a single-story home in the 2000 block of Rue Racine about 10:12 p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 13) after receiving a 911 call that a boy had accidentally shot himself.

Relatives put Marquis into a car and drove him the 2.6 miles to West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, according to Sheriff Joseph Lopinto. But Marquis could not be saved.

Marquis cousin, Kamone Thomas, told investigators Marquis accidentally shot himself as he played with Thomas gun while the pair was in a bedroom, Lopinto said. But detectives determined that Marquis couldnt have pulled the trigger based on ballistics.

Thomas told detectives the gun discharged when he tried to take the weapon away from Marquis. Thomas then panicked and threw the gun into a canal, according to Lopinto.

After several hours of questioning, Thomas was arrested and booked with negligent homicide, obstruction of justice and possession of marijuana.

Marquis' mother, Markia Thomas, said Oct. 7 that she is confident her son did not handle the firearm.

Elmore understands the familys apprehension in talking to the press. She remembers all too clearly how some in the community branded her a terrible mother following the media coverage of her own sons death.

They said, What kind of parent would let their child be in that environment? Elmore said, recalling the venom from faceless internet commenters.

But Elmore said all she had done was allow her three boys to visit with their paternal grandparents on the night before Thanksgiving.

He went by his grandmothers house, and after 20 minutes, they were calling me to tell me my child was dead, she said.

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Frustrated justice

George was playing in a back bedroom of his grandmothers house in the 1200 block of Lincoln Avenue along with his 11-year-old brother, his 15-year-old paternal uncle and other young relatives on the evening of Nov. 24, 2010.

Georges uncle brandished a 9mm semi-automatic pistol hed bought on the street, the Sheriffs Office said at the time. Georges older brother told their uncle to get the gun out of his face when the uncle pointed it at him, Elmore said.

But then, the uncle pointed the gun at George, who turned to leave the room. The gun discharged, accidentally, authorities said. George was shot in the back of the neck, Elmore said.

The bullet broke his jaw, knocked out three of his teeth, Elmore said, recounting the details of suffering that never leave a mother.

George emerged from the room coughing up blood. He managed to get to the end of the hallway before he collapsed on top of his 3-year-old brother.

Georges uncle and a 16-year-old boy fled the house and hid the gun in a barbecue grill a few houses away. Georges uncle was arrested and booked with negligent homicide and illegal possession of a gun by a juvenile.

The Jefferson Parish juvenile court system sentenced Georges uncle to five years in a juvenile facility, according to Elmore. He was released after about three years, she said.

Elmore was frustrated then and now with what she felt was a lack of justice for her sons death. Relatives told WWL-TV that Georges uncle was on house arrest at the time of the shooting in a 2010 interview. Elmore wanted the adults and parents to also be held accountable.

But the Sheriffs Office in 2010 did not charge any of the adults in connection with the shooting because none of them seemed to know that a gun had been brought into the home, then-spokesman Capt. Larry Dyess said at the time.

They weren't negligent as far as we've determined, Dyess said.

A mothers strength

Time seems to have neither healed nor lessened the pain for Elmore, a single mother raising four boys. She said she still suffers from depression and anxiety attacks the stem from Georges loss.

It took a hard toll on us, Elmore said.

Georges older brother, now 20, is in college but still cries from time to time, she said. The 3-year-old on whom George collapsed remembers every horrific detail.

He misses his brother, Elmore said.

Marquis death Wednesday night was so similar to Georges that it triggered a despair that has never quite faded for Elmore. She said she feels that she hasnt had the chance to grieve because she doesnt want her four boys to see her break down.

That is how she keeps going. Looking into their faces every day give her purpose.

They are what motivate me to keep going, Elmore said. They give me hope. I dont think I would have made it if not for them.
A 64-year-old man on trial in four cold case rapes prosecutors said occurred between 1992 and 2003 was convicted in all of the cases Thursday (Feb. 14) after jurors deliberated about two hours.

Sherman Hampton was linked to each of the assaults by DNA tests from sexual assault exams done on the women after the rapes, Assistant District Attorney Tiffany Tucker told jurors in opening statements this week.

Defense attorney Gregory Carter argued that didnt prove Hampton was guilty. He noted Hamptons DNA wasnt found at the scene of any of the rapes, and that none of the victims who testified identified his client as their attacker.

Felon wanted in 3 rapes walks free from prison; later arrested by NOPD in traffic stop

The jury convicted Hampton of first-degree rape in three cases:

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An assault on June 20, 1992, near the former St. Thomas housing development, in which a woman was abducted from a bus stop near Jackson Avenue and St. Thomas Street and raped in an abandoned building.

Jurors convicted Hampton of a lesser simple rape charge in an assault on April 17, 2003, in the 4200 block of Freret Street. In that case, prosecutors said a 17-year-old girl told police a man broke into her house and raped her. Police initially reported that rape as unfounded.

Hampton faces life in prison for each of the first-degree rape convictions, and up to 25 years in prison for the simple rape conviction. Criminal District Judge Robin Pittman will sentence Hampton Feb. 22.

Assistant District Attorney Angad Ghai prosecuted the case along with Tucker.
Police arrested a 34-year-old man accused of attacking two women in two separate attacks, one in which he started a fire in his girlfriends home after slapping her face and another in which he pistol-whipped his then-girlfriend and threatened to kill her, according to affidavits with the warrants for his arrest.

Philip Lonzo was booked into Orleans Parish Justice Center Wednesday (Feb. 13) and faces the following charges: domestic abuse aggravated assault, armed robbery with a firearm, false imprisonment with a weapon, simple arson, three counts of domestic abuse child endangerment, two counts of simple assault, two counts of domestic abuse battery and simple criminal damage to property less than $500.

According to two arrest warrants, the charges stem from two separate cases of domestic violence from Sunday (Feb. 10) and June 16, 2018. NOPD did not immediately provide details as to why Lonzo had not been arrested earlier on the warrant from the June 2018 case.

On Sunday, police responded to a simple domestic battery call in the Lower 9th Ward around 7:35 p.m., and found that the victim and three children had relocated to a different location after Lonzo attacked the woman, the warrant stated.

The woman told police that Lonzo came inside her home while she was cooking and began to complain about her friend who had stopped by the house earlier. Lonzo threw the pot she was using to cook food and threw grease on the stoves burner, causing a small fire. After the woman put the fire out, Lonzo slapped her face and threatened to kill her and her children, according to the warrant.

Officers found the food the woman was cooking splattered across the floor, walls and front door, according to the court records. Her pot was bent and the legs to the electric cooker were broken off.

Lonzo also threw the womans toaster at the window in the living room, causing the glass to shatter and leaving a large hole in the window, police said. He also threw the TV, kitchen plates and silverware on the ground, the woman told police.

After the woman and children fled the home, Lonzo repeatedly called the woman and told her that he was going to visit all of her relatives homes to find her, the warrant stated.

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About eight months earlier, another woman reported Lonzo to the police in June 2018, saying that he threatened to kill her and pistol-whipped her in New Orleans East. The woman, who had been in a relationship with Lonzo, was staying in a womens shelter due to another incident of domestic violence. She called police on June 20, 2018 and said Lonzo approached her at a bus stop four days earlier and threatened to kill her.

Man accused of hitting, choking girlfriend during argument in Little Woods: NOPD

She told police that Lonzo pulled up to the intersection while in the rear drivers seat of a green Chevrolet Impala and pointed a black, semi-automatic, 9 mm pistol at her and said B-----, I oughta kill you right now.

The woman got into the car and the driver dropped her and Lonzo off, the warrant stated. That day and the next morning, he again berated and repeatedly threatened her, according to the warrant. He grabbed another gun and pointed it at her, repeatedly cocking and de-cocking its hammer, and pistol whipped her multiple times. He also pointed the gun at the womans kitten, before walking with her to a bus stop with the pistol in his waistband, according to the warrant.

In an interview with police on June 20, 2018, the woman told police that Lonzo told her not to report him to police or he would kill himself and put a hit on her whenever he sees her, once he got out of jail. The woman also told police that Lonzo needs help.

In 2017, Lonzo faced charges of domestic abuse battery involving strangulation, aggravated battery, domestic abuse battery and possession of a firearm or weapon by a felon, jail records show. He paid a bond of $7,500. That case has been pending since January 2018, when he left court before his case was completed and a warrant was issued for his failure to appear, according to court records.

In connection to his Feb. 10 arrest, Lonzos bail was set for $132,500 and he was appointed a public defender.
The Louisiana Secretary of State, corrections officials and state lawmakers agree that a new law that will allow approximately 36,000 people on probation and parole to vote needs some tweaking. The change will still take effect March 1, but there is a consensus that the process amounts to an uphill climb for ex-offenders.

The voting rights law the Legislature approved last May was discussed Friday (Feb. 15) during a meeting of the House and Governmental Affairs Committee.

It requires the people on probation and parole who want to vote to complete a specific form that isnt available yet and have it signed by a probation and parole officer. They will then need to take that form in person to the local registrar of voters.

Yeah, we need to revisit the law on this, state Rep. Gary Carter, D-New Orleans, said during Fridays hearing. Two separate personal appearances? That seems like a lot.

Advocates for the formerly incarcerated agreed the process seemed burdensome.

Its requiring those folks to be errand boys and errand girls for those state agencies, said Bruce Reilly, deputy director of Voice Of The Experienced (VOTE), an advocacy group for people in prison and those just released.

Louisiana will be ready for felon voting rights change, officials say

Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, who opposed the law when it was working its way through the Legislature, said his hands are tied when it comes to streamlining the system. The new law does not negate provisions of existing election laws that require the prison system and registrars to follow the two-step process, he said.

If you want it to work faster, then you are going to have to change the law, Ardoin told lawmakers Friday.

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The new law also isnt specific about whos getting their voting rights restored.

Ardoin and the corrections department disagree on whether people on probation and parole who have minor supervision violations  like failing a drug test or losing a job  would automatically lose their voting rights. The secretary of state believes they should, while penal officials say their rights should be revoked only if they return to prison.

John Bel Edwards says voting rights debate should be about policy, not numbers

The Department of Corrections is ultimately responsible for determining who qualifies to have their voting rights restored and their interpretation is the one that will be used. But Ardoin and corrections officials said the Legislature should look at defining incarceration in the new law to clear up any confusion.

I think we would all appreciate some clarification by the Legislature, Natalie LaBorde, Department of Corrections deputy secretary, at the hearing.

Legislators will convene in April for a two-month session, having discussed the felon voting rights proposal extensively last year.

Some lawmakers have said they thought the new law would restore voting rights to just a few thousand people. Months later, it was revealed roughly 36,500 people were affected, seven times original estimates.

With an election next month, some Louisiana felons dont know if they can vote
Police jailed a Kenner man accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl.

Johnathan Preston, 19, was arrested at his home and booked Tuesday (Feb. 12) with first-degree rape and simple battery, said Lt. Michael Cunningham, spokesman for the Kenner Police Department.

Marrero boy, 9, dead in accidental shooting; cousin arrested

Preston is accused of raping the girl at a Kenner home in January. He is also accused of slapping the girl, Cunningham said. Authorities suspect the alleged assaults occurred more than once.

Preston is a friend of the girls family. The girl revealed the alleged crimes to a staffer at school who contacted Kenner police, Cunningham said.

Preston was booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna where he was being held without bond on Thursday. He was also booked with four counts of being a fugitive from another jurisdiction. No details were available about those charges.
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of an 18-year-old man in connection to a Sunday (Feb. 10) attack on a group of tourists from Colorado, New Orleans police said.

Mark Hunter is wanted on a charge of second-degree battery related to the early morning attack at the edge of the French Quarter and Central Business District, NOPD said. The beating left one man, Mark Whittaker Allen, 30, hospitalized with missing teeth and a shattered jaw, he told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.

"Im just really blown away by the violence of it, Allen said.

Blown away by the violence of it: Group of tourists attacked by party bus passengers on Canal Street

In a news release Friday, NOPD said the group of tourists, who said they exchanged words with a group of people on a party bus near Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue, started walking away from the site of the argument when one of the people from the bus allegedly punched the victim from the rear on the right side of his face and knocked him unconscious. One of the tourists then called 911, as an assault reportedly began on a second victim, the release states.

Allens friend Matt Wasserman suffered a bruised eye in the attack, said Gabrielle Lee, Allens girlfriend who was among the five person group.

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Sarvenaz Chaichian, also among the group of college friends from Colorado, said the altercation started when the Colorado friends witnessed people heckling a woman on the street who appeared to be homeless. She said Wasserman told the group to stop, prompting nearly two dozen people, mostly teenage boys, to get off the bus and approach the group of five tourists with clenched fists.

This type of violence is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the City of New Orleans, NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said in a statement Wednesday night. I can assure the victims and public, the NOPD is working hard to identify and locate those responsible... and bring them to justice.

Anyone with information on this incident or the whereabouts of Mark Hunter is asked to contact NOPD Eighth District detectives at 504-658-6080. Provide information anonymously through Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly named the suspected attacker as Michael Hunter. His name is Mark Hunter.

NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reporters Hanna Krueger and Laura McKnight contributed to this story.
A Jefferson Parish judge granted prosecutors requests to sever the trials of two brothers charged with murdering a Terrytown man by asphyxiation using duct tape.

Judge Lee Faulkner of the 24th Judicial District Court on Monday (Feb. 11) also granted the states motion to hold Saleh Omar, 41, and Yazan Omar, 18, in jail without bail until they stand trial for second-degree murder, court records said.

Marrero boys shooting death eerily similar to 2010 tragedy, mom says

The Omar brothers are accused in the death of Mohamed Mezlini, 29. Mezlini was a former employee of Saleh Omar, who owned a cell phone business called Wireless Hub, located in a strip mall at 93 Terry Parkway, Terrytown (map).

Saleh Omar was angry with Mezlini over a financial dispute, Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office investigators said. Yazan Omar lured Mezlini to the vacant storefront located next door to Wireless Hub, authorities said.

Saleh Omar ambushed Mezlini as soon as he walked through the door and put him into a choke hold, according to the Sheriffs Office. After a brief struggle, Yazan Omar is accused of holding Mezlinis arms while his brother wrapped Mezlinis head and body with duct tape.

He had duct tape completely around his head, from the top of the bridge of his nose to his chin, Sheriffs Office Detective Jean Lincoln testified in a November court hearing. He was duct taped completely around his body, from his shoulder to his waistline.

The Omar brothers then left Mezlini in the locked store. Witnesses broke into the unit and found Mezlini bound and unconscious. He was taken to West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero where he was in critical condition with no brain activity, authorities said.

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Mezlini was pronounced dead the following day. An autopsy determined he died of asphyxia by strangulation and smothering.

Yazan Omar was arrested at the strip mall shortly after Mezlini was discovered. But Saleh Omar fled the country. The U.S. Marshalls Service arrested him in Panama City, Panama on Sept. 26, authorities said.

Though bond was set at $1 million for the Omar brothers, Jefferson Parish Assistant District Attorney Seth Shute filed a motion arguing that they should be held without bail until their trials. The court has the power to do so if the judge finds clear and convincing evidence that the person is a flight risk.

Saleh Omar is a business owner who may have the means to meet the required bond amount, prosecutors said.

Here, the defendant, Saleh Omar, evaded all law enforcement efforts to locate him from the day of the physical confrontation with Mezlini to the day he was apprehended in a foreign country," Shute wrote. "This is clear and convincing evidence that there is a substantial risk that the defendant might flee. He has already done so.

The same applies to Yazan Omar, Shute argued, because he is Saleh Omars brother.

Faulkner agreed with prosecutors and granted the motion. He also allowed the state to sever the cases and take Yazan Omar to trial first, court records said.

Yazan and Saleh Omar return to court on Feb. 28.
Two more members of LSUs Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity were arrested Friday morning (Feb. 15) as detailed allegations of abusive hazing rituals continue to surface, The Advocate reports. The accusations include accounts of members dousing pledges with gasoline and urinating on them

The report says new arrest warrants released Friday also accuse DKE members of forcing pledges to walk barefoot on broken glass and punching and kicking them among other physical abuse.

An LSU spokesman told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune on Thursday that there are charges against nine men overall ranging from misdemeanor principal to criminal hazing to felony second degree battery. Seven of the men were arrested Thursday.

The final two men were booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Friday morning, according to arrest records obtained Friday afternoon by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.

The two arrested and booked Friday morning are:

Blake Andrew Chalin, 20, of Gretna. Three counts of misdemeanor criminal hazing.

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A victim told police Gilotra made him walk barefoot on broken glass while he threw objects at him," The Advocate reports.

The arrests follow the closure of the LSU chapter of DKE in January as investigators looked into hazing and alcohol policy violations at the fraternity. LSU is working to improve safety in its Greek Life system after the 2017 death of 18-year-old freshman Max Gruver. Gruver died in a Phi Delta Theta hazing incident.

Read The Advocates full report.

9 LSU students arrested amid fraternity hazing investigation

Wilborn P. Nobles III is an education reporter based in New Orleans. He can be reached at wnobles@nola.com or on Twitter at @WilNobles.
There were a lot of things that were not written down and so there are a lot of misconceptions, she said. Illinois was a free state but also didnt want the slaves to come here. It was complicated in terms of being free versus being a slave, and the exhibit delves into that story. Its more complicated than Lincoln being an abolitionist and people being able to network. At the time, being an abolitionist wasnt exactly a complimentary thing.
Lying on the ground and armed with a scraper, Raul Robles chipped and dug away dirt and grass over a plot in the former Elks Cemetery on Wedne
A plan to construct a conference center in Tubac encountered a setback last week after the county withdrew the project due to conflicting in
UPDATE (Friday, 11:43 a.m.): Fancreds Jon Heyman reports Manny Machado is is no rush to sign a deal.

Heard in Miami circles: Its about the deal, hes disappointed with the offers so far and Machado is willing to wait for what he think hes worth (said to be about $300M). There is some strategy to this, as his market may improve if Harper goes off board first.  Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 15, 2019

Free-agent third baseman Manny Machado is taking his time deciding where he will play ball in 2019 and beyond. That has allowed a dark-horse candidate to emerge in the race to sign the four-time All-Star.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports Padres team brass flew to Florida at some point in the past week to meet with Machado and his wife.

Neither the Padres nor Machados agent, Dan Lozano, would comment on the meeting. The Padres have been exceedingly tight-lipped regarding their pursuit of both Machado and right fielder Bryce Harper.

Get tickets to see the 2019 Yankees: StubHub and Ticketmaster. Plan your trip to spring training: Airbnb and TripAdvisor.

Both the Union-Tribune and MLB.com report no deal is close with Machado.

On Tuesday, SNYs Andy Martino reported on the Padres increased interest in Machado, and that San Diego had made a very aggressive contract offer to the slugger.

Told that Padres have been very aggressive with offer to Machado but he doesnt know if he wants to go there. Some in his camp pushing for shorter term deal with Yankees. Phillies, White Sox also big on him, as you surely know.  Andy Martino (@martinonyc) February 12, 2019

Machado visited the Yankees, White Sox and Phillies in December.

Chicago had been seen as the front-runner for Machado. The White Soxs offseason has been highlighted by signing free-agent outfielder Jon Jay and trading for first baseman Yonder Alonso, who is Machados brother-in-law. Jay trains during the offseason with Machado and Alonso.

Fancreds Jon Heyman updated the details of the White Soxs offer to Machado on Tuesday.

Have heard reported offer of 250M for 8 yrs for Machado by White Sox isnt right. May or may not be close, but guess would be that at least today its a bit lower. Higher than 175 but lower than 250. At least at moment. (So yes, we still dont have facts, just educated guesses.)  Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 12, 2019

Philadelphia is expected to land either Machado or Bryce Harper.

On Monday, Martino reported the Yankees continue to check in with Machado.

The Yankees are not the frontrunners for Machado -- both the White Sox and Phillies have been more aggressive -- but they are not out on him, either.
Police have arrested a Union County man accused in an attack and robbery of a pregnant New Jersey Transit bus driver last month that led to the woman to be hospitalized, authorities said Friday .

Andre Dawson III, 29, of Union Township, is being held at Union County jail on charges of second-degree robbery, third-degree assault on a bus operator, and third-degree assault. His detention hearing is scheduled for Feb. 20.

Elizabeth police officers were called to North Broad Street and Westfield Avenue at 4:35 p.m. on Jan. 28 and found the driver with bumps, cuts and bruises. She had been robbed of her cell phone. The bus driver was taken to Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth.

The bus drivers attacker fled the scene. Investigators from Elizabeth and NJ Transit police identified Dawson as the suspect and arrested him Wednesday. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the robbery charge.

NJ Transit takes the safety and security of our employees and customers very seriously. Let this serve as an example for anyone intending to harm one of our bus operators, train crew members, or any one of our employees, New Jersey Transit Executive Director Corbett said in a statement. Im proud of the work the New Jersey Transit Police Department did, along with our law enforcement partners in Elizabeth and Union County, to apprehend this individual.

Editors note: This post has been updated to correct Dawsons age.

Taylor Tiamoyo Harris may be reached at tharris@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ladtytiamoyo. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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The family that lost three members in a 2015 natural gas explosion that leveled a multi-family home in Elizabeth has been awarded $19.2 million in damages as part of a settlement.

Elizabethtown Gas Companys parent company is responsible for $18.95 million of the settlement while the owner of the home, Abel Brito, is responsible for $250,000, according to court documents.

The explosion occurred on Nov. 11, 2015, in the second-floor unit, which then collapsed onto the first floor, trapping several members of the same family. Neighbors described the explosion as sounding like a plane crash. The explosion also nearly destroyed two adjacent homes.

Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage previously said the ground floor of the three-story home had been illegally converted into a living unit. There were 16 people living in the three story home, authorities said.

Three members of the Henderson family -- sisters Tavasha Henderson, 36, Kimiya Henderson, 26, and their brother, Tyquan Henderson, 11 -- initially survived the explosion, but later died from their injuries over subsequent months. Tayasha Hendersons two children were seriously injured in the fire.

A fourth person, 24-year-old Femi Brown, who lived on the second-floor of the home, also died in the the explosion.

A doctor testified the surviving family members would suffer from permanent post-traumatic stress syndrome, according to court records.

Nothing can bring these family members back, but this settlement can help them move on with their lives and try to reform their family, said the familys attorney, David Mazie of Roseland-based Mazie, Slater, Katz and Freeman. We all live a situation where nearly everybody has natural gas in their homes. Nobody thinks it can be a danger. The reality of that danger came true and ripped apart multiple generations of this family."

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About 30 Atlantic City rail line passengers did what theyve been doing since September, board a bus instead of a train. This time their trip was to Newark to attend Wednesdays NJ Transits board of directors meeting, where they expressed their frustration that the trains still arent running.

The rail line, which connects Atlantic City and Philadelphia, was shut down in September to install federally-mandated Positive Train Control equipment, and some new rail. Riders were given a 25-percent discount and substitute bus options to PATCO stations. But that substitute has been far from satisfactory, commuters said.

I was one of those Philadelphia riders up to the last day of service, said James Thorton. I was one of those riders forced on shuttle buses. For my monthly rail fare, I get a bus ride.

Riders wanting to travel to the 30th Street train station in Philadelphia have to transfer to two other rail systems, PATCO and SEPTA, to reach the same destination the closed NJ Transit line would have taken them to, Thorton said. He tried to explain it in terms North Jersey riders would understand.

PATCO is too often South Jerseys version of the problematic PATH rail system, with breakdowns, crowding, delays and uncaring management and staff willing to let it happen, he said. PATCO stops more than one mile short of 30th Street  forcing a transfer to another rail system with a third fare.

He demanded restoration of Atlantic City rail line service without any service cuts and an increase in train frequency. NJ Transit needs to stop seeing its rail and bus lines as burdens, Thorton said.

Other commuters said that they had to start their commute 60- to 90-minutes earlier and that substitute buses were late or no-shows. Several said they expected rail service to resume Jan. 1 after the PTC deadline was met. One woman said her commute has ballooned to four-hours, round trip.

South Jersey commuters are tired of taking the bus to PATCO every day, said Delvan Bradford of Philadelphia. In September, you said the rail line would return in January, now thats been pushed to April. You dont care about south Jersey commuters.

NJ Transit officials said service would return in the second quarter of 2019, which could be anytime from April to late June. Federal Railroad Administration officials said NJ Transit didnt need that agencys permission to resume service on the Atlantic City line or to return off-peak Raritan Valley line service to and from New York or resume the Princeton Shuttle.

NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett said after the meeting that service would be able to resume soon because the agency has invested millions of dollars in the line. Citing equipment, inspection, available crews and an upcoming rail schedule change in May, Corbett said the agency wants to make sure the work is fully completed before service resumes.

We dont want to reintroduce something in April, that wed be pulling back or altering in May, he said. Id love to say (it would return) effective (on) x date, right away  we want to make it as soon as possible. We have equipment issues, testing of equipment we installed, there are a lot of demands.

Atlantic County officials said theyre concerned for the upcoming summer season.

Now all we have is a possible second quarter (date) thats the height of our tourism season, said Amy L. Gatto, Atlantic City Freeholder board chairwoman. Were working on our convention season, we cant do that without rail. We need an answer, we need a valid date.

Public officials said lack of rail service is affecting attendance at events at the Atlantic City Convention Center, where the rail line ends.

We are in convention season. Ive been there when the trains empty out a tremendous amount of people. Those who came on the train are not coming, said Atlantic County Surrogate James Curcio of Hammonton. Give us a date and a timeline. This is extremely damaging.

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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WASHINGTON  In a blistering speech on the Senate floor Thursday, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez suggested that President Donald Trumps ongoing connections to Moscow meant he could be "an agent of the Russian government.

Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the actions of Trump and his aides created never-before asked questions about a presidents reaction to Americas chief rival.

Many of us have grappled with a very difficult question about our president, Menendez said. "Its a question that never before could we even imagine thinking about an American president, let alone saying it out loud on the floor of the Senate.

Im talking about the entirely legitimate question of whether Donald Trump could be compromised by the Russian government.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether there was any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials in 2016, a probe the president repeatedly has derided as a witch hunt.

Senate Republicans have refused to protect Mueller from the possibility that Trump could fire him and confirmed as U.S. attorney general William Barr, who earlier criticized the investigation and would not promise to release the investigative report when it was completed.

Menendez, D-N.J., said that it was more urgent than ever to obtain Trumps income tax returns, which he has refuse to release, ignoring 40 years of precedent and custom.

Perhaps its because Im from New Jersey and lived through decades of Donald Trumps questionable business dealings, but I cannot understand why anyone would flat out reject the proposition hes indebted to Russia, Menendez said.

We still dont know who is behind the vast majority of the Trump Organization projects around the world, many of which continue to this day. We have to follow the money to get to the truth. How else will we ever know why our president is either unable or unwilling to publicly stand up to Putin?

The White House responded with a long list of actions taken against Russia, including imposing sanctions on Russian individuals and entities, condemning Russias attacks against United Kingdom citizens, and approving lethal aid such as anti-tank missiles to Ukraine.

At the same, time, officials said the president wants to work with Russia when possible, which means having a cordial relationship with Putin.

Menendez raised concerns as he pushed for approval of a new bipartisan bill he introduced with U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to tighten sanctions on Russia and prevent Trump from withdrawing from the North American Treaty Organization unless two-thirds of the Senate agreed.

His speech was a catalog of pro-Russian activities undertaken by the president, from his call as a candidate for the Kremlin to hack Hillary Clintons emails to his apparent repudiation of the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help elect him to his meeting behind closed doors with Russian President Vladimir Putin with no other American officials present.

Menendez said he had hoped Trump would rebuke Putin for his intervention in the 2016 election, or his continued aggression against Ukraine, or his continued occupation of Crimea, or the torture and murder of his opponents, but that never happened.

Instead, Trump congratulated Putin on his election win, said Russia was right to have invaded Afghanistan in 1979 because terrorists were going into Russia, and eased sanctions imposed on Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who has ties to Putin.

Time and again, our president has let us down, Menendez said. Hes let our country down. Hes left Americans to lay awake at night asking themselves, what does Putin have on our president? Why wont he hold Russia accountable? Why wont he champion the values of democracy, freedom, and human rights that transcend political party, and define our greatest ideals as a nation?"

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

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Under mounting pressure to leave his high-paying job with Gov. Phil Murphys administration after allegations of rape began to surface, former senior campaign staffer Albert J. Alvarez started looking for a safe landing months before he resigned in October.

And thats when people within the governors office called Rutgers University, according to emails and texts obtained by NJ Advance Media through a public records request.

Those internal communications show the university, following the call from the administration, agreed to interview Alvarez, despite questioning whether Alvarez had the kind of experience it was seeking. A Rutgers official said he never felt any pressure to hire the former staffer, who ultimately never applied for a position. However, the university was never told that the governors office was seeking to push Alvarez to leave, or that he was facing allegations of rape that had already roiled the front office, but had yet to be made public.

According to the emails and a short series of texts released under the states Open Public Records Act, the governors office first called Rutgers in August, amid growing pressure to get Alvarez to leave. They show that Murphys chief of staff, Peter Cammarano, called the universitys senior vice president for external affairs, Peter McDonough, regarding openings for two senior positions at Rutgers; as Chief of Staff for Strategic Communications for the university, and as Associate Vice President for Advancement Services at the universitys foundation, the records show.

Cammarano knew when he made the call about the rape allegations. He later testified before the Legislature that he first learned of the allegations in December 2017.

According to emails, McDonough alerted Nevin Kessler, who heads the foundation, of the call from Cammarano.

The applicant is Al Alvarez, the chief of staff at the State Schools Construction Authority," McDonough wrote. "I dont know him and am not sure if hes got the qualifications, but could we have someone reach out to him and do some sort of phone interview just to be responsive?

The email did not suggest any promises were made to the governors office.

There is not an expectation on their part that he gets hired, just that we give the guy a shot, McDonough wrote to Kessler.

In the end, Alvarez did not apply for either position, according to the emails. However, the emails show Kessler agreed to conduct a screening interview, despite expressing doubts that Alvarez had the kind of experience he was were seeking. When Alvarez did not apply, Kessler asked McDonough whether he should contact him directly.

One of the Rutgers emails regarding a call about a job for Alvarez.

Mahen Gunaratna, the governors communications director, described the call as little more than an inquiry into the status of Alvarezs job search after he was told to find other employment.

Pointing to the ongoing hearings by the special legislative committee now investigating the allegations against Alvarez and his hiring by the administration, Gunaratna noted there has been extensive testimony about the manner in which Mr. Alvarez was instructed to leave state government, and the fact that he was given time to find other employment.

Gunaratna said Alvarez had indicated that he had applied for several jobs, including two positions at Rutgers over the summer.

An inquiry therefore was made directly to Rutgers in an effort to find out the status of those applications. That inquiry revealed that Mr. Alvarez had not even applied, Gunaratna said.

Cammarano did not return a call seeking comment.

McDonough himself said the emails and texts speak for themselves. At the same time, he said he did not feel he was being pressed to help find a spot for Alvarez.

I clearly did not feel any pressure to hire Al Alvarez and I dont have any knowledge that anyone was ever pressured to hire anyone at Rutgers, McDonough said.

State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, the co-chair of the Legislative Select Oversight Committee looking into the Alvarez matter, said while there may not have been overt pressure, any call from the governors office is never just a routine matter.

You would take that seriously, Weinberg said in an interview. Rutgers would take that like any other state agency would take it  the governors office is interested.

While that might not guarantee someone a job, she said it might give any applicant some advantage over anyone else walking in the front door.

An attorney for Alvarez did not respond to a request for comment.

During the testimony before the Legislative Select Oversight Committee last month, the issue of what assistance, if any, the governors office provided to Alvarez to find another job was repeatedly brought up.

Murphys top campaign counsel, Jonathan Berkon, testified that he and others agreed that Alvarez  by then serving as chief of staff of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority  had to leave in the wake of Katie Brennans allegation that she was raped by him during the 2017 campaign after a gathering of campaign workers in Jersey City in April 2017.

Alvarez has denied the allegations, saying the incident was consensual. Two county prosecutors' offices have declined to charge him with a crime.

Alvarez never applied for the job, the emails showed.

The accusations against him came to light after Brennan, who later became chief of staff to the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, went to the Wall Street Journal with her story after she said she repeatedly went to the governors office regarding her concerns about Alvarez.

During the committee hearings last month, Berkon told state lawmakers that he was surprised to learn that Alvarez had remained in his state government job after he was told to leave.

Do you know if any effort to assist him in finding new employment was done by the state? he said asked. Do you know if there was any discussion about him getting a job at Rutgers with (the governors chief counsel) Matt Platkin?

I dont know, said Berkon.

Platkin, who also testified, said he did not try to get Alvarez a job. Only that he told Cammarano, the governors chief of staff, that Alvarez had said he had sought a job at Rutgers, but that he never actually applied for the position.

We were just trying to get him out of state government at that point, he testified, telling the committee that the governors office did not recommend him for the job at Rutgers.

Cammarano, during his testimony, said when he called Alvarez into his office in March 2018, he did not offer to help him find a job.

Did he ask you to? he was asked.

He did not, said Cammarano.

Alvarez resigned on Oct. 2, the same day he was contacted by the Wall Street Journal regarding Brennans allegations.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Under fire for having required his campaign workers to sign confidentiality pacts known as non-disclosure agreements, Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday he sees no reason to change what he described as a commonplace practice in politics.

Campaigns the country over  my guess is the world over  have operated in very similar fashions to the way we operated, including NDAs, Murphy said during an unrelated news conference in Paterson. And I see no reason why they should operate otherwise.

NDAs essentially ensure that whatever happened on the trail during Murphys 2017 election remained private.

But some lawmakers have suggested the Democratic governor drop those pacts after former campaign supporter Katie Brennan publicly accused former top campaign official Albert J. Alvarez of raping her after a campaign event. The allegations  which Alvarez has repeatedly denied  prompted a series of investigations that have cast a cloud over Murphys administration.

In addition, several women have complained about a toxic" environment during Murphys campaign. Some say theyve been afraid to come forward because of the NDAs.

Both Democratic and Republican strategists told NJ Advance Media earlier this month that such agreements have become a staple of large campaigns in recent years all over the country, especially as polling and campaign data have become more sophisticated and valuable to use in future campaigns.

Those who worked for former Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, Murphys Republican opponent in 2017, were also required to sign similar pacts.

State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen  the co-chair of a special legislative committee investigating Brennans allegations against Alvarez  has sponsored a bill that would ban employers in New Jersey from entering into NDAs with employees regarding sexual assault and harassment claims.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Ted Sherman contributed to this report.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.comFollow him on Twitter @johnsb01

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In a TIF district, assessed value is frozen for the purposes of taxation at the time of the formation of the district. As redevelopment occurs and assessed value of the property increases, the difference between the frozen value and the increased value goes into a fund, known as the increment.
WASHINGTON  Rep. Tom Malinowski, a former assistant U.S. secretary of state, quickly signed onto efforts to overturn President Donald Trumps declaration of a national emergency.

Trump invoked the emergency Friday after Congress refused to give him $5.7 billion in taxpayer funds to build a southern border wall that he had promised Mexico would pay for.

Malinowski, D-7th Dist., who served under President Barack Obama, said Trump was acting like an autocrat, not an elected official constrained by constitutional norms. He said he would co-sponsor a resolution to revoke the emergency.

As an assistant secretary of state, I often urged authoritarian governments around the world not to use emergency powers to defy their legislatures, courts, and laws," Malinowski said. Its unthinkable that we would need to do so in the United States of America, but the president has forced our hand and I believe the Congress will do what is right."

I will cosponsor this resolution. If the House passes it, under the National Emergencies Act the Senate will have 15 days to vote up or down. This isnt about building or stopping the wall; its about defending the Constitution. https://t.co/Q6hvx5T6CI  Tom Malinowski (@Malinowski) February 14, 2019

The emergency declaration will give Trump about $8 billion for the wall, including $1.4 billion in the just-passed spending bill, Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said.

Weve now been through three weeks of allowing Congress to try and work their will, and theyre simply incapable of providing the amount of money necessary, in the presidents eyes, to address the current situation at the border, Mulvaney said Friday on a conference call with reporters.

Malinowski, though, said the Constitution doesnt allow such an end run around Congress power of the purse granted in Article I.

This isnt about building or stopping the wall, Malinowski said. This is about defending the Constitution.

Both houses of Congress can overturn the declaration by majority vote, and while the Democratic-controlled House is likely to vote for such a resolution, it remains to be seen whether enough Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate will defy Trump.

Even then, Trump could veto the resolution and require opponents of his action to muster two-thirds support in both house to override. If Congress doesnt block the president, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-6th Dist., suggested House Democrats will ask the courts to step in. First, he signed to co-sponsor the resolution.

President Trumps declaration of a national emergency is based on lies and deception and is blatantly unconstitutional," Pallone said. This is not a dictatorship, although President Trump continues to act like a dictator."

Well fight the #FakeTrumpEmergency in Congress, the courts & wherever is necessary to defend the Constitution. The wall is costly & unnecessary. Mexico will never pay for it, the American people dont want it & declaring a national emergency to build it is illegal.  Rep. Frank Pallone (@FrankPallone) February 15, 2019

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., also tweeted that the dispute was likely to be settled in court.

National emergencies must be based on facts and not concocted to get around the democratic process.



This reckless decision will be challenged in court and will only further our divisions as a nation.https://t.co/9PIZAbE1Ho  Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) February 15, 2019

Malinowski defeated Republican Rep. Leonard Lance last fall. He is one of four freshmen in the New Jersey congressional delegation.

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WASHINGTON  Millions of dollars to keep the Gateway Tunnel project on track is included in the new spending bill.

Just as they did last time to overcome President Donald Trumps threat to shut down the federal government rather than fund Gateway, lawmakers fattened other transportation accounts to provide money to be spent on the new train tunnel under the Hudson River and the new Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River.

The total amount is expected to be around the same $540 million included in last years spending legislation.

The Gateway Tunnel is the most important infrastructure project in the United States," said Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-7th Dist., a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. While maintaining this funding at last years level is a step in the right direction, this is just a small fraction of what is needed to complete the tunnel.

Trump took no position on Gateway this time around, and even appeared to soften his position on the project.

We have the money set aside but we have not decided to use it yet," Trump told Washington-based reporters from local news outlets. Its a very expensive project, very expensive, so we have to see what theyre doing. Its got to be approved by us.

The new tunnel is needed so that the existing tubes can be closed to repair damage caused by Hurricane Sandy.

The Gateway money approved Thursday is part of legislation to fund the remainder of the government through Sept. 30.

It ends a dispute that began in December when Trump said he would not sign any spending bill without $5.7 billion in taxpayer funding for a southern border wall that he promised Mexico would pay for. That led to a record 35-day shutdown that most Americans blamed on the president and his congressional Republican allies.

Funding for Gateway will be drawn from transit grants and money earmarked for Amtraks Northeast Corridor.

This funding is vital to moving this critical project forward to ensure the safety and reliability of our infrastructure and the hundreds of thousands who use it each day, said U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. Millions of people and our entire regions economy hinge on the continued viability of a century-old Portal Bridge that often breaks down and a deteriorating Hudson River rail tunnel that sustained significant damage."

In addition, Menendez said, the legislation reversed the administrations decision to prevent New Jersey and New York from counting federal loans as part of their share of Gateway. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, defending Trumps decision to block funding, insisted that the loan money didnt count, even though the states would be paying it back.

This legislation codifies in federal law what has been the normal practice of previous administrations, and allows local stakeholders to utilize these important funds to pay their share of the project cost  setting straight yet another failed attempt by the Trump administration to derail Gateway," Menendez said.

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WASHINGTON  When Congress overwhelmingly voted to fund the federal government and prevent another partial shutdown, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker dissented. He was the only New Jersey lawmaker to vote no.

Booker, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, said he could not stomach the extra money going to federal immigration agencies with little oversight or appropriate guardrails.

Those agencies under President Donald Trump have separated children from their families who crossed the border in search of asylum, and deported unauthorized immigrants who had lived in the country for years.

Since President Trump took office, weve seen the tragic toll this administrations immigration policies have taken on children and families," said Booker, D-N.J. The president cannot hold the American people and federal workers hostage just to advance a fear-mongering agenda."

The legislation passed the Senate, 83-16, and cleared the House, 300-128, on Thursday. It ends a dispute that began in December when Trump said he would not sign any spending bill without $5.7 billion in taxpayer funding for a southern border wall that he promised Mexico would pay for. That led to a record 35-day shutdown that most Americans blamed on the president and his congressional Republican allies.

Booker was joined in dissent by fellow Democratic senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, all of whom are competing with him for their partys presidential nomination.

U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who are considering runs, voted yes. So did Bookers Democratic colleague in New Jersey: Robert Menendez.

Lets be clear: Theres no victory in upholding our basic responsibility to fund the government, especially when this shutdown never should have happened in the first place," said U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who broke with his colleague and voted yes.

In the House, those voting no included high-profile Democratic freshmen Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

On the other hand, New Jerseys Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-11th Dist., praised the compromise spending bill.

This spending agreement is exactly the type of bipartisan, bicameral legislation we need," she said. "We are putting real money behind border security in a responsible manner, from securing our ports of entry and stopping the importation of fentanyl, to funding high-tech border security measures.

Sherrill and the other 11 New Jersey representatives all voted yes, including Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., who again broke with his party.

Trump on Friday signed the spending bill but also declared an emergency to divert taxpayer dollars to a southern border wall that Republicans refused to fund when they controlled Congress. In all, the declaration will provide around $8 billion for the wall, including the $1.4 billion in the spending bill, Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney told reporters Friday.

.@PressSec: President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive actionincluding a national emergencyto ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border.  The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 14, 2019

That drew criticism from Menendez, a leading Senate opponent of Trumps immigration policies and the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Theres no emergency at the border beyond the humanitarian crisis created by the Trump administrations cruel anti-immigrant policies of separating families, purposefully restricting admission at authorized ports of entry and denying families fleeing horrific violence the ability to present their asylum cases," Menendez said. National emergencies must be based on facts and not concocted to get around the democratic process."

On this issue, Menendez and Booker were on the same side.

Such a move would be a dangerous misuse of presidential power that wont make the American people safer, Booker said. These scare tactics do nothing to solve the actual problem of fixing our broken immigration system. The fact that President Trump didnt get his way is not a national emergency."

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

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Growing up in Catholic Jersey City  Holy Rosary Grammar School, its church, St. Josephs up the hill, St. Peters Prep and College  I knew many priests.

Never once did I suspect that one of them, or any, would ever be involved in abusing a minor. I would never even link the words priest and abuse in the same sentence.

Not until I was assigned to St. Aloysius Church did I gradually learn about a priest  Carmen Sita, whom I replaced. He had been removed and sent to a rehab for his abusive behavior and was then assigned to a parish in Missouri under a pseudonym, Gerald Howard.

His name appeared on the list released yesterday of 188 priests in New Jersey with credible accusations of a sexual abuse of minors against them. From the list, I also learned of priests I had crossed paths with in ministry, though Id never lived with them in a rectory. And priests I knew as fellow seminarians at Darlington. Probably about three dozen in all.

I was particularly shocked that a Trenton priest who has worked in a Vatican office in Rome for 30 years was on the list. I knew him and his family from a Toms River parish I assisted on weekends for 12 years.

Most of these names were either public or known to have been removed already from ministry. Some were able to retire and forbidden to present themselves as priests, wear the Roman collar or function publicly.

It wasnt until 2002, 20 years after I was ordained, that the church nationally came to grips with this growing problem, adopting a charter for the protection of children and enacting a zero-tolerance policy. I believe the church was acting responsibly and I see the release of all the names as another step of transparency.

Some credit the state attorney generals inquiry for this move; I doubt it. I think our new archbishop, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, moved the states bishops as the new metropolitan, or Catholic state leader, to set up a compensation fund for victims and to coordinate the release of names. He has led two prayer services at Sacred Heart Cathedral and provided a prominent pulpit to victims of abuse; a third one is set for next month. He has met with victims and listened to them. And if there is one quality, among many, that Tobin displays it is that he is a patient listener.

And what anyone can learn from a victim of abuse by anyone, including a priest, is that they often feel abused twice: once by the perpetrator and then by their family or the church when they are not believed or given the runaround. That priest offenders were protected or transferred to other parishes was another slap in the face. None of this will ever happen again; legal repercussions will preclude it.

The next step may be to welcome victims, who desire, into the life of the church and help them reconcile. Tobin is strong on this pastoral move. A victim will never forget, but the church has to be there to help heal as much as possible.

Releasing 188 names at once can overwhelm and shock. Even if one name were on the list, it would be reprehensible. It would have been helpful, though, to know how many priests were practicing through the period of the revelations to put the numbers in perspective. It would also help to know what was done after 2002 and show that the zero-tolerance policy worked.

For decades, this was an unspoken evil. Then as revelations multiplied, secrets began to unravel. Finally, the cover-up by powerful bishops angered the Catholic laity and society at large. At the same time as the Catholic church grappled with the fallout, society and other institutions, like the Boy Scouts and school boards, for example, experienced similar outrage.

My entire priesthood has been overshadowed by this crisis and while few people raise it in person, its hard not to feel some embarrassment that the church that shaped my life did not always live up to what I and others expected. As we discern what all this means, it may be the Holy Spirit purifying the church and moving it toward reforms that are long overdue so that the People of God envisioned by the Second Vatican Council will be a reality.

Until then, I pray that the list released on Feb. 13, 2019, has a period and healing can begin especially for victims, the abusers and the church.

EDITORS NOTE: The Rev. Alexander Santora is the pastor of Our Lady of Grace and St. Joseph, 400 Willow Ave., Hoboken, 07030, FAX: 201-659-5833; Email: padrealex@yahoo.com; Twitter: @padrehoboken.
By Walter Fields

The truth about Amazons choice of Long Island City for its second headquarters, dubbed HQ2, is that it wasnt about New York City per se. It was about our metropolitan region, Newark included. By choosing Long Island City the company was sending the same message it tried to send by keeping Newark as the headquarters of its Audible subsidiary. Amazon was signaling that with Manhattan filled to capacity, areas beyond the island offer opportunities for economic growth, and the New York region is a prime destination for companies in the tech-driven knowledge economy.

As Amazons decision to kill its plans for Long Island City reveals, local politics can get in the way of economic opportunity. The opposition to Amazon was not fueled by the public. All polling showed the public to be in favor of the company coming to Long Island City, with strong support among Democrats in a democratic city, and residents of color, Black and Latino in a majority-minority city. While some unions opposed Amazon because the company does not support unionization, there were unions that publicly supported the companys choice of Long Island City. It was the parochialism of local politics that undermined Amazons plans, and the experience should serve as a lesson going forward.

It was the classic upstate v. downstate tug of war that killed the deal and sent Amazon packing. Were there some legitimate concerns over the size of the public subsidy that Gov. Andrew Cuomo put on the table to entice the company? Sure. Should those concerns have outweighed the possibility of 25,000 jobs coming to the region and the spillover benefit of entrepreneurial start-ups that can occur in the shadow of an Amazon footprint? No.

Critics of the deal who cite the current limitations of transportation infrastructure and housing affordability in Long island City missed an opportunity to use the decision by Amazon to affect positive change in those two areas. It appears no local politician could think big enough to see beyond the narrow concern of perception and electability. So, rather than rise to the occasion, they rallied against Amazon, killed 25,000 jobs and are left with a Long Island City that is as job-barren as it was prior to when the company announced its intention to locate its second headquarters there.

Why is Newark important in this moment? Since de-industrialization and the turmoil of the late 1960s, Newark has been struggling to redefine its economic profile. Strategically located near a major port and international airport, with direct access to New York City, and a robust higher education community, Newark is an undervalued asset that could be transformed by the investment of a company like Amazon. Think the presence of a major company doesnt matter? Imagine Prudential leaving Newark. Prudential is old economy. Amazon is new economy. If Newark is to remain relevant in this century and beyond, it must attract the technology sector in the new economy.

There is a perception problem, not based entirely on conjecture, that the arrival of a company like Amazon will yield few or no benefits for local residents. Well, that is truly the work of local elected officials. In its questionnaire to bidding cities, Amazon was explicit in inquiring about the diversity of the local tech workforce, and the demographics of the local community and schools. Given the general consensus on the importance of STEM curriculum in public schools, Amazons presence in a city like Newark could force the transformation of its schools. Similarly, by partnering with a local college, the company could support meaningful workforce training to prepare local residents for employment in the technology sector. To stave off fears of gentrification, local elected officials could negotiate to convince the company to invest in affordable housing. Microsoft recently announced its intention to do so in Seattle. The only limitation is that of imagination.

When Amazon announced it would not carry through with its plans for Long Island City, the entire region lost; not just New York City. Newark is a critical part of the region. Its why Amazon needs to give the city a second look, and Mayor Ras Baraka and Gov. Murphy need to make some phone calls.

Editors note: This op-ed originally said Amazon moved audible to Newark. The company moved to the city in 2007. Amazon purchased Audible in 2008.

Walter Fields has been a journalist, writing and commenting on race and public policy with MSNBC, MSNBC.com, NPR, The Record (Bergen County NJ), The New Jersey Reporter, and City Limits. He currently serves as the Executive Editor of NorthStarNews.com.

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A 22-year-old man suspected of burglarizing more than a dozen homes and businesses in several New Jersey counties as well as in Pennsylvania over the past six months was arrested Thursday in Burlington County, authorities said.

Jahmir Boyd-Ashley, of Willingboro was taken into custody Thursday at a home on the 100 block of Fox Meadow Drive in Maple Shade, according to Willingboro police. Boyd-Ashley had been sought by police in Willingboro and numerous other towns in Burlington, Camden and Middlesex counties as well as in Bucks County, Pa.

Willingboro police have charged Boyd-Ashley with five counts of burglary, four counts of theft, three counts of criminal mischief and one count of fraudulent use of a credit card, Lt. Chris Vetter said. Boyd-Ashle, who was a fugitive from justice, is likely to be charged in connection with additional burglaries in his hometown once investigators finish combing through video from home surveillance cameras, Vetter said.

Boyd-Ashley committed smash-and-grab burglaries at mom and pop" type businesses when they were closed at night and broke into homes during the day when residents were out, Vetter said. He took mainly cash from businesses and a variety of televisions, electronics and jewelry from homes around town, according to Vetter.

On Oct. 9, 2018, Boyd-Ashley and another masked man allegedly used a brick to smash the front door of a Stop & Go Food Store in the Kendall Park section of South Brunswick and stole thousands of dollars in cash, scratch-off lottery tickets, cigarettes, cigars, and money orders, police in the Middlesex County town said at the time. Police in South Brunswick later put out a warrant for his arrest and charged him with burglary, criminal mischief and theft.

Meanwhile police in Maple Shade are investigating burglaries in town which might be tied to Boyd-Ashley. Lt. Jeff Hoch declined to elaborate on the circumstances of Boyd-Ashleys arrest or provide specifics about the burglaries, citing an ongoing investigation.

Details about the other burglaries werent immediately available, though police in Burlington Township, Edgewater Park, Maple Shade, Cinnaminson, Mount Laurel and the New Jersey State Police Fugitive Unit all assisted in the investigation.

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The lists of priests and deacons accused of child sexual abuse released by New Jerseys five Catholic dioceses earlier this week was startling.

They contained page after page of names -- 188 in total -- of clergy members accused of sexually abusing generations of children in every corner of the state over several decades.

But the list only told part of the story.

The list, released Wednesday by the Archdiocese of Newark and the Dioceses of Camden, Metuchen, Paterson and Trenton, did not include priests, monks, nuns or others who served in religious orders or order-run Catholic schools in New Jersey. It only included only the names of priests and deacons credibly accused while they worked within the dioceses.

So, that means Jesuit priests, Franciscan priests, Benedictine monks and others who served in religious orders that operate under separate leadership structures than the five New Jersey dioceses were likely not included on any of the lists.

It is unknown how many additional clergy members from New Jersey might be on those lists if they are ever all released. Critics said the Catholic community in New Jersey deserves to know the full number of accused priests.

Looked at lists and I see a name missing. He's dead and never formally accused.



The ones that have one accusation in five or six parishes tend to be older deceased. Younger w/more accusations led to removal from Ministry. #keepshiningthelight  SkellBell (@stacieskelley) February 13, 2019

Each of the lists released fails to include the names of religious order or extern priests, said Mark Crawford, of SNAP, a survivors group for those abused by priests. While bishops often claim that they do not have authority over extern priests who abuse, the fact that some of these men worked in New Jersey  regardless of whether they were ordered there by a religious order leader or otherwise  behooves the inclusion of their names on these lists.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, head of the Archdiocese of Newark, said it is also likely the lists from the five New Jersey dioceses will grow over time as more allegations are made. The lists are not final documents, he said.

I dont see it and I believe my colleagues here dont see it as an endpoint. Like its done. We put up our best effort after considerable, considerable investigation, Tobin said in an interview Wednesday.

There are also additional investigations into clergy members ongoing, though Tobin said he did not know how many.

Weve received some new allegations," Tobin said. All of those things have been turned over to the prosecutor. .. . I cant speak for what the county prosecutors are doing. But we look seriously at anything we receive.

Bill Crane, 53, scanned the list of accused New Jersey priests shortly after it came out Wednesday. He saw the name of one priest -- James Hanley, the former pastor of St. Josephs Roman Catholic Church in Mendham -- he said abused him when he was a boy in the 1970s. Hanley later admitted to abusing children for decades and was defrocked by the church.

But a second priest Crane said showed him pornography and abused him as a child was not included on the New Jersey list. That is because the priest, Rev. Justin Capato, was a Benedictine monk working at the Delbarton School in Morris Township.

Im not surprised, Crane said of not seeing Capatos name on the list.

Crane, who settled a lawsuit against Delbarton last summer, said he gave up on the idea long ago that every corner of the Catholic Church -- including the less scrutinized religious orders, would be truly transparent.

Its just another layer of the onion that has to be revealed," Crane said.

Last week, a spokesman for the Order of St. Benedict said the Benedictines have not decided whether to release a list of all monks accused of abuse.

We are evaluating processes related to the release of names and will make a decision when that is completed," said Anthony Cicatiello, a spokesman for the Order of St. Benedict.

My abuser is on this list. I cant properly explain the relief, anxiety and vindication I feel right now. https://t.co/7pLokmUH76  Mark McCullough (@viennaswill) February 14, 2019

The Jesuits, another religious order, has already released lists of accused priests by region.

There were 10 priests with ties to New Jersey on the list released last month by the USA Northeast Province Jesuits, an organization representing the Roman Catholic order of priests in North Jersey and several other states.

Nine of the ten Jesuits on the list with New Jersey ties served at either St. Peters Prep, St. Peters University or in St. Peters Parish in Jersey City -- one of the centers of Jesuit life and training in New Jersey.

They included the Rev. Andrew Dittrich, a Jesuit who spent two decades assigned to the campuses of Rutgers University and Rider University. He died more than a decade before the Jesuits received the first of two credible reports of alleged abuse of minors, the Jesuits report said.

Some critics have also said the list of 188 names released by New Jerseys five dioceses was not as extensive as it could have been. The five dioceses only released names of priests they said had been credibly accused.

The Archdiocese of Newark defined credibly accused as cases where the allegation is true; the accused clergy is convicted by civil authorities in court; an independent review team concludes that the allegation is more likely true than not, based on evidence.

That means some priests who were accused were not included on the list because church officials did not have enough evidence to say the allegations were likely to be true.

Tobin, the head of the Archdiocese of Newark, said the process of investigating cases and uncovering the truth will be ongoing.

We urge anyone who believes they have been accused by a minister of the Catholic Church to report it -- first to the civil authorities and then to us. So, I fully expect this is going to be part of our lives for years to come, Tobin said.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Firefighters were battling a blaze Thursday night that engulfed 5-story apartment building in Fort Lee.

Flames and smoke were shooting from every floor of the building, located on Edwin Avenue, which is about a mile from the George Washington Bridge.

Fire at Linwood Apartments in Fort Lee. Flames are shooting out of the top 3 floors with @jongsmjo for @northjersey pic.twitter.com/XrvK41tG1c  Anne-Marie Caruso (@AnneCarusoPhoto) February 14, 2019

Video from the scene showed firefighters rescuing residents by using the apartments fire escape.

Three firefighters sustained minor injuries, Mayor Mark Sokolich told NBC New York.

The fire started around 4 p.m. and was still burning at 8 p.m.

Fort lee fire ... Evac tones hit .. All be safe Posted by Amy J Dirr on Thursday, February 14, 2019

The Fort Lee Police asked people to avoid the area including Linwood Plaza shopping center.

Displaced residents were taken to the Fort Lee Senior Center, police.

An inferno in Fort Lee, NJ. Amazing to hear only a few minor injuries reported. Still, a devastating loss for residents who say theyve lived here for decades. #fortlee #linwoodpark @CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/AiXO1waILb  Valerie Castro (@VCastroTV) February 15, 2019

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EDITORS NOTE: Interested in the marijuana business industry? NJ Cannabis Insider is a premium intelligence briefing that features exclusive weekly content geared toward entrepreneurs, lawyers and Realtors. View a sample issue.

The mayor of the first town in New Jersey to ban legal marijuana sales has also spent most of the past year on the payroll as a lobbyist for a prominent anti-marijuana group in the state. But he hasnt always been upfront about that connection, raising questions about ethics and conflicts of interest.

Mayor Stephen Reid oversaw Point Pleasant Beach banning marijuana businesses in December 2017, and he has since become one of the leading voices in opposition of legal weed in the state. More than 60 towns in New Jersey have taken some step to ban marijuana businesses from their borders. Reid has traveled around the state, offering his hand to other towns considering a ban as the mayor of a town thats already done it.

But Reid is representing more than just his or his towns stance on marijuana. Since May 2018, Reid has been a paid lobbyist for New Jersey Responsible Approaches to Marijuana, and Reids potential conflict of interest is the subject of lawsuit filed Monday against Point Pleasant Beach. Reid was also named executive director of RAMP last May.

Patrick Duff, a blogger who filed suit against Point Pleasant Beach to get records of Reids emails, called the mayors work as a lobbyist the ultimate misuse of office.

Reid has been instrumental in promoting NJ RAMPs anti-marijuana agenda across New Jersey, but has not always disclosed the fact that he was really working on NJ RAMPs behalf, the complaint says.

Both Reid and Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, RAMPs parent organization, said that Point Pleasant Beach passed its ordinance banning marijuana businesses well before Reid started working for RAMP. Reid said he has spoken to lawyers, who advised him that he wasnt violating the law by lobbying for RAMP.

Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Stephen Reid talks about being opposed to the legalization of cannabis during a hearing in Trenton last year.NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

While Reid and RAMP have been clear that the mayor was the executive director of the organization, its not been evident that Reid was being paid as RAMPs lobbyist. Though he admits he started lobbying in May of last year, Reid didnt register as a lobbyist with the state until October, state lobbying documents show.

On Friday, Reid said that he informed the state of his lobbying activity before October, but didnt properly register until then.

Daniel Horowitz, an official with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission, said all lobbyists in the state are required to register with the agency prior to starting their lobbying activities. The mayor informed the state late last month that he was halting his lobbying for RAMP, as he is planning a run for state Assembly.

Reid said Wednesday that any public appearance or op-ed after he started working for RAMP was on behalf of the organization, not in his capacity as mayor. Despite this, in a letter to the Asbury Park Press in May 2018, after he had started working for RAMP, Reid wrote in opposition of legal weed in his capacity as mayor and did not disclose he was being paid by RAMP. Reid rejected the notion that not disclosing that hes being paid by RAMP when discussing marijuana represents a conflict of interest.

I dont see the conflict, he wrote in an email on Wednesday. "(Youre) taking a frivolous lawsuit and giving it credibility.

But the lawsuit filed this week is seeking email records for Reid from Point Pleasant Beach to see if he mixed his duties as mayor with his job as RAMPs executive director and lobbyist. Duff, the plaintiff, filed the lawsuit against the borough because the records were redacted to hide other email addresses, potentially email addresses belonging to Reid. Those redactions made it impossible to tell whether Reid was using his borough email address to conduct RAMP business. Reid denies that hes done anything improper.

Sabet, like Reid, challenged whether this represents a conflict of interest and said he thinks this scrutiny could be coming from the marijuana industry, since Reid is working against their interests.

I would not be shocked if the pot industry is doing this, Sabet said. I dont see it as a conflict; I see it as a complement.

Reid said he gets paid $3,000 per month for his work with RAMP, substantially more than the $6,500 per year he makes as mayor of Point Pleasant Beach.

That Reid has another job is not controversial. Many New Jersey mayors work part-time in government and have other jobs. Some have multiple other sources of income. But for Reid to get paid to lobby for an anti-marijuana group while going around the state as the mayor of Point Pleasant Beach having conversations in opposition of cannabis has raised eyebrows.

The state Department of Community Affairs, which oversees local government official ethics, declined to comment on whether Reid was using his office improperly.

We cannot opine on that, said Tammori Petty, spokeswoman for the DCA. The question of whether specific conduct violated the Local Government Ethics Law can only be determined after an investigation by Local Finance Board staff.

Joseph Donohue, deputy director of the state Election Law Enforcement Commission, said that the agency doesnt have any specific law that prevents local government officials from working as lobbyists.

Still, several attorneys said that Reids lobbying seems questionable, but wouldnt speak publicly since they werent familiar with the case. Duffs attorney in the suit said she thinks Reid shouldnt have been able to lobby for RAMP while serving as mayor.

It seems to a layperson like this would be a conflict of interest, said CJ Griffin, the attorney representing Duff in his lawsuit against Point Pleasant Beach. If it isnt, I think the laws need to change.

UPDATE: This story has been updated to add Reid saying that he attempted to inform the state of his lobbying activity before he officially registered.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Claude Brodesser-Akner contributed to this story.

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The mother of slain Jersey City Detective Melvin Santiago never wanted to see his open grave. She left the funeral before they lowered him into the ground.

Cathy McBride said she was horrified Thursday when she found the grave excavated, with water at its bottom. She said it was so deep, she wondered if her sons casket was even there.

My first reaction was fear, heartbreak, McBride said Friday of seeing her sons grave seemingly excavated at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington. I didnt know what was going on. I felt horror at not knowing if he was even in there.

McBride said she went to the cemetery Thursday afternoon to leave two fresh bouquets, Valentines Day items and a card, but found a plank covering her sons grave. The decorations left there a week earlier had been thrown to the side. A porcelain cross was missing. A large, red heart was broken and cast aside.

Santiago was ambushed by a lone gunman in the early hours of July 13, 2014, when he responded to a report of an armed robbery at a 24-hour pharmacy on Kennedy Boulevard. The rookie police officer was posthumously promoted to detective.

McBride said she called the cemetery office and a man told her an interment was planned for the adjacent plot on Friday and when that grave was excavated, some of the dirt covering Santiagos grave collapsed. He said it left a hole on her sons plot, so they covered it with the plank to make it safe for the funeral.

Officials at Holy Cross didnt return a call for comment. A spokeswoman for the Newark archdiocese, which oversees Catholic cemeteries in the archdiocese, said "Its not uncommon for some topsoil to transfer between adjacent graves, especially given that the soil has been saturated recently with melted snow, and that in this instance, the double-level grave protected by wooden planks was newly occupied at the deepest level."

We apologize for any grief this may have caused the family and we immediately tended to any soil disturbance following the completion of the latter funeral, said the spokeswoman, Maria Margiotta.

The cemetery worker apologized about the way workers treated the decorations on her sons grave and said it was not right.

I was so upset when I went home I couldnt stop thinking about it, so I went back and moved the board to see the hole and to my horror, Melvins grave was completely open as if someone was going to be buried there, McBride said.

McBride was with her 17-year-old son Alex when they found the grave excavated.

Alex was crying, McBride said. He said, I dont understand why they would do this.'

She said the office was closed by then, but she returned Friday morning. McBride said she spoke to the same worker and told him she didnt want the hole filled until she saw her son was in there. But when she got to the grave, the funeral at the adjacent plot had ended and some dirt had already been replaced.

I told them I wanted to see, McBride said. They said it was done. They kept telling me they cant help it if dirt caves in.

She said she will return to the cemetery Saturday.

Its a Catholic cemetery and this is how they treat people? McBride said. My son was a hero and this is how you treat him? They think just because someone is dead they dont have family  no one cares? Its disgusting what they did.

McBride said the years since her sons death have been unimaginably hard, but she does the best she can.

I have to keep Melvins memory alive and I have to be there for Alex, McBride said. I have to try to find some kind of peace and this brought back everything. Thats why I dont have peace. Something always happens. Why cant they just let the boy rest.
Right now, Scientel Solutions Inc. is the main business that would want to hook on to the city's fiber on the east side of Eola Road. But there are three or four lots at the southwest corner of the intersection that could get access to the fiber if it crosses Eola Road, and OnLight Aurora reportedly has non-disclosure agreements with some companies to hook-on there if the fiber is extended.
The Costco in Bayonne, on the former Military Ocean Terminal, is scheduled to open on March 7, Costco officials said on its Facebook page.

The warehouse store, which also features a gas station, will open at 8 a.m., officials said. The store, which was originally scheduled to open last fall, is located at 21 Goldsborough Dr.

The opening of Costco will mark another milestone for the long awaited rebirth of the former MOT, which was handed over to the city at the turn of century.

In November 2018, more demolition was performed to make way for a 1.6 million-square-foot warehouse and 2,700 permanent jobs on 153 acres near the waterfront.

Just about a year ago, city officials announced three land deals, including one that provided space for the Costco, on the peninsula that netted the city $6 million.

Ive been involved in politics for 14 years, and there has been more progress in the past few months than in the previous 13 years, Third Ward Councilman Gary La Pelusa Sr. said at the time.

For years city officials debated how to just how much of the peninsula should be devoted to residential and commercial uses. Then, when it appeared that developers were ready to invest in the peninsula, the real estate market crashed in 2007-08.

The land being leased by Costco was part of a 15-acre parcel purchased for $2 million by JMF Properties and RD Management after a 30-year tax abatement was approved in August 2017. Under the tax break, 10 percent of the projects revenue will go to the city for the first five years, before increasing to 11 and 12 percent in future years.
New York may not love Amazon, but Newark certainly does  and its not afraid to show it.

City representatives sent Amazon a massive heart-shaped card on Valentines Day that read: NJ & Newark still love u, Amazon!

A courier  dressed in red, of course  dropped off the large red heart, a bag of cupcakes and a dozen red balloons to a Manhattan office on 33rd street where Amazon is a tenant. The special delivery arrived hours before Amazon announced it was pulling the plug on its deal to open a campus in New Yorks Long Island City.

This is a bold and playful gesture to remind Amazon that our incentives on the state and city side are in place, so theres more opportunity for them to be welcomed with ease, Aisha Glover, CEO of Newark Alliance, who has spearheaded Amazon negotiations on behalf of Newark, said in a statement.

City and state officials have continued talks with the online retail giant, even after the company decided to split its second headquarters between New York and Crystal City, Virginia.

Amazon said in a statement Thursday that it needed collaborative relationships to build a new facility. New York politicians had pushed back on the plan.

On Thursday afternoon, Gov. Phil Murphy said he contacted Amazon directly to reiterate the state was still open for business.

Amazon now has the opportunity to join in Newarks story of a city on the rise, Murphy said in a statement.

State and city officials offered Amazon a $7 billion incentive package to relocate to Newark.

To remind Amazon of our love for them and our support of them coming to New Jersey, Jose Lozano, CEO of Choose New Jersey, said of the Valentines Day gift. As Governor Murphy stated, New Jersey never closed the door.

Though Amazon said Thursday it will not resume its HQ2 search, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka invited the company with open arms.

Given the city and states assets  a strong talent pipeline, a diverse tech base, unmatched infrastructure and a highly accessible location  we are well poised to accommodate Amazon should they want to relocate New York Citys portion of HQ2, in whole or part, Baraka said in a statement Thursday.

NJ Advance Media staff writers Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

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Newark fire A fire is burning through an apartment building in Newark, New Jersey. Newscopter 7 is live over the scene. Posted by ABC7NY on Friday, February 15, 2019

Firefighters are battling a blaze in a three-story apartment building on Friday morning in Newark.

Flames could be seen burning through the roof of the building at the corner of Sussex Avenue and 3rd Street. No injuries were reported, according to ABC7ny.com.

Multiple ladder trucks were on the scene dousing the blaze from above and ladders were braced against the side of the structure near the second and third floor windows.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately available.

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Stephen Fredericks' "A Better Place To Be" - which will have its world premiere run Feb. 15-17 at The Growing Stage - Children's Theatre of N.J. - tells the stories of two immigrant journeys separated by more than 100 years.

One tale is based on the playwright's grandmother solo journey from Norway in the 1880s. The other features a Syrian family fleeing war in contemporary times.

The seemingly disparate stories overlap in many ways.

"We talk about what makes us different. We don't talk about everything we share," said Fredericks, who is The Growing Stage's founder and executive director. "We all have the same dream of a better tomorrow. We all want better lives for ourselves and our children. That doesn't change regardless of faith or what country you're from."

This original work was originally commissioned by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance's Stage Exchange Program. It's geared for audiences ages 12 and up. Fredericks hopes it buildings connections between generations.

"In modern times, from the Colonial period on, most of us are not Native Americans. Most of us come from a different place," Fredericks said. "We hope our work sparks conversations and that the theatrical experience extends beyond the performance: 'Mom, where did grandma come from?'"

Fredericks' interest in his own family history gives the play's first act its storyline. He learned his great-grandmother, Marie Ostraat, was 29 years old when she decided to emigrate to the U.S. She needed her parents' permission to leave as was required for "spinsters" - unmarried women older than 25. She packed her own food for the rough three-week journey across the Atlantic Ocean on a small schooner.

"Today we think of Norway as a place to go: They've got universal health care, they've got education. But the land we glorify today was going through major challenges back then," Fredericks said. "You could easily equate the story to today with someone coming from a war- torn country or to the angst of people trying to cross the southern border."

Marie, the character based on Fredericks' great-grandmother, befriends two other women on the ship. The three help each other prepare for the quiz they'll be given at Ellis Island. Marie distracts the women by reading aloud from a book of Scandinavian folk tales her mother pressed on her before the trip.

To learn more about the lives of recent Syrian immigrants to the U.S., Fredericks attended multiple Syria Supper Club events. For a flat per-person fee, individuals can attend a meal where all food is prepared by a newly-arrived Syrian family who share their stories as well as their culinary talents.

About 90 percent of the proceeds helps the cooks as they establish new lives. The remainder goes to administrative costs for the non-profit United Tastes of America.

Thus the play's second act centers on a Syrian woman and her two grandchildren, ages 12 and 14, as they wait for a flight to the U.S. The extended family has spent four years living in a tent at a refugee camp. The grandmother calms the children with Syrian folk tales.

"She uses folk tales the same way Maria did, as a way of providing comfort and connection with heritage," Fredericks said. "Retelling (the stories) reminds them of what life used to be like before the war. "

The four actors in the play take on multiple parts, adopting personas of the main characters as well as those of the folk tale characters. That's intentional, Fredericks said.

Says the playwright, "That sends the message that this could be any one of us."

A BETTER PLACE TO BE

The Growing Stage -- Children's Theatre of N.J.

7 Wedgwood Ave., Netcong

Tickets: $18, available online at http://www.growingstage.com. Feb. 15-17.

Natalie Pompilio is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She can be reached at nataliepompilio@yahoo.com. Find her on Twitter @nataliepompilio. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.
A Woodbridge man found with more than 4,000 child porn files in his possession will serve at least two and a half year s in prison, the state Attorney Generals Office announced.

Gregory Piszczek, 36, of Woodbridge, pleaded guilty last summer to charges of distribution of child pornography and possession of more than 100 files of child porn.

He was arrested in August 2017 as part of a multi-agency campaign called Operation Safety Net, which nabbed 79 child predators and child porn peddlers.

Piszczek was working as an IT professional when New Jersey Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force officers executed a search warrant at his home.

Investigators monitoring a peer-to-peer file sharing network had downloaded multiple child porn files from a shared folder at an IP address traced to Piszczek and computer devices seized from him contained thousands of child porn videos and images, authorities said.

Piszczek was sentenced Friday to five years behind bars, with a requirement that he serve half of that time before he is eligible for parole.

He must also register as a sex offender under Megans Law and will be subject to parole supervision for life.

Anyone aware of online crimes involving children is asked to contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 1-888-648-6007.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips.

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A 13-year-old student in Bergen County has been charged after giving her classmates edible marijuana gummy bears during school hours after a fellow student became ill and had to be taken to the hospital, police said.

The investigation began after 14-year-old Fair Lawn girl became sick and vomited on Feb. 8 and police were called to the area of Fair Lawn Avenue and Plaza Road at 4:40 p.m.

The girl had "thrown up numerous times and was not feeling like herself, said Sgt. Brian Metzler of the Fair Lawn Police Department. The girl told police a 13-year-old classmate gave her a gummy bear that would stop her from stressing out, Metzler said.

The girl was taken by ambulance to Valley Hospital in Ridgewood.

The gummy bear was determined to be a marijuana edible after the victim was tested at the hospital, Metzler said.

An investigation revealed marijuana edibles were also given to other students during school hours, Metzler said. The 13-year-old has since been charged as a juvenile in Family Court. The teens name was not released because she is juvenile.

Metzler did not name the school or say what the classmate was charged with.

The investigation into the incident led to the arrest of Jeffrey Klein, 48, of Fair Lawn, who was charged with possession of less than 5 grams of hashish. Police did not detail how Kleins arrest was related to the edible marijuana. He was released pending a court hearing.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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The fugitive wanted on charges he shot a man in the chest at the Hard Rock Atlantic City casino earlier this month was captured Thursday by federal agents in Atlanta, Georgia, police said.

Emory Chapman had a handgun when he was arrested by members of an FBI task force, according to Atlantic City police.

The 40-year-old Pleasantville man allegedly shot a 25-year-old man, also from Pleasantville, after an altercation at the casino around 5 a.m. Feb 3. The shooting unfolded in the hotel building in a corridor that led to a parking deck, according to police.

UPDATE- Emory Chapman was arrested February 14 in Atlanta, Ga.  Atlantic City Police (@AtlanticCityPD) February 14, 2019

Police said the wounded man walked to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, City Division for treatment following the attack.

Chapman is charged with aggravated assault and weapons offenses. It was not immediately clear what led authorities to the wanted man in Georgia.

City police released a wanted poster which warned Chapman was considered armed and dangerous and noted a large birthmark on his left cheek.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Shore Animal Control received the call around 9 a.m. Wednesday morning from a resident of the Brandywood Townhomes/Condominium complex in Hamilton Township, Atlantic County.

A cat  with a leg trap attached to its rear left leg  was found on a second-floor balcony of a womans home.

She was so sweet. I just put a blanket around her  she was a little cold  and picked her right up, said responding Animal Control Officer Chelsea Lippincott, who is also a certified Humane Law Enforcement Officer, or animal cruelty investigator.

On her way to get the cat, who is now being called Hope, Lippincott called All Paws Veterinary Clinic in Mays Landing to see if a veterinarian was available. They said bring her right in.

According to Lippincott, the veterinarian, Dr. Dawn Ritter, decided Hopes leg would have to be amputated, as the leg was broken and bone was sticking out from the skin.

While Lippincott was handling the care of the rescued feline, animal control officer Holly Gavrilow contacted the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife to confirm if this was an illegal leghold trap that severely injured this cat. They confirmed it was.

A cat was severely injured from an illegal leghold trap in Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, N.J., Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019. (Photo provided by Shore Animal Control)Photo provided by Shore Animal Control

Steel-jawed leghold type traps (e.g., coil-springs and longsprings) have articulated jaws that snap closed on either side of the lower limb of the animal stepping on the pan, according to an explanation of legal and illegal leghold/foothold traps on the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlifes website. These traps have been prohibited in New Jersey by legislation effective October, 1985."

While Hope continues to recover from her leg amputation, officers from Shore Animal Control are hoping her owner comes forward to claim her. If no owner is found, the cat will be transferred to Atlantic County Animal Shelter.

The Hamilton Township Police Department and the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife are currently investigating the incident.

We were so lucky the police department helped (secure funds for the surgery), said Lippincott. This is the first time Ive ever had a township pay that much money to save an animal, noting that only the costs to stabilize or euthanize an animal are usually covered.

The cost of the surgery was about $2,000.

If anyone has any information about this incident, please contact Det. Greg Blose of the Hamilton Township Police Department at 609-625-2700.

Lori M. Nichols may be reached at lnichols@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Lori on Instagram at @photog_lori and Twitter @photoglori. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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ANSONIA  For the Cota family, police work runs deep in their blue blood.

And police Lt. Andrew Cota III, whose father, Andrew Cota Jr., served the Derby Police Department for 35 years, 13 of them as chief, and late uncle Allen, who served Derby for 25 years, is keeping the family tradition going.

Cota, 48, was officially sworn-in Friday as Ansonias interim police chief. .

During a brief ceremony at City Hall, Mayor David Cassetti administered the oath of office to Cota before a standing-room-only crowd of Cotas family, friends and fellow officers.

Cota, a 27-year veteran of the Police Department, was unanimously named interim chief last month by the city Police Commission. That was the first step in finding a permanent replacement for former longtime Chief Kevin Hale, who recently retired after serving 18 years in the departments top spot.

The commission is following the process to find a permanent replacement, according to Commissioner Bruce Goldson, who said they will not rush into naming a successor. The commission expects both internal and external candidates to apply, and Cota has said he will be one of those applicants.

Cota, father of two grown sons, Andrew, 24 and Daniel, 21, and husband to Denyse, said hes ready for the challenge.

I promise Ill do the best I can to make Ansonia a safe place to live and for our police officers to work in, Cota said. I have to thank Chief Hale for his leadership. I hope I can continue in that same direction of keeping the city on the straight and narrow.

Cotas father was proud to pin the new badge on his sons uniform, and is thrilled to see his son following in his footsteps.

I cant tell you how proud I am of him, said the former Derby chief. We live by one rule in my family ... when youre a police officer, you do one thing ... you treat everyone like theyre a member of your own family.

Cassetti said the Cota name is synonymous with policing in the Valley, and is happy to see another generation continuing to carry the torch. Cassettis father, Salvatore Cassetti, also served the Ansonia Police Department for 15 years.

Blue blood runs in his family, said Cassetti. Andy has spent his entire career in law enforcement, from starting out as an officer to becoming a sergeant in 1995, to lieutenant in 2011 and now in February 2019 as acting police chief. He tackles every job with enthusiasm and professionalism.

Cota, a 1988 graduate of Derby High School, and graduate of Post University in Waterbury and FBI National Training Academy in 2010, is working on his masters degree in public administration. At the FBI Academy, Cota had said he developed leadership and investigative skills, as well as building relationships with criminal justice officials across the globe, who he can reach out to with questions about policy or procedure.

An avid reader of everything from biographies and books on management, history and science, Cota said reading has helped him gain a better understanding of problems and how to come with the best possible solutions.

I am excited to do my job to the best of my ability at all times, for the good of the city and its residents, Cota added.

Cassetti then invited the large group of well-wishers and supporters to enjoy coffee and doughnuts at a brief reception afterward in the Erlingheuser Room.
Connecticut has a unique opportunity to create a world-class 21st century live-and-work technology hub adjacent to New Havens Union Station  perhaps a satellite headquarters for Amazon if it abandons its potential Long Island City outpost  by developing the contiguous acreage that has just been cleared across the street from the station, and using the close nexus to green rail transportation, the junction of I-95 and I-91, and Yale University.

The demolition of the former Church Street South housing development has opened for reuse acres across the street from a high-capacity train station serving Metro-North, Shoreline East, the Hartford-Springfield line and Amtrak, including regular and high-speed service to New York, Washington and Boston. A location with prime access to rail transportation, interstate highways, a major global university and the young talent attracted by that university to a city is a unique business asset. Marketing that business asset as such would be Connecticut recognizing its strengths and defining a future with jobs and opportunity.

Beyond the cleared land of Church Street South, there is a large footprint of vacant or readily developable land close to the train station, and this dovetails with the states recent and anticipated investments in rail and the Pearl Harbor Bridge interchange, as well as Amtrak.

Connecticuts economic development strategies have often been based on tax breaks and giveaways in a high tax state with Hartford as a driver for development. Such big gets as Infosys and Jackson Labs were brought to suburban Hartford locations. The natural path forward uses the global reach of Yale University, with its particular appeal to international investment and role in educating global business leaders, and New Havens confluence of strengths as a tech hub.

Gov. Ned Lamont and his Yale business school classmate Indra Nooyi, the former PepsiCo CEO he has tapped as an ambassador for Connecticut economic development, have a special relationship to New Haven and Yale with the global business ties to get the focus needed to make this kind of development innovation happen. And its impact would radiate through transportation corridors to grow business opportunity across the state.

A new gubernatorial administration is a moment to reset long-established policies. Whether Connecticut can attract Amazon, the state has the capacity to reach out both nationally and internationally to advance New Haven as a uniquely positioned tech hub, either tied to one leading business, or as a world trade center tied to multiple leading businesses, using the synergy of location and transportation access with the global powerhouse of Yale. The new economic development commissioner, David Lehman, is known for his real estate creativity at Goldman Sachs. Nooyi is partnered in business outreach with Jim Smith, former chairman of Webster Bank, who relates to small and mid-market business across the state that would also be served by this initiative. This is a team ideally suited to market this kind of opportunity.

Thinking out of the box, Connecticut can leverage the strengths that have converged in New Haven and attract businesses by focusing on offering them a business asset worthy of investment. How novel it would be to again offer businesses what once attracted them to our state, the opportunity to harness Connecticuts strengths to complement their own.

Mark A. Shiffrin is a New Haven attorney and former commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection. He can be reached at mark@markshiffrin.com. Avi Silberschatz is the Sidney J. Weinberg Professor of Computer Science at Yale University and former vice president of information sciences at Bell Labs. He can be reached at avi@cs.yale.edu.
Still, though he recognized challenges in counting everyone, Muhammad said Aurora has advantages, too. People who might have been afraid to come forward in the past, such as young immigrants who are recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program  known as DACA  are speaking out, he said. Some activist and advocacy groups in Aurora, such as Indivisible Aurora and the citys Immigrant Liberation Alliance, didnt exist during the 2010 census, but the city is looking to work with them this time around. Traditional neighborhood groups can help with outreach, he said.
WEST HAVEN  One person was hospitalized after firefighters responded to a blaze in the apartment building at 208 Greta St. Friday afternoon.

Fire Chief James OBrien said the call came in at approximately 12:43 p.m. When they arrived, firefighters found smoke in all four levels of the building, then discovered a fire in the wall of an apartment. It was extinguished by 1:25 p.m.
NEW HAVEN  It can be hard to describe how interesting it is to look through a news organizations file photos from years gone by.

The photos show life in a community  sometimes in the black and white images that can give clear a sense of time and place.

In this slideshow, images from the New Haven Free Public Library in circa 1981 to 1991 offer a look at dated technology (can we call a card catalog technology?), fashion of the day and even peoples habits.

Did you know that folks in 1991 were very concerned about impending cuts to the library budget? Check out the photo that shows residents carrying signs to urge support for the library.

In early 1991, Register staff reported that Tight finances have prompted modest aspirations for the next fiscal year by the heads of two city departments hardest hit so far by budget cuts - the libraries and public works.

In the story, then-City Librarian Sumner White talked to the Board of Finance about vacant jobs (most of them librarians) he wanted to fill, slightly expanding hours at the main library downtown, then open only 32 hours a week. But he also spoke of not having enough money to buy books.

Things looked a little brighter by late that spring, according to Register reports, when With the return of some staffers in the new budget, hours at the main Ives Memorial Library would increase from 24.5 a week now to 36.5 hours after Labor Day, and the branches also will be open longer, also according to White.
After 73 years, a children's book found its way back to a Maryland library.

Silver Spring Library staffers said they were surprised to receive the book in the mail and an apology letter along with it.

The story of this long lost book began in 1946 when Mora Gregg, who was then 2 years old, discovered her love for a book called "The Postman."

The picture book showcased images of postal workers in the 1920s.

"I just loved the book. I loved the pictures," Gregg told WRC-TV.

Gregg and her family abruptly moved from the Washington, D.C., area to Canada. That picture book went along with them.

She recently found the book and decided to send it back to the library.

"I couldve hung onto it forever," she said. "At my age, you give things back that you've lived with for many years."

It's estimated that a late fine would cost a little more than $9,000.

Good thing for Gregg, the library no longer charges late fees for children's books, and caps fees for other books at $15.

"Welcome home dear book. Good thing we no longer charge late fines for children's material," the library posted on Facebook.

As for Gregg, she's confident she wouldn't have owed the fine after all these years.

"I would've talked my way out of it," Gregg said.
Hamden police have released body camera footage related to a February 2018 arrest that shows officers acting aggressively.

The department is conducting an internal investigation after one of the videos was published by News 8.

Here you can see three different body camera videos related to the arrest of Victor Medina, who was charged with with illegally operating a motor vehicle under the influence, engaging police in a pursuit and failure to obey traffic control signals.

Medina is accused of leading police on a chase. Medina eventually pulls over in his driveway, and in the body-camera footage the news station posted, an officer can be seen telling Medina he would be shot if he did not comply with the officer's orders.

The videos were released to the Register this week after a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Hamden police union this week issued a statement saying people are jumping to conclusions and should reserve judgement until the investigation into the officers' conduct has been completed.
GUILFORD  Donning heart-shaped glasses and a pink T-shirt with a red heart pasted to the front, Nolan Parker, 4, stood in his preschool classroom Thursday at the Guilford Center for Children. Asked why he liked Valentines Day, Nolan replied, Cuz its about love.

In a classroom run by head teacher Lindsay Smith and assistant teacher Krystyn Butcher, Valentines Day isnt about the usual candy and cards. Its about kindness, and thats what theyre teaching kids such as Nolan, who explained how he was celebrating the holiday: by making heart-shaped sandwiches for his friends, one of the activities Smith and Butcher organized.

A friendship bracelet-making station matched the sandwich station, where kids spread strawberry cream cheese between bread slices and then used cookie cutters to make them into hearts. The purpose of both activities? To create and share gifts with others.

There were a few sandwiches that didnt last for too long after they were made, though; instead, they quickly ended up in someones belly.

But those werent the only activities planned for the kindness celebration. Like Nolan, every student wore a red T-shirt adorned with a pink heart.

Each childs name appeared on the back of his or her shirt, along with three positive descriptors: kind, a joker and shares were just a few examples. In preparation for the holiday, Smith said, the class made the shirts together, with each student giving another three compliments.

After collecting similar compliments from the students, Smith and Butcher made shirts for each other. The kind words and phrases ran the gamut from charming, which showed up on Butchers shirt, to has nice eyebrows, which ended up on Smiths.

Before splitting into groups and heading over to the various activity stations, students sat in a circle and shared portraits of one another. On the back of the portraits, grown-ups had written several compliments which the children gave their friends.

Brooklynne Carboni, 4, who came to class showing off a pair of sparkly silver shoes, drew a picture of her friend and fellow classmate Eliza Dogart, also 4. On the portrait, she complimented Eliza for being kind, and for helping her when she needs a tissue.

I love her [Eliza] so much, Brooklynne later said.

Eliza, for her part, presented a picture of Renata Orelenna, and one of her compliments called Renata cute. At this, Smith asked the class, Do you think Renatas cute?

The answer came in a loud chorus: Yes! called the students.

Smith said she and Butcher  who assign the portraits periodically  emphasize kindness , with Valentines Day representing a special chance to reinforce it.

As important as the preschools role is in preparing the children for their academic futures, Smith considers kindness one of the most important skills with which they can leave the school .

Butcher said she and Smith have been working together for more than two years, and that kindness is a big focus of both of their lives. They aim to bring that focus into the classroom.

meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com
EAST HAVEN  Federal agents arrested Board of Education member John T. Finkle III Thursday after he was charged in an indictment with defrauding an Illinois-based company of more than $1.5 million, the U.S. attorneys office said Friday.

Finkle, 57, a former Republican candidate for mayor and school board chairman, is charged along with Steven C. Gold, 46, of Pleasant Prairie, Wis., and Kenneth J. Pedroli, 59, of Stony Brook, N.Y., the U.S. attorneys office said in a news release.

Finkles indictment and arrest, announced by U.S. Attorney John H. Durham and Brian C. Turner, special agent in charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, followed by several weeks a federal subpoena of records in a separate case involving the East Haven Public Schools Little Jackets preschool program.

The indictment appears to focus on Finkles work as a salesman , not his role as an elected official.

The Board of Education subpoena sought, among other things, the emails of Finkle; his wife, fired Little Jackets manager Catherine Finkle; and former schools Business Manager James N. Farrell.

As of Friday afternoon, Finkle remained a member of the school board, said Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr. and Town Clerk Stacy Gravino.

At this point we havent received any notification that hes resigning, said Gravino.

Maturo said that in recent weeks, there were rumors that there was an investigation going on.

I know John, said Maturo, also a Republican. I know John, to me, to be a good guy. Its unfortunate that this happened ... not just for him, but for his family.

Right now, its basically up to Mr. Finkle whether to resign, said Maturo.

Superintendent of Schools Erica Forti and several Board of Education members did not immediately return calls for comment.

Josh Balter, Town Attorney Joseph Zullos Democratic opponent in a Feb. 26 special election to fill the 99th District state representative seat formerly held by state Rep. John Albis, D-East Haven, said in a written release that Finkle should resign.

With Mr. Finkles arrest for committing over $1.5 million in fraud coupled with his wifes firing from the Little Jackets program for alleged mishandling of funds, it destroys any trust the people of East Haven may have in him, Balter said. For the good of the town, he must resign now.

Joe Zullo, who was Finkles campaign manager for mayor in 2011, should do the right thing and call for his immediate resignation, Balter said. This continuing pattern of abuse and scandal by the leadership of the town Republican Party is one of the main reasons I am running for East Haven state representative. The people of our town deserve a representative who only works for them and will not stain their reputation.

Zullo said in a written release Friday evening, Im stunned by the allegations and news of the arrest of John Finkle. On the same token, I am disgusted by my opponents desperate, partisan attempts to exploit these allegations to characterize the entire local Republican establishment. That my opponent would seize on a terrible situation for political gain speaks volumes.

As town attorney, I have consulted with the mayor and we are awaiting confirmation from the superintendent as to what action, if any, the Board of Education can take and intends to take in light of this news, Zullo said.

As an attorney, I have the utmost respect for the proposition that all individuals enjoy the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, Zullo said. Mr. Finkle took an oath, when he took office, to uphold the laws of the country and this state. I trust that if he feels he has betrayed that oath or that his situation becomes a detriment or distraction to the town, that he will do what is best for the town to protect our towns image and preserve our residents faith in our local government.

The U.S. attorneys office laid out the charges in a release that mapped out the contents of the indictment.

As alleged in the indictment, Finkle and Gold were employed by an Illinois-based supplier of electronic components, identified in the indictment as Company A. Finkle was primarily employed in sales for the company and Gold operated the accounting and billing systems for the company. Pedroli purchased electronic components from Company A for a business he operated in Islandia, New York, Tom Carson of the U.S. attorneys office said in the release.

The indictment alleges that between approximately February 2015 and December 2018, Finkle, Gold and Pedroli defrauded Company A through a scheme involving purchases that Pedroli made from the company.

As part of the scheme, Finkle allegedly instructed Pedroli to place his orders and list prices at a fraction of Company As published prices. After Finkle submitted Pedrolis orders to Company A at the discounted prices, the products were shipped from Company A to Pedroli, the indictment alleges.

Finkle instructed Pedroli to pay only a portion of the invoiced price and to make the payments directly to Finkle. Pedroli then wrote checks to Finkle, which Finkle deposited into his personal bank account, the release states.

Finkle instructed Gold to apply fictitious credits to the invoices in order to reduce the amount of money Pedroli owed Company A. Finkle then wrote checks to Gold, which Gold deposited into his personal bank account, the indictment alleges.

According to the indictment, Company A was defrauded of more than $1.5 million and Finkle profited more than $500,000 through the scheme.

All three men were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. Finkle and Gold are each charged with two counts of wire fraud, as well. Pedroli faces two counts of mail fraud.

Each charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, according to the release.

Finkle pleaded not guilty to the charges against him Thursday and was released on $500,000 bail , the release states. Gold and Pedroli have not been arraigned.

U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt, said Carson. Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com; mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com
BRANFORD  The Board of Education unanimously approved Superintendent of Schools Hamlet Hernandezs budget Wednesday night after asking a series of questions and reducing it by $100,000, Hernandez said Thursday.

Hernandez sent a budget of $56.88 to the board, which reduced it to about $56.78 million.

School board Chairman Michael Krause couldnt immediately be reached for comment.

The budget, approved after lengthy discussion, now goes to the Board of Finance and ultimately the Representative Town Meeting.

Hernandezs original budget would have increased spending by just under 2 percent, the same as the 1.95 percent increase in the current years budget.

The budget meets all our obligations and offers targeted enhancements for science instruction at the elementary schools, as well as additional social and emotional support, Hernandez told the board when he presented it last week.

This years budget is down from increases of 2.25 percent in fiscal 2016-17 and 2.29 percent in fiscal 2015-16, at a time when enrollment is falling from 2,929 in June 2017 to 2,843 in June 2018 to 2,796 today, but students needs are increasing.

Last years final appropriation from the RTM  $56.78 million  actually represented a 1.76 percent increase.

Enrollment currently is down at all three levels of the school system: from 10,073 last June to 1,062 today at the elementary level; from 893 in June to 874 today at Walsh Intermediate School; and from 877 in June to 860 today at Branford High School, Hernandez said last week in a presentation to the board.

At the same time, the percentages of English language learners, other special needs students and students who qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches all are holding steady or increasing, he said.

In particular, the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-cost meals has risen from 25 percent in 2014-15 to 35 percent in 2018-19  with a hike of 9 percent just from last year to this year, Hernandez said.

About 90.3 percent of the proposed budget is made up of fixed costs such as salaries, benefits, utilities, tuition and transportation costs, down from 91.4 percent in 2015-16, Hernandez told the board.

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com
WASHINGTON  When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced her first bill, the controversial Green New Deal aimed at combatting climate change, three Connecticut lawmakers quickly signed on to be co-sponsors.

But two Connecticut lawmakers have taken a more measured, cautionary approach to the bill GOP conservatives are denouncing as brainless and delusional.

Rep. Jahana Hayes on Friday became the latest Connecticut lawmaker to support the Green New Deal, a controversial proposal by congressional Democrats to combat climate change and promote economic equality.

Representative Hayes understands how critical the issue of climate change is, said Hayes spokesman Jason Newtown.  She evaluated the Green New Deal resolution and has signed on as a cosponsor because she believes in the goals set forth in the resolution.

Newtown also said Hayes plans to continue monitoring the situation as the resolution becomes more specific legislative proposals.

Hayes had previously said she was studying the proposal.

Rep. Jim Himes, D-4, has also not voiced his support for the deal, an aspirational package of proposals that include transitioning the country to 100 percent renewable energy and installing a high-speed rail system to reduce the populations reliance on cars. The new deal resolution also calls for universal health care, a federal job guarantee program, and affordable housing for all.

Reps. John Larson, D-1, Rosa DeLauro, D-3, and Joe Courtney, D-2, co-sponsored Ocasio Cortezs non-binding resolution on the day she introduced it last week.

Climate change isnt something we can kick down the road any longer. We need to take serious measures to address this issue head on, Larson said.

DeLauro said she is a proud co-sponsor of the resolution.

The Green New Deal is a bold framework to make investments in green jobs and green technology  something I have long fought for, DeLauro said. Climate change is a real and urgent problem that Congress must deal with.

DeLauro also slammed the Trump administration for pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, saying we cannot allow climate-deniers to set the agenda any longer.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said Ocasio-Cortezs plan  sponsored by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., in the Senate  sounded like a high school term paper that got a low mark.

McConnell schedules vote

With the election of many younger, more progressive Democrats in last years midterm elections, climate change has become a top issue for Democrats - even as some in the party shy away from the Green New Deal, saying its goal of zero carbon emissions by 2030 is unrealistic.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., praised the enthusiasm for the Green New Deal, but not the proposal itself.

Meanwhile, most Democrats eyeing the White House have embraced the plan.

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., called the Green New Deal a bold plan. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., told supporters she is committed to the entire framework of the proposal. Sen. Elizabeth Warren,D-Mass, co-sponsored the guidelines along with Sen. Bernie Sanders, while Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said he is excited to support the bold action on climate change.

Still, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., hopes to put Senate Democrats on the spot by scheduling a vote on the Green New Deal.

McConnell said that would give everybody an opportunity to go on record and see how they feel about the Green New Deal.

Connecticut Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy are co-sponsors of the Senate version of the deal.

Climate change is the most pressing problem facing our generation, Murphy said. It is already posing a security threat to our nation, and we are feeling its impacts in real time. We need bold ideas if were going to rise to meet this challenge. Im proud to join Senator Markey and Representative Ocasio-Cortez as an original co-sponsor of the Green New Deal.

Murphy, however, told reporters this week that not all Senate Democrats are ready to vote yes on the Green New Deal.

He said members could vote present as a protest of McConnells tactics.

We have a lot of really important things to do to combat climate change, Murphy said. Political stunts are not one of them.

Blumenthal said the Green New Deal is aspirational, but not a dream, as some critics have called it.

If it is a dream, its the American dream, Blumenthal said.
A New Britain man was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison for his role in a cocaine trafficking scheme run out of a Connecticut corrections facility, authorities said.

Orlando Quiros, known as O and Gordo, 42, formerly of New Britain and Suffield, was receiving kilos of cocaine from Puerto Rico through the mail and distributing the drug to others including a Middletown man , federal authorities said.
STAMFORD  Amazons announcement Thursday that it would abandon its plans for a new headquarters in Queens, N.Y., does not pave the way for another Connecticut bid for the much-touted HQ2 project, according to the company. But Gov. Ned Lamont has not given up on the e-commerce giant expanding in the Nutmeg State.

In the wake of the New York City projects demise, Seattle-based Amazon said it would not search for a second HQ2 site to complement its planned campus in Arlington, Va. But that announcement did not dash Lamonts hopes of an Amazon hub in Stamford. The new governors administration had earlier reached out to Amazon, as the New York proposal foundered.

If Amazon is still interested in a comparable facility in the NYC area, HQ2 or similar, Stamford is the place, Lamont said, in part, in a pair of tweets Thursday about the company. Today, we are coordinating with our federal, state and local bipartisan leaders to bring them up to speed on our efforts and ensure we are driving a single CT strategy. We, together as one state, are ready, willing and able to deliver a CT solution to Amazons needs.

Connecticut had bid on HQ2 in October 2017, proposing sites in Stamford and the Hartford area.

No Connecticut cities, however, made the shortlist of 20 areas for HQ2 that Amazon announced in January 2018.

I think the state of Connecticut will make any types of decisions as to whether to pursue this further or not with Amazon, Thomas Madden, Stamfords economic development director, said Thursday.

Lamonts single CT strategy message appeared intended to head off a repeat of 2017 when, in addition to the states application on behalf of Stamford and Hartford, other cities, including Danbury, and Bridgeport and New Haven as one, made their own pitches.

Danbury on Thursday re-posted on its Facebook page its tongue-in-cheek 2017 video pitch to Amazon. The new post asked Amazon to be its valentine.

That was preceded by Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton hinting in a recent interview on The Mack Talks podcast of the possibility of an Amazon initiative in northern Fairfield.

Amazon already has a sizable presence in the state. Last year, it employed about 2,000 in Connecticut, according to the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

It is eligible for up to $20 million in tax credits for its distribution center in North Haven.

Stymied in New York

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had lobbied strongly to land the HQ2 complex.

Along with up to 25,000 jobs, the company had planned to spend $2.5 billion building its new offices in Queenss Long Island City section.

But Amazon faced strident opposition from a number of New York political leaders who objected to tax incentives of up to approximately $3 billion. Critics included U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; New York Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris and New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson.

At the same time, a Quinnipiac University poll released in December found 57 percent of New York City voters support having an Amazon headquarters. But they split on the incentives: 46 percent were in favor, 44 percent opposed them.

A number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City, the company said in a blog post Thursday. We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion  we love New York, its incomparable dynamism, people, and culture  and particularly the community of Long Island City.

The company already has 5,000 employees in the city and plans to grow those teams.

Connecticut state Rep. Caroline Simmons, D-Stamford, who is co-chairwoman of the Commerce Committee, suggested that an HQ2 plan would have been much more favorably received in her state.

Unlike the local representation in New York, we, as local officials, here in Connecticut would welcome Amazon and 25,000 jobs to our state, Simmons said. We know that many hardworking Connecticut families and residents would welcome those jobs as we continue to recover from the recession and are looking to fill jobs.

Amazon also confirmed Thursday that it would proceed with plans to build offices in Arlington, Virginia, and Nashville, Tennessee. The Arlington campus is expected to be the same size as the New York one, with about 25,000 employees. The Nashville office is expected to have 5,000 employees.

While I do hope that Amazon reconsiders and continues it search for a second headquarters, I would also encourage DECD, Stamford and other Connecticut cities to focus recruitment efforts on any company, mid-sized or other, with the potential to take advantage of all we have to offer here in our state, said state Rep. Fred Camillo, R-Greenwich, a member of the Commerce Committee. We must step it up if we are to once again make Connecticut competitive and economically stable.

This article includes reporting from Emilie Munson and the Associated Press.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott
Were not the most misinformed age of the past three centuries, despite whatever you think of president-whisperer Sean Hannity. In September 1726, news reached the court of King George I of the alleged birth of several rabbits to Mary Toft, an illiterate servant in Godalming, England.

The story became a national sensation there, aided by obstetrician John Howard, who was duped into belief as he pulled dead rabbits out of Toft.

Nobody knew what to believe, said Nathan Flis, head of exhibitions and publications for the Yale Center for British Art. And this is a great reflection of the fact that so little was known about the reproductive system at the time. That so many could be hoodwinked.

This strange chapter in gynecological history is part of an exhibit featuring the collection of Dr. William Hunter, a trusted royal physician who was not only a famed anatomist and obstetrician (he delivered 14 of the 15 babies born to George IIIs wife Charlotte) but also arguably the father of the modern museum. More than 370 objects from his wide-raging collection are newly on display at the Yale museum in New Haven, on loan from The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

The rabbit woman hoax is far from the grossest item in the exhibit. Oh, no, no, no. That would involve the drawings, proof plates and a cast plaster model (in color!) depicting dissections of a gravid, or pregnant, uterus. It was all part of Hunters research, which he documented meticulously and which set the foundations for advances in obstetrics.

But the plaster model of a female midsection is horizontally displayed (from a, you know, obstetricians view) in a glass case with a near-full-term baby depicted in the womb. And it was the result of pouring plaster over a woman who had died suddenly while late in pregnancy. Hunter would then direct his artists to paint the midsection based on his dissection.

Other drawings on the walls are also quite graphic, as is Hunters landmark book The Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus Exhibited in Figures.

Perhaps this room should come with a warning label: Not for the squeamish.

At a preview of the exhibition on Feb. 12, lead curator Mungo Campbell, who is deputy director of The Hunterian in Scotland, said that learning about medicine in that era was changing from just reading to seeing the bodys processes depicted, using art to capture and convey that knowledge. So art and anatomy were very much linked.

You learned by doing, Campbell said. One of the things that was changing was the making of objects of communicative tools. So conducting dissections and successfully preserving these things, and a culture of communicating (such information) was deeply embedded.

Hunter worked for most of his career in London, becoming professor of anatomy of the new Royal Academy, where he had access to the anatomical drawings of Italian Leonardo da Vinci from two centuries before. But in a world with no photography or computer graphics, Hunter saw the need to preserve (and interpret) the visuals of this growing field of obstetrics  as teaching tools.

There are other nods to dark realities of the 18th century. Men in the patriarchal society were gaining influence in the midwifery field via new tools, such as the forceps (a model of which is displayed here)  used sometimes to brutally extract stillbirths threatening a womans life. But Hunter became reluctant to use that tool and developed a practice that was less interfering.

The fact that the fated woman who served as Hunters model for his gravid uterus cast was quite possibly poor is among the problematic questions about it and spurred a lot of thought, said Hunterian curator Maria Dolores Sanchez-Jauregui  because we have to keep in mind the context but we also are now in the 21st century and there are many issues that we have to address with this cast.

While the graphic object was previously displayed vertically, it is horizontal in the YCBA exhibit because thats how Hunter would have used it to teach students, she said.

Still, Yale and Hunterian curators were so concerned about the casts graphic nature (which we are not depicting here) and its subject possibly being a marginalized person in society that they had various conversations about the possible ethical problems with displaying such objects, and such drawings, too, said YCBAs Flis.

Community members were consulted and Flis felt he had to defend Hunters 18th-century work from many angry voices. The result: The museum solicited four contemporary artists to add their counterpoint art to the room in question, to address all these complex issues about marginalized bodies, or the possibility of (that), said Flis.

That ambitious result, including a Tejo on the floor (a sort of Spanish hopscotch) with small impressions from cadavers, is a bit obscure and perhaps a bridge too far, or it takes more study than is convenient in a casual visit. But back to the 18th century.

Hunter learned a lot from James Douglas, a suave doctor who attended to Queen Caroline who was given a royal grant to study female maladies. (Hes also the man who gets Mary Toth to confess to the rabbit hoax.) And he had items  such as leg bones on display here  that added to knowledge and ended up in Hunters collection.

Hunter collected other artwork from old masters (probably informative to his students in some way), including a Rembrandt sketch of Christs entombment and Reubens Head Study of an Old Man with Beard. But there are also collected minerals, beetles, mastodon bones from America, ancient coins and metals that sparked his interest and are displayed in this exhibit running through May 20.

The YCBAs third-floor exhibit is a logical follow-up to the previous Enlightened Princesses exhibit in 2017, featuring a few of the same characters. There is a good deal of classic art (the always-stunning animal paintings of George Stubbs are represented, too) and some intriguing historical objects. The medical art and craft, however, may be best appreciated by medical historians and practitioners.

jamarante@nhregister.com; @Joeammo on Twitter
A proposed bill that would streamline Connecticuts craft beer and spirits industry is getting mixed reviews.

While it would add new taxes, the proposal would cut the number of permits needed to get off the ground and increase the amount of beer and liquor breweries could sell to customers and stores.

We are excited to see the introduction of bills that influence our craft beer industry in a positive way, and are eager to continue our conversations, working closely with our partners across the industry and the leaders in place to make positive, constructive and modernizing changes, read a statement on the Connecticut Brewers Guild Facebook page.

Modernized industry

Though there are points to the bill that have garnered concern like a new excise tax on beer sold in taprooms  representatives of the Brewers Guild said they see plenty of things worth keeping.

We did see a lot of good things coming out of that bill, and there are some things that we want to keep that is in there, said Phil Pappas, executive director for the guild.

The bill would reduce the number of manufacturing permits required for all facets of the craft spirits industry from five to one, which bodes well especially for brewers getting started.

Those permits were introduced in the earlier days of the states craft beer market, he said, explaining the craft beer market began taking off in Connecticut in 2012. The industry has naturally changed since then, so I think its important for us to always keep a finger on the pulse regarding what we are doing with our business.

Since its start, the industry has thrived, going from roughly a dozen to more than 85 operational breweries this yearwith more on the way.

The bill will also significantly increase the amount that brewers would be able to sell. If passed, the limit on sales for off-premise consumption would jump from nine liters to 23 per day.

A component of the bill would also allow big box stores to sell beer in the main part of the store.

If passed, the proposed bill would allow the sale of beer in a store with over 6,000 square feet of floor space (and) at least 20 percent of which is dedicated to the sale of groceries.

I think that will create a lot more opportunities for our product to be available to customers for purchase, especially because we believe thats pretty much targeting the Walmart and Targets and capacity stores that we see there, Pappas said. That is exciting for us because we do see the opportunity for the wholesalers and distributers to get our products into more places.

However, expanding the craft market to retailers like Walmart and Target may also create a dilemma for package stores  which traditionally have been the destinations for craft beer and spirits, since the industry took off, said package store lobbyist Caroll Hughes.

Connecticut breweries produced 166,848 barrels of beer in 2017, which resulted in the overall craft beer industry having a $718 million economic impact on Connecticut.

If you allow Walmart (to carry craft beer), you displace our beer sales on (package store) premises and you put them in more financial jeopardy, and right now we are the sales place for most of the Connecticut products, Hughes said.

Along with eating into a package stores bottom line, he said, expanding into the big retail marketplaces could create problems for brewers that may not be able to meet the production demands created by both package stores and big box grocers.

Even if they could meet the demand, Hughes said, the added expense of increased distribution could also be an issue particularly for self-distributing brewers.

This will kill them, he said. They are lucky if they have enough product  many of them  to give it to one or two retail stores on the premises. My package stores say they are lucky if they can get a constant supply.

Consumer options

While industry observers and brewers debate the pros and cons of the bill, craft beer lovers may be indifferent on the matter so long as they can get their local brews.

If this passes, I think its OK, said Dylan McManus of New Haven. If Im in the store already, I would pick up the beer there but if Im just going for a beer run, I would go to a package store.

While he said some may argue to keep liquor and mega-retail stores separate, McManus, along with friend Mike Caiafa of North Haven, acknowledged the benefit of being able to pick up their favorite craft beer while in any size store for necessities.

I think it would be good for stores like Walmart and Target to be able to sell craft beer, Caiafa said. Its just adding to consumer choice, especially if they are already selling beers from larger companies. I think it would be good for there to be more options because some people just see it in passing.

Jordan.grice@hearstmediact.com
The US Navy will pay Boeing $43-million to buy four Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (Robotic submarine drones or XLUUVs).

Boeing based its winning Orca XLUUV design on its Echo Voyager unmanned diesel-electric submersible. The 51-foot-long sub will launch from a pier and can operate autonomously while sailing up to 6,500 nautical miles without being connected to a manned mother ship. Eventually, the Navy could also use the Orca XLUUV for mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, electronic warfare and strike missions, according to a Navy outline of the systems capability development.

The Military Future of AI, Drones and Robotics

It will likely take 10 to 25 years for various kinds of large robotic submarine drones to be proven out. It should not be that difficult for the eventual addition of standard torpedoes and missiles to be added.

China also has artificial intelligence, drone and robotic technical capabilities. This is not an area where the US will be able to develop unchallenged technical dominance.

A mature Robotic drone submarine capability would shift the balance of naval power away from large ships. The trend would be towards the overall quantities of sufficiently deadly single smart weapons.

Robotic drone weapons would bury themselves into the seafloor or on islands and they would deploy in massive smart swarms.

The amount of overall and accumulated manufacturing capacity would be critical to victory.

If AI and technology were improving at a high rate then it would also be important to be able to upgrade AI and robotics at the last minute. This would be an advanced version of Teslas over the air software upgrades.

Submarine Launched Robotic Drones

The Navy is also exploring the possible use of Large Diameter Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (LDUUVs) as another rapid acquisition program. The LDUUV would be a vehicle launched from either a Virginia-class fast attack submarine or from a surface ship. LDUUVs could perform similar missions as the XLUUV, however, the LDUUV would need to remain relatively close to the mother ship instead of operating autonomously like the XLUUV.

Chinas Robotic Submarine Drones

China is developing large, smart and relatively low-cost unmanned submarines according to scientists involved in artificial intelligence (AI) projects. These robotic submarines are expected to be deployed in the early 2020s.

The AI-powered subs are expected to be vastly larger than existing torpedo sized robotic underwater drones.

Torpedos are about 12 feet (4 meters long). The new robotic drones will be 40 feet (13 meters) to 100 feet (32 meters) long. This will be about the size of PT boats or U-boats in WW2.

Lin Yang, marine technology equipment director at the Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences confirmed that China is developing a series of extra-large unmanned underwater vehicles or XLUUVs.

SOURCES- US Navy, Boeing, Lockheed

Written By Brian Wang. Nextbigfuture.com
America is home to so much breathtaking natural beauty, from spectacular lakes and waterfalls to stunning coastlines and national parks. But some of Americas most famous, fabulous landmarks were actually designed and built by humans. These bridges, buildings, churches, castles, college campuses and more are not just the biggest, tallest, hardest to build or most beautiful. On top of that, they have become iconic symbols of their states, drawing in tourists from around the country and even around the world to marvel at their design. Whether theyre loved by locals or lauded by professionals like the American Institute of Architecture, these are the top man-made marvels in every state. (Kaitlin Miller, The Active Times)
My fellow residents, friends and neighbors,

First, thanks for allowing me the opportunity to govern this great state. It doesnt matter to me for whom you voted in November. From the day I was elected, I began focusing on governing the best way I know how  transparently, openly, and in a way that encourages debate, dialogue and discussion on all sides of an issue. Thats why its important that you hear from me directly about my vision for Connecticuts future and how it shapes the budget that I will be submitting to the Legislature in just over a week.

I believe our state is poised for success, with new jobs on the rise, unemployment rates at historic lows, and the growth of established and emerging sectors from wind energy to biotechnology on the horizon. I also believe that delivering on those opportunities requires a sustained commitment to fiscal stability that will allow Connecticut to turn the page on whats been holding it back and give you, your employers, and your local governments the confidence you need to thrive.

We are expected to end the fiscal year with a surplus. While that sounds like great news, I ask you to temper your enthusiasm for a few reasons.

First, our economy has still not fully recovered from the Great Recession more than a decade ago, and we must be prepared for the possibility of another economic downturn.

Second, we cannot allow the fact that we are expecting a surplus and the likelihood of a significant deposit to the Rainy Day Fund lull us into a false sense of security and sap the urgency we need to confront our fiscal crisis head-on. In fact, a significant portion of the anticipated surplus must, as required by the recently enacted volatility cap, be deposited to the Rainy Day Fund and therefore cannot be used to address the budget gap. Although we could use that surplus to balance next years budget, our fixed costs  the true culprits behind our continued deficits  are growing by hundreds of millions of dollars per year. That growth eats into our ability to make much-needed investments in our future- things like a 21st century transportation system, education and workforce and economic development.

These fixed costs are not something that we can simply cut, as they are contractual obligations, similar to your mortgage or credit card debt. So where do we go from here?

In my proposed budget, Ill suggest a path forward to finally address those fixed costs and reduce the rate of increase. Ill also hold the line on the operating budget, while increasing investments in technology which, over time, will streamline our citizens interface with state government and produce real long-term savings. These savings wont happen overnight, but we cant continue to put off to tomorrow what we should have begun a decade ago. People expect an Amazon Prime experience and our state governments capabilities, namely its technology, simply arent there.

In terms of revenue, the sales tax used to be the revenue workhorse, supporting most of our states budget. But today, the sales tax is not applied to the fastest growing sectors of our economy including the digital and service economy. If you go to a store to buy a DVD, you pay sales tax. But if you download that same DVD from a streaming service, you dont. What sense does that make? There are many similar examples in our states current sales tax exemptions list and we need to streamline our system and ensure fundamental fairness. Next week, I plan to start a discussion with the legislature about how we can reform the sales tax without raising rates.

My job on Feb. 20 is to share with you a realistic and thoughtful budget that will jump-start the Connecticut economy, and work for everyone  leaving no one behind. But my proposal is just the beginning of the conversation  not the end. I look forward to sitting down with your legislative representatives, with our friends in labor and business, and with other stakeholders, as we push toward an honestly balanced budget  which we will pass in the light of day and before the end of the legislative session in June.

Our budget will be posted online, and I encourage you to take a look and share your thoughts with my office via email or social media. Over the coming weeks and months, I, the lieutenant governor and key commissioners will also be traveling around the state to talk to you in person about my proposal. We need to hear from you, and so do your legislative representatives. Its my job to make sure that you understand the tenuous reality that we face, as well as the cost of doing nothing at such a critical juncture. But its also my job to make sure we work together to pass a budget that represents and supports the values we hold dear. Lets work together and make our state the place we know it can be.

Teddy Roosevelt once said Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. This is hard work. But its worth it. I look forward to doing it with you.

Ned Lamont is governor of Connecticut.
A special election on Tuesday to fill a vacant seat in the Virginia House of Delegates could be the first sign of how much damage the scandals in Richmond have hurt Democrats.

In an increasingly blue district where Gov. Ralph Northam, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and Attorney General Mark Herring carried nearly 70 percent of the vote in 2017, Democrat Ibraheem Samirah, a 27-year-old dentist, entered the election as a heavy favorite.

But that was before Northam, Herring and Fairfax - all Democrats - became embroiled in allegations of racial or sexual misconduct, and before the same right-leaning website that broke news of those scandals aired old social media posts by Samirah that are critical of Israel.

Now, Republican Gregg Nelson, 63, is calling attention to Samirah's online comments, and trying to link him to the political chaos in Richmond, writing on his own Facebook page: "Racism has no place in our Commonwealth. Especially from individuals in office or seeking office."

The delegate's seat, in a district located mostly in northwestern Fairfax County, became vacant last month, when Democrat Jennifer Boysko was elected to the state Senate to succeed newly sworn-in U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat. Republicans hold a slim majority in the House of Delegates, and Democrats are vying to win control of the chamber this November, when every seat will be on the ballot.

"No doubt about it, the prospects of the Democratic Party in the House and Senate had better odds two weeks ago," said Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. "This special election will give us a sense of how much damage has been done to the Democratic brand."

Samirah, who is Palestinian American, would be the second Muslim elected to Virginia's General Assembly, joining Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke. A resident of Herndon, Samirah has campaigned on expanding affordable health care and public transportation, protecting the environment and pushing for universal prekindergarten.

He has raised $89,000 for his campaign, including a $36,000 loan to himself, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Nelson, a retired Air Force sergeant from Herndon who wants to lower state taxes and boost vocational training in schools, raised $20,300. Also on the ballot is independent Connie Hutchinson, 64, a former Herndon council member who says she would be a bridge builder in the legislature and has raised $2,800.

While in dental school in 2014, Samirah posted on his Facebook page an angry letter by musician Brian Eno about Palestinian civilian deaths caused by Israeli missile strikes in Gaza. The letter saidfunding Israel is like supporting the Ku Klux Klan.

"I'd say worse, but I'll go along with Eno on this one," Samirah wrote above it.

In a different post, after the 2014 death of Ariel Sharon, Samirah wrote that the former Israeli prime minister should "burn a million times for every innocent soul you killed. Hell is excited to have you." He wrote that he wished the same for "our beloved Arab 'leaders' (butchers I should say)."

Samirah apologized for the comments after they were the subject of a story on the Big League Politics website, which days earlier had revealed a racist photo on Northam's medical school yearbook page, and a sexual assault allegation against Fairfax.

"I am so sorry that my ill-chosen words added to the pain of the Jewish community, and I seek your understanding and compassion as I prove to you our common humanity," Samirah said in a statement. He also said his words were taken out of context as part of "a slander campaign."

Republicans say Samirah's posts were anti-Semitic and have likened them to recent comments byRep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who insinuated that American support for Israel is fueled by Jewish money and later apologized for what many saw as an anti-Semitic trope.

"It is alarming how many times we have had to reiterate that racism and bigotry have no home in Virginia," state Republican Party Chairman Jack Wilson said in a statement.

Jack Moline, a rabbi who heads the Interfaith Alliance group in Washington, called Samirah's comments "terrible." But he stopped short of calling Samirah anti-Semitic.

"I take him at his word that he regrets what he did and that he has evolved past those attitudes," said Moline, whose group works to combat religious discrimination.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has demanded that Wexton withdraw her support for Samirah, while the state GOP said House minority leader Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, should do the same. Neither of those officials returned messages.

Kathryn Gilley, a spokeswoman for the House Democratic Caucus, said no Democrats have stopped backing Samirah, although Boysko called his comments "inappropriate."

"I don't think anyone here is speaking in defense of his comments," Gilley said. "We haven't really been able to suss through this, given the nature of this session. He was chosen in the primary process by Democrats in the 86th District, so we'll see what happens on Tuesday and go from there."

Boysko, who had her earlier endorsement of Samirah taken down from his Facebook campaign page, said she still plans to vote for him and is hoping that he will "learn and grow."

Samirah - who as an undergraduate at American University co-founded a chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, a group that advocates for an end to Israeli occupation of the West Bank - said his anger over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza clouded his judgment in making the posts.

"But that doesn't mean I'm anti-Semitic," he said. "As somebody who wants to lead people of all backgrounds going forward, I understand that those emotions in public do not foster good will between all people."

Nelson noted that Northam and Herring are being criticized for donning blackface several decades ago, while Samirah posted his comments in 2014.

"It's a little different than 35 years ago," Nelson said. "I've got to believe it was coming from his heart."
The centerpiece of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's trip around Europe this week is a much-vaunted policy conference in Warsaw. Ahead of it, the top U.S. diplomat told reporters he wanted to talk about "the future of Middle East stability and prosperity."

But the summit, initially designed to show international unity against Iran, is looking more and more like it will reveal the contradictions at the heart of President Trump's policy on the region.

"It is the Iran conference where uttering the word Iran is almost taboo," Politico's David Herszenhorn and Nahal Toosi observed from Warsaw on Wednesday as the two-day conference began. "It is the Middle East peace gathering with utterly no chance of forging peace in the Middle East."

The Washington Post's Carol Morello noted that many countries had signaled they would not be sending their top diplomats to the meeting. "What Pompeo originally billed as a major conference to pressure Iran on its regional influence, missile testing and terrorism is now as likely to be defined by what it is not - and who is not coming," Morello wrote.

Differences over the U.S. approach to Iran explain why many European nations are skeptical of the conference. Trump's decision to pull out of the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement and reimpose sanctions has left its European partners in the deal at odds with Washington. Some feared the United States would take an even more confrontational tone at the gathering this week.

"Squeezing the Tehran regime has become the centerpiece of what passes for Trump's Mideast strategy," Trudy Rubin of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote Feb. 8. "The president and his top officials have made pretty clear their real goal is regime change."

This is a perception Pompeo has sought to counter. "It's not about changing the regime," Pompeo told Voice of America last year. To broaden agreement at the conference in Poland, the U.S. government rearranged the event so that its focus would be on Iran, but also look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the wars in Yemen and Syria.

At the same time, however, Pompeo's mission in Warsaw has been undermined by allies of the Trump administration - and even those within the administration itself.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the president's attorney, was in Warsaw this week, too. He appeared not with the secretary of state but at a rally organized by Mujahideen-e Khalq, or MEK - an Iranian opposition group. "We want to see a regime change in Iran," he told a crowd Wednesday, according to a New York Times report.

Giuliani has ties to the administration, though he is not technically a member of it. But even White House national security adviser John Bolton openly predicted a regime change in Iran before he joined the Trump administration, suggesting it would happen before the end of 2018. Like Giuliani, he has aligned himself with MEK despite that group's lack of support inside Iran and its suspected role in past terrorist attacks.

Bolton has tempered his language since joining the White House, though he still sometimes falls back on old rhetoric. On Monday, for example, the national security adviser released a video that directly addressed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, and suggested that within a few years, his regime may no longer be in power - a message that undercut Pompeo's more cautious tone.

Trump also took to social media to criticize the regime. "The regime in Iran has produced only #40YearsofFailure," he tweeted Monday along with a photograph of an Iranian protester. The photographer who took the award-winning image was furious. "Because of his policies, I, my family, and my friends are forced to live under sanctions that are devastating to our lives," photographer Yalda Moaiery said.

Iranians certainly have reason to be suspicious of the United States and its allies. The New York Times reports that the Trump administration has accelerated a secret American program to sabotage Iran's missiles and rockets - a move that, notably, began while Pompeo was leading the CIA.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, announced a meeting with Arab leaders in Warsaw that would seek to "advance the common interest of combating Iran."

Worse, the same day Pompeo and others met in Warsaw, Iranian state media reported that a suicide attack on Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps had killed at least 40 people. Though the attack was blamed on an al-Qaida-linked group, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested the timing was no accident.

"Is it no coincidence that Iran is hit by terror on the very day that #WarsawCircus begins? Especially when cohorts of same terrorists cheer it from Warsaw streets & support it with twitter bots? US seems to always make the same wrong choices, but expect different results," Zarif tweeted Feb. 13.

The hardening paranoia appears to be affecting even those with reputations as moderates. At an event to mark the 40th anniversary of the Iranian revolution Monday, President Hassan Rouhani gave a speech in which he praised at length the country's military and its ballistic missiles program. Over the past five years, Rouhani said, Iran has assisted Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinians and Yemen, and in that time, Iran's "enemies did not achieve any victory."

The conference in Warsaw may do little to change Rouhani's mind. Rather than project unity on Iran, Pompeo's event highlighted the rifts not only between the United States and Europe, but between different factions of the Trump administration. Widening the scope of the conference draws attention to even more contradictions.

The Trump administration wants to pull out of Syria, contain the Houthi rebels in Yemen and broker peace with Israel and the Palestinians, all while working to squeeze Iran, a powerful force in all three situations. Its criticism of Tehran over its poor human rights record and its foreign interventions stands in contrast to its refusal to push back on its own Gulf allies for similar accusations.

Even now, it's not obvious what the U.S. vision of a "better, more stable Middle East" would look like. But one thing is clear: Pompeo won't find it in Poland.

- - - Taylor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. Originally from London, he studied at the University of Manchester and Columbia University.
A man who was being let go from his job at a manufacturing business went on a shooting rampage at his workplace in Illinois, killing five people dead and five officers injured.

Police identified the gunman as 45-year-old Gary Martin, an employee at the Henry Pratt Co.  which makes valves for industrial purposes  in the city of Aurora, about 40 miles west of Chicago. Police Chief Kristen Ziman said officers arrived within four minutes of receiving reports of the shooting and were fired upon as soon as they entered the 29,000-square-foot manufacturing warehouse. Martin was killed in the shootout with police.

Ziman said Martin was being fired from his job Friday after 15 years with the company. Some of the victims had been present in that termination meeting.

The five victims were identified as human resources manager Clayton Parks; mold operator Russell Beyer; stock room attendant and fork lift operator Vincente Juarez; plant manager Josh Pinkard and Trevor Wehner. Parks, Beyer, Juarez and Pinkard were all employees of Henry Pratt. Wehner was a human resources intern and also a student at Northern Illinois University. Friday was his first day at Henry Pratt.

Five police officers were struck by gunfire while responding to the incident, but their injuries were not life-threatening. Two officers remain hospitalized in stable condition.

"Thank you for your selfless act. Thank you for running towards gunfire and putting your lives in danger to protect those inside the business," Ziman said.

During a Saturday news conference, Ziman revealed Martin had six prior arrests for domestic battery-related counts.



Martin was not supposed to own a gun because of a 1995 aggravated assault conviction in Mississippi, she said, but he obtained one in Illinois in 2014. In January of that year, he applied for a firearms owner identification card, according to Ziman.

In March 2014, he applied to buy a gun from a dealer in Aurora. After a waiting period and passing a background check that did not involve fingerprinting, he bought the gun, she said.

Later that month, he applied for a concealed carry permit, and a fingerprint check led authorities to discover the Mississippi conviction, Ziman said.

The permit was rejected, and Illinois State Police sent him a letter demanding he voluntarily surrender the weapon, but he did not, the chief said. Investigators are trying to determine why he didn't surrender the weapon and whether law enforcement followed up with him to confiscate the gun.

"He was not supposed to be in possession of a firearm," Ziman said.

In addition to the five employees killed, a sixth worker was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. A sixth police officer suffered a knee injury while officers were searching the building.



John Probst, an employee who survived the shooting, told WLS-TV that Martin was "running down the aisle" with a pistol that had a green laser on it.

"As soon as I saw the green thing and heard the shots, we left," said Probst, who's worked at the plant for 40 years. "He started opening up on the room and he was just shooting everybody."

Probst said one of the victims who ran out with his arm bleeding told him Martin "went ballistic."

It took about 90 minutes after the shooting rampage started to control the situation, police said.



In the aftermath of the shooting, the suburban city is left asking one question, "Why?"

"For so many years, we have seen similar situations throughout our nation and the horrible feeling that we get when we see it on the news. To experience it firsthand, is even more painful," said Aurora Mayor Richard C. Irvin.

Mueller Water Products, Henry Pratt Co.'s parent company, said it's providing help to the affected families.



"Our hearts are with the victims and their loved ones, the first responders, the Aurora community and the entire Mueller family during this extremely difficult time," it said in a statement.

"Our entire focus is on the health and well-being of our colleagues, and we are committed to providing any and all support to them and their families."
A gunman killed five people and wounded five police officers Friday afternoon after opening fire inside of a warehouse in the Chicago suburb of Aurora, Illinois, police say.

Aurora Police Chief Kristin Zimen said the suspected gunman, 45-year-old Gary Martin, was killed in an exchange of fire with police after shooting several employees of the Henry Pratt Co. and officers who rushed to the company's warehouse.

Zimen said during a brief news conference that officers were "fired upon immediately" upon responding to the 29,000-square-foot warehouse at about 1:30 p.m. Central time. Police believe Martin was an employee at the warehouse.

The company had fired Martin on Friday before the shooting, police said.

Police say the five wounded officers were taken to local hospitals, and two were then transferred to trauma centers. A sixth officer suffered a knee injury. Police did not take questions but scheduled a second news conference Friday night. Police did not specify if any others were injured, or how many.

Gabriel Gonzales, an Iraq War Marine veteran who can see the Henry Pratt warehouse from his front yard, said the number of police vehicles, flashing lights and armored cars Friday afternoon were giving him flashbacks.

"When you are a combat zone, you expect it," said Gonzales. "I've never seen this many police officers anywhere."

He was watching his grandchildren, who were mesmerized by the activity unfolding through the window, and worrying about their brother Anthony, whose school was put under lock down.

"My grandson had a school lock down at 8 years old. I mean, can you believe that?" Gonzalez said. "Back when I was a kid, it was just tornadoes."

At the news conference, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin said the shooting marked "a sad day in the city."

"For so many years we've seen similar situations throughout our nation," he said. "To experience it firsthand is even more painful."

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, D, lauded the efforts of law enforcement officers and first responders before lamenting the "epidemic of gun violence that continues to ravage so many communities."

The victims' families, he said, "join a group that should not exist, yet continues to grow."

Tiffany Probst, 38, a legal assistant, said her best friend saw a post on Facebook about the shooting and started texting "that your dad might be inside!"

Her father, John, has worked as a machinist in the building for more than 40 years. He has three grown children and has five grandchildren. She raced down to the warehouse but was blocked by police.

"I knew there was no way to call him because he's old-school and never has a cellphone," she said. But then she heard from friends that her father was giving television interviews and talking with the police.

"He's safe and talking to the news," she said. "He's not much of a talker, but when it comes to this, I can tell by his voice he's real shaken up. We are looking forward to giving him a hug."

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., tweeted Friday that she was following the situation. "This is a scary, sad day for all Illinoisans and Americans," Duckworth wrote. "Thank you to the brave first responders who risked their lives this afternoon and apprehended the shooter."

"My heart breaks for Aurora," Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., tweeted. "I'm tracking updates on the situation with my staff. Thank you to the members of law enforcement who are responding to the emergency."

Nancy Caal, who works at Erwin's Truck Repair near the scene of the shooting, told The Post that she heard the din of sirens as police cars and ambulances rushed to the building behind hers.

She and two others put the shop on lockdown when they saw armed officers heading toward the adjacent Henry Pratt warehouse.

News reports of an active shooter there confirmed their fears shortly after.

"We are kind of nervous," Caal said. "It looks like something big is going on out there."

- - -

The Washington Post's Mark Berman and Julie Tate contributed to this report.
DANBURY  The already-stuffed city public schools are expected get even more crowded as the districts 16 consecutive years of growth shows no signs of slowing, according to a new study released this week.

Total enrollment  which now stands at 11,500 students  has increased 5.7 percent over the last five years and an almost unprecedented 13.2 percent in the past decade.

Only a handful of other school districts have grown while the states overall student population has dropped during the past 15 years and none have grown at a steady rate like Danbury, data shows.

You are definitely an unusual outlier in the state in terms of the rate of your growth and now how long its gone on, consultant Rebecca Augur told school board members this week. Its not just a blip, youre continuing on this trajectory.

The conclusions confirm school leaders biggest fears: The district could be within just five years of bursting at the seams, its campuses overflowing with students without space for new rooms or concrete plans to add a new school to handle the growth.

Based on these numbers, in seven years, were looking at an increase of population the same size as one of our largest elementary schools, school board chairman Pat Johnston said. Were looking at 600 more kids. Thats a whole new Park Avenue School.

The immense growth follows a red-hot real estate and rental market filled with high-density neighborhoods and even more new homes and apartments coming online every few months, concludes Augur, a principal planner at Milone and MacBroom. Augurs analysis included matching the number of new students in the district over the past three years to home sales and new construction during that time, establishing multipliers for each type of housing to determine how many new students a certain kind of home or apartment could produce.

The analysis showed the older and lower-priced apartments closer to the middle of the city are producing more children than the new, higher-priced apartments and homes like Sterling Woods condos.

But more expensive and smaller apartments are still producing new students for the district, such as the 15 children who live at the downtown Kennedy Flats, which officials had predicted would add no new children, Augur and Johnston pointed out.

With hundreds of new units still on the way, the hot housing market and extremely low rental vacancy rate make it almost certain the student population will continue to boom, Augur said. Even the lowest likely projections contemplate a flat student population, instead of the dropping enrollment other districts are experiencing, she said.

Were hesitant to say it can get much higher, theyre at almost historic positives right now, Augur said.

More Information Enrollment at Danbury Public Schools is expected to increase as much as 500 students over the next six school years, according to projections prepared for the district. 2018-19: 11,532 2019-20: 11,645 2020-21: 11,668 2021-22: 11,740 2022-23: 11,816 2023-24: 11,903 2024-25: 12,033 See More Collapse

All of those factors mean the district is expected to grow to about 12,000 students in the next five years.

In that time, Danbury High School could swell to almost 3,500 students  the absolute maximum capacity for what is already the largest high school in the state, even after the new $50 million addition to the campus this year.

We are becoming more and more an urban area and theres going to be a lot of growing pains that come with that, whether we want them or not, school board member Emanuela Palmares said.

That leaves school leaders pondering the need for an entirely new school, let alone what they consider to be lackluster funding from the state, they said.

The school boards facilities committee will discuss the need and the options to use space in existing school and city buildings.

Its really a necessity at this point, Palmares said of increased state and city funding. We have amazing growth in our city, which causes super-sized growth, quite frankly, in our schools. We cant count that as positive without having to look at how were going to support that growthwhen it comes to these kids becoming future leaders of Danbury.

zach.murdock@hearstmediact.com
RIDGEFIELD  A rally against Senate Bill 454  the proposal to consolidate school districts in towns with fewer than 40,000 residents  will be held in front of Ridgefield's Town Hall from 10 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 23.

Ridgefield resident Liz Floegel is organizing the event, which has been dubbed the hands off our schools initiative. It's expected to draw protesters from neighboring towns, including Wilton and Redding.

The hands off our schools initiative is an informal group formed to oppose forced regionalization and other bills that reduce local education control across Connecticut," Floegel said.

Regionalization has been met with opposition in Ridgefield. State Rep. John Frey and Board of Education chairwoman Margaret Stamatis have each been vocal against State Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looneys bill.

Stamatis said the board has written a letter to Rep. Frey and Rep. Kenneth Gucker (D-138) and State Sen. Will Haskell. In addition, they plan to attend a public hearing on regionalization that will take place before March 20. The location and time of that hearing is unknown.

Where possible the Ridgefield BOE will continue to work with other towns to reduce the costs to taxpayers for the services that are required by our students, the board wrote in its letter to Ridgefields state representatives. It would be beneficial to students if the legal constraints and obstacles that have arisen from prior legislation were reduced to allow mutual benefit via cooperation.

We urge you to reject these bills as they will have an adverse impact on the States public education system, the letter concluded.

A petition against SB 454 has gathered nearly 6,000 signatures as of Friday.

For more information on the Feb. 23 rally, visit the Hands Off Our Schools Facebook page.
NEW FAIRFIELD  Investigators found glaring inconsistencies in an Oakville mans description of the events that led to a Waterbury teachers death on Candlewood Lake last summer, according to a police report released Friday.

Gary Morrone, 66, now faces a new charge of criminally negligent homicide for his role in the death of Wanda Tirado, who died after police say she was struck by the propeller of Morrones pontoon boat on June 19 near Squantz Cove.

Morrone has pleaded not guilty to the new charge and two others for first-degree reckless boating and failure to report a boating accident, States Attorney Stephen J. Sedensky said.

Attorney David Grudberg, who is representing Morrone, has not yet received the full packages of reports from prosecutors and declined to comment when reached Friday.

The new report by the Environmental Conservation Police details for the first time officers interactions with Morrone in the hours after the accident.

Emergency personnel in New Fairfield were dispatched to the lake about 2:15 p.m. June 19 for reports that a man and an injured woman had been pulled from the lake by a Good Samaritan who had spotted both in the water a few minutes apart.

The other boater, whose name has been redacted from the report, initially helped the man later identified as Morrone back onto his pontoon boat with the slogan Just 4 Play emblazoned on the stern.

The other boater told police Morrone then left the scene in his boat and about five minutes later found the woman, Tirado, face down in the water. The other boater also told investigators Morrone had smelled of alcohol when he came out of the water, police said.

Rescue personnel performed CPR on Tirado, but they found significant traumas to her right arm and head consistent with injuries of a propeller strike, according to the report.

Officers tried to find Morrone but discovered he had docked his boat at Echo Bay Marina and left the lake, police said.

Morrone arrived at the Danbury Hospital emergency room more than an hour later and spoke with police, although the marina is only 15 minutes from the hospital, Officer Patrick Kiely noted in the report.

Kiely also noted glaring inconsistencies in Morrones explanation that he had been swimming with Tirado when his pontoon boat began to drift away from them. He also said he saw Tirado taken away by an emergency boat, the report said.

In a written statement, Morrone said he heard Tirado yell for help, walked around on the boat to find her and then jumped into the water to help her.

Its impossible for someone to jump into the water if they are already swimming in the water, Kiely wrote.

Morrone was arrested by state troopers outside the emergency room that night and later released on a $10,000 bond.

Tirado was remembered by friends last year as a selfless teacher and mother who loved Christmas and dancing. She is survived by two daughters, a teenager and a toddler.

Josefina Rodriguez Robles, Tirados mother, filed a civil lawsuit last summer, demanding $1.5 million from Morrone. That lawsuit is pending and the next hearing is scheduled for March 6.

At the time of her death, my daughter was only 38 years old with two young children who depended on her for love and financial support, Robles wrote in an affidavit as part of the lawsuit.

Criminally negligent homicide and reckless boating are both misdemeanor charges and failure to report an accident is an infraction.

Prosecutors added the negligent homicide charge this month after EnCon concluded its investigation and has dropped one of its original charges about a boating collision, since only one boat was involved, Sedensky said Friday. Court records had not been updated as of Friday afternoon to reflect the new charge, Sedensky confirmed.

A pre-trial conference in the criminal case is scheduled for next month.

zach.murdock@hearstmediact.com
NEWTOWN  For two months, the towns top elected leader argued in vain that the law firm representing the school board should not also be representing a developer that is suing Newtown.

First Selectman Dan Rosenthal said Newtowners shouldnt have to pay Hartford-based Shipman & Goodwin $250,000 to represent the Board of Education while also spending money to defend a lawsuit brought by the same firm.

Now it turns out that taxpayers wont have to.

The law firm is no longer representing a developer that sued Newtowns Water and Sewer Authority in August over a decision that would restrict a residential development on Church Hill Road.

The reason: the developer dropped the firm.

One of their attorneys that had been with us since the beginning left the firm, so we asked them to withdrawal from our case, developer Serge Papageorge said Friday. I told them, We think it is better for us to seek new counsel.

Managing partners at Shipman & Goodwin could not be reached for comment.

Alan Lieberman, a managing partner, referred questions to Anne Littlefield, partner and general counsel, who did not return messages on Thursday and Friday.

Timothy Hollister, an attorney with Shipman & Goodwin who represented Papageorge, confirmed on Friday that Papageorge had dropped the firm.

From the beginning, the situation was complicated for the law firm, which represents 100 school boards across the state, and also has a substantial land use practice in Connecticut.

In letters to Newtown, Littlefield defended the law firms right to represent both the towns Board of Education and a developer suing Newtown by saying school boards were separate enough entities from municipalities that there was no conflict of interest.

The matter was headed for a showdown on Tuesday, when Rosenthal planned to speak publicly with the school board about firing Shipman & Goodman.

On Friday, Rosenthal said that meeting was no longer necessary.

They withdrew from the case, so I notified the Board of Education chairman that I do not intend to appear at the Feb. 19 meeting, Rosenthal said. You cant represent the town and sue the town.

The resolution does not mean that the developer has dropped his lawsuit over plans to build 175 apartments on Church Hill Road.

Papageorge said he wanted to work with the town, however, to reach an agreement.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
Trump  there is no other way of saying it  is a liar. He constantly distorts facts, overestimates his actions and degrades achievements from any other quarter for fear his spotlight would be shared. The treatment of our allies makes no sense. If the U.S. is being so taken advantage of in trade, aid or NATO, why not address the issue in a civilized manner? Embarrassing our ally leaders on the world stage does little to promote dialogue on any issue. It is an embarrassment to our country as well.
For almost eight decades, Harpers in Fairfield has been a destination for womens fashion in Fairfield County. Now its run is over.

Owner Jerry Gold is preparing to close the store for good on Tuesday.

Weve always had next year up until this one, when I said Im tired, Gold said. Im tired and I want to take it easy  I want to go out on top. Things are good, Im feeling fairly well for my age and  its a good time.

In an age when traditional retail and mom and pop businesses have struggled to maintain a presence, Harpers has bucked the trend and continued to attract customers with its inventory of furs and high-end fashion.

The store was once Harper's Furs on the corner of Cannon and Broad streets in downtown Bridgeport, when the founders first opened the store 79 years ago. Gold purchased and eventually moved the retailer to 1871 Black Rock Turnpike.

While Gold doesnt take credit for the entirety of that success, he said he has tried to build on the brand he acquired in 35 years ago by focusing on connecting with customers and providing a selection of high-quality products.

More Business Business New business aims to bring Bridgeport youth vintage clothing

Weve tried to do all the right things, he said. We always try to do something to make it more exciting. Some things worked, and some things didnt work.

As fashion trends have ebbed and flowed over the years, Harpers evolved along with it, adding spring clothing, jewelry and other accessories as the demand by customers increased.

Even when adapting to tastes and trends, the store never lost its roots, maintaining its sale of furs  demand of which has surged because of Connecticuts harsh winters, Gold said.

Lasting 79 years in the retail business doesnt just rely on inventory, however; Gold said the store has become a destination because of its staff and community atmosphere.

Anybody that shops at Harpers and knows Harpers for the staff, he said.

Thats what ultimately pulled employee Cale Lubchansky into the fold almost 15 years, she said.

She shopped at the store for years before taking a seasonal position.

I never left, she said. This is the best job Ive ever had in my whole life. Its a family here  the employees, the owners, and the customers.

With closure on the horizon, Harpers staff have been busier than ever with customers making purchases and coming to say their farewells to the staff, Gold said.

Its time, he said. People are coming in here left and right. People are purchasing, which is wonderful, but even people who arent purchasing are coming in just to say goodbye and thank me for all the years  Its been a wonderful run and Im very happy.

Jordan.grice@hearstmediact.com
New Delhi:

Israel on Friday said that we condemn the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district. We stand by our Indian friends during this difficult hour and send our deepest condolences to CPRF and their families, people of India and the Indian government following the terrible Kashmir terror attack, Israel's Ambassador to India, Ron Malka said. In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a suicide bomber from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district on Thursday, killing at least 42 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.



ALSO READ | US condemns Pulwama attack, calls on countries to deny safe haven to terrorists



Reports suggest that there were nearly 70 vehicles in the convoy in which around 2500 personnel were traveling. "Senior officers at the spot, the investigation is underway. Injured being taken care of. There were 2500 personnel in the convoy," CRPF DG RR Bhatnagar had said.

Earlier, Pakistan called the attack a matter of grave concern" even as it strongly rejected Indian media and government's allegations of the country's link to the strike "without" probe.



Meanwhile, India slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

The Indian government condemns in the strongest possible terms the cowardly terrorist attack on India's brave security forces in Pulwama, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

This heinous and despicable act has been perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation proscribed by the UN and other countries, it said.



ALSO READ | Pulwama Terror Attack | Modi govts Cabinet Committee on Security to meet in Delhi



This terror group is led by the international terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by the Pakistani government to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under Pakistan's control and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity, the MEA said.



Countries from across the globe also condemned the terror attack in Pulwama, with global leaders like the US, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India in combating the menace of terrorism.

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Assuming Trump follows through on his threat, he likely faces a court challenge. Legal scholars have said that declaring an emergency could give the White House authority to divert the U.S. military from other construction projects to work on Trumps wall. But there is no statutory definition of emergency, and the laws that may empower Trump to sidestep Congress dont give him carte blanche. There are technical requirements that must be met in order for the military to put aside other construction duties to build a wall.
Islamabad:

In a tit-for-tat move, Pakistan summoned India's high commissioner on Thursday to lodge a protest over the summoning of its envoy in New Delhi following Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's telephonic conversation with a separatist Kashmiri leader and maintained that it would continue to extend support to the people of Kashmir.

India's Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale Wednesday summoned Pakistan's envoy Sohail Mahmood in New Delhi and categorically told him that Qureshi's telephonic conversation with separatist Kashmiri leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was a "brazen attempt" to subvert India's unity and violate its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Ministry of External Affairs, in a late evening statement, said the Pakistan High Commissioner was "cautioned" that persistence of such behaviour by Pakistan will have "implications".

In Islamabad, Pakistan's Foreign Office Spokesperson Mohammad Faisal on Thursday said that Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua summoned Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria to lodge a protest over the summoning of Pakistan's envoy.

Foreign Secretary Janjua made it clear to Bisaria that Pakistan would continue to extend support to the people of Kashmir, he said.

She stressed that the status of Jammu and Kashmir is internationally accepted as "disputed territory and Pakistan will continue to support Kashmiris in their just struggle for right to self-determination", Faisal said.

Faisal also said that summoning of Pakistani envoy late last night is just a "political gimmickry and electioneering". The Foreign Office in a statement issued Wednesday midnight said that Pakistan "categorically rejects the objections" by India.

The leadership in Pakistan has always been communicating with the Kashmiri leadership, the statement said. "This is not anything new," it said.

"We would like to reiterate that Kashmir is an outstanding dispute between India and Pakistan, and acknowledged as such through UN Security Council resolutions as well as numerous Pakistan-India documents including the Simla Agreement and Lahore Declaration," it said.

The Indo-Pak ties strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based terrorists in 2016 and India's surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The ties further nose-dived in 2017 with no bilateral talks talking place between them.

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Lahore:

Pakistans jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is serving a seven-year sentence in a corruption case, was on Friday shifted to a leading hospital here for cardiac treatment. Sharif, 69, was brought to the Jinnah Hospital from the high security the Kot Lakhpat jai. The Punjab home department has declared the private ward of the hospital a sub-jail for the duration of Sharifs stay there, officials said.

The ousted premier was shifted back to jail on February 7 after undergoing treatment for six days at the Services Hospital where a multi-disciplinary medical board examined him and unanimously opined that he needs some kind of cardiac intervention.

Subsequently, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party supremos personal physician Adnan Khan had requested the Punjab government to provide round-the-clock expert cardiac care to Sharif at a facility where cardiology intervention and multidisciplinary backup would be available.

Accepting the request, the Punjab Home Department accorded sanction for shifting of high-profile National Accountability Bureau convicted prisoner Sharif from central jail to Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, for medical treatment for minimum required period.

Also Read | Pulwama Attack: US tells Pakistan to immediately end support to all terrorist groups

The PML-N has been demanding shifting of Sharif to London for his treatment. The PML-N has also submitted a resolution in the Punjab Assembly demanding that Sharif should be shifted to London as he always had undergone cardiac treatment there and the doctors knew his medical history.

But a medical board here declared that Sharif could be treated in any specialised cardiac health facility in Pakistan.

After examining all results of his tests, the medical board has reached a unanimous decision that Sharif needs some kind of cardiac intervention. For the purpose he should be shifted to a cardiac institute, the head of the medical board at the Services Hospital, Professor Dr Mahmood Ayaz, had said.

He said Sharif had heart issues because of his previous history of some diseases, including high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney problem.

Also Read | Donald Trump to declare national emergency to build US-Mexico border wall

Dr Ayaz further said: According to the findings of the board, Sharif is facing some problems in blood supply of heart veins that must be addressed by cardiac specialists. We had engaged some cardiac specialists from the Punjab Institute of Cardiology who examined the patient and his test reports and suggested little change in Sharifs medicines.?

Sharif has been behind the bars since December 24, 2018, after an accountability court convicted him in one of the three corruption cases filed under the direction of the Supreme Court.

On Thursday Sharifs younger brother and PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif got bail from high court in two corruption cases.

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New Delhi:

In the wake of suicide attack on a CRPF convoy by Jaish-e-Mohammad, that killed a day after 40 CRPF jawans, the government has decided that the civilian movement will be stopped for some time when a large convoy of security forces passes through an area in Jammu and Kashmir, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday. Civilians will face a little difficulty, we apologise for it, he added. Singh said civilian traffic will be restricted on highways and major roads in the state during the movement of convoys of army and security forces.

In a veiled reference to separatists and hardline Hurriyat Conference leaders, Singh also said the security given to people getting funds from Pakistan and its snooping agency ISI should be reviewed.

"Civilian traffic movement will be restricted for some time during movement of army and security forces convoys," he told reporters after a high-level security review meeting in Srinagar.

The Home Minister is on a visit to Jammu and Kashmir following the worst terror attack on security forces in the state in the past three decades.

"Some elements in Jammu and Kashmir have links with the ISI and terrorist organisation. We will win decisive war against terrorism," he said.

He said he has instructed the state government to ensure communal harmony. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying CRPF personnel from Jammu to Srinagar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said those responsible for the attack will pay "a very heavy price" and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely punished.

(With PTI inputs)

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New Delhi:

India has withdrawn "Most Favoured Nation" or MFN status accorded to Pakistan after an attack on CRPF convoy killed 44 jawans in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district. The decision was taken in a meeting attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley at the CCS meeting at Prime Minister Narendra Modis residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir.



ALSO READ | Pulwama Attack Impact: India withdraws Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan



What is MFN status?



Most favoured nation (MFN) is the level of treatment accorded by one state to another in international trade. It is basically accorded to ensure non-discriminatory trade between all partner countries of the WTO. The WTO is the only global international organisation dealing with the rules of trade between nations. In the first agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), it is mentioned that a country which provides MFN status to another country has to provide concessions, privileges, and immunity in trade agreements. The primary purpose of the WTO is to open trade for the benefit of all.



It leads to equal treatment amongst countries and ensures a more stable, predictable, reliable and competitive international trade.



India and Pakistan have no formal bilateral trade agreement. India granted the MFN status to Pakistan in the year 1996. SAARC countries, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are members of WTO and except Pakistan, these countries have extended MFN status to India.



ALSO READ | Pulwama Terror Attack: 5 questions Modi govt must answer on biggest intelligence disaster



On January 4, 2018, the junior External Affairs Minister had told Rajya Sabha in a written reply: Presently, no proposal to review Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan is under consideration. India has accorded Most Favoured Nation Status to all WTO members, including Pakistan, in accordance with provisions of Article 1 of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 1994. It is unfortunate that Pakistan has not fulfilled its international obligations in this regard, so far."

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Washington:

The US on Friday strongly condemned the terror attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Kashmir's Pulwama district and called on all countries to deny safe haven and support for terrorists. In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a Jaish suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 42 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

Condemning the terror strike, the US State Department said in a statement that it was resolutely committed to working with the Indian government to combat terrorism in all its forms.

"The US condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack today on an Indian Central Reserve Police Force convoy in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino said and extend his deepest condolences to the deceased paramilitary personnel and their families.

The UN designated, Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed responsibility for this heinous act. We call on all countries to uphold their responsibilities pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions to deny safe haven and support for terrorists, Palladino said.

US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster also condemned the attack and tweeted, The US Mission in India strongly condemns today's terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm.

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New Delhi:

Adil Ahmad Dar was in his SUV waiting in one of the service lanes linking local villages to the crucial Jammu-Srinagar Highway also known as NH1A. At 3:15 pm, Dar drove in full speed and rammed his explosive-laden Scorpio into the 70-truck convoy of CRPF personnel. Within moments, 20 jawans died on the spot. The powerful blast was heard 12 km away with bodies scattered on the highway. The 22-year-old also known as "Adil Ahmad Gaadi Takranewala" and "Waqas Commando of Gundibagh" carried out the most-deadliest attack since Uri.

Though the CRPF maintains that the SOP or standard operating procedures were followed, the attack exposes the disturbing trend of Fidayeen or suicide attacks returning to Jammu and Kashmir after a long time. It was in 1990s that such attacks were carried out by terror groups.

On November 3, 1999, Fidayeen attacked the Army Corps headquarters in Badami Bagh, Srinagar, in which Major Pramod Purshottam, a popular office was killed.

The major -- the first senior officer of the Indian Army killed in a fidayeen attack -- died while trying to save lives of three journalists who had come to meet him.

Before this, the first-ever such attack took place in Bandipoora in Jammu and Kashmir on a BSF camp in which a deputy inspector general and four security personnel were killed.

Two years later, on February 9, 2001a police control room was attacked at Batmaloo in Srinagar by Lashkar-e-Tayibas fidayeen squad. One policeman was killed and eight others were injured. Until then, the terrorists had been attacking the Indian Army or the BSF, but never the J&K Police.

Just six days after 9/11 attacks, fidayeen attack was carried out on September 17, 2001. This time, the target was the J&K police's elite Special Operations Group. Fidayeen stormed the SOG camp at Handwara in northern Kupwara district around midnight and killed nine policemen.

Then it was Uri attack in which 18 troopers were killed on September 18, 2016.

With Pulwama, the terrorists are back with fidayeen modus operandi. What is worrying is that this sort of lone-wolf attack needs minimal training and has potential of maximum damage. World over, from days of Oklahoma to Champs-Elysees attack in Paris, this type of attacks remains a big issue for security forces. Also, it must be kept in mind that Adil Ahmad Dar was just a 22-year-old Pulwama resident, who successfully managed to transport such a huge amount of explosive. Also, the civilian movement on the NH1A means that anyone can be a suspect. Its a double-edged sword. The security forces need to be cautious without curtailing the civic liberty.

If any suitable action is not taken, it will only embolden the terrorists. After all, the attack happened just 30 km from capital Srinagar. The Indian Air Force base of Awantipur is also nearby. India needs to restrategize its security operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

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New Delhi:

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has attacked Pakistan for the terror attack in the Pulwama district. Earlier, Pakistan had denied any role in the attack. Pakistan is talking nonsense. The terrorists are holding open rallies in Pakistan, saying we will do something and openly threatening India, Satya Pal Malik said. "Stone pelting has stopped, so it wanted to do something. We have alerted all installations and cantonments as Pakistan may do something else, he said. At least 42 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 350 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district that also left many critically wounded.



ALSO READ | Pulwama Terror Attack: 5 questions Modi govt must answer on biggest intelligence disaster

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be arriving in Jammu and Kashmir today. I will be leaving for the wreath laying ceremony of the martyrs in Kashmir. We will hold a review meeting with top security and intelligence officials. We will find out where the lapses occurred, Satya Pal Malik said.



Reports suggest that there were nearly 70 vehicles in the convoy in which around 2500 personnel were traveling. "Senior officers at the spot, the investigation is underway. Injured being taken care of. There were 2500 personnel in the convoy," CRPF DG RR Bhatnagar had said.



"The governor has urged all commanders of security forces to enhance surveillance on every front and directed the district and divisional civil and police administration to immediately review the security of all important installations and establishments, an official spokesman said.



ALSO READ | Pulwama Terror Attack: Know about Jaish-e-Mohammed's chief Maulana Masood Azhar



Malik has expressed sympathy to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives and prayed for the speedy recovery of all the injured persons.



The terror attack has drawn international condemnation. Countries from across the globe condemned the attack with nations such as the US, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India.

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New Delhi:

As many as 42 CRPF jawans were killed and dozens of others injured after an SUV with 350 kg of explosives hit a bus carrying the personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday. The vehicle was blown up by an improvised explosive device or IED explosion on Srinagar-Jammu highway in the Awantipora area of the district, a police official said, adding that the exact number of the deceased is yet to be ascertained. After 2016 Uri terror attack, this is considered to be the deadliest terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir in nearly two decades. The incident occurred at Lethpora on the Srinagar-Anantnag highway followed by gunshots aimed at the security forces in Pulwama district.

Here are the LIVE updates:

12.00 am: Britain has issued travel advice asking visitors to refrain from travelling to Srinagar and between Jammu and Srinagar on the national highway.

10.43 pm: The response of the international community in condemning this barbarous attack in one voice will strengthen our resolve to fight this menace, says former President Pranab Mukherjee.

10.41 pm: I'm extremely pained by this act of inhumanity perpetrated by terrorists. In this hour of grief, we must stand together as a nation. The united front put up by political parties and politicians across the spectrum is a sight of that unity, says ex-President Pranab Mukherjee.

10.40 pm: All prior commitments of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for tomorrow and day after tomorrow have been cancelled. She will go to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to pay last respects to the CRPF jawans of the two states who lost their lives in Pulwama attack.

9.50 pm: Mortal remains of CRPF jawans are to be kept in AIIMS mortuary.

9.23 pm: NIA team, along with explosives and forensic experts, have collected materials required for forensic evaluation of the scene of the crime. Considering the status, the team would continue with a sifting of material tomorrow too. The outcome would be made known after analysis is over.

9.22 pm:

J&K: A candlelight march, organised by Ladakh Buddhist Association, was taken out in Leh earlier today in protest against #PulwamaAttack. pic.twitter.com/QvsA04QwA6  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

8.55 pm: Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh has announced a government job to the next of the kin of the four Pulwama martyred CRPF soldiers from the state, along with Rs 12 lakh of financial assistance to each family.

8.50 pm: Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale met Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui separately during the meeting today over Pulwama Attack. The Foreign Secretary spoke on Jaish-e-Mohammed and Pakistan. He also mentioned the matter of listing of Masood Azhar by UNSC.

8.48 pm: PM Modi leaves Palam airport after paying tribute to CRPF jawans.

8.40 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi lays wreath on the mortal remains of the CRPF jawans.

8.38 pm: PM Modi reaches Palam airport to pay tribute to CRPF jawans.

8.32 pm:

Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal lay wreaths on the mortal remains of the CRPF jawans. #PulwamaTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/gxHAHhzQWy  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

8.31 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal pays his last respects to the CRPF jawans.

8.30 pm:

Delhi: Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa lay wreaths on the mortal remains of the CRPF jawans. #PulwamaTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/xiBIRDluhm  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

8.25 pm: Home Minister Rajnath Singh pays tribute to the CRPF jawans who were killed in Pulwama attack.

8.21 pm: Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore pays last respects to CRPF jawans.

8.20 pm:

8.20 pm:

Delhi: Wreath-laying ceremony of the CRPF jawans, who lost their lives in #PulwamaTerrorAttack, underway at Palam airport. pic.twitter.com/55we9RPzhE  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

8.16 pm: Congress president Rahul President pays his tribute to jawans who lost thier lives in Pulwama.

8.15 pm: Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa pays his tribute to CRPF jawans.

8.09 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announces compensation of Rs 50 Lakh for the families of the jawans, from the state, who lost their lives in Pulwama attack.

8.07 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked ministers in BJP governed states and BJP MPs to attend last rites of jawans, who lost their lives in Pulwama Attack, in their respective states and constituencies.

8.00 pm: Home Minister Rajnath Singh present at the airport.

7.47 pm:

On my way to airport to pay respects to martyrs...  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 15, 2019

7.44 pm: Army chief Bipin Rawat to pay his tribute to CRPF jawans who were killed yesterday.

7.40 pm: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reaches Palam Airport.

7.39 pm: Congress president Rahul Gandhi reaches New Delhi's Palam Airport.

7.25 pm:

#AvengePulwama | Plane carrying mortal remains of CRPF jawans arrives at Delhi's Palam Airport



Watch LIVE:https://t.co/8BhJ6kHL2g



Follow LIVE updates: https://t.co/1pwLEvcjEo pic.twitter.com/CqBTPNYfQZ  News Nation (@NewsNationTV) February 15, 2019

7.25 pm: Plane carrying mortal remains of CRPF jawans arrives at New Delhi's Palam Airport.

7.24 pm: Foreign Secretary also highlighted the role played by Pakistan in using terrorism as an instrument of its state policy. MEA will continue to take all steps to expose the complicity of Pakistan in Pulwama Attack and demand immediate and verifiable action against JeM and its leader Masood Azhar

7.24 pm: All Heads of Missions were left in no doubt about the role played by Pakistan based&supported Jaish-e-Mohammed in the terror attack and our demand that Pakistan ceases forthwith all support and financing to terror groups operating from areas under their control. Pulwama Attack ANI added,

7.24 pm: As part of continuing diplomatic efforts on the matter, Foreign Secy has met around 25 Heads of Mission based in New Delhi today from all P-5 countries, all South Asian countries & other important partners like Japan, Germany, Republic of Korea and others.

7.22 pm:

Delhi: Representatives from different diplomatic missions leave from the Ministry of External Affairs. Representatives from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, South Korea, Sweden, Bhutan, Canada, Britain, Russia, Israel & others were present. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/eN5BVVqWYe  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

07.15 pm: Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat announces ex-gratia of Rs 25 Lakh each to families of the jawans from the state, who lost their lives in Pulwama Attack yesterday. One member each of the families of the deceased jawans will also be given a govt job, as per their qualification.

07.06 pm:

School students in Noida take out 'candle march' to express their grief after 40 soldiers were killed in Pulwama yesterday.

07.02 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reach Delhi's Palam airport soon.

07.01 pm: Congress president Rahul Gandhi to reach Palam airport soon to pay his last tributes to the CRPF soldiers who were killed on Thursday in Pulwama.

6.56 pm:

Representatives from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Nepal also present at Ministry of External Affairs. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/wdFJZmHTIG  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

6.48 pm: Plane carrying the mortal remains of CRPF jawans who were killed yesterday in Pulwama is scheduled to reach New Delhi at 7.30 pm.

6.45 pm: Delhi's Patiala House Court allows Indian National Lok Dal leader Abhay Singh Chautala to travel to Lahore, Pakistan for a personal visit. Chautala is an accused in a disproportionate assets case.

6.44 pm: Asks governor and Home Minister to take care of safety and security of minorities, Kashmiris in Jammu and elsewhere in the country: PDP President Mehbooba Mufti on the prevailing situation in the state.

6.41 pm: Cowardly, dastardly, meaningless...... my heart goes out to the families of those who lost their loved ones and prayers for the recovery of those brave hearts in hospital. Salute to your commitment to Service and Loyalty, tweets Sachin Tendulkar.

6.28 pm: Representatives from Germany, Hungary, Italy, European Union, Canada, Britain, Russia, Israel, Australia and Japan have arrived.

6.25 pm: Unfortunate event in which our soldiers gave supreme sacrifice. I'd like to express my condolences to families of noble jawans. I pray God gives their families strength to bear irreparable loss and pray for early recovery and good health of injured jawans, says Union Minister Piyush Goyal.

6.23 pm: Our armed forces & people of India are competent to give a befitting reply to such forces. Our jawans will ensure that any forces which are enemy to India's interest get a strong rejoinder & people of India will continue to give confidence to them, says Piyush Goyal.

6.22 pm: Chinese State Councilor and FM Wang Yi wrote to EAM Sushma Swaraj, condemned Pulwama attack, expressed deep sympathy to families of victims and injured, and stressed that China resolutely opposes and strongly condemns all forms of terrorism.

6.13 pm:

Delhi: Representatives of different diplomatic missions arrive at the Ministry of External Affairs. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/CyoysYcloE  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

5.58 pm: We strongly condemn the terrorist attack on the CRPF in Pulwama, Jammu & Kashmir on February 14 & extend deepest condolences and sympathy to those who lost their lives in the attack and their bereaved families, says South Korean foreign ministry.

5.53 pm: All party meeting to be held tomorrow at 11 am in Parliament library.

5.51 pm: Plane carrying mortal remains of CRPF jawans leave Srinagar.

5.44 pm: Mortal remains of the jawan hailing from Nadia district will reach Kolkata tonight at 11.30 pm and the mortal remains of the jawan hailing from Howrah district will reach Kolkata tomorrow morning 9.30am.

5.40 pm:

Home Minister Rajnath Singh meets injured CRPF personnel at Army base camp in Srinagar #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/aBxgf4qT1w  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

5.35 pm: Civilian movement to be stopped during passage of military convoy: Rajnath Singh.

5.34 pm: I've requested state governments to extend the maximum help they can lend to the bereaved families. I've given all the necessary directions to the officers. The morale has not taken a hit. We'll see this fight against terrorism to the end: Rajnath Singh.

5.29 pm: We condemn Pulwana attack and stern actions will be taken against terror groups: Rajnath Singh.

5.25 pm: Senior MEA officials are reaching out to all important partners via diplomatic missions in wake of Pulwama Attack to apprise them of involvement of Pakistan backed terror groups: Sources.

5.17 pm: To my dear friend, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, we stand with you, the security forces and the people of India following this heinous terrorist attack. We send our condolences to the families of the victims, says PM of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu.

5.04 pm:

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb announces Rs 2 lakh each for families of #CRPF personnel who lost their lives in #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/9B7qm7ka7f  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

5.03 pm: What has this bloodshed got to do with Kartarpur? It connects-people, hearts. When a person becomes a pilgrim out of devotion, he becomes a different person. What I feel is we should deliberate over this, find the root cause of the problem and uproot it, says Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu.

4.41 pm: Shiv Sena demands for a joint session of Parliament to hold discussions over yesterday's Pulwama Attack.

4.36 pm:

Lt General (Retd) DS Hooda who oversaw 2016 #SurgicalStrike Operation: It's a big tragedy & very clearly Pakistan's hand is completely revealed in this. There needs to be a response to this. But let's have a more consistent and long term policy. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/mb43jNsVZr  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

4.09 pm: Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria will leave tonight for Delhi for the consultations tomorrow.

4.00 pm:

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik hold meeting with officials in Srinagar. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/z2IFBDTHG1  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

3.51 pm: India's High Commissioner to Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria called back by the government for consultation.

3.51 pm: An FIR has been registered against Basim Hilal, a student of Aligarh Muslim University, for his tweet over yesterday's Pulwama Attack. He has been booked under section 153A IPC & Section 67A of the IT Act. Hilal has been suspended by the University.

3.24 pm:

#WATCH: Home Minister Rajnath Singh and J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh lend a shoulder to mortal remains of a CRPF soldier in Budgam. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/CN4pfBsoVr  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

3.20 pm:

Budgam: Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh lend a shoulder to mortal remains of a CRPF soldier. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/hF5CmYb1yR  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

3 pm: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik and Army's Northern Command chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, pay tribute to CRPF personnel in Budgam.

#WATCH Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik and Army's Northern Command chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh in Budgam, pay tribute to CRPF personnel who lost their lives in #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/woCNZNGvzS  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

3 pm: President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemns terror attack targeting CRPF personnel in J&K. Afghanistan expresses sympathy and deep condolences to the Indian government and people, and the families of the soldiers who fell victim to the incident. "Terrorism is a cancer in the region, and it requires collective efforts to root it out," President Ashraf Ghani said.

Afghanistan Pres statement: President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemns terror attack targeting CRPF personnel in J&K.Afghanistan expresses sympathy and deep condolences to the Indian government and people, and the families of the soldiers who fell victim to the incident. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/OFEbPaVu5C  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

02.45 pm: Visuals of protest against Pakistan from Ranchi, Jharkhand:

02.40 pm: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has announced a solatium of Rs 20 lakh each to the families of the two CRPF personnel

02.30 pm: Home Minister Rajnath Singh arrives in Srinagar.

02.34 pm: Conspirators of Pulwama attack will be punished, our neighbouring country has forgotten that this is a new India. Pakistan is going through an economic crisis; Pakistan is roaming around with its begging bowl but its not getting help from the world, the PM said.

02.21 pm: 130 crore Indians will give a befitting reply, says PM.

02.20 pm: Pakistan has opted for path of destruction, says PM Modi at a rally in Jhansi.

02.18 pm: We will decide on the place and time of revenge, says PM Modi.

02.15 pm: Our brave soldiers have sacrificed their lives and these sacrifices will not go in vain. The valour of our security forces has been witnessed by the country and there can be no one in our country who doubts their valour and bravery, says PM Modi in Jhansi.

#AvengePulwama | The sacrifice of our soldiers will not go in vain, says PM @narendramodi in Jhansi



Follow LIVE updates: https://t.co/1pwLEvcjEo pic.twitter.com/BROPcn79zy  News Nation (@NewsNationTV) February 15, 2019

02.11 pm: Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood to the Ministry of External Affairs today and issued a very strong demarche in connection with the terrorist attack in Pulwama.

Delhi: Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood at MEA after being summoned by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/nMIbn2ldJt  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

01.58 pm: Lawyers stage protest outside Telangana High Court against in Hyderabad.

Hyderabad: Lawyers stage protest outside Telangana High Court against #PulwanaAttack. pic.twitter.com/OxOV6RjpJC  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

01.50 pm: The IAS Association of Uttarakhand to contribute one day's salary to the family members of the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in Pulwama attack yesterday. The amount will be sent to the CRPF Headquarters in Delhi.

01.35 pm: DGP UP, OP Singh observed two-minute silence to pay homage to the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in Pulwama attack.

01.30 pm: Movement of convoys of security forces has been halted in the Kashmir valley today.

01.20 pm: It's with great sorrow that we learnt about the attack. All the perpetrators should be punished. We express our heartfelt condolences to the grieving families of the deceased, says Nikolay R Kudashev, Russian Ambassador to India.

01.15 pm: Commenting on the incident at Lethpora Pulwama, Joint Resistance Leadership comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik said that people and leadership of Kashmir regret every killing that happens on its soil. As we witness killing of our loved ones, our young, and shoulder their coffins each dayn we can feel and understand the pain and sense of loss that the family and friends of those who are killed go through, not for a day or two when everyone is expressing grief and condolences to them ,but the silent grief and loss that stays with them for a lifetime.

01.11 pm: Withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan was an important tactical step by govt. Ministry of External Affairs will undertake major diplomatic initiatives to ensure that Pakistan is brought to justice, says BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav.

#AvengePulwama | Withdrawal of the MFN status to Pak was an important tactical step by govt. Ministry of External Affairs will undertake major diplomatic initiatives to ensure that Pak is brought to justice: @rammadhavbjp



: ANI



Follow LIVE updates: https://t.co/uX1D0PJoZR pic.twitter.com/XXj51b1TJx  News Nation (@NewsNationTV) February 15, 2019

01.10 pm: It is condemnable, it's a cowardly act. It needs a permanent solution through dialogue, how long will the Jawans sacrifice their lives? How long will the bloodshed continue? People who do this must be punished. Hurling abuses won't help, says Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu

01.08 pm: Clashes break out in Jammu, cautionary curfew imposed at Bus Stand, Nawabad, Bakshi Nagar, Peer Mitha, Pacca Danga, Channi Himmat, Janipur, Domana, Bagh-E-Bahu, areas

01.05 pm: Locals protest in Kathua against Pakistan.

Jammu and Kashmir: Locals protest in Kathua against Pakistan. #PulawamaTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/o48ZcPo4QA  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

01.03 pm: We will not forget, We will not forgive - We salute our martyrs of #PulwamaAttack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged: CRPF.

12.53 pm: Mortal remains of CRPF personnel at CRPF camp at Budgam in Jammu and Kashmir.

12.30 pm: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur announces Rs 20 lakh compensation to the family of CRPF personnel Tilak Raj who lost his life in the Pulwama attack yesterday.

12.29 pm: NSA Ajit Doval has held discussions with all the security forces and agencies on the attack.

12.20 pm: Pakistan is trying to destabilise the country. The nation respects their sacrifice, country will always be indebted to the security forces. Their sacrifice won't go in vain. The country will give them befitting reply, says Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

12.17 pm: Our security forces will ensure that those who have indulged in this act will have to pay a heavy price for it, says Union Minister Arun Jaitley.

12.15 pm: Germany condemns terrorism in all forms. We are gravely shocked and deeply saddened. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims. Germany stand with its strategic partner India, Jasper Wieck, Charge d'Affaires of the German Embassy in India.

Dr Jasper Wieck, Charge d'Affaires of the German Embassy in India: Germany condemns terrorism in all forms. We are gravely shocked and deeply saddened. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims. Germany stand with its strategic partner India. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/oKHjsuLewh  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

12 pm: Today is a day of mourning. Our country has lost close to 40 jawans and our foremost duty is to convey to the families that we are with them in condemning this act of terrorism. We shall never compromise with terrorist forces, says former PM Manmohan Singh.

11.58 am: This is a time of mourning, sadness, & respect. We are fully supporting the govt of India and our security forces. We are not going to get into any other conversation apart from this, says Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

11.56 am: The entire opposition stands with the government and the security forces, says Rahul Gandhi.





11.55 am: This is a terrible tragedy. This type of violence done against our soldiers is absolutely disgusting. We are all standing together with our jawans. No force can divide or break this country, says Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

11.42 am: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao cancels his birthday celebrations scheduled for 17th February in wake of Pulwama Attack and appeals to party leaders and workers to not celebrate the event in any form.

11.40 am: "On behalf of Diplomatic Corps in India, we would like to express our deep sympathy to Indian govt&families of victims of this horrendous act. Firmly support Indian govt in their fight against terrorism," Dean of Diplomatic Corps Hans Dannenberg Castellanos.

Dean of Diplomatic Corps Hans Dannenberg Castellanos:On behalf of Diplomatic Corps in India, we would like to express our deep sympathy to Indian govt&families of victims of this horrendous act.Firmly support Indian govt in their fight against terrorism. (File pic) #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/PSlVFxPbrV  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

11.34 am: "Our party strongly condemns this terrorist attack and offers deepest condolences to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives. We appeal to the central government to find a lasting solution to this problem," says BSP chief Mayawati.

11.26 am: The government has convened an all-party meeting to discuss all political parties on this issue on Saturday. In this meeting, the government will convey its stand to everyone.

RELATED



11.25 am: Preparations at Srinagar's RTC Centre are on for a tribute ceremony for the CRFP soldiers killed in yesterday's terror attack. So far 25 bodies have reached the centre. Home Minister Rajnath Singh's arrival awaited after which the bodies will be released.

11.07 am: Senior officials including Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, DG CRPF RR Bhatnagar, Additional Director IB Arvind Kumar are accompanying Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Srinagar.

11.05 am: If our neighbour, which is totally isolated in the world, thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a big mistake.

11.02 am: I thank all the nations who have supported us and condemned this incident in the strongest of terms. A strong reply will be given to this attack, says PM.

11 am: The forces behind this act of terrorism & those responsible for it, will be definitely be punished, says PM.

10.56 am: I pay tribute to soldiers who lost their lives in Pulwama Attack. Our security forces have been given full freedom. We have full faith in their bravery, says PM Modi.

10.55 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi observes a two-minute silence for the CRPF personnel who were killed in the Pulwama terror attack yesterday.

Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi observes two-minute silence for the CRPF personnel who were killed in #PulwamaTerrorAttack yesterday. pic.twitter.com/PE9Y7Ydzbs  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

10.52 am: India withdraws MFN status to Pakistan.

10.50 am: Arun Jaitley addresses the media.

10.42 am: BJP president Amit Shah on Friday appealed to political parties to rise above politics and come together on the issue of national security, saying these are times when "we must strengthen our resolve to make India stronger and safer. I appeal to the political class- let us rise above politics and show that we are together when it comes to matters of national security. Nothing matters above India!" Shah said in a series of tweets.

10.40 am:US State Department has issued a travel advisory to its citizens asking them to reconsider travel to Pakistan due to terrorism.

10.39 am: The meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security has concluded. Home Minister Rajnath Singh to soon leave for Srinagar, J&K. Arun Jaitley Nirmala Sitharaman to address media shortly.

10.34 am: The family of CRPF personnel Nasheer Ahmed in mourning at Rajouri.

Rajouri: Family of CRPF personnel Nasheer Ahmed in mourning. The Jawan lost his life in #PulwamaTerrorAttack yesterday. #JammuAndKashmir pic.twitter.com/KxMRujDCPy  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

10.30 am: "When the Congress govt was at Centre & terrorist attack took place, the present PM criticised our Congress govt. So far this govt has not taken any step to curb terrorism in Jammu&Kashmir, on the other hand, it is increasing," says Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy. He also says, "We are losing our Jawans; Let PM take responsibility for the attack. He said that the Congress leaders are not having 56 inches (chest size), it has been proved that the PM is not having the 56 inches. (chest size)."

10.25 am: School students pay tribute to the CRPF personnel who lost their lives at a school in Moradabad.

Moradabad: School students pay tribute to the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in #PulwamaTerrorAttack yesterday. pic.twitter.com/oBYqVRYlE7  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 15, 2019

10.20 am: Appropriate action will be taken, it's a very sad incident, it's deplorable, it's something which should lead us to taking action, so that this should not happen again. Pakistan must take action against JeM & Masood Azhar, the onus is on Pak now, says MoS MEA & former Army Chief VK Singh.

10.10 am: The Family of CRPF personnel Jaimal Singh in mourning at Moga.

Moga: Family of CRPF personnel Jaimal Singh in mourning. Singh lost his life in #PulwamaTerrorAttack yesterday. #Punjab pic.twitter.com/E8cYtx7s41  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

10.05 am: Indian Air Force C-17 to go to Srinagar from Hindon to get the mortal remains of CRPF personnel killed.

9.53 am: Please accept the most sincere condolences. We strongly condemn this brutal crime. The perpetrators & sponsors of this attack, undoubtedly, should be duly punished, Russian President Vladimir Putin to President of India Ram Nath Kovind and PM Narendra Modi.

9.50 am: The meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security is underway at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.

Delhi: The meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security is underway at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. pic.twitter.com/y8aL7sytlu  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

9.44 am: Family of CRPF personnel Pankaj Tripathi at Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh who lost his life in the Pulwama terror attack on Thursday.

9.30 am: All political programs of BJP President Amit Shah have been cancelled for today.

9.26 am:"It shows change in tactics of terrorists. IED has been used after a long time, IEDs were used in the past, in 2001-2002 when I was there, this was a normal practice of terrorists, then they resorted to firing from distance," says former Army Chief Bikram Singh. He adds, "But this thing where a local boy who has been radicalised, he has undertaken a 'fidayeen' action on a moving convoy, shows the emboldened instance of local terrorists, also the fact that radicalisation levels have gone up."

9.24 am: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, NSA Ajit Doval & Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have arrived at 7, LKM for the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security.

Delhi: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, NSA Ajit Doval & Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have arrived at 7, LKM for the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security. #PulawamaTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/MotekiUVof  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

9.16 am: All political programmes of BJP leaders, including PM and party chief, for Friday cancelled in wake of Pulwama Terror attack, say BJP sources.

9.16 am: CRPF Personnel Ratan Thakur's father in Bihar's Bhagalpur says, "I have sacrificed a son in Mother India's service, I will send my other son as well to fight, ready to give him up for Mother India, but Pakistan must be given a befitting reply."

9.10 am: Latest visuals from the site of Pulwama Terror Attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

Latest visuals from the site of #PulwamaTerrorAttack in Jammu and Kashmir. 40 CRPF soldiers lost their lives in the terror attack yesterday. pic.twitter.com/mCQpNvOxTW  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

8.55 am: Locals hold a protest against Pakistan and terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar in Varanasi.

8.50 am: J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik to ANI on Pakistan denying involvement in Pulwama Terror Attack: Pakistan is talking nonsense. The terrorists are holding open rallies in Pakistan, saying we will do something and openly threatening India.

8.45 am: Family and relatives of CRPF personnel Ramesh Yadav who lost his life in the terror attack on Thursday, mourns his death in Varanasi.

8.30 am: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has returned from Sweden. She will attend the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security at 9:15 am.

8.22 am: Latest Visuals from the site of Pulwama Terror Attack in Jammu and Kashmir where 42 CRPF soldiers lost their lives on Thursday.

7.30 am: Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe condemns Pulwama terror attack, says, I strongly condemn the brutal terrorist attack in Kashmirs Pulawama district, the worst-ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. I express my condolences to @narendramodi and the families of police officers who lost their lives.

I strongly condemn the brutal terrorist attack in Kashmir's Pulwama district  the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. I express my condolences to @narendramodi and the families of police officers who lost their lives.  Ranil Wickremesinghe (@RW_UNP) February 14, 2019

7.15 am: Mobile internet services have been suspended in Jammu.

7 am: "We strongly condemn today's attack in J&K's Pulwama. We express our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives & to the people & Govt of India. We wish a speedy recovery to injured & call for those behind the attack to be brought to justice," the United Nations said on Thursday.





6.42 am: At this sad moment, we stand by the people and govt of India. We offer was condolences to the members of the families who lost their dear ones. Our thoughts and prayers are speedy recovery of those who got injured. Bangladesh remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms&maintains a zero-tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities. We would continue to work & cooperate with international community including India to eradicate the menace of terrorism, says Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina.





09:49 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Latest TV reports suggest that Kartarpur talks scheduled between India and Pakistan could be suspended.

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New Delhi:

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has directed immediate enhancement of surveillance and review of the security management of all important installations and establishments in the state in view of the Pulwama terrorist attack. At least 42 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 350 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district that also left many critically wounded. "Such acts of terror will not deter the resolve of our security forces and the spirit of the people. We will finish these inimical forces to their last. The forces responsible for the insurgency in the state are desperate and frustrated. They just want to prove their presence," Malik said.

The governor has urged all commanders of security forces to enhance surveillance on every front and directed the district and divisional civil and police administration to immediately review the security of all important installations and establishments, an official spokesman said.



ALSO READ | Pulwama Attack: World leaders extend support to India, vow to fight terror

Malik has expressed sympathy to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives and prayed for the speedy recovery of all the injured persons.



Reports suggest that there were nearly 70 vehicles in the convoy in which around 2500 personnel were traveling. "Senior officers at the spot, the investigation is underway. Injured being taken care of. There were 2500 personnel in the convoy," CRPF DG RR Bhatnagar had said.



The terror attack has drawn international condemnation. Countries from across the globe condemned the attack with nations such as the US, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India.



ALSO READ | Pulwama blast: Condemn the heightened acts of violence in Valley, says Pakistan



The US while condemning the attack said, "The US Mission in India strongly condemns today's terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims," US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster tweeted.

Pakistan has called the incident a matter of grave concern. In a tweet, FO spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said, "We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in Valley."

Asserting that Pakistan has "always condemned acts of violence" anywhere in the world, it said, "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations."

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New Delhi:

Pakistan-based banned terror outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammed, claimed responsibility of the horrific terror attack on the Jammu-Srinagar highway that killed 42 CRPF personnel and injured several others. The Maulana Masood Azhar-led JeM released a video of suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar soon after the attack.

Maulana Masood Azhar

Masood Azhar is the founder and leader of the UN-designated terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed, active mainly in Pakistan administered Kashmir. He features on India's most wanted list of 20 people it accuses of terrorism. Maulana Masood Azhar supports Muslim separatists fighting in Kashmir.

Early Life and Education

Maulana Masood Azhar was born in 1968 in Bahawalpur, in the central Pakistani province of Punjab. He got his early education from Jamia Uloom-i-Islami, near Karachi, which is considered as one of the leading religious universities of Pakistan.

Jaish-e-Mohammad

Maulana Azhar heads Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is allegedly involved in numerous attacks in India that even include the attack on Indian Parliament in December 2001.

It has been designated a "terrorist" organisation by India, the UK, US and UN and has been banned in Pakistan since 2002.

India has also demanded his extradition from Pakistan but Islamabad has refused, citing a lack of proof.

Involvement in terrorist activities

India arrested Azhar in 1994 and accused him of being a member of the Harkat-ul Mujahideen, one of the leading militant groups in Kashmir.

In 1995 a group, which kidnapped six Western tourists, also called for his release. One of the hostages, a Norwegian was killed, one escaped and the remaining are missing but feared dead. The tourists were trekking in Kashmir's Pahalgam district when they were captured.

In 1999 he was freed from an Indian prison in exchange for passengers on a hijacked Indian Airlines jet. His brother, Ibrahim, is thought to have been one of the hijackers.

Maulana Azhar was detained for a year by authorities in Pakistan in connection with that attack, but never formally charged. Maulana Azhar was detained for a year by authorities in Pakistan in connection with that attack, but never formally charged.

The JeM also claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001 that killed nine people.

The Lahore High Court ordered an end to his house arrest on 14 December 2002.

Following the January 2002 kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl by Sheikh Ahmed Saeed Omar, a close aide of Azhar, the US had sought the custody of the Jaish chief, saying authorities wanted to file charges against him for his involvement in the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight, which had an American citizen on board.

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Chicagos pension crisis  its four funds average funding ratio is only 26 percent  is one reason this editorial board endorses former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley for mayor. He is the only leading candidate who supports loosening the Illinois Constitutions overly rigorous pension clause. Amending that clause would allow the legislature to protect benefits already earned but modify benefits going forward. The next mayor, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and future legislatures need to take drastic steps to stabilize state and local pension systems, and protect rank-and-file taxpayers. The alternative is to let the crisis intensify indefinitely  to lock future generations into paying pension debts incurred in the past and present.
New Delhi:

The Indian Air Force's Globemaster C-17 will bring back the bodies of the CRPF personnel, killed in Thursday's terror attack on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, from to Srinagar to Delhi on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers will pay their tributes to the soldiers at Palam airport in Delhi during the wreath-laying ceremony.

The bodies of 12 personnel will be brought to the Hindon Airbase in Ghaziabad around 3.30 pm and then will be taken to their native place in Uttar Pradesh later in the evening. While a majority of the 37 bodies have been identified, some of them have been mangled beyond recognition. A home ministry official said arrangements have been made to hand over the bodies to the families. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who is visiting Jammu and Kashmir to take stock of the situation in the wake of the terror attack, Governor Satya Pal Malik, DG of CRPF R R Bhatnagar will pay their last respect to the departed souls in Srinagar before the bodies are flown out of the state.

As many as 42 CRPF jawans were killed and dozens of others injured after an SUV with 350 kg of explosives hit a bus carrying the personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday. The vehicle was blown up by an improvised explosive device or IED explosion on Srinagar-Jammu highway in the Awantipora area of the district, a police official said, adding that the exact number of the deceased is yet to be ascertained. After 2016 Uri terror attack, this is considered to be the deadliest terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir in nearly two decades. The incident occurred at Lethpora on the Srinagar-Anantnag highway followed by gunshots aimed at the security forces in Pulwama district.

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New Delhi:

In the biggest terror attack in nearly two decades in Jammu and Kashmir, 42 CRPF personnel were killed in Pulwama yesterday. The bloodiest Thursday that the state has seen in recent times demands serious introspection on part of the Narendra Modi government. Set aside all the jingoism and war cries, India must look for answers on part of the biggest intelligence failure. As Modi govts Cabinet Committee on Security meets in New Delhi today, these 5 questions must be kept in mind before strategising any response to the dastardly attack:

1: Why authorities didnt act upon the alert?

The Jammu and Kashmir police had reportedly sent an intelligence input to the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB, Army and the Air Force warning of a possible IED attack on February 8, week before the Pulwama blast which claimed lives of at least 42 CRPF personnel. The intelligence input, sent on behalf of the Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, asked all security agencies to "sanitize areas properly before occupying your place or deployment as there are inputs that IEDs could be used". Headlined "extremely urgent", the letter, was marked to the Deputy Inspector General of Central Reserve Police Force, South Srinagar; DIG CRPF, North Srinagar; DIG CRPF North Kashmir, Baramulla; DIG CRPF South Kashmir, Awantipora; DIG CRPF South Kashmir, Anantnag; DIG Sashastra Seema Bal, South Headquarters (Special Operations) Kashmir and all Senior Superintendent of Police of Kashmir zone.

2: Why National Highway 1A was not completely sanitised?

Generally, the Indian Armys road-opening party and other security forces comb the area before a convoy passes. The 70-truck convoy with over 2,000 soldiers was passing through the area. Was the basic SOP not done? Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik said that, we had intelligence inputs but there has been some lapse (laparwahi) because we could not detect such a vehicle laden with explosives reaching that spot.

3: Is Operation All Out not enough?

Launched in 2017, the Indian Armys masterplan also known as Operation All Out focussed on neutralising terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. According to initial reports, a blueprint was readied to target 258 terrorists. In 2018, in a renewed push, Indian Army gunned down more than 230 terrorists. But Pulwama attack clearly shows that the strategy needs to be reworked.

4: How terrorists were able to secure such big amount of explosives?

More than 300 kg of explosives used in the Pulwama attack shows that the meticulous planning done by the terrorist. Big question remains- did local intelligence fail to detect such a movement. What was the source and the route taken to bring all explosive in Pulwama?

5: Why are locals still joining terror groups?

Adil Ahmad Dar, the mastermind of the Pulwama attack, used to live just 10 km away from the site of the blast. Known as "Adil Ahmad Gaadi Takranewala" and "Waqas Commando of Gundibagh", Dar had joined Jaish last year. This means that the authorities have failed to dissuade locals from joining the terror groups. This also means that the terror masterminds sitting across the border know how to garner support within the state.

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New Delhi:

The terror attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district has drawn international condemnation. Countries from across the globe condemned the attack with nations such as the US, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India. At least 42 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 350 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district that also left many critically wounded.

The US while condemning the attack said, "The US Mission in India strongly condemns today's terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims," US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster tweeted.



ALSO READ | Pulwama Attack: 5 questions Modi govt must answer on biggest intelligence disaster



Russia stressed the need to combat such "inhuman acts" with collective response without any double standards. "We denounce terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with decisive and collective response without any double standards," a Russian Embassy statement said.



Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a message through the country's High Commission, here, said her country remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and manifestations and maintains a zero-tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities. Bangladesh would continue to work and cooperate with international community including India to eradicate the menace of terrorism, she said.



Pakistan called the attack a matter of grave concern. In a tweet, FO spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said, "We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in Valley." Asserting that Pakistan has "always condemned acts of violence" anywhere in the world, it said, "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations."



Israel while condemning the attack said We stand by our Indian friends during this difficult hour and send our deepest condolences to CPRF and their families, people of India and the Indian government following the terrible Kashmir terror attack.



ALSO READ | Pulwama Terror Attack | Modi govts Cabinet Committee on Security to meet in Delhi



French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said France most firmly condemns the heinous attack perpetrated in Jammu & Kashmir. "France has always been and always will be by India's side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms," he said.

Germany strongly condemned the heinous terrorist attack, saying stands by its strategic partner India.



Australia, Turkey, Canada and Czech Republic also condemned the horrific terror attack.

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New Delhi:

The White House asked Pakistan to immediately end "support" and "safe haven" to all terror groups as it strongly condemned the Pulwama terrorist attack. At least 42 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 350 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district that also left many critically wounded. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack. "The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a late night statement on Thursday.



"This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India," she said in a strongly-worded statement issued by the White House.



ALSO READ | Pulwama Terror Attack: 5 questions Modi govt must answer on biggest intelligence disaster



Sanders said the United States condemns in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attack in Pulwama by a Pakistan-based terrorist group.



"We express our deep condolences to the victims' families, the Indian government, and the Indian people for the loss of life in this brutal attack," said the White House Press Secretary.



While condemning the attack US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster tweeted, "The US Mission in India strongly condemns today's terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims.



India slammed Pakistan over the attack carried out by JeM and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.



Meanwhile, Pakistan said the terrorist attack in Pulwama district is "a matter of grave concern" even as it strongly rejected Indian media and government's allegations of the country's link to the strike "without" probe.



ALSO READ | Pulwama terrorist attack has direct footprints inside Pakistan, ISIs role suspected: Experts



Russia also stressed the need to combat such "inhuman acts" with collective response without any double standards. "We denounce terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with decisive and collective response without any double standards," a Russian Embassy statement said.

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New Delhi:

An FIR has been registered against the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) student, Basim Hilal, on Friday for his tweet over the Pulwama attack. Bilal on his tweet wrote, high on JAISH (e Mohammad) after Pulwama attack. The tweet was not available later as the user presumably deactivated his account.

He was booked under section 153A (promoting enmity between two different religions) and section 67A (for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act. Basim Hilal, BSc Mathematics student, has been suspended by the university. The student has also been banned from entering into the campus.

"We've come to know of the highly objectionable tweet. Taking immediate cognizance he has been suspended by AMUadminn. We won't let the University be discredited. We've zero tolerance. He hails from Kashmir and was a BSc Mathematics student," says Omar Saleem Peerzada, AMU PRO on Basim Hilal.

Earlier today, Home Minister Rajnath Singh helped carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan after he laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the troops, who were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Shortly after arriving from Delhi, the home minister attended a solemn function here where the remains of 40 CRPF personnel were kept in coffins, draped with tricolour. Singh helped carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan before it was flown out of Jammu and Kashmir in a special aircraft, an official present at the function said.

The home minister, Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath-laying ceremony. "The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans. I have paid my last respects to the martyrs of Pulwama. The sacrifice will not go in vain," Singh said.

The dignitaries stood in silence till the coffins were loaded in a truck which went to the Srinagar airport, the official said. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles CRPF travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

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New Delhi:

Experts of anti-terror commando force the National Security Guard (NSG) and investigators of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) left for Jammu and Kashmir on Friday to join the probe into the terror attack in Pulwama in which at least 42 CRPF personnel were killed, officials said. Explosive specialists of the Black Cat commando force NSG would also join in the investigation into the attack, PTI quoted another official as saying. At least 42 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 350 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district that also left many critically wounded.



Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also left for Srinagar to take stock of the situation and hold review meetings with senior security and police officials to make ground level assessment. Rajnath Singh will also review further operational actions.



ALSO READ | Bada hona chahiye, Hindustan rona chahiye: Did Afghan war veteran, Afzal Guru squad carry out Pulwama attack?



On Thursday, a home ministry official had said an NIA team with forensic experts was being sent to Srinagar to assist Jammu and Kashmir Police in forensic evaluation of the scene of crime.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir.



Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a stern warning to the terrorists and said they have to pay heavy price. Addressing media in New Delhi after the CCS meet, PM Modi said, Our security forces have been given free hand. The forces behind this act of terrorism and those responsible for it, will be definitely be punished, he said. If our neighbour which is totally isolated in the world thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a big mistake, PM Modi said without naming Pakistan.



ALSO READ | Pulwama Terror Attack: 5 questions Modi govt must answer on biggest intelligence disaster

Meanwhile, Pakistan issued a midnight statement condemning the attack. However, Islamabad rejected that it was in any way involved in the attack. "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations," the Foreign Office added.

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New Delhi:

On Day after Pulwama attack, India on Friday summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood and issued a very strong demarche. New Delhi has demanded verifiable action against Jaish-e-Mohammed. Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale conveyed that Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against Jaish-e-Mohammed and that it must immediately stop groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories. He also rejected Foreign Ministry of Pakistan statement of yesterday. On Thursday, Pakistan had issued a midnight statement condemning the attack. However, Islamabad rejected that it was in any way involved in the attack. "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations," the Foreign Office added.

Moments after the attack, Jaish had taken the responsibility of the attack. Maulana Masood Azhar-led terror group released a video of suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar soon after the attack.

Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed should be brought to India or should meet the fate of Osama bin Laden, Yoga guru Ramdev said Friday, while seeking strong action against Pakistan.

Describing Thursday's strike on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, in which 40 soldiers of the force were killed, an attack on the "unity, integrity and sovereignty" of India, he said time has come to merge Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) with India. "All terrorists, whether coming from across the border or already inside our territory, must be eliminated, especially (2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind) Hafiz Saeed and (Jaish-e-Mohammad chief) Masood Azhar.

"Wherever they are, they must be brought to India or should meet the fate of Osama bin Laden (who was killed by US forces inside his secret residence in Pakistan's Abbotabad)," Ramdev said on sidelines of an event here. He said the terror camps operational in PoK must be destroyed, and if possible the region should be merged back into India.

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi:

A day after dastardly attack on CRPF convoy that killed 44 jawans in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama, India withdrew Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan on Friday. The decision was taken at the CCS meeting at Prime Minister Narendra Modis residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. The meeting, which was attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, who assumed the charge of Finance Minister today. Addressing the media after the CCS meet, Jaitley said that India will initiate all steps to ensure Pakistans isolation.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has left for Srinagar and would convene an all-party meeting most likely on Saturday to brief political parties on the incident so that the nation speaks in one voice on the issue. The Cabinet Committee on Security meet was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 300 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

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New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his last respects to the 40 CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama terror attack at the Palam technical area on Friday evening. The bodies of the soldiers reached Delhi's Palam air force area in a special Indian Air Force (IAF) plane in the evening. The bodies were received by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

PM Modi placed a wreath on a platform placed before the coffins carrying the mortal remains of the troopers. The coffins wrapped in tricolour were neatly arranged in the hanger, where senior officials of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) paid their last respects by placing wreaths one by one in a solemn ceremony, officials said.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the chiefs of the three services -- Army, Air Force and Navy -- senior cabinet ministers, including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Congress president Rahul Gandhi also paid their homage to the CRPF personnel, they added. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

"A befitting reply will be given to the perpetrators of the heinous attack and their patrons," asserted PM Modi

Earlier today, in a strong warning to Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared those responsible will pay a "very heavy price" and said the security forces have been given a free hand to decide on the timing, place and nature of their response to the carnage that left 40 CRPF men dead.

As the shock after the Thursday attack by a Jaish suicide bomber resonated across the country with families awaiting the bodies of their loved ones in coffins wrapped in tricolour, PM Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling", adding the terror outfits and those aiding and abetting them have made a "big mistake". An IAF transport aircraft brought the coffins to the national capital from Srinagar Friday night and they will be later taken to the homes of the victims.

"A befitting reply will be given to the perpetrators of the heinous attack and their patrons," asserted PM Modi, a day after the bomber rammed his vehicle laden with explosives into a CRPF bus in a convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack on the convoy of 78 vehicles in one of the deadliest terror attacks in the border state.

MEA held a briefing for envoys of 25 countries, including from the P5 nations -- US, China, Russia, the UK and France

Simultaneously, the government made it clear that India means business with a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) presided by PM Modi deciding to revoke the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. Withdrawal of the MFN status would significantly hit Pakistan's exports to India, which stood at USD 488.5 million (around Rs 3,482.3 crore) in 2017-18, sources said.

After the meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will take all possible diplomatic steps to isolate Pakistan. Hours later, the government reached out to the international community, most of whom has univocally condemned the attack by the UN-proscribed JeM, in a major diplomatic offensive against Pakistan.

The MEA held a briefing for envoys of 25 countries, including from the P5 nations -- US, China, Russia, the UK and France -- during which it highlighted Pakistan's role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

Before the briefing, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood to his South Block office and issued a very strong demarche over the attack and asked Islamabad to take "immediate and verifiable action" against JeM. According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack.

An all-party meeting has been convened by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi on Saturday to take stock of the situation. Protests against Pakistan broke out in several parts of the country, including in Jammu city where curfew was imposed amid demands for retaliation against Pakistan.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) said it won't "forget and forgive" but will "avenge" the death of its 40 personnel. The country's largest paramilitary force put out a tweet from its official handle saying, "We will not forget, we will not forgive."

"We salute our martyrs of Pulwama attack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged." In a hard-hitting speech in the national capital, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will definitely be punished.

PM Modi placed a wreath on a platform placed before the coffins carrying the mortal remains of the troopers.

"I want to tell the terror outfits and those aiding and abetting them that they have made a big mistake. They will have to pay a very heavy price for their actions. Let me assure the nation that those behind this attack, the perpetrators of this attack will be punished," Modi said at a function to flag off the Vande Bharat Express, India's fastest train from Delhi to Varanasi. He said the security forces have been given "complete freedom".

"Security forces have been given complete freedom, the blood of the people is boiling...Our neighbouring country, which has been isolated internationally is in a state of illusion, thinks such terror attacks can destabilise us, but their plans will not materialise," Modi said.

Addressing a public meeting in Jhansi later in the day, the prime minister again did not name Pakistan but said the attack was an outcome of its desperation as it is in a bad shape and has been forced to go to different countries with a "begging bowl" to meet even its daily expenses.

Asserting that the sacrifices of CRPF soldiers will "not go in vain", he said, "Security forces have been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response... This is an India of new convention and policy," As the government and politicians reacted to the attack with anger and the families of those killed came to grips with the enormity of the tragedy, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh travelled to Srinagar and laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the troops.

The remains of the 40 CRPF personnel, many of whom were returning from leave to rejoin work in the Valley, were kept in coffins, draped in the tricolour, ready to make their final journey home. Singh gave a shoulder to the coffin of one the jawans killed. "The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans," Singh said.

Echoing Singh's views, the younger brother of V V Vasanth Kumar, who had left his home in Kerala's Wayanad district on February 8 and was one of those killed, said his sacrifice would never be forgotten.

"My elder brother died for the country and we are proud of his sacrifice," Sajeevan told PTI. Vasanth Kumar's mother Shanta and wife Sheena are inconsolable and his two young children have not yet been informed. Their grief found resonance in 39 other homes across the country.

Describing the terror assault as an attack on India's soul, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said his party, as well as the entire opposition, was fully supportive of the government and the security forces. "I want to make it very clear that the aim of terrorism is to divide this country and we are not going to be divided for even one second, no matter how hard people try," he told reporters.

The Himachal Pradesh Assembly unanimously passed a resolution seeking a befitting reply to Pakistan. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh called for giving a befitting reply to Pakistan, asserting "the time for peace talks is over and they should be taught a lesson."

As questions cropped up whether there was any intelligence failure, experts of anti-terror commando force the National Security Guard (NSG) and investigators from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) joined the probe into the attack.

An IAF transport aircraft brought the coffins to the national capital from Srinagar Friday night and they will be later taken to the homes of the victims. "A befitting reply will be given to the perpetrators of the heinous attack and their patrons," asserted Modi, a day after the bomber rammed his vehicle laden with explosives into a CRPF bus in a convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack on the convoy of 78 vehicles in one of the deadliest terror attacks in the border state. Simultaneously, the government made it clear that India means business with a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) presided by Modi deciding to revoke the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. Withdrawal of the MFN status would significantly hit Pakistan's exports to India, which stood at USD 488.5 million (around Rs 3,482.3 crore) in 2017-18, sources said. After the meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will take all possible diplomatic steps to isolate Pakistan. Hours later, the government reached out to the international community, most of whom has univocally condemned the attack by the UN-proscribed JeM, in a major diplomatic offensive against Pakistan. The MEA held a briefing for envoys of 25 countries, including from the P5 nations -- US, China, Russia, the UK and France -- during which it highlighted Pakistan's role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy. Before the briefing, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood to his South Block office and issued a very strong demarche over the attack and asked Islamabad to take "immediate and verifiable action" against JeM. According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack. An all-party meeting has been convened by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi on Saturday to take stock of the situation. Protests against Pakistan broke out in several parts of the country, including in Jammu city where curfew was imposed amid demands for retaliation against Pakistan. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) said it won't "forget and forgive" but will "avenge" the death of its 40 personnel. The country's largest paramilitary force put out a tweet from its official handle saying, "We will not forget, we will not forgive." "We salute our martyrs of Pulwama attack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged." In a hard-hitting speech in the national capital, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will definitely be punished. "I want to tell the terror outfits and those aiding and abetting them that they have made a big mistake. They will have to pay a very heavy price for their actions. Let me assure the nation that those behind this attack, the perpetrators of this attack will be punished," Modi said at a function to flag off the Vande Bharat Express, India's fastest train from Delhi to Varanasi. He said the security forces have been given "complete freedom". "Security forces have been given complete freedom, the blood of the people is boiling...Our neighbouring country, which has been isolated internationally is in a state of illusion, thinks such terror attacks can destabilise us, but their plans will not materialise," Modi said. Addressing a public meeting in Jhansi later in the day, the prime minister again did not name Pakistan but said the attack was an outcome of its desperation as it is in a bad shape and has been forced to go to different countries with a "begging bowl" to meet even its daily expenses. Asserting that the sacrifices of CRPF soldiers will "not go in vain", he said, "Security forces have been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response... This is an India of new convention and policy," As the government and politicians reacted to the attack with anger and the families of those killed came to grips with the enormity of the tragedy, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh travelled to Srinagar and laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the troops. The remains of the 40 CRPF personnel, many of whom were returning from leave to rejoin work in the Valley, were kept in coffins, draped in the tricolour, ready to make their final journey home. Singh gave a shoulder to the coffin of one the jawans killed. "The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans," Singh said. Echoing Singh's views, the younger brother of V V Vasanth Kumar, who had left his home in Kerala's Wayanad district on February 8 and was one of those killed, said his sacrifice would never be forgotten. "My elder brother died for the country and we are proud of his sacrifice," Sajeevan told PTI. Vasanth Kumar's mother Shanta and wife Sheena are inconsolable and his two young children have not yet been informed. Their grief found resonance in 39 other homes across the country. Describing the terror assault as an attack on India's soul, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said his party as well as the entire opposition was fully supportive of the government and the security forces. "I want to make it very clear that the aim of terrorism is to divide this country and we are not going to be divided for even one second, no matter how hard people try," he told reporters. The Himachal Pradesh Assembly unanimously passed a resolution seeking a befitting reply to Pakistan. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh called for giving a befitting reply to Pakistan, asserting "the time for peace talks is over and they should be taught a lesson." As questions cropped up whether there was any intelligence failure, experts of anti-terror commando force the National Security Guard (NSG) and investigators from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) joined the probe into the attack.

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New Delhi:

After the tragic terrorist attack in Pulwama which occurred on Thursday, several Bollywood celebs and politicians condemned the attack. Earlier today, writer Javed Akhtar even cancelled his trip to Karachi where he was invited to attend an art council along with his wife Shabana Azmi.

As per PTI, Navjot Singh Sidhu spoke to media outside Punjab assembly and said, "For a handful of people, can you blame the entire nation and can you blame an individual?" This statement garnered him huge criticism over the social media and some netizens even demanded the makers of the The Kapil Sharma Show to remove him from the show.

Currently, both Kapil Sharma and Siddhu are making trend over Twitter as huge number of users are criticising and demanding Sidhus exit from the comedy show or else they are ready to boycott the chat show.

@KapilSharmaK9 Sack @sherryontopp from your show. Otherwise we will boycott #TheKapilSharmaShow It's enough. I request everyone to start campaign against Siddhu and against The Kapil Sharma Show. @SonyTV  Bon Vivant (@TheLostMystic) February 15, 2019

There is no reaction of Mr.Siddhu on the most condemnable terrorist attack sponsored by his best friend Imran Khan.



I appeal to all of you to boycott "" Kapil Sharma Show "" till Siddhu is removed from the show.  Ashok Malhotra (@ashokmalhotra53) February 15, 2019

Nobody should watch @KapilSharmaK9 show till he sack Navjyot Singh Siddhu #PulwamaRevenge  Girish S  (@girishs2) February 15, 2019

@SonyTV either remove siddhu from kapil sharma show.. We are more than eger to block it on dth.. Your wish https://t.co/l66zONBqXj  Maverick  (@abhikhandelwal) February 15, 2019

This attack is a tight slap on the faces of all those people who think India must maintain cordial relation with Pakistan.(Where is Navjot Siddhu btw? Oh! must be sitting on the couch and laughing in Kapil Sharma show).#Pulwama#CRPFKashmirAttack  Aman Jain (@_Evil_Deeds) February 15, 2019

Let's trend boycott Kapil Sharma show till siddhu is in the show coz siddhu even today after such a deadliest attack on our jawans, wants dialogue with Pakistan.he hugged general bajwa of Pakistan #boycottkapilsharmashow  DrKrishna Shrivastav (@imkrish86) February 15, 2019

Please stop watching #kapilsharma show to boycott #navjot singh siddhu.  vogesh kumar yadu (@yvogesh) February 15, 2019

@KapilSharmaK9 Sack @sherryontopp from your show. Otherwise we will boycott #TheKapilSharmaShow It's enough. I request everyone to start campaign against Siddhu and against The Kapil Sharma Show. @SonyTV

 Manoj Shukla (@ManojSh591) February 15, 2019

Meanwhile, the Punjab Assembly Friday strongly condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed and passed a resolution for adjournment of the proceedings of the House for the day.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm. The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.

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No surprise. Institutions often struggle to confront their failings. When faced with a humiliating or legally vulnerable situation, the instinct for stonewalling and secrecy emerges. Its true for corporations and bureaucracies as well as churches. Catholic communities long denied, deflected and moved offenders to new populations where they preyed again. We showed no care for the little ones, Pope Francis has said of pedophilia in the church. Earlier this month, he acknowledged that Catholic bishops and priests had abused nuns in India, Africa, Europe and South America. One encouraging sign: the disclosure Saturday that the pope has expelled from the priesthood Theodore McCarrick, the former cardinal of Washington, D.C., for sexually abusing minors and seminarians.
New Delhi:

According to sources, Union minister Arun Jaitley to resume charge as finance minister today. Supreme Court will hear a petition relating to sufferings of acid attack victims across India and questioning the sale of acid in open market. Donald Trump to declare national emergency to build a border wall.

22:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In All prior commitments of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for tomorrow and day after tomorrow have been cancelled. She will go to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to pay last respects to the CRPF jawans of the two states, who lost their lives in Pulwama attack.



All prior commitments of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for tomorrow and day after tomorrow have been cancelled. She will go to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to pay last respects to the CRPF jawans of the two states, who lost their lives in #PulwamaTerrorAttack. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/qU7hlJY7Xf

 ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019



19:23 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Representatives from different diplomatic missions leave from the Ministry of External Affairs. Representatives from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, South Korea, Sweden, Bhutan, Canada, Britain, Russia, Israel & others were present.



Delhi: Representatives from different diplomatic missions leave from the Ministry of External Affairs. Representatives from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, South Korea, Sweden, Bhutan, Canada, Britain, Russia, Israel & others were present. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/eN5BVVqWYe

 ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019



13:45 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stone and inaugurate several projects in Jhansi.





13:46 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Pramod Chandra Modi takes charge as the Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).



Pramod Chandra Modi takes charge as the Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). pic.twitter.com/bdfuRytezs

 ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019



12:28 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Centre files plea seeking permission for release of excess vacant land acquired around Ayodhya site & be handed over to the original owner from whom it was acquired. It'll be heard by the Constitution bench hearing Ayodhya case on the next date & along with the main case.

12:26 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Supreme Court today issued a notice to the Union Of India & all states on hearing a PIL filed by Anuja Kapur seeking a direction to the Centre & others for enhancement of compensation & immediate relief, jobs, medical facilities and other rehabilitation steps to acid attack victims.

11:54 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Indian Air Force inducts Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal as first woman flight engineer. She hails from Chandigarh&has completed her Bachelor of Engineering degree from Panjab University. As a Flight Engineer,she would subsequently be posted to operational helicopter units of IAF.



Indian Air Force inducts Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal as first woman flight engineer. She hails from Chandigarh&has completed her Bachelor of Engineering degree from Panjab University. As a Flight Engineer,she would subsequently be posted to operational helicopter units of IAF. pic.twitter.com/w6qtTyKVgC

 ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019



11:51 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Supreme Court issues notice to Delhi government on an appeal seeking direction for the government to purchase only low-floor buses, which are differently-abled friendly, to augment public transport in the city.

11:32 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Supreme Court has stayed the execution of a school teacher from Madhya Pradesh who was given death sentence for raping a four-year-old girl.

11:32 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Supreme Court recommends filing up the vacant posts of Information Commissioners at Centre and state level within six months and directs to bring transparency in the appointment process.

11:31 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The Supreme Court turns down a plea seeking its direction to disqualify a candidate for giving false affidavit while contesting an election. Court says filling false affidavit could not be termed as resorting to undue influence in the election as in some cases filing false affidavit may not have any consequence on voting.

11:20 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Prime Minister Narendra Modi onboard Vande Bharat Express (Train-18), which was flagged off today.



Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi onboard Vande Bharat Express (Train-18), which was flagged off today.



Photo: ANI



More updates: https://t.co/ZU0k9KNmQc pic.twitter.com/2C964j1V4U

 News Nation (@NewsNationTV) February 15, 2019



11:06 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Bengaluru: Dissenting Karnataka Congress MLAs B. Nagendra and Ramesh Jarakiholi, met Congress leader Siddaramaiah at his residence. Karnataka Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan also present.



Bengaluru: Dissenting Karnataka Congress MLAs B. Nagendra and Ramesh Jarakiholi, met Congress leader Siddaramaiah at his residence. Karnataka Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan also present. pic.twitter.com/mDcc5ZFdmx

 ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019



10:19 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Ashwani Lohani (on right) takes charge as a Chairman and Managing Director of Air India.



Ashwani Lohani (on right) takes charge as a Chairman and Managing Director of Air India. pic.twitter.com/9c6hm8JSdy

 ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019



09:38 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public meeting in Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh has been cancelled for today.

08:37 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Visuals from outside Raj Nivas in Puducherry where CM V Narayanasamy is sitting on a dharna against Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi. He wants Central govt to recall the Lieutenant Governor, and that the helmet enforcement rule by DGP be taken up in a phased manner in the state.



08:24 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In A 2-year-old girl died after falling into a drain while she was playing outside her house in the Ranga Reddy district of Telangana on the night of February 13. A case has been registered and further probe is on, said G Rajesh, Sub Inspector, Mailardevpally Police Station.

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New Delhi:

Leaving aside the political differences, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi today said the entire Opposition stands with the Narendra Modi government over Pulwama terror attack. Addressing media in New Delhi, Gandhi said that expressed his grief and said, I am hurt, so is every Indian. This is a terrible tragedy. This type of violence done against our security forces is absolutely disgusting. The aim of terrorism is to divide this country and we are not going to be divided.

Former Prime minister Manmohan Singh also said that, As the Congress President put it, today is the day of mourning. Our country has lost close to 40 jawans of the armed forces. Our foremost duty is to convey to the families that we are with them. The Congress party stands in full support of our jawans and their families. We will do all that is necessary to keep this nation united, he added.

Meanwhile, ahead of Home Minister Rajnath Singh's visit, K Vijay Kumar, the advisor to Jammu and Kashmir Governor, Friday led a team of top police officials on a visit to Lethpora on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the site of one of the deadliest terrorist attacks on security forces in the Valley that left 40 CRPF soldiers dead.

Kumar, who holds the charge of home portfolio in the governor's administration, was accompanied by Director General of Police Dilbag Singh and Additional DGP Munir Ahmad Khan to the site of the terrorist attack.

The team visited the site to get a first-hand account of the incident as Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Governor Satya Pal Malik are scheduled to arrive here later in the day to pay homage to the slain jawans, officials said.

Singh and Malik are also likely to co-chair a security review meeting here, they said.

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Director General R R Bhatnagar and senior officials of the force are part of the team led by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. They are also expected to meet the injured who are admitted to the 92 base hospital of the Army in Srinagar.

(With inputs from PTI)

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New Delhi:

As India grapples with the shock and grief of Pulwama terror attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday issued a stern warning to the terrorists and said they have to pay heavy price. Addressing media in New Delhi after the CCS meet, PM Modi said, Our security forces have been given free hand. The forces behind this act of terrorism and those responsible for it, will be definitely be punished, he said. If our neighbour which is totally isolated in the world thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a big mistake, PM Modi said without naming Pakistan.

I exhort all to unite and fight against the scourge of terror. Our bravehearts put their lives on the line to achieve two things - security and development. I salute the them. 130 crore Indians will give a fitting reply to such an attack, PM Modi said at the launch of the Vande Bharat Express.

As condolences poured in from around the globe, PM Modi expressed his gratitude to all world powers. I am thankful to all nations which condemned Pulwama attack and urge them to come together to crush terrorism, the Prime Minister said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan issued a midnight statement condemning the attack. However, Islamabad rejected that it was in any way involved in the attack. "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations," the Foreign Office added.

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New Delhi:

The Narendra Modi government on Friday called an all-party meeting in Parliament library on Saturday over the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel on Thursday. The meeting will be held on return of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh from the Kashmir Valley. The main opposition party, the Congress on Friday extended full support to the government saying we are not going to be divided. Earlier, Singh flew to the Valley to assess the security situation following a terror attack in South Kashmirs Pulwama district.

Rajnath Singh and Jammu and Kashmir top police officer Dilbagh Singh on Friday carried the coffin of a CRPF soldier who was killed in Pulwama attack. The Home Minister, who has assured the country that the government will "undertake whatever it takes to avenge this", carried the coffin wrapped in the national flag on his shoulder. Shortly after arriving from Delhi, the home minister attended a solemn function here where the remains of 40 CRPF personnel were kept in coffins, drapped with tricolour. Singh helped carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan before it was flown out of Jammu and Kashmir in a special aircraft, an official present at the function said.

According to reports, the decision to call an all-party meet was taken during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) at Prime Minister Narendra Modis residence in New Delhi on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said those responsible for the attack will pay "a very heavy price" and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists. In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished.

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New Delhi:

Ajay Bisaria, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, has been called to New Delhi for consultations in the wake of Thursday's Pulwama attack, according to news agency ANI. Bisaria will Pakistan on Friday night for Delhi for the consultations on Saturday. A Jaish suicide bomber on Thursday rammed a car packed with explosives into a CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, killing at least 40 personnel -- one of the bloodiest in Kashmir. Initial reports, quoting security officials, had said 44 jawans were feared to have been killed in the attack. Prior to this appointment, Bisaria was earlier served as the Private Secretary to the then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

As India grapples with the shock and grief of the Pulwama terror attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday issued a stern warning to the terrorists and said they have to pay heavy price. Addressing the media in New Delhi after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting, PM Modi said: Our security forces have been given free hand. The forces behind this act of terrorism and those responsible for it, will be definitely be punished, he said. If our neighbour which is totally isolated in the world thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a big mistake, PM Modi said without naming Pakistan.

I exhort all to unite and fight against the scourge of terror. Our bravehearts put their lives on the line to achieve two things - security and development. I salute the them. 130 crore Indians will give a fitting reply to such an attack, PM Modi said at the launch of the Vande Bharat Express.

Pakistan issued a midnight statement condemning the attack. However, Islamabad rejected that it was in any way involved in the attack. "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations," the Foreign Office added.

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New Delhi:

Even as India comes to terms of the massive attack on security personnel in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama, which claimed lives of 44 soldiers, latest reports hint at role of an Afghan war veteran behind the well-coordinated attack. According to a Times of India report, Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, the Afghan war veteran may have played a crucial role in carrying out the attack. The report also says that apart from Jaish-e-Mohammeds core group another relatively new group known as Afzal Guru Squad could have played an important role. This Squad had carried out attack on the Sunjuwan Army Camp in February last year.

What is more startling is that the chatter or the surveillance input gathered by the intelligence officials registered a disturbing message the Pulwama attack. Bada hona chahiye, Hindustan rona chahiye, read one of the transcripts. Ghazi is known as an IED expert who infiltrated in India in December last year. Later he travelled on foot to reach this town in southern Kashmir.

Earlier, it was reported that Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar has sent Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, an Afghan war veteran, to Jammu and Kashmir to avenge the 2017 killing of his nephews. The terrorist is an IED expert, who has also been tasked to train young recruits. Ghazi infiltrated from Pakistan occupied Kashmir in the month of December last year. Usman and Talha Rasheed were gunned down by the security forces in an anti-terror operation in 2017. The dreaded terrorist has been hiding in Pulwama ever since than.

The terrorist attack, which has direct footprints inside Pakistan, poses the first major challenges to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, said Riedel, who is now a scholar at the Brookings Institute think-tank.

"This will be a real challenge for Imran Khan, the first serious challenge of his administration," he said. Anish Goel, a former National Security Council official in the previous Obama administration, said the horrific attack highlights just how actively Pakistan-based terrorist groups still operate in Kashmir.

By claiming such quick credit for the attack, Jaish-e-Mohammed is clearly indicating that they will continue to cause trouble in the region and stoke tensions between Pakistan and India, he said.

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New Delhi:

Lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar and his wife Shabana Azmi were invited to attend a literature conference event in Pakistan, organised by Karachi Art Council. However, the two have now turned down the invitation after the terror attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Javed Akhtar took to his Twitter account and wrote, ''Kranchi art council had invited. Shabana and me for a two day lit conference about Kaifi Azmi and his poetry. We have cancelled that. In 1965 during the indo Pak war Kaifi saheb had written a poem. Aur Phir Krishan Ne Arjun Se Kaha.''

Kranchi art council had invited. Shabana and me for a two day lit conference about Kaifi Azmi and his poetry . We have cancelled that . In 1965 during the indo Pak war Kaifi saheb had written a poem .  AUR PHIR KRISHAN NE ARJUN SE KAHA   Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) February 15, 2019

Akhtar also condemned the attack and wrote, "I have a special relation with CRPF. I have written their anthem before putting the pen to paper I met a number of CRPF officers n whatever I learned my respect admiration and love for these braves increased by many a fold Today I share the grief of the dear ones of the martyrs."

I have a special relation with CRPF. I have written Their anthem Before putting the pen to paper I met a number of CRPF officers n what ever I learned my respect admiration and love for these braves increased by many a fold Today I share the grief of the dear ones of the martyrs  Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) February 14, 2019

Will there be no let to these heinous attacks?These mindless killings.this utter disregard for human lives?Extremely shocking news coming from Pulwama.I strongly condemn the worst terror attack on CRPF convoy and stand united with the grieving families  Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) February 14, 2019

Shabana Azmi also expressed grief and wrote on Twitter, ''Will there be no let to these heinous attacks? These mindless killings. This utter disregard for human lives? Extremely shocking news coming from Pulwama. I strongly condemn the worst terror attack on CRPF convoy and stand united with the grieving families (sic).''

Apart from Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar, Alia Bhatt, Anupam Kher, Priyanka Chopra and Abhishek Bachchan have also condemned the attack.

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New Delhi:

Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt starrer Gully Boy has been leaked online by the piracy website Tamilrockers. The much-anticipated film was leaked just a day after its release. This isnt the first time that a movie has been leaked online by Tamilrockers.



Earlier, films like 2.0, Petta, Uri: The Surgical Strike, Aquaman, The Fantastic Beasts, Manikarnika, Accidental Prime Minister and more also became the victim of piracy. This piracy website has been banned innumerable times. But, every time a new movie is leaked online, they come out with a different proxy server.

Post Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumars 2.0 was leaked by Tamilrockers, the Madras High Court directed internet service providers to block 12,000 websites, more than 2000 among them operated by Tamilrockers alone.

Ever since the release, Gully Boy has been receiving rave reviews from all quarters. Directed by Zoya Akhtar, the film is an inspirational story from the dark reality of underground rappers Divine and Naezy. In the film, Ranveer plays Murad, an aspiring rapper from the Mumbai slums, who later makes a name for himself in the hip-hop industry. Alia plays his girlfriend Safeena, who is a medical student.

Gully Boy is supported by actors like Kalki Koechlin, Vijay Raaz and Amruta Subhash.





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New Delhi:

The CBDT has stressed that Aadhaar-PAN linking is mandatory for those filing an Income Tax Return (ITR) and this procedure has to be completed by March 31 this year. Constitutional validity of Aadhaar has been upheld by the Supreme Court of India in September, 2018. Consequently, in terms of Section 139AA of Income Tax Act, 1961 and order dated June 30, 2018 of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, Aadhaar-PAN linking is mandatory now which has to be completed till March 31, 2019 by PAN holders requiring filing of ITR, the CBDT said in an advisory Thursday.

The Supreme Court on February 6 had confirmed that linkage of PAN with Aadhaar is mandatory for filing of ITRs. This reiteration of the September order of the apex court came on an appeal filed by the Centre against a Delhi High Court order allowing two persons, to file their ITRs for 2018-19 without linking their Aadhaar and PAN numbers.

A bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer said the top court has already decided the matter and upheld the section 139AA of the Income Tax Act. The apex court on September 26 last year had declared the Centres flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid but struck down some of its provisions including its linking with bank accounts, mobile phones and school admissions.

Also Read | Sensex ends 67 points lower at 35,809, Nifty also slips 22 points to 10,724

Former CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra, early this month at an event, had said that just 23 crore PAN card holdersover half of the total PAN card holdershave so far linked their cards with biometric ID Aadhaar. He had said the I-T Department has so far issued 42 crore permanent account numbers (PAN), of which 23 crore have been linked with Aadhaar.

Chandra said that once Aadhaar is linked with PAN and PAN is linked with bank account, the I-T department can find out spending pattern and other details of the assessee. Also since many agencies are linked with Aadhaar, it would be easier to gauge whether the benefits of welfare schemes are availed by eligible persons, he said.

Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act says that every person having PAN as on July 1, 2017, and eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate his Aadhaar number to tax authorities. While Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to a resident of India, PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric number allotted by the IT Department to a person, firm or entity.

The CBDT formulates policy for the tax department.

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New Delhi:

Maruti Suzuki Baleno is being offered at a huge discounted price of Rs 30,000. No, its not because of any festive season, it is just that the automaker is offering such massive discount so as to clear its stock from showroom. But this discount is limited to certain models of Baleno only and one such model includes the pre-facelift Baleno 2018 and the company is offering a discount up to Rs 30,000.

The step has been taken in order to clear the stock and make the way for the updated models which was launched in the last month. The discount of Rs 30,000 includes cash discount, exchange offer and additional corporate discount.

Maruti Suzuki Baleno was re-launched in the year 2015 after getting unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Currently, the premium hatchback is being sold at the NEXA outlets and is in direct competition with Hyundai i20 and Honda Jazz.

Recently, a news surfaced over the internet according to which two Japanese auto giants in the Indian market are all set to join hands to share some models and the first one is going to be Baleno. Currently, sold as Maruti Suzuki Baleno, the premium hatchback will now be rebadged and will be available as Toyota Baleno. The car is expected to hit the Indian market in the second half of 2019 and will be available at the Toyotas dealership. The alliance between Suzuki and Toyota was formed in the year 2017 to promote electric vehicle technology.

N Raja, Deputy Managing Director at Toyota Kirloskar Motor said to Autocar India, One thing we're working on now is one of the products from the alliance  the Baleno. Towards the second half of this year, we should be seeing it made available to our dealers for sale.

As per the agreement, Suzuki will share its Baleno and Vitara Brezza models to Toyota while Toyota will share its Corolla to Suzuki.

This model sharing between Toyota and Suzuki will go beyond badge-engineering and the new Toyotas version of Baleno is likely to come with few cosmetics changes on its front side, however, the new version Baleno will be identical to Maruti Suzuki model and will shares the same engines.

Currently, Maruti Suzuki Baleno holds the record of fastest five lakh units sale in the Indian market.
Three years before he died, Julian reflected on what had made him persevere given the obstacles racism set before him. The occasion was the naming of a chemistry building for Julian at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill. At the 1972 dedication, he recalled spending summers as a child on his grandfathers farm in Alabama. One day he and the other farmhands were singing an old spiritual as they worked a cotton field: There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole.
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A US mum has survived being shot in the face with an arrow while defending her children against an aggressor.

Janet Partain, 34, on Monday (local time) took her 14-year-old son and 15-year-old nephew to confront a man about a theft, US TV station WREG reports.

The man, 34-year-old Joseph Avellino, became aggressive when confronted and fired a crossbow arrow at one of the boys with Ms Partain.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has warned Pakistan to expect a strong response to a car bomb attack that killed 44 paramilitary policemen in Kashmir.

The car bomb attack on a security convoy on Thursday was the worst in decades of insurgency in the disputed region.

India said it had "incontrovertible evidence" of Pakistani involvement - though that was quickly denied by Islamabad.

"We will give a befitting reply, our neighbour will not be allowed to de-stabilise us," Mr Modi said in a speech on Friday, after meeting security advisers to discuss options.
An Australian senator has apologised for smearing his own blood on a fellow lawmaker's door after an altercation in the halls of parliament.

Senator Brian Burston was involved in the scuffle with James Ashby, an aide to Senator Pauline Hanson on Wednesday.

Mr Burston told The Senate he wasn't aware he had wiped blood on Ms Hanson's door but conceded he had, The BBC reports.

The incident has been referred to police and Mr Ashby has been banned from parliament and stripped of his parliamentary pass.

The tussle follows allegations of sexual assault from both senators.

Mr Burston, a first-term senator, and Ms Hanson have been locked in a bitter battle after she alleged he sexually harassed a former staffer, prompting him to accuse the anti-Islam One Nation party leader of making unwelcome advances towards him.

He left the One Nation party last year and later joined the United Australia Party.

Newshub.
Robert Ayson writing for The Spinoff

As China sends abstract signals about its unhappiness with New Zealand, there are some concrete steps that Jacinda Ardern's Government can take, writes Robert Ayson of the Victoria University of Wellington Centre for Strategic Studies.

OPINION: At the height of the Cold War, western intelligence agencies overanalysed who was standing next to whom at Red Square parades to discern the pecking order in the Soviet politburo.

In 2019, something similar may be happening as people try to work out what a single passenger flight to Shanghai tells us about China's attitude to New Zealand, if indeed it tells us anything at all.

When all the talk is about a deteriorating New Zealand-China relationship the natural tendency is to reach for that ready narrative.

But our problem is that we don't know quite how big the New Zealand-China problem is. Nor do we know the relative importance of the several potential causes of that problem.

We're stuck in a room of many mirrors, trying to work out which reflection is genuine.

Let's start with what we can be quite sure about. First, it hasn't taken the events of recent months to tell us that the golden summer in New Zealand China relations is over.

That happy period following the completion of the Free Trade Agreement was bubble-wrapped in New Zealand's reluctance to treat China as anything other than an economic opportunity.

But even before the Key-English era had ended, New Zealand was raising concerns about China's behaviour in the South China Sea.

We eventually got the message that Beijing was unhappy when John Key was met in China with newspaper articles suggesting that Wellington should stay quiet if it wanted an FTA upgrade.

Second, the Ardern-Peters coalition Government has accelerated New Zealand's expression of concern about China's behaviour, and at a pace faster than National is comfortable with.

Last year's Defence Strategic Policy statement released by defence minister Ron Mark offered the most concerted version yet of New Zealand's criticisms of Beijings South China Sea behaviour.

By the end of the year, China had joined Russia and North Korea as countries called out by New Zealand for nefarious cyber activities.

Add in the GCSB's assessment that a 5G bid from Spark including Huawei would not pass go, and it is fair to conclude that New Zealands stance on China has noticeably cooled.

The security lens has surpassed the economic lens in the discussion.

Third, there is enough circumstantial evidence to indicate that China has been using more than words to communicate its displeasure with Wellington.

For example, Beijing seems in absolutely no hurry to negotiate the upgrade which remains the cornerstone of NZ-China ties.

Visits by leaders of New Zealand and China in both directions appear to be more difficult to arrange and schedules more difficult to negotiate. Even the Terracotta Warriors have felt the cold wind blow.

There is new friction in the relationship, and not all of it is accidental. But because that friction is often occurring behind the scenes it is still possible to claim that the relationship is fine, when that's not really how things appear to be.

In fact there are grounds for thinking that bilateral relations might become more difficult, especially if New Zealand decides (as it should) to raise stronger and more frequent concerns about Chinas approach to human rights, including in Xinjiang.

In the midst of all of this supposing, we could all do with a bit more clarity on exactly what the problem in the relationship is, and what has caused it.

As it might take a while for a leaders' summit to be scheduled, we need to ask what Wellington can do in the meantime.

The first step is that cabinet ministers need to make New Zealand's own doubts about Huawei more specific.

The more these are presented as concerns about vulnerabilities that directly affect New Zealand organisations the better.

More ammunition is needed against the popular view that New Zealand is acting simply because of its Five Eyes partnerships at a time when the US view is increasingly us-and-them.

On the whole the coalition has not insulated itself from the charge that New Zealand sees itself as a willing member of a new Cold War.

Addressing that problem means pushing back on treatments of the Huawei issue which regard any and all of Chinas advances in information technology as an intrinsic threat.

But, second, this also means creating a sense of distance from the United States which in the Trump era has enjoyed a relatively easy ride from Wellington, especially in contrast to the treatment of China.

Prime Minister Ardern made some helpful early admonitions that China remains inside New Zealands view of the rules-based order on trade and climate change, areas where Washington has been challenging New Zealand's interests and values. But these have been drowned out by Winston Peters' treatment of Trumps America as New Zealands South Pacific saviour.

The next time the prime minister refers to New Zealands independent foreign policy, it needs to be crystal clear this means some autonomy from the United States (as it did until recently) as well as from China.

This requires a third step, perhaps the hardest of all.

The prime minister and her Labour colleagues need to assert greater influence on the way New Zealand talks about its foreign policy priorities.

This means releasing the South Pacific reset from the absurd notion that it is all about containing China.

It means giving clearer signals that New Zealand values the views of its wider Asia-Pacific partners, and not just western ones, in how to manage the China relationship.

It means creating more opportunities for the trade and finance ministers to emphasise the value that New Zealand still attaches to the China relationship. And it may also mean a change in the pecking order within the politburo in Wellington.
Labour Minister Kris Faafoi has hinted the Labour-led Government may reintroduce the $1000 KiwiSaver kickstart that National canned.

In 2015, the National Government scrapped the KiwiSaver kickstart, a $1000 tax-free Government contribution previously given to all New Zealanders who signed up to the scheme.

At the time, Labour's David Clark accused National of stealing from future generations, but now the current Government looks like it may reintroduce the one-off payment.

On The AM Show on Friday, Mr Faafoi was asked why Oranga Tamariki may oppose a National-backed private member's Bill to make it easier for foster children to sign up to KiwiSaver.

"I'll tell you why, there is nothing stopping them doing it now," he said.

"Oranga Tamariki used to do it automatically, but they stopped doing thata because the previous National government got rid of the $1000 kickstart so it wasn't worth it."

When asked on the show by National MP Judith Collins why the Government didn't reintroduce the kickstart if it was making it less attractive for foster children to sign up to KiwiSaver, Mr Faafoi hinted the Government might.

"Just wait and see what we might do," Mr Faafoi replied. "All I can tell you Judith, is that you definitely got rid of it."

"If it is not in the budget, we will hold you to account," she said.

Simplicity founder Sam Stubbs may disagree with Mr Faafoi's suggestion that foster parents can easily sign children in their care up to the scheme "if they go to Oranga Tamariki now and ask".

"It is virtually impossible for them to have a KiwiSaver account because the current law says that either the natural parents or the guardians have to sign them up," Mr Stubbs told The AM Show on Wednesday.

"The natural parents obviously aren't there [while] the guardian becomes the state, and what the state does is take an impossibly long time to do things."

Mr Stubbs said it takes five minutes for most parents in New Zealand to sign their kids up to the scheme, but he has heard cases where for some foster parents it has taken up to five years to have children in their care signed up.

Mr Stubbs said the scheme was in many ways far more suited for foster children because the children often go through many sets of homes, meaning their money should be protected as KiwiSaver does.

"In one instance we spoke to a grandparent that said 'we want to give this child some money, but I want to know it won't be stolen by someone I don't know about'," he said.

"[Money in KiwiSaver] is only there for their benefit, and only in instances of hardship, or the first home, or retirement, can they take it out."

Newshub.
A Government minister has praised The Warehouse Group for achieving a new environmental milestone.

Climate Change Minister and Green Party co-leader James Shaw said The Warehouse achieving carbon neutral status was a "great achievement".

"I welcome the Group's commitment and contribution towards reducing New Zealand's greenhouse emissions," Mr Shaw said of the retail giant on Friday.

The Warehouse Group has achieved carboNZero certification, one of the first internationally accredited greenhouse gas certification schemes under the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

"Achievements like this, and the leadership being shown by other members of the Climate Leaders Coalition, together with the Farming Leaders Group, iwi, and others is vital if we are to become a carbon neutral economy by 2050," Mr Shaw said.

"I congratulate all those New Zealanders; individuals, communities and organisations who are doing what they can do to help us on the path to carbon neutrality."

The Government announced in 2017 its first steps towards making New Zealand carbon neutral by 2050. It said it would tackle that goal by putting a climate change target into law and by setting up an independent Climate Commission.

Both the Zero Carbon Act and Climate Commission were promised to the Green Party during coalition negotiations, and were the first items on its confidence-and-supply agreement with Labour to form a Government.

Mr Shaw said the Government is "focused on providing the institutional and legal framework through the Zero Carbon Bill to be passed into law this year".

Newshub.
Everything else in Trumps wall campaign has been an exercise in mendacity. He claims to be an unsurpassed champion of the military, but his plan is to take money from true military needs to finance something that has almost zero national security value. When his own intelligence chiefs testified on Capitol Hill on global threats, as The Washington Post reported, None of the officials said there is a security crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
An Aussie indie pop/rock duo believe the Australian music industry is diving, while New Zealand's is thriving.

That's why Oli and Louis Leimbach from Lime Cordiale are touring the country to promote their latest single and music video.

"You know the Australian music industry sort of feels like it's going downhill a little bit especially in Sydney, but New Zealand feels like it's popping off - so we're like, let's get over there," Oli Leimbach told Newshub.

The brothers are here for a third time as part of their Money tour, performing at four locations across the country, three of them on a school night.

"Just to have people at a show on a weeknight is pretty unheard of in Sydney," said Louis.

But in New Zealand they're used to drawing the crowds, even on a Sunday night.

Not only do they love our audiences, they also love our artists. Oli says they take inspiration from well-known Kiwi bands like Fat Freddy's Drop, Katchafire and Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Lime Cordiale's latest tour shares the same name as their latest single.

"This song 'Money' is about like not really having money and feeling the pressures of money," said Oli.

Something the duo said they experience in their everyday lives.

"Getting older - especially into your later 20s - you feel more and more the pressures of money, especially being in a band."

They're not just a band but a brotherhood, the pair often juggling a work and family relationship.

"You take the work home with you, there's no real escape," said Oli.

"And if you have an argument you can't really break up as a band," said Louis.

Louis says there's even a family connection to the band's name.

"Yeah the surname Leimbach. And the 'Cordiale' is from our aunty, who runs this classical music festival in the south of France, and it's called Music Cordiale. "

While they're a long way from the south of France, their family name will take to the stage in Dunedin tomorrow night.

Newshub.
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Catch up on local news with our roundup of top 5 headlines of the week, and learn how you can get unlimited access to these stories and more here.
Jeffersonville, IN (47130)

Today

Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies. Low 74F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.
Michael Begin, 19, pleaded guilty Jan. 25 to molesting 20 children in Clark County; there are currently 11 civil cases pending against him, Greater Clark County Schools and the YMCA of Greater Louisville. The criminal charges are related to acts that took place at either Thomas Jefferson Elementary School or the Clark County YMCA.
In appearance, the bow-tie-sporting LaRouche was more avuncular than reactionary firebrand. He was raised in a Quaker family that was also drawn to fervent anti-communism. As a young adult, LaRouche seemed to reject his upbringing and became a socialist ideologue, but his rambling and paranoid style increasingly sidelined him within that marginal faction.
Funeral services for Thomas Armond "Tommy" Ritch, 72, will be Friday, June 11 at 11 a.m. from the Chapel of Kilgroe Funeral Home. Interment to followe at Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Cemetery in Gallant. The family will receive friends on Friday from 10 a.m. until service time at funeral home
Forest

A double standard in Richmond

The lieutenant governor of Virginia is accused of sexual assault and rape by two women. One in college and the other at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Politicians are now calling for his resignation and impeachment without giving him a chance to defend himself. If it is proven that he is guilty of what he is accused of, so be it. Either way, his career is over.

American politics has not changed when it comes to justice for African-Americans. What is happening in Virginia proves that. We have a president who has openly said what he could do to women and was still elected. He has paid off porn stars, Playboy bunnies and who knows how many others. He has accusers who say that he sexual assaulted them and have poof, but he is still president.

We have two Supreme Court justices who were accused of sexual assaulting and harassing women yet they sit on the bench. One who was not even investigated to prove or disprove the allegation that every one said they believed, but he was confirmed anyway.
More than 100 supporters staged a rally Thursday morning on the Capitol steps, chanting "Let us vote," as well as the office phone number for Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, hoping to get him to side with them.

Legislators and advocates took turns at the microphone, citing the long history of their own activism on the issue since before Congress ratified the amendment in 1971 and sent it to the states. Several recalled demonstrating as children, and Del. Kathleen Murphy, D-Fairfax, said she watched the ERA's 1971 passage from the visitors gallery at the U.S. Capitol. All said, they could not believe they were still working on the issue 47 years later.

The chants echoed off the federal courthouse, state government offices and lobbyists' warrens, where the ERA, if successful, will be examined, deconstructed and parsed. Their signs were both forward-looking ("Equality will cure what ails you, Virginia") and threatening ("Kill the ERA, lose your seat"). After the hour-long rally wrapped up, demonstrators decamped to the legislative office building to lobby in the halls.

On Wednesday night, Del. Hala Ayala, D-Prince William, sought to jump-start the stalled amendment by filing a motion to bypass the rules that normally prevent a defeated proposal from being heard before the full House.

Before the ink was dry on her motion, Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, filed a blocking resolution requiring motions like hers to get a two-thirds vote instead of a simple majority .

"I think that was a way to put me in my place," Ayala said. "I did everything according to the rules ... These are the same tactics they always use."

That did not sit well with Gilbert, the House majority leader.

"I'm not sure why my colleague would want to assign such disrespectful intentions to me," he said. "The only things being disrespected are the purpose, protocol and precedent of the House rules, which have never before been hijacked to advance a particular piece of legislation."

A third resolution, filed Wednesday night by Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, sought to plug a hole in the rules over which Ayala and Gilbert are battling. Simon's proposal would allow resolutions, and bills, to be "discharged" from a committee and brought to the floor. "We're not going to let anyone hide behind the subcommittee system," he told rallygoers Thursday.

There is a five-day waiting period before House members decide whether to take up these measures, so it will not come up for a vote until Feb. 20, three days before the session is scheduled to end. Its proponents, mostly Democrats, say there are a number of Republicans who want to vote for the amendment but are reluctant to speak out.

Even if the ERA clears those hurdles and passes the General Assembly, the fact that Virginia becomes the 38th state to ratify the federal amendment does not necessarily mean the ERA will become part of the U.S. Constitution.

Congress set a 1979 deadline on its ratification by the states, then extended it until 1982. It was three states short until two years ago, when its was ratified by Nevada legislature, followed by the Illinois legislature. Congressional proponents have introduced bills to remove the deadline or to start the state ratification process over.

Five states that ratified the amendment later rescinded their votes, but no court has ruled on whether that is allowed.
In releasing the list, which did not include parish assignments for the priests, Knestout joined a chorus of other bishops across the country committing to transparency after a Pennsylvania grand jury report released in August found that at least 1,000 children were sexually abused by at least 300 Catholic clergy members in that state.

None of the names on the Diocese of Richmonds list appeared on the Virginia State Polices sex offender registry, or in any lawsuits in U.S. District Court. The only name on the list to appear in a search for convictions in the Richmond and the Lynchburg areas was John Leonards.

Leonard was founding pastor at St. Thomas More in 1978 before he left in 1979, according to a history of the church published in The News & Advance in 1991. Leonard was accused of having assaulted multiple seminary students in Goochland County in the early 1970s.

The accusations were investigated in 2002 by the then-newly formed Diocesan Review Board, a group of mostly laypeople who deliberate on sexual abuse accusations within the church under the bishops supervision. The board recommended Leonard be removed, but the bishop at the time overruled the board and allowed Leonard to remain in the ministry, prompting the resignation of several board members, according to the Richmond-Times Dispatch.
I want the maximum justice possible, she told the judge before stepping down.

Maria Rodas said she and her husband were separated from their son for a number of years once they moved to the U.S. and their son stayed behind in El Salvador  at first working on a rural farm with his paternal grandparents, where she said he attended church daily, and then moving in with his aunt closer to a city.

She said their family moved to the U.S to escape danger in El Salvador and she warned her two sons to be wary of MS-13 members who might be trying to recruit youth.

Through a translator, she insisted Victor Rodas didnt come in contact with any gang members and was never a member of MS-13. Instead, she characterized him as a victim of the gang who had no criminal history himself.

Matthew Pack, Victor Rodas attorney, also pointed out his clients lack of recorded criminal history and asked for a fair and merciful verdict in a sentence between 24 to 40 years.

In arguments, Nance said Rodas was far from a victim of MS-13. Rather, he said, extensive evidence in the vein of violent and gang-related photos on his cell phone and contact with other alleged members showed he was an active participant in the gang.
Community Solutions is a nationwide nonprofit organization that coordinates the Built for Zero project and has spent eight years working with localities to help end homelessness.

The Central Virginia Continuum of Care is a network of direct homeless response providers such as Miriams House and partner agencies including Horizon Behavioral Health, the Community Action Network and Lynchburg City Schools. The groups work together throughout the year to identify gaps in services for the homeless population and create strategic plans to meet those needs.

Nigon said the first step in communities reaching functional zero is creating a by-name list with key metrics such as name and date of first contact that providers update monthly to track homeless individuals. He said the list allows providers to see the real-time scope of homelessness in their community while tracking those entering and exiting homelessness each month.

Its also a system, he said. Its something that lots of people will touch  every provider in your community who is working on homelessness needs to be involved with it in some way.

The list acts as a coordination tool as well, Nigon said, by helping providers set goals and work with each other.
Virginia State Police is investigating a pair of Thursday night shootings in Nelson County that left a Nellysford man dead and a woman seriously injured.

The investigation began shortly after 9 p.m. when a 45-year-old woman arrived at the Wintergreen Fire Department station in Nellysford with a gunshot wound, Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller said in a news release Friday.

Police said the woman was shot by James C. Saunderson, 47, during an argument at their residence in the 800 block of Rodes Valley Drive.

The woman, who police did not publicly identify, was transported to the University of Virginia Medical Center. As of Friday morning, she was being treated for serious injuries, police said.

The Nelson County Sheriffs Office then responded to the Rodes Valley Drive residence, where deputies could hear gunshots from inside the home, police said.

The sheriffs office requested assistance from state police, who surrounded the home to contain Saunderson.

Despite numerous attempts by state police overnight, no contact was made with the individual inside the residence, police said.
Martin said his shop does a lot of work towing vehicles and regularly encounters state police at scenes of wrecks and other incidents. He said he knew Dowell and was fond of the late officer who always had a big smile on his face.

Im devastated this has happened, said Martin. I want his memory to keep going.

He said he plans to submit the request and accompanying signatures to Del. Ronnie Campbell, R-Rockbridge, who represents Amherst County. Martin said he has had correspondence with Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg, and U.S. Rep. Ben Cline, R-6th, who expressed support.

Residents also can sign the petition at the Amherst County Chamber of Commerce office, 328 Richmond Highway, Amherst.

Dowell is the 66th VSP officer to die in the line of duty, Virginia State Police said in a news release. About 1,500 people  including representatives from dozens of law enforcement agencies from around the country  attended a Feb. 9 funeral service in Dowells hometown of Chilhowie.

Martin, also a chaplain of the Amherst Fire Department, said he was inspired by two recent bridge dedications in the memory of Amherst County veterans in organizing the petition effort.
All the major auto manufacturers have vehicles on display at the auto show, including some 2020 models such as the German-made Audi e-tron not yet available in showrooms but available for preorder.

The e-tron, an SUV, is Audis first fully electric vehicle. Brenton Evans, general manager for Audi Richmond, said the dealership has taken five orders, which require a refundable $1,000 deposit. List price starts at just under $75,000.

Its on a reservation system. When you get to the front of the queue, they ask you for specifications, Evans said. The dealership expects to get a demonstration model in April.

Also on display at the show will be the 2019 Jeep Wrangler, the MotorTrend SUV of the year.

Sales of light vehicles  cars, sport utility vehicles and light trucks  topped 17 million for the fourth year in a row in 2018, said transportation industry expert George Hoffer, a professor emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with folded and head bowed, walked around 40 coffins draped in tricolour on Friday evening as he led the nation in paying last respects to the Central Reserve Police Force personnel killed in the Pulwama terror attack.

The bodies of the slain jawans reached Delhi's Palam air force area in a special Indian Air Force (IAF) plane in the evening.

The bodies were received by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who had visited Kashmir earlier in the day.

Decorated with white floral arrangements, 40 coffins wrapped in tricolour were neatly arranged in the hangar, where senior officials of the CRPF laid wreaths one by one in a solemn ceremony, officials said.

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the chiefs of the three services  Army, Air Force and Navy  and senior cabinet ministers, including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, also paid their homage to the slain CRPF personnel.

Gandhi, who was standing alongside Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, politely asked the general to give way to him for paying his respects, said officials.

After the dignitaries paid their homage, the prime minister, dressed in white with a dark-coloured shawl, arrived in the hangar and went straight to the podium where the coffins were kept.

He stood in silence for a few moments, before taking a round of the coffins with his hands folded and head bowed.

In the afternoon, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, along with J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh, helped carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan after he laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the troops were killed in the attack.

"The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans. I have paid my last respects to the martyrs of Pulwama. The sacrifice will not go in vain," Singh said.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 80 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.
Sausage mislabeling in Canada is down, according to a new University of Guelph DNA barcoding study.

Researchers found mislabeling and cross-species contamination of meat ingredients in 14 per cent of sausage samples selected from grocery stores across the country. That's down from a first-ever study conducted by the same researchers over a year ago that revealed a 20-per-cent mislabeling rate.

"We have reassessed the rates of mislabeling and found lower levels," said Prof. Robert Hanner, lead author of the study. "The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) took follow-up action after our initial study, and it appears that it had an impact."

Published in the journal Food Research International, the study involved sausage packages labeled as containing only one type of meat.

The researchers used DNA barcoding along with digital PCR technology to determine which meats were in the sausage samples.

"There is DNA in nearly every cell of every organism, so barcoding can be applied to products such as ground meats that would be difficult to identify with other means," said Hanner, integrative biology professor in U of G's Biodiversity Institute of Ontario. "In this study, barcoding was used to identify the dominant meat type in the sausage samples."

"Scientific innovation helps protect Canada's food supply on many levels, and DNA barcoding plays a key role through species identification. The CFIA applauds the University of Guelph for their research and continued dedication to advancements in science," said the CFIA's Deputy Chief Food Safety Officer, Dr. Aline Dimitri.

Researchers tested sausages labeled as beef, chicken, pork or turkey. They also tested the samples for sheep, goat and horse.

Unlike the previous study that uncovered horsemeat in one pork sausage sample, researchers found no horsemeat this time.

"We decided to also include sheep and goat in this most recent study because although they may not be consumed in the same quantities as beef, chicken, pork and turkey, they are commercially raised meats that are commonly present in our food supply chain," said Hanner.

Products were considered contaminated when more than one per cent of another meat was detected. This ruled out trace amounts that might have resulted from incomplete cleaning of processing equipment.

Of the 30 beef sausages tested, five contained sheep, four contained pork and one contained chicken.

Among the 20 chicken sausages tested, three contained turkey, one contained pork and one beef. Of the turkey sausages tested, one contained chicken and one contained pork. All the pork sausages samples had only pork, meaning no cross-species contamination.

Sausages labelled as single-meat but containing more than one meat type contravene food labelling regulations. Consumers may buy these products because of health issues, such as allergies, or lifestyle choices, such as avoiding pork, said Hanner.

Unknown contaminants may also allow transfer of food pathogens, he added.

"In certain cases, it may be of concern when there is a recall on a specific type of meat, but it is not indicated on the label."

He said it is difficult to determine whether cross-species contamination was economically motivated.

"We don't know the exact cuts of meat that were found in the samples, so we can't determine if the contaminant meat was purposely substituted because it was a cheaper meat."

The next step would be to test throughout the supply chain to determine where mislabeling and cross-species contamination happens.

"We are looking at it from the retail market and finding that there are issues," said Hanner. "But in order to get a full understanding, we need to look at it from multiple points within the food chain."
The study of natural toxins and their derivatives may help in the development of medicines to treat diseases like cancer and osteoarthritis, says coordinator of the Center of Excellence in New Target Discovery.

Animal venoms are the subject of study at research center based at the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo. But in this case, the idea is not to find antidotes, but rather to use the properties of the venoms themselves to identify molecular targets of diseases and, armed with that knowledge, develop new compounds that can be used as medicines.

The focus of the work are immuno-inflammatory diseases like osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, explained Ana Marisa Chudzinski-Tavassi, a researcher at the Butantan Institute and coordinator of the Center of Excellence in New Target Discovery (CENTD).

"In addition to venoms, we are also studying toxins isolated from venoms and animal secretions - from the Brazilian biodiversity and from other countries - to identify and validate therapeutic targets that lead to the development of new medicines," said Chudzinski-Tavassi during FAPESP Week London, held February 11-12, 2019 at the Royal Society in London.

The CENTD, an Engineering Research Center (ERC) funded by Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP and GSK, employs modern and complex molecular and cellular biology techniques, including phenotypic multi-parametric, interatomic, and proteomic assays, transcriptomic analysis and bioinformatics.

"We have established a biobank - a bank of biological samples, a collection of venoms, isolated fractions, recombinant proteins and synthetic peptides - for the maintenance, control and management of samples used in every study conducted at the CENTD. Cell models related to the diseases that are being studied at the CENTD were established and used to evaluate proinflammatory, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic [toxic to cells] and cytoprotective [that protect cells] activities. In addition, translational models to study signaling pathways are being used for the purpose of finding new molecular targets for the development of innovative medicines," Chudzinski-Tavassi told.

"After identification of a potential new target, subsequent validation is required. For this, the CENTD utilizes advanced molecular biology methodologies like the CRISPR/Cas9 system for gene knockout and expression activation, in knockout animals as well as in in vitro and in vivo tests. To date, 23 whole venoms have been screened for pro-inflammatory effects in the six cell models that have been established and standardized," she said.

"In this screening, three whole venoms were selected for later studies. The same cell models were standardized in order to analyze the anti-inflammatory or cytoprotective properties, and in this case, in addition to two whole venoms, eight synthetic peptides obtained based on venom protein amino acid sequences, and two recombinant proteins, were selected," said Chudzinski-Tavassi.

"In view of the anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective effects clearly shown in different cell types related to arthritic diseases, we suggest several of the peptides that the CENTD has in its library of compounds be used as tools for studying targets of degenerative diseases," she said.

According to the Center's coordinator, studies that are underway will allow discovery of the pathways through which these effects occur.

Promising antitumoral

The CENTD researchers, in collaboration with researchers from Albert Einstein Hospital, conducted transcriptomic (the study of gene expression) and proteomic (the comprehensive study of expressed proteins) analyses on tissues from healthy donors and donors with osteoarthritis. Using bioinformatics analyses, they are deciphering differentially expressed genes and proteins in these tissues.

"The next step will be to employ the peptides previously defined as cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory to seek new molecular targets related to developing osteoarthritis and contribute to its treatment," Chudzinski-Tavassi said.

With regard to cancer models, in addition to studies on tumor cell cultures, the researchers used what is known as a translational model to perform transcriptomic studies on spontaneous melanoma tumors in horses at the Butantan Institute's farm.

"Melanoma tumors were treated with a recombinant protein with antitumoral effects, already described in previous work by the group, that selectively acts on tumor cells and induces proteasome inhibition followed by cell death through the mechanism of apoptosis," Chudzinski-Tavassi said.

"Results derived from the transcriptomic analysis of the horse tumor translational model indicate that the antitumoral molecule, Amblyomin-X, besides its direct activity on tumor cells, activated the immune system of the animals to fight the tumor, causing the death of tumor cells through a mechanism of immunogenic cell death," she said.

The researcher went on to say that the findings of this translational model confirm the group's previous findings, obtained in in vitro and in vivo models, and reveal important new molecular pathways related to targets involved in immunogenic death.

PITE and ERC

Inaugurated July 21, 2017, the CENTD follows the rules of FAPESP's Research Partnership for Technological Innovation (PITE) and Engineering Research Centers (ERCs), in conducting long-term research with companies, enabling the shared generation of knowledge in areas of common interest, with great potential for application of the results generated.

"The CENTD has six main lines of research that overlap and involve nearly 35 researchers, as well as students and technical staff, for a total of 79 people involved in the project," Chudzinski-Tavassi said.

"To facilitate research, high performance equipment was purchased to enable high impact assays, revealing important cellular phenomena to identify the structures responsible by the different phenotypes," she said.

Among such equipment is High-Content Screening (HCS), which allows a rapid analysis of molecules of interest and an assessment of phenotypes. By using the equipment, it is possible to assess changes in the morphology of cells or their markers, which is extremely important information in studies of cell activity and survival due to a variety of stimuli.

"The collaborative partnership established with groups from the United Kingdom at CENTD, with support from FAPESP, GSK and the Butantan Institute, has proven to be an efficient model for developing high-impact science, discovering new drugs and training people in this important area enabling health innovation," said Chudzinski-Tavassi.

Dozens of researchers from Brazil and the United Kingdom take part in the CENTD. The Center's assistant coordinator is Isro Gloger, director of the GSK Trust in Science Project.

"We have worked in Brazil with FAPESP in funding innovative projects on initiatives involving collaborative work with academic researchers. One of them is at the CENTD. Our relationship with FAPESP is a great example of a public-private partnership that works," said Gloger, a molecular biologist born in Argentina who has spent 29 years at GSK.
Despite challenges, new advances in stem cell biology and genetic engineering show potential for better cell replacement therapies, say experts in a special supplement to the Journal of Parkinson's Disease

Cell replacement may play an increasing role in alleviating the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) in future. Writing in a special supplement to the Journal of Parkinson's Disease, experts describe how newly developed stem cell technologies could be used to treat the disease and discuss the great promise, as well as the significant challenges, of stem cell treatment.

The most common PD treatment today is based on enhancing the activity of the nigro-striatal pathway in the brain with dopamine-modulating therapies, thereby increasing striatal dopamine levels and improving motor impairment associated with the disease. However, this treatment has significant long-term limitations and side effects. Stem cell technologies show promise for treating PD and may play an increasing role in alleviating at least the motor symptoms, if not others, in the decades to come.

"We are in desperate need of a better way of helping people with PD. It is on the increase worldwide. There is still no cure, and medications only go part way to fully treat incoordination and movement problems," explained co-authors Claire Henchcliffe, MD, DPhil, from the Department of Neurology, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Department of Neurosurgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA; and Malin Parmar, PhD, from the Wallenberg Neuroscience Center and Lund Stem Cell Center, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. "If successful, using stem cells as a source of transplantable dopamine-producing nerve cells could revolutionize care of the PD patient in the future. A single surgery could potentially provide a transplant that would last throughout a patient's lifespan, reducing or altogether avoiding the need for dopamine-based medications."

The authors have analyzed how newly developed stem cell technologies could be used to treat PD, and how clinical researchers are moving very quickly to translate this technology to early clinical trials. In the past, most transplantation studies in PD used human cells from aborted embryos. While these transplants could survive and function for many years, there were scientific and ethical issues: fetal cells are in limited supply, and they are highly variable and hard to quality control. Only some patients benefited, and some developed side effects from the grafts, such as uncontrollable movements called dyskinesias.

Recent strides in stem cell technology mean that quality, consistency, activity, and safety can be assured, and that it is possible to grow essentially unlimited amounts of dopamine-producing nerve cells in the laboratory for transplantation. This approach is now rapidly moving into initial testing in clinical trials. The choice of starting material has also expanded with the availability of multiple human embryonic stem cell lines, as well as the possibilities for producing induced pluripotent cells, or neuronal cells from a patient's own blood or skin cells. The first systematic clinical transplantation trials using pluripotent stem cells as donor tissue were initiated in Japan in 2018.

"We are moving into a very exciting era for stem cell therapy," commented Dr. Parmar. "The first-generation cells are now being trialed and new advances in stem cell biology and genetic engineering promise even better cells and therapies in the future. There is a long road ahead in demonstrating how well stem cell-based reparative therapies will work, and much to understand about what, where, and how to deliver the cells, and to whom. But the massive strides in technology over recent years make it tempting to speculate that cell replacement may play an increasing role in alleviating at least the motor symptoms, if not others, in the decades to come."

"With several research groups, including our own centers, quickly moving towards testing of stem cell therapies for PD, there is not only a drive to improve what is possible for our patients, but also a realization that our best chance is harmonizing efforts across groups," added Dr. Henchcliffe. "Right now, we are just talking about the first logical step in using cell therapies in PD. Importantly, it could open the way to being able to engineer the cells to provide superior treatment, possibly using different types of cells to treat different symptoms of PD like movement problems and memory loss."

"This approach to brain repair in PD definitely has major potential, and the coming two decades might also see even greater advances in stem cell engineering with stem cells that are tailor-made for specific patients or patient groups," commented Patrik Brundin, MD, PhD, Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, and J. William Langston, MD, Stanford Udall Center, Department of Pathology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA, Editors-in-Chief of the Journal of Parkinson's Disease. "At the same time, there are several biological, practical, and commercial hurdles that need circumventing for this to become a routine therapy."
Scientists at IST Austria discover new mechanism for lateral inhibition of cells- Study published in Cell

"The winner takes it all, the loser standing small" - that's not just true in the famous ABBA song, but also in animal development. Frequently, a group of cells starts out all being the same. But then one cell puts the brake on its neighbors, sending inhibitory signals that stop their differentiation. The "winning" cell, in the end, is different from its neighbors. So far, the only signaling mechanism known to be responsible for such a lateral inhibition was the Notch-Delta signaling pathway. Postdoc Peng Xia and Professor Carl-Philipp Heisenberg at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), now describe a new mechanism for lateral inhibition in a publication in today's edition of Cell. In zebrafish ovarian follicles, granulosa cells in the envelope that surround the oocyte do not use the Notch-Delta signaling pathway for lateral inhibition, but compete mechanically: the winning cell grows more rapidly and inhibits the growth of its neighbors by mechanically compressing them, thereby becoming the sole micropyle precursor cell - a cell that later plays an important role for the fertilization of the egg.

Biggest cell compresses its neighbors to inhibit TAZ signaling

Granulosa cells surround the zebrafish egg. One cell among this group becomes markedly different; it is much bigger than all the others - this is the micropyle precursor cell (MPC). Postdoc Peng Xia and Carl-Philipp Heisenberg set out to understand how the MPC becomes singled out among all the granulosa cells that could adopt this fate.

Early experiments showed that the Notch-Delta signaling pathway, which is responsible for lateral inhibition in most situations during development, is not involved in the process that specifies the MPC. However, the way in which the MPC grows and presses against its neighboring cells set the researchers on their next path: they decided to test whether this jostling for space plays a role.

With their experimental set-up, the researchers measured tension in the developing tissue, and found that the MPC clearly compresses its neighbors. The researchers then cut out the MPC to observe what happens in its absence.

Normally, as the MPC develops, a signaling pathway that responds to mechanical stimuli, the YAP/TAZ pathway, is active in the MPC, while it is less active in the surrounding cells. Once the researchers took out the MPC, the TAZ protein became active again in the surrounding cells. And the cells began to compete with each other again: one cell grew bigger and bigger, "winning" the race to become the new MPC. "This mimics the natural process that we see as the egg develops. When we take out the MPC, another cell will take its role, again by growing rapidly and compressing its neighbors", says first author Peng Xia. "In MPC development, lateral inhibition does not go via the Notch pathway, but is mediated by mechanical signals that control how active the TAZ protein is."

Micropyle forms tunnel through egg shell to allow fertilization

Xia and Heisenberg also uncovered the reason why the MPC becomes so big. TAZ signaling in the MPC not only triggers cell growth but also leads to extracellular matrix deposition around the MPC, which in turn through Integrin adhesion receptors promotes TAZ activity within the MPC. This positive feedback loop eventually leads to TAZ hyperactivation in MPC and its rapid growth. The large size of the MPC is critical for its future function in forming a tunnel through the egg shell surrounding the oocyte, through which the sperm can reach the oocyte for fertilization. In fish with a mutation in TAZ, the MPC doesn't develop properly. The eggs either have no tunnel or strangely formed tunnels, and the sperm can't get into them - hence the cells are not fertilized, solving the question why this fish line is infertile.
Antiseptic soap, mouthwash, and nose ointment after hospital discharge reduced infections and infection-associated hospitalizations due to MRSA in high-risk patients

Hospital patients who have methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can prevent future MRSA infections by following a standard bathing protocol after discharge, according to research results published in the February 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The Changing Lives by Eradicating Antibiotic Resistance, or CLEAR, trial divided 2,121 adult patients at random into one of two groups. All patients in both groups were "colonized" with MRSA; that is, they carried MRSA silently on their bodies. One group received education in infection prevention measures related to personal hygiene, laundry and cleaning in the home, and the other group received the same education along with instruction in decolonization -- that is, a treatment regimen to remove MRSA bacteria from their bodies. The decolonization regimen included bathing or showering with an over-the-counter antiseptic soap, rinsing the mouth and throat with a prescription mouthwash, and applying an antibiotic ointment to the nose. The patients were taught to self-administer the decolonization regimen daily for five days, twice a month, for six months.

"Our goal was to understand whether removing MRSA from the skin, nose and throat was better than hygiene education alone in reducing MRSA or other infections and associated hospitalizations," said Dr. Mary Hayden, professor of internal medicine and pathology, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, and director of the Division of Clinical Microbiology at Rush University Medical Center.

In the group that received education alone, one out of every 11 (9.2 percent) participants developed a MRSA infection and one in four (23.7 percent) developed a serious infection from any pathogen, with most infections (85 percent) leading to hospitalization.

The decolonization plus education regimen reduced MRSA infections by 30 percent, compared to the group that only received education, and reduced all types of infections by 17 percent. Patients who did not miss any doses of decolonization had 44 percent fewer MRSA infections and 40 percent fewer infections overall.

Participants in the study were recruited from 17 hospitals and seven nursing homes in Southern California (Orange County and Los Angeles County). The participants were adults who were able to bathe or shower (either by themselves or with caregiver assistance), had been hospitalized in the previous 30 days, and tested positive for MRSA while in the hospital or 30 days before or afterward. (California mandates MRSA screening at hospital admission in high-risk patients).

The researchers followed the patients for 12 months after they were discharged from the hospital, meeting with them in their homes or in a research clinic four times and conducting an exit interview at the end of the year. They also contacted the participants monthly, asked them to report any hospitalizations or clinic visits for infection and reviewed their medical records from the study period.

National data from the Centers for Disease Control has shown that MRSA carriers who are discharged from hospitals are at high risk of serious disease due to MRSA in the year following discharge. Approximately 5 to 10 percent of hospitalized patients are MRSA carriers.

"With an issue this large, we wanted to find best practice strategies to prevent these infections and associated hospitalizations," said Hayden. "This large clinical trial helped determine that there is a way to help prevent infections after patients go home and it can prevent readmission."
A new study has shown that the herbicide glyphosphate, could increase the risk of cancer by 41 percent among those who are exposed. The findings were published this week in the journal Mutation Research/Reviews in Mutation Research.

Kaentian Street | Shutterstock

Glyphosphate is a popular herbicide used worldwide. For this study, the researchers conducted a meta-analysis using existing studies on the weed killer. They found that exposure to this weed killer has a significant effect on the risk of developing Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL), a cancer of the immune system.

All of the meta-analyses conducted to date, including our own, consistently report the same key finding: exposure to GBHs (glyphosate-based herbicides) are associated with an increased risk of NHL.

In 2015, the World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer said that glyphosphate is probably carcinogenic to humans. The US Environmental Protection Agency in 2017 however had said that the herbicide is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans, a statement that was supported by the European Food Safety Authority.

In 2017, Bayer also said that glyphosate is a safe and efficient weed control tool. This lead to around 800 people suing Mosanto and the owner of Bayer AG that year, over claims that glyphosphate containing Monsantos Roundup was the cause of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This figure rose to around 9000 by 2018.

For the study, the team of researchers looked at published studies on the effects of glyphosate on humans as well as animals between 2001 and 2018.

This research provides the most up-to-date analysis of glyphosate and its link with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, incorporating a 2018 study of more than 54,000 people who work as licensed pesticide applicators. Rachel Shaffer, Co-author

The results of the meta-analysis revealed that among people with highest exposure to the herbicide, there was a compelling association with development of NHL.

Authors agree, however, that the data on the chemical directly causing cancer was limited. They write that since the middle of the 2000s, the rise in green burndown farming, which involves applying glyphosate herbicides to all crops before they are harvested, has resulted in a huge increase in exposure to the chemical.

Bayer refuted the claims, stating that the results were due to statistical manipulation and there were flaws in the study design and methods. They said that the study, provides no scientifically valid evidence that contradicts the conclusions of the extensive body of science demonstrating that glyphosate-based herbicides are not carcinogenic.

Lead author, Lianne Sheppard, professor in biostatistics and environmental and occupational health sciences explained that the connection was real  the herbicide was indeed carcinogenic.
Researchers have shown that tweaking the tiny inner parts of a cell could prevent the damage caused due to aging.

The results of this new breakthrough study were published in the latest issue of the journal Genes and Development. This study titled, Nuclear pore density controls heterochromatin reorganization during senescence, was backed by the Medical Research Council and by Cancer Research UK.

Image Credit: Syda Productions / Shutterstock

Researchers have shown how the process of cell aging or senescence could be stopped or prevented. This finding could have a major impact on age related diseases such as cancers and diabetes, explain the researchers. They add that as the cell ages, there is a cessation of cell division. This process can be utilized to benefit wound healing or prevent excess cell division as seen with cancers. Senescence on the other hand could lead to decline in cell health and tissue damage.

The researchers from the Medical Research Council's Human Genetics Unit and the Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre at the University of Edinburgh targeted the process of senescence. They explain that senescence can trigger a process called the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). SASP is basically a series of processes that lead to chemical signals that cause cell damage due to inflammation. The researchers found that if they could modulate the nuclear pores or gateways of the nucleus of the cell, SASP triggers could be stopped. For SASP to come into action, DNA too has to be altered, they add. If these steps could be modulated, senescence and its effects could be controlled they explain.

Study leader, Professor Wendy Bickmore, Director of the Human Genetics Unit at the University of Edinburgh's Medical Research Council Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, in a statement said, These findings provide us with a much clearer understanding of how senescence causes cell damage. Whilst we are some way from being able to halt the damage caused by the ageing process, we hope that this advance will open up avenues to explore how we might slow some of the harm that stems from senescence. This could be of relevance to the many conditions that tend to affect us as we grow older.

Dr Lindsay Wilson, Programme Manager for Genetics, Epigenetics and Genomics at the Medical Research Council, also said that this study shows how cells respond to damage and stress. She said, Senescence is an essential self-defence mechanism but at times, can also be harmful. Professor Bickmore's work suggests ways in which scientists of the future might target these harmful effects, for example in age-related diseases.

Dr Masashi Narita from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute also said that thus was an extremely important area in biology. She said, This work is still a long way off benefits for people, but provides helpful clues to how we might be able to manipulate this process in the future.

Source: http://genesdev.cshlp.org/content/33/3-4/144
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter to Mark Berman, M.D., of Beverly Hills, California, for illegally marketing an unapproved implantable device, the Pocket Protector, that Dr. Berman claims can prevent and treat a complication of breast implants known as capsular contracture, or tightening of scar tissue. The warning letter also notifies Dr. Berman of significant deviations from the FDA's quality system requirements and current good manufacturing practices (CGMPs), including deviations from manufacturing processes intended to keep implants sterile.

"Advancing and protecting women's health is a priority for the FDA. As part of these efforts, we will not tolerate bad actors who take advantage of patients by marketing unapproved and potentially unsafe products that deceive patients and put them at risk," said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. "This is not the first time the FDA has notified Dr. Berman concerning his illegal marketing of unapproved medical products and potentially putting his patients at significant risk. Dr. Berman is well aware that the FDA has never approved any product to prevent or treat capsular contracture. By illegally manufacturing and marketing this device, Dr. Berman is taking advantage of patients and exposing them to a broad range of unknown health risks, including not effectively preventing capsular contracture as the product claims or causing additional harm such as infection or adverse reactions with the breast implant. We'll continue our efforts to protect patients from those individuals who choose to skirt laws intended to keep patients safe and sell unproven and potentially unsafe medical products."

The warning letter issued today reflects the agency's commitment to advancing policies that enhance the FDA's oversight of device safety, including device therapies unique to women. As part of the Medical Device Safety Action Plan and the agency's ongoing commitment to advancing women's health, the FDA has warned the public when safety issues are identified, such as breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma, vaginal rejuvenation and unsafe silicone injections. The agency has also established the Women's Health Technologies Strategically Coordinated Registry Network to provide more complete evidence in clinical areas that are unique to women, such as uterine fibroids and pelvic floor disorders.

Capsular contracture is a known complication of breast implants. This condition occurs when the scar tissue around a breast implant becomes tight, sometimes causing deformity and pain. Severe cases of capsular contracture may require surgery. This usually involves removal of the breast implant and surrounding scar capsule, with or without replacement of the breast implant. Capsular contracture may be more common following infection, injury to blood vessels (hematoma) or fluid buildup under the skin (seroma). However, the cause of capsular contracture is not known.

The medical device that Dr. Berman is illegally marketing to patients under the name the Pocket Protector, is a pouch made of two sheets of a type of expanded polymer bonded together by silicone rubber cement that is implanted as a lining inside the breast pocket during breast augmentation procedures. The agency has never approved any implantable device for use in preventing or treating capsular contracture. Such a device would require premarket approval by the agency. Dr. Berman unlawfully marketed the unapproved product via a website and through promotional videos telling the public that the Pocket Protector was safe and beneficial for treating or preventing capsular contracture, even though the product has never been evaluated by the FDA for safety or efficacy for that or any use.

In addition, the warning letter discusses the FDA's recent inspection of the Pocket Protector manufacturing site, which appeared to be a multi-purpose room in the Dr. Berman's office. The agency found the manufacturing site to be inadequate for the manufacture of an implantable, sterile device. Investigators documented evidence of many significant deviations from CGMPs, including unvalidated manufacturing processes, lack of control over the components used in production, and the lack of sufficient and validated product testing. These significant deviations could lead to serious patient harm, including the potential risk of microbial contamination. Additionally, the FDA noted that Dr. Berman had failed to establish a process for collecting, identifying and reviewing medical device reports of adverse events associated with use of the Pocket Protector, as required by FDA regulations.

The warning letter requests that Dr. Berman immediately cease manufacturing and distributing the Pocket Protector. It also asks him to respond, within 15 working days from the date the warning letter was received, with details of how the violations noted in the warning letter will be corrected. Any violations not corrected could lead to enforcement action such as seizure, injunction, or prosecution.

Separate from the violations noted in this warning letter, Dr. Berman's marketing of other FDA-regulated products without FDA approval is currently the subject of a federal enforcement case that was filed in May 2018. In that case, the United States is seeking a permanent injunction against Dr. Berman and his California Stem Cell Treatment Center to stop them from violating the law by marketing stem cell products without FDA approval.

Health care professionals and consumers should report any adverse events related to treatments with the Pocket Protector product to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program. To file a report, use the MedWatch Online Voluntary Reporting Form. The completed form can be submitted online or via fax to 1-800-FDA-0178. The FDA monitors these reports and takes appropriate action necessary to ensure the safety of medical products in the marketplace.
At present all new mothers are screened for symptoms of depression and help is provided to those who need care. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now has urged doctors to screen pregnant women for risks of depression and provide adequate counselling and support to prevent the onset of depression after delivery. The report was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this week.

Image Credit: Alex Linch / Shutterstock

According to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force one in seven women suffer from perinatal depression which means depression during pregnancy or after childbirth. Postpartum depression or baby blues, as it is commonly called, can affect women deeply causing depressive symptoms, anxiety, intense sadness, lack of energy, lack of ability to bond or care for the new born etc. In severe conditions it can also lead to suicidal ideation, self harm or harm to the baby. This week the Task force thus urged doctors to identify pregnant women who are at risk of depression and treat them before it worsens.

The Task force outlines that for perinatal depression (depression during pregnancy or within a year of childbirth), two kinds of counselling could be suggested. One of these is Cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. This helps patients to overcome their negative thoughts and manage them effectively. The other form of therapy is interpersonal therapy that targets problems with relationships which could be causing the depression. Both of these counselling could be done one-on-one or in groups. To come up with the efficacy of counselling for these women the Task force looked at 50 studies and found that a variety of methods were applied to treat perinatal depression. This included antidepressant medication, omega 3 fatty acids, physical activity, patient education and counselling.

Karina Davidson, member of the team that drafted the recommendation said, We can prevent this devastating illness and it's about time that we did. She said that the problems compound for mothers with depression with low birth weight, failure to thrive and premature birth of the babies.

Some of the identifiable risk factors that have been outlined by the Task force for the health care providers to detect risk of depression include;

Previous history of depression

Depression in the family

Unwanted or unplanned pregnancy

Sexual or physical abuse in the past or present

Teenage pregnancies

Pregnant women from low income groups

Along with these new recommendations was an editorial by Dr. Marlene Freeman, a psychiatrist from Harvard Medical School working at Massachusetts General Hospital, that appeared in the same issue. She says that it is difficult for many women to get access to specialists. Experts have suggested counselling via smartphones for women who are detected to be at risk. The editorial says said that when detected, healthcare providers need to act quickly before the actual symptoms appear. She added however that this move could improve many lives and could lead to a trajectory of better outcomes for a lifetime for both mother and child. She said easy detection tools for doctors could come up from future research to detect perinatal depression early.

The earlier recommendation from the Task force in 2016 had suggested screening for depression among all adults including pregnant women. This year perinatal depression is a specific focus say experts. We actually have evidence now that if you find women who are not currently depressed but who are at risk for becoming depressed during pregnancy or within a year after childbirth behavioral counseling can help them prevent getting this disease, said Davidson.

Source: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2724195
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The Cookbook Confidential group is open to anyone who enjoys cookbooks and cooking. For more information call the Eastlake Public Library at 440-942-7880 or visit https://we247.org/.
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All workshops will take place at the Geauga West Library located at 13455 Chillicothe Road in Chester Township. Pre-registration is requested through the Library via phone at 440-729-4250.
State Representative Bill Buckbee (R-67th) has testified before the Public Safety Committee regarding a bill adding a layer of greater public safety and preserving our environment.

Ultimately, the new law will allow the mobilization of qualified forest firefighters within Connecticut to fight forest fires in the most effective way possible.

Prior to speaking in favor of the bill, Buckbee assembled wildfire experts from across the state to show the committee that the intent of the bill is about getting all of the trained firefighters in the state working together.

Currently, in the event of a forest fire within our state, some firefighters may not legally be allowed to help fight the flames, Buckbee said.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) administers training for forest firefighters and state statute requires that those fighting forest fires be employed by DEEP, he said. If this law were to pass, then qualified forest firefighters, regardless of employer, would be able to help fight in the event of an emergency.

The National Forest Service is able to request Connecticut to assemble a team of these qualified firefighters to assist with fires in other states.

Having a sufficiently trained team of mobilized forest firefighters would provide our state protection from the potential outbreak of a devastating forest fire.

We will help preserve our precious greenspace and support conservation efforts with better resources to respond to a fire, Buckbee said. This law will also end up saving lives.

The Public Safety Committee consider the bill over the coming days.

The next action would be to move it to the House of Representatives.
State Senator Julie Kushner (D-24th) today reiterated her support for paid family and medical leave legislation in Connecticut.

Kushner represents Sherman, New Fairfield, Danbury and Bethel

We have to make sure paid family and medical leave passes this year, because its something thats so important to so many people, Kushner said.

When I was campaigning to be a state senator, I went door to door, I went to grocery stores, I went to polling sites - and the number one issue I talked about was paid family and medical leave, she said.

One thing I learned was that this is not a partisan issue, she said. This doesnt just affect Democratic families or Republican families - this affects all of us.

And when you ask people about whether they want to have a state program like the one we are proposing today, the response is an overwhelming yes, Kushner stated.

Sen. Kushners remarks came at a press conference in support of paid family leave that took place less than one hour before the public hearing on Senate Bill 1, which seeks to establish a paid family and medical leave system in Connecticut.

Sen. Kushner is a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 1 and is the Senate Chair of the Labor and Public Employees Committee, where the family leave bill was heard.

More than six dozen people signed up to testify on Senate Bill 1 and other proposed legislation.

According to an October poll conducted by the AARP, 85 percent of Connecticut residents support providing paid leave to employees who take time off for family caregiving.

Half of the poll respondents said they had provided unpaid care for an adult loved one, and nearly 60 percent said they believe that taking unpaid time off from work had impacted their ability to save for retirement.

The poll surveyed 807 registered Connecticut voters age 50 and older and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.

Senate Bill 1 calls for the creation of a Family and Medical Leave insurance program in Connecticut offering up to 12 weeks of paid leave at a maximum of $1,000 per week per employee.

The program would be funded by an employee payroll tax not exceeding one-half of one percent.

The committee deadline for action on the bill is March 26.
NEW MILFORD  A two-alarm fire caused serious damage to a large barn and displaced its occupants at a farm on Town Farm Road on Friday morning.

The fire, reported at 9 a.m. by someone passing by Clatter Valley Farm, was fully involved by the time firefighters arrived.

By midday, Willow and Jeremy Schulz, owners of the family-owned and community-supported farm, were walking the property, assessing the damage and trying to figure out where they would house their goats, pigs, sheep, chickens and horses.

Chief James Ferlow, of the Water Witch Hose Co. No. 2, said there were quite a few animals in the barn when the fire broke out.

The bulk of them got out safely, he said. We lost a few chickens, but we were able to get the goats, pigs, sheep, horses all out of the barn.

About eight fire companies from New Milford and surrounding towns  including Brookfield, Bridgewater, Sherman and Bethel  worked to extinguish the blaze, Ferlow said.

The barn was so badly damaged it will probably have to be torn down, he added.

Water Witch Hose Co. No. 2 and neighboring department tankers shuttled water from Grove Street and Hine Hill. Roads were closed and power was shut off in the area.

The bulk of the fire was knocked down by around 10 a.m., but firefighters remained on scene assessing the damage until about 2 p.m., Ferlow said.

It was a quick attack, Ferlow said. We had very good help with mutual aid, we were able to establish decent water supply, and with that, we were able to knock the fire down enough to get the animals out.

New Milford Fire Marshal Brian Ohmen said the fire was accidental.

We were able to identify that the fire started in the the utility room, he said.

Ohmen said the owners of the farm were not on the property when the fire broke out.

They actually live right up the street a little bit, and they were at their house at the time, just getting ready to come down to do morning chores, Ohmen said.

News of the fire spread quickly on social media, and within hours, New Milford residents were offering to help the Schulz family find housing for the pets and offering food and other types of assistance.

Time to rally around this amazing family, one woman wrote.

kendra.baker@hearst.com
DANBURY  Mayor Mark Boughton courted a gigantic valentine this year with the news Thursday morning that Amazon is canceling its plans to build a second world headquarters in New York.

The social media-savvy mayor re-posted his cheeky video pitch to bring the global online commerce giants offices to Danbury with a Valentines Day twist.
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Students walk out of lessons to demonstrate outside town hall as part of global movement

PUPILS from two West Berkshire schools staged a walk-out today as part of wider international student protest against climate change.

Around 50 students from St Bartholomew's School and St Gabriel's left their lessons at 11am and marched to the Market Place, where they staged a peaceful demonstration outside Newbury Town Hall.

Many held placards aloft and shouted chants condemning the governments inaction over climate change, such as "Pollution is not the solution" before marching down Northbrook Street and around the town.

The group later stopped outside Richard Benyon's office on Park Street where the Newbury MP talked to students about environmental issues.

It follows a wave of similar demonstrations staged by thousands of school children across the country, inspired by the 16-year-old Swedish pupil Greta Thunberg who gave up going to school on Fridays last September to campaign outside the Swedish parliament against climate change.

Organisers Youth Strike 4 Climate said protests were taking place in more than 60 towns and cities across the UK.

About 50 pupils have staged a walk out from @St_Barts_School in Newbury as part of todays wider #SchoolStrike4Climate - theyve just arrived outside the town hall pic.twitter.com/e8Cz1OKC35  Fiona Tomas (@fionatomas_nwn) February 15, 2019

Emily Carr, head girl at St Barts, addressed the crowd along with 16-year-old Lois Ryan, one of the main organisers of the event.

Steve Masters, the Green Party parliamentary candidate for Newbury also spoke, thanking the gathering cohort of students of thinking of his childrens and grandchildrens future.

Pupils from St Barts and St Gabriels are the only two schools in West Berkshire known to have taken part in todays demonstration.

See next week's Newbury Weekly News for a full report and more coverage on today's protest.
Newburyport, MA (01950)

Today

Rain showers early with overcast skies later in the day. High 68F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will become overcast later during the night. Low 62F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Keith Morris suggests a way of providing some time for reflection in our busy lives.

I dont about you, but for me 2019 has had an explosive start - so much for the Christmas break!



My wife and I started it, as we often do, by watching the wonderful firework display off Cromer Pier  in what seemed like a gale force wind, blowing the fireworks in graceful arcs through the sky rather than going straight up.



I also enjoyed some more fireworks at Epiphany (January 6) with the youth team from the Catholic Diocese of East Anglia. The fireworks there were more sedate and not blown off course and followed on from a Mass in which young Catholics from across East Anglia were encouraged to light a candle as a representation of Jesus Christ - Light of the World  and, for those of faith, our hope for the future in our presently uncertain world.



The well-known Norfolk phrase Slow yew down bor has never seemed more appropriate or needed for me personally, and maybe for our whole country as well, with all the uncertainty around Brexit.



One new weapon in my own armoury to try to achieve this  there I go again trying to set constant targets  is a very old form of prayer or meditation called the Daily Examen. Introduced to me by my Vineyard church pastor, who is keen for his congregation to start the year in a contemplative way, the Daily Examen is a technique which harks back to the Jesuits and their founder St Ignatius Loyola.



It comprises a prayerful (or meditative if you dont pray) five-step reflection on the events of the day in order to detect Gods presence and discern his direction for us (or just be mindful of the present, if not religiously-inclined). It is an ancient practice that can help us see Gods hand at work in our whole experience.



Broadly, the five steps are:

Become still and aware of Gods presence

Review the day and give thanks for every detail you can recall

Become aware of your emotions about happenings in your day

Choose one positive or negative feature of the day and pray around it

Look with hope and expectation toward tomorrow



This can be done first thing or last thing, or even several times during the day.



For me, at the moment, I am just concentrating on slowing down for long enough to get to grips with this technique and to give it a good go.





This article has also appeared on Network Yarmouth





Keith Morris is publisher of the Christian community website www.networknorfolk.co.uk and Director of Communications for the Catholic Diocese of East Anglia.

The views carried here are those of the author, not of Network Norfolk, and are intended to stimulate constructive and good-natured debate between website users.

We welcome your thoughts and comments, posted below, upon the ideas expressed here.
Asserting congressional authority over war-making powers, the House passed a resolution Wednesday that would force the administration to withdraw U.S. troops from involvement in Yemen, in a rebuke of President Donald Trump's alliance with the Saudi-led coalition behind the military intervention.

Lawmakers in both parties are increasingly uneasy over the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and skeptical of the U.S. partnership with that coalition, especially in light of Saudi Arabia's role in the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the royal family.

Passage would mark the first time Congress has relied on the decades-old War Powers Resolution to halt military intervention. It also would set up a potential confrontation with the White House, which has threatened a veto. The House voted 248-177 to approve the measure, sending it to the Senate, where a similar resolution passed last year.

"We have helped create, and worsen, the world's largest humanitarian crisis," said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., during the debate. "Our involvement in this war, quite frankly, is shameful."

The chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said the vote represents "Congress reclaiming its role in foreign policy."

Senate approval would set up a showdown with the administration  a veto would be Trump's first  over the president's shifting approach on foreign policy.

Lawmakers are quick to point out that Trump wants to withdraw troops from the wars in Syria and Afghanistan as part of his "America First" approach, but he has shown less interest in limiting the U.S. role in Yemen.

The White House says the House resolution is "flawed" because U.S. troops are not directly involved in military action in Yemen, where the coalition is fighting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in a conflict largely seen as a proxy war involving the Mideast's dominant regional players.

Since 2015, the administration says, the U.S. has provided support to the coalition, including intelligence and, until recently, aerial refueling, but it has not had forces involved in "hostilities."

Congress has not invoked the War Power Resolution, which requires approval of military actions, since it was enacted in 1973. Lawmakers approved more sweeping authorizations for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that some argue are being used too broadly for other military actions.

Newly emboldened Democrats in the House, eager to confront Trump on foreign policy, and Republicans in both chambers have shown a willingness to put a legislative check on the president's agenda.

In the House, 18 Republicans, including members of the GOP's libertarian-leaning wing and Trump allies in the conservative Freedom Caucus, joined Democrats in passing the Yemen measure.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who drafted the legislation, said there's an emerging bipartisan alliance that's skeptical of military intervention without congressional oversight.

"It's not just about Yemen. It's about the Congress taking a stand and every future president having to think twice about whether to authorize a military intervention without congressional approval," Khanna said in an interview.

The Senate version is from independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and backed by Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee.

Before Wednesday's vote, the House overwhelmingly agreed to add an amendment offered by Republicans who are seeking to expose emerging Democratic divisions over support for Israel.

The amendment reaffirms the U.S. commitment "to combat anti-Semitism around the world" and says it's in the national security interest to oppose boycotts of Israel. That's a reference to the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement that has gained support of some lawmakers.

First-term Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., one of the Muslim-American women elected to Congress, came under criticism this week for her comments against the Israel lobbying organization AIPAC that raised anti-Semitic stereotypes. She later apologized.

The House added another GOP amendment that would allow continued intelligence sharing, which drew fire from the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU warned it gives the president broad authority to provide the Saudis and others with U.S. intelligence information about Yemen, and the group said the package, overall, is now weaker than originally proposed.

Now the Yemen measure goes to the Senate, where a similar resolution on removing U.S. involvement in the war was approved with Republican support late last year.

At the time, Congress was eager to send a message to both the president and the Saudis after the October murder of the U.S.-based journalist Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The U.S. has sanctioned 17 Saudi individuals for their involvement in the killing, and U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, must have at least known of the plot. Trump so far has decided not to impose harsher penalties on the prince. The kingdom insists he did not order the killing.

The outcome of the legislation is uncertain. Republicans control the Senate, 53-47, and a simple majority is needed to pass.

Trump has yet to veto any measures from Congress. If he did veto the Yemen resolution, it's unclear whether lawmakers would have enough support to override him.
A man was hospitalized Friday afternoon after an excavating machine fell on top of him in Salem, Massachusetts.

Fire officials said they responded to 94 Washington Square East for the incident.

The man, who has not been identified, was taken to a local hospital. His current condition is unknown.

No other details were immediately available.
This Black History Month, a painting inside the Vermont State House has been turning heads and drawing some complaintsuntil it was removed once necn and NBC10 Boston started asking questions of top decision makers.

There isnt anyone who is thrilled with having the picture in the health and welfare room, Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden County, said Thursday inside the room for the Vermont Senate Health and Welfare Committee, which she chairs. There isnt a lot of love for this painting.

Lyons was discussing a historic painting that hung in the committee room, showing slavessome shoelesslaboring in a hot southern cornfield.

Lyons said guests to her committee room and people giving testimony have often wondered why a state that aims to be welcoming and inclusive put slavery on prominent display, with no description or story behind the art.

Its the Peoples House, Rep. Kevin Christie, D-Hartford, said Thursday. And if people are coming to the House and feeling uncomfortable, thats not cool.

Fast forward to Friday, and the painting has now been taken down and replaced, temporarily, by a landscape scene.

Vermont State Curator David Schutz said after necn and NBC 10 Boston started looking into concerns about the painting and brought them to the attention of top decision-makers, his office chose to remove the art, for now.

It needs explanation, sure, Schutz acknowledged in an interview Friday.

The curator explained the painting dates to 1861, the year the Civil War broke out.

Montpelier native T.W. Wood was in Tennessee documenting scenes of everyday life, including people and topics often overlooked by most artists.

Schutz pointed to a young man in the temporarily-removed painting as the central element. He is holding a drinking gourd.

Schutz said slaves referred to the constellation the Big Dipper as the drinking gourd, with many following its stars northoften to New Englandto find freedom through the Underground Railroad.

The painting may have offered meaningful hope at the time, Schutz said, but absent all that context, he said he understands why the art rubbed some the wrong way.

A placard next to it, explaining a little clearer, is something I had planned to do, Schutz told necn and NBC 10 Boston. But now well have to wait and see where it ends up.

Schutz noted that T.W. Wood was one of Vermonts most important artists and said his painting A Southern Cornfield has been featured in major exhibitions around the country.

The curator added that Wood portrayed African-Americans throughout his careeraccurately and respectfullyunlike many other artists of the time.

This is actually a Vermont artist that we ought to celebrate, Schutz said.

Christie said Friday that he agrees that Wood is a fascinating figure in Vermont history who is worthy of celebration.

Christie wants to see the painting reinstalled, with a full description of how it connects to Vermonts early opposition to slavery.

We need to take this as a teachable moment, Christie said. And sharing that piece of our history with fellow Vermonters and guests from all around the country and all around the world is important.

The curator said hes right now working on a new exhibition project thatll showcase contributions to the state by underrepresented groups, including Native Americans, African Americans, and women.
Another potential 2020 presidential candidate visited New Hampshire as the field continues to shape up for the state's first-in-the-nation primary.

Speaking to students at New England College in Henniker, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper made it clear where he stands on Donald Trump.

"I think President Trump has put the country and the planet at risk," Hickenlooper said. "I think defeating him is absolutely essential."

And Hickenlooper thinks he may be the man who can do it. NBC10 Boston asked him if he would be a candidate in 2020.

"We're getting close to making a decision," he said. "We haven't made that final decision."

Hickenlooper says he is leaning toward running. He says he will spend the next four to six weeks listening to a broad cross-section of people around the country to see if he's the right person at the right time.

The former governor described himself as someone who may not the most gifted politician, but who really does try to get something done and is pragmatic.

In an already crowded field of Democrats, Hickenlooper says he stands out for his record of bringing people together and getting things done.

"I feel like, in some ways, almost like it's a calling, as religious leaders sometimes say," he said.

Hickenlooper pushed back on the description of him as a more moderate option in the field of Democrats.

He pointed to his work on universal health care, contraception that is long-term and reversible, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"You tell me, is that moderate?" he said of his views. "I think in many ways, I'm more progressive than a lot of these other folks, because we're actually getting it done."

Hickenlooper also said he was prepared to go head-to-head with Trump.

"I grew up the skinny kid with the glasses and a funny last name," he said. "I've dealt with bullies my whole life."

Hickenlooper says he will make a final decision about a presidential bid in March.
A Massachusetts couple is facing charges for allegedly trafficking women for sex at a Salem brothel that served as a front for human trafficking and money laundering, according to the attorney general's office.

Woonryong Heo, and Hayun Nam, both 29, of Beverly, were arrested Wednesday by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the attorney general's office. Both suspects pleaded not guilty to one count each of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, deriving support from prostitution, and money laundering at their arraignment Thursday in Salem District Court.

Through an investigation, authorities obtained evidence that Heo and Nam ran a "profitable and organized criminal enterprise through a residential brothel where they offered sexual activity between women and buyers in exchange for a fee," officials said in a statement.

The couple allegedly recruited women online, set up appointments and transported the women -- in some cases bringing them to and from South Station in Boston and Flushing, New York.

Bail for both Heo and Nam was set at $50,000, with conditions of release that they remain on house arrest, wear GPS tracking, stay away from the victims, surrender their passports, and not travel out of state.

A probable cause hearing is scheduled for March 14.

The investigation is ongoing.
A Connecticut man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for making machine guns and selling them to felons.

Sean Dey, of Torrington, was sentenced Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage unlawfully in the business of selling firearms and unlawful possession and transfer of a machine gun.

Prosecutors say the 40-year-old man manufactured AK-47-style and AR-style guns, suppressors and other firearms.

They say Dey worked with a partner to sell the firearms to a third man, and not all of the guns have been accounted for.

Dey's attorney asked for a sentence of one year and one day, citing his client's service as a Marine.

The government sentencing memo says Dey's conduct in this case was "antithetical to the Marine Corps' values."
Police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, are warning the public after a pair of suspicious incidents.

Cambridge Police are urging everyone  especially women  to be aware of their surroundings after two separate incidents in which young women were approached by strangers.

In one case this week, police say two preteen sisters were walking a few blocks away from Central Square when one of them was grabbed by a man who smelled of alcohol.

He asked for directions, then walked with the children down several streets.

He asked them to go down an alley, and then they ran off as he apologized, police said.

In a separate incident earlier this month, police say a different man with a noticeable scar on his head followed a 17-year-old girl as she walked from Central Square until she arrived at home.

Police in Cambridge say they are stepping up patrols in both areas where the incidents took place.
A New Hampshire State Police cruiser and tow truck were responding to a motor vehicle stop when they were side-swiped in a hit-and-run crash by another vehicle driven by an alleged DWI driver.

Twenty-five-year-old Dover resident Robyn Dubois faces multiple charges, including aggravated driving while intoxicated, according to authorities.

Shortly before 1 a.m. on Feb. 5, state troopers conducted a motor vehicle stop on Spaulding Turnpike in Newington.

At the scene, the police cruiser and a requested tow truck both had their lights flashing when a vehicle side-swiped them, according to state police. The suspect vehicle, described as a silver 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser, then fled the scene.

The tow truck driver narrowly missed being hit by the suspect, later identified as Dubois, and jumped on his vehicles cab in order to avoid injury. One of the state troopers already at the scene was in his cruiser with a person in custody during the crash. A second trooper and several passengers were outside standing between the cruiser and tow truck at the time of the incident.

No injuries were sustained during the hit-and-run, state police said.

The two troopers sent a vehicle description to area stations in hopes of locating the suspect. Police in Dover located a car matching the description in a driveway on Boston Harbor Road, and an investigation determined that it was the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run and that it was allegedly driven by Dubois

Dubois submitted a BAC of .16 during the booking process breath test, according to state police.

She is scheduled to be arraigned for the driving while intoxicated charge on March 12 at 7th Circuit Dover District Court. She is scheduled to be arraigned for allegedly violating the move-over law on March 25 in 10th Circuit Portsmouth District Court.

It is unclear if Dubois has an attorney.
What to Know Democrat and Republican leaders demanded Northam to resign after a 1984 medical school yearbook photo with racist imagery surfaced

Gov. Ralph Northam has refused to resign, and polls show Virginians are split over whether he should leave office

Two women have accused Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault, which he vehemently denies. AG Mark Herring admitted to using blackface

Embattled Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam asked lawmakers Thursday to pass a state budget that has a "greater focus on issues of equity" as he tries to move past a blackface scandal that nearly ended his governorship.

Northam met with a group of state lawmakers to discuss the budget and sent them a letter outlining his priorities as the GOP-led General Assembly puts the final touches on its state spending plan. Top among them, Northam said, are increased funding for struggling schools and more spending to decrease the number of evictions.

"In order for every Virginian to thrive, we must invest in their success _ and that requires a greater focus on issues of equity," Northam said in his letter.

What would normally be a perfunctory meeting over budget negotiations took on new importance after a cascade of scandals has rocked Virginia. Northam has been trying to inch back to normalcy since a racist photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page surfaced earlier this month. It showed a person wearing blackface next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. Northam initially said he was in the photo, and then denied it the next day, while acknowledging that he did wear blackface to a dance party that same year.

Adding to the chaos are scandals surrounding other top Democrats: Attorney General Mark Herring admitted he wore blackface in college days after calling for Northam's resignation, and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax has denied allegations from two women that he sexually assaulted them.

Northam has faced widespread calls to resign, including from several lawmakers and caucus groups, but made clear he intends to stay in office. The Democratic governor said he wants to try to help heal the state's lingering racial wounds and devote the rest of his term to promoting racial equality.

Northam's letter to lawmakers said that his "first and foremost" priority was making sure the state's education system "is equitable for every student, no matter his or her zip code."

The governor is asking lawmakers to boost funding for schools with high numbers of low-income students, add more money for need-based scholarships and increase spending for preschool and school counselors.

Northam said he also asked lawmakers to prioritize spending on issues related to affordable housing, including money for attorneys to represent those facing eviction.

Virginia budget writers have plenty of money to work with this year thanks to a stronger-than-expected economy, increased federal defense spending and a Supreme Court decision that will raise state revenues on online sales.

Democratic Del. Mark Sickles, a so-called budget conferee who will hammer out the final details of the state budget, said the governor will get some of what he wants but not all of it, just like in any other year.

"There are things that are non-controversial," Sickles said, pointing to Northam's request for an increase in school counselors as an example.

Nearly two weeks have passed since the yearbook photo surfaced and there are signs of a growing acceptance among lawmakers of Northam's plans to stay, despite the fact that every caucus group and top leader called for him to resign.

Republican Sen. Emmett Hanger described Thursday's meeting with the governor as cordial.

"It was just a really positive thing," Hanger said.

And Del. Delores McQuinn, a member of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, said Northam was showing leadership by pushing for agenda items important to black lawmakers in the budget.

"I have to applaud him," she said. "We can stay stuck in time or we can rise above it."
A Texas jury has awarded $37.6 million to a woman who sued Honda after being paralyzed in a 2015 car crash.

Sarah Milburn, 27, brought a case against the automaker over its seat belt design after her Uber driver ran a red light and the Honda Odyssey she was riding in was struck broadside by a pickup truck in Dallas, causing her vehicle to roll over and onto its side.

"Probably the worst ride of my life," Milburn said. "I believe I was put in this (wheel) chair for a reason; to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone ever again."

Milburn's lawyer, Jim Mitchell, said in a statement Thursday she suffered a broken neck and was left a quadriplegic. He argued that the seat belts in the Honda Odyssey were poorly designed and contributed to her injuries.

The belts in the minivan's third row, where Milburn was seated, had a two-part system that the lawyer contended was unfamiliar and difficult to use for many people.

"Specifically, the seat belt is a two-part system requiring the user to grasp a detachable shoulder strap from the van's ceiling, anchor it to the seat and then pull the belt across the user's hips and buckle it," Mitchell said. "In independent testing, an expert showed the jury that fewer than 10 percent of people who were unfamiliar with the van's two-part seat belt system were able to use it properly."

Attorneys representing Milburn said 50 out of 53 people in their study failed to put the seat belt on the proper way and that "wearing it that way was actually more dangerous than having no seat belt at all."

"What Honda said is, we met all federal regulations, and guess what? They did," said Milburn's attorney Charla Aldous. But this jury found that those federal regulations were not sufficient."

Honda issued a statement to NBC 5 Friday saying the seat belt design meets federal standards and that if Milburn had worn it properly she would not have suffered serious injuries.

Honda is disappointed with the verdict in Milburn v. AHM and intends to vigorously appeal. The design of the seat belt system for the middle passenger in the third row seat in the 2011 Odyssey complies with all applicable federal safety standards and is similar in design to virtually all comparable minivans of this vintage. If it had been worn properly in this crash, the plaintiff would have suffered no serious injuries, the company said.

The family is hopeful the jury's finding will lead to the creation of "Sarah's Law," which would forbid automakers from using this seat belt system in the future. "We will change the seat belt system, " said Aldous. "This needs to be outlawed!"

"It's not about the money for me. It's about the fact that, you know, this could have been someone else. It could have been a child and they probably wouldn't have come out as lucky," said Milburn. "I'm in a chair, but I can still talk. I can still move my arms. I can still smile, so I have to be thankful for what I have every day."
Gov. Larry Hogan says his administration has had preliminary discussions with Amazon, and he looks forward to meeting with the company again about potentially expanding to Maryland.

Hogan was asked at a news conference Thursday about the company's new headquarters, after Amazon announced it has abandoned plans for a big new headquarters in New York that would have brought 25,000 jobs to the city.

Maryland's Montgomery County was one of the company's finalists for the new headquarters.

Developers of Port Covington in Baltimore recently expressed interest again in trying to attract the company. Port Covington was not a finalist.

Amazon says it doesn't plan to look for another headquarters now and will continue with its plans to build new offices in Arlington, Virginia, and Nashville, Tennessee.
William Weld, a former governor of Massachusetts who two years ago ran for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket, has become the first Republican to announce serious step toward challenging to President Donald Trump in the 2020 primaries.

Fiscally conservative but socially liberal, the 73-year-old Weld ran on the Libertarian party ticket with former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson. But he re-registered as a Republican last month, and on Friday in New Hampshire said he has created a presidential exploratory committee.

While speaking to voters at the Politics and Eggs event at the Bedford Village Inn, Weld said Trump's priorities are skewed toward promoting himself and is "simply too unstable" to carry out the duties of his job.

"I'm here because I think our country is in grave peril and I cannot sit any longer quietly on the sidelines," Weld said.

He said Trump "has demonstrated a repeated pattern of vindictiveness -- there's really no other word for it. He calls it counterpunching, but it's really vindictiveness. He acts like a schoolyard bully.

"The truth is we've wasted an enormous amount of time by humoring this president, indulging him in his narcissism and his compulsive, irrational behaviors," he added.

The former federal prosecutor expressed concerns over what he called outrageous spending and the growing national debt. He wants to see less government intervention in health care and education but says more needs to be done when it comes to climate change  a notion popular with younger voters in the room.

"It's nice to hear a candidate talk about climate change that's not a Democrat, said Saint Anselm College junior Jack Landry.

Weld, who said he would be a Libertarian for life when he was that party's vice presidential candidate in 2016, recently switched his affiliation back to republican raising questions about his loyalty.

"It bothers me you left the party, ran for VP, and came back," one voter told Weld.

Weld responded by pointing to his record governing of Massachusetts.

"The result was when we ran for reelection, we got 71 percent of the vote," Weld said. "If you like those apples, you shouldnt worry about what I would do if I get to Washington."

When asked exactly why Weld switched party affiliations, he told reporters the stakes have gotten higher and this is the best way for him to do whats right for the country.

He added that many of his Libertarian friends agree with him.

"A couple people have said, 'how dare you do this,' but five times as many have said, 'we are with you,'" Weld explained.

Critics say a Weld primary challenge is a longshot.

But Weld says over the next year, he plans to prove himself, one voter at a time.

Weld resigned as governor in 1997, during his second term, after being nominated by then-President Bill Clinton as ambassador to Mexico.
If President Donald Trump declares an emergency to build the wall with Mexico, he still needs money to pay for it. And shifting money from other accounts to deliver the $5.7 billion he wants is not without political problems.

The administration has been eyeing several pots of money  including disaster funds, counter-narcotic accounts and military construction dollars  to fund Trump's wall, according to congressional aides and White House officials.

White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has said there are various accounts available.

One possibility is shifting a portion of the $13 billion in disaster aid Congress approved last year for Puerto Rico and a dozen states, including California and Texas, hit hard by hurricanes, flooding and other disasters. The money funds Army Corps projects, and the Puerto Rico aid alone totals more than $2 billion.

But Texas lawmakers revolted over White House plans to tap Hurricane Harvey funds, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Thursday they won assurances from the White House that the money won't be used for the wall.

"We've been pretty clear we thought that would be a mistake," said Cornyn, who along with the state's governor and other lawmakers urged the White House to stay away from that account. "There's limited pots of money he can get into, but I'm pretty confident he won't get into disaster funds."

A more likely option is the military construction account that's used to upgrade bases and facilities.

Congressional aides said there is $21 billion available. That includes about $10 billion in funds from the current 2019 fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, and $11 billion remaining from the previous four years, said the aides. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the funding details.

But tapping the military construction money also may hit resistance. The money often goes for improvements to housing, roads, hospitals and other facilities, and can be used to eliminate mold or other hazardous problems at military installations in congressional districts across the nation and around the globe.

As an example, the aides said, there is funding for a medical facility at a U.S. base in Germany that has been partially constructed. If those funds were used, the medical center could be left half built.

The president can decide to use military construction funds, but it will be up to the Defense Department to determine which specific projects would lose their money, the aides said.

While the president has the authority to take the funds, the aides said that according to the law the money must be used in support of U.S. armed forces and the key question is whether Trump could prove the funds were being spent to actually support troops.

The Defense Department has declined to provide any details on the amount of money available.

Potentially easier to tap is the military's counter-drug account, so-called Section 284 money, as suggested by Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a Trump ally and leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus. But it falls short of what's needed with about $800 million available.

Using that money would not require declaration of a national emergency, but aides said it is less likely the president would dip into those funds.

"I've obviously suggested 284 for a long time," Meadows said recently. "There's not enough money there, but it's a good start."

The White House has been searching for funding as it became clear Congress would not provide the money Trump was demanding to build the wall. Trump had campaigned on the promise that Mexico would pay for it.

Instead, this week lawmakers struck a bipartisan deal to provide nearly $1.4 billion for fences and barriers along the southern border as part of a broad funding package to avoid another federal shutdown.

The Senate approved the compromise on Thursday, and House passage was assured before Friday's deadline. The White House said Trump would sign it but then declare a national emergency and perhaps invoke other executive powers to build the wall.
Amid a flood warning and a powerful storm system, heavy rain and winds have left damage across the county Thursday, including potholes, power outages, and fallen trees and boulders.

At least two utility poles have snapped and fallen in Ramona likely due to heavy winds Thursday. The poles could be seen in the middle of the street near Mt. Woodson Road just off Highway 67.

In Ramona, at least two utility poles have snapped in heavy winds. They appear to be phone and cable lines. This is off Highway 67 near Mt Woodson Rd. #nbc7 pic.twitter.com/TvuspEAoIm  Artie Ojeda (@ArtieNBCSD) February 14, 2019

The downed power lines reportedly sliced open the top of a nearby delivery truck.

Look carefully. Downed power line slices open the top of this delivery truck in Ramona. #nbc7 pic.twitter.com/3dfK43uLMj  Artie Ojeda (@ArtieNBCSD) February 14, 2019

I thought it was a boulder that just hit us, said delivery person Ian Tagavilla. Turned out it was a cable line.

Tagavilla works for Fast Trucking that makes delivers across the county.

Im lucky to be alive, he told NBC 7. Ive never experienced something like that, it was shocking.

Tagavilla said it was a good thing the cable didnt hit the windshield. Though, the damages done made the truck not drivable. He said it would be very dangerous to drive that vehicle.

San Diego Gas and Electric reported a power outage in South Ramona, Iron Mountain, and Barona, though it is unclear if the fallen utility poles are related.

At 11:45 a.m., nearly a dozen different power outages were reported by SDG&E, according to its outage map. In total, roughly 1,800 customers were affected across the county.

In La Mesa, the city said portions of Summit Drive were closed in both directions due to a wire hazard.

Our region is experiencing scattered power outages in part due to heavy rains, flooding & gusty winds brought on by the Pacific storm. Our crews are responding to every one of these outages and working as quickly as they safely can to restore power. https://t.co/Uy4JMgBKjt pic.twitter.com/Ai1Gexj2Xo  SDG&E (@SDGE) February 14, 2019

SDG&E was dispatched to Oceanside to repair downed wires near Hillcrest Place.

The rain picked up in the area just before 1 p.m. causing some difficulties for crews in action.

Melissa Adan

A neighbor said he saw the wires spark but thought it was lightning. He also said he saw smoke, fearing a potential fire.

Caltrans reported a large boulder blocking part of a roadway just west of Ramona. All lanes on State Route 78 were closed between Indian Oaks Road and Haverford Road.

The roadways are expected to reopen by 6 p.m., according to Caltrans.

In Escondido, rescue crews began efforts to pull a body from a flood control channel at around 5:20 p.m.

North of the area, a mudslide was reported near Valley Center Road and Lake Wohlford Road.

The streets have been completely shut down until further notice, according to the California Highway Patrol.

CHP officers warn residents in the area to use an alternative route.

Huge boulder falls on Highway 78. Also a utility line has fallen on 78. Caltrans says Highway 78 between Haverford and Indian Oaks Rd will be closed for 4-6 hours. #nbc7 (Corrects earlier tweet - boulder and utility pole not related) pic.twitter.com/4kHeIjIZmj  Artie Ojeda (@ArtieNBCSD) February 14, 2019

In Sorrento Valley, flooding blocked off the only access roads to an after-school program on Sorrento Valley Road. Close to 250 students had to wait more than an hour after pickup time until they were loaded into vans and shuttled to a nearby train station where their parents were waiting to take them home.

In Poway, the powerful storm caused two trees to fall, one at Scripps Poway Parkway and the other at Twin Peaks Road and Maplewood Street. City crews closed the roads so they could clean up the debris.

Along Sandia Creek Road in Fallbrook, there had been three water rescues as of 1:20 p.m. Rockslides could be seen along the road.

San Diego has been met with strong gusts of wind, causing some damages. NBC 7's Audra Stafford is in Coronado where a tree fell on a home.

In Coronado, the heavy rain and strong winds caused a tree to come crashing down onto a home, smashing some exterior tiling.

A resident in the area, Jacqueline Hardt, said the tree fell at around 7 a.m.

A huge section of the tree appeared to have split off, taking down some power lines in the area.

[G] Winter Weather in San Diego: Rain, Frost, Snow u0026 Frigid Temps

[The homeowner] was making breakfast, and she heard a very loud noise and she thought that a car had driven into her property, but it turns out that was the force of the tree splitting and falling onto her roof," Hardt told NBC 7.

Within a few hours, the tree had been removed and SDG&E repaired the power lines.

Hardt said she was surprised at how quickly crews cleared the area.

In Carlsbad, a eucalyptus tree fell, also at around 7 a.m. The homeowner said she heard a loud thud Thursday morning and immediately called it in.

Dirt, roots, and branches could be seen strewn across the residential roadway.

Crews were able to clear the roadway by 11 a.m.

Cal Fire San Diego said it was attempting to respond to a medical emergency in the De Luz area in a tweet just before 1 p.m.

Due to the flooded roads, a swift-water rescue team was dispatched nine miles from De Luz Road near Riverside County.

.@CALFIRESANDIEGO resources are attempting to access a medical emergency in the De Luz area of #SanDiegoCounty but due to flooded roads a CAL FIRE/San Diego County Fire swift-water rescue team is en route. #DeLuzIC pic.twitter.com/dqOCSsxgWr  CAL FIRE/SAN DIEGO COUNTY FIRE (@CALFIRESANDIEGO) February 14, 2019

Along Murray Ridge Road in Serra Mesa is a littering of potholes, according to residents in the area. And Thursdays rain caused even more problems for drivers.

Two days ago it was maybe 12 inches in diameter, and now it's going to swallow up a small car, I think, said Mike Walker, a resident in the area.

Rainy conditions can make it difficult to spot potholes, which can cause costly damage to cars.

People don't think it's going to cost that much money and, honestly, at the very end, it can actually cost a lot, said Erika Lara, a customer care specialist with Aero Auto Repair.

But drivers arent the only ones paying. NBC 7 Investigates requested pothole payouts from the city's risk management department in 2018 and found more than $253,000 in payouts at the taxpayers expense.

Potholes typically form when water gets into the cracks of asphalt and then cars drive over those cracks which then vibrate and begin to destroy the pavement, according to NBC 7s Steven Luke. They are the number one complaint on the citys Get It Done site.

Potholes can become more dangerous following heavy rain. NBC 7's Steven Luke has more on these hazards.
Police are asking for the publics help identifying three men responsible for a brutal attack outside of a bar in North Park two days before Christmas.

The San Diego Police Department said the three men repeatedly and violently punched and kicked two other men and stole their wallet and iPhone outside of Seven Grand on University Avenue.

Police say two of the bars bouncers stepped in and stopped the attack, but the suspects stuck around and got into a confrontation with them. A witness recorded the exchange on their cell phone.

The suspects can be heard yelling and shouting at the bouncers. One of the bouncers has a bar stool in his hands and appears to use it as a shield when one of the suspects lunges at him.

An SDPD detective said the bars bouncers jumped in at the right time and may have saved the day.

Alex Shelton, a barber at Mr. Brown's Barber Shop two doors down on University, said he was proud of his friends at Seven Grand for stepping in.

That's amazing, he said. It's good to know that there's people out there that stick their neck out to help other people.

Shelton has been cutting hair at the shop for five years and said hes never seen anything like what he saw in the video.

Thank goodness those bouncers were there to help them out, Shelton said.

San Diego County Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the three men. Police say the two men they attacked are OK but they're still healing from their numerous injuries.

An SDPD detective told NBC 7 they havent determined a motive in the attack. Witnesses told police the three suspects were drunk.
A former U.S. Navy service member accused in the mysterious disappearance and killing of his wife will stand trial, a San Diego judge ruled Friday.

More witnesses took the stand as the preliminary hearing continued in the case against Matthew Sullivan, 33, who is suspected in the deadly 2014 stabbing of Elizabeth Sullivan, 32.

Elizabeth Sullivan's body was found floating in the San Diego Bay two years after she vanished.

Another hearing will be set to determine when the trial of Matthew Sullivan will begin.

U.S. Navy veteran Matthew Sullivan was charged Wednesday with the 2014 murder of his wife, Elizabeth Sullivan. He pleaded not guilty. NBC 7's Rory Devine reports.

On Thursday, six witnesses took the stand, including Elizabeth Sullivan's friend, Nathan Caracter who spoke about the couple's troubled marriage.

Caracter told the court Elizabeth Sullivan confided in him that she and Matthew Sullivan had "married for all the wrong reasons."

"Liz was never really happy in her marriage, from day one. It was a loveless marriage, according to her," Caracter testified.

According to Caracter, Elizabeth Sullivan eventually found a boyfriend. Caracter said Matthew Sullivan learned of his wife's extra-marital relationship in September 2014, about one month before she disappeared.

The development further strained the couple's marriage, Caracter said.

Caracter testified that in the days before her disappearance, Elizabeth Sullivan had talked with a divorce attorney, transferred some money from a joint bank account to her own account, and taken steps to get a restraining order against her husband to stop him from moving his mother and sister into the couple's home in Liberty Station.

"She was empowered," Caracter recalled. "She felt like she could finally do something with her life, instead of letting life lead her."

At one point during his time on the stand, Caracter also testified that he and Elizabeth Sullivan had used methamphetamine together two times.

Caracter said he saw Elizabeth Sullivan for the last time on Oct. 11, 2014, just three days before she was reported missing. He said he texted and talked with her the following day, but after that, her phone went dead.

Matthew Sullivans preliminary hearing started one year to the date of his first court appearance in San Diego. Before this week's hearing, Matthew Sullivan's last time in court had been on Valentines Day 2018, about two weeks after his arrest.

Delaware Department of Correction

The former U.S. Navy service member was taken into custody on Jan. 31, 2018, in Wyoming, Delaware, in connection with Elizabeth Sullivans murder. He had relocated there after Elizabeth Sullivans disappearance.

NBC 7's Rory Devine reports on the arrest of a Navy veteran in connection to the mysterious disappearance of his wife in 2014, and whose body was found in 2016.

Matthew Sullivan was extradited to San Diego and was booked into the George Bailey Detention Facility on Feb. 9, 2018. At his arraignment on Valentines Day 2018, prosecutors said Sullivan had used a knife to kill his wife.

That knife was discovered by investigators hidden in the attic of the home the couple shared in the Liberty Station area. The weapon was found after the couple had moved out, San Diego Police Department Capt. Mike Hastings said last year.

The home also held other clues into Elizabeth Sullivans death, prosecutors said, including suspicious flooding under the carpet.

Public records obtained by NBC 7 show that Elizabeth Sullivans husband called 911 the night she went missing, telling dispatchers that his wife was trying to frame him. Hear the latest from NBC 7s Wendy Fry.

Elizabeth Sullivan was first reported missing on Oct. 14, 2014. She was last seen one day earlier near the Liberty Station neighborhood where she lived. A text message sent on Oct. 13, 2014, was the last contact she had with loved ones. Her phone was then turned off. Detectives found Elizabeth Sullivans car at her home, but no trace of her.

Several reported sightings of Elizabeth Sullivan were investigated by San Diego police in the days following the Navy wifes disappearance, but none panned out.

Detectives searched for the woman  who also shared two children with Matthew Sullivan  for two years to no avail. With each passing day, week, and month, the mysterious case grew cold as her family pleaded desperately for Elizabeth Sullivans safe return.

Two years after the mysterious disappearance of a San Diego woman and Navy wife, Elizabeth Sullivan, her body was pulled from the bay near Liberty Station. Sullivan was found less than a mile away from the place she was last seen. NBC 7s Candice Nguyen reports.

On Oct. 4, 2016, everything changed.

Elizabeth Sullivans decomposed body was found floating in San Diego Bay near Farragut Road, about a half-mile from where she had last been seen alive nearly two years to the date earlier.

SDPD detectives determined she had been a victim of a homicide.

It would take another 16 months for police to arrest Matthew Sullivan and charge him as the suspect in the cold case killing.

At his arraignment on Feb. 14, 2018, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said Elizabeth Sullivans body had been found in San Diego Bay on the same day that Matthew Sullivan was packing up his belongings and moving out of California.

Stephan said investigators believe Elizabeths body had been hidden somewhere before it was disposed of in the bay. The DA said the knife found in the couples home contained key evidence linking Matthew Sullivan to the murder.

According to police reports obtained by NBC 7, there was a history of domestic violence in the couples marriage and they had been arguing over custody of their two young daughters and child support.

A Virginia man is begging San Diegans to help find his missing daughter, 31-year-old Elizabeth Sullivan. The Navy wife and mother of two vanished Oct. 13. But as NBC 7s Danya Bacchus reports, this man says hes not stopping until he brings her home.

Matthew Sullivan has pleaded not guilty.

Last year, following Matthew Sullivans arrest, SDPD Lt. Mike Holden said he was confident police finally had the right person in connection with the cold case.

Holden said investigators believe Elizabeth Sullivan was killed around the time of her disappearance in 2014. He said investigators did not think the body had been in the bay since Elizabeth Sullivans death but it was unclear where it was from the time she was killed until the time she was found in the water.

Doctors testified Thursday that Elizabeth Sullivan's body showed signs of stab wounds and was likely not in the water for two years.

Caracter was asked questions about refrigerators in the Sullivans' home and said there were two "pretty big" refrigerators at the residence, with the freezer compartments on the bottom.
Weather Alert

...DANGEROUS HEAT EXPECTED THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND INTO NEXT WEEK... A strong high pressure system will build over the Pacific Northwest through the weekend and into next week. Sinking air under the high pressure will result in very hot temperatures and the potential for record highs from Saturday into next week for most areas. ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON TO THURSDAY EVENING... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with temperatures of 108 to 114 expected. * WHERE...In Washington, Lower Columbia Basin of Washington. In Oregon, Lower Columbia Basin of Oregon. * WHEN...From Friday afternoon to Thursday evening. * IMPACTS...Extreme heat will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...There is some possibility that all time record high temperatures will be reached or exceeded during this heat wave. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. &&
When a young mountain lion clamped its jaws onto Travis Kauffman's wrist and clawed at his face, he screamed a "barbarian yell," jammed his foot onto the animal's neck and held it there until the cat quit thrashing and died.

After a couple of minutes, Kauffmann recalled Thursday, "it finally stopped moving and then the jaws opened and I was able to kind of scramble back up the hill and get the heck out of Dodge."

Through it all, the 31-year-old trail runner said, the cat remained eerily silent.

It was the first time Kauffman publicly recounted the Feb. 4 ordeal that left him with 28 stitches and a reputation for toughness and bravery that overshadows his wiry frame.

"I will never be able to live up to the reputation," said Kauffman, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs about 155 pounds. "The story is bigger than my puny form."

Kauffman said he was running a trail in the mountains west of Fort Collins, Colorado, when he heard pine needles rustle behind him. He turned to see the mountain lion about 10 feet away.

"One of my worst fears was confirmed," he said.

That cat lunged, and Kauffman raised his hands and screamed.

The animal locked its teeth onto his wrist and they tumbled off the side of the trail.

A wave of fear rolled over him, he said, and he worried that the animal's full-grown mother would join the attack to defend her offspring, but no other cat appeared.

Fear then gave way to the fighting instinct, he said.

Kauffman grabbed a rock with his free hand and beat the cat on the back of the head. He also tried stabbing it with twigs, but nothing worked.

"I knew with two pretty good blows to the back of the head (and) it didn't release, that I was probably going to have to do something a little more drastic," he said. "I was able to kind of shift my weight and get a foot on its neck" until it succumbed.

Bleeding from his face and wrist, he jogged back down the trail, where he met other runners who got him to a hospital.

"I was just thankful that he had his eyes and his fingers and all his parts, and it didn't look as bad as I maybe would have thought that it could," said his girlfriend, Annie Bierbower.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers retrieved the dead cat. They said their investigation and a necropsy confirmed Kauffman's account.

"Travis is a pretty amazing young man," said Ty Petersburg, a wildlife manager for the agency.

Petersburg said officers set up cameras and traps in the area for several days after the attack. They saw no large mountain lions but captured two young ones in good health. He said both are in a rehabilitation center and the agency hopes to release them back into the wild.

Kauffman, who described himself as an avid runner and skier, doesn't plan to retreat from the outdoors.

"I will go run those trails again," he said, but added, "I will go with a buddy there."
After El Chapo's conviction in a drug-trafficking trial that included florid testimony of jewel-encrusted guns, a fleet of cash-laden jets and a personal zoo with roaming big cats, some Americans have floated an idea they see as poetic justice: Why not take some of the Mexican drug lord's billions in ill-gotten gains and make him pay for a border wall?

That may be a tall order, especially since federal officials can't say for sure how much Joaquin Guzman may still have from his decades of smuggling drugs into the U.S., or how exactly they intend to get their hands on it.

For now, the U.S. Department of Justice says it will be seeking forfeiture of a fortune that Guzman's indictment valued at $14 billion. Authorities won't say how they came up with that figure, but experts say it is likely based on evidence of the value of the proceeds of massive drug shipments and whatever assets were used as part of the trafficking enterprise.

With Guzman, who faces life in prison for smuggling tons of heroin, meth, fentanyl and marijuana into the U.S., authorities know their forfeiture estimate is partly symbolic, to send a message to other traffickers that a conviction could cost them their fortune as well as their freedom, said Duncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor who specialized in forfeiture.

"It's obvious he doesn't have $14 billion," Levin said. "And whatever he has may be largely uncollectable."

That reality hasn't stopped conservatives from injecting border-wall politics into the El Chapo case. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas promises to reintroduce a bill named after El Chapo that would require money seized from Mexican cartels be dedicated to a border security.

Cruz said in an interview on Fox News that he got the idea for the bill more than a year ago as Congress was debating the cost of President Donald Trump's proposed border wall, then estimated at around $14 billion.

"There's a natural and elegant symmetry that suggested itself," Cruz said. "Those billions that El Chapo has were made trafficking illegally across the U.S. border, bringing narcotics across the border, and it is only right that those ill-gotten gains go to fixing the problem of stopping the next narco-trafficker."

Getting at those gains is another matter.

In domestic white-collar cases, there's usually a paper trail that points to seizable assets in hidden bank accounts and shell companies. But El Chapo's trial was rife with evidence about how his Sinaloa cartel went to great lengths to hide its profits, whether stashing cash in safehouses or by laundering it through a phony fruit juice business in Mexico City. And then there were the hours of testimony about how much public officials in Mexico were on the take, not to mention the complications of clawing back assets in another country.

Still, there were some tantalizing details of opulence from the trial. Jurors heard one cooperating witness, Miguel Angel Martinez, describe how during the 1990s "cocaine boom" Guzman had "houses at every single beach" and ranches "in every single state." He said Guzman would send his three private jets each month to pick up drug money in Tijuana. On average, each plane would carry up to $10 million to Sinaloa.

But the defense claimed the government's narrative of a flood of cash fueling Guzman's conspicuous consumption was wildly exaggerated. In his closing argument, defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman cited testimony from another cooperator who said that when Guzman was on the run as one of Mexico's most wanted about 10 years ago, he was $20 million in debt and could barely pay the underlings protecting him in one of his mountainside hideouts.

"The dude had no money," Lichtman told the jury.

Lichtman insisted in a phone interview Thursday that the idea that the 61-year-old Guzman is a billionaire is bogus.

The $14 billon "is a fantasy figure," he said. "It's fantasy not only on how it was reached, but on how they hope to collect on it."

The final forfeiture must be set by U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan.

Clues for how that might play out can be found in the case of Alfredo Beltran-Leyva, another powerful Mexican kingpin - who pleaded guilty to U.S. drug charges and is serving a life term. The government asked a judge for a $10 billion forfeiture order it said was based on debriefings of top lieutenants in the Beltran-Leyva cartel who detailed his assets.

Eduardo Balarezo, who represented Beltran-Leyva, got that total knocked down to the $529 million after arguing that the $10 billion figure was "pulled from thin air" and impossible to enforce.

The lawyer sought to make that a similar point at the Guzman trial in his cross-examination of a former cartel member who testified against Guzman. The topic was his own $1 billion forfeiture order.

"The bottom line is you're never going to pay anything remotely resembling that number, right?" the lawyer asked.

The witness responded: "An amount like that, no."
The U.S. government has suddenly stopped force-feeding a group of men on a hunger strike inside an El Paso immigration detention center, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.

The dramatic reversal came Thursday as public pressure was mounting on ICE to halt the practice, which involves feeding detainees through nasal tubes against their will. Last week, the United Nations human rights office said the force-feeding of Indian hunger strikers at the facility could violate the U.N. Convention Against Torture.

Earlier this week, a U.S. district judge said the government had to stop force-feeding two of the detained Indian immigrants, but warned that if their health started to decline he would consider ordering force-feeding again, their attorney said. On Thursday, all force-feeding at the detention center near the El Paso airport had stopped, according to ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa.

"This is a win for us," said Louis Lopez, who is representing Malkeet Singh and Jasvir Singh, two detainees who are Punjabi Sikhs in their early 20s. "They have a First Amendment right to protest."

Detained immigrants have sporadically staged hunger strikes around the country for years, protesting conditions they face while seeking asylum. ICE said Thursday there were a total of 12 detainees refusing food, nine from India, three from Cuba. Force-feeding, which began under court order earlier this year, had not previously been reported, and advocates involved said they weren't aware it had happened before.

In a federal courtroom Wednesday in El Paso, U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama heard from Dr. Michelle Iglesias about how men detained in the El Paso facility are restrained and have feeding tubes pushed through their noses. The judge asked whether they had some other way they could protest, and sought details about the Singhs' physical condition.

"What are the physiological and psychological effects of allowing a hunger strike to continue unabated by force-feeding?" he asked.

In addition to Guaderrama, U.S. District Judges David Briones, Philip R. Martinez and Frank Montalvo at the El Paso courthouse have issued orders for force-feeding in recent weeks.

Those orders are secret, under seal, because they contain "highly sensitive and personal medical information," Montalvo told The Associated Press in a letter declining a request to unseal the orders.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said last week the office views force-feeding as potential "ill treatment" that would go against the convention, ratified by the United States in 1994.

The statement by the Geneva-based office echoed concerns raised by 14 Democratic lawmakers who have asked ICE for more information.

Texas Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar, who toured the El Paso Processing Center and met with the hunger strikers two weeks ago following the initial AP reports, found them "deeply traumatized" and frail. She said she asked them why they were refusing food.

"It was so sad," she said. "They told me 'We would rather die in America than be deported.'"

Friday afternoon, about 30 supporters of the hunger strikers gathered for a protest along a crowded street near the ICE processing center close to El Paso's airport. While some passing cars honked in support, other drivers rolled down their windows to yell obscenities, chanting "USA! USA! USA!" or "He's still your president."

Protestors chanting "Free El Paso Nine" hoisted red and white kites painted with forks fashioned to look like prison bars being grasped by human hands, a symbol, organizers said, of people being force-fed.

"We don't force feed human beings," said one of the organizers, Elizabeth Vega, a grandmother from Las Cruces, New Mexico. "That's torture and we know it's torture. I don't care what a federal judge says."

Mendoza and Burke reported from San Francisco.
Two fugitive bankers from Ecuador, whose relatives made political donations to Sen. Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) and other leading politicians in the hopes of avoiding extradition, have been arrested by immigration agents in Florida.

Homeland Security officials said William and Roberto Isaias have been in the U.S. illegally for years, living in Florida and running their businesses there after fleeing Ecuador, where they were convicted in absentia in 2012 of embezzlement.

The Isaias brothers have long been suspected of moving some of their ill-gotten millions into the U.S. The pair vehemently deny any wrongdoing.

Relatives and employees of the brothers have donated more than $300,000 to U.S. political campaigns since 2010 amid the brothers' ongoing efforts to avoid being sent back to Ecuador to serve their prison sentences. Their arrests this week come after NBC New York in 2014 first revealed the brothers' presence in Miami and the familys political donations.

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested unlawfully present Ecuadorian nationals William and Roberto Isaias in Miami Feb. 13," said ICE Miami spokesman Nestor Yglesias. "Both men were then transferred to ICEs Enforcement and Removal Operations and are presently in agency custody pending removal proceedings."

The spokesman would not say why the arrest took place now after years of their living in large homes and running businesses in the Miami area.

More than $100,000 in Isaias family donations went to members of Congress over the years, including Menendez and Republican Sen. Marco Rubio. Menendez was among several congressional members who wrote letters to the State Department and the Department Homeland Security in support of the Isaias brothers amid their immigration struggles.

Menendez couldn't be reached for comment Friday, but in an interview on MSNBC on Saturday, the senator defended the bankers.

"This is a family that was persecuted by the then-president of that country, who took their television [stations] and took their free media, ultimately by state control, and ultimately took them," he said. "Everything our government has independently investigated found they were wrongly pursued. If they had been correctly pursued, then there would have been a grant of extradition by the Bush administration, a Republican administration or the Obama administration, a Democratic administration."

"So therefore, I think that it's pretty clear... on a bipartisan basis.. . that these are trumped-up charges," he maintained.

But several past U.S. ambassadors to Ecuador had called for the brothers to be deported. In 2005, then-U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney in a diplomatic cable said the brothers "...used their ill-gotten wealth to buy safe passage from Ecuador and later pressured prosecutors to reduce criminal charges against them."

Former U.S. Ambassador Linda Jewell also repeatedly voiced concern about the Isaias brothers' presence inside the United States. But Justice Department officials had said past extradition filings by Ecuadors government lacked sufficient proof.

In December, Floridas State Supreme Court let stand a civil suit by the government of Ecuador against the Isaias brothers. Plaintiff attorney Alvin Davis said they are seeking about $1 billion dollars in damages from the Isaias brothers for their banking crimes.

"Its about time," Davis said. "Someone has lifted the protective curtain around them."

Davis pushed back against Menendezs claims on MSNBC. He said it is not correct that past extradition requests were turned down because they were without merit. The U.S. Justice Department wanted additional information and the process is ongoing.

In 2012, Isaias relatives also gave $100,000 to the Democratic Party around the time another relative, Estefania Isaias, was accused of visa fraud by the State Department. She denies the allegations that she improperly smuggled maids into the U.S. from Ecuador to work at the Isaias Miami homes. Menendez wrote letters and made phone calls to try to help Estefania Isaias obtain permission to stay in the U.S. after the fraud allegations had surfaced. She was never charged and was permitted to stay in the country.

The Isaias family has said the charges against the bankers were politically motivated by a corrupt Ecuadorean government. Reached by phone, Xavier Castro, a close friend and one-time lawyer for the brothers in Ecuador, said the arrest is "unfortunate" and "disappointing" but that he did not know which attorney was handling the brothers immigration case in Miami.

A government source familiar with the Miami detention said William and Roberto Isaias are expected to remain in immigration custody pending removal hearings.

The Isaias brothers' presence in Florida has been a source of contention between the U.S. and Ecuador for years. The two governments have also been debating the presence of fugitive Wikileaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
Google's massive footprint is only getting bigger in 2019.

CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post on Wednesday that the company is building new data centers and offices and expanding several key locations across the U.S., spending $13 billion this year.

Pichai outlined the plans, which include opening new data centers in Nevada, Ohio, Texas and Nebraska, the first time the company will have infrastructure locations in those states. The company is also doubling its workforce in Virginia, providing greater access to Washington, D.C., with a new office and more data center space, and expanding its New York campus at Hudson Square.

Google is showing its willingness to further open its wallet, following a year in which capital spending more than doubled to $25.46 billion. Far from its roots as an online advertising giant, Google is building out data centers to bolster its cloud-computing division as it tries to keep pace with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft. It's a business that requires providing fast and reliable computing access and resources to large corporations and government agencies.

Data centers also serve Google's core search, Gmail and YouTube products.

The company didn't say home much each location will cost or provide information on tax incentives from local communities. Ruth Porat, finance chief of Google parent Alphabet, said on the company's earnings call earlier this month that she expects the "capex growth rate in 2019 to moderate quite significantly."

Pichai said the plans will likely create tens of thousands of construction jobs across Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Texas and Virginia, as well as Oklahoma and South Carolina, where the company is expanding existing data centers. Google didn't say how many new jobs the data centers and business offices would create.

Pichai also said that the company is adding new office buildings in Texas and Massachusetts, building out more space in Illinois, Wisconsin, Washington state and Georgia and redeveloping California locations near Los Angeles and in the Bay Area, including the Westside Pavillion and Spruce Goose Hangar.

Last week, the Austin-American Statesmen reported the company planned one new office tower in Austin, Texas, to add approximately 5,000 workers. In late 2018, the company announced it's $1 billion investment for a new campus in New York City, which it said will double the workforce there from 7,000 at the time.

CNBC's Jordan Novet contributed to this report.

This story first appeared on CNBC.com. Get more from CNBC:
One person is dead and another is injured after a possible drive-by shooting Thursday afternoon in Opa-locka, police said.

Authorities responded to the 600 block of Jann Avenue at around 4 p.m.

The second person was airlifted to the hospital, Opa-locka police said.

Authorities have not released the victims' identities, but the uncle of the deceased victim told Telemundo 51 that 38-year-old Oscar Herrera Quinones was from Durango, Mexico.

Information about a suspect or a motive was not available.

This is a developing story.
The Miami-Dade School Board is a step closer to developing a policy to deal with kids who need to take medical marijuana.

The district is one of a handful in the state without a policy despite state law requiring it.

On Wednesday, school board members voted to start a process that could lead to a policy.

Last month, NBC 6 sat down with a group of parents who said they use medical marijuana to treat their children's life-threatening conditions  from brain cancer to epilepsy.

"Without it, it's not an option," said Michele Riquelme.

Riquelme's daughter was diagnosed with a rare tumor when she was just a toddler.

They want their kids to live as normal a life as possible, which means going to school.

"That's what's best for her, to be a kid, she hasn't gotten to be a kid," Riquelme added.

But Jacel Delgadillo, who testified at Wednesday's hearing, worries about the lack of rules in place in Miami-Dade.

"We're afraid of them kicking us out, of them discriminating," she said. "We don't want that as parents," she said.

From the Panhandle to Broward County, a dozen school districts have enacted medical marijuana policies over the past months.

Ten others are in the process of creating one.

"It is important to consider a policy to deal with the administration and the use of medical marijuana, however, we have to be cautious," said Miami-Dade County Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, during an interview earlier Wednesday.

Carvalho said they haven't received any request from parents.

Delgadillo believes there are more parents like them out there but they are afraid to come forward.

"If they don't come out, Miami-Dade will continue saying that they don't have any children taking medical marijuana," she said.

The superintendent has until April to make a decision on whether adopting a policy will be possible.
Police say they busted a woman with thousands of dollars' worth of stolen clothing after she made off with a $3,500 mink coat from a Delaware County store.

Police arrested Tamala Lee Tucker after they found six trash bags full of clothing and she admitted to them that she planned on selling the garments to support her heroin addiction, according to an affidavit.

Radnor Township Police Department

Officers were led to Tucker after she went to a Jacques Ferber Furs store in Wayne and walked out with a mink coat stuffed underneath her dress, Radnor Township Police Department Sgt. Dan Lunger said.

According to store owner Pamela Ferber, the shop was in the middle of an end-of-the-season sale when Tucker and two other women walked in.

"I know my inventory really well and I looked over and I could see a piece was not there," Ferber said.

Growing suspicious, she walked over to the women and told them she knew they'd taken something, which is when they scurried out the door, Ferber said. Ferber went outside and managed to get a vehicle description and partial license plate.

A few minutes later, police spotted the SUV and brought Ferber over, the affidavit said. Ferber positively identified the women, which is when Tucker supposedly admitted that the coat was in the back seat.

At that point, officers spotted the trash bags full of clothes with tinfoil wrapped around the security tags, according to the document. Other fur jackets worth thousands of dollars were found among the 37 pieces of recovered clothing, Lunger said.

"I saw [police] lift the hatch of their vehicle and there were other plastic bags full of things, just like my coat was in a plastic bag, and realized wow, they've had a busy day," Ferber said.

Tucker told police she had received at least some of the clothes from an acquaintance in Baltimore, Maryland and planned to "get rid" of them to get cash for her heroin habit, the affidavit said.

Her alleged shoplifting spree may span at least three states, including Maryland, Delaware and the Delaware County area of Pennsylvania, Lunger said. "Spanning several states, stealing items, possibly taking possession of stolen items to support a heroin habit, it's something that draws your attention for sure," he said.

Police hope others come forward to see if any of their items were stolen. The two other women who were with Tucker at the time of the arrest have not been charged with any crime.
A 6-year-old girl was injured when a large piece of ice flew off a tractor-trailer and hit the windshield of the vehicle she was riding in Thursday afternoon on Interstate 495 in Andover, Massachusetts.

State police said they received several calls reporting a large piece of ice flying off a tractor-trailer on I-495 north and smashing the windshield of a 2018 Toyota.

Amanda Grenier's young daughter, Avery, was taken to Lawrence General Hospital with minor injuries.

"She's OK. She's just shaken up," Grenier said.

While she is relieved that she and her daughter are OK, she was angered by the lack of action from the driver.

"It could kill somebody. It almost killed me and my daughter," Grenier said. "If I didn't swerve, it would have gone right through my driver's side and my daughter would have been left without a mom."

A witness to the incident called state police with the license plate of the truck, and they said an investigation is ongoing. No further information was immediately available.

A similar incident was reported on Route 202 in Henniker, New Hampshire, earlier Thursday. Photos shared on Facebook by Henniker police showed a vehicle with a shattered windshield.

Henniker police said they are looking for a witness they spoke with who was driving a black Dodge Caravan who left before they could get his contact information.

New Hampshire State Police said they stopped 21 vehicles on Wednesday, issuing 19 traffic tickets for violating Jessica's Law, which requires drivers to clear their vehicles of snow and ice. The law was enacted in 2001 following the death of 20-year-old Jessica Smith, who died when ice flew off the top of a truck and struck another vehicle, causing a crash involving her car.
If there's one thing school teachers anticipate each day, it's to expect the unexpected.

Kim Frankson, Jess Johnson and Laurie Ortel work at Ashley Elementary in Frisco.

They've perfected the art of multi-tasking but a single text message in December brought it all to a stop.

The message came from an app called "Stop It", which allows students to report bullying anonymously.

"She was telling me about a situation that was happening with her and some other girls at the school and how it was making her feel," Johnson, the assistant principal explained.

The student said she was considering killing herself.

"There was no doubt this was a serious situation," said Ortel, a school counselor.

With the clock ticking, they didn't have much to go on. They didn't recognize the student's name and after a search of a district database, they learned she wasn't a student in Frisco either.

They asked the student what school she goes to. When she responded, they asked, "Is that in Texas?"

Far from it, they found out.

She was a teenager in Waynesboro, Virginia, a 17-hour drive away.

"I don't really know if you can describe that feeling. It is something that's very surreal. The urgency to help this child that you don't know, that you know she needs help now," said Frankson, the school principal.

Forty-five minutes into the conversation, the student revealed she had taken pills and was becoming slow to respond.

"At that point, I was really nervous," Johnson said.

By then, Waynesboro police were on their way.

"I'm just thankful that she opened the door," said Officer Alison Willis.

Officer Willis said the teen was alert, distressed and home alone.

The teen was taken to a local hospital and is okay.

"I feel like I did my job. That's what I'm here to do," said Officer Willis.

"I think we all just looked at each other and it was like we could take a deep breath that we had helped this girl," Johnson said.

"Every single thing, every single action, every single word that kids say to each other, its so important to be kind," said Ortel.

The entire incident lasted less than an hour.

Its not clear why the app message went to Frisco and not the girls school.

If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
What to Know Topanga Canyon Boulevard remains closed in the Santa Monica Mountains

More rain is possible Friday afternoon as the cleanup continues around California

A deluge southeast of Los Angeles washed away a section of a two-lane mountain highway

A boulder about the size of a washing machine tumbled onto Topanga Canyon Boulevard Wednesday afternoon, forcing one of several road closures in Southern California during a day of steady rain.

Dry conditions Friday morning offer cleanup crews an opportunity to clear debris before another round or rain during the evening. The next storm isn't expected to produce the downpours that resulted in havoc Thursday on canyon roads and freeways.

Topanga Canyon Boulevard in the Santa Monica Mountains was closed early Thursday between Grand View Drive and Pacific Coast Highway when a portion of hillside spilled onto the road. The closure was extended into Friday, due in part to a large rock that fell onto the narrow curving road.

It's expected to remain closed into the weekend.

A deluge southeast of Los Angeles washed away a section of a two-lane mountain highway. Photos by the state Department of Transportation showed about 75 feet of pavement completely collapsed along State Route 243 near the remote community of Idyllwild.

"We're basically stranded right now," said resident Gary Agner, adding that several other roads were closed because of flooding and debris. "I'm glad I went to the grocery store yesterday."

The risk of flooding led officials to order people out of areas burned bare by a summer wildfire in the Santa Ana Mountains, with flash-flood warnings blanketing a huge swath east and south of Los Angeles. The evacuation orders were downgraded to flood warnings Thursday night.

Authorities also told parts of Laguna Beach to evacuate for much of the day, while the desert resort city of Palm Springs urged residents to stay in place because of flooded streets. In Cabazon, two people marooned on the roof of their flooded car were rescued by helicopter.

A woman pulled from rising water in a low-lying area between those mountains and Los Angeles had a heart attack and died at a hospital, said Capt. Ryan Rolston with the Corona Fire Department. The woman, identified Friday as 20-year-old Stacie Mills-Nichols from Riverside, was one of nine people and three dogs rescued in a flood-control channel where homeless people camp, Rolston said.

A second death was reported in Escondido, northeast of San Diego, where firefighters recovered the body of a man who had been seen paddle boarding in the surging waters of a concrete-lined flood-control channel.

North of San Francisco, a mudslide barreled over cars, uprooted trees and sent a home sliding down a hill and smashing into another house in Sausalito. A woman was rescued from the splintered wreckage with only cuts and bruises. Susan Gordon was buried under a tree and mud for two hours while crews dug her out, her son wrote on an online fundraising page.

Chris Parkman said it has been years since a storm so powerful has hit the hillside community, where at least 50 properties were evacuated.

"We don't see the rain most of the year. So most of the year you feel safe. But when the big storms come, your safety factor is gone," he said.

Farther north, a levee along State Route 37 near Novato was breached, flooding a rural field. Officials were monitoring the area in case water flows onto the highway or train tracks.

Weather was so severe that the Hollywood Walk of Fame had to postpone the dedication of a sidewalk star honoring the band Aerosmith. Knott's Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain theme parks closed.

Nearly 37 percent of California had no level of drought or abnormal dryness, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported Thursday. About 10.5 percent of the state was in moderate drought, and just over 1.6 percent was in severe drought. The remainder was in the abnormally dry category. The numbers reflect data gathered up to Tuesday.

Atmospheric rivers are long bands of water vapor that form over an ocean and flow through the sky. Formed by winds associated with storms, they occur globally but are especially significant on the West Coast.

The rain mostly ended Thursday night. But officials said hillsides could still loosen and collapse, bringing down mud, boulders and debris.

"The ground is still so saturated and the water is still flowing down from the mountains," said April Newman, spokeswoman for Riverside County Fire Department.

There were staggering rainfall amounts across California, including more than 9.4 inches over 48 hours at one location in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles.
What to Know Paul McDaniel, 42, of Orange, fled to Costa Rica in early 2017 but was arrested later that year, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

McDaniel worked for an accounting contractor employed by Hypermedia.

He is facing 10 counts of wire fraud, each of which carries up to 20 years in federal prison.

A former accounting manager accused of embezzling more than $36 million from a Los Angeles company was returned to the Southland from Costa Rica Thursday to face charges of wire fraud.

Paul McDaniel, 42, of Orange, fled to Costa Rica in early 2017 but was arrested later that year, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

McDaniel, also known as Edward Martin Karuku, is accused of embezzling funds from Hypermedia Systems Inc., a media-technology services firm, prosecutors said.

McDaniel worked for an accounting contractor employed by Hypermedia.

Prosecutors said that as part of his job, McDaniel was charged with making payments to Hypermedia vendors.

According to the indictment, McDaniel formed a corporation using a name similar to one of Hypermedia's vendors, then directed more than $36 million in funds to shell company and created bogus invoices on letterhead of actual Hypermedia vendors to justify the expenses.

McDaniel allegedly used the stolen funds to pay off $23 million in credit card debt, and transferred another $8 million to his personal bank accounts.

He was arrested in Costa Rica in 2017 and remained in custody there pending extradition to Los Angeles.

He is facing 10 counts of wire fraud, each of which carries up to 20 years in federal prison.
Feet of water covered dozens of San Diego County roadways, trapping residents inside their homes and submerging cars that tried to cross Thursday, as the National Service issued flash flood warnings for the majority of the county.

A Flash flood warning was issued at 9 a.m. Thursday for the northwestern portion of the county, including Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, Encinitas, Poway, Del Mar, Fallbrook, Valley Center, Escondido and Camp Pendleton.

Heavy rain brought muddy flooding to the North County. NBC 7's Melissa Adan has more.

An hour later, the alert was expanded to include southeastern San Diego County. Areas that have the potential for flooding include Chula Vista, El Cajon, La Mesa, Poway, Ramona, Alpine, portions of the San Diego city limits, Mission Valley, Hwy 78 Between Borrego Springs Road and Ocotillo Wells, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and Borrego Springs.

By the afternoon, western portions of the county were also under flash flood warning due to potentially dangerous flooding of the San Luis Rey and Santa Margarita rivers in North County.

A flash flood warning was also in effect for the area near the San Diego River at Fashion Valley.

As water levels rose Thursday, a Ramona homeowner trapped by flooding outside his home used a kayak to get out.

Ramona homeowner Gideon Pearsall needs a kayak to get out of his home. Water now seeping into his home. #nbc7 pic.twitter.com/RyolQiExqm  Artie Ojeda (@ArtieNBCSD) February 14, 2019

Its just expected, homeowner Gideon Pearsall said. He said the drainage system is poorly designed.

He told NBC 7's Artie Ojeda that water was seeping into his home.

It looked like the movie Titanic, stuff floating all through the house, Pearsall said.

Pearsall and his wife have lived in their Ramona home for five years. He said theyll only live there for a few more years now.

When we hear its going to rain heavy rain, were already thinking flood, Pearsall said. Were just trying to buy a little time, maybe slow it down coming into the house. We know its coming into the house.

As to why he broke out his kayak, Pearsall said, We gotta have a little fun. We got all the work done, now were gonna play around.

Its crazy, William Fout, a Ramona resident, told NBC 7. Im just hoping for the best.

Fout worried the flooding would enter his home, something hes seen a few years ago. He took an alternate route because the high water levels blocked roadways surrounding a nearby creek in Ramona.

Ramona suffered flooding following heavy rain, prompting major difficulties for drivers in the area. NBC 7's Artie Ojeda has more.

Earlier in the day, flooding trapped a Ford Mustang that attempted to cross Camino Del Rey in the North County. A North County Fire Protection District ambulance waded through the water to check on the car but no one was in need of rescue, the agency said.

A delivery driver made it across the flooded roadway in his work truck but described the scary situation to NBC 7.

"I feel like I was going deeper and deeper in it," Yibran Silva said.

A Cal Fire engine rolled over on a rainy old Highway 395 in Bonsall Thursday morning, though it was still under investigation if wet roadways contributed to the crash that left three firefighters injured.

NBC 7's Ashley Matthews shares details on 511, a roadside assistance service that could come in handy on San Diego's slick roads. The service is available to motorists rain or shine.

Also in the North County, a busy freeway on-ramp from El Camino Real to State Route 78 in was closed due to flooding at the bottom of the slope.

In the East County, flooding at SR-67 and Riverford Road caused a car to slide off the roadway and into a ditch, Southwick said.

In Chula Vista, a man said he was on the edge of his seat watching out for flooding near his home.

Sergio Melendrez said his six-year-old daughter was pretty traumatized during a similar storm in December 2018 and wants to be more vigilant this time around.

We didnt want to go to sleep until, you know, we figured out what the situation is going to be, Melendrez said.

As another storm hits San Diego, rain swept through North County, flooding some streets. NBC 7's Ashley Matthews is in Escondido with more on the weather.

The City of Chula Vista provided up to 10 sandbags for residents, but Melendrez said his neighbors helped get more to prevent any flooding. We feel very fortunate that we have the support of our neighbors, he said.

Every time it rains, you know, were on the edge of our seats, because we dont know whats going to happen, Melendrez said. As soon as we start seeing the little canal start spreading into the park, you know, we start putting our furniture up on the tables, trying to raise  trying to mediate any damages.

Melendrez recalled the December storm, saying he lost everything on the bottom floor.

A lot of family memorabilia and stuff like that  just gone. And those you cant really put a price on, but now, we just try to stay vigilant, he said.

Melendrez also lives with his 95-year-old father-in-law and wants to keep his family safe.

A man who lives near Los Penasquitos Canyon Trail recorded a video showing the reserves creek rushing with water following a burst of heavy rainfall.

Blake DeBock said it was the most water hes ever seen come through the creek, reaching heights 20 to 30 feet higher than normal.

The video was taken near the Los Penasquitos Waterfall.

Bus A families, Route A has been canceled due to boulders in the road, flooding, and road deterioration. All Route A Students will be transported to the JIS office after school. Please come pick up your child there. For more information please call 618-669-7702. pic.twitter.com/5t1q81AkCK  Jamul-Dulzura Union School District (@JamulDulzuraUSD) February 14, 2019

The Jamul-Dulzura Union School District canceled its Route A bus schedule for Thursday.

The district said this route was stopped due to boulders in the road, flooding, and road deterioration.

Students who use this route will be taken to the Jamul Intermediate School office after classes. Parents are asked to pick up their children there.

The map below shows roadways closed to traffic due to flooding:

While half the county was under flash flood warnings, the rest of the county was under a flash flood advisory until noon Thursday. Once the advisory expires, a flash flood watch would take over until 10 p.m.

The advisory warned that heavy rainfall could trigger flash flooding in low-lying areas or on streets, especially in areas scorched by recent wildfires.

The NWS warned drivers to turn around if they come across a flooded roadway.

NBC 7's Brittany Ford reports on the storm from Lakeside on Feb. 14, 2019.

NBC 7 Meteorologist Sheena Parveen said heavy downpours would move in waves as the storm swept the county.

The above-average rainfall was due in part to a subtropical jet stream that pulls tropical moisture into the region. Combined with the storm system, it creates an atmospheric river, Parveen said.

This is tropical moisture so you can bet these downpours today, theyre going to be the blinding type. When youre driving. Its going to be very hard to see in some instances," Parveen said.

NBC 7 Meteorologist Sheena Parveen takes a look at whats in the cards for this next storm in her Wednesday morning forecast.

Flooded roadways and severe weather was forcing schools, hospitals and even theme parks to issue closures Thursday.

The San Diego County Office of Education said schools in the following districts would be closed Friday.

 Bonsall Unified School District

 Fallbrook Union Elementary School District

 Fallbrook Union High School District

 Julian Union High School District

 Julian Union School District

 Mountain Empire Unified School District

 Vallecitos School District

Schools in the Mountain Empire Unified School District, two schools within the Oceanside Unified School District and Vallecitos Elementary School sent students home early Thursday due to the rain.

The Grossmont Union High School District said Monte Vista High School would be closed Friday due to a water main break.

The schools closed in Oceanside were within Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where severe weather forced several base officials to release all non-essential employees due to road closures and base exit closures. Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton also closed several clinics.

Flash flood warning here in #Oceanside The rain has picked up big time here. Were starting to see some areas flood. If your car is parked along a curb, you may get some water damage. @nbcsandiego https://t.co/82EOUxUFTM pic.twitter.com/xZXCFjipkR  Melissa Adan (@MelissaNBC7) February 14, 2019

SeaWorld San Diego was forced to close for the day because of the rain. The park said the safety of their guests was their main priority.

Transportation services were also affected. The North County Transit District (NCTD) said multiple bus routes were experiencing delays including routes 388, 359, 323, 302, 303, 392,395 and 315.

NCTD's SPRINTER experienced cancelations and delays as well. To check new times and to learn more about speed restrictions in rainy weather, go to its website.

24-hour rainfall totals through 1 p.m. Thursday were:

San Diego: 0.85

Bonsall: 3.69

Fallbrook: 4.93

Ramona: 3.02

Santee: 2.29

Poway: 2.25

Oceanside: 3.28

Encinitas: 1.93

Palomar: 9.67

Julian: 5.17

Mt Laguna: 3.80

Borrego Springs: 1.30

Showers would begin to taper off at about 6 p.m. Thursday, but chances for rain will last until the weekend, Parveen said.

In total, the storm could bring 2 to 3 inches of rain to the coast and inland valleys; in the mountains 6 inches or more of rain is possible and in the deserts, less than a half-inch is expected.

A high wind warning for the mountains was downgraded early Thursday to an advisory, as wind gusts lowered slightly from 65 miles per hour to 55 mph.

Breezy conditions with winds averaging 25 to 35 mph were still expected in all other parts of the county.

NBC 7's Audra Stafford tracks the Valentine's Day storm from San Diego's South Bay.
A Tarrant County judge says she will remove herself from a two-year-old debt collection case involving her 'good friend' who is a Fort Worth city leader after NBC 5 asked about the status of the case and possible conflicts of interest.

The case began in March 2017 when Fort Worth city council member Kelly Allen Gray was named in a lawsuit over $2,041 in unpaid credit card bills.

Gray has represented southeast Fort Worth since 2012.

"So yes, I do owe it," Gray said in an interview.

Gray said her husband is ill, has large ongoing medical bills, and they've had to put off paying some debts.

"I'm not rich by no stretch of the imagination," she said.

The lawsuit ended up in Justice of the Peace Court 8, run by Judge Lisa Woodard.

The two acknowledge they are longtime friends.

"It's not a secret that Judge Woodard and I are friends," Gray said. "I've thrown fundraising parties for Judge Woodard."

Woodard agreed.

"Kelly is my friend, yes she is," she said.

Amid questions about personal conflicts, experts say judges should recuse themselves.

"The first premise is the judge should avoid the appearance of impropriety," said former Judge Joe Spurlock who now teaches law at Texas A&M University.

Gray said even though Woodard was the judge presiding over the case, she was never personally involved.

"She never had anything at all to do with it," Gray said.

"The judge said she handles hundreds of cases a week and never knew her 'good friend' had been sued in her court -- until Gray showed up for a court-ordered mediation.

"I don't know what cases come before me until they're in front of me," Woodard said.

Records reviewed by NBC 5 show the two have exchanged campaign contributions.

Woodard gave $200 to Gray, which Gray reported on her April 2017 campaign disclosure form. The exact date of the contribution was left blank.

Gray later gave two $100 donations to Woodard, including one the very day she was at the courthouse, according to the judge's campaign finance report. It did not specify whether the donation was made in person or by mail.

"Kelly did not give me a $100 campaign donation and I don't know where you got that from," Woodard said.

Informed the donation was listed on her own report, she continued to claim she did not receive it.

"OK, well, I did not," she said.

Court records show that's the same day  Nov. 30, 2017  that Gray was in court for mediation with the collections agency. The mediation failed.

Asked about the donation, Gray said she 'probably' gave it.

"I probably mailed her a check. Yes probably," Gray said.

Gray said she contributes to a number of candidates' campaigns.

"I make campaign contributions. That's what I do," she said. "I don't worry about anything. My integrity and my character speak for themselves."

Spurlock, the law professor, said judges should not accept campaign contributions from people involved in an ongoing case.

"While the case is going on, I'd say absolutely not. That's a slam dunk call," he said.

Now, it's Gray who's running for re-election.

Just last month, Judge Woodard posted on Facebook a cover picture of herself with Gray, and a separate posting of Gray with the hashtag '#teamkelly,' the same phrase used by Kelly and her campaign supporters.

Texas judges are not supposed to endorse candidates, Spurlock said.

"Thats a no-no," he said.

The judge said her Facebook posting was not an endorsement and that she's not endorsing anyone.

Asked what she meant by the words '#teamkelly,' she declined to answer.

Meanwhile, the nearly two-year-old debt collection case is still pending.

It was set for trial in June last year, but an attorney for the collections agency cited a conflict and asked for it to be reset.

It never was -- even though the judge acknowledged a new trial should have been scheduled within 60 days.

"Why that case has not been put back on the docket, I have no idea," she said.

The judge added it had nothing to do with their friendship.

"I have integrity. I would not have done that," Woodard said.

Gray denied she received improper help.

"If I had preferential treatment, I would have been settled by now," she said.

Kelly said she still plans to pay the debt as soon as she can.

"Everyone has things they have to deal with in their lives. I'm no different," she said.

Woodard also blamed her clerks for not rescheduling Gray's trial.
A Crowley man is headed to jail for 50 years after prosecutors say he sexually abused an 11-year-old girl for a year and then tried to have her killed to prevent the case from coming to trial.

The Collin County District Attorney's Office said 20-year-old Kylil Jamall Killian was sentenced to 50 years behind bars without parole for continuous sexual abuse of a child and indecency with a child by sexual contact.

According to prosecutors, in April 2018 an 11-year-old girl told a school counselor that Killian sexually abused her several times over the course of the previous year. The counselor reported this information to police and the child was forensically interviewed by the Children's Advocacy Center of Collin County.

Investigators, with the help of US Marshals, arrested Killian in Arkansas and returned him to Texas where he was put on trial and found guilty this week.

During the punishment phase of the trial, prosecutors said Killian tried to have the child killed to prevent the case from moving forward. It's not clear if prosecutors plan to file any other charges.

"We are thankful for the Collin County jurors who continue to send the message that child predators will not be tolerated. The protection of children will always be our top priority. By working together, we will ensure our children receive the protection they deserve," said Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner. "Children are safer now because this brave child put her own life at risk by outing this dangerous predator. We're grateful that the school counselor, forensic interviewer, investigator, prosecutors, jury, and judge all did their duty in this difficult case well."

By law, a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child is without eligibility for parole.
Booking your next medical procedure could be as easy as scoring a deal on Groupon.

According to industry experts, shopping online for medical procedures is becoming more popular as patients look for cheaper options without compromising quality.

At Hunt Regional Medical Center in Greenville, women can get a mammogram for $100, which is four times cheaper than the national average.

"We have a nice hospital here, fully staffed, fully equipped, fully manned to handle all types of health care," said Lee Boles, CFO at Hunt Regional Medical Center. "Quite honestly, those resources aren't used at their fullest capacity."

Which is why, Boles said, it makes sense to sell procedures at a flat-rate cash price that is cheaper than the rates negotiated with health insurance companies.

To do so, the hospital teamed up with MDSave, an online health care marketplace.

Patients can prepay for hundreds of routine or major medical procedures at *transparent* prices that include the cost of everything, from doctors fees to hospital fees.

The idea is called flat-rate, bundled health care, and experts say it's driving medicine in a new direction.

"They're taking a very, we will call it, 'priceline.com or hotels.com' methodology here in that they're going to hospital systems, surgical facilities, imaging centers and saying, 'If you don't have patients in your door, you're losing money. So anytime you have an opening or availability, we will take those, but you've got to sell them to us, at a discount and on a bundled basis, and we will fill those beds for you,'" explained Seth Denson, health care consultant at GDP Advisors.

The catch might be that it requires payment up front and it's not for everyone.

People with employer-sponsored health insurance may not benefit, but for those without health insurance or who have high-deductible plans, Denson said the model is something patients should explore.

In the two years that Hunt Regional has offered flat-rate bundled services, Boles said the hospital has brought in $2.4 million in cash sales, exceeding their expectations.

More importantly, he said, patients can now afford important health procedures they might have once skipped out on.

"It's actually been beneficial to the doctors, too, who were worried about their patients having access to the services."

Right now, MDSave has three partners in rural areas of North Texas.
Chris Yamamoto of Milford spent $17,000 on a Carrier mini-split state-of-the-art HVAC system for his Milford home. According to his receipt, Yamamoto he had the unit installed on October 31, 2016.

The reliability was a big thing for me, said Yamamoto.

But Yamamoto said since day one the system wasnt maintaining the proper temperature during winter or summer, calling it a defective unit. He said this happened even when he followed the manuals instructions.

Maybe, there was a setting that was wrong with it or something like that, said Yamamoto.

The service warranty for his unit stated that he had one year of free maintenance and a three-year labor warranty with active maintenance agreement.

Yamamoto said he called his contractor and eventually Carrier to check the system, and documented every visit.

They came out here and couldnt really get anything working, said Yamamoto.

Fast forward to 2017, Yamamoto said Carrier made more trips to his home.

We ended up finding that the vent would constantly stay on for some reason. So, now we have a 10 degree overset temperature. You set it to 70 it would be at 80, said Yamamoto.

Yamamoto explained how Carrier still couldnt fix the problem.

We had about seven people here in the house. They did one fix, they changed the setting in three of the four units and after about two hours later, after they left, it was very evident that it still wasnt working, said Yamamoto.

In January of 2018, Yamamoto said that the company suggested another replacement unit.

It was all re-installed and really not much of a difference at all, said Yamamoto.

Yamamoto confirmed that Carrier came out two more times to recharge the refrigerant and change some settings on the replacement. At this point, Chris just wanted the unit to work.

After reaching his boiling point with Carrier and its HVAC product, he reached out to NBC Connecticut Responds. A company spokesperson told us in a statement that:

Carrier and Mr. Yamamoto have reached a confidential, amicable resolution on the matter.

That agreement between Carrier and Yamamoto resulted in the company removing his unit and refunding the $17,000 he paid for the unit.

Having NBC Connecticut actually reach out to Carrier corporate, obviously, to help me out in this whole situation has been great, said Yamamoto. Im definitely relieved.
A Connecticut man plans to sue two towns after he was mistaken for a murder suspect with the same name and arrested.

Attorney Robert Berke says he has filed his intent to sue Southington and New Britain police after his client Benjamin Morales' arrest.

Berke says Morales was arrested at a Southington hotel at 4 a.m. on Feb. 5 and handcuffed for several hours during a police search for the suspect in the killing of Alice Marie Figueroa.

Figueroa was shot multiple times in New Britain on Feb. 4.

Morales says his arrest frightened his children, and his wife was handcuffed. Police eventually released the Waterbury resident after determining they had the wrong man. Berke says his client looks different from the suspect.

New Britain and Southington police declined to comment.

Police continue to look for the suspect in Figueroas death, identified as 42-year-old Benjamin Morales, of Elam Street. He is described as 5-foot-6, with brown hair and brown eyes. Three other people have been arrested in connection with the case.
Paid family medical leave is one of the big goals for Governor Ned Lamont, but the big question has always been how to pay for it.

The latest proposal would give up to 12 weeks of family and medical leave compensation. But concerns include how it would be paid and what economic impact it will cause.



Lamont is looking to have .5 percent of everyones paycheck go toward a Family and Medical Leave Trust Fund.

The proposal includes

Your job is what you do, your family is who you are, said Stephania Johnson.

Advocates of paid family and medical leave hope this is their year.

Johnson is a mother of two and said she found herself choosing between her job and her family.

There were days I had to go with no food on the table and no paycheck because I had to care for my son, Johnson said.

Republicans said theyre not against the idea but that there needs to be an economic analysis of how it would impact the state.

There's a lot of stuff in the air and question marks about the economics of it, said Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano.

The Connecticut Business and Industry Association says there are a lot of concerns about the proposal, that smaller businesses simply cant afford to leave a position vacant for several weeks. But advocates say its time Connecticut joined other states in creating a program that helps workers not to have to choose between family and work.

We urge committee members today to recognize this issue is a matter for life and death for many workers and their families, said Lindsay Farrell of the Connecticut Working Families.
To some, there is no better way to express love on Valentines Day than getting married. Its become a tradition for Justice of the Peace and Non-Denominational Minister Marie Tyler Wiley to unite couples out of the goodness of her heart on the holiday.

Thats my day to give back. Thats my thanks to God for my great life, Tyler Wiley said, adding she struggled to accept money from couples on Valentines Day.

She said shes been marrying people on Valentines Day for about 20 years, more than half of that time at the Meeting House Chapel in Olde Mistick Village for free. The meeting house is donated.

Her photographer and greeter also donated their time. Tyler Wiley had previously married both of them.

Couples did need to present an official wedding license from the Town of Stonington.

At least when they get married, theyll do so with a full heart from me because Im in love with love, Tyler Wiley said. She eloped with her husband and wanted to give other couples a ceremony that was more special than the one she had.

Rhode Island couple Rionda Geraldes and Michael Marinelli were among the newlyweds who married on Thursday, promising to love each other forever.

Were eloping, Marinelli laughed.

The pair said they ditched the stress of planning a summer wedding.

Marinelli was dressed in a suit, Geraldes in a wedding dress. Both had red detailing - from Marinellis vest to Geraldes shoes and the bow around her waist.

We already has some things in place. We just changed the color scheme for the holiday, Geraldes said.

They had the ability to choose their service and with the blessing of Tyler Wiley, said I do.

When you see that ring on somebody elses finger, Tyler Wiley said to the couple, it clearly says to the rest of the world that you are loved and cherished. And indeed you are.

This is beyond what words could express, Marinelli said of the day, adding that he felt the presence and love of his mom and godfather in the room. Both passed away.

After 15 and a half years married, Heidi and Timothy Mulligan are still in love with one another.

They couple renewed their vows with the help of Tyler Wiley Thursday.

Since weve gotten married weve had a lot of rollercoasters. So I got sick about seven years ago and it put a real scare into our relationship as well as myself. And we came out of it. And I think it makes you appreciate everything so much more, Heidi Mulligan said.

While the couple didnt really celebrate Valentines Day before, theyre now going to make it a tradition.

And for the first time, Tyler Wiley officiated the wedding of Olde Mistick Village business owners in Olde Mistick Village on Valentines Day.

Justice of the Peace Marie Tyler Wiley has officiated well over 2,000 weddings but never has she married Olde Mistick Village business owners in Olde Mistick Village, on Valentines Day

We got engaged actually about six years ago and last week during Jeopardy I said, How do you feel about getting married on Valentines Day, said Clifford Smith.

And I answered with a question: Really? When, Diana Smith said with a laugh.

The couple owns Smiths Boutique that neighbors the meeting house chapel. They didnt know they were the first couple from an area business to be wed during the event.

Why doesnt everybody do this? Its marvelous, Diana Smith said.

Their family filled the chapel. The Smiths dated in high school and found each other again.

Thursday night, they already have a fitting plan.

Have dinner and watch Jeopardy, Clifford Smith said.
An East Haven Board of Education member is facing federal charges, accused in a scheme involving the theft of over $1.5 million from an Illinois company.

In federal court Friday, John Finkle pleaded not guilty to a series of charges alleging he defrauded an Illinois-based supplier of electronic parts out of more than $1.5 million.

Some in East Haven think given the circumstances, its time for him to resign.

Finkle is charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and wire fraud.

Resigning It would look better for everybody if he did, said resident Allan Csuka.

An investigation by the U.S. Attorney and the FBI claims Finkle, while employed by that company, worked with two men in New York and Wisconsin to defraud the unnamed company through improper and undervalued purchases. The government says Finkle ultimately profited some $500,000 through the scheme which ran from early 2015 until last December.

There was no answer at Finkles East Haven home when NBC Connecticut tried to reach him for comment.

In town, residents were startled by the allegations.

It certainly doesnt send a good message to the children or to the adults either. You dont know who to trust anymore, Csuka said.

Finkles position on the Board of Education is elected, and he cannot be removed over the allegations, according to the boards chair, who said the matter is completely unrelated to the East Haven Public School District and Mr. Finkles role as a board member.

Finkle was released on a $500,000 bond. Should he resign, it would be up to the mayor to appoint another person to his seat to serve the duration of his two-year term, which runs through the end of the year.

The mayor learned about the allegations through NBC Connecticuts phone call to him this afternoon and says hes consulting with the town attorney about the next steps.
Police searched a duplex on House Street in Glastonbury Friday morning during an investigation into prostitution after receiving several complaints and they have made two arrests.

Police have charged 31-year-old Danielle Wilson with criminal attempt to commit prostitution and they have charged 46-year-old Eric Drake with promoting prostitution in the second degree. Both live in the home, according to a news release from police.

While searching the house, police also found a bulletproof vest in the house and charged Drake with criminal possession of body armor, according to a news release from police.

Police said Drake is not allowed to have the body armor because he has prior convictions.
With every click of the computer mouse, you share detailed data about who you are and that digital information can be very valuable. Much of what you do online is not done in private, even if you think it is.

Technology experts have highlighted the important distinction between your privacy and your data. Privacy relates to things like your name, your social security number, your online user names and passwords. But your data is more like a "profile" of who you are; an abstract model of you. That data is in high demand.

"It's valuable so they can target us for advertisements," said Frederick Scholl, the Cybersecurity Program director at Quinnipiac University's School of Engineering. Scholl said your data - that detailed portrait of what you click, what you buy, what you search for online, even what you watch on your smart TV - is being collected to then be used by companies to advertise to a specific group of potential customers - who are a lot like you.

"It's worth a lot because it helps with targeted marketing," said Scholl. Your data combined with that of everyone else has monetary value, he adds.

In 2014, the Federal Trade Commission found that data collection companies were collecting and storing "a vast amount of data on almost every U.S. household and commercial transaction." That collection continues today, and experts warn that it can often be done without the consumers' knowledge or our consent.

"Our information isn't just out there, it's being traded actively," said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. Tong, a Democrat, said his office is coordinating with the offices of other state attorneys general to try to require tech companies, including Facebook, to fully disclose to consumers what information is collected and who has access to it.

"Connecticut is closely working with our partners in other states to make sure that we bring those protections here," Tong said.

"We want them to do everything they can to protect the integrity and the confidentiality of our personal data, and we expect them to and we're going to hold them accountable," said Tong. Tong said he had also been in contact with Facebook in recent days.

"We don't sell your data and we don't tell advertisers who you are," said Facebook in a statement to NBC Connecticut Investigates. The company also said it is working to prevent misuse of its ad platforms. Facebook also said it had tripled the number of employees working on safety and security.

"That's the tradeoff - is that you kind of become a product in an of yourself," said Lon Seidman, a technology expert and tech product reviewer on YouTube. Seidman said any company that collects consumer data needs to protect it from a breach or hack or even if a company changes hands.

"This data is bought and sold as a commodity and there's very little control over how it is held and protected and moved around," said Seidman.

Experts recommend conducting a review every few months of every website you visit or app you use, making sure the username and password combination used is different for each site. If someone is able to obtain that combination, it is possible they would have enough information to then begin peeling away the layers of your privacy.

Also, it is recommended that consumers take advantage of the Privacy Checkup that Facebook and other companies offer to figure out what information you have granted access to and which apps you have authorized.

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A federal grand jury found a northwest Indiana mayor guilty of bribery Thursday after he allegedly solicited and took a payoff that influenced lucrative city contracts.

Portage Mayor James Snyder, 38, was found guilty of the bribery charge, as well as a single count of obstruction of internal revenue laws, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorneys Officer for the Northern District of Illinois. He was acquitted of an additional count of bribery.

From 2012 to 2014, Snyder solicited and pocketed a $13,000 check that was used to influence a series of contracts the city awarded, including contracts approved by the Portage Board of Works that totaled more than $1.1 million, prosecutors said.

Snyder was also convicted of hiding cash to avoid paying the IRS personal taxes and taxes owed by his mortgage business, Financial Trust Mortgage LLC in Portage, prosecutors said.

In addition to secretly diverting funds from his business to a sole proprietorship he created, Snyder also submitted tax forms that failed to disclose the existence of the holding and its bank account, among other things, prosecutors said.

The bribery conviction is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, while the obstruction count carries a maximum prison sentence of 3 years, prosecutors said.
Six people are dead, including the alleged gunman, and five police officers were wounded following an active shooter situation at a a sprawling industrial complex in Aurora.

Aurora police have confirmed that five police officers were also shot as they tried to get to the shooter inside the 29,000-square-foot building. All five have been transported to local hospitals, and a sixth officer suffered a knee injury.

Police are continuing their investigation into a shooting at an Aurora industrial complex at the shooters home, and NBC 5s Charlie Wojciechowski has the latest details.

On Saturday morning, police identified the five victims as:

Clayton Parks of Elgin, Illinois

Trevor Wehner of DeKalb, Illinois

Russell Beyer of Yorkville, Illinois

Vicente Juarez of Oswego, Illinois

Josh Pinkard of Oswego, Illinois

Police have not established a motive in the shooting, but believe that the shooter, identified as 45-year-old Gary Martin, was a former employee of the business. Chief of Police Kristen Ziman said investigators believe Martin was fired the day of the rampage. She said Martin used a Smith & Wesson handgun in the shooting.

Aurora police have not yet identified the victims, but families can go to Aurora University's public safety building for unification. Ziman did say all of the fatalities were male as well as the wounded officers.

The city's Twitter account posted at 3 p.m. "the shooter has been apprehended." Police said the scene was secured and the "shooter is no longer a threat to the area."

FBI, ATF Among Massive Response to Aurora Active Shooter Situation

At least one person was confirmed dead in the shooting, according to Chris Nelson, a spokesperson for Kane County Coroner Rob Russell's office. Further information on the fatality was not immediately known.

At least two patients from the area were taken to Presence Mercy Medical Center, but their conditions remained unknown, the hospital said. According to Olga Solares with Amita Health and Presence Mercy Medical Center, the hospital was placed on its highest alert to respond to the shooting.

Rush Copley Medical Center also said it has received three patients who are being treated for non-life threatening injuries. Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital also reported receiving one patient each. Conditions were not immediately known, according to Advocate Aurora Health.

The mayor's office confirmed four officers were injured but were in stable condition. Spokesperson Clayton Mohammad also reported civilian injuries but would not say how many. The office declined to comment on the condition of the suspect.

Around 2 p.m., Aurora police said command staff were responding to 641 Archer Ave. for "an active shooter incident." Residents were urged to avoid the area as the city sent out an alert of "an active shooter near Highland and Archer."

Illinois State Police District 5 said it was sending troopers to the scene. The ATF and FBI Chicago also said they were responding.

EMERGENCY UPDATE | 3 p.m.



THE SHOOTER HAS BEEN APPREHENDED! The area is still on lock down!



More information will be provided soon.  City of Aurora, IL (@CityofAuroraIL) February 15, 2019

Police said they were responding to the Henry Pratt Company, a valve manufacturing plant located at 401 S. Highland Ave. near Prairie and Archer. Police, SWAT and ambulance vehicles were seen swarming the area.

An employee at Henry Pratt who wished to remain anonymous told NBC 5 he and his coworkers heard "many, many gunshots" before running into an old, unused men's bathroom in the building to hide.

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White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the president has been briefed and "is monitoring the ongoing situation in Aurora."

Gov. JB Pritzker also said he was "monitoring the shooting" and encouraged all residents to "follow the directives of their local law enforcement."

Holy Angels Catholic School said it was on lockdown amid the report.

West Aurora School District 129 said all students were being held in place "for their safety" after "reports of an active shooter at the Henry Pratt building." All 18 schools in the district were on lockdown, according to Board President Bob Gonzalez.

"Per directions from the county sheriff, the District has been advised to go into soft lockdown situation across the district. Teaching will continue with reduced movement. Normal operations will resume when the soft lockdown has been lifted. No one will be allowed to leave or enter our buildings until the lockdown has been lifted," the district wrote on Facebook.

Theyve had drills, and theyre used to it, but you can never get used to the real thing," a mom of a student told NBC 5. "I just want to go pick them up and give them a hug. Its really hard. I cant concentrate right now."

By 3:30 p.m., the district said will begin dismissing schools in 40-minute intervals. For a schedule of dismissals click here.

Aurora university said all classes were canceled for the remainder of the day Friday on the school's main campus following the incident.

Diana Muniz, an employee at Taqueria Muniz, said a customer reported hearing numerous shots in the area.

The customer said they heard one shot fired, then more shots like boom, boom, boom,'" she told NBC 5.

Aurora police planned to host a third press conference at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Crain's Chicago Business' editorial board has backed Bill Daley in the race for Chicago mayor, following the Chicago Tribune's endorsement of Daley earlier this week and the Chicago Sun-Times' endorsement of Lori Lightfoot last week.



"Among this set of deeply flawed candidates," Crain's wrote, "the only nearly acceptable choice for voters who care about nursing Chicago back to financial health and keeping it on a job-growth track turns out to be, paradoxically, a scion of a storied Chicago political family that virtually defines the old Machine: William Daley."



While Crain's pointed out strengths of those "on the short list of credible candidates," like Lightfoot, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza and Toni Preckwinkle," the publication wrote, "Daley is willing to push for the toughest path toward a cure for what ails Chicago."



An exclusive Telemundo Chicago/NBC 5 poll of 625 registered voters showed Cook County Board President Preckwinkle barely leading the 14-person pack of candidates with 14 percent of the vote. Following her was Bill Daley at 13 percent, Mendoza at 12 percent, Lightfoot at 10 percent, Gery Chico at 9 percent and Amara Enyia at 7 percent.

Crain's board noted the city needs a candidate that will boost revenue, attack costs and crack the pension cost problem, initiatives the publication said Daley is willing and able to do.



The board notes he "isn't the perfect candidate -- not by a long shot" but focused on what it said is his worth in shoring up Chicago's "long-term viability as a great place to live, work and invest."



"Daleys main plusas absurd as it may sound in a progressive political season in which the old boys network is so out of fashionis his connectedness," Crain's wrote. "Yes, his family name is Chicago politics personified, but he knows how government works, seems to understand that it should work better, knows whats at stake as the city seeks to remain a global powerhouse, and will surround himself with capable people who can deal with the complexity this moment presents."



Earlier this week, the Chicago Tribune pointed to Daley's "forward-focused credo" for the city, his candor and leadership, as well as his high-profile political resume as a former White House chief of staff and U.S. Secretary of Commerce, among a list of reasons why he was the paper's choice for mayor.



The Sun-Times board on Friday endorsed Lightfoot, identifying her as the mayoral candidate with "the vision, values, qualifications and policies to be an effective leader for the whole city" and the candidate "who will confront our citys most intractable problems in ways that, finally, pull every Chicagoan along."

The Chicago election takes place Tuesday, Feb. 26. Early voting is open in all 50 wards.

In response to the Chicago Tribune's endorsement, Daley wrote:

"I am honored to receive the Chicago Tribunes endorsement for mayor of Chicago," Daley said in a statement. "My focus on getting guns and gangs off the streets, freezing property taxes and growing our way forward is resonating with Chicagoans in every part of the city. Chicago must be a place where all people can live, safely raise their families and afford to build a future. With the help of the people of Chicago, I am ready to get the job done. Im grateful for the support, and look forward to building a better future for all Chicagoans."

In response to the Chicago Sun-Times endorsement, Lightfoot wrote:

"Its a great honor to receive the endorsement of the Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board," Lightfoot said in a statement. "Voters dont want a Chicago machine candidate. This race is about whether were resigned to the broken past or resolved to fight for something more. Its about shining a light on the corruption and backroom deals that havent served us. Its a race thats rattled by corruption scandals in a city thats sick and tired of the old Chicago way."
Five children, ages 5 to 15, were killed and two adults were hurt in Bowie early Saturday after a car they were riding in crashed into several trees and spun into a field, police say.

Maryland State Police believe the children riding in the back of a 2005 Chrysler Pacifica, an SUV, were not restrained properly as they headed north on Route 301 near Pointer Ridge Drive.

The driver, 32-year-old Dominique R. Taylor, lost control of the car about 4:30 a.m. and veered off the side of the road, hitting several trees, a preliminary investigation revealed.

Police say the five children were thrown from the car as it hit the trees and spun out into a field.

London Dixon, 8, and Paris Dixon, 5, both children of Taylor who lived in Bowie and attended Northview Elementary School, and Zion Beard, 14, Rickelle Ricks, 6, and Damari Herald, 15, from D.C, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Taylor was sent to a hospital. Her condition is unclear. Cornell D. Simon, 23, of Oxon Hill, is in critical condition, according to police.

It appears all five children were riding in the backseat, and police said the Chrysler Pacifica only had one row of seats in the rear. Photos from the scene showed extensive damage to the car.

Police have not yet ruled out any possible causes of the crash, but a reconstruction team is working to determine what happened. Roads throughout Maryland were icy, but police haven't confirmed whether weather contributed to the crash and said the state salted roads.

"Every collision where we lose life is a tragedy," said Maryland State Trooper Capt. Daniel Pickett. "And where children are involved, it's more of a tragedy."

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks expressed their condolences in Twitter posts.

Deeply saddened by this tragic auto accident in Prince George's County. Praying for everyone involved, including first responders. https://t.co/Mg2JSabepx  Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) February 2, 2019

The road was closed for more than seven hours after the crash but has since reopened.
The Supreme Court will decide whether the 2020 census can include a question about citizenship that could affect the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives and the distribution of billions of dollars in federal money.

The justices agreed Friday to a speedy review of a lower court ruling that has so far blocked the Trump administration from adding the citizenship question to the census for the first time since 1950.

Both the administration and opponents of the question agreed the court should settle the matter quickly because census forms need to be printed soon.

Arguments will take place in late April. A decision should come by late June.

The case pits the administration against immigrant advocacy organizations and Democratic-led states, cities and counties that argue the citizenship question is intended to discourage the participation of minorities, primarily Hispanics, who tend to support Democrats from filling out census forms.

The challengers say they would get less federal money and fewer seats in Congress if the census asks about citizenship because people with noncitizens in their households would be less likely to fill out their census forms.

The Constitution requires a census count every 10 years. A question about citizenship had once been common, but it has not been asked of every household since 1950. At the moment, the question is part of a detailed annual sample of a small chunk of the population, the American Community Survey.

The case stems from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross' decision in 2018 to add a citizenship question to the next census, over the advice of career officials at the Census Bureau, which is part of the Commerce Department. At the time, Ross said he was responding to a Justice Department request to ask about citizenship in order to improve enforcement of the federal Voting Rights Act.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in New York ruled in January that the question could not be included, saying that fewer people would respond to the census and that the process Ross used was faulty.

Pressed for time, the administration bypassed the federal appeals court in New York and appealed directly to the justices. The challengers defended the lower court ruling, but acknowledged the need for a quick answer to the legal issue.

It's rare for the high court to weigh in without the benefit of appellate rulings. Such interventions usually are reserved for national political crises, including the Pentagon Papers case.

The administration has defended the addition of the citizenship question by arguing that courts have no business second-guessing the commerce secretary in performing a basic function of his job.

But Furman largely agreed with the local and state governments and rights groups that sued over the issue. He pointed out that Ross had ignored his own experts' views that a census with a citizenship question would produce less accurate results and add to the costs.

Documents and testimony produced as part of the trial in New York showed that Ross had begun pressing for a citizenship question soon after he became secretary in 2017, and that he had consulted Steve Bannon, who had been President Donald Trump's top political adviser, and then-Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Emails showed that Ross himself had invited the Justice Department request to add the citizenship question.

The judge's ruling held that Ross' decision about what to ask on the census was "arbitrary and capricious" under the federal Administrative Procedures Act.

There are at least four other ongoing lawsuits over the question, including a trial in San Francisco that was wrapping up Friday. The Supreme Court, though, is expected to settle the matter with the case it has agreed to hear.

Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco was not expected to issue a ruling immediately after closing arguments. He heard nearly a week of testimony last month in the lawsuits, which assert that the question would result in an undercount that would jeopardize federal funding and the state's representation in Congress.
Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke said amid the debate about building out the wall on the border with Mexico that, if he could, he would take down existing barriers, NBC News reported.

"Absolutely, I'd take the wall down," the Democrat from the border town of El Paso told MSNBC's Chris Hayes in an interview Thursday, adding that the 600 miles of wall and fencing already built along the border haven't made Americans demonstrably safer.

O'Rourke's comment comes after he was asked on Twitter by current Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, if O'Rourke would "snap your fingers" and eliminate El Paso's border wall.

On Monday, while President Donald Trump was in El Paso rallying support for his proposed border wall, O'Rourke led a rally nearby challenging his message.
What to Know A High Surf Advisory is in effect through 9 p.m. Friday

Westbound lanes of Highway 37 from Atherton Avenue to Highway 101 were closed due to flooding

The Sonoma County Sheriff late Thursday issued an advisory evacuation notice to all residents living on the Russian River

Authorities warn that mudslides are still possible Friday even after a damaging storm moved through California, trapping people in floodwaters, triggering a debris flow that destroyed homes, and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year.

The powerful system swept in from the Pacific Ocean and unleashed rain, snow and wind across the U.S. West into Wyoming, Colorado and Arizona after walloping Northern California and southern Oregon earlier.

The rain mostly ended Thursday night. But officials said hillsides could still loosen and collapse, bringing down mud, boulders and debris.

"The ground is still so saturated and the water is still flowing down from the mountains," said April Newman, spokeswoman for Riverside County Fire Department.

The National Weather Service reported staggering rainfall amounts across California, including more than 9.4 inches over 48 hours at one location in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles.

North of San Francisco, a mudslide barreled over cars, uprooted trees and sent a home sliding down a hill and smashing into another house in Sausalito.

A woman was rescued from the splintered wreckage with only cuts and bruises. Susan Gordon was buried under a tree and mud for two hours while crews dug her out, her son wrote on an online fundraising page.

Chris Parkman said it has been years since a storm so powerful has hit the hillside community, where at least 50 properties were evacuated.

"We don't see the rain most of the year. So most of the year you feel safe. But when the big storms come, your safety factor is gone," he said.

Further north, a levee along State Route 37 near Novato was breached, flooding a rural field, closing off westbound lanes of the highway from Atherton Avenue to Highway 101. Officials were monitoring the area in case water flows onto the highway or train tracks.

Officials in the North Bay are also be keeping an eye on the Russian River, which hit flood stage Thursday afternoon and was expected to continue to rise into the evening hours, according to the weather service.

The Sonoma County Sheriff late Thursday issued an advisory evacuation notice to all residents living on the Russian River. The river is predicted to return below flood stage at 10:00 p.m. Friday, the sheriff's office said.

A flood warning was also in effect along the river at Johnsons Beach near Guerneville.

Trouble also persisted in saturated Northern California, where thousands of people lost power and flooding was possible. Downtown San Francisco saw more than 1.75 inches of rain over 24 hours.

A flooded creek led authorities to urge about 300 residents to leave a community about 20 miles west of Paradise, a town destroyed last year by the nation's deadliest wildfire in a century.

In San Jose's Willow Glen neighborhood, evacuations were ordered early Thursday morning as a portion of the Guadalupe River crested above flood stage. Water levels eventually receded, allowing officials to lift the evacuation orders.

The storm followed more than a week of severe weather in the Pacific Northwest and was the latest in a series of storms that has all but eliminated drought-level dryness in California this winter. It's fueled by an atmospheric river  a plume of moisture stretching across the Pacific Ocean nearly to Hawaii.

Nearly 37 percent of California had no level of drought or abnormal dryness, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported Thursday. About 10.5 percent of the state was in moderate drought, and just over 1.6 percent was in severe drought. The remainder was in the abnormally dry category. The numbers reflect data gathered up to Tuesday.

Among the Bay Area's larger cities, Santa Rosa accumulated 4.77 inches of rainfall during the two-day period, according to the weather service. San Francisco tallied 3.13 inches. Concord grabbed 2.01 inches.

Atmospheric rivers are long bands of water vapor that form over an ocean and flow through the sky. Formed by winds associated with storms, they occur globally but are especially significant on the West Coast.

The storm delayed flights destined for San Francisco International Airport, closed sections of several key highways, including Highway 1 on the Central Coast, Interstate 5 north of Sacramento, and U.S. 395 in the snowy eastern Sierra Nevada.

Wintry weather closed Interstate 80 in California near the Nevada border and across much of Wyoming and sections of at least four other highways. Multiple avalanches disrupted highway traffic in northwestern Montana near the Idaho border.
Using an army of small satellites, researchers have shown that water levels in small lakes across northern Canada and Alaska are far more variable during the summer than previously thought. The findings, published in Geophysical Research Letters, could have implications for how scientists calculate the natural greenhouse gas emissions from these northern lakes.

The study used images taken by a network of more than 150 CubeSats -- small satellites about the size of shoeboxes -- which made nearly daily observations of more than 85,000 small North American lakes during the summer of 2017. The images enabled the researchers to see how the lakes changed over time. They found small but significant shoreline changes in individual lakes that added up to hundreds of square kilometers of lake area change across the study region.

"There's been a lot of research on climate-driven changes in lake area, but it's mainly focused on long-term changes," said Sarah Cooley, a Ph.D. student at Brown University and the study's lead author. "This is the first time that anyone has looked at fine-scale, short-term changes, and we found that there's much more variability within a season than expected."

The study area captures a substantial swath of Arctic tundra and boreal forest, a biome that circles the Earth's northern hemisphere in a band from about 50 to 70 degrees north latitude. The region is home to critical forest and tundra ecosystems as well as the planet's highest density of lakes, so understanding its hydrology is scientifically important. One reason for that is that boreal lakes are a significant source of natural greenhouse gas emissions. Their sediments contain tons of organic carbon, which washes in from the surrounding landscape. Some of that carbon then decomposes and it emitted into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide and methane greenhouse gases.

This new finding of substantial summer shoreline fluctuation has implications for how scientists calculate these emissions, the researchers say. That's because shoreline areas where water ebbs and flows from season to season are known hotspots for greenhouse gas production and emission. But estimates of lake emissions generally assume shorelines to be stable within each season. The finding of surprising within-season shoreline fluctuation, the researchers say, suggests that current emissions models from boreal lakes may be underestimated.

"A shoreline that's fluctuating is going to emit more carbon than a stable shoreline," Cooley said. "These short-term fluctuations, which no one had ever mapped before, suggest these lakes are potentially emitting more gas than people thought."

Another finding that surprised the research team was the large overall importance of shoreline fluctuations on the ancient Canadian Shield, a rocky, wet landscape in central Canada where millions of small lakes cover 20 percent of the landscape.

"Previous studies assumed lakes in this area to be relatively stable," said Laurence C. Smith, a co-author of the study and project leader for NASA's Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment, which helped fund the study. "To our surprise, the high-resolution, high-frequency imaging afforded by CubeSats revealed that small shoreline fluctuations in this lake-rich area sum to impressively large numbers."

In all, the study explored four sub-areas of the North American Arctic and sub-Arctic and found the little-studied Canadian Shield to be most dynamic of all, with about 1.4 percent of its landscape seasonally inundated by small fluctuations in lake levels.

Big data, small satellites

Another takeaway from the study, Cooley says, is that it shows the power of CubeSats to acquire data that larger satellites can't gather.

"What I'm most excited about from a science perspective is the ability to make use of this new CubeSat imagery," Cooley said. "We couldn't have made these observations without the CubeSats, and here we show that it's possible to extract valuable scientific information from those images."

Large space agency satellites festooned with sensitive scientific instruments can gather all sorts of information, but simply don't make enough overhead passes to catch changes that occur over short periods of time. And the satellites that do pass over on a daily basis lack the camera resolution to make fine-scale observations of lake area.

The CubeSats, recently launched by a company called Planet, offered a potential solution. The company operates more than 150 satellites, which orbit the Earth in an arrangement that enables them to image Earth's entire landmass each day as the planet rotates beneath them. And while the tiny satellites lack sophisticated scientific equipment, they do have high-powered cameras capable of capturing images with 3-meter resolution.

But the CubeSat data present some unique challenges, Cooley says. For example, the location data from CubeSats tend not to be as precise as those from space agency satellites. And the CubeSat images lack filters that make them easier to analyze. NASA or European Space Agency (ESA) satellite data are filtered to eliminate images taken on cloudy days or other low-quality images.

So Cooley had to design her own system to compensate for those issues. For the study, she trained a machine learning algorithm to spot anomalous data patterns and throw them away. For example, instances in which a lake suddenly disappears in a day only to return to view a few days later are most likely due to cloud cover or glitchy observations, not an actual lake disappearance. The algorithm could flag such instances and remove them from the data.

Using that algorithm, Cooley and her colleagues were able to sift through more 25 terabytes of CubeSat data. Cooley says she expects more interesting earth science findings to come from CubeSats in the coming years.

"I see this as a beginning of a new period in remote sensing, in that suddenly all sorts of earth observations that may not have been possible before will become possible with these small, simple satellites," Cooley said.
(Natural News) In this important new story by Michael Snyder over at The End Of The American Dream that the Drudge Report linked to on Wednesday, quite literally knocking Snyders website offline for several hours, he reports upon the worsening state of affairs in cities all across America which are quickly becoming uninhabitable hellholes even before the globalists end game is carried out.

(Article by Stefan Stanford republished from AllNewsPipeline.com)

With public defecation in the streets along with open drug use and homeless numbers increasing daily, leading to tent cities popping up in various cities nationwide, Snyder reports that rats and fleas are running the halls of the Los Angeles City Hall while the zombified hordes of homeless people living in Seattle and San Francisco, two of the wealthiest cities in the nation, are simply too drugged out to care that the worst parts of major western cities are beginning to look like post-apocalyptic wastelands.

And a quick visit over to Wikipedia finds that of the 50 biggest US cities, the mayors of 34 of them are Democrats, 13 are Republicans and 3 are Independents. Is it just a coincidence that cities turning into hellholes such as Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, Baltimore and others are governed by Democrats? In fact, a look back at the history of many of those cities finds that theyve had Democratic mayors going back several decades or even more. Just a sad coincidence?

Weve long argued that getting as far away from the big cities as possible during a real national emergency is one of the single most important decisions one can make in a survival situation and well take a look within this story at more signs that those still living within the cities should be thinking about getting out before theyre stuck fighting along with hundreds of thousands or millions of others to get out with cities sure to quickly turn into death zones in any real SHTF scenario.

map

And besides the fact that most big cities are governed by Democrats, the rapidly maddening leftist masses also tend to congregate within the big cities with Hillary Clinton taking a huge percentage of the vote in many big cities as this December of 2016 story over at City Lab reported as also seen in theat the top of this story.

As well see in the next graphic below, nearly every large metropolitan area across America voted for Hillary by very large margins and while President Trump had taken several large metro areas as well such as Birmingham, Oklahoma City, Jacksonville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and the Dallas area, the overall population numbers of those areas are absolutely dwarfed by the population numbers of the large cities and metro areas that overwhelmingly voted for Hillary.

And with Trump derangement syndrome sure to get worse in the coming weeks as the left, whove long been hoping for news that will lead to the impeachment of President Trump, continue to get news that there was no Russian collusion afterall and theyve been lied to once again by the mainstream media, the opportunities for more and more incidents will continue to grow with some even warning of inevitable civil war upon the horizon.

And as this February 13th story over at News Web Order reports, any kind of civil war in America in 2019 or 2020 will be sure to bring with it food riots and starvation and a global food shortage with big US cities particularly hard hit. From their story.:

Any national chaos would disable the system of seed production that allows farmers to plant the millions of acres in the U.S. It would also disable the production and distribution of fuels and fertilizers that farmers depend on to plant, grow and harvest.

The only way the food production system would continue operating is if the government or a corporate entity seized control of the large tracts of farmland in the Midwest and continued to operate them. Given the executive orders now on the books this is always a possibility. It is also likely that if that happened, food would be used as a weapon against those areas of the country in rebellion against government rule.

forecast

As Susan Duclos reported on ANP on February 9th about Seattles recent snowpocalyse that saw grocery store shelves emptied of food and supplies and general chaos, while residents of the city were worried about getting food for the weekend, they should be more concerned about preparing for a lengthy interruption of our food supply system and for grocery store shelves to remain empty with a global food shortage beinglargely due to fatal cold this winter as Ice Age Farmer reported in this January 28th story

Read more at: AllNewsPipeline.com
(Natural News) NewsGuard Technologies promotes itself as a company bent on fighting fake news and allowing truth to prevail. The website claims the company will restore trust and accountability through its human-driven rating system. But as many critics have suspected, the onslaught of pro-NewsGuard propaganda is a ploy to deceive the public and normalize censorship. NewsGuard doesnt care about the truthfulness of reporting; it is a shell company with the explicit purpose of silencing the independent media and securing the establishments place at the top of the journalism food chain.

In a new partnership with Microsoft, NewsGuard will be installed automatically with Microsofts web browser, Edge. And according to reports, NewsGuard wants to see its technology applied to every device sold in the United States. Mass censorship is on our doorsteps, and virtually every major news outlet in the U.S. is promoting it.

NewsGuard or NewsGoon?

NewsGuard is promoted as using old school journalism to fight fake news. The trained analysts who are also experienced journalists use a red light-green light rating system to flag news sites as bad orgood, depending on the content. The analysts dont just peruse web sites; NewsGuard, has reportedly contacted many sites for deeper conversation.

Steven Brill, NewsGuard co-founder, recently stated the U.K.s Daily Mail, a well-known publication, received a red rating because an associate didnt want to answer questions. This has prompted substantial concerns about NewsGuards integrity as a company.

NewsGuard can use all kinds of strong-arm tactics to attempt to silence their opposition. If a company tries to take a stand against censorship and refuses to cooperate with NewsGuard, theyll simply be blacklisted themselves.

While NewsGuard has removed Daily Mail from the blacklist after much controversy, the company has made their position clear: Play ball, or kick rocks.

The NewsGuard system is patently flawed, being susceptible to both bias and corruption. For example, it was recently reported that a tee shirt sold by the Breitbart News Store was flagged as fake news.

Rating merchandise should be outside the scope of an organization that purportedly only targets news. But, perhaps thats not really what NewsGuard is after.

Suppress truth, promote propaganda

Writing for Breitbart, senior correspondent Allum Bokhari reports that NewsGuard has given all the major news agencies a green rating,  even in light of the reprehensible Covington Catholic incident, which saw dozens of innocent high school students victimized by the corrupt and deeply biased mainstream media.

In contrast, most of the independent media has received red ratings.

The criteria that NewsGuard reportedly uses to issue its rating are inherently weighed at the analysts discretion. For example, any one of the mainstream medias headlines on the Covington Catholic case could be seen as misleading,  but if that headline conforms to your bias as an individual, you are probably less likely to perceive it as such.

This theory can be applied to the rating system across the board. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but perception is in the mind of the reader. And under NewsGuard, the perceptions of the few will rule the many.

As Mint Press News reports, NewsGuard is already campaigning to  have its rankings of news sites installed by default on computers in U.S. public libraries, schools, and universities as well as on all smartphones and computers sold in the United States.

NewsGuard is not designed to protect the public from fake news, but rather, to instill obedience to the mainstream media propaganda machine and begin the normalization of censorship. This isnt just a war on free speech, it is a war on your right to think for yourself.

See more coverage of the latest acts of censorship at Censored.news.

Sources for this article include:

Breitbart.com

MintPressNews.com
(Natural News) If theres an effective method to develop a country for the better, then the Bolivian government would be the perfect example. By coming up with a law that betters the countrys food sufficiency, Bolivia is on the way to achieving food independence by 2020.

The Bolivian government invested $40 million in local food production, decreasing transportation emissions, and raising the security of small agricultural operations such as small and medium-sized farms around the country. These small-time farmers will also be receiving technology improvements and efficient irrigation systems, as well as support for their livestock breeding.

President Evo Morales is the brain behind the Law of Productive, Communal, and Agricultural Revolution. It states that $500 million annually for 10 years will be allocated to sustainable policies that guarantee self-sufficient agricultural production of high-quality food. It also aims to respect the countrys biodiversity and naturalness of its crops. This revolutionary act aligns with the countrys culture of living well, Suma Qamana, and people living in harmony with Mother Earth, Pachamama. (Related: Scientists think they just invented multifunctional polyculture food farms, but its been around forever as food forests and permaculture.)

Crop seeds for planting will be distributed, some of which are tomatoes, potatoes, wheat, coffee, cocoa, and other fruits and vegetables. Fishing practices will also be improved by this investment, and will hopefully create the means to source 100 percent of needed food supplies from their own land. Marisol Solano, the deputy minister of Rural Development and Agriculture in Bolivia reports that over 20 food security projects are already underway. So far, the Public Institute for Food Sovereignty (IPDSA) reported that there was already a 25 percent increase in local food production in 2014.

By investing in its own countrys production, carbon emissions from food importation will be decreased. Food importation is a major factor in the decline in a countrys food production. There has been an increase in the market prices of food across the world, because there is a rise in oil prices and the existence of monopolies on overall consumable goods. Bolivia is not immune to this global volatility. Since indigenous food like quinoa are at record highs, local communities have opted to consume rice and pasta as a substitute. Given the facts above, the imbalance between local food production and global consumerism affects this developing country greatly, hence the institution of said law.

Since consumers in the country are too reliant on imports, the Bolivian government aims to create more state-owned companies that produce seeds. This will help the local farmers produce natural crops that adhere to the countrys original produce, and promote self-dependence agriculturally and socially. Demetrio Perez, the president of Anapo, believes that this is a great way to turn Bolivia into an exporting country.

Ciro Kopp, an agricultural engineer at the National Council for Food and Nutrition, contradicts Perezs view on turning the country into an exporter. Before aiming to become a global producer, the countrys priority should be to be able to supply its own needs first. Following the law of supply and demand, increased production in a country to supply its own needs will therefore lower its own local market prices, and thus make nutritional requirements much more affordable and accessible. This will then eliminate a countrys reliance on other countries exports.

Bolivia is on the right track in creating better circumstances to strengthen small-time producers. Since they cannot compete in the larger local, regional, and global markets, the added government support (like seed distribution and irrigation improvement) will improve their food production as well as the farmers living conditions.

Analysts speculate that with Bolivias notoriety for institutional turmoil, there might be a repeat of past mistakes. An example would be when their government failed to monitor their food production closely, and resulted in shortages and steep price hikes. However, given that the law is applied well and implemented strictly, Bolivia might succeed in guaranteeing self-sufficiency in food and sovereignty for its own people, while keeping respect towards its general biodiversity.

Sources include:

Inhabitat.com

TheGuardian.com
(Natural News) That junior representative from the Bronx whom some on the internet have dubbed the Donkey Face of socialism might not be as popular among real-life human beings as the mainstream media would have us all believe.

It would appear as though the deep state is now working overtime to prop up Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs (AOC) official Twitter account by padding her page with tens of thousands of fake likes in order to make her lunatic ideas appear far more popular than they actually are.

Newly-released video footage illustrates this little scheme in action, showing an anomalous jump on one of AOCs recent tweets from roughly 1,533 likes to 17,000 likes in a matter of milliseconds  which simply isnt realistic, nor is it likely even possible.

Keep in mind that, just prior to this massive and inexplicable leap in likes, the number of likes and retweets on this same tweet by AOC had been increasing incrementally and naturally. But then, all of a sudden, that number jumped more than 11-fold.

Twitter is at it again, tweeted one user about the strange occurrence. Watch as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs likes magically go from 1,500 to 17k  Video below, the tweeted added, followed by a link to the video footage.

For more news about deep state shenanigans like this, be sure to check out Tyranny.news.

Conservatives on Twitter say their likes and retweets are mysteriously declining for no apparent reason

Meanwhile, conservatives on Twitter say theyre seeing the opposite happen to their tweets. Larry Elder, a conservative, black radio host based out of Los Angeles, whose Larry Elder Show airs on KRLA and on Salem / CRN Digital Talk Radio, recently tweeted about how his tweet likes and retweets are mysteriously declining for no apparent reason.

WHATS GOING ON WITH @Twitter?! Elder tweeted. For my last several posts, posted a few hours ago, the number of retweets and likes suddenly declined, dropping hundreds of retweets and likes  ARE YOU EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEM? he added, obviously frustrated by the situation.

As for AOCs padded tweet that went in the other direction, the pea-brained Pinko had attempted to whitewash some anti-Semitic statements recently made by fellow junior representative Ilhan Omar, a devout Muslim who doesnt support the Jewish state of Israel.

AOC tried to claim that Omar had demonstrated a capacity to acknowledge pain & apologize, use the opportunity to learn abt history of antisemitism,+grow from it while clarifying her stance, followed by a tweet from The Forward that tried to deflect from Omars comments and, naturally, take the opportunity to bash President Trump.

If you denounce Ilhan Omar but support Donald Trump, you dont really oppose bigotry, The Forward tweeted, and AOC retweeted. You dont even really oppose anti-Semitism. What you oppose is criticism of Israel, the tweet added  all of this being the content that Twitter boosted from around 1,500 likes to 17,000 in a hot second.

Its obvious that everyday Americans in no way support either AOC or Ilhan Omar, both of whom are radical socialists trying to push their anti-American ideas on the masses. And because of this, the social justice warriors (SJWs) who work at Twitter, possibly with financial backing from the likes of George Soros, find it necessary to artificially inflate their support numbers to make them appear more mainstream.

But the general public isnt that stupid. It should be obvious at this point, at least to anyone whos actually paying attention, that the Democratic Party and its congressional darlings are astro-turfed phonies, whose only support comes from Twitter bots and fake likes.

NOTHING about that party is honest or real, replied one Twitter user to the damning video footage. Im still #AMAZED ANYONE is a #Democrat, the tweet added.

Sources for this article include:

TheGatewayPundit.com

Twitter.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) A new report from The Free Thought Project exposes the truth about what many independent media outlets have been saying for years: The worlds most popular social media platform, Facebook, is a hotbed of deep state corruption and public manipulation.

While the baby of Mark Zuckerberg is often described as a private company, the fact of the matter is that Facebook is actually a massive government psy-op run by various deep state swamp creatures  many of whom previously worked within the Obama administration.

For instance, Facebooks censorship head, also known as Head of Cybersecurity Policy, is a man named Nathaniel Gleicher who previously prosecuted cybercrimes at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Gleicher also worked as Director for Cybersecurity Policy at the National Security Council under Obama.

Joel Benenson, a former top adviser to Obama and chief strategist for failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, also now works at Facebook  as does Aneesh Raman, Obamas former speechwriter whos now in charge of Facebooks economic impact programming.

There are many others as well, including:

 Joel Kaplan, Facebooks Vice President of Public Policy, who worked for George W. Bush as the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy

 Sheryl Sandberg, Facebooks Chief Operations Officer, who used to work in the United States Treasury Department under Bill Clinton

 Kate Patchen, Facebooks Litigation Counsel, who previously worked in the Department of Justice

 Meredith Carden, head of Facebooks News Integrity Team, who worked in the Office of the First Lady under Obama

 Sarah Feinberg, head of Facebooks Communication Team, who was Special Assistant to the President under Obama

 Joe Lockhart, Vice President of Global Communications at Facebook, who worked as Press Secretary under Bill Clinton

In essence, Facebook has become a whos-who of government swamp creatures, most of whom were Obamas cronies previously  and these are the people deciding what constitutes real versus fake news.

It appears the government is using Facebook  the worlds largest social media company  to sway public opinion, writes Jeff Charles for Liberty Nation.

The company has employed a significant number of former officials in positions that grant them influence over what content is allowed on the platform.

Facebook is also now run by neocon war hawks pushing a globalist agenda

In case you didnt know, Facebook also recently formed a partnership with a neoconservative think tank known as the Atlantic Council, which is tied to the pharmaceutical industry, the military-industrial complex, and to the federal government itself.

The Atlantic Council, The Free Thought Project discovered, plays a major role in deciding what content is allowed to be published and shared on Facebook, and what content isnt. And the Atlantic Council is funded in large part by the United States government, its important to note.

It is a telltale sign of a corrupt industry or company when they create a revolving door between themselves and the state, writes Matt Agorist for The Free Thought Project.

Just like Monsanto has former employees on the Supreme Court and Pharmaceutical industry insiders move back and fourth from the FDA to their companies, we found that Facebook is doing the same thing.

David Recordon has similarly reported on the revolving door between the federal government and Facebook, emphasizing the incredible amount of political influence thats wrapped up into the day-to-day functionality of Facebook.

 there are dozens of former Obama staffers, advisers, and campaign associates who quite literally fill Facebooks ranks, Agorist adds. It is no wonder the platform has taken such a political shift over the past few years.

For more news about deep state influence over social media, be sure to check out Corruption.news and MarkZuckerberg.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheFreeThoughtProject.com

LibertyNation.com

NaturalNews.com
(As delivered)

Good afternoon,

Its good to see you all.

Im glad to be back here at the Munich Security Conference. Its an important platform for defence and security issues. I am coming directly from the NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels where we addressed a wide range of pressing security issues including Russias continued violation of the INF Treaty. This Treaty is important because it has banned all intermediate-range land based systems in the whole world for decades. Russias violation is something which we take very seriously and all Allies continue to call on Russia to come back into compliance with the INF Treaty.

We also addressed burden-sharing in NATO, in the North Atlantic partnership and I welcome that fact that European Allies and Canada are stepping up. Since 2016 theyve added 41 billion extra US dollars for defence spending and we expect that number to increase to 100 billion dollars by the end of next year.

I also had the pleasure of welcoming the Republic of North Macedonia at the table during the ministerial and it was great to welcome defence minister, deputy prime minister Radmila Shekerinska at the meeting, because now we have signed the accession protocol for North Macedonia. And therefore they are now participating in the meetings.

I think Ill stop there and then Im ready to take some questions.

QUESTION: What do you expect from Foreign Minister Lavrov concerning the INF Treaty? And also, will you be looking for what hes going to say about global security in a world where the Treaty does not any longer exist?

SECRETARY GENERAL: It is important to meet with Russia, and to discuss also the difficult issues, including the violation of the INF Treaty. Dialogue is always important, but especially when tensions are high, as they are now. I expect the INF issue to be, of course, one of the main issues to be addressed during the meeting. Because all Allies are extremely concerned about the continued Russian violation of this treaty. That Russia continues to deploy new missiles in Europe, nuclear-capable missiles, which are hard to detect and which reduce the warning time and any potential use of weapons, nuclear weapons, in an armed conflict.

What we are focused on now, the main message from NATO now, is that Russia must come back into compliance. And there is a six month window, because the withdrawal process will take six months. And therefore Russia has an opportunity to come back into compliance. And thats the best and the most effective way to save the INF Treaty. We are preparing, of course, for a world without the INF Treaty and with more Russian missiles. I will not prejudge the outcome of this process, but what I can say is that we will respond as an alliance together. We will be measured. And we have no intention of deploying new land-based nuclear missiles in Europe. So the INF issue is of course something that will be important during the whole Munich conference, because it affects the security of the whole of Europe and North America.

QUESTION: The organizers of this conference say that theres a risk of the international system, rules-based system, falling apart. What do you say to that?

SECRETARY GENERAL: We see that many of the institutions that were established after the end of the Second World War are under pressure. And these institutions have served us all well. They help to maintain a global order which has been the basis for peace and for prosperity. In uncertain times we need stronger institutions, not weaker institutions. Because strong institutions, they help us to reduce risk. And when surprises happen, they help us to deal with surprises and uncertainty. For NATO, this means that in a more unpredictable world, it is even more important to have a strong NATO. And therefore my focus has been on how can we modernise, how can we strengthen NATO. And Im glad to see that Allies are stepping up, we are doing more together, North America and Europe, now than we have done for many years. This is partly about strengthening international institutions like NATO, but it is also about having strong defence, invest, and also of course about strengthening the transatlantic cooperation between North America and Europe. So we need stronger international institutions, stronger multilateral frameworks to respond to a more uncertain world.

QUESTION: Daesh, ISIS is not definitely defeated in Iraq and Syria. And is this now very dangerous, what can NATO do? And can you tell something about Nord Stream 2?

SECRETARY GENERAL: NATO Allies, as part of the Global Coalition fighting Daesh, ISIS, have made enormous progress. And Daesh has lost almost all the territory it controlled a few years ago. We have to remember that Daesh actually controlled a territory as big as the United Kingdom, and 8 million people. And now they hardly control any territory at all. NATO and NATO Allies have of course been an important part of this, in Iraq, and Allies have also been present in Syria. NATO provides training and support to the Iraqi forces to make sure that Daesh never re-emerges again. NATO as an alliance is not present on the ground in Syria, but we provide support to the Coalition, and some NATO Allies are. It is important to fight terrorism in many different countries. We are in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and elsewhere to defeat terrorism.

When it comes to Nord Stream, I will just say that there are different views about that issue among NATO Allies.

QUESTION: Secretary General, what will revive arms control?

SECRETARY GENERAL: NATO strongly supports arms control, because arms control has served us all so well for so many years. We have to remember that since the end of the Cold War, we have reduced the number of nuclear warheads on the NATO side here in Europe by approximately 90%. And the INF Treaty didnt only reduce the number of weapons, but actually banned all intermediate-range nuclear weapons, put the number to zero. And we have for instance the New START agreement, which reduced the number of long-range weapons systems, missiles, warheads on long-range missile systems to 1,550. So we have seen enormous progress over decades when it comes to arms control. Now this arms control regime is under severe attack. And the main reason is Russias violation of the INF Treaty. There are no new US missiles in Europe, but there are new Russian missiles in Europe. And this concern about the new Russian missiles was raised by the Obama administration almost six years ago, and we have continued to raise that with Russia again and again and again. But Russia has not adhered to our calls, and they continue to violate the Treaty. We continue to call on them to come back into compliance. NATO will continue to work for arms control, because we dont want a new arms race. We think that arms control will keep us all safer, and we are therefore also continuing to work for verifiable reductions and limitations in the number of nuclear warheads.

QUESTION: Munich has called such countries as Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, states of uncertainty. Do you agree with that? And what can NATO do to reduce uncertainty?

SECRETARY GENERAL: We provide a lot of support to countries like Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova. They are partners of NATO. We work with them, we help them with implementing reforms, modernizing their defence and security institutions. We strongly support their sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and we provide political and practical support. And we will of course continue to do so.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary General, how do you respond to the foreseeable criticism by the American partners that Europe is not spending enough on defence, the 2% goal?

SECRETARY GENERAL: Well the message from the United States, from President Trump, from all the other representatives of his administration, is that they are committed to NATO, to Article 5, but they call on European Allies and Canada to invest more. The good news is that that is exactly what European Allies now are doing. For years we were cutting defence budgets, now we have started to increase. All Allies are increasing investments in defence. And just since Trump came into office in 2016, European Allies and Canada have added 41 billion extra US dollars for defence spending, and I expect that number to be 100 billion by end of next year. So the reality is that we are now moving really in the right direction. And this is recognized also by the United States. At the same time, also the United States are increasing their presence in Europe. We have more US troops, more American exercises, more US investment in infrastructure now than before. So European Allies are doing more, but also US is increasing their military presence in Europe.

QUESTION: NATO follows what happens in Libya  what about Libyas future?

SECRETARY GENERAL: We strongly support the UN-led efforts to find a political solution to the crisis in Libya. We believe that thats the only way to find a peaceful solution, and we think also that the international community of course should be ready to provide support. NATO is ready to provide support to the UN-recognized Libyan government. We dont speak about military training, but capacity-building, helping them to build defence and security institutions.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary General, are you going to speak with Russian Minister Lavrov about Georgia and Ukraine?

SECRETARY GENERAL: I expect so. We dont have a fixed agenda, but of course Ukraine is always very high on any agenda, any meeting with the Russian side. And Georgia and Ukraine are two countries we regularly address in our meetings. We have had meetings of the NATO-Russia Council, and there we have discussed these issues again and again. In NATO we strongly believe in a dual track approach to Russia. We need to be united, we need to be strong, but we need also to combine that with political dialogue with Russia. Because Russias our neighbour, Russias there to stay. And we need to strive for a better relationship with Russia. And even without a better relationship with Russia, we need to manage a difficult relationship with Russia. We have more military presence, we have more tensions, we have more exercises close to our borders. And we need to avoid any miscalculations, any incidents, accidents. And if they happen, we have to make sure that they dont spiral out of control and create really dangerous situations. So dialogue with Russia is important especially in difficult times as we see now.
On Monday, 18 February 2019, the Members of the Standing Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly will visit NATO Headquarters for the annual joint meeting with the North Atlantic Council.

On that occasion, the NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will meet with the President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Ms. Madeleine Moon.

There will be no media opportunity.

Still and video images will be available after the event on the NATO website.

Professional-quality videos and b-roll will be available for download from www.natomultimedia.tv. Please register for access. Contact: content@natomultimedia.tv

Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg)
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg joined other world leaders in Germany on Friday (15 February 2019) to participate in the Munich Security Conference. He addressed the conference on the importance of strong multinational institutions and agreements, deterrence and defence, and transatlantic cooperation. The Munich Security Conference follows the meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in Brussels where Allies discussed a wide range of security issues, including Russias violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

On Friday, the Secretary General met President Petro Poroshenko to discuss NATO's strong support for Ukraine and the situation in the region. With President Ashraf Ghani, he discussed prospects for a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan and the importance of NATO's training mission. He also met Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic to discuss Croatia's contributions to NATO and the situation in the Western Balkans. In his meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Secretary General discussed the situation in and around Ukraine, the INF Treaty, transparency and risk reduction, as well as the need to support Ambassador Khalilzad's peace efforts in Afghanistan.

On Saturday (16 February), the Secretary General met Chancellor Angela Merkel to thank her for Germanys major contributions to NATO. They discussed burden-sharing, as well as NATOs coordinated approach on Russias breach of the INF Treaty and to peace efforts in Afghanistan. He also met US Vice-President Mike Pence to discuss the importance of a strong transatlantic bond in an unpredictable world and the significant increase in defence spending across the Alliance, as well the INF Treaty, the situation in Afghanistan and the wider Middle East.

The Secretary General, together with Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller, also met the US Congressional Delegation led by the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator James M. Inhofe (R-OK), and the Congressional Delegation led by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Committee on Appropriations, Foreign Relations and Budget for wide-ranging discussions on NATOs continued adaptation to current security challenges, and ensuring fairer burden-sharing across the Alliance.

In a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, Mr Stoltenberg thanked Spain for its significant contributions to NATO missions and operations and discussed topical security issues, including the situation in Kosovo.

The Munich Security Conference is one of the world's leading foreign and security policy gatherings. More than 35 heads of state and government are expected to attend, as well as 50 foreign ministers and 30 defence ministers.
Big tech disrupters may pose risk to financial stability, warns global regulator FT

The U.S. government and Facebook are negotiating a record, multibillion-dollar fine for the companys privacy lapses WaPo. Martha Stewart when to jail on a nothingburger insider trading charge. Why are we even negotiating with Zuckerberg?

My Only Goal Has Been to Protect Jeff and Lauren: Michael Sanchez, Suspected Bezos Leaker, Supplies His Own Theory About the Affair, the Enquirer, Some Below-the-Belt Selfies, and a Legendary Romance Vanity Fair

Australian senator smears blood on Pauline Hansons door after parliament brawl Channel News Asia

For a commission of inquiry into SNC-Lavalin and the Prime Ministers Office MaCleans. Political chaos reigns across the Anglosphere. Australia, Canada, the U.S. and, of course, the U.K.

Brexit

A feud between France and Italy sums up the deep rift over Europe Quartz

Rights of gilets jaunes protesters in France, disproportionately curtailed, say UN independent experts UN News

What the Yellow Vests Have in Common with Occupy In These Times

The new political battlefield is the road FT

Syraqistan

Dozens of Zimbabwean miners feared dead after shafts flood CBC. Artisanal miners.

How South Africas Blackouts Are Crippling Businesses Bloomberg

Venezuela

North Korea

China?

Electronic waste is recycled in appalling conditions in India Asian Correspondent

New Cold War

Trump Transition

The Green New Deal: Whats Really Green and Whats Really New Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (MR).

In Germany, the Green New Deal Actually Works Bloomberg. For some defintion of GND, to be sure. However:

The mammoth task of making all buildings more energy efficient  yes, all, just like the Green New Deal says  hasnt cowed the authorities in Europe. The German Energy Agency calculates that to make the countrys building stock almost carbon-neutral by 2050 about 1.4 percent of buildings a year will need to be refurbished; the current rate is about 1 percent, so the goal looks ambitious, but not unattainable.

Saudi Aramco Makes Existential Bet On Oil Oilprice.com

Guillotine Watch

Is Burning Man casting out the super-rich? The Tatler

Imperial Collapse Watch

Class Warfare

Conditional dishonesty Thomas Lauer, Anna Untertrifaller Researchgate (PDF). n = 212. In a laboratory experiment we find that indeed and irrespective of whether others lies affect ones own payoff one third of all subjects are dishonest if others are too. Having only one dishonest group member makes the vast majority of these conditional liars switch from being honest to being dishonest. The size of a lie increases with the number of dis- honest group members that one faces. Overall, we find that conditional liars tell smaller lies than always liars do.

COMPare: a prospective cohort study correcting and monitoring 58 misreported trials in real time Trials (part two).

The age of the hoax FT

Antidote du jour:

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Michael Bloomberg agree on something, its worth taking seriously. Particularly if it involves New York City.

Both New York City pols objected to the corporate welfare plan for Amazon, in the form of nearly $3 billion in subsidies, detailed in the Financial Times chart below, for installing one of two second headquarters in Long Island City, with the claim that it would create 25,000 jobs. Amazon had claimed that the reason it needed an additional headquarters was that it was unable to hire enough qualified people in Seattle. Huh? Are we really to believe that a company of the stature of Amazon is so provincial that is only hires locally for its head office?

In fact, the reason for Amazons showy search may not just have been to get subsidies for headcount additions, and data about the cities wooing for its affection. Amazons relationship with Seattle has become strained. Amazon had fiercely opposed a local tax on large companies to fund housing for the homeless and got it reversed a mere month after it had taken effect. By contrast, after the tax was scuppered, Microsoft pledged $500 million to fund affordable housing for the low and middle income in the Puget Sound area, and encouraged other companies to make similar efforts.

In any event, Amazon abruptly announced its decision to withdraw from the deal after getting roughed up at two City Council meetings and enduring the indignity of having to contend with ankle-biters like protestors and union leaders. Even though some press outlets claim that Amazon believed the opposition to its development plan was increasing, Lambert, who follows various grass roots activist efforts intensively on Twitter, didnt see any evidence of that, and from my further removed, I hadnt detected any either. In fact, Amazon seemed to be winning over, or at least reducing the hostility, of some critics. From the New York Times:

Some unions supported the deal, and even those opposed had appeared willing to work with Amazon if the company agreed to not work against the unionization of its employees in New York. An Amazon representative, during one council hearing, pointedly said the company would not agree to such terms.

Amazon did not cover itself in glory with how it exited the deal. It blindsided its big sponsors, Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio, who despite their considerable personal antipathy joined forces on this initiative. In a blog post on the Amazon site, the company falsely claimed that 70% of New Yorkers favored the deal. The highest level of backing found in two polls was 56%, and that fell to 46% when respondents were asked if they supported it in light of the subsidies. I would love to see how the survey questions were designed, because the results are completely at odds with my teeny survey, which included Queens residents, some of them in tony Forest Hills and thus well away from any immediate effect. All opposed the scheme, due to the reduction of affordable housing in Queens and the magnitude of the subsidies.

This is also a key point often missed in polling and political analysis that was key here:

There was a also a pretty big enthusiasm gap between the people who wanted it (mild) and those who didn't (that extremely spicy buffalo wing sauce).  Will O. (@whoiswillo) February 14, 2019

Amazon also said it wasnt going to revive its plans for a second (actually third) headquarters in another city, and would still hire more people in New York. From the New York Times:

[State senator] Mr. [Michael] Gianaris said the collapse of the deal in Queens revealed the companys unwillingness to work with the community it had wanted to join. Like a petulant child, Amazon insists on getting its way or takes its ball and leaves, said Mr. Gianaris, whose district includes Long Island City. The only thing that happened here is that a community that was going to be profoundly affected by their presence started asking questions. Even by their own words, he added, pointing to the companys statement on the pullout, Amazon admits they will grow their presence in New York without their promised subsidies. So what was all this really about?

Gianaris was allegedly one of the reasons for Amazons unhappiness. He represents Long Island City and had originally favored the deal, but turned against it once the magnitude of the subsidies became public. After the Democratic party regained control of the state Senate, they put Gianaris on a committee that had the authority to veto the state portion of the pact, which presumably would have been fatal. The Registerin Amazon throws toys out of pram, ditches plans for New York HQ2 after big trouble in Big Apple, pointed out that Gianars appointment to the committee was apparently the result of a backlash over the efforts to circumvent normal review processes:

The deal also bypassed normal planning procedures and removed veto power from the city council: something that sparked Gianaris election to a state board that did have veto power.

Gianaris was outraged by Amazons high-handedness (one wonders what went on behind the scenes) and independent parties opined that Amazon had grossly mismanaged the politics. From Bloomberg:

At a contentious City Council meeting on Tuesday, Amazons public policy director Brian Huseman touted the deals benefits for the city, but also said that Amazon wants to invest in a community that wants us. And state Senator Michael Gianaris, who had been appointed to a committee that would have had veto power over the deal, called the $3 billion in incentives extortion. They think they can sit there in Seattle and dictate terms and hope that governments bend to their will, Gianaris said in a Feb. 8 interview on Bloomberg TV. Well, its not going to work. Amazon did an extremely poor job of preparing local officials and bringing them into the fold, said Tom Stringer, who works on corporate relocations as a managing director at BDO Consulting.

Recall that Amazon had taken the odd step of having officials leak to the Washington Post last week that they were having doubts about the deal. The use of what amounts to a house organ, rather than going to the New York Times or a major financial press outlet says Amazon wanted this to be a one-way, tightly controlled message, as in a negotiating input. I read this as Cuomo, De Blasio, stop the demands or get us more incentives, neither of which would work. And if that is actually what Amazon meant to say, no wonder Gianaris, who was already a critic, went ballistic.

It didnt help that the state and city announced the massive subsidies when both are also contending with large budget deficits. For instance, New York City just announced congestion charges on taxis and ride sharing services that are anything but, since they are in effect 24 hours a day. One of my doormen who works late, complained that his nightly ride home (bus service is too infrequent when he gets off duty for him to rely upon) has gone from $8 to $10 due to the charge. Similarly, Amazon was grilled at the City Council over its contract to provide face recognition technology to ICE.

Many stories took note of the apparent petulance of Amazons sudden move. For instance, from the Financial Times:

Amazons decision to walk away from Long Island City suggests a tin ear to the public mood. So, too, does its decision not to reopen the HQ2 search. Had it announced on Thursday that it was moving the 25,000 jobs to a city that needed them more, it might have avoided the questions it stirred up about what the point of the original campus search was anyway.

.

Other possibly relevant factors:

Bezos runs into limits of his bullying? Bezos is a particularly nasty boss. The press in the US and abroad has run many stories on the oppressive, backbreaking conditions in Amazon warehouses. In fact, Bezos is an equal opportunity abuser; we wrote about how Whole Foods employees were reduced to tears and quitting as a result of numerous new procedures Bezos put in place, virtually none of which seemed designed to improve customer service or even profits. As we wrote a year ago:

Back to the current post. The ineptness of the New York City campaign shows. Amazon seems to have assumed that if it had the governor and mayor in its pocket, all it had to do was show up for photo ops. The New York Times points out Amazon didnt even hire a native to grease the wheels:

Still, the company did not hire a single New Yorker as an employee to represent it in discussions with local groups. Its main representatives traveled between Washington and Manhattan, and only one had moved into an apartment to work with community members and foster support.

So one reason for Amazons sudden change of heart is he couldnt stomach the idea of not being able to push around New York City the way he bullied Seattle into dropping its homeless tax. At best, hed have to curry favor, feign interest in the concerns of locals, and make occasional gestures. Bezos may have seen that as a price too high.

Amazon fears inflatable rats? A more specific concern is that locating Amazon in Long Island City would have subjected Amazon to an ongoing unionization push, which given the shift in the zetigeist, the giant retailer was at risk of eventually losing. Better to stick to places where those fights arent so imminent.

Or again, having to walk past an inflatable rat every time he visited New York might have taken the fun out of Bezos city-funded private helipad.

Bezos suffering from diminished capacity? Anyone on Wall Street will tell you that senior rainmakers and deal-doers become completely unproductive for at least a year and often two when they are going through a divorce. Its hard to think that a CEO is much different. The fact of the Bezos dick pix incident, both the sending of the image and his bizarre effort to depict himself as victim, suggests he is already off his stride. Its not going to get better as his divorce progresses. Even couples I know without kids who separated for no-fault reasons (for instance, one getting an overseas assignment when the protracted absence became untenable for the partner) and wanted the split to be friendly found it still got contentious. I cant think of a single divorce that didnt get ugly when kids were involved.

And the impression I have is that Amazon, like AIG under Greensberg, runs like a French court: the CEO making a vast number of decisions personally for a company of that scale. Even though Amazon has names CEOS of its major business lines, its not clear how much Bezos has backed away from his famed micromanaging.

In the meantime, enjoy the schadenfreude. The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg report that speculators who snapped up real estate near the aborted headquarters are licking their wounds. From the Journal:

Amazon.com Inc.s announcement that it is ditching plans for a corporate headquarters in New York City stunned real-estate speculators, developers and renters who had rushed into the Long Island City neighborhood to be near the new HQ2 Open houses for Long Island City condos were overflowing. Brokers said customers made offers via text messages on units, site unseen. Developers with office space in Long Island jockeyed to attract the thousands of workers that were expected, and local residents cheered the promise that new restaurants, fashion boutiques and other new stores would flood the retail-starved neighborhood.

And Bloomberg:

Amazon.com Inc.s decision to drop its expansion plans in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens plunged local real estate brokers into despair  just months after the euphoria that followed the companys announcement that it would open offices there and bring thousands of jobs. But not just despair. Also anger. I think those local politicians, their careers are over, said Eric Benaim, chief executive officer of Modern Spaces, a Long Island City brokerage, who distributed pins and posters supporting the Amazon deal. Theyre responsible for losing 25,000 jobs.

Its not clear that this real estate industry desire for vengeance will get all that far. While developers are used to owning New York pols (I recall Steve Ross of The Related Companies, which was way less powerful in the 1980s than it has become, was able to get Senator Al DAmato on the phone on short notice), I havent seen the names of any of the real estate heavyweights associated with Amazon headquarters plays, so its not clear that the Long Island City roadkiill can do that much damage. And by contrast, AOC continues to get traction. The driver of one of the two cabs I took yesterday, unprompted, brought up her Congressional hearing clip on campaign finance and said how impressed he was by it.

Plus:

I just remembered that there were a bunch of tech insiders who bought lots of property in queens before Amazon announced lmaoooooooooooo  Lev Novak (@LevNovak) February 14, 2019

Enjoy this win. Maybe this is a sign that weve hit Peak Amazon.
HERES a new sheriff in town!

A storm erupted in court when a Bulawayo woman brazenly told her lovers wife that she was now her husbands second wife and was the reason why her husband was supposedly giving her little attention.

Lesley Ngwenya employed as a till operator at one of the city supermarkets apparently chided her rival Sazini Moyo, employed at Bulawayo Polytechnic saying she should quickly come to terms with the discovery that they were now married to the same man.

This was in a case in which Ngwenya was seeking a peace order against Moyo claiming she was always harassing her.

I am the applicant in this matter and the respondent is Sazini Moyo. We are married to the same man and shes violent towards me. She is always insulting and threatening me. She is also coming to my workplace to harass me and embarrass me in front of my superiors.

The latest incident was on 11 November last year when she came to my workplace and insulted me in front of customers. I am now afraid that I might lose my job as a result of her conduct, complained Ngwenya.

In response, Moyo who apparently felt that the foundation of her marriage was on the brink of collapse because of Ngwenya, irately dismissed her claims before labelling her a home-wrecker.

My husband didnt tell me that she is now a second wife. What I know is that she is in love with my husband and they have a child together. She is just after destroying my marriage. She is also not respecting me as she phones my husband around midnight, responded Moyo.

In a bid to maintain peace between the two parties the presiding magistrate Tinashe Tashaya ordered them not to abuse each other verbally, physically and emotionally.

The magistrate also ordered them not to communicate with each other or visit each others house and workplace.

 BMetro

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Zimbabwes vice president, Rtd General Constantino Chiwenga, is suspected of suffering from the lethal polonium- 210 poisoning, and is reportedly admitted at an undisclosed Indian military hospital, Spotlight Zimbabwe, has been told.

High level sources in the defence ministry this week disclosed that Chiwenga was rushed to India aboard a private plane through the Manyame air base in the capital, for urgent treatment and tests of any possible unidentifiable poisons as military intelligence officials suspect the former Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) boss, could have ingested the poison administered using food by his political enemies.

Chiwengas medical rescue efforts are said to have involved top officials from Indias armed forces and the Zimbabwe army, and that Indias president, Ram Nath Kovind, had called the VP to check on his progress in treatment and health.

Chiwenga paid Kovind a visit last year in March, as a special envoy of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, to explain the regimes new dispensation policy following the overthrow of former leader, Robert Mugabe, in a military coup in November 2017.

Number 2 (Chiwenga) was rushed to an Indian military hospital following suspicion that he could have been poisoned with some kind of dose of a lethal poison or military grade nerve agent during the November coup period, said the sources. Military intelligence officials are not taking any chances. The fact that medical doctors in Zimbabwe and South Africa have failed to explain his exact ailment, made them to believe that he could have been made to ingest polonium -210 using food by his enemies, which is very difficult to trace in the human body and only nuclear scientists have the expertise needed to trace it.

Polonium-210 is a rare radioactive metal discovered by Marie Curie in the late 19th century. While radioactive, it emits a high-energy form of radiation, but the particles do not travel far and it decays relatively quickly. Curie named the chemical element after her country, Poland.

Polonium-210 is also a known carcinogen (substance capable of causing cancer in living tissue). When inhaled, it causes lung cancer, and if swallowed, it becomes concentrated in red blood cells, before spreading to the liver, kidneys, bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract, and the testicles or ovaries, according to medicalnewstoday.

The deadly poison was infamously used to kill the former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, in London in 2006. He died of radiation sickness. Litvinenko is alleged to have swallowed a fatal dose of Po-210 by drinking tea at a business meeting with two other Russians. Both were charged with his murder.

Last year opposition politician and activist, Elliot Pfebve, made stunning revelations that, the late prime minister and MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, may have been poisoned using a poisonous metal isotopy allegedly bought by the ruling Zanu PF party from Russia, which is similar to polonium-210, to eradicate the opposition leadership.

Tsvangirai may have been poisoned, in the same way Mnangagwa was poisoned. In 2014, I received a tip-off that Zanu PF bought a poisonous metal isotopy from Russia destined to eradicate opposition leadership. It is similar to Polonium 210 which killed Alexander Litvinenko in London but a slow reactive poison than Polonium 210 that takes time to kill its victim by inducing cancer. This may have explained why recently Mnagagwa came out open on what doctors told him, of a poisonous metal found in his body, which can only be found from 2 military governments of the world, Russia and Israeli, Pfebve said.

Ironically it is Chiwenga who reacted with speed to Mnangagwas alleged poisoning, by sending a helicopter to airlift him from a party rally in Gwanda, and then further to South Africa for emergency attendance.

Mnangagwa is thought to have survived the poisoning, through the skin of the teeth, as he received early medical treatment and because the poisonous metal found in his system was quickly removed.

Local online media and the mainstream reported this week that Chiwenga was in India for treatment, with confirmation from the information ministry, which described his ailment as a minor abdominal ailment.

Another online publication, ZimLive, said the second in charge had reportedly undergone esophageal manometry, used to measure the strength and muscle coordination of ones esophagus when they swallow.

There has also been speculation of witchcraft claims as the source of Chiwengas affliction, while other reports have linked his medical woes to skin cancer. Chiwenga has been in and out of hospital in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Only last week the VP was at Cape Towns Groote Schuur Hospital.

Another high profile world leader, thought to have succumbed to polonium-210 is the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, according to a Swiss forensic report obtained by Al-Jazeera.

Arafats official medical records say he died in 2004 from a stroke resulting from a blood disorder. But his body was exhumed in 2012 amid continuing claims he was murdered.

The Swiss report said tests on the body showed unexpected high activity of polonium, which moderately supported the poisoning theory.

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ZANU PF MP for Buhera South, Joseph Chinotimba says he was ashamed of the riotous behaviour of fellow legislators Dexter Nduna and Temba Mliswa who came close to trading blows beginning of this week.

He equated the feud to two idiotic school teachers who brawl in front of their pupils.

Zimbabwes ambassador of happiness told journalists at parliament building Thursday that he was confronted by outsiders while away to Dubai to attend a peace summit, to explain the unruly behaviour of his colleagues.

The behaviour of the two is not expected of parliamentarians. I was in Dubai and I was being asked on what was happening in Zimbabwe. What Nduna and Mliswa did does not show happiness among MPs, Chinotimba said while still clad in an Arabic gown and head scarf.

Nduna, who is Zanu PF MP for Chegutu West and Mliswa, independent MP for Norton, rowed in front of outsiders who had come for the Mines and Energy Committee.

The bust-up came just after Zanu PF MP for Chiredzi North, Roy Bhila had demanded Mliswas recusal as committee chair until he cleared his name from bribery claims.

Mliswa is under investigation from parliament following claims of demanding a bribe of $400 000 from Hwange businessman James Ross Goddard.

He is facing the probe together with Binga North MP, Prince Dubeko Sibanda and Anele Ndebele (both of MDC) as well as Leonard Chikomba of Zanu PF.

During the altercation, captured via smartphone video which went viral on social media, Mliswa called Nduna a triple thief while the latter threatened to kill his former Zanu PF colleague adding that he has killed many.

Nduna has since filed a $10 million defamation suit while Mliswa has demanded parliament to institute an investigation into murder confessions by the Zanu PF MP.

In his comments, Chinotimba said the behaviour exhibited by Nduna and Mliswa was taboo in other countries.

He added, If a teacher does that in front of school children, it is idiotic.

I am not happy with their behaviour as people were asking me what these MPs were doing.

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MDC leader Nelson Chamisa should stop grandstanding and playing games with the people, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.

In a veiled attack on the opposition leader Thursday, Mnangagwa said without mentioning his rivals name that his 41-year-old challenger lacked political maturity.

Chamisa snubbed Mnangagwas invitation to a meeting of all the 2018 election presidential candidates early this month.

The meeting was called to defuse tensions among the countrys ever feuding politicians ahead of the much envisaged national dialogue process.

In his briefing to diplomats accredited to Harare at State House Thursday, Mnangagwa said there was no going back on talks and went on to scold his rival for being childish.

All the presidential candidates who have the political maturity and a sense of leadership joined us, he said.

I call on those who refuse to take part in the national dialogue to stop grandstanding and playing games with the lives of the people of our beloved Zimbabwe.

Let us join together and work for a prosperous and a united, peaceful Zimbabwe.

Continuous dialogue within our nation is an exercise I am determined as President to see through. What unites us as Zimbabwe is more than what could ever divide us.

Chamisa insists he won last years presidential poll and, in the remote possibility of Mnangagwa simply handing over power to him as per his demands, he wants a transitional authority to run the affairs of the troubled country.

The opposition leader has also demanded the release of all those arrested for both planning and engaging in violent protests that rocked parts of the country last month leaving a trail of destruction.

Mnangagwa, whose government is under fire for the brutal crackdown which led to the killing of 17 civilians  according to independent estimates  has said the violence was pre-meditated, funded and oiled by a foreign hands with help from local surrogates.

In his address Thursday, the Zanu PF leader defended the military action but said his government was still going to investigate claims of rape and other abuses linked to rogue elements within the countrys security forces.

Violence has no place in our midst, he said.

My administration esteems peace and democracy.

We believe human life is sacrosanct. Violence is a betrayal of the new Zimbabwe. It is time to make things right.

Mnangagwa added, The army and the police are here to serve and protect the people of Zimbabweto uphold and enforce the laws of the country.

Any evidence of rogue police officers and soldiers taking the law into their own hands will be dealt with and they will face the full wrath of the law.

He said his government will push ahead with its reform agenda.

We are proud of the strides we have taken to fully entrench democratic values and constitutionalism in the country.

We will, going forward, strengthen electoral processes using lessons learnt from our experiences, he said.

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Contract workers at NASA's Johnson Space Center were denied back pay for the 35-day federal government shutdown in a budget deal signed by President Donald Trump on Friday.

The rejection of federal contract worker back pay by the GOP leadership in this funding deal is outrageous and unfair, Robert Martinez Jr., president of the Machinists Union International, said in a statement. It was a 35-day disaster that created extreme stress for federal contract workers and continues to put their financial well-being at risk. We need Congress to act now.

UNCERTAIN: NASA workers relieved but wary as shutdown ends  for now

The shutdown  which started Dec. 22 over a political battle for funding a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico  left thousands of Johnson employees out of work until the budgetary impasse ended Jan. 25. Trump signed a budget deal Friday, averting another shutdown and funding the government through September.

Included in the legislation is 55 miles of border fencing, according to the Chicago Tribune, but Trump wanted more than 200.

During the 35-day shutdown, about 94 percent of Johnsons 3,055 federal employees were out of work, but quickly received back pay after the shutdown ended. The four postdoctoral fellows working at the Houston site also received back pay.

RELIEF: NASA postdocs receive back pay after shutdown

But there wasnt much NASA could do about the contractors who work on site, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in January. Contractor back pay was on a case-by-case basis, depending on the contract, he added.

About 7,500 contractors work at the site, according to a fiscal year 2017 report released by the Houston center last year, though its not clear how many were out of work during the shutdown. Many were able to continue working  with pay  through all or part of the shutdown.

Bills were filed in Congress to provide as much as $1,400 per week to contractors affected by the shutdown and those have not yet been approved. But language to pay contractors for their time without work was left out of the budget deal reached this week.

NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Longer shutdown could have cost agency a lot of employees

So contractors, for the most part, are out of luck.

We urge Republican and Democratic leadership to quickly pass legislation to secure back pay for the federal contract workers, Martinez said. This shutdown created hardship for more than 1 million hardworking, dedicated federal contract workers through no fault of their own.

Bridenstine said in January that he hopes to standardize this process more over time, and asked that federal employees be sensitive and understanding.

Every contract is different and so were working through that right now, he said. In the future, wed like to standardize that more, but were working with what we have right now.

Alex Stuckey writes about NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is offering an increased reward for information on a murder suspect who has been at large for nearly two decades.

Miguel Angel Osorio-Munoz, 45, is wanted in connection with the slaying of John Holt in Gonzales County on June 25, 2000, according to a news release from the agency.
It wasn't a typical Valentine's Day for San Antonio police officer Treston Marshall, but a memorable one nonetheless.

On Thursday, Marshall was chasing a family violence suspect on foot in San Antonio's East Side when he ran into an object and suffered a cut on his forehead.

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Marshall required stitches, police said, and the intern who stitched him up was none other than his wife, according to a tweet from San Antonio police.

"They've been happily married for a year and a half," police said in the post.

The department shared two photos of the couple in the post.

READ MORE: SAPD officer requires stitches after foot chase with family violence suspect

Despite Marshall's injuries, the suspect was still apprehended by police officers after a brief struggle, police spokesperson Officer Doug Greene said Thursday.

The suspect will face charges of family violence and evading arrest, Greene said.

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
Police arrested a 22-year-old man Friday in connection with an attempted kidnapping at gunpoint on the River Walk.

Ulises Artiga now faces a charge of attempted aggravated kidnapping. He is accused of confronting a woman in the 100 block of East Guenther Street at about 9:45 a.m. Thursday, pointing a gun at her and grabbing her.

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The victim was able to break away and scream for help.

"She did an outstanding job," said Michelle Ramos, a spokeswoman for the San Antonio Police Department.

Artiga did not know the alleged victim, Ramos said.

Witnesses were able to snap photos of the the suspect's vehicle as he sped away from the scene. Those photos were distributed to media outlets Thursday night. By Friday morning, authorities had located the vehicle on the West Side and staked it out.

RELATED: SAPD looking for suspect who tried to kidnap woman along the River Walk

Authorities saw Artiga get into the vehicle and soon after arrested him. They found a weapon inside the vehicle.

Artiga did not respond to questions from the media when he was arrested, but he wept as he was being taken to Bexar County Jail. An officer removed Artiga's hat and smiled at him as he took him to the police car.

Ramos wouldn't say whether Artiga admitted to the alleged attempted kidnapping, but he did cooperate with investigators.

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
A man was arrested late Thursday after he led authorities on a car chase that ended when he crashed into a fence on the South Side.

The chase began at about 10:45 p.m. when San Antonio police officers attempted to stop the suspect near Medical Drive and Babcock Road because he had a felony warrant for his arrest.
The parents of 20-year-old Jared Vargas, a San Antonio student who was slain by an undocumented immigrant last year, visited Rep. Chip Roy at his D.C. office this week and expressed concerns about the spending bill President Donald Trump plans to sign on Friday.

Roy has previously met with the family and even recorded an advertisement with Vargas' mom, Lori, about her son's slaying at the hands of Ernesto Esquivel-Garcia in June, just a few weeks after immigration officials ordered him to leave the country.

"The process by which the immigration laws failed the Vargas family is something Chip is very passionate about and wants to help solve," Nathan McDaniel, a district director for Roy's office, said.

McDaniel said one of Roy's organizers knew Vargas' family and got them in touch last summer.

"He's been trying to connect them to experts and stay educated on what they can do," he said. "They want their story to be told so that hopefully it doesn't happen to anyone else."

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Lori and Gene Vargas were not immediately available for comment.

Authorities say Esquivel-Garcia killed Vargas, who had been his co-worker, and then hid his body in an apartment on Jones Maltsberger Road, which he later lit on fire in an attempt to hide the evidence.

He remains in Bexar County Jail on charges of murder, arson and abuse of a corpse. According to online court records, he is currently awaiting a psychiatric evaluation.

Esquivel-Garcia's deportation proceedings began as early as March 2017, when he was arrested on a charge of drunken driving. He was placed on an immigration detainer, and officials began removal proceedings against him.

RELATED: Judge told undocumented murder suspect to leave country weeks before slaying

Later, on May 21, 2018, immigration officials issued him a voluntary departure order, which requires an undocumented immigrant to leave the country of their own accord and are commonly issued with departure bonds, a fee that ensures the subject of the order leaves within the allotted time period, according to FindLaw.com.

On May 25, Esquivel-Garcia tried to pay his departure bond at an ICE facility, but immigration officials discovered he had an active warrant and they turned him over to Bexar County officials.

"Four days later, Bexar County transferred Esquivel-Garcia back to ICE, and the same day he posted the departure bond that was set by an immigration judge May 21," according to ICE's statement. "Before departing ICE's office May 29, 2018, ICE deportation officers instructed Esquivel-Garcia to leave the United States by July 20, 2018, as imposed by the immigration judge's voluntary departure order."

Weeks later, Esquivel-Garcia was arrested again in connection to Vargas's death.

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
Two people accused of stealing a vehicle at knife and gunpoint and leading law enforcement on a chase through three counties were identified Thursday.

Patrick Ryan Ingle, 32, and Lorraine Maria Rodriguez, 27, each face a charge of aggravated robbery with bail set at $100,000. Ingle also faces one count of evading arrest, with bail set at an additional $25,000.

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According to a San Antonio police report, Rodriguez allegedly sent a message to a 34-year-old man asking him for help sometime before 11:50 p.m. Tuesday.

The man picked up Rodriguez and Ingle at an apartment complex in the 5300 block of Encanta, driving them to places they wanted to go until they reached their final stop.

Ingle allegedly pulled out a handgun and Rodriguez reportedly brandished a knife as they demanded that the man exit his pickup near Crosswinds Way and Interstate 35 North, police said.

The two drove away, but the pickup was spotted less than an hour later by an officer off the Interstate 35 access road near the area.

As the officer began following the pickup onto I-35, it sped up as it continued through Live Oak, the report said.

RELATED: Where SAPD picked up 14 credit card skimmers

Multiple law enforcement agencies joined the chase, which lasted for 38 minutes, as the suspects fled north through Comal and Guadalupe counties.

A Texas Department of Safety helicopter joined the pursuit and began tracking the pickup in Guadalupe County, allowing other officers to back off.

The pickup crashed on Interstate 35 North past FM 3009, police said.

Ingle and Rodriguez were arrested at the scene without incident, the report said. The duo had minor injuries and were transported to a local hospital for treatment.
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A woman stabbed her husband to death with a knife and then refused to let anyone inside their south Houston apartment, according to court papers.

Cynthia Johnson, 56, is charged with murder in the death of her common law spouse in the 4300 block of Phlox Street in Sunnyside, records show. He was identified in charging documents as Michael Thomas.
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court added a politically explosive case to its low-profile docket Friday, agreeing to decide by the end of June whether the Trump administration can add a question about citizenship to the 2020 Census form sent to every American household.

The census hasn't asked the question of each household since 1950, and a federal judge last month stopped the Commerce Department from adding it to the upcoming count. He questioned the motives of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and said the secretary broke a "veritable smorgasbord" of federal rules by overriding the advice of career officials.

Those opposed to the question argue the census response rate will likely fall if households are asked whether undocumented immigrants are present, and make less accurate the once-a-decade "actual Enumeration" of the population required by the Constitution.

Because the administration said it needs to know by the end of June whether the census form can contain the question, the court bypassed its usual procedures to accept the case. The justices will directly review the 227-page opinion handed down by U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman of New York, rather than require it first to go through the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.

The Trump administration, as well as the 18 states, local governments and others challenging Ross's decision, told the court that the decision was so important it warranted exceptional treatment.

As New York, the lead challenger, said in its brief to the court:

"The enumeration affects the apportionment of representatives to Congress among the states, the allocation of electors to the electoral college, the division of congressional districts within each state, the apportionment of state and local legislative seats, and the distribution of hundreds of billions of dollars of federal funding."

Solicitor General Noel Francisco told the court that Furman had exceeded his authority.

The district court took the "unprecedented step of striking a demographic question from the decennial census and thereby preventing the Secretary of Commerce from exercising his delegated powers" to decide how the census is conducted, Francisco's brief tells the court.

"Indeed, to the government's knowledge, this is the first time the judiciary has ever dictated the contents of the decennial census questionnaire."

But Furman, and the states challenging Ross's decision, said that Congress has placed restrictions on what kind of information the secretary may seek, and the process for implementing it.

Ross "failed to consider several important aspects of the problem; alternately ignored, cherry-picked, or badly misconstrued the evidence in the record before him; acted irrationally both in light of that evidence and his own stated decisional criteria; and failed to justify significant departures from past policies and practices," Furman wrote.

Ross announced the decision to add the question in March 2018. He said at the time that he was responding to a request from the Department of Justice, which said the information was needed to enforce laws protecting minority voting rights.

But later emails and depositions in the lawsuit showed that Ross had discussed the issue with White House officials urging a crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Some showed that he initiated contact with Justice Department officials, not the other way around.

The New York brief says Ross acted directly against the advice of career Census Bureau experts.

"For at least the last forty years, the bureau has vigorously opposed adding any such question based on its concern that doing so 'will inevitably jeopardize the overall accuracy of the population count' by depressing response rates from certain populations, including noncitizens and immigrants," New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Millions of personal computers that use Microsofts Windows 7 will no longer receive fixes and security patches within less than one year.

Almost a decade after its 2009 initial release, the software giant is stamping end-of-life on its popular operating system. But theres one big problem. For many businesses and individuals around the world, Windows 7 remains a mainstay of their technology environment. Many of those companies that have sunk millions of dollars into software and computers are racing against the clock to upgrade to Windows 10, the newest version of the software.

It can be expensive to upgrade, but there will be a significant cost should companies miss the January 14, 2020, deadline and still require security patches to keep their PCs and networks secure. Big-business procrastinators will still be able to get security patches, but Microsoft will start charging for them - and the price will increase more each year.

This is something of a dilemma for Microsoft, says Mary Jo Foley, who writes the All About Microsoft blog at ZDNet and who has kept a close eye on the company for 30 years.

OLD RELIABLE: In praise of older computers

Microsoft can and will continue to create security patches for Windows 7, which they will sell, Foley said in an email interview. But they would prefer more users be on the latest version of Windows for image, security and customer satisfactions sake.

But not every business will be able to buy the patches, which are aimed at big corporate customers. Paying isnt even an option for smaller businesses; only for enterprise users, Foley said.

How big is the problem? Microsoft doesnt typically report on the number of machines that still run Windows 7, but it did say last October that Windows 10 had finally passed the 50 percent point in business use.

And Netmarketshare, which tracks operating systems on computers that visit its clients websites, showed Windows 10 with a 40.9 percent market share, compared to Windows 7s 37.9 percent. Windows 8 comes in with a lowly 4.3 percent, while XP laggards are keeping that OS at just under 4 percent.

Microsoft, which would not make anyone available for an interview on this topic, has seen this movie before. When Microsoft released Windows 7 in July 2009, it was designed to replace both Windows Vista, which was disliked by both critics and users, and Windows XP, the version that had been released in 2001.

At the time, XP was not just long in the tooth - it was considered a ripe target for hackers and malware because of numerous security issues. Moving consumers and businesses off XP, many of whom had resisted Vista, was a priority.

PRODUCTIVE: 5 great apps for C-Suite dwellers

The Windows 7 scenario is similar. Windows 8, which was released in late 2012, made big changes to the Windows desktop, most dramatically removing the Start button that had been the primary way users accessed many of the operating systems features. There was enough resistance that Microsoft brought the Start button back in an update to Windows 8, but it was too late. Windows 7 was the new XP; Windows 8 was the new Vista.

Laura Bellomy, a Houston-based contract change management specialist, says money is the main reason why companies wait until the last minute to make an operating system switch. Moving to a new operating system often requires more powerful hardware, she said, and there are software application issues as well.

All those custom applications that were designed on Windows 7 wont necessarily run on Windows 10, she said, adding those programs must be updated, sometimes at significant cost.

Bellomy, who works with companies to make sure technology changes go smoothly, said one of her clients tried to make the move from Windows 7 to Windows 10, only to run into too many issues. They rolled back to Windows 7, though they have since upgraded some systems, she said.

At a large organization, the process can be a massive undertaking. Rice University has been in the process of upgrading to Windows 10 on its PCs, a project that began that in 2016, a year after the operating systems release.

SPRING CLEANING: How to clean your filthy, disgusting laptop

Klara Jelinkova, Rices vice president for international operations, IT, and chief information officer, said the campus has an even number of Windows PCs and Apple Macintoshes, with a sprinkling of Linux systems thrown in. Its a complex environment that includes managed computers owned by the university and its staff, along with the systems students and visitors bring to the campus.

Thats the fundamental nature of the openness of a university, Jelinkova said.

In most cases, the upgrades to a new operating system are included as Rice replaces aging hardware, she said.

A new operating system usually has higher hardware requirements, Jelinkova said. We dont want our users getting upgraded on an older machine, the experience is often not good.

Rice has a Microsoft site license for Windows, meaning the university pays one price for a certain number of installations. Because of that, and that fact that upgrades are tied into a planned hardware replacement cycle, the budgetary hit isnt severe.

Jelinkova said Rice is about two-thirds of the way through its Windows 7 to 10 transition, and she conceded that not all machines may be upgraded before the deadline. Those PCs that run sophisticated and custom-designed scientific software, for example, may not have updated applications when January rolls around.

When that happens, we will use network security to isolate those machines that havent be upgraded, she said. Theres a real vulnerability to having an old machine connected to a network that somebody can hack into.

dwight.silverman@chron.com

twitter.com/dsilverman

houstonchronicle.com/techburger
After nearly a decade of hosting live music in San Antonio, the Alamo City Music Hall is closing.

In its place, the Texas Research and Technology Foundation is planning a $227 million tech redevelopment that is expected to include a military medical research facility, commercial lab and office space, a business incubator, a hotel and a food hall.

Music hall owner Sylvia Fernandez said she hopes to reopen the venue at a nearby location downtown. Details are still pending, but she's optimistic that the new location will be open within a few months.

At the current venue, construction has already begun on a building nearby, and the club portion of the Alamo City Music Hall has been vacated. The remainder of the venue will officially close Feb. 24, according to Fernandez.

"If it was up to me, I'd still be there," Fernandez said. "Separate from being a business, of course, I had a lot of emotional, sentimental attachment to the place."

RELATED: Downtown bar Roosevelt Buffet closes its doors after nearly 9 decades

When Fernandez and her late husband Pete Gonzales decided to open a live music venue near downtown, the building they chose on the East Side was "basically a shell," she said. They spent months preparing, and it wasn't immediately a hit.

"At the beginning, sometimes it was just like crickets. People were afraid to go to that side of town," Fernandez said. "Once they got out there, they were like 'okay this is a cool place.' They started coming out more and more. It was built over time."

One of her favorite memories was Fourth of July in 2010, the year it opened. The venue hosted its first outdoor event that day and saw an "overwhelmingly massive" response, she said. In the years since, Alamo City Music Hall has hosted a variety of big-name performers from Snoop Dogg to Eddie Money.

As many as 1,500 people can crowd into the larger space, and another 300 fit into the smaller portion of the venue. Fernandez said she typically saw at least 700-800 guests per show.

RELATED: Despierta America hosts post behind-the-scenes photos of their time in San Antonio

About a year and a half ago, Texas Research and Technology Foundation became the business new landlord. Fernandezs lease with them was temporary, but she didnt realize how quickly her business would be shut down until Thursday, when the city approved $5.7 million in incentives for the new development.

"I'm still in a state of shock," Fernandez said. "It's like having a child grow up and now they're going off to college. It's very heartbreaking."

Alamo City Music Hall is currently the only tenant at the site. The foundation will remodel the music hall into an innovation center, which will temporarily remain there until the building next door is completed, according to foundation Spokeswoman Jenness Gough.

Leading up to and following the venue's closure, some existing shows will continue as planned and others have been moved due to the construction, Fernandez said. Alamo City Music Hall will update its Facebook page and website accordingly. Previously-purchased tickets will be honored at new venues.

Twin Productions, which often booked shows at the music hall, said on Facebook Friday it would be providing information via Facebook and its website about moved shows as well.

RELATED: Downtown San Antonio's The Brooklynite will close its doors Feb. 25

Alamo City Music Hall has traditionally been known to host several metal, punk and alternative rock bands as well as some hip-hop shows. Recent performers include As I Lay Dying, Circa Survive, Dave East, Insane Clown Posse, Mayday Parade and Sza.

For the past two years, it has also hosted Siesta Fest, an unofficial 12-year-old Fiesta event that Fernandez co-founded with Gonzales. Fernandez said she has not yet decided whether she will continue that event this year.

While details are pending, Fernandez declined to provide the exact address she hopes to move to. When the business reopens, she plans to continue welcoming any bands interested, she said, and she hopes to add some more Spanish musicians to the line-up. She'll host a grand opening celebration whenever it opens, she said. Now, she's in the midst of planning a farewell party for Feb. 24.

"Everyone can come and get pictures. A lot of people met there, a lot of people met up with friends there," Fernandez said. "We've had really loyal fans, loyal promoters, and especially our (core) staff has been with us since we opened in 2010, so that's a pretty big deal.

Click through the gallery above for shows that have been moved to a different venue.

Staff writer Madison Iszler contributed to this report.



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
Texas oil and gas riches continued to flow into state and local treasuries in 2018, according to the Texas Oil & Gas Association's annual report on the economic impact of the state's energy industry.

In 100 years of Texas oil and natural gas  the association is celebrating its centennial this year  "we are proud to report that the Texas oil and natural gas industry has paid $133.3 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties just since 2007," TXOGA President Todd Staples said during a media conference call Wednesday morning.

In fiscal year 2018, the industry paid more than $14 billion in taxes and royalties, a jump of 27 percent from the previous fiscal year and the second highest total in state history, he said.

RELATED: Concho, Endeavor on list of best performers

"Last year alone, the Texas oil and natural gas industry paid the equivalent of $38 million a day to fund our schools, roads, universities and first responders," said Todd Staples, president of TXOGA. "More tax and royalty revenue from the oil and natural gas industry means our lawmakers have more to work with to meet the needs of our growing state."

State royalties paid by the industry increased 18 percent to $2 billion. The funds went to the Permanent School Fund, which benefits public schools, and the Permanent University Fund, which benefits the University of Texas and Texas A&M University systems.

In fiscal year 2018, public school districts received $1.24 billion in property taxes from mineral properties producing oil and natural gas, pipelines and gas utilities. Midland ISD received $56.3 million in property taxes, with the industry comprising 23.8 percent of the tax base, according to TXOGA. Ector County ISD received $24 million, with the industry making up 16.9 percent of the tax base.

Texas counties received $366.5 million in oil and natural gas mineral property taxes. Midland County received $7.8 million, with the industry accounting for 21.5 percent of the tax base. Ector County received $7.4 million, with the industry comprising 14.8 percent of the tax base.

"That doesn't include the phenomenal payrolls" and other contributions the industry has made to local and state economies, Staples said.

The state's energy sector could experience another record-breaking year in 2019, he said, especially in the Permian Basin, where output may reach 4.8 million barrels a day by the end of 2020. That growth is having an impact on the infrastructure -- from roads to education, housing to health care -- of the communities in what he called the energy corridor. That's why local involvement in addressing the issues is important, he said, praising initiatives such as the Permian Strategic Partnership and the Permian Road Safety Coalition.

OIL REPORT: Proposed Winkler County refinery could benefit local drivers' pocketbooks

Local residents also need to participate in events such as Texas Energy Day at the Texas Legislature, to discuss with legislators the impact of the industry on their communities.

The association's public policy priorities for the 86th Legislature include support for adequate funding for the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to be properly staffed and equipped; funding for the Texas Department of Public Safety that will enhance public safety on congested roadways in energy-producing areas; and the Texas Department of Transportation. Staples also called for reauthorization of the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP), and renewal of Chapter 312, which allows counties and cities to provide temporary property tax reductions for new projects, and additional funding to assist counties in energy sectors that are experiencing increased traffic and road deterioration.

"We recognize that our state's impressive energy achievements have sparked rapid population growth and created the need for additional funding for county roads," said Staples. "Considering energy production is providing vast amounts of revenue for state and local governments, specifically the rainy day fund, we think it's appropriate to use a portion of funds already collected for repairs and expansions on county roads in our state's energy sectors."

Such one-time expenditures from the rainy day fund  formally the Texas Economic Stabilization Fund  for roads or helping communities recover from Hurricane Harvey are the appropriate use for the fund, he said.

He said that while the outlook for the state's energy industry is bullish, Texans shouldn't become complacent.

For all the contributions the industry has made to state and local treasuries, to the rainy day fund, to the Permanent School Fund and Permanent University Fund, "growth is not guaranteed," Staples said. "We could see policy changes, regulatory changes, and those do affect business plans."
To the editor:

Whatever one may think of the [special counsel Robert] Mueller investigation, all Americans should agree it has gone too far to turn back. This investigation has spent nearly two years pursuing the truth, and everyone has the right to know all the facts behind Russian interference during the 2016 election.

Department of Justice regulations allow the report to be buried. When concluding the investigation, the special counsel must deliver a report to the attorney general, who then decides whether to release part of, all of, or a summary of the report to Congress and the American public.

President Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have hinted that they might try to suppress the findings of the final report. This uncertainty is not healthy for our republic.

Everyone deserves to know what Mueller knows. The Special Counsel Transparency Act would fix this problem. Congress should pass it.

Stanley Twardy Jr.

Hartford, Connecticut



Stanley Twardy Jr. is the former U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut. He is an adviser to the Republicans for the Rule of Law Committee and a partner at the Day Pitney law firm.
Horry County Council recently approved tax and fee hikes that will raise the bill of an owner-occupied $200,000 home by $105.80 in most of the unincorporated areas. Inside the city limits, the owner of a $200,000 home would pay $20 more per year (those residents pay separate city taxes). The hikes in the countys nearly $600 million budget will help pay for raises for county workers, additional 911 dispatchers, firefighters and patrol officers, and new stormwater equipment. Do you think county council should have increased taxes? Choices are:

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Troops add more wire to Naco border fence: Some Bisbee and Naco residents speak out against wire; City of Bisbee considers formal condemnation
A new Grand River Dam Authority documentary  Our Borrowed Water  will premiere at separate events in Langley and Tahlequah as well as Fayetteville, Arkansas, in late February. The documentary takes a closer look at the importance of the Grand and Illinois River Watersheds.
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Sun Valley, ID (83353)

Today

Mainly clear. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 51F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 51F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
A Mexico man died early Thursday morning in a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 20, according to a press release from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Isai A. Garcia, 29, from Mexico State, was driving a Ford 350 eastbound on I-20 and was behind a Freightliner truck tractor towing a semi-trailer. Traffic was moving slowly because of another crash, and Garcia failed to control his speed and hit the rear of the semi-trailer, according to the release.
A Clear Lake couple accused of killing their infant daughter in the summer of 2018 are now behind bars.

Dylan Christian Daugherty, 23, and Aeriel Louise Spivey, 26, were arrested Wednesday after a months-long Houston Police Department investigation after 6-week-old Brooklyn Daugherty was found dead in her crib inside the couple's Clear Lake apartment June 5.

Around 8 that morning, Daugherty and Spivey reportedly woke up and found Brooklyn unresponsive inside her crib. Houston paramedics rushed to the scene and tried to revive the baby, but she was pronounced dead.

An autopsy showed that Brooklyn had several traumatic injuries to her head in different stages of healing  implying she suffered some sort of abuse over a period of time  and that she died from blunt force trauma, according to Houston police.

Charging documents for Daugherty, who is facing a murder charge, show that police believe he was the one who struck Brooklyn with some sort of blunt object, killing her. Spivey, who's charged with injury to a child by omission, is accused of "failing to protect" Brooklyn during the attack.

Both are booked in the Houston police jail with no bond.

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
Concho Resources Chairman and CEO Tim Leach said that Thursday was an important day for Midland College, the city of Midland and the Permian Basin.

Proving his point, dignitaries from the community, Midland College and Texas A&M University were on hand for the announcement of the Texas A&M-Concho Engineering Academy at Midland College. It promises to add to the educational opportunities offered at MC for those living in Midland and across the Permian Basin. The academy also is expected to benefit a business impacted by having about 15,000 technical, high-paying jobs that are not currently filled and another 45,000 expected jobs available from future operations.

But Thursday also was about giving back. It was about the state -- or at least a state agency  giving back to a region that according to Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp is the gift of God that is the Permian Basin.

Leach said before Thursdays media event that A&M and the University of Texas have access to the Permanent University Fund, which generates revenues from oil and gas operations on the 2.1 million acres that oil companies lease from the state. To provide some context on how much money is generated, the PUF appropriated $1.5 billion in projects to schools in the UT and A&M systems between 2004 and 2013. That included money set aside to build a new kinesiology building at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

RELATED: Midland College begins engineering partnership with Texas A&M

Tim Leach was on the board one day when we had that conversation (about giving back), and he said, Weve got to figure out ways to get resources into places, Sharp said after the event. Thats the golden goose  not just for Texas, but for A&M and the University of Texas. What makes A&M and University of Texas of the first class, is the Permian Basin. Its a special deal.

Sharp is a former railroad commissioner and Texas comptroller, so he is quite familiar with what the Permian means not only to Texas largest school systems but the states budget.

This is a special place God created for us, and we dont want to mess it up, Sharp said.

State Rep. Tom Craddick echoed Sharp and Leachs comments about the state and its agencies needing to send resources back to the Permian. Craddick mentioned the abundant severance tax revenues that would benefit his district, which includes Midland County. Craddick said he was proud that the engineering academy will help achieve goals of improving education in Midland and creating a more-educated workforce for jobs such as the technical, high-paying jobs referenced by Leach.

This is what (the academy) is, Craddick said.

And if Midland and the Permian Basin benefits, Leach will be a reason. Community leaders and A&M dignitaries gave the Concho Resources CEO a healthy share of the credit for making the academy possible.

The headline of the press release provided about the academy reads: Gift from Concho Resources launches Texas A&M-Concho Engineering Academy at Midland College.

Brooks Landgraf, a state representative from Odessa, said (the academy) is a result of Tim Leachs efforts and leadership at Concho.

Michael Young, president of Texas A&M University, said the school was grateful to Tim Leach for his vision for what the academy could accomplish.

Leach, as expected, put the focus back on the academy and what it means to the community and Midland College, where he sits on the foundations board of directors.

He said he hoped the academy will be a catalyst for higher education emphasis in Midland and across the Permian Basin. He also said the creation of more opportunities such as the academy is important for Midland being a place people would want to live.

We have opportunity to change it for the better and build a society we would like to have, Leach said.
Since a majority of busy Permian Basin oil and gas professionals aren't able to attend a conference, the conference is coming to them.

Midland will host the first local Unconventional Resources Technology Conference March 5 at the Horseshoe Pavilion. The one-day event will focus on parent-child well dynamics.

"A company has a certain percentage of staff that gets to go to big conferences; about 80 percent can't," said Lance Cole, intersociety collaboration manager with the Society of Economic Geophysicists. "We wanted to serve that 80 percent that can break for a one-day conference that's low-cost and doesn't involve travel."

OIL REPORT: Proposed Winkler County refinery could benefit local drivers' pocketbooks

The goal is also to generate enthusiasm, so attendees can seek to be allowed to attend the bigger conferences, Cole said.

These one-day conferences  Pittsburgh and Oklahoma City will host events later in the year  are also geared to specific basins, he said.

Want to go? When: March 5 beginning with registration at 7:30 a.m. Where: Horseshoe Pavilion

Register: https://urtec.org/workshops/midland2019 See More Collapse

This conference, presented by the SEG along with the Society of Petroleum Engineers and American Association of Petroleum Geologists, will be divided into sub-themes -- from understanding in-situ rock properties to understanding stimulation, to issues and exceptions and managing field life cycle. Available diagnostic methods, physical modeling and big data analytics will be discussed using Permian Basin case studies.

Cole said the conference's opening speaker is George King with Viking Engineering, a man described as "the grandfather of fracturing."

OIL REPORT: Solaris Midstream launches Pecos Star System serving Delaware Basin

"Our goal is, through what the speakers present, attendees have ideas or techniques they can take back to the office. Everyone is so active, drilling wells, completing wells. This way they'll have tools they can take back to the office and work into the workflow immediately," said Cole. "These are applications that are being utilized, applications the speakers share because they've been there, done that."

Speakers will offer a look at local geology, completions and production practices so attendees can help their companies, large and small, develop best full field development practices. Cole said another goal is to promote collaboration and sharing what has been learned in the field.
The inventory of homes for sale in the US grew by 19,455 in January compared to a year earlier, marking the 4th annual gain over the past 5 months.

Zillows Real Estate Market Report reports that the 1.2% rise in inventory in January was the first for the month since 2014.

However, the gains seen in recent months have done little to reverse the downward trend for inventory seen since the start of 2015, although homebuyers may take some comfort that things appear to be shifting.
Moultrie, GA (31768)

Today

Partly cloudy in the morning followed by scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 86F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. A few clouds. Low 69F. Winds light and variable.
A vast majority of residential properties across Canada is owned by individuals, with less than 10% owned by non-individuals, such as corporations and government entities, in key areas.

Data from the Canadian Housing Statistics Program (CHSP) showed that non-individuals own less than 10% of residential properties in the provinces of British Columbia (B.C.), Ontario, and Nova Scotia, according to the most recent Housing Market Insight (HMI) released by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Read more: Non-individual ownership incidence highest in B.C.  report

Non-individual ownership of residential property is highest in B.C. at 9.8%, followed by 7.4% in Ontario, and 7.9% in Nova Scotia. At the metro level, non-individual ownership of residential property is at 5.6% in Vancouver, 4.2% in Toronto, and 9.9% in Halifax. On the other hand, the share of the total assessed value for residential properties owned by non-individuals is 11.7% in Vancouver, 9.9% in Toronto and 18.8% in Halifax.

The average assessed value of vacant land owned by non-individuals is $1.9 million in the Vancouver metro area and $900,000 in the Toronto metro area.

"This new data on vacant land and ownership structure addresses another important data gap in housing, providing concrete evidence that residential ownership by non-individual entities is dominated by corporations and governments in each of these three provinces, said Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC. It may also help us alleviate housing affordability challenges as it allows us to better understand housing supply constraints in key Canadian markets."
Falling home prices in Western Canadas biggest markets caused the national average price to retreat by 0.1% in January, marking the fifth consecutive month without a rise.

According to the TeranetNational Bank of Canadas national composite house price index, this is longest such run since March of 2013. The index shows that home prices in Edmonton declined by 0.8%, in Calgary by 0.5%, and Vancouver by 0.3%. On the other side of the country, the index was also down for Ottawa-Gatineau by 0.3%, but prices rose in Quebec City by 1.3%, Halifax by 0.7%, Montreal by 0.2%, and Toronto by 0.1%.

Read more: Overvaluation decreases in Canadian markets

For Calgary it was a seventh month without a gain (cumulative decline [is] -2.4%), for Vancouver the sixth (3.2%), for Edmonton the fifth (3.5%), said the report. There were smaller cumulative declines, after four months with no rises, in Victoria (0.5%) and Hamilton (1.0%). For Montreal, on the other hand, the index was up for the ninth time in 10 months for a cumulative 5.0% gain. Montreal and Quebec City were the only indexes at an all-time high in January.

The Teranet-National Bank house price index is an independently-developed representation of average home price changes in eleven metropolitan areas: Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal, Quebec City, and Halifax. The national composite 11 index is the weighted average of the eleven metropolitan areas.
Henry Ellenbogen, T. Rowe Price's CIO for U.S. equity growth and the manager of T. Rowe Price New Horizons (PRNHX), will leave the firm effective March 31, 2019. The fund's Morningstar Analyst Rating of Gold is Under Review.

Ellenbogen joined T. Rowe Price as a media and telecom analyst in 2001 and took over this fund in 2010 following a successful four-year stint comanaging T. Rowe Price Media & Telecommunications. His departure is a huge loss for the fund. Ellenbogen proved himself as a skilled manager, deftly investing the strategy's massive asset base across both public and private companies, leading to eye-popping results. He and his associate portfolio manager Barry Henderson will depart by March 31, though they haven't announced future plans.
Lorain County

Seniors' artwork to be showcased in Cleveland
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Students go to NYC for choir performance
Mitch McConnell seems to have found a way to allow President Donald Trump to eat his cake (Mar-a-Lago chocolate, no doubt) and keep it, too. On Thursday, the Senate majority leader announced that the president would sign compromise legislation hammered out in the wake of the 35-day government shutdown over funding for additional barriers along our southern border. In return, McConnell will support the president's declaration of a "national emergency" that will allow the administration to use military dollars to build more fencing than Congress has appropriated for that purpose. Expect much of the country, including many in Congress, to choke on McConnell's appeasement.

No matter how many times or in how loud a voice the president says it, there is no emergency at the border requiring flouting the separation of powers, which gives Congress control over the purse strings. The United States is not being flooded with dangerous criminals and job-stealing immigrants from south of the border. Immigrants, including those who have come here illegally, are less likely to commit crimes than people born here. El Paso, Texas  where the president visited this week to show off what happens when you build a wall  was safe long before the wall was built and is one of the safest cities its size in America today even with a large population of immigrants, documented and undocumented. And even the president has now admitted that we need more immigrants  not fewer, which is what he had been proposing since his campaign  to fill jobs that no one else is taking.
 Larry Ryder Dehaven Jr., 35, of 1617 East Main St., in Valdese, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. He was served at the Burke-Catawba jail where he was being held on previous charges. He was issued an additional $1,000 secured bond.

 Garry Wayne Lail Jr., 31, of 237 Gant St., in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor breaking or entering. He was served with a criminal summons to appear for a trial date set for Feb. 22.

 Kenneth Mailon Adams, 27, of 2309 U.S. Highway 70 W., in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $4,000 secured bond. His trial date was set for May 13.

 Monique Ann M Farinella, 30, of 102 Glendale St., in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor possession of a schedule VI controlled substance. She was cited and released. Her trial date was set for April 3.

 Bettina Elizabeth Crisp, 47, of 1749 Hillhaven Circle, in Morganton, was charged with one count each of misdemeanor second-degree trespassing, larceny, possession of stolen goods and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. She was issued a $1,500 secured bond and released. Her trial date was set for Feb. 27.
(There are) so many (people) unchurched and hurt from church, that still have a desire, but not sure what to do or where to go, Barnett said. We want to invite them, help them, and strengthen them in the word to change their life. The Bridge is a way of reaching what is broken to rebuild a bridge back to Christ.

Barnett felt a calling to open the church.

(Ive) been fighting it awhile, Barnett said. (I) just never felt good enough to open (a church) and be a leader to people that need God, until I realized there are so many that feel the same way, that have nowhere to go or anyone to teach them how to grow in Christ.

Barnett explained that he wants people who attend TBWC to become empowered by the truth.

The word of God will change people and set them free, Barnett said. (They will) be healed from past hurt or pain and be accepted into the Kingdom of God.

The church is open to the public and everyone is invited to attend, Barnett said.

We are about a relationship with Christ, he said. Its okay to (dress) casual and come as you are.

For more information about The Bridge Worship Center, email Barnett at Rev.kbarnett@gmail.com.

Barbara Jolly-Deakle is a News Herald correspondent and a member of the Morganton Writers Group. She can be reached at BabbyWrites@CompasCable.net.
The Supreme Court has dismissed two court masters Manav Sharma and Tapan Kumar Chakaraborty for tampering with its order in Ericssons contempt plea against Reliance Communication Ltd (RCom) and personal appearance of the company chief Anil Ambani, reports The Telegraph . Meanwhile, during a hearing on Wednesday, the apex court has reserved its order in this matter.

According to the newspaper, on 7th January, the apex court had directed Mr Ambani to make personal appearance through a notice. However, when the order was uploaded on the SC website, it read: personal appearance of the alleged contemnor(s) dispensed with.

Counsel for Ericsson brought this to the notice of the Court after which a rectified order was uploaded on 10th January.

"After a preliminary inquiry, it was found that the omission of the word 'not' in the order was not accidental," the report says.

Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had directed the administrative side to dismiss the two employees.

During the hearing on Wednesday, Mr Ambani told the division bench comprising Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Vineet Saran that the Rs550 crore dues could not be paid to Ericsson in pursuance to the undertaking as its Rs18,100 crore deal with the Reliance Jio did not fructify.

The Court was told that the company received just Rs780 crore through the deal with Jio, which was paid to department of telecom (DoT) to save the spectrum possessed by the RCom.

RCom in its affidavit asserted that it received only Rs780 crore from Jio on pursuance to Rs18,100 crore deal. The affidavit also stated the share-holding pattern of RCom, Reliance Telecommunication and Reliance Infratel.

The Court was also told Rs5,000 crore (Rs2,000 crore and Rs3,000 crore), which is claimed by Ericsson that RCom received from Jio did not come through.

Describing the case as 'extraordinary', senior counsel Dushyant Dave, appearing for Ericsson, said he was not getting preferential treatment and claimed it was they who had agreed to pay.

Alleging that the non-payment of dues was nothing but a virtual disobedience of the Court order, Mr Dave said, the financial institutions were interested in saving the RCom.

He said the order of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is superimposed by the top court's order saying that they 'shall pay'.

Referring to the argument by senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who represented Mr Ambani, that the undertakings were conditional, Mr Dave said "Am I so fool or naive that I will agree to an undertaking that I will get money subject to the agreement with Jio."

Mr Rohtagi had told the Court that every effort was made to save the company and there was an 'experiment' but all fell though as the deal of Rs18,100 crore with Jio did not succeed. "The entire basis of the exercise was an agreement for the sale of assets to Jio and finally Jio raised its hands," he stated.
The Supreme Court on Friday said that the information commissioners, both at the Centre and in the States, under the Right to Information Act should also be appointed from other streams of the society and not limited just to serving or retired bureaucrats.

A bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and S. Abdul Nazeer said the entire appointment process must be transparent with terms and conditions of appointment specified in the advertisement inviting applications.

Justice Sikri said the Selection Committee on Information Commissioners should have a criteria for the short-listing of the candidates.

Pointing to its impact on good governance, the court directed that all the vacancies both at the level of Central Information Commission and the State Information Commissions be filled within six months.

It further said that where the process of appointment was already on, it should be completed in a month or two.

To stem any future vacancies, the court said that the process of filling the future vacancies should commence two months before an incumbent Information Commissioner was to retire.

The court verdict came on a PIL by an information activist, Anjili Bharadwaj.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
Rank 9| Afghanistan | FSI Score - 105 (Image: Reuters)

Harsh V Pant

As talks to end Afghanistans 17-year war involving United States special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives in Qatar appear to be gaining momentum, the Taliban has gone ahead and announced a 14-member negotiating team ahead of peace talks later this month. This team will be headed by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai and includes Anas Haqqani, the jailed brother of the leader of the Haqqani network, who is under detention in Kabul.

The Taliban has been asking for his release to kick-start the negotiating process. The Taliban is also underscoring that these talks with Washington should lead to a formal recognition for its political office in Qatar. At the same time and in parallel Russia organised its own talks where it brought together influential Afghans, including former President Hamid Karzai, and Taliban leaders.

It is not readily evident what exactly is the endgame the US has in mind but according to Khalilzad, the US has reached "an agreement in principle" with the Taliban on a framework that would provide guarantees that no terrorist group or individuals would be able to use Afghan soil for attacks against the US and its allies.

Trump has made it clear that he remains committed to bringing American troops home after close to two decades of fighting despite there being growing concerns in the region and in Washingtons strategic circles that a rapid drawdown of forces in Afghanistan will do more harm than good. In his State of the Union last week, Trump interestingly left open the possibility that a small portion of the 11,000 US soldiers currently in Afghanistan would remain there to focus on counterterrorism.

Washingtons policy has also marginalised the Ghani government in Kabul at a time when presidential elections are round the corner. Engagement with the Taliban has become the key aspect of American outreach with the group even finding a mention in Trumps State of the Union last week. For its part, the Taliban continues to insist that it wont negotiate with the government in Kabul, which it views as a US stooge and till such time as Washington announces a timetable for the withdrawal of its troops.

Despite the euphoria surrounding the talks, fundamental questions about the future trajectory of this engagement remain.

Enforcing promises made by the Taliban to see US forces off from the battlefield is just one of the issues which will haunt the process. If the US continues to show that it is in a hurry to leave Afghanistan, then the Taliban would be more than happy to wait them out. They would say all the nice things to see the US leave and then would wait to see the Afghan government crumble without the supporting security and economic umbrella provided by the US. While the Talibans return to power is not a given, chaos is the most likely outcome.

It is also not readily evident that Trumps desire to bring the troops back from Afghanistan quickly is shared across the US polity. Senators from across party lines in the US have recently backed an amendment opposing the US Presidents plan to pull troops out of Syria and Afghanistan with a decisive majority, underling that the troop withdrawal could allow the Islamic State (ISIS) and al-Qaeda to re-group and destabilise both countries.

Indias support for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process is a longstanding one even as it has been trying to engage with a range of stakeholders in Afghanistan, including the Taliban in recent times.

Despite continuing to officially dissociate itself from the Taliban, New Delhi has underlined that it will participate in all format of talks that could bring about peace and security the region. India had sent retired officials to the Russia-led peace talks in November 2018 where the Taliban representatives were also present.

India has a range of interests to protect in Afghanistan and for far too long New Delhis reliance on Washingtons role as a security provider has been its major vulnerability. It is indeed understandable for India to make its discomfort with the current American posture known to Washington. However, it is quite extraordinary to complain that the US is leaving India in the lurch.

Indian strategic communitys hectoring about US policy is hypocritical as the same community had almost unanimously concluded long back that India should not have a stronger military role in Afghanistan. It was always known that at some point the US appetite for this war in Afghanistan would decline.

If Afghanistan was marginal for Indian security interests, then India should have made only marginal investments in the country. If the assessment was that Afghanistan is going to be critical for Indian interests in the region and beyond, then New Delhi should have been better prepared by now to protect its significant investments in that country. By not thinking cogently about Indias own end game in Afghanistan, India has ended up being reactive to what other nations are doing. That could easily have been avoided.

As New Delhi gears up for a new set of equations in Afghanistan, it will not only have to work closely with the US to ensure that Pakistan doesnt get a free hand in managing the Afghan transition but also with other regional stakeholders such as China, Russia and Iran to ensure that the balance in Afghanistans polity is maintained. This will be important for Afghanistans survival as an independent and secure nation as well as for regional security.

Harsh V Pant is director, Studies at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi and professor of international relations, Kings College London. Views expressed are personal.

For more Opinion pieces, click here
Forty countries including Japan have agreed on a draft UN regulation for advanced emergency braking systems (AEBS) for new cars and light commercial vehicles from early 2020, which the European Union says it will implement from 2022, a UN agency said.

The new regulation, compulsory for countries that adopt it at a June session, will impose strict and harmonised requirements for automatic braking at speeds of up to 60 kms per hour to save lives, especially in urban settings, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) said.

Japan and the EU have said the new AEBS system will become mandatory, representing some 4 million and 15 million new cars respectively each year, the statement said.

It activates the brake to stop a crash and thats it ... It will not drive, it will brake, UNECE spokesman Jean Rodriguez told a briefing. There will be no obligation to retrofit older vehicles, he said.

Japan and the EU have said the new AEBS system will become mandatory, representing some 4 million and 15 million new cars respectively each year, the UNECE statement said.

More than 9,500 fatalities were recorded in car crashes in cities in the EU in 2016, 40 percent of them pedestrians, it said.

The United States, China and India - which have huge domestic carmakers - are not part of the original 1958 agreement on which the latest regulation builds, Rodriguez said.
Rank 3 | Amazon | E-commerce company (Image: Amazon)

Amazon, one of the richest companies in the world by market value, will pay no taxes for its second consecutive year, according to a report by Fortune.

The report quoted US-based Institute on Taxation and Economic (ITEP) policy report, which was published on 13 February.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

The company, which is valued at around $800 billion, almost doubled its profits from $5.6 billion in 2017, to $11.2 billion in 2018. Amazon took the cherry on the icing by reporting a federal income tax rebate of $129 million in 2018, making its tax rate at -1 percent.

The think tank mentioned in the report stated that this was largely possible due to the Trump Administration's corporation-friendly tax cuts.

The think tank said that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 21 percent, but left "a slew of tax loopholes that allow profitable companies to routinely avoid paying federal and state income taxes on almost half of their profits".

The Seattle-headquartered company was earlier in the news for avoiding payment of sales taxes, and even convinced Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan to repeal a tax meant to benefit homeless people.



Amazon won't build an HQ in New York City.

It would have been getting tax breaks in Long Island City that were meant for the poor. https://t.co/j5NvFSUMpT? pic.twitter.com/UrAYajvw36 February 14, 2019

The report quoted Bloomberg of a similar incentive that was proposed by New York City if it would build its headquarters there. It however resulted in public and political backlash, which led the company to cancel its Big Apple plans.

Tax benefits that Amazon receives also has attracted criticism from politicians.



You know what Amazon paid in federal income taxes last year? Zero. https://t.co/2bVwXQNATl  Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 30, 2018



Most notably, US President Donald Trump.

I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election. Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2018

According to Oxfam, billionaires' fortunes across the world rose by 12 percent or $2.5 billion a day in 2018, whereas the poorest half of the world's population saw their wealth decline by 11 percent.
No 1, Alibaba | Market Cap: $ 536.86 billion | CEO: Daniel Zhang | Location: China | Industry: Retailing. (Image: Reuters)

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is in talks with Germany's Metro about taking a stake in the German wholesaler's China operations, three sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Metro and Alibaba declined to comment.

The talks are at an early stage and could still fall apart, the sources said.

Alibaba's interest comes after rival Tencent last year signed a partnership deal with France's Carrefour.

U.S.-listed Alibaba, which runs consumer-facing online shopping platforms Taobao and TMall and food delivery app Ele.me, is looking to develop a business-focused retail strategy, said one of the sources. Teaming up with a wholesaler like Metro could also bring synergy to its fresh produce units Hema and Yiguo, the source added.

Any deal would add to the HK$22.4 billion ($2.87 billion) Alibaba spent in 2017 on a major stake in China's top hypermart operator, Sun Art Retail Group Ltd, as part of a push to build big-data capabilities in the offline retail market.

For its part, Metro was once a sprawling retail conglomerate but has been restructuring in recent years to focus on its core cash-and-carry business, selling Kaufhof department stores and then splitting from consumer electronics group Ceconomy.

It is also trying to offload its loss-making Real hypermarkets chain, saying on Tuesday that the sale is progressing.

Metro shares, which have gained 16 percent this year on speculation of a possible bid for the company and news on divestments, were up 0.6 percent after the Reuters report.

"Initial excitement about a bid premium will soon be replaced by worries about hollowing out the business and removing one of the few paths for sustainable growth," said Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyn.

Metro has 95 stores in China and real estate assets in major centres, such as Beijing and Shanghai, one of the sources said.

Apart from Alibaba, there are other parties involved in early discussions with Metro, according to the sources, with an official sale process expected to kick off soon.

Metro Chief Executive Olaf Koch said on Tuesday that the German firm was reviewing potential partnerships with local players in China.

Metro and Alibaba have already partnered in online retail in China.

"We are growing continually and we are profitable there," Koch said when Metro presented first quarter earnings.

Metro reported that same store sales in Asia rose a currency adjusted 7 percent to 1.04 billion euros ($1.17 billion) in the October to December quarter.

The possible China move comes as Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky is preparing a potential bid for Metro, people close to the matter told Reuters last month.

Global Commerce (EPGC), a vehicle co-owned by Kretinsky and Slovak investor Patrik Tkac, is expected to have the financing and other arrangements in place to be able to announce a tender offer for Metro as early as March, the people added.
It is not new for ministers to politicise every issue; and Congress minister Randeep Singh Surjewala did just that.

While condemning the attack and expressing condolences to the family of the deceased, the Congress spokesperson slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government. At a time when the entire nation is enraged by the dastardly Pulwama attack and mourning the loss of the CRPF jawans, he indulged in some mudslinging.

In a series of tweets, Surjewala said this was the 18th big terror attack under the Modi government and asked when will the 56-inch chest reply or when the eyes will turn red with anger.



In the past 55 months, Pak committed more than 5000 ceasefire violations at the LoC & International border- a whopping 1000% increase compared to the last 55 months of UPA.

Where is the 56 inch chest? Where is the Laal Aankh? 5/#KashmirTerrorAttack #Awantipora  Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) February 14, 2019

He also said: This horrific attack in J&K is a testimony to Modi Govt's utter failure on National Security. Zero political action & Zero policy to tackle terror has led to an alarming security situation. BJP ruled J&K for 4 years. BJP rules J&K via Gov rule. BJP plunged J&K into deep turmoil.However, it seems that Surjewalas comments didnt go down well with Twitter users, who dissed the Congressman for using the biggest IED attack in the state to gain political mileage. Heres what some people had to say:



Could you guys , for a moment, stop your disgusting political agendas and games and just work together in a grave situation like this ?? Seriously!! You all act like immature school kids .

 Munmun Dutta (@moonstar4u) February 14, 2019



Good going sir....instead of condemning this attack...u want to play politics here too...well people do what they are good at...  Mitesh Nagda (@mit6067) February 14, 2019





This is not the time for taunting instead it's the time for all parties to execute joint action.

 Prem Das Sharma (@PremDasSharma5) February 14, 2019



Even @ArvindKejriwal is not politicizing the issue. But you are. This is not the time for politics.  Neel soni (@sonineelK) February 14, 2019





Shame on you Randeep and the thoughts you and your party are expressing. In the years of your rule had youll taken right steps we would not have to see this situation. At time when u should stand by the govt u are showing your true colours

 Pravin Tonsekar (@pat_tons) February 14, 2019

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh East, salvaged the situation to some extent by cancelling her scheduled press conference. Calling off the briefing, Priyanka said she found it improper to discuss politics now. One must note here: Neither BJP President Amit Shah nor PM Modi cancelled their scheduled meets for the day.

Nonetheless, Modi discussed the security situation with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and said the sacrifice of the martyrs won't go in vain and their death will be avenged.

He tweeted, The attack has left peoples blood boiling. Our security forces have been given a free hand to discuss the future course of action.
Representative Image

In what is hinting at a serious intelligence failure, it was revealed that a video clip carrying threats of a suicide attack and its modus operandi was uploaded on a private Twitter account. Though Jammu and Kashmir police had shared the intel input with all security agencies two days ago, the authorities sat on it. The police had also made a dummy video to explain how the terror act may be executed.

Twitter handle "313_get" carried a threat "InshaAllah... its will same in Kashmir...endian are flying in parts...InshaAllah (sic)". The 33-second clip shows Somalia troop being attacked by militants in a way similar to Thursdays Pulwama attack.

The Twitter user accessed the account through a virtual private network (VPN), making it difficult for security agencies to establish the location of its operator, the J&K police said.

Although the route to be taken by the CRPF convoy was sanitized, the JeM suicide bomber was successful in executing the attack because civilian vehicles were allowed to use that stretch.

J&K Governor SP Malik told The Indian Express that the attack was the result of an intelligence failure, pointing out the fact that the security forces could not detect the movement of the IED-laden SUV.

A year ago, News18 had reported that security agencies had come across mobile phone intercepts between JeM and LeT men, suggesting they were planning to carry out a major attack in Kashmir using a car laden with explosives.

Minutes after the suicide attack, JeM released a video of Adil, where he can be seen sitting in the backdrop of a Jaish flag, brandishing high-tech automatic rifles. He says in the video: "By the time this video reaches you, I will be in heaven, I have spent one year as a militant with JeM and this is my last message for the people of Kashmir."

He then exhorts the people of North and Central Kashmir to join South Kashmir in its fight against India.

Waqas then adds: "By killing few of our militant commanders, you can't weaken us", and boasts about past JeM attacks, such as, ICA18 hijacking, 2001 Parliament attack, Nagrota attack, Uri attack, and Pathankot IAF base attack.
Tier-II cities such as Jalandhar and Chandigarh led to a 13 percent year-on-year growth in visa applications, with as many as 52.8 visas being approved in India in 2018.

According to a report by Times of India, tier-II cities recorded steep rise in visa applications while metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai registered consistent applications.

With the year-on-year increase in visa applications from India, it is evident that foreign travel is no longer the domain of a privileged few. A large part of this growth comes from smaller cities - more Indians from these cities are travelling abroad than before, and are keen to explore even off-beat destinations, Vinay Malhotra, VFS Global's regional group COO for Middle East, South Asia and China told the paper.

Number of Indians travelling abroad was 44.2 lakh in 2000, which increased to 2.2 crore in 2016. The number was 2.4 crore in 2017 as per government data.

According to a report released by CAPA  centre for aviation, number of Indians flying abroad for leisure purpose will increase to 1.4 crore by 2025.
trends Reporter's Take | More migrant workers moving to Bengaluru Around 40 percent of blue collar workers are heading to Bengaluru, while cities such as Gurugram and Hyderabad come next on the list.
Pakistani cleric Maulana Masood Azhar (C) who was freed in exchange for hostages on a hijacked Indian plane, attempts to stop photographers taking pictures as he arrives Karachi Press Club February 4, for a news conference. Azhar announced the establishment of a new party by the name of Jaishe Muhammad ( the army of the prophet Muhammad) to fight Indian rule in the disputed Kashmir region. ZH/AA - RTRYE7

"Enter Pakistan and kill Masood Azhar," said the Shiv Sena in the wake of the terror attack in Pulwama that killed over 40 CRPF personnel, CNN-News18 reported.

Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray tweeted: "This attack on our jawans. Not just pained but angered. I hope we hit them and hit them hard so that they dont dare to enter our territory and even think of targeting our soldiers ever again. The scourge of terrorism must be purged for good, by all nations around the world."



This attack on our jawans. Not just pained but angered. I hope we hit them and hit them hard so that they dont dare to enter our territory and even think of targeting our soldiers ever again. The scourge of terrorism must be purged for good, by all nations around the world.  Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) February 14, 2019

Masood Azhar is the founder and leader of the UN-designated terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Pakistani authorities took him into 'protective custody' after the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack in India.

Azhar was released by the A B Vajpayee government in December 1999, along with Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Omar Sheikh, in exchange for the release of the passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814.

The Centres attempts to list him at the UNSC have been repeatedly blocked by China.
Piyush Goyal

Union minister Piyush Goyal arrived here to hold the BJP's alliance discussions for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, with a senior AIADMK minister calling on him late in the evening.

Goyal, the saffron party's Tamil Nadu election in-charge, said the "good news" regarding alliance would be given at the right time.

Senior AIADMK leader and state Electricity Minister P Thangamani met Goyal here, but sources in the party said much should not be seen into the meeting as the two had been in regular touch as ministers.

Earlier, speaking to reporters, Goyal indicated that he had arrived here to discuss alliance matters.

"I have come here to discuss how we will proceed as regards the election and to discuss with our party leaders and our friends to chart out the future path," he said.

Goyal's visit to the southern state came on a day when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah said in Erode that the saffron party would forge a "strong" alliance in the general election.

The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu has also admitted that it has been holding "discreet talks" with the BJP, the PMK and the DMDK in order to ink a poll pact.

Asked about a possible alliance with the AIADMK, Goyal, who is the Union finance minister, said, "All possibilities are under consideration and discussions. At the right time, we will give you the good news."

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted Tamil Nadu to be represented in the next government, while exuding confidence that it would once again be led by the PM.

He underlined Modi's commitment towards the southern state and said the prime minister "cares" for the people of Tamil Nadu.

"Our government will always be committed for a better future for the people of Tamil Nadu," the Union minister added.

Goyal said Modi and late Tamil Nadu chief Minister J Jayalalithaa "had a very close relationship".

He recalled that the former AIADMK supremo used to treat the prime minister like a "younger brother", though some thought there was some misunderstanding between the two.
Mumbai: Former Jammu & Kashmir, chief minister, Omar Abdullah speaks during the United Nations young change makers conclave in Mumbai on Saturday, Oct 27, 2018 (PTI Photo/Shashank Parade)(PTI10_27_2018_000177B)

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah in a scathing attack on Governor Satya Pal Malik, accused him of "failing" to carry out his "primary responsibility" and asked him to visit those injured in the Pulwama terror attack and take stock of the situation.

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Abdullah, the National Conference vice-president, tweeted, "The Governor of J&K has failed in his primary responsibility. He compounds things by preferring to appear on every single news channel he can find rather than rush to the valley to meet the injured and yet somehow Mehbooba & I are to blame for everything (sic)."

"It's mind boggling that the biggest ever terrorist attack in J&K takes place & yet for some channels/talking heads the only people NOT accountable are the central government & the governor's administration.



Dear Governor Malik, some unsolicited advice from a person who has governed J&K for 6 years. Pls stop giving interviews, let your advisors do it. You will only make things worse by trying to talk your way out of this situation.

 Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) February 15, 2019

"Dear Governor Malik, some unsolicited advice from a person who has governed J&K for 6 years. Pls stop giving interviews, let your advisors do it. You will only make things worse by trying to talk your way out of this situation (sic)", he said in a series of tweets.

Accusing Malik of "playing politics" over the issue and trying to "pass the buck", Abdullah urged him to be a "statesman for once".

"This should have been done yesterday but yesterday you were too busy passing the buck...You are a politician & obviously your first instinct will be to play politics but this is neither the time nor the occasion. Please suppress your desire to politicise everything & instead be a statesman for once. The nation will appreciate that more even if your party might not," he said.
Jammu and Kashmir - Representative image

The Jaish-a-Mohammed (JeM) claiming responsibility of Thursday's terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir has raised questions over the role of the Pakistan spy agency, ISI, in the gruesome strike, a former CIA analyst and South Asian expert here said.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in JK's three decades of militancy, a suicide bomber from Pakistan-based JeM terror group rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 39 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

The JeM has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.

"The self-proclaimed involvement of JeM in the attack raises serious questions about the role of the ISI in supporting the masterminds of this operation," Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst, told PTI.

The terrorist attack, which has direct footprints inside Pakistan, poses the first major challenges to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, said Riedel, who is now a scholar at the Brookings Institute think-tank.

"This will be a real challenge for Imran Khan, the first serious challenge of his administration," he said.

Former Pakistan Ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, said Pakistan "would have to act against the JeM".

Anish Goel, who worked in Obama administration's National Security Council, said the "horrific" attack highlights how actively Pakistan-based terrorist groups are operating in Kashmir.

"By claiming such quick credit for the attack, JeM is clearly indicating that they will continue to cause trouble in the region and stoke tensions between Pakistan and India," he said.

"In the wake of this attack, there will likely be increased pressure on Prime Minister Modi to take action against all militant groups still active in Kashmir," Goel told PTI.
Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday asserted the security forces have been given permission to choose the timing, place and nature of their response to the Pulwama terror attack, which left 40 CRPF personnel dead on Thursday.

Without naming Pakistan, he told a public meeting that the attack was an outcome of the neighbouring country's desperation as it is in a bad shape and has been forced to go to different countries with a "begging bowl" to meet even its daily expenses.

The prime minister was in the Uttar Pradesh town to lay the foundation stone of a defence corridor in the Bundelkhand region.

Pakistan thinks that it can force India into a bad shape as well, he said, asserting that it has been left behind in development due to policies it has adopted while India has been progressing day and night due to the path it had chosen.

A day after Jammu and Kashmir saw one of the worst terrorist attacks in the state, Modi said every Indian is in anger and he wanted to assure the 130 crore people of India that the sacrifices of CRPF soldiers will "not go in vain".

"Security forces have been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response... This is an India of new convention and policy," he said, drawing big response from the crowd.

He also dwelt at length about the development measures his government has taken for the state.

Modi had cancelled his political events in the wake of the terror attack but continued with government programmes, which included inaugurated of several development projects here and launch of Vande Bharat train in New Delhi.
Pakistani cleric Maulana Masood Azhar (L) who was freed in exchange for hostages on a hijacked Indian plane adjusts his watch during a news conference February 4. Azhar announced the establishment of a new party by the name of Jaishe Muhammad ( the army of the prophet Muhammad) to fight Indian rule in disputed Kashmir region. At right is prominent Pakistani moslem scholar Mufti Shamzai. - PBEAHULNVDI

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) on February 14 claimed responsibility for the suicide bomb blast on a CRPF convoy in Awantipora, Pulwama. At least 40 jawans were martyred.

The terrorist outfit, led and founded by the notorious Masood Azhar, has been responsible for some of the most dastardly terror attacks in India, including the attack on the Indian Air Force Base in Pathankot in January 2016 and the attack on Parliament in December 2001.

Despite its nefarious activities, China has consistently blocked Indias bid to get JeM chief Azhar declared as a designated global terrorist at the United Nations (UN).

On the record, China has condemned the attack in Pulwama, with spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang telling mediapersons, "We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all forms of terrorism. We hope relevant regional countries will cooperate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability."

However, off the record, China has refused to end its technical hold on the ban on Azhar, blocking Indias attempts to declare him a global terrorist, twice this year alone.

In fact, just last week, Chinas vice foreign minister Li Baodong sought to justify Beijings position on the ban on the UN ban on Azhar saying, China is opposed to all forms of terrorism. There should be no double standards on counter-terrorism, nor should one pursue own political gains in the name of counter-terrorism", Mint reported.

When did Indias attempt to ban Azhar start?

The most recent effort began after JeM claimed responsibility for the attack on the Air Force Base in Pathankot. India demanded that Azhar be declared a global terrorist under the aegis of the UNSC (United Nations Security Council) 1267 committee. China, which is one of the five permanent members and hence has the power to veto, intervened at Pakistans behest and stalled the process in the garb of a technical hold in March 2016 and then in October 2016. A day before the technical hold ended, China used its veto power to block the proposal banning Azhar in December 2016.

In January 2017, China again employed a technical hold and blocked the proposal put forward by the US, the UK and France, three of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Azhar was released by the A B Vajpayee government in December 1999, along with Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Omar Sheikh, in exchange for release of the passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814.

Why is China supporting Masood Azhar?

China and Pakistan are believed to be 'all-weather friends', and Beijing often views New Delhi as a competitor and, even a threat. Supporting Azhar could be a way to needle India and appease Pakistan.

Besides, China and Pakistan share a quid pro quo relationship, representing each other in official groups of nations where the other has a scarce representation. For instance, Pakistan stands up for China in Non-Aligned Movement (where Beijing has a scanty representation) and in return, Pakistan gets Chinas veto power in the UNSC.

Another reason could be China holding a grudge against India for giving asylum to Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in 1959, after China occupied Tibet in 1950. For the Chinese, the Dalai Lama is sort of the equivalent of (Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist group leader) Hafeez Saeed for India," an Indian diplomat who was posted in Beijing told Mint.

In addition, China has recently pledged $51 billion in investments and development projects, including One Road One Belt (OROB) plan. The project, when completed, is said to provide China alternate routes to connect to Africa and West Asia, whilst providing infrastructural development to the most backward regions of Pakistan including insurgency-hit Baluchistan.
The White House asked Pakistan to immediately end "support" and "safe haven" to all terror groups as it strongly condemned the Pulwama terrorist attack.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday that left at least 37 personnel dead and many critically wounded.

"The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a late night statement on Thursday.

"This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India," she said in a strongly-worded statement issued by the White House.
Arun jaitley_

Union Minister Arun Jaitley has assumed charge as Finance Minister on February 15.

Jaitley attended a Cabinet Committee meeting on Security at 9.15 am. The Cabinet discussed the terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir's Pulwama that left nearly 40 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) dead and over 18 critically injured.

"Attack on CRPF in Pulwama, J&K is cowardice & a condemnable act of terrorists. Nation salutes martyred soldiers and we all stand united with families of martyrs. We pray for the speedy recovery of the injured. Terrorists will be given unforgettable lesson for their heinous act," Jaitley said in a tweet.



Attack on CRPF in #Pulwama, J&K is a cowardice & condemnable act of terrorists. Nation salutes martyred soldiers and we all stand united with families of martyrs. We pray for speedy recovery of the injured. Terrorists will be given unforgettable lesson for their heinous act.

 Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) February 14, 2019

Jaitley (66) had passed on the temporary charge of the Finance Ministry and Corporate Affairs to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on January 23 as he had to undergo medical treatment in the US. It was Goyal who presented the sixth and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's last budget earlier this month before the general elections due during April-May this year.

Jaitley left for the United States on January 13 for a 'regular medical check-up'. He returned to India on February 9.

He underwent a kidney transplant at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on May 14, 2018. He had stopped attending office at the beginning of April last year due to his kidney ailment and was back in North Block - the seat of Finance Ministry - on August 23, 2018. Even then, Goyal had manned the ministry for about 100 days.

Prior to that, Jaitley underwent a bariatric surgery to treat weight gain in September 2014 that he suffered because of a long-standing diabetic condition.

(With PTI inputs)
February 21, 2019 / 02:09 PM IST

MHA allows entitlement of air travel for all CAPFs personnel

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has approved the entitlement of air travel to all the personnel of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces on the Delhi-Srinagar, Srinagar-Delhi, Jammu-Srinagar and Srinagar-Jammu sectors.

The MHA has said that the decision will immediately benefit approximately 7.80 lakh personnel of the CAPFs in the ranks of Constable, Head Constable and ASI who were otherwise not eligible earlier. This includes journey on duty and journey on leave, i.e. while going on leave from Jammu and Kashmir to home and return.

This facility is in addition to the existing air courier services for CAPFs that have been steadily extended in all sectors by the MHA to help the jawans cut down on travel time during their journey to and fro from home on leave, MHA has added in a tweet.
Pulwama: The terrorist attack, which martyred 40 CRPF personnel in Pulwama, shocked the nation and brought India on a brink of war with Pakistan after the country's forces responded by conducting the Balakot airstrikes. (Image: PTI)

The Pulwama IED blast, which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawans on Thursday, was condemned by countries across the world.

While US ambassador to India, Kenneth Juster, was the first to offer his condolences, all other countries eventually extended their support to unite in the fight against terrorism. The US issued a warning to its people against travelling to Pakistan after the incident that took place on February 14.

Disappointingly, China remained an exception and said its stance on Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar remains unchanged.

Heres what leaders, diplomats, and top ministers of different countries had to say:

1. The US Mission in India strongly condemns today's terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. The US stands alongside India in confronting terror and defeating it. -- Kenneth Juster, US Ambassador to India.

2. We denounce terrorism in all its forms & reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with a decisive and collective response without any double standards. We express condolences to families of the deceased and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. -- Embassy of Russian Federation

3. France has always been and always will be by India's side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms. -- Alexandre Ziegler, French Ambassador to India

4. Our country remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and manifestations and maintains a zero-tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities. Bangladesh would continue to work and cooperate with the international community including India to eradicate the menace of terrorism. -- Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh prime minister

5. The government of Nepal strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir today that has resulted in the loss of many precious lives. In line with its principled position, Nepal unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and believes that such heinous acts of terrorism cannot be justified on any ground. -- Nepal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

6. Strongly condemn the suicide terrorist attack on the convoy carrying Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir today. I extend my prayers and condolences to the bereaved families of the dead and injured. -- Abdulla Shahid, Maldives foreign minister

7. I strongly condemn the brutal terrorist attack in Kashmir's Pulwama district -- the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. I express my condolences to PM Modi and the families of police officers who lost their lives.-- Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka PM

8. Shocked and saddened to hear of the terror attack in Kashmir. We strongly condemn this heinous attack and express our solidarity with families of victims, and people and government of India. Hope perpetrators will be brought to justice.-- Tandi Dorji, Bhutan foreign minister.

9. We strongly condemn today's attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district and express our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and to the government and people of India. -- Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Budget Session 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stone for schemes worth more than Rs 20,000 crore here on Friday and said the Bundelkhand region would soon be developed on the lines of Kutch in Gujarat. Addressing a public meeting after inaugurating various schemes, including the defence corridor and piped drinking water line, the prime minister said, "These projects will give a new dimension to the development of Bundelkhand region which would be done on the lines of Kutch in Gujarat."

Recalling his earlier visits to the region, especially the ones before 2014 general elections, Modi said this time he had come to return the favour with full interest in the form of development for the votes his party got.

Stressing that his government has been working wholeheartedly for development for the past four years, Modi said the Yogi Adityanath government in the state has also been working with the motto of education for children, jobs for youths, medicines for the old and irrigation for the farmers.

"With the defence corridor from Jhansi to Agra, employment opportunities will come up for the youth and the Bundelkhand region will be turned into a corridor of development, " he said.

The prime minister said investments are coming from industrialists from across the world and contracts worth Rs 4,000 crores have already come through.

"Once any big industry comes over, it helps the growth of small and medium businesses in its surrounding," he said.

Speaking on the problem of potable water in the area, Modi said the Rs 9,000-crore piped water supply scheme will ensure drinking water is supplied to Jhansi and Chitrakoot Dham divisions.

He said the Amrit Yojna, set up at a cost of Rs 600 crore for Jhansi district and its surrounding villages, and Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna would benefit almost 95 per cent farmers in the state.

The prime minister said the aim behind the public to open bank accounts in the past four years was to ensure that the money of government subsidy could be directly be deposited in the bank accounts.

"Rs 1 lakh crore is being saved because of the money going directly in the bank accounts which was going in the pockets of some people. Modi is standing like a wall between you and those who are looting you," he said.

The prime minister credited Uttar Pradesh for ensuring a strong, full majority government came to power at the centre in 2014 after a gap of 30 years, and hoped he would continue to have the people's blessings here to develop India.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Thursday said a comprehensive action plan had been prepared to check pollution levels in the Beas and Sutlej rivers as well as to restore the water quality of the state's rivers. Responding to a call attention notice by AAP MLA from Kotkapura Kultar Singh Sandhwan on the third day of the budget session, Singh said given its seriousness, the state government would also take up the issue with the Centre.

Sandhwan had said that the water of Sutlej and Beas had become polluted because of the factory waste being discharged into it and the contaminated water had allegedly given rise to cancer cases in the state.

"Our government is seriously concerned about it and we are committed to restore water quality of state's rivers and have prepared a comprehensive plan in consultation with all departments," Singh informed the House.

The chief minister said that he had already constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the chief secretary, with the concerned administrative secretaries as members, for the regular monitoring of pollution levels in the rivers.

Listing some of the major steps initiated by the state to check river water pollution, the CM informed that that 11 Sewerage Treatment Plants (STP) were installed in 19 towns, and 12 new STPs would be installed in 10 towns by December 31, 2020.

One STP was being upgraded and would be made functional by December 31, 2019, treatment ponds will be provided in 125 villages by June 30, 2020, and 350 cusecs of water would be released from Mukerian Hydel Channel into the Holy Bein, Singh said.

The state health minister Brahm Mohindra further told the House that the newly recruited police personnel in the state were likely to be imparted with driving skills to help them discharge their duties more efficaciously.

The assurance was given by the minister on behalf of the chief minister, who authorised him to respond to the call attention by MLA Dharambir Agnihotri regarding no such training being given to recruits at the Police Training Centre at Jahaan Khelan, District Hoshiarpur.

He stated that in case four-wheeler training programme was to be included in the basic curriculum then the necessary infrastructure and training staff had to be provided and training duration would also be extended, the feasibility of which was being examined by the government.

Punjab Revenue minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria assured the House that because of variation in discharge in river Beas in Kapurthala, only a portion of land in villages Safdarpur and Bajja had eroded while other villages remained unaffected.

"To avoid any mishap in future, the department has prepared an estimate of Rs 50 lakh for construction of studs and revetments filled with sand at one of the sites of erosion," said the minister.

He was replying to the call attention notice of Aman Arora, Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Gurpartap Singh Wadala who sought to draw attention of minister towards damage being caused by the river to agriculture land of villages Safdarpur, Arian Juggian in Kapurthala.
Pulwama: The terrorist attack, which martyred 40 CRPF personnel in Pulwama, shocked the nation and brought India on a brink of war with Pakistan after the country's forces responded by conducting the Balakot airstrikes. (Image: PTI)

The attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district on February 14 killed 44 CRPF personnel in the deadliest attack on security forces in decades.

The death of jawans in terror attacks has risen 106 percent in Jammu and Kashmir in the past five years, according to data from the South Asia Terrorism Portal. In 2018, 457 security personnel were killed in terror attacks compared to 354 the previous year.

Catch Live updates of developments in Pulwama terror attack here.

Last year, the country witnessed 52 major terrorist attacks, which claimed the lives of 249 jawans.

The number of terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir alone has jumped 177 percent in the past five years, according to a written reply submitted by Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir in Lok Sabha on February 5, 2019.

A rising trend was also observed in the number of people who were killed in terrorism-related activities in Jammu & Kashmir in these five years. A total of 1,315 people were killed in the state between 2014 and 2018 due to terrorism. Of these, 138 (10.49 percent) were civilians, 339 (25 percent) security personnel, and 838 (63.72 percent) were terrorists.

To fight terrorism, India has been hiking its military funding over the years. Amid tension with neighbouring countries, India has stepped up its military spending by nearly 54 percent in a 10-year span aiming to be at par with other nations' defence power.

Read: DATA STORY: Military spend rose 54% in past 10 years, but India still far behind China in defence prowess

In Union Budget 2019, the government set aside an outlay of Rs 3 lakh crore for the defence budget of fiscal FY20, which is an increase of just 1.67 percent over last year's allocation of Rs 2.95 lakh crore. Out of the total allocation, Rs 1.03 lakh crore has been pegged for capital outlay, which includes expenditure on modernisation of the three forces, purchase of new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware.

Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack in Pulwama. The Indian government accused Pakistan of letting militant groups operate from its soil and called on it to take action. Islamabad, however, has rejected the suggestion that it was linked to the attack.
Nitin Gadkari

Union minister of road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, met Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, and chief secretary, Vijay Dev to discuss various infrastructure projects in Delhi-NCR and to kick-start them before poll code of conduct is imposed in March. The projects included Delhi-Mumbai eway, Delhi-Meerut rapid rail and Dwarka expressway.

According to a report in The Times of India, the union minister met various officials from the Delhi government to urge them to expedite tree felling exercise for Dwarka expressway. Sources told the paper that the LG and chief secretary will soon meet chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, to discuss the projects.

The report also said that Gadkari told the officials that NHAI would have no options but to terminate the contracts of the projects if the approvals dont come.

The Dwarka eway has been delayed due to protest against felling of 10,000 trees along the 4 kilometer stretch in Delhi.

Gadkari is also expected to seek Prime Minister, Narendra Modis time, to lay foundation stone for Delhi-Mumbai expressway. The total cost of the project is estimated to be around Rs one lakh crore and will reduce the travel time between Delhi and Mumbai by 12 hours.

The Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut rapid rail will begin at Sarai Kale Khan in the national capital and will go up to Modipuram in Meerut, passing through Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Murad Nagar, Modi Nagar.
Below-normal monsoon rains and an infestation of the fall armyworm, which devastated African crops in 2017, have slashed India's corn output and boosted prices, increasing the chances the government will grant duty-free corn imports for the first time since 2016.

The shift to imports in the world's seventh-largest corn producer, which typically exports to Asia, highlights the breadth of the crop losses due to the drought and armyworm. It also demonstrates the potential harm that the armyworm may wreak on India's agricultural economy, which supports nearly half of India's 1.3 billion people.

India harvests two sets of corn crops a year, a winter crop from March and a summer crop from September.

For the summer crop in the 2017/18 crop year ending in June, India harvested 20.24 million tonnes, according data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare.

However, between the lower-than-normal monsoon rainfall and the armyworm infestation, summer crop output for 2018/19 crop year is forecast to drop to less than 16 million tonnes, according to Subhranil Dey, a senior research analyst at commodity brokerage SMC Comtrade Ltd in New Delhi.

"The weather wasn't good and there was the pest infestation as well," said Dey, adding that India's government will need to allow imports.

"Imports will help in bringing down prices. But the government may not allow huge imports. It will allow them cautiously in a phased manner."

India harvested 8.47 million tonnes of winter corn in 2018, but the planted area for the winter crop this year shrank 11 percent, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare.

As a result, corn prices in the state of Maharashtra, considered the domestic benchmark, have risen by more than 30 percent in the past two months to a record of about 20,000 rupees ($280) per tonne. That is up from 13,000 rupees a year ago.

Poultry producers and corn starch manufacturers are hopeful the shipments will rein in the price increases that they are struggling to pass on to consumers.

"We have been demanding duty free imports of at least 500,000 tonnes. Our production cost has gone up due to the jump in corn prices," said Prasanna Pedgaonkar, general manager at Venky's, India's biggest poultry producer. Corn-based feed usually makes up two-thirds of poultry production costs.

Imports must overcome two hurdles. First, the government must agree to lift a 60 percent import tax. Second, imports must be non-genetically modified (GM) strains as India does not allow the cultivate or import of GM crops.

India's government has allowed duty-free imports as recently as 2016, when the 181,000 tonnes were imported.

However, few countries export non-GM corn in large quantities, so finding sufficient GM-free supplies may be a challenge for traders, said Amit Sachdev, the South Asia Representative for the U.S. Grains Council.

India's government has not decided on petitions received from importers to allow duty-free imports, said a federal government official, who asked to remain unidentified since he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The government may also delay imports until after the upcoming national elections in May to bolster the ruling party's status with farmers, said Mumbai-based trader at global firm.

"Allowing imports just before elections may send a negative message to farmers," the trader said.

The imports will not ease the losses for farmers grappling with the infestation of fall armyworm, a voracious caterpillar in its larval stage that can spread more than 100 km (60 miles) in a night as a moth.

In 2016 and 2017, the pest ravaged corn crops in Zimbabwe, Malawi and the continent's largest producer South Africa.

The invasive species, originally from Central and North America, arrived in India only in the middle of last year after plundering Sri Lankan produce.

The armyworm plague caught Indian farmers by surprise.

"By the time we identify the pest, it had damaged the crop on a large scale," says farmer Mittal Waykar, showing the infestation effects on his 1-acre (0.4-hectare) corn plot in Maharashtra.
Narendra Modi

The BJP has extended its 'Bharat ke Mann ki Baat, Modi ke Saath' programme, seeking people's mandate ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, to Uttar Pradesh, a party leader said.

BJP president Amit Shah and senior party leader Rajnath Singh had launched the month-long exercise on February 3 to seek suggestions from 10 crore people across the country to help the party prepare its 'sankalp patra' (manifesto).

The programme held at the district-level in the state will witness participation of Union ministers and senior party office bearers who will reach out to voters from different sections of the society, programme convenor Santosh Singh said.

The programme was launched in the state on February 14 and will commence on March 3, he said.

He said, "The BJP has started Bharat ke Mann ki Baat, Modi ke saath campaign with an aim to know what type of Bharat people want? What is their imagination for a new India? What are the expectations from the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi? and what are the suggestions for the government?".

On February 17, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and senior BJP leader Ram Lal will interact with artists and intellectuals in Lucknow. On February 20, Union minister Smriti Irani will interact with fishermen and boatmen in Varanasi.

National spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi will be in Meerut on February 22. On the same day, Union minister Uma Bharti will meet small traders in Jhansi.

Similarly, party national general secretary Arun Singh will be in Mirzapur to link people associated with the handloom industry, the programme convenor said.

He said External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will be in Gorakhpur on March 3 and interact with migrant workers and seek suggestions from them.

The politically crucial state sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha.

UP BJP media coordinator Rakesh Tripathi also informed that one video van will be moving in every Lok Sabha constituency and a feedback box will be placed in every assembly constituency in the state, to enable the people to give their views.

"The video of the achievements of the Modi government will be played in the video van. Apart from this, information and feedback will be gathered from the voters for the election manifesto, and an appeal will be made to the voters to vote for the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections," Tripathi said.

In the last general elections, the BJP had won 71 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. Its ally the Apna Dal bagged two seats.

The Samajwadi Party won five seats while the BSP did not win any seat.

The Congress had registered win on two seats in the state.
Cognizant

US authorities on Friday announced criminal charges against two former Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp officials for their roles in a bribery scheme in India, and said the company will pay $25 million to settle a related civil case.

The US Department of Justice said former president Gordon Coburn and former chief legal officer Steven Schwartz were charged in a 12-count indictment with violating the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other offenses.

Cognizant's payment, which includes a $6 million fine, resolves a related case by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The information technology services company is based in Teaneck, New Jersey.
If you think ordering groceries online is simple, then launching an illegal cyberattack might just come easy to you.

It is mostly a lot of research,said John Shier, Senior Security Advisor of the UK-based cybersecurity firm Sophos, at a recent event in Bengaluru. You dont need to know complex algorithms, just know where you can find what service and you are good to go, he said.

Explaining the steps sophisticated cyber criminals use, Shier listed out simple steps one needs to follow for launching a cyberattack. "First, buy some bitcoins from a legal site. You can then use that to get your hands on some stolen credit card numbers from dumpsites."

The stolen credit card numbers are available on dumpsites accessible through the darknet. They are then used by cybercriminals to buy cryptocurrencies, which are then spent on more sophisticated attacks such as email spam, and malicious documents and services that offer Ransomware as a Service (RaaS).

The cost of buying ransomware could range from $100 to $1200, based on the number of ransomware services one has access to, and the desktops and systems one wants to infect.

A commission is charged for the service these platforms offer, which also depends on price range one chooses. The higher the price, the more value you get out of it, quipped Shier.

It is hardly a wonder that individuals and nation states are facing rising incidents of cyberattacks. These attacks, apart from incurring a huge cost, also have an adverse impact on security.

Though it is hard to put a number on the loss, Shier said recent leaks throw some insights. When the darknet market Alphabay was shutdown, the US law enforcement confiscated over $8 million worth of cryptocurrencies, reveals a news report.

According to report by Sophos, SamSam ransomware raked in nearly $6 million in ransom, with most of the victims based in the US followed by Australia, India, Netherlands, West Asia, Canada, Belgium and the UK.

According to the answers to a parliamentary question on cyberattacks in India, close to 33,147, 30,067 and 15,779 Indian websites were hacked in 2016, 2017 and up till November 2018 respectively.

According to recent statistics, the cost of stolen records globally will reach $33 billion by 2023, with the US accounting for more than half, as opposed to $12 billion in 2018.

And activity on the darknet is only increasing despite continuous efforts taken to curb it. According to analytics platform Chainanalysis, business in darknet platform totaled over $600 million in 2018, with more than $2 million a day toward the end of the year.

To combat this, Shier says there are two things individuals/companies can do  Better their security strategy and keep up their wits. Peter Mackenzie, Global Malware Escalations Manager at Sophos, said in a statement that companies should ensure that their network is less visible and open to attack. IT managers should follow security practices, including hard-to-crack passwords and rigorous patching.
Chinese President Xi Jinping

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday trade talks with the United States will continue in Washington next week and that he hopes the two sides will be able to reach a mutually beneficial deal in the upcoming negotiations, state media reported.

Xi said during a meeting with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that talks in Beijing this week made progress and that China is willing to solve economic and trade disputes with the United States via cooperation, according to a report by Xinhua.

Lighthizer and Mnuchin said during the meeting that they maintain hope although there is still much work to be done, and that they are willing to work with China to reach a deal that is in line with the interests of both countries, according to Xinhua.
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Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) jumped as much as 5.5 percent in early trade after the company reported strong results for the quarter ended December 31, 2018.

The stock trimmed some gains later in the trade though.

The company reported a net profit of Rs 8,263 crore for the third quarter, a jump of almost 65 percent from the same quarter last year.

ONGC's Q3 gross revenue rose 20.4 percent YoY to Rs 27,694 crore.

The board also approved an interim dividend of Rs 5.5 per equity share.

At 09:19 hours, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation was quoting at Rs 137.05 on the BSE, up 3.75 percent.
Startups

Moneycontrol News

To be or not to be. The opening phrase of a soliloquy by Prince Hamlet in one of Shakespeare's famous play can best describe the current position of the government with regards to the e-commerce policy.

Barely a couple of months away from the Lok Sabha elections, the government is in a fix on whether to first launch a draft for consultation or release the e-commerce policy directly.

According to sources, while DIPP - the nodal ministry formulating the policy - wants to directly release the policy, other ministries involved are pushing for a draft policy and a public consultation before the policy sees the light of the day.

As per sources, the draft policy has been prepared and if all goes well, it could be floated in the next few days.

However, it will be interesting to see how quickly it is implemented.

This is a Catch-22 situation for the government, which has already received a lot of flak from global e-commerce companies following the recently launched Press Note 2.

Press Note 2 which consists of revised foreign direct investment (FDI) guidelines bars marketplaces from doing business with sellers in which they have invested or hold equity. It also restricts the marketplaces who have thrived by giving discounts to customers, from directly or indirectly influencing the price of the goods sold on their platforms.

If the government comes up with a full fledged policy not many companies who have invested billions of dollars in the Indian market would like it depending upon to what extent will it impact their business.

In such a situation, if any company moves the court against the policy, it will be an embarrassing situation for the government.

On the other hand, if the government comes up with a draft policy, it will have to give the stakeholders atleast 15 days to respond. This will stretch it to the first week of March when the dates of the Lok Sabha elections are expected to be announced. Once the dates are announced, the code of conduct will be implemented with immediate effect and it will bar the government from making any policy decision.

According to sources, the much awaited e-commerce policy is likely to focus on the issue of data protection and its local storage. The idea is to boost India's position in global trade negotiations. The clarification on the model in which the e-commerce company should conduct operations in India has already been defined by Press Note 2, which was announced in December.

However, it will be interesting to see if there are any further clarification on that in the policy given that it could likely be included in the bigger umbrella.

Mid last year, the government had also set up a think-tank which comprised domestic firms and industry bodies to formulate the e-commerce policy. However, it didn't see any participation from global firms such as Amazon, Walmart and Uber.

While the government did receive a lot of representations and comments from the industry, the two major players that currently govern over 80% of the e-commerce market share - Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, were missing from these meetings.
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RN Bhaskar

Meeting Prof Edward Altman was like a pilgrimage. For 25 years, I have looked at the Altman Z-score model with reverence. I became more familiar with the model when tweaking it and redesigning it with the help of two extremely bright Wharton graduates -- Chetan and Vinay Parikh -- in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The model we had then developed was intended to do predict excellence in each industry (because each industry has a different set of dynamics under which it operates). It was quite the opposite of what the Z-score does which is to predict bankruptcy.

Each week, we used the model to determine the best performer in an industry segment for a large publishing group. We continued this from 1990 to 1998. Then I decided to leave the group. So did the Wharton geniuses. There was nobody left to understand the multi-variant discriminant analysis model and the exercise was scrapped.

But what we discovered in the fourth year was invaluable. Over 85 percent of the industry winners had outperformed the BSE Sensex. It had become an amazing investment model as well.

Prof Altman, who is Professor of Finance, Emeritus, at New York University's Stern School of Business has dedicated more than 50 years studying bankruptcy. He was in Mumbai recently, at the invitation of Assocham, to educate Indian bankers, credit rating agencies and investment managers about how the model works. He has also developed a new model -- Z double prime.

As Prof Altman puts it, It was built in 1995 for non-manufacturers, even though it has assets among the variables it considers. We found Z double prime to be accurate for retailers. But I cannot really say it will be accurate for technology firms. However, this model is appropriate for retail, energy, services sector etc. It focusses on four variables rather than five. We eliminated the fifth variable -- sales to total assets.

Altman is also in India to develop new models for the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector that would be both industry and region specific. As he puts it, We have built models for the SME area in 19 European countries. We are now beginning to look at India because the need is urgent, and for the first time you have a good bankruptcy code, though it is early days yet.

He sees a big problem in data collation, though. To develop the model, one needs a very large amount of data.

A laymans guide to Z score

Typically, this data is divided into three clusters. One cluster would comprise around 100 companies that almost everyone agrees are good companies. Another set would comprise a similar number of companies that people reckon are bad companies. The rest of the companies would form the third (very large) cluster. A regression multi-variant regression analysis is then done in order to find out how the selected ratios explain the goodness or badness of each company. The ratios have to be tweaked till one gets a higher R square (the ratio which tells you whether the model is working well in determining the soundness of the companies). The higher the R square, the better is the way the model works.

But this is not possible unless data sizes are large.

That is why, explains Prof Altman, India uses this model to look at equity rather than debt. The data size of debt instruments in India is not large. As the debt market improves, you will find a greater application of this model for ranking debt too.

In India, for instance, his model was used to identify possible bankruptcy for at least 10 companies two years before the crisis finally hit home. This included companies like Essar Steel, Lanco, Bhushan Power & Steel, Alok Industries, Monet Ispat, Era Infra Engineering, Electrosteel, Amtek Auto, Jyoti Structures and IL&FS (see slides 26-35 here). Yet, as Prof Altman points out, credit ratings companies gave them investment grade rankings till a few months before the declaration of default.

These ratings companies should be using this model more often, he said.

Altman Z-score was developed in the 1960s. In its initial runs, the Altman Z-Score was found to be 72 percent accurate in predicting bankruptcy two years before the event. In subsequent versions, the model was found -- by 1999 -- to be approximately 8090 percent accurate in predicting bankruptcy one year before the event. Though designed initially for manufacturing companies with assets of more than $1 million, it has now been modified in various ways to deal with smaller companies across all sectors. It is used by auditors, management accountants, courts, and database systems for loan evaluation.

But, as Prof Altman warns, In case of assets-light companies like Uber, both models will be a problem. I dont have an answer to that. I will have to build a separate model for technology companies like Airbnb, Uber and so on. Additionally, we would need a significantly large number of such companies before we build a separate model. We would also need defaults in this space to build the new model. I love defaults and bankruptcies. Not because I am a sadist but because I get data. I have said that over years. My model will not be appropriate for firms with less assets or no assets. I cannot do anything about it. 

But, as he points out, models for such sectors too will soon get developed. Today the number of such companies is very small. We need more companies; and bankruptcies. When bankruptcies occur, we can then analyse them better, and find out the tell-tale ratios that could have predicted the collapse.

Expect Prof Altman to be in the news more often in India.

The author is consulting editor with moneycontrol.com
Cement

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Highlights

- Delivered a strong performance in Q3FY19- Strong market positioning in the North East- Generates best-in-class EBITDA per tonne- Operating at 60-65 percent capacity

- Valuations look attractive after recent stock correction

-------------------------------------------------

Star Cement is the largest cement manufacturer in North East India and enjoys a strong positioning in the market. The outlook for the company looks positive as the demand in the region continues to be fairly robust and cement realisations are stable. Operational performance in Q3 was also strong as the company regained its mojo after a couple of lacklustre quarters and reported margins in excess of 29 percent. The stock offers an attractive investment proposition at this point, considering its capacity expansion, earnings outlook, moderation in commodity prices and current valuations.

Market leader in North East

Star Cement is the largest cement manufacturer in the North East with a grinding capacity of 4.3 million metric tonne (MT), which translates to an estimated market share of 22-23 percent in the region. The company is one of the lowest cost cement producers in the country owing to integrated operations, which includes captive limestone mine and an in-house power plant. Given the unique market positioning in the region with fairly low competitive intensity, its unitary realisations and EBITDA stand in excess of Rs 6,000 and Rs 1,800, respectively.

Promoted by the Century plywood group

The company is controlled by the Bhajanka family, the promoters of Century Plywoodthe largest producer of plywood, laminates and block-boards in India. The promoter group owns around 70 percent stake in the company and has experience of more than 40 years in the building material industry with business interests spanning across Plywood, Ferro Silicon and Granite. Sajjan Bhajanka is the Chairman of the Star Cement, while Sanjay Agarwal is the Managing Director (MD), who is also the MD of Century Plyboards.

Sufficient capacity headroom to capture growth

The company is operating at a capacity utilisation of about 60-65 percent and remains well positioned to benefit from a demand uptick in the northeast. The demand outlook is positive. With no new capacities in the pipeline, the price trend is anticipated to move in favour of the cement players in the near to medium term.

The company has also debottlenecked its clinker unit by 0.2 MT to 2.8 MT in the current financial year. It is planning to further debottleneck the clinker unit by the same amount over the next few months. Also, the railway sliding at its Guwahati plant is expected to commence operations in Q4FY19.

The company is in the process of setting up 2 MT grinding capacity in Siliguri, West Bengal, with a capital expenditure of around Rs 200-250 crore. This facility is expected to start by FY20-end.

Cost pressures to ease going forward

Operating profit margins have been on a decline amid rising cost pressures. Expenses have increased due to multiple factors. For example, freight expenses jumped as the related subsidies expired in January 2018. Also, the anticipated axle load benefits (the increase in the carrying capacity of a vehicle by 20-25 percent) has not had a positive impact on the transportation costs and continue to be higher owing to diesel prices. Further, a rise in coal prices resulted in increased power and fuel expenses. Going forward, we expect the cost pressures to ease as commodity prices have started coming off and this should aid margin improvement in the coming quarters.

Q3 performance came in strong

Star Cement reported sales growth of 11 percent on the back of higher volumes and realisations. The company recorded a volume growth of 6 percent year-on-year (YoY) owing to strong demand in the northeast region. Cement sale in the northeast was 0.5 MT (metric tonnes) compared to 0.42 MT in the same quarter last year. Though clinker sale volumes fell nearly 74 percent YoY to 0.015 MT, it increased by 85 percent sequentially.

Operating margins recovered on a sequential basis to 29.3 percent, compared with 19 percent in Q2 FY19. The margins were, however, lower than last year as the company incurred higher freight expenses on account of expiry of related subsidy (around Rs 300 per ton) in Jan 2018.

The top line also benefitted from a 5 percent improvement in realisations. EBITDA per tonne stood in excess of Rs 1,800 despite the rise in costs. This is majorly in-line with the guidance shared by the management at the start of this fiscal year.

Trading at attractive valuations

With a pick-up in infrastructure development activities, the demand is expected to remain firm overall. Governments focus on infrastructure development should propel the regional industry growth to 7-8 percent in the near to medium term.

Star Cement (CMP: Rs 86; market cap: Rs 3,595 crores) with its unique geographical positioning is well placed to capture the demand in the northeast region. The company is trading at an FY20 Enterprise Value/EBITDA multiple of nearly 7 times and offers an attractive investment proposition from a medium to long term perspective.
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Highlights:



KKR-Emami in talks for Rs 2,000 crore structured deal- Funds to be utilised for debt repayment and release of pledge shares- Deal to be secured through cement and property assets- Deal can potentially take away a major investors concern for the FMCG business-------------------------------------------------

Media reports suggest that Emami group is in advanced negotiations with US private equity firm KKR for a structured credit deal worth Rs 2,000 crore, which would be utilised to repay a substantial part of the debt at the group level. The management of Emami's FMCG unit had indicated a private equity deal in its January 31 conference call.

Over the years, the Emami group has diversified in to 11 sectors ranging from edible oil to pharmacy retail with a combined revenue of Rs 16,000 crore. In the last 10 years, it has reportedly acquired 10 companies or brands, which includes the Rs 1,650 crore Kesh King and a heavy investment in the cement sector (upwards of Rs 4,000 crore).

To finance part of this, the promoters have pledged shares in one of the most profitably run business  the FMCG business of Emami. Its noteworthy that Emamis profitability (gross margin: 68 percent and EBITDA margin of 28 percent) is one of the highest in the FMCG sector.

As per its last conference call, the share pledge by promoters stood at 47 percent. So, while FMCG units debt-to-equity ratio (0.04) is miniscule, higher percentage of pledged shares have raised investor concerns in recent times. This means that any miscalculated investment decision for other group companies and debt obligations at the group level could have an implication for the FMCG unit business.

Source: Company

The debt facility is expected to be charged in the of 12-15 percent range and would be secured by groups cement and property business.

Further, the Emami group is also working on rationalising its businesses and giving priority to its core businesses: consumer goods and cement. In turn, it might also get rid of its non-core assets such as healthcare/pharmacies.

While the FMCG core business in itself is not in fine fettle, there are improving signs of growth. In recent times, the company has been able re-position key products like Kesh King range and Zandu Pancharishta. Further, concerns on account of domestic distribution is easing. Wholesale channels share has stabilised at 38 percent and direct reach has improved to near 9.25 lakh outlets, which is 50 percent higher than two years back.

Read: Emami Q3 review: Success in silos but mojo is missing

However, the stock's performance is in complete contrast with the trajectory seen for key FMCG leaders. While Emami has dropped 40 percent from its 52-week high, the market leader is trading close to its 52-week high. Emami is trading at 26 times FY20 estimated earnings, which is a near 50 percent discount to leading FMCG companies (Marico, Hindustan Unilever and Dabur).

If the deal gets through, wherein there is a significant decline in pledge shares and the FMCG business doesnt participate in the securitisation of deal, then it can potentially re-rate the FMCG business.

Follow @anubhavsays

For more research articles, visit our Moneycontrol Research page

Moneycontrol Research analysts do not hold positions in the companies discussed here
The next stop for Nifty is 10,500 on the downside, said Andrew Holland, CEO, Avendus Capital Alternate Strategies, adding that there seems to be no support from the global economic data.

Holland is of the view that it would be better to look at individual stocks.

According to him, the US retail data indicates that the economy is in recession, Germany is next and Italy and UK are also there.

He does not believe the worst is over for the auto companies. "They were enjoying double-digit growth and now they are not and that is going to have to reverse in terms of operational gearing. So, now the companies will start spending more on advertising, giving more discounts, reduce prices and there would be a price war, which would impact their margins," said Holland.

"The market has not taken this into account yet. One should expect a 15-20 percent decline in profitability for most of the auto stocks," he added.

With regards to financials, he said he still likes private banks. "The interesting thing is that there is new management coming in for most of the banks and that could change the pecking order over next few years and give us opportunities to pick some winners from that. As of now, the house is tracking new management at Yes Bank and Axis Bank before taking a call on the banks," he said.

Source: CNBC-TV18
Here are stocks that are in the news today:

Results on February 15: Amtek Auto, Garg Furnace, Integrated Technologies, Siddha Ventures, VCU Data Management

Jet Airways: Board approved a Bank led Provisional Resolution Plan (BLPRP) which proposes restructuring under the provisions of the RBI circular in order to meet a funding gap of nearly Rs 8,500 crore.

Minda Industries: Board approved composite scheme of amalgamation amongst Harita Limited and Harita Venu Private Limited and Harita Cheema Private Limited and Harita Financial Services Limited and Harita Seating Systems Limited and Minda Industries Limited and their respective shareholders.

Govt hikes minimum selling price of sugar by Rs 2/kg

Infibeam Q3 - Net profit at Rs 27 cr Vs Rs 1.9 cr, YoY

Prime Focus Q3: Profit at Rs 26.8 crore versus loss Rs 8.65 crore; revenue jumps to Rs 645 crore versus Rs 590 crore YoY.

JK Tyre & Industries: Board approved issue of equity shares of Rs 2 each of the company to the promoter group on preferential basis, upto an amount aggregating to Rs 200 crore.

JK Tyre & Indusries Q3: Consolidated profit jumps to Rs 26.7 crore versus Rs 11 crore; revenue rises to Rs 2,731 crore versus Rs 2,123 crore YoY.

Nitco Q3: Loss Rs 8.9 crore versus loss Rs 8.1 crore; revenue rises Rs 166.2 crore versus Rs 137.8 crore YoY.

Liberty Shoes Q3: Profit dips to Rs 1.21 crore versus Rs 2.65 crore; revenue declines to Rs 145.44 crore versus Rs 163.2 crore YoY.

Donear Industries Q3: Profit rises to Rs 5.14 crore versus Rs 4.74 crore; revenue increases to Rs 152 crore versus Rs 131.5 crore YoY.

S Chand & Company Q3: Consolidated loss at Rs 81.5 crore versus loss Rs 26 crore; revenue Rs 4.6 crore versus Rs 68 crore YoY.

Kitex Garments Q3: Profit down 30 percent to Rs 12 crore versus Rs 17.6 crore; revenue down 7.6 percent to Rs 136 crore versus Rs 147.3 crore YoY

Tata Teleservices Q3: Net loss at Rs 409.4 crore versus loss of Rs 480.7 crore; revenue down 27 percent at Rs 305 crore versus Rs 418.3 crore YoY

CCL Products Q3: Consolidated net profit down 19.3 percent at Rs 33 crore versus Rs 40.4 crore; consolidated revenue down 14.6 percent at Rs 234.1 crore versus Rs 274 crore YoY

Surya Roshni Q3: Profit up 0.3 percent at Rs 31.1 crore versus Rs 31 crore; revenue up 22.3 percent at Rs 1,605.3 crore versus Rs 1,312.8 crore YoY

Eveready Industries Q3: Profit down 99 percent at Rs 0.2 crore versus Rs 20.9 crore; revenue up 2.6 percent at Rs 379.2 crore versus Rs 369.6 crore YoY.

Nesco Q3: Profit down 4.1 percent at Rs 42 crore versus Rs 43.8 crore; revenue up 9.8 percent at Rs 88.5 crore versus Rs 80.6 crore YoY.

Jet Airways Q3: Net loss of Rs 587.8 crore versus profit of Rs 165.2 crore; revenue up 1 percent at Rs 6,148 crore versus Rs 6,086.2 crore YoY.

Ahluwalia Contracts Q3: Net profit down 7.6 percent at Rs 27 crore versus Rs 29.1 crore; revenue up 15.9 percent at Rs 418.5 crore versus Rs 361.1 crore YoY.

Deep Industries Q3: Net profit down 18.3 percent at Rs 15 crore versus Rs 18.3 crore; revenue down 21.2 percent at Rs 61 crore versus Rs 77.6 crore YoY.

Adhunik Metaliks Q3: Net loss of Rs 125 crore versus loss of Rs 123.8 crore; operating revenue nil versus Rs 159.4 crore YoY.

ONGC Q3: Net profit at Rs 8,262.7 crore; revenue at Rs 27,694 crore YoY

Indian Acroreylics Q3: Net profit at Rs 5 crore versus Rs 0.62 crore; revenue up 12 percent at Rs 101.2 crore versus Rs 90.3 crore YoY.

Glenmark Pharma Q3: Net profit up 15.2 percent at Rs 107.6 crore versus Rs 93.4 crore; revenue up 15.9 percent at Rs 2,555 crore versus Rs 2,203.6 crore YoY.

MTNL Q3: Net loss at Rs 832.3 crore versus loss of Rs 639 crore; revenue at Rs 514.5 crore versus Rs 580.1 crore YoY.

Finolex Cables Q3: Net profit up 1.4 percent at Rs 75.9 crore versus Rs 74.9 crore; revenue up 14.1 percent at Rs 749.5 crore versus Rs 656.8 crore YoY.

ITDC Q3: Profit down 56 percent at Rs 5.9 crore versus Rs 13.4 crore; revenue down 4 percent at Rs 95.7 crore versus Rs 99.7 crore YoY.

Time Technoplast Q3: Consolidated net profit up 15.9 percent at Rs 56 crore versus Rs 48 crore; revenue up 15.6 percent at Rs 872.7 crore versus Rs 754.7 crore YoY.

Kohinoor Foods Q3: Net loss at Rs 59.4 crore versus profit of Rs 0.8 crore; revenue down 3.6 percent at Rs 198.4 crore versus Rs 205.9 crore YoY.

Indiabulls Real Estate Q3: profit at Rs 202.4 crore versus loss of Rs 3.3 crore; revenue at Rs 1,271.1 crore versus Rs 242.1 crore YoY.

Talwalkars Better Value Q3: Profit up 43.8 percent at Rs 2.3 crore versus Rs 1.6 crore; revenue up 76.6 percent at Rs 22.6 crore versus Rs 12.8 crore YoY.

Nestle Q4: Profit up 9.6 percent at Rs 341.8 crore versus Rs 311.8 crore; revenue up 11.4 percent at Rs 2,897.3 crore versus Rs 2,601.5 crore YoY.

Unitech Q3: Loss at Rs 97.8 crore versus profit of Rs 18.1 crore; revenue down 86.3 percent at Rs 50.8 crore versus Rs 370.9 crore YoY.

Gayatri Projects Q3: Profit up 3 percent at Rs 47.9 crore versus Rs 46.5 crore; revenue down 2.9 percent at Rs 877.9 crore versus Rs 903.9 crore YoY.

Ujaas Energy Q3: Profit down 46.2 percent at Rs 2 crore versus Rs 3.9 crore; revenue down 66 percent at Rs 25.6 crore versus Rs 75.4 crore YoY.

Vivimed Labs Q3: Consolidated net profit down 48.2 percent at Rs 11 crore versus Rs 20.9 crore; revenue down 18.6 percent at Rs 243.9 crore versus Rs 299.6 crore YoY.

Alok Industries Q3: Loss at Rs 1,259.3 crore versus Rs 4,748.6 crore; revenue down 29.1 percent at Rs 676 crore versus Rs 952.3 crore YoY.

India Glycols Q3: Profit down 19.9 percent at Rs 35 crore versus Rs 43.7 crore; revenue down 9.4 percent at Rs 1,230.8 crore versus Rs 1,359.1 crore YoY.

Videocon Industries Q3: Loss at Rs 1,023.1 crore versus loss of Rs 1,272 crore; revenue at Rs 209.6 crore versus Rs 362.9 crore YoY.

Dalmia Bharat Sugar Q3: Profit down 20.1 percent at Rs 43 crore versus Rs 54.2 crore; revenue down 30 percent at Rs 422 crore versus Rs 603.7 crore YoY.

Mcleod Russel Q3: Profit down 20.6 percent at Rs 53.6 crore versus Rs 67.5 crore; revenue down 16.4 percent at Rs 465.2 crore versus Rs 556.4 crore YoY.

Responsive Industries: Board appointed Mrunal Shetty as additional director and chief financial officer on the board of the company.

BGR Energy Systems: Company proposed sale of investments in a wholly owned subsidiary.

Tata Power Solar: Company now launches an extensive residential rooftop solution at Hyderabad.

Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation Q3: Profit dips to Rs 1.24 crore versus Rs 29.2 crore; revenue falls to Rs 623.7 crore versus Rs 939.5 crore YoY.

Kridhan Infra: Singapore-based subsidiary KH Foges Pte. Ltd. received a new order in Singapore worth S$ 36 million (Rs 187 crore).

Venus Remedies Q3: Loss at Rs 12 crore versus loss Rs 4.2 crore; revenue dips to Rs 69 crore versus Rs 93 crore YoY.

Shree Renuka Sugars Q3: Profit at Rs 68.6 crore versus loss Rs 2294 crore; revenue dips to Rs 1,092.6 crore versus Rs 1,758.8 crore YoY.

BGR Energy Systems Q3: Profit at Rs 10.8 crore versus loss Rs 4.34 crore; revenue rises to Rs 831.5 crore versus Rs 707.6 crore YoY.

Bharat Dynamics Q3: Profit surges to Rs 188.3 crore versus Rs 6.2 crore; revenue rises to Rs 1,038 crore versus Rs 822 crore YoY.

Cox & Kings Q3: Consolidated profit drops to Rs 28.9 crore versus Rs 95 crore; revenue rises to Rs 1,308 crore versus Rs 1,130 crore YoY.

Indo Rama Synthetics Q3: Loss at Rs 40 crore versus loss Rs 19 crore; revenue dips to Rs 508 crore versus Rs 524 crore YoY.

RPP Infra Projects Q3: Profit at Rs 7.2 crore versus loss Rs 9.3 crore; revenue dips to Rs 134 crore versus Rs 137 crore YoY.

Infosys: RBL Bank adopts Finacle Assure for preventive maintenance on AWS cloud.

Mishra Dhatu Nigam Q3: Profit dips to Rs 16.9 crore versus Rs 26.5 crore; revenue rises to Rs 153 crore versus Rs 147 crore YoY.

Kohinoor Foods Q3: Loss at Rs 59 crore versus profit Rs 0.83 crore; revenue dips to Rs 198 crore versus Rs 206 crore YoY.

PNC Infratech: PNC Triveni Sangam Highways Private Limited received the financial closure from National Highways Authority of India.

GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare Q3: Profit rises to Rs 221 crore versus Rs 164 crore; revenue increases to Rs 1,116.8 crore versus Rs 1,039 crore YoY.

J Kumar Infraprojects: Company received work order worth Rs 444.98 crore of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

Tera Software: Company received projects three projects worth Rs 252.74 crore, Rs 33.75 crore and 2.15 crore respectively.

Bulk Deals on February 14

NSE

Automotive Axles: UTI Mutual Fund A/C UT160 (UTI-Mid Cap Fund) sold 1,89,511 shares of the company at Rs 1,130 per share.

Suumaya Lifestyle: Bakulesh Omprakash Agarwal sold 1,60,000 shares of the company at Rs 31 per share.

Tara Jewels: Punjab National Bank sold 2,00,000 shares of the company at Rs 0.55 per share.

Zee News: IFCI sold another 59,59,344 shares of the company at a price of Rs 13.38 per share.

BSE

Automotive Axles: UTI Mutual Fund also sold 1,50,000 shares of the company at Rs 1,130 per share on the BSE.

Punj Lloyd: IFCI sold 20,34,050 shares of the company at Rs 1.56 per share whereas Alpha Leon Enterprises LLP bought 28,00,000 shares of the company at Rs 1.56 per share.

(For more bulk deals, click here)

Analyst or Board Meet/Briefings

Aurobindo Pharma: Company's officials will be attending investor conference on February 15 hosted by IIFL Securities in Mumbai.

Tata Global Beverages: Meetings proposed to be held with Institutional Investors in Mumbai on February 21.

Quick Heal Technologies: Officials of the company will be attending investor conference hosted by Edelweiss Securities on February 15 in Mumbai.

Wipro: Company's officials will be meeting analysts/investors on February 15 and February 20.

Havells India: Company's officials will be attending Kotak Conference organized by Kotak Securities on February 18 at Mumbai.

Phoenix Mills: Company's officials will be attending Edelweiss India Conference organized by Edelweiss Securities on February 15 at Mumbai and Kotak Conference organized by Kotak Securities on February 18 at Mumbai.

HeidelbergCement India: Company's representatives Jamshed Naval Cooper, Managing Director; Anil Sharma, CFO and Amit Angra, Senior General Manager - Finance will be meeting the representatives of various institutional investors/fund houses at meetings organised by Edelweiss Securities on February 15 at Mumbai.

Som Distilleries & Breweries: Senior management of the company is scheduled to meet investors in 1x1 / group meetings at the Edelweiss India Conference on February 15 in Mumbai.

Nestle India: Board approved the convening of 60th annual general meeting of the company on April 25, 2019.
In the third quarter of FY19, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been net sellers in the Indian equity market.

Out of the 425 BSE companies that have made public their shareholding data, 256 have reported FIIs to be sellers and only 169 companies have seen FIIs to be net buyers, Narnolia Securities said in a report.

The net selling by FIIs had been on the backdrop of volatile crude price and depreciating rupee. The strengthening dollar and rising US yields also aided the cause. DIIs (domestic institutional investors), on the other hand, have increased stakes in 263 companies and decreased stakes in 172 companies in Q3 2019, the report said.

Meanwhile, foreign investors raised their stake consistently in as many as five companies mostly from the small & midcap space, which are  HOEC, Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals, Minda Corporation, NHPC and Sundaram-Clayton.

On a QoQ basis, both FIIs and DIIs increased their exposure in the pharma and utility sector, and trimmed stakes in auto components companies and the telecom industry.

Private commercial banks saw huge sell-off by FIIs and DIIs, and on the other hand, many private commercial banks saw increased holdings.

In terms of specific stocks, there are five stocks in which both FIIs and DIIs reduced their stake on a year-on-year (YoY) basis and quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, which are Ashok Leyland, Bharat Forge, CRISIL, PC Jewellers, and Rain Industries, as per Narnolia's report .

Stocks where views of FIIs & DIIs differ

In the December quarter, FIIs raised stake in Blue Star, IndusInd Bank and Zensar Technologies on a YoY basis and sequentially, while DIIs pared stake in these stocks in the same period.

On the other hand, FIIs pared their stake in Bharti Airtel, CARE Ratings, as well as Grasim Industries on a YoY basis as well as sequentially, but DIIs upped their exposure in these stocks in the same period.

What should investors do?

Both FIIs and DIIs have their own approach to investing. Hence, investors are advised to use their own research before putting money into stocks, especially when there are conflicting views on a stock.

As fund managers cannot keep the funds idle due to the statutory requirement we have seen them increase their holding. In case of an individual investor, there is no such compulsion and one is free to do his own study before deploying the money, Atish Matlawala of SSJ Finance & Securities told Moneycontrol.

Individual investor can shortlist the stocks preferred by fund managers but that should only act as a starting point. Apart from this, one should look at the valuations and future growth for the company and the most paramount is corporate governance. A retail investor should not buy the company where corporate governance is questionable, he said.

Investors should avoid following herd mentality for investments and should stick with the fundamental outlook of the company.

This makes sense to keep it as a first-level of screening mechanism, and top-up with self-research on the basis of ratios like ROCE, EBITDA Margin, leverage ratio, and cash flow position among others, suggest experts.

Only those stocks which fit into those ratios should be part of the portfolio, and more importantly, follow a staggered approach at current juncture of volatility.

Before screening stocks, it is equally important to evaluate performance on the portfolio level of fund manager on stock selection through past track record. The data is readily available on most of the financial websites.

A basic ratio which should be considered is tracking error and what alpha it generated. It should also look for optimum risk-adjusted return which should be compared with the benchmark as well as peers which highlights performance of fund manager in a quantitative measure, Dinesh Rohira, CEO and Founder, 5nance.com told Moneycontrol.

Post this exercise depending on the performance an investor can shortlist the stocks on the basis of fundamental outlook, and not solely on basis of fund managers selection. Therefore, these stocks should be evaluated on a ratios like valuation, RoCE/RoE, EBITDA margin, leverage ratio, cash-flow position and consistency of this growth. This will help to identify quality stocks in the portfolio for investment purpose, he said.

The stocks mentioned are for reference only and not buy or sell ideas. The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts 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.
The Indian rupee has recovered from the day's low point but trading lower at 71.26 per dollar versus previous close 71.16.

Rupee came under pressure in yesterdays session and is expected to trade around 71.30 in the wake of Brent crudes climb to near USD 65 a barrel, and losses in Asian currencies and equities, said Motilal Oswal.

Earlier today, China reported a 1.7% on-year increase in consumer prices in January and a 0.1% rise in producer prices, both below expectations of economists polled by Reuters. Capital Economics said that falling factory prices are consistent with evidence of cooling domestic demand in China. Meanwhile, the US reported a 1.2% month-on-month decline in January retail sales, which is the biggest drop in more than nine years. Excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials, and food services, retail sales dropped 1.7% last month, the biggest fall since September 2001.

High-level talks between US and Chinese officials are currently ongoing in Beijing to work out a trade deal before the March 1 deadline, it added.
Yes Bank

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There is a need for the Reserve Bank to be more transparent on decisions like curtailing the term of Yes Bank's managing director and chief executive Rana Kapoor, a foreign brokerage said Friday.

This comes two days after the private sector lender reported that the RBI had not find any divergence or under reporting of non-performing assets for fiscal year 2017-18.

"..the question of why the RBI ordered Kapoor to go remains unanswered. We believe it is time for the RBI to increase transparency on decisions that have a significant impact on minority shareholders," Jefferies, the brokerage, said in a note.

The brokerage pointed out that the Yes Bank stock, which gained since the zero divergence news, had lost 30 percent following the RBI curtailing the term of Kapoor in September last year.

It can be noted that the terms of both Kapoor as well as Shikha Sharma, the head of its larger rival Axis Bank, were curtailed by the regulator. No reasons were communicated officially for the action.

Both the banks were found to have under reported their stock of NPAs by a cumulative Rs 10,000 crore each for two consecutive fiscal years by the RBI, leading to a wide speculation if this was the reason for the removal.

The brokerage said it thought the refusal to allow the reappointment of Kapoor by the RBI was taken by it as a "black swan" event.

"However, with the RBI's audit report now citing 'nil' NPA divergence, we seem to have mistaken a mere crow for a swan," it said.

It added a divergence number higher than last year's would have been a worry, but the latest disclosure of zero divergence has come as a "shock".

According to earlier reports, sources had said the RBI had cited "serious lapses" in governance and a "poor compliance culture" at Yes Bank as reasons for its "regulatory discomfort" in allowing Kapoor to continue to head the lender.

The bank has displayed "highly irregular" credit management practices, the regulator had said.

Sources citing a RBI letter to the then bank chairman had said the regulator also wrote about its "concern" relating to a steep hike in Kapoor's remuneration by the board while seeking a three-year reappointment, saying it was in defiance of its earlier direction to trim CEO bonuses if asset quality was not good.

The central bank said these happenings reinforce its "grave concerns and regulatory discomfort with the role of Kapoor in the governance, management and superintendence of Yes Bank."

The bank has named foreign lender Deutsche Bank's India head Ravneet Gill as the replacement for Kapoor, who will be taking charge by March 1.

The brokerage report said the bank will now be able to approach the capital markets to replenish its CET 1 ratio and return to the original growth model, the brokerage said.

It said the RBI will approve both Ashish Agarwal (Chief Risk Officer) and Rajat Monga's elevation to the board as executive directors, which may be viewed favourably by the markets.

"We will wait to see whether Kapoor seeks a non-executive board seat, which does not require RBI approval," it added.

The bank scrip closed 1.04 percent down at Rs 218.70 a piece on the BSE, as against a 0.19 per cent correction on the benchmark Friday.
Rise in crude prices and a marginal depreciation in rupee, among others, weighed on the indices. Benchmarks closed the session in the red, but a last hour recovery helped them trim these losses.

The Nifty managed to hold 10,700, while the Sensex ended above 35,800-mark.

The Nifty Midcap index underperformed the benchmarks, which kept the market breadth in favour of declines. While banks such as HDFC twins and Kotak Bank weighed on indices, but Reliance, Infosys, and Larsen and Toubro tried to bat for the bulls.

Among sectors, pain was visible among Nifty Auto, consumption, metals, and pharmaceuticals.

Nifty Energy and infrastructure were the big gainers.

At the close of market hours, the Sensex was down 67.27 points or 0.19% at 35808.95, while the Nifty was down 21.60 points or 0.20% at 10724.40. The market breadth was negative as 913 shares advanced, against a decline of 1581 shares, while 134 shares were unchanged.

NTPC, Power Grid, and BPCL were the top gainers, while Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, and JSW Steel lost the most.

Stocks in the News

Dr Reddys Labs recovered from the biggest intraday fall to end 4 percent lower.

Yes Bank failed to hold on to gains after its no divergence report.

ONGC was up over 2 percent after reporting a net realisation of over USD 66 per barrel.

Divis Labs slipped 1 percent as income tax department conducted searches at its headquarters and manufacturing unit.

Global Markets

European stocks were mixed. European Stoxx 600 was flat.

Major Asian stock markets closed lower amid wait for developments from the ongoing U.S-China trade negotiations in Beijing.

The Shanghai composite slipped 1.37 percent to close at 2,682.38 while the Shenzhen component declined 1.148 percent to finish its trading day at 8,125.63. The Shenzhen composite also declined 0.67 percent to close at 1,389.47.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 1.91 percent in its final hour of trading.
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Chartered accountants' apex body ICAI Friday withdrew an announcement regarding applicability of rotation of auditors at companies, following a directive from the corporate affairs ministry.

In a rare instance, the ministry told the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to "immediately withdraw" the announcement and also provide reasons for making such an announcement, according to a letter.

On January 29, the ICAI issued a clarification on applicability of rotation of auditors under the Companies Act, 2013.

Under the Act, implemented by the ministry, certain class of companies are required to rotate their auditors and there is also a cooling off period to be followed by the auditors.

In a communication on Friday, the ICAI said announcement regarding clarification on applicability of rotation of auditors issued on January 29 has been withdrawn.

"The Corporate Laws & Corporate Governance Committee had issued the announcement regarding clarification on the applicability of rotation principles on a company as per Section 139 of the Companies Act 2013 where the company ceases to fall under the ambit of Rotation principles in subsequent years on January 29, 2019," it noted.

The move came after a letter from the ministry on Friday asked the ICAI to withdraw the announcement.

"... it is stated that the issuance of any clarification on different provisions of Companies Act falls in the domain of this ministry and the ICAI is neither empowered nor competent to issue such a clarification and especially so without prior consultation with this ministry," the letter said.

Further, the ministry has asked the ICAI to intimate the "reasons for issuing such announcement without any authority and without the specific approval of this ministry".

However, an official said that the ICAI announcement could have resulted in companies removing or re-appointing an auditor just on the basis of non-applicability of the rotation norms.

The official noted that an auditor cannot be removed in an unfair manner and that companies should be following the law in letter and spirit.
India Economy

News18 Rising India Summit  the two-day marquee thought leadership initiative that kick-started on 17 March, 2018 brought together a string of political and sectoral leaders. The episode of the mega event witnessed biggies such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, UP CM Yogi Adityanath and actors Ranveer Singh, Kangana Ranaut among those who participated.

Here are the top 10 moments from the Summit:

How PM Narendra Modi Looks East to Truly Make India Rise

The Prime Minister talked about how for him Rising India means the rise of every citizen's self-respect. He further talked about how the eastern part of the country had for long been left behind in the race for development and needed the region to go from "isolation to integration". He further said that his government took decisions that were proposed decades ago but kept in files. "We implemented old laws that had been passed decades ago," said the leader. PM Modi touched upon all the major sectors and what his administration plans to do for them. His basic mantra, he said, was to break silos to derive solutions for growth.

Ranveer Singh's Infectious Energy

The infectious energy that the actor brings was on full display at the Summit as he made his entry on the song 'Khalibali' from his film Padmaavat and talked about how the fringe groups had desecrated his temple  the film set. "It was a very frustrating process because none of this was in my control. I was furious, livid. It was absolutely wrong. I couldnt do anything and was asked not to do anything. Don't make our lives complicated. There's so much money put it. So, I decided to just stay away from it," he said. Going into detail, the actor said, "When Padmaavat sets were vandalised, my shock turned into rage. I couldnt believe that were living in 2017. I had to be physically restrained. The equipment they broke provides livelihood to thousands. I value the sanctity of the set. It's my place of worship. You don't go to my place of worship and do this."

Yogi Adityanath's Definition of Secularism

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister said that if secularism meant not taking sides, then there was "nobody more secular" than the nation's Hindu majority. "There is a difference between secular and irreligious. We should make that distinction. A government must be secular, not irreligious. If secularism means not taking sides, there is nobody more secular than Hindus. Today's secularists have turned secularism to mean abusing India's traditions," said Yogi. The chief minister asserted that there haven't been any riots during his time as the state's leader over the last one year. However, when questioned on how he would explain the recent Kasganj riots, the CM said, "Kasganj was not a riot, it was an incident. There was no curfew. No riots have happened in the last one year. Holi fell on a Friday this year. On my appeal, Muslim clerics extended the time for Friday prayers."

Smriti Irani Reveals Govt's Plan to Counter Trolls

The Information and Broadcasting minister may not check her Twitter account every morning, but she is well aware of the hatred on social media. She says she has been a victim of it as well. So, she, along with the government, has big plans on how to bring about regulations on social media. The government is working to become a troll monitor. The news is now filled with views, Irani said. We cannot ignore the capacity of fake news to demean. We cannot ignore the technology engineered to deteriorate, she added.

Nirmala Sitharaman Concerns For Armed Forces

India's first full-time woman defence minister called war preparedness and lack of modern equipment with the armed forces, a cause of concern. Responding to Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, she said, "I haven't heard his comments so I may not be able to respond to the specifics, but I agree with him that there is no doubt that (modernisation of equipment for armed forces) is a big challenge for us," she said. The minister also quashed the Oppositions allegations of a scam in the Rafale fighter jet deal and asserted that there was no need for a probe. When quizzed if the ministry would be open to probe in the wake of the allegations, Sitharaman said that there was absolutely no necessity. Probe?! What probe? You can look into the deal as much as you want, you will not find anything. There is no scam, she said.

Rajnath Singh's Warning to Pakistan

The Home Minister fired a warning shot to Pakistan saying that the Indian Army was ready to not only protect the country from within but can also "cross the border if needed". He further went on to say that India's growth was not just because of the BJP but the current government did accelerate the process. Not daunted by the UP bypolls loss, Singh said the BJP realises that loss is also a possibility in the election. "Ho gaya, aage nahin hoga. Humein pata chala ki aisa bhi ho sakta hain (What happened in Gorakhpur will not happen again because we know that this result is also a possibility)," the minister said. Talking about Kashmir, the Home Minister said he had personally asked Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to ignore cases against first-time stone pelters.

Amarinder Singh Lamenting the Obsolete Weapons that Army Personnel Carry

The Punjab chief minister lamented the sorry state of weapons with the defence forces and claimed that the soldiers in Kashmir were swapping weapons with the ones they seize from terrorists. The soldiers of the regiment I served with are now posted in Kashmir and they are swapping their weapons with the ones they seize from terrorists because they like them better. If a soldier doesn't have confidence in his weapon, how can he fight?" said Singh. He also took a jibe at Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for apologising to former Akali Minister Bikram Singh Majithia and said that maybe the Delhi CM was trying to "reduce his load". Singh further added that AAP MLAs are not happy and were now looking for an alternative.

Kangana Ranaut Open to the Idea of Joining Politics

Apart from being a cinematic tour de force, Kangana Ranaut has the spotlight trained on her off-screen as well, for her candidness and outspokenness over a variety of issues, not least her personal life. She also went on to say that she would not mind entering politics if she is allowed to keep her fashion sense. "Personally, I feel politics is a wonderful field, though it is often misunderstood. But what I dont like is the fashion sense of politicians. Because of the way I dress and speak, I don't think any party will take me. But personally, I don't mind entering politics if they don't change my fashion sense, and let me say what I want to," said Ranaut.

When Farooq Abdullah Complained to Piyush Goyal About Pillows in Trains

The Railways minister took a dig at Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu quitting the NDA and moving a no-confidence motion against the Centre by saying, "Naidu has failed to do anything. We gave them funds but if you go to Amravati nothing has happened on the ground. Now suddenly Naidu is blaming us. They have failed to implement anything." There was a light moment in the session as National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah complained to the minister about pillows in trains. The condition of the pillows are so bad that if you were not sick before boarding the train, you end up falling sick by the time you reach your destination, said Abdullah. To this, Goyal told Abdullah that he must not have travelled on a train recently and his experience must be old. Saying that he values customer feedback, Goyal acknowledged that people in past had faced this problem which had been noted and rectified.

Why Ruchir Sharma Won't Advise PM Modi On Indian Economy

Morgan Stanleys chief global strategist spoke about his time in Russia when he faced Vladimir Putin. In Putins presence, Sharma took to the stage to make his own presentation about the Russian economy. He first pointed out that Putin has been a 'reformer' when he first came to power, but things changed for the worse after that. It was in stark contrast to who Putin was initially, Sharma said. While Sharma continued his criticism, the Russian President didnt bat an eyelid. "He, in fact, took notes, said Sharma. When it was Putins turn to speak, he spoke about the issues raised by Sharma. The next morning, Sharma was woken up by a number of phone calls. He was asked to check the newspapers. All the Russian newspapers had the same headline Who is this man advising Putin? The newspapers were quite disappointed with Sharmas guts and advised him to leave the country. "I left Russia and never returned," said Sharma. In a classic case of once bitten, twice shy Sharma said he may have a lot of ideas for the growth of the Indian economy, but hes not willing to advise Prime Minister Narendra Modi on it. I would rather observe, than advise, he said, adding that no one quite listens to his suggestions.
With foreign institutional investors 'getting serious' about environment, social and governance standards when it comes to investing, it's time for India Inc. to take notice, feel senior executives of Protiviti, a US-based global consultancy.

Globally, companies are making the transition from corporate social responsibility to ESG, "as investors are looking beyond numbers to understand how a company functions," Robert B Hirth, Jr, Senior Managing Director of Protiviti, told Moneycontrol.

FIIs have turned cautious on India, and have been net sellers in the last one year, which also saw many marquee corporate names coming under scanner for poor governance.

"FIIs have a huge presence in India, and they take the parameters very seriously," said Sanjeev Agarwal, Country Managing Director, Protiviti Member Firm for India.

Headquartered in California, the firm was founded in 2002, and specialises in internal audit, risk and compliance, and business processes.

Commonly known as ESG, the concept has come into focus in the last fortnight with the launch of India's first fund based on these principles. The Avendus India ESG Fund will invest $1 billion in companies it will pick from a list of top 100 firms by market capitalisation.

Around the same time, another fund based on ESG was announced by ex-Tata Sons senior executives, and Ajit Dayal's Quantum Advisors. This fund too will invest $1 billion, but will focus on mid cap firms.

Globally, over $20 trillion of assets use the ESG criteria when it comes to investing.

"In the last four years, the ESG companies have outperformed others in Europe and North America," said Hirth, Jr.

And these parameters are measurable.

Hirth, Jr pointed to the list of standards issued by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, which was founded in 2011 to develop standards to measure sustainability. The Board issued a final list of standards in November last year, that helps measure companies' performance against the ESG standards.

In India too, a start was made when the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in 2011 issued guidelines for promoting sustainability. Later, market regulatory SEBI mandated 500 top companies to report on sustainability.

Bigger interest

In early February, Protiviti hosted 15 private equity companies and large business houses from India Inc to discuss on the ESG concept, in Mumbai.

"One of the PE players had hosted a day-long session on ESG for its portfolio companies," said Vishal Seth, Managing Director and Leader, Financial Reporting and Transaction Advisery.

"One PE has introduced the ESG guideline in a company it recently invested in. So there is interest among investors," added Seth. While he agreed that most of the PEs are presently focused on scalability of the business of a company they want to invest in, many are also focusing on sustainability.

Companies are realising, said Sandeep Gupta, Managing Director, that ESG parameters also make business sense. "Conserving water, or better waste management, helps save money," he said.

But the concept may need a nudge to take off in India. "It is happening in the US, where disclosures under ESG will need to be audited. Something similar in India is possible," said Seth.
While admitting there was a "slight mismatch" in the availability of pilots that had impacted its operations, IndiGo's senior executive reiterated the situation was under control now, and that the airline plans to add at least 20 captains a month going forward.

"We have curtailed our schedule by 30 flights a day, till the end of the March. There are rumours floating around on the number of daily cancellations. Those are not correct," Chief Operating Officer Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, told Moneycontrol.

The country's largest airline had announced the revised schedule earlier this week. Its operations had been impacted since February 7, when hailstorms initially led to a diversion of 11 flights, and later to scores of cancellations.

The airline said several factors like anticipated weather conditions and NOTAMS at various airports resulted in extended duty times and made it necessary to re-roster crew and optimise operations.

Notam, or notice to airmen, is given to pilots and include information on potential hazards on a flight route.

The cancellations brought under focus IndiGo's aggressive expansion of its fleet, and availability of pilots.

"The situation will be normalised by the end of March, and from April onwards we will go back to the original schedule," said Prock-Schauer. He underlined that the cancellations and the curtailed schedule won't impact the company's guidance for the quarter, as the impacted flights are "just 2 percent of the total operations."

Adding pilots

At present, IndiGo has 6.65 pilots for every aircraft. "This ratio will become better in the coming months," said Prock-Schauer.

"Internally, every month 20 of our senior first officers will make the transition to becoming captains. Beyond that, we are also hiring expat pilots," he added.

The company currently has 1,260 captains, including 40 expats. It plans to hire 100 more expat pilots, that will add to its pool.

IndiGo has 208 aircraft in its fleet, the first Indian airline to have more than 200. It continues to expand aggressively, adding 19 aircraft in the third quarter of the financial year.

The company is building on its dominant position in the industry and has a market share of 41.5 percent. It has also mapped an equally ambitious international plan to add destinations.

Prock-Schauer clarified that the current situation will not impact its expansion plans. "We maintain the guidance that we have shared with the investors," he said about the fleet expansion.

The airline will add 62 flights in the 2019 financial year, said consultancy firm CAPA in its report. IndiGo will add a further 40 aircraft in the next financial year, said CAPA.

Prock-Schauer said while the industry overall is facing a shortage of pilots, IndiGo will meet its requirement, thanks to its size. "We have 300 senior first officers who can be upgraded to captains. We will be able to handle the demand. The present situation was accentuated by weather conditions," he said.

The COO added that the company has 40 trainers, under whom the pilot upgrade happens.
While those elements are well within Republican orthodoxy, he also departed from it. He said climate change represented a dire threat to the nation and that the U.S. should reenter the Paris climate agreement. Trump has mocked the notion of climate change and announced that the country was withdrawing from the multinational accord. Weld also backed the use of medical marijuana for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
During his Friday announcement that he would declare a national emergency to build a wall on the border with Mexico, President Donald Trump covered a wide range of topics, many related to immigration.

One focus of his remarks was the need for a wall on the border, a case he's been making repeatedly since the government shutdown began in December. Trump's rhetoric follows a consistent pattern: Talk about objectively bad things - drug overdoses, human trafficking - and then claim that a wall is necessary to prevent those things from happening.

Here was what he said about those things on Friday and about ports of entry, designated checkpoints on the border where people can enter the U.S. legally.

"A big majority of the big drugs, the big drugloads don't go through ports of entry," Trump said. "They can't go through ports of entry. You can't take big loads because you have people. We have some very capable people, the Border Patrol, law enforcement, looking."

"You can't take human traffick - women and girls, you can't them through ports of entry, you can't have them tied up in the back seat of a car or a truck or a van," he continued. Border agents "open the door. They look. They can't see three women with tape on their mouth or three women whose hands are tied? They go through areas where you have no wall."

"Everybody knows that," he concluded, singling out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "Nancy knows it. Chuck knows it. They all know it. It's all a big lie. It's a big con game."

This is, to put it bluntly, nonsense.

First of all, we know that drugs flow through ports of entry because Trump's own administration has repeatedly said they do. His former chief of staff John F. Kelly testified before Congress in 2017, when he was the Homeland Security Director, saying that most drugs come through ports of entry. Paul A. Beeson of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said points of entry are "the major points of entry for illegal drugs" in testimony that same year. The Drug Enforcement Administration released a report indicating that only a "small percentage" of heroin that crossed the border was seized between ports of entry.

This is by design. Many of the existing barriers on the border are meant to funnel smugglers through ports of entry.

"Regardless of the number of drug dogs and technology and intelligence, the potential of smuggling the drugs in through a port of entry is far greater," Gil Kerlikowske, who led CBP under former President Barack Obama, told USA Today. But also: "Your ability to be captured coming across between a port of entry is much greater."

You need only give a cursory look at CBP news releases, touting their interdictions, to see how ridiculous it is to claim that you can't smuggle large amounts of drugs through ports of entry.

In his testimony, Beeson offered some photos of how that smuggling works, including packages disguised among watermelons and other drugs hidden in a vehicle.

These are not exceptions. There are other attempts to hide drugs that have been detected by CBP over the past few months and were shown in agency news releases.

Some of those are even at airports, where you'd expect smuggling to be particularly tricky. And what's shown is just regular-old drug busts for which there are pictures. Earlier this month, CBP announced the biggest seizure of fentanyl in its history: At a checkpoint near Nogales, Arizona, where a Mexican national was caught hiding drugs under a false bottom in a trailer.

While there are efforts to smuggle large bundles of marijuana across the Rio Grande in Texas, the biggest hauls in recent months have been seizures from trucks at ports of entry, including 2,149 pounds of marijuana hidden in a truck that was caught at Roma International Bridge, in Texas. Nearly 4,000 pounds of marijuana was seized from a truck in Brownsville in December.

Vehicles have lots of hiding places - and that's where migrants often hide to sneak through border checkpoints as well.

Trump's tales of women being driven across the border sitting in the back seats of cars are apparently without any basis in reality. After he started making these claims, in fact, a Border Patrol leader sent out an email asking if anyone could back up Trump's stories. Most of the people who are smuggled across the border are seeking to migrate, not being shuttled across against their wills. (In fact, there are very few reports of the latter.)

It's obviously ridiculous to assume that someone smuggling people across the border would sit them up in the back seat. It's commonplace, though, for migrants to hide in trucks and cars.

The Laredo Border Patrol sector captures a lot of people at checkpoints, if their news releases are any indication.

In 2006, a migrant was caught at a border checkpoint sewn into the seat of the car. Border agents opening the door and looking in spotted him anyway.

Anyone who's been paying attention to Trump's rhetoric over the years will not be surprised to learn that it's inaccurate. But rarely is it so obviously and immediately inaccurate as his claims that no one tries to smuggle vast amounts of drugs or people across the border.

When reporters had the chance to ask Trump questions after his announcement, the president was asked where he got his statistics on the border and immigration. "I use many stats," he said, adding that most were from Homeland Security.

He might want to check with them about his smuggling claims, too. Customs and Border Protection is part of Homeland Security.

Published by the Washington Post.
Earlier in the campaign, Preckwinkle was criticized for an ad that suggested she played a key role in exposing the facts of the police shooting death of McDonald. As county board president, her office overseas the medical examiner and saw to it that McDonalds autopsy results were released publicly, which she later explained helped bolster the work of activists.
A court in Moscow has ordered the detention of the founder and senior partner of Baring Vostok private equity, as part of an ongoing inquiry into fraud allegations. Other employees were also taken into custody.

Michael Calvey, a US citizen, was detained in the Russian capital on Friday along with other Baring Vostok associates, Vagan Abgaryan, Philippe Delpal, and Ivan Zyuzin, the firm said in a statement. It said the arrests have nothing to do with the companys activities but relate to a dispute around Russias Vostochny Bank. DETAILS TO FOLLOW

US investor & top partners of Baring Vostok equity fund detained in Moscow on fraud allegations

US investor & top partners of Baring Vostok equity fund detained in Moscow on fraud allegations

Source : RT Business News
Europe cant oppose the US deployment of missiles, even if it is contrary to their interests, because no country can be truly independent these days, Vladimir Putin believes.

The Russian president thinks the modern world is the world of interdependency and there are no truly independent countries these days.

Do you think European countries want missiles in Europe? Nobody wants it. But they keep silent. Where is their sovereignty? Putin asked during his visit in Sochi.

Also on rt.com INF Treaty is about European security, not American; US left it to get new missiles  Russian envoy

The EU Parliament, he said, makes more decisions on behalf of the member countries than the Supreme Soviet of USSR on behalf of constituent republics back in the days.

There are no fully independent states in the world.

On Thursday leaders from Russia, Turkey and Iran gathered in the Black Sea city of Sochi to discuss ways of ending Syrias crisis. The talks were held amid hostile talk emerging from a meeting of the US and its allies in Warsaw, where they talked about their take on the Middle East.

Also on rt.com EU states fold like cheap tents to US demands on Venezuela, Italy one of few to stay independent

During the meeting in Sochi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani expressed doubts over Washingtons plan to remove troops stationed with Kurdish forces in northern Syria. But Putin seemed to be the most optimistic that the move would actually happen soon.

After the summit on Syria ended, Putin stayed on in Sochi to hold talks with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

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Thailands party challenging military rule holds 1st rally in Bangkok

Thailands party challenging military rule holds 1st rally in Bangkok

The political party seen as the main challenger to military-dominated government in Thailand held its first rally in the capital on Friday. Thailand will hold the first election since a 2014 military coup on March 24. Several thousand Pheu Thai party supporters gathered outside Bangkoks city hall, AP reported. Pheu Thai is the flagship party of the political machine of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, which has won every national election since 2001. Thaksin was accused of abuse of power and disrespect toward the monarchy and deposed by a 2006 military coup. The 2014 coup ousted the government of his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra. The countrys legislation virtually ensures that no single political party can win a majority of parliamentary seats.Source : RT - Daily news
The US bill introducing new sanctions against Russia aims to sabotage the Arctic LNG 2 project, according to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. But Moscow will launch the project even if it has to do it on its own, he added.

Earlier this week, US senators introduced a bill suggesting a wide range of sanctions against Moscow, targeting its foreign debt, banking sphere and energy sector, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects abroad.

The sanctions may target the massive Arctic LNG 2 project developed by Russias biggest privately owned natural gas producer Novatek. Frances Total has recently joined the project, while Chinese investors also show strong interest in it.

Also on rt.com Russias largest LNG project kicks into high gear

If the US proceeds with the punitive measures, it is unclear how foreign partners may react, Siluanov said. While Russia hopes that business interests will prevail, the country can turn the project into reality on its own, the minister stressed.

In any case we will implement this Arctic LNG project because we have the resources, Siluanov told Russian outlet Business FM. He added that the country may consider using public funds due to the growing capacity of Russias sovereign wealth fund, which is to surpass 7 percent of GDP this year.

The minister added that Novateks Yamal LNG plant in the Arctic, which recently reached full capacity, has already proven its high profit margins for investors.

Also on rt.com Dangerous liaisons? Italians want to build LNG plant in Russian Arctic despite US sanctions threat

Novateks second plant for liquefying gas in the region, Arctic LNG 2 on the Gydan Peninsula in Northern Siberia, is expected to start operations in 2022-2023. It will produce 19.8 million tons of LNG per year when at full capacity.

The project is estimated to cost up to $35 billion. Various foreign firms, such as Siemens, Italian companies Nuovo Pignone and Saipem, and Turkeys Renaissance services have signed supply and construction contracts for the new facility.

The sanctions bill targeting Russia was earlier slammed by top Russian officials. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was bordering racketeering and has nothing to do with international trading rules. Meanwhile, the Russian government warned that it is weighing up a proper response if the bill becomes law.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
WASHINGTON D.C., 15 FEBRUARY, 2019  On Sunday, February 17, RT America will premiere Just Press Play, a new weekly digest of highlights from the channel's range of news and talk show programming, hosted by RT America correspondent Ashlee Banks.

Just Press Play will feature a playlist of segments from the weeks most compelling broadcasts, with Banks offering background information and in-depth discussions about the issues discussed in between segments.

I am really excited that we are launching this new show. I am also thrilled that we will be able to showcase the amazing content we produce here at RT America, said Banks.

Banks has reported for RT America since 2015 and previously hosted the RT program Race in America. She has covered such crucial issues as police brutality and the lead water crises in Flint, Michigan. In 2016, she provided on-site coverage from Charlotte, NC in the wake of violent protests following the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott.

RT America news director Mikhail Solodovnikov voiced his excitement for the launch of Just Press Play, saying, We have an amazing constellation of talent at RT America. You used to have to watch mainstream networks for Larry King, Rick Sanchez, Mike Papantonio, Jesse Ventura and Scottie Nell Hughes  but now they're all right here, and their best stuff  on Just Press Play.

Just Press Play will air Sundays on RT America at 4:30 pm ET.

RT America airs from Washington, DC and is part of RT, the global TV news network. Dedicated to the top US stories and the countrys most pressing issues, it is the proud home of Politicking with legendary broadcaster Larry King, award-winning financial show Boom Bust with former US Commissioner Bart Chilton, the Emmy-nominated On Contact with Chris Hedges, Americas Lawyer with Mike Papantonio, "World According to Jesse with former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, The Big Picture with Holland Cooke, satirical late-night show Redacted Tonight with comedian Lee Camp and Watching The Hawks with Tyrel Ventura, Tabetha Wallace and Sean Stone. In the US, RT has a weekly TV audience of 11 million according to a survey on TV news consumption by Ipsos, a leading audience research firm. It is also the most watched TV news network on YouTube, with over 8 billion views. RT is the winner of the Monte Carlo TV Festival Award for Best 24-hour Newscast, and a six-time Emmy finalist.

RT AMERICA LAUNCHES WEEKEND NEWS DIGEST MAGAZINE

RT AMERICA LAUNCHES WEEKEND NEWS DIGEST MAGAZINE

Source : RT - Daily news
A public elementary school in Indonesia has expelled 14 orphaned children, following complaints about their HIV-positive status. In exclusive interviews, RT spoke with the ostracized children and the NGO that cares for them.

The 14 children  who attended from first through to fourth grade  were reportedly shunned from the school, in Surakarta, Central Java, after parents were made aware of their taboo health condition in January.

Parents from the school  all of them without exception  denied the presence of my children and threatening to stop their children from going to school, Yunus Prasetyo, head of Lentera Foundation, the NGO which takes care of the HIV-positive children, told RT. He said that the children under his charge are used to this kind of rejection and discrimination  but that they would persevere and find a new, more accommodating school.

These children have to face so many obstacles after entering school from kindergarten. Were used to it and will stay strong.

Also on rt.com Gay Muslim comic strip vanishes from Instagram amid Indonesian government pressure

Human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV), attacks the immune system and can lead to immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). According to Prasetyo, the prejudice faced by his young charges comes from a lack of public understanding about the virus. HIV is not easily spread to others, its just a virus in their body, he noted.

Lentera is now working with regional administrators to find a new school for the children  who are eager to return to their studies, and the playground.

For almost a week these children are not going to school, they are very sad with the decision, and they really need to play with others again. They keep asking when will we go to school again? Prasetyo said.

One of the children who spoke with RT said she was waiting to move to another school so that she could play again with my friends.
Only Turkish forces should be in Syria safe zone  Ankara

Only Turkish forces should be in Syria safe zone  Ankara

Only Turkish forces should be present in the planned safe zone in northeast Syria, Turkeys Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday, as cited by the state-run Anadolu news agency. Ankara wants to set up the safe zone with logistical support from allies after US troops pull out of Syria. Turkey also says the safe zone should be cleared of the US-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. Ankara considers the YPG a terrorist group. After Thursdays summit in Sochi, Erdogan said Russia, Turkey and Iran were on the brink of taking certain steps east of the River Euphrates, but did not say what they were, Reuters reported.Source : RT - Daily news
As has been the case for all of Pritzkers plans to spend more money on social services and education, the cornerstone of his pension proposal would require the state to shift from its current flat income tax to a federal-style graduated system in which higher earners would be taxed at a higher rate. That change would require a constitutional amendment, which would take nearly two years to get on the ballot for voter approval.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, controlled by Russian energy giant Gazprom, is unlikely to be cancelled, according to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the new leader of Germanys Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Nord Stream 2 is not the project that I support with all my heart But key decisions were made earlier. The project just cant be turned back, Kramp-Karrenbauer said in an interview with political science magazine Internationale Politik.

Moreover, we have quite legitimate economic interests in energy supply Its realistic to say that the construction of the gas pipeline cannot be prevented, the politician added, citing already-signed contracts and permits.

Angela Merkels successor stressed that Germany had managed to keep stable economic relations with Russia even during the Cold War.

So its about balancing between interests of the Germans and those of Ukraine and Eastern Europe, she said, adding that the US was also pursuing their own economic interests when it comes to the European energy market.

The question of whether Germany is too dependent on Russian gas is legitimate. But right now we are building LNG terminals for American gas. So, I think, the danger of dependency is exaggerated.

The interview comes days after EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Canete confirmed that the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament agreed on amendments to the EU gas directive that is set to deal with sea sections of gas pipelines and, therefore, the Nord Stream 2 project.

The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project is set to run from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The pipeline, a joint venture of Russias Gazprom and five European energy majors, is currently one third complete. It is expected to double the existing pipelines capacity of 55 billion cubic meters annually, and is supposed to come into operation by the end of the current year.

The project has been sharply criticized by US President Donald Trump, who accused Berlin of being a captive to Russia. In an effort to push American LNG to German consumers, Washington threatened to sanction European companies for participating in the Gazprom-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.

Earlier this week, a group of US senators introduced a bill suggesting a wide range of fresh sanctions against Russia. If approved, the new package will target Russias banking and energy industry, including the controversial pipeline.

Russian-led Nord Stream 2 will definitely be included in the new list of US sanctions, but its not likely that European consumers would recede from their position towards the pipeline, according to Anton Pokatovich, chief analyst at investment bank BKS Premier.

The major risk posed by the US pressure is seen in potential attempts to prevent the third parties from providing new technologies to the companies that participate in the Nord Stream pipeline project, the expert told RT.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
India has threatened to completely isolate neighbor Pakistan on a global scale following a suicide car bomb attack which killed 44 paramilitary police officers in the disputed Kashmir region.

The suicide attack on a large convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was the deadliest attack on security forces in the disputed region since the 1989 insurgency began.

A car, reportedly packed with 350kgs of explosives, overtook the 78-vehicle convoy and rammed into a bus about 20km (12 miles) from the regional capital, Srinagar on Thursday.

Blood and body parts were scattered along a 100-metre stretch of road while the explosion was so powerful it was heard some 12km away. There were reportedly 2,500 personnel in the convoy, which is larger than usual, at the time of the attack.

The Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility.

We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries, Indias Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Islamabad has denied allegations that it supports armed insurgents operating in the disputed area, claiming instead that it merely provides moral and diplomatic support for people within the Muslim-majority region.

We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations, Pakistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded in an official statement.

Also on rt.com Stop glorifying terrorists: New Delhi fires back at Pakistan PM over his tweet

The last major attack in the region was a 2016 raid on on Indian Army camp in which 20 soldiers were killed.

The 30-year insurgency in Kashmir has strained tensions between the two regional powers since an armed revolt in 1989 in which tens of thousands were killed. There have been 10 suicide attacks in that time, though this is only the second to use a car.

Also on rt.com Pakistan v India: Conflict moves to outer space as countries race to put human in orbit

Federal Minister Arun Jaitley has accused Pakistan of failing to crack down on the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad which has been banned in Pakistan since 2002. India has called for the UN to impose sanctions against its leader Masood Azhar repeatedly in recent years though each attempt has been blocked by Pakistans ally China.

India is withdrawing the most-favoured nation status afforded to Pakistan in 1996 which granted its neighbour special trading privileges.

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A retired soviet commando, who captured evidence of US deliveries of anti-aircraft missiles to the mujahideen during the Soviet campaign in Afghanistan, has belatedly received Russia's highest military order.

Vladimir Kovtun is a decorated retired colonel with quite an eventful career behind him. While in service he was a commando officer of the elite special operation unit of the Military Intelligence Directorate, better known as the GRU. On Friday, he added a new merit to his collection  the golden star of the Hero of Russia, the country's highest military decoration.

Hunt for Stingers

The award was bestowed on the 30th anniversary of the Soviet pullout from Afghanistan and fixes what many believe to be an historic injustice. Kovtun was one of several soldiers, who were supposed to get the merit back in 1987 for capturing FIM-92 Stinger portable anti-aircraft missiles, which the US had started smuggling to the Afghan militants with the help of Pakistani intelligence.

The pet project of Texas congressman Charlie Wilson was launched in earnest a year earlier and resulted in several painful losses of helicopters, which were essential for the counterinsurgency effort of the Soviet command.

But Moscow could not simply accuse Washington of arming the mujahideen with advanced weapons without proof, so a hunt was declared to get it. The promise was whoever was first to seize a Stinger from the militants would become a hero of the USSR.

(Vladimir Kovtun now lives a farmer's life)

Kovtun, a GRU commando with a rank of lieutenant, was part of the group that got lucky. In January 1987, he and several soldiers went on a patrol from their base in Kabul under the command of Captain Evgeny Sergeev. They rode two Mi-8 and two Mi-28 helicopters towards Kandahar aiming for a remote zone far from both cities, which allowed the militants to operate with relative impunity.

Case of evidence

The patrol was part of a regular seek-and-hunt strategy. The approach proved fruitful, when the choppers surprised a group of fighters riding motorbikes. The militants fired at the aircraft from what the team initially thought was a regular rocket-propelled grenade launcher but were actually the coveted Stingers. Luckily for the patrol, their enemy didn't have time to properly prepare the weapons and the two missiles missed.

The nine-strong team of GRU commandos, headed by Sergeev, got on the ground and entered a firefight with the militants while the strike helicopters provided air support. The enemy squad turned out stronger than expected as more fighters came to help the motorcyclists, but the experience and superior firepower was on the side of the Soviets, who killed 16 mujahedeen and captured an injured enemy fighter.

Kovtun's crucial role was in obtaining a briefcase full of documents related to the Stinger smuggling operation, which one of the militants had on him. The man tried to escape, but Kovtun, a skilled marksman, dropped him from some 200 meters away with a shot from a Kalashnikov rifle.

(Photos from personal archive show the GRU team commanded by Evgeny Sergeev)

The briefcase had operation manuals for the US-made missiles and transport documents tracing the shipment back to US territory. The team also captured two spent MANPADs and one that the militants didn't fire at their choppers.

The prize was highly valuable for Moscow, which wasted no time in showing it to the public at a media conference in Kabul. Probably equally important, access to the US weapon allowed soviet military engineers to get a better understanding of how it works and how aircraft can be protected from them.

Underappreciated by top brass

But securing this PR and technological victory didn't bring the merits that the commandos expected. For one thing, Sergeev was a good intelligence officer, but apparently a not-so-good communist, who had a reprimand on his record over not sticking to the party line.

The other possible reason was that their narrative of blind luck was not to the liking of the higher officers, whose preferred version was that the militants were ambushed as part of a complex operation to trace the Stingers all the way from Pakistan. Whatever the reason, the actual rank and file soldiers involved were given lesser medals for their role.

Also on rt.com Mixed messages? US drops record number of bombs on Afghanistan amid peace efforts with Taliban

Kovtun's belated honor aims to correct this, and it's not the first step in this direction. His fellow 'Stinger hunter' and commander, Sergeev, got the merit of the Hero of Russia in 2012, even if posthumously. He passed away in 2008.

Two other members of the patrol were on the honor list for the operation. One was the pilot of the Mi-8 helicopter, which carried Sergeev and Kovtun into the battle. The other was a sergeant, who captured the injured militant during the firefight.

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Greek PM Tsipras relinquishes foreign ministers post

Greek PM Tsipras relinquishes foreign ministers post

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has carried out a limited cabinet reshuffle, relinquishing the foreign ministers position he held for several months himself. The move follows the successful completion of a deal with the countrys northern neighbor which changed its name to North Macedonia. Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos on Friday named Alternate Foreign Minister George Katrougalos as the new foreign minister, AP reports. As the agreement with North Macedonia on the name change had now come into effect, the prime minister no longer deems it necessary to retain the portfolio of the foreign ministry, Tzanakopoulos said. New deputy ministers were also announced for the foreign affairs, labor, infrastructure, and migration portfolios. A swearing-in ceremony will be held on Monday after Tsipras returns from a scheduled visit to Munich.Source : RT - Daily news
French minister says British must decide if they want to leave EU amicably or brutally

French minister says British must decide if they want to leave EU amicably or brutally

Frances Europe minister urged Britain on Friday to hurry up and decide whether its leaving the EU with or without a deal, AP reports. Nathalie Loiseau said on RTL radio that its time for our British friends to decide whether they want to leave amicably or brutally. The EU worked hard to reach a Brexit agreement with British Prime Minister Theresa Mays government, she said,. adding that its a little hard to understand that they cant sell their own proposition. May suffered another embarrassing parliamentary defeat on Thursday over her Brexit strategy, further raising fears that the country could crash out of the EU without a deal.Source : RT - Daily news
By Cait Bladt

President Donald Trump's rallies have become a major part of his presidency. While all presidents hold rallies from time to time -- typically in support of a piece of legislation -- Trump has held far more than the norm. Many people have criticized the president for having no agenda for the rallies other than to support his own ego. Not just that, many cities are stuck with huge security bills from Trump's rallies. The president claims they are an important way to reach the people. What do you think?

PERSPECTIVES

Trump has touted the rallies as an indicator of the strength of the social movement he's leading.

The crowds at my Rallies are far bigger than they have ever been before, including the 2016 election. Never an empty seat in these large venues, many thousands of people watching screens outside. Enthusiasm & Spirit is through the roof. SOMETHING BIG IS HAPPENING - WATCH!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2018

Many of the rallies were ostensibly campaign stops for local politicians. After the midterms, Trump credited himself and his rallies with GOP victories.

Does the Fake News Media ever mention the fact that Republicans, with the very important help of my campaign Rallies, WON THE UNITED STATES SENATE, 53 to 47? All I hear is that the Open Border Dems won the House. Senate alone approves judges & others. Big Republican Win!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018

Trump even has a tab on his website dedicated to rallies.

Many people believe the rallies are much less for the general public and are far more about stoking the president's delicate ego. Jack Moore at GQ posited the president is simply addicted to rallies:

Moore isn't the only person who believes Trump's rallies are much more self-serving than he acts. Jeremy C. Young at the Washington Post writes:

Not only are the rallies shallow affairs, they end up costing local governments tens of thousands of dollars. According to Pacific Standard, Trump's camp frequently claims they will reimburse cities without ever following through.

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.
CARO, MI  A Michigan State Police trooper is being charged after allegedly assaulting another trooper assigned to his post, according to police.

The Michigan State Police announced the charges in a press release Friday afternoon.

Adam Mullin, of the MSP Caro Post, was arraigned in Huron County District Court on charges of aggravated domestic violence, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, obstruction of justice, misconduct in office, assault, resisting or obstructing a police officer causing injury and felony firearms on Friday, Feb. 15, according to the press release.

Lt. James Lang confirmed the victim in the incident was another trooper at the Caro Post.

Mullin, a member of MSP since 2016, was arrested and lodged in the Lapeer County Jail on Feb. 12.

He was put on unpaid suspension, according to the press release.
Candidates are not required to release their income tax forms, but many have done so to be transparent about any potential conflicts. Voters increasingly have come to expect politicians to release details about their finances, and perhaps is that nowhere more important than in a state such as Illinois, where a line of politicians have enriched themselves through their government ties.
GILFORD TOWNSHIP, MI- A Wisconsin-based soybean processor is getting some help from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to open a new soybean processing plant in the Thumb.

State Rep. Phil Green, R-Millington, announced that Quality Roasting LLC will be developing a new soybean processing plant in Gilford and the state has authorized $10 million in private activity bonds to finance the new processing plant.

Im happy to see this partnership between the state and a business within our community, Green said in a news release.

The company will use the bond money to acquire the land, construct the manufacturing facility and purchase the equipment needed. The company will then repay the bonds authorized by the state.

Green said the project will bring 6-8 permanent jobs in the area, in addition to construction and utility jobs as well.

It will be another soybean processor in the state of Michigan. Zeeland Farm Services is one of the main ones in Zeeland. That soybean processor also plans to build a second processor near Ithaca, Michigan as well.

Any more usage of soybeans is a good thing, Jay Ferguson, vice president for Michigan Soybean Association District 4. A lot of the beans got to go to Toledo or Windsor or Zeeland.

The Tuscola County project was previously awarded an $80,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant in support of this project.

President of Quality Roasting LLC Erin Davis said they will break ground around late March or early April on building the plant and hopefully be done before the start of the 2019 soybean season in October.

Davis said their processing plant will make soybean oil and meal using heat and friction. Davis added that this way there is more protein that is able to be extracted which in turn is able to help produce more milk in cows that are fed the meal.

Michigan is the 12th largest producer of soybeans in the country with roughly 12,000 farmers who have over 2 million bushels of soybeans over the state, according to data provided by the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee.
MUSKEGON, MI  The city of Muskegon will receive $455,000 from the sale of a downtown parking lot from the developer planning to construct a 73-unit apartment complex.

City commissioners voted Tuesday, Feb. 12, to accept a purchase agreement for the parking lot at the corner of Apple Avenue and Jefferson Street to General Capital Group.

The Milwaukee developer also succeeded in getting city commission support for its payment in lieu of taxes  or PILOT  proposal. The proposal involves the developers paying a set percentage, in this case 4 percent, of annually rental fees rather than traditional property taxes.

The agreement also will impose a 2-percent municipal services fee on PILOT payments.

General Capital, the developer behind the new Berkshire senior citizen apartments on Webster Avenue, plans to build low- to moderate-income apartments on the lot located at 1021 Jefferson St. The complex likely will include 55 one-bedroom units and 18 two-bedroom units.

General Capitals Josh Hafron said his team is still working out how much money the PILOT would generate each year. The company is awaiting a market study from the state to see if its rent estimates are accurate.

Estimated rents for one-bedroom units range from $260 to $817 per month.

The PILOT will help the project earn points with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, from which the developers are hoping to get approval for low-income housing tax credits to help finance construction costs.

Hafron said the company hopes to start construction late this year.

At least 2,300 square feet of commercial space also is planned for the first floor of the proposed three-story complex, which would generate additional taxes based on the commercial square footage of the building.

It would be the second General Capital development built in Muskegon within the last two years. The company recently completed the $16 million, 84-unit Berkshire Muskegon senior apartment community in the core of downtown on a block bordered by First Street and Clay and Webster avenues.

The designs for General Capital's new three-story project look similar to the Berkshire development, which is currently at 100 percent occupancy.

A similar property tax swap for 4 percent of rental fees was granted to General Capital in 2015 for the Berkshire development.

Muskegon City Manager Frank Peterson told commissioners in November that this type of affordable housing development was one of the biggest pieces weve been missing in Muskegons downtown urban core.

A calculation provided in the design concepts package breaks down possible pricing per unit with those rent restrictions in mind. They include:
VAN BUREN COUNTY, MI  A 23-year-old Benton Harbor man faces two counts of murder and several other charges in a Jan. 12 crash that killed a woman and a child.

Jose Humberto Canedo was arraigned Friday, Feb. 15 on 10 felony counts in Van Buren County District Court. Canedo is charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the head-on crash  one for the death of Skylinn Salines, 6, and the other for the death of Mary Fender, 73.

Canedo also faces two counts of operating with a high blood-alcohol content causing death with a prior conviction, two counts of operating with a high blood-alcohol content causing serious injury with a prior conviction, two counts of operating while license suspended, denied or revoked causing death and operating while license suspended, denied or revoked causing serious injury.

Fender, of Paw Paw, was pronounced dead at the scene. Skylinn, of Coloma, was transported to a local hospital but later succumbed to her injuries.

Deputies responded at around 2:35 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 12, to a two-car crash in the 60000 block of Red Arrow Highway in Van Buren Countys Hartford Township. An off-duty patrol sergeant witnessed the crash and called for backup while assisting the injured parties.

Police said Canedo was driving a white 2007 Chevy Equinox east on Red Arrow Highway with two passengers, a one-year-old boy and Skylinn.

Investigators believe the Chevy Equinox crossed the center lane and struck a black 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Fender, who was traveling with a 57-year-old female passenger.

The impact killed Fender and injured each person in both vehicles. The six-year-old girl was taken to Lakeland Medical Center in Watervliet where she was later pronounced dead.

Canedo was in critical condition and was taken to Lakeland Medical Center in St. Joseph. The drivers one-year-old passenger was taken to Bronson Methodist Hospital in critical condition.

The 57-year-old female passenger in the Jeep Grand Cherokee was taken to Bronson Methodist Hospital in critical condition.
BATTLE CREEK, MI  A new ordinance that prohibits drivers from handling cell phones within city limits goes into effect today, though police will not write tickets until after signs are installed, according to a city official.

The Battle Creek City Commission approved the distracted driving rules on Feb. 5, modifying the citys Uniform Traffic Code, and the ordinance is in effect on Friday, Feb. 15.

The ordinance prohibits the hand-held use of a cell phone while driving a vehicle, including scrolling and typing, as well as speaking, the city said in a news release.

Signs will be posted at entry points of the city, alerting drivers of the local law.

City staff are expected to post signs later this month. The city also must wait for the Michigan Department of Transportation approval to post signs on the state highways into the city.

Police will not issue tickets related to this ordinance until the signs are posted, the city said in a news release.

Police Chief Jim Blocker does not expect to issue an abundance of tickets related to the ordinance, according to the news release.

Although enforceable, we anticipate more educational opportunities than enforcement actions in this first year, Blocker said in a prepared statement. There is a shared responsibility on our part to get the message out  and this works well with the state law  that distracted driving is not safe driving.

Exceptions to the law are radio operators licensed by the FCC; police officers, fire department personnel, law enforcement officers and others driving emergency vehicles while performing their official jobs; and anyone reporting a traffic accident, medical emergency or serious road hazard.

Frequently asked questions are available at the citys website, www.battlecreekmi.gov/faq.

In 2016, there were 12,788 crashes in Michigan involving distracted driving, resulting in 43 fatalities and 5,103 injuries, according to the Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center.

That same year, cell phones were involved in 1,912 crashes in Michigan, which is about 15 percent of all crashes involving distracted driving in the state. Of the 1,912 crashes in Michigan involving cell phone use, 1,893 (99 percent) involved use by a motor vehicle driver, 18 involved use by a bicyclist and 7 involved use by a pedestrian, according to the Criminal Justice Information Center data.
JACKSON, MI  Snow days. One of the joys of childhood, but one of the agonies of school administrators.

More snow days this winter, though, will come with consequences for all at some Jackson County school districts.

Michigan law requires 180 days of instruction, but allows six closure days and offers a waiver for up to three more. After that, schools must make up missed days.

After this weeks snow and ice, all Jackson County districts are at or near their limit, said Kevin Oxley, Jackson County Intermediate School District superintendent.

"There is talk of some kind of legislative action, just because the year has been so odd," Oxley said. "The west side of the state is getting slammed, there's some school districts to the north getting slammed."

Some legislators argue school-closing days during Michigans weather state of emergency at the end of January shouldnt count against districts, but no action has been taken yet in the Legislature.

Im looking forward to spring, Oxley said.

Heres a look at how many days Jackson County districts have canceled school, due to weather or other issues, so far in 2018-19.
JACKSON, MI  A man accused of transporting $30,000 worth of cocaine in the trunk of his car and leading police on a chase on I-94 almost a year ago has pleaded guilty to his crimes.

Howard Robinson pleaded guilty on Feb. 8 to five felony charges stemming from a traffic stop on I-94 that escalated into a brief police chase and ended with Robinsons arrest after he crashed, records show.

Robinson, 53, pleaded guilty to one count each of delivering or manufacturing 50 to 449 grams of cocaine, third-degree fleeing a police officer, felonious assault and two counts of assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer.

A Michigan State Police trooper stopped Robinsons vehicle, March 22, 2018, on westbound I-94 near the Grass Lake scales, east of Mount Hope Road, for a tinted window violation, police said.

Robinson fled the stop, dragging the trooper a short distance before the trooper returned to his cruiser and began the pursuit.

The trooper had scratches on his knuckles and red marks on his palms, but no other injuries, police said.

Police chased Robinson to the Race Road exit, about a mile away, where he attempted to re-enter the freeway and crashed into a guardrail, totaling the vehicle, police said.

Robinson was arrested in a wooded area near the crash site. Police searched the vehicle and found 535 grams of powder cocaine, police said.

Robinson is scheduled for sentencing March 27 before Circuit Judge Susan Jordan.

Delivering or manufacturing 50 to 449 grams of cocaine is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and or a fine of $250,000.
HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, MI -- A driver who died when a vehicle left a Holland Township road and struck a tree has been identified as 53-year-old Lisa Miscovich of Holland.

Police said three dogs in her 2013 Nissan Murano were injured and taken to a veterinary hospital for treatment.

Ottawa County sheriffs deputies said she was driving south on Beeline Road and failed to make a curve north of James Street. The vehicle struck a tree.

Deputies said the crash happened about 11:50 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 14.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A woman who gave her 5-week-old infant methadone, believing the child was suffering withdrawals, has been sentenced to prison.

Jennifer Lynn Pickerd, also known as Jennifer Berry, was sentenced to 18 months to three years in prison during a Kent County Circuit Court hearing Thursday, Feb. 14.

There is just no excuse, no justification that you would do that to a child, Judge Mark Trusock told PIckerd. This is so far out of bounds.

Trusock said he understood Pickerd thought she was trying to help.

Children are meant to be nurtured and loved, not given drugs, he said. Just to decide on your own to give a child methadone, that is extremely inappropriate.

Grand Rapids police earlier said that Pickerd had been using methadone throughout her pregnancy.

Police said the baby was fussy in the middle of the night last fall, so she decided to try the methadone. The baby became unresponsive, police said, and Berry then administered Narcan -- an overdose reversal drug.

The baby was in the hospital for several days to detoxify from methadone, prosecutors said.

Pickerds attorney, John Grace, said she was using methadone for pain related to a spinal disk issue.
MONTCALM COUNTY, MI -- A man suspected of creating child pornography was arrested after police conducted a search warrant at his house and found him hiding in the basement.

Steven James King, 52, of Greenville, is charged with two counts of child sexually abusive activity, two counts of child sexually abusive material and two counts of using a computer to commit a crime.

Workers at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children came upon Internet activity and passed the info on to state police with the Computer Crimes Unit.

State police Detective Sgt. Chris Prevette said police then identified two locations where crime may have occurred -- one at the house in Greenville and the other in Ionia County.

Officers obtained a search warrant for the Greenville house and went there Feb. 13. They found King in the basement.

Police have identified one victim and say King could face other charges later.

Investigators did not release any details about the age or gender of the victim.
FLINT, MI  In emotionally-charged testimony, the father of the victim asked for the four juveniles to be sentenced as adults in the deadly Interstate 75 rock-throwing case.

Kenneth White, father of Kenneth A. White, gave the testimony during a juvenile sentencing hearing of 16-year-old Trevor A. Gray on Friday, Feb. 15 at Genesee County Circuit Court in Flint.

Gray is one of four teens accused of tossing rocks from the Dodge Road overpass above southbound Interstate 75 in Vienna Township on Oct. 18, 2017, police say.

I believe that each and every one of these young men should be equally charged as adults," said the father, Kenneth White. "They all made decisions to load the vehicle with the rocks, and they all agreed to throw the rocks over the overpass. They were all part of this event. I really dont believe one should be charged and the rest get light sentences as juveniles because of more privileged lives. My son paid for his life.

One of the rocks, estimated to be about 20 pounds, crashed through the windshield of 32-year-old Kenneth A. Whites vehicle, killing him, police say.

Genesee Circuit Judge Joseph J. Farah has the option to sentence Gray, Mikadyn M. Payne, 17, Mark A. Sekelsky, 17, and Alexzander Miller, 16, as juveniles or adults following a series of juvenile sentencing hearings. Eighteen-year-old Kyle J. Anger will be sentenced as an adult in the case.

The judge has yet to make a decision in the juvenile cases.

Anger and codefendants Sekelsky, Payne and Gray entered pleas on Oct. 26, 2018. Miller entered a plea on Nov. 5, 2018. Anger pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while the other four pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss 10 of the 11 charges each defendant faced.

Kenneth White, the victims father, said each defendant in these cases made the decision together, and ultimately he wants the answer of who threw the rock that killed his son.

I dont get my 10 oclock phone call (any) more. I dont get to see my son. Yes, they need to get sentenced, he said. They need to get sentenced, but three, four, five years down the road, they still get to walk again. They still get to talk to their families. They still get to have a life. They took that away from us. They took that away from all of us.

Fred Meiers, Grays Flint-based attorney, said his client expressed remorse in the case. Meiers aimed to show Gray as an individual and separate him from the group mentality the cases have become.

I think if you put each person alone  put Trevor alone  that is not who did the conduct," Meiers said. "Trevor Gray would not do that. Trevor Gray in a group and the mob of what that was that night fed on each other and did the conduct. We want to develop to show him as the man of who he is and who he should be as we continue the hearings.

Each defendants had testified they loaded rocks and other objects onto Angers Ford pickup truck and proceeded to throw 10- to 12-inch rocks from the overpass onto I-75. Anger testified he threw four rocks, Gray and Payne testified throwing three each and Sekelsky testified to throwing two.

Detective Sgt. Jason Murphy, of the Genesee County Sheriffs Department, also testified Friday. Whites mother, Theresa Simpson, testified Thursday in Paynes hearing.

I dont know that I can ever feel in my heart to ever forgive that," said Kenneth White, the victims father. "You know, because if it was my son that took their sons life, what kind of sentence would they want for my son? They wouldnt want a slap on the wrist and a couple years of probation. They would want the max they can get. So why cant we ask the same thing?

The judge isnt expected to rule on whether he will sentence the teens as juveniles or adults until he hears more testimony. The hearings continue next week with Sekelsky scheduled for Thursday and Miller for Friday.
How Daley made his millions: From the Tribunes Todd Lighty: Throughout the Chicago mayoral campaign, Bill Daley has faced questions about how he became a millionaire after decades of working at the crossroads of government, politics and business, Lighty reports. But a 2011 financial filing as he became chief of staff to President Barack Obama provides a snapshot of Daleys money. At the time, he had a net worth between $12 million and $46 million. Thats more than 10 times what Daley was worth in 1997, when he became President Bill Clintons commerce secretary. Read the story here.
ARLINGTON, VA  After a week of memorial services in Michigan and the nations capital, former U.S. Rep. John Dingell was laid to rest Friday, Feb. 15 at Arlington National Cemetery.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, shed tears as Army Lt. Col. Allen Kehoe presented the American flag from her husbands casket during a burial service with military honors.

There was a 21-gun salute and a bugler played taps in honor of the nations longest-serving Congress member, a World War II veteran and U.S. Army second lieutenant.

The Michigan Democrat, a lawyer, served in Congress from 1955-2015, helping to shape landmark legislation in support of the environment, civil rights, the American auto industry and access to health care. He was also known for his humor.

John Dingell remembered as true statesman,' Twitter ninja

By the great horned spoon, John Dingell was loved for his words and ways

A U.S. House chaplain and Army chaplain said prayers and led a brief service as family and friends gathered at the cemetery Friday.

Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 400,000 active duty service members, veterans and their families.

Today is his burial at Arlington National Cemetery. He told me not to cry. I have been trying, Debbie Dingell wrote on Facebook on Friday, sharing a poem she said carries his spirit.

Today is his burial at Arlington National Cemetery. He told me not to cry. I have been trying. Here is a poem that... Posted by Debbie Dingell on Friday, February 15, 2019

John Dingell died last week at 92.

Hundreds line up to pay final respects to John Dingell at Dearborn viewing

Former President Bill Clinton and some of Dingells congressional colleagues spoke about Dingell at a funeral service in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. Vice President Joe Biden delivered a eulogy at a funeral service in Michigan on Tuesday.

One last time, John Dingells greatest tweets
LANSING, MI  When corporations pollute the environment, they should have to pay to clean it up.

Thats the thinking behind legislation state Rep. Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor, reintroduced on Thursday, Feb. 14.

This is a piece of people-first legislation. It puts the people of the state of Michigan first, not the polluters, Rabhi said.

As long as we let these polluters continue to get away scot-free and walk away from these big contamination plumes that they create, we are not going to solve the problem for our residents.

Rabhi, Michigans House Democratic floor leader, proposed a similar polluter-pay law two years ago, but it never gained traction in the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Frustrated with the continuing spread of the Gelman dioxane plume in Ann Arbor and PFAS contamination, Rabhi is making another push to strengthen the states environmental cleanup laws.

Joining him is Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, who has introduced an identical bill in the Senate.

At a Thursday press conference in Lansing, the two lawmakers were joined by other local officials and environmental advocates who want to see more done to clean up pollution such as the Gelman dioxane plume in Ann Arbor and PFAS contamination of water supplies.

Why is it OK that a polluter can dump a bunch of toxins in the groundwater that were all drinking and that were using to irrigate our crops? Rabhi said.

Several other state lawmakers stood with them at the event. Rabhis bill, House Bill 4212, has more than 20 co-sponsors.

Under current Michigan laws, polluters can simply restrict access to a contaminated site instead of treating or removing pollutants, the lawmakers note. In the case of the toxic plume coming from the former Gelman Sciences complex in the Ann Arbor area, the chemical pollution in the groundwater is allowed to spread through the city to the Huron River as long as the risk of human exposure is mitigated.

When I was a child and I spilled a glass of orange juice on the counter, I usually would have to clean it up, Rabhi said.

This bill basically codifies what should be elementary to all of us, that when you make a mess, you clean it up. Mom didnt say when you spill some orange juice on the counter, just put some rags around it and just leave it there, make sure nobody touches it, and thats all you need to do. But thats the law now. You can create a prohibition zone and say, Well, as long as nobody touches the orange juice, then thats fine; as long as nobody drinks the contaminated water, then its OK.

But what that does is it just creates this enlarged and growing map, these dots that are popping up all over our state of new prohibition zones, new areas that suddenly we cant drink the water anymore, that suddenly we cant use those resources to irrigate our crops.

Expressing similar sentiments were Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor, Scio Township Trustee Christine Green, Huron River Watershed Council Executive Director Laura Rubin, and Roger Rayle, chairman of Scio Residents for Safe Water and the Coalition for Action on Remediation of Dioxane in Washtenaw County.

None of this is the states fault or the citys fault. It is indeed the polluters fault and they ought to take care of it, Taylor said, reflecting on the current state of affairs.

What the current law means is that residents can know about the presence of a contaminated aquifer underneath the city and in proximity to our drinking water source, they can beg their city and local governments for actions, and they can be met time and time again with, We understand your concerns, we want to act, but theres not much more we can do. Now that is not good enough, he said.

People should be able to work with state and local officials to protect their communities from aquifer contamination and to hold polluters accountable, and here is where the state can help.

House Bill 4212 and Senate Bill 116 would require that pollution be cleaned up as much as technically feasible.

Rabhi and Irwin believe there should be a law that requires Gelman Sciences, a filter maker that polluted the Ann Arbor area with the dangerous chemical dioxane decades ago, to restore the groundwater aquifer, rather than letting the pollution fester.

Residential and municipal wells have been shut down as a result of the Gelman plume, and the dioxane is spreading toward the Huron River, Ann Arbors main water supply, which is already contaminated with PFAS chemicals from upstream manufacturing.

Currently, the law doesnt require thorough cleanups, leading to orphaned sites that are too polluted to build on and contaminated aquifers filled with water too dirty to drink, Irwin said. Its unacceptable to let companies off the hook when they pollute our land and water.

Its time to hold corporate polluters accountable, Rubin agreed.

We are struggling with keeping our communities and our river healthy and vibrant, and a lot of it has to do with the legacy of the manufacturing in this region and throughout Michigan, through metal plating, through the automotive industry, through chemical manufacturing, through dry cleaning, through printing, she said.

Michigan is struggling with legacy contaminants left on land, in rivers, and in groundwater, Rubin said.

And what happens is, more and more, weve been seeing not only the impacts on water quality, but the impacts on human health, she said. And its becoming more and more severe, and we dont have the tools to be able to deal with this.

Scio Township is ground zero for dioxane contamination, as the Gelman Sciences complex was located in the township, just outside the Ann Arbor city limits, Green said.

The site in Scio Township and under the city of Ann Arbor is one of the largest sites in the United States. Its huge. Im surprised it hasnt gotten more national attention, she said, noting its been estimated Gelman Sciences released more than 800,000 pounds of dioxane into the environment between 1966 and 1986.

Under the states current cleanup laws, which dont go far enough, Green said, only about 13 percent of that amount has been extracted after many years of pump-and-treat remediation efforts.

The toxic plume continues to migrate into multiple aquifers. Right now the spread of the plume, Im told, is more than three miles long and one mile wide. That is enormous, she said. Numerous residential wells have already been contaminated and there are some new ones that have relatively low levels of contamination, but nonetheless the 1,4-dioxane has made it to their drinking water supply.

More homeowners are at risk, Green said, noting more than half the townships residents are on private water wells and dependent on the purity of the local groundwater aquifers.

Somewhat less than half the residents in our townships get their water from the city of Ann Arbor, so the city gets its water of course from the Huron River, she said. So we are dependent also on the purity of the water from the Huron River.

Its difficult to ask local taxpayers to fund litigation against national and international corporate polluters, Green said, adding residents should be able to rely on government agencies such as the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for cleanup enforcement, but the DEQ needs a state cleanup law with real teeth.

We have some highly mobile forever-pollutants that will require more due diligence to match the scale of the problem for as long as it takes, said Rayle, who has been tracking the Gelman plume for many years.

Dioxane particles, like PFAS, are fully miscible in water and go wherever water goes, Rayle said.

These pollutants, once in water, dont respect any boundaries like prohibition zones or city/township boundaries, he said.

We need a more comprehensive approach on this, and just tightening standards on pollutants does not ensure clean water if regulators are not equipped to enforce them, he said, adding a polluter-pay law is needed to address threats to waters of the state.

I mean, this is our future, he said.

Irwin has complained for years that Michigans lax environmental laws are a hindrance to cleaning up the Gelman plume.

We used to enjoy a polluter-pay law that was written by our very own Sen. Lana Pollack," he said three years ago. Then (in 1995) the law changed  to say that polluters only have to clean up their pollution if its actively harming someone, and so thats a big reason why this cleanup has dragged on for so long.

Irwin expanded on that Thursday.

Once upon a time here in the state of Michigan, we did have polluter-pay laws and our economy was strong and our environment was much cleaner, and unfortunately we elected Gov. John Engler, he said. And Gov. John Engler, together with the Legislature, destroyed that whole policy of accountability for polluters, and now weve enjoyed 20-plus years of environmental laws in our state that just simply do not require the people who are responsible to clean it up.

Thats a problem in a couple of big ways, Irwin said, arguing its both a health problem and an economic problem.

It is completely unfair that this Legislature and this government has let corporate polluters appropriate our air and water for their economic benefit, and in the process causing disease, causing cancer, causing shortened lives, and causing a tremendous amount of costs for our citizens in health care, respiratory problems, he said.

These are serious public health impacts people are feeling as a result of the states lackadaisical attitude about requiring polluters to clean up, he said, arguing its also an economic problem when theres land scattered all over the state thats polluted.

Abandoned brownfields where the state of Michigan has simply allowed polluters to walk away without cleaning up their mess, and thats what were here to stand for changing, he said.
YPSILANTI, MI -- An Ypsilanti elementary school teacher accused of exposing himself to a woman in August hoped hed have better luck facing a judge than a jury of his peers.

But Washtenaw County 14-A District Judge Kirk W. Tabbey found Troy L. Miller Jr., 47, a former third-grade teacher at Ypsilanti International Elementary School, guilty after hearing testimony Wednesday, Feb. 13.

The charge of misdemeanor indecent exposure stemmed from an Aug 15 incident in the 800 block of Young Street, a half mile from the school, where a woman reported being called over to a vehicle by Miller, who was asking for directions, Ypsilanti Police Lt. Brent Yuchasz said.

As the woman approached the vehicle, she noticed the driver had a towel on his lap, which he removed, exposing his genitals before driving away, Yuchasz said.

The woman recorded and reported the vehicles license plate number, which was registered to Miller, Yuchasz said.

Following his arrest, the elementary school teachers employer issued this statement:

Ypsilanti Community Schools top priority is the safety and security of all students and staff. The district is aware of a legal arraignment with a YCS teacher and is cooperating with local authorities regarding the situation. The legal issue at hand does not involve any student from Ypsilanti Community Schools.

Miller was placed on administrative leave after his arrest.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer responded on Twitter on Thursday to those critiquing the form-fitting dress she wore for Tuesdays State of the State speech.

The response came after Fox 2 News in Detroit aired a segment discussing the comments on social media about Whitmers outfit. Several of the comments focused on Whitmers outfit and her body in demeaning language.

In a series of three tweets, Whitmer wrote: Boys have teased me about my curves since 5th grade. My mom said hold your head high and dont let it bother you. That @ Fox2News story was way out of line. Im tough, I can take it.

Boys have teased me about my curves since 5th grade. My mom said hold your head high and dont let it bother you.



That @Fox2News story was way out of line.



Im tough, I can take it.  Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@gretchenwhitmer) February 14, 2019

In my speech I was encouraging people to see the humanity in one another in this cruel political environment. In an era when so many women are stepping up to lead, Im hoping people will focus on our ideas and accomplishments instead of our appearance, she added.

Until then, Ive got a message for all of the women and girls like mine who have to deal with garbage like this every day: Ive got your back," said the third tweet.

Erika Erickson, the Fox 2 News reporter defended the segment, writing on Twitter: The point of the story is clearly being missed. Im sorry for that part. If you watch, the whole story was defending the beautiful @ gretchenwhitmer, AND calling out the trolls who attacked her, all while discussing the double standards of women/men in leadership roles. @ FOX2News.

Thursday evening, Fox 2 News Director Kevin Roseborough issued a statement that read: "On Tuesday night, Gov. Gretchen Whitmers State of the State address discussed many issues of importance to our state. FOX 2 broadcast and streamed the speech live. We were taken aback by the number and nature of many inappropriate Facebook comments on the governors physical appearance.

We chose not to ignore the comments, and to instead examine them through person-on-the-street interviews and an experts opinion on the double standard faced by female leaders, Roseboroughs statement said. This is not a subject that should be turned away from, and we have extended an invitation to the governor to talk to us about this further.
LANSING, MI -- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in her State of the State address Tuesday proposed a series of scholarship paths for Michigan students who want to pursue everything from technical certifications to bachelors degrees.

If you are willing to put in the work, youre going to have a path to succeed in Michigan, she said to cheers at the address.

For students graduating from Michigan high schools, the proposed MI Opportunity scholarship -- which the legislature would need to agree to fund -- provides two basic paths. Both require students to have lived in Michigan for at least one year, and maintain in good academic standing at their chosen higher education institution. And to get the scholarship, a student has to start in the fall after they graduate high school.

Heres a visual idea of how the path would work for a student graduating from a Michigan high school. Mouse over the icons to get an idea of what happens at each step.

Gov. Whitmer's proposed MI Opportunity scholarship

In the first path, a student can go to a community college debt-free. They fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, FAFSA, and the state picks up the rest of the tab for tuition and mandatory fees. A student may still have to pay for other costs, like housing. They can take 60 credits for up to three years with the goal of either getting an associate degree, getting a technical certification or transferring to a four-year university.

The second path is only open to students with a family income of $80,000 or less. A student going to a four-year university directly out of high school would need to select a public or not-for profit university and apply for FAFSA. They would be eligible for $2,500 in tuition assistance for the first two years of attendance.

In-state tuition at a public university in Michigan, plus room and board, averaged $21,943 in 2017-18. That number concerns Whitmer.

That is the 10th highest in the nation, and it is a complete barrier for a lot of people in our state, she said.

She plans for the scholarship to go into effect in 2020.

She is proposing another option, too, for Michigan adults over 25. The Michigan Reconnect program would provide a tuition-free path through a community college, union apprenticeship program or nonprofit institution with a recognized certificate program for an in-demand industry.

The scholarships are part of a goal she announced to have 60 percent of Michiganders with post-secondary attainment by 2030. As of 2016, she said in her speech, the number is 43.7 percent.

Its not clear yet how much money the proposed scholarships would cost the state, though the budget plan Whitmer unveils soon will likely include that detail. Whitmer did tell MLive she would seek to pull the money from existing programs targeting skilled trades instead of seeking to generate new state revenue.
SALEM TOWNSHIP, MI -- Within two years, the Republican-majority legislature fed two $10-million grants to Salem Township, a rural community of 6,100 about 12 miles northeast of Ann Arbor that didnt even ask for it.

In light of the public scrutiny and claims of political favoritism, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this week froze the second half of that $20 million.

An initially anonymous politician in December tucked the funds in with $113 million of last-minute political pet projects, commonly referred to as pork-barrel spending," passed in the final days before Gov. Rick Snyder exited office.

Answers to why Lansing wanted to give every man, woman and child in Salem Township the equivalent of $3,300 in taxpayer funds, an amount equal to near seven times the municipalitys $3 million annual budget, didnt come easy.

Early reporting by Bridge Magazine revealed a possible political motive. The grant funds were designated for water- and sewer-line installation at a 1,400-acre section of Salem Township marked for future commercial and housing development.

Salem Township wants to develop nearly 1,400 acres of land along M14 near Godfredson Road to the northwest of Ann Arbor.

It turns out Schostak Brothers & Co. of Livonia, a development company led by former Republican Party Chairman Bobby Schostak, who helped raise tens of millions of dollars for Republican candidates between 2011-15, has a huge vested interest in that land.

Schostak Brothers owns nearly half of the land in the investment area and needs water and sewer lines installed beneath the former farmland before proceeding with its vision, including a 550-home residential development currently awaiting Salem Township approval.

Bridge Magazine revealed the legislative sponsor field on forms for both of the $10 million Salem Township grants -- one awarded in 2017 and the latest in December -- were left blank. Now-retired Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof has since taken credit for the latest grant, calling it a proper use of taxpayer funds to spur economic development in a recent statement to Crains Detroit.

The December grant is currently under review," said state Budget Office Spokesman Kurt Weiss, whose office releases the grant funds.

I dont have any kind of estimate as to how long the review could take," Weiss said. Were not saying were not going to move forward, we are saying were having further discussions.

The township never requested the grants and never had any notification whatsoever from the state that the money had been awarded, Salem Township Supervisor Gary Whittaker said.

To this day, I have not had any contact with the state, Whittaker said Thursday, Feb. 14, adding that hed be sick to find out anything underhanded played a role in the grant decision.

The township told Schostak Brothers and other firms that no development plans would move forward until there was full funding for the water and sewer infrastructure, which is expected to cost $30 million, Whittaker said.

So far, only $5 million of the original grant funds have been fully released to Salem Township by the state Budget Office. Of that, $800,000 was paid to Stantec, a multinational engineering firm with an Ann Arbor office, to develop engineering plans for water and sewer lines, Whittaker said.

The development area is located along M-14, centered near the intersection of Godfredson Road.

The grant funds in question are supposed to be dispersed by the end of January, according to state law.
Im currently in the midst of binge-watching Mad Men, a TV series that casts a harsh light on the overt sexism of the 1960s.

Im old enough to remember that time. Much has changed.

But, as I was reminded this week, much has not.

That reminder came via the social media commentary about Gov. Gretchen Whitmers first State of the State address, and specifically the lewd and/or judgmental comments involving Whitmers attire -- a form-fitting blue dress that showed Whitmers curves.

Seriously?

For anyone who questions whether sexism still exists, well, heres your proof.

There can be no doubt a double standard exists when it comes to looks and attire in the workplace. Men are largely viewed with indifference. Women are largely judged.

A few years ago, an Australian newscaster wore the same suit every day for a year to test the reaction of viewers. There was no reaction at all. The newsman, Karl Stefanovic, contrasted that to regular stream of appearance-based criticisms aimed at his female co-host.

In America, women politicians in particular are often put in a no-win situation: Those considered attractive are a magnet for leering reactions; those labeled unattractive are subject to even more cruel and brutal comments.

I ask you: In his eight years in office, how much did you read or hear about about Rick Snyders choice of suits or his body type?

And its not like Whitmer is an exception. Jennifer Granholm, Snyders predecessor and Michigans first woman governor, faced plenty of commentary about her looks. For years, whenever I wrote a story about former Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, I could count on a lewd comment or two from readers.

I suspect men may think such comments should be seen as compliments.

Its not flattering. Its demeaning.

Boys have teased me about my curves since 5th grade. My mom said hold your head high and dont let it bother you.



That @Fox2News story was way out of line.



Im tough, I can take it.  Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@gretchenwhitmer) February 14, 2019

"Boys have teased me about my curves since 5th grade. My mom said hold your head high and dont let it bother you, " Whitmer said in her Twitter response. In an era when so many women are stepping up to lead, Im hoping people will focus on our ideas and accomplishments instead of our appearance.

The 2018 election has been called the Year of the Woman, and it was certainly true in Michigan. Women won the offices of governor, attorney general, secretary of state, U.S. Senate, plus the two open seats each on the Michigan Supreme Court and State Board of Education. It was women candidates who flipped two Michigan Congressional seats from red to blue. The new chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court is a woman.

Nationally, as the 2020 presidential campaign gets under way, its notable that the front-runners at this point are women: Sens. Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren. At this point, only President Trump rivals House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in political power.

Women office-holders are no longer the exception. If it wasnt already obvious before now, its high time to adjust our conversations accordingly. We need to stop obsessing about female politicians choice of attire, their hair, their body types, their general appearance.

Some things are better left unsaid. And for good measure, knock off the appearance-based commentary on male politicians. You cant complain about the treatment of women politicians while making derogatory remarks about Trumps hair or skin tone.

Just. Stop.

Since the era when professional women were literally called girls," weve come far.

But not far enough.

Julie Mack is a reporter for MLives Public Impact team. She is a 1981 graduate of Michigan State University, a journalist for four decades and has been based in Kalamazoo since 1990.
Its mostly of historical interest now, but Astros GM Jeff Luhnow acknowledged that the club had a deal all but locked down to land Bryce Harper last summer. (Via Mark Berman of FOX 26, on Twitter.) Reports indicated that the Nationals would have received a strong haul of talent had they agreed to give up Harper at the non-waiver deadline; instead, the club announced on deadline day that it would not part with its star, who is now (still) a free agent. Lest anyone get the wrong idea, the Houston organizations prior interest certainly doesnt indicate that Harper is of interest presently. There has been no such connection this winter. Luhnow did suggest, though, that the pursuit is evidence of the teams commitment to look at all alternatives and possibly swing major deals at the trade deadline.

Those who enjoy concocting wild trade scenarios will also take note of Luhnows intriguing aside: I think fans would be surprised at the types of players at times that weve gone after and how close weve come on some of them. Heres more from the American League:
Just because your vacation may be delayed by COVID doesn't mean it can't be better than in prior years.
A group of Virginia lawmakers wants F-22 Raptor fighters that were transferred to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, from Tyndall following Hurricane Michael to be permanently relocated to Joint Base Langley-Eustis.

Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, both Democrats, are urging Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson to consider moving formal training units (FTU) such as the 43rd Fighter Squadron to Virginia for training and maintenance operations, as well as potential recruiting efforts.

"Beyond the existing ramp space and infrastructure at Langley that would allow it to quickly receive aircraft at minimal additional cost, a decision to move the F-22 FTU to Langley would leverage a number of key benefits that Langley and the surrounding areas have," the lawmakers said in a statement Friday. "The Hampton Roads area has a long history of supporting our nation's military and their families, and would provide strong recruiting and retention ability."

Following Hurricane Michael, which damaged most structures at Tyndall as well as dozens of stealth jets, the Air Force moved its remaining F-22 fleet, dividing the aircraft between Langley-Eustis; Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

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Eglin, located roughly 60 miles from Tyndall in the Florida panhandle, also took some of Tyndall's F-22s and T-38 Talon trainers. The Raptor schoolhouse for pilots, as well as maintenance operations, have been relocated to Eglin.

The lawmakers said moving the F-22s from Eglin to Langley-Eustis would give more missions to the Virginia base, which is currently "underutilized," they said.

"Joint Base Langley-Eustis is currently underutilized, housing only two F-22 squadrons and supporting maintenance units," the letter states. It was co-signed by Reps. Bobby Scott, Robert Wittman, Gerry Connolly, Morgan Griffith, Don Beyer, A. Donald McEachin, Ben Cline, Elaine Luria, Abigail Spanberger, Denver Riggleman and Jennifer Wexton.

"Moving the F-22 FTU would advance an important recommendation put forward by the Government Accountability Office, which has emphasized the need for improving aircraft availability by consolidating the fleet into larger squadrons or wings," the letter states.

Last July, the GAO said the F-22 is rarely employed to its fullest potential, due to maintenance challenges and fewer opportunities for pilot training, as well as the fleet's inefficient organizational structure.

The lawmakers offered other reasons why they think the move makes sense.

"The Virginia Air National Guard stands uniquely positioned to support the FTU, with experienced instructors and maintainers well-versed on the platform," they wrote.

The Virginia Guard's 192nd Fighter Wing flies F-22 Raptors.

"The East Coast Mid-Atlantic training ranges provide an excellent opportunity to train with other 4th- and 5th-generation aircraft in the region," the letter continues.

The lawmakers' effort comes as the Air Force is weighing moving three squadrons' worth of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to Tyndall in the near future.

Trading F-22s for an F-35 mission at Tyndall would boost the number of F-22 aircraft in other parts of the country -- as the GAO recommended -- allowing units to consolidate their 5th-gen fleets. Squadrons would have the opportunity to plus-up their operational F-22 squadrons from "21 to 24 assigned aircraft," Air Force officials said in December.

The lawmakers on Friday said reshuffling the jets would be a strategic move. "We ask that you give full consideration to Joint Base Langley-Eustis as a host to this mission," they wrote.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
The incident occurred June 6, 2016, in the 500 block of North Quentin Road during a drug investigation, prosecutors said. Douglas was shot in the leg when he sped in his vehicle toward officers who were trying to arrest him, authorities said. Douglas was treated at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights and released, authorities said.
A 132-foot-long self-driving ship made history by traveling from San Diego to Hawaii's Pearl Harbor and back again without sailors aboard to guide its way.

The Sea Hunter, an autonomous trimaran developed for submarine hunting and counter-mine missions, traveled thousands of miles between San Diego and Pearl Harbor last month. Naval News was first to report on the ship's breakthrough voyage.

Crew members from an escort vessel boarded the Sea Hunter for short durations to check electrical and propulsion systems, according to a press release from Leidos, a science and technology company that designed and built the Sea Hunter. For most of the voyage, though, the ship was unmanned.

"The recent long-range mission is the first of its kind and demonstrates to the U.S. Navy that autonomy technology is ready to move from the developmental and experimental stages to advanced mission testing," Gerry Fasano, the defense group president at Leidos, said in the release.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR), which led the test transit to and from Hawaii, declined a request for an interview, citing operational security concerns.

Dan Brintzinghoffer, with Leidos' maritime systems division, said the idea isn't to replace ships with vehicles like Sea Hunter, but to free up personnel aboard bigger vessels to take on more complex tasks.

"Autonomous vehicles will likely focus on the 'dull, dirty or dangerous' missions sets and could operate around the world's oceans," Brintzinghoffer said. "For example, an autonomous vessel can conduct hydrographic survey missions, freeing manned ships to accomplish other missions."

When the Navy christened the Sea Hunter in 2016, officials said it could change the nature of U.S. maritime operations. It uses a suite of navigation tools and automated lookouts that allow it to safely sail near other vessels in any weather or traffic conditions during the day or night.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency led the design and construction of the vessel and then teamed with ONR for open-water testing.

The project was fully transferred to ONR in early 2018, said Bob Freeman, an agency spokesman, when it moved into a "much more security-sensitive area of research."

Leidos is currently building a second Sea Hunter hull, Brintzinghoffer said. The company was awarded a $43 million contract to start construction on the ship that will build on some of the first Sea Hunter's capabilities, Leidos announced last month.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.
This article by Jared Keller originally appeared on Task & Purpose, a digital news and culture publication dedicated to military and veterans issues.

Long before Tony Stark took a load of shrapnel to the chest in a distant war zone, science fiction legend Robert Heinlein gave America the most visceral description of powered armor for the warfighter of the future. Forget the spines of extra-lethal weaponry, the heads-up display, and even the augmented strength of an Iron Man suit -- the real genius, Heinlein wrote in Starship Troopers, "is that you don't have to control the suit; you just wear it, like your clothes, like skin."

"Any sort of ship you have to learn to pilot; it takes a long time, a new full set of reflexes, a different and artificial way of thinking," explains Johnny Rico. "Spaceships are for acrobats who are also mathematicians. But a suit, you just wear."

First introduced in 2013, U.S. Special Operations Command's Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) purported to offer this capability as America's first stab at militarized powered armor. And while SOCOM initially promised a veritable Iron Man-style tactical armor by 2018, a Navy spokesman told Task & Purpose the much-hyped exoskeleton will likely never get off the launch pad.

"The prototype itself is not currently suitable for operation in a close combat environment," SOCOM spokesman Navy Lt. Phillip Chitty told Task & Purpose, adding that JATF-TALOS has no plans for an external demonstration this year. "There is still no intent to field the TALOS Mk 5 combat suit prototype."

It's that suit-wide interconnectivity that Heinlein described that's the fundamental capability missing from the TALOS. SOCOM's Joint Acquisition Task Force - TALOS missed the the initial deadline for a working Mk 5 prototype due to "complex subsystem interdependencies," Chitty told Task & Purpose.

Although those individual subsystems -- the exoskeleton, base layer, visual augmentation system, helmet assembly, armor, power and communications -- continue to be "refined" in support of independent applications elsewhere, they won't come together to form a seamlessly high-tech prosthesis.

"It's not the Iron Man. I'll be the first person to tell you that," SOCOM acquisition officer James Smith told attendees at an NDIA SO/LIC forum in early February, Defense One first reported, adding that TALOS was "not ready for primetime in a close-combat environment."

Chitty confirmed that SOCOM was, as Defense One characterized it, "chopping up its Iron Man Suit for parts."

"As the TALOS project draws to a close, the JATF is being refocused to iteratively prototype new technical solutions that enhance the SOF mission and support the Hyper-Enabled Operator concept," Chitty told Task & Purpose. "Progressions of select TALOS technologies will be further developed to support the JATF's new direction."

Those technologies are nothing to sneeze at. According to Chitty, the five-year slog towards an operator-ready combat suit ended up yielding a significant number of mature direct technology spin-outs, including new lightweight polyethylene armor, a "thermal management suit," an enhanced operational stress monitoring capability, and a small arms stabilization system."

Other technologies show great promise, but "need more development to attain maturity," said Chitty, including "a 3D audio system, a biomedical monitoring suit, a garment that detects ballistic penetration, and pneumatic ankles and knees that decrease metabolic cost."

"The full-body exoskeleton prototype to offload payload weight is currently not mature enough for SOF needs," Chitty said. "However, the knowledge gained informs the Services' interest in exoskeleton technology for mobility and logistic applications."

The five years and at least $80 million spent on the TALOS has yielded a tremendous volume of technical knowledge that may bolster other exoskeleton projects throughout the U.S. armed forces and defense industrial base, Chitty said, from the Army's "third arm" weapons harness to Lockheed Martin's ONYX exoskeleton.

But even the applications beyond JATF TALOS are limited due to its focus on a SOF mission set. While the lightweight armor and small arms systems may be useful for conventional close combat, JATF's main effort "is shifting to the cognitive domain and provisioning the warfighter with information dominance at the edge," Chitty said.

"Today's technology is capable of providing exceptional amounts of data and information that must be processed and delivered to the right person, at the right time, in a useful way, to be operationally relevant," he said. "We must develop the architectures necessary to sense, monitor, transport, process, and analyze data to aggregate the right information that will inform tactical decisions at the edge."

As SOCOM scales back its powered armor aspirations, other adversaries are expanding their horizons. In August 2018, the Russian Ministry of Defense flaunted its third-generation Ratnik-3 combat suit purportedly replete with a powered exoskeleton and active camouflage capabilities. The appearance of the Ratnik-3 smack in the middle of a critical year for the TALOS appeared to signal what Defense One called a "military exoskeleton arms race."

When asked about where the Pentagon's powered exoskeleton capability stood compared to America's great power competitors, Chitty declined to comment.

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U.S. Transportation Command is moving closer to outsourcing the military's entire system for shipping troops' household goods during permanent change-of-station moves, according to a draft performance work statement released Wednesday.

The move would hand responsibility for shipping the household goods of an estimated 650,000 families each year at a cost of $4.3 billion to a private company, following more than two years of "horrible" household goods shipment experiences among military families and years of debate within the Defense Department on how to improve military moves.

Last July, TRANSCOM reported that 10 percent of military members transferred in 2018 experienced breakage, loss of items, damage to their household goods and delivery delays. And nearly 105,000 military family signed a petition on Change.org last year calling for improvements to the system.

But the draft performance of work statement -- a precursor to a contract solicitation -- for what amounts to privatizing the PCS system came as a surprise to some advocates who have been tracking the issues and debate.

Megan Harless, an Army spouse who sits on a TRANSCOM PCS advisory panel established last year to address the problems, said she and her fellow committee members weren't told that outsourcing was under consideration.

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She added that board members found the command's request for information from industry online and expected it would be discussed in meetings. But in January, TRANSCOM officials simply told board members they were moving ahead with plans to outsource the system.

"It was a bit of a shock ... out of left field," Harless told Military.com on Wednesday.

According to the draft, the DoD would hire a contractor to provide the personnel, supervision, training, licensing and equipment needed to manage moves of DoD and Coast Guard personnel and civilians worldwide. The company would be responsible for packing, picking up, transporting, storing and delivering the goods -- "full-service household goods shipment management services," the draft noted.

The DoD has previously explored privatizing the military PCS system through a number of pilot programs. In the late 1990s, the U.S. Army tested outsourcing its relocation management services at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia. At the same time, Military Traffic Management Command -- the unit responsible for overseeing most PCS moves at the time -- also ran several pilot programs in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.

According to the Government Accountability Office, the pilots resulted in improved satisfaction rates and lower claims rates. But outsourcing also proved to be expensive: One pilot, called the Full Service Moving Project, was terminated prematurely due to high costs.

The GAO also noted that in devising the pilots, the DoD underestimated the cost of improving the information technology infrastructure needed to expand them military-wide and made "questionable adjustments for costs associated with claims and contracting process recommendations."

The pilots also were largely opposed by moving industry associations and their advocates in Congress, who said the reforms would harm small-business owners.

Harless questions the speed at which TRANSCOM is moving toward outsourcing and whether it has thoroughly studied the expense and implications of such a significant change.

She added that having a single private management company overseeing individual moving contracts raises concerns of accountability and could increase the likelihood of problems, given that there will be layers of contractors and subcontractors receiving little oversight from the government.

"On paper, this briefs well -- the idea that a single move manager would be able to levy financial penalties on the [subcontracting] companies is a great thing," Harless said. "But the biggest problem is the lack of research supporting the idea. One 2012 study on the concept showed it would increase the overall cost of PCS. There's been no more recent study or research to show potential benefits nor has there been a new cost analysis of what this large-scale shift would mean for taxpayers."

During a forum for Army families held Feb. 5 at the Association of the U.S. Army in Arlington, Virginia, Maj. Gen. John Sullivan, assistant deputy chief of staff for Army G-4 Logistics, said TRANSCOM is still "working though the details of determining whether privatization would be cost-effective and more efficient."

According to Sullivan, the contract, if awarded, would start in 2020 and the winning bidder would be expected to take over the military moving system in 2021.

Sullivan said the Defense Department is instituting several changes this year to improve the PCS moving season during the next two years: The DoD plans to increase quality-assurance inspections to include half of all moves, up from about 25 percent; place more shipments in crates to reduce breakage and theft; and establish an around-the-clock hotline for personnel to track goods and lodge complaints.

Pointing to problems raised this week in Congress by military families living in substandard base housing managed by private companies, Harless expressed concern that the government could cede responsibility of the PCS process to a single company, leaving military families with little recourse should problems arise.

"It could be a moving company, it could be Amazon, FedEx, Walmart. It could be anyone ... There just is a lot of uncertainty and too many unknowns about what the full picture will look like," she said.

-- Patricia Kime can be reached at patricia.kime@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime.
A decorated former Green Beret who has been charged in the death of a suspected Taliban bomber wants the charges dropped, because an investigator in the case is reportedly facing charges of "stolen valor."

In a memo his lawyer, Phil Stackhouse, filed Wednesday with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), Maj. Matt Golsteyn demanded his murder case go straight to trial or that the charges be dismissed, waiving his right to a preliminary hearing in military court.

Stackhouse said on "The Story with Martha MacCallum" Thursday night that an anonymous tip lead them to investigate Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark Delacruz, a criminal investigation command agent assigned to Golsteyn's case.

He said that Delacruz "was wearing awards ... doing it for personal gain."

Stackhouse is claiming that Delacruz has been charged with four specifications of "intent to deceive" -- that is, earning a Purple Heart and falsely wearing a Combat Action Badge and other awards.

Stackhouse said that his alleged deception made his actions suspicious. "You have to give pause" about his believability and integrity.

Stackhouse alleges in the memo to USASOC that Delacruz "held himself out as a Special Forces soldier, infantryman, sniper, and bragged about killing people in combat."

USASOC didn't reply to Fox News' request for comment. The memo was first reported by NBC News.

Golsteyn on Sunday appeared on "Fox & Friends," where he vigorously disputed the charges.

"Over these years, what the U.S. Army seems to be intent on doing is characterizing an ambush as murder. Those routine combat actions are now being characterized as murder," Golsteyn told "Fox & Friends."

The Army previously has said Golsteyn was charged with killing the Afghan during Golsteyn's 2010 deployment to Afghanistan. Golsteyn was leading a team of Army Special Forces troops at the time, and believed that the bombmaker was responsible for an explosion that killed two Marines.

The Golsteyn case has bounced around since 2011, when he told the CIA in a job interview that he'd shot and killed the man.

President Trump tweeted in December that "at the request of many," he will examine the Golsteyn allegations. The president tweeted that Golsteyn is a "U.S. Military hero" who could face the death penalty "from our own government."
The U.S. military is eyeing new spots in the Asia-Pacific region where it could forward-deploy troops and equipment to counter China's rise, the top commander overseeing operations in that region said this week.

With China rapidly developing new military capabilities and fortifying islands in the South China Sea, U.S. leaders are talking with partners and allies about where they might be able to send forces in the future, Adm. Phil Davidson, head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told lawmakers Tuesday.

"So much of our basing and rotation has been focused on what's been transpiring in Northeast Asia, not just in the last couple of years, but really over the last several decades," Davidson said while testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee. "This is going to require us to revisit some of the places in which we operate ... and rotate forces, absolutely."

The U.S. already rotates tens of thousands of troops through South Korea, Japan, Australia, Guam and other places in the region annually. Not only could some of those rotations expand, but experts say troops could also soon head to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia or other spots farther from Northeast Asia.

"There is a new mindset taking place in the region that, as China emerges as a near-peer, the U.S. is having to rethink its force structure in the region with the general tendency toward more presence in the region, stretching from maritime Southeast Asia to the Indian Ocean and away from Northeast Asia," said Carl Baker, executive director of the Pacific Forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

As China builds up its naval and missile capabilities, the U.S. needs to find spots it can deploy its forces where they'll be safely out of reach. Better Chinese naval capabilities could put U.S. sailors and Marines into new sections of the Pacific or Indian Oceans, Baker said. And China's anti-access area denial capabilities could also push ground troops out toward the ends of the South China Sea.

One example of how the U.S. is thinking about repositioning came in the form of an announcement during the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation former, said Dean Cheng, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center. China, which had expressed interest in building a naval base on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island, was pushed out. Instead, the U.S. and Australia teamed with the Papua New Guineans on the project.

Vice President Mike Pence said at the time of the announcement that the U.S. would work with Australia and Papua New Guinea to "protect sovereignty and maritime rights in the Pacific islands."

U.S. forces used a pair of naval facilities on Manus Island, which oversees two major shipping lanes, during World War II.

It will be impractical to establish permanent bases in most locations throughout Asia, though, Baker said. Troops are more likely to see bilateral and multilateral exercises in new locales, where they can work to improve interoperability with more partners during time of a crisis.

That seems to be what the U.S. is after in Micronesia, Cheng said. American leaders are talking to their counterparts there to see if they can use the islands as a staging ground in the event of a crisis, he said. Those islands are between Guam and Papua New Guinea.

Cheng said U.S. troops must also be mindful of Chinese space capabilities that allow it to monitor U.S. naval forces' movements or destroy satellites that allow communication between American vessels. Those are things U.S. troops didn't have to worry about while operating in Iraq or Afghanistan, he said.

All of this, Davidson told lawmakers, will require serious investment in new U.S. military capabilities, "from the bottom of the sea to space."

"We have to accept the fact that the environment is changing so drastically in the South China Sea that it's going to require new approaches in many cases, and not just iterative ones," he said.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.
President Donald Trump could potentially get $21 billion for the border wall by declaring a national emergency at the expense of canceling or leaving half-built a range of Defense Department projects, congressional aides said Thursday.

About $10 billion would be available to the president from this year's budget, along with another $11 billion in funding from previous budgets that has not been obligated, the aides said.

The money would come from "unobligated funds" in the DoD's military construction budget and from separate projects for the Army Corps of Engineers, the aides said, but there was confusion on which route Trump might take and his legal basis for doing it.

"He could take the money from either or both of those authorities [DoD or Army Corps of Engineers], and we don't know what the plan is," said one aide, who spoke to defense reporters on condition of anonymity.

Funds taken from military accounts would have to be justified as being used in support of armed forces missions, the aide said.

"There are legitimate questions about whether building a fence along the border is in support of the armed forces. That will be worked out in court," the aide said.

Simply having the money available would not resolve potential roadblocks to building the wall on the local level, the aides said. For instance, building new wall sections in Texas would require going through private land, and landowners could be expected to file court challenges.

The process of taking money from the military construction budget would force the DoD to pick and choose among projects to be completed, the aides said.

One aide cited the example of a $1 billion medical center currently being built for troops and military families in Germany. About $300 million has already been spent and, if the rest of the money were to be used for the wall, "you have the prospect of having the hospital half-built," the aide said.

In December, Trump demanded $5.7 billion in border wall money as part of a deal to fund several government departments, but Congress offered only $1.6 billion. The result was the 35-day partial government shutdown, which ended with a continuing resolution. That CR is set to expire at midnight Friday.

Under the tentative agreement reached by Congress this week, funding for enhanced security on the border would be limited to $1.375 billion.

On the Senate floor Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said Trump "has indicated he is prepared to sign the bill. He will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time."

"I've indicated to him that I'm going to support the national emergency declaration," McConnell said. "So, for all of my colleagues, the president will sign the bill. We will be voting on it shortly."

On Twitter, Trump said Thursday afternoon that he was "reviewing the funding bill with my team," but gave no indication of which way he was leaning on methods to fund the wall.

Members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees from both sides of the aisle have already expressed opposition to taking money from the military for wall construction, but it was not immediately clear whether they could block or delay the move.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
As big data companies such as Facebook and Google come under scrutiny for collecting and selling customers personal information, so is the state of Connecticut.

A new bill introduced by state Reps. Fred Camillo, R-Greenwich and Brenda Kupchick, R-Fairfield, would limit the disclosure of voter registration data  which includes things birth date, home addresses, party affiliation and more  and prohibit the sale of that data for commercial use.

Connecticut is the only state in the country that allows for the sale of voter registration data for commercial purposes, a vestige of the states strong Freedom of Information Act long before electronic privacy became an issue.

The main thing is a lot of people are worried about their information being sold, Camillo said. Especially with the hacks going on. You dont want to make it real easy for the hackers, and anything that makes it a little bit harder I think is a good thing.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill introduced similar legislation last year, but the bill died without a vote.

Im happy to have the support of Representatives Camillo and Kupchick for the privacy concepts I raised last year, and I look forward to working in a bipartisan manner to protect the privacy of Connecticut voters and bring Connecticut in line with the majority of states, Merrill said Friday in a written statement.

Under freedom of information laws, the state is required to make public all voter registrations and the information included on them. In addition, the state sells a database of the information for $300.

Currently, the only way to remove voter data from public records is to un-register to vote  although in an age of online records, the data never really goes away  or in extreme cases, through the Safe at Home program run by the Secretary of the States office. That program is a partnership with the states domestic violence crisis centers and allows victims to use the state office as their mailing address for registration purposes.

The only way into the program is through a domestic violence crisis center.

Hillary Long, who lives in Southport, has been working with Camillo on the legislation, and started the website ctvoterprivacy.org to help get the word out.

People are going to register to vote thinking they are just registering to vote, they dont think there are any negative ramifications for voting in the state of Connecticut, Long said. Its just really important that people know about this.

Colleen Murphy, executive director of the state Freedom of Information Commission, said in written testimony last year that the agency opposed the law as it was proposed. But she said at the time the commission was not against working with lawmakers on a way to reduce privacy risks while still upholding the publics right to information.
Guglielmi said the two were spotted in the area of the attack, which occurred around 2 a.m. Jan. 29 in the 300 block of East North Water Street. He released no other details, but a source familiar with the investigation said at least one of the men was traced through his use of a ride-share service.
The formidable forces of government transparency and individual privacy are ready to rumble.

The battleground this time is under the state Capitol dome in Hartford and the outcome stands to affect nearly every adult in Connecticut.

On the one side, we have House Bill 5507. (Stick with me; this isnt dry. Im mentioning the bill number so you can track it  and because journalists like precise details.) Its a bipartisan bill, which usually is a good thing.

State Rep. Fred Camillo, a Republican from Greenwich, and state Rep. Brenda Kupchick, a Democrat from Fairfield, introduced it; co-sponsors are Republican state Rep. Terrie Wood, of Darien; Democratic state Reps. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, of Fairfield, and Josh Elliott, of Hamden. The bill is before the Joint Committee on Government Administration and Elections.

Its purpose is to limit disclosure of certain voter registration data to candidates, candidate committees and political committees only and for noncommercial purposes only, and to require that newly admitted electors be notified of such disclosure.

The bill would block out the registered voters birth date and year from registration lists; Social Security and drivers license numbers already are withheld.

Also, it would limit sale of the lists to only candidates or political committees or parties. I was as surprised as you might be to learn that Connecticut sells its voter registration list  and for a paltry $300. But more about that in minute; right now lets talk about privacy.

The desire to keep personal information private is driving the move. CTVoterPrivacy.org takes credit for getting the bill sponsored and urges voters to contact GAE Committee members and tell them Connecticut voters do not want their personal data sold or made public.

The problem  the rumble  is that for the sake of election integrity this information must remain public, and accessible.

In this century, complete privacy is a fallacy. People readily give up their information and preferences all the time, knowingly or not.

There are a number of ways people put their private information in jeopardy through social media, Michael Savino, president of the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information, told me in a phone call. If you think this bill is going to protect your data, youre mistaken.

Dana Whalen, former news director of WTIC-AM1080, told an illuminating anecdote at the January meeting of the CCFOI, which I attended.

A guy was outraged that a pornographic ad popped up while he was reading Colin McEnroes column online. (A Hartford Courant columnist at the time, McEnroe now writes for Hearst Connecticut newspapers.) How could he let that happen? Well, turns out pop-ups are individualized through recent sites visited by the reader!

Its a trade-off. One of my favorite editorial cartoons from 2018 depicts Facebook as a bandit saying Gimme me your personal data! and the victim replies OK ... as long as I can post funny cat videos.

Privacy withered in the internet age. And theres no going back.

Everything is public now, potentially: ones thoughts, ones photos, ones movements, ones purchases, Oliver Sacks wrote in an essay that appeared in the Feb. 11 issue of The New Yorker. There is no privacy and apparently little desire for it in the world devoted to non-stop use of social media.

This is not to say that concerns over identity theft are unfounded. But removing public information is not the answer.

A better approach was proposed by Secretary of the State Denise Merrill last week  to create a cybersecurity position for the technical review, testing or research associated with the use of voting systems and development of standards to protect the integrity of the voting process.

Freedom of Information advocates work year after year to keep information public for the sake of government transparency. This protects, rather than harms.

Birth dates are a key component of voter information that protects against voter fraud, Colleen Murphy, executive director of the state Freedom of Information Commission, said in reply to my questions. Dates of birth are key to verifying whether people are eligible to vote.

Limiting who can obtain voter registration lists also is counter to government oversight.

The lists are valuable tools for the public (and journalists) to provide a check on the elections officials who are responsible for ensuring voter lists are accurate, up-to-date, Murphy said. Many recent elections, such as the governors race in Georgia, raised grave concerns about how decisions were made regarding who was eligible to vote, which names were removed from the voter list, etc.

In Connecticut, a 2014 investigation by Connecticut Post journalists into the voting records of then-state Rep. Christina Ayala led to the state attorneys office charging her with election fraud. Savino said that wouldnt have happened without access to voting records. More recently, instances of voters getting the wrong ballots have arisen.

To limit voter registration lists to only political purposes blindfolds transparency.

Initially, I thought charging $300 for the list was crass. But the FOI experts changed my mind.

The price is perhaps negotiable, Murphy said, but generally, if you believe that information is public, it ought to be available at a price that is reasonable (not excessively high).

Last year, Maine was charging $30,000 for a copy of their voters list; Alabama charged by name, Merrill has said. There is no uniformity to how states handle the information  nine restricted lists to only political or election use; at least 11 blocked the lists from the general public.

Not Connecticut. Weve been a leader in Freedom of Information since the Watergate era. For Democracys sake, we should stay that way.

Jacqueline Smith is a Hearst Connecticut Media Group columnist and editorial page editor of The News-Times in Danbury and The Norwalk Hour. Email her at jsmith@hearstmediact.com.
LYME  A salvage crew is scheduled to raise a sunken luxury yacht out of the Connecticut River next week amid concerns about potential fuel leakage from the vessel.

U.S. Coast Guard and state officials say they have been checking the 53-foot boat on a daily basis since it went down in Lymes Hamburg Cove in January.

Visitors to yachting and other online forums to have speculated as to why the vessel  captured on dramatic drone footage on the eweather Facebook page, which went viral late last month  was allowed to sink.

A similar Little Harbor yacht built the same year is being advertised for sale online for nearly $500,000, according to the Hartford Courant.

Were trying to find out what kind of pollutants are still on board. Its a very delicate ecosystem on the Connecticut River. Well try to prevent pollution as much as possible, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier, who works at the Padet, New York, station, said Friday.

Chris Collibee, director of communications for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said the agency, which is no longer in charge of the operation, estimates there is between 80 and 100 gallons of diesel fuel on board, but nothing has been released into the water.

Hamburg Cove is considered a key spawning ground for yellow perch, carp and catfish.

Local officials say the sunken yacht, named Mazu, is owned by Essex resident Gil Johnson and his wife Maureen. Johnson did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

East Haddam amateur photographer Frank DiNardi learned about the boat moored in the cove Jan. 16. He took footage before and after the sinking. That video, posted on the eweather Facebook page, went viral.

More for you News Lyme harbormaster sheds light on sinking of luxury yacht

Although hes not sure of the exact cause, Lyme Harbormaster L. Thomas Reynolds believes the ships bilge pump could have failed.

Its probably the result of extreme changes in temperature. One thing we do know is the hull did not get crushed from the ice, Reynolds said.

Were very concerned. Its a priority to remove any environmental threat, Strohmaier said. We want to expedite it as fast as possible, but its weather dependent.

The initial report was made Jan. 26 to the Coast Guard, which sent out a crew the following day. The sailboat was completely surrounded by ice at the time, which made it a challenge to reach the vessel, Strohmaier said.

The boat was found by Alex Milardo of Cooper Capital Specialty Salvage, and raised by he and a neighbor after they called the local fire department, DEEP, the harbormaster and Coast Guard, said Milardo. Cooper Capital Specialty Salvage is based in Old Saybrook.

The watercraft sits off his familys dock in Lyme.

Milardo and two others went out on the ice with a inflatable dinghy, survival suits, and gear to dewater the boat and then called the fire department for help when their pump failed, said his father Ron Milardo, owner of the salvage firm.

They used bags filled with air in the hopes of raising the vessel so it could be towed to a marina. Crews spent six hours Jan. 26, and eventually raised it, but it sunk again the next day, Ron Milardo said.

The Coast Guard couldnt find the source of the ingress of water, he added.

The owner eventually was on scene, and was supposed to secure a leak when the boat was pumped up in the afternoon, but he was not able to get enough water out of the bilge to see where it was coming from, Ron Milardo said.

Johnson was told Feb. 1 he needed to create a salvage plan. Now that the ice is starting to recede, a salvage crew should be able to lift it from the bottom of the riverbed, something tentatively slated for Tuesday, Strohmaier said.

Strohmaier isnt sure how the yacht will be raised, but it could involve the use of a crane or inflated airbags  much like what is used when a car is submerged in water  once the salvage company deems its safe to begin the operation.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
MIDDLETOWN  Family, friends and coworkers of the citys South Fire District are mourning the unexpected death Wednesday of Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal Steve Krol, a longtime veteran of the company.

Krol, who was ill, took leave of the department in December. He was 64.

He was the best person I ever knew, his daughter Yvonne Krol said Friday. He did anything and everything, and even more than anyone could, for my brother and myself, she said.

They were his pride and joy, Fire Chief Michael Howley said Friday of Krols children.

Krol lived and worked his entire life in Middletown, attending Middletown schools and later graduating from the University of New Haven, according to his obituary.

Everybody knew him. He loved his family and was a good man, his daughter said.

Krol joined the department as a firefighter in 1974, and moved through the ranks of lieutenant, captain, fire marshal, and served as deputy chief since 1988. He was also acting chief in 2005, 2007 and 2013, according to the chief.

The fire department was his (second) family for more than 40 years, Howley said.

Krol was well-known and respected in the community and around the state, especially for his extensive knowledge and understanding of the fire service, fire codes and fire prevention programs, Howley said.

Krol was the lead investigator at the Kleen Energy natural gas explosion, which took place Feb. 7, 2010.

He was there every day, easy 30, 40 days up there working on stuff (with state and federal agencies), said Howley. He saw the investigation to the very end, which took over a year.

He also loved doing things for children, his daughter said.

He loved making kids happy, Yvonne Krol said. His greatest joy was going to the school to teach them fire prevention.

Howley, who said Krol was a very private person, knew him for 39 years, and worked with him at South Fire for 24.

He was a staple here, [and] a funny person in his own way. He would always be there if someone wanted to sit and talk with him, which was good in the fire service, the chief said. He was always a good ear to listen. He would tell you like it was.

Krols dedication to fire investigation was true, said the chief, who checked in on his deputy every week while he was in the hospital. He was very, very involved in the department, and took charge of the fire service fair every year during Fire Prevention Week.

It took a lot of time and a lot of energy, and he wanted to make sure families and kids from all over the region got the best out of that day, Howley said.

It eventually became the largest such event in the state.

Many organizations reached out to us to know what we did to make this so popular, he said.

Krol worked with juvenile fire setters, a very serious problem in his line of work, Howley said. He would counsel these young individuals for many years.

Hes truly going to be missed, the chief said.

Funeral services will be Thursday at 11 a.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 10 Elm St. Calling hours are Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Biega Funeral Home, 3 Silver St. Burial will at Calvary Cemetery, 305 Bow Lane.
GREENWICH  An investigation is continuing into a town employee accused of taking photos of the crime scene where the body of 24-year-old murder victim Valerie Reyes was found last week on the side of Glenville Road.

The town of Greenwich has not released the name of the worker, but he has been independently identified as James Clifford, a foreman for the town Department of Public Works for its west side operation.

Another DPW worker found Reyes body in a suitcase on Feb. 5 about 15 feet of the side of the road in a wooded area. After being called to the scene, Clifford allegedly took photos of her body and the crime scene and disseminated them.

The photos have reportedly become widely shared digitally.

On Feb. 7, First Selectman Peter Tesei issued a statement that a town employee had been placed on paid administrative leave until the conclusion of an investigation and when appropriate action has been taken.

This thoughtless and insensitive behavior by an employee is inexcusable, Tesei said in the statement.

On Tuesday, Greenwich Police Department, while announcing the arrest of Reyes former boyfriend Javier Da Silva in the murder, indicated that it was not handling the investigation into Cliffords alleged actions.

Greenwich police Capt. Robert Berry said all questions about the matter should be directed to the town. On Friday, Public Information Officer Lt. John Sluzarz did the same, saying that at this time he could only refer questions to the town.

The town, however, had to little to say on the status of the investigation and what disciplinary action Clifford might be facing. On Friday, Tesei would only say, As this is a pending personnel matter, the town will not comment on any investigation.

Clifford is a member of the Teamsters Union Local 456. Calls to the union have not been returned.

Local attorney Lindy Urso is representing Clifford. Last week, Urso noted Cliffords 26 years of service to the town and said that as a single father of three and grandfather of three, Clifford had been stunned and devastated by what he saw at the crime scene. Urso said it was an error in judgment to take a picture, but said that Clifford had no ill will or bad intention and had tried to assist police with the investigation.

On Thursday, Urso said he was hopeful there would be a resolution to the investigation.

Mr. Clifford is a local success story, having grown up here, served in the U.S. Army and worked and educated himself from town laborer all the way to foreman, Urso said. We are hopeful that he will be able to keep his foreman position after paying a reasonable penalty for is momentary lapse in judgment.

Federal authorities have taken control of the investigation and prosecution of the case, after both New Rochelle and Greenwich police officers were involved in the investigation, which led to Da Silvas arrest on Monday night.

Da Silva has been charged with kidnapping resulting in death, a federal charge that could lead to the death penalty if he is convicted.

Da Silva, who is a citizen of Portugal with a passport from Venezuela, is in the country illegally on an expired visa. According to court documents, Da Silva claims Reyes hit her head in her New Rochelle apartment after falling to the floor and he then placed packing tape over her mouth, bound her hands and legs and put her in the suitcase, which he dumped in Greenwich.

A preliminary hearing for Da Silva, who is held without bail in federal custody, has been set for March 13.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office in the Southern District of New York, which is prosecuting Da Silva, could not be reached for immediate comment.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
For entirely different reasons, two of the best known, blue-chip names in corporate America  Amazon and General Electric  stunned nameplate cities of the Northeast on Thursday, hours apart, with news about their headquarters that could send a lasting, unified message.

It could all be good for Connecticut  which has offered Amazon an alternative plan for Stamford  but it also sends a warning to the entrenched, expensive Northeast. Theres a limit to how much cost, and how much political hassle, companies are willing and able to endure.

Amazon, the mighty online retailer facing a hostile reception from many residents and politicians in New York City, pulled out of its plan to build a head office and development campus in Long Island City, Queens. A promised 25,000 jobs, a big deal even for the nerve center of American business, vanished in a poof before lunch.

By mid-afternoon, GE announced what the teetering industrial behemoth should have said months ago: Its not going to build a glitzy, 12-story world headquarters in Bostons most prestigious business zone after all. The number of jobs falls only from a promised 800 to 250  seemingly no big deal for one of the fastest growing markets in the East  but Boston takes a hit to its pride.

Thats similar to what happened when the New England Patriots duped Connecticut 21 years ago with the promise of a move to Downtown Hartford. Maybe not quite so bad, as GE will stay in the Seaport district, but the company give back $87 million offered up at the corporate altar by Boston and Massachusetts.

Dont gloat, Connecticut. Even though Boston stole this tarnished prize from Fairfield, they still have all those Super Bowl rings and theyre still light years ahead of us.

Do pay attention to what all this means.

Wed be wrong to overstate a link between these two events. GE simply no longer needs or has the money for a statement headquarters, having lost two-thirds of its market value in just over two years. And Amazon, the definition of 21st century wealth, was simply reacting to chaos.

Still, theres a common picture of high cost  in money and infighting. Lets face it, this part of the country is known for both of those issues and it matters to the people moving thousands of jobs around the globe.

Connecticut, having lost GE and never having a shot at Amazon, happens to be mounting a massive effort to attract corporations under Gov. Ned Lamont, and Lamonts people are thinking about the value proposition for companies.

Connecticut is less expensive and more receptive than these other places, said Jim Smith, one of the two point people in Lamonts recruitment push.

Were still plenty expensive and full of the entrenched interests that come with density and long history. The state needs to position itself in a middle path  not cheap and regulation-free like Wyoming, but with geographic benefits at less cost and less political noise when it comes to getting things done.

Its a narrow but clear path for a state trying to dig out from the disaster of a lost generation.

As the Amazon plan faltered over the last two weeks, Connecticut got to move in SWAT-team fashion, said Smith, co-chairman of the Connecticut Economic Resource Center. The benefit to Connecticut of being engaged is that were getting better and were getting better fast.

Smith declined to give details of Connecticuts offer to Amazon. But this much we know  its all about Stamford. Sorry, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, nice Valentine to Amazon but this isnt about the former Hat City. And sorry, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, but believe me, if thousands of Amazon employees come to Stamford, youll come out a winner.

Amazon announced its not yet looking for an alternate location, if it ever will. That could work to Connecticuts advantage, if the 200 cities that hoped to snag HQ2 go away. Connecticut  in Stamford  has the ability to present a plan that lets Amazon stay in New York, perhaps even working with New York, as Joe McGee of the Business Council of Fairfield County suggested last week.

General Electric, famously in 2016, pulled its world headquarters out of Connecticut, saying taxes were the issue but proving that argument a bald-faced lie by moving to a much more expensive place. Still, the message about taxes and costs matters because corporate location is about value, not price.

As for Amazon, its unfathomable to Norwalk business owner David Lewis that New York would lose the Seattle-based company after it picked Long Island City and northern Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. for prizes every metro desperately wanted.

Lewis, founder and CEO of OperationsInc, a human services outsourcer, and a close watcher of economic development, sees a lesson for Connecticut in New Yorks nightmare  especially in Stamford, where expensive new buildings are replacing old neighborhoods.

If I am Lamont, I look at the concerns, for example, that exist right now in the lower part of Stamford, where we are building all these buildings, Lewis said. Figure out a way to placate and at least address any concerns like this in the future.

Then there is the cost of business, in money.

At the conservative Yankee Institute for Public Policy in Hartford, which advocates limited government spending, CEO Carol Platt Liebau worries about the economic model in the Northeast. To some degree, Thursdays developments bear that out if they give the region a black eye.

Its just one of many swirling factors, she said, but she noted, I do think its going to be difficult for the Northeast because were competing with states that have lower costs.

That, too, is a lesson for Connecticut as the newly elected, strong Democratic majorities in the General Assembly fulfill expensive campaign promises. The answer is a middle ground.
More than two years after former General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt moved the companys headquarters to Boston from Fairfield, GE announced Thursday that it has told Massachusetts officials it is not proceeding with a planned new headquarters and will fall about 550 jobs short of the 800 it had promised.

Under new CEO Larry Culp Jr., GE will return $87 million in incentives Massachusetts had awarded in exchange for the headquarters relocation.

GE said it was formally dropping plans to build a 12-story office tower on the city's waterfront. The company will keep its headquarters in downtown Boston in a pair of historic buildings that trace their heritage to the New England Confectionery Co.

The Boston Globe was the first to report about GEs intentions.

It amounts to a bitter pill for both Massachusetts and Connecticut, with Immelt leaving GE the year after the move as the conglomerate braced for billions of dollars in losses. Those were driven in part by lingering costs absorbed by the GE Capital subsidiary in Norwalk, stemming from the mortgage market collapse a decade ago and inadequate reserves for a prior insurance business.

Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, said, Weve known theyve been troubled for a long time. But at the time (GE announced its move to Massachusetts), they had a lot of very specific things to say about Connecticut, and I guess they certainly didnt feel at the time that Connecticut was a propitious environment for them.

Lavielle said of GEs departure from Connecticut, Im not sure what that says about (former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy), because clearly he was not successful in finding any way to entice them to stay here. ... Obviously, their business hasnt gotten any better.

Immelts successor, John Flannery, would last only a year, with GEs board hiring the Danaher Corp. veteran Culp, as the first outsider CEO in GE history, to help the company find a path to growth in its industrial roots.

Culp has moved to shed digital, health technology and other GE areas of focus that Immelt had pursued, while considering a sale of its share of the Baker Hughes oil and gas infrastructure business, and scrutinizing the $13 billion acquisition of Alstoms energy businesses that Immelt had made a centerpiece of his tenure.

This month, the French government fined GE $57 million for filling just 25 of the 1,000 jobs it had promised to create there in exchange for the 2015 approval of the Alstom purchase, through which GE picked up Alstom operations in the United States as well, including the Hartford area.

I dont think I would ever say, even on my last day here, that we have found all the skeletons, right? Culp said in a conference call two weeks ago with investment analysts. With a lot of fresh eyes  and its not my fresh eyes, weve got a new (general counsel), weve got a new controller ... were going to be as open and transparent as we possibly can, when we find things.

General Electric added 2,000 U.S. employees last year to give it 106,000 in all, its first increase since 2014 when it exited the year with 136,000 employees. In Norwalk, the company has consistently reported a workforce of about 1,400 people.

GEs original incentives from Boston and Massachusetts totaled more than $150 million, not including incentives executives received as assistance to purchase homes in moving there from Connecticut and other locations.

In the months after Immelt reached the deal, Malloy maintained that the cost to Connecticut would have been too high to convince GE to stay put. Malloys newly installed successor, Gov. Ned Lamont, has indicated he does not plan to rely on big incentive packages to convince companies to grow in Connecticut.

 Dan Haar, Emilie Munson and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

 Corrected from an earlier version for a typo in the spelling of United States.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
It was May 2005 and McDonald was with her sister visiting an aunt, when officers stormed into the apartment, according to court records. As they asked why Watts was searching the apartment, she and her sister were arrested. Months later, Watts and his crew again arrested McDonald at the housing complex, with Watts allegedly saying he had already promised to frame her, according to court records. She went to jail and was eventually sentenced to probation on a drug charge, according to court records.
BAD AXE  A trooper with the Michigan State Police is being held in a county jail and faces half a dozen charges for what authorities believe was connected to an incident involving a violent domestic relationship.

Adam Mullin, a trooper assigned to the MSP Caro Post, was charged Friday in Huron County District Court with single counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, aggravated domestic violence and obstruction of justice.

Mullin was also charged with one count, each, of misconduct in office, assaulting/resisting a police officer causing injury, and felony firearm.

The charges were authorized by the Michigan Attorney General's Office and are the result of an investigation conducted by the Michigan State Police.

"The MSP has a long-standing tradition of demanding the highest possible standards of professional conduct from its enforcement and civilian members," the Post wrote in a statement to media outlets. "Regardless of whether a criminal charge results in a conviction, employees can still be subject to administrative penalties resulting from violations of department policy."

"All policy violations are investigated thoroughly and acted upon in a manner consistent with current labor-relations law and bargaining unit agreements."

Mullin was arrested Feb. 12 and is being lodged in the Lapeer County Jail on a $250,000 cash bond.

Upon arrest, he was placed on unpaid suspension.

"He hasn't been formally separated from the agency," Lt. James Lang, of the MSP Tri-City Post, told the Tribune. "He's obviously been accused of a crime ... now it's going to work its way through the court."

" ... He is subject to internal discipline up to separation or losing his job," he added.

Lang could not reveal details of the alleged incident, but said based on the charges Mullin is facing, it was allegedly "some type of domestic violence relationship."

Mullin has been a member of the MSP Caro Post since July 2016.
UPPER THUMB  The recent stretch of poor winter weather has caused snow days to start piling up for local school districts.

To the best of my knowledge, this the is worst year in terms of weather and canceling school that I can think of in my 31 years of education, Cass City Superintendent Jeff Hartel told the Tribune. There could be some years where we had some higher numbers, but were at No. 15 right now, and I dont ever remember it being like this before.

Cass City, along with North Huron and Harbor Beach school districts, have had 15 school days cancelled this school year due to the weather, while other districts in the Thumb area have reported at least 12.

Cass City was back in school on Thursday, but were out on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

The process that goes behind the decision for canceling school is a bit of a team effort, according to Hartel.

I keep close track of the weather on my phone app and listen to the local news to see what theyre projecting, Hartel said. The Tuscola County superintendents are in contact with each other via texting on what to expect. Either at night, and/or morning, we go out and drive roads and see if we should put students and staff on roads. So, its kind of a group effort.

We kind of monitor our own areas, but theres a lot of communication that goes on between the superintendents as well, he added. A lot of time of the day is looking at the weather unfortunately.

The spring student count day in the state of Michigan was scheduled for Wednesday.

The spring count accounts for 10 percent of the "blended" student count, which includes 90 percent of the fall count.

On Wednesday, however, all Thumb schools were cancelled due to the weather.

According to our knowledge, its the next day that youre back in school, Hartel said. Cass City is in school (Thursday), so Feb. 14 is going to be our student count day. The administrative office at the ISD (intermediate school district) files a waiver for you, and we move on and count students just like we normally would and submit it. So, it doesnt really change for us.

According to the Michigan School Aid Act, schools must have 180 days of school, have 1,098 hours of instruction time with 75 percent of the student body in attendance to receive full state funding.

The state allows six days or equivalent hours of "forgiven" time and allows the filing of a waiver that could potentially add three days to that total.

Michigan State Rep. Ben Frederick recently announced he is trying to pass a bill that would give districts two additional days for the days of school that were cancelled due to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declaring a state of emergency.

I understand what theyre saying there, and I would certainly welcome that opportunity, Hartel said. But, we are moving forward with the six days that are originally given to you. We filed a waiver for the additional three. We were scheduled to be out on June 6 and we are currently looking at June 12.

At this week's Unionville-Sebewaing Area school board meeting, the board discussed the potential of possibly scheduling school on days that were originally scheduled as days off.

I put out a survey to teachers today (Monday), asking them if they would be interested in or in support of the idea of making up days at other opportunities through the rest of the school year, said USA Superintendent George Rierson at the meeting. In general, the staff is 93 percent in favor or dont have an opinion on the idea.

Cass City has decided to schedule two days on dates that were originally scheduled as days off.

So, weve had 15 days off, and weve added two days, Hartel said. We werent scheduled to go on Feb. 18, which we are doing a full day and then on May 24, were adding a half day, which were both scheduled days off. Were gaining two days back there. So, weve had 15 days off, were anticipating nine days from the state, which would put us at six days additional, minus the two days weve added back.

While the schools work on planning for the days already cancelled this winter, they must also plan on the potential of future dates being cancelled.

Hartel says that while the schools work on those decisions, including the decisions to cancel school in first place, local superintendents will focus on student safety first.

I just want everybody to start thinking spring and just be patient with us, Hartel said. I know superintendents in Huron County and Tuscola County, we want to have school, but we arent going to put kids lives or safety in jeopardy and were all on that same page. I know theres always going to be those people that say, Back in my day, we went to school every day. We want kids to get to school safely and get home safely, and our staff to and from school.

You have to be more careful, he added. Instead of saying, get here if you can, we want people to get here safely. All of the superintendents want safety first.

As of Thursday, snow day totals for local districts are:

 Cass City: 15

 Harbor Beach: 15

 North Huron: 15

 Bad Axe: 14

 Caseville: 14

 Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port: 14

 Ubly: 14

 Unionville-Sebewaing Area: 14

 Deckerville: 12

Editor's note: A snow day count total for Owendale-Gagetown Schools could not be acquired this week due to school closures.
Miami, FL (33127)

Today

Thunderstorms likely in the morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 84F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy...isolated thunderstorms developing overnight. Low 79F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
The Agaves stalk already stands at 13 feet, 2 inches and may grow to be anywhere between 20 and 30 feet, Jorgensen said. The desert rooms ceiling, however, is only 25 feet high, so a pane of glass will probably have to be removed so it can continue to grow. It isnt expected to reach its full height until early May.
Nearly 40,000 abortions were performed in Illinois last year, about the same as the previous year, according to newly released data. But the number of women known to have traveled from out of state to get an abortion in Illinois increased by about 1,000.
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The 35th Annual Perch Extravaganza is over and in the books. On Saturday, Feb. 24, thousands
Meridian, MS (39302)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms in the morning, then mainly cloudy late. High 87F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy skies. Low 69F. Winds light and variable.
Yesterday, on February 14, the nation was painted red with blood as more than 40 CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel were martyred in one of the worst terrorist attacks ever, in the state of Jammu & Kashmir.

The death toll is on a constant rise as the injured soldiers continue battling for life.

 AP

From Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bollywood celebrities to commoners; the nation is mourning the death of these bravehearts. The families of martyrs have sunk in deep shock and no amount of words can ever console those hearts that are weeping for their loved ones, who were killed in Pulwama.

Attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs. May the injured recover quickly.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 14, 2019

However, no matter how tough the times have been, people from across the country have always stood in solidarity with each other and this time too, they are paying their tributes to the martyrs by coming forward to provide financial help to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives.

In 2017, actor Akshay Kumar along with the Central Government launched 'Bharat Ke Veer', an initiative to pay homage to the bravehearts who lost their lives in the line of duty. In this initiative, one can help the families financially, by donating either using the app or the website bharatkeveer.gov.in.

 YouTube

Apart from 'Bharat Ke Veer', the organisation 'Milaap' has also started a fundraiser to help the families affected by the terror attack.

Actor Kunal Kapoor too posted on social media about his campaign 'Ketto', urging people to come forward and support the martyrs' kin.

My heartfelt appeal to people, to come forward & support @ketto for their campaign to rehabilitate the families of @crpfindia martyrs. India, lets stand up for those who gave their lives for our safety. Jai Hind   kunal kapoor (@kapoorkkunal) February 15, 2019

You too can contribute to these fundraisers and prove that nothing can break the nation's spirit in these dark times.
They say love is one-dimensional. But when you look at it blossom, you will find dimensions you've never envisioned before in life. Love grows in spectacular ways and you can only experience it if you meet the right companion along the way. You may ask what a 'right companion' truly is. Well, in very simple terms, someone who is true to you and understands your needs and wants, most given times.

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But according to Kristina and Eugene, companionship is a very different concept. It's to familiarise each other with what their respective needs and wants are and use that as an advantage to have an absolutely fun relationship. Yes, you read that right. When was the last time you met someone who piqued your interests and matched it with theirs? Some of you may have found some likeminded people, but have you ever unanimously decided to give up the regular life and travel the world instead? That's what Kristina and Eugene's story is all about and it doesn't end there! It ends with a happy family indeed.

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The First Time They Met

Both of them met while they were still in university in Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. While figuring out their mutual interests on their check-list, the two bonded over common musical interests and hangout sessions post classes, following which they liked each other's company so much, they became best friends.

Pretty soon their friendship transcended into a love interest and everything else made more sense than before. But the most astounding part was that their basics were not stamped on just romance, passion or love. The reason they were together was that they felt the most comfortable with each other, and we seldom forget that being yourself and comfortable around someone is the first rule of a good relationship.

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"Our romance started from the point of perception that we don't irritate each other! Not a passion, desire or love! It doesn't sound very romantic, I know! But our affection increased each day and in 4 more years, we decided to become a family. 10 years have passed since we started our romantic relationship, but we are still the happiest couple and we are harmonious partners in all life spheres." - Kristina

After all, love blossoms through an avalanche of comfort and familiarity, doesn't it! If you're in a state of absolute comfort with someone, wherein you don't have to pretend otherwise and you disseminate all your fears and tribulations equally among each other, real love truly sprouts from there.

Couples today fret about long-lasting companionships or the lack of passion, but they forget that the ultimate companionship rule to live by comes from the premise of being yourself with the person you want to spend the rest of your life with.

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What Made Them Stay Together?

Apart from the easier quirks between two people, there are other things that make a relationship really challenging and workable. And this is where sharing mutual interests comes handy.

Couples who share mutuality in ways that make sense, last longer. And by mutuality, I mean sharing similar interests that can change lives. Both Kristina and Eugene love to travel and that's the one thing that has bound them together tightly ever since they met. In college, the only thing that decided their fate was a 4-day trip that they took together, following which realised they've evolved from being just friends to something more transcendental! Since then, they have been travelling across the globe for over 10 years.

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About two years ago, the couple decided to take their travels a bit more seriously and decided on travelling across Asia. And that's when their real journey as a 'family' began!

"All 10 years of being together we travel  at least once a year. But two years ago we decided to have even a bigger adventure. We were not quite happy with our professions and wanted to reload ourselves. A long-time journey through Asia seemed a good way to do that. We had to give our apartment for rent and sell some stuff in order to have enough money for that. So we quit our jobs and were ready for a journey. By now, as a couple, we've visited 24 countries." - Eugene.

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That's the thing about taking risky decisions in a relationship. They always go through because the support for it to work is so strong, it overpowers any hardship they may face. Just like how Kristina and Eugene did when they both decided to quit their jobs and take a stand on what to do next.

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The Chapati Sojourn

"We had started this journey in January 2017 from Fort Kochi and planned to stay there for only a few days. However, destiny had other plans, and on the second night, we came across a tiny, dehydrated puppy in the darkness, all alone." - Kristina

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Chapati came into their lives like a surge of happiness and positivity during grim times. They found her scattering away, unfed and unwell and took her in their care to nourish her and bring her to life.

"We found that we want to name her like our favourite Indian bread because she had the same tan colour and was very thin." - Kristina

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The minute they named the dog, there was no looking back. They found a home in her and she in them, and she became a part of their travels and their family from that very moment!

"Chapati brought many changes to our lives. She influenced our travel-philosophy: now we don't chase visiting all sightseeing places or try to see as many countries as possible. We learned how to relax and easily take deviations to our plans. Her own attitude to life often teaches us to be more flexible, readily get acquainted with people and even to communicate with those, who speak languages we don't understand." - Eugene

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Bringing an animal into your life changes you as a person. The change is noticeable slowly and steadily. They teach you resilience, certain ways of triumphs, patience and the most important one- unconditional love. That's what Chapati taught the two after she came into their lives. She taught them to slow things down and recognise things for what they are, to see the ethereal beauty in things, to savour moments that are important and precious.

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Their travel philosophy also changed trajectory. They learnt how it's not always necessary to travel to every place, soak in every bit of space or scramble around in a hurry just sightseeing or divulge their energy in agreeing upon what to do, what to see or what to understand. Chapati made it easier for them to relax and absorb only as much as they could.

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"Many people believe (and we did before) that saving one dog's life will not defeat the global problem and will not change the world. Our revelation is that it actually changes the world. At first, it changes the 'universe' of the one saved, and then it changes your own 'world'. Her own attitude to life often teaches us to be more flexible, readily get acquainted with people and even to communicate with those, who speak languages we don't understand."- Kristina

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What Is It Like To Travel With A Dog?

"Travelling with a dog is definitely not easy. Each country and city have their own rules and attitude to dogs, which sometimes is impossible to Google in advance. You need to make a lot of 'paper work', you are always limited in places for eating and staying, transportation could also be an issue. It is hard, it is a bit costly, but it worth that. As we have to spend money on Chapati we always try to save when it's possible. So we prefer cheap hotels, we use trains and buses as long as it is possible." - Eugene

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The biggest challenge Kristina and Eugene faced was the 'paperwork' that most countries implement to transport dogs. Financially they were still figuring their way but more than anything else, it was the documentation and the fact that a dog can't be a part of their lives unless she's legally bound to them, that was becoming a challenge.

That took time and apart from that, facing challenges in nooks and corners of every street and every city wasn't easy. Sometimes they'd be stranded because no public transport would want to carry a dog and sometimes, they'd come across places that weren't too pet-friendly, so they wouldn't have the option to spend a quiet peaceful night at a hotel.

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But most places accepted Chapati and made her travels with the couple favourable. Since she is so well-mannered and intelligent, even most non-pet friendly places allowed her inside and turned their whole philosophy on animals around.

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"Still, travelling with a dog is a big adventure. We had so many escapades, touchy moments and movie-worth adventures together, like falling in love with Chapati, overcoming barriers on the way to adopt her, finding ourselves in the middle of nowhere at night, getting stuck in a town because no public transport allowed dogs there and it was impossible to leave, saving other dogs and being stressed whether those will survive, sleeping with cockroaches or at freezing temperatures, and even some illegal border-crossings and transportations. All these now seems a thrilling dream, yet we miss those times." - Eugene

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Their favourite memory so far is trekking over San Fruttuoso in Italy and walking the rocky terrain in unfavourable weather conditions as all modes of transport were cancelled due to heavy rains! The three of them walked determined all through the trip, thinking about their future together and eventually making it back home to live it. They had no raincoats or umbrellas and braved the harsh rains. Chapati, with her might to stay strong and grounded, didn't pose as any trouble at all and she was a super trooper!

"Drenched, I and Eugene felt ourselves to be the luckiest people in the world to have such a smart and attached dog, who was also all wet. Nevertheless, love was soaring in that wet air and the whole way we spent dreaming about our future. It actually looked like a happy end of a very tense movie. However, it wasn't, and many more adventures are waiting for us." -Kristina

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Bringing Chapati into their lives is like a dream come true and they're solemnly grateful for each day as it passes.

The Biggest Lesson Ever

Having a dog in your life is the biggest blessing in disguise, according to Kristina and Eugene. If Chapati has reaffirmed anything it's the fact that their faith in communication shouldn't deter, because that's what keeps them strong and grounded. And by them, I mean Chapati as well.

Communicating with a dog makes you more susceptible to understanding all sorts of needs and emotions between people and animals and it makes any bond way stronger. Staying together for almost 2 years now, Chapati's presence has made sure that their relationship surrenders its premise on pure communication between a man woman and an animal.

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"Communication is also a clue to the mutual understanding with a dog. Try to perceive what a dog wants to transmit to you, do your best to talk in its language (a language of intonations, eye-contact and gestures) and you will never face any problems!"- Kristina

A dog is a man's best friend. Up until now at least, I believed that this was just an idiom that was trying to transforms our instinctive animal behaviour to a more refined human one. But the meaning is way more literal and deeper than that.

A dog is in all actuality a man's best friend and we have Chapati as proof, who took her saviours for family and gave them a lot to accept and ruminate about. We think any relationship that needs nourishing and strengthening doesn't need as much counselling as it needs some 'fur intervention'! Here's to 'Travelling Chapati' and her beautiful family.

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"In 2017, we spent the whole year being together 24 hours a day. During these time we didn't leave each other even for a moment, Chapati included. We faced many difficulties, including financial ones. We had lots of challenges on the way. But we remained a team, a loving team. And even now, after 10 years of being together as a couple, we still never irritate each other". - Eugene
LOS ANGELES

Feb. 15, 2019

India

Ghana

Nepal

Ghana

Ghana

Nepal

Prem Dhungel

/PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Prem Rawat Foundation's (TPRF) signature Food for People (FFP) program continues to expand, feeding nutritious meals to malnourished children and empowering disadvantaged communities to emerge from the cycle of poverty.Since TPRF opened its first FFP facility in 2006, the program has provided a total of more than 2.3 million healthy meals to children and elderly adults in poverty-stricken areas ofand. In 2018 alone, FFP grew by 12 percent, distributing 479,221 nourishing meals to people in need.The program has been transforming the communities it serves in numerous ways. Health has improved, school enrollment and achievement have skyrocketed, crime has dropped, and local economies have started to bloom.Kenneth Odjamgba, a beneficiary of FFP in, credits the model program with empowering him to be the first student from the town of Otinibi to ever pursue a university education. "Without the support of Food For People, I would have dropped out of school some time ago," he says.Government officials and community leaders are thrilled with the results. "I think this is one of the best facilities I've seen," says the Honorable Abubakar Saddique Boniface, Minister for lnner City Development and a Member of Parliament in. "I can see that the kids are well satisfied. I believe this is something future schools should emulate."Thefacility, high in the rugged mountains of Dhading, will celebrate its tenth year of operations this spring. In that time, TPRF has expanded the program to include computer labs and trainings in surrounding schools, water infrastructure projects, emergency relief and sustainable agricultural trainings.Donors from across the world contribute to the grassroots FFP program, and it thrives because of the strong local support and partnerships it receives where the cooking facilities are located., vice president of the Premsagar Foundation Nepal, a key partner, has witnessed the program in Dhading give countless disadvantaged people a newfound sense of hope and self-sufficiency. "They are now able to live their lives with self-respect. This program has helped the children, the elders and everyone in the villages," he says.Food for People is just one of the initiatives that The Prem Rawat Foundation takes across the globe to help fulfill its mission of addressing the fundamental human needs of food, water and peace so that people can live with dignity, peace and prosperity.Learn moreSOURCE The Prem Rawat Foundation
SALT LAKE CITY

Utah

Idaho

Wyoming

Mikhail Shneyder

February 19, 2019

8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Gateway Transitional Care Center (527 Memorial Dr., Pocatello, Idaho )

February 20, 2019

8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

The APEX Center (8211 N. Ustick Rd., Boise, Idaho )

February 21, 2019

8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Sawtooth Behavioral Health (650 Addison Ave W . 300 B , Twin Falls, Idaho )

. , ) Evanston Regional Hospital (190 Arrowhead Dr., Evanston, Wyoming )

) Granite Rehabilitation and Wellness (3128 Boxelder Dr., Cheyenne, Wyoming )

) Draper Rehabilitation and Care Center (12702 S. Fort St., Draper, Utah )

) Heritage Park Healthcare and Rehabilitation (2700 W. 5600 S., Roy, Utah )

February 23, 2019

8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Bella Terra (178 S. 1200 E. St. George, Utah )

, Feb, 15, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Nightingale College, a fully accredited nursing school, announced today its upcoming networking events to be held at partner facilities throughoutandThese networking events provide an opportunity for prospective and current nursing learners and alumni to cultivate relationships with health care professionals in their community. Representatives from health care facilities are also invited to explore partnership opportunities for expanding accessibility to nursing education."Nightingale College is excited to connect future nurses with experienced health care professionals," said, President of Nightingale College. "Together we can improve patient outcomes by addressing the nursing shortage."The College's Open House Events will take place on the following dates:fromfromfromfrom

Blake Halladay

Ogden, Utah

Utah

Idaho

Wyoming

Many of these partner facilities also houses the College's DDC area hub where learners gain hands-on nursing skills. Partners and health care facilities interested in joining the consortium to provide experiential learning are welcome to tour the hub and meet Nightingale staff and faculty to learn about the College's unique education model. This hybrid-virtual model allows learners to take didactic courses online and complete experiential learning requirements at local health care partner facilities such as hospitals and long-term care facilities, as well as the local experiential learning hub.The College offers two programs with this model, the ADN Program, which can be completed in as few as 20 months, and the 32-month BDN Program."Nightingale College is thrilled to be educating nurses in these communities," said, Senior Manager of Partnerships. "We look forward to what these networking events will bring, and what it will mean for the future of nursing education and health care in rural and underserved areas."For additional information about the networking event, please email careerservices@nightingale.edu. This is a free event that is open to all. No reservation required.ABOUT NIGHTINGALE COLLEGENightingale College creates avenues to accessible nursing programs with its fully accredited distance education associate and bachelor's degree nursing programs. Supporting the growing need for nurses and providing strategies to combat the nursing shortage, the College's programs work to not only grow but maintain homegrown nurses with the help of local health care systems. Nightingale College emphasizes graduating future nurses who are confident, competent and compassionate. Since its establishment in 2010 in, the College has graduated nurses in, and. To learn more about the College, its mission, and programs, visithttp://nightingale.edu/.SOURCE Nightingale College
This article explores the symptoms and treatments at each asthma stage.

Asthma is a common, long-term condition that affects a persons airways. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 8.1 percent of adults and 8.4 percent of children in the United States have asthma.

Doctors classify asthma into four main stages. How do the symptoms and treatments for each stage differ?

We explore each asthma stage in detail below.

The main symptoms of asthma include:

The symptoms of asthma are the same at every stage, but their frequency and severity differ.

These classifications are for people with asthma who do not take long-term controller medication.

The four main asthma stages are:

Asthma can be either intermittent or persistent. When symptoms arise occasionally, a person has intermittent asthma. Symptoms of persistent asthma occur more often.

For a person with intermittent asthma:

This is the least severe type. Doctors sometimes call it mild intermittent asthma.

For a person with mild persistent asthma:

This is the least severe form of persistent asthma.

For a person with moderate persistent asthma:

This is the second most severe form of asthma.

Severe persistent asthma is the most serious form. For a person with this type of asthma:

The U.S. National Asthma Education and Prevention Program recommend a stepwise treatment plan for asthma. This involves stepping up treatments, depending on how severe a persons asthma is.

According to guidance published in American Family Physician, inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) are the most effective single therapy for asthma.

If this medication is not completely effective, a doctor may add other agents to the corticosteroids.

Each treatment step aligns with a different asthma type. For the most severe types of asthma, there are several treatment steps.

Intermittent asthma: Step 1

Intermittent asthma treatment focuses on using a SABA inhaler to relieve symptoms whenever needed.

The doctor does not usually prescribe a controller medication at this stage.

Mild persistent asthma: Step 2

People can treat mild asthma that persists over long periods with long-term control medications. These can reduce symptoms when used on a daily basis.

Doctors prefer to prescribe a low-dose ICS as a controller medication for mild persistent asthma.

In addition, a person can use a SABA inhaler when needed to relieve symptoms.

Moderate persistent asthma: Step 3

Doctors also use long-term daily medication to treat moderate asthma that persists over long periods. These medications are often different from those that treat milder forms of asthma.

For moderate persistent asthma, doctors prefer to use either:

a combination of a low-dose ICS and a long-acting beta agonist (LABA)

a medium-dose ICS

Alternative therapies include a low-dose ICS along with an LTRA or, less commonly, theophylline.

In addition, a person can use a SABA inhaler when needed to relieve symptoms.

Moderate to severe persistent asthma: Step 4

Share on Pinterest People with moderate to severe persistent asthma will need to use several medications.

As symptoms of moderate persistent asthma become more severe, the preferred controller medications change.

Options for controller medications for moderate to severe persistent asthma include:

a medium-dose ICS plus a LABA, which is the preferred method

a medium-dose ICS plus an LTRA

a medium-dose ICS plus theophylline, which is a less common, less effective choice

People can also use a SABA inhaler when needed to relieve symptoms.

Severe persistent asthma: Step 5

If step 4 medications do not reduce the symptoms of severe persistent asthma, the doctor may prefer to combine a high-dose ICS and a LABA.

They may also consider omalizumab (Xolair) for people with allergies.

Severe persistent asthma: Step 6

If symptoms of severe persistent asthma have not responded to the previous treatments, the doctor may prescribe a high-dose ICS alongside both a LABA and an oral corticosteroid.

They may also consider omalizumab for people with allergies.
People with Alzheimers disease experience poor blood flow to the brain, which affects cognitive function. A new study conducted in a mouse model has finally uncovered the reason behind this reduced blood flow.

Share on Pinterest Reduced blood flow to the brain contributes to Alzheimers, but what mechanism leads to this vascular problem in the first place?

For a while now, researchers have been aware that Alzheimers disease goes hand in hand with vascular dysfunction, and reduced blood flow to the brain, in particular.

However, it is only recently that investigators have begun to focus their efforts on understanding just how and why poor vascular health can contribute to cognitive decline in this type of dementia.

A study published last month in Alzheimers and Dementia, the journal of the Alzheimers Association, calls vascular dysfunction the disregarded partner of Alzheimers disease. It argues that researchers must first fully understand all the factors involved in the pathology of this type of dementia before they can develop a pluripotent treatment for it.

Individualized, targeted therapies for [Alzheimers disease] patients will be successful when the complexity of [this conditions] pathophysiology is fully appreciated, the study authors write.

Now, in a study in mice, a team of investigators from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY has identified a mechanism  tied to poor blood flow to the brain  that directly contributes to cognitive decline.

The study paper detailing the researchers findings appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

In its introduction, the authors explain that [v]ascular dysfunction is implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimers disease, and that [b]rain blood flow is also severely compromised; cortical cerebral blood flow reductions of [approximately] 25 percent are evident early in disease development in both patients with Alzheimers disease, and in mouse models.

People probably adapt to the decreased blood flow, so that they dont feel dizzy all of the time, but theres clear evidence that it impacts cognitive function, notes study author Chris Schaffer.
As we age, we may experience a decline in our mental ability. A recent study has concluded that chronic inflammation in midlife might speed up this decline as we get older. Share on Pinterest Could influencing inflammation slow cognitive decline? The average age of the population of the United States is gradually increasing, so conditions of old age are moving into the spotlight. Growing older is associated with a progressive decline in average thinking abilities. However, it may only affect some people very mildly, while other individuals can develop significant cognitive deficits. Understanding the risk factors involved is of growing importance. We already know some risk factors; for instance, lower levels of physical activity, smoking, and obesity appear to increase the rate of decline. Recently, some scientists have turned their attention toward the potential role of inflammation.

Inflammation and its consequences As a protective mechanism that prevents any damage to tissue, inflammation occurs in response to an infection or injury. However, if this acute inflammation continues for longer periods  which doctors call chronic inflammation  it can cause damage. Scientists have already linked inflammation to a range of health concerns, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and asthma. Could inflammation also have a hand in cognitive decline? Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, recently set out to answer this question. They published their findings in the journal Neurology. According to study co-author Keenan A. Walker, Ph.D., [O]ther studies have looked at chronic inflammation and its effects on the brain in older people, but, this time, they wanted to see whether chronic inflammation in midlife might influence cognitive decline in older age. They used data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, which followed 12,336 people with an average age of 57 for around 20 years. To assess inflammation levels at the beginning of the study, the scientists measured biomarkers in the blood: fibrinogen, white blood cell count, von Willebrand factor, and factor VIII. By combining measures of these established markers of inflammation, the team gave each person a composite inflammation score. Around 3 years after the start of the study, they also assessed each participant for another marker of inflammation: C-reactive protein.

Measuring decline The researchers rated each persons cognitive ability at the start of the study, 69 years later, and then again at the end of the study. During the analysis, they accounted for a range of factors that might influence a persons thinking skills. These factors included education level and the presence of heart disease and high blood pressure. At the end of the study, the participants with the highest level of chronic inflammation at the start experienced an 8 percent steeper decline in cognitive ability compared with those who had the lowest inflammation levels. Similarly, those who had the highest C-reactive protein levels saw a 12 percent steeper decline in mental ability. Overall, the additional change in thinking and memory skills associated with chronic inflammation was modest, Walker explains, but it was greater than what has been seen previously associated with high blood pressure in middle age. The researchers also showed that the cognitive decline affected the participants memory most severely and their language and planning to a lesser extent. Many of the processes that can lead to a decline in thinking and memory skills are believed to begin in middle age, and it is in middle age that they may also be most responsive to intervention. Keenan A. Walker, Ph.D.
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Arthritis is the term for a group of conditions that cause joint inflammation and pain. Although medical treatments can help, some home remedies and lifestyle changes may also reduce symptoms. In the United States, arthritis affects more than 50 million adults and 300,000 children. There are more than 100 different types of arthritis and related diseases. The most common type is osteoarthritis, which is a degenerative disease that wears away the cushioning between the joints, causing pain, swelling, and stiffness. Another common type of arthritis is rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the joints and other parts of the body, causing uncontrolled inflammation. Arthritis of any type can cause pain and result in lasting damage to the joints. In this article, we outline some of the most effective home remedies for slowing disease progression and treating the symptoms of arthritis.

1. Aquatic exercises Share on Pinterest Aquatic exercise can relieve pressure on the joints while providing a workout. Aquatic exercises can be beneficial for people with arthritis. Water provides resistance, which helps increase exercise intensity. At the same time, the buoyancy that the water provides helps support body weight, relieving pressure on the joints. A 2015 scientific review found that older adults with osteoarthritis who participated in an aquatic exercise program experienced the following benefits: reduced body fat

improved coordination

improved range of motion

improved mood and quality of life The participants also experienced a reduction in arthritis pain, although this was often short-term. For ongoing pain relief, the researchers support current recommendations to perform 4060 minutes of aquatic exercise three times a week.

2. Weight loss According to the Arthritis Foundation, each pound (lb) of body weight equates to 3 lb of added stress on the knees and 6 lb of added pressure on the hip joints. This increased pressure causes the cartilage between the joints to break down more quickly, worsening osteoarthritis. Losing weight can ease pressure on the joints, reducing pain and stiffness.

3. Tai chi Tai chi is a low-impact exercise that incorporates slow and gentle movements to increase flexibility, muscle strength, and balance. In 2013 , researchers conducted a review of seven studies that investigated the effectiveness of tai chi for improving arthritis symptoms. The authors concluded that a 12-week course of tai chi was beneficial for reducing pain and stiffness and increasing physical function in participants with osteoarthritis.

4. Yoga Iyengar yoga is a type of yoga that focuses on correct anatomical alignment and uses props to support the body and relieve tension and inflammation. A 2013 study investigated the effectiveness of a 6-week Iyengar yoga program for young women with RA. Researchers divided the 26 participants into two groups: 11 participated in two 1.5-hour yoga classes for 6 weeks, while the remaining 15 did not take part in any yoga classes. In comparison with the control group, the participants who did yoga reported significant improvements in health, mood, quality of life, and the ability to cope with chronic pain.

5. Hot and cold therapy Share on Pinterest A cold pack can help reduce swelling. Heat and cold treatments are two different but effective methods for reducing arthritis pain. Heat therapy boosts circulation and can soothe stiff joints and aching muscles, while cold therapy restricts blood vessels, which slows circulation, reduces swelling, and numbs pain. People can try alternating heat and cold, but it is essential to monitor the skin carefully for damage from these treatments and discontinue their use if an injury occurs. Heat treatments include: starting the day with a warm bath or shower to relieve stiffness

applying warm paraffin wax to aching joints

placing a heating pad or hot water bottle on aching joints People should limit cold treatments to 20 minutes at a time. These treatments include: wrapping a bag of ice in a towel and applying it to painful areas

submerging the affected joint in ice water

using a cold pack Some of these remedies are available for purchase online, including heating pads, hot water bottles, and cold packs. To learn more about heat and cold treatments for inflammation, click here.

6. Mindfulness meditation Mindfulness is a form of meditation. When practicing mindfulness, people try to focus their attention on their feelings and what their body is experiencing in the present moment. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a program that uses mindfulness to help people manage pain and stress, both of which can compromise the immune system. A 2014 study investigated whether MBSR could reduce disease activity in people with RA by boosting the immune system. A total of 51 participants took part in the study, 26 of whom completed an 8-week program of MBSR while the remaining 25 received no treatment. Participants who practiced MBSR showed a reduction in RA symptoms, including pain, early morning stiffness, and the number of tender and swollen joints. Participants reported these improvements both immediately after MBSR and up to 6 months later.

7. Massage According to the Arthritis Foundation, regularly massaging the muscles and joints can help soothe pain resulting from arthritis. Experts believe that massage lowers the bodys production of the stress hormone cortisol and the neurotransmitter substance P, which has an association with pain. Massage also helps improve mood by boosting serotonin levels. A 2013 study investigated the effects of massage on people with RA in their upper limbs. The researchers divided the participants into two groups. One group received light-pressure massage, and the other received moderate-pressure massage. A trained therapist gave each of the participants a massage once a week for 4 weeks. The participants also learned how to massage themselves and did this once a day. After 4 weeks, the participants in the moderate-pressure massage group had less pain, better grip strength, and a greater range of motion in the affected limb than those who received light-pressure massage. A 2015 study investigating the effects of moderate-pressure massage for knee arthritis reported similar benefits. In 2020, guidelines from the American College of Rheumatology and the Arthritis Foundation noted that there was not enough evidence to show that massage can reduce symptoms of osteoarthritis. However, massage may have other benefits, such as helping reduce stress.

8. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) TENS is a method of pain relief that uses electrodes in the form of sticky pads that attach to the surface of the skin to deliver small electrical currents to the body. Current guidelines advise people not to use TENS for osteoarthritis pain, as there is no evidence that it can help.

9. Vitamin D Vitamin D builds strong bones and helps maintain the function of the immune system. A 2016 review found that people with RA often have lower vitamin D levels than those without the condition. Those with the lowest levels of vitamin D also tended to experience the highest levels of disease activity. However, it is still not clear whether taking vitamin D supplements reduces disease activity in people with arthritis. Current guidelines do not recommend vitamin D supplements as a treatment for osteoarthritis. People can get vitamin D from sun exposure and certain foods. Vitamin D supplements are also available in stores and online.

10. Omega-3 fatty acids Share on Pinterest Nuts and seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids help reduce inflammation in the body and play a role in regulating the immune system. The authors of a recent review concluded that omega-3 fatty acids appear to improve the symptoms of RA, but they noted that further studies are necessary to confirm this. Sources of omega-3 fatty acids include nuts, seeds, and cold-water fish, such as salmon, tuna, and sardines. People can also take omega-3 supplements. These supplements are available in some health food stores and pharmacies, as well as online.

11. Chondroitin and glucosamine Some people take chondroitin sulfate or glucosamine hydrochloride for osteoarthritis. However, there is not enough scientific evidence to show that they can benefit people with osteoarthritis, and they may have adverse effects. For this reason, current guidelines advise people not to use these supplements.

Medical treatment There are almost 100 different types of arthritis. After making an initial diagnosis of the type of arthritis that a person has, a doctor will explain to them which treatment options are suitable. Some examples of medications include: analgesics for pain control, such as acetaminophen

NSAIDs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen

corticosteroids, which reduce inflammation

disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), which slow or stop inflammation but weaken the immune system

targeted DMARDs, which target specific inflammatory issues rather than suppressing the entire immune system

When to see a doctor Without treatment, arthritis can cause permanent damage to the joints or progress more quickly. People with arthritis should work with a doctor to decide which home remedies may work best with their medical treatment plan. A person should visit a doctor if they experience any of the following symptoms for 3 days or more: pain, swelling, tenderness, or stiffness in one or more joints

redness and warmth of the skin surrounding the joint

difficulty moving the joint or performing daily activities
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, February 15, 2019

As Congress prepares to tackle online privacy, advocacy groups say new privacy legislation should prohibit companies from using data in ways that violate civil rights laws.

Civil rights protections have existed in brick-and-mortar commerce for decades. It is time to ensure they apply to the internet economy as well, 44 organizations including Public Knowledge, the ACLU, Center for Democracy & Technology and Electronic Privacy Information Center said this week in a letter to House and Senate leaders.

The letter comes as lawmakers are preparing new federal privacy legislation. Late last year, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) unveiled a draft bill that would give consumers the right to prevent information about them from being shared or sold by ad-tech companies.

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The civil rights groups argue this week that privacy laws should specifically include anti-discrimination provisions.

Platforms and other online services should not be permitted to use consumer data to discriminate against protected classes or deny them opportunities in commerce, housing, and employment, or full participation in our democracy, the groups say. Companies also should be required to be transparent about their collection and use of personal information in automated decision making, and to anticipate and protect against discriminatory uses and disparate impacts of big data.

The organizations don't mention any company by name, but Facebook has previously come under fire for allowing landlords, employers and others to exclude people in some demographic categories from viewing ads.

Last August, faced with civil lawsuits and a new federal investigation, Facebook said it was removing more than 5,000 ad-targeting options -- including ones that may enable discrimination based on ethnicity or religion.

Public Knowledge and the others are also urging Congress to give people the right to correct inaccurate data about themselves.

Government and corporate databases must allow everyone -- including the urban and rural poor, people with disabilities, seniors, and people who lack access to the Internet -- to appropriately ensure the accuracy of personal information that is used to make important decisions about them, the watchdogs write. This requires disclosure of the underlying data, and the right to correct it when inaccurate.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, February 15, 2019

Imagine Apple making more from Google Search than it does from its music business. One analyst suggests the Cupertino, California company has become too dependent on Google.

The estimate from Goldman Sachs Analyst Rod Hall suggests Apple earned nearly $9.5 billion in 2018 from Google. Thats how much the company paid Apple to become its default search engine on the iPhone.

The billions are noted in Googles traffic acquisition cost, according to Hall. Within the services line, the TAC represents a quarter of the revenue, maybe a third of the profits, he said.

Google could pay Apple as much as $12.2 billion next year and $15.6 billion in 2021, according to Halls model.

Apple's services business -- which it touts as its next growth driver -- reached about $37 billion in the company's fiscal 2018.

The overall growth rate in services continues to fall for Apple, he said.

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The total is estimated to be 16% in 2019, slowing from about 26% in 2018. The million-dollar question for Apple is what the company will do to keep the services growth rate from decelerating.

Hall added that the company will likely try to roll out a streaming service this year.

[Apple] needs to roll out a new services package or maybe a bundled package that will drive penetration in that install base up, he said. We think the install base penetration is just over 10%, maybe 12% if you look at iCloud storage and music in terms of how many people have adopted things they really pay Apple for, so they really need some kind of a bundled service package that moves the number up.
BBYO gave me a platform where I could make my voice heard that I didnt feel like I had anywhere else, said McCulloh, now a student at Tulane University studying science. Within months of being a member, I went from being a soft-spoken girl who was lacking in confidence to a woman who was not afraid to share her thoughts or stand up for what she believes in.
by Melynda Fuller , February 14, 2019

In its latest move as a data-driven content company, Hearst Magazines has appointed Mike Smith its first Chief Data Officer.

Smith will report to Hearst Magazines President Troy Young.

Smith was chief operating officer of Hearst Magazine Digital Media prior to his new role.

As the companys first chief data officer, Smith will oversee the strategy and ongoing development of digital advertising operations, data capabilities and ad product offerings at Hearst Magazines.

Smith will also continue to oversee the development of data competency across Hearst Magazines, including technology-driven division CDS Global, which provides outsourced business solutions to multiple industries.

The newly created role of chief data officer comes as Hearst Magazines continues to focus on the opportunities for advertisers derived from data. The Hearst Data Studio, which Smith leads, is home to proprietary technology that leverage machine learning and business intelligence across brands as a means of enhancing audience targeting and providing attribution analytics for clients.

Before his time with Hearst, Smith was president of Forbes.com and chief digital officer of Forbes Media. He was also vice president and Chief Information Officer at TheStreet.com.<
After being met with widespread resistance, Amazon just abandoned plans to build an East Coast headquarters in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, New York.

After much thought and deliberation, weve decided not to move forward, the tech titan said in a statement released on Thursday.

Amazon is blaming local and state politicians for ruining a plan that it insists had widespread support among New Yorkers.

While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project, Amazon said.

The so-called HQ2 campus faced significant grassroots resistance, which was vigorously supported by the likes of New York City Council member Jimmy van Bramer and New York State Senator Mike Gianaris, among other local politicians.

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Despite the promise of adding roughly 25,000 new jobs over 10 years, critics large and small took issue with the enormous government incentives promised to Amazon, along with the impact that the HQ2 Campus would have had on New York Citys already-taxed infrastructure.

For the privilege of bringing HQ2 to Queens, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio reportedly promised Amazon nearly $3 billion in incentives.

Mayor de Blasio expressed his disappointment with Amazons decision on Thursday.

You have to be tough to make it in New York City, he tweeted . We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world  Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity.

Amazon is proceeding with plans to build new facilities in Northern Virginia and Nashville, while shelving the search for new HQ2 locations -- at least for now.
by Sarah Mahoney @mahoney_sarah, February 14, 2019

Its a confusing time to be in the bra business. Victorias Secret continues to lead the $7 billion U.S. market, but its stumbling as more women shun its sexed-up imagery, trade in bras for bralettes and look for a better online experience.

ThirdLove is emerging as an online powerhouse. Marketing Daily caught up with Josh Wolff, its vice president of customer (and the San Francisco-based companys only Brooklyn-based employee), to ask how Third Love is trying to turn customer service into engagement, and more sales.

Marketing Daily: First, lets start with that 80% of women are wearing a bra that doesnt fit statistic, which has been kicking around since Four out of five dentists prefer Is it true?

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Wolff: For us, fit is everything. Were selling the right fit as much as the product itself. And yes, our data shows that between 70% and 80% of our customers wind up ordering a bra that is a different size than they initially believed they wore. In a typical retail environment, the emphasis may sound like its on fitassociates at Victorias Secret do wear those tape measures, for instancebut its really about selling you something that is in stock, whether it fits or not. We can stock a far greater arraywere up to 78 sizes, including half sizes. Were not stuck with the constraints of a stockroom.

MD: Speaking of Victoria's Secret, how do you differ from them?

Wolff We offer more choices, which is what women want. They want more of a personal relationship with brands. Victorias Secret is marketed toward men, or at least a male-centric way of seeing women. Theyre date-night bras. They discount their products often, and we dont. And again, were all about finding that right fit.

MD: How does data inform the fit process?

Wolff: We have about 180 fit stylists, based in Chico [Calif.]. They take callsalthough only about 20% of customers want to talk. Mostly its emails, SMS texts and chats. And about 80% of those communications focus on fit and style. And often, when people think they are asking about a style question, it all comes back to an issue of fit.

Weve been experimenting with selling people back-up sizes. Because we have hundreds of millions of data points, we can know your fit challenges. We are able to identify who is most likely to be falling between sizes. You only pay for one [item], and shipping the other one back to us is easy and free. We offer a 60-day fit guarantee.

Wolff: Whats your typical customer and your typical transaction?

Wolff: We usually sell more than one bra, and our best seller, a T-shirt bra, costs $68. And interestingly, even though it appears that were geared at millennials, we dont really have a target customer. We sell bras to women of all ages.

MD: How do women treat bras now, and how would you like that to change?

Wolff: Most women have one or two bras that they wear all the time, and they usually last about six to nine months. Wed like them to have more in the rotation, so the elastic would last longer.

MD: What trends are reshaping the business?

Wolff: Certainly, younger womens strong preference for bralettes and more unstructured bras is important. And so is size inclusivity. And we cant say much now, but later this month, well be making an announcement about more size inclusivity.

MD: What keeps you up at night?

Wolff: How to reach women who have bought something from us, but havent come back. Theyre very much on my mind.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, February 14, 2019

Facebook reportedly may agree to pay a multi-billion dollar fine to settle a privacy investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.

The tech company and FTC are still in talks, and it's not yet clear whether Facebook will agree to all of the agency's settlement terms, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the potential deal.

The FTC began investigating Facebook last year, shortly after it emerged that the consultancy Cambridge Analytica harvested data from up to 87 million Facebook users.

Those data transfers may have violated a 2012 consent decree that prohibits Facebook from misrepresenting its privacy practices, and from misrepresenting the extent to which it makes users' information available to third parties.

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The FTC isn't empowered to fine companies solely over privacy violations, but can fine companies for failing to comply with consent decrees.

Cambridge Analytica received the data from researcher Aleksandr Kogan, who obtained the information in 2014 through the personality-quiz app "thisisyourdigitallife." Only 270,000 Facebook users downloaded Kogan's app, but he was able to gather data about many of those users' contacts.

In April of 2015, Facebook stopped allowing developers to access data about users' friends. But in 2014, when Kogan's app scraped the data, Facebook allowed developers to glean information about users' friends, subject to their privacy settings. Facebook's terms of service prohibited developers from sharing that information.

The company -- which also faces a potential class-action lawsuit in the Northern District of California -- has argued that Facebook's users allowed their data to be shared with outside developers.

"Facebook users (like users of apps on other platforms) consent to their data being shared with third-party apps or have the option to turn off such sharing entirely," the company argued to U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria, who is presiding over the class-action litigation.
by Ray Schultz , February 14, 2019

Most comments about email lists now focus on customer files, it seems. But Mr. Marketing, a digital marketing specialist, is offering software for brands using purchased or rented lists.

Outreach Manager is designed to help brands scrub, validate and manage large outside lists and send marketing emails.

We had a system we used in-house, and we thought we might have an opportunity for sale directly to advertisers, says Matthew Rubin, president of Mr. Marketing.

The objective is to facilitate personalized and compliant email campaigns.

Rubin argues that there is a dearth of such products in the market  thus, many firms are not able to fully harness email for customer acquisition.

The company is now working on streamlining the process, especially for SMBs.

We built a front end, and the goal to have it self-service, Rubin says.

The list validation function allows the user to scrub the list before a blast is sent out, enhancing deliverability and the sender score, Rubin claims.

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Email lists can suffer from some of the same problems as postal lists, including bad inputting of names, email addresses and other information.

Outreach Manager will automatically place in unsubscribe the address of a person who has already replied or purchased so the advertiser doesnt bombard them with the same stupid product, he says.

If youre marked a as spam, its a problem  the next time you send, youre going to get blocked all day long, he adds.

The company can also resolve name variations for the same email address if it is in more than one list, he adds. And it can also help firms manage in-house lists, Rubin says.

The time may be ripe for renting permission-based email liststhe Worldata Price Index reports declining costs per thousand in many categories.

Mr. Marketing, which has 16 employees, is based in Charleston, South Carolina and also has offices in Bangladesh and the Philippines. It has 246 customers, Rubin says.

In addition to SEO, which was its first service, it helps with reputation management, mobile applications and web and mobile development projects.
by Thom Forbes @tforbes, February 14, 2019

Levi Strauss & Co. is planning to file an initial public offering 34 years after the Hass family -- the descendants of the eponymous founder of the company in 1853 -- took it private, which was 14 years after it had been taken public for the first time in 1971.

According to its SEC filing, the San Francisco-based company plans to raise $100 million through the IPO, a placeholder amount used to calculate fees, but CNBC's Leslie Picker previously reported that the company is aiming to raise between $600 million and $800 million, CNBC's Amelia Lucas writes.

Levi Strauss intends to list as LEVI on the New York Stock Exchange. Goldman Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will lead the IPO, according to the release announcing the company's intentions.

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Levis said that it plans to use the proceeds from going public for general corporate purposes, including working capital, operating expenses and capital expenditures. According to the filing, the company sees the opportunity to expand its presence in emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil. A portion of the proceeds could go to acquisitions or other strategic opportunities, but the company said that it has no current plans to do so, Lucas adds.

Definitive plans are one thing; aspirations quite another. The San Francisco-based company will indeed be looking to go beyond denim, as Suzanne Kapner and Maureen Farrell put it in the Wall Street Journal. Levi has recognized that they need financial flexibility to figure out the next chapter for the brand, Joel Bines, a managing director of consulting firm AlixPartners, tells them.

Indeed, the news of the IPO was well received by retail analysts who said the companys brand is one of the few well-known and global enough to withstand the shift to online shopping, writes Shwanika Narayan for the San Francisco Chronicle.

If you look across the apparel and footwear space, only a few companies like Nike and Adidas are well known all over the world. I would put Levis in that group of companies, Bloomberg Intelligence equity analyst Chen Grazutis tells Narayan.

The San Francisco-based company is still the largest seller of jeans in the world. In the U.S., it has a 12.1% share of the $16.68 billion denim market, dwarfing the next-largest player, Lee and Wrangler parent VFCorp., which has a 4.8% share, according to Euromonitor International, the WSJ's Kapner and Farrell write. But denim growth has stalled in recent years as more people opt for yoga and sweatpants, or premium brands such as Frame and AG Jeans.

VFCorp last year announced that it was spinning off its jeans business into a separate company. In December, it said that it would be named Kontoor Brands Inc.  a creative variation of the word contour  that will preserve each brands unique identity.

As for Levis, a lot of their opportunities are outside of denim, bringing the brand to other categories as well, Bloomberg Intelligences analyst Grazutis tells Bloombergs Matthew Townsend.

We believe we have a long runway for growth in both our tops and womens categories, the company wrote in the filing. In the longer term, we intend to increase our focus on expanding our other product categories such as footwear and outerwear, Mary Hanbury writes for Business Insider.

These categories represented 6% of its net revenues in fiscal 2018, according to the filing. Levi's also plans to grow its direct-to-consumer business by adding new brick-and-mortar locations and rolling out its online shop in new markets, Hanbury adds.

Not that the company isnt already doing well enough as is.

In its latest report, the American apparel company said sales rose nearly 9% to $1.59 billion. Its filings also show that it has halved its debt load over the last two years, according to Reuters Aparajita Saxena, Bharath Manjesh, Uday Sampath Kumar and Melissa Fares.

Levis sells its products in more than 50,000 retail locations, including about 3,000 standalone stores and shops-in-shops across 110 countries. It sells apparel under the Levis, Dockers and Denizen brands, they add.

And the family that controls it is doing just fine itself.

Although founder Levi Strauss did not have any children of his own, he left the business to his four nephews and it was passed down over the generations. After World War II, brothers Peter Haas, Sr. and Walter Haas, Sr. took over Levis and are credited with turning it into an international brand, Forbes Will Yakowicz writes.

Fast-forward to now and six members of the Haas family, which ranks among one of Americas richest clans, own a combined 63% of Levis, according to an SEC filing from the 165-year-old company. The largest shareholder, Mimi L. Haas, has a nearly 17% stake thats worth at least $1 billion, Forbes estimates, Yakowicz reports.
Growing demand from the Healthcare sector and sustained sales among dynamic economies across the globe will remain the key factors driving the growth of the Global Telehealth Market during the next five years. According to a latest research report published by Market Research Future, titled Telehealth Market Research Report- Global Forecast till 2023, the global market for Teleahealth is presumed to witness very high growth terms of revenue.

There are tremendous benefits offered by the telehealth solutions. Some of these include improved access to the patients; telehealth can allow us to provide healthcare services to the patients situated in distant locations. It also allows physicians & doctors to expand their reach and services beyond their clinics. Telehealth services have also proved to be cost effective with increased efficiency through better management of chronic diseases. And also it reduces the travel time for the patients which further reduced costs for the patients. All these advantages have attracted healthcare services providers to adopt telehealth technologies and the demand for the same has been on the rise ever since.

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The Global Telehealth Market is driven by increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, rising geriatric population, and continuous development in the healthcare technology; as per statistics, more than 50% of the total globe population have some or other chronic disease. Moreover, rapid development in the technology, increasing healthcare expenditure, and increasing need for the home based devices have fuelled the market growth. However, lack of awareness and unavailability or less availability of the required infrastructure in many parts of the world including the underdeveloped Asian and African regions may slow the growth of the market. Telehealth or telemedicine is a mode of delivering health care services to patients by using communication technologies to facilitate the diagnosis, treatment, consultation, education care management, and others. Telehealth acts as a bridge to improve the relationship between patient and healthcare providers as well as for improving patient satisfaction & behavioural changes by providing healthcare guidance and treatment. It provides self-management and caregivers support to the patients. Telehealth is used to monitor the chronic diseases as well as to monitor disease from home.

The Global Teleheatlh Market is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR of 29.8% during the forecasted period.

Key players

Some of the major players in the global telehealth market are Koninklijke Philips N.V. (the Netherlands), Medtronic (Ireland), General Electric Company (UK), McKesson Corporation (US), Care Innovations, LLC. (US), Cerner Corporation (US), GlobalMedia Group, LLC (US), Siemens Healthcare Private Limited (US), AMD Global Telemedicine, Inc. (US), InTouch Technologies, Inc. (US).

Segmentation

The global telehealth market is segmented on the basis of components, types, and end users.

On the basis of component, the market is segmented into hardware, software, and others. Hardware is further segmented into monitors, medical devices, and others. Monitors are further segmented into blood glucose monitors, blood pressure monitors, ECG monitors, and others.

On the basis of types, the market is segmented into web based, on-premises, and cloud based. On the basis of end users the market is segmented into hospitals & clinics, pharmaceutical companies, and others.

Regional Analysis

On the regional basis the global telehealth market is dominated by America owing to the presence of huge geriatric population and large number of people suffering from diabetes and other chronic respiratory diseases. Among all the regions in the world, the U.S. has been the first choice for the deployment of telehealth solutions due to established healthcare systems and technology advancement. It has gained a significant position in the global market with the increase in large numbers of telehealth services which target at wellness and fitness. Thus, these telehealth solutions help in cost reduction, saves time by reducing visits to physicians, and provides better healthcare systems. In Addition to this, well developed healthcare sector and high healthcare spending has contributed in the growth of the market. Europe accounts for the second largest market for the global telehealth market which is followed by Asia Pacific. The Germany is dominating the connected healthcare deployments in Europe, with different kinds of solutions being offered and services being delivered through varied means, from simple messages to much more complex apps. Asia pacific has the fastest growth market due to the presence of rapidly developing economies like China and India. However, the Middle East and Africa has the least share in the market.

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Sterilization equipment are necessary to maintain the sterile conditions during research activities, manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and during medical procedures. The increasing geriatric population, a growing number of surgical procedures and increasing research and development activities in the healthcare sector are the major factors driving the growth of the global sterilization equipment market. Additionally, increasing R&D spending and aggressive strategies adopted by the top players, such as new product launches, are contributing to the growth of the market. For instance, in August 2018, Cantel Medical announced the acquisition of Stericycles Controlled Environmental Solutions Business for USD 17 million, it is a leading provider of testing and certification, environmental monitoring and decontamination services for clean rooms, and other services related to regulatory compliance and quality control

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The high costs associated with surgeries, stringent regulatory environment for product approval, and lack of awareness about sterilization methods are likely to hinder the market growth during the forecast period.

The Global Sterilization Equipment Market is expected to grow during the forecast period (20182023) at a CAGR ~7.0%.

Key Players for Global Sterilization Equipment Market

Market Research Future (MRFR) recognizes the following companies as the key players in Sterilization Equipment Market: There are plenty of large and small market players which operate in this market all over the globe.

Some of the key players in the global sterilization equipment market are 3M, STERIS plc., Getinge AB, Sotera Health, Advanced Sterilization Products (Division of Ethicon), Belimed, Anderson Products, Boekel Scientific, Celitron Medical, Technologies Kft., Fedegari Autoclavi S.p.A., Cantel Medical., LTE Scientific, Merck & Co., Inc, Midmark Corporation, MMM Group, TSO3 INC., and SAKURA SI CO., LTD.

Segments for Global Sterilization Equipment Market

The global sterilization equipment market has been segmented on the basis of product, technology, and end-user.

On the basis of product, the market has been classified as heat sterilization, low-temperature sterilization, filtration sterilization, ionizing radiation sterilization. The heat sterilization segment has been further divided into dry heat sterilization and moist heat sterilization. The Low-temperature sterilization segment has been further divided into ethylene oxide sterilization, hydrogen peroxide sterilization, and others. The ionizing radiation sterilization segment has been classified as electron beams and gamma rays.

The technology segment has been divided into steam, forced convention, vacuum, gravity, and natural convection. The market, by enduser, has been segmented into hospitals & clinics, research institutes, pharmaceutical companies, food & beverage industry, medical device companies, and other endusers.

Regional Analysis for Global Sterilization Equipment Market

The market in the Americas is expected to dominate the global sterilization equipment market during the forecast period owing to the increasingly strict sterility guidelines, increase in the number of surgical procedures due to rising geriatric population, the presence of a well-established healthcare system and adoption of highly advanced technology. The European market is expected to be the second-largest due to the increasing government expenditure on healthcare and increasing research activities in the life sciences sector, and the growing number of road accidents in Europe. Moreover, the market in Asia-Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest-growing during the forecast period owing to the increasing geriatric population in the region, increasing number of hospitals in Asia, and favorable government initiatives for healthcare facilities. The market in the Middle East & Africa is likely to account for the smallest share of the global sterilization equipment market.

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Sterility Testing Market  Highlights

Global Sterility Testing Market size is expected to touch USD 1,245.2 million by 2023 owing to rising sales of cars. High prevalence of chronic diseases and cardiovascular maladies is the primary factor driving market growth. Booming pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, funding provided by governments, and rising investments in the life science sector are other factors expected to elicit market demand over the forecast period.

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Demand for sterile drugs is creating opportunities for manufacturers and distributors. In addition, demand for effective vaccines to combat chronic maladies is anticipated to bode well for the market. Development of filtration systems to expedite drug development can positively impact the market. For instance, Merck launched the Stericup Quick Release system in 2017 for faster filtration of reagents, buffers, and media.

Top Players:

Some of the key players profiled in the market report include Boston Scientific Corporation, Pacific BioLabs Inc., Becton, Dickinson and Company, Sartorius AG, Charles River Laboratories Inc., Belimed Deutschland GmbH, Merck KGaA, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Astell Scientific, WuXi AppTec, Baxter BioPharma Solutions, Bioquell U.K. Ltd., SGS SA, BioMerieux SA, and others. Acquisitions, collaborations, and launch of new products are strategies employed by these players to acquire a larger market share.

Regional Analysis:

The sterility testing market, on the basis of region, is segmented into the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). The Americas are expected to dominate the global market owing to the large patient population and demand for sterile drugs. Growth witnessed in domestic biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors coupled with increased healthcare spending allotted to states are factors anticipated to fuel market growth over the forecast period.

Europe is predicted to be the second largest market, followed by APAC. Presence of well-established healthcare infrastructure, huge patient pool, and investments in life sciences can elicit huge market demand during the forecast period. Developed nations such as France, the U.K., and Italy are expected to contribute to overall market revenue.

The APAC sterility testing market is projected to showcase a robust CAGR over the forecast period owing to strong economies of Indian and China. It can enjoy good market demand owing to the presence of various contract manufacturing organizations.

The MEA market commands a smaller market share compared to others owing to stringent government policies and less emphasis on healthcare expenditure. The Middle East region is highly lucrative owing to the presence of nations such as Kuwait, Dubai, Qatar, and others.

Segmentation:

MRFRs report offers a detailed segmental analysis of the market based on product type, test type, end-user, and region. By product type, the market has been segmented into consumables, instruments, and services. Services are further segmented into stability testing, sterility assurance tests, cleaning and disinfection, and sterility validations. The sterility assurance test segment is anticipated to be worth USD 151.6 million by 2023.

By test type, the market is segmented into product flush sterility testing, direct transfer sterility testing, membrane filtration sterility testing, and others. The membrane filtration sterility testing segment can touch a valuation of USD 348.6 million by 2023. Membrane filtration is a method used in filtering microorganisms or bacteria capable of infecting solutions. Benefits such as testing in large volumes and inhibiting bacterial growth are expected to spur segment growth till 2023.

Major end-users include academic and research laboratories, hospitals and clinics, pharmaceutical companies, and others. The pharmaceutical companies segment is projected to register a 12.1% CAGR over the forecast period. Rising demand for sterile injectables is expected to fuel segment demand.

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application,

treatment type and more and it wil grow at high rate of CAGR till 2023 analysis by market research future

global Radiotherapy Market size and share increase by

Global Radiotherapy Market  Overview

Radiotherapy is used for the treatment of various types of cancer. The therapy uses high power X-rays to destroy cancerous cells. According to the National Cancer Institute, about 50% of cancer patients receive some type of radiation therapy during their treatment. The radiotherapy treatment are less painful than the chemotherapy and surgeries. The damaged cells are broken down by the natural process of body.

The cancerous cells get destroyed totally and does not show its presence in future. The time required is much less in contrast to the chemotherapy. The side effects of the radiotherapy is also nominal as compared to the chemotherapy. Around 4 out of every 10 people are treated for cancer undergo radiotherapy. Normally together with other types of treatment including chemotherapy and surgery. The market for the radiotherapy is increasing as the treatment is quick and easy. The treatment is more effective than chemotherapy and surgery. Though treatment has some side effects but the therapy is widely preferred by doctors.

The Global Radiotherapy Market will grow very rapidly at a rate of 7% CAGR during the forecasted period 2017-2023.

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GE Healthcare (UK), Siemens (Germany), Cardinal Health (U.S.), Nordion (CA), View ray (U.S.), Fuji Holdings (Japan), Philips Healthcare (U.S.), Shimadzu Corporation (Japan), Hologic (U.S.), Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Elekta AB (Sweden), Accuray Incorporated (U.S.), Ion Beam Applications (IBA) (Belgium), Nordion, Inc. (Canada), C. R. Bard, Inc. (U.S.), Isoray Medical, Inc. (U.S.), RaySearch Laboratories (Sweden), Mevion Medical Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan), CIVCO Medical Solutions (U.S.), Brainlab AG (Germany), PRECISIS AG (Germany), Technicas Radiofiscas S.L (Spain), Hitachi Ltd. (Japan), Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd. (Japan), ProNova Solutions LLC (U.S.), ProTom International (U.S.), and others are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the global radiotherapy market and are profiled in MRFR Analysis.

Industry Updates

Jan, 2018 Varian Medical Systems signed an agreement to acquire Sirtex Medical Limited. This acquisition expands Varians addressable market into interventional oncology to emerge as a global leader in radio embolization.

October, 2017 Varian has launched its radiotherapy device ProBeam Compact single-room proton therapy system.

July, 2017 View Ray has recently announced the launch of MRI-guided radiation therapy solution, MRIdian Linac.

Global Radiotherapy Market  Regional:

Geographically, the regional market is segmented into America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa.

America holds the larger market in the radiotherapy the market increasing due to the increasing advancement in the technology. The US is the largest market for the radiotherapy due to the technological advancement. The adoption of new technology is more in this region as the research and development is also more and developing day by day. There are many companies who have already captured the market and developed new technologies for the imaging. The number of cancer patients are more in this region.

Europe is the second largest market owing to the advanced technologies due to increasing R&D. The European region is having its own set of regulations for the medical regulations. The expenditures are also more by the government bodies for the healthcare and adoption for the new and sophisticated technologies.

Asia pacific region is growing at a rapid pace owing to the increasing number of patients in the region. The increasing consumptions of tobacco is seen in this region. The growth is increasing as the economies are increasing governments in this regions are showing more interest in improving the healthcare sectors. The R&D in this region is also increasing with the big players operating in this sector. The number of cancer patients in this region are more. The number are maximum for the oral and lung cancer. The cases of thyroid are also more in this region.

Middle East and Africa is slow growing segment because of the lack of awareness of the chronic diseases and the treatment facilities are also limited in this region. The regions have slow growth due to the factors like unskilled labors are more, illiteracy is more, and economic development is slow. The lack of awareness among the people is very less. The technological advancement is very less. The distribution network for the companies is very less. The poverty in this region is very high. Treatment are not reached to the needy. The cases of cancer is also increasing in this region but the diagnosis is also less in this region. The treatment for cancer is far behind as compared to developed and developing region.

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The Gasby scenario, in which a healthy spouse seeks a new companion and is open about the relationship, even co-existing in the same space with both partners, is perhaps the most challenging to understand, simply because it requires nuance. There are no clear-cut heroes or villains. Gasby is unapologetic and open about his new relationship, posting about it on social media with the hashtag #whylie. Smith appears to be happy and lovingly cared for by a family who has chosen to keep her at home. Her adult stepdaughter is supportive of her fathers new relationship and also helps care for Smith.
Drivers and Constraints Impacting the Market

With the growing prevalence of various infectious and non-infectious diseases, growing demand for personalized drugs, increasing usage in drug discovery process, and increasing awareness about the benefits of pharmacogenomics are stimulating the market during the assessment period. Pharmacogenomics offers effective treatment therapeutics which is both reliable and safe. Thus, increasing awareness about its benefits is anticipated to augment the market growth in the coming years. Also, innovation and rapid advancements of new healthcare technologies such as High Throughput Screening (HTS), next-generation sequencing, and Digital Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) are further influencing the market growth.

On the flip side, lack of consistency in pharmacogenomics and lack of awareness are some of the key factors considered to impede the market growth in the coming years.

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Latest Industry Updates

October 31, 2018: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently announced that they have approved the marketing of 23andMes reports on pharmacogenetics. The genetic-testing company claims are designed to assess whether the genetics will affect an individuals ability to metabolize certain drugs which include antidepressants.

Nov 2017: Myriad Genetics, Inc., announced positive results from a double-blind, multi-center, randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of the GeneSight Psychotropic test (GeneSight) on psychiatric treatment response in 1,200 patients with major depressive disorder. GeneSight is one of the leading pharmacogenomics test to help guide medication selection for mental health disorders.

Global Pharmacogenomics Market  Competitive Analysis

Pharmacogenomics in recent years has used a new generation of technology approaches that has led to a revolution in the understanding of disease susceptibility and pathophysiology, providing enormous potential for novel therapeutic strategies.

However, with companies aiming to capture a considerable share of the market segment as early as possible, they are competing and experimenting with various advantage points. The best long-term growth opportunities for this sector can be captured by ensuring ongoing process improvements and financial flexibility to invest in the best strategies.

The noteworthy players operating the global market are Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Israel), Assurex Health Inc. (U.S.), Future Science Group (U.S.), Pathway Genomics (U.S.), Myriad Genetics Inc. (U.S.), GeneDx. (U.S.), GeneTech (U.S.), 23andMe Inc. (U.S.), and others.

Global Pharmacogenomics Market: Segmental Analysis

The global pharmacogenomics market has been segmented on the basis of application, technology, end-user, and region.

By mode of technology, the global pharmacogenomics market has been segmented into sequencing, microarray, polymerase chain reaction, and others. Among these, the sequencing segment has been sub-segmented into pyrosequencing, Sanger sequencing, next-generation sequencing, and others.

By mode of application, the global pharmacogenomics market has been segmented into cardiology, oncology, neurological disorders, and others. Among these, the oncology segment has been sub-segmented into lung cancer, breast cancer, and others.

By mode of end-users, the global pharmacogenomics market has been segmented into research organizations, hospitals, academic institute, and others.

Regional Analysis of Pharmacogenomics Market

Geographically, the pharmacogenomics market span across regions namely, Europe, America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa.

The American region is considered to dominate the global pharmacogenomics market and is estimated to maintain its dominance during the assessment period. The growth is attributed to the presence of developed countries such as Canada and the U.S. along with a well-developed healthcare sector. Also, growing number of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases have stimulated the growth of the market in this region.

The European region is considered to be the second largest market owing to the availability of funds for research and development activities. Moreover, the presence of huge patient population is influencing the market positively. With the presence of developed countries such as France and Germany, the market is likely to flourish during the review period.

Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region owing to the continuously developing economies such as China and India and presence of huge patient population. Meanwhile, the Middle East and Africa hold the least share owing to the presence of poor economy, strict government policies, and low per capita healthcare expenditure in this region.

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The Laboratory Information Systems (LIS) Market is gaining momentum with its integration in healthcare information systems across the world. It is now playing a pivotal role in the latter sector by managing and streamlining data as per the requirements. The need for such technology is on the rise as the emerging economies are including the technology to get a better grasp of the ongoing research and development.

Increasing demand for laboratory information systems from various governments is a prominent factor that can impact the laboratory information systems market substantially. Fast integration of this type of technology to upgrade healthcare systems in developing regions can play a decisive factor. The market scope will increase with such percolation. Healthcare IT is also taking fast strides forward and, in the process, impacting the laboratory information systems market substantially.

However, it incurs high maintenance cost which along with, difficulties in interoperability with the present health system can bottleneck the laboratory information systems market during the review period. But technological advancements can overcome these issues in no time.

Laboratory Information Systems Market  Key Players

The key players that are involved in Global Laboratory Information Systems market are Cerner Corporation, Recent Developments, Eclipsys Corporation, LabVantage Solutions Inc, LabWare Inc, McKesson Corporation, Medical Information Technology Inc., Merge Healthcare Inc, STARLIMS Corporation, Sunquest Corporation and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

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Laboratory Information Systems Market  Segments

Segmentation by Applications

Segmentation for Laboratory Information Systems market involves the following Applications such Clinical LIS Market, Drug Discovery LIS Market, Industrial LIS Market.

Segmentation by Components

Segmentation for Laboratory Information Systems market involves the following Components such as Software in LIS Market, Hardware in LIS Market, Services in LIS Market.

Segmentation by Delivery

Segmentation for Laboratory Information Systems market involves the following Delivery such as Web-based LIS Market, On-premise based LIS Market, Cloud-based LIS Market.

Industry Updates:

The Cerner EHR project is thriving as the U.S. Department of Defense increases its budget by about USD 1.2 billion. The additional funds will support the added services to maintain a standard EHR between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Coast Guard. The EHR when integrated with laboratory information system, turns highly efficient, which leads to increased productivity and also reduced probability of errors. Cerner is an established company in the global LIS market that understands this fact and makes use of every opportunity to enhance its products to cater to various customer needs.

Nov 2014 Thermo Fisher launched a new ultracentrifuge which combines speed with safety and ergonomics, allowing researchers to easily protect samples while achieving reliable and consistent results.

Sept 2014 Cerner announced a strategic agreement with Intermountain Healthcare to provide clinical governance of solutions and workflow to be proposed for the Department of Defenses Healthcare Management System Modernization (DHMSM) initiative.

Aug 2014 Cerner Corporation and Siemens AG signed a definitive agreement for Cerner to acquire the assets of Siemens health information technology business unit, Siemens Health Services, for $1.3 billion in cash. As part of the agreement, Cerner and Siemens will form a strategic alliance to bring new solutions to market that combine Cerners health IT leadership and Siemens strengths in medical devices and imaging services.

March 2014 LabVantage launched a new product known as LabVantage 7 Express for quality controlled smaller labs.

Laboratory Information Systems Market  Regional Analysis

Geographically, the regional market is segmented into America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa.

The North America dominated the global Laboratory Information Systems market. The adoption of cloud computing is expected to rise in the U.S. healthcare sector due to continuous pressure to lower cost for customized healthcare services. According to clauses of the HIPAA, the healthcare industry in the U.S. has to adopt new systems that support electronic medical records (EMR) and share data in an efficient and secure manner with other healthcare providers and government agencies. This will lead to higher adoption of cloud-based LIS, which allow laboratories to share real-time information with hospitals and patients. In terms of LIS usage, North American and Western European markets are witnessing penetration, due to early adoption of healthcare technologies.

The European LIS market is expected to grow moderately, driven by higher incidence rate of diseases and increasing patient awareness about new technologies. In addition, various government initiatives also helped in promoting the usage of LIS. Increasing demand for better healthcare facilities and rising need for integrated healthcare systems in the two regions are some of the key driving factors for these markets.

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The LIS market is expected to grow in Asia-Pacific (APAC) due to increase in the incidences of diseases. Asia and Latin America are among the fastest growing markets for LIS; rising investments from healthcare IT players and government initiatives are some of the key driving factors for LIS in these regions. Many international LIS firms have started investing in developing regions of the world, such as Asia and Latin America, in order to increase their presence in high potential markets.

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In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.

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Anesthesia drugs are used during surgeries for loss of sensation to alleviate pain. The rise in global surgical volume across the globe has added to the growth of the global anesthesia market. There has been an increase in the number of surgical procedures to manage diverse health conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, malignancy, infections, injuries, etc. Such operative procedures require anesthesia drugs for pain management and induce high demand for anesthesia drugs. Moreover, post-operative pain management is also likely to contribute to the growth of the global anesthesia drugs market.

Rise in global geriatric population is another factor contributing to the growth of the global anesthesia drugs market. The elderly populace is at more risk of acquiring cardiovascular, respiratory and other degenerative changes which often requires surgical treatments which boosts the growth of the market.

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Expanding healthcare sector in the emerging economies is expected to drive the market for anesthesia drugs. Growth in healthcare facilities would increase the number of surgeries in developing countries which would subsequently generate more demand for anesthetic drugs.

A high incidence rate of emergency medical procedures is also a crucial factor in driving the market for anesthesia drugs. Besides, the rise in the number of cosmetic surgeries, and dental procedures also add fuel to the growth of the market

Advancements in anesthesia drugs in terms of improved efficiency, additional and new mode of administration and decreased price has considerably augmented the growth of the market. However, the growth of the market might be hindered by side effects associated with anesthesia drugs such as temporary confusion, hallucination, elevation in heart rate and blood pressure, amnesia and memory loss, which is more prevalent in elderly patients. Other side effects include nausea, vomiting, sore throat, bladder problems, sleepiness, and others. Lack of skilled anesthesiologist is another crucial factor which might restrain the growth of the anesthesia drugs market.

The regional segmentation of the global anesthesia drugs market segments the market into regional markets namely The Americas (North America & South America), Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world (RoW). North America region is the largest market for anesthesia drugs, and it is a market bigger than South America due to advanced medical facilities being available there. The key players of this market are also based in North America, primarily in the United States of America (USA). After the USA, Canada is the biggest market in this region.

Europe is the second largest market. Due to reasons same as the Americas, Western Europe market is bigger than the Eastern Europe market. In this region, the most important country based markets include France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom (UK), followed by the rest of Western Europe. During the forecast period, Asia Pacific region market is expected to grow at a significant rate. Medical facilities are becoming rapidly advanced in some countries like China, India, Japan, and South Korea. Hence, these countries are the crux of the Asia Pacific market, followed by the rest of the Asia Pacific region.

Segmentation

The global anesthesia drugs market has been segmented based on type of anesthesia, type of drugs and route of administration.

By type of anesthesia, the market has been segmented into general anesthesia, regional anesthesia, and others. By type of drugs, the market has been segmented into general anesthetics, local anesthetics, and others. By route of administration, the market has been segmented into inhalation, intravenous, and others.

Latest Industry News

In April 2018, B. Braun Medical Inc., a leader in pain management and developer of innovative medical products and services, introduced its first local anesthetic for spinal anesthesia, Clorotekal at the American Society of Regional Anesthesia (ASRA) and Acute Pain Medicines 43rd annual conference. The anesthetic is FDA approved and is indicated for intrathecal injection in adults.

Due to recent opioid crisis happening in the USA, many hospitals, especially those in Seattle are frequently running out of widely used injected painkillers and anesthesia drugs. 27 JUNE 2018

Drug firm Zydus Cadila has received approval for releasing Succinylcholine Chloride injection, from United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) to American Succinylcholine Chloride used as part of a general anesthesia procedure. 5 MAY 2018

Key Players for Global Anesthesia Drugs Market

Market Research Future (MRFR) recognizes the following companies as the key players in Anesthesia Drugs Market: There are plenty of large and small market players which operate in this market all over the globe.

The global anesthesia drugs market is led by some prominent players such as AstraZeneca PLC (BritishSwedish), Baxter International Inc. (US), Fresenius Se & Co. Kgaa (Germany), Abbott Laboratories (US), Hospira, Inc. (US), Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (UK), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (Switzerland), and AbbVie Inc. (US).

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Moments after Trevor Noah sat down behind his desk on the set of "The Daily Show," he looked straight into the camera and said three words: "The border wall."

"It's now official, neither Mexico nor Congress will pay for it," Noah informed his audience Thursday night. "So, like many of you after Valentine's Day, Trump is turning to Plan B."

"Plan B," in this case, is President Donald Trump's likely declaration of a national emergency to secure more money for his proposed border wall. On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced that Trump will sign a $333 billion budget deal to avoid another government shutdown even though the compromise falls drastically short on delivering the 234 miles of steel walls the president has pushed for.

Cue the national emergency, which Trump declared Friday morning - the same time he plans to sign the spending bill, The Washington Post reported.

The news was met with instant backlash as the hashtag "#FakeEmergency" began trending on Twitter with more than 14,000 mentions as of early Friday morning, while late-night comedians, some of Trump's most vocal critics, gleefully ridiculed the impending announcement.

On Comedy Central, Noah appeared perplexed by Trump's forthcoming declaration, describing it as "weird."

"Normally in an emergency you don't spend months debating whether or not something is an emergency. Like, it's normally pretty clear," Noah said. "If someone is breaking into your house, you wouldn't call 911 and be like: 'No, no don't send someone right way. Give me a few weeks. Let me see if I can convince him to leave. I'll let you know.' "

He later offered an alternative to the wall: New York City subway turnstiles.

"Those things are so unreliable," Noah said following a segment on how New Yorkers routinely jump the mechanical gates. "You have to swipe like six times and it never works. Swipe and swipe and swipe and then you try and walk through and the bar hits you in the crotch. It's the worst."

The host's face lit up in an "aha" moment.

"Forget national emergency. You know what, if Trump wants to stop Mexicans, he should just put a row of New York subway turnstiles at the border," Noah said before adopting an accent. "They would be like, 'Ai yi yi, swipe again, swipe again. I'm turning around.' "

The show's social media accounts also didn't hold back, mocking White House press secretary Sarah Sanders's official statement on the matter, which appeared to be written on the iPhone Notes application. The show offered further commentary through "Bricky The Wall," billed as "President Trump's border wall mascot."

Stephen Colbert adopted a graver tone as he broke the news to his viewers that Trump would be getting $1.375 billion for 55 miles of fences along the border in Texas.

"That's a serious walkback," Colbert said with mock trepidation. "Honey, I know you wanted a diamond engagement ring, but what about this candy necklace? . . . You can eat it."

Colbert then played a clip of McConnell on the Senate floor speaking about the deal and Trump's plan, pointing out that the Republican leader's droning voice seemed to belie the imminent emergency.

"You can tell by the tone of my voice and the urgency with which I am informing you that this is a true national emergency," Colbert drawled, impersonating McConnell. "In a related matter, I see that the Senate chamber is on fire and filled with scorpions. Everybody, everybody run. Run for your lives. Now."

On NBC, Seth Meyers couldn't contain his shock.

"Wait, you're declaring a national emergency?" an incredulous Meyers asked. "This is like one of those news stories where a crazy guy calls 911 because McDonald's ran out of nuggets. There's nothing wrong with McDonald's. You're the problem."

In the hours after the announcement, social media was equally rife with reactions, many slamming the emergency as "fake," while others applauded the president.

Prominent conservatives defended Trump and supported the plan.

Tomi Lahren of Fox News clapped back at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who repeatedly skewered Trump's expected emergency declaration on social media and to reporters on Thursday.

"I couldn't be happier with the @realDonaldTrump power move today!" Lahren wrote in another tweet.

But criticism only increased when word spread that Trump plans to go to Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Florida, on Friday after signing the bill, Reuters reported.

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Three area congressmen from both parties said President Donald Trump's calls for action on bipartisan solutions to pressing problems and borde
Week three began with committee meetings adopting rules and hearing new legislation. Although the week started off slightly slow due to the in
Henry County first responders are on the scene of an officer involved shooting in the area of the 300 block of Jonesboro Road in McDonough.
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Though Trpceski took the famous opening theme rather slowly, he finessed the concertos subsequent technical demands with apparent ease. Better still, he brought a pervasive sense of lyricism to his pianism, even in thorny, gnarly passagework. Yet Trpceski didnt fully assert himself until the first movements epic cadenza in a work that requires far more thunder before then. And though Trpceskis virtuosity often was thrilling, he did not conjure the massive, monumental sound that maximizes the impact of this cadenza  and much of the rest of the concerto.
The well-known saying eat, drink and be merry has changed in Sandy Springs to eat, drink and be gaming.
So, lets say on that night in 1952 Hank went down to the lobby of the Russell Hotel after running wild up and down the halls, being publically drunk and disorderly, and encountered Lefty Frizzell, fresh off a package show tour with Kitty Wells and Webb Pierce and enjoying the chart success of Give Me More, More, More (Of Your Kisses).

Why, if its not ol Hank Williams, says Lefty with a grin. What are you doing here in Alex City?

Running wild up and down the halls and getting ready to whup you from one side of this lobby to the other, says Hank. Ill give you more, more, more of my boot up your ---

Whoa, pardner! says Lefty. Settle down or youre going to have a cheating heart attack. This here is a public place and you sure dont want to disturb the peace and get charged with affray.

&%$# you, Frizzell! says Hank as he lands a stumbling roundhouse right hand to Leftys jaw.

And he is subsequently charged with affray. But, that never happened, so Hank was not charged with affray or any of the other unchecked offenses on the list, which include gaming, operating a business without a license and unlawfully using a bicycle on the sidewalk.
State budget cuts have been particularly harsh in Oklahoma, where the general-fund allocation for schools decreased by 28.2 percent in the decade ending in the 2018 fiscal year, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

The damage caused by funding shortfalls extends beyond teacher pay. The state has 54,000 more students than it did in 2008-09, said Rebecca Fine, an education specialist at the Oklahoma Policy Institute, yet the number of aides, secretaries, plumbers and other support staff has fallen by 391. The state also offers fewer fine arts and music classes than it did four years ago, Fine writes.

Organizers and advocates began campaigning years before strikes brought their struggles into the headlines. They were inspired by events like the Chicago teachers strike of 2012, where demonstrators won major concessions by framing their demands as part of a social and community movement aimed at improving the lives of students, Greene said.

They were arguing that it wasnt just about their own pay, she said. They were arguing about the need to confront the austerity measures pushed by mayors Richard Daley and Rahm Emanuel.
Darren Ngabe, an employee of Great Wolf Lodge in Fitchburg, has been accused of raping a 17-year-old female co-worker at the hotel and water park.

A rape charge was filed against Ngabe in Fitchburg District Court on Wednesday, according to records available online.

Ngabe has been suspended from Great Wolf Lodge.

We are aware of an alleged incident involving two employees that is currently being investigated by the Fitchburg Police Department, reads a statement from Great Wolf Lodge. We have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to issues of this nature, and are assisting local authorities with their investigation. We have suspended the employee under police investigation and extended our support to the other pack member involved. Due to this being an active investigation, we cannot go into further detail and ask that any additional questions be directed to the Fitchburg Police Department.

Ngabe invited the victim to a hotel room at the lodge on Wednesday morning, where he raped her. The victim fled the hotel room when Ngabe went to shower. She reported what happened and a manager called Fitchburg police, CBS Boston reported, citing court documents.

The Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise reported that the victim told Ngabe she she did not want to have sex before the alleged assault.

A not-guilty plea was entered on Ngabes behalf at his Wednesday arraignment. He was ordered held on $2,500 cash bail and ordered to have no contact with the victim and stay away from Great Wolf Lodge, the newspaper reported.

A call to the attorney listed for Ngabe was not immediately returned.

Great Wolf Lodge has a hotel, indoor waterpark and activities for children.
Civilians as young as 15 and as old as 70-plus were forced to kneel in rows of five, according to the museum. The shooters then killed each one with a shot at close range to the base of the skull. As the killing proceeded, the German police officials forced the hostages to kneel on top of the bodies of those who had been previously shot, to conserve space.
SPRINGFIELD  The second of three trials  each involving a different alleged victim  for Western Massachusetts lawyer James J. Martin is now scheduled for March 11.

Martin was convicted in January of three counts of indecent assault and battery and sentenced to six months in the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow.

The second trial was to start Feb. 11, but defense lawyer Alan J. Black asked for a new date of March 11. A Hampden Superior Court judge granted the request. March 11 had been the date set for the third trial.

In both upcoming trials Martin is accused of indecent assault and battery. In one case he is also charged with rape.

Black told Judge Michael K. Callan on Feb. 11 that he had just finished a murder trial and needed more time to prepare for Martins trial. He said he is in discussions with Assistant District Attorney Eileen M. Sears about possible resolution of the case without going to trial.

Callan sent the case now scheduled for March 11 to Judge J. Gavin Reardon Jr.

Reardon, after his verdict in a jury-waived trial, sentenced Martin, 41, of Amherst, to 18 months in the Ludlow jail and ordered him to serve six months. The rest is suspended with two years probation.

Under the conditions of his probation Martin must wear a GPS monitoring device, have no contact with the victim, have sex offender treatment and have mental health evaluation and treatment.

Martin will have to provide a DNA sample and register as a sex offender.

Black said Martin will be punished a lot, jail or no jail. Black said the state Board of Bar Overseers has been waiting for the trial and will probably take action so Martin probably wont be able to practice law for a very, very long time.

The Board of Bar Overseers website still lists Martins status as active.

The website for the state Supreme Judicial Court reflects a case involving Martin. There is a Feb. 5 Notice of Conviction of Serious Crime (indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over), and Certified Copy of Docket Entries from Hampden County Superior Court and PETITION FOR TEMPORARY SUSPENSION filed by Assistant Bar Counsel Linda G. Bauer.

Bauer, who is a lawyer for the Office of Bar Counsel, recommended the matter be remanded to the Board of Bar Overseers.

Dorothy Anderson, acting bar counsel for the Board of Bar Overseers, said this week that there is a process the board must go through and no information is public during the investigation.
Discount shoe chain Payless ShoeSource will declare bankruptcy later this month and plans to close all of its 2,300 stores, according to published reports.

The chain has more than 20 Massachusetts locations including shops in Westfield, West Springfield, in Springfield  at both the Springfield Plaza and on Boston Road  the Holyoke Mall, Chicopee, Webster, Worcester, Auburn and Milford.

Going-out-of-business sales will begin next week, according to the Reuters news service, citing sources.

Sources within the company said there is a slim chance a buyer could emerge and rescue the company.

Payless follows a string of high-profile retail bankruptcies including Toys 'R Us and The Bon-Ton. The Bon-Ton, which closed in 2018, had its only New England store in the Westfield Shops, a few doors down from the soon-to-close Payless.

This is Payless second bankruptcy. In April 2017 it used bankruptcy to slash $800 million in debts, emerging 18 months ago under the control of its creditors, including the hedge fund Alden Capital LLC.
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia doesnt regret the knee surgery that cost him all but three games of the 2018 season but said Friday that he wouldnt undergo the procedure if he could do it all over again.

I wouldnt have done it, Pedroia told reporters at JetBlue Park. I dont regret doing it, but looking back and knowing what I know now, I wouldnt have done it.

Pedroia underwent the cartilage restoration procedure in Nov. 2017 and returned to the starting lineup in late May. He lasted only three games before going back on the disabled list and ended up missing the rest of the 2018 season.

Pedroia spent the offseason rehabbing in Arizona and is aiming to start at second base on Opening Day in Seattle. A full recovery would mark the completion of what has been nearly an 18-month recovery period.

Its a complicated surgery, he said. The cartilage in my knee is great now, but the graft is the thing. Youre putting somebody elses bone in your body.

Going into it, I didnt know all that stuff, he said. I thought they were like, you tore this, we can fix it. I was like, oh that sounds great. But I didnt go to medical school.
An Easthampton woman on Friday denied charges related to a broad daylight pedestrian death on Dec. 3 in that city's downtown.

Ruby V. Schmid, 62, appeared in Northampton District Court, pleading not guilty to negligent motor vehicle homicide, negligent operation of a vehicle, and a civil crosswalk infraction.

Judge Maureen E. Walsh released Schmid on personal recognizance, with conditions not to operate a motor vehicle and not to leave Massachusetts without permission from the court. Schmid was represented by defense attorney Alan Rubin.

Prosecutors say Schmid fatally struck Denise Herzog, 63, as the well-known local artist traversed a Cottage Street crosswalk shortly after 1 p.m. Herzog, who suffered serious injuries, died the next day at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

Schmid is due back in court on April 18 for a pretrial hearing.



Negligent motor vehicle homicide is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 2 1/2 years in a county jail. A conviction carries a 15-year loss of license.



Easthampton Police, Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services, and Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section investigated the collision.
The is never a shortage of ways to spend state money.

Western Massachusetts state senators are finding new proposed uses for the money being returned to the state by General Electric.

Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, is calling for the money to be repurposed to admit more students into the states vocational schools. Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, wants the money used to fund GEs cleanup of the Housatonic River.

The idea that tax incentives should be handed to mega-rich companies to locate in places that are already booming, while the rest of the state really struggles, is just an idea whose time has come for re-examination, Lesser said. Right now in Massachusetts, we have the ability to create thousands of new, really good middle-class jobs through our vocational schools, which are the gold standard nationally.

General Electric said Thursday it is scaling back plans for its global headquarters in Boston. It will sell the land where it had planned to build a 12-story corporate office building, maintain 250 workers rather than the 800 that were envisioned, and reimburse $87 million for incentives the state paid to lure the company to Boston.

Lesser, who chairs the Senates Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, said existing Massachusetts companies in areas like precision manufacturing have openings for well-paid jobs. Vocational schools that prepare students for these jobs  teaching skills like machining or carpentry  have waiting lists.

Lesser said he will advocate on a larger scale to increase funding for vocational schools and to reconsider corporate tax incentives. But in the meantime, he is drafting a bill, which he hopes to file in the next few days, to use the $87 million returned by GE to reduce waiting lists at career and technical schools.

Paying for vocational education, Lesser said, would create jobs in a much quicker and more efficient way and much more fair way than handing huge tax breaks to GE would.

Hinds has another proposed use for the money. When General Electric gradually shut down its plant in Pittsfield between the 1970s and 1990s, it devastated the area economy and left a river polluted with toxins.

The river is still being cleaned up today, with oversight from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Hinds wants the money to be put toward that $613 million effort.

Lets not forget that the City of Pittsfields, and by extension, the regional economy in the Berkshires was devastated a generation ago when General Electric packed up and left town, Hinds said in a statement. The Housatonic River is still polluted with PCBs and the cleanup effort has been stalled for years while the EPA, GE and other stakeholders meander through the complicated and unending legal and regulatory process that will ultimately determine what to do with those carcinogenic pollutants.

Hinds said with the state being willing to spend millions of dollars to lure GE to Boston, its about time for our public investment to benefit Western Mass.
HOLYOKE  A patient charged with raping another patient at Holyoke Medical Center in November is too dangerous to be released on bail, a judge ruled Thursday.

John R. Zawada, 65, of Chicopee, will be held without right to bail for the next 120 days under an order issued in Holyoke District Court by Judge Matthew Shea.

The judge cited Zawadas history of mental illness and criminal record in Massachusetts and elsewhere as factors in his ruling.

Zawada was charged with rape and failure to register as a sex offender after allegedly assaulting an unconscious woman in the hospitals emergency room on Nov. 25.

The incident, which was captured on video, began when Zawada approached the womans bed, pulled down her pants and began groping her, according to the arrest report. The woman eventually sat up and attempted to push Zawadas hand away, but he guided her back down to the bed and continued to assault her, the report said.

A nurse eventually heard the victim "yelp," saw Zawada on a video monitoring screen, and ran into the room, the report said.

Following his arrest, Zawada pleaded not guilt to the charges and was committed to Bridgewater State Hospital to be evaluated for criminal responsibility and competency to stand trial.

A dangerousness hearing, initially scheduled for Nov. 30, was postponed three times as court officials awaited a ruling on Zawadas competency.

On Thursday, Shea found that releasing the defendant on bail would pose too great a threat to the alleged victim and the community. He ordered Zawada held for four months, the longest period allowed under the states dangerousness statute.

When the order expires, prosecutors can seek to renew it for another four months.

Shea also continued the case for a pretrial hearing on March 31.
SPRINGFIELD  Ismael Medina, longtime owner of Medinas Supermarket in Springfields North End neighborhood, was considered a friend, a brother and someone to be trusted by his family, his staff and the thousands of customers that have visited the market since it opened nearly 30 years ago.

Don Ismael, as he was often called, was the owner of the market until he died on Jan. 10 at the age of 89. His sons, who have taken over the store, and his many employees, some who have worked at the store since its opening, said he provided something that was lacking in the neighborhood  a place for people to purchase products native to Latin America at a reasonable price.

He was an exceptional person, said Noelia Machado, a cashier at the store for 20 years. As a boss, no was never an answer when it came to the needs of his employees. He was a boss that was there for you when you needed him. He would be at your service. I can honestly say that in critical moments in our lives, he was there, whether it had to do with money, giving advice, whatever you needed.

His three children  Magaly, Jose and Samuel Medina  worked at the store with their father since they were young.

Jose Medina, the youngest sibling and president of the business, said the market at 2705 Main St. was built in 1992 and was a much smaller space than they have now. Years later his father purchased the gas station next door and expanded in order to offer more varied products, from good-quality mortars and pestles, which are used regularly in Latin cooking, to fresh meat and produce and items typical of Latin American countries.

His fathers dream of opening a supermarket started out with humble beginnings in the Bronx, New York, where Ismael Medina and his brother opened a small bodega. Later, when Medina helped his brother-in-law move to Amherst, he fell in love with Western Massachusetts.

Samuel Medina said his father ended up finding a small store on Dwight Street in Springfield that he purchased for $400. He ran the shop for three months and then sold it to the city for $10,000. With that money he opened a store in Holyoke around 1980. In 1992 he found the location where the supermarket is today. He kept both stores open until 1998, when he decided to close the Holyoke store and expand the Springfield store.

Jose Medina said it was important to his father to give back to the community where he did business.

He loved working with local organizations, whether it was giving monetary donations or donating food when it was needed, he said.

Machado said she thought of Don Ismael more like a father than a boss. She said she witnessed his acts of generosity and compassion many times.

I once saw a mom come in to put a donation tin at the register because she did not have enough money to bury her son and he (Don Ismael) asked who she was and whether she was a regular client at the store. When he found out that she was he told her to come back to the store and he gave her a check with the money to bury her son. To watch someone do that  She trailed off, tearing up.

Machado rattled off several other cases where he would do something generous for his customers or his employees.

He was a person who sacrificed himself for the community. He would always tell me what mattered most was to value our customers and to treat them well and make sure they left the store with what they needed and a smile. He would say, This is a boat, Im the captain, you are the rowers, but Im also rowing with you,'" she said.

Geicha Vega has been a cashier at the store for 19 years. When she started she was a student at Springfield Technical Community College.

I have stayed working here so many years because he was such an exemplary, wonderful person, she said. He was a boss that you could go to and talk to about anything and he was there to listen. He was there if you needed anything at all."

Machado said Medinas death has been hard on the staff, but they believe his sons will keep the store running smoothly.

I miss him very much and it makes me sad that hes not here, but his memories are still here, she said. We talk about him like hes just at home resting. I know his sons will continue his legacy and I know they will strive every day to do the job the way he taught them. You can see his legacy in them, in their love for the customers and the employees.

Jose Medina said his father taught him everything he knows, but he cant quite compete with his ability to remember minute details of the lives of his employees and customers.

He taught me to always help our customers and treat them well. We try to always have fair prices to make it affordable for the community to shop here and if we can do more we do more," he said.

Medina said his father lived a full life and had no regrets in the end.

Near the end my dad was very happy with everything he accomplished during his time on Earth. Not only what he accomplished in terms of his family, but the community as well. Did he want to do more? Possibly, but he was not the type of person to live his life thinking about what he could or should have done. He was the type of person who decided he wanted to do something and then he did it," he said.
SPRINGFIELD  Three times Sister Judy Byron has read American Outdoor Brands report on gun safety, gun violence and the companys role in each.

"Are they doing everything they can to be part of the solution?" Byron said this week by phone from Seattle. "Personally, I didn't find that they were."

American Outdoor Brands, the corporate owner of Springfield-based Smith & Wesson, wrote the 20-page report because of Byron and her fellow nuns.

A member of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, Byron is director of the Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investments in Seattle. Her group, as part of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, bought AOBC stock and used their position as stockholders to put a referendum requiring the report on the ballot for a shareholder meeting last September. The measure passed.

The nuns were frustrated, Byron said, by a lack of response from gunmakers in the wake of mass shootings, including the one Feb. 14, 2018, where a gunman used a Smith & Wesson rifle to kill 17 students and staff at high school in Parkland, Florida.

The Parkland shooting led to protests at Smith & Wessons factory on Roosevelt Avenue in Springfield. Survivor David Hogg spoke at one of the events.

We as responsible shareholders will continue to attempt to engage American Outdoor Brands and move them to really accept responsibility for the safety of their products, Byron said Thursday.

True to the letter of the resolution  which was nonbinding but carried with it the will of the voting majority of shareholders  American Outdoor Brands wrote the report. It was made public Feb. 8.

In it, American Outdoor Brands outlines its public safety efforts when it comes to safely storing firearms and its warnings against being a "straw" buyer and getting a gun for someone who cannot legally buy one.

But AOBC said it wont develop what are called smart guns, which can only be fired by their owner.

Management said the mass shootings dont hurt the companys reputation, and it wont be addressing the shootings or endorsing any gun restrictions.

The Companys reputation as a strong defender of the Second Amendment is not worth risking for a vague goal of improving the companys reputation among non-customers or special interest groups with an anti-Second Amendment agenda, AOBC wrote in its report.

Byron pointed out that the report came out just before Thursdays one-year anniversary of the Parkland shooting.

I didnt see any reference (in the report) to a social license to operate, Byron said. More and more CEOs are realizing that their business has to make a positive contribution to society. I didnt see any talk of responsibility for the safety of the products they are producing.

Her group helped convince Dick's Sporting Goods to stop selling assault-style rifles at its Field & Stream stores.

"We as responsible shareholders will continue to attempt to engage American Outdoor Brands and move them to really accept responsibility for the safety of their products," Byron said.

And now its not just her Catholic group. Separately, the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts has bought 200 shares of stock in American Outdoor Brands so that it can also influence the company through shareholder ballot questions.

Byron's group bought 200 shares as well. It's the minimum number required to get a question on the ballot.

The Episcopalians want universal background checks, smart gun technology and an end to Smith & Wesson making guns that are illegal to possess in Massachusetts under this states stringent gun laws. The diocese said this week that more specifics about its strategy will emerge following a series of meetings later this spring.

Byron said her group is also working on a 2019 strategy.

Smith & Wesson changed its name to American Outdoor Brands in 2016 as part of a diversification push. It has 1,600 employees at its Springfield plant.
SPRINGFIELD  After they read the names of the 17 people gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, members of March for Our Lives Springfield also read the names of several victims of gun violence that have died in Massachusetts in the past year.

We are here to honor tonight not only the 17 lives that were lost at year ago at Parkland, but the approximately 1,200 other lives lost, under the age of 18, in the past 364 days, said Chinaly Chanvong, the executive director of March for Our Lives Springfield and a senior at Sabis International Charter School.

The local March for Our Lives group is part of a national movement created by survivors of the Parkland shooting. The gun-reform campaign manifested in a number of student-led marches across the country last March, including ones in Boston and Springfield.

On Thursday night the group gathered at Foster Memorial Church in Springfield, where they held a vigil in honor of gun violence victims.

It was just a few weeks ago that we voted unanimously to become a Just Peace church, which means we strive to be a justice-doing, peace-seeking church, said the Rev. Barbara Schenk. We come together this evening to remember and honor lives that have been lost and lives that have been changed forever because of gun violence.

Springfield - Parkland shooting victims were remembered a year after the tragic event that left 17 people dead. A vigil was held at Foster Memorial Church in Springfield on Feb. 14, 2019.

Chanvong said every day 342 people in America are shot and 96 of those people die.

Those 96 people are brothers and sisters, they are mothers and fathers, they are friends and family, but most importantly they were someone, and today we are here to honor their lives, she said.

Anne Thalheimer, a speaker at the vigil, is a survivor of gun violence. She said she was at Simons Rock College in Great Barrington when a shooter opened fire 26 years ago, killing two people and injuring another four. She said the only reason the shooter stopped was because his gun kept jamming.

Our shooter got frustrated and gave up. He had enough ammunition to kill all of us, said Thalheimer, a member of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and the Everytown Survivor Network for victims of gun violence.

This is part of why I do this work, to remember who we lost, to honor them and to work to make sure this does not happen again, she said.
AMHERST  With layoffs at Hampshire College expected to begin next week, some alumni argued Friday that administrators are overreacting to enrollment trends that arent as bad as they seem and that the school hasnt done enough to seek help from alumni who could solve the problem.

At a gathering on campus that included students and parents, some pointed to examples of small liberal arts schools like Hampshire  such as Virginias Sweet Briar College, Bard College in New York and Antioch College in Ohio  that came back from the financial brink. Those schools fought and rallied from much more dire circumstances than those facing Hampshire, they said.

We are trying to rally and were being scoffed at, said Suzanne Perkins, a Hampshire College graduate whose daughter, a current student, is active in the Save Hampshire movement. We have been asking how much money Hampshire needs as a temporary solution, to buy time so we can dialogue and collaboratively come up with a way forward. We have not gotten an answer.

But the administration, led by new president Miriam E. Nelson, has pointed instead to small liberal arts colleges that have closed suddenly, leaving students scrambling. That list includes Mount Ida College in Newton, which shut down last year and sold its campus to UMass Amherst, and Green Mountain College in Vermont, which announced in January that it is shutting down.

In response, to Mount Ida, the state is considering a requirement that schools have more cash in reserve, guaranteeing that students can finish degrees if the college closes. Nelson has said its unlikely that Hampshire would meet these new requirements, though she said earlier this week that possible regulatory changes were not a deciding factor in a recent board of trustees vote against admitting a full freshman class in fall 2019.

Nelsons announced in January that 50-year-old Hampshire was seeking a partner institution. For the 2019-2020 school year, the school will offer admission only to 77 students who had already signed up for early admission or who had deferred their 2018 admission offers and taken a gap year.

Northampton resident Steven Aronstein, a Hampshire College alumnus spearheading an independent fundraising effort, said alumni could come up with $10 million. That would allow Hampshire to enroll a large freshman class in the fall and avoid the looming staff and faculty layoffs.

Hampshire has seen its enrollment fall from 1,300 in 2014 to 1,120 in 2019. There was a budget gap of $2.3 million in 2018 and a gap of $5.9 million for the current fiscal year, the college has said.

To Warren S. Goldstein, an alumnus living in Newton, Massachusetts who said hes taught at colleges like Amherst over most of his career, not admitting a new freshman class because you are having trouble attracting students doesnt make much sense.

He said the college should admit a full class to keep bringing in revenue.

Hampshire has a lot of things going for it that other colleges dont have, he said. We are not in the middle of nowhere. Its right here in the Northeast, surrounded by other colleges and two great college towns. We have a great group of alumni who want to help.

Organizing that effort was one purpose behind Fridays meeting, which drew more than 100 people to a campus auditorium for more than an hours worth of presentations and discussion.

We all need to get more organized, said Goldstein.

He cited poor alumni outreach and a poor job done in admission as contributing to the schools current woes  making the pending layoffs even more galling.

The first layoffs, we understand, will be in admission and development," he said. "Those are precisely the departments we need to save Hampshire.

The College has said only that employees in the first round of layoffs will learn their fate Tuesday. Other rounds of cutbacks will be announced as spring rolls on. There is no official word on how many will lose their jobs, but faculty have said they fear cuts of 30 percent to 50 percent.

Nelson wrote in a message to the campus community that Hampshire needs to cut payroll.

Hampshire employs approximately 250 staff members and 150 faculty, with staff layoffs expected first.
"In light of recent news and allegations, we have discontinued the Defcon4 and are not selling any more direct or wholesale," wrote Colt Westbrook, president of Walrus Audio, on Instagram, referring to an Adams-branded pedal. "This is our reactive plan, as this is fresh news for us in the last 24 hours. We will come forward with a proactive plan to help bring power to people combatting abuse as we figure out the best way to do so."
SPRINGFIELD  Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said Thursday that the labor union representing city police supervisors has been unreasonable in contract negotiations, leading to the talks going to arbitration.

My administration has been very supportive of our men and women in blue, Sarno said in a press release issued at 5:40 p.m. Thursday. We have put a very fair and reasonable contract offer on the table for both our Police Supervisors and our taxpayers. Unfortunately, due to their unsustainable financial demands and in respect to our taxpayers, we will now have to go to arbitration.

Capt. Brian Keenan, president of the Springfield Police Supervisors Association, said in response that the union has been working without a contract for three years but negotiated in good faith.

We are greatly looking forward to the resolution of this long process, Keenan said. Our members want only to serve their community and return home to their families and we believe that they have the right to be secure in knowing terms of their employment.

Sarno said that, in contrast to massive layoffs in Springfield in 2003, including police and firefighters, he has added to the police force since taking office in 2008. My administration has prided itself on strong fiscal management and never having to lay off any sworn police officers or firefighters; weve actually added to our ranks through continued academies, he said.

The contract with the supervisors is one of the last unsettled contracts, Sarno said.

I remain ever hopeful that this can be resolved fairly for our taxpayers as we continue to move our Springfield forward, Sarno said.

A plan for police officers to wear body cameras has been approved as part of the contract the patrol officers union ratified last summer. Use of body cameras is also part of negotiations with the police supervisors.

The supervisors union represents sergeants, lieutenants and captains. The union has been without a contract for three years.

Sarnos comments criticizing the contract impasse came just two days after Keenan was quoted by MassLive as stating supervisors support body cameras, but that those discussions are tied to the long unresolved contract.

As with any change in working conditions, implementation of a body camera program is dependent on collective bargaining, Keenan said Tuesday. We were pleased to see a positive outcome from the patrolmens union. We look forward to the positive resolution of our own collective bargaining efforts prior to the implementation of a body camera program.
SPRINGFIELD - A Chicopee man who could have been sentenced to up to 30 years in federal prison for selling heroin was instead given time served and then released.

Steven Brown, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to time served in prison, or about three months. He was also ordered to serve 6 years probation.

Brown pleaded guilty In October to a single count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin. He was arrested in 2016 after selling 300 bags of heroin to a cooperating witness in a federal investigation. Brown is a repeat offender, with six prior convictions in state courts for drug offenses between 2008 and 2013.

The U.S. Attorneys Office for Massachusetts announced previously that Brown could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison, and be fined up to $1 million.
Northampton is a marijuana-friendly city. Nearly 70 percent of voters voted to legalize recreational marijuana, and one of the states first adult-use retail stores opened there. Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz has fielded calls from applicants who are interested in opening marijuana cafes, and he is generally supportive of allowing and regulating these businesses.

But under current state law, for a municipality to allow social consumption would require 10 percent of city voters to submit a petition that would be considered by voters at the next state election  at this point, not before November 2020.

Particularly if youre in a city like Northampton where 70 percent voted in favor of it, why would you then carve out this one piece that would require a separate ballot initiative, and a pretty labor intensive one that would require a high bar in terms of signatures? Narkewicz said.

Rep. Aaron Vega, D-Holyoke, sponsored a bill that would make it easier for cities and towns to host marijuana cafes and other social consumption sites. The bill would clarify what is currently a murky part of state cannabis law  how municipalities can regulate social consumption.

The Cannabis Control Commission has not yet written the rules for licensing social consumption sites. They are expected to have draft rules by April, with final rules done by June. But experts say there are problems written into the law itself.

The ballot question legalizing marijuana, which voters passed in 2016, established the law requiring a citizens petition and a vote before a city or town can allow on-site marijuana consumption.

But Richard Evans, a Northampton lawyer who was on the drafting committee for the ballot question, said the intention of the law was to also let city and town governing bodies  like a city council or a board of selectman  make that decision.

I think one can make a strong case that if a municipality wants to have a social consumption establishment, its entirely within their province to pass bylaws authorizing (it), Evans said.

But Im in the minority on that, Evans said. Most people construed the law as tweaked by the Legislature as requiring the ballot question.

Evans helped draft Vegas bill, which is sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Truro. The bill states that no referendum is necessary if a social consumption facility is authorized by local law. Essentially, Vega said the bill would let cities and towns vote to opt out of hosting social consumption facilities, the same way they can now opt out of hosting other marijuana businesses, like stores and grow facilities. They would not have to opt in.

Vega said he is open to other possibilities, such as requiring a vote of the towns governing body to allow social consumption in towns that voted against the ballot initiative. But he thinks the current structure is burdensome, particularly in communities that want marijuana businesses.

We dont ask communities to vote if they ask for another liquor store or McDonalds in the community, Vega said. Those are regulated and have negative and positive effects. It doesnt make sense to isolate this industry thats so new to go through a rigorous vote to opt into something.

Vega said for communities where voters supported legalizing marijuana, It just seems like an unnecessary measure to go back to a vote on an issue that communities have already voted on.

Will Luzier, political director of the Marijuana Policy Project of Massachusetts, who managed the pro-legalization ballot campaign, said there was never an intention to prohibit a local legislative body from authorizing on-site consumption. He said while the 10 percent requirement might be possible in a smaller city or town, in a city like Boston, it would literally be a herculean task.

It would be virtually impossible for someone who is interested in establishing social consumption to do that in the city of Boston, Luzier said.

Another point of confusion in the existing law is how the referendum would be conducted.

Debra OMalley, a spokeswoman for Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, said only a small number of communities have an existing process, written into a city or town charter, for local initiative petitions.

Galvin filed language with the Legislature to change the process to one where Galvins office would write a standard petition, and cities and towns could use those to initiate a vote on social consumption.

(Rep. Mark Cusack, a Braintree Democrat who helped write the law, previously told the Boston Globe that the law is clear, and Galvin should be able to implement it without a legislative fix.)

Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle is among the supporters of Vegas bill. She called social consumption the logical next step for the marijuana industry, which she said now has pretty good guidelines of how to operate in terms of managing and selling marijuana products.

LaChapelle said social consumption is another source of revenue and jobs for municipalities. For a city the size of Easthampton, it fits very nicely into our overall local economy, LaChapelle said. It makes sense A boutique social consumption facility is something we would welcome.

The Cannabis Control Commission has said it may start with a pilot program where a small number of sites open first, giving the commission an opportunity to monitor them.

LaChapelle has told the commission that Easthampton would like to be part of that program.

Detractors of social consumption sites have voiced concerns about safety issues, such as patrons driving home impaired. But supporters say they give people a place to consume marijuana when they are not allowed to use it at home  for example, if they rent or live in federally subsidized housing.

Geoff Kravitz, economic development director in Amherst, said he thinks the purpose of the current law allowing a citizens petition is so that a city council cannot block a business that residents want. But its unclear why a local legislative body couldnt take that action by themselves, Kravitz said.

Kravitz said Amherst wants to explore what social consumption looks like and how it would interact with current laws prohibiting smoking in workplaces.

Kravitz said the current law doesnt allow for the local legislative body to actually take any action, which in my mind, thats what theyre elected to do.

This is one in an occasional series of stories about bills sponsored by Western Massachusetts lawmakers.
A Beverly couple has been arrested on charges of trafficking women for sex at a Salem brothel, according to the state Attorney Generals Office.

Woonryong Heo and Hayun Nam, both 29, were arrested on Wednesday in Beverly, authorities said Friday. They are charged with running a profitable and organized criminal business through a residential brothel in Salem, where they offered sex with women for a fee.

The Attorney Generals Office said Heo and Nam recruited women, advertised sexual services online, set up appointments for sexual encounters and transported the women  in some cases bringing them to or from South Station in Boston and Flushing, New York.

Heo and Nam allegedly kept most of the profits from the sexual encounters, authorities said.

They were arraigned in Salem District Court Thursday on one count each of trafficking persons for sexual servitude, deriving support from prostitution and money laundering.

Both pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to the Attorney Generals Office.

Bail was set at $50,000 cash for each defendant, with the conditions that they remain on house arrest with GPS tracking, surrender their passports, not travel out of state and stay away from the victims.

A probable cause hearing is scheduled for March 14.
Chicago police say the two men being questioned in the attack on "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett are considered suspects.

Department spokesman Anthony Guglielimi said Friday that the men are in custody and have been arrested based on probable cause that they may have been involved in a crime. But he says they have not been charged in the Jan. 29 attack.

The actor says two masked men beat him after shouting racial and homophobic slurs and tied a rope around his neck early on Jan. 29.

Police have identified the men only as two Nigerian brothers. Police have been questioning them since they were picked up by officers at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Wednesday after returning to the city from Nigeria. On Thursday, police served a search warrant at their home.

Guglielmi says at least one of the men worked on "Empire," but he does not know in what capacity.

Chicago media reports that allege the attack against Smollett was a hoax are unconfirmed, police said.

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson has contacted at least one Chicago news outlet to say investigators have no evidence to support the reporting. Guglielmi says Johnson said the supposed police "sources are uninformed and inaccurate."

The reports surfaced late Thursday as investigators questioned two "persons of interest" in the case who were captured on surveillance cameras in the area where Smollett says he was attacked.

Producers of the television drama also dispute that Smollett's character is being written off the show, calling the reports "patently ridiculous."
By Richard K. Sullivan Jr., Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts

When businesses are asked, "What is the biggest barrier to growth in the region," they universally answer that the number one issue for growing and expanding businesses is workforce.

Can they find the workers they need to fill the available jobs?

Can they develop the necessary talent?

And, can they retain the talent once the jobs are filled?

Western Massachusetts is fortunate to be home to some of the best colleges and universities, strong public and private secondary schools and technical programs in the country. Therefore, as a region, we are in position to meet the current and future needs of the business community.

The major asset of the Western Massachusetts region is the presence of so many world-class colleges and universities. These institutions are educating and training the very talent that private business is seeking.

In recent years the colleges and universities have signed articulation agreements between themselves to attract students, make getting a degree more affordable and, in some case,s quicker than in previous generations.

Elms College and Greenfield Community College, for example, have developed a program that allows students to achieve a degree in business management, early child care or education.

American International College, together with Holyoke and Springfield Technical community colleges created the Direct Connect Scholarship that guarantees a scholarship with an associate's degree with certain academic conditions.

Western New England University guarantees an academic scholarship to Greenfield Community College graduates.

Berkshire Community College and Springfield College have entered into an academic agreement that allows qualified Berkshire Community physical fitness graduates to transfer to Springfield's applied exercise science program with junior standing.

Private industry has begun working directly with our public schools to create the curriculum that students must learn in order to fill the jobs available today and will be in demand in the years to come.

Gulfstream has worked closely with Westfield Technical Academy and Westfield State University to create a new aviation related curriculum.

MassMutual has invested more than $17 million with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst Springfield satellite campus, Mount Holyoke College and Smith College to create cutting edge programs in data science, cybersecurity and women in data science programs.

Bay Path University continues to hold full-day seminars on cybersecurity, highlighting Baypath's and the region's leadership position in cybersecurity. Bay Path, in partnership with Paragus, our regional MassHire boards, STCC, Tech Foundry and the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts recently received a cyber assessment grant from the Mass Tech Collaborative to conduct cyber assessments for small businesses, particularly manufacturers. These assessments will allow the students to gain meaningful work experience and allow small companies to address increasing cyber security requirements of customers and primary contractors.

MGM Springfield has been working closely with HCC to create a state-of-the-art culinary and hospitality curriculum, and, with STCC and Cambridge College, around gaming.

CRRC Massachusetts has collaborated with STCC, Putnam Vocational and the regional trade unions, hiring many of its graduates and members.

Many local manufacturers and the National Tooling and Machining Association are working hand in hand with our technical and vocational schools to educate and attract the needed workforce.

The economic development council has partnered with our region's colleges and universities to highlight their leadership position in new sectors, sectors poised for growth: Bay Path in cyber security; UMass in water innovation, clean energy, aviation and air traffic control and building technologies; STCC in water and wastewater licenses; and Elms in business and management. These sectors can become centers of excellence for the schools and the regional economy.

At this moment in time, the business of education, the needs of the business community and economic development are in alignment. Colleges and universities need to attract students, and the quality of life in the region and the availability of a career become important factors in a student's decision on which school to attend. Businesses seek talent, and that talent is sitting in the classrooms of our schools.

Businesses also need to be connected to the cutting-edge research that is done by the professors, staffs, graduate and undergraduate students. These companies are increasingly looking to grow their partnerships with specific schools and programs.

We need to recognize the importance of the great schools, programs of studies and talent in the region and leverage this strength to grow the Western Massachusetts economy.

Richard K. Sullivan Jr. is president and CEO of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts. To learn more about the council and its work, visit the website, westernmassedc.com.
The woman who was seriously injured after being hit by a cement truck while riding her bicycle in Boston Friday has died, state police said.

Massachusetts State Police have not identified the woman, who was hit by the truck at the intersection of Brookline Avenue and Park Drive around 1:40 p.m. She was pronounced deceased at Brigham and Womens Hospital, police said.

Police are waiting to notify the womans family before releasing her name, age, or hometown, according to David Procopio, a spokesman for the state police.

The driver of the truck was transported to Beth Israel Hospital for evaluation and examination.

The crash is under investigation.
Two high school students were injured Friday after the school transport van they were riding on crashed in Revere, officials said.

The van, carrying students from Wakefields Northeast Metro Tech, crashed at Eliot Circle, which is adjacent to Revere Beach, just after 1 p.m., state police said.

One other vehicle was involved in the crash.

The two students injuries are not considered life-threatening, state police said.

The crash remains under investigation.

No further information was immediately available.
Since the development boom along the South Boston waterfront began, the neighborhood has seen an explosion of restaurants and retail  but not a full-service grocery store. That could be about to change.

A Trader Joes grocery store could be coming to the Thomson Place retail corridor, a collection of brick-and-beam properties that serves as a bridge between Bostons historic Fort Point neighborhood and the glittering new construction of the Seaport District.

A Trader Joes representative named Andrew Tobias has applied to the Fort Point Landmark Commission proposing to reopen historic windows, relocate entrances and awnings, and install historic signage at 44 Thomson Place. The commission meets Thursday evening.

A real-estate industry source told the Business Journal that a Landmark Commission application is a likely indicator that a retailer would like to open a store at a specific location.

"If something has gotten to the point where it's making an application for signage at Fort Point Landmarks ... that's a pretty good sign," the source said.

Trader Joes representatives did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Thomson Place is a block of three historic warehouses at 25, 44 and 50 Thomson Place, some of which had served as offices for Thomson Reuters. Invesco Real Estate and Crosspoint Associates Inc. had jointly redeveloped the properties, a project designed by Margulies Perruzzi Architects and built by Lee Kennedy Co., and landed a restaurant and brewery by hometown favorite Trillium Brewing Co.

Trader Joes, a popular California-based grocery chain, has 20 locations in Massachusetts, including Brooklines Coolidge Corner, Somervilles Assembly Square, Bostons Back Bay and two Cambridge stores. The Back Bay location is marketed as the smallest Trader Joes in the U.S.

South Boston has long been served by just one grocery store  a Stop & Shop at L and Broadway. Another Stop & Shop is located in Dorchesters South Bay Center shopping plaza. But a full-service grocery store was missing amid the millions of square feet of office, residential, retail and restaurant construction and renovation in Bostons Seaport District and Fort Point, and has frequently been cited as a key retailer needed in the burgeoning neighborhood.
A juvenile boy has been arrested and is facing a murder charge in connection with the stabbing death of 17-year-old William Wheeler in Fall River, officials said.

The suspect, a 16-year-old Fall River boy, was arrested Thursday night in West Warwick, Rhode Island, without incident, according to the office of Bristol District Attorney Thomas Quinn III. The boys name was not released because he is a juvenile.

Fall River police received a 911 call at 11:55 p.m. Wednesday reporting a stabbing at 96 Fountain St., Quinns office wrote in a statement.

Police arrived and found Wheeler lying on the floor of the apartment suffering from a stab wound. He was rushed to St. Annes Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:42 a.m. Thursday, officials said.

The suspect was arrested later Thursday.

Due to the defendants juvenile status, our office will have no further comment on the case at this time, Quinns office wrote in the statement.

The stabbing remains under investigation.
New Mt. Moriah Baptist Church: 1917 Carolina Street  The church will host its 27th Annual African American Heritage Program, which is themed Advancement and Achievement through Faith in Jesus Christ, at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The program will feature presentations by Sunday School Departments and a salute to men and women who served in the Armed Forces. The church hosts a Community Soup Kitchen the first Saturday of each month, from noon to 2 p.m., sponsored by Gary Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta in partnership with New Mt. Moriah, Indiana American Water and Jewels of Fortitude. Rev. W.N. Reed, Pastor
Wren Williams, a member of the Patrick County Bar, stated in an email Thursday: I would like to thank Senator Stanley and Delegates Adams, Marshall, and Poindexter on behalf of the people of Patrick County, Henry County, and the city of Martinsville. When asked by their constituents not to consider Mr. Eric Monday for this judgeship, our representatives listened, and we are eternally grateful.

I wish our strong leaders continued success in their thankless endeavors for the betterment of our home and its citizens.

Awbrey Watts, president of the Martinsville-Henry County Bar Association, said she had no comment regarding the withdrawal, how the judicial process should proceed, and which candidate should be selected. The Bar Association has sent the legislature its votes regarding each candidate that has submitted his/her name.

Marshall wrote in an email Thursday after that he was surprised at Mondays withdrawal. I got a lot of people who contacted me in support of Mr. Monday, Marshall wrote.

What happens now? Another person will need to be interviewed, he said. We have not had time to talk about it.

Stanleys office emailed a joint statement to the Bulletin that was received Friday morning.
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They put my husband in a setting to be harmed because of the fact that he was a white man who harmed a black gentleman in the line of duty, Tiffany Van Dyke said at a news conference. He is a police officer who was convicted for doing his job, and at the basic minimum they were supposed to keep him safe.
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The New York State Police is asking if there are any additional victims to please contact State Police Farmingdale at (631)756-3300. All calls will remain confidential.
CANCELLED - Nassau Missing Persons Squad Seeking Vulnerable Adult Last Seen in Oceanside

Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: February 15 2019

Yerson Banegas-Sandoval, 20, was last seen leaving his residence on Friday, February 15, at 12:00 a.m.

NCPD are seeking Yerson Banegas-Sandoval, 20, a Missing Vulnerable Adult from Oceanside. No picture is currently available.

UPDATE - February 18, 2019 - Police report that Yerson Banegas-Sandoval has been located.

Below is the original report.

Oceanside, NY - February 15, 2019 - The Missing Persons Squad reports the details of a Missing Vulnerable Adult that occurred on Friday, February 15, 2019 at 12:00 a.m. in The Missing Persons Squad reports the details of a Missing Vulnerable Adult that occurred on Friday, February 15, 2019 at 12:00 a.m. in Oceanside and reported to police at 12:53 a.m.

According to detectives, Yerson Banegas-Sandoval, 20, was last seen leaving his residence on Oceanside Rd. He is described as a male Hispanic, 55 tall, 150 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. His clothing description and possible destination are unknown.
Business & Finance, Press Releases, Politics

By Chris Boyle Published: February 14 2019

New corporate campus was poised to bring 25,000 jobs to the region, reports say.

Queens, NY - February 14, 2019 - On Thursday, Amazon cancelled plans to construct a large corporate headquarters  dubbed HQ2  in Long Island City following intense backlash from a number of local residents, unions, and politicians over the large financial incentives that were granted to the internets largest retailer by New York State.

While the new corporate campus was, by Amazons estimation, poised to bring 25,000 jobs to the region, a number of lawmakers and civic leaders decried the use of public-funded subsidies  including incentives, refundable tax credits, and a cash grant, all totaling approximately $3 billion  to lure the company to New York following their extensive nation-wide search that saw numerous states competing to gain the favor of the online giant.

Amazon released official statement addressing the reversal of their decision to set up shop in Long Island City, citing the political opposition they faced.

After much thought and deliberation, we've decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens. For Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term, they said. While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.

In 2017, Amazon released a Request for Proposals to select one or more locations for additional headquarters operations in North America, leading to an unprecedented competition among more than 230 metropolitan areas; New York eventually won.

Amazon was originally to occupy up to 500,000 square feet at One Court Square while working to construct four million square feet of commercial space on Long Island City's waterfront over the next 10 years, with expansion opportunities for up to 8 million square feet over the next 15 years.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who championed the Amazon HQ2 project, released the following statement today, expressing his intense displeasure at the circumstances that lead up to Amazon pulling out of the HQ2 deal and the subsequent loss of jobs and taxable revenue for New York State.

"Amazon chose to come to New York because we are the capital of the world and the best place to do business. We competed in and won the most hotly contested national economic development competition in the United States, resulting in at least 25,000-40,000 good paying jobs for our state and nearly $30 billion dollars in new revenue to fund transit improvements, new housing, schools and countless other quality of life improvements, he said. "However, a small group politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community -- which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City -- the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state. The New York State Senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity.

Likewise, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran also voiced her feelings on the issue, urging Amazon to reconsider their decision.

On behalf of all of Nassau County, I want to express deep disappointment in Amazons decision to cancel its planned move to Queens, she said. Long Island was poised to reap enormous benefits from the move, which would have brought a flood of new high-wage jobs, business development, and much-needed tax revenue to the entire region."

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone echoed the sentiments expressed by his Nassau County counterpart.

Amazons decision to pull out of HQ2 is a missed opportunity that would have empowered people from all walks of life," he said. "In Suffolk County, we are laser focused on making the required investments necessary to support our local communities and bring diverse, high-skilled jobs to the region.

However, some outspoken critics of the deal  such as State Senator Michael Gianaris (D-Queens)  noted that the area where HQ2 was slated to be constructed was originally to be the location for 1,500 affordable homes; at one point, Gianaris was quoted as saying, "the more we learn about this deal, the worse it gets." Others criticized the state spending billions on Amazon while infrastructure, health care, education, and other programs were in need of funding.
The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc.

The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics.

The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates.

Access to college recruiters and advisors  its harder to line up higher education.

Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family.

Vote

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ASSOCIATED PRESSGov. Andrew Cuomo, center, signs the Child Victims Act into law in New York on Thursday. The long-sought legislation extends the statute of limitations so sexual abuse victims can have more time to seek criminal charges or file lawsuits.
Lois Tedesco entered into rest June 18, 2021. Predeceased by her parents Carlton and Catherine (Buchannon) Fruck. Beloved mother of Lynn (John) Villella, Shane (Dana) Lamke and Tonya (Kenny) Tedesco; cherished grandmother of six; and several great-grandchildren; dear sister of June (late Hen
Think of Buc-ee's as an older brother moving out of the house.

The Texas-based convenience store giant has endeared itself to Texans with Beaver Nuggets, clean bathrooms and endless gas pumps since it first opened in Lake Jackson in 1982. But after the franchise opened a store in Alabama last month, it took the first step toward growth outside the state.

"World domination" is how Texas Monthly described the Buc-ee's expansion effort in its most recent cover story, which chronicles the beginnings of the company with co-founder Arch "Beaver" Aplin.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Inside the first Buc-ee's outside of Texas

The story describes a map in the corner of Aplin's office with thumbtacks where he sees more stores outside of Texas. And when the reporter said it looked like an invasion, Aplin didn't budge.

"It does kind of look like an invasion, doesn't it?" he told Texas Monthly.

The Alabama store received a warm reception with around 100 customers lined up outside the store before the opening last month. In addition to the traditional items, the Alabama store includes state-specific gear, such as shirts supporting the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers.

The store also offers exclusive "Beach Express" shirts, along with beach gear for those making a relatively short drive from the store to the coast

Meanwhile, in Florida, local publications have been reporting on the long-awaited locations in the state since at least 2017. Buc-ee's stores are slated to open in St. Johns, Daytona Beach and Fort Myers. News reports indicate the stores were eyeing a 2019 opening date, but the Fort Myers location might be delayed until 2020, the Fort Myers News-Press reported.

Buc-ee's also plans to open in Georgia, where Aplin's map showed his most audacious and conceptual expansion plans, according to Texas Monthly.

Six thumbtacks circle Atlanta, as Aplin hopes to catch drivers traveling in all directions out of the city.

"At that point, Aplin hopes, Buc-ee's will become just as much a way of life for Georgians as it is for Texans," the Texas Monthly article said.

LAWSUIT FILED: Buc-ee's in Alabama is being sued for selling gas for too cheap. The details are at HoustonChronicle.com.

The thumbtacks on Aplin's map stretched all the way to North Carolina. Despite the brand's connection to Texas culture, he told Texas Monthly people outside the state are "looking for basically the same thing."

"I theorize that the people traveling in Texas are very similar to the people traveling in Florida or Alabama," he said in the story.

The article raised questions about whether its expansion could mirror that of Whataburger in the 80s, when the fast foot brand opened locations in Las Vegas and Memphis. It was a short-lived effort that ended with the brand turning its eyes back to Texas, according to the magazine.

But Aplin, described as a ruthless competitor, is sticking to his guns with his motto from day one: Clean, Friendly, and In Stock.

Read the full Texas Monthly story here.

NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.
Batavia-based DS Containers, a subsidiary of Japan's Daiwa Can, makes aerosol and liquid pour cans at factories in Illinois using laminated tin-free steel that U.S. suppliers have shown no interest in manufacturing, CEO Bill Smith told the Commerce Department. Smith received the go-ahead to import up to 390,000 tons of the material from Japan, the Netherlands and United Kingdom. If the waivers had not been granted, Smith warned, DS Containers might have been forced to shut down production lines or lay off employees.
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Friends and colleagues of Rep. Walter Jones remembered the North Carolina Republican at his funeral Thursday as a man of faith and integrity, hailing his public service and willingness to fight for his ideals during his 24 years in Congress.

Jones died on Sunday, his 76th birthday. His office had announced in late January that Jones had entered hospice care, his health having declined after a fall in which he broke his hip. He had earlier been diagnosed with ALS, according to local TV station WITN.

More than two dozen members of Congress, along with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, D, were present for Thursday's service at St. Peter Catholic Church, one of two churches where Jones attended Mass every weekend when he was home.

"Walter was a man of strong convictions, deep faith and an immense love for the people of eastern North Carolina," Cooper told the mourners.

Several of the speakers praised Jones's dogged advocacy on behalf of members of the military. The district Jones represented in Congress includes the Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point air station.

Connie Gruber, who delivered the opening eulogy, said she was there to honor the man who led a 14-year battle to clear the name of her husband, Maj. Brooks Gruber, and another pilot who died in a 2000 Osprey test flight.

Gruber said she wrote to members of Congress, President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. No one answered her except for Jones, she said.

"Little did I know how blessed we would be when the one government leader who first stepped forward to help us just happened to have the backbone of an army and, when necessary, the stubbornness of a mule," Gruber said.

In his homily, the Rev. Justin Kerber, who served for 15 years as pastor at St. Peter, praised Jones as "a man of absolute integrity."

Kerber said he often prayed with Jones as the lawmaker prepared for difficult votes against the Bush administration after he changed course and declared his opposition to the Iraq War.

The war loomed large over Jones' tenure on Capitol Hill. Jones voted for the 2003 invasion of Iraq and helped lead an effort to rename the french fries served in House cafeterias "freedom fries," a jab at France for its opposition to the war.

But he later underwent a dramatic change of heart and emerged as a vocal critic of the war. He began writing to relatives of every U.S. service member killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and by 2017 had signed more than 12,000 letters to families who had lost loved ones in the wars.

Joshua Bowlen, Jones' longtime chief of staff, said the congressman "became a second father to me." He described Jones as "the most honorable public servant of our time," praising his "kindness and his courage" and noting that Jones was once voted the nicest member of Congress.

"He earned that award for good reason. . . . He was never too important to stop and talk to the stranger, the intern or the stranger who just introduced themselves in the food aisle," Bowlen said.

Mourners began gathering hours before the service on a cool, sunny day in Greenville.

Levi Clemons, a retired Army staff sergeant from Pactolus, North Carolina, and a former commander of the Pitt County chapter of Disabled American Veterans, said he wanted to pay his respects to the man who had stood by him and his comrades for years.

"Walter has been our friend in Congress. Walter would always fight for the people," said Clemons, who served in both Vietnam and the first Persian Gulf War.

Several of Jones's House colleagues who attended the service paid tribute to the North Carolina Republican's rare ability to forge personal relationships across the aisle.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., said nearly 30 members of Congress from both parties had made the trip to the funeral, a testament to how well Jones was respected. He called the service a fitting tribute to Jones's "lifelong service and his commitment to political independence."

Rep. David Price, D-N.C., said Jones could often be found sitting in the center row of the House chamber, holding court with members of both parties.

"He had a gift for friendship, a ready wit, and a warmth that you don't always see in politics, and it overcomes a lot of political barriers," Price said in an interview. "The humility, the sincerity, the conscientiousness - all of those are traits that aren't always present in our politics these days."

Price said the outpouring of respect for Jones was also reflective of a concern that civility and mutual respect in politics seems to be slipping away.

"I think Walter would have been unusual in any age, really," he said. "He was a unique character. The kind of personal relationships, the cultivating of those, that's the hallmark of our politics. If the country loses that and it all just becomes hard-edge ideology, I think the country is in trouble."

- - -

Sonmez reported from Washington.
Washington

Longtime Rep. John Dingell was remembered Thursday as "one of the greats" and "a world-class doer" as lawmakers, longtime colleagues and a former president hailed his record-breaking service in the House.

Dingell, who died last week at 92, served 59 years in Congress, longer than anyone else in U.S. history. The Michigan Democrat was the longtime chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee and played a key role in laws on everything from health care to the environment, civil rights and the auto industry, which Dingell fiercely defended throughout his tenure.

"Many of the most significant laws of our land forged over the last 60 years bear the unmistakable imprint of John David Dingell Jr.," said former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. He called Dingell "one of the greats, the gentleman from Michigan, the dean of the House, the chairman."

Rep. Fred Upton, who followed Dingell as Energy and Commerce chairman, called Dingell "Mr. Michigan," and said Dingell's love of his home state was unmatched. Upton, a Michigan Republican, recalled Dingell's famous remark about the committee: "If it moves, it's energy. If it doesn't it's commerce. We had the world."

Former President Bill Clinton said the funeral at Holy Trinity Catholic Church marked one of the few times anyone in attendance could be in the same room with Dingell and get the last word.

While Dingell served for nearly six decades, it was what he achieved while in Congress that matters more, Clinton said, calling Dingell "a world-class doer."

"John Dingell was just about the best doer in the history of American public life," Clinton said, citing Dingell's decades-long role in a host of landmark laws, including the creation of Medicare and Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, Endangered Species Act, Clear Water Act and many others.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a close friend, called the 6-foot-3 Dingell larger than life and said the famously gruff Dingell was "imposing" and even intimidating.

"He was our very own Big John," said Hoyer, D-Md., noting that while Dingell was "sometimes acerbic," he was "as tender as he was tenacious and he became a dear friend."

Hundreds of people, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of Congress from both parties, attended the funeral, the second service this week honoring Dingell. Former Vice President Joe Biden and other dignitaries spoke at a memorial service Tuesday in Dearborn, Mich., where Dingell lived.

Dingell succeeded his father in Congress in 1955, and carried on John Dingell Sr.'s wishes by introducing a universal health care coverage bill in each of his terms.

Speakers at both services noted that Dingell, who would have celebrated his 38th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, was succeeded by his wife, Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell.

Hoyer recalled Dingell's legislative tactics, and said Dingell once adjourned a committee meeting because he lacked the votes on a particular bill.

"He said, 'You might have the votes, but I've got the gavel,' " Hoyer said to laughter. More often than not, Hoyer added, Dingell "ultimately got the votes too."

Boehner said Dingell was a great legislator, "not just because he was a shrewd negotiator or a master tactician or a hard-driving son of a gun  and he was all of those things  but above else because he was a great American."

Dingell will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
The site runs between Chicago and Grand avenues along the river, and was among those presented to Amazon as an option when the e-commerce giant was looking for a location for its second headquarters. The site includes the Freedom Center facility where the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers are printed by Tribune Publishing, which separated in 2014 from what is now Tribune Media.
A Florida couple is accused of starving their baby so badly he seemed near death.

Authorities said the baby's parents, Julia French, 20, and Robert Buskey, are facing charges of child neglect.

According to an arrest report, when officers saw the baby in the couple's Titusville home Wednesday, he had sunken eyes, loose skin on his extremities, and his ribs and other bones were showing.

Authorities said the child was unable to move.

"I've never seen a child to this level; this close to possible death," said Lauren Watson, with Titsuville police.

Officials said French and Buskey are not officially married under Florida law, but a person familiar with the investigation says French describes herself as Buskeys concubine under the principles of their religion, Nazarite Hebrew.

Documents said when the baby was born in September he weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces.

When found, authorities said the child weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces.

Police said the couple ignored doctors advice on the type of formula consistent with their vegan lifestyle, and instead spoon-fed him a mashed-potato-based compound that French had found on the internet.

Police said they could afford the proper formula and food, and when asked, had no good reason why they did not provide it.
WASHINGTON - The U.S. military will begin delivering relief supplies to the Colombian border near Venezuela, U.S. officials said Friday, as the Trump administration increases its efforts to assist the opposition.

The relief includes food, hygiene kits and medical supplies, said a Pentagon spokesman, Army Lt. Col. Jamie Davis.

The State Department said it will work with the Defense Department and USAID to deliver the aid to the border city of Cucuta, Colombia, "for distribution within Venezuela." A flight will department from Miami on Saturday.

"This humanitarian mission underscores the United States' firm commitment and readiness to respond to the man-made political, economic, and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela," the State Department said in a statement. "This humanitarian assistance must be allowed to enter Venezuela to reach people in need."

A U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the mission does not indicate that additional American troops will be deploying to Colombia. More than 200 tons of supplies are expected to be delivered.

The planned flight was first reported by the Associated Press, citing an email from a congressional aide. It isn't yet clear how the supplies will be disbursed, or where.

The United States has continued to press Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down amid an economic and political crisis in which the National Assembly declared his 2018 reelection invalid in January and declared the assembly's president, Juan Guaido, interim president.

Davis said the assistance is part of an effort by the U.S. government "to respond to the humanitarian impacts of this political and economic crisis." The aid was requested by Guaido, he said.

USAID said in a tweet Friday that the hygiene kits include toilet paper, feminine products, soap, razors, toothpaste, laundry detergent and other items that have become scarce and prohibitively expensive in Venezuela.

Venezuelans are bracing for a showdown over foreign aid on Feb. 23, when the opposition will seek to bring in millions of dollars worth of supplies donated by the United States and other countries from staging areas in Colombia, Curacao and Brazil. Maduro, however, has called the mission a Trojan horse invasion by the United States and ordered the military to prevent any aid from getting in.

Already, there were signs of rising tensions. On Friday, a special police unit briefly detained two senior officials from the Mavid Foundation, a Venezuelan AIDS charity. In a statement, the opposition official heading the humanitarian aid drive - Miguel Pizarro -- condemned the arrests and said government officials had also seized medicines and baby formula donated by the New York-based charity Aid for AIDS.

Reached by phone, Jesus Aguais, executive director of Aid for AIDS, said he believed the arrest had been politically motivated. Maduro has sought to vilify foreign donors by saying Venezuelans "are not beggars."

Members of the Mavid Foundation had been open critics of the government, Aguais said. He expressed outrage over the arrest and particularly the seizure of formula, which had been destined for distribution to mothers, who, because they have HIV or for other reasons, are unable to breast feed their infants.

"So what, now they're killing babies?" Aguais said. "These women, these babies, depend on this formula for their infants to survive."

Earlier Friday Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a news conference in Iceland that Maduro's recent invitation to Elliot Abrams, the State Department's special envoy for the country, shows that he is desperate.

Pompeo repeated a frequent criticism that Venezuelan's humanitarian crisis is Maduro's fault and said the United States will continue to try to get food and other aid to Venezuela. Maduro's government has blocked the delivery aid.

"This man, Maduro, has created a humanitarian crisis that is unequaled, in a nation where there was no hard conflict," Pompeo said. "And we as citizens, this weekend will continue to deliver massive humanitarian assistance."

Last month, national security adviser John Bolton drew attention for carrying a notepad with the phrase "5,000 troops to Colombia" on it during a briefing about Venezuela, but it would be complicated for the Trump administration to complete such a plan. Congressionally mandated U.S. troop caps in the country state that no more than 800 service members and 600 contractors can be in Colombia at a time.

- - -

The Washington Post's Anthony Faiola in Caracas and and Carol Morello in Reykjavik contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON - Congress on Thursday approved a massive budget deal to avert an impending government shutdown as President Donald Trump promised to sign it, but only after announcing he would also declare a national emergency so he can get more money for a border wall.

Moments after Trump disclosed his intentions in a phone call with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., McConnell announced the news on the Senate floor, ending days of uncertainty over whether the president would support the $333 billion spending deal, which includes just a fraction of the money he's sought for a steel wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Senate swiftly passed the legislation on an 83-to-16 vote, and the House followed suit hours later, approving the bill 300 to 128 - veto-proof margins in both chambers. If Trump keeps his promise to sign the measure, it would avert a government shutdown that would have started Saturday and keep the government open through at least Sept. 30.

"I hope the president has learned, like I've learned over the years, that a shutdown of the government, collapse of the government funding, is not good for him, not good for the Republicans, it's not good for the Democrats," Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said in an interview after the vote. "It's not good for people's view of us in the world either. And it's not good for the economy."

Lawmakers had been eager to put shutdown politics behind them after a record 35-day funding lapse forced 800,000 federal workers to go without paychecks through Christmas and much of January. But a national emergency declaration, which would allow Trump to circumvent Congress and use the military to build his wall, would create a new set of problems.

Many of Trump's GOP congressional allies called the move ill-advised, and Democrats promised immediate action aimed at blocking the proposal. And the declaration will likely face legal challenges from states, border residents, civil liberties groups and possibly congressional Democrats.

Trump is expected to sign the budget deal and declare the national emergency in an appearance Friday morning, according to a senior White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Washington Post photo by Melina Mara.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said he plans to introduce a resolution of disapproval that would overturn the declaration, calling it a "a gross abuse of power that cannot be tolerated."

Under the National Emergencies Act, House passage of a disapproval resolution would trigger automatic consideration by the Senate, where a simple majority vote would be required to agree to it.

Given opposition from some Republicans, that raises the prospect that a disapproval resolution would pass the narrowly divided Senate in an embarrassing rebuke to Trump - a scenario McConnell privately warned the president about recently.

That would force Trump to issue the first veto of his presidency, which the president's critics in Congress would likely lack the votes to override. But Nadler said that if their resolution is vetoed, House Democrats would challenge the emergency declaration in court.

McConnell has been warning against an emergency declaration publicly and privately for weeks, but on Thursday he told senators he had informed the president he would support the move. According to two officials with knowledge of the exchanges who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, Trump had been leaning against supporting the congressional spending bill but relented after several conversations with McConnell, who then announced his agreement to go along with an emergency declaration.

Although Trump has been hinting for weeks at plans to declare a national emergency, his decision caught some lawmakers by surprise and divided Republicans.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said that an emergency declaration would "be a mistake."

"I don't think it's a good idea to do it this way," said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. "I don't believe that's the way we should be doing these sorts of things. I actually think that there's a real constitutional question about it."

The White House Counsel's Office has warned Trump against declaring a national emergency, calling it a "high litigation risk," according to a person with knowledge of the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal private deliberations.

Lawyers encouraged Trump to reprogram money without declaring a national emergency. But the president has been inclined toward the declaration, in part because he sees it as an avenue to more wall money, according to administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Republican lawmakers also warned that an emergency declaration would set a bad precedent for a future Democratic president - and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested that if Trump is going to declare a national emergency to build his wall, a Democratic president might take the same step to address gun violence.

The 1,169-page legislation passed Thursday was the product of painstaking bipartisan negotiations in the three weeks since the last shutdown ended, a timeline Trump imposed on Congress to force them to come up with a deal. It would fund nine Cabinet departments and dozens of other agencies through Sept. 30, including Homeland Security, Commerce, Agriculture, and Transportation.

The compromise provides $1.375 billion for 55 miles of new fences along the border in Texas, far short of the $5.7 billion Trump had sought for 234 miles of steel walls. The final number for border barriers is also less than deals that were on the table last year.

The legislation was released just before midnight Wednesday, giving lawmakers and the White House very little time to review it before voting. Lawmakers defended the rushed timeline because of the impending shutdown deadline.

After getting burned by Trump in December on a spending bill the Senate passed and the president disavowed, McConnell wanted to move as fast as possible to a vote following Trump's assurance of support. The majority leader was in such a hurry to announce Trump's backing and call the vote Thursday that he interrupted Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, in the middle of a speech about biofuels, drawing wrathful exclamations and glares from the longtime Iowa lawmaker.

Some liberals were unhappy with the bill, arguing no money at all should go to border barriers. They also complained that overall funding for the Homeland Security Department increases under the bill, and that the legislation does not do enough to limit the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's detention authority.

Democratic negotiators included language they said should reduce ICE detention numbers over time, but Republicans say ICE will still have the flexibility to detain as many immigrants as agency officials deem appropriate. Some liberals and immigrant advocates agreed with the GOP assessment.

In a joint statement Thursday, freshman Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan announced their opposition to the legislation, citing Trump's "weaponization" of federal immigration agencies.

"The Department of Homeland Security does not deserve an increase in funding and that is why we intend to vote no on this funding package," the four lawmakers wrote.

Some conservatives also trashed the deal, with conservative television host Laura Ingraham terming it a "monstrosity" that she predicted would lead to increased undocumented immigration.

White House officials have closely held their precise plans on taking executive action, insisting that they had legal ways to secure more than $5.7 billion in funds without congressional approval but refusing to say exactly how they'd do it.

One reason they were circumspect is because they were waiting for final details of the congressional deal to be made public, so they could ascertain the level of resources they would need to redirect from other programs, according to a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the internal plans. Traditionally, moving money from one program to another requires congressional approval, but declaring a national emergency could give them more flexibility.

Congressional aides said Thursday that they believe there is up to $21 billion in "unobligated" Defense Department funding that the president could target for construction of the wall. That includes $10 billion in military construction money in the fiscal 2019 budget and $11 billion in previous budgets that is not yet spent, numbers that U.S. officials disclosed weeks ago when Trump first floated the idea of declaring a national emergency.

For weeks, defense officials have been informally reviewing military construction projects that it could cancel or delay if Trump seeks military construction money to pay for the wall. Defense officials had declined to provide specifics, saying that no emergency declaration had been made.

A central promise of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign was that he would somehow make Mexico pay for the construction of the border wall, but since becoming president, all of his efforts have focused on using U.S. taxpayer money to finance the projects. Trump has said that a pending revised trade agreement with Mexico and Canada effectively fulfills his promise, but it is unclear if Congress will approve that trade agreement. And there is no language in the agreement that would create any new funding mechanism to provide money for a wall.

- - -

The Washington Post's John Wagner, Dan Lamothe, Josh Dawsey, Mike DeBonis, Sean Sullivan and Paul Kane contributed to this report.
Washington

The ink wasn't dry on a border security compromise before Jared Kushner had moved on to another enormous challenge.

As lawmakers fine-tuned a border agreement that the president's son-in-law and senior adviser had been unable to extract from Capitol Hill in earlier talks, Kushner was at an international conference in Poland discussing his efforts to produce a Mideast peace plan. That's not all that's been crowding Kushner's plate: In recent months, he has scored a hard-fought win on criminal justice reform and kept one foot planted in high-stakes trade negotiations.

It's all evidence of Kushner's hefty policy portfolio and his coveted seat at President Donald Trump's right hand  but also of the education in the ways of Washington that he's getting along the way. He stumbled in efforts to end the government shutdown and found immigration reform to be a long-term endeavor but keeps a low profile as he plows ahead.

As he spoke to a closed-door audience in Warsaw Thursday, Kushner acknowledged the magnitude of the Mideast challenge, saying that the region's history has shown that pessimists about Israeli-Palestinian peace were "usually right." He added: "It's the optimists that bring the change."

It was a revealing comment from the 38-year-old adviser charged with some of the thorniest issues facing the administration, demonstrating his willingness to swing big even at the risk of failure. Two years into the administration, Kushner continues to be tagged for his political naivete but also has won praise for his willingness to work across the aisle and act as an honest broker.

"We've had a good relationship, good conversations, and he's kept his word," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who worked with Kushner on criminal justice. But Durbin added that immigration was a much heavier lift.

Kushner's greatest asset may be his close relationship with Trump, who views him as loyal and trustworthy.

But Kushner is also shadowed by the flurry of investigations in the offing from newly empowered House Democrats digging into a range of his activities, including his business dealings, his security clearance and his relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi royal suspected of ordering the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

During his remarks in Warsaw, Kushner said Trump had asked him to take on the Israeli-Palestinian assignment to give the long-elusive goal of a peace agreement "a shot." He did not give details of the as-yet-unveiled peace plan but spoke in broad generalities about its goal to bring security to Israel and economic opportunity and prosperity to the Palestinians, according to a diplomat who attended the presentation.

The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about a private discussion, paraphrased Kushner as telling an audience eager for details that the plan would be released sometime after Israel's April 9 elections.

Kushner was set to continue onto the annual Munich Security Conference, where he was again expected to discuss the plan, according to officials familiar with the outreach effort. While the briefings may please supporters of the Trump administration's broader Mideast policy, they are unlikely to impress Europeans and others who have seen numerous peace efforts fail and are keen to know exactly how the plan will handle the divisive issues between the two sides.

So far, Kushner's record on other issues is mixed.
A German child psychology expert and adviser to the German government says children younger than 14 should not be allowed to use smartphones, citing the danger of exposing young people to sexually explicit images.

Julia von Weiler, who leads the German chapter of the group Innocence in Danger, a nonprofit that provides education on internet use and works to prevent the sexual abuse of children online, framed the proposal as akin to other childhood restrictions on legal substances.

"Just as we protect children from alcohol or other drugs, we should also protect them from the risks of using smartphones at too early an age," said von Weiler, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported Friday

Von Weiler's recommendation comes amid growing concerns among parents, child advocates and consumer groups over the increased use of digital devices and its effects on education, social skills and mental health. Technology companies are also responding to the issue. Apple and Google, whose software runs nearly all of the world's smartphones, have both released tools for parents to better track and control children's screen time. How much device time tech executives allow for their own children has also become a topic of public debate, suggesting that the people engineering the technology are most aware of its risks.

Other experts on issues of childhood abuse have cautioned against the kind of blanket bans on smartphones proposed by von Weiler. Johannes-Wilhelm Rorig, Germany's independent commissioner for child sexual abuse issues, framed the recommendation as a quick fix to a problem in need of a more robust solution, according to Deutsche Welle.

"A law restricting the age for using smartphones would possibly be a quick and apparently simple solution," Rorig said, but he added that such a ban would not address the fundamental problem of a lack of protection on the web.

Other governments and researchers have focused on different, potentially damaging aspects of phone use, including behavioral development and education.

Von Weiler's proposal follows recent legislation in France barring young students from taking their smartphones and tablets to school, or at least requiring them to keep the devices powered off while in class. The French officials who supported the rules characterized the restrictions as a way to prevent children from forming addictive habits and to protect the integrity of the classroom.

According to a recent study published by the American Psychological Association, smartphones and social media are altering young people's reading habits, which may influence their critical thinking. American adolescents spend hours each day on their devices instead of reading magazines or books, according to an analysis of historical data on young people's media consumption. Sixty percent of high school seniors said they read a book, magazine or newspaper every day in the 1970s, compared to just 16 percent of seniors in 2016.
Four men whose alleged robbery spree ended in Cinco Ranch after a deadly shootout with Texas Department of Public Safety troopers have been identified.

Christopher Brimsey, 20, and Patrick Reed, 19, were both shot and killed Tuesday night, said Sgt. Stephen Woodard, a DPS spokesman.

The surviving suspects, Joshua Prater, 21; and Dametric Hunter, 21, were booked into a Fort Bend County Jail with aggravated robbery charges, Woodard said Thursday.

CLEAR LAKE: Couple charged in death of infant daughter found lifeless in her crib

The four allegedly robbed a dozen or more Houston area pharmacies of cash and were under investigation by DPS and the Harris County Sheriffs Office.

No officers were shot while exchanging fire with the suspects.

Reed has been arrested previously for theft and assault on a security officer, both felonies, while Brimsey did not appear to have a criminal arrest record in Texas.

Hunter had been out on bond since October 2018 for felony possession of cocaine.

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Laredo police have made their 11th arrest in connection with the simultaneous raids of 14 maquinitas last month.

LPD identified the suspect as Na Chen, 31. She was served with warrants on Monday charging her with gambling promotion and engaging in organized criminal activity.
A Precinct 2 Webb County deputy constable sustained bruises and bumps during a foiled human smuggling attempt, authorities said.

The case unfolded at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday on U.S. 83 between Laredo and Rio Bravo after deputies had pulled over a Ford F-250 for a traffic violation.

RELATED: Police: Human smuggling suspect arrested after vehicle chase ensues in south Laredo

Then, several people bailed out of the vehicle but two remained inside. When the driver accelerated, the deputy was knocked to the ground, authorities said. The driver was arrested shortly after.

Authorities identified him as Gilberto Bautista, 24.

He was charged with aggravated assault on a peace officer with a vehicle, evading arrest with a vehicle and smuggling of persons.
The City of Laredo and Webb County are pooling their resources to create a badly-needed regional detox center at the county's former youth detention center in west Laredo.

Currently, anyone in the Laredo area dealing with drug addiction or drug abuse and who needs to be safely detoxed has to go all the way to San Antonio, Corpus Christi, El Paso, or often Webb County Jail.

There's no significant detox or substance abuse program for 150 miles, Councilman Marte Martinez said.

Martinez, who is also a doctor, said this is something the city's delegation discussed on their recent legislative trip to Austin. Once they secure a building to house this facility, they can begin to go after grants, he noted at a recent City Council meeting.

READ ALSO: Recent slayings of women in Webb County put the spotlight once again on gender-based violence

"But we need to show this combined effort from the county and municipality, and we need to have this building so we can actually start formulating a plan," he said.

This conversation started among the representatives on the city's Drug and Alcohol Commission over a year ago, according to Health Department Director Dr. Hector Gonzalez.

The former youth detention center is not ideal, but it's a place to start, Gonzalez said. It would hold around 10-12 beds. To build a facility of that size from scratch can be $4 to $6 million, Gonzalez said. Then the maintenance and operations would be another $2 million annually.

They would need to hire a medical officer, a psychiatrist, a nurse for each bed and nursing assistants, Gonzalez said. This is where the state and federal grants would come in.

Gonzalez also noted that local hospitals are interested in partnering. When police bring people to the hospital to detox it takes up their beds, and a detox center would be the right place for them, he said.

After this initiative to establish a detox center was approved by City Council, members of the Drug and Alcohol Commission and several city representatives approached the Webb County Commissioners Court.

READ ALSO: Things Laredo doesn't have that other Texas cities do

Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina said it may only be 12 beds, but they're getting somewhere with this idea. He said they are making history.

"This would truly be a village-building center that would help everyone in our community," Drug and Alcohol Commission member Estela R. Quintanilla said.

Co-City Manager Rosario Cabello said she would recommend to hire a consultant to help with the requirements of operations and construction.

On City Council's agenda for Monday is a request by Mayor Pete Saenz to invite the county to officially participate in the Drug and Alcohol Commission by adding five new members. Also up for discussion is the hiring of a consultant by both entities to assist with conceptual design, building needs, financing, and the negotiation of all these costs.

Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com
New jobs, especially in the tech industry, are always a win for city, which is working to bolster its standing as a tech hub. Though Emanuel has been a champion for the technology industry throughout his tenure, tech and business leaders have come together in recent months to figure out what Chicago is doing well and what it needs to improve.
NEW YORK - There is a shame for any serious artist in being understood. Many artists cultivate a mystique precisely to avoid being explained away. But a resistance to being too well known comes into conflict with adesire to communicate and express oneself, to belong, to be loved.

Frida Kahlo, one of the 20th century's great artists, gives us occasion to think about this paradox. We know her. We love her. The exhibitions keep coming. And, inevitably, we think we understand her.

We don't.

Kahlo's life and work are addressed, engrossingly, in "Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving," at the Brooklyn Museum. A second, smaller show, "Frida Kahlo and Arte Popular," opens shortly at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The Brooklyn show is not just about how Kahlo made herself visible and known. It is as much about how she sought to avoid the ignominy of being too well known. It is, in short, about mystique.

Curated by Catherine Morris and Lisa Small and based on an exhibition at London's Victoria and Albert Museum last year, the showhinges on 10 Kahlo paintings from the well-traveled Gelman Collection. It is filled out with dresses, jewelry and ephemera - much of it never before displayed in the United States - and there are dozens of photographs. So it's as much about Kahlo's fashioning of her persona as it is about fashion, painting or photography.

I have never seen a photograph of Kahlo that isn't captivating. The Brooklyn show is filled with them, dating from early childhood to her final decade, and reminds us that she fascinated people even before she began painting her indelible self-portraits.

Kahlo became a celebrity when she was just 22, after marrying the already-famous Diego Rivera. She spent the rest of her life in his shadow. "The conclusion I've drawn," she later wrote to him, "is that all I've done is fail ... I live with you for ten years without doing anything in short but causing you problems and annoying you. I began to paint and my painting is useless but for me and for you to buy it, knowing that no-one else will."

How painful this is to read, knowing that Kahlo was the better artist. She was better not because she happens to be more popular now nor because she was more talented or prolific than Rivera. She wasn't. She was better because her art has an urgency and a specificity that his almost entirely lacks.

Rivera's art is like political speech: In trying to apply to "the masses," to everyone, it doesn't actually apply to anyone. Kahlo's is emphatically about herself, with results so jewel-like, compressed and beguiling that we are all, helplessly, interested.

Kahlo's early fame put her on a strange trajectory. She was photographed for Vogue and Time and Vanity Fair by the most famous photographers alive: Edward Weston, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham. They were interested in her because they were interested in Mexico and Mexican politics; because they were interested in Rivera; and because when you see tiny Frida standing next to hulking Diego ... well, how could you not be interested?

But above all, they loved her sense of style, her charisma and a personal energy that the early photographs make clear was palpably erotic.

"The gringas really like me a lot and take notice of all the dresses and rebozos that I brought with me," she wrote to her mother from San Francisco, "their jaws drop at the sight of my jade necklaces and all the painters want me to pose for them."

The Brooklyn show invites you to join them in gawking. It contains pre-Columbian jade and greenstone necklaces of the kind Kahlo liked to wear (and painted herself wearing), as well as rebozos (rectangular, handwoven shawls), embroidered dresses and skirts, cotton blouses, silk boots, jewelry, makeup and more. Her costumes included traditional Mexican garments, mostly from Oaxaca, but also items from Guatemala, China, the United States and Europe.

Their importance to Kahlo, and to her fashioning of herself, became clearer than ever in 2003, when a bathroom adjacent to Kahlo's bedroom in the Blue House, where she lived most of her life, was unlocked and a wardrobe of vibrant costumes uncovered.

Among them were 16 gorgeously embroidered blouses and 25 skirts from the indigenous and matriarchal Tehuana society, based in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. These ensembles become unforgettable when worn with stiff lace collars, originally Spanish but transformed by the Tehuana, who wore them as a frame around the face.

Kahlo didn't just paint herself in these costumes; she also posed for photographs and appeared in public in them. It was long assumed she wore them to please Rivera. (Both Kahlo and Rivera were members of the Communist Party, champions of the Mexican Revolution and promoters of native Mexican culture.) But since 2003 that assumption has started to fall apart.

More likely, Kahlo's drive toward self-portraiture, her manipulation of her persona, was a product of pain.

Her Blue House wardrobe included an array of orthopedic devices. A whole section of the show is devoted to these and to the various medicines Kahlo took. It is a reminder that there is no way to think about Kahlo, no way to come to grips with the power of her art, without also thinking about pain.

Her pain. Not yours. Not mine.

"Pain is always new to the sufferer," wrote the 19th-century writer Alphonse Daudet (who had reason to know), "but loses its originality for those around him. Everyone will get used to it except me."

We all have gotten used to Kahlo's pain. She never did. Pain is always fresh and always incommunicable. It splinters the self and impedes all efforts to maintain a coherent self. So it also defeats the desire to be truly understood.

Her pain was persistent. She contracted polio at the age of 6. The stricken right leg was deformed and deteriorated throughout her life. It developed ulcers, tumors and ultimately gangrene, requiring the amputation of toes and finally, in 1954, her leg below the knee.

"Awareness," wrote the performance artist Stelarc, "is what happens when the body malfunctions." Kahlo's awareness must have been incredibly acute. Her 6-year-old self invented an imaginary companion to help her cope. And this, as Gannit Ankori notes in a 2013 biography, marks the beginnings of Kahlo's "splitting" of herself, a common psychological response to trauma and pain, which later stimulated her self-portraiture.

She fought against her condition with tremendous vitality and determination. But her confidence suffered.

Kahlo suffered her next, most horrific, physical misfortune when she was 18. She was with her boyfriend on a bus when an electric tram plowed into it. Several people were killed. Kahlo's spinal column, writes Ankori, "was broken in three places; her collarbone and two ribs were broken; her right leg had eleven fractures and the right foot was crushed; her left shoulder was out of joint and her pelvis was broken in three places." She also suffered, say the medical records, "a penetrating abdominal wound caused by iron handrail entering left hip, exiting through the vagina and tearing left lip."

Why recount all this? It is well known, to the point of cliche. But it does tend, I think, to get short-circuited, replaced by an abstract halo of "suffering," and sublimated into Kahlo's glamour, her status as a feminist icon.

That is how we understand her, or try to. But we can't.

Kahlo was not, while she painted, an icon. She was a human being, a woman, daughter, sister and wife. Such was the constancy of her pain that she "lived dying," according to one friend. But she was also, astonishingly - and despite many cruel betrayals - in love with life.

Can anyone look at her paintings and doubt it? Her faux-naif style and lumpy private iconography are the very opposite of suave. But they are emotionally limpid and hard-pressed, like diamonds.

Kahlo wanted, I think, what we all want (when not tempted by the abyss): life. More life. Yes, she wanted us to know her. But she may have wanted even more to avoid the shame of being known - known as Frida the icon, Frida the wife of Diego, even Frida the suffering victim.

She painted, like all the greatest artists, from a place of paradox. Only in this way could her art express her yearning to be recognized for what she was: fragile, robust, inimitable Frida.

---

"Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving"

Through May 12 at the Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Pkwy., Brooklyn. brooklynmuseum.org.
Antisemitism: Here and Now

By Deborah E. Lipstadt

Schocken. 288 pp. $25.95

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Completed in May 2018, Deborah E. Lipstadt's book "Antisemitism: Here and Now" was prescient. "By the time this book appears," Lipstadt wrote in its opening, "there will have been new examples of anti-Semitism." Five months later, a white supremacist shot and killed 11 people at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the United States. The incident makes Lipstadt's book all the more crucial for understanding the dismaying resurgence of anti-Semitism - on both the right and the left.

Written as a series of letters to two fictional people - Abigail and Joe, composites of students and colleagues Lipstadt has worked with as a professor at Emory University - "Antisemitism: Here and Now" addresses questions many people began asking after the white-nationalist rally in Charlottesville in August 2017. Is today's anti-Semitism different from what we've seen before? Where is it coming from? What exactly is anti-Semitism, anyway?

Anti-Semitism is difficult to define, Lipstadt writes: "It is hard, if not impossible, to explain something that is essentially irrational, delusional, and absurd." At its heart, she explains, anti-Semitism is a conspiracy theory, and in its most extreme case, it manifests in the belief that Jews are responsible for the evil in the world. Persisting through millennia, in different cultures and regions, the belief that "Jews are not (BEGIN ITAL)an(END ITAL) enemy but (BEGIN ITAL)the(END ITAL) ultimate enemy" is what makes anti-Semitism different from other prejudices.

More commonly, anti-Semitism persists in the notion that Jews control the banks and the media, or that Jews are pushy, cheap, rich or simply good with money. It also reveals itself in more subtle ways - as in the "dinner party anti-Semite" (a polite person who casually makes anti-Semitic statements but claims not to be anti-Semitic because of Jewish friends or business associates) and the "clueless anti-Semite" ("an otherwise nice and well-meaning person who is completely unaware that she has internalized anti-Semitic stereotypes and is perpetuating them" by making statements such as "Jews are bargain shoppers").

These ideas aren't new, especially to Lipstadt, author of numerous books on the subject - "Denying the Holocaust," "History on Trial: My Day in Court With a Holocaust Denier" and "The Eichmann Trial" - and herself the subject of anti-Semitic attacks, especially for her confrontation of Holocaust deniers.

What is new is the unabashed public anti-Semitism that's been unleashed since 2016. During that year's election, for example, anti-Semites on social media began placing a triple parentheses echo symbol around the surnames of Jewish journalists. Jewish journalists critical of Trump began receiving messages that they "should be gassed" and images of their faces superimposed on those of Auschwitz prisoners. Trump, Lipstadt argues, is an enabler, not an extremist; he didn't create white-supremacist groups, but he "let these reprehensible genies out of the bottle."

Anti-Semitism is not just a product of right-wing extremism. And it's here that the conversation gets more complicated. In the interest of social justice, Lipstadt writes, some progressives reveal subconscious anti-Semitism by making "blanket statements about Jews in their excoriation of wealthy capitalists who oppress and exploit the poor, who imply that Jews exert undue influence on the media, who deny that Jews can be the victims of race-based hatred in the same way that people of color are, and who include offensive, hate-filled Jewish stereotyping in their criticism of Israel government policies regarding Palestinians."

While Lipstadt emphasizes that criticizing the polices of the Israeli government is not necessarily an act of anti-Semitism, several sections of her book look at how the anti-Zionist discourse often "relies on anti-Semitic motifs or is simply a cover for anti-Semitism." After elucidating such anti-Semitic rhetoric in Britain's Labour Party, the book turns to the attacks on Jewish students and speakers by the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, and meanders into the muddy debate of free speech now raging on college campuses. Lipstadt's "Abigail" is a progressive student who says she has been silenced at social justice meetings because she is a Jew. People assume she is pro-Israel and therefore condemn her for supporting white supremacy - a notion oblivious to the existence of Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews, not to mention how actual white supremacists believe, as the Pittsburgh shooter did, that "Jews are the enemy of white people."

One of the book's most disheartening bits details how three leaders of the 2017 Women's March - Linda Sarsour, Tamika D. Mallory and Carmen Perez - publicly supported anti-Semitic statements made by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and even made anti-Semitic statements themselves. Similarly, two freshman Democrats in Congress - Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib - have recently criticized Israel and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) by expressing anti-Semitic rhetoric, making offensive comments that reinforce stereotypical tropes about Jews and money. Omar has since apologized and acknowledged her "unknowing" use of anti-Semitic tropes. Even so, it is deeply discouraging that many on the left exhibit prejudice similar to what they condemn on the right; as the progressive Rabbi Sharon Brouse says, "You can't fight racism but excuse anti-Semitism, just as you cannot fight anti-Semitism while excusing and justifying racism and Islamophobia."

Lipstadt lays out a convincing case for being concerned about the recent explosion of anti-Semitism, but she also wants readers to appreciate how much America has changed. No longer do elite universities have quotas on Jewish students, for example. And anti-Semitic violence is still much more prevalent in Europe, where Jews are encouraged to cover their kippah and most synagogues are protected by police officers. At least we're not there yet.

The way to avoid getting there is for people on all sides of the political spectrum to examine their potential blind spots regarding anti-Semitism, Lispstadt argues, and "call out both friends and foes." As Lipstadt writes, "The existence of prejudice in any of its forms is a threat to all those who value an inclusive, democratic, and multicultural society." And so if we think ourselves to be liberal, or progressive, or simply decent, "we must insist that anti-Semitism be treated with the same seriousness as racism, sexism, homophobia, and Islamophobia." How we do that is up to each of us, but this is a good place to start.

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Rosenthal teaches writing at Harvard.
The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump

By Andrew G. McCabe

St. Martin's. 274 pp. $29.99

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He didn't read intelligence reports and mixed up classified material with what he had seen in newspaper clips. He seemed confused about the structure and purpose of organizations and became overwhelmed when meetings covered multiple subjects. He blamed immigrants for nearly every societal problem and uttered racist sentiments with shocking callousness.

This isn't how President Trump is depicted in a new book by former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe. Instead, it's McCabe's account of what it was like to work for then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The FBI was better off when "you all only hired Irishmen," Sessions said in one diatribe about the bureau's workforce. "They were drunks but they could be trusted. Not like all those new people with nose rings and tattoos - who knows what they're doing?"

It's a startling portrait that suggests that the Trump administration's reputation for baseness and dysfunction has, if anything, been understated and too narrowly attributed to the president.

The description of Sessions is one of the most striking revelations in "The Threat," a McCabe memoir that adds to a rapidly expanding collection of score-settling insider accounts of Trump-era Washington. McCabe's is an important voice because of his position at the top of the bureau during a critical series of events, including the firing of FBI chief James Comey, the appointment of special counsel Robert S. Mueller, and the ensuing scorched-earth effort by Trump and his Republican allies to discredit the Russia probe and destroy public confidence in the nation's top law enforcement agency. The work is insightful and occasionally provocative. The subtitle, "How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump," all but equates the danger posed by al-Qaeda and the Islamic State to that of the current president.

But overall, the book isn't the comprehensive account McCabe was presumably capable of delivering. He seems reluctant to reveal details about his role in conflicts at key moments, rarely adding meaningful new illumination to areas of the Trump-Russia-FBI timeline established by Mueller, news organizations and previous authors.

McCabe is a keen observer of detail, particularly when it comes to the president's pettiness. He describes how Trump arranges Oval Office encounters so that his advisers are forced to sit before him in "little schoolboy chairs" across the Resolute Desk. Prior presidents met with aides on couches in the center of the room, but Trump is always angling to make others feel smaller.

McCabe was known as a taciturn figure in the bureau, in contrast to the more garrulous Comey. His book reflects that penchant for brevity, with just 264 pages of text. Even so, he documents the president's attempts to impair the Russia probe and incessant attacks on the institution, describing the stakes in sweeping, convincing language.

"Between the world of chaos and the world of order stands the rule of law," McCabe writes. "Yet now the rule of law is under attack, including from the president himself."

Inevitably, the book includes disturbing new detail about Trump's subservience to Russian President Vladimir Putin. During an Oval Office briefing in July 2017, Trump refused to believe U.S. intelligence reports that North Korea had test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile - a test that Kim Jong Un had called a Fourth of July "gift" to "the arrogant Americans."

Trump dismissed the missile launch as a "hoax," McCabe writes. "He thought that North Korea did not have the capability to launch such missiles. He said he knew this because Vladimir Putin had told him so."

McCabe, of course, has some baggage that hurt the reputation he'd built over 22 years at the bureau and raised questions about his credibility. He was accused by the FBI inspector general of making false statements about contacts with the media.

McCabe also has ample motivation to lash out at the president. He had been a target of Trump insults and taunts for nearly two years by the time he was fired, mainly because McCabe's wife, a pediatrician, had run for state office in Virginia with the financial backing of longtime Clinton ally and former governor Terry McAuliffe.

Trump seized on the connection to insinuate that McCabe had stifled the bureau's probe of Hillary Clinton's emails - a claim debunked by internal FBI investigations. Trump seems never to have let go of the issue, even as he dangled the FBI director job to McCabe, sneering in one conversation that it "must have been really tough" when McCabe's wife lost her race. "To lose," Trump said, driving the dagger further. "To be a loser."

When McCabe was finally forced out, it was in the most petty fashion possible. He was fired just 26 hours before his own self-declared retirement date. Trump was gleeful. "Andrew McCabe FIRED," he tweeted. "A great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI."

But for all of the understandable alarm and indignation that McCabe registers, he seems, like other Trump dissidents, never to have found reason or opportunity to stand up to the president. There are paragraphs in "The Threat" that recount in detail McCabe's inner outrage - but no indication that those thoughts escaped his lips in the presence of Trump.

What is it that makes otherwise proud public servants, Comey included, willing to subject themselves to Trump-inflicted indignities?

Deference to the office? A determination to cling to power? A view of oneself as an indispensable institutional savior?

At one point, McCabe puts his odds of getting the FBI director's position at "one-in-ten-million," but he goes through a job interview with Trump that feels like a charade from the outset.

One of the most frustrating aspects of "The Threat" is that it steers around scenes where McCabe might have provided more detail or insight. He is known to have had a series of tense interactions with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in the aftermath of Comey's firing, each suspicious of his counterpart and convinced that the other should recuse himself from the Russia probe.

McCabe was also witness to secret conversations in which Rosenstein raised the possibility that officials should wear a wire in meetings with the president. You won't learn about any of that in "The Threat."

McCabe skims over the conduct of two of his FBI subordinates, Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, whose text exchanges during an illicit affair included disparaging remarks about Trump and, when they were later revealed, fueled doubts about the organization's impartiality.

When first confronted with the details of the Page-Strzok texts, McCabe was asked by the inspector general whether he knew that Page - his closest legal adviser - had had interactions with the press. McCabe said he didn't, though in fact he had authorized those contacts. In the book, he downplays that false testimony as a momentary mental lapse during a confusing conversation - which sounds a lot like the excuses offered by countless defendants who find themselves being prosecuted by the FBI for lying.

McCabe's disdain for Trump is rivaled only by his contempt for Sessions. He questions the former attorney general's mental faculties, saying that he had "trouble focusing, particularly when topics of conversation strayed from a small number of issues."

Logs on the electronic tablets used to deliver the President's Daily Brief to Sessions came back with no indication he had ever punched in the passcode. The attorney general's views on race and religion are described as reprehensible.

Sessions "believed that Islam - inherently - advocated extremism" and ceaselessly sought to draw connections between crime and immigration. "Where's he from?" was his first question about a suspect. The next: "Where are his parents from?"

McCabe notes that he would like to "say much more" about his firing and questions of his candor toward other bureau officials, but that he is restrained from doing so because he is pursuing a lawsuit.

There is one area, however, in which he is considerably more forthcoming than Comey. He acknowledges that the bureau made major miscalculations in its handling of the Clinton probe in 2016 and its decision to discuss it publicly.

"As a matter of policy, the FBI does everything possible not to influence elections," he writes. "In 2016, it seems we did."
Denham Springs, LA (70726)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms in the morning becoming more widespread in the afternoon. High 88F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy skies. Low 72F. Winds light and variable.
Darin Dame, general manager of the Residence Inn Springfield, expects average room rates in town to increase from $86 currently to $125 per night by the time the minimum wage hike is fully rolled out, as hotels adjust to wage pressures not only from their own employees but that of their vendors. With both Indiana and Missouri less than two hours away, Dame worries tourists will spend the night there instead and make Springfield a day trip to see the Lincoln sights.
This mark, which may reference the Virgin Mary, is intended to keep away evil spirits.

There's a cave in England where, during the last ice age, ancient people carved images of their world into the walls. Those renderings of bison, birds and reindeer are the only known examples of ice age rock art in Britain. But those same caves, Creswell Crags, were also the site of a more recent form of rock carving: witches' marks.

A pair of "enthusiasts" from the U.K. underground-exploration group Subterranea Britannica spotted the marks during a cave tour.

"These witch marks were in plain sight all the time," John Charlesworth, tour leader at the time of the discovery, said in a statement. "After 17 years at Creswell Crags, it makes me wonder what else it has to surprise us." [What's Witchcraft? 6 Misconceptions About Wiccans]

Witches' marks, according to the statement, were used to ward off evil spirits between the medieval period and the 19th century. They were most commonly carved into homes and churches. The marks often included Roman letters, which are deeply out of place amid cave carvings (at least 14,000 years old) created millenia before Romans occupied the British Isles.

One common sign seen in the carvings consists of two overlapping V's, which might refer to Mary "Virgin of Virgins," according to the statement.

Researchers still aren't sure precisely when the marks were made, by whom or for what reason. But those are questions the investigators will likely seek to answer as they study the designs.

Originally published on Live Science.
According to the Guardian and the Siberian Times, the snow is tainted with toxic black coal dust that was released into the air from open coal pits and improperly maintained factories in the region. One coal plant official told the local media that a shield meant to prevent coal powder from escaping out of the factory had malfunctioned  however, toxic black snowfall seems to be a regular phenomena in the area and it isnt necessarily tied to a single source. [The Frozen North: Stunning Images of Russia from Above]

"Its harder to find white snow than black snow during the winter, Vladimir Slivyak, a member of the non-profit environmental action group Ecodefense, told the Guardian. "There is a lot of coal dust in the air all the time. When snow falls, it just becomes visible. You cant see it the rest of the year, but it is still there."

Kuzbass (short for Kuznetsk Basin) is one of the largest coalfields in the world, spanning more than 10,000 square miles (26,000 square kilometers), according to Britannica.com. A 2015 report from Ecodefense found that the citizens of Kuzbass have an average life expectancy 3 to 4 years shorter than the Russian national average and have nearly twice the risk of contracting tuberculosis and childhood mental disorders.

Black snows like this one are a frequent winter feature in the region, the report found, and mitigation attempts have been lacking. For instance, in December 2018, regional authorities were accused of trying to hide the toxic black stuff by literally painting over it with white pigment, the Moscow Times reported.

Siberia, which would be the world's largest country by size if it were a sovereign nation, is no stranger to bizarre environmental disasters. In July 2018, a Siberian factory town was drenched in a red "blood rain" when improperly stored industrial waste was caught up in a storm. Later that month, a mysterious wall of dust blacked out the sun for 3 hours in Yakutia, a region that contains some of the coldest cities in the world.

According to the Guardian, several British groups have proposed boycotting Kuzbass coal until the region enacts stronger environmental protections, The simple fact is, however, that theres no great way to make coal use environmentally friendly. Even if black snow isnt falling in your part of the world, remember  carbon dioxide released by coal plants remains a leading cause of climate change.

Originally published on Live Science.
During the last ice age, people journeyed across the ancient land bridge connecting Asia to North America. That land is now submerged underwater, but a newly created digital map reveals how the landscape likely appeared about 18,000 years ago.

In fact, the map shows all of Beringia  the sprawling region that includes parts of Russia, known as western Beringia; Alaska, called eastern Beringia; and the ancient land bridge that connected the two.

The timing was nigh for a new Beringia map, said Jeffrey Bond, who studies the geology of ice age sediments at the Yukon Geological Survey in Canada. The 2008 map at the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre was out of date, and he wanted visitors, who come to learn about Beringia's ice age humans and animals, to get a better sense of what the region used to look like. [10 Extinct Giants That Once Roamed North America]

Moreover, two new datasets recently became available that helped Bond create the new map: Global satellite imagery from World Imagery, and a topography of the region's sea floor, produced by the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

"These two freely available datasets, along with the glacial limits (distribution of ice during the last glaciation), combined for a fantastic set of base layers to create a new map," Bond told Live Science in an email.

Although it's gone now, the Bering Land Bridge persisted for thousands of years, from about 30,000 years ago to 16,000 years ago, according to global sea level estimates, said Julie Brigham-Grette, a professor and department head of geosciences at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Brigham-Grette, who advised Bond on sea levels and geography, was one of the many scientists who offered helpful information to Bond during the making of the map.

"The drop at 30,000 years ago was very rapid with the build up of ice sheets over North America," Brigham-Grette told Live Science in an email. "So for most of the time from about 30,000 to 18,000 years ago, the land bridge was nearly 1,000 kilometers [620 miles] wide in the north-south direction."

That's why, in part, Bond chose to portray Beringia at 18,000 years ago, he said. After that, the ice began to recede and sea levels began to rise.

At 18,000 years ago, Beringia was a relatively cold and dry place, with little tree cover. But it was still speckled with rivers and streams. Bond's map shows that it likely had a number of large lakes.

"Grasslands, shrubs and tundra-like conditions would have prevailed in many places," Bond said. These environments helped megafauna  animals heavier than 100 lbs. (45 kilograms)  thrive, including the woolly mammoth, Beringian lion, short-faced bear, grizzly bear, muskox, steppe bison, American scimitar cat, caribou, Yukon horse, saiga antelope, gray wolf and giant beaver, according to the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre.

A modern-day photo of Wrangel Island in the East Siberian Sea. Perhaps central Beringia looked similar to this during the last ice age. (Image credit: Julie Brigham-Grette)

This vast, open region allowed megafauna and early humans to live off the land, Brigham-Grette said. However, it's still a mystery exactly when humans began crossing the land bridge. Genetic studies show that the first humans to cross became genetically isolated from people in East Asia between about 25,000 to 20,000 years ago. And archaeological evidence shows that people reached the Yukon at least 14,000 years ago, Bond said. But it's still unclear how long it took the first Americans to cross the bridge and what route they took.

"The fact that this land bridge was repeatedly exposed and flooded and exposed and flooded over the past 3 million years is really interesting because Beringia, at its largest extent, was really a high latitude continental landscape in its own right," Brigham-Grette said.

Now that the Bering Strait is filled with water, it's a gateway linking the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans through the Arctic Basin. "There are few places like it on our planet that have such a complex paleo geography," Brigham-Grette said.

To download a free digital version of the new map, visit here.

Originally published on Live Science.
A rare, 12th century loo allowed three people to go number two at once. It once hung over a cesspit that drained into the River Fleet, and was found in a series of digs between 1988 and 1992.

The next time fate slaps you with the middle seat on an airplane, bus or crowded car, at least be thankful you're not enduring the middle seat of a three-person toilet.

One such toilet  actually a 900-year-old plank of wood with three holes hacked into it  will soon go on display at the Museum of London Docklands as part of a new exhibit on the city's forgotten rivers. This rare, 12th-century triple-john once hung over a cesspit that drained into the River Fleet (now an underground tributary of the River Thames, but then a thriving commercial and residential artery). The toilet served what must have been a very intimate community of shopkeepers and tenement dwellers sitting shoulder to shoulder on the ax-hewn wood, museum curators said in a statement. [Gallery: The Toilets of Pompeii]

Archaeologists found this well-preserved toilet during a series of digs near the River Fleet conducted in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Kate Sumnall, an archaeology curator at the Museum of London Docklands, told Live Science in an email. Astonishingly, museum curators even think they know the names of at least some of the long-dead loo users who pressed their collective cheeks against the unlucky wood. Sumnall told The Guardian that the owners of the nearby tenement were a cap maker name John de Flete and his wife, Cassandra. The tenement itself was known as "Helle."

You can see Helle's toilet  and take selfies with a plastic replica  at the museum's "Secret Rivers" exhibition, which runs from May 24 to Oct. 27. The show will feature artifacts excavated from London's ancient and vanished rivers, including a cache of Bronze Age swords, spearheads and axes plopped into the Thames as votive offerings, a porcelain punch bowl dating to 1775-1780, and several animal skulls discovered in the River Fleet.

The exhibit will also feature historic photos, paintings, footage and poetry illustrating the city's lost river culture, in case the image of three tenement dwellers sitting cheek to cheek on Helle's toilet does not paint a vivid enough picture for you. To whet your appetite for more history, the great Jonathan Swift offers this portrait of London river life in his 1710 poem "A Description of a City Shower":

"Sweepings from Butchers Stalls, Dung, Guts and Blood, Drown'd Puppies, stinking Sprats, all drench'd in Mud, Dead Cats and Turnip-Tops come tumbling down the Flood."

Life is truly beautiful.

Originally published on Live Science.
Vikings hunting reindeer in Norway were once confounded by "reindeer cyclones"; a threatened herd would literally run circles around the fierce hunters, making it nearly impossible to target a single animal.

Filmmakers recently captured incredible aerial footage of one of these reindeer cyclones, which aired Feb. 13 on PBS in the documentary "Wild Way of the Vikings," a program about Vikings and the wilderness they inhabited around A.D. 1000. [Photos: Ancient Arrows from Reindeer Hunters Found in Norway]

One of the documentary's most striking scenes shows a re-enactment of a Viking hunt interspersed with real footage of reindeer herds. Reindeer were important to the Vikings for their meat, hides, antlers and bones, according to the film.

In the cyclone scene, a lone hunter (an actor playing a Viking) approaches the herd; he notches and releases an arrow. The footage that follows shows an actual herd of reindeer running in circles. As the swirling mass of bodies thunders along a circular path, an overhead camera reveals that the herd's momentum follows a spiral shape, drawing tightly toward the cyclone's "eye" at the center.

Faced with this spinning reindeer stampede, any predator  wolf, bear or human  would have a very tough time targeting and overpowering a single reindeer, making this a formidable defense strategy, according to a statement from PBS.

This behavior is also practiced by reindeer kept in corrals, occurring in groups of at least 20 to 25 animals, researchers wrote in a 2002 study published in the journal Rangifer. Penned reindeer formed "cyclones" and were observed to run "invariably" in a counterclockwise direction, the scientists reported.

A herd of reindeer moves through snow-covered mountains in Norway. (Image credit: Copyright Maramedia, photo by Fergus Gill)

Opportunistic hunters

Vikings were opportunistic hunters who preyed on reindeer, birds, fish, seals, walruses and possibly even whales, Albina Hulda Palsdottir, a doctoral candidate with the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis at the University of Oslo in Sweden, told Live Science.

"The Vikings really adapted to making use of everything that they could," she said.

Scientists know that Vikings hunted with bows and arrows, and used ropes and nets for fishing "and possibly birding," said Palsdottir, a zooarchaeologist and science adviser for the film.

However, archaeologists know little about the details of their hunting techniques, as Vikings crafted tools primarily from organic materials such as wood, rope and hide, which don't preserve well.

But in recent years, many of these ancient relics have emerged from melting ice and permafrost. This is particularly true in Norway, where ice patches  regions of long-frozen snow  are rapidly disappearing, providing archaeologists with access to Viking objects that were preserved in ice for more than a millennium, Palsdottir said.

"It's really adding to our understanding of their material culture, and what they may have used to hunt reindeer," she added.

You can watch the entire episode of "Wild Way of the Vikings" on the PBS website.

Originally published on Live Science.
A JUDGE has been urged not to jail a Limerick man who fitted false registration plates to a high-powered car within hours of stealing it.

Peter Moloney, 22, of Monaleen Road, Castletroy has pleaded guilty to burglary and theft charges relating to offences which happened in the early hours of April 5, 2017.

During a sentencing hearing, Garda Paul Bentley said he first encountered the defendant at around 5.30pm on April 5, 2017 when he stopped a car on the Dublin Road.

Mr Moloney, he said, did not have a drivers licence and gave a false name when arrested for road traffic offences.

Garda Bentley said when the defendant was being processed at Mayorstone garda station, the keys of an Audi Q5 fell from his underwear.

The keys were linked to a car which had been stolen following a break-in at a private home in Castletroy and gardai investigating that incident were alerted.

The stolen Audi, which was worth around 37,000, was located at Salmon Weir, Annacotty a number of hours later.

Judge Tom ODonnell was told the vehicle was not damaged and that it had been fitted with false registration plates.

During interview, Mr Moloney initially told gardai he had being drinking heavily and that he could not remember how he got the key.

He later admitted breaking into the house and taking the keys which had been left in a bowl on a counter in the kitchen.

He told gardai he fitted the plates himself using double-sided tape but did not give any indication as to his intentions.

Its unclear what he intended to do, he told John OSullivan BL, prosecuting.

Pat Barriscale BL said his client had no reasonable explanation for his actions and that he has little memory of the night.

He said he was associating with the wrong kind of people around the time and that he has now completely distanced himself from that group.

The barrister said Mr Moloney is working full time, is involved in sport and turned his life around since the incident.

His behaviour was wholly inappropriate, he realises the seriousness of what he did, he said noting the contents of a probation report which stated his client is at low risk of re-offending.

I an confident he will not disappointing you if you give him a chance, said Mr Barriscale.

Adjourning the matter, Judge ODonnell commented the use of false registration plates was puzzling and smacks of pre-meditation.

He will impose sentence in June.
A 12-YEAR old Limerick student received nine rejection letters from secondary schools, including his first choice school that he can literally see from his front door.

The Minister for Education was asked to intervene in one Limerick familys case after it emerged a young boy received a rejection letter through his postbox from each of the nine schools he applied to through the common application system (CAS).

No young child should ever get nine rejection letters and no offer of a place and be left to search frantically for a solution, Sinn Fein Deputy Maurice Quinlivan said.

The child in question submitted his application for a secondary school place just like all his friends, he added.

He was the only child in his class who did not receive a school place acceptance letter.

He was very distraught and did not know what to tell his friends when they asked him what school place he had received.

He could not answer because he had been offered no school place.

The rejection letters received included the child's first choice school, which his family can literally see from the front door of his house.

I know that well, because I know the family and know exactly where they live and I know the school in question. The primary school he attends is a feeder school of that school, so he should not have been refused.

As well as the nine rejection letters, the student also received another letter asking him to apply to two more schools; one of these schools is 30km away from his home and the other 27km.

It is understood that while the young student has been offered a place in a suitable secondary school in recent days, there are other children in Limerick who are currently in a similar situation.

Finishing primary school and going into secondary school should be an exciting time for children. It should not be as stressful as it has been for this child, Deputy Quinlivan added.

Speaking in the Dail, Deputy Quinlivan said he believes CAS usually works well in Limerick but that changes need to be made so this situation does not happen again.

I appreciate that not every child will be accepted into his or her first choice school, but to receive nine rejection letters and no offer of a place in secondary school is disgraceful and should never be allowed to happen again, Deputy Quinlivan told the Minister for Education Joe McHugh.

Minister McHugh said the department is open to improving the CAS system.

The transition from primary school to secondary school is hard enough in itself, he said, adding that he would follow up on the case directly with his officials.
THERE are high hopes planes could still fly in the skies over Foynes this summer after councillors stepped in to help save the air show.

Members have this week agreed to hold crunch meetings with the event organiser Margaret OShaughnessy in order to find ways to plug the funding shortfall, which came after the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) pulled its sponsorship.

The possibility of the council stepping in to provide the 100,000 funding has not been ruled out.

The issue was raised at two committee meetings this week after the move has left the show grounded for the time being.

At the economic committee meeting, Cllr Liam Galvin saw a motion unanimously passed that a delegation would meet Ms OShaughnessy and also lobby at government level in the hope the show is given the clearance for take-off.

Its one of the most spectacular shows we have. The volume of people in Foynes for that weekend and the impact it has on the local economy cannot be under-estimated. It is of the utmost importance we deal with this, Cllr Galvin said, This is beyond belief. If this was allowed to happen in the city, there would be uproar.

It was Adare-Rathkeale councillor Stephen Keary who broached the issue of the council stepping in to provide an interim 100,000 for the show, suggesting it be taken from the 497,000 arts and cultural fund.

We should make every effort to keep this fantastic show going, he declared.

However, the councils director of social development Gordon Daly said if the council did step in, it would mean money is taken from other areas.

And he also expressed his concern that 100,000 would then be required to see the show go ahead in 2020.

In theory, however, he accepted councillors could approve the funding, but this cannot happen until full council meets at the end of March.

However, sources have told the Limerick Leader there is nothing stopping members from holding a special meeting at short notice to approve the money  stopping the wait of more than a month.

Cllr Kieran OHanlon, who chairs the cultural committee said he is not happy with proposing the 100,000 interim fund, but suggested Mayor James Collins and the district chairman meet with Ms OShaughnessy to explore the events feasibility.

Mayor Collins said he had no problem leading a delegation, and also said the Minister ofr Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Josepha Madigan should also be approached.

There was sharp criticism of Failte Ireland, after it emerged the tourism body had allocated just 7,000 towards the event, Cllr Joe Leddin describing it as paltry.

Mayor Collins added: We are the only local authority which has a cultural committee and a festivals and events fund as we dont get enough money from Dublin, from the department for festivals and events. This council has to step in all the time, we are subsidising things using refundable contributions. But ultimately Foynes isn't happening because we did not get enough money from Failte Ireland.

Askeaton councillor Kevin Sheahan had a more cynical take on matters.

He said: I hope it is not a coincidence that the IAA is under the wing of that genius Shane Ross and I similarly hope he did not have his fingers in this particular pie.

The Foynes Air Show began in 2014 and included arts and aircraft.

It formed part of the IAAs Aviation Ireland weekend.

However, in December, the IAA wrote to the shows organising committee to say that the authority had reviewed its policy on Corporate Social Responsibility and had decided to focus its CSR activities in a different area, namely targeted education and awareness programmes and opportunities.

As a result it would not be in a position to be a major supporter for this years air show but said that it would be disappointed if the event was unable to go ahead.
A NEW draft strategy that will underpin Limericks development for the next 12 years has been roundly criticised.

The Draft Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) was unveiled to members of the economic committee this week and it was met with withering criticism for the limits it appears to place on the city.

The plan has at its heart a goal for Cork to be the principal complementary location to Dublin with a strong international role, a primary driver of economic and population growth in the southern region. Only one other part of Limerick warrants a mention  the county town of Newcastle West.

This has sparked anger among Limerick councillors, with Mayor James Collins describing it as merely a smokescreen for the development of Cork, and warned it will leave Limerick abandoned in the second tier of regionalised cities and playing second fiddle.

Its understood there is disquiet at the top level of council to the plan, which if enacted, could severely limit Limericks aspirations at the expense of Cork. At this weeks meeting, senior planner Maria Woods delivered a comprehensive presentation which looked at various parts of the strategy, which has been put together by Cork and Kerry based planners Kevin Lynch, Brian Riney and Dominic Walsh.

Ms Woods presentation suggested no solutions have been put forward on how Limerick can grow post-Brexit, with the Shannon Foynes Port Company not even getting a mention. Mayor Collins has described this as simply staggering.

Ms Woods also noted the plan refers to strategies which no longer exist and fails to expand on key points around how the city can develop.

The N24 Cahir to Limerick Junction road is not mentioned, while the bypass of Adare is also left out, and there is no reference to strategies put in place around the quality of life Limerick enjoys, her presentation suggested.

Mayor Collins said: My message to government is clear: lets stamp this report Return to Sender. Tell the government in unequivocal terms that Limerick is not going to be some second-tier economy, playing second fiddle to Cork. As a city we want to grow our population by 100,000 to 2030.

He warned that the plan  which suggests both Limerick and Shannon should grow by just 50,000 in that timeframe  will severely limit investment in housing, health, education, transport, energy, water, broadband and tourism. The strategy will ultimately be decided upon by the Southern Regional Assembly  on which Cllrs Noel Gleeson, Joe Leddin and John Sheahan are Limericks members.

Such is the huge opposition to what is out there at the moment, Mayor Collins has called a special meeting later this month to formulate a robust response. But worryingly for Limerick, its not clear how much of this will be taken on board, with the very real chance Limericks three assembly members will be voted down by the majority not from Shannonside.

Disappointed is an understatement, was how Cllr Liam Galvin of Fine Gael views the draft plan.

His partys council leader, Cllr John Sheahan added: Somewhere along the line, someone decided Cork is going to be the beneficiary of this. Any idea of Limerick and Galway being the cities which are next to expand seem to have fallen by the wayside. If we do not fight this, we are going to have a fight at every corner for our city and county development plans for the future.

Cllr Leddin, one of the members of the Southern Regional Assembly, said: There is minute detail on Cork, but very scant information on Limerick, or at best, topline analysis. Its very concerning. If we are not ambitious, everything else falls down.

He referenced the lack of mention in the plan about the Mungret development, which is set to bring almost 1,000 new homes.

Its a great plan for Cork, a bad plan for Limerick and a very bad plan for rural County Limerick. It will add to the rural depopulation and further decline over time, said Councillor Seamus Browne, SF.

Fianna Fail councillor Vivienne Crowley, who chairs the economic committee, said it will deter people from coming to Limerick.

Its just another 12-year plan filled with words which limit what Limerick can do.
THE dominant position of Dublin Airport is harming Shannon Airport, the Limerick Chamber has heard.

Speaking at the first Chamber economic outlook of 2019, Chamber economist Dr Catriona Cahill, and the associate professor of economics at the University of Limerick, Dr Stephen Kinsella have both called for a dedicated fund for Limericks local airport.

Addressing almost 200 business people at the Castletroy Park Hotel, Dr Cahill said Limerick Chambers Economic Breakfast Briefing at the Castletroy Park Hotel, Dr. Cahill said connectivity remains a key area of concern.

Shannon, she said, is under pressure on two fronts  principally from Dublin Airport as it mops up 96% of all new passengers coming into Ireland, but also from regional airports such as Knock and Kerry which can avail of grants in that Shannon cant because of its status as a state airport.

Air access is critical for economic growth and airports play a pivotal role in attracting foreign direct investment. The importance of airports is recognised In Project Ireland 2040 but despite this, there is a very worrying trend of Dublins increasing dominance. Shannon last year achieved 1.86m passengers but has the capacity to serve many more and act as a counterbalance to the DAA monolith, she said.

Meanwhile, a top international economist has warned that even in a hard Brexit scenario, Ireland can avail of greater opportunity.

Carl Tennenbaum of Northern Trust said: It's not just an opportunity, it's happening already because ever since Brexit was enacted, the fact is that companies have had to make contingency plans to be able to serve their European clients no matter what the final form of the resolution is. And that has led some business to the continent. Ireland is always a natural destination especially for English speaking countries.
(CNN)  Japanese women are rebelling against a decades-old Valentine's Day tradition that obliges them to give chocolates to men.

On February 14, the nation's female workers are expected to give "giri choco," or obligation chocolates, to their male colleagues. Women are also expected to buy heartfelt chocolates, "honmei choco," for their crushes or loved one.

"Valentine's Day (in Japan) got turned upside down to become a symbol of the Japanese patriarchy," said Jeff Kingston, a Japan expert at Temple University in Tokyo.

But this year, women are calling time on the financially draining practice.

A recent survey by a Tokyo department store found about 60 per cent of women will instead buy chocolates for themselves on Valentine's Day.

Only 35 per cent planned to offer chocolates to their male colleagues.

A boon for chocolate makers

Japan began celebrating Valentine's Day in 1958, after Japanese confectionery firm Mary Chocolate ran a campaign suggesting that women give men chocolates.

That upended the West's version of February 14, when men typically buy their loved ones flowers and chocolates and take them out for dinner.

In the 1980s, chocolate companies attempted to redress the chocolate buying balance. White Day was introduced on March 14 as a date for men to return the favor  although Kingston says that women often ended up gifting more chocolates than they received.

Both dates turned out to be a boon for the chocolate industry.

Valentine's Day now accounts for a quarter of Japan's yearly chocolate sales, according to the Nagoya International Center.

And that's a lot of chocolate. Japan consumed $5.39 billion of the sweet stuff in 2017, according to a report published by Mordor Intelligence  more than far more populous China or India.

Banning giri choco

Last Saturday, the Revolutionary Alliance of Unpopular People (RAUP) staged its 12th annual protest against "romantic capitalism" in Tokyo.

"We're against companies exploiting events like Valentine's Day to push excessive consumer culture and guilt-trip people who aren't in relationships," said Takeshi Akimoto, a member of the tiny fringe group, comprised of nine students and workers.

One of the group's complaints is that Valentine's Day chocolates in the workplace can make some employees feel that their value is determined by how much confectionery they receive.

It's a sentiment shared by others across Japan. Some companies have now banned the custom of "giri choco," saying it cause problems if colleagues compare prices of chocolates or highlight those who don't receive any sweets.

"If the popular men get all the chocolate, the morale of all the other workers would drop," explains Kukhee Choo, a researcher at Sophia University in Tokyo. "That would affect a company's atmosphere."

From 'giri choco' to 'tomo choco'

The number of people without a Valentine in Japan is also growing.

In 2015, a record 23% of men and 14% of women were unmarried by age 50, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

As a result, even the practice of giving heartfelt chocolates could take a beating. Erico Mori, a Japanese food writer based in Paris, says that consequently a new trend is emerging: that of giving friendship chocolates, or "tomo choco."

While Choo says that this trend is in some ways positive, as it moves away from patriarchal practices, for chocolate companies it simply represents a shift in marketing.

"It's a commercial practice that's been repackaged so (companies) can still maintain their chocolate sales," says Choo.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Why Japanese women rebel against Valentine's day, but still buy chocolate"
South Africa: Citizens can still register to vote

Cabinet has called on all eligible voters who have not registered to vote in the upcoming elections to do so at the offices of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), which are still open across the country.

You can also check your voter registration status by sending an SMS with your ID number to 32810 (R1.00 per SMS) or install the IECs free mobile app for voters and use it to check your registration details, Cabinet said in a statement on Friday.

Cabinet met on Wednesday in Tuynhuys, Cape Town.

South Africa will holds its sixth democratic national and provincial elections on 8 May 2019.

Since the birth of our democracy, we have built a thriving constitutional democracy with institutions that ensure our basic rights and freedoms. Furthermore, programmes have been implemented to structurally transform the economy and address our many socio-economic challenges.

The upcoming elections are an opportunity for a new generation of young South Africans to exercise their right to vote, and have a say in their future and that of our country, the statement said.

Cabinet has congratulated all South Africans, especially thousands of young and first-time voters, who participated in the last voter registration weekend on 26 and 27 January 2019.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-02-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Tell us a little about Local Enterprise Office Limerick:

The Local Enterprise Office (also known as Leo Limerick), along with 30 other Local Enterprise Offices (or Leos) around the country were established in 2014 to provide a one-stop shop system of enterprise supports to start-ups and small businesses across the country. Located in Patrick Street, it provides funding for projects primarily in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sector through a number of grants such as priming grants, business expansion grants as well as website development grants and grants to develop export potential. The LEOs also provide training and mentoring support to entrepreneurs and micro-businesses to assist businesses in enhancing their development.

What does your own role entail?

I am an assistant business advisor. My role involves developing and managing the delivery of the Leo training and mentoring programme in response to the needs of small businesses. Our comprehensive training and development programme enables small business owners to develop their skills and competencies which is a vital aspect of the development of their business. I am also involved in promoting the Local Enterprise Office through collaborating with our partners such as Network Ireland Limerick and through our social media. I am also involved in a number of specific programmes such as student enterprise, local enterprise awards and Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE).

Tell us about the IBYE programme:

This is a programme run by the Local Enterprise Offices. The competition is open to people between the ages of 18 and 35 with an innovative business idea, new start-up or established business. Now in its 5th year, IBYE has a national investment fund of up to 2m with a 50,000 investment fund for Limerick. IBYE is a nationwide competition, run across three categories: best business idea, best start-up business and best established business. All IBYE applicants in Limerick will be invited to attend a free Enterprise Day to be briefed on all services that the Local Enterprise Office has to offer and the competition details itself. Limerick LEO will ultimately award up to six investments to three category winners and three runners-up at county level. The local winners in the best start-up and best established business categories at county level will receive investments of up to 15,000 each and the two runners-up will each receive up to 5,000. The best business idea winner at county level will receive an investment of up to 7,000 and the runner-up will receive up to 3,000 of investment. These winners in Limerick will progress to regional finals during the summer which are taking place here in Limerick with the national IBYE finals taking place on September 15, 2019.

Where were you born and raised?

I was born and raised in Tralee. I am now living in Croom.

What is your educational background?

I attended college at the Institute of Technology of Tralee where I graduated with a BA in business studies and information systems management.

How did you get to where you are today?

Prior to working with the Local Enterprise Office, I had a long career with Kerry County Council and worked in a number of directorates including the Town Council which later became a municipal district as well as the community and enterprise department. My goal was always to relocate to Limerick so I was delighted to secure a position with Limerick City and County Council where I was assigned to the Local Enterprise Office in April 2017.

What are your goals for the next 12 months?

My goal for the next 12 months is to continue to promote the excellent work of the Local Enterprise Office through collaborations with partners around the city and county in the development of our supports to micro-enterprise. I also want to increase the numbers of people coming to the LEO as the first stop shop for business supports to the microenterprise sector. I would encourage anybody reading to check out the LEO at www.localenterprise.ie/Limerick to have a look at the many supports and initiatives we have available to those who are starting a business or those who are in business and thinking of expanding. Alternatively, you can call us at 061-407499.

Who do you admire in business?

Through my work in the LEO, I am very lucky to have met a number of prominent business people but one person who stands out to me is Vicki OToole, the managing director of JJ OToole Ltd. She overcame adversity and now leads a dynamic and award-winning business that employs 25 staff here in Limerick.

In business and life, are you guided by any particular motto?

I love the motto you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. In other words, I believe that keeping the bright side out, keeping positive and being friendly always comes back to you tenfold both in life and business.

Away from work, what are your pastimes and hobbies?

I love to get out for a walk in the fresh air and greatly believe in the benefits of exercise. As a proud Kerry woman, I also love to follow the Kerry GAA team!
A BELOVED wife, mother, sister and grandmother was laid to rest this Wednesday in County Limerick following her unexpected passing.

Nancy McCarthy, aged in her 60s, of Bawnmore, Ardpatrick died from natural causes as she was driving on Friday afternoon in nearby Upper Sunville.

Two female passengers - granddaughters of Nancy - were taken to University Hospital Limerick following the resulting car crash for examination. The 16 and 7-year-olds thankfully only received minor injuries.

Nancy always insisted on them wearing their safety belts.

Large crowds paid their respects to Nancy (nee O'Keeffe), who was originally from Effin, at her removal on Tuesday evening in Charleville and Requiem Mass at noon this Wednesday in Ardpatrick church.

Fr Anthony Bluett, parish priest, said there was shock in the community when the news broke on Friday evening and sadness ever since.

I was sitting here in the house and I saw the ambulances. It is a shock. At least the two kids in the car were all right and that there was no other car involved. The McCarthys and the OKeeffes are highly respected families. Its a small community here and everyone knows everyone. She has lived around here all her life, said Fr Bluett, who expressed his condolences to the families.

He assisted a former parish priest of Ardpatrick, Fr Joseph Kennedy in saying the funeral Mass this Wednesday. Nancy was Fr Kennedy's housekeeper over a number of years from his time in the parish.

She was certainly an impeccable character. She was very friendly, a very quiet worker but did it very, very well. I knew her very well, herself and her husband and her family. It is very sad. I had the utmost regard and respect for her, said Fr Kennedy.

The retired priest described Nancy as a wonderful mother and grandmother.

The fact that her death occurred while bringing home her two grandchildren from school - that would be typical of what Nancy would be doing. She had tremendous admiration for her grandchildren.

Its a very united family and I can very well see why that is the case because of her own character and that of her beloved husband, Eamonn, said Fr Kennedy

Local councillor Michael Donegan described her as a wonderful person.

Nancy was a great spirited woman, and a fantastic family person as well. I offer my sincere sympathies to the McCarthy and OKeeffe families at this time, said Cllr Donegan.

A number of people on the Limerick Leader Facebook page described her as a lady true and true.

Nancy was the beloved wife of Eamonn and dear mother of Brian, Lorraine and Karen.

She is deeply regretted by her loving husband, son, daughters, brothers, sisters, grandchildren Lauren, Ava, Ella-Faye, Callan, Cara, Anna and Sadie, mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, sons-in -law, daughter-in-law, nephews, nieces relatives and friends.

She was buried in Ardpatrick cemetery this Wednesday afternoon.

May she rest in peace.
LIMERICK paramedics have warned the Government that 30 members will return to the picket lines for a two-day strike, if management continue to not recognise their union.

Members of the National Ambulance Service Representatives Association (Nasra) protested outside the gates of the ambulance base on St Nessans Road, until 5pm on Friday.

Throughout the full-day nationwide strike, members of the public, nurses and local businesses provided food for the ambulance personnel. The ongoing dispute centres around managements non-recognition of the union, which is associated with the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA).

Though there has been little bit of movement from the Government, nobody has come forward to begin talks, Nasra member Derek OBrien said.

Members of the National Ambulance Service Representatives Association are at the picket lines once again. Theyre prepared for another day of strike action on Feb 28 over dispute over union recognition @Limerick_Leader pic.twitter.com/2xRDIGrJBw  Fintan Walsh (@FintanYTWalsh) February 15, 2019

The staff, nationwide, are resolute. There is no backing down from this, we have been forced into a corner. It has been happening since mid-way through last year. It helps as well that we have 100% backing from the public. We have a range of TDs on side, more support than we could have ever hoped for. This is going to keep going ahead until we are able to sit down and have talks.

Mr OBrien said that there are implications of non-recognition at a local level. He said that while members are entitled to be represented by Nasra, as soon as it becomes a Nasra issue, management will refuse to deal with us. So we need to be recognised at a local and a national level.

Mid-West spokesperson Liam Woods said there are only 1,800 paramedics in Ireland so you can imagine the difficulties with such a small number, finding proper representations so that we dont get lost, or fall through the cracks.

If talks do not commence, Nasra will return to the picket lines on February 28 and March 1.
Works are getting underway in the coming weeks in Taghadoe to improve water supply by tackling high levels of leakage, according to Irish Water.

Read also: Kildare Smyths Toys store hosting FREE LEGO event

Irish Water, in partnership with Kildare County Council, is replacing 1.7km of ageing water mains in Taghadoe to improve security of supply, improve water quality and reduce high levels of leakage.

These works are part of Irish Waters national Leakage Reduction Programme and will be carried out by Ward & Burke Construction Ltd. The works are expected to be completed by April 2019.

The repairs will take place along the Straffan Road (R406) between the junction south of the M4 interchange and the intersection with the L5037. The works will also involve laying new water service connections from the public water main in the road to customers property boundaries and connecting it to the customers water supply. Where the existing service connections on the public side are lead these will be replaced as part of this improvement work.

This work is being carried out as part of Irish Waters Leakage Reduction Programme, which will see 500m invested nationally over the next four years to tackle problematic pipes and leakage in Irelands ageing water network.

As they get older, some pipes have a high level of leakage as well as being subject to frequent bursts. said Joe Carroll, Networks Programme Regional Lead, Irish Water.

The installation of this water main is essential in providing a safe, secure and reliable water supply for this area, now and into the future.

Irish Water said areas of work will be limited to short sections to minimise impact on customers. Traffic management will be in place during this time with stop/go arrangements or temporary traffic lights in place on the Straffan Road as required. It is planned to carry out works between the hours of 8pm and 5am. Local and emergency traffic will be maintained at all times.

The works may involve some short-term water shut offs and the project team will ensure that customers are given a minimum of 48 hours notice prior to any planned water shut offs.

We will continue to work with the community to minimise disruption. Customers can phone Irish Water on Callsave 1850 278 278 if they have any further questions about the project, added Carroll.
A lucky Laois mother is set to appear on this Saturday night's episode of Winning Streak just a couple of weeks after submitting planning permission for her family to build their dream house.

Jane Delaney from Acragar in Mountmellick said she felt like the luckiest person ever when her name was picked out of the drum last Saturday to go on the popular RTE television game show.

Jane told the Leinster Express that she was speechless when she realised her name had been called.

I am over the moon, it is just so surreal to be honest when you are in the situation. I had the show on but the TV was muted and I was reading through paperwork and the phone went off beside me. It was a friend asking was that you and at this stage, I still didnt realise and I said was what me?. Then I heard and rewound the television back!

I had forgotten all about the ticket. Usually, when I send them in I would be watching to see if I get called out and this time I forgot. My grandad said that when you want something and you keep looking for it you wont get it but if you stop looking it will come.

When luck comes in like that you feel like the luckiest person ever. I ran upstairs to my husband he was putting our eldest to bed and I still had the pen in my hand, I was pointing at the phone screen but I couldnt get the words out he had no idea. It was sheer panic!

We plan to spend the money on our self-build we recently submitted the planning permission to Laois County Council so it will be a nice injection of cash. Although I work in a bad we still have to have all our ducks in a row like anyone else. Honestly, at this stage of our lives, it couldnt have come at a better time, she said.

Jane moved here from Limerick and now calls Laois home. She works in Bank of Ireland in Mountmellick and is married to Michael Delaney from Kyleteleisha. They have two little boys, MJ is in Montessori and her second son Ritchie is one and a half. The boys will be staying at home to watch their mammy on television and are all set up with sweets and new pyjamas.

Jane has a huge crowd of supporters heading to the RTE studio on Saturday from both Limerick and Laois.

Hopefully she gets to spin the wheel, best of luck Jane!
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On Saturday morning, teams of hunters young and old will rise early and head out into the South Jersey woods.

Theyll be looking for squirrels. Preferably big ones.

This weekend marks the First Annual Family Squirrel Classic, hosted by the Inskip Antlers Hunting Club in Winslow. Its advertised as a celebration, and an event to introduce new hunters to a centuries-old tradition.

But for some, its an abomination.

Protestors, including members of the Animal Protection League of New Jersey, plan to picket against the competition Saturday morning outside of the hunting club. To them, the hunt is nothing more than a killing contest -- made exponentially worse by the inclusion of children.

Time-honored tradition

Cody McLaughlin, a spokesman for the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance and a small-game hunting enthusiast, describes squirrel hunting as peaceful time in the woods, with less pressure than hunting for larger game like deer. People mostly hunt squirrels with small .22-caliber rifles, though McLaughlin said some people prefer to use a bow.

Hunters will probably set out into the woods around 6 a.m. on the morning of the contest, McLaughlin said. Weigh-in will be open at the hunting club from 8 a.m. to noon. The rules of the contest are simple -- the biggest squirrels win.

Hunters will be allowed to work in teams of up to six people, which McLaughlin said allows for teams to be large enough to include children.

As barbaric as this might sound to non-hunters, squirrel hunting is actually nothing new. People have been killing and eating squirrels in New Jersey for as long as people have, well, been living in New Jersey. And while this may be the inaugural iteration of this particular event, McLaughlin said that squirrel hunting contests are a long-standing tradition in South Jersey.

Whats happening down there is a perfectly safe, legal and time honored tradition of going outdoors and enjoying our natural resources, McLaughlin said.

Whats the message here?

But for people like Janine Motta, the programs director for the Animal Protection League of New Jersey, tradition is not enough to justify this contest.

Thats why members of her group and other animal rights activists plan to protest outside of the hunting club on Saturday morning.

Motta makes it clear that while she is staunchly against the killing of any animal, she understands that hunting is legal and regulated. What makes this situation different for her, Motta said, is that the contest is being sold as a family event. She argues that it only serves to [desensitize] children to the plight of animals.

To have a family event revolve around killing, and bringing children into this is unconscionable," Motta said. "Whats the message here? The family that kills together stay together?

The protest, according to a Facebook event, is scheduled from 6:30 to 8 a.m. and more than 30 people have indicated that they plan to show up.

That timing might lead to a bit of a let down for the protestors. McLaughlin points out that hunters are going to be in the woods, not at the hunting club, during those early hours.

The big picture

In the week leading up to the contest, hunting opponents have tried to pressure local officials to shutdown the event.

Winslow Mayor Barry Wright said that Town Hall has been inundated with emails and calls urging the cancellation of the event. He described some of the messages as threatening and aggressive. One caller, Wright said, threatened to kill him if the squirrel hunting contest was allowed to go on.

Never have I been addressed in emails, verbal or anything the way some of these animal rights people address me, Wright said.

Wright stressed that Winslow does not oppose hunting, and that the town has no place to step in and cancel the event.

But Wright said that he is uncomfortable with hunting contests. Thats why he is joining the Camden County Freeholders in calling for the state legislature to ban such events in New Jersey.

Contests that reward individuals for killing the largest number of targeted wildlife are unacceptable, said Freeholder Jeffrey Nash. The vast majority of the time, the animals that perish in these contests are not used for their meat and their killing serves no benefit to the ecosystem.

But as for Saturday? Wright said that hell be in Washington, D.C., away from the drama, to watch his daughter play in a volleyball tournament.

Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Teva Pharmaceuticals has signed a lease to occupy more than half of a large warehouse in Plainfield Township just off Route 33.

The climate controlled Wind Gap Logistics Center at 1380 Jacobsburg Road will be a receiving and storage facility for medicines, according to company spokeswoman Grace Ann Arnold.

Teva expanded its distribution center and warehouse space in Pennsylvania and identified this Wind Gap facility because of its proximity to our existing distribution center facility in North Wales, she said in an email Friday.

Tevas Pennsylvania expansion comes after Teva closed a distribution center in Gurnee, Illinois, and a warehouse in Antioch, Illinois, last year, Arnold said.

The Wind Gap center was built last year, according to a news release from CBRE Group. Teva signed a lease shortly after construction wrapped up to occupy 54 percent of the roughly 350,000-square-foot facility, according to CBRE.

About 20 logistics and quality-control employees will work there for Teva, Arnold said.

These are new jobs, she said.

CBRE brokered a deal to sell the warehouse, according to the news release Friday. The sellers were J.G. Petrucci of Hunterdon County and the Davis Group of Boston, Massachusetts. The buyer was Duke Realty of Indianapolis.

Its unclear whether a tenant is lined up for the remaining 46 percent of space in the warehouse. Duke Realty, CRBE and Teva didnt comment on the vacant space.

Northampton County property records say Duke bought the warehouse Jan. 11, 2019, for $41.3 million. Duke owns three warehouses just south of the Wind Gap center off Route 33 in Palmer Township:

A 1.1-million-square foot warehouse leased by Amazon fulfillment.

A 629,800-square-foot warehouse leased by XPO Logistics.

A 1-million-square-foot warehouse leased by UPS.

Teva Pharmaceuticals is global leader in generic medicines, including medicines for the central nervous system, pain and respiratory illnesses, according to the CBRE news release.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
The owners of the Spankys East strip club are looking into selling the embattled business, according to Northampton Countys district attorney.

The Wilson Borough club was shut down Feb. 5 after a judge agreed its a nuisance to the community based on a recent shooting and years of criminal activity. A hearing on whether to allow the club at 1700 Butler St. to reopen was postponed to March 15, in part to allow the club owners to figure out some options, District Attorney John Morganelli said Friday.

Theyre exploring the possibility of selling and a couple other options. Thats not to say that its actually going to happen, Morganelli said.

The owners attorney, Paul Bender, said the business hasnt been put up for sale. He declined to elaborate on the options under review.

At this juncture, were weighing our options. Were trying to do whats best for the business, and if possible, keep it open, he said.

Morganelli said he expects Bender to come back to him with a specific plan in writing. Morganelli and Bender agree a hearing might not be necessary, depending on Benders and the owners proposal. Morganelli has no problem waiting as long as the business remains closed.

Thats 30 more days it will be closed, Morganelli said. As long as its closed, I dont care."

There was a murder outside the club in 2006 and a triple shooting inside the establishment on Jan. 19. Morganelli called it a gathering place for known criminals and gang members. He said borough police have responded to 165 calls at the club since 2006. Its been the site of attempted murders, shootings, assaults, drug overdoses, prostitution, drug activity and noise complaints, Morganelli said.

Bender said many of the problems originated in the parking lot or outside the club, not inside it.

Ive reviewed the list (of complaints) that was provided as part of the temporary injunction request and concede there were many calls and police responses; however, the vast majority were going on outside the establishment and were beyond the control of Spankys East and its management, Bender said.

He said the owners have done their best to keep the property secure.

Some things are beyond anyones control. It is what it is, Bender said.

The owner is listed as Mirage LP and the liquor license owner is AMPM Inc., according to court papers. The president of AMPM Inc. is listed on the Pennsylvania Department of State website as James Athens, of Verona, N.J. The owner of Mirage LP is listed as 1700 Butler Realty LLC. No officers are listed on the Department of State site for 1700 Butler Realty LLC.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
A barricade situation in the 1000 block of Easton Road in Hellertown ended Friday morning when police entered a home and found a person was dead, police Chief Robert Shupp III said.

The incident began just after 6 a.m. when police went to check on a suicidal man who had a gun, Shupp said.

The Northampton County Coroners Office was called at 7:56 a.m. for the apparent suicide, authorities said.

Police had been trying to communicate with the man but he was likely already dead, Shupp said.

More details will be released once family members are notified, the chief said.

The road has reopened to traffic and an earlier police call to stay away from the neighborhood is rescinded, Shupp said.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter@TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Manchester United will be without Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard for Monday's FA Cup clash at Chelsea with both sidelined for up to three weeks after picking up injuries during Tuesday's Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.

The in-form duo will also miss Liverpool's visit to Old Trafford in the Premier League on February 24 and face a race against time to make the second leg of the last 16 tie against PSG in the French capital on March 6.

"I think they'll be out for two-to three weeks," United caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Friday.

Martial sustained a groin problem in the early stages of Solskjaer's first defeat in charge, but was able to carry on until half-time before being substituted.

England international Lingard pulled up with a hamstring injury towards the end of the first half.

United sorely missed both players after the break as PSG struck twice in quick succession through Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe to leave Solskjaer's side with a mountain to climb if they are to reach the last eight of the Champions League.

Alexis Sanchez again struggled to make an impact off the bench with Solskjaer insisting it is up to the Chilean to show he is worth the highly lucrative four-and-a-half year contract he signed when joining from Arsenal just over 12 months ago.

Sanchez has scored just five goals in 37 appearances for United, but did find the net for just the second time this season in the last round of the FA Cup in a 3-1 win at Arsenal when he linked up well with Romelu Lukaku.

The Belgian and Sanchez are expected to start at Stamford Bridge on Monday, but Solskjaer did not rule out the prospect of instead showing faith in youngsters Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong, who have been training with the first team after impressing in Uniteds junior sides.

"We've got still forward options but Angel and Chongy have been training with us all week so there's a big chance they'll be involved," said Solskjaer.

"It's a chance for anyone who plays  Alexis, Romelu, Chongy or Angel. Anthony and Jesse have done really well for us. They're vital in the attacking part for us, of course, with their vital attributes, their pace.

"But then again with Rom and Alexis, they've got different skill sets and will be able to show what they can do."

Defeat to PSG in midweek was a reality check for United and Solskjaer's chances of landing the job on a permanent basis after a run of 10 wins and one draw in his first 11 games in charge.

Solskjaer made a short trip home to Norway to visit his family and take stock in the past few days, but is confident his players can recover quickly to inflict more damage on a Chelsea side still reeling for last weekend's 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City.

"It's a different feel of course. I hate losing games, and it seems like the boys hate losing games," he added.

"They've been down but theres no point dwelling on it because there are big games against good teams coming up and we need to dust ourselves down and get going again on Monday.

"You've got to bounce back at this club. You will always have challenges and away against Chelsea is one of the tougher challenges."

Belgian forward Eden Hazard was introduced by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez on Thursday, June 13 as the club's newest player in front of nearly 50,000 supporters gathered at Santiago Bernabeu stadium to welcome the former Chelsea star. The transfer fee has not been revealed but reports indicate the move to cost $163.5 million including escalators, a number that would represent the most expensive acquisition in Real Madrid history. (Jose Luis Sanchez Pando) (Jose Luis Sanchez Pando)
Three people face prostitution-related charges after a sting on Monday at a Monroe County hotel, authorities say.

Oakey Smith Jr., 67, of Stroudsburg, and John Novellino, 49, were charged with patronizing a prostitute after separately paying an undercover officer for agreed-upon sex acts in a hotel room in Mount Pocono, the Monroe County District Attorneys Office reports.

Smith, contacted Friday morning, said he didnt know about the charge and that nothing was ever said about any sexual activity. Novellino didnt immediately respond to a message on what appeared to be a work phone.

Both men responded to items that investigators placed on websites known to be used to advertise prostitution, the district attorneys office said.

Court papers say Smith was read his rights and then told investigators that he was responding to an advertisement online and coming to the hotel to meet a woman for 30 minutes. In a written statement, Novellino said, I found an ad on the web and came to meet a woman for oral sex, court papers say.

Catrina Rose Moran, 33, of Blakeslee in the county, was contacted through an online advertisement and came to the hotel, the district attorneys office said. An undercover officer gave her $500 for unspecified sex acts, the district attorneys office said. She was arrested soon after the money was exchanged, court papers say.

After being read her rights, Moran said she needed the money to pay her mortgage, was not working with a pimp and had been previously arrested on similar charges, the district attorneys office said.

Moran didnt have a listed phone number so she couldnt be reached for comment.

All will receive court dates to appear before District Judge Phillip Riley, the district attorneys office said.

Personnel from Bethlehem Township police, Colonial Regional police, Pocono Mountain Regional police, the Monroe County Drug Task Force and the FBI were involved in the sting, authorities said.

Support staff from Bloom Bangor and VAST (Valley Against Sex Trafficking) were on hand in case any women wanted direction in getting out of the life, the district attorneys office said.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter@TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Bethlehem police seized the deadly painkiller fentanyl and made two arrests while serving a search warrant before sunrise Friday on South Side, the department said in a news release.

One of the suspects, 38-year-old Christian Figueroa, fled out a third-floor window as the Bethlehem Police Department Emergency Response Team arrived about 6 a.m. at his 532 Hayes St. home to serve the warrant, along with officers from the departments Special Operations Unit, according to the release.

Figueroa fled across at least four adjoining rooftops before police took him into custody and removed him from the roof, police said.

"Figueroa stated to the arresting officers that he had gone out on the roof prior to police arrival to make repairs," the release says. "Figueroa was shoeless when taken into custody."

Detectives climbed out to where Figueroa was located and found a bag containing 160 smaller bags of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, plus one larger bag containing additional fentanyl, police said; officers found more of the small bags and three Carisoprodol muscle relaxant pills in Figueroa's bedroom.

While searching the home, officers found additional small bags used to package fentanyl in the bedroom of resident Mariangly Gonzalez, also 38, according to the release. She also had in her room a FedEx package containing a cellphone that had been stolen Thursday from a nearby porch, police said.

This is the second time in a month police have raided that address for illegal drug trafficking, and the third time in the past eight months, according to the release from police Chief Mark DiLuzio and investigations Lt. Ben Hackett.

"The success of this investigation was due largely to the assistance from the community," they say in the release, adding that sales of heroin, fentanyl and related drugs are a high priority for the department. "The Bethlehem Police Department welcomes and appreciates any and all assistance from community members as we strive to rid the city of illegal narcotics and related crimes."

Figueroa and Gonzalez were both charged with felony conspiracy to possess drugs with intent to deliver, in addition to misdemeanor drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. Gonzalez was also charged with theft and receiving stolen property.

They were arraigned before District Judge Alan Mege and sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $250,000 bail for Figueroa and $150,000 bail for Gonzalez. Preliminary hearings will be scheduled before District Judge Nicholas Englesson.

Bethlehem police ask anyone with information on drug activity or any other crime to call their tip line at 610-691-6660 or the Bethlehem Police Department 911 Center non-emergency line at 610-865-7187. Callers may remain anonymous.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
UPDATE: Heres where Lehigh Valley Academy wants to build its $55M school

One of the Lehigh Valleys most popular charter schools is on the hunt for a permanent home.

Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School is currently housed in converted office space off of Valley Center Parkway in Hanover Township, Northampton County. The K-12 schools current lease expires in August of 2023.

The charter school wants to build a $45 million, 200,000-square foot school building to enroll about 1,950 students, which it could move in to at the start of the 2023-24 school year. To make that happen, the board is in the process of interviewing architectural firms and gathering community input to develop a plan to design the new building, according to a news release.

The LVA Board of Trustees recognize that owning our own facility is significantly more cost effective, fiscally responsible, and sustainable in the long term. Charter Schools are funded through subsidies that follow the student, the school said. The operating budget remains the same whether LVARCS rents or owns its own facility.

Charter schools are independent public schools funded by taxpayer dollars funneled from an enrolled students home district.

Lehigh Valley Academy currently enrolls 1,767 students from 16 districts across the Lehigh Valley, but the majority --1,035 students -- come from the Bethlehem Area School District. The school offers an International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum, which emphasizes inquiry-based learning and critical thinking.

Students are selected through a competitive lottery that gives preference to Bethlehem Area and Saucon Valley school district students and siblings of current students. Eventually, the charter school plans to enroll 1,950 students with 150 students per grade level.

The idea of a new school is not being embraced by Bethlehem school district leaders. Superintendent Joseph Roy said the plans for the new school highlight a major flaw in the 1997 law governing charters that the state legislature must fix.

I dont support a privately-selected board of a school paid for with tax dollars deciding to undertake a $55 million construction project that is not needed in the district and that I doubt the community supports, Roy said.

Bethlehem expects to send the school about $13 million in tuition this school year, which is why the district in 2017 tried to set an enrollment cap -- estimated to save $1 million -- as part of the charter renewal process. The district lost that bid in 2017 when it was overruled by the states Charter Appeal Board.

The current charter expires Dec. 31, 2021 and prevents the school from moving without approval from its chartering districts. As a regional charter school, Lehigh Valley Academy must get charter extension approval from both Bethlehem and the Saucon Valley.

As of now, the school has not sought BASD board consideration or approval, although they have already approved an agreement of sale to purchase property at a cost reported to be $10 million, Roy said.

As of late Thursday evening, Lehigh Valley Academy had not confirmed whether it has in fact purchased land for the school.

During the 2016 charter renewal process, Bethlehem school board President Michael Faccinetto criticized the charter school for spending 20 percent of its budget to lease the office space where it is located. At that time, school CEO Susan Mauser said the charter needed its own school building to cut costs.

Lehigh Valley Academy said it is in the very early planning stages for the new school.

Eight architectural firms have submitted proposals, which are being presented over three public presentations. The first was held Wednesday, another is scheduled Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and a third is set for Friday from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. in the high school library.

On Tuesday at 6 p.m., a public board work session will be held where a firm will be selected to be recommended to the full board of trustees.

Lehigh Valley Academy is also holding monthly facility meetings on the following dates and times: Tuesday, February 26th at 6:30 PM Tuesday, March 26th at 4:00 PM Tuesday, April 23rd at 6:30 PM Tuesday, May 28th at 4:00 PM Tuesday, June 25th at 6:30 PM.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A resident of a group home in Easton was receiving mental health treatment after an apparent suicide attempt was thwarted Thursday on a Route 33 overpass, according to police.

The 42-year-old man had just left St. Lukes Hospital in Bethlehem Township. About 3:20 p.m., township police were dispatched because he was threatening to jump from the Freemansburg Avenue bridge over the highway, Sgt. Shaun Powell said Friday.

Police arrived to find an employee of the group home had detained the man and prevented him from jumping, police said.

That employee had gone to St. Luke's to pick up the man upon his release from the hospital, according to police.

Police were not releasing the names of anyone involved, or identifying the group home.

The man was taken to another hospital for follow-up care.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
The first democratic president of Nigeria was elected in 1979 and over the last forty years, Nigeria has conducted eight presidential elections.

As Nigeria prepares for her ninth Presidential election on Saturday, February 16, 2019, Legit.ng wants to take you on a memory trip back to all the presidential elections ever conducted in Nigeria since 1979 till date and the results of those polls.

1979 Presidential Election:

The presidential candidate of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), Alhaji Shehu Shagari, became the first democratic president of Nigeria in 1979 after defeating the Presidential candidate of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Obafemi Awolowo.

Shagari got five million, six hundred and sixty-eight thousand, eight hundred and fifty-seven (5,668,857) votes while his opponent, Awolowo got four million, nine hundred and sixten thousand, six hundred and fifty-one (4,916,651) votes.

READ ALSO: What US secretary of state Mike Pompeo told me ahead of presidential election - Atiku

1983 Presidential Election:

Again, Shehu Shagari defeated Awolowo when he got twelve million, 81 thousand, four hundred and seventy-one (12,081,471) votes in the 1983 poll. The UPN candidate, Chief Awolowo, got seven million, nine hundred and seven thousand, two hundred and nine (7, 907, 209) votes that year. In the same year, the Shagari government was overthrown by a military coup led by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari.

1993 Presidential Election:

The June 12, 1993 presidential election is a memorable one in the history of Nigeria. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate, Moshood Kahimawo Abiola (MKO) defeated the candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC), Bashir Tofa. Abiola got eight million, three hundred and forty-one thousand, three hundred and nine (8,341,309) votes while his opponent, Tofa, got five million, nine hundred and fifty-two thousand, eighty-seven (5, 942,087) votes.

Sadly, the elections was annulled by military ruler, Ibrahim Babangida. The late General Sani Abacha would later stage a coup that year and become the military ruler of Nigeria till his death on 8 June 1998.

1999 Presidential Election:

Olusegun Obasanjo came out of prison after Abacha's death in 1998 to become Nigeria's next president after defeating Olu Falae in the 1999 poll.

Obasanjo ran on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party and got eighteen million, seven hundred and thirty-eight thousand, one hundred and fifty-four (18, 738,154) votes to defeat Falae, who ran on the joint platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and the All People's Party (APP).

Falae got seven million, nine hundred and seven thousand, two hundred and nine (7,907,209) votes in the 1999 poll.

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2003 Presidential Election:

Olusegun Obasanjo returned to power for a second term in 2003 after defeating the presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Muhammadu Buhari.

Obasanjo got twenty-four million, four hundred and fifty-six thousand, one hundred and forty (24,456,140) votes while Buhari got twelve million, seven hundred and ten thousand, twenty-two (12,710,022) votes.

2007 Presidential Election:

Obasanjo handed over the Presidential seat to another PDP's candidate, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, who got twenty-four million, six hundred and thrity-eight thousand, sixty-three (24,638,063) votes to defeat ANPP candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhar got six million, six hundred and five thousand, two hundred and ninety-nine (6,605,299) votes in the 2007 poll.

2011 Presidential Poll:

Muhammadu Buhari tried his luck for the third time, this time running on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). However, he lost to PDP's presidential candidate, Goodluck Jonathan.

Jonathan got twenty-two million, four hundred and ninety-five thousand, one hundred and eighty-seven (22,495,187) votes while Buhari had twelve million, two hundred and fourteen thousand, eighty hundred and fifty-three (12,214,853) votes.

2015 Presidential Poll:

Buhari's luck changed for the better in 2015 when Goodluck Jonathan was voted out of power. Jonathan lost to Buhari after getting twelve million, eight hundred and fifty-three thousand, one hundred and sixty-two (12,853,162) votes while his opponent, Buhari, had fifteen million, four hundred and twenty-four thouand, nine hundred and twenty-one (15,421,921) votes.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

Atiku versus Buhari: Who will win? | Legit TV:

Source: Legit
- An Ondo-based pastor, Simeon Sunday Akorede, has said that President Buhari would be defeated on Saturday, February 16

- Pastor Akorede also said that the national leader of APC, Asiwaju Tinubu, would become opposition leader in 2020

- The cleric, however, noted that God did not tell him who would become Nigeria's next president

Less than 24 hours to the presidential election, a pastor from the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Orita Iyanu, Akure, Ondo state, Simeon Sunday Akorede, has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari would lose his reelection bid on Saturday, February 16.

Legit.ng regional reporter in Akure, Oluwadamilare Moriyeke, reports that Pastor Akorede, while addressing journalists in Akure, said that God revealed to him that President Buhari has lost the opportunity and the grace to rule Nigeria again.

He said: "God revealed to me that the incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari, is not given the grace to govern Nigeria for second term."

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It was gathered that the pastor had in 2015 predicted among others that the former Oyo state governor, Adebayo Alao Akala, would not win the second term bid which eventually came to pass.

The clergy stated that God did not specifically disclose the party that would politically dislodge the incumbent and ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Pastor Akorede, however, emphasised that the grace to achieve the second term bid had been taken away from Buhari.

He also declared that the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, would belong to the opposition party by the year 2020.

The CAC cleric implored Nigerians to wholeheartedly pray for the nation for a peaceful poll and better future.

READ ALSO: 2019 election: Governor Ortom will suffer serious defeat at poll - APC national youth leader

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the founder and senior pastor of the Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations, an evangelical-charismatic mega church and a christian denomination in Kiev, Ukraine, Pastor Sunday Adelaja, gave 34 reasons President Muhammadu Buhari and the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) would win election on Saturday, February 16.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better.

Sowore, Fela Durotoye, Buhari; who will Nigerian youths vote for? | - on Legit TV

Source: Legit
The embattled Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, finally got docked at the Code of Conduct Tribunal as trial continued in the case of his alleged refusal to declare all his assets before the bureau in charge as head of the judiciary.

This is the first time the CJN would appear physically for trial in the case brought against him by the federal government.

We bring you all the drama that happened in the court.

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11.25: Finally agreeing with the parties after due consultations with the other members of the CCT panel, Danladi adjourns the trial to March 11, for hearing on all pending application before the tribunal.

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11.20: Arguing on the ruling on the adjournment, the defence counsel says the date will not be convenient for his team. Sticking to his initial decision, the CCT chairman says he has already given his ruling and cannot renege on it. Supporting the defence, the prosecuting counsel says the parties had already agreed on a date in March 2019.

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11.18: "Having taken consideration that there will be election tomorrow, the tribunal grants the defendant bail based on self-recognizance," the CCT chairman says. He further adjourns the trial to Thursday, February 21, for hearing of all pending applications.

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11.14: Uche further requests for an adjournment of the matter to a new date.

Onnoghen at the CCT for the first time since the case against him started Credit: TVC

Source: Twitter

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11. 13: Onnoghen's lawyer, Chris Uche, applied for bail for the CJN on self-recognizance. However, without waiting for an objection or affirmation from the prosecution, the CCT chairman immediately replied: "granted".

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11.08: Again, Onnoghen pleads not guilty to count 2. Onnoghen. Pleads not guilty to count 3. The clerk continues to read the fourth count charge against Onnoghen. As he finishes, Onnoghen replies: "Not guilty." He also pleads not guilty to count 5 and 6 too.

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11.04: Embattled CJN Onnoghen takes his plea, pleads not guilty to count 1.

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11.03: The defence counsel has applied that the bench warrant issue against Onnoghen be set aside.

Furthermore, the CCT chairman, in a short ruling after the prosecution said he had no objection against the application, ordered that the bench warrant issued against Onnoghen set aside under the condition that the embattled CJN makes himself available throughout the trial.

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10.50: Danladi sounding surprised that Onnoghen was standing shouted: "I thought I asked you to give him a chair to sit down." The clerk responded that there is a chair there. Danladi tells the CJN: "My Lord, please sit."

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10.45: Laughter envelopes the tribunal as the chairman harasses the clerk over providing the CJN with a chair in the dock. This expression caused a loud stream of laughter in the courtroom. While Onnoghen says: "Don't worry, I'll sit when I'm tired" as he continues standing with his hands behind his back. Dressed in a sky blue shirt, a gold coloured tie and black suit.

Chief Justice Onnoghen just before he was docked at the CCT Credit: TVC

Source: Twitter

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10.40: The defence counsel has just announced all appearance for the defendant.

Legit.ng reported that a counsel to the embattled Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, on Friday, February 15, decried the ongoing trial of his client at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), calling the situation bad for the judiciary.

Chris Uche, a senior advocate of Nigeria, who spoke minutes after the hearing of the case against Onnoghen, said while the CJN appeared before the CCT voluntarily, there is need for maintenance of independence in all arms of governments.

Onnoghen's Suspension: Lawyers, Civil Group protest in Abuja | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
- NEMA has a new batch of 160 stranded Nigerians from Libya

- The emergency agency advised young Nigerians to desist from embarking on irregular migration which removes their fundamental rights

- The returnees were brought back by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and European Union under the Assisted Voluntary Returnees (AVR) Programme

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received another batch of 160 stranded Nigerians from Libya.

Alhaji Idris Muhammed, coordinator of Lagos territorial office of NEMA, confirmed the development to newsmen on Friday, February 15, in Lagos, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Muhammed said the Nigerians arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at 7.50pm on Thursday, February 14, aboard a chartered Nouvel Air aircraft and were received by NEMA and other government agencies.

READ ALSO: 2019 polls: Vice presidential candidate dumps party to support Buhari's re-election

According to him, they were brought back by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and European Union under the Assisted Voluntary Returnees (AVR) Programme.

He said: The returnees are made up of 68 female adults, one female child and five female infants.

Also, there are 79 male adults, two male children and five male infants making up 74 females and 86 males, including a psychologically traumatised adult male.

Muhammed advised young Nigerians to desist from embarking on irregular migration which removes the fundamental rights that such migrants could have enjoyed.

He noted that it was unfortunate that they had to expose themselves to danger in the quest for greener pastures outside the shores of the country.

One of the returnees, Ms Adebisi Komolafe, from Osogbo in Osun, while narrating her experience to newsmen, urged Nigerians to continue praying for their leaders, especially the president.

Komolafe said: Despite the bad situation in Libya, the people believe in their leaders and are praying fervently for them. They still see hope in their country.

If Nigerians can avoid blaming government for everything, with faith and sincerity, our prayers will be accepted by God.

God will guide our leaders right if we direct our supplications to Almighty God to guide our leaders right.

She also advised those still planning to travel to the volatile North African country to jettison the idea because it would be an exercise in futility.

I dont wish any Nigerian should think of traveling to Libya. I never knew the situation in Libya before I left; if I had known, I wouldnt have traveled there.

Nigeria is far better than that country. We need prayers and sincerity in Nigeria.

I worked as a housemaid and had opportunity to make some money but not having a government in place is a serious problem there. I could not send money back home since I left Nigeria in 2016.

The only thing I did was to buy goods that I can sell when I get back to Nigeria and I brought everything back now, Komolafe said.

Another returnee, Miss Aisha Ibrahim from Oyo state, said she thought traveling to Libya would give her opportunity to have a better life.

She said: My sister paid for my transportation and after a week on arrival in Libya, I got a housemaid work.

You must work and carryout any instructions given by those people. Failure to obey them will attract punishment or arrest.

Ibrahim said she decided to return home after she was unjustly arrested and her sister had to pay N400, 000 to secure her release.

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In a related development, the Czech Republic has promised to pay immigrants from Nigeria and five other countries to leave the country and never return.

Remix, a newspaper based in Czech Republic, reports that the gesture is being run by the countrys interior ministry under a programme tagged Returns.

Legit.ng gathered from the report that the country has promised to pay Nigerian immigrants and their counterparts from Afghanistan, Iraq, Mongolia, Russia and Vietnam if they voluntarily decide to leave.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better.

Nigerians speak on slavery in Libya | - on Legit TV

Source: Legit
A Nigerian lady has taken to social media to share her joy after her husband surprised her with a grand gift for Valentine's Day.

While many people remain hopeful about getting gifts on Valentine's Day and spending time with their loved ones, the year 2019 lover's day celebration will forever remain memorable for this happy Nigerian woman.

Identified as Loveth Steve Edem, the ecstatic lady took to a popular Facebook group for mothers to share photos of her brand new Lexus RX 350. According to her post, her husband surprised her with the automobile worth over N4,000,000.

READ ALSO: Personal letter from the Editor-in-Chief of Legit.ng (former NAIJ.com)

She also prayed for other women to be blessed as she has been/ Source: ONCE A MUM, ALWAYS A MUM !(OMAM)

Source: Facebook

She wrote: "Mummy's in the house follow me and thank these God husband surprise me with a new whip alert on these val. I said may the good lord who did it for me we do it for each and every one of u here in these forum amen. Once more happy val to u all"

Did you know? NAIJ.com (naija.ng) is now-> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better.

Photo of Loveth posing with her new whip/ Source: ONCE A MUM, ALWAYS A MUM !(OMAM)

Source: Facebook

Meanwhile, Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele, has taken to her social media page to celebrate the special day set aside for lovers all over the world.

The actress, unlike other people, decided to go back in time, as her post featured a series of throwback photos with her darling husband, JJC Skillz.

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Can a man show his love to a woman without having money? on Legit TV:

Source: Legit
As the hours to the February 16 presidential and National Assembly election beckon, President Muhammadu Buhari will make a special broadcast on Thursday, February 14.

According to a statement released by the duo of Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina, the special broadcast will be aired at 7pm on Thursday, and a repeat of it will come up at 9pm same day.

Legit.ng gathers from a statement posted by Femi Adesina, the special adviser to the president on media, through his Facebook page that the broadcast will be open to all television, radio stations and other electronic media outlets.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Adesina posted: "President Muhammadu Buhari will Thursday broadcast to the nation at 7pm with a repeat at 9pm.

"All television, radio stations and other electronic media outlets are enjoined to hook up to the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority and Radio Nigeria for the broadcast."

The announcement as made on Twitter by Garba Shehu, the senior official spokesperson to President Muhamadu Buhari.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that President Buhari had appealed to the electorate to give the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) another four years to complete all the ongoing developmental projects and to initiate fresh ones.

The president, who made the appeal at the Federal Capital Territorys Presidential rally of the APC, said his administration would continue to ensure efficient utilization of the nations scarce resources in the provision of infrastructural facilities across the country.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better.

What has changed in Nigeria since the last election? | - on Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
- About $5 billion is needed to recover Lake Chad Basin areas affected by Boko Haram insurgency, according to report

- Nigerias minister of water resources said solutions were gradually being put in place to rejuvenate the basin

- According to Adamu, the fund will be raised through different sponsorship opportunities that the commission must take advantage of

The chairman, Council of Ministers, Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), Suleiman Adamu, has said that five billion dollars (about N1.84 trillion) is required to recover the Basins areas affected by Boko Haram crisis.

The chairman made this known at the 64th Ordinary Session of the Council on Thursday, February 7, in Ndjamena, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

He said that the amount would cover the first phase of the areas recovery project, which was part of LCBCs regional stabilisation strategy.

To raise the funds, he said that the commission must take advantage of new funding opportunities as demonstrated by most of our partners for effective and inclusive" implementation of the stabilisation strategy to recover the basins areas.

According to him, mobilising such a budget requires a huge effort in terms of advocacy, monitoring and responsiveness.

READ ALSO: 2019: Resist external pressure and intimidation - United States tells INEC

Adamu, who is Nigerias minister of water resources, said that with the leadership and determination of heads of state and government in the region, solutions were gradually being put in place to rejuvenate the basin.

He expressed optimism that in the long run, our Basin will once again become this vast and highly productive ecosystem, providing livelihoods for riverside communities and representing a food export pole for the entire Basin."

He noted that the councils meeting came at a time when terrorists in the Lake Chad region had renewed their onslaught aimed at undermining the territorial integrity of our states and security of our peoples.

Adamu, however, said that the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) of LCBC and the national armed forces of member-countries were working hard to completely eradicate the insurgents.

He added that while the initiatives with security, military and humanitarian dimensions had a major role to play in bringing about peace, security and stability, they were still insufficient on their own.

He said: It is, therefore, more necessary than ever to implement the Regional Stabilisation Strategy for the resilience and recovery of the areas of the Lake Chad Basin affected by the Boko Haram.

In addition to the socio-economic development dimensions, this must also include the educational and religious components, with their major role in spreading the culture of peace, tolerance and moderation.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Our fight against extremism must also have as its essential purpose, to provide young people and women with an open education rooted in the authentic values and standards of our society."

Adamu stated that treading the recovery path would lead to entrepreneurship and job creation which would protect the people from the temptations of extremism.

The chairman also charged the council to focus on implementing the objectives of sustainable development as defined at the International Conference on Saving Lake Chad held in Abuja in February, 2018.

He said in addition to the promise of a better life for our populations, the revitalisation of Lake Chad and the restoration of these resources are the guarantees of greater peace, security, progress and development in the region."

He recalled that at the conference in Abuja, the African Union approved the Inter-Basin Water Transfer Project as a Pan-African project aimed at restoring Lake Chad for sustainable development.

He said that the project, which would also restore security and peace in the region, was a win-win partnership for the Congo Basin and Lake Chad.

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Adamu disclosed that the partners had committed themselves to achieving objective of the synergy, saying it would produce hydroelectric power, build roads and river infrastructure and promote irrigation for the sustainable development.

He said that the development would extend to economic integration, peace and security in Central and West Africa and in the Sahel in particular.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has promised practical measures to end Boko Haram insurgency and restore peace to Borno, if elected.

Atiku gave the assurance at the PDP residential rally on Wednesday, February 6, in Maiduguri. He said that if given the mandate, he would adopt effective security programmes to end insurgency, protect lives and property as well as enhance peace-building processes in the region.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

Can Nigerian Soldiers really not deal with Boko Haram fighters?| Legit TV

Source: Legit
Front-page

Continued financial constraints push county officials to action

Eau Claire County officials, in the near future, are going to be reaching out to state lawmakers, county supervisors and taxpayers to convey business cant go on as usual.

We all know how difficult it was to put the 2019 county budget together, Eau Claire County Administrator Kathryn Schauf told members of the committees on Administration and Finance and Budget during a joint meeting Thursday.

The countys 2019 budget includes $113.59 million in overall spending; a $34.02 million tax levy  the amount collected from taxpayers; and a tax rate of $4.06 per $1,000 of equalized valuation. In comparison, the countys 2018 budget included $109.37 million in spending; a $32.24 million tax levy; and $4.09 tax rate.

For more than a decade, counties and other local municipal units of government have been subject to a levy limit program, which restricts the year-to-year increases in county and municipal property tax levies.

Wisconsin statutes limit county operating property tax levy increases to zero percent or the increase in countywide net new construction value, whichever is greater. Equalized value due to net new construction increased at 2.89 percent in 2018, so the 2019 county budget recommendations were based on a 2.89 percent increase in the operating tax levy.

We have a vision of wanting to have a good, financial, sustainable base from which we can grow along with our community  , Schauf said. We  know that in order to really be effective and survive we cannot simply do that through  cutting and shrinking services. But at this point, in many areas that is our only option.

During the meeting Thursday, county finance director Norb Kirk said Eau Claire County has exceeded two financial sustainability metrics: debt service as a percentage of the entire levy and unassigned fund balance as a percentage of the general fund expenditures.

Debt service is the cash that is required to cover the repayment of the interest and principal on a debt, and unassigned fund balance is essentially a rainy-day fund to ensure the county can make payroll and other expenses.

County officials dont want the debt service levy to be more than 30 percent of the total levy, and the county will exceed that in 2019, Kirk said.

The general unassigned fund balance should be at least 30 percent of general fund expenditures, and its not, he told committee members.

Budgeting in a way that makes sense is becoming more and more difficult for us as a county government because of the obstacles you see, said Schauf, noting county officials have taken steps to reduce expenses through collaborations and innovative programs. If we get no traction from the state of Wisconsin, we are going to have to start making decisions about  what it is you as policymakers would like to see as the future of this county.

In an effort to raise revenues, the Eau Claire County Board in July approved a $30-per-vehicle registration fee for county roadwork. The fee took effect Jan. 1, and it is in addition to the $75-per-vehicle registration fee the state charges annually to register a vehicle in Wisconsin.

The county will have an estimated $2.39 million in additional revenue this year to pay for highway-related capital projects.

Eau Claire County has borrowed increasing amounts of money in recent years to repair and maintain its roads. Such borrowing is necessitated by the state-imposed limits that mean the county cant increase its local tax collections at a high enough level to pay for its current services and road repairs.

Borrowing is exempt from revenue limits, but continued borrowing at current level isnt feasible into the future, county officials have said, because the interest on that borrowing becomes too costly.

Supervisor Colleen Bates suggested the state consider a cost of living increase for counties to help cover operational costs.

It would help us tremendously, said Bates, vice chairwoman of the Committee on Administration.

Going forward, Supervisor Nick Smiar, chairman of the Committee on Administration and the County Board, suggested a three-prong approach  educating state lawmakers, fellow board members and taxpayers.
Rome, February 15 - President Sergio Mattarella on Friday received at the presidential Quirinale palace the returned French Ambassador to Italy Christian Masset who handed him a letter from French President Emmanuel Macron inviting him to pay a State visit to France. Mattarella cordially thanked Macron and accepted the invitation. Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Friday "I'm happy that the polemic is over. Now I renew the request to meet the French interior minister, with the aim of bringing back to Italy some of the 15 terrorists hiding for years in France". Masset on Friday returned to Rome after being recalled to Paris for consultations on February 7. Masset was discreetly greeted at Fiumicino Airport by French embassy staff. France recalled Masset for consultations citing unprecedented attacks by Italian government figures after Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio met with hardline members of the Yellow Vest protest movement in Paris. "Italian President (Sergio) Mattarella called (French) President (Emmanuel) Macron, they talked and they said how important the friendship between France and Italy is, how much the two countries need each other," European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau told RTL. "We have also listened to the political leaders who let slip words and conduct that were frankly unfriendly and unacceptable show regret". Deputy Premier and Labour and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio said Friday that his 5-Star Movement (M5S) will not have talks with violent elements among France's Yellow Vests protestors. Di Maio last week met controversial hardline Yellow Vest member Christophe Chalencon, who has called for a military coup, ahead of May's European elections. "There was some interaction with a complex reality but we don't intend to dialogue with the part that is talking about armed struggle or civil war," Di Maio said as he presented the M5S's manifesto for the European elections. In other EU news Friday, Deputy Premier and Euroskeptic League leader Matteo Salvini said Friday, after the League's economic pointsman Claudio Borghi said Rome should exit the EU if it is "still toxic" after May's European elections, that Italy has no intention of leaving the European Union. "We have no intention of leaving Europe, we want to change it, improve it bit not abandon it," said Salvini, who is also interior minister. League economy pointman Borghi said earlier Friday that Italy should consider leaving the EU if the bloc does not change radically following the May 26 European elections. "I think that this is the last chance. If, after the European elections, the same mandarins led by Germany are the ones driving the economic, social and migratory policies, for the sole benefit of Germany and to our detriment, I'll say we should leave," Borghi said. "We either manage to change it or we'll have to come out". The League MP said the EU project was a "failure" and "toxic for Italy". "If the environment remains toxic, I'll say let's get out," he said. Rome should say clearly if it wants to exit the European Union, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said. "Let the Italian government say clearly whether it wants to leave the euro and the European Union," Tajani said on Twitter. "Too many ambiguities and ill-considered declarations only cause harm to Italy and the Italians".
Rome, February 15 - President Sergio Mattarella on Friday received at the presidential Quirinale palace French Ambassador to Italy Christian Masset who handed him a letter from French President Emmanuel Macron inviting him to pay a State visit to France. Mattarella cordially thanked Macron and accepted the invitation. Masset on Friday returned to Rome after being recalled to Paris for consultations on February 7. Masset was discreetly greeted at Fiumicino Airport by French embassy staff. France recalled Masset for consultations citing unprecedented attacks by Italian government figures after Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio met with hardline members of the Yellow Vest protest movement in Paris. "Italian President (Sergio) Mattarella called (French) President (Emmanuel) Macron, they talked and they said how important the friendship between France and Italy is, how much the two countries need each other," European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau told RTL. "We have also listened to the political leaders who let slip words and conduct that were frankly unfriendly and unacceptable show regret". Deputy Premier and Labour and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio said Friday that his 5-Star Movement (M5S) will not have talks with violent elements among France's Yellow Vests protestors. Di Maio last week met controversial hardline Yellow Vest member Christophe Chalencon, who has called for a military coup, ahead of May's European elections. "There was some interaction with a complex reality but we don't intend to dialogue with the part that is talking about armed struggle or civil war," Di Maio said as he presented the M5S's manifesto for the European elections.
Islamabad, February 15 - A Pakistani court on Friday acquitted the father, uncle and brother of a Pakistani-Italian woman from Brescia who was killed after refusing an arranged marriage. The relatives of 25-year-old Sana Cheema were cleared of the 'honour killing' because of a "lack of clear proof", the court in Pakistan said. Cheema's family claimed she had died of natural causes but an autopsy said she had been strangled to death. The centre-left opposition Democratic Party (PD)'s Alfredo Bazoli said the acquittals were "disconcerting" and urged the Italian diplomatic service to contact Pakistani authorities "over this murky affair", recalling that Cheema's father had confessed to her murder. Bazoli is PD chief on the House justice committee.
Naples, February 15 - Campania Governor Vincenzo De Luca said Friday he would write to Premier Giuseppe Conte later in the day to request autonomy for the southern region after applications from the northern regions of Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna. "We asked to be linked to the discussion regarding Veneto, Lombardy and Emilia a month ago," he said. "We did not receive a reply and today we will formalise the request for differentiated autonomy for Campania too according to our line: defence of national unity, parity of conditions for all Italian citizens, levels of services equal for all and penalties and rewards for all those administrators who show they are or are not able to administrate in a correct way". Critics say the request by the three northern regions will end national solidarity and create second-class citizens.
Paris, February 15 - The Vatican nuncio to France Msgr Luigi Ventura has been placed under investigation by Paris prosecutors on suspicion of "sexual attacks" on a young functionary on the Paris council, Le Monde reported Friday. The "aggressions" are said to have taken place during a reception at the Hotel de Ville on January 17, the French daily said. Ventura is alleged to have tried to molest the clerk at a ceremony hosted by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Le Monde said. Originally from Lombardy, Ventura is 74 and has been the Vatican's envoy to Paris since 2009. Interim director the of the Vatican press office Alessandro Gisotti told journalists: "The Holy See has learned from the press that an investigation has been launched by French authorities into Msgr Luigi Ventura, Apostolic Nuncio in Paris. "The Holy See is awaiting the result of the investigations".
Naples, February 15 - A 'dream room' in which the Russian-French artist Marc Chagall's works surround visitors in an otherworldly atmosphere is part of an exhibition opening in Naples on Friday. The exhibition at the Basilica della Pietrasanta - Lapis Museum includes 150 works that tell of the life and feelings of the artist for his beloved wife Bella. Alongside paintings, drawings, watercolors and etchings there is also a group of rare works from private collections that would otherwise be difficult for the public to access. Curated by Dolores Duran Ucar, the exhibition is a journey into the world of wonders of Chagall (1887-1985), his childhood memories mixed with the Russian tradition of fables and amid poetry, religion and war. The works have intense hues that give life to landscapes and fantastic figures on the edge between reality and dreams. The show, which will remain open until June 30, is divided into five sections based on themes dear to Chagall: Childhood and Russian Traditions, Dreams and Fables, The Holy World, The Bible, A Painter with a Poet's Wings, and Gravity-Defying Love. 'Chagall, Sogno d'Amore' ('Chagall, Dream of Love') is being held with support from Fondazione Cultura e Arte and was organized and produced by Gruppo Arthemisia. It is receiving support from the Campania regional government and the Naples town council and is promoted by the Naples town council department for culture and tourism under the aegis of the Naples archdiocese. The catalogue publisher is Arthemisia Books. Taking part in the presentation was the rector of the basilica, Vincenzo de Gregorio, the head of the Pietrasanta Polo Culturale non-profit organization, Naples councillor for culture Nino Daniele, and curator Iole Siena of Guppo Arthemisia. The exhibition is inaugurating the L'Arte della Solidarieta project, implemented by Arthemisia alongside Susan G. Komen Italia, an organization that works to fight breast cancer. In the crypt and underground chambers of the Basilica della Pietrasanta there are also the shows 'Sacra Neapolis - Culti, Miti, Leggende' ('Holy Neapolis: Cults, Myths and Legends') in collaboration with the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, the institutional partner of the basilica (until September 15) and 'Napoli: Storia, Arte, Vulcani' ('Naples: History, Art and Volcanoes') with the Osservatorio Vulcano (until March 30).
Rome, February 15 - Italian police on Friday seized over nine million euros in assets from the former MP and ex-treasurer of the now-defunct centre-left Daisy party, Luigi Lusia, after his December 2017 conviction for misappropriation and embezzlement. The liquidators of the Daisy said "this confiscation has carried out our decision". Former Daisy Senator Lusi turned himself in in December 2017 after a receiving definitive seven-year prison sentence. The supreme Court of Cassation upheld Lusi's conviction for embezzling 25 million euros in party funds and defaming former Daisy leader Francesco Rutelli, an ex Rome mayor.
Naples, February 15 - Lower House Speaker Roberto Fico said Friday that parliament should have a big say on whether, and to what degree, some regions should be allowed to have greater autonomy. Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna are bidding to have greater control, but critics have said that the drive for more autonomy could be to the detriment of other regions, above all, less wealthy ones in the south. Deputy Premier, Interior Minister and League leader Matteo Salvini is said to be ready to support the three regions' bids for greater autonomy in the cabinet, but his coalition partners in the 5-Star Movement (M5S) are reportedly concerned about the danger this would create "top flight and second-tier citizens". "As Speaker of the House, I say that it is important, extremely important, for parliament to have a central role in the question of autonomy," Fico, an M5S member, said as he arrived in Naples for a conference on this issue organized by trade union CISL. "It cannot have a marginal role regarding such an important thing. "The fair distribution of resources is in our Constitution". Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala, meanwhile, said there was too much confusion and argued the process should be put on ice until things are clearer. "I have to confess that I don't understand exactly what we are talking about," Sala said in a video posted on Facebook. "This autonomy is shrouded in mystery so my appeal is a simple one - stop and let's talk".
Rome, February 15 - Carabinieri police in the southern region of Calabria said Friday that overnight they captured a "dangerous" 'Ndrangheta mafia fugitive, Francesco Strangio. Strangio, who had been on the run for a year, was found in an apartment in the centre of Rose, a small town in the province of Cosenza. He is linked to the Strangio-Janchi clan of San Luca and will now serve a 14-year term for international drug trafficking for having negotiated and managed the importation of cocaine from South America.
Paris, February 15 - France's Ambassador to Rome Christian Masset is returning to Italy on Friday, French European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau said. France recalled Masset for consultations last week citing unprecedented attacks by Italian government figures after Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio met with members of the Yellow Vest protest movement in France. "Italian President (Sergio) Mattarella called (French) President (Emmanuel) Macron, they talked and they said how important the friendship between France and Italy is, how much the two countries need each other," Loiseau told RTL. "We have also listened to the political leaders who let slip words and conduct that were frankly unfriendly and unacceptable show regret".
Buena Vista, CO (81211)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, with mainly clear skies after midnight. Low 46F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, with mainly clear skies after midnight. Low 46F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
The Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University announced more than $129,000 in awards to support the summer projects and research of 56 Princeton undergraduates. Although all first-, second- and third-year student-artists are eligible to apply, for many of...
MISSOULA- The Missoula Elks Lodge has transformed into a pop-up movie theater in preparation for the 16th Annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.

For the third year, the Missoula Hell Gate Elks Lodge will serve as a premiere venue for the festival.

A soft opening of the festival is happening Friday at the Elks Lodge with a screening of Out of Omaha. According to the film festival website the movie was, "filmed over 8 years." It follows, "black twin brothers as they come of age in racially divided Omaha, Nebraska. From director Clay Tweel and executive producer J. Cole, the film examines what it takes to overcome systemic injustice."

Festival organizers are pulling out all the stops to ensure audiences and filmmakers have a top notch experience.

"We bring in all this really professional equipment to make it a really high quality cinema, even though it's a pop up theater," said festival director Rachel Gregg. "The filmmakers bringing their world premieres to the festival still have a really great experience. It's also really cool to just celebrate some of the old spaces in Missoula that a lot of people don't even know are here."

The festival runs from Friday, February 15 - Sunday, February 24. To learn more, click here.
UPDATE 5:41 PM

I-90 is now open in both directions between Lookout Pass and St. Regis, Montana. Drivers are still being told to drive carefully because there is snow in the area.

ST. REGIS, Mont. - Westbound traffic on Interstate 90 remains closed from St. Regis to the Idaho State line due to avalanche danger.

Eastbound lanes about five miles east of Lookout Pass have re-opened after several semis crashed just after 12:30 PM, Thursday.

The Montana Department of Transportation says westbound traffic is closed indefinitely because of the danger. An avalanche expert is on site assessing the situation.

A statement from MDT says, "we will reopen when it is safe to do so but we have no timeline on when that may occur."

An avalanche Wednesday afternoon shut down the westbound lanes. A detour has been set up in the area.

Click here for the latest Montana road conditions.

Below is a press release from the Montana Dept. of Transportation:

HELENA --The Montana Department of Transportation has closed the westbound lanes of I-90 from St. Regis to the Idaho border. On February 13th at approximately 3:30 pm multiple avalanches occurred west of St. Regis. On February 14th the snow and debris from those avalanches were removed; however, several minor slides have occurred since then, and MDT maintenance crews are currently clearing those areas of snow. There continues to be areas of instability increasing the likelihood of additional slides.

MDT has an avalanche expert on site and is accessing areas of instability for additional mitigation. As soon as it is safe to do so, MDT will reopen westbound lanes of I-90 to the traveling public, but it is unknown at this time when that will occur. Eastbound lanes will remain open, but this is subject to change based on conditions.

Travelers may consider an alternate route of MT 135 at St. Regis to MT 200. Once in Idaho, travelers can divert back to I-90.

The public is advised to stay out of the road closure area and not travel beyond the closure  even on foot.
Montana State University Billings newly released Spring 2019 semester enrollment data has shown significant student retention improvements.

According to the university's press release, from fall 2018 to spring 2019 semesters, student headcount decreased by 27 students. In the last four years, MSU Billings' headcount dropped on average 270 students between the two semesters each year.

The university mentions in it's release that spring semester enrollment is typically smaller than fall enrollment among most colleges and universities across the United States.

KULR-8 spoke with the Chancellor of MSUB, Dr. Dan Edelman. He credited the improvements to the school's focus on putting students first.

"We want to make sure that we meet the students where they're at and we get them the services they need in order to succeed. That is a reflection of our early alert system so we know when students are not showing up for class, we know when students are failing courses, we reach out and say what's going on, we offer help. We provide tutoring, we provide counseling, we do all kinds of things like that. We also opened up additional courses because we weren't offering the courses at the right time or we had full courses but we didn't open up additional sections, so we changed some of those as well," explained Edelman.

The university also recognized the benefits of changes and price reductions with residence hall offerings. Fall 2018 to spring 2019 retention among MSUB residence hall students has increased. That is a trend the school is hoping to continue into the next semester.
Aurora Police Department says four police officers have been struck along with a "number of civilians" in a shooting in Aurora, Illinois.
Weather Alert

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions probable. Expect daytime temperatures in lower elevations to climb into the 100s, and mid to upper 90s in higher elevations. Overnight lows in the 60s will be common in many areas. Record highs for June are expected to break, and all time record highs may be threatened. Streaks of consecutive days at or above 100 may be threatened as well. The heat may last through the July 4th weekend. * WHERE...A great portion of Southeast Idaho including Mud Lake, INL, Craters of the Moon NM, Idaho Falls, Rexburg, St. Anthony, Pocatello, Blackfoot, American Falls, Shelley, Fort Hall, Albion, Almo, Malta, Rockland, Holbrook, Inkom, McCammon, Downey, Lava Hot Springs, Malad, Preston, Thatcher, Howe, Arco, Mackay, Chilly, Borah Peak, Challis, Clayton, Stanley, Ketchum, Sun Valley, Galena, Copper Basin, Hailey, Bellevue, and Picabo * WHEN...From Tuesday afternoon through Thursday evening. * IMPACTS...Extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...While the forecast daily highs may fluctuate slightly before the heat settles in, confidence remains very high in a long-duration unseasonal heat event. Very hot daytime high temperatures will combine with extremely warm overnight lows to exacerbate heat stress. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Monitor the latest forecasts and warnings for updates on this situation. Be prepared to drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air- conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. This is especially true during warm or hot weather when car interiors can reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes. &&
Auburn, IN (46706)

Today

Showers and thunderstorms. High 76F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall may reach one inch..

Tonight

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. Low 69F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Angola, IN (46703)

Today

Heavy rain to start, then showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 76F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms. Low 69F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Showers and thunderstorms. High 76F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. Low 69F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
The Senate will vote Thursday on whether to send President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, William Barr, back to the Department of Justice, marking his second tour atop an agency facing down a set of threats unimaginable in his first go-around.
Police: Man runs suspects off the road after they try to force him to stop, point rifle at him
'He stuck his gun out the window at me;' man describes brush with suspect who shot kidnapped woman, murdered innocent driver
Police are looking for two suspects who were captured on surveillance video when they stole guns from a Rural King store in Swansea, Illinois.
Music artist R. Kelly was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse Friday morning, according to records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
(Adds trader's comment, stock moves)

Feb 15 (Reuters) - Defensive stocks led Britain's FTSE 100 on Friday as it headed for a third straight week of gains following a string of upbeat results and hopes of progress in U.S.-China trade talks.

The midcap FTSE 250 meanwhile saw online trading platform Plus500 fall sharply on a report that it may have "misled" investors over losses.

The FTSE 100 added 0.2 percent and the midcaps handed back losses to trade flat by 1030 GMT, as investors saw little change in the Brexit backdrop after Prime Minister Theresa May's latest defeat in parliament on Thursday. Consumer, telecommunication and healthcare stocks -- often deemed attractive in times of economic uncertainty -- all gained as weak U.S. retail sales data and more downbeat data from China fanned worries about the health of the world economy.

Data showed that British retail sales rebounded strongly in January as clothing discounts attracted shoppers, bucking a slowing trend of consumer spending ahead of Brexit. CMC Markets analyst David Madden said a bounce-back in global equities since late December appeared to be losing steam.

"Some of the ground that has been made up in the last 7-8 weeks could actually be handed back in the near term," he said.

Royal Bank of Scotland added 1.3 percent after announcing a better-than-expected dividend and reporting a more than doubling of 2018 profit. Standard Life Aberdeen slumped 6.7 percent and was on course for its steepest one-day fall in a year after a share offering was priced at a discount.

Oil companies Shell and BP also weakened as Brent crude oil prices fell from 2019 highs they hit earlier as economic concerns countered OPEC-led supply cuts .

On the FTSE 250, shares in Plus500 tumbled 12 percent to more than a year low after the Times newspaper reported that the company may not have informed investors about a $103 million hit from client trading in 2017.

Plus500 declined to comment on the report.

Friday's fall deepened year-to-date losses after Plus500 lost nearly one-third of its value this weak following a profit warning. Peers IG Group and CMC Markets also slipped.

"After poking in a massive profit warning out of the blue, this (the Times report) adds further mistrust about management" a trader said.

Miner Centamin rose 3.7 percent after it announced an increase in mineral resources in Ivory Coast.

Restaurant Group , which slumped in the last session after announcing a CEO departure, added 2.5 percent after a Berenberg rating upgrade.

Premier Foods skidded 6.3 percent after dropping plans to sell its dessert brand, Ambrosia.

(Reporting by Muvija M and Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Helen Reid in London; Editing by Catherine Evans)
* German equities fall after weak China data

* European car shares falls

* Brent crude hits three-month high as exporters cut output

By Tom Wilson

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - European shares recovered on Friday after weak U.S. and Chinese economic data earlier sent global equity markets into a dive.

After opening lower, Europe's STOXX 600 nudged up 0.2 percent despite weakness in German equities. Demand for safe-haven currencies remained strong.

Stocks fell after a U.S. report that retail sales had dropped in December to their lowest since 2009 and by data on Chinese producer prices, which were little changed for a seventh straight month in January. {nUSNEDEFQ3] Germany's main stock index , which is exposed to the Chinese economy because of its large number of exporters, was down 0.2 percent by 0932 GMT. It had fallen as much as 0.5 percent.

European car stocks , a bellwether for the continent's economy, fell 1 percent as sales dropped and the deadline approached for a U.S. Commerce Department that could lead to the imposition of tariffs. "After hot markets of late, a little bit of cold water has been poured on bourses over the last 24 hours," said Deutsche Bank's strategist Jim Reid.

The slow start in European shares reflected nerves across global equity markets. MSCI's world equity index , which tracks shares in 47 countries, was flat.

Emerging markets were set for their first back-to-back weekly loss since late last year. The MSCIEF index of emerging market stocks dropped 0.8 percent.

Investors in Asia took fright early after the U.S. retail sales report. Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.1 percent as market in Seoul , Tokyo and Shanghai all lost ground.

Worries about the United States, which many considered a bright spot in the world economy, offset some optimism over trade talks in Beijing between the United States and China.

The two top U.S. negotiators were due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, but no decision has been taken to extend a March 1 deadline for a deal.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a tweet on Friday that he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had "productive meetings" with China's Vice Premier Liu He. SAFE HAVEN

The Japanese yen and other safe-haven currencies made gains as the market awaited developments in the trade talks. The dollar remained fairly robust in spite of the U.S. retail figures, trading up 0.2 percent at 97.1 against a basket of major currencies.

The euro was 0.2 percent lower at $1.1278 and headed for a second week of losses. It is down by 1.7 percent so far this year after discouraging economic data from the euro zone.

The 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield fell to 2.6483 percent , wiping out most of its rise this week.

Commodities diverged from wider market trends. Crude oil briefly reached 2019 highs above $65 per barrel after OPEC-led supply cuts and a bigger-than-expected cut by Saudi Arabia this week encouraged investors.

The global Brent benchmark last traded at $64.75, up 18 cents, or 0.28 percent, from the last close. It has risen 4.5 percent this week.

(Reporting by Tom Wilson, additional reporting by Marc Jones and Helen Reid; editing by Larry King)
MILAN, Feb 15 (Reuters) - European Parliament elections in May will be the last chance for populist parties to change Europe, a prominent member of Italy's ruling League party said on Friday, adding that otherwise his country would have to leave.

"I think this is the last opportunity," Claudio Borghi

chairman of the lower house budget committee and the League's economics spokesman said at a conference in Milan.

He said he hoped populist parties win the majority of seats in the EU parliament.

"Either we succeed in changing (Europe) now or we will have to leave," Borghi said.

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Writing by Giselda Vagnoni)

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.
By Rajendra Jadhav and Swati Verma

MUMBAI/BENGALURU, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A rally in domestic prices curtailed physical gold demand in India and Japan, with interest in the precious metal lacklustre in other Asian centres as markets gradually return from the Lunar New Year holidays.

In India, gold traded around 34,400 rupees per 10 grams, not far off a record high of 35,074 rupees hit in August 2013. Local prices have jumped more than 13 percent in the past six months.

"Consumers don't want to make purchases at the current price level. They are waiting for a correction," said Ketan Shroff, managing director of Mumbai-based bullion dealer Penta Gold.

Retail consumers may, however, resume buying for weddings if prices stay at current levels for a fortnight, Shroff said.

Dealers in India were offering a discount of up to $5 an ounce over official domestic prices this week, up from a discount of $1.5 last week. The domestic price includes a 10 percent import tax.

Most jewellers are not making purchases from banks due to weak retail demand and rising scrap supplies, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a bullion importing bank. Demand in Japan also remained weak as local gold prices surged, with the metal being sold at a discount of 50 cents to the global spot price, a Tokyo-based trader said.

Individual investors are selling the precious metal to make profit as gold priced in yen is climbing, the trader added.

Yen denominated gold rose to its highest since early February, 2018 this week.

In top consumer China, premiums dropped to $7-$10 an ounce over the benchmark from the $10-$12 charged in the week ending Feb. 1, traders said.

"The volumes have dropped a bit after the Lunar New Year as a lot of traders are still off in China," said a trader based in Singapore.

Premiums of 50-80 cents were charged in Singapore compared with 80 cents last week. Hong Kong premiums were in a 50 cents to $1.30 an ounce range, little changed from last week.

Spot gold prices have been hemmed in a tight range for most of this week, as investors awaited the outcome of the ongoing U.S.-China trade talks. "Until there is a solution to what is happening globally with Brexit and trade talks, we might see no clear direction," said Brian Lan, managing director at dealer GoldSilver Central in Singapore.

(Reporting by Swati Verm and Karthika Suresh Namboothiri in Bengaluru and Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai; editing by David Evans)
Historically, the gold trend in either direction has driven the silver market. Investors typically ignore this tiny sector until gold has rallied long and high enough to convince them its upside momentum is sustainable. Since the price of silver peaked at nearly $50 per ounce in early 2011, this precious metal with a strong industrial component has continued to lag the gold price. And for the most part, this seemingly endless bear market has kept speculators in most things silver on the sidelines for eight years.

Despite a strong finish in 2018, silver continued to disappoint long suffering bulls of this forgotten sector last year, leading to a plunge in sentiment and speculators building up record short positions. At its worst by mid-November, golds little sister was down over 17% year-to-date with a 2.2x bullion comparable loss. Although silver had a brief flicker of excitement in early 2016 with a 50% move in six months to $20 per ounce, 96% of this huge gain was lost by the time silver struck its low at $13.86 per ounce on November 13th.

However, since that brief visit below $14 late last year, silver is becoming attractive to contrarians. Patient speculators, who have waited for signs of the capitulation move which began last summer to reverse, are beginning to scale into the sector. The grey metal has also become increasingly attractive to investors looking for undervalued asset classes and safe-haven investments.

This year, I expect the sentiment to be more supportive for the silver market. The Silver Institute has recently published some bullish insights on 2019 silver market trends, which were summed up in a Northern Miner article last week.

Moreover, after making a quarter-century low relative to the gold price late last year, silver began to outperform gold. And more importantly, as mentioned in this column last week, a few of the best in breed silver juniors have continued to climb while the precious metals complex consolidates its recent gains. Seeing speculation rise in these high-risk vehicles, combined with their recent divergence from the gold complex, is a bullish sign for the overall precious metals sector.

Although the silver price typically outperforms gold during precious metal bull markets, a properly timed entry into a basket of silver junior developers, explorers, and growth-oriented producers will provide much more leverage to the metal. In fact, when the mining complex made a significant bottom in early 2016, most silver juniors made over 3x moves inside of six months!

I have listed my favorite junior in each of the aforementioned sub-sectors below and all three possess high leverage to the silver price.

Growth-Oriented Silver Producer (GOP):

Alexco Resources (AXU, AXR.TO): This near-term silver producer controls a district scale sized land package of 233 sq km in the Yukon. The Keno Hills Silver District contains four deposits with an average grade of over 800 g/pt and less than 15% of the property has been explored. There is a fully functional 500tpd mill on site and the company currently has a rapidly expanding resource of over 83 million ounces of indicated silver.

Alexco remains on track to have the results of a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) published by the end of Q1 and will be making a production decision by the end of Q2 2019. If a positive production decision is made, the company will have six months of pre-production work to complete before becoming Canadas only high-grade primary silver producer. While many of the companys peers have been high-grading production during a depressed silver market, Alexcos high-margin reserves have remained in the ground, awaiting higher silver prices.

Alexco also owns the cash-flow generating Alexco Environment Group (AEG). AEG is a profitable environmental consulting and remediation firm, which provides environmental consulting services and is a projects group with proven capacity for turnkey remediation projects execution. The company has $14M in cash with an undrawn $15M credit facility and 120M fully diluted shares. Here is the latest company presentation.

Silver Developer/Explorer:

Bear Creek Mining (BCEKF, BCM.V): The company controls 100% of the Corani silver-lead-zinc project, located in the Puno region of southern Peru. The project is approximately 160 km southeast of Cusco and consists of twelve mineral concessions that form a contiguous block of ground covering approximately 5,700 hectares. Corani boasts current reserves which will support average annual production of 8M ounces of silver and 150M pounds combined lead and zinc over an 18-year mine life.

At $18.00/oz silver, $0.95/lb lead and $1.10/lb zinc, the project has an after-tax NPV at a 5% discount rate of $404 million and an IRR of 15.1%, with a payback period of 3.6 years. The NPV increases approximately US$112M for every $1 increase in the silver price (with proportional increases in lead and zinc).

As the company continues to advance the project, they are committed to maintaining the optionality of Corani as long as possible, while balancing permitting and social responsibilities. This includes, most recently, continued community programs, along with work on local access roads and a nearby electrical substation. Bear Creek is also conducting extensive ongoing engineering work in coordination with Ausenco engineering. Once the silver price has a solid $20 floor, I expect this junior to be a strong take-over target.

There is solid institutional ownership in the tightly held stock, which has a retail float of just 37% of 103M shares outstanding. The company boasts US$41M in cash and no debt. Here is the latest company presentation.

Early Stage Gold/Silver Explorer:

Minaurum Gold (MMRGF, MGG.V): This regional discovery generator controls five projects which are contained within three district scale sized land packages and located in three separate regions of Mexico. The company has assembled a top notch management team which has been responsible for multiple large, high-grade discoveries. Minaurums strategy is to acquire low-holding cost, high-reward projects and to warehouse them for the next bull market.

The company is in the process of drilling a high-grade silver discovery made in January of last year at its Alamos Project in Sonora, Mexico. Alamos contains a wide, high-grade epithermal vein system which has historically produced approximately 200M ounces of silver. There is the potential for a large, high-grade system with over 780 samples having been analyzed identifying several selected targets, ranging from 308  3,230 g/t silver. The project has never been systematically explored, and so far, historical and Minaurum mapping and sampling work has identified eight additional vein target zones.

Although there are nearly 325M fully diluted shares, the stock is very tightly held with only 15% of the 308M outstanding free trading. The company has no debt with C$10M in cash, which will fund two years of drilling. Here is the latest company presentation.

Full disclosure: I own shares of AXU, BCEKF & MMRGF, which were purchased in the open market and have also recommended all three of these companies to my subscribers. I do not receive any monetary compensation or stock options from any of the companies I invest in, or discuss in my Kitco weekly articles. Please do your own due diligence before purchasing shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article.

Stop by my website at www.juniorminerjunky.com and sign up for my free email list. You will receive this column in your inbox each week, along with current interviews.
CHARLES CITY, Iowa  A Waterloo woman is arrested in Floyd County for assault while displaying a dangerous weapon.

The Charles City Police Department says it was called just before 5 pm Thursday about a fight in the 700 block of 11th Street. Officers say Amanda Mae Kellogg threatened another man, assaulted him, and then showed off a blue knife.

The man told police he feared Kellogg would hurt him. Court records say Kellogg admitted to displaying the knife towards the man.

In addition, Charles City police say they also picked up Tyquandos Harmon, 30 of Waterloo, at the scene. Officer say Harmon was wanted on a warrant for check forgery out of Black Hawk County.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Senate resoundingly approved a border security compromise Thursday that ignores most of President Donald Trump's demands for building a wall with Mexico but would prevent a new government shutdown. The White House said Trump would sign it but then declare a national emergency and perhaps invoke other executive powers to try to shift money to wall-building from elsewhere in the federal budget.

Congress' Democratic leaders, Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the House and Chuck Schumer in the Senate, quickly branded such a presidential declaration "a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency and a desperate attempt to distract from the fact that President Trump broke his core promise to have Mexico pay for his wall."

House passage and Trump's signature were assured for the basic spending bill compromise, which for now would stamp a bipartisan coda on a nasty melee that's dominated the initial months of power sharing in Washington.

Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King issued the following statement on the deal:

I have been asking the President to declare a National Emergency to address border security for months, and I support his doing so today. President Trump is on solid Constitutional ground, and I hope he uses this authority to build all of the wall thats needed, which means extending it until illegal aliens stop going around the end. Americans understand that if a 2,000 mile wall facilitated illegal immigration, Democrats would be clamoring for a National Emergency of their own to build it.

In fact, the government shutdown allowed the President to show the American public that the Democrats just cannot be trusted to place the security interests of the American public over Democrats political interests in an open borders agenda which places the desires of illegal aliens above the needs and wishes of the American people. The conference report that was produced in the wake of the shutdown is woefully insufficient to begin to address our border security needs, just as the Democrats who helped draft it wanted and ensured.

The specter of the national-emergency declaration has produced widespread opposition in Congress, but Trump is under pressure to soothe his conservative base and avoid looking like he's surrendered in his wall battle with Congress.

At the White House, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump would sign the bill and take "other executive action, including a national emergency." She added, "The president is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country."

Trump had demanded $5.7 billion to start building more than 200 miles of wall. The bipartisan agreement provides under $1.4 billion  enough for just 55 miles of new barriers and fencing.

An emergency declaration and other assertions of executive power to access money are expected to prompt lawsuits and potential votes in Congress aimed at blocking Trump from diverting money, which could conceivably reach billions of dollars. White House aides and congressional Republicans have suggested Trump might tap funds targeted for military construction, disaster relief and counterdrug efforts.

In a surprising development, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would support Trump's emergency declaration. That was a turnabout for the Kentucky Republican, who like Democrats and many Republicans has until now opposed such action.

Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst issued the following statement on the border compromise:

Negotiating in good faith and working towards a compromise means both sides get things they want and things they dont. Theres a lot of good in this compromise legislation, but there are also parts that fall short,

We successfully fought back against radical and unreasonable positions from our Democratic colleagueslike abolishing ICE and borders all togetherin order to reach a deal that provides critical funds for border security and gives the president the tools to curb illegal immigration and the flow of drugs into Iowa and the rest of the country.

However, Im frustrated this bill fails to extend the Violence Against Women Act, legislation I have long called on to be modernized and reauthorized. It also contains a provision that could hamstring federal law enforcement efforts and open the door for illegal criminals to evade deportation using vulnerable children. While it sets up the critical framework for a border wall, Im concerned there are provisions tucked into this compromise bill that will actually establish roadblocks for wall construction in areas where it is needed.

At the end of the day, this legislation is a key starting point that will allow the president to move forward on desperately needed border security efforts.

Democratic opponents of a declaration have said there is no crisis at the border and Trump is merely sidestepping Congress, while Republicans have warned that future Democratic presidents could use the move to force spending on their own priorities like gun control.

But lawmakers from both parties were openly relieved to forestall a fresh federal shutdown and put the border security battle  at least this phase of it  behind them.

Meeting with reporters, House Speaker Pelosi, warned that legal action aimed at blocking Trump's emergency declaration was an option, but she stopped short of saying it would definitely occur.

No. 2 House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was more definitive. "House Democrats will challenge this irresponsible declaration," he said in a statement.

The Senate approved the border security deal by a lopsided 83-16 tally. The House planned to vote on passage in the evening.

Trump's signature will end this stage of a raucous legislative saga that commenced before Christmas and was ending, almost fittingly, on Valentine's Day. The low point was the historically long 35-day partial federal shutdown, which Trump sparked and was in full force when Democrats took control of the House, compelling him to share power for the first time.

Iowa Democratic Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer issued the following statement on the deal:

Im glad that Republicans and Democrats were able to come together on a border security package, avoiding another government shutdown and devoting real resources to our nations security. Iowans are sick and tired of government by chaos and dysfunction. This bipartisan agreement increases funding for security at our border and provides our law enforcement officials with the technology and resources they need to keep us safe.

The potential declaration of a national emergency is concerning and could take essential money from critical projects like the Cedar Rapids flood wall. That federal commitment, made to the people of Eastern Iowa, should not be up for debate.

Trump yielded on the shutdown Jan. 25 after public opinion turned against him and congressional Republicans. He'd won not a nickel of the $5.7 billion he'd demanded for his wall but had caused missed paychecks for legions of federal workers and contractors and lost government services for countless others. It was a political fiasco for Trump and an early triumph for Pelosi.

The fight left both parties dead set against another shutdown. That sentiment weakened Trump's hand and fueled the bipartisan deal, a pact that contrasts with the parties' still-raging differences over health care, taxes and investigations of the president.

Notably, the word "wall"  which fueled many a chant at Trump campaign events and then his rallies as president  does not appear once in the compromise's 1,768 pages of legislation and explanatory materials. "Barriers" and "fencing" are the nouns of choice.

The pact would also squeeze funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in an attempt to pressure the agency to gradually detain fewer immigrants. To the dismay of Democrats, it would still leave an agency many of them consider abusive holding thousands more immigrants than it did last year.

The measure contains money for improved surveillance equipment, more customs agents and humanitarian aid for detained immigrants. The overall bill also provides $330 billion to finance dozens of federal programs for the rest of the year, one-fourth of federal agency budgets.

The agreement was expected to be carried by pragmatists from both parties. Many of Congress' most liberal members were expected to oppose it, unwilling to yield an inch to Trump's anti-immigrant policies, while staunch conservatives preferred a bill that would go further.

"I made a promise to my community that I wouldn't fund ICE," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a freshman who's become a face of her party's left wing and a leading proponent of eliminating the agency.

Swallowing the deal would mark a major concession by Trump, who has spent months calling the situation at the southern border a national security crisis. In private conversations, Trump has called the congressional bargainers poor negotiators, said a person familiar with the conversations who wasn't authorized to speak publicly.

Trump has repeatedly vowed Mexico would pay for the wall, a suggestion that country has spurned. His descriptions of the wall's size have fluctuated, at times saying it would cover 1,000 of the 2,000-mile boundary. Previous administrations constructed over 650 miles of barriers.

Facing opposition from Trump, Democrats lost their bid to include language giving federal contractors back pay for wages lost during the last shutdown. Government workers have been paid for time they were furloughed or worked without paychecks.

Also omitted was an extension of the Violence Against Women Act. Democrats say this will give them a chance later this year to add protections for transgender people to that law.
AUSTIN, Minn.  One of three people arrested after a joint law enforcement operation in June 2018 is pleading guilty.

Darrin Darrell Downer Jr., 21 of Austin, has pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property and illegal possession of a firearm suppressor. His sentencing is scheduled for June 13.

Darrin Downer was arrested along with Jesse Downer and Michelle Downer after Austin police, the Mower County Sheriffs Office, and the Southeast Minnesota Violent Crime Enforcement Team searched a home in the 1600 block of 16th Street SW.

Austin police say the found a stolen 9-millimeter gun, a TEC-9 with a silencer, nearly a pound of marijuana in a bag and smaller amounts of the drug throughout the home, two bags of Xanax, ammunition, and over $2,000 in cash. Authorities say an eight-year-old boy and two-year-old girl were also at the home.

Jesse Downer, 29 of Austin, has pleaded not guilty to violent felon in possession of a firearm, receiving stolen property, two counts of 5th degree drug possession, and child endangerment. Michelle Downer pleaded not guilty to receiving stolen property, two counts of 5th degree drug possession, and child endangerment. Their trials are set to begin on April 8.
CARLSTON TOWNSHIP, Minn.  One person is hurt in a two-vehicle collision in Freeborn County Thursday.

It happened on Highway 109 just west of Alden at around 1:30 pm. The Minnesota State Patrol says Teya Morgan Treptow, 18 of Wells, was driving west, crossed the center line, and smashed into the eastbound vehicle driven by James Lee Schull, 71 of Mapleton.

Schull suffered a non-life threatening injury and was taken to Mayo County Health System of Albert Lea.

The Alden Fire Department, Gold Cross Ambulance, and Freeborn County Sheriffs Office assisted at the scene.
BANCROFT TOWNSHIP, Minn.  A Twin Cities man is hurt in a Freeborn County collision.

The Minnesota State Patrol says Bruce Michael Egeness, 45 of Albert Lea, and Dijon Chase Legore, 27 of Minneapolis, were both driving south on Interstate 35 when they collided around 3:30 pm Thursday just south of Clarks Grove. Legore suffered a non-life threatening injury and was taken to Owatonna Hospital. Egeness was not harmed.

The State Patrol says both were wearing their seat belts.

Gold Cross Ambulance and Hayward Fire Department assisted at the scene.
FLOYD CO., Iowa - Iowas decision to change its Medicaid practices is putting the squeeze on Floyd County Medical Center. The budget woes have prompted the hospital to request half a million dollars from the county board. The board has tentatively approved half that amount.

The hospital maintains it lost roughly $700K last year because of the Medicaid changes.

When the state went to privatize Medicaid, its resulted in the insurance companies that are managing it for the state to basically govern how hospitals are reimbursed, said Administrator Rod Nordeng.

Now the facility is having to make widespread cuts. They have closed the Nashua Clinic, meals on wheels has changed hands and cuts to departments.

Next up, the possibility of increasing the amount Floyd County taxes residents to fund the hospital.

For two decades there has been a sense of pride that we didnt have to ask for any additional funding from the county to maintain this wonderful medical center, but you need to step forward if you want to maintain it, said Nordeng.

The state average dollar amount hospitals in rural Iowa taxes residents is about $86 per person.

Franklin and Hancock County tax around $135 per resident. Mitchell County charges their locals around $70 per person.
MASON CITY, Iowa - Valentines Day is of course a day to celebrate love, but for many it's not necessarily a happy day. After fighting cancer for 7 years, Melva Indvik is living out her final days at Mercy One North Iowa Hospice. On Thursday, she and her family got a special surprise.

We were informed this morning that they would be coming and singing to my mother-in-law this Valentines Day, says Annette Carlson.

Choir students at Newman Catholic Schools deliver these singing valentines each year along with a long-stemmed rose to raise money for their choir program. This year they added a song: "You Are My Sunshine.

Melva and her husband, Lowell, were the sunshine in each other's lives until Lowell died last October in the very same room.

They had a beautiful, beautiful, strong relationship, and were married for many years, says Carlson.

During a very difficult time, it's something Carlson and their family find peace in.

The last few months have been very challenging for her and as we reminisce about Lowell you can tell she's anxious to be with him, she says.

A Valentine's Day filled with love no matter the phase in life.

According to those at Newman, students delivered more than 65 singing valentines to people in Mason City today.
ALBERT LEA, Minn.- We've accumulated a lot of snow in the past few weeks, and there's one area you may have forgot to shovel.

Crews across our area have been busy removing snow off the roads but the city of Albert Lea says too many fire hydrants are buried in snow.

The Albert Lea Fire Department is asking for your help to remove the snow.

Corey Amanson was born and raised in Albert Lea and says this winter is one for the books.

Man, it's nuts out here ... it's super cold, really snowy as you can see, and there's been build up, he said.

Fire crews say you won't be ticketed or fined in Albert Lea if you don't shovel but fire fighters says a noticeable hydrant can make the difference between life and death.

Shoveling at least three-feet around the hydrant is what fire crews say is best.
ROCHESTER, Minn.  A convicted killer is going back to prison for harassing an ex-girlfriend.

Mark Andrew Huyber, 46 of Rochester, was arrested in June 2018 after police say he dumped sugar into the gas tank of his ex-girlfriends vehicle. Police say a gas line was also cut at the ex-girlfriends home.

Huyber pleaded guilty to 2nd degree burglary and stalking. He was sentenced Thursday to six years and nine months in state prison, with credit for 228 days already served.

Huyber was previously convicted in 2000 of 2nd degree murder for a fatal shooting in Olmsted County. He was sentenced to 17 years and eight months for that.
ALGONA, Iowa - It's a story sure to tug at your emotions.

A Humboldt County couple got to say "I do" at the Kossuth Regional Health Center last week, and some community members were able to make that happen.

Greg and Cindy Block first met on Valentine's Day 31 years ago at a restaurant in Eagle Grove.

"He kept following me around everywhere I went, not stalking. Came to my door and asked if I'd go out with him."

She describes Greg as a very social, outgoing man.

"He loved his grandkids and everybody, friends and we were always hanging out with others."

They've long dreamed of being married, and while they did get engaged, they didn't feel rushed to tie the knot. But when Greg was admitted to the hospital with an aggressive form of cancer, the clock started talking.

"Greg told Kelly, the ER nurse, 'I gotta get outta here and get married, I wanna get married.' He kept repeating it and we're going 'yes,' and it's like, 'how can we do this? He can't be moved.'"

Enter Kossuth County Deputy Roger Fisher. He was contacted by Nurse Kelly Rowlet and got the ball rolling. Within 36 hours, paperwork for a marriage license (with the three day waiting period waived by Judge Don Courtney), family members were gathered, and Greg's brother agreed to officiate the wedding. Even cakes and flowers were collected.

"It just tugs at your heart. One of the things we talked about in the ER with Greg and Cindy was that love seems to always prevail. And we had that put on the wedding cake and we made that a theme that day."

Greg passed away two days after the wedding. Still, Cindy finds herself with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude.

"He went through hell. We've always talked about marriage off and on and we...did it. It was fun."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 6)  Voters in Lanao del Norte trooped to polling precincts Wednesday despite a number of explosions ahead of the historic Bangsamoro plebiscite.

As the second round of the plebiscite wrapped up, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it considers a "60% voter turnout high" in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato.

Dir. Abas: Polls opened on time and voting went smoothly. All precincts opened. No major incident happened.  COMELEC (@COMELEC) February 6, 2019

"Regarding voter turnout, we consider a 60% voter turnout high already considering that we have voters who are from areas not asking for inclusion in the BARMM but will need to consent to the inclusion of the other areas in their municipality or province," Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas said.

Four explosions took place in Mindanao on Tuesday-- the day before voters were to decide on additional areas under the new Bangsamoro autonomous region.

The first happened along a road in Talayan, Maguindanao, while the next two were reported in the towns of Kauswagan and Lala in Lanao del Norte late Tuesday afternoon.

The latest explosion was in Sultan Naga Dimaporo, also in Lanao del Norte, at around 10 p.m. Tuesday.

No deaths or casualties were reported.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said the blasts could have been "scare tactics" of some groups ahead of the plebiscite.

"Exactly, that's how we see it (that they were only meant to sow fear). I think most of the authorities who would like to take it objectively is that they would like to look at it as a mere statement of sorts to discourage those who are supposed to cast their votes to do so," AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Edgardo Arevalo told CNN Philippines.

"These are abnormal incidents. This by and large is a sort of terrorism in itself. So we should not allow terrorism to thrive in our communities," he added.

While investigation is ongoing, Arevalo assured residents that security measures will be strengthened.

"We cannot, at this point, discount that possibility because investigations are still ongoing. From there, we'll be having some traces as to who were behind these blasts," Arevalo said.

Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, Director General Oscar Albayalde said authorities are monitoring persons of interests.

Malacanang on Wednesday said "no amount of bombing or terroristic act will scare, intimidate nor threaten" the voters in the area.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) earlier denied it had a hand in the bombings, despite claims of Lanao del Norte Governor Imelda Dimaporo that the rebel group was behind these.

Polling precincts closed at 3 p.m. Both the military and Comelec said they have not received reports of major untoward incidents during the plebiscite.

Initial counting of votes has begun in the plebiscite areas. After the tallying, returns will then be transmitted to the municipal board of canvassers. The municipal canvass will then be submitted to the National Plebiscite Board of Canvassers at the Comelec headquarters in Manila.

The poll body said it estimates results to be released in four days.

Comelec on January 25 announced the ratification of BOL four days after 1,540,017 residents in the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) voted "yes" to the creation of the entity.

When the areas covered by the BARMM are established, President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to appoint members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), which will include incumbent officials of the regional government.

The BTA will have legislative and executive powers during the transition period. It will be considered the Bangsamoro government during the transition and will have exclusive powers over budgeting, justice, agriculture, human rights and tourism, among others.
MASON CITY, Iowa  For a second time, Mason City is being sued by the former developer of the River City Renaissance.

G8 Development filed the lawsuit in November 2018, about a month after the city cancelled G8s contract for the multi-million dollar downtown development. The City Council voted to end the agreement after G8 said it could not provide financial information required by the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) in order to approve state funding for the project.

G8 Development says its deal with Mason City did not mandate the developer meet any demands by an outside party like the IEDA and therefore, Mason City breached their contract.

G8 previously sued Mason City when it decided to take the River City Renaissance project away from G8 and award it to Gatehouse Capital. That lawsuit was dropped in January 2018 after the City Council voted to continue working with G8 on the downtown project.

Mason City City Administrator Aaron Burnett says the city was first notified of this new lawsuit on Wednesday.
MASON CITY, Iowa - A 39-year-old man is the latest person to be picked up for delivering methamphetamine to a cooperating individual.

Nathaniel Ward, of Mason City, was booked into the Cerro Gordo County Jail early Thursday for delivering meth.

Authorities say the meth was delivered to a person under the direct control of the Cerro Gordo County Sheriffs Department in September of 2018 at 2nd St. SE in Mason City.

This arrest follows four others being arrested earlier this week for the same alleged crime.

Ward is being held on $20,000 bond.
The death has occurred of Sr Leonie Dobbyn who grew up in Woodstock, Inistioge.

A member of the St. John of God congregation, until last September had been actively involved as Director of the Sisters Retreat Centre at Ballyvaloo, Blackwater, Co. Wexford. Following a short visit to her family in early New Year, Sr. Leonies health deteriorated rapidly. During the final week of her illness, she was lovingly cared for by the Sisters, but more especially by the nurses at Sallyville House, Newtown Road, Wexford and the Home Care Team. She passed very peacefully to her eternal reward on the morning of Saturday, 19th January.

Ellen Veronica (Vera) Dobbyn was born in 1937  the youngest of Richard and Mary Dobbyns five children. She grew up in beautiful Woodstock, Inistioge and from there attended the local Primary School, before moving to the Brigidine Secondary School, Goresbridge. Having completed her Leaving Cert, she spent a year at the School of Housecraft, Drishane, Millstreet. After this she entered the St. John of God Novitiate in Wexford in October 1956. She was professed in 1959 and then headed to England for Teacher Training in Southampton. She taught for ten years in Trowbridge, Wiltshire and for a further twenty-five years in Cardiff. When she resigned from school, she ministered as Parish Sister in Cardiff until she was assigned as Director to Ballyvaloo in 2000.

During her teaching life in England and Wales and her years in Ballyvaloo, Leonie gave generously of her time and energy. She enjoyed her ministry and was totally committed to the children and people she served. She was always cheerful and enjoyed extending hospitality to all. A loyal and sincere friend, she was honest and upright in her dealings with pupils, staff and colleagues and was an excellent administrator. If something had to be done, it had to be done right, and she gave whatever that entailed!

Leonie was always self-sufficient and private and she bore her final illness with dignity and courage  never wishing to cause trouble or impose on anyone. This was truly verified by the fact that she had just one week of full-time care before her death.

Sr. Leonies Requiem Mass, attended by family, friends and St. John of God Sisters, was celebrated in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Rowe Street, Wexford Very Rev. Brendan Nolan, P.P. Blackwater was Chief Celebrant. He was assisted by a number of priests from Ferns, Ossory, Dublin and Cardiff dioceses. His Lordship, Most Rev. Denis Brennan said the final prayers of commendation, after which Leonie was taken to her final resting place in Foulkstown Cemetery, Kilkenny.

Leonie was predeceased by her brother Jim and her sisters Rita and Kathleen. She will be sadly missed by her sister, Moira, her sister-in-law, Theresa, her nieces, nephews, St. John of God Sisters, extended family and many friends.
Clay Center, KS (67432)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms. A few may be severe. Damaging winds and large hail with some storms. Low around 70F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms. A few may be severe. Damaging winds and large hail with some storms. Low around 70F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Weather Alert

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions will develop in central Washington on Friday and build into eastern Washington and north Idaho over the weekend. * WHERE...Portions of North and North Central Idaho. Portions of Central, East Central, North Central, Northeast, and Southeast Washington. * WHEN...From Friday through Thursday, and possibly into next weekend. * IMPACTS...Unprecedented triple digit heat and unusually warm overnight temperatures will make it difficult to control the build up of heat in homes without air conditioning. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...This event will likely be one of the most extreme and prolonged heat waves in the recorded history of the Inland Northwest. Unprecedented heat will not only threaten the health of residents in the Inland Northwest but will make our region increasingly vulnerable to wildfires and intensify the impacts our ongoing drought. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Going to a place with air conditioning even for a couple hours can help mitigate heat stress. Consider going to a shopping mall, local library, or community center for relief. Do not leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles. Car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes. Take extra precautions when outside. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing. Try to limit strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. &&
EUGENE, Ore. -- Cities and nonprofits across the country are looking toward CAHOOTS to help people in crisis while taking the burden off conventional first responders.

Driving around town in their specially-equipped vans, Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets (CAHOOTS) offers crisis intervention 24/7 in both Eugene and Springfield and are dispatched by 911.

While CAHOOTS has provided mobile crisis intervention for 30 years in Eugene, clinical coordinator Kate Gillespie said as they have grown, so has their fame, and other cities and organizations are looking at them to help start their own programs. Gillespie said they've been talking with city leaders in Portland, Denver, Boston and New York City.

"Working with us, consulting with us to try and figure out what it would take to create a CAHOOTS-type model in a large municipality area like New York City," Gillespie said.

Anne Larsen with the Olympia Police Department in Washington said they just started a program based on the CAHOOTS model. She said their police chief is from Eugene and saw just how wonderful CAHOOTS is.

"I went down to Eugene and saw how the CAHOOTS model worked in real life and really saw the benefits of it and thought that's the model we want to bring up here," Larsen said.

CAHOOTS EMT and crisis counselor Ben Adam Climer said he's excited other cities are taking interest in the CAHOOTS model.

"We are sort of awakening the imaginations of the rest of the country, and that's an exciting time for us," Climer said.

Gillespie said they've been talking with some of the cities for months and expect to continue to hear from nonprofits and other cities in the future.
Countries from across the globe condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district with nations like the United States, UK, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India in combating the menace of terrorism. China has been the only country which has not commented or condemned the terror attack.

At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force or CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammed or JeM suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying hundreds of kilograms of explosives into their bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district that also left many critically wounded.

Coincidentally, China has been also been the only nation at the United Nations which has openly supported terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar by constantly blocking efforts by India and other UN Security Council members to list him as a UN designated terrorist.

The US condemned the terror attack and said it stands alongside India in defeating terrorism.

"The US Mission in India strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims," US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster said.

Russia, while condemning the terror attack, stressed the need to combat such "inhuman acts" with decisive and collective response without any double standards.

"We denounce terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with decisive and collective response without any double standards," a Russian Embassy statement said.

French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said France most firmly condemns the heinous attack perpetrated in Jammu & Kashmir. "France has always been and always will be by India's side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms," he said.

Germany strongly condemned the heinous terrorist attack, saying stands by its strategic partner India.

Australia, Turkey and Czech Republic also condemned the horrific terror attack.

India's neighbours Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives also expressed solidarity and vowed to combat the menace of terrorism jointly.

"I strongly condemn the deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir today killing at least 40 people. We send our thoughts and prayers to those affected. The Maldives will continue to work with India and the international community to combat terrorism in our region and the world at large," Maldivian President Ibrahim Solih said.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a message through the country's High Commission, said her country remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and manifestations and maintains a zero tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities.

Bangladesh would continue to work and cooperate with international community including India to eradicate the menace of terrorism, she said.

"Deeply saddened by the news of the horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir. Bhutan strongly condemns terrorist attack of any nature. Our prayers are with the grieved family and we are following the situation closely," Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena expressed sadness over the dastardly terror attack, saying the world must condemn such brutal terrorist attacks and take effective action to prevent such incidents in future.

-PTI
When you identify your Lyft driver as potentially having bipolar disorder

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I remember September 27, 2018 like it was yesterday. When Ashley* picked me up from my apartment Thursday morning, I thought it would be like the 138 past Lyft rides Ive taken since 2017. I was wrong.

After I waived to Ashley from the curb, I got settled into the right back seat. The doors locked, and she asked me the usual question.

You from here?

Yes, Im a local.

Thats great! Im from Louisiana.

You must love the food over there.

You know my food? I own the licensing of a few restaurants in the French Corner.

At this point, I didnt think much of that last sentence because she smiled and laughed as she said it. We were just having a fun conversation. I was wrong.

You know, I tried some famous cases in Louisiana, if you look my name up on Google youll see I represented some famous people.

At this point, I thought she might have a form of bipolar disorder based on how pressured her speech was, how her statements did not make logical sense, and from looking at her outward appearance, it seemed that Ashley hasnt slept for several days. We were about two minutes into the ride, and I decided not to say many words for the rest of the trip, but to play along. I feared that if I didnt, she would immediately pick up on my building discomfort and either A) cause us to get into a major car accident on the highway or B) become belligerent and I would suffer as the passenger.

Really? Which people have you represented?

Oh you know, James Harden, Richard Nixon, Michael Jackson, Oprah, Weird Al, even Obama, and his wife, Michelle!

Thats awesome. They must have been very grateful.

Oh, I know they were! I even starred in rap videos, and I make rap songs for artists. You like rap?

I listen to whatever is on the radio.

No Lil Wayne? Jay-Z? T.I.? T-Pain?

I know of them, but dont really listen to their music.

Oh, you gotta listen to them hunny! Theyre the classics, give me a sec.

As she disengaged her eyes from the road ahead to turn on the radio, a white Ford truck loudly honked at us. Ashley had swerved the car for a split second out of the lane and nearly got us into an accident.

I was praying hard, praying to God that we would make it to my destination. I have never in my life feared for my life until now.

So I see youre going to the law center, you gonna be a big shot lawyer one day?

Well see, schools going great and studying law has been a fun experience.

Let me give you my number after we arrive. I can hook you up with my clients for when you graduate and start practicing as a lawyer hunny.

Sure I would appreciate that, thank you.

After 14 minutes and 35 seconds, we arrived at the schools main entrance.

Thank you for the ride, Ashley.

No thank you! Before you leave, do you have Facebook? We should connect and help each other.

I dont have social media.

What about your cell phone number that I asked for earlier?

In her seat, Ashley turned her body 360 degrees towards me and looked directly into my eyes.

My cell is 281-___-____, I said.

As I was saying each digit of the fake number, Ashley pulled out her cell phone. And then she tried calling the number.

Youre not picking up? I dont see or hear your phone ringing.

I noticed that my phone was low on battery, so I turned it off a few minutes ago.

Ashley continued to look at me, now with a skeptic look. I now thought of an alternative way to escape her car; breaking the passenger window using the window breaker on my keys. I still didnt hear the doors unlock, and as my left hand anxiously and slowly inched towards my pants pocket, Ashley responded.

Sure thing hunny. Well, Ill let you go now. Dont want you late for your class. Dont forget your bag on your way out. When you turn your phone back on and charge it give me a text or call back would love to hear from you and connect.

Sure, have a great day Ashley and thanks again for the ride.

As I exited her car and saw that she drove away a safe distance, I immediately turned on my phone. Within a minute, I submitted an incident report to Lyft.

Did I feel bad about sending the report? Yes, I did. I knew deep down that Ashley was a Lyft driver as her sole source of income. However, I knew that if I was not the one who sent the report, the outcome for a future passenger might be injurious.

What if I did not know the signs of bipolar disorder? What if Ashley picked up someone else that morning and not me? The individual would have responded differently. I demand you to stop this car and to let me go right now! Reacting in a hostile manner is not the appropriate way to act, regardless if you suspect something is wrong. You always have to think before you act.

The reason I am sharing this story is that every person we come across in our lives is different. As human beings, we must always be mindful of this difference, and in-kind show continued respect for one another. Even when we staunchly disagree with the other persons physical actions or verbal sayings. Even when every fiber in our bodies pushes us to react right away to emotional triggers without due care. The world would be a better place if we always treated people the way we want to be treated.

Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.

 Desmond Tutu

* All identifying information has altered to protect confidentiality.

The author is an anonymous clinician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Photo: The Canadian Press

UPDATE: 9:10 p.m.

A 15-year employee being fired from a suburban Chicago manufacturing company started shooting Friday, killing five co-workers and wounding five police officers before he was killed by police, authorities said.

Aurora, Illinois, Police Chief Kristen Ziman said 45-year-old Gary Martin "was being terminated" before he started shooting at the Henry Pratt Co.

She told a news conference that in addition to the five employees killed, a sixth worker was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening. A sixth police officer suffered a knee injury while officers were searching the building.

Ziman said officers arrived within four minutes of receiving reports of the shooting and were fired upon as soon as they entered the 29,000-square-foot manufacturing warehouse.

Police said they did not know the gunman's motive.

"May God bless the brave law enforcement officers who continue to run toward danger," Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at the news conference.

John Probst, an employee at the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora, told ABC7 that he ran out of the back door as the shooting unfolded Friday afternoon.Probst says he recognized the gunman and that he works for the company.

"What I saw was the guy running down the aisle with a pistol with a laser on it," Probst said.

Probst said he wasn't hurt but that another colleague was "bleeding pretty bad."

"It's a shame that mass shootings such as this have become commonplace in our country. It's a shame that a cold and heartless offender would be so selfish as to think he has the right to take an innocent life," Aurora Mayor Richard C. Irvin said.

At Acorn Woods Condominiums where Martin lived, a mix of brick apartments and condos nestled on a quiet street just a mile and a half from the shooting, neighbours gathered on sidewalks near Martin's unit talking and wondering among themselves if they knew or had come in contact with him.

Mary McKnight stepped out of her car with a cherry cheesecake purchased for her son's birthday, to find a flurry of police cars, officers and media trucks.

"This is a strange thing to come home to, right," she said. She had just learned that the shooter lived close by and his unit in the complex had been taped off by police.

Christy Fonseca often worries about some of the gang-related crimes and shootings around her mother's Aurora neighbourhood. But she never expected the type of phone call she got from her mom on Friday, warning her to be careful with an active shooter loose in the town.

Police cars with screaming sirens revved past her as she drove to her mother's house, where the Henry Pratt building is visible from the porch stoop. it was only when they flipped on the television news that they realized Martin had killed people just a few hundred feet away.

"In Aurora, period, we'd never thought anything like this would happen," Fonseca, a lifelong resident of the Chicago suburb, said as she looked out at the factory.

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting and monitoring the situation as he prepared to depart for a weekend trip to his home in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump tweeted his thanks to law enforcement officers in Aurora and offered his condolences to the victims and their families. "America is with you," he said.

ORIGINAL:4:09 p.m.

A gunman opened fire at a manufacturing plant in suburban Chicago on Friday, killing five people and wounding five police officers before he was fatally shot, police said.

Aurora, Illinois, Police Chief Kristen Ziman told a news conference that the gunman was 45-year-old Gary Martin and said he was believed to be an employee at the Henry Pratt Co. in the city about 65 kilometres west of Chicago. She told reporters that officers arrived within four minutes of receiving reports of the shooting and were fired upon as soon as they entered the 29,000-square-foot manufacturing warehouse.

"May God bless the brave law enforcement officers who continue to run toward danger," Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at the news conference.

Hospitals reported treating at least seven patients from the shooting, though their conditions weren't released. Two of the officers were airlifted to trauma centres in Chicago, Ziman said. Officials did not say the total number of people injured other than the police officers. Police said they did not know his motive.

Live TV reports showed dozens of first responder vehicles outside a building housing the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora.

Several ATF teams responded to the shooting and were at the scene, according to the agency's Chicago spokeswoman, and the FBI said it also was responding.

John Probst, an employee at the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora, told ABC7 that he ran out of the back door as the shooting unfolded Friday afternoon.Probst says he recognized the gunman and that he works for the company.

"What I saw was the guy running down the aisle with a pistol with a laser on it," Probst said.

Probst said he wasn't hurt but that another colleague was "bleeding pretty bad."

The company makes valves for industrial purposes.

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting and monitoring the situation as he prepared to depart for a weekend trip to his home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Presence Mercy Medical Center was treating two patients and a third had been transferred by helicopter to another hospital, spokesman Matt Wakely said. Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital each had one patient from the shooting, spokeswoman Kate Eller said. Rush Copley Medical Center received three patients from the shooting and all are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, spokeswoman Courtney Satlak said.
It costs about $1 million a year to keep the buildings operational.

That would be a huge expense for the city of Grand Island to undertake, especially given the fact there will be no redevelopment money from the state, he said.

Steele said the intent of DAS was clear, and that was to transfer title of the buildings to the city and then walk away and let the city determine the future use.

It was plain at the outset that the state wanted the city to take ownership of the buildings, with the city alone facing the extreme expense and difficulty of maintaining the buildings. That would have been a crushing financial burden for the city, especially given that the state will not provide any money for this task. My team and I decided we could not let the state take their problem and make it our problem, the mayor said.

His team, comprised of himself, City Administrator Marlan Ferguson, Assistant City Administrator Brent Clark and City Attorney Jerry Janulewicz, pointed out to DAS that an agreement was signed with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs when DAS took federal money to build the new veterans home in Kearney.

According to Steele, the agreement states that DAS, in cooperation with the city, was to identify and retain a team to prepare a management or redevelopment plan for the property within 18 months after the agreement was signed in July 2015. That had not been done.
Sources say Payless ShoeSource Inc plans to close all of its stores, as it prepares to file for bankruptcy later this month for the second time in recent years, Reuters reported Thursday.

Payless, which is based in Topeka, Kansas, would lose 2,300 stores.

Payless had been trying unsuccessfully to find a buyer, Reuters reported. After no such deal arose, the company is preparing to liquidate, the sources said. Sources remained anonymous, as liquidation preparations are confidential, Reuters reported.

Reuters called Payless one of the other "high-profile victims of the string of bankruptcies that have hit the brick-and-mortar retail sector as more shopping is done online."

"There is still a small chance a buyer could emerge after Payless files for bankruptcy," Reuters' writers said, citing their sources. Meanwhile, the company will run going-out-of-business sales in the next week, one of the sources told Reuters.

Payless declined to comment.
The CSI Labs will travel to each of the 13 schools in ESU 11 for a two-week period each year. Students in seventh and eighth grades will be able to use technology they currently may not have at their school.

The whole idea is we arent going to come in and have a teacher teach. We are going to set up the lab with some basic instructions. The kids gravitate to what they are interested in, and they learn on their own basically, Barnes explained. They have to problem solve. They have to think. They have to innovate. If they can develop a project or come up with a project on their own, think it through from start to finish and figure out how to make it happen with the lab that they have available. Thats the goal.
WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon is among a group of Democrats introducing a new bill aimed at helping federal contractors in the event of another government shutdown.

Federal employees who missed paychecks during the Trump shutdown will eventually get their back pay, but nobody should forget about the millions of contractors and their families left uncovered after a senseless five-week shutdown, said Wyden, Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee.

The Emergency Relief for Federal Contractors Act would waive an existing 10 percent penalty for federal contractors taking a hardship withdrawal from their retirement account. It would also allow those contractors to recontribute those distributions up to $30,000 within a three-year period.

For contractors who don't recontribute their qualified shutdown distribution, this bill would allow them to include the amount of their qualified shutdown distributions ratably over a three-taxable-year period.

When the government shuts down and contractors miss paychecks through no fault of their own, they should not be penalized for dipping temporarily into their retirement savings to make ends meet, Wyden said. This is a commonsense way to relieve some of the financial pressure that government shutdowns inflict on contractors, many of whom are already living paycheck to paycheck in the best of circumstances.

Wyden was joined by U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Patty Murray in introducing the bill, and found co-sponsors in a number of other leading Democratic Senators.
Photo: The Canadian Press Greg and Gerry Latham

Greg and Gerry Latham spent Friday morning scrambling to pack up family heirlooms as a series of sinkholes threatened to destroy their dream retirement home in Sechelt.

The Lathams are among 14 families in an upscale seaside neighbourhood under an evacuation order, and they said they didn't know if they would be allowed to return.

"I'm standing in my beautiful home that has absolutely no furniture in it, looking out at the view, the eagles flying by," Gerry Latham said through tears. "I'm just trying to figure out what to leave behind."

Although the sinkhole risk was documented before most of the homes were built, the Lathams said they weren't told about the problem before buying. The situation has sparked lawsuits from several residents.

Sinkholes throughout the Seawatch subdivision prompted the District of Sechelt to order the evacuation. The Lathams said they've been told RCMP would begin enforcing the order at 1 p.m. on Friday.

The homes, with views overlooking Sechelt Inlet, are similar to others in a nearby subdivision valued at over $1 million, although the BC Assessment Authority values most of the buildings in the Seawatch subdivision at zero.

An engineering report issued to the district Feb. 7 says future sinkholes or landslides within the subdivision could damage infrastructure or buildings, and injury or death are possible consequences.

A statement issued by the district says Concordia Seawatch Ltd. built and sold the subdivision despite engineering reports as early as 2006 describing the development of sinkholes.

"The Seawatch subdivision was designed, built, marketed, and sold by a private company. The District of Sechelt cannot accept the argument that when a private sector venture falters, the cost should be borne by the Sechelt taxpayers," the statement said.

After buying the property in 2004, Concordia submitted a geotechnical report before development began, then gave letters of assurance signed by several engineers certifying proper construction of the roads, water and sewer lines, the district said.

It said Concordia's geotechnical engineer issued a report in 2006 documenting sinkholes that had developed and setting out how the infrastructure should be designed.

The company was required to register a restrictive covenant against title to all of the subdivided lots, the district said.

"This means each property owner should have been aware of the geotechnical attributes of the land," it said.

The first major sinkhole to appear after residents moved in was in June 2012. In February 2015, another large sinkhole damaged a home, forcing the owners to move out.

The Lathams said their street began deteriorating early last year, leading to a road closure. In September 2018, another sinkhole appeared on an undeveloped property. The most recent large sinkhole appeared on Christmas Day.

"There is a very high probability of at least one sinkhole collapse each year based on the recent history of the site," an engineering report to the district says.
Attorney General nominee William Barr is sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. Barr will face questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday about his relationship with Trump, his views on executive powers and whether he can fairly oversee the special counsel's Russia investigation. Barr served as attorney general under George H.W. Bush. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV)  With near white-out conditions in the metro, Kansas City officials are asking for employers for a little help with Friday evenings commute home.

Just before 11 a.m., City Manager Troy Schulte tweeted out a request for employers to let workers off early.

Schulte also tweeted that the city has declared a Phase II Snow Emergency as of noon Friday.

Bands of light-to-moderate snowfall expected most of today StormTrack5 Meteorologist Erin Little says most people within our area will see 3-5 inches of snowfall by Friday evening with snow-packed roads.

Road conditions have been problematic across the metropolitan area.

MoDOT has already warned drivers that travel conditions are only going to get worse and to avoid unnecessary travel.

As of noon Friday, interstates are covered with snow as north as Mound City, MO and even further south than Adrian, MO.

People are trying to make the best of the snowy conditions. On 31st and Broadway in Kansas City, Good Samaritans helped drivers who were having car problems on the snowy roads.
Does context matter when a racial slur is used? Thats whats at the heart of a hearing Wednesday night over whether a Lees Summit teacher and coach should be fired.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it was former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould who asked him in the fall if he planned to tell her what to do in the prosecution of Quebec engineering giant SNC-Lavalin  a conversation, he says, that ended with him telling her any decision was hers alone.

The meeting has become a key incident in the controversy over allegations that Wilson-Raybould was subjected to political arm-twisting to help the company avoid criminal prosecution.

SNC-Lavalin faces the possibility of being banned from federal contracts  a key portion of its work  for a decade if the company is convicted of bribery and fraud linked to its efforts to secure business in Libya.

During an event in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata Friday morning, Trudeau talked about the discussions inside his government around the company, including questions asked of him by two different Quebec premiers, representatives of the company and unions and MPs.

Trudeau said the conversations were appropriate given the economic effects of a conviction for a company that employs thousands of people at home and abroad.

He said all those talks led to the fall conversation where Wilson-Raybould asked whether Trudeau would be directing her to take a particular decision, particularly whether to strike a remediation deal to let the company pay a fine and bypass criminal charges.

"We take very seriously our responsibility of standing up for jobs, of protecting jobs, of growing the economy, of making sure there are good jobs right across the country as there are with SNC-Lavalin. But as we do that, we always need to make sure we're standing up for the rule of law and protecting the independence of our justice system," Trudeau said.

"There were many discussions going on. Which is why Jody Wilson-Raybould asked me if I was directing her, or going to direct her, to take a particular decision and I, of course, said no, that it was her decision to make and I expected her to make it. I had full confidence in her role as attorney general to make the decision."

In October, federal prosecutors rejected the company's request for the remediation deal.

In January, Wilson-Raybould was moved to the veterans-affairs portfolio as part of a shuffle precipitated by former Treasury Board president Scott Brison's decision to leave politics.

Trudeau said Brison's sudden resignation from cabinet resulted in having to "move things around" on the team, including shuffling Wilson-Raybould  a decision based on what the prime minister vaguely described as "a wide range of factors."

"If Scott Brison had not stepped down from cabinet, Jody Wilson-Raybould would still be minister of justice and attorney general," Trudeau said.

The opposition parties quickly rejected Trudeau's explanation.

"Every day we're hearing the prime minister come up with a new excuse, a new explanation, and none of them add up," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in Burnaby.

"What we're seeing is an attorney general who was pressured, allegedly, by the prime minister to drop a criminal charge against a corporation that has deep ties with the Liberal party. All of this strikes Canadians as very troubling."

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel tweeted that she wasn't sure "what is worse: the inanity of the statement itself, or the arrogance of thinking we're all stupid enough to buy that pile of garbage."

Even Brison's husband seemed to catch on to the comment. Max St-Pierre tweeted: "Its ok, I usually blame my husband for everything too."
A large-scale police action at an apartment building on Bernard Avenue in Kelowna Thursday afternoon was tied to events that began earlier in the day in Kamloops.

Events began unfolding Thursday morning when two armed men robbed two men and a woman in Kamloops. Police suspect the woman was then kidnapped and the suspects may have fled to a home on Dallas Drive.

That home had been ransacked and was empty.

Police were then led to the apartment on Bernard Avenue.

RCMP from Kamloops and Kelowna, as well as the Emergency Response Team, descended on the apartment.

With the safety of the hostage victim, the responding police officers and the general public in mind, the incident prompted the temporary closure of roadways in the immediate area and a temporary hold and secure of nearby businesses,said Cpl. Jesse ODonaghey.

The unfolding events concluded with the apprehension of four individuals of interest, including two men and two women and the seizure of a vehicle.

Kamloops RCMP confirm one of those arrested was one of the robbery suspects, however, the kidnap victim was not found in the apartment.

Early Friday morning, police determined the woman could be in a vehicle travelling from Kelowna back to Kamloops.

That vehicle was stopped near Falkland. The kidnapped woman was found uninjured, while two occupants of the vehicle, a man and woman, were arrested.

Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Jodi Shelkie said what may have been perceived as a lack of communication was a measured, operational strategy.

First and foremost, our concern was for the woman who had been kidnapped, said Shelkie.

The danger that she was in cannot be overemphasized. Officers knew that the suspects were armed. It was unknown what their intent was regarding her life. Few details could be released to the media to protect our investigation and ultimately, help get this woman back to safety.

The investigation is still ongoing and police are working to identify and locate the second suspect involved in the robbery. It is clear this was a targeted crime and involved participants in the local Kamloops drug trade.

Numerous charges are expected.
Photo: YLW

Travellers are advised to check their flights, but it appears to mostly be clean sailing at Kelowna International Airport this morning.

YLW's arrivals and departures web page shows one cancellation and one delay for incoming flights, and a similar number for outgoing flights.

As snow fell across the province Thursday night, YLW tweeted: "Due to heavy snow in Vancouver and Victoria, flights to and from those airports are expected to be delayed or cancelled tonight. Please check the status of your flight with your airline before heading to the airport."

You can check the status of your flights here.
Photo: mollyfletcher.com

Winter is an odd time to do spring cleaning, but last month many of us vowed to shift our agreement with reality, to reshape ourselves.

Many people resolved to slim down, bulk up, stop smoking, start exercising, to become a better parent, a better spouse, a better human being.

The greatest human quest is to know what one must do in order to become a human being, 17th century philosopher Immanuel Kant observed.

But in that quest, we look for whats broken and accentuate whats missing, how we dont measure up to a standard that was probably set by someone else, or worse, by a TV commercial.

Were faultfinders. We love pointing out whats wrong  with ourselves and with other people. We chuckle over Marthas defects because that makes us feel better about ourselves. If shes wrong and were right, that means were OK.

Usually, we not interested in changing, instead we look for things that re-inforce our current world view, but at the beginning of the year, we often tinker with our belief system and try to change the channels of our perceptions.

But real change means growth and thats possible only by challenging ourselves to create new thoughts and the willingness to embrace the results

Our thoughts emerge, like weeds after a rain, out of our unconsciousness and we often wonder, like the guy who just mowed his lawn and looks out and sees a tide of dandelions, just where they came from.

That forces us to root out thoughts that create a reality we don't like, or don't want. We create ourselves in our own image although were uncertain what that image is, or who we are.

Often, while we're waiting for the new us to sprout, we forget to weed and prune. It's a lot easier not to do the backbreaking - or mind-bending - work to pull the dandelions and censor unwanted thoughts.

But we know from a lifetime of experience that beating ourselves up when we forget, or when were lazy, doesnt work. We need to be persistent, but we also must be gentle with ourselves.

We learn to treat ourselves as we would our children when they come home with a report cards with Cs and one A and while the instinct is to criticize them for the low marks we are smart enough to praise them for the one high mark.

We know criticism doesnt work, otherwise wed be what our parents wanted.

And isnt it odd that we think a new year is the only time to redefine who we are when we can do that at any moment? Every moment is a crossroads.

We have the wonderful ability to see, but we dont notice life flowing around us; we become blind to the miraculous until it becomes trivial or we dont see it at all.

We dont see what we take for granted.

Remember being spellbound when our children were born, but now dont really see them in our day-to-day lives; theyre just there, part of the background?

We can still evoke that moment when Cupids arrow pierced our heart, but now wonder who that person is who keeps showing up every day.

We dont need Auld Ange Syne and noisemakers to make resolutions. We can make them daily. We can decide before we get out of bed how our day will be. And if the resolve slips, we can choose at every moment to renew our commitment.

Sometimes the best choice is simply to keep our mouths shut and the scars on our tongue can be a testament to our growing wisdom, or at least our diminishing foolishness.

We know we can remake ourselves into whatever image we like, but its also equally valid to wonder why we feel compelled to lose 10 pounds, to get into shape or learn Spanish, why we cannot accept that we are already perfect, whole and complete, an integral part of the universe.

Science and most spiritual traditions proclaim we are all connected, that we hold hands to form the great chain of being. Maybe it isnt hard-won resolutions we need, but an easy shift in consciousness.

The universe in a sense guides us toward truths, because those truths are the things that govern what we see, physicist Brian Greene told Scientific American magazine.

Maybe we simply need to accept who we are and to be receptive to what life brings. If we flow with it instead of fighting every step of the way, we just might end up becoming that which we hoped for.

We cant make ourselves be a certain way, said Zen master Joko Beck. To imagine otherwise is one of the biggest traps in practice. But we can notice our intolerance and unkindness, our laziness and the other games we play. As we notice how we really are, things slowly begin to turn.

Only when we give up the hope that things will get fixed can we come to the realization that things are fine as they are.

Mythologist Joseph Campbell had similar thoughts as he was nearing the end of his life.

In my own life, I am now looking back and I can tell you that theres a wonderful moment that comes when you realize, Im not striving for anything.

What Im doing now is not a means of achieving something later. After a certain age, theres not a future and, suddenly, the present becomes rich and it becomes a thing in itself which you are now experiencing.
Photo: The Canadian Press

At least 33 soldiers were killed and about 20 others wounded Thursday in a car bomb attack on a paramilitary convoy along a key highway in Indian-controlled Kashmir, security officials said. It was one of the deadliest car bombings in the disputed region's history.

Officials said a local Kashmiri militant rammed an explosive-laden van into the convoy, targeting a bus carrying at least 35 soldiers.

Senior police officer Muneer Ahmed Khan said the attack occurred as the convoy reached southern Lethpora town on the outskirts of the main city of Srinagar. He said the bus was destroyed and at least five other vehicles were damaged by the blast.

Sanjay Sharma, a spokesman for India's paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force, said many of the injured were in critical condition. "The blast was so powerful that one cannot recognize whether the vehicle was a bus or a truck. Just pieces of mangled steel remain of the vehicle," he said.

Videos circulated by local news groups showed ambulances rushing to the site and people running as smoke billowed from the damaged vehicles. Debris and body parts littered the road.

Authorities closed the highway following the blast. Police officer Khan said soldiers and counterinsurgency police reinforcements were deployed in the area and were conducting searches.

The Greater Kashmir newspaper reported that militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack.

A pre-recorded nine-minute video, circulated on social media sites, showed the purported attacker in combat clothes and surrounded by guns and grenades.

Later Thursday, thousands of people, chanting slogans such "Go India, go back," marched to the militant's village in solidarity. Government forces tried to stop the people from gathering, leading to clashes as groups of young people hurled stones at the troops, who fired tear gas. No injuries were immediately reported there.

Kashmir Gov. Satya Pal Malik accused Pakistan of being behind the attack. "Visibly it seems to be guided from across the border as Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility," Malik said in a statement. "Such actions will not deter the resolve of our security forces ... we will finish these inimical forces to the last."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack in a tweet Thursday evening. "I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain," he said.

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry in a statement in Islamabad said the attack in Pulwama "is a matter of grave concern."

"We have always condemned acts of violence anywhere in the world," the statement said. "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations."

The White House condemned the attack and said it strengthened U.S. resolve to bolster counterterrorism co-operation with India. "The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region," the statement from the press secretary's office said.
Switzerland is one of the countries that recognizes the principle of universal jurisdiction, allowing it to prosecute any individual suspected of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes committed anywhere in the world, provided that person resides on, or is present at some point on Swiss territory. The 2011 law that enshrined universal jurisdiction was hailed by NGOs and civil society, hoping it can help bring justice for victims who cannot get justice in their own country.

Former Liberian rebel leader Alieu Kosiah is one of the two people in custody in a Swiss jail under universal jurisdiction. He has been there for more than four years, suspected of war crimes in his country. The other is former Gambian interior minister Ousman Sonko, arrested in early 2017 and under investigation for crimes against humanity. Both cases were brought to the war crimes unit by Swiss NGOs  Civitas Maxima and TRIAL International respectively.

Recommended reading Will Switzerland dare to prosecute two African leaders the Gambian Sonko and the Liberian Kosiah ?

According to a spokeswoman for the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), in which the international crimes unit is based, more than 60 cases have been referred since 2011, of which most have been dismissed or closed because they failed to fulfil the contextual requirements laid down by law (e.g. no qualification as a conflict) and/or the requirements for opening proceedings (e.g. perpetrators not in Switzerland).

The Algerian case

One of the most controversial cases, brought by TRIAL International on behalf of victims, is that of former Algerian Defence Minister Khaled Nezzar. Nezzar was arrested in Switzerland in October 2011 following a criminal denunciation filed by TRIAL over his alleged role in violations committed in the early 1990s in Algeria. He was released after questioning and allowed to return to Algeria on the promise that he would participate in subsequent procedure. The Swiss Attorney Generals office dismissed the case in early 2017, saying there were no grounds to charge Nezzar with war crimes because there was no evidence of an armed conflict in Algeria during the period in question. NGOs were stunned, and the decision was appealed.

The black decade that Algeria experienced [in the 1990s] left more than 200,000 people dead and there are numerous sources testifying to the intensity of fighting between the Algerian army and armed groups, also to the organization of the armed groups, TRIAL Legal Advisor Sandra Delval said in 2017. It is inexplicable that the office of the Attorney General investigated for six years without apparently ever questioning the existence of an armed conflict, only to abruptly close the case saying there was none.

In April 2018, the UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture and on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers wrote to the Swiss government expressing concern about persistent allegations of political interference particularly in this case, which they said undermine the independence of the judiciary in the name of interests which appear to be neither those of the rule of law nor of justice. In a written reply, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis denied all the allegations, saying that Switzerland attaches great importance to the fight against impunity, especially for crimes falling under international law.

At the end of May 2018, the Federal Criminal Court overturned the dismissal of the Nezzar case. It ruled that there was indeed an armed conflict in Algeria in the early 1990s, and ordered the Office of the Attorney General to resume the case.

Whatever happens, this case has nevertheless marked case law with a 2012 decision of the Federal Criminal Court refusing to grant Nezzar immunity because of the severity of the crimes in question. This was hailed as a groundbreaking precedent by NGOs.

Lack of means

Prosecutor Laurence Boillat was the first head of the Swiss war crimes unit, which she was instrumental in setting up in 2012. This was an enriching experience, she says, but we very quickly understood, or were made to understand, that the unit was not going to be very important, because we were only two prosecutors, two judicial staff and one person in charge of the secretariat  so five people, but not even five full-time posts. At one time, she continues, we had maybe 20 cases, but even with 5 cases in this specialized field, it is ridiculous to imagine that things could be advanced properly with this small team. Its a shame, because the means were found at the Attorney Generals office for economic crimes, and then for terrorism  but that was a problem too, because staff time was taken from our war crimes unit to tackle terrorism cases.

Asked about lack of means, the Office of the Attorney General said that the issue was under review but that at the present time it continues to assume that the means employed in the area of international criminal law are sufficient for the proper performance of its duties.

Boillat says there was also political pressure from above, especially in cases of politically exposed persons like Nezzar and Rifaat Al-Assad, the uncle of the current Syrian president, both of which she opened. This was not so for the cases of asylum seekers in Switzerland, she says. At one point she made it clear that she thought a spanner was being put in the works with regard to certain investigations. She was subsequently dismissed from the OAG.

Since she left at the end of 2015, the war crimes unit has been merged with the Mutual Legal Assistance division of the OAG  a move criticized by NGOs  and other prosecutors have left.

Justice delayed

Everyone agrees that universal jurisdiction cases are complicated. They involve crimes committed elsewhere, often in conflict zones. Witnesses must be found and brought from other countries and/or prosecutors must travel to the country concerned to investigate. It also depends on what cooperation is given by the countries in question. The new Gambian authorities, for example, are cooperating in the Sonko case, but in Kosiahs case the Liberian authorities are more difficult.

It takes time and resources. But how much time should it take?

Swiss law says that where an accused is in detention, the proceedings shall be conducted as a matter of urgency. Kosiah has been in a Swiss jail since November 2014 and Sonko since January 2017. Under Swiss law their provisional detention has to be justified and approved by judicial authorities every three months, and so far it has been, suggesting that the proceedings against them are progressing and that they will be brought to trial sooner or later.

Back in early 2017 Civitas Maxima director Alain Werner said that the Kosiah case, in which his organization is representing victims, was well advanced and that he hoped to see it brought to trial in 2018. Two years have passed and that still has not happened. As Benedict De Moerloose of TRIAL International told JusticeInfo back in 2015, Switzerland has the legal tools in place to be a model in the field of universal jurisdiction cases, but it still has to prove its will and capacity to do so.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called French counterpart Emmanuel Macron a political novice over the announcement that France would hold a national day to commemorate the Armenian genocide.

Turkey and Armenia have long been at odds over the treatment of Armenians during World War I.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were killed during the war.

But Turkey  the Ottoman Empires successor state  denies that the massacres, imprisonment and forced deportation of Armenians from 1915 amounted to a genocide.

I say to Macron  you are still a political novice, first learn the history of your country, Erdogan said during an interview with the A-Haber television channel.

He went on to list all the countries which France had colonised and where, he said, massacres had taken place including Algeria, Indochina and Rwanda.

France was one of the first major European nations to recognise the mass killings as genocide. More than 20 other countries have followed suit.

Armenians commemorate the massacres on April 24  the day in 1915 when thousands of Armenian intellectuals suspected of harbouring nationalist sentiment and being hostile to Ottoman rule were rounded up.

Earlier this month Macron announced that France, which has a substantial Armenian community, would hold a national day of commemoration of the Armenian genocide on the same date.

Last week Turkey hit out at that decision with Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy accusing Macron of trying to win votes from the Armenian community in France.
Associate Justice Cheri Beasley, tapped by Gov. Roy Cooper to become the next chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, will make history as the first African-American woman to hold that position. This is a sign of social and judicial progress that we find reassuring.

This court this year is coming right at 200 years, and this is certainly not the North Carolina of 200 years ago, she said during a news conference at the Executive Mansion with Cooper. And so Im excited about the fact that North Carolina has moved forward, that we do have a diverse court, and its so important that people feel good and have a confidence in the work that we do, and so Im excited about continuing to do that work.

Beasley is well-qualified for the position. She has been both a trial judge and a Court of Appeals judge, associated with the state judiciary for more than 20 years.

Cooper said that hed considered several candidates for the appointment, but Justice Beasley is the right person at the right time.

I know Justice Beasley to be fair and deeply committed to viewing all North Carolinians equally through the eyes of the law, he added.
Haggling over soybeans, footwear or other low-value goods is not enough when China is engaged in a national effort to displace the United States and dominate 5G technologies, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, advanced pharmaceuticals and high-value manufacturing.

Coming away with a strong deal is all the more important because Beijing is pursuing foreign policies that actively undermine American and allied interests. China has thrown financial lifelines to Nicolas Maduro and his criminal cronies in Venezuela. It is also aggressively militarizing the South China Sea, allowing the North Korean regime to evade sanctions and turning a blind eye to destabilizing arms sales by Chinese entities in the Middle East.

Moreover, China still has not followed through on Xi's commitment to halt the illegal flow of the addictive opioid fentanyl from China to the United States. China is still unjustly detaining U.S. and Canadian citizens, and accelerating its systematic and egregious human rights abuses, including the internment of more than 1 million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang province, and the broader attack on religious adherents, including Christians and Tibetan Buddhists.

In an ideal world, the Trump administration might even push for a deal that went beyond trade issues and also required China to reconsider these threatening policies.


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Updates occur at the discretion of clinical staff members, who use designated iPod-Touch devices to communicate with families.

Lets say someone is deployed in Afghanistan and their wife is a high-risk pregnancy. They can see a 30-second video of their new baby, said James Thomas with the hospitals surgical service administration. Were just starting to see where we can go with this.

Available in nine languages, the apps messages disappear from the phone within 60 seconds of being viewed.

Family members and friends can send thumbs-up, heart and praying hands emojis in response to each update but cannot reply to the messages with questions or comments.

If surgical complications arise, they will be discussed in-person by a physician, nurse or other appropriate staff member.

Anything complicated, you want to be able to talk in person and answer their questions, Meredith said. You cant do that in a text message or one-way video.

The hospital has been working on getting the app since nurse manager Cindy Harless stumbled upon it at a nursing conference in 2017.

She said the app, which went into use last week, has been an outright success.

Its been termed Snapchat for the OR. I thought This is what we need, Harless said. Were very proud of it. The staff is loving it, and the patients and their families really love it.
Photo: Mike Dagenais

Laurie Moring had an inkling something was up by the time she and her boyfriend were on their way to a Valentine's Day lunch.

Her suspicions grew stronger when Mike Dagenais unexpectedly turned off a busy Edmonton thoroughfare to where news cameras were waiting.

Just ahead was a digital billboard emblazoned with Moring's face and the message: "Laurie M. I adore you. You're my best friend. And my true soulmate. Will you MARRY me? - Mike D."

The billboard, which also included a link to Dagenais's photography business, had been there a few days. Moring hadn't seen it, and she hadn't come across any mention of it on the news or social media.

But colleagues were dropping cryptic remarks.

"My co-workers have been very curious about how I've been lately and how my drive to work was," Moring, 43, said Thursday. "I knew something was going on, but I didn't really know what. This was a huge shock. It was a good shock, a good surprise."

And the answer? "I said yes, of course."

Dagenais and Moring got together more than three years ago after he inherited a rare antique chest and went to get it insured. Moring was at the counter.

"No word of a lie  the moment I walked in and I saw her, it was like she had this white aura, this white glow of goodness about her and I just couldn't help but notice her," said Dagenais, who is 55.

About a month later, he was still thinking about her and made a wish while sitting on his back porch. Within days he got a handwritten card from Moring through her work, so he used that as an excuse to get in touch again.

For their first date, they went for a walk in a park.

"It was freezing cold and we can't remember what the conversations were about," said Dagenais. "But we both remember the turnaround point when we shared a nice kiss and I steamed up her glasses  twice."

Dagenais said he originally wanted to propose last summer, but his dad's health was declining and he passed away soon after. Dagenais was hoping to propose to Moring under the billboard earlier this week, but she had a migraine.

He chose a billboard proposal because it combined his two loves: Laurie and photography, which he's pursuing more these days because his regular work in the oilpatch has slowed down.

A painted billboard was beyond his budget at $3,000, so he went for the digital one at about $450.

"I was pretty sure she would say yes, but you never know until you put it out there. And I really put it out there this time  oh, my Lord."

The couple is hoping to get married this summer on Vancouver Island, where they have family. Moring said she'd like something small on a beach or in a park.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 14)  It's official: the list of areas which will make up the new Bangsamoro autonomous region is now set.

Nearly all barangays (villages) in North Cotabato which took part in the February 6 plebiscite will join the new Bangsamoro autonomous region, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) confirmed Thursday.

In total, 63 out of the total 67 villages will form part of the new region.

Based on the final, official tally from the Comelec en banc sitting as the National Plebiscite Board of Canvassers, all barangays from the towns of Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, and Pigkawayan got double majority "yes" votes.

Two villages in Aleosan and 22 villages in Pikit will also be included in the new Bangsamoro.

However, Barangay Galidan-- the only village which petitioned for inclusion in Tulunan town-- failed to get enough "yes" votes.

The villages will form part of the soon-to-be-established Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which will comprise the provinces in the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (except Isabela City, Basilan) as well as Cotabato City.

READ: Comelec announces ratification of Bangsamoro law

In its final canvass, Comelec also confirmed that the six Lanao del Norte towns which also participated in the second plebiscite failed to get double majority of "yes" votes needed for them to break away and join the new entity.

President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to appoint members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, which will include incumbent officials of the regional government.

CNN Philippines Correspondent Triciah Terada contributed to this report.
The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved on Thursday a 3-cent cap on the property-tax rate for a proposed countywide fire district to support volunteer fire departments.

The tax rate will not exceed 3 cents on each $100 of property subject to taxation.

This is one of the first actions for a number of steps that will put the district in place, said Forsyth County Manager Dudley Watts.

There will be a public hearing on the service district on March 14.

The board also approved these proposals:
The womans 4-year-old son told police that he saw a man wearing a mask and carrying a knife go into his mothers bedroom and shut the door. Her other two children did not wake up during the incident, according to the search warrant.

The woman told police that her son saw the man leave the house. The son told police in 2018 that he saw the man leave the house through the back door and go toward University Parkway. He crossed University Parkway and went over a fence on the other side, the son told Winston-Salem police, according to the search warrant.

Winston-Salem police searched its database and found that in January 1990, Stokes lived in the 1100 block of Rundell Street, which is across University Parkway from Lincoln Avenue, the search warrant said.

A DNA match to Stokes was made possible through a federal grant that helped the Winston-Salem police send 283 sexual assault kits for further testing from private laboratories. Those kits come from cases dating back to 1988. The kit from the 1990 case was sent to the State Crime Lab in December 2017.

In October 2018, the State Crime Lab notified Winston-Salem police investigators that they got a DNA match to Stokes from a DNA profile from the woman. The match was made after the DNA profile was uploaded to the FBIs CODIS (Combined DNA Information System).
Police say they found a little more than 2 grams of cocaine at Ibraham Elementary School in Winston-Salem after a man who worked for an after-school program there was charged with selling drugs at the school.

Arkeem Davon Woods, 22, of Sheraton Street was charged with possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine on school property among other offenses, Winston-Salem police said. Thursday, officers arrested Woods at the school, at 5036 Old Walkertown Road, police said. He worked there as a YMCA site leader.

After the arrest, investigators used a narcotics-detecting dog to search areas inside the school before students were allowed to re-enter those areas.

Investigators said Woods never approached students or staff at the school in an attempt to distribute illegal drugs. Nor were school staff members aware that illegal drug sales were happening at the school, police said.

woods had people meet him on campus for the transactions, police said.

Woods was taken to the Forsyth County Jail with his bond set at $10,000, police said. He is scheduled to appear in court on March 8.

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HARTFORD  Members of and advocates for the LGBT community are saying the definition of family in any paid medical leave bill should be expa
Photo: The Canadian Press Workers harvest pieces of an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland.

The remarkable theft of about 30,000 litres of iceberg water from a vodka company warehouse in Newfoundland has bewildered the firm's owners.

Iceberg Vodka CEO David Meyers said he and his staff were shocked on Monday morning to discover one of 10 tanks of water in the company's Port Union, N.L., warehouse had been drained of its precious contents.

Police are now investigating a theft valued between $9,000 and $12,000.

The thieves took off with enough water to fill a tractor trailer tanker -- equal to about 150,000 bottles of Iceberg vodka, according to Meyers.

"We're talking about a significant amount of water here," Meyers said from his Toronto office on Thursday.

"Who would want it and what would they do with it? I mean, we're scratching our head, I have to say."

Iceberg water is valued for its purity, and harvesting the product is a "dangerous and costly endeavour."

"Think about a grape harvest to make wine, you only have one crack at it a year. It's the same thing with icebergs," Meyers said.

Every year, a crew heads out on a 260-foot boat to track down icebergs of just the right size off Newfoundland's coast. There's only a short window in late spring for the iceberg harvest.

Meyers said it's at least fortunate the theft happened in winter instead of the fall, so some of the losses can be made up in this year's harvest.

But he said the company is hoping for answers to prevent future thefts.

The other companies in the province licensed to harvest iceberg water -- producing cosmetics, bottled water and beer for a St. John's brewery -- use significantly less water than Iceberg Vodka, and Meyers said his company is friendly with the other businesses.

The crime itself would have been a complicated endeavour and it suggests the thief was familiar with the facility.

Those responsible would need access to the building and know just the right gear to pull off the heist.

"It's upsetting for us, that's for sure," Meyers said. "I've never even considered the possibility of somebody stealing our water ... I guess we live in an interesting world."
Photo: Contributed Nathan Truant leaves the Kelowna courthouse Thursday afternoon.

One of the men accused of killing a 23-year-old man in downtown Kelowna last Canada Day made a brief appearance in court Thursday afternoon, while another's bail hearing was postponed for a month.

Esa Carriere was found by police near the Queensway bus loop suffering from stab wounds on the evening of July 1, 2018, just after the fireworks had ended. He later died in hospital.

Police said Carriere was hurt during an altercation.

Nathan Truant, 26, was arrested and charged with manslaughter on Jan. 26, 2019, along with 20-year-old Noah Vaten and two 18 year olds.

Truant and the two youths were released on bail on Jan. 28, while Vaten remains in custody.

On Thursday, Truant made a brief appearance in Kelowna court, and his case was adjourned until March 14.

A bail hearing for Vaten, meanwhile, has been scheduled for the same date.

The two 18 year olds' cases were also adjourned to March 14.

Carriere, from Ontario, had only been living in Kelowna for two weeks prior to his death. He had been working as a cook at Kelly OBryans restaurant.
Joplin, MO (64801)

Today

A few clouds early, otherwise mostly sunny. High around 95F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early. Scattered thunderstorms developing later at night. Low 74F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Several dozen people walked downtown Penticton Thursday for the annual memorial march for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

The event organized by the Okanagan Nation Alliance transition and emergency house is in conjunction with walks held across Canada today. The march has been held every February 14 since the first in Vancouvers Downtown Eastside in 1992.

This is our second annual event in Penticton and I think our turnout has doubled since last year, said organizer Leslie Fabriz. We need to keep the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls at the forefront in the media at all times.

Referring to the ongoing national inquiry into the issue  which has been hamstrung by numerous resignations  Fabriz lamented the lack of progress on the file.

I dont think the Canadian government has really pressed the issue, to say the least, she said. I think they could be doing a lot more. Not just an inquiry, but actually pressing for justice for our missing and murdered women.

A bus load of youth from the PIB Outma Sqilx'w School took part in the march.

When I first heard about missing and murdered Indigenous people, it really upset me, said Outma Sqilx'w student Ivan Richet. Thousands of murdered and missing indigenous people have been killed, mostly women.

The names of several missing or murdered Indigenous women from the Okanagan were read out at the start of the march.

Diane Stewart, Roxanne Louie, Ashley Simpson, Nicole Bell, Deanna Wertz, Caitlin Potts and Traci Genereaux.
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Emily Mieure covers criminal justice and emergency news. She also leads the News&Guides investigative efforts. She has reported for WDRB TV in Louisville, Ky., WFIE TV in Evansville, Ind., and WEIU TV in Charleston, Ill.
Cody Cottier covers town and state government. He grew up with a view of the Olympic Mountains, and after graduating Washington State University he traded it for a view of the Tetons. Odds are the mountains are where youll find him when not on deadline.
Yes. Our bridges and roads are crumbling.

No. It is too expensive.

Yes but the current price tag is too high. I support it but for less money.

No. States should pay for this, not the federal government.

I haven't really thought about it.

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3 Day Startup Sparks Small Business Ventures

Feb. 15, 2019

Jacqueline Rupprecht '22 pitches PieceOfMind during the 3 Day Startup.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.  A business dedicated to efficiently and effectively improving safety within high schools and primary schools called PieceOfMind took top honors at the inaugural 3 Day Startup, hosted by Illinois Wesleyans Design, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (DTE) Program in late January.

More than 30 students divided into six teams and had 72 hours to create a small business proposal from ideation, to prototyping, to pitch.

Upon conclusion of the 3 Day Startup, a panel of judges  including DTE Director Tara Gerstner 01, Director of Product Development at AT&T Jon Ramsey, and Todd Reinhart, the owner of three businesses in Bloomington-Normal  evaluated the six pitches and chose to award $3,000 in seed money to the PieceOfMind team. The other five teams received $500 apiece. All of the seed money was generously provided by IHT Wealth Management President Steve Dudash 99.

All the participants impressed us with their ability to team up, ideate, design a business model, and create a solid pitch for their new idea in 72 hours, Gerstner said. All six teams had a strong, viable business idea that came out of this weekend. Thanks to the generous support of alum, Steve Dudash 99 and his company IHT Wealth Management, every team walked away with seed money to launch their business, and one team was awarded $3,000 to help kickstart their business.

The 3 Day Startup panel of judges included Tara Gerstner '01, Jon Ramsey and Todd Reinhart.



The PieceOfMind team, which was awarded the top prize, included Keenan Scott 21, Constantine Vessol 20, Daniel Gibbons 22, Jacque Rupprecht 22, and Jake Arthur 21. These entrepreneurs pitched a plan to develop a wristband that high school-age and younger students could wear at school daily to track their location. A secure app would be accessible to faculty, administrators and first responders to instantly locate students in case of an emergency protocol.

The other small business ideas hatched during the 3 Day Startup included Maximum Potential, Foodscape, Clean Cut Media, PostAR, and SizeMeSimply. All six teams received guidance throughout the weekend from mentors with backgrounds in data science, technology, physics, business law and serial entrepreneurship.

Constantine Vessol '20, Jacqueline Rupprecht '22, Keenan Scott '21, Daniel Gibbons '22 and Jake Arthur '21 pitched PieceOfMind.

This program was the perfect compliment to our growing Design, Technology, and Entrepreneurship Program here at IWU, Gerstner said. Teaching students the power of an interdisciplinary approach to designing and launching a business is what we strive to do in this unique major.

DTEs 3 Day Startup was designed to provide participants with hands on experience in starting a business and help them develop viable ventures, while connecting them with local entrepreneurs, experts and potential investors.

By Megan Baker 21 and John Twork
A survey of chief technology officers who are directly involved with 5G projects at 46 telcos around the globe indicates that most are still not sure about the strength for the business case, the management consulting firm McKinsey says.

The company said survey participants opined that 2019 would be mostly spent on preparation and planning for the new technology, with 61% of the operators saying they expected peak rollout between 2020 and 2022.

The survey found that while confidence in the technology itself was high, it was unclear how soon it would lead to new products and services for which people were willing to fork out money.

Hence, initially, most of these firms saw enhanced mobile broadband and IoT devices, rather than fixed wireless access or mission-critical applications, as being the most used.

"From a global perspective, the survey suggests some new trends in regional leadership. Although North America is in the lead, with the two top operators already launching 5G commercially, Asia is keeping pace," McKinsey said. "In Europe, however, there exist more doubts about 5G, which is a sharp departure from some earlier rollouts, such as 2G and 3G, when the continent led the technologys introduction."

The 46 CTOs were contacted by phone and online; 20% were from attacker operators and 22% from mobile-only players. A quarter were from multi-region operators; 25% were in Europe, 20% in North America, 20% in Asia and the remainder in the Middle East, South America and Africa.

While many said they saw IoT as a 5G priority, the survey found that "they really see this latest wireless advance primarily as an opportunity to cement, gain, or regain network leadership".

Such competitive positioning was seen as the top priority for 5G, followed by customer experience and capacity, with some seeing the latter as a second objective.

IoT was not considered a core objective for 5G, McKinsey said, showing that the existing IoT capability was sufficient for most use cases.

"While we hear a lot of talk about the use of 5G for fixed wireless access, only 22% of operators identify this as their first or second priority for 5G, the same as IoT," the survey said.

Another finding was that as momentum towards 5G went, the technical teams were leading the business teams, and not, as usual the other way around. "The reasoning behind this could be either that 5G is viewed as so important that it just has to move forward or that the 'working' commercial teams  those below the chief executive level  havent pushed for it yet," McKinsey said.

About two-thirds of the CTOs surveyed said they had questions around the financing of 5G, while about 60% said they were still grappling with finding a business case for the technology. The business case was made even more difficult because of the prevailing belief that 5G would increase costs.

Practically all the survey participants said they expected network sharing to increase, mainly due to the expectation that 5G would mean a rise in costs for operators. Further, 90% of those surveyed said they expected to adopt new business models like neutral hosts, though where these hosts would be involved was as yet unclear.
The US is facing resistance from European countries it considers allies as it tries to convince them not to use equipment from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies in their 5G networks.

Feedback from big mobile and Internet providers in Europe, and especially the UK, indicated they would have to fork out more to replace equipment from Huawei and another Chinese firm, ZTE, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Executives from these companies told the newspaper that Huawei hardware was much better than the rest on offer and often cost less; not using it could well mean that Europe would lag Asia and countries in other regions that use gear from Huawei for their 5G rollouts.

The US has been campaigning for at least the last two years to try and get countries that it considers allies not to use Huawei equipment in the rollout of 5G networks. Australia has bowed to these wishes, as has New Zealand.

As iTWireon Wednesday, US President Donald Trump may issue an executive order this week banning the use of telecommunications equipment from Chinese companies in American wireless networks.

Nick Read, chief executive of Vodafone Group, was quoted as saying in January that a total ban on the carrier's use of Huawei equipment would have significant financial cost, would have significant customer disruption and would delay 5G rollout in several countries. The UK's four major wireless operators  Vodafone, BT Group, Telefonica and CK Hutchison Holdings' Three  were all against a ban.

But it is not only big carriers who prefer Huawei equipment, with Jersey Telecom, a publicly-owned company operating in the Isle of Jersey, also expressing a preference for Chinese equipment.

The company sought bids from both Chinese and Western companies in 2014 for its wireless network and while Huawei's bid 20% below the lowest Western offer, ZTE was 40% cheaper. Jersey Telecom chief executive Graeme Millar went with ZTE, and commented: "I have a genuinely high-class, low-cost supplier with ZTE, who havent let me down yet.

The report said the chief executive of a major Italian wireless carrier was called to the US embassy in Rome last year and told by diplomats and intelligence officers to stop using Huawei equipment. But the company continued to use the gear.

British Telecom said in December last year that it was removing Huawei gear from the core of its 3G and 4G networks and would not use equipment from the company in the core of its 5G networks.

Huawei and the British National Cyber Security Centre operate a centre financed by the former, where equipment is checked before being used, given the scaremongering over Huawei by the US since a 2012 Congress report made unspecified claims about the firm being a front for spying by China.

The WSJ report cited British wireless executives as saying Huawei could release 5G equipment up to a year ahead of its two main Western rivals  Ericsson and Nokia. Another executive said a total ban on Huawei would mean a delay of at least 18 months in rolling out 5G at the company where he worked.

Some sources said there was a fear in Britain and America that Huawei and ZTE could put their competitors out of business altogether and become the only source of telecommunications equipment in the future.

British officials are said to favour the use of Huawei equipment in areas of networks other than the core, like cellular towers.
A bid by British security researcher Marcus Hutchins, to get a court to ignore comments he made to FBI officials when he was arrested, in view of the fact that he had not been informed of the reason for his arrest, has been thrown out by a court.

The US District Court in the eastern district of Wisconsin said it had come to this conclusion despite finding that the security officials had not been upfront with Hutchins about why he was being arrested.

Hutchins was arrested by the FBI in Las Vegas on 2 August 2017 after he had boarded a plane to leave the US after attending the annual DEFCON security conference.

He gained the attention of the world when he stopped the spread of the WannaCry ransomware by accident in May 2017.

Hutchins, 23, is charged with creating and distributing a banking trojan known as Kronos. The FBI claims he made incriminating statements to them after he was arrested last year, and also in two phone calls from his cell.

The chargesheet against him said he had written and helped distribute Kronos along with an unnamed co-conspirator.
Photo: Contributed

Two Central Okanagan homeowners claim they are being held hostage by the province's new speculation and vacancy tax.

And, they believe, there are others in similar situations.

In both cases, the homeowners have asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals.

The first involves a couple in their seventies, who relocated from the U.K. a few years ago to be close to their son. They purchased a home in Rutland, which they currently live in. They have no plans to sell, or rent the home, according to their realtor, Blake Roberts.

The problem, says Roberts, arises because the couple are not Canadian citizens.

"They have applied for their permanent residency, which is very difficult to get," he said.

"Long story short, they are subject to the speculation tax because as a non-permanent resident, regardless of living in the home, they have to pay the tax. The only way they can avoid it is either by moving out or renting a room."

Roberts says they have been in touch with MLA Norm Letnick's office to try to find a resolution and MP Stephen Fuhr's office regarding their residency application, but nothing has come from either.

A second homeowner in West Kelowna, also a retired senior, purchased a home with her husband, in cash, in 2009. After her husband died in 2015, she added her son to the title on the home in an estate planning move to allow him to sell the home quicker should she pass away.

While she continues to reside in the home, her son lives in Germany, making him subject to the tax.

According to a Ministry of Finance letter to the woman, the son in this case would be considered a non-arms-length tenant, meaning three criteria would have to be met to qualify for an exemption.

She must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or provincial nominee She must be a resident of B.C. for income tax purposes in 2018. She must have income equal to, or greater than, three times the annual fair market rent of the entire residential property.

She says she meets the first two, but the third would mean she would have to bring in about $100,000 annually. As a retiree, she doesn't.

She has spoken with MLA Ben Stewart's office, and has been assured her plight will be brought up in the legislature.

If she doesn't get a satisfactory resolution, she's contemplating a class-action lawsuit.

For his part, Roberts says he is in favour of restricting foreign ownership, making homes more affordable for young buyers and creating a true flipping or speculation tax. But he says to do so, both sides of the government aisle have to put politics aside and find something that works.

"The Liberals created this mess by not being on top of this in the first place, now they are sitting in the weeds as a campaign promise saying, we'll kill this, rather than reaching out to the NDP and saying what can we do to come up with something we can both live with."
Huntsville, TX (77320)

Today

Intervals of clouds and sunshine. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 94F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear skies. Low 77F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Friday, February 15th, 2019 (12:13 pm) - Score 3,835

The Government has today set out its first ever Statement of Strategic Priorities (SSP) for UK mobile and broadband services, which requires Ofcom to reflect in their work the need to build world-class digital infrastructure, look at mobile roaming in rural areas and tackle the so-called loyalty penalty etc.

The new SSP, which is a legal mechanism that was formally introduced for telecommunications services as part of the Digital Economy Act 2017, broadly seeks to support the Governments existing objectives. This includes their aim to extend geographic mobile coverage to 95% of the UK by 2022, a desire to cover the majority of the country with 5G mobile by 2027 and to ensure that 15 million premises are covered by Gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP networks by 2025 (rising to nationwide coverage by 2033).

The core components of this were set out in last years Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR) and related consultations from Ofcom (5G auctions / spectrum sharing and full fibre). As a result todays Statement of Strategic Priorities (SSP) largely reflect that on-going work.

The Strategic Priorities

 1: World-class digital infrastructure

The Governments commitment to world-class digital infrastructure for the UK, reflecting the conclusions of the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review.  2: Furthering the interests of telecoms consumers

The Governments commitment to safeguarding the interests of telecoms consumers, including the vulnerable and less engaged, by ensuring they are better informed and protected.  3: Secure and resilient telecoms infrastructure

The Governments commitment to ensuring the UKs telecoms networks and services are secure and resilient.  4: Postal services

The Governments commitment to a universal postal service and need for industry and Ofcom to work together to secure the long-term sustainability of the sector.

As part of this Ofcom will also be expected to examine the costs and benefits of options to introduce mobile roaming in rural areas in a bid to improve consumer choice and tackle partial not-spots (areas where at least one operator is present, but all four are not). Theyll also need to ensure that regulation supports investment in reliable Gigabit-capable broadband networks.

The SSPs further require Ofcom to tackle the so-called loyalty penalty, which sees loyal customers who do not shop around typically paying higher prices than more savvy consumers. The combined effect of the loyalty penalty incurred by customers of broadband and mobile is 1.3 billion per year, said the Government as it warned of new legislation if the regulator believes it does not have sufficient powers.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently concluded a super-complaint into the loyalty penalty issue and made several recommendations (here). Ofcom are already in the process of introducing measures to help tackle this (e.g. notification letters) and theyve recently launched a review of broadband ISP pricing to account for the CMAs concerns (here).

Jeremy Wright, DCMS Secretary of State, said: As the UKs telecoms regulator, Ofcom has a critical role in realising our shared connectivity aspirations for the UK. As well as ensuring the necessary improvements to broadband and mobile services, consumers must also be protected. I urge Ofcom to tackle harmful business practices and remove barriers to switching.

Andrew Glover, Chair of the Internet Services Providers Association, said: The Statement of Strategic Priorities is an important step in helping our members understand the UK Governments priorities for the sector and how Ofcom will exercise its regulatory functions. ISPA welcomes the fact that the UK Government has reiterated its support for reducing the costs and barriers to deployment of FTIR. This has been a longstanding priority for ISPA members, so it is encouraging to see this commitment reflected in the report. ISPA also echoes the views outlined about cross platform switching. ISPA wants to ensure that switching processes are easy, reliable and transparent, and ISPA looks forward to further detail on how Ofcom intends to achieve this. Ofcoms aim to tackle harmful practices and to improve the support available to consumers is supported by ISPA. It is understandable that Ofcom have proposed to tackle the loyalty penalty within the scope of this aim. However, it is important to ensure that the loyalty penalty is not a blanket regulation that conflates loyal with less engaged customers. It is incorrect to assume that customer loyalty is solely based on inertia, and any attempt to tackle the loyalty penalty needs to demonstrate that Ofcom has a well-rounded understanding of all consumers. ISPA therefore believes the loyalty penalty should be proportionate and targeted to those in need of help. Finally, ISPA would like to see more detail about the form in which the Outside In strategy will take, especially how it will align with the Universal Service Obligation. ISPA is currently working with its members to explore a range of possibilities about how to respond to this report including through a formal response.

The new SSPs essentially bring the legislative framework for Ofcom into line with other sectors, such as energy and water, for the first time. On the other hand they broadly reflect work that is already on-going and dont contain much in the way of new surprises.

Details of the related consultation can be found here and this is open to feedback until 27th March 2019.

UPDATE 4:48pm

Added the ISPAs comment above.
News Seven University Students Jailed in Connection with Effigy Burnings

Yadanabon University students burn government and school officials in effigy at a protest in December 2018. / De Hlaing Win / The Irrawaddy

MANDALAYThe Amarapura Court in Mandalay Region on Wednesday sentenced seven Yadanabon University students to three months in prison for burning ministers in effigy during a protest to demand better security on campus.

The students were each sentenced to three months imprisonment under Article 435 of the Penal Code, which prohibits mischief by fire, and two months imprisonment under Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law. The court ordered that the sentences be served concurrently.

On Dec. 28, 2018, three student protesters led by Yadanabon University Students Union (YUSU) chair Ko Kyaw Thiha Ye Kyaw staged a demonstration to demand better security measures on their campus, citing the case of a student who was killed during a robbery on Dec. 25, as well as a rash of motorcycle thefts.

During the protest, they burned effigies of Mandalay Chief Minister Dr. Zaw Myint Maung; Regional Minister of Electricity and Transport U Zar Ni Aung; Regional Minister of Border Affairs and Security Colonel Kyaw Kyaw Min; Union Deputy Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant-General Kyaw Swe; and the rector of Yadanabon University, Dr. Maung Maung Naing. They were arrested on the same day over the burnings.

Five days later on Jan. 2, four other students were arrested while demanding the release of the student union leaders.

All seven studentsKo Kyaw Thiha Ye Kyaw, Ko Ye Min Tun, Ko Ye Myo Swe, Ko Phone Myint Kyaw, Ko Myo Chit Aung (aka) Ba Chit, Ko Nay Win Kyaw and Ko Ye Lin Aunginitially had lawsuits opened against them on four charges and were brought before the township court on Jan. 11.

Ko Ye Myo Swe, a YUSU organizer, said after the verdict, before being taken to prison, that the seven would continue our demands when we are out of prison.

Amarapura Township police acted as plaintiff in the case and sued the students under Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law.

The deputy chief of the Amarapua Township General Administration Department also acted as plaintiff and sued them under articles 435, 505 (b) of the Penal Code, which relate to intent to cause public fear or alarm and Article 114, which relates to abetting.

The official later dropped the last two charges, as he cares for the education of those students and thus the judge delivered a verdict on the two charges [Article 435 of the Penal Code and Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law], said Police Lieutenant-Colonel Myo Aung, the head of the Mandalay District Police Force.

Other student union members also met with Mandalay Region government officials on Jan. 24 and demanded the release of the student leaders, and the regional government promised to reduce the charges.

Yadanabon University has an enrollment of some 20,000 students in variety of subjects. Students have asked that the school provide them with better security and cleaner restrooms, but the rector has said there is no budget for that.
Burma Two Sentenced to Death for Killing NLD Lawyer U Ko Ni

Convicted gunman Kyi Lin leaves the Yangon Northern District Court on Feb. 15, 2019 after his death sentence for killing U Ko Ni was announced. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

YANGONJust over two years after the assassination of prominent lawyer U Ko Ni, a Yangon court on Friday sentenced two men to death and jailed two others for the killing.

Delivering its long-awaited verdict, the court sentenced hired gunman Kyi Linwho shot the lawyer dead in broad daylight on Jan. 29, 2017 outside Yangon International Airport and then killed taxi driver U Ne Win as he tried to apprehend the shooterto death plus an additional 20 years imprisonment for the killings.

Former Lieutenant Aung Win Zaw, an accomplice of Kyi Lin, was also sentenced to death after he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. Zeya Phyo, a former captain with the Military Intelligence unit, was sentenced to five years in prison with hard labor for causing the disappearance of evidence of an offense. Aung Win Tun was sentenced to a three-year prison term for harboring one of the men.

The alleged mastermind of the killing, former Lieutenant-Colonel Aung Win Khaing, remains at large after fleeing, at least initially, to Naypyitaw, which has Myanmars most extensive surveillance network. According to CCTV footage, he was last seen near the citys National Herbal Park in the first week of February 2017. The Home Affairs Ministry said a warrant has been issued for Aung Win Khaings arrest and that his picture has been sent to Interpol and police forces across Southeast Asia.

While leaving the Yangon Northern District Court after the verdict was announced, one of the convicted assassins shouted, They dont do anything to those in Naypyitaw. But I have been handed a prison sentence. It was not clear whom he meant by those in Naypyitaw.

U Khin Maung Htay, a plaintiff lawyer, told the media after the verdict that he was not satisfied with the verdict against Zeya Phyo, who previously faced charges of premeditated murder as well as aiding and abetting an offender. He said he would appeal to a higher court.

The verdict followed a trial that included more than 100 court hearings. The court heard from 72 plaintiff witnesses and 40 defense witnesses.

In an interview with The Irrawaddy last month, prosecution lawyer U Nay La said justice would not be served unless and until all the masterminds are identified.

The mastermind must be unveiled sometime in the future for the sake of justice. This is what I believe, he said.

Many have speculated that U Ko Ni was targeted because of his strong criticism of the military-drafted 2008 Constitution. The constitutional expert and legal adviser to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyis ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) had long advocated for constitutional reforms to reduce the militarys dominant political role. He is also believed to have played a key role in advising the NLD to create the position of state counselor for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi after the partys landslide victory in the 2015 elections.

Deputy Director of Yangon High Court U Ye Lwin told the media that carrying out the executions would be the responsibility of the Prisons Department, after the Supreme Court of Myanmar approves the sentences.

No death sentences have been carried out in Myanmar since 1988. Currently, there are over 100 people awaiting execution.

U Nay La said in his interview with The Irrawaddy that those who are sentenced to death typically have their sentences commuted to an indefinite jail sentence, then, when another amnesty is granted, their sentence is commuted to 20 years in prison, which is considered life imprisonment in Myanmar. Then, in labor camps, their sentence is reduced again through the parole process, he said.

For this reason, he said, those who are sentenced to death dont really fear execution and can eat well and stay at ease in prison as the maximum jail sentence the convicts on death row face is just 10 to 15 years.
Burma Rakhine State Lawmaker Suggests Union Govt Talk to AA to End Fighting

A man walks toward the Rakhine State Parliament building in Sittwe, Rakhine State. / Min Aung Khine / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  The Rakhine State legislature on Thursday agreed to schedule a debate on a proposal to call on the Union Parliament to urge the national government to find a way to end the ongoing fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) in the north of the state.

Rakhine State lawmaker U Than Naing, of Rathedaung Constituency (1), submitted the urgent proposal Thursday, noting that the fighting has forced more than 6,000 people to flee their homes over the past two months.

I would like to encourage the Union government via the state government to halt the armed conflict in Rakhine as soon as possible to show empathy for the lives of ethnic [minority] people who live in contested areas, he said.

He also cited a controversial press conferences in Naypyitaw during which a military spokesman said that State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had in private directed the armed forces to crush the AA soon after the ethnic armed group staged a deadly attack on a police post in Rakhines Maungdaw Township.

Because she gave instructions for the fighting, I believe she can also order a truce, said U Than Naing, a member of the Arakan National Party (ANP), which dominates the state legislature.

He suggested the Union government hold negotiations with the AA to bring the fighting to an end and forge a lasting peace.

Spokesmen for the Office of the President and the Office of the Commander-in-Chief could not be reached for comment.

Rakhine State ANP lawmaker U Tun Thar Sein, of Mrauk-U Constituency (1), said the state ministers had already endorsed the proposal and that the local legislatures military-appointed lawmakers were also on board. But he said most of the ministers were not on hand for Thursday or Fridays parliamentary sessions to answer questions, including chief minister U Nyi Pu.

The chief minister was appointed to the post by the ruling National League for Democracy, with whom the ANP has a contentious relationship.

On Friday, U Tun Thar Sein also submitted an urgent proposal for humanitarian assistance for the thousands of people displaced by the fighting, now relying mostly on donations from non-government aid groups. The state government has distributed aid to the displaced only once and blocked most international aid agencies from making aid deliveries of their own.

U Tun Thar Sein said the state government had a disaster management budget, approved by Parliament last year, that stood at about 30 billion kyats ($19.62 million) and could potentially be used to help the displaced families.

But the local lawmakers expressed doubts about the likelihood of negotiations, as the Union government labeled the AA a terrorist organization for killing 13 security force members in recent attacks and seized more than a dozen assault rifles and over 10,000 rounds of ammunition.

U Tun Thar Sein said the states ethnic Arakanese lawmakers had previously urged the Union government to take action on a number of other issues in Rakhine but to no avail.

I would like to say that they should pay a little attention on the Rakhine Parliament, he said.
Burma Latest Refugees From Myanmar Stranded in Bangladesh, Volunteer Group Says

People fleeing fighting in Paletwa Township, Chin State, trek through the forest near the Myanmar-Bangladesh border last week, in this screengrab from a video posted online by the AA. / Ko Ko Marma / Facebook

YANGON  More than 200 refugees who have fled the fighting in Chin State between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) and taken shelter in Bangladesh are receiving no government support and being ordered to leave, according to a volunteer aid group.

The ethnic Chin, Khami, Mro and Arakanese left their homes in the villages of Kin Ta Lin and Kha Maung Wa, in Chin States Paletwa Township, on Feb. 3.

Border Guard Bangladesh said it would not allow anyone, Buddhist or Muslim, to enter Bangladesh. It asked the displaced people to go back to Myanmar or some other place within three days, said U Win Thein, who leads a Bangladesh-based volunteer group that helps displaced people.

He said officials in Bangladeshs Bandarban District issued the order during a press conference there on Tuesday. The same day, he added, eight households from among the refugees left for the Indian border and 40 headed back toward Myanmar.

There is a town called Pi on the Bangladeshi border, and there is a big mountain nearby. Displaced people are staying there, and nearby Mro and Chin villages are supplying them with food. We deliver food to them secretly because we do not have official permission to help them, said U Win Thein.

Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Minister Abdul Momen told local reporters that his government closed the border gates on Feb. 7 so that no more displaced people could enter the country from Myanmar.

The Times of India reported that Border Guard Bangladesh has also deployed more troops along the border with Myanmar.

AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha said his group had found more than 100 people who had fled Paletwa Township and guided them to Bangladesh, hoping the Bangladeshi government would provide them with humanitarian assistance.

On Feb. 8, however, state-run newspapers reported that the AA had taken more than 200 Paletwa residents to Bangladesh, including 38 primary school students, after abducting them.

U Win Thein said the refugees had planned to find shelter elsewhere in Paletwa or neighboring Kyauktaw Township but thought it too dangerous and finally headed for Bangladesh.

The UNHCR [the U.N.s refugee agency] went there to help them, but the Bangladeshi government didnt let them. The Red Cross also sent three trucks [with relief supplies], but the Bangladeshi government didnt let them, either, he said.

I am afraid we will only be able to provide relief supplies one more time. The problem is that we cant go to that area. We are not allowed to go there, he added.

Chin State Social Affairs Minister Pau Lun Min Thang said he had little information about the refugees current situation.

So far we have not received any update about them, and we dont know if they went to Bangladesh by themselves or if they were brought there by the AA, he told The Irrawaddy.

He said the Myanmar military had increased security in Kin Ta Lin and Kha Maung Wa villages and that the state government was taking care of more than 3,000 displaced people taking shelter at camps in Paletwa.

All the state government can do is help the people who are in trouble. The lives of many young people have been ruined by the fighting. I am sorry for that. We can do nothing so long as there is fighting. I hope peace talks are held as soon as possible, the minister said.

Myanmars Foreign Affairs Ministry could not be reached for a comment.

Fighting between the Myanmar military and AA has forced more than 1,000 people from their homes in Rathaedang, Buthidaung, Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun townships over recent months.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
Burma E.U. Honors Myanmar Rights Defenders, Including Jailed Peace Activist

E.U. delegation officials pose with 2019 Schuman Awards winners (front row from left to right) U Robert San Aung and U Aung Kyaw Moe and Nang Bawk, the sister-in-law of jailed awardee Nang Pu. / European Union in Myanmar / Facebook

CHIANG MAI, Thailand  The European Union honored three Myanmar peace and human rights advocates, including jailed Kachin community leader Daw Nang Pu, with its 2019 Schuman Awards in Yangon on Thursday.

The other two recipients were peace advocate U Aung Kyaw Moe, who provided humanitarian aid to thousands of families after the 2017 Rakhine crisis, and lawyer U Robert Sann Aung, who often represents victims of human rights abuses.

Daw Nang Pu  a well known advocate for displaced people, gender equality and peace in Kachin State  is director of the Htoi Gender and Development Foundation and founder of the Kachin State Womens Network.

She has dedicated her life to helping some of the most marginalized members of the conflict-affected communities in Kachin, said Denmark Ambassador John Nielsen at the awards ceremony.

Her foundation has rescued, counseled and defended the survivors of sexual violence in conflicts. Through her work, women who lost family members due to decades-long conflicts in Kachin have been empowered to rebuild their lives and livelihood, he added.

Nang Pu was sentenced to six months in prison in December along with two other ethnic Kachin for leading a peaceful protest calling for the rescue of thousands of civilians trapped by fighting between the Myanmar military and Kachin Independence Army. The Kachin communities also honored the trio with Kachin human rights awards this week.

Nang Pu should be here today to accept this award, said her sister-in-law Nang Bawk, who accepted the award on her behalf.

She cant, because she is in prison, she said. But Nang Pu shared her words. She thanks the E.U. for this honor even though she thinks she does not deserve such an award. She added that she will keep working for peace in Kachin State whether she is honored with such an award or not.

The Schuman Award  named after former French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of the European Union  was established in 2017 to recognize Myanmar citizens who foster positive change in their communities and promote democracy, rule of law, peace and human rights.

The Schuman Award is given every year as recognition of those who dare carry the flame for others, E.U. Ambassador Kristian Schmidt said.

He said the three winners have decided to speak up for those who have no voice, those who are vulnerable, those demanding respect for basic human rights, not for themselves but for their fellow human beings,

In 2017 the inaugural awards went to U Aung Myo Min of Equality Myanmar, Janan Lahtaw of the Nyein (Shalom) Foundation, and U Ko Ni, the slain lawyer and adviser to the ruling National League for Democracy.

Last years recipients were Ko Swe Win, chief editor of Myanmar Now, human rights activist Cheery Zahau, and womens rights activist Daw Khin Than Htwe.
Asia Kashmir Car Bomb Kills 44; India Demands Pakistan Act Against Militants

Indian soldiers examine debris after an explosion in Lethpora in south Kashmir's Pulwama District on Thursday. / Reuters

SRINAGAR, India  A suicide bomber rammed a car into a bus carrying Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir on Thursday, killing 44 of them in the deadliest attack in decades on security forces in the disputed region, raising tensions with arch foe Pakistan.

The Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack. The Indian government accused Pakistan of letting militant groups operate from its soil and called on it to take action.

Islamabad said it rejected the suggestion it was linked to the attack.

Kashmir is a Muslim-majority region at the heart of decades of hostility between India and Pakistan. The neighbors both rule parts of the region while claiming the entire territory as theirs.

The explosion targeting a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was heard from several miles away, according to witnesses. Mohammad Yunis, a journalist who reached the site minutes later, told Reuters he saw blood and body parts scattered along a 100-meter stretch of the main highway running through the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries, the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement hours after the attack.

Pakistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the attack a matter of grave concern. But in a brief statement early on Friday it added, We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations.

Islamabad has previously denied New Delhis accusations that it gives material help to the militants fighting Indian rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir. It says it gives only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination.

The White House urged Pakistan in a statement to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil. It said the attack strengthens U.S. resolve to step up counter-terrorism cooperation with India.

Television images showed a mangled car amid rubble and snow around the site. Reuters photos showed tens of policemen surveying damaged vehicles and one policeman was seen carrying a plastic cover with guns inside.

The death toll stood at 44, a senior police official said.

The Central Reserve Force Police is a paramilitary organization that is working with the Indian military to quell the 30-year insurgency in Kashmir.

I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.

Indian forces have sporadically battled Islamist militants in mountainous Kashmir since an armed revolt in 1989 in which tens of thousands were killed, but car bombings are rare.

A video circulating on social media on Thursday purportedly featured the suicide bomber, and showed a young man holding a gun and threatening more attacks. Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the video.

The Indian foreign ministry accused the Pakistani government of giving the militant group Jaish a free run in Pakistan, saying it has allowed the groups leader, Masood Azhar, to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity.

The last major attack in Kashmir was in 2016 when militants raided an Indian army camp in Uri, killing 20 soldiers.

Tension with Pakistan rose after that incident when New Delhi said the attackers had come from Pakistan to stage the assault. Pakistan denied any involvement.

Modi under pressure

The attack could put Modi, who faces a general election due by May, under political pressure to act against the militants and Pakistan.

Randeep Singh Surjewala, a spokesman for the main opposition Congress party, accused Modi of compromising on security.

Zero political action & Zero policy to tackle terror has led to an alarming security situation, Surjewala said in one of a series of tweets.

Kanwal Sibal, a former top diplomat, said a diplomatic response from India would not be enough.

They will have to do something, otherwise I think it will be very difficult for government to absorb this blow and [it will] be seen to be doing nothing, Sibal told Reuters.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad group is one of the most powerful militant groups operating in Kashmir. It was blamed for a 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament that led to India deploying its military on the border with Pakistan.

In a statement carried by the GNS news agency, a spokesman for the group said dozens of security force vehicles were destroyed in the attack.

Arun Jaitley, a senior minister in Modis cabinet, said India would retaliate, tweeting that terrorists will be given unforgettable lesson for their heinous act.

On Wednesday, an explosion at a school in Kashmir wounded a dozen students. The cause of the blast remains unclear.
The Paris prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into alleged "sexual aggression" by Luigi Ventura, the Vatican's envoy to France, according to a judicial official.

The official said the investigation will be conducted by Paris police following an alleged incident in the French capital's town hall.

According to Le Monde, Ventura, who has held the post with the Holy See's global diplomatic corps since 2009, is suspected of sexually molesting a young male employee during a ceremony of wishes on January 17.

Ventura, who was born in northern Italy near the city of Brescia, turned 74 in December.

He was ordained a priest in June 1969 and elevated to bishop in March 1995. He was appointed nuncio to France in September 2009 by Benedict XVI, a position regarded as the crowning achievement of a Vatican diplomatic career.

After serving as nuncio to Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Niger, he then held the position in Chile and Canada before landing the French post.

When he turns 75 in December, he will be required, as all bishops are at that age under Vatican rules, to submit his resignation to Pope Francis, who can either accept it or let him stay on.

Ventura is the third Vatican diplomat accused of sexual wrongdoing.

In June last year, the Vatican tribunal convicted Monsignor Carlo Capella of possession and distribution of child pornography and sentenced him to five years in prison.

In 2013, the Vatican charged its then-ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Monsignor Jozef Wesolowski, with sexually abusing young boys.

Wesolowski was defrocked by the Vatican's church court, but died before the Vatican's criminal trial got underway.
I do not suggest that the Justice Democrats are violent. (Antifa deals in violence on the extreme Left, and would rather resort to the streets than to the ballot.) What I do argue by historical comparison, is that socialist Democrats are prepared to lose, forfeit or see implode anything of value in the short term for their ultimate goal because they ultimately value nothing like that ultimate goal. In their view, they are part of an unstoppable wave and so they see no need or reason to moderate, compromise or introspect.
Cabinet ministers should have their Garda drivers reinstated immediately. The decision on ministers losing this security detail was taken during the height of the recession.

Admittedly money saving efforts were occurring everywhere but this one was an example of gesture politics that needs now to be reversed.

We have some of the most accessible politicians in the world, if you dont meet them on the street youll see them at a funeral or can pop along to one of their constituency clinics  this includes government ministers.

This is largely a strength of Irish politics, but it does not mean that we should be careless when it comes to our politicians being properly protected.

Ministerial security is a hot topic following the protest that took place at the home of Health Minister Simon Harris on Sunday in Co Wicklow.

At the time the minister was inside with his wife and baby daughter, who is less than three weeks old.

It was appalling to see the ill-judged actions of these eejits but also heartening to see such condemnation of their behaviour from across the political spectrum.

It was reported that when the Cabinet met on Tuesday there was discussion of the incident where 10 or so anti austerity protesters stood outside the house holding banners, one with the message #Bringittotheirdoors.

Its hardly a surprise that some of Mr Harriscolleagues would fear similar incidents, no doubt already rattled by reports of a threat by anti eviction protesters to forcefully remove female cabinet ministers and their families from their homes.

This online threat has since been investigated by gardai and it is good to know that a senior level examination into general ministerial security is currently being undertaken by An Garda Siochana.

A Google search will throw up a few reminders of nasty incidents involving politicians in recent years, and how close to dangerous certain incidents had skirted.

There is a clip from 2015 of former taoiseach Brian Cowen walking to his car, alone, in Dublin city centre.

A camera shows him from behind, and as it gets menacingly closer to the back of his head you realise there is a small group of protesters surrounding him as he gets to his car, parked on a street.

Presumably it is those same people who have already put cardboard with slogans on his windscreen and also, somewhat bizarrely, tied balloons to the door handles.

They blow a whistle into his ear and shout vile abuse at him including traitor.

Of course there is a political context here.

Many people justifiably believe that Fianna Fail had a major role to play in our economic crash but nothing excuses this sort of thuggish, threatening behaviour.

Incredibly the former taoiseach remained calm, at least outwardly, I say incredibly because it must have been a terrifying experience. He resolutely removed the cardboard and then the balloons and then got into his car.

In hindsight, looking at this, it borders on criminal endangerment to have left Brian Cowen without the protection of at least a garda driver during those years when there was so much anger against him.

Two years prior to that former taoiseach Bertie Ahern was assaulted in a pub in Dublin city centre.

Although not seriously injured he was hit on the head with a crutch wielded by a man who was said to have been extremely drunk.

For these two men, both former Taoisigh of our country, these are just two ugly incidents that we are aware of, and there must have been far more than those.

Also in 2013 former Labour minister Pat Rabbitte came under siege by protesters who had been at the Dail but after getting a tip-off went up to a nearby pub where he was standing outside with a few people having a drink.

It got so intense they moved inside but he was followed.

The video of that shows a horrible incident where he is sitting in the pub, portraying a calm exterior, and looking at his phone, while other people formed a line of protection around him.

Yet again you can hear the word traitor being spat at him, as well as scumbag, as well as Rabbitte, Rabbitte, Rabbitte, run, run,run.

The former minister remembers the incident and the nastiness of it well, and how they came into the pub with a megaphone and created bloody mayhem.

There were two young fellas there, physically very fit, and they told me just hold tight. As it turns out while I was downstairs with this happening Michael Noonan and Brendan Howlin were upstairs in the same pub with the troika having just signed off on the latest assessment of our homework so those two guys were Garda Special Branch.

"Austerity might have lifted now but that coarseness that developed during that time is still there. They havent gone away.

He does point out that even if hed had a Garda driver then it mightnt have made any difference given the particular circumstances.

As tanaiste at the time of the Jobstown protest Joan Burton did have a garda driver, but given the number and the ferocity of that protest, far more assistance was required.

She recalls being the subject of several other protests with people saying things like we know where you live and has in fact, over the years, had a number of protests at her home.

Significant numbers of people, like with Jobstown, do seem to want to protest in a far more visceral way. It was a terrifying experience and I think it happened as it did because there were two women involved.

She believes politicians, especially those who are promoted, should be given security advice.

Irish politics is very open and 99% of people are very friendly and I think our democracy would be diminished to do away with that.

Since 2011 the Taoiseach and Tanaiste are the only Ministers to have State cars and Garda drivers.

Ministers now provide their own cars and are paid travelling expenses. They hire two civilian drivers paid by the State.

In 2017 the State car and Garda driver for the Taoiseach cost 200,698 and 278,000 for the Tanaistes. The total bill for all State cars that year, including the President, was more than 1m.

You wouldnt dismiss these charges as inconsequential and clearly there would be a major hike in cost if all Cabinet members were to have these arrangements reinstated.

Nor is it to anyones benefit to create an over securitised scenario.

However there is a time to be prudent and this is one of those. Simply by announcing the reintroduction of these security arrangements our senior politicians would be sending out a necessary signal to those who might consider them fair game.

It was interesting to read something Fine Gael senator Catherine Noone said a while ago in the Seanad about the 2011 decision on ministers cars and drivers.

We get no gratitude for that kind of thing, she observed, adding that she thought politicians may have degraded themselves over the years.

We have made populist moves to try to endear ourselves to a public that has no interest in many of the moves in question.

Its difficult to disagree with her.
With confirmation that the prison service has employed two private investigation firms, we do not know what service they provided, writes Michael Clifford.

Put yourself in these shoes. You are an upstanding citizen. You have personal foibles not unlike other upstanding citizens.

Perhaps you are conducting an extramarital affair. Or maybe you are overly religious, and frequently steal a minute to pop into a church or a mosque.

The point is, all of this stuff is private. Nobodys business but yours.

Except somebody is making it their business. You are under surveillance on behalf of a State agency. Your foibles are no longer private.

In fact, if an agent of the snooper so wished, you could be confronted with your personal foibles as a weapon of blackmail.

You could go to the cops. Except, perhaps elements of An Garda Siochana are in on the surveillance and as such compromised in any attempt to deal with your complaint. What can you do then but turn to the courts?

The scenario is one that may well end up being the focus of serious litigation if claims about covert surveillance in the Irish Prison Service are substantiated.

A senior prison officer has claimed in a High Court affidavit that covert surveillance was one of a number of examples of malpractice and possible illegality that he encountered at work.

The surveillance claim is being investigated by the Inspector of Prisons.

Separate to this, the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee yesterday received information that provides ballast to one element of the claim.

The whistleblower, assistant chief officer David McDonald, stated in his affidavit that a private investigation firm was employed to conduct the surveillance.

Now, in a letter to the PAC from the secretary general of the Department of Justice, it has been confirmed that the prison service did employ a private investigation firm  two, in fact  in 2011 and 2012.

The two firms were paid a cumulative total of 29,000. What exact service was provided for this fee is unknown.

It is not possible from the information available to determine if these payments relate to the surveillance of prison staff. However, a copy of the invoices concerned have been forwarded to the Inspector of Prisons as part of her ongoing investigation, wrote Aidan ODriscoll, the secretary general of the Department of Justice.

The investigation by the inspector, Patricia Gilheaney, is restricted by the statute under which she was appointed. That notwithstanding, the Irish Examiner understands that she is making serious inroads examining the claims.

If it turns out that the claims stand up, the State has a serious issue.

The covert surveillance alleged included the placing of cameras in offices and common areas within a prison, and the placing of tracker devices on prison vehicles.

Another claim is that in at least one instance a tracker device was placed on a prison officers private car.

The premise for this surveillance was to track the movements of a small number of prison officers suspected of bringing contraband into the prison.

There is an issue here with legality. An Garda Siochana, and elements of the Defence Forces, can, in certain

circumstances, receive authorisation to conduct covert surveillance.

The prison service has no such mandate in investigating what would be illegal activity. That is a matter entirely for the gardai.

Would the gardai have been informed if covert surveillance was undertaken by a private investigation firm on behalf of the Irish Prison Service?

If so, an issue also arises for the police force.

There are a few bad apples in every barrel and the prison service is no different from any other line of work.

The problem arises when the prison officer who is not under suspicion  accounting for the vast majority of staff  gets caught up in the covert surveillance of a prison officer who is under suspicion.

For instance, if tracker devices were placed on prison vehicles, what of the innocent prison officer who found him or herself tracked?

They have done nothing wrong and are entitled to their privacy.

In the event that the surveillance is confirmed, it is highly likely that a whole host of prison officers may feel compelled to sue the State for a gross breach of their privacy.

Those who might be the focus of any surveillance could do likewise, albeit at a cost of explaining why exactly they were under surveillance.

The whole issue is messy, with the potential to get a lot messier. As with other aspects to the prison service, this issue  if there is an issue  may well have been dealt with through internal channels if there was any real oversight of the prison service.

Therein lies the biggest issue in todays prison service. Unlike most other major agencies of State, this one has no real oversight body.

The Inspector of Prisons has an important remit but it does not have the teeth of an oversight body to which the Irish Prison Service is fully accountable.

There is no ombudsman, there is no Hiqa, there is nobody to challenge an apparent prevailing priority of keeping scandal at bay, keeping the lid on controversies, keeping up appearances.
Even by granting mathematical generosity to the minister, the gap between what is being achieved in social housing and what is needed is vast, writes Caroline ODoherty.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy is sometimes lampooned as the minister for statistics, such is his love of providing information in terms of percentage changes, cumulative totals, attained target proportions, and annual increments.

But for all his reliance on digits, he can be frustratingly short on detail.

On Wednesday this week, he met with the chief executives of the 31 local authorities at the latest summit on the housing crisis  the sixth held since the first one was sparked by the death of homeless man Jonathan Corrie in a doorway just metres from the Dail gates in December 2014.

Simultaneously, Mr Murphy published a progress report on social housing, listing the States achievements in 2018. One would have informed the other, one would have thought.

But when the minister appeared on RTE Radio yesterday morning, his presentation of the figures did not add up.

His report stated that 8,422 new homes were added to the social housing stock in 2018, almost double the number in 2017 or a dramatic increase as the minister characterised it yesterday.

He was asked how many were built by local authorities, which is the method preferred by the majority of housing campaigners and homeless charities because it means the homes are publicly-owned, publicly-managed, and potentially more cost-effective.

Mr Murphy said he didnt know but that this wasnt the important point  the 8,422 was where the focus should be.

It was eight times greater than the number built in 2015, the year before the Rebuilding Ireland social housing delivery initiative was launched, he repeated breathlessly.

Eight times greater and four years back was a bit much for that hour of the morning but he was swiftly dragged back on track and it was put to him that his own report put the figure for local authority builds at 2,022.

That could be correct, he replied.

This morning I had a lively discussion on @morningireland about the recent developments in the housing sector and how increasing supply of housing for all sectors of society continues to be my main priority. pic.twitter.com/9OPpDkjeP1  Eoghan Murphy (@MurphyEoghan) February 14, 2019

He had only met the CEOs the previous day and his department was still in the process of confirming the figures they supplied, he explained, injecting all sorts of uncertainty into the equation.

Presuming the figure of 2,022 is there or thereabouts and no local authority is found to be secretly building the next Milton Keynes as a surprise, there are still issues with the number of 8,422 to which it contributes.

The report says that a further 1,388 homes were built by Approved Housing Bodies, the non-profit home building and management organisations, while another 841 came about through the Part V mechanism where private developers make a portion of their site or dwellings available for social housing.

That makes up 4,251 newly-built, previously non-existent homes  not the dramatic increase of 8,422 that the minister wanted to focus on.

That figure was reached partly by including some 2,610 acquisitions  arguably the next best thing to building  although buying from the private sector always brings with it questions about value for money.

But another 1,001 of the 8,422 were leased and while the leases are generally classified as long term, ie, 10-25 years, 10-30 years, or 25-30 years depending on which part of the ministers report and his own comments you rely on, leasing is not owning.

One issue here is that even 30 years is not actually that long in the lifetime of a family but, also, the properties do not belong to the local authority or to the State and questions around value for money arise again.

The remaining 560 were voids  homes that already existed but had become vacant and then fallen out of use because significant repairs needed to be carried out.

While their return to occupation is welcome, it seems a stretch to classify them as a successful new addition to the housing stock, particularly as they symbolise a failure in social housing management by being allowed to fall out of use in the first place.

Leaving aside the leases and voids, it might be more accurate to say that 6,861 new homes were added to the permanent social housing stock in 2018  still a good increase on 2017 when the equivalent was 4,511, just not as dramatic as the minister said.

And it is nowhere near what is needed.

More than 100,000 households are on social housing waiting lists or receiving State help to pay their rent, chiefly through the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme but also the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS).

More than 70,000 are officially classified as being on the waiting list but the reality is that the remainder are also in need of social housing as, by the States own admission in approving them for HAP or RAS, they can not afford private rents.

Almost 10,000 people are the most homeless of the homeless, living day-to-day in emergency accommodation.

So even by granting the greatest of mathematical generosity to the minister and allowing him his figure of 8,422 new additions to the social housing stock, the gap between what he is achieving and what is needed is vast.

His timeframe for sorting the problem is 2021 as set out under the Rebuilding Ireland initiative launched in 2016.

The plan is to provide 50,000 new social housing homes by 2021 through building, leasing, and buying] and also to have 87,000 households supported in the private rental sector through HAP and RAS.

He says he is on schedule with the new additions  with a total of 21,231 new social housing homes in place or 42% of the target  and ahead on HAP and RAS with 51,000 of a planned 87,000 or 58% of the target achieved.

The fact that HAP is costing 400m a year  money going into the private rental sector for often short-term, insecure tenancies which is just the sort of scenario that exacerbates the homeless crisis  makes it hard to view that as an achievement but thats another days row.

In the meantime, we still dont know  although the minister says we will do today or on Monday  which local authorities are achieving which part of the targets through which mechanisms.

These are important details if we are to track progress, tackle obstacles, and identify the best routes to successfully providing social housing.

Rebuilding Ireland has numerous different initiatives; the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund, the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan, and Home Building Finance Ireland are just some of the ones that involve multimillion-euro investments.

If their outcomes are to be assessed with speed and certainty so that they can be tweaked, discontinued, or boosted as warranted, were going to need clear, timely, no-spin numbers.

At the moment, were in a dust storm of figures and the minister just keeps stamping his feet.
President Donald Trump declared a national emergency to pay for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, after Congress, in its new spending bill, denied him the full money to build it.

Were talking about an invasion of our country with drugs, with human traffickers, with all types of criminals and gangs, Trump said in a speech on Feb. 15 before signing the declaration.

President @realDonaldTrump signs the Declaration for a National Emergency to address the national security and humanitarian crisis at the Southern Border. pic.twitter.com/0bUhudtwvS  Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) February 15, 2019

Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi warned Trump against declaring a national emergency, saying that it set a precedent for future Democratic presidents to use that power. A number of liberal organizations have threatened to file challenges in court on the grounds that Trumps move is an abuse of power.

But will the courts step in? What is Congresss role in this situation?

As I explain in my book Emergency Presidential Power, presidents generally claim emergency power two ways: through inherent or implied authority under the U.S. Constitution or under statutory authority granted by Congress.

Relying on the Constitution as a basis for emergency power is controversial, and less likely to stand up to meaningful congressional or judicial review. The U.S. Constitution says nothing specific about presidential emergency power: Presidents can only claim such authority is implied or inherent.

The emergency powers the Constitution does describe are actually assigned to Congress. Congress has delegated some emergency powers to the president through statutes, including the National Emergencies Act. But Congress retains the power to reject a presidents declaration of a national emergency.

Now the question is: Will Congress use the power available to it, or will it play the role of passive spectator?

Gaining congressional approval

Since presidents lack any specific constitutional emergency power, they often find it necessary to gain congressional authorization. For instance, at the start of the Civil War, with Congress out of session, President Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus and took other unilateral actions. He later sought and gained retroactive approval from Congress for these actions.

This precedent of gaining congressional approval was put to the test nearly 100 years later. In 1952, President Harry Truman claimed emergency power to take control of steel factories during the Korean War in response to a labor strike. He invoked a very great inherent power to meet great national emergencies. Congress took no specific action to approve or disapprove, though a preexisting statute on the books weighed against Truman.

President Harry Truman in his White House office in Washington on Dec. 16, 1950 signs a proclamation of a state of national emergency, summoning the nation to marshal its strength against the threat of Communist world conquest. AP Photo/William J. Smith

When factory owners sued the administration, the Supreme Court, by a 6-3 vote, ruled against Truman in the famous Youngstown Sheet decision. Justice Robert H. Jacksons concurring opinion in that case has been especially influential and is often cited by legal scholars and judges. He outlined a three-part test to be used as a starting point in determining when presidential action is constitutionally permissible.

Under Jacksons test, presidents are on the strongest possible footing when acting with congressional approval. In this case, Jackson said, Trumans position was weak since he was taking action that did not comply with the relevant legislative framework. In Jacksons view, Trumans reliance on inherent emergency power under the Constitution would dangerously concentrate power in the presidents hands, something the framers would not have wanted.

Congresss role

Jacksons opinion in Youngstown suggested that emergency power could be defined by Congress in statutes.

Congress took up that suggestion with the National Emergencies Act of 1976. Though the act was designed to set limits on presidential power to declare national emergencies of indefinite length, it has ended up providing a largely unregulated way for presidents to take unilateral action. Congress has failed to fulfill its responsibilities under the law.

The National Emergencies Act permits the president to declare a national emergency without congressional approval, triggering specific statutory powers that the president can use. For instance, presidents have used this law to impose economic sanctions against terrorists after 9/11 or regulate foreign ships in U.S. waters. Thirty-one emergency declarations are currently in effect under the statute.

Congress can vote at any time to terminate a state of emergency, and is required by the statute to meet every six months while an emergency is in effect to consider whether it should continue. However, it has never voted on an emergency declared by a president or held meetings as required by the statute.

Perhaps most importantly for Trump, the National Emergencies Act provides no criteria for deciding whether a national emergency exists. We know from history that presidents can contrive emergencies as a pretext for action.

For example, in 1846 President James Polk falsely claimed that Mexico had spilled American blood on U.S. soil as a pretext for gaining a declaration of war from Congress.

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt justified the decision to intern 110,000 Japanese-Americans without trial based on false claims that time was of the essence, and at least some Japanese-Americans were known to be disloyal.

Although both of these examples pre-date the 1976 Act, they serve as cautionary tales about the wisdom of accepting at face value a presidents claim that an emergency exists. However, because the law now in effect provides no specific standards to define the existence of an emergency, courts might be inclined to defer to presidential discretion. It is far from clear that courts will strike down Trumps national emergency.

By contrast, it would be straightforward for Congress to reverse a declaration of national emergency. The National Emergencies Act gives legislators authority to reject a presidential declaration of national emergency through simple legislation that would require majorities in the House and Senate. President Trump would presumably veto such action. Legislators would have the opportunity to override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote. That of course would be no easy task in the current Congress.

Because of the way the National Emergencies Act was drafted, Congress is better positioned to take action than the courts  assuming enough members are moved to act. If Congress does nothing, then the law could become a vehicle for presidential abuse, especially because the acts language seems to grant the president broad discretion that could insulate an emergency declaration from legal challenge.

All eyes should be on Congress.

This article was written by Chris Edelson of American University School of Public Affairs and was originally published on The Conversation This article is republished from theconversation.com under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here.
The multi-award-winning Pot Duggans, in Ennistymon, Co Clare, continues its highly progressive campaign to singlehandedly reverse the trend of rural decline, at least in the pub sector, with a splendid Sunday Sessions programme running from February to June.

Some of Irelands top chefs (Paul Flynn, Enda McEvoy, Grainne OKeeffe, Jess Murphy, JR Ryall and Ross Lewis) will travel west to cook up a series of one-off dinners featuring finest local produce in their beautifully restored 19th-century barns.

The Menu reckons this series will prove to be one of the highlights of 2019 and it kicks off in some style with a dinner from Paul Flynn (February 24), chef-proprietor of Dungarvans The Tannery. (www.potduggans.com/SundaySessions/)

Cookbook Club returns

The Menu never needs a special reason to sample the fine fare of chef Jess Murphy at the very splendid Kai cafe and restaurant but the in-house Cookbook Club returns once more (February 26) as Murphy interprets the work of Uruguayan chef Ignacio Mattos, of Estela, in New York City, recreating dishes from his eponymous tome, Estela by Ignacio Mattos at a special dinner. Booking essential (www.kaicaferestaurant.com).

Sherry and canapes

The Menu is exceptionally partial to a drop of sherry, a most versatile beverage  indeed, a glass of fine dry manzanilla recently served him splendidly as a libation to partner a wonderful seafood lunch in Dublins Fish Shop, on Benburb St  so recommends that anyone who still believes sherry is something to be brought out once a year to pawn off on Maiden Aunt Menu should check out Wines Under the Flor (February 21) at LAtitude 51 when sherry guru Colm McCan shares his extensive knowledge of the magical flor (yeast essential to the manufacture of certain sherries and other world-renowned wines) with plenty of sipping opportunities along with suitable canapes from the LAtitude kitchen. (Booking essential www.latitude51.ie)

Seafood masterclasses

The latest outing (February 23) for the ever-popular Seafood Masterclasses with Cliff Townhouse Chef Sean Smith includes glass of vino and nibbles, all for 35.

(www.clifftownhouse.ie)

Food safety training

UCCs Food Industry Training Unit is putting out final calls for anyone wishing to sign up for a comprehensive two-day workshop Preparing for Food Safety and Quality Audits  A Practical Approach (March 7 and 8), an interactive Food Safety Management Workshop for all food business operators, enabling them to plan and prepare for the multiple food safety and quality audits any such business is likely to undergo each year, particularly when supplying to retailers, exporting, or preparing for accreditation to standards such as the BRC Global Standard in Food Safety, ISO 22000, or Bord Bia Quality Assurance Standards. (Limited places, booking essential: www.ucc.ie/en/fitu)

Todays special

The Menu was especially delighted to come across hummus from Izz and Iman, of Cafe Izz, currently trading at Douglas and Mahon Farmers markets, whose own origins as Palestinians surely imbues them with an added cultural culinary advantage, the Middle East being the original home of this foodstuff.

The Cafe Izz version is entirely vegan  a divinely balanced concoction blended to a silky smooth nutty puree with just the right amount of citric bite and garlicky sting, most exquisite with grilled flatbread, mixed olives and green salad.

www.facebook.com/www.izz.ie/

Beer of the Week

Dead Centre Marooned IPA, 5.5% ABV; 440ml - 3.20-3.70

Stockists: Bradleys, World Wide Wines, Thompsons, OBriens, Bierhaus Cork.

Dead Centre Brewing from Athlone is the first brewery to open in Westmeath under the steady hand of Liam Tutty.

A taproom and pizzeria is due to open any day now right on the banks of the River Shannon at Custume Pier.

Marooned IPA is their flagship and is made with Pale Malt, Red X malt and local Kilbeggan organic oats which add a pleasing soft texture and a good base to show off the Perle, Simcoe and Mosaic hops.

Marooned pours a hazy gold and has a good balance of malt and hop flavours, a creamy texture from the oats, a lingering bitter orange character, and a clean dry finish.
[rating]4[/rating]

It was Valentines Night in Dublin and all the love in the room was directed at the bearish figure wreathed in facial tattoos and wearing a shirt festooned with shamrocks.

Post Malone started his European tour with a bone fide claim to be the biggest brand in rap in 2019. His hook-up with the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Grammys a few days previously had confirmed his elevation to the highest tier of pop royalty. It was an incredible ascent by an artist who had uploaded his first single to Soundcloud just four years ago (and who played the tiny Academy third stage down the road from the 3Arena in 2016).

His rise from the obscurity of the Dallas suburbs had meanwhile taken on soap opera trappings following the incarceration by emigration officials of his collaborator 21 Savage on Super Bowl weekend. Malone  born Austin Malone  duly gave a shout out to his imprisoned friend as he plunged into the hit they wrote together, Rockstar.

21 f***ing Savage, he bellowed as flames jetted into the air and he walked to the back of the ramp jutting into the crowd to symbolically smash a guitar.

As with much of his material Rockstar was a rap track that seemed uncomfortable in its skin. Over a lurching beat that sounded forever in danger of toppling in on itself, he counted the way overnight fame can pull at the loose threads of your soul. It was a hip hop number that seemed to want to be something else  a face-crunching rock ballad possibly.

That was no surprise considering Malone has listed as influences Nirvana, Fleet Foxes and, a bit improbably, experimental folk musician Bon Iver. He certainly brought stadium rock showmanship, the evening beginning with the artist concealed within a giant shoebox-like edifice.

It rose, emitting dry ice and blinding light and there, in the middle, stood Malone. He had dressed for the occasion, with an untucked shirt covered in clovers. Occasionally he sipped from a red cup it probably wasnt a leftover Christmas Starbucks  and even sparked up (explaining that he would be fined $4000 for breaching the no-smoking rule).

Hip hop gatekeepers are tremendously sniffy about Malone, who happens not to have grown up in a crack house and isnt above slathering his music in mosh-pit guitars. Here, it was the breadth of the material that was striking. Wow was an rn b heat-seeker while Pyscho and I Fall Apart dripped with suburban metalhead angst.

This wasnt music to change your life  but it was tremendous fun. And the enthusiasm with which the audience responded confirmed that, whatever the elitists think, fans love affair with Post Malones music has little sign of fading.
The youngsters were even encouraged to create their own stick puppets of a sun, decorating the sun's face any way they liked. At the end of the performance, they held their suns high in the air and joined the Grannies in singing "You Are My Sunshine" as the puppets came out to say hello to the audience.
Gary Teelings photos of beloved pubs across the country have formed a chronicle of changing times in Ireland, writes Paula Burns.

A little over a year ago a lone man with his bike and camera took on the mighty quest to photograph every pub in Ireland.

What started as a hobby has developed into a full-time job for Gary Teeling, from Lusk, Dublin.

Gary Teeling

With a background in film, Gary was sucked back to his true love of photography.

It was at a turning point in his life when Gary found himself unemployed and having to move back home with his parents that he set himself the mammoth goal of photographing the beloved mainstays of Irish culture.

Over a year into his expedition, Teeling has photographed almost a thousand of some 7,200 pubs of Ireland. Despite having two bikes stolen, a love for the Irish pub continues to drive his journey.

In October 2018 he launched mypub.ie, where people can now buy prints of his work thus far.

For Gary, the humble pub is so much more than just a pretty building.

The pub is the cornerstone to everything in Ireland. If you think about the community aspect to it, its where fundraisers and charity events are often held.

Its also the venue for so many of the poignant moments in our lives, from christenings to 21st birthday parties. The pub is a very important part of Irelands social life.

In recent weeks the sociable element of the rural Irish pub has been brought into the spotlight thanks to new drink-driving laws. This is something that has struck Gary while travelling the country.

You see in the more rural areas that the older generation flock to the pub in the evening. This is where they socialise, meet with other neighbours, and for many its what they look forward to in the day.

In reaction to the new laws, Gary has seen some publicans providing a mini-bus service for customers. Some pubs arent so lucky to avoid the inevitable lack of customers.

Since beginning his journey, 15 of the pubs he has photographed have closed, most of these rural pubs.

He says its not all doom and gloom, though, with many publicans taking new initiatives to attract customers. For example, one pub has set up a loyalty-card system for meals.

Gary began photographing the pubs in daylight but soon realised their true beauty sparkled at night.

I noticed that most pubs were beautifully lit at night. As night-time is typically the time we mostly frequent the pub, I thought visually it would capture the essence of the pub.

"It causes for more editing but the end result is stunning.

Like most journeys in life there isnt always a smooth path. Taking an off-road, bumpy terrain can often bring us to a more interesting place.

Simply photographing the outside of a pub at night is no longer the end story for Gary.

It has awakened a curiosity in him to know more about the historical buildings he captures through a lens.

Some of our pubs are housed in truly beautiful buildings. Take Gaffneys pub in Fairview, for example. This is a Victorian building that has been a pub for over 300 years, says Gary.

There are 17 Victorian pubs in Dublin.

Another favourite is Top Nolans pub in Kildare. Like so many older pubs, it functioned as more than just a pub.

Usually the front would be a grocers or where they sold wheat and grains and in the back would be the pub, he explains.

Inside Top Nolans they still have the drawers and pieces from the original shop.

It is these treasure troves that have given Gary the taste to expand the reach of his project.

He wants to tell the story of the pubs through capturing both the exterior and interior.

What began as a quest to photograph the pubs of Ireland in six years has now become a lifelong project.

Garys new challenge is to build an archive based on his work, which will include his images, historical photos, and documentation on the history of the pub.

He hopes to have this digital database launched in 2020.

Through his lens, Gary hopes to capture more than just the facade of a building.

The camera captures a moment in time but so much more lies beneath the bricks and mortar.

Through his images, Gary wants to take us on a journey away from the drunken connotations of the Irish pub.

I want my images to step away from the usual cliches of the Irish pub. I wanted to present the pub in a different light. To show their beauty, says Gary.

My aim is to celebrate their wonderful variety and importance to our communities.
Sorting out Cork people for ages.

Hi. I started crying when I heard that Liam Gallagher and Lauryn Hill are going to play in Musgrave Park this summer. Id love to go and see both of them but when my grandmother was on her death bed (private view in the Bons, view of Sundays Well), she offered me her summer house if I swore that Id never visit Ballyphehane. (Id actually sleep with a postman to get my hands on a place in Schull.) She said shell haunt me if I dont stick to my promise. So, like, is there actually an afterlife or is it just something we tell poor people so they dont feel bad about living in Turners Cross?

 Monica, Douglas

I decided the best thing to do would be to go ask a priest in confession. He said, are you hoping to gain some relief by getting something off your chest. I said, how did you know I was wearing nipple clamps? He said, seventeen Hail Marys and two Our Fathers. #NoJokesInConfession

Im writing to you on behalf of the people of Sundays Well, in regards to the treatment of Minister Simon Harris. Were outraged at the way his house was surrounded by protesters recently and would like to extend our support to the minister and his family. It must be appalling to have a group of people who earn under 40 grand on your road, unless they are there to collect your rubbish. I think this merely underlines the case weve been making up here for ages, to put a series of gates around Sundays Well so we can regulate the flow of undesirables. Who would be the best person to contact in City Hall?

 Dermot, Sundays Well

My second cousin works in City Hall, but not too hard, in case he shows up his colleagues. I said, how much would it cost the council to put a set of gates around Sundays Well. He said one billion euro. I said does that include a team of PR consultants to explain the budget over-run. He said no, add another billion for that. #Value.

Hello old stock. Awkward moments in Chez Reggie this week after I gave my wife Marjorie her Valentines card. I said, is it because its from Lidl? She replied no, its because it says Best of Luck in the New Job. Uncontrollable sobbing. Mine, because I realised there had been a mix up and I had handed the Valentines card to a departing Spanish intern, along with a message saying I cant wait to get you alone so I can jiggle your chaps. Do you know a good lawyer?

 Reggie, Blackrock Road, Im terrified theyll send me on yet another How to behave in front of chicks in 2019 course

The previous ones have worked so well. My nephews law firm specialises in defending ugly but powerful middle-aged managers who cant keep it in their pants, so hed be perfect, no offence. I told him your story and he said no one will believe that crock of shit. I said thats a terrible thing to say about Reggie. He said, no, his story, its full of holes. I said how come? He said, Blackrock Road man shops in Lidl, for starters. #AldiMaybeAtAStretch.

Now listen up Paddy. Ive just come from a meeting of the British Establishment, AKA a gathering of repressed chaps wearing womens underwear in a large country house. (The rumours are true, and then some.) Anyway, weve had a look at the various players in the Brexit hoo-haa and I am authorised to ask if you could have word with your chap Coveney and ask him if he wouldnt mind moving in to 10 Downing Street and running Britain on a two-year rolling contract. (Hes very impressive for a mere Mick.) Please let me know his response by Sunday.

 Simon De Servant-Spanker, The Big House, You Cant Afford, Berkshire

Im not surprised you like Simon. He went to school in Clongowes, which is Posh Cork speak for Imagine only going to Pres. I put out feelers to his people there and Im afraid its no dice. I said, is it because hes afraid of Jeremy Corbyn? They said no, the problem is the accommodation  the RCYC will kick him out if he moves into a terraced house. (Its in the rules.)

Bonjour. I am a 34-year-old French woman working in Cork and I keep meeting tweedy hipsters who think I want to talk about the meaning of life because Im from Lyons. Sorry, but I came to Ireland to find a Cillian Murphy look-alike who will make small-talk for 30 seconds and then stick his tongue down my throat. Where can I find one?

 Dominique, Lyons and Ballincollig

My niece is doing a research thesis on changing sexual practices in County Cork. (You should see the photos.) I said, tell me where a woman might find an old-school bogman for a no nonsense quicky. She said nowhere, the whole county is full of modern men. I said really? She said yes, its got so bad there is a WhatsApp group called Dunmanway Men Whove Tried Foreplay.
Researchers with potentially life-saving projects are being turned away every year by the Irish Cancer Society because it has not got enough money to support them.

The charity says it is on track to spend 30m on cancer research in the decade up to 2020 but it would like to be able to invest more money in this area.

Every year we have to turn away researchers who come to us with potentially life-saving projects, simply because we don't have enough funds to support them, said its chief executive, Averil Power.

Unfortunately, this means we may have had to turn down a potential breakthrough or cure. If we're going to stop cancer this has to change," she said.

In 2019 we intend to invest 2.3m in cancer research, supporting the work of over 100 researchers around the country. This makes us the largest voluntary funder of cancer research in Ireland, but we can still do even more."

Ms Power said this year's Daffodil Day, which takes place later this month, has to be the biggest one yet if they were to have enough funds to support researchers.

At the launch of the 2019 research plan, two of the society's recently-funded researchers spoke of the huge impact the charity's support has had on their work to stop cancer.

Dr Emma Allott, a lecturer in the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology at Queen's University Belfast, was awarded prostate cancer research funding in 2016.

Thanks to the Irish Cancer Society's support, I've been able to find out potential links between cholesterol levels and advanced prostate cancer in men, said Dr Allott, a Dublin native.

The more we know about why men get advanced prostate cancer, the more we can do to stop it happening in the first place.

Dr Aideen Ryan, a lecturer in tumour immunology in the School of Medicine at NUI Galway received funding from the charity for research into bowel cancer in 2013.

Dr Ryan has worked on finding new ways to treat bowel cancer through immunotherapy  treatments that boost the body's natural defences to fight cancer.

Last night in Dublin, the society honoured Drs Allott and Ryan for their vital work at its research awards which acknowledge the potentially life-saving work of some of the 100-plus cancer researchers it has funded.

Among the award recipients was Susan Nagle, a cancer clinical trials research nurse based at University Hospital Limerick, who was named Research Support Staff of the year.

Ms Nagle was nominated by her colleagues in Cancer Trials Ireland for her work in bridging the gap between patients and clinical trials and striving for the best patient care.

Meanwhile, two top Irish cancer researchers, Profs Owen Smith and Jonathan Bond are working on curing more children and finding gentler treatments.

Both professors are supported in their research by funding from the Children's Medical and Research Foundation, the fund-raising body for Our Lady's Hospital in Dublin.

We're curing over 90% of children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia now. But we're doing this at a price, and that price is usually long term toxicities for these children, said Prof Smith.

Prof Bond said he wanted to identify treatments that would eliminate the leukaemia cell, without harming the child.
A viable pipe bomb was discovered in a housing estate in Limerick city yesterday.

A man in his 30s has been arrested today in connection with the discovery.

According to the Limerick Leader, a number of houses in Moyross were evacuated after the device was found on an area of open ground by a member of the public.

An army bomb disposal squad was called and a team from Collins Barracks in Cork attended the scene at around 2pm.

Members of the Defence Forces examined the device and made it safe, the paper reports.

The area was declared safe at around 3pm.

Gardai are investigating the incident.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has dismissed reports that Ireland may be forced to comply with checks on exports to mainland Europe in the event of a Brexit no-deal.

He also warned that an extension to the looming Brexit date is "not inevitable" but any request for one must have a purpose to prevent any period of political purgatory for months.

Speaking as he arrived at the All-Ireland Civic Dialogue on Brexit at Dublin Castle, he declined to comment on British prime minister Theresa May's strategy after another defining defeat for her Brexit plan in the House of Commons on Thursday night.

He and Tanaiste Simon Coveney both told reporters they believed now there are a group of Brexiteers intent on crashing out of the European Union, but that a deal is still possible. Mr Varadkar said:

I think there is certainly a hardline rump of MPs who would like a no deal, who would like a clean break from the European Union.

"But I'm confident the vast majority of MPs in all parties, including the conservative party, understand the consequences of that and the enormous damage it would do to the economy and people's rights and freedoms."

Asked about suggestions that an extension of the Brexit date from March 29 to at least the end of June was now inevitable, Mr Varadkar also replied:

I don't think it is inevitable. It is certainly possible, it is within the power of the UK either to invoke Article 50 or request an extension from the European Union. If there is going to be an extension, it needs to be with a purpose, with a view to securing and ratifying an agreement, putting the necessary legislation in place in Westminster, the national parliaments and also the European Parliament."

I don't think anyone would like to see this stalemate, or impasse or period of political purgatory continue for months and months and months.

He was also asked about a Reuters report which claims Ireland may be told by the EU that if no border is agreed or a plan to protect the single market, that Dublin may be obliged to agree to goods being checked on mainland Europe. Asked had talks taken place on such an option, the Taoiseach replied:

No. Whatever happens, Ireland is going to stay part of the European Union. It is the common European home we helped to build. We are founder members of the single market. We cant allow a decision made in Britain to leave the European Union to undermine our membership of the single market and customs union, which we will protect.

I dont see how it would avoid a hard border. It would create a hard border between Ireland and the European Union and that is not something we can accept.
Measures to assist homeless people, with mental health and addiction problems, to move out of emergency accommodation will be brought to Cabinet next week.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will bring the memorandum on proposed new supports which Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said was aimed at those trapped in emergency accommodation.

Next week, the Taoiseach will bring a memorandum to Cabinet on additional supports we are bringing in for people in emergency accommodation, some of whom are trapped there because we do not know their rights or status, said Eoghan Murphy.

Some of them have long-term health needs that are not being met because they are not in the right accommodation.

All of these new supports will help improve that.

During a Dail debate on homelessness yesterday, Eoghan Murphy told TDs it was estimated that 72% of families in emergency accommodation in Dublin were there for less than one year.

The average length of time spent in a homeless hub was half a year, he noted.

Again, when one meets the families who have gone from a hotel to a hub to a home, one can see and understand the benefit of the trajectory, Eoghan Murphy told the Dail.

They should never have been in a hotel. Families who go straight into a hub will get into a social housing home far more quickly as a result which is why we need more hubs as a first and temporary response.

Independent TD Tommy Broughan criticised the Government and the minister for being prepared to pass Brexit measures through the Dail within a number of hours, but refusing to take drastic action to protect up to 10,000 homeless people.

Solidarity/PBP TD Paul Murphy said that one in four TDs are landlords and another Dail debate without action was taking place.

The only way out of this loop of Groundhog Day is a mass movement, said Paul Murphy, calling on protesters to gather in Dublin on March 9.

The Government released new housing figures yesterday which showed that 4,251 social homes were built last year, a 4% shortfall on its own target.

The figure, when coupled with renovated units, rented properties, and other fixed homes, rises to over 8,000 new social housing units.

Of the 4,251 new social housing builds last year, some 2,022 were by local authorities, 1,388 by approved housing bodies, and 841 homes provided through requirements on new developments.

While this was 4% below target, Eoghan Murphy said that the rate of construction was 85% higher than in 2017.

On RTE radio yesterday, Eoghan Murphy also defended some 400m spent on Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) to private sector property owners.

He said money spent on HAP was needed to keep people out of emergency accommodation.

Nonetheless, he admitted that the Government was over-reliant on the private sector.

The Opposition insists the HAP money for private landlords could be better spent by the State in constructing homes.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered the State to pay 11,000 damages to an intellectually disabled Cork man whose legal proceedings dragged on for more than 13 years.

The court found the State had not dealt with Alan OLearys case within a reasonable time, as per Article 6.1 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

It also found the State had not provided an effective remedy in domestic law in relation to the excessive length of the proceedings, thereby violating Article 13 of the Convention.

Mr OLeary, who is in his early 30s, was born and lives in Cork. He suffers from severe brain damage.

His mother instituted legal proceedings on his behalf in November 2002, 14 years after he received the measles vaccination.

It was alleged that the vaccine, administered to him in 1988 when he was 15 months old, caused the brain damage.

Legal proceedings continued until May 10, 2016, an overall duration of 13 years and six months, over three levels of jurisdiction, the High Court, the Supreme Court, and the Court of Appeal.

Up to 2006, proceedings revolved around discovery.

The ECHR judgment points out under the facts of the case that even though the High Court set a time limit of eight weeks for discovery, the local health authority only complied with the order in June 2008, that is to say with a delay of over four and a half years.

In 2007, Mr OLearys mother died. His solicitor, Denis OSullivan & Co Solicitors, wrote to the local health authority to complain that the long delays in litigating the case had caused grave prejudice to the case and that the applicants mother had been a vital witness, and with her death essential evidence had been lost.

Settlement of the substantive dispute was proposed but not agreed.

The case went to trial in 2011. Mr OLeary lost on the grounds of failure to establish a prima facie case against the defendants.

He appealed and his case was transferred to the Court of Appeal, set up in 2014 to reduce pressure on the Supreme Court.

The court dismissed the appeal. Proceedings ended on May 10, 2016, when the Supreme Court declined Mr OLearys request for leave to appeal.

On August 2, 2016, Mr OSullivan lodged a case against Ireland with the ECHR.

In August 2017, the Government was given notice of the complaints concerning the length of proceedings and the lack of remedy in domestic law to address this.

Yesterday the ECHR ruled that the State had violated two articles of the Convention and ordered the State to pay Mr OLeary 11,000 within three months.

Mr OSullivan said the ECHR judgment shows that the Government is doing nothing to improve access to the courts.

The court did find that a chronic overload of cases within the domestic system cannot justify an excessive length of proceedings nor can the fact that backlog situations have become commonplace.

Mr OSullivan said the delay in obtaining the hearing of an appeal in the Court of Appeal now extends to more than two years.

In other words, if an appeal from a decision of the High Court was taken today, it would be listed for hearing in the Court of Appeal for a date in 2021, said Mr OSullivan.
The official whose decision to shred files contributed to the collapse of the trial of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick is reportedly willing to appear before an Oireachtas committee over the matter.

Members of the Oireachtas committee on business, enterprise, and innovation told the Irish Examiner they are considering holding a meeting with Kevin OConnell after he wrote a 10-page explanation to the group.

The letter from Mr OConnell, a former legal adviser to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), was sent to the committee before its planned meeting with ODCE chief Ian Drennan next week.

It will be the first time in his seven-year term that Mr Drennan has appeared before an Oireachtas hearing.

Mr OConnell shot to prominence in 2015 when his actions during the ODCE investigation were criticised by a trial judge.

Among other matters, Judge John Aylmer said he had concerns over the fact Mr OConnell shredded a number of relevant files while allegedly in a panic during the first trial in 2015.

The trials jury was subsequently discharged, with a retrial in 2017 also running aground over serious concerns related to the handling of the investigation by the ODCE.

In a lengthy private letter to the Oireachtas committee this week, it is understood Mr OConnell laid out in detail his desire to be given an opportunity to explain what happened.

He said the explanation is needed due to discussions by the committee on the ODCEs work and other matters.

The letters details cannot be outlined in full as they remain private and, as such, do not have Oireachtas privilege until they are either published by the committee or read into the committees official record.

However, it is understood while a number of committee members were surprised to receive the correspondence, they are willing to organise a meeting in the coming days with Mr OConnell.

The decision by Mr OConnell is likely to put focus on the TDs meeting with Mr Drennan next week.

The Anglo Irish trial led to significant political fallout, with ODCE changes demanded.
One person is dead following a five car collision that shut down Md. 97 between Main Street and Poole Road in Westminster Saturday afternoon.
A 20-year-old man has appeared before a sitting of Killarney District Court, charged with the manslaughter of 32-year-old Stephen OConnor whose funeral took place in his native Glencar, Co Kerry this morning.

Christian Fleming of Mount Lyne, Killorglin, is charged with unlawfully killing Stephen OConnor contrary to Common Law on February 10, at Main Street, Killorglin.

The court was told he works as a bartender in a Killarney Hotel.

Garda Sergeant Michael Quirke of Killorglin Garda Station gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution at 12.23 am today. The accused made no reply to the charge, Sgt Quirke said.

The gardai objected to bail on a number of grounds including the seriousness of the charge, the likely sentence on conviction for which the maximum sentence is life, and the nature and strength of the evidence, Sgt Quirke said.

This included CCTV evidence, Sgt Quirke said. The garda also believed he posed a threat to the community, given the nature of the alleged crime.

Solicitor Brendan Ahern, for the accused, put it to Sgt Quirke that his client had cooperated fully at all stages including during a garda search under warrant of the family home on Sunday.

He had also attended by appointment for interview at 9.30am on Thursday.

Mr Ahern said that his client had put forward what could be construed as a certain defence to the charge and Sgt Quirke agreed.

Mr Ahern put it to Sgt Quirke about the clarity of the CCTV evidence. However, Judge David Waters said the bail application was not to go into specifics on the nature of the evidence. The solicitor said the CCTV was quite restricted.

Sgt Quirke agreed with Mr Ahern the accused came from a good family who were in court and there would be no flight risk.

Mr Ahern said his client would be willing to sign on daily at Killorglin Garda Station, be contactable at all times, and he had 2,000 in court to be paid over as a cash bond. He had handed over his passport and phone to gardai, the court was also told.

Judge David Waters said the accused would be entitled to bail on very strict conditions. He remanded Christian Fleming on bail on his own bond of 6,000, 2,000 of which was lodged in court.

He his also to observe a curfew between 11pm and 8am and on nights he was not working the curfew is to be between 8pm and 8am.

He is to be of sober habits and to have no contact direct or indirect with the victims family or with any witnesses.

He is to sign on daily at Killorglin Garda Station between 9am and 9pm, reside at Mount Lyne, Killorglin and notify garda of any change at any stage.

The judge made it a formal condition that he hand in his passport.

Judge Waters said it was to be brought to the courts attention immediately if there was a breach of bail.

Legal aid was granted by Judge Waters after hearing gardai had no objection.

Christian Fleming has been remanded on bail to appear again before Killarney District Court on Tuesday next February 19.

During the proceedings, the accused, Christian Fleming, at times had his head in his hands and appeared to weep.

Earlier: Man due in court in connection with fatal assault of Stephen O'Connor in Co Kerry

By Digital Desk Staff

A man in his 20s is due in court this morning charged in connection with the death of a man in Killorglin, Co Kerry.

He will appear before Killarney District Court at 10.30am.

He was arrested yesterday by gardai investigating the fatal assault of Stephen O'Connor,

The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning outside a takeaway.

The 32-year-old from the Glencar area had been on life support at Cork University Hospital but later died from his injuries.

The post-mortem examination has been completed but gardai say that details are not being released for operational reasons.
Farmer Pat Quirke told a garda investigating the disappearance of DJ Bobby 'Mr Moonlight' Ryan that there were only two tanks on his farm, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Garda Conor Ryan told prosecution counsel Michael Bowman SC that he visited the farm at Fawnagowan in June 2011 where Bobby Ryan had last been seen.

He met Mr Quirke by arrangement and watched as the farmer used a vacuum tanker to empty two tanks on his land.

One was a tank that collects waste through a slatted floor in a cattle shed. It had no slurry in it, Gda Ryan said. The other was an open tank which contained a "small quantity" of slurry.

Pat Quirke

When they found nothing of value to the search Gda Ryan asked Mr Quirke if there were any other tanks on the farm.

He said the accused told him those were the only two tanks.

Under cross examination the witness told Bernard Condon SC for the defence that he could have asked Mr Quirke if there were any other "slurry tanks", rather than "tanks".

Mr Quirke (50) of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Ryan - a part-time DJ going by the name Mr Moonlight - on a date between June 3, 2011 and April 2013.

Mr Ryan's body was found in an underground run-off tank on the farm leased by the accused at Fawnagown, Tipperary in April 2013.

The prosecution claims that Mr Quirke murdered Mr Ryan so that he could rekindle an affair with Mary Lowry (52), the deceased's girlfriend.

Garda Ryan further told Mr Bowman that he attended the scene on the day Mr Ryan's body was found. When he arrived he saw a tractor attached to a vacuum tanker that had a pipe running from it into the tank.

He noticed that the vacuum pump handle was in the neutral position which, he said, would indicate it wasn't sucking at the time. When he looked into the tanker he noticed there were no fresh markings on the inside.

He then went to the nearby cow shed with the slatted floor. Gda Ryan said he noticed that the slurry in this tank was "heavily crusted".

As Gda Ryan is from a farming background he was asked to move the tanker from the area where Mr Ryan's body lay.

He did this and then emptied the contents onto the ground. He told Mr Bowman that about 100 litres of soiled water came out.

Bobby Ryan

Under cross examination, Gda Ryan told Mr Condon that he can't be sure but he is "nearly certain" that he emptied the tank under the direction of his superintendent.

Mr Condon asked him if it struck him as odd that a senior member of An Garda Siochana would ask him to empty a tank at a crime scene. He replied: "No judge".

Mr Condon continued: "You were not at all surprised at a crime scene where a body had been found?"

The witness replied: "The tractor was pulled away from where the body was found."

Counsel further asked if anyone had thought to collect the contents, pass it through a sieve or film the emptying of the tank on a mobile phone. The witness confirmed that none of these things had happened.

He said he doesn't know if the superintendent was watching while this happened and couldn't remember if anyone was wearing a forensic suit. He did not take notes, he added.

Tony Chearnley told Mr Bowman that he went to the scene where Mr Ryan's body had been discovered on the afternoon of April 30, 2013.

He used an excavator to pull a large piece of concrete away from the underground tank to allow gardai to access the body.

He told defence counsel Lorcan Staines SC that while pulling away the concrete the lid broke where there had been a pre-existing crack and a lot of "small pieces" fell into the tank.

He said he didn't hear any loud noises and didn't see any dust but accepted that the concrete breaking up was "not ideal".

He added: "We don't live in an ideal world. It wasn't ideal but that was the best I could do."

Under reexamination, he told Mr Bowman that he did not see any "pandemonium or panic" among gardai at the scene when the pieces fell into the tank.

The trial continues on Monday in front of Justice Eileen Creedon and a jury of six men and six women.
The Ivory Tower restaurant in Cork City is set to close its doors after more than a quarter of a century.

Chef and owner Seamus OConnell has said hell plate up his final dishes at his first-floor restaurant on Princes St on March 31.

Mr OConnell said while it will be difficult to shut the doors on his business, hes looking forward to a fresh start in Co Kerry, where hell be opening his new 90-seat restaurant, a solo venture named Malarkey in Killarney town. Its menu will serve Irish for the Americans and fusion for the Irish.

The Ivory Tower was hailed as an exciting departure for Irish cuisine in the years after it opened in late 1993. A destination restaurant on Corks burgeoning restaurant scene, The Ivory Tower became known for Mr OConnells highly creative fusion cooking, making use of game, foraged foods, and under-utilised ingredients including rare cuts of meat.

The creativity of his distinctive cuisine was heavily influenced both by early training with French haute cuisine chefs in Lyon and New York and his later sojourns in Nagasaki and Tokyo, where the tradition of Kaiseki, formal Japanese multi-course fine dining, would inspire the renowned tasting menus served at The Ivory Tower.

In the 2000s, Mr OConnell presented RTE cookery show Soulfood and became involved in other food businesses including Pi pizza restaurant on Washington St and the ill-fated Shebeen Chic on Georges St, Dublin.

He won Chef of the Year at the annual Irish Restaurant Awards in 2004 and picked up numerous accolades and positive reviews in travel and food guides. Internationally renowned US TV chef Anthony Bourdain, who took his life last June, filmed an episode of his food series No Reservations with Mr OConnell in 2006.

The Ivory Tower has courted controversy on occasion. Mr OConnell was brought before the High Court in December 2011 for non-compliance with a HSE closure order on the restaurant on the basis of breaches to food safety legislation.

Mr OConnell had continued to serve following the closure order, and still says he has objections to what he considers the impracticalities of HACCP (food safety system) requirements, including the amount of paperwork generated in a restaurant with a constantly changing menu. However, he has been HACCP-compliant since his High Court appearance.

Although Mr OConnell will miss proximity to Corks English Market, where he has always sourced his ingredients, he said hes looking forward to being closer to nature in Kerry. Im really looking forward to be able to do more foraging for ingredients, he said.
A garda convicted of possessing images and videos of children being subjected to sexual acts has been jailed for two years.

Joseph O'Connor (58) of west Dublin had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to five counts of possession of child pornography at his home on dates between July 30 and August 2, 2011.

In August 2011, gardai investigating an allegation of assault made against O'Connor went to his home and seized evidence, including a laptop.

A subsequent analysis of the laptop found videos in the computer's recycle bin depicting boys under the age of ten being subjected to sexual acts.

Two videos depicted boys under 17 being subjected to sexual acts with a male adult. There were also multiple copies of 16 different images of children sexually exposed or being subjected to sexual acts with other children.

After a trial last November a jury convicted him of four counts. The jury acquitted him of one count which dealt with 56 duplicates of two images found on his laptop.

Detective Superintendent Colm O'Malley told the court that O'Connor had been a garda for 25 years before his suspension from duty in 2012.

He agreed with Paul Carroll SC, defending, that O'Connor had a good work record and had not re-offended since these offences first came to light.

Counsel said that his client denied knowing anything about the material and maintains his innocence. He had told investigators that a man who came to his house for sex, days before his laptop was seized, had corrupted his computer.

He denied downloading it and described it as "sick".

The court heard there had been delays in bringing the case to a conclusion due, in part, to the involvement of the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission in investigating a complaint of assault made by the other man. This man did not co-operate with this investigation and it was dropped.

Mr Carroll said his client had an unblemished career and was a dedicated garda who had carried out his duties to the best of his ability.

He said he suffered post-traumatic stress after a work incident in 1995 and took around nine months to recover.

The maximum sentence for the offences is a fine of 5,000 or a prison term of five years. Judge Elma Sheahan set a headline sentence of three and a half years which she reduced to two years after taking into consideration his position as a garda and the support of his family.

Members of his family were in court for the hearings and his lawyers had handed a testimonial letter signed by his six siblings into Judge Sheahan.
A range of weapons has been seized by gardai following a three-day search in Dublin.

Gardai investigating the activities of a number of West Dublin street-level drug dealing gangs carried out the search in Blanchardstown on February 13, 14 and 15.
A remarkable collection of casts, commissioned by a pope during the Napoleonic era as a gift to Britain before later being gifted to Cork, has been restored to mark its bicentenary.

The reconditioned Canova Casts will be unveiled in their revamped gallery space in Cork Citys Crawford Gallery at a special event tonight before returning to public display from tomorrow.

Gallery director Mary McCarthy invited people to visit and experience the works in their renewed setting: The works continue to be an inspiration and are a source of wonder.

"The exciting changes to the gallery space and the representation of the works is in line with the current international revival of interest in sculpture casts, as seen by the recent reopening of the Cast Courts at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Cork is a significant part of that international story.

The collection, which was made under the supervision of renowned Italian sculptor Antonio Canova, was commissioned by Pope Pius VII as a gift to the Prince Regent, later King George IV, in thanks for Britains role in deposing Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Moulds were taken directly from marble works in the Vatican collection to create more than 200 plaster busts and statues which were sent to London.

The collection was later gifted to Cork, arriving in November 1818, before they were housed in the early 1830s in what is today the Crawford Art Gallery.

At the time, plaster casts werent as highly valued as bronze and marble and the pieces have been painted several times over the last two centuries to give the appearance of marble.

Jean ODonovan and Dyane Hanrahan, both Crawford Arts Gallery, moving one of the Canova Casts before the unveiling tonight.

West Cork-based conservator of sculpture Eoghan Daltun, who worked on the delicate and complex restoration of the collection, funded by the Heritage Council, said he believes some pieces could have up to 12 layers of paint.

Each piece was cleaned, washed using special conservation-grade liquid soap, before defects such as paint spatters and even hardened lumps of chewing gum were removed and cracks in some of the casting joints repaired.

Mr Daltun, who spent several years training in Italy, said the most invasive restoration work was done to the 200-year-old wooden base of Laocoon, the collections most complex piece which depicts Apollo and his sons wrestling with a serpent.

The base had cracked and was detracting from the viewers enjoyment of the overall piece, he said: I spent a lot of time removing old paint and cracked plaster, and used fillers to build up several layers before painting over it again.

The collection is hugely important for a variety of reasons, but particularly in art history terms. Its really important to Cork and the nation.

The collections gallery space has been repainted a vibrant Mediterranean blue to contrast with the casts, the collection display has been revised, and new visitor interpretation has been installed thanks to support from the Department of Culture, Pat McDonnell Paints, and the Friends of the Crawford Art Gallery.

Dyane Hanrahan, gallery marketing and communications manager, said the Canova Casts are much-loved but not fully understood.

Their extraordinary 200-year history involving a Pope, prince, and Napoleon has never been fully told until now. Recasting Canova unfolds that story, she said.
A network of road closures, private car parks, and litter management teams will be deployed during the concert series at Musgrave Park, Cork City, this summer in a bid to minimise the impact on family homes in the area.

Between June 20 and 26, six concerts will take place at Musgrave Park in a residential area on the southside of the city. Headline events are Liam Gallagher, Hozier, Walking on Cars, Lauryn Hill, the Coronas, and George Ezra.

Residents have met with promoters MCD to discuss concerns about noise, traffic, and litter ahead of the event, with up to 12,000 people due to attend each concert.

An event licence application submitted to Cork City Council includes extensive details on the running of the concerts, including plans for a shuttle bus service, two car parks, and more than 200 event staff, including security. Passes will be provided to residents to move freely through closed roads too.

It is proposed to close Tramore Rd, Kent Rd, Pearse Rd, and Botanic Rd, with one entrance each to the site from Tramore Rd and Pearse Rd.

The concerts have a maximum capacity of 12,000, including 9,500 standing on the pitch.

Two hundred event staff, including security, will be on site during each concert.

There is a proposed curfew of 10.30pm from Sunday to Thursday and 10.45pm on Friday and Saturday.

Further discussions with gardai on traffic management will take place while the application notes CIE will be providing a shuttle bus service to and from the city centre.

Bus and car pickup and drop-off points will be located in the nearby Woodies car park and parking will be located in Black Ash carpark, though both proposals have to be confirmed.

Facilities will be in place to ensure that there is no build-up of refuse in the venue or surrounding area, the application states, noting MCD intends to return the venue to the as found condition after the event.

Gardai in Cork say there are no concerns about their ability to cover both the Musgrave Park events and the Live at the Marquee concerts.

Several of the events overlap, with Versatile playing the Marquee on June 21 and Walking on Cars performing at Musgrave Park.

On June 22, the Coronas concert clashes with the One Day festival in the Marquee, while Liam Gallagher and Kris Kristofferson will both play Cork on June 23.

It is understood that, so far, no submissions had been made to the planning department at Cork City Council regarding the event licence application.

Im absolutely over the Keith, to be going back to County Cork to headline Irish Independent Park on 23rd June LG x  Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) February 12, 2019

The closing date is this Monday, February 18.

Despite not making any formal submissions, concerned parents have contacted nearby schools, including Deerpark CBS, about the potential impact of the six concerts on Leaving Cert exams.

Exams are currently scheduled to finish on June 25, meaning three of the concerts will overlap with them.

There is a fear that set up will take place at the stadium in the days ahead of the concert series, potentially resulting in traffic and noise disruption in the area.

Aaron Wolfe, deputy principal of Deerpark CBS, said parents have contacted the school asking about possible contingencies for exams should issues emerge.

There is a fear out there that people will be distracted, said Mr Wolfe.

There will be noise, traffic, and litter issues. People are asking why the concerts couldnt have been arranged for July.
More than 500 ambulance service personnel belonging to the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) will be on strike again today as the dispute over trade union representation rights intensifies.

The staff, who are members of the National Ambulance Service (NAS), were on strike for 10 hours last month.

There will be two consecutive strike days on Thursday, February 28, and Friday, March 1, if the matter is not settled by then.

PNA general secretary Peter Hughes said the strike days demonstrate their resolve to be represented by the union of their choice, not one that the HSE wants to force them to join.

The HSE said the NAS recognises the trade unions Siptu, Unite, and Forsa as representatives for its staff.

It said the principle of engaging only with recognised trade unions had been acknowledged previously by the Labour Court in a dispute involving the PNA and a different public sector employer.

With this in mind, NAS will stand by the agreements that it has made with recognised unions and will not undermine those agreements by engaging with other associations or unions, said the HSE.

The NAS has made preparations for todays strike so the service and care delivery is not compromised in any way.

Siptu, the union that represents most front-line staff, expects its members to work as normal.

The PNA has also confirmed that it will not be calling on members of other trade unions to participate in the strike.

Managers who are qualified paramedics will be carrying out front-line duties and the Department of Defence has made a number of crewed ambulances available for Friday.

The PNA said emergency cover will be provided where necessary.

The NAS said it is committed to ensuring that there is a safe service provided today, as every day, but their preference would be for the action to be averted.

The PNA and other parties involved in the psychiatric nurses dispute will attend a full Labour Court hearing today.

The union suspended further strike action on Monday after the court intervened.
I think all we can do now is make our concerns known, but there is an awful lot of momentum, said Fowler. This is an issue that's come before the General Assembly for the past however many years. This is something really put together in the interim, and unions are behind this, so its got a lot momentum  but on the other side, a lot of people came out opposed to the bill as well.
Europes Airbus is scrapping production of the A380 superjumbo, with lacklustre sales forcing it to abandon a dream of dominating the skies with a 21st century cruiseliner.

The worlds largest airliner, with two decks of spacious cabins and room for 544 people in standard layout, was designed to challenge Boeings legendary 747 but failed to take hold as airlines backed a new generation of smaller, more nimble jets.

Confirming a shake-up, it said the last A380 would be delivered in 2021.

The move comes after Emirates  the largest A380 customer  was forced to reduce its orders for the iconic superjumbo after an engine dispute and a broader fleet review, opting instead to order a total of 70 of the smaller A350 and A330neo.

Without the anticipated level of demand from the Gulf heavyweight, Airbus said its assembly lines would dry up.

This was a joint decision. We cannot run after illusions and we have to take the only sensible decision and stop this programme, said Airbus chief executive Tom Enders.

Airbus said it would enter talks with unions in coming weeks over the 3,000-3,500 jobs potentially affected.

Mr Enders said the company could not guarantee all would keep their jobs.

The jobs at risk are mainly in France and Germany but there could also be an impact in Spain and the UK.

Airbus took a charge of 463m for shutdown costs but is expected to be forgiven some 1bn of outstanding European government loans under a funding system that stands at the centre of a trade dispute with Boeing.

Airbus will produce 17 more of the planes, including 14 for Emirates and three for Japanese airline ANA.

Emirates, which had built its global brand around the A380 and Boeing 777 and which has 100 of the Airbus superjumbos in its fleet, said it was disappointed by the closure.

Sales of the industrys largest four-engined jets have fallen due to improvements in lighter twin-engined alternatives, such as the Boeing 787 and 777 or Airbuss own A350.

What we are seeing here is the end of the large four-engined aircraft, said Mr Enders.

There has been speculation that we were 10 years too early; I think it is clear that we were 10 years too late.

Nonetheless, Airbus delivered better-than-expected results.

Its shares jumped more than 5% at one stage to levels just shy of its record set last July.

Reuters
Here is Friday's lunchtime bulletin.

GET INFORMED...

IRELAND: The Irish Prison Service (IPS) paid nearly 30,000 to two private investigation firms, it has emerged, as an investigation continues into claims that officers were tracked and monitored during covert surveillance on the countrys prisons. However, we do not know what service they provided, writes Michael Clifford.

IRELAND: A fisherman has been found not guilty of murdering an Irish father-of-two in Australia.

IRELAND: Former garda jailed for two years for possessing child abuse images

BREXIT: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has dismissed reports that Ireland may be forced to comply with checks on exports to mainland Europe in the event of a Brexit no-deal.

WORLD: A flight from Glasgow Prestwick to Malaga had to be diverted after a fight is said to have broken out on board.

BUSINESS: Businesses should be examining gender balance in their workplace now in advance of the Gender Pay Gap Information Bill eventually comes into force advises Patrick Robertson, managing director of Performance Reward Consulting.

SPORT: French referees will take charge of the Irish provinces' Champions and Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

...SOME DISTRACTION

SHOWBIZ: Daniel ODonnell superfans, The Wee Daniels take to the Irelands Got Talent stage

ARTS: Ed Power reviews Post Malone's Valentine's Day gig as the rapper kicked off his European tour.

VIRAL: A video of a Kerry farmer casually ordering a Big Mac meal from the McDonalds drive-thru with a calf in the backseat.
Imcon International Inc., the developer of the Internet Backpack, a remote connectivity solution that allows users to be able to communicate from almost every location on the planet, teamed up with the iSchool at Syracuse University and the Republic of Liberia will collaborate on 40 in 2021, a far-reaching initiative that aims to digitally transform Liberia by increasing the nations current Internet penetration of about 7% to 40% by 2021.

Imcons system is being used to create internal wireless networks with large coverage areas using various radio frequencies. Imcons IoT backpack provides the network elements needed to provide secure connectivity at a very low cost.

The iSchool at Syracuse University will lead research, education, cyber-physical network design and implementation for the Liberia project, and Associate Professor Lee McKnight will serve as the faculty project manager.

The Backpack uses Narrow Band Utilities and is combined with a Mobile App developed by Imcon, an open-source distributed edgeware system also known as the Imcon International Platform. It runs on the cloud and mobile devices and allow users to interact with each other and with other systems through Gridlets.

McGill expressed his support for the 40 in 2021 Project saying the potential significant value to the country, especially the benefits to be gained by Liberias ailing education and health sectors.

Jallah, Liberian Minister of Health and Sonii, Minister of Education also demonstrated their support for the project by executing a Memorandum of Understanding, for their respective agencies, to formally launch the partnership.

As a part of this project which is valued at $150 million, Imcon International will provide 6,000 Internet Backpacks, as well as edgeware, through its partner, VMware, to the Republic of Liberia for education, healthcare, rural community, and government use, connecting the Internet to all schools and hospitals throughout the country.

The project includes a project-based learning curriculum through Imcons education partner One Planet Education Network (OPEN). Based on its collaboration with Hu-manity.co and OrbHealth, Imcon will also implement a nationwide broadband network dedicated to the nation's Education and Healthcare system.

Imcons hope is to open doors for people who havent had them opened before. By bringing Internet access to people around the world who previously havent had it, we hope to increase education, healthcare, and entrepreneurial levels in addition to providing access, so citizens of the world can be better informed in general, said J. Rob Loud. We dont know where the next great artist, mathematician, programmer, humanitarian, doctor, scientist, etc. will from, but we hope to help foster the development through better access to information and technology.

Moreover, Imcon will deploy and maintain Liberias first Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system. As Imcon previously announced, the newly established non-profit Imcon Liberia Foundation will drive the goals of 40 in 2021.

The Internet Backpack is a revolutionary technology and a groundbreaking solution with multiple applications for use across the planet, J. Rob Loud said. This alliance will dramatically jumpstart our ability to extend our proprietary technology and effectuate positive change for underserved people as well as for those in remote areas without access to standard connectivity. The Liberia project is the first of many projects we envision rolling out on a global scale over the coming months and years.

Dean Liddy said, We are pleased to take part in this project with Imcon and lend our technical and research expertise to this important endeavor to increase Internet connectivity across Liberia and other locations around the globe. The iSchool is deeply committed to leveraging our academic and scholarly resources to improve the world around us.

Recently, Imcons International Backpack 2.0 Sustainable Microgrid was highlighted at the United Nations 13th Internet Governance Forum. This initiative of providing the network coverage to the students would help students to come online.

Edited by Ken Briodagh
As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information

February 15, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Max Resources (TSX.V:MXR) latest update explains the sampling protocol being used on their Choco Precious Metal Project and tells us to expect initial sampling analysis results some time next week.

The company has determined that the best way to obtain the grade of the gold-bearing conglomerates is to crush the conglomerate and then process the material to recover the free gold from the sample, rather than assaying the samples.

Max conducted a six-pit 2m by 2m by 30cm-deep bulk sampling program, spread over an 8 sq. kilometer area.

About 2,000 kilograms of hard rock conglomerate was randomly collected from each pit, then a 50-kg sample from each pit was sent to a lab in Medellin, where it was crushed to <2mm, then gravity-separated to reveal the gold.

Step-by-step procedure:

A random 50-kilogram sample is taken from each 2,000-kilogram bulk sample of hard-rock gold-bearing conglomerate and sent to CIMEX. The 50-kilogram sample is dried and weighed. The entire 50-kilogram sample is crushed to two millimetres and sieved, producing a plus-two-millimetre fraction and a minus-two-millimetre fraction, with each fraction weighed individually. The plus-two-millimetre fraction is set aside to later recover any free gold; a sampling protocol is currently being determined. The minus-two-millimetre fraction is concentrated down to 75 to 150 grams of material. The minus-two-millimetre tailings are set aside to later recover any free gold; a sampling protocol is currently being determined. The free gold is separated from the minus-two-millimetre concentrate. The minus-two-millimetre concentrate tailings are set aside for later testing; a sampling protocol is currently being determined. The free gold is collected, dried and weighed.

The grams per tonne of free gold of the minus-two-millimetre concentrate will be calculated and released as initial sample results next week.

Well, that all seems straight forward enough, the final results of the entire 50-kg sample will be released later.

The plan for the bulk sampling program is to 1) substantiate reports of free gold within the hard rock conglomerate and 2) determine the thickness of the gold conglomerate and how far it extends laterally.

The as yet unanswered question of part 1) is, what are the grades? The answer will be provided in the next news release.

But let's dig a little deeper before that release - put some 'what if' numbers together.

Fun with numbers

It's wise to play with numbers to keep yourself safe, it's also a lot of fun. Occasionally the numbers are hard to believe...

Here is a diagram of the 8 sq km area that contains the original test pits. We are suppose to get the grams per tonne of free gold of the minus-two-millimetre concentrate published soon. Let's say the grams per tonne is 1 g/t  one gram per ton  makes the math easy.

8 sq km is 8 million sq meters, the conglomerate is, on average 12 meters thick and has a specific gravity (SG) of 2.2.

Here's how to figure the tonnage/gold contained in those 8 sq km.

8,000,000 x 12 x 2.2 = 211,200,000t x 1g/t = 211,200,000 grams gold divided by 31 = 6,812,903 potential ozs of gold.

Each sq meter of conglomerate potentially contains 0.85 g/t gold. Each sq km potentially contains 850,000 ozs gold.

Max Resource Corp (TSX-V: MXR) then identified a second outcrop of gold-bearing conglomerate.

The discovery means that the original 8-square-kilometer exploration zone more than quadruples to 36 square kilometers. The significance can be better understood by taking a look at the schematic below.

Whichever way you figure it, using 0.05g/t, 1 g/t, 1.5 g/t or 2 g/t, using 8 sq km, 12 sq km or 36 sq km the numbers are mind-blowing. Even more so when you consider the mineralization is open in all directions. In other words, the potentially gold bearing conglomerate could extend beyond 36 square kilometers, laterally and at depth.

Max has 100-per-cent ownership of 82 and 50 per cent ownership of seven mineral licence applications totalling over 1,757 square kilometres.

Max also owns the Gachala Copper Project. Located in a sedimentary copper basin comparable to the Zambian Copper Belt, historical sampling has identified a 24-kilometer strike length, with copper grades ranging from 0.5% to 13%. Anything over 1% is considered high-grade copper. A 4-km cobalt anomaly has also been identified.

But Max's priority is to go after the gold bearing conglomerates in the Choco project and prove they are of substantial grade and scale.

Max is a first mover progressing its 1,757 sq. km of the Choco Precious Metals District. Its agreements with the pro-mining indigenous groups in Choco are the first since 1990. The company has also staked all the mineral claims in the area, thus locking out any competition.

Free gold means the possibility of low-cost processing: no heap-leach pads, no flotation, just crushing followed by good old-fashioned gravity as the means of separating the gold equals low-cost.

Combine these factors with the fact that Colombia is open for business with a pro-mining president, that Max has an excellent team with deep experience including the co-founder geologist of Ivanhoe Mines, the fact that my own potential gold inferred numbers are literally off the charts and this project begins to look very impressive indeed.

We'll know more next week, but already, it appears that we might be staring eye to eye at one elephant of a gold deposit.

Richard (Rick) Mills

aheadoftheherd.com

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Legal Notice / Disclaimer

This document is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for any investment. Richard Mills has based this document on information obtained from sources he believes to be reliable but which has not been independently verified. Richard Mills makes no guarantee, representation or warranty and accepts no responsibility or liability as to its accuracy or completeness. Expressions of opinion are those of Richard Mills only and are subject to change without notice. Richard Mills assumes no warranty, liability or guarantee for the current relevance, correctness or completeness of any information provided within this Report and will not be held liable for the consequence of reliance upon any opinion or statement contained herein or any omission. Furthermore, I, Richard Mills, assume no liability for any direct or indirect loss or damage or, in particular, for lost profit, which you may incur as a result of the use and existence of the information provided within this Report.

Max Resources (TSX-V:MXR) is an advertiser on Richard's site aheadoftheherd.com. Richard owns shares of MXR.

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The U.S. Justice Department is accusing Lockheed Martin Corp. of using false records and making false statements to bill the Energy Department for tens of millions of dollars in unauthorized profits and fees at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington.

The federal civil lawsuit was filed last week in U.S. District Court in Eastern Washington.

The Seattle Times says the lawsuit also accuses Lockheed Martin of using federal money to pay millions of dollars in kickbacks.

Hanford is located near Richland, Washington, and for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons. The site is now involved in a massive cleanup effort that costs more than $2 billion per year.

The lawsuit covers the period from 2010 to 2015.

Lockheed Martin denied the allegations and said it will defend itself vigorously.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Fraud Washington Training Development Aerospace
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27)  Seven senatorial hopefuls bared plans on how they would solve the Philippines' pressing problems should they win a seat in the 2019 midterm elections.

CNN Philippines' second senatorial forum was joined by former Interior Secretary Raffy Alunan, former Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares, former Bangsamoro Transition Commission member Samira Gutoc, former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, and former Quezon 4th District Representative Erin Tanada.

Here is what went down at #TheFilipinoVotes: Senatorial Forum Part 2:

Key legislations

The hopefuls also identified priority bills they would file should they bag a Senate seat.

Ex-Interior Secretary Alunan wants to reintegrate ethics and values formation in the education system.

"We've lost it, and that's why we have to recover it in our institutions and by making sure that our families instill the proper values in our people," he said.

Colmenares, a Left-leaning activist, said he will file a law repealing provisions on the value-added tax in electricity, water, and oil charges  and a law against contractualization.

The former Bayan Muna Representative will also push for additional Social Security System (SSS) pension and a minimum national wage of P750.

Gutoc said she will push for "peace education."

"Peace education guarantees against bullying, peace education guarantees a population not sleeping against rape jokes by some of our elite, peace education reminds us of decency and respect," she said.

Hilbay said he aims to widen the scope of the current conditional cash transfer program, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

Roque promised to push for the full implementation of the Universal Healthcare Law, which he previously filed in the House of Representatives.

"Importante po gamitin ang oversight function ng Senado para masiguro na ang korapsyon ay hindi maging hadlang na magkaroon ng libreng pagamot at magamot ang lahat," he said.

[Translation: It's important to use the Senate's oversight function to ensure that corruption would not stop the country to provide free medicine so that everyone can be treated.]

The former Duterte spokesperson also wants to file a "Zero-Hunger bill" to end hunger in the Philippines in 10 years.

Roxas, a former Trade Secretary, eyes repealing provisions on the additional excise taxes for petroleum products under the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) and the second tax reform package.

"'Pag nagmahal ang transportasyon, nagmamahal ang lahat ng pangunahing bilihin," he said.

[Translation: If translation becomes expensive, everything else follows.]

Roxas vowed to also oppose plans to remove incentives from foreign investors, and address the country's internet access.

Tanada, the son of former Senator Wigberto Tanada, said he will look into wage meeting rises prices.

"Makatarungan pa ba ang ginagamit na regional wage boards sa pagtakda ng sweldo dito sa ating bansa?" he said.

The former solon claimed solving the regional wage problem may also address the issues on road congestions in Metro Manila.

DILG chiefs on drug war

Two former Interior Secretaries also revealed their stances on handling the administration's drug war  as more than 5,000 have been killed in various anti-drug operations and multibillion-peso shipments of methampetamine hydrochloride have easily entered the country.

Roxas, who was Interior chief under former President Benigno Aquino III, said the problem should be dealt with from the demand side  saying that parents have to guide their children better.

For those addicted to illegal drugs, Roxas said the Philippines needs rehabilitation centers, doctors and experts to solve their addiction.

On law enforcement, Roxas said he will push for intelligence funds to look for big-time drug lords. He slammed the current administration as only poor drug peddlers have been arrested.

"Lahat ng mga naaresto nakatsinelas, lahat ng mga naaresto 'yung mga mahihiraplahat ng mga naaaresto ay mga low-level criminals. Saan 'yung malalaki?"

[Translation: Those who have been arrested are in slippers, all those arrested are poor, low-level criminals. Where are the big ones?]

Meanwhile, former Secretary Alunan likened the country's illegal drug situation to 'a raging forest fire.'

"Marami pang scalawags sa four pillars of the criminal justice system: police, prosecutor, judges, jails. Anybody can free themselves from the clutches of justice and the law," Alunan said.

Reforms in the Human Security Act and the Revised Penal Code should be implemented, he added.

Alunan was Interior chief during the term of former President Fidel Ramos.

Crowd-stirring answers to Yes, No questions

Some of the senatorial aspirants answers to the Yes/No questions stirred cheers and jeers from the audience.

When asked if Congress should compel the President to make his medical records public, only Alunan and Roque answered 'No."

Roque and Alunan were also the only ones to answer "No" when the aspirants were asked if Philippine media is under threat in this country.

All of the candidates were in favor of legalizing divorce on grounds of abuse or irreconciliable differences, and the legalization of medical marijuana for ailments such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, seizures, and severe pain.

It was only Colmenares who said the Bangsamoro Organic Law will not help establish long-lasting peace and uplift the lives of Filipinos in Mindanao.
Two Yakima County, Wash. residents were charged in Superior Court this week in connection with separate auto insurance fraud claims. The charges followed investigations by Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidlers Criminal Investigations Unit.

William Gaethle, of Yakima, was charged with first-degree theft and filing a false insurance claim, both felonies. According to the investigation, Gaethle reported a 1995 Ford van stolen from his business in February 2016. He filed a claim with Cincinnati Insurance, which paid him $19,550 for the van, which he insured on his commercial auto policy.

Gaethle told police that a former employee stole the van from the business. Yakima Police determined the van was owned by the former employee, and Gaethle didnt have the documentation to prove he owned it. Cincinnati Insurance later asked Gaethle to return the payment, which he declined to do. The insurer referred the case to Kreidlers detectives.

Tara Lee Tillett, of Selah, was charged with attempted first-degree theft and filing a false insurance claim. According to the investigation, Tilletts son caused a two-car collision on April 3, 2018, while driving her 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer. At the time of the collision, the Trailblazer and two other cars on Tilletts auto policies didnt have collision coverage. Eight minutes after the collision, Tillett logged into her PEMCO account to add collision coverage and the next day filed a $5,368 claim for the damage to her vehicle. PEMCO denied the claim and referred the case to Kreidlers detectives.

Topics Auto Fraud Abuse Molestation Washington
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin spoke about his support for legalizing medical marijuana in highly personal terms on Tuesday, telling a community forum that his teenage nephew died after fighting a very hard battle with cancer.

Asked about his stance on marijuana during the two-hour community event, the Republican governor said he would be happy to sign a bill that would make marijuana legal in Kentucky for medical purposes, but added that his support would depend on how its written.

There is incredible medicinal value associated with cannabis, Bevin said.

Bevin staked out his stance as another medical marijuana legalization bill was introduced in the Kentucky legislature on Tuesday.

During the forum, Bevin became emotional when he remembered his 14-year-old nephew, who died in 2016 after a very hard battle with cancer.

His life was a hard one at the end, the governor said. Hes one of many people who go through the same difficulty.

The only options many such patients have are pharmaceutical drugs that can come with such horrific side effects, he said.

For patients who could benefit from medical marijuana, Bevin said: They should have the ability to use a natural drug that exists to provide relief  when it is needed, where it can be prescribed and regulated as we would other such drugs.

The governor was emphatic about what he doesnt want to see in a medical marijuana bill sent to his desk by state lawmakers. Bevin said it should not be presented as a way to raise tax revenue for Kentucky.

I hear people say, `Hey, we could make all this money off it, he said. We should not be trying to financially capitalize on the medical needs of anyone in our population. If were going to do this, it should be treated the same as every other drug  taxed no more or no less. To say that were going to do this as a way to raise money is wrong.

Bevin also said he would not budge on his opposition to legalizing recreational marijuana in Kentucky, and said a medical marijuana bill should not be portrayed as a first step toward wider use of the drug.

Theres not a chance that I would sign a legalization of recreational marijuana, he said.

After the community event, Bevin would not comment specifically on any of the pending medical marijuana bills, saying it would be presumptuous to do so because the bills are likely to undergo changes if they move through the legislature.

Republican Sen. Stephen West, who introduced the newest bill, said the governors stance on the issue is crucial.

Obviously, a conservative Republican governor thats coming behind something like this is important, West said. He has the bully pulpit to an extent.

GOP state Rep. Jason Nemes is sponsoring another medical marijuana bill that he said has strong support in the GOP-led House.

Ive been given assurances it is going to move and I hope that it will, he said. If it does, it will pass.

Medical marijuana is legal in 33 other states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Kentucky House flipped to Republican control in 2017, giving the GOP complete control of state government. Since then, support for medical marijuana legislation has been growing among the Republican majority.

___

Beam reported from Frankfort, Kentucky.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Cannabis Drugs Kentucky
Fire officials in Floridas Panhandle say a fire has destroyed a famed beachside restaurant and bar.

The South Walton Fire District said in a Facebook posting that crews responded to the Red Bar around 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Several roads in the area have been closed while firefighters continue to extinguish the fire in Grayton Beach, which is about 28 miles northwest of Panama City Beach.

The Red Bar was a popular destination for live music along Floridas Gulf Coast.

The fire marshal will investigate the cause of the fire. No additional details were immediately available.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Florida
Yumi Yamazaki Colwell has joined the Employee Benefits Group of Alliant in Atlanta as first vice president.

Yamazaki Colwell has experience in the global automotive/manufacturing industry, particularly in the U.S. and Asia, and will provide a full range of benefits products to clients on both continents.

She also has experience in traditional commercial health and welfare for all business segments and sectors.

With more than two decades of benefits experience, Yamazaki Colwell joins Alliant with experience in strategic planning, employee retention, alternative funding, and healthcare reform.

Prior to joining Alliant, Yamazaki Colwell was area senior vice president and practice leader with a global insurance brokerage and employee benefits firm specializing in both the Japanese business segment as well as traditional commercial firms. Previously, she served as vice president with Japanese benefits broker Sumitomo Life.

Headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. provides property and casualty, workers compensation, employee benefits, surety, and financial products and services to clients nationwide, including public entities, tribal nations, healthcare, energy, law firms, real estate, construction, and other industry groups.
A bill recently filed in the Texas House of Representatives would penalize insurers that illegally deny Texas first responders access to medical treatment for line-of-duty injuries covered under state workers compensation laws.

According to one of the authors of House Bill 1521, Rep. Oscar Longoria, the proposed legislation would amend Section 415.021 of the Labor Code to add sanctions, administrative penalties, and other remedies, including attorneys fees, for administrative violations by self-or collectively insured municipalities obligated to cover eligible workers compensation claims.

The amount of the administrative penalty shall not be less than two times the total amount of benefits payable in connection with the first responder employees claim.

HB 1521 would clarify that cities do not have sovereign immunity when they act as a workers compensation provider. This would ensure that the Division of Workers Compensation and the Texas Department of Insurance are able to properly regulate governmental entities that provide workers compensation coverage.

In a statement, Rep. Longoria said, The workers compensation system has failed too many Texas first responders, including my constituent, Homer Salinas, a Mission firefighter and cancer survivor. Mr. Salinas won four rounds of workers comp proceedings to get his cancer treatment covered, yet he was sued by the City of Mission to reverse prior decisions in Homers favor. House Bill 1521 is an important step toward ensuring that our hero first responders are not denied the medical treatment they have earned through their service under Texas law. Mr. Salinas should be focused on his health and protecting his community  not fighting for benefits hes earned.

The proposed legislation is supported by the Texas State Association of Fire Fighters (TSAFF), which includes more than 18,000 professional firefighter members in 182 Texas communities.

Studies show firefighters are at increased risk for cancers and other illnesses caused by on-the-job exposure to hazardous materials.

For example, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has cited the higher risks of kidney cancer that firefighters face. Chapter 607 of the Texas Government Code, Texas presumptive law, covers related medical care, according to the Texas Department of Insurance. The statute provides that Texas firefighters are entitled to receive the medical treatment they have earned as they risked their own lives protecting others.

In addition to Longoria, the bill was co-authored by Rep. Dustin Burrows, Rep. Jeff Leach, Rep. Morgan Meyer and Rep. Joe Moody.

Source: Texas House of Representatives

Topics Texas Claims Workers' Compensation
An Iowa hotel has settled a lawsuit with a New Jersey woman who was raped and battered after the front desk gave the attacker her room key.

Attorneys for Cheri Marchionda say the operators of the Embassy Suites Hotel in Des Moines agreed to a settlement before she was set to testify on Feb. 13. Terms were not disclosed.

According to court records, Marchionda was staying at the hotel as part of a business trip and was in the hotels bar when a man, later identified as Christopher LaPointe of New York, approached her. She rejected LaPointes advances.

She later awoke to find LaPointe in her hotel room touching her leg. He then battered and sexually assaulted her over several hours.

Police later learned that LaPointe had asked the front desk for and been given a key to Marchiondas room, without being asked to show proof that he was registered to the room or even a hotel guest. When he had trouble getting in because Marchionda had engaged the doors safety latch, LaPointe convinced a maintenance worker to disable it, telling the worker he had had a fight with his girlfriend and she had locked him out of the room.

Investigators say the maintenance worker let LaPointe in unaccompanied and left.

The Associated Press typically does not name victims of sexual assault, but Marchiondas attorney, Peter Villari, said she is revealing her name in hopes of serving as an advocate for hotel safety and sexual assault victims.

A Des Moines attorney for Hammons Inc. and Atrium TRS III, the operators of the hotel, did not immediate return a phone message left on Feb. 13. The Embassy Suites franchise and Hilton Worldwide had earlier been dismissed from the lawsuit.

Villari said his client suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from the attack, causing her to lose her executive sales job. Her doctor says shell need a minimum of six months treatment for her PTSD before she can begin working again.

Its been a long fight for this woman, Villari said. Shes very happy that its been resolved.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Iowa
The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce a plan for dealing with a class of long-lasting chemical contaminants amid complaints from members of Congress and environmentalists that its not moved aggressively enough to regulate them.

So-called forever chemicals, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds, or PFAS, pose a very important threat, acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in an interview with ABC News Live ahead of a briefing Thursday in Philadelphia.

Wheeler said the agency was moving forward with the process under the Safe Drinking Water Act that could lead to new safety thresholds for the presence of the chemicals in water, but he did not commit in the interview to setting standards.

The chemicals are found in consumer products ranging from fabrics, rugs and carpets to cooking pots and pans, outdoor gear, shampoo, shaving cream, makeup and even dental floss. Increasing numbers of states have found them seeping into drinking water supplies.

Scientific studies have found associations between the chemicals and cancer, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis and other health issues.

With the Senate considering whether to confirm him as EPA chief, Democratic and Republican lawmakers have pressed Wheeler to establish mandatory limits for PFAS in public water systems.

Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, whose state of West Virginia was one of the first where PFAS contamination was linked to human health problems, said she voted for Wheelers appointment in committee earlier this month only after he privately assured her the EPA would tackle the problem.

Capito was one of 20 senators who wrote to Wheeler demanding ceilings on two phased-out types of PFAS chemicals. They pressed Wheeler for other immediate actions to protect the public from other versions of the industrial compounds.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also called for legal limits and said if EPA balked, Wheeler didnt deserve to run the agency.

But environmental groups said they expected the EPA response to do little to move the agency forward from its 2018 pledges to tackle PFAS.

Scott Faber of the Environmental Working Group said that without firm action and deadlines, he expected the EPA announcement to be no more than a plan to plan.

In the ABC interview, Wheeler also indicated that the agency would target communities most affected.

We need to make sure that every American regardless of ZIP code has safe, reliable drinking water, he said, adding that we havent slowed down, weve actually speeded up the process.

Betsy Southerland, a former science and technology director in EPAs Office of Water, told The Associated Press that Wheelers plan appeared designed to slow the federal response and encourage states to set their own standards.

That would create more uncertainty about the proper threshold for requiring water treatment for PFAS, said Southerland, who resigned in 2017 to protest the Trump administrations environmental policies.

It allows industry and federal agencies that should be actively cleaning up to sit back and say, `Its a big mess, no one knows what the correct number is, so we wont take any action until the confusion is settled, she said.

Flesher reported from Traverse City, Michigan.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Pollution Chemicals
The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a new agreement with the multinational insurer RSA Group to join its global network as a U.S. strategic network partner. This relationship expands The Hanovers international specialty capabilities for domestic businesses with overseas risks.

Through the companys partnership with London-based RSA Group, The Hanover gains access to a global network of local insurers in more than 180 countries. This offers The Hanovers agents admitted products that are compliant with local laws and legislation for foreign operations in countries where coverage must be written by local, licensed insurers.

This partnership helps simplify the process for our agents, enabling them to offer total account solutions for U.S. businesses with international operations, said Michael R. Keane, president, core commercial at The Hanover. By coordinating all elements of clients U.S. and foreign insurance programs, businesses can more efficiently and effectively manage possible exposures.

In addition, the company offers a controlled master program with difference in conditions and difference in limits coverage, which can help reduce gaps in coverage and meet the unique needs of international exposures that local policies often will not cover.

The Hanovers partnership with RSA Group also includes access to local claims experts in foreign locations who address claims, providing professional claims management and servicing for clients.

This partnership, which expands the international capabilities of The Hanovers GlobalReach program, will be available beginning March 1, 2019.

Barbara OReilly, Global Network director for RSA Group, said he company has similar partner relationships with other insurers.

In December. Hanover sold Chaucer Holdings, a major portion of its Lloyds international specialty business, to China Reinsurance Corp. for $940 million in part to reduce its exposure to global catastrophe events.

Source: The Hanover

Topics Mergers USA
According to some pundits, buyers should all be online and the agency system should be dead by now. However, it appears not everyone got that memo. Here are some recent examples of companies, techies and investors betting on agents and brokers.

Nationwide

Last spring, giant Nationwide announced its intention to shift to an independent agency distribution model over the next two years. The Columbus, Ohio-based carrier, which provides a range of insurance and financial services, including auto, commercial, homeowners, farm and life insurance, currently sells products through both exclusive and independent agents. The company said the plan is to shift entirely to the independent agency distribution model by July 1, 2020. Roughly 2,000 existing agents operating under the Nationwide brand will have the opportunity to transition to an independent agency model between now and then.

Google

Giant Googles investment arm has purchased a minority stake in Applied Systems, a provider of insurance technology and cloud-based software for independent agencies. Applied Systems wasted no time in reassuring its clients, independent insurance agents, that they should welcome, not fear, Googles involvement with the firm.

In return for the investment, Applied Systems gains access to Google expertise in areas including artificial intelligence, machine learning and digital marketing, according to the company. Applied Systems CEO Reid French promised that Google would not tap into any of Applied Systems insurance data residing in the cloud or within various customer applications. The agency software company said this as a good opportunity for agents. There are many agents that have wanted to have greater access to high technology. The vast majority will view this, with the facts, as super-duper positive for Applied and for the industry, French said. He added that the company looks forward to bringing some of the worlds leading experts at Google and Alphabet [together] to drive innovation within the global insurance ecosystem.

CoverWallet

CoverWallet, a technology company that has been on a mission to reinvent insurance for small business customers, is now offering its platform for insurance agencies. With 16 agencies already using the platform, another 100 are on a waiting list to jump on board, according to chief executive officer Inaki Berenguer. He said that demand from agents to have the same simple and efficient way to access quotes from multiple carriers, and ultimately bind policies in real-time prompted Berenguers team to design CoverWallet for Agents. In the U.S., there are 40,000 agencies, and half a million agents that unfortunately dont have access to the same tools that we have. And they dont have the resources to invest in technology. Registering with CoverWallet for Agents can change that. We give you a login and password, and then every time that you talk to a customer, you can use our platform to sell faster, simpler, quicker, he says.

Chubb

Chubb Marketplace, which first went live in November, 2017, is a digital platform for Chubb agents to write small business accounts quickly, easily and profitably. On any given business day from 900 to 1,000 Chubb agents now log onto Marketplace. Chubbs small business strategy chiefly relies on traditional agents and brokers, not insurtechs or direct-to-buyer methods. Chubb Marketplace is digitizing the agent experience in underwriting and selling small business products. Agents can get quotes on all coverages for a risk in minutes by answering just two questions. Policies can be emailed within 30 seconds of acceptance. About 85 percent BOPs are now handled without any human intervention on Chubbs part. Chubb keeps adding industries and coverages. Chubb is even helping its agencies develop their own digital experience for their small business owners that lets customers go to the agencys website to get a Chubb quote and policy without human intervention.

The Hartford

Last February, The Hartford agreed to acquire Foremost Insurance branded small commercial lines business from Farmers. The Hartford bought the renewal rights on $200 million in small commercial lines premium sold through about 5,000 independent agents and brokers. The business consists of the three primary lines of business underwritten by Foremost Insurance Group: business owners policy for property, general liability and umbrella; commercial auto; and workers compensation. Foremost, founded in 1952 and headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., is a leader in specialty insurance for mobile homes, motor homes, travel trailers and specialty dwellings. This renewal rights agreement further strengthens The Hartfords market-leading position in small business, and also provides an opportunity to deepen and broaden our distribution network, said Stephanie Bush, The Hartfords head of Small Commercial and Personal Lines. The book of business is nationwide and aligns with its small-business appetite and growth strategy, The Hartford said. The insurer said there is significant overlap in the agency forces but that it welcomes those agents that do not currently have a contract with The Hartford.

Openly

Not all insurtechs are out to replace agents. Openly is a digitally-sophisticated upmarket homeowners insurer catering to independent agents. According to Ty Harris, founder and CEO, Openly will launch in early 2019 in a yet-to-be-announced large inland state. Were going after mainland America homeowners insurance, says Harris, a former Liberty Mutual executive turned entrepreneur. Openlys simplified system asks agents to answer only three questions to obtain a quote for a customer and makes it easy to click to add and price coverage for second homes, flood, contents, landlords or other options. Harris says Openly plans to add ACT Customer Experience.

ACT

The Agents Council for Technology (ACT) has launched a Customer Experience Planning Website designed to help agents improve the customer experience lifecycle through technology. The site explains the six phases of the consumer buying experience  discover, evaluate, purchase, experience, renew and refer  and breaks down the technology touchpoints agents should focus on during each phase. Tools such as a responsive agency website, online reviews, eSignature, online chat and mobile account management all have a role to play as consumers move from being aware they need insurance all the way through the in-policy experience. The site provides descriptions for each phase and touchpoint, along with resources for agents to use to get started improving their agencys customer experience. Ron Berg, ACT executive director, said the website will help agents determine which recommendations to implement based on a customers core needs.

Brightway

Jacksonville, Fla.-based insurance agency franchisor Brightway Insurance has unveiled a no-upfront cost program for independent insurance agents that offers a path to ownership of their own Brightway agency. It also offers a way for existing independent agents to open additional locations. CEO Michael Miller says the new distribution model is designed for agents who have dreamed of owning their own agency but dont have the financial resources to get there. The commission-based agent program, called Independent Agent, gives producers access to the Brightway system, resources and support so they can start selling insurance while simultaneously qualifying for franchise ownership. The model works on a 50/50 commission share. Agents can do business out of a home office or other location without staff. After one year  or sooner if agents meet the Brightway sales goals  they qualify for a fully-financed, lower-cost entry fee into Brightways new office location franchise model.

Topics Agencies InsurTech Tech Chubb Small Business Customer Experience
The transportation industry is considered a barometer of the U.S. economy. If freight is trending up, so too is the U.S. economy. But capacity constraints for trucking  including a shortage of qualified drivers, low truck supply and the rising costs of doing business  are squeezing trucking firms.

Also, a pending Supreme Court case could put the transportation sector in a further bind.

According to the American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear, the trucking industry is undergoing the fastest growth in 20 years. In a late October meeting, he cited tax reform, increases in truck tonnage, employment, manufacturing and equipment orders as drivers of the industrys growth.

The positive trend a rapid increase in the demand for trucking is being undermined by a driver shortage in a tight labor market.

Right now, the economy is very strong, freight levels are up, but theres actually not enough drivers and trucks out there to handle the current freight loads, said Pete Feeney, regional director of SCU Transportation, a CRC Group Company.

While the high demand has pushed up the freight rates for truckers, a lack of drivers is holding back some growth. The driver shortage is a big issue, Feeney said.

Laura Ann Howell, chief operating officer of Reliance Partners, says that the quick and steep growth trajectory trucking firms face today is exacerbating the sectors need for qualified drivers even further.

There is so much freight to move right now and because of that weve seen most of our clients grow and add equipment month over month, says the executive from Reliance, an independent agency in Chattanooga, Tenn., that specializes in transportation.

The rising costs of doing business is another constraint on trucking firms.

The cost of a truck today is unbelievably high compared to just five years ago, Howell said, especially when the costs of safety-related technology are added. The industry is seeing the cost of some technologies  smart phones and required electronic logging devices (ELD) that are compatible with an app  come down but its still very expensive to run a trucking company and their margins are tight.

Insurance Costs

The cost to insure a trucking company continues to rise as well.

Rates skyrocketed over the last couple of years, according to Brad Allen, executive vice president of AmWINS Transportation Underwriters. Id say in the last quarter or two, theyve come down a little bit but theyre still high; everybody is averaging rate increases and flat renewals are a thing of the past, he said.

The trucking industry, especially the small-to-mid-sized fleets, is having to scrutinize every aspect of their operation to cost-save in todays market, according to Mark Sullivan, transportation underwriter at Midlands a managing general agency and wholesale broker based in Oklahoma City. They have to do that to pretty much keep their doors open and the cost of insurance plays a huge part in that, he says.

Tom Powell, CEO of Cal Valley Insurance Services, an independent agency based in Fresno, Calif., that has specialized in the trucking industry since opening its doors in 1984, says the trucking industry to some degree has paralleled the experience in the overall commercial auto market.

Were seeing rate increases in both physical damage as well as in the auto liability piece across the board, Powell said. Underwriting has tightened up and there are more demands being asked of the client, in terms of what theyre doing from a safety standpoint. Powell said underwriters are paying closer attention to hiring practices for employee drivers. There are a lot more requirements on the motor carrier today, he added.

Powell doesnt expect insurance rates to decline anytime soon either. We didnt see the rates go down in 2018 and Im pretty sure that the rates are going to stay where they are at and maybe even potentially grow a little more in 2019, he said. But Powell remains optimistic.

By 2020, Powell believes the trucking insurance market will become a little more competitive. Itll take insurance carriers about two-and-a-half years to go through the process of rate increases to get enough dollars where they finally see some kind of profits, he said. When those profits start to occur, carriers will reduce rates to get what they consider quality risks.

New Ventures and Small Fleets

Despite its challenges, the trucking sector presents opportunities for insurance specialists, especially in the small fleet (0-10 units) and new venture space. New trucking companies are coming online every single day, Howell said. As a result, weve seen the appetite for new ventures change a little bit because new trucking companies keep popping up.

AmWINS Allen shares one question he hears often from retail agents seeking coverage: Is a new venture going to be something you can handle? While new ventures are growing, finding the right insurance company, at the right price, can be difficult, he said.

There is a little bit of a gap right now in the marketplace to write new ventures, he said. There are plenty of new trucking firms in the marketplace, including drivers who have experience with another trucking company and try to start up their own shop with one or two units, or new truck owners who dont have experience under their own DOT numbers. However, these new ventures are a challenge to insure.

That new venture is looking at a pretty high premium for the uncertainty from an underwriting prospective, he said. Carriers willing to write these accounts are few and far between.

Another constraint, especially for the smaller trucking fleets, is the growth itself, says Feeney.

For example, if you have a small trucking firm, with two units, but theyve been in business for three years and are looking to pick up another contract and add two more units  thats easier said than done, Feeney said. Thats a challenge because a lot of insurance carriers have strict guidelines on growth.

According to Feeney, in todays growing trucking sector, smaller fleet accounts, as well as large fleets, are looking to add more units/trucks. So, if youre fortunate enough to be able to find a driver and you pick up that contract and then all of a sudden you turn around and say to your agent, add on this unit, the insurer might not go for that, he said.

There are good reasons from an underwriting perspective. Carrier data shows that when small accounts have X amount of growth, the loss ratios on those accounts tend to jump up. So, that becomes a challenge for those smaller insureds. If a small trucking firm grows too quickly it may be forced to move to another insurance carrier, and that could be a 50 percent jump in premium, Feeney said.

Small trucking firms simply dont have the infrastructure to grow at a fast-pace, Sullivan added. If growth is slow and organic thats OK. But there can be problems when an operation starts out with two or three units and tries to grow to 15 their first year  they may be adding more revenue for more loads, but they are not investing that back into their company in safety and risk management.

Sullivan knows firsthand the risks. We were writing a fair amount of new ventures last year but now weve slowed down this year because its about a 50-50 case that the violation scores will be tremendously horrible or do really well. Its really just a lack of control when it comes to smaller fleets and their growth, he said.

Sullivan still writes a fair amount of new ventures but reviews the accounts about every six months with a plan in place to monitor the trucking firms growth.

Driver Shortage Continues

The ATA estimated the U.S. truck driver shortage at a deficit of 51,000 drivers at the end of 2017; thats up from a shortage of 36,000 in 2016. The problem is expected to continue into 2019, according to the ATA.

Jerry Gillikin, executive vice president of HUBs transportation practice, says even the promise of higher pay isnt helping.

Transportation firms are raising driver wages and its still not enough to fulfil the industrys needs, he says. Private fleet drivers saw their pay rise to more than $86,000 from $73,000 or a gain of nearly 18 percent since 2013, according to a survey by the ATA.

Every trucking company that we talk to could probably increase their business between 10 and 25 percent overnight if they could find the drivers to fill their trucks, said Steve Bojan, HUBs Risk Services Transportation Practice Leader.

While hiring drivers is by itself a difficult task, hiring drivers that insurers will approve is another challenge.

Trucking companies are trying to cast a wide net when hiring drivers, but their insurers are restricting their applicant pool. Thats a big part of the challenge, according to Bojan.

Insurers have strict guidelines. They have limits in terms of driver age, in terms of experience. We have clients that would like to hire drivers with one year of experience, but their insurance carrier says you cant  they want a minimum of two years of experience, Bojan said.

Most insurance companies want drivers who are at least 21 years old with two years of driving experience, according to Feeney. And that begs the question, whos going to insure them for the first two years? And what about people under 21 years old? Weve got to figure a way to attract more drivers to the industry and then we have to find a way to insure them, he said.

At this point, insurance carriers havent really come up with a game plan for how to go about doing that, Feeney said.

Independent Contractors vs. Employees

If rising costs, risky new ventures and a shortage of experienced drivers are not enough for transportation executives and their insurance agents to worry about, there is also a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision  New Prime Inc. vs. Oliveira  involving the trucking industrys use of independent contractors that could increase the pressure on the transportation industry and insurance market.

We absolutely have our eye on this case, Bojan said. The biggest area of growth for truck drivers today is independent contractors.

On Oct. 3, Supreme Court justices heard the case of Dominic Oliveira, a long-haul truck driver who filed a suit against the transportation firm New Prime three years ago, alleging that the company failed to pay him minimum wage and, at times, even charged him for working.

The case questions the use of the independent contractor designation to reduce pay and benefits for workers who perform identical work duties as employees of the firm. As the battle over issues surrounding independent contractors vs. employees continues, the courts decision could end up affecting nearly every sector of the U.S. workforce.

The case turns on whether Oliveira was properly categorized as an independent contractor, and, if so, whether he is entitled to a court hearing on his claims or if he must submit to arbitration, according to David Fierro, in an article published on the National Independent Truckers Insurance Co.s website in early October. Arbitration is generally preferred by employers as a more efficient dispute resolution mechanism, although critics say it can serve as a shield for unfair corporate practices.

According to Fierro, at issue in the case is the meaning of the nearly 100-year-old Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), which exempted certain types of transportation workers from mandatory arbitration agreements. Specifically, the law exempts contracts of employment. Much of the battle being waged is whether, in 1925, that phrase would have included independent contractors or only employees.

Where we see growth in companies, big growth, is in these owner-operator fleets, especially in urban areas, Borjan said. A lot of folks see this as their entree into entrepreneurship.  This case has the potential to fundamentally change the way that owner operators are treated or looked at, depending on how the ruling goes and how specific it is.

In recent months, several states have also been addressing the issue. Recent state Supreme Court rulings in New Jersey and California have limited the definition of an independent contractor. Massachusetts and Illinois have also cracked down on the definition.

The recent 2018 California Supreme Court ruling in the Dynamex case created what is called an ABC test. Under the ABC test, workers are presumed to be employees and hiring businesses can designate a worker as independent contractors only if they can show three criteria:

A) that the worker is free from the control and direction of the hirer in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work; and

B) that the worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entitys business; and

C) that the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as that involved in the work performed.

Right now, the court ruling in California is specifically for the trucking industry.

However, it could soon move into other industries, such as ride share services (e.g., Uber and Lyft), beauty salons, real estate and insurance agencies, according to Bill Schoeffler and Catherine Oak of Oak & Associates, authors of Insurance Journals Minding Your Business column.

Bojan says the Dynamex decision already has made it difficult in California to run an owner-operator fleet because of the requirements in the ABC test. From an insurance standpoint, it has a huge potential both to affect workers compensation and employment practices liability, he said. We could see a huge spike in claims if this were to move in a negative direction from the trucking industry standpoint. Theres a lot on the line, he says.

Whatever happens, Gillikin says the insurance industry will find a way to make it work. Weve got smart insurance people, and weve got smart motor carriers, and well figure out a way to make it keep working for the economy. Theres always something you can do.

This article was originally published in the Insurance Journal Magazine in November, 2018

Topics Carriers USA California Agencies Legislation Trends Auto Underwriting Talent Personal Auto Market Contractors Trucking
An Ohio medical helicopter on its way to pick up a hospital patient made a sharp left turn before a crash that killed three people including the pilot last month, according to a preliminary federal report.

The report released by the National Transportation Safety Board said the Survival Flight helicopter, a Bell 407, made a turn to the right about 15 minutes after takeoff in suburban Columbus Jan. 29, followed by the left turn.

A Survival Flight operations control specialist observed the movements on flight tracking software, the report said.

The report said a no-tracking alarm activated after the left turn.

After the company lost track of the helicopter about 7:20 a.m., authorities located the wreckage nearly three hours later in rugged terrain in an area connected only by logging trails near the community of Zaleski, about 75 miles (121 kilometers) southeast of Columbus. Debris was scattered downslope over about 600 feet (183 meters).

The first rescuers on the scene detected a strong smell of fuel, the NTSB report said.

All three crew members were from Ohio: pilot Jennifer Topper, 34, of Sunbury and flight nurses Bradley Haynes, 48, of London and Rachel Cunningham, 33, of Galloway.

Two other air-medical companies opted not to accept the assignment over concerns about the weather that day.

Andy Arthurs, a Survival Flight vice president, declined comment while the investigation continues.

A follow-up report in six to nine months will include more details about the crash, with a final report several months after that to include the likely cause, NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Aviation Ohio Transportation
Britains parliament last month demanded Prime Minister Theresa May renegotiate a Brexit divorce deal that the other members of the European Union say they will not reopen.

With just six weeks until the United Kingdom is due by law to leave the EU, the options include a disorderly Brexit, a delay to Brexit or no Brexit at all.

Mays hope of presenting a united front to convince Brussels to make changes to the deal suffered a heavy blow on Thursday when both eurosceptic and pro-EU lawmakers in her party refused to endorse her approach, condemning her to defeat in parliament.

Below is a summary of what is due to happen next:

HIGH NOON  FEB. 27

Despite the Feb. 14 defeat, May has promised she will continue to try and renegotiate the deal with the EU.

If parliament has not approved a deal by Feb. 26, she will make a statement updating lawmakers on her progress on that day and lawmakers will have an opportunity on Feb. 27 to debate and vote on the way forward.

Several lawmakers in Mays party, including some ministers, have indicated this will be the last chance they give her to find a way through the impasse.

Opposition Labour Party lawmaker Yvette Cooper plans to use that debate to seek lawmakers support for legislation that would force the government to decide between leaving without a deal or extending the Article 50 negotiation period if it has not had a deal approved by March 13.

VOTE ON A REVISED DEAL  FEB/MARCH

May said the government would bring a revised deal back to parliament for a vote as soon as possible. Before the previous vote, parliament held five days of debate but it is not clear whether there would be another lengthy debate before any subsequent vote.

May is required by law to get parliamentary approval for any exit deal.

EU SUMMIT  MARCH 21-22

EU leaders are due to meet in Brussels. This could be an opportunity for an eleventh-hour deal or it would be the last chance to agree an extension of the Article 50 negotiation period and delay Brexit to avoid no-deal disruption. If the summit goes badly and there is still no deal in sight then May will have to decide whether to delay or go for a no-deal Brexit.

LAST WEEKEND  MARCH 23-24

If a deal is seen as viable at the summit, officials could work through the weekend to nail down the details with a final deal  and a possible extension to June 30 conditional on British parliamentary approval  announced on Sunday March 24-Monday March 25.

FINAL WEEK  MARCH 25-29

If a deal could be clinched, then the British parliament could vote on it, possibly on March 26. The European Parliament could ratify the deal that week.

EXIT DAY  MARCH 29?

If May does not get a deal approved by parliament by March 29, Britain faces a disorderly exit, or may be forced to seek an extension of Article 50 to give more time to reach an agreement. It is not certain the EU would agree to this.

Some lawmakers, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, have said it is now inevitable that the government will have to seek an extension, as there will not be enough time to pass the necessary legislation for Britains exit before March 29.

The leader of Britains lower house of parliament, Andrea Leadsom, has said the date might need to be pushed back by a couple of weeks.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS

The bloc will vote to elect a new European Parliament on May 23-26. The new chamber would sit from July 2, a date that is shaping up to be the EUs limit for any extension of Article 50.

The EU says Britain would have to organize European Parliament elections on its soil if it were to delay Brexit beyond that as otherwise its people would be deprived of their democratic representation while still being in the EU. The bloc fears Britain would not do that.

Some in the EU also fear that, should Britain vote, it would elect a staunchly eurosceptic representation to the European Parliament that is already expected to have a larger contingent of EU critics influencing the blocs policies.

The main center-right group, whose leaders include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, could also lose its place as the biggest in the European Parliament; UK Labour seats could help the European Socialists overtake the Peoples Party, from which British Conservatives broke away to sit separately.

DELAYED BREXIT  JUNE 30

If a Brexit extension is sought, one date being talked about in Brussels is June 30, the Sunday before the new European Parliament sits at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) on July 2. Some argue for an exit before May 23, the day Britain would otherwise be due to hold an EU election.

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, additional reporting by William James in London, Gabriela Baczynska and Alastair Macdonald in Brussels; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

Related:

Topics Legislation Europe Uk Brexit Protests Riots
Hub International Ltd., the Chicago-based insurance broker, announced it has acquired the assets of Firstbrook Pointon Benefits Inc.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Based in Toronto, Ontario in Canada, Firstbrook Pointon Benefits is a full-service employee benefits consulting firm providing a broad spectrum of benefits programs, including health & performance, benefits plan consulting, group retirement services, executive benefits and disability management.

We continue to build on our momentum in attracting leading employment benefits firms such as Firstbrook Pointon Benefits to help us provide our clients with an even more robust Canadian benefits solution, said Gregory Belton, executive chairman of Hub International Ontario Ltd.

With the world of benefits evolving and becoming more complex and integrated, its important for our clients to have a well-rounded benefits package in order to attract and retain high-quality talent, he added.

Bob Pointon, president and managing partner of Firstbrook Pointon Benefits, will join Hub Ontario. John Firstbrook, founder & CEO of Firstbrook Pointon Benefits, and CEO of John T. Firstbrook Insurance Agencies Ltd., has formed a strategic alliance with Hub Ontario and will continue to play a vital role in growing the business.

The move further reinforces Hubs ongoing Canadian employee benefits growth and services strategy to assemble best-in-class capabilities and entrepreneurial talent across Canada to develop a complete employee benefits and pension solution.

We look forward to supporting Hubs employee benefits and pension strategy, said Pointon. With more than 130,000 Property & Casualty clients, Hub has an incredible platform, which includes its thriving employment benefits capabilities, and a broad array of insurance and risk services solutions that will allow us to continue to grow and fully serve our clients.

Source: Hub International Ltd.

Related:

Topics Mergers Canada
British Prime Minister Theresa May is preparing to compromise with the European Union over the future of Irelands border, with just two weeks left to save her Brexit deal.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay privately told the EUs chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, on Monday the U.K. doesnt need to reopen the divorce agreement and would accept other ways to address British concerns, a person familiar with the talks said. The U.K. government had no immediate comment.

The stance risks adding to the anger among euroskeptics in Mays Conservative Party, who want her to demand a re-write of the Brexit accord to strip out the so-called backstop plan for avoiding a hard border with Ireland. These pro-Brexit Tories are now a major obstacle to Mays hopes of striking a new deal in Brussels and then getting it approved in Parliament in London.

On Thursday, members of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of Conservatives inflicted another embarrassing parliamentary defeat on the premier after they refused to endorse her approach to resolving the deadlock.

Save the Deal

Privately, one senior member of Mays administration said she probably has two weeks to save her deal before the House of Commons takes control over the process out of her hands, in a vote scheduled for Feb. 27.

Cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom described Thursdays defeat as more of a hiccup than a disaster, although she conceded it allows EU officials to continue their pretense of saying they dont know what Britain wants.

The vote yesterday didnt change anything, the Brexit supporter Leadsom told BBC radio on Friday. The prime minister carries on and she will continue to seek those legally binding changes to the backstop that will enable Parliament to support her deal.

Another minister revealed his frustration with the feuding within Mays party. Back her otherwise we are all doomed, Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan said in an interview at the Munich Security conference. The European Research Group needs to realise that our reputation abroad is in free fall because of their actions.

Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29 but, Parliament overwhelmingly rejected the terms for the split that May negotiated in a vote last month. That means the U.K. is on course to fall out of the bloc of 28 countries without an agreement, potentially causing major damage to the economy, unless one side backs down.

Thursdays vote is not binding on the government, but the motion was an attempt by May to buy more time to secure concessions from the EU. Her aides fear the defeat will undermine her negotiations as shes now effectively lost her political mandate to demand changes to the divorce terms in Brussels.

Another day of failed politics, another day closer to no deal chaos, Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the U.K.s business lobby, the Confederation of British Industry, said on Twitter. Politicians must find a deal that protects our economy. Failure would be unforgivable.

With assistance from Thomas Penny, Jessica Shankleman and Robert Hutton.

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics Europe Uk Brexit
This partnership helps simplify the process for our agents, enabling them to offer total account solutions for US businesses with international operations, said Michael R. Keane, president of core commercial at The Hanover. By coordinating all elements of clients US and foreign insurance programs, businesses can more efficiently and effectively manage possible exposures.

The partnership expands the international capabilities of The Hanovers GlobalReach program, the company said. It will be available through The Hanovers agent partners for policies beginning March 01.

RSAs global network has been providing multinational clients of both RSA Group and select strategic network partners with high-quality local service for more than 20 years, said Barbara OReilly, global network director for RSA Group. We are delighted to welcome The Hanover to our global network and look forward to growing our partnership with a company that shares our focus on developing customer solutions, executed with transparency and a commitment to service.
Joining forces with RT Specialty provides Myron Steves with a leading-edge platform and vast network of professionals with whom we can continue to grow our business, he commented. Our company has been in business for over a half century, and were now ready to move to the next phase. RT Specialty couldnt be a better fit for our professionals as our cultures align both strategically and in the way in which we value our clients and our employees. We are looking forward to joining the RT Specialty team.

Founded in 1955, Myron Steves has a long history of serving independent insurance agents in Texas and the Southwest. Its areas of expertise include commercial property and casualty, professional liability, healthcare, transportation, and personal lines. In a company release, RSG said the acquisition will strengthen its position in Texas by expanding RT Specialtys presence in Dallas and Houston and gaining new offices in Austin and San Antonio.

Were thrilled to have the professionals at Myron Steves join RT Specialty, remarked Tim Turner, chairman and CEO of RT Specialty. Their expertise in commercial and personal lines, their state of the art technology, and the companys deep and expansive relationships in Texas complement and further develop our business model. Were looking forward to a great future together.
For 2018 the group incurred major claims, before reinstatements, of US$196.8 million. Gross written premium, meanwhile, rose 8.9% to US$2.2 billion.

2018 was the fourth most costly natural catastrophe year on record and, with 2017, the most costly back-to-back years ever, noted group chief executive officer Matthew Wilson. While we achieved overall risk adjusted rate increases of 3.7%, those increases were lower than initially anticipated, as available capacity has continued to exceed demand.

Against this backdrop, our business proved resilient with a combined ratio of 103.3%, including 12 percentage points in respect of major losses.

In 2017 Brit Limited, which is now 88.9% owned by Fairfax, enjoyed a profit after tax of US$21.5 million.

Commenting on the latest results, group chief financial officer Mark Allan said: 2018 was another difficult year for the market, with investment conditions compounding losses from major catastrophe activity.

Brits result for the year ended December 31, 2018 reflects significant claims from major loss activity and volatile investment markets resulting in significant unrealised losses on equity holdings, offset by a solid attritional loss ratio performance and strong prior year reserve releases.
Complete neighbourhoods [have been] destroyed by flood waters, he told Insurance Business. All personal possessions are destroyed and contents a total loss. Homes will need to be stripped out, sanitised and reinstated. A big challenge will be sourcing alternative accommodation due to the extent of flooding and number of families displaced

Customers are very emotional and visibly impacted by the extent of devastation. It will take some time for the communities to recover. We are doing our utmost to help people but properties can take some time to dry out from flood claims.

Mould is a serious issue due to conditions in the region due to the heat and humidity.

Some schools have been affected and all were closed for several days for safety reasons, during the flooding. There are considerable health issues beginning to arise due to the contaminated water, soils and mosquitos. We understand from recent media reports that there has tragically been one death from infection and 10 hospitalised. Regionally, over 300,000 cattle have been killed by the flood waters; disposing of carcasses is a major issue and presents further health issues.

So how do loss adjusters cope in such a situation? Jarman explained that its been anything but easy.

Our adjusters have had difficulty getting around due to debris on roads and flooding and there have been problems with wildlife, snakes and crocodiles, he said. Health and safety is an important issue. Our adjusters have to sanitise between appointments and wear protective equipment. We have doctors available to support our employees if required. The conditions are very hot and humid, but everyone is pulling together to help restore lives, businesses and communities.

Lessons have been learned from past events, of course - but Jarman highlights that these floods are more devastating than the recent issues in Brisbane due to their extent, the sheer humidity and the safety issues. As a result, they have been holding strategic meetings regularly with clients in an effort to get customers back in their homes as quickly as possible.

We have implemented a co-ordinated approach with adjusters working in conjunction with our own building consultants, engineers, managed repair and restoration services, he said. Clients have provided authority to proceed with an immediate strip out of properties to prevent, as far as possible, growth of mould. We are preparing scopes of works while properties are being stripped out and arranging quotations. We have a fast track approval process in place to get works started as soon as possible and through our managed repair service we have aligned certain builders to insurers so we can ensure we maintain capacity.

So what advice then does Jarman have for insurance brokers who can expect a bombardment of calls from their clients amid a mass of claims?

Collect as much information upfront as possible and register flood claims as quickly as possible, he said. The longer claims are left then then the greater the damage will be, particularly from mould. Photograph as much of the damage and damaged items as possible before disposing of any items. Keep an itemised list of materials that have to be disposed of.
An Australian insurance giants decision to exit its joint venture with Indias largest lender has prompted two Swiss companies to examine a bid to invest in the Indian general insurance business.

Insurance Australia Group (IAG) owns 26% of Mumbai-based SBI General Insurance while State Bank of India (SBI) holds 74% of the business.
In the December quarter alone, 12,370 Australians dropped their hospital cover.

"APRA's December quarterly data shows a decrease in hospital-treatment membership of 12,370 people compared with the September 2018 quarter, with the largest movement among people aged between 25-29," David said in a finder.com.au report.

Michael Roff, Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) CEO, said that while many Australians are ditching their cover, those who kept their coverage are using it at an increasing rate. The December quarter saw a 1.6% increase in private-hospital visits, with 940,922 privately-insured hospital-treatment episodes.

"While it's disappointing to see participation in private health insurance drop, we know it's not because Australians see low value in private-hospital care, Roff said. Australians recognise the importance of being able to access care when they need it, with the doctor of their choice and the high quality of care provided in the private system."

To make private health insurance more affordable, PHA proposed to raise the health insurance rebate to its original 30%, continue reform of overpriced medical devices, and come up with more affordable dental schemes, finder.com.au reported.
That gives us four more days that could come into play [and] Im hopeful we don't go beyond that. I'm very uncomfortable thinking about asking about [coming into school on holidays]. There really is no spring break if you will, and I'd like to keep those [existing days] intact to honor plans people have made, Lockard said.
Even if Tucsons residential real estate market wasnt booming, the sale of a 10,000+ square foot estate in the Catalina Foothills would still be newsworthy in the real estate world. But a strong sellers market in Tucson and throughout the nation means the estate of Tucson land developer Do
Real-time social media posts from local businesses and organizations across Northern Virginia, powered by Friends2Follow. To add your business to the stream, email cfields@insidenova.com or click on the green button below.
The purpose of the meeting is to create an open dialogue with parents and the community, according to a Carroll County Public Schools news release. Members of the community are invited to attend and address their concerns or ask questions regarding education topics and issues.
The Barchart Chart of the Day belongs to the software company Smartsheet (NYSE: SMAR ). Readers are always asking me how to find stocks that are just beginning to trend before everyone else discovers them. One of the best ways is to look at Barchart's Strong Volume Gains preformatted screener. It identifies stocks that...

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There are so many different ways that you can hug a person. Obviously, each type of hug is going to have a little different meaning to it,...
A ban on private exports of mineral sands from India will hit private production of titanium dioxide ores, zircon and garnet, the chief executive of Indian miner VV minerals, S Vaikundarajan, warned.

Vaikundarajan also downplayed the companys legal dispute with the state of Tamil Nadu over allegations of illegal mining and the illegal export of monazite.

In comments made by Vaikundarajan to Fastmarkets IM in January 2019, he hit out against the countrys canalisation policy.

Having liberalised the mineral sands sector two decades earlier, the Indian government opted in August 2018 to canalise exports of mineral sands through state-run entity Indian Rare Earths Ltd (IREL).

"The new policy is a blow to private companies like us," he said. "We have made huge capital investments by way of technology, production facilities and established significant share in global markets."

The tightening of regulation on the Indian mineral sand sector has sharply reduced the availability of ilmenite, rutile and zircon from that country.

Rival miner Kenmare said in January 2019 that Indian ilmatite supply had halved from 2017, when it accounted for around 7% of global market share.

The tightening could also threaten rutile supply, which is currently squeezed.

On February 14 Fastmarkets IM assessed the price of rutileconcentrate min 95% TiO2 bulk CIF China at $1,050-1,100 per tonne, up from $850-950 per tonne a year earlier.

A ban on private exports of these minerals from India would effectively put a stop to mining of these minerals, reducing their availability on the world stage, Vaikundarajan insisted.

"We should not forget that it was the private sector players, who helped Indian mineral beach industry to achieve the current scales," he said, noting that production has boomed since the entry of private players into the mineral sand sector in 1998.

As a competitor to private firms, IREL has little incentive to encourage exports, Vaikundarajan suggested.

"Private producers like us have spent millions of dollars and more than 20 years in developing foreign clients," said. "But the recent move by the government will nullify our efforts if the export of beach minerals continues to be through IREL."

Tax raids

VV Minerals is fighting legal cases relating to the alleged illegal mining of mineral sands, the alleged illegal export of monazite and a tax raid carried out by the national tax body late last year.

The state of Tamil Nadu, where VV Minerals operates, claims that the company is one several mineral sand companies that conduct illegal mining operations and the export of monazite - allegations that it refutes.

"Income tax raids are an unavoidable matter of life in India and are always conducted in the glare of tipped-off media exposure," Vaikundarajan told Fastmarkets IM late last month.

"It is not only business that is subject to these types of raids but it is also a regular feature of political life and again such raids are conducted in the full glare of the media who always seem to know in advance of the raids," he said. "For the media it is good copy and sells print and air time."

Vaikundarajan disputes local media reports that more than 85 million rupees ($1.2 million) in cash were seized in these raids, along with other assets.

"There were no assets seized except our computers are always taken away, copied and then returned," he said.

In total, he says, the authorities seized 34.8 million rupees, an amount that Vaikundarajan described as "not excessive" given the number of business units associated with VV Minerals as well as the fact that everyday business transactions in India are often conducted in cash.

Vaikundarajan also hit out at a report submitted to the Madras High Court in 2018 on the monazite content of mined but unsold mineral sand. The report used an outdated standard for measuring monazite content, he contended.

While the report "found stocks of tailings containing elevated amounts of monazite as expected in mineral sands operations worldwide, all were stored as required by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board," Vaikundarajan also noted

Monazite is a controlled material in India due to its thorium content. Thorium is used in Indias nuclear programme.
Indian Central Reserve Police Force personnel hold candles and pay tribute to their colleagues in Hyderabad on Feb. 15, the day after an attack on a paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force convoy in the Lethpora area of Kashmir. - India and Pakistan's troubled ties risked taking a dangerous new turn on Feb. 15 as New Delhi accused Islamabad of harboring militants behind the deadliest bombing in three decades of bloodshed in Indian-administered Kashmir. At least 41 paramilitary troops were killed on February 14 as explosives packed in a van ripped through a convoy bringing 2,500 troopers back from leave not far from the main city Srinagar. (Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images)
Tyler illegally possessed and transferred two .223 caliber, Ruger KAC556 model machine guns between Nov. 8, 2017, and Jan. 15 in the District of Maryland and elsewhere, and initially lied to federal agents that he had never fired the machine gun found at his residence and that he didnt know it was an automatic rifle, according to a statement of facts prepared by the U.S. Attorneys Office.
Uttam Dhillon (center), acting director of the Drug Enforcement Administration, arrives at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York after a verdict was reached in the El Chapo trial, Feb. 12, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. El Chapo was found guilty on all charges in a drug conspiracy trial and will face life in prison. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Neomi Rao, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge for the District of Columbia Circuit, testifies during a Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Feb. 5 in Washington, DC. Rao would fill the seat left vacant by Brett Kavanaugh after Kavanaugh joined the Supreme Court. (Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
The US Midwest has witnessed some crazy things ever since the Polar Vortex set in. From frost earthquakes caused by the wet ground freezing too quickly, to having to set things on fire just to rid them of ice, things have been slightly insane.

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More recently, a man named Andrew Sietsema was pruning apple trees in an icy orchard in western Michigan when he came across what he calls 'Ghost Apples'.

ALSO READ: Chicago & Parts Of US Freeze To Death, As It Gets Colder Than Antarctica At -40 Celsius

So what caused these apples to look like that?

Sietsema explains that the freezing rain coated the rotting apples, creating a solid icy shell around them. Some apples fell off the tree and some remained on the tree and had the cover slip out the bottom, leaving a ghost apple.

"I guess it was just cold enough that the ice covering the apple hadn't melted yet, but it was warm enough that the apple inside turned to complete mush," he explained to the CNN.

William Shoemaker, a retired horticulturalist told Forbes that this mummification process happens in apples that are rotten. While the fruit maintains its natural form, the insides are more like 'applesauce' says Shoemaker.

As these apples happen to be of the Jonagold variety, Sietsema has come to call them 'Jonaghosts'.

ALSO READ: Here's All You Need To Know About The Polar Vortex Coming Through Next Week
A Kashmiri student studying at Aligarh Muslim University, Basim Halil, was suspended by the Aligarh Muslim University for posting a highly objectionable tweet regarding one of the deadliest terror attacks that happened in Pulwamas Awantipora.

Omar Saleem Peerzada, AMU PRO said: We have come to know of the highly objectionable tweet. Taking immediate cognizance the student has been suspended by the university administration.

Aligarh: An FIR has been registered against Basim Hilal, a student of Aligarh Muslim University, for his tweet over yesterday's #PulwamaAttack . He has been booked under section 153A IPC & Section 67A of the IT Act. Hilal has been suspended by the University.  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 15, 2019

Peerzada also mentioned that the university has a zero tolerance policy for these issues and it wont let the University be discredited, ANI reported. The student hails from Kashmir and was a BSc Mathematics student, he added.

Omar Saleem Peerzada, AMU PRO on Basim Hilal: We've come to know of the highly objectionable tweet. Taking immediate cognizance he has been suspended by AMU admn. We won't let the University be discredited. We've zero tolerance. He hails from Kashmir&was a BSc Mathematics student pic.twitter.com/02IzJxIvYm  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 15, 2019

The report also said that an FIR has been registered against Halim for his tweet that said Hows the Jaish? Great Sir.

India Today

He has been booked under section 153A IPC and Section 67A of the IT Act, Peerzada said.

There have been a lot of buzz on social media about this, where pro-Pakistani handles are commenting 'Hows The Jaish?', a parody on 'Hows The Josh?', a popular line from the movie Uri: The Surgical Strike.

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It was a day of mourning after India lost their 44 men in a terror attack that took place in Pulwamas Awantipora district on February 14. When a soldier comes wrapped in tricolour, the agony and pain of their families are unimaginable. And such was the state in Govindpura village, the village martyred CRPF personnel Rohitash Lamba belonged to.

Not just the family but the whole village was mourning the whole night after listening to the news of his martyrdom.

Dainik Bhaskar/Twitter

Also Read: 44 CRPF Men, 44 Families: Time To Salute Selfless Families Of Men Martyred In Pulwama

Rohitash Lamba who was just 27-year-old when he lost his life in the Pulwama attack. He joined the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) when he was just 25. He belonged to Govindpura village in Amarsar area of Jaipur.

He got married just a year ago and had a 2-month-old daughter whom he didn't have a chance to even meet once.

Twitter

Grief kept the people of his village up the whole night. They discussed at length how brave he was. Reportedly, other members of the family have not been informed at this time.

Rohitashs friend while giving homage to him wrote bowing down on the path of his duty, bowing down to the martyrdom of this true son of the dynasty ... he had a good friendship with the people in his battalion... He was constantly encouraging the youth in the village.

Also Read: Pulwama Terror Attack: A Poignant Poem That Describes A Soldier's Sacrifice

His neighbour also said "I used to believe him as an elder brother, he always kept insisting on me to read. He himself was so disciplined to go to the army that no work of his daily life was missed. They will always be remembered."
In the biggest terror attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama since Uri camp attack of September 18, 2016, India has lost 44 sons. On February 14, a Jaish suicide bomber targeted a CRPF convoy of 70 vehicles and more than 2,500 personnel in Pulwama district. The convoy was moving from Jammu to Srinagar when it was attacked by a vehicle carrying 350 kg of explosives.



Every Indian feels the need to be avenged at the moment but let's also take the time to think about the families who selflessly send their sons, fathers, brothers to serve the nation and do not think twice before saying Will sacrifice other son too. That is the fire and passion among the families and the Army that silently protect us, without any regrets and still do not complain about anything!

Also Read: Martyred In Pulwama Terror Attack, CRPF Jawan's Father Says Will Send Other Son Too For Mother India

Its time to wipe the tears and salute the families of the martyrs who so selflessly protected us:

1. Martyred CRPF Personnel Nasheer Ahmed

Rajouri: Family of CRPF personnel Nasheer Ahmed in mourning. The Jawan lost his life in #PulwamaTerrorAttack yesterday. #JammuAndKashmir pic.twitter.com/KxMRujDCPy  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

2. Martyred CRPF Personnel Jaimal Singh

Moga: Family of CRPF personnel Jaimal Singh in mourning. Singh lost his life in #PulwamaTerrorAttack yesterday. #Punjab pic.twitter.com/E8cYtx7s41  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

3. Martyred CRPF Personnel Pankaj Tripathi

Maharajganj: Family of CRPF personnel Pankaj Tripathi who lost his life in #PulwamaTerrorAttack yesterday, in mourning. pic.twitter.com/Pw9cNLpRPw  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 15, 2019

4. Martyred CRPF Personnel Ratan Thakur

CRPF Personnel Ratan Thakur's (who lost his life in #PulwamaTerrorAttack ) father in Bhagalpur: I have sacrificed a son in Mother India's service, I will send my other son as well to fight, ready to give him up for Mother India, but Pakistan must be given a befitting reply.#Bihar pic.twitter.com/rI6cM38Agh  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

5. Martyred CRPF Personnel Maninder Singh

Gurdaspur: Family of CRPF personnel Maninder Singh who lost his life in #PulwamaTerrorAttack yesterday, mourns his death. #Punjab pic.twitter.com/Hhegt5Sanr  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

6. Martyred CRPF Personnel Ramesh Yadav

Varanasi: Family and relatives of CRPF personnel Ramesh Yadav who lost his life in #PulwamaTerrorAttack yesterday, mourns his death. pic.twitter.com/3qhjdX6bte  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 15, 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also paid tribute to the martyred CRPF personnel and said, "The forces behind this act of terrorism & those responsible for it, will be definitely be punished."
Researchers in France have just built a robot they're calling the "AntBot'. Yes it's a little small, yes it has six legs that scurry along, but those aren't the real reasons for the name.

That comes from the robot borrowing the navigation skills of the desert ant.

Images courtesy: CNRS

The reason building autonomous robots is so complex is because of how many factors are involved. Just moving around requires spatial awareness, object detection, GPS tracking. In this case though, the researchers wanted a robot that could move around without needing GPS.

The 9-inch robot is creation of researchers at the Aix-Marseille University. They chose legs instead of wheels because, though slower, are more suited to traversing rough terrain. The key part of their creation however is a set of navigational tools borrowed from two species of ants: the Cataglyphis fortis of the Sahara and Melophorus bagoti of Central Australia.

Also Read: CES 2019: The Future Looks Like These Robot Dogs Delivering Your Shopping To Your Doorstep

Julien Dupeyroux, lead author on the paper,explains how these desert ants travel great distances in search of food. The thing is, other ants can find their way home by following the smell of the trail of pheromones they leave. However, the scorching heat of the desert makes this tactic useless, so the ants there have had to adapt. Instead, they use a combination of tactics scientists call "path integration".

One of these tactics makes use of their compound eyes, which contain photoreceptors sensitive to UV light from the Sun that's polarized by scattered air molecules. Specifically though, these polarization patterns change as the sun moves across the sky. The ants have actually learned how to track these shifting patterns to figure out the position of the sun, and therefore the direction they're moving in.

Another feat they make use of is tracking how fast the image of the ground moves across their eyes, called optic flow. You know how if you look out a speeding car's window at stuff just a few feet away, it blurs past unless you turn your head to focus on it? It's basically that. Ants can use this optic flow, in combination with the knowledge of how many steps they've taken, to estimate how far they've travelled.

So when you put an internal compass together with a distance tracker into a robot, what you get is a mobile homing device. In testing, the team sent out the Raspberry Pi-powered bot to randomly walk around a short time, before commanding it to return home. No matter the terrain though, the AntBot was near flawless at finding the shortest route back

This could be huge towards building robots in the future, knowing we don't necessarily need to equip them all with GPS if they're always going to be returning to a specific point. Additionally, this thing was cheap as heck to build.

Also Read: World's 1st Hotel Run By Robots Fired 50% Of Its Bot Staff, As Customers Missed The Human Touch

The team previously estimated building the sensors would cost around $85,000. They were however able to significantly drive the cost down using cheaper materials and sensors, completing their build with just $5,00, or approximately Rs 35,600.

"Though the GPS has a great impact in worldwide navigation, it suffers from several limits," Dupeyroux said. "These include signal failure when around tall buildings; a relatively small area of accuracy for smaller devices like smartphones, and not being particularly good on cloudy, rainy, or snowy days. The AntBot and robots like it should, at least in theory, be able to work around these limits.
In the past few years, we've put AI to the test in almost every field. It's played games, written stories, edited photos, and much more.

Recently, it got put to the test writing fake news and the researchers behind it were horrified by how masterful their AI was at it.

The team in question was OpenAI, founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. They've in the past built an AI to play against Dota 2 professional players, and it did incredibly well. This time around they were conducting research, experimenting with getting an AI to pen fake news text from only a handful of phrases fed into it.

The neural network in question was originally designed as a generalized language AI, answering questions, making translations, and writing story summaries. That's when the team began wondering how malicious actors could abuse it, and decided to see if it could be used to generate plausible fake news.

Also Read: We Have Created AI That Knowingly Cheats & Keeps Data Hidden From Us, And We Should Be Worried

Apparently it can, and really well at that. In fact, the AI was so good that OpenAI plans to only make a "simplified version" available to the developer community, to ensure they're not putting digital nukes in the hands of enemies. Here's one example of a fake news piece written by the AI.

Russia has declared war on the United States after Donald Trump accidentally fired a missile in the air.

Russia said it had identified the missiles trajectory and will take necessary measures to ensure the security of the Russian population and the countrys strategic nuclear forces. The White House said it was extremely concerned by the Russian violation of a treaty banning intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

The US and Russia have had an uneasy relationship since 2014, when Moscow annexed Ukraines Crimea region and backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Also Read: How Pro Debater Harish Natarajan Beat A Machine, And It's Still A Big Win For Future Of AI

At the very least, the AI does have its weaknesses. Since it's borrowing from fake news examples, it frequently writes plagiarized articles, or those that only make sense at first glance. What was worrying the researchers though was the few odd times the AI hit the bullseye.

Even worse, this isn't necessarily the end of the problem either. OpenAI's policy director Jack Clark estimates that it'll be just "one or two years" before someone develops an algorithm capable of reliably producing fake news that would need stringent checks to disprove.

Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp are already struggling to clamp down on human-generated fake news online. What happens those human moderators become overwhelmed by a torrent of artificially-generated ones? Let's hope, by the time that happens, we have AI capable of spotting and flagging these made up stories early.
Citizens who may have witnessed this incident or who have information as to the identity of the suspect are asked to contact Sgt. Rick Lambert, Westminster Police Department Criminal Investigations Bureau, at 410-848-4646, or send a confidential text to 847411, keyword TIPWPD or contact the TIPS line at 410-857-8477.
Google and Apple are both in hot water at the moment, with people across the world accusing them of allowing human rights violations to occur against women.

The reason for this was recent news that emerged about a particular app used in Saudi Arabia.

Images courtesy: Reuters

The Insider published a story earlier this month about an app named Absher, one that's largely used in Saudi Arabia. Basically, it's an app that allows Saudi men to "manage" their women, giving them GPS tracking capabilities to pinpoint where they are at all times.

With me so far? Well, some of you are probably thinking, it's just like the Find Friends feature in a lot of other social networking apps right?

Wrong.

Also Read: This Smart Dress Shows How Women Are Groped 157 Times In 4 Hours, Challenging Male Perceptions

You see, Absher is a Saudi government-sponsored app. It's basically a smartphone platform run by the state, that gives men quick access to the power over women around them by law. For instance, a husband is allowed to list his wife as a dependent (along with passport and identification details) and restrict her travel. The same for a father and his daughter. And while they'd normally have to do that, Absher allows them to do all of this with just a few clicks, right next to the option where they can pay parking fines online or register a newborn baby.

And of course, that GPS tracking capability comes in handy when the woman in question is trying to get away from an abusive situation, one where the law would invariably come down in support of the male participants.

Of course, it's nigh impossible for outsider to attempt to change a country's laws, but people were appalled to discover that Apple and Google were allowing this kind of app on their platforms. The two companies have now said they're investigating Absher to see whether it violates their policies. You know, the policies that automatically bar things like hate speech, graphic violence, bullying and harassment.

Having apps that dehumanize women and help to keep them in harmful and abusive situations seems like something that should be gone immediately. Hopefully then, Cook and Pichai don't take too long to realise this simple fact, no matter how rich a market Saudi Arabia may be.
In the deadliest terror attack on security forces in Kashmir, around 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when their convoy was targeted in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway. The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar. K Vijay Kumar, Advisor to Jammu and Kashmir Governor, told news agency ANI that the death toll in the attack was around 40.

Here's a chronological list of all major terror attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir in the last two decades:

26 August 2017 -- Three Jaish terrorists storm District Police Lines Pulwama, killing eight security force personnel, before the assailants were shot dead.

29 November 2016 -- Three terrorists storm Army artillery camp at Nagrota in Jammu, killing seven soldiers, before the assailants were eliminated.

Also Read: PM Modi Comes Down Heavily On Pakistan After Pulwama Attack, Says Will Give Befitting Reply

18 September 2016 -- Four Pakistani terrorists storm an Army camp at Uri in Baramulla district, killing 18 soldiers, most of them were in sleep. The assailants were also killed.

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The incident led to reprisal surgical strikes inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir by the Indian Army.

Also Read: One Jawan From Assam Martyred, Another Injured In Pulwama Terror Attack That Killed Over 40 Soldiers

25 June 2016 -- Terrorists open indiscriminate firing on a CRPF bus, killing eight jawans at Pampore on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

3 June 2016 -- Terrorists target a CRPF bus at Pampore, killing two personnel before taking refuge in a government building.

Two-day encounter ends with the killing of three soldiers including two officers and the two assailants. One civilian was also killed.

Also Read: Bollywood Celebs Condemn Pulwama Terror Attack That Claimed The Lives Of Atleast 44 CRPF Jawans

5 December 2014 -- Six heavily-armed terrorists storm an Army camp at Mohra in Uri. Ten soldiers were killed in the gun battle with the intruders, who were all shot dead.

24 June 2013 -- Terrorists ambush a bus carrying unarmed Army personnel at Hyderpora in Srinagar. Eight soldiers were killed in the attack.

19 July 2008 -- Ten soldiers were killed when terrorists triggered an IED planted by the roadside at Narbal on Srinagar-Baramulla highway on the outskirts of the city.

Also Read: Martyred In Pulwama Terror Attack, CRPF Jawan's Father Says Will Send Other Son Too For Mother India

2 November 2005 -- A suicide bomber blew up his car at Nowgam, near the private residence of then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, killing three cops and six civilians.

20 July 2005 -- A suicide car bomber blew his vehicle by ramming it into a vehicle of security forces. Three security force personnel and two civilians were killed.

24 June 2005 -- Nine army soldiers were killed in a car bomb triggered by terrorists on the outskirts of Srinagar.

4 August 2004 -- Nine CRPF jawans were killed in a terrorist attack on their camp at Rajbagh in Srinagar. One terrorist was also killed in retaliatory action.

8 April 2004 -- 11 persons were killed in a grenade attack by terrorists on a PDP rally at Uri in Baramulla district. The PDP was demanding the opening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Road.

Also Read: India Withdraws 'Most Favoured Nation' Status To Pakistan After Pulwama Terror Attack That Killed Over 44 CRPF Jawans

22 July 2003 -- Eight soldiers, including a Brigadier, were killed in a terrorists attack on their camp at Akhnoor. Several other senior Army officers sustained injuries in the attack.

28 June 2003 -- 12 soldiers, including an officer, were killed in a suicide attack by terrorists on Sunjwan Army camp. Two terrorists were neutralised.

14 May 2002 -- In one of the biggest strikes on an Army installation, 36 persons were killed by three terrorists who stormed the Kaluchak Army Cantonment in Jammu.

The assailants were also killed.

17 November 2001 -- Terrorists storm a security forces base in Ramban (then part of Doda district), killing 10 security forces. Four terrorists were also killed.

1 October 2001 -- Terrorists trigger a car bomb outside the old Legislative Assembly Complex in Srinagar.

38 persons were killed while three assailants were also eliminated.

10 August 2000 -- Terrorists hurl a grenade at Residency Road in Srinagar.

As the security officials assembled at the spot, they triggered a car bomb, killing 11 persons and a photojournalist.

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19 April 2000 -- The "human bomb" was used for the first time in Kashmir insurgency. Two soldiers were killed in the suicide car bomb at the Army headquarters at Badamibagh area in Srinagar.

3 November 1999 -- Terrorists storm the Badamibagh Army headquarters, killing 10 soldiers including Defence Public Relations Officer Major Purshottam.
Reuters

On Thursday, at least 44 Jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were martyred in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district. Acting swiftly on cross-border terrorism, India, on Friday withdrew the 'Most Favoured Nation' (MFN) status to Pakistan. Read more

Here's more top news of the day:





1) Ex-Armymen Stage Protest At Jantar Mantar, Blame Politicians For Loss Of Jawans' Lives To Terrorist Attack In Pulwama

In the wake of dastardly terrorist attack on Indian Army convoy on Thursday in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama that killed more than 44 jawans, ex-servicemen today protested at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. Read more

2) Himachal CRPF Jawan Survived The IED Blast But Succumbed To Injuries In Pulwama Terror Attack

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The terror attack which martyred 44 CRPF soldiers have left the country stunned and these jawans are from all corners of the country and have made supreme sacrifice for the nation. Read more

3) Timeline: Major Terror Attacks On Security Forces In Jammu And Kashmir Since 1999

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In the deadliest terror attack on security forces in Kashmir, around 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when their convoy was targeted in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway. Read more

4) PM Modi Comes Down Heavily On Pakistan After Pulwama Attack, Says Will Give Befitting Reply

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday came down heavily on Pakistan saying those behind the Pulwama terror attack have committed a "grave mistake" and they will "punished". Read more

5) CRPF Martyr In Pulwama, Sukhjinder Singh, Survived By His 7-Month-Old Son, Had Plans To Settle Abroad Post Retirement

Dainik Bhaskar

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Head Constable Sukhjinder Singh had spoken to the family hours before the terrorist attack which killed 42 CRPF soldiers including him and for the family which includes his parents, brother, wife and a seven-month-old son who lost his gallant father. Read more
At least 40 jawans were martyred in a dastardly attack on Indian Army convoy of 70 vehicles that took place yesterday in Pulwama, Jammu & Kashmir. An explosive-laden SUV rammed into a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus at Awantipora town.

This is the deadliest attack in three decades of Kashmirs insurgency. The responsibility of the attack has been claimed by Pakistan-backed terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, escalating tensions with the neighbouring country.

Among the at least 40 soldiers killed, one is Maneshwar Basumatary of 98th Battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) from Assam.

Basumatary hailed from Tamulpurs Kalbari.

Another soldier from Bongaigaon, Pabitra Barman, was also in the convoy faced minor injuries. His family members have confirmed of his well-being.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has condemned the incident and tweeted, Strongly condemn the cowardly attack on #CRPF jawans in #Pulwama. Terror has no place in India and we must together fight this menace as a nation. My heart goes out to the martyrs who have sacrificed their lives today. Deepest condolences.

Strongly condemn the cowardly attack on #CRPF jawans in #Pulwama.

Terror has no place in India and we

must together fight this menace as a nation. My heart goes out to the martyrs who have sacrificed their lives today. Deepest condolences.  Sarbananda Sonowal (@sarbanandsonwal) February 14, 2019

Each vehicle was carrying 35-40 jawans. The suicide bomber has been identified as Adil Ahmad Dar and even released a video of him brandishing rifles. Dar is from Pulwama's Kakapora and had joined the terror group in 2018.
The domestic and foreign tourist arrivals in Kerala has witnessed a healthy increase, coupled with a record revenue earning of over Rs 36,000 crore in 2018, indicating that tourism sector has rebounded quickly after the devastating August floods.

Kerala netted a record revenue of Rs 36,528.01 crore from the tourism sector last year, clocking an increase of Rs 2,874.33 crore.

Over 16.7 million tourists visited the state in 2018 as against 15.76 million the previous year, recording an increase of 5.93 per cent, a government press release said.

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Of the total footfalls, 1.09 million were foreign tourists, who visited the state that has been rated as one of world's must-see destinations by international media and bestowed with coveted honours by premier tourism fairs across the globe.

The share of revenue from foreign visitors touched Rs 8,764.46 crore, during the period that also saw a spurt in arrival of domestic tourists as well.

Domestic tourism sector also gained during the period with visitors exceeding 15.6 million, showing an increase of 6.35 per cent.

Significantly, in the first quarter of the year upto March 31, tourist arrival in the state recorded an impressive 12.3 per cent growth in the case of foreign visitors and 20 per cent in the case of domestic tourists.

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The Nipah outbreak in some parts of the state in May and the crippling floods in August led to a fall in arrivals.

This trend, however, was quickly reversed thanks to the efforts of the state government and Tourism Department, putting back the sector firmly on the growth trajectory.

"It is significant that the number of tourists who visited Kerala almost touched half the state's total population.

This impressive growth has been achieved against adverse factors such as the century's severest deluge," said Tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran.

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The UK accounted for the largest number of foreign visitors of over 200,000, followed by the US, France, Germany and Saudi Arabia.

The number of visitors from other European countries like Sweden and Italy also increased during the period.

"It was through hard work and determination of the Tourism department, tourism trade and the coordinated efforts of other departments that the state had been able to achieve this impressive growth," Tourism Secretary, Rani George said.

The campaign mounted through the media, including social media platforms, also played a vital role in this success story, she noted.

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Tourism Director P Bala Kiran said the tourist arrivals in the state last year had been both "inspiring and impressive".

"We are sure the state will be able to achieve better results this year on the strength of attractive products and new projects conceived and implemented by the government."
On Thursday, at least 44 Jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were martyred in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district. Acting swiftly on cross-border terrorism, India, on Friday withdrew the 'Most Favoured Nation' (MFN) status to Pakistan.

Senior cabinet minister Arun Jaitley said that the Ministry of External Affairs will launch an all-out effort to isolate Pakistan for arranging the shameful attack on the CRPF personnel.

In the worst-ever terror attack in J&K, a suicide bomber, recognised bomber Adil Ahmad Dar, rammed his explosive-laden Scorpio SUV into a CRPF bus. The bus was ferrying over 40 soldiers and was part of a convoy of over 70 vehicles with 2,547 CRPF personnel, moving from Jammu to Srinagar.

Also read: Martyred In Pulwama Terror Attack, CRPF Jawan's Father Says Will Send Other Son Too For Mother India

Dar has been recognised as a 20-year-old local resident from south Kashmirs Pulwama district.

Reuters

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will initiate all possible diplomatic steps which are to be taken to ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan of which incontrovertible is available of having a direct hand in this act, Jaitley said.

Also read: CRPF Martyr In Pulwama, Sukhjinder Singh, Survived By His 7-Month-Old Son, Had Plans To Settle Abroad Post Retirement

PM Modi said those who committed the heinous act will pay a heavy price. Those who did the heinous act will have to pay a heavy price. Those who supported it will definitely be punishment. To all my colleagues, in ruling and Opposition, its a sensitive time. We need to speak in one voice because this battle is for us to win, Modi said.
In the wake of dastardly terrorist attack on Indian Army convoy on Thursday in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama that killed more than 44 jawans, ex-servicemen today protested at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

We remember the government said that they vowed to behead ten people if they (terrorists) behead one of ours. Where are those 10 heads? We have seen Uri, weve seen Pathankot and now Pulwama. Why have we let terrorists kill our jawans? Army had actionable intelligence. Revenge is very easy. Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is ours and we should demolish all terrorist camps from that area. PM Modi said in Varanasi today that the Army has full freedom to take necessary action, I wish he said that four-and-a-half years back and we may not have to see this day today. We dont want our soldiers to be martyred at the hands of such terrorists, said Major General Satbir Singh at the protest.

Also Read: PM Modi Comes Down Heavily On Pakistan After Pulwama Attack, Says Will Give Befitting Reply

Also Read: One Jawan From Assam Martyred, Another Injured In Pulwama Terror Attack That Killed Over 40 Soldiers

The killing of CRPF soldiers has seared the nation with grief.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said warned Pakistan that it cannot weaken Indian by orchestrating attacks such as the one on CRPF jawans in Pulwama. He said those responsible will pay "a very heavy price" and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the blood of the people is boiling and the forces behind the gruesome act will be punished.

Also Read: Bollywood Celebs Condemn Pulwama Terror Attack That Claimed The Lives Of Atleast 44 CRPF Jawans

"Security forces have been given complete freedom, the blood of the people is boiling...Our neighbouring country, which has been isolated internationally, thinks such terror attacks can destabilise us, but their plans will not materialise," Modi said at a function.

The ex-servicemen have blamed the indecisiveness of the government and lack of strong action on their part.

Also Read: Martyred In Pulwama Terror Attack, CRPF Jawan's Father Says Will Send Other Son Too For Mother India

Major Priyadarshini Choudhary said that this is not the time to politicise the matter. Local youth are freely picking up arms. They have seen the cycle of violence for years now and this is something that cannot be used by politicians for their politics.

This is the time for a decisive move. This is not the time to hold talks with Pakistan. We made it the most preferred nation and it backstabbed us.

Modi today announced that India has withdrawn Most Preferred Nation status to Pakistan after Jaish-e-Mohammad took responsibility of the deadly attack at Army convoy. JeM has found a safe haven in Pakistan and its mastermind Azhar Masood controls the groups activities from the neighbouring country.

Also Read: India Withdraws 'Most Favoured Nation' Status To Pakistan After Pulwama Terror Attack That Killed Over 44 CRPF Jawans

Police identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmad Dar, who officials said joined Jaish in 2018.

He was driving a vehicle packed with more than 300 kilogrammes of explosives on the wrong side of the road and hit the bus, in which 40-45 personnel were travelling, head-on.

Questioning the security and political lapse, Hannan Mollah, head of the Indian Kisan Sabhan said that this is the failure of the government. The All India Kisan Sabha condemns the ghastly attack on our soldiers. We say Jai Jawam, Jai Kisan and we are fighting together.

The attack was the result of the security failure, intelligence lapse and political failure. It is the failure of the government. Our young soldiers are dying. Modi promised a solution five years ago but he has clearly failed. What we need right now are concrete measures to solve this issue.

Criticising the government, Mollah added that the vote campaign and politicisation of the grave situation has already started.

The powerful explosion, which reduced the bus to a mangled heap of iron, was heard kilometres away. Body parts could be seen strewn around the area.

The bus that was the focus of the attack belongs to the 76th battalion of the force.
1. Bollywood Celebs Condemn Pulwama Terror Attack That Claimed The Lives Of Atleast 44 CRPF Jawans

On the day when everyone celebrated love, more than 44 families lost their loved ones. The pain was unbearable. The tears were unstoppable. The entire nation was heartbroken yet angry yesterday, including the Bollywood celebs who condemned the terror attack.

2. Javed Akhtar And Shabana Azmi Cancel Karachi Arts Council Event After Pulwama Terror Attack

Following Pulwama Terror Attack, Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi have decided to not attend Kaifi Azmi's birth centenary celebrations in Karachi. The couple was invited to Pakistan by the Karachi Arts Council for a two-day event. She announced the decision on Twitter.

3. From Bankruptcy To Crorepati, An Inspiring Journey Of Bollywoods Shahenshah #50YearsOfBachchan

Amitabh Bachchan is hailed as the living legend of Bollywood. When he fell sick, 1.2 billion sent out prayers for him. On his birthday, he is flooded with messages from his fans. On every Sunday, a sea of fans greets him at his home. Amitabh Bachchan is not just a star, he is indeed a legend, an icon, who has not only changed the face of Indian cinema but has also won over his fans so much that they worship him as a demigod.

4. Ranveer Singh Is Head Over Heels In Love With Wife Deepika Padukone, Explains Why Hell Never Cheat On Her

I have bagged myself the top most chick, so what do I have to worry about. I have never met anybody in my life who has captivated me like the way she does. I have been seeing her for six years before we got married and that is testament to the fact that no other person has been, or will be good enough to tempt me. She (Deepika) is really something else, Ranveer Singh was quoted as saying on Film Companions Tapecase, where he appeared along with Karan Johar.

5. Tamil Actress Yashika Reportedly Hangs Herself, Blames Her Lover In Suicide Note To Mother

Tamil actress Yashika, whose original name is Mary Sheela Jebarani, has reportedly committed suicide by hanging herself at her residence in Chennai. It is said that she sent a Whatsapp message to her mother in which she blamed her boyfriend before taking this extreme step.
45-mile walk shows solidarity against a planned mine on land tribes consider sacred

By Gabreille OliveraCronkite News

OAK FLAT  Dozens of people braved chilly temperatures last weekend to walk 45 miles to Oak Flat, in the Tonto National Forest east of Superior. Starting from the San Carlos Apache Reservation in east-central Arizona, they meant to show solidarity and raise awareness about a sacred site that Apaches call Chichil Bildagoteel  a place where Resolution Copper wants to develop one of the worlds largest copper mines.

This is no different than being a Christian, said Wendsler Nosie Sr., former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, led this years walk. This is a place where gifts were given in this part of the world. To make people understand it, how can anyone destroy a religious place that has significant meaning?

For the past five years, the nonprofit Apache Stronghold has organized this protest. Nosie, a spokesman for the group, said the point of the annual walk is to show the importance of protecting an area sacred to indigenous people who have lived near Oak Flat or crossed through it for centuries.

Cronkite News Video by Gabriella Olivera: 45-mile march to protest a copper mine

Were sitting here where Resolution Copper is to destroy a place of value for many reasons, he said. And that will be destroyed forever and ever to return. That will not only affect us Apaches, but affect everyone in Arizona and everyone across this country.

Resolution Copper , a Phoenix subsidiary of mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, is in the permitting process to develop an underground block-cave mine the company predicts would meet about a quarter of the countrys demand for copper. According to Resolution, the mine could cost $8 billion, which it says would be the largest investment in Arizona history.

In an email, Resolution Copper said the company values the history, beliefs and cultures of our neighbors and local communities. We also respect the right to engage in peaceful protest. We have worked to form strong relationships and a two-way dialogue with all our neighbors in the region in order to shape Resolution Coppers future, and that will continue to be our approach moving forward.

Each year for the past five years, protesters have gathered to walk 45 miles from the San Carlos Apache Reservation to Oak Flat to protest Resolution Coppers plan to dig an underground block-cave mine that could impact an 11 square miles near Superior. Photo by Gabrielle Olivera / Cronkite News

Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Democrat from Tucson, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, reintroduced legislation in January that would overturn the 2014 land exchange that allowed the copper mine to happen. Under the agreement, the federal government transferred more than 2,400 acres of protected land in the Tonto National Forest to Resolution Copper for its proposed mine.

Stephanie Mushrush came from Los Angeles to participate in this years walk for the fifth time. She said it has been life-changing.

For me, Oak Flat is where I woke up, she said. I had been going to ceremonies for years, but growing up as an urban Indian, urban native in the city and surrounding areas, there is a disconnect, from the land.

After years of protests over Oak Flat , Resolution Copper now funds a program which employs Native Americans from several tribes to record culturally significant sites in the area. That information will be used in an environmental impact report being prepared by the U.S. Forest Service, which is needed before permits are approved for the mine.

Robin Silver, co-founder of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity, told Cronkite News last fall that the program will have little impact.

The monitoring program only documents what will be destroyed, he said in a text message. Resolution Copper does not care one bit about any cultural concerns, theyre just going through the motions and pretending.

Join the Conversation
A federal judge has dealt a setback to the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians , whose homelands in southern California have long been the subject of controversy.

In a decision issued on Wednesday, Judge Steven Wilson said the Bureau of Indian Affairs should not have placed a 1,400-acre site in trust for the tribe. He determined that the Obama-era official who signed the approval document lacked the authority to do so.

"Only the Assistant Secretary had the authority to issue a final decision," Wilson wrote in the ruling.

Since the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs was vacant at the time of the January 20, 2017, decision, Wilson concluded that the BIA's trust acquisition of the property known as Camp 4 was invalid. The document instead was signed by the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.

But the tribe, which was not a party to the litigation, is vowing to keep fighting for its homelands.

"The tribe purchased the Camp 4 property in 2010 with the intention to build homes for our tribal members, and nine years later, we are still working on making that dream a reality. Camp 4 has always been historic tribal land, and the tribe will continue to fight to ensure adequate housing for its members," Chairman Kenneth Kahn said in a statement to KEYT.

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) is chair of new House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States. It breaks my heart to hear bills waiting years to get passed. Vows to correct past wrongs that affected Indian legislation in recent years. @NRDems @RepRubenGallego pic.twitter.com/i5Vf5lHsi1  indianz.com (@indianz) February 14, 2019

The decision does not disrupt a historic intergovernmental agreement the tribe reached with Santa Barbara County to address housing and other development at Camp 4. As part of that agreement, the county dropped litigation affecting the land-into-trust application for the site.

The ruling also does not prevent the tribe from going through the land-into-trust process again for the site. But the tribe is also asking Congress to reaffirm the BIA's decision through H.R.317 , the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Land Affirmation Act.

The bill reaffirms the trust status of Camp 4. It also bars the tribe from engaging in gaming on the land.

A prior version of the bill was easily passed by the Republican-controlled House during the 115th Congress. It also was approved by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs after a hearing last April

A witness at the hearing said Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California), who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president and has a history of challenging tribal land-into-trust applications when she served as attorney general of California, contributed to the slow movement on the bill. It never came up for a vote in the Senate before the end of the 115th session.

H.R.317, the new version, has been referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources , which is now under Democratic control. Leaders of the panel -- including Rep. Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico), the vice chair, and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona), the chair of the newly established Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States . -- are vowing to advance pro-tribal priorities in the 116th Congress.

Turtle Talk has posted documents from the case, Crawford-Hall v. United States

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I cant even imagine living in that kind of world, one where love is basically outlawed. Without love we would not have the basis of true humanity, and it takes both sexes to make that happen. Women and men, when they team together, offer their best selves to the world. The kind of love we celebrate is the sort that leads to community service, sharing, giving and helping others in even the smallest of circumstances. That kind of love is passed on to the children who witness it and become a part of that love as they are growing up. That is the kind of love we should celebrate on Valentines Day.
By Kaniehtonkie

On Thursday, February 7, 2019, Quebec MP, Marc Miller stood in the House of Commons to deliver a 20-minute speech in Kanien'keha on Bill C-91. Miller has been serving as a Member of Parliament for the riding of Ville-Marie-Le Sud-Ouest-Ile-des-Surs since 2015. Miller also serves as a Parliamentary Secretary and is currently the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations.

Nearly two years ago, Miller made history when he gave the first speech ever spoken in Kanien'keha in the House of Commons in June 2017.

Miller stated, "Speaking an indigenous language in the House of Commons, what is in effect Canada's most important political arena, is an important symbolic act which I hope raises awareness in non-indigenous communities of the importance of vitalizing languages that we have contributed to weaken."

He added, "As a personal matter, learning Kanien'keha is immensely enriching (and difficult) but it has allowed me to meet many people that I would not normally come into contact with, and to understand the importance of acting now. The Indigenous Languages Act (C-91) is an essential component in affirming the inherent right to language for indigenous peoples and an important step forward in healing a relationship that has been damaged for centuries. This bill is intended to support and promote the use of indigenous languages and recognizes that they are fundamental to the identities, cultures, spiritual beliefs, relationships to the land, world views and self-determination of indigenous peoples."

According to CBC News, the Montreal-area MP is bilingual in English and French and has previously said, if anglophone MPs could make time to learn another language while serving, he too could learn another language; for the reason of better understanding one another.

"I want to be able to understand the language of the Mohawk people, people who have lived here long before my people arrived," Miller said in Mohawk. "I have discovered something that is more complicated than sharing words with one another. I have found that I am able to understand my place on earth which I did not appreciate before I began learning. It has now just begun to make sense to me how amazing the language is, how rich it is, how exceptional it is. It is a lot more complicated than my other languages."

Also making history was Kaweienonni Cook Peters, by being the first person to translate MP's Millers speech from Kanien'keha (Mohawk) to English in the House of Commons. Cook-Peters works tirelessly to vitalize the Kanien'keha language.

Cook-Peters stated, "Why do we need the government to recognize our languages?' and while that may be true, the real question is, 'Why don't our own people recognize our languages?' We're at a time in history when our inherent languages no longer sit on the back burner. Most communities are proactive in restoring their languages, more than ever before. For the many people who have been fortunate to enroll their child into an immersion program, they may not know the moral and financial struggle of the people who made immersion a reality. The struggle was not against the "government" but against our own people within our native communities who strongly believed that children learning only in their inherent language would falter in their academics. Time and again, this attitude has been proven wrong by the many former immersion students who go on to do well once they've transferred to non-immersion schools. Protecting and preserving our language is always worth the struggle and people are not going to stop being proactive on learning and teaching. If not for our language, what do we have left to determine ourselves Onkwehon:we?"

Previously, Members speaking in a non-official language had to provide their own translation which was printed out and shared ahead of time  if they wanted their parliamentarian colleagues to understand what they were saying.

Speaking in his Cree language, Quebec MP, Romeo Saganash: Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou riding, gave support to Bill C-91, but also criticized the 'lack of teeth' given to the Bill. Saganash spoke of 'the incredible urgency to preserve rapidly disappearing First Nations, Metis and Inuit languages.'

According to NationTalk, Saganash said he'll support the passing of the Indigenous Languages Act but made it clear he is 'doing so with a heavy heart' - he is disappointed in what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government came up with after so much more was promised.'

A Summary of the House of Commons of Canada Bill C-91

This enactment provides, among other things, that:

(a) the Government of Canada recognizes that the rights of Indigenous peoples recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 include rights related to Indigenous languages;

(b) the Minister of Canadian Heritage may enter into different types of agreements or arrangements in respect of Indigenous languages with Indigenous governments or other Indigenous governing bodies or Indigenous organizations, taking into account the unique circumstances and needs of Indigenous groups, communities and peoples; and

(c) federal institutions may cause documents to be translated into an Indigenous language or provide interpretation services to facilitate the use of an Indigenous language.

The enactment also establishes the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages and sets out its composition. The Office's mandate and powers, duties and functions include:

(a) supporting the efforts of Indigenous peoples to reclaim, revitalize, maintain and strengthen Indigenous languages;

(b) promoting public awareness of, among other things, the richness and diversity of Indigenous languages;

(c) undertaking research or studies in respect of the provision of funding for the purposes of supporting Indigenous languages and in respect of the use of Indigenous languages in Canada;

(d) providing services, including mediation or other culturally appropriate services, to facilitate the resolution of disputes; and

(e) submitting to the Minister of Canadian Heritage an annual report on, among other things, the use and vitality of Indigenous languages in Canada and the adequacy of funding provided by the Government of Canada for initiatives related to Indigenous languages.

The complete bill is available on the House of Commons website at the following address:

http://www.ourcommons.ca.


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Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas who tied the knot in December last year are all set to welcome their first bundle of joy.

If reports are to be believed our desi girl is in her first trimester and is trying her best to keep it a secret. Everyone at the ongoing New York Fashion Week (NYFW) is talking about PeeCee and her pregnancy which she has been hiding.

Recently, at the premiere of Isn't It Romantic at The Theatre of the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, while addressing the media along with husband Nick, Priyanka revealed about their parenthood plans and shared that it will happen "in an organic way".

"We both know that that's something that needs to happen, but it's not something I think about very much.





We're both very driven, we love our work, we're married to our work, and we're both very supportive of each other's work.





So I'm sure it will happen in an organic way," she said while embracing Nick on the red carpet.

Close friends of the couple in Los Angeles and New York told Pinkvilla that the newlyweds are good with kids. As we all know, Priyanka is crazy for her nephew Krishna Sky Sarkisian and same is the case with Nick, who dotes over his brother, Kevin Jonas's daughters Alena and Valentina.

Also, when Chopra graced the ramp in her latest outing at the NYFW for Michael Kors fashion show, shutterbugs were quick to capture her tiny bump in the pictures.

While an official confirmation on the same is awaited, we wish Priyanka and Nick heartiest congratulations and all the very best for their new journey as parents.

Stay tuned for further updates.
The case

Erica was first reported missing in 2013 when her adopted brother, Jamie Parsons, filed a missing person report on July 30. The report stated the girl had been missing since November or December of 2011, when she was 13 years old. The Parsons adopted Erica when she was 2 years old.

At that time, Erica's adopted mother, Casey Parsons, told deputies and the Rowan County Department of Social Services that the girl had gone to live with her biological grandmother in Asheville, according to court documents. Law enforcement tried to find the grandmother but was unsuccessful.

In August of 2013, the Federal and State bureaus of investigation got involved. That investigation, according to court documents, focused on federal adoption assistance funds Casey Parsons and her husband, Sandy, collected during the two years Erica was missing. The sheriff's office searched the family's home in Salisbury, and K9 searches for human remains both at that address and elsewhere in town yielded nothing.

The FBI arrested Casey and Sandy Parsons on July 30, 2014, for federal fraud. Casey Parsons pled guilty to 16 counts, and Sandy Parsons was found guilty of 43 counts of fraud.
When deputies approached the vehicle, they smelled the distinct odor of marijuana coming from the passenger compartment. A probable cause search was then conducted of the Corolla and deputies found a loaded .9-millimeter handgun in the center console and a bag containing approximately 700 grams of marijuana under the front passenger seat. The value of the marijuana seized was approximately $1,500.

Dalton was charged with possession of marijuana, possess with intent to sell/deliver marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Dalton was taken before a Rowan County Magistrate Judge and placed under a $25,000 secured bond.

Sandford was charged with possession of marijuana, possession with intent to sell/deliver marijuana, maintaining a vehicle for keeping and selling controlled substances, possession of drug paraphernalia, and carrying a concealed weapon. Sandford was taken before a Rowan County Magistrate Judge and placed under a $25,000 bond.
There are a number of other HBCU institutions in North Carolina that will be helped including Livingstone in Salisbury and Johnson C. Smith in Charlotte.

#4

New at Concord Mills.

Request Boutique opened this week at Concord Mills. Its for sneakerheads. I got some funny looks when this gray-haired old man walked in the store.

I was afraid to touch anything. Who pays that much for shoes? The first shoe I got near was $400. No wonder they only put one shoe out.

The store is located across from Five Below and near Burlington.

This is the second Request location. The original is at the Four Seasons Town Centre in Greensboro. Theyve got Jordans and all manner of big name shoes, plus other merchandise. The website says all sales are final.

It would be my final if my wife found out I bought a $400 pair of Jordans.

If you need a job to fund your sneaker addiction, Metrolina Greenhouses is taking applications at a kiosk beside the food court. The sign says $12.50 an hour after 25 days. Theyve been out there for a while and I see somebody filling out an application just about every time Im in the mall.
Kannapolis native Logan Millers face is greeting visitors in the Charleston airport in a giant banner for The Citadel, the military college in South Carolina.

Miller, a senior cadet at the Citadel, was featured as a part of the schools Our Mighty Citadel campaign.

We wanted to showcase individual cadets who are standouts, like Logan Miller, Kara Klein, The Citadels director of marketing said. The campaign is designed to help the public get to know our students on a personal and relatable level.

Miller said he first became interested in The Citadel after touring colleges his senior year.

What I thought was amazing was the discipline and the structure and just how well the cadets conducted themselves, Miller said. Those were the tools I knew I needed to be a better leader.

During his time at The Citadel, Miller has taken on leadership roles in the school and studied abroad in several countries.

Im the regimental public affairs officer so Im the spokesperson for the school, Miller said. If there are any media on campus Im there to direct the media and direct interviews.
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Financing is available through OneMain Financial at Doug Miller Carpet Sales

Doug Miller Carpet Sales is a member of The Better Business Bureau. They offer free estimates and have been the leading carpet dealers in the region since 1986.

Brad Benson is the Digital Marketing Expert of North Carolina.



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Having studied Greek as a seminary student and being precocious, I wrote a letter to the local paper (a predecessor of this newspaper), that Kannapolis did not mean City of Looms but probably referred to the city of the Cannons. The editor called and told me that my controversial letter would not run. Today, everyone agrees that the city was named after the Cannons.

Congregations Today

Churches are still strong in Kannapolis. After the devastation of the closing of the mills, most of the congregations lost members and money. Yet, none died.

There is new life at the old downtown churches as they adjust to the new normal and the hope of major downtown renovation. We are seeing new congregations such as The Refuge, Journey, St. Josephs Roman Catholic Church, Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons), Resurrection Anglican Church, Hes Alive, Harvest Community Church, and Beit Shofarot Messianic Synagogue.

Kannapolis remains a strong spiritual community. I look forward, in the days to come, to share more about all the above congregations and then some.

Thanks to The Reverend Wes Judy for helping with this article.

Andy Langford is a retired pastor at Central United Methodist Church in Concord. The very first congregation he served was Royal Oaks United Methodist Church in Kannapolis way back in 1978-1980. Contact: andy@concordcentral.org.
In 1902, Carroll countians were just starting to become dependent on the telephone, telegraph, and electric power. So you can imagine the paralysis which resulted as the Democratic Advocate proclaimed: The wreck of the system in this city of the Western Maryland Telephone Company was nearly complete. Two-thirds of the poles were down, cross-arms broken off and wires snapped and tangled all over the city, particularly from the railroad east.
The US is sending another large shipment of humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan border in Colombia, for the first time using US military aircraft as it increases pressure on Nicolas Maduro to give up power, according to a State Department email sent to Congress.

The announcement of additional aid came as the Trump administration added Venezuelas oil boss and key intelligence officers to a long list of Maduro loyalists under US financial sanctions.

The 250 tons of food supplies, hygiene kits and nutritional supplements will begin arriving on Saturday to the border city of Cucuta, where tons of boxes of emergency aid stamped with the US flag are already warehoused awaiting delivery.

The aid came at the request of opposition leader Juan Guaido, who the US and dozens of other countries have recognised as Venezuelas rightful leader after Mr Maduro last month was sworn in for a second presidential term widely seen as illegitimate.

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Mr Guaido has vowed to deliver the aid over the objections of Mr Maduro, who in an exclusive interview with AP said the offer of US assistance represents crumbs compared with hostile efforts to block the countrys oil exports and restrict its access to foreign funding.

While the US military has long supported civilian-led humanitarian assistance missions around the world, this is the first time it has been used to deploy aid for Venezuela.

Last year, the US government sent more than 100 million dollars in aid to Cucuta to help Colombian authorities absorb some of the estimated three million Venezuelans fleeing hyper-inflation and food shortages.

In slapping new sanctions on Major General Manuel Quevedo, president of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said the oil executive had been instrumental in propping up what he called Mr Maduros illegitimate regime.

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In the AP interview Mr Maduro said Maj Gen Quevedo had been in India this week looking to drum up new business for PDVSA after the company was hit with sanctions aimed at cutting off an estimated 11 billion dollars in profits.

The new sanctions also target four high-ranking intelligence officials, including the head of the feared SEBIN intelligence police and an elite commando unit known as FAES which is accused of several targeted killings.

In a statement, Mr Mnuchin accused the officials of corruption and helping Mr Maduro repress democracy in Venezuela  which includes torture and other brutal use of force.

We are intent on going after those facilitating Maduros corruption and predation, Mr Mnuchin said, adding that Maj Gen Quevedo and others have syphoned off funds that rightfully belong to the people of Venezuela.

The US sanctions block access to any property the individuals own in the United States and bans US citizens from doing business with them.

As US pressure mounted, secretary of state Mike Pompeo told reporters he sees clear signs that Mr Maduro is starting to understand Venezuelans reject him as their leader.

In the AP interview, Mr Maduro said he was willing to meet President Donald Trump at any time or place to resolve the crisis over US recognition of Mr Guaido.

Mr Pompeo said Mr Maduros request was not new, but it reflected that he is realising his crisis-riddled nation rejects his model of governance.
Mr Kipling cake firm Premier Foods has scrapped plans to sell off its Ambrosia custard brand, blaming the current business climate.

The group put the unit up for sale last year as it came under pressure from activist investor Oasis, and Premier said at the time that it was in talks with several prospective bidders.

However, it has since parted company with chief executive Gavin Darby, who ordered the sale.

Premier said on Friday: A number of parties expressed interest in the business, and since the new year the company has been engaged in detailed discussions with a small group of potential buyers.

The board has concluded that in the present business climate the process will not result in a satisfactory financial outcome. As a result, these discussions have now concluded.

Ambrosia, which is famous for its Devon Custard and Rice Pudding, is over 100 years old and has been produced in Devon since the factory opened in 1958.

The firm has been looking to boost its performance and slash its 500 million debt pile.

There has also been also investor discontent over Premiers recent decision not to sell its fast-growing Batchelors brand.

Chief financial officer Alastair Murray has stepped into Mr Darbys shoes while the hunt for a permanent successor continues.
Police officers armed with rifles gather at the scene in Aurora (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/AP)

Five people have been killed and five police officers wounded in a shooting at a business in the suburbs of Chicago.

Police chief Kristen Ziman said that the officers were shot at as soon as they entered the Henry Pratt company building in Aurora.

Ms Ziman said the gunman was also killed.

Clayton Muhammad, the director of communications for the city of Aurora, said the officers were in a stable condition.

Hospitals reported treating at least seven patients from the shooting, though their conditions were not released.

Live TV reports showed dozens of emergency vehicles outside a building housing the Henry Pratt company in Aurora, a city of about 200,000 people about 40 miles west of Chicago.

John Probst, an employee at the company, said that he ran out of the back door as the shooting unfolded. He said he recognised the gunman.

"What I saw was the guy running down the aisle with a pistol with a laser on it," Mr Probst said.

He said he was not hurt but that another colleague was bleeding pretty bad.

The company makes valves for industrial purposes.

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting and monitoring the situation as he prepared to depart for a weekend trip to his home in Palm Beach, Florida.

The company makes valves for portable water, waste water, power generation and industrial purposes.

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West Aurora School District 129 said on its website that it was keeping all students in their classrooms as police investigate but that teaching will continue with reduced movement.

Aurora is city of about 200,000 people about 38 miles west of Chicago.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to prosecutors with special counsel Robert Mueller about matters in their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, a federal judge has ruled.

The judge's finding that Manafort (69) breached his deal with prosecutors, by lying after his guilty plea, could add years to his prison sentence.

Manafort's lies, the judge found, included "his interactions and communications with [Konstantin] Kilimnik", a longtime aide whom the FBI assessed to have ties to Russian intelligence.

US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District of Columbia said Manafort also lied to the special counsel, the FBI and the grand jury about a payment from a company to a law firm, and made false statements that were material to another Justice Department investigation.

Manafort's actions mean Mr Mueller's office "is no longer bound" by the plea agreement to support a possible sentencing reduction for Manafort.

Judge Jackson said she would factor in his deception at his sentencing on March 13.

Manafort pleaded guilty on September 14, on the eve of jury selection for his trial, to conspiring to defraud the United States, violate lobbying laws and obstruct justice.
Battle of wills: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (pictured) and Donald Trump are keen to avoid another government shutdown that left thousands without an income. Photo: Getty

US President Donald Trump will sign a border security bill to avert another government shutdown, but also declare a national emergency to try to obtain funds for his promised US-Mexico border wall, a White House spokeswoman said last night.

In an attempt to bypass Congress to get money that lawmakers have so far denied him for his wall, Mr Trump appeared headed toward triggering a swift court challenge from Democrats on constitutional grounds.

The top Democrat in Congress immediately denounced the president's move. Asked by reporters whether she would file a legal challenge, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "I may, that's an option."

"President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action - including a national emergency - to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

"The president is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country," she said in a statement.

The bipartisan compromise federal spending legislation expected to arrive soon on Trump's desk after being voted on in the Republican-led Senate and Democratic-led House would provide more than $300bn (266bn) to fund the Department of Homeland Security and a range of other agencies through September 30, the end of the current fiscal year.

Funding for those agencies is due to expire today, which would trigger another partial federal shutdown tomorrow morning if Congress and Mr Trump do not act quickly.

A source familiar with the situation said that the White House had identified $2.7bn in funds previously provided by Congress that could be redirected to barrier funding as part of a national emergency.

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The source said White House lawyers had vetted the figures and believed they would withstand a legal challenge. Under the Constitution, Congress holds the national purse strings and makes major decisions on spending taxpayer money.

The Trump administration has suggested that it could use national emergency powers to redirect money already committed by Congress to pay for Trump's wall.

Ms Pelosi accused Mr Trump of doing "an end-run" around Congress and around the Constitution's separation of powers that gives Congress, not the president, such authority as federal spending and declaring war.

"It's not an emergency, what's happening at the border. It's a humanitarian challenge to us," Ms Pelosi said.

"If the president can declare an emergency on something that he has created as an emergency - an illusion that he wants to convey - just think of what a president with different values can present to the American people," Ms Pelosi added.

Congress was expected last night to approve the bill, which does not contain the money Mr Trump demanded for the wall, but does contain money for other border security measures.

Mr Trump triggered a 35-day-long shutdown of about a quarter of the federal government with his December demand for $5bn to help build a portion of the wall.

The border bill would provide $1.37bn in new money to help build 88.5km of physical barriers on the border. It is the same level of funding Congress appropriated for border security measures last year.

Earlier, top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer called the spending legislation agreement a "reasonable compromise".

"It does not fund the president's wall, but it does support smart border security initiatives that both parties have always supported... Most importantly, it will keep our government open," Schumer said on the Senate floor.

The legislation would also fund the Justice Department, Commerce Department, State Department, Department of Agriculture, Internal Revenue Service and others.

Failure to enact the bill would shutter many programmes, from national parks maintenance and air traffic controller training programmes to the collection and publication of important data for financial markets, for the second time this year.
Law enforcement personnel gather near the scene of a shooting at an industrial park in Aurora. (Bev Horne/Daily Herald via AP)

First responders and emergency vehicles are gathered near the scene of a shooting at an industrial park in Aurora. (Bev Horne/Daily Herald via AP)

Law enforcement personnel gather near the scene of a shooting at an industrial park in Aurora. (Bev Horne/Daily Herald via AP)

Law enforcement personnel gather near the scene of a shooting at an industrial park in Aurora. (Bev Horne/Daily Herald via AP)

Law enforcement personnel gather near the scene where an active shooter was reported in Aurora. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP)

Police officers armed with rifles gather at the scene where an active shooter was reported in Aurora. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP)

Five people have been killed and five police officers wounded in a shooting at a business in the suburbs of Chicago.

A gunman opened fire in an industrial building in the city of Aurora, law enforcement officials said.

Police chief Kristen Ziman said that the officers were shot at as soon as they entered the Henry Pratt company building.

Ms Ziman said the gunman was also killed.

Clayton Muhammad, the director of communications for the city of Aurora, said the officers were in a stable condition.

Hospitals reported treating at least seven patients from the shooting, though their conditions were not released.

Live TV reports showed dozens of emergency vehicles outside a building housing the Henry Pratt company in Aurora, a city of about 200,000 people about 40 miles west of Chicago.

John Probst, an employee at the company, said that he ran out of the back door as the shooting unfolded. He said he recognised the gunman.

"What I saw was the guy running down the aisle with a pistol with a laser on it," Mr Probst said.

He said he was not hurt but that another colleague was bleeding pretty bad.

The company makes valves for industrial purposes.

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting and monitoring the situation as he prepared to depart for a weekend trip to his home in Palm Beach, Florida.

The company makes valves for portable water, waste water, power generation and industrial purposes.

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West Aurora School District 129 said on its website that it was keeping all students in their classrooms as police investigate but that teaching will continue with reduced movement.

Aurora is city of about 200,000 people about 38 miles west of Chicago.

CNN, citing local officials and hospitals, had earlier reported that four police officers and "multiple" civilians were shot and wounded in the attack.

Aurora is city of about 200,000 people about 38 miles west of Chicago.

The City of Aurora had earlier tweeted that a gunman has been apprehended, while Kane County Coroner said that at least one fatality had been sustained.

"We have an active shooter incident at 641 Archer Av. This is an active scene. Please avoid the area," the Aurora Police Department said in a tweet at about 2.20pm central US time, adding that additional details would be forthcoming.

The city of Aurora later tweeted about 40 minutes later that a suspect had been arrested.

"EMERGENCY UPDATE | 3 p.m. THE SHOOTER HAS BEEN APPREHENDED! The area is still on lock down! More information will be provided soon," the city said.

Media photographs and video showed numerous police cars surrounding a large commercial building in Aurora, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Chicago.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago, Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and Steve Gorman and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles Writing by Dan Whitcomb Editing by Leslie Adler and James Dalgleish)
Killed: Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi Arabian dissident journalist who was killed and dismembered by a hit team from the kingdom in Istanbul. Photo: Virginia Mayo

Turkish police believe the remains of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi may have been burned, according to a police report.

Mr Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a team of Saudi operatives on October 2, provoking international revulsion.

The consulate had two wells and a gas and wood floor furnace that could reach heat of more than 1,000C, destroying any DNA traces, Turkey's state news agency Anadolu reported.

After making numerous contradictory statements about Mr Khashoggi's fate, Riyadh said he had been killed and his body dismembered when attempts to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia failed.

Police believe information obtained in the investigation indicates that the dismembered remains of Mr Khashoggi may have been burned. Despite Turkey's probe looking at the kingdom's consulate, the consul's residence and several other locations, Mr Khashoggi's remains have not been found.

Mr Khashoggi's murder has severely strained ties between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, although Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has good ties with the Saudi monarch, King Salman.

Mr Erdogan has said Mr Khashoggi's killing was ordered by the highest level of Saudi leadership and has repeatedly called on Saudi officials to identify a "local co-operator" involved in the killing. Riyadh has rejected accusations the crown prince was involved.

Footage showed a man believed to be a Khashoggi impersonator walking alongside a man police say is the "local co-operator". His identity was not clear.

Police believe Hatice Cengiz, Mr Khashoggi's fiancee, may have been a second victim in the murder if she had entered the consulate with him.
When London teenager Shamima Begum fled Britain with two other schoolgirls in 2015 to join Isil, it shocked a nation. Now, she wants to go home.

Ms Begum (19) is nine months pregnant and living in a Syrian refugee camp. She says she doesn't regret leaving Britain, but now wants to return to give birth to her child.

"Now all I want to do is come home to Britain," she said in an extraordinary interview with the London 'Times'.

Ben Wallace, Britain's security minister, told the BBC yesterday that she could face prosecution if she returns there.

She and two friends left their homes and families to join a fourth girl in Syria. The three schoolgirls travelled to Syria in February 2015 after deceiving their parents and siblings to make the journey to join the radical Islamist network.

"I'm not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago," she said in the interview, adding that she had two other children who died while living in an Isil-controlled territory in Syria. She also said that she didn't regret going to Syria and wasn't fazed when she saw the severed head of one of Isil's victims.

The three schoolgirls each married a foreign Isil fighter, according to the 'Times'.

Ms Begum was married 10 days after arriving in Raqqa in 2015 to a Dutchman who had converted to Islam.

Mr Wallace told the BBC that everyone who takes part in the conflict in Syria or Iraq must be "prepared to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted for committing terrorist offences".

He also said that he wouldn't put British officials' lives at risk to "go and look for terrorists or former terrorists in a failed state. There are consular services elsewhere in the region and the strong message this government has given for many years is that actions have consequences".

Anthony Loyd, the 'Times' correspondent who tracked Ms Begum down in the refugee camp in northern Syria, cautioned about judging her too quickly.

He told the BBC she was a "15-year-old schoolgirl who was groomed and lured to the caliphate, and four years later, with that background, she is an indoctrinated jihadi bride".

He also said that she "had no regrets, she was calm and composed but she was also in a state of shock - she had just come out of a battlefield, nine months pregnant, many of her friends dead through air strikes and all the rest of it." ( Washington Post)
A controversial new EU copyright law promises to toughen up penalties on web giants like Google and Facebook if protected content from publishers, authors and artists is shared online. Stock photo

A controversial new EU copyright law promises to toughen up penalties on web giants such as Google and Facebook if "protected" content from publishers, authors and artists is shared online.

The move, which has been agreed by European countries and now faces a vote in the European Parliament, would mean services such as YouTube and Twitter could face stiff penalties if any of their users share clips or copyrighted material.

The law has been campaigned for by media publishers, movie companies and others, which complain that companies such as Google and Facebook aren't punished enough when people share copyrighted content online.

But critics of the new law fear it is overly restrictive and could lead to a general clampdown on free speech within Europe.

According to an EU spokesman, the new law allows people to upload a limited amount of "protected works" for the purposes of "quotation, criticism, review, caricature, parody or pastiche". This, the spokesman said, was designed to overcome fears "memes and gifs" would be banned in Europe under the new law.

The spokesman said sharing snippets of news articles "will not engage the rights of the media house which produced the shared article provided it is very short".
The chairman of Europe's insurance regulator has called for more powers to prevent cross-border insurers like Qudos or Setanta collapsing.

Gabriel Bernardino told an event in Dublin that he wants to be able to take a more preventive approach rather than tackling issues as they arise.

EU insurers can do business here because of the single market. But the collapse of entities regulated abroad has hit Irish policyholders in the pocket, and raised questions about whether foreign-regulated insurers should be allowed here at all.

Mr Bernardino, chairman of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, said that the cross-border insurance regime was an asset that should be preserved.

"It can create more choice, it can create some competition if properly done of course, it can also create added value for consumers and for businesses."

He acknowledged however that there has been poor supervision in some countries, adding that when cases like Qudos or Setanta arise it "severely disrupts public trust in the function of insurance and the internal market."

"We shouldn't have these zombie companies in the market. This is bad for everyone," he said.

"I don't want to be in a situation where we are just tackling the issues when it is too late. We need to do a much more preventive approach."

He said his organisation needs beefed up powers for giving orders to domestic insurance supervisors.

"We need...to have the possibility to give clear and concrete recommendations to the home authority. And that this is dealt with as a recommendation coming from a European authority that needs to work on a 'comply or explain' basis.

"Nowadays I tell you we have been giving a lot of recommendations. Many of them have been followed, but others not so much. And that is not optimal, that doesn't deliver at the end of the day good supervision of the internal market."
EDF has reported a sharp drop in UK earnings last year as it lost 200,000 customers to rivals amid a highly competitive market.

The French energy firm said earnings for its UK business tumbled 16.5% to 691 million in the year to December 31, as it blamed a downturn in nuclear power generation and lower realised net prices.

Sales came in at 8.97 billion euro (7.9 billion), a rise of 3.9%.

The fall in earnings comes despite the firm announcing two substantial price hikes last year, and energy customers on EDFs standard variable tariff face a 10% price increase from April 1.

It follows an announcement by Ofgem that there will be an increase to the energy price cap.

EDF Energy had three million residential electricity accounts and 1.9 million gas customers at the end of last year, a decrease of around 200,000.

The supply activities benefited from increases in residential tariffs, although the residential customer portfolio showed a year-on-year decrease of -4.2% in a highly competitive environment, EDF said.

EDF said that all key milestones were reached at Hinkley Point C, the power station it is helping construct that will supply the UK with electricity to meet 7% of the countrys needs from the end of 2025.

For the group as a whole, EDF reported an 11.1% rise in earnings to 15.3 billion euro (13.5 billion) while sales jumped 6.3% to 68.9 billion euro (60.6 billion).

Net income plummeted 63% to 1.2 billion euro (1 billion).

Jean-Bernard Levy, EDFs chairman and CEO, said: The rebound in our results in 2018 has occurred and is in line with our forecasts. We have achieved all our financial objectives and are exceeding all the targets of our performance plan.

We have stabilised our net financial debt, strengthened our balance sheet, reached a record for generation in renewable energies, succeeded in overhauling the French nuclear sector and strengthened our supply business through several significant innovations.
Administrators to stricken cake chain Patisserie Valerie have sold off one of the firms sister brands Baker & Spice to the Department of Coffee & Social Affairs for 2.5 million.

Baker & Spice has five stores in Belgravia, Chelsea, Maida Vale, Oxford and within Selfridges.

It comes a day after KPMG announced that 96 stores contained within the main Patisserie Valerie business have been bought by Irish private equity firm Causeway Capital Partners for 13 million.

That deal safeguarded nearly 2,000 jobs.

In a separate transaction, food wholesaler AF Blakemore & Son has picked up all 21 Philpotts stores.

Patisserie Valerie, which was chaired by businessman Luke Johnson, was put up for sale last month after collapsing following the discovery of fraudulent activity in its accounts.

Last month the firm said the extent of fraud meant it was unable to renew its bank loans with HSBC and Barclays and it did not have sufficient funding to continue trading, leaving it with no option but to appoint KPMG as administrator.

KPMG has already closed 70 stores, resulting in 920 redundancies.

Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley subsequently submitted a bid for the chain, but later withdrew it, complaining that he had been locked out of the process by KPMG.
John and Edward shared a photo of themselves with their mother Susanna with a tribute on social media. PIC: Jedward/Twitter

Jedward have paid tribute to their beloved mother Susanna following her tragic death.

Twins John and Edward Grimes confirmed her death on social media with an emotional message.

They revealed that she had battled cancer for several years.

The 27-year-old stars wrote, "Rest in Peace Mammy. You live on through us. We will miss your smile.

"You shaped the character of who we are. Mammy lived with cancer for many years but was always full of life! You live on in our Memories and will always be alive in our hearts"

Rest In Peace Mammy

You live on through us

We will miss you and your smile

You shaped the character of who we are. Mammy lived with cancer for many years but was always full of life! You live on in our Memories and will always be alive in our Hearts ai pic.twitter.com/6esfCyjP59  JEDWARD (@planetjedward) February 15, 2019

John and Edward shot to fame on The X Factor in 2009 and their mother was a major factor in their success as she was their manager.

They went on to release three albums and appeared on Celebrity Big Brother before representing Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012.

The stars' many fans and friends took to social media to offer their condolences to the twins.

"You are certainly a credit to your wonderful mother. Susanna was someone I called a friend and loved and will always love very much. She had such a profound effect on my life," wrote one.

Another wrote, "Im so heartbroken, she was such a beautiful and kind women! Sending so much love your way always here for you! Thank you for letting us all get to know her she will be greatly missed always here for you if you ever need anything sending so much love and prayers your way"

Susanna's final Twitter post was a simple heart emoji on February 12.
At the 1850 Synod of Thurles, called by Archbishop Paul Cullen, he ordered: That priests were to wear black, or dark clothes; keep their distance from the people, and declared war on all Pagan and Celtic religious (spiritual) practices. Stock image

Thanks to all for the important discussion on spirituality. At the 1850 Synod of Thurles, called by Archbishop Paul Cullen, he ordered: That priests were to wear black, or dark clothes; keep their distance from the people, and declared war on all Pagan and Celtic religious (spiritual) practices.

More than likely this instruction to the clergy, to keep distant from the people, led to the dilemma in which the Catholic Church found itself embroiled in recent times.

Spirituality is not one thing alone, but in essence is the entire body and soul reaching out and seeking a godhead, to which each of us is fully entitled to participate in through faith, hope and charity.

That we have free will to accept or reject God is for me not treated with the importance it should be, by the Catholic Church. For this is the beginning of the acceptance of the spirit into the body and soul.

The recent New York trial of drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, with his quest for power, sex, and money, illustrates a person empty of spirituality; his sole focus, seeking material things. Things that, like a heroin addict, only provide momentary enjoyment and an insatiable desire; a desire that will never bring contentment.

For those, who are spiritual, and those who seek it, a good and important book is the recently re-issued The Mystical Imagination of Patrick Kavanagh: A Buttonhole in Heaven by Sister Una Agnew SSL.

Written in plain English, Una Agnew leads the reader on a most enjoyable and learning journey. Unas personal philosophy illustrates clearly why the Roman Catholic Church needs female priests and married clergy in its ranks.

The above book will also endorse Sean OBriens idea of the importance of literature in the main to spirituality. Another great writer on spirituality was the late John ODonoghue, in particular his book Anam Cara/Soul Friend.

The day Rome left the Orthodoxy of the Eastern Church was the day clericalism began displacing spirituality in the Roman Catholic Church. When the Irish Hierarchy set up Maynooth Seminary, it dived headlong into clericalism by separating from the European Seminaries.

Spirituality is akin to reading Joyces Ulysses  you allow it to swim over you. Sometimes, we do need to visit spiritual places, not for renewal but to remind ourselves of the wondrous thing it is to be a human being, replete with faults, failings, and human error, allied to the important need to forgive and be forgiven. But also that we must never stop seeking, nor using, the talents God gave each of us.

Declan Foley

Berwick, Australia

Heard the one about the Irish lad who chose to be English?

Regarding the Declan Rice row: So we wont see Rice in Paddy fields!

Ted Cronin

Tralee, Co Kerry

You may need treatment after final cost of hospital is shown

The Sydney Opera House cost $102m, 15 times the original estimate.

When it was revealed the final bill for Hamburgs Elbphilharmonie concert hall was 866m, 11 times the original estimate, waves of schadenfreude swept across Europe.

Doctors have an even greater ability to extract money from the public purse. The cost of Vienna General Hospital rose 60-fold from a projected 72m to 4.5bn by the time the first patient was admitted.

The final bill for the National Childrens Hospital may cause nervous shock.

Dr John Doherty

Vienna, Austria

Only answer we can give the UK on Brexit backstop is No

Brexit is one of the most significant political declarations made in Europe since WWII. One of the members of the EU, one of the most powerful and richest countries in the world, has declared economic war on nearly 30 other democracies with which it had signed a treaty to co-operate in matters of mutual interest.

From an Irish point of view Brexit is significant since, in addition to its economic costs, it virtually tore up an international agreement  the Good Friday Agreement  the UK signed with this country to draw a line under both of our colonial pasts.

When Ireland states these facts it gets the riposte from political and media circles in London that Paddy should know his place and should shut his gob.

Given the significance of Brexit in European and Irish terms the answer to that has to be No.

A Leavy

Sutton, Dublin 13
We had hoped Poland's foreign minister was a different drummer marching in another direction when he broke ranks with the EU band, suggesting last month that Ireland has "treated the UK harshly" over the backstop. Stock

We had hoped Poland's foreign minister was a different drummer marching in another direction when he broke ranks with the EU band, suggesting last month that Ireland has "treated the UK harshly" over the backstop.

It now looks as though it could be Ireland that is out of step, not Poland's Jacek Czaputowicz.

Had our confidence in our position not been fortified by cast-iron commitments from top brass in Brussels? Perhaps.

But across the water, Theresa May and the Ultras had waged a 39bn bet (the price of the EU divorce bill) on Ireland being forced into diluting the backstop once the EU was confronted with the prospect of losing the pot. And with just six weeks to go to Brexit, it looks as if the gamble could pay off.

A forthright and frankly chilling interview with someone described as a "senior EU diplomat" yesterday came like a glass of cold water in the face.

The un-named source said: "In a no-deal scenario, Ireland would have to choose between setting up a physical Border with Northern Ireland and de facto leaving the single market. If there is no physical Border, the customs checks would have to take place on all goods coming from Ireland."

So we bring in a hard Border or leave the single market. It's really that stark. A blunt "our way or the highway" ultimatum, veiled in the velvet language only anonymity allows. No matter how much Iveagh House may try to calm nerves these quotes cannot be dismissed.

They were carried by the Reuters news agency - the go-to source favoured by the EU when feeding unpalatable truths into the mainstream.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney's office was anxious to dismiss the report. A spokesman said: "I would point to people who put their names to statements like President Tusk and President Juncker who have repeatedly said the EU is determined to do all it can, deal or no deal, to avoid the need for a Border and to protect peace..."

We are in no doubt the EU will do "all that it can". This has never been in question.

The difficulty, and it is a grave one, is that it can do nothing. It will not allow a 500km hole to be opened up in the heart of the customs union, should the UK depart messily.

As the EU frontier is on our side, responsibility for protecting the zone's trade will almost certainly come back to us. European solidarity and fellowship will only get you so far, especially if it comes to jeopardising the integrity of the biggest trading bloc in the world.

Ireland has stood by the EU and should not be made to pay the price for another member storming out. We saddled our future generations with debt to protect the euro when the dam threatened to burst a decade ago. Small nations within the EU will be watching closely to see how we are treated.

Talk is cheap - and what will it say about the strength of the union if Mrs May fiddles but it is Ireland that burns?
We don't know whether special counsel Robert Mueller has found evidence of collusion or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. But for the fourth time, he has proven a Trump aide lied about contacts with Russians.

A judge on Wednesday voided former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's co-operation deal with the government, agreeing with Mueller's team that he lied about three matters. In another two matters in which Mueller's team accused Manafort of lying, the judge failed to find "a preponderance of evidence".

Importantly, included in the three instances in which Judge Amy Berman Jackson found Manafort did make false statements, one involved his business associate in Ukraine, Konstantin Kilimnik.
Some passengers said their flights had been cancelled (Peter Byrne/PA)

Holidaymakers have responded angrily after an airline cancelled flights from Liverpools John Lennon Airport, reportedly due to uncertainty over Brexit.

Dozens of passengers expecting to fly to Rome and Alicante complained that their flights with the Romanian airline had been cancelled on Wednesday night but tickets were still available to buy online.

A spokesman for John Lennon Airport said the Brexit impasse had left the carrier unable to receive the necessary clarity around its ability to operate flights between the UK and countries other than Romania.

While Blue Air will continue to operate flights between the two countries, services from the UK to any other country could be affected if the UK leaves the EU without a continuation of current EU legislation.

Blue Air flights between Luton and Turin are also expected to be affected.

We can confirm that Bucharest and Bacau from Liverpool can be purchased from the end of March 2019. We regret that you will need to speak directly to Blue Air for further information on other routes.  Liverpool Airport (@LPL_Airport) February 14, 2019

Blue Air also did not respond to requests for comment but the airlines official Twitter account has blocked at least one angry customer on the social network.

The man, who declined to give his name, said he received an email on Wednesday saying his flight to Rome on March 6 had been cancelled for operational reasons.

On replying asking for a refund I got an automated response which asked to fill in a form which I think was in Romanian, he told the Press Association.

Seats for the flight are still available to buy online.

Tickets for an Alitalia flight to Rome operated by Blue Air, listed to depart at exactly the same time, are also available but for more than double the price.

The man continued: It was my Xmas present and I go on my birthday so I need to get there somehow, even if it means Ive now spent an extra 160 to get there and took another day off work.

So @BlueAirWeb you can tweet about valentine's but not respond to myself about my flight in march that you've just cancelled?  Jodi  (@_wixxxs95) February 14, 2019

Sara Kavanagh, 27, was due to fly to Rome for her wedding anniversary on March 18 but also received a cancellation email.

The marketing manager from Manchester said: Weve looked online and they have two other flights available but for three times the price we paid in January.

My flights were before March 29 so really Brexit shouldnt be an issue here, she added.

Daniel Northover, 46, from Liverpool, was due to fly with Blue Air to Alicante for his mothers birthday on March 2 but has had to find new flights after his were cancelled.

He said: I can understand it but we havent left yet if their response is true, its potentially the first clear manifestation of Project Fear being identifiably real.

A spokesman for John Lennon Airport said: Blue Air has successfully operated its based aircraft for two years in Liverpool serving a wide range of routes.

Unfortunately, as a Romanian Air Operator Certificate (AOC) holder, the current Brexit impasse means that the carrier has been unable to receive the necessary clarity regarding their ability to operate seventh freedom services which are currently possible under EU Open Skies.

The carrier will continue to serve Liverpool John Lennon Airport and will increase flights this summer to Bucharest and Bacau.

Seventh freedom services under the EU Open Skies agreement refer to flights between countries which are not an airlines home country.

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: We are committed to ensuring that flights between the UK and EU continue, and the European Commission has published a proposal to make sure this happens.

This clearly shows that in the event of no deal, both sides are committed to maintaining connectivity.
Ireland is set to become one of "the top mountain biking destinations in the world", thanks to a 13.6m investment in thrilling new tracks and trails.

Over 300km of trails and four new bike centres will be built over the next three years, creating a "critical mass" of facilities to attract international visitors.

"This is exactly what's needed to develop Ireland as a mountain biking destination," says Mike Jones, CEO of Ireland's Association for Adventure Tourism (iaat.ie).

"To attract people on a holiday, you need a variety of locations that bring different landscapes and parts of the countryside to life. We've been crying out for this."

The development, driven by Failte Ireland and Coillte with the majority of funding coming though the Government's Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RDDF), will create four national trail centres.

They sprawl over seven counties - at Ballyhoura (Limerick/Cork), Coolaney (Sligo), the Slieve Blooms (Offaly/ Laois) and Ticknock & Ballinastoe (Dublin/Wicklow).

Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Mountain biking in Dublin. Photo: Failte Ireland Mountain biking in Wicklow / Facebook

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"We have the perfect landscape for mountain biking... and it's under state ownership," says Orla Caroll, Failte Ireland's Head of Product Development.

The new trails could attract up to three million visitors a year, she adds, bringing an annual tourism windfall of some 22 million to rural communities.

Similar to Scotland's 7stanes, each centre will have over 80km of trails - providing visitors with a minimum of two days' riding and a compelling reason both to stay overnight, and to travel between centres.

"Mountain biking is a year-round activity here," Mike Jones points out.

"A lot of trails on the continent, and even in Scotland, shut in winter because of snow. We can provide it when a lot of Europe can't. It's a unique selling point."

Investment has been made in the past by project partners in mountain biking across Ireland, but never to the scale needed to elevate this to an international proposition," adds Deborah Meghen, Director of Stewardship for Coillte.

The trails are one of over 60 rural projects to be awarded funding this week under the Department of Rural and Community Development's scheme.

Others include a a 3.9m investment in upgraded National Parks facilities, over 2m for Louth's Ardee Castle, and almost 1 million for a new visitor centre and trails on Lough Derg's Inis Cealtra Island.

Read more:
Sick of tacking on priority boarding and paying extra for seat selection every time you book a Ryanair flight?

The airline's latest wheeze could save you the hassle - for a 199 annual fee.

'Ryanair Choice', as the new frequent flyer scheme is being dubbed, will bundle unlimited priority boarding, standard seat selection and fast-track services (where available) into a single annual fee, it says.

The 199 subscription does not include basic air fares, of course.

But will it save regular travellers any cash?

Currently, priority boarding costs from 6 to 10 per flight (including two pieces of hand luggage), with standard seat selection starting from 3.

Taking a basic cost of 9 per flight for these two extras, a passenger would need to take more than 22 Ryanair flights each year before any savings kick in.

The scheme, one of several new customer care "improvements" announced by the airline yesterday, will be rolled out at the end of summer.

Other changes include a 'Customer Care Charter' which Ryanair says will see EU261 claims for delayed or cancelled flights processed "in 10 days".

The service will be rolled out with "new 24/7 support" and connect passengers within two minutes, Ryanair is promising.

A new, 48-hour grace period for booking changes is also being introduced by the budget airline.

This will allow passengers who wish to amend a booking an extra 24 hours in which to do so without incurring extra charges.

Promoted: See the latest Ryanair offers and deals on Independent Discounts

Currently, name changes on bookings alone cost from 115 online.

The announcement of the changes come as Ryanair is preparing to accept delivery of the first of up to 200 new Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 "gamechanger" aircraft this April.

The airline expects to carry 152 million customers this year, despite the fact that it issued its second profit warning in a row last month, and shuttered its two-year-old 'Ryanair Holidays' division this January.
Ireland's holiday heroes gathered to accept their Reader Travel Awards 2019 at an exclusive lunch in Dublin's Cliff Townhouse last week.

Kerry was presented with Ireland's Favourite Home Holiday Destination, joining 15 other category toppers at an exclusive gathering at the Cliff Town House hosted by Irish Independent Travel Editor Pol O Conghaile.

All winners were voted for by Irish Independent readers and the awards were sponsored by Iarnrod Eireann.

Winners accepting their awards included household names like Neven Maguire's MacNean House & Restaurant (Best Irish Breakfast), Aer Lingus (Ireland's Favourite Airline) and The Shelbourne (Ireland's Favourite Hotel), as well as a a new generation of holiday heroes including the Waterford Greenway (Ireland's Favourite Adventure) and Hidden Valley Holiday Park in Co Wicklow (Ireland's Favourite small Stay).

In the three years since their inception, the Reader Travel Awards have grown into the biggest and most credible of their kind in Ireland.

Next year will be bigger still.

The Reader Travel Awards 2020 ceremony will take place in The Round Room at The Mansion House on Friday, January 17, 2020, it was announced by Cliona Carroll, INM's Sponsorship and Events Manager.

Tickets are on sale now here.

Reader Travel Awards 2019 winners:

Ireland's Favourite Home Holiday: Kerry

Ireland's Favourite Spa: Monart, Co. Wexford

Irelands Favourite Hotel: The Shelbourne, Dublin

Ireland's Favourite Overseas Holiday: Italy

Ireland's Favourite Beach: Curracloe, Co. Wexford

Ireland's Favourite Local Attraction: Phoenix Park, Dublin

Irelands Favourite Small Stay: Hidden Valley, Co. Wicklow

Irelands Favourite Adventure: Waterford Greenway

Ireland's Favourite Cruise line: Royal Caribbean

Ireland's Favourite Foodie Experience: Ballymaloe, Co. Cork

Ireland's Favourite Ferry Experience: Stena Line

Ireland's Favourite airline: Aer Lingus.

Best Irish Breakfast: MacNean House & Restaurant, Co Cavan

Ireland's Favourite Visitor Attraction: Cliffs of Moher, Co Clare

Irelands favourite Travel Agent: Sunway

Best Irish welcome: Castlewood House, Co. Kerry

For more, see independent.ie/travelawards.
Ireland does not have the resilience and flexibility to efficiently handle an extreme weather scenario and maintain water supplies, according to Irish Water.

The utility's general manager, Eamon Gallen, told the Oireachtas Committee on Housing yesterday there were lessons learned from 2018's "one-in-70-year drought".

He blamed shortcomings in the water supply network and process for sourcing water for problems faced by the country in times of prolonged periods of extreme weather.

"Despite Ireland having an abundant supply of raw water, many of our current abstractions and supply networks lack the resilience and flexibility to deal with these extreme weather events," Mr Gallen said.

Challenge

He said this was a "key challenge" that would be addressed in the National Water Resources Plan to be launched this year.

"Following a sustained period without rainfall, water levels in rivers and lakes across the country began to become precariously low as the year progressed until we were officially in drought conditions in late June," he said.

"Working with our partners in local authorities, our plants around the country were operating at maximum capacity but, unfortunately, water restrictions became unavoidable in the areas worst affected."

Irish Water launched a nationwide water conservation campaign encouraging households and businesses to reduce water consumption, including a hosepipe ban.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed at the committee that raw sewage from the equivalent of 86,000 people in 37 towns and villages is flowing into Irish waterways every day.

Director of the EPA Dr Tom Ryan said there was a reduction of just one town since its Urban Waste Water Treatment report was published in 2017.

He noted that, in 179 large towns and cities monitored, waste water treatment at 28 of them failed to meet the required standards set to prevent pollution and protect public health.

Dr Ryan acknowledged that waste water was one of the main threats to the quality of our rivers, lakes and estuaries and contributed to poor bathing quality at six beaches in 2017.

"We acknowledge that these issues have not arisen overnight, that deficiencies exist in many treatment plants and public sewers due to a legacy of under-investment, and that it is not possible to fix all the issues in the short term," he said.

"Clearly, a credible long-term investment strategy and targeted implementation plan is required to address the deficiencies.

"In the meantime, the resources that are available need to be targeted to deliver improvements where they are most needed."

The "most pressing" issues that needed to be addressed that were identified by EPA included:

:: Eliminating discharges of untreated waste water;

:: Treating waste water from all large urban areas to meet European Union standards;

:: Ensuring waste water does not cause pollution of inland and coastal waters;

:: Improving treatment where required to protect bathing waters, shellfish waters and freshwater pearl mussels;

:: Rehabilitating or upgrading priority waste water collection systems.
The board driving the development of the National Children's Hospital wrote on two occasions to the contractors of the hospital after "alarm" was raised over the frequency of health and safety incidents.

Minutes of meetings of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) reveal that in addition to concerns over the capability of contractor BAM and delays in getting a final construction price, the rate of accidents on site was also raised.

Last October a board meeting heard was a fequency of 0.53 per 100,000 hours on the main hospital site at St James' Hospital and 0.79 per 100,000 hours at the satellites.

"The board found this very alarming," according to records of the meeting and decided to write a letter to BAM about the statistics.

In December, a second letter was issued after four incidents were noted on site the previous month, including one worker breaking his leg.

Some health and safety incidents recorded in 2018 were 'high potential near miss' incidents and others were more minor; a number of monthly updates show there were no incidents at all recorded.

Concerns had been raised about an increase in costs as far back as August 2017 but it was ultimately decided to sign the first set of contracts. The board came to the view the project was still "within the approved scope" and the "natural" point to review the budget would be ahead of the signing off of the second phase.

This week it has emerged there were board concerns over the capacity of BAM to work on the mammoth hospital, while a report late last year also highlighted concern with the design of the hospital, which was not complete before contracts were signed. This led to an underestimation of materials needed to build the hospital.

Asked about the correspondence over health and safety concerns and the concerns over the capacity of the construction firm to work on the project, a spokesperson for the board said the second phase of works was signed off last December "as it offered the best solution commercially and ensured the completion of the children's hospital in the shortest possible time-frame".

They added: "Our focus now is on ensuring that all parties work safely and collaboratively and deliver a hospital of outstanding quality, a project we will all be proud of."

BAM did not respond to queries.

Meanwhile, the Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy told TDs civil servants on boards of non-commercial State bodies like the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) have an obligation to bring serious concerns to the Government.

Questions have been raised about the involvement of senior civil servant Paul Quinn - head of the Office of Government Procurement - who also sits on the hospital's development board.

Labour Party TD Alan Kelly argued Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar were "utterly inaccurate" when they said Mr Quinn was acting in a "personal capacity".

A Department of Public Expenditure spokesperson said Mr Quinn is satisfied the board was "addressing the matter".

This is borne out by the minutes of a Children's Hospital Project and Programme meeting in bringing the matter to the attention of the HSE and the Department of Health. The statement added Mr Donohoe had met Mr Quinn is satisfied he "discharged his duties appropriately".
Defence Forces are carrying out inquiries into the incident as the army convoy made its way to Irelands maximum security prison. Stock Image

A soldier is under investigation after a rifle was discharged during a prisoner escort convoy to Portlaoise Prison.

Independent.ie has learned that the Defence Forces are carrying out inquiries into the incident as the army convoy made its way to Irelands maximum security prison.

It is understood that the rifle was accidentally discharged at a filling station, before the prisoner had been collected from the jail.

The incident happened on Wednesday this week.

Sources said that the firearm was facing downwards in a military vehicle when it went off, firing a single shot into the floor.

A spokesman for the Defence Force said: All members of Oglaigh na hEireann are subject to the highest standards of weapons handling throughout their careers both at home and abroad.

Prior to commencing a prisoner escort, there was a weapon discharged by one of the personnel on duty. Breaches of procedure and safety in relation to firearms are investigated as a matter of course, with disciplinary action being taken where warranted.

Defence Force members provide a permanent armed guard at Portaloise jail, Irelands only maximum security prison, as well as the Central Bank.

Last year its members were involved in close to 200 operations supporting gardai which included bomb disposal call-outs and prisoner escorts.
A chef turned up for work hours after scooping a 4.8m online jackpot.

Sean Doyle from Newcastle, Co Down, picked up the biggest online win in the history of Paddy Power from a 10 stake.

He placed his bet at 10pm on Wednesday on an online slot game called Mars Attacks and won the Jackpot King Deluxe.

The 33-year-old reported for work at The Artisan Cookhouse in Downpatrick at 9am on Valentine's Day, one of the restaurant's busiest days of the year.

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Whatsapp Sean Doyle (33) from Newcastle, Co Down

Mr Doyle said he could not believe the amount he won.

I watched it until it reached about 1m on the count thing and I switched off my phone. I couldnt look. When I got home I couldnt believe my eyes after I saw the final amount," he said.

My sister is a single parent in New Zealand with three kids so Im delighted because this means I will be able to help her out. I also have three brothers, my parents and a few aunts and uncles too.

Mr Doyle, who is single, said he was considering opening his own business after the unexpected windfall.

Ah, Im sure the expected things will come too, after helping the family out. I might set up my own shop, probably a cafe, which would mean I can down scale and relax more.

Speaking about the win, Paddy Power said that he didn't see Sean remaining single for long after clinching the jackpot.

"Roses are red, violets are blue, we found out Sean is single, so get in the queue. Were used to being down a few quid after Valentines Day but this record-breaking win takes the biscuit, the gambling firm's boss said.

Were absolutely thrilled for Sean and the fact that he was sound enough to turn up for work for his bosses, Alister his son Cormack Evans, the next morning makes the thought of his success all the sweeter.

Mr Doyle's win comes months after Northern Ireland couple Patrick and Frances Connolly scooped a 131m EuroMillions jackpot.

The pair, who live in Moira, Co Down, have vowed to give away most of the money to their friends and family.
The office of Dublin solicitor Gerald Kean has been taken over, and a large quantity of property removed from it, by the Dublin City Sheriff in what appears to be related to debts of more than 280,000.

Shortly after 8am staff from the Sheriffs office and a locksmith arrived at the premises of the well-known solicitor on Upper Pembroke Street in the south of the city.

They gained entry after a worker entered and it is understood they requested her to leave so they could carry out their work under the terms of an execution order.

Documents obtained by Independent.ie show that Mr Kean has three orders listed against him.

The first is for 60,307.33; the second is for 179,317.37; and the third is for 41,119.03.

The issue dates of the orders begin in September last year, with the last one issued on February 1 this year.

After gaining access to the offices, the Sheriff staff changed the lock on the front door, and then began to fill a van with items of antique furniture they removed from the offices.

These included a number of chairs and tables, as well as large ornate cabinets with inlaid wood designs.

A large painting, carried by two men, was also taken from the offices.

When one van became full a second vehicle was used to remove a very large ornate antique sideboard.

Expand Close Furniture is removed from Gerald Keans offices on Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2. PIC COLIN ORIORDAN / Facebook

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Whatsapp Furniture is removed from Gerald Keans offices on Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2. PIC COLIN ORIORDAN

The operation took more than an hour and when it was over the vans were driven away by Sheriff staff and the locksmith also left.

A number of security guards remained in the building after the locks were changed.

Mr Kean told Independent.ie that the matter relates to a move to a new office which became delayed.

He said he had agreed to leave the Pembroke Street offices by January 31 but had not because he had difficulty securing a new premises.

Unfortunately I ran into terrible difficulty because I had been offered premises all over the city but they werent suitable to my business and unfortunately I couldnt get out at the end of January, he said.

Only this week did I secure a premises which I was hoping to move into next week but Im actually moving into sooner with the consent of the landlord, he added.

Expand Close Gerald Kean. Photo: Justin Farrelly / Facebook

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I left it too late. To be fair to the landlord I should have secured them earlier but I couldnt do it. I should have put more time and effort into it, and to be fair I cant criticise the landlord, they didnt see one thing being moved this week, not even the signs off the doors, Mr Kean explained.

But I have access to get my stuff, all my files and everything will be moved this afternoon and tomorrow or Sunday into my new premises.

"I just need to sign the lease for the new premises, which is a bigger premises and its more expensive and its bigger in size, and I needed that. My difficulty is as I said to you I should have been out by the end of January, Mr Keane said.

Id love to be able to sit and criticise the landlord but I cant really. I did try to communicate with him to buy some time but that wasn't successful. I needed another two or three weeks, he said.
Investigation: Gardai at the scene in Tallaght where a woman died after being hit by a Luas tram yesterday. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire

A community is in mourning after a well-known pensioner was hit by a Luas tram and died.

The woman, named locally as Patricia Quinn (73), died following the incident in Tallaght at around 10am yesterday.

A Garda investigation into the circumstances is under way but at this stage it is being treated as a tragic accident.

The incident occurred along the Luas track between the Cookstown and Tallaght Hospital stops. Ms Quinn, a mother of five adult children, was crossing on the Cookstown Way road when she was hit by the oncoming tram.

Emergency services were alerted to the incident but the pensioner was pronounced dead at the scene.

The roadway and Luas services along the track were closed for some time as gardai dealt with the scene.

Ms Quinn lived in the nearby Belgard Heights estate with her husband and was described yesterday by locals as a keen runner who was heavily involved in the community.

One woman who lives in the quiet road said: "Patricia would have been well-known in the local area, she would be known for walking and jogging, and also collected money for the local church.

"People are only finding out about what happened now and really struggling to come to terms with it."

Yesterday evening, members of Ms Quinn's family and loved ones gathered at her home to comfort one another.

Local Fianna Fail councillor Charlie O'Connor, who knows the Quinn family, said the community was filled with shock at the tragic news.

"I know them well and the community is shocked, the parish of St Mark, the news has just spread through the area so quickly.

"It is very tragic and my sympathies go to the family and the community.

"[The Quinns] are a well-known and well-respected couple within the community."

Gardai based at Tallaght were last night continuing their investigation into the incident and have appealed for any eye-witnesses to contact them.

A source said: "At this stage all the indications are that this was a tragic accident, but investigations are ongoing.

"Gardai will be interviewing people who witnessed what happened and also wish to speak to people who may have been in the area, or were passing through with dash-cam footage, who have not yet come forward."

A spokeswoman for Luas operator Transdev said that as there was an investigation ongoing it would not be commenting further.
The Funeral of Alli MacDonnell at The Church of The Assumption, Dalkey. Photo: Colin O'Riordan

The Funeral of Alli MacDonnell at The Church of The Assumption, Dalkey. Photo: Colin O'Riordan

The Funeral of Alli MacDonnell at The Church of The Assumption, Dalkey. Photo: Colin O'Riordan

Model and campaigner Alli MacDonnell will be "forever young and beautiful", her funeral mass heard today.

Hundreds of mourners gathered today for the funeral of the mother-of-four (37) who passed away suddenly last week.

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Presiding over the mass at the Church of the Assumption in Dalkey, Fr Declan Gallagher told mourners that Ms MacDonnell's "biggest success" was her four children.

Im still trying to come to terms with Allis death, Fr Gallagher told mourners.

I think of my own vulnerabilities, how vulnerable human life really is and how we need to depend on one another.

Sitting with some members of her family members the other day I could tell that Alli lived life to the fullest.

Those of you who knew her were aware that she reached out to them by giving, loving and caring for them.

But her four children knew her best. She loved them more than anyone else in the world and was there for them no matter what.

Symbols that reflected Allis life were brought to the alter during the service, including a glamorous photograph of the successful model and a cookbook that represented her love of cooking.

The mother-of-four (37), who was from Rathfarnham, Dublin, will be laid to rest in Dungar Cemetery, Roscrea, Co Tipperary later today.

Tributes poured in for Ms MacDonnell following her death.

Autism Ireland CEO Samantha Judge said Ms MacDonnell was an "amazing mother" and a tireless campaigner for autism.

In recent years she fronted campaigns for Autism Ireland after her younger son was diagnosed with the condition.

Here at Autism Ireland, we are very shocked and saddened at the loss of Alli," Ms Judge said.

Alli was an amazing mother, a beautiful woman, inside and out."

Close friend Lisa Burgess paid tribute to the mother of four, describing her as "wickedly funny, naughty, full of mischief and extraordinarily caring and compassionate".

"She was an extraordinary mother and lived for her kids and her wonderful family," she said.

A regular face on Ireland AM where she modelled in fashion slots, Alli was mum to Sienna (2), Harry (9) and she had two older teenager children.

Valerie Roe who runs a PR and events agency recalled working with Alli. She was a single mum, life was hard but she lived for her kids, that was my abiding memory".

Her death is being treated as a "personal tragedy".

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article please contact Samaritans helpline 116 123 or Aware helpline 1800 80 48 48 or Pieta House on 1800 247 247.
Gerard Holland at Cork Court on 42 charges of handling stolen engines and parts for cars, including BMWs, and tractors Pic Michael Mac Sweeney/Cork Courts

A man who operated a 'chop shop' for stolen parts from luxury cars including BMWs and Audis as well as high-tech tractors has been jailed for two years.

Gerard 'Ger' Holland (65) was warned by Judge Sean O'Donnabhain at Cork Circuit Criminal Court that he was guilty of "a nasty crime" that he got involved with purely for his own profit.

Holland appeared on charges relating to more than 600,000 in stolen car and tractor parts.

The court heard that the so-called 'chop shop' operated with stolen parts supplied by a criminal gang operating in the greater Armagh area and which had suspected links to paramilitaries.

Holland's tractor sales and repair premises was targeted for a search by Gardai as part of a major operation into the theft of luxury vehicles across both the Republic and Northern Ireland.

"His culpability in this is significant," the judge warned.

"It is criminality at its highest - he was knowingly involved. He was doing it for profit."

The judge added that it was not "a victimless crime" with distress and upset caused for those whose vehicles were targeted.

Holland pleaded guilty before Cork Circuit Criminal Court on a number of sample charges of handling stolen car and tractor parts including engines.

Holland of Lislevane, Bandon, Co Cork pleaded guilty to a total of 11 sample counts from a total of 42 counts listed on the charge sheet from the district court.

Holland pleaded guilty to having stolen property in his possession on various dates over a six year period.

The sample counts refer to dates between September 2010 and October 2016.

All the charges refer to the defendant having stolen car and tractor parts in his possession at his Bandon address.

Judge Donnabhain was told that the stolen property including various parts and engines from luxury cars including BMWs and Audis as well as other types of cars such as Volkswagens.

Amongst the vehicles for which engines and other parts were involved were Audi A4s, BMW 520D, BMW 320D, BMW 320D and a BMW 318.

The tractor parts included material for two New Holland tractors.

In some cases, cars had been cut up and valuable parts sold off or installed in other vehicles.

In other cases, the identification numbers on the engines had been ground out - and were then stamped with fake identification numbers.

Those who then purchased the parts from Holland in west Cork believed the items were fully legitimate.

The gang involved in supplying the parts were based in the Crossmaglen area and were notorious for their links to burglaries and vehicle thefts.

Many of the stolen vehicles - including the tractors - were driven overnight to west Cork from Northern Ireland, always on back roads where there were no tolls or major CCTV security camera coverage.

The court was told that while 11 sample counts were involved, the defence acknowledged that, in sentencing evidence, the State would outline details in respect of all the 42 counts on the charge sheet.

Holland been making strenuous efforts to compensate the various parties involved and has raised a total of 100,000.

Holland pleaded guilty to the offences last November but sentencing was adjourned to allow for the preparation of a Probation and Welfare Service (PWS) report to assist the court.

"He is a 65 year old man and has never had difficulties like this before," defence counsel Siobhan Lankford BL said.

The judge said the headline figure involved was six years in prison but he acknowledged Holland's early plea had saved the State "a nightmare" trial.

He also noted Holland's lack of previous convictions, the fact he had worked all his life, his clear co-operation with Gardai and his efforts to compensate the victims.

Judge O'Donnabhain also noted that Holland has underlying health issues.

He suspended four years of the six year term with Holland to serve two years in prison.
Phyllis McHugh, at a candlelit vigil at the site of the Stardust nightclub fire in Dublin, before the unveiling of a plaque in memory of the 48 people who died on Valentine's day in 1981. Niall Carson/PA Wire

A candlelit vigil at the site of the Stardust nightclub fire in Dublin, before the unveiling of a plaque in memory of the 48 people who died on Valentine's day in 1981. Niall Carson/PA Wire

Antoinette Keegan, whose sisters Mary and Martina were among the 48 victims of the Stardust nightclub fire in Dublin on Valentine's Day in 1981, holds a picture of them outside Leinster House in Dublin. Niall Carson/PA Wire

Former RTE journalist Charlie Bird - who was the first reporter on the scene of the Stardust tragedy - has said if the fire had been on the southside they would have answers by now.

Some 48 young people died as the popular nightclub in Artane, Dublin, was destroyed in a blaze on Valentines Day in 1981 in what is considered the worst fire disaster in the history of the state.

Antoinette Keegan, who survived the fire but lost her two sisters Mary (19) and Martina (16) was tearful on Thursday, as she recounted her experience fighting for her life after the fire, and for justice in the years since.

Ms Keegan said that the families of victims want the inquest into their deaths reopened, when speaking at a plaque unveiling event at the scent of the tragedy.

She said a request for the fresh inquest would be going to the Attorney General soon and stated that the families will get justice.

A very special thanks has to go to both Bloody Sunday families and Hillsborough who are both supporting the campaign for justice for the 48.

Expand Close Charlie Bird with Antoinette Keegan (who lost her sisters Mary and Martina) after unveiling the Memorial for the 48 victims of the Stardust fire, on the anniversary of the tragedy. Picture: Caroline Quinn / Facebook

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Whatsapp Charlie Bird with Antoinette Keegan (who lost her sisters Mary and Martina) after unveiling the Memorial for the 48 victims of the Stardust fire, on the anniversary of the tragedy. Picture: Caroline Quinn

One day we will have our day just like Hillsborough and Bloody Sunday, she added.

The families recently petitioned the Attorney General for a new inquest, citing fresh, previously unrecorded evidence.

Justice Minister, Charlie Flanagan said that he is willing to meet with the families.

However, Mr Flanagan stated that there are no plans for any further enquiry

Before unveiling the plaque, Mr Bird said that families deserves answers.

I still say it, if this fire had been in the south side of Dublin, the answer would have been there by now, he said.

And Ill say another thing, you wouldnt have had to put up the memorial yourselves, it would have been done by the State, it would have been done by the people or it would have been done by some business person.

You are a remarkable group of people, do not give up your fight and do not give up your struggle.

Expand Close Tributes to the 48 victims of the Stardust nightclub fire in Dublin on Valentine's day in 1981, outside Leinster House in Dublin as relatives call for a new investigation. Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp Tributes to the 48 victims of the Stardust nightclub fire in Dublin on Valentine's day in 1981, outside Leinster House in Dublin as relatives call for a new investigation. Niall Carson/PA Wire

Just imagine if it happened today, the world, the country would have been convulsed by it.

It was convulsed then, but it was swept under the carpet, he added.

Tears

There were tears outside Leinster House earlier in the day as families and survivors of the Stardust fire gathered to remember the 48 young people who died in the disaster.

We picked here because the 48 victims of this fire have become insignificant to this government and previous government, Ms Keegan said.

We want the inquest reopened and we want the verdict recorded and we shouldnt have to do this.

For us this is a day of sadness, the Government have not responded, and just ignored us.

Id like to ask Leo Varadkar if he would like his mother to go through 38 years of injustice like my mother does, and the other families, theres a young girl here today who lost her mother  she should be together with her mother on Valentines Day.

In any other country, those who are responsible are held to account, but not in Ireland.

With an inquest we can get truth, we can get closure, without closure you feel trapped.

Were consumed, morning, noon and night its Stardust.

Were not called by our names any more, its Stardust families, its all still very raw.

Investigations into the fire showed that a number of escape routes from the dance hall were blocked as emergency doors were locked by chains. Concerns have also been raised about the investigation of the scene, which allowed politicians and media to walk through the building just hours later.

Despite findings of safety breaches, there were no prosecutions over the incident.

An initial finding of probable arson meant that the relatives of the dead and injured were unable to sue the club owners and operators for alleged negligence.

In 1983, the owners of the Stardust were awarded damages of more than 730,000 after suing Dublin Corporation.

The initial verdict of arson, which victims have always denied, has since been thrown out.

Sinn Fein MEP Lynn Boylan, who has been campaigning on behalf of the families, says the fight has gone on too long.

Lots of people are out and about today, young and in love, and to think back to all those young people 38 years ago who never came home, she said.

People should email the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and ask him to meet with the families.

We need to keep the pressure on the Government, the Attorney General that these families deserve justice, its gone on too long now for anybody to wait.

On Thursday evening, families, survivors and around 100 supporters gathered for a candlelit vigil at the site of the fire in Artane.

A plaque adorned with the names of the 48 people who died was unveiled by broadcaster Charlie Bird, who produced one of the most prominent documentaries about the tragedy.

A rose was laid for each victim, while the once-banned Christy Moore single They Never Came Home was played.
A glass of water from a private drinking well overlooks a harbor in Atlantic where a U.S. Navy sampling program has been testing for the presence of chemicals in private drinking water wells. (Dylan Ray photo)
Action: This will be the first of three strikes by Nasra members. Picture credit: Damien Eagers / INM

Army paramedics will be drafted in today as 500 ambulance staff strike in the ongoing row over the right to trade union representation.

Members of the National Ambulance Service Representative Association (Nasra) are walking off the job from 7am to 5pm.

They want the HSE to deduct their union subscriptions from their pay.

But the HSE is refusing on the grounds that "recognition of other associations or unions would undermine the positive engagement that exists and would impair good industrial relations in the National Ambulance Service".

Contingency arrangements are in place to ensure a service is in place today and Army paramedics will be called on to support the service.

HSE ambulance service managers are also to take on frontline duties.

Siptu, which represents most staff, has confirmed that it expects its members to work as normal.

Members of Nasra will also strike on Thursday, February 28, and Friday, March 1.

The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA), which incorporates Nasra, has again called on the HSE to avoid further escalation in this dispute and engage with the industrial relations machinery to allow members be represented by the trade union of their choice.

The HSE said the principle of engaging only with recognised trade unions had been acknowledged previously by the Labour Court in a dispute involving the PNA and a different public-sector employer.

"With this in mind, National Ambulance Service will stand by the agreements that it has made with recognised unions and will not undermine those agreements by engaging with other associations or unions. This approach is in keeping within Government policy and supports the consolidation that is happening within the wider trade union environment," it said.

The focus for the National Ambulance Service in all circumstances was to ensure that service and care delivery was not compromised in any manner and a contingency plan is in place, the HSE said.
Phase two: Phil Ni Sheaghdha says an expert group will focus on wages

Around 5,000 nurses will lose out on wage rises under the new 35m-a-year pay deal, it has been confirmed.

Nurses who have managerial responsibility are not included in this round of pay rises recommended by the Labour Court.

Some of these nurses may benefit from changes to allowances but will have to wait until an expert group reports to have their wage rise examined.

The delay is expected to lead to some level of grievance among these nurses, who will challenge the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) about their exclusion despite their level of responsibility.

It means some staff nurses at the top of the scale on a new contract worth 52,821 may be earning more than their manager.

General secretary of the INMO Phil Ni Sheaghdha said particular focus would be put on wage increases for nurses in managerial roles by the independent expert group, which is due to look at the modern role of the profession over six months.

She said an expert group would "examine, in a short period of time, remaining pay and reform issues including those affecting senior management grades".

The union is describing the Labour Court recommendation as phase one, with phase two yet to come.

It says a combination of a higher pay scale and an extension of allowances worth 2,229 and 3,350 will bring big benefits to a majority of its members.

The next step is to negotiate the detail of the new nurses' contract and the HSE is expected to ask for significant productivity concessions in return for the higher pay.

INMO members will be asked to ballot on the proposals between March 11 and March 25.

Figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, the regulatory body for nurses, indicate a growing reliance on nurses from outside the EU to staff Irish hospitals and health facilities.

The number of nurses from outside the EU newly registered here quadrupled in the last four years from 343 to 1,143.

Newly registered EU-trained nurses, excluding Ireland, went up from 517 to 1,018 in the same four years.

The number of first-time registered Irish-trained nurses fell slightly from 1,389 to 1,342.

Between 2015 and 2018, the majority of nurses asking for verification - a certificate to work abroad - have trained in Ireland, India, the Philippines and the United Kingdom.

The nursing board pointed out that verification is only an intention to leave Ireland, and not all nurses who get one act on it.

Between 2015 to 2018, each year, nearly one-in-five nurses who asked for their verifications to leave were Irish-trained and in their first year of registration.

Nearly one in 10 were registered here for their third year.

During that time, an average of 1,360 Irish-trained nurses and midwives were being registered for the first time, every year.

Interest in working abroad is strongest among nurses who are most recently qualified, but it continues to a lesser degree in the early years of their career.

Meanwhile, hospital consultants may now be in a stronger position to close their pay gap of 30pc between new recruits and longer serving doctors.

The Public Service Pay Commission has already noted that the 30pc cut applied to post-2012 entrants was more stringent than for other groups, according to a report in 'Industrial Relations News'.

The commission also recognised that there is a recruitment problem among consultants.

The Irish Medical Organisation and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association have been seeking talks on the issues.
A fisherman has been found not guilty of murdering an Irish father-of-two in Australia.

Andrew Doan, 35, was accused of fatally stabbing Charles John McCarthy, 32, in the head with a screwdriver during a fight next to Perth's Swan River in 2017.

Expand Close Andrew Doan is accused of murder. Picture: Facebook / Facebook

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Whatsapp Andrew Doan is accused of murder. Picture: Facebook

After brief deliberation, jurors found Doan not guilty of both murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter on Friday following a trial in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

The court heard how Doan had been fishing with his friend Tien Vu Huynh in East Fremantle in the early hours of December 23, 2017 when Mr McCarthy, his wife Nicole and friend Jason Mikel Curran walked by.

Doan said that when the men saw him and Mr Huynh emerging from the water, they asked: "Have you caught much?"

He mumbled "not much" in reply and they shot back "bit of s*** luck", according to Doan.

Their next comment - along the lines of "Fisheries are going to come and get you" - upset him and Mr Huynh, who are both Asian and interpreted it as racist.

The trio walked off but Doan pursued them and a profane, verbal argument erupted.

Doan said his anger soon gave way to feeling vulnerable and outnumbered when Mr McCarthy began "puffing up" and walked back towards him "really staunch" with his fists clenched.

"It looked like he was coming into a demonic rage," Doan said.

He said he panicked, reached into his hoodie pocket, pulled out a screwdriver he had been carrying for crabbing and held it above his head, saying: "Get back or I'll stab you."

Doan said that as he retreated to his car, he had a scuffle with Mr Curran and Mr McCarthy kicked a wheelie bin at him, which just missed.

He said Mr McCarthy then charged and moved to punch him - ignoring his wife's frantic pleas to stop - and impaled himself on the screwdriver, which Doan was still holding.

Doan insisted he had closed his eyes, thrown his arms up to protect his face and forgot the tool was in his hand.

When he opened his eyes, Mr McCarthy was on the ground, Doan said.

He remained at the scene until emergency services arrived, telling police "it was me", and claiming self-defence.

Mr McCarthy's brother Dan and twin sisters Siobhan and Sinead have travelled from their home in Cork to watch the trial.
Education Minister Joe McHugh said more must be done to equip second-level pupils for entry to computing courses, after a study showed that almost half of college tech students drop out of their course.

Mr McHugh said it was a difficult subject that required a lot of mathematical analysis and "we definitely have to put our hands up and acknowledge the weaknesses and think of what can we do better".

He referred to the introduction of computer science as a Leaving Cert subject as one initiative.

Meanwhile, the Irish Computer Society (ICS) has warned that students might expect computing to be about gaming and social media or that a technology career meant coding all day, but that computer science was much broader than that.

The ICS also expressed concerns that parents may think computing was about skills such as spreadsheets, word processing and email which, while valuable, were not computer science.

ICS strategy and operations manager Linda Keane said study of computer science provided "truly excellent career opportunities, with many jobs available, but parents and pupils need to have 'eyes wide open' in advance". She said computational thinking was a core element and included understanding how computers worked, how algorithms were put together and how to define and analyse a problem.
Hats off: Stepaside students Jacob Milne Hickey (13), Shreyas Rath (12), and Guy Baram (14) with Josepha Madigan and Katherine Zappone at the Creative Youth launch at the National Gallery. Picture credit; Damien Eagers / INM

Pupils from Stepaside Educate Together school showed off their creative flair at the National Gallery as 6m was announced to develop creativity in schools.

More than 140,000 pupils across 300 schools will benefit from funding which will see children incorporate a hands-on approach to everyday learning.

Alice O'Connor, guidance counsellor and creative co-ordinator at the Stepaside school, said creativity "is a skill for the present and the future and covers the whole curriculum.

"It's not just something we associate with art, music, dance and drama, but we can see creativity in everything and we're keen for the kids to develop it as a skill in wherever their individual strengths lie."

Culture Minister Josepha Madigan said she anticipates more children will take to the stage and put pen to paper through the funding.

"I think it's very much at the heart of every child in Ireland, this creativity, and we want to make sure they can use their imagination.

"Access to drama and music and coding and anything that is creative just unleashes the potential and it's wonderful to see that.

"It's just wonderful to see the combinations of creativity just out of very simple products they use."
A US executive went on a rampage in a Irish hotel after a combination of whiskey and prescription medications causing over 16,000 in damage, assaulting two receptionists and throwing heavy fire extinguishers from the fifth floor down onto the ground floor lobby.

Albert Santiago (54) from Chicago in the US pleaded guilty to a total of 16 charges before Cork Circuit Criminal Court arising from incidents at the Clayton Hotel on Lapps Quay in Cork city centre on August 12 2018.

Judge Sean O'Donnabhain was told that Santiago - a specialist engineering executive with a major US pharmaceutical firm - has since lost his job as a result of the incidents.

Santiago pleaded guilty to two assault charges, one charge of reckless endangerment, one charge of engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour, one charge of being intoxicated and a danger to himself and others and 11 charges of criminal damage.

Judge O'Donnabhain was told a total of 16,000 in damage was caused to property at the hotel on the night in question including art work, a revolving door, a lift call station, a fire station, walls, glass panels, a fire extinguisher, chairs, a table, a hotel bedroom door and golden spheres.

The reckless endangerment charge arose, the court heard, from Santiago throwing a metal fire extinguisher and heavy furniture from the fifth floor balcony of the hotel down through the atrium and onto the ground floor reception area.

No one was injured during this element of the incident.

However, Santiago also admitted assaulting two hotel staff who were working in the reception area and attempted to calm him on the night in question.

One was pushed in the face.

Judge O'Donnabhain was told that Santiago - a veteran specialist engineer - had just arrived in Cork after flying from Chicago via London.

He was due to visit his company's east Cork plant for a work assignment the following day.

However, he consumed a whiskey in the hotel and then went to a bar near the Clayton Hotel.

The court heard he was on prescription medication at the time.

There was absolutely no involvement of recreational drugs as Santiago's firm insists all employees undergo regular routine drug screening and all his samples proved to be clear.

After leaving the pub, Santiago told Gardai he recollected being assaulted as he walked back to his hotel.

Hotel staff said the US executive arrived back in the hotel in a dishevelled state and with blood on him.

The US executive regularly stayed at the hotel when he was sent to Ireland on business and staff were familiar with him.

Santiago told Gardai he recalled feeling very paranoid as a result of the assault.

He became very agitated and then lost control - causing criminal damage and then throwing heavy items from the fifth floor balcony down into the reception area.

When staff attempted to calm him, he began shouting about "The Devil."

The incident only ended when Gardai arrived.

Judge O'Donnabhain was told by Ray Boland BL, for the defendant, that he had lost his job of 31 years as a result of what happened.

He had been planning to retire within the next three to five years but now faces having to rebuild his career as an independent contractor willing to travel worldwide

Judge O'Donnabhain was told that Santiago was shown CCTV footage from the hotel of his behaviour that night and he was shocked by what he witnessed.

"I am disgusted," he told Gardai.

"I do not remember doing that. I am shocked watching it," he added.

Mr Boland said his client was now anxious to finalise the matter.

He had brought 11,000 to court in compensation for the hotel and a further 5,500 in a bail bond would also be available for compensation once it was formally released.

The court was told that Santiago had no previous convictions and had never experienced an incident like it before.

Judge O'Donnabhain said he noted the defendant's plea, his co-operation with Gardai, his remorse and his efforts to offer compensation.

A detailed psychiatric report had been submitted to the court.

However, he said he would adjourn sentencing pending the issue of compensation to the two staff members assaulted on the night.

"There are too many outstanding issues (to finalise sentencing). I see merit in adjourning matters," the judge said.

Santiago was remanded on continuing bail to appear again before Cork Circuit Criminal Court on November 1 next.
A teenager who threw a stone at another teens head in what the victim perceived as a homophobic attack has been jailed for one year.

The victim, a young actor, has been left with a permanent facial scar after a cut above his right eye needed 11 stitches.

The 18-year-old accused pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to assault causing harm in a Dublin suburb on July 17, 2016.

Passing sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today, Judge Melanie Greally said it had been an extremely nasty assault with undertones of homophobia in some of the abuse hurled at the victim.

She said although the perpetrator denies the homophobic aspect to the attack, the words heard by the injured party speak for themselves.

Judge Greally said the accused and another boy threw several large stones or rocks at the victims head, one of which struck him over the eye causing a permanent scar and leaving him anxious and fearful.

The court heard that the victim had lost out on an acting opportunity in Belgium because of his scar.

The judge sentenced the youth to three years in prison but suspended the final two years, giving credit for the fact that he had expressed remorse and was aged 15 when he committed the offence. She said although the law now viewed him as an adult, he is still a child in many respects, still immature and developing.

Judge Greally noted the extremely unstable, neglectful and abusive circumstances of the youths childhood, which saw him in and out of various care homes from the age of 14.

The court heard that the case was repeatedly adjourned last year after the youth went missing from his care home 20 times over a three-month period.

He has 24 previous convictions for assault, theft, burglary, criminal damage and trespass.

At a previous hearing, Garda Eoin Brennan told Antonia Boyle BL, prosecuting, that the teenager had come to further garda attention since a court appearance last July. The cases are all pending before the courts but he is suspected to have been involved in a burglary, a mugging, two assaults and criminal damage. He has also been convicted of criminal damage.

His key worker for the teenager said he was due to undergo an anger management course, but he was still addicted to cannabis. He has also been diagnosed with ADHD.

Judge Greally noted from a report before the court that the Probation Services seem to have reached the end of the line in its dealings with the teenager.

Gda Brennan told Ms Boyle that the 16-year-old victim and his 11-year-old brother were walking their dog on a local green when the defendant and another youth came over.

The victim later told gardai that the boys called him a dope and a fag and were saying he was gay. He tried to ignore them before he felt a stone hitting his head above his right eye.

Gda Brennan said he fell backwards, got very dizzy and everything became very blurry. The victim felt blood pouring down his face and managed to ring his parents. The other two youths ran off.

Gda Brennan said the victim was taken by ambulance to hospital and got stitches around his right eye and temple.

He stated in a victim impact report read by Ms Boyle, that his scar was a constant reminder that I was attacked because of my sexuality.

I live in fear simply because I am gay. I have no confidence in my looks because of the scar, the victim said, before he added that he is living with stress and anxiety. He said one day he tried to jump out in front of traffic.

The teenager said he believed he had lost out on a lot of potential acting jobs because of the scar.

Jane Murphy BL, defending, said her client had since expressed shock about how the injury escalated to the level of seriousness that it did.

She said the accused had just spent a week in custody at Mountjoy Prison and was shocked and traumatised by being in an adult prison and having to share a cell with three men in their forties.

Judge Greally strongly recommended that the teenager be transferred to Wheatfield Prison. She asked prison officers to indicate to their superiors that Mountjoy Prison was entirely inappropriate for someone of his age.
Solicitors have expressed concern at proposals for a stop-gap measure aimed at bringing down the size of awards for minor injuries.

The Law Society warned the proposal by Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan may give rise to constitutional problems.

Mr Flanagan has asked Chief Justice Frank Clarke for his views on the possibility of setting up an ad-hoc group of judges, Courts Service and Department of Justice officials to recalibrate award levels.

The move comes amid pressure on the Government to introduce reforms aimed at cutting insurance costs.

The Personal Injuries Commission reported last year that payouts for whiplash were 4.4 times higher on average than in England and Wales.

It proposed a judicial council be tasked with recalibrating award guidelines, but legislation allowing this has stalled.

The Law Society said the failure to progress the legislation "should not result in a knee-jerk reaction which could have unintended and unforeseen negative circumstances".

It warned of the importance of preserving the separation of powers and said the State could not be impartial in assessing appropriate claims levels when it is a defendant in many compensation cases.

The society is concerned claimants could fall foul of statutory rules on costs if the goalposts are shifted. It also claimed there was no evidence reducing damages would result in lower premiums.

However, Retail Excellence, which represents 1,850 Irish businesses, welcomed Mr Flanagan's proposal, saying the current awards system was "broken".
Fire officers have told how the removal of the remains of Bobby Ryan from an underground tank was a "complicated" operation because of the tight confines of the space.

Nobody told them to wait for the State pathologist or forensics to examine the body in situ, the trial heard.

Bernard O'Brien, now retired from Tipperary Town Fire Service, said they were called to the farm at Fawnagowan shortly after 6.10pm on April 30, 2013, having been requested by gardai to move the body.

Officers put on chemical suits to avoid contamination and a decision was made to place the body on tarpaulin in order to disturb as little as possible, he said.

He described the tank as "very murky and dirty" and the operation was "more complicated" than taking a body from a lake or river because of the tight space.

Under cross-examination by Lorcan Staines SC, for the defence, Mr O'Brien said nobody had told them to wait for the body to be examined in situ by the State pathologist or by forensics.

Fire officers Patrick Flanagan and Patrick Meagher told how they assisted in the removal of the body, which was partially submerged in slurry.

They had some difficulty in placing the tarpaulin under the body in order to lift it to the surface, they told the court.

Earlier, the trial heard how the accused, Pat Quirke, had told gardai how he had been taking water from an "old septic tank" which he claimed was connected to the milking parlour because he wanted to mix slurry with an agitator he had borrowed from a neighbour.

Inspector David Buckley told the trial Mr Quirke claimed he last used this tank in 2008 and had not lifted the lids since.

Asked if anyone was out with him, Mr Quirke replied that there should have been a student with him but he "got a kick from a cow last Friday and he's out since".

Mr Quirke was then asked if it was not late in the year to be spreading slurry and he agreed it was but said "the year is late".

Mr Quirke told gardai he had pried one of the cement lids off with a shovel.

He had looked into the tank because when he started sucking the water out with a hose, it seemed to be "sucking from the bottom of the tank", he said.

He saw a body and thought it was lying face up, he told gardai.

Mr Quirke said he rang his wife, Imelda, later explaining that he did this "by instinct" and he wanted someone to confirm what he had seen.
The man widely criticised after the collapse of former Anglo boss Sean FitzPatrick's trial will be given an opportunity to explain his actions in the coming weeks.

The chairperson of the Oireachtas Business Committee has sought legal advice on whether Kevin O'Connell should be allowed to give evidence.

But Fianna Fail TD Mary Butler told the Irish Independent her "expectation" is that members will decide to hear from the former legal adviser to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE).

"Judging by what we have seen, he does raise a point in it. This was one of the biggest cases in the history of the State in relation to white collar crime," Ms Butler said.

In a 10-page letter to the committee, Mr O'Connell said he "in no way seeks to shirk from all criticism that can properly and legitimately be levelled at me".

But he expressed concern the committee, which assesses legislation aimed at strengthening in the area, was not delving fully into what happened at the FitzPatrick trial.

He said it was "a matter of grave concern" that its work would be done "on a basis which, with regret, I have to characterise as insufficiently informed and incomplete".

He said the committee had made a decision to "hugely curtail the intended scope of its examination of these matters".

Mr O'Connell also described as "curious" that the committee was not demanding to see a report compiled for Business Minister Heather Humphreys on the trial.

Mr FitzPatrick was accused of misleading Anglo Irish Bank's auditors about the extent of his debts to it at the height of the financial crisis.

An initial trial in 2015 collapsed after Mr O'Connell admitted shredding a number of relevant files. The retrial in 2017 ended when Judge John Aylmer directed that Mr Fitzpatrick be found not guilty after he expressed concerns about the ODCE's handling of the investigation.

During his evidence, Mr O'Connell told how he had been working as a legal adviser when he was thrust into a lead role.

He also testified in detail about shredding documents that should have been disclosed to the defence.

In his letter to TDs and senators, Mr O'Connell outlined how the situation led to him being the "subject of significant criticism by the lawyers who represented Mr Fitzpatrick, by the judges who presided over those trials, and [after the retrial concluded] by politicians, journalist, online commentators and other members of the public".

He said the "vast bulk" of the criticism was "quite legitimate".

"However, some elements of it were excessive, I would contend. For that reason, I have long been looking forward to the full set of facts relating to mistakes and errors on my part, and the context within they happened, becoming available to all participants in the political system, the media and the public generally; together with the full set of facts relating to mistakes and errors on the part of others."
County environmental health supervisor Jesse Dail inspects a damaged public pool fence Wednesday at Pier Pointe West in Emerald Isle. Its among many county pools that received fence damage during Hurricane Florence. Pools cant open until fences are repaired. (Cheryl Burke photo)
Murder accused Patrick Quirke claimed Mary Lowry had a "couldn't-care-less attitude" about the disappearance of her boyfriend, Bobby Ryan, and he thought it "strange" she "found the van so quick".

In Garda interviews on the day the body of Mr Ryan was found in the tank on Ms Lowry's farm, Mr Quirke said that when he initially spotted the body, he thought it was "a dummy or an inflatable doll".

"Like everyone else," he had "hunches" about what happened to Mr Ryan, he told gardai. "Everyone had notions, was he attacked, did he leave for Spain," Mr Quirke said.

He claimed he was not jealous of Ms Lowry's relationship with Mr Ryan, though admitted it was "probably true" that he still had feelings for her.

Put to him that it "couldn't have been easy to see her carrying on with Bobby Ryan", Mr Quirke replied: "No more than it was for her to see me with my wife."

Mr Quirke (50), of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Ryan - a part-time DJ going by the name Mr Moonlight - on a date between June 3, 2011, and April 2013

Expand Close Imelda and Patrick Quirke outside court. Photo: Collins / Facebook

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The trial at the Central Criminal Court heard that Mr Quirke was interviewed at Tipperary garda station on April 30, 2013, the day the body of Mr Ryan was uncovered in a tank on Ms Lowry's farm at Fawnagowan, Co Tipperary.

Inspector David Buckley told the jury that he was one of the first gardai to arrive at the scene.

Interviewing Mr Quirke afterwards, he put it to him that he was "fairly clean for a man doing a dirty job", and Mr Quirke replied that he was "only getting into the dirty part, mixing the slurry".

Put to him in cross-examination by Bernard Condon SC for the defence, the garda said from his recollection there was "no dirt" on Mr Quirke, on his hands or his clothing.

Mr Condon said gardai had not asked Mr Quirke for his clothing and if they had, the jury would have been able to view it themselves.

Garda Buckley told the trial that he distinctly remembered looking at Mr Quirke "up and down" and noticing that there was no sign of dirt. He had "a vivid memory" of this, though he couldn't recall what clothing he was wearing, he said.

He conceded his terminology may have been misleading in saying that Mr Quirke was "fairly" rather than "perfectly" clean.

In the interviews, Mr Quirke agreed with gardai when they described the tank where the remains were found as a "septic tank connected to the milking parlour which hasn't been used in a number of years".

Asked about his movements on the day that Mr Ryan went missing, Mr Quirke told gardai he had arrived at Ms Lowry's farm "about 20 to or a quarter to nine". He had gone there to collect two bulls to bring home to his cows and he was going to leave them in for the weekend, he said.

Asked if he had been at the tank that day, Mr Quirke said no, nor did he see anyone else at the tank that day.

"I was possibly only there half-an-hour that morning. We were going away. It was a case of get in and get out," he said.

Asked if he knew Bobby Ryan, Mr Quirke told gardai he had met him three times - the first time at Hayes's Hotel in Thurles, the second at a social night in Clonmel when he and his wife Imelda went out with Bobby and Mary, and the third time was "just a chance meeting" at the office in Killough Quarry.

At this point in the interview, Mr Quirke asked if he thought he would be able to get his tractor back this evening, and the garda replied: "That I don't know at the moment."

Asked if he approved of the relationship between Mr Ryan and Ms Lowry, he said: "Well, I'm sure you know I had an affair with Mary Lowry. But I didn't disapprove of it," adding that there was "no animosity between me and Bobby Ryan".

Gardai asked him if that was the reason she had ended her relationship with Mr Quirke and he replied: "Possibly, yes."

"I don't think we ever spoke about it candidly," he added.

Questioned as to whether the relationship had ended "good or bad", Mr Quirke said it had been "mixed", explaining that he had wanted to keep it "friendly" as they were "family, as such".

Mr Quirke was asked if he had been "jealous" but he said no.

"You just took it on the chin," gardai put it to him, and Mr Quirke replied "No," adding, "What else could I do but take it on the chin?"

He had never had a one-to-one conversation with Bobby Ryan about Mary Lowry, he said, and they never exchanged heated words.

Asked if he had met Bobby Ryan leaving Mary's house that morning, Mr Quirke said no.

Asked if he had known the body was there all along, Mr Quirke replied: "No. These are nice questions now, lads."

Mr Quirke said that "like everyone" he had "hunches" about what had happened to Mr Ryan.

"Everyone had notions, was he attacked, did he leave for Spain. I asked questions but found it strange and read too much into it," he said.

Mary Lowry had told him "different things" since the disappearance of Bobby Ryan, he said.

He found it "strange, then and now" that she couldn't tell if Mr Ryan had been "10 minutes or two minutes" in the yard before he left.

He also thought it was strange "how she found the van so quick" when she had travelled a route she knew he didn't take.

Mr Quirke had asked her how she could see the van from the road but Ms Lowry had told him that she didn't and "just drove in".

"I found it intriguing she had a 'couldn't-care-less' attitude about it," he said.

He told gardai that Ms Lowry had told him she had a friend who worked in a shop and had a conversation with a sales rep who had passed the van that morning.

"I told her she should contact him and she would not contact him. I also drew on the fact that she said she had not heard any car drive in to the yard that morning so I kept asking her on and off on different occasions and she was certain a car didn't drive into the yard," he said.

"I found this answer strange because on several occasions I was in the bedroom with her and the doorbell would ring and you couldn't be certain if a car had driven into the yard," Mr Quirke added.

Asked why he didn't show gardai the underground tank on the farm when the farm was being searched in 2011, he said: "I didn't think of it. I thought it was laughable to be emptying the slurry tank."

Asked if this was because he knew the body was there, he said no. The trial continues.
A MAN who slapped his three year old daughter during a struggle to place her in the family car at a busy shopping centre is co-operating fully with Probation and Welfare Service (PWS) officials.

The revelation came as the 46 year old - who cannot be named for legal reasons - also faces a charge of attempting to interfere with a witness.

Judge Olann Kelleher at Cork District Court adjourned sentencing of the man on the child slapping charge until the witness interference issue is fully resolved.

Eddie Burke, defence solicitor, said he had only received CCTV footage from Gardai in relation to the alleged witness interference charge in the last 24 hours.

He said he now needed time to view the footage involved.

Mr Burke confirmed that his client was co-operating fully with the PWS.

Judge Kelleher said he wanted to deal with both matters at the same time and adjourned the two issues to March 8 next.

The defendant appeared before Cork District Court on a charge of assaulting his daughter on July 23 2017.

Judge Olann Kelleher ordered the PWS report after deciding that, while he found the facts proven against the man, he wanted to consider alternatives to recording a conviction.

He said he wanted to consider the PWS report on the man, who had no previous convictions, after hearing the facts of the case brought under Section 2 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.

The man now also faces a charge of attempting to interfere with a witness in the case contrary to Section 41 of the Criminal Justice Act.

The man did not address the court during the adjournment.

However, on a previous court sitting he became emotional when addressing the latest charge.

"Our kid is suffering and no-one cares," he said.

"Where is the heart? I want my family safe. My family is not safe. My family is suffering.

"My kid is suffering...what do I have to do," he asked.

The man's wife also became extremely distraught during the court hearing.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has already indicated that the witness interference charge can be dealt within before the district court.

Cork District Court was told by a female witness that she was near the Dunnes Stores outlet at the Bishopscourt Shopping Centre in Bishopstown, Cork on July 23 2017.

The woman said her attention was drawn to the high-pitched sound of a child crying.

She saw a man struggling with a child by a shopping trolley.

He was trying to get the child's legs into the shopping trolley seat.

She was trying to get her legs out. But he was trying to get them back in, the woman said.

The woman noticed that the child was still crying and screaming as the man proceeded to do some shopping in the centre.

Later, she came across the pair back in the car park.

She said she saw the man standing by the rear of his car and swinging his hands into the back of the car.

The woman said she heard the child crying and noted that her voice was getting higher and louder in apparent distress.

A second woman at the complex said she also saw the man swinging his hands into the rear of the car - and heard a child crying.

The woman said, as she passed, she heard the man shouting in a loud voice: "Have you enough, now."

The female shopper said she was convinced the man had been slapping the child in the rear of the car.

Both women were upset about the incident.

Neither said they actually witnessed the child being struck but were convinced about what was happening.

One said she didn't know what to do and was worried for the welfare of the child.

The quick-thinking woman discreetly took a photo on her smartphone of the car complete with its registration and contacted Togher Garda Station.

Garda Brian O'Connell told Judge Kelleher he identified the vehicle and its owner from the photograph.

Garda O'Connell went to the car owner's address and brought the witness testimony to his attention.

The car owner said he couldn't recall if he had been in that shopping centre three days earlier.

However, he vehemently rejected any suggestion of having struck or hurt his daughter.

CCTV footage obtained from the shopping centre did not show the man striking his child.

The man offered sworn evidence in which he denied ever hitting or slapping his daughter.

The man, who is not Irish and has English as a second language, said his family prefer to discipline children by using the removal of toys or treats in cases of misbehaviour.

He told the court he believed the two women exaggerated or misunderstood what they had seen.

I have never resorted to violence, I have never hit my child and I never will, he insisted.

A doctor's report provided by the man and his family indicated the child was uninjured when examined days after the alleged Bishopstown incident.

Judge Kelleher said he had no doubt from the man's evidence that he was a good parent.

He described it as a very sad case but said the evidence of the two independent witnesses was both compelling and credible.

The case has since been referred to Tusla, the child protection agency.
Journalist Tom Lyons has denied before the High Court that a number of articles published in the 'Sunday Business Post' ('SBP') in 2015 meant businessman Denis O'Brien was among those responsible for the financial crisis here in 2008.

Paul O'Higgins SC, for Mr O'Brien, suggested the articles unfairly meant Mr O'Brien was among 22 people who had a land and development exposure of some 8.8bn when Mr Lyons knew Mr O'Brien had no development loans.

Positive

Mr Lyons denied the articles suggested Mr O'Brien had a big land and development portfolio and said they rather identified him as someone who had various loans for property.

He said a pen profile of Mr O'Brien written by him in the article headlined "The Gang of 22" was very positive about Mr O'Brien and made clear he was a successful businessman who had repaid everything.

Mr Lyons rejected a suggestion that the articles, based on a report by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC), did not tell the "truth" of that report.

He also denied that a graphic headed with the words 'Top Secret', and naming Mr O'Brien among eight other bank borrowers, involved selecting Mr O'Brien as being among "the principal offenders".

The eight were just well-known people referred to in the PwC report, he said.

Mr Lyons remains under cross-examination in Mr O'Brien's High Court action alleging defamation in the 'SBP' articles published on March 15, 2015.

The focus of the articles was the PwC report concerning the exposure of Ireland's banks in 2008, which was given to the government in November 2008 but not made public.

Mr Lyons obtained it from a source in 2015 and gave evidence he shredded it shortly after publication of the articles to protect the source.

Mr O'Brien claims the 'SBP' articles, which ran over six pages, wrongly meant he was among a "gang" of 22 borrowers who "wrecked the country" and that they defamed him and injured his reputation.

Malicious

The defendant denies the words complained of mean what Mr O'Brien says, denies defamation and malicious publication, and has also pleaded "fair and reasonable publication on a matter of public interest".

Mr Lyons was also asked about another article, written by him, headlined "The Gang of 22".

Mr Lyons has denied that use of the word 'gang' implied any criminality or wrongdoing.

The case continues.
It is inconceivable that an Irish father of two accidentally impaled himself on a screwdriver during a fight with a fisherman which was sparked by a "racist" comment, a jury has heard.

Andrew Doan (35) is on trial in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, accused of murdering Charles John McCarthy (32) next to Perth's Swan River in the early hours of December 23, 2017.

Doan and Tien Vu Huynh had been fishing for about two hours when Mr McCarthy walked past with his wife Nicole and friend Jason Mikel Curran.

The court has heard that Mr Curran made the contentious remark about the Asian man getting into trouble with fisheries officials for their catch.

It was a "smart-arse, throwaway" comment, prosecutor James Mactaggart told the jury in his closing address yesterday.

However, Mr Doan said the remark was hurtful and racist because there was a stereotype "that all Asians catch undersize fish".

Mr Mactaggart said he should have just ignored it. Instead, he followed the trio down the road and angrily confronted them, brandishing a screwdriver and shouting: "I'm going to stab you."

According to Mr Doan, Mr McCarthy then flew into a "demonic rage" so he retreated to his car.

The prosecution says, however, that Mr Curran went back to the fishermen's utility vehicles to take photographs of their number plates so he could report Mr Doan's threats to police and was struck by the accused, who yelled at him to delete the images.

Mr McCarthy went to intervene, despite his wife's pleas to stop, and the next thing she saw was "his lifeless body drop to the ground".

Mr Doan claims the deceased had raised a fist to punch him, so he closed his eyes, threw up his arms to protect his face "bracing for impact" and forgot the screwdriver was in his hand.

"It is inconceivable, impossible that Mr McCarthy could have tripped, fallen, stumbled - or in some way not really made clear - impaled himself on that screwdriver," Mr Mactaggart said.

"Nothing of the sort occurred."

The prosecutor said it was also inconceivable that Mr Doan forgot he was holding the screwdriver. "He never let that screwdriver out of his grasp," Mr Mactaggart said.

"Mr Doan deliberately stabbed Mr McCarthy."

The jury is expected to retire to consider its verdict today.
A garda convicted of possessing images and videos of children being subjected to sexual acts has been jailed for two years.

Joseph O'Connor (58), of west Dublin, had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to five counts of possession of child pornography at his home on dates between July 30 and August 2, 2011.

In August 2011, gardai investigating an allegation of assault made against O'Connor went to his home and seized evidence, including a laptop.

A subsequent analysis of the laptop found videos in the computer's recycle bin depicting boys under the age of ten being subjected to sexual acts.

Two videos depicted boys under 17 being subjected to sexual acts with a male adult. There were also multiple copies of 16 different images of children sexually exposed or being subjected to sexual acts with other children.

After a trial last November a jury convicted him of four counts. The jury acquitted him of one count which dealt with 56 duplicates of two images found on his laptop.

Detective Superintendent Colm O'Malley told the court that O'Connor had been a garda for 25 years before his suspension from duty in 2012.

He agreed with Paul Carroll SC, defending, that O'Connor had a good work record and had not re-offended since these offences first came to light.

Counsel said that his client denied knowing anything about the material and maintains his innocence. He had told investigators that a man who came to his house for sex, days before his laptop was seized, had corrupted his computer.

He denied downloading it and described it as "sick".

The court heard there had been delays in bringing the case to a conclusion due, in part, to the involvement of the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission in investigating a complaint of assault made by the other man. This man did not co-operate with this investigation and it was dropped.

Mr Carroll said his client had an unblemished career and was a dedicated garda who had carried out his duties to the best of his ability.

He said he suffered post-traumatic stress after a work incident in 1995 and took around nine months to recover.

The maximum sentence for the offences is a fine of 5000 or a prison term of five years. Judge Elma Sheahan set a headline sentence of three and a half years which she reduced to two years after taking into consideration his position as a garda and the support of his family.

Members of his family were in court for the hearings and his lawyers had handed a testimonial letter signed by his six siblings into Judge Sheahan.

More to follow
Contactless card machines have been introduced to a number of Catholic churches across Dublin in an attempt to counteract the decline in cash donations.

The Archdiocese of Dublin said that a small number of churches in the capital are trialing the contactless card machines, with the hope to roll out the system to more parishes.

A spokesperson for the archdiocese said that financial contributions to the Catholic church in Dublin have been in decline for several years for a variety of reasons, including a decline in the number of people attending weekly Mass.

"Direct debit payments for the family offering (an envelope collection for parishes) has been in place for some time. Currently, we are piloting a new payment method, in a small number of churches, with card machines in place at the back of the church to allow parishioners to make a contactless contribution. This is done by a standalone machine," the spokesperson said.

"Later this year we plan to roll out the ability for the majority of parishes to accept card-based payments using a Parish Payments System.

"This will cover many transactions such as offerings, pilgrimage payments and will enable parishioners to sign up for recurring contributions. This will not however, mean an end to the traditional basket collections at Masses which will remain in place for the foreseeable future."
Garda searches in west Dublin uncovered five sawn-off shotguns, ammunition, a crossbow, and a quantity of controlled drugs (cannabis herb). Photo: An Garda Siochana

Garda searches in west Dublin uncovered five sawn-off shotguns, ammunition, a crossbow, and a quantity of controlled drugs (cannabis herb). Photo: An Garda Siochana

Garda searches in west Dublin uncovered five sawn-off shotguns, ammunition, a crossbow, and a quantity of controlled drugs (cannabis herb). Photo: An Garda Siochana

Garda searches in west Dublin uncovered five sawn-off shotguns, ammunition, a crossbow, and a quantity of controlled drugs (cannabis herb). Photo: An Garda Siochana

Garda searches in west Dublin uncovered five sawn-off shotguns, ammunition, a crossbow, and a quantity of controlled drugs (cannabis herb). Photo: An Garda Siochana

Garda searches in west Dublin uncovered five sawn-off shotguns, ammunition, a crossbow, and a quantity of controlled drugs (cannabis herb). Photo: An Garda Siochana

Gardai have recovered an arsenal of weapons including five sawn-off shotguns and a crossbow following a spate of shootings in west Dublin this week.

Local garda officers, backed up by armed officers and the army, searched a number of properties in the Corduff area of Blanchardstown over the last three days.

In total five sawn-off shotguns, ammunition, a crossbow and a quantity of cannabis herb were seized, with the firearms due to be examined by gardai.

It is understood the weapons are linked to separate feuding gangs operating in the area.

The operation followed four firearms incidents in Corduff this week, which saw two homes shot up after a shotgun was discharged and a group chased with an armed thug.

The drama started at around 5pm on Tuesday when a young man discharged a shot into the air in the Corduff Grove estate. This provoked a reaction from a group of young men standing less than 30 yards away.

Gardai believe the same gang who fired the shot in Corduff Grove are suspected of being behind a similar incident in nearby Sheephill Avenue at around 8pm. The third incident saw two shots fired into the door of a house in Corduff Avenue at around 10.15pm.

Three hours later, another house in the adjoining Corduff Place estate was targeted with a shotgun, when at least four shots were fired at the house.

Sources said the escalation is part of an ongoing dispute between criminals in the area who were once associates.

A garda spokesman said that the searches are part of an investigation into street level drug dealing gangs.

On the 13th , 14th and 15th of February gardai from Blanchardstown supported by The Divisional search team, the Garda Dog Unit, Armed Support Unit and with the assistance of the Irish Defence Forces today, conducted searches in a number of areas in Corduff .

During the course of the searches five sawn-off shotguns, ammunition, a crossbow, and a quantity of controlled drugs (cannabis herb) have been seized. The firearms will be examined by the Garda Technical Bureau.

There are no arrests at this time and investigations are ongoing, the spokesman said.
I once interviewed the legendary war photographer Don McCullin. He and his camera popped up everywhere in the 1960s and 70s - Vietnam, Beirut, Northern Ireland, Palestine - but when I mentioned the Congo Crisis of the early 1960s, the light seemed to go out of his eyes. He was present at Stanleyville to witness the aftermath of massacres, and calmly described to me this tableau of human misery; he particularly remembered corpses bobbing, forever unclaimed, downriver. Then he fell silent.

War correspondents and photographers often end up seeing more combat than most soldiers, and the psychological effects can be devastating. This occupational hazard is central to Matthew Heineman's film A Private War, which is not so much a biopic of award-winning journalist Marie Colvin as a record of her time on the front line. Born in Queens, based in London, Colvin made her name after becoming The Sunday Times' Middle East correspondent in 1985: she was the first western journalist to interview Muammar Gaddafi, and got that famous quote about Ronald Reagan being "an Israeli dog".

In 1995, she discovered her true calling after being moved to the paper's foreign desk. "War is about what happens to people," she once said, and after witnessing the horrors of Chechnya and Kosovo, she became committed to the mission of recording the terrible suffering of civilians in conflict. She would do so dutifully, and dynamically, but at a heavy personal cost. When we first meet her in A Private War, Marie (Rosamund Pike) is relaxing at home in London with her boyfriend, and trying to live a normal life. That, however, is one task she has no flair for, and as soon as a conflict kicks off somewhere, she dons the flak jacket and heads for Heathrow. Her courage is extraordinary, and when she's embedded with Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka, a blast from a rocket grenade destroys her left eye. She returns to London sporting a jaunty eye patch that only adds to her legend, and while some journalists would be put off by such a life-altering attack, Colvin is soon back out in the field.

Her sincerity in wanting to shine a light on pointless human suffering is absolutely genuine, but like a lot of war correspondents, Marie has also become addicted to the adrenalin rush of combat, or rather finds its absence intolerable. Visibly ill-at-ease at awards ceremonies and social functions, she feels more at home in war zones, in the company of battle-hardened journalists and photographers, one of whom is about to become her final partner in crime.

Liverpool photojournalist Paul Conroy (Jamie Dornan) first teams up with Marie in Iraq, and in 2012 agrees to accompany her on an extremely risky trip to war-torn Syria. Cut off from all foreign observers and besieged by Bashar al-Assad forces, the city of Homs is being bombarded day and night, and Colvin wants to go there to expose Assads lie that no civilians are being targeted. That she does, in a series of gripping articles and TV broadcasts, but ignores all calls to leave the city before it's too late.

Heineman has said that he did not want A Private War to be a biopic, but rather an account of the rising toll of Colvin's work. That it is, and the film proceeds in a fog of combat, building towards the dusty nightmare of Homs.

That dreadful battle is brilliantly recreated by Heineman and his cinematographer, Robert Richardson, and provides the film's most boldly cinematic moments. But in terms of Colvin herself, we're not really given enough to go on as we try to make sense of her life.

This is not the fault of Rosamund Pike, who throws herself fearlessly into Colvin's larger-than-life persona, smoking and boozing and swearing up a storm as she battles with her perfidious editor (Tom Hollander) and a recurring case of PTSD. But her suffering seems tinny, perhaps because it has no context: we're given no insight into her early life, or why she might have been so impelled to walk towards the gunfire.

As Paul Conroy, Dornan does his best to suppress the soft twangs of his Belfast accent, and Stanley Tucci (always a welcome sight) seems very amused by nothing in particular when he turns up as an amorous City of London investor type. But this is Pike's film, and her dedication and grit are to be commended. If only she'd been given a little bit more to work with.

Instant Family (12A, 118mins)

What if you could click your fingers and become the proud parents of an entire brood? That's exactly what happens to Rose Byrne and Mark Wahlberg in this salty, winning family comedy. When Pete and Ellie Wagner decide to adopt a kid, they bravely choose a chippy teenager called Lizzy (Isabela Moner), not realising she comes as a package. Lizzy, her shy 10-year-old brother Juan, and positively feral little sister Lita, have been bounced around foster homes, and Pete and Ellie have no idea what they're taking on. Byrne and Wahlberg are excellent, and the film skilfully blends low humour with a serious theme.

Read More

Happy Death Day 2U (15A, 100mins)

The modestly original 2017 film Happy Death Day combined Groundhog Day and Scream to create a cheerfully daft horror movie. College student Tree (Jessica Rothe) kept waking up on the morning of her birthday and getting murdered by the end of it, and had to figure out a way of escaping this ghastly time loop. In this frenetic but sometimes amusing sequel, her life seems to have moved to a happier place when the whole thing starts happening again. Happy Death Day 2U is even more frantically self aware than the original, and lays on the wacky humour pretty thick. But it trips over its own cleverness, and forgets to be scary.

The Kid Who Would be King (PG, 120mins)

Is this Joe Cornish film an extended Brexit metaphor? Quite possibly. While its 12-year-old protagonist Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) plods to school, TV screens tell us that Britain is heading for disaster. Alex isn't having much fun either, till he finds an ancient sword stuck in a breeze block and pulls it out. He's a reincarnated King Arthur, who must find a way of saving the land from the villainous Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson). The juxtaposition of Arthurian legend and the shabby banality of modern Britain works rather nicely, and Cornish's film strikes a warm and pleasing tone.

Films coming soon...

On The Basis Of Sex (Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Sam Waterston, Kathy Bates, Justin Theroux); Cold Pursuit (Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Tom Bateman, Emmy Rossum, Tom Jackson); Capernaum (Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw).
I want to make sure the scientists do more than study oysters from a lab, we need them to get out on the water, talk to the oystermen and evaluate other methods that will propagate and restore the oyster population, Hershey wrote in an email.
THE US and China have made little progress so far during trade talks in Beijing, leaving much work to be done before President Donald Trump and his counterpart Xi Jinping look to seal a deal at a yet-to-be scheduled summit, according to sources familiar with discussions.

In closed-door sessions, the sides have failed to narrow the gap around structural reforms to China's economy that the US has requested, even as both seek to avoid an increase in tariffs after March 1, according to three US and Chinese officials who asked not to be identified because the talks were private.

Yesterday, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with counterparts including Chinese Vice Premier Liu He for the first of two days of high-level talks.

The US has not relented on demands for China to dial back government subsidies for state-owned enterprises and improve corporate governance, one of the sources said, an extremely sensitive issue that is seen as a non-starter for Chinese leaders.

The hurdles raise questions about whether negotiators can meet Mr Trump's criteria for pushing back the March 1 deadline for a plan to more than double the tariffs on $200bn (177.5bn) of Chinese goods.

On Tuesday he said he was open to doing so if the two countries were close to a deal that addresses deep structural changes to China's economic and trade policies.

The lack of progress signalled to China that it would take a meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Xi to get a deal done. White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said on Tuesday that Mr Trump wants to meet Mr Xi "very soon."

A meeting date has not been set however and it is unlikely the pair can meet before the March 1 deadline.

Mr Trump is considering pushing back the deadline for imposition of higher tariffs on Chinese imports by 60 days, Bloomberg News reported late Wednesday.

Bloomberg
Investment: EIs class of 2018, made up of 132 startups, with Business Minister Heather Humphreys, EI CEO Julie Sinnamon and chairman Terence ORourke, and EIs Joe Healy and Sheelagh Daly. PHOTO: SHANE ONEILL/SON PHOTOGRAPHIC

Enterprise Ireland invested approximately 25pc less in startup companies last year than in 2017.

In 2018 the state agency responsible for the development and growth of Irish companies in global markets invested in start-ups to the tune of 23m, down from 31m in 2017.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Joe Healy, manager of the high potential start-up division of EI, said there were still very high levels of investment in start-ups, however its focus has shifted.

We are focusing on companies of quality that demonstrate a high potential to grow internationally and create jobs ensuring return on investment for the state, Mr Healy said. He added interest in entrepreneurship here was higher than ever.

In 2018 alone, Enterprise Ireland received over 1,300 start-up enquiries, representing a 30pc increase on the previous year.

Overall the agency supported a total of 132 start-up companies last year, down from 181 in 2017.

With just 42 days to go before the UK leaves the EU, Mr Healy said companies were viewing Brexit as an opportunity, particularly those operating in the tech sector.

Even in todays challenging business climate with Brexit looming, the appetite and enthusiasm amongst entrepreneurs is strong, he added.

Among the companies supported last year by Enterprise Ireland, 82 were classified as high potential start-ups  that is, businesses with the potential to create 10 jobs and 1m in sales within three to four years of establishment.

The majority of these firms  49  were in the Eastern and Midlands region. The remaining 33 were based in either the Southern region or the Northern Western region.

Investment was provided in the form of equity through Competitive Start Funds (CSF) and High Potential Start-Up funding programmes by the Department of Business, through Enterprise Ireland.

Funding awarded to start-ups in 2018 included two calls for up to 1.5m in funding.

In addition, the agency provided 500,000 in funding targeting recent graduates, while 750,000 in funding was made available through a fintech and deep tech CSF.
The case of Ronan Ryan and Pamela Flood has attracted lots of attention after a court was told that the last payment on their mortgage was in 2010.

Tanager, a vulture fund that owns the couple's mortgage, is seeking to repossess their home at 136 Mount Prospect Avenue in leafy Clontarf, Dublin 3.

Mr Ryan says he has "played ball" all along and has been agreeing to sell the house for the last seven years, but that no sale had gone through.

Ms Flood, who won the Miss Ireland contest in 1993, is also a former host of 'Off The Rails' television series and several RTE shows.

Expand Close Their house in Clontarf, Dublin, where they have lived without making a mortgage payment since 2010 / Facebook

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Whatsapp Their house in Clontarf, Dublin, where they have lived without making a mortgage payment since 2010

The mortgage, originally borrowed from Bank of Scotland, had changed hands a number of times, Mr Ryan said, adding that those sales had sent the family "back to square one" about resolving the matter.

Financial analyst Karl Deeter says the Irish system makes it perfectly possible for a family to stay in their home for a long time without paying their mortgage.

Mr Deeter, in tandem with UCC lecturer Seamus Coffey and Brendan Burgess of Askaboutmoney.ie, carried out a major research project on repossessions here a number of years ago.

He said banks' efforts to repossess houses became more difficult in 2009 and 2010 because the Central Bank put in place a moratorium on repossessing houses.

Expand Close Their house in Clontarf, Dublin, where they have lived without making a mortgage payment since 2010 / Facebook

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Whatsapp Their house in Clontarf, Dublin, where they have lived without making a mortgage payment since 2010

Initially, a lender had to wait six months before it could start legal proceedings against a homeowner, then this was extended in 2010 to 12 months. This delay-causing regime was later scrapped.

Then there was the emergence of the mortgage sales which saw banks selling off loans in order to reduce their bad debts. Some loans have been sold multiple times, adding extra delay to the process as repossession efforts begin again.

"Every time [the loan] moves, it kind of stops you dead," Mr Deeter said. That factor looks to be key in explaining how Mr Ryan and Ms Flood have remained in the home for so long.

There is also the issue of legal delays which can also add years to a repossession process. That applies in individual cases, but it also applies for so-called 'test cases' where funds and banks wait for a particular ruling before deciding whether to repossess a property. If the outcome is favourable, the bank or fund might decide to repossess, whereas if the outcome is unfavourable they may not do so.

Tanager itself, the owner of Mr Ryan's mortgage, was recently involved in a case that was sent to the Court of Appeal by High Court judge Seamus Noonan, who said the issues at the heart of the matter could affect hundreds of cases.

Complications, and therefore the potential for delay, also arise when a family home was involved, Mr Deeter said. In Ms Flood and Ms Ryan's case, Ms Flood is not a defendant because Mr Ryan took out the mortgage.

However, because she married Mr Ryan in 2014, she was joined as a 'notice party' because her interests are at stake if Tanager takes the home. That means she has the right to have arguments on her behalf heard in court.

There is no suggestion that Ms Flood being a notice party has contributed in any way to the length of time that the couple have been in their home without the mortgage being paid. However, in principle it's possible to see how notice parties can add complexity to legal matters.

Mr Ryan used to own restaurants including Town Bar & Grill and South, but was hit financially by the 2008 recession. He now runs a contract catering business.

Mr Ryan told the Irish Independent that they would be "out before the end of the spring".
Supermac's chief Pat McDonagh has got the green light to build an Obama Plaza-style development in Longford.

Longford County Council has granted planning permission for the multimillion-euro development on the Ballinalee road, off the N4.

There were a number of objections to the construction of the drive-thru restaurant and food court, similar to the Obama Plaza based at Moneygall.

Most concerns involved the potential negative impact of traffic congestion and safety on the N4 bypass.

The council approved the plans after receiving further information around the plaza plans from Mr McDonagh.

Up to 100 new jobs are expected to be created as a result of the development, according the fast food chain's founder.

"These are jobs that will help sustain the region and are intended to generate a social dividend," he said.

"They are jobs intended to give young people the opportunity to develop catering, retail and hospitality careers in Longford if they wish to do so," Mr McDonagh added.

Last month, Supermac's announced that 200 new roles were to be created with the opening of three new outlets in Wexford, Waterford and Kinnegad in Westmeath.

Construction has already begun in Kinnegad and building is due to begin in Wexford, the first Supermac's in the county, and in Waterford.

Three other stores are in the pipeline in Letterkenny, Ennis and Portlaoise.

Meanwhile, the So Hotels Group, owned by Pat and Una McDonagh, is also creating 100 jobs through the refurbishment of three of its hotels.
KBC Bank Ireland has identified 661 extra cases of people wrongly denied tracker mortgages.

The bank said all were now on trackers and it apologised for the mistake.

Chief executive Wim Verbraeken told the Irish Independent the people in question had been denied a tracker for only a short time.

"The impact we are now recognising is for a relatively short period 10 years ago when these customers were not on their tracker rate," he said. He said the cases had been identified after the bank went through its records to make sure it had correctly identified all those affected.

It now has a total of 3,737 affected customers.

People involved in the new cases were to receive redress by the end of March, and all those involved in the older cases had received redress and compensation, KBC said.

The bank has been hit by a spate of attacks on its branches in recent times.

A couple of years ago, it was considering whether to pull out of the Irish market but ultimately decided to stay.

KBC said yesterday it was "committed to its business in Ireland and ... determined to be a positive force for choice in the market".

In December, the bank hit headlines when it moved to repossess a farm in Strokestown, Co Roscommon, in a high-profile case that attracted controversy.
Euronext's acquisition of the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) paid off last year for the Paris-based company.

Euronext saw its new Dublin operations generate 24.6m in revenue for nine months of consolidation as revenues overall grew 15.5pc in 2018 to 615m.

Headcount in Dublin has fallen 15pc since the takeover that saw the 226-year-old Dublin institution sold by its five owners, Davy, Goodbody Stockbrokers, Investec, Cantor Fitzgerald and Campbell O'Connor.

Euronext said it was working to boost the number of companies listed in Dublin, many of which have dual listings in London as well.

"On the equity front in Dublin, we are rolling out our various pre-IPO programmes that have been successful at Euronext," said Anthony Attia, head of listing at the company.

"We also have some opportunity with local small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular the tech sector," he said, adding that Brexit could also create a driver for companies that were listed in London to list here.

Overall, Euronext saw its full year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grow 19pc to 354.3m with an EBITDA margin of 57.6pc.

Euronext's full year adjusted earnings per share rose 11.2pc to 3.44.

However, the company's strong operating performance was hit by 21.5m of exceptional items and by 5.3m of net financing expenses.

Its major current focus is its bid for Oslo Bors, Norway's stock exchange.

Euronext this week raised its offer for the exchange and said it had the support of the majority of shareholders although the board of Oslo Bors has not endorsed the bid.

It raised its bid to 6.79bn Norwegian crowns (695m) and is awaiting approval from the country's regulator which its expects in June.

For 2019, Euronext expects low-single digit growth of its Group operating expenses compared to 2018.

However, chief executive Stephane Boujnah said that it would maintain "strong cost discipline".
Nine in ten members of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) say they are currently experiencing difficulties recruiting workers.

In a survey carried out by the lobby group, members reported a severe lack of engineers, quantity surveyors, foremen, project managers, general operatives, ground workers and apprentices.

With a shortage of staff in the sector, three in four members of CIF said the recruitment issues are having a direct affect on their companies ability to deliver projects on time.

Dermot Carey, director of safety & training, at CIF said:

"We are working hard to promote the industry as a career destination for more young people."

"Despite a healthy 25-year pipeline of work, increasing wages, more technology-led careers and the global nature of construction careers, numbers of young people registering for apprenticeships and apply to construction management in third level is static or declining."

Mr Carey added that CIF was asking Irish people living abroad with construction expertise and qualifications to consider returning to Ireland to work.

"If you are considering a return, contact us and we will help in any way we can."

"We find ourselves in a position where we have no time to lose, we need to attract those from other countries with construction skills here to deliver the huge demand in housing and infrastructure Irelands economy and society requires."
New figures from the Department of Agriculture show that while TB is at historically low levels, progress towards eradication appears to have slowed since 2015.

As of December 31, 2018, the national herd incidence for TB stood at 3.51pc, marginally up on 2017. This means that since the beginning of 2018, of all herds tested for TB 3.51pc have experienced a new breakdown, i.e., they have had at least one animal that tested positive for TB.

TB levels overall are at a low level but there has been a relatively high level of TB concentrated in the north-east of Ireland throughout 2018 i.e. Monaghan, Cavan, north-Meath.

The number of herds in Ireland was 112,105 representing a decrease of 1,592 (-1.4pc) relative to 2017.

During 2018, 3,874 herds experienced a restriction. At end-December 2018, there were 2,176 herds restricted. Both of these figures were broadly unchanged from 2017.

Herd incidence in 2018 was 3.51pc. While TB levels remain at historically low levels, herd incidence in 2018 was nonetheless similar to levels in 2014.

The number of reactors identified in 2018 was 17,491. This is the highest number of reactors since 2012. The increased use of Gamma Interferon (GIF) blood testing however has been a significant factor in higher reactor numbers over the past few years. In 2018 GIF testing accounted for over 20pc of reactors.

Regional

The herd incidence in Monaghan of 8.91pc and Cork North of 5.66pc (which is significantly higher than the national herd incidence of 3.51pc) are particularly relevant as they have higher cattle densities than other counties and this therefore indicates greater amounts of TB.

Cork North had the highest number of reactors at 2,086, Monaghan had the second highest at 1,677 followed by Tipperary North with 1,296 reactors.

A targeted, TB Control Plan has been in place in Monaghan during 2018 in collaboration with stakeholders. Its focus is to identify and eradicate disease in that area as quickly as possible.

While Wicklow East had the highest herd incidence at 9.51pc (596 reactors), this region has less than 1pc of the national herd.

Donegal and Limerick had the lowest herd incidence at 1.70pc and 1.79pc respectively.

According to the Department, Irelands Pathway to Eradication in 2030, the underlying risk is increasing due to the national herd becoming increasingly based on larger dairy farms and access to additional markets are affected by our disease status.

How to reduce TB risk
For the next 100 years or so, automobiles will continue to be the major way Americans travel. There may be something we cant see from the perspective of today, but its taken us a century or so to get into the mess caused by cars and trucks and it seems likely it will take us that long to get out.
A group of residents who are fighting plans to overturn night flights in and out of Dublin Airport are determined not to let it happen.

The move comes after more than 20 farmers and property owners living along Kilreesk lane in St Margarets north Dublin lost their right to appeal a High Court decision to the Supreme Court last year in a bid to stop the 320m runway being progressed.

The property owners and farmers now fear that the exclusion of night flights will be lifted following a debate on the issue in the Dail on Wednesday night. Information from Fingal County Council, who are understood to be the lead organisation on noise levels of night flights in and out of Dublin was discussed.

The property owners protested outside the Dail on Wednesday night and at a ceremony held at the turning of the sod on the new north runway by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Transport Minister Shane Ross. The residents have already staged a four long protest outside St Margarets GAA club.

The new runway, which is due to be fully inished by 2021, has been planned for since the late 1960s and has featured in subsequent county development plans.

Approval for the 3,110 metre runway was granted by An Bord Pleanala in 2007. However, due to the economic downturn, the project was put on hold for several years.

The daa has said that the recovery in the economy has seen passenger numbers reach record levels with more than 30 million passengers travelling through Dublin Airport last year.

Dublin Airport Public Affairs Director Paul OKane said: We are trying to be as mindful as possible of people living around the airport. Theres a balance to be struck between those concerns and the needs of the Irish economy.

Fifty-one-year-old farmer and protest group spokesperson Jim Scully who has lived along Kilreesk lane in St Margarets north Dublin since 1989 said that if the night flights were allowed life would be intolerable.

Over that time he has built up a substantial dairy farm.

Not only would it be bad for our health, we wouldnt be able to get any sleep and that really is the last straw. Weve been offered 30 per cent over the market value for our homes, but no-one is going to buy a property here because of noise and environmental issues.

Where Mr Scully and his family live, is located 1.5km from the current runway. This will fall to 0.5Km when the new runway is completed.

He farms 75 acres he owns along with another 60 acres he leases from the daa with his brother John and 28-year-old daughter Aine.

Mr Scully, who will loose his home, farm and livelihood said: We will continue our protests against the new runway as all we want is to be treated fairly. We have lost our right to appeal our case to the Supreme Court. We now are left with no other option but to protest.

If the ban on night flights are lifted then that will just be intolerable. We feel as if we are being pushed to the very limit.

First the daa offered 20pc above the market value of our house and all the properties along this lane and now thats gone to 30pc but nothing for our lands and livelihoods.

Their offer means nothing to me nor my family. Where are we supposed to go in this day and age. Trying to go and set-up again on a new land would be financially impossible.

Essentially people are damned if they do stay, as they will be subjected to 100 dB noise every two minutes over their homes, or lose their dreams homes which most are on family lands - some fourth and fifth generations that existed prior to Dublin airport ever being there.

It is only fitting and right that the residents are provided the opportunity to receive commercial value for their properties and lands, after all it is clear their is a bigger plan that has been kept from the owners of those lands - some who have owned and farmed them for generations.
The Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed has rejected call's for full-time farmers to receive higher forestry payments.

Former Minister for Agriculture and Fianna Fail TD Brendan Smith asked the Minister whether he has plans to change the rate of premium payments for afforestation to ensure that full-time farmers receive a higher rate of payment than persons who are not dependent on farming for an income

Minister Creed said that there is no distinction between the rate paid to farmers, whether full or part-time, and non-farmers under the Programme as the aim is to make the afforestation scheme accessible to all landowners.

"It should be noted that the category of non-farmer includes those with an association with farming such as retired farmers, sons and daughters of farmers or other relatives who have inherited land and wish to retain their connection with the land.

"For this reason, I am satisfied that the bulk of forestry payments are paid to and remain in rural Ireland," he said.

According to statisitics provided by the Minister recently, farmers have established 66pc of forestry planted to date under the Forestry Programme 2014 - 2020. In 2018, non-farmers accounted for 45pc of the forestry premiums paid by the Department.

IFA Farm Forestry Chairman, Vincent Nally has said that forestry is a permanent land use change, so it is very important that there is full understanding of what the shift from traditional agriculture to growing trees means for rural communities.

The changes that were introduced in the current programme that removed the farmer premium differential and increased the payment to non-farmers, had significantly increased the level of planting by non-farmers, as well as the negative feeling towards forestry, said Mr. Nally.
Datalex is cut jobs to save up to $10m (8.8m) a year as the embattled Irish travel software firm deals with the aftermath of spiralling costs on a project with Lufthansa.

Last month, shares in the company collapsed more than 60pc after it warned shareholders that it may have misstated its first-half results from 2018, and expected to post a loss for the year. Brokers had previously expected adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) of $16.2m (14.3m).

The company, which has offices in Dublin, Manchester, Beijing, Amsterdam and Atlanta, began its redundancy programme yesterday.

It employs a total of about 500 people, including staff and consultants. Its CEO is Aidan Brogan. It would not specify yesterday how many people would be let go. Datalex's single biggest shareholder is billionaire Dermot Desmond, with a 26.8pc stake.

Datalex's latest available annual report - for 2017 - showed that it had 261 direct employees that year. Their total wage and related costs bill for the year was $27.6m, although $5.6m of that was classed as capitalised labour.

An unspecified number of consultants and contractors working with Datalex in 2017 were paid a total of $25.6m, of which $7.5m was capitalised.

Datalex said it expects to generate savings of between $8m and $8.5m this year as a result of the headcount reduction, and between $9.5m and $10m a year thereafter. It said the implementation of the redundancy exercise will cost it about $2m.

"Given the group's high relative cost base entering 2019, caused by the rapid growth of the business in recent years and significant investment in its digital commerce platform, the group is undertaking a cost restructuring programme which will impact outsourced contractors and employees," it said.

The shock announcement last month by Datalex came just weeks after it told the stock exchange in a November trading update that its performance to date for 2018 had been in line with expectations and that it expected to deliver double-digit growth in adjusted ebitda.

The Central Bank is now investigating the firm. Datalex has also commissioned PWC to review what happened at the firm.

Mr Brogan described 2018 as "challenging".

"A thorough evaluation has highlighted the need for a strategic restructuring of the business which will reduce our cost base while also ensuring that there will be no delay in preparing new customers for deployment to our platform," he said.
AMAZON will not move forward with plans to build a second headquarters, to be based in New York, after rising opposition from local politicians.

The company said it will not reopen the search process for the second headquarters "at this time".

It said it would proceed as planned with expansion in Northern Virginia and Nashville, "and we will continue to hire and grow across our 17 corporate offices and tech hubs in the US and Canada".

The company had begun considering alternatives last week. It had not yet acquired any land for the project, which would make it easy to scrap its plans, a source said.

Amazon had announced it would create 25,000 jobs and build one of two new headquarters in the Long Island City area in the borough of Queens, just across the East River from Manhattan.

The proposal ran into opposition from local politicians who opposed the $2.8bn (2.4bn) in incentives promised to Amazon in a deal secretly negotiated by Governor Andrew Cuomo and City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Reuters
Sinn Fein accused the UK Government of indulging in a sham merry-go-round after a meeting to take stock of Stormonts powersharing crisis failed to chart a way forward.

Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald claimed the roundtable talks involving the five main Stormont parties and UK and Irish governments were only called to give a false impression that Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley was proactively trying to resolve the impasse.

We are open to any credible proposition to restore powersharing, but what we had today was not that, Mrs McDonald said after the 90-minute exchanges at Stormont House in Belfast.

Ahead of the meeting, DUP leader Arlene Foster laid the blame for the two-year political deadlock squarely at Sinn Feins door, accusing the republican party of holding Northern Ireland to ransom with unreasonable demands.

I think most people in Northern Ireland want to see us getting back in to deal with all the issues that affect them in their everyday lives, instead of dealing with very narrow sectional issues, she said.

Sinn Fein have held Northern Ireland to ransom these past two years, I deeply regret that.

Fridays meeting came two years after the last DUP/Sinn Fein-led coalition imploded amid a row over a botched green energy scheme.

The wrangle over the renewable heat incentive (RHI) was soon overtaken by disputes over the Irish language, the regions ban on same sex marriage and the toxic legacy of the Troubles.

A number of attempts to find a negotiated deal to restore the institutions have ended in failure.

The latest discussions involved Mrs Bradley, Tanaiste Simon Coveney and the leaders of the five main parties.

They ended, as expected, without a meeting of minds on any of the outstanding issues.

Mrs McDonald said the two governments had failed to put forward any credible proposition to navigate a way of out the impasse.

It is a disgrace that for two years we have not had our powersharing institutions, she said.

We have established again that, without a shadow of doubt, the DUP remains wedded to an agenda of denial of rights.

We have established that the British Government remains in a position where they are happy to facilitate that veto on rights and we have made very, very clear that any serious attempt to restore the powersharing institutions has to be based on the principles of powersharing and at the core of that is a recognition of peoples rights, at the core of that is a commitment to full powersharing and sustainability.

Flanked by party colleagues in the Great Hall of Parliament Buildings, Mrs McDonald added: There is a point at which honesty has to enter into the equation and for the Secretary of State to call a meeting to give the impression of action, when in fact the reality is one of inertia, is that helpful?

We dont believe that it is. We want more than that.

There is no appetite to go around on a merry-go-round again in a circular conversation that winds up with the DUP either unable to deliver an accommodation or unwilling to deliver solutions to what are very legitimate asks, made in the spirit of equality and the spirit of powersharing.

The republican leader continued: We are open to any credible proposition but we will not participate in anything that amounts to a sham.

People two years on deserve so much more than that, so much better.

I don't think Brexit should prevent us from having a government in Northern IrelandArlene Foster

With the UK Government reluctant to reintroduce direct rule from Westminster, Northern Ireland has operated in a political limbo land for two years, with senior civil servants being left to run public services.

Those civil servants are seriously hamstrung, with ongoing uncertainty over what decisions they are able to make in the absence of elected ministers.

As a consequence, numerous governmental decisions are in abeyance with many major policy initiatives in cold storage.

Mrs Foster called on Sinn Fein to get serious about restoring the institutions.

We need devolution back in Northern Ireland, she said as she arrived for the talks with party MEP Diane Dodds.

It should have been back in after March 2017, after that election.

It didnt and its a source of great frustration at this point, not just for us but for the whole population of Northern Ireland, that we are still talking about talks rather than actually dealing with government issues.

Mrs Foster reiterated that her party would go back into devolved government immediately, insisting the outstanding political disputes could be resolved in parallel.

Many believe the prospects of an imminent return to powersharing are bleak, with the crisis seemingly in drift as political attention focuses on Brexit.

Mrs Foster said that did not need to be the case, insisting the Brexit process should not be a barrier to restoring powersharing.

I dont think Brexit should prevent us from having a government in Northern Ireland, she said.

I wish that we had had a government up and running since March 2017, thats when we should have been back into government, instead, because Sinn Fein has refused to go back in, we have to deal with that.

The DUP leader expressed hope that there would be a Brexit deal before March 29.

We want to see a deal in relation to Brexit because we believe a deal that works for the whole United Kingdom and one that deals for the European Union is good for everybody, she said.

On Brexit, Mrs McDonald said: Brexit sets the scene and the tone for everything that happens now in Irish politics.

Here in the North people voted to remain, as Arlene (Foster) is well aware, she defies that democratic decision, she advocates what, in our view, is a very, very reckless position in respect of Brexit.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said those predicting the EU will abandon Ireland at the last minute in order to secure a Brexit deal are in for a nasty surprise.

He has insisted this country will be ready for whatever type of Brexit develops in the coming weeks.

The majority of political parties on the island are represented at the latest All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit in Dublin Castle today - but the event was once again snubbed by the DUP.

Speaking to reporter on his way in, Mr Varadkar rejected suggestions emerging from sources from Brussels that a hard border could be avoided in a no-deal scenario by placing checks on goods moving from Ireland to the continent.

Whatever happens, Ireland is going to stay part of the European Union. It is the common European home we helped to build.

We are founder members of the single market. We cant allow a decision made in Britain to leave the European Union to undermine our membership of the single market and customs union, which we will protect, he said.

I dont see how it would avoid a hard border. It would create a hard border between Ireland and the European Union and that is not something we can accept.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin questioned what is being planned for the border on March 29.

He said the Government has been clear on what is not being planned but refuses to give a clear picture of what happens in a no-deal scenario.

There is no way of describing Ireland as Brexit ready today, he said.

Mr Martin predicted Article 50 will ultimately be extended, postponing Brexit Day until June or July.

He accepted EU solidarity will Ireland remains fully intact.

There is no scenario where they will force Ireland to accept a deal.

Sinn Fein Mary Lou McDonald was hugely critical of UK Prime Minister Theresa May, accusing her of counting down the clock.

She said Mrs May had binned her agreement with the EU and show. enormous bad faith within this process.

Ms McDonald said the backstop is the bare minimum of what we need to ensure a hard border never re-emerges.

The Sinn Fein president also called for a forum to be established that can begin work on preparations for a united Ireland.

The Taoiseach said the issue should not be brought into the Brexit debate, but Ms McDonald said this was an irresponsible absurdity because the genie is out of the bottle
Absent: Theresa May was not in Parliament for the defeat. Photo: Reuters

Theresa May has said a no-deal Brexit is "more likely" after Conservative Eurosceptics condemned her to another humiliating defeat.

The brief Tory truce over Brexit was shattered as 66 Conservatives - including Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab - abstained in a vote over the British government's way forward, which Mrs May lost by 303 votes to 258.

It was a serious blow to Mrs May's chances of winning concessions from Brussels over the Brexit deal. She had told the EU a vote in favour of her strategy last month gave her a "stable majority" for the deal she wanted to broker, but that was wiped out at a stroke by her 45-vote defeat.

Brexiteers from the European Research Group (ERG) of Tory MPs refused to back a Government motion that followed a day-long Brexit debate because they believed it meant no deal was being taken off the table.

The ERG claimed the result proved the only way Mrs May could get a deal through parliament was if she persuaded the EU to drop the Northern Ireland backstop completely and replace it with "alternative arrangements".

But Mrs May, who was absent from the Commons chamber when the result was announced, insisted the net result was to make no deal more likely.

Deflecting the blame on to Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, who had ordered his MPs to vote against the Government, a Downing Street spokesman said: "By voting against the Government's motion, he is in effect voting to make no deal more likely."

Mrs May acknowledged "there was concern from some colleagues about taking no-deal off the table at this stage".

Mr Corbyn, who wants Mrs May to agree to a customs union with the EU, said there was now "no majority for the prime minister's course of action" and without a coherent plan she cannot just keep running down the clock and hoping something will turn up".

The ERG used the result to turn up the pressure on Mrs May to accept the so-called Malthouse compromise to break the impasse.

Supported by Brexiteers and Remainers in the Conservative Party, it calls for the backstop to be removed and replaced with a plan for a free trade agreement with the EU.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the ERG, said: "The message is there is a majority for the Malthouse compromise, but the government needs to work with its backbenchers rather than against them."

However, Richard Harrington, the business minister, described the Malthouse plan as "fanciful nonsense" last night, in comments that will do nothing to bring the various Tory factions together.

A Labour amendment calling for a meaningful vote on a revised deal to be held by February 27 was defeated by 322 to 306, while an SNP amendment that would have ordered an extension to Article 50 was defeated by 315 to 93.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]
A picture taken with a drone of a Border crossing between Co Fermanagh in Northern Ireland and Co Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland near the town of Clones (Niall Carson/PA Wire)
BAM Ireland chief executive said the firm would cooperate if the Government decides to opt out of the contract for the building of the the new National Childrens Hospital (Niall Carson/PA Wire)

The firm behind the construction of the new National Childrens Hospital has said it would opt out of the contract if the board wanted to retender the controversial project.

BAM Ireland chief executive Theo Cullinane said: BAM wishes to advise the hospital board that if it would prefer to opt out of this contract and procure the work in some other way, then BAM will cooperate with them to facilitate this option.

In a statement, the Kildare-firm also said it did not benefit inappropriately from the tender process and that much of the commentary was based on incomplete and inaccurate information.

Expand Close Costs of the new hospital have risen to more than 1.7 billion euro (Niall Carson/PA Wire) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Costs of the new hospital have risen to more than 1.7 billion euro (Niall Carson/PA Wire)

The Government has come under increasing pressure over spiralling costs of the new hospital, on the campus of St Jamess Hospital in Dublin

It has soared from an original estimate of 650 million euro to more than 1.7 billion euro.

The controversial overrun has heaped pressure on Health Minister Simon Harris.

An independent inquiry by PWC, which was set up to assess the errors, is expected to be completed by the end of next month.

BAM said it would fully engage with the independent inquiry by PWC to ensure all relevant facts are disclosed.

The company said it had written to the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar following comments he made in the Dail on Tuesday requesting him to clarify that he was not referring to BAM in the Dail and that BAM has made and continues to make a significant contribution to Ireland, including in the context of the New Childrens Hospital, where BAM is in full compliance with all its obligations.

Mr Cullinane added: BAM will continue its commitment to the New Childrens Hospital and the confidence of all parties involved is a vital requirement for the company.

Expand Close TD Mick Wallace believes that retendering the construction contract for the hospital would save half a billion euro (Niall Carson/PA Wire) / Facebook

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Whatsapp TD Mick Wallace believes that retendering the construction contract for the hospital would save half a billion euro (Niall Carson/PA Wire)

A spokesman for the Government said Mr Varadkar did not reference any specific company in the Dail.

The Government is not satisfied with several aspects of how the new National Childrens Hospital project has been delivered, he said.

There is understandable public concern about the matter.

For this reason, PWC has been commissioned to carry out an independent examination.

He hopes and trusts that all parties and contractors will co-operate fully with it.

In a statement issued on Friday evening the board handling the development of the hospital said: The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board is committed to delivering the new childrens hospital.

It added: We have nothing further to add at this time.

Following the statement Independent TD Mattie McGrath called on the Taoiseach and the Health Minister to put an immediate halt to works being carried out on the St Jamess site and for due consideration to be given to the relocation of the new hospital.

Mr McGrath said: The statement by BAM today completely undermines the narrative that has been put out there by the Taoiseach, the Minister for Health and indeed the Minister for Public Expenditure, Pascal Donohoe, with respect to the alleged inability to reconsider a possible relocation of the NCH.

His comments came after Independent TD Mick Wallace claimed in the Dail on Thursday that retendering the construction contract for the hospital would save half a billion euro.

Mr Wallace said that cancelling the current deal would make financial sense in the long term and that it was not too late to do so before costs spiralled further.

But the Government rejected the claim.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney said the advice being given to Government was that retendering would not result in a saving.
This is but one option the county has to raise revenues for education and other spending. Others include changes to developer impact fees or raising the income tax. The Department of Legislative Services recently recommended the county increase its income tax rate from 2.5 to 3.2 percent to raise $145 million. The 3.2 rate is the highest allowed and similar to nearby Prince Georges, Montgomery and Howard counties. The current rate of 2.5 percent is the third lowest in the state.
The northern Syrian city of Idlib is threatening to become a flashpoint all over again. The al-Qaeda splinter group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) has put down roots in the midst of diplomatic inertia, and left the major powers scrambling to keep up.

In the east of the country, Isis is facing its final hours as the US-backed Syria Democratic Forces close in on the few remaining fighters.

Idlib, meanwhile, is the last remaining rebel outpost in the country, and in 2018 there had been expectations of an assault by the forces of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. That  and the civilian catastrophe which would have potentially accompanied it  was averted by the Sochi agreement, a ceasefire deal brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran and signed in September last year.

But over the intervening months, HTS has brutally suppressed rival Islamist groups and established a strategic hold of vast areas in the beleaguered province, taking control of key roads. Under the Sochi deal, it had been Turkeys responsibility to disarm and push back HTS. The country shares a large border with Idlib province.

Turkeys failure has been front and centre ever since. Erdogans strategy has been distracted by his security concerns over Kurdish fighters in Syria (and by an aggressive spat with Donald Trump  and perhaps too by the fall-out from the murder of Jamal Khashoggi), and he missed the chance to do his homework in Idlib. Now the biggest military group in the city is a rogue band of extremists.

Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Show all 17 1 /17 Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Nagan, 12, is one of 180,000 Syrian refugee children Unicef has identified as OOSC (Out Of School Children) who have been forced into work in Lebanon Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year The majestic snow capped mountains overlooking al-Wafa refugee camp in Arsal, Lebanon. It is home to 700 refugees who fled their homes at the outbreak of civil war in 2012 Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Fuda al-Bareesh, 92, spends her days in solitude at Alsalam 2 camp in Arsal, Lebanon. She made the journey from Syria across the mountains alone on a donkey Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Kareemah, 21, mother of two from Chebaa, southern Lebanon. She is unsure how her family will be able to afford basics like food and fuel if aid is cut off Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Exercising patience in the cold, men and women wait to collect winter fuel at Alsalam camp, Arsal. Gifted by Muslim Aid UK donors, each family receives 20 litres  enough for two days of continuous heat Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year The view to the snow covered mountains through the cracked pane of glass at al-Wafa camp Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year At al-Wafa refugee camp in Arsal, Abdul Al Moamen, 10, sits in tears Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Ahmed, 3, helps his eldest brother to move the empty plastic jerry cans along the line as they get refilled at a fuel distribution centre Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Qaram, 8, was orphaned when her father was killed by Isis. She is in desperate need of an operation to save her sight. Instead of going to school, she works eight-hour shifts each day on a nearby farm Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Ahmed Fawzi, Lebanon country director for Muslim Aid, comforts Abdul al-Moamen Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Bisan, 5, plays with friends in among puddles of rainwater from recent storms Norma and Miriam Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Amina Safadi is a beneficiary of the Primary Healthcare Centre in Chebaa, Lebanon. The ICRC-accredited facility welcomes the most marginalised Lebanese residents as well as Syrian refugees. Safadi says she has no idea what she would do if the service was unavailable Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year The queue for fuel at a fuel distribution centre in Arsal Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Hadi, 6, waits with aid workers whilst his mother collects heating fuel for the familys stove Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Fuel bowser delivers aid to the 700 residents at al-Wafa camp Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year The child workers of Lebanon. Unicef says 180,000 children are working on farms and in factories Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Ahmed Slabi and his five children. What are my choices now for me and my family? It's bad here or worse in Syria. He feels dependent on international aid, a social pariah and beggar in a country that is not his own Paddy Dowling

Most worrying have been efforts by HTS to establish some form of legitimacy. The group, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the US and the UK, has taken at least partial control of things like education and energy provision in Idlib, and has made overtures to Russia and Turkey in the hope of presenting a veneer of pragmatism.

Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, must realise that an emboldened HTS raises again the prospect of an assault by forces loyal to the Assad regime. In September last year that was what sparked the fears of a humanitarian disaster in the area around Idlib, home to around 3 million civilians, and prompted the Sochi deal.

So where did Turkey go wrong? One possibility is that HTS rise is not accidental and that Erdogan is overplaying his hand with a strategy that tries to combine running with the wolves and playing with the sheep.

Turkey tied itself to a Sochi agreement which lumbers it with flushing out the Islamist groups from Idlib to head off that Assad assault. On the other hand, might Erdogan see an advantage to maintaining long-term relations to a group  however dangerous  that would act as a buffer between Turkey and Syria?

The risk is that Turkeys softly-softly approach helps  deliberately or otherwise  install an al-Qaeda-style group as a de facto opposition in Syria at a time when the other opposition fighters and factions have fragmented, or are seeking to make their voice heard from abroad.

That could, if not countered, deliver a Hezbollah-like militia in the north of the country. Just like Hezbollah, which runs the southern district of Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon, HTS has established its own designated rule in most parts of Idlib. And just like Hezbollah, the group has put in place a so-called political arm too.

Just like Hezbollah, which became the absolute and undisputed umbrella for political Shiism in Lebanon after crushing the shii Amal movement in the late 1980s, HTS has emerged from ferocious battles with Sunni rivals in Syria.

For Turkey, cheap but fragile influence gains made by some short-sighted piggybacking tactics could therefore come at the expense of a patient, long-term power projection strategy. And at the expense of cordial relations with Russia. Putin will surely be furious at Erdogans failure to deal with HTS effectively.

It seems that HTS has spotted the opportunity. Its ultimate leader Abu Mohamed Al Joulani has supported a Turkish demand that the US-backed Kurdish YPG forces, which are right now leading the final rout of Isis, abandon their historical homeland on the east of the Euphrates River, the long border edge between Syria and Turkey. His message was well received in Ankara, which may explain why, when HTS was busy taking every town and village on its way to becoming Idlibs dominant force, Turkey chose to watch.

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It is not the first flirtation. In October 2017, the first Turkish intervention in Idlib raised eyebrows, not so much for the controversial invasion of another country for political gain, but more because Turkish soldiers were escorted by HTS fighters.

Last week Russia demanded that Turkey do more to tackle the militants in Idlib province and fulfil those original Sochi promises. As Erdogan, Putin and the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani return to Sochi for a summit today; the pressure on Turkey will be immense.

There is a broader game afoot here. If Erdogan really wants Putins support for his strategy towards the Kurds, he will first have to hand over the Islamic militants in Idlib. And in Putins efforts to slowly break the Islamist hold on Idlib, he must square the circle of Turkeys ambiguous meddling. He seems to have the backing of the Arab states to carry out the work, but the danger is that HTS might have entrenched itself to the point that its removal will be deeply painful for everyone involved.
Two teenage girls whose lives have been driven by their beliefs made headline news this week. One sits stateless and heavily pregnant in a squalid refugee camp in Northern Syria, begging to come back to Britain. The other young woman refuses to attend school on Fridays and stages a weekly protest outside the Swedish parliament, holding a placard reading School Strike for the Climate.

Greta Thunbergs campaign to force adults to stop prevaricating and act to save the planet has inspired thousands of like-minded young people. School strikes on Fridays have taken place in Belgium, Australia, Switzerland and the USA  and this week, Great Britain. Events culminate on 15 March with a global protest.

Greta was just 15 when she started her one-woman campaign. Since then she has addressed world leaders in Davos, given a TEDtalk and never wavered from achieving her goal. She travels by train, refuses to eat meat and has converted her own parents to her cause. Greta has spent seven years studying the effects of climate change and practises what she preaches. Her idealism and charisma have made her a poster girl for her generation. Middle-class adults, and quite a few teachers, think Greta is great  because fighting for climate change is an attractive proposition. So we cut the striking kids some slack.

Another young woman, Shamima Begum, was also 15 when she was drawn to an idealistic set of beliefs. She grew up in a close-knit (some might say too inward looking) Muslim community where most girls wear headscarves and women generally run the home, look after children and do not participate much socially outside the family circle. It is still very much a mans world.

Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Show all 17 1 /17 Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Nagan, 12, is one of 180,000 Syrian refugee children Unicef has identified as OOSC (Out Of School Children) who have been forced into work in Lebanon Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year The majestic snow capped mountains overlooking al-Wafa refugee camp in Arsal, Lebanon. It is home to 700 refugees who fled their homes at the outbreak of civil war in 2012 Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Fuda al-Bareesh, 92, spends her days in solitude at Alsalam 2 camp in Arsal, Lebanon. She made the journey from Syria across the mountains alone on a donkey Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Kareemah, 21, mother of two from Chebaa, southern Lebanon. She is unsure how her family will be able to afford basics like food and fuel if aid is cut off Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Exercising patience in the cold, men and women wait to collect winter fuel at Alsalam camp, Arsal. Gifted by Muslim Aid UK donors, each family receives 20 litres  enough for two days of continuous heat Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year The view to the snow covered mountains through the cracked pane of glass at al-Wafa camp Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year At al-Wafa refugee camp in Arsal, Abdul Al Moamen, 10, sits in tears Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Ahmed, 3, helps his eldest brother to move the empty plastic jerry cans along the line as they get refilled at a fuel distribution centre Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Qaram, 8, was orphaned when her father was killed by Isis. She is in desperate need of an operation to save her sight. Instead of going to school, she works eight-hour shifts each day on a nearby farm Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Ahmed Fawzi, Lebanon country director for Muslim Aid, comforts Abdul al-Moamen Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Bisan, 5, plays with friends in among puddles of rainwater from recent storms Norma and Miriam Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Amina Safadi is a beneficiary of the Primary Healthcare Centre in Chebaa, Lebanon. The ICRC-accredited facility welcomes the most marginalised Lebanese residents as well as Syrian refugees. Safadi says she has no idea what she would do if the service was unavailable Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year The queue for fuel at a fuel distribution centre in Arsal Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Hadi, 6, waits with aid workers whilst his mother collects heating fuel for the familys stove Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Fuel bowser delivers aid to the 700 residents at al-Wafa camp Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year The child workers of Lebanon. Unicef says 180,000 children are working on farms and in factories Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Ahmed Slabi and his five children. What are my choices now for me and my family? It's bad here or worse in Syria. He feels dependent on international aid, a social pariah and beggar in a country that is not his own Paddy Dowling

The police had become concerned that some girls in East London were being groomed by Isis, using other young women to lure them to Syria with all sorts of promises via social media. Its easy to see how any 15 year old who grows up within a conservative, restrictive community would find messages like these appealing and exotic.

The police gave Shamima and her friends letters to give to their parents warning about the dangers of radicalisation, which were later found in their schoolbags. Thats no surprise. The grooming and persuasive tactics clearly worked. In February 2015, Shamima Begum and two of her classmates left their homes in Bethnal Green, East London, and flew to Turkey, where they travelled to Syria and married Isis fighters.

Over the next four years, Shamima gave birth to two children, both of whom died, probably due to malnutrition and the lack of medical supplies. She saw unspeakable violence and beheadings, and lived in utter squalor, moving from place to place. Her husband was taken away and tortured for months on end. This is not an existence you would wish on any teenager, not matter how repulsive their beliefs. I can imagine the effect that losing two babies far from home could have had on her mental stability. Now, we want Shamima to repent, to appear contrite and to denounce the group to whom she has given some of the best years of her life. Are we surprised she seems reluctant or too scared to do so?

Unlike Greta, Shamima is poorly educated, with a narrow view of the world. She has seen a lot, but learnt little. On the other hand, who would want to be their 15-year-old self again? To live by those teenage beliefs, those silly prejudices and passions? I was an insufferable snob, convinced my parents were imposters who had picked up the wrong child. I was determined to shed my working class background and read all sorts of pretentious twaddle.

 Shamima Begum: British Isis member who fled to Syria 'has right to return to UK'

A civilised society should be strong enough to re-admit a silly, misguided young woman to return to her birthplace. Is offering mercy and forgiveness such a dangerous tactic? If we let another of Shamimas children die then Britain is adopting the same low tactics as the organisations we proscribe. Theres also the danger that Shamima could be turned into a martyr by Isis if anything happens to her. Surely Britain is robust enough to absorb her and any of the other 100 or so other girls who were also tempted to join fighters in Syria?

The home secretary says he will not hesitate to prevent Shamimas return. She must face the full force of the law, prosecution, and possible confinement. Experts say it will be difficult to change her beliefs, to de-radicalise her. Social workers in her community do not agree. They see the case as a starting point, a chance to open up a closed community, to start a dialogue. Shamimas family might want her to return to them, but it might be better if she first spent some time in a neutral environment, calmly considering what being British really means.

Our universities seem determined to no platform people whose beliefs students find difficult or dangerous. We mustnt fall into the trap of applying those criteria to society at large. People can hold offensive, even repugnant beliefs in Britain, as long as they dont break the law. Shamima needs to understand that.

Jack Dorsey has buried his head in the sand over Twitter abuse

Jack Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter, says some dumb things  usually on his own app. A few weeks ago, he tweeted: I recently did a three day water fast. Biggest thing I notice is how much time slows down when not broken up by breakfast/lunch/dinner.anyone else have this experience?

One wit replied  Venezuelans.

This week, Dorsey conducted a 90 minute interview with news website Recode via Twitter (not the easiest format for a serious head to head), and claimed that the most exciting tweeter was Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla. Yes, the same Elon Musk who tweeted that a British diver who helped rescue the schoolboys trapped in underground caves was a pedo.

Dorsey admits that Twitter has not done enough to prevent users being attacked and vilified and says he would award himself just a C for tech responsibility, adding weve made progress, but it has been scattered and not felt enough. When told that people felt good when they did not spend time tweeting, he said it feels terrible.

Women in public life have been particularly targeted by malicious tweets  Yvette Cooper allegedly received death threats directed at her children before the EU referendum: a man has now been arrested and bailed. I have blocked or muted more than 40 people for consistently slagging off my appearance or calling me a racist and spreading lies. Recruiters for Isis and other hate groups consistently use Twitter to recruit new members.

Dorsey says he want Twitter to empower people and feel they are learning something. Most of the time Im just learning new insults. He says hes considering an edit button so users can modify or explain old tweets. Id be happier if abusers were kicked off for good. At the moment, they just open new accounts.
As readers may know Shamima Begum left the United Kingdom in 2014 to join Isis as a jihadi bride. After losing two consecutive children due to the harsh living conditions in Raqqa, she is now nine months pregnant with her third child. She has petitioned to the UK government to be allowed to return to her home land to give birth and raise her child. It is in my opinion that she should indeed be allowed to come back.

Firstly, we should turn our attention to her unborn child. Since the mother is a UK national, the child by extension should also have a right to be brought up in UK. It may be true that the mother committed treachery against the UK government by going to Syria and allying with an enemy of the state. However, in the same breath, the child itself is innocent of any crimes or sin. It is for this reason that we should take this matter with great sympathy. As far as to whether she has committed any crimes, then she should be dealt with the appropriate process of justice.

If found guilty, she should certainly receive the due punishment. If she is found not guilty, she may still be a threat to society and therefore, I would advise the government to carefully monitor her activities in the UK for a sustained period of time. But this does not detract from the innocence of the child. It is out of pure consideration for her unborn that I think she should be allowed to return.

Sabah Uddin Ahmedi

Address supplied

As prime minister of Albania, I object to my country being called the Colombia of Europe

I write in response to your recent feature describing Albania as the Colombia of Europe. Compared with other European nations, let alone with the worst drug economies of South America, Albania is far from being a drugs capital. Your report was based on a world as it once was; but huge progress has been made since my government took office in 2013.

Yes, in the past authorities have protected the drugs gangs, with police steered away from gang-controlled areas, including Lazarati, which became a lawless hot spot. As part of our programme for European integration and adoption of EU standards, we ordered an immediate crackdown when my government came into power. It took several years of struggle but we have been successful.

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The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. 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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. 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Cannabis cultivation in Albania has been virtually eliminated, a fact verified by Italys Guardia di Finanza through EU-sponsored aerial monitoring.

We are playing a full part in international efforts to curb the flow of drugs from elsewhere through our region to Northern Europe. We have joined forces with Europol, Interpol, Frontex and our Balkan neighbours to target the criminal organisations behind this vile trade. And we have recently initiated an ambitious programme of criminal asset confiscation.

Removing corrupt judges, prosecutors and police fuels a backlash. A small but vocal minority in Albania would prefer a return to the old days. They make themselves accessible to roving journalists perhaps unfamiliar with Albanias difficult pre-2013 history. As Albania accelerates along its path to EU membership, media interest is natural and expected. But we would like the whole story to be told, not just sensational and baseless headlines.

On another note, may I add my support to your Final Say campaign on Brexit. As a long-standing admirer of the UK, I am one of many European leaders who hopes that in the coming weeks and months the country finds a way to revisit the decision to leave the EU. We would all be weaker without the UK in the EU.

Edi Rama

Prime minister of Albania

The country is split

I dont entirely follow Clive Lewiss reasoning that, by failing to oppose Brexit, Labour will lose the next election, because I have read that while a majority of Labour members wish to remain in the EU, a majority of Labour voters wish to leave. With the country more or less split down the middle its hard to see how anyone can reconcile the two diametrically opposed positions.

I think what is much more likely to damage Labours electoral chances is the destructive antagonism of certain of its MPs, which is relentless. We are now hearing of a breakaway group wanting to form a new party  I fear their hubris is misleading them about how successful this might be. After all, Jeremy Corbyn brought Labour to within a hairs breadth of winning the last election, something Ed Miliband failed to do with his more middle of the road policies. And the Liberal Democrats consistently fail to make progress with the electorate, only having got into shared government when being used to prop up David Camerons lot, and more fool them.

Perhaps those passionately wishing to avoid leaving the EU are more obsessed with the issue than a significant portion of the electorate, who may be anxiously waiting for a Labour government to relieve their poverty, their worries about the NHS, the environment, and their feelings of hopelessness engendered by the callousness of the present government, and the two that preceded it.

Penny Little

Great Haseley

Its time the United States repeals its outdated Second Amendment

The 14th of February 2018 marks the anniversary of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School  the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that stirred a nations outrage at the epidemic of gun violence. The shooter, armed with a military style semi-automatic AR-15, gunned down 17 students, staff and teachers in just three minutes. Several of the students who survived rose to national prominence taking aim at the hall of shame  the NRA and the politicians who put profit over peoples lives. Sadly, Never again becomes the rallying cry after each mass shooting.

The nation owes a debt of gratitude to the organisers of March for Our Lives who mobilised the youth vote nationwide for the midterm elections and nearly defeated the pro-gun candidates in the Parkland students home state of Florida. Nearly 1,200 children have died from gun violence in the year following the Parkland shooting. Thats three to four a day. This is a national outrage. It is time we take aim at the real villain: the Second Amendment.

This was relevant at the birth of our nation when states had legitimate fears of an overbearing tyrannical federal government but has no place in todays society. Retired Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens is a vigorous advocate for repealing the Second Amendment. We should heed his wise words. Finally, it is time we demand revocation of the NRAs non-profit status.

Jagjit Singh

California

Thank God for the NHS

Goodness, how lucky am I? In late September, I was given a CT scan and was diagnosed as having non-Hodgkin lymphoma in my right upper chest cavity (I say diagnosed because Id had a similar complaint in my neck 23 years ago). This was confirmed by a needle biopsy on 4 October.

On 22 October, I commenced a chemotherapy course, which has just concluded.

On 2 January, I had a high temperature and attended the A&E department in Carlisle. I was seen by a nurse within 20 minutes, and admitted to the department for immediate treatment and assessment. Within three hours I was on the general medical ward, and put on an antibiotic drip. The following day I was diagnosed with flu, and put in isolation (Id had the flu jab in the autumn, but this was a different strain, apparently). I was kept in hospital for five days.

To read the article in todays paper almost breaks my heart, particularly when I learn of the young lady who had to wait so long between diagnosis and treatment.

Is it a lottery? Am I fortunate enough to live in an area of such NHS care & expertise (or, perhaps of low population density)?

Regardless, I am so grateful for the care that I have received.

Paul Warren

Brampton

Antisemitism is and has always been a right-wing problem

Recent figures show that antisemitism is rising sharply across Europe with France reporting a 74 per cent rise in offences against Jews and Germany recording a 60 per cent increase in violent attacks.

Frederic Potier of the French governments anti-racism unit Dilcrah argues: We are witnessing the resurgence of a virulent, far-right identity politics that does not hesitate to put its beliefs into action.

There is a very real, dangerous and growing existential threat to minorities including Jews but, contrary to those who are organising a baseless smear campaign against the life-long anti-racist Jeremy Corbyn, it doesnt come from the Labour Party or those further to the left.

It comes from where it has always come from  fascists and the far right.

Those making false charges of antisemitism against Corbyns Labour Party must stop. Their campaign only serves to disorientate and undermine the anti-racist struggle and it helps the real antisemites.

An old enemy is reviving across Europe and beyond, and anti-racists need to unite and confront it while we have the time to do it.

We dare not repeat the mistakes of the 1930s. Disunity among the left in Germany back then allowed the Nazis to take power.

We need maximum unity to push the resurgent racists back into the gutter where they belong.

Sasha Simic

London N16
Ghadanfar Rokon Abadi was Irans senior intelligence officer in Beirut in the late 1990s. I met him many times and he was always frank about Irans support for Hezbollah in Lebanon; he even spoke to students at a Christian university in east Beirut to explain why his country supported Syria. He was not very convincing: claiming that the Syrian revolution had nothing to do with poverty or oppression was a hard sell. He arrived back in Beirut as ambassador  and be sure, even more senior intelligence officer  in 2010, and subsequently herded then-president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad  a crackpot if ever there was one  on a tour of southern Lebanon.

But in November 2013, two suicide bombers attacked the Iranian embassy in Beirut, killing 23 employees, Hezbollah guards and civilians who fell from their high-storey balconies when the explosion blasted through the streets. The attack was claimed by the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, named after a former lecturer in Saudi Arabia who would later help to found al-Qaeda, and was intended to destroy the entire embassy compound.

The Iranians believed the Saudis were behind the attack. The Saudis, as always, denied it. The bombers never got through the gates, and so their intended target, Ambassador Ghadanfar Rokon Abadi, survived. For less than another two years.

For in September 2015, now one of his countrys top diplomats (and still an intelligence officer, of course), he made the Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and was one of those among the more than 2,300 men and women killed in the Mecca stampede. Among the 464 Iranians to die were a number of Iranian officials, of whom Rokon Abadi was one.

Was this really a tragedy, the Iranians asked, or something more sinister? The Saudis denied wrongdoing. But Iranians close to the ex-ambassador and his personal friends were enraged when the Saudis failed to return his remains for burial  for many months. And in the words of a man who knew him well and who called me in fury after the body was sent to Tehran, when he came back, they had taken out all his insides  his heart, his stomach, everything was gone.

Something perverse? Well, now, after the remains of Jamal Khashoggi have not turned up in Istanbul following his murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, we have to ask this question. Those who fall foul of the rulers of the Saudi state must surely be made accountable. What happened to the body of Ghadanfar Rokon Abadi? Is the UN special adviser on unburied corpses aware of Khashoggis predecessors remains? Its a very distressing question.

Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Show all 7 1 /7 Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Jamal Khashoggi Washington Post journalist who was critical of the Saudi regime and the young Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, he was murdered on 2 October in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul AFP Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Heir to the Saudi throne, Mohammed bin Salman has been implicated in the murder, with US officials claiming that he must have known of the plot AFP/Getty Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures 15 man hit squad Turkish police suspect these 15 men of being involved in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, issued 10 October, 8 days after the journalist disappeared EPA Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Saud al-Qahtani Aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saud al-Qahtani is claimed to have ordered Khashoggi's murder Saud Al-Qahtani/Twitter Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb A former diplomat who often travelled with the Crown Prince, Mutreb was initially claimed to be the leader of the hit squad and is pictured here entering the Saudi consulate on the day of the murder AP Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Mustafa al-Madani First implicated in the 15 CCTV photos released by the Turkish police, al-Madani was later found to have been used as a body double for Khashoggi, leaving the Saudi consulate dressed in his clothes on the day the journalist was killed CNN Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Salah bin Jamal Khashoggi (L) Son of the murdered journalist met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on 23 October EPA

Its also a very frightening one. For the battle between Iran and Saudi Arabia is a fearful, damaging and very worrying conflict which has already killed thousands of innocents in Yemen  with the help of American and UK personnel  and which continues to slaughter Afghani and Iraqi militiamen in Syria. I have myself seen, with my own eyes, Iraqi Shia armed groups in battlefields north-west of Aleppo and Afghan groups being taken to the greatest mosque in Damascus, and wounded Afghan fighters returning home to Tehran  via Damascus  after fighting for Syrian government forces in the north of the country.

In Tehran, a whole-wall poster praises the martyr who died for Shia Islam in the Bosnian war. These things are taken very seriously in the lands of Shiism. In the year of centenaries  of 1918 and 1919  the years of 1980 to 1986 have their own gruesome memories. Every year, the loved ones of this terrifying war visit the memorials of the epic battle which gave Iran its sovereignty.

Those who claim to understand Iran  Elliot Abrams, for existence, Trumps new man for Venezuela  should read about this six-year war, and undertake to learn what it meant, and still means, for Iran. A million Iranians died so that their revolution should sustain and keep alive their belief in Islam, albeit corrupted and twisted by their successors. The protestors on the streets of the Iranian capital this week were not trucked into town for demonstrations: many of them lost their loved ones in a war to end all wars. Gas? Yes, they remember that, although we choose to forget that the gas fomenters came from New Jersey in the US.

So the monumental, epic war between Sunnis (for which read: Saudi Arabia) and the Shias (for which read: Iran) is much more than a mere row between Israel and Iran this past week. It is pitiful to listen to Netanyahu blathering on about the last anniversary of the revolution they [the Iranians] will celebrate if Iran attacks Tel Aviv. It is equally pitiful to listen to a Revolutionary Guards commander claiming that Iran could demolish entire cities in Israel if the US attacked Iran. Entire cities were indeed destroyed in the 1980-86 war. We do not need to be told that it can happen all over again.

 Saudi crown prince says Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei is 'very much like Hitler'

But we should remember how deeply these matters can be used  and re-used  by the Saudis and the Iranians. By chance, an expert on the Shia-Sunni schism  she would not like this phrase  was in Dublin last week to talk about the misapprehension of Islamic culture in the West. Stephanie Mulder, a Texas teacher in Islamic art and architecture, has studied medieval shrines in Syria, and learned how they were venerated by both Sunnis and Shias, an architecture of coexistence, as the subtitle of her new paperback says. This is, of course, not a volume to be read by pro-Saudi Netanyahu or Israel-hating Revolutionary Guards. Or Elliot Abrams.

Because we are supposed to believe in the titanic schism between Sunnis and Shias, between the pro-Western Sunnis led by the modernist Mohammed bin Salman (or, at least, MBS until real modernist Khashoggi had his head chopped off) and the Iranian mullahs (who have allowed women to drive for decades after the revolution). We are supposed to believe that Elliot Abrams understood the Iranian revolution  as he no doubt understands the Venezuelan revolution  because he wanted to liberate the people of Islam.

The truth is that there is a vicious war going on between the Sunnis and the Shias of the Middle East, encouraged by the West. Perhaps the latest version started with the 1979 siege of the great mosque at Mecca  where French gendarmes were briefly Islamicised before flooding the mosque basement rebels to death  or perhaps on 9/11, whose Saudi perpetrators have been gently forgotten. But we should keep our eyes on the uses that are made of this war. And learn more about it.
It seemed for a brief second that Trump had been able to reach a compromise with the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. The fact that he had to sign off a bill in the Senate that would avert another highly unpopular government shutdown meant he could have blamed the failure to deliver his Mexican border wall on the Democrats and still retained some credibility with his MAGA fans. Because this was never really about a wall or immigration. It was a stunt pulled straight from reality TV to keep ratings high.

Trumps presidency is the real national emergency, wrote Representative Ruben Gallego on Twitter, and as well as expressing a sentiment that many an American would agree with, also drew attention to an important fact. There is no universally agreed-upon definition of a national emergency in any part of the US political system. This means that the president has the option to declare one when he or she (well, lets face it, he) sees fit, according to his own judgement and discretion. George W Bush declared a national emergency in the days following 9/11, for example.

Almost all active national emergencies  of which there are 31  concern either terrorism or blocking money or exports going into certain countries (think North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Yemen, Libya, South Sudan, Iran.) Declaring a national emergency in relation to the Mexican border should require something as serious as the destabilisation in Somalia in 2010 or a relationship that has depreciated to the extent of Americas with North Korea in 2008. To declare a national emergency on the Mexican border in 2019 on the basis of illegal immigration, when most illegal immigrants who come to the United States do so by overstaying their legal visas and usually fly in rather than approaching the southern border on foot, is definitely unorthodox.

At the height of the (ongoing) European refugee crisis, when hundreds of boats per day were traversing the Mediterranean carrying thousands of people fleeing conflict or economic hardship, over a million people arrived (1,015,078 to be precise, in 2015.) That works out as 2,781 people per day. In support of Trumps wall, Republican Senator Ron Johnson claimed that close to 2,000 people per day were approaching US ports of entry illegally. Politifact has debunked this number, although their workings did show that if the size of the migrant caravan from South America had been correctly estimated, then that amount of people could be expected to legally ask for asylum per day for some time after its arrival.

Bear in mind that the US has more territory than the entirety of the EU, and the EU countries combined already have more citizens so are more densely populated. And the EU can absorb this number of refugees and migrants just fine, whatever Nigel Farage might tell you.

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

Trump knows that he cant just declare an emergency and have the wall built tomorrow. Hes likely to face legal challenges; he could even be blocked by Congress, if the Senate and the House choose to work together to prevent him from implementing his plan. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi responded to the announcement that he would declare a state of emergency by saying that she knows Republicans arent happy about the cost of the wall themselves. The implication was clear: the combined forces of anti-ICE, soft-socialist Democrats compassionate about immigration and anti-tax, libertarian Republicans horrified by the idea of what could be levelled on US taxpayers might end the dream of a fully realised wall costing more than $5bn.

There are some excellent conservative arguments against the wall, even if youre not convinced by the liberal ones. Whichever way you look at it, the construction of this concrete/steel-slatted/bead curtain behemoth doesnt make any sense for America. Calling for it to be built is probably the most selfish thing Donald Trump has ever done.

Perhaps the president thought, as his approval ratings failed to rally, that he had to put on a show of being more serious about his promises. Perhaps he saw that one government shutdown and then angry tweets about having to make deals with the Democrats wasnt enough for the people who chanted: Build the wall! at his well-attended rallies. He knows such issues resonate with his fan base (see: splitting up families at the border and the so-called Muslim travel ban), and he knows that a little stirring of the pot can produce big results when needed.

Those approval ratings have jumped today (though they were on a slow but steady upward trajectory ever since the shutdown). If we assume that is what Trump really cared about all along, then he might make a show of being shackled by the Democrats and talk up the funding he did get for border reinforcements. In other words, we can expect that he might repeat the PR strategy he hoped would work last time, now hes upped the ante.

Presumably Donald Trump was only as serious about build the wall as he was about lock her up  this tangerine narcissist has shown very little concern about the country hes leading and a huge amount of concern about his own image over the last couple of years. And this is, after all, the same man who tweeted that he was ideologically opposed to declaring arbitrary national emergencies  Repubs must not allow Pres Obama to subvert the Constitution of the US for his own benefit & because he is unable to negotiate w/ Congress  back in 2014. But one wonders what will happen when his ire-ridden fan base realises his boldest slogans rarely translate into comparable action. How do you avoid the monumentally bad optics of that?
Picturesque Mermaid Pools in Matapouri in New Zealand have been closed indefinitely after human waste and litter were repeatedly found at the sacred Maori site.

Sanitary towels, sunscreen, urine and other rubbish were discarded at the site, which is also known as Te Wai o Te Taniwha.

The failure to respect the delicate ecosystem of the pools, which are also recognised as taonga  a highly prized sacred object or space  by indigenous people, has resulted in the group Te Whanau a Rangiwhakaahu Hapu confirming that a rahui  a temporary ritual prohibition  would be placed over the pools.

Its a step we had to take, Kris MacDonald, the chairman of the Matapouri marae, told Stuff.

There is no point in having a beautiful taonga like this if its going to be killed by too many people.

Its got to the point now where we have to do something, he said.

The popularity of the pools has intensified due to people sharing social media posts featuring them, leading to up to 1,000 visitors to access the site every weekend.

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MacDonald said that the closure could last for a number of years, until the taonga recovers.

Te Whanau a Rangiwhakaahu Hapu are working in conjunction with the Department of Conservation and Northland Regional Council to address the problem. MacDonald said that the decision had garnered much support.

One local resident said, The place is no longer safe for swimming. People are defecating and leaving their sanitary pads lying about. Also, all kinds of other rubbish and waste.

The New Zealand government confirmed that 3.86 million visitors entered the country in 2018.

Popularised as a tourist destination by the Lord of the Rings film franchise, New Zealand is one of a raft of countries struggling to maintain the fine balance between sustainable tourism and overtourism.
No present-day plane can compete with the Airbus A380 for passenger passion. We adore the double-decker.

For another airliner that has aroused anything like the same adulation, you must reach back to Concorde. Which, I contend, demonstrates that the more that passengers love an aircraft, the less it appeals to airline accountants  and, by extension, the people who order planes.

I have been covering the SuperJumbo since it was a drawing-board project called the A3XX. As the design took shape, the marketing team chose to award it the same designation as the Torquay bypass.

The first A380 I saw (not counting the trunk road that loops west under Torbay) was, rather appropriately, flying over the super-jumbo-sized municipal swimming pool in Toulouse. I floated, mesmerised, as the giant aircraft floated overhead on an early test flight from the nearby Airbus factory. Ever since I have been looking optimistically skywards to see if I can spot the implausible bulk of the four-engined monster.

More even than the Boeing 747, there is an enduring sense of wonder that such a vast machine can get off the ground, let alone carry 500 people from one side of the world to the other  safely and comfortably. Concorde once had similar cachet.

Jet cemetery: Where do aircraft go when airlines go to the wall? Show all 3 1 /3 Jet cemetery: Where do aircraft go when airlines go to the wall? Jet cemetery: Where do aircraft go when airlines go to the wall? 273484.bin JOHN LAWRENCE Jet cemetery: Where do aircraft go when airlines go to the wall? 273485.bin JOHN LAWRENCE Jet cemetery: Where do aircraft go when airlines go to the wall? 273486.bin JOHN LAWRENCE

The A380 is even better to fly in than it is to look at, at least relative to economy class on other aircraft. When I conducted a Twitter poll for the favourite aircraft for an overnight 10-hour flight in economy, the SuperJumbo was rated way ahead of the competition  even against its much more modern sibling, the A350, and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Having flown on a range of A380s, the difference is clear. British Airways and Singapore Airlines have an economy section at the back of the upper deck, configured eight-abreast and bestowed with an air of quiet calm  feeling rather like premium economy but without the premium. Even on the main deck, there is a generous sense of space.

While the A380s main deck cabin is wide enough for 11 seats abreast, no airline has installed more than 10 across. Contrast that with the long-haul workhorse, the Boeing 777  which began in a nine-abreast configuration but now has a default of 10 across.

The worst long-haul flight I have experienced was on an Air France 777 into which no fewer than 468 passengers had been crammed  just one seat fewer than the capacity British Airways offers on its A380.

No wonder the dull, cramped Boeing twin-jet has outsold the spacious SuperJumbo by six to one: the economics are far better. Passengers prefer the A380, but the premium we are prepared to pay collectively is not enough to support its ownership and running costs.

Next weekend, I am flying via the Gulf to India. Emirates, offering A380 comfort via Dubai, was priced 80 higher than Gulf Air via Bahrain. I bought the latter.

The A380 would be even more of a financial basket case were it not for the bold decision by Emirates to buy up half the worlds supply of SuperJumbo jets. Moving people 500 or 600 at a time through Dubai works for a surprisingly wide range of routes (when the A380 first took to the skies, I bet the bosses of Birmingham and Glasgow airports werent expecting to welcome daily arrivals and departures).

But in downsizing its plane order to smaller single-deck Airbuses, Emirates is drawing attention to the Achilles heel of the A380: there are simply not enough routes where so many empty seats can reliably be filled.

Airbus was betting that the A380 would come good. As hub airports became ever more congested, the theory went, orders would pick up. But I imagine the firm is glad that it can stop running a loss-making production line within a couple of years.

If you have not yet enjoyed flying aboard the plane, dont fret. Peak A380 will occur with the final delivery in 2021. After that the numbers will start to dwindle, but Emirates will still be filling the planes a decade later. And who knows: as the SuperJumbo acquires some rarity value, perhaps we will be willing to pay more to keep the amazing Airbus aloft for many more years.
The A380 is on its last legs, one media outlet reported after this weeks news that Airbus is to stop making the double-decker plane. Well, even though the last A380 will roll off the production line in 2021, reports of its imminent extinction are premature. There is plenty more life in the old plane yet.

Agreed, the very first editions of the plane  delivered to Singapore Airlines and flying in 2007 and 2008  are now being broken up for parts. That lack of secondhand demand for what was a very expensive aircraft and has been scrupulously well looked after is, no doubt, one reason production is stopping. Any buyer of a machine that costs 200m is going to be interested in what they might reasonably expect to sell it on for after a decade. But another ex-Singapore Airlines A380 is now with Hi Fly, the Portuguese charter specialist. And others may well be snapped up  perhaps by existing A380 owners.

British Airways is no stranger to large, long-in-the-tooth aircraft. It has a fleet of 34 Boeing 747s, all of which were built in the 20th century. Some of them will still be flying five years from now. They are superbly maintained and endlessly refreshed internally. Equally important, they cost virtually nothing to own. If the price is right for the cast-offs from Qantas or Singapore Airlines, British Airways could be interested in buying some decade-old big jets to replace its dwindling 747s.

BA looks to me a potential buyer for four reasons. First, its home base is the most slot-constricted airport in the world: London Heathrow. (One reason Emirates has so many A380s is that it can extract maximum value from its slots at LHR.) With the 747s on the way out, it is possible the average passenger load per BA flight could actually start to fall. Expanding the current fleet of 12 A380s would counter this trend.

Next, it has plenty of experience of the aircraft type, from maintenance to galley operations to filling the things with passengers and cargo.

World's safest airlines 2019 Show all 19 1 /19 World's safest airlines 2019 World's safest airlines 2019 Eva Air Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 Austrian Airlines Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 KLM Getty World's safest airlines 2019 Qatar Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 Lufthansa Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 Hawaiian Airlines Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 Alaska Airlines Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 SAS Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 Finnair Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 Emirates Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 Cathay Pacific Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 British Airways Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 Singapore Airlines Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 All Nippon Airways Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 Air New Zealand Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 Swiss Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 American Airlines Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 United Getty Images World's safest airlines 2019 Virgin Atlantic and Australia Getty Images

Third, assuming continued rise in passenger numbers, the plane looks just right for some BA routes where traffic is outgrowing the single daily 777  Buenos Aires is a prime example.

The final reason is passenger preference. While the refrain from many aviation professionals has been that the A380 has too many engines, not enough seats, BA does not have a problem with either of these facets. Indeed, some of its 747s are configured with just 275 seats. Lots of space is devoted to premium cabins to keep travellers happy.

Since there is clear preference (though not necessary abject loyalty) for the Superjumbo, British Airways may steal a march on its rivals by offering the plane against the 777 or A330, which are both 1990s designs.

BA may even find that Gatwick is a good home for some A380s. Its long-haul fleet at the Sussex airport is all-Boeing 777, which does not give it much flexibility. And with Virgin Atlantic a constant thorn in the side on many routes, the A380 could help British Airways get an edge  as well as make the most of its slots at an airport that is ever-more crowded.

Dont expect to be boarding a Superjumbo from Gatwick to Orlando just yet, but dont be surprised if BA starts to dabble in the secondhand market soon. Yes, the costs of reconfiguring an A380 to a British Airways spec will be prodigious, but the sums could still add up  which would be good news for long-haul BA passengers in the long run.
Some 900 British citizens have left the country to join Isis over the past seven years.

The chaos of the Syrian civil war opened the way for the terror group to transform from an underground insurgency and expand, eventually leading to the declaration of an Islamic State across Iraq and Syria.

The promise of a life under its strict interpretation of Islam acted as a lightning rod for British jihadists and sympathisers. Some went to fight for the group, others went to live as citizens of the self-declared state.

That exodus sparked a security crisis for the British intelligence services, who feared those citizens may one day return to carry out attacks.

Many of them disappeared from view for years, living their lives in the extremist groups captured lands. But as the caliphate crumbles, they are beginning to emerge again.

Shamima Begum, one of three teenage girls who left their lives in Bethnal Green in London in 2015, turned up at a displacement camp in northern Syria this week, declaring her wish to return to the UK.

More than 200 those who left are still unaccounted for. There are thought to be around 20 British women and children currently in displacement camps in northern Syria, and potentially more than a dozen still yet to emerge from the last pocket of Isis-held territory.

Kadiza Sultana, Amira Abase and Shamima Begum

Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16 and Amira Abase, 15, fled to Syria in February 2015 (Metropolitan Police/EPA)

The three friends, aged 15 and 16 at the time, fled to Syria via Turkey after disappearing during the Easter holidays in 2015.

The schoolgirls, who attended Bethnal Green Academy, are believed to have been radicalised online and encouraged to join Isis. They had been questioned by police in December 2014 after another girl from the school travelled to Syria but were not found to be at risk.

Kadizas family said she became disillusioned after her arrival in Raqqa and the death of her husband, an American Isis fighter of Somali descent. Her parents were told she was killed in a Russian air strike on the city in May.

Little had been heard from Begum until she appeared in al-Hol camp, northern Syria, this week. Now 19, she said in an interview with The Times that she wanted to come home.

Timeline of the Isis caliphate Show all 19 1 /19 Timeline of the Isis caliphate Timeline of the Isis caliphate ISIS began as a group by the merging of extremist organisations ISI and al-Nusra in 2013. Following clashes, Syrian rebels captured the ISIS headquarters in Aleppo in January 2014 (pictured) AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared the creation of a caliphate in Mosul on 27 June 2014 Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis conquered the Kurdish towns of Sinjar and Zumar in August 2014, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Pictured are a group of Yazidi Kurds who have fled Rex Timeline of the Isis caliphate On September 2 2014 Isis released a video depicting the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff. On September 13 they released another video showing the execution of British aid worker David Haines Timeline of the Isis caliphate The US launched its first airstrikes against Isis in Syria on 23 September 2014. Here Lt Gen William C Mayville Jnr speaks about the bombing campaign in the wake of the first strikes Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis militants sit atop a hill planted with their flag in the Syrian town of Kobani on 6 October 2014. They had been advancing on Kobani since mid-September and by now was in control of the citys entrance and exit points AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Residents of the border village of Alizar keep guard day and night as they wait in fear of mortar fire from Isis who have occupied the nearby city of Kobani Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Smoke rises following a US airstrike on Kobani, 28 October 2014 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate YPG fighters raise a flag as they reclaim Kobani on 26 January 2015 VOA Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis seized the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on 20 May 2015. This image show the city from above days after its capture by Isis Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Kurdish forces are stationed on a hill above the town of Sinjar as smoke rises following US airstrikes on 12 November 2015 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Kurdish forces enter Sinjar after seizing it from Isis control on 13 November 2015 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Iraqi government forces make the victory sign as they retake the city of Fallujah from ISIS on 26 June 2016 Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Iraqi forces battle with Isis for the city of Mosul on 30 June 2017 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Members of the Iraqi federal police raise flags in Mosul on 8 July 2017. On the following day, Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi declares victory over Isis in Mosul Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Members of Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Female fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim Square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Trucks full of women and children arrive from the last Isis-held areas in Deir ez-Zor, Syria in January 2019 They were among the last civilians to be living in the ISIS caliphate, by this time reduced to just two small villages in Syrias Deir ez-Zor Richard Hall/The Independent Timeline of the Isis caliphate Zikia Ibrahim, 28, with her two-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, after fleeing the Isis caliphate, on Saturday 26 January 2019 Richard Hall/The Independent

I dont regret coming here, she said. I just want to come home to have my child. Ill do anything required just to be able to come home and live quietly with my child.

She said she had heard that Abase, one of the two girls she fled to Syria with, might still be alive.

Mohammed Emwazi, aka Jihadi John

Emwazi was on the radar of authorities before he fled to Syria (AFP)

Mohammed Emwazi was a computer programmer who moved to London aged six from Kuwait and later studied at the University of Westminster. Emwazi was on the radar of intelligence agencies, but he managed to slip through the net and travel to Syria in 2013.

While there he was part of a group an execution squad made up of four British Isis members who were dubbed The Beatles for their British accents.

He became known to the world after appearing in execution videos of western hostages, including American journalist James Foley, UK aid worker David Haines and taxi driver Alan Henning.

He was killed in a drone strike in November 2015.

Alexanda Amon Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, aka The Beatles

Alexanda Amon Kotey, left, and El Shafee Elsheikh, were allegedly among four British jihadis who made up a cell dubbed The Beatles (AP)

Alexanda Amon Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh were part of the notorious Beatles execution squad, along with Emwazi. The group is thought to be responsible for the beheading of more than 27 hostages and the torture of many others.

Elsheikh, the son of Sudanese refugees, was a car mechanic before he left for Syria in 2012. Kotey was born in the UK to a Ghanaian father and a Greek Cypriot mother.

The pair were arrested by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in January 2018 while trying to flee Isis territory, and have been in the groups custody ever since. The UK has reportedly stripped them of their citizenship, and plans to send them to the US to face prosecution.

In interviews since their capture, the pair deny they played a part in executions.

Aqsa Mahmood

Aqsa Mahmood had previously praised terror attacks on social media (PA)

The 21-year-old travelled to Syria from her family home in Glasgow in November 2013 and became prolific for spreading Isis propaganda online.

The former university student was known for her blog and social media accounts under the name Umm Layth  which has since been removed  where she praised terror attacks in Tunisia and France.

She frequently called for other young British women to travel to the so-called Islamic State and was suspected of helping the Bethnal Green trio reach Syria.

Mahmood married an Isis fighter and reportedly rose up the groups ranks to become a leading figure in the al-Khansaa brigade, the feared all-female force tasked with enforcing the groups interpretation of sharia law with women and children.

Punishments have included arrests and beatings for women going outside without a male chaperone, lashes for wearing form-fitting abayas and floggings for not being meek enough.

In 2017, she was among 150 suspected jihadists who were stripped of their citizenship to stop them returning to the UK.

Her whereabouts are currently unknown.

Siddhartha Dhar, aka Jihadi Sid

Siddhartha Dhar holds an assault rifle and his infant son soon after his arrival in Syria

Siddhartha Dhar, a former bouncy castle salesman from Walthamstow, was on bail for terrorism offences in the UK when he fled to Syria to join Isis.

The British-Indian Muslim convert was arrested alongside Anjem Choudary in 2014 on suspicion of belonging to the now-defunct terrorist organisation Al-Muhajiroun. He was even interviewed for a Channel 4 documentary titled The Jihadis Next Door. Still, he managed to skip bail and travel to Syria.

While there, he appeared in a gruesome 2016 video which showed the execution of several prisoners Isis accused of spying for the UK. The US State Deparment put him on a list of global terrorists in 2018, saying that he had replaced Jihadi John in his role as chief executioner.

His whereabouts are unknown.

Grace Khadijah Dare

Grace Dare with her husband Abu Bakr (Channel 4)

The 24-year-old was one of the first British women to travel out to Syria, leaving in 2012 to join the jihadist cause with her baby son Isa.

Dare, who was brought up in south London as a Christian but converted to Islam in her teens, attended the same mosque as the men who murdered Lee Rigby in Woolwich. She fled London for Syria in 2012 and resurfaced the following year in a Channel 4 documentary on British women joining the jihad.

Giving her name as Maryam, she was filmed alongside her Swedish husband, a militant known as Abu Bakr who has since been killed.

The couple were reportedly expecting their first child and Dare vowed to remain in Syria to raise her children.

She became prolific on Twitter under the name of Muhajirah fi Sham, which means immigrant in Syria, where she celebrated the beheading of James Foley and vowed to be da 1st UK woman 2 kill a UK or US terorrist! [sic].

She also gloried in gruesome Isis public executions and called for British Muslims to travel to Syria, as well as posing pictures of Isa with weapons.

Her whereabouts are currently unknown.

Sally Jones

Sally Jones in her Twitter photo as Umm Hussain al-Britani, right, and in a edited photo posted online

Also known as Umm Hussain al-Britani, the 47-year-old has issued repeated terror threats against the UK, US and Europe and called for supporters to carry out attacks.

She was married to Junaid Hussain, the Isis hacker who was killed in a drone strike last year.

In a Twitter post she claimed she was proud my husband was killed by the biggest enemy of Allah, may Allah be pleased with him.

A Muslim convert from Kent, Jones was another prolific propagandist for Isis and published kill lists of targets and announced her wish to behead Christians online.

Before fleeing to Syria with her 10-year-old son in 2013, she worked as a perfume saleswoman, previously claiming benefits and playing guitar in a punk band.

She is believed to have been killed by a US airstrike, along with her son, in 2017.

The Dawood sisters

(From left) Sugra Dawood and her sisters, Khadija and Zohra (PA)

Khadija, 30, Zohra, 33, and Sugra, 34, left Bradford in 2015 with their nine children to join Isis.

After making a pilgrimage to Medina in Saudi Arabia they boarded a flight to Istanbul and crossed into Syria instead of taking their scheduled journey home.

The sisters were reported to be joining their brother Ahmed Dawood, who had been fighting with Isis for more than a year when they left.

They were prevented from travelling out of the UK months earlier after being stopped and questioned attempting to board a flight from Manchester to Jeddah in March 2015.

Their five girls and four boys were aged between three and 15 when they left.

Nothing has been heard from the family since 2015.

Jack Letts, aka Jihadi Jack

Jack Letts, seen here in Isis-controlled Tabqa in 2016, denies he ever joined or fought on behalf of the militant organisation

Jack Letts became the first white British man to join Isis when he travelled to Syria in 2014, at just 18.

He had converted to Islam while at Cherwell comprehensive school in Oxford, and was described by his parents as naive and very religious.

Letts has repeatedly denied being a member of Isis in interviews he gave from Syria, but he was detained by Kurdish forces while trying to escape from the battle for Raqqa in 2017. Later reports suggested he married an Iraqi woman and had a child.
A man who led a successful campaign to ban burqas in a region of Switzerland is now calling on authorities to outlaw Muslims from praying in public.

Giorgio Ghiringhelli, a right-wing activist who calls himself il Guastafeste, which roughly translates as the killjoy or the spoilsport, has said such a ban is necessary to prevent a Muslim ghetto like you see in Belgium.

He has petitioned the Swiss canton of Ticinos parliament to make such public prayers illegal.

On his website he warns of the danger of the Islamisation of our Western society and calls for a policy of zero tolerance towards the subtle strategies of conquering Europe and radicalisation of Muslims implemented by Islamists.

He also claims Muslim prayers are anything but innocent and contain sublime messages of hatred towards Christians and Jews.

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A parliamentary committee in Ticino has already overwhelming rejected Mr Ghiringhellis petition and it is thought the same will happen when it is discussed at an upcoming parliamentary session, according to Swiss news website The Local.

The petition is due to be examined by the Grand Council in the session scheduled for 18-20 February.

If it fails, Mr Ghiringhelli has threatened to launch a regional referendum. In order to do so he would have to collect 7,000 signatures from eligible voters in 100 days.

This is not beyond possibility. He has already won the backing of the right-wing Swiss Peoples Party (SVP) - the countrys largest political party.

SVP national councilors Andreas Glarner and Walter Wobmann have even voiced support for a national initiative, according to Swiss news outlet 20 Minutes.

When we go abroad, we can see the threat, said Mr Glarner. In Belgium, the issue of Muslim ghettos is already relevant today."

If such a ban gained support, it is possible it would not only discriminate against Muslims, but could be constructed in a similar manner to the new secularism law adopted by authorities in Geneva earlier this month and which bans workers from wearing religious symbols, and bans religious demonstrations in public expect in specific cases. Fifty-five per cent of voters supported the new law.
She tried to extinguish the flames and walked out into a common hallway, where other residents tried to help her. The 84-year-old woman received her injuries from trying to give assistance, the department said.
Pedro Sanchezs decision to call a snap general election on 28 April - just eight and a half months after he took power - is a big gamble for the prime minister.

His party may be leading in the polls and up against a fractured opposition, but analysts warn that the Catalonian crisis will continue to make the election season a difficult one for Mr Sanchez.

Mr Sanchezs Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) remains the most popular party, holding around 25 per cent of the vote according to recent polls, ahead of their traditional rivals, the conservative Peoples Party (PP), who are on 21 per cent. The PSOEs hard-left rivals, Podemos, are meanwhile struggling to present a united image after severe recent infighting.

But there are concerns that the far-right Vox partys successes in Andalucias recent regional elections - helping to place the PP in power in Seville for the first time in nearly four decades - may be a potential blueprint for ousting the Socialists nationally as well. Last week, a rally organized by Vox, PP and Citizens to demonstrate against Mr Sanchez saw at least 45,000 attendants in Madrid.

Manuel Carvalho, analyst and editor-in-chief of Portuguese newspaper Publico, says that to talk about the Spanish right as a united front doesnt make sense.

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I think the PP and Ciudadanos leaders know that if they are too close to Vox, they risk losing part of their electorate  it would push the moderate voters into the arms of the socialists.

Fears that Vox may get seats in the national parliament may further encourage voters going to the polls to support the socialists, with the hard right are coming! a traditional rallying cry for the left in Spanish elections.

The socialists' current margin in the polls is however not enough to garner an absolute majority.

The big question will be whether the socialists form a post-electoral alliance with Ciudadanos, or whether thats not possible, lawyer and columnist Juan Jose Lopez Burniol warns.

Yet only a few streets away from the Spanish parliament, in Madrids Supreme Court, the trial of 12 separatist leaders for rebellion will continue through the elections - and protests within the region are on the rise again.

Recommended Spanish nationalists protest against talks with Catalan leaders

These general elections are proof that the Catalan question has left no corner of Spanish politics untouched, says Germa Capdevila, political analyst for LEsguard magazine and online Catalan daily NacioDigital. .

With the trials running parallel to the elections, thats going to make things more difficult to solve all round. And until they find a political solution to Catalonia, this turmoil in Spanish politics is going to be here to stay.

But appearing tough on Catalan separatists may help Mr Sanchez, with his party recently breaking off negotiations with the Catalan Nationalist Party.

Calling elections was his best option, says Juan Jose Lopez Burniol, lawyer and political columnist for La Vanguardia, Catalonias biggest newspaper. Sanchez can present himself to the average Spanish voter as the politician who didnt cross any red lines with the separatists.
Spains prime minister has called an early general election for April after his governments budget was voted down.

Pedro Sanchez told a news conference after an urgent meeting of his cabinet that the election will take place on 28 April.

The election, the third in under four years, is a further sign of an increasingly fragmented political scene, with Catalonias independence push dominating recent debate.

Mr Sanchez, already under pressure from within his own Socialist party ranks to cut short his term, lost his weak parliamentary support this week after Catalan separatists joined opposition politicians to vote down his governments 2019 national spending plans.

Opinion polls in recent weeks have shown that no single party would win enough votes to rule on its own.

Catalonia election: in pictures Show all 9 1 /9 Catalonia election: in pictures Catalonia election: in pictures People react to results in Catalonia's regional elections at a gathering of the Catalan National Assembly REUTERS Catalonia election: in pictures Ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and former Catalan Health Minister Antoni Comin, left, gesture during a press conference Rex Features Catalonia election: in pictures Center-right party Ciudadanos (Citizens) candidate Ines Arrimadas (C) and the rest of candidates and party members celebrate their polls results AFP/Getty Images Catalonia election: in pictures Suporters of Ciudadanos party celebrate the results EPA Catalonia election: in pictures Former Catalan regional minister Jordi Turull (C), candidate of Catalan pro-independence party Junts per Catalunya, and former Catalan regional minister Josep Rull, candidate of Junts per Catalunya celebrate the results Rex Features Catalonia election: in pictures Catalan independence supporters celebrate AP Catalonia election: in pictures Candidate of Ciudadanos party to the Catalan regional elections, Ines Arrimadas (C), next to the party leader, Albert Rivera (behind), delivers her speech as they celebrate the results EPA Catalonia election: in pictures Catalan independence supporters celebrate at the Catalan National Assembly headquarters after results of the regional elections in Barcelona AP Catalonia election: in pictures Junts Per Catalunya supporters celebrate following the Catalan regional election Getty Images

Mr Sanchez, who was already under pressure from within his own party ranks to cut his term short, lost the budget vote after Catalan separatists joined opposition politicians to vote down his governments spending plans for 2019.

Between doing nothing and continuing without a budget, or giving the chance for Spaniards to speak, Spain should continue looking ahead, Mr Sanchez said in a televised appearance from the Moncloa Palace, the seat of government.

I have proposed to dissolve parliament and call elections for April 28, he added at the end of a speech, during which he highlighted the deeds of his eight months in power.

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Mr Sanchez took office after ousting his predecessor, Mariano Rajoy, in June last year, when he won a no-confidence vote triggered by a damaging graft conviction affecting the Peoples Party (PP).

But the simple majority of Socialists, anti-austerity and regional nationalist parties that united at the time against Mr Rajoy crumbled in the past week after Mr Sanchez refused to accept talks over Catalonias self-determination as part of the ongoing dialogue with separatists.

Without mentioning Catalonia directly, Mr Sanchez said he remained committed to dialogue with the countrys regions and blamed the conservatives for not supporting his negotiations.

While the Socialists currently lead, polls show they and anti-austerity party Podemos would not win enough seats between them to govern, leaving open the question whether the centre-right Ciudadanos party would align with them or join a grouping of the conservative Peoples Party (PP) and the far-right Vox party.

Additional reporting by agencies
On 15 February 1989, a column of BTR-80 armoured personnel carriers crossed the Hairatan bridge into Uzbekistan, marking the complete withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan.

An operation that was planned as a quick, glorious intervention, had instead ended in strategic failure and international embarrassment. Less than a year and a half later, the Soviet Unions own parliament condemned the decision to start the war  using stark moral and political terms.

In retrospect, the 10-year Afghan operation was a war the Soviet Union could barely afford, and was a major factor in its eventual collapse. At least 13,700 Soviet servicemen died  an exact figure is impossible since deaths were initially classified  another 40,000-50,000 were left wounded, and hundreds of thousands suffered psychological and other serious illnesses. Perhaps a million civilians died.

But 30 years on, a concerted effort is being made to rehabilitate the Afghan war in Russians minds.

The Russian president has been at the centre of these efforts. In April last year, Vladimir Putin used a choreographed exchange to order his officials to bring about new memorials and evaluations in relation to the war. Sure enough, within a few months, legislation appeared in Russias parliament, seeking to reverse the 1989 condemnation. Notionally, the bill came in response to pressure from Afghan veterans. But it was clear it had the support of vast sections of the Russian elite, presidential administration, security services and army.

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Politics were in a different place when our troops left, and the war became subject to a wave of conjecture and political ambition, the bills leading author, Duma committee member Frants Klintsevich, told The Independent.

Thank God ... our president is trying to change that.

On 21 November, the text of Klintsevichs bill was read out to wild applause in parliament, and the bill seemed set for a quick passage into law.

What was less plain was how popular it would prove among the population as a whole.

Lev Gudkov, the head of the Levada Centre, an independent polling group, contends, on the contrary, that Russians continue to have an extremely negative opinion of the war.

It is a national trauma that is still felt very keenly, he says. The youngest generations are somewhat detached, but those with a living memory of the war still view it as a shameful, unnecessary and disgraceful episode.

Gudkovs Levada Centre is Russias last remaining independent political pollster, and has been the target of increasing pressure from Russias security services. In September 2016, it fell the wrong side of controversial foreign agent laws. Since then, the group has been deprived of funds and unable to sustain previous levels of polling activity.

As a result, the last Levada polls on the Afghan war were conducted only in 2015, and framed in relation to Russias operations in Syria. But those polls show a clear enough snapshot of public opinion, with more than 50 per cent expressing a fear the new war could become Russias second Afghanistan.

Polling organisations connected to the Kremlin emphasise a different picture.

According to a February poll conducted by the state-controlled VTsIOM, 42 per cent of Russians now believe that the Soviet withdrawal was a mistake, with only 31 per cent expressing the opposite view. It is, of course, difficult to assess the accuracy of these figures.

Gudkov himself accuses Russias security bloc of a campaign to whitewash the blacker parts of Soviet history. The bill to revisit the Soviet parliaments Afghan condemnation had not arrived overnight, he said. Instead, it was part of a secret effort to rehabilitate the Afghan war in the national consciousness.

The security service and army bosses want to remove the shame associated with the Afghan war, he says. So you see the gradual conflation of the memory of Afghanistan with the far more glorious Second World War, with joint memorials and so on.

Artemy Kalinovsky, a prominent scholar of the Soviet campaign in Afghanistan, agreed that the attempt to revisit the historical condemnation of the war seemed to be aimed at moving public opinion to where the Kremlin needed it to be today. The Kremlin needs to justify its presence in Syria first and foremost, he says.

But beyond the attempt to revisit history was a more subtle contradiction  and one that had undermined governments ever since Nikita Khrushchev condemned Stalinism in his secret speech of 1957.

Putin has come to a conclusion that you cant make a break with the Soviet past without undermining the Russian state, he says. So if you cant do that, it follows that you need to smooth out the narrative and re-evaluate certain aspects of the past.

 Blackwater founder's plan to privatise Americas $76bn, 17-year war in Afghanistan

In the event, Russian parliamentarians efforts to facilitate such a re-evaluation would not be without a twist in the tale.

Most anticipated the Dumas Afghan bill would re-appear for final consideration earlier this week, signed by Mr Putin in time for todays anniversary. Unexpectedly, however, the bill disappeared from view at the last minute, with insiders citing a lack of agreement of a final draft.

On Friday, Frants Klintsevich confirmed to The Independent that his initiative had failed to receive necessary backing. He says drafting problems were to blame, and that the bill had been sent back for amendments. It might, or might not be resurrected, he added: We will continue to fight for it. I dont know if we will be successful.

But another parliamentary source suggested that the bill had instead fallen victim to the demands of Russias current Afghanistan reality  which, if the United States is to be believed, includes arming former adversaries in the Taliban.

Clearly if you want to make nice with the Taliban today, you cant also be justifying the history of intervention and war, suggests Kalinovsky.
Police in Paris say one person has been seriously injured after being burned during a suspected acid attack on the citys subway.

The victim, identified in French media as a 20-year-old homeless man, was said to have been sprayed with an unknown substance during a confrontation at Bastille station on Friday morning.

He is being treated for major burns to the face and hands after being removed from the station by emergency services and rushed to hospital.

Reports suggested a fight had broken out at the station between the victim and an aggressor at around 6.30am

A rag soaked with a liquid that could be acid was found at the scene of the incident, a police source told Le Parisien.

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Police said inquiries were underway, adding the perpetrator was still at large.

Investigators have ruled out any links between the incident and a similar attack on Wednesday, when a man and a woman riding on the metro were burned by an unknown liquid.

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In September 2017, two American college students were injured in a hydrochloric acid attack by a woman at a train station in Marseille, southern France.

However, authorities said attacks in which corrosive liquids are used as weapons were still relatively uncommon in Paris.

We do not deal with this type of injury more than a dozen times a year, a Paris Fire Brigade captain told Le Figaro.

Additional reporting by AP
Isis remains a potent threat despite the imminent loss of the last enclaves of its caliphate, and the terrorist group will continue to attempt vicious attacks in Britain and elsewhere in the West, the head of MI6 has warned.

Alex Younger said that western jihadists coming back from the Middle East were a source of deep concern amid ongoing debate about Shamina Begum, who ran away to Syria to join Isis four years ago aged 15, and now wants to return to Britain.

Speaking to journalists at the annual Munich security conference, Mr Younger said that returning Isis members could be very dangerous.

Asked about the security threats to the UK posed by the returning fighters and jihadi brides, Mr Younger said: We are very concerned about this because all experience tells us that once someone has put themselves in that sort of position, they are likely to have acquired both the skills and connections that make them potentially very dangerous.

Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Show all 14 1 /14 Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Trucks full of women and children arrive from the last Isis-held areas in Deir ez-Zor, Syria Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Zikia Ibrahim, 28, with her two-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, after fleeing the Isis caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Men who fled the last Isis-held area of Syria line up to be questioned by American and Kurdish intelligence officials Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate A young girl pulls her belongings after arriving Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate An SDF fighter hands out bread to women and children after they arrive Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Sita Ghazzar, 70, after fleeing from the last Isis-held territory in Syria Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate A family from Russia who recently fled the last Isis-held area of Syria Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent

They also, he said, experienced extreme radicalisation. That fact needs to be uppermost in our minds, he said. So as we approach this admittedly extremely complex and difficult problem, public safety is the first thing that we will consider.

In the case of Ms Begum, Mr Younger said: What I cant do is comment on specific points, or specific circumstances. It follows though that we will be looking very carefully at the specific individual circumstance.

I fully appreciate that everybodys circumstances will be different and therefore our response should be different, and we should be taking into account the specific factors that exist.

Mr Younger, speaking about the strategy of dealing with the returnees, said: British nationals are allowed to go back to Britain adding that  It is worrying because when someone with that sort of background returns to the UK it requires a very significant level of resources to ensure they dont present a threat to the people."

In December, Donald Trump declared that Isis had been decimated and the US president is soon expected to announce mission accomplished once the last pockets of Isis territory in Syria are recaptured by American and European-backed forces.

But Mr Younger cautioned strongly against triumphalism and stressed that the military defeat of the caliphate did not represent the end of the terrorist threat.

You cant use military force to kill an idea, he said. Daesh (Isis) is a resilient organisation. It is reorganising and essentially returning to its natural state as an asymmetric transnational terrorist organisation.

We see it therefore morphing, spreading out. Its doing so within Syria but also externally, and that means that we need to organise to ensure that we can deal with it, and that of course is a task with which we are familiar as this is a traditional shape of a terrorist organisation.

Were not triumphant because from triumphant you get hubris; so absolutely not. That reflects the important fact that while we in the intelligence community have a part of play in dealing with the most difficult and dangerous part of the terrorist threat, the reality this is a societal, generational problem that we face in the West. And it can only be addressed at that level.

While reiterating that the end of the caliphate did not mean the end of Isis, Mr Younger said the possession of land meant that the Islamist group could boost terrorist recruitment and use the territory to create a terrorist infrastructure and organise direct threats against the West.

 Father of Isis schoolgirl Amira Hussen says she should be allowed back to UK

He said possession of land also boosted terrorist funding: It appropriated or attracted resources which underpinned the threat against us. Thats why we were so focused on ensuring it was removed. We are very satisfied with the progress that has been made, and were proud of the role that we have played in that.

Asked about the possible consequences of Mr Trumps declared intention of pulling troops out of Syria and Afghanistan, the MI6 chief said: These organisations exploit political failure essentially, they exploit ungoverned space to organise and grow. Id simply observe this is of course not a new problem for us, its essentially been the terrorist threat ever since the 90s.

The two key issues for us are to be able to penetrate those terrorist organisations notwithstanding the fact that they are in some of the most forbidding places in the world, and we do. And the second is to be able to take action, with our partners, to deal with what we find in ways that are consistent with our laws and our values.
Iran is planning a new Holocaust to destroy Israel, US vice president Mike Pence claimed at a summit on peace and security in the Middle East.

The Iranian regime openly advocates another Holocaust and seeks the means to achieve it, he told delegates at the conference, which was co-hosted by the US and Poland in Warsaw.

Mr Pence used his speech to encourage sceptical allies into joining an anti-Iran alliance, which includes Israel and Arabian Peninsula monarchies.

Leaders from across the region agreed that the greatest threat to peace and security of the Middle East is the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mr Pence said.

Theyve supported terrorist proxies and militias. The Iranian regime is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world.

Revolution in Iran: In pictures Show all 11 1 /11 Revolution in Iran: In pictures Revolution in Iran: In pictures A demonstration against the Shah in 1979 Getty Revolution in Iran: In pictures Armed women on guard in one of the main squares in Tehran at the beginning of the Iranian Revolution Getty Revolution in Iran: In pictures Demonstrators hold a poster of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in January 1979, in Tehran, during a demonstration against the Shah AFP/Getty Revolution in Iran: In pictures Iranian rebels pose with a U.S. flag they bayonetted upside down on trees at Sultanabad Garrison northeast of Tehran on February 12 2019 AP Revolution in Iran: In pictures A gun battle in Khorramshahr during the revolution, 1979 Getty Revolution in Iran: In pictures Ayatollah Khomeini's supporters demonstrate in the streets of Tehran against the Shah among tear gas. The "black friday" caused the death of 200 people according to the Iranian government, 2000 according to the opposition, September 8 1978 AFP/Getty Revolution in Iran: In pictures Women wearing the traditional Chador demonstrate in the streets of Tehran against the Shah on September 7 1978 AFP/Getty Revolution in Iran: In pictures Demonstrators in Tehran calling for the replacement of the Shah of Iran during the Iranian Revolution, 1979. They carry placards depicting Ayatollah Mahmoud Talaghani, one of the leading revolutionaries Getty Revolution in Iran: In pictures Ayatollah Khomeini's supporters demonstrate in the streets of Tehran against the Shah. The "black friday" caused the death of 200 people according to the Iranian government, 2000 according to the opposition, September 8 1978 AFP/Getty Revolution in Iran: In pictures Thousands of the Ayatollah Khomeini's supporters on the streets of Tehran calling for the religious leader's return in January 1979 Getty Revolution in Iran: In pictures The Iranian Islamic Republic Army demonstrates in solidarity with people in the street during the Iranian revolution. They are carrying posters of the Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iranian religious and political leader Getty

Mr Pence went on to demand European countrie abandon the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated with Iran by former US president Barack Obama.

He criticised European nations for recently announcing an EU financial mechanism to contnue trade with Iran.

Sadly, some of our leading European partners have not been nearly as cooperative, Mr Pence said. In fact, they have led the effort to create mechanisms to break up our sanctions.

Last year Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 Iran deal, under which Tehran agreed to curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions.

However, Britain, France and Germany, along with the rest of the EU, continue to support the nuclear deal as the best way to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

 Iran marks 40 years of the Islamic Republic

Mr Pence called on Europe to follow Washington and exit the agreement: The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and join with us.

He said a new European scheme to trade with Iran, known as the Special Purpose Vehicle, was an effort to break American sanctions against Irans murderous revolutionary regime.

It is an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the EU and create still more distance between Europe and the United States, he said.

Britain, France and Germany have defended the new payment system as necessary to preserve the Iran accord, under which Iran was granted billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

They are unlikely to withdraw from the agreement, a signature foreign policy achievement of the Obama administration. Their governments have repeatedly expressed support for it since Mr Trump declared the US would pull out.

Both the UNs atomic watchdog and Mr Trumps own intelligence chiefs have said Iran remains in compliance with the agreement despite the US withdrawal.

Iran was not invited to the Warsaw conference and called the event a circus aimed at demonising the country.
DNA tests will be used to determine if a fertinilty clinic doctor has fathered 200 children by his own sperm instead of using donors, it has been reported.

Jan Karbaat from Holland, who died in 2017 aged 89, had always denied the allegations but had refused to cooperate with those who wanted tests conducted.

A group of 22 people, all of whom were conceived at Mr Karbaats clinic in Barendrecht, south of Rotterdam, have now won the right for the DNA tests after a court ruled there was sufficient evidence to suggest the fertility doctor may have used his own sperm.

Initially in 2017 the group had failed in their attempts to secure the DNA tests when the Karbaat family lawyer successfully argued the privacy of the deceased, Mr Karbaat, should be respected.

The judge did however grant permission for his DNA to be taken from personal items and secured in a safe.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. 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Since the hearing two years ago there have been significant developments.

DNA taken from Mr Karbaats son was found to have a relevant biological relationship to that of 47 people conceived at the clinic, according to CNN.

The court also said it was undisputed that a number of donor children have similarities in appearance to Mr Karbaat.

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Mr Karbaat had worked as a fertility doctor for decades and when his clinic was shut down in 2009 a number of abuses with donor seeds and administrative abuses were discovered.

He has been accused of falsifying data  a claim he denied.
India has called on the international community to join it in a strong response to the car bombing that killed at least 44 paramilitary police officers in Kashmir on Thursday, the deadliest attack since the regions militant insurgency began in 1989.

The government in Delhi has blamed the incident on Pakistan, with prime minister Narendra Modi giving a speech warning that we will give a fitting, jaw-breaking reply, our neighbour will not be allowed to destabilise us.

On Friday afternoon, Indian foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistans ambassador in Delhi and issued a strong demarche regarding the attack, according to a government source. The source also confirmed that the Indian ambassador to Islamabad had been recalled for consultations.

India said it would call for the UN to impose sanctions on leaders of an Islamist group based in Pakistan, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which claimed responsibility for the attack.

I appeal to all nations to come together and strengthen their efforts and resolve to put an end to menace of terrorism, Mr Modi said. I thank all the nations who have supported us and condemned this incident in the strongest of terms.

The attack on Thursday afternoon targeted a convoy of vehicles carrying members of Indias security forces along the heavily guarded Srinagar-Jammu highway.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The vehicles were approaching Lethpora, a town about 12 miles outside the regions main city Srinagar, when a car laden with explosives overtook the convoy and rammed into a bus full of paramilitary officers.

The blast was so powerful that one cannot recognise whether the vehicle was a bus or a truck. Just pieces of mangled steel remain, said Central Reserve Police Force spokesperson Sanjay Sharma.

He said five other vehicles were damaged in the explosion, and in addition to the dead at least two dozen members of the security forces were injured.

Videos circulated by local news groups showed ambulances rushing to the site and people running as smoke billowed from the damaged vehicles. Debris and body parts littered the road.

A pre-recorded video posted online in the aftermath of the attack purported to show the car bomber in combat fatigues, surrounded by guns and grenades.

And while Islamabad has issued a statement condemning the attack and urging others not to link it to the actions of JeM, India has made clear that it holds Pakistan responsible for supporting the bombing.

After an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday, Indias finance minister Arun Jaitley announced the withdrawal of the most-favoured nation trade status given to Pakistan, and said India would take all possible diplomatic steps to ensure the complete isolation from international community of Pakistan of which incontrovertible evidence is available of having a direct hand in this gruesome terrorist incident.

He said home minister Rajnath Singh would visit Kashmir to review the security situation there, and warned that they will ensure those who have committed this heinous act of terrorism and those who have supported it actively are made to pay a heavy cost.

Indian soldiers and paramilitary officers are already a common sight in the streets and villages of Kashmir, by some reports outnumbering active militants by as many as 1,000 to 1.

India and Pakistan each rule part of the region, while claiming the entire territory as their own, and the neighbours regularly exchange fire across their hotly disputed border.

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Since 1989, about 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising within Jammu and Kashmir state, and the ensuing Indian crackdown. Last years death toll was the highest since 2009, with at least 260 militants, 160 civilians and 150 government forces killed.

India has repeatedly moved for the UN Security Council to list Masood Azhar, the leader of JeM, as a designated terrorist, and to levy appropriate sanctions. Each attempt has been blocked by China, a close ally of Pakistan.

In a statement, the government of India reiterated this call on Friday, saying that Azhar has been given full freedom by [the] government of Pakistan to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan, and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity.

The White House urged Pakistan in a statement to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil. It said the attack strengthens US resolve to step up counterterrorism cooperation with India.
When the gas first started seeping into their thatch and wooden homes, many residents of the poorer neighbourhoods of Bhopal, India, thought they were being afflicted by a neighbour burning chillies.

It was only when they went outside, coughing and with stinging eyes, that they saw the devastation wrought by the worst industrial accident the world has ever seen; 40 tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas that billowed out of Union Carbide Indias pesticide plant in the middle of the night.

Panic set in as people started dropping dead in their homes, in the street, drowning in their own bodily fluids. Most ran in the direction of the areas only major hospital, not knowing that the factory, in the same direction, was the source of the gas.

What also became apparent only later, and is still being disputed, was the number of people affected by exposure that night of 2-3 December 1984. The Indian government now officially recognises that 574,000 people were poisoned, and that of those almost 5,300 died.

Shehzadi Bee, 63, was then living with her four young children in a small makeshift house in the Blue Moon Colony near the main road leading up to the pesticide factory.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. 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Her neighbourhood was among the first reached by the cloud of gas that spread across the city. When she heard the commotion outside, she rushed her children out and thought she was lucky, she tells The Independent, to find a truck that was evacuating people to safety.

Once me and my children had boarded, the scene on that truck was horrible. Everyone was having breathing issues, burning in their eyes, and then they were vomiting, and passing stools. Nobody knew what was going on, what was happening to them.

People were falling unconscious. Then we saw people dying inside that truck before our eyes. Many, many people died.

The truck took Ms Bee and her children across the city to Lal Ghati, an area near the airport and away from the gas. But her husband spent two months in a hospital ward and, from chronic chest pain to loss of vision, she says the family suffered many health issues in the years since. She says she received 25,000 rupees (275) compensation in total, staggered over five years.

To this day, Union Carbide  now wholly owned by the US multinational Dow Chemical  has not paid a single cent to almost 470,000 people who were affected, the government says. Thats because they were not included in the settlement, signed in 1989 and overseen by the Supreme Court of India, that saw the company pay out a total of $470m (367m) in compensation.

Activists say the agreement, reached 30 years ago today, was inherently unjust because it played down the numbers of dead and injured.

The government, which alleviated some public outcry by paying an additional sum of tax-payers money to victims and their families in 2010, has now filed whats known in India as a curative petition to the Supreme Court, urging it to reconsider its ruling and compel Union Carbide to pay more.

While the tragedy of the leak took place in 1984, a big wrong was [also] committed by the court in 89, said Rachna Dhingra, member of the Bhopal Group for Information Action founded in 1986.

People feel cheated. If you look around Bhopal, there are some areas where every fifth household has a child with a disability. You see that they have been left to fend for themselves, denied what they feel was rightfully theirs in terms of compensation by this corporation.

The Supreme Court already dismissed a previous curative petition from the government calling for Dow to pay another $1.2bn. Activists say that, on the basis of the lasting and widespread health impacts felt by hundreds of thousands in the city, the amount being fought for this time round should be closer to $8.1bn.

Even those who were included in the 1989 settlement received only a pittance, Ms Dhingra told The Independent. Under the original terms, the compensation to the family for a death was 100,000 rupees  a bit over 1,000.

She compares the $470m total paid by Union Carbide to the $21bn BP was fined over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, saying the victims had been considered dispensable human beings.

The issue of race is a very important part of this, she said. We had a Dow spokesperson who told us that $500 goes pretty far over there. People here are considered lesser human beings  still to this day.

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Aziza Sultana was 20-years-old at the time of the gas leak. She was pregnant and asleep at home with her son and daughter just a kilometre from the Union Carbide factory when they woke up coughing and started vomiting.

They ran through the streets to the nearest hospital but found it abandoned, and she ended up passing out on a pile of garbage. At some point during the ordeal she suffered a miscarriage.

Since that night, six members of my family have suffered long-term breathing problems and seven have become sick with cancer. My two children have also developed disabilities and, after the miscarriage, my husband and I decided never to have a third child.

My family was provided 50,000 rupees (550) compensation. It was not enough at the time, and we are still suffering the after-effects of the tragedy.

There is so much anger in us, we have cried for so long. If we would only be given the proper compensation, our lives would at least become a little easier after that.

The Supreme Court will examine the new curative petition in April, and Ms Dhingra says NGOs are hopeful  after writing to the local government every month for the past eight years  that their points about the numbers of injured will finally be listened to.

A spokesperson for Union Carbide said the company had filed a response to the petition and intends to vigorously defend itself.

They pointed to the Supreme Courts initial characterisation of the 1989 settlement as just, equitable and reasonable, as well as the government of Indias own defence of it in 2006 on the basis that each and every claimant has got compensation as per law and his entitlement.

The 1984 gas leak in Bhopal was a terrible tragedy that continues to evoke strong emotions more than three decades later. But allowing these emotions to blur the line of rationality and absolve the filter of logic is not only wrong, but also sends a strong message that the Indian government does not honour rule of law and its own commitments, the spokesperson said.
 Close Donald Trump declares national emergency to release funds for border wall

Donald Trump has declared a national emergency in a bid to fund his promised wall at the US-Mexico border without congressional approval, an action Democrats vowed to challenge as a violation of the US Constitution.

The Republican presidents move to circumvent Congress represented a new approach to making good on a 2016 presidential campaign pledge to halt the flow of undocumented immigrants into the country, whom the president says bring crime and drugs.

He also later signed a bipartisan government spending bill Congress approved on Thursday that would prevent another partial government shutdown by funding several agencies that otherwise would have closed on Saturday.

Mr Trump made no direct mention in rambling Rose Garden comments of the funding bill. It represents a legislative defeat for him since it contains no money for his proposed wall - the focus of weeks of conflict between him and Democrats in Congress.

He had demanded that Congress provide him with billions in wall funding as part of legislation to fund the agencies. That triggered a historic, 35-day December-January government shutdown that hurt the US economy and his opinion poll numbers.

By reorienting his quest for wall funding toward a legally uncertain strategy based on declaring a national emergency, Mr Trump risks plunging into a lengthy legislative and legal battle with Democrats and dividing his fellow Republicans.

At least 15 Democrats in the Republican-controlled Senate introduced legislation on Thursday to prevent Mr Trump from invoking emergency powers to transfer funds to his wall from accounts Congress has already committed to other projects.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer swiftly responded to Trumps declaration.

The presidents actions clearly violate the Congresss exclusive power of the purse, which our Founders enshrined in the Constitution, they said in a statement. The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the courts, and in the public, using every remedy available.

Reuters contributed to this report. Check out The Independent's live coverage of the president's national emergency declaration below:

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The mayor blamed civilian employees in the police records office for a mistake that led to the second arrest of James Bailey, of Edgewater, on an outstanding warrant. Both men share the same name, but one is white while the other is black.
Donald Trump is signing a federal funding bill to avoid another government shutdown and announcing a series of executive actions along the US-Mexico border, including the declaration of a national emergency  setting the stage for a major legal showdown.

The border security compromise was approved by congress on Thursday afternoon as the president threatened to declare a national emergency if the billions of dollars he requested to go towards building a wall was not included in the bill.

The measure reportedly includes just $1.4bn (1bn) for border barriers, much less than what the president had previously demanded, and less than previous bipartisan measures had approved for barrier funding.

Its a great thing to do because we have an invasion of drugs, an invasion of gangs, an invasion of people, and its unacceptable, Mr Trump said while announcing the national emergency he declared along the US-Mexico border on Friday.

The presidents border wall executive actions are expected to circumvent money from funds targeted for military construction and counterdrug efforts.

The order is signed, the president declared. We will have a national emergency and we will then be sued, and they will sue us in the 9th Circuit, even though it shouldn't be there, and we will possibly get a bad ruling and then we'll get another bad ruling and then we'll end up in the Supreme Court, he continued, adding the nations highest court will hopefully provide a "fair shake".

Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures Federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures The US Capitol on the first morning of a partial government shutdown in Washington EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures Federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures President Trump speaks with children who called the North American Aerospace Defense Command Santa tracker in the State Dining Room of the White House. He earlier in the day, tweeted that he was 'all alone in the White House' waiting for Democrats to make a deal on border security EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures Furloughed federal workers pick up free food at a pop-up store of Kraft Heinz Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures Hundreds of federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures Reuters Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures From left, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Dick Durbin and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi walk to speak to reporters after meeting with President Donald Trump about border security in the Situation Room of the White House. Trump declared he could keep parts of the government shut down for "months or even years" as he and Democratic leaders failed in a second closed-door meeting to resolve his demand for billions of dollars for a border wall with Mexico Evan Vucci AP Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures Federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures A sign alerts visitors to the closure of the National Archives on the fifth day of a partial government shutdown EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures Hundreds of federal workers and contractors rally against the partial federal government shutdown Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures Visitors read signs announcing the closure of the White House Visitor Center EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures President Donald Trump speaks during a round-table discussion on border security and safe communities with State, local, and community leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House Getty Images Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures A sign alerts visitors to the closure of the White House Visitor Center on the first day of a partial government shutdown EPA Trump shuts down US government over Mexico border wall  in pictures Furloughed federal workers show their IDs for entering a pop-up store of Kraft Heinz Getty Images

The uproar over Trumps latest move casts a shadow over what had been a rare display of bipartisanship to address the grinding battle between the White House and lawmakers over border security.

The Senate passed the legislation 83-16, with both parties solidly aboard. The House followed with a 300-128 tally.

Despite widespread opposition in congress to proclaiming an emergency, including by some Republicans, Mr Trump was responding to pressure to act unilaterally to soothe his conservative base and avoid appearing like hes lost his wall battle.

Recommended President declares national emergency while signing funding bill

Word that the president would declare the emergency prompted condemnations from Democrats and threats of lawsuits from states and others who might lose federal money or said he was abusing his authority.

In an unusual joint statement, House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said such the declaration would be a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency and a desperate attempt to distract from Mr Trumps failure to force Mexico to pay for the wall, as hes promised for years.

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Congress will defend our constitutional authorities, they said. They declined to say whether that meant lawsuits or votes on resolutions to prevent Trump from unilaterally shifting money to wall-building, with aides saying theyd "wait to see what he does".

Additional reporting by AP
An unexpected day-long blizzard has killed more than 1,800 dairy cows among dozens of farms in Washington state.

The snowstorm, carrying heavy winds ranging from 30 to 80 miles per an hour and resulting in 18 to 24 inches of snow, on Saturday devastated dairy farmers in the Yakima Valley, severely impacting their livelihood.

Since the region is typically arid, the dairy farms are built with open lots or open-sided shelters to house house the cows. In other words, since the region typically only gets six to eight inches of rain annually, cows are kept in shelters without walls, leaving them in blindsided without time or resources to prepare for the unanticipated brutal blizzard.

Cows were huddled in, pressed up against each other in corners of pens and refused to move. Farmers couldnt get them to move into milking barns. Herd instinct, Gerald Baron, executive director of Save Family Farming, a farm advocacy group, told the Capital Press. Most cows died from injuries from each other and some from cold exposure. They went down and couldnt get up.

Farmers say that about 28 cows were injured and are expected to be euthanised.

With the current economy and market trends, farmers are already struggling to stay afloat. The loss of their prime livestock wil is another devastating cost to their business.

Each cow could be worth $2,000, so were looking at $3.2 million plus future production loss, but right now the bigger impact is a huge emotional loss to farmers, Dan Wood, executive director of Washington State Dairy Federation, told the newspaper.

Despite the hazardous weather conditions, Mr Wood said that farmers did their absolute best to try and protect and the cows.

Farmers put up hay bales for wind barriers and tried to do what they could. Farmers were out there in zero degrees or less with wind chill, risking their lives to save cattle, he added.

In the last 17 years, Jason Sheehan operated a dairy farm with about 5,000 cattle in the valley. The blizzard on Saturday killed 200 of them, serving as a huge blow to his livelihood.

Its been four years of thin margins and losses, Mr Sheehan, who employs 35 people on his farm, told NBC News. Weve been struggling financially for four years, and now Mother Nature is throwing another twist. Its a tough time to take this on.

Moreover, Farmers do not have the luxury of time to mourn and recuperate recuperating from their devastating losses. Kimmi Devaney, director of community relations for the Dairy Farmers of Washington, said that this something amiss in the media coverage and reactions to the deadly winter storm last week.

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What people are hearing about right now is the devastation caused by the storm, but what they dont realize is that these farms have to keep running, Ms Devaney said.

If anything, the dairy farmer advocate said the aftermath of the storm proves the soul and dedication farmers put into their trade.

It really showcases the spirit of the dairy community that farmers who werent heaviest hit have come out to help those who are in hard times.
Authorities have warned of the threat of mudslides after a damaging storm struck California, trapping people in floodwaters, triggering a debris flow which destroyed homes and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year.

The powerful system swept in from the Pacific Ocean and unleashed rain, snow and wind across the US west coast into Wyoming and Colorado after walloping northern California and southern Oregon.

The rain mostly ended by Thursday evening. But officials said hillsides could still loosen and collapse, bringing down mud, boulders and debris.

The ground is still so saturated and the water is still flowing down from the mountains, said April Newman, spokeswoman for the Riverside County Fire Department.

The National Weather Service reported staggering rainfall amounts across California, including more than 24cm over 48 hours at one location in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles.

California storms Show all 14 1 /14 California storms California storms (AP Photo/Michael Short) California storms Cars and a large tree are seen in a debris trail in the aftermath of a mudslide that destroyed three homes on a hillside in Sausalito, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. The National Weather Service says the atmospheric river sagged southward from Northern California overnight and is pointed at the southwestern corner of the state early Thursday. (AP Photo/Michael Short) California storms (AP Photo/Michael Short) California storms (AP Photo/Michael Short) California storms (AP Photo/Michael Short) California storms Southern Marin Fire Department members search a crushed house in the aftermath of a mudslide that destroyed three homes on a hillside in Sausalito, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Waves of heavy rain pounded California on Thursday, filling normally dry creeks and rivers with muddy torrents, flooding roadways and forcing residents to flee their homes in communities scorched by wildfires. (AP Photo/Michael Short) California storms Southern Marin Fire Department members search a crushed house in the aftermath of a mudslide that destroyed three homes on a hillside in Sausalito, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Waves of heavy rain pounded California on Thursday, filling normally dry creeks and rivers with muddy torrents, flooding roadways and forcing residents to flee their homes in communities scorched by wildfires. (AP Photo/Michael Short) California storms A truck drives over a flooded freeway underpass in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. The National Weather Service says the atmospheric river sagged southward from Northern California overnight and is pointed at the southwestern corner of the state early Thursday. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) California storms A Caltrans work crew removes debris near a flooded lane from under a freeway in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. The National Weather Service says the atmospheric river sagged southward from Northern California overnight and is pointed at the southwestern corner of the state early Thursday. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) California storms A Caltrans work crew removes debris near a flooded lane from under a freeway in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. The National Weather Service says the atmospheric river sagged southward from Northern California overnight and is pointed at the southwestern corner of the state early Thursday. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) California storms Water from recent heavy rain storms breeches a levee in Novato, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Waves of heavy rain pounded California on Thursday, flooding streets, triggering a mudslide that destroyed homes and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year. (AP Photo/Terry Chea) California storms Water from recent heavy rain storms breech a levee and flows under railroad tracks in Novato, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Waves of heavy rain pounded California on Thursday, flooding streets, triggering a mudslide that destroyed homes and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year. (AP Photo/Michael Short) California storms Stormy Daniels (C), the porn star who claims to have slept with US President Donald Trump over a decade ago, opens Berlin erotic fair "Venus" in Berlin on October 11, 2018. TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/Getty Images) California storms A truck drives over a flooded freeway underpass in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. The National Weather Service says the atmospheric river sagged southward from Northern California overnight and is pointed at the southwestern corner of the state early Thursday. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A woman pulled from rising water in a low-lying area between those mountains and Los Angeles had a heart attack and died at a hospital, said Ryan Rolston from the Corona Fire Department. The unidentified woman was one of nine people and three dogs rescued in a flood-control channel where homeless people camp, Mr Rolston said.

A second death was reported in Escondido, northeast of San Diego, where firefighters recovered the body of a man who had been seen paddle boarding in the surging waters of a concrete-lined flood-control channel.

North of San Francisco, a mudslide barreled over cars, uprooted trees and sent a home sliding down a hill and smashing into another house in Sausalito.

A woman was rescued from the splintered wreckage with only cuts and bruises. Susan Gordon was buried under a tree and mud for two hours while crews dug her out, her son wrote on an online fundraising page.

Chris Parkman said it has been years since a storm so powerful has hit the hillside community, where at least 50 properties were evacuated.

We dont see the rain most of the year. So most of the year you feel safe. But when the big storms come, your safety factor is gone, he said.

Further north, a levee along State Route 37 near Novato was breached, flooding a rural field. Officials were monitoring the area in case water flowed onto the highway or train tracks.

A deluge southeast of Los Angeles washed away a section of a two-lane mountain highway. Photos by the state Department of Transportation showed about 23 metres of pavement completely collapsed along State Route 243 near the remote community of Idyllwild.

Were basically stranded right now, said resident Gary Agner, adding that several other roads were closed because of flooding and debris. Im glad I went to the grocery store yesterday.

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The risk of flooding led officials to order people out of areas burned bare by a summer wildfire in the Santa Ana Mountains, with flash-flood warnings blanketing a huge swath east and south of Los Angeles. The evacuation orders were downgraded to flood warnings by Thursday night.

Authorities also told parts of Laguna Beach to evacuate for much of the day, while the desert resort city of Palm Springs urged residents to stay where they were because of flooded streets. Flood advisories extended to Arizona.

Weather was so severe that the Hollywood Walk of Fame had to postpone the dedication of a sidewalk star honoring the band Aerosmith. Knotts Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain theme parks closed.

Trouble also persisted in saturated northern California, where thousands of people lost power and flooding was possible. Downtown San Francisco saw more than 4 centimetres of rain over 24 hours.

A flooded creek led authorities to urge about 300 residents to leave a community about 20 miles west of Paradise, a town destroyed last year by the nations deadliest wildfire in a century.

The storm followed more than a week of severe weather in the Pacific Northwest and was the latest in a series of storms that has all but eliminated drought-level dryness in California this winter. Its fueled by an atmospheric river  a plume of moisture stretching across the Pacific Ocean nearly to Hawaii.

Nearly 37 per cent of California had no level of drought or abnormal dryness, the US Drought Monitor reported on Thursday. About 10.5 per cent of the state was in moderate drought, and just over 1.6 per cent was in severe drought. The remainder was in the abnormally dry category. The numbers reflect data gathered up to Tuesday.

Atmospheric rivers are long bands of water vapor that form over an ocean and flow through the sky. Formed by winds associated with storms, they occur globally but are especially significant on the west coast.

Even before the height of the storm, mandatory evacuations were ordered near the wildfire area in the Santa Ana Mountains where officials said there was a high risk of debris flows.

Tim Suber chose not to leave his hillside neighborhood in Lake Elsinore. He said he has lost count of how many times his family has been evacuated between last summers devastating wildfire and this winters storms.

The rain was so heavy that it sounds like a hundred bowling balls a minute are going down the creek behind his house, Mr Suber said. A neighbour had mud in his pool, but so far the area hadnt lost power and culverts and washes were handling the runoff.

The storm delayed flights destined for San Francisco International Airport, closed sections of several key highways, including Highway 1 on the Central Coast, Interstate 5 north of Sacramento, and US 395 in the snowy eastern Sierra Nevada.

Wintry weather closed Interstate 80 in California near the Nevada border and across much of Wyoming and sections of at least four other highways. Multiple avalanches disrupted highway traffic in northwestern Montana near the Idaho border.

In Colorado, high winds shattered windows and downed power poles, leaving thousands in Colorado Springs without power.

AP
A man gunned down five people at a business in suburban Chicago, before he was shot and killed.

Gary Martin also shot and wounded five police officers in the attack at the Henry Pratt Co warehouse in Aurora. Workers at the plant said he was employed there.

Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman said the 45-year-old was shot and killed.

The citys director of communications Clayton Muhammad told the ABC7 news channel, that the police officers were in stable condition.

May God bless the brave law enforcement officers who continue to run towards danger, Illinois governor said at a news conference on Friday afternoon.

Mass shootings in America Show all 8 1 /8 Mass shootings in America Mass shootings in America Camden shootings  1949 Howard Unruh killed 13 people, including three children, during a 12-minute walk through his neighborhood on September 6, 1949, in Camden, New Jersey, when he was 28 years old. The incident became known as the "Walk of Death". Unruh was found to be criminally insane and died in 2009 after a lengthy illness at the age of 88, following 60 years of confinement. Alamy Mass shootings in America University of Texas tower shooting  1966 Charles Whitman killed 17 people and injured 31 others in Austin, Texas. After stabbing his mother and wife the night before, he headed to the University of Texas, where he opened fire on people in the campus and streets from the observation desk. He was shot dead after a policeman and civilian reached the scene. Austin History Center, Austin Public Library Mass shootings in America Easter Sunday Massacre  1975 James Ruppert killd 11 family members in his mother's house, which included his mother, brother and his wife, as well as their eight children. He used a magnum, two handguns and a rifle. Mass shootings in America Wilkes-Barre shootings  1982 Former prison guard, George Banks, shot dead 13 people in Pennsylvania, including five of his own children. AP Photo/Times Leader Mass shootings in America Wah Mee massacre  1983 Three men, Kwan Fai Mak, Wai-Chiu Ng, and Benjamin Ng, killed 13 people who were in Seattle's Wah Mee gambling club. YouTube/KIRO 7 News Mass shootings in America San Ysidro McDonald's massacre  1984 James Huberty killed 21 people and injured 19 others after he walked in a McDonald's in San Diego. He was shot dead by a sniper after 78 minutes of him entering the restaurant. Alamy Mass shootings in America Palm Sunday massacre  1984 Ten people were shot dead from handguns at close range in a New York home. A baby girl was the only survivor after convicted dealer, Christopher Thomas, shot three women, one teenage girl and six children in their Brooklyn home. Thomas was convicted of manslaughter and cleared of murder. He was released from prison after 32 years. Mass shootings in America Edmond post office shooting  1986 Patrick Sherrill, a postal worker at the Edmond post office in Oklahoma, killed 14 co-workers and injured 6 others, before he shot himself. Oklahoma Highway Patrol Collection

We have an active shooter incident at 641 Archer Av. This is an active scene. Please avoid the area, the Aurora Police Department had earlier said on Twitter

At 3pm, the city of Aurora, located 40 miles west of Chicago, reported that the shooter was in custody but said the area was still in lock-down at that time.

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The Chicago FBI also responded to the scene to assist local law enforcement, as local schools went into lock-down.

John Probst, an employee at the company, told a local television network, he ran out of the back door as the shooting unfolded. Mr Probst said he recognised the gunman and that he worked for the company.

What I saw was the guy running down the aisle with a pistol with a laser on it, Mr Probst said.

The Associated Press said Presence Mercy Medical Centre was treating two patients and a third had been transferred by helicopter to another hospital, spokesman Matt Wakely said.

Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital each had one patient from the shooting, spokeswoman Kate Eller said. Rush Copley Medical Centre received three patients from the shooting and all are being treated for non-life threatening injuries, according to spokesperson Courtney Satlak.

Donald Trump was been briefed on events.

The president has been briefed and is monitoring the ongoing situation in Aurora, Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
Donald Trump has welcomed an agreement between the UK and the US that he said would help boost trade between the two countries "very, very substantially" after Brexit.

The US president said trade links had been "strengthened" by the signing of the deal, which will see the terms of a similar agreement between the EU and the US continue to apply to the UK after Brexit.

He described the UK and US as having a "very good trading relationship", despite having previously warned that Theresa May's Brexit deal could harm business links.

Mr Trump was speaking after the UK government announced that it had signed a Mutual Recognition Agreement on Conformity Assessment (MRA) with the US.

The deal continues the terms of the EU-US MRA after Brexit, allowing goods made in the UK to be sold in the US, and vice versa, with less bureaucracy for manufacturers and exporters.

UK-US trade in the sectors covered by the deal is worth up to 12.8bn, the government said, including UK exports of 8.9bn, most of them in the pharmaceutical industry. Other sectors covered include tech and telecoms.

The UK has signed similar agreements with Australia and New Zealand in recent weeks as it prepares for trade outside the EU.

Speaking outside the White House, Mr Trump said: "The UK and the US are agreeing to go forward and preserve our trade agreement.

"We have a very good trading relationship with the UK and that's just been strengthened further. So with the UK we're continuing our trade and we're going to acutally be increasing it very substantially as time goes by.

"We expect that the UK will be very, very substantially increased as it relates to trade with the United States - the relationship there is very good."

Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, welcomed Mr Trump's comments.

He said: President Trumps statement was clear  the UK and the USA share a special trade relationship and there is real ambition on both sides of the Atlantic to enhance this after we leave the European Union. We have already taken concrete steps towards this including the signing of a Mutual Recognition Agreement earlier this week which will secure trade worth up to 12.8bn.

A free trade agreement with the United States is one of my international economic departments top priorities and I look forward to beginning formal negotiations.

Earlier, announcing the deal, Mr Fox said: "The UK and the US are the strongest of trading partners and this agreement will allow British and American businesses to keep trading as freely as they do today, without additional bureaucracy."

Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Show all 18 1 /18 Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well These billboards were plastered by campaign group Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well PA Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter

The US is the UK's largest trading partner outside the EU, with total trade worth 184bn.

Ministers hope to agree a much more comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the US after Brexit, although Mr Trump has previously said that this could be made more difficult by Ms May's proposed withdrawal agreement.

Speaking shortly after the deal was agreed last November, he said: "Sounds like a great deal for the EU.

I think we have to look seriously at whether or not the UK is allowed to trade because you know right now, if you look at the deal, they may not be able to trade with us.

"That wouldn't be a good thing. I don't think they meant that, I don't think the prime minister meant that and hopefully she'll be able to do something about that but right now as the deal stands they may not be able to trade with the US and I don't think they want that at all, that would be a very big negative for the deal.
Theresa May has said that the thousands of young people who protested against climate change on Friday increased teachers workloads and wasted lesson time.

The prime minister said it was good that pupils are politically engaged but argued that they need to be in school to become the future professionals who can help solve climate change.

The comments created an immediate dividing line with Jeremy Corbyn, whose name some pupils could be heard chanting, with the Labour leader saying it was inspiring to see them making their voice heard.

Recommended Thousands of children walk out of school to protest climate change

Schoolchildren joining with the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement walked out of class across the country to demand immediate action.

Organisers said strikes took place in 60 towns and cities, with youngsters carrying banners bearing slogans saying there is no planet B.

In response to the walkouts, Ms Mays spokesperson said: Everybody wants young people to be engaged in the issues that affect them most, so that we can build a brighter future for all of us.

But it is important to emphasise that disruption increases teachers workloads and wastes lesson time that teachers have carefully prepared for.

That time is crucial for young people, precisely so they can develop into the top scientists, engineers and advocates we need to help tackle this problem.

Children gathered outside parliament, in Cambridge, Brighton and other towns, often dressed in school uniforms and chanting save our planet and now, climate justice.

Mr Corbyn wrote on Twitter: Climate change is the greatest threat that we all face but it is the school kids of today whose futures are most on the line.

They are right to feel let down by the generation before them and its inspiring to see them making their voice heard today.
The Scottish government wants all lost EU funding currently received by Scotland to be replaced in full by the UK Treasury after Brexit.

Representatives from both the Scottish and Welsh governments are due to meet with chief secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss in Cardiff on Friday.

Ahead of the meeting, Scottish finance secretary Derek Mackay said he was deeply concerned about the lack of clarity over future budgets and wants assurances that Scotland would not be financially worse off as a result of the EU exit.

Welsh finance minister Rebecca Evans has urged the UK government to provide more details on future funding arrangements and changes to public sector pensions.

Mr Mackay said EU funding had supported major infrastructure projects, helped sustain rural communities and financed research for Scotlands universities.

Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Show all 11 1 /11 Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray (left) and a pro-Brexit protester argue as they demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Images Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament A pro-Brexit protester argues Getty Images Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Police surround the pro-Brexit protester after he confronted Steve Bray, a pro-European protester Getty Images Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament A leave supporter is spoken to by a police officer as he argues with a remain supporter, Steve Bray, outside Parliament PA Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament MPs in Parliament are to vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal next week after her December vote was called off in the face of a major defeat Getty Images Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament A leave supporter is spoken to by a police officer PA Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Police look on as anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament. Getty Images Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Police hold back a leave supporter PA Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament A police officer speaks with anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray Getty Images Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Police surround a pro-Brexit protester after he confronted a pro-European protester Getty Images Police separate clashing Brexit protesters outside Parliament Conservative MP David Davies, wearing a gopro camera, speaks to anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray Getty Images

With just weeks to go until the planned EU exit day, we remain deeply concerned about the lack of detail regarding replacement arrangements for EU funding streams given their importance to individuals, businesses and communities across Scotland, he said.

Today I will be calling on the chief secretary to the Treasury to provide reassurance that Scotland should not be financially worse off as a result of the EU exit and to guarantee that all lost EU funding will be replaced in full.

Speaking ahead of Fridays summit Ms Evans said it was vital that Welsh government ministers were at the heart of decision making and are able to prepare for the impact of Brexit.

Liz Truss will meet representatives from the Scottish and Welsh governments (Getty Images)

Alongside this, I will also be pressing for further clarity and assurances about the cost associated with the UK governments changes to public sector pensions and how it intends to fund it.

Only last week, the first minister [Mark Drakeford] and local government leaders wrote to the chancellor seeking clarification. Worryingly, even as local authorities are finalising their budgets, there is still some uncertainty about funding.

The Federation of Small Business (FSB) has also weighed in ahead of the meeting, having previously been vocal about avoiding a no deal Brexit.

Colin Borland, FSB director of devolved nations, said: It is especially important for Welsh and Scottish local economies that we get both replacement arrangements for EU funding streams and our post-Brexit immigration system absolutely right and that neither nation is disadvantaged as a result of Brexit.

Mr Borland said businesses expected ministers in London, Edinburgh and Cardiff to work together to prepare for all scenarios.

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A Treasury spokesman said: We are working closely with the devolved administrations so they have the resources to prepare as we leave the European Union.

This includes allocating 55m to the Scottish government and over 30m to the Welsh government to support Brexit preparations for all scenarios in 2019-20.

Additional reporting by Press Association
 Close Brexit : What happens in the wake of another government defeat?

Theresa May has been at loggerheads with her ministers as several openly contradicted each other over the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.

After MPs refused to support the prime ministers plan in her latest Commons defeat, EU ministers said it made the current situation even more difficult.

Andrea Leadsom, the commons leader, insisted the option of leaving without a deal remained on the table, but foreign office minister Alastair Burt insisted this was not possible.

A dozen or more ministers could quit if Ms May refuses to extend the Brexit negotiating period beyond 29 March and veers towards a no-deal scenario, former attorney general Dominic Grieve said.

Margot James became the latest minister to rule out remaining in the government if that situation occurred.

The digital minister told Channel 4 News: I could not be part of a government that allowed this country to leave the European Union without a deal. Downing Street insisted Ms May would continue with her negotiating strategy, with ministers dismissing yesterdays vote as no more than a hiccup.

Here is how we covered the days events:
Britains most prolic and dangerous extremist group is regenerating following the release of several convicted terrorists from prison, it has been suggested.

Supporters of Anjem Choudarys al-Muhajiroun group carried out atrocities including the London Bridge attack, 7/7 London bombings and murder of Lee Rigby, and many have fought for Isis, al-Qaeda and the Taliban abroad.

Choudary is among several activists released from prison in the past six months, as well as men who canvassed support for Isis on Oxford Street and members of a terror cell that plotted to bomb the London Stock Exchange in 2010.

The head of national counterterror policing said officers were working to disrupt terrorist activity by al-Muhajiroun, which has shown itself to be adept at surviving past crackdowns.

The warning comes as debate rages over the potential danger posed by teenage jihadi bride Shamima Begum and other Isis members who want to return to the UK.

London Bridge Terror Attack Show all 16 1 /16 London Bridge Terror Attack London Bridge Terror Attack Armed police on Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed Police talk to members of the public outside London Bridge Hospital as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police Officers outside the Barrowboy and Banker Public House on Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed Police talk to members of the public outside London Bridge Hospital as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed police on Borough High Street as police deal with a 'major incident' at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency services near the scene of the incident Screengrab London Bridge Terror Attack People run down Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency services arrive at the scene near Borough market at London Bridge Carl Court/Getty Images London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency personnel on London Bridge as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police sniffer dogs on London Bridge as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack A second helicopter lands on London Bridge as police are responding to three incidents in the capital, amid reports that a vehicle collided with pedestrians on London Bridge, Scotland Yard said. Officers are dealing with reports of stabbings in Borough Market, where armed officers attended and shots were fired. They are also at an incident in the Vauxhall area PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London REUTERS London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack A police officer escorts members of the public to safety at London Bridge Getty Images London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident near London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters

A report by counterextremist group Hope Not Hate said al-Muhajiroun was stirring back into life after two years of relative silence while key members were in prison.

Chief executive Nick Lowles told The Independent: The release of some of their more prominent activists, albeit on strict controls, appears to be galvanising some younger supporters into re-establishing street stalls and other public activities.

While a mere shadow of its former self, al-Muhajiroun still has the potential to cause havoc.

The groups annual State of Hate report said supporters have recently been seen at street preaching stalls in east London, made appearances at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park and started new social media accounts.

Ricardo McFarlane, who was filmed alongside London Bridge ringleader Khuram Butt, future Isis executioner Siddhartha Dhar and other al-Muhajiroun members in 2015, was seen by The Independent debating Islam with Tommy Robinson supporters outside the Old Bailey in September.

Hope Not Hate says al-Muhajiroun units are currently active in parts of London, Luton and Derby, with smaller numbers of supporters in Birmingham, Leicester and Slough.

Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu, the head of UK counterterror policing, said members would not be allowed to incite terrorism, or exploit social problems and tensions.

Siddhartha Dhar, circled, at an al-Muhajiroun rally in 2011 (Rex Features)

We are working closely with police forces across the UK to help officers identify and disrupt al-Muhajiroun activity, so we can deprive them of any opportunity to recruit new members or function effectively as a group, he told The Independent.

Alongside our partners in policing, government and the security services, we will work determinedly to prevent them from regrouping, or having any opportunity to disseminate their beliefs of intolerance, hatred and violence to the public.

Mr Lowles called al-Muhajiroun Britains most prolic and dangerous extremist group and warned that while Choudary and co-defendant Mizanur Rahman are under tight licence conditions, their release could inspire other fanatics.

Some members have served multiple prison sentences for extremist activities, being freed only to reconnect with fellow Islamists and be prosecuted again.

There are concerns about the effectiveness of deradicalisation efforts in prison, and authorities' capacity to monitor the rising number of terror convicts being freed.

Dr Michael Kenney, a University of Pittsburgh professor who spent time embedded with al-Muhajiroun, confirmed that some members were remobilising to continue their activism on the streets and online.

Al-Muhajiroun has bounced back from previous government crackdowns, he added. Over the years, numerous leading and veteran activists have reengaged once they completed their prison sentences and parole conditions.

 Anjem Choudary: Radical preacher found guilty of inviting support for Isis

Rather than turning the most dedicated activists away from al-Muhajiroun, arrest, incarceration and administrative controls often strengthens their commitment to the cause.

Dr Kenney, author of The Islamic State in Britain, predicted some recently released extremists will restart their activities when licence conditions expire.

I also suspect that some people will have had enough of al-Muhajiroun and its brand of high-risk activism, and likely move on with their lives, he added.

Recommended How British prisons became a breeding ground for Islamist extremism

The challenge for the authorities is how to handle activists who subscribe to extreme beliefs, but who express them through peaceful, lawful activism.

Al-Muhajiroun was once known for its provocative protests, such as the 2010 poppy burning, but retreated to private halaqah study groups following police crackdowns.

The group was first banned in 2006, making membership a terror offence, but it re-emerged under numerous new names including Islam4UK and Muslims Against Crusades to evade the law.

David Videcette, a former counterterrorism detective in the Metropolitan Police who investigated the group in the 2000s, said they operated on right on the periphery of the law.

Choudary eventually got caught for offering support to Isis but the group continually morphs  we need to target individuals," he warned.

"If we targeted the individuals associated with the 7/7 bombings and, 21/7 plot at an earlier stage, we would have been in a much better position now.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: All terror offenders released on licence are subject to very restrictive conditions, and can be recalled to prison if they breach them.
Kurdish officials have demanded the UK fulfils its moral and legal duty to repatriate Shamima Begum and other British Isis members detained in Syria.

Abdel Karim Omar, a Kurdish foreign affairs official, told The Independent that thousands of detained Isis fighters, women and children are a big burden.

They belong to 49 countries, and they dont have documents and passports, he added.

We cannot bear this responsibility alone. We ask the international community and the countries to which Isis members belong to take up its moral and legal duty and repatriate their citizens back to their countries.

The government said it will not assist Ms Begum to leave Syria, and Sajid Javid has suggested the UK may seek to legally block her return.

Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Show all 14 1 /14 Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Trucks full of women and children arrive from the last Isis-held areas in Deir ez-Zor, Syria Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Zikia Ibrahim, 28, with her two-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, after fleeing the Isis caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Men who fled the last Isis-held area of Syria line up to be questioned by American and Kurdish intelligence officials Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate A young girl pulls her belongings after arriving Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate An SDF fighter hands out bread to women and children after they arrive Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Sita Ghazzar, 70, after fleeing from the last Isis-held territory in Syria Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate A family from Russia who recently fled the last Isis-held area of Syria Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate Richard Hall/The Independent

Mr Omar confirmed Ms Begum will not be able to leave the camp where she is being held unless through official repatriation.

The 19-year-old said she is pregnant and wants to return to the UK, but does not regret joining Isis with three friends from Bethnal Green Academy when she was just 15.

Ben Wallace, the security minister, said although she has the legal right to return as a British citizen, she would have to journey to Turkey or Iraq for any assistance.

Im not putting at risk British peoples lives to go and look for terrorists or former terrorists in a failed state actions have consequences, he added.

Mr Javid later suggested the government could seek to block Ms Begums return legally, telling The Times: My message is clear  if you have supported terrorist organisations abroad, I will not hesitate to prevent your return. If you do manage to return, you should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted.

Ms Begum is among 20 British women and children caught leaving the caliphate who are being held in camps by the Syrian Democratic Forces, along with six suspected fighters, The Independent understands.

Amira Abase, Kadiza Sultana and Shamima Begum before catching a flight to Turkey in 2015 (Metropolitan Police / PA) (Met Police/PA)

She is being held alongside other women and children, in the al-Hawl camp in northeastern Syria, who have fled fighting in Isiss last territories.

The camp is run by the self-declared Democratic Federation of Northern Syria and guarded by soldiers from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who have been backed by the US-led coalition to drive Isis out of its former strongholds.

The SDF also operates detention centres for male Isis fighters, including captured foreign nationals such as the German and Irish men interviewed by The Independent.

So far, only the US and France have said they will repatriate citizens suspected of Isis membership.

The British government has been seeking to block the return of anyone considered a security threat by removing British citizenship from dual nationals and obtaining exclusion orders.

It has proven difficult to prosecute hundreds of people who have already returned to the UK from Isis territories, and it remains unclear what charge could be used against Ms Begum.

 Father of Isis schoolgirl Amira Hussen says she should be allowed back to UK

Diane Abbott MP, the shadow home secretary, said Labour does not support making people stateless.

If there are reasonable grounds to suspect that anyone who is entitled to return to this country either committed or facilitated acts of terrorism, they should be fully investigated and where appropriate prosecuted, she added. Our priority must always be public safety.

Maya Foa, director of the legal charity Reprieve, said British nationals must be repatriated to face fair trial.

All other options involve torture and the death penalty, which directly contradict longheld British values, she added.

The UK cant outsource British justice to the murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad, the death rows of Iraq or the legal black hole that is Guantanamo Bay.
Opinions toward Old Bay transcend party, age, race, gender and ideological lines, said Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Goucher College. An overwhelming majority of Marylanders view it favorably. Maryland politicians should be wary in expressing any negative opinions toward this most beloved seasoning.
The home secretary has warned he will not hesitate to block the return of a British teenager who left the UK to join Isis.

Sajid Javid said those such as 19-year-old Shamima Begum who had travelled abroad to engage with terror groups were full of hate for our country.

He added that if the heavily-pregnant Ms Begum did return to Britain, she could be prosecuted, despite protestations from her family, who argue she was just a child when she fled to Syria aged 15.

My message is clear  if you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return, Mr Javid told The Times.

If you do manage to return you should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted.

Timeline of the Isis caliphate Show all 19 1 /19 Timeline of the Isis caliphate Timeline of the Isis caliphate ISIS began as a group by the merging of extremist organisations ISI and al-Nusra in 2013. Following clashes, Syrian rebels captured the ISIS headquarters in Aleppo in January 2014 (pictured) AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared the creation of a caliphate in Mosul on 27 June 2014 Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis conquered the Kurdish towns of Sinjar and Zumar in August 2014, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Pictured are a group of Yazidi Kurds who have fled Rex Timeline of the Isis caliphate On September 2 2014 Isis released a video depicting the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff. On September 13 they released another video showing the execution of British aid worker David Haines Timeline of the Isis caliphate The US launched its first airstrikes against Isis in Syria on 23 September 2014. Here Lt Gen William C Mayville Jnr speaks about the bombing campaign in the wake of the first strikes Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis militants sit atop a hill planted with their flag in the Syrian town of Kobani on 6 October 2014. They had been advancing on Kobani since mid-September and by now was in control of the citys entrance and exit points AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Residents of the border village of Alizar keep guard day and night as they wait in fear of mortar fire from Isis who have occupied the nearby city of Kobani Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Smoke rises following a US airstrike on Kobani, 28 October 2014 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate YPG fighters raise a flag as they reclaim Kobani on 26 January 2015 VOA Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis seized the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on 20 May 2015. This image show the city from above days after its capture by Isis Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Kurdish forces are stationed on a hill above the town of Sinjar as smoke rises following US airstrikes on 12 November 2015 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Kurdish forces enter Sinjar after seizing it from Isis control on 13 November 2015 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Iraqi government forces make the victory sign as they retake the city of Fallujah from ISIS on 26 June 2016 Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Iraqi forces battle with Isis for the city of Mosul on 30 June 2017 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Members of the Iraqi federal police raise flags in Mosul on 8 July 2017. On the following day, Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi declares victory over Isis in Mosul Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Members of Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Female fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim Square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Trucks full of women and children arrive from the last Isis-held areas in Deir ez-Zor, Syria in January 2019 They were among the last civilians to be living in the ISIS caliphate, by this time reduced to just two small villages in Syrias Deir ez-Zor Richard Hall/The Independent Timeline of the Isis caliphate Zikia Ibrahim, 28, with her two-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, after fleeing the Isis caliphate, on Saturday 26 January 2019 Richard Hall/The Independent

The home secretarys comments came after security minister Ben Wallace said he would not authorise a rescue operation to facilitate Ms Begums return to the UK.

The teenager is currently living in Syrian camp, where she is being held alongside around 40,000 other family members of Isis fighters.

Im not putting at risk British peoples lives to go and look for terrorists or former terrorists in a failed state  actions have consequences, Mr Wallace told the BBC.

Some were groomed when they were young but are now adults  some of them are hardened fighters.

While an official mission to retrieve Ms Begum from Syria looks unlikely to take place, questions have been raised over Mr Javids assertion she could be prevented from returning to the UK altogether.

The former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Lord Carlile, told the BBC that if Ms Begum did not have a second nationality she would have to be allowed to return to her homeland under international law preventing a person being made stateless.

Meanwhile, Richard Barrett, a former director of global counter-terrorism at MI6, suggested it would be unreasonable to expect the Syrian Defence Force to look after her indefinitely.

He also warned that summary execution is the most likely outcome for such captured foreign nationals who are handed over to Syrian or Iraqi authorities.

Ms Begum was one of three schoolgirls, along with Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, from Bethnal Green Academy in east London who left the UK in February 2015.

Another girl, Sharmeena Begum, also from Bethnal Green but not related to Shamima, had travelled to Syria two months earlier.

Ms Sultana was reported to have been killed in an airstrike in 2016, while Shamima Begum has said she recently heard second-hand the other two women may still be alive.

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Debate has raged over whether the group, who were all either 14 or 15 at the time they left the UK, should be considered responsible for their actions or the victims of Isis brainwashing.

Hussen Abase, father of Amira Abase, has called for the women to be allowed to return home, insisting they had made a mistake.

Before teenagers do anything, they dont contemplate [what will happen], he said: They can be easily tricked  their age makes them vulnerable.

Ms Begum, who recently fled the remaining pocket of Isis-held territory, said two of her children had died while she was in Syria and she wanted to return to the UK to ensure the safety of her third child.

Isiss scorched earth tactics damaged northern Iraq Show all 6 1 /6 Isiss scorched earth tactics damaged northern Iraq Isiss scorched earth tactics damaged northern Iraq Oil spills in Qayyarah, northern Iraq Wim Zwijnenburg/PAX Isiss scorched earth tactics damaged northern Iraq Plumes of black smoke from burning oil wells hung over Qayyarah for several months Wim Zwijnenburg/PAX Isiss scorched earth tactics damaged northern Iraq The burning of oil wells and oil spills have caused long term damage to the environment in Iraq Wim Zwijnenburg/PAX Isiss scorched earth tactics damaged northern Iraq Experts still do not know the extent of the damage from Isis's burning of oil wells and polluting of rivers Wim Zwijnenburg/PAX Isiss scorched earth tactics damaged northern Iraq Soil and water pollution is high in northern Iraq and impacting agriculture Wim Zwijnenburg/PAX Isiss scorched earth tactics damaged northern Iraq There are fears if environmental damage is not taken seriously agriculture in northern Iraq could be destroyed Wim Zwijnenburg/PAX

However, she has showed little remorse for her actions and appears indifferent to the groups brutality, recalling she was unfazed by seeing a severed head in a bin.

I dont regret coming here, she told The Times. Im not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago.

More than 400 British Isis fighters are already thought to have returned to the UK, with a report in 2017 warning many have since fallen off the radar of security services.

The government estimates roughly 900 people of national security concern travelled from Britain to Iraq or Syria to engage in the conflict, 40 per cent of whom have now returned, while a further 20 per cent have been killed.

Additional reporting by PA
Prince Philip will not be prosecuted after he was involved in a car crash with another vehicle near Sandringham last month, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.

The Duke of Edinburgh gave up his driving licence this week following the collision on the A149 on 17 January, in which the other driver suffered a broken wrist. A 9-month-old baby in the car was unharmed.

Chris Long, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS East of England, said they had reached the decision after taking into account "all of the circumstances in this case, including the level of culpability, the age of the driver and the surrender of the driving licence".

Mr Long said it would "not be in the public interest to prosecute" and "all those involved in the collision have been informed and provided with a full explanation in writing".

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "The Duke of Edinburgh respects the decision taken by the Crown Prosecution Service."

Philip apologised for his part in the accident in Norfolk when his Land Rover collided with the Kia, leaving the woman needing hospital treatment.

In a letter dated 21 January, Philip wished Emma Fairweather a "speedy recovery" and said he "failed to see the car coming".

He blamed the low, bright sun for obscuring his vision, adding he was "very contrite about the consequences".

However the crash did not immediately put Philip off driving.

Wearing tinted glasses, he was photographed at the wheel of a replacement Land Rover while not wearing a seatbelt days later.

On Saturday, a statement from Buckingham Palace said: "After careful consideration, the Duke of Edinburgh has taken the decision to voluntarily surrender his driving licence."

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A lawyer had previously suggested the duke could avoid any potential prosecution for driving without due care and attention by giving up his licence.

At the time of the collision, celebrity solicitor Nick Freeman said Philip could face prosecution for driving without due care and attention, which carries an unlimited fine.

But the lawyer said the duke could avoid prosecution by surrendering his licence because it would decrease the chances of a case being in the public interest.
The first British woman jailed for joining Isis in Syria has been freed from prison, it has emerged.

Tareena Shakil, then 26, was jailed for six years in 2016 after taking her toddler son to the warzone and supporting Isis on social media.

Her relatives told The Mirror she is currently living in Birmingham under licence conditions, after being released last summer because she had served half of her sentence, including time on remand.

News of her release surfaced amid debate about whether another female Isis member, Shamima Begum, should be brought back to the UK from Syria.

Shakil was convicted of membership of a terrorist group and encouraging terrorism, as a result of her social media posts.

Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Syrian Democratic Forces fighters celebrate victory in Raqqa atop of military vehicles REUTERS Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces march past destroyed buildings as they celebrate victory REUTERS Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces gesture the "V" sign in Raqqa REUTERS Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces evacuate a civilian from the stadium REUTERS Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures A civilian prays after she was rescued by fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces from the stadium REUTERS Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Syrian Democratic Forces fighters ride atop of military vehicles as they celebrate victory in Raqqa REUTERS Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures Syrian Democratic Forces fighters celebrate victory in Raqqa REUTERS Syrian Democratic Forces take Raqqa from Isis  in pictures A fighter of Syrian Democratic Forces celebrates in Raqqa Reuters

Police were first alerted when Shakils father reported her missing from the family home in October 2014, with her then 18-month-old son.

She had left a handwritten message which read Dont be sad. Im keeping it short and sweet to prevent my own tears. We WILL meet again and Ill be looking forward to that day all my life. Love you forever xx Remember to make dua [prayers] xx.

Investigators found that from July 2014 Shakil had started sending out numerous posts on social media in support of Isis.

She used the groups flag as her Twitter profile picture and wrote a post calling on people to fight: If people dont like the current events in Sham [Syria] take to arms and not the keyboard.

Prosecutors said Shakil left the UK on 20 October 2014 for Turkey, and travelled onwards to Isiss de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria.

She had access to both firearms and the internet and she maintained contact with family members in the UK where she variously glorified Isis and spoke of the possibility of martyrdom and marrying an Isis fighter, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

She sent a photo of herself posing with an AK-47 and one of her son wearing a balaclava with the Isis logo.

Shakil denied being a terror group member (PA/West Midlands Police)

But Shakil left Raqqa in January 2015 and was arrested at the Turkish border, later telling police that she had travelled to Turkey for a holiday before being kidnapped, and that Isis had communicated with her family.

In court, she admitted she was not kidnapped but maintained that she had not joined Isis in Syria and returned after realising she had made a mistake.

Friends expressed shock at the time, describing Shakil as a previously normal woman who loved reality shows including The Only Way Is Essex.

Her father, Mohammed Shakil, described her as a perfect daughter who never went out nightclubbing and never went out doing this or going there, who kept herself busy in studies, and who wanted to be somebody in life and have an important role.

He and his son, Tareem Shakil, have subsequently been jailed for county lines drug smuggling, where police said they took over the homes of vulnerable people and earned 3,000 a day.

Shakils father and brother had more than 100 previous convictions between them when they were sentenced to three years in prison for conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine in November.
Moya Quinlan was always a reluctant feminist. But if quietly slipping into a mans world without anyone batting an eyelid was an early form of feminism, then she was a world leader.

In 1980, when the legal profession around the world was still predominantly the preserve of white males from a certain educational background, Ireland produced the first female president of its Law Society in Quinlan.

Not a country that was known at the time for its progressiveness  we were still 10 years away from our first woman president of Ireland and have not had a female taoiseach to this day  the achievement was so outside the expected norm that it would be another 21 years before the solicitors profession elected another woman to the role.

Quinlan, who died aged 98, was quite simply decades ahead of her time. Always was and the years never caught up. Her father Joseph H Dixon was a solicitor with his own practice and Moya caught the legal bug early.

Outside the family business in Parnell Square, Dublin (DSBA/Paul Sherwood)

When she left school in 1936, she did what many women did at that time and took on a typing course which was the first and last stereotypical act of her long life.

It didnt take long to realise that she was cut out for more than that and in 1942, when the world was at war, Moya Quinlan was busy burying stereotypes. Four years later, she qualified as a solicitor as one of four women in her year and joined her father in practice. At that time, there were no more than 10 women practising as solicitors in the country.

She married Michael Quinlan, an accountant, in 1952. Their two sons, Michael Jnr and Brendan, arrived in 1954 and 1955 but the traditional mother in the home role favoured by the huge majority of Irish women at the time was anathema to her. If she had been a civil servant, statute would have barred her from working outside the home between 1958 and 1973. Instead, her practice flourished but that was never going to be enough on its own.

It was in her nature to give something back. The first of many precedents was set when she became the first lady council member of the Law Society in 1969. Moyas primary driving force was to create a base for the solicitors and their apprentices to gather and learn. Along with the late Peter Prentice, she oversaw the opening of the Law Society premises in Blackhall Place in 1978.

At the start of that decade, she had also joined the council of the countrys largest Bar Association, the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association (DSBA).

In a quite remarkable two years between 1979 and 1981, she went on to carry out the presidential roles of both the DSBA and the Law Society successively. It is a feat unprecedented and one unlikely to be ever again contemplated, let alone achieved. Over this period she remained in practice as a solicitor, and while she remained a loving and doting mother to her two boys, she expanded this role to an entire profession.

Moya with her son Michael in 2009 (DSBA/Paul Sherwood)

A matriarchal figure, with a softly spoken but determined manner, Moya inspired both respect and awe. She also, unconsciously, inspired a revolution among the increasing number of women beginning their careers. Where before they might have seen barriers and glass ceilings, now opportunity beckoned. If Moya could have it all, couldnt any woman?

And then tragedy struck. Her beloved husband, Michael, died suddenly on 21 December 1981, just two weeks after she relinquished the Law Society presidency. Despite the obvious devastation, she doubled down and worked harder. She went into partnership with her son Michael and her erstwhile apprentice Andrew Smyth, both whom would eventually succeed her as Law Society president.

She continued to blaze trails across the legal landscape. Appointed to the Employment Appeals Tribunal as a vice-chairperson, not long after its establishment, she remained a member until her ninth decade. She also replaced Ms Justice Mary Laffoy on the Rent Tribunal and was appointed to the Legal Aid Board.

As the millenium turned, most octogenarian women with a record of service and achievement of this kind would have put their feet up, played bridge and contemplated retirement. Not Moya Quinlan. She remained a member of the Law Society Council until the age of 93, some 45 years after her first election. No one, man or woman, had come close to this longevity.

Working in the office until her early nineties, only in recent years did she find time to relax and smell the roses. As her health deteriorated, she stayed around long enough to see Michael add another precedent to a list that may never be overtaken: the first mother-and-son president combination of the Law Society became a reality as he took office in 2017.

Her service to the Law Society was recognised by way of a portrait by artist David Hone, painted in 2004 and hung in the Council Chamber. Her colleagues in the profession rewarded her with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 at the inaugural Irish Law Awards.

When she was interviewed shortly afterward by The Irish Times, she was typically modest in response. In all my years of practice, she said, I have never felt I was either special or that I was any way unique; I was just a solicitor who happened to be a woman, thats basically it.

We often dont see ourselves as others see us. Moya Quinlan genuinely didnt understand the fuss. Which was part of her charm. But in 2019, in a profession where 52 per cent are now women and the Law Society will later this year elect only its fourth female president, Moya will be remembered as a leader, a pioneer and one of a kind.

Moya Quinlan, Irish lawyer, born 27 June 1920, died 11 February 2019
RBS has warned that Brexit puts its ability to clear daily cross-border payments under threat, and warned that a hard Brexit could have a significant impact on the bank.

The lender said the total value of the 300,000 cross-border payments it makes per day is typically in excess of 50bn (44bn) in any one day.

The bank is taking action to prevent any obstacles to those transactions, but said that given the quantum of affected payments and lack of short-term contingency arrangements, in the event that such euro clearing capabilities were not in place in time for a hard Brexit or as required in the future, it could have a material impact on the group and its customers.

RBS said the general uncertainty surrounding Brexit could have a significant impact on the group's operations or legal entity structure, including higher costs if the bank has to restructure.

The group added: The longer term effects of Brexit on the group's operating environment are difficult to predict, and are subject to wider global macro-economic trends and events, but may significantly impact the group and its customers and counterparties who are themselves dependent on trading with the EU or personnel from the EU and may result in, or be exacerbated by, periodic financial volatility and slower economic growth, in the UK in particular, but also in Republic of Ireland, Europe and potentially the global economy.

Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Show all 18 1 /18 Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well These billboards were plastered by campaign group Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well PA Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter

The bank made its Brexit statements as it reported profit of 1.6bn, more than double the 752m profit made in 2017. Revenue was also up, rising by 2 per cent to 13.4bn.

The group hiked its dividend, and said it will return 1.6bn to shareholders, and 1bn to the government, which still holds a 62 per cent stake in RBS after bailing it out during the financial crisis.

Chief executive Ross McEwan said 2018 had been a year of strong progress on our strategy.

We settled our remaining major legacy issues, paid our first dividend in ten years and delivered another full year bottom line profit, he added.

However, while our financial performance is more assured, we know that a significant gap remains to achieving our ambition to be the best bank for customers. We are fully focused on closing this gap.

Analysts said RBSs results showed it was doing everything possible to improve performance, but warned Brexit risks would hold the group back for the foreseeable future.

Political and economic conditions leave sentiment towards the bank at a low ebb, said Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Restructuring costs and misconduct charges are disappearing in the rear-view mirror, while rising profits combined with a nice dividend will be applauded by shareholders. However in a weak economy, the top line isnt growing.

He added: Brexit of course casts a shadow over a bank like RBS, which is deeply plugged into the UK economy, and therefore sensitive to any shocks which mean customers cant pay back their loans. The volatile political situation is particularly keenly felt by the RBS share price because the Labour party has proposed breaking the bank up to create a number of local public banks.

RBS has made great strides forward in recent years, but its transformation from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan wont be complete until economic conditions improve, and the government stake in the bank is eliminated.

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Earlier this week, a survey revealed that just one in 10 people agree with the governments strategy for selling its stake in RBS. The research showed that one third of people would be in support of running the group as a nationalised bank rather than selling it to investors, while another third want the government to retain its holding for at least another year in hopes of selling it for a better price.

Following Fridays results, Fran Boait, executive director at Positive Money, said: Another dividend payout should cast even further doubt on the governments plans to sell the publics majority stake in RBS at a loss.

Its beyond clear that an RBS fire sale is not in the public interest. The government must rethink the selloff and consider how a publicly owned bank can best benefit the whole country.

Shares in RBS were up 1.24 per cent in early trading.
Twitter is "thinking about" a new feature that would allow users to add clarifications to old tweets, co-founder Jack Dorsey has revealed.

Despite numerous calls for an edit button, its potential introduction is a contentious issue among the platform's users.

Those against it say it would lead to confusion if a widely shared tweet is later edited to contain contradictory or misleading information.

Speaking at a Goldman Sachs event in San Francisco on Thursday, Mr Dorsey said Twitter is considering a compromise that would allow users to add additional context to a tweet without changing its original content.

"One of the concepts we're thinking about is clarifications," Mr Dorsey said.

"Kind of like a quote retweet, a retweet with comment ... to add some context and some colour on what they might have tweeted or what they might have meant."

11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Show all 11 1 /11 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Turn on Night Mode Twitters dark blue Night Mode is a lot easier on your eyes than its regular, vibrant theme. On the site, you can enable it by clicking your profile photo (on the right-hand side of the bar at the top of the screen) and selecting Night Mode. On Android and iOS, you need to tap your profile picture at the top of the screen and select Night Mode. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Lengthen your tweets A small group of users are no longer restricted by Twitters 140-character tweet limit. Even if youre not a chosen one, you can double your limit to 280 characters on desktop by downloading the Tampermonkey plugin, going to https://gist.github.com/Prof9/c16fc4997e0ef5b22a15c43edd7f5f49, clicking Raw and then Install. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Improve search Twitters regular search tool can be a little messy, but Advanced Search makes it much easier for you to find specific things. Go to https://twitter.com/search-advanced and filter your search by word, hashtag, exact phrase, location, date and account. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Disable read receipts Like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, Twitters direct messaging service shows you when your messages have been seen by the person you sent them to. You can disable read receipts though. On Android, iOS and the site, go to Settings and Privacy, click on Privacy and Safety and disable read receipts. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Monitor your tweets Retweets and Likes only form part of the story, as far as tweet engagement is concerned. You can view a lot more information about how people have reacted to your updates, including the number of times theyve been seen and the number of times people have interacted with them. Just open your tweets and hit the View Tweet Activity button. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Trim the fat If you feel like youre drowning in push notifications, you can cut down the number you receive from Twitter by going to Settings, Notifications, Push Notifications and deselecting the types of notifications you wouldnt like to receive. You can also enable sleep settings, which allow you to switch off all mobile updates during certain hours of the day. On the site, go to Settings, Mobile and select your hours. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Save data You can stop videos from playing automatically on desktop and the Twitter app. On the site, you can do this by going to Settings, Account, Video Tweets and unchecking Video Autoplay. On both the Android and iOS versions of the app, go to Settings, General, Data Usage, Video Autoplay, and choose between Mobile data & Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Only, and Never. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Save even more data You can save even more data and completely transform your timeline in the process by disabling images. Just go to Settings, Data Usage and uncheck the Image Previews box. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Customise your profile Editing your Twitter profile is really straightforward, just go to your profile and click the large Edit Profile button. However, theres one customisation option thats easy to miss. As well as your name, bio and profile photos, you can change your colour scheme. The option is only available on the Twitter site, and is sandwiched between the Website and Birthday sections. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Browse properly One of the Twitter apps most annoying features is its in-app browser, which links automatically open up in. You can sacrifice it for your favourite mobile browser by going to Settings, Display and Sound and unchecking the Use In-App Browser box. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Subscribe to tweets You can set up alerts that let you know whenever a certain account tweets, but its a two-stage process. First, on the app, go to Settings, Notifications, Push Notifications, Tweets and turn the toggle button on. Then open the profile page of the account you want to receive notifications from, tap the Bell icon next to the Following button and choose between All Tweets, Only Live Video and Off.

Several celebrities have pleaded directly with Mr Dorsey for an edit button feature that would allow them to change the text of the original tweet.

In June 2018, reality TV star Kim Kardashian West claimed to have almost persuaded the Twitter boss, prompting an angry reaction from many Twitter users.

"I had a very good convo with @jack this weekend at Kanye's bday and I think he really heard me out on the edit button," she tweeted.

One of the most liked responses to her tweet came from Twitter user Beau Sloane, who pointed out the flaws of such a feature.

"Guys if we get an edit button on Twitter, it would defeat the entire purpose of the app," he tweeted. "Think about how corrupt it would become! People could change conversations from the past and twist words!"

 Patton Oswalt: Twitter troll who attacked comedian overwhelmed when literally repaid with kindness

Mr Dorsey told the Goldman Sachs audience clarifications added to a tweet would appear alongside any further interactions with the original tweet, such as a retweet.

"You wouldn't be able to retweet the original tweet, for instance," he said.

"You would just show the clarification, so it always carries around with it that context. That's one approach. Not saying that we are going to launch that but those are the sorts of questions we are going to ask."
Scientists have developed a nearly entirely weightless material that can protect against some of the most extreme temperatures anything could ever face.

The aerogel is made up almost entirely of air and weighs only slightly more than it, allowing it to be used in a whole host of environments.

But despite that lightness it can withstand intense temperatures. It was able to perform well when heated to 900 Celsius and then straight away cooled right down to 198 Celsius, according to the authors of a new paper in Science detailing the discovery.

Such materials could be of particular use in environments such as space. Travelling on rockets and other spacecraft can bring such intense heat and cold temperatures that it can easily destroy them.

This new material could be ideal for use in areas like the heat shields on space vehicles, the authors say.

Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary

Aerogels are a material made up of air that is stuck within a network made of a solid medium, such as ceramic, metal or carbon.

Ceramic aerogels can be incredibly lightweight, but still able to endure demanding environments. However, they are usually very brittle and easily degrade, making them hard to use as insulation and limiting their adoption.

However, the new ceramic aerogel has been created using atomically thin sheets of a substance known as hexagonal boron nitride. That was carefully engineered into a new material that does not expand outwards when it is compressed or heated up, unlike other similar materials.

It then succeeded in a whole host of tests, including experiments that heated and cooled it rapidly. The aerogel hardly changed at all, the authors right, and did not lose any strength.
Prada has announced it is launching a diversity council headed by film director Ava DuVernay and artist Theaster Gates.

The Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council, aims to elevate voices of colour within the company and the fashion industry at large".

Prada says the council will guide the company towards a "more inclusive and diverse future and advise the brand as it invests in and expands opportunities for young students of colour in the fashion industry".

The diversity council will be lead by writer, director and producer, DuVernay, and artist and activist, Gates, as well as a number of other unannounced academics and cultural experts.

Together, the board will partner with universities and organisations to sponsor scholarships and training across Pradas global offices in a bid to close the inclusion gap in the fashion industry.

Blackface controversy in popular culture Show all 6 1 /6 Blackface controversy in popular culture Blackface controversy in popular culture Justin Trudeau Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau apologised after three images of him in blackface emerged, just weeks before the 2019 federal election AP Blackface controversy in popular culture Alitalia Obama Ad Italian airline Alitalia apologised after releasing a video featuring a white actor in blackface playing Barack Obama to promote their non-stop flight from Rome to Washington Blackface controversy in popular culture Katy Perry shoes The Katy Perry Collection pulled this design after it was noted that they resembled blackface. Perry said "I was saddened when it was brought to my attention that it was being compared to painful images reminiscent of blackface. Our intention was never to inflict any pain." Dillard's Blackface controversy in popular culture Prada collection In December, lawyer Chinyere Ezie spotted figurines in the Prada shop window in Soho, New York that bore a resemblance to racist depictions of black people, with dark skin and large, red lips and voiced her disgust over social media. Prada has since apologised. Chinyere Ezie / Facebook Blackface controversy in popular culture Gucci jumper This "balaclava jumper" was removed from sale after it was noted to resemble blackface. In a letter to Gucci employees, designer Alessandro Michele expressed the pain he felt that one of his creative projects was seen as an intolerable insult. Blackface controversy in popular culture Moncler Penguin French brand Moncler claims the golliwog-style face is really the face of collaborator Friends With You's character "Malfi the Penguin"

Prada is committed to cultivating, recruiting, and retaining diverse talent to contribute to all departments of the company," the brand's creative director Miuccia Prada said in a statement via The Cut.

"In addition to amplifying voices of colour within the industry we will help ensure that the fashion world is reflective of the world in which we live, and we are thrilled to be working with longtime collaborators Ava DuVernay and Theaster Gates on this important initiative.

We look forward to working with the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council to help us grow not only as a company but also as individuals.

Recommended The history of blackface and why it is so offensive

Speaking of the news, Gates added that his decision to work with Prada on the council was a no-brainer.

Prada has been my ally in some of the most ambitious artistic projects Ive done today including the launch of the Black Image Corporation, he explained.

Growing diversity efforts in the company is important to Ava, Miuccia and I and I am eager to lead the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council and achieve meaningful impact throughout the fashion industry.

The decision to form the diversity council comes after the fashion brand was recently accused of racism.

In December 2018, Prada faced backlash over its Pradamalia line which included figurines with black faces and large red lips.

When lawyer Chinyere Ezie spotted the products at a Prada store in Manhattan, New York, she posted on Facebook that she was shocked by how the items resembled blackface.

Today after returning to NYC after a very emotional visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American history and Culture including an exhibit on blackface, I walked past Pradas Soho storefront only to be confronted with the very same racist and denigrating #blackface imagery, she wrote.

After the post gained traction, Prada pulled the products and issued a statement, saying #Prada Group abhors racist imagery.

Most recently, Gucci was forced to remove a black jumper from its shelves after consumers pointed out its resemblance to blackface.

After issuing an apology, Guccis CEO and creative director announced similar diversity initiatives to Prada, including a full scholarship program to increase diversity within their creative departments.
The style director of the Brazilian edition of Vogue has resigned after photos from her 50th birthday party were criticised for evoking themes of slavery.

An image from the party that was posted on Instagram, and has since been deleted, showed Donata Meirelles sitting on a throne-like chair flanked by four black women dressed in white.

The photo angered a number of people who compared the womens clothes to uniforms worn by house slaves and pointed out the chairs similarity to a cadeira de sinha - an ornate chair for slave masters.

The photo clearly and unfortunately refers to a Brazil of autocracy and slavery, where black people were serving and white people tended to, one person wrote on Instagram.

I don't see any praise to Afro-Brazilian culture.

Blackface controversy in popular culture Show all 6 1 /6 Blackface controversy in popular culture Blackface controversy in popular culture Justin Trudeau Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau apologised after three images of him in blackface emerged, just weeks before the 2019 federal election AP Blackface controversy in popular culture Alitalia Obama Ad Italian airline Alitalia apologised after releasing a video featuring a white actor in blackface playing Barack Obama to promote their non-stop flight from Rome to Washington Blackface controversy in popular culture Katy Perry shoes The Katy Perry Collection pulled this design after it was noted that they resembled blackface. Perry said "I was saddened when it was brought to my attention that it was being compared to painful images reminiscent of blackface. Our intention was never to inflict any pain." Dillard's Blackface controversy in popular culture Prada collection In December, lawyer Chinyere Ezie spotted figurines in the Prada shop window in Soho, New York that bore a resemblance to racist depictions of black people, with dark skin and large, red lips and voiced her disgust over social media. Prada has since apologised. Chinyere Ezie / Facebook Blackface controversy in popular culture Gucci jumper This "balaclava jumper" was removed from sale after it was noted to resemble blackface. In a letter to Gucci employees, designer Alessandro Michele expressed the pain he felt that one of his creative projects was seen as an intolerable insult. Blackface controversy in popular culture Moncler Penguin French brand Moncler claims the golliwog-style face is really the face of collaborator Friends With You's character "Malfi the Penguin"

Think about how much you can hurt people, their memories, the plight of their people, when you choose a theme to spice up a happy moment in your life, another person added.

In an attempt to explain the historical context, Rita Batista, a black female television presenter from Brazil, shared the photo on her own Instagram account alongside a similar image of two 19th-century slaves flanking their owner.

Recommended The history of blackface and why it is so offensive

Batista explained in the caption how in those days the slave herself was a luxury object to be shown publicly.

Following the outcry, Meirelles issued an apology, explaining the chair was an artefact from from the Afro-Brazilian folk religion candomble, and the clothes were traditional Bahian party attire.

Even so, if I caused any different impressions, I am sorry, she said.

The director later announced she would resign from her position at Vogue.

In a statement on Instagram, Vogue Brazil said: Vogue Brazil profoundly regrets what happened and hopes that the debate that has been generated serves as a learning experience.

The publication also revealed it will be launching a panel of activists and academics to help combat inequality.

However, the move has been dismissed by Stephanie Ribeiro, the author of the #BlackGirlMagic column in the Brazilian edition of Marie Claire.

They should just hire black people to work at Vogue Brasil, not create a forum for black activists to act like babysitters telling them whether something is racist or not, she wrote on Instagram.

Vogue Brazil is just the latest name in fashion to be embroiled in controversy over racial and cultural sensitivity.

Last week, Gucci stopped selling a balaclava knit that featured a cut-out at the mouth and red lips after it was condemned by people on social media for resembling blackface.

Then, just days later, a pair of shoes from Katy Perrys eponymous fashion line were removed amid similar concerns.

In December 2018, Prada also faced backlash over its Pradamalia line which included figurines with black faces and large red lips.

This week, the Italian luxury brand announced it is launching a diversity council headed by film director Ava DuVernay and artist Theaster Gates.

The Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council, aims to elevate voices of colour within the company and the fashion industry at large".
The BBC is promoting a sustainable lifestyle through the launch of a new eco-friendly fashion brand.

The new brand, which will launch at London Fashion Week in partnership with Mother of Pearl, will target Blue Planet and Planet Earth viewers who have been inspired into making more sustainable choices with the future of the planet in mind.

The BBC has previously been able to increase public understanding of the issues affecting the planet through its documentaries narrated by David Attenborough - and hopes to now bring this awareness to shoppers lives.

Julia Kenyon, global brand director of BBC Earth, said: We have seen the power of BBC natural history documentaries to pierce public consciousness and spark global awareness of the biggest issues affecting the future of our planet.

All of us have a responsibility to care for the world we share and BBC Earth is seeking to partner with trailblazers who are providing solutions to how we consume so we can empower people to make informed choices that will help to forge a sustainable future.

Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Show all 18 1 /18 Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills BBC Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills

To launch the collection of sustainable clothes, and to encourage a discussion about consumption of fashion and its environmental impact on the planet, BBC Planet and Mother of Pearl will show a short film created by BBC Studios Natural History Unit during London Fashion Week.

Recommended Everything you need to know about London Fashion Week 2019

The very creativity that we desire in fashion, the colours, patterns and textures, are inspired by the natural world, and yet our supercharged approach to fashion is placing our planet under threat, said film narrator Liz Bonnin.

The solution lies with all of us and I hope this film will not only raise awareness of the issues, but also empower people to transform both their relationship with fashion and how they choose to treat this beautiful home of ours.

The collection will feature clothing made using a dyeing process that uses 10 times less water than other methods and will be available later this year on Net-a-Porter.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

In 2017, the Blue Planet series, which showed the harmful effects human choices are having on marine life, was viewed by an average of 10.3m live viewers.
In recent years, the humble soap bar has re-emerged into the beauty sphere, as we ditch the overly complicated skincare routines and opt for a more minimalist approach.

While you may typically associate soap with washing your hands rather than your face, theres now a new generation of facial soap bars that are packed with skin soothing and smoothing ingredients, such as exfoliating acids and hydrating humectants.

These bars represent a helpful way of tackling plastic waste in our daily regimens, as theres no tube, pump or bottle top to discard, but simply a bar that often comes in recyclable cardboard packaging. Bars with a vibrant print are also a fun, inexpensive way to add colour to your bathroom shelf.

To help you find one that suits your skin type, whether thats oily, dry, sensitive or combination, weve put a series of soaps to the test to find the top products, spanning everything from budget buys to high-end options.

From scented to fragrance-free, combating breakouts to calming easily irritated complexions, youre sure to find one for you in our in-depth guide.

Read more:

Weve rated each facial soap bar on scent, texture, ability to cleanse skin and remove make-up, value for money, size and any changes we noticed in our skin with regular use.

And remember, before you pick a new bar, ensure you have a soap dish ready, as once its out of its packaging and wet, youll want to keep it clean and hygienic in between uses.

You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections. This revenue helps us to fund journalism acrossThe Independent.

Superdrug face cleansing scrub bar Best budget buy We loved this product, and for less than 3 its an absolute steal. While it calls itself a scrub, its very gentle and wont do a great deal to slough off dead skin cells, so youre safe to use any exfoliating acids later on in your routine. It didnt irritate any areas of sensitivity either, but left skin feeling fresh and looking clear. Upon contact with water it transforms into a gentle, lightweight lather that once washed off, doesnt strip the skin, nor leave it feeling squeaky or tight. Buy now  2.99 , Superdrug.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} La Roche-Posay lipikar moisturising cleansing bar Best for dry skin This is the biggest bar we tried, and is part of La Roche-Posays lipikar line, designed for irritated and very dry skin. Its soap free and soothing to skin, which is ideal if you struggle with patches of dryness or even eczema. It lathers into a creamy texture that has few bubbles, and feels more like a cleansing milk when massaged into damp skin. Once patted dry with a soft towel, our skin felt calm and softer than it did before use. We think this is a fantastic fuss-free cleansing bar thats affordable and effective, especially if your skin struggles with any sort of fragrance or is easily irritated. Buy now  4.12 , Boots.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} Typology purifying cleanser bar with nettle Best for acne-prone skin French beauty line Typology only launched in the UK in 2020, so is a relative newcomer to the skincare sphere; all of its products are handmade in France using naturally-derived ingredients. This green-grey rectangular bar is a blend of eucalyptus, spearmint and nettle powder which work together to regulate oil and sebum production to reduce breakouts. Its promise to reduce oiliness and the appearance of pores is accurate, but not drastic, as our reviewer saw small but significant changes  our shiny T-zone lessened, while breakouts were less inflamed and didnt reappear. Buy now  9.90 , Typology.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} Gallinee prebiotic cleansing bar Best for combination skin We saw the quickest change in our skin when using this soap-free square bar from Gallinee. Containing a mix of lactic acid and prebiotics, its safe to use on your face and body, and is instantly softening but not drying in the slightest. It causes no irritation, is very gentle, and is a generous size for the price, still looking brand new after two weeks of daily use. It also evened out our skin tone gradually, with dry patches on our cheeks clearing up and bouts of hormonal acne on our chin reducing too. Buy now  8 , Lookfantastic.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} Eau Thermale Avene ultra-rich cleansing bar with cold cream Best for sensitive skin This bar is basic in the best way, and if youre prone to bouts of redness, breakouts, eczema or any type of irritation, this is ideal. Avene is a French pharmacy skincare brand known for its products that cater specifically to sensitive skin types, so youre in good hands. Suitable for both the face and body, it has that traditional chemical soap scent, but that caused no bother, and we saw a gradual reduction in redness with continuous use. We also used it frequently on our eczema-prone hands and found that it worked just as well. It should be noted however, that if you do use it for both face and body, it is on the smaller side, so you may need a new one in a matter of months. Buy now  3.33 , Escentual.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} Drunk Elephant pekee bar Best for combination skin One of the smaller soaps we tried, this bar is shaped in a thick square, which is great for smaller bathrooms. Fragrance free and quick to work, once lathered and massaged into damp skin it left our complexion feeling supple, but not stripped or tight. Enriched with a blend of marula oil blueberry extract and honey, it feels gentle and non-irritating on skin. While its not quite enough to remove make-up thoroughly, it works well when used for a morning cleanse and a second cleanse after you take off your foundation, mascara and lipstick with a micellar water, balm or oil before. Despite its size, its quite dense, so we suspect this will last a long time before you need a replacement. Buy now  24 , Spacenk.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} Ethique superstar! cleansing bar and makeup remover Best eco-friendly buy This is the only facial soap bar that makes removing make-up one of its focus points, as often soaps have too gentle a lather to really break down heavier products such as foundation and concealer. While the product needed a little more massaging into the skin to break down a full face of make-up than conventional cleansers, it removed it well with the help of a lukewarm flannel. The box comes with three oval-shaped bars, which make it a nice, compact choice thats slightly easier to store when not being used. Its a mix of cocoa and kokum butters, coconut oil and castor oil that doesnt leave any greasy residue, and the orange essential oil adds a subtle but refreshing scent. The New Zealand-based brand also boasts impressive eco-friendly credentials, being plastic-free, palm-oil free and vegan. Buy now  14.99 , Hollandandbarrett.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} Herbivore blue clay cleansing bar soap Best for transitional skincare This vegan bar is ideal for the changing seasons, when winter has left skin feeling dry and depleted of moisture. It contains blue clay, lavender and litsea oils, which have a natural but not irritating or overpowering fragrance, and works well to cleanse skin quickly and effectively. Upon contact with water, it lathers up nicely into a creamy texture that feels luxurious, and its a nice, compact size that will fit on smaller sinks and soap dishes. If you tend to have a drier skin type, use plenty of moisturiser or hydrating serum after this bar to keep skin feeling as comfortable as possible. Buy now  10 , Cultbeauty.co.uk {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} Carbon Theory charcoal and tea tree oil facial cleansing bar Best for oily skin Dont be put off by the fact this bar looks essentially like a chic carbon block, rather than an effective cleanser for oily skin prone to breakouts. Its packed with tea-tree oil, a natural antiseptic, and charcoal, which helps lift bacteria clogging pores. The added shea butter balances the formula to leave you with skin softer too, so this is also another a great option for combination skin types. Over the course of a few weeks we saw a noticeable reduction in the hormonal breakouts that often decorate our reviewers chin, a less shiny T-zone and smoother texture. A triple threat if there ever was one. 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The verdict: Facial soap bars For value we cant fault the Superdrug Superdrug face cleansing scrub bar, which was gentle, non-irritating and a great first foray into introducing soap into your routine. Its also well worth trying the La Roche-Posay lipikar moisturising cleansing bar if dryness is your main concern, and its so large itll give you months and months of use at a fraction of the cost of most other cleansers. Give your shower routine a minimalist makeover with the best organic body washes that are kinder to your skin

IndyBest product reviews are unbiased, independent advice you can trust. On some occasions, we earn revenue if you click the links and buy the products, but we never allow this to bias our coverage. The reviews are compiled through a mix of expert opinion and real-world testing.
Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the alleged attack on actor Jussie Smollett.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said were arrested on suspicion of assault and battery. Department policy prohibited him from naming the victim, he said, but he nonetheless confirmed that a pair of Nigerian brothers were arrested in connection with the case involving the Empire cast member.

Smollett is an actor on the television drama and has claimed last month's attack was "racist and homophobic".

Mr Guglielmi added at least one of the men in custody worked on Empire, but he does not know in what capacity.

The pair were picked them at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport after they flew from Nigeria earlier this week. Police served a search warrant at their Chicago apartment.

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. 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Authorities said earlier that the men were being questioned as potential suspects.

Detectives have probable cause that they may have been involved in an alleged crime and we are working to corroborate the allegations and investigative timeline as our investigation continues, Mr Guglielmi told The Independent.

Interrogations were set to resume today with the two men and their attorney.

While we havent found any video documenting the alleged attack, there is no evidence to say that this is a hoax, Mr Guglielmi said. The alleged victim is being cooperative at this time and continues to be treated as a victim, not a suspect.

He added that police also are contacting various retail stores in the hopes of determining who bought the length of rope that was around Smollletts neck.

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Smollett alleged that the attackers yelled this is MAGA country, referencing Donald Trumps Make America Great Again slogan, but he told ABC News eaelier this week that earlier reports from some outlets that his attackers were wearing MAGA hats were inaccurate.

I didnt need to add anything like that, he said. I dont need some MAGA hat as the cherry on top of some racist sundae.

Smollett said he didnt want to call police at first, but that his friend and creative director Frank Gatson called on his behalf. Smollett said he didnt remove the rope from around his neck before police arrived because I wanted them to see.

He also said he didnt initially want to give police his cellphone because the device contained private content and phone numbers.

Smollett later gave detectives heavily redacted phone records that police have said are insufficient for a criminal investigation.

Additional reporting by agencies
Police have denied reports that they believe Empire star Jussie Smollett staged his attack.

The actor claimed he was targeted in a racist and homophobic assault last month with Chicago police announcing they were investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.

Two reports have since suggested Smollett could have staged the incident due to fears he was being written out of the US television series.

Detectives working the case has now issued a statement denying this. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said: Media reports about the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives.

Guglielmi added that there is no evidence to support ABC7Chicagos reporting.

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

Fox, the network which produces Empire, released a statement to say Smollett was "core" to the show and was not being written out.

Smollett, who is black and came out as gay in 2015, is alleged to have been attacked by men who shouted homophobic and racist abuse in Chicago on January 29.

The 36-year-old made a tearful appearance on Good Morning America this week and said he had been "forever changed" by the alleged attack.

He said: "I will never be the man who this didn't happen to.

"I am forever changed and I don't subscribe to the idea that everything happens for a reason, but I do subscribe to the idea that we have the right and responsibility to make something meaningful out of the things that happen to us, good and bad."

Asked what message he wanted to send by speaking about the attack, he replied: "I want young people, young members of the LGTBQ community, young black children, to know how strong they are, to know the power they hold in their little pinky."

Smollett has starred in Fox's musical drama Empire since 2015. He plays Jamal, the gay son of a music mogul, played by Terrence Howard.

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No arrests have been made in connection with the alleged attack.

Additional reporting by Agencies
Isnt it Romantic, the satirical romantic comedy starring Rebel Wilson, has been released on Netflix  and critics have overall been charmed by Wilsons performance, though some remain uncertain as to whether it achieves its goal of turning the rom-com formular on its head.

The film, directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, stars Wilson as Natalie, an Australian architect based in New York, who doesnt belive in romantic comedies  until, of course, she wakes up in a universe ruled by the genres most cliche tropes and must find her way towards her own happily ever after.

Priyanka Chopra, Liam Hemsworth, and Brandon Scott Jones (previously seen in The Good Place) also feature as, respectively, a yoga ambassador, a love interest, and Natalies friend.

Here is what reviewers have said so far:

Variety

(Mixed)

While theres virtually no risk that Isnt It Romantic will make you love your favorite rom-coms any less, Strauss-Schulson hasnt figured out how to have his cake and eat it too  to look down on the very confection hes so busy peddling. Meanwhile, the script isnt subversive enough to puncture the genres more problematic aspects, offering drive-by critiques of the patriarchy and the institution of marriage, only to pass off a fortune-cookie love yourself lesson as the solution to attracting the romance every gal deserves. (Peter Debruge)

47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Show all 47 1 /47 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination American Psycho (2000) Starring future Oscar-winner Christian Bale, Mary Harrons adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel  in which the Vice star plays the psychopathic Patrick Bateman - didnt receive a single nomination. Rex Features 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Before Sunrise (1995) While the final two chapters of Richard Linklaters Before trilogy earned screenplay nominations, the film that introduced the world to future married couple Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) was criminally overlooked. Columbia Pictures 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination The Big Heat (1953) Fritz Lang had a number of films overlooked by the Academy; this noir, starring Glenn Ford, Lee Marvin and and Gloria Grahame, was one of them. Columbia Pictures 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination The Big Lebowski (1998) The Academys generosity to the Coen brothers peaked when No Country for Old Men beat There Will Be Blood in one of the ceremonys closest Best Picture races of all time. It remains surprising that one of their few films to evade any nominations is this endlessly quotable mistaken identity comedy starring Jeff Bridges as The Dude. PolyGram Filmed Entertainment 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Blow Out (1981) Brian De Palma doesnt exactly make films in the hope of winning award, but his political thriller - based on Michelangelo Antonionis Blow Up  would have deserved any Oscar it was nominated for. Filmways Pictures 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Breathless (1960) Breathless' failure to receive a nomination is proof that the Oscars cant be trusted. Despite being one of the most studied films in the world, Jean Luc-Godards French masterpiece has an Academy Award tally of zero. Films Around The World 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Bringing Up Baby (1938) The Academy rewarded many notable screwball comedies, though this Howard Hawks-directed standout starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn - whod go on to hold the record for most wins - wasn't one of them. Courtesy of BFI 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Don't Look Now (1973) Nicolas Roeg, who directed this Venice-set chiller, is one of the most unfairly overlooked directors in Oscars history. Rex Features 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Donnie Darko (2004) Richard Kellys science-fiction mind-bender, which made a star of Jake Gyllenhaal, was a festival favourite upon its debut in 2004. Many expected a screenplay nomination to manifest. Rex Features 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) It wouldnt be until the 1990s that western films found favour with the Academy. It was ironically thanks to Unforgiven, a film directed by Clint Eastwood whose career flourished after starring in this Sergio Leone film that many consider to be the genres peak. 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination La haine (1995) Mathieu Kassovitzs black-and-white drama  translated in English as Hate  follows three young friends and their struggles living in the suburbs of Paris. 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Halloween (1978) The Academy may not be frothing at the mouth to nominate horror films, but do have previous (see: The Exorcist and The Silence of the Lamb), which makes the absence of John Carpenters influential Halloween a glaring oversight. Aquarius Releasing 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Harold and Maude (1971) This offbeat romantic drama was a critical and commercial flop at the time of release, which probably accounts for its lack of Oscar nominations. Today, though, its cult following ensures it remains in good favour with film fans. Paramount Pictures 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Heat (1995) On paper, the big screen union of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in Michael Manns cop drama was a shoo-in for awards, but no Oscar nominations manifested. Warner Bros 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination His Girl Friday (1940) Yet another Howard Hawks screwball comedy starring Cary Grant that criminally failed to secure a single Oscar nomination. L/Columbia/Koba/Rex/Shutterstock 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Insomnia (2002) While falling short of Christopher Nolans best, modest drama Insomnia  made years before Batman Begins  had enough strong performances (Al Pacino, Robin Wiliams, Hilary Swank) to warrant acting nominations. Alas, it received none. Warner Bros Pictures 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Local Hero (1983) Bill Forsyths beloved comedy-drama follows the mishaps of an American man sent to buy up a Scottish village where the oil company he works for wants to build a refinery. Forsyth won the Bafta for Best Director, but the film received no such love from the Academy. 20th Century Fox 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination M (1931) Youd be mistaken for thinking the M stands for masterpiece in Fritz Langs German drama that follows the manhunt for a serial killer - not that the Academy agreed. 20th Century Fox 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination A Man Escaped (1956) Robert Bressons adaptation of Andre Devignys memoirs charts the French Resistance members time as prisoner of the Germans during World War II, and is even more enthralling considering Bresson himself was held captive years before. Gaumont Film Company 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Margaret (2011) Kenneth Lonergan would go on to win an Oscar for Manchester but he Sea, but Margaret - his three-hour plus drama featuring a searing performance from Anna Paquin - failed to secure a single nomination. Fox Searchlight Pictures 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination In the Mood for Love (2000) Wong Kar-wai set the benchmark for romance in film with his acclaimed Hong Kong drama following a man and woman (Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung) who develop feelings for one another after suspecting their respective spouses of having an affair together. defd Deutscher Fernsehdienst 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination The King of Comedy (1982) It may have taken him decades to win an Oscar, but the Academy has rarely balked at nominating Martin Scorsese films  especially for films starring Robert De Niro. The King of Comedy was an exception. 20th Century Fox 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination The Long Goodbye (1973) Robert Altmans superior thriller stars Elliott Gould as Raymond Chandlers private investigator Philip Marlowe in one of the directors most entertaining films. The director would go on to be the recipient of the Honorary Award in 2006. 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination The Man With Two Brains (1983) He may have hosted several times, but Steve Martin has never been nominated for an Oscar. One film he deserved recognition for was Carl Reiner's 1983 sci-fi comedy, The Man with Two Brains. Warner Bros. 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination A Matter of Life and Death (1946) The Academy Film Archive may have preserved A Matter of Life and Death in 1999, but voters failed to recognise the Powell & Pressburgers fantasy-romance at the time of its release in 1946. Eagle-Lion Films 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Mean Streets (1973) It may not be credited as his debut, but Mean Streets is very much the first true Martin Scorsese film. The director would go on to win a belated Oscar for The Departed in 2007, but hed have to wait until 1975 for his first nomination (Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore). Warner Bros 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Melancholia (2011) No Lars von Trier film has ever been nominated for Best Picture, though Dancer in the Dark came close (it settled for a Best Original Song nomination). He came close with Melancholia, but ultimately, the drama didn't get Canal+ 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Miller's Crossing (1990) Despite being revered as a Coen brothers favourite, not to mention its notable performances from Gabriel Byrne and Albert Finney, Millers Crossing is one of few Coen brother films not to receive a single Oscar nomination. 20th Century Fox 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Once Upon a Time in America (1984) Though it's by no means a masterpiece, its staggering to think that Sergio Leones gangster epic - starring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci - didnt acquire any Oscar nominations (the film's music was disqualified from consideration after Warner Bros accidentally omitted the composer's name from the opening credits when trimming the films lengthy running time for its American release). Warner Bros 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Paterson (2016) Critics assumed Jim Jarmuschs Paterson would have been a shoo-in for awards recognition - most notably in the Best Actor category, thanks to a quietly fantastic performance from Adam Driver - but no such luck. Amazon Studios 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Paths of Glory (1957) Stanley Kubrick never won Best Director despite being nominated four times. One of his films that didnt make the Oscars cut in any category was his black-and-white anti-war film, Paths of Glory. United Artists 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Play Misty for Me (1971) Clint Eastwood would go onto become something of an Oscar darling thanks to Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby and Mystic River, but his directorial debut was ignored by the Academy. Univeral Pictures/Courtesy of Getty Images 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Reservoir Dogs (1992) Reservoir Dogs may not touch Quentin Tarantinos best, but it remains a surprise that the filmmakers debut didnt get recognised in the screenplay category, at least. Miramax Films 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination The Rider (2018) Of all the 2018 films to be snubbed at this years Oscars, Chloe Zhaos drama - which stars a real-life rodeo cowboy and his family - smacks as the most unfair. Sony Pictures Classics 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination The Searchers (1956) The role of Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards might be considered John Waynes best role, but the Academy didnt agree: he would win his sole Oscar for True Grit in 1970. Warner Bros 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination The Shining (1980) Another Kubrick film that was completely ignored by the Academy is the directors Stephen King adaptation, The Shining. Today, its considered one of his finest works as well as being one of the most revered horror films of all time. Warner Bros 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination The Shop Around the Corner (1953) It may have endured as one of the best loved romcoms of all time, but it has zero Oscar nominations to its name. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Still Walking (2008) Japanese director Hirokazo Kore-eda's portrait of a family over roughly 24 hours as they commemorate the death of the eldest son was a glaring oversight by the Academy. IFC Films 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Swingers Before he became Disney's go to, Jon Favreau (Iron Man, The Jungle Book and the forthcoming live-action Lion King) wrote this independent film about the lives of single, unemployed actors living in Hollywood, California during the 1990s swing revival. Rex Features 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination This Is England (2006 The 2007 ceremony would have been far better had Shane Meadows' coming-of-drama been in contention for awards. Optimum Releasing 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Three Kings (1999) The Academy deemed Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle worthy of nominations, but not David O Russells Three Kings, which remains one of his greatest films to this day. Warner Bros Pictures 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Tokyo Story (1953) Tokyo Story is deemed Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu's masterpiece and was named Sight & Sound's best film of all time in 2012. Rex Features 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Touch of Evil (1958) Orson Welles' classic noir wasn't as well loved at the time of release as it is today. BFI 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Tyrannosaur (2011) Olivia Colman may be in contention for Best Actress at this years ceremony, but the fact she failed to earn a nomination (or Bafta, for that matter) for her role in Paddy Considines hard-hitting drama Tyrannosaur is one of the biggest oversights in awards history. StudioCanal UK 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Walkabout (1971) Another exceptional achievement in filmmaking from Nicolas Roeg that somehow failed to receive any Oscar nominations. 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination You Were Never Really Here (2018) Notch it down to bad timing, but Lynne Ramsays You Were Never Really Here - starring Joaquin Phoenix - is a sensational piece of work worthy of reward. Amazon Studio 47 brilliant films that didn't receive a single Oscar nomination Zodiac (2007) Three years later, David Fincher would go head-to-head with The King Speech's Tom Hooper for The Social Network. In truth, serial killer drama Zodiac is every bit as good as the Facebook drama. Warner Bros Pictures

AV Club

(Positive)

To be sure, the truly hardened cynic will find plenty to pick apart in the new Rebel Wilson-led rom-com, Isnt It Romantic. But such committed misanthropes, by definition, dont enjoy much of anything. On the other extreme, the doe-eyed and optimistic will like the filmwhich extensively employs romantic-comedy tropes in the service of satirizing them, thus having its mini cupcakes and eating them, toojust fine. But the real audience for Isnt It Romantic is a different demographic altogether: Its a feature-length in-joke for fans who will always pause if My Best Friends Wedding pops up during a lazy Saturday afternoon channel-surfing session, but who ultimately consider rom-coms a slightly shameful guilty pleasure. (Katie Rife)

The Ringer

(Positive)

The movie itself wants to be all things to all people: to scorn rom-com cliches while also embracing them; to spoof a genre while also inhabiting it; and to score points for self-awareness while also hitting time-honored emotional beats. On its face, its an effort as doomed as the real-life struggle to have ones Magnolia cupcake and eat it, too. Incredibly, Isnt It Romantic comes closer to pulling it off than youd think. (Alison Herman)

CNN

(Positive)

Wilson puts all of her skills to use, including her comedic chops and singing, the latter shown off in jauntily choreographed, rom-com-worthy production numbers. Shes surrounded by a game group earnestly portraying straight men and women, while all the little technical details -- from the music to the production design -- niftily reinforce the surreality of this alternate universe. (Brian Lowry)

The New York Times

(Negative)

Wilson, leaning on her comic persona to compensate for the scripts lack of wit or inventiveness, is a reliable deadpanner. Her one-liners  calling the alternate universe shes trapped in The Matrix for lonely women, for example  are funny enough to carry this featherweight movie as far as it can go, which isnt far. The films reliance on conventions even as it snickers at them gives it the faint air of a con. (Ben Kenigsberg)

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Rolling Stone

3/5

This meta-take on meet-cutes hooks you up with a few good laughs while it mocks itself. Its a damn shame about the sucker punch of a happy ending. Still, thanks to the comic tornado at its center, Isnt It Romantic is still your best bet for a Valentines date at the movies. You could do worse. (Peter Travers)
By Blair Williams, founder of MemberPress

Business growth has changed drastically in recent years, primarily due to the way business leaders are incorporating artificial intelligence into their business models. And the artificial intelligence (AI) trend doesn't seem to be going anywhere. According to IDC, it's predicted that business spending on AI is going to grow threefold from $24 billion in 2018 to $77.6 billion in 2022.

There are plenty of ways to scale up your AI strategy regardless of whether your business is mature or you are still growing. Let's look at some of the ways adding AI to your business model can help improve your efficiency, as well as what steps you should take when you want to scale up your artificial intelligence strategy.

Start with a small problem.

When you first bring artificial intelligence into your business model, it can seem like a daunting task. There are a ton of options you must consider so that your company can run smoothly while you implement automation. The best way to start scaling up is by starting with a small problem.

Think about the different ways that you can use AI as your business stands now. Ask yourself questions such as:

Is there data we would like to have, but currently don't?

Are there repetitive processes in our business chain that AI can handle?

How long will it take to find out if the AI solution is working better than the traditional method (if applicable)?

Once you are able to pinpoint the problem you want to solve, wade in and start small. If you start gutting giant sections of your company and replacing them artificial intelligence solutions, odds are you're going to run into issues and conflicting processes.

Keep everyone in the loop.

One of the biggest problems when implementing artificial intelligence is the way that some business owners communicate their plans with the rest of the staff -- particularly those in higher positions.

If your endgame is to scale your business up, you have to keep everyone on the same page throughout the process. When you use the previous tip and start small, make sure you're communicating the results of the tests and your plans for scaling with staff. You don't want to jump out too far ahead and announce changes before they occur, but it is vital that the people who work closely with you know your plans.

For example, if you're looking for a way to tweak the way your company orders product, alert your staff to what product you want to test your AI ordering on. This will help keep everything running smoothly and keep everyone in the loop as you implement AI in the fabric of your company model.

Consider the impact on customers and clients.

As you slowly start to inject artificial intelligence into your business model, think about how it's going to affect your customers and clients, especially ones who have been with you before the change.

Are you making sure to keep updated guides on changes such as AI chatbots for current customers? Do they know when these changes are going to roll out and will it impact the price they are currently paying for your products? If they don't know the answer to these questions, there could be problems down the line. If you keep your customers in the loop while you're scaling, on the other hand, you are only increasing your chances of success.

Keeping your customers informed is easier than you think. You could include something in your weekly or monthly newsletter letting them know the changes. If it's something more urgent, you could send out an email to all subscribers or current customers using your email lists.

As you experiment, you'll discover that not all artificial intelligence solutions are created equal. There are some that will work well with your business model and some that won't. Starting small and scaling up is the key to success, regardless of what kind of company you operate.

Pay attention to the data and make smart choices that benefit your customers, clients, staff and your business as a whole. There's no question that AI is the future -- the only question is how is it going to help your business in the coming years?
Amazon said Thursday it was scrapping its plans to build a new corporate campus in New York City's borough of Queens, following a wave of opposition spearheaded by local politicians. But not everyone in the borough is happy to see Amazon go.

After a several-months-long tour of the country in search of a new headquarters, dubbed "HQ2," Amazon in November chose two sites, opting in the end to split its operations between New York City and Crystal City in Northern Virginia. Amazon said the location in New York, along the Long Island City neigborhood's waterfront, would create at least 25,000 high-paying jobs over the course of the next 10 years.

The backlash against the deal ensued almost immediately after details revealed the company would receive up to $3 billion in tax breaks and incentives. While activists chafed at the deal, many local business owners were excited by the prospect of several thousand new customers patronizing their businesses, from eateries and coffee shops to art boutiques and bars. That excitement has now turned to resentment, however, after it became clear Amazon wouldn't be moving forward.

"I'm out cold. I'm angry. I'm so many emotions, I can't even tell you," says Gianna Cerbone-Teoli, founder of Manducatis Rustica, an Italian restaurant on Vernon Boulevard a few blocks away from where Amazon's new campus would've been. To be clear, she is not upset with Amazon. She had been in contact with the e-commerce giant since January, and even brokered a two-hour long Q&A session last month between local business owners and three Amazon executives to discuss the project.

Cerbone-Teoli is fuming at how local politicians foiled the deal. "They don't realize that they just committed political suicide," she says, referring to state Senator Michael Gianaris, who has been a vocal critic of the Amazon deal.

"It's not even for me," she tells Inc. "It's for those jobs; it's for the people; it's for the learning center. It's so much bigger than myself or my business or anything else," she adds. Amazon had planned to build a 10,000-square-foot learning center within its facilities to train and recruit talent from within the community.

She even tried to help salvage the deal, after reports surfaced last Friday that Amazon was reconsidering its move. She and other business owners launched a petition on Change.org to rally support. They received nearly 4,000 signatures in a week. Meanwhile, a separate petition opposing the deal launched by Gianaris collected roughly 5,500 signatures in three months.

"I asked them to reconsider," says Cerbone-Teoli, adding she spoke on the phone with an Amazon executive after the news broke. "They're not. They can't. They are not going to."

Like Cerbone-Teoli, other area businesses were hopeful the entree of Amazon would lead to improved sales--and they hatched expansion plans accordingly. Now with the deal off the table, business owners are starting to reconsider.

Elijah Kliger, the founder and CEO of InstaVet, chose Long Island City to build his company's first brick-and-mortar animal hospital before Amazon announced its pick for its HQ2. Upon learning of the new headquarters, he opted to lease twice the square footage. Now he's locked into a 12-year lease for a space he's no longer sure he can afford.
Amazon to New York City: Drop Dead. Reacting to a fierce storm of criticism over its $3 billion incentive agreement with New York City and New York State, Amazon said it was taking its HQ2 and the potential of 25,000 new jobs and blowing town.

Well, not quite. "We love New York, its incomparable dynamism, people, and culture," the company said in a statement. So much so that there are 5,000 Amazon employees here, and the company says it will continue to grow here.

And that's the point, according to Amazon's very loud local critics, which include politicians in Long Island City, where Amazon was going to set up shop, and labor unions--Amazon is anti-union and wouldn't agree to even stay neutral on the subject. How's this for dynamism: You want a piece of us? Then pay for it. Other tech companies, particularly Google, have been expanding in New York without trying to hold jobs hostage to real estate deals.

The Amazon retreat, and perhaps one by Foxconn in Wisconsin, rekindles the national debate over corporate subsidies to land jobs from such beauty contests as the one that Amazon staged so expertly. Data from Brookings and other organizations that have studied economic development consistently show that the return on the investment nearly always comes up short. But state and local governments get sucked in again and again in the battle to "win" plants and headquarters that are essentially put up for bid.

"Most jobs come from expansion of existing companies and startups," Amy Liu, vice president and director of Brookings' Metropolitan Policy Program, told me when I interviewed her a couple of months ago, when the Amazon deal was announced. "It comes from within, not hunting them from the outside."

In other words, job creation is much more about Inc. than it is about Fortune. (And I used to work for Fortune. Great magazine. No hard feelings.) Yet, it's the big companies that get the attention and the money. The better payoff, says Liu, comes from investing in the core, in the ecosystems that develop around industries.

That's more the idea at Cornell Tech, for instance, located on Roosevelt Island--near Long Island City, where Amazon planned its HQ2. This new urban campus of Cornell in partnership with Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has the stated goal of diversifying the economy and creating a tech hub. The city estimated that Cornell Tech will create 8,000 jobs and, more important, be able to spin out new companies. At a subsidy of $100 million, that seems like a better deal for the more than $20 billion of economic growth it is projected to generate. (Some of that growth will be generated by Graduate Hotels, featured in Inc., which is building a new location there.)

One of the reasons that New York can attract companies such as Google is because of its growing supply of tech workers. It sure as hell isn't about mass transit--been in the subway lately? Or the cost of living, unless you really like paying $20 for a pastrami sandwich. But young, talented tech people love it here just the same--it's the "incomparable dynamism, people, and culture" Amazon references--and that talent is highly desirable. And not just for the big companies. There are 176 New York City-based companies on the 2018 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private firms in the U.S. And you can bet that out of those 176 companies, you'll get dozens more startups.

Amazon is welcome to that talent just as much as any other company, large or small. But there's no particular reason for the government to overspend to underwrite Amazon's expansion any more than it should firms such as Peloton, Bombas, or any other company. Economic development needs to be cost effective.
Imperial Valley News Center

Director Carroll Statement on Working Visit with Colombian President Duque

Washington, DC - Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Jim Carroll released the following statement after participating in an official working visit with Colombian President Ivan Duque at the White House this week.

Its critical that Colombia continues to aggressively increase counter-narcotics efforts, including beginning an aerial spray eradication program, to achieve our shared goal of significantly reducing coca cultivation and production. President Duque and the Colombian government are important partners of the United States, and the Trump Administration will continue working closely with them to meet our objectives and keep illegal drugs out of American communities. We are looking for demonstrable progress this year on our shared objectives, ONDCP Director Jim Carroll said.
Imperial Valley News Center

Presidential Message on School Safety: Remembering the Parkland Tragedy

Washington, DC - One year ago today, a horrific act of violence took the lives of 14 students and 3 educators in Parkland, Florida. On this somber anniversary, we honor their memory and recommit to ensuring the safety of all Americans, especially our Nations children.

The day after the tragedy in Parkland, I told the Nation that school safety would be a top priority for my Administration. We took immediate action, committing ourselves to a sacred vow to do everything in our power to ensure that evil does not stalk our children on the playgrounds or in the hallways of our Nations schools. Within days, I convened a listening session at the White House, during which young men and women, joined by family and friends, recounted stories of survival and heroic acts of bravery and remembered those lost to senseless violence.

We learned a lot that afternoon, exchanging many strong ideas on preventing violence in our schools. These important suggestions resulted in the creation of the Federal Commission on School Safety to consider recommendations spanning a broad range of topics important to protecting our students and securing our schools. Carson Abt, a survivor and now a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, suggested that we need to ensure that all schools have the resources necessary to institute active shooter protocols and drills. Julia Cordover, another Parkland survivor, asked that my Administration take action to ban bump stocks. Alaya Barnett, a student at Friendship Technology Preparatory Academy in Washington, D.C., suggested improvements to counseling services for victims of bullying. And Sandy Hook mom, Nicole Hockley, urged enactment of the STOP School Violence Act, which authorizes $1 billion over the next ten years to prevention programs and reporting systems nationwide.

We have made tremendous strides. One month after that important meeting, I signed the STOP School Violence Act and Fix NICS Act into law. The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services began the process of expanding health and other services to low-income public elementary and secondary schools. The Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation also convened a School Safety Summit that discussed how to better identify troubled students, conduct threat assessments, and institute anonymous reporting systems. Additionally, my Administration has completed a regulatory process, which it had started in October of 2017, to ban bump stocks.

On December 18, 2018, the Federal Commission on School Safety released a compelling 180-page report directly addressing many of the ideas exchanged last February at the White House and in listening sessions, panel discussions, and field visits held all across the country. The report offered nearly 100 diverse and evidence-based policy recommendations, ranging from use of Extreme Risk Protection Orders to improved mental health and counseling services in our schools. To protect against acts of violence on school grounds, the Commission also recommended a structure of interagency and intergovernmental collaboration, strengthening the working relationship between educational personnel, law enforcement, and State and local leadership.

Melania and I join all Americans in praying for the continued healing of those in the Parkland community and all communities where lives have been lost to gun violence. We reaffirm the bonds of faith, family, community, and country that unite us as one Nation. Today, as we hold in our hearts each of those lost a year ago in Parkland, let us declare together, as Americans, that we will not rest until our schools are secure and our communities are safe.
To the editor:

Democrats will do anything to have open borders and sanctuary cities even if it kills their own citizens. Democrats wont fund the wall to keep illegals out, but they expect you to fund sanctuary cities. I am surprised the Democrats have not demanded to have the Statue of Liberty moved to our southern border facing Mexico.

Remember when two migrant children died after illegally crossing the border in Texas and New Mexico? The Democrats went nuts wanting to known how this could happen. Duh. In this same time period, a California police officer was murdered in cold blood by an illegal alien. The Democrats were silent.

I cannot understand the stupidity of anyone not wanting the wall. One person actually wrote in stating Trump would build the wall to keep persons of color out. Who cares if they are pink  they come the right way or not at all.

If we have open borders and let all of those from Mexico and Central America to just pour into our country, where do these many thousands go as they have no money or place to stay? I would support having the Democrats pay for all their needs. If they come here where does it stop??

A couple of Democrats stated the immigrants will not come here to cause trouble or hurt Americans. Our southern prisons are full of these same people. If you are homeless and you and your family are starving, tell me that you would not harm anybody to get food and supplies. They show the ones in Mexico throwing rocks over the wall trying it hit immigration, border patrol police. I think that anyone throwing a deadly weapon at any officer should be open to be shot by the officer.

I would love to see Democrats walking Nancy Pelosis district at night in San Francisco, California. With no police in the area and having to stay there walking for a few hours. Maybe allow them to have a flashlight so they can see whats on the sidewalks.

Democrats say we want to do the will of the people. I say Pinocchio wasnt a liar. My question is who or what people are they talking about?

The Democrats keep downing President Trump and accusing him of everything they can think of. I say they spend too much time with CNN and MSNBC and believing what they state. President Trump has done more in less then two years than Obama could have ever done in eight more years. The Hollywood Democrats and Al Sharpton had said they would leave the U.S.A. if Trump was elected. I have to ask, why are they still here? I was sure inspired about that but, like most Democrats, they also lied.

Build the wall as it has two sides. One side to keep people who are illegal out and the other side to protect the people who are in danger.

Build the wall!!!!

Richard Wallace
(The Center Square)  There are a few more weeks for landlords and their tenants in Illinois who havent paid rent because of the eviction moratorium to apply for some of more than $1.5 billion in rental assistance, but not every situation is eligible.The Illinois Housing Development Authori
To the editor:

On Feb. 20 Lee County Commissioners should vote no on loosening current restrictions on lime-rock mining, especially in areas considered prime territory of the endangered Florida panther and designated as Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource (DR/GR). We need drinking water, not more mines.

Lime-rock mining is not compatible with any other land uses, as stated in the Lee County Comprehensive Plan (Lee Plan), a plan paid for with taxpayer dollars and developed by experts, county staff, public input and interested parties.

The Lee Plan acknowledges that lime-rock mining should not be contemplated near environmentally-sensitive areas, present and prospective Conservation 20/20 lands, neighborhoods, schools or agricultural zones. Furthermore, mines should not compromise our sources of potable water. After all, clean water is a finite resource.

County staff proposes the elimination of Map 14, which limits geographically future mining operations and allows public participation in the dialogue with elected officials. Once Map 14 is deleted, we are out of the picture and mining applications would go directly to rezoning process.

Why the need to alter the Lee Plan after it worked for eight years?

Write our county commissioners to vote in favor of smart growth and to respect current restrictions for lime-rock mining. Better, express in person your concerns Feb. 20 at 9:30 am at the public meeting at 2120 Main St., downtown Fort Myers.

Alessia Leathers

Cape Coral
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 15)  The National Press Club (NPC) is dismayed at the National Bureau of Investigation's (NBI) arrest of Rappler chief executive officer and executive editor Maria Ressa, but sided with the government in saying that the cyber libel charge she is facing is not part of the administration's harassment of its critics.

"While the NPC recognized that the NBI served the warrant as part of our judicial process, the manner by which it was done smacks of bad tasteat the close of office hour (sic). The NBI could have served the warrant much earlier, if it wanted to," the journalists' group said Friday in a statement.

READ: Panelo, Ressa disagree on 'irregularities' in her arrest

NBI agents served an arrest warrant on Ressa at Rappler's Pasig City office as courts were closing on Wednesday. The warrant did not have an information sheet, which indicates the bail bond Ressa would have to post for her temporary freedom.

With a Pasay City night court refusing to grant her motion for bail, Ressa was forced to spend a night in NBI detention before she was able to post a 100,000 bail the following morning.

The NPC said it will call on the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and other government agencies for a review of the agreement between the journalists' group and the DILG on the arrest of journalists for libel.

However, the NPC said it "takes exemption (sic)" to the view that the cyber libel charge against Ressa is an act of political harassment by the government against its critics.

"Ms. Ressa's experience has been the experience of many in the media profession. It can be a great 'inconvenience' but, not something that should relegate someone to the altar of press freedom for 'martyrdom,'" the NPC said.

The NPC also warned that this "politicization" of libel charges may prompt more violent attacks against the media.

"This risk of violent attacks against the media can only increase when would-be complainants begin to entertain the thought that the filing of a libel case has become an exercise in futility because its result can be swayed by the noise of mob rule," it said.

The NPC's position differs from other media groups, like the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, which called the cyber libel charge against Ressa and her subsequent arrest as an attack on the press by the Duterte administration.

When the Securities and Exchange Commission cancelled Rappler's license to do business in 2018, the NPC also differed from other media groups' reactions, backing the government's decision to shut down the news website.

President Rodrigo Duterte has denied that he had anything to do with Ressa's arrest, even saying that he was unaware of it.

Businessman Wilfredo Keng sued Ressa and former Rappler staff Reynaldo Santos Jr. for cyber libel over an article which claimed that he lent a vehicle to former Chief Justice Renato Corona and that he was linked to drug smuggling, human trafficking and other illegal activities. In the same story, Keng denied that his vehicle was used by Corona.

In a statement on Friday, Keng said he is not connected to or is being used by the government.

"I am an ordinary, private citizen and this is a personal, private suit. It is a basic remedy filed against defamatory words. My case does not tackle state suppression of policy criticism or of free expression of sentiment," Keng said.

He said Rappler and Ressa has "repackaged" his suit into an attack by the government and as a violation of the freedom of speech and of the press.

He added that he is also exploring other cases that he can file against the news website and Ressa.

Ressa has repeatedly said that the cases she and Rappler are facing are exhibits of the present government's "abuse of power" and the "weaponization of the law" against its perceived enemies.

She said this is the sixth time she has posted bail in two months.

Rappler has earned the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte following its publication of reports critical of his administration. He and other government officials have accused it of publishing fake news and of being owned by foreigners.

CNN Philippines Correspondent Gerg Cahiles contributed to this report.
Since opening the doors of the first restaurant in 1984, Culvers has been committed to being an active member in its local community. This Wednesday, Feb. 20, Culvers of Cape Coral, 309 S.W. Pine Island Road, will carry on that tradition by donating a portion of its sales to raise funds for Island Coast High School FFA between 4 and 8 p.m.

FFA provides leadership, personal growth and career success training through agricultural education.

Were proud to call Cape Coral home and doing our part to help just feels right, said LaVonne Daveler. We strive to make a difference in the community we share with so many others, and working with Island Coast High School FFA allows us to help support individuals and families in our area.

Culvers support of Island Coast High School FFA is just part of its dedication to giving back to the community. From Culvers founders to each locally owned and operated restaurant, each franchise partner and team member understands the importance of serving those in need.

For over 30 years, Culvers guests have been treated to cooked-to-order food made with farm-fresh ingredients, served with a smile. The ever-expanding franchise system now numbers more than 650 independently owned and operated restaurants in 24 states. The restaurants nationally-recognized customer service is based on small-town, Midwestern values, genuine friendliness and an unwavering commitment to quality. For more information, visit www.culvers.com, www.culvers.com/facebook, www.twitter.com/culvers, plus.google.com/+culvers or www.instagram.com/culvers.
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Friday, February 15, 2019 at 8:58AM

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Microsoft pulls off an unusual move as it begins testing an update of Windows 10 that won't be out until 2020. The company isn't known for testing out updates this far out in advance. Microsoft usually does two updates per year, and it hasn't started testing the next 2019 update yet. However, it seems this new 2020 update needs more lead time.

According to Microsoft Windows Insider Chief Dona Sarkar, this update requires a longer testing period. But Sarkar didn't specify what 20H1 update will include. Beta testers who opted into the Skip Ahead ring for future Windows versions will start seeing this update (which is labeled as Windows 10 build 18836).

Source: The Verge
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  An Idaho man wanted for a vicious assault on a sleeping victim, has been arrested in Tallahassee, reported ABC affiliate WTXL.

On Thursday, the US Marshals Florida/Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force announced the arrest of Kentraviaen A. Tuff, in a press release, according to the report.

Tuff was wanted by the Boise Police Department for aggravated battery.

U.S. Marshals in Idaho speculated that Tuff fled to the Tallahassee area due to family connections in Florida. Members of the US Marshals Florida/Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force located Tuff at Capital Walk Apartments in the 800 block of Capital Walk Drive near the Capital Circle NW and I-10 corridor, WTXL reported.

Tuff has a long history of charges in both Ada and Jerome county courts including kidnapping, grand theft and criminal conspiracy. In 2014, Idaho State Police arrested Tuff along with three others on suspicion of human trafficking.

Tuff was booked into the Leon County Jail on the charges of drug possession, grand theft of firearm, marijuana possession with the intent to sell, possession of narcotics and possession of a weapon as a felon in addition to his out-of-state Idaho charges.
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| BY Lynchy |

Publicis Groupe has officially launched the Digitas brand in Thailand. The agency will provide brands in Thailand with access to their diverse expertise across data, strategy, creative, content, and technology all under one roof. The Digitas network has 3,500 employees across 21 countries and 34 offices,

The 34 person team in Bangkok will service existing clients including Chevrolet, JD Central, Krungsri, PTG, MK and One Bangkok as well as Tesco, the agencys most recent Digital AOR win.

Digitas Thailand will be led by Paruj Daorai, Managing Director, Digitas Thailand who moves across from the Publicis Groupes Leo Burnett agency where he was Executive Creative Director and Chief Digital Officer. Daorais creative background includes creative director roles at Lowe and Ogilvy Bangkok prior to joining Leo Burnett Group.

Daorai (pictured right) will report into Songkran Sethesompobe, Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Groupe Thailand and Jane Lin-Baden, Managing Partner APAC, Publicis Groupe.

Also transferring from the Leo Burnett creative department to Digitas is Santi Tubtimtong, who takes up the Executive Creative Director position.

Songkran Sethesompobe, Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Groupe Thailand said: With the Thailand 4.0 policy, the digital economy will represent 19% of the GDP in 2019 and rise to 25% in 2027. This will provide the space for brands and businesses to become more strategic and efficient in the way they operate and market to consumers. With the launch of global digital network Digitas in Thailand, providing data and technology centric connected digital marketing services to address the need for our customers to win the new economy. Further to the recent acquisition of B&M, Publicis Groupe now hosts 170 digital talents working for our clients in Thailand.

Daorai said: Digitas brings together capabilities across data, technology, creativity and media in order to solve for the unique challenges of brands in Thailand. Our customer first approach, is built on a data driven understanding of real-world consumer behaviours, helping to connect brands with consumers in meaningful ways by enabling the actions, and providing the content that is most likely to engage.

The Bangkok office launch further extends the APAC expansion that Digitas started last year, with openings in both Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur.

Top pictured LtoR: Santi Tubtimtong (Executive Creative Director), Worawin Soncharoen (Head of Strategy), Pornchanok Jirakiertivaddhana (Group Account Director), Paruj Daorai (Managing Director), Nittaya Saelim (Head of Digital Production), Sarinthorn Eiamfang (Digital Content Manager).
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Houston, MO (65483)

Today

Intervals of clouds and sunshine. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 92F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds from time to time. Low 74F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.
President Donald Trump and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke held dueling rallies in El Paso trading jabs over the idea of more physical barriers along the international boundary with Mexico.

After the rallies, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said that not only was O'Rourke's political career ended by the day's events, but he went on to argue that if not for a fence along the Rio Grande, heads would roll in pool halls and bodies would hang from bridges.
With Democrats and Republicans locked in a staring contest over border security, there's a solution here that secures the border and won't cost the taxpayers one dime: Let's build a wall, and make El Chapo pay for it.

Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, the infamous Mexican drug lord also known as "El Chapo," was convicted Tuesday by a New York jury on 10 counts in connection with his years-long international drug-smuggling operation. El Chapo will be sentenced in June; after a history of high-profile escapes, he is expected to be incarcerated for life in ADX Florence, a "Supermax" prison in Colorado which houses dangerous criminals ranging from al-Qaida operatives to the Unabomber.

He deserves every day of a life sentence. In 2015, El Chapo boasted to Rolling Stone magazine that "I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world." That year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 50,000 Americans died from opioid and other drug overdoses in the United States. By 2017, that number had jumped to more than 70,000.

According to CNN, El Chapo claimed in 2014 that he had killed between 2,000 and 3,000 people. While exact numbers of Americans murdered by cartel members are difficult to determine, these deaths are a tragically regular occurrence, whether innocent teachers visiting Mexico or members of law enforcement in border states such as my own.

The former leader of the murderous Sinaloa cartel made a killing from the death, addiction and misery he trafficked, to the tune of $14 billion in ill-gotten revenue across the cartel's operations. These criminal assets, which are forfeit to the federal government, should be used to stop future criminals such as El Chapo, and to protect Americans from the suffering that cartels and gangs such as MS-13 continue to export around the world.

That's why I have reintroduced the Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order (EL CHAPO) Act in the Senate. It would direct our government to use El Chapo's drug fortune - and the fortunes of other drug lords - to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and invest in a border wall, technology, manpower and infrastructure that is sorely needed for comprehensive border security.

Criminal asset forfeiture can occur after a conviction in a variety of circumstances; when a criminal has used a building, car, or secret fund to conduct illegal activities, the government can take it away. In this case, the difference is the sheer size of El Chapo's operation. No matter what fraction of El Chapo's holdings the federal government manages to seize, it will put a dent in our nation's border security bills without affecting any funds currently going to victims or law enforcement.

The Democratic Party should embrace this solution. In 2013, the vast majority of Senate Democrats voted for 350 miles of additional border fencing. But in the lead-up to the last government shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., insisted that President Donald Trump's request for 234 miles was unacceptable because it violated the president's campaign promise to have Mexico pay for it.

"The American people are still paying the price," Pelosi claimed in December. "Mexico is not paying for this wall." Similarly, Schumer said: "The president repeatedly promised that Mexico would pay for his unnecessary and ineffective border wall." I'm sure that Americans are grateful for Pelosi and Schumer finding one cause they won't tax-and-spend for.

But the EL CHAPO Act sidesteps these funding problems. Everyone should support taking money from murderers, drug smugglers and human traffickers such as El Chapo and using it to prevent murder, drug smuggling and human trafficking - all without costing the American taxpayers one dime, or adding anything to the federal budget. That's what the EL CHAPO Act would do.

People across the United States are desperate for a sign that Washington is ready and willing to protect them from dangerous criminals and porous borders. And taxpayers of every political background appreciate the increasingly rare occasions when Congress is fiscally responsible. The EL CHAPO Act satisfies all of these reasonable concerns.

Congress has two clear mandates from the American people: secure the border and save money. So let's build a wall, and make El Chapo pay for it.

Cruz, a Republican, represents Texas in the U.S. Senate. This column was distributed by The Washington Post News Service.
| BY Lynchy |

FINCH, Sydney, Australia, was awarded Best of Show for The Eleven OClock at last nights seventh annual One Screen Short Film Festival, the premiere short film festival from The One Club for Creativity that unites the film and advertising worlds.

The Eleven OClock, which follows the delusional patient of a psychiatrist who believes he is actually the psychiatrist himself, also picked up a One Screen award in Comedy at the ceremony and screening at the SVA Theater in New York.

Also winning a One Screen award from Australia was //Thirteen & Co for The Craft in the Fiction category.

Other notable winners on the night included Rising by R/GA, New York on behalf of The Ad Council, which picked up three awards, one each in the Fiction, Movie Poster and Art Direction/Production Design categories. BBDO New York also had three wins, on work for AT&T, Johnson & Johnson and Mars Chocolate North America, Snickers. Observatory and Shutterstock each took home a pair of One Screen awards.

One Screen is part of The One Club for Creativity, the foremost global non-profit organization celebrating creative excellence in advertising and design. Now in its seventh year, One Screen focuses on all forms and aspects of short films  commercials, music videos, short narratives, spec work, passion projects, movie poster design, credits, etc.  and celebrates the best of the film and ad industries with no limitation and total artistic freedom, all on one screen.

Entries were received this year from 45 countries and judged by a 79-person jury of leading film directors, producers, ad agency creatives and heads of production companies.

Says Jonathan Jirjis, executive producer at One Screen and The One Club: Now in its seventh year, One Screen has become a showcase for the passion projects of accomplished filmmakers, as well as a high-visibility forum to recognize promising young talent. Were thrilled with the range and quality of work submitted this year and congratulate all of our 2019 winners.

Sponsors for the One Screen Short Film Festival 2019 include Tanteo Tequila and Brooklyn Brewery.
Rep. Richard Raymond is fighting for Texans right to party on Sundays.

Raymond, D-Laredo, has introduced legislation that would toss out one of Texas age-old blue laws and allow liquor stores to be open seven days a week. Beer, wine and booze still would not be available before noon on Sundays, but the bill would increase the legal hours of operation for liquor stores to 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

I think its just common sense, Raymond said. Its one of those instances where I dont government has any business telling a small business owner that they cant open.

For years, legislators have attempted to repeal the Sunday liquor ban, citing economic freedom for small businesses. Last session, Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, introduced legislation that would allow Sunday sales, but the bill was never given a committee hearing.

This session could be different. Last year, the Sunset Advisory Commission declared that the laws governing alcohol sales, and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission that enforces them are in serious need of modernization, encouraging legislators to take a closer look at the matter. Also, the Texas Republican Party included repealing Texas blue laws in its party platform last year.

For subscribers: Lawmakers shame DPS leaders for driver license office wait times

The Distilled Spirits Council, a national trade association that represents liquor manufacturers, is also calling Texas laws outdated, including the ban on Sunday sales of liquor.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code is filled with outdated and often-contradictory provisions that serve no purpose than to restrict competition and protect entrenched special interests, Dale Szyndrowski, vice president of the council, said in a press release. From protectionist and unconstitutional ownership restrictions for package stores and murky trade regulations to antiquated blue laws banning the retail sale of spirits on Sundays, Texas laws remain severely outdated and need reform.

A number of issues at TABC will be under the microscope this session, including licensing, regulation and overall transparency of the commission, something Raymond hopes will open a lane for his bill.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Raymond says his bill would erase unfair restrictions on businesses.

The government is picking winners and losers and saying You can, but you can only go to these businesses and not those businesses, Raymond said. Ive always thought the law was kind of dumb.

The Texas blue law was passed in 1961, banning a number of Sunday sales that have almost all been rolled back in the years since. The only remnants are a mandate that car dealerships can only be open one day on weekends and the Sunday ban on liquor sales. Forty-two states allow the sale of liquor on Sundays, and alcohol can already be sold by many other business in Texas on Sundays, including bars and restaurants.
WASHINGTON - As President Donald Trump embarked for El Paso on Monday to rally support for a border wall, Texas Republican John Cornyn sent out a personal message through his 2020 U.S. Senate re-election campaign:

Texas stands with President Trump.

For Cornyn, seeking a fourth term in the Senate, the message underscored some of the central challenges of his re-election bid: for better or worse, his fate is inextricably tied to that of a famously polarizing and unpredictable president, with whom he will share a ballot.

As in the rest of my life, I dont sweat too much the things I cant control, Cornyn said later in the week. I look at the things I can control, and I can control my preparation for what I think will likely be a fairly serious opposition in 2020. The president is at the top of the ticket, and I believe he will be responsible for nearly 100 percent of the turnout, about half of the voters for him, and half against him.

Cornyn, a former state Attorney General and Supreme Court Justice, knows that 2020 could be the most severe test of his time in the Senate, which began in 2002. He is the first to admit that Texas is not the GOP bastion it once was.

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Despite a generation of GOP dominance in the Lone Star State, demographic changes and urbanization have helped Democrats narrow that gap in statewide elections, culminating with Beto ORourkes loss to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in November by less than three percentage points.

Only four years earlier, in the states last Senate election, Cornyn trampled relatively unknown dentist-turned investor David Alameel, while Republican Greg Abbott glided to victory by 20 points in the governors race against then-Democratic star Wendy Davis.

For Republicans, one of the first signs of trouble came in 2016, when Trump, riding a wave of anti-establishment fervor, carried Texas by only nine points against Hillary Clinton - an unaccustomed single-digit victory.

Suddenly, 2014 looked like eons ago.

It was a pre-Trump era, said Republican strategist Brendan Steinhauser, who ran Cornyns 2014 campaign. The trends that weve seen in terms of the time thats passed is that Texas has continued to urbanize, its continued to attract people from all over the country and all over the world, growing rapidly.

Many of those people are open to supporting Republican candidates, Steinhauser continued, but in this era of Trumps Republican Party, its a different calculation.

Steinhauser describes Trump as the elephant in the room who can nationalize state and local elections across America. But theres also a home-grown factor that adds to Cornyns uncertainty: Beto ORourke.

Beto is Cornyns biggest threat. But will he run?

ORourke, the former El Paso congressman and current Democratic rock star, is known to be mulling a 2020 presidential bid. But many Texas Democrats see the Senate race as the perfect fallback position for the idealistic 46-year-old who raised a record $80 million for his challenge to Cruz.

Whatever ORourke decides, he is easily - and potentially the only - real threat to Cornyn in Texas. But for now, ORourkes indecision simply adds a Beto factor to the list of unknowns for Team Cornyn.

The degree of difficulty John Cornyn is going to have in 2020 right now I think very much rests in the hands of Beto ORourke, said political scientist James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas.

While Cruz labeled ORourke too liberal for Texas, Democrats like the contrast of a youthful, relative outsider against a 67-year-old incumbent who earned his stripes the old-fashioned way: working his way patiently up the Senate GOP ladder.

For subscribers: Beto ORourkes web diary inspires derision and hope as 2020 presidential field takes shape

To many Texas Republicans, ORourke represents Cornyns worst-case-scenario. But some also see him as a one-off candidate that no other Texas Democrat can easily replicate. Next in the Democratic echelon are U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro and his twin brother, former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. Many believe that Julian Castros own White House bid takes both brothers out of the Senate race.

Other than ORourke - who Texas Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak calls a hundred-year flood in Texas politics - that would seem to clear the decks for Cornyn.

Whoever runs against Cornyn doesnt start where Beto stops, Mackowiak said. They start wherever they are.

For Texas Democrats, that means starting with an expected voter share in the high 30 to low 40 percentage points - the average electoral result pre-Beto.

Manny Garcia, executive director of the Texas Democratic Party, says that Cornyn has failed to strongly define himself after three terms in office, something he attributes to a lack of the sort of big character Texans expect.

Cornyns job approval ratings in Texas have hovered in the high 20s, though they spiked to 39 percent last October, a time of strong partisan feeling in advance of the midterm elections.

But whoever the Democrats put up against Cornyn, Garcia said, recent trends show that its a single-digit race, no matter what.

No room in GOP for complacency

Cornyn, a conservative in the traditional mold, does not elicit the same visceral reaction among Texas Democrats as Cruz, a hero of the tea party base. On the flip side, Cornyn doesnt command the same fervor of the GOP activists.

Cornyn is often damned with faint praise, compared to more recently elected state leaders like Ted Cruz and Greg Abbott, Henson said. Cornyn really is the product of a previous political generation of Republicans in the state, and he is sometimes greeted as such, particularly by more ideologically oriented Republicans - the conservative core of the party.

But if the anti-establishment, anti-Washington, anti-compromise wing of the GOP finds Cornyn less attractive, Henson added, less attractive does not mean rejected.

Heading off any primary challenges from the right, Cornyn secured early endorsements this year from both Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a potential rival, and Cruz, who declined to endorse Cornyn during his senior colleagues 2014 primary.

This year, expecting to have to break a sweat, Cornyn has built up an early $5.8 million campaign war chest and made clear that hes taking nothing for granted in the general election.

The message of the 2018 midterm elections was that you better be prepared, and that Republicans need to lose their complacency and realize that Texas is evolving and is no longer a reliably red state, he said.

Hes also put together an all-star campaign team, including John Jackson, who ran Abbotts 2018 re-election campaign, and former Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri, a veteran of two years in the Trump White House.

Munisteri has long been a prophet of inclusiveness and diversity in the Republican Party, calling it not only a practical but a moral imperative, particularly as the Texas electorate grows younger and less white. Cornyn won an equal share or even a plurality of the Hispanic vote 2014, an achievement Munisteri notes people forget amid the buzz about the potential of Latino voters to deliver a blue wave in Texas.

But Munisteri recognizes that Trump has changed the political equation in Texas, much as in the rest of the nation. The key, he says, will be matching the Democrats anti-Trump verve, which cost Texas Republicans two congressional seats in 2018.

Turnout, turnout, turnout, Munisteri said. I think the president is going to generate turnout in both parties The challenge for Republicans is to be equally motivated.

The voters of Texas know me

For Cornyn, that will mean deftly navigating a relationship with Trump, who in terms of style, if not substance, comes from the opposite side of the Republican tracks.

Cornyn has lined up with Trump on tax cuts, regulatory rollbacks and conservative judges. But as a classic free trader, Cornyn has been wary of Trumps protectionist trade policies. Hes also joined other top Senate Republicans in repudiating Trumps decision to pull troops out of Syria and Afghanistan.

Like many Texans, Cornyn also has shown a much more nuanced grasp of border security, emphasizing the need for technology and personnel as well as physical barriers on the U.S.-Mexico boundary. Hes also raised questions about Trumps threat to declare a national emergency to redirect federal spending on a border wall.

But in El Paso, where Trump was heavily criticized by local officials for overstating the citys immigration and crime problems, Cornyn praised the president for speaking the truth.

Some analysts see little choice but for Cornyn to swing to the right as part of a strategy to consolidate the Republican base, which still loves Trump.

If that proves to be a tightrope walk, Cornyn believes he has the political capital in Texas to pull it off. I think the voters of Texas know me, he said. Or at least enough of them know me well (enough) that they dont confuse me with the president or anyone else.

But if the Trump alliance has its downside in 2020, theres still a sense that Texas is, after all, still Texas.

I think Trump being on the ticket statewide helps Cornyn, relative to 2018, Mackowiak said. In certain areas of the state it wont - in the suburbs potentially, in urban areas. But broadly speaking, I think its going to turn out voters that might not otherwise turn out.

Then again, Trumpism isnt always easy to predict. Well see what Trumps numbers are, Henson said. But I dont expect that in the terrain of 2020 that Donald Trump will be a less polarizing or controversial leader of the Republican Party.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Monday launched a community-wide online survey seeking residents input on a number of topics, which she said will shape her first term in office.

The survey is part of Hidalgos Talking Transition initiative, which aims to educate the countys 4.7 million about local government functions and encourage them to be more engaged. The program will also include classroom-style public meetings where officials give tutorials on county government, large town halls on specific policy topics and small workshops for experts to to discuss ideas on a particular subject.

This is also an opportunity for my administration to learn from community members as we shape our policy agenda moving forward, so we can make sure our government works for everyone, Hidalgo said in a statement.

The online survey, available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic and Vietnamese, asks residents to weigh in on issues including public transportation, access to education, housing costs and neighborhood safety. The survey asks how the flood control districts $2.5 billion in bond funds should be spent. The final two questions ask whether residents know the names of their precinct commissioner and county judge.

Hidalgo said she will dispatch teams of canvassers across the county starting on Tuesday to reach residents who may otherwise be unaware of the online survey. The Civic Saturdays meetings will begin in February, and the county executive pledged to announce topics soon.

During her campaign, Hidalgo said she believed county government was too confusing and opaque for regular people. She has made transparency priority of her transition. Among her ideas is creating a website where the county can post information about finances and spending in easy-to-understand charts and graphs. Commissioners Court agendas and dense reports prepared by the county budget office can be difficult for residents to decipher.

Hidalgo also hopes to make court meetings more accessible to members of the public, who she hopes will be more eager to attend. Her first meeting on Jan. 8 drew more than 200 people and lasted nearly seven hours, far longer than any in recent memory.

The Talking Transition intiative is supported by the Houston Endowment, Ford Foundation and Episcopal Health Foundation.

zach.despart@chron.com
Illegal gambling rooms are nothing new in the Houston area.

Officials say there are only seven licensed game rooms in Harris County but an untold number that operate outside the law, raking in thousands from what could be a financially vulnerable clientele, said Pct. 1 Constable Alan Rosen.

"They're literally stealing from these people," he said, referring to game room operators.

Multiple game rooms in Houston have been accused of operating illegally since 2018, including one in northwest Houston that housed 100 gambling machines, and another that netted 50 gambling devices in a raid.

RELATED: Six people detained after deputies raid South Houston game room a third time

More recently, Rosen's office busted a known game room last week at 1530 College Avenue in South Houston. He said they raided the space twice before. This time, the room operators had opened a new bar, gaming areas and a VIP room, he said.

The raid last Friday ended with three people in custody, but Rosen declined to released their identity because of an ongoing investigation.

Rosen's office did provide Chron.com with photos that offer a deeper look into the space, which was indicative of other gambling operations throughout Harris County, Rosen said.

He said the facility is a standalone building dedicated to gambling operations. It appears to be located down the street from a larger bingo hall that, along with five other game rooms across the Houston area, was at the center of an organized crime and illegal gambling operation that generated more than $9 million in cash transactions over 18 months, according to a 2016 report in the Houston Chronicle.

RELATED: Dozen people accused of running gambling operations in bingo hall, game rooms

Deputy constables and Texas DPS troopers who raided the space last week found a packed house, Rosen said.

When they entered the building around 9 p.m., they asked all the patrons to put their hands on the machines for their own safety. Video slots and other electronic games lined the room. State troopers verified three private security guards were legally working in the space.

Meanwhile, deputy constables found tens of thousands in cash in a back office, some of which was dumped in a trash can. Investigators couldn't provide a specific cash amount, he said.

Click through the slideshow above to see what deputies found during the bust.

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 | NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.
President Trumps apparent decision to declare a national emergency to build a wall at the Mexican border could be challenged in Congress or in the courts. But the bipartisan vote that congressional opponents need seems like a long shot, and the Supreme Court, which may have the last word, has not been eager to place roadblocks in Trumps path.

The White House confirmed Thursday that Trump would use the declaration to circumvent Congress refusal to provide money he wants for the long-sought wall. Such emergency powers have been used dozens of times by presidents of both parties, but rarely, if ever, in defiance of lawmakers objections about the use of federal funds.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said Trump was attempting an end run around Congress. She said both parties should be equally concerned about expanding presidential powers, but did not seem optimistic about convincing Republicans who control the Senate.

Republicans should have some dismay about the door they are opening, she said.

A 1976 federal law, the National Emergencies Act, recognized long-standing presidential authority to declare a national emergency, but said Congress could overrule the president with a joint resolution.

But even if such a resolution won majority votes in both houses of Congress, supporters of the move would need a two-thirds majority to override Trumps almost-certain veto. An override effort would likely be successful in the House, where Democrats are in control, but seems highly unlikely in the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday he would support the emergency declaration.

Opponents remaining recourse would be a lawsuit, possibly by owners of property near the border, or by members of Congress contending Trump was usurping their constitutional authority over federal spending.

One such confrontation occurred in 1952, when President Harry Truman issued an executive order to seize the nations steel mills because he feared a strike by mill workers during the Korean War.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Truman had exceeded his authority by commandeering private property without legal justification. In a concurring opinion, Justice Robert Jackson  a former U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremberg war-crimes trials  said the presidents spending power, even after a declaration of emergency, was at its lowest ebb when it conflicted with the expressed or implied will of Congress.

The current Supreme Court, however, gave Trump broad leeway on border security in June when it deferred to his argument that travelers from a group of predominantly Muslim countries posed a threat to U.S. security. Since then, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who sided with the majority on the travel ban but voted at times with more liberal justices, has retired and been replaced by Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee with a history of endorsing executive authority.

While Trump has argued that border crossings by unauthorized immigrants and illegal drugs have created a humanitarian crisis, one opposing legal analyst noted that the president had been saying much the same thing since December, when a congressional impasse over funding for the wall shut down many federal agencies for 35 days. That was followed by weeks of negotiations that produced a spending bill including about $1.4 billion for various barriers and border-security measures, but not the $5.7 billion Trump sought for a wall.

Presidents dont dawdle in the face of real emergencies, Elizabeth Goitein of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School said in a recent article in the Atlantic magazine. Even if a real crisis existed, emergency powers are designed for situations in which Congress has no time to act.

Another Brennan Center attorney, Andrew Boyle, acknowledged Thursday that the Supreme Court historically has been very deferential to the executive in times of national emergency. But, he added, we never have really had an emergency declaration that has been so clearly telegraphed as a way to get around Congress.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., sounded a similar theme, disputing the existence of any border emergency and adding, The Constitution says Congress decides how to spend money, not the president.

If the case gets to the Supreme Court, another issue would be the proposed source of the wall funding. Trump has spoken of redirecting money that Congress has appropriated for military construction. Federal law allows such funds to be shifted to other projects in support of the armed forces.

Is building a wall military work? Theres lots of room for debate, Rory Little, a law professor at UC Hastings in San Francisco and a former Justice Department attorney, said in a recent interview.

But John Eastman, a constitutional law professor at Chapman University in Orange County, said the connection shouldnt be hard to establish, since soldiers are helping to patrol the border.

If the military is being assigned for border security, obviously a wall is in aid of that use, he said.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @BobEgelko
When you picture an important Christian theologian, best-selling author and former Lutheran pastor, you probably dont picture Nadia Bolz-Weber. Shes tattooed and given to wearing a lot of black. She cusses a lot and, as youd expect of a former stand-up comic, laughs loud and often.

In her latest book, Shameless, shes urging nothing less than a new reformation. In the words of the book jacket, She urges us to take antiquated, sexist ideas about sex, gender, and our bodies and burn them the f--- down and start over.

Her book tour brings her to Houston on Tuesday. We spoke by phone.

Q: How did you come to write this book?

A: There were two main reasons. One was personal. One was pastoral. The pastoral reason was that after a decade of pastoring people who had experienced a lot of harm to their lives because of messages that the the church had given them, I got to a point where I thought, I just have to tell these stories.

The other was just that, Im ordained in one of the most liberal denominations in the country, and yet theres a document I had to sign that said Id be faithful in marriage or celibate in singleness. As a divorced, middle-aged woman who started seeing someone, I thought, why in the world would the church tell me its not OK for me to have a sexual partner? They would trust me with the care of souls, but they would not trust me to make good decisions about my own sexual health and behavior.

I found that astonishing because the relationship I was in caused so many things within me to soften. It was so good for my body and my heart and my countenance. Why would the church say, No, you shouldnt do this? It made no sense to me.

I was on a book tour in Europe. My boyfriend is not of the Christian faith. I Skyped with him with maybe unwarranted urgency, and I said, Why do you think the church has tried to do this for so long? Why has the church tried to control sex?

Without skipping a beat, he said, I just assume that the church saw sex as its competition.

I was like, Ooooh. Im writing a book.

I couldnt tell you exactly what it meant, but I knew it was true. I thought, I have to explore this.

Q: Could you talk about your faith? Youre not the squishy everybodys OK, Jesus-was-a-nice-guy-but-no-miracles kind of believer. But youre also not fundamentalist.

A: I believe all the crazy things. I really do believe that Jesus was God incarnate, the third member of the Trinity, that the miracles really happened. I believe that all of its true. Whether every single bit of it is a fact or not doesnt interest me.

Nadia Bolz-Weber reads Shameless When: 7 p.m. Tuesday Where: St. John's United Methodist Church, 2019 Crawford Tickets: $7.50-$15 Details:nadiabolzweber.com/book-tour See More Collapse

Postmodern people end up stuck between the Enlightenment and fundamentalism. The Enlightenment stole a bit of the enchantment from us. As it handed us human reason with one hand, it stole enchantment with the other.

Fundamentalism really was a response to the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment said human reason and the scientific method were the only reliable way of understanding truth. So the opposite response was, the Bible must be literally true.

Yeah, I believe Jesus literally resurrected from the dead. I love that there was an actual wounded body at that part in the story. The Gospels are disturbingly physical throughout, so it doesnt make sense to me that the Resurrection was just a feeling people had.

Im down with the crazy parts of it. Its the truest thing Ive ever heard in my life.

Also, I talk about sin a lot. But not as a list of naughty behaviors, of immoral things to avoid so you know youre good. Francis Spufford wrote a book called Unapologetic, which I read once a year. He knows that the word sin is really problematic, really loaded. So he uses the human propensity to f--- things up every time he wants to use the word sin. And its like, Oh, my God, I get what hes saying now.

I take the human propensity to f--- things up very seriously, in my own life and in the world. I have the evidence for it around me. That thing of saying that people are simultaneously sinner and saint, 100 percent of both: I cant get on board with this idea that were all one or the other.

Q: You call for reformation, and you talk about Martin Luther and breaking free from doctrine. With religion, without doctrine, how do you know whats real?

A: (Laughs.) Thats not a question I get from reporters a lot. Like, wow, thats not an easy one across the plate there.

Q: Yeah, but cmon. Its important. How do you know?

A: I think the starting point for any theology  preaching, doctrine, teaching, whatever  should be a little thing I call actual reality. Whereas a lot of the church, their starting point is a doctrine that theyre attached to, or their starting point is a Bible verse they think God wrote, and then thats the center of gravity, the foundational truth. Thats the lens they use to view everything, and if something doesnt fit, they have to dismiss it.

Im pragmatic in that way. I saw the actual reality of peoples actual realities, and bodies and spirits, in my care in 10 years of parish ministry. And I went, Oh, my gosh. First of all, wheres the origin of the harm? The origins of the harm was the teachings of the church and the shame they created about peoples bodies and minds and spirits.

And then, I said, What is it in Christian thought and teaching and practice that could maybe heal the harm the church has done? Sometimes the origin of the harm is the most potent source of the healing.

Im just stealing a page from Luther. These medieval people who werent literate just went along with what the church said, and the selling of indulgences was impoverishing peoples spirits and bank accounts.

I mean, it was a hell of a fundraising strategy! It built St. Peters! So genius on that level. Super-destructive to the lives of humans, though.

Luther was more loyal to the people in his care than he was to the teachings of the church.

Q: If theres one thing people take away from your books, what do you want it to be?

A: That shame does not originate from Gods voice. Shame originates from people who claim to be speaking for God. Thats different. People need to know that.

Q: Is there anything else I should ask?

A: Were you involved in breaking that story about the Southern Baptists? (Editors note: Earlier this month the Chronicle series Abuse of Faith, examined two decades of sexual abuse in Southern Baptist churches.)

Man, I think it would be fascinating if somebody could could study oppressive teachings in churches  the role of women in different Christian traditions, how oppressive their teachings are regarding sexuality  and the correlation with sexual misconduct, assault, and sexual crimes against children and women.

I dont see a lot of it happening in the Unitarian Church, you know what I mean? Or the United Church of Christ. Thats not to say that they dont have their scandals  individually, anecdotally. Of course, anecdotally, there are tons of Catholic parishes and Baptist churches that are not rife with sexual scandals.

But holy s---, is there ever a correlation between these things. And yet Roman Catholics and conservative evangelicals double down on, This is Gods plan! This is Gods plan that women not be allowed in the higher echelons of leadership of churches. Its Gods plan that everyone have these very shame-based sexually repressed teaching.

And its like, I dont think its Gods plan for the results to be what they are, whats clearly happening, whats breaking in prime time every day.

Theres a section in my book where I write: If you look at your life and your church, and you see that these teachings have done no harm to anybody in your life or your church, and has even provided the plan for flourishing, then this books not for you. Good news, though: The Christian publishing world is your oyster. You will find no lack of books to help you double down on what you believe. This book is for everyone else.

Q: You must not get invited to a lot of Christian bookstores.

A: My books are literally not sold in Christian bookstores. Never have been. This is my third New York Times best-selling book. Never has one of my books been sold in a Christian bookstore.

The general public enjoys them. Just not Christians. Well, not conservative Christians.

Eliza Griswald, in the New Yorker, made this fascinating point: Because Im not a Unitarian, because Im in some ways a very orthodox Lutheran theologian, it makes conservatives very nervous as their young people start reading my work. And its in a way that theyre not going to sweat Thich Nhat Hanh.

My friend, the novelist Frank Schaeffer, is the son of evangelical theologian Francis Schaeffer. Frank was being interviewed years ago by Terry Gross, and he said this thing that made me hate him because I wish Id said it.

She said, Youve had this crazy upbringing, but youre still Christian. Youre part of the Orthodox Church now?

He goes, Yeah.

She goes, How in hell have you managed to stay Christian?

He said, All I wanted, more than anything in the world, was to be an atheist. And all I know how to do is to pray to God to make me one.

lisa.gray@chron.com
| BY Kim Shaw |

Think Different (Heres to the Crazy Ones). Dogs Rule. Yo quiero Taco Bell. Keeps Going and Going. Impossible Is Nothing. Thats G. Lee Clow, the visionary creative who touched the hearts of consumers and revitalized brands with iconic advertising campaigns, is retiring.

The Global Director of Media Arts at worldwide advertising collective TBWA, and founder and Chairman of TBWA\Media Arts Lab, will move into an advisory role as Chairman Emeritus of the agency he founded in 2006 to serve Apple and to embody his vision of an agency that impacts culture, rather than just makes ads.

The years I spent doing this thing called advertising have been fun: challenging, rewarding, maddeningsometimes painfulbut mostly, joyful. And I wouldnt trade a day of it. Clow an original Chiat\Day partner and one-time TBWA\Worldwide Chairmanmused, in his Love Note to Advertising, released today.

Clow continues to work on a personal film project that tells the story behind some of the most famous and culture-altering advertising in history, recalling his 50 years at Chiat\Daythe people, the workand retelling how they did it.

He will also remain involved in the agencys social-impact group, For Good, based in Los Angeles, where he will advise on select projects for clients who share his commitment to the planet and the people (and animals) who inhabit it.

Dont do the right thing, he challenged the agency, the advertising world, and clients, on TBWA\Chiat\Days 50th anniversary in 2018. Do the brave thing. Do the thing that doesnt just defy the status quo, but reshapes it, forever.

Clow actually announced his retirement to the agency, alumni and close friends in October 2018, at a party on Jay Chiats birthday, part of the year-long Chiat\Day 50 celebration. His decision to formally share the news with the industry on Valentines Day is a nod to Jay Chiats unconventional custom of sending Valentines Day cards to staff, colleagues and clients, instead of the expected, Seasons Greetings, typically dispatched during December holidays.

Clows career, that started at Chiat\Day in LA, spans five decades. It tells a story of doing the brave thing, with disruptive campaigns that epitomized California cool. He took Chiat\Days creatively audacious style of advertising global when he helped lead the successful merger with TBWA, crystallizing the agencys reputation as the destination for creative professionals who want to do groundbreaking, iconic work.

Lee will always be our creative conscience, said Troy Ruhanen, President and CEO, TBWA\Worldwide. He has given so much to our company and to our industry. His challenge to us, to do the brave thing, to Disrupt, will continue to be our North Star. We all love you, Lee.

Lee is one of the most talented and visionary leaders in our industry, said Chairman and CEO of Omnicom Group, John Wren. Over the past five decades, he has built a foundation of creative excellence for the TBWA network that has distinguished the agency among its peers. On behalf of the Omnicom family, I would like to thank Lee for his invaluable leadership and significant contributions to our group.

Theres perhaps no better example of Clows impact on the industry than his 30-plus-year partnership with Apple. From the launch of Macintosh in 1984, to the equally world-famous Think Different (Heres to the Crazy Ones) campaign that launched the rebirth of Apple in 1997. During the past two decades he helped orchestrate Apples moves, into music with iPod and iTunes with the celebrated Silhouettes campaign, into phones with the category-redefining iPhone and then, creating the campaign of the decade, Get a Mac (Mac versus PC). Then, he helped Apple forge a whole new category with iPad. Most recently, Clow led the creative teams that launched Apple Music into the world, and worked on the introduction of Apple Watch.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, added: During his long partnership with Steve and Apple, Lee told powerful visual stories that elevated new technologies with the passion, creativity and ingenuity that define our own humanity. He helped Apple carry itself through times of challenge, and his work inspired audiences to look beyond the horizon as an exciting future came into view. Lees body of work over five decades hums with cleverness, warmth and enthusiasmand there is no doubt that it will inspire and motivate generations of Crazy Ones still to come.

In 2018, Adweek named TBWA its Global Agency of the Year, recognizing its strong global relationship with Appleone of the industrys longest-running, and most prolific, creative partnerships.

The agency will continue to serve Apple around the worldled by Global President of TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Katrien De Bauw, and by Global Chief Creative Officer, Brent Andersonand to set global creative standards. In 2018, Media Arts Lab won 64 awards: for the launch of HomePod, with its Cannes Lions Grand Prix-winning film, Welcome Home; for the evolution of its Shot on iPhone campaign into long-form content across the globe (notably, the film, Three Minutes, in China), and into social media, with @apple; and for its Behind the Mac campaign (including an animated short for Apples holiday campaign called, Share Your Gifts).

In constantly pushing ourselves to reach the creative standard he set, we are better than we ever could imagine being, said Brent Anderson, adding that, So well do just as he always asked us to do: Make it smart. Make it beautiful. And have fun.'

Clow often credits his artful, freethinking, creative style to his California roots. To celebrate his outstanding contributions to the creative community, and his love for his hometown, the agency has established a scholarship at the College of the ArtsSchool of Art at Clows alma mater, California State University Long Beach (CSULB). Additionally, all proceeds from his film project will go into a college fund previously established in Clows and Chiats names at Art Center College of Design, which was created to assist low- and middle-income students with tuition fees and costs.

Also, TBWA agencies in Los Angeles will continue to honor Clows impact on the Southern California creative community by partnering with Turnaround Arts: California, a national, public-private partnership that leverages the arts to spark transformation in the states highest-need schools. Agency leaders and staff will work with Turnaround Arts educators on programs that will bolster the creative skills of teachers and students, including hosting workshops focused on graphic design, coding and creative problem-solving.
Dr. Stacy Nayes was at Garth Brooks concert on closing night of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo last year when she saw information on the Jumbotron about the rodeos new scholarship alumni association.

A 2004 scholarship recipient, Nayes said she knew instantly she would become involved in the organization.

Nayes, a pediatrician with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth and UT Physicians, said her career path was made possible because of her four-year, merit-based scholarship from RodeoHouston. Without it, she wouldnt have been able to attend her top school choice, Baylor University.

It made a huge difference for my family, said Nayes, 32, who majored in biology at Baylor before attending McGovern Medical School and completing her residency at Childrens Memorial Hermann Hospital.

Now I have my dream job, and its all because of the rodeo, she said.

By the numbers $27,174,610 Total educational commitment for 2019 Since its inception in 1957, almost 19,000 scholarships have been awarded, totaling over $215 million. There are currently about 2,300 students on a rodeo scholarship at more than 80 universities throughout Texas. Top 5 schools represented currently Texas A&M University University of Texas at Austin University of Houston Texas Tech University Texas State University See More Collapse

Many scholarship recipients speak with the same passion as Nayes about their gratitude for the rodeo, and theyre eager to join the alumni association, said Amy Moroney, executive director of Educational Programs.

She helped create the association and, in the past three years, has organized efforts to make scholarship recipients like Nayes aware of the group through promotional efforts during the rodeo, ads in college alumni magazines and the efforts of RodeoHoustons Alumni Task Force.

We want them to come back home, Moroney said of the association, which currently has about 1,100 members.

Expanding the alumni association increases volunteerism and offers more business networking opportunities to existing scholars.

The response I get across the board is they want to give back to an organization that has given them so much, she said. They want to be able to express their appreciation.

Members of alumni association volunteer each spring to process and review the thousands of scholarship applications received. In 2018, more than 800 scholars received $14,271,000 in scholarships through the rodeos 14 scholarship program opportunities.

Alumni also serve as ambassadors at high school college fairs and fulfill speaking requests from rodeo committees, where they offer their stories as a way to inspire volunteer efforts.

The association helps alumni find committees on which they can serve.

In her first year as a volunteer, Nayes will serve on the rodeos Health Committee, which is comprised of physicians, nurses and other medical professionals who provide medical care to the visiting students participating in the livestock show, rodeo guests and volunteers.

I think its great theyve given us a way to give back and find our niche, Nayes said, adding that the association has also given her a chance to meet fellow alumni at mixers, including a holiday book drive that she attended at Armadillo Palace.

Nayes plans to attend Scholar Night, March 9, the rodeos largest annual event that connects scholarship alumni with college students currently on a scholarship.

Networking opportunities like this are crucial for undergrad scholars, said Kevin Norton, who was awarded the Area Go Texan scholarship in Orange County in 2001.

As the only child of a single mother, I had to do what I had to do to get school paid for, said Norton, 36.

Through 4-H and FFA, Norton showed livestock as a youth and, before that, attended several rodeos each year with his grandparents.

In college at Sam Houston State University, I felt a sense of pride  to know that I was representing the rodeo and had the backing of the rodeo, he said.

Outside of tuition funds, that backing came in the form of one-on-one communication from the rodeos staff who would check in, offering assistance and letting him know they wanted him to succeed, he said. He called the support outstanding.

You almost become part of the RodeoHouston family once you get that scholarship, he said.

RodeoHouston sends care packages to students during exam time, and alumni like Norton volunteer to assemble them.

As a member of the Alumni Task Force, Norton said his committee looks for additional ways the alumni can meet students and lift them up.

We all know the college life is a struggle, he said. Its nice to be able to encourage them and say, You know what? It may be tough now. You may be having to work extra hard, but the reward is great.

A law enforcement officer with the city of Pinehurst, Norton will volunteer at the rodeo this year as assistant captain of the Safety Committee, which manages crowd control and works with first responders.

Hell also again volunteer to help review scholarship applications, which were submitted earlier this month for the 2019-20 school year.

Volunteers review applicants class rank, test scores, financial need, essay, extracurricular activities and whether a student held a job during high school that may have affected his or her GPA.

Reviewing applications for students who, like him, may not otherwise be able to attend college, brings things full circle, Norton said. Hes grateful for the opportunity.

Our decisions are going to change some kids life and open up the door to college that may not be there any other way.
RodeoHouston / RodeoHouston

Prince Royce makes his debut this year at RodeoHouston. But its not the only first.

Hes the first bachata artist to take the rotating stage in the shows history.
Sometimes, Nishta Mehra laughs, she has to check the cover of her new memoir, Brown, White, Black, to be sure that shes getting its long subtitle right: An American family at the intersection of race, gender, sexuality and religion.

I mean, really! she says. All those words?! But even that leaves out some of the complicated territory shes navigating.

For starters, theres Mehra herself: brown-skinned like her Indian immigrant parents, her Hindu bindi an ancient-looking contrast to her punk-ish shaved head. She grew up in Memphis, Tenn., born brown in a city divided into black and white. Shes an English teacher, a serious cook and a writer.

While a student at Rice University, she fell in love with Jill Carroll, a white religion professor. In June 2015, three days after the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry, they walked into the county courthouse in downtown Houston. Now, Mehra writes, she loves referring to Jill as her wife: Its so convenient.

Six and a half years ago  before they were married, before they could get married  they adopted Shiv, whos black. Even before the male baby was in her arms, Mehra worried how she and Carroll could possibly protect and do right by a black child. And as Shiv grew older  big enough to demand a dance class and to yearn for the sparkly outfits the girls wore to perform  they realized that racial prejudice wouldnt be the only kind of bias their kid would face.

Reading and book signing When: 7 p.m. Monday Where: Brazos Bookstore, 2421 Bissonnet Cost: The reading is free. An autographed copy of "Brown, White, Black" is $25. Information:Brazos Bookstore, 713-523-0701 See More Collapse

Over the summer, the family moved from Houston to Phoenix, where Mehra has a new teaching job. Shell be back Monday to read and sign Brown, White, Black at Brazos Bookstore. We spoke by phone.

Q: How did you come to write this book? Did it grow out of your food blog, Blue Jean Gourmet?

A: When I came out of my MFA program, like a lot of people who come out of MFA programs, I wasnt sure where I wanted to go with writing. I started teaching (at the private Emery/Weiner School). That was gratifying.

But I also wanted to be writing, and I was always recommending recipes. I was late on the uptake, but we were still in the heyday of food blogs.

Food ended up being a vehicle that let me write about my life. It helped to have the structure and demands of a blog  to feel that I needed to post twice a week, to get feedback, to see that people were coming. It helped me develop a voice that felt authentic.

It wasnt until someone else pointed out the uniqueness of my position  of our family that checks every box  that I realized, not everybody else thinks this way, like I do.

In 2015, I started thinking about the book, writing the proposal and getting layers of feedback. By the summer of 2016, I was writing in earnest.

Q: Its interesting to read how your experiences have changed the way you see the world  that you didnt just start with a settled opinion.

A: I have a lot of questions. I think thats true of a lot of nonfiction writers: They write to answer questions. I wanted to explore experiences that stood out as my own.

Q: Whats happened with you, Jill and Shiv since you finished the book?

A: We relocated over the summer. Im teaching in Phoenix, at Phoenix Country Day School. Were missing lots of restaurants. But were not missing the traffic or the mosquitoes. Jill still travels back to Houston regularly. She comes home with her suitcases full of stuff from H-E-B: salsa, Dukes mayonnaise.

Also, when we moved to Arizona over the summer, Shiv decided to start using feminine pronouns: she, her. That was after the book went to press. Id already written that Shiv was wearing feminine clothes. It allowed me to talk about how, as parents, weve followed her lead. But I might need to add an update about Shiv to cover the gender identity, the fluidity.

Q: What do you want readers to take away from the book?

A: Making more room for people who fall into a certain category is beneficial to everybody: It makes more room for everybody. We all benefit.

It takes work. I get that. Its work Im engaged in right now. Its work were going to have to do. I dont think theres any way around that.

My mom, whos 70, moved with us to Phoenix. Im lucky. What feels natural to us can make our parents extremely uncomfortable. My parents didnt imagine a life like this for me because there were no models. I didnt imagine it either.

But the way my mom has been with Shiv is great. She speaks to Shiv completely in Hindi. The other day I heard her catch herself. She was saying a term of endearment, and she caught herself, changing the ending from male to female.

I was touched that shes willing to do that work! At her age! If my mom can do it, anyone can do it.

lisa.gray@chron.com
A sense of urgency electrified the wardrobe studio at Houston Ballets Center for Dance early last week.

A half-dozen costumers had their heads down at sewing machines or work tables, still piecing together some of the outfits for Stanton Welchs Sylvia. The ballet premieres Thursday at Wortham Theater Center.

Welch and designer Jerome Kaplan were negotiating how to tweak several finished-looking pieces on mannequins: Could that foam corset under several layers of silk chiffon be shortened, so it wouldnt constrict the ballerinas movement? How could a gold cape be swept away from a male dancers arm but still keep its dramatic draping? Could the big, furry bear be less plump?

Last-minute adjustments for a new ballet are not unusual, but virtually no element of Sylvia  other than Leo Delibes 143-year-old score  was final a week before the opening. Houston Ballet has never staged a work with so many digital projections and moving parts, including sets on casters that will be manipulated by the dancers.

Welch, Kaplan and projection designer Wendall K. Harrington expect to be reworking details right up to the opening. They suspect the show wont fully gel  with dancers in finished costumes, the orchestra in the pit and the projections and lights set  until a day before the premiere.

Sylvia When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Saturdays; additional performances through March 3 Where: Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas Details: $25-$200; 713-227-2787, houstonballet.org See More Collapse

And then they expect to change more  because they can. Sylvia is a co-production with the Australian Ballet, so theres another chance for finessing before it opens Aug. 3 in Melbourne.

There are things you cant know until an audience is in the room, Harrington says. They are the most important element.

The Wonder Woman of ballet

Though Delibes glorious Sylvia may be one of the best ballet scores of all time, it did not yield a popular story ballet, or even a memorable solo or pas de deux.

Peter Tchaikovsky so loved its inventive style, he famously said he would not have composed Swan Lake if he had heard Sylvia first. Many people will recognize the plucky string melody of the pizzicato section even if they dont know its source. Ditto for the big violin solo of Act 3. And the hunt-scene music that sounds as familiar as the theme from Star Wars.

Houston Ballet music director Ermanno Florio remembers hearing parts of Sylvia in cartoon music when he was a kid, and it is standard accompaniment for ballet classes and competitions. The rich melodies make dancers want to dance, Welch says.

The ballet, however, nearly disappeared because the first production was a dud.

Maybe the world wasnt ready for a weaponized female superhero who didnt flit around weightlessly in 1876, when Delibes and choreographer Louis Merante created their ballet for the opening of Paris Palais Garnier opera house. Inspired by Torquato Tassos then-300-year-old pastoral play Aminta, a love idyll about a shepherd and a nymph, they imagined Sylvia as a nymph-warrior from the raucous realm of classical mythology.

Their plot was complicated, and Sylvia did not make a major reappearance for 76 years, when Sir Frederick Ashton excavated and clarified the story for the Royal Ballet. Still, it wasnt a masterpiece like his La Fille mal Gardee, and it did not become a staple like Giselle, Cinderella, Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet.

Then came John Neumeiers minimalist, cerebral 1997 interpretation and Mark Morris historically faithful 2004 version. Thats pretty much it for Sylvia  which means audiences probably dont know it well enough to expect specific settings or dances.

That liberated Welch to start from scratch, although he has not tinkered with Delibes score, at Florios advice. I always recommend, if you can use a piece of music as the composer wrote it, youve got the composer on your side, the maestro says. The original composition binds harmony, structures and forms together.

Welch has, however, reimagined the ballet as an action-packed romantic comedy with three strong female characters. Good romantic comedy also has sadness, and characters may die  but we are talking Greek gods, so they can also come back to life. Hopefully you finish happy and feeling fulfilled, Welch says.

Sylvias story is still the glue, but Welch has also given the mortal Psyche and goddess Artemis full character arcs, love stories and antagonists. He found his muses in the diverse personalities of principal dancers Karina Gonzalez (Sylvia), Jessica Collado (Artemis) and Melody Mennite (Psyche). They are all very individual and very powerful presences on stage, he says. They also balance each other. If I didnt have that combination, it would be concerning because someone could overpower the others.

And the ladies are in charge. That meant abandoning classical ballets stereotypical male-female movements, impacting intricacies such as how to initiate hand-holding and embraces and larger issues, including how women might lead the partnering.

We tried to make that a rule. Of course, there are times when you break your rule, Welch says.

At first, everything about Sylvia was, well, Greek to Gonzalez, who had to build up her arm strength to brandish a sword. Her character is completely different than what I have done, even the way she stands, Gonzalez says. She has to be strong and fierce while being relaxed in the upper body. We dont do that often.

Stylistically, Welch has incorporated elements of Greek folk dancing into the ballets movement vocabulary, along with the flattened shapes of figures on ancient Greek urns and friezes.

By Act 3, its a big milkshake, he says.

Crafting flexible dream scenes

Delibes three-act score runs 95 minutes around two intermissions. That is compact as story ballets go.

Welch knew he couldnt waste time with filler dances or bulky set changes. I needed something more modern, not romanticized, he says. It had to be bleaker and less affected.

He hadnt worked with Kaplan before but liked designs the Frenchman had created for Alexei Ratmanskys Serenade After Platos Symposium. Kaplan also was designing a new Spartacus for the Australian Ballet.

So I suddenly saw all this Greek mythology, and I felt it was the right choice. Hes great, very French, which I mean in the most positive way. He makes a decision, and thats the decision, Welch says. I love that. Youre not hemming and hawing and waiting. Thats moved us really fast. Were aching to get onstage now. We just need to get in the space.

Kaplan says he gasped when he saw all the scenes Welch squeezed into his first synopsis, especially in Act 1. He gave Welch head-spinning versatility  designing a grotto with creamy, stonelike walls, abstract tree forms and four sets of rolling stairs that  with a boost from Harringtons projections  can be continuously in motion.

Too many options! Welch says, laughing.

While some future production might imagine a Sylvia set in 21st-century America, Houston Ballets  in spite of the whizzy engineering  is essentially traditional. Kaplan says the detailed refinement of Delibes score dictated more than a modern, minimal design.

Its nice to let the audience dream and come back to the style of the Greek past, he says.

Hes aiming for somewhere between past and present. I like to do timeless things, Kaplan continues. I think ballets sometimes look a little bit too dusty.

His 49 Sylvia costume sketches with wigs, helmets and handheld props have blossomed into more than 100 costumes. The props include more than 40 swords, each unique, built of aluminum by J. Frank Dobie High School technical director Santiago Sepeda and his students.

Costume colors help define whos who, a common approach to keep narratives moving: gold for gods, silver for demi-gods, pastels for mortals. Some of the gods wear realistically sculpted foam corsets that mimic the nude figures of classical statues.

Sylvia and the Nymphs have more flexible tops made of silver lycra glued onto neoprene (wetsuit fabric) sewn with couture techniques Balenciaga would have appreciated. A gang of reptilian river creatures has fins and tails shaped with transparent fabric zip ties and swimming-pool filters.

Kaplan had to design some of the costumes before Welch choreographed the ballet to meet his deadline. With rehearsals, things become clearer and simpler. But in the beginning, aye yai yai, he says, shaking his head and chuckling. In the end, its good to have something that looks simple but is not. When you see Yves Kleins Blue Rain at the Menil, it looks simple, but its not  and its really beautiful. Rothkos paintings also.

Although he has a knack for graphic lines and lightness, Kaplan avoids a signature style. I just try to do something I would like to see as a member of the audience, he says, and I like to do something Ive never done before.

The thickness of life

Harrington, the projection designer he enlisted, feels the same way  although she also has to please both Kaplan and Welch. Local audiences may remember her previous work for Houston Grand Opera. She also created the growing-Christmas-tree effect for Welchs Nutcracker in 2016, but the Sylvia projections are the most involved the ballet has attempted.

Its not just Wendall making sparks, Welch says. When Artemis and Apollo fight, the whole world is exploding.

Harringtons digital paintings will be projected across multiple layers, from four projectors positioned in the booth and at the rear and both sides of the stage to create a sense of depth.

She looked to the clean-lined style of early-20th-century American illustrator Rockwell Kent to inform the world of the gods, and to the near photographic, leafy trees of the 16th-century Dutch master Pieter Breugel for human scenes. The Earth settings need the thickness of life for logical reasons, she suggested: If their world isnt prettier, why would the gods want to go there?

Last week Harrington was still in the soup of her work, as she put it. She expected to redesign the projections at least three times after technical rehearsals began. Thats the curse and the blessing of digital work that unfolds with the help of an engineer, a programmer and another designer. Im obsessive, she says.

Kaplan didnt sound worried. Sometimes when something is finished too much in advance, its bad. We need to have this tension; its good to have good energy and push everything together, he said. Karinska and Balanchine finished costumes for one of their most famous ballets in a taxi on the way to the premiere.

Welch was still finessing movements for a herd of fauns that will serve as a Greek chorus, to help bind the narrative; he couldnt start that until he knew where and when moving staircases would end up on the stage.

We spend weeks, months, acting it out before I choreograph it, he said. But its a constant state of evolution. Ive never felt like any ballet is complete.

molly.glentzer@chron.com
As reported yesterday, YNW Melly was hit with a double murder charge for the suspected killing of two of his "YNW" associates. The rapper whose real name is Jamell Demons turned himself in to authorities without much resistance just hours following the issuance of an arrest warrant.

Within the timeframe of his surrender to the law, Melly took to social media where he publicly mourned the passing of his constituents: 21-year-old Anthony Williams (YNW Sakchaser) and 19-year-old Christopher Thomas Jr. (YNW Juvy). Unfortunately for YNW Melly and his suspected accomplice Cortlen Henry aka YNW Bortlen, authorities say they have "forensic evidence" linking both men to the murders.

Authorities believe YNW Melly was the triggerman in the double homicide, while YNW Bortlen rode the "drive-by" vehicle and the overall schematics. The Florida courthouse where both YNW's were arraigned initially refused them bond, on the grounds that both the prosecutor and Melly's legal team needed a bit of time to familiarize themselves with the case.

After a brief cessation, Judge Jackie Powell has ordered the suspected killers locked up without bond, for reasons that remain undisclosed the general public. Even though they have "forensic evidence" on their person, Law enforcement officials remain clueless to YNW's motives for the killing, that is: if they actually committed the crime in a premeditative fashion.
Donata Meirelles has officially stepped down from her position as Vogue Brazil's style director after she got serious backlash for her 50th birthday theme. Photos from the party that took place in Brazil see Donata sitting on an ornate chair with two Black women by her side. People were quick to point out that the women were wearing uniforms that slaves would wear and the chair looked like those owned by slave masters.

"Hey @CondeNast, Donata Meirelles, the director of Vogue Brazil, had her birthday party inspired in "Brazil Slavery Colonies" and even had black models dressed as slaves to use as photo props. Asking for a friend: does this align with your company's values?" one user wrote on Twitter.

The publication confirmed to CNN that Donata has resigned, and her position "will be extinguished since it has been designed specifically to her." The statement detailed just how much Donata contributed to the magazine saying she "gave new energy to the magazine."

"We understand and respect her resignation and will be eternally grateful for all the passion and talent she has dedicated to every page she has edited."

Donata responded to the backlash saying "it wasn't a theme party [...] but if it looked otherwise, I'm sorry."
Chicago police have made two arrests in connection to the hate crime that happened Empire actor Jussie Smollett two weeks ago. The two men, who are described as "two Nigerian brothers" were first nabbed as persons of interest and now they are being looked at as suspects. Interrogations will resume today with the two individuals and their attorney, Anthony Guglielimi (department spokesman) said in a statement, via The LA Times.

He added: Detectives have probable cause that they may have been involved in an alleged crime and we are working to corroborate the allegations and investigative timeline as our investigation continues."

Anthony denied that the attack was a hoax and reaffirms that Jussie is a victim in the case. While we havent found any video documenting the alleged attack, there is no evidence to say that this is a hoax, he explained. The alleged victim is being cooperative at this time and continues to be treated as a victim, not a suspect."

As we write this, the two men have not been charged.



Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Everybody has their own idea," Jussie told Good Morning America when discussing the rumours that have been said of his attack. "Some are healing and some are hurtful, but I just want young people, young members of the LGBTQ community, young, black children, to know how strong that they are, he said.
Antonio Brown has made his feelings towards the Pittsburgh Steelers pretty clear. After weeks of back and forth and subliminal messages on social media, Brown posted to his Twitter a thank you message to the fans in Pittsburgh that clearly states he wants out of the city. Not good news if you're the Steelers who just missed the playoffs and might be losing Le'Veon Bell. Brown is the last person they need leaving the team but it seems as though that's exactly what's going to happen.

According to NFL Netowrk's Ian Rapoport though, Steelers owner Art Rooney II is traveling to Florida to speak to Brown and mend their broken relationship.

The very fact that Brown doesn't want to meet with the Steelers is reason enough to believe that this relationship will never be salvaged. Pundits are already discussing where Brown could eventually end up, with plenty of eyes circling around the San Francisco 49ers. This is because Brown got on Instagram Live with 49ers legend Jerry Rice. Rice then went on to say that Brown would love to be a player in San Francisco.

Where do you think Brown is going to end up and is he worth all of the social media antics?
DJ Khaled has come through to announce that he's once again hosting a summer cruise and the newest edition has been dubbed, "Days of Summer." The mega-producer has teamed with Post Malone and Cardi B this time around, TMZ reports, and the cruise ship will depart from Miami, head to the Bahamas and back.

The ship is set to take off on June 28th and return July 1st. The cruise will offer fans to get up-close-and-personal with their favorite artists, and will offer a variety of parties and activities, including meet-n-greets, comedy shows, panels, and nightlife, Days of Summer organizers said, via Rolling Stone.

Khaled is set to announce more acts that will be joining the ship in the coming dates. In 2017 Khaled hosted a similar cruise called "Summerfest" where acts like Future, Migos, Lil Wayne and A$AP joined the ship for special performances.

In other Khaled news, he announced yesterday that he is now slim enough to shop at Louis Vuitton without getting custom made clothing. "Now I weigh 250 I can shop at clothing stores and the clothes will fit," he said. "I'm so use getting everything custom and I still do and still my favorite but feels good to go to a store and shop."
| BY Ricki Green |

The Australasian Writers and Art Directors Association (AWARD) has announced Aussie expat Leo Premutico, co-founder and chief creative officer at Johannes Leonardo New York, has been appointed chair of judges for the 40th AWARD Awards.

After a string of early career successes, including being named Best Young Creative UK by Campaign Magazine, receiving the Ansett Encouragement Award for Young Creative of the Year and becoming youngest-ever ECD at Saatchi & Saatchi New York, Premutico co-founded Johannes Leonardo at just 29 years of age.

Built on the philosophy that the consumer is the new medium, the independent New York-based agency is internationally regarded for creating transformative brand ideas for some of the worlds most influential companies. In 2018, Johannes Leonardo was ranked in the top four of Americas top 10 advertising agencies by Ad Age.

The Australian native and 1999 AWARD School top ten student has twice been featured in Creativitys 50 Most Influential People and his Tide Talking Stain commercial was nominated as one of the top twenty Super Bowl ads of all time. To top it off, Premuticos work has been recognised at every major international award show including, the One Show, D&AD, Cannes Lions and the Clios.

AWARD chair Mike Spirkovski said Premuticos global success story is an inspiration to both creatives here in Australia and overseas: We are excited to welcome Aussie expat Leo Premutico as our Chair of Judges for the 40th AWARD Awards.

Leos experience, influence and impressive body of work made him a natural choice for the role, and we look forward to hearing from one of industrys most highly regarded and awarded creatives.

Premutico said that he is honored to be involved in the 40th anniversary of AWARD, and to have the opportunity to give back to the organisation.

Says Premutico: If someone told me when I was pounding the pavements, portfolio in hand, that Id chair AWARD one day Id have laughed at them.

To me AWARD is so much bigger than an award show. Its a reminder that ideas will always be our most powerful business tool. Proof that a love for what you do will always prevail over inexperience and self-doubt.

But most importantly, AWARD is a community of people very generous with their time because they themselves experienced first-hand the difference encouragement and guidance can make as youre coming up through the ranks.
The drama involving Tekashi 6ix9ine's legal situation continues to get even crazier. While he may not be making headlines on a daily basis anymore, when he does, the news is usually pretty scandalous. The former "King of New York" is spending time behind bars as he awaits his trial in 2020 and he's apparently been squealing like a rat to anybody that cares to listen. When it comes to the shooting he allegedly ordered on Chief Keef, Tekashi says that he paid his associate Kooda B $20K to go through with it. Thankfully, nobody was harmed. Even 69's girlfriend Jade is joking about him snitching, trolling him yesterday with a Valentine's Day post that he would surely appreciate. Now, Boosie Badazz is chiming in and his comments are pretty potent.



Bob Levey/Getty Images

"WHEN YOU FIRST WENT TO JAIL I WAS LIKE FREE DUDE CAUSE I DONT LIKE TO SEE NO ONE N DAT CAGE LIKE DAT," started the rapper. "BUT ONE THING I DONT CONDONE OR SUPPORT IS RATS." Boosie says that now, 6ix9ine will need to admit that he's a "hoe ass n***a" because all of his credibility is lost. "AND I DO UNDERSTAND YO SITUATION N***A. I WAS FACING A NEEDLE. (Lethal injection) N AINT BEND BREAK R FOLD," said Boosie. "U WILL BE MURDERED LESS THAN A MONTH AFTER YOUR RELEASE FRFR YOUR KIDS WILL BULLIED N SCHOOL FOR THE DECISION YOU MADE ,YOU PUT ALL YOUR FAMILY N GRAVE DANGER FOR LIFE CAUSE OF THIS BS, DID U THINK BOUT THEY SAFETY?"

Boosie brings up some very valid points. In an attempt to shorten his own sentence, 6ix9ine did seriously endanger the lives of his loved ones. However, you've got to consider both sides of the story here. Tekashi is facing life in prison. You've got to think he would do anything he can to get out as soon as possible.
Performance

15 February 2019

HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee  The Canadian hotel industry recorded mostly positive year-over-year results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 3-9 February 2019, according to data from STR.

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In comparison with the week of 4-10 February 2018, the industry reported the following:

Occupancy: -0.1% to 57.1%

Average daily rate (ADR): +1.6% to CAD147.03

Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +1.5% to CAD84.01

Among the provinces and territories, Prince Edward Island reported the largest year-over-year increases in occupancy (+7.7% to 46.4%) and the only double-digit rise in RevPAR (+13.2% to CAD56.08).

British Columbia posted the highest jump in ADR (+5.4% to CAD171.87) and the second-largest lift in RevPAR (+9.3% to CAD108.93).

Newfoundland and Labrador reported the steepest declines across the three key performance metrics: occupancy (-11.9% to 35.9%), ADR (-4.2% to CAD122.98) and RevPAR (-15.7% to CAD44.13).
Press Release

15 February 2019

London UK/Spokane WA - Magnuson Worldwide's global hotel brand is proud to announce the addition of the Inn of Loudon located in Tennessee to the collection.

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The Inn of Loudon has easy access to Interstate 75 with many dining options within walking distance and downtown Knoxville just a 30-minute drive away. Nearby attractions include Sweetwater Valley Farm at 3.5 miles, Tennessee Valley Winery at 4.5 and Fort Southwest Point at 10.9 miles from the hotel. The Sugarlimb Industrial Park and the Tellico Industrial Park are both less than 15 miles from the Inn of Loudon.

Guests of the pet-friendly hotel can start each day with a complimentary breakfast and stay connected with free high-speed internet service. All guestrooms are well equipped with standard amenities that include free high-speed internet access, hair dryer, coffee maker, microwave, mini fridge, free local calls, alarm clock radio, safe, cable TV, and individually controlled heat and air conditioning. Escape the heat by taking a dip in the pool for an afternoon treat.

Thomas Magnuson, CEO of Magnuson Worldwide says: "We are delighted to be welcoming the team at the Inn of Loudon to the Magnuson family."
Now Open

15 February 2019

Just minutes from ancient temples and the Guangzhou Opera House, Jumeirah Living Guangzhou, is in the heart of Zhujiang New Town Central Business District (CBD), and marks a defining moment in luxury hospitality for the capital of Guangdong province. Surrounded by shimmering skyscrapers, the hotel is set near iconic attractions including Guangdong Museum and Guangzhou International Finance Centre.

Nestled between the commercial and executive sides of this vibrant city is the new Jumeirah Living Guangzhou. The hotel curates the perfect balance of private home comfort coupled with the legendary Jumeirah service, offering 108 rooms, 18 suites and 169 luxurious residences. The two sophisticated skyscrapers stand impressively among the cosmopolitan skyline, giving discerning guests and residents of Guangzhou a quick and convenient escape from the inner city to what feels like a whole new world of abundance and luxury.

The south tower is designed with a more traditional sense of luxury and indulgence. The hall and main entrance exude neoclassical architecture, with spacious rooms, double-height ceilings and marble surfaces. The lines of symmetry reflect the layout of a grand palatial residence. This aesthetic continues into the residential accommodation, with traditional carvings occupying every surface of the room, from the doors and architraves to the cornices. Flowers have also been incorporated into the design, referencing Guangzhou's colourful history and the English rose.

The north tower offers a slick approach to luxury, designed to be chic, sleek and polished. Not only does this contemporary aesthetic employ a sense of simplicity and elegance, it also seamlessly integrates elements of East meets West in every detail, catering to the needs of Guangzhou's growing young executive population. The city is the third largest in China, and is regarded to be a prominent business hub, welcoming visitors from all business tiers and backgrounds.
Bloomington, IN (47401)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms in the morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. High 83F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, then cloudy skies overnight. Low 74F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
| BY Ricki Green |

Initiative, the culturally-driven media agency within IPG Mediabrands, has been appointed agency of record to the Fujitsu General Australia business.

Fujitsu General Australia, part of Fujitsu General Limited  a leading global manufacturer of air conditioners founded in Japan in 1963, credited the appointment of Initiative to its demonstration of market leading thinking; creative in application, and supported by rigour and data. The announcement comes following a competitive pitch process which commenced in December 2018 and concluded this month.

Proud to be Australias favourite air, Fujitsu General Australia has a product portfolio to suit residential and commercial applications. Rigorous research and development has resulted in an extensive range of world-class, stylish and energy efficient air conditioning systems.

Says Zdenka Micallef, national marketing manager, Fujitsu General Australia: Initiative showcased outstanding thinking that turned what we know about our category on its head. Their insight into how our brand currently interacts in culture, and how we can make a difference in the lives of our consumer, was truly a differentiator.

There was genuine passion behind what they do, they are clearly experts in their field.

Says Melissa Fein, CEO, Initiative Australia: Fujitsu General Australia is a leading brand that is very much embedded in the Australian culture. Its category is not only competitive but requires agility and innovative thinking to stay relevant.

We are incredibly excited about this partnership, and the opportunity to help Fujitsu General Australia step forward into its new journey with confidence. For Initiative, this provides the opportunity to deliver our true craft; creative thought-provoking strategies, that are backed by analytical data led cultural insights
Click here to find out where to get a COVID-19 vaccine or test.

To find out how many local residents have been vaccinated for COVID-19, click here. Use the map to find numbers for individual counties.

Find detailed statistics about COVID-19 tests, cases and deaths by county and for the state as a whole on the Indiana State Department of Health's online dashboard.
This year our dine and drink business locations throughout the Gorge have suffered with closures. You can help support your favorites by purchasing take out and gift cards. Many of these business will offer curb-side delivery and some will deliver to your home. Lets keep the Gorge going strong!
Lima, OH (45805)

Today

Mostly cloudy. Scattered showers and storms. High around 80F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Locally heavy rainfall. Low 70F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.
Copyright  2019 at Sun Newspapers/ APG Media of East Central Minnesota. Digital dissemination of this content without prior written consent is a violation of federal law and may be subject to legal action.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 15)  Both bills recently submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte on doling out the coco levy funds to farmer beneficiaries have now been vetoed.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea confirmed Friday night that Duterte has vetoed the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund.

The coconut levy fund was taken from a tax imposed on coconut farmers by the late strongman President Ferdinand Marcos for the development of the coconut industry. A part of the funds was allegedly siphoned to corporations of alleged cronies of the late President.

The bill aimed to create a trust fund for the coco levy money that will be managed by a team to be composed of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), Department of Finance, Department of Agriculture, Department of Budget and Management, a coconut industry stakeholder, and six coconut farmers from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao with two representatives each.

It also included a provision that 100 billion taken from coconut levy fund will be invested in government securities. The proceeds will be returned to coconut farmers.

However, the trust fund is anchored on the assumption that the bill reconstituting the PCA to the abovementioned lineup would be approved. The bill was vetoed by Duterte last week.

"While the Enrolled Bill is in the common legislative agenda of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council, the provisions of the bill do not reflect our ultimate goal of accelerating the further utilization of coco levy assets and funds for the benefit of our marginalized coconut farmers and the coconut industry," Duterte said in the veto message last week.

READ: Duterte asks Congress to redraft bill strengthening PCA to include 'more safeguards'

On the Philippine Coconut Authority bill, Senate committee on agriculture chair Cynthia Villar said that she was told that it lacked "vital safeguards."

"In the coming days, I hope to be enlightened more on why the President believes the measure lacked 'vital safeguards' and will work with him to improve this bill," Villar said.

READ: Villar: Duterte said vetoed Philippine Coconut Authority bill lacks 'vital safeguards'

On the trust fund bill, Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri had previously said that it was in danger of being vetoed. Based on his previous discussion with Malacanang, this was also based on the composition of the PCA.

"Ang ayaw kasi ng Malacanang na pinagusapan namin, majority ng grupo na maghahawak ng pondo ay civilians kasi sabi nila the funds, although it's the fund of the farmers, is in trust with the government so parang they are treating it as government fund," Zubiri said.

[Translation: While the funds are for the farmers, it's entrusted to the government so it seems like they're treating it as a government fund. Malacanang doesn't like how majority of the group that handles the funds are civilians.]

Duterte had previously said, when he appointed retired Air Force Chief Lieutenant General Galileo Kintanar as the new PCA head that he wanted someone he can trust in the agency.

"So when the time comes and I can get the mechanism on how the money will be distributed to the beneficiaries and I look for someone na ang pera ng Pilipino ay di mawawala, it shall be the retired Gen. Kintanar," Duterte said.
Im sure, it would be bad news to shut the government down.

Probably. Its the same old, same old every year - special sessions, more money paid to legislators.

Im not so sure - everything is always so divided.

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O ver the next 10 years some 8,000 new homes will be built in Bow, an old-school East End island bounded by three of Londons best parks.

Most Londoners know the Olympic Park, Victoria Park, and Mile End Park, but not necessarily the neighbourhood they border.

Once the site of an 11th-century nunnery, later a centre of Londons porcelain industry and a suffragette stronghold, Bow suffered heavy bombing during the Second World War and was smothered in low-grade social housing in the years afterwards.

However, Bows old industrial buildings and council estates are now being reborn as sites for new homes, with the added inducement of new restaurants, cafes and shops, plus the opening up of the River Lea which runs just to the east.

Representing fantastic value for Zone 2, the average Bow property costs 400,000 according to Rightmove, while a typical flat would cost 392,000.

For first-time buyers who would struggle to raise a 10 per cent deposit of almost 40,000, there is now a third way.

New shared-ownership homes at Bow East are set to go on sale on February 23, priced from 91,250 for a 25 per cent share of a one-bedroom flat valued at 365,000.

Buyers will need to raise a deposit of just under 10,000, and each month their costs stack up to just under 1,230 including rent of 627.34, service charge of 134.64, plus mortgage repayments estimated at 468.

There are also two-bedroom flats, priced from 111,750 for a 25 per cent share. Buyers will need to budget for monthly outgoings of just under 1,500, including rent of 807.81, service charge of 139.77 and mortgage repayments of about 546.

Investing in Bow East will mean buying into the regeneration of the area. As well as thousands of homes, there are plans for new schools and parks, to help upgrade Bows infrastructure.

From 91,250: 25 per cent of a one-bedroom flat at Bow East, through L&Q

For commuting, Bow Road station has District and Hammersmith & City line Tube and Docklands Light Railway services. The journey to either Canary Wharf or the City would take around 20 minutes.

As more Londoners discover Bows fantastic commuting links and increasingly vibrant social scene, it becomes harder for young professionals and families to find affordable housing in the area, says Gavin Stewart, sales and customer services director of housing association L&Qs east region.

Through our shared-ownership scheme, we are offering a real opportunity to these buyers, with deposits starting at under 10,000 and monthly payments often lower than renting.

Although Bow is well served for green space, it is currently an area in flux. It has not entirely shrugged off its grimy, grotty reputation.

But Stewart points out that Bow East is moments from Bow Arts, with its programme of yoga classes, film screenings and performance art, while Roman Road Market is good for fruit, veg and cheap clothes.

Until Bows new facilities come on stream, most locals are likely to head to Stratford or Victoria Park for pubs, restaurants, bars and shops. There are, of course, already local shops and pubs, but boozers rather than gastropubs.
Pakistan on Friday said the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the country was delayed by a day. The crown prince was scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on Saturday on a two-day visit.

However, the arrival has been rescheduled and now he would arrive on Sunday, the Foreign Office said without divulging the reason for the change. It further said the crown prince will visit Pakistan on February 17-18, 2019 and the visit programme remains unchanged.

Abdul Razzak Dawood, advisor to the Pakistan prime minister on trade, said investment deals worth USD 10-15 billion dollars would be signed during the trip. On the top of the list is an agreement to set up an oil refinery in Pakistan.

Elaborate security arrangements have been planned during the visit of the powerful heir to the Saudi throne.
Several countries across the world, including Pakistan, Russia and the US, have condemned the terror attack by Jaish-e-Mohammad which killed at least 44 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district on Thursday.

The Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed on Thursday afternoon in one of the deadliest terror attacks in the restive state in decades when a 22-year-old suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying nearly 300kg of explosives into their bus in Awantipora area.

The convoy of 78 buses had more than 2,000 CRPF personnel travelling from Jammu to Srinagar and came under attack just 30km away from the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. Many others were also left critically wounded.

India had slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack and the ministry of external affairs said that the heinous and despicable act has been perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation proscribed by the UN and other countries.

This terror group is led by the international terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by the Pakistani government to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under Pakistans control and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity, the MEA said.

Pakistan has said the terrorist attack in Pulwama district is a matter of grave concern and strongly rejected Indian media and governments allegations of the countrys link to the strike without probe.

We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations, the Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement.

In a tweet, Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said, We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in Valley.

Russia stressed the need to combat such inhuman acts with a decisive and collective response without any double standards.

Also read | Pulawama attack fallout: India withdraws most favoured nation status to Pak

We denounce terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with a decisive and collective response without any double standards, a Russian embassy statement said.

The United States on Thursday called on Pakistan to end immediately its support of terrorist groups operating from its soil in the aftermath of the suicide attack. Holding Pakistan responsible for the attack, the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a statement that the US condemns in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attack by a Pakistan-based terrorist group.

The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region, Sanders said. This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India.

The US also said it stands alongside India in defeating terrorism.

The US Mission in India strongly condemns todays terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, US ambassador to India Kenneth Juster tweeted.

French ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said France most firmly condemns the heinous attack perpetrated in Jammu and Kashmir. France has always been and always will be by Indias side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms, he said.

Germany said it stands by its strategic partner India as Australia, Turkey, Canada and the Czech Republic also joined in slamming the attack. Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has also decried the attack and offered condolences to the families of the dead soldiers.

Also read | Pulwama terror attack matter of grave concern, says Pakistan as it rejects link to attack

Australia condemns the heinous terrorist attack on an Indian police convoy in Jammu and Kashmir. We convey our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and all those injured. Our thoughts are with my friend Prime Minister @narendramodi and the Indian people, Morrison tweeted on Friday.

Spain and Italy also have condemned the attack.

We strongly condemn the attack perpetrated today in #Pulwama, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, against a convoy of the #CRPF. The Government of Spain expresses its support to the people and authorities of #India in these moments of pain, Spains ministry of foreign affairs tweeted in Spanish.

Astonishment for a serious terrorist attack that hit Indian security forces in #Pulwama, with numerous deaths and injuries. # Italy condemns terrorism in all its forms. Strong solidarity and heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, Italian ministry of foreign affairs said in Italian.

Copy-paste attack

Indias neighbours Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Maldives also expressed solidarity and vowed to combat the menace of terrorism jointly.

Afghanistan said the attack was a copy-paste of what Pakistan backed terror groups do in their country.

The heinous act of terror in Kashmir has all the hallmarks of a common source & sponsor of terrorism in our region. It is a copy paste of what Pakistan backed terror groups do in Afghanistan. We condemn the attack & convey our condolences to Indian people, Afghanistans acting minister of interior Amrullah Saleh tweeted.

Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, in a message through the countrys High Commission, here, said her country remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and manifestations and maintains a zero-tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities.

Bangladesh would continue to work and cooperate with the international community including India to eradicate the menace of terrorism, she said.

Also read | CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama terror attack were returning from leave

A release from Nepals ministry of foreign affairs put forth late on Thursday said any kind of heinous act of terrorism cannot be justified, reinforcing Nepals stand against such kind of manifestations.

In line with its principled position, Nepal unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and believes that such heinous acts of terrorism cannot be justified on any ground, the release said.

Nepals prime minister Khadga Prasad Oli called his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday evening to extend condolences and concern while condemning the ghastly attack.

Similar thoughts came from Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Deeply saddened by the news of the horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir. Bhutan strongly condemns the terrorist attack of any nature. Our prayers are with the grieved family and we are following the situation closely, Bhutanese prime minister Lotay Tshering said.

I strongly condemn the deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir today killing at least 40 people. We send our thoughts and prayers to those affected. The Maldives will continue to work with India and the international community to combat terrorism in our region and the world at large, Maldivian president Ibrahim Solih said.

Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena expressed sadness over the dastardly terror attack, saying the world must condemn such brutal terrorist attacks and take effective action to prevent such incidents in future.

(With agency inputs)
Afghanistan, while condemning the Pulwama terror attack, said the attack is a copy-paste of what Pakistan backed terror groups do in their country.

The heinous act of terror in Kashmir has all the hallmarks of a common source & sponsor of terrorism in our region. It is a copy paste of what Pakistan backed terror groups do in Afghanistan. We condemn the attack & convey our condolences to Indian people, Amrullah Saleh, the acting Minister of Interior of Afghanistan, tweeted in the aftermath of the heinous assault.

The dastardly terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district claimed the lives of 40 security personnel on Thursday. The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar - the slain personnel were in a bus which had 42 CRPF men on board.

Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has since claimed responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged in a blast and ensuing gunfire on the vehicle.

The international community, right from Thailand to the United States, has severely condemned the terrorist attack, extending their support for India.

Also read | PM, top ministers attend CCS meeting on Kashmir attack that killed 44 jawans

Scott Morrison, the Australian Prime Minister has also decried the horrific incident while tweeting, Australia condemns the heinous terrorist attack on an Indian police convoy in Jammu and Kashmir. We convey our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and all those injured. Our thoughts are with my friend Prime Minister @narendramodi and the Indian people, on Friday.

Furthermore, Spain and Italy too have condemned the attack.

We strongly condemn the attack perpetrated today in #Pulwama, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, against a convoy of the #CRPF. The Government of Spain expresses its support to the people and authorities of #India in these moments of pain, Spains Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted in Spanish.

Astonishment for a serious terrorist attack that hit Indian security forces in #Pulwama, with numerous deaths and injuries. # Italy condemns terrorism in all its forms. Strong solidarity and heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, Italys Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted in Italian.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted that the sacrifices of the brave security personnel will not go in vain while condemning the attack. President Ram Nath Kovind too has assured that the entire nation is united to fight against the forces of terror and evil following the ghastly assault.

Mobile internet services stand suspended in Jammu in the wake of the attack.

Also read | Post Pulwama, US tells Pakistan to end immediately support for terrorism
The US on Thursday called on Pakistan to end immediately its support of terrorist groups operating from its soil in the aftermath of the suicide attack carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama that killed at least 44 CRPF personnel.

Holding Pakistan responsible for the attack, the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a statement that the US condemns in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attack by a Pakistan-based terrorist group.

The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region, Sanders said.

This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India.

Also read: CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama terror attack were returning from leave

The White House did not specify the consequences but the Trump administration has suspended nearly $2 billion in security aid to Pakistan already on account of its dubious counter-terrorism efforts already and could follow up with more.

In a similar message earlier, the US state department called on United Nations member countries to deny safe haven and support for terrorists as it condemned in the strongest terms the killing of the Central Police Reserve Forces personnel in Pulwama.

That was seen as an appeal addressed to Pakistan and China, a host of the outfit and a protector of its founder Masood Azhar from UN designation respectively.

JeM was designated a terrorist organisation by a 15-member body set up by the UN Security Council in 2001, but a move to also name Azhar, its founder and leader, a designated terrorist has been repeatedly blocked by China, which has demanded proof he is currently a member of the group.

Beijing has blocked at least three attempts to designate Azhar in recent years  separately first by India; then jointly by the US, United Kingdom and France and the third by the United States alone.

The US condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack today, Robert Palladino, a deputy spokesperson for the US state department, said in a statement.

Also read: 44 CRPF jawans killed in worst terror attack in Kashmir, India slams Pakistan

The UN designated, Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed responsibility for this heinous act, Palladino said. We call on all countries to uphold their responsibilities pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions to deny safe haven and support for terrorists, he said.

Implicit in that statement was a call to Pakistan and China, though not by name but the two UN member countries linked to JeM  one is a host and the other is a steadfast protector.  to uphold their responsibilities as members of the world body.

The US statement was in line with the one put out by Indias ministry of external affairs which had also described JeM as a UN-designated terrorist organisation and had urged UN member countries to support the move to designate Azhar, in opposition to attempts by China, not named, to protect him.

The ISIS (Daish  Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and al Qaeda Sanctions committee, also called the UN 1267 Committee after the Security Council resolution constituting it, listed JeM way back in 2001 describing it as an outfit which is based in Peshawar and Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, but (whose) members conduct terrorist activities primarily in Kashmir.

The committee must vote unanimously to approve a designation. And China was the holdout vote in all three attempts to designate Azhar, going against all of the remaining 14.

Its excuse has ranged from lack of consensus (on account of its own intransigence) to describing it as a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve outside the committee to requiring proof Azhar continues to be a member of the group which he is said to have claimed to have left now.

The US has felt frustrated by continued Chinese resistance to the designation but, officials have said, but not to the point of giving up. And a response was awaited from the state department to a question if the US had considered launching another attempt.

Tom Rogan, a columnist with conservative news publication Washington Examiner, a supporter of President Donald Trump, urged the administration in a piece to press ahead.

Also read: Despicable act, says India, asks UN to brand JeMs Masood Azhar a terrorist

The Trump administration should force China to do so again, he wrote. While Chinas defense of Azhar is blatantly immoral, it reflects (President) Xi Jinpings transactional approach to international relations. Xi happily keeps more than a million of his own moderate-Muslim citizens in concentration camps while simultaneously defending an Islamic terrorist, he said.

Rogan was referring to the incarceration and indoctrination of Muslims in China in prison facilities that have drawn comparisons to the concentration camps run by European Nazis.

The attack was also condemned separately, and individually, by a large number of US lawmakers from both parties a re-affirmation of the resolve of the two nations to combat terrorism.

Tragic news out of Jammu & Kashmir, India today where a brutal terrorist attack took innocent lives. I strongly condemn this cowardly act and send my deepest condolences to the loved ones of the #KashmirTerrorAttack victims, Pete Olson, a member of the House of Representatives from Texas wrote on Twitter.

Will Hurd, also a congressman Texas and a former CIA official who had served in India, wrote, I stand with @USAmbIndia and @rashtrapatibhvn in condemning the horrible #KashmirTerrorAttack on CRPF personnel. I spent part of my CIA career in India working to stop terrorist organizations and will continue to do so in Congress in solidarity with our allies across the globe.

By the end of the day on Thursday, more than 40 Congresspersons had condemned the attack in an unprecedented response to a terrorist strike in India.
Pakistans media and opinion-makers suggested on Friday the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir was part of a ploy by vested interests to show the country in a negative light amid the talks process in Afghanistan and ahead of the visit of Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The timing of the attack goes against Pakistan. This suggests the attack was carried out by forces that want to see Pakistan bear the brunt of this, when all indicators point to an attack from within, said Lt Gen (retired) Talat Masood, a leading security analyst.

Pakistan is undertaking potentially historic diplomacy this weekend, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and then hosting US special representative Zalmay Khalilzad and the Afghan Taliban, said foreign policy analyst Mosharraf Zaidi.

The timing of this attack puts immense pressure on those diplomatic initiatives and alters what should have been a time of celebrating diplomatic successes into a time of worry and stress with India, he added.

There were those who argued the finger of blame was being pointed at Pakistan to blacklist the country. Commentator Imtiaz Gul tweeted: Linking an act by local disgruntled #Kashmiris to the Jaish-e-Mohammad and dragging #Pakistan into it #India smacks of mischief ahead of FATF meeting.

The Foreign Office had on Thursday rejected accusations by the Indian government and media linking the suicide attack at Pulwama -- which was claimed by the Jaish e Mohammad (JeM) and left 40 Central Reserve Police Force troopers dead  to Pakistan.

We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

The Saudi prince, scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on February 16, is expected to announce deals worth billions of dollars to shore up Pakistans economy.

Pakistan has also positioned itself to play a key role in facilitating talks between the Afghan Taliban, whose leaders are based in Pakistani cities, and the US.

Many Pakistanis expressed sympathy for the victims of the attack but insisted their country was not used to sponsor the assault. Pakistani media highlighted the attacker was a Kashmiri and suggested the country had nothing to do with what they described as the outcome of a local insurgency.

The media also blamed Indian security forces for creating the situation that led to such attacks.

Actor Hamza Ali Abbasi, known for voicing controversial opinions on political matters, tweeted: Every human life is sacred, its loss should be mourned. I am not celebrating the death of these soldiers but Kashmiris dont want Indian Army occupation and my advice to the Indian Army: Leave Kashmir because Kashmiris have taken everything in their own hands.

Television channels showed the reaction of elements in India after the attacks. Duniya News, a popular Lahore-based channel, tweeted about violence during protests in Jammu in the aftermath of the attack. The channel aired special programmes about how Kashmiris were allegedly being targeted by extremists.
China on Friday declined to back Indias appeal to designate the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammads (JeM) leader Masood Azhar as a terrorist by the UN, a day after the group claimed responsibility of carrying out the worst attack on Indian forces in Kashmir.

Chinas foreign ministry condemned the attack  among the last major countries to do so  on Friday in strong terms but gave clear indications that it will not allow Azhar to be designated as a terrorist.

China had earlier indicated that New Delhi didnt share enough evidence against Azhar to list him a terrorist at the UN. The CRPF has confirmed 38 deaths in the suicide bombing, counted among the bloodiest in Kashmir. Initial reports, quoting security officials, had said 44 jawans were feared to have been killed in the attack.

Also read | Russia, Pakistan, US, others condemn Kashmir attack

China has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families, foreign ministry spokesperson, Geng Shuang said at the regular ministry briefing on Friday.

Watch | Pulwama attack: Rajnath Singh helps carry coffin of CRPF jawan in Kashmir

We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all forms of terrorism. We hope relevant regional countries will cooperate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability, Geng said.

When asked about Chinas stand on the listing of Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council, Geng repeated what he and his MFA colleagues have said many times before that UN protocols were being followed in this particular case.

Between the lines, the message is clear: Beijing will not allow Islamabad to be humiliated in a multilateral forum

Also read | Involvement of JeM in attack raises questions on role of ISI: US expert

As for the issue of listing, I could tell you that the 1267 Committee of Security Council has a clear stipulation on the listing and procedure of the terrorist organisations.

JeM has been included in the Security Council terrorism sanctions list. China will continue to handle the relevant sanctions issue in a constructive and responsible manner, Geng said in an apparent reference to ministry of external affairs appeal to all members of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

China, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC and a close ally of Pakistan, has repeatedly foiled Indias bid to list Azhar as a global terrorist, saying there is no consensus in the top organ of the world body on this issue.

The listing of Azhar was a major concern that India had conveyed to China during a landmark bilateral meeting on security held between the two countries in New Delhi last October.

The agreement was signed by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chinas State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi

During the meeting, Beijing and New Delhi had signed a first-ever agreement on security cooperation to strengthen bilateral cooperation in counter-terrorism, organised crimes, drug control, human trafficking and exchanging information.

In the counter-terrorism issue, China has always actively participated in international anti-terrorist operations. We have always made our decisions and judgments on the merits of the matter itself. We will continue to step up the security cooperation to uphold the regional peace and stability with parties, MFA spokesperson, Hua Chunying had then said.
A man taking Uber bookings using someone elses credentials allegedly raped a 26-year-old passenger in Greater Noida, police said on Thursday, as they announced the arrest of both men  the unregistered driver as well as the person under whose name he was driving the vehicle.

The woman, who works at a technology company, had booked the cab on the night of February 5 from her friends residence in Greater Noida to her home in Greater Noida West, a ride that would have taken her on a route that sees little night traffic.

The accused was identified as Aarav Yadav from Nuh in Haryana, a police official said. He was driving using the credentials of one Joginder, a resident of Mahendragarh in Haryana, whose name and details flashed on the mobile application when the woman made the booking.

Both the accused have been arrested and sent to jail. We will take action against Uber since a non-designated driver was driving the cab. We have found the company failed to carry due diligence in verification of its drivers. We are also investigating criminal antecedents of the rape -accused, said Vaibhav Krishna, senior superintendent of police, Gautam Budh Nagar.

An Uber spokesperson said they were cooperating with authorities. Whats been described is deplorable and something no one should ever go through. Were working with authorities to support their investigation and proceedings in any way possible, the company official added.

The woman said, the suspect kept taking U-turns on the same route, after the ride began around 10.35pm. I asked him if he is aware of the route to which he said he isnt familiar with the area and he asked me to open Google maps on my phone. I was talking on phone, but to open the map, I ended my conversation. He took the phone from me for navigation and after two minutes, he drove his car into the bushes as I started screaming for help. He then got out of the drivers seat and opened the door of my seat. He then forced himself on me, the woman said in her complaint. She said the accused dropped her home after allegedly raping her only when she paid him Rs 1,000. The woman kept to herself after the incident for a few days before telling a friend about the incident. It was on February 9 that she and the friend approached police.
In an indication that the Shiv Sena is eyeing the chief ministers (CM) post in Maharashtra if it enters into an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Sena leader on Thursday said the BJP should offer the CM position to its alliance partners in their states.

The leader also said that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies like Sena and Akali Dal will play a bigger role after the Lok Sabha elections.

The fresh statement from the Sena indicates that it is willing for a pre-poll tie-up provided it gets the CM post. Last month, the party had made it clear that it will remain a big brother in Maharashtra politics.

Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said that if the NDA comes back to power in 2019 then Sena, Akali Dal and other allies will have a role, hinting that the BJP could fall short of the majority figure in the Lok Sabha. All the allies of NDA are strong in their states and if you want to have an alliance with them at the Centre, the CM in that state should be from that ally, he said. The Sena has been critical of the BJP for its treatment of allies.

A senior Sena leader said the BJP national president Amit Shah and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray are in talks to forge the alliance. The leadership of the two parties are discussing a power-sharing formula along with a seat-sharing agreement. Ours is a one-line proposal to them. You (BJP) can play a larger role in Delhi, while we will have a bigger say in the state Getting back to power is important for them, and therefore they will come around, a senior Sena leader, who did not wish to be named, said. He said that Shah is likely to visit Thackeray at his residence in Mumbai in the coming days.

A Sena leader, who is involved in the alliance discussion, said the party has made it clear to the BJP that it should convey its decision soon. He said the Sena is prepared to go solo, if they do not arrive at a decision. It is not an ultimatum, but we have asked them to decide soon. Time is short now; we want to start work on ground, finalise candidates, among other moves, the leader said. The Sena had planned two rallies of Thackeray in the first two weeks of February, but both were cancelled owing to a lack of clarity on the alliance.
The Congress and National Congress Party (NCP) are likely to finalise their seat-sharing and forge an alliance with smaller parties, including Raju Shettis Swabhimani Paksha, Prakash Ambedkars Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh and other factions of Republican Party of India (RPI), before February 20, the day the two parties plan to launch their campaign with a joint rally at Nanded.

Although the chances of Ambedkar joining the grand alliance are slim, the Congress-NCP is expected to offer additional seats to Shetti. The induction of Raj Thackerays Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) may be a bone of contention between the two parties, as the Congress has strongly objected to joining hands with the MNS and AIMIM, terming them communal. The NCP is mulling an informal arrangement with MNS, in the face of Congress opposition. Eight of the 48 seats could be given to the smaller parties.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, along with partys general secretary Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal, met NCP chief Sharad Pawar at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday. Party MPs Supriya Sule and Praful Patel were also present. State leaders from both the parties held a joint meeting on Wednesday evening and are likely to meet again in the next two days to arrive at final consensus. Patel and Kharge met on Thursday evening. We held at least six meetings with Ambedkar and have offered him four seats, despite which he is not keen on joining the alliance. We have lost hopes, but we want to send out a clear message that we tried until the last minute to keep communal forces at bay, said a Congress leader.

The Congress and NCP are keen on taking other RPI groups led by Rajendra Gavai and Jogendra Kawade and other parties on board. The alliance may concede Palghar seat to Bahujan Vikas Aghadi headed by Hitendra Thakur and Dindori for Communist Party of India (M). If Thakur refuses to join, the Palghar seat will be offered to the CPI (M). Besides, Hatkanangale, Shettis party is likely to get Buldhana seat. He has been pressing for Wardha constituency too. NCP president Sharad Pawar reportedly spoke with Shetti over the phone on Wednesday.

NCP leader Ajit Pawar said, In our parliamentary committee meeting, we decided to hold discussions with the MNS to take it along. We will talk to Congress.

The NCP is expected to concede Kalyan seat to the MNS, which has also been vying Mumbai North-East, Nashik and Thane seats.

Patel said the decision on disputed seats between two parties will be taken by Kharge and him. Our list of candidates has been finalised, but we will not announce it unless we are done with the discussion with smaller parties. We are sure about winning at least 35 seats in the state, he said. We are keen on finalising the seat-sharing before our joint meeting in Nanded, said Congress leader Manikrao Thakre.

The joint rally at Nanded will be followed by a rally at Beed and will be joined by chief ministers of newly formed Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. It is not clear if Rahul Gandhi is attending the Nanded rally, but he is likely to address a public rally in Maharashtra before the announcement of code of conduct, another Congress leader said.

Meanwhile, senior NCP leaders Ganesh Naik and Chhagan Bhujbal have refused to enter the fray despite partys attempts to convince them to improve the party strength in Lok Sabha. Instead, Bhujbal has batted for his nephew and former party MP Sameer Bhujbal from Nashik, while Naik is vying for Thane constituency for his son and former MP Sanjeev Naik.

The state unit of Congress finalised names for a few constituencies, including Sushilkumar Shinde (Solapur), Mukul Wasnik (Ramtek), Manikrao Thakre (Yavatmal), Charulata Tokas(Wardha), Rohidas Patil(Dhule), Amita Chavan(Nanded).
Narrow lanes and illegally parked vehicles are to blame for 30% minor blazes becoming major ones, said chief fire officer Prabhat Rahangdale on Thursday.

According to the Mumbai fire brigade (MFB) data, 4,008 fire calls were reported between April and December 2018. Fire vehicles reach the spot late owing to traffic congestion and illegal parking. This results in even minor fires turning into major ones. In some cases, narrow roads block our way affecting the fire response time. Ideally, we need free open space around the disaster spot to park fire vehicles and send in hose lines immediately, Rahangdale said, while speaking at an event in Mumbai. The overall count of fire calls, however, has seen a drop.

A case in point could be the fire at Sargam Society in Tilak Nagar on December 27, 2018 that killed five people and injured two others in December last year.

The fire brigade personnel had difficulty launching fire-fighting operations owing to the narrow alleys and parked cars.

Taking note of the challenges faced by the fire brigade at Beaumonde Towers in Worli during June last year, the civic body introduced provisions in the Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR) 2034 for construction of a podium to facilitate free access for a fire engine.

According to one of the rules in DCPR, which are a set of rules for construction in the city, minimum 9m of space needs to be left between the podium of a building and the compound, for free movement of fire engines.
The government is working on a strategy to enforce campaign silence on social media 48 hours before polls, as suggested by a parliamentary panel, government officials familiar with the matter said. The embargo, already followed by print and TV media, will likely be implemented on social networks during the summers Lok Sabha elections.

The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) is considering several options, including regulation through local internet service providers (ISP) and voluntary compliance by social media platforms, the two officials with direct knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity.

Unlike print media and television channels, strict enforcement of section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, on social media is not easy because of the global nature of their users, one of the officials said.

Besides, their servers are located overseas, beyond the legal jurisdiction of India, the official added.

Although most of the social media platforms have been working hard to prevent their misuse during elections, they have been repeatedly accused of not doing enough, thereby allowing democratic processes to be subverted, the second official said.

Parliamentarians are very concerned about the misuse of social media [Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp] during elections. These companies must address their concerns. They must respect Indias parliamentary committee. They have to observe law of the land if they want to do business in India, a lucrative market for them, this person added.

A spokesperson for Twitter said the popular micro-blogging site was willing to cooperate with the government and the Election Commission on this matter.

Twitter deeply respects the integrity of the election process, which is a cornerstone for all democracies, and we continue to actively engage with the Election Commission of India to protect electoral integrity in India and enhance the health of the public conversation from now through elections, the spokesperson said in an email.

WhatsApp India spokesperson Pragya Misra Mehrishi pointed to a link to its platform, which details a fact sheet on safety in India that the company has put together for the election.

The link explains that WhatsApp cares deeply about the safety of its users in India and around the world. In the run-up to the 2019 national election, WhatsApp has made significant product changes and worked with partners across civil society to address the harmful consequences of misinformation, it adds.

WhatsApp has also released a white paper on tackling abuse  particularly bulk and automated messaging, she said.

Representatives of Election Commission, MeitY and Facebook did not respond to e-mails seeking comment.

On February 11, Facebook said in a statement that it had expanded its third party fact-checking programme in India as it looks to combat the spread of fake news on its platform ahead of general elections.It has hired former journalist Natasha Jog as its election integrity officer.

Apart from reviewing articles, the US-based company has also equipped checkers with tools to review photos and videos to help identify and take action against more types of misinformation.

We are committed to fighting the spread of false news on Facebook, especially ahead of the 2019 general election campaign season. And one way to do that is by growing our partnership with third party fact-checkers. We now have seven partners across the country covering six languages, who will review and rate the accuracy of stories on Facebook, Facebook India news partnership head Manish Khanduri had said.

Then chief election commissioner OP Rawat said in an interview to HT published on October 1 that attempts to sway election outcomes by manipulating voters through technological interventions had emerged as the biggest challenge for the electoral process.

Instead of direct bribing of voters, it is now moving to technology and big data firms and services like targeted communication on social media and analysis on where to focus so as to tilt the voting behaviour in a partys favour All these sophisticated techniques, which may cost a bomb, are being resorted to, Rawat said in that interview.

According to the officials cited, the parliamentary panel, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Anurag Thakur, has directed MeitY to ensure that the forthcoming general elections are safe from manipulations through external influences.

The ministry has been given a weeks time to provide an action plan to the panel.

Elections in India will likely be held in April and May, and an announcement to this effect is expected in the first week of March.

According to a person familiar with the discussions of the panel who did not want to be named, there was concern over growing use of multiple social media platforms and the desire to ensure that elections cannot be influenced through them.

Members felt that the ministry should be aware of the possibility of elections being influenced by technology and should have a plan in place for what is required to be done, this person added.

A second person familiar with the discussions said that there was concern among members about the role of social media platforms in shaping public opinion.

The question that needs to be answered is whether these are just platforms for carrying messages, as claimed by them, or are they platforms that can mould public opinion, in which case they become media houses. And if they are media houses, then they need to submit to the rules of the information and broadcasting ministry, which has specific laws on foreign ownership of media, the second person said on condition of anonymity.

The poll panel has written to the law ministry seeking to bring social media platforms and news portals under the purview of section 126.

The Election Commission appointed a 14-member committee headed by Umesh Sinha to suggest changes to section 126 of the Representation of the Peoples Act keeping new media realities in mind.

The government will also consider the committees report while suggesting guidelines for social media. The committee, with representatives from the ministry of information and broadcasting, MeitY, the law ministry, the Press Council of India and the News Broadcasters Association, submitted its report on January 10.

The recommendations made by the committee, when implemented , will help in minimising the possible interference of activities which aim at indirectly influencing voters during the valuable silence period of 48 hours provided to them. The recommendations of the committee will be considered by the commission in detail for follow up action, an EC statement had said.

The statement, however, said that the task of maintaining campaign silence during the last 48 hours before the conclusion of polling is becoming increasingly onerous in the light of the increasing influence of digital media.

EC often gets information about violations concerning the model code of conduct though political opponents of candidates, an expert in media-related matters said, requesting anonymity.

In December 2017, EC directed its Gujarat office to file an FIR against those who violated section 126 after it received a complaint that some TV channels in Gujarat carried an interview of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the 48-hour silence period. This was done a day ahead of the second phase of polling for the then ongoing state elections.
The frightening moment a leopard sneaked into a room, attacked a sleeping dog and carried it away in its mouth has been caught on camera. The video shows the dog trying to fight back but it turns out it is no match for the leopard.

The incident was recorded at a brick kiln in the Huliyurdurga village in Karnataka on January 12. The video was captured on a CCTV camera and made its way online.

The video, all of 28-seconds-long, shows the dog sleeping a room. Second later, the leopard is seen entering the room, ready to attack the dog. It then jumps on the dog, grabs it with its teeth and runs out of the room with it. Other dogs can also be seen running out of the room.

Local residents have reportedly complained to forest officials about the leopard since it has raided homes and carried off pets and cattle earlier as well.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday delivered a sharp warning to Pakistan and terror groups operating from across the border after CRPF jawans were killed in a deadly terror attack in Kashmirs Pulwama.

PM Modi, who was speaking to an event to flag off the countrys fastest train Vande Bharat Express, said the country will give a strong response to this attack. The blood of the people is boiling and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished, he said. The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress have cancelled all political meetings of its top leaders in light of Thursdays suicide attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Masood Azhars Jaish had rushed to take responsibility for the car bomb that ripped into a CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. The CRPF has confirmed 38 deaths in the suicide bombing, counted among the bloodiest in Kashmir. Initial reports, quoting security officials, had said 44 jawans were feared to have been killed in the attack. Pakistan says it isnt to be blamed for the attack.

Watch : Big mistake, says PM Modi in stern warning to terror outfits

But as many countries came together to condemn the deadly attack and Pakistan shrugged off blame, New Delhi underscored that Masood Azhar had been given full freedom by Pakistan to operate and expand his terror infrastructure and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity. (More Updates)

PM Modis message to Pakistan came in this context.

Without naming the western neighbour in his speech, PM Modi said if our neighbour, which is totally isolated in the world and thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a huge mistake.

Also Read: US condemns Kashmir attack, tells Pak to end safe haven to terrorists

Turning to the Pak-based terror groups, PM Modi said, I want to tell the terror groups that you have committed a grave crime. The perpetrators of terror will pay a heavy price. I assure the nation that we will punish the perpetrators of terror.

Prime Minister Modi, who had minutes earlier chaired a meeting of the cabinet committee on security, also thanked all nations that have supported us and condemned this incident in the strongest of terms.

A strong reply will be given to this attack, said PM Modi.

When all the nations will fight together against terror, it will be eliminated. The jawans have sacrificed their lives for the country. I assure everyone that we will take every step to bring the perpetrators of the crime to book, said PM Modi.

Read more:CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama terror attack were returning from leave

Speaking in Jhansi later, PM Modi said the security forces had been given permission to choose the timing, place and nature of their response to the attack

Security forces have been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response... This is an India of new convention and policy, he said, drawing big response from the crowd at a public rally .

The PM said the attack was an outcome of the neighbouring countrys desperation as it is in a bad shape and has been forced to go to different countries with a begging bowl to meet even its daily expenses.

The prime minister was in the Uttar Pradesh town to lay the foundation stone of a defence corridor in the Bundelkhand region.

After the mornings CCS meeting, the government announced that it will take all possible diplomatic steps to ensure the complete isolation of Pakistan. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters that as the first step, this would include India removing most favoured nation (MFN) trade privileges given to Pakistan.

The ministry of external affairs will initiate all possible steps, and I am here referring to all possible diplomatic steps which have to be taken to ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan, he said.
Saluting the martyrs who lost their lives in Thursdays terror attack in South Kashmirs Pulwama, the Central Reserve Police Force released a collage of photographs in their memory. The paramilitary force said the terror attack will be avenged.

WE WILL NOT FORGET, WE WILL NOT FORGIVE: We salute our martyrs of Pulwama attack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged, the CRPF wrote on Twitter.

In another post, the force said that all formations of the CRPF observed two minutes of silence in memory of the martyrs of the terrorist attack. The CRPF also decided to fly its flag half mast on Friday.

At least 40 CRPF jawans were killed in the terror attack, in which a convoy of 78 vehicles of the force was targeted by a suicide bomb mission of the militants. Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack.

Coming only months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Pulwama terror attack was the worst in decades in the Kashmir Valley. The attack prompted a strong response from the government with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying, We will give a befitting reply, our neighbour will not be allowed to de-stabilise us.

PM Modi chaired Friday morning a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), where India decided to withdraw the most favoured nation status accorded to Pakistan 23 years ago. The CCS also decided to take steps to isolate Pakistan in the wake of Pulwama attack.

The external affairs ministry moved swiftly with an outreach to more than 15 nations including the P5  the United States, the UK, France, Russia and China, which has been blocking Indias bid to proscribe Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as global terrorist. China has repeatedly used its veto at the United Nations to shield Azhar.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who visited Srinagar after attending the CCS meet, reviewed the security situation in Kashmir at a meeting with top officers of the Indian Army, the CRPF and the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

In a veiled reference to the separatist leaders in Kashmir Valley, Singh also said that the security provided to them should be reviewed. The government provides security to a host of separatist leaders on the basis of threat perception in each case. Singh said there are people in Kashmir who take money from Pakistan and conspire against India.

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India on Friday served a strong message to Pakistan and terror groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, in which 44 Central Reserve Police Force jawans are feared to have been killed on Thursday. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decided to withdraw the most favoured nation (MFN) status granted to Pakistan and initiate all possible steps to ensure complete isolation of the country.

In a rare media briefing after a CCS meet, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, The most favoured nation status granted to Pakistan stands withdrawn. The ministry of commerce will issue necessary notification in this regard. India had granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, a year after formation of the World Trade Organisation for promotion of international trade.

The MFN status was not withdrawn even during the 1999 Kargil War, neither in the aftermath of the attacks on Parliament in 2003, Mumbai terror attacks of 2008, when more than 160 people were killed or after the Uri terror attack, which saw special forces of the Indian Army cross the Line of Control (LoC) to conduct a surgical strike to demolish terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in 2016.

The minister also said India will press for an early adoption of a draft convention on international terrorism pending with the United Nation since 1986. India had tabled a draft comprehensive convention on international terrorism in the United Nations in 1986, when late Congress president Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister.

But for the past 33 years, it has not been implemented because there is no unanimity on the definition of terrorism, Jaitley said adding, the government will consult all countries to implement it and engage with them for early adoption of the anti-terror measure.

The draft convention proposes to declare all forms of international terrorism a criminal offence and seeks to deny funding and shelter to terrorists.

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Jaitley also said there is incontrovertible evidence to prove Pakistans hand behind the Pulwama terror attack on a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying more than 2,500 CRPF jawans from Jammu to Srinagar. The convoy was targeted by the militants in a suicide attack ramming one of the buses with an explosive-laden SUV on Jammu-Srinagar highway.

Thursdays terror attack is the worst of its kind in the Kashmir Valley in terms of loss of lives. In 2001, 38 people had died when militants attacked the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the Pulwama terror attack. The group also released a video of the suspected attacker, who was a local youth. The authenticity of the claim is yet to be verified by the security agencies.

The ministry of external affairs will initiate all possible steps all possible diplomatic steps, which have to be taken to ensure complete isolation of Pakistan of which incontrovertible evidence is available of having a direct hand behind this gruesome attack, Jaitley said.

Also Read | Youve committed a huge mistake: PM Narendra Modi to Pakistan after Kashmir attack

The CCS observed a two-minute silence as a mark of respect to the supreme sacrifice made by the CRPF jawans, he said adding, The security forces will be taking all possible steps to ensure full security is maintainedThose who have committed this heinous act of terrorism and those supporting are made to pay heavy cost.

After attending the CCS meet, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh headed to Jammu and Kashmir to review the security arrangements in the Valley. On his return, an all party meet will be held on Saturday, when Singh will brief the political parties on the terror attack and the security situation in the Kashmir Valley.

The high-powered security meet had been called to discuss the security issues arising after Pulawama terror attack. Apart from Jaitley and Singh, the CCS meet was attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Also Read | Kashmir attack: Political functions of PM Modi, other BJP leaders cancelled
A pregnant Bangladeshi-British teenager, who fled London in 2015 to join the Islamic State terror group in Syria, says she is not the same silly girl now, but wants to return to the UK as she is worried about the health of her unborn child.

Shamima Begum, 15, was one of three British schoolgirls who ran away from their homes in the UK in 2015 to be jihadi brides, causing much concern in the country on the impact of online radicalisation, especially among the youth.

Speaking from a refugee camp in Syria, Begum, now 19, has lost two children, told the Times newspaper that she was nine months pregnant and wanted to return to the UK for her baby.

She said she remained scared her unborn baby would become ill in the refugee camp after she fled the jihadists last remaining enclave in Baghuz, eastern Syria.

Thats why I really want to get back to Britain because I know it will be taken care of - health-wise, at least, she said.

She said she should be giving birth any day now.

Ill do anything required just to be able to come home and live quietly with my child. Begum said she had two other children who died in infancy from malnutrition and illness.

Also read | Teenager among nine arrested in Maharashtra for alleged ISIS links

Begum and two of her fellow Bethnal Green academy students, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, made headlines when they flew from Gatwick to Turkey in February 2015, then entered Syria.

Begum and Abase were both 15, while Sultana, another Bangladeshi-British, was 16. They had told their parents they were simply going out for the day. Begum said Sultana was killed in an air strike on Raqqa, the stronghold of the ISIS.

But Begum expressed no regrets about fleeing from the UK. Im not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago, she said.

I dont regret coming here, she said.

After arriving in Raqqa, she stayed at a house with other newly arrived brides-to-be, she told the Times.

I applied to marry an English-speaking fighter between 20 and 25 years old, she said.

Ten days later she married a 27-year-old Dutch man who had converted to Islam.

She has been with him since then, and the couple escaped from Baghuz - the groups last territory in eastern Syria - two weeks ago.

Begum said her husband who had fought for ISIS, surrendered to Syrian fighters allied to the US- supported Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) weeks ago and that she had not seen him since.

She is now one of 39,000 people in a refugee camp in northern Syria.

Asked whether her experiences of living in the one-time IS stronghold of Raqqa had lived up to her aspirations, Begum said: Yes, it did. It was like a normal life. The life that they show on the propaganda videos - its a normal life.

Every now and then there are bombs and stuff. But other than that... She said that seeing her first severed head in a bin didnt faze me at all.

It was from a captured fighter seized on the battlefield, an enemy of Islam.

I thought only of what he would have done to a Muslim woman if he had the chance, she said.

She told the paper that the caliphate is over. Theyre just getting smaller and smaller and theres so much oppression and corruption going on that I dont really think they deserve victory, she said.

The ISIS aims to create an Islamic state called a caliphate across Iraq, Syria and beyond. The ISIS, an al Qaeda splinter group, is implementing Sharia Law, rooted in eighth-century Islam, to establish a society that mirrors the regions ancient past.

The ISIS is known for killing dozens of people at a time and carrying out public executions, crucifixions and other acts.

Meanwhile, it is not clear if the British government would allow her to return home, the BBC reported.

The British government has been quite clear that it does not want them to come back to Britain, it said.

Then there are those who went to join the IS group as supporters - and Shamima Begum fits into that category, it noted.

The British government has said it wont help them out of northern Syria but if they manage to get to a place where there is a recognised government then theyll see what they can do.

It is unclear at the moment as to quite what that might be. British security minister Ben Wallace has suggested that, in those situations, the British government would at least consider helping them to come home, but then theres the possibility of prosecution and a jail sentence for supporting a terrorist group.

A new Pentagon report says the US government is encouraging other countries to accelerate efforts to repatriate foreign ISIS fighters to their home countries for prosecution. Progress has been difficult, though, due to political concerns and the challenges of gathering legal evidence to support prosecutions once they have returned, CNN reported.

Also red | US condemns Kashmir attack, tells Pakistan to end safe haven to terrorists
Rage drove Lakhpat Singh Rawat to his first kill. It was 2001. A leopard, believed to have killed 12 people, mostly children, had created terror in Uttarakhands Chamoli district. The sighting of a big cat in markets, on rooftops and highways is far more common nowit leaves people terrified, but it is not considered unusual. Back then, when the Chamoli man-eater allegedly killed a dozen people, leaving behind mauled bodies, it was very much out of the ordinary. A trained marksman, Rawat possessed a licensed gun and had won the district-level shooting competition. Frequent killings, attributed to the leopard, left him worried for his life and those of his children. It could attack anyone anywhere at any time. Villagers used to take turns to sleep, says 55-year-old Rawat, district education officer in Garsain town.

Rawat recalls that the Uttarakhand forest department had picked four shooters from other states to catch the leopard, and if the need arose, kill it. When they failed, Rawat told the department that he should be given a chance. The Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW) issued him a permit. Rawat traced pugmarks, analysed corpses to look for bite marks, spoke to families who had lost someone to a wild animal, and camped in the jungle. It took him eight months to kill the leopard.

Lakhpat Singh Rawat is among the most experienced authorised hunters in Uttarakhand. His two sons occasionally accompany him. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

Almost two decades and 55 kills later, Rawat remains one of the most sought after authorised hunters who assist the state government in tackling, and when required, eliminating, problem animals.

The man-animal conflict is at an all-time high in India (data below). In many cases, the forest department is able to contain the fury of people in affected areas by caging, tranquilising, or rehabilitating the animal. In others, hunters such as Lakhpat Rawat are roped in.

Most of the authorised hunters were into shooting some were experienced wildlife hunters before they began tackling animals for the government (hunting for sport was banned in 1972). Every passing year, the governments dependence on them increases in spite of the fact that their involvement in wildlife operations regularly comes under scrutiny.

Private hunters are called in when we have tried every other resort including tranquilising. When there is a public outcry over killings by big cats, they play an important role in confidence building, says Parag Dhakate, conservator of forests, western circle, Uttarakhand.

KILLERS OR SAVIOURS?

Authorised shooters think of their role as no less than that of conservationists. Rawat says that for every animal he kills, he indirectly saves many others. If I dont rescue or eliminate the man-eater, people will kill any leopard or tiger they spot. They cannot distinguish between a troublesome beast and a normal one. However, we are always perceived as killers rather than saviours, he says.

Prashant Singh, a Dehradun-based dentist, got himself registered with the Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh forest departments after trophy hunting in Africa and Argentina for a decade. Singh says that he has never felt elated after killing a wild animal. But when he meets affected families, he finds motivation. People dont understand that the shooter is not a trigger-happy, half-crazy devil but a person who understands animal behaviour and does so out of his passion for saving human lives, says Singh. We have created man-eaters. We could not manage our forests because of which we find animals in our living spaces. Three of the leopards that I killed had empty stomachs. They are desperate when they kill humans. We have left them with no option, he adds.

THANKLESS PURSUIT

In hunting, the challenge is not confined to tracing the animal. Pauri (Uttarakhand) based hunter Joy Hukil shows a video shot in Devprayag  around 100 people can be seen standing around a caged leopard. They wanted me to kill it. I was convinced that it was not a man-eater. It was quite a task to persuade villagers that we are not supposed to kill every animal we come across, he says. Hukil has killed 31 leopards and one tiger. Galat baagh maar diya aapne (you have killed the wrong animal) is a response he often gets from people. There are people who get to see a big cat for a fraction of a second, based on which they create an image in their minds. When the animal is killed, they match it with what they have seen or think they have seen, says Hukil. It is only after a month or two, when there are no more casualties, that they start to believe that the problem animal was eliminated, he adds.

Joy Hukil is a contractor in Pauri, Uttarakhand. He reads books by hunters such as Jim Corbett and Kenneth Anderson to improve his skills. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

EASY WAY OUT

The idea of hiring private hunters to check cases of man-animal conflict is increasingly becoming controversial. Sandeep K Tiwari, wildlife biologist and conservationists, Wildlife Trust of India, says, Involving private shooters raises multiple questions in the minds of the public and conservationists who are not trained to see if the animal is really dangerous and can be given a chance or it should be taken into captivity.

According to Gauri Maulekhi, member, management committee, National Institute of Animal Welfare, The forest department has a mandate to save wildlife. Instead, the department covers up its mismanagement by using wildlife as a political tool and appeasement of people by getting animals killed through private hunters.

STORY OF T1

Perhaps no other authorised shooters have faced criticism like the Hyderabad-based father-son duo Nawab Shafath Ali Khan and Asghar Ali Khan, who were part of the team which pursued tigress T1 or Avni, supposed to have killed 13 people in Maharashtras Yavatmal district.

On November 2, 2018, Asghar fired the shot that killed Avni, ending a chase which lasted for two years.

In the backdrop of the widespread outrage over the killing, the Maharashtra government formed an inquiry committee to probe if norms were violated during the operation. Among other irregularities, the committee found that the Wildlife Protection Act was violated as the chief conservator of forest (territorial) hired the hunters and not the authorised officer i.e. the CWLW. Khan counters the committees findings. This is not the first time that the chief conservator of forest asked for our participation. It has happened before also, at least in two cases. It is in compliance of the order issued by the CWLW. Let us assume that there was an error on the part of authorities, how can you blame the hunter for that? says Khan.

The Maharashtra forest department closed the case earlier this month.

With inputs from Nihi Sharma in Dehradun
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena on Thursday began face-to-face poll negotiations after weeks of informal talks over an alliance.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and revenue minister Chandrakant Patil met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at his Bandra residence, Matoshree, late on Thursday, to discuss a deal to share seats and power for the upcoming polls. After the meeting, which lasted 30 minutes, Fadnavis told media persons that the talks were positive.

I met Uddhav Thackeray and our talks were positive. However, because of the attack in Pulwama, we cut short our meeting, said the chief minister adding that the Sena was keen on resolving issues pertaining to farmers and citizens. We can address these issues and take a decision on them soon, Fadnavis said.

The Sena, which has been criticising its ally its entire tenure, is also looking at ways to justify its alliance and hence, may have laid down a condition that the government takes a decision on their demands before moving forward with talks. It is also learnt that the Sena wants the chief ministers post be split between the two parties for 2.5 years each, with the first term going to the Sena, if the parties come back to power in the Assembly polls. They have sought an equal seat-sharing formula for the Assembly polls. There was no confirmation on this from the BJP.

So far, the BJP has not accepted any of these demands.

This is just the first round of talks. We will consider their demands, take them to our high command and sit again for negotiations. Both parties have accepted an alliance is necessary for the upcoming polls, said a senior BJP leader, who did not want to named.

HT reported on Thursday that despite their public tussle, senior leaders of both the parties have been working on a deal for the upcoming polls. The report pointed how the process was taking time largely because of a delay in finalising an agreement to share seats in the Assembly elections that is scheduled six months after the Parliamentary elections, and sharing power if the saffron combine retains power.
Whether we have two of them on the field, all three of them on the field, well get creative and have some fun with it," defensive coordinator Joe Barry said.
Veteran actor Shabana Azmi said on Friday that she and her husband, lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar, have decided not to attend Kaifi Azmis birth centenary celebrations in Karachi in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.

The couple was invited to Pakistan by the Karachi Arts Council for a two-day event.

@Javedakhtarjadu and I were invited for a 2 day event celebrating Kaifis Centenary and were truly looking forward to it. I appreciate that our hosts, the Karachi Arts Council, mutually agreed to cancel the event at the nth hour in the wake of Pulwama attack, Azmi posted on Twitter.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmirs three decades of militancy, a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

Follow updates here

Azmi condemned the attacks and said she stands united with the grieving families. Will there be no let to these heinous attacks? These mindless killings. This utter disregard for human lives? Extremely shocking news coming from Pulwama. I strongly condemn the worst terror attack on CRPF convoy, she wrote.

Akhtar, who had penned the CRPF anthem which was launched in 2014, also took to Twitter to pay his condolences. I have a special relation with CRPF. I have written their anthem, before putting the pen to paper I met a number of CRPF officers and whatever I learned, my respect, admiration and love for these braves increased by many a fold. Today I share the grief of the dear ones of the martyrs, he wrote.
In a move that could increase the representation of Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) candidates in the higher judiciary, the Supreme Court collegium has relaxed the income norm for candidates from these communities recommended for appointment as high court judges.

The Collegium considers it appropriate to relax the income criterion to a reasonable extent in cases where such recommendees belong to categories of SC/ST/OBC or represent Government in their capacity as Standing /Panel Counsel before the Courts, the collegium said in a February 15 resolution, clearing the appointment of 10 advocates as judges of the Allahabad high court.

This is for the first time that the three-member collegium that appoints high court judges has made concessions for candidates belonging to reserved categories. The collegium comprises Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, justice AK Sikri and justice SA Bobde.

SC/ST and OBC candidates get reservations in appointments as judicial officers. No concessions have been made in the case of appointment of judges to the high courts or the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court senior advocate Sanjay Hegde welcomed the collegiums, move saying: SC/ST sometimes have a tough time making it in the profession because their clients are unlikely to be rich. But courts need diversity and relaxing of income norm.

Some months ago, the Supreme Court collegium rejected a recommendation for the appointment of five advocates as judges of the Orissa high court.

Returning the names of the five advocates, the collegium comprising the top three judges of the Supreme Court said the candidates did not have the minimum annual professional income required to become judges.

Besides the income criteria, the Supreme court Collegium takes into account the age, academic attainments, standing and experience, ability to deal with complex legal problems, grasping capacity, judicial potential and other abilities before confirming the candidates as judges, said Supreme Court advocate Viplav Sharma.

The Supreme Court collegium recently also started the practice of personal interaction with potential candidates before clearing the names of advocates to be elevated as judges.

Although there is no fixed income parameter for elevation of an advocate to the position of a judge, it is unofficially fixed at around 10 lakh per annum, but again differs from high court to high court.

It is generally expected that an advocate who is recommended for elevation needs to at least have an annual income of 10 lakh and he is expected to submit professional income for the last five years  gross and taxable  while submitting his application for consideration as a judge, said an official in the justice department of the law ministry, who did not wish to be named.
Sukhjinder Singh, one of the CRPF soldiers killed the suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama on Thursday, wanted to settle in Canada after his retirement, his elder brother said on Friday.

The 32-year-old from Gandiwind Dhattal village in Patti sub-division of Punjabs Tarn Taran district talked to his family over the phone at 10am on Thursday and promised to call again in the evening.

He enquired about the health of all the members in the family. Then he said he would talk in the evening but at around 6pm, we got a call from Sukhjinders unit informing us about his death, his elder brother Gurjant Singh said.

Around nine months ago, my brother was promoted from the rank of constable to head-constable. His retirement was due in 2022. He wanted to settle in Canada with his family after his retirement, Gurjant Singh said.

Sukhjinder is survived by his wife Sarabjit Kaur, 27, eight-month-old son Gurjot Singh, father Gurmej Singh, mother Harbhajan Kaur and his elder brother Gurjant Singh. His family owns a two-acre farm in the village.

Sukhjinder had come home in December last year to celebrate his sons first Lohri, the harvest festival. He stayed in the village till January 28.

Also read | Never thought this would be his last visit home, says CRPF soldiers father

His body is expected to reach the village on Saturday, according to the district administration.

Sukhjinder joined the CRPF in February 2003 and belonged to the 76th battalion of the force. He was among the five CRPF soldiers killed from Punjab in the attack by a suicide bomber belonging to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad.

The 22-year-old suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a 78-vehicle CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Awantipora area of Pulwama.

The CRPF has confirmed 38 deaths in the suicide bombing, counted among the bloodiest in Kashmir. Initial reports, quoting security officials, had said 44 soldiers were feared to have been killed in the attack.

Also read | He asked about daughter on his last call home: Wife of dead CRPF soldier
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who flew to Srinagar Friday morning, lent a shoulder to mortal remains of a Central Reserve Police Force jawan, who lost his life in Pulwama terror attack on Thursday. Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbagh Singh was helped carry the coffin of the martyr.

The coffin was later flown out of Jammu and Kashmir in a special aircraft. The CRPF has confirmed the death of 38 jawans in the terror attack that took place on Jammu-Srinagar highway.

Before helping carry the coffin, Rajnath Singh laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the CRPF jawans, who were killed in the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans. I have paid my last respects to the martyrs of Pulwama. The sacrifice will not go in vain, news agency PTI quoted Rajnath Singh as saying.

The home minister, Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath laying ceremony.

Thursdays terror attack was one of the deadliest in the Kashmir Valley. Terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, in which a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying more than 2,500 CRPF jawans was targeted in South Kashmir.

The terror outfit also released a video of the suspected suicide bomber, identified as a local youth, who had joined JeM in 2018. The impact of the attack was such the targeted buses reduced to a heap of mangled iron after the blast. The bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the bus.
Twenty-six-year-old Kulwinder Singhs father Darshan Singh says he is proud of his only son. Kulwinder is one of the five CRPF soldiers from Punjab, who were killed in the attack by a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama on Thursday afternoon.

Darshan Singh, a driver, said Kulwinder had come home to attend the wedding of his aunts son and fix the date of his own marriage on November 8 this year.

The resident of Rauli village near Nurpur Bedi in Rupnagar district had joined the 92nd battalion of CRPF in 2014. He returned to his battalion in Jammu and Kashmir on February 10 after a ten-day leave.

Follow updates here

The family came to know about his death in the terror attack on Thursday evening.

The 22-year-old suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into one of the buses in the 78-vehicle CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Awantipora area of Pulwama.

The CRPF has confirmed 38 deaths in the suicide bombing, counted among the bloodiest in Kashmir. Initial reports, quoting security officials, had said 44 soldiers were feared to have been killed in the attack.
Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria was called to Delhi for consultations a day after a terror attack on CRPF jawans in Kashmirs Pulwama, reports ANI.

This came on a day India summoned Pakistan envoy Sohail Mahmood to lodge a strong protest over the suicide bombing by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told the high commissioner that Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group that has claimed responsibility for Thursdays attack in Kashmir.

Read: You have made a huge mistake, PM tells Pakistan

A Jaish suicide bomber on Thursday rammed a car packed with explosives into a CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. The CRPF has confirmed 38 deaths in the suicide bombing, counted among the bloodiest in Kashmir. Initial reports, quoting security officials, had said 44 jawans were feared to have been killed in the attack.

On Friday a Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a sharp warning to Pakistan and terror groups operating from that soil saying, the blood of the people is boiling and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished, he said at a function in Delhi.

The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress have cancelled all political meetings of its top leaders in light of Thursdays suicide attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Some called their families hours before the attack. Some planned to go home in a few days. And yet others were on the phone with family members when a car packed with explosives rammed the bus carrying them from one transit camp in Jammu to another in Srinagar on Thursday afternoon. Here are their stories:

Uttar Pradesh

Shyam Babu came home to Uttar Pradeshs Kanpur Dehat district last week. He had just left to join duty on February 10 and we never even thought this would be his last visit to the family, his father Ram Prasad said. Prasad said the news of his 30-year-old sons death had devastated his daughter-in-law, Rubi Devi.

The police had informed us about his death around 7pm on Thursday. His wife suffered severe trauma, the bereaved father said.

Ramesh Yadav, a resident of Tohfapur village in Varanasi , had told his wife minutes before the attack that he was about to reach Srinagar. In the evening, the family received information about his death.

Rajasthan

Constable Rohitash Lamba, 27, of Jaipur, had come home to participate in rituals for his two-month-old son earlier this month, said his uncle Kishan Lamba. His father Babulal Lamba, a daily wage-earner, took a break from his back-breaking work after Rohitash got a job in the CRPF around six years ago.

The story of CPRF constable Jeet Ram, 30, of Sundarwali village in Bharatpur, was also similar. His uncle Puran Singh said Jeet Ram was on leave until February 12 and had joined duty at the Jammu camp the next day. Jeet Ram used to motivate local youth to join the army or paramilitary forces, he said.

Punjab

Twenty-six-year-old Kulwinder Singhs father Darshan Singh says he is proud of his only son. Kulwinder is one of the four CRPF soldiers from Punjab who were killed. Darshan Singh, a driver, said Kulwinder had come home to attend the wedding of his aunts son and fix the date of his own marriage on November 8 this year.

Uttarakhand

CRPF assistant sub-inspector Mohan Lal Raturi of Uttarkashi was the sole earning member of his family, with five children, wife and two elderly parents. Who will take care of my children now and such a big family? Can anyone compensate my kids for their father or me for my husband, asked his wife Sarita Devi. The other soldier from Uttarakhand to die was constable Virendra Singh, 45, of Khatima. Its unfair. Our sons protect the people of country, but who will be responsible to protect them, said Diwan Singh, his 80-year-old father.

Bihar

Head constable Sanjay Kumar Sinha, 45, a resident of Masaurhi in rural Patna, was keen to get his elder daughter Ruby married by the end of this year. He had come home on a months leave and intended to return again next month to finalise a match. After hearing of her fathers passing, his younger daughter Tunni has fainted several times.

Odisha

Constable Manoj Behera, 33, had called his wife in a Cuttack village, hours before the attack and inquired about their daughter, born a year ago. Constable Prasanna Kumar Sahu visited his home in Pariskihara village for two months to be with his wife Meena and children  18-year-old daughter Rosy and 16-year-old son Jagan. I am overwhelmed with grief over losing my father. At the same time I am proud that my father laid down his life for the country, said Rosy.
In this hour of grief,we must stand together as a nation: Pranab Mukherjee

Ex-President Pranab Mukherjee:Im extremely pained by this act of inhumanity perpetrated by terrorists. In this hour of grief,we must stand together as a nation. The united front put up by political parties&politicians across the spectrum is a sight of that unity.

The response of the international community in condemning this barbarous attack in one voice will strengthen our resolve to fight this menace.

Matter of concern that political discourse is reaching a new low in recent years: Venkaiah Naidu

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu: It is a matter of concern that political discourse is reaching a new low in recent years. We should reverse this trend at the earliest. People in public life should understand that they are only rivals, not enemies.

We should consider each one of our friends, who are in different political spectrum, our rivals only. It is only competition, healthy competition that is required.

All prior commitments of Nirmala Sitharaman for tomorrow and day after have been cancelled

All prior commitments of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for tomorrow and day after tomorrow have been cancelled. She will go to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to pay last respects to the CRPF jawans of the two states, who lost their lives in Pulwama terror attack, reports news agency ANI.

All prior commitments of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for tomorrow and day after tomorrow have been cancelled. She will go to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to pay last respects to the CRPF jawans of the two states, who lost their lives in #PulwamaTerrorAttack. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/qU7hlJY7Xf  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Mortal remains of some CRPF jawans are now being taken to their native places

Delhi: Visuals from outside Palam airport. The mortal remains of some CRPF jawans are now being taken to their native places.

Delhi: Visuals from outside Palam airport. The mortal remains of some CRPF jawans are now being taken to their native places. #PulwamaTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/w7qcIWtaSW  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

IPS Association of Uttar Pradesh has decided to contribute one day salary to the family members of the CRPF personnel

The IPS Association of Uttar Pradesh has decided to contribute one day salary to the family members of the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in Pulwama attack yesterday. The amount will be sent to the CRPF Headquarters in Delhi through CRPF Frontier Headquarters, Lucknow, reports news agency ANI.

NIA team collected materials required for forensic evaluation of scene of crime

NIA team,along with explosives and forensic experts,have collected materials required for forensic evaluation of scene of crime. Considering the status, team would continue with sifting of material tomorrow too. Outcome would be made known after analysis is over: NIA, reports news agency ANI.

A candlelight march, organised by Ladakh Buddhist Association, was taken out in Leh earlier today in protest against Pulwama attack

A candlelight march, organised by Ladakh Buddhist Association, was taken out in Leh earlier today in protest against Pulwama attack.

J&K: A candlelight march, organised by Ladakh Buddhist Association, was taken out in Leh earlier today in protest against #PulwamaAttack. pic.twitter.com/QvsA04QwA6  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Foreign Secretary spoke to Luo Zhaohui separately on Jaish-e-Mohammed and Pakistan

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale met Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui separately during the meeting today over Pulwama attack. The Foreign Secretary spoke on Jaish-e-Mohammed and Pakistan. He also mentioned the matter of listing of Masood Azhar by UNSC, ANI reports quoting sources.

PM Narendra Modi pays tributes to slain CRPF soldiers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tributes to slain CRPF soldiers.

Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi lays wreath on the mortal remains of the CRPF jawans. #PulwamaTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/59BBNzTmBI  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa lay wreaths on the mortal remains of CRPF jawans

Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa lay wreaths on the mortal remains of the CRPF jawans.

Delhi: Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa lay wreaths on the mortal remains of the CRPF jawans. #PulwamaTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/xiBIRDluhm  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Rajnath Singh and Nirmala Sitharaman pay tribute to slain CRPF jawans

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pay tribute to slain CRPF soldiers at Palam airport.

Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal lay wreaths on the mortal remains of the CRPF jawans. #PulwamaTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/gxHAHhzQWy  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Rahul Gandhi and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore lay wreaths on the mortal remains of the CRPF jawans

Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore lay wreaths on the mortal remains of the CRPF jawans.

Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore lay wreaths on the mortal remains of the CRPF jawans. #PulwamaTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/I0gOjmriEV  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

India Coast Guard pays tribute to the the jawans who died in terror attack at Pulwama

India Coast Guard pays tribute to the the jawans who died in terror attack at Pulwama.

Our deepest condolences to the family members, tweets India Coast Guard.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi pays tribute to slain CRPF soldiers.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi pays tribute to slain CRPF soldiers.

Wreath-laying ceremony of the CRPF jawans underway

Delhi: Wreath-laying ceremony of the CRPF jawans, who lost their lives in Pulwama terror attack, underway at Palam airport.

Delhi: Wreath-laying ceremony of the CRPF jawans, who lost their lives in #PulwamaTerrorAttack, underway at Palam airport. pic.twitter.com/55we9RPzhE  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Congress president Rahul Gandhi arrives at Palam airport to pay tributes to slain CRPF jawans

Congress president Rahul Gandhi arrives at Palam airport to pay tributes to slain CRPF jawans.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis announces compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the families of the jawans

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announces compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the families of the jawans, from the state, who lost their lives in Pulwama attack.

PM Modi has asked ministers in BJP governed states and BJP MPs to attend last rites of jawans

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked ministers in BJP governed states and BJP MPs to attend last rites of jawans, who lost their lives in #PulwamaAttack, in their respective states and constituencies, reports news agency ANI.

Mamata Banerjee has demanded 72 hour national mourning

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has demanded 72 hour national mourning in wake of Pulwama attack.

Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal announced Rs. 20 lakh to the family of jawan Moneswar Basumatary

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal announces Rs. 20 lakh to the family of jawan Moneswar Basumatary who was killed in the insurgent attack in Kashmir Valley.

Security forces stage protest in Hyderabad, Telangana

Security forces stage protest in Hyderabad, Telangana.

Mortal remains of CRPF jawans who lost their lives in Pulwama attack have been brought to Palam airport

Delhi: Mortal remains of the CRPF jawans who lost their lives in yesterdays Pulwama attack have been brought to Palam airport.

Delhi: Mortal remains of the CRPF jawans who lost their lives in yesterday's #PulwamaAttack have been brought to Palam airport. pic.twitter.com/ppYTIJaM8r  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

PM Modi at Palam airport to pay tributes to CRPF jawans

PM Narendra Modi at Palam airport to pay tributes to CRPF jawans, according to TV reports.

MEA will continue to take all steps to expose complicity of Pakistan in Pulwama attack

As part of continuing diplomatic efforts on the matter, Foreign Secretary has met around 25 Heads of Mission based in New Delhi today from all P-5 countries, all South Asian countries and other important partners like Japan, Germany, Republic of Korea and others, ANI reports quoting sources.

All Heads of Missions were left in no doubt about the role played by Pakistan based and supported Jaish-e-Mohammed in the terror attack and our demand that Pakistan ceases forthwith all support and financing to terror groups operating from areas under their control.

Foreign Secretary also highlighted the role played by Pakistan in using terrorism as instrument of its state policy. MEA will continue to take all steps to expose complicity of Pakistan in Pulwama attack and demand immediate and verifiable action against JeM and its leader Masood Azhar.

Representatives from different diplomatic missions leave from MEA

Delhi: Representatives from different diplomatic missions leave from the Ministry of External Affairs. Representatives from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, South Korea, Sweden, Bhutan, Canada, Britain, Russia, Israel and others were present.

Delhi: Representatives from different diplomatic missions leave from the Ministry of External Affairs. Representatives from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, South Korea, Sweden, Bhutan, Canada, Britain, Russia, Israel & others were present. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/eN5BVVqWYe  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Perpetrators and backers of Pulwama attack should be held accountable: US NSA John Bolton

US NSA John Bolton tells Indian counterpart that US stands with India in countering terrorism. He says perpetrators and backers of Pulwama attack should be held accountable: Government sources.

Uttarakhand CM T S Rawat announces ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh each to families of the jawans from the state

Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat announces ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh each to families of the jawans from the state, who lost their lives in Pulwama attack yesterday. One member each of families of the deceased jawans will also be given a government job, as per their qualification.

Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat announces ex-gratia of Rs 25 Lakh each to families of the jawans from the state, who lost their lives in #PulwamaAttack yesterday. One member each of families of the deceased jawans will also be given a govt job, as per their qualification. pic.twitter.com/V1EknmCGZV  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Rahul Gandhi heading to Palam airport where mortal remains of CRPF personnel are being brought from Jammu and Kashmir

Congress president Rahul Gandhi heading to Palam airport where mortal remains of CRPF personnel are being brought from Jammu and Kashmir.

Representatives from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Nepal also present at Ministry of External Affairs

Representatives from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Nepal also present at Ministry of External Affairs.

Representatives from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Nepal also present at Ministry of External Affairs. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/wdFJZmHTIG  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Students pay homage to CRPF jawans at India Gate

Students pay homage to CRPF jawans who laid their lives in a terrorist attack in Pulwama, at India Gate , in New Delhi on Friday.

Students pay homage to CRPF jawans who laid their lives in a terrorist attack in Pulwama, at India Gate , in New Delhi on Friday. ( HT Photo/Sanjeev Verma )

Piyush Gopyal expresses his condolences to families of jawans

Union Minister Piyush Goyal: Unfortunate event in which our soldiers gave supreme sacrifice.I would like to express my condolences to families of noble jawans.I pray God gives their families strength to bear irreparable loss and pray for early recovery and good health of injured jawans.

Delhi: Representatives from 15 countries arrive for MEA meeting

Delhi: Representatives from Germany, Hungary, Italy, European Union, Canada, Britain, Russia, Israel, Australia and Japan have arrived. Representatives from South Korea, Sweden, Slovakia, France, Spain and Bhutan were also present. Meeting had started at 6 pm

Chinese Envoy to India Luo Zhaohui expressed deep sympathy to families of victims and injured

Chinese Envoy to India Luo Zhaohui: Chinese State Councilor and FM Wang Yi wrote to EAM Sushma Swaraj, condemned Pulwama attack, expressed deep sympathy to families of victims and injured, and stressed that China resolutely opposes and strongly condemns all forms of terrorism.

Delhi: Representatives of different diplomatic missions arrive at the Ministry of External Affairs

Delhi: Representatives of different diplomatic missions arrive at the Ministry of External Affairs.

Delhi: Representatives of different diplomatic missions arrive at the Ministry of External Affairs. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/CyoysYcloE  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Terrorism is a crime against humanity that cannot be justified: South Korea Foreign Ministry

South Korea Foreign Ministry: It is our firm position that terrorism is a crime against humanity that cannot be justified under any circumstances and must be eradicated. We will continue to actively work with the international community to eradicate terrorism.

Strongly condemn terrorist attack on CRPF in Pulwama: South Korea Foreign Ministry

South Korea Foreign Ministry: We strongly condemn the terrorist attack on the CRPF in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir on February 14 and extend deepest condolences and sympathy to those who lost their lives in the attack and their bereaved families.

Delhi: All party meeting to be held tomorrow at 11 am in Parliament library

Delhi: All party meeting to be held tomorrow at 11 am in Parliament library.

There are some elements who are hand in glove with terror organisations: Rajnath Singh

There are some elements who are hand in glove with terror organisations, terror forces & ISI across the border. They are involved in terror conspiracies too. They are toying with the future of the people, especially the youth, of Jammu and Kashmir.

Instructed Jammu and Kashmir government to ensure communal harmony: Rajnath Singh

Some elements in Jammu and Kashmir have links with ISI and terrorist organisations. I have instructed JK government to ensure communal harmony, says Rajnath Singh.

Security provided to people receiving funds from Pakistan and ISI needs to be reviewed: Rajnath Singh

Security provided to people receiving funds from Pakistan and ISI needs to be reviewed, says Rajnath Singh, referring to separatist leaders.

Rajnath Singh meets injured CRPF personnel at Army base camp in Srinagar

Home Minister Rajnath Singh meets injured CRPF personnel at Army base camp in Srinagar.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh meets injured CRPF personnel at Army base camp in Srinagar #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/aBxgf4qT1w  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Civilian movement will be stopped for sometime when a large convoy of security forces passes through an area: Rajnath Singh

In the wake of suicide attack on CRPF convoy yesterday, it has been decided that the civilian movement will be stopped for sometime when a large convoy of security forces passes through an area. Civilians will face a little difficulty,we apologise for it, says Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

HM Rajnath Singh in Srinagar: In the wake of suicide attack on CRPF convoy y'day, it has been decided that the civilian movement will be stopped for sometime when a large convoy of security forces passes through an area. Civilians will face a little difficulty,we apologise for it pic.twitter.com/dk4xFtNl8t  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

We will win decisive war against terrorism: Rajnath Singh

We will win decisive war against terrorism, says Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

We will see this fight against terrorism to the end: Rajnath Singh

Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Srinagar: I have requested state governments to extend the maximum help they can lend to the bereaved families. I have given all the necessary directions to the officers. The morale has not taken a hit. We will see this fight against terrorism to the end.

HM Rajnath Singh in Srinagar: I've requested state govts to extend the maximum help they can lend to the bereaved families. I've given all the necessary directions to the officers. The morale has not taken a hit. We'll see this fight against terrorism to the end. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/JgdMDVznQR  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Mumbais Shri Siddhivinayak Temple trust has announced Rs 51 lakhs as a help for the families of CRPF personnel

Mumbais Shri Siddhivinayak Temple trust has announced Rs 51 lakhs as a help for the families of CRPF personnel who lost their lives in Pulwama attack.

Indias Foreign Secretary meeting envoys of P5 nations, key countries in Europe and Asia to brief them on Paks involvement in supporting terrorism

Indias Foreign Secretary meeting envoys of P5 nations, key countries in Europe and Asia to brief them on Pakistans involvement in supporting terrorism

Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu expresses his condolence to families of victims

Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu: To my dear friend, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, we stand with you, the security forces and the people of India following this heinous terrorist attack. We send our condolences to the families of the victims.

We should find the root cause of the problem and uproot it: Navjot Singh Sidhu

Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu: What has this bloodshed got to do with Kartarpur? It connects-people, hearts. When a person becomes a pilgrim out of devotion,he becomes a different person. What I feel is we should deliberate over this, find the root cause of the problem and uproot it.

Pulwama terror strike has agitated all of India: PM Modi

The Pulwama terror strike has agitated all of India. Our brave soldiers have been killed in line of duty, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sacrifices of soldiers wont go waste: PM Modi

I wish to assure the nation that the sacrifices of our soldiers wont go waste, says PM Narendra Modi.

Sacrifices of those soldiers who laid their lives has angered the country: PM Modi

The sacrifices of those soldiers who laid their lives has angered the country, says PM Narendra Modi.

Pulwama attack: Students of Madina Muslim Public School pay homage to soldiers

Students of Madina Muslim Public School pay homage to soldiers who died in Pulwama attack.

Students of Madina Muslim Public School pay homage to soldiers who died in Pulwama attack. ( HT Photo )

Pulwama attack: Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb announces Rs 2 lakh each for families of CRPF personnel

Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb announces Rs 2 lakh each for families of CRPF personnel who lost their lives in Pulwama attack.

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb announces Rs 2 lakh each for families of #CRPF personnel who lost their lives in #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/9B7qm7ka7f  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Global counter terrorism council members detained after protests outside Pakistan High Commission

Delhi Police detained global counter terrorism council members after protests outside Pakistan High Commission.

Delhi Police detained global counter terrorism council members after protests outside Pakistan High Commission. ( HT Photo/ Raj K Raj )

Pulwama attack: Shiv Sena demands for a joint session of Parliament to hold discussions

Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena to ANI: Shiv Sena demands for a joint session of Parliament to hold discussions over Pulwama attack.

Pulwama attack: Youth congress workers protest in Delhi against Pakistan

Pulwama attack: Youth congress workers protest in Delhi against Pakistan.

Youth congress workers protest in Delhi against Pakistan. ( HT Photo/Raj K Raj )

Time for peace talks with Pakistan over, teach them a lesson: Amarinder Singh

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Friday called for giving a befitting reply to Pakistan for the attack on CRPF soldiers in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama by terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad, saying the time for peace talks is over and they should be taught a lesson.

Pulwama attack: Congress core group meeting underway

Delhi: Congress Core group meeting is underway at the residence of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, over yesterdays Pulwama attack, reports news agency ANI.

Lets have a more consistent and long term policy: DS Hooda

Lieutenant General (Retd) DS Hooda who oversaw 2016 Surgical strike operation: Its a big tragedy and very clearly Pakistans hand is completely revealed in this. There needs to be a response to this. But lets have a more consistent and long term policy.

Lt General (Retd) DS Hooda who oversaw 2016 #SurgicalStrike Operation: It's a big tragedy & very clearly Pakistan's hand is completely revealed in this. There needs to be a response to this. But let's have a more consistent and long term policy. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/mb43jNsVZr  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Pulwama attack: Ajay Bisaria will leave for Delhi tonight.

Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria will leave tonight for Delhi for the consultations tomorrow: Sources to ANI.

Rajnath Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik hold meeting with officials in Srinagar

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik hold meeting with officials in Srinagar.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik hold meeting with officials in Srinagar. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/z2IFBDTHG1  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has been called in wake of Pulwama attack

Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of yesterdays Pulwama attack: Sources to ANI.

Sources to ANI: Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of yesterday's #PulwamaAttack. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/lYjHQKEhuC  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Its attack on India, entire nation should unitedly stand behind govt: Advani

Veteran BJP leader LK Advani Friday described the terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir Pulwama as an attack on India and said the entire country should unitedly stand in firm support of the government.

Terrorists and their sponsors should know that India can neither be divided nor deterred by their evil designs. The entire nation should stand united in firm support of whatever way the Government of India decides to respond to this attack, said Advani.

Rajnath helps carry coffin in tribute to martyred CRPF jawans

Union ministers Rajnath Singh and J-K DGP Dilbagh Singh lent a shoulder to mortal remains of a CRPF jawaan, who lost his life in Pulwama attack.

#WATCH: Home Minister Rajnath Singh and J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh lend a shoulder to mortal remains of a CRPF soldier in Budgam. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/CN4pfBsoVr  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Rajnath Singh pays tribute to jawans who lost their lives in Pulwama attack

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, J&K governor Satya Pal Malik and Armys Northern Command chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, pay tribute to CRPF personnel who lost their lives in Pulwama attack.

Curfew clamped in entire Jammu City

The Jammu deputy commissioner Ramesh Kumar imposed a curfew in entire Jammu city as a precautionary measure following massive protests and stray incidents of violence over the terror attack in Pulwama.

In view of prevailing law and order situation in Jammu district, there is every likelihood of breach of peace, which may lead to acts of arson, targeting vehicles and causing loss of life and property. In order to maintain law and order, public tranquility and to protect life and property of general public, I, Ramesh Kumar, district magistrate Jammu, in exercise of powers vested in me under Section 144 Cr PC hereby impose curfew in the area of whole Jammu city, said an order of the district magistrate.

Terrorism is a cancer, requires collective efforts be rooted out: Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned terror attack targeting CRPF personnel in J-K. Expressing deep condolences to the Indian government and people, and the families of the soldiers who fell victim to the incident, Ghani said, Terrorism is a cancer in the region, and it requires collective efforts to root it out.

TN CM announces solatium of Rs 20 lakh each to families of CRPF personnel from the state who lost their lives in Pulwama attack

Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced a solatium of Rs 20 lakh each to the families of the two CRPF personnel from the state who lost their lives in #PulwamaAttack yesterday.

India summons Pak envoy, seeks verifiable action against Jaish

Foreign Secretary summoned the Pakistan High Commissioner to the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday and issued a very strong demarche in connection with the terrorist attack in Pulwama yesterday, said sources.

The sources said Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against the JEM and that it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories. The foreign secretary, reportedly, also rejected the statement made by the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan yesterday.

Sacrifice of jawaans wont go in vain: PM Modi

Our brave soldiers have sacrificed their lives and these sacrifices will not go in vain.The valour of our security forces has been witnessed by the country and there can be no one in our country who doubts their valour and bravery.

Pak is on path to destruction, says PM on Pulwama attack

Pakistan has been isolated globally, it doesnt even have funds for its day-to-day needs. But, they arent getting help from the world.Pakistan is roaming around with its begging bowl. Pulwama attack is an act of its desperation They think Pulwama attack will unnerve us, but Pakistan is on a path to its own destruction. The world is with India. The security forces have been given a free hand. I will make sure that a befitting reply is given to Pakistan,said PM Modi in MPs Jhansi

Pak envoy to India at MEA after being summoned

Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood at MEA after he was summoned by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale over the Pulwama attack

India summoned Pakistans envoy and lodged strong protest over the killing of nearly CRPF soldiers in an attack by JeM terror group

Uttarakhand IAS association to contribute 1 days salary to kins of CRPF personnel

The IAS Association of Uttarakhand will be contributing one days salary to the family members of the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in Pulwama attack. The amount will be sent to the CRPF Headquarters in Delhi.

Curfew in parts of Jammu after protests over Pulwama attack

Curfew was imposed in parts of Jammu city on Friday as a precautionary measure following massive protests over the terror attack in Pulwama in the Kashmir Valley in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, officials said.

The Army has been requested to help the administration in maintaining law and order and conduct flag marches, they said.

Curfew imposed at Bus Stand, Nawabad,Bakshi Nagar,Peer Mitha,Pacca Danga,Channi Himmat,Janipur,Domana,and Bagh-E-Bahu areas of Jammu, reported news agency ANI.

Security forces convoy halted in Kashmir over Pulwama attack

Movement of convoys of security forces has been halted in the Kashmir valley in Friday in the wake of the Pulwama attack.

Its a cowardly act: Sidhu on Pulwama terror attack

It is condemnable, its a cowardly act. It needs a permanent solution through dialogue, how long will the Jawans sacrifice their lives? How long will the bloodshed continue? People who do this must be punished. Hurling abuses wont help, said Congresss Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Withdrawal of MFN status to Pak important step by govt: BJP leader Ram Madhav

Withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan was an important tactical step by govt. Ministry of External Affairs will undertake major diplomatic initiatives to ensure that Pakistan is brought to justice, said BJP general secretary Ram Madhav.

India on Friday withdrew the Most-Favoured Nation status to Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack and said it will take all steps to isolate the neighbouring country globally.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS), finance minister Arun Jaitley said all efforts will be made to ensure that perpetrators of the attack are brought to book.

Will not forget, will not forgive: CRPF on Pulwama attack

We will not forget, We will not forgive-We salute our martyrs of Pulwama attack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged, tweeted CRPF.

WE WILL NOT FORGET, WE WILL NOT FORGIVE:We salute our martyrs of Pulwama attack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged. pic.twitter.com/jRqKCcW7u8  CRPF (@crpfindia) February 15, 2019

In 1st reaction, China says shocked over Kashmir terror attack

China on Friday condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that left 45 CRPF troopers dead, saying it was deeply shocked over the incident and firmly opposed to terrorism.

The Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), a Pakistan-based outfit, claimed responsibility for the attack in Pulwama district. It was the worst ever attack on security forces on any single day since a separatist campaign broke out in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989.

NSA Ajit Doval holds meet with security forces over Kashmir attack: ANI

NSA Ajit Doval has held discussions with all the security forces and agencies on the Pulwama attack, reported news agency ANI.

At least 38 CRPF personnel were killed when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in, one of the worst terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.

The sacrifice of the jawans wont go in vain: Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan

Pakistan is trying to destabilise the country. The nation respects the sacrifice by our jawans. The country will always be indebted to the security forces. Their sacrifice wont go in vain. The country will give them befitting reply, said Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

We stand with our strategic partner India: Germany

Germany condemns terrorism in all forms. We are gravely shocked and deeply saddened. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims. Germany stand with its strategic partner India, said Dr Jasper Wieck, charge daffaires of the German Embassy in India.

Punjab Assembly condemns terror attack in Pulwama

The Punjab Assembly Friday strongly condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama in which at least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and passed a resolution for adjournment of the proceedings of the House for the day.

Members of the House, cutting across party lines, paid tributes to the CRPF personnel killed in a one of deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, and observed two-minutes silence in their memory.

Will work as a united nation to deal with menace of terrorism: Manmohan Singh

As the Congress President has eloquently put it today is a day of mourning, our country has lost 40 jawans and our foremost duty is to convey to the families who have lost their lives and those who are injured that we are with them. We shall work together as a nation against terrorism and stand united as a nation. Terrorism is a scourge with which we can never compromise, said former prime minister Manmohan Singh

We stand with govt, says Rahul on Pulwama attack

Addressing a briefing over Kashmir terror attack, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said, We stand with the govt and the jawans. We support the govt in its actions. It is a terrible tragedy. Its a violence on the most valuable Indians.

The aim of terrorism is to divide the country, no one can divide this country and the entire opposition stands united with the security forces and the government, he added.

KCR cancels birthday celebrations in wake of Pulwama attack

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao cancelled his birthday celebrations scheduled for February 17 in wake of Pulwama attack and appealed to party leaders and workers to not celebrate the event in any form.

PM observes 2-minute silence for CRPF at Vande Bharat Express launch

At the launch of Vande Bharat Express in New Delhi, PM Narendra Modi observed a two-minute silence for the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in the Pulwama attack.

#WATCH PM Narendra Modi at the launch of Vande Bharat Express observes a two-minute silence for the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in #PulwamaAttack. pic.twitter.com/PIRRVHUrFI  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Indias first semi-high speed train the Vande Bharat Express was flagged off by PM Narendra Modi on Friday from the New Delhi railway station. Railway minister Piyush Goyal and members of the Railway board were on board the train on its inaugural journey.

We appeal to Govt to find a lasting solution to this problem: Mayawati on Pulwama attack

Our party strongly condemns this terrorist attack and offers deepest condolences to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives. We appeal to the central government to find a lasting solution to this problem, said BSP chief Mayawati over Pulwama terror attack.

Protesters burn Pak flag in Maharashtras Aurangabad

Several persons on Friday congregated in Begumpura area in Aurangabad and burnt Pakistans national flag in protest against the terror attack on a CRPF convoy in restive Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

Raising anti-Pakistan slogans, the gathering, comprising mostly youth, asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terror activities and giving terrorists a safe haven to launch attacks against India.

Stay away from political one-upmanship: PM Modi to Oppn over Pulwama attack

I want to urge those who are criticising that it is an emotional time, stay away from political one-upmanship, said PM Modi on Pulwama attack.

Senior officials accompany Rajnath Singh to Srinagar

Senior officials including Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, DG CRPF RR Bhatnagar, Additional Director IB Arvind Kumar are accompanying home minister Rajnath Singh to Srinagar.

If our neighbour thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics , it is making a huge mistake: PM

If our neighbour which is totally isolated in the world thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a huge mistake, said Prime Minister Modi over Pulwama attack.

I thank all nations who supported us and condemned this incident: PM

I thank all the nations who have supported us and condemned this incident in the strongest of terms. A strong reply will be given to this attack, said PM Modi.

When all the nations will fight together against terror, it will be eliminated: PM

When all the nations will fight together against terror, it will be eliminated. The jawans have sacrificed their lives for the country. I assure everyone that we will take every step to bring the perpetrators of the crime to book, said PM.

You have committed a grave crime: PM Modi

Issuing a stern warning to terror outfits, PM Modi said, You have committed a grave crime. The perpetrators of terror will pay a heavy price.I assure the nation that we will punish the perpetrators of terror.



India withdraws MFN status to Pak: Jaitley after CCS meet

After the CCS meet, Jaitley briefed the media and said MEA will initiate all possible diplomatic steps which are to be taken to ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan of which incontrovertible is available of having a direct hand in this act.. The MFN status to Pakistan stands withdrawn.

CCS meet over Kashmir attack that killed 44 jawans ends

CCS meeting, which was held over Kashmir attack that killed 44 jawans, ended. The meeting was held at PMs residence, 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.

The meeting was attended by top Cabinet leaders including defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, home minister Rajnath Singh, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

Let PM take responsibility for Pulwama attack: Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy

We are losing our Jawans; Let PM take responsibility for the attack. It has been proved that the PM does not have 56 inches chest, said Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy.

Present govt hasnt taken any step to curb terrorism in J-K: Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy

When the Congress govt was at Centre and terrorist attack took place, the present PM criticised our Congress govt. So far this govt has not taken any step to curb terrorism in Jammu&Kashmir, on the other hand, it is increasing, said Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy on Pulawama attack.

Pak must be given a befitting reply: Father of CRPF Personnel Ratan Thakur, who lost his life in Pulwama terror attack

I have sacrificed a son in Mother Indias service, I will send my other son as well to fight, ready to give him up for Mother India, but Pakistan must be given a befitting reply, said father of CRPF Personnel Ratan Thakur, who lost his life in Pulwama terror attack.

IAF C-17 to fly to Srinagar to get mortal remains of CRPF personnel killed in PulwamaAttack

Indian Air Force C-17 will fly to J-Ks Srinagar from Hindon to get the mortal remains of CRPF personnel killed in PulwamaAttack.

At least 44 CRPF personnel were killed when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in, one of the worst terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.

Radicalisation of Kashmir boy shows emboldened instance of local terrorists: Former army chief Bikram Singh

It shows change in tactics of terrorists. IED has been used after a long time, IEDs were used in the past, in 2001-2002 when I was there, this was a normal practice of terrorists, then they resorted to firing from distance.But this thing where a local boy who has been radicalised, he has undertaken a fidayeen action on a moving convoy, shows the emboldened instance of local terrorists, also the fact that radicalisation levels have gone up, said former army chief Bikram Singh.

Locals in Varanasi hold protest against Pak, JeM chief

Locals in Varanasi are holding protest against Pakistan and terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar over Pulwama attack.

Varanasi: Locals hold protest against Pakistan and terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar over the #PulwamaAttack. pic.twitter.com/fXqXuRue0F  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 15, 2019

Sponsors of Pulwama attack should be duly punished: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin extended condolences to President Ram Nath Kovind and PM Narendra Modi on Pulwama Attack, condemning this brutal crime.

The perpetrators and sponsors of this attack, undoubtedly, should be duly punished, said Putin.

Terrorism cannot be justified: Nepal condemns Pulwama attack

The Government of Nepal strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir today (Thursday) that has resulted in the loss of many precious lives, the release from Nepals Ministry of Foreign Affairs put forth late Thursday.

CCS meet over Kashmir attack begins

The meeting of Cabinet Committeeon Security has begun at PMs residence in New Delhi over Pulwama terror attack which killed 44 CRPF jawans.

The CCS takes decisions on matters related to security and strategic affairs.

Delhi: The meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security is underway at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. pic.twitter.com/y8aL7sytlu  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Pulwama terror attack a copy-paste of Pak-backed terror in Afghanistan: Afghan minister

The heinous act of terror in Kashmir has all the hallmarks of a common source & sponsor of terrorism in our region. It is a copy paste of what Pakistan backed terror groups do in Afghanistan. We condemn the attack & convey our condolences to Indian people, Amrullah Saleh, the acting Minister of Interior of Afghanistan, tweeted in the aftermath of the heinous assault.

All political programmes of PM, top BJP leaders cancelled

All political programmes of BJP leaders including PM Modi and party chief Amit Shah have been cancelled following Kashmir terror attack that killed 44 CRPF jawans.

Sitharaman, Jaitley, Doval, Rajnath arrive at PMs residence for CCS meeting

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, home minister Rajnath Singh, NSA Ajit Doval and finance minister Arun Jaitley have arrived at PM rersidence 7, Lok Kalyan Marg for the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security.

NIA team leaves for Srinagar

An NIA team has left for Srinagar to visit the attack spot around 11 am.

At least 44 CRPF personnel were killed when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in, one of the worst terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.

Pakistan is frustrated: J-K guv over Pulwama attack

Pakistan is frustrated, after successful elections they could not recruit new terrorists, stone pelting has stopped, so it wanted to do something. We have alerted all installations and cantonments as Pakistan may do something else, said J-K governor Satya Pal Malik

Arun Jaitley assumes charge as finance minister, to attend CCS meeting: Sources

Arun Jaitley assumed charge as finance minister and will attend the Cabinet Committee meeting on Security, said official sources

Nirmala Sitharaman returns from Sweden, to attend CCS meeting

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has returned from Sweden. She will attend the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security at 9:15 am.

During her visit to the Nordic country, Sitharam, signed a security protection agreement that will enable the two countries to share classified information with each other on Thursday.
The political reactions to the suicide bomb attack in south Kashmirs Pulwama district, which killed at least 44 CRPF soldiers on Thursday, gave way to a war of words between National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and Union minister Jitendra Singh.

The suicide bomber with explosives-packed car rammed into one of the buses carrying the personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Awantipora area of the district late on Thursday afternoon.

Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which Indian authorities say is backed by Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Twitter war started after Jitendra Singh, the Union minister of state for Prime Ministers Office, called politicians from Kashmir apologists and Omar Abdullah reacted by slamming him for playing politics over dead and injured soldiers.

Also read | Finally, Pakistan reacts to Kashmir attack, says dont blame us

Distardly attack on CRPF personnel is a desperate act by terrorists on the run. While the entire nation solidarily stands with the Indian security forces, will this also be an eye opener for Kashmir-centric politicians who are always apologetic on such occasions (sic), Singh had tweeted earlier.

Its a dastardly act done out of desperation. I call to question those who while living in India & describing themselves as mainstream Kashmir politicians tend to be apologetic about these terror activities sponsored from across Indian soil, news agency ANI had quoted the minister as saying.

Abdullah, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister tweeted his reaction after Singhs comments.

Shame on this apology for a minister! Mainstream Kashmiri politicians condemned the attack hours before the PM even got around to saying anything. This man has the audacity to play politics with the dead & injured CRPF soldiers, Abdullah tweeted tagging the ministers comments to ANI.

Also read | Pakistan is frustrated: J-K Governor Satya Pal Malik after Kashmir attack

Ill give you a political reply to your drivel but unlike you Ill actually wait till the nation can mourn the sacrifices of its brave sons, Abdullah tweeted later.

Singh, in turn, called Abdullah a product of dynasty politics.

Disgusting to respond to this man called @OmarAbdullah who is a product of dynasty politics nourished by protracted militancy which sustains his political relevance, if at all he has any, Singh shot back at Abdullahs tweet.

The verbal duel did not stop there as Abdullah continued his attack.

Also read | Pulawama attack fallout: India withdraws most favoured nation status to Pak

This man is a disgrace. Not one word of sympathy for the families of the dead & injured soldiers but he has time to tweet not once but twice to attack me. These are the people our country relies on to keep us safe. #Shame, Abdullah tweeted back.

Peoples Democratic Partys Mehbooba Mufti also criticised Singh for his comments.

I beg to differ. As MoS PMO, prudence deems it necessary that you enquire about the security lapse. Instead you re using it as an opportunity to berate us. No regard for solemnity of the occasion. Why discredit us when the fault lies in your refusal to address the problem? (sic) Mufti tweeted.

In January, Abdullah had similarly slammed Singh for his comments on 2010 IAS topper from the restive state, Dr Shah Faesal over the issue of terror. Faesal announced his resignation from the civil service as a mark of protest against the unabated killings in Kashmir, lack of any sincere reach-out from the centre and the marginalisation of Indian Muslims at the hands of Hindutva forces.

Jammu and Governor Satyapal Malik had also earlier attacked the Kashmir centric politicians saying they were discredited people in the Kashmirs society.

Also read | Govt vows action, Oppn blames security failure over Pulwama terror attack

We dont care about such politicians. They have lost the ground, he added.

Malik also said that the Kashmiri centric politicians, who ruled the state, were reluctant to complete Shahpur-Kandi barrage project.

I would like to tell that all the water from Ujh was going to Pakistan but now after we signed an Mou more than 40,000 hectares of agrarian land will be irrigated in Jammu but the Kashmiri politicians never bothered for the past 46 years because they knew that water will go to Jammu. They are simply interested in minting money, he added.
Prasanna Kumar Sahoo spent around two months with his family in Pariskihara village of Odishas coastal Jagatsinghpur district before joining his CRPF battalion in Jammu and Kashmir earlier in February.

He was killed on Thursday afternoon as his bus, one of 78 vehicles in which more than 2,000 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were travelling, was attacked by a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber in Pulwama district.

He is survived by his wife Meena, 18-year-old daughter Rosy and 16-year-old son Jagan. Both his children are in college.

Rosy said she is proud of her fathers martyrdom.

I am overwhelmed with grief over losing my father. At the same time I am proud that my father laid down his life for the country, Rosy said as he cried.

Sahoo had joined CRPF in 1995 and was attached to the 61st battalion of the force.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik spoke to Sahoos wife and consoled her saying, the state government is with her. He also took to Twitter to express his condolence to the families of the two CRPF soldiers from the state who were killed in the suicide attack in Pulwamas Awantipora area.

Also read | I will call back: Odisha CRPF soldier told wife before Pulwama attack

I am deeply saddened over the heart-wrenching martyrdom of two Odia CRPF jawans Prasanna Kumar Sahoo and Manoj Kumar Behera in the dastardly Pulwama terror attack. I convey my heartfelt condolences to the bereft family members and pray for the departed souls to Rest in Peace, he tweeted in Odia.

Patnaik also announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the family of the two soldiers.

Manoj Behera, a resident of Cuttack district, was the other CRPF soldier killed in the bombing, which was claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Also read | He was on phone with wife. Then bomb went off, says family of CRPF jawan
The Branson Board of Aldermen on Thursday (now postponed to July 28) will consider an ordinance that would require face coverings in public spaces. The aldermen might approve it, disapprove it, or approve an amended version. Would you be in favor of some form of mandatory face covering ordinance in the city of Branson?

You voted:
A day after the terror attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Kashmir left 40 personnel dead and many injured, opposition parties on Friday set aside their political differences to condemn the act and also called off their political programmes as a mark of respect for the dead.

Terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad, which Indian authorities claim is backed by Pakistan, owned responsibility for the attack. Union home minister Rajnath Singh has called an all-party meeting on Saturday to discuss the situation in Kashmir. Vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu hit out at Pakistan for fostering terror groups. It is unfortunate that our neighbour has been aiding, abetting, funding and training terrorist groups. This attempt to destabilise...progress can no longer be tolerated.

Also watch: Big mistake: PM Modis stern warning to terror outfits

Condemning the attack, Congress president Rahul Gandhi described the assault as an attack on Indias soul and said his party as well as the entire Opposition was fully supportive of the government and the security forces. He said no amount of hatred or anger can affect the love and affection that India is built on.

Most political parties were cautious in their reactions, refraining from indulging in a blame game or accusing the government of lapses. They, however, did ask the government to do the needful.

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader, Akhilesh Yadav, who visited a grieving family on Friday, said the countrys biggest strength is the emotional ties between people. He had, however, on Thursday asked the BJP  the ruling party at the Centre  to shift its focus from electoral politics to issues of national relevance.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati also condemned the act, but said the current dispensation should put on hold all its political programmes to uncover the terror plot and also come up with a solution to the problem.

The attack in Pulwama has come weeks before the country and a clutch of states go to polls. Most political parties have begun to prepare for the elections and are in the midst of organising rallies and contact programmes.

Late on Thursday, the BJP announced that it will suspend all poll-related activities. Apart from Prime Minister Modi and senior BJP leaders who called off their political programmes, parties such as the SP and the Congress too have put on hold all its events for three days as a tribute to the soldiers. The Congress has declared a three-day mourning; and the SP has announced it will not hold public programmes

Regional satraps such as the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh have also condoled the deaths and condemned the terror attack carried out by Adil Ahmad Dar, a resident of Kashmirs Pulwama.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make a brief state visit to South Korea next week for talks with President Moon Jae-in aimed at strengthening the special strategic partnership and to receive the Seoul Peace Prize.

The visit is expected to be one of the last foreign trips by Modi ahead of the general elections. There has been speculation about a visit to Bhutan but the two sides are yet to finalise a date, people familiar with developments said.

During the short visit of about 30 hours beginning February 21, Modi will have a packed programme with several engagements with the South Korean leadership, businesses and other stakeholders, said secretary (east) Vijay Thakur Singh of the external affairs ministry. India sees South Korea as an important partner for economic modernisation and Korean companies such as Hyundai, LG and Samsung are household names while defence cooperation too is growing, she said.

At a separate briefing, a South Korean diplomat said after coming to power in 2017, President Moon had initiated a shift from the countrys traditional focus on ties with the US, Japan, China and Russia through the Southern Policy, in which India has a key role. Under Moon and Modi, ties have skyrocketed and acquired a new dimension, the diplomat said, adding this included cooperation in politics, security and defence. There has been an increase in exchanges with emphasis on politics and security, he added.

Besides an intimate meeting and private dinner hosted by Moon on February 21, the two leaders will have a summit meeting the next day. Modi will address the India-Korea Business Symposium, launch a bilateral start-up hub and interact with the Indian community in Seoul.

Moon is expected to brief Modi on the peace process with North Korea, the South Korean diplomat said. The external affairs ministry said in a statement the visit will provide an opportunity to exchange views on regional and international issues to further strengthen the special strategic partnership between the two sides.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik singled out Pakistan once again on Friday and accused the neighbouring country of harbouring terrorists after at least 44 CRPF personnel were killed in the worst suicide bomb attack in decades in the states Pulwama district.

Jaish-e-Mohammad, which India says is backed by Pakistan, has claimed responsibility for the attack that also left at least 20 Central Reserve Police Force soldiers injured and has also identified the suicide bomber, local Kashmiri man Adil Dhar, who allegedly carried out the bombing.

Pakistan is talking nonsense. The terrorists are holding open rallies in Pakistan, saying we will do something and openly threatening India, Malik said, according to news agency ANI.

Pakistan is frustrated. After the successful elections (in Jammu and Kashmir) they could not recruit new terrorists, stone pelting has stopped, so it wanted to do something. We have alerted all installations and cantonments as Pakistan may do something else, he said.

Malik said the government will hold a review meeting with top security and intelligence officials in the presence of Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who will reach Srinagar later in the day.

We will find out where the lapses occurred, he said.

On Thursday, Malik had said the forces responsible for insurgency were desperate and frustrated and that they just wanted to prove their presence in the Valley.

Also read | CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama terror attack were returning from leave

Visibly it seems to be guided from across the border as Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed the responsibility, Malik said in an indication to Pakistan.

The Governor also said hours after the Thursday attack that the security forces failed to act on intelligence inputs.

There was no intelligence failure because we had received inputs (of a possible attack). But there was surely some kind of negligence. If the terrorists could bring such a big vehicle without being checked, it had to be because of failure on our part, he said, according to television news channel NDTV.

After the attack, Malik directed immediate enhancement of surveillance and review of the security management of all important installations and establishments in the state.

Such acts of terror will not deter the resolve of our security forces and the spirit of the people. We will finish these inimical forces to their last. The forces responsible for the insurgency in the state are desperate and frustrated. They just want to prove their presence, Malik said.

An official spokesperson said Malik urged all commanders of security forces to enhance surveillance on every front and directed the district and divisional civil and police administration to immediately review the security of all important installations and establishments.

(With agency inputs)
A day after a deadly suicide attack on security forces in Kashmirs Pulwama, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the entire Opposition and the country stands with the government and the jawans

The aim of terrorism is to divide the country, no one can divide this country and the entire opposition stands united with the security forces and the government, Gandhi said at a press conference in Delhi.

The remarks came within minutes of Prime Minister Narendra Modis comments that this was an emotional moment and all should refrain from politicising it.

Read more: Will ensure complete isolation of Pak, says Govt; withdraws MFN status

The Congress president said this was an attack on the most valuable and most important Indians.

A Jaish suicide bomber on Thursday rammed a car packed with explosives into a CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. The CRPF has confirmed 38 deaths in the terror attack, counted among the bloodiest in Kashmir. Initial reports, quoting security officials, had said 44 jawans were feared to have been killed in the attack.

The Congress president added that the aim of terrorism was to divide the country, no one can divide this country and the entire opposition stands united with the security forces and the government, Rahul Gandhi

This is a time of mourning and sadness. We are fully supporting the Government of India and the forces. There is going to be no other discussion by the Congress party over the next couple of days, Rahul Gandhi

Refusing to be drawn into any other discussion, Rahul Gandhi said this is the time to mourning and to stand with the families of the dead jawans.

Read more: Time to put up united front against terrorism

Gandhi said no amount of anger can hurt the love and and affection the country is built on

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the nation was united in dealing with the menace of terrorism. Terrorism is a scourge, we will never compromise on countering it, he said.
Shyam Babu came home to Uttar Pradeshs Kanpur Dehat district last week. And on Thursday he was killed in the suicide bomb attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama.

Babus farmer father Ram Prasad said the news of his death has devastated his daughter-in-law, Rubi Devi.

He had just left to join duty on February 10 but we never even thought that this would be his last visit to the family, Ram Prasad said.

The police had informed about his death around 7pm on Thursday. His wife suffered a severe stroke of trauma, the bereaved father said.

Shyam Babu, 30, belonged to Raigawan village of Derapur sub-division of Kanpur Dehat. Eldest among two brothers, Shyam Babu married Rubi six years ago and has a son and daughter.

Ajit Kumar alias Azad, a resident of Loknagar in Unnao, was also killed in the terrorist attack in Pulwama. He was also the eldest among five brothers and has two daughters. One of his brothers is in the Indian Army.

They were among the 12 CRPF soldiers from Uttar Pradesh who were killed in the suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district on Thursday afternoon. They were travelling in a bus, which was a part convoy of 78 vehicles with more than 2,000 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, that was reduced to a mangle after the suicide bomber rammed into it.

India said that the heinous and despicable act has been perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation proscribed by the UN and other countries.

Also read: CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama terror attack were returning from leave

And, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday delivered a sharp warning to Pakistan and terror groups operating from across the border after CRPF jawans were killed in a deadly terror attack in Kashmirs Pulwama. Modi, who was speaking to an event to flag off the countrys fastest train, said the country will give a strong reply to this attack.

If our neighbour, which is totally isolated in the world thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a big mistake, the Prime Minister said without naming Pakistan.

Uttar Pradeshs principal secretary (home) Arvind Kumar said the state government would give Rs 25 lakh to the families of each of 12 soldiers killed in the Pulwama terror attack. One of their family members will also get a government job and a road will be named after them, Kumar said.

The UP government has also announced that the last rites would be done with full government honour. A minister would also be present during the last rites of all the 12 soldiers killed in the attack.

Also read | Youve committed a huge mistake: PM Narendra Modi to Pakistan after Kashmir attack
The Madras high court on Thursday asked the Tamil Nadu government to install close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras inside senior officers rooms at government offices to check incidents of sexual harassment.

The courts observation came while hearing a petition by a woman police officer, seeking action against her senior colleague for allegedly harassing her.

The court also directed the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), where the complainant works, to look into her allegations.

In order to avoid all such allegations and complaints against the higher officials and to safeguard the interest of women officers and women employees from the offences of sexual harassment, the state government can go ahead by installing the CCTV cameras in the senior officers rooms and office premises, the high court said.

As the petitioner sought the criminal proceedings against the DVAC joint-director for the alleged sexual harassment, the court asked the ICC to examine the issue under Section 19(g) of the Sexual Harassment Act.

The complainant, beyond her capacity as an IPS level officer, basically, she is a citizen of this great nation. Thus, registering of a criminal case is her fundamental right ensured under the Constitution of India.
All political programmes of BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah scheduled for Friday were cancelled in the wake of Pulwama terror attack carried out by militants on Thursday. The officials functions of the government would, however, be held as per schedule, sources said.

PM Modi called a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) to discuss the situation arising after the Kashmir terror attack. Apart from Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Union minister Arun Jaitley also attended the CCS meet following his return from the United States, where he had gone for a medical treatment.

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PM Modi was scheduled to attend two political functions, one each in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. He is expected to unveil over a dozen developmental projects in Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi event is an official function, which PM Modi will attend. He will inaugurate defence corridor in Jhansi. He will also flag off the Vande Bharat Express from New Delhi railway station.

This was to be followed by a public rally in Madhya Pradeshs Itarsi. This was to be PM Modis first visit to the state following the BJPs defeat in the last years assembly election. It stands cancelled.

Shah was scheduled to address a rally of BJPs booth-level workers in Sambalpur in Odisha, his third such political programme in the state this year. He addressed similar rallies in Cuttack on January 29 and in Puri on February 3.

Also Read | Pulwama suicide bomber, 22, lived 10km from spot

Earlier on Thursday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra cancelled her press conference in Lucknow after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir. She said it would be inappropriate to talk politics in the view of the worst terror attack in the Valley.

A convoy of 78 vehicles carrying more than 2,500 CRPF jawans was targeted by terrorists in a suicide attack. An explosive-laden SUV rammed one of the vehicles carrying the jawans reducing the bus into a heap of mangled iron.

The CRPF has confirmed 38 deaths in the terror attack, counted among the bloodiest in Kashmir. Initial reports, quoting security officials, had earlier said 44 jawans were feared to have been killed in the attack.
India on Friday summoned Pakistan envoy Sohail Mahmood to lodge a strong protest over the suicide bombing in south Kashmirs Pulwama by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told the high commissioner that Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group that has claimed responsibility for Thursdays attack in Kashmir.

A Jaish suicide bomber on Thursday rammed a car packed with explosives into a CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. The CRPF has confirmed 38 deaths in the suicide bombing, counted among the bloodiest in Kashmir. Initial reports, quoting security officials, had said 44 jawans were feared to have been killed in the attack.

The foreign secretary also told Pakistan that it must immediately stop groups or individuals linked to terrorism operating from its territories.

Also read | Youve made a huge mistake: PM Narendra Modi to Pakistan after Kashmir attack

In the hours after Thursdays attack, New Delhi had issued a strong statement that accused Pakistan of giving full freedom to the terror group to operate and expand its terror infrastructure to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity.

Islamabad responded with a two-line statement that said it had always condemned heightened acts of violence in Kashmir. Pakistan also said it will strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations.

Foreign Secretary Gokhale rejected this statement by the Pakistan foreign office.

Also read | No one can divide us, we stand with govt: Rahul Gandhi on Pulwama terror attack
The White House asked Pakistan to immediately end support and safe haven to all terror groups as it strongly condemned the Pulwama terrorist attack.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district on Thursday that left at least 44 personnel dead and many critically wounded.

The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a late night statement on Thursday.

Read | PM Modi speaks to Doval, Rajnath on Kashmir bombing, CCS meeting today

This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India, she said in a strongly-worded statement issued by the White House.

Watch | Big mistake: PM Modis stern warning to terror outfits

The involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammad in Thursdays terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir has raised serious questions about the role of the Pakistani spy agency, ISI, in it, American experts on South Asia have said.

The Pakistan-based JeM has claimed responsibility for the attack that left at least 44 personnel dead and many critically wounded. The experts said the terror strike shows the United States has failed to persuade Pakistan to act against Jaish-e-Mohammad and other terrorist groups.

The self-proclaimed involvement of JeM in the attack raises serious questions about the role of the ISI in supporting the masterminds of this operation, Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst, told PTI.

The terrorist attack, which has direct footprints inside Pakistan, poses the first major challenges to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, said Riedel, who is now a scholar at the Brookings Institute think-tank. This will be a real challenge for Imran Khan, the first serious challenge of his administration, he said.

Also Read | Arun Jaitley to take charge as finance minister, attend CCS meet today

Anish Goel, a former National Security Council official in the previous Obama administration, said the horrific attack highlights just how actively Pakistan-based terrorist groups still operate in Kashmir.

By claiming such quick credit for the attack, Jaish-e-Mohammed is clearly indicating that they will continue to cause trouble in the region and stoke tensions between Pakistan and India, he said.

In the wake of this attack, there will likely be increased pressure on Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi to take action against all militant groups still active in Kashmir, said Goel.

Alyssa Ayres from the Council on Foreign Relations said, Unfortunately, the attack also shows the limits of US and international policy efforts to date to persuade Pakistan to take serious action against these groups. The urgent question is what else the international community can do. According to Moeed Yusuf from the US Institute of Peace, the current situation has all the making of an India-Pakistan crisis. Prime Minister Modi cannot take it lying down but Pakistan isnt going to be able to absorb any Indian action either. Things are simply too tense between India and Pakistan, he said.

Ironically, the biggest deterrent to any escalation is the presence of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman in the region, he said. Salman arrives in Pakistan Friday and is coming to India too. His visit will be seriously overshadowed. The Saudi relationship is too important for either side to want that to happen, he noted.

I think the damage to India-Pakistan relations is going to be immense  even if the situation doesnt escalate. The hope was that India and Pakistan will get back to talking after the Indian elections later this year. I think the hawks on both sides are going to make it very difficult for that to happen now, Yusuf said. Terrorist attacks as in Kashmir are not possible without an ideology or theology that justifies terrorism and brainwashes its followers that massacring others leads a person to paradise. The terrorist mindset must be removed along with the terrorist infrastructure on the ground, said noted Hindu scholar David Frawley.

The latest attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed is another example of how Pakistans intelligence services continue to sponsor terrorist incursions into India, Washington-based Hindu American Foundation said.

While its heartening to see that a wide swath of the international community is unequivocally condemning the attack, such statements of solidarity must be backed up by actions which help bring to an end the ability of such terrorist groups to kill with impunity and destabilize the region, the foundation said.

Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP)-USA in a statement demanded that United Nations designate Masood Azhar as global terrorist.

China should be ashamed of itself in blocking Azhars ban at the UN. Indian diaspora demands that if Pakistan is sincere in seeking peace with India, it should arrest Maulana Masood Azhar and his cohorts and disband all terrorist organisations station in Pakistan. Pakistan is a pariah nation anyhow and if it wants to exist in the real world, it should not play games, resort to lies, and abet terrorism. It should get rid of all terrorist organization from its soil, it said.
A day after terror attack in South Kashmirs Pulwama, curfew was clamped Friday afternoon in Jammu city following incidents of violence. Police said an angry mob torched several vehicles after stones were pelted on protestors, who were raising slogans in the densely populated area of the city, the police said.

An order of the District Magistrate said the decision was taken In view of prevailing law and order situation in Jammu district. There is every likelihood of breach of peace, which may lead to acts of arson, targeting vehicles and causing loss of life and property... , the order read..

Three youth were injured in the stone pelting and then the protesters went berserk and damaged around 30 vehicles. Consequently, police fired smoke shells to control the situation. Later, some people from a particular community pelted stones at MES headquarters but the police parties reached in time and again fired teargas shells to disperse them, said a police source.

Also Read | Will ensure complete isolation of Pak, says Govt; withdraws MFN status

A local resident said, The mob set ablaze around 30 vehicles and damaged scores of other vehicles in the area. Consequently, there was a stone pelting in the area. While protestors shouted slogans of Pakistan Murdabad and Hindustan Zindabad, stone-pelters in the locality from other end shouted slogans Naar-e-Taqbir Allah-Hu-Akbar.

He informed that sensing trouble policemen resorted to tear-gas and lathicharge to disperse the protestors and avoid a clash between the two groups. The protesters also smashed windowpanes of some houses, he added.

Additional reinforcement of cops was being sent to the area to quell violent protests. Early on Friday morning, massive anti-Pakistan protests rocked the winter capital, in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack in which 44 Central Reserve Police Force jawans are feared to have been killed. The CRPF has confirmed death of 38 personnel, who were part of the convoy that came under attack on the Jammu-Srinagar highway.

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People under the banner of various social, political and trade bodies took out protest rallies in Jewel Chowk, Purani Mandi, Kunwani, Rehari, Janipur, Gandhi Nagar, Bakshi Nagar, Muthi, Talab Tilloo and Satwari areas of the capital city and protested against the killings.

Raising anti-Pakistan, anti-terrorist slogans, the protestors demanded action against Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism in the Valley. Members of the Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena and the Dogra Front were seen protesting in large numbers.

Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association in an emergent decision suspended work in all the courts in Jammu, including the high court and the tribunals to protest the dastardly acts of frustrated terrorists in Pulwama, a Bar spokesman said.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (Jammu and Kashmir) strongly condemned the terror attack. Senior office bearers of VHP, including Leela Karan Sharma, held an emergency meeting here and paid tribute to the killed jawans. In solidarity with security forces, they announced a bandh in Jammu on Friday, a VHP spokesman said.

The VHP has appealed to the central and state governments to allow the security forces to retaliate with a free hand. Kashmiri Pandit organisations, including Panun Kashmir, All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC), All India Kashmiri Samaj (AIKS) and All Parties Migrant Coordination Committee (APMCC) have also condemned the cowardly attack.

Violence was also reported from the border town of Poonch where a rally of protesters was passing through Alla Pir locality in the town when some mischievous elements pelted stones at them.
India can stop exporting tea to Pakistan in the wake of escalating tensions between the two neighbours following the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of 45 paramilitary troopers, said the exporters body, which is ready to back the Centre in case of any retaliatory measures, even at the cost of incurring losses.

Asked whether the Indian Tea Exporters Association (ITEA) was ready to stop shipments across the border to Pakistan if the government shuts the door on bilateral trade, ITEA chairman Anshuman Kanoria asserted: Of course, we are ready. The nation and the security of our forces and fellow countrymen comes first and commerce is secondary.

Kanoria said the tea exporters would support any decision by the central government in retaliation for the attack that was the worst-ever in Jammu and Kashmir against the forces since militancy erupted in the state in 1989.

The CRPF has confirmed the death of at least 40 jawans. Earlier reports put the death toll at 44. The paramilitary force has ordered a full Court of Inquiry (CoI) into the Pulwama terror attack.

Following the horrific terror attack, we have not even bothered to think about commercial implications. The nation comes first and when there is an incident like this, you are actually waiting for guidance from the government. What will happen to the market is completely secondary, Kanoria told IANS.

Even if the tea exports to Pakistan are affected as a result of any decision the government takes in retaliation for the attack, we will stand by the governments decision irrespective of the possible adverse impact on our commerce, he elaborated.

Echoing Kanoria, India Tea Association Chairman Vivek Goenka told IANS: Whenever there are tensions between the two countries, exports get impacted. We have seen that in the past also.

However, we fully support the central government for its decisions. The countrys security is much more important.

However, Kanoria said that at the moment it was too premature to comment whether there would be any adverse impact.

According to Tea Board data, exports to Pakistan during 2018 stood at 15.83 million kg, up by about 7.5 per cent from 14.73 million kg shipped out during the previous year. The exports were valued at Rs 154.71 crore during the calendar year 2018 against 142.44 crore in the previous year.

The attack took place around 3.15 p.m. on Thursday when a Fidayeen bomber belonging to the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) rammed his explosive-packed SUV into a bus carrying CRPF troopers in Lethpora area of Pulwama.

The CRPF convoy of 78 vehicles was coming from Jammu to Srinagar. The convoy carried 2,547 CRPF personnel.

The attack happened even as an intelligence input had warned of its possibility 48 hours earlier.

(Bappaditya Chatterjee can be contacted at bappaditya.c@ians.in)

--IANS

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi put Pakistan on notice on Friday to brace for a strong response to the terrorist strike that left at least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers dead in Kashmir  an attack that escalated tensions between the two neighbours and united India in grief and anger.

Showing unity of purpose, Congress president Rahul Gandhi offered his partys support to Modis National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and security forces in the measures they take in the aftermath of Thursdays attack on the Jammu-Srinagar highway by a suicide car bomber who belonged to the Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group.

If our neighbour, which has been isolated in the world, thinks that by carrying out such attacks, hatching such conspiracies, it would be successful in bringing instability in India, it is a big mistake on its part, Modi said after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).

Also watch: PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi pay tribute to killed CRPF jawans

A strong reply will be given to this attack, Modis said after flagging off Indias fastest train, Vande Bharat Express, on its maiden journey from New Delhi to Varanasi in a ceremony in which two minutes of silence was observed in honour of the CRPF troopers.

Also read: India starts efforts to isolate Pakistan after Pulwama attack, foreign secretary meets envoys of 25 nations

On Thursday, a suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into a CRPF truck, part of a convoy of 78 vehicles, in the Avantipora area of Pulwama district. Initial reports said 44 men were feared to have been killed. On Thursday, the CRPF confirmed 40 deaths, making it the deadliest attack in Jammu and Kashmirs three-decade-long insurgency.

The aim of terrorism is to divide the country, no one can divide this country and the entire Opposition stands united with the security forces and the government, Gandhi said at a press conference in Delhi.

This is a time of mourning and sadness. We are fully supporting the Government of India and the forces. There is going to be no other discussion by the Congress party over the next couple of days.

Home minister Rajnath Singh flew to Srinagar to take stock of the security situation in J&K, and national security adviser Ajit Doval met security forces and agencies to discuss the aftermath of the Pulwama attack.

Also read: Finally, Pakistan reacts to Kashmir attack, says dont blame us

Investigators from New Delhi too reached Pulwama on Friday, recovering vital new clues that now suggest a van or a small car may have been used in the bombing and the explosive may have been a mixture of RDX and Supergel-90. The latter is a blasting agent permitted for civil use such as in quarrying.

Opposition parties, cutting across political lines, and overseas governments condemned the terrorist attack for which JeM, a United Nations-designated terrorist group founded by Masood Azhar, claimed responsibility. Jaish said the suicide bomber was a 22-year-old school dropout from Gundibagh village of Pulwama in south Kashmir, a hotbed of insurgency.

Anti-Pakistan protests took place in several parts of he country. In Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, a curfew was imposed as a precautionary measure following massive protests and stray incidents of violence over the Pulwama attack.

The army has been requested to help the administration in maintaining law and order and conduct flag marches, officials said.

There is much anger among people due to this terror attack. Peoples blood is boiling. I understand this. The nation has some expectations at this moment... Security forces have been given free hand and we have full faith in the bravery of our soldiers, PM Modi said.

He didnt say what shape the retaliation could take. In response to a September 18, 2016, terrorist attack on an Indian Army brigade headquarters in Uri, near the Line of Control, that left 19 troops dead, Indian soldiers carried out retaliatory surgical strikes on terrorist training camps across the de facto border just days later.

On Friday, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan high commissioner Sohail Mahmood to the external affairs ministry and handed him a demarche (diplomatic note) protesting against Thursdays suicide bombing and demanding that Islamabad take immediate and verifiable action against JeM.

Within hours of Thursdays attack, New Delhi issued a strong statement that accused Pakistan of giving full freedom to the terror group to operate and expand its terror infrastructure to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere.

Islamabad responded with a two-line statement that said it had always condemned heightened acts of violence in Kashmir. Pakistan also said it will strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations.

Foreign secretary Gokhale rejected the statement

After the CCS meeting, the government said it will take all possible diplomatic steps to ensure the complete isolation of Pakistan on the international stage. Finance minister Arun Jaitley, who resumed charge of his ministry on Friday after recuperating from treatment for an ailment, told reporters that as the first step, India was stripping Pakistan of the most favoured nation (MFN) status, which offered that country certain trade privileges.

The ministry of external affairs will initiate all possible steps, and I am here referring to all possible diplomatic steps, which have to be taken to ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan, he said.

Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Ram Madhav said withdrawal of MFN status was an important tactical step and more diplomatic initiatives would ensue. To be sure, given that the size of bilateral trade, impeded by the often fractious relationship between the neighbours, is just around $2 billion, taking away Pakistans MFN status wouldnt hurt Islamabad too much.

India also reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list JeM chief Masood Azhar as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.

China, while joining other nations in condemning the Pulwama terror attack, again declined to back Indias appeal for Azhar to be designated a global terrorist by the UN.

Modi indicated that more action was to come in remarks directed at Pakistan-based terrorist groups.

The PM said: I want to tell the terror groups that you have committed a grave crime. The perpetrators of terror will pay a heavy price. I assure the nation that we will punish the perpetrators of terror.

The terror strike caused a lull in the campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as political parties put electioneering on hold in mourning for the CRPF troopers.

An Indian Air Force C-17 was due to fly to Srinagar from Hindon to bring the mortal remains of CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama attack to New Delhi.

CRPF mourned its dead. We will not forget, We will not forgive. We salute our martyrs of Pulwama attack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged, the force, which has ordered a court of inquiry into the attack, wrote in a tweet.

(With inputs from agencies)
Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale is briefing envoys of key countries on Friday to brief them on Pakistans involvement in supporting terrorism.

The meeting is part of the governments diplomatic outreach to work towards, what has been described by the government as complete isolation of Pakistan. Jaitley also announced that the government would also take all possible diplomatic steps to ensure the complete isolation from international community of Pakistan. The minister said there is incontrovertible evidence of Pakistan having a direct hand in this gruesome terrorist incident.

As the first step, finance minister Arun Jaitley announced after meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security that India is withdrawing the most favored nation trade status given to Pakistan.

Watch: Most Favoured Nation status granted to Pakistan withdrawn: Arun Jaitley

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Sources said foreign secretary Gokhale has met envoys of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (P5)  US, China, Russia, the UK and France  as well as key countries in Europe and Asia. Hours earlier, he had summoned Pakistans high commissioner to demand that Islamabad take verifiable action against terror groups.

Indias high commissioner in Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations. According to news agency ANI, he will be in Delhi late on Friday to attend meetings at the external affairs ministry on Saturday.

In its first reaction after a car bomb killed CRPF jawans in south Kashmir, India had yesterday reminded the international community about efforts to ban terror groups operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.

It had also alluded to how an attempt to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist is still pending.

China, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC and a close ally of Pakistan, has repeatedly foiled Indias bid to list Azhar as a global terrorist, saying there is no consensus in the top organ of the world body on this issue.
In a major diplomatic move, India on Friday withdrew the most favoured nation MFN) status accorded to Pakistan in its bid to convey a strong message to the country in the aftermath of Pulwama terror strike. The decision to revoke the MFN status to Pakistan was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence in New Delhi early this morning.

The CCS meet was called to discuss the security situation in the Kashmir Valley and frame broad strategy to meet the challenges posed by terrorism in the state. Briefing media on the CCS meet, which is rarely done, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely talked about India having incontrovertible evidence against Pakistan to link it with Pulwama terror attack.

Militants targeted a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying more than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force jawans from Jammu to Srinagar on Thursday.

The most favoured nation status granted to Pakistan stands withdrawn, said Jaitley outside 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, emerging from the CCS meet, which was also attended by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

What is MFN status?

According the MFN status is an obligation on all the member countries of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which came into being in 1995. Both India and Pakistan are members of the WTO, which works towards removing trade barriers and check discriminatory international trade practices.

India accorded the MFN status to Pakistan a year after the formation of WTO. However, Pakistan never reciprocated the move, largely due to its domestic political equations. In November 2011, Pakistan government approved according MFN status to India but the decision could never be implemented.

How did Pakistan respond to MFN status then?

Pakistan prepared a positive list of nearly 2,000 items that it allows to be imported from India and a negative list of over 1,200 items, which cant be traded from the country. This was done in accordance with Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) agreement adopted by many countries.

Did MFN status give Pakistan extra advantage?

The MFN status accorded to any country does not make the country entitled to preferential treatment in bilateral trade. It rather eliminates discrimination compared to tariff offered to other countries.

The WTO provision provides for equal treatment to all its members. This is aimed at increasing competition in trade. Trade volume between the two countries is worth about $2.30 billion, which is less than 0.40 per cent of Indias total trade.

So, why did India revoke MFN status?

Pakistan enjoyed the MFN status for nearly 23 years. India did not withdraw the MFN status even during the Kargil War of 1999, or terror attacks on Parliament in 2003 and in Mumbai in 2008 or in the aftermath of the Uri attack, in which 19 soldiers were killed in 2016.

Special forces of the Indian Army conducted a surgical strike by crossing the Line of Control (LoC) to avenge the deaths of jawans at Uri army camp. But the government did not revoke MFN status to Pakistan.

In a statement made in Parliament in January 2018, the ministry of external affairs had said that there was no proposal under discussion for withdrawal of MFN status accorded to Pakistan.

On Friday, India gave a signal for more muscular policy towards Pakistan. Besides withdrawing the MFN status, the CCS decided to initiate steps for complete isolation of Pakistan in the wake of its continued support to terror outfits carrying out attacks in India.
India on Friday launched a coordinated move to mount global pressure on Islamabad to crack down on terrorists operating from its soil, with finance minister Arun Jaitley saying the government will take all steps to ensure the complete isolation of Pakistan.

As a first step, Jaitley announced after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security that India will withdraw the Most Favoured Nation-status, which allows for non-discriminatory trade, granted to Pakistan in 1996.

He said the government will take all possible diplomatic steps to ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan as there is incontrovertible evidence linking it to Thursdays attack by a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber that killed 40 troopers.

Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan high commissioner Sohail Mahmood to the external affairs ministry and issued a very strong demarche or formal diplomatic representation on the Pulwama attack, people familiar with developments said.

Gokhale made it clear Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against JeM and it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories, a person said. The foreign secretary rejected the Pakistan Foreign Offices statement of Thursday that said Islamabad was being blamed for the attack without investigations.

Indias envoy to Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria, was called to New Delhi for consultations on Saturday and the people quoted above said the government was considering the option of downgrading diplomatic ties with Islamabad. The last time New Delhi had resorted to such a step was after the 2001 terror attack on the Parliament, which too was blamed on JeM.

Subsequently, Gokhale briefed 25 heads of missions  including the P5 or five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the US, the UK, China, Russia and France, all South Asian countries and important partners such as Israel, Japan, Germany and South Korea  on the JeMs role in the Pulwama attack. Gokhale held separate meetings with the envoys of the US, China and Russia. The person quoted above said that during the meeting with Chinese ambassador Luo Zhaohui, Gokhale spoke on the issue of JeM and Pakistan and mentioned the move to list JeM chief Masood Azhar by UNs 1267 Committee, which has been repeatedly blocked by Beijing.

The envoys were left in no doubt about the role played by Pakistan-based and supported JeM in the terrorist attack and our demand that Pakistan ceases forthwith all support and financing to terror groups operating from areas under their control, the person added.

Gokhale highlighted Pakistans role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy and the external affairs ministry will continue to take all steps to expose Pakistans complicity in the Pulwama attack and demand action against JeM, the person said.

Senior officials of the commerce ministry, who didnt want to be identified, said two options were being considered for revoking the MFN-status, including unilateral action or by invoking Article 21 of GATT that allows a state to act to protect its national security. The second option, the officials said, will require some time.
A few hours before he got on the bus that was blown to pieces by a suicide bomber in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama, CRPF soldier Manoj Behera had called his wife in Odishas Cuttack district to ask about their daughter, born a year ago.

The 33-year-old CRPF soldier, the only son of his ageing parents, had spent two months in his Ratanpur village before joining the force back in January this year. He got married two years ago.

He had come to his native village in Ratanpur in November last year to celebrate the first birthday of his daughter. Early on Thursday morning, he had called up his wife to tell her that he was travelling to Srinagar, said Beheras brother-in-law Debashish Behera.

He had promised to call back after reaching. This morning, we had no courage to tell her that he is no more, he said.

Behera had joined CRPF in 2006 and was posted in Uttar Pradeshs Ayodhya before being sent to Jammu and Kashmir three months ago. He was with the 61st battalion of CRPF.

Also read | Never thought this would be his last visit home, says CRPF soldiers father

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik took to Twitter to express his condolence to the families of the two CRPF soldiers from the state who were killed in the Pulwama attack.

Prasanna Kumar Sahoo from the coastal district of Jagatsinghpur was another CRPF soldier from the state who died in the worst bombing in Kashmir in decades, claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad.

I am deeply saddened over the heart-wrenching martyrdom of two Odia CRPF jawans Prasanna Kumar Sahoo and Manoj Kumar Behera in the dastardly Pulwama terror attack. I convey my heartfelt condolences to the bereft family members and pray for the departed souls to Rest in Peace, he tweeted in Odia.

Also read | He said hell call in evening, but the call we got was about his death: CRPF jawans family
The government vowed a swift and unforgettable response to Thursdays attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) vehicle in Jammu and Kashmir that left 44 troopers dead.

The opposition Congress targeted the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for its failure to safeguard national security.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack, the worst in the state in three decades of insurgency. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs, he said.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley said the nation stood with the families of the slain personnel. Terrorists will be given (an) unforgettable lesson for their heinous act, he said.

Also read| CCS meet on Pulwama attack that killed 44 jawans ends, Rajnath heads to J&K

Home minister Rajnath Singh, who will visit Kashmir on Friday, was quoted by news agency ANI as promising a strong response to the terror attack. The attack was carried out by Pakistan backed Jaish-eMohammed. A strong reply will be given and I assure the people of the country this, he said.

Watch | Pulwama terror attack: Govt vows swift response

Jitendra Singh, minister of state in the Prime Ministers Office, termed the attack dastardly. Dastardly attack on CRPF personnel is a desperate act by terrorists on the run. While the entire nation...stands with the Indian security forces, will this also be an eye opener for Kashmir-centric politicians who are always apologetic on such occasions, he tweeted.

The Congress condemned the attack but blamed the government. Congress president Rahul Gandhi said he was deeply disturbed by the attack. My condolences to the families of our martyrs, he said.

Also read | Pulwama terror attack matter of grave concern, says Pakistan as it rejects link to attack

Senior party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said this was the 18th major terror attack under the Modi government, which came to power on the plank of protecting national security.

This horrific attack in Jammu and Kashmir is a testimony to Modi governments utter failure on national security. Zero political action and zero policy to tackle terror has led to an alarming security situation... BJP plunged J&K into deep turmoil, he said.

In Kashmir, politicians across the spectrum condemned the attack. Governor Satya Pal Malik said the forces responsible for insurgency were desperate and frustrated, and that they just wanedt to prove their presence. Visibly it seems to be guided from across the border as Jaishe-Mohammad has claimed the responsibility, Malik said.

Also read | US condemns Kashmir attack, tells Pakistan to end safe haven to terrorists

Former chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti said words were not enough to condemn the gruesome attack. Not only the Centre but I want all parties to get together and find a solution to this issue so that this bloodshed stops once for all. The surgical strikes and confrontation on border is achieving us nothing but our soldiers are getting martyred like this, she said.

Another former chief minister and National Conference leader, Omar Abdullah, said he condemned the attack in the strongest possible terms. My prayers for the injured and condolences to the families of the bereaved.

Also read | Updates| Will take steps to isolate Pak globally: Jaitley after CCS meeting
The Narendra Modi government has called an all-party meeting, which will be held after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singhs return from the Kashmir Valley. The main opposition party, the Congress on Friday extended full support to the government saying we are not going to be divided.

Earlier, Singh flew to the Valley to assess the security situation following a terror attack in South Kashmirs Pulwama district, where a suicide bomber targeted a convoy of security forces on Thursday.

The decision to call an all-party meet was taken during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) at Prime Minister Narendra Modis residence in New Delhi. Emerging from the CCS meet, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, The Home Minister, after his return from Kashmir, will soon call an all-party meeting.

The meeting is likely to be held on Saturday, when the government will brief the parties about the Pulwama terror attacks and security situation in Kashmir. A convoy of 78 vehicles carrying more than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force jawans from Jammu to Srinagar was targeted in a suicide bombing. An explosive-laden SUV rammed one of the buses in the convoy ripping it apart.

Watch | Stand with government, no other conversation: Rahul Gandhi on Pulwama attack

Follow updates here

The CRPF has confirmed the death of at least 38 jawans. Earlier reports put the death toll at 44. The paramilitary force has ordered a full Court of Inquiry (CoI) into the Pulwama terror attack.

At CCS meet, the government decided to initiate steps to completely isolate Pakistan over its continued support to terrorism. Jaitley said, there is incontrovertible evidence that Pakistan has a direct hand behind the gruesome attack on the CRPF convoy.

Later speaking at a public event, PM Modi served a stern warned Pakistan of consequences. Without taking name of Pakistan, PM Modi said the terror outfits and their supporters have committed a grave mistake for which they will be definitely punished.

The Congress extended its support to the government over the issue. Party president Rahul Gandhi said, The entire opposition will stand together with our jawans and our government.

This is a terrible tragedy. This type of violence done against our security forces is absolutely disgusting. The aim of terrorism is to divide this country and we are not going to be divided, Gandhi said.

The Congress also announced to cancelled the political rallies and functions of Gandhi and other senior party leaders on Friday in the wake of Pulwama terror attack. Gandhi said, This is a time of mourning. This is a time of sadness. This is a time of respect. We are fully supportive of the Government of India and our security forces.

Also Read | Will ensure complete isolation of Pak, says Govt; withdraws MFN status

There is going to be no other discussion (political) as far as I am concerned, from the Congress party over the next couple of days on this matter, said Gandhi refusing to make any political comments at his press conference where he was flanked by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Congress leader in the Rajya Sabha.

On Thursday evening, newly appointed Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra put off her press conference in Lucknow saying talking politics would be inappropriate at this moment.

The BJP also cancelled the political functions of PM Modi and party president Amit Shah on Friday. PM Modi was scheduled to address a public rally in Madhya Pradeshs Itarsi. It would have been the first visit of the prime minister to Madhya Pradesh since the BJP lost power in last years assembly election there.

Amit Shah was slated to address a rally of the booth-level BJP workers in Odishas Sambalpur. This was to be the third visit of Amit Shah in Odisha this year in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections.

Also Read | Kashmir attack: Pak envoy summoned, verifiable action against JeM sought
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday asserted the security forces have been given permission to choose the timing, place and nature of their response to the Pulwama terror attack, which left 40 CRPF personnel dead on Thursday.

Without naming Pakistan, he told a public meeting that the attack was an outcome of the neighbouring countrys desperation as it is in a bad shape and has been forced to go to different countries with a begging bowl to meet even its daily expenses.

The prime minister was in the Uttar Pradesh town to lay the foundation stone of a defence corridor in the Bundelkhand region.

Pakistan thinks that it can force India into a bad shape as well, he said, asserting that it has been left behind in development due to policies it has adopted while India has been progressing day and night due to the path it had chosen.

A day after Jammu and Kashmir saw one of the worst terrorist attacks in the state, Modi said every Indian is in anger and he wanted to assure the 130 crore people of India that the sacrifices of CRPF soldiers will not go in vain.

Security forces have been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response... This is an India of new convention and policy, he said, drawing big response from the crowd.

He also dwelt at length about the development measures his government has taken for the state.

Modi had cancelled his political events in the wake of the terror attack but continued with government programmes, which included inaugurated of several development projects here and launch of Vande Bharat train in New Delhi.
In an effort to increase the number of foreign tourists and facilitate the process of e-visa, the government has decided to increase the validity of e-tourist and e- business visas from 60 days to one year with multiple entries.

Keeping in view the huge popularity of e-visa regime among foreigners, the matter regarding further liberalization of the e-visa regime has been considered. It has accordingly been decided with the approval of the competent authority to increase the duration of e tourist and e business visas from 60 days with double entry to one year with multiple entries subject to stay stipulations and registration requirements. It has also been decided to remove the restriction that a foreigner can be allowed e visa for a maximum of three times in a calendar year, according to a circular of the Ministry of Home Affairs dated January 22.

According to the latest statistics available on the website of tourism ministry, during January-November 2018, a total of 20,61,511 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 14,56,615 during January-November 2017, registering a growth of 41.5%.

This had been a long standing demand from us. It will boost regional tourism, says Subhash Goyal, General Secretary, Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality.

Also read | Govt adds new posts to immigration department, makes e-visa check-outs easier

On e-tourist visa, continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 90 days in case of nationals eligible for grant of e-visa except US, UK, Japan and Canada.

In case of nationals of US, UK, Japan and Canada, continuous stay during each visit should not exceed 180 days. In all cases no registration will be required. On e-business visa, continuous stay during each visit should not exceed 180 days in case of nationals of all countries who are eligible for grant of e-visa and no registration will be required if the stay is for less than 180 days.

Dipak Deva, Managing Director Travel Corporation (India) TCI-SITA describes the new rule as a fantastic move. This is really a very positive development. Now the focus should also be on the visa fees, which at this stage, is high. It should not be more than 25 dollars.

The e-visa was scheme launched in November 2014 with 43 countries and is now open to foreign tourists of 166 countries. Besides tourist and business e-visas, there are three more categories including medical, medical attendant and conference.
A trainer for special children was arrested on Friday on the charge of raping a 24-year-old woman with neurodevelopment disorder [autism], police said.

Police arrested the man, identified as Khushal Singh, after matching his DNA sample with the foetus, which was preserved after the victims pregnancy was aborted because of medical complications.

The woman was 19 weeks pregnant when her parents reported the incident to the Lucknow police on November 26 last year, almost five months after she was allegedly raped, police said.

Khushal Singh, along with his wife, runs Samarpan Day Care Foundation, in Madiyaon, Lucknow. Previously, the couple worked at different training centres for special children, the police said.

Aliganj circle officer Deepak Kumar Singh, who was supervising the case, said the woman was kept in a special childrens centre in Dehradun for 11 years as she was unable to speak and identify anyone because of her neuro-development disorder.

He said the womans parents, who worked in Lucknow, brought her to the city during the summer vacation. The officer said the womans parents kept her in the day care centre run by Khushal Singh for 10 days.

Singh said the woman, who has speech disability, could not tell her parents about the incident.

He said the police first zeroed in on three suspects at the daycare centre and collected blood samples to match it with the DNA sample of the foetus.

DNA sampling was done in two months time and we found that it matched with that of Khushal Singh.

He confessed to the crime when he was questioned, the police officer said.

The accused allegedly raped the woman when his wife was not present at the daycare centre, the circle officer said.
The US on Friday joined the world community in condemning the Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide attack in Kashmir that killed 40 troops, saying the time had come for Pakistan to end support for all terrorist groups operating from its soil.

Chinas foreign ministry strongly condemned the attack  among the last major countries to do so  but was non-committal on backing Indias demand to sanction JeMs Pakistan-based chief Masood Azhar under UN Security Council Resolution 1267.

French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian named the JeM in a statement denouncing the attack, saying all countries should work jointly to combat terrorist and their funding channels and to prevent the cross-border movement of terrorist groups such as JeM.

Also watch: Big mistake: PM Modis stern warning to terror outfits

Meanwhile,Pakistan announced Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans visit to the country had been rescheduled to February 17-18. No reason was given for the change. The prince was earlier scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on February 16. The visit of a Saudi business delegation accompanying the prince was postponed and reports suggested this was linked to the Pulwama attack, though this couldnt be independently confirmed by HT. The prince is scheduled to travel to Malaysia before visiting India during February 19-20.

At a news briefing in Beijing, Chinas foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang condemned the attack but skirted the issue of listing Azhar by UNs 1267 Committee. ...We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all forms of terrorism.... Asked about Chinas stand on listing Azhar as a global terrorist, Geng repeated what Beijing has repeatedly said about UN protocols.

Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the attack in a message sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The perpetrators and sponsors of this attack should be duly punished.

Canadas foreign minister Chrystia Freeland said her country stood in solidarity with India in the fight to prevent radicalisation and defeat terrorism. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Nepals foreign ministry also denounced the attack. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for those behind the assault to be brought to justice.
India has multiple options to respond to Pakistan for the terror attack carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Pulwama, including a sharp reaction using air power, a surgical strike, and a covert operation aimed at key targets, defence experts said.

They said a limited conflict could not be ruled out, and listed other forms of military action combined with diplomatic efforts to pressurise Islamabad to dismantle terror infrastructure in the country, as another possible approach.

Lt. Gen. DS Hooda (retd), who was Northern Army commander when the 2016 surgical strikes were conducted, said the government would be under pressure to take military action against Pakistan. Not taking military action is not an option. I cant say what that action could be but it has to take place across the border, he said.

Former Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal Fali Major, said there are a million options depending on what level India is willing to escalate the conflict to.

The IAF can carry out surgical strikes from Indian airspace and destroy targets in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) provided it has accurate, hard and real-time intelligence, he said.

Major was IAF chief at the time of the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and he had given the government the option of carrying out surgical strikes in PoK. He said if IAF was to carry out any action other than surgical strikes, it would have to be in conjunction with the other two services. Hard and real-time intelligence is also needed for a covert operation, as full-scale war is a remote possibility given that the India and Pakistan are nuclear powers.

Covert action is probable, but there will be political pressure to make it public, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) research fellow Colonel Vivek Chadha (retd.) said. He added that while covert actions are the best option, they should not be publicised.

Lieutenant General Satish Dua (retd), who was commanding the Srinagar-based 15 Corps when the 2016 surgical strikes were conducted, said there are a range of military options that can be considered - surgical strikes in a new avatar, a limited conflict, or even a full-blown confrontation, depending on the political will.

There are several other military options that cannot be discussed keeping national security in mind, said Dua. He added Indias approach should be three-pronged, involving military, diplomatic and economic measures.

A defence analyst and former official in the armed force said forces do not discuss their strategies in public.

Some actions are expected, that would depend on international support and political will, the analyst said, asking not to be named. Experts are convinced that the Indian government is considering all options after Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: A befitting reply will be given to the perpetrators of the heinous attack and their patrons.

A strong reaction is also expected because the government has to face the people for fresh mandate before May this year. The notification for the general elections is expected anytime next month, experts said, requesting anonymity.

According to experts, Pakistan has invited strong condemnation from major countries, including the US, which India can leverage and put diplomatic pressure on Islamabad to hand over wanted terrorists hiding in the country and dismantle the terror infrastructure in PoK. The White House on Friday cautioned Pakistan and asked it to immediately end support to all terrorists and withdraw safe haven provided to them on its soil.
Chhattisgarhs Congress government has cleared IPS officer SRP Kalluris promotion as additional director general (ADG) even as he faces allegations of rights violations.

Sunil Kujur, Chhattisgarhs chief secretary, said Kalluris name was cleared at a Departmental Promotion Committee meeting on Wednesday. I think that the chief minister has also approved his name, he said.

The Congress had sought Kalluris dismissal in 2017 when it was in Opposition in the state over human rights violation for which he was in January last year removed as Left-wing insurgency-hit Bastar regions inspector general. Kalluri has been accused of framing false cases against journalists and human rights activists.

Kalluris elevation was cleared even as 15 Parliament members from the Left parties on Tuesday wrote to Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and demanded an inquiry against the IPS officer.

The lawmakers accused him of committing atrocities against activists and tribals during his posting at Bastar. They demanded a probe into Kalluris activities and his removal and that he is held accountable.

Bastar-based activist Kamal Shukla, who had protested against Kalluris appointment as anti-corruption wing head, said the government has ditched his areas people and activists. In opposition, Bhupesh Baghel promised action against Kalluri. But he is now promoting him, Shukla said.
Rajesh Rajput spoke to his younger brother Sanjay, a CRPF jawan, on phone on Thursday morning. Little did he know that it would be their last conversation.

Sanjay Rajput (45) was among the 44 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force killed when a terrorist rammed a bomb-laden vehicle into their bus in Pulwama district of south Kashmir on Thursday afternoon.

A pall of gloom descended over the CRPF Group Centre Colony in Nagpur, where Sanjays family lives, as the news came. Rajesh told PTI that his brother was attached to the CRPFs 213th battalion, based in Nagpur, for the last four years. He lived in the CRPF colony with his two sons Jai (13) and Shubham (11), and wife Sushma.

Follow updates here

He left Nagpur on February 11 for his new posting with the 115th battalion in Srinagar. I called him yesterday morning, around 9.30 am, when he told me he had left Jammu at 3.30 am to join his new posting, said Rajesh.

Rajesh said his brother, in 23-year-long career with the paramilitary force, had served in Kashmir, Chhattisgarh and also in the North-East. The Rajput family hails from Malkapur in Maharashtras Buldhana district.

Sanjays mortals remains are expected to arrive in Nagpur Saturday, his brother said, adding that the last rites will be performed at Malkapur in the evening.
Union Minister Arun Jaitley, who returned from the US last week after a medical treatment, resumed office as the Finance Minister on Friday.

Official sources said Jaitley resumed function as the Finance Minister. Jaitley is attending the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which is underway AT 7, LKM in New Delhi

The CCS meeting has been called to access the situation and discuss Indias response to the terrorist attack on a convoy of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on Thursday in which at least 45 soldiers were killed and 38 injured.

The 66-year-old Jaitley had in January flown to New York for the treatment after reportedly being diagnosed with soft tissue cancer which required surgery.

In wake of his absence just ahead of budget presentation, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was given additional charge of Finance. He had served as the Finance Minister briefly even in 2018 during Jaitleys absence for kidney transplant surgery.

Sources said that Jaitley is recovering well and will be able to assume the responsibilities of the Finance Ministry.
A student of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) was booked and later suspended, and two students of private institutes in Uttarkhand were suspended following remarks they allegedly made against Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers killed in an attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama on Thursday. All three students are from Kashmir.

Senior superintendent of police, Agra, Akash Kulhary said a case was lodged against B.Sc student Basim Hilal after the cyber and media cells of the district police noticed an objectionable tweet. When we checked, we found the account closed. The case was lodged on complaint of in-charge of media cell under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act (for objectionable post) and Indian Penal Code (for hurting religious sentiments), he said.

Soon after the case was registered, AMUs public relation officer Omar S Peerzada said the student of B. Sc. (Maths) was suspended on Friday. The comment tarnished image of Aligarh Muslim University and created disharmony in its peaceful academic atmosphere and therefore violated provisions of AMU students conduct and discipline rules, he said.

In Dehradun, two Kashmiri students studying in private colleges of the city were suspended for their alleged remarks on the Pulwama attack following protests by right-wing groups. The state police said it will ensure the safety of Kashmiri students.
It has been 64 days since Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao began his second innings as the chief minister of the countrys youngest state. Since then, he has been running a one-man show without a full-fledged cabinet after he returned to power with a landslide victory in the state election in December last year.

Official sources cite the strong belief of KCR, as he is popularly known, in astrology and his inclination to wait for an auspicious date as the reason for the delay in cabinet expansion. However, insiders within the TRS said the chief minister is trying to buy time to sort out issues with T Harish Rao, his nephew, so as to make way for his son KT Rama Rao to take up the mantle in a hassle-free manner.

Rama Rao was recently anointed as the working president of the TRS a day after KCR assumed charge as Telangana chief minister, casting a shadow over the political future of Harish Rao, who held the irrigation portfolio during the partys first term.

Harish Rao won the Siddhipet assembly segment third time in succession with a record margin which was higher than that of KCR and his son. After failing to secure a berth in the cabinet formation, Harish Rao vacated his bungalow and even resigned as the honorary president of Telangana Road State Transport employees union.

Only Mohammod Mahammood Ali who took oath as the state home minister a few days after KCR was sworn in as the chief minister has been assisting him in running the state administration.

A senior TRS leader and Telangana member of the legislative council told the Hindustan Times on the condition of anonymity that KCR is planning to send all the seniors to Parliament to make the process of power transition hassle-free in favour of his son. Harish Rao is one among those who will move to the national capital in the coming general elections, he said.

If a full-fledged cabinet is in place in the first spell itself with hardly three months away for the Parliament elections by accommodating seniors, sending them to the Lok Sabha might not be smooth, hence the delay, said the TRS MLC cited above.

KCR may ask Harish Rao to contest either from Siddhipet or Medak, the source said.

According to the rules that determine the size of the state cabinet with 15% of representation from the assembly, KCR can have 18 ministers, including himself.

The Telangana Congress Committee led a delegation to Governor ESL Narasimhan recently seeking him to direct the chief minister to ensure a full-fledged cabinet in place. Its quite undemocratic to run the government only with chief minister and home minister in spite of a thumping majority that the people of Telangana gave the TRS, said Sravan Dasoju, national spokesperson of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

TRS spokesperson Prof K Srinivasulu Reddy, however, asserted KCR will do the right thing at the right time.

Whatever he does he will do it with a sense and valid reason and there is no basis in the oppositions criticism on delay in cabinet expansion, TRS spokesperson Prof K Srinivasulu Reddy asserted.

Political analyst Vikram Poola said the administration is obviously in shambles for want of a full-fledged cabinet and pendency of files keeping moving.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) announced on Friday that the Common Proficiency Test (CPT) will be held on Sunday, June 16, 2019.

The exams will be held in two sessions at 195 centres in India and five centres overseas. The Council reserves the right to withdraw any centre at any stage without assigning any reason.

Candidates can apply online from April 4 to April 24, 2019 (without payment of late fee and up to May 2, 2019 (with late fees of Rs 600 for Indian and Kathmandu Centres and $10 for Foreign Centres. The fee can be paid online by using either VISA or MASTER or MAESTRO Credit/Debit Card/Rupay Card/ Net Banking.

The application can be filled online by visiting icaiexam.icai.org.

The fees for the exam is Rs 1000 for centres in India, and 1700 for centres in Kathmandu (Nepal) and $ 300 for centres in Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai and Muscat.

CPT is open only to students registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India for the Common Proficiency Course and fulfill the requisite eligibility conditions.

CPT is an objective type multiple choice questions based examination. Candidates will be allowed to opt for English/ Hindi medium Question Paper Booklet for answering the questions.

Note: Detailed information will be available in the Information brochure displayed on http://icaiexam.icai.org/
With the Supreme Courts split verdict on the issue of services and the matter being referred to a larger bench, ex-bureaucrats and current officials said things will continue as they are in Delhi government, for now.

The division benchs order maintained a status quo on the issue of who controlled the services department, implying that the subject will continue to be the jurisdiction of the L-G, who is selected by the Centre.

The MHAs (ministry of home affairs) notification issued in 2015 has still not been scrapped by the Apex court. Had a decision come in one partys (L-G or the government) favour, day to day working could have become a bit unstable for officers. The push and pull would have increased further, said an officer in the government.

Former Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta said the current situation will continue for some months at least as the new bench holds hearings in the case and then gives its judgement in the matter of services. I hope the Kejriwal government fosters trust and confidence in the officers in the meantime. It is true that during the Congress rule in the city, officers were appointed keeping the CM in loop. But, there was also regular communication, despite differences, and a cordial relation was maintained between the L-G and the CM, which is missing now, he said.

Officers, however, said that a lot of the tussle had eased out after the SCs July 4 judgement.

Despite the Supreme Courts verdict, government officials said there still was a lot of ambiguity, which often puts them in a tight spot. The biggest problem we now face in some cases is whether to pass an order or notification in the L-Gs name or the ministers. There are few files which have to go in the L-Gs name, but the minister concerned insists on clearing it only with his name, said a senior bureaucrat.

In terms of their relation with the ministers of the Delhi government, officers said a lot has changed for the better ever since the flashpoint reached its peak after former chief secretary Anshu Prakash was assaulted by AAP MLAs last year.
The Delhi government on Friday suspended the fire certificates of 30 hotels in Karol Bagh for lacking adequate safety mechanisms, effectively shutting them down for at least 15 days, in the wake of a major fire at Aprit Palace hotel in the locality in which 17 people were killed.

The action, initiated by state home minister Satyendar Jain, will further strengthen the Delhi Fire Service Rules, 2010, by amending it to make the violations more explicit and the regulations more stringent, according to Jain, who added that the drive would be conducted across Delhi.

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (North MCD), which approves building plans and issues health trade licenses to such hotels in the area, blamed the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) on Friday for issuing no-objection certificates (NOCs) to the Arpit Palace hotel even though it did not meet fire-safety norms. The DFS, on the other hand, blamed the corporation, which renews licenses annually, for not checking violations inside the hotel premises.

While the Delhi government is calling these buildings hotels, on paper they are termed guest houses because Karol Bagh, like the citys Walled City area, enjoys a special status under the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act. No hotels can come up in the area, and only guest houses are allowed.

Jain said on Friday said that DFS, after conducting inspections in 45 hotels in the area over the past two days, has suspended fire NOCs of 30 buildings for 15 days, during which the owners will have to rectify the lapses and submit a compliance report. The NOC will be cancelled if the mandated checks are not found in place once the grace period ends.

On 13 February, 23 hotels were inspected by the fire department. Of these, 13 were found violating fire safety norms. Next day, 17 hotels out of 22 were found to have violated rules. We have written to the North Delhi Municipal Corporation and the police to take steps to seal them. But, technically, these hotels are deemed shut as they cannot operate without a fire NOC, the minister said.

The hotels that will be shut are small, budget hotels that cater to backpacking tourists.

North MCD commissioner Varsha Joshi said the civic agency is yet to receive a letter from DFS. Yes, if we get a letter from DFS stating that fire NOCs have been cancelled, the MCD will have to cancel the kitchen license in all these buildings as per the rules, she said.

Karol Baghs hotel and restaurant association criticised the move, calling it a knee-jerk reaction, and said they seek an appointment with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal or lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal to put their point across.

Why have the authorities woken up only after this fire incident? First, the DFS suspended NOCs and then they sent the same info to the police. Today, from 7pm onwards, the licensing offices teams have been asking owners to turn away even existing customers and not accept any new booking, said Balan Mani, vice-president of the Delhi Hotel and Restaurant Association.

DFS chief GC Mishra said that the department was considering the suggestions given by the minister to amend the rules. Currently, the fire rules do not lay down anything about materials that cannot be used in buildings or the adequate width of passages. The amendments would include making carbon monoxide detectors mandatory in hotels, standardising dimensions of ventilation, passageways, doors, gates and so on, he said.

The DFS report on the Arpit Palace stated that the fire inside the hotel was so intense and the temperature so high that the firefighting team had to use artificial breathing equipment to move along the passageways of the hotel.

The spread of fire was vertical and horizontal due to the presence of wooden/foam panelling and false sealing in staircases and corridors. Considerable amount of combustible material was also present near the rear staircase, which added as fuel to the fire, the report had said.

Due to these materials, flames and dense poisonous smoke spread very fast in entire building including common areas and exits. These flames and smoke blocked he means of escape, it added.
The Dalai Lama recently told this newspaper that due to Chinese pressure, no Buddhist country, with the sole exception of the nominally Buddhist Japan, is now willing to grant him entry. Chinas ability to browbeat smaller countries into submission, however, should not obscure the major new challenges it faces.

The worlds longest-surviving autocracy turns 70 this year, with its future uncertain. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre, which left at least 10,000 people dead. After more than a quarter century of phenomenal economic growth, China has entered a new era of uncertainty.

Chinas slowing economy, an international geopolitical pushback against its overweening ambitions, new trade disruptions and tariffs, and President Xi Jinpings centralization of power have all contributed to a jittery mood among its elites. Add to the picture the flight of capital from a country that had amassed a mountain of foreign-exchange reserves by enjoying a surplus in its overall balance of payments. Not only is capital fleeing China but even wealthy Chinese  in an informal vote of no confidence in the Chinese system  are emigrating.

Meanwhile, China has come under international pressure on multiple fronts  from its trade, investment and lending policies to its incarceration in re-education camps of more than a million Muslims from Xinjiang, a sprawling territory Mao Zedong annexed in 1949 just before gobbling up the buffer with India, Tibet. Chinas free ride, which helped propel its rise, seems to be ending.

Malaysias decision to scrap a $20-billion rail project is just the latest example of how Xis Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is running into growing resistance. Even Pakistan, Chinas client-state, has downsized, cancelled or eliminated some BRI projects. Meanwhile, a US-led pushback against Chinas Huawei conglomerate has broadened from opposition to its participation in next-generation 5G wireless networks to a broader effort to restrict the use of Chinese technology over espionage concerns.

It is Chinas open disregard for international rules, however, that explains why it can count on few true strategic allies or reliable security partners. Chinas lonely rise could become more pronounced with the newly restructured Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) becoming less of an army and more of a power projection force, the majority of whose troops now are not from the army but from the other services, including the navy, air force, rocket force and the cyber warfare-oriented strategic support force.

For Chinas neighbours, the PLAs restructuring foreshadows a more aggressive Chinese military approach of the kind already being witnessed in the South and East China seas and the Himalayas. In fact, the risk is that  just as Mao staged the 1962 invasion of India after his disastrous Great Leap Forward created the worst famine in modern world history  Xis mounting challenges at home and abroad could prompt him to divert attention through military aggression.

Undeterred by the international pushback, however, Xis regime is still blending economic aggression, debt-trap diplomacy, territorial and maritime revisionism, influence operations and Orwellian tactics to advance unbridled ambitions. Chinese influence operations range from legitimate activities like lobbying to more covert or corrupting actions such as seeking to meddle in the domestic politics of democracies and sway their policy-relevant discourse.

As Indian national elections approach, China has stepped up its influence operations in India. China has been emboldened by its remarkable success in Nepal, which has tilted toward Beijing, despite an open border underscoring its symbiotic relationship with India. On the first anniversary of Nepals communist government this weekend, it is important to remember that China played no mean role in the communists democratic ascension to power there.

India, with its fragmented polity and fractious political divides, has become an important target of Chinas efforts to buy access and influence and sway politics. These efforts have been aided by New Delhis feckless approach to Beijing, especially since the Wuhan summit.

Moreover, by more than doubling its trade surplus with India to over $66 billion a year on the National Democratic Alliance governments watch, Beijing has acquired deeper pockets for influence operations, which aim to help instil greater Indian caution and reluctance to openly challenge China. At a time when India is engrossed in electoral politics, including increasingly petty and bitter feuding, Beijings conduct is underlining its master plan for this country: It wants a weak and unwieldy Indian government to emerge from the elections.

Chinas culpability in the Pulwama massacre of Indian jawans is unmistakable. In keeping with its master plan, Beijing brazenly shields Pakistans export of terrorism, including blocking UN action against Pakistan-based terrorists like Masood Azhar. Indeed, China has long used militants to attack Indias weak points, including by originally training Naga and Mizo guerrillas and currently consorting with several northeast Indian insurgent leaders, some of them ensconced in Yunnan or Myanmar.

If India is to safeguard its interests and expand its global footprint, its next government would need a more clear-headed and self-assured foreign policy, particularly for addressing the insidious China challenge.

Brahma Chellaney is a geostrategistThe views expressed are personal
This month marks 25 years since I became a Mumbaikar in exile in the national capital. In February 1994, as I was preparing to leave Mumbai for Delhi, a senior professional colleague had a word of caution: Remember, Delhi is a cutthroat world which we Maharashtrians find difficult to adjust to. Be careful. Maharashtrians in general have been relatively marginal to Delhis political elite which might partly explain the excitement over the rising speculation of Nitin Gadkari as a potential future prime minister. After all, from YB Chavan to Sharad Pawar, its been a familiar tale of Dilli Dur Ast, of missed opportunities and setbacks for politicians from the Western Ghats.

Fast forward now to Gadkari, a seemingly unconventional BJP politician, cut in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) cloth from Nagpur, but just as comfortable in the bright lights of corporate India. From being forced out of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) presidentship amid charges of financial irregularities six years ago to now being seen as a possible Plan B prime minister of a BJP-led government, Gadkari finds himself increasingly in the spotlight as an emerging alternative to Modi. Every cryptic remark made by Gadkari is being interpreted as a mark of dissent, forcing him to clarify that he remains a loyal party soldier.

So what explains the importance of Gadkari? First, in a government in which most union ministers are perceived as either underworked or underperforming, Gadkari is among the few who has stood out for actually translating Prime Minister Narendra Modis promises into results. As road transport and highways minister, he is seen to have driven the pace of road creation in a mission mode manner. That he has also been entrusted the high-profile Clean Ganga project is a reflection of his growing stature as a minister who is very much a doer.

Second, Gadkaris proximity to the RSS leadership gives him a power base independent of the BJPs ruling hierarchy. The monopolistic tendencies of the Modi-Amit Shah duo have allowed limited space for any rival power centres to emerge. Even without being a mass leader, Gadkari is the closest the BJP has to a leader of substance who is not wholly dependent on the BJPs power couple for his political relevance.

Third, Gadkaris consensual style of functioning is in sharp contrast to the command and control leadership style that defines Brand Modi. It is the ever smiling, accommodating persona that makes the prospect of Gadkari as a coalition government prime minister so attractive for the restive National Democratic Alliance allies who feel constrained and marginalised in a BJP majority government where an omnipotent prime ministers office calls the shots. That even the opposition has chosen to embrace Gadkari is a sign that the anyone but Modi brigade is hoping to fish in the BJPs troubled waters by propping up a more obliging political figure who could entice post-poll allies if there is a hung parliament.

Finally, Gadkaris business-friendly image could give him the support of India Inc, once the cheerleaders of Prime Minister Modi but now increasingly wary of a regime that offers no special favours to traditional business elites and is accused of disrupting economic cycles with unilateral moves like demonetisation.

But while the idea of Gadkari as PM may appeal to those who fear the rise of Modi as supreme leader as evidence of creeping authoritarianism, the truth is that the man from Vadnagar remains the BJPs biggest asset. The 2019 election battle is being fought by the BJP as a presidential style election in which the prime minister remains the solo performer. If for the Congress, the party is the family, for the BJP the party is the individual, where the cult of Modi is sought to be magnified. This may trouble old-style ideologues within the sangh parivar but a more pragmatic political outlook demands that Modis dominance be recognised by the sangh leadership.

Which is also why those who seek to create a Modi versus Gadkari saffron battle within are building a fantasy narrative. Unless there is a complete meltdown and the BJP loses more than a 100 Lok Sabha seats, there is little chance of an alternate leadership emerging to Modi. In the run-up to the 2014 elections too, a similar 160-notion club was pushed by those who felt the BJP would not cross a certain threshold and would therefore need a leader who was more suited to coalition politics. The Modi wave that propelled the BJP to an astounding 282 seats ensured that all such political assumptions were quickly set aside. Which is why even well-wishers of Gadkari would probably be better advised not to push his candidature too far lest yet another Maharashtrian bites the dust in the manipulative power politics of the Hindi heartland.

Post-script: Earlier this week, Sharad Pawar claimed he was worried for Gadkari as he was being projected as an alternative to Modi. Pawar should know, since he has never hidden his prime ministerial ambitions in the past. In the Byzantine world of national politics, it pays sometimes to stay under the radar for as long as possible.

Rajdeep Sardesai is senior journalist and author

The views expressed are personal
The terror attack in Pulwama has raised doubts over its impact on the meeting between officials of India and Pakistan on the Kartarpur corridor project.

The two sides are scheduled to meet on March 14 to finalise the modalities of the much-awaited corridor, particularly its coordinates. Though India withdrew the most favoured nation status accorded to Pakistan and warned it of a strong response, political leaders are hoping that tension stoked by the car bombing incident does not cast a shadow on the meeting.

Union minister of state with independent charge of housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, who was in Amritsar for a party event, told reporters that in his view, it cannot be business as usual after the attack. The minister said it was the prerogative of the government to take measures and he has no doubt about its determination to take appropriate steps.

Responding to queries on the terror attacks impact on Kartarpur corridor project and Indo-Pak trade, he said there was no change in the deep state of Pakistan, which was conspiring terror activities in India. On the one hand, Pakistan responded to (setting up) the corridor but on the other hand, it is supporting terror groups from its soil against India. How long will this go (on)? he asked, reiterating his governments commitment to the project.

Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who urged the Centre to teach Pakistan a lesson, hoped the suicide attack will not impact the Kartarpur corridor project. He said he was confident the corridor would be well protected, but there was a need for a change in attitude on the part of Pakistan if peace between the two counties was to be promoted.

However, his cooperation minister Sukjinder Singh Randhawa, who is MLA from Dera Baba Nanak, the crossing point of the proposed corridor, blamed intelligence failure for the incident. It is the responsibility of the central government to end terrorism, but it has not done its duty, he said, ruling any fallout of the attack on the corridor. The corridor project is entirely a different issue, he added. The proposed corridor will provide easy access to Sikh pilgrims to Guru Nanaks final resting place Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistans Punjab province.
Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal from Chandigarh has scripted history by becoming the first woman flight engineer to be inducted by the Indian Air Force (IAF)

Having completed the six-month Flight Engineer course on Friday, Jaiswal will now be posted to a helicopter squadron where she will monitor and operate IAFs complex aircraft in various conditions, right from Siachen Glacier to Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

An alumna of Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 22, Jaiswal did her engineering in electronics from University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), Panjab University. She is the daughter of Anita Jaiswal, a homemaker, and DK Jaiswal, who recently retired from Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (PCDA), New Delhi,

Earlier only the domain of male aviators, the flight engineer branch was opened to woman officers in 2018. Commissioned in the engineering branch of the IAF on January 5, Jaiswal has served as the chief of firing team and battery commander in a frontline surface to Air Missile squadron.

During the course of six months of gruelling training, she trained shoulder to shoulder with her male counterparts, and displayed unflinching commitment, dedication and perseverance, said a press release from the Union ministry of defence.

Talking about her dream come true, Jaiswal said since childhood, she had endeavoured to wear the soldiers uniform and take on the skies as an aviator.
320pp, Rs 599; Picador India

Nobody knows exactly how many people were killed in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 in what was then East Pakistan. Nearly half a century later, first-time author Nadeem Zaman offers a detailed, albeit fictionalised, account of the bloody events that culminated in the creation of a new country.

Set over a period of nine months of 1971  March 25 to December 16  Zaman recreates the violence that led to what the Bangladesh government has since called a genocide that killed 3 million people. The crackdown began with the killing of students and professors at Dhaka University, soon after a regional party, the Awami League, demanded greater autonomy for East Pakistan.

The Awami League won the elections and launched a campaign of civil disobedience. Its supporters  the Mukti Bahini  started attacking non-Bengali civilians, upsetting the military regime of West Pakistan led by General Yahya Khan. The army launched a strike against the Awami League and the Hindu community, who at that time made up about 20 per cent of East Pakistans 75 million people, according to a BBC report.

Using the war as a backdrop, Zaman tells the story of Imtiaz Khan, a man who is unemployed and broke, and is trying to save his marriage with Lubna, who hero worships her well-to-do older brother. Imtiaz travels from Chittagong to Dhaka to claim an inheritance that his

mother has left him. It is not the best of times to travel to Dhaka, which is experiencing political turmoil following the breakdown of negotiations between Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and has been placed under curfew, but he has no choice. He wants to quickly sell off his property and return to Chittagong to clear his mounting debts, and win back lost respect.

Imtiaz is the guest of Kamruzzaman and Aisha Chowdhury, his maternal uncle and aunt, and within days of his arrival, it becomes clear to him that East Pakistan is at war, and there are no takers for his property, or anyone elses.

However, after the war breaks out, Chowdhury Villa is a safe haven for the young, multi-faith and fiery pro-independence fighters of the Mukti Bahini, mostly former students of Aisha, who are plotting for a separate land for Bengalis, as Kamruzzaman spends time in the storage room of the house, trying to tune into a mid-century Grundig SO 380 - the familys prized possession  to hear Bangla radio.

On the other side of the spectrum is Fazal Shaukat - a young captain in the Pakistan Army with a family name to live up to, and an alcoholic wife to deal with. He is disgusted by the armys brutality, especially the treatment meted out to women  raped with bayonets - but he tries to fit in as best as he can. However, his overzealous, nationalistic and sadistic boss, Major Pervez Shahbaz, is not happy with a thinking soldier by his side, who does not match his hate for the Mukti vermins. He is doing everything to make Shaukats life miserable, as much to his disbelief, he has failed to make an impact on Shaukat.

Zamans characters  both lead and supporting  are fighting for independence, in one way or another, and he successfully captures the nine tumultuous months in an unbiased way from the perspective of all the characters and what it means to live in violent times. Be it the distinguished Bihari judge, Suleiman Mubarak, whose personal belief in a separate nation for Bengalis is seen with suspicion, or the American journalist couple, who ignore their countrys double game in global politics but are appalled by the Pakistan Armys brutality in Dhaka. The members of the Mukti Bahini who are out to seek revenge for Bengalis or those whom they perceive as anti-Bengali, or, for that matter, Imtiaz, who is rather apolitical, and mostly concerned with the turmoil within, driven by an urgent desire to set his own house in order.

Zamans intelligent, honest, non-judgmental and sensitive portrayals are based on stories of the Liberation War as told by his parents and grandparents. He told a Bangladeshi newspaper that his mother and father narrated the stories so well and with such rich descriptions that he started imagining the scenes in his head, and by the time he was in college, he was convinced the Bangladesh Liberation War had to be presented on an international platform.

It is not the oral histories alone that shake the reader. Zaman has done a terrific job of recording the littlest details of the war, a result of sound research. Zamans best portrayal is of the stately Judge Mubarak  who never thought of himself as anything other than Bengali  yet he is a top target of the Mukti Bahini. Without taking sides, Zaman lets the readers peek into the heads of characters and see how each reacts to war and violence. Judge Mubarak drives around Dhaka University following the killings, looking out over the mounds like humpbacks on the ground, and wonders what it means to be a Bihari, and why was it a generic term to refer to non-Bengalis if they did not hail from Bihar?

Author Nadeem Zaman (Courtesy the publisher)

The war is also seen from the army wives perspective, even as their husbands laugh at them for being brainless and gossipy. Captain Shaukats wife Umbreen tells him she wants to vomit each time he returns home. How many people have you killed, Fazal? Have you raped women? Did you watch your soldiers rape them? she charges at him one night.

His boss, Major Shahbaz, who is losing two battles  on the outside and the inside - is found sleeping with a gun pointing to his head by his wife. His wife doesnt scream at the sight, but quietly loosens his hand, frees the gun and waits for him to wake up.

Read more: Review: Djinn City by Saad Z Hossain

Zaman was born in Dhaka and grew up there and in Chicago. He studied at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Louisville. The novel is a part of Zamans dissertation to study the making of a postcolonial state and the emergence of a postcolonial nation-state from Bengali nationalism to Bangladeshi sovereignty.

At a time when Bangladeshs Liberation War is being reassessed, In the Time of the Others fills several gaps. That it often reads like a Hemingway novel is a bonus.

Lamat R Hasan is an independent journalist. She lives in New Delhi.
On February 24 last year, India woke to a shocking news of the sudden demise of actor Sridevi in Dubai. A year on, her family including husband Boney Kapoor, daughters Janhvi and Khushi, her brother-in-law Anil Kapoor and his wife Sunita Kapoor, Tamil actor Ajith, English Vinglish director Gauri Shinde and her husband R Balki were in Chennai for a pooja on her first death anniversary, as per Hindu calendar (thithi).

Also read | Anil Kapoor, Boney Kapoor attend puja in Chennai to mark Sridevis death anniversary. See pics

Speaking on the occasion, Anil said people like Sridevi were difficult to forget and that her body of work continues to inspire. Mumbai Mirror quoted the actor as saying, She was my brothers wife and my wifes friend as they connected really well. Whenever we met there was always fun, laughter and humour. People like Sri ji are difficult to forget. Her body of work is fabulous and inspiring. Her films are still being seen and pictures still being published everywhere. She will always be missed.

Anil and Sridevi have worked in a number of films together including hit films like Mr India and critically acclaimed films like Lamhe.

People gather in large number to pay their respect during the funeral procession of actor Sridevi, in Mumbai, on February 28, 2018. (PTI)

It may be recalled that Sridevi with the rest of her family and in-laws were in Dubai for the wedding of her nephew Mohit Marwah in February last year. Post the wedding, while the rest of the family flew back to Mumbai, Sridevi reportedly stayed back in the Gulf nation for some shopping. Boney Kapoor, joined her later and on the day of her demise, they decided to go for a dinner together. She went into the bathroom to get ready and did not emerge for a long time. After 20 minutes, when she didnt come out, Boney entered to bathroom to find her totally submerged in a bathtub. She was later pronounced dead on February 24 by accidental drowning.

Her daughter Janhvi made her Bollywood debut the same year with Karan Johars Dhadak. In many pictures and videos, fans have never failed to see the similarity she shares with her late mother.

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The Kashmir valley is the favourite hunting ground of Jaish-e-Mohammeds bed-ridden leader Masood Azhar and his brothers Rauf Asghar and Athar Ibrahim.

The cat and mouse game between Azhars family and Indian security establishment dates back, almost to the day, to February, 1994 when Azhar, then an ideologue of the Harkat-ul-Ansar, was captured along with the then chief of Harkat, Sajjad Afghani (in many ways, Azhars protege) in Srinagar by the security forces. Azhar and Afghani was subjected to intense interrogation over the years by Indian security officials, particularly the then Additional Director (Intelligence Bureau) Ajit Doval at Kot Balwal jail in Jammu. People say that Azhar was desperate to escape the Indian prison after his protegeSajjad Afghani was killed in a jail shoot-out in June 1999.

Not long after this, Azhars Pakistani handlers planned and successfully executed the hijacking of Indian Airlines IC-814, with Ibrahim in the lead, and managed to secure Azhars freedom and his transport to Kandahar airport; all this was done with the help of Taliban. The date: December 31, 1999. Such was the clout of Azhar that he was given a personal audience with Taliban emir Mullah Omar before he crossed over to Pakistan through the Spin Boldak-Chaman crossing in Quetta.

Merely days later he formed the Jaish-e-Mohammed and announced this through a suicide bombing attack against the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on October 1, 2001, killing as many as 38 people.

Azhar and his family continue to mourn the death of Afghani and also three of their own at the hands of Indian security forces. This includes Usman Haider, Ibrahims son, who was gunned down in Tral last year. The suicide bombing attack targeting the CRPF convoy at Pulwama is similar to the 2001 assembly attack (both used cars loaded with explosives) and a definitive escalation in terror activity in the Valley. The use of RDX in both the attacks and open admission of the carnage by the Pakistan-based group heralds a new chapter in Islamabad-sponsored terrorism in the valley that could spread to the hinterland if not nipped in the bud.

While India has named Azhar as the principal perpetrator of the Pulwama attack, neither Pakistan nor its close ally China will take any action against the Bhawalpur-based terrorist as he is central to their plans regarding the Taliban in Afghanistan. With common Deobandi ideology, Azhar has deep links with the Taliban, which is now on the verge of coming back to Kabul after 2001.

Today, Azhars younger brother Rauf is overseeing jihad in Kashmir while elder brother Ibrahim is in charge of the Afghanistan operations of JeM. Pakistan has completely denied its own involvement in the Pulwama attack, but with JeM quick to take responsibility, India is within its rights in targeting Azhar and his cohorts. After all, it is clear Islamabad can no longer control the group, which was publicly banned by former dictator Pervez Musharraf after the 2001 attack on Indian parliament. Rather than get into futile diplomacy of issuing demarches and note verbales to Pakistan for Pulwama, India should also work towards the countrys black-listing of in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) list on grounds of inaction against jihadist groups such as JeM by the Imran Khan regime. This will financially choke Islamabad, which is already in deep financial trouble.

In parallel, the Narendra Modi government should hold Kashmiri separatists, basically proxies for Pakistan, to account in the Valley with Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani playing the director in this terror play produced by Islamabad.

But this will not be enough. The only way separatists in the valley will get the message is when terror groups based in Pakistan are targeted  repeatedly and intensively.

Together, these responses call for a diplomatic, military, and counter-intelligence offensive. Nothing else will suffice.

shishir.gupta@hindustantimes.com
The Indian armed forces will present their options to the political leaders on how to respond to Pulwama attack. In order to appreciate and assess those options, we need to look back in history. Let us start with instances when India achieved a military success against Pakistan.

1965: After Pakistan failed to instigate Kashmiris into rebellion against the Indian state, its armoured divisions made a massive thrust in order to isolate Srinagar from the rest of India. Having received a drubbing against China in 1962, Indian forces and leadership, Pakistan assumed, would have little fight in them. The then Indian prime minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, had other plans. He decided to open another front in Punjab. The generals in Pakistan were clearly not prepared for this. Besides the surprise element, Shastris move also indicated to Pakistan that India was willing to escalate the conflict.

Watch| Big mistake: PM Modis stern warning to terror outfits

1971: The official Indian line is that despite the massive influx of refugees  close to 10 million by December  from East Pakistan, it was Pakistan that began the war on December 3 by attacking Indian airfields in Punjab. But now there is enough historical evidence to prove that this is not true. The refugee problem was growing and the international pressure was clearly inadequate to force a rethink in Pakistan. Indias escalatory tactics involved supporting the guerrilla forces of Bangladesh followed by direct involvement of Indian forces in offensives inside East Pakistan. Finally, India launched the full-scale war on December 4.

1999: The Kargil war came close on the heels of both India and Pakistan going nuclear. India faced a massive task of removing Pakistani intruders who were threatening the lines of communication into northern Kashmir. Despite the enormity of the task, India did not cross the line of control (LoC)  an eventuality widely attributed to nuclear deterrence. While this restraint has been overstudied, the decision to use the services of the Indian Air Force (IAF) has not received the same attention. The use of air power at such daunting heights did create some challenges for the IAF, but it demoralised Pakistani forces and speeded up evacuation operations.

2016: Much has been made of the Narendra Modis government decision to publicly announce the surgical strikes that followed the attack in Uri which killed 19 Indian soldiers. To be sure, there was an element of playing to the domestic gallery in that decision. However, the public announcement was good for two reasons. One, there is nothing wrong in telling the Indian people that their government is not entirely helpless against Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attacks. Two, the announcement was a clear indication to the Pakistani army that India is ready for escalation and left the ball in Rawalpindis court.

The surgical strikes also carried an element of surprise. It wasnt clear how India would respond to the Uri attack, or even whether India would respond at all. The inaction after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks was still fresh in the memory. Where India failed was to follow up these strikes with similar moves involving surprise and exhibit a willingness to escalate in responding to attacks that followed in Nagrota and elsewhere. A one-off surgical strike is too little to bring about a behaviour change in Pakistans generals.

Now, let us turn the gaze to those instances when India failed against Pakistan.

2001-02: The terrorist attack on the Parliament in New Delhi was followed by a massive mobilisation of Indian troops along the LoC and the international border. India also pressed Pakistan to surrender 20 terrorists to India. The coercive strategy failed. While the mobilisation was meant to signal escalation, it took so much time that the surprise element was entirely gone. Indias tardiness allowed Pakistan to counter-mobilise and provided the room for international mediators to weigh in.

2008: The 26/11 attacks in Mumbai were an opportunity to rectify the mistakes of 2001-02. However, India allowed itself to be deterred by Pakistans nuclear bombs. International support was with India and a limited conventional attack would have called out Pakistans nuclear bluff. But India decided to not go down that route.

As the Modi government mulls its retaliatory options against the dastardly attack in Pulwama, it needs to look back in history and make a note of what works and what doesnt. Whenever India has enjoyed a degree of military success against Pakistan, it has had to do with two common attributes: an element of surprise and a willingness to escalate. Unfortunately, surgical strikes no longer carry the surprise element. After 2016, the Pakistani army will be prepared for it. Also, unlike last time, there would most probably be no terrorist launch pads to be found in areas close to the LoC.

Since the Pulwama attack is bigger than Uri but much less ambitious than Kargil, one would expect an Indian military response, if any, to be between the two strata of surgical strikes and the use of air power. This is a narrow window, and then there are the low-yield battlefield nuclear weapons that Pakistan regularly flaunts. It is increasingly becoming difficult for India to impose costs on Pakistan that will instil some level of deterrence while, at the same time, not breaching any nuclear red lines. Any significant response will either breach those red lines or demolish the Pakistani nuclear bluster for good. Once the immediate needs have been taken care of, India should think of a long-term strategy. Everything from covert operations to counterforce strikes should be on the table.

kunal.singh@htlive.com
The killing field of Kashmir that we like to wish away has thrust itself yet again on the national horizon with a vehicle-borne suicide attack against a CRPF convoy in Awantipur area. The casualty figure has continued to mount, with some reports putting it at as high as 40 dead and many more injured.

No words are enough to condemn this dastardly act, which is one of the most serious seen by the terror-hit state. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility and released the image of the suicide bomber, a local youth, Adil Ahmad from Pulwama area, who is said to have joined JeM a year ago. JeM has continued to perpetrate terror against us from Pakistani soil since its founding by Masood Azhar after his release from an Indian prison along with two others in exchange for the passengers of an Indian Airlines plane hijacked in December 1999.

China has repeatedly blocked Azhars designation as a global terrorist by the 1267 Committee of the UN Security Council. It is a reminder, if one was needed, that our attempts to mobilise the international community to put an end to such criminal acts from Pakistan have not borne the desired results. This is a battle that we have to essentially fight ourselves.

The outrageous attack has understandably caused immense anger in the country and has been widely condemned by national and local political parties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured the nation that the sacrifice of our security personnel will not go in vain.

Extremely tragic as this event is, we need to address it with equanimity. There would be a temptation in our political class to indulge in blame game in the run-up to our national elections. The government has a lot to explain in terms of its handling of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the spectacular failure of the BJP-PDP alliance.

However, a blame game needs to be eschewed at all costs. This is the time to put up a united front against terror, and take cool-headed stock of the serious situation that we face in the Kashmir Valley. We must deal with a firm hand with those who indulge in violence and their patrons across the border.

I am sure our security forces will take suitable action at a time and place of their choosing to punish those responsible for this heinous crime. But let us not forget that use of force by itself will not address the situation. Pakistan has been fishing in the troubled waters of our own making and must be denied that opportunity by politically addressing the alienation of our own people, which is essential to isolate terrorists and stem the steady flow to militancy from the local populace seen in recent years. Our security forces have repeatedly restored calm in the Valley, only to see our political class fritter away the opportunity by not taking the steps necessary to bring about durable peace.

There is no political consensus on a way forward. The approach advocated by different political parties has ranged from dealing with the situation with an iron hand to sky being the limit for autonomy to the state under our Constitution. The need of the hour is to build political consensus on the way forward to address alienation and win the hearts and minds of our people in the Valley.

Condemnation by political parties of the latest terrorist outrage is welcome, but do they have the time and inclination to build such consensus in the politically charged atmosphere that prevails today? Dependence on force alone will leave us exposed to such tragedies in future.

The author is a former high commissioner to Pakistan.

The views expressed are personal
What are we to make of the rapidly shifting situation in Afghanistan? The countrys welfare has direct security implications for India: We are approaching 20 years since the hijacking of IC 814 to Kandahar. But Afghanistans future is so difficult to anticipate because a multitude of internal and external variables are at play.

First, consider the domestic security situation. Attacks in Kabul are still frequent. Several Indian citizens, many engaged in development assistance, have lost their lives, including in the recent Kabul bomb blast of January 14. Parts of the country that were once deemed relatively peaceful  including central Afghan provinces such as Bamiyan  now feature periodic Taliban assaults, including devastating attacks against Afghan security forces.

Second, Afghanistans political situation is in considerable disarray. Parliamentary elections were repeatedly postponed, and their execution was hardly seamless. The field in this years presidential elections has become incredibly crowded, with former interior minister Hanif Atmar emerging as the most significant challenger to incumbent Ashraf Ghani.

Third, the Taliban too is divided and has been since Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed on Pakistani soil by the United States (US) in a 2016 drone strike, although the return of Mullah Baradar may prove significant. Still, the Haqqani Network is not represented in leadership council meetings. The arrival of the Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan has added further complications, with some using this development to justify accommodating the Taliban.

Fourth, peace talks between the US and the Taliban are underway, with a parallel Moscow process also ongoing. The Taliban talks are still at a very preliminary stage, despite bold announcements of breakthroughs. The possibility of a ceasefire has been mooted, but the Taliban wants assurances, including the release of prisoners currently in US custody. While Donald Trump has made the withdrawal of US forces a priority, the American security establishment has reason to slow it down, raising the prospect of a withdrawal in name only.

Fifth, Pakistan is unable to take full advantage of a situation that it once deemed desirable. Some of it is due to its own pacification efforts in its northwest, initially conducted under pressure, while some of it can be explained by Pakistans relative international isolation, economic weaknesses, and internal political divisions. But it is also increasingly clear, as following the Soviet withdrawal in the late 1980s and after 9/11, that a firm resolution in Afghanistan was never the preferred outcome for Pakistans security establishment.

Sixth, Chinas role has been thrown into sharper relief. Beijing had previously been uncertain about its own objectives when it engaged in a quadrilateral dialogue with Afghanistan, the US, and Pakistan at the latters insistence. But it is now considering a presence in Afghanistans Wakhan Corridor to stem Islamist infiltration into Xinjiang.

Seventh, Russia has adjusted its position vis-a-vis the Taliban. Romantic notions of India recreating old alliances are no longer particularly realistic, as the fault lines have changed significantly since the 1990s. Moscows motivations include taking advantage of a US pressure point.

So where does all this leave India? Not in a good place. India has staked out two positions in Afghanistan after 2001. One is as the most stringently anti-Taliban external actor, a position that some observers have criticised as hopelessly unrealistic. But not only has this bought India credibility with virtually all major parties within Kabul, it has also placed India in a position to grant legitimacy, as when former warlord and Hezb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar agreed a peace deal in 2016. Former Indian diplomat Amar Sinha recently clarified Indias position on the issue of Taliban talks, and subtly warned against undercutting Kabul.

Additionally, India has continued to be involved in state-building efforts, which remain poorly appreciated even within India. It has been among the largest providers of aid to Afghanistan since 2001, developed significant electricity and healthcare infrastructure, built the countrys parliament, and trained large numbers of students, security personnel, and administrators. Being at the vanguard of Afghanistans air freight corridor programme, India has become the largest destination of high-value Afghan exports. At the same time, Indian efforts at developing the Iranian port of Chabahar represents a long-term investment in bolstering Afghanistans commercial links.

Indias state-building efforts have won it widespread goodwill among the Afghan population. But its ongoing political and assistance efforts will remain subject to the security situation and it has ruled out the possibility of military boots on the ground. India therefore finds itself with many carrots and few sticks. But as security deteriorates, politics becomes more unstable, and external actors alter their approaches, some creative ways to secure Indian interests in Afghanistan will have to be contemplated.

Dhruva Jaishankar is fellow, Foreign Policy, Brookings India, New Delhi

The views expressed are personal
Now after how many lives of our beloved soldiers, Indian Govt is going to allow Indian armed forces to take decisive and offensive actions against Pakistan and jihadi terrorist organisations ? -Editor, Hindujagruti

At least 37 CRPF personnel were feared killed and 10 injured, five of them seriously, on Thursday in the single worst terror attack in the Valley when a suicide bomber rammed his Scorpio SUV laden with explosives into a CRPF bus in south Kashmir. The Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the bomber as a 20-year-old local resident from south Kashmirs Pulwama district.

The bus, ferrying over 40 soldiers, was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles with 2,547 CRPF personnel, moving from Jammu to Srinagar. Most of the men were returning from leave to join duty in Srinagar, said sources.

It was about 35 km from Srinagar city when, at around 3.30 pm, the SUV is suspected to have emerged from a side road to hit the bus at a right angle. The convoy had started from Jammu at 3.30 am Thursday.

The casualty figure is likely to go up as some more jawans have been critically injured in the attack, said a senior CRPF official.

At the scene of the attack in Lethpora, the bus was a mangled frame of wires, hurled up and across the road divider, the remains of the personnel scattered over a large area, their belongings draped from trees. A second bus was also hit but there was no casualty reported from it although some passengers onboard were injured.

A car suddenly came in the middle of the convoy and there was a huge explosion, said a CRPF man who was travelling in another vehicle that was part of the convoy. When we came down, the bus was not there. It had been completely charred and the bodies were scattered all around.

A resident of Lethpora told The Indian Express that the explosion seemed to shake the ground beneath. We were sitting at home when there was a deafening bang and the earth shook, he said. It was so powerful that we were thrown away from the place we were sitting.

Soon after the attack, the national highway was closed for traffic and the media barred from moving towards the explosion site. Internet services in the area were suspended.

The bus, ferrying 42 soldiers, was part of a convoy moving from Jammu to Srinagar of 78 vehicles ferrying 2,547 CRPF personnel. (Express Photo: Shuaib Masoodi)The Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed the bomber was Adil Ahmad Dar, a resident of Gundibagh village in south Kashmirs Pulwama, who had joined Jaish in March last year.

Sources said that preliminary inspection of the attack spot revealed that the SUV had more than 50-60 kg of high-grade explosives. So massive was the impact that both the bus and SUV were reduced to heaps of twisted metal and the likelihood of survival of any passenger in the target bus was grim.

Security sources said while the Intelligence Bureau did not have any input about an impending attack; all the SOPs were followed. A road opening party was sent before the movement of the convoy. The whole route was sanitised. IEDs were ruled out. How this attack happened still, is now in the realm of investigations, CRPF IG (Operations), Kashmir, Zulfikar Hassan said.

Meanwhile, a team of officers from the National Investigation Agency along with forensic experts has left for Srinagar to assist Jammu and Kashmir police.

Source : Indian Express
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Greenspot Road is closed from Arnott Farms through Garnet Street to Highway 38 due to a washout where it passes by Mill Creek near Florida Street.

According to county of San Bernardino public works, downed power lines in the area of the flooding are also a concern as crews begin to work on repairs.
Construction has begun on a 14-pump gas station in the parking lot of the Food4Less store at Victoria and Highland avenues. The Planning Commission approved the project in June in the Highland Center in June. However, Kmart, the primary anchor, closed in 2002. REAL Journey Academies has refurbished that building and opened a middle school and high school, which meant the center no longer needs as many parking spaces  making room for the gas station. A worker at the construction site said it should be complete in about three months.
Hayes gave a few tips for folks to follow when they encounter an unfamiliar phone call. If you have caller ID, try to write down the number and get the callers name. Dont give out any personal information, and do not give money, he explained. Its a good idea to also check your credit score and bank statements often to make sure no suspicious activity has taken place.

And, of course, Hayes urges people who have received a suspicious call to also report it to local law enforcement. This helps us if its a local case. But, with technology, these calls can be coming from outside of the state and even the country, so that makes it more difficult for us to investigate, Hayes said.

A new scam surfaced recently. Folks in the area were getting phone calls informing them they missed jury duty and a warrant was issued for their arrest. The caller then goes on to ask for money and personal information for the person to avoid being arrested, according to a press release from the Catawba County Sheriffs Office.
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(CAMERA via JNS)Reflecting a total lack of self-awareness, the trite headline to Michelle Alexanders 2,281-word op-ed, online and in print on Jan. 19, in The New York Times says it all: Time to Break the Silence on Palestine. The notion that the Palestinian issue is ignored, that a silence currently surrounds it or has surrounded it in years past, and that pro-Israel advocates muzzle opposing views is a common canard of anti-Israel activists.

For example, veteran Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy, who regularly accuses Israel of war crimes and apartheid in the pages of his own newspaper and in international forums, recently charged that its getting more and more difficult, more often than not, impossible to publish articles critical of Israel in the mainstream press. But the facts say otherwise. At the Times, for instance, in the six months prior to Levys column, the paper published 10 opinion pieces showing explicit support of Israel in general or of a specific Israeli policy, presenting Israel in a positive light or defending it from criticism. In the same time period, the media outlet published 15 Times opinion pieces criticizing or condemning Israeli policies.

The Times disproportionate focus on criticism of Israel, including its very existence, is hardly a new phenomenon, despite Alexanders assertion to the contrary. In her op-ed, The Times columnist argues: Not so long ago, it was fairly rare to hear this perspective, i.e., that Israel is committing horrific human rights abuses and legalized discrimination. (Her position seems to contradict Levys, who argues that its getting more difficult to publish such views.)

Indeed, particularly at The Times, the suggestion that Michelle Alexander is breaking a silence regarding bad Israeli behavior is laughable. One only has to recall the stunning 2014 admission of then New York Times Op-Ed page editor Matt Seaton after a series of op-eds charging Israelis, but not Palestinians, with racism. He acknowledged that the paper holds a lower standard for Palestinian wrongdoings, exempting them from scrutiny due to their stateless existence.

Even the specific, fallacious charges that Alexander levels in her op-ed have previously appeared repeatedly in the Paper of Record, which has hardly been silent on them. For instance, Alexander acts as if it takes great courage and conviction to call Israel out for alleged legal discrimination which has been previously noted multiple times in the Times Op-Ed pages. She grandiosely writes:

And finally, we must, with as much courage and conviction as we can muster, speak out against the system of legal discrimination that exists inside Israel, a system complete with, according to Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority rights in Israel, more than 50 laws that discriminate against Palestinians...

Nor is Alexanders charge that Israel has adopted some practices reminiscent of apartheid in South Africa and Jim Crow segregation breaking any silence. In 2012, Mustafa Barghouti denounced Israel for being part of the last colonial-settler system of our time. Marwan Barghouti, convicted terrorist imprisoned for murdering five Israelis, similarly alleged in The New York Times: Israel has established a dual legal regime, a form of judicial apartheid. Incidentally, consistent with the papers longstanding silence and minimization of Palestinian wrongdoing, The Times initially withheld from readers the reason why Barghouti was sitting in an Israeli jail.

Thus, Alexander falsifies that there is legalized discrimination against Palestinians, including streets for Jews only. It is a tired canard that numerous media outlets have corrected including The Washington Post, The Financial Times and the Associated Press, among others. There are very limited stretches of West Bank road closed to Palestinian traffic, but open to all Israeli citizensJews and non-Jews alike. On the other hand, Alexander overlooks the fact that all Israelis are officially barred from entering Area A of the West Bank, under Palestinian security control, but Israeli Arabs in practice do entermeaning that the ban applies to Jews only.

Likewise, where is the truth in Alexanders reference to the continued occupation of Gaza? Of course, Israel has withdrawn every last soldier and civilian from the territory, a point previously clarified by The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and NBC.

Truth is again suspended with Alexanders reference to the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, as prescribed by United Nations resolutions. In fact, United Nations Resolution 194, Paragraph 11 of the General Assembly resolution states: ... refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date ... [R]epatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of refugees and payment of compensation [should be facilitated].

As CAMERAs Alex Safian points out: Because this only recommends that refugees be permitted to return, it can hardly be characterized as creating a right. Moreover, the requirement that returnees first accept living at peace with their neighbors meant that Palestinian returnees would have to accept Israels right to exist, something that very few of them, even today, seem truly willing to do. Further, it did not even hint at any return rights for descendants of refugees.

Along with claiming that anti-Israeli activists are fearful, are cowed into silence by supporters of Israel, and therefore must act with courage, Alexander also repeatedly falsely asserts that those who oppose Israels right to exist are penalized for their support of Palestinian rights. For instance, [m]any students are fearful of expressing support for Palestinian rights because of McCarthyite tactics of secret organizations like Canary Mission, she writes. Marc Lamont Hill was fired from CNN for giving a speech in support of Palestinian rights that was grossly misinterpreted as expressing support for violence. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Alabama rescinded an honor it bestowed upon the civil rights icon Angela Davis, who has been a vocal critic of Israels treatment of Palestinians supports B.D.S.

But Hill was fired not for calling for his support of Palestinian rights, but for calling for resistance, which in the parlance of Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups is a clear call for violence, including for terrorism He also called for a free Palestine from the river to the sea, which is tantamount to the elimination of the Jewish state.

Alexanders depiction of Angela Davis anti-Israel activism is likewise a whitewash. Davis has called for the release of all Palestinian prisoners, including terrorists convicted of multiple murders, such as the Barghouti. Davis also came out to support Rasmea Odeh, convicted for her role in a 1969 terror bombing that killed two Hebrew University students and deported from the United States for having lied about her conviction.

Just as pro-Israel activists arent silencing those who speak out for Palestinian rights, neither are they calling criticism of Israeli actions anti-Semitism. But this is exactly the straw man argument that Alexander raises, arguing: It seems the days when critiques of Zionism and the actions of the State of Israel can be written off as anti-Semitism are coming to an end. There seems to be an increased understanding that criticism of the policies and practices of the Israeli government is not, in itself, anti-Semitic.

With smoke and mirrors, Alexander aims to confound, falsely claiming that defenders of Israel are claiming that criticism of Israeli practices are anti-Semitic. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism, adopted by multiple countries, does not define criticism of Israeli policies as anti-Semitic, but it does include the type of speech expressed by Hill and Davis, but which Alexander concealed. Thus, the widely accepted definition includes calling for, aiding or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion. Hill clearly did just that, and Davis, with her embrace of murdering terrorists and calls for their release, also likely is guilty on this count.

Calling for a free Palestine from the river to the sea also falls under the IHRA definition, which states: Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.

Alexander herself flirts with anti-Semitism when she asserts: Our elected representatives, who operate in a political environment where Israels political lobby holds well-documented power, have consistently minimized and deflected criticism of the State of Israel ...

Of course, Israel does not run a political lobby in the United States. Rather, pro-Israel Americans, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, assert their democratic right to lobby to maintain and strengthen an alliance that they see as beneficial to the well-being of the United States

Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation is another tenet of the IHRA definition upon which BDS activists and others selectively denouncing Israel in the false flag of human rights frequently fall.

Margaret Sullivan, then public editor of The New York Times, wrote back in November 2014 about the papers coverage of Palestinian-Israeli affairs:

Realistic examinations of whats being taught in schools, and the way Hamas operates should be a part of this. What is the ideology of Hamas; what are its core beliefs and its operating principles? What is Palestinian daily life like? I havent seen much of this in the Times.

Thus, in one respect, Alexander is right. There has been a Silence on Palestine. But far from being silent on Israels bad behavior, real or imagined, the Times has obsessively focused on it. Michelle Alexanders 2,000-word plus op-ed is a continuation of the papers compulsive placement of Israel under a microscope. Sullivans spot on advice is just as much, if not more, relevant today: Its time to break the silence on Palestinian bad behavior.

Tamar Sternthal is director of the Israel office of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).
(JNS)As part of the Palestinian Authoritys latest ploy to avoid direct negotiations with Israel, it is now absurdly claiming that United Nations Resolution 181, passed by the U.N. General Assembly in November 1947, gave Palestinian Arabs a right to a state and the right to U.N. membership.

In fact, U.N. Resolution 181 merely recommended partitioning the remaining 22 percent of the Palestine Mandate into Jewish and Arab states. (The British previously wrongfully carved off 78 percent of the mandate, which Britain held in trust for reestablishing the Jewish homeland, and gave it to Jordan.) A mere recommendation of partition, which the Arabs immediately rejected in favor of a war to annihilate Israel, is not a right.

The immediate rejection by the Arabs of the 1947 partition plan recommendation rendered the partition recommendation null and void. Instead of agreeing to partition, six Arab nations promptly launched a war to destroy the Jewish state, in which the Arabs murdered 6,000 Jews1 percent of Israels Jewish population. In that war, Jordan seized, and illegally occupied for 19 years, Judea/Samaria and the eastern portion of Jerusalem, containing the Jewish peoples holiest sites. Interestingly, the Palestinian Arabs made no claim for a state when Jordan controlled those areas.

Further, the United Nations has no right to carve off and grant a Palestinian Arab state in any of Israels land. The 1922 Palestine Mandate was a sacred trust held by Britain, under international law, for the sole purpose of reconstituting the Jewish homeland. The Palestine Mandate gave no national rights to the Arabs. (Palestinians used to mean Jews at that time.) U.N. Charter Article 80 (adopted in 1945) preserved intacteven after expiration of the mandateall rights granted to the Jewish people under the British Mandate for Palestine. The U.N. Charter thus made it unlawful for the U.N. to alter the Jewish peoples right to the mandatory area via any resolution. The only lawful method of altering any of Israels rights to the Mandatory area (which includes all of Israel and Judea/Samaria), is via agreement by Israel and the party seeking a portion of Israels land.

The P.A. is now also falsely and misleadingly claiming Israel is violating the 19931995 Oslo Accords, and that Jerusalem, refugees and settlements must be final-status issues whose status must not be changed pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations. First of all, in fact, the Oslo Accords (1995) only state the status of the West Bank and Gaza should not be changed pending the outcome of permanent status negotiations. This provision means that the Palestinian Arabs cannot declare a state in Gaza or the West Bank (Judea/Samaria) without negotiations. For years, the P.A. has refused to negotiate. Hence, the P.A.s desire to unilaterally declare a Palestinian Arab state is unlawful under Oslo.

Second, at the time of the accords, Jerusalem was already a united city under Israeli sovereignty and had been so for decades (and was the Jewish capital for thousands of years before that). U.S. recognition of Israels longstanding sovereignty over Jerusalem doesnt change Jerusalems status. Recognition of existing status is not a change of status. Moreover, even if U.S. recognition of Israels longstanding sovereignty over Jerusalem was somehow considered to be a change in status, the Oslo Accords do not prohibit changes in Jerusalems status.

Third, at the time of Oslo, the same settlements (Jewish communities) that are present in Judea/Samaria today had already existed for decades. The continuing presence and population growth of these Jewish communities is not a change in status. If population growth were considered to be a change of status, then the P.A.s population growth and expansion in Judea/Samaria is likewise a change in status.

Moreover, Jews rights to live in communities in Judea/Samaria are underscored by the fact that the Oslo Accords call for Israeli jurisdiction over Area C, where Jewish communities are located in Judea/Samaria.

Fourth, as ZOA has repeatedly pointed out, the accords never called for the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state. Then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, in his 1995 speech to the Knesset on ratification of the Oslo Accords, stated that the final resolution envisioned by Oslo was an [Palestinian Arab] entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.

Rabin further explained that the final resolution envisioned by Oslo included, First and foremost, united Jerusalem, which will include both Maale Adumim and Givat Zeev, as the capital of Israel, under Israeli sovereignty, as well as the establishment and inclusion within Israel of the settlement blocs in Judea/Samaria.

Most importantly, it is absurd for the P.A. to try to invoke the Oslo Accords nowwhen, from the very first day of the accords, the P.A. violated their key requirements to end terrorism by murdering and maiming thousands of Jews in two separate intifadas. The P.A. also promptly violated Oslos requirement to cooperate economically with Israel, by launching the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

The P.A. also formally repudiated the Oslo Accords more than three years ago. P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas, in his September 2015 speech to the United Nations, proclaimed regarding Oslo: We declare that we cannot continue to be bound by these agreements.

The P.A. is promoting bald-faced lies and distortions about U.N. Resolution 181 and the Oslo Accords to avoid making peace with Israel and to try to unilaterally carve up the Jewish homeland and claim a state that the P.A. has no right to unilaterally claim.

Morton Klein is the national president of the Zionist Organization of America. Elizabeth A. Berney is the ZOA director of Special Projects.
(JNS)More than three-fourths of American Jews want Israel to be reduced to just miles widenarrower than Washington, D.C., or the Bronx. How can that be?

The answer, of course, is that it cant be. But J Street is now making that claim anyway, and some media outlets this week fell for it.

J Street wants to see an independent Palestinian state established alongside the pre-1967 armistice lines, which means that Israel would be a mere nine miles wide. It would be very helpful to J Streets efforts if it could claim that most Jews support it. But most Jews dont. So, whats a J Streeter to do?

Simple. Take a poll in which the question about a Palestinian state is worded in such a way as to make it as appealing and non-threatening as possible. Dont say a word about it making Israel nine miles wide. Pretend that it will bring peace. And then, presto!, the J Streeters can get the poll results that they want.

Sure, its dishonest, disingenuous and distasteful. But this week, thats exactly what J Street did.

The J Street poll question began with a list of six points that supposedly would be part of any agreement creating a Palestinian state. The respondent was then asked whether he or she supports creating a Palestinian state. But the six points are all just figments of J Streets imagination. They have either been rejected outright by the Palestinian Authority or are simply wildly implausible.

 A demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

Not only has the P.A. repeatedly refused this demand; it is already building an army. The P.A. has the largest per capita security forces in the world. They are already the size of a de facto army. The P.A. will never dismantle them. And if those P.A. security forces decided that they needed to upgrade their defensive capabilities to include, say, armored vehicles or missiles, do you think the international community would do anything to stop them? Of course not.

 Internationally recognized borders based on the lines that existed in 1967, with mutually agreed land swaps that allow for most Jewish settlers in the West Bank to be inside Israel while the Palestinians get comparable land areas in return.

P.A. spokesmen have said time and again that they will not agree to any swaps, and that every Jew must be evicted from Judea and Samaria.

 Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem become part of the new Palestinian state while Israel retains control of Jewish neighborhoods and the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

The P.A. has said over and over that all of the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall, is occupied Palestinian territory. The P.A. has said over and over that the Kotel is really the Al Buraq Wall and a Muslim religious site. So why pretend that they dont mean what they say?

 International forces to monitor the new Palestinian state and border crossings.

Israel has enough experience with international forces to know that they are a sad joke. The international forces now in southern Lebanon have allowed Hezbollah to set up 150,000 rockets along the border with Israel. In the lead up to the Six-Day War, the international forces in the Sinai packed up and fled in 1967 as soon as Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser demanded they leave.

 Financial compensation for Palestinian refugees while allowing a limited number of refugees to return to Israel if they meet specific family reunification criteria, and the Israeli government approves.

Limited number is a clever way of making the number sound small without actually saying how many. 10,000? 100,00? 250,000? By the time the number is picked, Israel will have been so cowed by international pressure that it wont be able to say no.

 The Palestinians recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, and Israel recognizes the Palestinian state as the nation-state of the Palestinian people.

How many times do P.A. leaders have to say that they will never recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people before they are finally believed?

And, most important of all, notice whats missing from J Streets description of a Palestinian state: Theres no mention of what Israels actual borders would be. Because J Street doesnt want poll respondents or anybody else to know that what they are talking about is reducing Israel to borders so narrow that an Arab tank column could cut the country in half in a matter of minutes.

Thats how they got 78 percent of respondents to say they support creating a Palestinian state. Now imagine if they were asked a question along these lines:

If a Palestinian state were established in the disputed territories, Israel would then be nine miles wide at its midsection, about as wide as Washington, D.C., or the Bronx. Do you support a peace agreement that would establish such a state?

How many American Jews do you think would say yes to that? Maybe its time some of our Jewish and Zionist organizations find out, so we can know the truth about American Jewish public opinion instead of relying on the blatantly biased polling of groups like J Street.

Stephen M. Flatow, an attorney in New Jersey, is the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995. His book, A Fathers Story: My Fight for Justice Against Iranian Terror, has just been published and is available on Amazon.com.
Dear Editor:

Hadassah, The Womens Zionist Organization of America, Inc. is deeply saddened to learn of the sudden and untimely passing of Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein zl, founder and director of the International Fellowship of Christians & Jews.

Rabbi Eckstein was a true friend of Hadassah, an ardent supporter, and a generous donor to and champion of Hadassah Medical Organization, and our other projects in Israel. Just two nights ago, he was an honored guest at a Hadassah International event at HMO.

On Jan. 2, Rabbi Eckstein (whose last name means cornerstone) helped lay the cornerstone for the new Rehabilitation Center at Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus, unveiling The Lokomat, a state-of-the art robotic treadmill machine donated by the IFCJ.

Rabbi Ecksteins strong connection to HMOs treatment philosophy of bridges to peace, offering equality of medical service to all who walk through its doors, resonated deeply with him. Since his founding of the IFCJ in 1983 to build bridges of goodwill between Christians and Jews, Rabbi Eckstein raised over $1.4 billion in donations for Israel. He exemplified selfless, compassionate humanitarian service to G-d, Israel and the Jewish people. We will remember him as a man of great warmth, with a spirit of generosity and passion for service to Israel.

On behalf of HWZOA, I extend my most sincere and deepest condolences to the Eckstein family. May they be comforted among the mourners of Zion & Jerusalem.

Ellen Hershkin, Hadassah national president
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 15)  President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a legislation that will provide election candidates additional discounts for political advertisements on radio and television.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on Friday confirmed Duterte has approved the "Act Providing for Reasonable Rates for Political Advertisements."

The Senate in October approved Senate Bill No. 1985, which will require higher discount rates for political advertisements in the two platforms during the elections.

The action is seen to provide candidates the "chance to share their platforms" to the public as well as to "pave the way for more informed voters."

More details to follow. This is a developing story.
(JNS)Is the effort to combat the BDS movement much ado about nothing? Given the abject failure of the campaign to boycott, divest and sanction Israel to harm the economy of the Jewish state or even to get American universities to endorse their efforts, there are those who consider all the fuss made about the issue a mistake. Much of the organized Jewish community has been treating the battle against BDS as a priority. That includes an effort geared towards lobbying state legislatures and now the U.S. Congress to pass laws that prevent those complying with such boycotts from doing business with the government.

Critics see this as a waste of time that gives the BDS camp too much credit and far too much attention. Even worse, some see the push against BDS as doing real damage to the pro-Israel cause since they believe that support for measures that are viewed by some liberals as an attack on free speech is bound to not only fail, but will also help alienate younger Jews. They argue that the focus on BDS is likely to help convince this demographic group, where support for Israel is already faltering, that being pro-Israel is incompatible with being a progressive.

Yet the answer as to why BDS matters is being provided by one of its most prominent advocates: Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). Tlaib has been in the news of late as a rookie congresswoman who has been making quite a splash in her first weeks in Washington.

She became a hero to the anti-Trump resistance by saying in a speech that she promised, Were gonna impeach the motherf*%&*#er when referring to the president. The comment earned her rebukes from even some mainstream voices for language that lost her party the high ground in the debate about civility. But it endeared her to her partys base, which is hungry for politicians who will wage war on Trump and the Republicans.

The Palestinian American from suburban Detroit also got publicity for the map in her new office that was altered to label Israel as Palestine. Given her statements opposing a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict, it was hardly a surprise to learn that she favors wiping the Jewish state off the map, literally and figuratively. But her contribution to the debate about anti-BDS laws illustrated the link between BDS and anti-Semitism.

Responding to a tweet by Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) opposing the anti-BDS bill on free-speech grounds and because Democrats are against considering any measures not related to ending the current government shutdown, Tlaib unleashed her vitriol on the bills supporters.

They forgot what country they represent. This is the U.S. where boycotting is a right & part of our historical fight for freedom & equality. Maybe a refresher on our U.S. Constitution is in order, then get back to opening up our government instead of taking our rights away.

Of course, its legal to boycott anything you dont like. Just as no one can or should be prevented from speaking out against Israel. Even the most vicious anti-Semitic libels are legally protected when it comes to free speech, provided they arent linked to violence. But organized commercial boycotts rooted in bias are illegal. BDS is a campaign of discrimination against the one Jewish state on the planet and therefore anti-Semitic by definition.

But in case the obvious link between anti-Semitism and BDS went unnoticed, Tlaib reminded us of this with her dual-loyalty smear by talking about what country supporters of the bill are representing.

This invocation of a traditional meme of Jew-hatredthat Jews are not loyal citizens of the countries in which they livewas too much even for some who share her antipathy for Trump. The Jewish Democratic Coalition condemned it as offensive. The Anti-Defamation League agreed. So did the American Jewish Committee, which rightly pointed out the hypocrisy of someone who has more or less wrapped herself in the Palestinian flag, criticizing supporters of Israel.

The point here is that Tlaibs comments matter for the same reason that BDS is important. BDS is a flop with respect to isolating Israela nation with a booming First World economy, and growing ties even in the Arab and Muslim world, as well as in Africa and Asia, places where it was once shunned. But in spite of its lack of success, BDS has lent a measure of false legitimacy to those who would engage in anti-Semitic rhetoric. BDS is worth fighting because its real target isnt Israel, but American Jews and their right to stand up for their beliefs without fear of insult and intimidation.

As weve seen on college campuses, wherever the BDS movement raises its banners, acts of anti-Semitism follow. So it should surprise no one that in a debate about banning discriminatory commercial conduct aimed at Jews and their state, opponents would choose to play the dual-loyalty card.

The question now is not the future of the anti-BDS bill. Passage may be stalled by the standoff on the government shutdown. But once that is resolved (something that may not happen for a long time given the unwillingness of Trump and his opponents to compromise), its likely that the bill may pass with bipartisan support since many Democrats, as well as the Republicans, support it. Indeed, Tlaib may have pushed some Democrats who were wavering into supporting it.

The ensuing issue is whether Tlaib pays any sort of price for her use of anti-Semitic invective. It remains to be seen whether her status, along with her fellow pro-BDS colleague, Somali American Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), as a young Democratic rock star and a symbol of the fight against the president is so strong that not even open anti-Semitism will cause the party to avoid censuring and abandoning her. If not, the country will have taken another step towards a partisan abyss of hate that should be deplored, no matter what you think about Trump.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNSJewish News Syndicate. Follow him on Twitter at: @jonathans_tobin.
Schindlers List waffle fries taken off Aussie restaurants menu

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)A restaurant in Australia removed Schindlers List waffle fries from its menu following a complaint by a Jewish customer.

The manager of The Arc at Nobbys, located on the Gold Coast of Australias eastern coast, apologized to the customer who brought the Holocaust-themed item to her attention on Friday, and said the restaurant would print new menus.

The Schindlers List friesat $15 an orderwere one of several items on the menu named after blockbuster movies, The Daily Mail reported Monday. Other films referenced on the menu included Pulp Fiction, The Terminator and The Godfather.

I cannot express how disturbed, uncomfortable and in plain shock we were both in after reading the menu, said the customer, whom the The Daily Mail identified only as Lisa of Melbourne.

The manager was apologetic after I had explained to her why the name of the dish is extremely offensive, and she assured me that it would be changed to something else, she said.

She also lodged a complaint with Australias Anti-Defamation Commission. Its chairman, Dr. Dvir Abramovich, called the incident hurtful and insensitive, and said it would leave most gasping.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pledges to look into allegations of Jeremy Corbyns anti-Semitism

By Ron Kampeas

WASHINGTON (JTA)Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told a Jewish writer that she would reach out to discuss allegations that Jeremy Corbyn, the British opposition leader, is anti-Semitic.

Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, wrote Monday on Twitter that he had spoken with Ocasio-Cortez.

Lets build a movement across borders to take on the billionaires, polluters and migrant baiters, and support a happier, freer and cleaner planet, he said.

The tyro lawmaker replied that the conversation was lovely and that she and Corbyn shared a great hope in the peace, prosperity, and justice that everyday people can create when we uplift one another across class, race, and identity both at home and abroad.

Elad Nehorai, a Brooklyn-based writer who explores Jewish themes, replied to Ocasio-Cortz, I hope youll take a look at the amount of Jews trying to call attention to Corbyns long, documented history of anti-Semitism. The lefts blind spot in this regard can still be fixed. But we need leaders like yourself to listen.

Ocasio-Cortez thanked Nehorai.

We cannot and will not move forward without deep fellowship and leadership with the Jewish community, she said. Ill have my team reach out. She signed the tweet with a heart icon.

Some 85 percent of British Jews believe Corbyn, who has long associated with Palestinian radicals and in at least one case a Holocaust denier, is anti-Semitic and they say he is responsible for a hostile environment in a party that for over a century was a natural home for Jews.

Dozens protest Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)Dozens of protesters got the Israel Philharmonic Orchestras weeklong tour of the United States off on a sour note.

The demonstrators from Adalah-NY, the New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel, carried signs and chanted outside of Carnegie Hall in New York during a fundraising brunch on Sunday that was followed by a performance.

The signs read BDS, Whitewash Apartheid Orchestra and Israel fiddles while Palestine burns.

The orchestra is in the United States to play concerts in New York, Florida and Michigan.

Israel begins construction of 40-mile-long steel barrier to surround Gaza

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)Israel has begun construction on a 40-mile-long steel barrier that will surround the Gaza Strip in an effort to prevent terrorist infiltration.

The construction of the 20-foot-high barrier was announced Sunday by the Defense Ministry. The barrier is slated to be finished by the end of this year. It will connect to the new sea barrier being built by the Israeli army.

The barrier will have sensors to provide a warning if an infiltrator attempts to breach it. It sits atop a wall reaching several yards underground and is meant to prevent terror tunnels from being dug from Gaza into Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday called the barriers necessary to prevent the infiltration of terrorists into our territory.

Israeli study finds cannabis improves autism-related symptoms in teens

(JNS)A new Israeli study shows that more than 80 percent of children with autism-related symptoms who took cannabis oil enjoyed moderate to significant improvement in their condition.

A six-month study at Ben-Gurion University in the Negev and Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva found that 30 percent of patients reported significant improvement and 53.7 percent of patients reported moderate improvement regarding symptoms such as seizures, tics, depression, restlessness and rage attacks after taking the cannabidiol-rich treatment with an addition of 1.5 percent THC on a regular basis.

The study, funded by medical marijuana firm Tikun Olam and titled Real Life Experience of Medical Cannabis Treatment in Autism: Analysis of Safety and Efficacy, tested 188 teenagers on the autism spectrum between 2015 and 2017.

After treatment concluded, 66.8 percent of patients said they had a good quality of life, compared to the 31.3% who identified their lives as such prior to the report, and 63.5 percent said they were in positive moods, as compared to 42 percent prior to the beginning of the study.

The authors lauded the success of the study and said they want to move on to double-blind placebo-controlled trials.

5 Palestinians arrested after crossing into Israel from Gaza

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)Five Palestinians who crossed into Israel from Gaza were arrested and held for questioning.

The men were stopped by Israel Defense Forces soldiers at the security fence in southern Gaza on Sunday morning, the IDF said. They were carrying a variety of knives and a wire cutter. They were turned over to the Israel Security Agency for questioning.

They have not been identified, the Palestinian Maan news agency reported.

Earlier on Sunday morning, two Jordanian citizens were arrested after they entered Israel illegally. They were not carrying weapons. They also were turned over to the Israel Security Agency for questioning.

On Friday, about 10,000 Palestinians protested along the Gaza border with Israel. The demonstrations turned violent, with protesters burning tires and throwing rocks and explosives at Israeli soldiers. The soldiers responded with tear gas and live fire, injuring 23 Palestinian protesters.

Foul ball struck and killed Jewish woman at Dodger Stadium

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)A California Jewish woman died four days after being hit in the head by a foul ball at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Linda Goldbloom, 79, died Aug. 29, ESPN reported Tuesday, citing a Los Angeles County coroners report. The incident had not been reported in the media.

Goldbloom, a mother of three and grandmother of seven, was a true fan of the Dodgers, her daughter said. She and her husband of 59 years, Erwin, had a 10-game season ticket plan for the past 10 years.

The coroner said the cause of death was acute intracranial hemorrhage due to history of blunt force trauma and cited Goldbloom being hit in the head with the ball at Dodger Stadium as the cause of the injury.

Though not reported by news outlets, the family said in an emailed death announcement, While the end came suddenly by a foul ball at Dodgers (sic) Stadium, she had a long beautiful and blessed life.

The accident happened in the top of the ninth inning during a game against the San Diego Padres, according to ESPN. Goldbloom was taken to the hospital and had emergency brain surgery. She was unconscious and on a respirator for three days before the family allowed her to be taken off, per wishes she had made known before the accident, according to the report.

Erwin Goldbloom turned down his chance for Dodgers postseason tickets and did not renew his subscription for 2019, according to the report.

Mr. and Mrs. Goldbloom were great Dodgers fans who regularly attended games, a team spokesman told ESPN. We were deeply saddened by this tragic accident and the passing of Mrs. Goldbloom. The matter has been resolved between the Dodgers and the Goldbloom family. We cannot comment further on this matter.

The family plans to establish a fund in her memory to assist victims of such accidents and their families.

The Bands Visit to close in April

By Gabe Friedman

(JTA)The Bands Visit, a musical set in an Israeli village that won 10 Tony Awards last year, will end its Broadway run on April 7.

The New York Times reported that although the play was relatively successful on Broadway and has booked a national tour to begin in June, it failed to draw a large enough audience to sustain an extended run.

[I]ts delicate tone and subtle story line proved a tough fit for brassy Broadway... where ticket-buyers are mostly tourists drawn to shows with more pizzazz or bigger brand names, Michael Paulson wrote.

The show, which won the Tony for best musical, depicts an encounter between a group of Arab musicians and residents of a small fictional Israeli town, and drew rave reviews from critics. It was adapted from a 2007 Israeli film by Eran Kolirin.

Three of the shows leadsKatrina Lenk, Tony Shalhoub and Ariel Stachelwon Tony Awards for their performances, in addition to its director, composer and book writer.

Likud Party members vote for Knesset candidate list ahead of April 9 elections

(JNS)Likud Party members took to the polls on Monday to set the partys Knesset list ahead of general elections on April 9.

The party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu puts 142 candidates in front of 120,000 registered members from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at 113 polling stations across the country.

Each eligible voter is entitled to choose 12 representatives, who will be added to the list of spots picked by Netanyahu, district candidates, new immigrants and young candidates, and slots reserved for women.

Official results are expected to come in on Wednesday morning, after votes are counted at polling stations, and then again manually at Kfar Maccabiah.

Netanyahu and Putin to meet in Moscow on Iranian threat in Syria

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin later this month.

The Feb. 21 meeting is being billed as a follow-up to the November face-to-face the two leaders had in Paris. They will talk about Iranian efforts to establish a military presence in Syria, Netanyahu said in his announcement Tuesday during a meeting with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen.

Its very important that we continue to prevent Iran from entrenching in Syria, Netanyahu said. In many ways weve blocked that advance and were committed to continue blocking it, preventing Iran from creating another war front against us, right here opposite the Golan Heights. This is the main subject I will be discussing with President Putin.

In September, Russia blamed Israel for the downing by Syria of a Russian reconnaissance aircraft following an alleged Israeli airstrike on a Syrian airbase near Latakia. Israel used the Russian plane as cover for its mission, Russias Ministry of Defense charged.

Israeli tank hits Hamas target in Gaza after rockets fired on southern Israel

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)Israeli tank fire struck a Hamas military position in Gaza following a rocket attack on Israel.

A rocket fired from Gaza landed in southern Israel late Wednesday night, triggering the Color Red alert system. A second alert was triggered minutes later but no rocket landed, leading to reports that it landed in Gaza territory. No one was reported injured in the attack.

About an hour later an Israeli tank struck the Hamas position in southern Gaza, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Upstate New York yeshiva set on fire and painted with swastikas

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)A yeshiva in upstate New York was set on fire and swastikas were spray painted on the building.

The incident at the Yeshiva Yoreh Deah, located on a former farm in White Sulphur Springs, occurred on Jan. 28 but was first reported by the Rockland/Westchester Journal News on Wednesday afternoon.

Two barns on the property of the yeshiva, which combines education and farming, were damaged and numerous swastikas were painted on the walls.

The incident is being treated as a hate crime, state police spokesman Steven Nevel told the Journal News.

Calls to the yeshiva went unanswered while a representative for the affiliated Congregation Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim declined to comment.
WASHINGTON (JTA)The U.S. Senate approved in a 77-23 vote a bill that codifies $38 billion in defense assistance to Israel and which provides legal cover to states that target the boycott Israel movement.

The bill, sponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., had stirred controversy because a number of Democratic senators said that while they oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel, they were also concerned that state laws aimed at BDS impinged on speech freedoms.

Among the Democratic dissenters were declared presidential candidates like Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California. Non-declared but likely presidential contenders who voted included Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sherrod Brown of Ohio who voted against; and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota who voted for. The sole Republican voting against was Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Rubio, writing Wednesday in The New York Times, defended the bill against charges that it would violate free speech. Democrats supporting the anti-BDS component included Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

The bill now goes to the U.S. House of Representatives where the Democratic majority will break it up into its components, and its leadership is likely to bury the anti-BDS section while advancing the other components.

In addition to the money for Israel and the proposed anti-BDS laws, the bill intensifies sanctions on Syrias Assad government and reinforces ties with Jordan.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee praised the Senate for passing the bill and defended the anti-BDS component and urged the House to bass all the bills provisions. The legislation has no impact on the right of Americans to personally boycott Israel or oppose Israeli policies, AIPAC said. The bills scope is limited to commercial activities between companies and state and local governments.

The American Civil Liberties Union complained that the Senate chose politics over the Constitution and trampled on the First Amendment rights of all Americans.
NEW YORK (JTA)When New York State liberalized its abortion law last week, the Catholic Church and Southern Baptist Convention unsurprisingly released statements slamming the action.

And they were joined by two large Orthodox Jewish religious organizations: the Rabbinical Council of America and Agudath Israel of America. The RCA is the umbrella group for centrist Orthodox rabbis. Agudah represents haredi Orthodox Jews.

Jewish law opposes abortion, except in cases of danger to the mother, read the RCA statement issued Tuesday. Most authorities consider feticide an act of murder; others deem it an act akin to the murder of potential life.

The RCA maintains that abortion on demand, even before twenty-four weeks from the commencement of pregnancy, is forbidden, the statement continued. There is no sanction to permit the abortion of a healthy fetus when the mothers life is not endangered.

The Agudah in its statement Tuesday declared that Jewish tradition teaches that a human fetus has status and dignity, and that abortion is prohibited in the vast majority of pregnancies.

Both groups said their statements merely reflect age-old Jewish legal opinions on when and how it is permissible to terminate a pregnancy. They also said they are not nearly as absolute as Christian groups on the issue.

Abortion, however, isnt usually at the top of the Orthodox Jewish establishments legislative agenda. Whats different now is that a distinctly liberal abortion law has been passed in a state with a large number of Orthodox Jews. And it comes at a time when the Orthodox Jewish world is moving to the right politically and voting along the same lines as conservative Christian communities.

As you go to the right [religiously], you see people whose politics are more in line with those of the political right, said Rabbi Mark Dratch, executive vice president of the RCA. What our statement does is give a very centrist, traditional understanding of what the issues of abortion are thats divorced from the politics of it.

One other major Orthodox organization, the Orthodox Union, demurred from commenting on the issue.

Because of the complexities involved with the halachic aspects of abortion, the OU has long refrained from lobbying on laws governing these issues, the group told JTA in an email.

Agudah and RCA emphasized that they are not opposed to abortion in all cases, as Catholic and evangelical groups tend to be. Both said that Jewish law not only permits but in some cases requires abortionfor example, if the expectant mothers life is threatened. And both said abortion could be permitted in other cases as well, like if it would prevent serious psychological harm to the expectant mother.

Under New York States new law, called the Reproductive Health Act, there are no barriers to abortion in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion is allowed until the end of the pregnancy if the womans life or health is in danger, or if the fetus is not viable. And abortion is decriminalized and moved into the states health code.

This conflicts with traditional Jewish law, called halacha, Agudah and the RCA said. Some Jewish legal opinions consider abortion to be murder, while others say it is prohibited either as damage to the mother or as a waste of a potential life. The two Orthodox groups said abortion is prohibited for non-Jews as well because the Torah prohibits murder for everyone, not just Jews.

Halacha permits, indeed requires, a Jewish woman to terminate her pregnancy if there is any reasonable concern for her life, even, some major decisors have explained, if the concern is psychological in nature, Avi Shafran, Agudahs director of media relations, wrote in an email to JTA.

Otherwise, abortion is forbidden (though not necessarily considered murder, as some other faith systems feel). From a public policy perspective, the devaluation of even potential human life is a societally unhealthy one. It will perforce spill over to the devaluing of all human life.

Agudah has consistently opposed abortion in most cases. The statement noted that the group opposed the landmark Roe v. Wade decision permitting abortion nationally. And the Orthodox Union also opposed New York states 1970 law permitting abortion, which the new law replaces.

But Rachel Fryman, an Orthodox social worker on Long Island, supports the new law because it will remove some hardship from what already is a difficult decision for Orthodox women. Before the law passed, Fryman said, women who received rabbinic guidance to have a late-term abortion would have had to travel out of state and find a new health provider. Now they can have the abortion in-state.

As a clinical social worker, a frum woman who has experienced infertility and multiple pregnancy loss, who has asked [for rabbinic guidance], I do not understand why this statement was necessary, Fryman said, using a Yiddish word connoting religious observance. When a woman has consulted with a rabbi and been given the religious recommendation to have an abortion, this gives her the opportunity to do it locally, without the emotional and financial hardship of finding a provider and having to travel out of state.

Both Shafran and Dratch said that all decisions about abortion should come after a conversation between a woman and her rabbi. For Rabba Sara Hurwitz, president of Yeshivat Maharat, an Orthodox seminary that ordains women clergy, that case-by-case sensitivity is why no statement is the best option for Orthodox organizations.

Hurwitz, who emphasized that she was speaking only for herself, pointed toward a 1990 statement from the RCA on abortion that she felt was more nuanced. The statement opposes abortion in most cases but [t]akes note of the different values of the many religious communities in America that are often at variance with one another, in the nature of a politically pluralistic society. It also [p]roclaims that neither the position of pro-life nor the position of pro-choice is acceptable to Halacha.

This weeks statement from the RCA, Hurwitz said, may make Orthodox women afraid of seeking out the necessary guidance when considering whether they should have an abortion.

The process and the decisions that go into a woman needing an abortion are complex and need to be carefully considered between the rabbi, doctor and family in any womans life, she said. To have a concrete, black-and-white statement doesnt allow for nuance, and I think it scares women from being able to seek out the care and help they may need, and to me thats dangerous.

This weeks RCA statement, said Rabbi Sarah Mulhern, seems to adopt the language of the Christian right. Mulhern, a faculty member at Shalom Hartman Institute, a Jewish think tank, noted the statement uses the phrase abortion on demand and speaks of abortion in terms of murder.

Mulhern said most Jewish legal authorities dont see abortion as equivalent to murder.

I think the categories of personhood and murder are not really the native categories the Jewish discourse has used to evaluate the ethics of abortion, she said, also speaking personally and not on behalf of her institution. The statement, Mulhern said, seems to import the language of the normative American right. I dont think its the most helpful and I wish they would have made different choices.

But Dratch of the RCA said his organizations statement differs from the strictly prohibitive language of the Christian right, and that womens needs are a core part of any conversation about abortion.

Whats important to us is to understand facts and what our tradition tells us, he said. On this issue our position differs significantly from the Catholic Church or others on the right who are opposed to abortion in all circles. Were not deaf to the impact on women in terms of their emotional and physical health.

Very little Jewish discussion of abortion is black and white. Just as Orthodox groups do not advocate a blanket prohibition on abortions, the liberal Reform Jewish movement does not condone abortion in all cases, says Reform Rabbi Audrey Korotkin.

While Reform Judaism says that Jewish tradition clearly prioritizes the life of the expectant mother over that of the fetus, Korotkin said the movement would discourage using abortion as a form of birth control. But as a matter of public policy, the Reform movement has repeatedly opposed any legislative limits on abortion access.

Its not just that the womans life is in danger, said Korotkin, a member of the Reform Central Conference of American Rabbis Responsa Committee. There could be a situation of extreme illness, extreme emotional health. We believe that women ought to have access to the full range of reproductive medical services.
(JNS)The University of Vermont chapters of J Street U and Students for Justice in Palestine launched a simultaneous attack on the pro-Israel community at the school last week.

On Friday, the two groups released corresponding letters blasting the Hillel on campus for accepting funding from the pro-Israel group Maccabee Task Force, which will use some of the monies to organize a trip to Israel for students.

In their letters, which closely followed the same message, SJP slammed the UVM pro-Israel community for a refusal to listen to Palestinian voices, while J Street U denounces it for an omission and erasure of Palestinian voices.

Additionally, SJP rebuked UVM Hillel for creating an unsafe environment, while J Street U condemns it for enabling unnecessary divides.

Both groups also attacked MTF for not providing the Palestinian narrative on their trip.

J Street alleges that the MTF trip obfuscate the reality for many Palestinians by omitting the narratives of Palestinians living in Gaza and Area C of the West Bank who bear the brunt of Israeli military occupation and blockade, while SJP charges that MTF offers a guided tour of Israel designed to bewilder them with the complexities of the region so they will step back from any on-campus activism and leave it to the experts.

This insidious tactic is designed to obscure the ease of access that we all have to information in the Internet age and is rooted in a refusal to listen to Palestinian voices, many of whom have lived in occupied territory for most or part of their lives, and who share their experiences freely and fully online and on campuses throughout the country, continued SJP.

The groups condemned MTF, which combats BDS on campus, whose views are not aligned with theirs. SJP advocates for BDS on campus, including through pushing for resolutions calling on their respective college or university to separate from its interests in the Jewish state. While J Street has claimed that it does not support BDS, it has partnered with groups such as SJP that do.

MTF refuted the accusations and invited them to join them on its trip to Israel.

For years, J Street has told the American Jewish community that the only way to convince students to support Israel is to embrace their critique of Israel. Weve proven them wrong, MTF executive director David Brog told JNS. Weve shown that sharing the reality on the groundwarts and allpersuades any reasonable student to shun the one-sided scapegoating of Israel behind BDS. Instead of fighting us, these students should join us. The door is open.

J Street U did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Noah Pollak, the executive director of the Emergency Committee for Israel and a UVM graduate, told JNS that J Street has had a problematic history of not supporting pro-Israel students in their fight against BDS.

J Street presents itself as a progressive bulwark against campus BDS, but the reality is the opposite. Time and again J Street U chapters have supported BDS resolutions and activists, attacked pro-Israel students for their opposition to BDS, and worked with BDS groups to bring anti-Israel programming to campuses, he said.

Pollak expressed concern regarding the latest development of J Street U and SJP attacking the pro-Israel community at UVM.

Now J Street has joined SJP to encourage students to boycott trips to Israel. J Street and its campus chapters are a major part of the BDS problem.

UVM Hillel executive director Matt Vogel told JNS that the trip to Israel, called UVM Perspectives, is an unprecedented opportunity for Jewish and non-Jewish students to have an immersive, first-hand experience with the people, places, and issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This is a trip that many students have asked us for, to hear from people with a wide range of perspectives and experiences, including Jewish, Muslim, Israeli and Palestinian leaders and scholars, he continued. We believe the best way to address these issues is through dialogue and experience, not petitions. More than 80 campuses have participated in this trip over the last three years with more than 1,500 student leaders engaging in complex and nuanced dialogues.

Vogel added that MTF is one of many organizations across the spectrum of perspectives that support diverse Hillel programming on Israel. Hillel works with a range of partners that support various aspects of our work engaging students in Jewish life, learning and Israel.
(JNS)-After a 21-month-long vacancy awaiting the appointment of the U.S. State Department's Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, the Trump administration has picked Iraq War veteran and attorney Elan Carr to fill the position.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the announcement, and with it said that "promoting human rights and religious freedom, including by combating anti-Semitism everywhere it exists, is a U.S. foreign policy priority that furthers our national interests of stability and democracy. We will not stand by in the face of oppression. We will work to stamp out prejudice and condemn hatred in all of its forms."

His first assignment will be traveling to Slovakia and Belgium from Feb. 5-7.

Carr told JNS, "I hope I make the difference. At the end of the day, all that matters are results and impact. And that's what I pray-that I should have an impact on this terrible [problem]."

Carr, 50, arrived in Baghdad in October 2003 and served as an anti-terrorism officer in a unit under U.S. Central Command.

He participated in Jewish life in the army, including having a Passover seder to leading Friday-night Shabbat services to lighting the Hanukkah menorah in the former palace of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. It was there that Carr's grandfather sat behind bars in 1948 for five years in response to Israel's founding; he was convicted on a fabricated charge of disseminating Communist propaganda and calling Muslim witnesses "liars," according to his grandson.

"My mother remembers him coming to the door with shaving cream on his face when they arrested him," Carr told The Times of Israel in 2013, adding that she "remembers vividly the hysteria."

In 1950, while in prison, the rest of the family moved to Israel, where Carr's father eventually joined them. There, Carr's mother underwent army service in intelligence, followed by studying for a graduate degree in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies in New York City, where she met her husband.

Carr grew up in New York and was educated at a Jewish day school, traveling to Israel annually.

However, he has recognized the Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter at the University of California, Berkeley, for helping to shape his Jewish identity.

"To be part of an organization that is profoundly connected to Jewish nationhood, the brotherhood of Am Yisrael ['the Jewish people'], is eye-opening, awakening," he told The Times of Israel.

After graduation, he earned a law degree from Northwestern University. Carr then practiced litigation at a prominent New York law firm and, in the 1990s, assisted in creating Israel's initial public defender's office.

In Iraq, where he served until 2004, along with analyzing threats and recommending actions, Carr served as a judge advocate in the American military's judicial system, prosecuting enemy combatants before Iraqi judges at the Central Criminal Court.

Since returning to the United States from Iraq, Carr served as a criminal gang prosecutor with the Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney's office.

Carr, a Republican, unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2014 against Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu.

He lives in L.A. with his wife and two daughters.

'He understands the history, as well as the challenges'

The Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism is not subject to Senate confirmation, as it is not an ambassador-level position.

However, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill last month that would elevate the status of the position to that of an ambassador, thereby requiring Senate confirmation.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who introduced the measure, did not respond to a request for comment on Carr's appointment.

Nonetheless, the Jewish community applauded the selection.

"Elan Carr is a very good choice. He has been devoted to the issues relating to anti-Semitism for many years," Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told JNS. "He understands the history, as well as the current challenges. I am confident he will work assiduously to address the rising tide of anti-Semitism abroad."

"There is mounting evidence of increased anti-Semitism coming both from the right and the left. Today, there is growing political, as well as social, anti-Semitism that reflects the overall growth of anti-Semitism in Europe," continued Hoenlein. "We in the United States need to watch these patterns carefully, and learn from past and current experiences in Europe to fight anti-Semitism effectively."

AEPi Foundation executive director Andy Borans told JNS that Carr is "absolutely the right person for the job."

"There's probably nobody better on the planet than him for this post. His lifelong commitment to serving both the United States and the Jewish people is legendary. He is a committed Jew and pro-Israel advocate, and is smart as a whip. He is an extremely successful prosecutor," said Borans.

"We offer our heartfelt congratulations to Elan Carr, a close friend of the Israeli-American Council, as he steps into his crucial role," said IAC CEO Shoham Nicolet. "This appointment is an important milestone for our community, and we stand behind [Carr] in his role defending not only the Jewish people, but also the values of America and the free world."
(JNS)-The decision last week by the Boston Jewish Community Relations Council to pass a resolution declaring that any member organization supporting the BDS movement could be expelled from the council has generated a wider discussion among Jewish leaders as to where to draw red lines when it comes to Israel.

The resolution-adopted overwhelmingly by a vote of 62-13 with eight abstentions-resolves that no member of the JCRC "shall partner with-in particular by co-sponsoring events primarily led or co-led by, or by signing on to statements primarily organized or co-organized by-a self-identified Jewish organization that declares itself to be anti-Zionist." The resolution was primarily in response to a move by one of its members, the Boston Workmen's Circle, which has aligned itself with the anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace group.

David Bernstein, president and CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs-an umbrella group of Jewish community relations network made up of 125 community relations councils and 17 national Jewish agencies-told JNS that his organization fully supports the move by the Boston JCRC.

"[It] is very in line with what JCPA would do as well. We would not support an organization that openly embraces BDS or denies Israel's right to exist, coming or staying in our network," he said.

Ron Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, applauded the work of Boston JCRC and its executive director, Jeremy Burton, for navigating such a loaded issue.

"I have tremendous respect for Jeremy and the Boston Jewish community-one of the leading and most innovative JCRCs in the country. Over the years, they have tackled very difficult issues, and I'm sure the decision was done in an inclusive manner and a thoughtful manner," he told JNS.

Barry Shrage, who served for more than 30 years as president of Boston's Combined Jewish Philanthropies and is now a professor at Brandeis University, told JNS he was "very proud" of the decision made by the JCRC.

What the decision by the JCRC did was to set a red line for the Jewish community as to where it should stand on certain issues. In this case, Jewish groups that partner or embrace anti-Zionism is outside of the so-called Jewish "big tent."

The Boston JCRC decision 'should set a precedent' for Jewish community

Calls to remove the Boston Workmen's Circle from JCRC began to mount last summer when the group signed a petition organized by the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace group.

The JVP-led petition criticized efforts by supporters of Israel to "target organizations that support Palestinian rights, particularly the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] movement."

A statement released by Burton noted that the Boston Workmen's Circle's decision to align with the global BDS movement "triggered questions and concerns within our coalition, given our long-established view that support for BDS is contrary to our mission."

As such, that alignment led to a months-long investigation by JCRC's membership committee involving its large network and member organizations, which culminated in the vote on Thursday.

For its part, the Boston Workmen's Circle slammed the resolution, saying in a statement by its board of directors that the decision "conflicts with traditional Jewish values that respect diversity of opinion and encourage robust, honest and inclusive dialogue."

"It sets a dangerous precedent of condemnation by association by placing a political litmus test on Council membership based on partnerships."

Shrage believes that the decision by the Boston JCRC may set a precedent for the wider Jewish community on how to handle decisions by member organizations that may partner or align with groups that are deemed anti-Israel, anti-Zionist or anti-Semitic.

"It allows for everyone to take a look at the issues in a serious way," he said. "I think it should set a precedent; I don't think many communities would have a problem with it."

Nevertheless, Halber contends that each Jewish community and its representative organizations are unique-both geographically and demographically-and what occurred in Boston may be different than what other communities face.

"I think that often when a certain JCRC takes an action, that question [of precedent] naturally comes up. The reality is that JCRCs-whether part of a federation or on their own-are autonomous and represent their own communities," he said.

He added that it does "provide guidance if this situation replicates itself in the future. Does that necessarily mean if Boston went one way that every other JCRC would follow suit? Not necessarily."

Halber, who said that his own community hasn't really had to contend with one of its own members aligning or partnering with an anti-Zionist group, said that this could indeed be a future challenge. "This is all very new, and the situation they dealt with was rather unique. Time will tell whether it really is a local issue that Boston had to deal with or whether something other JCRCs could extrapolate from."

Judaism's changing nature in America

The Jewish community has always wrestled with its place in American society. Like many other religious groups in the country over the decades, those in the Jewish community have become increasingly secular and assimilated into the broader American culture. Leaders have attempted to grapple with how to maintain a Jewish identity amid this trend.

That has had a polarizing effect on the community, especially when it comes to younger generations who shy away from religious practice for a more universal approach to the world. While Orthodox Judaism has maintained its ranks in tight neighborhoods and clustered communities, more liberal streams of Judaism-Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Humanistic-and unaffiliated secular Jews have gravitated towards social justice and progressive politics under a general umbrella of tikkun olam, the healing or repair of the world.

Shrage explained that while it's important for the Jewish community to be particularistic and universalistic in its approach, that doesn't mean the Jewish community should give up on its own identity.

"The Jewish community can be particularistic with a concern about Israel, Jewish identity and Jewish education, but at the same time, universalistic and express concern about immigrants, human rights and related issues," he said. "Our credentials as a community that cares deeply about tikkun olam and the world are clear, but that doesn't mean giving up our own claim on our own identity and our claim on Israel. Those things are not to be sacrificed."

"The bottom line is we are a community that is Zionist," he said. "And we are happy to welcome anyone in our tent that is straightforwardly Zionist. We are here to fight for its [Israel's] existence; we believe in its existence and we believe in what Israel means to the Jewish people and our struggle over thousands of years. That is not negotiable."

Nevertheless, in recent years there has been growing concern regarding how Jewish communities should handle both Jewish individuals and organizations that are avowedly anti-Zionist. In 2018, the Jewish community in Durham, N.C., came under scrutiny for employing activists with the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace group.

Additionally, groups such as IfNotNow-an anti-Israel group that has drawn headlines for pushing the Palestinian narrative at Jewish summer camps, as well as accosting Birthright groups at airports-have many members who are graduates of very same Jewish institutions, including summer camps, Birthright and campus groups, they now seek to question, undermine or even abolish.

Similarly, Boston Workmen's Circle, which has deep roots in socialism that was prevalent among early Jewish immigrants from Europe, has now taken on this mantle of extreme progressive politics that has become a bridge too far for most of the mainstream Jewish community.

"I think this is most painful for JCRC because in a way, the Workmen's Circle is a storied organization with their focus on the disappearing secular Yiddish culture and their outreach to individuals who may not have chosen other forms of Jewish education," noted Shrage. "But on the other hand, when they choose to align themselves with inherently anti-Israel or anti-Zionist or non-Zionist groups, it means that they chose not to be part of what is virtually a wall-to-wall Zionist commitment of the Jewish people."

Halber said the goal of the groups such as the JCRC is to not be the thought police of the Jewish community.

"We are here to broaden the table-to bring people into the community and provide a space for them. I deal with everyone from the Americans for Peace Now to CUFI [Christians United for Israel]. And I have no problem working with both groups. That's a testament to both the broad table and nuance we are able to bring," he said.

"We are interested in expanding the tent, not closing the tent. One event doesn't make a relationship, but it would definitely create internal debate in the JCRC if one our member organizations were involved in a consistent relationship with an anti-Zionist group," he said.

Shrage added that Judaism has many different components-religious, spiritual, social-but that is also has a deep commitment to the idea of a Jewish people.

"There are 7 million Jews living in Israel. Anything that endangers them really endangers every part of the Jewish identity."
(JNS)Over the past decade, the Boston suburb of Newton has been beset by controversy over how the conflict in the Middle East is being taught in its public schools.

The concern over anti-Israel bias in the school system began in 2011, when a Newton resident complained to school officials regarding the use of a supplemental text called The Arab World Studies Notebook, which contained false and defamatory anti-Israel sentiment. While the school board eventually removed the textbook, accusations and further evidence of anti-Israel bias within the school system have continued, reaching a fever pitch during a Newton School Committee hearing in late November 2018.

Unfortunately, faculty and school officials havent been open and accountable to the public, including to parents, Andrea Levin, executive director of CAMERA, an international fact-checking organization that monitors the media. At a November public hearing, the school committee voted unanimously against transparencythat is, against allowing the public to know what materials are being used in the classroom.

Whats happening in Newton schools is part of a trend in public schools nationwide, said Miriam Elman, a professor of political science at Syracuse University

While the debate over how to teach the Middle East conflict has consumed this quaint Boston-area suburb, home to one of the largest Jewish communities in Massachusetts, there has also been concern that the issues plaguing Newton are part of a wider national trend of anti-Israel sentiment seeping into high school classrooms across the country.

At a Jan. 28 event hosted by CAMERA at the Jewish Community Center in Newton, a panel of experts examined both the issues with curriculum in Newton, as well as other instances of anti-Israel bias in K-12 education that may be affecting younger students perception of Israel.

Miriam Elman, a professor of political science at Syracuse University and the new executive director of the Academic Engagement Network, said Newton is not alone in the use of anti-Israel materials within its school system.

Whats happening in Newton schools is part of a trend in public schools nationwide, she said.

In an article published in JNS in January, Elman and Levin noted that the anti-Israel ideologies are trickling down to high schools, which they term a negative feedback loop.

Not only does anti-Israel hostility on college campuses influence the next generation of high school teachers, but these high school teachers are in turn sending kids up to college with a misinformed view of Israel, said Elman.

One of the problems, she explained in her talk, stems from Title VI under the Higher Education Act, which provides federal funding for international-studies programs such as Middle East Studies departments found at universities throughout the country that have been accused of anti-Israel bias.

The campus watchdog group AMCHA Initiative published a list of more than 200 anti-Israel Middle East Studies professors at departments through the country.

Young teachers, trained in humanities departments with an anti-Israel message, are taking those messages into public-school classrooms. The consequence is that, more and more, students are arriving on university campuses with grossly distorted views of the Jewish state, said Elman.

As part of the Title VIs requirements, departments have to do outreach to K-12 as part of the programs funding, she added.

In turn, often these outreach programs to K-12 schools will sometimes include BDS groups or speakers.

Teachers use the Internet or workshop packets that are not vetted

Elman pointed to one example in the Los Angeles Unified School District, where a voluntary workshop titled Learning About Islam and the Arab World was organized by the LA chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FORUSA), an interfaith organization that supports the BDS movement.

Similarly, in Newton, concern has been raised over the Middle East Day program, where BDS speakers and an anti-Israel film were screened, according to Levin.

Following the May 2018 Middle East Day program, the Boston chapter of Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Community Relations Council wrote Newton Superintendent David Fleishman expressing concern over the quality and credibility of films and resources that were used.

Unfortunately, when we recently reviewed whats being taught in the classroom, we found demonstrably false and one-sided information with a clear ideological bent against Israel, said Levin.

Were also very concerned that BDS-supporting guest speakers have been invited to addressunchallengedlarge groups of students on school grounds. All the while, the superintendent is telling parents that any claims of anti-Israel bias are baseless. Its very problematic.

Elman said oftentimes, what remains the most problematic are outside content and speakers.

She said that while textbook publishers are generally responsive to issues regarding anti-Israel bias found in their material, teachers, knowingly or unknowingly, will use anti-Israel materials in their classrooms.

Often, materials teachers use from the Internet or workshop packets that are not vetted, she noted. Most teachers are unwitting participants in the negative feedback loop.

As such, Elman said that efforts to combat anti-Israel bias need to start in the middle or high schools.

Major Jewish organizations were slow to recognize and respond to anti-Israel activity on college campuses. My fear is that, once again, theyre not adequately responding to this negative feedback loop that is occurring between high school and college, she said. Its the new frontier in anti-Israel activism. Newton is a case study of it.
The AIPAC Policy Conference is the largest gathering of Americas pro-Israel community, and will be held this year March 24-26 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

Through demonstrations of groundbreaking Israeli innovations, keynote speeches by American and Israeli leaders, inspiring moments on stage and intimate educational sessions, Policy conference delegates experience the full scale of pro-Israe activism in three days. The conference culminates with the delegates opportunity to lobby their members of Congress in support of legislation that enhances the relationship between the Unites States and Israel.

This is the biggest and best pro-Israel event this year, said Michael Brehne, chairman of the Orlando Executive Council. Attendees have the opportunity to hear from legislators from both parties about the bipartisan legislation they support. Learn about the threats facing Israel and how they are being addressed and interact socially with others in the pro-Israel community.

The Convention Center is located between 7th and 9th Streets and N Street and New York Avenue. Phone: 202-249-3000. Register at https://sforce.co/2DTkvcl

For more information, contact Michael Brehne at aipac@brehnlaw.com or Marc Sachs, AIPAC North and Central Florida director, masachs@aipac.org.

Pre-policy conference meeting March 7

Michael Brehne, who took over the position as chairman of the Orlando Executive Council from Marc and Laurie Smith, will hold a pre-policy meeting on March 7 at the Roth Family JCC, at 7 p.m. This meeting is for those who will be attending the conference and plan to lobby.

Brehne will discuss effective ways to discuss issues with members of Congress.

Brehne has lived in Altamonte Springs for over 20 years, and his two children attended the Hebrew Day School. He joined AIPAC several years ago and serves in the congressional club and on the national council where he lobbies in Washington, D.C., three times a year.
(JTA)-To the many employees and partners of Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, who died Wednesday at the age of 67, he was a man of vision whose enormous drive to succeed both facilitated and complicated his relentless efforts on behalf of the Jewish people.

As head of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, or IFCJ, the New York-born rabbi raised more than $360 million in donations-mostly from Christians-for projects benefiting needy Jews and Arabs in Israel and beyond.

To many thousands of ordinary Jews and Christians whose lives he touched without ever meeting them, Eckstein was something of a guardian angel, heading a powerful machine that offered everyday assistance and was able to intervene quickly in emergencies, in creative ways cutting through the red tape characteristic of some other Jewish aid groups.

The impact left by Eckstein, who died of cardiac arrest at his home in Jerusalem, was reflected in the glowing eulogies that mainstream Jewish groups offered within hours of his death.

"He was a tireless worker for the Jewish people and for Israel, and he made significant contributions by fostering evangelical support for Israel," wrote Jonathan Greenblatt, national director of the Anti-Defamation League.

Eckstein, who grew up in Canada and moved to Israel in 1999, began his involvement in interfaith dialogue with the ADL in 1974 and started the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews in 1983. Using television advertising, his tremendous charisma and tireless outreach legwork in the United States, he made unprecedented headway in raising funds for Israel and Jews in crisis situations among evangelicals.

He also pushed back against Jewish leaders who distrusted evangelical support of Israel. "[T]he majority of evangelicals are passionately pro-Israel because it is part of their theology to love and support the Jewish people," Eckstein wrote in 2002. "I could not accept the conditional love of those who expect a payback on behalf of my people. I could not embark on a relationship that would compromise my personal integrity and ideals or that of the Jewish community I represent. But having been the first-and most often the only-Jew to build bridges with the right-wing Christian community, I have a view and understanding of their pro-Israel fervor that most people 'on the outside' lack."

Israel's influential Tzohar rabbinical group called him a "visionary whose leadership enabled tremendous support for the state and people of Israel, and his actions bettered the lives of countless people all over the country."

Isaac Herzog, the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, wrote on Twitter that the Jewish people have lost "a leader who worked tirelessly on their behalf."

Eckstein was ordained at Yeshiva University in New York, and held master's degrees from Yeshiva University and Columbia University, where he also completed studies for his doctorate.

One of his three daughters, Yael, works at the IFCJ as global executive vice president.

Despite the posthumous embrace, Eckstein had a thorny relationship with the Jewish establishment most everywhere he went. Critics considered him a tacky manipulator of public opinion with a mercurial temper and an overgrown ego.

Most recently he clashed publicly with the Jewish Agency, to which his group had donated many millions of dollars over the years. The funding stopped in 2014 amid a fight over recognition for the IFCJ by the agency and Eckstein's long-held reservations about the agency's efficiency in fulfilling its main task: facilitating immigration of Jews to Israel, or aliyah.

That year, Eckstein had the IFCJ start its own aliyah operation. He offered every new immigrant a $1,000 grant on top of benefits offered by the Jewish Agency. And he helped bring thousands of immigrants from Ukraine during its conflict with Russia, France, Venezuela, Yemen and other trouble spots for Jews.

But Eckstein's outreach to Christians to make that happen made him a pariah for many years for Israel's Chief Rabbinate.

In 2001, Israel's then chief Ashkenazi rabbi, Avraham Shapira, published a letter condemning Eckstein's use of Christian money to "expand Christian missionary propaganda." Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, an influential haredi Orthodox Talmud scholar, signed a letter forbidding cooperation with Eckstein, calling it "close to idolatry."

Eckstein, who dismissed the Chief Rabbinate's attacks as not worthy of a response, angered some of his nationalist critics with his group's support to the tune of millions of dollars for Israeli Arabs, Christians and Muslims.

Despite repeated conflicts over the years with establishment figures and bodies, the scale of Eckstein's work made his organization too big to ignore or sideline, forcing even his most outspoken critics to work with him or get out of his way.

Thanks to Eckstein, "today so many Christians from around the world stand in fellowship with Israel," Rabbi Tuly Weisz, an author and publisher of the Israel National News website wrote in an obituary. "We, Jews and Christians together, mourn the tragic loss of a true bridge builder."
Submitted by the family

Marion Daitzman, predeceased by her husband, Ira Daitzman of Orlando, Fla., passed away peacefully on Jan. 27, 2019, at the Hospice of the Comforter in Altamonte Springs, Florida. She was 84. Marion was born April 30, 1934, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Samuel and Ida Eisen, most recently of Orlando, Florida.

The essays Marion wrote in her youth reveal a young woman who knew her own mind. Some frequent topics included her family, friends and future husband to whom she was happily married for 64 years. She also wrote of her love of music and her piano. Even in her teens, she was a strong advocate of civil and womens rights. Activism continued throughout her life, writing letters, signing petitions, contributing financially and attending functions for the benefit of people and causes that she strongly supported.

In the 1970s Marion began volunteering with the Council for Continuing Education for Women. The volunteering grew into her profession as a counselor, as the CCEW grew into the first structured Displaced Homemakers program in the USA. In the 1980s her role expanded to include programs to introduce young women to jobs which were not traditionally thought of as jobs for womenairplane engine repair, HVAC repair, carpentry, etc., which paid higher wages.

Marions top priorities throughout her life were her family and her community. She took care of her mother, who lived to be 103, while maintaining active relationships with friends, family and her synagogue, always acting as the link that kept everyone in touch with each other. She raised her children to be strong, independent and unique.

With a big, welcoming smile on her face and a sparkle in her eyes, she opened her heart to everybody in the community. She was authentic and honest, always willing to help others and was well respected by her community. Marion and Ira were members of Temple Israel of Central Florida for close to 60 years.

Marion is survived by her daughters, Lynn (Mark) Fenster of Orlando, Fla., and Gerri (Mark) Lifshitz of Scarsdale, N.Y., and her son, Michael (Lesley) Daitzman of Boston, Mass .; 5 grandchildren: Avraham (Sara) Lifshitz, Rachel (Mordechai) Greenspan, Jesse (Katie) Lifshitz, Sam and Jacob; and 5 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Gladys Haber; brother-in-law Myles (Maxine) Daitzman; sister-in-law Janice (Richard) Wentz, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

A graveside service was held Jan. 29, 2019, at Beth El/Cedar Park Cemetery in Paramus, New Jersey.

Memorial donations may be made to Temple Israel of Central Florida, 50 S. Moss Road, Winter Springs 32708; Jewish Pavilion, 421 Montgomery Road, Suite 231, Altamonte Springs 32714; Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando, 2100 Lee Road, Winter Park 32780; or the Ira Daitzman Memorial Loan Fund in Israel, https://bit.ly/2DjJcxv.

Arrangements entrusted to Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel, 640 Lee Road, Orlando FL 32810. 407-599-1180 http://www.bethshalommemorialchapel.com
Harriet G. Katz, age 98, of Lake Mary, passed away peacefully on Friday, Feb. 1, 2019, at Oakmont Village at Lake Mary. A New York native, she was one of twin daughters born on Oct. 19, 1920, to the late Abraham and Cecelia Kaufman Gross.

Harriet was happiest being known as a wife and mother. She was fiercely proud of her husband, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and she treasured all of her family connections. The great love of her life was her husband Lou, to whom she was married for nearly 54 years. They moved first to Daytona Beach in 1941, and later to Orlando to open Oelkers Millinery on Orange Avenue. Harriet never pretended to be a cook or homemaker. She was a great saleswoman and she and Lou managed their stores in Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville for decades.

Always involved in synagogue and Jewish community life, she was a Life Member of Hadassah and, with Lou, was a Founding Member of Temple Israel. She is the last of the founding matriarchs of the synagogue.

Harriet loved to socialize, and she and Lou invited family and friends to their home on Ann Arbor Street in College Park most Sunday afternoons. Harriet enjoyed a party and a good time, and she enjoyed telling her stories. She was a good card and game player and enjoyed bridge, canasta and Mahjong throughout her life.

Her family was number one. She is survived by her sons, Charles Dick (Nancy) Katz of Longwood and Dr. Michael Katz (George Russ) of Raleigh, N.C., and her grandchildrenBrian (Marnie), Jana Shear, Eli and Chloe (Michael) Grant. She is further survived by her great-grandchildrenEthan, Hadyn, Taylor, Alexandra and Jared. She was predeceased by her husband Lou in 1994, her twin sister, Lucille Leichter, and her brother, Jack Gross.

After a long and healthy life, Harriet died very loved by the family that was so important to her.

Funeral services and interment were held at Temple Israel Cemetery, Gotha, with Rabbi Joshua Neely officiating. In memory of Harriet G. Katz, the family requests contributions to Temple Israel Cemetery Fund, 50 S. Moss Road, Winter Springs 32708. http://www.tiflorida.org

Arrangements entrusted to Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel, 640 Lee Road, Orlando FL 32810. 407-599-1180 http://www.bethshalommemorialchapel.com.
Lone soldiers in Israel are going to be less lonely due to support from UCF students.

Back in November, a group of like-minded University of Central Florida students conceived of an idea to raise awareness on campus about the IDF's lone soldier program.

According to the IDF's lone soldier website, "there are over 6,300 lone soldiers currently serving in the IDF. About 45 percent of these soldiers are new immigrants, coming from Jewish communities all over the world. Another 50 percent are Israelis who are orphans or that come from low socio-economic backgrounds."

Each year, hundreds of UCF students travel to Israel where, depending on the provider they choose, they get to spend either four to 10 days with Israeli soldiers on their bus. This "mifgash" is a hugely impactful experience for both the soldiers, as it is for the participants. Often times, students return to campus thinking about those soldiers and how they might feel if they were trying to endure under the same circumstances.

One such student is Riley Shurack, a prominent student leader in the Pro-Israel community at UCF. Shurack attended a packaging event through UCF's premier pro-Israel student organization Knights for Israel nearly two and a half years ago. That event created over 60 care packages that were subsequently sent to lone soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces. This year, through enhanced effort to engage the community, as well as greater student involvement, more than 200 care packages were created.

Student organizations like Mishelanu, a student organization for Israelis at UCF sponsored by the Israel American Council in Orlando, joined donors like the Rosen Hotel in donating materials and time to produce the gift packs. In addition, Mishelanu student leader Osher Ostroff, created a GoFundMe page to raise $1000 to cover the contents of the care packages, as well as the shipping fees to Israel. With the help of social media and word of mouth, they were able to surpass their goal, raising over $1,500.

Shurack shared: "I really wanted to give back to those who risk their lives everyday to defend the State of Israel. I wanted to make this event more meaningful than before, bringing together Knights for Israel, IAC Mishelanu, and Central Florida Hillel. I knew they would help in various ways and bring more awareness to the Greater Orlando Jewish community for a pro-Israel cause."

Supporting Shurack's efforts was Nirit Gelfer, Central Florida Hillel's Israel Fellow, a joint program of Hillel International and the Jewish Agency for Israel. Gelfer grew up in Israel and has been working closely with all of these organizations to help create successful events like this that raise awareness about life in Israel. Gelfer spoke at the event about the Michael Levin Center for Lone Soldiers, where the more than 200 packages are being distributed, and explained the goals of this Center which are bringing a sense of home to lone soldiers knowing that their families are not there to support them through the struggles of being a lone soldier with no local support system.

"From a personal perspective, I have such a special place in my heart for people who did not grow up in Israel and still choose to serve in the IDF," Gelfer stated. "I am thinking there is such a value in the students support and willingness to give. I found this event to be really meaningful, fun, and informative."

The same night, attendees were heard from Roni Weil, a lone soldier who had just finished her service in the IDF. Weil, who was born in Israel and moved to the states at age 5, stated that "returning to Israel wasn't an easy decision." Weil joined the IDF after graduating Winter Park High School through Garin Tzabar, an Israeli scout program for non-Israeli's making aliyah to serve in the IDF.

More than 200 care packages were put together for the lone soldiers.

"Many lone soldiers are actually Israeli," Weil mentioned. "Many Israeli's grew up in homes where the IDF was not accepted. Israelis who left their home before they could get support from the IDF. It's important to understand that as we prepare and send these packages, that we aren't just sending them to ordinary lone soldiers, but also to lone soldiers that don't have the same family structure that other soldiers from more typical family backgrounds enjoy"

Sharon Weil, Roni's mother, also attended the event, but had a different way of looking at it. "It was really special for me to see the community coming together to make packages for lone soldiers, especially as I remember my daughters being on the receiving end of those packages and how much they appreciated getting them and just knowing that someone cares out there."

To learn more about how you can support Hillel's efforts to support pro-Israel students, please contact Jennifer Waldholz, jennifer.waldholz@centralfloridahillel.org.
Israeli special needs youth...

I read this in the World Jewish Congress digest (WJC) and share it with you:

"The WJC recently brought a first-of-its-kind delegation of special needs youth from across Israel to Poland for an educational mission to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. The mission was arranged by WJC President Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder at the initiative of WJC-Israel Chairman Gad Ariely, in cooperation with the Welfare Department of the Modin-Reut-Maccabim municipality, Akadem House for autistic children and adults, Nitzan Modi'in, and the Center of Autism Treatment and Research.

'Jewish tradition teaches us the dangers of forgetting who we are and where we come from,' Ariely said. 'The commandment to 'remember' is one of the oldest tenants of Jewish tradition, and its significance has never been lost. WJC-Israel is proud to take part in this mission of strengthening Jewish memory. We hope that this mission will help our youngsters learn more about themselves and strengthen their sense of belonging to the Jewish people.'

The aim of the mission is to ensure that special needs students are given the same Holocaust education as other members of Israeli society. In preparation, the students underwent a series of meetings and educational workshops in Israel, including at Yad Vashem.

Upon arrival in Poland with a staff of trained aides, the delegates visited the historic Jewish Quarter of Krakow and the site of the wartime ghetto, attended a special dinner at the Krakow Jewish Community Center and spent a day at Auschwitz-Birkenau, which ended with a moving ceremony in memory of the six million Jews who perished and the singing of Israel's national anthem.

For nearly 30 years, Amb. Lauder has stood at the forefront of efforts to preserve Auschwitz as a memorial site and has made the preservation of Holocaust memory a core issue of the WJC agenda.

In Memoriam...

President George H.W. Bush died on Nov. 30, 2018, in his mid-90s.

"President George H.W. Bush was a genuine American hero and a true friend of the Jewish people and the State of Israel," said WJC President Ambassador Lauder. Noting "the instrumental role he played in making possible the dramatic airlift to freedom of Ethiopian Jewry, and his unwavering assistance in enabling Soviet Jews to emigrate," he added that President Bush was also responsible for revoking the scurrilous UN resolution that equated Zionism with racism. "Despite occasional disagreements, President Buish was a firm ally of the State of Israel and worked tirelessly to achieve an end to the Israeli-Arab conflict.

As an American, I also stand in awe of his leadership and determination during the first Gulf War that saw the effective end of Saddam Hussein's threats against the Jewish state.

President George H.W. Bush embodied the values of decency and patriotism at their finest."

Speaking of U.S. Presidents...

I want 13-year-old SOPHIE SCHAKED to run for that office as soon as she comes of age! (Actually I would like her to run for president now!)

Sophie is an 8th grade student at Lake Highland Preparatory School where she is president of middle school student government. She recently won the title of Miss Florida Jr High School America and will compete with 49 others in Little Rock, Arkansas this summer. She also won National Spokesmodel title for the USA Ambassador System.

Sophia is also a cheerleader and is active in musical theater. She does commericals, film festival production, and performs at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. She's also a photographer and creator and director of the show "You Sparkle"Pageant at the Orlando Union Rescue Mission helping young girls walk and speak with confidence and to share their inner sparkle.

Sophie is a madrachim Sunday School teacher at Congregation Ohev Shalom synagogue, a volunteer with the Jewish Pavilion, Ronald McDonald House and Coalition for the Homeless... and with all that, she also attends overnight camp at Camp Louise Jewish Camp in Maryland for the past six years!

(I'm exhausted just writing about all the things Sophie's involved with! And, she is a truly beautiful girl, inside and out!)

JCC39ers Cinema Sundays...

On Feb. 17th, the movie "Father Figures" will be presented in the JCC Senior Lounge, Maitland, beginning at 2 p.m.

Refreshments will be available.

JCC39ers Meet & Mingle Mondays...

On Feb. 18th at 1 p.m. in the JCC Senior Lounge, Maitland, SUSAN BERNSTEIN will present a program about "The Jewish Pavilion."

Refreshments are included with the presentation.

The Winter Park Playhouse...

The Mainstage Series presents "Aint Misbehavin," celebrating the humor and talent of Fats Waller. The show is filled with high energy singing and dancing, It began on Jan. 25th and will be performed through Feb. 23rd.

For ticket and other information, phone 407-645-0145.

One for the road...

Immediately following his expensive private operation, Victor awakes and sees his surgeon standing near his bed. He says to the surgeon, "Well, how did it go then?"

"Victor," replies the surgeon, "I have some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is that we were able to save your testicles."

"Good," says Victor, "and what's the bad news?"

"They're under your pillow in a plastic bag," replies the surgeon.

(Oy vay, a sick joke if I ever heard one!)
Jewish Disabilities Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month is a unified effort among Jewish organizations worldwide to raise awareness and foster inclusion of people with disabilities and those who love them.

JDAIM is observed each February. But the truth is, while it brings the issues of disability inclusion to the forefront, inclusion is something we must focus on all year long. In our quest to include every member of our community, we would do well to pay attention to the following ancient examples of accommodation.

The Torah begins by telling us we are all created in Gods image. If everyone is created in the image of God, we have the responsibility to make sure that every single personeven those who differently abledhas equal opportunity to participate and feel accepted.

In the Book of Exodus, we read about Moses, our greatest leader and a man with many abilities, and numerous challenges. We know he had some sort of speech impediment.

A famous story about Moses is the one with the burning bush. When asked to lead the Israelites, Moses initially objects, saying you got the wrong guy! He is heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue, a phrase that has led many rabbinic interpreters to assume he spoke with a stutter or lisp. In response, God affirms Moses many capabilities and notes that his brother, Aaron, can offer any support Moses needs to fulfill his responsibilities.

The message is clear: Moses did not seek a miracle or a distraction from his true predicament. He dug his heels into his reality and presented himself honestly to God. I am heavy of mouth and tongue. Perhaps, he speaks on behalf of every man or woman who possesses a disability. These are the facts; we have everything to giveif society can learn to move past natures constraints and facilitate our abilities.

Throughout the year we see an emphasis on inclusion.

We begin the Passover Seder by opening a door, ha lachma anya, or inviting in the hungry, the needy, and the enslaved. We offer the matzah as part of that welcomeit is a beautiful message offered freely and inclusive to all. We read about the four sons, each representing a different type, a cross section of the Jewish nation. What links the four together, despite their very different personalities and levels of observance, is the fact that they are all an intrinsic part of the Jewish people. During Passover, we celebrate with them, as they collectively join us at the Seder table.

At Shavuot, when God gave the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai before the nation: It didnt matter if a person was young or old, male or female, abled or disabled. Mt. Sinai was and is for everyone, and if one member of the Jewish nation would not have been present at Mt. Sinai, the Torah would not have been given.

During Sukkot, we celebrate this unity in an even more concrete way, as we join together joyously in sukkahs, which include and embrace Jews of every kind, and perform the mitzvah of the Four Kinds (lulav and etrog), symbolizing the fact that despite differences in Torah knowledge and observance, we are all bound together by our souls Jewish identity and core connection to God.

Finally, we arrive at Shemini Atzeret. On this day, we express Jewish unity not in a passive sense (standing together in prayer) or even a symbolic sense (shaking a lulav); we demonstrate it through an experiential, concrete act that encompasses our entire being, from our head to our feet. We do it through the act of dancing, and more specifically, dancing in a circular formation, as is customary in Jewish tradition.

The inclusion of all Jews is the backbone of a flourishing Jewish community, and in the spirit of Jewish unity that the holiday of Shemini Atzeret so embodies, it is a ripe opportunity to shine a light on the importance of ensuring that every Jew, including those with disabilities, feels welcome in the festivities of the holiday.

So lets ensure that every Jew feels welcome and included in the celebration of our most precious gift: our connection to God, to the Torah, and to the entire Jewish nation.

Yossi Kahana is director of Jewish National Funds Task Force on Disabilities, an umbrella and coordinating body for the various JNF programs and partners for people with disabilities in Israel.
Peter Franchot

The Herald-Mail

In the Feb. 9 article published by Herald-Mail Media (Franchot takes aim at alcohol regulation bill, Poole says refocus), former Del. Bruce Poole made comments about my Field Enforcement Division (FED) and the current legislative effort to remove this nationally recognized regulatory division  comprised of dedicated law enforcement officers and inspectors  from my agency. A correction of the record is warranted, to say the least.

Mr. Poole, formerly the chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, led a task force that was legislatively mandated to study whether or not alcohol regulation should be transferred from my agency  where it has resided since 1936  to a new, independent state agency that is not only unnecessary, but costly to taxpayers. To be clear, this effort amounts to nothing but political retribution for my advocacy on behalf of Marylands craft brewing industry.

Now, Sen. Ben Kramer of Montgomery County, who sponsored the legislation to establish the aforementioned task force, has introduced a bill to strip my agency of regulatory authority over alcohol, tobacco and motor fuel.

It is important to point out key facts that would make any objective observer question not only the merits of the legislation, but also the logic behind the Kramer task forces misguided conclusions.

First, the Kramer task force was established to review alcohol regulations and public health concerns in Maryland. Over the course of their deliberations, at no point did any of the members or witnesses question the caliber, the integrity or the results generated by the Comptrollers Field Enforcement Division. In fact, even those with whom we have honest policy differences offered nothing but praise for how these men and women go about their work.

Second, aside from granting FED Director Jeff Kelly the privilege of testifying before this commission last fall, Mr. Poole has never reached out to the Field Enforcement Division, nor has he visited our offices to gain an understanding of their work. He is commenting on a subject that he fundamentally doesnt understand.

Third, as noted earlier, the legislation introduced by Sen. Kramer would not only strip my agency of its regulatory authority over alcohol, but also tobacco and motor fuel. Even though the latter two werent even discussed by the task force and have never been vetted in any way, they were included in the final body of recommendations by this group.

Lastly, the Kramer task force was, under law, supposed to have issued its final report  which would, theoretically, offer context and policy justifications for its recommendations, by Dec. 1. To date, with the bill hearing on Sen. Kramers legislation a week away, that report has not been submitted and there is no evidence that it will be submitted.

Enforcing our states alcohol, tobacco, and motor fuel laws is serious business, and Im proud of the record of accomplishment that my FED agents have delivered on behalf of Maryland taxpayers. Using this critical law enforcement agency as a political pawn is beneath the dignity of the General Assembly, and I urge my colleagues in the legislature to reject Sen. Kramers reckless bill.

Peter Franchot has served as Marylands comptroller since 2007.
Janet Wilson

The Herald-Mail

Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate change, energy and the environment. I'm Janet Wilson, writing to you from Palm Springs, where torrential rain today meant flash floods, water rescues and a collapsed highway. But by 2080, it could feel more like Las Palmas, Mexico, where it's 89 degrees, dry and sunny today. That's according to new research in Nature Communications that allows people to see how U.S. cities' weather will shift due to climate change. New York will feel more like Arkansas, explains Doyle Rice for USA TODAY, while San Francisco will experience weather more like that sprawling sibling they love to hate, Los Angeles.

Here are some other things you might want to know:

MUST-READ STORIES

Check your raincoat at the door. EPA has announced plans to regulate harmful chemicals that leach from water repellent gear, Teflon coated pans, firefighting foam and more into drinking water, as Ledyard King reports for USA TODAY. Environmentalists criticized the move as a stalling tactic to protect industry interests. The process, which could take months or longer, would set a maximum legal limit for Polyfluoroalkyls (PFAS), which have seeped into groundwater that reaches millions of taps. The chemicals are linked to reproductive, developmental, liver, kidney, and immunological effects, contributing to low infant birth weights and cancers.

Green Raw deal? President Trump is having a field day criticizing cow farts and other portions of the Green New Deal, and GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell wants a vote on the carbon slashing infrastructure plan as soon as possible (likely not because he wants it to pass). But its lead author, freshman Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is pushing back against critics after making some gaffes, as King and William Cummings report for USA TODAY.

ENERGY, CLEAN AND DIRTY

Last One Out. California's giant power companies might be forced out of the electric business  and some say that makes sense, writes Sammy Roth with the LA Times. The state's three big investor-owned utilities  Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric  could lose most of their customers to government-run providers called community choice aggregators in the next few years. That could free them up to work on more profitable infrastructure projects, like transmission poles or EV charging stations.

States and cities on both coasts could phase out polluting natural gas plants too. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Tuesday that instead of building three new gas-fired units, $5 billion would be used instead to transition to renewable energy, as Martin Wisckol reports for the Southern California News Group. Garcetti said: This is the beginning of the end of natural gas for this city."

Meanwhile, a report issued Thursday says New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will not be able to make his ambitious clean energy goals if he fails to stop 12 fossil fuel projects from moving forward, Scott Fallon reports for the North Jersey Record. A coalition of environmental groups say four proposed power plants along with eight pipelines and other natural gas infrastructure would increase New Jersey's greenhouse gas output by 30 percent, and would derail Murphy's efforts to power the state entirely by renewable energy by mid-century.

WATER IN THE WEST

Facing cutbacks of Colorado River water, Arizona farmers are looking to pump groundwater to stay in business, which carries its own environmental costs, as Ian James reports for The Arizona Republic.

The Salton Sea, California's largest lake, is both beautiful and dying since Colorado River water imports were cut a year ago, drying up the shoreline and making the water even saltier. All the fish and the millions of migratory birds that fed on them each winter have now vanished, biologists told me in the story for the Desert Sun. There are signs of some new life, and if 15 years worth of restoration projects ever get built, more could return.

County commissioners unanimously rejected a water pipeline through a Denver suburb, saying it would damage wildlife, create traffic and bring no benefits to the area, as Jacy Marmaduke reports for the Coloradoan.

Fingers are crossed in the California burn areas, where evacuations were ordered as storms swept in. But 99 percent of all household hazardous waste has been cleaned up in the Hill and Woolsey fire areas, as the Ventura County Star reports.

AND ANOTHER THING

I'm not always a fan of the cameras near wild animals' burrows that let people virtually lurk. But in honor of Valentine's Day, here's a quick take by my hard-working Desert Sun editor Evan Wyloge that's pretty cute, about two eagles mating in Big Bear, CA this week. Here's to love in all the right places.

And here's this week's carbon dioxide numbers.

That's all for this week. For more climate, energy and environment news, follow me on Twitter @janetwilson66. You can sign up to get Climate Point in your inbox for free here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Climate Point: What your city will look like in 2080, and ditching power plants
The Associated Press

The Herald-Mail

By The Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va.  A multipronged education bill opposed by West Virginia teachers unions passed the House of Delegates on Thursday after lengthy debate.

The House voted 71-29 to endorse a watered-down version of the bill passed last week by the state Senate.

The hottest debate was over the establishment of charter schools, whose proponents said would give parents more school choices.

Charters school laws have been enacted in 43 states and Washington, D.C. The Senate version would establish charter schools statewide, while the House version would limit them to one each in Cabell and Kanawha counties.

Teachers unions have called the legislation payback for a nine-day strike last year and have authorized another statewide action if necessary.

The unions warmed to the House version, but noted that the bill now goes back to the Senate, which must decide whether to accept the significant changes. If the Senate rejects it, the bill would go before a conference committee.

If we can do something for the kids, for that reason alone, I support this bill, said Del. Daniel Linville, R-Cabell.

Unlike the Senate bill, the House version doesnt include education savings accounts for families to pay for private school, language withholding teacher pay in the event of a strike or a requirement that teachers sign off annually on union dues. It also removed a clause that would invalidate the entire legislation if any part is struck down.

The House also added provisions to add police officers in every school and give $1,000 bonuses to teachers who miss four or fewer days of work each school year. The Senate version calls for $500 bonuses.

Both versions also would add hundreds of school-support personnel, including counselors and nurses, and allow county boards of education to increase property-tax levy rates, which first would require voter approval.

Teachers who won 5 percent pay raises after last years strike would get another 5 percent raise under the bill.

The West Virginia Board of Education endorsed the House version Thursday. The board previously recommended breaking up the bills components into separate bills.
Matthew Umstead

mumstead@herald-mail.com

MARTINSBURG, W.Va.  The Berkeley County Board of Education voted 4-1 Thursday night to accept the resignations of two special education teacher aides linked to verbal abuse of children at a Martinsburg elementary school.

Board member Michelle Barnes-Russell voted against the personnel action regarding Berkeley Heights Elementary School teacher aides Kristin Douty and June Yurish.

A special meeting on Thursday spanned nearly two hours, most of which occurred behind closed doors in executive session.

Asked why she voted against the boards motion, Barnes-Russell said, I dont have any comment.

Following the executive session, the board amended its original motion to accept the employees resignations.

The new version also directed Berkeley County Schools Superintendent Manny Arvon to place a report about the circumstances under which the employees resigned in their permanent personnel file and to report the resignations and circumstances to the West Virginia Department of Education.

The board also directed the school district administration to cooperate fully with the Civil Rights Office of the U.S. Department of Education with any investigation of allegations involving the employees.

The teacher aides resignations came a little more than two months after special needs teacher Christina Lester, who was linked to the allegations, resigned, effective Dec. 4.

The allegations originally surfaced in October. Amber Pack, a mother of one special needs student, hid a recording device in her childs hair to document activity in the classroom at the school.

Pack said she became convinced something wasnt right in late September when she went to pick up her child for a doctors appointment and discovered she had been crying a lot.

I thought she hated school, Pack said.

Her daughter and two other children in the classroom have been placed at other schools in the district.

The mothers all of three children said Thursday night at the board meeting that their children have improved substantially since they were placed in different schools. But they and other family members asked the board why employees werent terminated instead of being allowed to resign.

Kasey Murphy said she didnt learn about the reported abuse until a few weeks after the recording was made. She wasnt certain until Nov. 1 that it was documented in her sons classroom.

Florence Blount said she didnt know about the reported abuse involved her daughter until last week, when a friend saw a news report about the allegations.

Thursdays actions came on the heals of moves by Eastern Panhandle lawmakers to introduce legislation in response to the abuse allegations.

Senate Bill 607, as introduced on Thursday, proposes that county school boards be required to provide a camera system in each classroom designated exclusively for special needs students. Authorized parents or guardians of the special needs students must be be able to remotely access the visual feed captured by the classroom cameras.

Protection of our most vulnerable students must be our highest priority, said Sen. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley/Morgan/Hampshire/Mineral, the bills lead sponsor.

Video surveilance not only provides protection of our students, but our teachers as well. It is my hope that surveilances cameras in special needs classrooms will be the first step to providing cameras in all classrooms.

County school boards would be required to have camera systems in place and operating by July 1, 2020, according to the bill, which also is sponsored Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson/Berkeley.

On Wednesday night, the House of Delegates agreed to amend Senate Bill 451, the Comprehensive Education Reform legislation to give school boards the power to suspend or dismiss employees for a finding of abuse by the Department of Health and Human Resources.

SB 451 passed the House of Delegates on Thursday by 71-29 vote. It now returns to the Senate for consideration of the delegates changes to the bill, including the abuse amendment, which was sponsored by Eastern Panhandle Republican Dels. Paul Espinosa, Tom Bibby, S. Marshall Wilson and Daryl Cowles.

Among the Eastern Panhandle delegation in the House, only Sammi Brown, D-Jefferson, voted against the comprehensive education reform bill on Thursday, according to the roll call for HB 451.
Joyce F. Nowell

jnowell@herald-mail.com

GREENCASTLE, Pa.  The Greencastle-Antrim (Pa.) School District soon might be facing a hefty stormwater-control fee to be imposed by the borough of Greencastle.

The borough is contemplating fees to fund federally mandated stormwater-pollutant-runoff reduction and, ultimately, help clean up the Chesapeake Bay.

Were talking thousands of dollars, school district Superintendent Kendra Trail said of the heads-up she recently received from Greencastle officials.

Trail said the district should expect the new fee to impact the last quarter of the current fiscal-year budget that ends in June.

The school district wont be alone in facing the new bill from the borough. All property owners will be subject to the so-called impact fee slated to cover the costs of projects required by the Environmental Protection Agency and administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

I dont want to throw out any numbers yet because its not definitive in terms of specifically the number were looking at, Trail said. It will absolutely impact us financially for years to come, including this current budget.

Borough officials are in the midst of calculating impervious area for individual parcels of land with which the fee will be formulated.

Efforts last year to find a way to fund the mandate were rejected after negative public opinion and a call for an equitable fee structure. Officials want to have the fee in place to be included with first-quarter water and sewer bills.

Most of the school districts property is in the borough, and with four large buildings, the amount of land impervious to stormwater runoff would be considerable. Single-family dwellings wouldnt be affected as much.

Properties with businesses of varying sizes could present a range of possible fees. Churches and other nonprofits also are expected to face the new fee.

The borough has been conducting the property-by-property analysis in house, with council President Steve Miller doing much of the leg work. He said last week that part is nearly complete.

Were in the process of discussions with our solicitor to make sure the plans are being developed as well as possible, he said.

A proposed ordinance allowing the borough to assess the fee was on last weeks council agenda, but it was removed.

In addition to legal counsel, two council committees will vet the proposed fees before consideration by the full council. Public meetings about the fees are to be scheduled as soon as before the end of this month.

In Pennsylvania, there is great latitude that municipalities have to develop the fee structure and how they go about that, Miller said. There is not a prescriptive methodology and, in our case with a small borough, thats very, very good. Were not tied to a particular thing. That doesnt mean its not going to have a very high quality.

Were going to knock your socks off when you see it. Its being done in line with best practices across the nation.
The Herald-Mail

ANNAPOLIS  Local school officials want to know when students charged with reportable offenses in another jurisdiction are transferred to Washington County.

Last year, legislation to require notification died in House and Senate committees.

This year, the measure has crossed its first hurdle: surviving scrutiny by the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.

Sen. Andrew Serafini, R-Washington, sponsored the bill on behalf of Washington County Public Schools. It now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

A companion bill in the House by Del. Paul Corderman, R-Washington, is scheduled for a hearing next week in the Judiciary Committee.

WCPS has sought the bill the past two years because when a student from another jurisdiction is charged with one of these offenses, goes through the juvenile justice system and is placed in a group home in Washington County, theres no legal requirement that school officials are told what the offense or disposition was.

If students already enrolled in Washington County are arrested for one of these offenses, law enforcement agencies must notify school officials.

The school system also is notified if charges are modified or theres an adjudication.

These offenses, as defined by law, range from murder to cruelty to animals.

Under the bill, when a student is in the Department of Juvenile Services custody, the department must notify school officials about the offense  or membership in a criminal gang  as well as the disposition of the charges.

Although the committee made two minor amendments to the original bill, members voted unanimously to take it to the full Senate.

WCPS Chief Legal Counsel Anthony Trotta has told Herald-Mail Media that the bill stemmed from requests by staff members who told him they needed the information to meet those students needs, which could include special services.

Another consideration, he said, is safety for all students.

The measure has support among the states educators, but there is some opposition to it.

The Maryland Office of the Public Defender finds the bill unnecessary, duplicative and confusing, Melanie Shapiro, the offices director of juvenile justice policy, told the committee during a hearing last month.

She said school systems could seek that information under current law. Requiring DJS to report that information overlaps existing law, she said.

But committee Chairman Bobby Zirkin, D-Baltimore, questioned why the school system should go jump through a bunch of hoops to find the information if its available.
Julie E. Greene

julieg@herald-mail.com

It was the Washington County Board of Commissioners turn this week to hear concerns about how lifting a restriction limiting residential development could affect traffic and the view to a southern gateway to the county.

The commissioners heard testimony from five opponents during a public hearing on Tuesday. The hearing was about a Frederick County developers request to lift a restriction limiting development to nine homes on about 24 acres south of Keep Tryst Road, near U.S. 340.

The commissioners received at least nine written comments opposed to the developers request by the time of the hearing.

Both the planning commission and the countys planning and zoning department recommended that the commissioners not lift the restriction. The planning commission also received numerous comments last year opposed to the proposal.

The commissioners did not rule on the request this week.

The developer is not asking to change the zoning, which is rural village, but to lift the nine-lot restriction.

The decision to limit the lots was made in 2003 as part of a compromise. Absent the restriction, county officials at the time were considering zoning the land environmental conservation, which would have allowed one dwelling per 20 acres, county officials said.

The mistake was the land wasnt zoned environmental conservation, said Andrea Norouzi, who lives on Rohrersville Road.

Norouzi said further development would worsen existing problems with traffic congestion and speeding.

Weve become a commuter route and its become a rude commuter route, she said.

The traffic congestion delays the closest ambulance service, in Brunswick, Md., said Frank Nuice of Sandy Hook Road.

Michael Brown, who lives on Sandy Hook Road, said he didnt see precedence anywhere for a suburbia-style neighborhood so close to the C&O Canal National Historical Park. The nearby canal towpath is a leg of the Appalachian Trail.

P Overlook LLLP, related to Frederick County developer Buckeye Development, is the property owner.

The rezoning request stems from a 2016 application to develop 24 lots on the property, said Jason Divelbiss, an attorney representing P Overlook.

The case has been through the courts.

Neither the county zoning board nor the courts ruled on the substance of the matter whether the nine-lot restriction was valid or should have survived a 2005 comprehensive rural area rezoning, Divelbiss said.

The board and courts didnt get that far because they said the developer couldnt base an appeal on a 2006 letter from then-Planning Director Mike Thompson, Divelbiss said. The letter stated the nine-lot restriction was still in place.
The Herald-Mail

ANNAPOLIS  The Washington County Historical Society got a unique wedding gift for Valentines Day.

The Maryland Senate gave its unanimous approval Thursday to a measure to divert part of Washington Countys wedding ceremony fee to the historical society.

The $25 fee is charged when a judge performs a wedding ceremony. Now, $15 of that fee goes to the state.

If the bill passes in the House, as well, the historical society will get $10 of the states share beginning Oct. 1.

The bill passed even though neither of Washington Countys senators was present. Sen. Andrew Serafini, R-Washington, is recovering from knee surgery, and Sen. George Edwards, R-Washington/Allegany/Garrett, was excused for dental care.

Stefanie Basalik, the historical societys executive director, was in Annapolis on Thursday for Maryland Arts Day. She was thrilled to hear the bill was partway to the finish line.

Im so excited, she said. Thats absolutely wonderful news.

Basalik told legislators in December that the bill would bring the society as much as about $4,000.

The money that would come to the historical society is really not only for our organizational stability, but for us to not only continue the work that weve been doing with the community, but for us to have more partners, for us to bring in more community involvement, she told Herald-Mail Media on Thursday.

And we want to be able to hear from people on how we spend this money, she added. So were very happy.

The bill now goes to the House, where Del. Paul Corderman, R-Washington, has filed a companion bill. That bill is scheduled for a hearing on March 7 in the Judiciary Committee.

Also Thursday, the House approved a bill by Del. William Wivell, R-Washington, to require a time limit for surface-mining companies to replace damaged water supplies for properties within a mines or quarrys zone of dewatering influence.

The companies already are required to replace them, but Wivells bill sets a deadline.

A similar bill failed at the end of last years General Assembly. This year, the bill passed the House 138-1.

It now goes to the Senate for consideration.
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Dave McMillion

davem@herald-mail.com

DOWNSVILLE  Fire spread through a garage and partly into a house on Bakersville Road Thursday night, according to a Washington County 911 supervisor.

Firefighters contained the fire at 16816 Bakersville Road after it started to extend into the house, the supervisor said.

No injuries were reported.

The fire was reported shortly after 7 p.m. Firefighters were still at the scene at 8:19 p.m.

The primary department battling the blaze was the Community Volunteer Fire Co. Inc. of District 12, which is Fairplay's fire department.

 Dave McMillion
Dan Dearth

ddearth@herald-mail.com

A Washington County man died after being struck by a vehicle Wednesday night on Longmeadow Road.

Steven Lawrence Herson, 71, was struck by a 2010 Nissan Maxima at about 7 p.m. on Longmeadow Road near Boat America Way, north of Hagerstown, according to a news release from the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

Herson was taken to Meritus Medical Center east of Hagerstown, where he was pronounced dead Wednesday night.

Deputies said Herson was involved in a "call for service" at 7:11 p.m. on Paradise Drive.

While driving along Longmeadow Road, a deputy found Herson lying on the side of the roadway, just west of the Longmeadow Volunteer Fire Co. It appeared Herson, who was wearing dark clothing, had been struck by a motor vehicle.

The deputy gave Herson CPR until an ambulance crew arrived and took over.

A witness told investigators they believed a dark sedan struck Herson and left the area.

About 20 minutes after Herson was found, Anthony Lamar Fugate Jr., 18, of Pennsylvania, approached deputies and said he was the driver of the vehicle.

The Accident Reconstruction Team was called to the scene.

Deputies said the investigation is still in progress.

Adam Hopkins, deputy chief of the Longmeadow Volunteer Fire Co., said traffic conditions can be dangerous along that section of Longmeadow Road.

During the morning rush hour, motorists waiting to turn onto Longmeadow Road might have to wait five or six minutes before getting a break in traffic.

Hopkins said it's probably time for traffic-control measures in the area.

"People fly up and down the road," he said.

The incident marked the third time a pedestrian was killed in that area since November.

Amelia Cesario, 57, died after she was struck by a vehicle Nov. 30 on Boat America Way near the former National Golden Tissue plant in Longmeadow.

On Jan. 3, John Christopher Ramsey, 73, died after he was struck by a vehicle at Northern and Oak Hill avenues in Hagerstown.

Staff writer Dave McMillion contributed to this story
Provo, UT (84601)

Today

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 58F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 58F. Winds light and variable.
Sullivan County Accounts and Budgets Director Larry Bailey said a shelter manager needs to be paid more than $25,000, but less than $50,000. He has helped oversee shelter operations since the county took over on Jan. 1, 2018. Petworks, formerly known as SBK Animal Control Center, operated it from 2011-2017 and still operates the Kingsport shelter.

Board members said they prefer filling the shelter manager position with someone from the region, or at least from Tennessee, so they wont have to worry about paying moving expenses.

They also decided to hire, in the future, an executive director to head up marketing, public relations and fundraising efforts and applying for grant funding. Essentially, the person who is hired will be the face of the shelter.

Work on designing a new logo will begin soon and fundraising efforts are already underway to operate the shelter. Bailey and Mayor Richard Venable previously said they dont expect the board to fully fund the shelter upon taking over, so it will still be funded in the 2019-20 county budget. Bailey said Thursday there is enough money in the 2018-19 budget to pay a shelter manager.
Four of the eight of us were previous Virginia State troopers, Seifried said. I know I speak for anyone who has ever worn the Virginia State Police uniform when I say that there is a very special bond that is formed at 7700 Midlothian Turnpike [the agencys headquarters].

Seifried said that from the first moment recruits arrive in Richmond, they do everything together, including training, fighting, learning, eating, bleeding and crying.

Regardless what basic school you have attended, we have all endured the same thing, Seifried said. We are removed from our blood families for months and have to lean only on each other to help us all reach the goal of earning the prestigious title of Virginia State trooper.

Seifried said VSP training creates a tight bond.

We wanted to make sure that we were able to personally extend our condolences to Trooper Dowells family and remind them that they are still part of our family and just how important both Lucas and they are to us, Seifried said. Our prayers are with them.

Giorgio noted that being a part of the honor guard and participating in the funerals can be emotionally draining, which is why members of his unit are provided plenty of off time. Even though it can be emotionally draining, Giorgio said his unit has a waiting list for volunteers because officers want to honor others, whether in New York, Virginia or anywhere else in the U.S.

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A Meadowview man is facing multiple felony charges after being found with drugs and stolen property.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office received a call about a suspicious vehicle on Thursday. Deputy R.C. Lord spotted a vehicle pulling into a tractor equipment business that matched the description of the suspicious vehicle, according to a news release.

A traffic stop was initiated after the vehicle turned off its lights and began circling the parking lot slowly scanning equipment with a flashlight. The driver, later identified as Johnny Edward Jobe, 43, of Meadowview, gave officers consent to search the vehicle, the release stated.

Deputy Lord located 2.5 grams of methamphetamine, three handguns, two sets of scales, individual plastic baggies and $2,500 in cash. A check of the truck and trailer resulted in the trailer being stolen from North Carolina, the release stated.

Jobe was arrested and charged with felony buying or receiving stolen goods, felony possession of a firearm with a controlled substance, felony possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, felony possession of methamphetamine and multiple traffic violations.

He was transported to the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority in Abingdon and is being held without bond.
ABINGDON, Va.  Officers with the Washington County Sheriff's Office are looking for an Abingdon man accused of stealing a vehicle and leading officers on a chase.

On Friday, police received a be on the lookout call for a stolen white Toyota Tundra. According to a news release, Glade Spring Police patrolman Steve McVey spotted the truck on State Route 91.

A pursuit ensued and the truck ended up pulling off the roadway and getting stuck, according to the release. The driver left the vehicle and escaped police. McVey was able to positively identify the suspect as Derek Joshua Brown, 37, of Abingdon.

He has been charged with felony eluding and driving on a revoked license, fifth offense. Anyone who knows where he is is asked to contact the Glade Springs Police Department or WCSO.
A Kingsport man charged with trying to kill a police officer in Bristol earlier this week was arrested Friday morning in North Carolina.

Billy Stratton, 26, was taken into custody in Thomasville, according to police. The North Carolina Highway Patrol contacted the Thomasville Police Department around 2:20 a.m. Friday asking for help finding a stolen pickup truck that ran on the interstate, police said.

The truck was found abandoned on the interstate around 3 a.m., and police said they found a stolen handgun and methamphetamine inside. The weapon and truck were used in the crimes committed in Bristol, according to police.

Thomasville police received two calls from witnesses about a man trying to steal vehicles. A perimeter was established and a K-9 officer brought in to search.

Almost two hours later, at 8:10 a.m., the suspect was seen behind a business. Stratton was chased through woods and eventually captured in a creek, police said.

Thomasville police are still determining what charges will be placed against Stratton. He is charged in Mingo County, West Virginia, with stealing two vehicles and charged with probation violation in Blountville, Tennessee.
Seasoned economist Dr. Thapelo Matsheka currently campaigning for a parliamentary sit in Lobatse under the ruling party ticket, has applauded President Mokgweetsi Masisis administration for its endevours to prop up local entrepreneurs and companies.

Matshekas sentiments come after the Finance and Economic Development Minister, Kenneth Matambo announced that the proposed expenditure estimates for the year 2019/2020 has 45.1 billion pula budgeted for procurement of good and service.Its a very good but delayed initiative, said Dr. Matsheka on the sidelines of the 2019 Budget Speech presentation, adding that the High Level Consultative Council (HLCC) has already highlighted to President Masisi that parastatals and government institutions are not supporting locals under the ploy citizens do not deliver.

He said the 2019/2020 budget proposals indicate President Masisis commitment to ensure that citizen empowerment becomes central tenet of his delivery.We appreciate the amount of money that has been set aside but what we often find is that institutions that do procurement set themselves for failure by adopting rules that exclude citizen companies, said Dr. Matsheka. Dr. Matsheka further condemned the procurement institutions irrational qualification requirements citing experience clauses, as one of the deliberate stumbling block.These companies with



20 years experience were supported by their own governments to reach those years. The reason why they are here is because they have saturated the market in their domestic economies, said Matsheka, highlighting that government has to deliberately nurture citizen companies to grow into the region. He dismissed notions that local companies are heavily reliant on government. Government expenditure is part of the national income accounting system. There is no way that government that taxes Batswana cannot in-turn, give them work but give work to foreign companies because presumably they have got more years in the market, in their own countries, said Matsheka. The veteran economist challenged the government to further review the combination between startups and expansion of already existing businesses in procuring goods and services.

On privitisation of parastatal which according to minister Kenneth Matambo government will be aggressively pushing, Matsheka said what has been lacking is to push the government entities to business model of operating. I am hoping that the new dispensation will give them latitude. He however warned that some parastatals can never be privatised because they have a social function, adding that the country still has too many parastatals. It is going to be very important that they are looked at and clustered in a manner that allows some to be merged, so that we can streamline operations, said Matsheka.

Meanwhile, Business Botswana, the countrys apex business body has announced that it is ready to fully participate in the economy and utilise the 45.1 billion proposed for goods and services to create employment. However, until we sit down and breakdown the 45 billion and know where it is sitting and how accessible it is, the business community cannot be proactive, said Gobusamang Keebine, Business Botswana President. Keebine said despite the significant procurement budget estimate, BB has its own views and vision, which are being dovetailed close to government initiatives. Commenting on the budget in overall, Keebine said it is an election budget, as opposed to the employment creation line being sold to the nation.
Anderson, IN (46016)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. High 79F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near an inch..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. A few storms may be severe. Low 72F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.
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Retired UFC fighter Paddy 'The Hooligan' Holohan is set to enter the political ring as a Sinn Fein candidate in the forthcoming local elections.

Holohan, one of Ireland's best-known mixed martial artists, will run in the Jobstown area of Tallaght alongside Sinn Fein councillors Dermot Richardson and Louise Dunne.

The Dubliner, who posted the news on Instagram, said he was "honoured" to have been chosen as a Sinn Fein candidate.

Diagnosed

Holohan was forced to retire from the world of MMA in 2016 when he was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder.

"I have lived in the Jobstown community all my life and have worn it proud throughout my career," he said on Instagram.

"It is close to my heart and I want to see it thrive and grow for everyone in it."

He singled out Sinn Fein's group leader on South Dublin County Council for his support.

"Special thanks to Cathal King for all of the help and support he has given me and my team and will no doubt continue his amazing work in Tallaght Central."

Meanwhile, a post on the Tallaght Sinn Fein page described Holohan as "Tallaght's No 1 UFC fighter and entrepreneur".

It said that at the selection convention in Sophia's Restaurant in Killinarden, Mr Holohan was selected to run alongside Cllrs Louise Dunne and Dermot Richardson in the Tallaght South ward.

Sinn Fein currently holds a majority in the council chamber with 10 members.

The elections will take place on May 24 alongside European Parliament elections and referendums.

Holohan became a professional MMA competitor in 2007. He also competed for the Cage Contender promotion and was a competitor in The Ultimate Fighter 18.
The team leading the development of the National Children's Hospital spent 4,442 sending a person to Australia on a fact-finding mission.

The week-long trip took in three hospitals in Perth and Brisbane in November 2017.

They were the Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Brisbane, Queensland, and Perth's Fiona Stanley Hospital and Perth Children's Hospital in Western Australia. They have all been mired in controversy.

With the 1bn Lady Cilento, a report found that sticking to the timeframe led to it opening in 2014 despite risks to patients.

Staff issues such as IT delays, recruitment delays and an infection control concern due to a lack of soap dispensers and hand gel were all noted in an official report.

The Fiona Stanley Hospital was also subject to a parliamentary inquiry after concerns emerged about a number of issues, including workloads and equipment issued.

Delay

The other Perth hospital faced a three-year delay before opening due to construction issues, concerns about water contamination and asbestos.

The construction firm which built it also lodged a claim over the design changing considerably after contracts were signed.

In January 2018, Deirdre Coakley, the National Paediatric Hospital nurse director, gave a presentation to the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) about the trip.

Official records show the board noted the "informative" feedback from each hospital and expressed appreciation for their "open and honest engagement".

A spokesperson said the aim of the visit was to study "major international hospital integration projects that have similarly amalgamated".

This was "to support the approach and decisions relating to the new children's hospital design, the clinical service design for specific spaces and 39 clinical specialties, the commissioning and safe transition of clinical and non-clinical services".

Meanwhile, the comptroller and auditor General Seamus McCarthy told TDs that civil servants on boards of non-commercial State bodies like the NPHDB must bring serious concerns to the Government.

Questions have been raised about the involvement of senior civil servant Paul Quinn - the head of the Office of Government Procurement - who sits on the hospital's development board.

Labour Party TD Alan Kelly argued that Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar were "utterly inaccurate" in saying Mr Quinn was acting in a "personal capacity" on the board.

A Department of Public Expenditure spokesperson said that Mr Quinn is satisfied that the board was "addressing the matter", and this is borne out by the minutes of a Children's Hospital Project and Programme meeting showing the matter was brought to the attention of the HSE and the Department of Health.

It was added that Mr Donohoe had met Mr Quinn and is satisfied that he "discharged his duties appropriately".
Huntington, WV (25701)

Today

Some sun in the morning with increasing clouds during the afternoon. High 87F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. Low 68F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
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PRINCE Michael of Kent presented a new standard to a helicopter unit based at RAF Benson.

A ceremony took place in the Puma Force hangar where 230 Squadrons existing standard was laid to rest and the new one was consecrated.

More than 70 squadron personnel, accompanied by the Queens Colour Squadron Band from RAF Halton, paraded the current standard into the hangar for the final time before RAF chaplain-in-chief, Air Vice-Marshal John Ellis, consecrated the new one.

The parade was commanded by the officer commanding 230 Squadron, Wg Cdr Brad Hewitt.

Prince Michael, who is RAF Bensons honorary air marshal, praised the distinguished history of the squadron, including the ongoing operations in Afghanistan. The squadron reached its centenary in August.

The new standard, which is made of fine silk, shows the squadron badge and is emblazoned with the battle honours awarded since its formation in 1918.

Gp Capt Adam Wardrope, station commander, said: As someone who has commanded a squadron in the past, I know that the squadron standard is something that instils a real sense of pride.

From its history as something that soldiers followed into battle to its current place as a ceremonial centre piece, the standard has a fine tradition, much like that of 230 Squadron.
In a randomized, controlled pilot trial, participants pre-treated with noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation experienced less pain after heat stimulus than mock-treated participants

Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a mental condition caused by a traumatic event. People with PTSD may experience intrusive memories, negative thoughts, anxiety and chronic pain. The condition is typically treated with a combination of psychotherapy, anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications.

Its this connection between mental health and pain that interests Imanuel Lerman, MD, associate professor at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, Jacobs School of Engineering and Qualcomm Institute, and a pain management specialist at UC San Diego Health and Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System.

Lerman especially wants to know how the emotional pain experience may be influenced by the vagus nerve, which runs down both sides of our necks from the brainstem to the abdomen. The vagus nerve also plays a critical role in maintaining heart rate, breathing rate, digestive tract movement and many other basic body functions.

In a study published February 13, 2019 in PLOS ONE, Lerman and colleagues tested noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation as a method for dampening the sensation of pain.

Its thought that people with certain differences in how their bodies  their autonomic and sympathetic nervous systems  process pain may be more susceptible to PTSD, Lerman said. And so we wanted to know if we might be able to re-write this mis-firing as a means to manage pain, especially for people with PTSD. Lerman led the study with Alan N. Simmons, PhD, director of the fMRI Research Laboratory at Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System and associate professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

The team used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to get a look at the brains of 30 healthy study participants after a painful heat stimulus was applied to their legs. To determine how the bodys sympathetic nervous system responds to pain, they also measured the sweat on the skin of participants before the heat was applied, and at several points as the heat increased.

Half the participants were treated with noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation for two minutes  via electrodes placed on the neck  approximately 10 minutes before the heat stimulus. The other half received a mock stimulation.

Lerman and colleagues report three main findings from this study. First, vagus nerve stimulation blunted peak response to heat stimulus in several areas of the brain known to be important for sensory and discriminative pain processing, as well as in emotional pain centers. The treatment also delayed the pain response in these brain regions  pain-related brain regions were activated ten seconds later in participants pre-treated with vagus nerve stimulation than in sham-treated participants.

Second, the sweat measurements revealed that vagus nerve stimulation altered autonomic responses to painful heat stimulus. For participants pre-treated with vagus nerve stimulation, the sweat response decreased over time, in contrast to the sham-treatment group.

Third, vagus nerve stimulation dampened the usual brainstem centers critical for the fight-or-flight-type responses, which are also known to control the sweat response to pain.

Not everyone is the same  some people may need more vagus nerve stimulation than others to achieve the same outcomes and the necessary frequencies might change over time  so well need to personalize this approach, Lerman said. But we are hopeful and looking forward to the next steps in moving this approach toward the clinic.

Next, Lerman and colleagues will launch a Veterans Affairs Healthcare System-funded clinical trial in San Diego with military veterans, with and without PTSD. They want to determine if at-home vagus nerve stimulation can reduce emotional pain and underlying neural inflammation associated with PTSD. To learn how to participate, please call 858-552-8585 or email [email protected]

Vagus nerve stimulation is a form of neuromodulation, an approach to pain management that also includes spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved noninvasive vagus nerve stimulator for the treatment of episodic and chronic cluster headache and acute migraine, as well as an implantable device for epilepsy. An implanted vagus nerve stimulator is now being tested in a clinical trial for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Side effects of implanted vagus nerve stimulation can include hoarseness, shortness of breath and nausea.

Co-authors of this study include: Bryan Davis, Linda Sorkin, James Proudfoot, Edward Zhong, Donald Kimball, Ramesh Rao, UC San Diego; Mingxiong Huang, Charles Huang, Andrea Spadoni, Dewleen G. Baker, UC San Diego and Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System; Bruce Simon, electroCore LLC; and Irina Strigo, Veterans Affairs San Francisco Healthcare System.

This research was funded, in part, by the Veterans Affairs San Diego Health System through the Center for Stress and Mental Health.

UC San Diego
Alcohol, Caffeine, Exercise, Lack of Sleep Are Most Common, UCSF Study Finds

By Scott Maier

A personal survey of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), one of the most important causes of irregular heartbeats, has found that the majority of triggers for the condition are easily modifiable lifestyle choices, including alcohol, caffeine, exercise and lack of sleep.

The findings, identified by researchers at UC San Francisco in collaboration with patients and advocates, indicate potential ways to prevent and reduce AF episodes. The study appears online Feb. 14, 2019, in the journal HeartRhythm.Almost all AF studies have to do with risk factors for the initial development of the disease, said senior author Gregory Marcus, MD, MAS, a UCSF Health cardiologist and associate chief of cardiology for research in the UCSF Division of Cardiology. This study focuses on specific exposures that cause an individual episode to occur.

In AF, electrical impulses in the upper chambers of the heart are chaotic, causing the atrial walls to quiver, rather than contracting normally in moving blood to the lower chambers. As a result, blood clots may form. One in four adults over age 40 is at risk for AF, with a projection of nearly 6 million people in the nation having the condition by 2050.

AF is one of the leading causes of stroke, but often has no symptoms and can remain undetected until a stroke actually occurs. Earlier detection would enable the use of anticoagulation therapy to mitigate the risk of stroke and other complications, such as dementia, chronic kidney disease and heart attack.

Previous research has focused on determining predictors of AF development, which are known to include being older, male and white; having multiple cardiovascular comorbidities; and lifestyle factors such as alcohol and smoking. Little is known about acute exposures influencing specific episodes.

According to Marcus, the idea for this study arose from a group of AF patients, including author Mellanie True Hills, chief executive officer of the patient advocacy non-profit StopAfib.org, and another, Debbe McCall, who has a Twitter following of thousands of fellow patients. They are part of the Health eHeart Alliance, a patient-powered research network involved in the design, conduct, oversight and results dissemination of cardiovascular-focused research projects and supported by the UCSF-led Health eHeart Study.

In the HeartRhythm study, the researchers surveyed 1,295 AF patients from the Health eHeart Study and StopAfib.org, asking them whether they had experienced an AF episode triggered by one of 11 potential triggers that had been identified by an AF patient review board. Participants also could write in their own triggers.

Nearly 74 percent (957) reported AF triggers. The most common were alcohol (35 percent), caffeine (28 percent), exercise (23 percent) and lack of sleep (21 percent).

Younger patients, women and those with AF family history were more likely to report experiencing irregular heartbeats after triggers. On average, patients reported experiencing reactions to two different triggers. Women, Hispanics, those with obstructive sleep apnea and patients with an AF family history reported a greater number of triggers. Patients with AF triggers had a 71 percent lower odds of congestive heart failure and more than a two-fold greater odds of AF family history compared to those without triggers, based on Health eHeart Study data.

Marcus said the study revealed a need to explore the impact of these common exposures on a broad range of AF patients, including a possible connection to underlying genetic differences.

Better understanding of individual-level triggers may help empower patients and represents a novel approach to improving quality of life and reducing health care use for AF, said Marcus, holder of the Endowed Professorship of AF research in the UCSF School of Medicine. For those with an AF family history, understanding gene-environment interactions may reveal novel mechanisms and, ultimately, help to counsel patients regarding the best lifestyle interventions.

The next step, Marcus said, is to launch an app-based study to anyone with intermittent (paroxysmal) AF and a smartphone to systemically test their triggers. Called I-STOP-AF (Individualized Studies of Triggers of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation) and funded by PCORI (Patient-Centered Research Outcomes Institute), the six-week study will include periods of trigger exposure and elimination in about 500 participants and ask them to track AF symptoms along with their exposures. Marcus expects to launch the study this year.

Co-Authors: Lead author Christopher Groh, Madelaine Faulkner, Shiffen Getabecha, Victoria Taffe, Mark Pletcher, Jeffrey Olgin and Gregory Nah, from UCSF. Kathi Sigona, Debbe McCall, Mallanie True Hills and Katherine Sciarappa, of the Health eHeart Alliance.

Funding: The study was supported by PCORI. The Health eHeart Alliance is a Patient-Powered Research Network in PCORnet, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, a PCORI-funded initiative. The Health eHeart Alliances participation in the development of PCORnet was partially funded through PCORI award 137480.

Disclosures: Marcus receives research funding from Medtronic and Jawbone and is a consultant for and holds equity in InCarda. Olgin receives research funding from ZOLL, Myia and iBeat, is a consultant for Novartis and VivaLink, and holds equity in Context AI. McCall receives speakers bureau support from Janssen, SentreHeart and the CardioVascular Clinical Trialists Forum and serves as a patient principal investigator on PCORI and AHRQ funded grants. Taffe previously was a part-time employee for the American Heart Association, Western States Affiliate.

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.
Researchers from The University of Western Australia have developed a new method of detecting blood infection that they hope will dramatically speed up diagnosis and treatment of severe infection.

The research follows last years exciting results from a screening test to detect antibiotic resistance and ensure the right antibiotics can be prescribed quicker.

The time-saving solution known as FISH-flow (since it combines Fluorescent In Situ Hybridisation with flow cytometry) accurately detects bacteria in blood hours before current routine methods can.

Flow cytometry is a powerful laboratory tool that uses lasers, digital electronics and graphic imaging technology to analyse the physical and chemical characteristics of single cells in a liquid, such as blood or bone marrow.

Professor Tim Inglis, Head of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UWA, said the significance of the new method was that it would complement the ultra-rapid method of antibiotic testing his group is working on, to speed up diagnosis and treatment of serious bloodstream infections.

Professor Inglis said the research paper, published in PLOS One, described the application of flow cytometry to early detection of bacteria in blood so that laboratory diagnosis of bloodstream infection could be accelerated.

He said any reduction in the time it took to choose the right antibiotic was likely to save lives.

Bloodstream infections, often known as sepsis, remain a common cause of serious illness and death in developed countries, and are becoming increasingly difficult to treat effectively due to rising levels of antibiotic resistance.

The University of Western Australia
This is likely to be a conservative estimate, given the anticipated growth in new smaller operators entering the market in the next few years.

Dibbles comments come following new research which found a growing number of office landlords are looking to implement flexible workspace innovations in their buildings, as increasing competition from the coworking sector reshapes tenant expectations.

Indeed, Colliers Internationals Fixed-Term and Flexible Workspace Report looks at New Zealands latest office trends, highlights disruption in both the fixed-term and flexible office sectors.

Currently, there are around 117 flexible workspace facilities covering 85,545sq m across New Zealand. The majority are located in Auckland (40), followed by Canterbury (23) and Wellington (14).

Dibble added that the rapid ascendency of coworking is putting pressure on traditional fixed-term landlords to adapt.
Fair Work Inspectors investigated the Dural and Ermington Caltex outlets in December 2016 when conducting audits of 25 Caltex service stations nationally, following compliance concerns.

Rana and the company admitted they knowingly provided Fair Work Inspectors with false and misleading records.

Moreover, Rana and the company contravened laws requiring employers to issue employees with accurate pay slips within one day of payday.

Ombudsman Sandra Parker reminded business operators that they now face significantly increased penalties of up to $126,000 per breach for serious false-and-misleading-records contraventions since the new laws came into effect.

Any employer who deliberately frustrates our audits by using false records should take note that higher maximum penalties now apply, and prosecution in a criminal court is possible for the most serious cases, said Parker.
Martha Hernandez, left, and Ana Suda pose Jan. 23 in front of a convenience store in Havre where they say they were detained by a U.S. Border Patrol agent for speaking Spanish last year. The women have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government and the border agent and are seeking a judge's order barring U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials from stopping or detaining people based on race, accent or language.

An incident that started with two sisters visiting as they waited in line to buy groceries at a Havre convenience store has turned into a lawsuit demanding damages from the Customs and Border Protection division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Montana, announced Thursday it and the Billings-based law firm Crowley Fleck filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Great Falls on behalf of Ana Suda and Martha "Mimi" Hernandez.

CBP spokesman Jason Givens said Thursday the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation.

Suda and Hernandez are a...
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 15)  Former Special Assistant to the President and now senatorial aspirant Bong Go said he does not have control over all his supporters who offer their services for free.

This was in response to some viral photos showing workers from the Department of Public Works and Highways putting up his campaign posters.

"Mga supporters po yung nagpe-place ng ads. 'Yung iba po, libre nga po eh. Hindi ko po alam yun, bakit umabot ng ganun," he told reporters Thursday night.

[Translation: Supporters place the ads. Some of them do it for free. I do not know of those, and how it got to that point.]

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) gave senators who do not abide by campaign rules until Thursday to take down illegal posters. The rules state that posters should not exceed two by three feet and should only be displayed in common posting areas identified by local election officers.

The poll body previously said there was no problem with Go following the trail of President Rodrigo Duterte, who expressed support for his senatorial bid. However, the poll body will look into Go's campaign should he continue to do so -- to check if government funds are being used.
Volunteer Bev Kologi fills a table with pie slices as she works the Valentine's Day Pie Social Thursday at the Havre-Hill County Library in Havre. Kologi said she has been volunteering at the event for about eight to 10 years.

Thursday for Valentine's Day, the Friends of the Library held their annual Pie Social, raising $1,292 for the Havre-Hill County Library.

"Anything over $1,000, we are happy with," Friends of the Library first-year President Denise Haugen said in an email this morning.

She said at the event that they had a collection of 63 homemade pies, all donated from members of Friends of the Library, family, friends and other community members. Haugen said they do not purchase pies for the event.

"A lot of people stepped up and made pies, and it is just an unreal variety," she added.

All the money g...
One of my favorite books/movies that I have always returned to throughout various chapters of my life is Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. In the middle of personal crisis, she embarks on three different journeys in order to find herself. For the first few months, she eats her way through the local culture in Italy; then she goes to an Ashram in India to seek spiritual fulfillment; and finally she goes to Bali where she falls in love. During a scene while in India where she is struggling with giving up control, her new friend Richard says to her, You have the capacity to someday love the whole world.

I believe this is how God sees us  God entrusts us to care for and love all of Gods beloved creation. Rooted in Gods love for us, we have the capacity, and the responsibility, to share that love with the whole world.

This time of year, around Valentines Day, our culture is saturated with talk about love. There is a pressure to show or even prove our love for the ones we love by giving gifts, sending notes, professing love. Love can, if we are not careful, start to become a commodity itself, something that can be given or taken away depending on the circumstances. And this conditional love can make us feel alone, afraid, and sad.

In Scripture, Jesus boils down his commands to simply this: Love God and love others. And I would add a third one, too: Love yourself.

Love God

God is love. Be hopeful. Gods love will last forever. It is more abundant than you could ever comprehend. You do not deserve it or have to earn it  it is unconditional.

Jesus says to those who are broken and hurting, you are beloved; to those who doubting and questioning, you are beloved; to those who are seeking approval, you are beloved; to those who are run down and burnt out, you are beloved; to those who are suffering from mental illness and addiction, you are beloved; to those fighting for their lives against disease, you are beloved.

Love others

Be patient and kind to others. Speak the truth in love. Do not hold onto a grudge. Forgive. Do not be jealous or boast in yourself. Endure through the differences. Seek justice for all. Have empathy.

Author Brene Brown writes, Empathy is communicating that incredibly healing message of you are not alone. Be that voice to others who desperately need to hear it. You never know how it could change someones life.

Love yourself

Be patient and kind to yourself. Forgive. You are worthy just as you are. Do not give up on yourself. See yourself as God sees you.

If we do not put loving ourselves at the forefront of our existence, we will not likely have the capacity to fully love each other, and we will be tempted to let others treat us with less than the love we deserve.

Friends, you are loved and you are worthy. Thanks be to God.



The Rev. Maggie Lewis is pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Havre, and Chinook Presbyterian Church
Last updated 2/15/2019 at 11:22am

Press release

North Central Montana Transit will be holding a Transit Advisory Committee meeting Thursday, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m.

The meeting will be at the bus barn located at 3152 U.S. Highway 2 East in Havre.

This meeting is open to the public and interested parties are invited to attend.
After 63 years of being married, this year Roland and Peggy Joe Gould celebrated another Valentine's Day together.

Both born and raised in Havre, the couple first met while going to school together. Peggy Joe laughed, then said she didn't like her husband very much during high school, adding that he was kind of a troublemaker back then. But after high school, at the age of 19, they were married in August of 1955.

She said that they had a church wedding in the old Methodist Church before the current Van Orsdel United Methodist Church was built on the same lot. She added that they got married the same day as her parents 35th wedding anniversary.

Roland said when they were married, he was unsure what the future held for them, adding that then they didn't give it much thought.

A few years after getting married they had their first daughter, Joni Gould, who later married Bob Schubert, and then had a second daughter, Linda Gould, who later married Bruce Leeds. Bob and Joni Shubert have one daughter, Kaylee Schubert, who lives in Polson teaching choir at Polson High School.

Peggy Joe said that both of their daughters have been married for more than 30 years.

Roland and Peggy Joe said that, when they were younger, they did a bit of traveling, going on vacations every year, usually bringing their children with them.

"I think everyone should do that," Peggy Joe said.

Roland said he enjoyed the trip the two of them took to Florida a few years ago, adding that they had a great time together. He said when they were younger, and their children were younger, they all went to Disneyland in California.

Peggy Joe said that they went on many different camping trips when they were younger, all across Oregon, Canada and Montana. They both said one of their favorite places to go was Glacier National Park.

Roland said one year, when they were younger, they rode his motorcycle up there and saw a bear a little to up-close-and-personal. He said Peggy Joe was scared and wanted to get into someone elses car, because they were exposed on the motorcycle.

"I wasn't gonna let that bear get on my lap," Peggy Joe said.

She added that they don't go camping very much anymore, usually just take their camper up to the Bear Paw Mountains for a few days a year.

Peggy Joe said that she worked before and a little bit after they had their children, though, mostly part-time after the children were born. Roland said he was a carpenter until he was about 75 or 76 years old. He added that he built the house that they live in while their children were still pretty young.

He said he started building the house after he purchased the lot, letting his wife design it the way she wanted it, though, he added that he got to design the roof and a few other things. Roland said that they started building the house at the beginning of the year and finished just around Christmas and were able to celebrate the holidays in their new home.

Peggy Joe said they picked up a few rocks they found on the way while they were heading up to camp in Glacier.

Those rocks, Roland said, were used in the front wall of the house.

He said that when they first started living in the house he planted a few trees on the property - now the trees are fully grown.

One tree in the backyard started rotting years ago, though, he said, after a cold snap cracked the bark. He and his son-in-law Bruce Leeds starting chopping it down, he said, although when the tree was still approximately 10 feet high he told Leeds to stop cutting because he wanted to make a totem pole.

He said he contacted Jack Van Koten, a local sculptor and artist, and asked if he wanted to help him make the totem pole.

When Van Koten got there, Rolan said, they started making a bear and, after the bear was completed, an eagle.

Peggy Joe said they still have the clay model of the eagle that Van Koten made for them, keeping it in their freezer so it doesn't warp.

After 10 or 15 years, Roland said, the roots rotted out and they had to take down his totem pole. He added that one daughter got the bear and the other got the eagle.

Peggy Joe said that the church is very important to their family, adding that when their kids were younger she wanted them to be baptized. Although, she said, the church wouldn't baptize them until she and Roland were baptized themselves. She said her husband and she went through all the classes and ended up having the whole family baptized at the same time.

She said she is thankful everything has been good and she and her husband are good and healthy. She added they are lucky that they both are still here, with many of their friends over the years having their spouses dying.

She said she and her husband have been married for so long because they both did their jobs and lived out their oaths "for better or worse 'til death do you part."

Gould said one lesson from being married is that people have to learn when to give. He added that it is important that people know when to pick their battles and not be afraid of giving a situation a little time to breathe before returning to an argument.

For Valentine's Day, Peggy Joe said, they used to go out dancing at the Havre Eagles Club or go to the Black Angus when it was still open. She added that, in the past, they also liked to go to Andy's Supper Club, although this year they did not know where they will be going.

She said that, after so long, she and her husband are stuck together.

"Happily stuck together," Peggy Joe said.
Editors note: This version corrects which Bullhook board Hall served on.

Bullhook Community Health Center announced Thursday it is appointing its interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer Kyndra Hall as its permanent CEO.

Hall said this morning that she feels honored to have been appointed to this position.

"I think we have a really great team here at Bullhook, and I am looking forward to working with them in a new capacity," she said.

She added that she feels comfortable in the position, having served as the interim CEO twice, once after the 2018 retirement of former CEO Cindy Smith, who was a driving force in the creation of the health center, and again after Smith's replacement Brian Hadlock was discharged over contractual issues in October.

"I think I have a good feel for what needs to be done," Hall said.

She said she also has the support of the staff and the Montana Primary Care Association if she has any questions concerning the job.

In the past, she said, she owned a business before working in public accounting, collecting information to help people make decisions and find paths for them to be able to move forward.

She has also been involved in several community organizations, such as the Relay for Life of North Central Montana Committee, she said, "making those touches out in the community."

Starting out, she said, there will be no immediate changes to Bullhook, although she added that health care in general is constantly changing in multiple ways.

She said that Bullhook Community Health Care recently received a substance abuse disorder mental health grant which is being used to increase care management.

"The major need right now in the community is mental health, behavioral health, substance use disorders," Hall said.

Bullhook is continuously looking at options to improve that department and how it can expand those services to patients and serve their needs.

Moving forward, Hall said, she would like to get areas like Bullhook's integrated behavioral health model, patient center and medical home model fine-tuned to help provide the best care for patients

Eventually, she said, Bullhook would like to expand and keep increasing services. She said that Bullhook already provides a variety of services and is quickly running out of space in the building.

Bullhook is a really great place to receive health care, Hall said, and has a great model with integrated care. She said the goal is to try to serve all the needs of the patient, whether it is dental, mental health, medical or substance abuse.

Hall started at Bullhook in April 2016, as CFO. She said she got involved because she had previously served on Bullhooks Qualified Active Low-Income Community Business Board.

Seeing the event services Bullhook offers, she said, gave her great interest in being able to help people get the health care that they need and it sparked the desire to be part of Bullhook's team.

The clinic has grown and expanded immensely since its first conception early last decade.

It is the result of a study by Hill County Health Consortium in 2003 - while Smith was county health director for the Hill County Health Department - of health care needs in the county. This study found the top priority would be increasing services for low-income people and people without insurance.

The clinic first opened in 2005 as part of the Hill County Health Department, including offering a sliding-fee payment scale depending on income, as well as taking Medicare, Medicaid, Montana Healthy Kids, insurance and private payments.

After receiving a federal Community Health Center grant, it reorganized as a non-profit and opened as Bullhook Community Health Center, adding dental services in 2008.

Using grants and new-market tax credit financing, it built a new facility on the 500 Block of Fourth Street that opened in 2014.

It has since expanded, including opening a pharmacy and offering counseling services.

Smith, the health center's first CEO, retired Feb. 15, 2018.

"I think we have a great team of employees that are here for the mission of our health center and here for the patients, and so I think we can do great things," Hall said.
By Emily Mayer

In last weeks column, I mentioned a couple of issues in the Feb. 8, 1919 edition I didnt get to and they would be mentioned this week.

A mystery meeting had taken place in the office of the county assessor, but no one seemed to be talking. Was it a Non-Partisan League meeting, or a combination of newly elected Republicans? The article noted Hill County Commissioner Wilson and Non-Partisan League Organizer McLeod were present, but T.J. Troy, County Attorney Stranahan, and the Rev. E.J. Huston were notably absent. Some said the meeting was about the general welfare to the county, but others said considerable attention was given to Hustons libel case. Others still stated the Hill County Leader, the Non-Partisan League newspaper out of Joplin, was looking at moving its operation to Havre. But no one was talking.

The Feb. 15, 1919 issue reported the case against Assistant State Attorney General Grorud was set for trial that day, and more news about the case would be forthcoming. The issue also stated the Non-Partisan League felt double crossed by recently elected U.S. Congressman Carl Riddick, who said he was for the Non-Partisan League during the election, but was now against it.

Seems our great-grandparents generation had plenty of political drama. One of the great things about being a historian is finding out how guilt-free previous generations were not, that there were people back then engaging in dubious and illegal actions just as they do today. Some get their noses bent out of shape when facts are presented and the truth comes out, but those who did the wrong actions shouldnt have done them in the first place.

A case that also brought attention in the Feb. 8, 1919 Plaindealer was the arrest of Mike Spanos under a charge of statutory rape, as well as the arrest of Fannie George, sister of the victim in the case. The week before, George had been granted a divorce from her husband, who was serving time in the Montana prison. Her maiden name had been restored. Immediately after her release, she married the owner of the rooming house where she was employed. It was in this rooming house, code for house of prostitution, where the alleged offense against her younger sister took place.

The ill-fated Nitro issue, where many men across the country including several from Hill County, went to Nitro, West Virginia, in search of a great job advertised by the U.S. Government, was still making news. A claim agent was coming to town, and Judge Pyper was urging those with claims to meet with the representative, who would be setting up an office in Great Falls to settle all those claims.

The Feb. 15, 1919 Plaindealer announced that, due to poor attendance, the Havre Chamber of Commerce would meet next week to continue its reorganization.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MEETING IS CONTINUED

Definite Reorganization Steps Expected This Week

Havre Chamber of Commerce reorganization efforts were rewarded with a slimly attended meeting in the city council chambers Thursday evening. At a meeting two weeks ago two committees of five members each were appointed which were expected to report at the meeting Thursday night. James Holland who was chairman of the committee on financing was present but V. R. Griggs who headed the committee on revision of the constitution did not attend although F. N. Utter who was a member of the committee was present. After some discussion by those present it was decided to continue the meeting until next week Thursday, when efforts will be made to secure a larger attendance. Because of the comparatively small number present it was deemed inadvisable to take any action at the meeting Thursday but next week it is expected that definite steps towards reorganization will be taken.

Also reported were verdicts of trials of the new session of the District Court. B. B. Robinson was found guilty of burglary, Fred Gassert was found not guilty of grand larceny, and Barney Simpson and two of his employees were found not guilty of stealing A. K. Prescotts sheep. It was noted Simpson spent $2,000 to prove his innocence in the case.
Last updated 2/15/2019 at 11:24am

Monday

Courthouse closed in observance of Presidents Day

Tuesday

Noon  Area Plan public meeting at the Senior Center

1:30 p.m.  Building Manager meeting

5:30 p.m.  Fair Board meeting in the Timmons Room

Wednesday

8 a.m.  Montana Rural Water meeting in Great Falls

11 a.m.  Lane Associates  conference call

Thursday

10 a.m.  County officials meeting in the Timmons Room

11 a.m.  Weekly business meeting

11:30 a.m.  Bear Paw Development annual meeting at Bear Paw Development large conference room, second floor in the Ryan Building.

3 p.m.  Airport meeting at City Hall

Friday

Regular office hours
Will Arizonas growth force it to become a big government state? We hope not but
FILE - In this May 8, 2018, file photo, Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey speaks during an interview in his office at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix. Former Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett said Friday, May 11 that lawyers representing Ducey's re-election campaign threatened to sue a firm collecting signatures to qualify Bennett for the Republican primary ballot. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
A case can be made that those who suffer the most from never-ending immigration are the most recently arrived aliens. NPR, in a piece that ost
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Nicole is the Editor-in-Chief of Hamptons.com where she focuses on lifestyle, nightlife, and mixology. She grew up in the Hamptons and currently resides in Water Mill. www.hamptons.com NicoleBarylski NicoleBarylski

East Hampton's LongHouse Reserve is heading to New York City where it will host its annual Winter Benefit on Thursday, February 21."The 2019 LongHouse Winter Benefit will honor architecture and design luminaries James Carpenter and Toshiko Mori with the LongHouse Award," Wendy Van Deusen, LongHouse Associate Curator, explained.Taking place on the top of the Hearst Tower, the evening will pay tribute to Carpenter who will receive an award for his use of light in architecture. LongHouse Reserve Founder Jack Lenor Larsen will introduce Carpenter."The celebration will take place at the Hearst Tower in Manhattan, where Mr. Carpenter's spectacular Ice Falls Waterfall graces the entrance and can be viewed before joining the festivities on the 44th Floor," Van Deusen explained. " James Carpenter is a long time friend of Jack Larsen and once Dale Chihuly 's partner in building glass sculpture. Mr. Carpenter also designed the fabulous Israel Museum in Jerusalem, and expanded and modernized the Museum at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis."Mori is being honored for her architecture and championing of education."Toshiko Mori is the founder and principal of NY based Toshiko Mori Architects and is a proponent of sustainable architecture who often cites the Native American idea of 'with every single decision you make, you should think of seven generations ahead,'" Van Deusen noted. "Her firm recently designed the Anni and Josef Albers Museum in west Africa, the Modern Art Museum at Rockport in Maine, and the splendid pavilion at Frank Lloyd Wright 's Martin House in Buffalo. Her new houses in New York State are featured in this month's Architectural Digest ."The evening will commence with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m., which will offer a magnificent view of Central Park. A conversion about design, led by Honorary Chair Paul Goldberger, will follow at 7 p.m. Then, it's time for the awards ceremony and the evening will conclude with an intimate dinner.Along with Goldberger, Leslie and Dale Chihuly and Lee Skolnick will serve as the evening's Honorary Chairs.In addition to incredible views of Manhattan, attendees will also have the chance to view Carpenter's works Ice Falls (2006), a glass water feature situated in the lobby of Hearst Tower. "Transform[ing] the building's threshold into one of the most extraordinary public spaces in New York. Beyond the sheer visual and audible pleasure, the Ice Falls becomes an ecological cooling device as the water is cooled to a temperature well below the ambient room temperature, condensing humidity in the air on its surface, while radiating cooler air to produce a more comfortable environment," James Carpenter Design Associates Inc. said about Ice Fall.Carpenter, who founded his cross-disciplinary firm in 1979, utilizes not just engineering on his projects, but also science to create unique eye-catching masterpieces. His latest projects include an Art Wall at Hudson Yards and in Denmark at the Bornholm Museum.Mori's reach can be seen globally, from Brooklyn to Senegal. She has also lent her expertise as the Robert P. Hubbard Professor in the Practice of Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, as well as a member and former chair of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Design.Tickets to the LongHouse's Winter Benefit begin at $200.Hearst Tower is located at 300 West 57th Street, floor 4, in New York City. For more information, visit www.longhouse.org




Haiti - Scandal : Canada closes its Embassy in Haiti, but continues deportations of Haitians





Faced with the situation of violence and daily riots since February 7 in Haiti, Canada has decided to close Wednesday its Embassy in Port-au-Prince, saying that the situation will be evaluated in the coming days to ensure the safety staff and of their families. Ottawa states that consular services are always provided by phone or email, 24 hours a day, and is prepared to provide any assistance required by its nationals (1-613-996-8885). Global Affairs Canada has amended its NOTICE regarding travel to Haiti, advising travelers to avoid non-essential stays in this country.



In addition, the Mayor of Montreal Valerie Plante announced Thursday morning the decision to repatriate staff who were in Haiti to assist the authorities of Port-au-Prince as part of a training program on the collection of property taxes. However, a contingent of police officers from the Montreal Police Service will remain in Haiti.



This unstable and dangerous situation in Haiti did not prevent Canada from expelling a father and his 11-year-old daughter to Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, while the Haitian capital was the object of violent demonstrations. A decision by the Canadian Government described as inhumane by various defense organizations.



Let's remember that Emanes Desjardins and his daughter, who were to be deported on Sunday, February 10, in Haiti, did not show up because of the alarming and dangerous situation in Haiti. They were arrested Tuesday by the Border Services Agency before being expelled Wednesday for Port-au-Prince.



When asked about this deportation, the Immigration Minister's office responded that he could not comment on specific cases adding, "We treat these issues very seriously and the decision to remove someone from Canada is not taken lightly. Everyone threatened with deportation is entitled to a well-established procedure, which includes different levels of appeal..."



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - FLASH : Jovenel Moise leaves his silence and addresses the Nation





After 8 days of silence, President Jovenel Moise in a pre-recorded speech of about 7 minutes aired Thursday night on the National Television of Haiti (TNH), addressed the Nation. An intervention where he missed the opportunity to appease the spirits and announce concrete measures to help the population, limiting himself to declare "[...] I heard the voice of the people, I know the problems like you. That is why there will be a set of measures that the Government will take, I asked the Prime Minister to come and explain them quickly to relieve your misery." Measures already announced in the Council of Ministers last February 5, ar the adoption of the resolution declaring the state of economic emergency in the country, followed by little effect on the ground... https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26868-haiti-politic-texts-of-the-resolution-of-the-state-of-emergency-and-the-11-measures.html



After presenting his sympathies to the various victims of the demonstrations, he recalled that the demonstrations are a right but "it is unacceptable for people who have official functions to demonstrate alongside armed gang leaders wanted by the justice [...]" reference of photos circulating showing the dangerous gang leader Arnel Joseph accompanied by his supporters solidly armed in an opposition demonstration. Photo that made senator Latortue react on Thursday of a radio that explained that according to his analysis, the presence of gang leader Arnel Joseph in a demonstration is a maneuver planned by the power in place to discredit the opposition...



Concerning the insecurity the Head of State affirmed "[...] I will continue to ask the CSPN [Superior Council of the National Police] to make arrangements to accompany the population so that serenity, Peace and calm return in the 4 corners of the country. [...]



[...] the crisis we are going through is very serious [...] it threatens the foundation of the country, it has a lot of consequences for the country. There are people who do not make democracy [...] who want to impose on the Nation something that is not good for them. It is clear to all that it is only the dialogue with all the forces of the Nation that will help us get out of this situation [...]"



In his speech he firmly confirmed that he did not intend to let the power before the time of his mandate "[...] Me Jovenel Moise, Head of State, I will not let go of the country in the hands of armed gangs and drug traffickers.



[...] I ask the CSPN to continue to make arrangements to stop all the drug dealers, the people who burn the police, who mourn and terrorize the population."



Then he reiterated his openness to dialogue to find a solution to the crisis, a dialogue that has so far been rejected by the opposition "The country is suffering too much. I open my arms to all those who agree with me, come to sit and talk, seek a broad consensus to find a political agreement that resolves the problems that upset the country.



I ask all the forces of the Nation to join me [...] to make changes for the benefit of the Haitian people, in a real dialogue [...]"



Following the broadcast of this address to the nation, sporadic automatic gunfire resounded in the capital and new burning barricades were erected, AFP reported.



An hour after the intervention of President Moise , the US State Department, which has obviously not reassured the Trump administration, raised its level of alert to US travelers at level 4 (on a scale of 4) which is without appeal and which states "Do not travel in Haiti". Recall that in the day of Thursday, the US authorities ordered the repatriation of non-essential diplomats and their families.



SL/ HaitiLibre






















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GULFPORT, Miss. -- A Moss Point man pled guilty to possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and a firearm on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Aaron Rouleau, 32, of Moss Point sentenced by U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola to a toal of 298 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Feb. 26, 2018, the South Mississippi Metropolitan Enforcement Team (MET) executed a search warrant at a residence in Moss Point, where Rouleau was found in a parked vehicle with 99 grams of methamphetamine and two firearms.

Rouleau, according to investigators had been selling methamphetamine from that location during the weeks prior to his arrest.

The Jackson County Metropolitan Enforcement Team and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated this case.
MOSS POINT, Miss. -- Jackson County Republican Club President John Mosley is considering a run for the Southern District Public Service Commission seat, he told The Mississippi Press on Friday.

Mosley ran on the Republican ticket for mayor in the City of Moss Point where he finished second, but after support from the party, he says he is seriously considering seeking the PSC seat.

Mississippi Republicans are committed to moving pass the hurtful reputation and history of the past and have shown great enthusiasm for my potential candidacy, Mosley said. "People have asked me almost weekly about this run. This is the first time we have a viable African American candidate that could win and Im humbled by their confidence in me.

In the states history, there has never been an African American candidate to hold a PSC seat. Should Mosley, decide to run and win, he would be the first to hold a state executive position seat.

With 15-plus year business, sales and protective services acumen, Mosley says this will assist in helping him to carryout the duties of the PSC position should he be elected by constituents across the 27 counties.

I am pro-business -- I am Conservative," he said. Free markets are the best way to insure the prosperity for all Americans. However, thats when and if its truly free. Our utilities in Mississippi are oligopolies (monopolies in some cases) which means there is a state of limited competition at best and that may uniquely affect pricing to the end consumer. We do not want to stifle business in any way. With that being said, the people must be protected they deserve fairness. We need grounded and level head referees in this case. Thats the mandate of a PSC. I believe in the greatness of Mississippi. Im purposed to contend for the best of Mississippi today and seeing it through for the generations that follow us.

Mayor Dane Maxwell of Pascagoula announced intentions to seek the PSC seat on Jan. 16 and is currently running unopposed, unless Mosley decides to make his candidacy official before the March 1 deadline.
The Xiaomi Mi 9 will be unveiled on February 20, which means its going head to head with the Galaxy S10. To build up hype for the flagship fight, Xiaomi execs have gradually been posting details about the phone.

The latest is a confirmation that the Mi 9 will be powered by a Snapdragon 855 chipset. This is a result of the close collaboration between Xiaomi and Qualcomm thanks to the companys R&D center in the US, says Xiang Wang, SVP at Xiaomi.

The 1+3+4 CPU core setup in the Snapdragon 855 promises a 45% increase in performance over the 845, the GPU will see a 20% boost. The all-important AI engine is three times faster to boot. The chip will deliver other enhancements too, things like Wi-Fi 6 support and HDR10+ video (4K at 60fps).



The Xiaomi Mi 9 will be powered by a Snapdragon 855 chipset

The early Geekbench scores support the claims that the Xiaomi Mi 9 will be tangibly faster than its predecessor. And judging by the AnTuTu score posted by Xiaomi, the gains in performance may be even higher than 45%. Anyway, other official posts about the Mi 9 have revealed its pretty iridescent back and shown off 48MP photos from its triple camera.

Source
The Samsung Galaxy M20 - the company's first notched smartphone and the first handset from the M-series along with the Galaxy M10 is headed to Europe. After launching in India, Samsung is looking to expand the availability of the affordable smartphone.

SamMobile obtained the German, Italian and Spanish firmwares suggesting that the launch is fast approaching.

We are yet to hear an official word from Samsung on the exact released dates and pricing.

Source
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The smartphone market in Europe saw two major trends in 2018  Chinese makers take control a third of the market and flagships stumbled. The info comes from the analysts at Canalys, which detailed the issues facing the market.

Western Europe is the biggest sub-region where 128 million units were shipped out of the 197 million total. The European market as a whole is down 4% year over year, but the West in particular saw the lowest shipments since 2013.

The blame for this falls on the rising prices of flagships  the UK, Germany and the Nordics, the countries with the highest Average Selling Price (ASP), suffered the sharpest declines. Countries with lower ASP, ones that focus on mid-rangers (e.g. Spain and Italy), saw shipments grow.

Smartphones in the $200-$350 price range grew 20% in Western Europe. The analysts note that $300 bought you a significantly better mid-ranger in 2018 than it did in 2017.

The winners of this shift towards affordable devices are brands like Huawei and Xiaomi. Huawei in particular posted an impressive 54% growth year over year and is now very close to Apple. The US is trying to push out Chinese makers, which also caused them to invest more in Europe.

Samsung and Apple retained their leading positions in the market, though both lost ground.

HMD Global  home to the reborn Nokia phones  is in the Top 5 in Europe, however its 2.4% market share leaves it well behind the 4th placed Xiaomi.

Source
On Friday, President Donald Trump declared that the situation at the southern border constitutes a national emergency. He announced he will sign a declaration to this effect, invoking the power to appropriate funds not authorized by Congress to build his wall.

Trump told all kinds of lies about how drugs come into the country, dismissing the idea that they mostly come through ports of entry (which they do) and claiming a wall will stop them (which it won't).

"We have an invasion of drugs, an invasion of gangs, an invasion of people, and it's unacceptable," Trump said. In so doing, Trump made a claim that is subject to examination: That those things constitute a national emergency, justifying his appropriation of extraordinary powers to address it.

What's at stake in this battle is a simple dilemma: Can the president declare a national emergency, and appropriate all the powers that this confers on him, when there isn't any national emergency?

"That is the fundamental question," Elizabeth Goitein, who has extensively researched national security law for the Brennan Center for Justice, told me.

Or, to put the question somewhat differently: Can the president declare a national emergency, no matter what the actual facts on the ground show? Is there any point at which presidential bad faith matters?

The basic problem we face right now in this regard was created by Congress. The post-Watergate National Emergencies Act, or NEA, places various constraints on the powers the president has when he declares a national emergency. For instance, it requires the president to say which other statute he is relying on to exercise the particular authority he plans to employ under his declared emergency.

The NEA also creates a mechanism by which Congress can terminate the emergency by passing a resolution through both houses doing that. The House is likely to try this, but it's unclear whether the Senate will go along. Trump would probably veto it anyway, though it's still worth doing to get GOP senators on the record.

But the NEA doesn't define what an emergency is, giving the president tremendous discretion to do that himself. The core question we now face is whether that discretion is limitless.

There will be lawsuits against Trump's national emergency declaration. Protect Democracy and the Niskanen Center just announced that they will represent local border communities in such a lawsuit.

There are several basic ways of challenging Trump's national emergency in court. The first is to challenge the idea that the statute Trump is invoking to find the precise power he wants to exercise actually does give him that power.

According to multiple reports, Trump is relying on a law that allows the defense secretary to "undertake military construction projects" that are "not otherwise authorized by law" if they are "necessary" to support "use of the armed forces." This would reportedly allow him to tap some $3.5 billion in funds.

Robert Chesney, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, tells me that this is vulnerable to challenge, because it requires that this "use of the armed forces" is actually being employed in the emergency in question.

"This doesn't work for just any emergency -- it has to be an emergency in which use of the military is required," Chesney said. Trump, of course, will claim that the military is in fact being used to counter his border emergency, since he sent in troops. But in this case, those troops are not actually repelling arriving migrants, so there's no way to credibly argue that a wall is "necessary" to support what the military is actually doing.

"There's a better chance than normal that a judge could second guess this," Chesney said.

But perhaps the bigger question concerns the second way to challenge Trump's national emergency: By arguing that there isn't any national emergency, and that at some point, this has to matter.

There is simply no credible metric by which there is any national emergency at the border, let alone one that a wall would address, as The Post's fact-checking team recently documented. Unauthorized border crossings are at historic lows. The type of migration that actually is spiking is comprised of asylum-seeking families and children, but they are mostly turning themselves in to seek asylum, so a wall is utterly irrelevant to that problem. Drugs mostly enter through ports of entry.

But for legal purposes, do the facts on the ground matter at all?

According to Goitein of the Brennan Center, since passage of the National Emergencies Act, the courts have not once considered the question of whether a national emergency can be declared invalid on the grounds that there isn't any national emergency. Another legal expert told Charlie Savage the same.

That may now change. To reiterate, this problem was created by Congress: By failing to define what a national emergency is, it left enormous discretion to the president to do it himself.

As we saw in the case of Trump's thinly veiled Muslim ban, the Supreme Court is inclined to grant the president incredibly broad discretion when it comes to national security decisions. Though Trump widely and openly telegraphed that his motive was discrimination against Muslims, the court upheld the ban as constitutional on the grounds that its motive was was pretextually neutral. Because of the court's reluctance to substitute its own policy judgment for the president's, Trump's extraordinary levels of bad faith didn't matter

But is there a point at which that bad faith will matter? Possibly, in the case of his new national emergency.

"Yes, there is no statutory definition of a national emergency, and yes, the president has incredibly broad discretion," Goitein told me. "But even the broadest discretion can be abused. The word emergency isn't completely meaningless. So you could see a judge say, 'As deferential as I can possibly be, I still can't see how this qualifies as an emergency.'"

Chesney of the University of Texas agreed. "The president is given sweepingly broad authority to decide when there's a national emergency, and we can understand why," Chesney said. "But there does have to be an outer boundary role when it's manifestly clear that there is not actually an emergency."

"There must be great deference, but it's not unlimited deference," Chesney added "It's not unreviewable."

One hopes so. We will soon find out.
The Stamford Art Association is hosting the 46th annual Student Art Show at its Townhouse Gallery Sunday, Feb. 24-Thursday, March 14.

Opening reception is Feb. 24, 4-6 p.m., when Mayor David Martin presents the 21 awards and donated cash prizes of $1,600.

Ten schools participated this year. The juror is Dmitri Wright, artist and instructor at Silvermine Arts Center and Weir Farm National Historic Site.

Participating artists were selected from Fairfield County high schools. The art teachers choose the work of eight junior and senior art students from their schools.

The work displayed is in six categories: painting, drawing, prints, 3D, portfolios and merit. The awards to the students, which total $1,500, are contributed by area businesses, individuals and Stamford Art Association artists.

And the winners are:

Painting: First place: Nicole Carlo, Self Portrait, Darien High School. Second Place: Laura Galindo, Alex, Fairfield Warde High School; Third Place: Maya Owainati, Trapped in Wonderland, Darien High School; Honorable Mention: Phoebe Nulf, Lila, Fairfield Ludlowe High School; Honorable Mention: Ava Edwards, Mandala, King School.

Drawing: First Place: Elyse Kimball, Collateral Beauty, Greens Farms Academy; Second Place: Eliza Stanley, Moving Parts No. 1, Sacred Heart, Greenwich; Third Place: Grace Long, Farmhouse, Norwalk High School.

Mixed media: First Place: Natalia Pazos, Space Bar, Sacred Heart, Greenwich; Second Place: Derek Castro, Bastet, Westhill High School; Third Place: Zareen Reza, Faces, Wilton High School.

Photography/Printmaking: First place: William Martinez, The Giver, Stamford High School; Second Place: Nicholas Noto, John, Fairfield Ludlow High School; Third Place: Theo Laflamme, Extinct Expressions, Wilton High School.

3-D (Sculpture): First Place: Ansley Smith, Nature's Banana, Fairfield Ludlowe High School; Second Place: Megan McNamara, Driftwood Dunes, Wilton High School; Third Place: Zoey Araquel, Life is Dear, Wilton High School.

Portfolio: First Place: Jacqueline Mendez; Second Place: Dechante Clark; Third Place: Paulina Romano.

Elsie Ralph Merit Award: Leonardo Calzone, Greens Farms Academy, for his portfolio.

Over the many years that the Stamford Art Association has organized this exhibit, more than $145,000 has been awarded to Fairfield County high school art students. Mayor David Martin of Stamford will present the awards to the up and coming student artists at the opening reception. The exhibit is sponsored in part by a grant from the Kuriansky Foundation and a CAPP grant from the City of Stamford.
In the days after President Barack Obama unveiled his plans to use executive power to unilaterally change immigration policy, "Fox & Friends" consulted Donald Trump for his opinion. The hosts asked, What should the Republicans do about it? Should Obama be impeached?

It was November 2014, a month that Trump spent lambasting Obama almost every day on Twitter. Trump was an outspoken critic of Obama's immigration executive orders, which sought to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation while providing them work permits. And on Fox News, speaking over the phone in a fast-talking, freewheeling monologue, Trump made clear what he thought of a president's authority to bypass Congress on immigration policy: that it was illegal and, yes, impeachable.

Trump said that Obama couldn't make a deal - and so "now he has to use executive action, and this is a very, very dangerous thing that should be overridden easily by the Supreme Court." He added: "We're looking now at a situation that should absolutely not pass muster in terms of constitutionality," and argued that Obama "certainly could be impeached" for it.

The Fox segment, first reported by CNN's KFile late Thursday, was just one example of a number of old statements critics have unearthed to criticize President Trump's planned national emergency declaration intended to secure border wall funding - bypassing Congress just as Obama did. Declaring a national emergency would be more extraordinary than Obama's executive actions, but critics say the end result is the same: defying the consent of the governed by circumventing the legislative process.

Some have contended the act would amount to an abuse of executive authority, just so Trump can follow through on a personal campaign pledge in the absence of a deal with Congress. In 2014, however, Trump apparently thought the same of Obama.

"Repubs must not allow Pres Obama to subvert the Constitution of the US for his own benefit & because he is unable to negotiate w/ Congress," Trump tweeted on Nov. 20, 2014, the day Obama announced plans for his executive immigration actions, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), and an expansion of the existing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

White House spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Thursday regarding Trump's 2014 remarks.

Trump is expected to declare a national emergency Friday as he signs a spending bill to avert another government shutdown, one that includes $1.375 billion for about 55 miles of border fencing. It was a deal Trump reportedly found wholly inadequate compared to his requested $5.7 billion, spurring his decision to use the emergency declaration as a funding tool.

On Thursday, both liberals and conservatives urged Trump not to follow through, in part by using his own 2014 words against him, observing the Trump-era adage, "there's always a tweet." Plenty of people on Twitter described his past comments as "hypocrisy."

"Another reason the President should not use an emergency declaration," conservative writer Erick Erickson tweeted, linking to Trump's 2014 statement about Obama's subversion of the Constitution.

"Your words, not ours," wrote Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass.

"Trump has done a lot to undo Obama's executive abuses," tweeted David Harsanyi, an editor at the Federalist. "He should heed his own advice."

Other critics gave Vice President Mike Pence the same treatment Thursday, as a video of his 2014 remarks condemning Obama's immigration executive actions circulated on Twitter.

Bill Kristol, the founder of the now-defunct Weekly Standard, shared C-SPAN footage of the vice president's appearance at a 2014 Republican Governors Association event, where Pence, then the governor of Indiana, said that Obama's immigration executive actions would be "a profound mistake." Instead of enacting his own policies with the "stroke of a pen," Pence urged Obama to sit down with Congress to hammer out a deal - the way real leadership is done, he said.

"When I talk about the consent of the governed, that is where the American people work their will," Pence said. "If the president were to go through with this, he is acting outside the consent of the governed and is not providing leadership to solve this issue facing our country in the way the American people would expect a leader to do."

He added: "Signing an executive order, giving a speech and barnstorming around the country is not leadership."

"It would be great if VP Pence would share this clip with his boss," tweeted Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Pa.

A spokesman for Pence did not immediately return a request for comment regarding his 2014 remarks.

When Pence addressed Trump's plans to possibly declare a national emergency last month, he acknowledged that the declaration would likely be challenged in courts and that the administration would have to defend it. But he stopped short of supporting the move, expressing preference for negotiations with Congress. "There's no reason in the world why we shouldn't be able to solve this through the regular legislative process," he said.

On Thursday, Republicans painted the budget deal as a victory, but many also spoke out against Trump's plans to declare a national emergency - in keeping with their criticism of Obama's use of executive authority.

Republican senators including Marco Rubio of Florid; Susan Collins of Maine; Rand of Kentucky; Ron Johnson of Wisconsin; Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania; and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. were among those to oppose the national emergency for various reasons. Some said it amounted to an abuse of executive power, while others noted that typically Congress must appropriate funds before projects such as a border wall can begin.

Along with Democrats, they also worried that Trump's declaration of a national emergency would set a precedent for future presidents, allowing them to simply "manufacture" an emergency whenever campaign pledges aren't panning out in Congress. As The Washington Post reported Thursday, numerous lawsuits are expected to ensue.

"We have a crisis at our southern border, but no crisis justifies violating the Constitution," Rubio said in a statement. "Today's national emergency is border security. But a future president may use this exact same tactic to impose the Green New Deal."

"I don't think this is a matter that should be declared a national emergency," Murkowski said. "We as legislators are trying to address the president's priority. What we're voting on now is perhaps an imperfect solution, but it's one we could get consensus on."

Collins said declaring a national emergency would be a "mistake."

"Such a declaration would undermine the role of Congress and the appropriations process; it's just not good policy," she said in a statement. "It also sets a bad precedent for future Presidents - both Democratic and Republican - who might seek to use this same maneuver to circumvent Congress to advance their policy goals. It is also of dubious constitutionality, and it will almost certainly be challenged in the courts."

Obama's executive actions that Trump, Pence and many Republicans opposed each navigated their own legal challenges. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit blocked DAPA on the grounds that Obama's executive order sidestepped important rule-making processes contained in the Administrative Procedure Act, a ruling that was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2016. DACA, on the other hand, is still entangled in congressional negotiations, its fate still uncertain. It was not a part of the budget deal passed Thursday.
Six months after a grand jury demanded millions of North Carolina voting records, state officials have announced that they will release fewer than 800 voter files - a potentially significant setback for a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney who has targeted noncitizen voting as one of his top priorities.

The state elections board last week instructed 44 county election offices that received wide-ranging subpoenas for millions of voting records in August to hand over the files for 289 voters. The state will turn over registration records for an additional 500 voters.

It is unclear whether the vastly reduced volume of records is the result of a court order or an agreement between the board and U.S. Attorney Robert Higdon, who sought the records in August, shortly after he announced the arrest of 19 noncitizens on charges that they had illegally voted in the 2016 presidential election.

The board filed motions in federal court last month, seeking to block the subpoenas. U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle immediately sealed the case, and state officials declined to comment on whether Boyle had issued an order.

"It is our understanding that this limited production is all that is required at this time, " the board's executive director, Kim Strach, wrote in a memo to county elections officers last week.

The subpoenas issued last summer sought all North Carolina voter registration records for eight years and actual ballots cast for five years in counties in the eastern half of the state. A separate subpoena to the state's Division of Motor Vehicles demanded voter registration applications submitted by those born outside the United States.

State officials objected strenuously, saying the demands would require turning over more than 15 million documents and raised privacy concerns. They called the subpoenas a fishing expedition primarily targeting those born in other countries and accused Higdon of wasting resources in search of a type of election fraud that is exceedingly rare.

"I support law enforcement's efforts to combat election fraud, but the recent federal subpoenas affecting millions of North Carolinians' voting records were overbroad and highly burdensome to the state agencies," North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said in a statement last week announcing that voter files of only about 790 North Carolinians would be turned over.

Stein declined to comment further. Representatives for Higdon and the state elections board declined to comment.

Legal experts said that even though state and local officials are turning over a fraction of the millions of records that were originally sought, the documents are likely to lead to further activity in Higdon's investigation.

Jacob Frenkel, a former federal prosecutor and Washington-based criminal defense attorney, said the fact that the state has agreed to hand over a narrow number of voter files suggests that the U.S. attorney's office provided more-specific descriptions of what it is seeking - and clues to the focus of the investigation.

"The fact that it's been sealed means the judge has been persuaded that there was a legitimate government investigative interest that needed to be protected," Frenkel said. "That alone suggests we may see more prosecutions."

The initial subpoenas from Higdon's office demanded that county elections boards turn over all voting records and ballots since August 2013 and that the state elections board produce all voter registration records and absentee ballot request forms since January 2010. The subpoena issued to the Division of Motor Vehicles demanded all voter registration applications submitted since January 2010 through that agency by people born outside the United States, filled out in a language other than English or using any identification, such as a green card, indicating noncitizen status.

Agencies were initially given less than a month to fulfill the demands, but Higdon relaxed that deadline after state officials protested that fulfilling the subpoenas would interfere with preparations for the 2018 fall elections.

The vice chairman of the state board when the subpoenas were issued, Joshua Malcolm, said at the time that they were "overly broad, unreasonable, vague." He also noted that the board regularly referred matters to the U.S. attorney for prosecution as a result of its own investigations, indicating that the document demands were unnecessary.

Higdon's prosecution of noncitizen voters, meanwhile, has produced minimal penalties. Eight immigrants in North Carolina have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges that they improperly voted, but none has received prison time. One woman, a U.S. citizen and ex-girlfriend of one of the defendants, was sentenced to two months in prison last week after pleading guilty to helping her ex-boyfriend cast a ballot.

Two of those who have pleaded guilty were sentenced Thursday in federal magistrate court in New Bern, North Carolina, one receiving a $200 fine and the other a $300 fine and a year of probation.

Both women - Elizabeth Amachaghi, originally from Nigeria, and Olive Martin, originally from Guyana - are legal permanent residents and said they did not know they were not allowed to cast ballots. They presented their green cards when they registered to vote, according to their attorney, public defender Sherri Alspaugh.
A disease that impacts the lives of wildlife across the country has wildlife officials on alert.

Chronic wasting disease, also known as "zombie deer disease," has killed deer, elk and moose in 24 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CWD has also been reported in reindeer and moose in Norway, Finland and two Canadian provinces, as well as a small number of imported cases that have been reported in South Korea.

The CDC says the possibility that CWD could be spread to people cannot be ruled out.

"It is probable that human cases of chronic wasting disease associated with consumption with contaminated meat will be documented in the years ahead," Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota told USA Today. "Its possible the number of human cases will be substantial and will not be isolated events."

Said to be similar to mad cow disease and with no known cure, researchers say the neurological disease attacks the brains of deer and other members of the deer family, creating holes that resemble those in sponges.

The CDC says the disease is spread by animal-to-animal contact, and if it could spread to people it would most likely be through the eating of infected deer and elk.



Wildlife officials say to prevent the spread of disease, deer carcasses should be buried on the property where they were harvested if possible, left in place or disposed of at an approved, lined landfill. They should not be disposed of in ponds, lakes or waterways, which could spread the disease to previously uninfected areas.

The disease was found in the following states:
GREENWICH  The arrest of an ex-boyfriend of Valerie Reyes in her killing brought with it new context to the murder of the 24-year-old woman.

The brutal act  in which Reyes mouth was covered with tape, her wrists and legs bound, her body stuffed in a suitcase and dumped on the side of a Greenwich road  was done at the hands of a former intimate partner, according to investigators.

If law enforcements theory about how she died proves to be true, Reyes is one of millions of women who have been seriously physically assaulted by a current or former intimate partner each year in the U.S.

The arrest of an ex-boyfriend in the Valerie Reyes case is not surprising to us, given that the majority of homicides against women are committed by current or former intimate partners, said Mary Lee Kiernan, president and CEO of the YWCA Greenwich.

While we dont yet know the exact cause of death, we continue to be deeply disturbed by the horrific violence and degrading objectification that is already evident.

Reyes, who lived in New Rochelle, N.Y., was reported missing on Jan. 29. Her body was found off Glenville Road on Feb. 5. Javier Da Silva, 24, of Queens, N.Y., was charged with a federal count of kidnapping resulting in death in the case.

Da Silva, who had overstayed his visa and was not in the country legally at the time of the killing, could face the death penalty if convicted.

Da Silva was the type of guy who wouldnt take no for an answer, said Norma Sanchez, Reyes mother. He and Reyes had dated for several months about a year ago.

Lucy Nolan, director of policy and public relations at the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence, said she wasnt shocked that an intimate partner was arrested in the case. It exhibits the escalation of violence and control many abusive relationships involve, she said.

This is why people get restraining orders, she said. Its because real damage can happen. A woman cant control somebody who is out of control.

Kiernan said the anxiety and depression Reyes reportedly suffered may have been a sign that something else was going on in her personal life.

Valerie may have been exhibiting the trauma of abuse that victims of intimate partner violence suffer, she said. Often this trauma is misidentified as a mental health issue, paranoia or dramatic behavior, when victims are in fact suffering from various forms of abuse, coping with serious trauma and reaching out for help.

The night before Reyes went missing, her mother said the young woman told her she was afraid she would be murdered.

Intimate partner violence makes up 15 percent of all violent crime in the U.S. Women between the ages of 18 and 24 are the most likely to be abused by an intimate partner, according to a study from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Each year in the America, an average of more than 10 million women and men are physically abused by an intimate partner, per the study.

One in four women and one in nine men experience severe physical violence from an intimate partner. One in 10 woman have been raped by an intimate partner. Data for male victims is not available.

One in seven woman and one in 18 men have been stalked by an intimate partner and feared they would be killed or harmed.

One in five women and one in 71 men in the U.S. have been raped. More than half of female and male rape victims were raped by someone they knew, and of those cases 45.5 percent of women and 29 percent of men were raped by an intimate partner.

In America, 19.3 million women and 5.1 million men have been stalked. More than 60 percent of female stalking victims and 43 percent of men were stalked by an intimate partner.

Kiernan said YWCA Greenwich will continue its violence prevention education programs in schools throughout the community to promote healthy behaviors and relationships.

Prevention education, starting at a young age, is critical, she said.

Throughout Connecticut, nonprofits and police departments have adopted a lethality assessment program in an effort to save lives.

Service providers such as YWCA Greenwich and police officers ask a suspected victim of intimate partner violence a standardized list of questions, and if the victim screens positive, showing a risk of lethality, the victim is immediately connected with crisis services and sheltering, she said.

The LAP screen is an evidence-based questionnaire based on a nationally recognized model that has proven to reduce lethality in abusive intimate partner relationships.

If you are someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the statewide crisis hotline at 888-774-2900. In Greenwich, the YWCA hotline is 203-622-0003.
File / Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media

GREENWICH  More than 60 students representing independent and public schools in Greenwich swept awards in the regional Scholastic Writing Award competition, and 17 will advance to the national level.

A panel of novelists, editors, teachers, poets, librarians, journalists and other literary professionals selected the students from more than 2,100 submissions from students representing public, private and homeschools.
Faced with a growing number of students with mental illnesses, Danbury-area districts are embracing new tools, resources and programs that tackle social and emotional learning during the school day.

Most districts emphasize an approach that teaches students to understand and regulate their emotions, while developing positive relationships. Some schools have also hired more staff to help tackle the issue.

We should respond to mental health issues the same way we respond to physical issues, like a broken leg or a crushed rib, said Thomas McMorran, superintendent for Easton, Redding and Region 9. Get the child to a health care professional and de-stigmatize anything associated with mental wellness.

One in five teens have or will have a serious mental illness, while suicide is the third-leading cause of death in youth 10 to 24, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Meanwhile, the rates of youth with severe depression have increased to 8.2 percent from 5.9 percent over five years, according to Mental Health Americas 2018 report.

Danbury school leaders said they are reviewing the districts programs for supporting students struggling with mental health issues after the suicide of city teen Hailey Nailor last weekend. They declined to comment further.

A complex problem

A Mental Health America report ranks Connecticut 18th in the country for youth reporting at least one major depressive episode in the past year and 22nd for youth coping with severe major depression.

Local educators said it is hard to provide figures on the amount of students with mental health needs because the state does not require them to submit this information, and these students can be categorized in various ways.

Its fair to say there is more anxiety in our culture and therefore in our student bodies, McMorran said. It may be that were simply better at picking up on cues and taking childhood maladies seriously.

Increased pressures from school and families and those that arise from students social media presence could also be factors in the rise, educators said.

More students are also experiencing trauma  whether that be witnessing a grandfather die or a physical fight between parents, said Maureen Ruby, the Brookfield assistant superintendent.

We have to sit back and take time to see what is going on in a child's life, said Ruby, who is attending a conference this weekend on the subject. Even if we dont know what the story is, there are strategies adults should be implementing in classrooms and in other areas of school that make it a more comfortable, embracing environment for kids that are coming with trauma.

It is more common for children to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety as they grow older, but Danbury-area schools said elementary-age students are also showing signs of mental illnesses.

More Information Suicide prevention lifeline If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide or needs emotional support, help is available 24/7 through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The lifeline is free, confidential and available any time by calling 1-800-273-8255 or by visiting www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org. See More Collapse

Even statewide and nationally, were not prepared for those really young ones coming in with mood disorders, said Laura Olson, director of pupil personnel and special services in New Milford.

She added the district has a licensed clinician working specifically with kindergarten through second grade.

Newtown, meanwhile, is piloting a mental health program at the elementary level.

This is a conversation we realize needs to start younger, just to start providing students with the strategies and the coping skills, said Deborah Mailloux-Petersen, director of pupil services. Sometimes its too late if you wait until middle or high school years.

A proactive approach

Nailors suicide has put a spotlight on mental health, but educators and advocates say schools are always trying to be proactive to prevent similar tragedies.

Teachers and staff are trained to recognize when students might be battling mental health issues.

In younger students, these signs include boundary issues or emotional outbursts, McMorran said. For older students, what they say and dont say could key adults into an issue, he said.

Its really about strong relationships that are healthy and caring between the adults and children in the building, McMorran said.

Districts such as Bethel, New Milford and Newtown use scientific research-based intervention to identify students who are withdrawing or acting out, which could be red flags.

It should be an ongoing thing, said Debbie Berman, a Brookfield mental health advocate whose daughter Alexa died by suicide more than 10 years ago. It cant just be that you react when it happens.

Berman has worked over the years to raise mental health awareness among teens and adults and helps lead a support group for parents of children with mental illnesses. She is now working with administrators in Brookfield schools to hold an event for youth and parents.

Bethel and Newtown also train staff on the Question, Persuade, Refer method to recognize signs and prevent suicides.

Newtown has had more success with an anonymous tip line where students can report concerns they have about their friends, Superintendent Lorrie Rodrigue said. That is important because students often have a lot more information than adults in these cases, she added.

Social and emotional learning

Brookfield introduced a social and emotional learning approach called RULER at Whisconier Middle School this year and is training staff and teachers at the elementary schools to implement the approach next year.

Developed at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, RULER asks students to recognize, understand, label, express and regulate their emotions. This method targets all students, not just those who are struggling.

Were really approaching this at a classroom level, at a district level, said Christine Sipala, director of pupil personnel services in Brookfield. This impacts all kids. This is all about prevention.

As part of RULER, middle school students create classroom charters establishing how they want to feel and what they could do to feel that way, Sipala said. The students also use a tool called a mood meter that helps them identify their emotions and strategize how to feel better, she said.

Staff at the local preschools also learned the RULER approach, while a nearly $1 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences will allow some preschools to be part of a study on the effectiveness of the method.

Introducing the approach to preschoolers could be key to preventing problems when the children reach the public schools, Sipala said.

New Milford uses the Nurtured Heart approach, which encourages students to build positive relationships and fosters independence and growth. The district also hosts programs to educate parents on mental health.

Meanwhile, Newtown has services in district, but works closely with support centers in the community, many of which formed after the Sandy Hook tragedy.

Aside from the pilot initiative at the elementary level, students in the middle and high schools participate in the Signs of Suicide Prevention Program, which is used around the country.

Bethel this school year received a $20,000 United Way grant for suicide prevention, which covers training sessions for staff, surveys of students and other programs.

Bethel also uses a product that screens what students are searching and writing online on school devices. This allowed staff to help several students who wrote about harming themselves, Superintendent Christine Carver said.

Schools also hold special weeks to promote kindness, Carver said. Were really working on a culture of kindness and respect, she said.
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The For the People Act of 2019 (H.R. 1) under discussion in the U.S. House addresses issues current in North Carolina. The bill sets out revisions in the voter registration process (including national automatic registration for qualified voters) that would protect voting rights for all citizens. It increases security and ends partisan gerrymandering in federal elections. It proposes campaign finance reforms that would reduce the influence of corporate donors and special-interest groups. Last, H.R. 1 calls for stronger ethics rules for public servants, including:
A few small changes have been proposed, like allowing Sunday sales. But most legislators appear to be clinging to the current system and arent sufficiently bothered by their willing embrace of a socialist system for distribution and sales. This is one place where conservatism is definitely not the choice of our legislative majority.

But its one place where it should be. Its completely inappropriate for the state to operate a sprawling retailing and wholesaling business that could be better run, and better serve consumers, if it was in the private sector. Government doesnt belong in the booze business.

Burrs defense of smoking

Defending a product that kills 1,300 people a day might seem like a throwback Washington kind of thing, but we have to give U.S. Sen. Richard Burr some credit: Hes finding some new, if weird, ways to defend the cigarette industry.

The North Carolina Republican took to the Senate floor to speak up for menthol cigarettes, which face a new threat from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA chief Scott Gottlieb announced in November that his agency would attempt to ban the products, which encourage children to start lighting up.
While there certainly is a problem on the border, experts agree its less of an emergency than its been for much of this century. This kind of national emergency declaration is also out of step with previous ones, which generally focus on sanctions and situations that simply cant wait for congressional action. In other words, if Trump can do this, the power to declare national emergencies is even broader than we knew.

Even Republican senators have worried that if Trump succeeds, it would set a troubling precedent. Future presidents could treat any of their pet issues as a national emergency and simply bypass Congress.

One of Trumps most reliable and vocal supporters in the House, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said, I dont want the next national emergency to be that some Democrat president says we have to build transgender bathrooms in every elementary school in America.
The alleged rapes were reported to authorities on July 4, Oct. 21 and Nov. 27 of 2012. All the alleged rapes happened at the Rural Hall house on Brookhill Park Drive.

In two of the alleged rapes, the women told sheriffs deputies that Bennett raped them several times and threatened to either hurt or kill them. In one instance, he allegedly told a woman he had several guns in the house. According to the search warrants, two of the women told deputies that Bennett also deleted information from their cellphones.

Bennett was charged in the October 2012 incident. In that case, a Greensboro woman told investigators that Bennett threatened to shoot and gut her and gagged her with a handkerchief. Bennett also allegedly took mail out of her purse and told her he now knew where she lived. According to the search warrant, Bennett made the woman wash herself with a white sock.

He also took her car keys, forced her to leave the house with him and searched her car. When he left the keys in the trunk, the woman grabbed them, got into the drivers seat, started the car and drove away, according to the search warrants.
The neighborhood suffered massive losses to its tree canopy last year when a tornado cut a path of destruction through the area, downing and damaging trees and devastating the neighborhood park. The NeighborWoods program will assist neighbors in replacing and replanting trees lost to the storms, both in the park and throughout the neighborhood.

Funding for the NeighborWoods program is provided through private donations made to the Greensboro Beautifuls Tree Fund. To become involved or to donate to the tree fund, visit www.greensborobeautiful.org or contact Judson Clinton at 336-373-2150.

***

The Greensboro-Guilford unit of the North Carolina Retired School Personnel will meet at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, at First Baptist Church, 1000 W. Friendly Ave. in Greensboro.

The new state NCRSP president, the Rev. Willie T. Ramey III, will speak.

The meeting will be a celebration of education with a focus on how retirees can still be impactful in helping to make North Carolina education the best it can be.

Refreshments will be offered at 10:15 a.m.

***
It's a safe bet Stephanie Butzer wouldn't have been able to tell this story in the Triad.

The runner and former High Point Enterprise reporter and her now-husband, former WGHP journalist Alex Rose, moved to Colorado in 2018.

Butzer, who now works as a digital producer for Denver's ABC affiliate, reported on the news conference Thursday at which Fort Collins, Colo., resident Travis Kauffman described being attacked by a juvenile mountain lion while out for a run in the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space area.

Butzer, who was a member of the High Point Pub Runners, offers a detailed account from Kauffman, with assistance from a fellow journalist in Fort Collins.

"The cat continued to approach and lunged at his face. Kauffman put his arms in front of his face and the animal latched onto his right wrist, clawing his face and legs. He tried to throw it off of him, but they both tumbled off a slope on the south side of the trail.

"As they wrestled, Kauffman said his fear turned into a fight response, though he was still terrified that another mountain lion, like a mother, was somewhere nearby."
Romeos (copy) Dr. Alan Medoff (right) beams as a little girl from Greensboro Day gives him a Valentines Day card at the Village Tavern in Greensboro on Thursday.

GREENSBORO  This is an unconventional Valentines Day love story. Its not about roses and chocolates for a lover or dear friend, but rather an expression of thanks to an older generation of men who call themselves Retired Older Men Eating Out  ROMEOs for short.

It came in the form of about 20 first-graders from Greensboro Day School who showed up at the Village Tavern restaurant on Thursday during lunch to surprise the men with hand-drawn Valentines Day cards and a song.

This is fabulous, said 77-year-old ROMEOs member Hank Gutman.

Another member, 93-year-old Dr. Alan Medoff, agreed.

I thought this was absolutely stupendous, he said with a smile on his face.

The ROMEOs, mostly in their 70s and 80s, meet each Thursday for lunch at restaurants around town.

The Valentines Day surprise was orchestrated by Ari Medoff, the grandson of Alan Medoff  or Papa Alan.

Romeos (copy) The ROMEOs clap and cheer as Greensboro Day first-graders surprise them with Valentines Day cards and posters at the Village Tavern in Greens

Many of these gentlemen, including my grandfather, are widowers, Ari Medoff said. Today, being Thursday and Valentines Day, presented me an opportunity to show them that they are loved.

Ari Medoff grew up in Greensboro and attended Greensboro Day School. He has worked with the schools alumni program through the years. Medoff is also CEO and owner of Nurse Care of North Carolina, a home-care agency for seniors. He understands the emotional needs of seniors.

We are in an age where we oftentimes live in a segregated society where our seniors dont live near grandchildren, Medoff said. That has real consequences, both for our seniors and our youth.

So Medoff reached out to Michael Sumner, director of alumni programs at Greensboro Day School.

Sumner asked the teachers to round up some students for the presentation. The result was a group of first-graders who made large Happy Valentines Day cards and practiced a song.

To have these first-graders come and appreciate and interact with our seniors, I think was a very special opportunity for both parties, Medoff said.

The students felt it, too.

We started this project with talking about spreading joy. It wasnt about Valentines Day at all, said Lindsay Fricke, a first-grade teacher at Greensboro Day School. We were really trying to make an impact.

Romeos (copy) Fred Niditch gets a card from a first-grader from Greensboro Day School.

Fricke said the children knew, from the smiles and the clapping they received, that they did just that. Not only did they bring joy to the ROMEOs, but to the whole restaurant.

They realized that a small gesture really goes a long way, Fricke said.

As much as the gesture was a Valentines Day gift to the ROMEOs, it was also a gift to Medoffs grandfather, who was there for Ari at a pivotal time of his life and continues to inspire.

He embodies the joy and purpose one can get from building new friendships, Medoff said. It has kept him healthy and thriving at the age of 93.

You dont need to tell that to Alan Medoff. He was having a good time with the ROMEOs talking about the childrens visit as plates of burgers, sandwiches and pasta began to arrive at the table.

We even had Hank laughing, Medoff said as he glanced over at Gutman with a grin.

Romeos (copy) Dr. Alan Medoff claps as Greensboro Day first-graders surprise the ROMEOs with Valentines Day cards and posters at the Village Tavern in Gree

Steven Scheck, who sat across the table, was having a good time as well.

This is probably the most immature group of old men youre ever going to meet, Scheck said.

Gutman fired a good-natured barb at Scheck: Hes in the fugitive resettlement program.

And the men laughed in that comfortable place theyd found as the ROMEOs.

Contact at 336-373-7145 or at carl.wilson@greensboro.com. Follow on Twitter at Short_OrdersNR and on Facebook.

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Mercedes-Benz Trucks has handed over a fully electric eActros truck to Murg Valley (Southern Germany)-based logistics company Logistik Schmitt.

As part of the eWayBW project, commercial transport will be electric on the B462 federal road around Rastatt with the test operation of catenary trucks as of 2020. On an approximately 18 km long pilot track on the B462, three sections with a total length of almost 6 km will be electrified.





Mercedes-Benz eActros, 2 x electric hub motor, 240 kW, 2x 485 Nm, wheel formula 6x2, M-cab, Range of up to 200 km with customary level of performance and payload.

While preparations for the construction of the necessary infrastructure are still ongoing, at a cost of some 17.6 million (US$20 million), the eActros is mobile with its battery-electric drive, fully flexible and in need of only minimal infrastructure; nothing more than a charging station, Mercedes-Benz Trucks points out.

Daimler has taken the position that due to the high infrastructure costs involved, the company does not see potential in overhead lines at present; also in view of the rapid development of battery and fuel cell technology.

From spring of this year, Logistik Schmitt will be operating the eActros in place of a conventional diesel truck as part of a field test transporting transmission housings. The eActros will be tested on an around 7km stretch in a demanding three-shift system between Logistik Schmitts warehouse in Otigheim and Rastatt's Mercedes-Benz Gaggenau plant. The daily tour of the 25-tonne truck totals around 168 kilometers.

This represents the kick-off to a series of eActros field tests taking place over several years in the Murg valley and the surrounding region. As a next step, comparative tests with the catenary project will be carried out with an advanced version of the eActros as a semitrailer tractor variant with higher tonnage and range.

Our eActros has been out on public roads since June 2018 and has already covered more than 30,000 kilometers with its battery-electric drive. Together with customers, we have been compiling experiences of the eActros in regular everyday operations since September. Its range of 200 kilometers has proved to be absolutely realistic. The eActros completes its transportation tasks regardless of the route or other factors. The expenses involved in installing one charging station at each customers premises is comparatively low. There is every indication that we are on the right track with our eActros concept. Our aim as of 2021 is to have locally emission-free and quiet heavy-duty series production trucks operating in citiesoperating economically on a par with diesel trucks. We are delighted that Logistik Schmitt will now use the eActros and are excited about further interesting findings gained from practical operations. Stefan Buchner, Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks

In the first phase of the eActros test operation, Logistik Schmitt is integrating a vehicle with a swap body into the company fleet. The eActros transports up to twelve tonnes and drives twelve tours a day. The batteries in the eActros are charged also while the vehicle is being loaded or unloaded so that the total 200-kilometer range of the eActros can be optimally used. Initially the vehicle will be charged using a mobile charging station.





Second phase: parallel testing with the catenary truck. As of the second phase of the eActros project in the Murg valley, the 25-tonne truck from the first phase will be replaced by an advanced version of the electric truck in form of a semitrailer tractor unit.

Using the eActros semitrailer, Logistik Schmitt will deliver axle components along the 14 kilometers from the warehouse in Otigheim to the Mercedes-Benz Gaggenau plantmainly via the B462. This route is, for the most part, the same as that for the catenary project.

The specifications of the eActros semitrailer truck will be comparable to those of the overhead catenary trucks, among other things in terms of the higher tonnage and range. This parallel testing of the eActros and the catenary trucks will take place for approximately one year and will deliver data and findings necessary for comparing both concepts, e.g. in what way the vehicles are suitable for this operation.

Third phase: direct comparison with the overhead catenary truck. During a third phase of the project, the eActros semitrailer truck will travel the exact catenary truck route for approximately one to two weeks so that a direct comparison can be made. This will serve to validate the second phase. During this direct comparison, the eActros will transport rolls of paper the 18 kilometers from the paper mills in Gernsbach-Obertsrot to the Fahrner logistics site in Kuppenheimjust like the trucks involved in the overhead-lines project.

A conventional diesel Actros equipped to the Euro VI emissions standard and fitted with measuring equipment will serve as a neutral starting point for the comparison of the concepts and will drive along the overhead-lines route. It will then be possible to compare the energy consumption of the electric trucksbattery-electric and catenarywith the consumption of the diesel truck.

The eActros is based on the frame of the Mercedes-Benz Actros. Beyond that, the eActros uses an architecture based entirely on electric drive with a large proportion of specific parts. The drive comes from two electric motors near the wheel hubs on the rear axle. Their output is 126 kW each, and the maximum torque is 485 Nm each. Downstream of the transmission that equates to 11,000 Nm each. The driving output is therefore on a level with a diesel truck.

The maximal permitted axle load is the usual 11.5 tonnes. The energy is stored in lithium-ion batteries with a capacity of 240 kWh. Depending on the available charging capacity, a full charge takes between two and eleven hours (at 150 or 20 kW respectively).
GAP Plans Another Expansion of Puerto Vallarta Airport

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico - Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (GAP) will begin constructing a new terminal building at the Puerto Vallarta International Airport in early 2020 that will increase the facility's capacity for arriving planes and passengers by almost 50 percent.

The new terminal will span more than 115,000 square feet and include new jetways and security lines, according to Raul Revuelta, the general director of GAP. "Currently, the Gustavo Diaz International Airport has a capacity for 20 aircraft, but the new terminal will add 8 or 9 more slots, without the need to create a new runway," he added.

The airport's administrator, Gustavo Saul Sanabria Gibert, said that the expansion is expected to be completed by 2024. "This completely new terminal building will better serve all of the airlines, with more room for arrivals and departures, as well as an improved customs area to enhance passengers' travel experiences," he explained.

In addition, he assured that GAP has already been working on the adequacy of the airport's current facilities, from fixing leaks and faults in the drainage, to improving the existing customs area (which is the one that receives the most complaints and still needs more work), and adding a new International VIP Lounge and free WiFi throughout the airport.

"Over the past 6 years, GAP has invested over 360 million pesos in renovations, in preparation for the airport's continued growth," Sanabria Gibert said. In 2018, the Puerto Vallarta International Airport received about 4.76 million travelers, (a 5.3% percent increase over 2017), and that number is expected to exceed 5 million in 2019.
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(CNN)  These days, it's all about swiping right to find a partner. But some Taiwan residents have another method for finding romance besides Tinder -- they call on the god of marriage and love.

According to Chinese mythology, the Love God, or Yue Lao, is in possession of a "book of marriages," and can find and bind you to the one you're meant to be with, with a red string.

The story goes that during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), a man asked the Love God to show him his future wife. But he didn't believe the Love God and had the girl attacked. But in the future, when he actually met his wife, she had a scar from that same attack.

Taking this somewhat gruesome story to heart, many started believing in the Love God -- also referred to as "The Matchmaker" or "The Old Man under the Moon" -- starting in the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1912), says associate professor Isaac Yue of the University of Hong Kong.

Today, believers continue to pray at statues of his likeness throughout Asia. And while there are larger, more colorful, even blingier, Love God sculptures in the region, the one in Taipei's Xia Hai City God Temple is the most popular.

"I can't promise anything, but if you believe, you will be successful," says Naomi Lee, a guide at the temple. "If you don't believe, he can't help you."

Around 500 lovelorn visitors flock to this Taiwanese temple every day, estimates Lee. And on days like Valentine's Day or Lunar New Year, more than 1,000 pass through.

Reportedly, actress Sarah Jessica Parker was a visitor, adds Lee.

Some are repeat visitors, too. Successful couples are obliged to bring back wedding cookies -- and judging by the piles of cookie boxes we saw during our visit, there have been many happy partnerships.

In 2014, there were around 5,000 successful matches, says Bob Chen, a guide with the Taipei Walking Tour.

Small but mighty

The Xia Hai temple is about 40 minutes from the center of Taipei, Taiwan's capital.

It was built in 1859, but the Love God's statue wasn't added until 1971. Measuring only 43 centimeters tall, this likeness of Yue Lao, is mightier than the others, because he is standing, not sitting, and ready to perform his magic, explains Chen.

And unlike other temples, one can intercede for family members, meaning you don't have to directly meet this Love God.

Another factor loaning to this temple's potency, says Chen, is that its City God -- not to be confused with the Love God -- has a wife.

Many temples have statues of City Gods, who act as guardians for the metropolis. But it's rare to find one who is married.

Residents gave the Xia Hai City God a wife -- also represented by a statue -- after discovering that women were fainting during the annual summer parade at the temple. It was the result, Chen says, of the City God being single. So now, when anyone visits, they must pray to the happy couple as well.

"Everybody should come here and do it," says Chiang Hung Chen, 40, a traveler from Vietnam who has been married for eight years.

"I found my husband a year after I visited the temple. Now I need to come back and say thanks."

The prayer process is quite complicated and it can take more than 30 minutes to complete all 12 of the steps, which are outlined on a sign at the temple. It entails buying an offering set for around $9, then lighting incense, praying to the City God, his wife and the Love God, plus eating wedding cookies left by successful couples.

When praying to the Love God, Lee says you have to be as detailed as possible. First introduce yourself by giving your name, age and address, and then give as much information as possible, right down to personality traits, of the person you want as your partner.

The offering set also includes a red string and a Love God amulet, which worshipers must keep on their body or purse until the promise is fulfilled.

"She never paid attention to me"

For Omi Chen, the Love God was a bit of a last resort.

"I chased her for two years," said Chen, 32. "She never paid attention to me, until I went to the temple and asked the Love God for help."

Two months after he visited the temple, he says she responded.

"I thought he didn't understand me, that he wasn't serious about getting together," says Chen's former coworker, and now wife, Yuli Cheng, 33.

Now they own a milk tea shop together -- the fulfillment of a promise to the Love God, Chen says. If the Love God was able to help him, he said, he would go on to help others.

The two started the business with a vending machine in 2016. The shop, now open for about two years, is a couple blocks from the temple, but the machine is right across the street. The machine also serves milk tea and each of the bottles contains a love fortune.

There are some 500 to 600 sayings hidden in the bottles and contain advice from their friends in love. For example, one says that "It is more important for one person to truly love you than to be popular among many."

"Lots of our customers come here and ask for advice," says Cheng. "But we send them to the temple to ask the Love God instead."

And after visiting the temple or grabbing one of Chen's drinks for a fortune, if one still isn't happy with the results, there's allegedly a Break-Up God, residing at a temple only 40 minutes away.

Zhinan Temple's Lu Dong-bing is supposedly jealous of loving couples after unsuccessfully wooing a female deity.

"He's single, so he will cut a relationship," says tour guide Chen.

The area around Xia Hai City God Temple, Dadaocheng, is known for its tea, having been a tea export port in the past. It's also the setting of a recent original series by Netflix, "A Taiwanese Tale of Two Cities."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Looking for a mate? Head to this Taiwan temple for a meeting with the 'Love God'."
RTHK: Modi warns of crushing response to Kashmir attack

India's prime minister warned on Friday of a "crushing response" to the suicide bombing of a paramilitary convoy in Indian-controlled Kashmir, an attack killed 41 and is now the deadliest in the divided region's volatile history.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi placed the blame for Thursday's bombing squarely on neighbouring Pakistan, which India accuses of supporting rebels in Kashmir.

"Our neighbouring country thinks such terror attacks can weaken us, but their plans will not materialise," he said, adding that government forces have been "given total freedom" to deal with the militants.

The attack is ratcheting up already hostile tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who both administer parts of the disputed territory but each claim it entirely.

Pakistan has denied any involvement and warned India against linking it to the attack, but that hasn't stopped India from taking action.

India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced on Friday that New Delhi was withdrawing the most favoured nation trade status given to Pakistan.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the country condemns acts of violence anywhere in the world, and denied any involvement. (AP)

This story has been published on: 2019-02-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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Goshen, IN (46526)

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Details Written by Mark Phillips Created: 15 June 2021

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.

Cambridge Audio, founded in Cambridge, England, has been making hi-fi audio equipment for half a century nowa mere drop in the bucket compared to, say, Cambridge University, founded in 1209, but a long time in the world of hi-fi.

Read more: Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M Digital-to-Analog Converter
The shelter said it would use donations above Tommies expenses to support the emergency care needed for other animals.

It also started a reward fund for information leading to the successful arrest and conviction of a suspect or suspects in Tommies brutal arson assault.

By Wednesday morning, the fund topped $10,000.

The suspect is described as a man wearing multiple layers of pants who was last seen around 7:30 p.m. Sunday running from the area toward Belvidere Street. The park is in the 200 block of West Clay Street.

RACC staff updating social media have been open and honest that there is a chance Tommie may not survive. They are hopeful, however.

In an update Wednesday morning, they said: Please know that recovery may not be an option but we are exploring every opportunity to find the best solution for our Tommie.

Officials said that his burns, which were first believed to cover about 40 percent of his body, have worsened and cover nearly his entire body. The dog requires intravenous fluids and a feeding tube for nutrition.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will declare a national emergency to fulfill his pledge to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump said he will use executive powers to bypass Congress, which approved far less money for his proposed wall than he had sought. He plans to siphon billions of dollars from federal military construction and counterdrug efforts for the wall. The move is already drawing bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill and expected to face rounds of legal challenges.

Here's what the future of this process could look like.

What does the law say?

A national emergency allows Trump to unlock certain funds provided under statutes previously passed by Congress. A draft proclamation reviewed by CNN last month cited Title 10 of the US Code, which paves the way for Trump to dip into a stash of Pentagon funds that are earmarked but have no signed contracts for spending that money.

That would give the President authority to pull from military construction funds and civil works projects, like infrastructure repair projects.

Trump has to notify Congress about where he decides to pull money from, but he does not need approval from Congress, according to congressional aides.

For Trump to invoke Section 2808, specifically, the emergency would require the use of the armed forces.

In that event, the "Secretary of Defense, without regard to any other provision of law, may undertake military construction projects, and may authorize the Secretaries of the military departments to undertake military construction projects, not otherwise authorized by law that are necessary to support such use of the armed forces."

Congressional aides also told CNN that "there will be legitimate questions about whether building a fence along the border" would be in support of the armed forces, something required when using military construction funds.

However, Trump's decision to deploy active duty troops to the border could provide cover for that.

Where could the money come from?

According to options that had been considered, the administration could pull $681 million from Treasury forfeiture funds, $3.6 billion in military construction, $3 billion in Pentagon civil works funds and $200 million in Department of Homeland Security funds, an official told CNN late last month. It could also include up to $2 billion in counter-narcotics funds.

A White House official told CNN late Thursday night that the move will allow for about $8 billion for border barriers. The money could come from:

$1.375 billion in the Homeland Security appropriations bill. Congress said those funds cannot be used to build a wall but can be used to construct other types of barriers.

$600 million from the Treasury Department's drug forfeiture fund, which would come from an executive action.

$2.5 billion in Defense Department's drug interdiction program, which would come from an executive action.

Plus $3.5 billion from the Defense Department military construction budget, which would require the emergency declaration.

ABC was first to report on the funding breakdown.

The congressional aides added that the Department of Defense will select which projects to draw from and Congress will not be involved.

"It will be a DoD action, we in Congress will not have a say," they said. "The law doesn't say he has to tell us which project but you can be sure we will be asking that question."

What legal challenges are ahead?

The proclamation likely wouldn't make the path forward any easier.

House Democrats, for one, are expected to pursue legal challenges in the event of a national emergency proclamation. In a press conference Thursday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi denounced the notion that the situation along the border is an emergency, adding that Democrats are reviewing their options.

The House can argue, for example, that the situation along the border is not a national emergency, according to Robert Chesney, who teaches at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. But chances of succeeding are slim, given that the definition of a national emergency is vague.

The follow-up then is whether the statutes that allow the President to dip into funds without congressional approval are properly invoked. That, too, may be difficult for Democrats to win on.

Landowners along the border whose property is at risk of being seized, on the other hand, have a greater chance at mounting a successful challenge. All 55 miles included in the agreement reached by lawmakers is in the Rio Grande Valley, where much of the land is privately owned.

Who would build the wall?

The US Army Corps of Engineers would likely be deployed to construct the wall.

The Pentagon has assisted the Department of Homeland Security in the past. For example, the Army Corps has helped evaluate prototypes of the border wall.

During his presidency, Trump has repeatedly looked to the Defense Department for assistance along the border. In the run-up to the 2018 midterm elections, the administration deployed more than 5,000 troops to the border, and more recently, aviation support and assistance with installing concertina wire. Trump also previously flirted with the idea of the Defense Department fronting money for the wall.

Trump has argued that an increase in border apprehensions necessitates a wall and additional reinforcements to stem the flow of migrants. According to federal data, Customs and Border Protection apprehended nearly 400,000 people along the southwest border in fiscal year 2018, an increase from fiscal year 2017, but a decrease from fiscal year 2016 figures.
Chivvis said the police department is still debating uses for the drone, and it is unclear if the technology will be a breakthrough like the departments body cameras, which are commonly used in court. Though the drones usefulness in court has yet to be tested in the city, it could be used to faithfully record events as they happen, Chivvis said  to give a judge or jury an eye-in-the-sky look at an incident.

We are expected to provide top-of-the-line, cutting-edge information in court, he said. Words and officers testimony are great, but when you can add pictures and video to it, then the judge and jury, the court, can see for themselves what was going on.

And that principle applies to many uses of police technology: they better, more accurately record potential crimes than a handwritten report could, Chivvis said.

Lt. Mike Wallace, a longtime investigator, said that advances in technology have changed how police go about their work. As people interface with electronics more and more, it falls to investigators to know how to find potentially important information  with phone records, social media posts and everything in between.

We are expected to know all our resources we have available to us, Wallace said. We are expected to find out, and if there are ways to get that data, then we should know how to do that.

James Whitlow reports for the Danville Register & Bee. Contact him at jwhitlow@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7983.
Moreover, there is another political dynamic that affects the balance between adequacy and affordability that is less visible and understood: It is the extent to which the commissions big and bold vision for the future  as commendable as it is  has minimized the need for adequate instructional interventions for struggling learners in the here and now. The commission report, in my view, underestimates the extent to which such interventions will be necessary during the decade or more that will it will take to fully implement the commissions far-reaching vision and plan.
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Ukraine Deports Russia-Aligned Priest, Strips Citizenship, In Church Rift

By Christopher Miller February 14, 2019

KYIV -- Ukraine has taken the extraordinary step of deporting a senior cleric of the Moscow-aligned Orthodox Church and stripping him of his citizenship, marking a political escalation in the historic rift that has shaken the Eastern Orthodox world and further raised tensions between Kyiv and Moscow.

The move threatens to draw U.S. officials into the spat, since the Ukrainian-born Bishop Gedeon, whose given name is Yuriy Kharon, is said to hold U.S. citizenship.

U.S. Embassy officials in Kyiv could not immediately confirm whether or not he has U.S. citizenship.

Gedeon, of the Moscow Patriarchate Church in Ukraine, had just touched down at Kyiv's Boryspil Airport after a working trip to the United States when Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) agents detained him over accusations of promoting Russia's military aggression against the country and holding a second passport, reportedly American.

After being held for hours overnight on February 13 and interrogated, the Ukrainian-born cleric was stripped of his Ukrainian passport and then put on a plane to Frankfurt early on February 14, Ukrainian authorities and Moscow Patriarchate officials said in official statements. Ukrainian authorities claimed he had lied about losing the passport but then found it on him during the interrogation.

The deportation of a senior member of the Moscow-aligned church in Ukraine is likely to inflame tensions over the simmering religious dispute that has seen the Russian Orthodox Church split from the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople after it approved the creation of an autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, who led the push for a new Ukrainian Orthodox church "independent" of the Russian Orthodox Church and made it a key part of his reelection campaign, has said the move was done in the interest of national security.

The Ukrainian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, as the Russian Orthodox Church's local arm is known, has been used as a tool by Russian President Vladimir Putin to spread propaganda and foment unrest in the country, Poroshenko and Ukrainian church officials have claimed.

Clerics of the Moscow Patriarchate have spoken out in support of Russia's annexation of Crimea and military intervention in the eastern Donbas region, and they have said that the Moscow Patriarchate is the only canonical church in Ukraine, comments that authorities in Kyiv regard as anti-Ukrainian.

At the same time, Poroshenko and Ukrainian Church officials, including the head of the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifaniy, have called for restraint amid heightened tensions following the creation of the new church.

After clerics of the Moscow Patriarchate expressed concerns about the loss of church property and complained about pressure from authorities, Poroshenko and Epifaniy stressed there would be no forced takeovers of Moscow Patriarchate properties and no pressure applied to their priests.

However, they have publicly encouraged Moscow Patriarchate priests and parishes to peacefully convert to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and Poroshenko signed a law last month allowing for a legal path to do so. Roughly 300 of some 12,000 Moscow Patriarchate churches have joined the new Ukrainian Church since it received independence last month, according to the Religious Information Service of Ukraine.

But in at least a dozen cases, the Ukrainian Security Service has conducted raids on Moscow Patriarchate churches and properties belonging to its priests on the grounds that they committed acts of "treason" and "incited religious hatred."

Some of those priests have been interrogated, according to Archbishop Kliment, a senior member of the Moscow Patriarchate who resides at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, one of Ukraine's holiest sites, where mummified monks rest in underground caves. He told RFE/RL in a recent interview that "Soviet-era tactics" are being used by Ukrainian authorities against his church.

In Bishop Gedeon's case, upon his arrival in Kyiv, SBU agents escorted him to a holding room where they questioned him about remarks he had made regarding Russia's actions in Ukraine, according to a statement on the Facebook page of the Moscow Patriarchate. The statement included a photograph of Gedeon standing in front of the entrance to the U.S. House of Representatives meeting rooms, where he had been earlier in the week for meetings.

A separate report shared by Kliment's office cited the Russian Church as saying Gedeon, who previously lived for years in the United States, was also an American citizen and had sent a request to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and members of Congress to discuss the church issue in Ukraine.

Ukraine's Interior Ministry shared a video on Twitter showing part of the SBU's interrogation of Gedeon.

It was accompanied by a statement that said Gedeon had been put on a plane to Frankfurt.

Later in the video, the cleric is seen saying goodbye to members of his staff who had accompanied him on his trip while being escorted by Ukrainian border guards onto a plane. In a post on Facebook, he said his final destination was the United States but did not say which city. He added that he was "led to the plane by armed gunmen like a criminal!"

In the Interior Ministry video, just before boarding, the bishop turned to the border guards with a final message: "I'll be back."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-deports -russia-aligned-priest-strips-citizenship- in-church-rift/29770079.html

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
UK Carrier's First Mission Will Carry US F-35s Through Middle East, Pacific

Sputnik News

22:25 14.02.2019

The UK Royal Navy's newest aircraft carrier will go on its first mission this year through the disputed South China Sea, carrying US F-35 aircraft, the British Defence Secretary said this week.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth will lug F-35s belonging to both the UK and the US, UK Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said February 11, on a mission that "will include the Mediterranean, Middle East and Pacific  making Global Britain a reality."

The trip through the Pacific may include a route in the proximity of contested maritime features in the South China Sea, Stars and Stripes reports.

"Significantly, British and American F-35s will be embedded in the carrier's air wing, enhancing the reach and lethality of our forces and reinforcing the fact that the United States remains our very closest of allies," the secretary said during an event at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.

The United States Navy has been carrying out freedom-of-navigation missions in the South China Sea, a tremendously valuable body of water for international trade, in recent years.

Last fall, the British amphibious warship HMS Albion sailed near Chinese-claimed maritime features in the South China Sea en route to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, a move the Chinese Foreign Ministry called "provocative."

But an editorial in China Daily last fall observed that "freedom of navigation has never been a problem," adding that "hundreds of thousands of commercial ships pass through the strategic waterway each year, transporting an estimated $5 trillion worth of goods."

Further, "not a single" commercial vessel's freedom of navigation is ever compromised," the editorial noted.

The editorial slammed the Albion's freedom of navigation mission last year as "reckless" before suggesting the UK "should refrain from being Washington's sharksucker in the South China Sea."

"The United Kingdom m is no doubt eager to seize whatever opportunity to get into Washington's good books," China Daily wrote in the September 6 piece titled "UK should try to have more than one friend."

 Sputnik
This week, the New York Times devoted two full pages of its print paper to the 280 or so "people, places and things Donald Trump has insulted on Twitter since declaring his candidacy for president." I took the liberty of putting the text of those tweets into a database and crunching some of the associated numbers, assuming it would lead to an insightful analysis of Mr. Trump's psyche. I assumed wrong. What it does show, however, is not without value, albeit mostly entertainment. Here are the
Russia, Turkey, Iran Poised to Map Syria's Future

By Pete Cobus February 14, 2019

The leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey are meeting in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi Thursday to discuss the conflict in Syria for the first time since the United States announced its troop withdrawal.

Although the Kremlin hasn't divulged details, a number of observers say questions about the strategic implications of a U.S. pullout and differences between Moscow and Ankara on a political settlement in northern Syria are likely to predominate.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday made an unexpected visit to Ankara, where he met with Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar to resolve several issues ahead of the so-called Astana trio gathering  particularly recent developments in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, which borders southern Turkey.

Russia and Turkey cut a deal in September to establish an Idlib demilitarized zone to avert a Syrian government offensive, but the agreement was imperiled last month when al-Qaida-linked Hay'et Tahrir al-Sham militants took control there from Turkish-backed rebels.

While Russia and Iran are close allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Turkey, like the United States, supports differing Syrian rebel factions.

Earlier this week Turkey and Russia jointly called for "decisive measures" to retake control of Idlib, though the statement contained no specifics.

Turkey's foreign minister recently said Ankara might agree to a limited Russian-backed Syrian offensive to seize Idlib, but that would prove a strategic setback for Ankara, which seeks to capitalize on the U.S. troop withdrawal by retaking oil-rich northeastern provinces held by Kurdish fighters, whom Ankara considers terrorists.

Turkey's long-term plan to create a buffer zone on the Syria-Turkey border, which has long been bolstered by the U.S. forces, would now require Russian support to enforce.

In the Idlib region where Hay'et Tahrir al-Sham has expanded its reach, any kind of massive military assault would likely mean large-scale civilian casualties and a refugee exodus into Turkey.

Reconstruction investments

On the premise that an unstable Syria will only increase migrant flows to northern Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin began soliciting postwar reconstruction investment from European counterparts in late 2018.

Rebuffed by European leaders who are unwavering in their conviction that Syria's estimated $250 billion postwar reconstruction bill belongs solely to Assad, Putin, according to Oxford University analyst Samuel Ramani, has been looking to Saudi Arabia and China as potential investment partners, a move that would put Moscow at financial odds with Tehran, with whom it is militarily partnered in Syria.

"Concerns about competition between Russian and Iranian businesses involved in the reconstruction of Syria came to a head in February 2018, when Moscow beat out Tehran for a major 50-year deal in Syria's phosphate industry," he recently wrote in a think piece for the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for Peace.

Although their mutual interest in safeguarding Assad's rule may allow Tehran and Moscow to see past financial differences throughout the Sochi talks, he wrote, "tensions could flare up between Russia and Iran once their joint military operations in Syria come to a close."

Senior Iranian figures last week called Syria a top foreign policy priority and a situation where American troops should have no role whatsoever.

On Sunday, Tehran's Deputy Defense Minister Reza Talai-Nik warned that "all U.S. bases there are within the range of our cross-border weapons, and if these fail, we'll strike them from within Iran," according to a report by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

Moscow as sole broker

As the Astana trio impatiently awaits a full U.S. withdrawal from Syria, some observers say the absence of American boots on the ground may prove a complicating factor for Moscow, which has long sought to assert itself as a broker of global affairs.

"The first question in Sochi is likely to be, who replaces the American presence?" said Alexey Malashenko of the Moscow-based Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute. "And here, there is a misunderstanding between Russia and Turkey, because Turkey has repeated several times that this American place must come to be occupied by Turks, and Russia is against this. So, from that point of view, I think the meeting in Sochi will be very, very difficult for both of those countries."

Asked if the Astana leadership is even confident in White House plans for withdrawal  President Donald Trump's statements on the U.S. pullout, which contained no timetable, have been contradicted by members of his own Cabinet  Malashenko said it doesn't matter.

"Regardless of the specifics, just the possibility of an American withdrawal creates additional problems for Russia," he said. "In the Kremlin they constantly speak about America as an adversary that creates problems in the Middle East. But if Americans withdraw, what will Russia do? Because for Putin and the Kremlin, the situation with the American presence was at least more or less clear. Now this situation is becoming more and more unclear by the day."

In his assessment, a sustained U.S. presence would only benefit the Kremlin.

"Maybe it's a paradox, yes, but I think that's the case," he said, adding that a U.S. pullout also leaves Moscow to act as an on-the-ground arbiter between Iran, Syria and Israel.

"Before last year we spoke a lot about the multipolar situation of Tehran, Ankara and Moscow," he said. "But now it seems that triangle is becoming more and more fragile."

Putin approval ratings in the balance

Russia's ability to stabilize Syria in the wake of a U.S. withdrawal also has potential consequences for Putin's domestic approval ratings, which have been at a low point since late 2018.

Thursday's summit will start just three days after a survey released by Moscow's independent Levada Center polling organization showed that more than 50 percent of Russians say top officials are lying to them about the true state of affairs in the country.

Less than a week ago, Reuters published an investigation alleging that the Kremlin covered up mass casualties on the ground in Syria at a time when it is expanding its military activities in the Middle East and Africa.

The Higher School of Economics in Moscow recently published data showing that disposable income has decreased since 2014 and is predicted to drop further this year, which marks the fifth anniversary of U.S. and European Union sanctions resulting from Moscow's annexation of Crimea.

Several rounds of negotiations over recent years have failed to end the fighting, which has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people, displaced millions, and devastated many historic sites across the country.

President Trump has received criticism from Republicans, Democrats, and some foreign officials for what they have called a hastily planned withdrawal of the 2,000 U.S. troops, with many saying it leaves Kurdish allies at the mercy of the Turks and hands a victory to Russia and Iran.

Turkey has threatened to attack the United States' Kurdish allies fighting Islamic State militants in Syria. In January, Trump threatened to "devastate Turkey economically" if Ankara attacks the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces.

Thursday's talks will be 12th conference organized by Moscow, Ankara and Tehran, including nine held in Astana. The trio last met in November.
Tensions Surfacing at Trilateral Summit on Syria

By Pete Cobus February 14, 2019

Tensions appear to be surfacing between Russia and Turkey just hours into a three-way summit on the Syrian conflict being hosted in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

According to Kremlin spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Russia has told Turkey it lacked authorization to create a "safe zone" inside Syria without the express consent of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"The question of the presence of a military contingent acting on the authority of a third country on the territory of a sovereign country, and especially Syria, must be decided directly by Damascus," she told reporters during a press conference. "That's our base position."

While Russia and Iran, whose president also is participating in the summit, are close allies of Syrian President Bashar al-AssadTurkey, like the United States, which already is beginning to withdraw equipment from the country as part of a recently announced troop withdrawalsupports differing Syrian rebel factions.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has long insisted that Syria's territorial integrity will be compromised so long as U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG militants, whom Ankara considers terrorists, remain in the area.

All three countries have made efforts to coordinate military forces on the ground, but contradictory military objectivesand competition for natural resources in Syria's oil-rich northern regions, has created friction between Moscow and Ankara in particular.

President Donald Trump's surprise announcement of a U.S. troop withdrawal has been welcomed by Russia, Turkey, Iran and Syria, though the sudden shift has left Astana trio leaders unclear about how to reconfigure their objectives in the absence of U.S. forces.

Some high level U.S. officials have anticipated that diplomatic differences between Ankara and Moscow could undermine progress at the summit.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday the three presidents would discuss the formation of a committee that would be tasked with drafting a postwar constitution for Syria.

Lavrov did not discuss whether Syrian officials would be involved in that process.

Pete Cobus is VOA's acting Moscow correspondent.
Turkey Making All Efforts to Prevent Attacks on Hmeymim Military Base - Erdogan

Sputnik News

15:24 14.02.2019(updated 15:34 14.02.2019)

SOCHI (Sputnik) - Turkey is doing everything possible to prevent militant attacks on the Russian military base in Syria's Hmeymim, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday.

"We are making all efforts to prevent any attacks on Russia's Hmeymim military base. Our military agencies act in a coordinated way", Erdogan said before starting talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He said Turkish drones "did not detect any hardware in the area".

The statement addresses reports about the Al-Nusra Front* terror organisation that had attacked Syrian army positions in the Idlib de-escalation zone earlier in January. According to Moscow, the situation in the zone could pose a serious danger to Russia's Hmeymim airbase, as well as to civilians and Syrian troops in the area.

Russia also reported about numerous drone attacks on the airbase last year.

*Al-Nusra Front (also known as Jabhat al-Nusra, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, or al-Qaeda in Syria) is a terrorist group banned in Russia

 Sputnik
Turkey Wants Russia, Iran to Prevent Terrorist Corridor on Syrian Border

Sputnik News

17:41 14.02.2019(updated 19:05 14.02.2019)

Turkey expects assistance from its partners on Astana format talks - Russia and Iran - to prevent the emergence of a terrorist corridor on the Syrian-Turkish border, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday at a press conference following three-party talks with his Russian and Iranian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani.

"Turkey will in no way allow the formation of a terrorist corridor on its southern borders. In this regard, we expect support from our Astana partners," Erdogan said.

Talks on Syria at the Russia-Turkey-Iran summit in Sochi were constructive and thorough, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

"We completed very thorough talks on Syria. They were held in a constructive and businesslike manner. I note that our meetings in a trilateral format have become regular. Today we held the fourth summit. Such close coordination allows us to effectively carry out work aimed at achieving long-term normalization in the Syrian Arab Republic," Putin said following the summit.

"Jointly with the partners, we identified key areas for further cooperation in resolving the Syrian crisis. The agreements reached on this issue were reflected in the final joint statement," he said.

On US Pullout From Syria

The announced US troops withdrawal from Syria would be a positive step, while the control over the vacated territories should pass to the Damascus authorities, Russian President Vladimir Putin said following the Astana-format summit on Syria on Thursday.

"During the talks, the parties discussed how the announced US plans to withdraw American troops from the northeastern regions of the country will affect the further development of the situation in Syria. In our opinion, the implementation of such steps would be a positive step, would help stabilize the situation in this region of Syria, where ultimately the control of the legitimate government must be restored," Putin said at a joint news conference.

The Russian president expressed hope that the US troops withdrawal from Syria will, indeed, take place.

On Syrian Constitutional Committee

Russia, Iran and Turkey will assist the speedy launch of the constitutional committee in Syria, which is designed to address the fundamental aspects of the future state system in the republic, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday following the summit on Syria in Sochi.

"We agreed to promote by joint efforts the soonest possible launch of the constitutional committee, which is designed to address the fundamental aspects of the future state structure of the Syrian Arab Republic," Putin said after the talks.

He said Russia, Iran and Turkey had actively worked on the issue and achieved progress.

 Sputnik
Russia, Turkey, Iran See U.S. Pullout From Syria As 'Positive Step,' Putin Says

By RFE/RL February 14, 2019

Russia, Turkey, and Iran see the planned U.S. withdrawal from Syria as a positive step, President Vladimir Putin said after a summit with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts on February 14 in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Iranian President Hassan Rohani agreed during the talks that a U.S. pullout from northeastern Syria "would be a positive step that would help stabilize the situation in this region, where ultimately the legitimate government should reestablish control," he told a joint press conference.

But Putin said no big changes have been noted so far that would point to a U.S. withdrawal from Syria.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced in December that he will withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria.

Putin said Trump was trying to fulfill his election campaign promises by ordering the troop withdrawal, but that he was not always able to fulfill his promises because of what Putin described as internal political issues.

The top U.S. commander overseeing American forces in the Middle East said on February 9 that the United States is likely just weeks away from starting the withdrawal of ground troops from Syria.

Rohani told the news conference that the U.S. presence in Syria and other countries was not useful.

"America should reconsider its Middle East policy," Rohani told the news conference.

Several rounds of UN-sponsored negotiations in recent years have failed to end the fighting, which has killed more than 400,000 people, displaced millions, and devastated historic sites across the country.

Russia, Turkey, and Iran are all deeply involved in the seven-year Syrian conflict and sponsor separate peace talks in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana.

Putin said the next round of Astana talks on Syria will take place in late March or early April.

Putin has called on his Turkish and Iranian counterparts to continue working together "actively and consistently" on plans to stabilize Syria after the U.S. troop withdrawal.

All three countries have deployed military forces in Syria and have said they want a political solution that brings an end to the war.

Moscow and Tehran back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey and the United States back different rebel groups.

About 2,000 U.S. soldiers have been assisting a Syrian, Arab, and Kurdish alliance in the fight against militant extremists from the Islamic State extremist group.

Critics say Trump's announcement handed a victory to Russia and Iran. They also say a U.S. withdrawal will leave U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters at the mercy of Turkey, which considers them terrorists.

Speaking ahead of the Sochi summit, Erdogan said Turkey wants to move in coordination with Russia to establish what he called a "safe zone" in northern Syria.

Erdogan said Syria's territorial integrity cannot be guaranteed as long as the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG militia remain in the area.

Earlier, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Ankara would need approval from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to create any safe zone in Syrian territory.

"The question of the presence of a military contingent acting on the authority of a third country on the territory of a sovereign country, and especially Syria, must be decided directly by Damascus," spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the three presidents would discuss the formation of a committee that would be tasked with drafting a postwar constitution for Syria.

With reporting by dpa, AFP, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-turkey- iran-leaders-to-meet-in-sochi-for-talks -on-syria/29769358.html

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
You can't have Syria safe zone without Assad's consent, Russia tells Turkey

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 03:48PM

Russia has reminded Turkey that it must obtain the consent of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government for its plan to create a safe zone in the northeastern part of the conflict-plagued Arab country.

"The question of the presence of a military contingent acting on the authority of a third country on the territory of a sovereign country and especially Syria must be decided directly by Damascus. That's our base position," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters in Moscow on Thursday.

The remarks came as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian and Turkish counterparts Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a tripartite summit in the Russian coastal city of Sochi to provide further coordination among the three countries towards a long-term settlement of the Syria crisis.

The three leaders are going to hold their fourth such meeting in the Astana format.

The Sochi summit comes before the 12th Astana talks in the Kazakh capital in mid-February. The first round of the Astana talks commenced a month after the three guarantors joined efforts and brought about an all-Syria ceasefire.

Moscow, Tehran, and Ankara have been mediating peace negotiations between representatives from the Damascus government and Syrian opposition groups in a series of rounds held in Astana and other places since January 2017.

Since 2012, Turkey has been calling for the establishment of a safe zone of 30-40 kilometers between the northern Syrian towns of Jarablus and al- Ra'i in a bid to drive out the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). However, the safe zone is yet to be established.

Erdogan and his US counterpart Donald Trump held a telephone conversation last month, during which the Turkish leader expressed Ankara's determination to establish a safe zone in northern Syria.

Trump has suggested creation of a 30-kilometer safe zone along Turkey's border with Syria, but has not specified who would create, enforce or pay for it, or where it would be located.

Ankara has been threatening for months to launch an offensive in northern Syria against US-backed YPG militants.

Turkey considers the YPG 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.

The Turkish military, with support from allied militants of the so-called Free Syrian Army, launched two cross-border operations in northern Syria, the first dubbed "Euphrates Shield" in August 2016 and the second code-named "Olive Branch"in January 2018, against the YPG and Daesh Takfiri terrorists.
U.S. Senators To Try Again With Tougher Russia Sanctions Bill

By RFE/RL February 14, 2019

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced a bill that would impose drastic new sanctions on Russia over its meddling in U.S. elections and aggression against Ukraine.

The bill, the latest congressional effort to push President Donald Trump to ratchet up Washington's response to Moscow, was introduced on February 13 by both Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

One of them, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, said lawmakers were determined to take action in response to Moscow's aggression in Ukraine, the humanitarian crisis in Syria, where Moscow backs President Bashar al-Assad, "and the steady erosion of international norms."

"One thing is increasingly clear: Moscow will continue to push until it meets genuine resistance," Menendez said.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a vocal supporter of the president but also a hawk on Russia, said in a statement that "our goal is to change the status quo and impose meaningful sanctions and measures against [President Vladimir] Putin's Russia."

"He should cease and desist meddling in the U.S. electoral process, halt cyberattacks on American infrastructure, remove Russia from Ukraine, and stop efforts to create chaos in Syria," Graham added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on February 14 that the proposed legislation was drafted by U.S. senators with anti-Russian sentiments.

He also said the legislation flouted international trade rules and, if passed, would be an act of unfair competition aimed at helping U.S. business.

The measure is a tougher version of legislation the two lawmakers backed last year but which failed to pass in the Senate, which has a Republican majority.

The new bill may have a better chance of passing Congress now, either as a whole or as amendments to other legislation, in the face of growing bipartisan anger over Moscow's interference in other countries' affairs.

Trump's "willful paralysis in the face of Kremlin aggression has reached a boiling point in Congress," Menendez said in a statement.

The legislation sets out sanctions that would target Russian banks that support efforts to interfere in foreign elections; and individuals deemed to "facilitate illicit and corrupt activities, directly or indirectly, on behalf of Putin."

It would also include strict measures against Russia's oil and gas sector, including imposing sanctions against people who provide goods, services, or financing to support the development of crude oil in the country.

Trump would have to sign the bill before it became law.

In 2017, Congress passed a sanctions law known as CAATSA, with strong support from both Democrats and Republicans who overruled Trump's reluctance to impose punitive measures on Moscow.

With reporting by Reuters, CNN, and Interfax

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-senators-press-new- tough-russia-sanctions-bill/29769099.html

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Russia lashes out at planned US sanctions

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:18AM

Russia has lashed out at the United States over a new round of proposed sanctions against Moscow, denouncing the American practice of disrupting trade by other countries as "racketeering."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the remarks on Thursday, a day after US Senators introduced a bill that would impose sanctions on Russia's banking and sectors energy over the accusations of Russian meddling in US elections and aggression in Ukraine.

Peskov said the planned US sanctions were propelled by a "forceful" approach that had "nothing to do with international trade rules."

"This approach sometimes touches on racketeering. I mean various provisions of the draft law aimed at disrupting various energy projects of Russian companies, undermining the activities of Russian banks with state participation," he added.

Peskov said the legislation was ultimately aimed at favoring US businesses.

US Republican and Democratic Senators on Wednesday proposed restrictions on transactions with Russian sovereign bonds, and sanctions against energy projects by Russian state companies abroad.

The American lawmakers also introduced sanctions against 24 agents of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), whom Washington accuses of being linked to a November 2018 incident in the Kerch Strait, where Russia detained a group of trespassing Ukrainian seamen.

US sanctions against Russia 'insane'

Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the upper house of Russia's parliament, also blasted Washington's newly-proposed sanctions against Russia as "insane and reckless."

Kosachev said America interfered in all elections in Russia and throughout the world, carried out cyber attacks against Russia's infrastructure, and aimed to provoke Kiev against Moscow.

Sergey Shvetsov, the first deputy chairman of Russia's Central Bank, said, however, that the proposed US sanctions would have less effect than those introduced earlier.

"Even if the laws on sanctions are adopted, we have quite a lot of experience in such conditions. We are much more prepared in the financial market than other countries, so the effect that these sanctions had on 2014 will be much smaller now," Shvetsov said.

The US has already introduced several rounds of sanctions against the government of President Vladimir Putin for what it calls Russia's meddling in the US democratic process and its involvement in the Ukrainian conflict. Moscow rejects both charges.

In a referendum in 2014, the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea  whose population is largely ethnic Russians but was then part of Ukraine  voted to join Russia.
Myanmar Charter Change Bid Unlikely to Loosen Military Grip on Power

By Joshua Carroll February 14, 2019

Aung San Suu Kyi is unlikely to win any big changes to Myanmar's military-drafted constitution, despite launching her boldest challenge yet to the generals' entrenched role in politics, analysts have said.

Her civilian National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which dominates parliament, last week comfortably won a vote to set up a committee to amend the charter  but observers say that's about as easy as it's going to get.

Amending the constitution

The roughly 200-page document guarantees soldiers a quarter of all seats in parliament, giving them the ability to veto any constitutional changes, which require 75 percent of the vote to pass.

That means the NLD's super majority from a landslide 2015 election win is effectively useless when it comes to striking down clauses that bar Suu Kyi from becoming president and allow the military to control key ministries.

The constitution came into force following what is regarded as a sham referendum in 2008, held just a few days after a devastating cyclone killed around 140,000 people.

The death of Ko Ni

Hopes of reform dampened after the assassination in early 2017 of Ko Ni, a top constitutional lawyer and close advisor to Suu Kyi.

The NLD appeared to be signaling those hopes were still alive when it used the second anniversary of Ko Ni's death to announce its plan to form the committee last month.

Power of the military

Making the charter more democratic was a key NLD election pledge, but the committee appears to be less about making good on that promise than trying to show voters that they tried, and were hamstrung by the generals.

"They already know very well that if they cannot get the military to agree, they cannot change the constitution," said Ye Myo Hein, an analyst with the Tagaung Institute of Political Studies, a Yangon-based think-tank.

With the next election in 2020 looming ever larger, he added, "they want to send the message to the people that the NLD is always trying to fulfill its campaign promises."

But using the military's legal veto as an excuse for failure might ring hollow, said Soe Myint Aung, founder of the Yangon Centre for Independent Research.

Changing the charter would require an imaginative political solution to win concessions from the generals, he added; simply suggesting changes they are bound to vote down won't be enough.

"I don't think the NLD is really in a position to put the blame on the military if the amendments do not happen," he said. "The constitutional amendment question is really about political will. It's not really about the legal matter."

The NLD has tried to harness popular support to amend the constitution before, but that was before they came to power.

Mandalay demonstrations

And while hundreds of demonstrators rallied this week in the city of Mandalay to support changes, drawing on the power of the public to pressure the generals may not be the best strategy for the NLD this time, said Ye Myo Hein.

"In the near future they will be very busy with the election. I think it is very risky and also they would have to invest a lot of time and energy to mobilize," he said.

While key clauses that preserve the military's power are off limits for now, there are some less significant changes that the NLD may be able to make ahead of the next general election to show it has made progress.

Some change possible

Scrapping section 261, which gives the president a key role in appointing regional chief ministers, is plausible because the military would not see that as a threat, says Ye Myo Hein.

"They will allow constitutional reform that cannot damage their role in politics," he said.

Decentralizing some power to Myanmar's conflict-torn borderlands in this way might even serve the military's interests, he added, allowing them "to pressure ethnic armed groups to participate in politics rather than taking up arms."

The question is whether or not the NLD itself would want such a change; the party has been accused of using the clause to get the upper hand while in power.

The committee could be seen as an opportunity for Aung San Suu Kyi to win back some of the trust she has lost amid criticism she is unwilling to negotiate with ethnic parties.

Rather than using it to try to push through the changes they already want, the government should open a wider dialogue, said Melissa Crouch, an expert on Myanmar constitutional law.

"I think there's a lot the NLD could do around transparency and public participation in this process," she said.

That will be a precarious path to tread, said Soe Myint Aung: "The worry is that the NLD will not be able to please anyone, and this will just be seen as a political ploy."
Situation in Southern Libya

Press Statement

Robert Palladino

Deputy Spokesperson

Washington, DC

February 14, 2019

The United States is concerned by ongoing tensions in southern Libya, which have prolonged the closure of critical oil infrastructure and deprived all Libyans of vital economic resources.

We call on all parties to urgently establish a mutually acceptable security arrangement that will guarantee the safety of National Oil Corporation (NOC) workers and allow oil production at the al-Sharara oil field to resume as quickly as possible for the benefit of all Libyans. Libya's oil facilities, production, and revenues belong to the Libyan people. We reiterate that the NOC must be allowed to resume its work unhindered and that these vital Libyan resources must remain under the exclusive control of the NOC and the sole oversight of the Government of National Accord, as outlined in UN Security Council Resolutions 2259 (2015), 2278 (2016), and 2362 (2017).

The United States reaffirms its unwavering commitment to stand with all Libyans in our shared fight against terrorism. We welcome ongoing efforts to ensure that ISIS-Libya and al-Qa'ida are denied safe haven in southern Libya. We remain committed to using all available tools to sustain pressure against terrorist groups, at the request of and in coordination with the Government of National Accord.
In 2016, Mr. Trump lost the popular vote by more than 2.8 million ballots. He carried the Electoral College by very narrow margins: about 10,000 votes in Michigan, 22,000 in Wisconsin and 45,000 in Pennsylvania. In January, according to Morning Consult, Mr. Trump's approval ratings in these states were 40 percent, 40 percent and 43 percent, respectively. An NPR/PBS/Marist poll last month found that 57 percent of Americans say they will vote against Mr. Trump while a mere 30 percent said they will definitely vote for him. He is underwater in a slew of states any Republican needs to win, and he has never once broken 50 percent in approval ratings nationally.
Japan to Promote Relocation of US Base in Okinawa Regardless of Referendum

Sputnik News

11:38 14.02.2019(updated 12:08 14.02.2019)

TOKYO (Sputnik) - The Japanese government will continue to promote the relocation of a US military base in Okinawa regardless of the outcome of a referendum in the prefecture on that issue, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday at a press conference.

Suga, when asked whether the government will continue working to relocate US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the densely populated Okinawan city of Ginowan to the Henoko district of the same prefecture despite of the results of the referendum, said that "in general we think this way".

An official campaign was announced earlier in the day to prepare a referendum in Okinawa on the transfer of the Futenma military base in Okinawa to the Henoko district where Nago is located. The referendum is scheduled for February 24. A bulletin will contain three options  for, against, neither one nor the other one. There are 1.15 million voters in the prefecture and while the referendum is not legally binding its results could cause a split among the prefecture's population and exacerbate the contradictions between local authorities and the government in Tokyo.

US Marine Corps base Futenma was constructed in 1945. Talks on its relocation to a less populated area within the Okinawa prefecture started over two decades ago, but the government's plans have been hampered by Nago residents' protests. While Ginowan residents have been calling on the government to close the Futenma base due to environmental concerns, aircraft incidents, and accidents related to US troops behaviour, Nago residents are also unwilling to see the base relocated to their city. The administration of Okinawa would like to see the base relocated outside the prefecture

The relocation of the US base was launched in 2017. In August 2018, the prefecture's authorities revoked the land reclamation permit for the new site, citing concerns over the soft ground in the area. In early November, however, the relocation process resumed as Tokyo reversed the ban by local authorities.

The plans to relocate the US air base have sparked protests among tens of thousands of local residents demanding that the facility be removed from Okinawa completely, and not just moved to another location.

Okinawa, which accounts for a small fraction of Japan's territory, hosts 74 percent of US military facilities and more than half of all US forces deployed in Japan.

 Sputnik
Bomb attack kills 8 Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters in central Iraq

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 05:27PM

Nearly a dozen fighters from the Iraqi pro-government Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) have lost their lives and several others sustained injuries when a massive bomb explosion struck their convoy in Iraq's north-central province of Salahuddin.

Captain Hussam al-Jubouri from Samarra's Operations Command said the convoy of the volunteer forces  better known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi  was heading to launch a search campaign in al-Jazira area near the city of Samarra, located 125 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, when two roadside bombs struck it.

Jubouri added that eight Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters, including a commander identified as Hussein Attia, were killed while seven others were wounded in the bomb attack.

The development came only a day after Hashd al-Sha'abi forces released 30 civilians, who had been besieged by Daesh Takfiri terrorists in a mountainous area in the same Iraqi province.

In November 2016, the Iraqi parliament voted to integrate Hashd al-Sha'abi, which was formed shortly after the emergence of Daesh, into the military.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi stressed on November 5 last year that efforts were underway to find financial sources to support Hashd al-Sha'abi forces.

"Maintaining Hashd al-Sha'abi is one of our most important duties, and I strongly support its presence. There are those who are trying to say that Hashd al-Sha'abi is temporary, but I emphasize that such a force is a necessity," Abdul-Mahdi said.

"Even though it is not long since the government has been formed, I will do my utmost to grant Hashd al-Sha'abi full rights," the Iraqi prime minister pointed out.

Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks.

Former Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi declared the end of military operations against Daesh in the country on December 9, 2017.

On July 10 that year, he had formally declared victory over Daesh in Mosul, which served as the terrorists' main urban stronghold in Iraq.

In the run-up to Mosul's liberation, Iraqi army soldiers and Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters had made sweeping gains against Daesh.

Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January 2017 after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19 last year.
Pompeo: US, Europe Can Cooperate on Iran Despite Differences

By VOA News February 14, 2019

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that the United States and Europe could still work together on Iran, despite differences over what the United States calls the world's "leading state sponsor of terror."

Pompeo, speaking at a diplomatic conference in Warsaw, said "there was not a defender of Iran in the room," which he called proof that Europe and the U.S. still shared concerns about Iran's nuclear activities.

Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said Europe and the U.S. agreed that Iran was a threat to international security but were arguing over what to do about it.

Earlier in the day, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence accused Britain, France and Germany of trying to circumvent U.S. sanctions on Iran. He said the European nations "have led the effort to create mechanisms to break up (U.S.) sanctions."

Pence called the improvised barter system that allows countries to avoid direct financial transactions with Iran "an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the [European Union], and create still more distance between Europe and the United States."

Pence's harsh words followed disputes over trade and international security that have chilled relations between the U.S. and Europe.

The United States withdrew from an Iran nuclear deal and reimposed economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic. The agreement had lifted sanctions in exchange for Iran's stopping its nuclear weapons work. Other signatories (Iran, China, the EU, France, Russia, Britain and Germany) remain in the pact.

German Deputy Foreign Minister Niels Annen told reporters that Germany wanted to combine pressure on Iran with international cooperation in the effort to end Iran's nuclear arms program.

Author and Heritage Foundation scholar Peter Brookes said supporters of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement had hoped the country would change its international behavior in exchange for access to the international economy, which could benefit the Iranian people.

Speaking to VOA Persian, he said, "It [Iran] has not done that."

Other objectives

Brookes said the deal loosened some sanctions on Iran's economy, easing problems. But instead of spending its new money on infrastructure and citizens' needs, the cash went for missiles, a military buildup and "adventurism" in Yemen and Syria.

He said concerns about Iran go far beyond nuclear weapons, including two recent terrorist plots aimed at targets in Europe, worries about its energy policy, human rights and maritime security.

Representatives from about 60 nations attended the Warsaw meeting, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There were no representatives from Iran, Russia or the Palestinian territories.

As Iran commemorates the 40th anniversary of its Islamic Revolution this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters in Tehran that the conference was "dead on arrival." He dismissed the meeting as "another attempt by the United States to pursue an obsession with Iran that is not well-founded."
Israeli Intelligence Finds Iran Two Years from Nuke - If It Resumes Enrichment

Sputnik News

22:34 14.02.2019(updated 22:39 14.02.2019)

In a report earlier this week, the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate said that Iran would be capable of producing a nuclear weapon if it were to resume its nuclear program in violation of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). However, it also found that Iran hasn't violated the JCPOA, as Washington has claimed.

The Israeli military intelligence report released on Wednesday focused heavily on Iran, Israel's major rival in the region. While noting that the Islamic Republic's nuclear program had sufficiently developed by the time of the 2015 JCPOA, also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, to be able to construct a nuclear weapon in only two years' time, the report also found that Iran hadn't violated that deal, as the US claimed last year.

The US has echoed but also diverged from Tel Aviv's rhetoric regarding Iran and its nuclear as well as ballistic missile programs. In 2015, the Obama administration essentially took Tehran at its word that its ballistic missiles were not intended for use in deploying nuclear weapons and permitted the country to retain its missile stocks, and the JCPOA limited its production of nuclear material to a purity level necessary for power plants.

When US President Donald Trump took the US out of the JCPOA last May, he claimed Iran had violated the deal by enriching more uranium-235 than was permitted and constructing more refinement centrifuges than allowed. While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu corroborated those claims in rather dramatic fashion, their position directly contradicted findings by the International Atomic Energy Association, which said at the time that Iran had not violated the terms of the JCPOA.

The remaining signatories of the agreement  the UK, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union  have adhered to the JCPOA, as none of them agree with Washington that Tehran has violated it. However, US sanctions have forced European institutions, such as the international bank wire security service SWIFT, to comply with Washington's wishes and cease business with Iran, Sputnik has reported.

As the Washington Post noted last May, by possessing what Netanyahu called a "nuclear archive" of documents from its 1999 to 2003 nuclear weapons program, Iran was violating the spirit of the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but not the terms of the JCPOA.

It's significant that the MID's Wednesday report doesn't find Iran has violated the agreement, either, especially since US National Security Adviser John Bolton's statement the same day alleges otherwise:

"Iran continues to seek nuclear weapons to intimidate peaceful people all around the globe and ballistic missiles to use as delivery systems," Bolton said in a statement via White House media.

The Trump administration further justified its JCPOA withdrawal, and the reimposition of sanctions on Tehran in August and November of 2018, under the guise of seeking a new and better treaty. Trump specifically faulted the JCPOA for its various sunset provisions, which would gradually give Iran the ability to legally pursue a bomb again if its so chose, assuming no new agreement was made.

Israeli intelligence, however, warned Wednesday that Trump's move may be having the opposite effect of what he intended: the increased economic and political pressure may be forcing Tehran into a corner where it feels that possession of nuclear weapons and delivery systems is its only way to negotiate fairly with the world community, similar to the strategy pursued by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Jerusalem Post reported.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu met with diplomats from 60 countries in Warsaw, Poland, for a conference organized by the US on international policy toward Iran. European JCPOA signatories, however, sent only junior diplomats to the affair as a rejection of US-dominated policy on the subject, the Guardian reported. At that meeting, US Vice President Mike Pence scolded European powers for continuing to work with Iran to circumvent US sanctions, calling it an "ill-advised step."

To that end, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Europe to distance itself from the US in remarks on his website Wednesday.

Trump's attorney and the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, meanwhile spoke before a Warsaw rally of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a Paris-based opposition group that serves as an umbrella organization for The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK), a terrorist organization that opposes the Shiite clerical rule brought to power in Iran by the 1979 revolution. The 40th anniversary of that revolution, which overthrew a brutal monarchy that had been returned to power by force by the US and UK in 1953, was celebrated this week in Iran.

The US has touted the MEK as a democratic alternative for Iran, but it only removed the group from its list of terrorist organizations in 2012, and the group is known to be responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, especially during the decade-long war with Iraq, Sputnik reported.

The MEK is "very close to the Israeli regime," Mohammad Marandi, an expert on American studies and postcolonial literature who teaches at the University of Tehran, told Sputnik last September. He noted that the group supplied Israeli intelligence with what he called a "fake laptop" in 2005, purported to have belonged to an Iranian nuclear scientist, which the US then used as a key piece of evidence to argue that Tehran had a covert nuclear weapons program. The information on the computer was later shown to be fraudulent, Marandi noted.

"Everyone knows that Iran is the No. 1 sponsor of terrorism in the world. There isn't a single government there that disagrees with that," Giuliani said at the NCRI rally. "The reality is, Iran should be isolated until Iran changes. If they can do what our government, American government, other governments, believe and make policy change within, I would be satisfied with that, although skeptical. If it results in regime change, I think that would be a cleaner solution."

However, author and journalist Daniel Lazare told Sputnik Thursday that Netanyahu's real goal in Warsaw is that he "wants the Saudis and US to fix a problem that it [Israel] caused itself."

"Israel is now in its worst strategic position since the eve of the Six-Day War in 1967," Lazare said. "This is largely due to its own miscalculations. Israel backed  or at least did not oppose  the 2003 invasion of Iraq even though it played into Iranian hands by installing a pro-Shiite government in Baghdad. It backed regime change in Damascus, which backfired royally when growing ISIS [Daesh] and al-Qaeda influence among the rebels caused a stampede of support for the Assad government. The upshot of both is Iranian sway now extends all the way across Iraq and Syria to the Mediterranean, the first time this has happened since literally the seventh century."

"For Israel, it's a strategic setback of the first order. This is why Netanyahu said in Warsaw that he's seeking 'an open meeting with representatives of leading Arab countries, that are sitting down together with Israel in order to advance the common interest of war with Iran,'" Lazare said. "I think that Trump is in grave danger of stumbling into a direct confrontation with Iran thanks to Israeli pressure and the Washington neocons."

Noting that Bolton and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are now clearly pushing for war, Lazare said that "even if they don't launch a direct attack, they could also too easily stumble into some sort of conflict. If so, I don't see anybody who is in a position to stop them. The situation has never been more dangerous."

 Sputnik
Pence Calls On European Allies To Withdraw From Iran Nuclear Deal

By RFE/RL February 14, 2019

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has called on Washington's European allies to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, saying that Iran is the "greatest threat to peace and security" in the Middle East.

Pence told an international conference on the Middle East that is being held in Warsaw that "some" of Washington's "leading European partners" have not been cooperative when it comes to confronting Iran.

"In fact, they have led the effort to create mechanisms to break up our sanctions," Pence said at the February 14 gathering.

Washington and the European Union are at odds over U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, which calls for Iran to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

EU states have sought to keep aspects of the deal in place.

France, Britain, and Germany two weeks ago launched a new mechanism to trade with Iran while bypassing U.S. sanctions against Iran.

"It is an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the EU, and create still more distance between Europe and the United States," Pence told the Warsaw gathering.

Tehran has described the 60-country meeting sponsored by the United States and Poland as an anti-Iran "circus."

Speaking at the conference's opening session, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States wants a "new era of cooperation" to confront the challenges faced by countries in the Middle East.

"We want to bring together countries with an interest in stability to share their different views and break out of traditional thinking," Pompeo said.

"None of the region's challenges will solve themselves," the U.S. top diplomat also said. "We must work together for security."

Citing a list of regional challenges ranging from Iran, Syria, and Yemen to the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, Pompeo said, "No one country will dominate the discussion today nor will any one issue dominate our talks."

Earlier in the day, Pompeo said the world "can't achieve peace and security in the Middle East without confronting Iran."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is addressing the Warsaw meeting, told reporters that the event's opening dinner late on February 13 marked "a historical turning point."

"In a room of some 60 foreign ministers representative of dozens of governments, an Israeli prime minister, and the foreign ministers of the leading Arab countries stood together and spoke with unusual force, clarity, and unity against the common threat of the Iranian regime," he said.

However, many European countries sent only low-level officials, and European Union foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini is staying away.

Russia and China are also not participating in the Warsaw conference and neither are the Palestinians.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to hold a simultaneous summit in the resort of Sochi with Iranian President Hassan Rohani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the future of war-ravaged Syria.

At the Sochi summit, Putin on February 14 praised the Iranian president and thanked him for what he called "the contribution Iran has been making in resolving the Syria issue."

Putin also said there has been progress between Moscow and Tehran to improve trade relations.

Moscow views with concern "U.S. attempts to impose unilateral geopolitical interests through initiatives presented as opinions of the entire international community," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in comments carried by the Interfax news agency.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, the only senior official from a key European power to attend the Warsaw conference, said he wanted to focus on ending the conflict in Yemen.

A Saudi-led coalition is fighting against Yemen's Iran-backed Shi'ite Huthi rebels in an attempt to restore the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi.

With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa, and Interfax

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/irans-destructive -policies-in-crosshairs-at-warsaw- mideast-conference/29769431.html

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Pompeo Calls Iranian Claims Of U.S. Involvement In IRGC Attack 'Outrageous'

By RFE/RL's Radio Farda February 14, 2019

WARSAW -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has rejected as "outrageous" Iranian claims that the United States and its regional allies are to blame for a suicide bombing in southeastern Iran that killed 27 members of the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

A militant Sunni Muslim separatist group called Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) claimed responsibility for the February 13 attack, but a day later, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tried to link the attack to a Middle East conference in Warsaw co-hosted by Pompeo and Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz.

In an interview in Warsaw on February 14 with RFE/RL's Radio Farda, Pompeo denied that the United States had anything to do with one of the deadliest attacks on Iranian security forces in years.

"The Americans had nothing to do with this at all," Pompeo said.

Zarif will attend a February 15-17 security conference in Munich, where world leaders and experts will address a variety of topics ranging from climate change to international security.

Pompeo said that since Zarif is "actually headed to Munich where many European countries will meet with him, I would ask those countries when they meet with Mr. Zarif to ask him, why he would say such an outrageous thing?"

In the interview, conducted while Pompeo was attending the Warsaw conference, Washington's top diplomat said European leaders should press Zarif on his comments that linked the timing of the attack with the meeting in the Polish capital.

"Sometimes [Zarif] is posited to be a moderate. It's not moderate to accuse the Israelis and the Americans of murder. That's not moderate," Pompeo said.

Tehran, which has described the Warsaw conference as an anti-Iran "circus," has repeatedly accused the United States, Israel, and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia of backing Sunni militia groups that carry out attacks against Iranian security forces. They have denied the charges.

Pompeo told Radio Farda that the "historic" Warsaw meeting, attended by more than 60 countries, was aimed at creating peace and stability throughout the Middle East, including Iran, Syria and Yemen.

Washington and the European Union have been at odds over U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, which calls for Iran to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

EU states have sought to keep aspects of the deal in place, while France, Britain, and Germany two weeks ago launched a new mechanism to trade with Iran while bypassing U.S. sanctions against Iran.

Though differences of opinion exist over how to attack risks in the region, Pompeo said "all understood the threat that the Islamic Republic of Iran presents to their citizens."

"We gathered people here today. We made our case. And I am confident that we came out of here today more collectively able to deal with all of the threats that exist throughout all of the Middle East," he said.

Russia and China are not participating in the Warsaw conference -- neither are the Palestinians -- but Russian President Vladimir Putin held a simultaneous summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi with Rohani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the future of war-ravaged Syria.

Pompeo denied the Warsaw conference was a Washington-driven effort, pointing out that even Israelis and Arabs sat together to discuss "the threat that Iran poses."

But he also said the Trump administration's goal was clear -- change in Tehran's behavior -- though he stopped short of calling for actual regime change.

"We ultimately want the Iranian people to have their voices heard. We want a change in the regime's behavior. We want them to act like a normal country," Pompeo said.

"How these behaviors will be changed will be dealt with by the Iranian people. They'll make their voices heard. They'll assert their power."

-- Niusha Boghrati of RFE/RL's Radio Farda contributed to this report

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pompeo-calls- iranian-claims-of-u-s-involvement-in-attack -outrageous-/29770650.html

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Iran Blames U.S., Regional Allies For Suicide Attack On IRGC

By RFE/RL's Radio Farda February 14, 2019

Iranian President Hassan Rohani has blamed the United States and its regional allies for a suicide bombing in southeastern Iran that killed 27 members of the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

"The crime will remain as a 'dirty stain' in the black record of the main supporters of terrorism in the White House, Tel Aviv, and their regional agents," Rohani said on February 14, a day after one of the deadliest attacks on Iranian security forces in years.

The IRGC says a suicide bomber on February 13 drove an explosives-laden vehicle into a bus that was transporting IRGC troops in Sistan-Baluchistan Province.

A militant Sunni Muslim separatist group called Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) claimed responsibility for the attack.

That group says it is seeking greater rights and better living conditions for Iran's ethnic Baluch minority.

Sistan-Baluchistan is a volatile area near Iran's borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan where militant groups and drug smugglers frequently operate.

The province is populated mainly by Sunni Muslim ethnic Baluchs.

Tehran has repeatedly accused the United States, Israel, and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia of backing Sunni militia groups that carry out attacks against Iranian security forces. They have denied the charges.

Rohani called on Iran's neighbors to assume their "legal responsibilities" and prevent "terrorists" from using their territory to prepare attacks.

"If this continues and they cannot stop the terrorists, it is clear -- based on international law -- that we have certain rights and will act upon them in due time," the Iranian president said, without elaborating.

Rohani made the remarks at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport as he was leaving for talks on Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Russia's Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

Iranian state television reported on February 14 that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was ordering immediate action against those responsible for the attack.

"There is a link between this crime...and some regional and international spying and intelligence agencies," Khamenei was quoted as saying.

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said Pakistanis were "shocked and grieved" by the attack.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-blames-us- regional-allies-for-suicide-attack-on- irgc/29769921.html

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Trump admin. revives secret plan to sabotage Iran's missiles: Report

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 07:55AM

The administration of US President Donald Trump has reportedly revived a secret plan to sabotage Iran's ballistic missiles as part of its broader plan to weaken the Islamic Republic's military might and harm its economy.

Citing current and former administration officials, The New York Times reported Wednesday that the clandestine operation has been ongoing for some time now but it was practically impossible to determine whether it has been successful and if yes, to what extent.

The officials claimed the White House program might have been caused a number of Iranian recent missile launches to fail over the past years.

The program was created under former President Geroge W. Bush, who sought to disrupt Iran's aerospace program by slipping defective parts and materials into its supply chains.

The sabotage attempts were sped up during the early years of former President Barack Obama's time in the White House. However, they were toned down in 2017, when Mike Pompeo, who would go on to become the country's Secretary of State, took over as the director of the CIA.

In 2016, Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Aerospace Division of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), accused the US and other enemies of trying to harm Tehran's development of ballistic missiles for defensive purposes.

"The enemies are after neutering our defense capability through infiltration and sabotage," the general said, citing sanctions including on many ordinary parts of duel use.

"Of course, we are careful and assured of the Guards and defense industry establishment. However, the enemy might influence political officials through ballyhoo," Hajizadeh added.

According to the IRGC commander, Iranian intelligence agencies had recorded a rise in sabotage attempts against the missile program after Tehran agreed to the 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers  the US, the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany.

"After the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), most of the focus of the intelligence services, especially by the Americans, has turned to the missile issue," Hajizadeh said.

Trump pulled out of the JCPOA in May 2018, claiming that the deal failed to address Iran's missile tests as well as its influence in the region.

The American president falsely claimed back then that the missile program was in violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the nuclear deal. The Trump administration has also accused Iran of using its space program as a cover for its attempts to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Trump has used those claims as basis to re-impose a series of tough sanctions against Iran, while pledging an international pressure campaign that would force Tehran to renegotiate a deal that would address his demands.

The issue is expected to take the spotlight in the ongoing anti-Iran summit in Warsaw, the Polish capital.

Washington hopes that the two-day event, which is attended by 60 countries, would help further its anti-Iran agenda.

The setbacks, however, have not deterred Iran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani singled out Tehran's missile arsenal this week as he vowed to "continue our path and our military power."

During this year's ten-day Fajr (Dawn) celebrations, which precedes anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, Tehran unveiled new missiles to highlight its latest achievements.

Among them were the Dezful precision-guided missile, which is being produced at a secret underground plant, and the cruise missile Hoveizeh.

Israeli experts have concluded that Hoveizeh, which has a range of over 1,300 kilometers, is essentially unstoppable as none of the existing missile defense systems in the world can trace it.

Iranian authorities also put on display life-size replicas of cruise and ballistic missiles on the route to Azadi Square in Tehran on Monday, where hundreds of thousands of people had gathered to celebrate the Revolution's 40th anniversary.
Certain foreign spy agencies had hand in terror attack on Iran forces: Leader

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 10:25AM

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has denounced a bloody terrorist attack that targeted members of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), saying the spy agencies of certain regional and trans-regional countries certainly had a hand in this crime.

In a message on Thursday, Ayatollah Khamenei offered condolences to the bereaved families of the IRGC forces who lost their lives in Wednesday's terrorist bomb attack, which took place in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.

Ayatollah Khamenei further called on the IRGC and relevant government institutions to swiftly and seriously follow up on the incident and deal with the perpetrators.

"It is certain that the perpetrators of this crime were linked to spy agencies of certain regional and trans-regional countries and the country's relevant organizations must focus on that and seriously pursue it."

On Wednesday, an explosives-laden car rammed into a bus carrying the IRGC personnel on a road between the cities of Zahedan and Khash, leaving 27 of them dead and 13 others wounded.

The so-called Jaish ul-Adl terrorist group reportedly claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif raised suspicion about the attack's possible links to an anti-Iran summit co-hosted by the US and Poland, which kicked off in Warsaw on Wednesday.

President Hassan Rouhani also described the US and the Israeli regime as the "root causes of terror" in the Middle East region as he condemned the deadly attack on the IRGC forces.

The IRGC has vowed a strong response to those behind the bloodshed.
Rouhani: Israel, US root causes of terror in Mideast

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:01AM

President Hassan Rouhani has censured a recent deadly terrorist attack against Iranian security forces, describing the US and Israel as the "root causes of terror" in the Middle East region.

Speaking to reporters before departing Tehran for the Russian resort city of Sochi on Thursday, Rouhani said such criminal acts will "have no impact on the strong determination of the great Iranian nation, and they (people) will firmly continue on the path they have chosen."

On Wednesday, a bomb attack targeted a bus carrying members of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, killing 27 of them and injuring 13 others.

"America and Zionism (Israel) are the main root causes of terrorism in the region, while certain regional oil-rich countries provide financial aid to the terrorists," Rouhani added.

Rouhani further called on Iran's neighboring countries to fulfill their legal obligations within the framework of the principle of good neighborliness and prevent the terrorist groups from using their soil to launch attacks against their neighbors.

"Should such a trend continue and they (the neighboring countries) fail to contain the terrorists, it is clear under international law that we have certain rights and will [act to] restore them in due time," he said.

The so-called Jaish ul-Adl terrorist group reportedly claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The terrorist outfit was formed in 2012 by members of the Pakistan-based Jundallah, another terror group dismantled by Iranian intelligence forces in 2010 after its ringleader Abdolmalek Rigi was executed.

Iranian border guards have repeatedly come under attacks by terror outfits active on the Pakistani soil.

The two neighbors signed a security deal in 2013.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Pakistani Foreign Ministr's spokesman Mohammad Faisal strongly condemned the "heinous' terrorist attack.

Meanwhile, IRGC deputy commander for coordination Brigadier General Ali Fadavi vowed a firm response to the attack.

"Our response in defense of the Islamic Revolution will not be limited to our geographic borders," the commander said.

Additionally, Iran's first Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said Wednesday that the deadly attack on IRGC members would lead the Islamic Republic to wage an unrelenting battle against terrorism.

He said the terrorist attack was spearheaded by the global arrogance's spy agencies and their lackeys, who were angered by the Iranian people's massive turnout in nationwide rallies marking the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

"This incident will fail to undermine the nation's firm resolve in defending the Islamic Revolution and will further strengthen national determination for a relentless fight against terrorism," he said.
While that may be Democratic wishful thinking, the mounting cases against Trump from the Justice Department, the judicial Southern District of New York and emolument clause sleuths into his various enrichment schemes could foresee a pre-2020 ouster, or even resignation. That outcome may seem far-fetched as of now, considering Mr. Trump's narcissistic self-appraisal and clear indications of his determination to slash and burn his way out of his current dilemmas. But that could change if his family members find themselves in legal jeopardy.
US, foreign powers support terror groups, Rouhani says in meeting with Erdogan

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 03:05PM

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has lashed out at Western states, especially the US, for throwing their support behind terror groups.

"Unfortunately, terror groups in the region have been supported by foreign powers, especially the United States, for years," Rouhani said in a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Russia's resort city of Sochi on Thursday.

"Fighting terrorism requires collective cooperation," added Rouhani, describing the scourge to be among the worst predicaments facing the region.

The Sochi summit, hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, is aimed at solidifying the three countries' cooperation towards returning peace and stability to Syria.

Over the past years, Iran and Russia have been respectively lending military advisory support and aerial backup for the Syrian military in its battle against militants and Takfiri terrorists. The foreign-backed groups started a campaign of bloodshed and destruction against the Arab country in 2011.

In late 2016, Syrian forces liberated the northwestern strategic city of Aleppo  militants' biggest stronghold back then. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the recapture of Aleppo from foreign-backed terrorists was a victory not just for his country, but also for its Russian and Iranian allies.

The three countries, known as the guarantor states of a ceasefire regime in the Arab state, have been mediating peace negotiations between representatives from the Damascus government and opposition groups in a series of rounds held in Astana and other places since January 2017.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani hailed the fact that Tehran and Ankara shared a common will to fight terrorism and were cooperating in this regard.

"While we, in cooperation with Russia in Sochi, are taking a new step towards reinforcing stability in the region and fighting terrorism in Syria, some, who themselves, support terrorists, are plotting against our region in Warsaw," Rouhani noted.

He was referring to a so-called Middle East security summit, which was going through its final day in the Polish capital.

Major European countries have staged poor attendance in the conference in a sign of opposition to the US's anti-Iran stance. Russia, Turkey, Qatar, Lebanon, and the Palestinian authority have totally shunned the event.

Erdogan, for his part, acknowledged that his country had likewise suffered at the hands of terrorists, asserting that Ankara would continue bilateral and regional cooperation with Tehran in battling terrorism.

He added that Turkey welcomed the creation of the INSTEX (Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges), which is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) devised by Europe to facilitate trade with Iran. INSTEX is a non-dollar trade mechanism meant to protect trade ties with Tehran in the face of US sanctions.

Erdogan said Turkey was prepared for cooperation within the framework of INSTEX, which the UK, France, and Germany announced on January 31, and was ready to create a similar bilateral mechanism with Iran.

"Multilateral cooperation with Iran on different issues has had positive achievements and Turkey is ready to expand this cooperation to other countries in the region," Erdogan added.

Iran military chief: US must end Syria occupation

Sochi also hosted a meeting among Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri as well as Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

"The United States must end [its] occupation of Syria," Baqeri asserted during the meeting with his Turkish and Russian counterparts.

The US and its allies launched a military campaign in Syria in 2014, without obtaining Damascus' approval or a UN mandate, under the pretext of confronting Daesh. Their forces still stay in the country, although Syria and its allies have announced the defeat of the terror group.

Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump said the American troops in Syria would be leaving the Arab country, but Baqeri said the announcement was "more [similar] to [just] a claim."

"The three countries of Iran, Russia and Turkey, as the guarantors [of the peace process], demand the most immediate withdrawal of the forces, which are present in some spots across Syria and have occupied some areas without any coordination with Syria's legal government," the Iranian commander noted.

He also said the areas of priority in the trio's cooperation concerning Syria were expanding de-escalation zones, facilitating refugees' repatriation, ensuring security for liberated areas, demining, and cleaning up contaminated areas.
US VP Pence urges EU to leave Iran nuclear deal, stop busting sanctions

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 03:26PM

US Vice President Mike Pence has urged Washington's European allies to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and accused them of trying to break US sanctions against Tehran.

Speaking Thursday during an anti-Iran summit organized by the United States in Warsaw, Pence said a scheme set up by the EU to facilitate trade with Iran was an effort to weaken US sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic.

"Sadly, some of our leading European partners have not been nearly as cooperative. In fact, they have led the effort to create mechanisms to break up our sanctions," Pence said.

"It is an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the EU and create still more distance between Europe and the United States," he said.

"The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and join with us as we bring the economic and diplomatic pressure," he added.

The harsh criticism threatened to further damage US-European ties that are already badly strained over numerous issues, including the Iran focus of the Warsaw conference.

The conference in the Polish capital was attended by more than 60 nations, but major European powers such as Germany, France and Britain have refused to send their top diplomats.

The EU has repeatedly expressed support for the nuclear deal since US President Donald Trump declared the US would pull out.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has described the two-day conference on Iran and the Middle East as "dead on arrival."

Iran's top diplomat said not even Washington believed the event provided the 60 participating countries with a serious opportunity to exchange their views on those topics.

The US has decided to start the event even though much of its agenda remains vague due to deep divisions between allies over the Trump administration's extreme hostility towards Iran.

Because of European reluctance to attend a conference focused only on Iran, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other American officials had sought to broaden the scope to include other Middle East topics, including the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

"No one country will dominate the discussion today, nor will any one issue dominate our talks", Pompeo said during the opening of the conference, which was also attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Pakistan must beef up security along Iran border: IRGC

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 04:14PM

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has urged Pakistan to beef up security measures along its border with Iran following a deadly terrorist attack on a group of IRGC forces in southeastern Iran.

Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the IRGC's chief commander, said in a statement on Thursday that "the brotherly government of Pakistan and the country's security bodies and army are expected to step up security measures and tactics on the common border."

Islamabad should engage in such actions to tighten the grip on "Takfiri mercenary terrorists, who are the enemies of both nations, and decisively confront them to rob them of any chances to take any action, which could compromise security or pose danger," he added.

The IRGC personnel were traveling between the cities of Zahedan and Khash, in Sistan and Baluchestan Province on Wednesday, when their bus was targeted in a car bomb attack.

The IRGC's Qods Headquarters said in a statement that an explosives-laden car had rammed into the bus, which was taking the personnel back to their homes.

The attack killed 27 IRGC members and wounded 13 others with the so-called Jaish ul-Adl terrorist group claiming responsibility for the bombing.

Elsewhere in his statement, the IRGC commander said the incident followed "the Iranian people's heavy slap [on the face of] the leaders of the global hegemony, Zionism, and US-sponsored terrorism."

The IRGC would, more steadfastly and decisively than ever, protect the country and its borders' security, while taking revenge on the "malicious" enemies, who are associated with the global arrogance, Jafari concluded.

Terrorists have used Pakistan's soil to target Iranian servicemen on many occasions in the past.

The attacks have resulted in the deaths and kidnapping of dozens of the forces.

Iran intelligence chief warns of 'stern revenge'

In a related development, Iran's Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi likewise said the country's intelligence apparatus will exact a stern and crushing revenge on the plotters, perpetrators, and supporters of the heinous crime.

Commenting on the coincidence between the attack and a US-sponsored two-day conference in the Polish capital city of Warsaw, Alavi said the concurrence points to the existence of a premeditated plot aimed at covering up the global hegemony's helplessness.

The so-called Middle East security conference began on Wednesday.

Many European countries have sent low-level representatives to the event to signal their opposition to the US's anti-Iran stance. Russia, Turkey, Qatar, Lebanon, and the Palestinian authority totally shunned the event.
White House Upbeat on Beijing Trade Talks

By Patsy Widakuswara February 14, 2019

A top White House economic adviser is expressing confidence in the current U.S.-China trade negotiations in Beijing.

"The vibe in Beijing is good," National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters Thursday at the White House.

Kudlow provided few details but said the U.S. delegation led by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is "covering all ground" ahead of their expected meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow.

"That's a very good sign and they're just soldiering on, so I like that story," Kudlow said, "And I will stay with the phrase, the vibe is good."

Negotiators are working to strike a deal by March 1, to avoid a rise in U.S. tariffs on $200 million worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent. President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that if talks are seeing signs of progress, that deadline could be pushed back.

When asked Thursday if there would be an extension, Kudlow said, "No such decision has been made so far."

Analyst William Reinsch, a former president of the National Foreign Trade Council and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says the talks are complicated by the three main areas under negotiation.

"Market access, which I think is well on the way to completion. Some Chinese offers on intellectual property, which I think they are not going to offer what we want.  And some compliance in enforcement matters," he said.

Reinsch told VOA's Mandarin service that U.S. negotiators are specifically seeking ways to hold China accountable for the commitments it makes in any deal.

Munich Security Conference

While American and Chinese negotiators continue talks in Beijing, both countries are setting up for another potential faceoff in Europe.

The U.S. and China are sending large delegations to Friday's Munich Security Conference in Germany, a high-level conference on international security policy. Vice President Mike Pence leads the U.S. delegation while Politburo member Yang Jiechi will be the most senior Chinese official.

Yang Jiechi is heading the largest-ever Chinese delegation to the conference traditionally attended by the U.S. and its European allies. He is pushing back against Washington's campaign pressing Europe to exclude Chinese tech giant Huawei from taking part in constructing 5G mobile networks in the region.

U.S. officials say allowing the Chinese company to build the next generation of wireless communications in Europe will enhance the Chinese government's surveillance powers, threatening European security.

Although the technology behind 5G is complex, Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former assistant secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department, said the decisions for European countries is simple.

"Given the nature of modern telecommunication, countries do have to make a choice whether or not that Huawei, given its ownership relationship with the Chinese government, can it be trusted to provide their future communication systems."

Both Pence and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned allies in Poland and other Central European countries this week on the dangers of closer ties with Beijing and collaboration with Chinese firms. In Budapest, Hungary, on Monday, Pompeo said American companies might scale back European operations if countries continue to do business with Huawei.

Huawei has repeatedly denied its products could be used for espionage.

U.S. prosecutors have filed charges against Huawei including bank fraud, violating sanctions against Iran, and stealing trade secrets. The company refuted these accusations and rejected charges against its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is currently on bail in Canada following her arrest in December.

This year's Munich Security Conference topics include the "great power competition" between the United States, China and Russia. Conference organizers have listed U.S.-China tensions as one of their top 10 security issues of 2019.

VOA's Mandarin Service reporter Jingxun Li contributed to this report.
China, US begin official trade talks in Beijing

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 08:44AM

Negotiators from China and the United States have begun official trade talks in the Chinese capital, Beijing, in an attempt to prevent a festering of an ongoing dispute between their two countries.

The new round of high-level economic and trade consultations was kicked off in the Chinese capital on Thursday morning by China's top economic czar, Liu He, and Yi Gang, who is the governor of the People's Bank of China, as well as US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The world's top two economies have been locked in an unprecedented tariff war with each other for the past seven months and have so far slapped duties on more than 360 billion dollars in two-way trade. The bruising trade conflict has already strained both countries' manufacturing sectors and jolted global financial markets.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said that the talks with the Chinese side were "going very well" as both countries acknowledged that they had made major progress during a similar round of talks in Washington last month, but a vast gulf remains on some issues.

In December last year, the American president imposed a March 1 deadline on Beijing, saying that if the deadline expired without enough concessions from China for a comprehensive trade deal, the US tariffs on 200 billion dollars worth of Chinese imports might increase from 10 percent to 25.

On Tuesday, however, Trump partially relented, saying he was considering a 60-day extension of the current deadline in an attempt to give more time to the talks, depending on progress made in the Chinese capital.

Mnuchin, the American secretary of the treasury, said US officials were "looking forward to discussions today," as he left his hotel for the talks.

The South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping planned to meet with top American officials this week, boosting hopes for markets in Asia. Trump also said he expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart "at some point" to clinch a trade deal.

The US is demanding extensive changes to Chinese practices that the White House has branded as unfair, including the alleged theft of US technology and intellectual property. Washington also accuses Beijing of setting up myriad barriers for foreign companies to work in the Chinese market. China rejects the allegations.

Beijing has offered to increase its purchases of US products but is widely expected to resist calls for far-reaching changes to its industrial policies.

On Sunday, the International Monetary Fund warned of a possible global economic "storm" as world growth forecasts dip, citing the Sino-US trade war as a key pivot point.
Taiwan Announces New Phase of Space Program, Hopes for Moon Mission

Sputnik News

00:26 15.02.2019

Taiwan's Ministry of Science and Technology has announced that the nation's space program has reached its third phase, during which it hopes to launch 10 satellites  one every 18 months  one of which would orbit the moon.

The ambitious project, expected to cost NT$25.1 billion ($814 million), would be headed by Taiwan's National Applied Research Laboratories and the National Space Organization (NSPO), Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee said Wednesday, according to Taiwan News.

Six of the new generation of satellites will be high-resolution optical remote sensing satellites, which NSPO Director-General Lin Chun-liang boasted would increase the revisit rate on images from once every two days to two or three times per day, the Taipei Times noted.

The remainder of the program includes two ultra-high resolution smart optics remote sensing satellites and two synthetic aperture radar satellites, the latter of which can use active radar to see through cloud cover, Asia Times noted.

Lin further noted that the agency hoped to develop a satellite capable of orbiting the moon.

All of the country's satellites so far have focused on such photographic missions, which Lin noted would continue to benefit government policies, rescue missions, disaster prevention and scientific research.

However, since Taiwan lacks its own rocket program, all these satellites have to hitch rides into space on foreign spacecraft. Private space firm SpaceX has provided such services in the past, but considering the country has been trying to get SpaceX to launch its Formosat-7 microsatellite constellation for two years, the goal of a new launch every 18 months is indeed ambitious. The space company says its Falcon Heavy rocket, which only made its maiden flight in February 2018, needs more testing.

That hasn't stopped the US Air Force from signing a $130 million contract with SpaceX to carry a satellite on the rocket in 2020, which it penned last June, Sputnik reported.

The Taipei Times reported at the start of the year that the NSPO would be mailing Formosat-7, which is six microsatellites contained in one larger "mothership," to the US in a diplomatic pouch via China Airlines.

Taiwan only launched its first domestically made satellite two years ago. The Formosat-5 launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in August 2017, the Straits-Times reported.

 Sputnik
US Air Force Mulls Boosting Space Military Capabilities at New Mexico Base

Sputnik News

01:10 15.02.2019

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Air Force is preparing to expand facilities for its space rapid response military operations at a base in the state of New Mexico, two senators said in a press release on Thursday.

"Today, US Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich announced that the US Air Force has submitted a three phase plan to construct secure workspace at Kirk that will support the expanded mission of the Space Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO)", the release from Senator Martin Heinrich's office said.

According to the plan, the Air Force will establish provisional workspaces at the installation to function as a secure compartmentalized information facility (SCF), the release explained.

The expanded facilities will "increase cooperation and collaboration with the commercial space sector, ultimately improving our rapid launch capabilities and growing New Mexico's space economy," Udall said in the release.

Moreover, the expanded facilities would allow the Space RCO to carry out additional critical space missions, Heinrich said.

Last year, President Donald Trump issued a memorandum ordering the Pentagon to establish a US Space Command as a unified combatant command. Vice President Mike Pence has said that the US Space Command will integrate space capabilities across all branches of the military.

In January, Trump unveiled the 2019 US Missile Defense Review (MDR), a strategy that calls for boosting land- and sea-based missile defense systems in Europe and the Middle East along with studying the development of space-based interceptors.

 Sputnik
Feb. 14, 2019

News

By C. Todd Lopez

Defense.gov

Cyber Command Expects Lessons From 2018 Midterms to Apply in 2020

WASHINGTON -- Efforts to protect the 2018 midterm elections from foreign interference are expected to be studied and reapplied to protect the November 2020 elections, the commander of U.S. Cyber Command said on Capitol Hill today.

During testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Army Gen. Paul M. Nakasone told lawmakers that protecting the 2018 midterms from meddling adversaries was both a priority and a challenge.

"The defense of the 2018 midterm elections posed a significant strategic challenge to our nation," the general said. "Ensuring a safe and secure election was our No. 1 priority, and drove me to establish a joint U.S. Cyber Command/NSA effort we called the Russia Small Group."

Nakasone serves as commander of Cybercom and as director of the National Security Agency.

In submitted testimony, Nakasone said agencies including U.S. European Command, U.S. Northern Command, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and others had been asked to defend the integrity of America's 2018 midterm elections. The Russia Small Group resulted from their partnership, he said.

Persistent Presence in Cyberspace

"We created a persistent presence in cyberspace to monitor adversary actions and crafted tools and tactics to frustrate their efforts," Nakasone said.

Now, Nakasone told senators, Cybercom is reviewing lessons learned from securing the midterm elections and is focused on potential threats that may arise during the 2020 presidential elections.

Nakasone told the Senate panel that new language in the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act has enhanced the ability of Cyber Command to perform its mission. That language allows the command to both better partner with other agencies and to operate outside DOD networks, he said.

"I would also offer that the FY19 NDAA was critical for us at U.S. Cyber Command," Nakasone said. "It gave us capabilities and authorities that were important for us as we look to further enable. That included the ability for us to rapidly deploy elements of our force to the Department of Homeland Security, the ability for us to look at networks that are not part of the DOD network, and ... the idea of cyber as a traditional military activity. I think those are areas that are going to help us immensely with near-peer competitors."
Caracas Establishes Intl UN Group to Oppose Foreign Meddling - Venezuelan FM

Sputnik News

01:29 15.02.2019

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - Venezuela, Russia and a number of other countries have established a working group at the United Nations to oppose foreign meddling in the Latin American country's affairs, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza announced on Thursday.

"Today, we are announcing that an important group of members of the United Nations states, concerned over the need to maintain the respect for the principles of the founding charter (the Charter of the United Nations) that governs the behavior of the International Community, have decided to organize ourselves to coordinate actions to defend the charter and the rights of all the member-states", Arreaza said.

Arreaza explained that the working group would defend the critical principles of the UN treaty, including self-determination, respect for the sovereign equality of UN member-states, settling international disputes through peaceful means, avoiding threats to use force against any state, respect for the territorial integrity and independence as well as non-intervention in domestic affairs.

In the next several days, the working group will take a series of actions to raise awareness around the situation in Venezuela. In the meantime, the members of the group call on all UN member-states to join the effort to defend the principles of international law.

Russia, Syria, Cuba, China, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Bolivia, Namibia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Myanmar are among the 14 countries joining the group. The total number of the countries supporting Venezuela's initiative will approach 50, according to Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour.

On 23 January, opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president of Venezuela. The United States and its allies almost immediately recognized Guaido as interim president. Russia, China, Turkey and Mexico, among other nations, have said they consider constitutionally elected Maduro to be the only legitimate president of Venezuela.

Maduro has called Guiado a puppet of the United States and accused Washington of orchestrating a coup d'etat in Venezuela. European Union member states were expected to issue a joint statement recognizing Guaido, but Italy reportedly vetoed the motion.

Venezuela's army has reiterated it stands behind Maduro despite the opposition's calls on military leaders and soldiers to switch allegiance.

 Sputnik
At Least 40 Security Personnel Killed in Deadly Indian Kashmir Attack

By Anjana Pasricha February 14, 2019

At least 40 paramilitary soldiers were killed Thursday in Indian Kashmir when a bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into a convoy.

The attack, the deadliest targeting security personnel in Kashmir, occurred as a convoy of 70 vehicles traveled on a main highway near Kashmir's summer capital, Srinagar.

The assault is likely to inflame tensions with India's archrival Pakistan, which New Delhi accuses of sheltering and supporting militants that carry out violence in Kashmir.

Within hours of the attack, India blamed the attack on the Pakistan-based Islamist Jaish-e-Mohammad group.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad, which took responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to a local news agency, said a locally recruited fighter had carried out the suicide bombing.

The brunt of the attack was borne by one bus that had about 44 personnel on board, but the massive force of the explosion also impacted other vehicles in the convoy, in which hundreds of paramilitary personnel were traveling.

Sanjay Sharma, a spokesman for the Central Reserve Police Force whose convoy was targeted, called it a "very powerful explosion" and said the bus had been completely shredded. Video showed twisted remains of charred metal. Witnesses said the explosion was heard several miles away.

The toll could rise because several soldiers are critically injured, according to officials.

Thursday's attack is the first using a car bomb in nearly two decades  most militant attacks in Kashmir are carried out by gunmen.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the attack "despicable." In a tweet, he said, "I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain."

In a statement, the foreign ministry demanded that "Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory." It said the government is "firmly and resolutely committed to taking all measures to safeguard national security."

Indian officials appealed to the international community to support the proposal to list the radical cleric who heads the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Maulana Massod Azhar, as a designated terrorist. The move is backed by the United States and other countries, but blocked by China.

The attack was deadlier than one in 2016 that killed 19 soldiers, when four heavily armed terrorists raided an army camp in Kashmir. Relations between India and Pakistan had plummeted in the wake of that attack. New Delhi had said it carried out strikes in Pakistani territoryto take out militant camps.

The governor of Jammu and Kashmir state, Satya Pal Malik, said Thursday's attack seems to be "guided from across the border"  a reference to Pakistan.

The Muslim-majority region of Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both. Militant groups fighting in the region either want the territory's independence or its merger with Pakistan.

Analysts said that the latest attack will put pressure on Modi, who faces elections in less than two months, to take a tough stand against Pakistan.
But President Trump would have the opportunity to veto it  and surely he would, for the drama that would cause if no other reason  and Congress could only override him with a two-thirds vote in both chambers. At that point, the Republican Party would have to consider what is more important: giving this president a win on building a wall the majority of Americans dont want or maintaining a semblance of checks and balances. If they have even the slightest regard for the Constitution  not to mention self-interest, given the possibility that a future Democratic president could declare an emergency to deal with something that actually is an emergency, like climate change  theyll choose the latter.
Taliban Extol Trump's 'Positive' Gestures as Helpful for Peace Talks

By Ayaz Gul February 14, 2019

The Taliban are lauding U.S. President Donald Trump for recognizing the insurgent group as "the other side" in the prolonged U.S.-led Afghan war, saying it could help ongoing peace talks with Washington.

In a reaction issued Thursday to Trump's State of the Union (SOTU) address, the Taliban described it as positive and realistic for acknowledging "ground realties" in Afghanistan.

"During his SOTU speech Donald Trump called the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) as 'the other side,' and the use of this term by a U.S. president showcases the deep change in the U.S. political narrative from which a positive outcome can be expected in the negotiations," the Taliban noted in a statement.

The Trump administration's special reconciliation envoy, Afghan-born veteran U.S. diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad, has engaged the Taliban in direct talks since last fall to purse a political solution to what Trump described in his Feb. 5, 2019, speech as "the long and bloody conflict," now in its 18th year.

"I have also accelerated our negotiations to reach a political settlement in Afghanistan. The opposing side is also very happy to be negotiating," Trump told Congress. The president was unclear whether an agreement will be achieved but he emphasized "the hour has come to at least try for peace. And the other side would like to do the same thing. It is time."

The Taliban noted in their statement that unlike his predecessors George W. Bush and Barack Obama, who would denounce the Taliban as terrorists and "hurled irrational" accusations against them in their SOTU speeches, Trump has refrained from doing so and it can "have a very positive impact" on the negotiations.

In their last meeting in Qatar in late January, Khalilzad and Taliban envoys agreed on a framework for a possible U.S. troop withdrawal in exchange for Taliban counterterrorism guarantees, saying they would set up two working groups to flesh out the details.

Though most of the meetings until now have taken place in the Qatari capital of Doha, U.S. and Taliban negotiators will hold their next meeting on Monday in Pakistan for the first time. Leaders in Islamabad take full credit for arranging Washington's dialogue with the Islamist group.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced in a statement on Wednesday that the upcoming meeting was the outcome of a "formal invitation" from the government in Islamabad and that insurgent delegates would also meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Pakistan's Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry confirmed Thursday that his country would host the U.S.-Taliban meeting. He did not share further details.

A State Department spokesperson in Washington told VOA that the department had noted the Taliban's public announcement but had not received a formal invitation to talks.

The spokesperson added that the United States supported all steps that would lead to "genuine intra-Afghan dialogue that includes the Afghan government, the Taliban and other Afghans and encourages all countries to support this peace process.

"We are not going to negotiate in public. This is the beginning of a long process which we continue to work through private diplomatic channels."

The Taliban refuse to engage in talks with the Kabul government, dismissing it as an illegitimate entity, but an insurgent delegation did travel to Moscow earlier this month for a two-day "intra-Afghan peace meeting" with dozens of prominent opposition politicians from Afghanistan led by former President Hamid Karzai.
Defenders repurpose assets to ensure nuclear surety

By Airman 1st Class Jacob M. Thompson and Staff Sgt. Lauren O'Connor, 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs / Published February 14, 2019

MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. (AFNS) -- Missile security forces defenders are charged with protecting our nation's assets against all enemies, foreign and domestic. One way they maintain readiness is through training.

Recently, the 841st Missile Security Forces Squadron at Malmstrom Air Force Base, innovated the way they conduct recapture and recovery training.

"Sharpening our competitive edge in this new age will require creative approaches, innovation, resources and execution at the speed of relevance," said Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson.

The 841st MSFS collaborated with missile maintainers to share one of their training tools, the T-41 trainer. The trainer is a realistic, one-to-one replica of the launch facilities throughout the missile field and used by missile maintainers. This replica provides the squadron an opportunity to train in an environment similar to a response to a real-world threat.

The training simulates the same scenario these Airmen would face in the missile field under a real-life recapture and recovery situation, said Tech. Sgt. Daniel Seifert, 841st MSFS A-flight sergeant.

Recapture entails using force to take back control of a nuclear weapon if an adversary takes control of the weapon, Seifert said. Recovery happens by teams going out and recovering the weapon if it is stolen.

"(This training) helps our nuclear deterrence mission; it gives us and our allies confidence that we are good stewards of nuclear weapons in the Air Force and security forces, not just (at) Malmstrom but the entire (nuclear) triad," said Seifert.

The nuclear triad is a compilation of platforms and weapons that serve as the backbone of America's national security. The triad consists of submarine-launched ballistic missiles, air-launched cruise missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles across the Department of Defense.

Malmstrom AFB hosts the largest ICBM fleet in the United States and protecting these assets directly support the National Defense Strategy objective of dissuading, preventing or deterring state adversaries and non-state actors from acquiring, proliferating or using weapons of mass destruction.

"There is no substitute for the prospect of a devastating nuclear response," said Gen. Paul J. Selva, Joint Chiefs of Staff vice chairman.

The triad, along with assigned forces, provides 24/7 deterrence to prevent catastrophic actions from our adversaries and they stand ready, if necessary, to deliver a decisive response, anywhere, anytime. Malmstrom AFB defenders are reimagining the way they train to increase their lethality in the event they are called upon to serve and protect.

"The surest way to prevent war is to be prepared for it," said Gen. John E. Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command.
Remarks With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Before Their Meeting

Remarks

Michael R. Pompeo

Secretary of State

Warsaw, Poland

February 14, 2019

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: I want to thank Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence and the Trump administration for putting together an extraordinary conference. As you can see, Mr. Secretary, yesterday was a historical turning point. In a room of some 60 foreign ministers and representatives of dozens of governments, an Israeli prime minister and the foreign ministers of the leading Arab countries stood together and spoke with unusual force, clarity, and unity against the common threat of the Iranian regime. I think this marks a change, an important understanding of what threatens our future, what we have to do to secure it, and the possibilities of cooperation that extend beyond security to every realm of life for the peoples of the Middle East. This happened here, it happened in Warsaw, and I think the main conclusion that I have is that it must continue in other forms and other ways for the same purpose, and for that I want to thank you, Secretary Pompeo, for doing this. It's important.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. I just want to say thank you for being here, Mr. Prime Minister. We appreciate you being here a great deal. It matters. This is a global challenge in the Middle East and I look forward to a successful day here where we'll continue to build on what happened last night between all the parties who are deeply interested and committed to ensuring that we push back against all of the threats  including Iran  in the Middle East. So thank you all.

QUESTION: Secretary Pompeo, does this summit deals with ways to combat or to fight Iran, like Prime Minister Netanyahu said yesterday?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, look, you can't achieve peace and stability in the Middle East without confronting Iran. It's just not possible. They're a malign influence in Lebanon, in Yemen, in Syria, in Iraq, the three H's: the Houthis, Hamas, and Hizballah. These are real threats; there are others as well. But you can't get peace in the Middle East without pushing back against Iran.
Co-chairs' Statement on the Ministerial To Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

February 14, 2019

On February 13-14, 2019, Foreign Ministers and representatives of 62 states met in Warsaw, Poland, at a conference organized jointly by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland and Secretary of State of the United States, to work toward a more secure and stable Middle East.

The participants discussed how terrorism, proliferation, and the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East pose a threat to regional and international peace and security.

The participants discussed the risks stemming from the proliferation of weapons and the development of ballistic missile programs in the region. They also discussed ways of addressing humanitarian crises in the region, countering violent extremism, combatting threats to cyber and energy infrastructure, and disrupting illicit financial networks.

The broad and productive participation in the ministerial demonstrates that the international community is committed to addressing drivers of instability in the region. Many of the participating countries expressed an intention to continue to act collaboratively to promote a more prosperous future for the region and its people.

To this end, Poland and the United States are pleased to announce the establishment of international working groups that will drive momentum toward concrete solutions in the areas listed below. The groups plan to convene at the working level in countries around the world to advance the international community's shared interests in promoting peace and security in the region. Additional information on the working groups will be released in the coming weeks.

Counterterrorism and Illicit Finance:

1. Counterterrorism and Illicit Finance

Curbing Missile Development and Weapons Proliferation:

2. Missile Proliferation

3. Maritime and Aviation Security

Combatting Cyber and Emerging Threats:

4. Cybersecurity

5. Energy Security

Humanitarian Issues and Human Rights:

6. Humanitarian Issues and Refugees

7. Wrongful Detainees and Human Rights

The co-chairs also welcome the announcement that the Polish Institute of International Affairs intends to work with a U.S. think tank to convene a global forum of experts, the Middle East Strategic Study Group. This forum can enable leading academics and issue experts from across the world to provide strategic insight to support the continued efforts of the working groups.

The United States and Poland share many common interests in the region. These include, among others, to promote respect for human rights, counter violent extremism, advance international non-proliferation norms, and address humanitarian challenges. Our two countries hope that this ministerial and the follow-on working groups will be the beginning of a Warsaw process, a collaborative and dynamic effort that makes progress on these and other issues of importance in the region.

Further, Poland and the United States recommend that participants present at the ministerial meet again in the future to discuss the progress of the working groups.
Remarks at the Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East

Remarks

Michael R. Pompeo

Secretary of State

Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz

Warsaw, Poland

February 14, 2019

FOREIGN MINISTER CZAPUTOWICZ: Prime ministers, ministers, ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to welcome you at the Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East. The right time has come now to give a new impetus to the questions of peace and security in the region. The Middle East is a special place on the world map, the place where three great religions  Judaism, Islam, and Christianity  were born; a place from which the Indo-European civilization originated; a very rich area both culturally and economically; but too often plagued with numerous conflicts resulting in negative consequences such as refugee crisis, economic crisis, or, in some instances, crisis of statehood.

Stabilization of the Middle East, termination of ongoing conflicts, promoting cultural coexistence, and building inclusive societies  these are all great challenges. It is a task for the international community to effectively support these efforts to safeguard stabilization and durable peace. There are multiple sources of conflicts in the Middle East. They may originate from wish of some leaders to keep power at all costs, or from religious fundamentalism and lack of tolerance, or from systemic factors such as imbalance of power and geopolitical rivalry of external actors. They can also stem from interference of regional powers.

The European Union and the United States share the conviction about the role of Iran could and should play in the Middle East and in the wider world, but we are concerned about possible results of Iran's nuclear program as well as the unconstructive role of the country in the region. We univocally condemn intolerable actions of Iran beyond its own territory, including Europe, which met with additional EU sanctions.

The differences between us may be about methods. The European Union believes that maintaining the peaceful character of the Iranian nuclear program calls for keeping the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, in place. The United States abandoned this agreement and imposed sanctions. But in our opinion, in the opinion of Poland, it is only through joint actions in the framework of trans-Atlantic community or, more broadly, the global community of democratic states that we can effectively limit negative trends in the Middle East.

Ladies and gentlemen, many of you can ask the question: Why Poland together with the United States organizes this conference in Warsaw? We believe that Poland has a special right to serve the international community as a place for dialogue. We serve as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and by that virtue, a special responsibility rests upon us to contribute to actions aimed at preserving peace. We are the country where the Solidarity movement was born and where a peaceful, bloodless political transformation to democracy took place. This example was followed by other countries of our region, leading to a spectacular end of the Cold War. We will soon celebrate the 30th anniversary of those memorable events. We believe that our experience can be of great value for other regions as well, and we are ready to share our experience.

Poland has never turned a blind eye to the necessities of the societies living in the Middle East. The Polish armed forces participated in the liberation of Kuwait in 1990. Our servicemen helped bring peace and stabilization in Iraq between 2003 and 2011. We participated for many years in the peacekeeping missions in the Golan Heights, Sinai, and south Lebanon. Poland has been supporting the fight against ISIS as a member of Global Coalition; we discussed about that issue last week in Washington.

Ladies, gentlemen, yesterday we had an opportunity to listen to the representatives of the region who remind us of the challenges the Middle East is currently facing. Today we are going to continue the discussion on the methods of resolution of existing conflicts, especially the conflict in Syria and Yemen, which show us clearly, due to their complicated nature, how easily societies can fall prey to confrontational ideologies. We will also reflect on the current status and prospect for the peace process. These and other issues will be tackled during the opening plenary.

The working lunch will be followed and will be devoted to humanitarian and refugee challenges. We will discuss the methods the international community can use to improve the situation in this area. So we will look  we would like to look at this region also in a positive way, look how we can contribute to peace, to stabilization. In the afternoon we will discuss the ways to limit proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the region, as well as cybersecurity, new challenges to energy security, and illegal financing of terrorism.

These three very concrete questions have a long history of international deliberations and creating legal regimes. Much has been done, but we are convinced that the Middle East deserves a special attention. Following this conference, specialized working groups should be established. We would like to start the process  we can call it Warsaw process, maybe  to create a special multilateral platform for dialogue which will be of permanent character and will lead to a stronger institutionalization of cooperation in the Middle East.

Ladies, gentlemen, our conference starts a week after the historic visit of Pope Francis in the Middle East. We want to be guided by the same spirit of optimism that the Pope always shows. If we manage to achieve that at that conference, its aim will be fulfilled. Thank you very much for your attention, and I am giving the floor to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, co-host of the conference.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you. Thank you, Foreign Minister Czaputowicz. (Applause.) Thank you. Good morning. Welcome to everyone. It's wonderful to see such a big group that the far end strains my old-man's vision to see you. We're so pleased to host the Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East. Thank you for co-hosting. Our two countries now are celebrating 100 years of diplomatic relations and our joint efforts reflect the strength of the bonds between our two countries.

My personal affection for Poland has always been great; it became even greater when President Duda spoke of my alma mater at West Point back in 2017. It was there he made one of  frankly, one of the most important statements of our time. He said, "Go Army, beat Navy." (Laughter.)

Look, we're delighted to see so many countries here. NATO, the European Union  thank you for joining us as well. It's a historic gathering of a very diverse set of countries. It's a broad cross-section of participants that shows the magnitude of the challenges we face, but also the commitment that each of our nations has made to tackling these challenges together. As a testament to our seriousness of purpose, I want to reflect on the historic dinner that took place last night. Arab and Israeli leaders were in the same room, sharing a meal and exchanging views. They all came together for a single reason: to discuss the real threats to our respective peoples emanating from the Middle East. The United States seeks a new era of cooperation between all of our countries on how to confront these issues. It's why we've organized this ministerial.

The composition of that dinner reflects President Trump's diplomatic commitment to bring nations together in new ways to solve old problems. That's our mission today, and I hope each of us will take it seriously. Both the United States and Poland understand that every country attending this ministerial will have different perspectives. At times, such views may even conflict with those of the United States. We see this as a value-added proposition. We want to bring together countries with an interest in stability to share their views and break out of traditional thinking.

I'd like to put out some thoughts and guidelines for our engagement. No one country will dominate the discussion today nor will any one issue dominate our talks. Everyone should speak thoughtfully and honestly and each country should respect the voice of all others. Our hope that this engagement  our hope is that this engagement will entail true back-and-forth dialogue, not just a chance to do what I'm doing now: read a prepared statement. Please  I'll do this too when I complete these remarks  leave your notecards and speeches in your briefcase or your purse. Let's have a candid conversation.

Look, in terms of the agenda, we'll lead off with a discussion on Yemen led by Foreign Minister al-Yamani. I will then detail the Trump administration's next steps on Syria and our continuing efforts to achieve our strategic goals, which haven't changed. And after that Senior Advisor to the President Mr. Kushner will discuss the administration's efforts to advance a lasting and comprehensive peace between Israel and the Palestinians. There'll be lots of opportunity for questions, comments on all of these topics. And then at lunch Vice President Pence and the prime minister will offer remarks, as will seven other foreign ministers. And a little later we'll hear from my co-host as he leads a working lunch with a group of nations on addressing humanitarian and refugee challenges, which are all too real. Then we'll have a series of action planning sessions on curbing missile development and proliferation, combating cyber and emerging threats, and countering terrorism and illicit finance. Representatives from an array of countries will contribute their thoughts as panelists in each one of those sessions.

Our talks are important today, but this conference won't be the end. It can't be. We need action. Syria, Yemen, proliferation, the peace process, terrorism, Iran, cybersecurity, the humanitarian crises  none of the region's challenges will solve themselves. We must work together for security. No country can afford to remain on the sidelines, so allow today to be the start of our conversation.

As I said in Cairo a few weeks ago, the United States will continue to lead on Middle East security issues. We will continue to be a force for good in the region, and today is proof of that commitment. We hope new partnerships emerge from today's talks. We need to be bound  we need not be bound by the past when a bright future demands new cooperation. Thank you, Mr. Foreign Minister.
Terrorist Attack on Indian Security Forces Convoy

Press Statement

Robert Palladino

Deputy Spokesperson

Washington, DC

February 14, 2019

The United States condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack today on an Indian Central Reserve Police Force convoy in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and their families, and wish a speedy recovery to those injured. The United States is resolutely committed to working with the Indian government to combat terrorism in all its forms. The UN designated, Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed responsibility for this heinous act. We call on all countries to uphold their responsibilities pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions to deny safe haven and support for terrorists.
Yemen Quad Meeting in Warsaw

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

February 14, 2019

The text of the following statement was released by the Foreign Ministers of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The Foreign Ministers of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America met February 13 in Warsaw to discuss the situation in Yemen.

Begin Text:

The Ministers reiterated their commitment to a comprehensive political solution to the conflict in Yemen and their endorsement of the agreements reached in Sweden by the Yemeni parties in December 2018. The Ministers also welcomed the adoption of UNSCR 2451 and UNSCR 2452, which support the implementation of these agreements and build on the political framework set out in UNSCR 2216, the Gulf Co-operation Council Initiative and the National Dialogue Conference outcomes. In this regard, the Ministers reiterated their full support for the tireless efforts of the UN Special Envoy.

The Ministers called on the Yemeni parties to rapidly and fully implement the agreements reached in December 2018 for the sake of the Yemeni people. In this regard, the Ministers welcomed the preliminary agreement reached on the deployment of forces in Hodeidah by the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) and call on the Houthis and the Government of Yemen to confirm their agreement to this plan and to work urgently with the RCC and the UN Mission to support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA) to implement the mutual redeployment of forces from the city of Hodeidah and the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Issa in compliance with their obligations. The Ministers stressed that there should be no further delaying tactics with regards to implementation of the Hodeidah Agreement. The Ministers agreed to monitor the situation, coordinate closely and meet again if there are any further delays.

The Ministers called on the Yemeni parties in their areas of control, in particular the Houthis who still control the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Isa, to ensure the security and safety of UNMHA personnel, and to facilitate the unhindered and expeditious movement into and within Yemen of personnel, equipment, provisions and essential supplies in accordance with UNSCR 2452. In this regard, the Ministers expressed concern about the bureaucratic impediments puts in place by the Houthis which are hampering UNMHA's vital work. The Ministers also called on the Yemeni parties to redouble their efforts to finalise arrangement for implementation of the prisoner exchange agreement and to establish the Taiz Joint Coordination Committee.

The Ministers also discussed Iran's de-stabilising effect on Yemen, through the illicit provision of finance, ballistic missiles and advanced weaponry to the Houthis, and in the wider region. In this regard, the Ministers noted the UN Panel of Experts' finding that Iran has provided advanced weaponry to the Houthis in violation of UNSCR 2216 and UNSCR 2231. In this regard, the Ministers strongly condemned the Houthi drone attack of 10 January 2019 on Al-Anad airport. The Ministers underlined that the firing of ballistic missiles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by Houthi forces into neighbouring countries posed threats to regional security and prolonged the conflict. The Ministers expressed full support for Saudi Arabia and its legitimate national security concerns and called for an immediate end to such attacks by Houthi forces and their allies. In efforts to reduce illicit fuel imports by the Houthis, the Ministers discussed steps to curb activity facilitating Iranian oil flows whilst at the same time, ensuring fuel flows through Red Sea ports.

The Ministers also discussed the urgent humanitarian crisis which the conflict has created and reiterated the importance of stabilising the economy; keeping food and fuel coming into the country and supporting economic Confidence Building Measures as part of the peace process. In this regard, the Ministers welcomed the deposit of $2.2 billion by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Central Bank of Yemen, their financial contribution to oil derivatives and the $570 million contribution paid by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to tackle food security and pay teachers' salaries. The Ministers also welcomed the Government of Yemen's determination to resume regular payment of the salaries of civil servants, teachers and health workers across the country and called on the Houthis to cooperate with this process. In light of recent reports of illegal interference in the operations of a number of local banks in Sana'a and the areas of banking staff, the Ministers condemned these actions and firmly requested the Houthis to lift the imposed regulations on local banks in Sana'a which impede commercial imports and desperately needed humanitarian assistance. The Ministers also encourage the Government of Yemen to continue to issue letters of credits to all major food importers, making the process clearer and quicker.

The Ministers agreed that there is a window of opportunity to end the conflict in Yemen and to redouble their efforts to reach a political solution.

End Text.
Press Availability With Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz

Press Availability

Michael R. Pompeo

Secretary of State

Warsaw, Poland

February 14, 2019

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I would like to welcome you very warmly to the press conference of Minister Jacek Czaputowicz and Secretary of State of the United States Mr. Mike Pompeo. A few words by way of introduction. Would you please make sure that your telephones are on the mute mode? We will invite both gentlemen to produce their statements. Then we will take two questions from the floor. We do apologize. Our time is very much limited.

May I hand it over to Minister Jacek Czaputowicz for his statement?

FOREIGN MINISTER CZAPUTOWICZ: (Via interpreter) Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Just a moment ago we completed our deliberations during the ministerial meeting devoted to building peace and security in the Middle East. We are very happy to have been able to house in Warsaw representatives of so many countries to jointly discuss the future of the region whose stability will be crucial for ensuring security globally worldwide and also security in Europe and in the European Union.

Yesterday, by way of introduction, we listened to keynote addresses of President Andrzej Duda and Vice President Mike Pence. And we also hosted a debate of representatives of Arab states and the state of Israel, which probably ushers in a new chapter in the relations in the Middle East. We would very much like that to happen, since those parties should be talking to one another. This is a precondition for lasting peace and security in the region.

Today, we discussed regional security with a special respect regards to Yemen and Syria and the international commitment to bring ongoing conflicts to their end. The basic tenets of the American peace plan for Israel and Palestine have been also presented to us. And in the course of discussion we could see that these are problems of crucial value to security. They require commitment on the part of the whole international community.

The address of Vice President of the United States Mr. Mike Pence and the ensuing discussion showed that the European Union and the United States share the same diagnosis of the situation. They have a similar perspective of problems in the Middle East, and also  let's be open  the negative role played by Iran. Iran was not the main topic of our deliberations, but looking at various horizontal problems, the role of this country was also mentioned. This is also the position of European Union; Poland is a member state of European Union and subscribes to this point of view. However, the European Union and the United States differ in terms of modus operandi, especially via evaluation of JCPOA or Special Purpose Vehicle and their possible impacts. In the course of discussion, representatives of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom indicated the positive role played by this deal.

We also spoke about humanitarian situation. The participants of the conference were jointly considering how to effectively support humanitarian effort in the region. I do hope that today's conference will usher in a whole process  maybe Warsaw process, if you like. In the statement of co-chairs, we had the pleasure of informing you about the establishment of working groups on combating terror and financing of (inaudible), on nonproliferation of ballistic missiles, cybersecurity, secure air, and maritime security, and also positive aspects that is humanitarian issues and issues related to refugees and respect of human rights in the region.

The purpose of far-reaching efforts will be to work out a positive vision for the whole region. I do hope that the results of working group deliberations will be the starting point for following meetings to discuss Middle East and of the Warsaw process.

Thank you.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you very much, ministry. (Inaudible) take the floor, please.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Good afternoon. I don't want to repeat what the foreign minister has said about the accomplishments today. We can certainly talk more in the Q&A about that. I agree with each of them.

We were so happy to be able to partner with you and with your country. Thank you very much, Foreign Minister Czaputowicz, for your personal commitment to this all along. This first Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East, I think, will have lasting value to our two countries' security and to the security of Europe and to those people who are living in the Middle East as well. Our two countries now celebrate 100 years of diplomatic relations. You have been an outstanding partner on this initiative and a true ally across many fields.

We had over 60 countries here. This is the first time we've done this ministerial. That's, in its own right, quite an accomplishment. We had NATO represented and the EU represented as well. I think they all came because they understood this was an important place to be to deal with the challenges to peace and security in the Middle East. We all know that those challenges, those threats, don't stay in the Middle East; they travel. They travel around the world to Europe and to the United States, and I think that's why people showed up and participated vigorously.

We're urging every country to take new steps to defend their people against these existing threats, whether it's Syria or Yemen or proliferation. We talked a good deal about the peace process between Israel and Palestine  the Palestinians. We talked about terrorism; we talked about Iran and cyber security, humanitarian crises. They have massive security implications for each of our countries and for the American people. These things do not resolve themselves magically. They're resolved by nations of goodwill coming together to find real solutions.

We also were intent on doing this in a different way, to find different ways to address the current problems. We're deeply aware that not every nation shares the same viewpoint and comes to the same conclusions on process and how to move forward, and that's fine. We certainly heard that in this meeting as well. I will say, too, the reason this was instigated is because we wanted to illustrate in  with real action President Trump's diplomatic commitment to building new coalitions that tackle the greatest threats of our time. We backed up what I said in Cairo just a few weeks ago: We will continue to lead in the Middle East as a force for good.

To that end, I do want to point out what the foreign minister said. It was a truly historic gathering. At the dinner last night, Arab and Israeli leaders gathered in the same room to talk about deeply common and shared interest. It's undeniable that Iran's aggression in the region has brought Israel and Arab states closer together. What I think was even more remarkable is that it didn't feel all that historic. It felt right, it felt normal, because we were working on a common problem.

Let me close here by saying the United States wants to thank every country that participated for their contributions. The future of our cooperation on Middle East security can only get brighter from here. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Secretary Pompeo, thank you very much. (Via interpreter) Due to time limitations, we will only take two questions. I kindly invite David Sanger from New York Times to ask the question. Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you very much, and thank you, both of you, for holding this press conference. Mr. Secretary, I wanted to ask you, Vice President Pence today at the luncheon issued a very stark criticism of three of your closest allies  the French, the Germans, and the British. He said they were attempting "to break American sanctions against Iran's murderous revolutionary regime" and that they must now stand with us and abandon the nuclear agreement, the way President Trump did. Could you tell us what the consequence will be for them if they don't follow the Vice President's advice?

And tell us a little bit about how we should think about the Iran agreement, as you head into the North Korea negotiations in just two weeks. Is it your view, since the Vice President was so critical, as the President has been, that you need to get more out of the North Koreans, either at this session or soon thereafter, than the Obama administration got out of Iran? In other words, you need to ship out more than 97 percent of the fuel, that you need to have an agreement that freezes their production for more than the 15 years that you've said had been too short?

SECRETARY POMPEO: David, you have asked me that second question multiple times before. I'm going to give you the same answer. But let me  and I appreciate it. You're welcome to ask the 58th time too. If I'm any good, I'll give you same answer the 58th time as well.

With respect to the first question, look, we make no bones about it. We think that we need more sanctions, more pressure on Iran. We think that gives the Iranian people the opportunity to get what it is they so richly deserve. We think that denies the Iranian kleptocracy, the clerical leaders there, the wealth and resources they need to create so much destruction that we heard about from countries all across the world in these two days. We think that's desperately important. We think that's the thing which will drive the outcomes which ultimately get us to the place where we have one of these ministerials and Iran isn't part of the conversation. It's not creating risk in Syria; it's not creating humanitarian crisis in Yemen; it's not funding Hizballah; it's not in Iraq, creating mischief there as well; it's not funding Hizballah in South America; it's not conducting assassination campaigns throughout Europe. We've been unmistakable about our desire to put economic pressure on the leadership in Iran.

I think what you heard the Vice President today was exactly in that vein. And as President Trump's been very clear, we respect the sovereignty of every nation. They get to make their own decisions about the way forward. But the United States is determined to convince all nations of the world that it is in our collective best interest to deny the ayatollah and President Rouhani and Qasem Soleimani the money that they need to fuel the world's largest state sponsor of terror. It's no difference there.

With respect to the comparison between Iran and North Korea, very different situations presented to ourself. We are aiming to get as far down the road as we can in what's now a couple weeks. That's not just along the denuclearization pillar of what they agreed to in Singapore, what the two leaders agreed to in Singapore. We'll certainly talk about how we foster reduced tension, reduced military risk, take down that risk so that we can get peace and security on the peninsula as well. We'll also work on communicating how it is we can create the brighter future that we hope for the North Korean people. And so yes, it's absolutely our intent. We've made unmistakably clear our goal, the full and final denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a verifiable manner. I hope that in a couple weeks we can make real progress along the way.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Secretary Pompeo. (In Polish.)

FOREIGN MINISTER CZAPUTOWICZ: (Via interpreter) Mr. Minister, I would only like to add that the policy policy towards Iran, policy on Iran, is often subjected to discussion on the forum of foreign ministers of the European Union. As I was noting during my opening remarks, there is a conviction where the JCPOA in the long run plays a positive role. However, as Poland, we can see with our own eyes that the problem of Middle East is so complex that the European Union alone singlehanded has not enough of political force to help to resolve it. Only through transatlantic relations  alliance with the United States, Canada, the democratic world  will help us. If we stand together and act in a united manner, we can come closer to resolving security problems in the Middle East.

From the EU perspective, such instruments as special purpose vehicle, the mechanism which allows to preserve in certain areas some commerce and trade with Iran, well, it may play a positive role. But it is of symbolic value because most of companies, while confronted with real risk of sanctions from the United States, they decided to opt out and to withdraw from Iran. If this is an instrument of humanitarian relief, humanitarian aid, because it is only limited to trade in pharmaceuticals and agricultural produce, it may be a positive instrument. So here this difference from our perspective is a subtle difference, and it is a basis for future joint cooperation and joint policy.

That's why we decided to have this conference in Warsaw, even if Poland is together with other European countries like-minded in their assessment of JCPOA. Nevertheless, cooperation amongst us all will be very much needed in the future. We'll need to follow closely the developments in Iran and try to foster democracy.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, let me just add this. You reminded me, Mr. Foreign Minister, of something. There have been lots of places the Europeans and the Americans have worked together against Iran recently, right? The Germans have denied Mahan Air the right to fly there. Many of these countries have called out assassination attempts in their own country in a way that they weren't doing before the Trump administration. There have been lots of places where we have been able to work together against --

QUESTION: And missiles are one of those?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Excuse me?

QUESTION: You stated the missile cooperation?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, still more work to do, but yes. And I hope we can continue to work on that. 2231 is very clear: The Iranians are in clear violation of the UN Security Council resolution relating to missiles. We hope we get the whole world to unite around that.

QUESTION: Was there progress on that today in the meeting?

SECRETARY POMPEO: It was talked about a lot. Yeah, I'd say there's progress. But of course, until you're across the line, no victory is to be claimed. And we're not quite there yet.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter.) Thank you very much. I now we invite Mr. Cegielski from the Polish Radio to ask the final question.

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Good afternoon. Wojciech Cegielski, Polish Radio. Minister Czaputowicz, the following question to you: Just before the conference, you were saying that the conference is not targeting any country, Iran or any other country. However, from today's declaration, the closing declaration, while we cannot see any reference to any specific country, but listening the media statements of Vice President Pence, Secretary Pompeo, or Prime Minister Netanyahu, many very sharp words of criticism were uttered towards Iran that were broadcast. So would you maintain your view that this conference was not against any particular country, and how would you comment the statements that were already made by the American partners that Iran is the largest sponsor of terror in the world?

(In English) And the second part of the question for Secretary Pompeo, if I may. I would like to refer to the the words you've said two days ago while meeting Minister Czaputowicz. You have said, quote, "I urge my Polish counterparts to move forward with the property restitution issue." Could you please elaborate what exactly have you meant by saying this? Thank you very much.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Mr. Minister, would you like to address this question?

FOREIGN MINISTER CZAPUTOWICZ: (Via interpreter) If I may, in my opening remarks I hinted the subject. The conference and its main topic have been devised in such a way so as to focus on horizontal issues like humanitarian aid, terror, proliferation of weapons. Of course, in many contexts we have seen Iran as one of actors, and honestly it was presented in a bad light not only by the United States  and this is quite curious and interesting. I may have not expected this before, but the states of the region were quite unanimous saying that Iran is the destabilizing factor in the region. If we want to concentrate on problems and not states, it doesn't preclude us from noting the threats as they stand.

An important part of the discussion is a discussion on the Middle East process. This was just an initial discussion. In a few months' time, the United States and Mr. Jared Kushner himself with come up with certain suggestions. We can see also certain joined and shared perceptions from some Arab states and the state of Israel. I think that we should take a holistic perspective of the Middle East and its problems. If we speak about Yemen and Syria, of course, Iran  Iran's impacts are very negative. We promise not to be focusing on difficult problems in Iran, but this is not to say that Iran will be excluded from the spectrum of our discussion. Of course, it was not invited for this conference due to their stance, their attitude, but we do hope that there will be a change of conducts and that there will be a way for discussion. Thank you.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you, minister. Secretary Pompeo, please, take the floor.

SECRETARY POMPEO: You bet. So I don't have anything to add to my statement with respect to your second question, so we will leave it at that. We've had a number of conversations about that with our Polish friends.

Your first question that you asked, my counterpart is funny because you said the statement didn't say anything about it. But, but, but the statement didn't say anything about it because this conference was about so many things broader and deeper than that. I'll say two other things that are very consistent with what Foreign Minister Czaputowicz just said.

First, there was not a defender of Iran in the room. No country, no country spoke out and denied any of the basic facts that we all had laid out about Iran  the threat it poses, the nature of the regime. It was unanimous. Countries from Europe, countries from Asia, countries from all across the world  no one spoke up saying that the data set about the threat that Iran poses in the Middle East is any way wrong or overhyped. Everyone acknowledges that it is very difficult to talk about the problems in Lebanon without talking about Hizballah, that it is very difficult to talk about the problems in Yemen without talking about the Houthis, it's very difficult to talk about challenges to Iraqi sovereignty without talking about the Shia militias, it's very difficult to talk about the challenges today in Syria without talking about the Qods Force infantry that's still there. Every one of those is underwritten and supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and there was no dispute as to that.

The methods, the ways about which we ought to push back against that, there were many ideas, many of them good, that we'll go work on together. But I think it's important to note that there is complete agreement, there is a global agreement, about the threat that Iran poses.

Your question was about whether this conference targeted any one country. Indeed, what it targeted was stability and peace and prosperity in the Middle East. It was our objective. It's why we came together to put this group assembled here in Warsaw today, and I think it's what we accomplished as well.

Thank you.

MODERATOR: (In Polish.)
NATO Studying Possibility of Increasing Its Presence in Black Sea - Stoltenberg

Sputnik News

15:08 14.02.2019(updated 16:19 14.02.2019)

NATO is considering the possibility of providing additional support to Ukraine, as well as expanding its presence in the Black Sea, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Brussels at the closure of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) at the Level of Defence Ministers.

"NATO allies provide Ukraine with political and practical support, now we are looking at what else can be done We are looking at the possibility of further increasing our presence in the Black Sea. In the coming days our ships will take part in the exercises in the Black Sea", Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg said that the Allies had an informal breakfast in Brussels with the Ukrainian Minister of Defence, where it confirmed the call for Russia to release the Ukrainian ships and sailors detained after the Kerch Strait incident.

The meeting of North Atlantic Council at the Level of Defence Ministers was held amid the US decision to suspend its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty).

The INF Treaty, which was signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987 and banned all ground-launched missiles with ranges of 310 to 3,400 miles (500 to 5,500 kilometres), has recently become another contentious point in the relationship between the United States and Russia.



 Sputnik
US to Pull Out Its Forces From Afghanistan Only With Other Allies - Shanahan

Sputnik News

16:00 14.02.2019(updated 17:13 14.02.2019)

The United States will not carry out a unilateral reduction of its troops in Afghanistan, acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said at a news conference after a meeting of ministers from the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) in Brussels on Thursday.

"There will be no unilateral troop reduction, it will be coordinated," he told reporters following a meeting of NATO defence ministers. "We came out of here much stronger and coordinated."

In late January, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani vowed to try to remove all foreign troops from the country. In addition, an agreement on the possible withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan was reportedly reached during recent talks between the United States and Taliban in Qatar.

READ MORE: Iranian President Lauds US Troop Pullout From Syria 'If It's True'

The movement, for its part, pledged to prevent terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda from using Afghanistan as a base to carry out operations in other countries under the future deal.

On INF Treaty

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is united in supporting the United States' withdrawal from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces, acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Thursday.

"NATO maintained unity on a sensitive, critically important issue," Shanahan said in Brussels after a meeting of ministers from the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO).

Members of the alliance agree that this is a simple case of "US compliance and Russian noncompliance," he added.

The acting Pentagon chief also said the public in Western countries is not aware "of the evolving threat" from Russia and China.

"I'm referring to the evolving situation we see with our infrastructure, cybersecurity, space," he said, adding that NATO ministers had discussed the issue during their meeting.

Shanahan also stressed that US commitment to its NATO obligations remains "ironclad," including its obligations under the North Atlantic Treaty's Article 5, which enshrines the principle of collective defense. He dismissed any concerns that President Donald Trump might not be committed to the alliance.

*al-Qaeda is a terrorist group banned in Russia

 Sputnik
The 1,169-page, $333 billion spending bill that President Donald Trump plans to sign into law removes the threat of any further government shutdowns - at least until October.

But only a few pages of the legislation deals with the U.S.-Mexico border wall that Trump has demanded - or "primary pedestrian fencing," as legislators wrote into the text. The rest of the bill focuses on other border security measures, as well as funding for scores of federal departments and agencies whose budgets have been held hostage for months due to the border standoff.

Here's a sampling of what the bill contains:

Border security provisions

Trump didn't get any of the $5.7 billion he demanded for a concrete or steel wall. The $1.375 billion is enough for 55 miles for "pedestrian" fencing in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, but it is also subject to numerous restrictions. The barriers can only use existing designs, they are banned in five ecologically or historically sensitive areas, and the Department of Homeland Security must consult with local officials before embarking on construction.

More technology, port infrastructure and Customs and Border Protection officers. The Trump administration could hire as many as 1,200 new Border Patrol officers under the agreement, and it won $100 million in technology funding aimed at the stretches of border between ports of entry, as well as another $112 million for aircraft and sensor systems. But a larger amount - $564 million - is aimed at beefing up scanning capability at the ports, where the majority of drug and human trafficking occurs.

A soft cap on ICE detention capacity. Democrats pushed in negotiations for a hard cap on how many people Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers could detain - arguing that the agency needed to focus its efforts on criminals, not otherwise law abiding illegal immigrants. The bill contains a provision aimed at lowering the detainee cap from the current level of about 49,000 to about 40,000. But Republicans aides say that ICE will retain flexibility to maintain or exceed its current detention levels. The bill does include new restrictions on ICE detention practices including a ban on restraining pregnant women and mandatory public disclosure of family separation incidents.

Other government agencies

Federal pay raise. The agreement reverses a federal pay freeze instituted by the Trump administration late last year. Should the deal become law, government workers will see an across-the-board 1.9 percent pay increase - the same level negotiated between Senate Democrats and Republicans last year. House Democrats last month pushed for a larger, 2.6-percent raise, but retreated in negotiations. Federal workers in some high-cost-of-living areas such as Washington, D.C., will see a slightly higher raise, up to 2.2 percent.

Increased Census funding. The agreement includes a $1 billion increase in Census Bureau funding - $21 million above the Trump administration's request - to prepare for the 2010 census. Elsewhere across the government, the bipartisan agreement significantly boosts agencies' funding above the administration's requests.

No "poison pills" on issues. Negotiators largely sidestepped various policy disputes, rejecting new "riders" that pertain to abortion, environmental enforcement, and other contentious issues. On gun policy, for instance, Democrats rejected a GOP rider preventing the Justice Department from tracking certain sales of multiple guns to the same person. Republicans, meanwhile, turned back a Democratic rider limiting access to federal land for hunting, fishing, or recreational shooting. That also means the status quo continues for existing riders, such as banning U.S. foreign aid from funding groups supporting abortions abroad, or a provision preventing the IRS from restricting politically-oriented nonprofits.

What's not in the bill

While Democratic and Republican negotiators reached an accord on the key border security flash points, they did not reach agreement on other contentious items. They include:

Back pay for federal contractors. Democrats and some Republicans pushed to include about $1 billion in back pay targeting low-wage federal contract workers, such as custodial and service industry workers, who lost a month's wages due to the shutdown. But the White House strongly resisted paying contractors for work not done during a shutdown for the first time.

Extension of the Violence Against Women Act. A larger dispute about rewriting the Violence Against Women Act for the first time in more than six years bled into the spending negotiations. Democrats pushed to let the existing law lapse, which would lend momentum to a planned House rewrite. But Republicans wanted to keep existing law in place through the end of the fiscal year. Democrats say that there will be no practical impact for the time being, and they will work in the coming months to pass an updated bill.

Disaster aid. Lawmakers of both parties had pushed to include billions of dollars in federal aid for victims of recent hurricanes, wildfires and other disasters. But in the rush to complete the border accord, negotiators opted to leave the aid package off the bill. Top appropriators, Democrat and Republican, have said they expect to negotiate a separate disaster aid bill soon.
NATO Strongly Supports Afghan Government's Full Involvement In Peace Talks, Alliance Chief Tells RFE/RL

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan February 14, 2019

BRUSSELS -- NATO is backing the full participation of the Afghan government in peace talks involving U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives to end the 17-year conflict, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg told RFE/RL on February 14 in Brussels.

The Afghan government has been absent from the U.S.-Taliban talks, prompting anger and frustration in Kabul. The militants consider the Afghan government a Western puppet and has so far refused to directly negotiate with it.

"There's no way it is possible to have a lasting peace without the full involvement of the Afghan government and, therefore, we strongly support the efforts by [U.S. special envoy] Ambassador Khalilzad in his engagement with the Taliban to create the conditions to agree on an Afghan-owned reconciliation process," Stoltenberg told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO defense ministers.

"Of course, the Afghan government has to be part of that. There's no way you can have an Afghan peace process -- lasting peace -- without totally involving the Afghans, including the government," Stoltenberg said.

During recent talks in Qatar, U.S. officials and the Taliban both expressed some optimism over prospects for a deal.

On February 8, Khalilzad said he was "hopeful" a deal could be finalized before Afghanistan's presidential election in July, but he cautioned there is still a "long way to go" before a final agreement.

U.S. officials have said President Donald Trump wants to withdraw about half of the 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

U.S. forces have been in Afghanistan since an October 2001 invasion that brought down the Taliban government after it refused to hand over Al-Qaeda terrorists, including Osama bin Laden, blamed for launching the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

The government in Kabul has struggled to contain the resurgent Taliban after a NATO-led coalition turned over military operations to Afghan troops and took a more advisory and training role in the country.

Stoltenberg said NATO is ready to help facilitate "an Afghan reconciliation, Afghan process," since allies "invested a lot in protecting [democratic] values" in Afghanistan.

"But the only way to do that is to make sure that we have an Afghan-owned reconciliation process, because peace is extremely important for human rights," Stoltenberg said.

Taliban representatives and an Afghan delegation led by former Afghan President Hamid Karzai held two days of talks in Moscow, with the militants continuing to insist upon the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan as a first step in the peace process.

The talks were "very satisfactory," Karzai said at the end of the February 5-6 gathering, which have been described by some as part of an "intra-Afghan" peace process, despite the absence of Kabul government representatives.

The gathering was strongly criticized by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

Stoltenberg said that efforts to create a framework for an intra-Afghan peace process and reconciliation should be backed by everyone, including Russia.

"It remains to be seen whether the meeting in Moscow contributes to that," Stoltenberg said, adding, "NATO's focus is how we can provide maximum support to the efforts by the United States and Ambassador Khalilzad by continuing to provide support to the Afghan security forces, and also by giving political support to those efforts, because that's the only way to peace."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/nato-strongly-supports- afghan-government-s-full-involvement-in-peace-talks-alliance -chief-tells-rfe-rl/29770555.html

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
U.S. Vows 'No Unilateral' Troop Reduction In Afghanistan

By RFE/RL February 14, 2019

U.S. acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has said that any potential U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan would be "coordinated" with other NATO members.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting on February 14 in Brussels with NATO defense ministers, Shanahan said "there will be no unilateral troop reduction" from Afghanistan.

His remarks came amid uncertainty about the timing and extent of a potential U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan that Taliban negotiators have demanded as a precondition to peace talks with the Afghan government.

"We came out of here much stronger and coordinated," Shanahan told reporters in Brussels about his talks with other NATO defense ministers.

The ministers on February 14 were discussing the future of NATO's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan as Washington engages in efforts to negotiate a peace deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

U.S. officials have said President Donald Trump wants to withdraw about half of the 14,000 U.S. troops now in Afghanistan.

Shanahan said the ministers in Brussels discussed "how do we double down on support for Afghan national defense and security forces to put even more pressure on the Taliban?"

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier that the alliance's mission in Afghanistan "remains a top priority."

"We strongly support the efforts to reach a political, peaceful settlement," Stoltenberg said.

The NATO chief also said "no decision has been taken about any withdrawal," adding that NATO allies would decide the future of the mission "together, based on conditions determined with the Afghans."

Before the Brussels talks began, U.S. special peace envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad briefed NATO ambassadors about developments that have occurred during several rounds of direct talks he has had in recent months with representatives of the Taliban's political office in Qatar.

The ministers on February 14 also discussed NATO's missions and operations in Kosovo and Iraq.

On Kosovo, Stoltenberg has said the ministers would "review the level of our support for the Kosovo Security Force after the change of its mandate."

Kosovar lawmakers in December voted to convert the 2,500-member Kosovo Security Force into a national army with some 5,000 personnel and more substantial weaponry.

But that move is opposed by Kosovo's ethnic Serbian minority, by Serbia's government in Belgrade, and by Russia.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/nato-allies-discuss- afghan-mission-s-future-after-propose d-u-s-withdrawal/29769700.html

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Taliban Says Will Meet U.S. Negotiators In Pakistan

By RFE/RL February 14, 2019

Taliban negotiators say they will meet U.S. representatives in Pakistan on February 18 as part of ongoing Afghan peace talks, although a State Department official said the U.S. team had not yet received an invitation to the talks.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on February 13 said the meeting would take place in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, a week before the two sides are scheduled to hold negotiations in Qatar on February 25.

"While we have noted the Taliban's public announcement, we have not received a formal invitation to any talks," a State Department spokesperson said.

Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said his side would also meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to hold "comprehensive discussions about Pakistan-Afghanistan relations."

As an Afghan neighbor and military power in the region, Islamabad would likely play a key role in any eventual settlement, and some 1.5 million Afghan refugees live in Pakistan.

Talks between U.S. officials -- including Zalmay Khalilzad, the special peace envoy for Afghanistan -- have intensified in recent months. Khalilzad and Taliban envoys have both said progress has been made, but U.S. officials caution that much work needs to be done before an agreement can be finalized.

Khalilzad is due to arrive in Pakistan on a six-country trip that also includes Belgium, Germany, Turkey, Qatar, and Afghanistan.

Talks have also been held in Moscow with some of the same figures, although Khalilzad has not attended those discussions.

The U.S.-Taliban talks are aimed at finding a negotiated end to Afghanistan's 17-year war.

The United States has been attempting to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table with officials in Kabul.

The Afghan government has been absent from the U.S.-Taliban talks, prompting anger and frustration in Kabul. The Taliban considers the Kabul government a Western puppet and has so far refused to directly negotiate with it.

U.S. negotiators are expected to press for a cease-fire between Taliban insurgents and Western-backed Afghan forces before any agreement on the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign troops.

The Taliban has demanded that all foreign troops leave before a cease-fire is declared but have said they would accept nonmilitary foreign aid to help rebuild Afghanistan.

U.S. officials have said President Donald Trump wants to withdraw about half of the 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The president has already announced that the United States will withdraw all 2,000 of its troops from Syria, saying he wants to reduce U.S. involvement in costly wars.

U.S. troops have been in Afghanistan since an October 2001 invasion that brought down the Taliban government after it refused to hand over Al-Qaida members, including Osama bin Laden, blamed for launching the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

The government in Kabul has struggled to contain the resurgent Taliban after a NATO-led coalition turned over military operations to Afghan troops and took a more-advisory and training role in the country.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/taliban-meeting-pakistan-khan- afghanistan-us-khalilzad/29769119.html

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
House passes resolution to end US aid for Saudi war on Yemen

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 03:33AM

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday adopted a resolution that obliges President Donald Trump to end Washington's military support for the Saudi-led coalition's war on Yemen, and withdraw almost all US forces engaged in the war in less than a month.

The resolution was passed 248-177, with one voting present.

The resolution directs the president to remove any US armed forces that are affecting the war with Yemen, with the exception of forces purportedly fighting Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, in less than 30 days after the resolution is enacted.

It's expected at some point that the Senate will take up the resolution, but it's not clear when.

On the overall issue of US military support for the war in Yemen, the Republican-controlled Senate passed similar legislation in December, but it was not taken up by the Republican-controlled House. Democrats, who now hold the majority in the House, have made the legislation a priority.

Critics say the US is not directly involved in the hostilities in Yemen, and the resolution could be used to tie the government's hands in other hostile areas.

Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, argued that US forces are not engaged in the hostilities in Yemen and the resolution reinterprets US military assistance for Saudi Arabia as support for Riyadh's actions in Yemen.

"This resolution is directing us to remove troops that simply... are not there," McCaul said on the floor.

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, however, argues the resolution is tailored specifically to address the situation in Yemen and would have no effect on other conflicts.

"This is not a broad, blanket policy," he said on the House floor.

While the US last year announced the end of its practice of aerial refueling of Saudi and Emirati jets, it has continued to share intelligence with Saudis in their brutal war against the impoverished nation.

A top US military commander in the Middle East suggested earlier this month that the US would continue to back its allies waging war in Yemen, despite new evidence of arms deal violations recently uncovered.

A report by CNN revealed last month that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had transferred US-made weapons to al Qaeda-linked militants, extremist militias and other groups on the ground.

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a brutal war, code-named Operation Decisive Storm, against Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, and crush the Houthis.

The offensive initially consisted of a bombing campaign but was later coupled with a naval blockade and the deployment of ground forces to Yemen.

The imposed war, however, has so far failed to achieve its goals, thanks to stiff resistance from Yemeni troops and allied Houthi fighters.

The war has taken a heavy toll on the country's infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has already said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.
'US, Taliban to hold peace talks in Pakistan'

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 09:02AM

The Afghan Taliban militant group says it is to meet with American representatives in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad next week for a new round of direct negotiations, which have so far excluded the Afghan government itself.

The militant group said on Wednesday that separate meetings would be held in Islamabad and "by the formal invitation of the government of Pakistan" on February 18.

The group also announced that its delegates would meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan for "comprehensive discussions about Pakistan-Afghanistan relations."

Islamabad did not immediately confirm the talks, and the US said it had not received a formal invitation to the talks from Pakistani officials. Washington said, however, that it had "noted" the announcement, which comes after weeks of meetings between American and Taliban officials.

"We are not going to negotiate in public," a US State Department spokesperson told AFP. "This is the beginning of a long process, which we continue to work through private diplomatic channels."

The developments come as US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad tours the globe, attempting to shore up support for a peace process that could pave the way for a political settlement to the 17-year war in the Asian country and bring all Afghan parties to the table.

"The Afghans must sit across the table with each other and come to an agreement about the future of their country," Khalilzad said in Washington last week. "Nothing is agreed until everything has been agreed to."

In spite of that public statement, the talks have so far been limited to the US and the Taliban; and the militant group also recently held talks with opposition Afghan politicians in the Russian capital of Moscow  all of which signals the group's deliberate attempt to snub Kabul.

The government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani  excluded from the talks  has complained about the matter and repeatedly stressed that any peace plan must include the Afghan government.

Earlier this week, the Taliban dismissed President Ghani's offer to open a political office in Afghanistan, saying the offer was aimed at "harming the peace efforts."

The Taliban's five-year rule over at least three quarters of Afghanistan came to an end with a US-led invasion in 2001; but 17 years on, the militant group continues to be active on much of Afghan soil.

Currently, Kabul only controls 55 percent of the country's territory, while the militants have a grip on 12 percent of Afghan soil, according to a report by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction published in October last year. About a third of the country remains contested.

Daesh has also used the mayhem in Afghanistan to establish a foothold there.
US will not unilaterally withdraw from Afghanistan: Pentagon chief

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 04:04PM

Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has told Washington's NATO allies that the Pentagon will not reduce its troop presence in Afghanistan unilaterally.

Speaking Thursday in Brussels after his first meeting with NATO counterparts, Shanahan said any potential US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan will be done in a coordinated fashion.

"There will be no unilateral troop reduction, it will be coordinated," the Pentagon chief told reporters.

Shanahan said the US-led military alliance would work with NATO members to increase what he called diplomatic leverage over the Taliban militant group as the West seeks a political settlement.

US officials have held several rounds of talks with the Taliban in Qatar since last year, which could pave the way for a political settlement to the 17-year war.

However, the discussions have so far excluded the Afghan government itself.

Frustrated with America's longest war, US President Donald Trump says he wants to reduce and ultimately withdraw the approximately 14,000 US troops currently in Afghanistan.

An additional 8,000 troops from other NATO countries are stationed in Afghanistan as well.

The government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani  excluded from the talks  has complained about the matter and repeatedly stressed that any peace plan must include the Afghan government.

The Taliban's five-year rule over at least three quarters of Afghanistan came to an end with a US-led invasion in 2001; but 17 years on, the militant group continues to be active on much of Afghan soil.

Currently, Kabul only controls 55 percent of the country's territory, while the militants have a grip on 12 percent of Afghan soil, according to a report by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction published in October last year. About a third of the country remains contested.

The Daesh terrorist group has also used the mayhem in Afghanistan to establish a foothold there.
Car bomb attack on Indian military convoy kills dozens in Kashmir

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 06:02PM

At least 44 Indian paramilitary personnel have been killed and dozens more wounded after a bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a military convoy in restive Kashmir.

The casualties were caused after the van ripped through buses in a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying some 2,500 members of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) along a key highway in the disputed valley.

Senior police officer Muneer Ahmed Khan said the attack occurred as the convoy reached southern Lethpora town on the outskirts of the main city of Srinagar in the disputed Himalayan region. He said one bus was destroyed and at least five other vehicles were damaged by the blast.

Nearly 30 troops were injured in the blast. Videos from the blast site showed smoke billowing from the remains of one vehicle, while bodies lay strewn across the road.

Mohammad Yunis, a journalist, who reached the site minutes later said the explosion was heard from several miles away. He saw blood and body parts scattered along a 100-meter stretch of the highway.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a Twitter post, said that the latest attack was "despicable".

"I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs," Modi said.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, saying dozens of vehicles were destroyed in the attack.

JeM, one of the most powerful militant groups operating in the region, was blamed for a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that led to India deploying its military on the border with Pakistan.

A spokesman for the group said the attack was carried out by Aadil Ahmad, alias Waqas Commando, a known militant from the area.

Tensions are high in the Indian-controlled region, where the Muslim-majority population stages regular protests against the Indian rule.

New Delhi has deployed some 500,000 soldiers to the region to further boost security of the borderline and enforce a crackdown on pro-independence demonstrations in its share of Kashmir, where anti-India sentiments run deep.

Indian troops are in constant clashes with armed groups seeking independence in the area.

India regularly accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants and allowing them across the restive frontier in an attempt to launch attacks. Pakistan strongly denies the allegation.

Last year was the deadliest of the current decade in the Kashmir region, with more than 200 militants killed in a counter-insurgency offensive dubbed "Operation All Out."

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their partition and independence from Britain in 1947. The disputed region is claimed in full by both sides, which have fought three wars over it.

Armed battles between Indian forces and militants since 1989 have killed thousands of people, mostly civilians.

Iran strongly condemns Kashmir attack, condoles with India

Later on Thursday, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi strongly condemned the terror attack on the outskirts of Srinagar in Kashmir.

Condoling with the Indian government and nation over "this bitter incident," Qassemi also expressed sympathy with families of the victims.

"As a country, which has been a victim of terrorism and has made great efforts to counter and uproot terrorist groups in West Asia and has paid a high price  we consider as unacceptable the use of such bloody and inhuman methods by any group and with any motivation and under any name and designation," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Humanitarian crisis deteriorating in Yemen, UN warns

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 14, 2019 06:30PM

The United Nations has warned that the situation in war-ravaged Yemen is further deteriorating as the Arab country is facing the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world.

"The humanitarian crisis in Yemen remains the worst in the world," said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in a statement on Thursday.

"An estimated 80 percent of the population -24 million - require some form of humanitarian or protection assistance, including 14.3 million who are in acute need," it added.

Saudi Arabia invaded Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall Yemen's former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had resigned amid popular discontent and fled to Riyadh, and to eliminate the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which had been running state affairs.

The invasion, which has failed to achieve any of its goals, has reportedly killed over 56,000 people. The imposed war has also taken a heavy toll on the country's infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories.

The Saudi-led military campaign has also paved the way for the outbreak of epidemics, most notably cholera, in the impoverished country.

"Severity of needs is deepening, with the number of people in acute need a staggering 27 percent higher than last year," the OCHA statement further read. It also warned that two-thirds of the Arab country was "already pre-famine", while one-third faced "acute vulnerabilities."

With the war drawn into a deadlock, Saudi Arabia is virtually mired in a quagmire, having faced repeated military backlashes in Yemen and reprisal attacks inside its own territories.
USS Porter arrives in Rota, Spain for TRAV

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS190214-04

Release Date: 2/14/2019 9:30:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James Turner, Navy Public Affairs Support Element East Det Europe

ROTA, Spain (NNS) -- Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) returned to Naval Station Rota, Spain, for a scheduled training and maintenance availability (TRAV), Feb. 13.

Porter departed Rota, Dec. 27, 2017, and began its sixth Forward-Deployed Naval Force (FDNF) patrol in support of regional allies and partners, and U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa.

"The crew performed admirably during our sixth FDNF patrol," said Porter's Commanding Officer Cmdr. Craig Trent. "We have been operating in some cold and harsh environments, but this crew has shown true resiliency by adapting and overcoming every obstacle. I could not be more proud of everything they have accomplished. We are all happy to be home to see our friends and family, and we really appreciate everyone's support. "

While on patrol, Porter conducted missions in support of regional allies and partners, and earned qualifications and certifications in the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, North Sea and Baltic Sea. The certifications included aviation certification, mobility aviation, mobility damage control, and Naval Surface Fire Support.

Porter and the crew also conducted two bilateral exercises with the Turkish and Finnish navies, improving maritime capabilities and reassuring NATO allies and regional partners of U.S. 6th Fleet's commitment to maritime security and stability in its area of operations.

During the patrol, the ship visited ports in Turkey, Latvia, Demark and England. The crew hosted two luncheons and a reception in Denmark for more than 100 local officials, including the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, Carla Sands, and Danish Lt. Gen. Max Nielson, the Danish vice chief of defense. Sailors were also able to volunteer for a community service project that helped refurbish a house into a storage facility for animal food at one of Latvia's premier animal parks, Ligatnes Nature Trail and Zoo.

In total, Porter and its crew covered more than 13,000 nautical miles and visited four countries during the patrol, conducted six straight transits, 11 sea and anchor evolutions and one underway replenishment. Porter also served 43,064 meals to the crew, provided 300 haircuts, expended more than 6,000 crew-served weapon rounds, qualified 45 Sailors with the M9 service pistol and conducted more than 30 damage control drills.

U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.
U.S. 3rd, 10th Fleet Commanders Discuss Dynamic Force Employment at WEST 2019

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS190214-11

Release Date: 2/14/2019 4:02:00 PM

By Petty Officer 3rd Class Timothy E Heaps , U.S. 3rd Fleet Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (NNS) -- Commanders of the U.S. 3rd and 10th fleets have emphasized dynamic force employment at WEST 2019 conference at the San Diego Convention Center.

Vice Adm. John Alexander, commander U.S. 3rd Fleet, and Vice Adm. Timothy "T.J." White, commander U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet (FCC/C10F), said Feb. 13 at the San Diego Convention Center, dynamic force employment has many components.

"We, the Navy, are inherently dynamic," Alexander said. "The forces we are moving forward are trained at a high level, are manned and equipped the way they need to be, and we can move them around however world events dictate."

Alexander, who is responsible for nearly 70,000 personnel, more than 100 ships, and more than 200 aircraft along the entirety of the U.S. West Coast, added that operating with partners and allies adds to the effectiveness of dynamic force employment (DFE).

"Dynamic force employment is not only about dynamically employing your force, but being able to have other forces dynamically employed with you," he said. "We never do anything without allies and partners. We need to continue to work through multi-domain task forces and continue to incorporate our allies, partners and friends."

Offering a different perspective on DFE, White explained how FCC/C10F is an important component for providing assured command and control to the Fleet, enabling dynamic force deployment.

"We all spend a great deal of time thinking about great power competition, but the fight is right now in cyberspace," White said. "That is why we, the Navy and Joint cyber force, are all postured to defend forward in order to support the Dynamic Force Employment model."

White also stressed the importance of maintaining a strong network to serve as a collective defense against adversarial actions.

"Keeping the Fleet networked is a fundamental necessity for maintaining a distributed and lethal Naval force that is operationally unpredictable," White said. "For Fleet Cyber, it's not just about operating and securing our networks; it's also about defending our networks, actively and persistently, against advanced persistent threats to keep our Fleet connected."

DFE ensures that the U.S. Navy remains strategically predictable while being operationally unpredictable in this era of great power competition.

Among several top military leaders, including keynote speaker Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, to speak on the first day of the premier naval conference and exposition on the West Coast, Alexander and White were joined on the panel by Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force Lt. Gen. Joseph Osterman; and Deputy Commander, Pacific Area U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Nathan Moore.

WEST, now in its 29th year, brings military and industry leaders together in a single locale to encourage discussion with the makers of platforms and the designers of technologies impacting the warfighter and information domain. WEST is co-sponsored by Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) International and the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI).

U.S. 3rd Fleet provides the realistic, relevant training necessary for an effective global Navy and leads naval forces in the Eastern Pacific. The command fosters joint, interagency and international relationships, which strengthens the ability to respond to crises and protect the collective maritime interests of the U.S. and its allies and partners.

FCC is responsible for Navy information network operations, offensive and defensive cyberspace operations, space operations and signals intelligence.

C10F is the operational arm of Fleet Cyber Command and executes its mission through a task force structure similar to other warfare commanders. In this role, C10F provides support of Navy and joint missions in cyber/networks, cryptologic/signals intelligence and space.
But the bill quickly ran into problems in the Senate, after the Comptrollers Office predicted the complex changes would cause Maryland to lose hundreds of millions of tax dollars it was already collecting. A Senate committee decided to scrap Hogans bill and, instead, approved two bipartisan tax cut bills: one that increased the standard deduction by $250 for individuals and $500 for married couples, which provided a small tax cut but not enough to make all taxpayers whole; and a second that allowed some young, low-income working adults who dont have dependents to benefit from the state Earned Income Tax Credit. Together, those bills provided an estimated tax cut to various taxpayers totaling $100 million.
NATO Defence Ministers conclude two days of discussions in Brussels

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

14 Feb. 2019

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg wrapped up two days of important discussions between Allied Defence Ministers in Brussels today (Thursday 14 February 2019). Ministers discussed arms control, current operations and missions, burden-sharing, and European defence. The Secretary General described the Alliance as "in good shape" as its approaches its 70th anniversary in Washington in April.

All Allies agreed that Russia's violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty poses a significant threat to transatlantic security. The Secretary General called again on Russia to take this last opportunity to come back into compliance. "All Allies stand ready to engage further with Russia. But we are also preparing for a world without the INF Treaty," the Secretary General said.

A number of NATO Allies offered contributions to the "Four Thirties" Readiness Initiative, which will ensure 30 combat ships, 30 land battalions, and 30 air squadrons, are ready to deploy within 30 days or less. This will increase NATO's "ability to respond quickly and decisively to any future crisis."

Ministers also discussed the critical issue of burden sharing, in terms of cash, capabilities and contributions. According to the latest reports on defense spending, European Allies and Canada will spend an extra $100 billion dollars on defence by the end of 2020. All Allies are modernising their equipment and contributing more to NATO's missions and operations.

On NATO's missions and operations, the Secretary General said that NATO Allies are in Afghanistan together "and we will take decisions regarding the future of the mission together." NATO's training mission in Iraq "is now up and running, providing training and advice to national security institutions." NATO's mission to "keep a safe and secure environment for all the people in Kosovo" remains unchanged, but Ministers are expected to take decisions later in the spring on NATO's engagement with the Kosovo Security Force.

In a final joint working session with High Representative / Vice President Federica Mogherini and Defence Ministers Jussi Niinisto from Finland and Peter Hultqvist from Sweden, Allies welcomed the European Union's increased focused on defence as a means to strengthen NATO. The Secretary General called for closer cooperation on defence spending, new capabilities, military mobility, and "ensuring the fullest possible involvement of non-EU NATO Allies."

NATO is now looking forward to celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Alliance in Washington in April, which is a further opportunity to discuss current and future security challenges.
Afghan Taliban to hold talks with US in Pakistan

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, Feb 14, IRNA -- Afghan Taliban have said they would hold negotiations with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and US envoy this month in Islamabad to discuss Afghan issue, local media reported.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said by the formal invitation of the government of Pakistan another meeting is scheduled to take place between the negotiation teams of the Taliban and United States in Islamabad on February 18. The negotiation team of the Taliban is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Imran Khan to hold comprehensive discussions about Pak-Afghan relations and issues pertaining to Afghan refugees and Afghan businessmen, he added.

Earlier Zalmay Khalilzad, US envoy had held extensive talks with Taliban last month in Qatar, where the Taliban have an office.

President Ashraf Ghani  who has expressed frustration at being sidelined from recent talks  flew to Munich on Wednesday to attend an international security conference, his office said.

News reports last month had suggested that Islamabad was open to hosting the next round of talks with Taliban.

272**1420
Feb. 14, 2019

News

By Jim Garamone

Defense.gov

Shanahan: NATO Allies Unified in Face of Security Threats

WASHINGTON -- NATO allies have recognized the threats facing the world and are putting their money where their mouths are, plussing up defense spending by $100 billion, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan said at the conclusion of the alliance's defense ministers conference in Brussels today.

The secretary praised NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for his part in getting the alliance countries to contribute more to offset the threats posed by Russia, China and violent extremism.

This was Shanahan's first NATO meeting in his new job, and he said the discussions were fruitful and illuminating.

"By developing NATO's political guidance, we ensured our planning is focused on generating the right capabilities to remain focused on current and emerging threats," he said. "We will lead; not lag."

Must Translate Investments to Results

The allies discussed the way forward and described the progress they have made since the 2014 Wales Summit -- where the countries agreed each should spend 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense. "Our responsibility moving forward, must be to translate these investments into real results," the secretary said.

This is already translating into alliance readiness, Shanahan noted, praising the progress being made in the "4-30" initiative -- 30 battalions, 30 aircraft squadrons, 30 ships ready to move in 30 days.

Money builds military capabilities and capacity, and these are being demonstrated in exercises such as last year's Trident Juncture, the largest NATO exercise since the end of the Cold War. Shanahan said these exercises demonstrate alliance resolve and point to areas where the members can improve.

NATO is engaging threats beyond Europe, he said, confronting "cyber and hybrid threats, threats in space and threats to our military and civilian telecommunications infrastructure."

The secretary said NATO remains the world's most powerful alliance, and he reiterated President Donald J. Trump's vow that the United States is with NATO 100 percent.

Coordinated and Aligned in Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, NATO is coordinated and aligned. "We are together," Shanahan said. "We are helping to ensure a diplomatic settlement with [U.S. Special Envoy] Ambassador [Zalmay] Khalilzad in the lead. No outcome in predetermined, but as President Trump said in the State of the Union [address], after two decades of war, the hour has come to try for peace."

Shanahan called the U.S. withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia a case study in alliance unity. "NATO maintained unity on a sensitive, critically important issue," he said. "NATO stood united, recognizing that this is a simple case of U.S. compliance and Russian noncompliance."

The public needs to know about the threats facing the United States and the rest of NATO, Shanahan said. "The public is not aware of the evolving threat," he added. "I'm referring to Russia, I'm referring to China, I'm referring to the evolving situation we see with our infrastructure, cybersecurity, space."

The threats warrant more money, attention, thought and resources, Shanahan said. He praised Germany for increasing defense spending by $30 billion, putting the country on a path to spend 1.5 percent of its GDP on security. "It's not enough," the acting secretary said. "The threat warrants more. In my previous experience, I wasn't aware -- to the same degree -- of the emerging threats. I am now. With what I know now, I would spend more. That's the challenge we have with reaching out and communicating strategic messages."
Feb. 14, 2019

News

By Terri Moon Cronk

Defense.gov

Special Operations Leaders Testify Before Senate on SOF Global Posture

WASHINGTON -- Calling the breadth and capability of the U.S. Special Operations Forces "astonishing," the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict discussed the global posture of the nation's special operations enterprise during a hearing today on Capitol Hill.

Owen O. West appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee with Army Gen. Raymond A. Thomas III, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.

West said that while special operations forces make up just 3 percent of the joint force, they have absorbed more than 40 percent of the casualties since 2001. "This sacrifice serves as a powerful reminder that special operators are in the risk business," he said.

The assistant secretary said the National Defense Strategy has challenged all of DOD to increase focus on long-term strategic competition with Russia and China, and the SOF enterprise is in the midst of transformation; "something special operators have always done very well."

Any transformation starts with people, West said, noting, "In November, Gen. Thomas and I issued the first-ever joint vision for the [special operations forces] enterprise, challenging professionals to relentlessly pursue the decisive competitive advantage."

Not Stretched Thin

West told the committee he is "proud to report to you that our SOF is neither overstretched nor breaking, but very healthy and eager to defend the nation against increasingly adaptive foes."

As an integral part of the joint force, special operations troops are integrated into every facet of the NDS, Thomas told the committee.

"For the last 18 years, our No. 1 priority has been the effort against violent extremist organizations," the general said. "As part of the joint force, we continue to be the  major supporting effort in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Lake Chad Basin; everywhere [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-] affiliated organizations are. We are relentlessly pursuing them to ensure this country never, ever endures another 9/11."

A More Lethal Force

Thomas noted that Socom remains focused on finishing the effort by, with and through the United States' many coalition partners.

"At the same time, again, as part of the joint force, we're endeavoring to provide a more lethal and capable special operations force to confront peer competitors," the commander said.

To build a more lethal force, strengthen alliances and partnerships and reform for greater performance and efficiency, Socom is reshaping and focusing its forces on capabilities, while also developing new technological and tactical approaches to accomplish the diverse mission that Socom will face in the future, Thomas said.

"The emergency security challenges will require Socom to be an organization of empowered SOF professionals  globally networked, partnered and integrated in relentlessly seeking advantage  in every domain for the joint force in the nation," the general said.

In addition to its responsibility to man, train and equip the world's most capable special operations forces, over the past few years, Socom has experienced considerable development in another legislative role as a combatant command, he said.

Global Mission Sets

"We are currently assigned the role as the coordinating authority for three major global mission sets: counterterrorism, countering weapons of mass destruction and recently, messaging and countermessaging," Thomas said.

"These roles require us to lead planning efforts, continually address joint force progress toward campaign objectives, and recommend improvements for modifications to our campaign approach to the secretary of defense," he explained.

In parallel, Socom is pursuing an aggressive partnership with the other combatant commands with global portfolios: U.S. Cyber Command, U.S. Strategic Command, U.S. Transportation Command and U.S. Space Command, Thomas said, which is designed to leverage Socom's respective capabilities to provide more agile solutions to DOD.

Emerging Technologies

"We are increasing our investments in a wide spectrum of emerging technologies to include artificial intelligence/machine learning, automated systems, advanced robotics, augmented reality, biomedical monitoring, and advanced armor and munitions development, to name a few," the general said.

"Leveraging our proven ability to rapidly develop and field cutting-edge technology flowing from our focus on the tactical edge of combat," Thomas said, " joint experimentation initiative will bring together innovative efforts from across our special operations force tactical formations to ensure that commanders' combat requirements are addressed with the most advanced concepts available."
Feb. 14, 2019

News Release

Press Operations

Release No. NR-028-19

Readout of Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan's Meeting with Ukrainian Minister of Defense Stepan Poltorak

Pentagon Spokesperson Eric Pahon provided the following readout:

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan met with Ukrainian Minister of Defense Stepan Poltorak today at the NATO Defense Ministerial in Brussels, Belgium, to strengthen the strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine.

Secretary Shanahan reaffirmed U.S. commitment to security assistance efforts to build the capacity of Ukraine's forces to more effectively defend itself against Russian aggression. He condemned Russia's unjustified attack on Ukrainian naval vessels near the Kerch Strait, and reaffirmed U.S. commitment to maintain pressure on Russia to immediately return detained crew members and seized vessels.

He also reiterated that the United States remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

Secretary Shanahan praised Minister Poltorak for his leadership in making reforms to Ukraine's defense sector and emphasized the need for continued progress in implementing key provisions of Ukraine's Law on National Security in support of a secure and democratic Ukraine.

https://dod.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1757491/
U.S. Judge Orders Officials To Turn Over Lesin Autopsy Records

By Mike Eckel February 14, 2019

WASHINGTON -- A Washington judge has ordered the city medical examiner to turn over dozens of autopsy records and other files in the investigation of Mikhail Lesin, the former Russian press minister who was found dead in a D.C. hotel room under suspicious circumstances more than three years ago.

The February 13 ruling came in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by RFE/RL, which has sought the files as part of its ongoing probe into Lesin's November 2015 death.

Once a powerful media adviser to President Vladimir Putin, Lesin fell out of favor sometime around 2012 and had largely been out of sight before his body was found in the Dupont Circle Hotel. Despite the official conclusion that his death was "accidental," suspicion has focused on whether he was killed to keep him from sharing information with the Justice Department.

Judge Hiram Puig-Lugo ordered the city by February 20 to turn over the files -- which include medical records, toxicology reports, e-mails, and other materials -- with certain information including names and personal details redacted.

In his ruling, Puig-Lugo rejected arguments by city lawyers that privacy interests of Lesin's family outweigh the public interest in the circumstances surrounding his death. And he chided city officials for what he said were overly broad arguments that turning over the documents that could compromise how D.C. city police, or even the FBI, conducted their investigations.

It was unclear whether the city would appeal the ruling. The plaintiff in the case is the author of this article.

Blunt-Force Trauma

Lesin's body was found in the Dupont Circle Hotel on November 5, 2015, just a few blocks from the White House. An initial report by the medical examiner's office the following March declared Lesin's death to be caused by blunt-force trauma, but said the manner of death was "undetermined."

But the final report, released in October 2016 by the U.S. Attorney's Office for Washington and city police, called his death accidental, caused by blunt-force injuries to the neck, torso, and lower upper extremities, "which were induced by falls." Acute ethanol intoxication was cited as a contributing factor.

The report was met with deep suspicion by business acquaintances and others familiar with the once-powerful, wealthy Kremlin insider who was instrumental in Russia's crackdown on independent TV and in the creation of the international broadcaster RT.

One person who had direct access to the hotel room where Lesin was found told RFE/RL in 2016 that it was physically impossible for him to have died alone in the room. Photographs released by police showed bottles of beer and liquor, stacks of dollar bills, and crumpled clothing on the floor. Associates of Lesin have argued that the Dupont Circle Hotel did not match his known tastes for expensive goods and lodging.

Prior to the Dupont Circle Hotel, Lesin had spent time at the posher Four Seasons Hotel in another part of Washington. According to the D.C. police report, officials at the Four Seasons had called the U.S. Secret Service on November 3 when Lesin appeared to be heavily intoxicated, and the Secret Service advised that a guard be posted at his door to prevent him from leaving. He checked into the Dupont Circle Hotel a day later.

There has been no public explanation why the Secret Service was contacted.

Russia Today

As Putin's press minister in the early 2000s, Lesin was instrumental in bringing the country's national TV channels under Kremlin control, primarily NTV, a channel known at the time for its hard-hitting journalism. He went on to set up Russia Today, the global Kremlin mouthpiece known today as RT.

Much of his wealth came from a private company he set up in the 1990s to sell television advertising on Russia's exploding TV-advertising market. That company, called Video International (VI), was later acquired by Yury Kovalchuk, the main shareholder of Bank Rossia, which has been closely linked to the Kremlin.

He lost favor with the Kremlin for unknown reasons sometime between 2012 and 2014, and he largely fell out of the public eye.

In 2014, a year before his death, Lesin had drawn the attention of the U.S. Senate, where one lawmaker had called on the FBI to investigate him for possible money laundering.

Lesin owned mansions in Beverly Hills, California, where his children and estranged wife live, and owned a yacht valued at $40 million. Months before his death, Russian media alleged that he was engaged to a Russian model much younger than him, and that she was pregnant with their child.

The whereabouts of the woman, identified as Viktoria Rakhimbayeva, is unknown.

Lesin was not known to be a regular visitor to Washington. But shortly after his death, it emerged that one of his reasons for being in the U.S. capital was to attend a scheduled gala fund-raiser at the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute on November 3, two days before his body was found.

One of the philanthropists being honored that night was the influential Russian banker Pyotr Aven. Lesin never attended the event.

Aven also attended a private event at the Atlantic Council, another Washington think tank, on November 4. According to a person with knowledge of that event, Lesin had sought to attend as well, but the organizers declined to include him.

One person in contact with federal law enforcement officials told RFE/RL that Lesin had been in contact with the Justice Department in the months leading up to his death. In March 2018, the website BuzzFeed quoted unnamed sources as saying that former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele had given the FBI a report stating that Lesin was bludgeoned to death by enforcers working for an oligarch close to Putin. The identity of the oligarch was not revealed in the BuzzFeed report.

Steele later became famous because of a series of memos detailing President Donald Trump's alleged connections to Russia. Known as the Steele Dossier, the memos were circulated among Washington reporters in late 2016, and published in full by BuzzFeed in January 2017.

In its December 2017 report, D.C. police said that Lesin had been drinking heavily in the days prior to his death. A month later, the FBI released a 56-page file on its investigation, including the work by forensic experts into the closed-circuit video footage of the Dupont Circle Hotel.

The FBI files also included 29 pages from report by the city medical examiner's office that were the basis of the official reason given by the city for his death. However, the pages were redacted almost entirely.

Russian officials have said little publicly about Lesin's death, aside from indicating early on that they expected U.S. law enforcement to provide full details.

Since his death, some of Lesin's assets have been gradually sold off. His yacht was sold in Florida in 2016.

In 2017, his two Beverly Hills mansions were listed for sale, at $23 million and $29 million. It isn't immediately clear if the homes have been sold yet.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/judge-lesin -autopsy-lawsuit/29768604.html

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Bellingcat Names Possible Third Russian GRU Agent Suspected Of Skripal Poisonings

By RFE/RL February 14, 2019

The British-based open-source investigation group Bellingcat said on February 14 that it has established the identity of an alleged Russian military intelligence officer who was in England when former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok.

"Bellingcat can now reveal the true identity and background of this GRU officer, who operated internationally under the cover persona of Sergei Vyachaeslavovich Fedotov," Bellingcat said.

"In fact, this person is Denis Vyacheslavovich Sergeyev, a high-ranking GRU officer and a graduate of Russia's Military Diplomatic Academy."

Bellingcat first published a report on February 7 saying that a suspected Russian military intelligence agent, who traveled under the alias Sergei Vyacheslavovich Fedotov arrived in Bulgaria just days before businessman Emil Gebrev fell into a coma in April 2015 with symptoms of severe poisoning.

Bellingcat said Fedotov is also suspected of being involved in the British attack, having arrived in Britain two days before the Skripals were poisoned.

Gebrev, a veteran of the Bulgarian arms industry, survived the poisoning, as did his son and a company executive who were treated with similar symptoms.

Skripal and his daughter Yulia also survived after weeks in critical condition, but Dawn Sturgess, a woman who authorities said came in contact with the poison after her boyfriend found a fake perfume bottle containing it, died in July 2018.

British authorities have charged two Russian men identified by Bellingcat as agents of Russia's GRU intelligence services with carrying out the poisoning. However, they have not identified a third suspect, and Bellingcat acknowledged: "It is unclear what [Sergeyev's[ role may have been, if any, in the preparation and execution of the poisoning operation."

Moscow has denied it had any involvement in the Skripal poisoning by the highly toxic nerve-agent Novichok, which led to a series of sanctions against Russia by the West and tit-for-tat diplomatic actions.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/bellingcat-names -third-russian-gru-agent-suspected-of- skripal-poisonings/29770530.html

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Under a ranked choice system, city voters would make their top pick for an office, but then could rank the other candidates for that office in order of preference. There are different methods for how to count the votes but, generally, if a candidate doesnt receive a majority once everyones No. 1 choices are counted, elections officials count voters second choices and then third choices until a candidate has a majority.
Sen. Bennet to oppose Bernhardt for new post as secretary of Interior
Paul Okerblom wore a sticker that read "No Assisted Suicide," as he and other opponents to the legislation listened outside the crowded hearing room. He said elderly people could choose to end their lives because they feel they have become a burden. Okerblom also said doctors can make mistakes in their prognosis, and he noted an example of that in his own family, after his mother-in-law was given six months to live two years ago.
Yes! I believe extraterrestrials are visiting earth regularly.

No! I believe extraterrestrial beings exist but they are not visiting earth.

No! I believe in life on other planets, but it is microbial, not humanoid.

No! I believe earth is the only home to any form of life in the universe.

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NASA scientist honors Opportunity rover with a tattoo News oi-Vishal Kawadkar NASA Opportunity mission was called off after the rover sending back signals.

A NASA scientist who worked on the Opportunity rover mission has honored the now dead robot with a tattoo that shows the final reading sent by the rover. The mission was officially called off by the US space agency after it stopped sending signals after the dust storm damaged the batteries of the rover. Opportunity spent a record-setting 15 years on Mars' surface.

1/ #ThanksOppy This tattoo means more to me than just Oppy. Of course, the biggest significance is this is Oppys final measurement. I studied tau (atmospheric optical depth) as a student researcher. Dont worry, I consulted my advisor on the value before committing to the ink pic.twitter.com/vhShtDBR3Z  Keri Bean (@PlanetaryKeri) February 13, 2019

Keri Bean from Schertz, Texas is a mission operations engineer and worked as a tactical uplink lead for Opportunity. When the mission was expected to end, she committed to getting the tattoo done.

"When we first lost contact several team members joked about getting matching tattoos when 'Oppy' came back," Ms. Bean told the Press Association. "I decided that either when 'Oppy' came back or when the end of mission was declared, I would get a tattoo to honor 'Oppy'.

"I chose her final observation, tau = 10.8. Tau stands for atmospheric optical depth and is the variable being solved for in the equation. I studied tau in my undergrad and graduate career, so it was a perfect fit."

Bean also took to Twitter to post an image of the tattoo. The tweet reads: "Clearly 90% of the meaning is Oppy. But the other 10% is symbolizing my own personal 'dust storm' of last year."

Plenty of users on Twitter mourned the demise of Opportunity. The solar-powered rover was expected to travel only 1,000 meters on Mars, however, it managed to travel 28 miles and collected water evidence on the Red Planet.

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Sony Xperia L3 renders surface online with 3GB RAM and more News oi-Karan Sharma Sony expected to launch its new entry-level smartphone soon on MWC 2019. All you need to know about the new Xperia L3.

Sony is said to be planning on a new entry-level smartphone model with the Xperia L3 along with the Xperia XA3 and XA3 Plus. The smartphone is said to come with an LCD screen along with a MediaTek chipset. Here is the detailed specification of the upcoming Xperia smartphone.

Sony Xperia L3

According to the report, the smartphone will feature a 5.7-inches HD 720p LCD display with a resolution of 1440 x 720 pixels. The display carries an aspect ratio of 18:9. Under the hood, the smartphone is said to be powered by a MediaTek chipset in-line with few other Xperia mid-range phones.

On the optical front, the smartphone is said to sport a dual camera setup with the combination of a 13-megapixel + 2-megapixel along with an LED flash. On the front, the smartphone will house an 8-megapixel camera along with portrait mode feature.

The Sony Xperia L3 is said to be backed by a 3GB RAM and 32GB inbuilt storage which can be further expanded via a microSD card. The fingerprint scanner is located between the volume rocker and power button. It seems that the built is made up of plastic and the report suggests that the phone will be launched in silver, grey and gold color options.

The smartphone is said to be fueled by a 3300mAh non-removable battery and runs on Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box. On the connectivity part, the phone will offer USB-C port and 3.5mm audio jack. The smartphone is expected to expected to launch for Euros 199, ($224, Rs 16,020 approx). There are chances that the company will unveil the smartphone at the MWC 2019. Let's see what we are going to see.

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Apple might launch its foldable smartphone sooner than expected News oi-Vishal Kawadkar Apple has a foldable device in the making.

As Samsung and Huawei are reportedly planning to launch their respective foldable smartphones, it seems Apple might be the new player to join the league. The company has filed for a new patent for a device with a flexible display and a hinge.

The patent shows a clamshell-style smartphone which would be a little different from other foldable smartphones. It seems like a foldable device which can be folded to fit in your pockets, instead of a device which gets fold outwards and offers tablet-like screen.

The patent describes the use of a hinge and the display can also be mounted on the housing of the device. As the device unfolds, it will hide the hinge and the linkage. The patent falls in line with other patents filed since 2011.

The patent also notes that an OLED panel will be used and two sides of the phone will be separate, joined only by the hinge and the flexible display. This also means that the inner circuitry won't be running along both sections of the phone.

Well, this is just another patent from Apple, and there's a possibility that the device might never make it to the production stage. The company usually files for new technologies, but not all of them become reality. So, we request our readers to take this piece of information with pinch of salt.

Besides, Apple will also be launching a subscription news service soon. The Wall Street Journal has reported that publishers like the New York Times and Washington Post are objecting to terms that that would allow Apple to take home "about half" of the revenue from the service.

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Moto G7 Power launched in India: Other big battery smartphones to consider Features oi-Harish Kumar Here are some big battery smartphones to consider buying right now.

Motorola has always been a tumultuous attention seeker in terms of massive battery backup and robust built. And this time the torch-bearer is the "Moto G7 Power" whose sale debuts today in India. The handset is a hub of so many better features which make it an ideal one under Rs. 20K sub-category. Moreover, if your choice restricts to the big and powerful battery then you can refer some other devices as a second choice that you can find in the form of a list at the bottom of the story.

The new Moto G7 Power comes with an industry-leading 5000 mAh battery which is designed to last up to 60 hours on a full charge. In addition, the device offers 9 hours of power in just 15 minutes of charging with 15W turbo power. It also comes with HD+ Max Vision display, a powerful octa-core processor, smart camera software, Pie OS, and many more- which also sets the device to its top-priority list.

As a matter of a secondary choice, you have the Redmi Note 6 Pro which is fitted with a huge 4000 mah battery which stays charged for a much longer duration on a single charge. The battery is amazingly configured such that it can last up to two days on a single charge.

Another device is the Nokia 5.1 Plus which comes with stronger battery backup, that offers up to 27 hours of lifetime, 17.5 hours of talk time, 19.5 hours of music playback, 5.8 hours during gaming, and 12 hours of video playback. Priced at only Rs. 9,999, Nokia 5.1 Plus offers the best of the best battery which stands unique when compared to some other mid-range and premium category phones.

Moto E5 Plus Key Specs 6-inch (720 x 1440 pixels) Full HD+ display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection

a quad core Qualcomm MSM8917 Snapdragon 430 SoC, coupled with Adreno 505 GPU

3GB RAM, 32GB internal memory variant

expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD

Dual SIM

Android 8.0 (Oreo)

Water-repellent P2i coating

12MP rear camera

5MP front-facing camera

Fingerprint sensor

Single 4G VoLTE

5,000mAh battery with 10W fast charging Samsung Galaxy M20 Key Specs 6.3-inch (1080 x 2340 pixels) Full HD+ display with TFT

an octa-core Exynos 7904 processor that is coupled with Mali-G71 GPU

3/4GB RAM, 32/64GB internal memory variants

expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

Dual SIM

Android 8.1(Oreo)

13MP rear camera and secondary 5MP camera

8MP front-facing camera

Fingerprint sensor

Dual 4G VoLTE

5,000mAh battery which supports fast charging Motorola One Power Key Specs 6.2-inch(1080 x 2246 pixels) full HD+ Max Vision display with a 19:9 aspect ratio

an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor with Adreno 509 GPU

4GB RAM, 64GB internal memory variant

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5,000mAh battery which supports 10W fast charging Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 Key Specs 5.99 inch(1080 x 2160 pixels) screen with an 18:9 aspect ratio and IPS LCD

an octa core Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 using 14nm technology with Adreno 509 GPU

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expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

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5,000mAh battery with fast charging(5V/2A) Honor 8X Key Specs 6.5-inch full-HD+ (1080 x 2340 pixels) TFT IPS display along with an 18.7:9 aspect ratio

an octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 710 SoC with ARM Mali-G51 MP4 GPU

4/6/6GB RAM, 64/64/128GB internal memory variants

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3,750mAh battery Nubia N3 Key Specs a 5.99-inch(2160x1080 pixel) FHD + 18:9 aspect display with IPS LCD

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5,000mAh battery with 18W fast charging support and NeoPower 3.0 technology Nokia 5.1 Plus Key Specs a 5.86-inch HD+ (720 x 1520 pixels) with 2.5D glass protection and 19:9 aspect ratio display

an octa-core MediaTek Helio P60 SoC with ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU

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3,060mAh battery Huawei Honor 10 Lite Key Specs a 6.21-inch FHD+(1080 x 2340 pixels) Dewdrop display with a droplet-style notch

an octa-core Kirin 710 that is coupled with ARM Mali-G51 MP4 GPU

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3,400mAh battery Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 Key Specs a 6.3-inch (1080 x 2280 pixels) full HD+ 19:9 aspect ratio display with Corning Gorilla Glass 6

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Best Mobiles in India

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In early February, as Indias parliamentary election campaign heated up, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the northeastern province of Arunachal Pradesh. This region is one of several areas along the Himalayas that are disputed between India and China. Mr. Modis visit to Chinese-claimed territory was bitterly criticized in Beijing.

It was just one more sign of strain in the manifold, dangerous relationship between Asias two largest countries  both emerging superpowers.

The mountainous northern territories are regularly the site of military incidents along the long border with China. Only two years ago, there was a standoff in which China violated Bhutans territory to build a military supply road toward the Indian border.

It is also strategically critical for India to contain Chinese influence in Nepal and Bhutan, the small sovereign states sandwiched between the two giants. Bringing either under Chinese sway would give Beijing a valuable bridgehead south of the Himalayas.

Continuing concerns

In January, Indias parliament discussed relations with its rival to the north. A major concern is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which New Delhi perceives as a threat. Two features of this project stand out. First, host countries that benefit from the BRI  through the construction of overland transport or port facilities  become increasingly indebted and financially dependent on China. Their ranks already include most of the Indian Ocean countries and states bordering India.

The second feature is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), probably the most important part of the BRI. This rail and highway connection links Chinas remote western areas to the port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, along the main sea route to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Tensions between India and China are not likely to be resolved by trade

The CPEC crosses the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir, which is also claimed by India. Formally, India considers Pakistani administration of this territory as a violation of its sovereignty. New Delhis real and deepening worry, however, is Chinas increasing influence over Pakistan.

Indo-Pakistani relations are strained, to say the least, and the countries have fought several wars since they gained independence in 1947. The Kashmir dispute has been a constant ever since, but it was the original partition of mainly Islamic Pakistan and Hindu India at the moment of independence  involving massive population resettlements  that created a deep and lasting animosity. India has accused Pakistan of tolerating and even sponsoring terrorist attacks, while Prime Minister Modis strong Hindu nationalist politics have also not helped the relationship.

Dangerous situation

Tensions between India and China are not likely to be resolved by trade. Commerce between the two countries is relatively small, reaching a total value of some $80 billion in 2017. New Delhi complains that Indian exports have been hampered by protectionist regulations in China.

An Indian parliamentary study concluded that between Asias three great powers, New Delhi has managed to cement excellent relations with Japan, but not with its much closer and more powerful neighbor, China.

This is a dangerous situation. It contains the possibility of a military conflict, either directly through a confrontation between India and China, or indirectly via border incidents with Pakistan, a Chinese ally. An additional, sobering risk is that all three countries are nuclear powers.
Cabezas avoided detection, a skill that would serve him well in his next assignment: faking his resignation from the police department to work undercover on the docks and along The Block to determine whether the Italian Mafia had come to Baltimore. No one knew of the assignment except for a select few in the department, where he was known to payroll only by a number: 232.
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Gillette, WY (82718)

Today

Mostly cloudy this evening with showers developing after midnight. Low around 55F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy this evening with showers developing after midnight. Low around 55F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
Like millions of other Americans, I felt bewildered about the looming threat of climate change and helpless to stop it. As a young person, I worry about the effect of this massive environmental degradation on my security and future. After all, you cant have a job on a dead planet.

Climate change is happening right now and is a social justice issue. The way we live affects the lives of people who live far away. The United States ranks second globally for greenhouse gas production. People of color, poor people around the world, and people in Third World countries are disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change.

When I learned that greenhouse gas emissions from the animal agriculture industry exceed that of planes, trains, boats, and cars, I decided to be vegan.

After becoming vegan, heres what I discovered: Being vegan is empowering. I'm taking back control of my body, from the dairy industry, the pharmaceutical industry, from the animal agriculture industry who profit from making people sick. Breast cancer runs in my family, and by not consuming dairy I feel like I reduce my risk. I vote three times a day with what I choose to eat and not eat. I dont have to wait for politicians and the people in power to change. I can create change with my own awareness and action.
Of course, once scammers have that information, they can use it to steal your identity, rack up big purchases on your credit cards and empty your financial accounts.

Here's what you need to remember: The IRS never sends out unsolicited emails asking for personal information. The IRS never asks for your PIN code, or your passwords or other information. The IRS does not phone you late at night or send you text messages. The IRS does not want you to go out and buy it iTunes cards.

The IRS said that this latest surge in this scam, for whatever reason, appears to target professional and educational communities. So stay alert  and keep an eye out for friends and loved ones who might be targeted as well.

 ROSES to the national League of Women Voters, which is celebrating its 99th birthday. Locally, the organization continues to be a vibrant part of the community and does good work in putting on forums for voters and other events. The group celebrated with a birthday cake at a forum this week about the South Corvallis urban renewal proposal on the March 12 ballot. And speaking of that:

 ROSES to you, if you're registered to vote in the March 12 election. If not, you have until Tuesday, Feb. 19 to register, and it's easy to do that in Oregon. Just go to this site: https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/vr/register.do or register at the county elections office in the basement of the Benton County Courthouse. Ballots are due to go out on Wednesday, Feb. 20. (mm)

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Bates served in the House of Delegates between 2002 and 2010 and in the Senate between 2014 and 2018. She served District 9, which includes parts of Howard and Carroll counties. In November she lost her bid for re-election to Democratic newcomer Katie Fry Hester.
Oregon State University will host a pre-broadcast screening of an Oregon Public Broadcasting program on the states early African-American residents followed by a panel discussion on campus next week.

The free public event, one of three advance screenings being held around the state, will start at 7 p.m. Thursday at the LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th St. in Corvallis.

Titled Oregons Black Pioneers, the upcoming episode of OPBs Oregon Experience program includes four stories with connections to Corvallis, Benton County and OSU.

Panelists will include OPB producer Kami Horton, local historical researcher Bob Zybach, OSU sociology professor Dwaine Plaza and a board member of Oregon Black Pioneers, a Salem-based nonprofit.

Larry Landis, director of the Special Collections & Archives Research Center at OSUs Valley Library, will moderate the discussion.

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Ralph Poole is the CEO of Campo & Poole Distributing of Ontario, which distributes fuel around Oregon, Nevada and Idaho. He said Oregons clean fuel standards already require him to mix biodiesel in for a cleaner fuel. This adds 5 to 8 cents per gallon to the price, making it undesirable in states like Idaho. A 16-cent a gallon increase in fuel prices would deeply cut into his profits because truckers would fuel up in Idaho instead.

Jana Jarvis, president of the Oregon Trucking Associations, said the goal to reduce emissions is laudable, but could be a death knell for her industry, which ships 80 percent of Oregons freight. With high registration and fuel costs already, Oregon trucking companies are at a disadvantage. There has not been significant leap in electric trucks. The increased fuel prices would put Oregon truckers at a disadvantage, allowing larger national companies to move in and ship only what is most lucrative.

Chris Edwards, a former state senator, also testified on the bill Monday. Edwards introduced a cap and trade bill in the 2016 session. But now, hes a lobbyist for the timber industry and was arguing for more special protection for the industry. He said replanting trees in logged areas provides more trees to pull carbon from the air, lowering greenhouse gasses.
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Frank Buck, right, signs his second book in about 1932 alongside journalist Edward Anthony who co-wrote it with Buck. Buck was a native of Gainesville and the city named its zoo after him.
Its good to have flexibility to accommodate local needs, but we have a process in place and will rely on the recommendations of the calendar committee and the Board of Education," Superintendent Sean Bulson said about returning control of when the school year starts to the local jurisdictions.
Fort Wayne, IN (46808)

Today

Rain. Thunderstorms possible...mainly in the afternoon. High 77F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms in the evening, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. Low near 70F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall possibly over one inch.
Residents reject Solar Capital of America brand

The City of Fredericksburg is in the midst of a branding process, a wonderful attempt to market this unique small city to visitors. This is a project that is forward thinkingso kudos to the City Council.

As the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors continues to take in the outpouring of negative public opinion about the coming of sPower, they should consider what this really means to this beautiful, bucolic county and its residentssomething they absolutely care nothing about.

The county will no longer be marketed as a destination for Civil War history. If solar goes in, it could then be aptly dubbed the Solar Capital of America. To plop 1.4 million solar panels in the vicinity of hallowed ground is reckless, and irresponsible to residents and our next generation.

Lets also consider other pragmatic reasons this albatross should not be created: devalued properties, water and runoff issues, wildlife banishment, health issues, and the liability of getting rid of over a million large glass solar panels when their lifespan is up.

Why create this excrescence? Its all about the money and generous federal tax subsidies.
Northam should be allowed to finish his term as governor

Should Gov. Ralph Northam resign? Unequivocally no!

How quickly we forget some historical facts relating to civil rights in Virginia. The reason Virginia is singled out is that the state has impeded the rights of AfricanAmericans for centuries.

In 1902, Virginia was the first state to require segregation of schools. Did anyone call for the resignation of Governor Montague? AfricanAmericans filed lawsuits in 1930 to break down segregation at the graduate and professional school levels. Did anyone call for Governor Pollard to resign?

From 1940 to 1954, several localities in Virginia were under court order to make separate educational facilities equal. Was there a cry for the resignation of Governors Darden and Battle?

Here in Virginia there was a Massive Resistance movement with the intent to slow or oppose integration in Virginia schools. Several schools closed rather than abide by the Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education. But Governor Stanley was not asked to resign.
The costs are going to come due eventually, the treasurer said. Its just a question of, you can either pay them now and invest the money and in the long term have to pay less, or pay them in the future and not be able to take advantage of that and then have to pay more.
A Stafford man who videotaped his sexual encounters with a teenage girl and received explicit images from her on his phone was convicted of multiple charges Wednesday in Stafford Circuit Court.

Naveed Ahmad Sarwari, 27, was convicted of two counts of soliciting sexual acts through electronic means, soliciting child porn from a minor and sexual battery of a minor. He will be sentenced April 22. Several other charges were either dropped or reduced.

According to court records, the Stafford Sheriffs Office began investigating Sarwari in August after the victim and her family reported Sarwari and the girl had a sexual relationship.

The girl was 16 when the sexual contact began and continued until she was 17.

Sarwari was initially charged with rape after the girl told police that their first sexual encounter was not consensual. Sarwari heatedly disputed that allegation and the rape charge was eventually reduced to a misdemeanor.

But the images recovered from Sarwaris clearly violated the states child pornography statutes, prosecutor Ryan Frank said, even though they were consensual.
A judge Thursday upheld the 25-year prison sentence a Fredericksburg jury recommended in December for a man who viciously beat his daughters mother last year at her residence.

James Leon Brown, 38, was previously convicted in Fredericksburg Circuit Court of malicious wounding, unlawful wounding, child cruelty and two counts of domestic assault.

According to the evidence presented at Browns trial, Brown went to the home of his former girlfriend in the 1000 block of Heritage Park Drive on April to visit her and his daughter, who was just under 2.

The woman, who was 24 at the time, testified that Brown had been drinking when he arrived, so she protested when he started to leave with the baby.

As she turned to walk away with the child, the woman said she was kicked in the back and punched in the back of the head, causing her teeth to strike the child.

Brown proceeded to beat the woman in the face and the head with both fists. A broken nose and a broken orbital bone were among her injuries, and she was placed into a medically induced coma as part of her treatment.
Love has kept Fred and Crystal Pannell together for 60 yearsand in recent weeks, so have the actions of some key medical people.

The Pannells were born on the same day, one year apart, and shes quick to point out that hes the senior member of the couple. Hes 83, shes 82.

Both were teachers in Chicago, dealing with different ends of the spectrum. He taught science to gifted students, and she was a vice principal in one of the toughest neighborhoods on the South Side. Her middle school bordered two gang territories.

They were rough kids, she said.

The Pannells had visited Laura Carey, a friend in Caroline County, over the years and liked the peaceful Virginia scenery so much, they had a house built in Portobago Bay about 15 years ago.

In recent years, both have dealt with irregular heartbeats and loss of short-term memory. When theyve had to be apart, as they were a few years ago when she was hospitalized, he gets so stressed to the point one of his caregivers, Tammy Barrier, believes he makes himself sick.
When the Coppolas acquired the property, it had suffered from some neglect. It also had retained reminders of the rooming house it became during World War II after the Bakers left in the early 1940s. For example, there was still a second-story kitchen once used by upstairs tenants.

Very long story very short, the house was going to take a lot of work. The now-beautiful narrow-plank oak hardwood needed refinishing. The rough-style plaster walls needed significant repairs and painting. The wide, dark door and window trim needed brightening with white paint. The kitchen needed a complete overhaul and the basement qualified as a disaster area that required a down-to-the-studs rehab. The detached guest house out back was also in serious need of TLC.

And oh, the plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems all needed to be redone and brought up to date.

We had no idea how hard it would be, said Dave Coppola, adding that the couple might have thought twice if they knew then what they know now.

It helped that we had a lot of good craftsmen behind us, Cindy added. Nor does it hurt that Cindy Coppola runs her own interior design business from the house, so theres a reason the interior looks professionally done.
By STAFF REPORTS

The Coastal Companies, a business based in Laurel, Md., will expand its regional presence this year at the 123,575 square-foot building previously occupied by Russell Stover Candies in Ruther Glen.

Coastal Sunbelt Produce officials said the company will hire 50 employees over three years, invest approximately $6 million and house its truck fleet serving the facility in Caroline County. Its average salaries will exceed the countys annual average, and it will provide benefits for its full-time employees, they said.

Founded in 1992, The Coastal Companies is a distributor of fresh produce and dairy and a leading regional processor of fruits and vegetables. It and its subsidiaries, Coastal Sunbelt Produce, East Coast Fresh, Cold Chain Logistics and Cold Chain Imports, operate a fleet of 185 trucks and deliver daily to customers across six states and the District of Columbia. The company also serves major retail customers along the East Coast.

The Coastal Companies operates a 330,000 square-foot facility located between Baltimore and Washington. The Caroline County distribution center will be its second operational facility.
The defense contractor, which is headquartered in Stafford County, will provide total systems engineering, software development, and test and evaluation capabilities to the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, Weapons Control and Integration Department, Strike Weapons Systems Division, as well as to various Naval Sea Systems Command and Naval Air Systems Command programs and projects.
Keep the conversation about local news & events going by joining us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Recent updates from The News-Post and also from News-Post staff members are compiled below.
Michael Hiob, a former councilman and current planning commission member, encouraged city leaders to support the resolution. He said, in response to Hartmans concerns about costs, that the devil is in the details of the annexation, but he noted development in the Gilbert Planning Area and the adjacent Long/Heat area just northwest of the Route 22/I-95 interchange  both cited in the comprehensive plan  could help recoup costs.
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ENOREE, SC (FOX Carolina)- Deputies with the Spartanburg County sheriff's office say they found two juveniles in a residence that was in "extreme disarray" when they arrested a woman for meth possession on Monday.
ASHEVILLE, NC (FOX Carolina)- The North Carolina Department of Public Safety says that the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice is searching for an offender that was serving part of his sentence outside of prison
An employee at the Henry Pratt company, which specializes in making valves, Probst told CNN affiliate WLS-TV on Friday that he saw a man holding what appeared to be a pistol with a laser scope. He recognized him as a coworker.
We got to know him but unfortunately shortly thereafter he passed away less than a year after he was released, Hoffmann said. The entire situation of this wrongful conviction is tragic, but that just augments the tragedy.
The FBI announced a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the "identification, arrest, conviction and sentencing" of whoever robbed an armored car at gunpoint on Valentine's Day in Las Vegas.
A Las Vegas Metro police officer was taken into custody after a standoff which started on Wednesday, according to North Las Vegas police.
LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ ) -- A west Michigan man has been sentenced for embezzling more than $300,000 from an elderly widowed woman, according to the state Attorney General's office.

Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Wednesday 57-year-old Gary "Duke" Haynes, of Comstock Park, was sentenced last week for "conducting a criminal enterprise and embezzling from a vulnerable adult."

Haynes met the woman when she was 85 years old and was allowed access to her computer, financial accounts and passwords, officials say.

Over the course of four years, he transferred more than $300,000 from the woman's accounts into his company accounts. In 2016, the victim became suspicious when she asked Haynes about money he was supposed to invest in an annuity in her name. The woman asked her nephew to intervene, who reported the information to the local police department, officials say.

Haynes was charged in May 2018 with 14 felony counts for embezzlement and was convicted of the following:

-One felony count of conducting a criminal enterprise, punishable by up to 20 years and/or $100,000; -One felony count of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult $100,000 or more, punishable by up to 20 years and/or $50,000; -Eight felony counts of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult $1,000-$20,000, punishable by up to five years and/or $10,000; and -Four felony counts of Taxes-Failure to File/False Return, punishable by up to five years and/or $5,000.

He was sentenced to 90 months to 20 years in prison on the criminal enterprise and embezzlement charges. He was also sentenced to 30 months to five years in prison on the 12 additional counts, officials say. The time is to be served concurrently.

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(CNN) -- Former police officer Jason Van Dyke suffered "facial and head injuries" in a beating at the prison where he's serving six years for killing a black teenager, one of his attorneys said Thursday.

Attorney Tammy Wendt told reporters at a news conference that the attack happened one week ago in Van Dyke's cell at a federal prison in Connecticut, where he had been transferred two days earlier. Van Dyke required medical attention.

Van Dyke's wife, Tiffany, was also at the news conference. She said she hasn't spoken to her husband since he was sentenced on January 18, and that she wants him to be safe so that he can complete his prison term and return to his family.

"We have been fearful for his life and his safety from day one," Tiffany Van Dyke said.

Wendt said she received word of the attack in a phone call from the Connecticut prison. She said her firm learned of his transfer from a state prison in Illinois after it occurred.

Van Dyke was convicted in October of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm for killing 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014. Van Dyke fired 16 shots in about 15 seconds. He was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison on the murder charge.

Prosecutors are challenging his sentence

Word of the incident comes days after Illinois prosecutors said they are challenging Van Dyke's sentence.

The special prosecutor who tried the case and the state's attorney general filed a petition with the Illinois Supreme Court, asking the court to vacate his second-degree murder sentence, authorities said. The petition asked to instead impose a sentence on each of the 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.

The aggravated battery charges carried potentially more prison time. Each of the 16 counts would have carried a minimum sentence of six years in prison. When combined, he could have faced up to 96 years in prison, a stiff penalty many protesters and activists were hoping for.

Authorities said they plan to work with the court to review the legality of the sentence.

Van Dyke had argued he fired in self-defense after he said McDonald lunged at him with a knife. But a Chicago police dashcam video showed McDonald walking away from police, rather than charging at them.

The release of the video led to protests and a national conversation about police use of deadly force. Van Dyke has been in custody since his conviction in October.

CNN's Darran Simon contributed to this report.
Murder charges have now been brought against Nicholas Young. Young is accused of stabbing Jeffery Higginbotham to death inside his Foley apartment last October. Investigators caught up with Young in Florida and extradited him to Baldwin County on receiving stolen property charges.

Investigators said Jeffery Higginbotham was stabbed inside his Bay Villas apartment and they said Nicholas Young did it. Prosecutors arent speaking to a motive for the crime at this time, but said evidence theyve collected confirms it.

This was literally about hard work, long hours, people standing in a lab, working on these things, explained Lt. Andre Reid with Baldwin County Major Crimes Unit. You know, getting evidence processed. Things that I describe as latent evidencethings that are maybe small in nature, but when theyre enhanced or analyzed, actually provide a story.

Processing the evidence collected took some time. It also took quite a while to locate Nicholas Young after the murder even though he was named a person of interest right away. The first break in the case came when Higginbothams Dodge Durango was discovered in Escambia County, Florida after the murder. Investigators said surveillance video showed Nicholas Young driving the vehicle.

More than 20 investigators have been working on this case since Higginbotham was found on October 30, 2018. Investigators with the Baldwin County Major Crimes Unit credit the teams persistence with this new development. Those who live at Bay Villas Apartments where the murder happened are glad to see this case coming to a close.

I think everyone was kind of unnerved that someone was still out there, not knowing really exactly what was going on. People were a little scared, you know, said Bay Villas resident, Thomas Ballard.

Young has been in the Baldwin County Jail on a receiving stolen property charge for the theft of Higginbothams car. Hes scheduled to have a bond hearing on this murder charge Friday, February 15, 2019.
A freshman at Baker High School is challenging the community to empower through literacy.

Joi Samone Williams successfully visited students at Scarborough Middle School, and now she is scheduled to meet 4th graders at Fonde Elementary school on February 20, 2019 from 9:30 am to 10:30 am.

Williams spends much of her time talking to younger students about the importance of reading. Williams started a program called "Literacy 4 Life."

She stopped by our studio to talk about the initiative.
Levi Strauss, the 165-year-old maker of denim jeans and apparel, will go public later this year. The San Francisco-based company filed for an IPO on Feb. 13, and plans to make its market debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LEVI.

Levi Strauss previously went public in 1971, but the founder's descendants took it private again in 1985. It subsequently struggled to stay relevant in the competitive apparel market, but sales rebounded under CEO Chip Bergh, a former P&G executive who took the helm in 2011.

Should investors buy shares of Levi when it goes public again? Let's answer five questions about the iconic brand first.

1. How much money does Levi want to raise?

In its S-1 filing, Levi states that it wants to raise up to $100 million with its IPO. However, that's just a placeholder figure for companies that haven't decided on the exact number of shares they want to sell.

CNBC previously reported that Levi could actually raise up to $800 million in its market debut, which would give it an initial market cap of $5 billion. Levi states that it would use the proceeds for "general corporate purposes."

2. How fast is Levi Strauss growing?

Levi is best known for its denim jeans, but it also sells casual and dress pants, tops, shorts, skirts, jackets, footwear, and accessories. Its four main brands are Levi's, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co., Dockers, and Denizen.

It sells its products in over 50,000 retail locations, including about 3,000 brand-dedicated stores and store-in-stores, in 110 countries. It directly operates 824 stores and 500 store-in-stores.

Levi's revenue rose 14% to $5.6 billion in fiscal 2018, which represents an acceleration from its 8% growth in 2017. It attributes that growth to the "new revenue and profit growth strategies" which were implemented in 2011. However, investors should recall that Levi once generated over $7 billion in annual revenue during its heyday in the 1990s.

3. How profitable is Levi Strauss?

Levi's gross margin expanded 151 basis points to 53.8% in 2018, and its operating margin expanded ten basis points to 9.6%. Its operating income rose 15% to $537 million, but its net income improved less than 1% to $283 million.

Levi Strauss is growing faster than V.F. Corporation's (NYSE:VFC) jeans business, which includes the Lee and Wrangler brands. During the first nine months of 2018, V.F. Corp.'s jeans revenue fell 3.5% year over year to $1.89 billion, and the unit's operating margin fell 150 basis points to 13.3%. V.F. plans to spin off its jeans unit into a separate company later this year.

4. Which other competitors does Levi face?

V.F. Corp. is Levi's most prominent rival, but it also faces competition from diversified apparel makers like American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO). AEO, which has grown its comparable store sales for 15 straight quarters, constantly highlights its denim business as a core growth engine.

During last quarter's conference call, CEO Jay Schottenstein stated that AEO's goal was to become the "number one denim brand in the United States." In Piper Jaffray's latest "Taking Stock With Teens" survey, American teens ranked American Eagle as their second favorite clothing brand after Nike. Levi Strauss didn't even crack the top five.

Other prominent competitors include Guess, which reported robust demand for denim dresses, sweaters, and outerwear last quarter; Gap, which sells a wide range of denim products; and private-label brands from department stores.

5. How does Levi plan to stay relevant?

Levi Strauss invented denim jeans, but it now sells a much wider variety of apparel, including branded T-shirts which can be customized at select stores. Its turnaround strategy mostly consisted of new clothing lines, marketing blitzes, brick-and-mortar expansions (including a new 17,000 square foot flagship store in Times Square), and partnerships with celebrities like Justin Timberlake and brands like Nike's Air Jordan.

Levi Strauss plans to expand more aggressively into China, India, and Brazil. Levi notes that although China accounts for a fifth of the global apparel market, it accounted for just 3% of the company's sales last year. Levi Strauss opened its first company-operated store in India in late 2017 and launched its first e-commerce site in the country last year. The company generated just 1% of its revenue from Brazil last year, but the region's sales grew at a CAGR of 20% between 2016 and 2018.

Should you invest in Levi Strauss?

Levi Strauss could have the staying power of other iconic brands like Nike. However, it's also an aging brand in a saturated market, and it's unclear if more brick-and-mortar stores and marketing blitzes will lock in younger shoppers again. I'll keep an eye on Levi's IPO, but I'd rather stick with more reliable apparel plays like AEO for now.

Check out the latest earnings call transcripts for companies we cover.
The marijuana industry is growing like a weed, and Canopy Growth (NASDAQ:CGC), the largest marijuana stock by market cap (by a mile), is leading that charge.

According to a recently released co-authored report from Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics, global cannabis sales are slated to rise by 38% to $16.9 billion in 2019, and eventually top $31 billion by 2022. Considering that Canopy Growth is cash-rich following a significant equity investment from Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ); is unquestionably a top-two grower by annual peak production; and is a leader in multichannel sales, logistics, and branding, it's no wonder that all eyes are on the company's third-quarter earnings results.

On Thursday, Feb. 14, long after the stock market had closed, Canopy Growth reported its much-anticipated third-quarter operating results. Here are the 12 pertinent facts you'll want to know.

1. Net sales surged 283% (but technically missed the mark)

The first figure investors are bound to drool over is Canopy Growth's net sales of 83 million Canadian dollars, which represents a 283% increase from the year-ago quarter, when it generated CA$21.7 million in net sales. With Canopy's fiscal third quarter ending on Dec. 31, 2018, it included about 2.5 months of post-legalization recreational weed sales, and it clearly shows in the company's sales figures.

Yet, for what it's worth, Canopy's top-line number actually missed the mark, with six Wall Street analysts looking for a consensus of CA$85 million. It just goes to show that, with this industry being so new, it's as much of a guessing game for Wall Street as it is for investors.

2. Canopy is all about those recreational weed sales

Whereas we witnessed Aurora Cannabis report more medical marijuana sales than recreational cannabis revenue earlier this week, it wasn't even close for Canopy Growth. During the third quarter, medical marijuana sales totaled CA$18.6 million, down from CA$20.3 million in the year-ago quarter, when medical pot sales were all that were legal.

Comparatively, Canopy recorded CA$71.6 million in recreational weed revenue, of which CA$11.5 million was business to consumer, and CA$60.1 million was considered business to business. Also, if you're wondering why these sales figures add up to more than the reported CA$83 million in net sales above, it's because these are gross sales, prior to accounting for excise taxes.

3. Inventory rose substantially

Aurora Cannabis is likely to lead all growers in peak annual production, with yours truly forecasting up to 700,000 kilograms a year in output. But Canopy Growth is liable to come in a close second, with north of 500,000 kilos of annual yield. A substantial increase in licensed cultivation capacity certainly helped the company grow its inventory during the third quarter.

Having ended the previous fiscal year (March 31, 2018) with CA$101.6 million in inventory -- this includes finished goods, work-in-process, merchandise and devices, and supplies and consumables -- Canopy completed Q3 2019 with CA$185 million in inventory. A roughly CA$49 million increase in value assigned to work-in-process, as well as a CA$30 million jump in supplies and consumables, suggests that Canopy's output, and product diversity, are growing.

4. Margins declined considerably due to the excise tax

What isn't growing is the company's gross margin. Despite sales growth of 283%, cost of goods sold soared by 560% to CA$64.8 million. When combined with CA$14.7 million in excise tax costs on recreational goods sold, Canopy ended the quarter with a measly gross margin of CA$18.3 million on CA$97.7 million in gross revenue (CA$83 million net). On a year-over-year basis, gross margin plummeted from 55% to just 19%. Yuck!

5. The fair-value adjustment door swings both ways

Recently, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) accounting has been mostly a blessing for cannabis growers. IFRS accounting, which treats marijuana as an agricultural commodity, requires that growers revalue their crops constantly, based on the stage of the growth cycle they're in. Growers also need to estimate the cost to sell their crops, often well before they're sold. Needless to say, this leads to some very legal, yet nevertheless wild, swings in gross margin.

In Canopy's third quarter, investors learned that these swings aren't always positive. After fair-value adjustments for biological assets (i.e., cannabis plants) and unrealized gains or changes in fair value were applied, the company's gross margin deteriorated by another CA$5.8 million, to CA$12.5 million.

6. Operating losses were huge

If you thought there was any chance of an old-fashioned operating profit here, think again. General and administrative costs more than quadrupled to CA$46.1 million, sales and marketing expenses came close to quintupling at CA$44.9 million, and the always-popular share-based compensation (I say that with sarcasm) rose to CA$40.1 million from CA$9 million in the year-ago quarter.

All told, Canopy's operating expenses ballooned to CA$169.7 million, leading to a loss from operations of CA$157.2 million. Through the first nine months of fiscal 2019, Canopy's operating losses are up to a staggering CA$402.6 million.

7. On the other hand, one-time gains were massive

However, it wasn't a complete loss, if you like one-time benefits and fair-value adjustments elsewhere on a company's income statement. Changes in fair value on financial assets designated as fair value through profit or loss (FVTPL), and changes in fair value on financial liabilities designated as FVTPL, led to a combined one-time gain of more than CA$221 million. In combination with other one-time adjustments, Canopy claimed CA$235.2 million in "other" income this quarter.

For its bottom line, Canopy Growth lost $0.38 per share on an adjusted basis. But, inclusive of this comprehensive income, it earned $0.22 per share.

8. The company's accumulated deficit is an eyesore

Though it's not a figure that most investors will focus on much, since it's backward-looking and Wall Street is forward-looking, Canopy's accumulated deficit is soaring. A company's accumulated deficit is simply its aggregate losses since inception. Even with the benefit of Canopy's "other" income during Q3 2019, its accumulated deficit still stands at CA$441.5 million, up from CA$91.6 million when its fiscal year began on April 1. That's a bit worrisome for investors.

9. But it's not as scary as rising goodwill

Arguably, though, it's nowhere near as scary as the company's ballooning goodwill associated with its acquisitions.

In its simplest form, goodwill is simply a measure of the premium one company pays for another that's above and beyond the tangible assets it's acquired. Goodwill isn't necessarily a bad thing, if it can be recouped with other intangible factors, cost synergies, or future growth prospects. But in the company's SEDAR filing in Canada, Canopy outlines that nearly all of its recent transactions have been loaded with goodwill. At last check, its goodwill accounts for CA$1.82 billion of total assets. It's a bit early to tell how much of this premium will be recouped by Canopy, but substantial future writedowns aren't out of the question.

10. Canopy is rolling in the dough

On the bright side, no marijuana stock is better financed than Canopy. Following the completion of an equity investment from Constellation Brands, which gave Constellation a 37% equity stake in the company in return for $4 billion in cash, Canopy Growth now has CA$4.12 billion in cash to go along with just shy of CA$800 million in marketable securities. There's virtually no concern about funding issues with this company, and investors should look for Canopy to remain aggressive on the acquisition front throughout 2019.

11. Holy dilution, Batman

Of course, there's a downside to raising capital with pot stocks, and that's the fact that they love to issue stock like it's going out of style. Between the Constellation equity investment, a number of acquisitions that had a large share-based component, share-based compensation, and bought-deal offerings that were designed to raise capital, Canopy's outstanding share count rose by 75% year over year to 334.7 million shares as of Dec. 31, 2018.

Yes, there is the positive that Canopy is putting this cash to work in its business via acquisitions. But at the same time, more shares outstanding will make it that much harder for the company to produce a meaningful per-share profit.

12. More share-based dilution awaits

Last, but not least, you can unfortunately count on more share-based dilution in the future. The company ended the most recent quarter with 107.9 million warrants outstanding, as well as 31.6 million options outstanding. If and when these assets are exercised, Canopy's share count is going to rise. In other words, it's going to be very difficult for fundamentally focused investors to get behind this stock.

Just a few weeks ago, I opined that it simply wasn't reasonable to assign what was then a $17 billion market cap to Canopy Growth, given the expectation of ongoing losses and the numerous uncertainties that lie ahead for an untested industry. Even with the valuation having tapered slightly to $16 billion, my thesis hasn't changed. Buyers of this top-tier marijuana stock are possibly playing with fire at this valuation.

Check out the latest Canopy Growth earnings call transcript.
Having grown up in the suburbs of Prince Georges County, Thomas said she couldnt have arrived at the decision without being exposed to the agricultural education provided at her high school, which follows the Curriculum for Agriculture Science Education program.
Update: Google has announced that the interpreter mode is now rolling out for Assistant-enabled Android and iOS phones worldwide that lets you translate across 44 languages. Its integrated with the Assistant on Android phone. To access it on iOS, you can download the latest Google Assistant app.

Earlier: Last month at the CES Google announced Interpreter Mode for Assistant, a new feature on Google Home devices and Smart Displays where you can ask Assistant to help you have a conversation in dozens of languages. Today the company has announced that this feature is rolling out widely to Google Home devices and Smart Displays to translate across 26 languages.

With this, Youll both see and hear the translated conversation. You can say Hey Google, be my Thai interpreter or Hey Google, help me speak Spanish to get started.

Interpreter mode can help businesses better serve their guests through an improved customer experience, said Google. This can be useful wherever language barriers exist, including at hotels, airports, restaurants, customer service kiosks, organizations aiding humanitarian efforts and much more.

Google has been piloting interpreter mode at the concierge and front desks of hotels like Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Dream Downtown in New York City and Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport that makes guests have free-flowing conversations with hotel staffeven if they dont speak the same language. Now, with interpreter mode on the Google Home Hub, concierge staff can personally provide guest recommendations in real timeleading to better service, plus quicker and easier guest transactions.

Source
The Federal Trade Commission and Facebook are negotiating a record multi-billion dollar fine that would settle the agencys investigation into Facebooks privacy practices, according to sources. This fine would mark the agencys largest imposition on a technology company. However, two sides have not yet agreed on an exact amount.

Facebook has expressed initial concern with the FTCs demands. If talks break down, the FTC could take the matter to court which might likely turn into a bruising legal fight. Facebook confirmed it is in discussions with the agency but declined to comment further. The lawmakers have faulted the company for mishandling that data while failing to crack down on online hate speech, the spread of fake news and more.

As for the FTC, a significant fine or punishment against the social media giant could represent a new era of scrutiny for Silicon Valley companies after years of privacy missteps. The FTCs probe of Facebook began in March 2018 in response to reports about the social giants entanglement with Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that improperly accessed data on 87 million of the social sites users.

The agencys inquiry focuses on whether Facebooks conduct along with a series of additional privacy mishaps made public in recent months  amount to violations of a 2011 agreement Facebook brokered with the FTC to improve its privacy practices. Facebook, however, is firm that it did not breach the agreement. Facebook could break a deal with the U.S. government by agreeing to pay a fine and make some changes to its business practices, given that this settlement would then have to be approved by a judge. Alternatively, Facebook could appeal to the federal agency over its findings and proposed punishments.

Source
Not his first time working with the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, Casey previously served for three years on the organizations board of directors for the Maryland, Delaware, Washington D.C., New Jersey and New York region, according to the release.
worth paying multiplex prices for

worth a look, but wait for DVD, unless your favorite actor is in it

give it a miss

my reaction under consideration

my reaction under gag order for now

not yet seen by me
By Corina Pons, Luc Cohen and Matt Spetalnick CARACAS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government stepped up a legal battle against efforts to oust him on Thursday, while the opposition said the international community had pledged more than $100 million in humanitarian aid for the country. Venezuela's opposition, which argues Maduro's presidency is illegitimate because he won in a sham vote, is trying to wrest control of the OPEC nation's oil sector from him and deliver aid to a population suffering food and medicine shortages.

By Corina Pons, Luc Cohen and Matt Spetalnick

CARACAS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government stepped up a legal battle against efforts to oust him on Thursday, while the opposition said the international community had pledged more than $100 million in humanitarian aid for the country.

Venezuela's opposition, which argues Maduro's presidency is illegitimate because he won in a sham vote, is trying to wrest control of the OPEC nation's oil sector from him and deliver aid to a population suffering food and medicine shortages.

Maduro says this is part of a strategy to carry out a U.S.-backed coup and has vowed to remain in office, despite around 50 nations recognising opposition leader Juan Guaido as president. Maduro retains the backing of key allies Russia and China as well as control of Venezuelan state institutions including the military.

Venezuela's chief state prosecutor, Tarek Saab, said on Thursday his office had opened an investigation into new opposition-appointed directors at state-run oil firm PDVSA and its U.S. refiner Citgo, Venezuela's most valuable foreign asset.

The pro-Maduro Supreme Court then ruled that the proposed board members were prohibited from leaving the country. At least some of the people are believed to already be outside Venezuela.

Saab said Guaido had "grotesquely made circus-style appointments" in order to please foreign interests and destabilize the country.

"The only directors legitimately appointed to the boards of PDVSA and its subsidiaries are those ... who have been appointed by the executive," Saab said, according to his office's Twitter account.

As head of the National Assembly, Guaido invoked constitutional provisions last month to assume the interim presidency.

The transitional government should include members of the ruling "Chavismo" movement and military leadership, in an effort to guarantee stability for new elections, a top opposition lawmaker said.

That interim government would have 13 months to hold fresh presidential elections from the date Maduro officially steps down as president, Stalin Gonzalez, the second vice president of the congress, told Reuters.

"We need to give space to sectors of Chavismo that are not Maduro because we need political stability," Gonzalez said in an interview.

The opposition, made up of a coalition of parties, plans to hold primaries in order to put forward a sole candidate for the presidential elections, he added. Chavismo is the movement founded by former President Hugo Chavez, who Maduro succeeded following Chavez' death in 2013 from cancer.

"THOUSANDS OF WINDOWS"

Guaido's U.S. representative, Carlos Vecchio, spoke to an aid conference on Thursday hosted at the Organization of American States (OAS) headquarters in Washington, to urge the international community to help get assistance into Venezuela.

Vecchio and his aides estimated they had received pledges of more than $100 million in humanitarian assistance from the United States and others, including previous commitments as well as new ones made at the conference.

"We must open thousands of windows to bring humanitarian aid to Venezuela," Vecchio told the conference, which was attended by diplomats and representatives from dozens of countries.

Elliott Abrams, Washington's special representative on Venezuela, said the United States was looking for ways to send in aid as he reiterated U.S. support for Guaido.

"I can assure you that there will be more U.S. assistance coming in the future," Abrams said, without giving specifics.

Guaido has said humanitarian aid will enter the country on Feb. 23, setting the stage for a showdown with Maduro, who has said it is not needed and should not be let in.

Guaido's declaration was "absolutely absurd" as he had "control of nothing," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said on Thursday.

"In Venezuela there's only one government  the government of President Maduro - so no one can give deadlines, especially this man," Arreaza told reporters at the United Nations.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has said it wants a peaceful resolution to the crisis but has refused to rule out military intervention. Cuba accused the United States on Thursday of moving special forces closer to Venezuela as part of a covert plan to intervene.

Military aircraft from the United States had flown to strategically located Caribbean islands last week, Cuba said.

"It's a new lie," Abrams said, when asked about it at the Washington event.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Matt Spetalnick in Washington, Fabian Cambero, Corina Pons and Vivian Sequera in Caracas, Marc Frank in Havana, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing by Sarah Marsh and Rosalba O'Brien)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Business groups and economists say the two days of negotiations between the US and China, due to run through Friday, are too brief to resolve a sprawling dispute over Beijing's technology ambitions

Beijing: US and Chinese envoys are holding a second day of trade talks after the top economic adviser to President Donald Trump said he has yet to decide whether to go ahead with a 2 March tariff increase on imports from China.

Business groups and economists say the two days of negotiations, due to run through Friday, are too brief to resolve a sprawling dispute over Beijing's technology ambitions. They say China's goal is to persuade Trump to push back the 2 March deadline.

Trump's economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, told reporters in Washington that the "vibe is good" in the talks, but he said Trump has made no decision on whether to escalate the dispute by letting the March 2 tariff hike go ahead.

Both sides have expressed optimism without releasing details.
By Lizbeth Diaz and Mica Rosenberg MEXICO CITY/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States began sending Central American families seeking asylum back to Mexico this week, a Mexican immigration source said on Thursday, while U.S. human rights groups sued the Trump administration, saying the policy puts migrants in danger.

By Lizbeth Diaz and Mica Rosenberg

MEXICO CITY/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States began sending Central American families seeking asylum back to Mexico this week, a Mexican immigration source said on Thursday, while U.S. human rights groups sued the Trump administration, saying the policy puts migrants in danger.

Five families with a total of 16 people, including children from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, arrived in the Mexican border city of Tijuana on Wednesday, according to a person who works in migration for the Mexican government who asked not to be named.

In late January, the United States began sending non-Mexican migrants to Mexico to wait as their asylum requests are processed in U.S. immigration courts, in a program called Migrant Protection Protocols. But until this week, only individual adults had been sent back, not children in family groups

Rights groups say the program endangers asylum seekers by forcing them to remain in regions of Mexico experiencing record levels of violence.

"Both the U.S. and Mexican governments know that the border area is unsafe for women and children," Michelle Brane, director of the Migrant Rights and Justice program at the Womens Refugee Commission (WRC), said in a statement of the decision to return the families to Mexico.

"The U.S. government knows full well that asylum-seeking families are no threat to this nation."

Sixty-three people have returned to Mexico so far under the program, the government source said.

Two shelters in Tijuana said they had received the families. They asked not to be named to avoid revealing their location.

The American Civil Liberties Union and immigrant rights groups filed a lawsuit on behalf of 11 anonymous asylum seekers on Thursday. The groups asked a U.S. judge to revoke the policy and order the government to bring the migrants back to the United States while their cases are processed.

The 11 asylum seekers from Central America were returned to Mexico on Jan. 30 to wait out their immigration cases, and now fear for their lives, according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs include a lesbian woman who said she was raped because of her sexual orientation and was forced to flee Honduras after her partner's family threatened to kill them.

The lawsuit alleges the policy endangers migrants and violates U.S. immigration and administrative law, as well as universal norms of international law.

In another sign of the political tension over immigration, the White House on Thursday said U.S. President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency to try to obtain funds for his promised wall on the Mexican border when he signs a bill to avert another government shutdown.

Mexico's National Migration Institute and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City, Mica Rosenberg in New York and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; writing by Julia Love; editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Bill Berkrot)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - A divided federal appeals court on Thursday said American Muslims who landed on the 'No-Fly List' because of their refusal to become government informants can sue FBI agents for damages, prompting dissents that said the decision was dangerous and defied U.S.

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A divided federal appeals court on Thursday said American Muslims who landed on the "No-Fly List" because of their refusal to become government informants can sue FBI agents for damages, prompting dissents that said the decision was dangerous and defied U.S. Supreme Court precedents.

In a 7-3 vote, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan refused to revisit its May 2018 decision by a three-judge panel allowing Muhammad Tanvir, Jameel Algibhah and Naveed Shinwari to seek monetary damages for being put on the list, despite no evidence they threatened airline or passenger safety.

The plaintiffs, all U.S. citizens or permanent residents who were born abroad, had sought damages under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

They said their inclusion on the No-Fly List for refusing to spy on Muslim communities caused them to lose jobs, be unable to visit family and be stigmatized in their communities. None remains on the list.

Circuit Judge Dennis Jacobs, one of Thursday's dissenters, said Congress intended the 1993 law to restore religious freedom that was curtailed in a 1990 Supreme Court decision, Employment Division v. Smith, and did not create a damages remedy.

He said the panel's decision threatened "substantial social costs," including the risk that government officials tasked with protecting national security might not do their jobs out of fear they might be sued and held personally liable.

"The safest course for a government employee in doubt would be to avoid doing one's job, which is not a choice in need of encouragement," Jacobs wrote. "The panel opinion is quite wrong and actually dangerous."

Another dissenter, Circuit Judge Jose Cabranes, called the decision "a transparent attempt to evade, if not defy" Supreme Court precedents on liability of government officials.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in Manhattan, whose office defended the FBI agents, declined to comment.

Ramzi Kassem, a City University of New York School of Law professor representing the plaintiffs, said they deserved the chance to hold accountable the FBI agents "who forced them to choose between the tenets of their religion and being able to fly to see their families."

In another recent No-Fly List case, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco voted 8-3 on Jan. 2 that the government should pay millions of dollars to lawyers for a Muslim woman it put on the No-Fly List after mistakenly branding her a terrorist. That case began in 2005.

The case is Tanvir v Tanzin et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 16-1176.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Dan Grebler; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The footage showed a man entering the store, followed a few minutes later and separately by two women. The three met in the back of the store where the man placed a bottle of Patron tequila in the older womans purse. The footage then shows the woman exiting the store without paying for the liquor while the younger woman speaks to the clerk. The man exited a few minutes later, according to the statement.
Spain's prime minister on Friday called an early general election for 28 April, the third in less than four years, after his draft budget was rejected in parliament over the Catalan secession crisis.

Madrid: Spain's prime minister on Friday called an early general election for 28 April, the third in less than four years, after his draft budget was rejected in parliament over the Catalan secession crisis.

"Between two options, not doing anything and continuing without a budget, or... giving Spaniards their say, I choose the second," Pedro Sanchez told reporters, before announcing the date.

Sanchez took power just over eight months ago after he ousted his conservative rival in a dramatic parliamentary no-confidence vote, but it has been a turbulent term.

At the head of a fragile minority government, the 46-year-old had to rely on the support of unlikely bedfellows in parliament, including the far-left Podemos party, Basque nationalist lawmakers and crucially 17 Catalan separatist MPs.

On Wednesday, Catalan MPs joined right-wing lawmakers in rejecting his budget.

They withdrew their backing in protest at separatist leaders being put on trial for their role in a 2017 attempt to break Catalonia from Spain.

Even before Sanchez's announcement, the socialists had already adopted a campaign-like tone, accusing Catalan separatists and conservatives of blocking a budget that included many social-spending measures after years of austerity.

On Friday, Sanchez blasted "blocking a social budget after seven years of social injustice, austerity, and spending cuts."

He highlighted his government's short track record, from a 22 percent rise in the minimum wage to fighting against energy poverty.

"It's the end of an atypical, turbulent term," said Paloma Roman, politics professor at Madrid's Complutense University.

Sanchez has been savaged by the conservative Popular Party (PP), centre-right Ciudadanos and more recently small, far-right party Vox.

Last Sunday, they called a big protest in Madrid to ask for early elections.

One of their biggest bugbears has been the socialist government's negotiations with Catalonia's separatist executive as Madrid tries to ease tensions with the northeastern region.

While Madrid says it initiated talks to try and find a way out of an ongoing crisis, the opposition has accused it of yielding to separatist demands merely to stay in power.

Several opinion polls see Sanchez's Socialist party winning elections but likely unable to form a majority in parliament, even with Podemos.

Polls say the PP, Ciudadanos and Vox, which has surged recently thanks to its hard line against Catalan separatism, could be able to form a majority.

That would lead to a coalition government with the PP and Ciudadanos, formed with the support of Vox, which is what happened in the southern region of Andalusia after local polls there in December.

"Tensions between the central government and Catalonia are likely to increase in this scenario," said Steven Trypsteen, ING economist for Spain and Portugal.

The other scenario, he said, could be that the right-wing bloc does not get enough lawmakers to form a majority.

In that case, "political gridlock" would be possible, he said.
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland summoned Israel's ambassador on Friday and threatened to scupper a summit in Jerusalem after reported comments in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to accuse the Polish nation of complicity in the Nazi Holocaust. Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the prime minister, who was in Warsaw for a U.S.-sponsored Middle East conference, had been misquoted by The Jerusalem Post, which issued a corrected story

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland summoned Israel's ambassador on Friday and threatened to scupper a summit in Jerusalem after reported comments in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to accuse the Polish nation of complicity in the Nazi Holocaust.

Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the prime minister, who was in Warsaw for a U.S.-sponsored Middle East conference, had been misquoted by The Jerusalem Post, which issued a corrected story.

In a later statement, Netanyahu's office said that in his remarks on the question of Polish collaboration with Nazi occupiers, he had not cast any blanket blame.

Poland, where sensitivities over the issue of its actions during the Holocaust are high, called in Israeli envoy Anna Azari.

The matter of Poland's conduct during the Holocaust - in which many of the six million Jewish dead were killed in Nazi camps on Polish soil - was at the centre of an Israeli-Polish diplomatic dispute last year.

After an outcry in Israel and the United States, Poland's conservative Law and Justice government backed out of legislation mandating jail terms for anyone suggesting the country had collaborated with the Nazis.

Sensitivities were tested again late on Thursday after Netanyahu answered a question about that law posed by one of the Israeli reporters who had travelled with him to Poland.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper quoted Netanyahu as saying: "The Poles collaborated with the Nazis, and I don't know anyone who was ever sued for such a statement."

Yaakov Katz, the Jerusalem Post's editor, told Reuters the account in his newspaper had used the term "Polish nation", although not in a direct quote from Netanyahu, and the story was swiftly amended to reflect what he really said.

But Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek said Warsaw wanted the matter "to be clarified unequivocally". Hours later, Netanyahu's office issued a second statement.

"In a briefing, PM Netanyahu spoke of Poles and not the Polish people or the country of Poland," the statement said.

Many Poles still refuse to accept research showing thousands participated in the Holocaust in addition to the thousands who risked their lives to help the Jews.

Commenting on Netanyahu's remarks, Polish President Andrzej Duda raised a question mark over a two-day summit in Jerusalem next week of the four central European nations - Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Duda said that if Netanyahu had said what was originally reported, "Israel would not be a good place to meet in spite of the previous arrangements". Duda offered his own presidential residence as an alternative venue.

Netanyahu has sought to use the so-called Visegrad group as a counterweight to western European Union criticism of Israel's policies towards the Palestinians.

(Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko and Alan Charlish in Warsaw, Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; Editing by John Stonestreet, Mark Heinrich and Frances Kerry)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Thu Thu Aung YANGON (Reuters) - New political groups are emerging to contest Myanmar's next election in 2020, aiming to challenge the hegemony of national civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she has been weakened by escalating ethnic conflicts and slowing economic growth. Those factors were blamed by party officials for the poor performance of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in by-elections in November, when it won only seven of the 13 seats up for grabs as regional and army-linked parties made gains. 'Now that ethnic parties have allied with one another and prepared, we can't fully rely on the power of the party.

By Thu Thu Aung

YANGON (Reuters) - New political groups are emerging to contest Myanmar's next election in 2020, aiming to challenge the hegemony of national civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she has been weakened by escalating ethnic conflicts and slowing economic growth.

Those factors were blamed by party officials for the poor performance of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in by-elections in November, when it won only seven of the 13 seats up for grabs as regional and army-linked parties made gains.

"Now that ethnic parties have allied with one another and prepared, we can't fully rely on the power of the party. We must try harder than before to win the trust of the people," said Dashi La Seng, an NLD lawmaker from the northern state of Kachin, where the party lost a seat in November.

At stake is the future of Myanmar's transition to democracy. The NLD swept to power in a landslide in 2015, winning a comfortable majority in parliament despite 25 percent of the seats being reserved for the army.

While the NLD is still expected to do better than other parties in 2020, its majority could suffer severe losses, say analysts.

"It's questionable whether the NLD will win enough seats to form the government. If they don't, they'll have to form a coalition or negotiate with other parties," said Ye Myo Hein, an analyst at the Tagaung Institute of Political Studies.

Suu Kyi has responded to recent setbacks with a flurry of activity.

The Nobel laureate has faced criticism from ethnic leaders that her government is high-handed and lacks understanding of the political demands of the country's myriad minorities, while investors have long complained about the slow pace of reform.

In the space of one week in January the Nobel laureate - often seen as aloof in style - popped in to a school in a Muslim neighbourhood of Yangon and launched an investment conference in the commercial capital touting the country's plentiful resources and youthful population, while her party floated changes to the military-drafted constitution.

POLITICAL RIVALS COME OUT

The burst of activity was interpreted as an attempt by Suu Kyi to more actively push the government's message to constituents and investors. But rivals have been busy, too.

Former junta No. 3 Shwe Mann, the influential former lower house speaker who has been Suu Kyi's ally, last week announced the formation of a new political force, the Union Betterment Party.

Shwe Mann was ousted as the head of the army-linked Union Solidarity and Development Party in 2015 and has surrounded himself with moderates from the previous regime.

Ko Ko Gyi, one of the legendary leaders of the student protests in 1988 against junta rule, has also started a party called the People's Party. He has tempted other groups, including ethnic parties, to launch a joint bid for power.

"Even if one party can't win, we can combine in parliament as an alliance. We can stand as one and avoid having our votes split," said Ko Ko Gyi.

Nowhere are the headaches for the NLD bigger than in the western state of Rakhine, where it is dealing with the fallout from an army offensive that in 2017 forced around 730,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.

The European Union is considering trade sanctions on the country over the crisis, potentially stripping it of tariff-free access to the world's largest trading bloc.

The measures could include Myanmar's lucrative textile industry and potentially put hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk - many in the areas that overwhelmingly voted NLD in 2015, such as Yangon and Mandalay.

Suu Kyi is also facing a fresh threat from the Arakan Army, a Rakhine rebel group that wants greater autonomy for the state, where the mainly Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group makes up the majority.

The International Crisis Group said in a report from January that the fighting signified "a dangerous shift from politics to insurgency as the means of addressing ethnic Rakhine grievances".

The Rakhine ethnic party, Arakan National Party, had a strong showing in the 2015 polls, but it has been denied major roles in the local administration, fuelling resentment against the NLD government in the state.

Oo Aung Than, who runs Thazin Community Development Institute, an organization that works on equal rights and development in Rakhine, has complained that the NLD ignored the political will of the Rakhine people in 2015.

"We, ethnic people, can see how they value ethnic people," said Oo Aung Than. "The landslide victory will not happen again in 2020."

(Additional reporting by Poppy McPherson; Editing by Alex Richardson)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Human rights groups sued the Trump administration on Thursday over its policy of sending non-Mexican migrants who cross the southern border to seek asylum in the United States back to Mexico to wait while their requests are being processed. The policy known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP, announced in December is aimed at cutting the number of families applying for asylum in the United States, a legal process that can take months or years.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Human rights groups sued the Trump administration on Thursday over its policy of sending non-Mexican migrants who cross the southern border to seek asylum in the United States back to Mexico to wait while their requests are being processed.

The policy known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP, announced in December is aimed at cutting the number of families applying for asylum in the United States, a legal process that can take months or years.

The lawsuit filed in U.S District Court in California by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other organizations says the policy puts asylum seekers in danger and violates protections they are entitled to under U.S. and international law.

(Reporting by Mica Rosenberg; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Zachary Fagenson PARKLAND, Fla. (Reuters) - One year after the Valentine's Day massacre inside a Florida school, students and families leading a nationwide push for school and gun safety paused on Thursday to mark the anniversary of the deadliest U.S

By Zachary Fagenson

PARKLAND, Fla. (Reuters) - One year after the Valentine's Day massacre inside a Florida school, students and families leading a nationwide push for school and gun safety paused on Thursday to mark the anniversary of the deadliest U.S. high school shooting.

School buses brought only a handful of students to a shortened class day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where a former student with an assault gun killed 17 people on Feb. 14, 2018.

A moment of silence and community service activities took place at local schools. By late day, scores of people filled a park ahead of an evening vigil. Students honoured the victims by wrapping palm trees with their names and pictures and laying flowers at the base.

Leaders of March for Our Lives, a national student movement formed in the aftermath of the Parkland tragedy to fight gun violence, were not in the spotlight, having noted they would "go dark" or cease most communications during the anniversary.

Still, an emotional Emma Gonzalez, who helped to organise the movement, described at a news conference in New York the never-ending battle with trauma faced by survivors of mass shootings like the one in Parkland.

"Every day it feels like the shooting is happening again, or happened yesterday, or will happen tomorrow," said Gonzalez, who rose to prominence by urging her fellow students to "call B.S." on supporters of the gun lobby.

From Washington to Florida's state capital Tallahassee, elected leaders from both parties vowed to work to prevent another catastrophe. Republican President Donald Trump said on Twitter that the anniversary was a time to "recommit to ensuring the safety of all Americans, especially our nation's children."

Democrats used the occasion to call for greater gun control, introducing legislation in states such as North Carolina and Colorado, while the party's leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives pledged to advance stronger background check requirements to buy firearms.

"Why have we not been able to stop this from happening?" asked Jared Moskowitz, a former Democratic state legislator from the Parkland area, now heading the Florida Division of Emergency Management. He spoke alongside a 35-foot memorial to the shooting victims erected at a public arts display in Coral Springs, near Parkland.

A former student, Nikolas Cruz, is accused of opening fire with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle inside a freshman classroom building. He has offered to plead guilty if prosecutors do not seek the death penalty, but no such agreement has been reached.

Many families of the dead and many student activists prefer not to mention his name. Instead, they have focused attention on a gun violence epidemic that killed nearly 40,000 Americans in 2017, according to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Just over half were self-inflicted.

As he planned a cemetery visit to mark his 14-year-old daughter's death, Fred Guttenberg recalled on Twitter how a year ago he sent two children to school - and only one came home.

"I am forever haunted by my memory of that morning, rushing my kids out the door rather than getting one last minute. Did I say I love you?" he said.

(Additional reporting and writing by Letitia Stein; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Tom Brown)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
US president Donald Trump has decided to invoke the power of his bully pulpit to declare a national emergency that will allow him to build his promised US-Mexico border wall after the US Senate okayed a border security compromise Thursday that ignores most of Trump's wall demands but will do enough to prevent a new government shutdown.

New York: No surprises here. US president Donald Trump is making it official that every time he cant round up all his toys and walk away is an 'emergency'. Trump has decided to invoke the power of his bully pulpit to declare a national emergency that will allow him to build his promised US-Mexico border wall after the US Senate okayed a border security compromise Thursday that ignores most of Trump's wall demands but will do enough to prevent a new government shutdown.

The Senate approved the border security deal by a lopsided 83-16 tally. Swallowing this deal would mark a major concession by Trump, who has spent months calling the situation at the southern border a national security crisis. Trump's own Justice Department (DOJ) has warned that the courts are likely to block any national emergency declaration to build a wall along the southern border.

The political logic of Trump's 'emergency' plan is clear - it's the only way to prove his commitment to his most loyal voters. In the process, Trump is creating a bypass around Congress' power to appropriate funds, an explicit defiance that is absent from nearly all other emergencies declared by US presidents. The National Emergencies Act of 1976 was passed in response to the Watergate scandal and presumes the White House acts in good faith. The way the Act is written, Trump has broad leeway to declare an emergency whether one exists or not. At last count, 31 emergencies are in effect, past presidents have invoked emergencies more than 40 times and Trump himself has declared three so far including one about sanctions on Russia for interference in the 2016 election.

If youre up against a concrete wall, go through it, go around it, get to the other side somehow. I have so many people Ive seen over the years, who, if they had fought just a little harder, would have accomplished their goals. So, dont give up!, Trump says in a 2004 video thats come back to the headlines.

For Trump, signing this bill is what defeat looks like and he has to do something - anything - to soothe his voter base. A national emergency has been a long time coming and Trump, left with no wiggle room at all, will gladly lean in. On the Trump continuum, an emergency lines up neatly with all the other dots which speak to an America that he believes must be in a constant state of dread about immigrant invasions. If Trump does sign off on an emergency measure, he can shift money from nooks and crannies in the federal budget into his wall project. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed that Trump would take "other executive action, including a national emergency." "The president is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country."

Trump has repeatedly vowed Mexico would pay for the wall, a suggestion that country has spurned using the choicest vernacular abuse. His descriptions of the wall's size have fluctuated, at times saying it would cover 1,000 of the 2,000-mile boundary. "Give him a bamboo curtain and tell him it's a wall and he'll take it and spin it into a triumph, saying to his base that it's the exact thing he wanted", joke US political analysts.

The numbers

Trump had demanded $5.7 billion to start building more than 200 miles of wall. The bipartisan agreement provides under $1.4 billion  enough for just 55 miles of new barriers and fencing. Notably, the word "wall"  which fueled many a chant at Trump campaign events and then his rallies as president  does not appear once in the compromise legislation's 1,768 pages. "Barriers" and "fencing" are the nouns of choice.

Opposition says "lawless act"

Congress' Democratic leaders, Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the House and Chuck Schumer in the Senate, quickly branded a possible emergency declaration "a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency and a desperate attempt to distract from the fact that President Trump broke his core promise to have Mexico pay for his wall." Meeting with reporters, House Speaker Pelosi, warned that legal action aimed at blocking Trump's emergency declaration was an option, but she stopped short of saying it would definitely occur.

Declaring a national emergency over this President's vanity project is ridiculous. We don't need a wall. Instead, we should address the actual emergencies facing our country  everything from gun violence to the opioid crisis.  Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 14, 2019

Trump is declaring a national emergency to bypass Congress, to build a wall we dont need, to address a crisis that doesnt exist, by claiming an authority he doesnt have. If that sounds like nonsense, its because it is. Its also plainly unconstitutional.  Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) February 14, 2019

What led to this?

The low point was the historically long 35-day partial federal shutdown, which Trump sparked during the Christmas season and was in full force when Democrats took control of the House, compelling him to share power for the first time. Trump yielded on the shutdown 25 January after public opinion turned against him and congressional Republicans. He didn't win a single nickel of the $5.7 billion he'd demanded for his wall but caused missed paychecks for legions of federal workers and contractors and lost government services for countless others. It was a political fiasco for Trump and an early triumph for Pelosi.

What next?

An emergency declaration and other assertions of executive power to access money are expected to prompt lawsuits and potential votes in Congress aimed at blocking Trump from diverting money, which could conceivably reach billions of dollars. White House aides and congressional Republicans have suggested Trump might tap funds targeted for military construction, disaster relief and counterdrug efforts.

Border pact squeezes funding for ICE

The pact would also squeeze funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the much dreaded ICE, in an attempt to pressure the agency to gradually detain fewer immigrants. To the dismay of Democrats, it would still leave an agency many of them consider abusive holding thousands more immigrants than it did last year. In recent weeks, a massive multi city raid by ICE ended up with at least 136 Indian students taken into custody for being enrolled in a "fake" university set up by ICE as a trap.

(With Agency inputs)
As New Delhi struggles to shape its strategy on tapping cobalt in the Congo, Beijing has already become the dominant player in mining the shiny grey metal used to make lithium-ion batteries that power electric cars and smartphones.

Nsala, he was called, the man in the photo which didnt shock the world. He hadnt made his rubber quota for the day, writer and photographer Alice Seeley Harris recorded in 1904, so the Belgian-appointed overseers had cut off his daughters hand and foot. Her name was Boali. She was five years old. Then they killed her. But they werent finished. They killed his wife as well. And because that didnt seem quite cruel enough, quite strong enough to make their case, they cannibalised both.

And they presented Nsala with the tokens, the leftovers from the once living body of his darling child whom he so loved.

Now, six decades after the Democratic Republic of Congo gained independence from Belgium, the war-torn and politically-volatile country is once again at the heart of one of the worlds great resource-races. The country is home to more than 60 per cent of the worlds cobaltthe hard, shiny grey metal that lies at the heart of the rechargeable batteries powering the next generation of cars, homes and even aircraft.

Indias hopes of transforming its economy rest, in many ways, on secure and stable access to the metal. The good news is New Delhi finally seems to be warming up at the starting block for the race to get it. The bad news is that its showed up ten years after the starting whistle was blown.

FUTURE IS ELECTRIC

Last year, the government announced plans to make a third of Indias vehicle fleet electric by 2030part of a sweeping push to green Indias energy consumption. The logic is sound, and not just because it will make our air cleaner. Ever since 2008, hydrocarbon prices have been falling thanks in part to shale oil and gas finds in North America. But India is importing ever-growing volumes, making it reliant on crisis-prone West Asia. India has to compete, moreover, with other energy-hungry Asian economies notably China.

The future is electric, Union minister of state for new and renewable energy RK Singh recently said. Noting that the average per-kilometre running cost of an electric car is just 0.85 to 6.50 for hydrocarbon variants, Singh said that going electric would help us achieve autonomy from expensive petroleum imports.

Like most things in life, though, theres a catch. Ten kilogrammes, or so, of the hard, grey metal go into making a single car battery. The governments most recent records, to the end of 2017, show India has 229,650,234 motor vehicleswhich means the demand from this sector alone will be gargantuan.

Following the electric car decision, a Cabinet notethe bureaucratic briefs that facilitate decision-making at the highest levelshas been prepared, laying out Indias need for cobalt. The National Security Council Secretariat has also commissioned studies. In one, seen by Firstpost, the NSCS noted that there is no production of cobalt in the country from indigenous ores

Indias estimated reserves of 44.91 million tonnes are trivial given the need; worse, theyre locked up in Odisha and Nagaland, where local resistance to mining is high. Theres also the problem that cobalt mining involves toxic residues, says an official involved in the studies for the Cabinet, which means local resistance will be stiff.

Energy Ministry officials say theyre now working to set up a consortium involving the National Aluminium Company, Hindustan Copper and the Mineral Exploration Corporation that will work overseas to tie up sources of rare metals, including cobalt and lithium. Talks have begun with Australia and Peru, both of which have reserves.

But as India struggles to shape a strategy, China has already cornered giant swathes of the Congos cobaltand is moving fast to lock in the rest.

THE CONGO-CHINA PARTNERSHIP

Chinas involvement in the Congos cobalt is staggering. Eight of the Congos largest mining operationsTenke Fungurume, Congo Dongfang, Ruashi, Kamoya, Metal, MJM, MKM and Sicominesare Chinese-owned. Together, they accounted for almost 49 per cent of the Congos cobalt output last year, which in turn made up 68 per cent of global production. In addition, Shezhen-based GEM announced last year that it had contracted with global cobalt giant Glencore for 50,000 tonnes over three yearsabout half of the entire world production in 2018.

The invention of the internal combustion engine ensured European and United States supremacy in cars, railways and aeronautics for a centurya supremacy it cemented with political control of crude oil in West Asia.

Beijing is determined that its companiesalready the biggest battery suppliers in the worldwill dominate the age of electric transport. Its presence in the Congo is meant to ensure no one else muscles in.

Following the success of Teslas gigafactory in Nevada, companies like Contemporary Amperex Technology have been mushrooming across China building similar operations that aim to exceed it in scale and ambition.

Laurent Kabila, the recently-removed Congolese president, was the key instrument of Chinas rise. Trained at the Peoples Liberation Armys National Defence University, Kabila found reliable partners in Beijing who were willing to overlook his less-than-edifying human rights records.

Kabila succeeded in building a fortune through the relationship albeit at the expense of a population which still lives on just $1.25 a day.

The Congo Research Group, an independent research body, revealed in one report that Kabila and his siblings were at the centre of a web of companies with stakes in the mining sector, involving multi-million dollar revenues. Global Witness, another transparency watchdog, estimated that, at least, $750 millionabout a fifth of the Congos mining revenueswas misappropriated between 2013 and 2015.

Central Africas giant holds the continents richest mineral wealth, analyst Aditi Lalbahadur noted in a recent paper . Yet, having suffered war and violence for most of its history, its economy remains woefully underdeveloped and its people impoverished.

A western mining business official familiar with the region says, It didnt take a lot to do business in the Congo. Basically, you needed a large suitcase and enough banknotes to fill it. Beijings financial muscle helped Kabila ride out elections in 2005 and 2011, which were widely perceived as rigged. He sought to overturn a two-turn limit in 2016 arguing budgetary constraints and procedural problems meant elections could not be held.

Finally, this year, his hand-picked successor Felix Tshisekedi was declared winner in an election which both international observers as well as the countrys powerful Catholic church said had been won by opposition candidate Martin Fayulu. Kinshasa, the capital, has since been calling for civil disobedience.

Even if a democratic transition is secured, the chances that the Congo will stabilise are low. Eastern Congo, where much of the countrys mineral wealth sits, has seen running armed conflict in recent years on top of civil wars from 1996-1997 and then from 1998 to 2003. The region is controlled, on ground, by small, armed groups collectively known as Mai-Mai.

Indian businesses just dont have what it takes to operate in environments like these, a Research and Analysis Wing official told Firstpost. We just dont have the infrastructure it needs like military contractors to provide security or the kinds of regional experts who can make the deals needed.

Beijing, he said, has spent years learning how to do this right, and is willing to pay the price.

BLOOD PAYMENT

The 23 years of King Leopold IIs rule in the Congo, which ran from 1885-1908, is estimated to have cost the lives of 10 million Africans. From Adam Hochschilds history, King Leopolds Ghost, we know it involved the chopping off of hands and genitals, floggings and burning down entire villages. Figures like Alice Seeley Harris, Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad and Arthur Conan Doyle campaigned against these atrocities, but to little avail: the wealth generated by rubber was just too great.

Like Belgiums savage rubber plantations, Chinas relentless campaign to extract cobalt from the bowels of the earth is paid for with blood, and broken bodies. Twenty per cent, perhaps more, of the Congos cobalt is extracted by artisanal minersuntrained workers who dig in illegal tunnels, or in the tailings of industrial mines.

In addition to the hundreds of thousands of adults, the United Nations Childrens Emergency Fund reported in 2014 that the artisanal mines use upwards of 40,000 children who are paid just $1-2 for a 12-hour shift.

Amnesty International reported in 2016 that many suffered potentially-fatal condition called hard metal lung disease as well as asthma, and decreased pulmonary functiona consequence of inhaling cobalt particles.

New Delhis strategic energy aimsreducing dependence of hydrocarbons and building a vibrant green-energy industryrequire it to be actively engaged in the heart of Africa, where the metal that will shape the new era is to be found.

Yet, India has been absent from the global stages where the future of the Congo is being shaped. Theres no Indian voice in the growing global campaign to ensure batteries use ethically-sourced cobalt. Nor has New Delhi participated in multinational efforts to support a genuine democratic transition in Kinshasasomething which could constrain Chinas quasi-imperial influence in the country.

The cobalt story shows we just dont have the institutional capital we need to secure our interests, a senior Ministry of External Affairs official says.

In China, theres a host of companies working closely with the government to make gambles when needed. In India, we just dont have corporations with that kind of risk-taking mindset nor a bureaucracy with the resources to help them, the official adds.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who won a historic fourth term, becoming the country's longest-serving leader, has indicated that she will retire after the current term to promote young leaders,

Dhaka: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who won a historic fourth term, becoming the country's longest-serving leader, has indicated that she will retire after the current term to promote young leaders, according to a media report.

In an interview with the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) 71-year-old Hasina, who assumed office just a month ago, for the fourth time as the prime minister, said she wanted to retire after the five-year term, the Bangladesh daily Dhaka Tribune reported.

"It's the third consecutive term and before that I was prime minister (1996-2001), so it's my fourth term. I don't want to continue for more (time). I think that everybody should take a break so we can accommodate the younger generation," she said.

On Tuesday, at a cultural event in Gazipur, the prime minister said she would like to go back to her ancestral village of Tungipara in Gopalganj to spend her retirement, the daily said.

Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh's founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won the 11th parliamentary elections in December last year with a landslide victory even as Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party rejected the polls marred with violence that claimed 18 lives, making it one of the deadliest polls in the country.

The Awami League chief was pitted against a united opposition Jatiya Oikya Front (United National Front) led by octogenarian Kamal Hossain, an Oxford-educated jurist and former foreign minister.

Her arch-rival ex-premier and BNP chief Khaleda Zia, who has been serving a 17-year sentence for corruption, was barred from contesting the polls.

Asked about her plans about the rest of her tenure, Hasina said the fight against poverty will continue to be her first priority.

"Food security, housing, education, healthcare, job opportunities; these are basic needs. Every human being wants a better life We have to ensure that," she said.
By Robin Emmott and Lesley Wroughton MUNICH/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S.

By Robin Emmott and Lesley Wroughton

MUNICH/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence accused Iran of Nazi-like anti-Semitism on Friday, maintaining his harsh rhetoric against Tehran just a day he attacked European powers for trying to undermine U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

After visiting the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, Pence said the Nazi death camp had made him more determined to confront Tehran, saying it was "breathing out murderous threats, with the same vile anti-Semitic hatred that animated the Nazis in Europe."

Iran's ancient Jewish community has slumped to an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 from 85,000 at the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but is believed to be the biggest in the Middle East outside Israel.

Pence, who said he was deeply moved by his Auschwitz visit, cited Iran's stated desire to destroy Israel as justification for singling out the country, rather than focusing on anti-Semitism across the Middle East.

Iranian Brigadier General Hossein Salami, deputy head of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said in January Iran's strategy was to wipe "the Zionist regime" (Israel) off the political map, Iran's state TV reported.

"For me it simply strengthens my resolve ... to stand strong against Iran," Pence told reporters on his Air Force Two plane before arriving in Munich.

The United States is seeking to isolate Tehran and reimposed economic sanctions last year after pulling out of the landmark 2015 Iran accord with world powers that prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

However, the tougher stance comes as the European Union is trying to keep the nuclear deal alive and has developed a mechanism to open a channel to continue to trade with Iran, bringing sharp criticism of Brussels from Pence on Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the EU's top diplomat discussed global conflicts but largely avoided the issue of Iran on Friday.

Pompeo's meeting with Federica Mogherini, the European Union's foreign policy chief, was scheduled before Pence's rebuke of European powers, during a Middle East peace conference in Warsaw on Thursday. Mogherini missed the Warsaw conference, citing a scheduling conflict at NATO.

Mogherini shook off a question seeking her reaction to Pence's Thursday speech. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said the vice president's remarks were not raised during the hour-long meeting, which he said was friendly and constructive.

They also did not talk about the Iran nuclear deal, although they did discuss Iran's "destabilising activities and the need to counter them," he said.

A spokeswoman for Mogherini said the talks with Pompeo had focused on Venezuela, Syria, Afghanistan, the Korean peninsula, Ukraine and the Western Balkans.

Pence's unusually tough words on Thursday for allies Germany, France and Britain reflect Washington's strategy of isolating Iran, and are likely to further strain transatlantic relations.

In a speech on Friday evening in Munich with European and U.S. officials, lawmakers and diplomats, Pence said: I bring you greetings from the 45th president of the United States, President Donald Trump. He paused for applause. The room was silent for a very long moment.

ISOLATING IRAN

Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Tehran accepted curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions.

On Thursday, speaking at NATO before Pence's comments, Mogherini said upholding the deal was vital to European security because it prevented Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

European countries say they share U.S. concerns about Iran's involvement in wars in Yemen and Syria but that withdrawing from the nuclear deal was a mistake. They have promised to try to salvage the deal as long as Iran continues to abide by it. In practice, European companies have accepted new U.S. sanctions on Iran and abandoned plans to invest there.

France, Germany and Britain have agreed on a new channel for non-dollar trade with Iran to avert U.S. sanctions. That will likely take months to open, however, and is expected to be used only for smaller trade such as humanitarian products or food.

Mogherini and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Friday defended the nuclear accord with Iran at the Munich Security Conference despite Washington's repeated attacks against the bloc for keeping to the deal.

France's Foreign Minister questioned Washington's policy in northeastern Syria saying it contradicted its tough stance on Tehran because a U.S. withdrawal would only reinforce Iran.

"We hate what Iran is doing in Syria. We hate what Hezbollah is doing in Lebanon. We hate what Iran is doing with the Houthis in Yemen and militias elsewhere. We hate what they have been doing in Europe and we're extremely preoccupied with its ballistic missile programme," said a European official.

"We're very lucid and extremely vigilant on all that, but Iran has kept its side of the nuclear deal and isn't building a nuclear weapon and that is vital to all our security interests."

(Additional reporting by John Irish in Munich and Parisa Hafezi in Dubai; Editing by Toby Chopra)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
tech2 News Staff

HMD Global, the company that revived the Nokia brand is expanding its audio portfolio in India. The Finnish company has launched the Nokia True Wireless Buds, its new range of Nokia-branded earphones that they launched last year.

Following in the footsteps of Apple and Samsung, Nokia is the latest brand to join the wireless earphones suite. The new Nokia True Wireless Earbuds will be available for a price of Rs 9,999. The earphones will be available for purchase via offline stores. Notably, HMD Globals Head of Social Media recently announced that the Nokia True Wireless Earbuds have received an iFDesign Award this year 2019.

Nokia True Wireless Earbuds feature a classy all-black cylindrical design. The charging case that can charge up the wireless earbuds up to three times. The Nokia True Wireless Earbuds are claimed to provide up to 3.5 hours of playback and 4 hrs of talk time on a single charge. The lightweight wireless earbuds come in a single black variant.

It gives me immense pleasure to announce that Nokia True Wireless Earbuds have been honored with the iFDesign Award 2019! #ExpectMore #Nokiamobile

Check it out here - https://t.co/GzmylxoQEc. pic.twitter.com/Hu8cvy4kpA  Edoardo Cassina (@ecassina) February 14, 2019

As per the product description listed on Nokias website, the earphones, when the case is fully charged, can provide up to 14 hours of playback time and 16 hours of talk time. The True Wireless Earbuds can offer up to 70 hours of standby time. The earphones have an IPX4 sweat and water resistance rating (they're not waterproof) and come with a push-button spring release system. It supports Bluetooth v5.0 and includes an LED charge indicator and a USB-C port on the charging case.

To recall, the Nokia True Wireless Earbuds were launched alongside the Nokia 7.1, the first smartphone from the company that came with PureDisplay screen technology.
The organization also ensures a steady supply of young professionals to meet the growing demands of the science and technology of agriculture, Weaver said  and the career and technical education offers individuals lifetime opportunities to learn new skills, which can provide them with career choices and life satisfaction.
Reuters

Apple Inc said Thursday that it will resume selling older iPhone models in its stores in Germany, where they were banned last year due to a patent infringement ruling.

The iPhones will be sold in Germany only with chips from Qualcomm Inc, instead of a mix of chips from Qualcomm and Intel Corp. Qualcomm is in a global legal battle against Cupertino-based Apple over patent licensing, and the German case was part of the chip suppliers efforts to rack up smaller wins ahead of a major lawsuit with Apple that goes to trial in April in San Diego. Qualcomm last year also won a ban on sales of some iPhones in China.

Apple said it had no choice but to stop using some chips from Intel Corp in iPhones headed to Germany in order to comply with the patent infringement ruling.

Qualcomm, the worlds biggest supplier of mobile chips, sued Apple in Germany alleging that some older iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models violated Qualcomm patents around so-called envelope tracking, a feature that helps mobile phones save battery power while sending and receiving wireless signals. The alleged patent violation stemmed not from Intel chips but yet another Apple supplier  Qorvo Inc  whose chip was only present in older phones with Intel modems.

The court sided with Qualcomm and banned sales of some iPhone models that used Intel modem chips, leading Apple to pull the devices from its 15 retail stories in Germany and its online store in the country.

The ban was a victory in Qualcomms legal conflict with Apple.

The iPhone maker has alleged that Qualcomm engaged in illegal patent licensing practices to protect a monopoly on so-called modem chips, which connect mobile phones to wireless data networks. Qualcomm has in turn alleged that Apple has infringed its patents. A major case between the two goes to trial in the United States in April.

Apple began phasing in Intels modem chips in 2016 after years of using chips exclusively from Qualcomm. In last years iPhone models, Apple dropped Qualcomms chips completely in favor of Intels.

But Qualcomm has continued to supply Apple with chips for older models, and Apple on Thursday said it would use only those for German iPhone 7 and 8 models.

Qualcomm is attempting to use injunctions against our products to try to get Apple to succumb to their extortionist demands, Apple said in a statement to Reuters.

Qualcomm and Qorvo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Newer iPhones with Intel chips remain on sale in Germany.

Intels modem products are not involved in this lawsuit and are not subject to this or any other injunction, Steven Rodgers, Intels general counsel, said in a statement.
Reuters

Amazon.com Inc abruptly scrapped plans to build a major outpost in New York that could have created 25,000 jobs, blaming opposition from local leaders upset by the nearly $3 billion in incentives promised by state and city politicians.

The company said on Thursday it did not see consistently positive, collaborative relationships with state and local officials. Opponents of the project feared congestion and higher rents in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, and objected to handing billions in incentives to a company run by Jeff Bezos, the worlds richest man.

State Senator Michael Gianaris, who represents Queens and was a vocal critic of the deal, told a news conference on Thursday that the Amazon subsidies were unnecessary.

This was a shakedown, pure and simple, he said.

Amazons sudden pullout from New York City prompted finger pointing by Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo, the politicians who crafted the deal. Cuomo angrily blamed the loss on local politicians while de Blasio blamed Amazon.

Cuomo said in a statement that a small group of politicians had put their own narrow political interests above those of New Yorkers.

The year-long search for its so-called HQ2 culminated in Amazon picking Northern Virginia and New York after hundreds of municipalities, from Newark, N.J. to Indianapolis competed for the coveted tax-dollars and high-wage jobs the project promised.

Amazon said it would not conduct a new headquarters search and would focus on growing at other existing and planned offices. The company already has more than 5,000 employees in New York City and plans to continue to hire there, Amazon said on Thursday.

A Siena College Poll conducted earlier this month found 56 percent of registered voters in New York supported the Amazon deal, while 36 percent opposed it.

City Shakedown

Some New Yorkers mounted protests after the deal was announced, angered by the $2.8 billion in incentives promised to Amazon and fearing further gentrification in a neighborhood once favored by artists looking for cheap studio space.

U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a critic of the project and a self-described democratic socialist whose district spans parts of Queens and the Bronx, cheered the reversal by the worlds third most valuable public company.

Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazons corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world, she wrote on Twitter.

People briefed on the decision said Amazon had made the decision early on Thursday amid rising concerns about the small vocal minority. The people said Amazon will not shift any of the planned jobs to Tennessee where an operations hub is planned or Virginia, but plans to grow its existing network of locations.

Amazon had not acquired land for the project, making it easy to scrap its plans, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday.

Lost Opportunity

In a statement, de Blasio blamed Amazon for failing to address local criticism.

We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world, he said. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity.

Some long-time residents in Long Island City, which sits across the East River from midtown Manhattans skyscrapers, feared being forced out by rising rents and untenable pressure on already overburdened subway and sewage systems. High-rise towers have sprouted across the neighborhood in recent years.

This is a stunning development, with Amazon essentially giving in to vocal critics, said Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com. The about-turn could spook other companies thinking about expanding in New York, he added.

Alphabet Incs Google has avoided competitions between cities for offices, and its growing presence in lower Manhattan has met with little serious blowback.

Google said in December it plans to invest more than $1 billion on a new campus in New York to double its current headcount of more than 7,000 people.

I think the (Amazon) PR event turned out to be a mistake, said Jason Benowitz, senior portfolio manager at the Roosevelt Investment Group, who owns Amazon shares.

Really Good Poker Players

Hours before the announcement, Amazon officials in New York betrayed no knowledge of the deals cancellation when they met with local community members on Thursday morning, said Kenny Greenberg, a neon artist and member of Long Island Citys community board.

Either they are really good poker players or they were not aware, Greenberg said of the Amazon representatives. There was no hint of this at all.

The meeting with Amazon officials had been held to answer concerns from the community about labor conditions for Amazons warehouse and delivery workers and the companys opposition to labor unions.

U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat whose district includes the proposed site, lamented the loss of jobs and new revenues.

This is not the Valentine that NY needed, she wrote, adding that she had been ready to push for changes to the deal to address local concerns.
Prakash Mallya

Its that time of year again. The 2019 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, just ended. The worlds most influential leaders descended on the Swiss town of Davos to discuss some of the most pertinent issues facing our civilization today.

This years focus was on 'Shaping a New Architecture' for the 'Next Wave of Globalisation'  and the conversations covered political, economic and technological changes that are shaping the world. Over 3,000 business and political leaders, social activists, and futurists congregated to discuss topics ranging from free trade versus protectionism, trust in technology, to the impact of innovation and the future of work.

What was especially interesting for me was that conversations on technology have started featuring in every dialogue, not just as a future trend but as a real-world imperative. Here are some of the key takeaways from this years WEF, which I think will continue to be the topic of discussion this year and beyond:

Globalisation

Globalisation has enabled tremendous growth and transformation around the world. The world is now in the throes of the fourth wave of globalisation  one that is digital-driven. Blurring the lines between the physical and digital, globalisation 4.0 is based on the integration of new and emerging technologies. If all previous waves were about the trade in goods, then the next one is about digitally-enabled services. This has a huge potential to bring about a positive disruption in the way businesses function. Companies need to look at how they will re-align their style of working in this new world order and work towards enhancing their offerings for customers.

Artificial Intelligence

Any discussion on the present and future state of the world is incomplete without Artificial Intelligence. This technology has taken the world by storm with its ground-breaking implications. It has gone from being sci-fi to showcasing real-world application. Innovation in artificial intelligence is giving rise to computing systems that can see, hear, learn and reason, creating new opportunities to improve sectors like education and healthcare, address poverty and achieve more sustainable businesses in the future. Making it natural that many governments, companies and individuals would want it and be able to leverage it, to build solutions to drive productivity, economic growth and solve societal problems. But, this also raises complex questions about the impact this will have on various aspects of our society: jobs, privacy, safety, inclusiveness and fairness. We are entering a realm when computers make more and more decisions that affect human lives.

5G wireless network

Shifting to 5G from 4G will be a boost to the economy-defining industries. Business models that are powered by 5G are already changing globally. It is also interesting to note that 5G possesses unique characteristics, making it socially as well as economically transformative. These include low latency, fast speeds, connection capability and reliability. To reap the benefits of 5G, governments and enterprises need to act quickly to leverage its immense benefits. Here it is also important for policy to get updated in tandem with innovation, to build a conducive business environment for the future.

Emerging Technologies

Though within financial institutions, digitization is making dramatic changes, there is still a long way to go to adopt the scale and depth of these changes. Emerging technologies, in particular, will drive significant growth in the financial sector. Taking the example of artificial intelligence again, financial services organizations will benefit greatly when it comes to better predicting customer needs and enabling more personalized offerings.

Blockchain has also emerged as a promising technology, especially in the financial sector. Cloud and edge computing have evolved extensively to become more sophisticated than ever before, with companies and governments the world over reaping benefits.

Importance of reskilling

Finally, I want to stress the importance of reskilling. As newer and emerging technologies transform business models worldwide, there is an urgent need to get the workforce equipped with a new set of skills. The next wave of globalization will provide a platform to fast track this reskilling process.

While there were several other issues, challenges and opportunities discussed at WEF, these were some that deeply resonated as we continue on our journey to collaborate with our ecosystem and deliver real-world impact from technology innovation.

Editor's note: This article was originally published by Prakash Mallya on LinkedIn on 5 February. The article has been republished here with the permission of the author.

Prakash Mallya is the Vice President, Sales and Marketing Group, Intel India.
tech2 News Staff

As the days tick by, we are still awaiting news for the official release of online gaming sensation PUBG Mobile's Zombie mode. Made in association with the developers of the Resident Evil 2 reboot, the mod has been available for beta testers for some time now, giving us a glimpse of what to expect from the mode. Now it seems we have some confirmation as to when Tencent, developer of PUBG Mobile, plans on releasing the update.

PUBG Mobile leaker Mr Ghost Gaming, who has been right in his earlier leaks, has said that the PUBG Mobile servers are said to go offline from 18 February for maintenance. We know that every time PUBG goes under maintenance, it is usually to bring us a new update.

Now Mr Ghost hasn't stated that the Zombie update is the reason for this maintenance, but since PUBG Mobile's Twitter page has been teasing the mode for some time, we can assume that on 19 February, when the servers come back online, is the day PUBG Mobile Zombies would release officially.

However, Mr Ghost has also said that Zombie mode will be a temporary update and will be removed after a certain amount of time. He also mentions that a new Killcam feature could also be coming which shows how you were killed by the enemy.

We recommend you to take this information with a pinch of salt as there has been no confirmation about the update's arrival. The update is imminent.

We shall keep you apprised of any new developments on PUBG Mobile.
Overdrive

BMW Motorrad India has started the teaser campaign to announce the launch of the new generation S 1000 RR in India. While the German premium motorcycle manufacturer has still not disclosed a particular date of launch, it is expected to happen soon. We did reach out to BMW Motorrad dealerships in India to get more details and they have confirmed that bookings for the 2019 BMW S1000 RR have commenced in the country for a token amount of Rs 1 lakh. The deliveries in India are expected to take place from June 2019 onward. BMW Motorrad will be bringing the 2019 S 1000 RR into the country via the CBU route.

Answer the call of the road. Get your riding gear ready for a thrill unlike any youve experienced before. The all-new BMW Motorrad #S1000RR is on its way to India. Stay tuned. #MakeLifeARide #BMWMotorradIndia pic.twitter.com/6IIgWMIstF  BMWMotorrad_IN (@BMWMotorrad_IN) February 10, 2019

The new-generation BMW S 1000 RR was showcased at the EICMA 2018 show. The superbike gets a slimmer profile for the tank and the seat which, as claimed by BMW Motorrad, has improved the seating geometry for both track and road use. The new chassis is suspended by a new suspension that claims better handling and traction performance. As before, the S 1000 RR can also be optioned with an electronic suspension which now features an improved valve control technology for quicker operation on the track.

Powered by a new in-line four-cylinder engine now, which is 4kg lighter and like the R 1250 GS, boasts of BMW's new ShiftCam variable valve timing tech on the intake port. The latter should theoretically help in quicker outright and in-gear acceleration, though BMW hasn't shared any official performance figures yet. That said, BMW hints that the third-generation S 1000 RR will be at least a second faster on the lap times as compared to the outgoing model. To that effect, the new S 1000 RR boasts of a better power to weight ratio of ~1,051PS/tonne compared to ~957PS/tonne of the outgoing bike. The new S 1000 RR puts out 207PS of peak power and up to 100Nm of torque is available between 5,500 and 14,500rpm, while the weight is down to 197kg (193.5 with the M Package). The exhaust system has shaved another 1.3kg and looks leaner than its outgoing counterpart.

The 2019 BMW S 1000 RR will compete with the likes of the Aprilia RSV4, Yamaha R1, Kawasaki ZX-10R, Honda Fireblade and the Ducati Panigale V4.
The fact of the matter is that Hindus are recipients of the biggest appeasement. The BJP talks about minority appeasement because it helps the party build a robust Hindu vote bank.

During and after the 2014 parliamentary elections, Narendra Modi promised Muslims that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would evolve into an inclusive party. His slogan Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (Together with all, development for all) promoted his inclusive vision. Development is only possible when Muslim youth will hold Quran in one hand, he had promised, and computer in the other. He budgeted '100 crore for madrassas and spoke against instant triple talaq, a social evil in this day and ageand his actions resonated with Muslim women.

Cut to Adilabad on November 28, when BJP national president Amit Shah lashed out against KCR administrations minority appeasement in Telangana. Minority is a weapon thats unleashed against Muslims though there are other social and religious groups. BJP leaders are targeting Muslims, propagating the view that there is a premium on minorities, and that the community benefits from minority appeasement. This is utter rubbish. The appeasement is of Islamic clerics, not Muslims at large.

The fact of the matter is that Hindus are recipients of the biggest appeasement. The BJP talks about minority appeasement because it helps the party build a robust Hindu vote bank. In 2017, though Yogi Adityanath gave 100 per cent subsidy for the Mansarovar Yatra, the BJP accused Muslims of getting Haj subsidy, which, in reality, went to Air India. If Muslims arent compelled to travel by Air India, the Haj will cost much less.

Madhya Pradesh provides subsidy for Hindu pilgrimages. Ditto for Rajasthan, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Shah, whose party aggressively promotes majoritarianism, accuses his rivals of indulging in minority politics. But the BJP has used hot socio-political issues like nikah halala and triple talaq to consolidate its Hindu vote-bank.

In his 2017 booklet Why is BJP in Politics?, Shah wrote: A political partys character can become known also from its leaders. So, lets judge the BJPs character from its leaders utterances. BJPs Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj has called for razing of Delhis Jama Masjid. Rajasthan minister Jaswant Yadav made a direct poll pitch during his campaign in the Assembly elections, which concluded on November 28. If youre a Hindu, vote for me, and if youre a Muslim vote, for the Congress, he said.

Union minister Giriraj Singh subscribes to a similar toxic view that the Muslims should go to Pakistan and has dubbed Deobands Darul Uloom as a temple of terrorism. BJPs Aligarh MP Satish Gautam has accused the Aligarh Muslim University of propagating Taliban ideology. Many of these BJP members are elected lawmakers. Anti-Muslim propaganda and hate speeches have gained legitimacy and currency during the BJP rule.

Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas is the proverbial elephants teeth, meant to be displayed in public as an electoral rhetoric. When Modi was Gujarat chief minister, he ensured systematic exclusion of Muslims from political life. Under him, the BJP did not give a single ticket to Muslim candidates for either Lok Sabha or Assembly elections. After he became Prime Minister, the BJP persisted with a similar policy barring exceptions such as in Jammu and Kashmir.

Recently, a Jain family left a Muslim-dominated neighbourhood of Pune because their child went out with Muslim children and ate chicken. Muslims and Hindus stand deeply divided in towns across India because of entrenched societal biases. In case of Gujarat, the BJP government has forced Muslims to live in ghettos. The BJP expanded the scope of Disturbed Areas Act in towns, preventing Muslims from buying property in Hindu areas. Similarly, Hindus shun Muslim-dominated areas like the plague. In Uttar Pradesh, towns are being divided along religious lines. Exclusion equals racism. Modi appointed Yogi Adityanath as the UP chief minister despite the latters bigotry: If they (Muslims) kill one Hindu, we will kill hundred. No wonder, the cow vigilantes attack on Muslims is a logical culmination.

Read counterview: Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas mantra rules out religious inequality

The BJP leaders have refused to unequivocally condemn the growing incidents of cow vigilantism. Both the BJP and the Congress have failed the minorities, be they Muslims, Dalits or women. Muhammadiyah, the oldest religious organisation in Indonesia, runs 177 universities and over 1,000 schools  but these dont cater to Muslims alone.

Unless women become emirs of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, and run modern schools for all, it is criminal for Muslims to think political parties can engineer their progress.

Tufail Ahmad is a former BBC journalist and senior fellow at Middle East Media Research Institute, Washington DC
The latest episode in Karnatakas nataka is about an 80-minute audio tape which supposedly exposes BJPs unabashed attempts to buy up MLAs of the Congress-JD(S) coalition.

In the year 965, Odin, the king of Asgard, wages war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim and their leader Laufey, to stop them from taking over the nine realms, starting with Earth. Odin has two sons: Thor and Loki. Only one of them can take his place on the throne of Asgard. Loki asks the villain Laufey to kill his father. But his real intention is to slay Laufey as he enters Odins bedroom and then pretend to be a hero.

This is the plot of the 2011 American superhero film Thor. As we move from Asgard to Karnataka, in the ruling alliance of Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) there arent too may Thors, but Lokis around. What happens as a result is the states worst-kept secret. First, there is always trouble within the Congress. Then there is more trouble when it attempts to uncover who made the original trouble.

In the confusion, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) steps in, apparently with suitcases of money to seduce MLAs and kick out the government. Then troublemakers turn trouble-shooters and frustrate the BJPs plans, looking like knights in shining armour saving damsels in distress.

And just when everything appears like a they-lived-happily-ever-after ending of Mills & Boon pulp, it suddenly turns into the climax of an Arabian Nights tale: "They lived happily until there came to them the one who destroys happiness."

The latest episode in Karnatakas nataka is about an 80-minute audio tape which supposedly exposes BJPs unabashed attempts to buy up MLAs of the Congress-JD(S) coalition. The saffrons ended with planet-sized eggs on faces and made clumsy attempts to wriggle out of the allegation. This time, it was the alliance which had the last laughthe expose got four rebels of Congress, one of JD(S) and an Independent back to the coalition, saved the government from collapsing and apparently raised the hackles of BJP president Amit Shah.

Though its advantage Congress-JD(S) alliance for now, the underlying factors that contribute to the continuing drama are unlikely to change.

Theatre of the absurd

Ever since the Congress-JD(S) alliance was hastily stitched together after the May 2018 elections, the government has been tottering from one existential crisis to another so fast that it looks like one long, horrible nightmare for chief minister HD Kumaraswamy.

The dramatis personae of the Karnataka thriller are:

- HD Kumaraswamy of JD(S), who is sitting on the edge of the chief minister's chair precariously, not knowing when he will fall. By exposing the incriminating audio tape, he is one-up for now, but that doesnt guarantee his happiness for long. He has been openly venting frustration over his partys coalition with the Congress, shedding tears in public, complaining that he had been reduced to being a "clerk" and threatening to throw it all away and go home, though nobody believes him.

- Siddaramaiah of the Congress, the former chief minister (2013-18), now the head of a coordination committee meant to ensure the coalitions smooth functioning. He cant, however, stomach the fact that Kumaraswamy, the son of his one-time mentor and current arch-rival, HD Deve Gowda, is the chief minister. Expelled from the JD(S), Siddaramaiah joined the Congress in 2006. Though Siddaramaiah is seen primarily as a troublemaker, he formally declared himself to be a trouble-shooter last year. See this tweet:

Siddaramaiah

@siddaramaiah

I have been made the leader of coordination committee to be the troubleshooter for the coalition govt. I'll not allow anyone to destabilize the govt. Our govt will complete full 5 year term. People have very good opinion and farm loan waiver is being appreciated by all.@INCKarnataka

2:56 PM - Sep 30, 2018

- Congress leader and minister DK Shivakumar, who does everything he can to stop Siddaramaiah from giving the government a tumble. One of Indias richest politicians, "DKS" is a celebrated trouble-shooter with a successful track record in keeping the partys flock intact in five-star resorts when their loyalties become negotiable or when rivals try to nick them.

- BS Yeddyurappa, the state BJP president, who is in a hurry to have a final go at the chief minister's post. He is 76. His three earlier terms were badly truncatedthe first lasted seven days (2007); the second, three years (2008-11) and the third for six days (2018). Many BJP leaders dont share his gung-ho spirit for toppling the government and instead want to focus on the upcoming Lok Sabha election. But Yeddy is unstoppable.

Its easy to see that the genesis of even the latest trouble lies squarely in Congress. A 22 December cabinet expansion left so many legislators disgruntled that they became easy prey for the BJP. But when the prey is sitting on the fence and winking at the predator, you begin to wonder who is up to what mischief.

The discontent was chiefly caused by the fact that Siddaramaiahs supporters had the major advantage in the cabinet expansion. Some MLAs supporting him later went to the extent of attacking Kumaraswamy publicly, leading to the impression of a tottering government.

For the time being, the tape has shifted focus from the coalitions internal wrangling to the BJPs wooing of MLAs. It has voices, allegedly of Yeddyurappa and two BJP MLAs, wooing a JD(S) legislator (through his son) with money and claiming to have taken care of the Assembly Speaker and "judges".

After rubbishing the whole thing as fake, Yeddyurappa later said he had indeed met the MLAs son, but claimed that the incriminating parts of the conversation had been made up.

Considering the legal and technical uncertainties over forensic investigations authenticating recorded voices, the inquiry that Kumaraswamy has ordered may not end in a hurry.

Tapeworms

There have been tapes of this kind in the past, supposedly incriminating leaders of the BJP, JD(S) and Congress. Parties have being hurling tapes at each other like gangsters exchange fire.

The history of 'tapeworms' biting into Karnatakas politics goes back 36 years. Yes, we are talking about the "Moily tapes" of 1983 that stunned the whole nation. It was an audio recording with a voice, purportedly of Congress leader Veerappa Moily, trying to entice an MLA with Rs 2 lakh to topple the Janata Party government of Ramakrishna Hegde. It was four years later that Moily was exonerated for insufficient evidence.

If the latest tapes seem like a colossal blunder by the BJP, it is. But nobody can be sure what legal turn the Yeddyurappa tapes will take.

Now that the government is safe, for the time being, its once again a case of arsonists claiming to be firefighters.

Wait for the next sequel.
The Pakistan-based JeM has claimed responsibility for the attack that left at least 37 personnel dead and many critically wounded. The experts said the terror strike shows the United States has failed to persuade Pakistan to act against Jaish-e-Mohammad and other terrorist groups.

Washington: The involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammad in Thursday's terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir has raised serious questions about the role of the Pakistani spy agency, ISI, in it, American experts on South Asia have said. The Pakistan-based JeM has claimed responsibility for the attack that left at least 37 personnel dead and many critically wounded.

The experts said the terror strike shows the United States has failed to persuade Pakistan to act against Jaish-e-Mohammad and other terrorist groups. "The self-proclaimed involvement of JeM in the attack raises serious questions about the role of the ISI in supporting the masterminds of this operation," Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst, told PTI.

The terrorist attack, which has direct footprints inside Pakistan, poses the first major challenges to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, said Riedel, who is now a scholar at the Brookings Institute think-tank. "This will be a real challenge for Imran Khan, the first serious challenge of his administration," he said. Anish Goel, a former National Security Council official in the previous Obama administration, said the horrific attack highlights just how actively Pakistan-based terrorist groups still operate in Kashmir.

By claiming such quick credit for the attack, Jaish-e-Mohammed is clearly indicating that they will continue to cause trouble in the region and stoke tensions between Pakistan and India, he said. In the wake of this attack, there will likely be increased pressure on Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi to take action against all militant groups still active in Kashmir," said Goel.

Alyssa Ayres from the Council on Foreign Relations said, "Unfortunately, the attack also shows the limits of US and international policy efforts to date to persuade Pakistan to take serious action against these groups. The urgent question is what else the international community can do. According to Moeed Yusuf from the US Institute of Peace, the current situation has all the making of an India-Pakistan crisis.

Narendra Modi cannot take it lying down but Pakistan isn't going to be able to absorb any Indian action either. Things are simply too tense between India and Pakistan, he said. Ironically, the biggest deterrent to any escalation is the presence of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman in the region, he said.

"Salman arrives in Pakistan on Friday and is coming to India too. His visit will be seriously overshadowed. The Saudi relationship is too important for either side to want that to happen," he noted.

I think the damage to India-Pakistan relations is going to be immense even if the situation doesn't escalate. The hope was that India and Pakistan will get back to talking after the 2019 general elections in India. I think the hawks on both sides are going to make it very difficult for that to happen now, Yusuf said.

Terrorist attacks as in Kashmir are not possible without an ideology or theology that justifies terrorism and brainwashes its followers that massacring others leads a person to paradise. The terrorist mindset must be removed along with the terrorist infrastructure on the ground, said noted Hindu scholar David Frawley. The latest attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed is another example of how Pakistan's intelligence services continue to sponsor terrorist incursions into India, Washington-based Hindu American Foundation said.

While it's heartening to see that a wide swath of the international community is unequivocally condemning the attack, such statements of solidarity must be backed up by actions which help bring to an end the ability of such terrorist groups to kill with impunity and destabilize the region, the foundation said. Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP)-USA in a statement demanded that United Nations designate Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

China should be ashamed of itself in blocking Azhar's ban at the UN. Indian diaspora demands that if Pakistan is sincere in seeking peace with India, it should arrest Maulana Masood Azhar and his cohorts and disband all terrorist organisations station in Pakistan. "Pakistan is a pariah nation anyhow and if it wants to exist in the real world, it should not play games, resort to lies, and abet terrorism. It should get rid of all terrorist organization from its soil, it said.
William Barr served as attorney general before, under President George HW Bush, and Republicans said hes the perfect pick to take the helm again.

The Senate confirmed William P Barr as the new attorney general on Thursday, giving President Trump a new top cop and special counsel Robert Mueller a new overseer.

The vote was 54-45, with only a few Democrats voting in favor, and just one Republican opposed. "A major victory for justice and the rule of law in America," said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Barr will be sworn in on Thursday afternoon at the White House. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G Roberts Jr will administer the oath of office. Barr served as attorney general before, under President George HW Bush, and Republicans said hes the perfect pick to take the helm again.

Senator Charles E Grassley, Iowa Republican, described Barr as "a straight shooter and an individual who is wiling to engage in a productive discussion with Congress."

Democrats, however, raised concerns about how hell handle the Mueller investigation. They fear he may prevent disclosure of the special counsels eventual conclusions. "When special counsel Muellers investigation concludes, the American people will deserve to know the facts, including information about the presidents conduct, Senator Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat, said in a statement after the vote.

"Despite repeated questions and follow-up letters he failed to respond to, Bill Barr refused to commit to allowing the American people to see the full report submitted to him by special counsel Mueller. I consider that disqualifying."

During his confirmation hearing, Barr refused to make an ironclad guarantee he would release Muellers final report, but he did say he considers Mueller a friend and has pledged to let him finish his work.

Barr is the third man in less than six months to serve as attorney general. He is replacing acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who was named to the position after Trump axed former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in November.

Media reports say that Barr has visited the Justice Department and has had discussions about his choices to fill the second and third positions at the department.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to step down shortly after Barr takes the reins. The Senate would need to confirm a replacement for Rosenstein, who made headlines Thursday when former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe alleged that Rosenstein offered to wear a wire during meetings with Trump.
Cpl. Shawn Vinson, a police department spokesman, said the department was not aware of any particular trend or reason behind the increase in aggravated assaults last year. He said people should be aware of their surroundings, call 911 if they see anything suspicious and not display any valuables on their person or in parked vehicles.
(CNN)  Get ready for more Anna and Elsa.

Six years after their mega-successful "Frozen" hit theaters, Disney dropped the first trailer for the sequel.

The teaser to the upcoming animated film shows Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel) plunging into a dark and stormy ocean while trying to turn it into ice.

Fans can rest assured that their favorite characters are back: Princess Anna (Kristen Bell), Olaf (Josh Gad), Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and of course, Sven the reindeer.

"Frozen 2" follows one of the most successful animated movie in Disney's history. The original 2013 film was a global phenomenon, earning more than $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office.

Related: 'Frozen' hits $1 billion mark at worldwide box office

The film also won two Oscars, including best animated feature.

"Frozen" then got even bigger by becoming a huge franchise for Disney via endless merchandising and a hit soundtrack led by Menzel's infectious "Let It Go," which went on to sell over 3 million copies by the summer of 2014, making it one of the top albums of the year. The film was also made into a Broadway show and even a theme park ride at Disney World.

"Frozen 2" hits theaters November 22.

This story was first published on CNN.com "The 'Frozen 2' trailer is finally here"
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine a plea challenging the appointment of 1982 batch IAS officer SR Mohanty as chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh, on grounds that he was allegedly involved in a corruption case pertaining to state industrial development corporation.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine a plea challenging the appointment of 1982 batch IAS officer SR Mohanty as chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh, on grounds that he was allegedly involved in a corruption case pertaining to state industrial development corporation.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Sanjiv Khanna issued a notice to the Centre and sought its reply in six weeks.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for petitioner Manohar Dalal, said that the present case demonstrates a glaring abuse of power by Mohanty. He also pointed out that abuse of power gets established by the fact that Director General (DG) of Economic Offences Wing (EOW) who was probing the corruption case against him was removed on 2 January, immediately after Mohanty took charge as chief secretary on 31 December, 2018.

Singh said the DG of EOW was appointed only six months before that but was replaced.

The petitioner had sought directions for quashing Mohanty's appointment and a fresh departmental inquiry against him.

Dalal also sought transfer of the case registered by EOW against Mohanty to CBI for further investigation. He sought that a fresh departmental inquiry be held under the supervision of a retired judge of the apex court or the high court.

The petitioner, a practising advocate in the Madhya pradesh High Court, said that Mohanty is also required to be shifted from the critical and important post of Chief Secretary as was done in the corruption case against Neera Yadav, who was chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh. "During his tenure as the Managing Director of MPSIDC from 2000-2004, SR Mohanty disbursed loans in violation of the decisions of the state government and contrary to Article of Association of MPSIDC," the plea said.

It added that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in its 2003 report had pointed out that MPSIDC which was under Mohanty, illegally disbursed financial assistance without the approval of the state government and contrary to the provisions of Article of Association.

Referring to a report by Raghav Chandra, who was the successor to Mohanty in the MPSIDC, the plea said that he had pointed out that Mohanty disbursed Rs 91.57 crore to 18 borrowers, of which some were fake companies. The state government then sent a report to the state EOW which on detailed inquiry registered FIR in 2004 against 84 persons including Mohanty for abusing his official position by conniving with private companies and had caused loss to the state government.

"Despite serious corruption case pending against SR Mohanty, the newly elected state government, which came back into power after 15 years, appointed him as the chief secretary of the state of Madhya Pradesh on 31 December, 2018," it said.

It said that before the appointment of Mohanty as chief secretary, the state government had completed the departmental inquiry, pending against him for 11 years, within one week and exonerated him of all charges.

"The entire inquiry was a farce and concluded post haste only to exonerate SR Mohanty, so that he can be appointed as Chief Secretary," it said, adding that immediately after being appointed Mohanty on 2 January, transferred the Madhu Kumar as DG of EOW and replaced him with a new officer.

"The state government has decided that through newly appointed director general of EOW, it would withdraw the corruption charges against SR Mohanty pending before the competent court," the plea said.

It further said that the state government has also decided to withdraw a case against Mohanty pending in the apex court. "The closure of such a serious corruption case against senior official would also amount to a miscarriage of justice, who abused his official position and caused loss to the state exchequer", it said.
During the visit to Jammu and Kashmir, Rajnath Singh will take part in a high-level meeting in Srinagar to be attended by Governor Satya Pal Malik and top civil, police and other security officials.

New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh left for Jammu and Kashmir on Friday to take stock of the situation in the state in the wake of a terror attack in Pulwama that killed 42 CRPF personnel, officials said.

He is being accompanied by top home ministry officials.

Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh accompanied by Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, leaves for Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir. pic.twitter.com/hENl912RZG  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

During the visit, Singh will take part in a high-level meeting in Srinagar to be attended by Governor Satya Pal Malik and top civil, police and other security officials. The home minister will take stock of the security situation in the state in view of the terror attack on Thursday, a home ministry official said.

Singh will also pay his last respects to the CRPF jawans who were killed in Pulwama.

Forty-two CRPF personnel were killed and many others injured on Thursday in one of the most deadly terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kilograms of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said those responsible for the attack will pay "a very heavy price" and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists. In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished.

Follow LIVE updates on the Pulwama terror attack
While Omar Abdullah called it as an Pulwama attack 'reminiscent of the dark days of militancy pre 2004-05', PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti condemned the 'madness' that has snuffed out many lives in the Valley.

Following Thursday's terror attack on Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans in Pulwama district of Kashmir, which left at least 42 jawans dead, leaders and politicians from across the spectrum condemned the "cowardly killings". A Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber attacked the CRPF convoy in Pulwama on Thursday by ramming an explosive-laden vehicle.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, and Congress leader Randeep Surjewala reacted to the attack on social media.

The President took to Twitter to condemn the Pulwama attack. "Thoughts and prayers with the families of martyrs and wishing an early recovery to those injured. The entire nation stands united in the fight against the forces of terror and evil," he said.

Modi, in his reaction, wrote, "Attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs. May the injured recover quickly...Spoke to Home Minister Rajnath Singh Ji and other top officials regarding the situation in the wake of the attack in Pulwama."

Attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs. May the injured recover quickly.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 14, 2019

Minister of State for External Affairs General VK Singh condemned the "cowardly" attack and lashed out at the terrorists: "As a soldier and a citizen of India, my blood boils at the spineless and cowardly attacks. Eighteen brave hearts from CRPF laid down their lives in Pulwama. I salute their selfless sacrifice and promise that every drop of our soldier's blood will be avenged," he tweeted. Home Minister Rajnath Singh and finance minister Arun Jaitley also condemned the attack in strong terms:

Todays dastardly attack on crpf in Pulwama (J&K) is extremely painful and disturbing. I bow to each and every CRPF jawan who has sacrificed his life in service to the nation. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured: HM Shri @rajnathsingh   , HMO India (@HMOIndia) February 14, 2019

Union Minister Arun Jaitley termed the incident in Pulwama "condemnable act of terrorists" and said that they will be given an "unforgettable lesson" for the "heinous" act.

Attack on CRPF in #Pulwama, J&K is a cowardice & condemnable act of terrorists. Nation salutes martyred soldiers and we all stand united with families of martyrs. We pray for speedy recovery of the injured. Terrorists will be given unforgettable lesson for their heinous act.  Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) February 14, 2019

Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to express his condolences and prayed for speedy recovery of the injured.

Im deeply disturbed by the cowardly attack on a #CRPF convoy in J&K in which many of our brave CRPF men have been martyred and a large number wounded, some critically. My condolences to the families of our martyrs. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 14, 2019

While the Congress chief steered clear of political comments, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala took a jibe at Modi, saying, "Condemn the cowardly terror attack on our jawans in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir today. Our homage to the 18 brave hearts who made the supreme sacrifice and condolences to their family. Uri, Pathankot, Pulwama- the terror list and compromise of National Security by Modi Govt continues unabated."

Reactions also poured in from politicians from Jammu and Kashmir. While former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called it as an attack "reminiscent of the dark days of militancy pre 2004-05", Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti condemned the "madness" that has snuffed out many lives in the Valley.

Disturbing news coming in from #awantipura . Twelve of our security personnel have been martyred and several have been injured. No words are enough to condemn the gruesome terror attack. How many more lives will be snuffed out before this madness ends?  Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) February 14, 2019

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has also strongly condemned the attack. He conveyed his grief and sympathy to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives due to the attack on CRPF in Pulwama and prayed for early recovery for those injured.

Expressing serious concern, the Governor observed that the forces responsible for insurgency in the state are "desperate and frustrated" and they just want to prove their presence.

Malik has also urged all the Security Forces Commanders to enhance surveillance on every front and directed the District and Divisional Civil and Police Administration to immediately review the security management of all important installations and establishments.

Saluting those killed in the attack, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her condolences to the families of those who lost their lives.

Saddened that 13 CRPF jawans became martyrs today in Pulwama. We salute our brave jawans and extend our solidarity and condolences to their families. Our prayers for those injured. We wish them a speedy recovery  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) February 14, 2019

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also reprimanded the incident and asked everyone to stand united in this moment of grief.

Extremely shocking news coming from Pulwama (J&K). I strongly condemn the terror attack on CRPF convoy in which many casualties are feared. India must stand united in this moment of grief  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 14, 2019

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Lyricist Javed Akhtar and actress Shabana Azmi have turned down an invitation from Karachi Art Council to commemorate Kaifi Azmi, in light of the Pulwama terror attack

Lyricist Javed Akhtar and actress Shabana Azmi have turned down an invitation from Karachi Art Council to commemorate Kaifi Azmi, in light of the Pulwama terror attack that occurred on Thursday. Akhar took to Twitter to reveal the same:

Kranchi art council had invited. Shabana and me for a two day lit conference about Kaifi Azmi and his poetry . We have cancelled that . In 1965 during the indo Pak war Kaifi saheb had written a poem .  AUR PHIR KRISHAN NE ARJUN SE KAHA   Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) February 15, 2019

Shabana Azmi also tweeted about the Pulwama attack, saying there is no way "we can carry on with cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan"

#Pulwama attack There is no way we can carry on with cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan even as our martyrs are laying down their lives for us. I stand in solidarity with the grieving families.  Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) February 15, 2019

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

Several other Bollywood actors took to twitter to condemn the terror attack, calling it "cowardly".
The message in Adil Ahmad Dar's video symbolises the lethality with which the Jaish-e-Muhammad outfit operates and how it can turn a shy village boy into a human bomb.

At school, Adil Ahmad Dar was a shy and introverted student who hardly took an interest in games. According to one of his friends, who didnt wish to be named, he was an average student who remained aloof in the classroom and dropped out after Class 12. He joined Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit in March 2018, police sources said.

Before Dar rammed the SUV vehicle laden with over 300 kg explosives into the CRPF convoy that killed at least 42 paramilitary soldiers, he had recorded a chilling video to condemn the worldly pleasures and glorify war. The message in the video symbolises the lethality with which the Jaish-e-Muhammad outfit operates and how it can turn a shy village boy into a human bomb.

Salute to my people who have not surrendered before the Indian might and have not let down the flag of honour, dignity, valour and Islam, Dar, 18, said in a pre-recorded video that went viral on social media after the attack. We are not begging you to stop your oppression but we will break those arms which have come to suppress us. This action is revenge against the killing of Masood Azhars nephew.

Sources in the security establishment say the horrifying attack also indicates how the Pakistan based proscribed outfit, after facing major setbacks with the killing of its top commander is fast changing the landscape of insurgency in Kashmir.

Most of the Jaish-e-Mohammad cadres have perished after forces launched a massive onslaught against militants in the past couple of years, killing over 250

militants, the highest death toll in a decade including top commanders of various outfits in the region.

Dar alias Waqas, a resident of Gandi-Bagh, Kakapora village in south Kashmir Pulwama district joined Jaish-e-Mohammad on 21 March 2018, along with a trickle of Kashmiri youth who are increasingly drawn towards the ranks of the outfit which is known for carrying out lethal attacks on security forces. After joining the insurgency, three months later, his house was one of the many residential houses allegedly burnt down by security forces in June last year.

After the attack, forces launched a massive crackdown and carried out the door to door searches in many villages of south Kashmir. But the damage was already done. The second such suicide attack carried out by the outfit in the last three decades of insurgency has turned out to be the deadliest. And it is undoubtedly the biggest attack carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammads Afzal Guru squad in terms of security forces casualties.

The manner in which the attack was planned and executed was also the biggest security lapse on part of agencies, as admitted by the Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik.

"We had intelligence inputs but there has been some lapse because we could not detect such a vehicle laden with explosives reaching that spot," Malik said.

The blast took place on the heavily guarded Srinagar-Jammu highway about 20 km from the capital. It is the most heavily guarded highway in the entire country. Given the number of militants associated with Jaish-e-Mohammad, how an attack of this magnitude was carried out has baffled the security agencies.

How Jaish-e-Mohammad was even able to put together a vehicle laden with explosives in south Kashmir where the intelligence grid has improved manifold in recent years is a worrying development. Where from the explosives were obtained and how the bomb was put together is something which needs to be investigated to get to the root of the case, a senior police officer said.

What has increased the worries of the security forces is that no other Kashmiri militant, including the 250 militants who were killed last year, or many others who have died in the last 29 years of insurgency, could pull off an attack of this sort. What those 250 militants could not do, Dar did in a single brutal act that left at least 40 CRPF soldiers dead. Police sources said many of those killed were coming back from holidays. They were travelling in a 78-vehicle convoy that was carrying more than 2,500 paramilitary soldiers.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad was formed in January 2000 by Masood Azhar after he was released in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 1999, following the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814. With his release, the insurgency in Kashmir saw a paradigm shift. Instead of Kalashnikov-wielding men, fidayeen squads of the Jaish-e-Mohammad started rattling the Indian state and its military installations in Kashmir.

After years of calm, the Jaish-e-Mohammad made a comeback at the fag-end of 2013 when its head, Masood Azhar, released 2001 parliament attack convict Afzal Gurus biography called Aina posthumously. In the 240-page book, the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief bats for Guru and trains guns on New Delhi for presenting him as an unemployed, chain-smoking young man whose loyalties can be bought for peanuts.

The outfit floated its Afzal Guru squad a month before the Parliament attack convict's first death anniversary. The squad began attacking the military installations across and outside Kashmir in his name.

A top police officer said on Thursday that if there has been any security lapse on part of the police, those responsible would pay for their misjudgment. It is too early to say anything, he said. But even we are baffled how these guys got their act together. Getting so much of explosives is impossible here, he said.
You don't have to be a military tactician to project scenarios that ensure safety and security in the defence of our troops.

Every Indian worth his or her salt will light a candle in memory of those who died in the Pulwama attack. If not on the window sill, certainly in their hearts. And as India mourns and the government flexes its muscles and hundreds of next of kin soak in grief and loss, it is time for us as a nation to look upon our military as saviours and wake up to the fact that the enemy is at the gate.

The first step that has to be taken is obvious, making observations and statements in the aftermath: easy to say and do, but still valid in the contention that by now we should have been able to create a blue book on how to preempt such an attack. And followed it. You do not have to be a military tactician to project scenarios that ensure safety and security in the defence of our troops.

That strong defence can only come about when the equipment and the wherewithal for these paramilitary contingents gets out of its .303 wooded rifle of the 60s mindset. We are a high-tech nation with the capabilities to give ourselves that sort of protection from hostile elements. In the Pulwama case, a convoy of 78 is massive and would cover over half a kilometre. It does not come together in minutes and organising such a major movement calls for considerable logistical support just getting it together to move in unison with 2,500 personnel.

Surely, a chopper air cover could have been factored in to make sure there was no suspicious activity on the route. By the same token, it is customary to have an advance party on wheels moving at least a few hundred yards armed with a light machine gun and expert snipers and spotters looking for telltale signs of hostility. A vehicle speeding in the wrong lane hurtling towards them with a single occupant would have raised an alarm. The alert could have been sounded and troops put in combat mode. The errant suicide bomber apprehended and blocked before so much damage was done.

It is said that at the point of collision, gunfire also hit the vehicles: which means terrorists were in the vicinity. A chopper would have flushed them out. A low-level drone would have caught them close up. That loaded vehicle came from somewhere yes, and, of course, our agencies will be able to track its recent movements and also those of the bomber and his cohorts, but that is all in the aftermath. Most of these trails will end up nowhere. A few people will be rounded up and then the candle will be blown out by the wind.

We have to ask ourselves if enough caution was taken in such a mass operation of this mass transit of troops. Today, drones can be dispatched into the air for Rs 5,000 a pop. You can purchase from a toy shop a miniature helicopter that engages in such maneouvres and takes five audio-visual shots of the route being traversed. High-performance drones are so common now that they are given as birthday gifts. It is not so much a question of passing blame, but lamenting our short-sightedness in not giving easy to access dirt cheap backup that would have deflected the threat and saved so many lives.

You think drones are insufficient? Then light choppers that can do the job. Enough of them float around carting our political luminaries. The Army Air Corps flies the HAL manufactured LCH derived from the Dhruv series. If just one of these had been in the air offering plain visual real-time data support, that vehicle would never have got close. They would have spotted it miles away, doubted its bona fides through close inspection and alerted the convoy. That is what is supposed to happen soldiers aren't supposed to be sitting ducks.

India can blame Pakistan, flex its muscles and promise it will not happen again. What is more pertinent is: Why we did not have or use items like these drones, that, for many nations are simply playthings for their children?
Jaish-e-Mohammad has shaken off the shackles placed on it by prime minister Nawaz Sharifs government in Pakistan.

Editors note: This article appears in the print edition of Firstpost, which is out on stands tomorrow. It has been reproduced a day early given Thursdays terror attack in Pulwama.

His testament could have been just another teenagers Instagram holiday video, complete with tasteless graphics, low-grade mood-music, and the faux-machismo of the B-grade Bollywood potboiler. It has taken a year of waiting, and gods blessings, to get to this point. By the time you get this message, Ill be frolicking in paradise. Except that Adil Ahmed Dar was telling the story of how he was going to kill, and die.

Thursdays car bombing isnt significant because its the first suicide bombing by an ethnic Kashmiri: 17-year-old Afaq Ahmed Shah, the quiet introverted son of a Srinagar school teacher, blew himself up outside the XV Corps headquarters in 2000. Nor is the scale of the carnage unprecedented: in 2001, 34 were killed in a car-bomb attack on Kashmirs Assembly.

Thursdays attackthe most lethal in the state since September, 2016, when 19 Indian Army soldiers were killed at Uristill tells us something important. The Jaish-e-Mohammad, the consistent author of the most spectacular terrorist attacks in Kashmir, has shaken off the shackles placed on it by prime minister Nawaz Sharifs government in Pakistan. This sunrise will have consequences in Kashmir, and beyond.

For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the strike is a stern test: will he, elections ahead, retaliate across the Line of Control, as he ordered the army to do after Uri, or hold his fire since the attacker is an Indian national?

From Ahmeds testament, we know how the village boy from Kakapora, in central Kashmirs Pulwama district, understood his war. The time is not far, he proclaims, when the azaan will sound again from the towers of the Babri Masjid. The more you oppress us, the more lions will rise across India to wage jihad against you. He vows a terrible vengeance: you drinkers of cow urine cannot resist our wrath.

To other young people in Kashmir, too, Ahmed had a similar message. Your enemy is not just the enemy of Kashmirs freedom, he declaimed, but of your faith itself. They want to deprive you of Islam, and seduce you into a life of vulgarity and worldliness.

Behind the words lie a lethal reality: for months now, the Jaish has been blossoming in Prime Minister Imran Khans not-so-naya Pakistan, systematically expanding its infrastructure and capabilities.

Last summer, Firstpost had broken news that the Jaish-e-Mohammad was building a new training complex on Bahawalpurs fringes, adding to its existing headquarters in the city. The terror groups house-magazine, al-Qalam, described rallies it was holding across rural Punjab (in Pakistan) and asking for donations of ushr (religious tithes) from farmers.

In one typical report, al-Qalam quoted a leader identified as Maulana Ammar speaking at a mosque in Pattoki, not far from Nawaz Sharifs home town of Raiwind, seeking donations because jihad was a mandate of the Sharia.

The story was much the same in 2016, when the Jaish struck at the Indian Air Forces base in Pathankot. Former prime minister Sharif had shied away from confrontation with the Jaish, knowing it had powerful patrons in the Pakistan Army. In 2016, a videotape surfaced showing young men collecting funds in Karachi, for the brave young men of the Jaish-e-Mohammed who are fighting for the victory of the name of god and Islamthis even though the terrorist group is proscribed by Pakistans own laws.

Earlier that year, Jaish attackers had struck at the Indian diplomatic mission in Mazhar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, leaving a message written in blood: revenge for Afzal Guru  the terrorist hanged for his role in attacking the Parliament House in 2001.

But, faced with the prospect of an India-Pakistan crisis after Pathankot, Sharif moved against the Jaish, publicly accepting its complicity. He also ordered the arrest of Masood Azhar. The army, however, stepped in to ensure that Azhar was only detained at an Inter-Services Intelligence-run safehouse in Islamabad.

From house arrest, Jaish chief Masood Azhar railed against Sharif. The rulers of our country are sad that we have disturbed their friends, Azhar wrote. They wish to arise on the Day of Judgment to be judged as friends of (Prime Minister Narendra (Modi) and (former Prime Minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

In another article, Azhar described Nawaz Sharif as a traitor, even worse than (General) Pervez Musharraf and Asif Ali Zardari. He concluded: Pakistans rulers have reduced their own country into a heap of ashes. Every single one of them comes, spreads fire and then escapes abroad.

Last years Pakistan elections saw the Jaish throw its weight behind Prime Minister Khancheered on by the Pakistan Army. Choose the party that is pious and reject the corrupt, wrote Talha Saif, one of Masood Azhars brothers. Pick a party that rejects fohashani [vulgarity] and uriyani [nudity].

The sentimentseven the exact wordsfigure in Ahmeds suicide video.

Prime Minister Modis Uri strikesof far more limited military value than Bollywood might have led people to believewere in fact mainly intended to send a message. Pakistans army had persuaded itself that India would not strike across the Line of Control, for fear of sparking a cycle of escalation that would lead to a costly war. Indias focus on economic growth, and Pakistans nuclear weapons, were seen in Islamabad as a shield, guarding against the consequences of terrorism.

The cross-Line of Control strikes questioned that assumption, making clear that, push come to shove, India was willing to throw its military dice in the air, and gamble on where they might land.

Even though the Jaishs army backers had succeeded in sabotaging prime minister Sharifs efforts to rein it inan investigation against the group went nowhere, even though Pakistan was given precise names and phone numbers for suspectsthe group thus operated very softly.

Following Khans rise, though, the Jaish became increasingly defiant. Flags of the jihad are flying on every street-corner in Kashmir, and we are victorious in Afghanistan, Masood Azhar wrote in one article last year Prepare yourself to be Muslim who practices his faith with the mujahideen.

At around the same time, we know would-be suicide bomber Adil Ahmed had joined the Jaishand the process of grooming him for his mission had begun.

In 2018, the Jaish stepped up the tempo again, hitting military targets across Kashmira campaign that culminated its strike on an army camp in Jammu.

To Delhi, O Hindus, the army of the Prophet will soon return, reads a giant mural over the entrance of the Jaish-e-Muhammads headquarters at Bahawalpur. Inside the building, there is a swimming pool, stables, training grounds and accommodation for hundreds of students. The life of nations depends on martyrs, Masood Azhar wrote in the Fathul Jawwad, his disquisition on the Quran. The national fields can be irrigated only with the blood of the best hearts and minds.

For many young people, groups like the Islamic State and the Al Qaeda offer a template for liberation, not the failed religious nationalism of groups like the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. This youth cohort, fired by global jihadism, offers an unprecedented opportunity for the Jaish.

From the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC814 to the Parliament House attack, the Jaish has shown it means business. For New Delhi, there are no easy options.
Thursday's attack at Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama brought back the immediacy of the border threats posed in the north, east and west by the Kashmiri fidayeen, China and the Khalistani movement.

Thursday's attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama by a Jaish-e-Mohammad operative on a bus of CRPF personnel claimed lives of 40 Indian jawans. The attack also signifies the return of suicide bombing on Indian soil. It has also brought back the immediacy of the threats posed by India's borders on the North, East and West. From each of these three directions, India, now, has to contend with renewed efforts to either separate or secede or occupy.

While in the north India faces the apparently unsolvable problem of Kashmir, Punjab in the northwest is riddled with a gradually resurfacing Khalistani movement. In the northeast, India faces the advancing footsteps of a very insistent China.

The North:

Kashmir today stands as the one of its most lingering worries for India, a problem without a solution. When it comes to Kashmir, India not only contends with ceasefire violations and firing from Pakistan, but also the fidayeens, who have made the state a hotbed of insurgency. While arguments have been made in the vested interests of both India and Pakistan in keeping the unrest in the Valley alive, the violence unleashed in the state has now become a daily affair, leaving families fractured, security personnel dead and normal life perpetually suspended.

More far reaching than direct firing from Pakistan has been the country's implicit support to Kashmiri insurgents who want to join Pakistan. While the Valley has never seen complete peace, it did see significantly less violence between Independence and the year 1987. That year saw a state Assembly election in which the distinctly Islamic political parties complained that the polls were rigged against them and in favour of the Farooq Abdullah-Rajiv Gandhi alliance. A militant movement began, spearheaded by Muslim leaders and (as India has avowedly maintained) egged on by Pakistan.

Through the nineties, several outfits grew in strength, with the support of Pakistan's ISI. While some wanted independence from both India and Pakistan, others demanded an union with the latter. Among the most visible are Lashkar-e-Taiba, Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami, al-Badr, Hizbul Mujahideen, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front and Thursday's attackers, Jaish-e-Mohammad. The non-secular and Muslim fundamentalist nature of the movement was driven by the arrival, in the 90s, of large numbers of Islamic Jihadi fighters who had fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union in the 80s. The word fidayeen may refer to a Muslim fighter but the organisations that the "converted" men were fighting for have sustained deeply political interests.

Since the turn of the century, India's clampdown on Kashmir has also dealt a serious blow to the freedom of its politically uninvolved population, many of whom have taken to pelting Indian security forces with the only weapon readily available to them: stones. While the lines between stone pelters and those in the armed movement are blurred, recent years have seen a concentration of the insurgents' efforts to draw more from the civilian fold into the militant one. An example of such quick conversions is the perpetrator of Thursday's attack, Adil Ahmad Dar.

While the Jaish has a firm base in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, the group, along with Lashkar have been trying to set up a strong network in north Kashmir since last year. More students and young men are attracted to the movement than have ever been before.

The deadliest terrorist attacks in the state have ranged from the 1989 kidnapping of Mufti Sayeed's daughter to the 1998 massacre of Kashmiri Pandits living in Wandhama. In recent years, terror strikes have grown in significance, with Narendra Modi's government at the centre using the defence prong in many of its public announcements. Barring Thursday's attack, the maximum number of Indian soldiers killed at once in a Kashmir attack by the fidayeen have been 19, in the 2016 strike in Uri, which led the government to orchestrate a surgical strike to avenge the dead soon after.

The Northeast:

In 2017, attempts by China to begin construction of a road that would extend to the Doklam plateau near the Doka La pass in Bhutan brought to fore the country's attempts to make literal inroads into territory historically managed by India. As many as 270 Indian troops armed with weapons and two bulldozers marched to Bhutan to stop China, beginning a standoff that extended beyond two months. The conflict soon swelled into one of the worst border disputes between the two countries in decades. India claimed it was acting on behalf of Bhutan, but both India and China had little to hide their own territorial ambitions.

The tussle over control over a narrow "chicken neck" strip of Indian territory which connects India's central mass to the states in the North East reflected India's concerns that China could cut off the corridor, cutting crores of people off their government centre.

As threats and counter-threats were exchanged during the standoff, leading to not much other than international tension, India's northeast is still exposed to China's brazen attempts to gain control.

Many have said that China's eventual abandonment of plans to construct the road through Doklam could be reflective of a more sinister act, a decision to strike again when India's wherewithal in the area is at a low, rendering the area a constant source of worry for India.

On 26 March, 2018, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Doklam belongs to China and India should have learned lessons from the stand-off last year.

The Northwest:

Bloody wars are no novelty in India, but few homegrown movements have seen as much concentrated violence in a short period of time as the Khalistani movement in Punjab. The movement aims to form a separate nation state called Khalistan.

What began in 1971, saw the assassination of a Prime Minister and the bombing of a plane carrying 328 people, has now resurfaced as a new brand of Sikh militancy with social media offering impetus to a brand of men who eschew the traditional markers of Khalistani warriors. No longer are men in the movement sporting long beards or swords, the new Khalistani insurgent is clean shaven and probably reports to a mastermind abroad.

These new-age militants have no trace of any Khalistani activity in at least three generations of their families. None of them are from households that suffered during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. They also have no links to victims of Punjabs violent insurgency in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Young Sikhs are increasingly being recruited, presumably by Canada masterminds, to kill specific targets now, reported The Hindustan Times, which spoke to Punjab police on the recurring threat of the revived movement. "They are using a new way to spread terrorism. Pro-Khalistani forces are radicalising people using cyber space" state director general of police Suresh Arora said.

In late 2017, police arrested five men for shooting Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members in Ludhiana, Dera Sacha Sauda followers and a Christian pastor.

For LIVE updates on Pulwama terror attack click here
The Pulwama attack came months after a CRPF camp was attacked in two soldiers were injured in the district when terrorists attacked a sentry post in Kakpura in October, 2018. They say the 'human bomb' was used for the first time in Kashmir insurgency on 19 April, 2000

Thursday's carnage in Pulwama that killed 40 CRPF jawans is unprecedented but not something that will perhaps unceasingly jolt Jammu and Kashmir. By now, the state has been witness to thousands of shocking terror attacks  both by radicalised homegrown insurgency and foreign groups purportedly supported by Pakistan. Banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility and identified suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar as the one who carried out the lethal attack, one of the many that the JeM had conducted over the several years.

In December, 2018, data revealed by the Ministry of Home Affairs had noted that 87 members of security personnel, including 44 state police officers, 32 army jawans, seven CRPF and one CISF, BSF and SSB personnel were killed in the state that year. The government had earlier also said that about 184 incidents of terror were reported from Jammu and Kashmir till the end of July 2017, with 155 recorded attacks in 2018.

While saying that violence in the state is "sponsored" and "supported" from across the border, Union minister of state for home Hansraj Ahir had also informed the Rajya Sabha in December, 2018 that there have been 759 incidents of stone pelting that year, mostly during "anti-militancy operations".

The statement had come months after former state police chief S P Vaid said, in July, 2018, that there was a 90 percent dip in incidents of stone pelting in Kashmir Valley that year compared to 2017 and had credited the residents for "improvement of situation".

Dar, the 20-year-old, who perpetrated the attack on the CRPF personnel was one among thousands of Kashmiris engaged in protests that had rocked the Valley following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen 'commander' Burhan Wani, reported The Indian Express. His family members were also quoted saying that Dar was shot in the led during the protests.

The Pulwama attack on Thursday came months after a CRPF camp in Kakpura area of the district was attacked and two soldiers injured in October, 2018. They say that a "human bomb" was used for the first time in Kashmir insurgency on 19 April, 2000. Since then, as before that, a spate of violent incidents have erupted across the state. Here is a timeline of some of the attacks, surprisingly many of them in Pulwama alone and on CRPF men, that have taken pace since 2000:

10 February, 2018: Suspected JeM terrorists attacked the Sunjwan army camp in Jammu and Kashmir early on Saturday morning, in which two jawans, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), were killed and four others were injured.

31 December, 2017: Five CRPF jawans were killed and three others injured in a 24-hour-long encounter between BSF and JeM militants in again in Pulwamas Lethpora area.

26 August, 2017: Three JeM terrorists stormed the District Police Lines in Pulwama, killing eight security force personnel, before the assailants were shot dead.

29 November, 2016: A group of militants had attacked an army base camp at Nagrota in Jammu, killing seven soldiers. The Indian security forces had killed as many as three terrorists.

18 September, 2016 Uri attack: In what was another big attack on security forces, recently glamourised in a Bollywood movie, militants had attacked a battalion headquarters at Uri in Baramulla district, killing 18 soldiers, most of them in their sleep. The attack on the base, close to the Line of Control with Pakistan, was one of the deadliest in Kashmir in two decades.

25 June, 2016: Terrorists opened indiscriminate fire at a CRPF bus, which was part of a convoy, killing eight soldiers at Pampore on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

20 March, 2015: A fidayeen squad of militants attacked a police station in Kathua killing seven people.

5 December 2014: Six heavily-armed terrorists storm an army camp at Mohra in Uri, killing 10 soldiers. Six militants were also killed in the operation.

27 November, 2014: Ten people, including four civilians, three army soldiers and three militants were killed in an encounter in Arnia, Jammu.

26 September, 2013: In twin suicide attacks, more than 13 people were killed in Kathua and Samba districts.

24 June, 2013: Terrorists ambush a bus carrying unarmed army personnel at Hyderpora in Srinagar. Eight soldiers were killed in the attack.

19 July, 2008: Ten soldiers were killed when terrorists triggered an IED planted by the roadside at Narbal on Srinagar-Baramulla highway on the outskirts of the city.

2 November, 2005: A suicide bomber blew up his car at Nowgam, near the private residence of then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, killing three cops and six civilians.

20 July, 2005: Another suicide car bomber blew his vehicle by ramming it into a vehicle of security forces. Three personnel and two civilians were killed.

24 June, 2005: Nine army soldiers were killed in a car bomb triggered by terrorists on the outskirts of Srinagar.

4 August, 2004: Nine CRPF jawans were killed in a terrorist attack on their camp at Rajbagh in Srinagar.

8 April, 2004: Eleven people were killed in a grenade attack by terrorists on a PDP rally at Uri . The PDP was demanding the opening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Road.

22 July, 2003: Eight soldiers, including a brigadier, were killed in a terrorists attack on their camp at Akhnoor.

14 May, 2002: In one of the biggest strikes on an army installation, 36 persons were killed by three terrorists who stormed the Kaluchak Army Cantonment in Jammu. Most of the killed were family members.

17 November, 2001: Terrorists storm a security forces base in Ramban (then part of Doda district), killing 10 security forces. Four terrorists were also killed.

1 October, 2001: Terrorists trigger a car bomb outside the old Legislative Assembly Complex in Srinagar, killing as many as 38 people.

10 August, 2000: Terrorists hurl a grenade at Residency Road in Srinagar. As the security officials assembled at the spot, they triggered a car bomb, killing 11 persons and a photojournalist.

19 April, 2000: When the "human bomb" is officially said to have been used for the first time in Kashmir insurgency. Two soldiers were killed in the suicide car bomb at the Army headquarters at Badamibagh area in Srinagar.

With inputs from PTI
While several people referred to those who died in the Pulwama attack as 'martyrs', the term is not officially used by the Ministry of Defence.

In the wake of the Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir, social media has been flooded with messages paying tribute to the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in the blast. Interestingly, while several of them referred to those who died as "martyrs", the term is not officially used by the Ministry of Defence.

In 2015, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju stated this before the Lok Sabha in response to a question. He had stated, "The Ministry of Defence has informed that the word martyr is not used in reference to any of the casualties in Indian Armed Forces. Similarly, no such term is used in reference to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles (AR) personnel killed in action or on any operation. However, their families/next of kin are given full family pension under the Liberalized Pensionary Award (LPA) rules and lump sum ex-gratia compensation of Rupees fifteen lakh as per rules in addition to other benefits admissible."

In response to an RTI in 2017, the defence ministry further stated that the official word used is "battle casualty." Similarly, the home ministry stated that the official word used is "operations casualty."

While 21 October is officially commemorated as Police Commemoration Day, media reports have often referred to the occasion as Police Martyrs' Day.

The word "martyr" has Greek roots, and originally was used to refer to a Christian who was killed for his belief in Jesus.
The kind of treatment Kaitlyn received is whats known as a targeted therapy  using a drug that only works in certain patients, on specific tumors by attacking particular molecules that allow the tumor to grow. It wont work for all kids with the same kind of cancer. Researchers at Hopkins and across the country are conducting another trial of the drug to learn from Kaitlyns outcome. They want to know how to make the treatment more effective for other pediatric brain tumors.
In the present scenario, both Pakistans security establishment as well as various terrorist groups it supports are at increased strength.

The catastrophic terrorist attack on the CRPFs ill-fated convoy in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama gives the first ominous sign of what awaits the restive Kashmir Valley following the complete withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. The security scenario in Afghanistan is already grim as terror attacks by the emboldened Taliban against Afghan security forces have become frequent. Geopolitical faultlines are also more acute. With Russia trying to take advantage of the American vulnerability in Afghanistan, it is clearly advantage Pakistan. This has huge security implications on India, particularly in Kashmir.

After nearly three decades of a mix of counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency campaigns waged by Indian security forces, terrorism continues to dominate all discourses on Kashmir. Despite the governments bombastic claims that terrorism has been contained, the lethality of the suicide terror attack suggests that terrorism is alive, even if it is currently more fractured.

No counter-terrorism campaign can hope to succeed when the terrorists enjoy cross-border state sponsorship and safe havens. This explains why terrorists remain active in Kashmir. The terrorism-driven insurgency in Kashmir is a fatal phenomenon which is comprised of groups, networks and individuals who collectively produce the destructive energy, luring many disgruntled youths from the Kashmir Valley. The terrorist groups usually flourish in regions which are characterised by violent conflicts, lack of good governance and inability to establish rule of law. Are these factors not present in Kashmir in some measure?

This is one of the deadliest car bombings in Kashmir, which has experienced many in the past, inflicting high casualties on Indian counter insurgency troops. In recent years, Kashmir has witnessed a renewed spell of terrorism along with public protests against Indian security forces by a new breed of stone-hurling Kashmiri people, particularly in south Kashmir. The suicide bomber targeting the CRPF convoy belonged to south Kashmirs Awantipora area.

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the terror attack. Both JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are known to have maintained a presence in the Kashmir Valley, where Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has helped them establish a vast infrastructure for terrorism, radicalisation and other anti-India activities. The so-called caliphate of Islamic State is on the verge of imminent collapse in Iraq and Syria. But the caliphate of terror in Pakistan still thrives.

Both JeM and LeT have their roots in Afghanistan. Hence, JeM and LeT in Kashmir do not represent Kashmiri people as most in their ranks are Pakistanis recruited and trained by the ISI. To facilitate the infiltration of terrorists into Kashmir, Pakistans military regularly initiates artillery clashes with its Indian counterparts in order to cover their movement across the Line of Control.

While terrorism cannot be justified in ethical terms, no strategy that attempts to deal with terrorism can be fully successful that not recognise the nature of its causes. Though addressing these problems is not the responsibility of counter-terrorism professionals, they cannot be expected to deliver outcomes with half a strategy. We are yet to frame and implement a truly unified civil-military counter-terrorism strategy in Kashmir.

Security forces constitute one part of the strategy; they cannot be forced to compensate for the missing half. The ultimate purpose of any counter-insurgency or counter-terrorism campaign is never to simply win military victories, but to shape a peace that serves the lasting strategic objectives of the nation. The continuing political uncertainty in Kashmir only diminishes confidence in the governments ability to handle the crisis after the Pulwama attack.

The governor of Jammu and Kashmir is absolutely right that the Pulwama attack is the result of frustration being felt by Kashmiri terrorists from elements in Pakistan. But that is true of almost all major terrorist attacks. And the governor has also admitted of an intelligence failure about any local militant being trained as a suicide bomber. He has clarified that we did not know that there was a fidayeen among them is also part of the intelligence failure, while adding that since the suicide bomber was under pressure from all sides, he must have escaped to the jungles or the hills and got lost. We knew about him but could not trace him. This was just a chance thing and he was the rare one who got away. But this candid reply still does not answer the question as to how the bomber managed to secure 350 kilograms of explosives used for the deadly attack. This clearly points to more local involvement than the government is willing to concede at the moment.

In the present scenario, both Pakistans security establishment as well as various terrorist groups it supports are at increased strength. As explained earlier, this results from many real-world developments, including a retrenched American posture in Afghanistan. A diminished American presence could result in a change of priorities for all kinds of terrorist outfits in South Asia, who are most likely to feel emboldened to target India. This scenario will certainly breathe new life into the jihadist terrorism. The local branches of al-Qaeda and Islamic State may also choose highly symbolic targets in Kashmir. Most important, Pakistans security establishment is waiting to redirect jihadists from Afghanistan to Kashmir  this was done in the wake of Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989  seeing it as an extremely low-cost strategy to keep India off balance.

It remains to be seen how the government responds. This attack is worse than what we had suffered in Uri in September 2016. The governments response to the Uri attack was surgical strikes across the Line of Control, and the open announcement about them. We do not know whether the response will be similar this time. As general elections are not far away, the government is likely to be tempted to respond muscularly. But Indias options remain as limited as they were on the fateful day in 2016.

The Pulwama attack has ironically happened against the backdrop of the cinematic success of the Bollywood movie Uri. But nobody in the government has a convincing answer as to what was achieved by surgical strikes after the Uri attack. Did it improve security in Kashmir? Were ground realities in the Kashmir Valley changed?

Therefore, surgical strikes of whatever scale are unlikely to have a deterrence effect which the core constituency of the ruling party has been looking for desperately for almost five years. The right-wing political establishment has vainly advocated and attempted a radical restructuring of the relationship between Kashmir and the rest of India.

Military escalation against Pakistan has its own dynamics. Indias security planners are not oblivious to what is happening just across the border. Pakistan is being rewarded by the Donald Trump administration for sponsoring cross-border terrorism. The deal with the Afghan Taliban is not possible without Rawalpindis support.
In the aftermath of the Pulwama IED blast that killed 42 CRPF soldiers, saner counsels at the top-most levels of political and military hierarchy need to prevail. The element of surprise in executing surgical strikes is over.

In the aftermath of the Pulwama IED blast that killed 42 CRPF soldiers, saner counsels at the top-most levels of political and military hierarchy need to prevail. The element of surprise in executing surgical strikes is over. The statement by the Chief of the Army Staff (CoAS) that a retaliatory action across the border is needed would have further alerted Pakistan, if indeed such 'alerting' was needed. We are also in the period of the run-up to the elections; one hopes that our leaders will be wise enough not to take any action that smells of potential electoral gains.

The 'retaliation' must be on other fronts. We have already begun a diplomatic push to corner Pakistan. We have also withdrawn the Most Favored Nation status. These are welcome first moves and more needs to be done in this direction. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has an excellent personal rapport with leaders of the Middle Eastern countries, notably UAE and Saudi Arabia, and that must be used to isolate Pakistan. Our diplomatic efforts must be worldwide and sustained. Indira Gandhi's approach in this regard before the India-Pakistan War of 1971 is a good template to follow. Already there are signs that IMF has begun to exert pressure on Pakistan regarding the free pass given to Jaish Mohammed by his country and that would surely give Imran Khan serious food for thought.

Secondly, we must develop and articulate a long-term strategic vision. What is our strategy to deal with Pakistan? How are we envisioning a solution to the Kashmir imbroglio? After the Uri attack, the Prime Minister had announced that there would be a tactical and strategic response. The surgical strikes fulfilled the first promise. But what about the strategic response?

Next come the tactical options. While these are best left to the Directorate General of Military Operations (DGMO), here are a few suggestions:

We are all aware that terrorists cannot survive for long without local support. While some of this support is extracted by by generating fear, some is proffered voluntarily by the populace. But our focus must not be on the hapless individuals who may have served a meal or two for the terrorists. Instead, we set our sights on the big fish  the Overground Workers (OGW) who serve as a conduit and interface between Pakistan and the terrorists. They are the ones providing resources and guidance to the terrorists who have infiltrated into an unknown territory. Many of these OGWs are 'respected' members of society, pursuing other professions. Some are even card carrying members of political parties. I say this from ground experience that the irony is that locals know who these people are and their identities are open secrets. There must be a concerted and, if I may add, ruthless effort to expeditiously bring these elements to justice.

Secondly, we must look at the abysmal quality of our intelligence. When I served in Kashmir, we heard from senior officers that ' intelligence was 90 percent' contributory to success and thereafter the actual operation carried mere 10 percent weight-age. We heard this ad infinitum. And yet, whether in staffing or resources, we do not give intelligence apparatus adequate importance. Indeed, far from it.

The failure of multiple agencies to act on the freely circulated Jaish Mohammed video of the suicide bomber Adil (who belonged to the village of Kakpura, not too far from the site of the blast) days before the incident is a telling example; how could such a prominently displayed piece of critical intelligence fall through the cracks of all agencies? Intelligence  particularly Military Intelligence (MI)  needs to be qualitative. Quantum increase in the importance given to intelligence, particularly in terms of career progression to encourage the best to join. The other option is to have a small permanent core of MI personnel and make the best Infantry and other arms officers who have ground experience in operational areas serve in Intelligence operations on deputation of 2 to 3 years.

If this is made mandatory and the top-notch officers of all ranks rewarded properly, perhaps we would elicit better results. Such a restructuring may take long to fully implement but could be a game-changer for intelligence operations.

Beyond this, for a tactical response, I yield to the experts of DGMO and Northern Command. Whatever we do must be thoroughly considered for the likely outcomes, collateral damage including to own forces, the complete likelihood of a tit-for-tat response from the other side and the end-game we have in mind. And in no case should we give in to the temptation to strike immediately.

The author served in the India Army for 37 years as an Infantry officer and had multiple tours of duty in Kashmir, including the command of a Rashtriya Rifles battalion in active operations. He is now CEO of Rodic Consultants Pvt. Ltd
It is easy for commentators to sneer at such reactions, but they dont have to seek a mandate in elections from voters who are justifiably angry at the savagery that occurred in Pulwama on Thursday: officially Indias worst terrorist attack on security forces in Kashmir.

The WhatsApp groups are buzzing. Some are clamouring for revenge, some are baying for blood, while some want India to occupy Islamabad. It is easy for commentators to sneer at such reactions, but they dont have to seek a mandate in elections from voters who are justifiably angry at the savagery that occurred in Pulwama on Thursday: officially Indias worst terrorist attack on security forces in Kashmir.

The politicians, however, must contend with the outrage sweeping across the nation. This would have been a challenging prospect for any government at any point in time, but the timing of the attack, the number of CRPF personnel killed (42 according to latest reports) and the issues involved in the incident make it a potent mix that may lead to substantial political fallout in the impending Lok Sabha elections. Make no mistake, Pulwama has put the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on trial.

Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the terror strike that occurred when an explosive-laden (possibly IED device) civilian vehicle rammed into a 70-vehicle CRPF convoy passing through the Gundipoora section of the Srinagar-Jammu Highway. A 22-year-old local JeM suicide bomber was driving the SUV, but he was assisted by other JeM operatives at the spot who opened fire on the troops.

The attack has several dimensions. One, it is an audacious strike on the might of Indian State by a Pakistan-nurtured-and-sponsored terror outfit. It not only concerns the issue of national security and Indias lack of a deterrence mechanism against Pakistans asymmetric war, the scale and accuracy of the strike also raise uncomfortable questions about intelligence failures at multiple levels.

Two, the attack was carried out by JeM, considered by some analysts as the sword arm of Pakistans intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) that uses terror as a tactical tool to bring India back to the negotiating table. This reinforces the notion that Prime Minister Imran Khans friendly overtures towards India and the Kartarpur Corridor were little more than eyewash. The foibles of Indias Pakistan policy have been exposed again.

A third dimension is the involvement of Masood Azhar, the radical cleric and terror mastermind who orchestrated a spate of attacks on Indian soil, including the Uri massacre, the attack on Pathankot airbase and the stunning terror assaults on Indian Parliament and the Srinagar Assembly. It wont be comforting for India that it was compelled to release Azhar in exchange for the hijacked passengers of airplane IC-814 in 1999.

These issues are legitimate, volatile, emotive, temporal, and in all likelihood the Pulwama attack and the Modi governments response to it will define the 2019 electoral campaign. If the attack on Indian forces in Uri sector where 19 jawans were killed caused enough outrage in India for the government to order a surgical strike, then Pulwama must be answered with a proportionate and comprehensive response that needs to be several grades above the precision strike carried out by Indian Army on terrorists and their infrastructure along the Line of Control in 2016.

Add to this the Modi governments stated hardline and zero tolerance policy against terror: not to speak of the prime ministers carefully constructed strongman image and it is easy to see that the government is under huge pressure to act. Let us now take a look at the actions it has already taken or may yet take to get its message across in India that Pulwama will be avenged and across the border that its threshold of tolerance for such attacks is progressively lower and will result in massive retaliation.

Indias options can broadly be divided into two categories: diplomatic and kinetic. In the diplomatic arena, the government has already taken a series of measures to convey to Pakistan that it will have to pay a heavy price for this misadventure: a line that has been repeated by the prime minister and all ministers in his Cabinet.

The Cabinet Committee on Security met on Friday and decided to revoke the Most Favoured Nation status conferred on Pakistan: a calibrated step, but also a low-hanging fruit. Revoking of the MFN status is unlikely to severely hurt Pakistan owing to minimal bilateral trade, but it may add to the troubles facing Pakistans tottering economy.

India has also summoned the Pakistan High Commissioner and issued a strong demarche, but questions may be raised why Sohail Mahmood wasnt packed off home on the next available flight. When the objective is a statement of intent, do demarches serve any purpose? More so in the case of Pakistan, which has already denied any role in the attack (as it has done many times in the past).

India has also sought to completely isolate Pakistan for incontrovertible evidence of its hand in the terror attack and has vowed to work with the international community to fructify this strategy. The trouble with this step is that Indias efforts will likely square up against Pakistans close relationship with China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE: all of whom have recently come to Pakistans aid to help sustain its economy. Indias motive may also be frustrated at the tactical alliance that Pakistan enjoys with the US and Russia: both of whom see Pakistan as an errant, but indispensable strategic partner.

India has also indicated that it will push for Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism at the UN where there has been no consensus since 1986 over a definition of the word terrorist. Indias dualism here is glaring. On the one hand India wants the world achieve a consensus on CCIT ostensibly to pressurise Pakistan, and on the other hand the government fails to back a private members bill in Parliament that seeks to declare Pakistan a terror State. In 2018, the Modi government had refused to support the bill moved by Independent member Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Rajya Sabha. If India wants the world to follow its bidding, then it needs to take the lead in acting against Pakistan.

It is difficult to see any other diplomatic step that India may deploy, except perhaps deciding to suspend all bilateral ties and stop issuing of visas and suspending all Track-II or Track-III initiatives. The Indus Water Treaty is also a potent tool, but India has shown reluctance in the past to use it as leverage against Pakistan to force a change in its behaviour.

Mere diplomatic steps are unlikely to satiate the mood of outrage that prevails across the nation. In terms of kinetic steps, Modis challenge lies in striking a balance between a demonstrable action that is seen to be proportionate to the crime, but at the same time not crossing Pakistans nuclear threshold where Islamabad becomes compelled to deploy its tactical weapons. Surgical strike was a sub-nuclear option that fit the bill in 2016, but it isnt an option anymore because it has been robbed of the element of surprise and it will be little more than a predictive response that will a) fail to satiate the outrage at home b) cause any damage to Pakistan forces and operatives who might be anticipating such an attack.

What Modi government needs to do, therefore, is to show that it is not averse to a graded response and is not unduly concerned over Pakistans nuclear threat. Islamabads real deterrence capability lie not in the Nasr tactical warheads at its command, but the bluff over its use of nuclear weapons. The bluff may work as an effective deterrence only till India decides to test the threshold based on its own estimate. War between two nuclear neighbours may be off the table, but the task before Modi government is to show that it is not scared of Pakistans nuclear threats. Indias kinetic option, therefore, will impose unacceptable costs on Pakistan without driving it to the point of desperation.

The best thing for India would have been to make precision strikes a part of its arsenal of tools against Pakistans asymmetric war. This is where Indias real failure lies. New Delhi has not been able to put in place a deterrence mechanism where escalation of conflict and graded response to terror attacks are embedded. Until and unless that happens, even greater precision strikes will fail to discourage Pakistan from using terror as a tool of foreign policy.
Describing the attack as 'non-Islamic', Syed Zainul Abedin Ali Khan said harming lives of innocent people by attacking them cowardly is against the fundamental principles of the religion. Several devotees from Pakistan visit the Ajmer Sharif Dargah every year

Ajmer: Condemning the terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, Ajmer Sharif Dargah dewan Syed Zainul Abedin Ali Khan on Friday urged the government to not allow devotees from Pakistan to visit the shrine.

Ali Khan, the descendant of Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Hassan Chishti, paid tribute to the personnel killed in the attack.

He urged the government to not allow 'jatha' or group of devotees from Pakistan to visit the famous shrine in Rajasthan's Ajmer during festivals, including Urs, which commemorates the death anniversary of the Sufi saint.

Describing the attack as "non-Islamic", he said harming lives of innocent people by attacking them cowardly is against the fundamental principles of the religion. Several devotees from Pakistan visit the Ajmer Sharif Dargah every year.

On Thursday, an explosives laden truck rammed into a CRPF convoy in Pulwama outside Srinagar, killing 40 soldiers in one of the biggest terror attacks in recent years.

Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack.
In the next few months, eyes will be riveted on Sunil Arora, Indias Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), as he organises and manages the Herculean effort of human historys biggest date with democracy till nowholding Indias parliamentary polls.

A few years ago, Sunil Arora, then secretary in the newly set up skill development ministry received a call on a very busy day on his office landline. His driver had suffered a seizure. Arora got up with a start, took a lift in this journalists car to rush to the crowded government hospital in central Delhi. He made his way through a maze of people to reach his driver who lay writhing on a stretcher at the far end of the corridor. Arora held his drivers hand and said: Dont worry, I will take care of everything. Get well soon. In all certainty, the promise was kept.

That was the softer side of the 1980-batch Indian Administrative Service Rajasthan-cadre officer. But his professional and clinical side is equally overwhelming.

In the next few months, eyes will be riveted on Arora, Indias Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), as he organises and manages the Herculean effort of human historys biggest date with democracy till nowholding Indias parliamentary polls.

Known to hold his own to his political bosses during his career as a bureaucrat, Arora wants a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) panel to audit the funds of political parties. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has already sent a proposal in this regard to the ministry of law and justice that the CAG-appointed auditors should do it. Meanwhile above expenditures of a certain level, the ECI does give it to ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) to look into it.

Some basic figures to give an idea of the complexity of the impending elections. In the 2014 polls, the Indian electorate comprised 815 million voters. The number of polling stations was about 930,000. More than 11 million security people. In all likelihood, Elections 2019 will pale out Elections 2014 in terms of sheer numbers and complexity.

A lot has been reported on the significant role black money has been playing in the Indian elections. Even in the recently concluded state polls for five states (Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana), about Rs 146 crore had been seized by the authorities.

There have been reports, not just in the recent elections but over the last 8-10 years that money, freebies, whether in the distribution of cash or clothes or liquor, have been playing a role and trying to vitiate the elections. What has happened is that over a period of time with all kinds of advancements in ICT, elections are happily becoming more and more insulated but at the same time just as there are a lot of positive stakeholders there are a lot of people who are interested in getting a positive result for themselves by whatever means by fair or foul. More foul than fair, says Arora.

The question is if Rs 146 crore has been seized there could be more that has not been seized. So the seizures should be even more, but equally important is that all the legal steps required should be taken more swiftly decisively and ruthlessly.

On the standard operational procedure in combating the black money menace, the CEC says: From ECI, for many years now we have expenditure observers drawn essentially from the revenue department to keep a strict tab. We get the accounts of the candidates every third day even during the elections. We get the accounts of the parties even after the elections too. Whenever we go to the states for review of the election preparedness, we have the central government enforcement agencies and during that time the DGs of income tax department, of the investigating wings, they tell us that they have taken all kinds of precautions. In fact they are upping their level of precautions with every successive election in terms of air monitoring units, field units, etc.

But what new measures does the ECI have this time?

ECI has to conduct elections as per Article 324 (of the Constitution) but at the same time it cannot take the role of the income tax department or customs or any other agency. Everybodys trying to come up with more optimal measures and enduring solutions but to say that ECI alone can do it would be slightly overestimating it, says the poll panel head.

Arora doesnt seem very agreeable on the idea of state funding of elections. I dont think so. As it is, the state spends huge money in elections in the management and administration of elections. Movement of lakhs of central paramilitary forces, their allowances, their stay arrangements, all these cost huge money but there would be lots of issues in case state funding takes place. Far more in depth consideration by all the stakeholders including political parties is required.

So how big is that figure? I wouldnt like to discuss that, the CEC says.

On the controversial issue of electoral bondsa financial instrument that political party donors can buy and donate to their preferred partyArora skirts it by saying it is for Parliament to decide the law of the land.

However, he promises a detailed look on another aspect of funding of political parties which allows foreign entities including companies and businessmen to donate. This needs to be gone into greater detail by the ECI. At the moment we are too caught up with the organisation and management of elections. We just got free from the elections in five states and before that we had elections in Karnataka, in Gujarat, in Himachal. So we will soon start looking at these issues and we will form a group if required and include outside experts after the Lok Sabha elections.

With the big polls looming, Arora is a very busy man nownot in the least in allaying fears over serious charges that EVMs (electronic voting machines) can be tampered with. The allegations were made by a Syed Shuja, a self-proclaimed US-based Indian cyber expert during a much-hyped 21 January London conference that he addressed via Skype.

There is a difference between tampering or manipulation and malfunctioning. Tampering and manipulation of EVMs cannot be done. They are standalone machines and are not connected to anything. Malfunctioning does happen once in a while and immediate measures are taken to rectify. In fact there is a technical expert committee which goes into every technical aspect of EVM manufacturing. This technical expert committee has been there for almost two decades. The present chairman is a professor emeritus in IIT Delhi, who was associated with the earlier technical committee also. Moreover, EVMs are manufactured in two facilities that also make defence equipment. So they are secure. And they are manufactured purely in India, Arora says, trying to allay the EVM fears.

There was so much hype over the London conference but it turned out to be a flop show. Whether the persons (Syed Shuja) name is correct or not, we dont know at this stage. He was never in the rolls of ECIL (Electronics Corporation of India Limited) like he claimed. On whether he acted on his own or he was sent by somebody or somebody was orchestrating this behind the scenes, we have some information from here and there but we dont have any evidence. We have also lodged an FIR with the Delhi Police to get into the details of this and investigate this entire matter. We cannot be intimidated, pressurised or for that matter bullied by such tactics.

But why it feels bad is because so many people are working almost 24x7 for years to make the system secure, to make it tamper-proof and then they all feel demotivated and dispirited.

On the clamour for simultaneous holding of Lok Sabha and state assembly polls, the CEC says: Law Commission has also supported it, so it is a highly desirable goal. But definitely not in the coming elections. Because, you have to align the life of the Houses in the Centre as well as in the states. And that alignment can be done by legal amendments.

Refusing to be drawn too much into whether Indian democracy will do better with the Proportional Representation (PR) system as against the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) that India has at present, he says: The existing law doesnt support it. I will say only that much at this stage.

Of the about 1,400 registered political parties in India, only about 70 are functional and contest elections. More than 1,300 are defunct for all practical purposes and exist merely for illegal purposes. So what can be done?

Some amendments have been suggested to the ministry in this regard. They are under consideration. But my own view is that ECI should not become an arbitrator of the fate of the parties. That would be assuming a different role for the ECI altogether. This is also about strengthening the powers of the ECI. However, ECI should be empowered to ask more and more detailed questions in case of non-compliances but not deregistration, Arora says.

Holding the same official position where former CEC Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan demonstrated the wholesome might of a constitutional position, Arora fights shy of emulating him. I am not very grandiloquent, so I just work under the radar. But I have plans. I try to go on a purposive and objective manner without fear or favour. After I end my term in office it is for the stakeholders to say and to judge.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said going ahead with the inauguration of the Vande Bharat Express according to schedule was a message to the terrorists behind the Pulwama attacks that India will not bow down to terror.

New Delhi: Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said going ahead with the inauguration of the Vande Bharat Express according to schedule was a message to the terrorists behind the Pulwama attacks that India will not bow down to terror.

He said the decision to continue with the flagging off programme was inspired by the way Mumbai reacted by showing their resilience in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

"The way Mumbai answered them, with everybody going to their work discharging their responsibilities, similarly the Vande Bharat Express today was dedicated to the nation on time in the service of its people.

"This is the biggest answer to the terrorists. Neither our jawans nor our people would ever bow before them," he said on board the train which is on its inaugural run between Delhi and Varanasi on Friday. Goyal said the country and its soldiers are capable of answering the terrorists in a befitting manner.

India's first semi-high speed train, the Vande Bharat Express, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday from the New Delhi Railway Station amid sombre mood in the backdrop of the terror attack in Pulwama. Goyal and members of the Railway Board were present on the occasion and will be on board the train on its inaugural journey.

"I am grateful to designers and engineers behind the Vande Bharat Express which will take its first trip from Delhi to Varanasi today. With our sincerity and hardwork in the last four-and-half years we have tried to improve railways," the prime minister said at the flagging off event.

The train will travel from Delhi to Varanasi in nine hours and forty-five minutes. This includes stoppage time of 40 minutes each at Kanpur and Allahabad where there will be special programmes.
Thursday's Pulwama attack where a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kilograms of explosives into a bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans, killing 42 of them, invoked reactions of condemnation in varying degrees of intensity from other nations.

Thursday's incident in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama where a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kilograms of explosives into a bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans, killing 42 of them, invoked reactions of condemnation in varying degrees of intensity from other nations.

Pakistan called the terror attack "a matter of grave concern" and rejected India's avowed maintenance of Islamabad's link to the incident. India has, meanwhile, withdrawn the "most favoured nation" status that it had granted to Pakistan.

Pakistan's Foreign Office, after keeping quiet for hours, issued a statement after midnight on Friday, saying, "We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in the Valley. We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations."

While China spoke out against the attack, it once again declined to back India's appeal to list Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

"China has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families," spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Geng Shuang said.

When asked about China's stand on the listing of Azhar, he said, "I could tell you that the 1267 Committee of Security Council has a clear stipulation on the listing and procedure of the terrorist organisations. JeM has been included in the Security Council terrorism sanctions list. China will continue to handle the relevant sanctions issue in a constructive and responsible manner."

China, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council and a close ally of Pakistan, has repeatedly foiled India's bid to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

The White House, meanwhile, asked Pakistan to immediately end "support" to all terror groups. "The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a late night statement on Thursday.

The US State Department's deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino said in a statement that the USA was "resolutely committed" to working with the Indian government to combat terrorism in all its forms.

Several American legislators including Chuck Schumer, Robert Menendez, Johnny Isakson, John Cornyn who is co-chair of the Senate India caucus, Chris Coons, Mark Warner, Pramila Jayapal, Tulsi Gabbard, Eliot Engel, Grace Meng, Brian Fitzpatrick, Dan Crenshaw, Al Green, Don Bacon, George Holding, Joe Wilson, Jeff Van Drew, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Frank Pallone, Michael McCaul, Joe Morelle, Will Hurd, Brad Sherman, Ted Yoho and Elissa Slotkin spoke against the attack.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman, who is set to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his two-day visit to India next week, also denounced the attack through the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reports said.

Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chrystia Freeland, issued a statement saying, "Canada offers its deepest condolences and profound sympathy to the families and friends of those killed and injured in the attack. It remains steadfast in its support of the global fight against terrorism."

The government of Bangladesh, which is one of India's steadfast allies, also offered condolences to the families who lost loved ones. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, "At this sad moment, we stand by the people and govt of India. Our thoughts and prayers are speedy recovery of those who got injured."

Another neighbouring ally, Bhutan, was also "deeply saddened by the news". The country's prime minister Lotay Tshering tweeted through the official account, "Bhutan strongly condemns terrorist attack of any nature. Our prayers are with the grieved family and we are following the situation closely."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates also tweeted that it stood in solidarity with India at this time.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa too strongly condemned the terror attack "on behalf of the government and people of South Africa." "Acts of terrorism have no place in society and constitute a threat to development, peace and security," the statement issued by the government of the country read.

France too condemned the attack through its Ambassador to India, Alexandre Ziegler.

France most firmly condemns the heinous attack perpetrated in Jammu & Kashmir. Our thoughts go out to the families of the fallen soldiers. France has always been and always will be by Indias side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms.#Pulwama #KashmirTerrorAttack  Alexandre Ziegler (@FranceinIndia) February 14, 2019

With inputs from agencies

Follow LIVE updates of the aftermath of the Pulwama attack here
On being asked to share the next course of action after the Pulwama attack, Malik said there will be a review meeting with top security and intelligence officials to find out the security lapses that led to the attack.

New Delhi: Coming down heavily on Pakistan over the ghastly terror attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Friday said the neighbouring country is "highly frustrated" due to the successful completion of Panchayat elections and a restriction on stone pelting in the state.

In an exclusive telephonic interview with ANI, Malik said: "Pakistan is frustrated by successful elections, they could not recruit new terrorists, and stone pelting has stopped so it wanted to do something. We have alerted all installations and cantonments; Pakistan may do something else."

Following the terror attack, Pakistan, while terming the attack as a "matter of grave concern", had strongly rejected allegations of the country's link to the incident. In response to this, Malik retorted: "Pakistan is talking nonsense. We saw terrorists holding open rallies in Pakistan saying we will do something and openly threatening India."

On being asked to share the next course of action, Malik said after attending the wreath-laying ceremony of those who lost their lives with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, there will be a review meeting with top security and intelligence officials to find out the security lapses that led to the attack.

"I will be leaving for wreath laying ceremony of martyrs in Kashmir, the Home Minister (Rajnath Singh) is also coming. We will hold a review meeting of with top security and intelligence officials, we will find out where are the lapses."

Around 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into a bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on Thursday. The bus, consisting of 42 CRPF personnel, was extensively damaged in the blast, which was followed by firing on the vehicle.

Soon after, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is based in Pakistan and backed by the Pakistani administration, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was carried out by its suicide bomber.

After the dastardly act, India demanded that the UN ban JeM and its chief Masood Azhar who roams freely in Pakistan. In a statement, India's External Affairs Ministry said all UN member countries should support a proposal for proscribing Azhar as an international terrorist.

Follow LIVE updates on the Pulwama terror attack
Given Narendra Modis ideological moorings and image as a 'tough leader', the PM faces the burden of expectations.

It was something that had never occurred in the past four-and-a-half years of the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Prior to the announcement that the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by the PM, would meet at 9.15 am on Friday, a photo-op of the political leadership attending the meeting and an official statement by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was issued immediately after the meeting ended.

Unusual times require unusual responses. After all, 40 soldiers died in a fidayan terror attack in Pulwama and the sense of anger against the perpetrators of this heinous act and their backers in Pakistan was palpable across the country. By making the details of the meeting public, to whatever extent, the government sought to instill a sense of confidence, and assure the public, particularly the families of the soldiers that died in the attack, that their sacrifice would not go in vain.

The CCS comprises PM, ministers of home, defence, external affairs and finance, chiefs of three defence services and chiefs of two central intelligence agencies. A stern message by the PM after the meeting was indicative of what must have transpired during the meeting. The essence of Modis statement was clear: India is keeping all its options, including military action of whatever kind, open.

Consider what Modi said: In these times the country expects that we must respond appropriately, that is natural. Our security forces have been given total freedom to act. We have full faith in valour and bravery of our soldiers I want to tell terror organisations and their backers that they have committed a big mistake. They will have to pay a heavy price. I want to assure the nation that whosoever forces behind this attack will be punished. He added that Pakistan had been isolated on the world stage and would never succeed in its intentions to create instability in India.

The prime minister was speaking  immediately after CCS  at a ceremony to flag-off the high speed Vande Bharat Express, running between New Delhi and Varanasi. Though he cancelled political events in Itarsi (which was scheduled for Friday evening) and Nagpur (which was scheduled for Saturday), but Modi kept his public engagements: flagging off of Vande Bharat Express and launching of a series of developmental programmes for Budelkhand in Jhansi.

Modi used flagging of a new train, the fastest train in the country, to indicate how the government and security forces might react to the situation. An official said, By keeping his date with developmental programmes, Modi sent out a clear message: that even as India stands with its soldiers and their families, India would never slow down or alter its pace in the face of terrorist brutality. The official drew a parallel with November 2015 terror attack in Paris, when the French government resolved to go ahead with Paris Climate Change Conference, which was scheduled just a few days later, which was appreciated around the world.

Three hours later, in Jhansi, Modi reiterated his resolve to give a befitting response to Pulwama terror attack. Security forces have been given nod to choose their time, place and nature of retaliatory attack Our neighbor (Pakistan) is forgetting that it is now dealing with an India which has new intent and resolve poora hisab liya jayega.

Sources said there is little doubt that such an action will be coming but how, when and what will be left to commanders of the security forces. Will there be another surgical strike or something more daring? A bit of optics or something else? In the corridors of power, speculation is rife. Given Modis ideological moorings and image as a 'tough leader', the PM faces the burden of expectations. Leaders from his own party, the BJP, believe Modi will surely walk the talk and make perpetrators in Pakistan pay heavy price, referring to the fact that the Indian Army conducted a surgical strike on terror camps inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 12 days after Uri terror attack.

Prior to Modi's statement, Jaitley listed some measures India is taking: Withdrawing most favoured nation status to Pakistan (commerce ministry will initiate that process), and said the external affairs ministry will initiate all possible steps to complete the isolation of Pakistan. Jaitley also spoke of the heavy cost the perpetrators and their backers will have to pay.
The most favoured nation status that India had granted to Pakistan stands revoked in the light of the Jaish-e-Mohammad attack killing 40 CRPF jawans in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said after attending a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security on Friday morning.

The "most favoured nation" status that India had granted to Pakistan stands revoked in the light of the Jaish-e-Mohammad attack killing 40 CRPF jawans in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said after attending a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security on Friday morning.

The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, also saw the presence of Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Army chief General Bipin Rawat, reported News18.

Jaitley held a press conference with Sitharaman after the meeting, where he announced that the Ministry of External Affairs will initiate all possible diplomatic steps to ensure the complete isolation of Pakistan from the international community. "Incontrovertible evidence is available of a direct hand in this gruesome terrorist incident. The MEA, in due course, will continue to keep you informed with regards to the steps it is taking (to ensure Pakistan's isolation). The 'most favoured nation' status which had been granted to Pakistan stands withdrawn," he said.

Noting that the CCS assessed and discussed the terror attack (and observed two minutes of silence for the soldiers who had lost their lives), Jaitley, who assumed office once again on Friday said, "The CCS has also placed on record the deep gratitude of the nation to those who have laid down their lives and expressed its condolences to the bereaved families."

The Central Reserve Police Force, in which the martyred soldiers served, will make detailed arrangements to transport the bodies of the deceased to their families, informed Jaitley.

"Some topics discussed in the meeting, usually not of the nature that can be disclosed, must be shared with you," he said and then went on to announce the measure on Pakistan.

"The MEA will also engage with the international community to make sure that the comprehensive convention on international terrorism, which has been pending for over three decades, particularly because of the definition of "terrorism" as it stands, is now adopted at the earliest," he added.

Jaitley also said Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be leaving for Srinagar with a team of officials on Friday. Upon his return, an all-party meeting will be held. "As far as our security forces are concerned, they will be taking all possible steps, first to ensure that full security is maintained and secondly to ensure that those who have committed this heinous act of terrorism and those who have supported it actively are made to pay a heavy cost for it," Jaitley said.

Follow LIVE updates of the aftermath of the Pulwama attack here
We deeply respect our nurses, their contributions to our organization, and all of their rights as employees including their right to support or oppose a union, said Ken Willis, a Hopkins spokesman, in a statement. As a standard practice we do not discuss individual personnel matters. In all cases, we follow a standardized and rigorous human resources process before any employee is dismissed. We believe the unions charges lack merit, and we stand by our workplace practices.
India on Friday summoned Pakistan's top envoy and lodged strong protest over the killing of nearly 40 CRPF soldiers in the Pulwama terror attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

New Delhi: India on Friday summoned Pakistan's top envoy and lodged strong protest over the killing of nearly 40 CRPF soldiers in the Pulwama terror attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood and lodged strong protest over the killing of the CRPF soldiers in Pulwama, official sources said.

JeM has claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday that left at least 40 CRPF soldiers dead and five others critically wounded.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm. Police identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmed, who officials said joined the terror outfit in 2018.
Hours after vowing to isolate Pakistan diplomatically in the wake of the attack, the government undertook the exercise of reaching out to the international community, most of which has univocally condemned the attack by the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based JeM terror outfit.

New Delhi: In a major diplomatic offensive against Islamabad after the Pulwama terror attack, India held a briefing for envoys of 25 countries, including from P5 nations  US, China, Russia, the UK and France  to highlight Pakistan's role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

Before the briefing, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood to his South Block office and issued a very strong demarche over the attack in which at least 40 CRPF personnel were killed in Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Pakistan must take "immediate and verifiable action" against the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and that it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories, Gokhale told the envoy.

According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack.

Hours after vowing to isolate Pakistan diplomatically in the wake of the attack, the government undertook the exercise of reaching out to the international community, most of which has univocally condemned the attack by the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based JeM terror outfit.

China expressed deep "shock" over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by a Jaish suicide bomber, but did not give an assurance to India that it will back New Delhi's appeal to list the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based terror group's chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

Apart from the envoys of the P5, Gokhale met the envoys of key countries in Europe and Asia such as Germany, South Korea, Japan, as well as Australia, they said.

"All the heads of missions were left in no doubt about the role played by Pakistan-based-and-supported JeM in the terrorist attack and our demand that Pakistan ceases forthwith all support and financing to terror groups operating from areas under their control. The foreign secretary also highlighted the role played by Pakistan in using terrorism as an instrument of its state policy," a source said.

The MEA will continue to take all steps to expose the complicity of Pakistan in the Pulwama terrorist attack and demand immediate and verifiable action against JeM and its leader Masood Azhar, the source added.

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, briefing reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, said the MEA will make a major diplomatic push to isolate Pakistan.

India on Friday also withdrew the 'most-favoured nation' status to Pakistan.

Jaitley said those aiding and abating the perpetrators will have to "pay a heavy price".

Countries from across the globe condemned the terror attack with nations such as the US, UK, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India in this hour of grief.

Condemning the attack, Russian president Vladimir Putin said perpetrators and sponsors of the attack should be brought to book and reiterated his country's support for further strengthening counterterrorist cooperation with India.
The attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday has sent ripples of shock through the country and the international community.

The attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday has sent ripples of shock through the country and the international community. At least 40 personnel of the CRPF were killed and several were injured when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kilograms of explosives into the security forces' bus. "There are no survivors from the bus," PTI quoted an official as saying, who added that they were yet to ascertain exactly how many people were on the bus.

Soon after JeM claimed responsibility for the attack, India slammed Pakistan and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil. India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.

Pakistan's Foreign Office, after keeping quiet for hours, issued a statement after midnight. The attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir "is a matter of grave concern," it said. "We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in the Valley," the Foreign Office said. Pakistan also rejected that it was in any way involved in the attack.

"We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations," the Foreign Office added.

Pakistan media had a wide coverage of the Thursday's Pulwama attack in "India-occupied-Kashmir" with several publications carrying editorials and reports about India's effort to isolate Pakistan by pinning the blame on its estranged neighbour.

'Freedom fighter launches attack,' reports Pakistani media

Publications in Pakistan aimed to highlight "India's attempts to isolate" the country globally by blaming it for terror incidents, and also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of creating an impression as "keen for good relations" while painting Pakistan to be the "spoiler". The media also said that the Indian government had used the strained relations with Pakistan as a smokescreen to distract the public away from "dissatisfaction with other issues".

The police identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmed Dar, who was hailed as a "freedom fighter" by The Nation. Ahmed joined the terrorist outfit in March 2018, reports said. Dar recorded a video to condemn the worldly pleasures and glorify war, soon after which, he carried out the attack.

A report by The Nation said, "Refusing to bow down to the ever-increasing Indian brutalities in Occupied Kashmir, the freedom fighters on Thursday struck back hard at the occupational forces when a car bomb ripped through an Indian military convoy killing 44 soldiers and injuring dozens of others on Srinagar-Jammu highway in Awantipora area of Pulwama district."

Despite the terror outfit publicly taking responsibility for the attack, the publication said that the Indian government was trying "to give the incident (the) terrorism colour" and added that New Delhi was "trying to take the credit (for the attack) away from the valiant Kashmiri youth". The report quoted a JeM spokesperson as saying that the outfit had "nothing to do with it".

The report quoted a Kashmir-based journalist, Bashir Manzar as saying that "the bombing would boost the morale of the freedom fighters and that it contradicted claims of the situation in Kashmir being brought under control." The Nation also noted the protests by separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani and other Hurriyat workers against civilian deaths in the Valley.

Dawn reported that Pakistan has consistently denied India's charge of "fuelling the uprising that has left tens of thousands of civilians dead" by saying that only "diplomatic support" is provided to Kashmir's "right to self-determination" by Islamabad. "Kashmiris have been fighting for an independent Kashmir, or a merger with Pakistan since 1989," the report added.

The publication also carried an editorial written by Touqir Hussain, a former ambassador and adjunct faculty at US universities, which said that India's foreign policy on Pakistan was that of "contempt". Hussain claims that Modi furthered a policy of hostility towards Pakistan for India's economic and developmental self-interests, adding that "...the Pakistan policy represents the historical Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh view of Muslims, Pakistan and Kashmir."

"Tensions with Pakistan have always served to move general populace away from dissatisfaction on other issues," Hussain said, adding, "Modi knows the power of the visual for modern media. The invitation to Nawaz Sharif to his (Modi's) swearing-in ceremony and the air dash to Lahore on Sharifs birthday in December 2015 had a dramatic impact internationally, especially in Washington. It showed Modi as keen for good relations, and Pakistan as a spoiler."

Hussain concludes that India's efforts to "conjure" up an image of a peacemaker for the international community, "...serves, among other purposes, Indias attempts at isolating Pakistan and keeping it off balance, limiting its diplomacy on Kashmir. Modis brutal repression of Kashmiris has no room for compromise; hence no compulsion for dialogue."

The Nation also carried an editorial written by Rehman Malik, a senator, who stated that it was "strange" that Modi was pointing fingers at Pakistan, while "being the face of the RSS" in India. "It is strange that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is propagating against Pakistan, alleging the charges of money laundering, terror financing and other false allegations whereas he himself is face of an internationally notorious terrorist organisation namely RSS operating in whole of India under the patronage of Modi.

"It is universally known fact that RSS is being funded by State of India under Modi," the editorial said. Malik also draws attention to "Indian spy" Kulbhushan Yadav saying that the international court trying the case should "set a precent" against the murders of "innocent Pakistanis" by rejecting Yadav's mercy petition.

Pakistan Today also carried an editorial which aimed to highlight the "fate of Kashmiris" at the hands of the Indian government and security forces. The writer, Mohm Azmi Abdul Hamid, said that the human rights violations against "Kashmiri Muslims" was largely ignored and unreported internationally. "The enemies of Islam directed their efforts in manipulating and creating global perception by stereotyping Islam with terrorism leading to prejudiced behaviour towards Muslims," the editorial says.

Hamid cites a UN Council of Human Rights (UNCHR) report dated 14 June, 2018 to point out that "the genocide since (1947) had led to the death of 300,000 to 500,000 Kashmiris Muslims."

Daily Times quoted Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala's tweet which said, "Zero political action and zero policy to tackle terror has led to an alarming security situation." The report said that the Congress leader "accused Modi of compromising on security".

With inputs from agencies
The oral proceedings in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case will commence from 18 February before the International Court of Justice at The Hague, the Ministry of External Affairs said Thursday.

New Delhi: The oral proceedings in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case will commence from Monday before the International Court of Justice at The Hague, the Ministry of External Affairs said Thursday.

Jadhav, 48, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May in 2017 itself against the verdict. A 10-member bench of the ICJ on 18 May, 2017, had restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar declined to go into the details of it.

"The oral proceedings on the International Court of Justice are commencing on February 18. India will present its case before the court. Since the matter is subjudice it is not appropriate for me to state our position in public. Whatever we have to do, we will do at the court," he said in response to a question.

The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings in the Jadhav case from 18 to 21 February, 2019, according to the ICJ website.

Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan province on 3 March, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.

Jadhav's sentencing had evoked a sharp reaction in India. India had approached the ICJ for "egregious" violation of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963, by Pakistan in Jadhav's case.
You can enrol as an overseas (NRI) voter if you are: A citizen of India, absent from the country owing to employment, education etc, has not acquired citizenship of any other country and are otherwise eligible to be registered as a voter in the address mentioned in your passport.

With the Indian general elections approaching, the focus is on the inclusion of the maximum number of overseas or Non-Resident Indian (NRI) voters in the voter list or electoral roll.

You can enrol as an overseas (NRI) voter if you are: A citizen of India, absent from the country owing to employment, education etc, has not acquired citizenship of any other country and are otherwise eligible to be registered as a voter in the address mentioned in your passport.

Here is how you can register to vote as an overseas (NRI) voter in the Indian elections:

Fill Enrollment Form Fill Form 6A online at www.nvsp.in and upload the requisite proofs. Alternatively, download Form 6A from ECI website www.eci.gov.in. Fill Form 6A in 2 copies. Forms are also available free of cost in Indian Missions. Submit the required documents

 One recent passport size coloured photograph affixed in Form 6A

 Self-attested photocopies of the relevant pages of the passport containing a photograph, address in India and all other

 The page of passport containing the valid visa endorsement

The Form can be submitted in person or by pos.

5. If the application is sent by post, the photo copy of each of the documents referred to above, should be duly self attested.

6. Alternatively you can fill the form in person at the Electoral Registration Officer / Assistant ERO of the constituency. If the application submitted in person before the ERO, the original passport should be produced for verification

7. After the form submission, the verification process kicks in:

 Booth Level Officer will visit the home address mentioned in the passport and enquire to verify the copies of documents

 In cases where no relative is available or willing to give declaration for verification of documents, the documents will be sent for verification to the concerned Indian Missio

 The decision of the ERO is communicated by post on the address and SMS on the mobile number given in Form 6A. Electoral rolls are also on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer

 Name of the overseas elector is included in a separate section for "Overseas Electors" which is the last section of the roll of each polling station are

6. You can use Form-8 for making any correction in the electoral roll

However, no person can be enrolled on more than one electoral roll i.e. when you enrol as an overseas voter you have to submit a declaration that you did not get enrolled as a general elector. And if you are registered as a general voter, you should surrender your EPIC along with submission of Form 6A When you return to India you can register as a general elector at your place of ordinary residence

How to vote:

An overseas elector is not issued an EPIC and voters are also allowed to vote in person at the polling station on the production of your original passport Soon, e- postal ballots would be provided to NRI Voters

Click here to know how you can register to vote as an Indian voter
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he shared the anger felt by the people of India over Thursday's terror attack on Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans in Pulwama district of Kashmir, which left at least 42 jawans dead.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he shared the anger felt by the people of India over Thursday's terror attack on Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans in Pulwama district of Kashmir, which left at least 42 jawans dead.

Warning Pakistan that it cannot weaken India by orchestrating such attacks Modi said those responsible will pay "a very heavy price" and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

Speaking at the launch of the Vande Bharat Express in New Delhi, Modi asserted that the "evil designs of the terrorists would never succeed". He added that no one could ever slow the pace of India's "forward march".

Earlier in the day, Modi had chaired Cabinet Committee on Security meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and army chief General Bipin Rawat, reported News18.

The CCS has decided to withdraw the "most favoured nation" status that had been granted to Pakistan. It would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

Offering condolences to the families of the martyrs, the prime minister said, "The Indian Armed Forces have been given a free hand, and the nation is confident of the valour and bravery of its soldiers."

"The jawans who defend India carry the vision of India's safety and prosperity. Those martyred in Pulwama had given their lives for India's safety, and it is now the duty of every Indian to devote his or her life for India's well-being and prosperity," he added.

He warned the terrorist organisations and their sponsors that they have made a grave mistake, and assured the country that the guilty would face retribution."The conspiracies being hatched by Pakistan to destabilise India will never succeed. The 130 crore people of India will give a befitting reply to such conspiracies," Modi added.

The prime minister will be launching development programmes later in the day from Jhansi.

A grateful nation bows to the martyrs of Pulwama. A befitting reply will be given to the perpetrators of the heinous attack and their patrons. No force will succeed in disturbing peace, progress and stability of India. pic.twitter.com/hFq0pUByVJ  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 15, 2019

With inputs from PTI

Follow LIVE updates of the aftermath of the Pulwama attack here
Saudi Arabias ties with Pakistan and its concerns over Chabahar are two big complications in bilateral ties.

When Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week, the elephant in the room is likely to be what weighs more: the issues the two men agree on or the ones that divide them.

As a matter of principle, Prince Mohammed and Modi are likely to take their strategic partnership to a new level as a result of changing energy markets, a decline in American power, the rise of China and the transnational threat of political violence.

Discussions with the crown prince and his delegation of Saudi businessmen on energy and investment will prove to be the easy part. Saudi Arabia is investing $44 million in a refinery in Maharashtras Ratnagiri and supplies 20 percent of Indias crude oil. India, moreover, expects the Saudis to invest in ports and roads while Saudi Arabia is interested in Indian agriculture that would export products to Saudi Arabia.

At first glance, security issues should be a no-brainer. The two countries hold joint military exercises, share intelligence and cooperate on counterterrorism. They are also working to counter money laundering and funding of political violence. Things get complicated, however, when geopolitics kicks in. Prince Mohammed arrives in Delhi on the back of a visit to Pakistan, where he is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on a framework for $10 billion investments, primarily in oil refining, petrochemicals, renewable energy and mining.

The memo follows significant Saudi aid to help Pakistan evade a financial crisis that included a $3-billion deposit in Pakistans central bank to support the countrys balance of payments and another $3 billion in deferred payments for oil imports.

The tricky part are the investments in the memorandum that include a plan by the Saudi national oil company Aramco to build a refinery at the Chinese-backed port of Gwadar, close to Pakistans border with Iran and the Indian-backed Iranian port of Chabahar. Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are closely monitoring Chabahars progress.

A potential Saudi investment in troubled Balochistans Reko Diq copper and gold mine would strengthen the kingdoms hold in the strategic province that both Prince Mohammed and US president Donald J Trumps hardline national security adviser John Bolton see as a launching pad for efforts to destabilise Iran. Taken together, the refinery, an oil reserve in Gwadar and the mine would also help Saudi Arabia in efforts to prevent Chabahar from emerging as a powerful Arabian Sea hub.

Saudi funds are flowing into ultra-conservative anti-Shiite, anti-Iranian Sunni madrassas in Balochistan. It remains unclear whether the money originates with the Saudi government, Saudi nationals of Baloch descent or the two million-strong Pakistani diaspora in the kingdom.

The money helps put in place building blocks for possible covert action should the kingdom or the US  or both  decide to act on proposals to support irredentist action.

Such a covert action could jeopardise Indian hopes to use Chabahar to bypass Pakistan, enhance its trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia and create an antidote to Gwadar, a crown jewel in Chinas Belt and Road initiative.

Pakistani analysts expect around $5 billion in Afghan trade to flow through Chabahar after India in December started handling the port operations. It could also further strain ties with Pakistan that accuses India of fomenting nationalist unrest in Balochistan.

The funds take on added significance in the face of Saudi concerns about Chabahar and Indias support for the port. The money continues to flow even though the crown prince has significantly cut back on the kingdoms global funding of ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim groups to bolster his assertion that the kingdom is embracing a more moderate, albeit as yet undefined, form of Islam.

The money started coming in at about the time the Riyadh-based International Institute for Iranian Studies published a study by that said Chabahar posed a direct threat to the Arab Gulf states that called for immediate countermeasures.

Written by Mohammed Hassan Husseinbor, a Washington-based Iranian Baloch lawyer and activist, the study warned that Chabahar would allow Iran to step up oil exports to India at the expense of Saudi Arabia, raise foreign investment in the Islamic Republic, increase government revenues and allow Tehran some muscle-flexing in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean. Noting the expanse of Irans Sistan and Balouchestan province, Husseinbor said it would be a formidable challenge, if not impossible, for the Iranian government to protect such long distances and secure Chabahar in the face of widespread Baluch opposition, particularly if this opposition is supported by Irans regional adversaries and world powers.

Published in a country that tightly controls the media as well as the output of think tanks, the study stroked with a memorandum drafted a year later by Bolton before he assumed office. The memo envisioned US support for the democratic Iranian opposition, including in Balochistan and Irans Sistan and Balouchestan province.

Iranian officials believe that Saudi Arabia and the US have a hand in a string of recent attacks by Baloch, Kurdish and Iranian Arab nationalists but have so far refrained from producing anything beyond allegations. Most recently, they point to a rare suicide bombing in Chabahar in December that targeted a Revolutionary Guards headquarters, killing two people and wounding 40.

Writing in the Pakistan Security Report 2018, journalist Muhammad Akbar Notezai said, to many in Pakistan concerns about Indian support for the Baloch were materialized with the arrest of Kulbushan Jadhav, an Indian spy in Balochistan who had come through Iran. Ever since, Pakistani intelligence agencies have been on extra-alert on its border with Iran.

The journalist warned that the more Pakistan slips into the Saudi orbit, the more its relations with Iran will worsen If their borders remain troubled, anyone can fish in the troubled water.

Notezai implicitly put his finger on the pitfalls Prince Mohammed and Modi will have to negotiate to ensure that their ever closer economic, energy and security relations can withstand the challenges posed by the escalating and intertwined rivalries that link the West and South Asia.

James M Dorsey is a senior fellow at Singapores S Rajaratnam School of International Studies and co-director of the University of Wuerzburgs Institute of Fan Culture.
If JeM attacks, it is because the Pakistanis are convinced that India will not risk a war.

The carnage is dreadful to see at the bombing site. Worse are the gloating headlines of major newspapers in Pakistan. One of those is headlined Freedom fighter launches attacks, 44 of Occupying Force killed in J&K. The article goes on to quote a Jaish-e-Mohammad source who denies the group was behind the attack. The fact that such sources are readily available to the media itself gives the lie to the claim that the JeM is banned in Pakistan.

JeMs activities are hardly a secret in Punjab, where passersby will point out its headquarters in Bahawalpur. Its leader Mazood Azhar is the son of a school headmaster and hails from a large family. Azhar started his career through the efforts of Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, who was then directing the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, a group operating with foreigners of various nationalities in Afghanistan. Azhar was later asked to concentrate on Jammu and Kashmir, and sent on a visit. He was arrested in 1994 attempting to enter through Bangladesh and incarcerated.

However, he was not in prison for long. He was one of the main terrorists released after the IC-814 hijacking in 1999. Azhar thereafter addressed a huge gathering in Karachi, flanked by his own heavily armed security detail. Pakistans Zahid Hussain reported this to the authorities, who accused him of hallucinating . Clearly, Azhar had hit gold. The JeM was started immediately thereafter, and soon launched its first major attack on Parliament in 2001.

Following the attacks of 9/11 and General Pervez Musharrafs capitulation to the United States, a section of the group turned on the Pakistani Army and installations in revenge for what was seen as a betrayal.They even targeted Musharraf twice, with some support from within the Pakistan Army. Rumour has it that Indian agencies got to hear of it, and warned Musharraf. By 2004 however, Azhar had cleansed the organisation of such elements, and the group was back as a Kashmir directed terrorist force.

However, the original Afghan connection remained. Azhars family was part of the then Taliban government: the connection served him well. Hundreds of his group cadres were trained in Afghan camps, giving them a degree of lethality that Kashmiri groups like Hizbul Mujahideen could not claim. The fact that the planner of the attack Abdul Rashid Ghazi is an explosive expert with fighting experience in Afghanistan shows the link endures to deadly effect.

Despite all this, the JeM was thoroughly written off in Kashmir by Indian Army operations after many of its major leaders were killed. On 9 February, 2013, Afzal Guru the main accused in the attack on the Indian Parliament was hanged, an act that was opposed by many of our liberals and which gave Azhar a golden opportunity to regroup. By 2014, JeM was back with a bang in Pakistan. Reports abounded of a sprawling complex, complete with riding classes and martial arts at Bahawalpur.

The 2016 Pathankot attack by well-trained fidayeen attackers followed. What was significant was not the attack itself, however well executed. The point was that the fidayeen attack followed immediately after Prime Minister Narendra Modi dropped in unexpectedly into Pakistan to greet then prime minister Nawaz Sharif on his birthday. Someone somewhere in Rawalpindi took fright. The JeM had clearly become a trusted instrument of the establishment, more so because the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was far too much in the public gaze.

In 2018, Firspost reported that the JeM was building another giant facility close to their original camp. The huge 15-acre complex could hardly be overlooked, nor the funds raised by JeM leaders kept a secret. It seemed the group was flexing its muscles under the new dispensation of Prime Minister Imran Khan. After all, his election slogans in Punjab were on the side of the extremist causes. This included punishment for blasphemy, the non-Muslim status of Ahmadis, and other such issues. Worse, Imran's party accepted support from no less than Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, the patron who raised Azhar from penury to his present status. Over the past year, JeMs profile in Kashmir has only risen, with not only cadres coming in from Pakistan, but also the very real power of Azhars eloquence on videos distributed through online portals and other platforms.

There is still much to the Pulwama attack that is unclear. Adil Ahmad Dar, the young suicide bomber, had barely a years tenure in JeM before he became cannon fodder. His cousins lasted just months. This is a repetition of other young lives, and must constitute as point one in terms of counter-terrorism. Get the youth back on your side with imaginative measures that have been set aside for nearly a decade. The second point is that none of these youngsters would have had the clout to get hold of even half of the reported 350-kg explosives used in the attack.

The fact is that explosives are extraordinarily difficult to source even for hardened groups like LeT. Thats the trail that should be followed and quickly. There may be more where that cache came from. Point three is that the JeM or Pakistan can only claim victory if India delivers it. And Indian politicians sniping at each other are doing just that.

A video from Farooq Abdullah stands out as an example of what not to say, particularly when the whole nation is baying for blood. Point four arises from this call for revenge. The do something lobby dominating television discussions need to ponder whether a diminishing defence budget and a divisive debate on Rafale is helping in delivering the desired strength, keeping in mind that another surgical strike could be followed by open war.

Make no mistake. No enemy will take on a force that is overwhelmingly superior in terms of delivering punishment. If JeM attacks, it is because the Pakistanis are convinced that India will not risk a war. There is, of course, another covert course of retaliation that could effectively take the josh out of JeM. But thats a discussion for another day.
In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, saner counsels at the top-most levels of political and military hierarchy need to prevail.

Pulwama attack aftermath: Saner counsel must prevail; Narendra Modi should isolate Pakistan globally

In the aftermath of the Pulwama IED blast that killed 42 CRPF soldiers, saner counsels at the top-most levels of political and military hierarchy need to prevail. The element of surprise in executing surgical strikes is over. The statement by the Chief of the Army Staff (CoAS) that a retaliatory action across the border is needed would have further alerted Pakistan, if indeed such 'alerting' was needed.

Adil Ahmed Dar, a lethal example of how Imran Khan's softness has allowed Jaish-e-Mohammad to embrace global jihad

The Jaish-e-Mohammad, the consistent author of the most spectacular terrorist attacks in Kashmir, has shaken off the shackles placed on it by prime minister Nawaz Sharifs government in Pakistan. This sunrise will have consequences in Kashmir, and beyond.

Pulwama attack ominous sign for Valley as US withdrawal from Afghanistan may mean advantage Pakistan

Indias security planners are not oblivious to what is happening just across the border. Pakistan is being rewarded by the Donald Trump administration for sponsoring cross-border terrorism. The deal with the Afghan Taliban is not possible without Rawalpindis support.

'Both vehicles completely charred': Two CRPF jawans from Assam recall the horrors of Pulwama terror attack

Pabitra Barman, attached to 115 Battalion of CRPF, one of 2,500 soldiers traveling in the convoy, said, We were just an hour away from our destination when the convoy came under attack: a blast rocked the bus right behind mine. Those who witnessed it from afar thought my bus had exploded. Soon, news that I died in the attack went viral.

Pulwama massacre: India grapples with security threats from 3 directions; Fidayeen in the north, Khalistanis in the west, China in the east

While in the north, India faces the apparently unsolvable problem of Kashmir, Punjab in the northwest is riddled with a gradually resurfacing Khalistani movement. In the North East, India faces the advancing footsteps of a very insistent China.
Forty-two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel died on Thursday after terrorists targeted a convoy of 78 vehicles with a car bomb at Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district

Guwahati: Forty-two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel died on Thursday after terrorists targeted a convoy of 78 vehicles with a car bomb at Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district. Called the worst attack ever on security personnel in the state, the car was carrying nearly 350 kilograms of explosives, as per several media reports.

Senior CRPF officials visited the home of Maneshwar Basumatary, a soldier from Tamulpur in Baksa district of Assam who died in the attack, to offer condolences to the family even as a state of anger and despair was evident across the district on Friday. The last rites of Basumatary, survived by his wife, son and daughter, will be performed in his village Saturday. According to reports, another soldier from Assam, identified as Kanak Kalita from Khetri in Kamrup district, was injured in the attack.

Hitesh Chandra Sarkar and Pabitra Barman, from Assams Bongaigaon district, survived the attack. Sarkar and Barman were returning to their camps from Jammu after a month-long leave. Barman, attached to 115 Battalion of CRPF, one of 2,500 soldiers traveling in the convoy, said, We were just an hour away from our destination when the convoy came under attack: a blast rocked the bus right behind mine. Those who witnessed it from afar thought my bus had exploded. Soon, news that I died in the attack went viral. However, Barman later posted on Facebook that he was alright: Hi friends, I am full safe and sound...

I didnt see the blast clearly as our driver diverted our vehicle as soon as he heard the explosion. We entered the closest camp and stayed put. There were strict orders that no one was supposed to go out, Barman added. Hitesh Chandra Sarkar, attached to 61 Battalion of CRPF, was in a bus far ahead of the one that was attacked. Sarkar, a resident of Bidyapur in Bongaigaon, said, When leave ends, all jawans gather at the transit camp in Jammu; from there, the vehicles set off together to take us back. I was in the convoy. We came under attack sometime between 2.30 pm and 3.00 pm, I think."

Sarkar said there were eight vehicles between his and the one that came under attack, "Barman's vehicle was in front of the one that was attacked. His bus was fired at too, but they escaped unhurt. A car that rammed into the bus exploded; we call it phidai nepek: it means the attacker will kill and die. Both vehicles were completely charred. We were saved as our bus was bulletproof, but theirs wasnt."

Sarkar added that right after the blast, their driver put the vehicle in reverse and entered the closest camp. The other buses did the same and entered whichever unit was closest to their location. "My bus had entered 130 Battalion, which is three to four kilometers from the incident site," he said.

"The media thought Barman died in the attack and flashed the news. For a while, even I thought it was true, but I kept trying to reach him. Thankfully, I managed to reach him by nightfall and found he was fine. I told him about the false news circulating and asked him to call his family immediately. Then, news channels from Bongaigaon and Dhubri started calling me, so I told them he was fine," said Sarkar.

Sarkar added that the vehicles from the convoy left the respective camps they had taken shelter in and reached Bakshi stadium in Srinagar around 10 pm, where a headcount was done and names were crossed off lists to mark personnels presence. "Finally, at 1 am, we were sent to our respective units."

Protests against attack

In Assam, various organisations staged protests on Friday against the attack. Bajrang Dal's Assam unit staged demonstrations against the attack across the state and burned the Pakistani flag while shouting anti-Pakistan slogans. All Bodo Minority Students Union of Assam burned an effigy of Masood Azhar, chief of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, which claimed responsibility for the attack.

In the capital city of Guwahati, organisations such as Assam Goria Moria Youth Students Organisations and Krishak Shramik Unnayan Parishad burned the Pakistani flag in protest. Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik accepted that intelligence failure was partly responsible for the attack as loading and movement of the explosive-laden vehicle on the highway could not be detected.

The author is a Guwahati-based reporter and a member of 101Reporters
The second published book by Baltimore author Steve Luxenberg has only been out for a few days and its already generating buzz. This deeply researched story of the people involved in what is widely considered to be among the worst Supreme Court rulings of all time received a long and mostly laudatory review from The New Yorker and was named by The New York Times as one of 12 new books to watch for in February. Luxenberg also participated in NPRs On Point on Feb. 8 in an hourlong discussion of race relations in the U.S.
An official statement said on Friday the President of India, as advised by the prime minister, has directed to assign the portfolios of the Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs to Arun Jaitley.

New Delhi: Arun Jaitley on Friday resumed charge as the finance minister after a gap of over a month, which was the second break within a year that he had to take to undergo medical treatment.

The President of India, as advised by the prime minister, has directed to assign the portfolios of the Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs to Arun Jaitley, an official statement said on Friday.

Jaitley tweeted on Friday: "Resumed work at the Ministry of Finance today (Friday). Thankful to Piyush Goyal who discharged the responsibility at the MoF diligently and competently."

Jaitley, 66, who last week returned from the US after undergoing medical treatment, first attended the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called to discuss the terror attack in south Kashmir's Pulwama district that killed around 40 CRPF personnel, and then came to North Block  the seat of the finance ministry.

Jaitley had left for the US on 13 January and returned on 9 February.

During his absence, Railways and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal was given charge of the finance ministry on 23 January. Goyal also presented the sixth and final Budget of the NDA government on 1 February.

"Delighted to welcome back Arun Jaitley. Grateful for his continuous guidance and support," Goyal tweeted on Friday.

Even during this absence from the ministry, Jaitley has been active on social media writing Facebook posts and tweeting about current issues.

Jaitley had undergone a kidney transplant surgery on 14 May, 2018, at AIIMS in New Delhi and had not travelled abroad since then. He had stopped attending office at the beginning of April 2018 due to his kidney ailment and was back in North Block on 13 August, 2018. Even then, Goyal had manned the ministry for about 100 days.

In September 2014, he underwent bariatric surgery to treat weight gain that he suffered because of a long-standing diabetic condition.

He was earlier in January named the publicity head of the BJP for the upcoming general elections.
Union minister Arun Jaitley, who returned from the US earlier this month, after undergoing medical treatment, is likely to resume charge of the Finance Minister on Friday, official sources said.

New Delhi: Union minister Arun Jaitley, who returned from the US earlier this month, after undergoing medical treatment, is likely to resume charge of the Finance Minister on Friday, official sources said.

After resuming the charge, sources said, he would also attend a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security to discuss the Pulwama attack that killed at least 37 CRPF personnel.

In his absence, the charge of the Finance Ministry was given to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, who presented the sixth and the last budget earlier this month before the general elections. General elections are expected during April-May.

Jaitley left for New York on 13 January after being reportedly diagnosed with soft tissue cancer. Subsequently, on 23 January, the charge of the Finance Ministry and Corporate Affairs was given to Goyal on a temporary basis. This was his first overseas visit after he underwent renal transplant surgery on 14 May, 2018, at AIIMS.

He had stopped attending office at the beginning of April last year due to his kidney ailment and was back in North Block - the seat of Finance Ministry - on 23 August, 2018. Even then, Goyal had manned the ministry for about 100 days. Jaitley in September 2014 underwent bariatric surgery to treat weight gain that he suffered because of a long-standing diabetic condition.
'We will do whatever it takes to avenge the Pulwama attack,' Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said

This is the time, and the perfect opportunity, to take back Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK)  a land that belongs to India but is being used to wage terror-based war against India itself.

Forty-twoIndian families have lost their young sons, India has lost its brave soldiers to men who were recruited, brainwashed by Pakistan agencies and trained in India's own territory, that is known as PoJK.

India is shocked at the audacious cowardice, the enormity of the behind-the-back attack. People are seething with anger, waiting for their government to take action so strong that Pakistans terror factory is well nigh annihilated. Pakistan has to be taught a lesson it never forgets.

"We will do whatever it takes to avenge the Pulwama attack," Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said. What better revenge than to finally wrest back the land that was forcibly occupied by Pakistan in 1947? The very land that has been converted into a terror factory  to inflict terrible wounds upon India for the last four decades.

Union minister Dr Jitendra Singh has stated many a times that "there is no issue (regarding Kashmir) except to retrieve Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. But where is the action towards addressing that 'issue'?

Now Pakistan has given us the excuse to do what needed to be done ever since 1947. And, as they say, better late than never.

This is the time to execute the Parliament resolution of 1994. On 22 February, 1994, the Indian Parliament passed a unanimous resolution. This resolution declared that, "(a) The State of Jammu and Kashmir has been, is and shall be an integral part of India and any attempts to separate it from the rest of the country will be resisted by all necessary means; (b) India has the will and capacity to firmly counter all designs against its unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity; and demands that  (c) Pakistan must vacate the areas of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, which they have occupied through aggression; and resolves that  (d) all attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of India will be met resolutely."

Its been 25 years since Parliament adopted this resolution, but we have done little till date. Pakistan, on the other hand, continues its strategy to bleed India with a 1,000 cuts.

The car that rammed the CRPF bus in Pulwama on Thursday, killing at least 44 jawans, was driven by Jaish terrorist Adil Ahmad Dar. The Pakistan backed Jaish-e-Mohammed lost no time in claiming responsibility for Thursdays attack, and promoting photos and videos of the attacker on social media.

Adil is said to be a local Kashmiri from Gundibagh village of Pulwama. According to reports, Adil joined the terror outfit last year.

JeM, headquartered in Pakistan, has for long targeted India. Its chief Masood Azhar has been circulating videos of hate speeches against India. That Pakistan actively supports and aids outfits like these is the world's most open secret.

Army commander, Northern Command, Lieutenant-General Ranbir Singh pointed out earlier this month that 16 terror camps are active in Pakistan-occupied areas of Jammu and Kashmir, and Pakistani areas along the LoC. Even though this is just a conservative estimate, the fact is that India has always been aware of terrorist training camps operating in the occupied areas. It has also known that PoJK has steadily become a safe haven for international terror outfits as well. It is hardly surprising then that terrorists in Kashmir are now increasingly using techniques similar to international outfits such as the Islamic State.

What is surprising is that India has not had the will to take firm action in reclaiming its own land, despite knowing everything. For decades, India has allowed Pakistan to breed the worst kind of human vermin on our own land. Reports in 2018 had indicated that Pakistan spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was improving training facilities in its camps based in PoJK, while also creating and reviving other terror groups. So one hears of groups such Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen, Al-Qaeda affiliate Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind and Al-Badr spreading their tentacles across India. Pakistan agencies also ensure networking and synchronisation between the cadres and over ground workers (OGWs) of all these anti-India outfits.

The use of a car laden with over 200 kilograms of explosives in this attack (some reports even peg it at 350 kilograms) has made it clear that Pakistan is taking its violent agenda to the next level.

From public reactions to the Pulwama attack on CRPF convoy, it is clear that the nation is no longer ready to take it lying down anymore.

We must take back our lands from Pakistan and rid ourselves of all terror factories.

The author is a senior journalist and media director, Jammu Kashmir Study Centre
JeM militants, who carried out one of the deadliest attacks on CRPF, managed to breach the heavy security on the Jammu-Srinagar highway.

Srinagar: The Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants, who carried out one of the deadliest attacks on the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Pulwama district by ramming a vehicle laden with an improvised explosive device (IED) into a bus carrying the personnel to Kashmir, managed to breach the heavy security on the Jammu-Srinagar highway to pull off the attack.

Around 40 personnel of the CRPF were killed and twenty five others injured in the attack on the forces in Kashmir's Pulwama.

According to officials, the attack was carried out by militants at around 3.15 pm, when a convoy of at least 70 CRPF vehicles was on its way from Qazigund area of Kashmir to Srinagar. Sources said that the bus, which was rammed by a militant with the IED-fitted vehicle, was completely damaged, while some civilians also received minor injuries in the incident.

However, notwithstanding the fact that the Jammu-Srinagar highway remains heavily guarded, sources said that militants also fired gunshots before fleeing from the spot. Officials said that searches have been launched in the area.

Officials said that even as the highway remains guarded with army personnel, CRPF and the police, the militants have managed to attack the forces on the highway many times.

CRPF spokesperson Sanjay Sharma said that while many CRPF personnel were killed on the spot, several others who were injured were shifted to the army hospital.

Police officials said that the CRPF personnel had been on leave for sometime. Some of them were stranded due to the closure of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. The highway has been blocked for some days due to snowfall and was partially opened for traffic to allow the stranded vehicles to move between Srinagar and Jammu.

A police official said that the explosion was massive and it completely damaged the bus which was carrying the CRPF personnel. The injured CRPF personnel were immediately taken to the army hospital at Badami Bagh for treatment by those who were part of the convoy. 

Sharma said that the exact death toll couldnt be immediately ascertained, adding that the CRPF personnel had to report for duties at different camps in Srinagar.

JeM spokesperson Muhammad Hassan said in a statement to a local news agency that many vehicles of the forces were destroyed in the attack. The spokesperson identified the JeM militant who carried out the fidayeen attack as Aadil Ahmad alias Waqas Commando of Gundi Bagh, Pulwama.

The attack was condemned by many mainstream politicians in Srinagar. Former chief minister and National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah posted on Twitter that the attack was "terrible news".

Former chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti said that no words were enough to condemn the gruesome attack. How many more lives will be snuffed out before this madness ends? Mehbooba asked in a tweet.
Royal Enfield was focused on resolving all issues in an amicable manner while keeping the best interests of the company and its workforce, it said.

Chennai: A section of employees at a manufacturing facility of bike-manufacturer Royal Enfield at Orgadam near here is on strike since 13 February, opposing the transfer of some of their colleagues.

According to Royal Enfield union sources on Friday, the workers kept off work from the second shift on 13 February to protest the transfer of employees who were also office-bearers of the trade union.

"Six people, including two women workers, have been transferred to various locations across the country. We

opposed this and issued a notice that we will go on strike from 13 February," union sources told PTI.

Sticking to the demand to cancel the transfer, a senior union official said a tripartite meeting was held in the presence of district labour commissioner on Thursday, but it remained inconclusive.

"As of now, we are continuing with our strike and the employees on all the three shifts have joined us," he

claimed.

Reacting to the protest, Royal Enfield, a part of Eicher Motors, said in a press statement that the bike-maker remains committed, as always in the past, to maintaining respectful relationships with all employees.

"We believe in an engaged workforce and cordial industrial relations, in creating a culture of excellence

where all employees are proud of their contribution to the company," the release said.

"It is unfortunate that a certain section of the workforce has gone on a strike at our Oragadam plant," it

said.

"We have been working closely with our workforce and have undertaken various constructive and confidence-building initiatives," it said.

"Currently, majority of the workforce continues to report for work at the Oragadam plant. Our other manufacturing facilities, including our plants at Vallam Vadagal and Tiruvottiyur, continue to remain fully operational", it said.

Royal Enfield was focused on resolving all issues in an amicable manner while keeping the best interests of

the company and its workforce, it said.

Last year, a section of workers of Royal Enfield and India Yamaha Motor had struck work for more than two months since July 2018 over trade union issues, affecting production at the facility at Oragadam which is the hub of automobile manufacturers.
There is a need for the Reserve Bank to be more transparent on decisions like curtailing the term of Yes Bank's managing director and chief executive Rana Kapoor, a foreign brokerage said on Friday

Mumbai: There is a need for the Reserve Bank to be more transparent on decisions like curtailing the term of Yes Bank's managing director and chief executive Rana Kapoor, a foreign brokerage said on Friday.

This comes two days after the private sector lender reported that the RBI had not found any divergence or under-reporting of non-performing assets for the fiscal year 2017-18.

"..the question of why the RBI ordered Kapoor to go remains unanswered. We believe it is time for the RBI to increase transparency on decisions that have a significant impact on minority shareholders," Jefferies, the brokerage, said in a note.

The brokerage pointed out that the Yes Bank stock, which gained since the zero divergence news, had lost 30 percent following the RBI curtailing the term of Kapoor in September last year.

It can be noted that the terms of both Kapoor as well as Shikha Sharma, the head of its larger rival Axis Bank, were curtailed by the regulator. No reasons were communicated officially for the action.

Both the banks were found to have underreported their the stock of NPAs by a cumulative Rs 10,000 crore each for two consecutive fiscal years by the RBI, leading to wide speculation if this was the reason for the removal.

The brokerage said it thought the refusal to allow the reappointment of Kapoor by the RBI was taken by it as a "black swan" event.

"However, with the RBI's audit report now citing 'nil' NPA divergence, we seem to have mistaken a mere crow for a swan," it said.

It added a divergence number higher than last year's would have been a worry, but the latest disclosure of zero divergence has come as a "shock".

According to earlier reports, sources had said the RBI had cited "serious lapses" in governance and a "poor compliance culture" at Yes Bank as reasons for its "regulatory discomfort" in allowing Kapoor to continue to head the lender.

The bank has displayed "highly irregular" credit management practices, the regulator had said.

Sources citing a RBI letter to the then bank chairman had said the regulator also wrote about its "concern" relating to a steep hike in Kapoor's remuneration by the board while seeking a three-year reappointment, saying it was in defiance of its earlier direction to trim CEO bonuses if asset quality was not good.

The central bank said these happenings reinforce its "grave concerns and regulatory discomfort with the role of Kapoor in the governance, management and superintendence of Yes Bank."

The bank has named foreign lender Deutsche Bank's India head Ravneet Gill as the replacement for Kapoor, who will be taking charge by 1 March.

The brokerage report said the bank will now be able to approach the capital markets to replenish its CET 1 ratio and return to the original growth model, the brokerage said.

It said the RBI will approve both Ashish Agarwal (Chief Risk Officer) and Rajat Monga's elevation to the board as executive directors, which may be viewed favourably by the markets.

"We will wait to see whether Kapoor seeks a non-executive board seat, which does not require RBI approval," it added.

The bank scrip closed 1.04 percent down at Rs 218.70 a piece on the BSE, as against a 0.19 percent correction on the benchmark on Friday.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday withdrew the 20 percent limit on investments by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in corporate bonds of an entity with a view to encourage more foreign investments

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday withdrew the 20 percent limit on investments by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in corporate bonds of an entity with a view to encourage more foreign investments.

As part of the review of the FPI investment in corporate debt undertaken in April 2018, it was stipulated that no FPI should have an exposure of more than 20 percent of its corporate bond portfolio to a single corporate (including exposure to entities related to the corporate).

While the provision was aimed at incentivising FPIs to maintain a portfolio of assets, market feedback indicates that FPIs have been constrained by this stipulation, the RBI said.

"...in order to encourage a wider spectrum of investors to access the Indian corporate debt market, it has been decided to withdraw this provision with immediate effect," the central bank said.

The RBI said the directions in this regard have been issued the Foreign Exchange Management Act.
India's decision to withdraw the 'most favoured nation' (MFN) status to Pakistan will adversely impact the neighbouring country's economy which is already in 'deep trouble', NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said on Friday

New Delhi: India's decision to withdraw the 'most favoured nation' (MFN) status to Pakistan will adversely impact the neighbouring country's economy which is already in "deep trouble", NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said on Friday.

India on Friday revoked the MFN status to Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.

"The impact of India's decision to withdraw MFN status on Pakistan economy, which is already in deep trouble, could be significant.

"On the other hand, India's exports are marginally dependent on Pakistan's market and these can be successively diverted to markets in the Middle East," Kumar said.

He further said India's large market will now be closed for Pakistani exports.

Noting that India has always refrained from taking any trade and commerce-related measures despite repeated provocations from Pakistan, Kumar said, "India has been forced to take the step of withdrawing MFN status for Pakistan after the latest extreme provocation in Kashmir."

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the MFN status to Pakistan stands revoked.

Withdrawal of the MFN status would significantly hit Pakistan's exports to India, which stood at $488.5 million (around Rs 3,482.3 crore) in 2017-18.

The MFN status was accorded under the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this, and are members of the WTO.

Under the MFN pact, a WTO member country is obliged to treat the other trading nation in a non-discriminatory manner, especially with regard to customs duty and other levies. Withdrawal of the status would mean that India could impose heavy customs duties on Pakistani goods.

In 2012, Pakistan had committed to giving the MFN status to India but retracted later due to domestic opposition. Instead of MFN, Pakistan said it was working on granting Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) status to India but that also was not announced.

Total India-Pakistan trade has increased marginally to $2.41 billion in 2017-18 as against $2.27 billion in 2016-17. India imported goods worth $488.5 million in 2017-18 and exported goods worth $1.92 billion in that fiscal.

India mainly exports raw cotton, cotton yarn, chemicals, plastics, manmade yarn and dyes to Pakistan.
IndiGo has not pulled out any additional flights other than the schedule cancellations but refused to issue a stateme

Mumbai: Acute shortage of pilots along with NOTAMs at some airports forced IndiGo to cancel around 130 flights for Friday, a source said. NOTAMs or notice to airmen is given to pilots and include information on potential hazards on a flight route.

The cancelled flights account for almost 10 percent of the airlines operations, the source said.

An Indigo spokesperson, however, said the airline has not cancelled any additional flights other than the schedule cancellations.

The Gurugram-based budget carrier operates over 1,300 flights per day with a fleet of 210 planes.

The airline has not pulled out any additional flights other than the schedule cancellations but refused to issue a statement.

A query sent to IndiGo spokesperson and also to its chief operating officer Wolfgang Prock-Shauer remained unanswered.

The budget carrier has been cancelling flights since last Saturday after rain and hailstorm hit the Delhi-NCR region last week.

On Thursday it did not operate as many as 70 flights, citing reasons like planned cancellations and partial closure of the Bengaluru airport due to the Air Show.

"As stated earlier, the anticipated cancellations are 30 flights per day. The operations will be completely normalised by the start of the summer schedule from 31 March.

"Additionally, a NOTAM in Bangalore started effective today (14 February), which caused additional 40 flight cancellations, rescheduling for which had been completed a month back and passengers were informed and reaccomodated accordingly," the airline said in its earlier statement.

It had cancelled 49 flights on Wednesday as well.

"The cancellations on 13 February were caused by several factors like anticipated weather conditions on 14 February and NOTAMS at various airports. This resulted in extended duty times which then made it necessary to re-roster our crew and optimise our operations," it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Further, the airline said it has decided to curtail its schedule for the remaining period of this month by "approximately 30 flights a day".

"This is in order to stabilise its operation and adjust crew rosters due to the reasons mentioned above. Passengers are in the process of being informed and re-accommodated," the carrier had said.
After the withdrawal of the MFN status, India can raise customs duties on several goods being imported from Pakistan.

Withdrawal of most favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan after the deadly Pulwama terrorist attack is expected to affect its exports to India to the tunes of $488.5 million, said media reports. Besides this, India can also hike customs duties on the goods that Pakistan imports.

Trade between India and Pakistan is about $2 billion per year. Figures show that the trade balance is in favour of India as its exports to Pakistan is more than what it imports from that country.

While a section of the experts opine that revoking MFN status to Pakistan will not have much impact on the trade between the two countries as the trade value is below $3 billion. However, another section is of the view that if Pakistan resorts to retaliatory measures, it may affect India more.

Total Indo-Pakistan trade has increased marginally to $2.41 billion in 2017-18 as against $2.27 billion in 2016-17. India imported goods worth $488.5 million in 2017-18 and exported goods worth $1.92 billion in that fiscal, said a PTI report.

India mainly exports raw cotton, cotton yarn, chemicals, plastics, man-made yarn and dyes to Pakistan while the latter's imports include fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products, bulk minerals and ores and finished leather.

According to the statistics of Directorate General of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the bilateral trade between the arch-rivals touched the peak of $2.7 billion in 2013-14. During this period, India exported goods worth $2.27 billion to Pakistan and the latter imported goods to the tune of $427 million.

After the withdrawal of the MFN status, India can raise customs duties on several goods being imported from Pakistan.

After the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that MFN status to Pakistan stands revoked.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, but the latter had not yet reciprocated.

The MFN status was accorded under World Trade Organisation's (WTO) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this and are members of the WTO.

Under the MFN pact, a WTO member country is obliged to treat the other trading nation in a non-discriminatory manner, especially with regard to customs duty and other levies.

In December last year, a World Bank report had said that the trade between India and Pakistan could reach up to $37 billion from the current $2 billion if the two neighbours removed artificial barriers like trust deficit and complicated and non-transparent non-tariff measures.

The report titled 'Glass Half Full: Promise of Regional Trade in South Asia' stated that Pakistan's decision of not granting Most Favoured Nation status or non-discriminatory market access to India was also a barrier to trade.

Meanwhile, trade experts said that this decision would not have a major implication on bilateral trade between the countries as the value of trade is below $3 billion annually.

Welcoming the government's decision, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) president Ganesh Kumar Gupta said that the move would impact Pakistani industries that are exporting to India.

"The government should take a carefully crafted step as India's exports are more than imports. If Pakistan will take retaliatory actions, then it would impact more to India," international trade expert with Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Rakesh Mohan Joshi said.

Professor Biswajit Dhar of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said that Pakistan mainly exports to India through Dubai and Singapore, "so we need to target that also".

 With PTI inputs
Yeagley got the idea for his most recent film from a 2014 article in The Baltimore Sun about a General Assembly bill to ban conversion therapy for minors  it was withdrawn during that years session but was passed last year  and included an interview with Doyle discussing his work. Yeagley contacted him to see if hed consider allowing him inside therapy sessions with a client. He recalls Doyle saying clients would never agree to that, but after he asked them, Gniewek agreed. As it turned out, the then 26-year-old Gniewek had also been quoted in The Sun article, saying hed eventually like to marry a woman and have a family, and that the therapy had given him some glimmer of hope that wasn't there before."
India will by mid-2020s surpass China as the world's largest energy growth market, accounting for over a quarter of incremental global demand, UK supermajor BP said in its annual energy outlook

New Delhi: India will by mid-2020s surpass China as the world's largest energy growth market, accounting for over a quarter of incremental global demand, UK supermajor BP said in its annual energy outlook.

The 2019 edition explores the key uncertainties that could impact the shape of global energy markets out to 2040. "The greatest uncertainties over this period involve the need for more energy to support continued global economic growth and rising prosperity, together with the need for a more rapid transition to a lower-carbon future. These scenarios highlight the dual challenge that the world is facing," it said.

Global energy demand is expected to increase by around a third by 2040, driven by improvements in living standards, particularly in India, China and across Asia. This will be met mostly by natural gas, which is expected to overtake coal as the second largest source of energy by the mid-2020s and converging on oil by 2040, the report said.

Renewables are also expected to continue their upward trajectory, as their share in the energy mix is expected to increase from 4 percent today to 15 percent by 2040.

"All of the growth in energy demand comes from fast-growing developing economies, led by India and China," the outlook said. "Developing economies account for over 80 percent of the expansion in world output, with China and India accounting for around half of that growth."

India's energy consumption will rise by 156 percent to 1,928 million tonnes of oil equivalent by 2040 from 754 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2017. This at an annual growth of 4.2 percent.

Much of the increase in global energy demand is concentrated in developing Asia (India, China, and Other Asia), where rising prosperity and improving living standards support increasing energy consumption per head.

"China's transition to a more sustainable pattern of economic growth means that by the mid-2020s, India surpasses China as the world's largest growth market, accounting for over a quarter of the growth in global energy demand over the Outlook. Even so, China remains the largest market for energy: roughly double the size of India in 2040," it said.

All of the net global growth in industrial demand is met by natural gas and electricity, with these fuels accounting for around two-thirds of the energy used in industry by 2040. Coal consumption within industry declines as China, the EU and North America switch to cleaner, lower-carbon fuels, partially offset by growth in India and Other Asia, the outlook report said.

Almost all of the growth in power demand stems from developing economies, led by China and India.

"India is the largest growth market for coal, with its share of global coal consumption more than doubling to around a quarter in 2040," the BP energy outlook said, adding the majority of the increase is used to meet robust growth in power demand.

BP said the focus should be on meeting growing energy demand and the push for lower emissions.

Chief executive Bob Dudley said: "Predicting how this energy transition will evolve is a vast, complex challenge. In BP, we know the outcome that's needed, but we don't know the exact path the transition will take. Our strategy offers us the flexibility and agility we need to meet this uncertainty head-on."
The country's exports grew 3.74 percent to $26.36 billion in January on account of growth in sectors such as gems & jewellery, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, according to data from the commerce ministry

New Delhi: The country's exports grew 3.74 percent to $26.36 billion in January on account of growth in sectors such as gems & jewellery, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, according to data from the commerce ministry.

Imports almost remained flat at $41 billion during the last month, narrowing the trade deficit to $14.73 billion.

The trade deficit stood at $15.67 billion in January 2018.

Gold imports also grew 38.16 percent to $2.31 billion in January this year as against $1.67 billion in the corresponding month of 2018.

During the April-January period of the current financial year, exports grew 9.52 percent to $271.8 billion. Imports rose by 11.27 percent to $427.73 billion.

The trade deficit widened to $155.93 billion during the 10 months of the current fiscal from $136.25 billion in April-January 2017-18.

Oil imports in January rose by 3.59 percent to $11.24 billion.
Jaitley, who was the Finance Minister before the medical procedure led to the charge being temporarily taken away from him, missed presenting the sixth and final Budget of the Narendra Modi government before the general elections.

Union Minister Arun Jaitley assumes charge as Finance Minister today (15 February) according to media reports. After resuming charge, sources said Jaitley also attended a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security to discuss the Pulwama attack that killed at least 40 CRPF personnel on Thursday. The President's Office will issue a notification on Jaitley resuming charge of the finance ministry.

Jaitley left for the United States on 13 January after being reportedly diagnosed with soft tissue cancer. Subsequently on 23 January, the charge of the finance ministry and corporate affairs was given to Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on temporary basis. Jaitley returned from the United States on Saturday.

.@arunjaitley will assume charge as Finance Minister and attend Cabinet Committee on Security at 9.15 am today.  All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) February 15, 2019

Jaitley, who was the Finance Minister before the medical procedure led to the charge being temporarily taken away from him, missed presenting the sixth and final Budget of the Narendra Modi government before the general elections. In his absence, the charge of the ministry was given to Railways Minister Piyush Goyal.

Jaitley, however, has been active on social media tweeting and writing Facebook posts and had also met reporters through a video call from New York and fielded questions on the Budget. He also gave interviews on the subject.

In an interview to PTI in New York after the Budget presentation, Jaitley said he was on recovery course and will return to India in time to reply to the Budget debate in Parliament will depend on when his doctors allow him to leave.

"It depends on my treatment here, which is all over. I am on the recovery course. It's when my doctors allow me to go back. As of present, as I understand, Piyush Goyal will be replying (to the Budget debate in Parliament)," he had said.

Jaitley, 66, had last month flown to New York for the treatment after being reportedly diagnosed with soft tissue cancer which required surgery. This was his first overseas visit after he underwent renal transplant surgery on 14 May 2018, at AIIMS.

He had stopped attending office at the beginning of April last year due to his kidney ailment and was back in North Blockthe seat of Finance Ministryon 23 August 2018. Even then, Goyal had manned the ministry for about 100 days.

In September 2014, Jaitley underwent bariatric surgery to treat weight gain that he suffered because of a long-standing diabetic condition.

--With inputs from agencies
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 15, 2019) - TransCanna Holdings Inc. (CSE: TCAN) (FSE: TH8) ("TransCanna" or the "Company") intends to host a corporate update conference call, after the close of the market at approximately 1:15pm (pst) on Tuesday February 19th, 2019. The agenda for the call is to provide an update on the corporation's activities since the IPO and articulate the future vision and opportunities the company is pursuing.

To participate in the conference call, please dial one of the following numbers.

Dial-in numbers are:

Canada/USA Toll Free: 1-800-319-4610

International Call-In: +1-604-638-5340

Callers should dial in 5 - 10 min prior to the scheduled start time and simply ask to join your call.

Conference reference No.: 10006275

About TransCanna Holdings Inc.

TransCanna Holdings Inc. is a Canadian based company providing branding, transportation and distribution services, through its wholly-owned California subsidiaries, to a range of industries including the cannabis marketplace.

For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.transcanna.com or email the Company at info@transcanna.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

James Pakulis

President and Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: (604) 609-6199

The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Because of these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, the actual results, expectations, achievements or performance may differ materially from those anticipated and indicated by these forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to: the expected purchase of the facility, the terms of the facility acquisition, the payment of finders fees in relation thereto, the ability of the Company to secure financing and the acquisition of appropriate licenses for the facility. Any number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as well as future results. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward looking statements will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward looking statements or otherwise.

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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/42878
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 15, 2019) - Westminster Resources Ltd. (TSXV: WMR) (the "Company" or "Westminster") announces that it proposes to undertake a private placement to raise gross proceeds of up to $200,000 (the "Offering") through the sale of up to 4,000,000 common shares priced at $0.05.

The proceeds from the Offering will be used for general working capital. A finder's fee commensurate with TSX Venture Exchange policies may be paid in connection with the Offering. The Offering is subject to the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange and board approval.

The Company is further pleased to announce that all of the resolutions put forth at its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held on February 15, 2019 have been approved. In addition to the approval of the Company's Advance Notice Policy, rolling stock option plan, and the re-appointment of Dale Matheson Carr-Hilton Labonte LLP as auditors of the Company for the ensuing year, the number of directors was set at four and the shareholders elected the following directors of the Company:

Jason Cubitt - Interim President and Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company since August 29, 2017;

Chafika Eddine - Director of the Company since October 2, 2018;

Christopher Gale - Director of the Company since July 17, 2018; and

Daniel Maarsman - newly elected Director of the Company.

About Westminster Resources Ltd.

Westminster Resources is a Latin American focused mining exploration company. The Company holds a 100% interest in a package of highly prospective copper properties in southern Peru. These properties total over 36,000 hectares within the country's prolific coastal copper belt-source of nearly half of Peru's copper production. Prior work has identified both porphyry and IOCG style mineralization. The Company also holds a 100% interest in the 18,000-hectare El Cobre property in Sonora, Mexico, prospective for world-class epithermal and copper-gold porphyry systems.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

WESTMINSTER RESOURCES LTD.

"Jason Cubitt"

Jason Cubitt

Interim President and Chief Executive Officer

For further information regarding Westminster Resources Ltd., please call 604-608-0400 or Toll Free: 1-877-608-0007.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this news release.

This news release may contain forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward- looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward- looking information. Forward-looking information in this news release may include, but is not limited to, the Company's objectives, goals or future plans. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, those risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/42876
PRUNEDALE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / February 15, 2019 / Level 1 Private Security of Prunedale, California, and Seattle area-based Olympus Consulting Group are merging operations, increasing their security services for current and new clients worldwide.

Level 1 Private Security - founded in 2016 by Crystal Stubblefield - is one of the first security companies to augment a sheriff's department in Central California. Level 1 also provides security and mobile patrol services for agricultural businesses as well as special event security.

Olympus Consulting Group - founded in 2014 by Bryan Fath - offers security consultation, private investigations and executive protection services worldwide. Olympus Consulting Group with additional offices in Cleveland, Ohio, and forwarding operations in Hong Kong, Mexico City and Cape Town, South Africa.

"This merger with Olympus Consulting Group will make an immediate impact on Level 1's visibility, not only in California, but nationally and globally with OCG's experience around the world," said Level 1's Operations Director, JT Tomlinson.

Bryan Fath, CEO of Olympus Consulting Group, is excited by the merger, adding, "We at OCG always wanted a security guard and patrol platform to balance out the portfolio, now we have that capability."

Sy Alli, COO of Olympus Consulting Group, will become the Executive Director of the combined firms and will operate out of the company's headquarters in Prunedale, California.

"The synergies between the two companies match perfectly and position us for extended growth," Alli said. "I am humbled at being asked to take the combined company to the next level. I see nothing but opportunity and success ahead."

The company will initially have offices in California, Seattle and Cleveland, with plans to expand to Oregon, North Carolina and Florida in 2019.

The company also plans to offer a state-of-the-art 24-hour Global Center to provide clients real time tracking, CCTV monitoring and mobile patrol response.

Company Websites:

https://level1privatesecurity.com/

https://olympusconsultinggroup.org/

Contact:

Sy Alli

Email: salli@olympuscg.com or salli.LEVEL1PS@gmail.com

Phone: 614-558-1743

SOURCE: Level 1 Private Security

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/535267/Security-Firms-Announce-Merger
Halifax, Nova Scotia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 15, 2019) - eXeBlock Technology Corporation (CSE: XBLK) ("eXeBlock" or the "Company") today announces it has entered into a purchase agreement (the "Agreement") with Peerplays Blockchain Standards Association ("PBSA"), Data Security Node Inc., Fallout Complex Inc., 10353027 Canada Corporation ("10343027"), and Jonathan Baha'i.

Material terms of the Agreement include:

Sale of software including 50/50 Labs, Sidechain and eXeChain (collectively, the "Software") to PBSA for the payment to eXeBlock of $250,000 in cash (the "Cash Consideration") plus applicable taxes, on closing; the assumption by PBSA of amounts owing by eXeBlock to a third party developer in the development of the Software totaling $463,419 USD; the purchase of up to 9,965,000 common shares of eXeBlock held by 10343027, an entity wholly-owned by Jonathan Baha'i (which represents approximately 16.6% of the Company's common shares outstanding as of February 15, 2019) for cancellation by the Company (the "Share Reduction") for an aggregate amount not exceeding $1.00; the termination of the software development agreement between eXeBlock and PBSA on closing and release by eXeBlock in any interest in any consideration, including any PPY tokens, if any, which were to be transferred as payment for software development under such agreement; the forgiveness of amounts owing by eXeBlock to each of Data Security Node Inc., Fallout Complex Inc., and Jonathan Baha'i for certain equipment, furniture, fixtures and Company expenses totaling $74,912.35; and the termination of the bunker lease between eXeBlock and Fallout Complex Inc. on closing, (collectively, the "Transaction").

Completion of the Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including acceptance and approval of the shareholders of the Company by special resolution and regulatory approvals. The board of directors of eXeBlock has considered all relevant factors and unanimously determined that the Transaction is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. The board of directors unanimously recommends that its shareholders vote in favour of the Transaction. Within the next week, the Company will be rescheduling its annual and special meeting of the shareholders, to consider, among other things, the approval of the Transaction. The Company expects to mail out the circular and proxy materials shortly. The outside date under the Agreement to satisfy all conditions and close the Transaction (other than the Share Reduction) is May 1, 2019.

eXeBlock will be seeking all required regulatory approvals to complete the Share Reduction at closing. In the event less than the 9,965,000 common shares of eXeBlock held by 10343027 are acquired by eXeBlock at closing, the Company may continue to seek all necessary regulatory approvals necessary to acquire any remaining common shares until November 30, 2020.

About eXeBlock

eXeBlock Technology Corp (CSE: XBLK) is a designer of custom, state-of-the-art blockchain based software applications that provide profitable, secure and efficient solutions to businesses and markets globally.

To receive regular updates on the business, follow them on Twitter @eXeBlock or visit www.exeblock.com.

For more information please contact:

Jamie Davison

CEO

eXeBlock Technologies Corporation

902.334-1699

jdavison@exeblock.com

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.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This press release contains forward-looking statements and information that are based on the beliefs of management and reflect the Company's current expectations. When used in this press release, the words 'estimate', 'project', 'belief', 'will', 'anticipate', 'intend', 'expect', 'plan', 'predict', 'may' or 'should' and the negative of these words or such variations or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking information relating to, the anticipated completion of the Transaction including satisfaction of the conditions thereto, including receipt of regulatory approvals and the approval of the Company's shareholders and the anticipated timing for completion of these matters. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company with respect to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information. 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. There are no assurances the Transaction will be completed on the terms and timeline anticipated, or at all. 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. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. There are a number of important risk factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. For a more detailed discussion of risk factors, refer to the Company's management discussion and analysis dated as of January 28, 2019 filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on the CSE's website. The Company cautions that the aforementioned list of material risk factors is not exhaustive. When relying on the Company's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing risk factors and other uncertainties and potential events.

THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE COMPANY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PRESS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE THE COMPANY MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/42871
Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 15, 2019 / BeWhere Holdings Inc. (TSXV: BEW) (the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that it has closed its private placement (the "Private Placement") of units of the Corporation ("Units") for gross proceeds of $4,025,000 at a price of $0.19 per Unit.

Each Unit consists of one common share in the capital of the Corporation (a "Common Share") and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant (each whole Common Share purchase warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price of $0.35 for a period of five years following the closing of the Private Placement.

The Private Placement was conducted on an agency basis by PI Financial Corp. (the "Agent").

The Agent has been paid a cash commission. The Agent and members of its selling group also received 1,022,368 broker warrants. Each broker warrant entitles the holder to purchase a Common Share at $0.19 per Common Share for a period of five years following the closing of the Private Placement.

The net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used for purchase of inventory, for working capital and for expansion of operations in Europe.

The Common Shares and Warrants are subject to a statutory four month hold period, which expires June 16, 2019.

The Corporation also announces that it has entered into an Investor Rights Agreement with a strategic investor pursuant to which such investor, subject to certain restrictions, is entitled to nominate a director to the board of directors of the Corporation and appoint an observer to attend directors meetings.

As a result of insiders of the Company participating in the Private Placement, the Private Placement is a "related party transaction" within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101"), which requires the Company to obtain "minority approval" of the Company's shareholders of the related party transaction unless there is an exemption from such requirement. The Company is relying on the exemption in Section 5.7(a) of MI 61-101 on the basis that the fair market value of the securities distributed to all related parties, in the aggregate, was less than 25% of the Company's market capitalization.

About BeWhere

BeWhere Holdings Inc. (TSXV:BEW) is an Industrial Internet of Things ("IIOT") solutions company that designs and sells hardware with sensors and software application to track real-time information on non-powered fixed and movable assets, as well as to monitor environmental conditions. The Corporation develops mobile applications, middle-ware and cloud-based solutions that stand-alone or that can be readily integrated with existing software. The Corporation's solutions use available cellular technologies (LTE-M and NB-loT) and offer customers low-cost technology to implement a new level of visibility to their businesses.

The Corporation sells its products through a worldwide network of distribution and technology companies. It secured distribution agreements and technology partnerships with a large roster of companies including major telecommunications providers, leading vehicle telematics providers and logistic and supply chain management solution providers.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information and statements in this news release contain certain forward-looking information. This forward-looking information relates to future events or the Corporation's future performance. In particular, this document contains forward-looking information and statements regarding the use of proceeds of the Private Placement. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. This forward-looking information is subject to certain risks and uncertainties and may be based on assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking information. These assumptions include that, in respect of the use of proceeds, historical costs and expenses will be representative of future costs and expenses. The Corporation's actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such forward-looking information, and accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking information will transpire or occur or, if any of them do, what benefits that the Corporation will derive from them. The Corporation's forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, the Corporation undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

For further information, please contact:

Margaux Berry

VP Strategy and Growth

Tel: 1-(844) 229-4373 ext. 107

mberry@bewhere.com

SOURCE: BeWhere Holdings Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/535539/BeWhere-Holdings-Inc-Announces-Closing-of-Private-Placement
LUXEMBOURG, February 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

Deal supports innovative digital business models that are having an impact on the urban transport sector

Financing will allow Cabify to strengthen its presence in countries where it operates across the region promoting social and environmental benefits, gender equality, and financial inclusion of drivers

Funding seeks to support several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

IDB Invest and Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital announced this week their structured financing to Cabify, a ride hailing company that provides mobility solutions to its users, with the closing of a $70 million loan to support an innovative digital business model that is transforming the urban transport sector. The financing will allow Cabify to reinforce its 'smart cities agenda', reducing mobility costs and improving the lives of citizens.

https://bluelikeanorangecapital.com/press-releases/

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/820766/Blue_like_an_Orange_Logo.jpg )



(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/820767/IDB_Invest_Logo.jpg )



Cabify is an important actor to assist economic groups who might otherwise have difficulty finding jobs, and bringing them into the Latin American formal economy. Its digital model allows the traceability of operations and transactions by reducing friction through technology and generating a business environment that is subject to taxes and strict compliance with regulatory and legal frameworks.

Cabify, IDB Invest and Blue like an Orange believe that this transaction can have significant positive social impact, in addition to the employment generation benefits described above. For instance, indicators will be traced related to road safety and CO2 emissions, and a specific effort on female drivers and providing women with safe access to transportation have been adopted. Safety is a major issue in Latin America, with a special impact on women, who suffer harassment and other forms of intimidation when using various forms of transport. Cabify provides a safe complement to other transportation options especially relevant for women.

In addition to increasing access to affordable, reliable and safe transport to people in Latin American cities, the company aims to reduce carbon emissions through the reduction of the average age of the fleet of vehicles the company operates with; increase of the number of women among Cabify's drivers; and improve the employment conditions of drivers including help in obtaining social benefits.

Specifically, the expected development outcome of this transaction supports five Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 3, Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages; SDG 5, Gender Equality; SDG 9, Industry, innovation and infrastructure; SDG 8, Decent work and economic growth; and SDG 11, Sustainable cities and communities.

Cabify has incorporated the SDGs and 2030 Agenda into its business objectives, and adheres to the United Nations Global Compact.

The investment, carried out by Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital together with IDB Invest, is part of a framework agreement of co-financing between both institutions to catalyze private debt capital in companies in Latin America and the Caribbean and marks their second co-financing transaction announced in as many weeks.

More info about IDB Invest, Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital and Cabify on our website.

https://bluelikeanorangecapital.com/press-releases/
(2019-02-15) Kitron has completed the acquisition of the EMS division of API Technologies Corp., substantially strengthening its position in the US market.

The transaction is completed according to the terms set out in the stock exchange announcement on 30 November 2018, including all necessary governmental approvals. Kitron will consolidate the acquired business effective today.

"This acquisition is a step change for Kitron in the US market and comes in response to customer demand for a more substantial presence in this important market," said Cathrin Nylander, CFO and acting CEO of Kitron.

The acquired business is focused on defence, aerospace, medical/industrial, and communications/consumer, and it is well aligned with Kitron's overall strategy. It is located in Windber, Pennsylvania, close to Kitron's current US facility in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, with 115 employees operating a total of six production lines and a facility of approximately 10 000 square meters. Total revenues in 2017 amounted to approximately USD 30 million.

"We know the API business well, and the process from the announcement until closing has further strengthened our confidence in this transaction, which we believe is a win-win proposition: We gain critical mass in the US market and the Windber facility finds a better home in a group with EMS as its core business. We expect the unit generate an operating profit on a stand-alone basis going forward and see substantial potential for further profitability improvements when it becomes part of the Kitron group," said Hans Petter Thomassen, Vice President North America.

The purchase price to be paid, after certain post-signing adjustments, is USD 14.8 million, subject to post-closing adjustments, if any.

Kitron expects the transaction to be earnings neutral in 2019 and earnings enhancing in 2020 and beyond.

For further information, please contact:

Cathrin Nylander, CFO and acting CEO, tel: +47 900 43 284

Hans Petter Thomassen, Vice President North America, tel. +47 913 92 360

E-mail: investorrelations@kitron.com (mailto:investorrelations@kitron.com)

Kitron is one of Scandinavia's leading electronics manufacturing services companies for the Energy/Telecoms, Industry, Defence/Aerospace, Medical devices and Offshore/Marine sectors. The company is located in Norway, Sweden, Lithuania, Germany, China and the United States. Kitron had revenues of about NOK 2.6 billion in 2018 and has about 1,700 employees, including the acquired API business. www.kitron.com (http://www.kitron.com)

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

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: Kitron ASA via Globenewswire


3M has great respect for the brave men and women who protect us around the world, the company said in the statement. We have a long history of serving the U.S. military, and we continue to sell products, including safety products, to help our troops and support their missions. We are not commenting on specific litigation matters at this time.
JUPITER, Florida, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of the agreement by Congress and the president to end the government funding stalemate, the EB-5 program will be authorized thru September 30, 2019. Many may be aware that over the past few months Iowa Rep. Steve King proposed to terminate the EB-5 program. However, his bill garnered zero support, illuminating how lawmakers view the future of EB-5.

Ron Klein, partner at Holland & Knight and member of the firm's Public Policy & Regulation Group said, "separate from the Appropriations bills, there is new legislation being drafted, which includes visa relief, increase of the investment amount, and other reform provisions." He continued, "due to the new change of leaders in the house and the senate, who are expressing a more favorable view of the EB-5 program, we believe there is a better opportunity to pass legislation this year."

Between the government shutdown, and the temporary re-opening, few things have changed for EB-5. EB-5 regional centers have not been terminated and petition data for Q3 FY2018 remains unpublished. The only change during the defined timeframe is the U.S. District Court ruling which removes petition denials on the basis of investing loan proceeds not secured by the individuals own assets.

For years, US Citizenship Immigration Services (UCSIS) has challenged EB-5 petitions where funds originated from a property loan, where 100% of the property collateral was not fully owned by the investor. Property ownership has been particularly scrutinized by USCIS in this regard, leading to illogical situations, one being where an investor owning part of the property collateral was less valid than an investor owning none of the property collateral at all. This ruling ensues the November 30, 2018 court approved EB-5 class-action law suit which also challenged USCIS' denials based on cash vs. indebtedness. This decision is an encouraging advantage for investors interested in the EB-5 program.

U.S. Immigration Fund (USIF) will continue to provide informed updates as the reauthorization of the program is announced. With the positive progress seen since the shutdown and re-opening of the federal government, optimism is high for future of the EB-5 program.

U.S. Immigration Fund provides outstanding EB-5 project opportunities backed by 30+ years of collective real-estate development, financing and banking experience. USIF has formed and sponsored highly successful regional centers throughout the United States, jointly assisting nearly 6,000 EB-5 investors and their families to date. USIF will continue to follow this story closely and provide updates.

Contact:

U.S Immigration Fund

115 Front Street suite 300, Jupiter, FL 33477

(561) 799-1883

publicrelations@usifund.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/822680/EB5_government_shutdown.jpg
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 15, 2019) - Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has agreed to pay $25 million to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and two of the company's former executives were charged for their roles in facilitating the payment of millions of dollars in a bribe to an Indian government official.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's complaint alleges that in 2014, a senior government official of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu demanded a $2 million bribe from the construction firm responsible for building Cognizant's 2.7 million square foot campus in Chennai, India. As alleged in the complaint, Cognizant's President Gordon Coburn and Chief Legal Officer Steven E. Schwartz authorized the contractor to pay the bribe, and directed their subordinates to conceal the bribe by doctoring the contractor's change orders. The SEC also alleges that Cognizant authorized the construction firm to make two additional bribes totaling more than $1.6 million. Cognizant allegedly used sham change order requests to conceal the payments it made to reimburse the firm.

"Bribery to further corporate goals is an illusory path to long-term success. While always the wrong choice, it is particularly egregious when senior executives chart that course for those they lead, as our complaint alleges here. We are committed to holding them accountable for their actions," said Charles E. Cain, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division's FCPA Unit.

The SEC charged Coburn and Schwartz with violating anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions of the federal securities laws. The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, monetary penalties, and officer-and-director bars against Coburn and Schwartz.

The SEC's order as to Cognizant found that the company violated Sections 30A, 13(b)(2)(A) and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which are anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions of the federal securities laws. Without admitting or denying the allegations, the company agreed to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest of approximately $19 million and a penalty of $6 million.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey today announced the indictment of Coburn and Schwartz on criminal charges of violating and conspiring to violate the FCPA's anti-bribery and accounting provisions.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Michael K. Catoe, Paul W. Sharratt, and M. Shahriar Masud of the FCPA Unit under the supervision of Robert I. Dodge. The litigation will be led by John Bowers. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Justice Department's Fraud Section, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
HOOKIPA Pharma Inc. ("HOOKIPA"), a company developing a new class of immunotherapeutics targeting infectious diseases and cancers based on its proprietary arenavirus platform, today announced the appointment of Michael A. Kelly to the Company's Board of Directors.

Mr. Kelly is a former senior executive of Amgen, Inc. currently acting as Founder President of Sentry Hill Partners, LLC., who looks back on more than two decades of executive experience in senior leadership roles in the life sciences industry. Prior to retiring from operational management, he held various strategic finance and operations positions at Amgen, including the role of acting CFO of Amgen in 2010 and 2014, and positions at Biogen, Tanox and Monsanto Life Sciences. Throughout his career in pharmaceutical operations, Mr. Kelly has held a variety of strategic finance leadership roles at the Board and Committee level, which have successfully led to transformation, restructuring, and integration in environments of rapid innovation and change.

"It is a great pleasure to welcome Michael A. Kelly to HOOKIPA's Board of Directors. His financial expertise, gained over many years in numerous roles in many highly regarded life science companies will add great value to the governance and the future development of our Company," said Joern Aldag, HOOKIPA's Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Kelly is currently a member of the Board of Directors and serves on the Finance Committee for Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid organization focused on health outcomes and disaster relief. He also previously served as a member of the Board of Trustees at Viewpoint School.

Mr. Kelly holds a BSc in business administration from Florida A&M University, concentrating in Finance Industrial Relations.

Commenting on his appointment, Michael A. Kelly said: "HOOKIPA has built a strong investor base to fund their convincing and unique pipeline and technology platform. I look forward to working with the Board of Directors and HOOKIPA's experienced Management Team to further advance the Company's success."

END

About HOOKIPA

HOOKIPA Pharma Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of immunotherapeutics, targeting infectious diseases and cancers based on its proprietary arenavirus platform that is designed to reprogram the body's immune system.

HOOKIPA's proprietary arenavirus-based technologies, VaxWave*, a replication-deficient viral vector, and TheraT*, a replication-attenuated viral vector, are designed to induce robust antigen specific CD8+ T cells and pathogen-neutralizing antibodies. Both VaxWave and TheraT are designed to allow for repeat administration while maintaining an immune response. TheraT has the potential to induce CD8+ T cell response levels previously not achieved by other published immuno-therapy approaches. HOOKIPA's "off-the-shelf" viral vectors target dendritic cells in vivo to activate the immune system.

HOOKIPA has successfully completed a Phase 1 trial of a VaxWave-based prophylactic vaccine to protect against cytomegalovirus infection and has started dosing patients in a Phase 2 trial in cytomegalovirus-negative patients awaiting kidney transplantation from cytomegalovirus-positive donors. To expand its infectious disease portfolio, HOOKIPA has entered into a collaboration and licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. to jointly research and develop functional cures for HIV and Hepatitis B infections. HOOKIPA is building a proprietary immuno-oncology pipeline by targeting virally mediated cancer antigens, self-antigens and next-generation antigens.

TheraT and VaxWaveare not approved anywhere globally and their safety and efficacy have not been established.

Find out more about HOOKIPA online at www.hookipapharma.com

*Registered in Europe; Pending in the US.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190215005180/en/

Contacts:

HOOKIPA

Nina Waibel

Head of Communications

Nina.Waibel@HookipaPharma.com



Media enquiries

Sue Charles Ashley Tapp

Instinctif Partners

Hookipa@Instinctif.com

+44 (0)20 7457 2020
With close to 40 years of industry experience, Rakesh Sarna is a highly valued and motivational leader in the hospitality industry. He is committed to ensuring students have access to the resources they need to succeed in a professional capacity.

MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / February 15, 2019 / Global hospitality leader Rakesh Sarna feels fortunate to be able to announce an academic scholarship valued at $1,500 USD for students pursing a career in hospitality, marketing, human resources, or business. Students must be currently enrolled in an accredited U.S. or Canadian post-secondary institution to be eligible.

The application process requires candidates to complete an online registration form and compose a 500-word essay detailing the importance of their area of expertise. A competitive application will explain why they chose their area of study and how they plan to contribute to society following graduation. The scholarship program is designed to help those in need of financial aid reach their long-term academic objectives. Rakesh encourages individuals to provide a detailed account of how they could benefit from funding.

Applicants are required to submit a letter of acceptance to their current program, and scholarship winners will be announced shortly after the deadlines via email or phone.

The application deadline is March 20th, 2019

To learn more about the Rakesh Sarna Scholarship Program and to apply visit https://rakeshsarnascholarships.com/scholarship/

About Rakesh Sarna

Rakesh Sarna has extensive industry experience in the hospitality industry and has gained valuable insights from his time spent working with Hyatt Hotels Corporation - a global hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels and resorts. He was appointed Chief Operating Officer - International from 2007 to 2012 and Group President for the Americas from 2012 to 2014. From 2014 to September 2017 Rakesh served as Managing Director and CEO of Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL). Rakesh is able to cultivate positive relationships with local communities, colleagues, and shareholders to help meet the objectives of the organization. Rakesh Sarna claims that formal post-secondary education is a vital component to personal and professional development and encourages young individuals to pursue their academic endeavors.

For more information, please contact:

apply@rakeshsarnascholarships.com

SOURCE: Rakesh Sarna

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/535482/Rakesh-Sarna-Supports-Students-Pursuing-a-Post-Secondary-Education
Chairman Nazif Destani will lead the Ecolog International delegation when heads of government, business leaders and academia converge at the 55th edition of the Munich Security Conference, which runs from February 15-17 in Bavaria, Germany.

The company, which has global business interests in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe, has long believed that sustainable peace is a strategic priority. "We have always credited peace and stability with enabling development in the areas of education, health, and business, all of which contribute to building society," explains Ecolog Chief Marketing Officer, Kaan Savul. "Since our company operates in several regions where peace and security are major concerns, the high-level conversations that take place at the Munich Security Conference are in complete alignment with the vision of many of our non-governmental (NGO) clients. These NGOs ensure security for civilians in some of the most conflict-ridden places on our planet. As a result, Ecolog International is proud to be one of the main sponsors at the Munich Security Conference."

The company's International Business Development Head Lumri Bexheti joins Ecolog International Chairman Nazif Destani and will be participating in several key roundtable discussions that take place throughout the two-day conference.

Ecolog International is a global service provider in areas such as catering, food supply, and environmental services, and maintains corporate offices in the Middle East and Europe, with operations in over 150 locations in 36 countries. The company is an official UK Defence Overseas Contractor and was awarded a certificate of merit in December 2018 for its excellent service to the Ministry operating under its Defence Food Programme.

Ecolog International is a leading provider of supply chain, construction, technology, facility management and environmental services. We provide turnkey and customized solutions to governments and defence, humanitarian organizations and commercial clients in the sectors of Oil Gas, Mining, Energy and Infrastructure projects. Our social responsibility programmes encourage partnerships with educational institutions, and implement mobile education facilities in rural communities where we operate.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190215005050/en/

Contacts:

Ecolog International

Kaan Savul

Chief Marketing Officer

press@ecolog-international.com

www.ecolog-international.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 15, 2019) - Reservoir Capital Corp. (CSE: REO) ("REO") is pleased to announce that it has agreed with its only creditor to convert the full $242,036 amount of promissory note debt into 4,840,720 common shares of the Company at a deemed price of $0.05 per share, in addition to the issuance to the creditor of a 12-month warrant exercisable into 1,000,000 common shares of the Company at an exercise price of $0.10 per share. The Company wishes to settle this final amount of indebtedness with common shares in order to fulfill a strategic goal to become debt free and to preserve its cash for operations. The shares-for-debt transaction is subject to the approval of the CSE.

Reservoir understands the creditor is acquiring the common shares for investment purposes and may, in the future, acquire or dispose of the common shares through the market, private placement or otherwise as circumstances or market conditions warrant. The common shares issued will be subject to a four month hold (restricted resale) period.

CEO Lewis Reford commented, "REO's investors should be pleased that the Company is debt free, with the added flexibility that affords. With our investment policy tailored to our emerging markets focus, we believe minimal leverage is a prudent risk management choice."

About Reservoir Capital Corp.

REO's Vision & Mission is to assemble a portfolio of producing or near-production clean energy assets in emerging markets.

REO's strategy to achieve its Vision is to approach owners of privately-held quality assets and offer their investors diversification, liquidity and exposure to a growing portfolio following a disciplined investment policy.

REO's investment policy consists of taking carefully selected minority economic interests in key geographies, targeting regular dividend income over long periods, while offering the potential for capital gain in the medium term.

Further Information

Investors are cautioned that trading in the securities of REO should be considered highly speculative. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect the operations or financial results of REO are included in REO's CSE Listing Statement and most recently filed quarterly report, each of which is filed with applicable Canadian securities regulators and may be accessed through the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com). The CSE have neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

For further information, contact:

Lewis Reford

CEO, Reservoir Capital Corp.

Telephone: 416-399-2274

Email: ceo@reservoircap.team

NEITHER THE CSE NOR THE INVESTMENT INDUSTRY REGULATORY ORGANIZATION OF CANADA ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/42853
MALAGA, Spain, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- THE 71billion bill for misconduct by British banks could be just the tip of the iceberg according to newly launched legal support specialist Bank Reclaims.

The banks have already paid out over 34billion compensation for PPI alone from a total misconduct bill of 71billion.

Bank Reclaims is a new division of law firm Maxima 1 Legal S.L. (M1 Legal) set up to help what could be thousands of consumers who have fallen foul of financial institutions when taking out loans. They have the full weight of the M1 Legal team.

Their aim is to help thousands of ordinary people caught up in this latest battle with the banks after unwittingly being taken advantage of when taking out loans. In addition under the Credit Consumer Act 1974, when misrepresented products were paid fully or partly by credit card, the full amount of the purchase price can be claimed from the credit card company with interest.

Lawyer Adriana Stoyanova of M1 Legal said: "Since the boom in personal spending, the banks have been at the forefront in providing finance for consumer purchases. Very often the products were not as described and many loans were arranged by unregulated credit brokers which, in many cases, were the actual vendors of the product.

"There are hundreds of thousands of mis-sold loans for a variety of products across many sectors other than PPI, such as cars, boats, double glazing, solar panels, timeshare, fractional ownership, holiday clubs, whether purchased at home or abroad. They were often sold by unregulated credit brokers representing high street banks.

"The chances are that if you have taken out a loan, even some time ago, there is a strong possibility it could have been through an unregulated credit broker - and, coupled with a defective product, you could instigate a claim for a complete refund plus interest."

M1 Legal supports set up Bank Reclaims to help consumers who can have their purchase contract and loan agreement reviewed at no cost.

Bankreclaims.com is a trading name of Maxima 1 Legal S.L., regulated by the Claims Management Regulator in respect of regulated claims under registration number CRM44126.

For any Bank Reclaims enquiries please call 0203 519 2142 or email info@bankreclaims.com.
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.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 15, 2019) - Norra Metals Corp. (TSXV: NORA) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed (1) a consolidation of the Company's issued and outstanding common shares on the basis of one new common share for three old common shares; (2) the approval of the private placement of 12,326,667 post-consolidated units at six cents per post-consolidated unit for a total amount of $739,600, which consists of one common share and one-half of one share purchase warrant exercisable for a term of two years at 10 cents for each warrant (the "Offering"); (3) a change of name to Norra Metals Corp.; and (4) the acquisition of the following properties from EMX Royalty Corp. by the issuance of 4,808,770 common shares:

The Bleikvassli project composed of six licences;

The Meraker project composed of 21 licences;

The Sagvoll project composed of 11 licences; and

The Bastutrask project composed of two mineral exploration licences.

The Company will pay finders' fees in the total amount of $18,620 with respect to the Offering. All of the securities issued and issuable are subject to a four-month hold period expiring June 16, 2019.

ABOUT Norra Metals Corp.

(www.norrametals.com)

Norra Metals Corp. is a Canadian-based junior exploration company comprised of highly qualified mining professionals with two very prospective copper-gold exploration projects located in northwestern British Columbia on or within the "Golden Triangle" and now three exciting zinc-copper-lead-silver projects in Norway and an additional prospective zinc-copper-silver-gold project in Sweden.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF

NORRA METALS CORP.

Per: "Minaz Devji"

Minaz Devji,

CEO and Director

Contact info:

Tel: (604) 258-8666

Email: mike.devji@norrametals.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/42861
Sequans Communications S.A. (NYSE: SQNS) announced that Daatrics, maker of smart wearables, will use Sequans' Monarch SiP to provide LTE connectivity to its Neebo baby monitor. Neebo is an innovative infant wearable that provides parents with highly accurate monitoring of their baby's vital statistics. Monarch is the industry's most advanced LTE-M NB-IoT chip, optimized for IoT devices such as wearables.

"We chose Sequans' Monarch SiP to LTE-enable the Neebo, because of its ultra-small size that is ideal for this tiny baby wearable," said Andrey Khayrullaev, CEO and founder of Daatrics. "Also, Monarch further improves the peace-of-mind we want to give our users because of its always-on and everywhere available reliability. Sequans' Monarch is the most mature and proven LTE solution in the world."

The Neebo infant wearable is a beautifully designed egg-shaped wristlet for baby. It is the only penny-sized device that's small enough to be placed over a newborn's wrist. Neebo provides the most accurate infant data stream on the market and monitors baby's heart rate, oxygen saturation, thermal state, and audio environment, and provides a smart alarm system, alerting parents whenever necessary.

"We are proud that Monarch SiP is providing the LTE connectivity for the new Neebo baby wearable," said Georges Karam, CEO, Sequans. "It is a special achievement to have all of the excellent Neebo monitoring features packed with LTE inside such a tiny and beautifully designed wearable."

Daatrics is using Sequans' Monarch SiP, which is the world's smallest and thinnest LTE connectivity solution, combining Monarch with the universal radio front end of Skyworks. Monarch provides full support for power saving mode (PSM) and extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) to enable the long battery life needed by many IoT use cases, and it provides the enhanced coverage modes that extend coverage for deep-indoor and remote deployments. Monarch incorporates the positioning technology of Polte for accurate, low power indoor and outdoor positioning capability using only the LTE radio. Monarch delivers programmable RF filtering for global band support in a Single-SKU, and proprietary dynamic power management technology enabling rock bottom low power consumption of 1 micro amp. Monarch is certified by operators worldwide.

Learn more about Neebo and Daatrics at https://neebomonitor.com/.

See Sequans at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, February 25-28, hall 5, stand 5C87.

Forward-looking statements

About Sequans Communications

Sequans Communications S.A. (NYSE: SQNS) is a leading provider of single-mode 4G LTE semiconductor solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT) and a wide range of broadband data devices. Founded in 2003, Sequans has developed and delivered seven generations of 4G technology and its chips are certified and shipping in 4G networks around the world. Today, Sequans offers two LTE product lines: StreamrichLTE, optimized for broadband devices, including CPE, mobile and portable routers, and high-performance IoT devices; and StreamliteLTE, optimized for lower data rate and narrowband IoT devices, including wearables, trackers, and sensors. Sequans is based in Paris, France with additional offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, South Korea, and China. Visit Sequans online at www.sequans.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190215005098/en/

Contacts:

Media relations: Kimberly Tassin (USA), +1.425.736.0569, kimberly@sequans.com

Investor relations: Claudia Gatlin (USA), +1 212.830.9080, claudia@sequans.com
I know that its not a perfect bill. Its a complex bill. Its really hard to keep track of some of these things. Its complaint driven. But were open to talking about amendments to the bill as long as the impact is there, Pittman said at the meeting. Ultimately we would like to have a public finance option in the county so we can get our task force to look at that, but thats going to take some time and some revenue.
LONDON, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

CRU Phosphates returns to Florida from 25-27 March 2019. Florida is at the heart of US phosphates production and is an ideal location for this annual gathering of the global phosphates industry. Last year's conference attracted more than 500 commercial and operational decision-makers and we expect Phosphates 2019 to again attract a large global audience from across the phosphates supply chain.

The conference offers unparalleled professional development and networking opportunities. As the only conference to offer commercial and operational insights into the entire phosphate value chain, it is the must-attend event for professionals in the fertilizer, feed and industrial phosphates industries. The unique dual-streamed agenda covers market forces shaping investment and pricing, through to the latest technical developments.

This year the conference will also focus on how the industry is responding to changing dynamics of phosphate demand, in terms of new phosphate products and the evolving relationship with consumers.

The event's keynote speakers include Bruce Bodine, Senior Vice President, Phosphates at Mosaic whose presentation promises to be a fascinating insight into the latest developments and future strategy of the increasingly globally integrated supply chain of this phosphates industry leader. An agronomy keynote will be given by Dr Robert Mullen, Director of Agronomy at Nutrien; who will explore how, through strategies such as vertical integration, the global phosphates supply chain can become more ag-centric and prepare for the next generation of relationships between fertilizer producers and consumers. These industry leaders are part of a programme that includes speakers from other phosphate producers such as OCP, JR Simplot and ITAFOS.

Chris Lawson, CRU's Head of Fertilizer Analysis, will present CRU's outlook for the phosphate markets in the opening keynote session. He notes that the industry faces some key questions in the future: "The phosphate market has continued to strengthen over the past year, supported by higher production costs in China and capacity consolidation in North America. This has helped to offset capacity additions in Morocco and Saudi Arabia, and prices are forecast to continue their upward trajectory over the next five years as demand growth remains robust. Trumps trade wars, China environmental policy, closing capacity and emerging market concerns are all key questions facing the industry, and will be covered at length at the 2019 conference," said Mr. Lawson.

Business leaders from producers, traders, engineering, technology and equipment providers, and consumers, meet at this annual event to engage in high-level networking, negotiate business contracts and share industry knowledge. The event features plenty of networking opportunities and the chance to discuss technical issues and source solutions with over 60 exhibitors offering the latest innovations and services to the industry.

For details about the event visit: http://bit.ly/2X4LfyD

To request a press pass or further information about the event please contact press@crugroup.com

About CRU

CRU offers unrivalled business intelligence on the global metals, mining and fertilizer industries through market analysis, price assessments, consultancy and events.

Since our foundation by Robert Perlman in 1969, we have consistently invested in primary research and robust methodologies, and developed expert teams in key locations worldwide, including in hard-to-reach markets such as China.

CRU employs over 280 experts and has more than 11 offices around the world, in Europe, the Americas, China, Asia and Australia - our office in Beijing opened in 2004 and Singapore in 2018.

When facing critical business decisions, you can rely on our first-hand knowledge to give you a complete view of a commodity market. And you can engage with our experts directly, for the full picture and a personalised response.

CRU - big enough to deliver a high-quality service, small enough to care about all of our customers.

About CRU Events: CRU Events has a well-established portfolio of events for the metals, mining and fertilizer industries, including Wire & Cable, World Optical Fibre & Cable, World Copper and CRU Ryans Notes Ferroalloys. For more information visit www.crugroup.com/events
SOUTH BEND, Ind., Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Global leader in ground vehicle systems, AM General, will feature its innovative and diverse products and services at the International Defence Exhibition & Conference (IDEX) show held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre February 17-21, 2019, Booth 02-A03 in the U.S. Pavillion.

"IDEX 2019 represents a great opportunity for AM General to demonstrate our product and service capabilities to our international customers," said AM General Executive Vice President, International Defense, Nguyen Trinh. "As an end to end provider of leading ground vehicle systems, AM General is poised to support our customers whether it's through providing customized vehicles, supporting their after-sales and modernization needs, or providing localized manufacturing services."

AM General representatives will also be available to discuss not only the innovative vehicles on display, but also the wide variety of mobility solutions the company can offer, as well as provide in-depth information on engineering and logistics services, award-winning global supply chain management, field service support, as well as parts and equipment warranty support.

AM General Exhibit Details

NXT 360 with Tacticam Armor

The NXT 360 is the evolutionary light tactical vehicle featuring for more power, higher GVW, better ride and handling and better overall protection. The NXT 360 at IDEX also features an added level of protection utilizing 3D camouflage technology.

Tacticam is an advanced passive signature management system. This highly durable camouflage system utilizes the latest in materials, coatings, and engineered geometry to reduce a vehicle's signature across multiple spectrums.



The Tacticam system can be tailored to the NXT 360 and customer's signature reduction needs.



It features a pattern randomness that mimics the brightness and contrast variations of natural environments; camo patterns can also be applied

HMMWV Hawkeye 105mm Self-Propelled Howitzer

The HMMWV Hawkeye 105mm Howitzer significantly raises the levels of mobility, survivability and lethality capabilities for light infantry units with airborne and air assault missions. Easily transportable and delivered by sling load, air drop and low velocity air deployment, the HMMWV Hawkeye immediately increases readiness and combat power. The HMMWV Hawkeye system also improves manpower efficiency and has a compact logistics footprint that takes advantage of existing artillery skills to reduce training impacts.

Key features include:

Integration of unmatched Hybrid Soft Recoil technology



Emplacement, shoot and displacement in under 3 minutes - true Shoot n' Scoot capability



Indirect and Direct fires over 360 degrees (6400 mils) without stops; no other platform delivers this



Delivers the lightest weight, most highly maneuverable, self-propelled 105mm howitzer in the world today

AM General representatives will also be available to discuss not only the innovative vehicles on display, but also the wide variety of mobility solutions the company offers, as well as provide in-depth information on its engineering expertise, logistics services, award-winning global supply chain management, field service support, and parts and equipment warranty support.

About AM General

AM General designs, engineers, manufactures, supplies and supports specialized vehicles for military and commercial customers worldwide. Through its military business, the company is widely recognized as the world leader in design, engineering, manufacturing and logistics support of Tactical Vehicles, having produced and sustained more than 300,000 vehicles in over 70 countries. AM General has more than five decades of experience meeting the changing needs of the defense and automotive industries, supported by its employees at major facilities in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, and a strong supplier base that stretches across 43 states. Please see more information about AM General at www.amgeneral.com .

Media Contact: Deborah Reyes

Global Marketing and Communications Director / AM General

Phone: 248-309-5897

E-mail: deborah.reyes@amgeneral.com
ZAGREB, Croatia and WASHINGTON, February 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

International Society for Applied Biological Sciences (ISABS),Mayo Clinic and St. Catherine Hospital are organizing "11th ISABS Conference on Forensic and Anthropologic Genetics and Mayo Clinic Lectures in Individualized Medicine" (http://www.isabs.net) in Split, Croatia, June 17th - June 22th, 2019. The Conference is supported by The American Academy for Forensic Sciences and conference topics include: personalized and regenerative medicine, pharmacogenomics, molecular diagnostics, stem cell therapy, epigenetics, biobanking, microbiome, cancer genetics, immunotherapy, forensic and anthropological genetics, ancient DNA analysis, etc.

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click: https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8494251-isabs-medicine-conference-in-split-croatia/

More than 50 invited speakers from Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School, Columbia University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, MIT, Duke University, Max-Planck-Institute, Case Western Reserve University, Penn State University, Wistar Institute, George Washington University, Erasmus MC University, etc., as well as 500 participants will attend the Conference. Three Nobel Lectures will be given by prof. Robert Huber (Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry), prof. Avram Hershko (Technion), prof. Paul Modrich (Duke University).

Prof. Dragan Primorac, ISABS President said: "The future of medicine willrely on personalized treatments. During ISABS 2019 Conference we will envision the power and advances of personalized medicine that will create significant value for the healthcare system. Bringing together internationally renowned scientists to facilitate research and education of young scientists in individualized medicine speaks volumes about our dedication. We will also discuss significant progress in forensic and anthropological genetics in the last years."

International Society for Applied Biological Sciences (ISABS) is the Association of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and a leading society in forensic, anthropologic genetics and personalized medicine. ISABS Scientific Committee comprises four Nobel Laureates and world's top physicians and scientists.

According to U.S. News & World Report, Mayo Clinic is the #1 hospital overall and in more specialties that any other US hospital.

St. Catherine Hospital is a European center of excellence and the first European hospital to be awarded "Global Healthcare Accreditation."

Royal Philips, leading health technology company, is enabling patient-specific care with first-time-right decision-making and targeted therapy.

More information on "11th ISABS Conference on Forensic and Anthropologic Genetics and Mayo Clinic Lectures in Individualized Medicine" are available at http://www.isabs.net

Contact:

ISABS 2019 Organizing Committee

info@isabs.hr

Severina Evic

info@isabs.hr

Mobile: +385-91-244-55-89

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/819639/International_Society_for_Applied_Biological_Sciences.jpg )

Video:

https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8494251-isabs-medicine-conference-in-split-croatia/


LONDON, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Interconnection Index Volume 2" (GXI Vol.2) published by Equinix, is a comprehensive market study that measures and forecasts data growth. To manage the challenge of unprecedented data growth, it is imperative to develop digital infrastructures that can handle current and future data demands.

Our increasingly digitalised world bears testament to the ubiquity of data and IoT devices. Cisco predicts that by 2022, the number of connected mobile devices around the world will reach 12.3 billion, up from 8.6 billion in 2017. The Internet of Things (IoT) has also provided a foundation for smart city technology. Smart cities integrate information technology with IoT devices, to optimise the efficiency of operations and services.

However, the adoption of smart city technology will place huge levels of strain on legacy infrastructure, due to the large quantities of data generated. The GXI Vol.2 alludes to the growing demands of data. It predicts the growth rate of interconnection bandwidth - the private exchange of data between companies away from the public internet - will outpace the growth of internet traffic by nearly two times, and will be ten times the volume by 2021. This itself highlights the pressing need to have a good understanding of data growth to support digital infrastructures.

Read the full article here: https://www.business-reporter.co.uk/2019/02/11/smart-cities-dealing-with-the-deluge-of-data/gsc.tab=0

About Business Reporter

Business Reporter is distributed with The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and City AM, each of our publications reaches an average of 1.5 million people.

Their content is also published through the Business Reporter and TEISS websites, which includes video debates, online articles, and digital magazines. This content is meant to deliver news and analysis on the issues that are affecting businesses to our global audience. In addition to publications, Business Reporter hosts conferences, breakfast meetings, and exclusive summits.

These events bring together some of the most influential decision makers and innovators in modern business. These exclusive events for business leaders complement the content and direction of editorial projects, allowing them to have direct contact with their readers.

Above all, Business Reporter's commitment is to make meaningful analysis for every business owner. Whether individuals are running a small business, the head of a local company or an executive in a multinational corporation, there will be something for them at Business Reporter.
LONDON, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The global vaccines market has witnessed strong growth in past few years. The top 5 manufacturers in the global vaccines market are: Merck & Co., Inc., Sanofi, Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline PLC, and Johnson & Johnson. These companies secured about 76% revenue share in the global vaccines market.

How this report will benefit you

Read on to discover how you can exploit the future business opportunities emerging in this sector.

In this brand new report you will find 157-page report and you will receive 90 tables and 75 figures - all unavailable elsewhere.

The 157-page report provides clear detailed insight into the Top 20 Vaccines Manufacturers 2019. Discover the key drivers and challenges affecting the market.

By ordering and reading our brand new report today you stay better informed and ready to act.

Report Scope

Assessment of the leading companies in the global vaccines market:

Astellas Pharma Inc.

AstraZenec

Bavarian Nordic

CSL Ltd.

Emergent Biosolutions, Inc.

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

Gilead Sciences

GlaxoSmithKline PLC

Inovio Pharmaceuticals

Johnson & Johnson

Merck & Co., Inc.

Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation

Novavax, Inc.

Pfizer Inc.

Sanofi

SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc.

Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.

Teva Pharmaceutical

This report discusses financial outlook, product portfolio and strategic developments.

Revenues forecast from 2017-2028 for the US, Europe and Japan Vaccines Market.

and Japan Vaccines Market. Market share of key companies in the vaccines market.

in the vaccines market. Market share of leading vaccines in the global vaccines market.

in the global vaccines market. Drivers, Challenges and Opportunities for the global vaccines market.

for the global vaccines market. A SWOT analysis of the global vaccines market.

Visiongain's study is intended for anyone requiring commercial analyses for the Top 20 Vaccines Manufacturers 2019. You find data, trends and predictions.

Buy our report today Top 20 Vaccines Manufacturers 2019: Merck & Co., Sanofi, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Emergent Biosolutions, Other Companies.

To request a report overview of this report please contact Sara Peerun at sara.peerun@visiongain.com or refer to our website: https://www.visiongain.com/report/top-20-vaccines-manufacturers-2019/

Did you know that we also offer a report add-on service? Email sara.peerun@visiongain.com to discuss any customized research needs you may have.

AELIX Therapeutics

Afferent Pharmaceuticals

Astellas Pharma Inc.

AstraZeneca

Bavarian Nordic A/S

Bayer

BIKEN Co. Ltd.

BioJect Medical Technologies Inc.

Biological E. Limited

BioNTech

CSL Ltd.

Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd.

Dyadic International, Inc.

Emergent Biosolutions, Inc.

Evaxion Biotech

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG

Genentech, Inc.

GeneOne Life Science Inc.

Gilead Sciences, Inc.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC

GlaxoWellcome

GlobeImmune

GlycoVaxyn AG

Hitachi Ltd.

HitGen Ltd.

Hookipa Pharma

Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc.

IOmet

Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies

Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V.

Johnson & Johnson

MedImmune, LLC

Merck & Co., Inc.

Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation

Moderna

Nanotherapeutics

Novavax, Inc.

PaxVax

Pfizer Inc.

Plumbline Life Sciences, Inc.

Poonawalla Investment & Industries Pvt. Ltd.

Potenza Therapeutics, Inc.

Protein Sciences

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Roche

Sanofi

SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc.

Seqirus

Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.

Shionogi

SmithKline Beecham

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.

Teva Pharmaceutical

Valneva SE

Zydus Cadila



List of Organizations Mentioned in the Report

Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)

Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC)

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Drexel University

Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI)

International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB)

Mayo Clinic

National Cancer Institute

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

National Institutes of Health

National Microbiology Laboratory of the Public Health Agency of Canada

Oswaldo Cruz Foundation

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

The Jenner Institute

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Health Service Bureau

The National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune

The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

The Wistar Institute

U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases

UNICEF

University of Oxford

University of Pennsylvania

University of Tokyo

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research

To see a report overview please e-mail Sara Peerun on sara.peerun@visiongain.com
CARDIFF, Wales, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A Welsh Government programme offering individual support to SMEs looking to grow and expand has created its 5000th job, Economy Secretary Ken Skates has revealed.

Business Wales' Accelerated Growth Programme has been an enormous success since its inception in 2015, and reached the impressive milestone as Tiago Szabo, a factory operator for Wrexham based automotive design and manufacture company Hi-Mark, began work at the company's 25,000sq ft site.

Economy Minister Ken Skates was at the factory to witness their growth and to meet Tiago. He said:

"The Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme has been a real flag bearer for Business Wales and it's fantastic to see that it's now been directly responsible for some of our most ambitious and high potential SMEs creating 5000 new jobs across Wales. It's a success story that's testament to the Welsh Government's proactive support for business and the hard work and expertise of the team there.

"But what's special about this programme isn't just the growth it drives in companies but also the impact that in turn it is having on individuals the length and breadth of Wales. It's 5000 jobs that may otherwise not have been created and it's a source of great pride for me that we have been able to help people like Tiago into a job at a company with a proven track record of delivery that's looking to the future with vision and confidence.

"Hi-Mark's plans to invest in robotics and automation to drive efficiency and further growth are particularly exciting, with this the third such job we have supported there through this scheme. I would encourage businesses in Wales with strong ambitions to grow and expand to explore whether the Accelerated Growth Programme can help them too.

"It was fantastic to meet Tiago and the hard working team at Hi-Mark today. Creating 5000 jobs is no mean feat, and, as I look to the future of the programme, I feel confident in predicting there will be many more milestones to come."

Hi-Mark has been designing and manufacturing injection moulded products for over 40 years. The firm's 40-strong workforce use cutting edge technology to manufacture products that are used by some of the largest automotive companies in the world.

Jack Yates, Managing Director of Hi-Mark:

"The support we have received through the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme has been invaluable to us. It helped us through a tricky negotiation phase with a major customer, resulting in us securing a significant order which we may not otherwise have been in a position to win.

"Having access to a highly-respected sales specialist meant we were able to set up a new framework for the way we approach sales and networking. Even though it's early days of adopting these new ways of working, the results speak for themselves.

"I'm delighted that we are the company responsible for creating the 5000th job, which is a great honour for our team. Tiago is settling into the team really well so far and we are confident that our team will continue to grow over coming months.

"I would strongly encourage other businesses looking for support to apply for the programme. Since signing up Hi-Mark has gone from strength to strength, and I'm very grateful for all the help we've received."
LONDON, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- 2019 is off to a strong start for the team at Absolute Digital Media. Following their exciting new rebrand, they have now been nominated for Charity Campaign of the Year at the UK Biddable Awards for their work with The National Childbirth Trust (NCT).

NCT helps new and expecting parents to overcome the common challenges of parenthood, ensuring they are prepared and fully supported in the first 1,000 days. They approached Absolute Digital Media seeking support in enhancing their PPC campaigns and managing their Google Grant process.

With strict guidelines to follow to secure and maintain the Google Grant and a goal to improve cost per click and conversion rates, Absolute Digital Media put together a fully tailored, innovative PPC campaign to ensure these goals were reached. They secured a 15.25% improvement in cost-per-click, a 214% rise in click-through rate and a 2% rise in conversions for their antenatal and prenatal courses.

When asked about the nomination, CEO Ben Austin commented:

"We are very proud to announce that our experienced team has been shortlisted for the Charity Campaign of the Year for our work with NCT, at the UK Biddable Media Awards 2019. Our experienced team have worked hard to secure the results this charity deserves, and we're looking forward to celebrating our nomination alongside other biddable media companies in March."

The winners will be announced at the UK Biddable Media Awards ceremony on March 7th. The event will take place at London'sMontcalm Marble Arch.

For more information on how the team at Absolute Digital Media can help you to achieve your business goals, get in touch with them online.
15 February 2019

Acron Board of Directors Issues Dividend Recommendation

At its meeting on 15 February 2019, Acron Board of Directors recommended that the extraordinary general meeting to be held on 11 March 2019 in the form of absentee voting pay (declare) dividends in monetary form from undistributed profit for previous years in the amount of RUB 130 per share. Total amount allocated for dividends is RUB 5,269 million.

The Board of Directors proposed to set a record date for persons entitled to dividends for 22 March 2019.

Media contacts:

Sergey Dorofeev

Anastasia Gromova

Tatiana Smirnova

Public Relations Phone: +7 (495) 777 08 65 (ext. 5196)





Investor contacts:

Tatiana Smirnova

Investor Relations Phone: +7 (495) 745 77 45 (ext. 5252)

Acron Group is a leading vertically integrated mineral fertiliser producer in Russia and globally, with chemical production facilities in Veliky Novgorod (Acron) and the Smolensk region (Dorogobuzh). The Group owns and operates a phosphate mine in Murmansk region (North-Western Phosphorous Company, NWPC) and is implementing a potash development project in Perm Krai (Verkhnekamsk Potash Company, VPC). It has a wholly owned transportation and logistics infrastructure, including three Baltic port terminals and distribution networks in Russia and China. Acron's subsidiary, North Atlantic Potash Inc. (NAP), holds mining licenses for 13 parcels of the potassium salt deposit at Prairie Evaporite, Saskatchewan, Canada. Acron also holds a minority stake (19.8%) in Polish Grupa Azoty, one of the largest chemical producers in Europe.

In 2017, the Group sold 7.3 million tonnes of various products to 65 countries, with Russia, Brazil, Europe and the United States as key markets.

In 2017, the Group posted consolidated IFRS revenue of RUB 94,342 million (USD 1,617 million) and net profit of RUB 14,260 million (USD 244 million). Acron's shares are on the Level 1 quotation list of the Moscow Exchange and its global depositary receipts are traded at the London Stock Exchange (ticker AKRN). Acron employs about 11,000 people.

For more information about Acron Group, please visit www.acron.ru/en.
STOCKHOLM, Feb. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --Oncoinvent has signed an agreement with the Institute of Energy Technology (IFE) for the distribution of Radspherin (investigational medicinal products) to sites and institutions as part of the company's clinical trial program.

"We are very pleased to have the distribution agreement in place as it is a vital part of our infrastructure going forward. The agreement enables us to provide sites and patients participating in the clinical trial program access to Radspherin in a timely and predictable manner without geographical boundaries." said Jan A. Alfheim, Oncoinvent's CEO.

For further information, please contact:

Jan A. Alfheim, Chief Executive Officer

Cell: +47-46-44-00-45

Email: alfheim@oncoinvent.com

IR enquiries:

Tore Kvam, Chief Financial Officer

Cell: +47-95-93-41-99

Email: kvam@oncoinvent.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/oncoinvent-as/r/oncoinvent-signs-distribution-agreement-with-radiopharmaceutical-wholesaler,c2742208

The following files are available for download:
STOCKHOLM, Feb.15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Medicover has signed an agreement to acquire Neomedic, a leading neonatology and obstetrics hospital group in southern Poland, for 70.5 million euro. The transaction is subject to customary merger control approvals and is expected to be consolidated during the 2ndquarter of 2019.

Neomedic operates three hospitals with surrounding outpatient and primary care clinics. In addition, Neomedic operates ambulatory centres focused on obstetrics. The first hospital of Neomedic was established in 2001 in Krakow and it has since then shown strong organic growth.

In 2018, Neomedic is expected to report revenue of ca. 120 million PLN (ca. 28 million euro). Its profitability will contribute positively to Medicover and the transaction value implies a high single digit EBITDA multiple, including synergies, which are expected to be realised within 12 months. The acquisition will be funded with current committed debt facilities and is expected to be accretive in 2019.

Neomedic operates an integrated service for the population of its catchment areas which account for approximately 10% of the population of Poland as well as has high service levels and satisfaction levels, which resulted in long term budget allocations in recent funding rounds.

Tomasz Wisniewski, CEO of Neomedic, said:

"The management of Neomedic is delighted that the Medicover Group will become the new owner of the Company. Medicover is present in Poland for many years and we value highly its experience in the healthcare sector, especially as the operator of the largest private hospital in Poland - the Medicover Hospital in Wilanow. We see a lot of benefits in exchanging know-how and working together to further expand the gynaecology and obstetrics practices. We are looking forward to continuing our mission of growing the Company with their support. Our plans focus on strengthening of our offer in Krakow and the Malopolska region and we will also be looking for opportunities in other locations."

Fredrik Ragmark, CEO of Medicover, said:

"Neomedic is a well-renowned hospital chain, helping many families. We are proud to have them join the Medicover family and become part of our journey supporting the Polish people with good quality health services and strengthening our presence in this important part of the country. We hope over time to be able to expand the range of health services we can provide through Neomedic by bringing in some of Medicover's other services and expertise."

About Neomedic:

Neomedic operates two large hospitals in Krakow and Nowy Sacz and one smaller private hospital in Krakow as well as outpatient and primary care medical centres. In 2018, 7,600 babies were born in its hospitals.

The facilities provide highly specialized hospital care in the area of neonatology, obstetrics, gynaecology and others. The main hospital in Krakow is one of only three "level 3" hospitals in this part of Poland, meaning one of the medically most advanced institutions, offering the highest level of specialty care for their field, dealing with the most medically demanding cases. The catchment area of Neomedic is in a strongly developing industrial and service area of Poland with good economic development, supporting the economy.

About Medicover:

Medicover is a leading international healthcare and diagnostic services company and was founded in 1995. Medicover operates a large number of ambulatory clinics, hospitals, specialty-care facilities and laboratories and the largest markets are Poland and Germany. In 2017, Medicover had revenue around 580 million euro and 15,900 employees. For more information, go to www.medicover.com

For further information, please contact:

Hanna Bjellquist

Head of Investor Relations

+46-703033272

hanna.bjellquist@medicover.com

This information is information that Medicover AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 07.30 CET on 15 February 2019.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

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53% growth internationally: strong sales penetration in the priority regions; 36% of revenue earned outside France;

Signing of several master agreements, and the winning of several large-scale bid calls in France representing a combined sales potential of close upon 15 million for the next three years;

Increasing resources and structuring the Group: setting up several new operational Departments, strengthening the sales and marketing teams in the wake of the raising of capital;

Net cash of 35 million at December 31, 2018;

Robust growth expected in 2019.

WALLIX GROUP (ALLIX: FR0010131409 - Euronext Growth), a software company providing cyber security solutions and the European specialist in privileged account governance, is announcing its revenue for the financial year 2018.

Audited data, 000 2017 2018 Change Consolidated revenue 11,545 12,640 +9% France 8,589 8,116 -6% International 2,956 4,524 +53%

Jean-Noel de Galzain, Wallix Group CEO, said:  Back by the fresh resources derived from our capital increase in the first half of 2018, the WALLIX teams lost no time in executing the strategic plan designed to earn us revenue of 50 million in 2021:

- We extended our geographical coverage with the opening of offices in the United States, Germany and Poland;

- We bolstered our product offer with highly innovative solutions some which have already been launched, while others will enhance our sales drive in the coming half-years;

- We conducted a major drive to structure our organization, setting up new Departments and optimizing our processes;

- We have embarked on an ambitious policy of alliances to boost our sales potential and position us as a world-class cyber-security player.

This major overhaul was conducted without slackening or sales drive, as attested by the international performance in 2018. In France, major accounts have recently been taking on board the issues entailed in the GDPR and the NIS/OES directive, leading them to take a global approach to their cyber defense needs, with PAM central for protecting access to critical infrastructure and sensitive data. This enabled us to embark on a virtuous drive of signing multi-year contracts with key accounts of SBF 120. This radical change temporarily hampered the sales drive in the 2nd half, with fewer unscheduled orders, although it gives us a greater commercial visibility for the years to come.

In operating readiness, with a larger strike force and a firm outlook, starting in 2019, WALLIX intends to resume high growth in pursuit of its ambition: to become a benchmark cyber-security software publisher on the world market. "

FIRM-PACED SALES INTERNATIONALLY

000 2017 2018 Change Software 11,135 12,332 +11% Licenses 7,937 7,578 -5% Maintenance 3,197 4,754 +49% Managed services 410 308 -25%

WALLIX recorded revenue of 12.6 million for its 2018 financial year, registering 9% organic growth compared with the 2017 financial year. The software publishing business (Licenses + Maintenance) grew 11%, while Managed Services fell 25% before the launch scheduled in early 2019 of the new Bastion Managed Services offer.

This combined performance overlies a contrasting pattern, with strong sales growth internationally (by 53%) and a slight decrease in France (by 6%).

In France, the entry into force of the GDPR and the NIS/OES directive led numerous operators to rethink their organization and their outlook on cyber defense. The coming to awareness of the issues involved in cyber security and particularly, in Privileged Access Management (PAM), is now leading an increasing number of businesses to institute a genuine group purchasing policy in order to deploy a single solution for all their sites. Accordingly, WALLIX has entered into a number of master agreements and has won several multi-year bid calls of wider scope, instead of the conventional orders for each site individually. After several months of a bid-call process, WALLIX has also been awarded the UGAP contract (The leading central purchasing office for public-sector operators). WALLIX BASTION has thus been confirmed as the sole solution referenced for privileged account management.

These large-scale master agreements and bid calls generated 3.4 million in revenue for 2018 in France, earned from 14 customers of which 4 are CAC40 companies, and three major public operators which on their own represent potential orders of close upon 15 million over the next three years. The group will thus enjoy enhanced visibility, in addition to its maintenance services, which expanded 49% to 4.8 million, equivalent to close upon 38% of revenue.

Internationally, the Group achieved 53% sales growth to 4.5 million, equivalent to 36% of revenue earned outside France, compared with 26% in 2017.

The Group capitalized in particular on investments carried out in the priority zones, particularly the DACH/EASTERN zones where the hiring of a new sales Director from July 2018, resulted in sizable sales penetration.

AMBITION 21 PLAN DEPLOYED

2018 marked a turning point with the entry into force of the GDPR and the elapse of the time limit for transposing the NIS/OES directive. Implementing a solution for Privileged Access Management (PAM) has become essential for managing risks within organizations. WALLIX, positioned today as the only developer boasting a certified solution in Europe, is ideally placed to take advantage of this trend.

For this purpose, the Group has undertaken a major reinforcement and structuring drive, with for example the extension of the capabilities of its CRM for finer-tuned control of its activities. To strengthen the recruitment policy, a Human Resources Department has been created. This has helped optimize the strong growth in the workforce, from 83 employees at December 31, 2017 to 127 at December 31, 2018. Particular emphasis was placed on the marketing and sales teams, which expanded from 28 to 46 people within 12 months.

WALLIX has stepped up its international investment, opening its Boston office in the United States, manned today by 5 employees. In the strategic DACH/EASTERN zone, a team of 12 people has been formed. At the same time, the Group has instituted a channel department to bolster its sales network. To conclude, a Customer Success Department was set up to provide 24/7 customer service worldwide thanks to the creation of a support subsidiary in Canada, capable of supporting the sales team across the Atlantic and of providing night-time service in the EMEA zone.

This organization became fully operational on January 1, 2019, giving WALLIX great confidence in its ability to resume, as early as the first half of 2019, a pace of growth consistent with its objectives.

NET CASH OF ALMOST 35 MILLION AT DECEMBER 31, 2018

Relying on the 34.1 million of net proceeds from the capital increase in May last year, WALLIX accelerated its strategic investment while keeping a sharp eye on cash management. Thus, the Group has net cash of 35 million as of December 31, 2018 compared with 5 million as of December 31, 2017 and 37.7 million at June 30, 2018. This comfortable situation leaves it the full financial latitude necessary to implement its development plan and to make targeted acquisitions.

Next publication: 2018 annual results on March 27, 2019

ABOUT WALLIX

A software company providing cyber security solutions, WALLIX Group is a European specialist in privileged account

governance.

In response to recent regulatory change (NIS/GDPR in Europe and OVIs in France) and the cyber security threats affecting all companies today, Bastion helps users protect their critical IT assets: data, servers, terminals and connected objects. It is the first market solution to have been awarded first-level security certification (CSPN) by France's National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) and thus meet all of the criteria for regulatory compliance

WALLIX accompanies more than 670 companies and organizations on a day-to-day basis, securing the access to more than 200,000 hardware and software resources. Its solutions are marketed through a network of more than 130 resellers and trained and accredited integrators. Listed on Euronext under the code ALLIX, WALLIX Group is a leader on the PAM market with a strong presence throughout Europe and EMEA. Alain Afflelou, Dassault Aviation, Gulf Air, Maroc Telecom, McDonald's, Michelin, and PSA Peugeot-Citroen trust WALLIX to secure their information systems.

WALLIX Bastion was a winner at the 2016 Computing Security Awards and has been rated Best Buy by SC Magazine, as well as being named among the PAM leaders in the Product and Innovation categories of the KuppingerCole 2017 Leadership Compass report. The company is a member of Bpifrance Excellence, a champion of the Pole Systematic Paris Region cluster and a founding member of the Hexatrust grouping of cyber security companies. In 2017, WALLIX Group was included in Forbes France's Futur40 ranking of fastest-growing listed companies.

For more information, visit the WALLIX website at: www.wallix.com



ACTUS finance & communication

Investor Relations

Theo Martin

Tel. +33 (0)1 53 67 36 75 / wallix@actus.fr



Financial Press Relations

Nicolas Bouchez

Tel. +33 (0)1 53 67 36 74 / nbouchez@actus.fr

WALLIX

Press Relations

Joelle MONETTE

Tel. +33 (0)1 81 69 93 65 / jmonette@walllix.com

------------------------



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Shareholder rights law firm Robbins Arroyo LLP announces that purchasers of Venator Materials PLC (NYSE: VNTR) filed a class action complaint against the company for alleged violations of the Securities Act of 1933 pursuant to the company's August 4, 2017 initial public offering ("IPO") and its December 1, 2017 secondary offering ("SPO"). Venator manufactures and markets chemical products worldwide.

View this information on the law firm's Shareholder Rights Blog: https://www.robbinsarroyo.com/venator-materials/

Venator Accused of Downplaying Impact of Devastating Fire at Its Facility

According to the complaint, in January 2017, a fire ravaged one of Venator's most important plants for manufacturing titanium dioxide in Pori, Finland. Unbeknownst to investors, Venator's registration statements filed in connection with its August 2017 IPO and its December 2017 SPO failed to disclose the true extent of the fire damage to the company's facility and the cost to rehabilitate it. The Pori facility was virtually beyond repair, and any attempt to restore it would cost over $1 billion-hundreds of millions of dollars beyond the limits of the company's insurance policy applicable to the disaster. Further, Venator had lost 80% of production capacity and 15% of the company's total nameplate capacity as a result of the fire. By December 17, 2018, Venator's share price had plummeted to only $3.65 per share 81% below Venator's share price in the IPO and 83% below its SPO price.

Venator Shareholders Have Legal Options

Concerned shareholders who would like more information about their rights and potential remedies can contact attorney Leo Kandinov at (800) 350-6003, LKandinov@robbinsarroyo.com, 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/20190214005988/en/

Contacts:

Leo Kandinov

Robbins Arroyo LLP

LKandinov@robbinsarroyo.com

(619) 525-3990 or Toll Free (800) 350-6003

www.robbinsarroyo.com
Ernst Russ AG: Assetando erwirbt Wohnungsbaugrundstucke in Pinneberg von Matrix DGAP-News: Ernst Russ AG / Schlagwort(e): Immobilien Ernst Russ AG: Assetando erwirbt Wohnungsbaugrundstucke in Pinneberg von Matrix 11.02.2019 / 08:07 Fur den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist der Emittent / Herausgeber verantwortlich. Assetando erwirbt Wohnungsbaugrundstucke in Pinneberg von Matrix - Assetando Real Estate GmbH erwirbt drei Projektgrundstucke im Pinneberger ILO- Park - Bebauung mit rd. 75 geforderten Wohnungen bis zum Sommer 2021 vorgesehen Hamburg, 11. Februar 2019 - Die Assetando, ein Unternehmen der Ernst Russ Gruppe, hat drei Grundstucke im Pinneberger ILO-Park von der Hamburger Matrix Immobilien Gruppe erworben. Auf den rd. 4.600 qm umfassenden Grundstucken sollen bis zum Sommer 2021 ca. 75 offentlich geforderte Wohnungen errichtet werden. Die von der Assetando Gruppe erworbenen Projektgrundstucke mit einer Grundflache von insgesamt rd. 4.600 qm bilden den offentlich geforderten Wohnungsbereich des direkt am Pinneberger Bahnhof belegenen ILO-Parks. Das fruher durch die ehemaligen "ILO-Werke" genutzte Areal mit einer Gesamtflache von ca. 75.000 qm wird derzeit von der Matrix Immobilien Gruppe umfassend entwickelt und in drei Bauabschnitten realisiert. Insgesamt entstehen im ILO-Park ca. 400 Wohnungen, ein Hotel und weitere Gewerbeflachen. Assetando plant gemeinsam mit ihrem Joint Venture-Partner, der SG Bau und Immobilienvertriebs GmbH, die Errichtung von rd. 75 durch die Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein geforderte Wohnungen. Das Projekt soll bis zum Sommer 2021 fertiggestellt werden. "Wir freuen uns, dass wir erneut ein offentlich gefordertes Wohnungsneubauprojekt in der Metropolregion Hamburg gemeinsam mit unserem langjahrigen Geschaftspartner, der SG Bau, realisieren konnen", so Matthias Voss, geschaftsfuhrender Gesellschafter der Assetando Gruppe. "In den letzten Jahren haben wir neben einer Vielzahl eigener Projekte, insbesondere geforderte Wohnungsneubauten, auch die Beratung fur dritte Projektentwickler ubernommen und unsere Expertise bei der Strukturierung und Optimierung der offentlichen Wohnungsbauforderung einbringen konnen." Insbesondere in den wirtschaftsstarken Ballungsraumen Deutschlands, wie beispielweise in der Metropolregion Hamburg, besteht ein zunehmend hoher Bedarf an bezahlbarem Wohnraum. Die Assetando beabsichtigt sich auch kunftig, neben bestehenden Fonds- und Asset Managementmandaten, auf dieses Segment zu konzentrieren und das Geschaftsfeld der Forderberatung und Forderinvestments strategisch weiter auszubauen. Die Assetando fungiert als zentrale Immobilieneinheit der Ernst Russ AG. Aktuell managt die Assetando ein Immobilienportfolio an uber 30 Standorten in der Groe zwischen 2.000 und 148.000 qm. Das betreute Immobilienvermogen belauft sich auf rund 1,6 Mrd. EUR bei einer Gesamtflache von rund 680.000 qm. Uber die Assetando Real Estate GmbH: Die Assetando Gruppe mit Sitz in Hamburg wurde im Jahr 2012 gegrundet. Schwerpunkte der Unternehmenstatigkeit sind das Fonds- und Assetmanagement und die Beratung institutioneller sowie vermogender privater Immobilieninvestoren. Ein weiterer Fokus liegt in der Betreuung und Entwicklung von Investitionen im Bereich des offentlich geforderten Wohnungsneubaus. Die Assetando Real Estate GmbH ist ein Tochterunternehmen der Ernst Russ AG. www.assetando.de Uber die Ernst Russ Gruppe: Die Ernst Russ Gruppe ist ein borsengehandelter Asset und Investmentmanager mit Schwerpunkt auf den AssetKlassen Schiff und Immobilie. Aktuell betreut die Ernst Russ Gruppe eine Flotte von rund 100 Container, Tank, Bulk und sonstigen Schiffen. Diese werden aktiv gemanagt oder als Fondsschiffe uber Partnerreedereien verwaltet. Die Ernst Russ Gruppe fungiert als Assetmanager verschiedener Objekte aus den Segmenten Real Estate, Shipping und Alternative Investments. Zum Geschaft der Ernst Russ Gruppe gehoren auerdem Treuhanddienstleistungen. Die Unternehmen der Ernst Russ Gruppe verwalten aktuell Fonds und Investments/CoInvestments mit einem Gesamtinvestitionsvolumen von rund 6,1 Mrd. EUR. Das Unternehmen hat Standorte in Hamburg, Bremen, Koln und London. www.ernst-russ.de Kontakt: Ernst Russ AG Anika Hillmer Investor Relations Tel. +49 40 88 88 1 1800 E-Mail: ir@ernst-russ.de 11.02.2019 Veroffentlichung einer Corporate News/Finanznachricht, ubermittelt durch DGAP - ein Service der EQS Group AG. Fur den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist der Emittent / Herausgeber verantwortlich. Die DGAP Distributionsservices umfassen gesetzliche Meldepflichten, Corporate News/Finanznachrichten und Pressemitteilungen. Medienarchiv unter http://www.dgap.de Sprache: Deutsch Unternehmen: Ernst Russ AG Elbchaussee 370 22609 Hamburg Deutschland Telefon: +49 (0)40 88881-0 Fax: +49 (0)40 88881-199 E-Mail: ir@ernst-russ.de Internet: www.ernst-russ.de ISIN: DE000A161077 WKN: A16107 Borsen: Freiverkehr in Frankfurt (Scale), Hamburg, Tradegate Exchange Ende der Mitteilung DGAP News-Service 774221 11.02.2019 ISIN DE000A161077 AXC0049 2019-02-11/08:07
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 14, 2019) - McLaren Resources Inc. ("McLaren" / the "Company") (CSE: MCL) (FSE: 3ML) (OTC: MLRNF) announces that it has completed 3,189 metres ("m") of exploration diamond drilling in six holes to test historic gold mineralization on the north section of the TimGinn Gold Property ("TimGinn") which is situated adjacent to the Hollinger and McIntyre Gold Mines owned by Goldcorp Canada Ltd. ("Goldcorp"). Furthermore, the company has commenced planning for its 2019 exploration program in the Timmins area. In addition to exploration on TimGinn, McLaren plans to evaluate its other attractive gold properties, the Augdome Gold Property ("Augdome") and the Blue Quartz Gold Property ("Blue Quartz"). A discussion of possible exploration targets on Augdome and Blue Quartz follows below.

TimGinn

McLaren intersected geology favorable for gold mineralization in its recent drill program on TimGinn but was unable to confirm the mineralization indicated in the assessment file T-200, Consolidated Gilles Lake Mine Ltd., Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. The historic diamond drill hole intersected 6.3 grams per tonne gold ("gpt Au") over 16.7 m including 30.2 gpt Au over 2.7 m.

Consequently, McLaren has elected to shift its focus back to the vicinity of the former producing Gilles Lake Mine situated 150 m north of the Hollinger Gold Mine in order to pursue positive showings intersected in the spring 2018 drilling program (see image below). The gold mineralization which was intersected in McLaren's spring 2018 drill program crosses onto TimGinn from the Hollinger Mine property. TimGinn contains similar geology to that hosting the gold mineralization at the Hollinger and McIntyre gold deposits (30M oz. of Au production). Hydrothermally altered volcanic sequences and quartz-feldspar porphyry are excellent environments for gold deposition and have been intersected in drill holes on TimGinn. The spring 2018 diamond drill program was successful in extending the hydrothermal alteration systems that hosted the gold values in earlier holes. Attempts to expand the mineralization to the west encountered favourable geology with gold values. Potential remains to expand the mineralization to depth as well as to the west at deeper levels following up on earlier exploration.

Diamond drilling near the former producing Gilles Lake Mine from November 2011 to present has intersected the following gold mineralization (see McLaren press releases):

MTG-11-02 - 24.2 gpt Au / 1.1 metres

MTG-11-04 - 7.0 gpt Au / 7.4 metres

MTG-11-05 - 4.1 gpt Au / 5.5 metres

MTG-11-12 - 1.6 gpt Au / 20.0 metres

MTG-11-14 - 7.4 gpt Au / 3.2 metres





Image courtesy of Google Earth, an Alphabet Inc. subsidiary.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/932/42857_6184dee4a4c139fa_002full.jpg

Augdome

In January 2018, McLaren completed a diamond drill program that was successful in intersecting gold mineralization on the west boundary of Augdome which is situated adjacent to the Dome Mine operated by Goldcorp. The gold mineralization which was intersected in McLaren's drill program crosses onto Augdome from the Dome Mine property. This gold mineralization is hosted within the gold-bearing Destor-Porcupine Fault structure in an area that has been disrupted and intruded by felsic intrusive porphyries. Augdome overlies approximately 2,300 metres of the Destor-Porcupine structure.

On October 25, 2017, Goldcorp announced a base case pre-feasibility study with a contained resource which included approximately 4.5 million gold ounces having a diluted grade of 0.87 gpt to be integrated into the proposed Dome Mine expansion plus an additional 0.9 million ounce inferred resource. The proposed Dome Century Project could significantly expand the footprint of the Dome Mine Open Pit.

Blue Quartz

In 2011, McLaren completed 1,690 m of exploration diamond drilling in six holes that resulted in multiple high grade gold intercepts at various depths including; 13.3 gpt Au over 1.0 m at the depth of 77.3 m and 10.5 gpt Au over 1.3 m at the depth of 155.6 m (see press release of April 21, 2011). The two deepest holes drilled on the property intersected a wide interval of hydrothermal alteration with gold mineralization that included a substantial width of lower grade mineralization, 1.21 gpt Au 76.1 m as well as a higher-grade core of 12.8 gpt Au 1.5 m and 13.95 gpt Au over 2.0 m. These two holes were located at the west end and below the historic underground workings as well as below the majority of the drilling completed on the property to date. The mineralized zone is open to depth and down plunge with indications that the hydrothermal alteration system is increasing in intensity along with both the grade and width of the mineralization.

Encouraged by the following results, McLaren plans to revisit Blue Quartz in the near future.

Hole # From (m) To (m) Width (m) Au-gpt BQ-89-12 254.9 288.8 33.8 0.927 incl 256.5 261.0 4.6 3.497 BQ-90-18 158.7 278.0 119.2 0.64 incl 263.3 278.0 14.6 1.97 incl 275.8 278.0 2.1 6.50 RBQ-10-02 373.7 375.9 2.2 11.89 RBQ-10-03 326.5 328.0 1.5 7.94 MBQ-11-07 77.3 78.3 1.0 13.30 MBQ-11-09 341.7 343.7 2.0 13.95 MBQ-11-10 155.6 158.7 3.1 5.52 351.0 414.0 63.0 1.21 incl 358.0 359.5 1.5 12.80

Blue Quartz is located in the gold producing area 70 km east of Timmins where several current and past producing mines are located. The property consists of 25 patented mining claims, 400 hectares, situated on gold mineralized geological structures within the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. The Blue Quartz mine is located in the north central part of Beatty Township and is approximately 8 kilometers ("km") northwest of the producing Black Fox Mine, 12 kms northwest of the Hislop Mine and 14 kms northwest of the former producing Ross Mine.

All drilling was completed using NQ size core. Gold analyses of the samples collected by McLaren were undertaken by ALS Canada Ltd. Analysis consisted of a fire assay of a 30-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 such as blanks, standards and duplicate checks.

About McLaren

McLaren is focused on exploration work on its three gold properties which are located in the Timmins Gold District of Northeastern Ontario. These properties include, TimGinn, Augdome and Blue Quartz. TimGinn consists of nine patented mining claims covering 238 hectares in Tisdale Township, Central Timmins that lie between the Hollinger Mine (19.3 million oz) and the McIntyre Mine (10.7 million oz). Gold production took place at TimGinn during the 1920's from a 940 foot deep shaft at the Gilles Lake Gold Mine. Augdome, which consists of 414-hectares is located in Tisdale and Whitney Townships adjacent to the Dome Mine operated by Goldcorp. Blue Quartz, which hosts the former Blue Quartz Mine, consists of 25 patented mining claims and 8 crown claims covering a total of 640 hectares in Beatty Township and is located 10 km north of McEwen Mining's Black Fox Mine in East Timmins.

McLaren has stopped development of the blockchain project announced on January 22, 2018.

The information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved for release by Kenneth Guy, P.Geo, the Qualified Person for McLaren for exploration on TimGinn, as defined by National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects".

For more information, please contact: Radovan Danilovsky, President, Phone: 416-203-6784, www.mclarenresources.com

MCLAREN RESOURCES INC.

44 Victoria Street, Suite 1616

Toronto, Ontario M5C 1Y2

The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of the press release. The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this 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. McLaren Resources Inc. 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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/42857
The Ever Energetic Mammootty

Mammootty from Madura Raja looks exactly like the way he was in Pokkiri Raja. This man could bring back any character with ease and the latest motion poster has suggested that he is sure to be as energetic as ever.

The Swag Elements In The Motion Poster

The motion poster of Madura Raja has loads of elements to cheer about. Even the motion poster had its own share of swag elements with Raja's looks and, his antics and styles taking it to to another level. We rightly believe that Raja is indeed back in style.

The Theme Song

Well, the theme song of Madura Raja sounds really appealing and Gopi Sunder's work has indeed turned out to be splendid. Think about the massy sequences in the backdrop of this stellar BGM and it would give goosebumps to all of you straight away.

High Octane Action

Well, the presence of Peter Hein in Madura Raja assures some high octane action sequences and the motion poster too showed glimpses of the same.

Mass Dialogues And Punchlines

Pokkiri Raja had some classy punch dialogues that suited pretty well for the character as well as the movie. Well, the audiences would really love to hear those dialogues yet again from Mammootty's Raja in his own unique style.
'People Like Sri ji Are Difficult To Forget'

A Mumbai Mirror quoted the actor as saying, "She was my brother's wife and my wife's friend as they connected really well. Whenever we met there was always fun, laughter and humour. People like Sri ji are difficult to forget."

Anil Says Sridevi Will Always Be Missed

He further added, "Her body of work is fabulous and inspiring. Her films are still being seen and pictures still being published everywhere. She will always be missed."

A Puja Was Arranged In Chennai On Thursday On Sridevi's Death Anniversary As Per Tithi

Speaking to Mumbai Mirror, Boney Kapoor confirmed that Thursday was Sridevi's death anniversary according to tithi but refused to further speak on the subject.

The Puja Was Attended By Close Friends & Relatives

A source was later quoted as saying, "The puja happened in the morning at her Mylapore bungalow with only close friends and relatives."

Sridevi's family including her husband Boney Kapoor, children Janhvi and Khushi and brother-in-law Anil Kapoor attended the puja.
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Summary

Company Announcement Date: February 15, 2019 FDA Publish Date: February 15, 2019 Product Type: Dietary Supplements

Medical Food/Beverage Reason for Announcement: Recall Reason Description Due to Undissolved Ingredient Company Name: Kingston Pharma, LLC Brand Name: Brand Name(s) DG Product Description: Product Description Baby Gripe Water herbal supplement

Company Announcement

Kingston Pharma, LLC is voluntarily recalling all lots of DG Baby Gripe Water herbal supplement with organic ginger and fennel extracts to the consumer level due to the presence of an undissolved ingredient, citrus flavonoid.

Use of the product should not be considered hazardous but could result in difficulty when swallowing the product for sensitive individuals. To date, Kingston Pharma LLC has received one report of a one-week old infant having difficulty when swallowing the product and three complaints attributed to the undissolved citrus flavonoid.

The product is administered orally to infants and adults. The recall is for all lots. The product is packaged in 4-ounce amber bottles, white plastic caps with safety seals and provided with an oral syringe, with UPC Code 8 5495400246 3. The product was distributed throughout the United States by Dollar General Corporation.

Kingston Pharma, LLC is notifying its customers by press release of the recalled product. Consumers that have product which is being recalled should stop using and discard.

To report adverse reactions or quality problems experienced with the use of this product or to ask questions regarding this recall, contact Christina Condon or C. Jeanne Taborsky by phone toll free at 844-724-7347 or by e-mail Christina.Condon@SciRegs.com. Consumers should contact their physician or healthcare provider if they or their child have experienced any problems that may be related to taking or using this product.

Adverse reactions or quality problems associated with the use of this product may be reported to FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program either by phone, on line, by regular mail or by fax.

Complete and submit the report Online: www.fda.gov/medwatch/report.htm

Regular Mail or Fax: Download form www.fda.gov/MedWatch/getforms.htm or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178.

This recall is being conducted with the knowledge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Company Contact Information Consumers: Christina Condon 844-724-7347 Christina.Condon@SciRegs.com
Gov. Jim Justice, somewhat belatedly, has come around to admit that the states vaccination effort has hit a wall and that, at its current pace, we will not reach herd immunity anytime soon.
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.
Northern Irish farmers have highlighted their frustration that some meat plants have increased imports of cattle for slaughter despite the abundance of local livestock.

Figures for January show that almost 1400 prime cattle were imported from the Republic of Ireland for direct slaughter. This compares with 234 for January 2018.

The Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) has challenged those importing cattle to 'explain their decision' to local farmers.

UFU beef and lamb chairman, Sam Chesney called the figures a 'smack in the face' for local farmers.

Put simply farmers find it hard to trust the meat plants. For many this will confirm that their distrust is fully justified, said Mr Chesney.

Farmers have been finding it difficult to book cattle into plants and now we know why. We understand meat plants make commercial decisions, but this demonstrates bad faith when the supply is there and processors still choose to import.

Farmers are already struggling with margins and increased imports add to unnecessary queues and depressed prices, he added.

However, the union said it is 'encouraged' some meat plants are reviewing their current practices and prepared to back local farmers.
A large consignment of 2016-2018 John Deere tractors will be auctioned off following Hawk Plant Ltd's move into administration.

Euro Auctions has been appointed to dispose of assets owned by Hawk Plant, following the company's administration which was announced on 14 January 2019.

The Hawk Group, which is headquartered in Prees, in northwest Shropshire, was well known as one of the biggest independent plant hire companies in the UK.

The group was one of the largest independent plant hire companies in the UK, with a turnover of 93.5m in the financial year to the end of December 2017. More than 80 staff lost their jobs at the firm.

Special interest is expected in numerous 2016 to 2018 John Deere agricultural tractors and associated trailers, implements and ancillary items, many of which are still in warranty.

The inventory will also include excavators, articulated dump trucks, dozers, rollers, telehandlers, backhoes, mini excavators, and other machinery.

David Betts, for Euro Auctions, said: All the equipment going under the hammer has been exceptionally well maintained and we expect interest to be strong.

As with all our sales everything will be sold without reserve which results in competitive bidding.
Farmers across Somerset are being invited to bid in the UKs first countywide auction for works to help stop flooding.

The auction will be run online from February 26  March 12 using a new Environment Agency web app, where farmers will select for themselves different natural flood management (NFM) activities.

Secondly, farmers will be able to pick out parts of their land where they believe those activities will produce the best flood prevention results for them and for local communities. And finally, to bid for funding for those activities.

As the main purpose of NFM activities in Somerset is to slow the flow of water down through the higher parts of river catchments, the web app will not allow farmers to place bids for land in low-lying Internal Drainage Board areas, but the auction otherwise covers the length and breadth of Somerset.

'New system'

After the auction closes, bids will be checked by the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group SW (FWAG SW). Grants from Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) will then be given to the best, most competitively-priced ideas.

Cllr John Osman, SRA Chairman, said: This is still a very new system but all the signs are that it has many strengths. It cuts out paperwork. It saves time and money. It draws on farmers unrivalled knowledge of their own land. Its easy to use  and it gets results.

Last summer, as a trial of the web app, there was a much smaller auction in the catchments of the River Tone and River Parrett in Somerset and the SRA gave out 22 grants to winning bids. Flood risks to local communities have been reduced through improvements that farmers have been able to make. So its a win-win.

Now were opening it up across the county, I hope many Somerset farmers will give it a go, he added.

Five measures

Grants are being offered for five different natural flood management measures: maize management, grassland subsoiling, hedge planting, soil bunds, and leaky dams.

All help to slow the flow of water, while delivering other benefits. Grassland subsoiling, for example, aerates the ground so that more rainwater can filter in; it also improves the soil.

Anthony Gothard, a Stoke St Gregory farmer who won a maize management grant in last years trial auction, said: It only took me a few minutes to place my bid online and there wasnt any paperwork. Im really pleased with what Ive been able to achieve with the grant money.

Since the devastating flooding of the Somerset Levels in 2013-14, hundreds of natural flood management initiatives have been carried out across Somerset, as part of the countys pioneering Hills to Levels project and overarching 20 Year Flood Action Plan.

Hills to Levels has so far won two national awards, and this new auction shows Somerset continuing to lead the UK with fresh ideas for tackling local flooding hotspots.
Nearly a quarter of all meat shipped from the UK was not stunned before slaughter despite increasing concerns mounting over animal welfare and lack of transparency.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) 2018 slaughterhouse survey been released following pressure to make the data public.

The survey, which provides a comprehensive snapshot of slaughter methods by species in England and Wales, had been expected for publication by Autumn 2018.

Following campaigning activity, the government agreed to release the figures following consultation with religious groups.

Figures reveal that in 2018, over 94 million cattle, sheep and poultry were slaughtered without being stunned first.

Specifically, the figures show that nearly a quarter (24%) of sheep meat that was not stunned before slaughter, was exported from the UK.

This equates to around 750,000 sheep being slaughtered without prior stunning per year for consumption outside of the domestic market.

The current derogation in the law that allows for non-stun slaughter for religious purposes is intended for domestic consumption only.

'Unknown locations'

Although most of this meat is intended for EU markets including France, Belgium and the Netherlands, with post-Brexit trade deals currently in discussion, it brings into question where the remaining non-stun meat is sent.

According to the British Veterinary Association (BVA), who along with the RSPCA campaigned for the release of the data, the survey reveals a 'lack of transparency' with regards to some exports.

For example, 19% of sheep meat was recorded as destined for unknown locations. This lack of information was referenced within the survey as being due to non-mandatory questions being left incomplete by abattoirs.

Simon Doherty, BVA President, said the release of the figures is 'highly significant'. He said: We believe this goes against the spirit of the derogation that allows for non-stun slaughter purely for consumption by particular communities within the UK.

Its equally concerning that the export of some non-stun meat is going unreported, with a lack of clarity around where seven per cent of non-stun sheep meat is ending up due to incomplete slaughterhouse data.

'Transparency'

Mr Doherty said more 'transparency' is needed to ensure such data is readily available.

We strongly believe that all non-stun slaughter should be banned in the UK in the interests of reducing welfare harm, he added.

However, while it continues, the government must make moves to cease the export of non-stun meat. Allowing this practice is out of keeping with legislation designed to limit it to meet domestic demand only.

As the law stands, there is no mandatory requirement to label meat which has been slaughtered without stunning, which means consumers are unaware that they are buying meat produced in this way.

Last week, both the BVA and RSPCA issued out a joint plea for the government to ban non-stun slaughter.

Both groups say slaughtering without pre-stunning causes 'unnecessary pain and suffering'.
Emergency services were called to a farm in Suffolk after a 79-year-old man died in a silo incident.

The man fell down into a silo on a farm at Rishangles Lodge in Thorndon, near Eye. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Emergency services were called to the farm at about 18:00 GMT (14 February) following reports of an 'industrial incident'.

Ian Bowell, Suffolk Fire & Rescue commander, confirmed that the services were working together to deal with the incident.

He said: We are currently in attendance at an incident near Eye, Suffolk.

Further details are not known at this moment, however we are working closely with Police, ambulance colleagues to secure the scene.

We have a number of appliances and specialist teams on scene.

The incident follows news of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) calling for 'new attitudes' on how farmers can reduce on-farm injuries and fatalities.

Agriculture has the poorest record of any industry in Britain and latest figures show that 33 people were killed in agriculture across Britain in 2017/18 - around 18 times higher than the all industry fatal injury rate.
Three North Dakota 4-Hers were selected to attend the 2019 National Youth Summit on Agri-Science in Chevy Chase, Md. Pictured are (from left) North Dakota delegates Kaitlyn Joerger, Lilly Bina and Marie Kraemer, and their chaperone, Greg Benz, NDSU Extensions agriculture and natural resources agent in Dunn County.
This folk-art carving of President Abraham Lincoln was made from a tree stump in the late 1800s. It is 47 inches tall. The sculpture sold for $1,800 at a recent Garths auction.
By Walter Suza | Guest Commentary

As a child, I remember feeling hungry most of the time. Growing up in rural Tanzania, I walked to school barefoot and most of the time had one meal a day. After school, I helped my mother with various farming chores, including feeding the animals, weeding, harvesting and planting.

I often heard my mother express concerns about the lack of ways to protect our crops from drought, pests and diseases. I wanted to help my mother but was too young to understand what the solution might be.

In my undergraduate genetics class, I completed a term paper on the domestication of maize. I was surprised to discover that ancestral maize did not produce the type of kernels we consume today. It took humans thousands of years of deliberate selection to breed a maize plant capable of producing edible seeds. Subsequently, more work by plant breeders helped improve the genetics of maize for higher yield and tolerance to environmental stresses.

This was fascinating to me because when plant breeders interbreed plants, large sections of parental genetic material pass on to new varieties, but the function of many genes that end up in the crops we grow and consume remain unknown.

I am a plant physiologist at Iowa State University and director of the Plant Breeding Education in Africa Program. I believe that Africa deserves cutting-edge technologies, including genetic engineering to develop stress-tolerant crop varieties and more nutritious staple crops to improve human health.

However, the anti-GMO news and campaign across the globe make me wonder whether improved crop varieties would ever reach small stakeholder farmers like my mother.

Humanitarian work in Africa

When I was working for UNICEF in Zimbabwe from 1999-2000, I met a young single mother with several children. Her village was in an area of the country that was facing a devastating drought and many families needed food. The purpose of my meeting with the woman was to assess her food security situation and whether she qualified for food aid.

Near the conclusion of my visit, I saw her little girl, probably 3 or 4 years old, sitting on the ground, eating porridge, probably the only meal she would have that day. The little girl did not appear too bothered by my presence, nor the flies that swarmed her plate. I was surprised she seemed happy.

It was overwhelming for me to think that there were thousands of children in the area facing a similar situation. That day I dedicated my life to fight hunger and poverty.

Education and research

My doctoral training helped me understand the scientific process and biotechnology techniques for inserting new genes more precisely into plants. My research on plant-insect defense genes involved gene cloning and creation of genetically modified plants.

During my time in the laboratory, I often thought of my mother and the crop production challenges she faced. I felt that genetic engineering crops to increase resistance to insects could benefit small stakeholder farmers. I was hopeful that my research could benefit Africa.

Scientific research suggests that climate change will have a negative effect on yields, especially in Africa. In addition, millions in Africa rely on starchy crops as their staple foods and are more prone to mineral and protein deficiencies.

Scientists debunk GMO myths

In my opinion, scientists need to share more of the scientific facts about GMOs and debunk the myths.

In many African countries, the root cause for resistance to GMO crops is lack of public awareness of the scientific principles and benefits of biotechnology. To help increase awareness, my team analyzed dozens of research articles on risk assessment of transgenic maize containing the Bt insect resistance gene.

Bt maize is a transgenic crop that contains the Bt gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. The Bt gene helps maize fight off insect pests such as the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda.

This work, recently published in Global Food Security, compared the risk assessment process for Bt maize with risk assessment in other fields such as medicine and engineering.

Risk can be defined as the likelihood of harm that happens from a set of specific conditions. Risk assessment uses fact-based information to define the effect of exposure to such harm on a given population.

My team hopes that policymakers and leaders would read this article to help them appreciate that risk assessment for GM crops is similar to the other kinds of risk assessments.

For instance, the maintenance of bridges uses risk assessment studies. Potential hazards with bridges include natural hazards, errors in design and traffic overload. These regular risks assessments determine the probability of bridge collapse to ensure public safety.

Risk assessments are also done to quantify the dangers of exposure to radon, a known carcinogen and significant health hazard recognized by many international environmental and health organizations.

Radon gas is naturally present in homes and risk assessment studies have enabled recommendations on safe levels of radon above which mitigation efforts might be required. Subsequently, in the United States, during sales of new homes, the seller is obliged to divulge their homes radon value to the buyer.

For both the bridge and radon examples, the public is willing to trust the analysis by experts in these fields. But when the same kind of analysis is done for GM crops  like Bt maize  these expert risk assessments are considered less trustworthy than those for radon or bridges.

Future hunger fighters

Through the analysis of numerous research articles, my team agrees with experts in risk assessment that no significant impacts on human health or the environment have been found with Bt maize.

However, not using Bt maize to block the rapid spread of fall armyworm, which has destroyed maize and other crops across Africa, poses a risk to human health if other control measures such as pesticides are used in large quantities.

Looking to the future, I believe there needs to be more investment in education and outreach concerning biotechnology and its applications in agriculture. Importantly, the sustainable use of biotechnology in African agriculture depends on educating the youth.

Educational programs such as Plant Breeding E-Learning in Africa are an excellent platform to deliver educational biotechnology content to the next generation of African scientists.

My travels back to Africa from Ames, Iowa, bring back many memories. During daytime flights out of African cities, I look through the window to see the beautiful blue sea or vegetation, and hundreds of brown corrugated iron rooftops. The sheer density of tiny homes with rusty rooftops reminds me of the challenges ahead  the urgent need for an agricultural revolution in the face of a population explosion in Africa.

With the little girl I met during work with UNICEF and my mother in mind, I listen to a whisper in my ears  all people at all times have the right to sufficient and nutritious food for a happy, productive and active life.

This is an important reminder to continue spreading knowledge and awareness to improve food security in Africa.

(This article was distributed through conversation.com, is an independent source of news and views from the academic and research community. Walter Suza serves as director of Plant Breeding E-Learning in Africa and is also an adjunct assistant professor of agronomy at Iowa State University.)
The Columbiana County Buckeye Dairy Boosters will be awarding one to two scholarships (depending on the number of applications received) for Columbiana County dairy industry family members attending an institution of higher learning. Scholarships can be applied toward tuition, books, housing, etc.

Scholarship information

Scholarship Amount: $1,000

Eligibility: Applicants must be members of a Columbiana County family whose primary occupation is directly involved in the Dairy Industry, including but not limited to Dairy Cattle Milk Production, Dairy Cattle Heifer Raising and Dairy Equipment/Supplies/Supplement Sales (providing dairy is the primary focus of sales). The student must prove enrollment or submit a letter of admission to a two- or four-year institution of higher learning or graduate school. Those applying are not required to limit their educational choice to an agricultural related field. Applicants must be considered full-time students and must maintain at least a B or 3.0-grade point average. Previous scholarship recipients may not reapply.

Application Process

Scholarship forms may be obtained from:

Columbiana County Buckeye Dairy Boosters

C/O Pam Herron

3836 Woodsdale Rd.

Salem, Ohio 44460

Phone: 330-222-1637

Email: jayherron@frontier.com

Each applicant must return a completed application, letter of admission and include two (2) letters of reference. Also, each application must include an official high school or college transcript for the applicant.

Application Due Date: All applications must be postmarked by Saturday, March 16, 2019. Any application not fulfilling these requirements will not be considered for the award.

Judging: The decision of a committee of judges appointed by the Columbiana County Buckeye Dairy Boosters will be final. The committee will judge the applications by number only. No names will be made available to the judges. The award will be made on a non-discriminatory basis without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability or religious affiliation.

Award: The award will be made public following notification of the winner.
As Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke prepares to exit at the end of the year, and candidates for his replacement are in the mix to be announced before the Christmas holiday, Western Wire takes a look at some of the key policies he advanced that will likely continue under the next head of the agency. Revamping and modernizing the responsiveness of Interior and its sub-agencies, like the Bureau of Land Management, or seeking dedicated funding for maintenance backlogs at the National Park Service are policies promoted by Sec. Zinke that enjoyed strong, bipartisan support.

BLM Lease Sales And Streamlining Permitting

A record-breaking year for BLM quarterly oil and gas lease sales, led by New Mexicos $1 billion haul in September 2018 alone, showcases the change in direction. Under the previous administration frequent protests and disruptions forced the agency to move, postpone, or cancel numerous lease sales.

Despite protests and a 2016 lawsuit by activists that attempted to halt the proceeds destined for New Mexico, BLM lease sales have continued as the mandated and regularly scheduled auctions delivered anywhere from a few hundred thousand dollars for states like Montana to half a billion dollars for New Mexico thanks to a booming Permian Basin.

The increase in lease sales is good news for state governments as well. Roughly half of the auction proceeds are delivered to respective state coffers, such as the $497 million delivered to New Mexico two weeks ago.

Increasing access and participation, and ultimately revenues, from BLM lease sales would mean little if the parcels were unable to be accessed, as the permits to drill the acreage fell further and further into the morass of bureaucratic backlogs.

[W]e will look at ways to improve the process and make sure regulations serve their intended purpose rather than create a mountain of useless paperwork, Zinke said in July 2017. By streamlining approvals of responsible energy development on federal land, and actually holding lease sales, we will generate revenue for local communities and the Treasury to fund the things we all value like National Parks, infrastructure and education.

Streamlining the process for permitting was key to accessing the additional revenues that the lease sales provided, and states like New Mexico were eager for Zinkes policy directive to move the needle.

But these applications arent just waiting a single day, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez told the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources in June 2018, noting that her states permitting period is a fraction of the length at the federal level, leading to enormous delays and large permitting backlogs at the New Mexico BLM offices. The average approval time for BLM permits in New Mexico is 250 days, compared to just 10 days for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department to approve those same permits. This has created a backlog of more than 800 BLM applications.

Backlogs leading to permitting delays added up to a $713 million loss for her state, Martinez estimated, in addition to a $1.3 billion loss for the federal government.

A large share of our states oil and gas royalties support our public school system, and at a time when were fighting to turn around struggling schools and ensure that our school campuses are safe and secure, we shouldnt be letting a single dollar slip away, Martinez said, adding that the lease sale revenues and the subsequent oil and gas royalties derived from drilled permits funds many of New Mexicos critical infrastructure and key services, including law enforcement and infrastructure construction.

In July 2017, Zinke issued a secretarial order to ensure that BLMthe agency entrusted for permitting and conducting the quarterly lease saleswould move swiftly to address the burgeoning backlog of more than 2,800 Applications for Permit to Drill (APD) that by the end of 2016 had reached a review period exceeding 257 days on average, well above the statutorily required 30 day limit.

In a memo from the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of the Interior, dated November 7, 2018, a review of the Major Management and Performance Challenges facing the department found that the time for reviews of APDs had been reduced to 46 days on average, although it still faced a backlog of 2,500 APDs as of the end of 2017, according to its data.

DOIs OIG suggested [c]ontinuous improvements, including online submission of APDs, are needed to ensure a timely and accurate review process.

Some of the continued backlog, despite improvements in average review period from 257 to 46 days, could be attributed to a large influx of new APDs, especially in the BLMs busiest field offices.

2018 saw a big year in the jump in drilling permit applications for BLM field offices like that in Carlsbad, New Mexico, that serves the Permian Basin. The number jumped from 2017s 813 permits filed to 1,533 by the end of October 2018 alone.

DOI Reorganization And Moving BLM HQ West

Among Zinkes bold moves was to reassess the needs of his department and look to develop some sort of reorganization12 Unified Regionsthat would reduce bureaucratic redundancy and improve communication between the field and Washington, D.C.

Our new Unified Regions will allow important decisions to be made nearer to where our stakeholders and intergovernmental partners live and work, and will make joint problem-solving and improved coordination between our Bureaus and other Federal, State, and local agencies easier, Zinke wrote in August 2018.

Zinkes earlier, watershed-based plan, had received resistance from the Western Governors Association, which had expressed deep concerns about the proposal. In response, Zinke collaborated and moved to a region-based reorganization plan based on state boundaries.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper shared those concerns with Zinke as he and others met multiple times in early 2018 to iron out details and discuss the reorganization of the Interior Department.

As Western governors, we had given feedback to the original maps around the reorganization plan and are trying to look at ways we can make it more effective, Hickenlooper said at the time.

The result, a hybrid of watershed- and state boundary-based regions, reflected that feedback. Susan Combs, Interiors Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget, said the agency would enlist teams of senior Interior officials to foster inter-bureau collaboration, according to E&E News.

Combs pointed to the Upper Colorado Basin Region 7 that includes Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming as a key resource, given the 13,300 Interior employees living in those states.

If we can reorganize this area very, very well, it can be instructive to the other 11, Combs said.

That initiative, to shake up an entire Cabinet-level department, demonstrated a different approach to federal action, according to Hickenlooper, who was commenting on the reorganization plan in February.

Relocating BLMs Headquarters Out West

Part of the reorganization planned by Zinke is to move the headquarters of BLM to the west, following a bill that U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) introduced in May 2017.

By July 2017, in notes gathered from E&E News, Zinke was well on the way to considering how and where the headquarters of DOI agencies like BLM, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Reclamation could be moved.

A bipartisan raft of support for the potential move flooded in, as Hickenlooper said the relocated employees would receive a warm welcome. Its an ideal location and having them closer to the resources they manage makes good sense, said Hickenlooper.

Other Democrats, like U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), agreed. Im all for it. Im all for it, I think it would be great. I think anything we can get out of Washington, D.C. and into Colorado, Im for, Bennet told Western Wire in 2017.

Moving the headquarters of an agency is no easy task, with Zinke spending a great deal of his time meeting with local officials like those on Colorados Western Slope, who hoped to snag the relocated HQ and its thousands of employees.

Colorados Western Slope, and Grand Junction, Colo., in particular, make an attractive candidate for the move, based on Zinkes repeated suggestions that a potential headquarters have strong quality of life, affordability, and employee attractiveness.

Under this administration there is a genuine desire to work in partnership with local government leaders to come up with locally-driven solutions, Christian Reece, Executive Director of Club 20, told Western Wire in May. Thats ultimately the best way for the lands to be managed.

An announcement on the location for the new BLM headquarters will be announced in the spring of 2019, according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

Funding For National Park Maintenance

Among Zinkes top priorities was the reduction of maintenance backlogs and investments in infrastructure for the National Park Service (NPS). The Secretary spoke frequently about rebuilding our infrastructure, including funds for the nearly $16 billion in Interior Department deferred maintenance, which includes $11 billion for NPS deferred maintenance alone.

In discussing the departments budget for the upcoming 2019 fiscal year, Zinke said the prioritization of the NPSs maintenance backlog required more than just a budget line item, but some other devoted revenue stream, such as a fund that derived revenues from energy development on public lands.

All Americans should have the opportunity to enjoy a national park, but without an investment in our infrastructure to go along with the record-setting amount of visitors, we are loving our parks to death, Zinke said in March.

Zinke campaigned through spring and summer, advocating for some form of a Public Lands Infrastructure Fund.

I think as a Secretary, its a fair proposition that if youre going to gain wealth through energy developmentwhether its oil and gas, or wind or solar on public lands, then you too should have an obligation to maintain and support those public lands in perpetuity, Zinke said.

At an August visit to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, he re-emphasized the priority to keep NPS maintenance backlog at the top of mind for Congress.

Everyone loves our parks. I think its time now to prioritize, Zinke said in his second trip to the park. The president is a builder, and we need to rebuild our park system for the benefit of everyone.

The Restore Our Parks Act, which enjoyed bipartisan support, would have set aside revenue already derived from energy royalties from oil and natural gas, wind, and solar for an NPS and Public Lands Restoration Fund. The mandatory spending for five years would be used to catch up on deferred park maintenance, Zinke said at the time.

We are all of the above. We think that is a sustainable, appropriate revenue source for our public lands, Zinke added.

He praised the bipartisan nature of the Senate and House bills, even saying that despite his cynicism, the efforts to fund the nations treasured parks had even brought a tear to his eye.

Western legislators had spearheaded the maintenance bills. U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) cosponsored the bill, along with Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.). Zinke called the House version of the bill, co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), a watershed moment in bipartisan efforts to fund the parks crumbling infrastructure.
By Andrew Dempster, Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research; Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Tel

NASA/JPL

Its 50 years since man first stepped on the Moon. Now the focus is on going back to our nearest orbiting neighbour  not to leave footprints, but to mine the place.

Australia has a well-earned reputation as a mining nation. We are home to some of the largest mining companies (such as Vale, Glencore, Rio Tinto, and BHP), some of the best mine automation, and some of the best mining researchers.





Read more:

How realistic are China's plans to build a research station on the Moon?





But do we have the drive and determination to be part of any mining exploration of the Moon?

To the Moon

As far as space goes, the Moon is sexy again. Within the past three months:

the Chinese landed a rover on the Moons far side

NASA announced it is partnering with nine companies to deliver payloads to the Moon, consistent with its new push for more Moon missions

the Moon Race competition has been announced, looking at entries in four themes: manufacturing, energy, resources, biology

the European Space Agency (ESA) announced its interest in mining the Moon for water

a US collaborative study was released about commercial exploitation of water from the Moon.

Not to be outdone, there is an Australian angle. We at the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research (ACSER) announced our Wilde mission to extract water from the shaded craters at the Moons poles.

Australian interests

The Australian angle is important. With the establishment of Australias Space Agency, there is a need for us to try to establish niches in space, and it makes sense to exploit our strengths in mining to do so.

This is consistent with one of the agencys priorities of:

 developing a strategy to position Australia as an international leader in specialised space capabilities.

As the agencys chief executive Megan Clark told the subscription newsletter Space and Satellite AU earlier this month:

Rio Tinto is developing autonomous drilling and thats the sort of thing you will need to do on Mars and on the Moon. While were drilling for iron ore in the Pilbara, on the Moon they might be looking for basic resources to survive like soils, water and oxygen.

The CSIRO has also put space resource utilisation into its space road map (which can be downloaded here). At each of the two most recent CSIRO Space 2.0 workshops, the attendees voted space resource utilisation (off-Earth mining) to be the most promising opportunity discussed.

The ultimate aim of space mining is to exploit asteroids, the most valuable  known as 511 Davida  is estimated to be worth US$27 quintillion (thats or 27x1018 or 27 million million million dollars). Another estimate puts that value closer to US$1 trillion, which is still a lot of potential earning.

Risky business

The opportunities are enormous, but the risks are high too  risks with which mining companies are currently not familiar. The high-level processes are familiar such as exploration (prospecting), mining methods, processing, transportation, but the specifics of doing those things in such challenging conditions  vacuum, microgravity, far from Earth, and so on  are not.

The research we are proposing for the Wilde project aims to start chipping away at reducing those perceived risks, to the point where big miners are more comfortable to invest.

One of the important risks in any mining is the legal framework. Two international treaties apply quite specifically in this case: the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 (ratified by 107 countries and signed by a further 23) and the Moon Agreement (or Moon Treaty, ratified by 18 and signed by a further four) of 1979. Australia has ratified both.

When it comes to trying to determine from these treaties whether space mining is allowed, there are two problems.

First, the treaties were drafted at a time when the problems they were trying to avoid were geopolitical. Space activity was considered to be the realm of nation states and they wanted celestial bodies not to be considered property of any nation states.

Second, commercial exploitation of resources is never explicitly mentioned. (A third problem could be that the treaties have never been tested in court.)

This creates a situation in which the interpretation of the treaties can lead to strong support to both sides of the argument. For instance, Article 1 of the Outer Space Treaty says:

The exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind.

This could preclude commercial development.

But the same article also states:

Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall be free for exploration and use by all States without discrimination of any kind, on a basis of equality and in accordance with international law, and there shall be free access to all areas of celestial bodies.

This could enshrine the right to use those same resources.

For all humanity

There are similar disputes about what exactly was meant when other articles in that treaty refer to sovereignty, appropriation, exploration and use.

The Moon Treaty deals with scientific and non-scientific use of space resources. Article 11 states that the Moon and other celestial bodies and their resources are the common heritage of all mankind (a less gender-specific phrase would be all humanity), and that the exploitation of resources would be governed by an international regime, not defined in the treaty. It also dictates an equitable sharing by all States Parties in the benefits derived from those resources.





Read more:

Curious Kids: How does the Moon, being so far away, affect the tides on Earth?





On the face of it, this may appear to put signatories to this agreement at a disadvantage, by constraining them as to what they can do.

Other global commons such as the high seas, Antarctica and geostationary orbit are well regulated by comparison, and given that the Moon Treaty envisages that regime of rules, then it may be time to define that regime, and, as a Treaty signatory with an interest in space resources, Australia has the motivation to lead that discussion.

How that initiative will evolve will depend on various factors, but the next time it gets a public airing, at the Off-Earth Mining Forum in November, we hope to have made significant progress.

Andrew Dempster works for the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research, which is currently pursuing a moon water mission. He has received research funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Space Research Program, and the Defence Materials and Technologies Centre. He serves on the Advisory Council of the Space Industry Association of Australia.

Originally published in The Conversation.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 15)  President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law two more economic bills including one extending social security benefits to more overseas Filipino workers, Executive Secretary Medialdea confirmed on Friday.

The Social Security Act of 2018 would give compulsory Social Security Systems (SSS) coverage to land-based and sea-based overseas Filipino workers. The move is expected to increase the number of OFWs covered by SSS from 500,000 workers to 2.5 million.

It would also give the SSS Commission more power to decide on the monthly contribution of members, allowing the Commission to increase it after an actuarial survey.

The New Central Bank Act aims to strengthen the regulatory powers of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) by putting more forms of financial institutions under its purview.

It would also give the BSP the power to sanction those who transfer or acquire substantial shares of banks and other financial institutions without the central bank's approval.

Once implemented, the capitalization of the BSP would increase to 200 billion from 50 billion.

Duterte also vetoed parts of a bill on tax amnesty, but Medialdea did not say which provisions or why they were struck down.

In total, Duterte signed into law Friday the SSS Rationalization Act, the New Central Bank Act, the Rice Tariffication Act and a bill giving discounted rates for political ads.
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To the Editor:

Over 50 years ago, Joy Shaw faced down a backhoe sent to destroy the Mill River wetlands. Her act of protest worked, and the wetlands were saved, but Joy didnt want to stand in front of heavy equipment forever. Instead, she founded the Mill River Wetland Committee, Inc. (MRWC).

MRWC has a simple mission: to educate the community about the value of wetlands, to advocate for their continued protection, and to engage all people in the fight to protect our environment. For over 50 years, MRWCs River-Lab Program has taught generations of students and parents to value the watersheds that support our lives.

Single-use plastic bags harm our watersheds specifically, and our environment as a whole. In line with MRWCs mission, we support the proposed ordinance that promotes the use of reusable bags. The Fairfield residents we deal with each year (hundreds of parents and thousands of school-aged children) always ask what more they can do to protect our watershed and other precious natural resources. This ordinance is exactly what they are asking for!

We implore the Fairfield RTM to approve this ordinance. Fairfield is a leader on environmental issues, as demonstrated most recently by Fairfields statewide recognition by Sustainable CT. Lets pass this ordinance and continue to lead CT in our sustainability efforts!

Mill River Wetland Committee Board of Directors

Lynn Shavinsky, President

Make voting more accessible

To the Editor:

Voting is one of our most important rights and responsibilities, and its time to make voting more accessible and convenient for all state residents.

Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia have some type of early voting. Connecticuts Constitution has some of the strictest voting rules and it can be difficult for some of our residents to make it to the polls on election day. The majority of Republican and Democrat voters across the nation support early voting, so why are we lagging behind?

Early voting in major elections will reduce the chaos and wait times that residents experience due to long lines, finding a parking spot, arranging a ride to the polls, health issues, child care, bad weather, and so on. It would also help to improve voter turnout in municipal elections.

Last election, people were waiting in the poring rain for up to four hours just to vote at some locations, and people got turned away when they joined the line too late. No one who is a registered voter should ever be turned away from voting due to staffing issues! Especially considering we saw the largest voter turn out for a gubernatorial election in Connecticut in a generation.

Changes to our voting rules will require a Constitutional amendment that will be put to a public vote. It's time for the General Assembly and Governor to sponsor, pass, and sign bills into law that will catch us up with the rest of the country and make voting more accessible and convenient.

Our Secretary of State Denise Merrill said we need to change our voting system into something thats "much more votercentric than it is today". I couldn't agree with her more.

You can find your State Representatives here: https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/content/townlist.asp

Leanne Harpin

Fairfield
GREENWICH  The Connecticut Republican Party has agreed to take down a video it posted this week that used the death of Valerie Reyes, whose body was found in Greenwich, to push the message Secure the Border Now.

The young womans family complained that they did not want their daughter used that way.

The brief political promotion, posted on Twitter on Thursday, the day of Reyes funeral, attacked the two Democratic U.S. senators from Connecticut and stated, Valerie Reyes is Dead, Your Silence is Deafening.

The Tweet said, U.S. Senators Murphy & Blumenthal should be ashamed of themselves. It includes video of television coverage of the Reyes murder. The 24-year-old woman, from New Rochelle, N.Y., was found in a suitcase Feb. 5 near Glenville Road. A former boyfriend, Javier Da Silva, has been charged with her death. A dual citizen of Portugal and Venezuela, he entered the country in 2017 from Venezuela, through an airport, and illegally overstayed his visa.

Reyes family members are immigrants, originally from Mexico.

The video supports the proposal by President Donald Trump to build a border wall with that country.

J.R. Romano, chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party, said the clip was meant to show a real victim of the what he called a border crisis.

The point in highlighting these tragedies is to show our elected leaders there are real victims to this border crisis, he said Friday.

Romano said he had agreed to take the video down after Reyes family complained about it.

In the case of this family  who I never want to extend their sorrow  weve taken it down upon their request because I cant even imagined what theyre going through, Romano said.

Even though Da Silva came into the U.S. with a visa and overstayed it, Romano said his case still applies to the debate over building a border wall.

What would stop someone after being deported from walking back into this country? he said. There are Democrats in our state General Assembly who call to de-fund (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Thats the entity responsible for chasing this criminal. ICE is responsible for overstaying visas.

A call to Valerie Reyes mother, Norma Sanchez, was not immediately returned Friday.

The video uses coverage of the homicide investigation. It shows video news footage of news anchors saying Da Silva was in country illegally, and it plays a video of Norma Sanchez crying at vigil and saying, Hes gonna pay for this.

Stamford immigration attorney Philip E. Berns said the video is an attempt to demonize immigrants.

Its racist, Berns told Greenwich Time. This is just an example of that part of a group of Republicans  that are not among the many, many honorable Republicans  they might as well put on white robes and burn crosses. Theyre effectively doing the same thing with words and actions.

Berns pointed out that theres a lower crime rate among immigrants in general and among undocumented immigrants.

If you want to reduce crime, youre better off going after criminals than immigrants, he said. Its always been U.S. policy go after less the than 1 percent of immigrants who commit serious crimes first.

According to the CATO Institute, undocumented immigrants have been responsible for about 2.7 percent of all murders from August 1955 through April 2010. During the same time period, undocumented immigrants made up about 4.6 percent of the U.S. population, meaning that group was underrepresented among murderers, per CATO.

The attorney said a border wall would not have kept Da Silva out of the country, because he flew into the U.S. with a visa.

Trying to equate immigrants with criminals is a lie, Berns said. Being here without documentation isnt crime, its a civil violation.

rmarchant@

greenwichtime.com
GREENWICH  Naturalists from Greenwich Audubon hit the shore Friday to count birds  both on land and on the water  in Greenwich Harbor as part of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's annual Great Backyard Bird Count.

Ducks, geese, loons and gulls are some of the birds that spend the winter on Long Island Sound.

Participants will submit a checklist of birds to the national bird count website at gbbc.birdcount.org.

Learn more about the Great Backyard Bird Count at an introductory session at the Greenwich Library from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday. Ted Gilman, senior naturalist at the Audubon Center in Greenwich, will introduce attendees to some of the most common winter birds in the area. He will also explain how to can count these birds this weekend and become part of the Citizen Science team through the Cornell University bird network.

All participants will receive a color chart of common backyard birds and can receive instruction on how to set up a free eBird account with the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology to keep track of your bird sightings this weekend and throughout the year at home and during your travels.

This is a free event; all ages are welcome.

The birding events will continue Saturday afternoon at the Audubon Center in Greenwich. Participants can learn to identify and count backyard songbirds at the centers bird feeders. Attendees can also take a brief walk through the Apple Orchard to find birds outside.

The event will be from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at 613 Riversville Road. All ages are welcome, and the cost is $5 for members, $8 for nonmembers. RSVP is appreciated to Ryan MacLean at rmaclean@audubon.org.
Croatia Airlines anticipates handling some 2.280.000 passengers this year, which would make it its busiest on record. The carrier expects for the overall annual increase in travellers to amount to 5%. The growth will be achieved in part due to the earlier lease of two Bombardier CRJ1000 aircraft for the summer, which will bring forward the resumption of a number of seasonal routes. The first of the leased jets will be joining the fleet on April 1 and the second on April 18. Furthermore, the carrier will upgrade its seasonal flights between Zagreb and Dublin to year-round operations and is considering prolonging flights to a select number of other seasonal destinations in the lead-up to Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will take place during the first half of next year.





The Croatian carrier will avoid possible industrial action after it inked a five-year collective agreement with trade unions representing its pilots, mechanics and cabin crew. The development comes following two years of negotiations, as well as last year's attempted strike which was banned by the country's Supreme Court. The agreement "is in line with the airline's financial capabilities", the company said. It added, "Additional wriggle room in reaching a deal was made possible by the recent amendments made to the law on income tax rules. The contract is of great importance for the next development phase of Croatia Airlines which is aiming to find a strategic partner in line with the government's National Reform Programme. By successfully reaching a deal with trade unions, it is assumed that future services will be free of disruptions. Therefore, it is expected that this agreement will positively impact on the national carrier's competitiveness and lead to a better position on the market in the future, with a constant focus on the needs and satisfaction of passengers".





Croatia Airlines previously noted that its main goal in 2019 is to ensure stability in the increasingly volatile air transport sector. "Croatia Airlines will continue to focus on managing all business risks, and on ensuring the best possible conditions for regular business operations. Jet fuel prices are expected to continue being the most significant risk, and the company will, in that regard, try to reduce its negative effects on the airline's overall business operations". It added, "The further improvement of the quality of service and network business model are also the companys goals, as well as further investment in the fleet in order to maintain the highest level of flight safety".
Air Serbia has unveiled a special "Serbia Creates" livery on its flagship Airbus A330-200 aircraft, which returned from Abu Dhabi today following a month of maintenance. "Serbia Creates is a new way of positioning Serbia locally and internationally in ways that affirm the countrys contemporary characteristics of creativity, innovation, and originality. Serbia Creates frames authenticity, ingenuity, excellence, trust, and openness as core elements of the Serbian character. It profiles Serbia as a great place to visit, invest, study or do business, and promotes Serbian people as creative, innovative, reliable and resilient partners", the office of the Serbian Prime Minister, Ana Brnabic, said. It marks the first special scheme to be applied to one of Air Serbia's aircraft. The Airbus A330-200, registered YU-ARA, is set to return to scheduled service tomorrow on flight JU500 between Belgrade and New York. It was replaced by an Etihad Airways A330-200 over the past month.
In Kaesong a summit to organize the joint event to commemorate the March 1 Movement. Japan ruled the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. In 1919, patriots publicly read the Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Tokyo carried out a ferocious repression: over 7 thousand dead, and 10 thousand injured.

Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Senior officials from both Koreas held an inter-Korean liaison meeting this morning. The issues discussed included the joint celebration of the next centenary of the Samil undong   (  ), the "March 1 Movement", a popular uprising organized in 1919 against the colonial rule of Japan. This is reported by the Ministry of Unification of Seoul.

The summit took place in Kaesong, in the north. The South Korean deputy minister of Unification, Chun Hae-sung, and his North Korean counterpart, Hwang Chung-song, took part. The possibility of organizing an event to commemorate the independence movement has long existed.

In line with an agreement between the leaders of the two countries, Seoul has already presented a proposal that includes the candidate sites and some programs related to the celebration. Pyongyang still has to answer. Yesterday, a ministry official said that the joint celebration, if held, will be smaller than expected since the anniversary is only two weeks away.

Japan dominated the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. In 1919, following the death of King Gojong of Korea, political exiles abroad and local clandestine movements wrote the Unilateral Declaration of Independence, called Gimidognip seoneonseo   ; they plan public reading for the first of March.

Gathered in the Seoul Pagoda Park, on the morning of that day the 33 signatory activists carried out their plan in front of a large crowd. A wave of protests followed that immediately took over the whole capital. The Japanese authorities responded with a ferocious repression; throughout the country there were more than 7 thousand dead, over 10 thousand injured and an unknown number of prisoners (for some experts 50 thousand).
San Antonio apartment construction slowed last year as rents rose but the expansion of UTSAs downtown campus and growth in the citys downtown workforce could spur more multifamily developments in the urban core.

Apartment completions fell below 6,000 units last year for the first time since 2014, according to a recent report from commercial real-estate firm Marcus & Millichap. And developers are filing fewer building permits for apartment complexes with more than five units a piece than in previous years, U.S. Census Bureau data shows.

Sluggish job growth in the San Antonio region last year has some analysts worried that multifamily apartment development could slow further. Local companies hired 11,000 workers last year, up 1 percent from the previous year  trailing job growth in Austin, Dallas and Houston.

Thats what Im most concerned with now, said Bruce McClenny, president of Houston-based ApartmentData.com.

But demand for housing in and around downtown San Antonio remains strong. The citys on track to meet its goal of adding 7,500 housing units to the downtown area by 2020. Downtown apartment complexes often reach 90 percent occupancy within a year of opening, Assistant City Manager Lori Houston said.

And demand for those apartments are expected to grow within the next decade. The University of Texas at San Antonios planned $90 million expansion of its downtown campus promises to bring 15,000 students to the urban core by 2030. San Antonio-based USAA plans to move 2,000 employees to its downtown offices. And financial-services firms Credit Human and Jefferson Bank are moving their headquarters to Broadway near the Pearl.

Nearly 3,000 housing units are currently under construction in and around downtown San Antonio, according to figures provided by the city. Another 1,600 are in the planning stage.

Will those be enough to absorb a surge of students, teachers and employees expected to flood downtown?

At the moment, its not clear. The city doesnt yet have estimates about how many housing units will be necessary to satisfy new demand from those developments, Houston said. Not every student and downtown worker will want to live downtown. And students often double up or live at home.

City Council members restarted a program last year to subsidize downtown housing development partly in anticipation of corporate expansions and UTSAs growth, Houston said. The Center City Housing Incentive Policy, known as CCHIP, gives property tax rebates and construction loans that are sometimes forgivable to build housing in the core.

The program, which began in 2012, gave nearly $102 million to developers to build market-rate housing before council members voted to pause the program in January 2018, driven by concerns the city was needlessly subsidizing pricey housing at the expense of its affordable housing needs.

City Council members approved a retooled version of the program in December that caps rents for properties that receive incentives and includes mechanisms intended to encourage more affordable development.

Among the first projects that could receive incentives under the revamped program: the Cattleman Square Lofts, a 160-unit development being developed by affordable-housing developer Alamo Community Group at 811 W. Houston, two blocks from UTSAs downtown campus.

City officials intend to revisit the program every two years to gauge whether the city needs to beef up its incentives to stimulate more downtown housing, Houston said.

We want to see if demand is still there, Houston said. Right now, there are indications that it is.

But developers have questioned whether CCHIP is enough.

Its going to require significantly more than the CCHIP is offering today to achieve the number of units of housing that can potentially service not only the job growth for downtown but the university needs, said David Adelman of Area Real Estate.

UTSA and city officials are making moves to boost residential development to accommodate students and faculty members housing needs in the downtown area.

The university plans to enter a public-private partnership to develop Cattlemans Square Residential Tower, a mixed-use development with at least 10 stories of student housing, two ground floors of retail and classrooms on two acres UTSA owns. School officials are expected to pick a developer this spring.

City officials are expected to open the bidding process for a proposed housing development at the historic Continental Hotel property on 322 W. Commerce St., Houston said. Its not yet clear how many residential units the development will have, but the development would have a certain number of units set aside for households making less than 80 percent of the area median income, Houston said.

Ultimately, builders and officials will have to find ways to increase residential density throughout the inside of Loop 410, not just in the downtown area, to handle downtown growth, Adelman said.

I dont think its unrealistic at all, Adelman said. I think it just takes a concerted effort from the public and private sector to make sure your urban core is thriving and attractive.

Overall housing construction in the San Antonio-New Braunfels is flat year-over-year. Developers filed building permits for 9,802 housing units from January 2018 to November 2018, according to the latest available data from the U.S. Census Bureau  about as many as were filed during the same period the previous year and up more than 10 percent from about 8,800 in the same period in 2016.

But developers are building fewer apartment complexes. The share of permits for units in complexes with five or more units has fallen in recent years, census data shows. From January 2016 to November 2016, developers filed permits for more than 2,600 units in that category  accounting for 30 percent of all permits filed.

In the same period in 2018, that number stood at nearly 2,100, or 21 percent.

San Antonio apartment rents are still more affordable than its sister Texas cities. Rents grew by 3.8 percent last year and the average rental rate sits at $1.11 a square foot, figures provided by ApartmentData.com show. Rents in Houston, the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and Austin are $1.16 a square foot, $1.26 a square foot and $1.41 a square foot.

When you look out across other places to live, it (San Antonio) fares incredibly well, McClenny of ApartmentData.com said.

Joshua Fechter is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering retail and tourism. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFreports
President Donald Trump was signaling Thursday that he intends to sign a spending deal that wont give him all the money he wants for his border wall. But he also says he will declare a national emergency to circumvent Congress and fund the wall.

For why signing the spending bills is the right thing to do and declaring a national emergency isnt, we need not look further than his visit to the border Monday night to press for that funding. It was premised on a lie  that El Paso, one of the most dangerous cities, was transformed into one of the safest by barriers built there.

In fact, the West Texas border city has had a crime rate, on average, lower than 20 cities of similar size and, in 2008  before the barriers were erected  El Paso had the second lowest violent crime rate. The president was told this repeatedly  at least since he told the same falsehood during his State of the Union address on Feb. 5.

So, why adhere to a nonfact? To continue whipping up a base that, against logic, wants that wall and to pressure congressional negotiators to come up with the $5.7 billion he wanted for it. Fortunately, just before his El Paso speech  matched by another in the same town by Beto ORourke  those negotiators had narrowed on a deal. It will contain some $1.375 billion for new fencing  not a wall  in spending measures. The legislation must be signed by the president by today if another shutdown is to be averted. As of this writing, he hadnt done that. The last shutdown, driven by the presidents insistence on that $5.7 billion for a wall, was a cruel debacle for federal workers and for the nation.

Why is this deal far from ideal? Well, first, the way budgeting is supposed to work is that the appropriate committees mull spending requests and approve spending bills for the various departments for the fiscal year. These become separate bills, each voted on in turn by Congress and signed by the president.

But thats not how it happens any more. More likely, we have a temporary spending bill or bills because the two parties cannot agree on key issues that someone wants to attach to the bill.

Democrats also wanted to limit detention beds in a bid to force immigration authorities to focus on removing mostly immigrants who have committed serious crimes from the country. Democrats agreed to a higher level than Homeland Security was budgeted last year, but lower than the one the department has been actually using. Both sides are claiming victory on this one.

This is called compromise  fencing, increased Homeland Security funding and Democrats getting access to detention facilities for children but failing to get an extension of the Violence Against Women Act. It will apparently become stand-alone legislation.

More fencing is not necessarily ideal unless it goes where experts, the environment and the terrain say it should go, but it beats a shutdown or a wall. And more fencing allows the president to quit insisting on building a wall and switch to a rally slogan of Finish the wall, though no barriers that match the presidents previous prototypes have been built. Whatever. No government shutdown if the bill is signed.

But if you squint hard, what we actually have here is a glimmer of hope. Republicans, this time, refused to give the president everything he wanted and pushed back to avoid a shutdown. And Democrats relented on other issues.

Mr. President, we now have divided government. Declaring an emergency that does not exist will not change that fact. It will exacerbate the divisions and set a disturbing precedent. Such a move will assuredly be stuck in the courts proably until after 2020. This is folly.
Usually where you find partisan polarization, you also find some issue of great moment, some important conflict of interests or values that cant just be turned over to the smart people to solve because any solution would inevitably be a victory for one side and a defeat for the other.

But there are occasional exceptions: polarizing issues where you could essentially call a truce without anyone winning or losing.

My candidate for the exception is the debate over voter ID laws. Conservatives have touted tougher identification requirements at the polls as a means to fight the scourge of voter fraud, and over the past decade, Republicans have successfully implemented voter ID laws in a number of reddish states. Over the same period those laws have been cited by liberals as evidence that Republicans are bent on locking out poor and minority voters in a rerun of the Jim Crow-poll tax era.

You could imagine a world in which the voter ID debate reflected a real and sweeping clash of interests. If conservatives were right that the laws reduced rampant voter fraud by preventing illegal immigrants from voting for Democrats in large numbers, and meanwhile liberals were also right that the laws dramatically reduced turnout among African-Americans and other liberal-leaning constituencies, effectively limiting the right to vote, then the whole debate would be extremely consequential and difficult to resolve.

In this world, however, the stakes seem to be considerably lower. Thats the conclusion of a new study, one of the largest to date, from the economists Enrico Cantoni and Vincent Pons, which assessed the impact of voter ID laws between 2008 and 2016 using a nationwide voter file. The study finds that requiring voter identification has no effect on turnout  not overall and not on any group defined by race, gender, age, or party affiliation.

If that shocks you, it shouldnt. The evidence that voter ID laws meaningfully suppress minority votes has always been shaky. A voter ID requirement might possibly affect the closest of close races, based on what weve learned up till now  but if the Cantoni and Pons results hold up, the real effect is basically nil.

But before conservatives claim vindication, the new paper also casts doubt on the argument for voter ID laws, finding no effect on fraud itself, nor even any effect on public confidence in the integrity of the ballot. Since the George W. Bush administration, a large group of people with strong incentives to uncover voter fraud  Republican lawmakers, law-enforcement personnel and conservative election researchers  have failed to produce any evidence that the problem exists on a scale that requires a legislative response. And the rare prosecuted cases generally seem disproportionate to the offense involved.

Nothing in the new study settles arguments about early voting, absentee balloting and more. Still, because the ID debate is a particular flash point, its findings are a real public service. No matter where you stand on the voter fraud-voter suppression controversies, these findings strengthen the case for dialing down outrage, reducing anxiety and generally recognizing that if we stopped pushing for these laws and stopped freaking out about how they supposedly doom democracy, voting in America would rattle along basically unchanged.

But since its conservatives and Republicans who are the prime mover here, they have the primary obligation to step back and stand down.

Despite what many liberals believe, much of the rights anxiety about voter fraud is sincere. I have had enough arguments with fellow conservatives on this issue to attest that the specter of those old Chicago operations haunts the right, along with more contemporary fears generated by a left that really does want to extend some of the benefits of citizenship to illegal immigrants.

At the same time theres also no question that a lot of Republican operatives pushing voter ID laws are cynics who expect their party to benefit from lower minority turnout, and a number of professional right-wing partisans  including our president  see an upside in frightening their voters or viewers with the racialized threat of urban ballot-stuffing.

But the evidence from this study offers reasons for both the conservative sincerely worried about voter fraud and the operative cynically hoping for lower Democratic turnout to let this issue slide.

And in letting it slide, Republicans might even have more to gain than Democrats. After all, the cynical side of the voter ID push is pretty transparent, meaning that even if the laws dont have real vote-suppressing consequences, they do serve as a continuing gesture of disrespect to minority voters, a continuing expression of GOP indifference to the African-American memory of what vote restrictions used to mean.

The voter ID debate essentially involves Republicans whipping themselves into a panic over a problem that doesnt meaningfully affect their chances of winning elections, and then passing laws that whip Democrats into a panic over a problem that also doesnt meaningfully affect their chances of winning elections. So if the debate simply disappeared tomorrow, a source of distrust would vanish without either side losing ground. There are few cases where thats possible. Lets seize this one.
As we observe Black History Month, I cannot help but think about the African-Americans who give their time to causes and about the African-American organizations that make life better.

The spirit of volunteerism in the African-American community has long been rooted in a culture of taking care of each other and the community at large. By pitching in to take care of a friend or family member, volunteering at church, advocating for civil rights or helping promote scholarship and educational enrichment programs, we have all become stronger through volunteering.

Church participation and social involvement are important predictors of volunteerism within the African-American community. The church provides an avenue for determining needs in the community. Many well-known organizations have a long-standing record of service and advocacy, including the NAACP, the National Urban League, and many prestigious fraternities and sororities.

There are countless volunteers whose names you may not know, giving their time and talents for the betterment of society each day. One such Texan, octogenarian Charlotte Kelly Bryant of Houston, knows how important it is to give back to her community. Since retiring from teaching in 2002, she has continued to serve by volunteering for her church, community fundraisers and the Blue Triangle Multicultural Association in Houstons Third Ward, which was founded as a place where women and girls of color could come together to learn.

I volunteer because my passion to serve is greater than anything else, says the former teacher at the DeBakey High School for Health Professions. God has given me good health and the ability to give back.

Volunteering may also be helping keep Bryant healthy and active. Studies show its good for your health and can decrease anxiety, depression, loneliness and isolation, especially in volunteers who devote at least 100 hours annually. One of the best things about volunteering is that anyone can contribute. Everyones experiences and talents can create meaningful changes in their communities.

Its not a glitzy job, but it makes you feel great knowing you have made a difference in the lives of so many people, Bryant says.

Bryant, like many who have come before her, is revered by those she has served and those she continues to serve.

So next time you feel like you have nothing to do, why not share your skills and your passion through volunteering? Its good for you, and the clear payoff is also the social good you have done. Chances are you will find the experience rewarding.

Learn how you can get involved by going to aarp.org/volunteer or by calling 1-888-687-2277.

Charlene Hunter James is the AARP Texas all-volunteer executive council president.
WASHINGTON The vote on the budget deal Congress passed Thursday night to avert a second government shutdown reflected the sharp divisions among Texas lawmakers in both parties over President Donald Trump's insistence of money for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Reluctantly, 87 Republicans voted to approve the bipartisan spending agreement, which does not give the president most of the money he wants for a wall. Eight of them were from Texas.

On the other side of the aisle, 19 Democrats broke from the majority of their caucus and voted against the deal. Six of them were Texans, many of them border region lawmakers who opposed virtually any more wall money.

Texas' two Republican senators also split: John Cornyn was one of 87 senators who voted yes; Cruz was among the 16 senators - liberals and conservatives alike - who voted no.

Like many of the other conservatives who opposed the bargain, Cruz said the $1.37 billion it provides for physical barriers did not come close to Trump's $5.7 billion request, nor what Cruz argued is needed to bolster the border.

"This bill does not deliver on the promises we made to the American people to keep our communities safe," Cruz said in a statement. "Washington Democrats do not want to secure the border, but Texans and Americans do."

Both Cruz and Cornyn withheld judgment on Trump's emergency powers declaration, which has been controversial with conservatives and liberal alike.

Cornyn has raised questions in recent days about using emergency powers to redirect congressional spending.

Cruz also expressed reservations, but blamed Democrats for forcing the issue.

"Democrats' intransigence has left the president with no other choice but to take executive action," he said. "I am a constitutionalist, and I have long advocated that every president, Republican or Democrat, be bound by the Constitution and federal laws. I will wait to see what specific course of action the president pursues and what legal authorities are cited as a basis for it."

Related Content: Texas Republicans wary of border deal

Many Texas Republicans who voted to approve the deal did so with reservations. "We were forced by the Democrats to do nothing or to vote on a spending bill that funds the barrier in the Rio Grande Valley but falls short on other parts of our southern border," said Pete Olson, a Republican from Sugar Land.

There were mixed feelings on both sides of the vote. "I reluctantly voted against this bill," said freshman Houston Republican Dan Crenshaw. "There are many things to like in this bill and many examples of good-faith compromises. But this vote was about the border security debate, an issue which shouldn't be debatable in the first place."

Texas Democrats who voted for the spending agreement did so to keep the lights on in government.

"In order to avoid this calamity once again, Democrats have responsibly brought to the floor a bill to fund the government, so as to avoid the consequences wrought by the last Trump Shutdown," said Houston Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee.

Many border Democrats, however, voted no in protest.

"I voted against this bill, not as a rejection of compromise but as a rejection of the underlying motivations about a crisis at our southern border and against furthering an erroneous narrative that portrays the border as a problem," said freshman El Paso Democrat Veronica Escobar. "More than anyone, border residents value safety and security, but the border has never been more secure, and our communities have been safe for decades."

Said Lloyd Doggett: "Call it a 'wall' or a 'fence,' build it with steel, not concrete, but it is still a colossal waste of taxpayers' money for an imaginary crisis in conflict with fundamental American values."

Besides Doggett and Escobar, four other Texas Democrats voted against the deal: Joaquin Castro, Sylvia Garcia, Vicente Gonzalez, and Filemon Vela, long an outspoken opponent of the wall. Castro said he's planning a bill to block Trump's emergency declaration, which is designed to use more than $3 billion in military construction funds.

Besides Olson, seven other Texas Republicans who voted yes: John Carter, Mike Conaway, Michael McCaul, Kay Granger, Bill Flores, Mac Thornberry and Will Hurd. Granger was one of the House negotiators who hammered out the agreement after the 35-day partial government shutdown.

Hurd, who represents a border district in West Texas, has been on outspoken critic of Trump's immigration and border policies.
Liz Campos saw her old boss, Carlos Uresti, at a local restaurant last week.

It would be a massive understatement to say that these are tough times for Uresti, the former state senator and driving force of a South Side political mini-dynasty.

A year ago, Uresti was convicted on 11 counts of fraud and money laundering related to his involvement in a now-defunct frac sand company called FourWinds Logistics.

OnExpressNews.com: Former state Sen. Carlos Uresti gets 5 years in prison in bribery case

On Tuesday, he received a five-year sentence in an unrelated public bribery case in Reeves County, a punishment he will serve concurrently with the 12-year sentence he got last year.

Between now and next Tuesday afternoon, Uresti will turn himself in to U.S. marshals and begin a long stint behind bars.

His brand has become so toxic that his brother Tomas lost his state House seat last year for no discernible reason other than the fact that he shared a surname with a convicted felon. Carlos Uresti has lost his freedom, his wealth, his marriage, his political career and his reputation.

When Campos crossed paths with the former senator last week, however, her mind was on better days.

Campos, 49, the owner of a local plumbing company and a District 3 candidate for the City Council, thought about her eight years working with Uresti.

OnExpressNews.com: Daughters of Uresti's co-defendant battle feds over Shavano Park estate

She thought about the opportunities he gave her and the trust he placed in her. She thought about the dedication to his constituents that she witnessed at close range. She realized that without her tenure in Urestis Senate office, she wouldnt even be contemplating a run for council.

I hadnt seen him in a while, Campos said of her recent encounter with Uresti. I told him hello and asked him how he was doing. And I made it a point to thank him for everything that I learned from him.

As Campos prepares to take on three-term District 3 incumbent Rebecca Viagran, her Uresti connection stands as both her strongest professional credential and her most vexing political liability. Campos insists, however, that she wont run away from that part of her resume.

Campos met Uresti in 2002, when he was a young state rep and a partner at the Gonzales Hoblit Ferguson law firm, whose roster at the time also included Julian and Joaquin Castro.

Campos and Uresti had much in common. They were both self-made, blue-collar products of the South Side. Uresti enlisted in the Marines at 18 and later put himself through law school. Campos started working three jobs at 17, just to keep her family afloat after her dad passed away.

Campos established a career for herself as a paralegal and, through a temp service, landed at Gonzales Hoblit Ferguson.

OnExpressNews.com: Uresti settles SEC charges that he misled FourWinds investor

I started working with them downtown, and then they transferred me to run (Urestis) office on the South Side, Campos said. He was a general practitioner, so we handled criminal, real estate, probate. I handled his bankruptcies, his personal injury cases.

When Uresti left Gonzales Hoblit Ferguson to concentrate on his own law practice, she stayed with him.

I did everything, from interviewing the client, if it was a personal injury case, to settling cases with the adjuster, she said. If I needed to file a lawsuit, I filed the lawsuit. I did the discovery. I prepped for trial. I did absolutely everything for the senator.

In 2007, Uresti tapped Campos to serve as chief of staff for his Senate office, while she simultaneously ran his San Antonio law office.

He was great to me, she said. He taught me so much. He was a great boss and let me do what I needed to be done. And he used to say, Liz, just make it happen. Because he knew that I was going to make it happen.

During his 11 years in the Senate, Uresti focused much of his legislative attention on the issues of veterans affairs and child abuse prevention. When Campos recalls her time with Uresti, however, she flashes back to the community fairs that he hosted in his district.

He literally would do wills for the seniors at no charge, she said. And we would have a lot of seniors. I had never seen a politician give back like that.

Campos quit working for Uresti in 2010. She is quick to say that she doesnt condone his criminal activity and was not involved in anything (illegal) that he did.

Nonetheless, because of her tenure in his law office, the FBI subpoenaed her for the Reeves County case, in which Uresti ultimately pleaded guilty to funneling bribes to a county judge to help secure a contract for a Lubbock businessman.

They (the FBI) just asked about the deposits I made and the checks that I wrote, she said. It was over in 20 or 30 minutes.

Campos, who ran an unsuccessful race in 2011 for the District 3 seat, plans to base this years campaign on constituent engagement and a pledge to deliver basic services.

The Uresti blueprint.

Ill never take away what he did for me or for anyone else, she said. And when someones down, you shouldnt kick them. And you shouldnt forget the good things.
A San Antonio man convicted of murdering his common-law wife was sentenced Thursday to 99 years in prison.

Jurors deliberated a little more than two hours before deciding on the punishment for Gabriel Martinez, 37, who fatally shot 35-year-old Lori Lee Ortiz in 2016. Gasps and cries could be heard as the sentence was announced.

Because prosecutors introduced a 2008 felony conviction in Travis County for possession of cocaine, Martinez faced an enhanced sentence of between 15 years to 99 years in prison.

The jury rejected arguments from Martinezs lead lawyer, Miguel Najera, that Martinez committed the killing in sudden passion. Such a finding would have lowered the sentencing range he faced to between five years and 99 years.

Following the jurys findings, State District Judge Ron Rangel imposed the sentence.

During Thursdays punishment hearing, Martinez wiped away tears at times as five witnesses, including a sister, his oldest daughter and his mother, took the witness stand and pleaded with the same jury who convicted him a day earlier to be merciful.

Brianna Martinez, 18, said she was standing for her parents and her younger brother and sister. She described her parents as loving.

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I loved both my parents very much, and I still do, she said, crying. I ask you to be lenient cuz hes my dad, but I also want justice for my mom. ...I cannot blame anyone cuz I wasnt in that room that night.

The young woman testified during her fathers trial about her parents tempestuous relationship and jurors heard her 911 call, where she told the dispatcher that her father had shot her mother.

Ortiz was shot three times on May 18, 2016, in the bedroom of the home she shared with Martinez and their three children on the Southwest Side. The couple had been having an on again, off again relationship since they met in high school.

She was pronounced dead at University Hospital the night of the shooting; Martinez was critically injured with a gunshot wound in the abdomen and was charged while he was still in the hospital.

On ExpressNews.com: Hospitalized man to be charged by proxy with murder in wifes death

Prosecutors said Martinez shot Ortiz three times with an AK 47 rifle after he accused her of having an affair and then turned the weapon on himself in an attempted suicide.

In closing arguments Thursday, Najera sought a lesser sentence and argued that Martinez acted in sudden passion while trying to salvage his relationship with Ortiz.

The emotion took over him  jealousy, fear, anger, resentment, whichever of those, Najera added. The state says hes just lying, but you see people pushed to a level to where they lose control of whats happening, and...who cant accept the reaility of whats happening. ...Im just here to remind you that emotions...can cause people to lose control and do things they shouldnt.

On ExpressNews.com: Husband takes stand in own defense; jury finds him guilty

But lead prosecutor Ryan Wright told the jury that there was no evidence to support a finding that Martinez acted in sudden passion. And he disputed the defense portrayal of Martinez as a good father, citing his past and lack of contact with other children from other relationships.

He ends up in this relationship where he cant let someone go, Wright argued.

Not once during his testimony, Wright said, did Martinez express any remorse or say he felt terrible for shooting Ortiz.
Francis celebrated the opening Mass of the Liberi dalla paura meeting, which is promoted by Catholic associations dedicated to welcoming and integrating migrants. For the pontiff, fear is legitimate" vis-a-vis people different from us. But far too often, we refuse to encounter the other and raise barriers to defend ourselves. Instead, we are called to overcome fears to open ourselves to encountering others because Forsaking encountering [others] is not human.

Rome (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis celebrated Mass this afternoon at the Fraterna Domus, in Sacrofano, outside Rome, to mark the opening of a three-day Liberi dalla paura (Free from fear) meeting promoted and organised by the Migrantes Foundation, Caritas Italy and the Centro Astalli.

In his homily, the pontiff made a strong, heartfelt plea to welcome migrants, urging people not to be afraid, for Jesus is in the migrant knocking at our door. It is Jesus, even if it is difficult to recognise him because of his ragged clothes, dirty feet, deformed face, wounded body, unable to speak our language.

As he addressed the migrants and volunteers from Catholic associations dedicated to helping and integrating migrants, Francis centred his reflection on Dont be afraid, which Moses said to the Jews when, on the shores of the Red Sea, they saw pharaohs army approach, and which Jesus said to the apostles when he moved towards them walking on the water.

"Through these biblical episodes, the Lord speaks to us today and asks us to let him free us from our fears. 'Free from fear' is precisely the theme chosen for your meeting. Free from fear. Slavery is rooted in fear and so is every dictatorship, because the violence of the dictators grows out of people's fear."

"Confronted by the wickedness and ugliness of our time, we too, like the People of Israel, are tempted to abandon our dream of freedom. We feel legitimate fear in front of situations that seem to us to have no way out. The human words of a ruler or a prophet are not enough to reassure us when we fail to feel Gods presence and are unable to abandon ourselves to his providence. Thus, we turn inward, into our fragile human security, the circle of our loved ones, our reassuring routine. In the end, we give up the journey to the Promised Land and return to the slavery of Egypt."

"This withdrawal into ourselves, a sign of defeat, increases our fear of others, the outsiders, the marginalised, the foreigners. Who, however, are the privileged of the Lord. This is particularly visible when migrants and refugees arrive and knock on our door seeking protection, security and a better future. It is true, fear is legitimate, partly because nothing prepares us for this encounter.

As I said last year, on the occasion of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, It is not easy to enter into another culture, to put oneself in the shoes of people so different from us, to understand their thoughts and their experiences. As a result, we often refuse to encounter the other and raise barriers to defend ourselves. In fact, we are called to overcome fear by opening ourselves to the encounter. Forsaking encountering [others] is not human. To do this, rational justifications and statistical calculations are not enough. Moses told the people in front of the Red Sea, with a brutal enemy pursuing them, Dont be afraid, because the Lord does not abandon his people, but mysteriously acts in history to realise his plan of salvation. Moses spoke thus because he trusted God."

"Encountering others then is also encountering Christ. He told us this himself. He is the one knocks on our door hungry, thirsty, a foreigner, naked, sick and imprisoned, asking to be met and assisted. If we still had any doubts, here are his clear words: Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me (Mt 25:40). The Teachers encouragement to his disciples can also be understood in this other sense: Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid (Mt 14:27).

It is truly Him, even if our eyes find it hard to recognise him: ragged clothes, dirty feet, deformed face, wounded body, unable to speak our language . . . We too, like Peter, could be tempted to put Jesus to a test, ask him for a sign. And maybe, after some hesitant steps towards him, we would remain victims of our fears again. Yet, the Lord does not abandon us! Even though we are men and women of little faith, Christ continues to extend his hand to save us and allow us to meet him, an encounter that saves us and gives us back the joy of being his disciples."

"If this is a valid interpretation of our history of today, then we should begin to thank those who give us the opportunity of such an encounter, that is, the 'others' who knock on our doors, offering us the possibility of overcoming our fears so as to meet, welcome and assist Jesus in person."

"And those who had the strength to allow themselves to be freed from fear, those who have experienced the joy of this encounter, are called today to announce it on the roofs, openly, to help others do the same, preparing themselves to the encounter with Christ and his salvation. This grace brings with it a mission, the fruit of total reliance on the Lord, who for us is the only true certainty. For this reason, as individuals and communities, we are called to make our own the prayer of the redeemed people: My strength and my refuge is the LORD, and he has become my saviour (Ex 15:2).
Northside Independent School District Superintendent Brian Woods was honored among four finalists for National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators on Thursday in Los Angeles.

The winner was Curtis L. Jones Jr. of Georgia.

Woods, 49, has led Northside since 2012. With an enrollment of 106,000, it is the largest school district in Bexar County and fourth largest in the state. He began his career there as a social studies teacher at Marshall High School in 1992.

OnExpressNews.com: Disconnect widens between South San Antonio ISD board and superintendent

Advocating for kids in your district comes with the superintendents job  but in working with legislators and community and business partners, Woods has extended that advocacy far beyond his district, said Brian Gottardy, superintendent of neighboring North East ISD.

Hes a very passionate individual about public education and doing right for all kids, Gottardy said Thursday.

In September, the Texas Association of School Boards named Woods Texas Superintendent of the Year. The Texas Association of School Administrators then picked him as the Texas nominee for the national honor.

OnExpressNews.com: San Antonio ISD is weighing multiple partnerships to run schools

Kevin Brown, a former Alamo Heights ISD superintendent who now directs the state administrators group, said Woods has voiced teachers concerns and frustrations to state lawmakers in a way that I think is well received.

He becomes a teacher of our state leaders as well, making sure they understand those voices, Brown said.
South San Antonio Independent School District trustees disputed their own administrators estimated costs to reopen closed schools and hired a consultant Wednesday to review the proposal.

District staff presented estimates for start-up and recurring expenses to reopen Athens Elementary, Kazen Middle and West Campus High. Three times, the board voted 4-3 to forward that information, along with alternate calculations by the boards vice president, Gilbert Rodriguez, to a budget committee created at the start of the special meeting.

Rodriguez will chair it, and the panel will include trustees Connie Prado and Mandy Martinez. Prado, the board president, called the group advisory and said members will sit down with the superintendent and his staff and work together to come up with a good compromise on what is the best way to effectively be able to open our campuses within our budget finances.

OnExpressNews.com: South San Antonio ISD board wants schools reopened - fast

Im still confused as to who is supposed to participate on the administrative side, Superintendent Alexandro Flores said as Rodriguez began scheduling the committees first meeting.

I think you should see what staff you have available (on) that date, Prado said, and Rodriguez suggested sending a delegate if Flores or his chief financial officer are unable to attend.

The district will hire a consultant from Moak, Casey & Associates, an Austin firm, to work with the committee to guide us to make sure were heading in the right direction, Prado said.

Administrators estimated that start-up costs for the three campuses would total $5.6 million, including furniture, cafeteria equipment, library books, security needs and technology.

Trustees pushed back, asking where the furniture, books and computers were moved when the schools closed and suggesting moving them back to cut costs.

Some of those items followed Kazen and Athens students when they were rezoned to other schools in 2017, but other schools around the district were allowed to take leftover items, Chief of Staff James Schumann said. Officials said they couldnt immediately say if each item was tracked when it was moved.

OnExpressNews.com: South San Antonio ISD board resolves to weigh reopening of shuttered campuses

The district said 35 full-time employees would be needed for the estimated 195 ninth-graders who would start at West Campus High School, which has been closed since 2007. They include 20 teachers, a librarian, a counselor, a nurse, cafeteria staff and custodians.

Kazen, projected to have 462 students, would need 26 teachers and 25 other full-time employees, while Athens, with an estimated 311 students, would be staffed with 21 teachers and 26 staff. The estimates were made based on current staffing levels at other campuses, the district said.

District officials also identified more than $9.6 million in facilities needs at the campuses, including repairs to roofs and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning units. Those issues would not necessarily all need to be addressed before school starts. The highest costs are expected at West Campus, which now houses administrative offices and would need significant renovations to make it usable for students, the district said.

Prado, Rodriguez and trustee Homer Flores challenged the administrations estimates, asking for line-item breakdowns and suggesting that the district could save millions of dollars by moving materials from other campuses.

As they have against other recent efforts to fast-track reopening the schools, trustees Martinez, Elda Flores and Louis Ybarra Jr. voted against all three motions to send the plans to the budget committee.

In a statement released after the meeting, the superintendent warned of the potential financial impact of the boards ambitious timeline to reopen the schools.

The growing disconnect between the board majority and Superintendent Flores was evident later in the meeting, when the board, by the same 4-3 vote, decided to terminate a $1-per-year lease that lets the Bexar County Sheriffs Office use the former Olivares facility.

Flores asked trustees why they wanted to break the lease, and Prado said that we may need that facility for whatever use you need it for and suggested that it could house the disciplinary alternative education program, or DAEP.

District administrators decided last month not to renew an agreement with Edgewood ISD to send South San students to Edgewoods DAEP, but trustees voted formally to end that agreement Wednesday.
WASHINGTON - After teasing it for months, President Donald Trump is officially declaring the U. S-Mexico border a "national emergency," which will allow him to circumvent Congress's constitutional powers to control spending and divert federal funds toward his much ballyhooed border wall.

His decision to do so, after not getting the money he wanted from Congress to put toward construction of his wall, has drawn immense criticism as an overreach of executive power. So, is it? Can he actually do this? Let's review the basic facts of what it means for a president to declare a national emergency.

Q: What is a national emergency?

A: In 1976, Congress passed the National Emergencies Act, which permits the president to pronounce a national emergency when he considers it appropriate. The act offers no specific definition of "emergency" and allows a president to declare one entirely at his or her discretion.

By declaring a national emergency, the president avails himself or herself of dozens of specialized laws. Some of these powers have funds the president otherwise could not access.

Under current law, emergency powers lapse within a year unless the president renews them. A national emergency can be redeclared indefinitely, and, in practice, that is done frequently. There have been 58 pronounced under the National Emergencies Act, of which 31 are still in effect.

Q: When have they been declared in the past?

A: Presidents have declared national emergencies since World War II. As The Washington Post reported, President Bill Clinton declared emergencies 17 times, George W. Bush 12 and Barack Obama 13.

The vast majority have been economic sanctions against foreign actors whose activities pose a national threat, according to Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and National Security Program. A handful of others have involved noneconomic crises:

Clinton declared a national emergency during the 1996 Cuba embargo, preventing U.S. ships or aircraft from entering Cuban territory without authorization. Obama declared a national emergency during the H1N1 Swine Flu epidemic in 2009 to activate disaster plans to set up proper patient treatment.

Bush declared a national emergency after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; the order is still in effect.

Q: Is a national emergency the same thing as an executive order?

A: In general, national emergencies have been declared through executive orders. An executive order is a command issued by the president that carries the force of law. The power is authorized, in part, by Article II of the U.S. Constitution.

Executive orders direct federal agencies on how to spend available resources. Thousands have been created by past presidents, covering topics as varied as the duties of the commander in chief.

The U.S. Supreme Court has only rarely held an executive order invalid, including one issued by Harry Truman in 1952 that seized the country's steel mills during the Korean War, and another from Clinton in 1995 involving workers on strike.

Executive orders do not create new law or allocate additional funding, which is where Trump has run up against congressional hurdles.

Following his inauguration, Trump issued an executive order making construction of a barrier wall across the southwest U.S. border a federal priority. The wall could not be built unless Congress provided him with the funds.

Q: How does a president declare a national emergency?

A president must issue a written and signed declaration that specifies the specific emergency powers he plans to rely on and invoke.

"Unlike other executive orders, one that declares a national emergency unlocks the powers contained in more than 100 other laws," Goitein told The Post.

Of the vast statutory powers Trump would avail himself of, Goitein said two could arguably allow him to build the border wall with Defense Department funding. These federal statutes make available some funds set aside for military construction projects or repurpose money originally dedicated to civil projects supporting the military and national defense.

Q: What happens once a national emergency is declared?

A: Even though there aren't many limits on a president's ability to declare an emergency, it does not create carte blanche freedom to act.

Anyone directly affected by the order can challenge it in court, which Goitein said will almost certainly happen in this case. Congress can also draft a concurrent resolution to terminate the state of emergency, leading to a somewhat novel act. Ordinarily, congressional resolutions support a president's declaration of a national emergency.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is expected to bring up a "joint resolution of termination" in the House. Doing so would force Senate Majority Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to also bring up the resolution in the GOP-majority Senate, putting his members in a difficult position.

The House Democrats can also join an outside lawsuit or choose to sue on their own.

Q: Does Congress have enough votes to terminate the emergency declaration?

A: Like any legislation passed by Congress, the president could veto the resolution unless it has received supermajority support (two-thirds in each chamber). Many Republicans have been critical of this approach by Trump, mainly because they see it as a slippery slope for a future Democratic president using the power to advance his or her policy goals. But it's unclear whether there's enough of them to vote against the president (and his base) to override a veto.
The man who killed a mountain lion on a trail outside Denver described the encounter Thursday, saying he was alerted to the stalking cougar by snapping twigs along the trail.

"I turned around and just was pretty bummed out to see a mountain lion chasing after me," survivor Travis Kauffman told reporters. "It just kinda kept running and lunged at me. It was going toward my face."

Kauffaman was running alone at Horsetooth Mountain Open Space near Fort Collins on Monday when he heard a noise and turned back. That's when the mountain lion attacked. Kauffman says the animal bit his hand and wrist. And that's when his fight instinct kicked in.

"I picked up a rock that I had seen kind of near us. It was pretty heavy and kind of hard to wield. I tried to give it a few bashes in the back of the head," recalled Kauffman. "I'd say another couple minutes later it finally stopped moving, jaws opened and I was able to scramble back up the hill."

Kauffman was hospitalized with serious injuries and is expected to make a full recovery. His face was visibly scratched and healing during Thursday's press briefing.

The agency said the runner's movement apparently triggered the young lion's hunting instincts. The animal bit the man's face and wrist before he was able to break free and kill the lion.

Kaufman told investigators he also choked the lion, and an examination of the animal confirmed that, said Rebecca Ferrell, a spokeswoman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The lion was less than a year old and tested negative for rabies.

Ferrell said the runner did exactly what experts recommend in a rare encounter with a mountain lion  fight back as hard as possible. They also advise trying to get back up on your feet if knocked over, look as big as possible and use anything handy as a weapon, such as a backpack or keys.

Mountain lions rarely attack because they tend to avoid people. The animals have killed fewer than 20 people in North America in more than 100 years.

In Colorado, where their population is strong, mountain lions have injured 16 people and killed three since 1990.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Venture capitalists investment in San Antonio startups is still measly compared to the states other major metros, according to two reports.

But local investors and entrepreneurs say the citys nascent tech scene is making progress, and point to resources such as the Geekdom Fund and Active Capital that have sprung up.

Venture-capital funding in San Antonio-area companies fell to about $19.1 million last year, down from $43.7 million in 2017 and $33 million in 2016, according to the annual PricewaterhouseCoopers/CB Insights MoneyTree report.

Venture capitalists are usually wealthy investors or firms that provide seed or early-stage funding for fledgling businesses.

On ExpressNews.com: Scaleworks co-founder talks venture capital and what he looks for in a CEO

Funding also fell in Dallas, though it rose in Houston and statewide. The majority of venture-capital activity in Texas last year took place in Austin, with investments reaching $1.36 billion.

The amount is unsurprising given the rapidly expanding startup economy in Austin, said John Cummins, PwC partner and MoneyTree spokesperson for Texas.

While the number of deals nationwide hit its lowest level since 2013, theyre bigger  investments reached $99.5 billion, the highest point since 2000.

One trend were keeping an eye on  at both the national level and in Austin  is the effect of large deals qualified as $50 million rounds and higher for the Austin metro area, Cummins said. These massive rounds have driven the total VC investment value up considerably in Austin and across the nation, while overall deal volume has leveled off or even declined a bit.

Some of the investments in local startups likely arent reflected in the report, said Michael Girdley, managing director of the Geekdom Fund. The venture-capital group, which invests in early-stage companies, closed on its second fund of $20 million in 2017.

Many of the deals arent reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission because of their size and how theyre done, he said. Girdley said he could think of roughly $30 million in deals that arent included in the survey.

The climate here is changing, he said. Its definitely trending in the right direction.

Data provided by PitchBook paints a rosier local picture: Venture-capital investment jumped from $39 million in 2017 to $110 million last year. Activity also increased statewide, reaching $3 billion.

The PitchBook data includes early and later stage venture capital, angel and seed round investments. PwC looks at seed, early, later and expansion stage investments.

Locally, Xenex Disinfection Services raised the most in 2018  $43 million, according to PitchBook. Electrochemical Oxygen Concepts brought in $8.7 million, and Plus One Robotics, the largest deal PwC listed, closed on a $8.3 million funding round in September.

Other local companies that raised funds include Wellvana, StemBioSys, GrainChain, CytoBioscience, Flightpath Finance and HerdX, according to both reports.

On ExpressNews.com: Are robots coming for your job? Maybe

The Alamo Citys tech scene is still relatively young, and local and outside investors are scouring the country for intriguing business ideas, said Yousef Kassim, founder and CEO of San Antonio-based Easy Expunctions, which markets online services for clearing criminal records. The Geekdom Fund has invested in the startup.

We hadnt had a long history of venture capital from San Antonio, he said. Were still really young.

Still, more San Antonio startups are seeing investments from outside venture capitalists, he added. While entrepreneurs may still have to pitch their ideas in New York and Silicon Valley or in larger Texas cities, more local resources are available than in the past. The Geekdom Fund has invested in more than 30 companies, according to its website.

Pat Matthews, a local investor and founder of venture-capital firm Active Capital, echoed Kassim. Five years ago, few funds or organizations like the investment group Alamo Angels were on the scene, he said. Rackspace used to be the only game in town as far as tech companies, but thats changed.

In the grand scheme of things, its small but I do think its growing, Matthews said of the citys information-technology industry.

Active Capital announced last month that it had raised $21.5 million for its debut fund. The firm invests in business-to-business software makers in San Antonio and nationwide.

A big part of what Im doing is based on my philosophy  that more and more great companies are going to be built outside of Silicon Valley, Matthews said.

USAAs Corporate Development division, which invests in startups, focuses on artificial intelligence, big data and financial technology, or fintech.

We have found interesting opportunities all across the country, said Nathan McKinley, vice president and head of the division. In particular, we have found the Boston and Austin areas are producing a lot of promising ideas in line with USAAs needs.

The division has yet to invest in any San Antonio startups, but McKinley said the prospects for fintech here and investing in local companies are improving.

The regions investment in technology careers, focus on entrepreneurship and deepening talent pool has us optimistic about San Antonios future, McKinley said.

For San Antonio to gain momentum, Girdley said, the city needs more entrepreneurs. The University of Texas at San Antonios downtown plans and The District, an entrepreneurship boot camp at Geekdom, are helping.

We have a number of really strong entrepreneurs, but not as many per capita as other markets have, he said. Theres plenty of money in San Antonio. We as a community need to work hard on getting more investable opportunities and teams put in.

Lew Moorman, a partner at San Antonio venture-equity firm Scaleworks, said entrepreneurs with solid ideas will land funding. The challenge is talent.

Were way behind where Austin and probably Houston and Dallas are as well, but were making progress, he said. It just takes longer than we all would like.

madison.iszler@express-news.net | @madisoniszler
A San Antonio bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved the sale of troubled Cowboys Dancehall to Austin-based Heiser Development Corp.

Heiser will pay $8.75 million for the popular Northeast Side honky-tonk, though the price could ultimately rise to $9.75 million.

Current owner Arlington-based Cowboys Far West may lease back the property and continue to operate the dance hall, Heiser attorney Dean Greer said after a hearing where Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald King gave his blessing to the sale.

RELATED: San Antonio's venture-capital investments lag, but 'climate here is changing'

We believe (Cowboys Far West) will be able to continue to operate, Greer said. We would like to have a dance hall there. We like (Cowboys President Mark) Murphy. We believe he is competent to do the work, and has shown he can do the work. We just need to, hopefully, get rid of the burden of the debt.

Greer didnt know if Heiser has any development plans for the 16.6-acre property at 3030 NE Loop 410. Company official Bradfield Heiser attended the court hearing by telephone. He didnt respond to a request for comment.

Cowboys Far West filed for bankruptcy protection in August to stop Oklahoma lender Crossroads 2004, which is owed almost $5.6 million, from foreclosing. It marked the second time in a little more than two years that the partnership filed Chapter 11 to thwart a lender from foreclosing.

Crossroads and two other major creditors, owed a combined $8.2 million, are expected to be paid in full from the sale.

Cowboys Far West has been under the gun to find a buyer. Crossroads has court authority to foreclose on the property April 2 if its not sold by then. Heiser plans to close on the sale before that date.

RELATED: W Hotel in the works for downtown San Antonio, sources say

Heiser Developments purchase does not include inventory, cash, cash receivables, vehicles or office equipment.

The company will receive the proceeds from a condemnation of about a fifth of the acreage by the Texas Department of Transportation. The agency wants to acquire right of way for proposed Interstate 35 improvements, a spokeswoman said last month.

Bradfield Heiser told the judge that an environmental assessment of the property is under way and is expected to be completed by the end of the month. He added he doesnt expect to uncover anything that would affect the sale.

Heiser Development specializes in construction and property management. It has managed the construction of more than $50 million in various apartment, office, condominium and commercial buildings, according to its website. It also has a division that manages real estate.

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
- Euro (EUR/) slips versus Sterling (GBP/), US Dollar (USD/$).

- Spanish Prime Minister calls April 28th snap election.

- German auto exports to US tipped to halve.

Fridays session saw the Euro (EUR/) trading lower against both the Pound Sterling (GBP/) and US Dollar (USD/$) with sentiment for the single currency deteriorating in the wake of rising political uncertainty as the Spanish PM calls a snap election and concerns over proposed US tariffs which could halve German auto exports to the US.

The Euro-to-Pound exchange rate was last seen trading at 0.87924, down 0.32% from the session open.

The Euro-to-Dollar exchange rate meanwhile was down 0.18%, trading at $1.1274 following a Thursday, three-month, low of $1.12489.

Political Uncertainty Resurfaces as Spanish PM Calls Snap Election

The spectre of political uncertainty, never far from the forefront of Euro-engaged investors thoughts, resurfaced this week in the wake of Spanish parliaments rejection of the governments proposed 2019 budget.

Friday saw Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, announce his intention to call a snap election in the EUs fourth largest member state on April 28th having been in power for just eight months.

In a televised address to the nation, Sanchez said Between doing nothing and continuing without the budget and calling on Spaniards to have their say, I choose the second. Spain needs to keep advancing, progressing with tolerance, respect, moderation and common sense, adding I have proposed to dissolve parliament and call elections for April 28th.

According to the latest opinion polls, no single party would be likely to win enough votes to secure a majority government implying the possibility of drawn out negotiations as minority parties attempt to form a coalition.

Proposed US Tariffs Could Have German Auto Exports

Meanwhile, the Institute for Economic Research (Ifo) latest research has indicated that should the US proceed with a proposed import tariff hike of 25% on vehicles and auto-parts from the European Union, exports of German cars could slump by 50%.

The German auto-sector has faced gruelling conditions in recent months, adapting to new emission testing regulations and facing the prospect of depressed global demand as the pace of economic growth declines.

Foreign trade expert, Gabriel Felbermayr of Ifo commented that These tariffs would cut total car exports from Germany by 7.7 percent, which would amount to 18.4 billion euros (16.2 billion).

Whether or not the US proceeds with the proposed hike on tariffs will come down to the US Commerce Departments findings on whether imported vehicles and auto-parts pose a national security risk. Their results are due to be presented to President Trump this weekend (17th February) with the final decision resting in the Presidents hands.
UPDATE: The Pound Sterling (GBP/) edged higher against the Euro (EUR/) through Fridays session, recovering from a Thursday, three-week, low of 1.1310 and was last seen trading at 1.1367, up 0.28%.

The Pound-to-Dollar (GBPUSD) exchange rate meanwhile remain subdued, in the vicinity of the four week low ($1.27729) posted on Thursday with the cross last seen trading at $1.28155, up a meagre 0.11% having relinquished early session gains following the above-forecast UK retail sales figures.

On a weekly time-frame the Sterling looks set to see out its third consecutive week of depreciation versus the Greenback, with the Cable dropping by over 2% since the end of January.

Despite being defeated in the House of Commons during Thursdays key Brexit vote, the Prime Minister is expected to return to Brussels to pursue her agenda of pressuring EU leaders into agreeing to alterations to the Irish backstop component of the EU withdrawal agreement.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said on Friday that despite Thursdays defeat, the motion passed on the 29th of January, directing the PM to seek alternative arrangements to the backstop provision remained the only guidance the PM had received from MPs and thus demarked the route ahead.

The motion on the 29th of January remains the only one the Commons has passed expressing what it does want, and that is what we are pursuing, the spokesperson said, adding That remains the case after last nights vote, and that what is what the prime minister is focused on. If we do not pass a deal, the legal position is that we leave without one. We do not want that to happen.

With less than six week to go until the March 29th departure date and in lieu of an extension, the prospect of a no-deal outcome is increasing probability. As BNP Paribas strategists put it in a note to clients The constant Brexit can-kicking has also increased the risks of a disorderly exit.

The Prime Minister now has until February 26th to get a deal agreed by the EU which she can put to MPs and a further House of Commons vote. Failing that, MPs will vote on February 27th on the course of action to take.

Expectations for the UK to appeal to the EU for an extension to the article-50-imposed March 29th deadline are also growing as speculators see a need for more time to conclude and ratify a deal.

Commenting on the possibility of an extension, Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said If there is going to be an extension, it needs to be with a purpose, it needs to be with a view to securing and ratifying an agreement, adding I dont think anyone would like to see this stalemate or impasse or period of purgatory continue for months and months and months.

Regarding the probability of various Brexit scenarios and near-term EUR/GBP price action, Danske Banks senior analyst, Kristoffer Kjr Lomholt, wrote We stick to our view that the two most likely outcomes are Mays deal passing eventually (40%) or a second EU referendum (30%). A no-deal scenario would probably happen only by accident and we attach a 15% probability to this scenario, adding We still expect the 0.86-0.89 range in EUR/GBP to hold before we get more clarification.

Little to No Monetary Policy Changes Expected From Data-Deprived Fed

The Pound Sterling (GBP/) edged marginally higher against both the Euro (EUR/) and US Dollar (USD/$) in Friday trading following a pre-parliamentary vote slump to fresh multi-week lows against both peer currencies during Thursdays session.

From a four-week low of $1.27729 ahead of the House of Commons vote on Thursday, the Pound-to-Dollar exchange rate traded flat overnight before entering a wider $1.279 to $1.282 trading range on Friday with the cross last seen breaking to the upside at $1.28250, up 0.21%.

The Pound-to-Euro exchange rate was last seen to be trading at 1.1367, up 0.3%, after dipping to a three-week 1.1310 low ahead of the vote by MPs.

In a display reflecting Parliament's continued opposition to the PMs EU withdrawal agreement, the House of Commons rejected the PMs motion which, while not legally-binding, would have amounted to a parliamentary endorsement of the PMs current Brexit strategy, i.e., to pursue a tweaked version of the withdrawal agreement with those tweaks directed at the Irish backstop component of the deal.

The defeat was largely attributed to a group of anti-EU Conservative Party MPs making up the European Research Group (ERG) who abstained from the vote in protest over the wording of the motion which they construed as removing the potential for a no-deal Brexit outcome  a scenario which while economically damaging they perceive as favourable to a deal which retains close ties with the EU.

The Prime Minister now has until February 26th to present her deal to parliament, assuming she can pressure the EU into renegotiating at all and failing that, MPs will debate and vote on which course of action to pursue with regards to Brexit on February 27th.

Despite the results of the vote, a spokesperson for the PM said The government will continue to pursue this (changes to the Brexit deal) with the EU to ensure we leave on time on 29th March.

With the clock ticking down to the March 29th Brexit Day deadline upon which  failing an article 50 extension  the UK will exit the European Union, with or without a deal, the prospect of such an outcome is seen as steadily increasing.

In the wake of the key vote, institutional forecasts have scrambled to update their perceived probabilities of the various potential outcomes remaining on the table.

Goldman Sachs see a 50% probability of the prime Minister securing a deal which sees ratification on both sides of the channel while the chance of no-Brexit at all is 35% and the odds of the UK exiting the EU without a deal at 15%.

In a note to clients, Goldman economists wrote There does exist a majority in the House of Commons willing to avoid a no deal Brexit (if called upon to do so), but there does not yet exist a majority in the House of Commons willing to support a second referendum (at least at this stage).

They added The prime minister will repeatedly try to defer the definitive parliamentary vote on her negotiated Brexit deal, and the intensification of tail risks will continue to play a role in incentivizing the eventual ratification of that deal.

Meanwhile JP Morgan expect the Prime Minister will be compelled to seek a delay to the article 50 deadline in a bid to afford her the time necessary to secure her deal.

In a note, JP Morgan economists wrote Having chosen to afford the PM extra time this week, our expectation is that a majority of MPs will finally be prepared to begin to take action to attempt to ensure that a no deal exit does not occur at that point.

They added We continue to think it likely that, rather than allowing the vote and consequent ministerial resignations to occur, PM May will attempt to forestall by stating that she will seek an extension herself.

Berenberg Bank said they now perceive the chances of the PM securing backing for her deal at just 10%, while theres a 30% probability of a no-deal hard Brexit outcome and a 20% chance of no Brexit at all.

One executive at a London-based investment bank said The more messy this gets the more worried I am that we are heading for no deal, adding We still expect a last-minute deal, but the closer we get to exit day we become less sure.

The disparity between institutional expectations relating to the final Brexit solution highlights the plethora of potential avenues the proceedings could still take and reflects extreme uncertainty and the political divide which threaten to gridlock the process into a no-deal-by-default outcome.
TORONTO, February 15, 2019 - The key to breeding disease-resistant honeybees could lie in a group of genes - known for controlling hygienic behaviour - that enable colonies to limit the spread of harmful mites and bacteria, according to genomics research conducted at York University.

Some worker honeybees detect and remove sick and dead larvae and pupae from their colonies. This hygienic behaviour, which has a strong genetic component, is known to improve the colony's chance of survival. The researchers narrowed in on the "clean" genes that influence this behaviour to understand the evolution of this unique trait.

The finding, published today in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution, could lead to a new technique for use in selective breeding programs around the world to enhance the health of honeybees.

"Social immunity is a really important trait that beekeepers try to select in order to breed healthier colonies," said Professor Amro Zayed, a bee genomics expert in the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science. "Instead of spending a lot of time in the field measuring the hygienic behaviour of colonies, we can now try breeding bees with these genetic mutations that predict hygienic behaviour."

Statistics Canada estimates that honeybee pollination contributes between $3.15 to $4.39 billion per year to the Canadian economy including some of Canada's most lucrative crops like apples, blueberries and canola. In Canada, and around the world, beekeepers have experienced higher than normal colony losses. Last winter, Canadian beekeepers lost up to 33 per cent of their colonies.

"This study opens the door to using genomics to breed healthier and disease-resistant colonies that have higher social immunity," explained Zayed. "This is of huge importance to the greater community of geneticists who are interested in understanding the genetics of this novel trait."

Zayed worked on the study with 13 bee biologists from York University, University of British Columbia, University of Manitoba, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

In the study, the biologists sequenced the genomes of three honeybee populations; two of them bred to express highly hygienic behaviour and a third population with typical hygiene. Brock Harpur, Zayed's former doctoral student who is now an assistant professor at Purdue University's Department of Entomology, examined the genomes of bees from each of these three populations and looked for areas that differ between the unhygienic and hygienic bees. Harpur pinpointed at least 73 genes that likely control this hygienic trait.

"Now that we have identified these candidate genes, we can look for the mechanisms of hygienic behavior and begin to develop tools for beekeepers to breed healthier colonies," explained Harpur.

The biologists are planning to pilot a marker-assisted breeding program for hygienic behaviour, in which bees are selected for breeding based solely on their genetic information.

"We think there is a lot of potential here of breeding disease-resistant colonies with a simple genetic test," said Zayed.

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York University champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. York students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world's most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. York U is an internationally recognized research university - our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, York is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

York U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact: Vanessa Thompson, York University Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 22097, vthomps@yorku.ca
A global network of gravitational wave observatories will be upgraded to almost double its sensitivity, the lead science funding agencies of the United Kingdom and United States announced today.

The $US30 million Advanced LIGO Plus (ALIGO+) project will improve the two existing Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatories (LIGO) in the United States, and will be included as standard in the new LIGO India facility from the mid-2020s.

The US National Science Foundation is providing $20.4 million funding for ALIGO+, and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) 10.7 million ($US14.1 million), with additional support from the Australian Research Council.

NSF Director France Cordova said: "This award ensures that LIGO, which made the first historic detection of gravitational waves in 2015, will continue to lead in gravitational wave science for the next decade.

"With improvements to the detectors -- which include techniques from quantum mechanics that refine laser light and new mirror coating technology -- the twin LIGO observatories will significantly increase the number and strength of their detections. Advanced LIGO Plus will reveal gravity at its strongest and matter at its densest in some of the most extreme environments in the cosmos.

"These detections may reveal secrets from inside supernovae and teach us about extreme physics from the first seconds after the universe's birth."

UK Research and Innovation Chief Executive, Professor Sir Mark Walport, said: "In confirming the existence of gravitational waves, the LIGO project generated unique insights into the nature of our universe and fuelled world-wide interest in science. This Nobel-winning project also illustrated the importance of international collaboration in research.

"The UK's technological and scientific expertise will continue to play a crucial role in ALIGO+, which aims to further increase our understanding of the events that shape the universe.The UK investment in ALIGO+ and support for a third gravitational wave detector in India underlines UKRI's commitment to developing existing collaborative research and innovation programmes with partners."

The enhanced capabilities afforded by ALIGO+ are expected to illuminate the origins and evolution of stellar-mass black holes, allow precision tests of extreme gravity, enable detailed study of the equation of state of neutron stars, and permit new tests of cosmology, including fully independent constraints on the Hubble constant.

Technology improvements arising from the project are expected to include quantum optics, quantum information theory, materials science, optical technology, precision metrology and physical standards.

Dr David Reitze is Executive Director of the LIGO Laboratory. "The UK has always played a critical and innovative role in gravitational wave detector development, most recently providing the test mass suspensions, a key component to the Advanced LIGO interferometers. ALIGO+, the next phase of Advanced LIGO, continues in that tradition. The UK-Australia-US partnership will bring Advanced LIGO to a level where we will detect binary black hole collisions on an almost daily basis by the middle of the next decade."

Professor Sheila Rowan is Director of the Institute for Gravitational Research at the University of Glasgow, and chair of the international scientific oversight group for gravitational wave research. She said: "If a normal telescope 'sees" the Universe, LIGO is akin to 'hearing' the Universe. The improved sensitivity from ALIGO+ will allow us to better understand what the Universe is telling us, information that we've been unable to hear until now."

UKRI funding is provided through its Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), from the Fund for International Collaboration.

Gravitational waves are ripples in space caused by massive cosmic events such as the collision of black holes or the explosion of supernovae. They are not electromagnetic radiation, and as a result were undetectable until the technological breakthroughs at LIGO enabled in part by UK technology.

At each LIGO site, twin laser beams are transmitted down two 4-kilometre long tubes kept under a near-perfect vacuum, and arranged as an L-shape. The beams are reflected back down the tubes by mirrors precisely positioned at the ends of each arm.

As a gravitational wave passes through the observatory, it causes extremely tiny distortions in the distance travelled by each laser beam. As a result of the UK-built systems which hold the mirrors in place, a distortion of just one-ten-thousandth the diameter of a proton can now be measured - not only enabling the detection of gravitational waves for the first time, but also making LIGO the most sensitive measuring instrument ever.

In the UK, the ALIGO+ project will involve the Universities of Glasgow, Birmingham, Cardiff, Strathclyde and STFC's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

The UK is also supporting the construction of a third LIGO detector, in India. LIGO-India is expected to become operational at about the same the time as ALIGO+ in 2025, with the design changes included from the start. This will form a global network of five detectors - the others being in Italy and Japan.

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Notes to Editors

STFC is part of UK Research and Innovation, a new body which works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish. We aim to maximise the contribution of each of our component parts, working individually and collectively. We work with our many partners to benefit everyone through knowledge, talent and ideas.

Operating across the whole of the UK with a combined budget of more than 7 billion, UK Research and Innovation brings together the Arts and Humanities Research Council; Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; Economic and Social Research Council; Innovate UK; Medical Research Council; Natural Environment Research Council; Research England; and Science and Technology Facilities Council.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2018, its budget is $7.8 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 50,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards.
The murder took place on January 29, 2017. Ko Ni was killed outside the Yangon airport shot at point-blank range. The Muslim lawyer wanted to change the militarist Constitution. The bishops spokesman: "We reiterate no to capital punishment".

Yangon (AsiaNews) - Insein court, on the outskirts of Yangon, this morning sentenced to death the two people responsible for the murder of Ko Ni, a prominent Muslim lawyer and close associate of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Judge Khin Maung Maung condemned Kyi Lin (photo), who during his escape also killed a taxi driver, to "death by hanging". The same fate belongs to his accomplice, Aung Win Zaw. Although the Myanmar system provides for capital punishment, it has not been applied in the last 10 years. Two defendants, Zeya Phyo and Aung Win Tun, are guilty of taking part in several stages of the conspiracy and received a sentence of five and three years in prison with forced labor.

The verdict comes just over two years after the murder, which took place on 29 January 2017. The crime shocked the country and took place about eight months after the formation of the first civilian government after almost 50 years of military regimes.

Ko Ni was killed outside the international airport of Yangon shot at point blank range, while holding his grandson in his arms. Nay Win, a taxi driver who had launched himself in pursuit of Kyi Lin, also lost his life. His death cost the murderer an additional sentence of 23 years of forced labor. His lawyers have announced that they will appeal to the Supreme Court.

Ko Ni, 63, was a consultant on constitutional reform of the party led by the Lady, the National League for Democracy (NLD). A prominent exponent of the Islamic community, Ko Ni was known in the country for his legal activism. One of his many battles, perhaps the most important and which according to observers cost him his life, was dedicated to attempts to reform the Constitution, imposed in 2008 by the military through a controversial referendum. This aroused suspicions - repeatedly denied in an official manner  of military involvement in his murder. Critics argue that the slow trial failed to establish a complete picture of what led to the murder and underline the military past of the two main defendants. It is widely believed that the true instigator of the murder is still a fugitive.

"Despite today's convictions, the Burmese know that the case is not closed," Fr. Mariano Soe Naing, spokesperson of the Myanmar Bishops' Conference (Cbcm) and director of the Office for Social Communication (OSC) told AsiaNews.

"The judges - continues the priest - have ascertained that a man has been paid to commit a murder, but it is still unknown who hired him. Citizens followed the trial closely. A similar verdict was expected and a lighter sentence was unlikely. The judicial system responds to military summits and is beyond the control of Aung San Suu Kyi and her government. A death sentence has not been carried out in Myanmar for many years: this verdict is often turned into life imprisonment. Because of the brutality of the murder, in this case people could not accept it. Two people died, in public and in daylight. Despite everything, as Catholics, we cannot however exempt ourselves from reiterating the teachings of the Catholic Church and the appeals of Pope Francis against capital punishment".
Parkinson's disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis are the newest frontiers for open science drug discovery, a global movement led by academic scientists in Toronto that puts knowledge sharing and medication affordability ahead of patents and profits.

Medicines 4 Neurodegenerative Diseases (M4ND Pharma) will pursue promising new genetic drug targets for these intractable nervous system disorders, thanks to $1.5 million from the Krembil Foundation. It will be the world's second drug discovery company committed to open science after Medicines 4 Kids (M4K Pharma), which launched in 2017 to develop a novel drug for an uncommon but fatal childhood brain cancer.

Open science is a way for researchers to share their data and knowledge quickly and publicly, unencumbered by patents and the peer review publishing process, with the aim of speeding up scientific discovery. The movement gathered force in the life sciences in the 1990s with the Human Genome Project, and spread to protein structures and then early-stage drug discovery through the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC).

The non-profit SGC has generated considerable private and public investment and several spin-out companies, but there remains a gap in late-stage drug development.

"When we started M4K, many people thought an open approach to late-stage drug development might only be applicable to rare or neglected diseases, if at all," says Aled Edwards, a professor of molecular genetics at the University of Toronto and CEO of the SGC. "But we're getting unexpected funding and scientific contributions from industry, academic and clinical sources, and slowly but surely we're advancing a medicine through the pipeline. It's time to move the goal posts again on what's possible with open science."

Like M4K, M4ND will not seek patents on its findings. It will instead rely on regulatory protections available in several countries, including data exclusivity for drug sponsors to prevent generic competition, and orphan drug exclusivity for rare diseases. These and other existing protections, says Edwards, are likely sufficient to attract commercial partners willing to manufacture, distribute and sell medications at reasonable prices.

Also like M4K, M4ND will be owned by the Agora Open Science Trust, a Canadian charity that supports open science for the public good. M4ND will donate any proceeds generated through commercial partnerships back to the charity.

The researchers will share their progress with the scientific community through regular online meetings, open to all and posted on YouTube. They will also make data available, for example through the SGC's open lab notebooks initiative.

"Every player in the system appreciates the idea of affordable medicines faster, but it's been incredibly challenging to make it happen because the system is complicated," says Edwards. "The key was to invent a different business model, and we're extraordinarily happy that industry, academia and others have been delighted to contribute."

Dr. Edwards will present on open drug discovery at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting at 2:30 p.m. on February 16, 2019, Marriott Wardman Park - Maryland Suite, in Washington, D.C.

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About the Structural Genomics Consortium

The SGC is a pre-competitive public-private partnership that accelerates research in human biology and drug discovery by making all of its research output freely available to the scientific community. To achieve its mission, the organization is building an open and collaborative network of scientists. The SGC has active research facilities at seven leading academic institutions across the globe (Toronto and Montreal-Canada, Oxford-UK, UNICAMP-Brazil, Karolinska-Sweden, UNC Chapel Hill-USA and Frankfurt-Germany), and SGC scientists collaborate with more than 300 researchers in academia and industry. The SGC is a registered charity (number 1097737) that receives funds from AbbVie, Bayer Pharma AG, Boehringer Ingelheim, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Eshelman Institute for Innovation, Genome Canada, Innovative Medicines Initiative (EU/EFPIA), Janssen, MSD, Merck KGaA, Novartis Pharma AG, Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation, Pfizer, Sao Paulo Research Foundation-FAPESP, Takeda, and Wellcome Trust. For more information, visit http://www. thesgc. org .

About the University of Toronto

The University of Toronto has one of the strongest research and teaching faculties in North America, presenting students at all levels with an intellectual environment unmatched in breadth and depth on any other Canadian campus. U of T faculty co-author more research articles than their colleagues at any university in the U.S. or Canada other than Harvard. As a measure of impact, U of T consistently ranks alongside the top five U.S. universities whose discoveries are most often cited by other researchers around the world. Faculty at U of T are also widely recognized for their teaching strengths and commitment to graduate supervision. Established in 1827, U of T today operates in downtown Toronto, Mississauga and Scarborough, as well as in nine academic hospitals. http://www. utoronto. ca .

About M4K Pharma

M4K Pharma is an open science drug discovery and development company dedicated to finding affordable new medicines for children's orphan diseases. Through its Medicines4Kids program, M4K is developing a treatment for diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPG), a rare and fatal pediatric brain cancer with no curative therapies. M4K partners with academics, foundations and industry groups for its drug discovery and drug development programs and uses open science principles of data sharing to encourage research collaborations and reduce costs. M4K is based out of Toronto, Canada. For more info: http://www. m4kpharma. com , and watch M4K's monthly project meetings at: https:/ / m4kpharma. com/ category/ m4k-monthly-scientific-meeting/

The Krembil Foundation is a private family foundation based out of Toronto, Ontario. The Foundation was established in 2000 with an initial focus on neuroscience research, but our current interests have expanded to the areas of neurodegeneration, the immune system, and arthritis. The goal of the Krembil Foundation is to accelerate research, expand knowledge and ultimately impact lives through discoveries that will lead to scientific advancements in medicine. For more information visit our website krembilfoundation.ca and follow us on twitter @KrembilF.
In the course of their life, open star clusters continuously lose stars to their surroundings. The resulting swath of tidal tails provides a glimpse into the evolution and dissolution of a star cluster. Thus far only tidal tails of massive globular clusters and dwarf galaxies have been discovered in the Milky Way system. In open clusters, this phenomenon existed only in theory. Researchers at Heidelberg University have now finally verified the existence of such a tidal tail in the star cluster closest to the Sun, the Hyades. An analysis of measurements from the Gaia satellite led to the discovery.

Open star clusters are collections of approximately 100 to a few thousand stars that emerge almost simultaneously from a collapsing gas cloud and move through space at about the same speed. Owing to a number of influences, however, they do begin to disperse after a few hundred million years. Among the factors working against the gravitationally bound stars is the tidal force of a galaxy, which pulls the stars out of the cluster. Tidal tails then form during the movement of the star cluster through the Milky Way. It is the beginning of the end of an open star cluster.

Together with researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, scientists from the Centre for Astronomy of Heidelberg University (ZAH) have detected this phenomenon for the first time in the Hyades, one of the older and best-studied open star clusters in the Milky Way system. They studied the data published in April 2018 from the Gaia satellite, which has been systematically mapping the heavens for five years. Rather than taking direct photographs, Gaia measures the stars' motion and position.

From this data, the Heidelberg astronomers identified two tidal tails of the Hyades with a total of approximately 500 stars extending up to 650 light-years from the cluster. Dr Siegfried Roser of the Konigstuhl State Observatory of the ZAH explains that one of the tails precedes the open star cluster and the other follows it. "Our discovery shows that it is possible to trace the trajectories of individual stars of the Milky Way back to their point of origin in a star cluster", states Dr Roser. The astronomer believes that this marks the beginning of many significant discoveries in galactic astronomy. Apart from the Heidelberg astronomers, a team of researchers from Vienna also discovered the tidal tails of the Hyades.

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The research was conducted under the auspices of The Milky Way System Collaborative Research Centre (CRC 881) at Heidelberg University, which is funded by the German Research Foundation.
Support from managers and colleagues, as well as a positive attitude, are most likely to enable a more long-term return to work for employees after a sickness absence, according to a new review of research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA).

The review evaluated the impact of personal and social factors on sustainable return to work after ill-health due to musculoskeletal disorders, such as joint and back pain, and common mental health conditions, for example stress, depression or anxiety.

It also compared the effects of these factors across the two types of conditions, which are recognised as the most common causes of sickness absence in developed countries.

Personal and social factors were found to play a role in enabling sustainable return to work after ill health. However, sustainable return to work does not appear to be the result of a single factor. Instead, it seems to be influenced by a combination of multiple factors.

Researchers from UEA's Norwich Business School and Uppsala University in Sweden found the most consistent evidence for achieving sustainable return to work was for support from line managers or supervisors and co-workers, employees having a positive attitude and high self-efficacy - their belief in their capabilities to achieve a goal or outcome - being younger and having higher levels of education.

The review examined evidence from 79 previous studies conducted between 1989 and 2017. Its findings are published in the Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation.

For the purposes of the review, sustainable return to work was defined as a stable full-time or part-time return to work to either the original or a modified job for a period of at least three months, without relapse or sickness absence re-occurrence.

Lead author Abasiama Etuknwa, a postgraduate researcher at UEA, said: "These findings will help us understand what factors may either bring about or hinder a sustainable return to work. The relationship between the social environment and personal factors like attitudes and self-efficacy appears to impact positively on maintainable return to work outcomes.

"Promoting a culture of support at the workplace is essential, a culture that makes returning workers feel valued, worthy and not necessarily blamed for absence, as the former would improve work attitudes and ease the transition back to work."

The economic cost of sickness absence is growing yearly. Extended sickness absence is associated with reduced probability of return to work, which becomes costly for employers, increasing the urgency to help workers return early.

Co-author Kevin Daniels, professor of organisational behaviour at UEA, said: "To reduce costs related to sickness absence and reduce the risk of long-term disability associated with extended absence from work, there is a big need for a better understanding of the factors that either impede or facilitate a sustainable return to work for staff sick-listed with musculoskeletal and common mental health disorders.

"Previous studies have shown how poor quality jobs can cause ill-health. However, there is also strong evidence that good quality jobs, for example those that enable reasonable work-life balance, allow staff some say in how their work is done and have supportive managers, are an important component for a speedy recovery after ill-health episodes and are generally beneficial for physical and mental health."

Other personal factors identified as impacting return to work included economic status/income, length of sickness absence, and job contract/security. There was no consistent evidence of whether gender affected sustainable return to work.

Social factors also included job crafting - employees redesigning their job task to fit their motives, strengths and passions - and its related practices, such as employee-initiated changes to their job or how work is done.

The authors say the review provides employers and policymakers with knowledge of the key factors that will help with implementing more effective return to work programmes.

"Existing return to work programmes need to encourage supportive interactions between leaders and co-workers and returning workers during the process, especially as this could have a direct effect on sustainable return to work, as well as an indirect effect through enhanced returners' attitudes towards work and self-efficacy," said Miss Etuknwa.

"Although return to work takes place within a complex system involving employing organizations and the healthcare system, given the consistent evidence of the role line managers play, we recommend that policymakers consider ways to provide guidance for employers."

This guidance could: outline the supportive role of line managers and other key workplace professionals, for example human resources professionals and occupational health providers, during the return to work process; train these professionals on the return to work process and how to effectively manage and support returning workers; and outline ways to assist line managers in providing necessary support.

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'Sustainable return to work: A systematic review focusing on personal and social Factors', Abasiama Etuknwa, Kevin Daniels, Constanze Eib, is published in the Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation.
Those who set realistic goals can hope for a higher level of well-being. The key for later satisfaction is whether the life goals are seen as attainable and what they mean to the person, as psychologists from the University of Basel report in a study with over 970 participants.

Wealth, community, health, meaningful work: life goals express a person's character, as they determine behavior and the compass by which people are guided. It can therefore be assumed that goals can contribute substantially to how satisfied people are in life - or how dissatisfied if important goals are blocked and cannot be achieved.

A team of psychologists from the University of Basel conducted a detailed examination on how life goals are embedded in people's lives across adult; the results are now published in the European Journal of Personality. The researchers used data from 973 people between 18 and 92 years old living in German-speaking parts of Switzerland; more than half of the participants were surveyed again after two and four years. The participants had to assess the importance and the perceived attainability of life goals in ten areas - health, community, personal growth, social relationships, fame, image, wealth, family, responsibility/care for younger generations, and work - using a four-point scale.

Life goals with predictive power

The findings of the study revealed that perceiving one's personal goals as attainable is an indicator for later cognitive and affective well-being. This implies that people are most satisfied if they have a feeling of control and attainability. Interestingly, the importance of the goal was less relevant for later well-being than expected.

Life goals also hold predictive power for specific domains: Participants who set social-relation goals or health goals were more satisfied with their social relationships or their own health. The link between life goals and subsequent well-being appeared to be relatively independent of the age of the participants.

Younger people want status, older people want social engagement

What are the goals that people value the most in a respective age period? The goals that people value in a particular life stage depend on the development tasks that are present at this stage: the younger the participants were, the more they rated personal-growth, status, work and social-relation goals as important. The older the participants were, the more they rated social engagement and health as important.

"Many of our results confirmed theoretical assumptions from developmental psychology," says lead author and PhD student Janina Buhler from the University of Basel's Faculty of Psychology. Life goals were strongly determined by age: "If we examine, however, whether these goals contribute to well-being, age appears less relevant." Hence, adults, whether old or young, are able to balance the importance and attainability of their goals.

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Dublin, Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 - Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have become the first to describe a model of mitochondrial epilepsy which raises hope for better therapies for patients with this incapacitating condition. Their paper has been published in BRAIN, the peer-reviewed international journal of neurology.

Mitochondrial disease is one of the most common forms of genetic diseases, affecting one in 9,000 births in Ireland with debilitating consequences. One quarter of patients with mitochondrial disease have epilepsy which is often severe and resistant towards conventional antiepileptic drugs.

Despite the severity of this epilepsy, up to now there have been no animal models available to provide a mechanistic understanding of the condition.

That is set to change though as researchers at Trinity can now explain the important role that astrocytes play in seizure generation. To date, astrocytes, the characteristic star-shaped glial cells found in the brain and spinal cord, have been seen as 'supporting-cells', playing a largely passive assisting role in the brain. This research shows however that they actually play a central role in driving seizure generation in mitochondrial epilepsy.

The researchers were able to recreate a novel brain slice model by the application of an astrocytic-specific aconitase inhibitor, fluorocitrate, concomitant with mitochondrial respiratory inhibitors, rotenone and potassium cyanide. The model was robust and exhibited both face and predictive validity.

The team then used the model to assess the role that astrocytes play in seizure generation and demonstrated the involvement of the GABA-glutamate-glutamine cycle, which regulates how chemical transmitters are released from neurons and then taken up by the supporting cells; the astrocytes.

Notably, glutamine appears to be an important intermediary molecule between the neuronal and astrocytic compartment in the regulation of GABAergic inhibitory tone.

Finally, the team found that a deficiency in glutamine synthetase is an important part of the pathogenic process for seizure generation in both the brain slice model and the human neuropathological study.

Explaining the importance of the research, Ellen Mayston Bates Professor of Neurophysiology of Epilepsy at Trinity, Mark Cunningham said: "We believe this is important and novel research as it produces, for the first time, a model of mitochondrial epilepsy which captures features observed in patients. The model provides mechanistic insights, demonstrating the role of astrocytes in this pathological activity."

Looking ahead and considering how this research translates to treat those with mitochondrial epilepsy, Professor Cunningham said: "We believe this work is important in providing new avenues with regard to producing better therapies for this condition. Future work will develop the model so that it can be used to stratify novel anti-seizure drugs in a tailored manner for patients diagnosed with mitochondrial disorders and who phenotypically exhibit epilepsy."

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Paper published in BRAIN journal at: https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1093/ brain/ awy320 Contact:

Ciara O'Shea, Media Officer, Trinity College Dublin, at COSHEA9@tcd.ie, +353 -1-8964337

Professor Mark Cunningham, Trinity College Dublin, at mark.cunningham@tcd.ie, +353-1- 896 8569)
TROY, N.Y. -- The evolution of planet Earth and the emergence of life during its first half-billion years are inextricably linked, with a series of planetwide transformations - formation of the ocean, evolution of the atmosphere, and the growth of crust and continents - underpinning the environmental stepping stones to life. But how, and in what order, were the ingredients for life on Earth manufactured and assembled?

NASA's Astrobiology Program has awarded a $9 million grant to tackle the question through the Earth First Origins project, led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Assistant Professor Karyn Rogers. The five-year project seeks to uncover the conditions on early Earth that gave rise to life by identifying, replicating, and exploring how prebiotic molecules and chemical pathways could have formed under realistic early Earth conditions.

"Planet Earth and the chemistry of life share the same road," said Rogers. "Because of that co-evolution, we can use our understanding of the fundamental planetary processes that set the Earth system in motion to sketch the physical, chemical, and environmental map to life."

You can watch Rogers talk about this research here.

Earth First Origins serves as the catalyst for launching the Rensselaer Astrobiology Research and Education (RARE) Center. The newly established RARE Center builds on the expertise established through more than three decades of astrobiology research at Rensselaer, and supersedes its predecessor, the New York Center for Astrobiology. In addition to conducting fundamental research into life's origins and the potential for life throughout the universe, the RARE Center will support a range of education and public engagement activities. These include a seminar series, a curricular minor in astrobiology, the upcoming Gateway to Early Earth Summer School, and a core undergraduate and graduate education program.

"Rensselaer has an extensive history of significant contributions to the field of astrobiology, and the Earth First Origins project and the Rensselaer Astrobiology Research and Education Center will be tremendous additions to our legacy of discovery," said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson. "The interdisciplinary global collaboration involved in these initiatives epitomizes the visionary work we engage in as The New Polytechnic."

Earth First Origins and the RARE Center unite a diverse team of experts in planetary evolution, early Earth geochemistry, prebiotic and experimental astrobiology, and analytical chemistry. Complemented by a team of molecular biologists, geochemical modelers, and data and visualization experts, the research team brings a wealth of experience poised to launch a new research paradigm for studying life's origins.

"Various types of environments existed on early Earth and many of them could have been the starting place of life, or life could have emerged via processes that connected several environmental niches," said Rogers. "We want to establish the range of possible conditions in different early Earth environments, replicate them in the lab, and understand the particular factors that contribute to the sequence of chemical syntheses that lead to life."

The Earth First Origins project will establish the Gateway to Early Earth, which consists of both a physical lab space and a virtual environment, the early Earth Lab (eEL) and the Virtual early Earth Portal (VeEP), both housed at Rensselaer. The Gateway will be a resource for the Earth First Origins team, as well as the larger origins of life community, to access realistic early Earth environments, both experimentally and through models, and explore their potential to give rise to life's chemistry.

The early Earth Laboratory will house a suite of experimental equipment used to replicate early Earth environments. The eEL will not only target the temperature, pressure, and geochemical conditions of the early Earth, but will also employ novel experimental techniques to represent the dynamic connections between different systems.

"Early Earth hosted a wide range of distinct environments. By accurately representing water-rock-atmosphere interactions, or the flow and mixing of fluids along thermal and chemical gradients, the eEL will provide a much better way of exploring the chemical pathways that emerged during Earth's earliest times." said Bruce Watson, co-investigator and a geochemist and Institute Professor at Rensselaer.

The VeEP provides applications and tools for integrating geochemical and geophysical models, and applying data visualization techniques to explore the range of possibilities in various early Earth environments. Additionally, the VeEP will allow researchers to record data from experiments, models, and analyses in "virtual notebooks" that are ingested into a larger structured data warehouse and accessed through the portal.

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In addition to Rogers and Watson, the core faculty of the RARE Center also includes:

Peter Fox, Tetherless World Constellation Chair and professor of earth and environmental sciences;

Linda B. McGown, the William Weightman Walker Chair and professor of chemistry and chemical biology;

Morgan F. Schaller, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences;

Jacob T. Shelley, the Alan Paul Schulz Career Development Chair and assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology.

The Earth First Origins team also includes co-investigators from across the country:

Jun Korenaga, professor of geology and geophysics at Yale University

Andrew Steele, staff scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science

Tom McCollom research associate in the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at University of Colorado Boulder

Jeff Catalano, professor of earth and planetary sciences at Washington University in St. Louis

Dustin Trail, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at University of Rochester

Susan Lang, assistant professor of earth, ocean and environment at University of South Carolina

Aaron Goldman, assistant professor of biology at Oberlin College

Janet Iwasa, assistant professor of biochemistry at the University of Utah

Douglas LaRowe, associate research professor of earth sciences at University of Southern California.

The five-year project, titled "Reconciling Prebiotic Paradigms: Mapping Planetary Reality onto Experimental Strategies" is funded through NASA's Astrobiology Program and is part of the new Prebiotic Chemistry and Early Earth Environments (PCE3) Consortium, also announced this week. PCE3 is a consortium of researchers investigating the delivery or synthesis of small molecules, their survival under the conditions of the early Earth, and the subsequent formation of proto-biological molecules and the pathways that lead to systems harboring the potential for life. Rogers will serve as one of the initiatives' co-leads, along with Ram Krishnamurthy of the Scripps Research Institute, Loren Williams of Georgia Institute of Technology, and Timothy Lyons of the University of California, Riverside.

About Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Virtual reality has been shown to help children with autism with nearly 45% remaining free from their fears and phobias six months after treatment.

A separate study also published tomorrow, has shown for the first time that the treatment works for some autistic adults.

The Blue Room, developed by specialists at Newcastle University working alongside innovative technology firm Third Eye NeuroTech, allows the team to create a personalised 360 degree environment involving the fear which may debilitate the person with autism in real life.

Within this virtual environment, which requires no goggles, the child can comfortably investigate and navigate through various scenarios working with a therapist using iPad controls but remain in full control of the situation.

The research, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), is published today in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

"For many children and their families, anxiety can rule their lives as they try to avoid the situations which can trigger their child's fears or phobia," says Professor Jeremy Parr, who led the study.

"To be able to offer an NHS treatment that works, and see the children do so well, offers hope to families who have very few treatment options for anxiety available to them."

Autism can affect a child's learning and development, often resulting in impaired social and communication skills and many also have fears or phobias which can be very distressing but are often overlooked. It is thought these phobias affect around 25% of children with autism. In the trial phobias included travelling on public transport, school classrooms, dogs and balloons.

The Newcastle University experts describe the randomised controlled trial involving 32 children with autism aged 8 - 14 years. Half received treatment in the Blue Room straight away and half acted as a control group, receiving delayed treatment six months later.

Accompanied by a psychologist they underwent four sessions in a week involving a personalised scenario in the Blue Room. Parents were able to watch the treatment via a video link.

"People with autism can find imagining a scene difficult which is why the Blue Room is so well-received. We are providing the feared situation in a controlled way through virtual reality and we are sitting alongside them to help them learn how to manage their fears," explains Dr Morag Maskey, researcher from the Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University.

"It is incredibly rewarding to see the effect it can have for some, overcoming a situation which just a week previously would have been so distressing."

After receiving the treatment and with the support of their parents, the children were then introduced to the scenario in the real world.

Two weeks after treatment, the research shows that four of the first 16 (25%) had responded to treatment and were able to cope with a specific phobia. This effect remained with a total of six showing improvement after six months (38%), however, one reported a worsening of their phobia. Meanwhile, in the control group, five untreated participants had become worse in the six months.

The control group went on to be treated in the Blue Room after this time. Results showed that overall 40% of children treated showed improvement at 2 weeks, and 45% at 6 months.

This improvement is comparable with other treatments and the team intend to further examine why some don't respond.

For the first time, the Blue Room treatment was offered to autistic adults. In a separate publication in Autism in Adulthood by the same team, the VR treatment was shown to work in five out of eight autistic adults.

Aged 18- 57, the adults received four 20 minute sessions in the Blue Room with a personalised computer generated scene. Six months after the sessions, five of the eight participants still had real life day-to-day improvements in relation to their phobia.

NHS treatment is available to UK families through the Complex Neurodevelopmental Disorders Service at Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust https:/ / www. ntw. nhs. uk/ resource-library/ complex-neuro-developmental-service-cnds/

Dr Rajesh Nadkarni, Executive Medical Director at Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are proud to be a partner of the Newcastle Blue Room Treatment which is helping people with autism to manage their anxiety. Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust has a strong track record in providing nationally recognised autism services, and we welcome this new research demonstrating the positive effects of this highly innovative treatment."

Eddie Nelson is Director of Third Eye NeuroTech, (http://thirdeye. tv/ index. html ) the immersive reality technology company based in County Durham which provides the Blue Room facility. He says: "It is rare as a business that we get the chance to help young people and their families in such a dramatic and tangible way. But what we see with the Blue Room is very anxious young people and adults coming in, yet within four of these specialised sessions they come out having combatted their fears."

Specific phobias which were addressed in the Blue Room treatment included: Dogs, Wasps/bees, lifts, fear of the dark, flying, dolls, balloons, public transport, school, walking into rooms.

Alongside the NHS Service, the Newcastle University team are continuing further research into the effectiveness and lasting effect of the Blue Room.

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References: A Randomised Controlled Feasibility Trial of immersive virtual reality treatment with cognitive behaviour therapy for specific phobias in young people with autism spectrum disorder. Morag Maskey et al. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Using Virtual Reality Environments to Augment Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Fears and Phobias in Autistic Adults. Morag Maskey, Jacqui Rodgers, Barry Ingham, Mark Freeston, Gemma Evans, Marie Labus, Jeremy R Parr. Autism in Adulthood.
Clinical researchers at Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College London have found a better way to measure the risk of stillbirth for women with a common liver disorder through a simple blood test.

The discovery will help doctors identify the small number of women at most risk who require intervention to prevent stillbirth. This will allow the majority of women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) who are at a low risk to carry on their pregnancy normally.

The researchers estimate that implementing this test could prevent hundreds of women having unnecessary early deliveries.

ICP is a liver disorder affecting approximately 5,300 pregnancies annually in the UK - more than 14 every day. The condition causes build-up of bile acids in the blood, and symptoms include itching. It was previously thought that small increases in bile acid concentration are associated with higher risks of stillbirth. Pregnant women showing symptoms of ICP, therefore, are often offered early induction of labour at around 37 weeks in order to prevent stillbirth.

To understand the link between ICP, bile acid levels and stillbirth, the authors analysed more than 170,000 pregnancies from 40 international studies. The work was funded by ICP Support, Tommy's, Genesis Research Trust, Wellcome Trust and the NIHR.

The results, published in The Lancet, show that the likelihood of stillbirth as a result of ICP is related to the concentration of bile acids in a pregnant woman's blood. This can be determined by a simple blood test.

Professor Catherine Williamson, Consultant Obstetric Physician and Chair in Women's Health at Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College London, who led the study said:

"We are grateful to our collaborators worldwide who have helped us perform the largest study to date, the results of which will enable doctors to personalise treatment for women with ICP.

"We can now identify those women at the highest risk of stillbirth and consider interventions to specifically prevent stillbirth in this group. We will also be able to reassure a large number of women, who may have previously been concerned, that they are not at increased risk of stillbirth."

At the moment more than 15% of women with bile acids below the 100 micromole per litre threshold are delivered early: at least 700 a year in the UK and 18,500 globally.

Actress Helen George, Patron of ICP Support, believes that this will be reassuring news for many women with ICP. She said: "My own ICP pregnancy would have been less anxiety-provoking with this latest information but I believe that it's also incredibly important that women who itch continue to let their midwife or doctor know so that they can be tested for the condition."

The results of the study show that for the majority of women with ICP, who have bile acid concentration below 100 micromoles per litre, the risk of stillbirth is not significantly greater than that of pregnant women without ICP. This means they need no further treatment other than regular bile acid blood tests for the remainder of their pregnancy.

Dr Caroline Ovadia, Chadburn Clinical Lecturer at King's College London, said: "This marks a real step forward in the diagnosis and management of liver disorders during pregnancy. Being able to measure the risks to women and their babies by simple tests allows doctors to concentrate treatment on those who really need it.

"It also means that women will not have to be offered preterm birth unnecessarily which comes with associated risks to their babies including admission to neonatal units, breathing problems and jaundice.

"We are hopeful our findings will help to improve pregnancy outcomes in high risk women and allow thousands of pregnant women to be reassured that their ICP does not pose a significant risk to themselves or their baby."

Jenny Chambers, CEO of ICP Support who suffered two stillbirths because of the condition said: "We welcome the news that most women with ICP will now be spared the anxiety of worrying about the possibility of stillbirth. However, it important that health professionals realise that regular bile acid testing until birth is vital to ensure that those women who are at greater risk aren't missed."

Jane Brewin, Chief Executive of Tommy's said: "Stillbirth devastates parents' lives and Tommy's believes that too many babies still die at full term. This study means that we can detect more otherwise healthy babies who are at risk of sudden death because of their mother's liver condition. This study has the potential to save lives if practice is revised immediately and implemented nationally. Importantly it will prevent babies from being induced early, which carries a risk of lifelong negative consequences for them, and prevent the distress and concern caused to parents who wrongly believe that their baby is at risk."

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Contact: Anna Perman, Communications Manager, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College London tel: 07717 817 714 or e-mail: anna.perman@gstt.nhs.uk

Note to editors:

The paper, 'Association of adverse perinatal outcomes of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy with biochemical markers: results of aggregate and individual patient data meta-analyses', will be published at http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31877-4/fulltext at 23:30 on 14 February 2019 About the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas'

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London works to develop and deliver new medicines and diagnostics to patients, drive research and innovation into the NHS, and provide national systems leadership for maximum impact to patients. With our research activity organised into nine themes, each holding an individual Athena Swan Silver award highlighting our commitment to equality and diversity, and supported by our interdisciplinary, world leading infrastructure, we are poised to deliver the next step change for the health and wealth of our nation. http://www. guysandstthomasbrc. nihr. ac. uk/ About the NIHR

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation's largest funder of health and care research. The NIHR:

* Funds, supports and delivers high quality research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care

* Engages and involves patients, carers and the public in order to improve the reach, quality and impact of research

* Attracts, trains and supports the best researchers to tackle the complex health and care challenges of the future

* Invests in world-class infrastructure and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services

* Partners with other public funders, charities and industry to maximise the value of research to patients and the economy

The NIHR was established in 2006 to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research, and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. In addition to its national role, the NIHR commissions applied health research to benefit the poorest people in low- and middle-income countries, using Official Development Assistance funding.

This work uses data provided by patients and collected by the NHS as part of their care and support and would not have been possible without access to this data. The NIHR recognises and values the role of patient data, securely accessed and stored, both in underpinning and leading to improvements in research and care. http://www. nihr. ac. uk/ patientdata King's College London

King's College London is one of the top 10 UK universities in the world (QS World University Rankings, 2018/19) and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 31,000 students (including more than 12,800 postgraduates) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 8,500 staff.

King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), eighty-four per cent of research at King's was deemed 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent' (3* and 4*).

Since our foundation, King's students and staff have dedicated themselves in the service of society. King's will continue to focus on world-leading education, research and service, and will have an increasingly proactive role to play in a more interconnected, complex world. Visit our website to find out more about Vision 2029, King's strategic vision for the next 12 years to 2029, which will be the 200th anniversary of the founding of the university.

World-changing ideas. Life-changing impact: https:/ / www. kcl. ac. uk/ news/ headlines. aspx About ICP Support

ICP Support is a charity with a mission to ensure that every ICP baby is born safely. Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) - also known as obstetric cholestasis (OC) - is the most common liver disorder specific to pregnancy. It affects 1 in 140 pregnant women each year in the UK and whilst the causes of ICP are not fully understood, there is an increased risk of spontaneous premature birth, fetal distress and stillbirth.

ICP Support's aims are to provide information and support to people affected by ICP; raise awareness of ICP; and promote research into ICP. It was originally set up (as OC Support) in 1991 by Jenny Chambers and has been a registered charity since 2012.

ICP Support offers a dedicated helpline and social media support groups. It is also the only charity for ICP that can facilitate the recruitment of women to research into the condition.

http://www. icpsupport. org About Tommy's

Tommy's is the largest pregnancy and baby charity in the UK. We fund research into pregnancy problems and provide pregnancy health information to parents-to-be. We believe it is unacceptable that one in four women lose a baby during pregnancy and birth. With five research centres across the UK investigating the causes of miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth, we lead the way in maternal and fetal research in the UK.
February 15, 2019 (Washington, D.C.) - Johnson & Johnson Innovation today announced five winners of the first Champions of Science - Africa Storytelling Challenge. The Challenge aimed to highlight the journeys of scientists and innovators working in Africa, and celebrate the impact of their work on families, communities and the world.

"The stories of scientists working on the African continent are often hidden, yet the work they do is vitally important, and their stories are often remarkable and inspiring," said Seema Kumar, Vice President, Innovation, Global Health and Policy Communication, Johnson & Johnson. "By showcasing the contributions of the talented scientists and innovators in Africa, we hope to build public engagement and inspire Africa's youth to pursue careers in science to help change the trajectory of health for humanity."

The Challenge received more than 100 entries from scientists and innovators in 22 African nations, including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, among others. An independent committee of scientists, science journalists and policymakers selected the winners, who will receive a $5,000 cash prize, publication of their stories, and international publicity.

Later today, during a special session at the AAAS Annual Meeting, Johnson & Johnson will host an Award celebration and panel discussion to spotlight the winners, hear from esteemed African leaders about the exciting science and technology developments taking place across the continent, and facilitate a discussion about the importance of engaging more champions of science across the world.

"I congratulate the winners of the Champions of Science - Africa Storytelling Challenge, whose stories showcase the diversity and depth of scientific innovation taking place across the African continent," said H.E. Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, Minister of Science & Technology, South Africa, who was represented by senior officials at the celebration. "I firmly believe that we need to create broader public awareness of the outstanding work being done by African innovators across diverse scientific disciplines. I am pleased that we have the opportunity to celebrate the stories of these outstanding champions of science."

The Africa Storytelling Challenge is part of Johnson & Johnson's ongoing commitment to convene and catalyze champions of science and to engage people of all generations and backgrounds to see the unlimited opportunities that science brings.

Champions of Science - Africa Storytelling Challenge Winners

Askwar Hilonga, Ph.D., Tanzania, whose story profiles his invention of a low-cost water filter to clean contaminated water in rural areas

Elizabeth Kperrun, Nigeria, whose story describes her work to develop award-winning language learning tools for children.

Philippa Ngaju Makobore, Uganda, who described how she and a team of engineers prototyped an automated non-invasive infusion controller to safely and accurately regulate life-saving intravenous fluids and drugs in resource-constrained settings including hospitals and treatment spaces with unreliable power supply.

Maame Ekua Manful, Ghana, who described her journey to form a start-up to create fortified foods to address the issue of vitamin A deficiency syndrome prevalent in developing countries.

Levit Nudi, Kenya, whose story profiles his development of an innovative mobile app to prevent use of counterfeit or substandard medicines.

Earlier this year, Johnson & Johnson Innovation announced Dr. Mahmoud Bukar Maina as the winner of the Africa Storytelling Challenge - YASE Edition, which was open to the participants of the Young African Scientists in Europe gathering in July 2018.

Champions of Science - Africa Storytelling Challenge Judges

An independent panel of judges selected the winners and included:

Luc Allemand, Ph.D., science journalist and Editor-in-Chief, Afriscitech

Rebekah Corlew, Ph.D., Project Director, Mass Media Fellowship, American Association for the Advancement of Science

Carly Cox, Ph.D., Civic Engagement Project Manager, Research!America

Francois Davel, Director, Science Forum South Africa, South Africa Department of Science and Technology

Aidan Gilligan, CEO, SciCom - Making Sense of Science

Mark Henderson, Director of Communications, Wellcome Trust

Nathalie Munyampenda, Managing Director, Next Einstein Forum

Tolu Oni, M.B.B.S., M.D. (Res), Clinical Senior Research Associate, Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge

Ron Winslow, freelance science journalist, former Deputy Bureau Chief, Health and Science, The Wall Street Journal; past president of the National Association of Science Writers

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About Champions of Science

Science touches our lives in every imaginable way. From antibiotics and telecommunications, to genomics, precision medicine and 3D printing, science has improved the human condition, leading to longer, healthier, happier lives for people all over the world. To continue to advance, science needs champions!

As a global healthcare company, Johnson & Johnson Innovation is uniquely positioned to champion the role of science in society. We have launched Champions of Science - a multi-faceted public engagement initiative - to convene and catalyze champions of science and engage people of all generations and backgrounds to see the unlimited opportunities that science brings.

About Champions of Science Storytelling Challenge

The Champions of Science Storytelling Challenge series aim to spotlight the achievements and personal journeys of scientists and champions of science in all regions of the world. In addition to the Africa Storytelling Challenge, the company launched the Champions of Science Storytelling Challenge: Latin America & Caribbean edition, as well as other editions to highlight stories across multiple generations and geographies.

About Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC

Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC focuses on accelerating all stages of innovation worldwide and forming collaborations between entrepreneurs and Johnson & Johnson's global healthcare businesses. Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC provides scientists, entrepreneurs and emerging companies with one-stop access to science and technology experts who can facilitate collaborations across the pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer companies of Johnson & Johnson. Under the Johnson & Johnson Innovation umbrella of businesses, we connect with innovators through our regional Innovation Centers, JLABS, Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, Inc. and our Business Development teams to create customized deals and novel collaborations that speed development of innovations to solve unmet needs for patients. For more information please visit: http://www. jnjinnovation. com .

Press Contacts:

Seema Kumar

908-405-1144

skumar10@its.jnj.com

Diane Pressman

908-295-0857

dpressm1@its.jnj.com
The use of efficient catalytic agents is what makes many technical procedures feasible in the first place. Indeed, synthesis of more than 80% of the products generated in the chemical industry requires the input of specific catalysts. Most of these are solid-state catalysts, and the reactions they make possible take place between molecules that adsorb to their surfaces. The specific properties of the catalyst permit the starting molecules to interact and accelerate the reaction between them, without consuming or altering the catalyst itself. However, efficient catalysis also requires efficient mixing, so reactants must be able to diffuse laterally on the surface of the catalyst to maximize the chance of undergoing the desired reaction. Under the conditions employed in industrial processes, however, the surface of the catalyst is generally so densely packed with adsorbed particles that it has been unclear how molecules could effectively diffuse at all. Researchers led by Professor Joost Wintterlin at the Department of Chemistry at Ludwig-Maximilian-Universitaet (LMU) have now shown that, although reactants indeed spend time virtually trapped on the surface of the catalyst, local fluctuations in occupancy frequently provide opportunities to change positions. The new findings appear in the leading journal Science.

In order to gain insight into the molecular processes that take place on a solid-state catalyst, Wintterlin and colleagues used scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to monitor the mobility of individual oxygen atoms on a ruthenium (Ru) catalyst that was densely packed with adsorbed carbon monoxide (CO) molecules. "We chose this system because the oxidation of CO to CO2 on metals belonging to the platinum group is a well-studied model for solid-state catalysis generally," Wintterlin explains. However, conventional scanning tunneling microscopy would have been unable to capture the surface dynamics of this reaction system. But the team succeeded in enhancing the rate of data acquisition, finally attaining rates of up to 50 images per second - high enough to make videos of the dynamics of the particles on the catalyst.

The STM images revealed that the oxygen atoms are completely hemmed in by triangular cages formed by CO molecules adsorbed to the surface of the Ru catalyst. Analysis of the videos showed that single oxygen atoms can only hop between three positions formed by the interstices of the Ru atoms. "But, to our surprise, we also observed that an atom can escape from its cage, and suddenly begins to diffuse through the carbon monoxide matrix at a rate that is almost as high as if it were on a completely empty surface," says Ann-Kathrin Hen, first author of the research paper. In collaboration with Professor Axel Gro of the Institute of Theoretical Chemistry at Ulm University, the Munich researchers were able to link this phenomenon with fluctuations in the local density of the CO on the surface, which give rise to regions in which the molecules are more or less closely packed together. When such a fluctuation occurs in the vicinity of an oxygen atom, the latter can escape from its cage, and make its way to a new position. In fact, this 'door-opening mechanism' opens up diffusion pathways so rapidly that the movement of the oxygen atoms through the matrix is not significantly impeded. This explains why they can almost always find a new binding partner for the reaction facilitated by the catalyst.

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The bomber a local fundamentalist of the Pakistani Islamic group Jaish-e-Mohammad. An official note from the Pakistani government rejects all " insinuations" of Islamabad connection with the incident. In Bandra a mass in memory of the dead soldiers.

Srinagar (AsiaNews) - The death toll of the victims of yesterday's violent explosion in Indian Kashmir, a few kilometers from Srinagar, has risen to 44. This is the most serious attack against the personnel of the Indian Union army. The massacre was immediately claimed by the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), a Pakistani fundamentalist group. India has long asked the UN for inclusion in the list of terrorist groups, but the official condemnation never came because of the opposition of China, an ally of Pakistan.

This is why today Prime Minister Narendra Modi has returned to call for sanctions against militants led by Masood Azhar and continues to point the finger at Islamabad as a "sponsor of international terrorism". For its part, with an official note, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry defines the attack as a "source of serious concern" and rejects the versions of the Indian press that hypothesizes links between the Pakistani government and the attackers. "We have always condemned - the statement reads - acts of violence throughout the world. We strongly reject any insinuation of elements in the Indian media and government that attempt to connect the attack to Pakistan without having carried out any investigation. "

For now the only reliable information is that the incident occurred in the Pulwama district, on the Srinagar-Jammu highway, which is usually subject to strict controls. Even the movement of such a large convoy is an exception, probably due to the snow that in recent days has blocked traffic on that stretch of road.

The dynamics of the attack are also uncertain: it is not clear whether the bomber drove the explosive car into one of Central Reserve Police Force vehicles, or if he activated the detonator when passing. However, the explosion was so violent that it melted the body of the truck. Investigators broke some reservations only on the name of the JeM attacker: Adil Ahmad Dar, known as the "Waqas Commando" and resident in the Pulwama district.

Kashmir the Kashmir dossier is among the most controversial issues in the country. The territory on the border with Pakistan, is disputed by the two nations since the division of the former British Empire, which took place in 1947.

The numerous attempts to establish independence and a latent conflict have caused tens of thousands of deaths, most of them civilians. The dispute was rekindled was 2016, when the security forces killed the famous separatist Burhan Wani. In retaliation, the militants stormed the military base at Uri and killed 18 soldiers. From that moment the clash between rebels and soldiers led to the death of 500 people only in 2018.

Today in Bandra (near Mumbai), a mass was held in memory of the victims and their families in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount. Msgr. John Rodrigues, rector of the basilica, used the "prayers for peace" drawn from the Roman missal.

(Nirmala Carvalho Collaborated)
Earlier this month, the 5TONIC co-creation laboratory played hosts to the members of the EU's 5G-EVE project team when the group met in Madrid for its first plenary meeting.

The 5G-EVE project looks to deliver a European Validation platform for Extensive 5G trials. Launched in July 2018, the project will see the creation and implementation of advanced 5G testing infrastructures in a number of inter-connected locations across Europe. The project involves some 28 partners from seven countries including four of the main European operators as well as six vertical market companies.

The first plenary meeting of the group was hosted in its Madrid offices by 5TONIC member company Ericsson, who made sure that the agenda included a visit to the co-creation laboratory which has been designated as one of the key European 5G-EVE testing facilities.

Within the laboratory, Ericsson - and other 5TONIC member companies such as CommScope and Intel - have already deployed infrastructure and technology solutions to enable testing and validation of 5G use cases within autonomous vehicle guidance (AVG), smart tourism, and the remote monitoring and control of critical equipment and personal devices.

Among the test validation projects shown to the project team were ones to reduce latency in IoT communications especially with regard to AVG; the use of Massive MIMO to increase user speeds and boost system capacity to the levels required to meet 5G standards; and a proof of concept showing how virtualization and orchestration can combine edge computing with intelligent devices to perform video analysis using artificial intelligence.

This collaborative work by our member companies within the 5G-EVE project will form part of an open, end-to-end, 5G testing platform linking centres in Italy, France and Greece with the 5TONIC laboratory in Spain.

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Artificial Intelligence is helping to guide and support some 50 breast cancer patients in rural Georgia through a novel mobile application that gives them personalized recommendations on everything from side effects to insurance.

The app, called MyPath, adapts to each stage in a patient's cancer journey. So the information available on the app--which runs on a tablet computer--regularly changes based on each patient's progress. Are you scheduled for surgery? MyPath will tell you what you need to know the day before.

"Patients have told us, 'It just seemed to magically know what I needed,'" said Elizabeth Mynatt, principal investigator for the work and Distinguished Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech.

Mynatt, who is also Executive Director of the Institute for People and Technology, believes that MyPath is the first healthcare app capable of personalization (through its application of AI) for holistic cancer care. In addition to incorporating a patient's medical data, the app also addresses a variety of other relevant issues such as social and emotional needs.

She will present the work February 15 at the 2019 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

National Recognition

In January MyPath was recognized by iSchools, a consortium of some 100 institutions worldwide (including Georgia Tech) dedicated to advancing the information field. Maia Jacobs, who recently received her Ph.D. from Georgia Tech for her work on MyPath, was named winner of the 2019 iSchools Doctoral Dissertation Award.

According to iSchools, "the Award Committee felt [that Jacobs' work] was timely and important, and lauded its impact in how patients manage their health." Jacobs, now a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, is currently exploring how to expand MyPath to other diseases.

The work was also honored in 2016 when it was featured in a report to President Barack Obama by the President's Cancer Panel. The report, Improving Cancer-Related Outcomes with Connected Health, aimed to "help patients manage their health information and participate in their own care," according to a Georgia Tech story at the time.

The Beginning

Six years ago Mynatt's team began working with the Harbin Clinic in Rome, Georgia. "They have a tremendous program in holistic cancer care where they recognize that their patients, who are from a large rural area, face a variety of challenges to be able to successfully navigate the cancer journey," Mynatt said.

But the Harbin doctors and cancer navigators--people who help patients through the cancer journey--wanted a better way to stay connected to patients on a regular basis. The navigators, in particular, found that they tended to interact with patients a great deal at diagnosis, but less frequently over time. And that meant that although there are many recommendations for, say, lowering anxiety, they weren't necessarily being communicated.

Said Mynatt, "We wondered how technology could amplify what these great people are doing."

How it Works

MyPath begins with a mobile library of resources compiled from the American Cancer Society and other reputable organizations. Then, it is personalized with each patient's diagnosis and treatment plan, including the dates for specific procedures. Patients also complete regular surveys that help inform the system--and caregivers--of their changing needs and symptoms.

The result is a system that provides each patient with resources and suggestions specific to their personal situation. Because MyPath knows, for example, that you have stage 2 breast cancer and will be undergoing a lumpectomy on a specific date, when you click on the category "Preparing for Surgery" it will suggest relevant articles to prepare you for what's ahead. Have you reported nausea in the system's survey? MyPath will bring your attention to resources that can help combat the side effect. The system also provides quick access to contact information for specific caregivers.

Other apps--and the Internet--aren't personalized. That means slogging through a great deal of often technical information that's not relevant to your situation. In contrast, "Every day MyPath puts the right resources at your fingertips to help you through your cancer journey," Mynatt said.

More than Medical

Some of MyPath's most popular features have nothing to do directly with cancer. Buttons for "Emotional Support" and "Day to Day Matters" are regularly consulted by patients. "When we asked them about how they used the tablet for healthcare, many patients would talk to us about playing Angry Birds, which they would download to distract them during chemo sessions," Mynatt said.

MyPath is the second generation of the app. Patient feedback from its predecessor, My Journey Compass, led to changes including the personalization. Development continues. For example, Mynatt's team is hoping to expand the app for use by cancer survivors, who often face additional challenges like hormone replacement therapy. The team is also working on a version that individual patients could download, which would make the app available to many more users.

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This work is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (RO1 CA195653). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Susceptibility to obesity, insulin resistance and other cardio-metabolic traits may also be dependent on a person's sex. An international research team of the University of California (UCLA), Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, a partner of the DZD, and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen studied sex differences and sex-specific interaction with the genetic background in cardio-metabolic phenotypes. The researchers discovered, among other things, a sex-specific obesity locus of the Lypla1 gene, which is associated with human obesity. The results of the study have now been published in Cell Metabolism.

Men and women may be differently susceptible to obesity, insulin resistance, and other cardio-metabolic traits. Women often have more advantageous metabolic profiles. This has been described for mice but also for humans. But how does sex interact with genes? What role does natural genetic variance play? And how does this affect the development of cardio-metabolic traits? In order to answer these questions, an international team of researchers used an animal model (hybrid mouse diversity panel) to search for sex-specific differences in 50 cardio-metabolic traits. The effect of sex on cardio-metabolic traits was investigated in terms of sex-specific correlations with specific disease phenotypes, their genetic architecture and the underlying expression networks in fat and liver. It was found that sex - depending on the genetic background - plays a role in gene expression and the development of cardio-metabolic traits. The research team discovered a sex-specific obesity locus for the Lyplal1 gene.

"In addition, we were able to show that there is sex-specific regulation for the "beiging" of white adipose tissue* and sex-specific interactions for mitochondrial function," said UCLA Professor Aldons J. Lusis, last author and head of the study. The study showed that females have a higher mitochondrial activity and produce more brown adipose tissue ("beiging"). This reduces fat mass and insulin resistance. In males, the interaction between genes and sex tends to lead to low mitochondrial activity and low beiging. Weight and insulin resistance increase.

"In the reference literature there are already indications of major differences in adipose biology between sexes also in humans. This study provides insights into the depth and breadth of sex differences in metabolism. We believe that our results provide compelling evidence as to why males and females in biological research should be treated as distinct organisms as a whole, rather than attempting to reconcile these differences one molecule at a time," said DZD researcher Professor Susanna Hofmann, MD of the Institute for Diabetes and Regenerative Research of the Helmholtz Diabetes Center. Her group, together with Professor Axel Walch from the Core Facility Pathology & Tissue Analytics at Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, examined the adipose tissue and analyzed the sex differences in the browning of white adipose tissue.

There are still many gaps in our understanding of the biology underlying these sex-specific differences. As a long-term goal, the researchers therefore want to develop a biological network model that describes the differences between men and women (the ''sex-ome'') at system level. Such a model will require identifying the primary and downstream sex-biased factors that act on the network and understanding how the sex-biased network interactions give rise to sex differences in the emergent phenotypes.

*Beiging (browning)

Brown adipose tissue can produce heat through the oxidation of fatty acids. This takes place in numerous mitochondria, which are also responsible for the brownish coloration of the tissue. If the "good" brown fat is activated, the metabolism is stimulated and the "bad" white fat deposits are reduced. The occurrence of brown or beige adipocytes in white adipose tissue is called browning or beiging, a phenomenon associated with increased energy consumption and, at least in the mouse model, with protection against obesity.

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Original Publication: Norheim et al., (2019): Gene-by-Sex Interactions in Mitochondrial Functions and Cardio-Metabolic Traits. Cell Metabolism, DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2018.12.013

Scientific Contact:

University Professor Susanna Hofmann, MD

Helmholtz Diabetes Center

Institute for Diabetes and Regeneration Research

Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen

German Research Center for Environmental Health, GmbH

Ingolstadter Landstrasse 1

85764 Neuherberg

Germany

Phone: ++49-89-3187-2112

e-mail: susanna.hofmann@helmholtz-muenchen.den:
I am a retired Naval Officer and small business owner, outside of my work at the News & Eagle. My wife Tammy and I enjoy serving together at church and attending Gaslight and ESO. We have two daughters, three dogs and little free time.

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November 13, 1931 - May 31, 2021 Marilyn "JoAnn" (Tinder) Peterman passed away at age 89 peacefully on May 31, 2021. Family and friends are invited to a memorial celebration of life to be held Saturday, June 26, 2021, beginning at 2:00 p.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
Ahead of the general elections, the Council of lay people of the Indian Bishops' Conference is organizing meetings throughout the territory. It wants to make local communities more involved in issues of freedom of worship in India. In March it will present a report to the bishops. John Dayal: "A poisonous context of regional nationalism undermines the secular roots of our republic".

New Delhi (AsiaNews) - "We Catholics continue to fight so that religion and politics remain separate" says John Dayal, general secretary of the All India Christian Council. He is speaking to AsiaNews, ahead of the general elections held in May.

Dayal reiterates that "India is a secular democracy. The upcoming elections represent a serious threat because the majority political parties are creating a venomous context of regional nationalism that undermines the secular roots of our republic ".

The opinion of the Catholic leader comes as the Council of lay people of the Indian Bishops' Conference (CBCI) launches a series of conferences to outline a political line of the Church. The product of these conferences, which are held throughout the territory, will be a report that will be presented to the bishops on March 10th. Subsequently, it will be up to the ecclesiastical hierarchy to formulate an official position and, possibly, suggestions for the development of the country and freedom of worship.

In any case, John Dayal explains: "Politics is not part of the Church. The Catholic Church remains a spiritual and moral guide. It can comment, give advice, persuade, but not order. Rather, it is the lay leaders, and not the Bishops' Conference, who have a direct role in the civil and political arena. For their part, Catholic bishops of India have been encouraging or suggesting to the Christian community to vote in a careful way, to use wisdom in choosing public officials involved in democracy, in supporting non-violence and pluralist society, for at least 25 years. India, with its many religions and cultures ".

The Council of the Laity is one of the consultative organs of the Indian Church. Its initiative responds to the desire to make the Christian minority more involved in matters concerning religious freedom in India. Recently, in the lead up to elections, Hindu radical attacks have intensified against the faithful and pastors, often accused of forced conversions of tribal and dalit, against the schools run by the Church and the blocking of funds from abroad to Christian NGOs who operate on Indian territory. The fear of sectarian attacks and of being victims of gratuitous and indiscriminate violence is common among the faithful.

The topics that will be discussed include the following: violations of the constitutional rights of the minority; the deprivation of work subsidies and in the field of education (such as the quotas reserved for disadvantaged castes), useful for encouraging the inclusion of Christians in society and the improvement of living conditions.

The Council of the Laity, highlights Dayal, "remains a motivational agency. I hope that in the future it will have the necessary resources to train, educate [people] and also communicate at the political level. This remains the long-term goal not only of the commission for the laity, but also of the All India Catholic Union that I presided from 2004 to 2008 ". Therefore "the bishops should involve Catholic unions and associations at the parish level to a greater extent. The CBCI should create a research office or think tank on politics, society and the economy".
John Timothy Hudson, 62, of Elkmont, Alabama, died Monday, June 21, 2021, at his residence. Visitation is from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Friday at Spry Funeral Home in Athens. There will be a private graveside service at Limestone Memorial Gardens. Mr. Hudson was born July 3, 1958, in Decatur, Al
Elkhart, IN (46516)

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Showers and thunderstorms likely - heavy rainfall is possible, especially in the morning. High 78F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

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Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low around 70F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Rainfall near an inch.
After decades of discrimination, racism against the ethnic minority is banned. Tourism will be promoted in Hokkaido, home to the remaining 12,300 Ainu.

Tokyo (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Japan's government introduced a bill today to recognise for the first time the country's Ainu minority as an "indigenous" people, following a century of forced assimilation and discrimination that almost wiped out the original culture.

In addition to outlawing racism against the Ainu, the law also provides for new subsidies to promote tourism in their homeland, Hokkaido Island.

The authorities will allow the estimated 12,300 Ainu to cut down trees in nationally-owned forests for use in traditional rituals.

Factors that prompted the move include Japan's historical treatment of the Ainu and growing demands from the international community for adequate recognition of the Ainu as an indigenous people.

The latter traditionally observed an animist faith, with men wearing full beards and women adorning themselves with facial tattoos before marriage.

Their lands were effectively seized after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which re-established the emperors paramountcy after centuries of Shogun rule.

A law passed in 1899 rejected Ainu culture and banned them from practising their customs and using their language, forcing them to assimilate into the mainstream population.

The law was repealed in 1997 and replaced with legislation designed to preserve the Ainu culture and guarantee their human rights.

This was the first time Japan acknowledge the existence of an ethnic minority within its territory, but failed to recognise the Ainu as an indigenous people.

This happened in 2008 when the government issued a statement recognising the Ainu as an indigenous people that have their own language, religious and cultural identity."
Santiago, Feb 15 (efe-epa).- Efforts continued Friday against 31 wildfires in regions of central and southern Chile, the National Emergency Office (Onemi) said in a statement.

Fifty other fires are classified as under control, while four have been extinguished entirely, according to the latest report from Onemi.

The hardest-hit region is Araucania, with a firefighter and two other people dead and 46 homes destroyed. A wildfire remains active in Traiguen and the flames have interrupted the supply of potable water to residents of Pitrufquen, 700km (436mi) south of Santiago.

In the region of Biobio, the number of homes wiped out doubled to four overnight as a result of a particularly dangerous blaze in the town of Nacimiento, where a "Ten-Tanker" aircraft capable of discharging more than 40,000 liters (10,567 gallons) of water has been deployed.

One of the largest of the active fires is near Cochrane in the Aysen region of Chilean Patagonia. The fire has already consumed 10,740 hectares (26,539 acres) of native vegetation and authorities say it will likely require the coming of the rainy season - possibly months away - to complete put out the flames.

Elsewhere in Chilean Patagonia, a fire threatens the town of Chile Chico, which lies near Lago General Carrera, home to a cluster of unique geological formations known as the Marble Cathedral.

To suppress the flames on the shores of Latin America's second-largest lake, which Chile shares with Argentina, authorities have deployed a Ten-Tanker, smaller aircraft and helicopters, while soldiers are assisting the firefighters and forest service personnel on the ground.

On Feb. 5, the Chilean government declared a state of catastrophe in Biobio, Araucania and another region, Los Rios, to facilitate the response to the wildfires.

The catastrophe declaration opened the door to the direct participation of the military to assure public order as necessary in support of the effort to combat and prevent fires.

More than 4,400 wildfires have been reported across Chile since the start of the austral summer in December, an increase of 7 percent from Summer 2017-2018.

And the extent of land affected by the flames has increased by 50 percent to 47,225 hectares (116,695 acres), according to government data.
Havana, Feb 15 (efe-epa).- Leonel, 91, and his wife Pirita, 74, sip coffee amid what's left of their home neighborhood after the first tornado to hit the Cuban capital since 1940 brought winds of 300 km/h (186 mph) to five districts on Havana's east side.

It all happened in less than a minute: a noise that sounded like the roar of an airplane followed by chaos. The walls and most of the roof gave way and debris rained down on the couple, leaving Lionel with minor injuries.

Though grateful to be alive, he is stung by the loss of most of the couple's possessions and memories.

"You pass an entire life, to reach 91, the sunset, and you encounter this," Leonel says, sobbing.

The bathroom and kitchen are open to the sky and the bit of roof that remains over the living room looks anything but stable.

The Jan. 27 tornado is blamed for six deaths and left more than 200 others injured. A total of 619 homes were destroyed and roughly 2,000 others suffered significant damage.

Roughly 10,000 people have been forced from their homes.

Yet in a little more than two weeks, Leonel and Pirita's home has been transformed from a heap of rubble to a modular space ready for reconstruction.

The change is the work of 30 university students, including the couple's grandchildren, who took upon themselves the arduous task of clearing away the debris, salvaging anything that can still be of use and amassing a quantity of bricks and other building materials.

"They didn't ask when the work would be finished, when they would eat, when they would take a break," Leonel says, moved by the solidarity shown by the thousands of young volunteers who have mobilized to help people who lost everything.

"They kept working until they couldn't see, because we had no sun or electricity," he recalls.

Ana Laura, a 22-year-old psychology student at the University of Havana, recruited 10 classmates to join her in visiting the areas hardest hit by the tornado.

They began by doing their best to lift their spirits of children whose schools were damaged. When classes resumed, the group shifted their attention to the adults.

"We continue knocking on doors, seeing how they are doing, how it's going for them, what other crises they are going through," Ana Laura told EFE.

Young Cubans continued to post appeals on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for their peers to contribute to the recovery effort, by offering their time and labor or by donating cash, clothing and food.

"Whoever says that Cuban youth are lost, should grab a toothbrush and wash out his mouth," Leonel says.

by
Buenos Aires, Feb 15 (efe-epa).- The 30 people aboard a Chinese fishing trawler that sank Friday after a collision with another boat in international waters off the coast of Argentina were rescued by a passing ship, an Argentine official told EFE.

The accident involved the Zhong Yuan Yu 11 and another fishing vessel, the Pesca Vaqueiro, which operates out of the northern Spanish port of Vigo.

The vessels collided at a spot 9 nautical miles (16km) outside Argentina's exclusive economic zone at roughly the same latitude as the port of Comodoro Rivadavia in the southern province in Chubut.

Accounts from other ships in the area indicate that the damage suffered by the Pesca Vaqueiro was "insignificant" and did not hinder the vessel's operation, Sergio Cernadas, an official with Argentina's Maritime Control Center, said.

He emphasized that the center was basing that conclusion on second-hand information, as it had been unable to establish radio contact with the Pesca Vaqueiro.

The Argentine coast guard has dispatched a boat, the GC-24 Mantilla, to the scene and an aircraft is in the skies above the area, Cernadas said.

"We don't know the causes," he said, adding that the investigation was in the initial phase.

The collision occurred around 2.00 am in an area where more than 230 fishing vessels operate, Cernadas said.

The crew of the Zhong Yuan Yu 11 were rescued by another Chinese-flagged vessel and the Maritime Control Center has received no reports of deaths or missing persons following the shipwreck, Cernadas said.

As many as 250 fishing boats were in the area at the time of the accident.

The spot is favored by mainly Chinese, Spanish, and Korean-flagged vessels fishing for squid.

The trawlers that ply those waters usually make their local base in Montevideo and because the area is outside of the Argentine economic zone, incidents there do not come under the jurisdiction of Buenos Aires.

Argentine authorities will issue their own report based on the findings of the coast guard, Cernadas said.

Preliminary reports indicate that the Zhong Yuan Yu 11 activated a distress/locator beacon which the Argentine navy detected.
Effingham, IL (62401)

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Thunderstorms - a few could contain very heavy rain, especially overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 72F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

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Thunderstorms - a few could contain very heavy rain, especially overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 72F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
Imagine a high school where students skip standardized end-of-course tests. Instead, to pass a class or graduate, they show off the results of big projects theyve done, such as analyzing why the United States lost the Vietnam War or how geometric patterns can be used to produce solar energy.

Could this kind of testingknown as performance assessmentmake it tougher for these students to get into college?

Thats a big question on the minds of educators in K-12 as more schools are getting interested in using projects and portfolios to produce a fuller picture of student learning.

The trouble is that most college admissions officers already must review tall stacks of applications quickly. Few can carve out more time to read long descriptions of students work or watch videos of their presentations.

Performance-based assessments can generate a wealth of information for colleges about what could make a student successful there, said David Hawkins, the policy director at the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

But in admissions, its like trying to cram an enormous square peg into a small round hole because most admissions offices are set up to process applications in a swift, formulaic way, Hawkins said.

So how can college admissions officers get a quick and accurate sense of what students from performance-based schools have accomplished? A few projects around the country are trying to answer that question.

A Software Barrier

One of those initiatives, Reimagining College Access, wants to lower a key barrier to considering performance assessments in students admission applications: colleges software systems.

Hawkins, whos working on that project, said most colleges use software systems designed to process students grades and test scores, but they cant accept videos, research papers, and other projects. Reimagining College Access, based at the Learning Policy Institute in California, works to create or find online platforms that can accept those kinds of student work.

With the resources to spend more time on each students application, the most selective private colleges are the ones most likely to be able to examine more complex forms of student work. And many have been doing that kind of holistic admissions for years. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for instance, allows students to upload creative portfolios that capture research, visual and performing arts, and maker projects.

But most students attend big public universities, with formula-driven criteria and little time for nuance in evaluating applicants. One project, in New York, is pushing those doors open a little wider.

The New York Performance Standards Consortium , a network of public high schools that use project-based learning and performance assessment, found its students were having a tough time getting admitted to the City University of New Yorks four-year institutions. So it teamed up with the CUNY system to see what would happen if CUNY expanded the criteria it used to consider consortium students for admission.

In a pilot project that began in 2015, CUNY campuses began reviewing the performance-based projects and work portfolios of consortium students, and teachers descriptions of their work, even if those students SAT scores fell just below the minimum cutoffs for each CUNY campus.

Preliminary findings of that pilot are promising. Graduates of consortium high schools who were admitted through the pilot are earning grades at CUNY that are as good or better than the average for admitted New York City students, and they are outdoing them when it comes to earning credits.

CUNY officials declined to discuss the pilot for this story. But Michelle Fine, a CUNY professor whos analyzing the data from that project, said it has allowed admissions offices to encounter applicants they wouldnt have encountered before, and use students performance assessments as good predictors of their college success.

Opening a Door

Chynna Krouser is a case in point. Under CUNYs traditional rules, she probably wouldnt have been accepted. Her grades put her in the top 10 percent of her class at New York Citys Eastside Community High, a consortium school, but her SAT scores fell shy of CUNYs requirements.

But when the pilot opened the door for Krouser to share more of her workincluding an advanced-algebra project in her sophomore year that she defended, Ph.D.-style, before a panel of adult judgesshe was accepted to several of CUNYs four-year campuses. Now, shes a junior at one of them, Hunter College, carrying a 3.0 grade point average and aiming for veterinary school.

Im glad they could really see me and what I can do, Krouser said.

Schools that use projects and performance assessments often carry an outsized burden of explaining themselves to colleges to make sure admissions officers fully understand their students applications.

Jerome Furman, Krousers high school counselor, embraces his role as explainer-in-chief. He cultivates relationships with college admissions officers and spends time describing the projects his students undertake and the nontraditional way their mastery is assessed.

There really can be a gate there as far as getting my kids seen unless I have a relationship with someone in the admissions office, Furman said.

Changing Transcripts

Part of Furmans job is making sure colleges haveand understandEastside Highs school profile. The profile is a standard high school document thats sent to colleges with students applications. It captures the school in a concise page or two, explaining details such as the curriculum, grading system, and demographic makeup of the community.

A project based in New England has designed model profiles to help schools that use performance assessments convey their work clearly to colleges. Theyve also designed model transcripts to reflect the nature of students work in performance-based schools.

Both models were created with feedback from colleges, said David Ruff, the executive director of the Great Schools Partnership, which is supporting the project undertaken by the New England Secondary Schools Consortium and the New England Board of Higher Education.

The new model transcript provides more detailed information than ordinary transcripts. It uses a 1-4 grading scale for students courses. But it also provides grades for crosscutting skills, like problem-solving, and for mastery of specific standards within each subject. In English, for instance, students proficiency is graded separately in reading comprehension, reading interpretation, writing range, writing research, discussion, and presentation.

The New England consortium and higher-education board also have tackled a key concern of parents whose children attend performance-based high schools: If our children present nontraditional transcripts to colleges, will they have a tough time getting in?

The two organizations convened colleges and universities in New England a few years ago and got a resounding answer. Seventy-five public and private institutions signed pledges that students from performance-based schools would not be at a disadvantage in the admissions process.

What we heard from these schools is that different transcripts werent a problem, Ruff said. Across the country today, colleges are already seeing transcripts that use A-F grading systems, or 0 to 100, or 1-2-3-4, or systems where there are As, Bs, and Cs, and no credit below a C. And transcripts from schools that use narrative descriptions.

The key thing is that they need the transcripts explained to them, Ruff said. They just want to understand.

Most schools that use performance assessments still make a crucial conversion for colleges: They use a letter or number-based grading system, Ruff said. Sending narrative descriptions of students work is still a heavy lift for all but a few, highly selective institutions, he said.

New kinds of transcripts and school profiles can help bridge that gap, he said.
With the vote of 485 members in the 596-seat chamber, Parliament begins the process of strengthening the powers of the president. In addition to extending terms limits, changes would enhance the role of the Armed Forces in the countrys political life. For an Egyptian activist, Sisi runs the country like a "military unit, but for Fr Rafic, power still lies with voters.

Cairo (AsiaNews)  A package of constitutional reforms before Egypts parliament could, if approved, allow President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to remain in power past 2030.

For some critics, this would open the door to authoritarianism and a "military" takeover of the country. Mina Thabet is one of them. A Christian Egyptian activist and a former leader of the Maspero Youth Union, he is currently in charge of freedom and minorities programmes at the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF).

Others, like Fr Rafic Greiche, spokesperson for the Egyptian Catholic Church, preach caution since "the legislation has not yet been approved and ratified by referendum. People have not yet voted.

Egyptian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to extend term limits for President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi. Some 485 members of the 596-seat parliament backed the package of constitutional amendments, which would also further enshrine the military's role in national politics.

The Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee will now be able to discuss the reforms for 60 days before returning them to Parliament for a final vote, which should not pose a problem to the president since it is controlled by his loyalists. A referendum will likely take place before early May, at the start of Ramadan, to bring the process to a close.

Reacting to the reform package, a group of politicians, activists and civil society groups released an open letter describing the move as illegal. In their view, the changes would sanction the countrys slide towards authoritarianism, eight years after pro-democracy protesters forced out of power then President Hosni Mubarak.

In April 2018, Sisi, a former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, was re-elected to a second four-year mandate. During his first, positive changes have occurred in terms of the economy, infrastructure, defence, and in principle, religion. Yet, much remains to be done in terms of social and political rights.

According to his critics, the president is using stability and economic growth to crackdown on dissent and limit civil liberties.

For Fr Rafic Greiche, spokesperson for the Egyptian Catholic Church, the approval process "is before Parliament" and "in all likelihood the text will undergo changes" before the referendum. "The road is thus long. More fundamentally, Sisi still has to go to the polls and get the votes.

The clergyman sees no danger of "authoritarianism, because power lies with voters. And reforms are much broader and include a second chamber, the Senate, a vice-president, and more Christians and women in Parliament."

For Fr Rafic, "Sisi has done a lot, especially in the fight against terrorism and infrastructures. Of course, the risk of attacks has not been eliminated, but there is greater security. And the country is developing. In the streets, the energy sector, industry . . . we have only just started along a development path that should have started 40 years ago."

For activist Mina Thabet, who is now in London, things look different from the time of the uprising that led to the fall of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. "We cannot talk about reform or constitutional amendment but rather of an attack against democracy.

Sisi is trying to use the popular support he gained when he drove the Muslim Brotherhood out of power by playing the role of saviour of the fatherland. In reality, he has muzzled public life, denying and repressing civil liberties. The road is now open to him to become the next Egyptian dictator."

The activist notes that voting can do little to keep him from hanging onto power because at the last election "there was no leader capable of standing up to him".

"In Egypt there is a lack of democratic culture, which is not just about the voting process, but about the whole system. People are closely monitored, afraid to speak out. Their conversations and even their most intimate relationships ae under surveillance."

"Here we are not just talking about staying in power for another 10-15 years, but about an unprecedented power grab at the expense of other branches of government, including the judiciary.

The president thinks he is in charge of a military unit, not the leader of a country whose problems he cannot solve.
President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency to fund his proposed border wall, which one study found would put 93 endangered species at risk.

Trump made the announcement minutes before the House and Senate began voting on a bipartisan spending package that would keep the federal government open without allocating money for the wall, avoiding another government shutdown. The measure passed both houses, and Trump said he would sign it, but not without also declaring an emergency to secure around $8 billion in wall funding, something he could do as early as Friday, The New York Times reported.

"President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive actionincluding a national emergencyto ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, according to The New York Times.

Trump plans to make the declaration at 10 a.m. Friday. Since it would reallocate money already earmarked by Congress for other purposes, CNN's Stephen Collinson called it "Trump's most striking assault yet on the system of constitutional order that he is sworn to preserve, protect and defend." If the emergency declaration is not blocked by the courts, it would also establish a precedent by which future presidents could bypass Congress. The move could backfire on Republicans, granting a future Democratic president the ability to run around Congress on issues like gun control or climate change, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned.



"If the President can declare an emergency on something that he has created as an emergency, an illusion that he wants to convey, just think of what a president with different values can present to the American people," she said Thursday, as CNN reported.

Democrats, some Republicans and leading environmental groups have criticized the president's decision and promised legislative and legal opposition.



"Donald Trump's illegal national emergency declaration is one of the most shocking, dangerous, and damaging abuses of power by any president in our country's history," Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in a statement. "It's a blatant violation of the Constitution's separation of powersand all for an unnecessary, unwanted, and racially motivated border wall. This is one of the lowest lows for the institution of the presidency. The Sierra Club will take swift legal action against Trump's declaration."

Environmental organizations also criticized the bipartisan spending package, which does allocate around $1.4 billion for around 55 miles of fencing in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) reported. While this falls far short of the $5.7 Trump sought for a barrier, it still puts borderland wildlife and communities at risk.



"This despicable deal will wall off the Rio Grande Valley. It will permanently destroy spectacular ecosystems and wildlife habitat, and seize private land from Texas families," CBD public lands policy specialist Paulo Lopes said. "Trump and Republicans have doubled down on their racist agenda to build a monument to hate and fear. Anyone who votes for this is voting for Trump's border wall, no matter what euphemism they try to hide behind. This is an enormous waste of taxpayer money that will do nothing to stop illegal drugs or human trafficking."

The emphasis on a border wall also sets a troubling precedent in an era of climate change, which will likely force more and more people in the global South to migrate north as conditions deteriorate. Many of the immigrants traveling from Central America towards the U.S. border are driven partially by a prolonged drought that could be related to climate change, and the region is expected to suffer increased climate impacts in future years.

"A quasi-fascist policy of fear-mongering about immigration and corresponding militarization of the border is clearly the major thrust of Trump's response to the mounting impacts of climate chaos," Ashley Dawson, author of Extreme Cities: The Peril and Promise of Urban Life in the Age of Climate Change, told the Huffington Post in October 2018.
Can you go 21 days without using plastic water bottles? Well, you've been challenged. Too easy of a challenge for you? Share the idea with your friends and family. Imagine if the entire world went 21 days without consuming plastic bottles.

Let's make 2019 the year of plastic pollution solutions. We have unimaginable power as consumers to create a better world for our children.

You've Been Challenged EcoWatch teamed up with China's first professional surfer Darci Liu and #5minutebeachcleanup founder Carolina Sevilla to create an exciting challenge to help you on your path to making a huge difference on this planet. Get engaged with your friends and family and embark with us on this journey. It's simple: refuse plastic bottles for 21 days, talk about it on social media, hashtag #PlasticBottlesChallenge and reflect on your experience for a week via social media posts. Let us know via social media direct messaging if this challenge has made a difference in your life. Mention @EcoWatch, @5minutebeachcleanup and @take__away_from_the_sea so we can consider featuring your experience in our Instagram story.

We Need a Massive Shift "We get used to very easy lifestyles," said Liu, but we've got to shift our mindsets and move away from the single-use mentality. "What we need to realize is how much that bottle has traveled to be where you are," said Sevilla as she spoke about the carbon footprint of plastic water bottles. We are responsible for the destruction happening on this planet. Sevilla urged viewers to get engaged, reject single-use plastic and realize that "this can really make an impact."

Plastic Is Wreaking Havoc On Our Health "It's way healthier for us to bring our own water bottles" instead of consuming whatever bottles of water or beverages are available when we are on the go, said Liu. Plastic Pollution Coalition points out in the above Instagram post that we are still learning about the health implications of plastic.

Plastic Bottles or Tap Water? 93 percent of bottled water contains microplastics. The chemicals used in plastic bottles create these microplastics. Have we all processed the fact that these chemicals do leach into the liquid, and thus end up in our systems as well?

Coke, Pepsi and Nestle Are World's Biggest Producers of Plastic Trash Liu lives on Hainan Island China where she has direct connection to the ocean each day, a rare opportunity considering most of China is away from the sea. "Every single day there is more trash in the ocean next to me while I'm surfing," said Liu. "Kids ask me the question why there are so many plastic bottles in the ocean. I don't know how to answer the kids."

At this point, you likely have a solid understanding of the importance of this challenge. So find yourself a water bottle that you enjoy drinking from, and be sure you have access to a water refill station or water filtration system if needed. You are officially a change maker and an #EcoWatcher committed to making a difference.
Muddy water from historic flooding in Queensland, Australia is now flowing out of rivers into the sea, threatening even the outer shelves of the Great Barrier Reef some 60 kilometers (approximately 37.3 miles) from the coast, Australia's ABC News reported Friday.

Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) water quality team leader Dr. Frederieke Kroon told ABC News that the runoff covered "an extraordinarily large area." Researchers said it is likely filled with nitrogen pollution and pesticides, and poses a risk to the health of a reef already damaged by back-to-back coral bleaching events in 2016 and 2017.

Researchers told BBC News that up to 600 kilometers (approximately 372.8 miles) of outer edges of the reef could be impacted. The nutrient-rich water poses two main threats to the coral:



1. Reduced Light: The flood plumes encourage the growth of algae, which blocks light from the coral.

"The biggest concern at the moment is this reduced lightif it persists for much longer, in some cases we can actually see a smothering of the system," James Cook University's TropWATER research unit scientist Jane Waterhouse told BBC News.

2. Encouraging Predators: The growth of algae also attracts crown-of-thorns starfish, a major predator of coral, AFP reported. Runoff from agricultural pollution had increased the starfish population even before the floods, which have only made the problem worse.

"This provides a brilliant food source to allow those populations to thrive," Waterhouse told AFP.

The threat posed by the muddy water has been exacerbated by relatively calm weather.



"Generally a bit of wind and wave action can break the plumes up quite quickly, but we have literally had no wind so they're just sitting there hanging," Kroon told BBC News.

Scientists told AFP that they would not know the full impact the flood plumes have had on the reef until they have completed studying the area over the next few months once the runoff disperses.



The Queensland flooding occurred after some areas saw a year's worth of rainfall in 10 days, BBC News reported. Extreme rainfall events are expected to increase in Australia due to climate change, the country's Bureau of Meteorology's (BOM) State of the Climate 2018 found.

Since coral bleaching is linked to warmer ocean temperatures, the flood runoff could represent another climate-related threat to the iconic reef. However, the cooler flood waters could also potentially protect the reef from marine heatwaves that were forecast for March, according to ABC News.

But Kroon cautioned ABC News against looking too much on the bright side:

"If you want to have a flipside to the story that would be one, yes, but it's still a huge disturbance to the reef [after] the bleaching and the cyclones that we've had over the last couple of years," she said.



"The reef doesn't even really get time to recover from any of these disturbances because it gets hit with something pretty much every year."

Kroon noted that the last flooding event to impact the reef significantly was Cyclone Oswald in 2013, then the first such incident in recent memory.

"At the time, that was unheard of and so to have that happen again not that long afterwards is highly unusual," Kroon told ABC News.
Trump is losing his rallying cry to save coal. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) voted on Thursday to retire two coal-fired power plants in the next few years despite a plea from the president to keep one of the plants open.

Earlier this week, the president posted an oddly specific tweet that urged the government-owned utility to save the 49-year-old Paradise 3 plant in Kentucky. It so happens that the facility burns coal supplied by Murray Energy Corporation, whose CEO is Robert Murray, is a major Trump donor.

But the TVA board of directors voted 5-2 in favor of closing that plant as well as the Bull Run plant in Tennessee.

After the vote, the agency tweeted that the decision to close the plants "will ensure continued reliable power at the lowest cost feasible."

The part about "lowest cost feasible" is key: It simply became too expensive to maintain and operate the aging plants. As TVA CEO William Johnson the Associated Press, "It is not about coal. This decision is about economics."

In an environmental assessment released Monday, the agency recommended retiring the Paradise plant due to high maintenance costs, unreliability and its need for repairs.

"The overall costs to our customers would be $320 million lower if these two plants were not in the fleet," TVA CFO John Thomas told the board, as quoted by the AP.

Keeping them open would have cost an estimated $1.3 billion in equipment and maintenance investments, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

So the board's decision to close the plants wasn't even based on coal being the most polluting energy source. It was so TVA customers can save money on electricity bills (the benefit of cleaner air is just a bonus).

President Trump's pledge to end the so-called "war on coal" was one of his signature campaign promises. But coal plants are closing at a rapid pace because of economics and competing power sources. As Bloomberg wrote, "What was true under President Barack Obama is still true today: Coal's share of the power mix is declining, and wind and solar remain the fastest-growing U.S. sources of electricity." Coal's decline has also been attributed to the rise of natural gas.

It's clear that Trump's efforts were not enough to sway the TVA board's vote, even though he appointed four of its seven members, the AP noted. One of the "no" votes came from Trump-appointee Kenny Allen, a retired coal exec from Kentucky.

"I'm just not completely comfortable with the recommendation because the impact and ripple effect on community cannot be fully quantified," he said, as quoted by the AP.

The shuttering of the two plants will cost 167 jobs at Paradise and about 100 jobs at Bull Run, and will affect the people in related jobs that support the facilities, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.

But Johnson, TVA's CEO, said 40 percent of the plant employees whose jobs will be displaced are eligible for retirement, and added that those who want to stay could be offered jobs elsewhere in the utility, the Chattanooga Times Free Press wrote.

TVA board member Virginia Lodge, an Obama-appointee, sided with the majority.

"I don't want anybody to think we have not heard and understood the heartfelt pleas from these communities," she told NPR. "If we could make our decisions based on our sympathetic feeling it would be easy. Unfortunately we've all taken an oath to do what we think is best for the entire Valley."

TVA said on Twitter, "We will work with impacted employees and communities."
This year's letter from Bill and Melinda Gates focused on nine things that surprised them. For the Microsoft-cofounder, one thing he was surprised to learn was the massive amount of new buildings the planet should expect in the coming decades due to urban population growth.

"The number of buildings in the world is going to double by 2060. It's like we're going to build a new New York City every month for the next 40 years," he said.

Construction materials such as steel, cement wood "requires lots of energy from fossil fuels," as Gates noted in the letter, "and the processes involved release carbon as a byproduct."

"We need to find a way to make it all without worsening climate change," he wrote.

The "larger point," the billionaire philanthropist said, is that battling climate change requires much more than just solar panels and wind turbines. It requires "breakthrough inventions" across every polluting sectorbuildings, agriculture, electricity, manufacturing and transportation.

Those five industries are the biggest contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions, or as Gates calls them, the five "grand challenges in climate change."



"Solar panels are great, but we should be hearing about trucks, cement, and cow farts too," he wrote.

For instance, electricity counts for only a quarter of the emissions, Gates said in a promo video with Melinda for their annual letter. "Things like cement, steel, meatthere's a lot of other activities that are generating 75 percent of it," he said.

Bill and Melinda Gates's 2019 Annual Letter www.youtube.com

Meanwhile, agriculture accounts for another 24 percent of greenhouse gases. Gates quipped: "That includes cattle, which give off methane when they belch and pass gas. (A personal surprise for me: I never thought I'd be writing seriously about bovine flatulence.)"

On that note, Gates was happy to report that the European Commission recently committed to invest in research and development on the five challenge areas, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the $1 billion fund he helped launch, will be using the five areas to as a guide for their future investments in clean-energy companies.

Breakthrough Energy Ventures counts a number of wealthy and influential billionaires as investors and board members, including Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, Virgin Group's Richard Branson, Alibaba founder Jack Ma and more.

"Part of the solution is to invest in innovation in all five sectors so we can do these things without destroying the climate," Gates concluded. "We need breakthrough inventions in each of the grand challenges."


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JPMorgan Chase on Thursday announced that it has created and successfully tested a digital coin. Each JPM Coin represents US$1 in funds held in designated accounts at JPMorgan Chase N.A.

The token was created using Quorum, a variant of Ethereum developed by JPMorgan Chase, to enable instantaneous payment transfers between its clients' institutional accounts.

The JPM Coin and its underlying technology capabilities are currency-agnostic. Over time, the token will be extended to other major currencies and to other platforms. JPMorgan Chase says it will operate on all standard blockchain networks.

JPM Coin is currently a prototype, and JPMorgan Chase has not yet sought support from any regulators. It will do so as it moves toward production.

"The fact that JPMorgan Chase is issuing a token is overall very positive for development of corporate currencies and security tokens," PCG Advisory Group CEO Jeff Ramson told the E-Commerce Times, "mainly because of the validation of the space that JPM brings."

Not a Cryptocurrency or Stablecoin

JPM Coin differs from cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum in that the latter are not collateralized, and their value is intrinsic to the currency.

Although JPMorgan Chase has said that its token also differs from fiat-backed Stablecoins, some observers consider it to be one, based on matching characteristics.

"The advantage here is the JPMorgan Chase backing, rather than a theoretical value," said Rebecca Wettemann, vice president of research at Nucleus Research.

Although JPMorgan Chase will use the blockchain to settle transactions, that has no bearing on its acceptance of cryptocurrencies, PCG's Ramson said. "Blockchain is a very important development, while cryptocurrencies -- with no asset backing them -- will diminish in significance."

How JPM Coins Work

JPM Coins are transferred between parties in a transaction and instantaneously redeemed for the equivalent amount in U.S. dollars, reducing settlement times. JPMorgan Chase believes JPM Coin can reduce clients' counterparts and settlement risk, decreasing capital requirements.

"The ability to accelerate settlements is important, given the volume of transactions and currency value fluctuations," Wettemann told the E-Commerce Times.

JPMorgan Chase has concluded successful tests of the process between a client account and a J.P. Morgan account.

Pros and Cons of the JPM Coin Approach

"For certain types of interbank settlement, distributed (or synchronous) ledger technology (DLT/SLT) can create great efficiencies," noted Steve Wilson, principal analyst at Constellation Research.

"When trading parties are at arm's length, you normally need brokers and expensive reconciliation layers," he told the E-Commerce Times. Using SLT lets certain types of multilateral settlements be agreed to in real time. "Everyone knows that everyone sees the same data, without any reconciliation."

However, SLT "can be exorbitantly expensive and slow in transactions where there are natural intermediaries," Wilson pointed out.

The JPM Coin might "add great respectability" to the acceptance of blockchain technology for mainstream use, he said.

Still, arm's length interbank settlement "is a special case -- certainly important, but not universally applicable," Wilson said, "so let's not get carried away. Blockchain is not the next Internet. Nor is it generally any sort of network of value transfer."

Blockchain has been touted as the answer to the difficulties that arise when financial institutions work with SWIFT, the global network that lets them send and receive financial transactions information.

All About the Money

SWIFT faces competition from the Interbank Information Network, which JPMorgan Chase launched in October 2017. By the end of the year, more than 100 banks had signed up. They will be the first users of JPM Coin.

Another competitor is Ripple, an enterprise blockchain solution for global payments, which has signed up more than 100 banks worldwide.

SWIFT has been taking on the competition:

In March it completed a DLT proof-of-concept for Nostro reconciliation with 34 participating banks;

In November, SWIFT India launched a blockchain banking pilot with Monetago; and

In December, SWIFT launched a pilot pre-validation system that uses an API to check data from other banks, in an effort to compete with fintech companies and blockchain startups.

However, "SWIFT is going to have to be very careful about its value proposition and its place in these new disintermediated settlement systems," Constellation's Wilson warned.

"The new ledgers need to not overreach," he cautioned. "Even the best blockchain applications tend to overlook that tokenization is a form of admin, which the blockchain initially was dedicated to getting rid of."

The Government Gets Involved

The United States government's General Services Administration (GSA) has launched the U.S. Federal blockchain program.

In July 2017 it hosted a blockchain forum attended by multiple federal agencies, where advances in blockchain technology and use cases were discussed, and an agenda was set for working together to evaluate and implement blockchain in fulfilling the agencies' diverse missions.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began offering grants of up to $800K to fund anticounterfeiting solutions from blockchain startups.

It's not clear how well blockchain will work in government.

"Because of the reality of public admin," Constellation's Wilson pointed out, "blockchain is much harder to generalize into governments."

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.


by Sumon Corraya

Gloria Jharna Sarker, a 40-year-old lawyer and a mother of two, has a long history of involvement as a student in Christian associations and in favour of women. She pledged to work for needy children, women and young people.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) - Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim country, has its first Christian woman lawmaker. Gloria Jharna Sarker, a 40-year-old lawyer and mother of two children, was elected from the Khulna, southern Bangladesh.

As soon as her victory was confirmed yesterday, the news spread across the country and Christians sent their congratulations. Speaking to AsiaNews, the new Member of Parliament said that this "Victory is not only mine, but of the whole Christian community. I thank God for choosing me to serve the needy."

Ms Jharna Sarker is the first Christian woman to be elected to Parliament since Bangladesh gained independence 47 years ago.

Before her, only two men were elected to parliament. Promode Mankin, a Catholic, was an MP between 2009 and 2014 as well as Social Affairs minister between 2009 and 2012. His son, Jewel Areng, was elected for the first time in 2016 in a by-election and re-elected in last Decembers general election.

Ms Jharna Sarker was endorsed by Card Patrick D'Rozario, archbishop of Dhaka and Bangladeshs first cardinal. For this reason, she is grateful to Pope Francis and Cardinal Patrick DRozario for their blessings, and that is why today I am here.

The new MP is a member of the Awami League of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose party won the election of 30 December 2018. Her party took 43 seats (out of 50) reserved for women in the National Parliament (Jatiya Sangsad).

On Tuesday, the party submitted its list to the Election commission, which validated it yesterday. Gloria Jharna Sarkers name was on it, and the new MP will take the oath of office on 4 March.

A devout Catholic, Jharna Sarker is a member of the Chalna parish, in Khulna. She is a lawyer by training and her husband is a businessman.

She has long history of student activism in Catholic associations and women's groups such as the Young Women's Christian Association, the Bangladesh Christian Association and the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council.

Injured in a blast that killed 24 people and wounded 300 in 2004 in Dhaka, she never thought of giving up on political action.

"I am from a coastal area where people are neglected and struggle to survive. I will work for needy children, women and young people," she said.

In the Khulna area there is a great need for female empowerment, she explained; at the same time, I will focus on what Prime Minister Hasina tells me to do."
North Andover, MA (01845)

Today

Showers in the morning, then cloudy in the afternoon. High near 75F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy during the evening followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 64F. Winds light and variable.
Iraqi priest: "Bartella is the epicenter, but threats also involve Karamles and Qaraqosh. A "demographic distortion" plan is underway, orchestrated by Shiite leaders and supporters in Baghdad. The Iraqi Church rejects armed response and continues in dialogue. We need an institutional police force open to Christians too.

Karamles (AsiaNews) - There is no peace for Christians in northern Iraq. If, on the one hand, the memory of the violence perpetrated by Islamic State jihadists (SI, ex Isis) is still alive, in recent weeks another threat is shadowing the future of the community: the Shiite militias linked to the Shabak, who are in fact hindering Christians return to the Nineveh plain.

The epicenter of this new chapter of anti-Christian persecution is Bartella, increasingly drapped with banners depicting the militia battles against Isis as well as saints and sacred figures of the Shiite tradition.

"Bartella is a problem, a special case", says Paolo Thabit Mekko, head of the Christian community in Karamles, speaking to AsiaNews. "In recent years - he continues - the presence of Shabak has increased dramatically and Christians are afraid to return. At least 600 families who have fled in the IS era are still in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, and have no prospect of return at the moment. There is a real demographic upheaval in the city, which began in 2003 after the US invasion and which has accelerated in the last period ".

The presence of local Shiite militias, adds Don Paolo, "creates unease and the prospects for the future arouse anger and concern". The priest sees a behind-the-scenes attempt to "change the demographics of the area", according to some a "design" orchestrated by the Shiite leadership and maneuvered from the outside, with the complicity of a part "of the Shabak politicians and exponents in Baghdad who support them ".

Until 30 years ago, the population of Bartella was entirely Christian. The demographic changes of the last decades have turned the composition upside down, ending up dividing it in half between Christians and Shabak, a largely Shiite Muslim ethnic group. When the Islamic State (SI, former Isis) conquered much of northern Iraq, including the Nineveh Plain, the entire population of Bartella left the area due to persecution by Sunni radicals.

Today, two years after the ousting of the "Caliphate" jihadists, less than a third of the original 3800 families that populated the town have returned. Most of them are still in exile and there is fear of returning due to persecution, threats and intimidation perpetrated by some members of the Shabak community, which presides over the Shiite militias that control the area.

Following the expulsion of Isis, confessional divisions, militias and armed groups are emerging with increasing strength, trying to get hold of growing sections of territory in northern Iraq, above all in the plain of Nineveh, which was once almost entirely Christian. Qusay Abbas, a member of the Shabaks in Parliament, said the attacks were the work of a small, unrepresentative minority.

But the stories (and complaints) from Bartella and other towns in the area tell another truth: That the Shiite militias are trying - most of the time by force - to eliminate the Christian component. In fact the cases of sexual attacks, thefts, threats and violence against private individuals is becoming more and more frequent. Recently, an ethnic Shabak man fired bullets in the air for over an hour in front of a church in the town.

"What is happening to Bartella - underlines Don Paolo - is repeated, albeit to a lesser extent, in other areas of the plain such as Karamles and Qaraqosh. We are facing a movement that seeks to expand ".

"A council of the sages of the Nineveh plain - he continues - which includes Christians, Arabs, shabaks has initiated dialogue and is trying to resolve the situation. Unfortunately there are no official agreements and there is no way to apply the rare agreements between the parties ".

In this context the Iraqi Church remains firm on the refusal to create a Christian armed militia and strengthens the initiatives of meeting and confrontation. "The situation remains delicate - concludes the priest - and Christians are afraid. One of the solutions that can be followed, and which we hope, is the establishment of an official, institutional police force, within which Christians can also contribute to enlisting the protection of law and order".
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While many loving couples were busy exchanging gifts of flowers and chocolates on Valentine's Day, for one particular couple, one gift meant more than any other.

Speaking on Friday, 62-year-old Brendan 'Jack' Shiels, originally from Carlingford here in Louth, explains how he has now "won the lottery three times" in his life.

The first time he hit the jackpot was when he met his wife Breda many years back, he says, while the second time was when he was lucky enough to receive a vital kidney donation just over 30 years back.

Back then Brendan first realised he had a problem with his kidneys when he suffered renal failure and collapsed while in New York. It turned out he had a previously undiagnosed condition were his kidneys had stopped growing when he was a child.

Back in the 1980s, when he first got his kidney, he was told he might get ten years out of it. Instead he got 31.

And now the third time he has hit lucky, Brendan says, was just last Monday.

His loving wife Breda (60) had already decided to donate one of her own kidneys to the Irish Kidney Association, however, at the same time, Brendan's previous kidney was starting to fail him.

Knowing the situation, Breda was still going to go ahead and donate hers, but not necessarily to Brendan.

However, after a series of tests, it was found that she was the perfect match for Brendan. And so, an operation was scheduled as soon as possible.

On Monday that operation happened and after three hours of surgery, both emerged successfully.

While Breda recovered quicker, and was told she could go home on Wednesday, she requested to stay on in the Belfast hospital and wait for her husband to be discharged, so they could leave together.

Brendan and Breda are both recovering well and returned to their Belfast home on Valentines Day to continue their recovery.

Brendan's sisters Anne, Roisin and Mary, from Carlingford, are delighted to have them both home and would like to thank all the staff at Belfast City Hospital for their excellent care.
Louth senator Ged Nash has said he is reassured by comments from Energy Minister Richard Bruton that there are no plans or policy from the UK government to site a nuclear waste facility in Northern Ireland.

The Louth Labour Senator said;

I am pleased that the Minister has confirmed this position in a reply to a parliamentary question.

I raised this matter in the Seanad last week, having been contacted by concerned citizens along the border area.

It appears from the Ministers reply that government officials were first made aware of investigations by a UK agency into the possibility of locating a geological disposal facility in the Mournes last November.

The Irish government must remain vigilant on this very concerning issue and send a very clear message to the British government that Ireland - north and south - that we will resist with every means at our disposal any attempt to site a nuclear waste facility of any kind in the island of Ireland at any point in the future.

Senator Nash's question and the minister's response are below:

Question:

"To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if his attention has been drawn to proposals to consider the establishment of a geological disposal facility and-or nuclear waste disposal facility in the Newry, Mourne and Down area; if he has been notified and consulted by the UK authorities on this matter of concern to Border communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter."



Minister Bruton's response:

"Senior officials in my Department and the Environmental Protection Agency meet twice a year to discuss matters of mutual interest with United Kingdom (UK) colleagues through the UK-Ireland Contact Group on Radiological Matters.

"Officials from the Northern Ireland administration are also invited to attend. The matter of radioactive waste, and in particular the Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) project, is a standing item on the agenda for the Group.

"Ireland engages on this matter through this Group, and will continue to monitor developments in relation to UK plans for geological disposal of radioactive waste.

"This issue was discussed at the Group in November 2018 and officials from the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy confirmed that following a recent public consultation on engagement with potential host communities for a Geological Disposal Facility in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the working policy on potential sites will relate to England only. There are no plans or policy to site a Geological Disposal Facility in Northern Ireland.

"A decision regarding locating a Geological Disposal Facility in Northern Ireland would have to be taken by the Northern Ireland Executive.

"My officials will continue to engage with their UK counterparts at national and regional levels to ensure that our concerns in this matter continue to be represented."
Local magician Paddy Ward, who goes by the stage name The Great Padini, has had a long time to practice the art of magic. After 75 years of performing, Paddy explained how he found himself performing on Virgin Media One's Ireland's Got Talent recently.

I just decided I would have a go at Irelands Got Talent, said Paddy, originally from Wynne's Terrace, Dundalk, who now lives in Sixmilebridge in Limerick.

Ive been involved in magic all my life. My father was a magician. Ive been practicing since I was around nine-years-old. I performed my first act at the age of 11.

Since then, Paddy has won everything there is to win in the magic world in Ireland.

His accomplished career earned him the title of The Great Padini on the Irish magic scene.

Im a five times winner of the International Brotherhood of Magician Ring 85 Shield as Ireland's Top Magician, a feat which has never been equalled, said Paddy.

If only we could have Padinis skills, we know a few times this trick could come in handy! #gottalentirl pic.twitter.com/mjfklTEwPJ  Ireland's Got Talent (@GotTalentIRL) February 9, 2019

Paddy has two children, a daughter Michelle, 54, and a son Nigel, 53. His wife Josie sadly passed away from cancer and he took a step back from magic for a while.

He says her death is the hardest thing Ive ever had to face in my life.

Now retired from his job as a sales director, Paddy has dedicated his life to spreading cheer through magic.

I pass the time and keep myself busy by doing charity shows. I go around to daycare centres and care homes, just performing, Paddy said.

I love performing. I get a great kick out of it. I love bringing the fun into it, he added.

Paddy isnt letting any secrets out before the show airs on this Saturday, February 9 at 7.30pm.

Check in was at 9am, so we had to leave Limerick at 5.30am to be up there in time. It was a long day, I was constantly on the go, but it was worth it. It was good fun. I cant tell you how I got on, Im sworn to secrecy so you will have to tune in to see, Paddy said.
A new strategy to clamp down on illegal dumping and fly-tipping has been welcomed by local Councillor Antoin Watters, who has battled against the proliferation of illegal dumping in North Louth over the last few years.

The Governments new initiative will see so-called bin gardas clamping down to households who cant prove that they dispose of their waste properly.

Inspectors will issue fines of 75 to those who cant prove that they are disposing of their waste in a legal manner. Members of the public who dispose of their waste in their local dumps will need to keep receipts. And if a case is brought before the courts, the fine will increase to 2,500.

The local councillior who has been working with Louth County Council to launch a county-wide awareness campaign regarding illegal dumping said: I welcome the plans. Anything that causes people to become more diligent with their waste disposal is a good idea. We need to protect the beautiful landscapes and tourism industry in this area from illegal dumping.

Cllr Watters said he believes there are a sizeable amount of people in North Louth who dispose of their rubbish through other methods than private bin collection.

Speaking about the dangers of householders hiring unlicensed vans to collect their waste, he said: For example, if I pay a man with a van to take away a mattress and maybe a settee or some other items and he dumps them at a beauty spot in the Cooley mountains, I am responsible because those items are mine and I did not use someone who holds a waste collection permit.

I am responsible and can face fines even though I employed someone in good faith to take away my rubbish.

Hugh McElvaney of local company ACE Environmental also welcomed the new bylaws saying: Its only fair and environmentally necessary that 'all' households should dispose of their waste in a proper fashion, whether that is with a permitted kerbside bin collection company or your local civic amenity site, Dundalk is lucky that it is well-serviced by both.

In relation to the nationwide crackdown, a senior waste management official told The Irish Independent that there are currently no plans to force households into signing up to private bin collectors.

Hugh Coughlan, the regional coordinator of the Eastern Midlands Regional Waste Office, told The Irish Independent people who are not signed up with private waste collection facilities will not automatically be issued with a fine.

The Department of the Environment said that every local authority across Ireland is either considering or had recently introduced new bylaws on waste management.


Families who refuse two offers of social housing will not be offered another home for five years, according to new proposals being implemented by the Government to tighten restrictions on current social housing laws.

Under current laws a person who rejects two offers is suspended from the housing waiting list for one year.

But Government ministers have have deemed the current rules are not strict enough to deter more people from refusing social housing being offered to them.

A report in The Irish Times last week outlined that the main reasons for people rejecting social housing were the areas being associated with drugs or antisocial behaviours and homes being too far away from the housing applicants family.

Peter McVerry of the Peter McVerry Trust said in a press statement that people can turn down social houses for a number of reasons.

A local authority may only have a three-bedroom house available, you could have a large family with four or five children who say 'no that's not acceptable and as my children grow older this would become less acceptable. This would have to be done flexibly.


Flights were prevented by years of conflict in Iraq and sanctions against Saddam Hussein's regime after his invasion of Kuwait.

Najaf: Air India on Thursday resumed flights to Iraq after a 30 year gap, when a plane carrying Shiite pilgrims landed in the city of Najaf.

"This is the first time in the last 30 years" that a plane has come from India to Iraq, said Pradeep Singh Rajpurohit, India's ambassador to Iraq, at the international airport that serves the Shiite holy city.

"We are very fortunate that the holy city of Najaf has been chosen as the first destination", he added, noting that attempts to restore direct air links had been ongoing for some time.

Flights were prevented by years of conflict in Iraq and sanctions against Saddam Hussein's regime after his invasion of Kuwait, as well as by the extended chaos that came in the wake of the former dictator's 2003 downfall.

The plane started its journey from Lucknow and upon landing the crew and pilgrims were welcomed by Iraqi officials.

Shiite pilgrims from around the world come to Najaf, some 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of Baghdad, to visit the tomb of Imam Ali, Prophet Mohammed's son-in-law and founder of Shiite Islam.
Influential leaders and heads of organizations from across India came together in Mumbai to discuss the importance of clean cooking solutions and to recognize some of the most innovative cooking technologies on the market today.

Hosted by the Clean Cooking Alliance (the Alliance), the event at the Taj Lands End Hotel on 31 January kicked off with a conversation between Dymphna van der Lans, Alliance CEO; Sanjeev Kapoor, Chef Extraordinaire and member of the Alliance Chef Corps; Narayana Murthy, Founder of Infosys; and Prasoon Joshi, CEO and CCO of McCann Worldgroup India. The speakers shared some of their personal motivations for working with the Alliance to promote the use of cleaner, more modern stoves and fuels.

Since cooking has given me so much, what I can give back is not just quality food, but also my expertise and reach, said Chef Kapoor. I used to think that cooking was just about food, something that could bring joy. But the trouble with it  the fact that it can kill  was an eye-opener. I didnt want to sleep quietly with the fact that something that brings me so much joy can also kill.

In India, over 789 million people  nearly 60 percent of the population  depend on polluting, open fires or inefficient stoves to cook their food. Nearly half a million deaths each year are linked to exposure to toxic smoke from cooking and heating.

Research shows that using traditional stoves reduces the birth weight of a child, noted Mr. Murthy. If we want our children to be strong, to be healthy, to get a good education, we need to take good care of mothers. And one dimension of that is making sure they have a modern contraption for cooking.

Im very passionate about energy services and how they make peoples lives better, said Mrs. Van der Lans. My vision is about the effective use of power. No ones life should be limited by how they cook. Its really important to think about the next phase of technology and innovation, and I see that opportunity here in India.

Where we can contribute is by telling stories, said Mr. Joshi, whose company is working with the Alliance and other partners to implement a new behavior change campaign in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. If we can inspire by telling stories of people whose lives have been transformed by clean cooking, then not only policymakers and financial institutions but people themselves will realize what a big difference clean cooking can make.

Mr. Joshi also unveiled the new Hindi slogan for the campaign, for which the approximate English translation is, As the smoke is disappearing, progress is appearing. The campaign is a joint effort by the Alliance, Shell, Tata Trusts, McCann Health, Sambodhi, Nexleaf Analytics, DharmaLife, and SEWA.

The discussion was followed by a cooking demonstration by Chef Kapoor, who prepared a variety of dishes using several of the clean cooking technologies exhibited. The demonstration included products by Greenway Appliances, Envirofit, Wonder Chef, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, representing technologies powered by solar energy, electric induction, liquified petroleum gas, charcoal, and wood.

About the Clean Cooking Alliance

The Clean Cooking Alliance works with a global network of partners to build an inclusive industry that makes clean cooking accessible to the three billion people who live each day without it. Established in 2010, the Alliance is driving consumer demand, building a pipeline of investible businesses, and fostering an enabling environment that allows the sector to thrive. Clean cooking transforms lives by improving health, protecting the climate and environment, empowering women, and helping families save time and money. Learn more about our work at www.CleanCookingAlliance.org.
ADA [ndash] Services for Virginia Ruth Spann, 73, of Ada, will be 10 a.m. Saturday, June 26, 2021, at the Byng Free Will Baptist Church, Rev. Roger Arter will officiate. Burial will follow at Oakman Cemetery. Mrs. Spann died Monday, June 21, 2021, at her home. See criswellfh.com website for 
Northview senior Jarman Debose doesnt consider himself a great artist, but he loves participating in projects like Trojan Art Day and learning from those around him.

I came because I really like art, Im just not too good at it, so Im trying to take as much inspiration from other people as possible, Debose said. Seeing all the unique ways and art styles that people have, and how theyre not at all the same, its intriguing. I also plan on visiting the (International Arts Center) here at Troy.

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For some students, the day was further preparation for their future goals.

What first got me into the arts was cartoons, Abner said. Growing up, I liked the way they looked and figured I wanted to do something like that someday. I figured out I was only good at sketches, but that hasnt stopped me from trying to learn as much as I can. Im hoping if I do go to a school like this, I will improve further and possible get a career in animation or become a cartoonist.

Debose has identified areas of improvement in his drawing, and he left the event inspired.
Rehobeth Elementary School Principal Greg Yance, the schools PTO, and Houston County School board touted the schools teachers at a professional development workshop Friday.

Every time I go someplace and meet with the state legislators, I say Our teachers deserve more, HCS Superintendent David Sewell told RES staff.

Sewell, who started his teaching career at Rehobeth, told faculty and staff they could expect a raise in the neighborhood of 4 percent and more classroom funding after much discussion with the State Department of Education.

Out of 137 school districts in the state, Houston County Schools is ranked at 131st in funding. Achievement-wise, Sewell said, Houston ranks at 31, which is particularly evident at Rehobeth Elementary, despite its being the largest primary school in the district, by far, with majority Title I students.

That is a reflection of the great job that yall do, Sewell said, praising Yances efforts and the dedicated parent community at Rehobeth.

Every one of our schools is a magnet school, said Sewell, adding that he may have gotten some flak for telling that to some folks at Dothan City Schools recently. If we opened up the doors, we couldnt hold them.
Two Florida residents were arrested Wednesday, Feb. 13, after allegedly breaking into Sadies Flea Market.

Alexis Deering, 21, of Cottondale, Florida and Stephen James Gaye, 20, of Hallford, Florida, are charged with third-degree burglary.

Houston County Sheriffs deputies responded to a burglary alarm call at Sadies Flea Market Wednesday. Once on scene, deputies met with the owner of the business who told officers a door to the business was partially open.

Deputies were preparing to search the building when a white male threw a backpack of merchandise outside the door. Deputies made entry to the business and saw one white male and one black female take of running through the business. Deputies pursued the two suspects and apprehended both as they attempted to exit through a different door.

All stolen property was recovered.

Deering and Gaye are each out of jail on a $15,000 bond.

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One of the areas most prominent financial institutions will be growing soon as Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union is merging with Wiregrass Federal Credit Union.

Wiregrass FCU members approved the merger proposal by a wide margin  682 to 79  during a meeting Tuesday, according to Wiregrass FCUs website. Army Aviation Center FCU members will gain access to Wiregrass three branches  one on Honeysuckle Road in Dothan, one in Andalusia and one in Marianna, Florida with the merger.

Wiregrass members will garner access to AACFCUs 21 branches and its products  including better online banking products and a cooperative system that allows use of shared branch services and a many ATMs nationwide. Additionally, Wiregrass members will receive access to in-house mortgage products instead of having to use third parties.

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While the merger will be finalized on March 1, the melding of financial systems will not happen until May 20.

Wiregrass FCU board members recommended the merger given AACFCUs similar culture and commitment to superior service and employee loyalty. The board also noted regulatory burdens had become challenging for the small credit union.
Diane Elizabeth Rockwell McQueen passed away Tuesday, February 12th surrounded by her children, their spouses, her grandchildren, and close friends as she finished the race well, fighting the good fight until the end. She was 80 years old. Visitation will be at Searcy's Funeral home Saturday from 10:00-11:30 with a public graveside to follow at Meadowlawn Cemetery at 12:00 noon. Born October 28, 1938 in Weston, Massachusetts to a military family, Diane grew up all over the world. The stories of her childhood read like an adventure novel. From learning to dance the hula at a young age, to attending the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, to riding elephants in Thailand,the world was Diane's playground. Grandma/Grammy always had amazing stories that surprised and enthralled her family. Their travels carried them to the Tidewater area of Virginia where Diane graduated from Hampton High School in 1957. From there she moved on to attend William and Mary College. It was while working a summer job in the Washington D.C. post of Ft. Belvoir that she met a handsome young army officer named Jim McQueen. After a whirlwind courtship, she and Jim were married in 1959, and Diane immediately began her life as a military spouse. Her strength and character flourished as she cared for her husband and raised a family through 23 moves in 26 years. Her family will never forget the courage and fortitude she displayed after Jim was wounded in combat in Vietnam and was hospitalized for months in Ft. Gordon, GA while the family was in Greenville, South Carolina. The way she lovingly cared for her children, managed their home, and drove back and forth hundreds of miles to be with her husband, all while preparing the family for the next move, made an indelible impression on her children. In 1977, Jim's retirement from the Army brought the McQueen family permanently back to Enterprise, Alabama. One last move and they were settled in to their final home there up the steep driveway at 103 Oakwood Drive. Diane jumped into life, becoming involved in her children's activities, her church, and organizations that allowed her to use her sweet spirit, her smile, and concern for others to make a difference in her hometown. As grandchildren came along, she became even more enthusiastic in her love and passion for her family. Grandparents Day at Elementary school was treated as a sacred holiday. Her grandchildren were the most talented, beautiful, exceptional kids on the planet. Every single one of them. If you didn't believe it, you could just ask her! She would always make sure that they were well supplied with her homemade cookies, and would write individual names on each bag. These expressions of love were what Grandma/Grammy used to fill her grandchildren's "Heart Pocket". Losing her husband of 45 years in 2004 brought her sadness, but not brokenness. Diane continued her journey of loving others with joy and humility. She continued to exercise her gift of hospitality by hosting meals in her home for young military couples who visited her church while stationed at Fort Rucker. She loved to go and visit the residents at the nursing home to brighten their day. She would always say, while in her 70's, ""old folks are so cute!" It was never too much trouble to stop by and visit someone, drop off food, or share a word of encouragement. She will be remembered for her quick wit, dazzling smile, her enthusiasm for life, and her quirky sense of humor. Diane was well known, and loved, by cashiers, servers, secretaries, nurses, and the people in life she encountered because she made them feel special and important to her because they were. She earned the descriptive title awarded to her "The Oldest Teenager in Enterprise" because of her joyful approach to serving the Lord by serving others. Diane McQueen finished this life as the epitome of the Proverbs 31 woman. Diane was preceded in death by her loving husband, James Thomas "Jim" McQueen; parents, Donald Edward and Helen Spofford Rockwell; brother, Donald Edward Rockwell; and grandson, Parker Benjamin McQueen. She is survived by 2 sons Mark McQueen (Karen) of Panama City, FL and Michael McQueen (Pam) of Enterprise, AL; 2 daughters Beth McQueen Jones (Frazier) of Auburn, AL and Tori McQueen Andrade (Jay) of Atlanta, GA; 10 Grandchildren, Nicholas McQueen (Hannah) of Birmingham, AL, Alex McQueen (Rebecca) of Huntsville, AL, Mitchell McQueen (Breanna) of Enterprise, AL, Taylor McQueen of Auburn, AL, Lauren Jones Jordan (Albert) of Atlanta, GA, Thomas McQueen of Panama City, FL, Brooks and Garrett Jones both of Auburn, AL, Joshua and Macy Beth Andrade both of Atlanta, GA; 1 great grandson James Parker McQueen of Enterprise, AL. The family waits in great anticipation for the arrival in June of Diane's 2nd great-grandchild Charlotte Elizabeth McQueen. Diane is also survived by 1 brother Richard Bruce "Dick" Rockwell (Annette); Numerous nephews, nieces, and great-nephews and nieces. Serving their Grandmother as pall bearers are Nicholas McQueen, Alex McQueen, Mitchell McQueen, Thomas McQueen, Brooks Jones, Garrett Jones, and Joshua Andrade.
Independent member of Donegal County Council Cllr Ian McGarvey, the oldest elected public representative in Ireland, is a lucky man.

After ignoring warnings and cheating death for the best part of two years Cllr McGarvey is hale and hearty again after a life-saving heart procedure.

From Ramelton and in his third term on Donegal County Council the 89-year-old is the current chairman of the Letterkenny Municipal District and former Mayor of Donegal.

He was first elected to Donegal County Council at the age of 74.

Over the past two years he ignored a pain in his left arm and it was not until in the early days of this year when the pain moved to his chest he decided to do something about it.

And now after a heart procedure in a Dublin hospital he is hale and hearty again and carrying out his council duties. Indeed he is looking forward once again to contesting the next local elections in May.

I used to get a pain in my arm from time to time over the last couple of years and I was supposed to have a number of stress tests in that time, said Cllr McGarvey.

I didnt feel stressed and I dont do stress. Any time the tests were on I was always too busy with other things so I never got around to having one.

When the pain moved to his chest after Christmas, though, he did take it a little more seriously and he finally decided to have it checked out.

I was at home here, it was a Wednesday afternoon, and I was about to go out the door to the Public Services Centre in Milford to do some work.

Before I left I rang my doctor, Dr Cuffe, and told him I was going down to the Public Services Centre and I would not be back before he finished in the surgery.

So I asked him if he could do a letter for the hospital and leave it into the nursing home and I would collect it later.

Ian lives close to the Ramelton Community Hospital and he duly collected the letter with the intention of heading up to Letterkenny University Hospital the next morning, Thursday.

But Marjorie, his wife of 65 years, had other ideas and with a little gentle persuasion he made the ten minutes journey up the road to the hospital on the Wednesday night.

And as luck would have it the mobile angiogram unit was in Letterkenny the following day.

After a night in the Emergency Department, Ian had his angiogram on Thursday morning and by lunchtime plans were being put in place for him to travel to St James's Hospital in Dublin for a heart procedure.

We left Letterkenny at 7am on the Friday morning and we were pulling up at St Jamess at 11 am.

They wheeled me straight from the ambulance to the Cat Lab and I was out again at 4pm. I would have been back in Letterkenny that night if they had a bed for me.

I had four stents inserted, one to a main artery and the other three to smaller arteries.

Ian spent the weekend in St Jamess and returned to Letterkenny on Monday and after spending a few hours in Letterkenny University Hospital he was home in his own corner on Monday evening.

I was walking along the corridor in Letterkenny and I met this woman from Ramelton who works in the hospital.

She ended up taking me home on the Monday evening.

He had the procedure in St Jamess on Friday, January 25 and before the first day of Spring he was out and about again and back working, serving his local community.

I feel fine again, I was back working after two days. But other than the pain in my arm first and then in the chest I always felt fine. I never felt tired and I always had loads of energy.

The only thing that is different is the pain is gone.
Among unpublished works, realized after extensive researches developed in the Pirelli archives, and sculptures such as Meduse, such as Clessidre and Pinna Nobilis, Giorgio Andreotta Calo (Venice, 1979, lives and works in Italy and the Netherlands) returns to Italy for an institutional exhibition, after his presence at the 57th Venice Biennale (2017). On the occasion of CittadiMilano, we interviewed the artist on the meaning of an aesthetic landscape creation, where what was submerged becomes visible and what appears before the eyes, systematically disappears from human sight. Between horizontal planes and oblique perspective views.

During the last months researches, did you find forgotten data, about Milan, that you discovered and were not aware of?

From the beginning, I was meant to start from the history of Pirelli, from the work that they carried out and from the processes leading to the final realization of industrial products. The archive made me conscious about what Pirelli actually produces and, going back in time, we have even recovered a portion of submarine cable that was the first type of product engineered and built by the Italian Company.

On show, Senza Titolo (Cavi), 2019 was deliberately placed at the beginning of the path, and its horizontal section recalls the radial system of the tire bundle. An interweaving portion of metal fibres covered by rubber that shapes a structure. And observing the cable it could be revised the same torsion. The technical-productive forerunner of the tires has been the telegraph cable. The Company had distinguished itself on the market for the laying of submarine cables, a strong point that allowed us to get to the story of the steamboat, the CittadiMilano, discovering that it had sunk.

It is a prelude for an idea of descent to a place that is not the physical, urban territory of the city, but it is a place that could be everywhere, even if it actually emerges a very strong bond with Venice. This has always been a method of investigation that I have carried out, mapping a space or a reality, referring to places that are familiar to me, and then characterizing them and connoting them in comparison to what is my personal experience and my way of pondering several realities. Milan is portrayed in the enormous photographic manifesto (Citta di Milano, 2019), becoming inverted, a sort of seascape, with a horizon of a sea overturned in opposition. They are simply intersected places.
Most states, UTs raise GST threshold for suppliers of goods to Rs40 lakh

Beginning 1 April, all states and union territories in the country except Kerala and Telangana and two union territories (with assemblies) will have higher annual threshold limits for mandatory registration for GST for goods suppliers.

This limit is not applicable for businesses selling goods inter-state. There is also no change in the limit for service providers.

So far, 18 states and two UTs have exercised an option to revise the annual threshold limit; while for nine other states, the option was deemed to have been exercised, according to information available with the finance ministry.

The GST Council at its meeting on 10 January, decided to double the threshold limits for goods suppliers to Rs40 lakh (for the bigger states apart from Himachal Pradesh, Assam and J&K) and Rs20 lakh (for the seven North Eastern states apart from Uttarakhand and Puducherry).

At present, these limits are Rs20 lakh and Rs10 lakh, respectively.

The Council had given an option to UTs and all the 29 states to opt from the two threshold limits to either raise the limit or maintain status quo. It was a one-time exercise meant mainly to benefit micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs.)

It was also decided that the states would have a week to decide on one of the two limits. The threshold for registration for service providers would continue to be Rs20 lakh, and in the case of Special Category States, Rs10 lakh.

While the Kerala government it was still considering whether to raise the GST threshold for goods suppliers, the Telangana government said it would maintain status quo till a decision is taken by the chief minister.

According to a senior finance ministry official, the Kerala government had said it would, but subsequently said it was still under consideration.

States have time till 31 March to select their option and inform the centre about it.
China cooperates with India on trans-border crimes, but continues to back Masood.

The Pulwama attack took place on 14 Feb in J&K. (File Photo)

New Delhi: China has again declined to back India's appeal to list Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the United Nations following Thursdays Pulwama attack that killed 40 jawans.

China has remained defiant in supporting Indias efforts to list Jiash chief Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN.

China, however, expressed deep shock over the Pulwama terror attack.

China has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang told a media briefing in Beijing.

We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all forms of terrorism. We hope relevant regional countries will cooperate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability, Geng said.

When asked about China's stand on the listing of Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council, he said: As for the issue of listing, I could tell you that the 1267 Committee of Security Council has a clear stipulation on the listing and procedure of the terrorist organisations.

JeM has been included in the Security Council terrorism sanctions list. China will continue to handle the relevant sanctions issue in a constructive and responsible manner, Geng said in an apparent reference to Indias External Affairs Ministry's appeal to all members of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

China is a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council and has repeatedly blocked Indias request on Azhar.

India has tried to get Azhar listed as a global terrorist since 2008-09, soon after the Mumbai attacks, but China put a technical hold on it.

India again put out a request in February 2016, soon after the Pathankot attacks. China vetoed that too.

As recently as January 2017, an effort by US, UK and France was also scuttled by China.

Forty Central Reserve Police Force jawans died on Thursday in the deadliest attack in Kashmir till date, when an explosives-laden SUV rammed into their truck in Pulwama.

The attack, claimed by the Jaiesh-e-Mohammed, was carried out by a lone wolf terrorist Adil Ahmad Dar from Kakapora who had joined the group in 2018.

Masood Azhar was released by the Atal Behari Vajpayee government in 1999, along with Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Omar Sheikh, as part of a prisoner exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814.
Delays in banning wildlife trade put hundreds of species at risk

From parrots to lizards, hundreds of animal species could be at risk of extinction because of a policy process that responds slowly to scientific knowledge, according to a new study in Science.

International wildlife authorities will gather in May to vote on wildlife trade restrictions at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Conference of the Parties (CoP). The study suggests concrete steps policymakers can take to speed up a wildlife protection process that can take more than two decades.

"New trends in wildlife trade can develop quickly, with some species going from common to near extinction in just a few years," says Eyal Frank, a co-author of the study and an assistant professor at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy. "A policy-making process needs to respond quickly to new information in order to prevent extinction for hundreds of animals and plants. That's why it's absolutely critical that policymakers allow science to inform a speedy protection process."

Frank and his co-author, David Wilcove from Princeton University, analysed 958 species on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List that are endangered by international trade. Of those, they discovered that 28 per cent are not protected by CITES, the primary international framework for preventing species extinction due to international wildlife trade.

When studying how quickly species from the Red List became protected under CITES, they found that 62 per cent needed to wait as long as 19 years for protection under CITES or are still waiting to be listed up to 24 years after being first considered. These patterns are the same for even the most threatened species.

At the same time, the study points out that 36 per cent of species studied were protected by CITES before making it on the Red List. This could be because the CITES authorities had information not available to the IUCN, or it could be due to staffing and other resource constraints at the IUCN.

"CITES and the Red List are two of the most important tools we have to save wildlife threatened by international trade. It's vital that these two institutions work together closely and quickly to stop the killing," says Wilcove, who is based at the Princeton Environmental Institute and Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Frank and Wilcove recommend that any nation that is part of CITES advocate that Red List species threatened by international trade be quickly protected under the treaty in order to clear the backlog, with the goal being that any threatened species on the Red List that is threatened by trade receive a prompt vote for immediate protection under CITES. Independently from CITES, all countries can use the Red List as a source of information and take measures to protect threatened species found within their borders.
Trump threatens national emergency as Democrats squeeze wall funds

US President Donald Trump is now threatening to declare a national emergency to circumvent Congress and get more money for his wall after the Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a massive budget that provides only a fraction of the $5.7 billion Trump sought for the border security wall.

The $333 billion legislation passed 83-16, expected to pass the House later on Thursday, could help avert a government shutdown slated to start on Saturday.

President Trump has committed to signing the legislation but said he'd also declare a national emergency to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.

While a government shutdown deal seems to have been reached, its still unclear whether the President will sign the deal, but reports quoting sources said it provides for more detention beds, more fencing, and more funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Instead of providing funds for the border wall, the Democrats seem to be backing a smart, efficient border security proposal, to give Trump billions.

This means that the Democrats are conceding Trumps calls for increased border security, but are not in favour of the border wall plan. Instead they want increased funding for DHS in technology spending, which, given past statements, is likely to include drones, artificial intelligence, and unspecified cutting-edge technology.

The Congress now looks poised to strike a bipartisan deal to avoid another shutdown.

Late last month, Democratic Party leadership released a proposal for smart, efficient border security. Chances are that the compromise deal will include elements from this proposal, given that Democrats too are wary of another government shutdown and the risks associated with the creation of a smart wall using untested, biased technology.

Such a wall will amass profits for military companies like Raytheon, tech firms like Amazon, and private prison makers like Geo Group, but do nothing to solve the humanitarian crisis at our southern border.

It will also likely lead to civil rights violations writ large  not just for migrants, but for the two-thirds of the American population who live within 100 miles of the border around the US as a whole. Eventually, surveillance technology perfected at the border could be repurposed against us all, as is often the case when new tech is rolled out first against the most vulnerable populations.
India scraps MFN status for Pak, empowers Army

A day after Pakistan-backed terror attack on Indian security forces in Kashmirs Pulwama district on Thursday, India scrapped the 'Most Favoured Nation' status extended to the neighbouring country and gave a free hand to the military to decide on the course of action.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned the perpetrators and those aiding and abetting terrorists that they have made a big mistake and will have to pay a heavy price. Stating that free hand has been given to the security forces to act, PM dared Pakistan not to live in illusion that it can destabilise India.

We have given full freedom to the security forces. We have full faith in the bravery and valour of our security forces. I am hopeful that the patriotic fervour will ensure that people will provide correct information to our agencies so that we can intensify our efforts to crush terror, the prime minister said while flagging off Vande Bharat Express between New Delhi and Varansi from New Delhi Railway Station today.

"The most favoured nation status to Pakistan stands revoked," finance minister Arun Jaitley said, briefing the media on the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 7 Lok Kalyan Marg home in Delhi.

There is "incontrovertible evidence" of Pakistan's direct hand, finance minister Arun Jaitley said after the worst terror attack on forces in Kashmir left 43 soldiers dead and several more seriously injured.

Besides scrapping the "Most Favoured Nation" privileges given to Pakistan, he said India would take all steps to ensure the country's isolation globally.

The foreign ministry, he said, would initiate all possible diplomatic steps to ensure complete isolation of Pakistan in the international community, adding that there was "incontrovertible evidence" of Pakistan's direct hand in the attack.

Jaitley also said those helping and supporting terrorists would "pay a very heavy price".

Most Favoured Nation status is given to a trade partner to ensure non-discriminatory trade between two countries.

India granted that status to Pakistan in 1996 but Islamabad never reciprocated, even though it is required to do so as a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Now India can raise customs duties to any level on goods coming from Pakistan.

The Indian government says at Pakistan, under Prime Minister Imran Khan, is struggling financially and India's move to scrap Most Favoured Nation status will hurt the country.

But the move will be largely symbolic as bilateral trade between India and Pakistan is barely $2 billion per year. India mainly exports cotton, dyes, chemicals, vegetables and iron and steel and imports fruits, cement, leather, chemicals and spices.
In the short amount of time I have been here, my focus mainly has been on acquainting myself with changes to the area, getting up to speed on 
China has not only been silent, but is the only country at the UN which has supported terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar.

At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force or CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in J&K. (File Photo)

New Delhi: Countries from across the globe condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district with nations like the United States, UK, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India in combating the menace of terrorism. China has been the only country which has not commented or condemned the terror attack.

At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force or CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammed or JeM suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying hundreds of kilograms of explosives into their bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district that also left many critically wounded.

Coincidentally, China has been also been the only nation at the United Nations which has openly supported terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar by constantly blocking efforts by India and other UN Security Council members to list him as a UN designated terrorist.

The US condemned the terror attack and said it stands alongside India in defeating terrorism.

"The US Mission in India strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims," US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster said.

Russia, while condemning the terror attack, stressed the need to combat such "inhuman acts" with decisive and collective response without any double standards.

"We denounce terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with decisive and collective response without any double standards," a Russian Embassy statement said.

French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said France most firmly condemns the heinous attack perpetrated in Jammu & Kashmir. "France has always been and always will be by India's side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms," he said.

Germany strongly condemned the heinous terrorist attack, saying stands by its strategic partner India.

Australia, Turkey and Czech Republic also condemned the horrific terror attack.

India's neighbours Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives also expressed solidarity and vowed to combat the menace of terrorism jointly.

"I strongly condemn the deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir today killing at least 40 people. We send our thoughts and prayers to those affected. The Maldives will continue to work with India and the international community to combat terrorism in our region and the world at large," Maldivian President Ibrahim Solih said.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a message through the country's High Commission, said her country remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and manifestations and maintains a zero tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities.

Bangladesh would continue to work and cooperate with international community including India to eradicate the menace of terrorism, she said.

"Deeply saddened by the news of the horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir. Bhutan strongly condemns terrorist attack of any nature. Our prayers are with the grieved family and we are following the situation closely," Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena expressed sadness over the dastardly terror attack, saying the world must condemn such brutal terrorist attacks and take effective action to prevent such incidents in future.
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BOSTON (AP)  General Electric announced Thursday it will downsize its world headquarters in Boston and will return $87 million that Massachusetts spent as part of an incentives package to lure the company from Connecticut three years ago.

The industrial conglomerate has been restructuring its operations amid sagging profits and other negative developments in recent years.





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By JOSEPH PISANI and ALEXANDRA OLSON

AP Business Writers

NEW YORK  Amazon abruptly dropped plans Thursday for a big new headquarters in New York that would have brought 25,000 jobs to the city, reversing course after politicians and activists objected to the nearly $3 billion in tax breaks promised to what is already one of the world's richest, most powerful companies.

We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion  we love New York, the online giant from Seattle said in a blog post announcing its withdrawal.





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By STAN CHOE

AP Business Writer

NEW YORK  As if the worst year for stocks in nearly a decade weren't bad enough, many investors now have to pay a tax bill on top of it.

The headache for investors is a result of how mutual funds are structured and how many times the funds' managers bought and sold shares through 2018.





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Subscriber content preview

Most Americans live in states where marijuana is legally available but most banks don't want anything to do with the cannabis industry.



LOS ANGELES (AP)  Bank officials and others urged Congress on Wednesday to fully open the doors of the U.S. banking system to the legal marijuana industry, a change that supporters say would reduce crime risks and resolve a litany of challenges for cannabis companies, from paying taxes to getting a loan.

Most Americans live in states where marijuana is legally available in some form. But there's a problem when it comes to banks: Most don't want anything to do with money from the cannabis industry for fear it could expose them to legal trouble from the federal government, which still considers marijuana illegal.





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Samsung is doing a big push in Europe at the moment, one industry source said, declining to be identified.

Potential customers are taking notice of Samsungs efforts to reinvent itself as a top-tier supplier for 5G wireless networks and bridge a big gap with market leader Huawei and industry heavyweights Ericsson and Nokia.

Samsung Electronics is pouring resources into its telecom network equipment business, aiming to capitalize on the security fears hobbling Chinas Huawei, according to company officials and other industry executives.

Those efforts include moving high-performing managers and numerous employees to the network division from its handset unit, two Samsung sources said.

Potential customers are taking notice of Samsungs efforts to reinvent itself as a top-tier supplier for 5G wireless networks and bridge a big gap with market leader Huawei and industry heavyweights Ericsson and Nokia.

French carrier Oranges chief technology officer, Mari-Noelle Jego-Laveissiere, visited Japan last year and was impressed with the pace of 5G preparations using alternative equipment makers including Samsung, a company representative told Reuters.

Orange, which operates in 27 markets and counts Huawei as its top equipment supplier, will run its first French 5G tests with Samsung this year.

Samsung is doing a big push in Europe at the moment, one industry source said, declining to be identified.

Underscoring the growing importance of the business, South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon visited Samsungs network division in January. In a closed-door meeting during that visit, Samsung heir Jay Y. Lee asked for government help with recruiting high-level engineers.

Huawei is battling allegations by the United States and some other Western countries that its equipment could enable Chinese spying and should not be used in 5G networks, which will offer higher speeds and a host of new services.

Australia and New Zealand have joined the United States in effectively barring Huawei from 5G, and many other countries, especially in Europe, are considering a ban. Huawei denies that its gear presents any security risk.

Its woes have presented Samsung with a rare opportunity. Telecom firms would ordinarily stick with their 4G providers for 5G upgrades as they can use existing gear to minimize costs, but many firms may now be under political pressure to switch.

Were bolstering our network business to seize market opportunities arising at a time when Huawei is the subject of warnings about security, said one of the Samsung sources.

The sources, who did not disclose specific figures for the employee moves, declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak on the matter.

Keen to seek new growth, particularly as sales of its mainstay chips and smartphones have begun to drop, Samsung plans to invest $22 billion in 5G mobile technology and other fields over three years. It declined to break down how much will go to 5G and the other areas - artificial intelligence, biopharma and automotive electronic parts.

Asked about Samsungs big push into network equipment, Huawei said in a statement that it welcomed competition in the market.

INDIA OPPORTUNITY

In India, Samsung is now in talks with Reliance Jio to upgrade its network to 5G, looking to build on what has perhaps been its biggest network success - becoming the key supplier for the upstart carrier.

We dont think 5G is far away in India, a Samsung official with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. He declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Samsungs clients include US firms AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications Inc and Sprint Corp and it has 5G network contracts with all three, though it was not clear how extensive those contracts are. It also sells to South Korean carriers and has partnered with Japanese mobile carriers to test its 5G equipment.

In many cases, Samsung supplies only small pieces of networks. According to market tracker DellOro Group, the South Korean firm holds just 3 percent of the global telecom infrastructure market compared with 28 percent for Huawei.

Its network business made 870 billion won ($775 million) in operating profit last year, according to Eugene Investment & Securities. Filings show Nokias network business made about 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) while Ericssons network operations made 19.4 billion Swedish crowns ($2.1 billion). Figures for Huawei were not available.

FINDING THE PEOPLE

One major hurdle for Samsung will be attracting talent amid a dearth of software engineers in South Korea.

We need more software engineers and want to work with the government to find that talent, Lee was quoted as saying by government officials at his meeting with the prime minister.

Samsungs network business unit employs roughly 5,000 people, according to a government official in the southern city of Gumi where Samsung operates its manufacturing plants.

Kim Young-woo, an analyst at SK Securities, expects Samsung to hire 1,000-1,500 people for 5G network equipment this year. Samsung declined to comment on network employee levels and hiring plans.

But Samsungs bet remains risky as the long-term nature of telecom network investment means change comes slowly.

Swedens Ericsson and Finlands Nokia, which acquired the remnants of once-powerful network equipment companies Alcatel-Lucent and Nortel, have as yet seen little sales growth from Huaweis problems, company executives said.

Both are in cost-cutting mode, even in the face of the 5G opportunity and the problems confronting their biggest rival.

Indeed, some network operators in Europe are warning that a Huawei ban - now under consideration in France, the UK, Germany and other countries - could push back deployment of 5G by as much as three years.

Others warn Samsung may struggle to develop a global sales and support organization.

The way telcos purchase products and services from their suppliers demand a lot of time and resources, which is why Ericsson and Nokia have around 100,000 employees and Huawei almost twice as many, said Bengt Nordstrom, CEO of telecom consultancy Northstream.

But Samsung is taking the long view. In December, it agreed to extend its Olympic partnership with the International Olympic Committee through to 2028 and expand its sponsorship to 5G technology.

The company did not want to leave its sponsorship spot open to Chinese rivals, a separate source with knowledge of the matter said.

If Samsung dropped the top mobile sponsorship for the Olympic games beyond 2020, then who would have taken that spot? It would only have been China, Huawei.
The following companies are subsidiares of Illinois Tool Works: A V Co 1 Limited, A V Co 2 Limited, A V Co 3 Limited, ACCU-LUBE Manufacturing GmbH - Schmiermittel und -gerate -, AIP/BI Holdings Inc., Accessories Marketing Holding Corp., Advanced Molding Company Inc., Allen Coding GmbH, Allen France SAS, Alpine Automation Limited, Alpine Engineered Products, Alpine Holdings Inc., Alpine Systems Corporation, Anaerobicos S.r.l., AppliChem GmbH, AppliChem Inc., Arylux Hungary Elektromechanikus Alkatreszgyarto Kft, Avery Berkel France, Avery India Limited, Avery Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avery Weigh Tronix, Avery Weigh-Tronix (Suzhou) Weighing Technology Co. Ltd., Avery Weigh-Tronix Finance Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Holdings Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix International Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix LLC, Avery Weigh-Tronix Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Properties Limited, Azon Limited, B.C. Immo, Beijing Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. 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De C.V., Diagraph Mexico S.A. DE C.V., Dongguan Ark-Les Electric Components Co. Ltd., Dongguan CK Branding Co. Ltd., Dorbyl U.K. (Holdings) Limited, Duo Fast de Espana S.A.U., Duo-Fast Korea Co. Ltd., Duo-Fast LLC, E.C.S. d.o.o., ECS Cable Protection Sp. Zoo, ELRO (Holding) AG, ELRO Grosskuchen GmbH, ELRO-WERKE AG, Elga Skandinavian AS, Elro Group, Eltex-Elektrostatik-Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Envases Multipac S.A. de C.V., Eurotec Srl, FEG Investments L.L.C., Fasver, Filtertek, Filtertek De Mexico Holding Inc., Filtertek De Mexico S.A. de C.V., GC Financement SA, Gamko B.V., Gun Hwa Platech (Taicang) Co. Ltd., HOBART Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Hartness International, Hobart (Japan) K.K., Hobart Andina S.A.S., Hobart Brothers International Chile Limitada, Hobart Brothers LLC, Hobart Dayton Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Hobart Food Equipment Co. Ltd., Hobart Foster Belgium, Hobart International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Hobart Korea LLC, Hobart LLC, Hobart Nederland B.V., Hobart Sales & Service Inc., Hobart Scandinavia ApS, Hobart Techniek B.V., Horis, ILC Investments Holdings Inc., ITW (China) Investment Company Limited, ITW (Deutschland) GmbH, ITW (EU) Holdings Ltd., ITW (European) Finance Co. Ltd., ITW (European) Finance II Co. Ltd., ITW (Ningbo) Components & Fastenings Systems Co. Ltd., ITW AEP LLC, ITW AOC LLC, ITW Aircraft Investments Inc., ITW Airport Ground Equipment (Beijing) Co. Ltd., ITW Alpha Sarl, ITW Ampang Industries Philippines Inc., ITW Appliance Components EOOD, ITW Appliance Components LLC, ITW Appliance Components S.A. de C.V., ITW Appliance Components S.r.l.a, ITW Appliance Components d.o.o., ITW Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, ITW Australia Property Holdings Pty Ltd., ITW Australia Pty Ltd, ITW Automotive Components (Chongqing) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Components (Langfang) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Japan K.K., ITW Automotive Korea LLC, ITW Automotive Parts (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Automotive Products GmbH, ITW Automotive Products Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Bailly Comte, ITW Befestigungssysteme GmbH, ITW Belgium, ITW Brazilian Nominee L.L.C., ITW Building Components Group Inc., ITW CER, ITW CP Distribution Center Holland BV, ITW CS (UK) Ltd., ITW Canada Inc., ITW Celeste Inc., ITW Chemical Products Ltda, ITW Chemical Products Scandinavia ApS, ITW Colombia S.A.S., ITW Construction Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Construction Products (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., ITW Construction Products AB, ITW Construction Products AS, ITW Construction Products ApS, ITW Construction Products CZ s.r.o., ITW Construction Products Italy Srl, ITW Construction Products OU, ITW Construction Products OY, ITW Contamination Control (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Contamination Control B.V., ITW Covid Security Group Inc., ITW DS Investments Inc., ITW DelFast do Brasil Ltda., ITW Delta Sarl, ITW Denmark ApS, ITW Dynatec, ITW Dynatec Adhesive Equipment (Suzhou) Co. 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Sole Shareholder Company, ITW Holdings Australia L.P., ITW Holdings I Limited, ITW Holdings II Limited, ITW Holdings III Limited, ITW Holdings IV Limited, ITW Holdings IX Limited, ITW Holdings Inc., ITW Holdings LP, ITW Holdings UK, ITW Holdings V Limited, ITW Holdings VI Limited, ITW Holdings VII Limited, ITW Holdings VIII Limited, ITW Hungary Finance Beta Kft, ITW ILC Holdings I Inc., ITW IPG Investments LLC, ITW Imaden Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW India Private Limited, ITW International Holdings LLC, ITW International Intellectual Property LLC, ITW Invest Holding GmbH, ITW Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, ITW Ireland Unlimited Company, ITW Italy Finance Srl, ITW Italy Holding Srl, ITW Japan Ltd., ITW Korea LLC, ITW LLC & Co. KG, ITW Limited, ITW Lombard Holdings Inc., ITW Lys Fusion S.r.l., ITW M FILMS II LLC, ITW MH LLC, ITW Marking & Coding (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Medical Group de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Meritex Sdn. Bhd., ITW Metal Fasteners S.L., ITW Mexico Holding Company S. De R.L. de C.V., ITW Mexico Holdings LLC, ITW Morlock GmbH, ITW Mortgage Investments II Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments III Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments IV Inc., ITW Netherlands Beta B.V., ITW Netherlands Finance Alpha BV, ITW New Universal LLC, ITW New Zealand, ITW Novadan Sp. Z.o.o., ITW PPF Brasil Adesivos Ltda., ITW Participations S.a r.l., ITW Pension Funds Trustee Company, ITW Performance Plastic (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Japan Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Korea Limited, ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids OOO, ITW Performance Polymers (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers ApS, ITW Performance Polymers and Fluids Group FZE, ITW Peru S.A.C., ITW Philippines Holdings LLC, ITW Poly Mex S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Polymers Sealants North America Inc., ITW Pronovia s.r.o., ITW Pte. Ltd., ITW Qufu Automotive Cooling Systems Co. Ltd., ITW Real Estate Germany GmbH, ITW Residuals III L.L.C., ITW Residuals IV L.L.C., ITW Rivex, ITW SMPI, ITW SPG Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Simco-Ion (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., ITW Slovakia s.r.o., ITW Spain Holdings S.L., ITW Specialty Film LLC, ITW Specialty Films France, ITW Specialty Materials (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Spraytec, ITW Sverige AB, ITW Sweden Holding AB, ITW Test & Measurement Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Test & Measurement GmbH, ITW Test and Measurement Italia Srl, ITW Test and Measurement Services Industry and Trade Ltd., ITW Texwipe Philippines Inc., ITW Thermal Films (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW UK, ITW UK Finance Beta Limited, ITW UK Finance Delta Limited, ITW UK Finance Gamma Limited, ITW UK Finance Limited, ITW UK II Limited, ITW Universal II LLC, ITW Welding, ITW Welding AB, ITW Welding GmbH, ITW Welding Products B.V., ITW Welding Products Group FZE, ITW Welding Products Group S. DE R.L. De C.V., ITW Welding Products Italy Srl, ITW Welding Products Limited Liability Company, ITW Welding Produtos Para Solgdagem Ltda., ITW Welding Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Welding Singapore Pte. Ltd., ITW de France, ITW do Brasil Industrial e Comercial Ltda., ITW haubold Paslode GmbH, Ideal Molding Technologies LLC, Illinois Tool Works (Chile) Limitada, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) Nederland B.V., Illinois Tool Works Norway AS, Impar Comercio E Representacoes Ltda., Industrie Plastic Elsasser GmbH, Inmobiliaria Cit. S.A. de C.F., Innova Temperlite Servicios S.A. de C.V., Innovacion y Transformacion Automotriz S.A. de C.V., Instron (Shanghai) Ltd., Instron (Thailand) Limited, Instron Brasil Equipamentos Cientificos Ltda., Instron Foreign Sales Corp. Limited, Instron France S.A.S., Instron GmbH, Instron Holdings Limited, Instron International Limited, Instron Japan Company Ltd., Instron Korea LLC, International Leasing Company LLC, International Truss Systems Proprietary Limited, Isolenge - ITW Sistemas de Isolamento Termico Ltda., KCPL Mauritius Holdings, Kester, Kester Components (M) Sdn. Bhd., Kleinmann GmbH, Krafft Argentina S.A., Krafft S.L., Lock Inspection Systemes France Sarl, Loma Systems (Canada) Inc., Loma Systems BV, Loma Systems sro, Lombard Pressings Limited, Lumex Inc., Luvex - Industria De Equipamentos De Protecao Ltda., Lys Fusion Poland Sp. z.o.o., M&C Specialties (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., M&C Specialties Co., MAGNAFLUX GmbH, MEHB Holdings Limited, MGHG Property LLC, Magna Industrial Co. Limited, Manufacturing Avancee S.A., Meritex Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Meurer Verpackungssysteme GmbH, Miller Electric Mfg. LLC, Miller Insurance Ltd., NDT Holding LLC, NOVADAN APS, Norden Olje AB, North Star Imaging Europe, North Star Imaging Inc., Nova Chimica S.r.l., Odesign Inc., Orbitalum Tools GmbH, PENTA-91 OOO, PR. A. I. Srl, PT ITW Construction Products Indonesia, Pacific Concept Industries Limited (Enping), Panreac Quimica S.L., Paslode Fasteners (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Peerless Machinery Corp., Penta Dnepr LLC, Penta Sever OOO, Penta Volga OOO, Polyrey, Premark FEG L.L.C., Premark HII Holdings LLC, Premark International, Premark International LLC, Prolex Sociedad Anonima, QSA Global Inc., Quimica Industrial Mediterranea S.L., Ramset Fasteners (Hong Kong) Ltd., Rapid Cook LLC, Refrigeration France, S.E.E. Sistemas Industria E Comercio Ltda., ST Mexico Holdings LLC, Salter India Limited, Sealant Systems International Inc., Sentinel Asia Yuhan Hoesa, Shanghai ITW Plastic & Metal Co. Ltd, Simco (Nederland) B.V., Simco Japan Inc., Societe de Prospection et dInventions Techniques  SPIT, Speedline Holdings I Inc., Speedline Holdings I LLC, Speedline Technologies GmbH, Speedline Technologies Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Speedline Technologies Mexico Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Stokvis Celix Portugal Unipessoal LDA, Stokvis Danmark ApS, Stokvis Holdings S.A.R.L., Stokvis Promi s.r.o, Stokvis Prostick Tapes Private Limited, Stokvis Tape Group B.V., Stokvis Tapes (Hong Kong) Co. Limited, Stokvis Tapes (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Taiwan) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes BVBA, Stokvis Tapes Benelux B.V., Stokvis Tapes Deutschland GmbH, Stokvis Tapes France, Stokvis Tapes Italia s.r.l., Stokvis Tapes Limited, Stokvis Tapes Limited Liability Company, Stokvis Tapes Norge AS, Stokvis Tapes Oy, Stokvis Tapes Polska Sp Z.O.O., Stokvis Tapes Sverige AB, Stolvis Holdings II S.A.R.L., Tarutin Kester Co. Ltd., Technopack Industria Comercio Consultoria e Representacoes Ltda., Teknek (China) Limited, Teknek (Japan) Limited, Teksaleco Ltd., The Miller Group Ltd, Thirode Grandes Cuisines Poligny, Tien Tai Electrode (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., Tien Tai Electrode (Qingdao) Co. Ltd., Tien Tai Electrode Co. Ltd., Tregaskiss Welding Products, US Finance Gamma LLC, Unichemicals Industria e Comercio Ltda., VR-Leasing Sarita GmbH & Co. Immobilien KG, VS European Holdco BV, Valeron Strength Films B.V.B.A., Veneta Decalcogomme S.r.l., Versachem Chile S.A., Vesta, Vesta (Guangzhou) Catering Equipment Co. Ltd, Vesta Global Limited, Viltronics Soltec, Vitronics Soltec B.V., W Packaging Technology (China) Co. Ltd., Wachs Canada Ltd., Wachs Subsea LLC, Weigh-Tronix Canada ULC, Weigh-Tronix UK Limited, Wilsonart International Holdings LLC, Wujiang Advanced Cleaning Co. Ltd., Wynn Oil (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd., Wynn's Automotive France, Wynn's Belgium BVBA, Wynn's Italia Srl, Wynn's Mekuba India Pvt Ltd, ZF TRW (Engineered Fasteners and Components), and Zip-Pak International B.V..
Some people binge watch Netflix Huluor HBO shows. And some people turn their downtime into cash. James made $2,275 in just 19 minutesall thanks to something called The 15 Minute Workday. The average trade makes 12% in just 5 days (factoring winners and losers) which is out of this world.

EnPro Industries, Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and service of engineered industrial products worldwide. It operates through three segments: Sealing Technologies, Advanced Surface Technologies, and Engineered Materials. The Sealing Technologies segment offers single-use hygienic seals, tubing, components and assemblies; metallic, non-metallic, and composite material gaskets; compression packing products; hydraulic components; expansion joints; pipeline casing spacers/isolators; and dynamic, flange, resilient metal, elastomeric, and custom-engineered mechanical seals for chemical and petrochemical processing, pulp and paper processing, power generation, food and pharmaceutical processing, primary metal manufacturing, mining, water and waste treatment, heavy-duty trucking, aerospace, medical, filtration, and semiconductor fabrication industries. This segment also provides aseptic fluid transfer products for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries. The Advanced Surface Technologies segment offers cleaning, coating, testing, refurbishment, and verification services for critical components and assemblies used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment, as well as for critical applications in the space, aerospace, and defense markets; and specialized optical filters and thin-film coatings for various applications in the industrial technology, life sciences, and semiconductor markets. The Engineered Materials segment provides self-lubricating, non-rolling, metal polymer, engineered plastics, and fiber reinforced composite bearing products; and precision engineered components and lubrication systems for reciprocating compressors. This segment's products has applications in the automotive, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, natural gas, health, power generation, machine tools, air treatment, refining, petrochemical, and general industrial markets. The company was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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A smart regulatory framework is essential to enabling an appropriate approach to illegal content.

Google wants to share four key principles that inform their practices and that (Google suggests) make for an effective regulatory framework.

Google has written before about how they are working to support smart regulation, and one area of increasing attention is regulation to combat illegal content.

As online platforms have become increasingly popular, theres been a rich debate about the best legal framework for combating illegal content in a way that respects other social values, like free expression, diversity and innovation. Now, various laws provide detailed regulations, including Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in the United States and European Unions e-Commerce Directive.

Google invests millions of dollars in technology and people to combat illegal content in an effective and fair way. Its a complex task, andjust as in offline contextsits not a problem that can be totally solved. Rather, its a problem that must be managed, and Google is constantly refining their practices.

In addressing illegal content, Google is also conscious of the importance of protecting legal speech. Context often matters when determining whether content is illegal. Consider a video of military conflict. In one context the footage might be documentary evidence of atrocities in areas where journalists have great difficulty and danger accessing. In another context the footage could be promotional material for an illegal organization. Even a highly trained reviewer could have a hard time telling the difference, and Google needs to get those decisions right across many different languages and cultures, and across the vast scale of audio, video, text, and images uploaded online. Google will make it easy to easily submit takedown notices; at the same time, they will also create checks and balances against misuse of removal processes. And Google will look to the work of international agencies and principles from leading groups like the Global Network Initiative.

A smart regulatory framework is essential to enabling an appropriate approach to illegal content. Google wants to share four key principles that inform their practices and that (Google suggests) make for an effective regulatory framework:

Shared Responsibility: Tackling illegal content is a societal challengein which companies, governments, civil society, and users all have a role to play. Whether a company is alleging copyright infringement, an individual is claiming defamation, or a government is seeking removal of terrorist content, its essential to provide clear notice about the specific piece of content to an online platform, and then platforms have a responsibility to take appropriate action on the specific content. In some cases, content may not be clearly illegal, either because the facts are uncertain or because the legal outcome depends on a difficult balancing act; in turn, courts have an essential role to play in fact-finding and reaching legal conclusions on which platforms can rely.

Rule of law and creating legal clarity: Its important to clearly define what platforms can do to fulfill their legal responsibilities, including removal obligations. An online platform that takes other voluntary steps to address illegal content should not be penalized. (This is sometimes called Good Samaritan protection.)

Flexibility to accommodate new technology: While laws should accommodate relevant differences between platforms, given the fast-evolving nature of the sector, laws should be written in ways that address the underlying issue rather than focusing on existing technologies or mandating specific technological fixes.

Fairness and transparency: Laws should support companies ability to publish transparency reports about content removals, and provide people with notice and an ability to appeal removal of content. They should also recognize that fairness is a flexible and context-dependent notionfor example, improperly blocking newsworthy content or political expression could cause more harm than mistakenly blocking other types of content.

With these principles in mind, Google supports refinement of notice-and-takedown regimes, but also has significant concerns about laws that would mandate proactively monitoring or filtering content, impose overly rigid timelines for content removal, or otherwise impose harsh penalties even on those acting in good faith. These types of laws create a risk that platforms wont take a balanced approach to content removals, but instead take a better safe than sorry approachblocking content at upload or implementing a take down first, ask questions later (or never) approach. Google regularly receives overly broad removal requests, and analyses of cease-and-desist and takedown letters have found that many seek to remove potentially legitimate or protected speech.

Theres ample room for debate and nuance on these topics and Google promises to continue to seek ongoing collaboration among governments, industry, and civil society on this front. Over time, an ecosystem of tools and institutionslike the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, and the Internet Watch Foundation, which has taken down child sexual abuse material for more than two decadeshas evolved to address the issue. Continuing to develop initiatives like these and other multistakeholder efforts remains critical, and Google looks forward to progressing those discussions.
Highlights

Vivo's new sub brand iQOO's first smartphone has leaked

It is a foldable smartphone

There is no infomration on a launch date for the device

A few days ago Vivo took to Chinese social networking website Webio to announce a new sub brand called iQOO. When the sub brand was announced, it wasn't clear what segment of the market it would cater to. However, with the new leak, it looks like the brand will cater to the premium segment of the market. According to images leaked, the device will be a foldable smartphone. The images show a tall device and when folded, it becomes a phone. There is no information available about the specifications of the phone and from the renders, it looks like the port and button placement isn't final either. According to the leak, the smartphone could be priced at CNY 7000 which translates to Rs 74,000 approx directly converted. At this price point it competes with current flagship offerings from Google, Samsung and Apple in India.

Speaking of foldable phones, Vivo isn't the first one to show it off. There are a number of manufacturers that have shown off or hinted that they are working on a foldable smartphone. This includes manufacturers like Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, Nubia, Sony and Moto as well. Foldable and rollable screens isnt a new technology but one that has started gaining ground in recent years thanks to advances in their development. For a while, LG showed off its rollable display before announcing its rollable TV at CES 2018.

How foldable phones will work and whether they are the future of smartphones is something only time will tell. We have seen smartphones with two displays the Vivo Nex Dual display. These are of course niche and the trend hasn't picked up. Samsung added an edge display with the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge and implemented it for a few of its smartphones before forgoing the idea.

The point is that even though smartphone makers have tried to innovate with smartphones, no trend has stuck for more than a generation or two. Unless you count fitting multiple cameras on a device as an innovative trend. That is one that is here to stay for years to come.

Source

Also read:

Foldable phones expected to launch in 2019: The future is flexible

New and upcoming 48MP camera phones in India

Xiaomi, OnePlus phones emit maximum radiation, Samsung phones emit the least: Report
There used to be a time when 0.7MP VGA cameras in smartphones were all the rage. Fast forward to 2019 and we already have a few phones that sport camera resolutions as large as 48MP. The Honor View20 gave us a taste of what true 48MP looks like on a smartphone. But for Rs 37,999, its certainly quite expensive and naturally, not many will be able to afford it. Xiaomi, however, plans to empower even a mid-range phone user with a high-resolution camera. Enter the Redmi Note 7( 10800 at amazon), the independent brands first phone of the year that is expected to launch on February 28 in India. The phone is already selling out in every flash sale in China where it launched starting RMB 999, which roughly converts to Rs 10,000 in India. While its unclear at this point whether the phone will indeed be priced so affordably, one things for sure  The Redmi Note 7 is going to create some ripples with a 48MP camera for under Rs 15,000. However, Redmi approach to achieving 48MP resolution in photos is quite different from the Honor View 20s, or for that matter, even the expected Redmi Note 7 Pro( 15000 at amazon)s.

The Redmi Note 7 relies on a Samsung ISOCELL Bright GM-1 sensor while the Honor View 20 (and possibly the Redmi Note 7 Pro) uses the Sony IMX586 sensor. Whats common between the two are that both are 1/2-inch sensors, which is the largest ever on a smartphone. But whats different is while the Redmi Note 7s camera sensor uses software interpolation to achieve 48MP resolution from a 12MP sensor while the Honor View 20s Sony IMX586 sensor delivers true 48MP. Let us explain it in detail 

Is Samsungs ISOCELL Bright GM-1 sensor true 48MP?

Samsung announced in October 2018 that its ready with its ultra-small, high-resolution image sensors. The ISOCELL GM-1 comes with 0.8um pixels which use Samsungs proprietary ISOCELL Plus technology to optimise the performance of the tiny pixels. The GM-1 is a CMOS sensor which needs to hold as much light or photons as possible to get the best output. Ideally, the amount of light can be increased by increasing the ISO which is nothing but increasing the sensitivity of the sensor to capture more light. But the downside of this is that with higher sensitivity, the sensor is also prone to capture more noise, thereby increasing the noise to signal ratio (signal here refers to the amount of light captured). Samsungs ISOCELL Plus, however, can isolate pixels using a different architecture.

More than that, the GM-1 sensor also supports Samsungs Tetracell technology, another in-house tech which basically merges four pixels into one to increase light sensitivity. By doing so, the GM-1 sensor can capture light equivalent to a 1.6um pixel image sensor, but at 12MP. The rear camera on the Redmi Note 7, as a result, uses the full size of the 1/2-inch sensor but captures light in large 1.6um pixels, thereby delivering photos of 12MP resolution, but with details similar to what a 48MP sensor will capture.

The Specs are available at Samsung's website.

This is apparent if you check out the specs of the ISOCELL GM-1 sensor on Samsungs website. There the native resolution supported by the sensor is stated as 4000x3000 pixels which are 12 million pixels.

How is Redmi Note 7 able to deliver 48MP photos?

Now, heres the fun part. While the native resolution of the Samsung GM-1 sensor is 12MP, it can still output images of 48MP resolution. How you may ask? Its nothing but software interpolation. As apparent from the countless hands-on videos available on the web, the Redmi Note 7 only allows one to take high-resolution 48MP photos in the cameras pro-mode. Thats because the 48MP resolution is achieved via software interpolation. While the regular photos rely on the 2x2 grid arrangement of the pixels (resulting in large 1.6um pixels) to deliver more details in the photos, the 48MP resolution is achieved by further breaking down the sub-pixels into 0.4um pixels. Technically, this should give you more details if you zoom in, but since the size of the pixel now capturing the photo is now lesser, the brightness and vibrance might not be as much.

2x2 arrays of 0.8um pixels combine to form large 1.6um pixels to deliver more details.

Its difficult to determine the difference between a 12MP output and a 48MP output from the phone till we actually get our hands on one, but camera samples posted on the Mi Forum shows promise. Its unclear whether the photo was captured in 12MP or in 48MP. Nevertheless, the image samples look pretty stunning for a mid-range phone. However, most of the samples we have seen are shot in the day. It would be interesting to see how the 48MP sensor performs in low-light. Theoretically, there should be a high trade-off in terms of quality and the amount of light captured when shooting in 48MP under low-light since the sub-pixel size is much lesser.

Should you go for the Sony IMX586-sporting Redmi Note 7 Pro instead?

While not officially confirmed, leaked specs of the upcoming Redmi Note 7 Pro revealed the phone will also come with a 48MP camera, but with a Sony IMX586 sensor instead, the same sensor found in the Honor View 20. The phone is also expected to introduce the Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 SoC in India, which supports 48MP sensors. Technically, the Sony IMX586 sensor is more promising than the Samsung sensor, at least on paper. While the Samsung GM-1 uses software interpolation to boost the resolution to 48MP, Sonys sensor can do it natively.

The Sony IMX586 uses what is called a Quad-Bayer pattern to accommodate 48 million RGB pixels in the 1/2-inch sensor. Thats as high as it can go for smartphones at present. Now, to capture colour, camera sensor requires what is called a Bayer filter on top of the photosensitive element. The Bayer filter consists of square colour filters, with each square assigned for a specific colour  Either red, green or blue. The red filter block will only allow red light to pass, and similarly, the blue filter will only allow blue to pass. Once the colours are filtered using the Bayer Filter, they are restored by the ISP to bring you the bright, colourful and vibrant images you like.

In case of the Sony IMX586, the Quad-Bayer array and the photosensitive element below it can deliver data straight out of the hardware independently requiring no software interpolation. The Samsung sensor also uses the Quad-Bayer array on top of the photosensitive element, however, the GM-1 breaks each Red, Blue and Green pixel into four smaller pixels (of each) which allows it to output an image with an effective resolution of 48 megapixels.

This is what the Samsung ISOCELL GM-1 sensor is doing. It's breaking down individual sub-pixels into smaller sizes to achieve 48MP

Chances are, both the Redmi Note 7 and the Redmi Note 7 Pro will take far better photos than their predecessors, but in case of the Redmi Note 7, keep in mind the high-resolution is achieved via software, while in case of the Redmi Note 7 Pro, the 48MP is the native output of the camera. There will be a lot of other things that needs to be taken into consideration as well to determine the camera quality  The lens used, the ISP in the phone and more. The results might also differ in different lighting conditions. Furthermore, Redmi is expected to implement its AI-based scene recognition technology to further tweak the image quality. Naturally, all this has made us super excited to get our hands on the upcoming devices and come February 28, when the Redmi Note 7 and the Redmi Note 7 Pro are finally unveiled, we will know for sure.

Related Reads:

Can 48MP camera sensors make your smartphone photos pixel perfect?

Explained: Pixel binning in smartphone camera sensors

Honor View 20 Vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 7: Spec comparison
Millicom has selected Tutela to deliver crowdsourced network quality measurement solutions to its Tigo branded businesses in Latin America.

The agreement gives Millicom access to Tutelas massive crowdsourced mobile network quality data in Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay  collected from more than 10 million mobile devices in the countries.

The data will be used to benchmark network performance and improve overall mobile and fixed network quality. As a result, Tigo customers will benefit from continued quality improvement and network rollout across both fixed and cellular connections.

Tutelas network of users collects over 30 billion mobile quality measurements every day globally, with over 10 billion measurements each day across Latin America. This data covers signal strength and quality, device usage, and download speed patterns, providing Millicom with a better understanding of how users are experiencing the network.

It also enables Millicom to troubleshoot network performance issues and identify key areas for investment in 2019 and beyond. The data provided by Tutela does not contain any personal data.

Millicom is using Tutelas industry-leading data analytics platform to examine user quality of experience on a city-by-city and cell-by-cell basis across Tigo operations in the region, helping it make targeted improvement decisions that ensure the best customer experience possible.

Xavier Rocoplan, Chief Technical and IT Officer at Millicom said: Using Tutelas data, we will not only ensure that we invest in the right areas in the future, but this will also help us track our progress and make sure that our customers are receiving the benefits of these investments.

Tom Luke, Vice President at Tutela said: Through this partnership we will provide our data, reports, and tools to help Millicom identify opportunities to improve the quality of experience for Tigo users, and become even more competitive.
MTN Uganda CEO Wim Vanhelleputte has been deported from the country in a further blow to relations between the South African operator group and the Ugandan authorities.

Police spokesman Fred Enanga cited national security concerns as the grounds for Vanhelleputtes deportation, reported the Financial Times. The Belgian national is the latest in a line of MTN Uganda executives to have been expelled from the country for similar reasons.

However, MTN claimed it had not been notified of the grounds for the deportation and is working hard to establish precise reasons for the deportation. We are understandably concerned about these developments and are engaging with authorities to seek understanding that would lead us to resolving this matter.

MTN Uganda has installed its current CTO Gordian Kyomukama as a temporary replacement for Vanhelleputte so that it can continue operations as normal. The South African group is facing woes in other African markets  particularly Nigeria, where it has clashed with the government on a number of issues including tax, user registration, and repatriating funds.
In his words: "I am just a professional writer, which means I don't do blogs and try and get money for whatever I write."

The British satirical press has played the entertaining game of counting unicorns or mentions of them in Parliament.

As the Brexit debate, which has breached British sense and sensibilities, not to mention pride and prejudices, progresses, the unicorns multiply.

A Parsi named Saam from Kolaba

Opened a north Indiandhaba

Serving tandoori naans

And exoticpaans

And even Kashmiri Gushtaba.

Other Parsis were all in a fury

They appealed to a panchayat jury

Whats wrong with this Saam

Aprikom noo badnaam

Why not Sali-ma-gos and akoori?

From Mhamma Bola Biskit Lao, by Bachchoo

The British Parliament, coiled in the impossibilities, cul-de-sacs and the verbal barbed wires of Brexit, has coined a new metaphor. Members, primarily those against leaving the European Union, refer to the plans and projections of the Brexiteers as unicorns.

This metaphor for fantasy appears in parliamentary debates and in articles in the press characterising the Brexiteers projections of prosperous partnerships with India, China and the United States when Britain leaves the European Union as a myth.

The British satirical press has played the entertaining game of counting unicorns or mentions of them in Parliament.

The metaphor aptly sums up the flat-earth fantasy outfits, who claim to be representing a socialist or Marxist view and advocate a Britain outside the EU in order to form a front of countries which will then battle the United States. Barricades in the Atlantic, the Pacific and, of course, the US-Mexico wall?

This is the fantasywallahs mammoth unicorn. Which are these countries who will form this universal socialist front? Vladimir Putins Russia? Libya? Maduros Venezuela, the Ayatollah-Socialist Iran, ISIS?

As the Brexit debate, which has breached British sense and sensibilities, not to mention pride and prejudices, progresses, the unicorns multiply. What does one call a collection of them? There are flocks of sheep and prides of lions, so should we call them foams of unicorns?

The idiocies of Brexit, gentle reader, are not the concern of this column. Neither Theresa May or anyone, least of all myself, knows what the outcome of this Brexit nonsense will be.

More interesting is the origin of the unicorn metaphor. These British MPs have assumed that its a mythical creature, a fantasy, a way of ridiculing their opponents opinions and projections.

The assumption that the unicorn is a mythical and therefore non-existent creature is possibly, gentle reader, nothing more than Western, racist conceit. This fake attribution, as Donald Trump might call it if he understood words of more than three syllables, is equivalent to the claim that Europeans invented the medical techniques of organ transplants. Bloody cheek!

No less than our own Prime Minister, Narendraji, quoting the placing of an elephants head on Ganesh after his own was lopped off, has said that it proves that we Indians were cognisant of the techniques of organ transplant long before Europe blundered upon them.

Obviously, Narendraji, being busy with governing the country, neglected to say that he didnt mean that Indian human medicos fixed Ganeshs head on his neck. It was done in Swarg and it was the gods and not human veds who carried out this pioneering transplant!

But getting down to earth, the first known images of unicorns in this wide and occasionally, or regularly, sad world is found on the seals of the Indus Valley Civilisation sites.

The Greek historian Ctesias records the find of the portrayal of a unicorn on a relief sculpture in Persepolis, the capital of the Zoroastrian Achaemenid dynasty.

There we are! Unicorns being familiarly portrayed from Persia, across what is now Balochistan, to the Indus! Are there any equivalent portrayals of the extinct dodo?

Animal species live and pass. No magical powers are attributed to Tyrannosaurus Rex or the other dinosaurs from whose remains we reconstruct the creatures and life of the past millions of years of our blessed, fertile and threatened earth.

Contemporary paleontologists have reconstructed the forms and bodies of all sorts of creatures, from dinosaurs to the tiniest microbes. Unicorns are not among these and consequently the one-horned horse has been declared a mythical creature. This may be so. But then why did the Dravidians of the Indus Valley Civilisation and the Zoroastrians of Persepolis depict them as living creatures?

One possibility, merey yaaron, is that the horns of these creatures, made of a substance called Alicorn, were precious as they had medicinal, aphrodisiacal and hallucinatory, even magical qualities. They were the penicillin, Viagra and LSD of the day and so whenever a unicorn died, its horn was chopped off and crushed and snorted or swallowed and everyone was happy. This left a horsy skeleton without a horn which drew no curiosity from paleontologists.

I mention this as a distinct possibility, but still, if we follow the wise and honourable members of the British Parliament in characterising the unicorn as the metaphoric embodiment of fantasy, the arguments around Brexit become clearer.

Is Britain, with its little island mentality harking back to their era of colonial dominance, going to prosper in the fiercely competitive contemporary world? The leadership of both the main parties are promising such prosperity. Prime Minister Theresa May, in conflict with the MPs of her own party, is reaching out to the Labour Opposition by promising legislation to enhance the rights and prosperity of the working classes. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party leader, rode a storm of popularity when he promised taxing the rich and nationalising the railways and energy supplying companies.

Now both Ms May and Mr Corbyn are pushing for Brexit, which the Bank of England, the business conglomerates and others who looks into the crystal ball of the economic future say will spell disaster. Neither of them or their parties will have budgets to do anything they promise. Capitalist production companies are already leaving the UK, so any post-Brexit government will spend what money it can collect in taxes on paying out social welfare to avoid riots.

So why this lemming-like determination on their part? I can only assume that both Theresa and Jeremy must have a secret supply of powdered unicorn horn which can be used by the National Health Service when medicines run out and which can be distributed to the unemployed millions with magic and Viagral boosts to distract them from their hunger.
SALT LAKE CITY  In December and January, fire inspectors arrived at a Salt Lake City apartment complex to find a sprinkler system at risk of freezing, exits blocked by junk and missing smoke detectors.

This week, they ordered residents to move out, saying the fire and safety hazards were too dangerous. On Friday, prosecutors said the conditions were not just risky but also criminal.

They filed 15 misdemeanor charges against the owner of a condemned apartment complex. The allegations stem from code violations including missing or nonworking smoke alarms and fire extinguishers, extension cords in place of permanent wiring and inaccessible fire hose hookups at Georgia Apartments.

On Friday, many residents were still scrambling to find a new place ahead of a Saturday move-out deadline imposed by the city. One of those still searching was 34-year-old Aaron Hirtler, who said the criminal allegations brought little consolation and he mostly feels numb.

"It doesn't really change or fix anything, really. I might feel differently later, but right now, in the middle of all this, it's like, OK, couldn't something have been done earlier? Did it have to reach this point?" Hirtler said he was planning to speak with the city's housing and redevelopment team over the weekend to identify more leads.

The condemned complex is a block removed from a busy intersection at 2100 South and State Street in Salt Lake City. Its owner, Carol Lunt, 61, could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. A day earlier, she declined to speak about the conditions but could be seen walking around the complex that has several broken and boarded-up windows.

Tenants on Monday were initially told they had three days to leave, but they were later granted more time. On Thursday, several in 31 occupied units at the two-story complex frantically packed up belongings. Many said disrepair, crime and squatters have long been problems there.

Inspectors with the Salt Lake City Fire Department have been meeting with Lunt in person, talking to her on the phone and via mail and fax since August 2017, the court documents state.

On Dec. 8 and Jan. 29, they identified several code violations "that created concern for life safety issues," according to probable cause affidavits. Each of the counts is an alleged violation of international fire code and related standards, a class B misdemeanor. A conviction carries a possible sentence of up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

"Every individual and family has a right to live in a safe environment," Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement. "When people are put at risk by those responsible to ensure basic standards of safety, we have an obligation to hold them accountable." He could not immediately be reached by phone Friday.

A hearing on the allegations in Salt Lake City Justice Court has not yet been scheduled.

Safety hazards aside, city officials have also noted an increase in violent or criminal incidents. In 2018, Salt Lake police recorded nearly 650 incidents of drug problems, fights, domestic disturbances, trespassing and other issues  about a threefold increase from a year earlier, city officers said earlier in the week.

In Provo, a landlord and property manager are facing criminal charges after a tenant died in a house fire in June. Prosecutors say the building's owner, Kelly Ellis, knew the basement apartment had no smoke detectors and was a "death trap" but rented it out anyway. He and property manager Homer Workman are charged with manslaughter, a second-degree felony, in the death of 48-year-old Donna Clegg. Neither man has entered a plea. Both are due back in court in March.
SALT LAKE CITY  Sen. Mike Lee says it appears President Donald Trump acted within the law when he declared a national emergency at the southern border Friday.

"My initial assessment is that what President Trump announced is legal, the Utah Republican said. "Whether or not it should be legal is a different matter."

Lee has long sought to return power to Congress that he believes the executive branch has wrongly taken from lawmakers.

"Congress has been ceding far too much power to the executive branch for decades," he said. "We should use this moment as an opportunity to start taking that power back."

Trump declared a national emergency to get more federal money for his long-promised wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, relying on a broad interpretation of his powers that could trigger legal challenges.

Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, said he opposes the president's actions.

"Republicans and Democrats came together for a bipartisan compromise to keep the government open and fund border security. The declaration is an extreme action that sets a dangerous precedent by the president," he tweeted.

Other members of Utah's congressional delegation also expressed concern over the precedent it would set. Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, said Trump is making a mistake in declaring a national emergency.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said earlier in the week that he doesn't believe it's the right approach and that he would expect Trump stay within the law, but that he would continue to evaluate it.

"This is a serious and complex issue that requires careful review, and hell be studying this in depth in the coming days and weeks," Romney spokeswoman Liz Johnson said Friday.

Trump signed the spending bill Congress passed Thursday that included $1.7 billion for a border wall, far short of the $5.7 billion he insisted he needed.

To bridge the gap, Trump announced that he will be spending about $8 billion on border barriers  combining the money Congress approved with funding he plans to repurpose through executive actions, including declaring the national emergency, according to the Associated Press.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., condemned Trump's move in a joint statement.

"The presidents actions clearly violate the Congresss exclusive power of the purse, which our Founders enshrined in the Constitution, they said. The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the courts, and in the public, using every remedy available."
SALT LAKE CITY  State officials are asking the Utah Legislature for more than $10 million to relocate Salt Lake City's "shabby" downtown liquor store, citing an aging building, dipping revenues and criticisms for its proximity to homeless services.

Sal Petilos, executive director of the state's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, made the request to a legislative appropriations subcommittee on Thursday, noting the store at 205 W. 400 South is starting to show its age and is viewed as an embarrassment for tourists.

"To put it mildly, it is not the most welcoming atmosphere," Petilos said.

The 1982 building is "showing the wear and tear of being there for 37 years" and its close proximity to social services "have made us a lightning rod for criticism," he said.

In 2017, former Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams asked the state agency to relocate the liquor store as part of efforts to end the chaos in Salt Lake City's Rio Grande area near the downtown homeless shelter.

"While the reasons for being homeless vary from losing employment to mental illness and substance abuse, I believe we can do better by all individuals and families experiencing homelessness and by the Salt Lake County taxpayers," the mayor wrote in a letter he sent to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control more than a year ago.

Petilos read a comment from a survey giving the department public feedback expressing "serious concerns" about the downtown store.

"This is the store most of our out-of-state guests visit, and it's the shabbiest," Petilos read. "It's a very ugly store with very difficult and inadequate parking at busy times."

Additionally, Pelitos said even though his department's revenues have steadily increased overall year to year, annual revenues for the downtown store have been slowly decreasing recently. The store's revenue peaked in 2016 at $13.4 million but dropped to $13.2 million in 2017 and $12.8 million last year.

"Given those factors, we would really like to move the store to another location in the central downtown business district," Petilos said, adding that a new downtown store would put "the department and the state in a good light when people come to shop at our stores."

The agency estimates the cost of relocation would cost nearly $10.1 million, including $4.6 million for property acquisition, according to a presentation Petilos gave lawmakers.

Even though the department rakes in more than $450 million a year, it needs approval from the Utah Legislature before it can build new stores.

The Utah Legislature will be considering appropriations as it works toward finalizing the state's budget in the coming weeks.
The two minor earthquakes that shook Bluffdale and other parts of southern Salt Lake and northern Utah counties Friday morning ought to have done more than just literally wake people up from their morning slumber.

They ought to wake up the entire Wasatch Front to the need for greater preparedness.

Officials have put the odds of a major Northern Utah quake at 50 percent over the next 50 years. The states most populous region  a multi-county stretch that houses more than 2 million people  sits between two precarious fault lines, the Wasatch and West Valley faults. If they erupted in tandem, the devastation could be catastrophic.

A magnitude 7 quake or higher likely would tumble old brick buildings and make roads and rails impassable. People might be isolated for days, or even weeks  separated from loved ones who might have been at work or school or just running errands when the devastation struck. Information systems might be hampered as power lines and internet services are downed or severed.

Food storage supplies and water would be at a premium, if they werent destroyed in the collapse of buildings. More importantly, proper sanitation quickly would become an issue. With plumbing and sewage lines possibly severed, people would have to build makeshift latrines and disposal areas. Failing to do so properly could cause diseases to quickly spread.

These are not pleasant thoughts, but they could become an instant part of life and survival. Proper planning would bring relief, quell panic and provide a needed sense of security.

Human nature leads most people to avoid serious thought of unpleasant things. Utah experiences few natural disasters, generally speaking. An analysis by the private company Golden Eagle examined all Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster declarations between Jan. 1, 1953, and Dec. 31, 2017, and found Utah ranked 42nd out the 50 states.

To put that in perspective, Utah had 31 disaster declarations during that time, compared with 254 in Texas and 250 in California.

This relative lack of experience does not mean Utahns fall apart when things go bad. The states impressive record of volunteerism often translates into instant neighborhood and community mobilizations that make federal help unnecessary. A major earthquake would tax those systems.

Fridays two quakes caused no discernible damage. Judging by media reports and social media networks, they did rattle some nerves, however.

They ought to spur every family to sit down and organize ways to tie down furniture that might tip or cause injuries, remove heavy objects from shelves and otherwise secure the home. Then they should agree on a meeting place in case the home is unlivable and part of the family is in another location when the quake hits.

Workers should pay closer attention on April 18, the date of the next Great Utah ShakeOut, when businesses focus on safety precautions and evacuation procedures.

Two years ago, we urged Utah lawmakers to fund early warning systems in vulnerable regions, similar to those in Japan, Taiwan and China. These would begin to sound as soon as seismic waves were detected, giving people a few precious seconds to prepare.

This would be costly, but we doubt anyone would complain about that if natures next early-morning wake-up call is much more powerul than Fridays.
WASHINGTON  A draft bill that would create a "safe harbor" for banks and credit unions to serve marijuana related businesses got a hearing Wednesday, six years after it was first introduced.

The bill's supporters used stories of robberies and murder to drive home the point that when a marijuana business owners can't open a bank account they become easy targets for crime. And those behind the bill put the blame on a GOP-controlled Congress that took no action on past versions of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act.

"We finally have a hearing. And it comes too late," said Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash., a co-sponsor of the bill. "Too late to prevent dozens of armed robberies in my home state of Washington."

He recounted a robbery at a marijuana dispensary in Aurora, Colorado, that claimed the life of a 24-year-old security guard in 2016.

I appreciated all the testimony in the committee hearing today," said Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, in a statement following the hearing. "I look forward to reviewing the hearing record and working with my colleagues to come up with appropriate legislation that can resolve this issue.

In November, Utah voters legalized medical marijuana, joining 32 other states. A map projected onto monitors at the hearing showed 47 states having legalized cannabis in some form.

"If someone wants to oppose the legalization of marijuana, that's their business. But the American voters have spoken and continue to speak and the fact is you can't put the genie back in the bottle. Prohibition is over," said co-sponsor Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colorado, who first introduced his bill in 2013. "Our bill is focused solely on taking cash off of the streets and making our communities safer. And only Congress can take these steps and provide this certainty for businesses and financial institutions across the country."

Experts testifying before the House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions explained how the violent crime stems from the cash-only operations of marijuana related businesses, most of which can't open federally insured bank accounts because cannabis is illegal under federal law. The draft bill would address conflicting state and federal laws on marijuana by creating a "safe harbor" for financial institutions from the threat of federal penalties for providing banking services for licensed cannabis businesses.

The proposal, which has two Republican co-sponsors from Ohio, has a chance of passing the Democratic-controlled House. But several GOP committee members warned that addressing the banking issues surrounding legal cannabis is "putting the cart before the horse" and the best solution would be to first legalize marijuana under federal law and update other related banking laws.

"Until marijuana is legal at the federal level, attempts by this committee to legalize banking (for marijuana businesses) will create more confusion than clarity," said Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo.

Some of those testifying expressed a sense of urgency for Congress to do something, as they recounted stories of robberies, kidnappings, murder and other violent crimes against the owners and employees of marijuana businesses forced to keep large amounts of cash on hand to transact business, pay employees and transport cash to pay bills and taxes.

"Two weeks of pay for one employee can easily exceed a few thousand dollars. That one employee trying to get home safely from work is an attractive 'score' for any criminal, and a very easy target for those who know what to look for," said retired law enforcement Maj. Neill Franklin, representing the Law Enforcement Action Partnership.

The challenges extend beyond violent crime, witnesses testified, to business owners or employees being denied credit or having no access to the capital needed to start or grow their business. Vendors can also get ensnared in the restrictive banking environment when their financial institutions learn they are doing business with a cannabis company.

State and local government are exposed to safety risks as they are forced to accept cash payments for taxes. California state Treasurer Fiona Ma said the obstacles to banking services has also created incentives to avoid paying taxes, child support or alimony since cash wages don't provide a paper trail.

For a bank or credit union to provide financial services to a marijuana related business requires complying with federal guidelines that require extreme oversight of the business. Any account activity triggers the filing of thousands of mandatory Suspicious Activity Reports annually with federal regulators since the customer is involved an illegal activity under federal law.

Rachel Pross, chief risk officer with Maps Credit Union in Salem, Oregon, told the committee that of the 2,770 suspicious activity reports Maps filed in the past two years, 90 percent involved customers in the cannabis business. She explained that reducing the risk of running afoul of financial regulators would open access to banking for the legal marijuana industry.

Utah financial institutions, state and local health departments and others that get involved in the medical marijuana business will face the banking challenges happening in other states where cannabis has been legal for years.

McAdams submitted a letter to the committee from State Treasurer David Damschen, a Republican, that expressed the same public safety concerns of those testifying at Wednesday's hearing. The letter addressed to Utah congressional delegation said that giving marijuana related businesses easier access to the banking system will also provide a better way for law enforcement and financial regulators to distinguish legal from illegal activity.

"I ask your help in enacting federal legislation that ensures each state has the right to determine for itself the best approach to cannabis within its borders and that provides common-sense guardrails to ensure that states, territories, and tribes legalizing cannabis do so in a manner that is safe and respectful of the impacts on their neighbors," Damschen wrote.

Perlmutter's bill is among several the new Congress is expected to address on a range of issues that have surfaced as states legalize marijuana and run afoul of federal law. On Friday, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced The Marijuana Revenue and Regulation Act that would effectively legalize cannabis nationwide by removing it from the federal Controlled Substances Act and regulate it like alcohol.
OGDEN  An 18-year-old Ogden man was formally charged with murder Friday in the stabbing death of a man who police say was trying to intervene and help a woman who was being assaulted in an alley.

And because of his extensive juvenile history and being deemed a flight risk, a judge has ordered Xavier Soto be held without bail.

Soto is charged in 2nd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, and possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a third-degree felony.

On Feb. 2, Ogden police were called to a "disturbance that took place in front of a detached garage" at 2228 Monroe Blvd. Witnesses told officers that Soto "was in a physical altercation with a woman in the alleyway" when DJ Otis Parkinson, 28, attempted to intervene, according to charging documents.

"Shortly after the victim (Parkinson) confronted Soto, the victim started to run away," the charges state. Soto chased Parkinson to Monroe Boulevard. He was found by two passers-by on the ground with two stab wounds to his torso, one of which was fatal, according to the charges.

After warning the public to be on the lookout for Soto, he turned himself in to police on Wednesday.

Soto is a member of the Ogden Trece criminal street gang, according to a police report.

"Xavier is a known flight risk. In 2015, he was committed to the custody of (Juvenile Justice Services) and stole a vehicle to escape from the placement. He is an established risk to the community," prosecutors wrote in charging documents.

The charges also note that Soto "has a lengthy juvenile history" which includes charges of assaulting a school employee and carrying a concealed dangerous weapon. Soto was transferred to a juvenile facility in Nevada once, but "committed assaults" while there, resulting in him being sent back to Utah.

According the Administrative Office of the Courts, Soto was charged with four felonies and 13 misdemeanors in nine cases that were referred to juvenile courts in Utah.

His first involvement with the juvenile court system was in 2013, the charges state. In 2015, when he was 15, Soto was charged in Sanpete County Juvenile Court with assault, and then charged with felony burglary and possession a stolen car for an incident that happened 11 days later, according to court documents.
OGDEN  An Ogden man was charged Friday with aggravated murder for allegedly participating in a robbery that resulted in one man being killed and his brother critically injured.

Theron Nelson Farmer, 23, is charged in Ogden's 2nd District Court with aggravated murder (aiding and abetting), attempted aggravated murder and aggravated robbery, all first-degree felonies. He was also charged with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony.

Also, Ogden police announced Friday the arrest of a man suspected of being the gunman in the killing. Daniel Viegas Gonzalez, 28, was arrested for investigation of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and other charges.

Just after 5:30 p.m. Monday, Kameron Johnson, 18, was shot and killed and his brother, Eric Johnson Jr., 20, was shot and critically injured. The shootings happened at the brothers' home, 862 W. Lake St. in Ogden. Both men were shot multiple times, according to charging documents.

At the hospital, Eric Johnson told police that "his one-time friend, Theron Farmer" and another man described as a "heavier set Hispanic male" came over to the house, both displayed guns, and the Hispanic male opened fire, charging documents state.

"(Farmer) stated that they had gone to the home to purchase drugs and that the other male shot both Johnsons and that they looted the house and took Xanax, a small unknown amount of cash, a pair of pants and a coat," according to the charges.

Farmer was arrested Tuesday after a SWAT team surrounded an apartment in Layton. Police found Farmer hiding in a unit at the Stonehedge apartments, 225 N. Fairfield Road.

Gonzalez was arrested Thursday with the help of the Davis Metro SWAT team, but Ogden police provided no other details. No formal charges have been filed against him as of Friday.

"It is believed the suspects in this case were acquainted with the victims and that the victims were specifically targeted," police said in a statement.

Farmer's violent criminal history dates back several years, according to court records.

He was arrested Jan. 20, 2018, after allegedly getting into an argument with his girlfriend at her Bountiful apartment, breaking down a door when she tried to hide in a bedroom, and then pushing her into a closet, according to a police affidavit. He pleaded guilty to violating a protective order.

Farmer pleaded guilty last month to assault at the same apartment after police say he got into a fight with his girlfriend and a juvenile.

In February 2018, he was convicted of assault. In 2015, Farmer pleaded guilty to felony drug possession, a case that was dismissed after he successfully completed drug court. He was also convicted of lewdness in a separate case in 2015.

Contributing: Ashley Imlay
SALT LAKE CITY  A Florida man faces criminal charges for allegedly disrupting a Delta flight from San Francisco to Atlanta that was diverted to Salt Lake City last month.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Aaron Justin Hanson, 37, of St. Johns, Florida, on one count each of interference with a flight crew and assault.

Salt Lake police were called to the airport on Jan. 29 at about 2:30 a.m.

"Officers met the plane at the gate and arrested Aaron Hanson  for intoxication and resisting arrest. The FBI was notified of the incident," according to a police report.

The arresting officer further noted in a jail affidavit that Hanson "attempted to urinate in the aisle of the aircraft," and then after he was removed from the plane "repeatedly attempted to hit his head against the ground and walls. He stated 'I am going to hurt myself so that I can sue someone.'"

Hanson claimed he'd had "two shots and two beers" prior to boarding.

Hanson was initially held in the jail but was released pending a trial scheduled for April 22.
SALT LAKE CITY  Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday he expects to see a tax reform plan passed by lawmakers this session, but he wasn't ready to say which, if any, services should not be taxed.

"I think everything should be considered," the governor said when asked about areas identified as already off the table by one of the lawmakers quietly putting together the plan, Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan.

Fillmore told the Deseret News Wednesday there's agreement that the broad categories of prescribed medical services, buying a house or paying rent, and tuition are off the table.

"Independent of whether or not that's wise, it's very politically difficult," he said Thursday. But Fillmore said there still may be an effort to "look to capture some of that" by taxing some parts of the services but not others.

"I understand the arguments," said Herbert, who called in his budget released in December for broadening the shrinking sales tax base by extending sales taxes to services while lowering the rate.

"Anybody finds out, 'Oh, by the way, my part of the economy is going to be taxed now,' they're going to say, 'No. Tax everybody else but don't tax me,'" the governor said.

He said making housing and health care affordable is important, but that doesn't mean those areas of the economy shouldn't be part of the debate. The same goes for tuition, Herbert said.

"There's no way to get around it," he said of paying more for whatever services are ultimately chosen to be taxed.

"You're going to pay more for your haircut. That's what you're going to say. You're going to pay more for your limousine service. You're going to pay more for your landscaping service. Pick an issue, you're going to pay more for that."

But, the governor said, the overall taxes paid by the vast majority of Utahns will fall with a low enough tax rate. "Would not that be a good thing? Would you not want to pay less taxes? It's a simple yes or no question."

In his State of the State address last month, the governor said making those changes, along with a $225 million cut, could drop the state's soon-to-be 4.85 percent sales tax rate to 1.75 percent.

GOP legislative leaders have said they'd rather see the state income tax rate cut, and Herbert said that could end up being part of the reduction, even though he doesn't think "that's the best place to go."

What's been missing from the public discussion are specifics, although Herbert and others have talked about limousine rides, lawn care services and liposuction, as well as other elective surgeries.

Those details are being left to a group of lawmakers, including Fillmore, who are working behind the scenes with the governor's office to come up with a plan that can be supported by legislative leaders as well as Herbert.

Both House and Senate lawmakers involved in the process said they expect to bring specifics about what should and shouldn't be taxed to the next GOP caucus meetings on Tuesday.

In closed-door caucuses Thursday, House and Senate Republicans were given what Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, described as a "primary education" about the urgency of addressing the sales tax situation.

"The biggest goal was to make sure we solidified there's a problem and everybody understood and recognized that," said Rep. Tim Quinn, R-Heber City, who is expected to carry the tax reform bill.

Quinn said there's not a problem with revenues, but with where it's coming from.

House Majority Leader Francis Gibson, R-Mapleton, said Utahns see the state's $1.3 billion surplus and "everyone says, 'What's the tax problem? We don't have one'.  A lot of today's discussion is to just bring people up to date."

The presentations in both caucuses detailed what the governor described as a looming crisis that, if left unaddressed, will result in "pressure to raise taxes or take from other areas we're funding."

That's because income tax collections, which under the Utah Constitution must be used for education, are growing much faster than sales taxes, which make up the bulk of the general fund that pays for everything else in the state budget.

At the same time, consumer spending habits have changed over the years and now the bulk of expenditures are for services that aren't subject to sales taxes, adding to the structural imbalance.

"We need to understand, this is not a matter of 'Let's say we think about it.' This is really a matter of we need to do something about it," the governor said. "Whatever that number ends up being, we need to do something this session."

Gibson acknowledged Fillmore's suggestion that some services are already off the table, but said, "I also know there's a Senate, there's a House. I think we'll come together on something but I would not want to eliminate (anything) right now."

The House majority leader said he knows there's doubts tax reform will be accomplished this session.

"I think there's been some question, 'Do we have enough time to get this done this session?' I think you guys understand we can move at paces that need to be moved," Gibson said.

"This is a big deal. It's a big discussion. So I don't want to say once in a lifetime, but it's maybe once in my legislative lifetime we have a big tax reform discussion," he said. "This is a big discussion and everyone's going to be affected."
Maharashtra govt announces Rs 50 lakh ex gratia for families of deceased, will rehabilitate them.

Social activists pay their respects to the soldiers who were slain in the Pulwama attack at Hutatma Smarak on Friday. (Photo: Shripad Naik)

Mumbai: Three of the 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans who were kil-led in a fidayeen attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama of Thursday were from Maharashtra.

Jawan Rahul Karande hailed from Vithurai Wadi village in Sangli district while two others, Sanjay Rajput and Nitin Rathod, were from Buldhana district.

Rajput and Rathod hailed from Malkapur and Chorpangra village respectively. Rajputs mortals remains are expected to arrive in Nagpur Saturday, his brother Rajesh said, adding that the last rites would be performed at Malkapur in the evening. According to him, Rajput was attached to the CRPFs 213th battalion, based in Nagpur, for the last four years. Rajesh s-aid his brother, in his 23-year-long career with the paramilitary force, had served in Kashmir, Chhattisgarh and also in the Northeast.

The mortal remains of the martyrs will be brought to their hometowns where they will be laid to rest with state honours.

The families of the martyrs are in a state of shock following the news of the deaths of their family members.

The ministry of information and broadcasting, meanwhile, issued an advisory to the media, especially broadcast news channels, asking them to refrain from airing sensitive content. The TV channels are advised to be cautious with regards to content that is likely to encourage or incite violence, or containing anything against maintenance of law and order or something that promotes anti-national attitude (sic), stated the advisory.

The state government, meanwhile, announced monetary support for families of the martyrs. We have announced Rs 50 lakh for the kin of martyred jawans from Mah-arashtra and the government will take responsibility of their rehabilitation. 125 crore Indians are their family members, tweeted Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Deeply pained. Entire Nation stands with the #CRPF family. We salute the supreme sacrifice for the Nation and pray for speedy recovery of the injured ones! he said in another tweet.

The state government on Friday also paid tribute here to the deceased.
SALT LAKE CITY  Despite concern and "some discomfort" expressed by Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, a Senate legislative committee voted to advance a bill amending the state's radioactive waste law to more easily accept waste that gets hotter over time.

Alan Matheson, executive director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, made clear the governor's office was not taking an official position on HB220in the Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture and Enviornment Committee hearing Thursday, but did want to convey concern on his behalf.

"It does open the door to B and C waste in limited circumstances," Matheson said, referencing waste that is more radioactive and banned by the state in 2005.

At issue is EnergySolutions' desire to dispose of the nation's stockpile of 750,000 tons of a unique waste stream known as depleted uranium.

Depleted uranium is the byproduct of the uranium enrichment process during the nuclear fuel cycle and is also used in military and medical applications because of its density.

Although technically low-level radioactive waste at disposal, or class A waste, after about 38,000 years during the decay process, depleted uranium becomes more radioactive. It still is less radioactive than naturally occurring uranium, mined in Utah and elsewhere in the western United States.

Matheson's agency is in the midst of a seven-year effort to complete a site specific performance analysis on the suitability  or lack of suitability  for disposal of the waste at EnergySolutions' Clive site.

The bill by Rep. Carl Albrecht, R-Richfield, would clarify a question posed by the state agency over the timing of waste classification and would ultimately determine that classification occurs at the time of disposal.

Utah regulators and their consultants have been modeling the waste disposal in scenarios that contemplate storage challenges in deep geologic time, or tens of thousands of years into the future, as the waste gets hotter, exceeding radioactive levels allowed under state law.

The bill does not void the need for a site-specific analysis, but critics assert it allows both Utah regulators and EnergySolutions to skirt current safeguards.

"The timing of this legislation is really troubling," said Ashley Soltysiak, chapter director of the Utah Sierra Club.

Senate Minority Assistant Whip Jani Iwamoto, D-Salt Lake City, said opening the doors of accepting more depleted uranium in Utah is not good for the state, or its residents.

"I guess I am worried about bringing in other people's waste," she said. "I am just talking for myself, but depleted uranium scares me."

Tooele County Commissioner Shawn Milne, however, said EnergySolutions has a proven track record of safety.

"I believe in the science and I believe in the Utah Department of Environmental Quality," he said.

The measure now advances to the full Senate.
Utahns along the Wasatch Front are fed up with poor air quality. They want real change.

Poor air quality hurts tourism, and its hard on our economy. For instance, 68 percent of our tech workers say the top reason they would leave the state is poor air quality. During inversions, our air is not pretty to look at and it tarnishes Utahs reputation.

But most important, bad air hurts us. According to Utah Clean Air Partnership, or UCAIR, fine particulate matter, most of which comes from cars and trucks as a product of combustion, is particularly harmful to children, the elderly, those with asthma,  cardiovascular diseases or diabetes. (It) poses serious health concerns because it can pass through the nose and throat, lodge deeply in the lungs and pass across the lungs into the cardiovascular system.

Many conservatives have resisted dealing with air quality because its overseen by the controversial Environmental Protection Agency, and the issue has been caught up in the global warming/climate change debate. But when it comes to air quality, Utah citizens dont care about politics anymore. They want their leaders to help them address this problem. Encouragingly, they also accept responsibility. UCAIRs 2018 polling found 56 percent of Utahns believe the people rather than government are primarily responsible to clean our air.

Every major city fights the effects of pollution. Utahs emissions are low compared to similar sized cities. Thats helpful perspective.

And were improving. According to the Utah Division of Air Quality, from 2002 to 2014, Utahs population increased by 600,000 (26 percent). During that time, total statewide emissions declined by 30 percent  a 46 percent reduction in per-capita emissions. DAQ also points out that Utahs air is cleaner now than at any time since monitoring began in the 1950s, and (is) improving.

Since 2002, winter weekday emissions have declined from 471 tons per day to 291, nearly a 40 percent reduction, says UCAIR. This reduction is significant and doesnt receive enough attention.

As proof of that improvement, at UCAIRs annual fundraising dinner, Executive Director Thom Carter quoted a letter from his grandfather in the 1940s to his new wife telling her he had acquired a building lot on Salt Lake Citys east side above the smoke zone. My dad often told me that on winter afternoons when he was a boy in the 1930s, you could see dense haze over Ogden, which came from coal-burning furnaces, wood stoves and unregulated industrial smoke. Its not a new problem for the Wasatch Front.

Notwithstanding our unique bowl-like geography, Utahs air quality has improved through stricter laws, industrial emissions reduction, more efficient cars and trucks, smoother transportation flows and UTA mass transit.

Federal mandates have required automakers and fuel refineries to reach stringent emissions goals. The resulting Tier 3 vehicles began selling in 2018. Along with Tier 3 fuels, they will reduce emissions by 80 percent per vehicle when the entire fleet turns over.

In his recent State of the State address, Gov. Gary Herbert announced several initiatives.

The state will facilitate accountable telework through office hoteling, meaning some state employees whose work can be done remotely will work in office space near their homes or away from the urban core when air quality is poor.

New state buildings will be built to high efficiency standards, and energy cost savings will be deposited into a revolving fund to finance future energy efficient buildings.

The state fleet will be replaced by Tier 3 vehicles, starting with cars and trucks which produce the most emissions.

The state will build for public use 300 charging stations for electric cars and will incentivize construction of 800 more by private concerns.

Cash incentives will be provided to remove 5,000 wood stoves and to replace 25,000 snow blowers, lawn mowers and other dirty small engines for battery-powered machines. When you realize that wood-burning stoves account for as much as 15 percent of PM2.5 emissions on a bad air day, it is essential that they not be used on those days.

Herbert has proposed $100 million in funding for clean air initiatives to the Legislature. Utahns want them to implement these and other good ideas. They want leadership on air quality because it affects their own and their childrens health as well as our economy, tourism and quality of life.
The Legislature is currently considering HB170, entitled 911 Responsibilities in an Emergency. This 911 bill is a narrow  but important  measure that strongly reinforces Utahs values of responding to helpless persons urgently in need of assistance.

As the title of Rep. Brian Kings proposal makes clear, the bill simply lays out responsibilities in an emergency, requiring a simple call to 911. An emergency is narrowly defined as involving situations where someone observes either a crime or an emergency that has led to a serious bodily injury about which the observer has personal knowledge. The bill further explains that a serious bodily injury is one involving such things as substantial risk of death, unconsciousness or extreme physical pain. How many times in our lives will we encounter such a situation? Thankfully, the number of times will be quite rare.

So what does the bill require in such an infrequent situation? Not much. Just a call to 911, summoning any necessary medical or law enforcement response  and only if that 911 call can reasonably be made without placing the individual taking the action, or another individual in danger.

Who wouldnt make such a call? Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, an individual will already place that call. Why, then, all the fuss?

The fuss, of course, is about the rare circumstance  the one out of a hundred  where no call is placed. The proposal makes clear our values  a decision not to place such a call is wrong, indeed so wrong that it deserves our condemnation in the criminal code.

Here is an example of this rare  but important  situation. This case happened in our neighboring state of Nevada. In Las Vegas in 1997, Jeremy Strohmeyer forced 7-year-old Sherrice Iverson into a bathroom stall. Strohmeyer locked the stall door and began struggling with Sherrice over the toilet. His friend, David Cash, walked into the adjacent stall, hoisted himself up and watched as Strohmeyer continued to muffle the girls screams. Then Cash left. Cash never intervened, never reported what he saw  and never called 911.

Strohmeyer killed Sherrice and was prosecuted for that crime. But what about Cash? He could not be charged with a crime, because he was not an accomplice and thus his inaction wasnt considered illegal under Nevada law  at least at the time.

Nevadas legislature quickly took steps to close this gap in its criminal code. Had Cash interceded, Sherrice Iverson might be alive today, former Nevada Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins later told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. In 1999, Nevada passed the Sherrice Iverson bill, requiring residents of Nevada to summon aid when someone was being attacked. A year later, a similar measure was passed in California.

Utah should now pass such a law, although one even narrower than that found in our nearby states of Nevada and California. Unlike the laws in Nevada and California, Utahs 911 bill does not create any general duty to aid, but rather a simple obligation to call 911 when serious bodily injury is readily apparent and personally known to an observer.

Utah has recognized the principle underlying the bill in several laws already on the books. Utah criminal law currently contains general requirements to report child abuse and elder abuse. As with these existing Utah laws, the bill merely asks citizens to take a simple step  to call 911 when a person is clearly suffering serious bodily injury and needs immediate help. The bill recognizes the value of human life and deserves widespread support.
SALT LAKE CITY  On the one-year anniversary of the deadly shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead, the Utah House of Representatives hadn't yet debated new legislation to address the calls for gun reform.

Instead, the House approved a resolution Thursday recognizing "that the best manner to protect the vulnerable without infringing on the right of the people to bear arms is to enforce the laws already found in Utah code."

That nonbinding resolution, sponsored by Rep. Cory Maloy, R-Lehi, passed with a 56-16 vote mostly along party lines. It passed despite Democrats' complaints that the resolution sends the wrong message  that Utah's laws already do enough to protect people from gun violence.

"There are things we need to do," argued House Minority Leader Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, on the House floor. "There are things we can do."

But Maloy said "what we really need to focus on" is that Utah does "have good laws that do help protect our people," and they should be enforced. Yet at the same time, he said he's "not suggesting we don't have other bills and laws that come into play here."

The resolution now goes to the Senate.

Other bills focused on increasing gun safety have had slow traction within the Utah Legislature. Rep. Stephen Handy's "red flag" bill, which would allow a court order to disarm at-risk individuals, and Rep. Steve Eliason's bill, which would require federal firearms dealers to provide a cable-style gun lock to gun buyers, are currently in limbo.

Both bills are sitting in the House Rules Committee  which lawmakers often consider purgatory for bills until leadership decides to give them a chance to advance by assigning them to a committee.

However, another one of Maloy's bills  one that would strengthen Utah's stand-your-ground self-defense laws making it clear that people don't need to try to run away before using deadly force against someone  has already made it to the House floor.

Handy, R-Layton, was the lone Republican to vote against Maloy's resolution, saying he disagreed with its message.

"I want to keep an open mind and keep seeking answers to serious societal problems," Handy said.

Handy's bill may face an uphill battle.

Asked about the bill earlier Thursday, Gov. Gary Herbert said "red flag" laws are "complex" and not "black and white." He said the proposed law is "good in concept" since "I don't know of anybody that says, 'We want to have guns and weapons in the hands of somebody who is mentally unstable.'"

Yet at the same time the governor said the Utah Legislature must be careful to enact such a law without "due process."

"(So) that, in fact, we don't just have kind of a haphazard approach of taking away somebody's guns because of some accusation," Herbert said.

Weighing "freedom and liberty" against the public's general safety is a "balancing act that we have been addressing since the beginning of our country, and it's no different today," the governor said.

"We could certainly have safer streets if we took away peoples freedoms and liberties," he added. "I dont know that we want to do that. We are on an eternal quest for that perfect balance, and thats what were doing today."

Herbert also pointed out he's proposed $100 million in his budget for school safety, increasing resources for needed building improvements or more school police officers. He's also proposed an additional $34 million for more school counseling.
LAYTON  A man accused of putting pictures of his genitals on a random woman's car so he could watch her reaction is getting a firsthand look at how prosecutors are reacting.

They say what the man did is a crime.

The South Weber man, 60, was charged Thursday in 2nd District Court with attempted pornography distribution, a class A misdemeanor.

On Jan. 26, police say the man went to a Walmart parking lot, 1356 E. state Route 193 in Layton, where he watched a woman get out of her car and go inside the store. He then walked up to the woman's car, placed two pictures of his genitals in the door handle of her vehicle, then went back to his car to watch her reaction, according to a Davis County Jail report.

"Upon finding the photographs, (the woman) went inside the store to file a complaint and contact law enforcement," according to charging documents.

Using store surveillance video, police were able to track down the man and interview him. He admitted his actions, stating "he did this for the thrill of it and to see the victim's reaction," according to the report.
SALT LAKE CITY  The police chief of a small Utah town seemed disoriented and can be seen failing his sobriety tests when pulled over by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper for investigation of DUI, according to newly released reports and video.

On Thursday, the UHP released dashcam video of the traffic stop made Jan. 29 on Mantua Police Chief Shane Zilles. Zilles was charged Feb. 8 in Wellsville Justice Court with DUI and reckless driving, both class B misdemeanors.

Mantua officials confirmed Friday that Zilles was fired shortly after his arrest.

"Chief Zilles has been terminated. We wish to commend the Utah Highway Patrol for the professional manner in which they handled a difficult situation. It is always unpleasant when called upon to take such action against another police officer. We also hope that Mr. Zilles can work his way through this tough time and find a better path in the future," Mayor Michael Johnson said in a statement.

"It appears that prescription meds have claimed another good person's reputation. We are so thankful that no property was damaged and no people were injured in this unfortunate situation."

Zilles was driving a Mantua police patrol car on state Route 91 near the mouth of Sardine Canyon about 5 p.m. when his vehicle was spotted traveling at least 86 mph in a 65 mph zone, in the median, and without any emergency lights or sirens, according to a report filed by the arresting UHP trooper.

The dashcam video shows Zilles cutting off another vehicle as he is pulled over. By the time he is pulled off to the side of the road, his overhead lights are turned on.

"You OK? You were driving down the middle of the road, trooper Kent Goodrich asks as he began talking to Zilles.

The trooper, who immediately recognized Zilles, stated in the report that the chief had trouble finding the button to roll down the passenger window and eventually rolled down the back window instead. When the trooper asked Zilles to open the passenger door, his patrol car rolled 6 to 8 feet before stopping and Zilles got the door open, the report states.

Zilles then gave answers to the trooper's questions and made comments that either didn't make sense or were too mumbled to understand. He stated that he was headed to work even though he was driving the opposite direction, and his speech was slurred, according to the report and dashcam video.

"Ill be honest, youre very worrying me with your actions right now. Are you on any meds? Goodrich asked. "Do you know where youre at?

The trooper noted in his report that Zilles "took a long time" answering that question, and when he did answer "it came out more as a question than a confident answer."

The audio of the dashcam is redacted when Zilles appears to be talking about what medications he may have taken. Likewise, that portion of the police report is also redacted.

Goodrich then conducts field sobriety tests on Zilles, which he appears to fail. He is seen in the video having problems keeping his balance  putting his arms out to his side at one point to avoid falling over  as well as following instructions.

"I came to the conclusion that Shane was under the influence of a drug," the trooper wrote in the report.

"Your balance is exceptionally poor, Goodrich is heard telling Zilles in the video. "Help me understand what other medication youre on."

After giving Zilles a Breathalyzer test, which was negative for alcohol, Goodrich had Zilles place his hands behind his back to be handcuffed.

"Shane, I hate to do this, its an awkward position for me to do, but I dont think youre safe to be driving and unfortunately I dont have much of a choice. Im going to place you under arrest, the trooper says in the video.

Zilles was taken to a local hospital for a blood draw. But he was then admitted for an undisclosed medical condition. The chief was not booked into jail.

The next day, while delivering Zilles' citation, Goodrich noted in his report that the chief still seemed confused about a standard driver's license hearing that would be held due to his arrest.

"I found that very odd because this was information that any law enforcement officer would know very well. The look of confusion on Shane's face made it seem as if he had never heard it before."
SALT LAKE CITY  One Utah congressman says President Donald Trump would be "making a mistake" to declare a national emergency on the southern border, while other members of the state's congressional delegation don't think it's a good idea either.

The five Republicans and one Democrat, however, were divided on the budget deal the House and Senate passed Thursday to avoid another government shutdown.

Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. John Curtis voted against the spending package, while Sen. Mitt Romney, Rep. Rob Bishop, Rep. Chris Stewart and Rep. Ben McAdams, Utah's lone Democrat in Congress, voted for it.

"There is a crisis on the southern border. This compromise bill does not come close to solving that problem, but I don't want another government shutdown, so I have voted yes," Bishop said.

Lee called it a "bad spending bill for many reasons, most egregiously because it incentivizes drug cartels to traffic minors across our southern border."

The $330 billion package  which funds one-quarter of the government  includes $1.37 billion for 55 miles of border wall in Texas' Rio Grande Valley and additional money for security measures such as technology and law enforcement.

Trump said he would sign the spending bill and then declare a national emergency to get more money for barriers at the southern border.

Stewart said Trump would be "making a mistake" to declare an emergency.

"Whether the president has the authority or not, it sets a dangerous precedent and places America on a path that we will regret," he said.

"It deeply worries me that a future Democratic president may consider gun violence or climate change a 'national emergency' and what actions they may then take."

Stewart said while he agrees there must be more security at the border, he said the power of the president to make such declarations must be limited.

Curtis, too, said he worries that a "harmful precedent" could be set and whether it's legally justified.

"Congress needs to solve the difficult problems facing our borders and broken immigration system. We cannot rely on executive actions to get our job done," he said.

Bishop said Trump should not declare a national emergency.

"He needn't even be in this position if congress would have done its job and funded both the government and border security. This is a failure of Congress to act," Bishop said.

"I am frustrated with Democrat leadership, who have supported border security in the past, but now are insisting upon an inadequate compromise out of pure political spite."

On Trump's intention to declare a national emergency, Lee said it's too early to comment until the White House announces specific plans and identifies the legal justification for its actions.

Romney, too, said he would reserve judgment on potential executive action by the president until he can fully evaluate it, "but as I've said, I do not believe declaring a national emergency is the right approach. I would also expect the president to stay within statutory and constitutional limits."

Though he called the budget bill "far from perfect," Romney said he voted for it because it includes critical funding for border security and immigration enforcement, and prevents another government shutdown.

McAdams said he opposes a national emergency declaration, saying it should be reserved only for extreme or exigent circumstances.

Though the budget deal isn't perfect, it avoids another shutdown while making important investments in security for the borders and ports, he said.

"Government shutdowns are terrible for workers, our economy and our national security. The president should never again harm all three by forcing a government shutdown to get his way," he said.

Congress now must work on immigration reform, including permanent protection for so-called "Dreamers," McAdams said.

"Fixing our broken immigration system is the true, long-term solution to border protection, economic security and a humane, compassionate response to people seeking safety and a better life for themselves and their families in America," he said.
SALT LAKE CITY  A Sandy Republican lawmaker is seeking funding to increase the number of psychiatry residencies offered by University of Utah Health Sciences.

HB174, sponsored by Rep. Steve Eliason, would increase the number of residencies by four and aspires to ramp up 16 additional residents across four cohorts.

"We are near the bottom in the nation for psychiatrists per capita. This bill would fund four new residencies on an ongoing basis for psychiatrists at the University of Utah," Eliason told the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee earlier this week.

Dr. Doug Gray, U. professor of psychiatry and education director for medical students and residents in psychiatry, said a bottleneck exists because "there's getting to be more medical students than there are residency spots."

Last year, 14 percent of medical students who applied for psychiatry programs did not get a psychiatry residency, he said. They may be training in some other residency or conducting research for a year before reapplying "but there's this huge bottleneck."

University of Utah Heath serves patients regionally. "So we're really serving a large catchment area and we're always really short of psychiatrists. There's always long waiting lists. Cakes are coming off the conveyor belt faster than we can catch them. We need more people to catch those cakes," he said.

There is a growing demand for psychiatrists because "we're moving into primary care, we're doing mental health integration and taking care of patients in their primary care clinics," Gray said.

That reduces overall medical costs but it requires more psychiatrists.

Adding four residencies would cost about $400,000 a year or $100,000 per resident, according to the bill.

The good news is, "lots of great medical students are interested in psychiatry. If you get into our psychiatry program in Utah, we have an 88 percent retention rate. They stay in Utah," Gray said.

The retention rate is even higher for child psychiatry residents, 92 percent, he said.

There are 900 applications for nine residencies "and this would increase it by four," Eliason said.

"This is a small step and I believe a critical component in addressing the upstream problems we have related to behavioral health care and ultimately reducing suicide in this state," he said.
The couple said that they had been invited to Pakistan by the Karachi Arts Council for a two-day event.

Mumbai: Veteran actor Shabana Azmi and her husband and poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar have decided not to attend her father and poet Kaifi Azmis birth centenary celebrations in Karachi following the dastardly Pulwama terror attack.

The couple said that they had been invited to Pakistan by the Karachi Arts Council for a two-day event. @Javedakhtarjad-u and I were invited for a two-day event celebrating Kaifis centenary and we-re truly looking forward to it. I appreciate that our hosts, the Karachi Arts Council, mutually agreed to cancel the event at the Nth hour in the wake of the Pulwama attack, she tweeted.

Shabana condemned the attacks and said that she stood united with the grieving families. Will there be no letup in these heinous attacks? These mindless killings. This utter disregard for human lives? Extremely shocking news coming from Pulwama. I strongly condemn the worst terror attack on the CRPF convoy, she wrote.

Javed, too, took to Twitter to pay his condolences to the families of the martyrs. I have a special relation with the CRPF.... I have written their anthem. Today, I share the grief of the dear ones of the martyrs, he wrote.
SALT LAKE CITY  An undercurrent of frustrations from some elected officials in southwest Salt Lake County has spurred a Utah lawmaker to sponsor a bill that could lead to a fragmentation of Utah's densest county.

There's been no formal call from councils and mayors from cities including Herriman, Riverton, West Jordan and Copperton, but a handful of elected leaders from those communities have had talks with Rep. Kim Coleman, R-West Jordan, expressing interest in exploring their options if they were to ever want a "divorce" from Salt Lake County.

The byproduct of those talks is HB93, a bill that would allow communities to break off and form their own county with a vote in their cities  without requiring a majority vote from the county they'd leave behind.

Salt Lake County leaders say the bill is "unrealistic and fiscally irresponsible," but Coleman and some west-side local leaders see it as a way to help communities better control their own destinies and to create a new option to take back power from a government that has perhaps "grown too big for its britches."

While the bill was spurred by Salt Lake County talks, some leaders in San Juan County have begun eyeing the bill after last year's election when the County Commission saw its first Native American leaders elected, even though Navajos slightly outnumber white populations in the county. A judge realigned the commission's district lines after finding gerrymandering favored white residents.

"Generally people like the notion of self-direction as well as representation," Coleman told the Deseret News on Tuesday. "I'm hearing lots of different reasons but it boils down to wanting to have a county that's more responsive to what that community wants and needs."

The bill cleared its first legislative hurdle when it was approved out of the House Government Operations Committee earlier this month, but it's currently being held in the House, awaiting changes Coleman said will address some critics' concerns.

Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, however, said she expects the bill to fail.

"Splitting the county is an unrealistic and fiscally irresponsible proposal that we expect to be rejected by the Legislature," the newly elected mayor said.

"Discussions regarding splitting Salt Lake County seem to be limited and arent reflective of the quality regional services Salt Lake County provides to its partner cities and communities," Wilson said. "Nonetheless, our door is always open to explore ways we can strengthen partnerships and collaborations."

Copperton Metro Township Councilman Apollo Pazell said general frustrations with Salt Lake County government and its treatment of west-side communities led to the informal push for Coleman's bill.

"We started to talk about the possibility of getting a little more autonomy, a (government) a little more tailor-made for our needs," Pazell said. "That discussion started to lead to the possibility of splitting the county."

He said many issues have added to discontent with Salt Lake County, including frustrations over how money for transportation or other projects has been distributed  seemingly to favor the east side  but the proposed Olympia Hills high-density project near Herriman and the transportation sales tax approved last year have been the final straws.

"It was a very short fuse to begin with," Pazell said.

Herriman residents were outraged when the Salt Lake County Council last year approved the 930-acre, 8,800-unit Olympia Hills development, leading former Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams to veto the project. Some west-side local leaders also opposed a $58 million sales tax hike to pay for transportation projects, but the county enacted the tax after enough city councils  mostly on the east side  voted to support it.

Herriman City Councilwoman Sherrie Ohrn urged lawmakers to support the bill in the House committee earlier this month. She told the Deseret News on Wednesday that indeed frustrations with Salt Lake County over Olympia Hills and the transportation sales tax hike have led some Herriman leaders to explore a "divorce" from Salt Lake County, but the City Council hasn't taken an official position on it.

But similar to any "divorce," Ohrn said she hopes the county will give her community the option to participate in talks over future issues, including what's next for the previously vetoed Olympia Hills project.

Ohrn said she's supportive of Coleman's bill because she believes state law as currently written is flawed and doesn't allow communities to control their own destinies when it comes to county government. She said she wants to preserve a possible county split as an option  if Herriman residents ever want it in the future.

"I believe in liberty, and anytime there are laws written that take away liberty, I think those need to be addressed," Ohrn said.

Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs and West Jordan City Councilman Zach Jacob also said they've been "interested" in and "intrigued" by Coleman's bill, but both noted their respective councils haven't taken a formal position on the bill, either. However, both leaders say they're intrigued by the idea of preserving the option of a county split if voters ever wanted it.

"I think whenever any governing entity gets too big for its britches, it's time to look at that process to get it back closer to the people," Jacob said. "I'm a government-closest-to-the-people kind of guy."

The Salt Lake County Council recently voted to oppose the bill. County Council Chairman Richard Snelgrove on Tuesday called it "a solution in search of a problem that doesn't exist." Allowing a segment of Salt Lake County to break off without all voters within the county being able to weigh in would be "un-American," he said. He also raised concerns about what such a split would do to the county's finances and its AAA bond rating.

"It's an action that affects everyone in Salt Lake County, but only a few people get to vote on it?" Snelgrove said. "That's an un-American approach."

But Coleman argues just the opposite. She said her bill will fix an area of state code that is "antithetical to self-direction of communities."

Some lawmakers in the Senate committee, however, raised concerns about allowing a split to happen without first requiring a feasibility study to ensure both the communities' break off and the remaining county would be able to survive the split. Coleman said she plans to propose an amendment to include "assurances" for that feasibility study to happen before it goes the ballot.

The bill currently awaits action in the House.
Dr. Theresa Werner accompanies Laura Jones as she delivers valentines to patients, family and staff at the Huntsman Cancer Institute on Thursday in honor of her mother, Debbie Luke, who was a patient at the Salt Lake facility. Luke, whose birthday fell on Valentine's Day, fought ovarian cancer for seven years. To celebrate her birthday and her memory, Luke's family collected about 1,500 valentines for the Huntsman community.

Grid View Niki Mast, Family Dollar store manager in Montpelier, Idaho, and Sean Peterson, Family Dollar district manager, deliver 750 balloons donated by customers of 17 Family Dollar stores in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho to the Huntsman Cancer Institute for Valentine's Day in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Sean Peterson, Family Dollar district manager, and Niki Mast, Family Dollar store manager in Montpelier, Idaho, deliver 750 balloons donated by customers of 17 Family Dollar stores in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho to the Huntsman Cancer Institute for Valentine's Day in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Niki Mast, Family Dollar store manager in Montpelier, Idaho, and Sean Peterson, Family Dollar district manager, deliver 750 balloons donated by customers of 17 Family Dollar stores in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho to the Huntsman Cancer Institute for Valentine's Day in Salt Lake City on Thursday.

See the world through the eyes of award-winning photojournalists. Click through the gallery above to view the unique images our visual storytellers captured today. Follow the official Deseret News Instagram account for more photographs and videos from the staff.
The victim narrated the whole incident to two policemen, who arrested the accused when he returned.

The prosecution case is that on February 13, a lady working as a sweeper at Mazagaon Dock filed a missing complaint of her younger daughter with the Sewri police station. (Photo: Representational Image)

Mumbai: A special POCSO court on Friday remanded a 60-year-old man in police custody till February 25 in a rape case. According to her complaint, the 16-year-old victim had left her house in anger and met the accused at Panvel railway station, where the accused lured her by offering a job but took her to a lodge and raped her.

The prosecution case is that on February 13, a lady working as a sweeper at Mazagaon Dock filed a missing complaint of her younger daughter with the Sewri police station.

She told the police that when she was on duty her elder daughter had scolded the victim for returning late from public toilet. Due to this the victim got angry and left home.

Next day, the Sewri police received information about the victim from Panvel police. The police then learnt that when the victim reached Panvel station at around 5.30 pm, an old man approached her to whom she told that she was an orphan.

The man, identified as Ganesh Shetty (60), told her about a vacancy for nursing a patient. Shetty took her to watch a movie and later left her in the waiting room at Panvel station saying he would receive her the next day.

The next morning, Shetty took her to Jui Nagar and raped her in a lodge. He then took her back to Panvel railway station and left saying that he would get food.

The victim narrated the whole incident to two policemen, who arrested the accused when he returned.
Presidents, now and then: President Donald Trump pauses while speaking in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, in front of the portrait of the nation's first president, George Washington.
Joseph Batory is the former superintendent of Upper Darby School District and the author of three books and numerous published articles on politics and education.
Editor of Town Talk, News & Press of Delaware County

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This is over and above the four to five per cent drop in prices seen in 2018.

Industry experts said that the speculative money, which once dominated the citys luxury home segment, has almost disappeared.

MUMBAI: The prices of luxury residential homes in Mumbai are expected to decline further in 2019 amidst a severe slump in demand. A report by property consultant Knight Frank on real estate trends titled Global Outlook 2019 said that luxury home prices in the city would drop five per cent in the current year. This is over and above the four to five per cent drop in prices seen in 2018.

Industry experts said that the speculative money, which once dominated the citys luxury home segment, has almost disappeared. It happened because of multiple reasons, said Arvind Nandan, executive director - research, Knight Frank India Pvt. Ltd.

A couple of reforms to improve transparency like the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act and Benami Property Act have made the play of speculative money difficult. Secondly, with short-to-medium term return expectations from real estate remaining subdued, the speculative capital has diversified into other asset classes seeking higher returns, he said.

Last year, the liquidity crisis faced by non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) - which are among the key sources of funding - also impacted the real estate sector. With buyer demand remaining robust in the mid- and lower-middle segment, developers have also shifted their focus towards projects costing less than `50 lakh per unit.

Globally, Knight Frank noted that luxury home prices are now a distinct asset class, a safe asset viewed by the wealthy as a viable alternative to government bonds.

However, local policy interventions and economic shifts have the capacity to disrupt these ties. While its Prime Global Cities Index, which tracks the movement in prime prices across 43 cities world-wide is still rising, Knight Frank said it is happening at its slowest rate since 2012.
Three of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)  United States, Russia and France  joined New Delhi in condemning the terrorist attack at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

Most of India's neighbours in South Asia  Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan  too condemned the terror attack, which killed at least 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel.

The US mission in India strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, Kenneth Juster, American Ambassador to India, said in a post on Twitter. The United States stands alongside India in confronting terror and defeating it.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, condemned the despicable attack against India. France has always stood and will continue to stand alongside India in the fight against terrorism in all its forms, he said in a statement. I call on each state to take effective measures to combat the terrorist networks and their funding channels and to prevent the cross-border movement of terrorist groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, which has claimed responsibility for this attack, added the French Foreign Minister.

@RusEmbIndia condemns in the strongest terms the horrific terrorist attack in #Kashmirs #Pulwama district, which claimed precious lives of more than 40 CRPF personnel and left numerous people injured, tweeted Embassy of Russia in India.

Bangladesh remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and manifestation and maintain a zero tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh stated in a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bangladesh would continue to cooperate with international community including India to eradicate the menace of terrorism, she wrote to Modi.

Extremely saddened about dastardly terror attack killing 40 CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) Jawans in Balawanapur, South Kashmir (J&K State). The world must condemn such brutal terrorist attacks and take effective action to prevent such incidents in future, Maithripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka, tweeted.
New Delhi: China has again declined to back India's appeal to list Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the United Nations following Thursdays Pulwama attack that killed 40 jawans.

China has remained defiant in supporting Indias efforts to list Jiash chief Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN.

China, however, expressed deep shock over the Pulwama terror attack.

China has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang told a media briefing in Beijing.

We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all forms of terrorism. We hope relevant regional countries will cooperate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability, Geng said.

When asked about China's stand on the listing of Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council, he said: As for the issue of listing, I could tell you that the 1267 Committee of Security Council has a clear stipulation on the listing and procedure of the terrorist organisations.

JeM has been included in the Security Council terrorism sanctions list. China will continue to handle the relevant sanctions issue in a constructive and responsible manner, Geng said in an apparent reference to Indias External Affairs Ministry's appeal to all members of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

China is a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council and has repeatedly blocked Indias request on Azhar.

India has tried to get Azhar listed as a global terrorist since 2008-09, soon after the Mumbai attacks, but China put a technical hold on it.

India again put out a request in February 2016, soon after the Pathankot attacks. China vetoed that too.

As recently as January 2017, an effort by US, UK and France was also scuttled by China.

Asked whether China would be re-looking at the issue in view of the positive momentum in bilateral relations generated by last year's Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Geng said: JeM as an organisation has been included in the sanctions list of the Security Council. As to the listing of an individual, we have always upheld an earnest, responsible and professional manner. We always acted in accordance with the requirement of the situation. We will continue to maintain close communication with India and relevant parties on this issue.

India on Thursday slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by JeM and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle the terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.

Forty Central Reserve Police Force jawans died on Thursday in the deadliest attack in Kashmir till date, when an explosives-laden SUV rammed into their truck in Pulwama.

The attack, claimed by the Jaiesh-e-Mohammed, was carried out by a lone wolf terrorist Adil Ahmad Dar from Kakapora who had joined the group in 2018.

Masood Azhar was released by the Atal Behari Vajpayee government in 1999, along with Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Omar Sheikh, as part of a prisoner exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814.
At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force or CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in J&K. (File Photo)

New Delhi: Countries from across the globe condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district with nations like the United States, UK, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India in combating the menace of terrorism. China has been the only country which has not commented or condemned the terror attack.

At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force or CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammed or JeM suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying hundreds of kilograms of explosives into their bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district that also left many critically wounded.

Coincidentally, China has been also been the only nation at the United Nations which has openly supported terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar by constantly blocking efforts by India and other UN Security Council members to list him as a UN designated terrorist.

The US condemned the terror attack and said it stands alongside India in defeating terrorism.

"The US Mission in India strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims," US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster said.

Russia, while condemning the terror attack, stressed the need to combat such "inhuman acts" with decisive and collective response without any double standards.

"We denounce terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with decisive and collective response without any double standards," a Russian Embassy statement said.

French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said France most firmly condemns the heinous attack perpetrated in Jammu & Kashmir. "France has always been and always will be by India's side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms," he said.

Germany strongly condemned the heinous terrorist attack, saying stands by its strategic partner India.

Australia, Turkey and Czech Republic also condemned the horrific terror attack.

India's neighbours Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives also expressed solidarity and vowed to combat the menace of terrorism jointly.

"I strongly condemn the deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir today killing at least 40 people. We send our thoughts and prayers to those affected. The Maldives will continue to work with India and the international community to combat terrorism in our region and the world at large," Maldivian President Ibrahim Solih said.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a message through the country's High Commission, said her country remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and manifestations and maintains a zero tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities.

Bangladesh would continue to work and cooperate with international community including India to eradicate the menace of terrorism, she said.

"Deeply saddened by the news of the horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir. Bhutan strongly condemns terrorist attack of any nature. Our prayers are with the grieved family and we are following the situation closely," Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena expressed sadness over the dastardly terror attack, saying the world must condemn such brutal terrorist attacks and take effective action to prevent such incidents in future.
Najaf: Air India on Thursday resumed flights to Iraq after a 30 year gap, when a plane carrying Shiite pilgrims landed in the city of Najaf.

"This is the first time in the last 30 years" that a plane has come from India to Iraq, said Pradeep Singh Rajpurohit, India's ambassador to Iraq, at the international airport that serves the Shiite holy city.

"We are very fortunate that the holy city of Najaf has been chosen as the first destination", he added, noting that attempts to restore direct air links had been ongoing for some time.

Flights were prevented by years of conflict in Iraq and sanctions against Saddam Hussein's regime after his invasion of Kuwait, as well as by the extended chaos that came in the wake of the former dictator's 2003 downfall.

The plane started its journey from Lucknow and upon landing the crew and pilgrims were welcomed by Iraqi officials.

Shiite pilgrims from around the world come to Najaf, some 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of Baghdad, to visit the tomb of Imam Ali, Prophet Mohammed's son-in-law and founder of Shiite Islam.
The Supreme Courts actions in redefining the powers of the Centre and the quasi state of Delhi has left behind a sense of dissatisfaction. The difference of opinion within the two-judge bench means a significant part of the issue will go to a fuller bench. In the interim, before all powers are properly delineated, the situation may be fraught with friction between the AAP government and the Centre. The juxtaposition of the Union administration and the national capital region is not unique. Washington DC also sits within the boundaries of a State that enjoys considerable powers of administration. The judges may have captured the essence of the nature of the Delhi dispute in saying, The L-G is expected to honour the wisdom of the Council of Ministers and the executive also expected to give due deference to unique nature of role assigned to L-G. What happens when the equation is not like that is the leading question.

If the distractions of the verbose manner in which the Delhi chief minister makes public his opposition to dual controls and the Supreme Court orders be set aside, it becomes possible to see that there are real issues, particularly in a confrontational situation as existing now. The point is that in more cordial times there may have been undercurrents but never a combat between the chief minister and the lieutenant governor as we are seeing now, not only in Delhi but also in Puducherry. A more lucid judgment may have helped douse the fires and define future interactions between a seemingly anarchical but reformist chief minister who is popular with the aam aadmi and an antagonistic representative of the Centre. In the absence of a clearer vision on the power of the elected representatives over officers, Delhi will simmer.
The movies have a profound influence on the lingua franca of the moment, and post-Uri conversations are now routinely peppered with Hows the Josh? The quintessential soldiers bravado has curried favour and expression by none other than defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman herself, who insisted on its immediate invocation after a screening of Uri at a movie hall, as indeed to a state chief minister who poked a mocking pun at his political opponent by asking Hows the Khauf (fear)?

The entire country appears to be in the throes of celebrating the feats of real-life heroes who wear the uniform. The emotional traction for the uniform has propelled the film, Uri, made on a relatively modest budget, to spiral into a superhit stratosphere, confirming the rock-solid imagery of the Indian soldier in the public imagination. Yet, not all uniforms are publicly perceived in the same way or draw the same conclusions  the concurrent optics of the wholly avoidable slugfest between the Kolkata Police and the sleuths of the Central Bureau of Investigation posited a very different narrative that is afforded on another set of uniforms.

The two basic sets of uniform that define the Indian security framework are those of the ostensibly externally-facing Indian Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force) and those of the internally-facing policing services, (including various state police forces, specialised policing agencies like the IB and the CBI, and the Central armed police forces like the BSF, CRPF, ITBP, and so on). Even though the operational realm is clearly defined, its getting increasingly diffused, with the Army requisitioned more and more for tackling multiple internal insurgencies and civic breakdowns  the flow of morphed responsibilities is essentially unidirectional. The supposedly external-facing elements of the armed forces are additionally getting burdened with maintaining peace and security in the hinterland, owing to sub-optimal performance of the internal-facing policing services.

The phenomenon of the Indian Army conducting flag marches are visible well beyond the conflict zones of Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast, and can be seen in places like Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and even Panchkula. The blunt efficacy and professional presence of an Army column stands in sharp contrast to the invariable meltdown of a police posse that disintegrates in high-pressure situations due to lack of leadership, training and ethos that are necessary to address the situational crisis. The internal engagement of the armed forces were traditionally limited and specific, after which it reverted back to its barracks, whereas the societal engagement of police forces are by design more integrated and embedded in the daily life of the citizenry. The barrackised isolation of the armed forces affords it some insulation from the larger societal morass that afflict civil society. Thus, it is this fear of extended civilian commitments, their intrusion into the cantonments and the politicisation of the armed forces that is a matter of rising concern, as it can damage the apolitical ethos, regimented discipline and kinetic abilities of the armed forces.

Unfortunately the recent political drama and the one-upmanship between the Centre and the West Bengal government at the Kolkata police commissioners residence, which had the makings of compromising the federal structure, had yet another unaccounted casualty  the further diminishing of the trust, credibility and independence of the uniform worn by the internally-facing policing services, be it the state police or the specialised agencies. Amid the fierce political accusations and counter-accusations, followed by concurrent claims of a moral victory by both the sparring parties after the Supreme Courts clarifications, the sad picture of brooding, pliant and confused members of the police fraternity, as virtual accompaniments and props in the ensuing drama, completed the picture of disillusionment for this set of uniforms. This was not an isolated incident, as the CBI has been in the news of late over the very public spat between its top two functionaries, who were unfortunately backed by two rival political forces, in a clearly partisan manner that exposed the complete politicisation of the institution and its obvious aftermath. Beyond the political theatrics and the brownie points scorecard, it is irretrievable damage and compromise to the image of these institutions that is at stake. There have been multiple enquiries and heaps of police reform committee reports that continue to gather dust, as these institutions suffer the downward slide in performance and perception.

At the heart of the issue is the unwarranted interference in the independence of these institutions and forces. All political parties, without exception, both at the Centre and in the states, have tinkered with the authority, operations and directions of these forces and institutions  the laundry list of suspects under enquiry is usually an exclusive set of Opposition leaders that gives away the inherent biases, misuse and leverage of these institutions towards political objectives. This relative absence of the political presence, instinct and interest in the Indian armed forces is singularly responsible for the difference in the conduct of the two uniforms  unfortunately, recent trends suggest the creeping infusion of these very insidious and subliminal political instincts and interests even into the armed forces that have already played havoc with the police forces. Therefore, this political and tactical appropriation and showcasing of the Indian soldier is a double-edged sword that needs to be shunned in order that the armed forces retain their professional sharpness and political agnosticism. Certainly, the proximity of the police forces and their affiliated institutions with politicians have benefited them in terms of the service conditions that they enjoy, as opposed to the more distant members of the armed forces who remain essentially voiceless in the corridors of power  but the impact on their professional abilities and public perception is also starkly different. To avoid a Kolkata-like situation, the umbilical cord of political interest and these institutions needs to be snapped, as also to ensure no such situation develops with the armed forces. The same soldier can wear the two different uniforms and elicit two very different perceptions  the essential difference springs from the relative distance of any uniform to the dhoti-wala, as it were.
Hyderabad: The Telangana state unit of the Congress has ignored the party high command's decision to put on hold political activities in the wake of the terror attack on the CRPF convoy at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, in which 44 CRPF jawans died and several others were injured.

After the BJP suspended political activities for three days over the attack, AICC president Rahul Gandhi had extended his full support to the government. Soon after the statements of Mr Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi also cancelled her press conference that was scheduled for Friday. In Telangana state, Chief Minister of Telangana K. Chandrasekhar Rao decided not to celebrate his birthday on February 17.

However, TPCC chief and a former fighter jet pilot, Mr N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, on Friday continued the brainstorming session for the party cadre to prepare them for the coming Lok Sabha elections. They, however, observed a two-minute silence to respect of the CRPF soldiers who were martyred in the attack.

Apart from the political meetings, the state Congress leaders were also reportedly hosting dinner parties.
Chennai: After several rounds of informal talks over the last few weeks for an alliance in the coming Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and the AIADMK began serious negotiations with Union minister Piyush Goyal holding discussions with senior AIADMK ministers Thangamani and SP Velumani for about three hours Thursday night.

Goyal, who handles the BJP affairs in Tamil Nadu, flew in by a chartered flight and left late night after the tough bargaining with the two AIADMK seniors. He will be back in a day or two, say BJP sources, insisting that the alliance talks are only at a very preliminary stage and the final picture will emerge around the time that the Election Commission announces the polls.

Sources say that while the AIADMK has no issue conceding the number of seats sought by the BJP  eight is the number being mentioned  but the problem is with the constituencies being demanded by the BJP as most of the saffron favourites fall in the Kongu region where the AIADMK has been strong from the MGR days.

No cohesion or mutual trust between rivals: Min

Piyush Goyal had a wish-list with him, prepared in consultation with the state BJP unit and of course the other agencies reporting on ground situation, said a source.

The DMK-Congress camp has been taunting the ruling rivals over their alliance efforts for quite some time now; the oft-repeated charge is that the BJP is bulldozing the AIADMK into accepting its alliance and that too on its terms by using strong arm methods such as CBI/IT raids on the Tamil Nadu Ministers and senior bureaucrats. And that the AIADMK is yielding easily because of the multitude of skeletons in its cupboard.

How else would you be able to explain the AIADMK submitting itself so meekly to this alliance with the BJP that has insignificant presence in this state? This alliance will be a disaster, said Tiruchy Velusamy, a prominent Congress leader.

Apart from such taunting from the rival camp and the bullying from the north, the AIADMK must also deal with shrill voices of strong dissent from a few seniors opposing the alliance with the BJP. Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai accused the BJP of doing precious little for the people of Tamil Nadu - even during the critical times such as the Gaja cyclone and the Cauvery/Mekedatu tussle with Karnataka - and concluded that poll-alliance with the BJP would be a burden too heavy for the AIADMK.

Former AIADMK minister C Ponnaiyan, a stalwart of the MGR era, has declared that the party cadres would never accept holding of saffron hands at the elections. While some party seniors are trying to laugh away these discordant voices and even insisting they demonstrate inner-party democracy, critics are quick to point out that such internal democracy has popped up only after the demise of Jayalalithaa in December 2016.

It is true we are unable to question, leave alone discipline, these senior leaders when they voice their own views on such sensitive issues as poll alliance, said a senior minister, adding, We would never open our mouth when Amma was there, but now everybody is a leader.

And that brings to the fore the big worry for this team even before the final poll pact gets inked - how disciplined would be the election work, from the top down to the booth level. Things will get sorted out when the poll time gets closer. All issues will be sorted out because the only focus would then be, for all of us right down to the booth level worker, to trounce the DMK-Congress alliance, said the senior minister, exuding confidence. Besides, the rivals are in a worse situation when it comes to lack of cohesion and mutual trust, he added.
Chennai: Asserting that Pakistan now stood isolated from the rest of the world due to the dastardly act, Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday warned that the perpetrators of the suicide attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir in which at least 37 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed, will not go unpunished. Mr Prasad, who was scheduled to attend a series of events in Madurai, cancelled all the programmes as a mark of respect to the departed souls.

I have come here in some unfortunate circumstances. The attack on security forces yesterday in Kashmir is dastardly. We condemn it. The Prime Minister has said and we have said that the country stands fully and firmly behind the sacrifice of the brave jawans of the CRPF. Surely, their sacrifice will not be allowed to go in vain, the minister said.

Speaking to reporters in Madurai on Friday, he assured that there would be appropriate and suitable response as may be strategically decided.

We are assured to note that the entire world has condemned this dastardly incident. Pakistan stands isolated. And as the Home Minister has stated and the Prime Minister has conveyed, I wish to join them that those who have perpetrated, supported, patronised such kind of heinous offence shall not go unpunished, the Central minister warned. He knew that his party workers had organised a huge meeting today of the Sakthi Kendra incharge, but the party decided to postpone all the functions in memory of those brave security forces. Because the BJP firmly believes in secure India and standing with our forces. We always say we live for the country who dies for the country - the security forces, Ravi Shankar emphasised. On Thursday he had addressed the Sakthi Kendra in-charge in Vellore.
The development came hours after the angry government decided to withdraw the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status granted unilaterally to Pakistan while asserting that there is 'incontrovertible evidence' about Pakistans direct hand in the gruesome terror attack. (Photo: Facebook | Ajay Bisaria)

New Delhi: In the wake of Pulwama terror attack, India has called its High Commissioner in Islamabad Ajay Bisaria to New Delhi for immediate consultations, sources said.

Bisaria will be here for consultations Saturday, the sources told ANI.

The Indian envoy has been called for consultations at a time when the government is looking at options for giving a befitting reply to Pakistan over the dastardly terror attack in Pulwama in Kashmir Thursday, in which around 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

The development came hours after the angry government decided to withdraw the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status granted unilaterally to Pakistan while asserting that there is incontrovertible evidence about Pakistans direct hand in the gruesome terror attack.

India will also make all possible efforts to ensure complete isolation of Pakistan in the international community and work for early adoption of the long-pending Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), which is pending before the United Nations.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the situation in the wake of Thursdays terror attack was assessed, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters here.

"Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands withdrawn," Jaitley said after the meeting which was also attended by Home Minister, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

India had granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, a year after the formation of World Trade Organisation (WTO), but Pakistan never accorded the same status to India.

Under the international trade rules, MFN is a treatment accorded to a trade partner to ensure non-discriminatory trade between two countries.

Briefing on the other decisions of the CCS, Jaitley said, "the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will initiate all possible diplomatic steps, which have to be taken, to ensure complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan, of which incontrovertible evidence is available of having a direct hand in this gruesome attack.

The MEA will also engage with international community to see that the CCIT proposal, which has been pending, is adopted at the earliest.

He noted that the CCIT proposal, moved by India, has been pending because of differences over the definition of terrorism.

A CRPF convoy, while moving from Jammu to Srinagar, was attacked by a suicide bomber in Lethpora area on the national highway at around 3.15 pm Thursday.

Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack.
abherwal, in his tweet, tagged mayors of all the three municipal corporations of the city.

A senior party functionary told this newspaper that Mr Chawla act embarrassed party and an explanation will be sought from him.

NEW DELHI: While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP leadership list demonetisation and GST as major achievements of the NDA government, senior party leader and mayor of South Delhi, Narender Chawla takes a different stand. Mr Chawla liked a tweet which criticised both the key initiatives as reason behind the suffering of citizens.

On February 12 late evening, URJA, apex body of resident welfare associations (RWA) in the national capital, tweeted supporting parking charges in residential areas and criticised Delhi transport minister for not supporting it.

On February 13, URJA once again tweeted, Why are all Honble Councilors silent over this? Who is affording the generosity of 2/3 MCDs which claim perennial shortage of funds? Why throw away a revenue source? On whose charity is free parking being offered?.

Later in the evening, one Chander Sabherwal tweeted: What is the interest of URJA if extra cost of parking on internal roads of residential areas is imposed on residents? Already citizens are reeling under effects of GST and demonetisation, small and medium size industries are in ruin and cost of living is increasing. MCD is right. Mr Sabherwal, in his tweet, tagged mayors of all the three municipal corporations of the city. But Mr Chawla agreeing with Mr Sabherwals comment is embarrassing.

A senior party functionary told this newspaper that Mr Chawla act embarrassed party and an explanation will be sought from him. Few months before the Lok Sabha polls, in which both GST and demonetisation will be an issue, Mr Chawla should have controlled his emotions. He will be asked to explain the reason behind doing this, he added.

Hours later, Mr Chawla corrected his mistake by undoing the like. When asked about the reason for liking the tweet, Mr Chawla denied doing so and said that he had not liked the tweet. However, a screenshot shows he liked the tweet.
Effigies of Masood Azhar, the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed, were burnt in Varanasi as a sign of protests against the killing of the security personnel on Thursday. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: Massive anti-Pakistan protests rocked India in the wake of Pulwama terror attack in which at least 40 CRPF were martyred.

It is one of the deadliest terror attacks on security forces in a decade that shook the nation.

In Uttar Pradesh, families awaiting the arrival of the mortal remains of the bravehearts raised anti- Pak slogans.

Effigies of Masood Azhar, the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed (who claimed responsibility for the attack), were burnt in Varanasi as a sign of protests against the killing of the security personnel on Thursday.

Protesters thronged the streets with placards that read ''Aakhir Shahadat kab tak?" (how long will this martyrdom continue).

Another protest took place in Bhopal by the workers of BJP, who expressed their grief over the loss of lives.

One of the workers said, "Very painful and shameful incident. The terrorists are bred by Pakistan. We want Prime Minister Modi to attack Pakistan and teach it a lesson"

Youths of Jammu and Kashmir, protested against the death of the CRPF personnel and said, "We are protesting against the killing of 40 CRPF jawans. This is shameful. There should be stern actions; there should be another surgical strike."

In Aurangabads Begumpura area, several people burnt Pakistan's national flag. The aggrieved gathering, comprising mostly youth, raised anti-Pakistan slogans.

The demonstrators asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terror activities and giving terrorists a safe haven to launch attacks against India

Meanwhile, father of Ramesh Yadav, a soldier who lost his life in the terror attack, urged the government to initiate a probe into the matter and give a befitting reply to Pakistan.

"My son came home 25 days back. We received a call from Srinagar on Thursday evening. The officer on the line told us that a terror attack has taken place and they are not yet to recover the body of my son. Each year, many soldiers are dying in India. He was the only breadwinner of the family. Now, we will face trouble in educating his child. I request the government to give a befitting reply (muh-tod jawab) to Pakistan and also start an investigation at the earliest," he told.

Bihar-based CRPF personnel Ratan Thakur's father too urged the Centre to give a befitting response to Pakistan.

"I have sacrificed a son in Mother India's service, I will send my other son as well to fight. Ready to give him up for Mother India, but Pakistan must be given a befitting reply," he said.

A pall of gloom descended at the homes of the CRPF personnel who were killed by a suicide bomber of Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy district CRPF and RAF personnel take part in a candlelight march on Necklace Road on Friday in support of their colleagues killed in a terror attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, on Thursday.  DC

Hyderabad: CRPF personnel who have worked in the Kashmir Valley, blame malfunction by Intelligence agencies posted in Pulwama for the car bombing attack in which 44 CRPF pesonnel were killed on Thursday.

The suicide bomber meticulously planned his path through the check posts. Not to forget, he was carrying 300 kg of explosives, said a retired official. He crossed borders with material to carry out the deadly attack. How can intel fail so badly?

Lieutenant General Mohan Bhandari (Retd.), who has served in the Valley during the insurgency, said that about 3-4 hours before the CRPF convoy is scheduled to move, a road opening party clears the path.

Led by a senior-rank officer, the road opening party looks for landmines, instals jammers and sanitises the zone. That apart, there are umpteen check posts and soldiers who guard the convoy.

However, they failed to detect the driver carrying 300 kg of RDX. Who helped him load explosives into the vehicle? How could he smuggle the material through the borders? Did locals inside the Valley work as his conduit? Are the people of Pulwana village part of this massacre? Intelligence agencies will need to answer these questions, Gen. Bhandari said.

He said: The suicide bomber knew the exact spot to intercept. That means the militant had carried out a recce. Reports say those who died had a few bullet injuries. Why didn't the force counter the firing? It is a complete failure on the ground force posted in the Valley.

The Central armed forces constitute among the largest body of troops in the world. The country has around 7 lakh personnel. The training and capability of the CRPF is of high quality and they are equipped with the best of weapons. However, it is only in recent times that CRPF jawans were provided with bulletproof jackets in onsurgency and disturbed areas. Terrorist activities in the Valley date back to 1989.

The insurgency was at its peak when Mufti Mohammad Sayeeds daughter Rubaiya was kidnapped in 1989. These are attempts to bleed India with a hundred cuts because Pakistan cannot win a war with us, said Gen. Bhandari.

Former director-general of CRPF and ex-DGP of Punjab Julio Francis Ribeiro, who was in service during the Punjab insurgency, said, Suicide bombers are considered the worst terrorists, they are difficult to stop. But how can explosives be ferried across the border with a militant when infiltration has been tightened. Usually, intel agencies on the ground are razor sharp. How did they fail? How did they go blind in the entire preparation.

Paramilitary forces work in one of the toughest conditions. It is hard to believe that as late as 2015, some CRPF camps stationed in Maoist states like Andhra Pradesh did not have 24x7 power. It was only after a hue and cry was raised in Parliament, that the ministry of a home in 2015 released funds for diesel generator sets to each CRPF unit.

It was only four years back that the MHA released funds for procurement of LED lighting systems, solar devices and generator sets to meet the power requirement by the Central security forces deployed in LWE areas.

The MHA tries to keep them happy by increasing their house rent allowance and incentives if the personnel live on attack-prone borders.

Additional allowances and incentives to personnel deployed in anti-Maoist operations get risk allowance, HRA and extension of the facility was increased in 2018.
Hyderabad: Emphasising the inherent jurisdiction of the court to punish those who have committed contempt, the Telangana High Court on Friday took state law secretary V. Niranjan Rao and Assembly secretary V. Narasimhacharyulu into custody.

Justice B. Siva Sankara Rao, who passed the order, hinted that then Speaker S. Madhusudhana Chary, DGP M. Mahendar Reddy and the superintendents of police of Nalgonda and Jogulamba Gadwal districts could face similar consequences if they failed to explain to the court by March 8, why they ignored the contempt notices served on them.

Justice Sankara Rao was dealing the contempt petitions filed by Congress leaders Komatireddy Venkata Reddy and Sampath Kumar, who had been expelled from the previous Assembly by Mr Chary but whose membership was restored by the court.

Justice Sankara Rao directed the Registrar (Judicial), N. Narsing Rao to take Mr Niranjan Rao and Dr Narasimha-charyulu into custody when they appeared on Friday, after the court had issued warrants against them for not appearing before it despite being repeatedly called to explain why they had not implemented the court order. After obtaining personal bonds and submission of an undertaking that they would appear for further hearings, the registrar let the officials free.

Justice Sankara Rao said that if the DGP and the then SPs of Nalgonda and Gadwal did not heed the court ordes by the next hearing, he would consider addressing the Union home ministry to produce the DGP before it for failing to appear in contempt cases.

The court also impleaded Mr Chary, the then Speaker, as a respondent in the contempt case and issued notices.

Speaking of Additional Advocate General J. Ramachandra Rao, Justice Sankara Rao observed: This court has no mind to unnecessarily harass the AAGhe had bluntly on the face of the judge said what nonsense the court wants to take and (by) describing the court proceedings as nonsense has demeaned the majesty of the court.

Each and everyone is equal in the eyes of law and the judiciary will prevail, Justice Sankara Rao said.

Senior counsel Vedula Venkataramana persuaded the judge not to issue a contempt notice to the AAG as he was yet to put forth his submission. The judge warned that the issue would be taken to the notice of the Supreme Court.
New Delhi: In a strong warning to Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday declared those responsible will pay a very heavy price and said the security forces have been given a free hand to decide on the timing, place and nature of their response to the carnage that left 40 CRPF men dead.

The MEA held a briefing for envoys of 25 countries, including from the P5 nations  US, China, Russia, the UK and France  during which it highlighted Pakistan's role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

Before the briefing, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood to his South Block office and issued a very strong demarche over the attack and asked Islamabad to take immediate and verifiable action against JeM.

According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack.

Protests against Pakistan broke out in several parts of the country, including in Jammu city where curfew was imposed amid demands for retaliation against Pakistan.

In a hard-hitting speech in the national capital, Modi said the blood of the people is boiling and forces behind the act of terrorism will definitely be punished. I want to tell the terror outfits and those aiding and abetting them that they have made a big mistake. They will have to pay a very heavy price for their actions. Let me assure the nation that those behind this attack, the perpetrators of this attack will be punished, Mr Modi said at a function to flag off the Vande Bharat Express, Indias fastest train from Delhi to Varanasi.

He said the security forces have been given complete freedom. Security forces have been given complete freedom, the blood of the people is boiling...Our neighbouring country, which has been isolated internationally is in a state of illusion, thinks such terror attacks can destabilise us, but their plans will not materialise, Modi said.

Addressing a public meeting in Jhansi later in the day, the prime minister again did not name Pakistan but said the attack was an outcome of its desperation as it is in a bad shape and has been forced to go to different countries with a begging bowl to meet even its daily expenses.

Asserting that the sacrifices of CRPF soldiers will not go in vain, he said, Security forces ha-ve been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response... This is an India of new convention and policy.

The remains of the 40 CRPF personnel were kept in coffins, draped in the Tricolour.

PTI
KALPETTA: A pall of gloom descended on Kunnathidavaka, Lakkidy, the native place of CRPF soldier V.V. Vasanthkumar, 42, who was among those killed in a terrorist attack at Pulwama, Kashmir, on Thursday.

The news of his martyrdom has shattered the family members, his friends and relatives as he had visited them and returned only on February 9 after a 10-day leave.

People from all walks of life have been making a beeline to his house since Thursday evening. His wife Sheena (temporary employee at Veterinary College, Pookkode), and children Anamika and Amardweep were inconsolable.

Son of the late Vazhakkandi Vasudevan and Santha, at Kunn-athidavaka, Lakkidy, 15 km from Kalpetta, Vasanth-kumar had joined the CRPF in 2001. He was earlier stationed in Punjab. After leave, he had moved to Jammu and Kashmir after his promotion as commandant. With 18 years of service in the Army, he was planning to retire after two years.

According to Sajeevan, cousin of Vasanthkumar, the reports about the ambush and his death had trickled in by Thursday evening. We contacted his friends in the Army and others in Delhi. By 5 pm, confirmation came from the battalion, he said. The official message came in the wee hours of Friday.

The district administration also informed them.

After formalities, the body has been shifted to New Delhi and it will be brought to Calicut airport at Karipur early on Saturday.

The body would be placed at the Government LP School, Lakkidy, to enable the people to pay their last respects. Later, it would be shifted to his home and the last rites would be held with state and military honours on the paternal home premises at Thrikkaipatta.
Sivachandrans wife Gandhimathi breaks down at Kargudi village in Ariyalur district after hearing the death of her husband in Pulwama attack on Thursday. (Photo: DC)

Chennai: Two jawans from Tamil Nadu are among the 44 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers killed when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives onto their bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

As news of their tragic end spread the Thoothukudi and Ariyalur districts plunged in grief. Their grief resonated in other parts of Tamil Nadu.

Expressing his grief at the death of the two troopers from Tamil Nadu  G. Subramanian of Thoothukudi and C. Sivachandran of Ariyalur  in Thursday's suicide bombing in Pulwama district, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Friday announced a solatium of `20 lakh each to the families of two troopers from the state.
New Delhi: India on Friday revoked the most-favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan in the aftermath of Pulwama terror attack and, according to sources, is considering punitive actions like significant hike in customs duties, port restrictions and ban on goods imported from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), finance minister Arun Jaitley said the MFN status to Pakistan stands revoked.

Withdrawal of the MFN status would significantly hit Pakistan's exports to India, which stood at USD 488.5 million (around `3,482.3 crore) in 2017-18.

As the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has decided to withdraw the most-favoured nation status to Pakistan, the government can take punitive actions under the Customs Act and the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, sources said.

Under these laws, the government can restrict trade of certain goods, significantly increase customs duties and impose port-related restrictions on Pakistani goods, they said.

The main items which Pakistan exports to India include fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products, bulk minerals and ores and finished leather.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in 1996, but the neighbouring country had not reciprocated.

The MFN status was accorded under World Tr-ade Organisation's (WTO) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this, and are members of the WTO.

Under the MFN pact, a WTO member country is obliged to treat the other trading nation in a non-discriminatory manner, especially with regard to customs duty and other levies. Withdrawal of the status would mean that India could impose heavy customs duties and discriminate Pakistani goods vis-a-vis similar items of other trading partners.

PTI
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has attached assets worth Rs 4.62 crore of a firm linked to Robert Vadra, Congress president Rahul Gandhis brother-in-law, in connection with the Bikaner land scam money laundering case.

The attached assets include movable assets amounting to Rs 18,59,500 pertaining to four individuals and one immovable property situated at 268, Sukhdev Vihar in New Delhi valued at Rs 4,43,36,550 owned by Robert Vadras company Ms Sky Light Hospitality (P) Ltd (now LLP), the agency said.

The ED issued a provisional order for attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It had grilled Vadra in this case in Jaipur twice last week. His mother Maureen was also asked to depose but was allowed to go after completion of brief legal procedures.

The ED had registered a criminal case in connection with the deal in 2015, taking cognisance of a clutch of FIRs and charge sheets filed by Rajasthan Police after the tehsildar of Bikaner complained about alleged forgery in the allotment of land in the area, considered sensitive due to its proximity to the Indo-Pak border.

Probe revealed, the ED said, that the central government had acquired land of as many as 34 villages in Bikaner district for the purpose of establishment of Mahajan Field Firing Range (MFFR) and the state government proposed for rehabilitation of the displaced people by providing land equivalent to their acquired land.

Fraudster Jai Prakash Bagrwa and others in collusion with state government officials got 1,422 bigha government land illegally allotted to fictitious persons in guise of a government scheme for people displaced due to establishment of MFFR and illegally sold 1,372 bigha out of this land to various persons and companies, it said.

On detection of fraud, impugned land was recorded back as government land in revenue records by Rajasthan great, the ED said.

Subsequently, it said, these impugned fraudulent lands were further sold by subsequent purchasers to individuals and companies and all these subsequent sellers of the impugned land ge-nerated a considerable amount of profit. These generated profit by these entities is nothing but proceeds of crime as defined under the PMLA, he said.
New Delhi: Union Home Minister and Jammu and Kashmir top police Dilbagh Singh on Friday carried the coffin of a CRPF official who was killed in Pulwama terror attack on Thursday.

Shortly after arriving from Delhi, the Home Minister attended a solemn function here where the remains of 40 CRPF personnel were kept in coffins, draped with tricolour.

Rajnath Singh, who on Thursday, assured the country that the government will "undertake whatever it takes to avenge this", carried the coffin wrapped in the national flag on his shoulder.

#WATCH: Home Minister Rajnath Singh and J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh lend a shoulder to mortal remains of a CRPF soldier in Budgam. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/CN4pfBsoVr  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Director General of Police lifted another side of the coffin and walked together, helped by other officials.

The home minister, Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath laying ceremony.

The dignitaries stood in silence till the coffins were loaded in a truck which went to the Srinagar airport, the official said. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.
Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale met envoys of the United Nation P5 countries - which includes China - the Gulf, Japan and European nations to brief them about Pakistan's role in sponsoring terror. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: After the Pulwama attack in which at least 40 CRPF soldiers were killed by a Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, the government on Friday said that it would take all possible diplomatic steps to ensure Pakistans complete isolation internationally.

Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale met envoys of the United Nation P5 countries - which includes China - the Gulf, Japan and European nations to brief them about Pakistan's role in sponsoring terror.

The P5 refers to the United Nations Security Council's five permanent members - United States, United Kingdom, Russia, France and China.

Hours earlier, Gokhale had summoned Pakistans High Commissioner to demand that Islamabad take verifiable action against terror groups.

Indias high commissioner in Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations. According to news agency ANI, he will be in Delhi late on Friday to attend meetings at the External Affairs Ministry on Saturday.

On Friday morning, the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped 'Most Favoured Nation' status for Pakistan.

India appealed to all members of the international community to "support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan".

Though nations like the US, the UK, Russia and France have asserted that they stand with India in combating the menace of terrorism, China broke its silence nearly a day later and still kept its stand on Masood Azhar unchanged.

On Thursday, a suicide bomber detonated a car-load of explosives next to a large convoy of 78 CRPF buses with over 2,500 personnel travelling on the highway from Jammu to Srinagar. At Pulwama, the car with 60 kg of explosives blew up, killing over 40 personnel reporting to duty after leave.
Sources said the Chinese refusal so far to back Indias move to get JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN is also being raised with Beijing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute to the martyred CRPF jawans who lost their lives in Thursdays Pulwama terror attack after their mortal remains were brought to Air Force Station Palam in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Talking tough and putting Islamabad on notice in the aftermath of Thursdays horrific terror attack on CRPF jawans at Pulwama in the Kashmir valley, a furious Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said Pakistans plans of destablising India would not materialise, adding that those behind the attack would have to pay a very heavy price. The Prime Minister acknowledged that the blood of the people is boiling and assured that the security forces have been given complete freedom to give a fitting, jaw-breaking response.

The Modi government also swiftly withdrew the most-favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan and announced that the ministry of external affairs (MEA) would initiate all diplomatic steps to ensure complete isolation of Pakistan in the international community.

The government has convened an all party meeting on Saturday to discuss the Pulwama attack. Reports from Jammu and Kashmir said that 12 suspects have been detained in Avantipura and Pulwama towns in connection with the states worst terror strike. Official sources in the Valley on Friday said the toll in the attack has risen to 49. A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team, along with explosives and forensic experts, collected materials required for a forensic evaluation of the scene of crime.

In New Delhi, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan high commissioner Sohail Mahmood and issued a strong demarche, demanding that Islamabad take action against the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) that carried out the Pulwama attack and stop activities of terror groups on its soil.

India also called in its high commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria to New Delhi for consultations.

The MEA further launched a diplomatic offensive to explain Indias stand on Pakistan-sponsored terror, with Mr Gokhale meeting 25 foreign envoys on Friday, including Chinese Ambassador Luo Zhaohui.

Sources said the Chinese refusal so far to back Indias move to get JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN is also being raised with Beijing.

Earlier, speaking at a function to flag off the Vande Bharat Express, Indias fastest train from Delhi to Varanasi, an enraged PM Modi said, I want to tell the terror outfits and those aiding and abetting them that they have made a big mistake. They will have to pay a very heavy price for their actions. Let me assure the nation that those behind this attack, the perpetrators of this attack will be punished. We will give a fitting, jaw-breaking response to this attack.

He added, Security forces have been given complete freedom, the blood of the people is boiling... Our neighbouring country, which has been isolated internationally is in a state of illusion, thinks such terror attacks can destabilise us, but their plans will not materialise.

My condolences to families of those martyred in Pulwama attack, those behind the terror strike will pay a very heavy price. I am thankful to all nations which condemned Pulwama attack and urge them to come together to crush terrorism. The forces behind this act of terrorism and those responsible for it, will definitely be punished, Mr Modi said.

Later in the evening, Mr Modi paid his last respects to the slain CRPF personnel after their bodies reached Delhis Palam air force area. Decorated with white floral arrangements, 40 coffins wrapped in tricolour.

The Prime Minister has cancelled his two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh, scheduled to commence on Friday, during which he was supposed to blow the bugle for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman also cancelled her visit to Indian Air Force mega exercise Vayu Shakti-2019 to be held on Saturday at the Pokhran field firing range in Jaisalmer.

Backing the government in this crucial hour, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, This is a terrible attack, this type of violence is disgusting. Terrorism tries to divide the nation, we cant be divided by any power. The entire Opposition is with the security forces and the government.

On Thursday, an explosives laden truck had rammed into a CRPF convoy in Pulwama outside Srinagar, killing CRPF personnel and some locals. One of the bodies was recovered 80 metres from the explosion site. Making it clear that India meant business, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which met in New Delhi on Friday morning, decided to withdraw the MFN status to Pakistan. The MFN status to Pakistan stands revoked, said finance minister Arun Jaitley said after the CCS meeting at the Prime Ministers residence.

The withdrawal of the MFN status, granted in 1996, would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country. The foreign secretary also rejected the statement made by Pakistan in which it rejected allegations of any link to the Pulwama attack.
A convoy of 78 vehicles carrying more than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force jawans from Jammu to Srinagar was targeted in a suicide bombing. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: An all-party meeting called by the Modi government begins in Parliament library about the Pulwama terror attack and security situation in Kashmir.

The meeting convened by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was in Kashmir on Friday to take stock of the situation, is being attended by Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Jyotiraditya Scindia of the Congress, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O'Brien of the TMC, Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena, Jithendra Reddy of the TRS, D Raja of the CPI, Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference, Ram Vilas Paswan of the LJP among others.

Political parties have closed ranks following the attack and have offered their support to the NDA government on its response on the matter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has talked tough and asserted that those behind it will be punished, and his government has launched a diplomatic offensive to isolate Pakistan within the international community.

As many as 40 CRPF jawans were killed in one of the biggest terror attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan-based terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for it.
Pakistan envoy Sohail Mahmood was called to the Foreign Ministry office by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale who raised strong protest over the killing of the soldiers in Pulwama, official sources said. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: India on Friday summoned the Pakistan High Commissioner a day after over 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in the deadliest terror attack on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed the attack.

Pakistan envoy Sohail Mahmood was called to the Foreign Ministry office by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale who raised strong protest over the killing of the soldiers in Pulwama, official sources said.

On Friday, India decided to remove "Most Favoured Nation" privileges given to Pakistan and said it would take all steps to ensure the country's isolation globally.

The Ministry of External Affairs would initiate all possible diplomatic steps to ensure complete isolation of Pakistan in the international community.

The US has also asked Pakistan to "immediately end support and safe haven to all terrorist groups".
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC have also been imposed in Jammu, while data services in various districts of the state have been suspended in the wake of protests by locals. (Source: ANI)

Kathu: Curfew has been imposed in Jammu after scores of people took to the streets and blocked the Jammu-Pathankot national highway on Friday to protest against the deadly terror attack which claimed the lives of around 40 CRPF personnel.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC have also been imposed in Jammu, while data services in various districts of the state have been suspended in the wake of protests by locals.

"In order to maintain law and order, public tranquillity and to protect life and property of the general public, in the exercise of the power vested in me under Section 144 CrPC, I hereby impose curfew in the Jammu city," read a letter signed by Jammu's district magistrate Ramesh Kumar.

Security has been beefed up in the state to prevent further attack.

Speaking to ANI, Udhampur Superintendent of Police Rajiv Pandey said, "Paramilitary, as well as army jawans, have been deployed to foil any other incident if any. We have increased our vigil in Jammu-Kashmir national highway, special checkpoints have been established at various parts, checking and frisking has also been increased."

While demanding a befitting reply to the terrorists, protesters raised slogans against Pakistan and militants supporters in Kashmir and widely criticized the brutal killing in the blast.

Speaking the ANI, ABVP leader Naman Dogra said, "I want to request the government to take action against Pakistan so that it does not dare to repeat its mistake."

A section of people agitating also condemned the government for not looking after the safety of the soldiers. "I want to ask the politician why there is proper security for your caravan, but not for the CRPF jawans," said a local.

In Mumbai too, locals took to streets to protest against the terror attack.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured that those behind the Pulwama terror attack will be definitely punished for the "grave mistake" committed.

The CRPF personnel were killed when their convoy was targeted on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway on Thursday.

The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Soon after, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is based in Pakistan and backed by the Pakistani administration, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was carried out by its suicide bomber.
A bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and S A Nazeer said the post of a chief information commissioner is on a higher pedestal and the appointment process for a CIC should be on the 'same terms' as in the process of a chief election commissioner. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday passed a slew of directions on filling up vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC) and state information commissions (SICs) and said the process of appointments must start one to two months before a post falls vacant.

A bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and S A Nazeer said the post of a chief information commissioner is on a higher pedestal and the appointment process for a CIC should be on the "same terms" as in the process of a chief election commissioner.

The apex court also took note of the existing vacancies in CIC and SICs and directed authorities to fill them up within six months. Taking note of the provisions in the RTI Act, it said besides bureaucrats, eminent citizens from other walks of life should also be considered for the post of information commissioners in the CIC.

Earlier, the apex court had asked the Centre as to why only retired or sitting bureaucrats were being shortlisted by the search committee for appointment as information commissioners.

The top court was told by the government that chief information commissioner and four information commissioners have already been appointed while the process for appointing other information commissioners was underway.

The apex court was hearing a plea filed by RTI activists Anjali Bhardwaj, Commodore Lokesh Batra (retired) and Amrita Johri who have claimed that over 23,500 appeals and complaints are pending with the CIC as posts of information commissioners are lying vacant.

The apex court had earlier asked the Centre and states to maintain transparency in appointments of chief information commissioner and information commissioners and upload details of search committees and applicants on the website.

In July last year, the top court had expressed concern over vacancies at the chief information commission and state information commissions and had directed the Centre and seven states to file an affidavit giving a time schedule for filling up the posts. The court had asked seven states -- Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Kerala, Odisha and Karnataka -- to apprise it about the time frame for filling up the posts.

The petitioners have said that several information commissions like in Gujarat and Maharashtra were functioning without the chief information commissioner, even though the RTI Act envisages a crucial role for this post on which the administration and superintendence of commission is vested.

The plea has claimed that the Centre and state governments have "attempted to stifle" the functioning of the RTI Act by failing to do their statutory duty of ensuring appointments in a timely manner.
The meeting was chaired by Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minsiter Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley attended the meeting. (Photo: ANI | Twiiter)

New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting concluded to discuss the security situation in jammu and Kashmir in the wake of Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF jawans and left the security establishment stunned.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley after CCS meeting said, MEA will initiate all possible diplomatic steps which are to be taken to ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan of which incontrovertible is available of having a direct hand in this act.

The 'most favoured nation' status which was granted to Pakistan, stands withdrawn. People who are responsible and have supported this act of terrorism will have to pay a heavy price for it, he added.

Jaitley said that the CRPF will make detailed arrangements for transporting the mortal remains and as far as the forces are concerned, complete security will be ensured.

Indian Air Force C-17 will soon fly to Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar from Hindon to carry the mortal remains of CRPF personnel.

The meeting began at 9:15 am. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi at his residence, 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.

The meeting was attended by top Cabinet leaders including defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, home minister Rajnath Singh, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

Rajnath Singh is expected to take stock of the situation and meet injured soldiers at the hospital.

A 12-member team of the National Investigative Agency (NIA), led by an IG-rank officer will also be visiting the blast site in Pulwama.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, The attack was carried out by Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed. A strong reply will be given and I assure the people of the country this. The country pays tribute to the brave jawans who were martyred.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the attack as a despicable attack on Thursday took stock of situation in Jammu and Kashmir in conversation with Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for the attack and has also identified the suicide bomber  Adil Dhar  who allegedly carried out the attack.
New Delhi: The major attack on a CRPF convoy by Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed, often described as a lapdog of the ISI, sparked outrage and condemnation from across the world.

One of the very first world leaders to express condolences was Russian President Vladimir Putin, condemning this brutal crime.

The perpetrators and sponsors of this attack, undoubtedly, should be duly punished, said Putin extending his support to PM Modi

The Government of Nepal strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir today (Thursday) that has resulted in the loss of many precious lives, the release from Nepals Ministry of Foreign Affairs put forth late Thursday.

Afghan minister was of the opinion that the attack was a copy-paste of Pak-backed terror in Afghanistan

The heinous act of terror in Kashmir has all the hallmarks of a common source and sponsor of terrorism in our region. It is a copy paste of what Pakistan backed terror groups do in Afghanistan. We condemn the attack and convey our condolences to Indian people, Amrullah Saleh, the acting Minister of Interior of Afghanistan, tweeted in the aftermath of the heinous assault.

Dean of Diplomatic Corps Hans Dannenberg Castellanos:On behalf of Diplomatic Corps in India, we would like to express our deep sympathy to Indian govt&families of victims of this horrendous act.Firmly support Indian govt in their fight against terrorism. (File pic) #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/PSlVFxPbrV  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Europeans also stretched out a hand of support to India and expressed their sadness and condolences to the Pulwana attack.

Our thoughts go out to the families of the fallen soldiers. France has always been and always will be by Indias side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms, declared Alexandre Ziegler, the French ambassador in Delhi.

.I call on each state to effectively combat terrorist networks and their funding channels and to prevent the cross-border movement of terrorist groups, such as Jaish-e-Mohamed, who has claimed responsibility for this attack, added the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian.

South Korea Foreign Ministry: We strongly condemn the terrorist attack on the CRPF in Pulwama, Jammu & Kashmir on February 14 & extend deepest condolences & sympathy to those who lost their lives in the attack and their bereaved families.  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Israel stands by our Indian friends during this difficult hour. We send our deepest condolences to the CPRF and their families, the people of India and the Indian government following the terrible Kashmir Terror Attack, said Ambassador Dr Ron Malka.

PM of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu: To my dear friend, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, we stand with you, the security forces and the people of India following this heinous terrorist attack. We send our condolences to the families of the victims. #PulwamaAttack (file pic) pic.twitter.com/v029Sr4cvl  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Germany strongly condemns today's heinous terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, said the German Embassy.

We denounce terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with decisive and collective response without any double standards. May we express sincere condolences to the grieving families of the deceased and wish a speedy recovery to those injured, said a statement issued by the Russian Embassy in Delhi.

Closer home, Sri Lankas Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe tweeted the brutal terrorist attack in Kashmir's Pulwama district (was) the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. I express my condolences to @narendramodi and the families of police officers who lost their lives.

I strongly condemn the brutal terrorist attack in Kashmir's Pulwama district  the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. I express my condolences to @narendramodi and the families of police officers who lost their lives.  Ranil Wickremesinghe (@RW_UNP) February 14, 2019

"It was with deep shock and horror that I learnt of the bomb blast in Pulwama, Kashmir, that caused tragic loss of life and distress to many dozens of CRPF personnel, wrote Abdulla Shahid, the Maldives foreign minister in a message to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.

UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation: The UAE stands in solidarity with the government and people of India in their fight against violence and extremism. #PulwamaAttack  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and more than a dozen others injured on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist rammed an explosives-laden SUV into their bus in Pulwama district.
The police have taken up the case and efforts are on to nab the accused. (Representational Image)

Bengaluru: CCB police have arrested seven Royhingya Muslims who were extradited from Myanmar and illegally entered the country. The team arrested them at KIA, while they were trying to flee to Malaysia.

The accused have been identified as Aasma Begum, Mohammed Taheer, Omkar Farooq, Mohammed Halek, Rehana Begum, Mohammed Mustaaf and Rajat Mandal.

According to the police, the CCB police received credible information that the accused were planning to go to Malaysia using fake documents. Acting on a tip off, they arrested them from Kempegowda International Airport.

Investigation revealed that they had entered the country illegally and fabricated documents in Hyderabad to create fake Indian visa and passports. They were planning to settle down in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The police said another accused, identified as Abdul Aleem, who is currently on the run, had helped them procure fake documents.

The police have taken up the case and efforts are on to nab the accused.
New Delhi: The hand of Pakistan in dreaded terror attack on the CRPF convoy in Pulwama on Thursday has been completely revealed, said Lieutenant General (Rtd) DS Hooda on Friday while underlining the need for a more consistent and long term policy to deal with the menace of terrorism.

Lieutenant General Hooda, who oversaw the 2016 Surgical Strike, told ANI: It is a big tragedy. Very clearly Pakistan's hand is completely revealed. There needs to be a response to this, but lets have a more consistent and long term policy.

Nearly 40 CRPF personnel were killed when a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist rammed a vehicle carrying over 100-kg explosives into their bus on Srinagar-Jammu national highway on Thursday at around 3.15 pm at Ladhu Modi Lethpora. The convoy consisted of 78 buses in which around 2,500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Earlier on Friday, Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood evaded media questions when quizzed on the deadly terror attack in which nearly 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives.

India on Friday also announced the withdrawal of most favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. New Delhi had granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, a year after the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but Pakistan never reciprocated.

Anti-Pakistan protests were held on Friday across the nation to condemn the dastardly terror attack, while the key world leaders from across the globe stood in support of India, underlining the need for defeating the menace of terrorism in unison.
Mumbai: SS Rajamouli, the most applauded filmmaker has started his next project, #RRR after the huge success of Baahubali. #RRR is going to be a biggest multi-starter with two contemporary actors, Junior NTR and Ram Charan. Both of them are known for their accolades of giving brilliant films. Titled as RRR, the first schedule of the movie was shot in December for 10 days. The movie is full of high actions sequences which is why 50/% of it will be filmed in the aluminium factory, located at the Hyderabad outskirts.

The second schedule of the massive multi-starrer has started a few days back, at Ramoji Film City. A vigorously energetic action sequence is being shot on Charan and is reportedly said to be one of a kind of fight that Indian Cinema has not seen till date. Portraying the role of a cop, Charan is going to fight around 1000 men which is why numerous artists are being roped for this episode. The cast details are not yet revealed but it is confirmed that Samuthirakani, the famous Tamil Actor is on the board.

RRR is set in the pre-independence era with Junior NTR, featuring as a Bandit and Charan as a cop. A few weeks back, Parineeti Chopra and Alia Bhatt are rumoured to be included in the film. The crew that has worked for Baahubali is going to work for this film, after being highly reprised for their roles. If everything goes as planned, RRR is expected to etch new dynamics in the Indian Cinema.
After giving box-office blockbusters like Rang De Basanti and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is back with a heart-warming film titled 'Mere Pyare Prime Minister'. Starring National Award-winning actress Anjali Patil in the lead role, the film was screened at the Rome Film Festival. Mehras 'Mere Pyare Prime Minister' revolves around four children living in a Mumbai slum. One of them wants to build a toilet for his single mother and makes an appeal to the Prime Minister.

In the exclusive chat with Deccan Chronicle, the filmmaker talked about why he chose this story, his experience of shooting the film, his lead actress Anjali Patil, films reception at the prestigious Rome Film Festival and his next project with Farhan Akhtar. Excerpts:

The film seems to be talking on the issue of open defecation and sanitation problems in the country. What attracted you to the subject?

Actually, this film talks about a bigger problem - it talks about rapes - and not about open defecation as such. Yes, that is definitely a part of the film, but the issue it takes up is about the collective consciousness of nation towards a rape victim and how we deal with it. There were these figures from UNICEF which said that 50% of rapes that happen in India are when women go out to defecate. This film is about 8-year-old boy and his mother who lives in the slum colony in Mumbai which we have named Gandhi Nagar. The film is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi-ji and one of his teachings that 'The change you want to see begins from you'. This small kid begins the initiative and inspires us to kind of bring an environment of safety for his mother because after she is raped and she is going though her own trauma he is deeply saddened. So, he does different things, goes to authority and tries to make toilet for her but fails; feeling dejected he writes to Prime Minister about his struggles and asks for his help.

This film tries to see the problem from a very different angle. It tackles a subject that needs to seen face-to-face, but this is a very endearing and uplifting film.

This film is probably your lightest one in terms of its scale. Were you more relaxed during the making?

I try to be relaxed while making all my films (smiles). In this case, it was not an easy subject because we are talking about a real social issue out here. Its a tightrope when you are talking about women safety, a rape victim and the whole acceptability after the rape. Normally we get into revenge mode and we get into rhetoric of repressed anger and all that but, my protagonist is trying to create a safer world for his mother and women at large. I had rented a room in the same location and lived there for fifteen days before the shooting happened. I wanted to understand what life I have to crate and that was a surreal experience for me. This film is set in the milieu of slums and we shot it entirely there and even cast local children.

How challenging was it to shoot at real locations?

It was quite different from what I have done earlier so it was bit challenging that way. We had a guerrilla crew, we did shooting in indie style and we were always on our toes. We shot at locations we had no control over. But surprisingly, people were very helpful, very kind to us. We actually shot inside their homes. There were no artificial lights, no vanity vans. In fact, all the extras have been cast from slums only. Yes, it was challenging to shoot in small spaces but the people made it easy for us.

Does this film come from your own political viewpoints?

Well it is not a political film, it is a social film. Yes, if in the title you have a word Prime Minister its kind of leads people to think that there will a political comment but theres nothing like that. The film deals with a social devil that is rape; it deals with how we deal with a rape victim in the society and what we can do in our own small way. Theres also a beautiful romantic sub plot in the film. There is a boy who is in love with this single mother. It's wonderfully played by this new actor called Niteesh Wadhwa. The film shows how his love grows after she has gone through the trauma rather than shunning her or getting into a revenge mode. He feels more for the victim. At the larger level, it also opens our eyes and our consciousness to accept the fact that women are not safe in our country.

This was the only Asian film which screened at the Rome Film Festival. That must have been an incredible experience...

I went in with no expectations but I was thrilled with all appreciation and love. There were four screenings at the festival. I couldnt attend the first screening because it was house pocked. I remember it was a press screening. We got very good reviews and also received a long standing ovation at the premiere show. There was a big acceptance to the film all around. Normally, the western worlds have always looked down upon slums like a third world thing but, I think, what they liked here is that we celebrated their lives in the film.

How was Anjali Patil to work with? Tell me about her.

I compare Anjali Patil with Raag Bhairavi - which is a sampoorna (complete) raag. Normally all raags have five, six notes, or seven notes but Bhairavi has eight notes also! Anjali is a complete actress. I have become a huge fan of her after working on this film. She did a cameo in 'Mirzya', so I knew her potential. In this film, the story revolves around her and she has outdone herself. Each frame, each word spoken is so heartfelt that she was not acting she actually became the character - which is a hallmark of great actress.

You will soon get busy with Toofan, your next film with Farhan Akhtar. How is the film shaping up?

After Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, both Farhan and I were very keen to collaborate again and with this story we found a great match. Anjum Rajabali is writing it. It is a lovely story, it has a very fresh voice. The pre-production has started and we will go on floors by the end of this year.
On Thursday, 49 CRPF men were killed and several others injured in a suicide attack on their convoy near Srinagar.

Srinagar: Curfew was imposed in Jammu city on Friday following violence in which at least 12 persons were injured and dozens of vehicles of local and Kashmiri Muslims were torched or damaged by irate crowds of youth protesting against the killing of 49 CRPF jawans in Thursdays suicide attack near Srinagar.

The violence occurred during a one day strike against the deadliest ever attack since the Kashmiri separatist campaign turned violence nearly three decades ago. The call for the strike had been issued by Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the same was endorsed by various political, social and religious organizations and also the Jammu bar council.

Reports from Jammu said that protesters, mainly youth, took to the streets in several areas of the winter capital including Purani Mandi, Raghunath Bazaar, Jewel Chowk, Rehari, Janipur, Gandhinagar, Bakshi Nagar, Muthi, Talab Tilloo and Satwari to chant slogans against Pakistan. They also demanded stern action against the militants and their supporters in the Valley. The protesters refused to disperse even after announcements about the imposition of curfew were made from loudspeaker-fitted police jeeps.

Earlier while holding protests, the groups of youth burnt the used tyres of cars on roads and put up barricades, demanding that the attack be avenged. A group of motorcycle-borne youth, carrying the Tricolour, pelted stones on the stationary vehicles and residential houses at a couple of places. They subsequently set dozens of vehicles ablaze in Prem Nagar locality. Activists and supporters of various rightwing outfits including Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad repeated the acts of arson while passing through neighbouring Gujjar Nagar. The main target of their ire was the parked cars and other vehicles in the predominantly Muslim locality, the witnesses said. The locals alleged that the mob started torching these vehicles without any provocation.

In view of the heightening tensions, Jammus District Magistrate Ramesh Kumar announced imposition of curfew, first in Gujjar Nagar and its neighbourhood and then in entire Jammu City. He said that curfew was imposed on the winter capital to maintain law and order, public tranquillity and to protect life and property of general public.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir police has said that it had sent an intelligence input to the Army, the Air Force and various forces alerting them about a possible major terror attack by militants. On Thursday, 49 CRPF men were killed and several others injured in a suicide attack on their convoy near Srinagar.
Ashutosh Rana in the still from Sonchiriya.

Mumbai: Ashutosh Rana, is back, not as the classic, 'bad guy' but as an inspector out to hunt the dacoits.

Ashutosh, who is known as one of the intellectual actors of Hindi film industry, will be now playing a cop again after Simmba.

Ever since Sonchiriya's trailer released, there has been curiosity about his role, with fans wondering if Rana is back to doing what he does best.

Recently the makers of Sonchiriya organised the special event wherein they have gone ahead to launch the extension of the trailer titled as 'The Rebels of Sonchiriya'.

Sonchiriya is all set to release in next month, cast and crew is on a promotional spree and seen promoting the film on social media as well.

The story of Sonchiriya is set in the 1970s showcasing a small town ruled and dominated by dacoits. Multiple gangs fight over the struggle to attain power. The cast dons fierce avatars in sync with the theme of the film.

Sonchiriya promises to be a power packed action film giving a glimpse of the glorious years if dacoits in central India. Shot in the valleys of Madhya Pradesh, Sonchiriya presents an ensemble cast with an intriguing storyline.

Directed by Abhishek Chaubey who has earlier presented 'Udta Punjab' and 'Ishiqiya', 'Sonchiriya' presents a rooted tale set in Chambal. Produced by Ronnie Screwvala's RSVP, The movie is slated to release on 1st March 2019.
Mumbai: Bollywood and politics have always had a love-hate relationship. Recently, Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt during an interview were asked about their stand on the underlying political message in the song Azaadi  a track from their recently released movie Gully Boy. Brushing aside the question nonchlantly and their claim to be apolitical and too busy with their personal lives to comment on politics did not sit well with their fans, viewers and the netizens. Both the young stars were called too privileged enough to be able to call themselves apolitical in the current environment of the country.

But the industry has had its fair share of political razzmatazz, with movies portraying political honchos to the touchy topics of religion, mythology, sex and terrorism. So what prevents todays young stars from providing any comment which has the slightest political slant?

Says Bollywood publicist Dale Bhagwagar, the primary reason is fear. The fear is not only of ostracisation but also fear of losing monetary value  in terms of upcoming movies being boycotted, infrastructure being broken or releases being stalled. This has nothing to do with the current government. Rather, this has been happening through the ages, he says, citing examples of various political parties known for their pressure tactics.

Shiv Sena is infamous for violent protests against films  ranging from burning posters to vandalising theatres.

The Congress too, which is known to be a fairly balanced political party, has a student wing  NSUI  that has also participated in such vandalistic protests, he adds.

Abhishek Thukral, another celebrity manager is of the opinion that every actor is selling their film, and that making a political statement will definitely hamper the marketing of the film. A comment that can be blown up by the media completely takes away from the film or the project being promoted. And the media, out of the entire press conference, will pick up that one political statement, instead of giving any mileage to the film, explains Thukral, adding, Actors do speak about their views and current affairs when there is no movie being released. But there is so much negativity and hatred in the country with regards to politics that celebrities get death threats, actresses get rape threats. The situation can get very nasty.

Resonating with a similar idea, Dale says, Earlier, when print was one of the only media of news dissemination, a reaction to a celebritys comment would come as letters to the editor and a controversy would take at least a day to brew. Then with the boom of television, one got to know of controversies in a matter of hours. Now, with the advent of social media, not only does the controversy spread like wildfire but with apps and technology, it has become very easy to cut, edit and distort a statement given by a celebrity. Sensationalism is not the only issue now, fake news tops the list. And therefore celebrities are wary and rightfully so.

But it is not only personal comments that celebrities refuse from making. Collectively, Bollywood has rarely taken a stand on socio-political issues. Take the case of the recent #MeToo wave in India, where no one much came out in support of the survivors and victims in Indias tinsel towns.

Dale Bhagwagar explains, One needs to first understand that Bollywood is not a family or a fraternity. It is an industry with extremely insecure people where each person will have anothers back only till the favour is returned. So for Bollywood to stand together against a common evil is a far cry. Everyone is looking out for themselves, unlike Hollywood, where they are a very professional industry.

Celebrity manager Prabhat Chaudhary opines that if people are looking up to actors and actresses as role models, then the country is facing a major ideological bankruptcy. We expect actors to act well, be well-read, be aware of current affairs and be a role model all at once. That is unfair. Actors are people who do their jobs and earn money. In the process of their jobs, they get famous. But they are in no way obliged to make political statements if they do not want to, he concludes.
New Delhi: Stepping up their defence ties, India and Sweden signed a security protection agreement that will enable the two countries to share classified information with each other, a statement by the Swedish embassy said on Thursday.

The agreement was signed on Wednesday during Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's visit to the Nordic country.

Sitharaman also met Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and her Swedish counterpart Peter Hultqvist.

"The purpose of the visit was to sign a security protection agreement between Sweden and India. The signing of the security protection agreement between Sweden and India will enable both countries to share classified information with each other," the statement said.

Since 2009, Sweden and India have had a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the area of defence, and they conducted a number of bilateral meetings, most recently in December 2018 in New Delhi. In April 2018, Prime Minister Modi also visited Sweden.

"The agreement that I and Shrimati Nirmala Sitharaman signed is an important step in implementing the action plan on deeper cooperation with India," the statement quoting Hultqvist said.

Sweden has had similar agreements with over 30 countries around the world, as well as with the EU and NATO, the statement added.
For the purpose of estimating national minimum wages at regional levels it has grouped the states into five regions based on a composite index and has recommended region-specific national minimum wages. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: An expert committee has recommended fixing the need-based national minimum wage at Rs 375 per day or Rs 9,750 per month as of July 2018, irrespective of sectors, skills, occupations and rural-urban locations for a family comprising 3.6 consumption unit, an official statement said on Thursday.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment had constituted an expert committee on January 17, 2017, under the Chairmanship Anoop Satpathy, Fellow, V V Giri National Labour Institute (VVGNLI), to review and recommend a methodology for fixation of National Minimum Wage (NMW).

The expert committee has submitted its report on "Determining the Methodology for Fixation of the National Minimum Wage" to the government through the Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment on Thursday, said the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

"...the report has recommended to fix the need-based national minimum wage for India at Rs 375 per day or Rs 9,750 per month as of July 2018, irrespective of sectors, skills, occupations and rural-urban locations for a family comprising 3.6 consumption unit. It has also recommended introducing an additional house rent allowance (city compensatory allowance), averaging up to Rs 55 per day, ie., Rs 1,430 per month for urban workers over and above the NMW," the ministry said in a statement.

Apart from proposing the level of a single national minimum wage at an all-India level, the ministry said, the report has also estimated and recommended different national minimum wages for different geographical regions of the country to suit the local realities and as per socio-economic and labour market contexts.

For the purpose of estimating national minimum wages at regional levels it has grouped the states into five regions based on a composite index and has recommended region-specific national minimum wages.

Listing Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal in group I the committee has recommended a minimum wage of Rs 342 per day or Rs 8,892 per month for these states.

For Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand Rs 380 per day or Rs 9,880 per month.

For Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu Rs 414 per day or Rs 10,764 per month.

In region IV Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab Rs 447 per day or Rs 11,622 per month.

For Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Mizoram and Tripura Rs 386 per day or Rs 10, 036 per month.

The report has undertaken a rigorous and meticulous analysis and has generated a large amount of evidence relating to changes in the demographic structure, consumption pattern and nutritional intakes, the composition of food baskets and the relative importance of non-food consumption items to address the realities in the Indian context by using official data made available by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), the ministry said.

The report has now been placed on the ministry's website, for facilitating the process of consultation and dialogue among social partners and stakeholders and seeking necessary approval of methodology from tripartite bodies, it added.
New Delhi: The commerce ministry would soon notify to the World Trade Organization (WTO) its decision to revoke the most-favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan on security grounds, an official said Friday.

The decision would enable India to increase custom duties on goods imported from Pakistan. India imported goods worth USD 488.5 million in 2017-18.

"Now, the commerce ministry will notify to the WTO to revoke the MFN status to Pakistan by invoking Article 21 of the WTO which is the security exception," the official said.

The ministry would work on a list of goods imported from Pakistan over which India would increase the customs duties.

After the Pulwama terror attack on Thursday, India on Friday withdrew the MFN status to Pakistan. Following this, India can raise customs duties on goods being imported from Pakistan up to the bound level duty rates. Currently, India's custom duties on goods to members of the WTO are below the bound level rates. The current customs duties imposed are called applied rates and the level at which one can increase is known as bound rates.

The main items which India imports include fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products, bulk minerals and ores and finished leather.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country had not yet reciprocated.

Total India-Pakistan trade has increased marginally to USD 2.41 billion in 2017-18 as against USD 2.27 billion in 2016-17. India imported goods worth USD 488.5 million in 2017-18 and exported goods worth USD 1.92 billion in that fiscal.

India mainly exports raw cotton, cotton yarn, chemicals, plastics, manmade yarn and dyes to Pakistan.

Trade experts said this decision would not have a major implication on bilateral trade between the countries as the value of trade is below USD 3 billion annually.

They said that although Pakistan can drag India into the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism on the matter, their case would be weak as they have not yet granted the tag to India.
The proceeds from the ETF sale would help the government move towards meeting the Rs 80,000 crore disinvestment target set for the current fiscal. (Representational Images)

New Delhi: The government has raised Rs 10,000 crore by additional offering of Bharat-22 Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) on Thursday.

The additional 'on-tap' offering of Bharat-22 ETF was opened for a single day with a base issue size of Rs 3,500 crore and an option to retain over-subscription.

The issue was over-subscribed 10 times and received bids for Rs 4,00,000 crore till 7pm. Bids will pour in till 8pm, the Finance Ministry said.

"The Bharat-22 ETF issue received overwhelming response from all categories of investors including retail investors. The Government has decided to retain approximately Rs 10,000 crore as its divestment proceeds," the ministry said in a statement.

The proceeds from the ETF sale would help the government move towards meeting the Rs 80,000 crore disinvestment target set for the current fiscal.

With the successful Bharat-22 ETF offering, the government has mopped up approximately Rs 46,000 crore by way of disinvestment.

The government has so far raised Rs 22,900 crore through the Bharat-22 ETF. While Rs 14,500 crore was raised in November 2017, another Rs 8,400 crore was raised in June 2018.

The central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) that are part of the ETF include ONGC, IOC, SBI, BPCL, Coal India and Nalco.

Other constituents include Bharat Electronics, Engineers India, NBCC, NTPC, NHPC, SJVNL, GAIL, PGCIL and NLC India. Only three public sector banks -- SBI, Indian Bank and Bank of Baroda -- figure in the Bharat-22 index.

Also, the government's strategic holding in Axis Bank, ITC and L&T, held through Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI), has been put in the ETF basket.

This would be the second ETF offering by the government in the current fiscal which ends in March. In November last year, the government had raised Rs 17,300 crore through a follow-on offer of another exchange traded fund -- CPSE ETF, which comprises shares of 11 public sector enterprises. This was the biggest-ever fund raising from an ETF domestically.
According to reports, Samsung India saw its net revenues growing by 10 per cent to about Rs 60,000 crore in FY18. Of this, the mobile business accounted for over Rs 37,000 crore. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: Electronics giant Samsung on Thursday said it aims to garner USD 4 billion (around Rs 28,000 crore) in revenue from its Galaxy A series of smartphones in India this year, as it expands the range aimed at millennials.

The company, which is locked in a battle for leadership in the hyper-competitive Indian smartphone market with Chinese player Xiaomi, will line-up new devices between March-June, priced between Rs 10,000-50,000.

"Lats year, our mobile chief DJ Koh had announced that we will bring innovation across our smartphone range to mass and mid-price phones and not limit them to premium flagships. This year, we will have a strong lineup under our Galaxy A series to offer the features that millennials are looking for," Samsung India Senior VP (Mobile Marketing) Ranjiv Singh told PTI.

He added that the company will launch a new device every month between March and June - priced between Rs 10,000-50,000.

"Previous Galaxy A devices have done extremely well in the Indian market and with the new line-up, we are confident of getting USD 4 billion in revenue from the series (Galaxy A) this year in India," Singh said.

According to reports, Samsung India saw its net revenues growing by 10 per cent to about Rs 60,000 crore in FY18. Of this, the mobile business accounted for over Rs 37,000 crore.

Last month, Samsung has launched its new online-only 'Galaxy M' series of smartphones in India and said the series would play a key role in helping the company clock double-digit growth in 2019.

Citing GfK data, Singh said Samsung had 42 per cent share in the Rs 20,000-30,000 category, and 76 per cent share in the Rs 30,000-40,000 segment in value terms in December.

However, reports from other research organisations like IDC and Counterpoint have positioned Xiaomi to be ahead of Samsung (in terms of units shipped) for many quarters now.

Xiaomi has a dominant position in the online smartphone sales and has been aggressively expanding its offline presence over the last many months.
It will also allow RBL Bank to optimise costs, and be agile in ensuring uninterrupted operations. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Infosys Finacle on Thursday said RBL Bank has adopted its Finacle Assure solution on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud.

With Finacle Assure, RBL Bank gains a preventive maintenance service to manage its enterprise-wide information technology (IT) infrastructure and applications, a statement said.

The service will help RBL Bank prevent and address IT incidents, and enhance its applications performance, it said.

It will also allow RBL Bank to optimise costs, and be agile in ensuring uninterrupted operations, the statement added.
However, on a consolidated basis, the airline posted a net loss of Rs 732 crore for the quarter, against a net profit of Rs 186 crore for the same period last year. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Financially-stressed Jet Airways on Thursday reported a standalone net loss of Rs 587.77 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, owing to higher fuel cost and rupee fall.

The company had posted a standalone net profit of Rs 165.25 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal, Jet Airways said in a statement.

However, on a consolidated basis, the airline posted a net loss of Rs 732 crore for the quarter, against a net profit of Rs 186 crore for the same period last year.

The carrier said revenue from operations during the quarter under review stood at Rs 6,147.98 crore as against Rs 6,086.20 crore in the year-ago period.

In another development, the airline's board approved bank-led resolution plan (BLRP), entailing conversion of lenders' debt into equity, making them the largest shareholder in the airline.

Total expenses in the third quarter shot up to Rs 6,786.15 crore as compared to Rs 6,042.58 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, it added.

Aircraft fuel expenses stood at Rs 2,387.72 crore as compared to Rs 1,840.08 crore in the corresponding period last year, while aircraft and engines lease rentals were at Rs 730.35 crore as against Rs 583.67 crore.

"Jet Airways continues to make steady progress on its operational and financial turnaround and with todays approval of the Bank led Provisional Resolution Plan by the board, we remain confident of delivering a more strategic, efficient and financially viable airline," Jet Airways chief executive officer Vinay Dube said in the statement.

Despite improvement in RASK (revenue per available seat kilometre) which grew by 2.6 percent during the quarter over the period year-ago due to seasonal, demand-led strengthening of fares, higher costs due to the price of Brent crude, which saw an increase of 29 percent y-o-y and the rupee depreciation impacted the airlines overall business performance, it said.

The airline said the non-fuel expenses increased by 13.7 percent on Y-o-Y to Rs 3.43. Excluding forex impact, non-fuel fuel increased by 7.5 percent.

Domestic revenue stood at Rs 2,560.44 crore, down from Rs 2,749.05 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, while the same for international operations was also down to Rs 3,587.54 crore as against Rs 3,337.15 crore, the airline said.

Besides, the airline flew 6.9 percent less passengers at 7.17 million during the quarter over the previous year while revenues from codeshare and interline guests for the quarter rose by healthy 12.8 percent over Q3FY18 even as passengers on codeshare flights grew by a meagre 1.1 percent on a YoY basis.

The airline also said it will implement strategic changes in its current distribution process from next fiscal.
As part of the strategic disinvestment, Alloy Steels Plant was planned to be transferred to the strategic investor on a going-concern basis by way of slump sale through business transfer agreement. (Photo: DC)

New Delhi: The government has shelved plans for strategic sale of SAIL's Alloy Steels Plant in Durgapur, West Bengal.

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) had invited an expression of interest from global and domestic companies for its proposed strategic disinvestment of its Alloy Steels Plant.

This was after the government's clearance for outright sale of state-owned SAIL's three special steel units -- Salem Steel Plant, Alloy Steels Plant and Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant -- in 2017.

"...the process of strategic disinvestment of 100 per cent stake in Alloy Steels Plant (ASP) at Durgapur by Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) ... has been annulled," the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) said in a notice.

As part of the strategic disinvestment, Alloy Steels Plant was planned to be transferred to the strategic investor on a going-concern basis by way of slump sale through business transfer agreement.
Pakistan strongly rejected insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that have sought to link it to the attack.

Meanwhile, India slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

Islamabad: Strongly rejecting Indian media and New Delhis allegations of the Pakistans link to the Pulwama strike, Islamabad on Friday vowed to give a strong reply to India at the diplomatic level for levelling allegations without even investigating the attack, officials said Friday.

Pakistan strongly rejected insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that have sought to link it to the attack. Asserting that Pakistan has always condemned acts of violence anywhere in the world, the foreign office said, We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations.

In a tweet, foreign office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said, We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in Valley.

Meanwhile, India slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil. The Indian foreign secretary has also rejected the statement made by Pakistan, denying any link to the terror strike.

On Friday, Indian government sources in New Delhi said, The foreign secretary summoned the Pakistan high commissioner to the ministry of external affairs today at 2 pm and issued a very strong demarche in connection with the terrorist attack in Pulwama yesterday.

India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.

On Thursday, at least 44 CRPF personnel were killed in Kashmir in one the deadliest attacks. The attack saw explosives packed inside a van rip through buses in a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying some 2,500 members of the paramilitary force. Two buses carrying around 35 people each bore the brunt of the massive blast, heard miles away, around 20 kilometres from the city of Srinagar on the main highway to Jammu.
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Jason Grant (Class of 11 and 13) is excited for what 2019 has in store for Cultiv8, Dalhousie Universitys Agricultural Sandbox. Since its inception, Cultiv8 has morphed and adapted to meet the changing culture around campus and this year is expected to bring bigger and better things.



In a relatively short time, we have finally arrived at the beginning; a foundation from which innovation can occur with minimal resources, explains Jason, Cultiv8 manager.



Cultiv8 is a space on Dalhousies Agricultural Campus where students can creatively discover and test ideas, with or without a business goal in mind. Open to all Dal AC students from diploma to PhD levels of study, students engaged with Cultiv8 will learn to communicate, problem-solve, prototype and much more.



In our supportive environment, we build confidence in testing ideas through creativity, exploration and collaboration, so that our students can become more competitive in the 21st-century workforce, Jason says.

An opportunity to collaboration



Founded in 2014, Cultiv8 is a result of the Nova Scotia Sandbox Project, a joint project hosted by Nova Scotia universities and community colleges. The project brings together students, mentors and advisors from across the province to help students develop entrepreneurial skills and mindsets. Students gain tools and practice in areas such as teamwork and collaboration, self-confidence, networking and more. Cultiv8 is one of nine sandboxes across the province.



The skills we are offering our students will help change the culture around innovation in Nova Scotia, Jason explains.



At no cost other than their time, Cultiv8 offers students exposure to innovation through a variety of avenues. Students have access to inspirational tours to local agriculture and value-added agribusinesses, customized workshops and programs and collaborative boot camp experiences with students from across Nova Scotia. At the programming level, Cultiv8 is home to approximately 50 students and during any given year, students and public engagement has reached numbers in the thousands.



Students are sources of limitless energy with initiative; they advocate for justice, are socially responsible and environmentally conscious, Jason explains. They are nimble in their ability to pivot and they are all different. At Cultiv8 we believe that the next generation of Nova Scotia students will change this province into a collaboration hub.



In the coming year, Cultiv8 intends to mentor and employ one or two student summer interns. They are also currently running two concurrent programs, Discover and Validate. As for events, Cultiv8 is organizing a pilot event with Lethbridge College and McGill University. The national agriculture event will select students from each campus to attend a five-day event in Lethbridge where students will participate in an agricultural design challenge.

The challenge will immerse students in the local community, expose them to exciting innovations happening in Alberta Ag and allow them to network with others from across the country. They will challenge their abilities to discover needs, ideate solutions, test prototypes and iterate their solutions based on stakeholder feedback.



It is our plan to learn from this pilot run in September 2019 and begin to grow the event so that all agricultural campuses across the country can attend annually, Jason explains.

Poised for what's next





Having recently been approved as an incubator for the Mitacs eAccelereate program, Cultiv8 is poised for whats next. The Mitacs eAccelerate program provides student entrepreneurs opportunities to conduct research and develop their ideas in their own start-ups while continuing their studies.



As we gain more traction and develop our student culture around innovation, so too will we integrate more deeply with industry, providing greater opportunities in terms of internships and becoming more desirable and competitive with regards to employability, Jason explains. The creation and growth of sustainable businesses is the natural next step.



As with any new initiative, Cultiv8 has changed and grown dramatically since its inception. Early programming focused on engaging industry to share their problems so that students could develop solutions and pitch to stakeholders. While the concept worked well in the beginning, Cultiv8 has since taken a different direction. Today, Cultiv8 focuses on teaching students the skills to become more competitive and innovative, whether thats within their studies, their work, or as business owners. Cultiv8 provides students with tools which they can use for a lifetime.



It is essential that we move toward the mindset of, sustainable business creation is neither quick nor easy, but is, with a targeted and low-cost approach, very possible, Jason says. We provide tools to our students. While within the low-risk environment of the Cultiv8 Sandbox, it is the intention that our students use those tools to gain practice and proficiency toward successful innovation.


Union home minister Rajnath Singh shoulders the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan in Budgam on Friday. (Photo: PTI)

Srinagar: Union home minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday the country will not forget the supreme sacrifice of the 49 CRPF jawans who were killed in a suicide attack by a Jaish-e-Muhammad militant at Lethapora near Srinagar a day earlier and that it will win its battle against terrorism.

The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans. I have paid my last respects to the martyrs of Pulwama. The sacrifice will not go in vain, he said at a press conference here. He said that the Centre has requested the concerned authorities to help the families of the slain CRPF men as much as they can.

Mr Singh also said, We are happy that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are with us in our fight. Although there are some people and organisations who are hand in glove with Pakistan militant groups, the country will win its battle against terrorism. Without mentioning anyone by name but in an obvious reference to separatist Hurriyat Conference leaders, he said, I have asked officers to review the security of those people who take money from Pakistan. Mr Singh also said that in view of the suicide attack on the CRPF, it has been decided that civilian traffic would be stopped during the movement of the convoys of the Army and other security forces along the Srinagar-Jammu highway and other major roads in the Valley.

In the wake of suicide attack on CRPF convoy yesterday, it has been decided that the civilian movement will be stopped for some time when a large convoy of security forces passes through an area, he said. He added that the civilians will face a little difficulty because of the restriction. We apologise for it, he said.

During his brief visit of Srinagar, the Home Minister held an emergency meeting with the officials of various security forces combating a nearly three decade old militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and those of the State administration to review the law and order situation particularly in restive Valley in the backdrop of Thursdays attack. Several quick but important decisions were taken with regard to the counterinsurgency operations and safety of security forces and their families, said a senior official. He, however, refused to divulge the details.
He had said, Visibly it seems to be guided from across the border as Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed the responsibility.

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik on Friday again lashed out at Pakistan, accusing it of harbouring militants responsible for acts of violence in the state.

Reacting to Pakistans denying any involvement in Thursdays suicide attack at a CRPF convoy near Srinagar and its saying the incident was a matter of grave concern and that it had been condemning heightened acts of violence in the (Kashmir) Valley, Mr. Malik said, Pakistan is talking nonsense. The terrorists are holding open rallies in Pakistan, saying we will do something and openly threatening India.

He added, Pakistan is frustrated. After the successful (urban bodies and panchayat) elections (in Jammu and Kashmir) it could not recruit new militants.

He reiterated that he has asked all the security forces commanders to enhance surveillance on every front and directed the district and divisional civil and police administration to immediately review the security management of all important installations and establishments.

On Thursday, the Governor had said that it seems the suicide attack on the CRPF convoy at Lethapora in southern Pulwama district was guided from across the border in Pakistan. He had said, Visibly it seems to be guided from across the border as Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed the responsibility.
The major suicide attack on a CRPF convoy by Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed, sparked outrage and condemnation from across the world.

New Delhi: The major attck on a CRPF convoy by Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed, often described as a lapdog of the ISI, sparked outrage and condemnation from across the world.

One of the very first world leaders to express condolences was Russian President Vladimir Putin, condemning this brutal crime.

The perpetrators and sponsors of this attack, undoubtedly, should be duly punished, said Putin extending his support to PM Modi

The Government of Nepal strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir today (Thursday) that has resulted in the loss of many precious lives, the release from Nepals Ministry of Foreign Affairs put forth late Thursday.

Afghan minister was of the opinion that the attack was a copy-paste of Pak-backed terror in Afghanistan

The heinous act of terror in Kashmir has all the hallmarks of a common source and sponsor of terrorism in our region. It is a copy paste of what Pakistan backed terror groups do in Afghanistan. We condemn the attack and convey our condolences to Indian people, Amrullah Saleh, the acting Minister of Interior of Afghanistan, tweeted in the aftermath of the heinous assault.

Dean of Diplomatic Corps Hans Dannenberg Castellanos:On behalf of Diplomatic Corps in India, we would like to express our deep sympathy to Indian govt&families of victims of this horrendous act.Firmly support Indian govt in their fight against terrorism. (File pic) #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/PSlVFxPbrV  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Europeans also stretched out a hand of support to India and expressed their sadness and condolences to the Pulwana attack.

Our thoughts go out to the families of the fallen soldiers. France has always been and always will be by Indias side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms, declared Alexandre Ziegler, the French ambassador in Delhi.

.I call on each state to effectively combat terrorist networks and their funding channels and to prevent the cross-border movement of terrorist groups, such as Jaish-e-Mohamed, who has claimed responsibility for this attack, added the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Israel stands by our Indian friends during this difficult hour. We send our deepest condolences to the CPRF and their families, the people of India and the Indian government following the terrible Kashmir Terror Attack, said Ambassador Dr Ron Malka.

PM of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu: To my dear friend, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, we stand with you, the security forces and the people of India following this heinous terrorist attack. We send our condolences to the families of the victims. #PulwamaAttack (file pic) pic.twitter.com/v029Sr4cvl  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Germany strongly condemns today's heinous terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, said the German Embassy.

We denounce terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with decisive and collective response without any double standards. May we express sincere condolences to the grieving families of the deceased and wish a speedy recovery to those injured, said a statement issued by the Russian Embassy in Delhi.

South Korea Foreign Ministry: We strongly condemn the terrorist attack on the CRPF in Pulwama, Jammu & Kashmir on February 14 & extend deepest condolences & sympathy to those who lost their lives in the attack and their bereaved families.  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Closer home, Sri Lankas Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe tweeted the brutal terrorist attack in Kashmir's Pulwama district (was) the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. I express my condolences to @narendramodi and the families of police officers who lost their lives.

I strongly condemn the brutal terrorist attack in Kashmir's Pulwama district  the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. I express my condolences to @narendramodi and the families of police officers who lost their lives.  Ranil Wickremesinghe (@RW_UNP) February 14, 2019

"It was with deep shock and horror that I learnt of the bomb blast in Pulwama, Kashmir, that caused tragic loss of life and distress to many dozens of CRPF personnel, wrote Abdulla Shahid, the Maldives foreign minister in a message to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.

UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation: The UAE stands in solidarity with the government and people of India in their fight against violence and extremism. #PulwamaAttack  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and more than a dozen others injured on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist rammed an explosives-laden SUV into their bus in Pulwama district.
Rajnath Singh and Jammu and Kashmir top police officer Dilbagh Singh on Friday carried coffin of a solider who died in the attack

New Delhi: Union Home Minister and Jammu and Kashmir top police Dilbagh Singh on Friday carried the coffin of a CRPF official who was killed in Pulwama terror attack on Thursday.

Shortly after arriving from Delhi, the Home Minister attended a solemn function here where the remains of 40 CRPF personnel were kept in coffins, draped with tricolour.

Rajnath Singh, who on Thursday, assured the country that the government will "undertake whatever it takes to avenge this", carried the coffin wrapped in the national flag on his shoulder.

#WATCH: Home Minister Rajnath Singh and J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh lend a shoulder to mortal remains of a CRPF soldier in Budgam. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/CN4pfBsoVr  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Director General of Police lifted another side of the coffin and walked together, helped by other officials.

The home minister, Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath laying ceremony.

The dignitaries stood in silence till the coffins were loaded in a truck which went to the Srinagar airport, the official said. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.
The P5 refers to the United Nations Security Council's five permanent members - United States, United Kingdom, Russia, France and China.

Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale met envoys of the United Nation P5 countries - which includes China - the Gulf, Japan and European nations to brief them about Pakistan's role in sponsoring terror. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: After the Pulwama attack in which at least 40 CRPF soldiers were killed by a Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, the government on Friday said that it would take all possible diplomatic steps to ensure Pakistans complete isolation internationally.

Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale met envoys of the United Nation P5 countries - which includes China - the Gulf, Japan and European nations to brief them about Pakistan's role in sponsoring terror.

The P5 refers to the United Nations Security Council's five permanent members - United States, United Kingdom, Russia, France and China.

Hours earlier, Gokhale had summoned Pakistans High Commissioner to demand that Islamabad take verifiable action against terror groups.

Indias high commissioner in Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations. According to news agency ANI, he will be in Delhi late on Friday to attend meetings at the External Affairs Ministry on Saturday.

On Friday morning, the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped 'Most Favoured Nation' status for Pakistan.

India appealed to all members of the international community to "support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan".

Though nations like the US, the UK, Russia and France have asserted that they stand with India in combating the menace of terrorism, China broke its silence nearly a day later and still kept its stand on Masood Azhar unchanged.

On Thursday, a suicide bomber detonated a car-load of explosives next to a large convoy of 78 CRPF buses with over 2,500 personnel travelling on the highway from Jammu to Srinagar. At Pulwama, the car with 60 kg of explosives blew up, killing over 40 personnel reporting to duty after leave.
Amid calls for her to resign, she, like the men in Virginia, apologized, but is also defiant, tweeting: "Listening and learning, but standing strong."

That's another parallel in these two troubling tales: ignorance. Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring blamed his blackface, while attending the University of Virginia, on "ignorance and glib attitudes."

Northam has also suggested he needs to educate himself on the history of racism in America. If a recent interview with Gayle King is any indication, he has a ways to go; she had to correct him that the term was "slavery," not "indentured servitude."

Omar also admitted she needs an education and responded to New York Times opinion editor Bari Weiss on Twitter: "You are correct when you say, 'Perhaps Ms. Omar is sincerely befuddled and not simply deflecting,'" in failing to grasp why the "hypnotized" comment was so offensive.

But for all the similarities, there's an important difference between Omar and the two Virginia politicians. While many Democrats in Virginia  including African-Americans  say Northam and Herring's policies have been good for blacks, Omar supports one policy that is patently bad for Jews.
'This is a time of mourning, sadness, and respect. We are not going to get into any other conversation apart from this,' Gandhi added.

Rahul Gandhi said, 'This is a terrible tragedy. This type of violence done against our soldiers is absolutely disgusting.' (Photo: ANI | Twitter)

New Delhi: Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Pulwama attack, congress president Rahul Gandhi said, This is a terrible tragedy. This type of violence done against our soldiers is absolutely disgusting. We are all standing together with our jawans. No force can divide or break this country.

This is a time of mourning, sadness, and respect. We are fully supporting the government of India and our security forces. We are not going to get into any other conversation apart from this, Gandhi added.

While continuing to condemn the Pulwama attack, Gandhi said that no amount of anger can harm love and affection our country is built on and those who have done this should not feel that they can harm our country.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, Today is the day of mourning. Our country has lost close to 40 armed forces jawans and our foremost duty is to convey to their families that we are with them. We shall never compromise with the terrorist forces.

Singh said terrorism is scourge with which we can never compromise.

At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and more than a dozen others injured on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist rammed an explosives-laden SUV into their bus in Pulwama district.
When the news of Kay Fryes death on Wednesday reached me, I was filled with sadness upon the passing of my friend and colleague. Two thoughts
RICHMOND  Schools will continue to operate in Virginia on Election Day.

The Senate Education and Health Committee on Thursday killed House Bill 1752 from Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, that would have required all public schools in the state to treat Election Day in November as a school holiday. The bill came as a recommendation from a special committee formed after the deadly Parkland, Fla., school shooting, which happened a year ago Thursday.

Krizek said he was disappointed that it didnt make it out of committee.

Its a simple thing. Its about doing whats right for our children and protecting them, Krizek said in an interview after the vote. It does make it safer for students to not have strangers walking around their schools on Election Day.

The bill cleared the House of Delegates in a 97-1 vote last month. It met a different fate Thursday when 11 Senators  seven Republicans and four Democrats  voted to kill the bill compared to four  three Democrats and one Republican  who supported the idea.
RICHMOND  The General Assembly elected Judge Teresa Chafin, the sister of a state senator, on Thursday to fill a seat on the Virginia Supreme Court that will become open in September.

Delegates and senators cited Chafins judicial experience in electing her to a 12-year term. Sen. Ben Chafin, R-Russell, is her brother and former law partner.

Justice Elizabeth McClanahan announced last month that she would retire from the seven-member court effective Sept. 1, the date Teresa Chafin will join the high court. Because Republicans have the majority in both the House and Senate, they controlled who would be her replacement.

On the Senate floor, Ben Chafin remained in his seat but did not vote on his sisters election. Three Democrats  Jennifer Boysko, of Fairfax, Creigh Deeds, of Bath, and Mamie Locke, of Hampton  also remained in the room but did not vote. The Senate voted 36-0 and the House voted 97-0 to approve her judgeship.

Teresa Chafin served as a general district judge from 2002 to 2005, and then a judge in Tazewell County Circuit Court from 2005 to 2012.
A federal court gave final approval Thursday to the redrawn Virginia House of Delegates map that a court-appointed expert created to resolve the states long-running racial gerrymandering case.

In a 2-1 opinion, judges for the Richmond-based Eastern District of Virginia ordered the state to adopt the map created by University of California-Irvine political science professor Bernard Grofman. The map could boost Democrats chances of taking control of the House later this year by tilting six GOP-held districts toward Democrats and imperiling the re-election campaigns of two top Republicans.

Republicans had called Grofmans map legally indefensible, saying it attempts to give Democrats an advantage at every turn.

Judges Barbara Milano Keenan and Arenda Wright Allen rejected that assertion.

Nothing in the record suggests that Dr. Grofman acted with animus toward any incumbents, or toward any party, the judges wrote. We credit Dr. Grofmans contention that he constructed his proposals without regard to partisan outcome in the non-challenged districts, and that he treated all incumbents equally.
Former Vice President Al Gore and the Rev. William J. Barber II will speak at an event in Buckingham County next week about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

The free event is called The Moral Call for Ecological Justice in Buckingham.

Gore and Barber will discuss the compressor station proposed for Union Hill as part of the pipeline, and how poverty, racism and ecological concerns are connected to the project.

The event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Buckingham Middle School.

On Friday, the Buckingham Democratic Party called on Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring to conduct a strict, comprehensive review of the compressor station, linking the environmental racism and great injustice of the project to both officials admission of wearing blackface in the 1980s.

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A University of Virginia professor on Friday was given a six-month suspended sentence after entering an Alford plea on a charge of assault and battery.

In an Alford plea, a defendant maintains his innocence but acknowledges the prosecution has enough evidence to secure a conviction.

In return for the plea, the commonwealth dropped a felony strangulation charge against Jeffery Renard Allen, 56, at his Charlottesville Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court hearing.

Allen was charged in November with felony strangulation and misdemeanor simple domestic battery.

Allen will be expected to be on good behavior for two years and must enroll in the healthy relationship program at Offender Aid & Restoration. He is to have no violent, abusive or threatening contact with the victim, who is identified as a family member.

According to a police report, officers were called to the UVa Medical Center on Nov. 7. They spoke to a family member of Allens who said he had strangled her to the point that she felt like she could not breathe. Officers observed scratch marks on her neck. Allen was arrested the following day.
The Wilson Memorial High School teacher previously found guilty of assaulting the organizer of the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally received a lower charge Thursday in Charlottesville Circuit Court.

Phoebe Stevens, a French teacher, was given a lesser charge of disorderly conduct and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, according to court documents.

If she completes the community service and remains on good behavior, the charge will be dropped.

Stevens was originally set for a one-day jury trial, but a deal between her attorney and the prosecutor was reached during jury selection.

The Fishersville teacher was one of four arrested for assaulting Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler at press conference held the day after the chaotic rally that saw neo-Nazis and white supremacists invade Charlottesville.

Stevens was found guilty of misdemeanor assault and battery by a judge in Charlottesville General District Court in February 2018 and sentenced to 50 hours of community service. She later appealed the verdict.

At the February 2018 hearing, Mai Shurtleff, a freelance photographer and wife of Daily Progress chief photographer Andrew Shurtleff, said she heard Stevens say, We love you, Jason, before grabbing him. Stevens said she wanted Kessler to know that she didnt hate him and only disagreed with what he believed.

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A Nelson County man is dead and a woman is hospitalized after a shooting-suicide near Nellysford, according to the Virginia State Police.

Authorities believe James C. Saunderson, 47, shot a woman with a handgun during an argument Thursday evening.

The woman fled the residence on Rodes Valley Drive in her car and drove herself to the Wintergreen Fire Department. She is still being treated at the University of Virginia Medical Center for serious  but non-life-threatening  injuries, a police spokeswoman said Friday evening.

Nelson sheriffs deputies went to the residence in response to the shooting and heard shots fired inside the home as they approached.

Deputies called state police for assistance and police set up a security perimeter around the house. Repeated attempts to contact the person inside the home were unsuccessful, authorities said.

After obtaining a search warrant, police entered the home early Friday morning and found Saunderson dead. A handgun was recovered from the scene.

The investigation is ongoing.

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The decision to call an all-party meet was taken during a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security at PM Modis residence in Delhi.

A convoy of 78 vehicles carrying more than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force jawans from Jammu to Srinagar was targeted in a suicide bombing. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: An all-party meeting called by the Modi government begins in Parliament library about the Pulwama terror attack and security situation in Kashmir.

The meeting convened by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was in Kashmir on Friday to take stock of the situation, is being attended by Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Jyotiraditya Scindia of the Congress, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O'Brien of the TMC, Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena, Jithendra Reddy of the TRS, D Raja of the CPI, Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference, Ram Vilas Paswan of the LJP among others.

Political parties have closed ranks following the attack and have offered their support to the NDA government on its response on the matter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has talked tough and asserted that those behind it will be punished, and his government has launched a diplomatic offensive to isolate Pakistan within the international community.

As many as 40 CRPF jawans were killed in one of the biggest terror attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan-based terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for it.
Street Theatre in NYC: Christ, Satan, Cuomo...and Trump -- Cuomo and Satan Team Up Against Trump and Christ -- Guess Who Wins?

Visit www.RandallTerry.com to see news coverage of skit assailing Cuomo in various cities across New York State.



Contact: Randall Terry, 904-826-9989



MANHATTAN, N.Y., Feb. 15, 2019 /Christian Newswire/ -- In today's skits, Cuomo will be "aborting babies" while Satan encourages him. President Trump and Christ will walk up behind them, unseen; Trump will grab Cuomo's arm, and save a baby. Cuomo and Satan will flee in terror.

Event Locations:



World Trade Center, 10AM to Noon



Trump Tower: 2PM to 4 PM.

Cuomo Receiving Communion: In another skit, Cuomo will be beating Christ with a whip with Satan's encouragement; Cuomo will be stabbing baby dolls. After killing the babies, with blood on his hands, Cuomo will turn to a bishop, who will serve him communion, while Satan looks on in glee. Cuomo will then take money from his pocket to give to the Bishop to help pay for "human rights projects."



"These skits show in stark and shocking terms what is happening right now in New York. Cuomo has unleashed a new wave of slaughter and terror against innocent babies, while Bishops serve him communion. Surely this is Satanic." Randall Terry



www.RandallTerry.com


Grape expectations

Valley Road Vineyards will offer two seatings of its Blind Wine Tasting on Saturday  one at 1 p.m. and another at 3:30 p.m. Alyson Muff, Valley Roads vinista and Level 1 sommelier, will provide the commentary for a tasting experience unhindered by labels.

Each wine bottle comes in a brown wrapper. Participants will learn how to identify the elements of the bouquet, enjoy the flavors and then describe the finish. Youll try four Valley Road wines and possibly a surprise, and youll receive an adieu of your favorite.

The event is $30, plus tax and gratuity; seating is limited, so reservations are a must. Visit valleyroadwines.com/event/very-blind-tasting-event/.

Extended Valentines fun

Keswick Vineyards will present Be Mine with Wine from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Its a special Valentines Day Weekend tasting of five Keswick Vineyards wines  each paired with a decadent dessert. There will be plenty of time for relaxing by the fire on the recently expanded enclosed porch.
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The Indian envoy has been called for consultations at a time when the govt is looking at options for giving a befitting reply to Pakistan.

The development came hours after the angry government decided to withdraw the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status granted unilaterally to Pakistan while asserting that there is 'incontrovertible evidence' about Pakistans direct hand in the gruesome terror attack. (Photo: Facebook | Ajay Bisaria)

New Delhi: In the wake of Pulwama terror attack, India has called its High Commissioner in Islamabad Ajay Bisaria to New Delhi for immediate consultations, sources said.

Bisaria will be here for consultations Saturday, the sources told ANI.

The Indian envoy has been called for consultations at a time when the government is looking at options for giving a befitting reply to Pakistan over the dastardly terror attack in Pulwama in Kashmir Thursday, in which around 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

The development came hours after the angry government decided to withdraw the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status granted unilaterally to Pakistan while asserting that there is incontrovertible evidence about Pakistans direct hand in the gruesome terror attack.

India will also make all possible efforts to ensure complete isolation of Pakistan in the international community and work for early adoption of the long-pending Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), which is pending before the United Nations.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the situation in the wake of Thursdays terror attack was assessed, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters here.

"Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands withdrawn," Jaitley said after the meeting which was also attended by Home Minister, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

India had granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, a year after the formation of World Trade Organisation (WTO), but Pakistan never accorded the same status to India.

Under the international trade rules, MFN is a treatment accorded to a trade partner to ensure non-discriminatory trade between two countries.

Briefing on the other decisions of the CCS, Jaitley said, "the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will initiate all possible diplomatic steps, which have to be taken, to ensure complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan, of which incontrovertible evidence is available of having a direct hand in this gruesome attack.

The MEA will also engage with international community to see that the CCIT proposal, which has been pending, is adopted at the earliest.

He noted that the CCIT proposal, moved by India, has been pending because of differences over the definition of terrorism.

A CRPF convoy, while moving from Jammu to Srinagar, was attacked by a suicide bomber in Lethpora area on the national highway at around 3.15 pm Thursday.

Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack.
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Limited, Maco Inversiones S.A., McCord Payen de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., McPherson Strut Company LLC, Monroe Amortisor Imalat Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Monroe Australia Pty. Limited, Monroe Czechia s.r.o., Monroe Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., Monroe Manufacturing (Proprietary) Ltd., Monroe Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Monroe Packaging BVBA, Monroe Ride Performance Sweden AB, Monroe Springs (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Montagewerk Abgastechnik Emden GmbH, Motocare India Private Limited, Muzzy-Lyon Auto Parts LLC, Parts Zone (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Payen International Limited, Piston Rings (UK) Limited, Precision Modular Assembly Corp., Productos de Frenos Automotrices de Calidad S.A. de C.V., Proveedora Walker S. de R.L. de C.V., Pullman, Pullman Standard Inc., Qingdao Tenneco FAWSN Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Raimsa S. de R.L. de C.V., Ride Performance Canada Inc., Ride Performance Japan Ltd., Ride Performance Korea Limited, Ride Performance Mexico Holding LLC, SAXID Limited, Sapav Marketing Ltd, Saxid, Saxid s.r.l., Servicio de Componentes Automotrices S. de R.L. de C.V., Servicios Administrativos Industriales S. de R.L. de C.V., Shanghai Tenneco Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Sibirica Energy Limited, Sintration Limited, Speyside Real Estate LLC, Subensambles Internacionales S. de R.L. de C.V., T&N Industries LLC, T&N de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., TA (Australia) Group Pty. Ltd., TM S.r.l, TMC Texas Inc., TPR Federal-Mogul Tennessee Inc., Taiwan Federal-Mogul Motorparts Co. Limited, TecCom GmbH, Tenneco (Beijing) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Beijing) Ride Control System Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Changzhou) Ride Performance Co. Ltd., Tenneco (China) Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Dalian) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Jingzhou) Ride Performance Co. Ltd., Tenneco (MSCan) Operations Inc., Tenneco (MUSA), Tenneco (Mauritius) Limited, Tenneco (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Suzhou) Emission System Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Suzhou) Ride Control Co. Ltd., Tenneco (TM Asia) Ltd., Tenneco (TM Belgium) BVBA, Tenneco (Tianjin) Ride Performance Co. Ltd., Tenneco Asheville Inc., Tenneco Asia Inc., Tenneco Automotie Nederland B.V., Tenneco Automotive (Thailand) Limited, Tenneco Automotive Brasil Ltda., Tenneco Automotive Deutschland GmbH, Tenneco Automotive Eastern Europe Sp. z.o.o., Tenneco Automotive Europe BVBA, Tenneco Automotive Europe Coordination Center BVBA, Tenneco Automotive Foreign Sales Corporation Limited, Tenneco Automotive France S.A.S., Tenneco Automotive Holdings South Africa Pty. Limited, Tenneco Automotive Iberica S.A., Tenneco Automotive Inc. Nevada, Tenneco Automotive India Private Limited, Tenneco Automotive Italia S.r.l., Tenneco Automotive Operating Company Inc., Tenneco Automotive Polska Sp. z.o.o., Tenneco Automotive Port Elizabeth (Proprietary) Limited, Tenneco Automotive Portugal  Componentes Para Automovel Unipessoal LDA., Tenneco Automotive RSA Company, Tenneco Automotive Second RSA Company, Tenneco Automotive Services Societe Par Actions Simplifiee, Tenneco Automotive Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Tenneco Automotive Trading Company, Tenneco Automotive UK Limited, Tenneco Automotive Volga LLC, Tenneco Automotive Walker Inc., Tenneco Brake Inc., Tenneco CA Czech Republic s.r.o., Tenneco CA Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Tenneco CA Netherlands BV, Tenneco Canada Inc., Tenneco Clean Air Argentina S.A.I.C., Tenneco Clean Air India Private Limited, Tenneco Clean Air Spain S.L.U., Tenneco Clean Air US Inc., Tenneco Deutschland Holdinggesellschaft mbH, Tenneco Eastern European Holdings S.a.r.l., Tenneco Eberspaecher (Beijing) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco Emission Control (Pty) Ltd, Tenneco Etain Societe Par Actions Simplifiee, Tenneco Europe Limited, Tenneco FAWSN (Changchun) Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Tenneco FAWSN (Foshan) Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Tenneco FAWSN (Tianjin) Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Tenneco Fusheng (Chengdu) Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Tenneco Global Holdings Inc., Tenneco GmbH, Tenneco Holdings Danmark ApS, Tenneco Hong Kong Holdings Limited, Tenneco Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Tenneco Industria de Autopecas Ltda., Tenneco Innovacion S.L., Tenneco International Holding Corp., Tenneco International Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Tenneco International Manufacturing S.a.r.l., Tenneco Japan Ltd., Tenneco Korea Limited, Tenneco Lingchuan (Chongqing) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco Management (Europe) Limited, Tenneco Mauritius China Holdings Ltd., Tenneco Mauritius Holdings Limited, Tenneco Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Tenneco RP Germany GmbH, Tenneco Ride Control South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Tenneco Ride Performance US 4 LLC, Tenneco Ride Performance US 5 LLC, Tenneco Silesia spolka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Tenneco SpinCo Incorporated, Tenneco Sverige AB, Tenneco Walker (Tianjin) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco Zwickau GmbH, Tenneco-Eberspaecher (Dalian) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco-Walker (U.K.) Limited, The Pullman Company, The Tenneco Automotive (UK) Pension Scheme Trustee Limited, Thompson and Stammers (Dunmow) Number 6 Limited, Thompson and Stammers (Dunmow) Number 7 Limited, United Piston Ring Inc., VTD Vakuumtechnik Dresden GmbH, Walker Australia Pty. Limited, Walker Danmark ApS, Walker Electronic Silencing Inc., Walker Europe Inc., Walker Exhaust (Thailand) Company Limited, Walker Gillet (Europe) GmbH, Walker Limited, Walker Manufacturing Company, Walker UK Ltd, Wellworthy Limited, Wimetal Societe Par Actions Simplifiee, and Wuhan Tenneco Exhaust System Co. Ltd..
Markel Corporation, a diverse financial holding company, markets and underwrites specialty insurance products in the United States, Bermuda, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Canada, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, and the Middle East. Its Insurance segment offers general and professional liability, personal lines, marine and energy, specialty programs, and workers' compensation insurance products; and property coverages that include fire, allied lines, and other specialized property coverages, including catastrophe-exposed property risks, such as earthquake and wind. This segment also offers credit and surety products, and collateral protection insurance. The company's Reinsurance segment offers general liability, professional liability, medical malpractice, and environmental impairment liability; property treaty products for catastrophe, per risk, and retrocessional exposures; and specialty treaty reinsurance products comprising structured and whole turnover credit, political risk, mortgage and contract, and commercial surety reinsurance programs. Its Markel Ventures segment provides equipment used in baking systems and food processing; portable dredges; over-the-road car haulers and transportation equipment; and laminated oak and composite wood flooring, as well as ornamental plants and residential homes. This segment also provides distribution, consulting, and others types of services to businesses and consumers, including distribution of exterior building products, fire protection and life safety services, management and technology consulting, and retail intelligence services. The company's Other segment operates as an insurance and investment fund manager offering a range of investment products, including insurance-linked securities, catastrophe bonds, insurance swaps, and weather derivatives; and program services. Markel Corporation was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia.

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Johnson & Johnson researches and develops, manufactures, and sells a range of products in the health care field worldwide. It operates through three segments: Consumer Health, Pharmaceutical, and Medical Devices. The Consumer Health segment offers baby care products under the JOHNSON'S and AVEENO Baby brands; oral care products under the LISTERINE brand; skin health/beauty products under the AVEENO, CLEAN & CLEAR, DR. CI:LABO, NEUTROGENA, and OGX brands; acetaminophen products under the TYLENOL brand; cold, flu, and allergy products under the SUDAFED brand; allergy products under the BENADRYL and ZYRTEC brands; ibuprofen products under the MOTRIN IB brand; smoking cessation products under the NICORETTE brand; and acid reflux products under the PEPCID brand. This segment also provides women's health products, such as sanitary pads and tampons under the STAYFREE, CAREFREE, and o.b. brands; wound care products comprising adhesive bandages under the BAND-AID brand; and first aid products under the NEOSPORIN brand. The Pharmaceutical segment offers products in various therapeutic areas, including immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, pulmonary hypertension, and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. The Medical Devices segment provides electrophysiology products to treat cardiovascular diseases and neurovascular care products to treat hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke; orthopaedics products in support of hips, knees, trauma, spine, sports, and other; advanced and general surgery solutions that focus on breast aesthetics, ear, nose, and throat procedures; and disposable contact lenses and ophthalmic products related to cataract and laser refractive surgery under the ACUVUE brand. The company markets its products to general public, and retail outlets and distributors, as well as distributes directly to wholesalers, hospitals, and health care professionals for prescription use. Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886 and is based in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

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Robert Half International Inc. provides staffing and risk consulting services in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company operates through three segments: Temporary and Consultant Staffing, Permanent Placement Staffing, and Risk Consulting and Internal Audit Services. It places temporary services for accounting, finance, and bookkeeping; temporary and full-time office and administrative personnel consisting of executive and administrative assistants, receptionists, and customer service representatives; full-time accounting, financial, tax, and accounting operations personnel; and information technology contract consultants and full-time employees in the areas of platform systems integration to end-user technical and desktop support, including specialists in application development, networking, systems integration and deployment, database design and administration, and security and business continuity. The company also offers temporary and full-time employees in attorney, paralegal, legal administrative, and legal secretarial positions; and senior level project professionals in the accounting and finance fields for financial systems conversions, expansion into new markets, business process reengineering, business systems performance improvement, and post-merger financial consolidation. In addition, it is involved in serving professionals in the areas of interactive media, design, marketing, advertising, and public relations; and placing freelance and project consultants in various positions, such as creative directors, graphics designers, Web content developers, Web designers, media buyers, brand managers, and public relations specialists. Further, the company provides business and technology risk consulting, and internal audit services. It serves clients and employment candidates. Robert Half International Inc. was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.

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Not only the Congress party, but the entire country is standing shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave soldiers, she said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra observes a two minute silence at the party office in Lucknow over the Pulwama militant attack. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Expressing grief at the terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir in which 44 personnel were killed, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday called off her first press conference in Lucknow post her formal induction in the party, after offering a two-minute silence.

Later in a press statement, Ms Vadra said that government should take concrete steps to ensure such terror attacks do not happen in the future.

The much awaited press meet which had been convened after the end of her four-day long visit to the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, was called off by Ms Vadra, who said that it wont be appropriate to have a political discourse in the aftermath of a terror attack of such intensity.

This conference was called for political discussions. But when our jawans have been killed in a terror attack in Pulwama, I feel it would not be right if we have political discussions at this time, she told reporters at the press conference venue. I want to tell their families that every single countryman is with them in their hour of grief, she said.

They should have faith... We are standing by them, she added.

A two-minute silence was also observed as a mark of grief. The Congress leader has held a series of discussions with party workers over the past four days, with at least one session lasting through the night.

The Congress general secretary later in a statement while condoling the death of the CRPF personnel, demanded that the government take concrete steps to ensure such terror attacks do not happen in the future.

The AICC general secretary in-charge Uttar Pradesh East also said there is a need to reflect and be concerned about the high number of casualties in Kashmir.

I can very well understand the pain and grief of losing a loved one in the family, Ms Vadra said in a statement.

Not only the Congress party, but the entire country is standing shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave soldiers, she said.

But, we must also reflect and be concerned about the high number of casualties in Kashmir. We demand that this government take concrete steps to ensure such terror attacks dont happen in the future, the Congress leader said.

At least 44 CRPF personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in, one of the worst terror strikes in the state in recent years, officials said.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora.
Our portfolio of high quality UK commercial property is focused on London Offices and Retail around the UK. We own or manage a portfolio valued at A13.7bn (British Land share: A10.3bn) as at 30 September 2020 making us one of Europe's largest listed real estate investment companies. Our strategy is to provide places which meet the needs of our customers and respond to changing lifestyles - Places People Prefer. We do this by creating great environments both inside and outside our buildings and use our scale and placemaking skills to enhance and enliven them. This expands their appeal to a broader range of occupiers, creating enduring demand and driving sustainable, long term performance. Our Offices portfolio comprises three office-led campuses in central London as well as high quality standalone buildings and accounts for 65% of our portfolio. Our Retail portfolio is focused on retail parks and shopping centres, and accounts for 31% of our portfolio. Increasingly our focus is on providing a mix of uses and this is most evident at Canada Water, our 53 acre redevelopment opportunity where we have plans to create a new neighbourhood for London. Sustainability is embedded throughout our business. Our places, which are designed to meet high sustainability standards, become part of local communities, provide opportunities for skills development and employment and promote wellbeing. In April 2016 British Land received the Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development, the UK's highest accolade for business success for economic, social and environmental achievements over a period of five years.

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Since 2016, Teeka Tiwari has trumped the stock market. His investment recommendations have each averaged 281%. Thats 17 times the S&P. And 112 times the average investor, according to JPMorgan! However, one investment Teeka just uncovered could top them all It involves former President Biden, billions of dollars, several large banks, and a super-rich family. As well as a MAJOR potential upgrade to our credit cards. Teeka, who ended up correctly picking the last investment of the decade, is declaring this his top pick for the 2020s.

Quotient Technology Inc. operates as a digital media and promotions technology company that offers power integrated digital media and promotions programs for brands and retailers. The company offers Quotient Promotions Platform offers digital paperless and print promotions, including Coupons.com website and mobile applications; brand and retailer websites and mobile applications; and third-party publishing websites and mobile applications. It also provides Quotient Retailer Promotions Platform that uses consumer data and insights to distribute personalized and targeted media and promotions for retailers of grocery, drug, mass merchant, dollar, club and convenience merchandise; and Quotient Media Platform, which provides targeted advertising solutions that enables brands to reach shoppers before, during, and after their shopping cycles with digital media campaigns. It also provides Quotient Retailer Performance Media Platform that uses retailer's consumer data to drive sales and enhances the shopper experience; Quotient Analytics provides campaign analytics and measured sales results to brands and retailers; Quotient Consumer Properties; and Quotient Retailer Media Services. It serves approximately 800 consumer packed goods, representing approximately 2,000 brands, including various food, beverage, personal care, and household product manufacturers; retail partners representing various classes of trade, such as grocery retailers, drug, mass merchant, dollar, club, and convenience merchandise channels; and consumers visiting its websites, mobile properties, and social channels. The company was formerly known as Coupons.com Incorporated and changed its name to Quotient Technology Inc. in October 2015. Quotient Technology Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Occidental Petroleum: 1PointFive Inc., 1PointFive P1 LLC, APC Aviation Inc., APC International Holdings LLC, APC Midstream Holdings LLC, APC Venezuela Srl, ARCO Long Beach, Altura Energy, Amarok Gathering LLC, Anadarko 20-25 Company, Anadarko 20-36 Company, Anadarko 20-47 Company, Anadarko 20-48 Company, Anadarko 20-49 Company, Anadarko Algeria Block 403 c/e Company, Anadarko Algeria Block 406B Company, Anadarko Algeria Company LLC, Anadarko Algeria Oil & Gas Company, Anadarko Brazil Investment I LLC, Anadarko Brazil Investment II LLC, Anadarko Canada E&P Limited, Anadarko China Holdings 2 Company, Anadarko Colombia Company, Anadarko Consolidated Holdings LLC, Anadarko Cote d'Ivoire Block 103 Company, Anadarko Cote d'Ivoire Company, Anadarko DBMOS Operator LLC, Anadarko Development Company, Anadarko Development Holding Limited, Anadarko E&P Onshore LLC, Anadarko Egypt Holdings Company, Anadarko Energy Holding Limited, Anadarko Energy Services Company, Anadarko Exploracao e Producao de Petroleo e Gas Natural Ltda., Anadarko Finance Company, Anadarko Gabon Company, Anadarko Ghana Mahogany-1 Company, Anadarko Global Energy S.a.r.l, Anadarko Global Funding 1 Company, Anadarko Global Funding II Ltd., Anadarko Guyana Company, Anadarko Holding Company, Anadarko International Development S.a.r.l, Anadarko International Energy Company, Anadarko International O&G Company, Anadarko International Trading Corporation, Anadarko Jordan Company, Anadarko Kenya Company, Anadarko LMM S.a.r.l, Anadarko Land Corp., Anadarko Mexico B.V., Anadarko Mexico S.a.r.l, Anadarko Midkiff/Chaney Dell BR Corp., Anadarko Midkiff/Chaney Dell LLC, Anadarko Natural Gas Company LLC, Anadarko New Zealand Company, Anadarko OGC Company, Anadarko Offshore Holding Company LLC, Anadarko Offshore Well Containment Company LLC, Anadarko Oil & Gas 5 LLC, Anadarko Peru B.V., Anadarko Petroleum, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Anadarko Realty LLC, Anadarko Rockies LLC, Anadarko Royalty Holdings Company, Anadarko UK Corporate Limited, Anadarko US Offshore LLC, Anadarko USH1 Corporation, Anadarko Venezuela Company, Anadarko Venezuela LLC, Anadarko Venezuela Srl, Anadarko WCTP Company, Anadarko West Texas BR Corp., Anadarko West Texas LLC, Anadarko Worldwide Holdings C.V., Atlantic Rim Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Aventine LLC, Baseball Merger Sub 2 Inc., Bear Branch Exploration LLC, Big Island Trona Company, Bitter Creek Coal Company, Bravo Pipeline Company, Cain Chemical, Cain Chemical Inc., Carbon Finance Labs LLC, Concord Petroleum Corporation, Conn Creek Shale Company, D.S. 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'The 'most favoured nation' status which was granted to Pakistan, stands withdrawn,' Jaitley said.

The meeting was chaired by Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minsiter Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley attended the meeting. (Photo: ANI | Twiiter)

New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting concluded to discuss the security situation in jammu and Kashmir in the wake of Pulwama attack that killed 44 CRPF jawans and left the security establishment stunned.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley after CCS meeting said, MEA will initiate all possible diplomatic steps which are to be taken to ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan of which incontrovertible is available of having a direct hand in this act.

The 'most favoured nation' status which was granted to Pakistan, stands withdrawn. People who are responsible and have supported this act of terrorism will have to pay a heavy price for it, he added.

Jaitley said that the CRPF will make detailed arrangements for transporting the mortal remains and as far as the forces are concerned, complete security will be ensured.

Indian Air Force C-17 will soon fly to Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar from Hindon to carry the mortal remains of CRPF personnel.

The meeting began at 9:15 am. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi at his residence, 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.

The meeting was attended by top Cabinet leaders including defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, home minister Rajnath Singh, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

Rajnath Singh is expected to take stock of the situation and meet injured soldiers at the hospital.

A 12-member team of the National Investigative Agency (NIA), led by an IG-rank officer will also be visiting the blast site in Pulwama.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, The attack was carried out by Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed. A strong reply will be given and I assure the people of the country this. The country pays tribute to the brave jawans who were martyred.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the attack as a despicable attack on Thursday took stock of situation in Jammu and Kashmir in conversation with Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for the attack and has also identified the suicide bomber  Adil Dhar  who allegedly carried out the attack.
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Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. develops and distributes personal care and wellness products worldwide. It provides skin care systems, including ageLOC Me customized skin care and ageLOC Spa systems, and ageLOC LumiSpa skin treatment and cleansing devices; and Epoch products comprising botanical ingredients derived from renewable sources, as well as a range of other cosmetic and personal care products. The company also offers ageLOC Youth nutritional supplements, ageLOC TR90 weight management and body shaping systems, and LifePak nutritional supplements, as well as other anti-aging nutritional solutions and weight management products. In addition, it is involved in the research and product development of skin care products and nutritional supplements. Further, the company operates retail stores and service centers in Mainland China. It sells its products under the Nu Skin, Pharmanex, and ageLOC brands. The company promotes and sells its products directly, as well as through distributors and Website. Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Provo, Utah.

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Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in integrated energy, chemicals, and petroleum operations worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment is involved in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as operates a gas-to-liquids plant. The Downstream segment engages in refining crude oil into petroleum products; marketing crude oil, refined products, and lubricants; transporting crude oil and refined products through pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacturing and marketing commodity petrochemicals, and fuel and lubricant additives, as well as plastics for industrial uses. Chevron Corporation is also involved in the cash management and debt financing activities; insurance operations; real estate activities; and technology businesses. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corporation and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is headquartered in San Ramon, California.

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During PM Modis visit, he will unveil a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the Seoul campus of a South Korean university.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit South Korea on a two-day official visit on February 21 and 22 during which he will hold talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on bilateral ties and ways to streng-then the special strategic partnership between the two nations, the MEA said on Wednesday. The MEA also announced that Argentinian Presid-ent Mauricio Macri would make an official visit to India on February 17 during which he will visit New Delhi, Agra and Mumbai. In addition, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will also make a three-nation official visit to Bul-garia, Moro-cco and Spain from February 16 to 19.

PM Modis visit to South Korea comes in the wake of the visit of South Korean First Lady Kim Jung-sook, wife of President Moon Jae-in, to India in November last year during which she was the chief guest at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Queen Suriratna (Heo Hwang-ok) Memorial in Ayodhya. The Indian government had earlier said that Ayodhya and Korea have a deep historical connection thro-ugh the legendary Prin-cess Suriratna of Ayod-hya, who travelled to Korea in 48 CE (AD) and married Korean King Suro.

During PM Modis visit, he will unveil a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the Seoul campus of a South Korean university.

Reinforcing the Buddhist link between the two nations, PM Modi will also be presenting a sapling of the holy Bodhi tree. PM Modi will hold delegation-level talks with the South Korean President. He will also attend a business meet.

Meanwhile, Argentinian President Mauricio Macri will begin his visit to India on February 17 when he will visit Agra. The next day, on February 18, he will hold talks with PM Modi and then visit Mumbai the next day.
Packaging Corporation of America manufactures and sells containerboard and corrugated packaging products in the United States. The company operates through Packaging and Paper segments. The Packaging segment offers various containerboard and corrugated packaging products, such as conventional shipping containers used to protect and transport manufactured goods; multi-color boxes and displays that help to merchandise the packaged product in retail locations; and honeycomb protective packaging products, as well as packaging for meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, processed food, beverages, and other industrial and consumer products. This segment sells its corrugated products through a direct sales and marketing organization, independent brokers, and distribution partners. The Paper segment manufactures and sells commodity and specialty papers, as well as communication-based papers, including cut-size office papers, and printing and converting papers. This segment sells white papers through its sales and marketing organization. Packaging Corporation of America was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois.

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FMC Corporation, an agricultural sciences company, provides crop protection, plant health, precision agriculture, and professional pest and turf management products. The company develop, markets, and sells crop protection chemicals that include insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides that are used in agriculture to enhance crop yield and quality by controlling a range of insects, weeds, and disease, as well as in non-agricultural markets for pest control. It also offers biologicals products, such as bionematicides under the Quartzo and Presence names. The company sells herbicides under the Authority, Boral, Centium, Command, and Gamit brands, as well as Isoflex active herbicide ingredients; Rynaxypyr and Cyazypyr active ingredients; and insecticides under the Talstar and Hero brands, as well as flutriafol-based fungicides. It sells its products through independent distributors and co-ops, and national and regional distributors, as well as sells directly to growers. The company operates in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. FMC Corporation was founded in 1883 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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In case of a hung verdict, the general practice is that the President calls the group or party which emerges as the single largest bloc in the LS.

New Delhi: With the general election just a couple of months away, Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that the Opposition parties, including the Congress, had decided to form a pre-poll alliance at the national level so that they can stake claim to forming the government as a bloc in case they get the numbers in the next Lok Sabha.

In case of a hung verdict, the general practice is that the President calls the group or party which emerges as the single largest bloc in the Lok Sabha.

The West Bengal chief minister also said that the parties would meet again on February 26-27 to deliberate on a draft common minimum programme which was being formulated by the Congress. The decisions on the CMP and the pre-poll alliance were taken at a meeting of top Opposition leaders on Wednesday night, who included, besides Ms Banerjee, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, National Conferences Farooq Abdullah, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. On Thursday, the West Bengal CM told the media: We will fight each other in states but at the national level we must go in for pre-poll alliances... so after the elections we can stake claim to forming the government.

Asked whether she was ready to be in an alliance with the Left parties, her arch-rivals, she said: Whether the Left will be in the alliance or not I dont know, because we did not talk. Whoever was there yesterday  Farooq Abdullah, Chandrababu Naidu, Arvind Kejriwal, Rahul Gandhi and me  we decided.

If somebody cannot take a political stand now, we do not want to force them. I understand their political compulsions. We respect them. After the elections they will decide. That is no problem at all, she added.

Asked about the existing contradictions within the Oppositions ranks such as the Congress and the AAP, Ms Banerjee said what she had heard was that the AAP was ready for an alliance with the Congress. Let the Congress decide. Then she added: But the AAP is strong in Delhi, we have to help them.

Earlier on Thursday morning, Mr Kejriwal revealed that the Congress had nearly said no to an alliance. We are very worried about the nation, so we are more keen (on an alliance). Asked if the AAP was more eager about an alliance with the Congress, Mr Kejriwal said the BJP would benefit in a three-cornered contest.

Asked how the Opposition will convince people if they fight each other in the states and ally at the national level, the Trinamul chief said: All people of the state are very intelligent. They know who can win elections and how to fight the BJP. Please leave it to the people. They are the real asset. In the states, the people know whom to vote for and how to vote. Leave it to the people.
BlackRock, Inc. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks. It also provides global risk management and advisory services. The firm manages separate client-focused equity, fixed income, and balanced portfolios. It also launches and manages open-end and closed-end mutual funds, offshore funds, unit trusts, and alternative investment vehicles including structured funds. The firm launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and real estate mutual funds. It also launches equity, fixed income, balanced, currency, commodity, and multi-asset exchange traded funds. The firm also launches and manages hedge funds. It invests in the public equity, fixed income, real estate, currency, commodity, and alternative markets across the globe. The firm primarily invests in growth and value stocks of small-cap, mid-cap, SMID-cap, large-cap, and multi-cap companies. It also invests in dividend-paying equity securities. The firm invests in investment grade municipal securities, government securities including securities issued or guaranteed by a government or a government agency or instrumentality, corporate bonds, and asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. It employs fundamental and quantitative analysis with a focus on bottom-up and top-down approach to make its investments. The firm employs liquidity, asset allocation, balanced, real estate, and alternative strategies to make its investments. In real estate sector, it seeks to invest in Poland and Germany. The firm benchmarks the performance of its portfolios against various S&P, Russell, Barclays, MSCI, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch indices. BlackRock, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is based in New York City with additional offices in Boston, Massachusetts; London, United Kingdom; Gurgaon, India; Hong Kong; Greenwich, Connecticut; Princeton, New Jersey; Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Sydney, Australia; Taipei, Taiwan; Singapore; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington, District of Columbia; Toronto, Canada; Wilmington, Delaware; and San Francisco, California.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Fidelity National Information Services: 11601 Roosevelt Boulevard Realty LLC, AGES Participacoes Ltda., Advanced Portfolio Technologies Inc., Advanced Portfolio Technologies Ltd., Aircrown Limited, Aquarius Particpacoes S.A., Armed Forces Financial Network LLC (50%), Automated Securities Clearance LLC, Birza Limited, C&E Holdings Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Card Brazil Holdings Inc., Card Brazil LLC, Central Credit Services Limited, Certegy Canada Company, Certegy Card Services B.V., Certegy Card Services Limited, Certegy Check Services Inc., Certegy Dutch Holdings B.V., Certegy EziPay Ltd., Certegy France Limited, Certegy SNC, Certegy UK Holdings B.V., Chex Systems Inc., Clear2Pay, Clear2Pay (Shenzhen) Co., Clear2Pay APAC Pte. Ltd., Clear2Pay APAC Pty Ltd., Clear2Pay Americas Inc., Clear2Pay Beijing Co., Clear2Pay Belgium NV, Clear2Pay China Limited, Clear2Pay France SAS, Clear2Pay Germany GmbH, Clear2Pay Integri NV, Clear2Pay Limited, Clear2Pay NV, Clear2Pay Nanjing Co., Clear2Pay Nederland BV, Clear2Pay Polska s.p.z.o.o, Clear2Pay Scotland Holdings Limited, Clear2Pay Scotland Limited, Clear2Pay Spain S.l., ClearPark N.V., ClearTwoPay Chile SpA, Complete Payment Recovery Services Inc., Compliance Coach, Credit Management Solutions, Decalog (1991) Ltd., Decalog (UK) Limited, Decalog N.V., F.I.S. Systems (Middle East) Limited, FAME Information Services (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, FIRM I LLC, FIRM II LLC, FIS (Benelux) N.V., FIS (Switzerland) SA, FIS (Tunisia) I SARL, FIS (Tunisia) II SARL, FIS Apex (International) Limited, FIS Apex (UK) Limited, FIS Asia Pacific Inc., FIS AsiaPacRim Holdings Ltd., FIS Australasia Pty Ltd., FIS AvantGard LLC, FIS Bilgisayar Hizmetleri Ticaret Limited Sirketi, FIS Brokerage & Securities Services LLC, FIS Business Integration (UK) Limited, FIS Business Integration AG, FIS Business Integration GmbH, FIS Business Systems LLC, FIS Card Processing Services (Chile) S.A., FIS Card Services (Thailand) Co. Ltd., FIS Card Services Caribbean Ltd., FIS Computer Services LLC, FIS Consulting Services (Ireland) Limited, FIS Consulting Services (UK) Limited, FIS DIS Inc., FIS Data Systems Inc., FIS Derivatives Utility Services (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., FIS Derivatives Utility Services (UK) Limited, FIS Derivatives Utility Services LLC, FIS Energy Solutions (Italia) S.r.l., FIS Energy Solutions Limited, FIS Energy Systems Inc., FIS Financial Solutions Canada Inc., FIS Financial Strategies LLC, FIS Financial Systems (France) SAS, FIS Financial Systems LLC, FIS Foundation Inc., FIS GCS LLC, FIS Global Business Solutions India Private Ltd. (99%), FIS Global Execution Services Limited, FIS Global Holdings S.a.r.l, FIS Global Recovery Services India Private Limited, FIS Global Solutions Philippines Inc., FIS Global Trading (Belgium) N.V., FIS Global Trading (Deutschland) GmbH, FIS Global Trading (Hong Kong) Limited, FIS Global Trading (Iberica) S.L. Unipersonal, FIS Global Trading (Nederland) B.V., FIS Global Trading (Portugal) Unipessoal Lda, FIS Global Trading (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., FIS Global Trading (Suisse) SA, FIS Global Trading (UK) Limited, FIS Healthcare Trustee Limited, FIS Holdings (Cayman Islands) Ltd., FIS Holdings (Germany) GmbH i.L., FIS Holdings Limited, FIS Holdings Mauritius, FIS Insurance Services Limited, FIS International Subsidiaries Holdings Inc., FIS Investment Systems (UK) Limited, FIS Investment Systems LLC, FIS Investment Ventures LLC, FIS Investor Services LLC, FIS Italy S.r.l., FIS Japan KK, FIS Kingstar Cayman Islands Limited, FIS Kiodex LLC, FIS Korea Ltd., FIS Management Services LLC, FIS Management Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., FIS Pakistan (Private) Limited, FIS Payment Solutions & Services India Private Limited, FIS Payments (Ireland) Limited, FIS Payments (UK) Limited, FIS Public Sector AG Limited, FIS Reference Data Solutions LLC, FIS Risk and Security Services Inc., FIS Romania SRL, FIS SG (Italia) S.r.l., FIS SG International Holdings LLC, FIS SG Systems Philippines Inc., FIS Securities Finance LLC, FIS Shareholder Systems LLC, FIS Sherwood Systems (Netherlands) B.V., FIS Sherwood Systems Group Limited, FIS Sherwood Systems Limited, FIS Solutions (India) Private Limited, FIS Solutions LLC, FIS Solutions Software (India) Private Limited, FIS Systeme GmbH, FIS Systems (Hong Kong) Limited, FIS Systems (Luxembourg) S.A., FIS Systems (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., FIS Systems (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., FIS Systems Canada Inc., FIS Systems International LLC, FIS Systems Kenya Limited, FIS Systems Limited, FIS Systems NZ Limited, FIS Systems Pty Limited, FIS Systems South Africa (Pty) Limited, FIS Systems de Colombia S.A.S., FIS Technology (Beijing) Co. Limited, FIS Technology Services (New Zealand) Limited, FIS Technology Services (Poland) Sp. z.o.o., FIS Technology Services (Tunisia) SARL, FIS Technology Services Singapore Pte. Ltd., FIS Treasury Systems (Europe) Limited, FIS Treasury Systems (UK) Limited, FIS UK Holdings Limited, FIS Vietnam LLC, FIS Wealth Management Services Inc., FIS Workflow Solutions LLC, FIS eProcess Intelligence LLC, FIS iWORKS LLC, FIS iWORKS P&C (US) Inc., FIS-SG Holding Corp., FNIS Holding Brasil Ltda., FNIS Istanbul Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, FNX India Software Private Limited, Fidelity Holding Ltda., Fidelity Information Services (France) SARL, Fidelity Information Services (Hong Kong) Limited, Fidelity Information Services (Iberia) S.L.U., Fidelity Information Services (Israel) Ltd., Fidelity Information Services (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd., Fidelity Information Services (Thailand) Limited (99.9%), Fidelity Information Services Front Arena AB, Fidelity Information Services GmbH, Fidelity Information Services Holdings B.V., Fidelity Information Services India Private Limited, Fidelity Information Services International Holdings Inc., Fidelity Information Services LLC, Fidelity Information Services Limited, Fidelity Information Services Operations GmbH, Fidelity Information Services Slovakia s.r.o., Fidelity Information Services de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fidelity International Resource Management Inc., Fidelity National Card Services Inc., Fidelity National Global Card Services Inc., Fidelity National Information Services (Netherlands) B.V., Fidelity National Information Services C.V., Fidelity National Information Services Inc., Fidelity National Participacoes e Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Fidelity National Servicos de Tratamento de Documentos e Informacoes Ltda., Fidelity Participacoes e Servicos Ltda., Fidelity Processadora S.A., Fidelity Servicos e Contact Center S.A., Financial Insurance Marketing Group Inc., GL Settle Limited, GL Trade (South Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, GL Trade Americas Inc., GL Trade CMS (Thailand) Limited, GL Trade Software DOO, GL Trade Solutions CMS (Thailand) Limited, Glesia S.r.l., Information Services Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Integrity Treasury Solutions Europe Limited, Integrity Treasury Solutions Inc., Integrity Treasury Solutions Limited, Integrity Treasury Solutions Pty Limited, Level Four Americas LLC, Link2Gov Corp., Memento, Metavante Corporation, Metavante Leasing LLC, Metavante Payment Services LLC, Metavante Technologies Inc, Metavante Technologies Limited, Minorca Corporation NV, Monis Management Limited, Monis Software Inc., Monis Software Limited, NYCE Payments Network LLC, Oshap Software Industries Ltd., Oshap Technologies Ltd., PREFCO VI LLC, PT Fidelity Information Services Indonesia, PT. FIS Systems Indonesia, Panther GP 1, Panther GP 2, Panther Holdco 2 Inc., Panther Holdco Inc., Panther Sub LLC, PayNet Payments Network LLC, Payment Brasil Holdings Ltda., Payment Chile S.A. (99.99%), Payment South America Holdings Inc., Penley Inc., Platform Securities Holdings Limited, Platform Securities International Limited, Platform Securities International Nominees Limited, Platform Securities LLP, Platform Securities Nominees Limited, Platform Securities Services Limited, Reech Capital Limited, Reliance Financial Corporation, Reliance Integrated Solutions LLC, Reliance Trust Company, Reliance Trust Company of Delaware, Sanchez Computer Associates Pty Limited, Secondco Limited, Sherwood US Holdings Limited, Solutions Plus Consulting Services Limited, Stratix Technologies Inc., SunGard, SunGard Ambit (Australia) Pty Ltd, SunGard Ambit Holdings Pty Ltd, SunGard Data Systems Beijing Co. Ltd., SunGard Global Services (Tunisia) III, SunGard Global Trading (Australia) Pty. Ltd., SunGard India Sales Private Limited, SunGard Kingstar Data System (China) Co. Ltd., SunGard Pensions Limited, TP Technologies N.V., Transax Limited, Trax N.V., Valuelink Information Services Limited, Valutec Card Solutions LLC, WildCard Systems Inc., Worldpay, eFunds Corporation, eFunds Holdings Limited, eFunds IT Solutions Group Inc., eFunds International Limited, i DLX International B.V., and mFoundry Inc..
The EstAe Lauder Companies Inc. manufactures and markets skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products. The company offers a range of skin care products, including moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, body care, exfoliators, acne care and oil correctors, facial masks, cleansing devices, and sun care products; and makeup products, such as lipsticks, lip glosses, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools. It also provides fragrance products in various forms comprising eau de parfum sprays and colognes, as well as lotions, powders, creams, candles, and soaps; and hair care products that include shampoos, conditioners, styling products, treatment, finishing sprays, and hair color products, as well as sells ancillary products and services. The company offers its products under EstAe Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Lab Series, Origins, MAAAC, Bobbi Brown, La Mer, Aveda, Jo Malone London, Bumble and bumble, Darphin, Smashbox, Le Labo, Editions de Parfums FrAdAric Malle, GLAMGLOW, By Kilian, BECCA, Too Faced, RODIN olio lusso, FLIRT!, Kiton, and Tom Ford brands. It also holds license arrangements for Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan New York, DKNY, Michael Kors, Ermenegildo Zegna, Dr. Andrew Weil, TOM FORD BEAUTY, AERIN, and Tory Burch brands. The company sells its products through department stores, specialty-multi retailers, upscale perfumeries and pharmacies, and salons and spas; freestanding stores; its own and authorized retailer Websites; third-party online malls; stores in airports and on cruise ships; in-flight and duty-free shops; and self-select outlets. It has operations in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The EstAe Lauder Companies Inc. has a joint development agreement with Atropos Therapeutics Inc. to discover senomodulators. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

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Since 2016, Teeka Tiwari has trumped the stock market. His investment recommendations have each averaged 281%. Thats 17 times the S&P. And 112 times the average investor, according to JPMorgan! However, one investment Teeka just uncovered could top them all It involves former President Biden, billions of dollars, several large banks, and a super-rich family. As well as a MAJOR potential upgrade to our credit cards. Teeka, who ended up correctly picking the last investment of the decade, is declaring this his top pick for the 2020s.

Deutsche BArse AG operates as an exchange organization in Europe, the United States, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates through seven segments: Eurex (Financial Derivatives), EEX (Commodities), 360T (Foreign Exchange), Xetra (Cash Equities), Clearstream (Post-Trading), IFS (Investment Fund Services), and Qontigo (index and analytics business). The company engages in the electronic trading of derivatives, electricity and gas products, emission rights, and foreign exchange; operating of Eurex Repo over the counter (OTC) trading platform and electronic clearing architecture; and operating as a central counterparty for on-and-off exchange derivatives, repo transactions, and OTC and exchange-traded derivatives. It also operates in the cash market through Xetra, BArse Frankfurt, and Tradegate trading venues; operates as a central counterparty for equities and bonds; and provides listing services. In addition, the company offers custody and settlement services for securities; investment fund services; global securities financing services; and global securities finance and collateral management, as well as secured money, market transaction, and repos and securities lending transaction services. Further, it develops and markets indices, as well as portfolio management and risk analysis software; markets licenses for trading and market signals; provides technology and reporting solutions for external customers; and offers link-up of trading participants. Deutsche BArse AG was founded in 1585 and is headquartered in Eschborn, Germany.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft: 87 Leonard Development LLC, ABFS I Incorporated, ABS MB Ltd., Acacia (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Accounting Solutions Holding Company Inc, Alex. Brown Financial Services Incorporated, Alex. Brown Investments Incorporated, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft mbH, Amber Investments S.a r.l., Ambidexter GmbH, Ambidexter GmbH i.L., Argent Incorporated, BHW - Gesellschaft fur Wohnungswirtschaft mbH, BHW Bausparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, BHW Holding GmbH, BHW Kreditservice GmbH, BNA Nominees Pty Limited, BT Globenet Nominees Limited, BTAS Cayman GP, BTD Nominees Pty Limited, Baincor Nominees Pty Limited, Bainpro Nominees Pty Ltd, Baldur Mortgages Limited, Bankers Trust Investments Limited, Barkly Investments Ltd., Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc, Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc., Berkshire Mortgage Finance, Betriebs-Center fur Banken AG, Biomass Holdings S.a r.l., Birch (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Blue Cork Inc, Blue Cork Inc., Borfield Sociedad Anonima, Breaking Wave DB Limited, Cape Acquisition Corp., CapeSuccess Inc., CapeSuccess LLC, Cardales UK Limited, Cardea Real Estate S.r.l., Career Blazers LLC, Career Blazers Management Company Inc, Career Blazers Management Company Inc., Career Blazers Personnel Services Inc, Career Blazers Personnel Services Inc., Career Blazers Personnel Services of Washington D.C. Inc. Washington D.C., Caribbean Resort Holdings Inc, Caribbean Resort Holdings Inc., Carpathian Investments Designated Activity Company, Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Asset Management Company Limited, Cathay Capital Company (No 2) Limited, Cedar (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Centennial River 2 Inc., Centennial River Corporation, Chapel Funding, Charlton (Delaware) Inc, China Recovery Fund LLC, China Recovery Fund LLC, Cinda - DB NPL Securitization Trust 2003-1, City Leasing (Thameside) Limited, City Leasing Limited, Consumo S.p.A., Consumo Srl in Liquidazione, Cyrus J. Lawrence Capital Holdings Inc., Cyrus J. Lawrence Capital Holdings Inc., D B Investments (GB) Limited, D&M Turnaround Partners Godo Kaisha, D.B. International Delaware Inc., D.B. International Delaware Inc., DAHOC (UK) Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DAHOC Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DB (Barbados) SRL, DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Asing) Sdn. Bhd., DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Tempatan) Sendirian Berhad, DB (Pacific) Limited, DB (Pacific) Limited New York, DB (Pacific) Limited New York, DB Abalone LLC, DB Alex. Brown Holdings Incorporated, DB Alps Corporation, DB Aotearoa Investments Limited, DB Asia Pacific Holdings Limited (in voluntary liquidation), DB Asset Finance I S.a r.l., DB Asset Finance II S.a r.l., DB Aster II LLC, DB Aster III LLC, DB Aster Inc., DB Aster LLC, DB Beteiligungs-Holding GmbH, DB Boracay LLC, DB Capital Investments Sarl, DB Capital Markets (Deutschland) GmbH, DB Capital Partners Inc., DB Capital Partners Inc., DB Cartera de Inmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Cartera de Inmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Chestnut Holdings Limited, DB Commodity Services LLC, DB Consorzio S. Cons. a r. l., DB Corporate Advisory (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., DB Covered Bond S.r.l., DB Credit Investments S.a r.l., DB Delaware Holdings (Europe) Limited, DB Direkt GmbH, DB Elara LLC, DB Energy Commodities Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DB Energy Trading LLC, DB Enfield Infrastructure Holdings Limited, DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equity Limited, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Finance International GmbH, DB Ganymede 2006 L.P., DB Global Markets Multi-Strategy Fund I Ltd., DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology SRL, DB Group Services (UK) Limited, DB HR Solutions GmbH, DB Holding Fundo de Investimento Multimercado Investimento no Exterior Credito Privado, DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB Holdings (South America) Limited, DB IROC Leasing Corp., DB Immobilienfonds 1 Wieland KG, DB Immobilienfonds 2 KG i.L., DB Immobilienfonds 4 KG i.L., DB Immobilienfonds 5 Wieland KG, DB Impact Investment (GP) Limited, DB Impact Investment Fund I L.P., DB Impact Investment Fund I L.P., DB Industrial Holdings Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, DB Industrial Holdings GmbH, DB Intermezzo LLC, DB International (Asia) Limited, DB International Investments Limited, DB International Trust (Singapore) Limited, DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Resources (US) Corporation, DB Investment Resources Holdings Corp., DB Investment Services GmbH, DB Io LP, DB Litigation Fee LLC, DB London (Investor Services) Nominees Limited, DB Management Support GmbH, DB Managers LLC, DB Municipal Holdings LLC, DB Nexus American Investments (UK) Limited (in members'voluntary liquidation), DB Nexus Investments (UK) Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DB Nominees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB Nominees (Singapore) Pte Ltd, DB Omega BTV S.C.S., DB Omega Holdings LLC, DB Omega Ltd., DB Omega S.C.S., DB Operaciones y Servicios Interactivos Agrupacion de Interes Economico, DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Holdings Limited, DB PWM, DB Portfolio Southwest Inc., DB Print GmbH, DB Privat- und Firmenkundenbank AG, DB Private Clients Corp., DB Private Wealth Mortgage Ltd., DB RC Holdings LLC, DB Re S.A., DB Service Centre Limited, DB Service Uruguay S.A., DB Services Americas Inc., DB Services Americas Inc., DB Servizi Amministrativi S.r.l., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Finance 1 Designated Activity Company, DB Structured Finance 2 Designated Activity Company, DB Structured Holdings Luxembourg S.a r.l., DB Structured Products Inc., DB Structured Products Inc., DB Trustee Services Limited, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB U.S. Financial Markets Holding Corporation, DB UK Bank Limited, DB UK Holdings Limited, DB UK PCAM Holdings Limited, DB USA Core Corporation, DB USA Corporation, DB Valoren S.a r.l., DB Value S.a r.l., DB VersicherungsManager GmbH, DB Vita S.A., DBAB Wall Street LLC, DBAH Capital LLC, DBAH Capital LLC, DBCIBZ1, DBCIBZ2, DBFIC Inc., DBFIC Inc., DBNZ Overseas Investments (No.1) Limited, DBOI Global Services (UK) Limited, DBOI Global Services Private Limited, DBR Investments Co. Limited, DBRE Global Real Estate Management IA Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management IB Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management IB Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management US IB L.L.C., DBRMS4, DBRMSGP1, DBUK PCAM Limited, DBUKH No. 2 Limited, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ2 S.a r.l., DBUSBZ2 S.a r.l., DBX Advisors LLC, DBX ETF Trust, DBX Strategic Advisors LLC, DBO Vermogensverwertung GmbH, DEBEKO Immobilien GmbH & Co Grundbesitz OHG, DEE Deutsche Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, DEUFRAN Beteiligungs GmbH, DEUKONA Versicherungs-Vermittlungs-GmbH, DEUTSCHE BANK A.S., DG China Clean Tech Partners, DI Deutsche Immobilien Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, DIB-Consult Deutsche Immobilien- und BeteiligungsBeratungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., DISCA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DNU Nominees Pty Limited, DSL Portfolio GmbH & Co. KG, DSL Portfolio Verwaltungs GmbH, DTS Nominees Pty Limited, DWS Alternatives France, DWS Alternatives Global Limited, DWS Alternatives GmbH, DWS Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, DWS Beteiligungs GmbH, DWS CH AG, DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Far Eastern Investments Limited, DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, DWS Group Services UK Limited, DWS Grundbesitz GmbH, DWS International GmbH, DWS Investment GmbH, DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment S.A., DWS Investments Australia Limited, DWS Investments Hong Kong Limited, DWS Investments Japan Limited, DWS Investments Shanghai Limited, DWS Investments Singapore Limited, DWS Investments UK Limited, DWS Management GmbH, DWS Real Estate GmbH, DWS Service Company, DWS Trust Company, DWS USA Corporation, De Heng Asset Management Company Limited, De Meng Innovative (Beijing) Consulting Company Limited, DeAM Infrastructure Limited, Deloraine Spain S.L., Delowrezham de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Deposit Solutions, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Capital Holdings New Zealand, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Foreign Investments New Zealand, Deutsche (Mauritius) Limited Port, Deutsche (New Munster) Holdings New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Access Investments Limited, Deutsche Aeolia Power Production Societe Anonyme, Deutsche Alt-A Securities Inc., Deutsche Alt-A Securities Inc., Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (France) SAS, Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (UK) Limited, Deutsche Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd, Deutsche Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Asset Management (Japan) Limited, Deutsche Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, Deutsche Asset Management S.A., Deutsche Asset Management S.G.I.I.C. S.A., Deutsche Australia Limited, Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited, Deutsche Bank (Chile), Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA, Deutsche Bank (Uruguay) Sociedad Anonima Institucion Financiera Externa, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp., Deutsche Bank Bauspar-Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Capital Finance LLC I, Deutsche Bank Capital Finance Trust I, Deutsche Bank Europe GmbH, Deutsche Bank Financial Company, Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency Incorporated, Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency of Delaware, Deutsche Bank International Limited, Deutsche Bank Investments (Guernsey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. - Fiduciary Deposits, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. - Fiduciary Note Programme, Deutsche Bank Mutui S.p.A., Deutsche Bank Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple, Deutsche Bank Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company Los, Deutsche Bank Nominees (Guernsey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Nominees (Jersey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Polska Spolka Akcyjna, Deutsche Bank Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Deutsche Bank S.A. - Banco Alemao, Deutsche Bank S.A. - Banco Alemao Sao, Deutsche Bank SPEARs/LIFERs Series DBE-8011 Trust, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Limited, Deutsche Bank Services (Jersey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola, Deutsche Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola, Deutsche Bank Societa per Azioni, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation, Deutsche CIB Centre Private Limited, Deutsche Capital Finance (2000) Limited, Deutsche Capital Hong Kong Limited, Deutsche Capital Management Limited, Deutsche Capital Markets Australia Limited, Deutsche Capital Partners China Limited, Deutsche Cayman Ltd., Deutsche Colombia S.A.S., Deutsche Custody N.V., Deutsche Domus New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 1 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 2 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 3 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 4 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Foras New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Immobilien-Leasing mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Immobilien-Leasing mit beschrankterHaftung, Deutsche Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Group Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Deutsche Group Services Pty Limited, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Deutsche Grundbesitz-Anlagegesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Holdings (BTI) Limited, Deutsche Holdings (Grand Duchy), Deutsche Holdings (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Deutsche Holdings (Malta) Ltd., Deutsche Holdings Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 3 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 4 Limited, Deutsche Immobilien Leasing GmbH, Deutsche India Holdings Private Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services (Ireland) Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services Limited, Deutsche International Custodial Services Limited, Deutsche Inversiones Dos S.A., Deutsche Inversiones Limitada, Deutsche Investments (Netherlands) N.V., Deutsche Investments India Private Limited, Deutsche Investor Services Private Limited, Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd., Deutsche Leasing New York Corp., Deutsche Mandatos S.A., Deutsche Master Funding Corporation, Deutsche Mexico Holdings S.a r.l., Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Limited, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Public Limited Company, Deutsche Mortgage & Asset Receiving Corporation, Deutsche Mortgage Securities Inc., Deutsche Mortgage Securities Inc., Deutsche Nederland N.V., Deutsche New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Nominees Limited, Deutsche Oppenheim Family Office AG, Deutsche Overseas Issuance New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Postbank, Deutsche Postbank Finance Center Objekt GmbH, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC I, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC II, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC III, Deutsche Private Asset Management Limited, Deutsche Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Securities (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities Asia Limited, Deutsche Securities Australia Limited, Deutsche Securities Inc., Deutsche Securities Israel Ltd., Deutsche Securities Korea Co., Deutsche Securities Mauritius Limited, Deutsche Securities Menkul Degerler A.S., Deutsche Securities S.A., Deutsche Securities S.A. de C.V. Casa de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities S.A. de C.V. Casa de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia, Deutsche Securities SpA, Deutsche Securities Venezuela S.A., Deutsche Securitisation Australia Pty Limited, Deutsche Services Polska Sp. z o.o., Deutsche StiftungsTrust GmbH, Deutsche Strategic Investment Holdings Yugen Kaisha, Deutsche Trust Company Limited Japan, Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, Deutsche Trustee Services (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Trustees Malaysia Berhad, Deutsche Wealth Management S.G.I.I.C. S.A., Deutsches Institut fur Altersvorsorge GmbH, Durian (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., EC EUROPA IMMOBILIEN FONDS NR. 3 GmbH & CO. KG i.I., Elba Finance GmbH, Elizabethan Holdings Limited, Elizabethan Management Limited, Emerald Asset Repackaging Designated Activity Company, Erste Frankfurter Hoist GmbH, European Value Added I (Alternate G.P.) LLP, Exinor SA, FARAMIR Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs GmbH, FRANKFURT CONSULT GmbH, Fiduciaria Sant' Andrea S.r.L., Finanzberatungsgesellschaft mbH der Deutschen Bank, Franz Urbig- und Oscar Schlitter-Stiftung Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-037, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-039, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-040, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-041, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-043, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-044, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-047, Funfte SAB Treuhand und Verwaltung GmbH & Co. Suhl "Rimbachzentrum" KG, G Finance Holding Corp., G.O. IB-US Management L.L.C., G918 Corp., GAC-HEL Inc., GWC-GAC Corp., Galene S.a r.l., Gemini Technology Services Inc., German American Capital, German American Capital Corporation, Gladyr Spain S.L., Global Markets Fundo de Investimento Multimercado, Global Markets III Fundo de Investimento Multimercado - Credito, Greenwood Properties Corp., Grundstucksgesellschaft Frankfurt Bockenheimer Landstrae GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Kerpen-Sindorf Vogelrutherfeld GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Leipzig Petersstrae GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Wiesbaden Luisenstrae/Kirchgasse GbR, HTB Spezial GmbH & Co. KG, Hollandsche Bank-Unie, IOS Finance EFC S.A., ISTRON Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs-GmbH, IVAF I Manager S.a r.l., IVAF I Manager S.a r.l., Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben I GbR, Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben II GbR, Immobilienfonds Mietwohnhauser Quadrath-Ichendorf GbR, Immobilienfonds Wohn- und Geschaftshaus Koln-Blumenberg V GbR, J R Nominees (Pty) Ltd, Joint Stock Company Deutsche Bank DBU, Jyogashima Godo Kaisha, KEBA Gesellschaft fur interne Services mbH, Kidson Pte Ltd, Konsul Inkasso GmbH, Kradavimd UK Lease Holdings Limited, LA Water Holdings Limited, LAWL Pte. Ltd., Latitude Australia Secured Personal Loans Trust, Leasing Verwaltungsgesellschaft Waltersdorf mbH, Leonardo III Initial GP Limited, Lindsell Finance Limited, London Industrial Leasing Limited, MEF I Manager S. a r.l., MEF I Manager S. a r.l., MHL Reinsurance Ltd., MIT Holdings Inc., MIT Holdings Inc., MPP Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Maher Terminals Holdings (Toronto) Limited, Morgan Grenfell & Company, MortgageIT, MortgageIT Inc., MortgageIT Inc., MortgageIT Securities Corp., Motion Picture Productions One GmbH & Co. KG, NCW Holding Inc., Navegator - SGFTC S.A., Navegator - SGFTC S.A., New 87 Leonard LLC, Nordwestdeutscher Wohnungsbautrager Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, OOO "Deutsche Bank TechCentre", OOO "Deutsche Bank", OPB Verwaltungs- und Beteiligungs-GmbH, OPB Verwaltungs- und Treuhand GmbH, OPB-Holding GmbH, OPB-Nona GmbH, OPB-Oktava GmbH, OPB-Quarta GmbH, OPB-Quinta GmbH, OPB-Septima GmbH, OPPENHEIM Capital Advisory GmbH, OPPENHEIM Flottenfonds V GmbH & Co. KG, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Manager GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, OPS Nominees Pty Limited, OVT Trust 1 GmbH, OVV Beteiligungs GmbH, Opal Funds (Ireland) Public Limited Company, PADUS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, PARTS Funding LLC., PB Factoring GmbH, PB Firmenkunden AG, PB International S.A., PB Spezial-Investmentaktiengesellschaft mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, PBC Banking Services GmbH, PCC Services GmbH der Deutschen Bank, PT Deutsche Sekuritas Indonesia, PT. Deutsche Verdhana Sekuritas Indonesia, Pan Australian Nominees Pty Ltd, Peruda Leasing Limited, Plantation Bay Inc., Plantation Bay Inc., Postbank Akademie und Service GmbH, Postbank Beteiligungen GmbH, Postbank Direkt GmbH, Postbank Filialvertrieb AG, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, Postbank Immobilien GmbH, Postbank Immobilien und Baumanagement GmbH, Postbank Immobilien und Baumanagement GmbH & Co. Objekt Leipzig KG, Postbank Leasing GmbH, Postbank Service GmbH, Postbank Systems AG, QR Tower 2 LLC, Quantiguous, R.B.M. Nominees Pty Ltd, REO Properties Corporation, RREEF, RREEF America L.L.C., RREEF China REIT Management Limited, RREEF European Value Added I (G.P.) Limited, RREEF Fund Holding Co., RREEF India Advisors Private Limited, RREEF Management L.L.C., RTS Nominees Pty Limited, Reference Capital Investments Limited, RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., Route 28 Receivables LLC, Route 28 Receivables LLC, SAB Real Estate Verwaltungs GmbH, SAGITA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SAPIO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SCUDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SEDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SENA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Kamenz KG, SIFA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SOLIDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SP Mortgage Trust, SPINO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SPV I Sociedad Anonima Cerrada, SPV II Sociedad Anonima Cerrada, STATOR Heizkraftwerk Frankfurt (Oder) Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Sal. Oppenheim, Sal. Oppenheim Alternative Investments GmbH, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. AG & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Beteiligungs GmbH, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Komplementar AG, Sechste Salomon Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Sechste Salomon Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Service Company Four Limited, Sharps SP I LLC, Singer Island Tower Suite LLC, Somkid Immobiliare S.r.l., Stelvio Immobiliare S.r.l., Structured Finance Americas LLC, Structured Finance Americas LLC, Swabia 1. Vermogensbesitz-GmbH, Suddeutsche Vermogensverwaltung Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, TAKIR Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TELO Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, TEMATIS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., TERRUS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., TESATUR Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Halle I KG i.L., TESATUR Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Nordhausen I KG i.L., TOSSA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TRIPLA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TRS Aria LLC, TRS Leda LLC, TRS Maple II LTD, TRS Oak II LTD, TRS SVCO LLC, TRS Scorpio LLC, TRS Tupelo II LTD, TRS Venor LLC, TRS Walnut II LTD, Tagus - Sociedade de Titularizacao de Creditos S.A., Tasfiye Halinde Deutsche Securities Menkul Degerler A.S., Tempurrite Leasing Limited, Thai Asset Enforcement and Recovery Asset Management Company Limited, Tianjin Deutsche AM Fund Management Co. Ltd., Treuinvest Service GmbH, Triplereason Limited, UKE Beteiligungs-GmbH, UKE Grundstucksgesellschaft mbH, UKE s.r.o., Ullmann - Esch Grundstucksgesellschaft Kirchnerstrae GbR, Ullmann - Esch Grundstucksverwaltungsgesellschaft Disternich GbR, Ullmann Ullmann Krockow Krockow Esch GbR, VCJ Lease S.a r.l., Vesta Real Estate S.r.l., VOB-ZVD Processing GmbH, WEPLA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, WEPLABeteiligungsgesellschaftmbH, Wealthspur Investment Ltd., Whale Holdings S.a r.l., World Trading (Delaware) Inc., World Trading(Delaware)Inc., Zumirez Drive LLC, db PBC, and norisbank GmbH.
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The following companies are subsidiares of The 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. 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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. 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'RSS and BJP spread hate. They wear half pants, wield clubs while we work with love. This is basic difference,' Gandhi said.

New Delhi: Launching a scathing attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Congress president Rahul Gandhi accused the organisation of wielding lathis and spreading hatred.

At a meeting of Congress Seva Dal in Ajmer, Mr Gandhi asked Congress workers to counter the hatred spread by the Bharatya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological fountainhead RSS with love. RSS and BJP spread hate. They wear half pants, wield lathis while we work with love. This is the basic difference.

He also accused the RSS of creating unrest in the Northeast.

Training his guns at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress president said: He runs the country for a select group of 15-20 people.

For Mr Modi, India is a product and he wants to divide its benefits among his 15-20 friends, but for the Congress, it is like a sea which has space for all, he said.

Modi gives tall speeches, says nothing happened (in the country) in the past 70 years. That means Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar (Vallabhbhai) Patel, Jawa-harlal Nehru, (B.R.) Amb-edkar and all chief ministers, people of the country, farmers, labours and sm-all traders did nothing. It is an insult to every citizen, he added.

He that when he hugged the Prime Minister in Parliament, Mr Modi had only hate for him. Modi says unwarranted things about me, my family and (he) insults the entire Congress, saying that he will finish the Congress but the Congress president hugged him in Parliament. Hate can be defeated only by love. When I hugged him, I had no hate for him but he had hate and I saw on his face. He could not handle that, Mr Gandhi said.

He added, We will defeat them, we will not finish them, will not murder them, will not beat them, but will defeat and that too with love.
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Cenovus Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in Canada, the United States and the Asia Pacific region. The company operates through Oil Sands, Conventional, and Refining and Marketing segments. The Oil Sands segment develops and produces bitumen in northeast Alberta. Its bitumen assets include Foster Creek, Christina Lake, and Narrows Lake, as well as other projects in the early stages of development. The Conventional segment holds assets primarily located in Elmworth-Wapiti, Kaybob-Edson, and Clearwater operating areas of British Columbia and Alberta, as well as various interests in natural gas processing facilities. The Refining and Marketing segment transports and sells crude oil, natural gas, and NGLs. This segment owns a 50% ownership in Wood River and Borger refineries located in the United States; and owns and operates a crude-by-rail terminal in Alberta. Cenovus Energy Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

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Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Diversified Equity Income Fund is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Eaton Vance Management. The fund invests in public equity markets across the globe. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. The fund primarily invests in dividend paying stocks of companies. It also writes S&P 500 Index call options with respect to a portion of the value of its common stock portfolio to generate current cash flow from the options premium received. The Fund also normally invests in issuers located in at least three countries including the United States. It also invests through derivatives. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against a composite benchmark comprised of 80% S&P 500 Index and 20% FTSE Eurotop 100 Index. Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Diversified Equity Income Fund was formed on November 30, 2006 and is domiciled in the United States.

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The meeting on Friday was being seen as an opportunity for foreign envoys to know the views of Mr Gandhi on various issues.

New Delhi: As a mark of respect to several deceased CRPF soldiers who perished in the terror bomb attack in Pulwama, the Congress late on Thursday night cancelled a scheduled lunch that was to take place on Friday in which Congress President Rahul Gandhi was to interact with envoys of the G20 countries as well as some of Indias neighbouring countries.

In this moment of grief, we have cancelled the scheduled luncheon meeting, Congress sources said.

The meeting on Friday was being seen as an opportunity for foreign envoys to know the views of Mr Gandhi on various issues. Foreign envoys were also expected to seek clarifications on any issue that may be of interest to their country.

Pakistan had not been invited to the luncheon meeting. But several other envoys including the Chinese and French ambassadors had been expected to attend.

The G20 has been described as a premier international forum for global economic cooperation, with some estimates of G20 members accounting for 86 per cent of the world economy, 78 per cent of global trade, and two-thirds of the worlds population, incl-uding more than half of the world's poor.

It comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, United States and the European Union.

Envoys of neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were also exp-ected to attend the meet.

Sources said the interaction was initially planned between the Congress president and envoys of the G-20 countries only but that later some of the neighbouring countries (who were not a part of G-20) expected a desire to attend too.

Fridays meeting was being seen as significant,, given that the Congress is the main opposition party in the country.
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Lennox International Inc., through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets a range of products for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration markets in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Residential Heating & Cooling, Commercial Heating & Cooling, and Refrigeration. The Residential Heating & Cooling segment provides furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps, packaged heating and cooling systems, indoor air quality equipment and accessories, comfort control products, and replacement parts and supplies for residential replacement and new construction markets. The Commercial Heating & Cooling segment offers unitary heating and air conditioning equipment, applied systems, controls, installation and service of commercial heating and cooling equipment, and variable refrigerant flow commercial products for light commercial markets. The Refrigeration segment offers condensing units, unit coolers, fluid coolers, air cooled condensers, air handlers, and refrigeration rack systems for preserving food and other perishables in supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, warehouses, and distribution centers, as well as for data centers, machine tooling, and other cooling applications; and compressor racks and industrial process chillers. The company sells its products and services through direct sales, distributors, and company-owned parts and supplies stores. Lennox International Inc. was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Richardson, Texas.

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The incident has been condemned also by mainstream political parties and some other organisations of Jammu and Kashmir.

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik and ministry of external affairs said that Thursdays suicide attack on the CRPF convoy at Lethapora in southern Pulwama district seemed to have been orchestrated from across the border in Pakistan.

Visibly it seems to be guided from across the border as Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed the responsibility, the governor said. Jammu and Kashmir has been under Presidents rule since December 20, 2018.

Strongly condemning the terror attack, he expressed serious concern over it and said that forces responsible for insurgency in J&K are desperate and frustrated and just want to prove their presence.

He added that such actions will not deter the resolve of the security forces and people and that we will finish these inimical forces to the last.

The Union ministry of external affairs said, India condemns in the strongest possible terms the cowardly terrorist attack on our brave security forces This heinous and despicable act has been perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based and supported terrorist organisation proscribed by the UN and other countries.

This terror group is led by the international terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by government of Pakistan to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity, it said even as condemnation of the horrific terror attack poured in from the US, Russia, France as well as neighbouring countries such as Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Earlier, Mr Malik urged all commanders of all security forces to enhance surveillance and directed the district and divisional civil and police administration to immediately review the security management of all important installations and establishments.

The incident has been condemned also by mainstream political parties and some other organisations of Jammu and Kashmir. Former chief ministers and National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah said incidents like these do not augur well the return of peace to the Valley.

While expressing shock and grief over the loss of lives, the senior Abdullah said, The incident is disturbing and reminiscent of the 1990s. My prayers are with those who are injured and condolences with the bereaved families.

His son and NC vice-president Omar Abdullah said that the attack was reminiscent of the dark days of militancy pre-2004-05.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti also condemned the attack. She tweeted, Disturbing news coming in from #awantipura. Twelve of our security personnel have been martyred and several have been injured. No words are enough to condemn the gruesome terror attack. How many more lives will be snuffed out before this madness ends?

BJP leader and minister of state at the PMO Jitendra Singh seized the opportunity to target the Kashmir-based political parties. The dastardly attack on CRPF personnel is a desperate act by terrorists on the run. While the entire nation stands with the Indian security forces, will this also be an eye opener for Kashmir-centric politicians who are always apologetic on such occasions? he said in a tweet.

Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said, We will definitely give befitting response to this cowardly attack. It will not go unpunished. We will avenge in all way possible.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley said, Attack is a cowardice and condemnable act of terrorists. Nation salutes martyred soldiers and we all stand united with families of martyrs. We pray for speedy recovery of the injured. Terrorists will be given unforgettable lesson for their heinous act.
Royal Dutch Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company worldwide. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Oil Products, Chemicals segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver gas to market. The company also markets and trades natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), crude oil, electricity, carbon-emission rights; and markets and sells LNG as a fuel for heavy-duty vehicles and marine vessels. In addition, it trades in and refines crude oil and other feed stocks, such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, aviation fuel, marine fuel, biofuel, lubricants, bitumen, and sulphur; produces and sells petrochemicals for industrial use; and manages oil sands activities. Further, the company produces base chemicals comprising ethylene, propylene, and aromatics, as well as intermediate chemicals, such as styrene monomer, propylene oxide, solvents, detergent alcohols, ethylene oxide, and ethylene glycol. Royal Dutch Shell plc was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands.

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Walker & Dunlop, Inc., through its subsidiaries, originates, sells, and services a range of multifamily and other commercial real estate financing products and services for owners and developers of real estate in the United States. The company offers first mortgage, second trust, supplemental, construction, mezzanine, preferred equity, small-balance, and bridge/interim loans. It also provides multifamily finance for manufactured housing communities, student housing, affordable housing, and senior housing properties under the Fannie Mae's DUS program; and construction and permanent loans to developers and owners of multifamily housing, affordable housing, senior housing, and healthcare facilities. In addition, the company acts as an intermediary in the placement of commercial real estate debt between institutional sources of capital, including life insurance companies, investment banks, commercial banks, pension funds, CMBS conduits, and other institutional investors, as well as owners of various types of commercial real estate. Further, it advises on capital structure; develops the financing package; facilitates negotiations between its client and institutional sources of capital; coordinates due diligence; and assists in closing the transaction. Additionally, the company offers property sales brokerage, underwriting and risk management, and servicing and asset management services. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.

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The following companies are subsidiares of The Kroger: 84.51 HQ Building Company, 84.51 LLC, Agri-Products, Alpha Beta, Alpha Beta Company, Ansonborough Square Investors I, Ansonborough Square Retail, Ardrey Kell Investments, Bay Area Warehouse Stores, Beech Tree Holdings, Bell Markets, Bleecker Ventures LLC, Bluefield Beverage, Bluefield Beverage Company, Box Cutter, Brier Creek Arbors Drive Retail, CB&S Advertising Agency, Cala Co., Cala Foods, Cheeses of All Nations, Country Oven, Crawford Stores, Creedmoor Retail, Dillon Companies, Dillon Real Estate Co, Dillon Real Estate Co., Dillons, Distribution Trucking Company, Dotto, Edgewood Plaza Holdings, Embassy International, FM, FMJ, Farmacia Doral, Food 4 Less GM, Food 4 Less Holdings, Food 4 Less Merchandising, Food 4 Less of California, Food 4 Less of Southern California, Fred Meyer, Fred Meyer Jewelers, Fred Meyer Stores, Gerbes Supermarkets, Glasswing Labs, Glendale/Goodwin Realty I, Grubstake Investments, HT Fuel DE, HT Fuel MD, HT Fuel NC, HT Fuel SC, HT Fuel VA, HTGBD, HTP Bluffton, HTP Plaza, HTP Plaza LLC, HTP Relo, HTPS, HTTAH, Harris Teeter, Harris Teeter LLC, Harris Teeter Properties, Harris Teeter Supermarkets, Harris-Teeter Services, Healthy Options, Healthy Options Inc., Henpil, Home Chef, Hood-Clayton Logistics, Hood-Clayton Logistics LLC, Hughes Markets, Hughes Realty, I.T.A., IRP, ITAC 119, ITAC 265, Infusion Solutions of Puerto Rico, Inter-American Foods, Inter-American Products, J.V. Distributing, Jondex Corp, Jondex Corp., Jubilee Carolina, Junior Food Stores of West Florida, KCDE, KCDE  2012, KCDE  2013, KCDE-2 LLC, KCDE-3 LLC, KCDE-4 LLC, KCDE-5 LLC, KGO, KGO LLC, KP Sourcing, KPF, KPF Insurance Services, KPF Insurance Services LLC, KPS, KPS AG, KRGP, KRGP Inc., KRLP, KRLP Inc., Kee Trans, Kessel FP, Kessel Pharmacies, Kessel RCD, Kessel Saginaw, King Soopers, Kiosk Medicine Kentucky, Kirkpatrick West Retail, Kroger, Kroger Community Development Entity, Kroger Dedicated Logistics Co, Kroger Dedicated Logistics Co., Kroger Fresh Fare, Kroger G.O., Kroger G.O. LLC, Kroger Limited Partnership I, Kroger Limited Partnership II, Kroger MC Holdings, Kroger MTL Management, Kroger Management Co, Kroger Management Co., Kroger Management  Corryville, Kroger Management  NMTC Athens I, Kroger Management  NMTC Champaign I, Kroger Management  NMTC Champaign II, Kroger Management  NMTC Cincinnati I, Kroger Management  NMTC Dallas I, Kroger Management  NMTC Danville I, Kroger Management  NMTC Griffin I, Kroger Management  NMTC Logansport I, Kroger Management  NMTC Missouri I, Kroger Management  NMTC Oak Ridge I, Kroger Management  NMTC Olney I, Kroger Management  NMTC Omaha I, Kroger Management  NMTC Portsmouth I, Kroger Management  NMTC Starkville I, Kroger Management  NMTC Topeka I, Kroger Management  NMTC Warrenton I, Kroger NMTC Fremont I, Kroger OZ1 Inc., Kroger OZ1 LLC, Kroger OZ2 Inc., Kroger OZ2 LLC, Kroger OZ3 Inc., Kroger OZ3 LLC, Kroger Opportunity Fund I, Kroger Prescription Plans, Kroger Specialty Infusion, Kroger Specialty Infusion AL, Kroger Specialty Infusion CA, Kroger Specialty Infusion Holdings, Kroger Specialty Infusion TX, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy CA, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy CA 2 LLC, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy FL 2 LLC, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy Holdings, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy Holdings 2, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy Holdings 3, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy Holdings I, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy LA, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy TN, Kroger Texas L.P., LCGP3 Home Cooking, Local Mkt LLC, Main & Vine LLC, Matthews Property 1, Mega Marts, Michigan Dairy, ModernHealth LTC, Murrays Cheese LLC, Murrays LIC LLC, Murrays Table LLC, Pace Dairy Foods Company, Paramount Logistics, Pay Less Super Markets, Peytons Fountain, Peytons-Southeastern, Plum Labs LLC, Pontiac Foods, Queen City Assurance, RBF, Ralphs Grocery Company, Relish Labs LLC, Rocket Newco, Roundy's, Roundys, Roundys Acquisition Corp., Roundys Illinois, Roundys Supermarkets, Second Story, Shop-Rite, Smiths Beverage of Wyoming, Smiths Food & Drug Centers, Southern Ice Cream Specialties, Stallings Investors I, Sunrise R&D Holdings, Sunrise Technology LLC, THGP Co., THLP Co., TLC Corporate Services LLC, TLC Immunization Clinic LLC, TLC of Georgia LLC, The Kroger Co. of Michigan, The Little Clinic LLC, The Little Clinic Management Services LLC, The Little Clinic of Arizona LLC, The Little Clinic of Colorado LLC, The Little Clinic of IN LLC, The Little Clinic of Kansas LLC, The Little Clinic of Mississippi LLC, The Little Clinic of Ohio LLC, The Little Clinic of TX LLC, The Little Clinic of Tennessee LLC, The Little Clinic of VA LLC, Topvalco, Turkey Hill, Ultimate Mart, Ultra Mart Foods, Vine Court Assurance Incorporated, Vitacost, Vitacost.com, Woodmont Holdings, and YOU Technology.
Hannover RAck SE, together with its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance products and services worldwide. It operates through Property & Casualty Reinsurance, and Life & Health Reinsurance segments. The Property & Casualty Reinsurance segment offers specialty lines comprising marine, aviation, facultative and direct business, credit, surety, and political risks reinsurance products; and treaty, catastrophe XL, and structured reinsurance, as well as insurance-linked securities. This segment also provides risk solutions for agricultural, livestock, and bloodstock businesses; aviation and space business; and marine and offshore energy business. The Life & Health Reinsurance segment offers group and individual credit life, enhanced annuities, group life and health, and Sharia-compliant Takaful reinsurance products. This segment also provides risk solutions in the areas of critical illness, disability, health, longevity, long term care, and mortality and morbidity, as well as underwriting services. In addition, it offers various financial solutions, including new-business financing; monetization of embedded value; reserve and solvency relief; and divestiture of non-core businesses. The company was formerly known as Hannover RAckversicherung AG and changed its name to Hannover RAck SE in March 2013. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Hanover, Germany. Hannover RAck SE is a subsidiary of Talanx AG.

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The order specifically stated that personal appearance is not dispensed with.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has summarily dismissed two court masters  Manav Sharma and Tapan Kumar Chakraborty  for tampering with the January 7 order directing the personal appearance of Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani. Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi passed this order on Wednesday evening exercising his disciplinary powers as the head of the institution.

It was stated that a bench of Justices Rohinton Nariman and Vineet Saran passed an order on January 7 directing the personal appearance of Anil Ambani in the court in the contempt petitions filed by Ericsson. The order specifically stated that personal appearance is not dispensed with.

However, when the order was uploaded on the Supreme Court website, the crucial word not was omitted. Instead, it read personal appearance is dispensed with. Even in the summons issued to Mr Ambani, it said personal appearance dispensed with.

This discrepancy was brought to the notice of the bench on January 10 by Dushyant Dave, the senior counsel appearing for Ericsson.

The bench headed by Justice Nariman informed the counsel that the bench had specifically required the presence of Mr Ambani. Thereafter, a revised copy of the order was uploaded.

The court then ordered a probe as to how the word not was omitted in the order, which was initially uploaded and when it was served on Mr Ambani. It revealed that there was a tampering in the order by the two officials, prompting the Chief Justice of India to take disciplinary action and ordering their summary dismissal from service.

It may be recalled that the court, on Wednesday, had reserved verdict on the contempt petitions filed by Ericsson against Mr Ambani and two other directors who were present in the court both on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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Global Payments Inc. provides payment technology and software solutions for card, electronic, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates through three segments: Merchant Solutions, Issuer Solutions, and Business and Consumer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization services, settlement and funding services, customer support and help-desk functions, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security services, consolidated billing and statements, and on-line reporting services. This segment also provides an array of enterprise software solutions that streamline business operations of its customers in various vertical markets; and value-added services, such as point-of-sale solutions, and analytic and engagement tools, as well as payroll and human capital management services. The Issuer Solutions segment offers solutions that enable financial institutions and retailers to manage their card portfolios through a platform; and commercial payments and ePayables solutions for businesses and governments. The Business and Consumer Solutions segment provides general-purpose reloadable prepaid debit and payroll cards, demand deposit accounts, and other financial service solutions to the underbanked and other consumers, and businesses under the Netspend brand. It markets its products and services through direct sales force, trade associations, agent and enterprise software providers, referral arrangements with value-added resellers, and independent sales organizations. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure, Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, and Commercial Renewables. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest; and uses coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, renewable sources, and nuclear fuel to generate electricity. It also engages in the wholesale of electricity to municipalities, electric cooperative utilities, and load-serving entities. This segment serves approximately 7.9 million retail electric customers in 6 states in the Southeast and Midwest regions of the United States covering a service territory of approximately 91,000 square miles; and owns approximately 50,807 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity. The Gas Utilities and Infrastructure segment distributes natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and power generation natural gas customers; and owns, operates, and invests in pipeline transmission and natural gas storage facilities. It has approximately 1.6 million customers, including 1.1 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, as well as 541,000 customers in southwestern Ohio and northern Kentucky. The Commercial Renewables segment acquires, owns, develops, builds, and operates wind and solar renewable generation projects, including nonregulated renewable energy and energy storage services to utilities, electric cooperatives, municipalities, and commercial and industrial customers. It has 21 wind, 150 solar, and 2 battery storage facilities, as well as 11 fuel cell locations with a capacity of 2,282 MW across 19 states. The company was formerly known as Duke Energy Holding Corp. and changed its name to Duke Energy Corporation in April 2005. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, and markets biopharmaceutical products worldwide. The company offers products in hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, and immunology therapeutic classes. Its products include Revlimid, an oral immunomodulatory drug for the treatment of multiple myeloma; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Eliquis, an oral inhibitor indicated for the reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; and Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis, as well as reducing signs and symptoms in pediatric patients with active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis. The company also provides Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia; Yervoy for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma; Abraxane, a solvent-free protein-bound chemotherapy product; mpliciti for the treatment of multiple myeloma; and Reblozyl for the treatment of anemia in adult patients with beta thalassemia. In addition, it offers Onureg for the continued treatment of adult patients with AML; Zeposia to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis; Vidaza for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome subtypes; Baraclude, an oral antiviral agent for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B; and Breyanzi, a CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T cell immunotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma. The company sells products to wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies, retailers, hospitals, clinics, and government agencies. It has collaboration agreements with Pfizer, Inc.; Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; Nektar Therapeutics; AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Huyabio; and DarwinHealth, Inc. The company was formerly known as Bristol-Myers Company. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

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JeM claims responsibility, India points finger at Pak; 78 buses were ferrying 2,500 jawans from Jammu to Valley.

A scene of the spot after militants attacked a CRPF convoy in Goripora area of Awantipora town in Pulwama district of J&K on Thursday. At least 44 CRPF jawans were killed in the attack. (Photo: PTI)

Srinagar: In the deadliest terror attack in restive Jammu and Kashmir ever, at least 44 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and more than a dozen others injured on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist rammed an explosives-laden SUV into their bus in Pulwama district.

The police and witnesses said that a lone suicide attacker detonated a Mahindra Scorpio laden with around 350 kgs of explosive near a bus at around 3.15 pm as a convoy of 78 CRPF vehicles was travelling down the heavily guarded stretch of the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Lethapora in southern Pulwama district, about 30 kilometres from Srinagar. While the JeM claimed that it used 350 kgs of explosives, the police said that 100 kgs of explosive was used.

The SUV was being driven on the wrong side of the road before it rammed into the CRPF bus coming towards it, police said

Witnesses said that the CRPF bus was blasted open and reduced to ribbons of charred metal, with body parts of the victims were strewn on the highway. Several other vehicles in the convoy as well as nearby shops and buildings also suffered damage due to the massive blast. The CRPF bus which was directly attacked was carrying 39-44 personnel, reports said. The vehicles body bore bullet marks, indicating that more terrorists may have been hiding and may have fired at the convoy, officials said.

There were about 2,500 CRPF personnel on board the 78 vehicles in the convoy that was on its way from Jammu to Srinagar, officials said.

It was an unusually long convoy as many personnel were being transported at one go because the Srinagar-Jammu highway had been shut for the last two days due to bad weather. The convoy had left Jammu around 3.30 am and was expected to reach Srinagar before sunset.

The Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the powerful explosion that could be heard about 10-12 km away, including some parts of Srinagar adjoining the Pulwama district.

The terror outfit also put out a video and photos of an armed man, Adil Ahmad Dar alias Waqas commando from Kakapora, and claimed that he was the suicide attacker. He had joined the group in 2018.

Body parts of Adil, who was driving the explosive-laden vehicle, were also found at the spot, police said.

The scene of the incident is not very far from the Commando Training Centre at Lethpora, which was stormed by JeM terrorists on December 31, 2017, killing five CRPF personnel.

JeM spokesperson Muhammad Hassan, in a statement issued to a local news agency, said that dozens of forces vehicles were destroyed in the attack.

Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik pointed the needle of suspicion towards Pakistan. Visibly it seems to be guided from across the border as JeM has claimed responsibility, he said. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will probe the attack along with the Jammu and Kashmir police, officials said. This is the first suicide car bomb strike in Kashmir since the 2001 attack on the J&K Assembly that left 38 people dead.

As soon as the explosion took place, people started running for safety. The shopkeepers at Lethpora market, which is less than 300 metres from the scene of the attack, downed their shutters and fled.

The injured were rushed to the Armys 92-Base hospital in Srinagars Badami Bagh Cantonment. Army sources said that the death toll could rise further as the condition of some of the injured CRPF personnel was critical.

Condemning the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, The attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain.

In a message, US ambassador Kenneth Juster said, Strongly condemn todays terrorist attack. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. The US stands alongside India in confronting terror and defeating it.

The Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the jihadist group active mainly in Jammu and Kashmir, has carried out several attacks, including the 2001 attack on Parliament in New Delhi, and is also suspected of being responsible for the attack on the Pathankot airbase in 2016. It has been declared a terrorist group by the UN, US and India.
AstraZeneca PLC discovers, develops, manufactures, and commercializes prescription medicines in the areas of oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolism, respiratory, infection, neuroscience, and gastroenterology worldwide. The company's marketed products include Tagrisso, Lynparza, Imfinzi, Enhertu, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Equidacent, Zoladex, Faslodex, Iressa, Arimidex, Casodex/Cosudex, and others for oncology diseases; Onglyza, Bydureon, Lokelma, Byetta, Qtern, Symlin, and others for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; and Symbicort, Pulmicort, Fasenra, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir, Tudorza/Eklira, Bevespi, Breztri, Anifrolumab, and others for respiratory and immunology diseases. It also offers other medicines and COVID-19 products, including Synagis, Fluenz Tetra/FluMist Quadrivalent, Seroquel IR/Seroquel XR, Vimovo, Movantik/Moventig, Nexium, Losec/Prilosec, and COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca. The company serves primary care and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices. It has a collaboration agreement with Daiichi Sankyo to develop and commercialize DS-1062 for the treatment of trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (TROP2) tumor; AliveCor, Inc. to develop non-invasive potassium monitoring solutions; Massachusetts General Hospital to accelerate digital health solutions; Sanguina on smartphone application study for hemoglobin management in patients with anemia of chronic kidney disease; Alchemab to enhance prostate cancer research; and Proteros biostructures GmbH to discover and develop novel small molecules for the treatment of various types of cancer. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom.

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Arista Networks, Inc. develops, markets, and sells cloud networking solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company's cloud networking solutions consist of extensible operating systems, a set of network applications, as well as gigabit Ethernet switching and routing platforms. It also provides post contract customer support services, such as technical support, hardware repair and parts replacement beyond standard warranty, bug fix, patch, and upgrade services. The company serves a range of industries comprising internet companies, service providers, financial services organizations, government agencies, media and entertainment companies, and others. It markets and sells its products through distributors, value-added resellers, system integrators, and original equipment manufacturer partners, as well as through its direct sales force. The company was formerly known as Arastra, Inc. and changed its name to Arista Networks, Inc. in October 2008. Arista Networks, Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

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Tributes poured in from across the city following martyrdom of over 40 CRPF jawans in yesterday's militant attack at Pulwama district of Jammu & Kashmir. Police and political outfits as well as social organisations expressed their condolence and grief today.

Deputy superintendent of police (law and order) Alok Ranjan along with 200 policemen condoled the death of the martyr CRPF jawans at Sahid Shthal in Golmuri police line in the city, Seraikela-Kharsawan superintendent of police, Chandan Kumar Sinha condoled the martyred jawan at the CRPF's 107 battalion headquarters in Adityapur at the noon.

The police officials observed two minutes in silence as they condoled the death of the jawans at the Golmuri Sahid Shthal.

On the other hand, BJP activists raised slogans against Pakistan and the Pakistan-sponsored terrorists while marching toward Sackhi roundabout. The agitated BJP activists who were carrying party flag as well as National flag burnt Pakistan and the Islamic militants in effigy. "It is high time tough stand is taken by our country. Jaish-e-Mohammed has carried out this terror attack. The Government must undertake whatever it takes to avenge this, an activist of BJP.

One of the party workers said, "Very painful and shameful incident. The terrorists are bred by Pakistan. We want Prime Minister Modi to attack Pakistan and teach it a lesson". He went on to add that the residents of Kashmir had been enjoying special package being provided by the India Government and now they should also be subjected to the harsh Saria rule under which a person if convicted for a theft case has to lose a hand. Then only the people of Kashmir will stop giving moral support to the militants.

Members of Muslim community after their Friday prayers staged demonstration. Raising anti-Pakistan slogans, the gathering, comprising mostly youth, asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terror activities and giving terrorists a safe haven to launch attacks against India.

Candle light marches were also held at different of places. People took to the streets at Sonari and Sakchi and protested against the killings. Raising anti-Pakistan, anti-terrorist slogans, the protestors demanded action against Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism in the Valley.
Uttarakhand has lost two of its brave sons in the suicide bomb attack on the CRPF convoy in which 43 soldiers were martyred on Thursday. According to the reports, one of the martyrs, Virendra Singh Rana, was a resident of Mohammandpur Budhia village of Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar district. A pall of gloom descended over the locality when the news of the death of Virendra was communicated to his family on Thursday night. Brother-in- law of the martyr, Ramkishan said that the Virendra was the youngest of three sons of Diwan Singh. His elder brother Jairam Singh is a retired Border Security Force (BSF) personnel. The martyr is survived by his wife, a five-year- old daughter and a two-year- old son.

Ramkishan added that Virendra had left for Jammu on Tuesday after he completed a leave of 20 days.

The second martyr, Mohan Lal Raturi was a resident of Bankot village of Chinyalisaur of Uttarkashi district. He was the assistant sub- inspector (ASI) in the 76th battalion of CRPF.

The family of Mohan Lal comprises his wife, three daughters and two sons who are at present living at Vidhya Vihar Colony, Kargi Chowk.

While expressing his heartfelt condolence to the families of the martyrs, the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has declared that one dependent of each of the martyrs would be given a job in the State Government. He also declared that a sum of Rs 25 lakh each would be provided to the families of the martyrs.
Dissatisfied over the reply by School Education Minister Premsai Singh Tekam, over issue of Saraswati bicycle scheme, opposition members of BJP on Friday staged walk out in the state assembly.

On demand of members later the minister also announced a probe into sub-standard bicycles purchased.

During the Question Hour, BJP legislator and former minister Brijmohan Agrawal raised the question about delay in distribution of bicycles to the girl students of government schools who are studying in class 9th.

How many bicycles have been distributed till now, Brijmohan asked. Replying to it and justifying the reason for delay the minister said they themselves were in the government till November and the delay was on their part.

Dissatisfied over the reply of the minister, the opposition members of the BJP led by Brijmohan Agrawal staged a walk out from the assembly.
Amidst deafening cries of grief at martyred soldier Vijay Sorengs thatched house in Gumla district, a shrill yet confident voice expressed the desire to join the police force and serve the country. As tears trickled down her cheeks, Sorengs 13-year-old daughter vowed to continue her familys legacy of joining the security forces and make her braveheart father proud.

Rekha Kumari, a student of class 6, was not ready to make peace with the loss that her family has incurred. I will join the security forces and serve the country just like my father did, she said as her voice quivered with agony.

Soreng, 43, one of more than 40 CRPF jawans martyred in the Pulwama attack on Thursday, is survived by five children, his widow and parents. His father Birish Soreng is a retired army man who takes pride in being father of a martyr. I am proud of my son. He was a soldier who died on the line of duty. But his sacrifice should not go in vain, he said, asking the government to avenge the death of jawans.

Sorengs body is likely to reach his hometown on Saturday.

All the martyred jawans bodies will be brought by air to New Delhi and then sent to their respective houses, CRPF officials said on Friday.

His widow, Bimla Sorengs sadness knew no bound, neither did her anger. Bimla and Sorengs mother Laxmi Devi demanded immediate action by the government to find and neutralize every militant involved in planning and executing the attack.

On February 5, Soreng had come home on a two-day leave. He spoke to his wife over a phone call on Thursday morning and told her about how his battalion was battling extreme weather conditions in Kashmir, Sorengs brother Sanjay Soreng told the media.

On Friday, Chief Minister Raghubar Das expressed condolence to the family and announced an ex-gratia of Rs.10 lakh for the bereaved family. He also assured that one of the survivours in the family will be given a government job. Das talked to the wife of martyr and said that the whole country was with the family in the hour of grief.

Our brave soldiers martyrdom will not go in vain. We have pledged to fight terrorism till the last breath, and our country will not spare any of the militants involved in this heinous, cowardly act, Das said.

Soreng was born in an extremely backward, tribal-dominated Kumhari Farsama village of Basia Block in Gumla in the year 1974. He completed his schooling in the village and joined the CRPF in 1993 while pursuing higher studies in Ranchi.
Heavyweights interested to invest in MP

Bhopal: Reputed companies like Alibaba and Amazon are interested to invest in Madhya Pradesh. State has industrial friendly atmosphere. This was said by the Minister for Urban Development and Housing during a meeting with a delegation of the British Deputy High Commission (BDHC), Mumbai. Singh mentioned that employment generation is the prime objective of the government. He stated that there are many sector in the state where we can work together. Madhya Pradesh is a heart of the country. There is a vast scope of work in Madhya Pradesh. He also told the delegation about the schemes being implemented in the urban bodies.

Columbia varsity for skill development of women

Bhopal: Minister for Urban Development and Housing Jaivardhan Singh said that thought will be given to work with the Earth Institute of the Columbia University for the skill development of women dwelling in slums. Singh said this during a meeting with Radhika Aiyengar of the Columbia University. Singh further mentioned that a project should be prepared to make women of slums of Bhopal self-dependent. This project will be launched in other cities if it succeeds. Aiyengar said that the University will prepare a curriculum itself for the skill development and training will be imparted accordingly.

unemployed youth to get loan facility

Bhopal: In yet another significant decision, the new government has removed the restrictions imposed in April 2017 on obtaining all types of vehicle loans in self-employment schemes. The decision will benefit the unemployed youth. This new decision has been taken in connection with the implementation of the Chief Minister Self-Employment Scheme, Mukhya Mantri Yuva Udyami Yojana and Mukhya Mantri Krishak Udyami Yojana through District Trade and Industry Centre. According to the decision, all types of loans in employment schemes for bus, mini bus, car, taxi car, three-wheeler, tractor, truck, freight vehicle, goods carrier vehicle, machine / equipment vehicle (J.C.B, porcelain, harvester) have been exempted from the ban imposed on April 27, 2017. The Directorate of Industries has issued an order in this connection. All Collectors and General Managers of all District Trade and Industry Centre have been informed about this.

73-year-old woman donates eyes to Sewa Sadan

Bhopal: Eyes of late Hardasmal Krishnani (73 years) have been donated to Sewa Sadan Eye Hospital by his son Dilip Krishnani. A resident of Sant Hirdaram Nagar, late Hardasmal Krishnani died on Thursday. With this donation two blind persons would now get eye-sight. As many as 1,650 free cornea transplantations have so far been performed in Sewa Sadan Eye Hospital. Trustee LC Janiyani paid homage to the departed soul and expressed gratitude to the family members for this donation.
Eyeing 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has kicked off Mera Parivar, BJP Parivar campaign to connect more than 40 lakh households in the state.

The state BJP unit, under the nationwide campaign that began on February 12, will present the achievements of the Narendra Modi led Central and Manohar Lal led Haryana Government to the people of the state.

The BJP has set a target to hoist 10 lakh party flags and put up atleast 40 lakh stickers on the doors of party workers and supporters houses in Haryana under the Mera Parivar, BJP Parivar.

The Cabinet Ministers, MLAs, party office bearers and workers are reaching out to the people of the state under this campaign which will continue till February 20.

To reach out to the voters of Haryana ahead of ensuing Lok Sabha polls 2019, the BJP has launched a vigorous door-to-door campaign Mera Parivar, BJP Parivar. The party workers will connect with people to apprize them about the achievements of the BJP led Central and State Governments, said Rajiv Jain, media advisor to Chief Minister Manohar Lal.

Jain said that the BJP has fixed a target to hoist 10 lakh party flags and put up 40 lakh stickers in Haryana. Over 2 lakh party flags have already been hoisted in Haryana, he added.

BJP chief Amit Shah is also scheduled to visit Hisar on February 25, during which he will hold meetings with Chief Minister, Cabinet Ministers and party leaders from Rohtak, Hisar and Sirsa. District party presidents and party office bearers in Rohtak, Hisar and Sirsa Lok Sabha constituencies have been asked to attend Hisars meeting.
Condemning the terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, the Himachal Pradesh Assembly unanimously passed a condolence motion on Friday and sought a befitting reply to Pakistan.

Moving the motion, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said, "Himachal is with PM. Himachal has the same sentiments which is of the entire country. HP is with the country for giving befitting reply to Pakistan for Pulwama attack."

Thakur said there is no doubt that "our neighbouring country Pakistan is behind this terrorist attack. Pakistan denied its hand but everyone knows this act has been done by none other than Pakistan."

The chief minister said, "Now this situation cannot be tolerated at all. Whatever decision the leadership at the Centre takes, Himachal will fully support that."

Announcing Rs 20 lakh as ex-gratia help to the family of slain CRPF jawan Tilak Raj from Himachal Pradesh, Thakur said he had on February 11 left home in Jawali of Kangra district to rejoin duty after leave.

Speaking on the resolution, Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri said the Pulwama attack was a big challenge before the country. Stating that Pakistan's role in the Pulwama attack was obvious, he said a befitting reply should be given to Pakistan.

Saying that this is the biggest terrorist attack in the recent past, he said the terrorists are now targeting our army, security forces and their camps. Earlier too, army camp was attacked in Uri sector in 2016, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Vikramaditya Singh said that whatever step the prime minister takes to retaliate, the entire country will be with him.

Paying his condolence, the lone CPI(M) MLA Rakesh Singha said violence could not be a solution to any problem.

Speaking on the occasion, former CM Virbhadra Singh, Ministers Mahender S Thakur, Govind Singh Thakur, Inder Singh, Dhani Ram Shandil, Suresh Kashyap, Nand Lal and Ashish Butail also paid homage to the slain CRPF jawans.

Speaker Rajiv Bindal adjourned the proceedings of the Assembly till Saturday after passing the motion supported by all the members. He also announced that Governor Acharya Devvrat had cancelled the dinner for MLAs scheduled at Raj Bhawan on Friday following the terror attack.
Sonchiriya is set to release in March, cast and crew is on a promotional spree & seen promoting the film on social media.

Ashutosh Rana in the still from Sonchiriya.

Mumbai: Ashutosh Rana, is back, not as the classic, 'bad guy' but as an inspector out to hunt the dacoits.

Ashutosh, who is known as one of the intellectual actors of Hindi film industry, will be now playing a cop again after Simmba.

Ever since Sonchiriya's trailer released, there has been curiosity about his role, with fans wondering if Rana is back to doing what he does best.

Recently the makers of Sonchiriya organised the special event wherein they have gone ahead to launch the extension of the trailer titled as 'The Rebels of Sonchiriya'.

Sonchiriya is all set to release in next month, cast and crew is on a promotional spree and seen promoting the film on social media as well.

The story of Sonchiriya is set in the 1970s showcasing a small town ruled and dominated by dacoits. Multiple gangs fight over the struggle to attain power. The cast dons fierce avatars in sync with the theme of the film.

Sonchiriya promises to be a power packed action film giving a glimpse of the glorious years if dacoits in central India. Shot in the valleys of Madhya Pradesh, Sonchiriya presents an ensemble cast with an intriguing storyline.

Directed by Abhishek Chaubey who has earlier presented 'Udta Punjab' and 'Ishiqiya', 'Sonchiriya' presents a rooted tale set in Chambal. Produced by Ronnie Screwvala's RSVP, The movie is slated to release on 1st March 2019.
The employees of State government will donate their one day salary for financial help to the family members of martyred CRPF personnel, who sacrificed their lives in Pulwama attack. The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Additional Chief Secretary, Personnel department with representatives of different unions of employees, officials of the State government. It was decided that one day salary of all the employees will be deposited in the Chief Ministers Relief Fund to be donated to the martyrs families.
With the arrest of three persons, Delhi Police on Friday busted a gang of cheats that looted around 700 smart LED televisions from several shopkeepers in Old Lajpat Rai Market, out of which police were able to recover 510 TVs worth Rs 60 lakh from a godown in Sonipat, Haryana.

According to police, the accused persons were identified as Vikas (35), Harender (33), and Praveen (33), all residents of Sonepat, Haryana.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Rajiv Ranjan stated that on Thursday, information was received that the gang of cheats who stole 700 smart LED TVs have escaped to Sonepat along with the goods. A case was registered at Kotwali police station by a shopkeeper Shasikant Gupta.

"The information was developed and it was revealed that the LED TV's were kept in a godown situated at Gohana Road, Sonepat, in Haryana. A team of Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of Crime Branch raided the spot and arrested the three accused and recovered 510 LED Smart TVs," he said.

"On Sustained interrogation, it was revealed that one of the accused Vikas ran into losses of around 40-45 lakhs. He then struck an idea of cheating the shopkeepers of Lajpat Rai Market by using a 'Set Up'. He was joined by accused Anil and Harendra. Anil took a shop on rent at Bhagirath Palace by using fake documents in the rent agreement," said the DCP.

"Further, they purchased several SIM cards and started their shop. Initially, they purchased few LED TV's from the shopkeepers of the area in cash and then they started dealing in credit, finally, in the last week of January and first two days of February, they took around 700 Smart LED TV's from several shopkeepers and fled from the area," he added.
A Financial Literacy Awareness Programme for underprivileged women of Madhya Pradesh was organised by Fusion Microfinance financial institution. The proramme was organized with an aim to make the women of State self-dependent.

The eventwas organized by Microfinance. With a great hand in empowering women, Fusion Microfinance helps the underprivileged women in the rural and mobile areas of India to learn financial literacy. They believe in women to be self-sufficient and provide them with opportunities to make enhance their abilities and being self dependent.

Devesh Sachdev, MD and CEO of Fusion Microfinance stated, Fusion microfinance has a social vision and business orientation aims to provide underprivileged women with economic opportunities to transform the quality of their lives. We believe that women should be self-sufficient and we as an organization provide them with opportunities to enhance their abilities and to be independent.

He further said, We have a social vision and business orientation aims to provide underprivileged women with economic opportunities to transform the quality of their lives. Fusion Microfinance is a self-sustainable financial institution which leverages the distribution network to channel other products and services. Our clients comprises of 100% women living in rural and semi-urban areas.

They focus in reaching out to unbanked and providing financial services to women entrepreneurs belonging to the economically and socially deprived section of the society. Our responsibilities are not restricted merely to financial support but also to acquaint the clients to manage their financials by disseminating Financial Literacy to them.
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) adventure travel and responsible tourism conference and mart-2019 concluded at Rishikesh in the presence of Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and others on Friday. About 300 representatives from 28 nations were among those who attended the three-day event.

Referring to scope for adventure tourism in the state, Rawat said that the PATA event will also encourage tourism here. Apart from the participants learning about the State, the event would also help the State know better what the tourists want. Such events also help getting international recognition for the State, he said.

Addressing the media, PATA chief executive officer Mario Hardy said that the aim of the event was to strengthen connection between private and public sectors and share new ideas. He said that considering the scope for adventure tourism in Rishikesh and elsewhere in Uttarakhand, professionals had arrived here for the event. Their response to the scope for adventure tourism and the natural splendour of the State was quite positive. He specially thanked the States tourism department on the occasion.

The States tourism secretary Dilip Jawalkar said that the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board had hosted the event to establish the state as a major destination for adventure tourism. PATA representatives had themselves chosen Rishikesh as the venue for the event after visiting the town. To facilitate networking and establishment of connections, a heritage walk in Chaurasi Kutia and river rafting in Shivpuri were also organised for those who attended the event.

Adventure Tour Operators Association of India head Swadesh Kumar said that Uttarakhand has everything for adventure tourism though there is need for cordial behaviour with tourists arriving here from across India and abroad.

He also stressed on stringent implementation of safety rules, rescue operation skills and necessary training or adventure sports. Chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh was also present on the occasion.
Enough is enough! This how the visibly enraged Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday warned the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, its Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and his chamche ISI a days after bloodiest terror attack on Indian armed forces in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama.

Condemning the Paks act in the strongest possible words, Capt Amarinder asserted that the time for talking peace is over with the neighbouring Pakistan as the things are getting beyond control now.

At the same time, he urged the Prime Minister to give Pak a befitting reply so the sacrifices of our jawans dont go waste.

Their Prime Minister is talking peace and the General is talking war...what is this? I strongly condemn this barbaric attack...the time for talking peace is over...this is becoming too much...their sacrifices should not go waste...I urge the Prime Minister to give Pakistan a befitting reply, said Capt Amarinder in the Vidhan Sabha.

Disturbed, Capt Amarinder lashed out at the powers-to-be in Pakistan. Enough is enough. They have taken 41 young lives have gone. For what...just to please somebody...I am not able to understand why they killed our jawans...Four out of them are from Punjab. What pleasure does it give them? he questioned.

Making a strongly-worded statement, Capt Amarinder accused Pak Prime Minister Imran Khan of playing a double game in his policy vis-a-vis India. PM is talking about astarting a Guru Nanak Dev University, and doing sewa (serving the gurdwaras). But, on the other hand, Bajwas Army is killing our men, he said.

He had been made Prime Minister by the ISI and was completely at their service, said Capt Amarinder while dubbing Imran Khan as Armys puppet.

Capt Amarinder also minced no words to warn Pak Army general. Je tu Punjabi ae, assi v Punjabi ae...Ethe vad k dekh (If you are Punjabi, we are also Punjabi. Dare to enter Punjab!), challenged Capt Amarinder, amidst the thumping of benches, with Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu sitting silent.

Everyday Indian soldiers are being killed by the enemy from across the border...a major and two Jawans from second Sikh regiment had lost their lives to such attacks recently, he said.

Punjab has also suffered terror in the 80s and the 90s and fought it with a strong police force, which had grown manifold since then and is now fully geared to effectively counter any threat, said Capt Amarinder while issuing General Bajwa and Pak PM a stern warning against continuing with their policy of linking Kashmir and Punjab separators.

We have a force of 81,000 fully with motivated men and fully equipped, who have passed the test of fire, said the Chief Minister, declaring that if Bajwa and ISI tried anything now in Punjab, they would get a resounding response.

This is not the 80s, he said while talking with the media outside the House, noting that the Punjab Police was much bigger and better equipped today.

At the same time, Capt Amarinder expressed hoped the Pulwama attack will not impact Kartarpur Corridor and reiterated his plea for visa-free khule darshan didar to one and all.

I am confident that the corridor would be well-protected, but there is a need for a change in attitude on the part of Pakistan if peace between the two countries is to be promoted, he said while replying to the media queries.

Repeating that Islamabad was trying to link the terrorists of Punjab and J&K, the Chief Minister said that there are reports of the neighbouring country trying to foment trouble in Punjab, where as many as 28 terror modules had been busted in recent months.

The Referendum 2020 of Sikhs for Justice (SJF), which was clearly working at ISIs behest, was also a sign of their continued attempts to disturb peace in Punjab, he said, but asserted they will not succeed.
The Uttar Pradesh Assembly was adjourned for the day after paying homage to 41 CRPF jawans who were martyred in a terror attack in Pulwama (Kashmir) on Thursday, with both Opposition and Treasury benches expressing solidarity with the government demanding stringent action against Pakistan.

Cutting across party lines, leaders said that the way USA eliminated Osama Bin Laden, India should also carry out a strike and kill the mastermind of this attack who was being harboured by Pakistan.

As soon the House assembled on Friday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna declared that of the 41 martyred in Pulwama on Thursday, 12 were from Uttar Pradesh. "The UP government has decided to pay Rs 25 lakh as compensation and provide a government job to a family member each, Khanna informed the House.

Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary said that Thursday's incident was heart-breaking. "The time has come for the Indian government to take stringent action against those who carried out the attack and snuffed out innocent Indian para-military jawans. The entire Opposition is with the Indian government," he said.

Leader of BSP Legislature Party Lalji Verma said that a real tribute to martyred soldiers would be when India struck back with vengeance against the coward perpetrators of the dastardly crime.

Congress Legislature Party leader Aay Kumar Laloo demanded a compensation of Rs 1 crore to family members of the martyrs.

Virendra Singh Sirohi (BJP) and Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit also spoke on this occasion. Members observed a two-minute silence after which the House was adjourned for the day.
In yet another incident, nine labourers were injured after a fire broke out in a 'nail polish manufacturing factory' in Delhi's Bawana in the early hours of Friday. Labourers were working in the night shift at the factory at the time of the incident.

According to a senior official of Delhi Fire Service (DFS), a call was received about the incident at 2:48 am. Then, 12 fire tenders were dispatched to the Bawana Industrial area.

"The fire was doused around 5 am. The victims were working when a chemical container caught fire. Nine people sustained burn injuries in the incident. Investigation suggests that the fire broke out in the basement in the three story factory which soon spread till second floor," the senior DFS official added.

"Nine people identified as Veerpal (40), Pappu (20), Bablu (20), Chhotu (21), Ravi (25), Jaggi (22), Ravi Singh (22), Kanihya (21) and Horilal (28) suffered from burn injuries while other workers in the factory managed to escape. They all were rushed to Maharishi Dayanand hospital in Bawana where they are undergoing treatment. Veerpal and Pappu suffered major burn injuries and their condition is said to be critical," said a senior police official.

"Police are verifying the detail of factory whether it's functioning is legal or illegal. Initial probe suggests that workers used to work in three shifts here. It was a nail polish manufacturing unit. Further investigation is going on," the senior police official added.

This is the fourth fire incident reported in the National Capital in the last four days. Earlier on Tuesday deadly fire in Arpit Palace claimed 17 lives and was followed by a massive fire in which 250 juggies were gutted on Wednesday. A factory caught fire on wee hours of Thursday which was controlled on time by the Delhi Fire Service 25 fire tenders.
Seven cooperative societies of the state have been awarded for excellence in the award scheme of National Cooperative Development Corporation at Samanvay Bhavan, Bhopal. Principal Secretary Cooperatives Ajit Kesari presented the award money and the citations to the institutes.

Registrar and Commissioner Cooperatives Kedar Sharma and Managing Director of Apex Bank Pradeep Nikhra were also present.

Principal Secretary Kesari congratulated the awarded cooperative societies.

He said that they should give information about their successful works to other societies, which would inspire good work in the cooperative sector. Kesari said that women members of excellent cooperative societies will share their work experience with other co-operatives and women will also be helped in empowerment.

Commissioner Cooperatives Kedar Sharma said that respect holds a lot of meaning for work in public life. He urged the awarded societies to recommend other eligible institutions for the award in the coming year, so that excellence in work can be honoured.

At the outset Regional Director of National Cooperative Development Corporation RK Lala informed that the societies were selected by the selection committee through a selection process by the co-operative institutions by inviting entries.

Among the societies chosen for the award include first prize of Rs 25 thousand to Tribal Service Cooperative Society, Sourwa, Alirajpur, in Primary Agricultural Co-operative Credit Committee and second prize of Rs 20,000 to Tribal Service Cooperative Society, Chandpur, Alirajpur. In the women's category, the first prize of Rs 25,000 was awarded to Manorama Joshi of Indores Swashri Womens Credit Cooperative Society while the second prize of Rs 20,000 was awarded to Rani Durgawati Poultry Cooperative Committee of Samnapur in Dindori district.

In the marketing sector, the first prize of Rs 25,000 was awarded Petlawad Marketing Cooperative Society of Jhabua district and second prize of Rs 20,000 to Rau Cooperative Cold Storage Society of Indore district. In the Thrift sector Sadguru Credit Cooperative Society Dhar was awarded.
A day after the deadly strike on a CRPF convoy that took lives of 44 paramilitary jawans, the security agencies have identified Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) commander Abdul Rasheed as the mastermind of the Pulwama terror attack.

Pakistani national Rasheed is suspected to have been trained in Afghanistan. An IED expert, he is suspected to have planned the terror attack in December last year. He is suspected to have also acted as a handler of the slain Adil Ahmad Dar, alias Waqas Commando who rammed his explosive-laded Scorpio SUV into a bus of the CRPF convoy on Thursday.

Intelligence estimates suggest 35-40 fidayeen of Jaish are active in South Kashmir.

Inputs also suggest motorcycle-borne fidayeen could be on the prowl in the Valley, a reason why convoy movement was banned across Kashmir by the State police.

The chatter inputs reveal that Jaish-e-Mohammad has hinted to carry out IED attacks along the routes of security forces across Jammu & Kashmir. It is as such suggested that security forces need to put on alert to thwart any such attempt by terrorists, warned a Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) alert a day before the Pulwama attack, asking all the J&K-based units to remain on highest alert and maintain constant liaison with the State police.

it is requested to issue necessary guidelines and instructions and to all unit commanders of J&K-based units to be on highest alert to avoid any untoward incident. Constant liaison must be maintained with the local police and other intelligence agencies for sharing of information and coordinate action. Any significant information in this regard should be immediately intimated to all concerned, read the alert.

The J&K Police had on February 8 issued an alert asking the CRPF to sanitise area of deployment. Before occupying your place of deployment, please sanitise the area properly as there are inputs of use of IEDs. Matter most urgent, read the February 8 alert flashed through the police control room to the various formations of CRPF, Srinagar Sector, BSF, ITBP and police formations in the State, it said.

Amid inputs of the bike-borne fidayeen who could hit security forces, the movement of convoy of forces in Kashmir Valley was suspended on Friday. Apprehension of law and order situation was also cited as a reason for suspension of convoys. Even movement of administrative vehicles and isolated vehicles were advised to be restricted.

"There will be no convoy movement today (Friday)" as there are apprehensions of law and order problem in the Valley," the alert by J&K Police said.

Movement of isolated vehicle is strictly prohibited while movement of Army and CRPF vehicles in the interior, inter-district and intra-district in the Valley is also banned on Friday, it said.
Veteran actor Shabana Azmi on Friday said she and her husband, lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar, have decided not to attend Kaifi Azmi's birth centenary celebrations in Karachi in the wake of Pulwama terror attack.

The couple was invited to Pakistan by the Karachi Arts Council for a two-day event.

@Javedakhtarjadu and I were invited for a 2 day event celebrating Kaifi's Centenary and were truly looking forward to it. I appreciate that our hosts the Karachi Arts Council mutually agreed to cancel the event at the nth hour in the wake of Pulwama attack, Azmi posted on Twitter.

"Karanchi art council had invited Shabana and me for a two day lit conference about Kaifi Azmi and his poetry. We have cancelled that," Akhtar added.

Azmi said after the attack, she feels weakened in her belief that people to people contact can force the establishment to do the right thing.

"We will need to call halt to cultural exchange... There is no way we can carry on with cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan even as our martyrs are laying down their lives for us. I stand in solidarity with the grieving families," she wrote.

Azmi, however, said one should differentiate between the establishment and the people.

"But lets not lose sight of the fact that there is a difference between the Pakistani Establishment and the people of Pakistan and vice versa. On both sides of the border stand sisters and brothers divided by circumstances with which they had nothing to do," she added.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a Jaish suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

Azmi condemned the attacks and said she stands united with the grieving families.

Will there be no let to these heinous attacks? These mindless killings. This utter disregard for human lives? Extremely shocking news coming from Pulwama. I strongly condemn the worst terror attack on CRPF convoy, she wrote.

Akhtar, who had penned the CRPF anthem which was launched in 2014, also took to Twitter to pay his condolences.

I have a special relation with CRPF. I have written their anthem before putting the pen to paper I met a number of CRPF officers and whatever I learned, my respect, admiration and love for these braves increased by many a fold. Today I share the grief of the dear ones of the martyrs, he wrote.
The shares of the private bank closed at Rs 221 on the BSE, gaining 30.73 per cent or Rs 51.95 per share.

Last month Yes Bank shares had gained sharply, hitting a high of Rs 234, after the bank named Deutsche Bank CEO Ravneet Gill as its new MD & CEO from March 1.

Mumbai: Yes Bank shares made gains of over 30 per cent on Thursday and added over Rs 12,000 crore to its market capitalisation as the Reserve Bank of India gave a clean chit to the bank in its risk assessment report for FY 2018.

The shares of the private bank closed at Rs 221 on the BSE, gaining 30.73 per cent or Rs 51.95 per share and at Rs 222.60 on the NSE as overhang on the stock was removed with RBIs risk assessment report observing nil divergences in banks asset classification and provisioning from the RBI norms.

We believe this is a big positive for the banks as this allays concern related to NPA recognition process followed by the bank. Bank in its Q3 FY19 earnings had given credit cost guidance of 80 basis points for FY19 including any further provisioning related to IL&FS group, we believe this guidance is more realistic with overhang due to divergence is now over, said foreign institutional broker PhillipCapital.

We expect banks focus to now shift towards the growth. Bank has postponed its capital raise plans and curtailed its loan growth due to uncertainties related to top management and asset quality concerns. With uncertainties over we would expect bank to be in a better position to raise capital now, which will bring back the accelerated growth trajectory, PhillipCapital said.

Last month Yes Bank shares had gained sharply, hitting a high of Rs 234, after the bank named Deutsche Bank CEO Ravneet Gill as its new MD & CEO from March 1.
The Pulwama terror attack is a rude call to the nation to accept the fact that militancy in Kashmir has been overtaken by radicals who now want absolute Talibanisation

The deadly suicide car bomb attack on a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at Awantipora in Jammu & Kashmirs Pulwama district, which claimed the lives of more than 40 troopers and left many injured, is a rude call to the nation to smell the coffee and accept the fact that militancy in Kashmir has been overtaken by radical jihadists, who want the Talibanisation of Kashmir. The latest attack was the most severe of all and led to the highest number of deaths. Kashmir witnessed the last such attack in 2001, when three terrorists belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammed carried out an attack on the Jammu & Kashmir State Assembly complex in Srinagar using a Tata Sumo loaded with explosives that rammed into the main gate. Around 38 civilians and three suicide bombers were killed. The next spate of such car bomb attacks was witnessed in 2005 when between June and November, three attacks on different targets killed 23 civilian and security forces personnel. Car bomb attacks bear the signature of Taliban and Al Qaeda style of fighting, both of whom are radical jihadist terror groups.

The preferred mode of suicide attacks by terrorists in Kashmir was the attack on the security forces camps termed as fidayeen hits and ambushes close to the Line of Control (LoC) referred to as BAT attack till the killing of dreaded terrorist Burhan Wani. The reason was obvious. Terrorists and their akas in Pakistan were reluctant to cross the threshold fearing loss of popular public support. Till this period, Kashmir was being radicalised. The aftermath of Burhan Wanis killing indicated that the enemy had succeeded in radicalising the Kashmiri society. Large-scale public support to the terrorists, rise in stone-throwing attacks on security forces and senseless killings of Army men, policemen and civilians not receiving the type of condemnation they deserved were indicators enough to assess that jihadists had overtaken the reins of the ongoing movement in Kashmir. Subsequent statements made by Zakir Musa, one-time accomplish of Burhan Wani, and the present self-styled commander of Al Qaeda-affiliate terrorist organisation, Ansar Ghazwatul Hind, ridiculing the Hurriyat leadership and the so-called azadi movement were clear and loud enough to be ignored but did lead to the present state.

Despite the reverses suffered by various tanzeems due to the successful intelligence based operations launched by the security forces, the resolve of the jihadists did not dither. Their attacks became more deadly, barbaric and daring. There was a clear divide in the Kashmiri society between the peace-seekers and pro-jihad radicals. While the peace-seekers provided intelligence to the security forces for launching surgical operations against the terrorists, the radicalised supporters of jihadists provided them shelter, food and cover from the security forces by resorting to stone-pelting on those involved in anti-terror operations. The modus operandi of the jihadists bore more and more semblance to the Islamic State (IS), Al Qaeda and Taliban style of operations.

The Kashmiri youth has been lured into jihad on the understanding that azaadi-related activism would lead them to heaven. As veteran Kashmiri politician Muzzafar Hussain Beig said, It is an IS-sponsored religious war in Kashmir. It is not a fight for political freedom or choice between India and Pakistan but between heaven and hell. It is the race to heaven that has brain-washed the Kashmiri youth and the likes of alleged car bomber, Aadil Ahmad alias Waqas Commando of Gundi Bagh, Pulwama. This also explains the fact as to how the Jaish has been able to carry out this dastardly attack despite the claim by security forces of virtually eliminating the JeM leadership in the Valley, including two close relatives of Jaish supremo Masood Azhar. A spurt of sniper attacks on the security forces camps also indicated the aggressive posture adopted by the jihadists but was soon neutralised by the Army through its counter-strategy.

Ironically, the mainstream political leadership of Kashmir, which has of late become pro-jihadist, is refusing to accept the obvious and continues to harp the same old story of a political problem and misled innocent boys who need to be dealt with sympathy rather than an iron hand. This attitude of theirs has only emboldened the jihadists. The latest attempt of to set up a communal and religious divide is evident from the politicking over the grant of divisional status to Ladakh by raising similar demands for Kargil and Muslim-majority districts south of Pir Panjal, mischievously referring to them as Chenab Valley and Panjal regions.

The Governors administration will have to act firm and quick to douse the fire lit by these forces. It may well become the alibi for spreading the wings of jihadists to these hitherto peaceful areas. The timing of the attack is also worth noting. It not only coincides with the renewed efforts of peace talks with the Taliban but also with the heat building up within India in view of the 2019 elections.

The security forces will have to remain alive to the growing jihadist challenge and act swiftly and firmly to counter their new strategy. It is important to note the claim made by JeM that Adil Ahmad was inspired to become a suicide bomber after the Taliban claimed victory due to the announcement by US President Trump to reduce the American boot strength in Afghanistan. Any decline in resolute and integrated response by the security forces in Kashmir may lead them to harbour such ideas of presumed victory and embolden the jihadists further.

Though it is too early to get involved with fact-finding, many inputs lead to believe that there has been negligence. In an active conflict zone where jihadists are purportedly fighting for the fulfilment of divine will  Ghazwa-e-Hind  there is no scope for negligence. Despite the warning issued by the Jammu & Kashmir Police through their signal dated February 8, and circulation of a video captured from terrorists showing car bomb attack in Afghanistan, there are many questions to be answered about the sanitisation of the area and the efficacy of Road Opening Parties. There once again arises the need to review the higher command system of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). The present system of deputing Indian Police Service (IPS) officers to occupy higher ranks has been found wanting on numerous occasions in the past as well. There is a strong case for higher command posts to be occupied by cadre officers who have gone through the rigours of ground-level functioning of their respective forces instead of general cadre IPS officers who lack combat experience.

Since JeM has claimed the attack, involvement of Pakistan is obvious. Another fact that is obvious and unambiguous is that in Pakistan, the reins of the Government are firmly in the hands of the notorious triad of Mullah-Military-Militants with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and terrorists ruling the roost and calling the shots. The so-called peace gestures of their Prime Minister and the Army Chief are only a smoke-screen to their real intents. India should not fall prey to the trap laid by the triad in the form of opening the Kartarpur Corridor by using their puppet Imran Khan.

There is no doubt that Pakistan continues with its policy of state sponsorship of terrorism and abetting and aiding cross-border adventurism fully embedded with jihadi terror. The reduction of American boots will provide ISI the additional strength of the Taliban and other Afghan-specific jihadist terrorists to be employed against India. Pakistan has been temporarily able to tide over the economic crisis due to the hidden Chinese support and magnanimity of its Muslim friends. This has further emboldened the country to support jihadists and use them to implement their anti-India policy. How much effect the Governments decision to withdraw most favoured nation status to Pakistan will have, only time will tell. Nevertheless, its immediate response will be of playing the victim hood card and further generating anti-India hysteria. The Government of India will have to use its diplomatic strength and international good will to designate Pakistan as a terror state. The nation needs to unite to counter the jihadist challenge.

(The writer is a Jammu-based political commentator, columnist and security and strategic analyst. The views expressed are entirely personal)
The Royal Bengal Tiger is not only at the top of the food chain in the wild but constitutes a vital link in maintaining natures rich diversity and ecosystems. Will it become extinct?

A recent PTI report cites researchers as saying that rising sea levels, caused by climate change, could destroy the worlds biggest mangrove forest  Sunderbans  spanning more than 10,000 square kilometres in India and Bangladesh, in the next 50 years. It quotes Sharif Mukul, an assistant professor at the Independent University, Bangladesh, as saying that analyses by researchers indicate that the Sunderbans tiger habitats would vanish by 2070. The area being perhaps the most important habitat of the majestic animal, the development has serious implications for the Royal Bengal Tigers survival. The report further quotes Bill Lawrence, a professor at Australias James Cook University, as stating that the animal, now mainly confined to small areas of India and Bangladesh, is facing a double whammy the increasing unavailability of the Sunderbans area for themselves and their prey as well as encroachment by industry, construction of roads and poaching.

All of this warrants concern on two counts  the future of the Royal Bengal Tiger as a species, the consequences of the extinction of tigers and the developments leading to both. As to the first, around 97 per cent of the worlds tiger population perished in the last 100 years and, according to the latest statistics, only 3,890 tigers are left in the world. The developments leading to the extinction of tigers include the destruction of their forest habitats for human settlements, industry and infrastructure, the consequent increase in human-tiger conflict and the extensive use of tiger parts in Chinese medicines.

Encroachments on tiger habitats are liable to grow given the continuing increase in human population, the rising demands for housing settlements and industrial and agricultural products arising therefrom. The incidence of conflict between people and tigers is also set to rise as the decline in the availability of prey, who share tigers shrinking habitats, compels the latter to target domesticated animals like cattle. Finally, there is no sign of any fall in the demand for tiger parts in Chinese medicines despite it being medically established that they have no medicinal value at all.

China has postponed the implementation of its decision to lift the ban on the use of tiger bones and rhino horns  from both animals bred in captivity  by hospitals, and domestic trade in antique tiger and rhino products, which would have given a cover of legitimacy to the sale of parts from poached animals. The decision, though most welcome, needs to be made permanent and Beijing has to further step up its efforts to stanch illegal trade in animal parts.

The fate of the Royal Bengal Tiger will be determined by the interplay of these factors and the measures taken to conserve and increase their number. Significant measures have been taken towards the latter. The international ban on the trade in tigers, instituted in 1993, has vastly reduced the mass slaughter of the species by poaching and trade. Nevertheless, poaching and illegal trade continue not only to provide the manufacturers of traditional Chinese medicines but fuel a demand for tiger heads and skins as status symbols and decorative items.

At the national level, China has done much to increase its tiger population in the countrys North-eastern region by recently establishing the Tiger and Leopard National Park  1.6 times larger than Yellowstone National Park in the United States. India, home to 70 per cent of tigers in the world, launched Project Tiger in April 1973 when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister. It aims at ensuring viable population of Royal Bengal Tigers in their natural habitats, protecting them from extinction and setting up reserves for the purpose. There are now 50 of the latter. In September, 2006, it set up the National Tiger Conservation Authority to extend statutory authority to Project Tiger to provide legal sanction to its directives, foster accountability on the part of the Centre and the States in the management of tiger reserves by providing a basis for MoUs among them, providing parliamentary oversight and address the interest of local people in areas around tiger reserves.

In June, 2007, it constituted a multi-disciplinary Tiger and Other Endangered Species Crime Control Bureau (Wildlife Crime Control Bureau), to combat organised illegal trading in wildlife and their derivatives. In May, 2012, the Centre advised the States to each create, arm and deploy a Special Tiger Protection Force around the habitats of the big cats. A number of States, including Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra, have already done so.

The results have been gratifying. The number of tigers has risen from 1,411 in 2006 to 1,706 in 2010 and 2,226 in 2014. The current census, which began in 2018, is expected to produce a higher figure. Yet complacence would be disastrous. Poaching, particularly in the form of poisoning, which causes prolonged and painful death, continues. Encroachments into tiger habitats continue. It would be illustrative to cite a few examples from Maharashtra which has a very poor record in this respect. Last year, it sanctioned the diversion of 467.5 hectares of forest land in Yavatmal district for a cement plant. Also, its recommendation has led to the clearance, in principle, of 87.98 hectares of land in Kondhali and Kalmeshwar ranges  barely 160 km from Yavatmal  to an explosives company in Chakdoh for manufacturing defence products. Worse, the land earmarked being reportedly in the tiger corridor between Bor and Melghat tiger reserves, the factory would prevent the movement of tigers between the two. Also, the proposal to widen, from meter to broad gauge, the 176-km Akola-Khandawa railway, a 39 kilometre stretch of which passes through the Melghat reserve, threatens to cause more accidents, wildlife mortality and fragmentation of habitat.

Much of what has been achieved in protecting the tiger would be lost if the trend continues. The results would be disastrous. The Royal Bengal Tiger is not only at the top of the food chain in the wild but constitutes a vital link in maintaining natures rich diversity and ecosystems that sustain both nature and people. And it is not just the tiger. Over 3,000 species are becoming extinct every year. Indeed, the world is now in the midst of its sixth mass extinction of plants and animals in the last half-a-billion years, and the worst since the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. At this rate, as many as 30 to 50 per cent of all species would be moving toward extinction by the middle of this century.

(The writer is Consultant Editor, The Pioneer, and an author)
All that remains of the bus that was carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel from Jammu to Srinagar is a mangled frame of wires, hurled up and across a road divider in Pulwama.

Thirty eight of the over 40 soldiers the bus was carrying are now confirmed martyred.

There is honour in martyrdom, and yet, the manner in which a soldier dies often compounds the extreme tragedy that martyrdom is for the nation the soldier lays down his life for.

Pulwama: Security officials at the site of the attack. (Source: Reuters)

On that count, this is Indias moment of grief like no other.

CRPF sources have told Indian Express, This attack was so massive that we have not been able to count the number of bodies yet. Some bodies are totally disfigured; we may have to depend on DNA tests to identify them. We are still trying to figure out which limb belongs to which body, an officer said.

At a time the CRPF is trying to put the bodies of its soldiers together, so that they can be laid to rest in peace, many in India are busy doing exactly what Pakistan wants us to do at this precise hour.

In the name of region and religion, party and ideology, Pakistan wants India to fight  and in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, many Indians have walked straight into that trap, some unknowingly, others, knowingly.

CRPF Personnel Ratan Thakur's (who lost his life in #PulwamaTerrorAttack ) father in Bhagalpur: I have sacrificed a son in Mother India's service, I will send my other son as well to fight, ready to give him up for Mother India, but Pakistan must be given a befitting reply.#Bihar pic.twitter.com/rI6cM38Agh  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Reminding the Prime Minister of the country of the size of his chest, in a snide reference to his honour is a sign of just how far we have come in the battle of ideologies and parties.

When a nation comes under attack, it is the nations honour that finds itself assailed. The Prime Minister is the nations representative, like it or not, his honour is the nations honour, the honour of each Indian.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, when Geroge Bush declared to the world, You are either with us or with the terrorists, all American stood behind Bush rock-solid. It was not like they had no differences with Bush, but they knew they were faced with a danger so grave that internal differences could be kept aside for the time.

The threat was to America, and not to Bush alone.

We are now talking of the loss, the memory and the honour of the 38-plus bravehearts whom India lost in the dastardly attack carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammed.

In response to a partys recent use of Hows the josh?, many now want to know Hows the Jaish?

Well, heres the answer.

The Jaish is as it was always was. Lunatic beyond belief. (Source: India Today)

Jaish is just as it always was  a United Nations-designated terrorist group that believes in killing people to separate Kashmir from India and merge it into Pakistan.

When it comes to choosing its target, Jaish is unforgiving. Its bombs kill children, they kill the elderly, they kill leaders, they kill soldiers.

Those trying to look smart by asking Hows the Jaish? look not just foolish but also incredibly insensitive to the magnitude of the tragedy that India faces today.

Those 38 (and still counting) soldiers did not belong to a party.

They were a group of soldiers who came from across India to protect the countrys borders because, no matter which party gets to govern a country, it needs its borders to be protected.

Once, there were people. (Source: Reuters)

This is no time for chest-thumping jingoism and war-mongering. But this is no time to settle political scores either.

The ruling party should not use this as an occasion to stoke nationalistic fervour  but the nation should rally behind its Prime Minister in this hour of crisis.

The UN has condemned the Pulwama attack but the organisation is such a toothless institution that if its own arms were to come under attack today, it could probably do little beyond condemning. The US has condemned too, but of late, the Americans have been showing a marked propensity to mind their own business and refrain from meddling in the affairs of any other country.

India is clearly on its own.

The need to stand united is graver than ever.

Elections will come and go, but these brave soldiers will never return to their homes. How we choose to honour their martyrdom is for us to decide.

Also read: We could see Pulwama coming  and theres more to follow
This is being written in anger and anguish.

One truck in a convoy of 70 trucks was attacked by a suicide bomber in an assault that has killed at least 40 CRPF jawans. The terrorist, an indigenous Kashmiri, had rammed his explosives-laden car into the lead truck. More will die, as their conditions are critical.

Many CRPF jawans have been killed in this dastardly assault. Several are critically injured. (Photo: Reuters)

This attack is bigger than Uri, and Jaish-e-Mohammed, Pakistan's current favourite in Jammu and Kashmir, was quick to claim responsibility.

But will these deaths become yet another statistic in our endless war against terror?

Lt General (retd) Amjad Shoaib, who was Director, Military Intelligence of the Pakistan Army for some time, was speaking in an interview three months ago with the well-known Pakistani TV commentator Hamid Mir. The General had predicted that suicide bombings by Kashmiris would inevitably be the next stage of terrorism in Kashmir. His argument was that once the Kashmiri youth realised that the only way forward was to kill and be killed, he would resort to this.

Kartarpur was a charade, a red herring. This is Pakistan's usual pattern of one step forward, two steps back. The Deep State has again retaliated, especially when Imran Khan said he and the Pakistan army were on the same page and we were exulting at the prospect of an outbreak of peace. Therefore, Kartarpur has been countered with Pulwama. There have been several similar episodes in India-Pakistan relations in the past. Prime Minister Vajpayee did the Lahore Bus Yatra - and the Pakistanis organised the hijacking of IC 814 in December 1999. Narendra Modi met Nawaz Sharif in Ufa, Russia, on July 5, 2015 and Nawaz came away without mentioning Kashmir. This had to be 'rectified' and there was a terrorist attack in Gurdaspur. Undeterred, Narendra Modi paid a surprise visit to Lahore to attend Nawaz's granddaughter's wedding in December 2015. The Deep State frowned at this camaraderie and we had a terrorist attack in Pathankot in January 2016.

How Pakistan repays India's trust. (Photo: Twitter/Reuters)

Then there was the Uri terror strike in September 2016, followed by an Indian punitive strike ten days later  and Pakistan responded with a terror attack in Nagrota in November that year.

The more favoured terrorist group in Kashmir for the Pakistan establishment currently being JeM, this is probably signaling its coming of age in the Valley.

Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) is currently deployed elsewhere -and may be helping the Taliban in Afghanistan. Let us not forget that Masood Azhar, the JeM leader, was in our custody till we let him go, following the IC 814 hijack in agreement to demands from the terrorists in December 1999.

The hijacked IC814 episode which led to the freeing of Maulana Masood Azhar from Indian prison to Pakistani freedom. (Photo: Reuters)

More such attacks are possible.

Terrorist attacks of this nature do not happen overnight. They take time to organise and plan.

There will, therefore, be several questions about the how and why of this attack. An attack on the main highway, in broad daylight, against a convoy must have taken some planning; there must have been advance information and the terrorist had minute-to-minute information about the convoy's movement. He would have selected a precise location from where to move and strike. They had the capability to put together an attack at short notice. He was not alone in the planning and somebody acquired the explosives. The terrorist must have been familiar with the terrain and confident of travelling. Also, someone should ask  why move so many vehicles together, what were the reasons and security precautions.

In its video of the Pulwama suicide bomber, the Jaish-e-Mohammed claims discredit for the dastardly attack. (Photo: Twitter)

Terrorist attacks of this nature do not happen overnight. They take time to organise and plan. After the Burhan Wani encounter, the LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen came to an agreement and started running joint operations and sharing logistics. The alliance was mutually beneficial as LeT gained easy access and movement in the villages of South Kashmir. JeM was on its own. One factor that set JeM apart from the Hizbul Mujahideen was their reliance on social media - both LeT and Jaish terrorists have made good use of social media for propaganda and luring more recruits.

However, in the last few months, the social media presence of the JeM grew rapidly. JeM forums began using encrypted messengers spinning out propaganda videos, audios and literature, particularly its weekly newspaper and books written by Masood Azhar. Jaish started claiming responsibility for its attacks through these encrypted chat messages. These chat forums appear to be a part of an unbridled PR machinery to gain popular support which the group has always lacked.

Another important signal that probably has gone unnoticed.

Local Kashmiri recruits have so far been fairly unsuccessful in inflicting terror, mostly because of poor training and inadequate resources. These recruits could hardly sustain themselves for a few minutes during attacks and encounters. Another unnoticed trend has been the fading away of LeT in the Kashmir valley after Pakistan was put on the FATF list. The international fame of LeT does certainly not help Pakistan in its attempts to get off the FATF grey list. This explains why the JeM has made a quiet entry into the Kashmir Valley and with this latest startling attack, made its intentions of becoming a nightmare for the Indian security establishment, which the home-grown Hizbul Mujahideen failed to do.

While we will hear loud proclamations from politicians of being "hard on terror" and the mandatory chest thumping for killing of "highest number of militants" will continue, a new game is unravelling in the Valley.

The Afghan peace talks and the legitimization of the Taliban will certainly add to the complications now.

Also Read: We could see Pulwama coming  and theres more to follow
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico is going on offense in a long-running battle with Texas and the U.S. government over management of one of the longest rivers in North America as a team of scientists and experts prepare to spend the next year modeling the flow of the Rio Grande and its relationship to groundwater.

Attorney General Hector Balderas says the state is in a "historic fist fight" that has its roots in water policy decisions made nearly a century ago, when economic and climate conditions along the river valley were very different.

Stretches of the Rio Grande went dry last year as the previous winter resulted in little runoff and record low water flows. Federal water managers worked out a deal with municipalities to keep the river flowing through the Albuquerque stretch and limits kicked in that prevented the storage of water in upstream reservoirs to ensure enough water flowed south to Texas.

Forecasters caution that spring runoff could be weak this year, and Balderas says he is seeking a solution that will keep New Mexicans whole for a few generations.

"I have to come up with a modern compact, a modern operating agreement that represents all New Mexicans and that's really difficult," he said. "But I'm shooting straight will all these water users. I don't want to pre-settle or litigate in a way that shortchanges or pits one New Mexican against another."

Balderas this week provided members of a key legislative committee with an update on the legal battle that has been simmering before the U.S. Supreme Court since 2013.

This Sept. 11, 2018 image shows sand bars developing in the Rio Grande as it flows through Albuquerque, New Mexico. National forecasters and climate experts warned Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, that despite descent snowpack in some parts of the southwestern United States, already low soil moisture levels will keep more of the spring runoff from reaching streams, rivers and reservoirs. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

Texas is asking that New Mexico stop pumping groundwater along the border so that more of the Rio Grande could flow south to farmers and residents in El Paso. Critics contend the well-pumping depletes the aquifer that would otherwise drain back into the river and flow to Texas.

Arguing that it is meeting its obligations, New Mexico last year filed counterclaims alleging that Texas is violating the interstate compact governing the Rio Grande by allowing unrestricted groundwater pumping and other diversions on its side of the border. This has been a growing concern in the valley and to the east in the Permian Basin, where an oil boom has spurred even more demand for water.

Balderas contends that groundwater pumping in Texas is depleting surface water that has been delivered to that state before it can ever be used.

"It's causing Texas to demand more and more water," he said. "Their appetite for water is not going to cease so regulatory framework or a potential new settlement is actually a new opportunity for us to put New Mexico consumers in a better position."

Texas has denied the allegations and is asking the court to dismiss New Mexico's claims.

Briefings are scheduled next month and arguments will be made before a special master later this spring. It'll likely be more than a year before the case goes to trial and even that is expect to take at least four months given the complexity of the issue.

One of the questions that could be answered is whether the compact has any bearing on the use of groundwater given its hydrogeological connection to surface water. Such a ruling could affect states' rights, as New Mexico requires permits for any groundwater use but Texas rules provide the right for landowners to pump and capture whatever is available beneath their property regardless of the effects on neighboring wells.

Balderas' office is seeking $4.5 million for the next fiscal year to pay for the ongoing litigation and the team of hydrologists, geologists and historians who will be looking more closely at pumping in New Mexico, Texas and Mexico and how the river's flows might behave under different weather conditions.

"We're fighting about less and less water," the attorney general said. "As a sovereign state, we have a right to the complete science and accounting of the water."
Young Buddhist novices attend a dance festival as part of Tibetan New Year celebrations in Kathmandu, Nepal.

In other images from the Asia-Pacific region this week, South Korean high school seniors clad in traditional attire bow during a joint graduation and coming-of-age ceremony in Seoul.

Thousands of students and faculty from the Catholic-run St. Scholastica's College in Manila, Philippines, flash No. 1 sign at the end of a mass dance performance as part of a campaign to combat violence against women and children on Valentine's Day.

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This gallery was curated by Associated Press photo editor Masayo Yoshida in Tokyo.

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In this Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, file photo, young monks get distracted by a drone as they watch a traditional dance during Cham dance festival as part of Tibetan New Year celebrations, at the Triten Norbutse Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. According to Bon Tibetan Buddhism, this mask dance is a purification ceremony that eliminates negative energy and bad luck in the beginning of the new year. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File)

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In this Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, file photo, South Korean seniors clad in traditional attire bow during a joint graduation and coming-of-age ceremony at Dongmyung Girls' High School in Seoul South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

In this Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, file photo, thousands of students and faculty from the Catholic-run St. Scholastica's College, flash No. 1 signs at the end of a mass dance, dubbed "One Billion Rising" at their campus on the 7th anniversary of the global movement to help eradicate violence against women and children on Valentine's Day in Manila, Philippines. The annual mass dancing is being held every Valentine's Day. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

In this Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019, file photo, Chinese travelers wait for their trains at a railway station in Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang province. Millions of Chinese are start returning to work after spending a weeklong Lunar New Year holiday with families in their hometown. (Chinatopix via AP, File)

In this Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019, file photo, fire dragon dancers perform under a shower of sparks from molten iron during a temple fair at the Happy Valley amusement park in Beijing. Chinese people are enjoying a weeklong holiday for the Lunar New Year and visiting various temple fairs and carnivals held in the cities around China. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

In this Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019, file photo, thousands of Hindu pilgrims take a ritualistic dip on the auspicious day of Basant Panchami at Sangam, the confluence of sacred rivers the Yamuna, the Ganges and the mythical Saraswati, during the Kumbh Mela or the Pitcher Festival, in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh state, India. The Kumbh Mela is a series of ritual baths by Hindu sadhus, or holy men, and other pilgrims at Sangam that dates back to at least medieval times. Pilgrims bathe in the river believing it cleanses them of their sins and ends their process of reincarnation. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)

In this Feb. 10, 2019, file photo, Naga Sadhus or naked holy men arrive in a procession for a dip at Sangam, the confluence of three holy rivers during Kumbh Mela, or pitcher festival, in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh state, India. At every Kumbh, including this year's, thousands of devotees were initiated into the reclusive sect of the Naga Sadhus, naked, ash-smeared cannabis-smoking Hindu warriors and onetime-armed defenders of the faith who for centuries have lived as ascetics in jungles and caves. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)

In this Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019, file photo, a paramilitary policeman stands guard outside the Tiananmen Gate as snow falls in Beijing. China's capital is mostly dry in the winter but a storm system brought snow to the city on Tuesday morning. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

In this Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019, file photo, The Arpit Palace Hotel is reflected in a puddle after an early morning fire at the hotel killed more than a dozen people in the Karol Bagh neighborhood of New Delhi, India. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)
The Indigenous People of Biafra wants independence for the Igbo people who are in the majority in southeast Nigeria

A pro-Biafran separatist group said Friday it had lifted its call for a boycott of Nigeria's presidential and parliamentary elections this weekend.

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) wants independence for the Igbo people who are the majority in southeast Nigeria, and had urged its supporters not to vote on Saturday.

IPOB's self-styled "supreme leader" -- former London estate agent Nnamdi Kanu -- has said the action was part of a wider call for a referendum on sovereignty.

But he tweeted late Thursday that the boycott was lifted as all the group's "preconditions and terms have been met, signed, sealed and delivered".

Kanu, who is in his 40s, disappeared after an army raid on his home in the southeastern city of Umuahia in September 2017. He re-emerged in Israel in October and is now in Britain.

The IPOB high command confirmed the decision in a statement on Friday, but neither it nor Kanu gave further details, which it undertook to publish later.

This will likely fuel speculation of a deal between the group and the main opposition People's Democratic Party, which stood to lose out if Igbo voters -- who tend to support the PDP -- stayed at home.

Pro-Biafran separatist regions in Nigeria have long been a stronghold for the Peoples Democratic Party

The five states in southeast Nigeria have just over 10 million registered voters and have long been a stronghold for the PDP.

The party's presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has chosen an Igbo politician, Peter Obi, as his running mate.

Abubakar, a former vice-president, has said he is in favour of restructuring Nigeria's federal system by devolving more power from the centre.

The southeast has long complained it has been marginalised by successive governments and military regimes since the end of the civil war in 1970.

The conflict, which killed more than a million people, started after a unilateral declaration of an independent republic of Biafra in 1967.

No Igbo politician has held high office since 1983, when Alex Ekwueme was Shehu Shagari's vice-president.

Shagari and Ekwueme were ousted in a coup led by army general Muhammadu Buhari, who has been a civilian president since 2015.

- Divided opinion -

On the streets of Umuahia, the capital of Abia state, opinion was divided between those who wanted to boycott the election and those keen to vote.

The southeast of Nigeria has long complained of being marginalised by successive goverments

Emmanuel Odiwonma, a market trader in Aba, said people in the region had been treated as "second-class citizens" and was happy to stay at home.

But pensioner Edmond Okoli, said: "If you boycott the election, you're encouraging the person you don't want to win, it is stupid"

The arrest of Nnamdi Kanu on treason charges in October 2015 sparked a wave of street protests across the southeast, leading to clashes with the security forces.

The region has been largely calm in the run-up to the election, but there has been a noticeable increase in military and police checkpoints, AFP correspondents said.

In recent days, hundreds of young IPOB supporters marched in several towns, calling on local people to stand up against the federal government.

Two electoral commission offices in Abia and neighbouring Anambra state caught fire this month, destroying election materials. But there has been no claim of responsibility.

Security analyst Don Okereke said President Muhammadu Buhari was unpopular in the southeast partly because it is a mainly Christian area and many Igbos are businesspeople.

Nigeria is emerging slowly from recession caused in part by a slump in global oil prices.

"People want business to pick up again, they attribute the economic slowdown and the high level of unemployment to Buhari's administration," he added, predicting a high turnout.

But one trader in Aba, Leonard Munachimso, expressed doubts: "Many of us, as Biafrans, didn't even get our PVCs (permanent voter cards), so we can't go out and vote.

"I don't think many of us will go out to the poll."
When the Mozambique debt scandal came to light in 2016, the country was plunged into a financial crisis as donors froze contributions, and the US alleged millions were spent on bribes for former finance minister Manuel Chang (pictured January 2019)

Mozambique Thursday detained five people, including businessmen and intelligence officials -- the first arrests of suspects linked to a government debt which plunged the country into its worst financial crisis.

Among those arrested are Gregorio Leao, ex-director of the intelligence services, and Ines Moiane, a former assistant of ex-president Armando Guebuza, a prosecutor said in Maputo.

"There are five persons arrested so far," the public prosecutor told AFP.

A senior police officer confirmed to AFP one of them was businessman Teofilo Nhangumele, accused of introducing secret service officials to a company which went on to sell surveillance ships and a tuna-fishing fleet to the government.

"He was arrested as a precautionary measure, to prevent him from obstructing the ongoing investigation," said the officer, who asked not be named.

The debt scandal came to light in 2016 when it emerged the government had taken out loans amounting to $2-billion to buy the equipment, hiding the transaction from parliament and international donors.

An independent audit found that a quarter of the loan amount was diverted, and unaccounted for.

When the debt was revealed, Mozambique -- which is one of the world's poorest countries and relies on donor aid -- was plunged into the worst financial crisis in its history as donors froze contributions.

The United States alleges at least $200 million was spent on bribes and kickbacks, including $12 million for former finance minister Manuel Chang, who allegedly signed off on debt guarantees.

Chang was arrested in South Africa in December on a US extradition request.

A Johannesburg court will on Friday decide on Chang's application for bail.

Seven suspects including Mozambicans and ex-Credit Suisse bankers are accused by the US of fraud, conspiracy to financial security fraud, conspiracy to launder money.
Hollywood actor Chris Hemsworth, 35, launched his first business venture this week, with more than 100,000 people signing up to his Centr program and app.

And Ward Blacket Investments - the investment arm of Hemsworth's management company Forward - claims the Thor hunk took a risk to get it off the ground.

Speaking to The Weekend Australian, Trent Blacket, the managing director of Ward Blacket Investments, said the rumoured multi-million dollar deal has left the star 'heavily exposed' and forced him to 'learn quickly alongside us'.

'He is heavily exposed': Chris Hemsworth's management company says the Thor star had to 'learn quickly' while launching his multi-million dollar health and fitness app, Centr

'He has been in the weeds on this, the exact equivalent if it was a major motion picture. He has had to be because it's the first time it's his name (attached to a company),' Mr Blacket added.

Chris has become a shareholder in FLG (which includes Fitness First Australia), and FLG's chief executive Greg Oliver told the publication: 'There's been a lot of blood, sweat and tears building this.'

Chris fronts the Centr program, which sees members given access to world class trainers online, allowing them to train at home or in the gym.

'There's been a lot of blood, sweat and tears building this': With the business venture the first to use his name, Chris has apparently 'been in the weeds' of every major decision for the app

Along with training sessions, the app also offers easy meal plans along with 'mindful' meditations to allow for full body health.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about the app this week, Chris said he wanted to bring together a 'community of experts' encompassing the whole body.

He said: I'm beyond grateful for the opportunities I've had and who I've been able to interact with and learn from and wanted to share that team with people on a global scale.'

The full kit and caboodle: Centr boasts meal plans, daily workouts, meditations and access to a '24/7 community offering support, extra tips and exclusive behind-the-scenes extras'

The Thor actor announced his involvement with the program last month, showcasing his own buff physique for the advertisements.

Scenes for the app were filmed near the star's Byron Bay home, with scenes showing him running on the beach with wife Elsa Pataky, doing yoga and eating vegetables.

Chris is known for his own commitment to health and fitness.

In the gym: Chris has previously revealed his workout secrets alongside his trainer Luke Zocchi (L), with him previously saying Chris used a 20/20 method

The hunky Australian star took to his social media last month, showing himself doing a range of high-intensity moves alongside personal trainer Luke Zocchi.

Speaking on TODAY Extra in November, Luke said he developed a simple 20/20 workout for the star.

Explaining the fitness regime, Luke said Chris does 20 squats and 20 push-ups each hour on the hour during their 10-hour day together.

'Me and Bobby (Chris's stuntman) started this,' Luke, who also trains Chris Pratt and Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett, divulged.
JJ Abrams has released an image from the set of Star Wars IX.

The director took to Twitter to share the photo on Friday. John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac could be seen hugging in a location that looked to be the desert planet of Jakku.

Abrams also announced the movie has wrapped filming. The final Skywalker saga was shot in London and Wadi Rum, Jordan, among other locations.

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Done: JJ Abrams has released an image from the set of Star Wars IX. The director took to Twitter to share the photo on Friday as well as to announced the movie has wrapped production

The trio: John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac could be seen hugging in a location that looked to be the desert planet of Jakku

'It feels impossible, but today wrapped photography on Episode IX. There is no adequate way to thank this truly magical crew and cast. Im forever indebted to you all,' wrote the helmer.

Boyega posted the same photo of the three to social media, expressing his gratitude as the latest chapter in the motion picture series came to a close.

'Thats a wrap on Star Wars episode 9 and the end to a chapter of my life that I couldnt be more thankful for,' the London native wrote. 'What a process! It really has been a joy to be in these movies surrounded by amazing people. I personally want to thank @jjabramsofficial for giving me a chance to make my dreams come true.'

The actor, who plays Finn in the latest crop of films in the George Lucas anthology, had a parting message for Star Wars fans: 'To our supporters.... See you SOON! May the force be with you.'

Goodbye for now: Boyega posted the same photo of the three to social media, expressing his gratitude as the latest chapter in the motion picture series came to a close

Star Wars Episode IX: Boyega teased a 'shock' scene for his character on Tuesday, as the star posts ominous snap of his bloodied hands on Instagram

It came a month after he teased fans with a glimpse at a 'shock' scene he had to film for the space opera, as he shared a snap of his injured hands via Instagram. The actor, 26, said of the ominous picture: 'Great working day on set!! The whole team pushed themselves today to achieve something visually crazy! Ive had many moments of shock on set but not like today and I cant wait until you know why.'

John's picture simply showed off his hands, which were seemed bruised and dirty, while spots of blood could be seen on his thumb. But the Pacific Rim: Uprising star wasn't able to reveal any more about what is in store for his character, given the huge amount of secrecy that surrounds the Star Wars franchise at all times.

In the upcoming film, John will be joined by returning co-stars Daisy Ridley, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran and Domhnall Gleeson.

Teasing: The actor, 26, said of the ominous picture: 'Ive had many moments of shock on set but not like today and I cant wait until you know why'

It was revealed in July last year that Abrams would be using unreleased footage of Carrie Fisher in the next Star Wars film, following her tragic death in December 2016.

Of using the scenes, which were shot in the 2015 film The Force Awakens, the director said in a statement: 'Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character.'

'With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie [Lourd,] we have found a way to honor Carrie's legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.'

Coming soon: Star Wars: Episode IX is due to be released on December 20, 2019

Posthumous appearance: In July last year Abrams said the film would be using unreleased footage of her in the next Star Wars film, following her tragic death in December 2016

Carrie died of a cardiac arrest at the age of 60 in 2016, and she played the character Leia Organa since the first Star Wars film, which debuted in 1977, as well as the initial two sequels, 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi.

Original Star Wars actor Billie Dee Williams will also return to the franchise for the first time in the sequel trilogy to reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.

Star Wars: Episode IX is due to be released on December 20, 2019.

Our only hope: Fisher's first appearance as the iconic character came in the original Star Wars film in 1977

Winter wonderland: Leia and the rebels braved frosty weather in Hoth in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back
The resolution plan involves infusion of funds, monetisation of assets and restructuring of debt.

Total expenses in the third quarter shot up to Rs 6,786.15 crore compared to Rs 6,042.58 crore a year ago.

Mumbai: The board of Jet Airways on Thursday approved a plan by its lenders led by the State Bank of India (SBI) to resolve a Rs 8,500-crore funding gap, making the lenders the largest shareholders in the troubled airline.

The resolution plan involves infusion of funds, monetisation of assets and restructuring of debt.

Jet has called a shareholders meeting on February 21 to seek approval for conversion of its debt into 114 million shares.

Following the conversion, it is estimated that the stake-holding of Etihad Airways and Jet Founder and Chairman Naresh Goyal will come down by half to 12 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively.

Under the plan lenders can appoint nominees to the board of India's biggest full-service carrier.

According to a statement issued by the airline, after its approval the plan will be presented back to the lenders, as well as to an overseeing committee of the Indian Bankers' Association, the board of shareholder Etihad Airways and Goyal.

"The BLPRP (Bank Led Provisional Resolution Plan) currently estimates a funding gap of Rs 8,500 crore (including proposed repayment of aircraft debt of Rs 1,700 crore) to be met by appropriate mix of equity infusion, debt restructuring, sale/sale and lease back/ refinancing of aircraft, among other things," the company statement said.

The airline had run into trouble due to high fuel prices, falling rupee and intensified competition in the airline market.

In 2013, Abu Dhabi's Etihad worked out a bailout deal by picking up a 24 per cent stake for $600 million, along with three take-off and landing slots in London Heathrow and a majority share in Jet's frequent flyer programme.

On Thursday, Jet Airways also reported its fourth consecutive quarterly loss. The airline made a net loss of Rs 588 crore for the December quarter compared with a profit of Rs 165 crore a year earlier.

Revenue from operations stood at Rs 6,148 crore in the December quarter against Rs 6,086 crore posted in the same period last year.

Total expenses in the third quarter shot up to Rs 6,786.15 crore compared to Rs 6,042.58 crore a year ago.

Aircraft fuel expenses stood at Rs 2,387.72 crore compared to Rs 1,840.08 crore in the same quarter last year, while aircraft and engines lease rentals were at Rs 730.35 crore against Rs 583.67 crore.

Shares of Jet airways have fallen 68 per cent in the past year, making it the worst performing airline stock.
She is a renowned animal lover who once claimed she had more than 50 pets.

And Salma Hayek revealed she had added to her animal brood on Thursday as she posed with an adorable pet owl.

The actress, 52, showed off her soft side as she lovingly kissed her new feathered friend which was perched on her arm.

Cute: Salma Hayek revealed she had added to her animal brood on Thursday as she posed with an adorable pet owl

The Frida star looked chic in a nautical striped white top paired with stonewash jeans as she sat in her front room and spent quality time with her new pet.

Showing off her close bond with the grey, white and black bird of prey, the star posed for several snaps with the bird on her arm and shoulder.

The brunette beauty captioned the snap: I love him so much! Lo amo tanto!'

The mother-of-one has previously introduced her social media followers to her love of animals when she shared a video sat comfortably in her bed as her two dogs relaxed next to her with two parrots perched on her shoulder.

Gorgeous: The actress, 52, showed off her soft side as she lovingly kissed her new feathered friend which was perched on her arm

The animal lover has never been shy about expressing her fondness for adopting unsheltered pets.

'I have five horses, four alpacas, one cat, eight dogs, one hamster, five parrots, two fish, I'm sure I'm forgetting something!' Salma said on the Ellen DeGeneres show in October 2013.

'You know this is like the Oscars you forgetting someone. Oh I forgot! I have bunny rabbits, I have turkeys, 20 chickens, same with the rabbits be careful just buy one.'

She added, 'I don't know something is in the air at my ranch, animals keep reproducing!'

Salma is married to billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault with the couple sharing daughter Valentina, 11.

Close bond: The Frida star looked chic in a nautical striped white top paired with stonewash jeans as she sat in her front room and spent quality time with her new pet

The pair, who now live in London, tied the knot on Valentine's Day in 2009 in Paris, France, before hosting a second ceremony in Venice, Italy, that April.

The Frida star also shares stepdaughter Mathilde Pinault, 17, and stepsons Augustin Evangelista, 11, and Francois Pinault, 20, with her husband.

Meanwhile, Salma has been busy with her thriving acting career and will next be seen in comedy Limited Partners about two friends who start a beauty company together, due out on June 28.

The mother-of-one is presently filming an Untitled Sally Potter Project for release in 2020.

The actress is also due to star with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson in upcoming comedy thriller The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, the sequel to the 2017 movie, The Hitman's Bodyguard.
Liam Hemsworth was up to his old tricks again as he played a hilarious prank on wife Miley Cyrus.

The couple, who got married on December 23 , 2018, have long played pranks on each other and Liam's latest involved giving the former Hannah Montana star quite a scare.

In a video uploaded to his Instagram account on Friday, Liam, 29, can be seen inviting Miley, 26, to join him on a kart for a drive around a picturesque green area, likely to be near their home in Franklin, Tennessee.

Scare: Liam Hemsworth, 29, was up to his old tricks again as he played a hilarious prank on wife Miley Cyrus, 26

'Jump on in,' Liam told Miley. Sensing her other half is up to something, Miley replied 'Uh-huh' before reluctantly taking a seat beside him.

As the Australian actor began to drive, a large smile spread across his face and Miley seemed to anticipate a prank may be coming.

'Liam Hemsworth,' she said with a hint of warning in her voice.

The film star continued to smile as they drove before emitting a high-pitched scream that made Miley jump and put her face in her hands as Liam laughed.

Prankster: The Australian actor has long enjoyed playing pranks on his other half

Liam previously shared a video of himself sneaking up to a car Miley was waiting inside, leading her to jump when he suddenly appeared at the window.

'You f**king c**t, I hate you so much,' Miley said with a bit of a smile. 'Liam! Youre so f**king annoying.'

Liam turned toward the camera and said, 'That was a harsh one.'

Last July, the actor shared a video of himself driving down the road with Miley while the pair bopped along to music.

Funny: In a video uploaded to his Instagram account, Liam can be seen inviting Miley to join him on a kart for a drive around a picturesque green area

Suspicious: Jump on in,' Liam told Miley. Sensing her other half is up to something, Miley replied 'Uh-huh' before reluctantly taking a seat beside him

Fright: As the Australian actor began to drive, a large smile spread across his face and Miley seemed to anticipate a prank may be coming

The Dressmaker star suddenly screamed without warning, startling his then fiance, who jokingly threatened 'I'm going to beat the sh...'.

The pair had been dating on and off since 2010, when they worked together on the set of the Nicholas Sparks adaptation The Last Song.

They were initially engaged in June 2012, but they called it off in September 2013, before rumors stemmed in January 2016 the engagement was back on.

Jump: The film star continued to smile as they drove before emitting a high-pitched scream that made Miley jump and put her face in her hands as Liam laughed

Prankster: Liam previously shared a video of himself sneaking up to a car Miley was waiting inside, leading her to jump when he suddenly appeared at the window

Miley confirmed they were engaged during an October 2016 appearance on the Ellen show, and they were married on December 23, 2018 at their home.

On a recent appearance on Live! with Kelly and Ryan, Liam revealed that Miley had taken his last name, which came as a surprise to him as he had not asked her to.

'She'll still be obviously known as Miley Cyrus but she took my name which is great. That was honestly one of the best things about it. I didn't ask her to take my name but she was like, "no, of course I'm taking your name".'

Liam then jokingly teared up and said: 'That's awesome. Thank you.'
She's one of Hollywood's most fashionable stars who's known for her love of animal print.

And Kim Kardashian kept the trend alive when she shared a throwback photo of herself from last August on Instagram feed on Friday - with pieces from the outfit she's worn since 2012.

The 38-year-old was seen sporting triple snakeskin while flaunting her incredibly toned physique.

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Reuse and recycle! Kim Kardashian kept her love for snakeskin alive when she shared a throwback photo of herself from last August on Instagram feed on Friday - with pieces from the outfit she's worn since 2012

Kim sported a form-fitting scoop neck top that drew attention to her ample cleavage.

She teamed the look with high waisted straight legged trousers that perfectly hugged her curves.

The reality star completed her chic ensemble with a pair of pointed toe boots that she first debuted back in 2012 whilst in Paris.

Throwback: Kim sported a form-fitting scoop neck top that drew attention to her ample cleavage in the outfit she first wore back in August 2018 whilst in Miami

At the time, Kim infuriated animal rights groups when she first stepped out in the thigh-high Christian Louboutin python printed heels.

Her dark brunette tresses were slicked back and styled into a high voluminous ponytail.

The makeup beauty's glam was bold with contoured cheekbones and highlighted high points of her enviable features.

Look of the day: Kim was in Miami at the time she debuted the outfit and was seen holding hands with daughter North, five, and girlfriend Larsa Pippen

Bling: Kim showcased a new necklace on her Instagram later in the day

Fits right: Spotted in September at the L.O.L Doll Fashion Show alongside Busy Philipps, she wore the trousers and boots

Kim was in Miami at the time she debuted the outfit and was seen holding hands with daughter North, five, and girlfriend Larsa Pippen.

And it wasn't long after tile Kim sported a similar ensemble once again.

Spotted in September at the L.O.L Doll Fashion Show alongside Busy Philipps, she wore the trousers and the boots.

Changing it up: This time round however, she teamed the look with an oversized neutral toned shirt and statement orange clutch

Stylish mom's: Kim was seen posing at the event next to Busy Philipps

This time round however, she teamed the look with an oversized neutral toned shirt and statement orange clutch.

Kim's post comes after she had a very romantic Valentine's Day with husband, Kanye West.

The rapper, who's known for his extravagant gestures of love, surprised his Mrs with a private Kenny G performance in their living room.

She's had them for seven years! Kim first wore the Christian Louboutin python printed boots in Paris in 2012

Not everyone was a fan: At the time, Kim infuriated animal rights groups when she first stepped out in the thigh-high Christian Louboutin python printed heels.

The saxophone player stood in the middle of the large room while a vast array of single roses in glass vases overtook the floor.

'Best husband award goes to mine!!! Most thoughtful gifts ever!!!!' she captioned the post.

However, the question remains how Kenny managed to find his spot among the roses of if he had to carefully step over the display.
Kourtney Kardashian took to her Instagram Stories on Thursday to post some older photos.

And one of them was cute image of her daughter Penelope Disick with Kim Kardashian's child North West.

The two were seen hugging as they had on dance clothes.

They have been side by side since they were in diapers. And it looks as if Kim Kardashian's daughter North West and Kourtney Kardashian's mini me Penelope Disick are still best friends

Kourtney also shared a photo of the two at their last joint birthday party where the girls were in pink and purple.

The star called it 'cousin love' as the little girls played with each other.

Kim, 38, has said many times in the past that the cousins are best friends and love to play together.

Two cute: Kourtney also shared a photo of the two at their last joint birthday party where the girls were in pink and purple. The star called it 'cousin love.'

They are only a few months apart in age and often have playdates at each other's house: Kim lives in Hidden Hills, California and Kourtney is only five minutes away in neighboring Calabasas.

The girls also have matching Pomeranian dogs. Penelope has Sugar while North has Sushi.

This comes after her sister Kim was given a big surprise on V-Day by husband Kanye West.

The 41-year-old rapper decorated the all-white living room of their posh Hidden Hills mansion in flowers and the Yeezy designer also brought in musician Kenny G to play music just for her.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star's caption read, 'Beat husband award goes to mine !!!! Most thoughtful gifts ever!!!!'

It happened: Kanye West went big this Valentine's Day for his wife Kim Kardashian. The rapper decorated the living room of their posh Hidden Hills, California home in flowers and the Yeezy designer also brought in musician Kenny G to play music just for her

She is a fan: The Keeping Up With The Kardashian star's caption read, 'Beat husband award goes to mine !!!! Most thoughtful gifts ever!!!!'

He knows how to impress her: She also shared: 'NO BIG DEAL KENNY G IN MY LIVING ROOM!!! Happy Valentines Day.' Seen on February 6 in NYC

She also shared: 'NO BIG DEAL KENNY G IN MY LIVING ROOM!!! Happy Valentines Day.'

Jazz musician Kenny, 62 - who is best known for his song Forever In Love - is seen playing the saxophone in the middle of their living room, which has no furniture, only white drapes.

It is not known if West had the furniture removed for the performance or if they have not decorated the area yet. It is known that the home is sparsely filled.

There are single pink, white and red roses in clear glass vases all along the room.

It must have taken hours to place them in their vases and carefully position them on the floor just so.

Proud of his work: Kanye wore a grey top and two chains as she smiled at his wife

Kenny is in a black suit and white shirt as he plays the 1939 song Over The Rainbow from the film The Wizard Of Oz.

Kanye, who has on a grey sweatshirt with two necklaces, is seen smiling from ear to ear as he also films the whole thing.

This comes after she shared two photos to Instagram where they are blissfully happy.

'Happy Valentine's Day babe!!! I love you so much!' wrote the KKW Beauty founder.

The couple have three children together, North, Saint and Chicago. And they are expecting a fourth child via gestational carrier 'very soon,' Kim told Andy Cohen last month on WWHL.

Kim and Kanye wed in front of a flower wall in Italy in 2014 in front of 200 guests. She wore a form fitting Givenchy dress with a long lace veil.

Loving: This comes after she shared two photos of them in PDA as she said, 'Happy Valentine's Day babe!!! I love you so much!'

Last year West did much less.

He shared a photo of a homemade white card with a handwritten message on the front, reading 'Happy Valentines Day Babe.'

Kim went to Instagram to write, 'I love you to infinity! Happy Valentines Day!!!'

In 2017 they dined at Carbone in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. He also gave her a wall of flowers. 'Oh my God! Just walked in and look what I see  a huge flower wall with orchids and roses,' she said in a Snapchat video.

Kiss: The couple have three children together, North, Saint and Chicago. And they are expecting a fourth child via gestational carrier 'very soon,' Kim told Andy Cohen last month on WWHL

Yummy: Kim's children, North, Saint, and Chicago received a giant heart cookie

Sibling love: Kourtney sent a lovely package to Kim
She is happier than ever now that she has returned to the radio 20 years after quitting her post on The Big Breakfast.

And Kelly Brook was a vision in florals when she arrived at Global radio for her presenting stint at Heart Radio, in London on Friday.

The smiling model, 39, slipped her curves into a blooming lovely flower print dress which was fitted to flatter her figure with its gathered waistline.

Hitting the right style notes: Kelly Brook slipped her curves into a colourful floral dress as she arrived for work at Heart radio on Friday

Kelly showed off her expensive taste as she was seen toting a shopping bag from Chanel when she made her beaming arrival at the studios.

The radio personality arranged her chocolate shade locks in a flurry of curls down her shoulders, only pulling them back off her face with her shades.

Now Kelly is a regular in Leicester Square as she heads to her new job at Heart Radio to present the drivetime slot.

She's so stylish: The radio personality arranged her chocolate shade locks in a flurry of curls down her shoulders, only pulling them back off her face with her shades

The model's on-air radio job post comes 20 years after she quit her post on The Big Breakfast as the 19-year-old newcomer.

She recently revealed that she has joined London's Heart Radio, to co-host the drive-time show alongside Jason 'JK' King.

Kelly said: 'It's been really lovely because I feel like I have been given another lifeline.'

In preparation for her latest gig, the curvy star got a new lease of confidence by losing weight as she shed as much as 16lbs.

Picture-perfect: The model's on-air radio job post comes 20 years after she quit her post on The Big Breakfast as the 19-year-old newcomer

Kelly confessed she used to edit her photographs but now she insisted she doesn't feel the need to photoshop her snaps because she is 'pretty happy' with her weight.

She told HELLO! magazine recently: 'I train three or four times a week, I eat vegan food I am pretty happy with my weight now. I look at pictures and dont think they need any editing, but I did for a bit.

'I think I put the pressure on myself; I looked a certain way for so long and I didnt notice the pounds creeping on  and then all of a sudden, my jeans wouldnt fit.

'I didnt like how I looked, so I just wanted to do something about it.'
She received great praise for her portrayal of Julia Montague in the BBC series Bodyguard and is now set to appear in a new Channel 4 series called Traitors.

And now, Keeley Hawes seems to be pining for warmer climes as she was spotted in a travel agent in Twickenham, London on Thursday.

The actress, 42, looked effortlessly elegant as she wore an all black ensemble as she stepped out.

Time for a holiday: Keeley Hawes, 42, looked effortlessly elegant as she wore an all black ensemble as she was spotted in a travel agent in Twickenham, London on Thursday

The British star wrapped up from the chilly February air in a black roll neck jumper, a satin midi skirt, longline coat and tights.

Keeley carried a black, leather handbag and wore flat, lace up, ankle boots.

She added a pop of colour to her look with red lipstick and showed off her enviable bone structure by wearing her hair off her face as it was pulled back in a ponytail.

Elegant: The British star, wrapped up from the chilly February air in a black roll neck jumper, a satin midi skirt, longline coat and tights

The former model recently shared her upset at comments speculating that she wore 'ageing' make-up for her latest role in Channel 4 series Traitors.

She explained how she went make-up free for the role, which sees her take on the role of a female boss in the Cabinet Office alongside Emma Appleton and Luke Treadaway, in the spy thriller set in post-war Britain.

Keeley admitted it felt 'cruel' to read the comments that commented on her appearance.

Speaking to The Times, she said: 'I read somewhere that Keeley Hawes had this new look and she has put on ageing make-up.

Red hot: She added a pop of colour to her look with red lipstick and showed off her enviable bone structure by wearing her hair off her face as it was pulled back in a ponytail

'I was thinking to myself, 'I don't remember that. It is just me with no make-up at all.' Which was a little bit cruel to read.'

Describing her role as Priscilla Gardick as a feminist professional who is forced to hide her femininity behind oversized suits in a bid to be taken seriously, she said it was all the more apt during the #metoo movement.

Being a woman in such a male environment was hard and she is just brilliant at it. She says to Feef, 'Do you think I don't know how to do my hair? Being attractive is just not part of something we can do,' she said.

'And it is so alien to us now, but women still against things like it in the age of Me Too, the way Feef is treated and Priscilla has to look and behave to have a career.'

In a striking departure from her racy Bodyguard role, Keeley will play a frumpy, bespectacled civil servant in the new spy drama, which is set to air on Channel 4 next month.

The prim and proper look is in marked contrast to her glamorous  and often steamy  turns in BBC series Tipping the Velvet and Ashes to Ashes, as well as Bodyguard.

Traitors, which will be broadcast later this year, follows Miss Hawes as she suspects colleague Feef Symonds, played by Emma, of spying on the 1945 Labour government for the Americans.

Her ambition to make something of her life goes unrecognised by her family, and is further complicated by her American lover.

She agrees to spy on her own government for the Americans, who want to make sure Englands burgeoning Socialist ambitions dont play into Soviet hands.

The cast also includes Brandon P Bell and Matt Lauria and the series will air on Channel 4 later this year.
It was a night to celebrate all things romance.

And Lady Victoria Hervey, 42, made sure to acknowledge Valentine's Day as she donned a sleeveless heart-printed vest top as she was pictured outside Los Angeles hotspot Chateau Marmont with Billy Zane, 52.

However, the socialite's choice of top was the antithesis of the romantic holiday as it featured a red broken heart with stylish streams of red glitter down the middle.

Chit chat: Lady Victoria Hervey, 42, made sure to acknowledge Valentine's Day as she donned a sleeveless heart-printed vest top as she was pictured outside Los Angeles hotspot Chateau Marmont

She paired the statement top with a thigh-grazing black denim skirt and complementing knee-high boots.

The British beauty combated the unusual chilly temperatures with a heavy suede black jacket with a fur trim draped over her shoulders and worked her golden locks into a glamorous curl.

Victoria appeared in jovial spirits as she happily chatted to actor pal Billy, who donned a grey paddy cap, emerald green jumper and Barbour-inspired wax jacket.

The engaged star continued his country themed ensemble with a pair of loose-fitting dark wash denims, leather boots and his statement glasses for the Valentine's outing.

Nothing breaks like a heart: The socialite's choice of top featured a red broken heart with stylish streams of red glitter down the middle of her chest

Hanging out: The pals were seen chatting outside the venue

Previously, father-of-two Billy was previously married to Australian actress Lisa Collins from 1989 to 1995.

Billy was then engaged to his Cleopatra co-star Leonor Varela and later to Kelly Brook with the pair having an on-off relationship before calling it quits in August 2008.

The Trouble Sleeping actor went on to date Croatian model Jasmina Hdagha in 2010 before they split a year later.

He is now engaged to brunette beauty Candice Neil and the couple are parents to daughters Ava Catherine, eight, and Gia, four.

Warming up: The British beauty combated the unusual chilly temperatures with a heavy suede black jacket with a fur trim draped over her shoulders and worked her golden locks into a glamorous curl

Meanwhile, Victoria revealed to The Mail On Sunday last January that she has frozen her eggs in a fertility clinic, costing her 11,000, as she hopes to have a child before she is 45.

She explained at the time: 'I had six eggs removed from my ovaries and frozen in a fertility clinic. At the end of this month, I intend to go through the exhausting procedure again in the hope that I will produce another half-dozen or so eggs.

'It will, I hope, fill what has become rather a hole in my life.'

Victoria confessed that she would like 'two children' and turned to freezing her eggs - a decision prompted by Stacey Solomon, whom she met while competing on The Jump in 2015 - following her fears she has 'left it too late' to become a mother.

Explaining that she wants the 'emotional aspect' of a relationship, rather than favouring a sperm donor, Victoria added: 'I'm hoping science might be able to stop the clock until I find the right man to be a father to my babies.

'A major part of the problem is that I'm still single. Despite some intense relationships in my early 20s, they all fizzled out eventually.'

'I do have a back-up plan if my Prince Charming doesnt materialise,' Victoria claimed. 'Ive got friends whove said theyd be prepared to father my child, and Im considering that option very seriously.'
Charlize Theron stood out in a ruby red dress on Friday.

The blonde bombshell, 43, stopped by the Ellen DeGeneres show to talk up her new movie Long Shot alongside co-star Seth Rogen.

And during the sit down the mother-of-two - she has adopted children August and Jackson - said she is 'single.'

Not in love: Charlize Theron told Ellen DeGeneres on Friday that she is single after being linked to Brad Pitt

Not her beau: A British paper allegedly that the siren kissed Pitt at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood in January. Here he is seen in November

The star has been linked to Brad Pitt whom she allegedly kissed at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood in January.

When Ellen, Charlize and Seth started talking about the Bachelor, that is when the South African beauty blurted out that she is single.

It seemed to come out of nowhere, and sadly Ellen did not follow up on that by asking her about Pitt.

New project: The blonde bombshell, 43, stopped by the Ellen DeGeneres show to talk up her new movie Long Shot alongside co-star Seth Rogen

AWKS: That is when Ellen and Charlize started talking about how they cannot understand how an adult refuses to kiss someone else. 'I was making out with myself at seven, I made out with dolls and with myself in the mirror,' she said

The Bachelor talk began early in the interview.

'Every year I think this time around I am not going to watch it as religiously as I do and then I get into it,' she said. 'Every year is good.'

And she said she likes Colton, the present Bachelor, who claims to be a virgin.

Funny: And Ellen said if she looked like Charlize, she would make out with herself. That is when Charlize pretended to make out with herself. She said she would kiss the inside of her elbow as a child and then demonstrated it

That is when Ellen and Charlize started talking about how they cannot understand how an adult refuses to kiss someone else.

'I was making out with myself at seven, I made out with dolls and with myself in the mirror,' she said.

And Ellen said if she looked like Charlize, she would make out with herself.

No love: When Ellen and Seth seemed put off by the movie, Theron blurted out, 'It's why I'm single' as she smiled

That is when Charlize pretended to make out with herself. She said she would kiss the inside of her elbow as a child and then demonstrated it.

When Ellen and Seth seemed put off by the movie, Theron blurted out, 'It's why I'm single' as she smiled.

The Oscar winner was last linked romantically to Sean Penn.

Seth then joked that he likes Bachelor In Paradise because they are all sweaty and 'drunk' all the time.

All fun and games: Rogen and Theron played around on these two red dots

Fun times in 2019: Seth and Charlize clearly had good chemistry on the show

And Theron said she doesn't like BIP because the contestants are always sandy as they are near the beach and she has an issue with sand in a home environment.

Ellen then said, 'And that's your problem with the show?' Theron laughed and said yes, over the sleeping around and other issues, sand is her biggest issues.

Then Seth said that he chose Theron for her his new movie because she was so funny in her talk show interviews that he knew she would be great at comedy. 'It's a great thing,' he said.

Ellen said their movie was laugh out loud funny and Charlize was flattered 'especially coming from you,' said the actress.

The film is about Fred Flarsky, an unemployed journalist who is down in the dumps.

He decides to pursue Charlotte Field, his childhood crush and babysitter who now happens to be one of the most powerful and unattainable women on the planet.
Ryan Reynolds 'flipped out' when he came face-to-face with a bear on a camping trip.

The 42-year-old actor - who was seen in NYC on Friday alone - was on a school expedition to Canada's Garibaldi Provincial Park when he and his tentmate were woken to the sound of the creature scratching its back on the side of their tent.

'We naturally flipped out. I don't think they make diapers secure enough for teenage boys at that age when something like that happens. My eyes were the size of dinner plates,' he said.

He could have been lunch: Ryan Reynolds 'flipped out' when he came face-to-face with a bear on a camping trip. The 42-year-old actor was on a school expedition to Canada's Garibaldi Provincial Park when he and his tentmate were woken to the sound of the creature scratching its back on the side of their tent he told USA Today. Seen on Friday in NYC

In a blue mood: The star had on a blue button down over another blue shirt with grey slacks as he showed off his wedding band

The Deadpool star pulled out a jackknife - but not because he planned to tackle the bear.

He said: 'It was just so I could cut a hole in the tent so we could go out the other side if we needed to.

'We screamed bloody murder. The bear took off pretty quickly once we screamed.'

The following morning, the group's leader, who was an experienced bear tracker, looked at the prints left by the bear and found it was just a cub being a 'rascal'.

New project: Ryan has narrated director Ian McAllister's new documentary, Great Bear Rainforest, which features grizzlies, black bear and the rare white spirit bear - and it was a 'privilege' to work on the project

Nature doing its thing: Here is another look at a scene from the documentary

Lunch never looked better: Here a large bear is grabbing a salmon from the river

Ryan told the USA Today newspaper: 'It was baby bear scratching its back on the tent, and being a rascal.

'I'm sure this cub meant no harm and was probably checking us out. But it's still a sign to get the hell out of there. Because mama is going to be close by.'

The Green Lantern actor - who has daughters James, four, and Inez, two, with wife Blake Lively - has had other bear encounters since then after visiting Clayoquot Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

WifeyL The Green Lantern actor - who has daughters James, four, and Inez, two, with wife Blake Lively - has had other bear encounters since then after visiting Clayoquot Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island

Bear lover: He recalled: 'You could see 10 different black bears in a day. But you don't want to get close and interfere with their daily life ... in the same way you don't want them to interfere with your life'

He recalled: 'You could see 10 different black bears in a day. But you don't want to get close and interfere with their daily life ... in the same way you don't want them to interfere with your life.'

And Ryan has narrated director Ian McAllister's new documentary, Great Bear Rainforest, which features grizzlies, black bear and the rare white spirit bear - and it was a 'privilege' to work on the project.

He said: 'To see the area through that giant IMAX lens is a true privilege.'
Bethenny Frankel appears to be head over heels in love with 41-year-old beau Paul Bernon.

On Thursday the 48-year-old Real Housewife Of New York City star shared a cute selfie of the two of them.

The Skinnygirl founder added two pink and red hearts over the image but did not leave a caption.

So close: Bethenny Frankel appears to be head over heels in love with 41-year-old beau Paul Bernon. On Thursday the 48-year-old Real Housewife Of New York City star shared a cute selfie of the two of them

The lovebirds were on a street and wearing sunglasses as they posed for the shot.

Bethenny looks youthful with her dark hair worn down and a sweatshirt on that was beige and gold.

Her beau was showing off a bit of chest with a black shirt that buttoned down.

This comes after he presented her with a heart-shaped floral arrangement on Sunday.

'Love is in the air #luckylady,' she captioned the snapshot, which showed the floral display sitting on a balcony in front of a view of the city skyline.

'Love is in the air': On Sunday she received an early Valentine's Day treat she got from her beau

Her film producer boyfriend was on hand when she nearly died in December of what she described on Twitter as 'a rare fish allergy'.

Bethenny arrived at the hospital in the nick of time and was 'told if 5 mins later Id be dead,' she tweeted to her her 1.6 million followers.

She shares her daughter Bryn, eight, with her second ex-husband Jason Hoppy, whom she married in March 2010, two months before their child was born.

They split in 2012 and finalized the divorce in 2016, and though they initially had joint custody, Bethenny now wants full custody and is locked in a legal battle with him.

Close companion: The Skinnygirl tycoon's film producer boyfriend was on hand when she nearly died in December of what she described on Twitter as 'a rare fish allergy'

This past August, Bethenny's on-off boyfriend Dennis Shields died at 51 at his residence in Manhattan's Trump Tower of a suspected overdose.

The reality star, who also had a yearlong marriage to her friend Peter Sussman in the 1990s, put out a self-help book on love in 2016.

Co-written with Eve Adamson, it is charmingly titled I Suck At Relationships So You Don't Have To: 10 Rules For Not Screwing Up Your Happily Ever After.

Bethenny was in Los Angeles late last month giving the keynote speech at the Nazarian Institute's conference about the luxury business.

A place in the sun: The showbiz couple are pictured together enjoying a view of the ocean during a recent holiday to the Dominican Republic

It was her commitment to this conference that reportedly kept her from attending the baby shower of Real Housewives producer Andy Cohen.

Although several of the other Real Housewives from various franchises were in attendance, an insider told People 'Everyone knew' Bethenny would not be there.

'The speaking engagement was booked way before Andys party and it was at the same time. All the Housewives knew she was not going to be at the party because of this,' the source explained to the magazine.
Love Island star Ellie Brown has reportedly undergone a secret boob job.

Insiders revealed to The Sun that the 20-year-old reality starlet had gone under the knife to make her figure 'more proportionate' - and is overjoyed with the result.

A source close to Ellie told the site: 'Ellie absolutely loves her new boobs  shes a curvy woman and has always felt having bigger breasts would suit her more...

Woah! Love Island star Ellie Brown has reportedly undergone a secret boob job

'She feels they make her body look in proportion and has loved showing them off in low-cut dresses on nights out...

'Ellie was keen not to publicise her surgery on Instagram as she has lots of young followers and wanted to be careful not to influence them in any way...

'She did this for herself and it has 100 per cent improved her confidence  she feels sexier and more womanly.' MailOnline has contacted representatives for the star for comment.

During her stint in the villa in August, Ellie showed off her incredible image transformation after old pictures of the stunning star emerged.

Wow! Ellie's cleavage has appeared fuller in recent social media snaps (pictured left, in December, right, August)

Changing: Ellie showed off her curves during her appearance at a Boohoo bash in Manchester on Thursday evening

The Newcastle-born beauty posed happily in images dating back to 2015, in which she flaunted a wholly different appearance to her current chiselled look.

Ellie was a late entrant into the show, where she was involved in extreme drama after locking horns with co-star Georgia Steel and also finding love with Charlie - however their romance came to a crashing close amid cheating allegations.

With her glowing skin and lengthy blonde locks, fans were enamoured with the natural beauty, however her shock transformation will no doubt shock fans.

Posing on her pal's Instagram account in a host of pouting shots, it was plain to see a change in Ellie's good looks, despite looking stunning both before and after.

Stunner: Insiders said: 'She feels they make her body look in proportion and has loved showing them off in low-cut dresses on nights out'

Who's that girl? During her stint in the villa in August, Ellie showed off her incredible image transformation after old pictures of the stunning star have emerged

 Slide me  Changing faces: Throughout the eight week stretch of the show, Ellie won hearts thanks to her sassy personality and flawless good looks, meaning her stunning transformation will no doubt send jaws dropping

What remained the same was her slick pout and preened style, yet it was clear to see a change in the stunner's looks over the past three years.

Ellie's transformation is not all that's shocked fans, as throwback shots of her co-stars Megan Barton Hanson and Laura Anderson have been equally breathtaking.

Glamour model Megan has had the most widely-discussed transformation after an image surfaced on Twitter last month showing a youthful Megan aged 12 as she posed in glasses and an oversized scarf.

Fans rushed to social media to marvel at the transformation Megan has undergone, with many hailing the impressive and natural looking surgery, and since leaving the villa she has discussed the transformation.

Who? Ellie was a late entrant into the show, where she was involved in extreme drama after locking horns with co-star Georgia Steel

Way back when: What remained the same was her slick pout and preened style, yet it was clear to see a change in the stunner's looks over the past three years

In an interview with Mirror after leaving the villa, she said of her several procedures - rumoured to have cost 25,000, but estimated to have cost as much as 40,000: '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.'
She's the stunning mother-of-three who now calls Byron Bay, Australia home.

But Elsa Pataky was visiting her homeland of Spain on Friday as she attended the Gioseppo Woman fashion show in Madrid.

The 42-year-old looked youthful and fresh in a two-piece dark blue ensemble consisting of a top and mini skirt with button detailing.

Back on home turf! Elsa Pataky (pictured) shows off her slims pins and midriff as she dons a dark blue ensemble at fashion launch in her native Spain

The top featured thick straps and orange piping detail, and showed off a glimpse of the beauty's midriff.

The matching skirt, which showed off her slim pins, featured the same tangerine piping detail and two large pockets on either side.

The yellowish tone was picked up in the star's wedge shoes which included a retro cut-out design and towering wooden heels with metallic detail.

Stunning! Elsa Pataky was visiting her homeland of Spain on Friday as she attended the Gioseppo Woman fashion show in Madrid

Breezy: The 42-year-old looked youthful and fresh in a two-piece dark blue ensemble consisting of a top and mini skirt with button detailing

Glimpse: The top featured thick straps and orange piping detail, and showed off a glimpse of the beauty's midriff

Skirting it: The matching skirt, which showed off her slim pins, featured the same piping detail and two large pockets on either side

Best foot forward: The star's wedge shoes included a retro cut-out design and towering wooden heels with metallic detail

Elsa added some gold accessories, including a stack of metallic bangles on her wrists, and some rings, as well as a delicate floating pendant on a chain.

Statement earrings in a geometric shape added some interest and the beauty wore her hair pulled back off her face in loose tendrils.

She completed the look with soft makeup, consisting of peachy eye shadow, pink lipstick and a gentle, rosy blush.

Wow: Statement earrings in a geometric shape added some interest and the beauty wore her hair pulled back off her face in loose tendrils

Tender: She completed the look with soft makeup, consisting of peachy eye shadow, pink lipstick and a gentle, rosy blush

Glitter: Elsa added some gold accessories, including a delicate floating pendant on a chain

Leggy beauty: The short skirt showed off the star's toned legs

It comes after Elsa and husband Chris Hemsworth have shared sweet Valentine's Day messages on Instagram, despite being half a world apart from each other.

Chris, who is in Australia with their little brood, shared a black-and-white snap his stunning wife on a beach.

In the caption the 35-year-old Thor star wished her a Happy Valentine's day and wrote: 'I'm not actually sure what this day means but I saw other people posting photos and stuff and stumbled across this pic of Elsa doing Bikram yoga.'

Apart but close: It comes after Elsa and husband Chris Hemsworth (left) have shared sweet Valentine's Day messages on Instagram, despite being half a world apart from each other

'For those who don't know that's yoga in the heat and it was really hot this day and she looks really hot...as in beautiful. Anyway long story short I love you lots @elsapatakyconfidential,' he added.

Elsa also took to her Instagram to also share a candid black-and-white photo of herself and Chris making funny faces.

The Madrid-born stunner captioned her post: 'Love love love always and forever!#youalwaysmakemelaugh love you.'
She has raised up from the ashes of a very high profile divorce from Karl Stefanovic.

But Cassandra Thorburn is reclaiming her identity and does not want to be seen as anyone's wife, she tells Confidential.

The 47-year-old said: 'There's the Cass that people think of as the former Mrs Stefanovic. I was never a Mrs Stefanovic. I have always been Cass Thorburn'.

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'I was never a Mrs Stefanovic': Cassandra Thorburn is reclaiming her identity and looking forward to a 'fresh start' on Dancing with the Stars after split from former Today host Karl Pictured: 2018

She added that her role on Dancing with the Stars will give her the opportunity to be herself.

'It is a fresh start to a new year and a great outlook... I can control being able to present myself as me,' she said.

The author added that people can get to know the 'real her' and that means she can potentially change public perception.

The 47-year-old said: 'There's the Cass that people think of as the former Mrs Stefanovic. I was never a Mrs Stefanovic. I have always been Cass Thorburn'. Pictured with former husband Karl Stefanovic(left) in 2012

Moving up: Cass added that her role on Dancing with the Stars will give her the opportunity to be herself. 'I can control being able to present myself as me,' she said. Pictured on Dancing with the Stars

'People were interested and wanted to know who I am and that is why Dancing With The Stars is a good thing for me.

'If they like me as a person, which hopefully they will, then I will be able to move on with a career,' she concluded.

Cassandra and former Today show host Karl, 44, split in September 2016, after 21 years of marriage.

New view: 'People were interested and wanted to know who I am and that is why Dancing With The Stars is a good thing for me. If they like me as a person, which hopefully they will, then I will be able to move on with a career,' she concluded. Pictured: 2017

The have three children, sons Jackson, 19, and River, 12, and a daughter, Ava, 13.

Karl attracted headlines when a few months after the split, he began dating former-model-turned-shoe-designer Jasmine Yarbrough, who is 10 years his junior.

Jasmine and Karl tied the knot in a lavish three-day ceremony at the One & Only Palmilla resort in Cabo, Mexico, on December 8, 2018.

Cassandra appears to have lately been feeling more confident than ever as she prepares for her role on Dancing with the Stars.

Going strong: Cassandra recently shared a photo of her slim pins and went on to say that there had been some 'doubt' about her dance abilities but the author was whisking that away

The mother-of-three recently shared a photo of her slim pins, resting on a chair as she relaxed by the seaside.

Explaining that she had been training hard for the dance contest, the former journalist went on to say that there had been some 'doubt' about her abilities but the author was whisking that away.

Cassandra added: 'These legs may not have been made for dancing. The countdown is on and self doubt is the enemy'.
They've been married for nine years and have three young children together.

And on Valentine's Day Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky have shared sweet messages on Instagram, despite being half a world apart from each other.

Chris, who is in Australia with their little brood as they start school this week, shared a black-and-white snap his stunning wife on a beach.

'Long story short, I love you!' Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky (pictured) share romantic Valentine's Day messages, despite being half a world apart from each other. Chris, who is in Australia with their children, shared a black-and-white snap his stunning wife on a beach

In the caption the 35-year-old Thor star wished her a Happy Valentine's day and wrote: 'I'm not actually sure what this day means but I saw other people posting photos and stuff and stumbled across this pic of Elsa doing Bikram yoga.'

'For those who don't know that's yoga in the heat and it was really hot this day and she looks really hot...as in beautiful. Anyway long story short I love you lots @elsapatakyconfidential,' he added.

Elsa also took to her Instagram to also share a candid black-and-white photo of herself and Chris making funny faces.

Fun times: Meanwhile Elsa took to her Instagram to also share a candid black-and-white photo of herself and Chris (left) making funny faces. The Spanish stunner, who is currently in Madrid, captioned her post: 'Love love love always and forever!'

The Spanish stunner, who is currently in Madrid to promote a fashion label, captioned her post: 'Love love love always and forever!#youalwaysmakemelaugh love you.'

The couple live in the quaint coastal town of Byron Bay with their children, twins Tristan and Sasha, both four, and daughter India Rose, six.

The genetically blessed couple relocated to Chris' native Australia in 2014.

Proud parents: The couple live in the quaint coastal town of Byron Bay with their children, twins Tristan and Sasha, both four, and daughter India Rose, six (pictured)

Elsa previously said she enjoys the more laid-back lifestyle in Byron Bay.

'We did the move three years ago and I'm so happy with it,' Elsa told Stellar magazine in April 2017.

'In Byron we just feel like locals. People really respect us... and it's what I always dreamed of giving to my kids.'
On Wednesday, Sam Ball turned up to the Married At First Site dinner party late, claiming to have chickenpox.

But not everyone was convinced of his illness - including fellow MAFS star Melissa Lucarelli.

And on Wednesday, on the Real Talk With Holly & Ali podcast, Melissa didn't hold back, saying: 'Where's your spots mate? It's probably like the funeral again.'

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'Where's your spots, mate?' Married at First Sight's Melissa Lucarelli (pictured) isn't convinced by Sam Ball's chickenpox scare ...and casts doubts on his 'funeral' excuse

Melissa, 38, was referring to Sam's excuse for leaving his bride Elizabeth Sobinoff on their honeymoon.

He claimed he had to leave the show briefly to attend a funeral in New Zealand.

'I've never seen such a person that has chickenpox and still looks like that!' said Melissa.

'Sam actually seemed like a good guy,' she continued. 'A lot of us are just like, who are you?'

On Wednesday, on the Real Talk With Holly & Ali podcast, Melissa didn't hold back, saying: 'Where's your spots mate? It's probably like the funeral again.' Pictured: Sam Ball

'It's funny that people can be so duplicitous.'

Melissa got worked up during the podcast, finally exclaiming: 'Sam! I thought you were so great.

She added jokingly: 'It's ruining my life. This is why I haven't had sex in eight years, people!'

I don't buy it! Melissa also didn't believe Sam's excuse for leaving his bride Elizabeth Sobinoff on their honeymoon, which was to attend a funeral

During Wednesday night's episode, Sam shocked viewers and his co-stars by arriving to the dinner party without his store manager 'wife' Elizabeth, 27.

But the reason the tradie gave for his late arrival baffled partygoers.

'So I've been diagnosed with chickenpox,' he revealed.

Married at First Sight continues at 7pm Sunday on Channel Nine
Sam and Billie Faiers took to Instagram on Friday to pen heartfelt messages to their youth-defying mother Suzanne Wells on her 50th birthday.

28-year-old Sam kicked off the tributes by posting a series of pictures to her social media page with the caption: 'Happy 50th to my beautiful Mummy.

'We all love you soo much. Kind, funny, caring & the best super nan, you dont look a day over 40 Mumma. Soo excited for this weekend to celebrate, lets do this [sic]'.

Celebrating: Sam and Billie Faiers took to Instagram on Friday to pen heartfelt messages for their mother Suzanne Wells on her 50th birthday

Triplets: Billie, 29, shared a series of throwback pictures to commemorate the big day including one with Suzanne looking like she could be a third Faiers sister

She shared a sensational picture of Suzanne from the family's trip to Maldives earlier this year showing off a very youthful physique in a peach and white bikini with the caption: 'How are you 50 #gilf?'

And Sam later took to her Instagram Story to share an adorable picture of herself as a tot sitting on her mum's lap.

She captioned the sweet picture: 'Happy 50th birthday my beautiful Mummy. I love you with all my heart'.

Dressed up: Sam kicked off the tributes by posting a series of pictures to her social media page with the caption: 'Happy 50th to my beautiful Mummy'

She added: 'We all love you soo much. Kind, funny, caring & the best super nan, you dont look a day over 40 Mumma. Soo excited for this weekend to celebrate, lets do this [sic]'

Throwback: Sam later took to her Instagram Story to share an adorable picture of herself as a tot sitting on her mum's lap as she told her how much she loves her

Grandma: Suzanne is a doting nanny to her four grandchildren, (pictured with Nelly and Paul)

Youthful: Billie told her mother she could pass for someone two decades younger: 'Happy 50th birthday to my beautiful mumma'

Billie continued the comments about her mum's age and told her she could pass for someone two decades younger, saying: 'Happy 50th birthday to my beautiful mumma.

'Thank you for being the most amazing mum and nanny, you truly are so special to us all, you go above and beyond for all of us and I will forever be grateful for that.

'I cannot wait to celebrate with you this weekend, my beautiful mumma, I love you lots P.S you dont look a day over 30'.

Family: She added: 'Thank you for being the most amazing mum and nanny, you truly are so special to us all, you go above and beyond for all of us and I will forever be grateful for that'

Fun: Billie continued: 'I cannot wait to celebrate with you this weekend , my beautiful mumma , I love you lots P.S you dont look a day over 30'

Wow: She posted this sensational snap of Suzie who boasts a youthful figure and toned abs belying her true age

Twins: Billie posted a picture of her mum holding Nelly, four, alongside herself with fans struggling to spot an age difference between the two

Adorable: Billie's daughter Nelly also showed off her playful side by holding her breakfast up to her face as her mother wrote 'eye spy it's nanny's birthday'

Like her sister Billie, 29, took to Instagram to share a series of throwback pictures including one with Suzie looking like a dead ringer for a third Faiers sister as the trio donned matching silk pyjamas.

She also shared a picture of herself as a baby being held by a very colourful Suzanne while looking like daughter Nelly's twin.

Billie took to Instagram Stories later in the day to share an adorable video of her 23-month-old son Arthur singing Happy Birthday to his grandma while chomping down on his breakfast.

And later when Suzanne entered the house the family shared a singalong to Happy Birthday by Stevie Wonder.
She always fronts the London Fashion Week protest against the lack of plus-sized models.

And Hayley Hasselhoff led the glamour for the London Fashion Week protest hosted by Simply Be when she arrived with the group of models in the capital on Thursday.

Hasselhoff's daughter, 26, showed off her eye for fashion when she stepped out in a denim jacket worn with blue wide-legged jeans.

Glamorous as ever: Hayley Hasselhoff was trend setting in a double denim as she led a LFW protest against the lack of plus-sized models on Thursday

Every year, Hayley gets involved with the model diversity protest staged outside London Fashion Week to encourage designers to use more curvy models.

The model, who is a size 18, made her presence known as she took to the streets with fellow beauties to protest in the British capital.

For the protest, the group held up a number of signs which read: 'fashion should empower us'; 'so much more than our measurements'; 'fashion shouldn't shame us'.

Movement: The model made her presence known as she took to the streets with fellow beauties to protest in the British capital

Last year, Hayley enthused it was important to encourage body positivity and diversity in the modelling spheres.

She told The Evening Standard at the LFW protest: 'I think its really important that we continue to campaign for body positivity and diversity in the industry.

'We want to give women everywhere the confidence to be who they are. This is only achieved by showing a wide variety of models, irrespective of size.

Still stylish: Hasselhoff's daughter, 26, showed off her eye for fashion when she stepped out in a denim jacket worn with blue wide-legged jeans

Speaking out: For the protest, the group held up a number of signs which read, 'fashion should empower us'; 'so much more than our measurements'; 'fashion shouldn't shame us'

'By tearing up the "one size" fits fashion rule book, we hope to encourage any woman, whatever her size, to feel fabulous in their skin.'

The curvy model has made a number of televised appearances on This Morning as a fashion expert and she has been praised for her style advice.

As the daughter of a Hollywood actor, Hayley recently discussed how she followed her father's star-studded footsteps into the spotlight in January last year.

Pictured: Every year, Hayley gets involved with the model diversity protest staged outside London Fashion Week to encourage designers to use more curvy models

She told LuisaViaRoma: 'I am very grateful that at a very young age I was introduced to the love of arts and encouraged that if you work hard enough no dream is too far to reach.

'I grew up on the set of Baywatch and got to see the family aspect of being on set surrounded by people who do what they love.

'Growing up with a family who is in the industry you may be able to have doors open a bit quicker, but they will shut twice as hard and fast if you dont come prepared with passion, hard-work, love and your own approach at what you do.'
Katy Perry confirmed on Friday that she got engaged to Orlando Bloom on Valentine's Day, following a three-year on-off romance in front of her entire family.

The singer, 34, took to Instagram to share a picture of herself and her actor beau, 42, as she showed off her 'wildly valuable' engagement ring, estimated to be worth $5million.

Andrew Brown, President, WP Diamonds told E! News.'Katy's ring would retail in the range of $5 million.

Could it be? Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom got engaged on Valentine's Day after a three-year romance - the pop star's mother, Mary Hudson broke the news on Friday on Facebook

'It appears to be a four-carat fancy vivid pink oval shaped diamond arranged with eight white diamonds around it to assemble a flower "in bloom" - this ring is truly one-of-a-kind and wildly valuable.'

Katy captioned the image, writing: 'Full bloom.' Orlando shared the same snap, writing: 'Lifetimes.'

The singer's mother, Mary Hudson, broke the news of the engagement on Facebook, sharing images of the emotional proposal and captioning them with: 'look who got engaged last night'.

Announcement: Katy shared this sweet snap soon after her mother broke the news, simply writing: 'full bloom' - her engagement ring is thought to be worth $5million

Sharing is caring: Katy and Orlando both shared the same picture on social media and each wrote their own sweet caption

Perfect: Katy's '$5m' engagement ring matched her pink manicure

According to The Sun, Katy was 'shocked and surprised' to walk in and see her family and friends as well as balloons and candles.

The actor had asked for both Katy's mother and father for permission to ask her to marry him.

Her friends were wearing 'OK' initial hoodies in tribute to them.

A source told the publication: 'Katy was totally shocked. Everyone knew what was planned apart from her.

'Orlando had planned the whole thing  a party with friends and family, Valentines themed decorations and matching hoodies for guests.'

Katy could be seen crying as she stands under a heart-shaped arch, while posing in the Orlando's arms.

Tell us more: Another shot showed the pair looking emotional while standing on stage, as Orlando took to the microphone

Another shot showed the pair looking emotional while standing on stage, as Orlando takes to the microphone.

Katy looked incredible wearing a pink Alessandra Rich dress as she cosies up to the handsome star.

Her nails were painted pink to match the ring, although this may have been a coincidence and she had diamantes artfully applied to one talon.

Clearly in the mood for Valentine's, Katy was wearing giant heart-shaped earrings, with a sparkling heart belt around her waist.

All hearts everything: Katy was dressed for the occasion in her pink Alessandra Rich dress with giant heart earrings on

Fans went wild for the happy news on Twitter. They wrote: 'CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!'

'I'm sooooo happy my heart is so full it's going to burst! Congrats my love... I'm very happy for you.'

'This means everything and more. So much love for you always... Finally :") congratulation mom dad!!!!!!

'I wish all the best feelings mom... Beautiful katy... we're all so happy for you're engagement!!!'

Her man: Katy shared this sweet and intimate picture of Orlando fast asleep just hours after he proposed to her as he cuddled their dogs

In an interview with Paper Magazine just days ago, Katy said: I'm very pragmatic and logistical and I am less fantastical about things... I mean, I was married when I was 25

I'm 34. It was almost 10 years ago. I was like, 'One person for the rest of my life,' and I'm not so sure that that idea is for me. I'm just such a different person than I was.'

On her ill-fated marriage to Russell Brand she told W Magazine: I really loved it. It was a new, fun, exciting journey.

Love: Katy and Orlando first started dating after meeting at an afterparty for the 73rd Golden Globe Awards in January 2016

Celebrations: Rivka Sophia Rossi celebrated the engagement by wearing a hoodie which had OK emblazoned across the chest to stand for Katie and Orlando

'I like how I am now, and I think all things happen for a reason.'

Last October, a source told PEOPLE: 'Orlando doesnt have a ring yet but has been talking about the future.

'Everyone would be excited if they got engaged. Katy is wonderful!'

Declaration: Katy shared the first social media picture of herself and Orlando laying down on some steps in Cannes back in May 2016

What a star: Orlando set the world alight when he decided to take Katy naked paddle-boarding

Katy and Orlando first started dating after meeting at an afterparty for the 73rd Golden Globe Awards in January 2016.

They broke up in March 2017, issuing a joint statement saying they were 'taking respectful, loving space at this time.'

The couple couldn't stay apart for long though and were spotted back together on holiday in Japan in December that year.

They told the world they were officially back on in February 2018.

Timeline of Katy and Orlando's love story January 2016: First meeting Katy and Orlando started dating after meeting at an afterparty for the 73rd Golden Globe Awards in January 2016 April 2016: Met Gala The pair both attended the A-list fashion event, but weren't pictured together May 2016: First social media snap Katy shared a picture of herself and Orlando laying down on some steps together in Cannes August 2016: He stripped off Orlando set the world alight when he decided to take Katy naked paddle-boarding March 2017: Split The couple went their separate ways, issuing a joint statement saying they were 'taking respectful, loving space at this time' December 2017: Back on The couple couldn't stay apart for long though and were spotted back together on holiday in Japan January 2018: Holiday romance They went on a trip to the Maldives together February 2018: Public declaration They confirmed to the world they were officially back on February 2019: Engagement Orlando popped the question to Katy at a Valentine's themed party

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In April of that year, Orlando spoke of his love for Katy in an interview with The Times.

He said: 'Shes a remarkable human being, actually. I wouldnt have imagined anything happening.

'And, you know, when you get hit sideways you get hit sideways. You dont pick who you fall in love with.'

The sweet comments came after a source told People magazine that the couple were 'more serious than ever' since a year apart.

Ill-fated: The pop star was previously married to Russell Brand from October 23, 2010 - July 16, 2012, (pictured in 2011)

Former love: Orlando was married to Australian model Miranda Kerr from 20102013 and they have a son together called Flynn Christopher, eight, (pictured in 2010)

According to the reports, the pop princess and actor 'missed each other' when they called time on their romance.

The source said: 'Orlando and Katy are great. They are dating exclusively again and things seem more serious.'

The insider added that Orlando became bored of living the single life during his break from Katy, and the Pirates Of The Caribbean star wants to focus on being a one-woman man.

Katy was previously married to Russell Brand from October 23, 2010 - July 16, 2012.

Orlando was married to Australian model Miranda Kerr from 20102013 and they have a son together called Flynn Christopher, eight.

Katy Perry's former flames 2005-2006 Johnny Lewis Katy and the late Sons of Anarchy star broke up before her singing career took off. He sadly passed away in September 2012 after falling from a rooftop. He inspired her song The One That Got Away 2007-2008 Travie McCoy Katy was dating fellow musician Travie when she released her single I Kissed A Girl 2009-2011 Russell Brand Katy married the funnyman in 2010, but the romance was not to be and she claims he asked for a divorce over a text message 2012-2012 Robert Ackroyd Katy was seen holding hands with the Florence And The Machine drummer during the first half of the year, but it was not thought to be serious 2012-2014 John Mayer The couple were famously on and off and she said of the handsome rocker that he is 'literally a genius' 2013 Robert Pattinson Katy and Robert were rumoured to briefly date while she was on a break from John. She was also linked to Diplo in 2014, but that was never confirmed Advertisement
Victoria Beckham and her daughter Harper were showered with gifts and 'a lot of love' from David, Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz on Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day was a family affair for the Beckhams filled with presents and cards but Brooklyn was away in Paris with his girlfriend Hana Cross.

A heartfelt snap captured the moment the mother, 44, and daughter, seven, were surprised with their touching gifts and cards from David, Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz.

Happy ever after: David Beckham shared a sweet snap as his wife Victoria and daughter Harper were surprised with lots of Valentine's Day gifts on Thursday

Three big bouquets of pink roses, framed nicely with foliage, and cards attached to the jars were presented to Victoria and Harper on the day of love.

Five Valentine's Day cards were propped up on the table, one of the notes had a picture of a Labrador puppy on it with the words 'ruff you'.

A small neat box, its content a mystery, was also laid out on the surface behind the vases of blooming lovely roses.

Very close: Victoria, 43, often shares selfies with her seven-year-old daughter Harper on social media with her fans

Big day: The mother also captured the sweet cards seven-year-old Harper had penned to herself and David

Victoria had emerged from the shower with a towel wrapped around her hair when she was led to the presents.

Meanwhile, Harper was clad in her school uniform made up of a violet pinafore as well as a striped shirt and grey tights.

David wrote in the caption: 'Our girls enjoying a lot of love yesterday .. Happy Valentines mummy & Harper love Daddy @brooklynbeckham @romeobeckham @cruzbeckham .' (sic)

Blooming lovely: Victoria posted a video of her various vases of flowers with the caption: 'Valentine's kisses from my babies x'

True love: David and Victoria are arguably the hottest couple on the showbiz circuit since they married at Luttrellstown Castle, just outside Dublin, in July 1999

The dad-of-four's post is the latest snap from the Beckhams' Valentine's Day to be shared with their fans after Victoria flooded social media with photos on Thursday.

Victoria posted a video of her various vases of flowers with the caption: 'Valentine's kisses from my babies x'.

The mother also captured the sweet cards seven-year-old Harper had penned to herself and David.

Young love: Brooklyn Beckham said he felt like the 'luckiest man in the world' as he cosied up to girlfriend Hana Cross on Valentine's Day, as the couple enjoyed a loved-up day out in Paris

David and Victoria are arguably the hottest couple on the showbiz circuit since they married at Luttrellstown Castle, just outside Dublin, in July 1999.

They fell in love when he won treble with Manchester United and she was a global icon with The Spice Girls.

Elsewhere, their son Brooklyn had whisked his Victoria lookalike girlfriend Hana Cross to Paris for the weekend and they took a trip to the Eiffel Tower for Valentine's.
She's starring as United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in biographical film On The Basis Of Sex.

And Felicity Jones detailed just how much work went into transforming into the character as she spoke on The Graham Norton Show, set to air on Friday.

The actress, 35, revealed she had her 'gnarly and pointed' British teeth capped with dental crowns to replicate the judge's 'perfectly formed American teeth'.

Dedicated: Felicity Jones revealed how much went into transforming into Ruth Bader Ginsburg for On The Basis Of Sex as she spoke on The Graham Norton Show, set to air on Friday night

Felicity told the studio audience: 'I kept looking at Ruth and she had the most perfectly formed American teeth.'

She continued: 'Then I would look at mine, which are distinctly British and a little bit gnarly, so I had my pointy ones capped while I was shooting. It sounds painful but it wasn't too bad.'

Felicity went on to praise Ruth, who became the second female justice of the Supreme Court, admitting she was under a lot of pressure to live up to the character.

She added: 'She is so beloved that really the only person that could play Ruth Bader Ginsburg is Ruth Bader Ginsburg so I definitely had a lot to live up to.'

Transforming: The actress, 35, told the studio audience how Ruth's 'perfectly formed American teeth' differed from her 'distinctly British and a little bit gnarly' ones (pictured in 2016)

Starring role: Felicity (left, in character) is starring as gender equality advocate Ruth (right) in her latest film On The Basis Of Sex

On Friday morning her on-screen husband Armie Hammer, 32, spoke to Lorraine Kelly about his role in the film portraying Martin 'Marty' Ginsburg and how he impacted his real-life relationship.

He said: 'Their relationship was extremely aspirational, so seeing how good of a partner he was and an equal structure.

'I've got an amazing intelligent smart powerful wife, so getting to walk in Martin's shoes for a couple of months made me think how can I be like that?'

He added: 'Their relationship was incredibly progressive by the standard of the 50s and 60s. He was willing to do whatever it took to support her.'

Under the knife: Felicity revealed she got her 'pointy' teeth capped while shooting for the film to look more like Ruth

Armie also revealed what made the film different from other accounts of Ruth's life: 'That's the beautiful thing about this movie, it was written by Ruth's nephew [Daniel Stiepleman].

'If anyone else wrote this movie it would have been the courtroom the drama, but we had access to the woman behind the frock.'

The Mirror Mirror actor, who married Elizabeth Chambers in 2010 joked to Graham Norton that playing Martin has cast a slight shadow on his marriage to his wife.

He said: 'It's a high standard to live up to, and now that my wife has seen the film, every so often if I fail to live up to his standards she casually looks at me and says, "Marty wouldn't do that".'

Co-stars: On-screen husband Armie Hammer, 32, spoke about his role in the film portraying Martin 'Marty' Ginsburg and how he impacted his real-life relationship

Inspired: Armie said: 'I've got an amazing intelligent smart powerful wife, so getting to walk in Martin's shoes for a couple of months made me think how can I be like that?'

Truth: The Mirror Mirror actor appeared on Lorraine on Friday about how Ruth and Marty's relationship was incredibly progressive by the standard of the 50s and 60s

Iconic: The biographical legal drama follows a young Ruth as a struggling attorney and new mother who takes on a tax case with her husband which could change her career

He also revealed he thought the character of Martin was too good to be true but admitted by the end of filming he 'really was the most amazing person and everyone loved him'.

Armie added that the role challenged him: 'He was so perfect that, as an actor, I found it hard to know what to do with him'.

Also appearing on the Graham Norton show were comedians Stephen Merchant and Rob Beckett, Calvin Harris and Rag 'n' Bone Man.

The Graham Norton Show, BBC One, Friday February 15 10.35pm.
She is the Australian model who has dedicated herself to work after her 2017 split from billionaire oil heir Stavros Niarchos.

But it seems Jessica Hart spent Valentine's Day with a special someone on Thursday.

The 32-year-old was spotted in Los Angeles heading out for dinner with former NASCAR driver James Kirkham.

She's all smiles! Jessica Hart (front) wears a car pendant and flashes grin as she steps out with her NASCAR driver boyfriend James Kirkham (right) on Valentine's Day

She kept her date night look cool and relaxed in a plaid shirt with black cropped top that showed off her taut midriff and jeans.

The former Victoria's Secret model teamed the look with knee high boots and a Nike beanie to cover her luscious blonde locks.

To complete her look Jessica accessorised with a gold necklace with a car pendant, perhaps a nod to her companion.

Valentines night out: The 32-year-old was spotted in Los Angeles heading out for dinner with the former NASCAR driver. She kept her date night look cool and relaxed in a plaid shirt with black cropped top that showed off her taut midriff and jeans

Can't stop smiling: The Sydney-born stunner couldn't help but flash a smile as she made her way to the restaurant, while the driver affectionately kept his hand behind her back

James, who is also a father-of-one, also kept his look casual in long beige coat, with a grey shirt, jeans, sneakers, and also accessorised with gold chains.

The Sydney-born stunner couldn't help but flash a smile as she made her way to the restaurant, while the driver affectionately kept his hand behind her back.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Jessica Hart's publicity team for comment.

Former flames: Her night out with James comes after she spoke about the reason why she and fiance Stavros Niarchos III (left) split in 2017

Her night out with James comes after the model spoke about her split from her then-fiance Stavros Niarchos III in 2017.

In August 2018, Jessica revealed the reason behind their unexpected break-up, telling fans their 'journey ran its course'.

'That journey ran its course, my friend. Everything is and was fine, it was completely amicable,' she wrote.
They have been inseparable over the last few days, after the model split from her boyfriend Kid Buu.

And Blac Chyna and Soulja Boy were pictured getting very hands-on during a Valentine's Day shopping date at Saks Fifth Avenue on Thursday night.

The model, whose famous exes include Tyga and Rob Kardashian, looked loved-up as she walked hand-in-hand with the Crank That hitmaker, 28.

Smitten?: Blac Chyna and Soulja Boy were pictured getting very hands-on during a Valentine's Day shopping date at Saks Fifth Avenue on Thursday night

While Soulja even took to his Instagram to share a cosy selfie of himself with Chyna in a customised Rolls-Royce, which he captioned with: 'Happy Valentines Day,' followed by a heart and happy face emoji.

The rapper also took to his Twitter account to post a cryptic tweet, which said: 'In love,' followed by love heart eyed and shrugging arms emojis.

For their shopping trip, Chyna looked chic in a pair of black leggings and a silver studded and floral embroidered leather jacket.

Hands-on: The model, whose famous exes include Tyga and Rob Kardashian, looked loved-up as she walked hand-in-hand with the Crank That hitmaker, 28

'In love': While Soulja even took to his Instagram to share a cosy selfie of himself with Chyna in a customised Rolls-Royce, which he captioned with: 'Happy Valentines Day'

Loved-up: The rapper also took to his Twitter account to post a cryptic tweet, which said: 'In love,' followed by love heart eyed and shrugging arms emojis

Adding glamorous touches, she accessorised her look with diamond earrings and a matching necklace, as well as studded and floral patterned heeled ankle boots.

Chyna rocked a long curly blow-dried yellow wig for the shopping date, she added a slick of glamorous make-up.

Meanwhile, Soulja made sure he shopped in comfort as he opted for a white, red and blue tracksuit with matching coloured trainers.

He completed his look with a sweat headband and lots of eye-catching diamond jewellery.

Chic: For their shopping trip, Chyna looked chic in a pair of black leggings and a silver studded and floral embroidered leather jacket

Bling: Adding glamorous touches, she accessorised her look with diamond earrings and a matching necklace, as well as studded and floral patterned heeled ankle boots

Glamorous: Chyna rocked a long curly blow-dried yellow wig for the shopping date, she added a slick of glamorous make-up

Hand-in-hand: Meanwhile, Soulja made sure he shopped in comfort as he opted for a white, red and blue tracksuit with matching coloured trainers

Their Valentine's Day date comes after reports claimed that Chyna has reportedly been secretly dating Soulja for a week - claims at odds with the fact he already has a girlfriend.

Chyna - who raises daughter Dream, two, with her ex Rob Kardashian and son King Cairo, six, with her ex Tyga - and the hip-hop star are alleged to have flirted online and 'slid into each other's DMs'.

According to TMZ, the pair first met in person at Sean Kingston's LA penthouse last week, where sparks flew.

They have been inseparable ever since and even attended some Grammys after-parties together, but it was initially thought they were just friends.

Details: He completed his look with a sweat headband and lots of eye-catching diamond jewellery

Going strong: Their Valentine's Day date comes after reports claimed that Chyna has reportedly been secretly dating Soulja for a week

Love at first DM: Chyna and the hip-hop star are alleged to have flirted online and 'slid into each other's DMs'

Soulja Boy has even shared a few pictures of the two of them together, coining their couple name 'DrakoChyna'.

The rapper - best known for his 2007 hit Crank That - has been dating model Tiona Fernan.

Just two weeks ago, he was sharing snaps of the beauty on his social media accounts, enthusing about his 'love' for her.

Party: According to TMZ, the pair first met in person at Sean Kingston's LA penthouse last week, where sparks flew

Meanwhile, Tiona has been sharing a number of sizzling snaps with cheeky captions like: 'You can sleep on me, but then youll see me in your dreams'.

Another more philosophical quote read: 'My heart is at ease knowing that what was meant for me will never miss me and what misses me was never meant for me.'

Stunning model Tiona last shared a gushing tribute to Soulja Boy just a few hours ago, before the report first surfaced.

MailOnline has contacted representatives for both stars for comment.
The new trailer for the upcoming Netflix film, Triple Frontier, is nothing short of a violent thrill-ride.

Ben Affleck leads a group of ex-military mates who are despondent with their life back in the homeland after serving their country honorably.

One by one, the men make the decision to regroup in order to pull off a daring heist against a South American drug cartel.

intense: Ben Affleck leads a group of ex-military on a mission to rob a drug lord in the new trailer for Netflix's Triple Frontier

The trailer begins with the universal feeling of the gang of five, which includes Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Pedro Pascal and Garrett Hedlund.

'I have never had a feeling as pure or proud as completing a mission with all of you.'

But that sense of pride in country and honor has slowly dissipated.

'Everything we've done for the last 17 years -- trying to make a difference -- and we never took a dime.'

After a quick shot of a seemingly endless road, the camera zeroes in on Affleck's character, who appears lackluster behind the wheel of his car.

'You've been shot five times for your country and you can't even afford to send your kids to college.'

Casualties: Back on the homeland, the gang of five are despondent: 'You've been shot five times for your country and you can't even afford to send your kids to college'

The mission: The men regroup in order to steal millions of dollars from a South American drug cartel; the film also stars Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Pedro Pascal and Garrett Hedlund

The goal: The group are trying to haul out about $100 million dollars in drug money

When one of the men declares: 'we finally get to use our skills for our own benefit', the guys set forth on their daring mission to steal $75 million in cash believed to be at one location.

'You can not go back to your normal life,' says a determined Affleck. 'You guys need to own the fact that what we're about to do is criminal.

With that, the group wield their military skills and take down some drug cartel thugs, until they finally reach their goal: the room full of cash.

But some unforeseen circumstances make it even more difficult for them to get out of the compound alive with bags full of money.

'There's about $100 million waiting in the van out there,' Affleck shouts with authority to his hesitant comrades. 'We're not leaving them any of this money.'

He then issues an on-the-spot plan for a getaway: 'We need to hunt quickly.'

The snag: Some unforeseen circumstances make it even more difficult for them to get out of the compound alive with bags full of money

Affleck's getaway plan: 'We need to hunt quickly'

Brutal: The men go on a rampage to make their escape

In a show of brutal force and violence, the men go on a rampage to make their escape.

As the trailer winds down, the men find out that the money didn't just belong to the head of the cartel.

'A lot more people are gonna come after you.'

In a barrage of quick clips, the men go on to fight several different forces determined to get their money back.

'It's too late to walk away.'

Revelation: Eventually, the gang of five find out that the money didn't just belong to the cartel

The battle: The group go on to fight different forces determined to get their money back

The film has been in the works since October of 2010, and has gone through very different cast line-ups, titles, directors and even studios.

Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, Will Smith, Channing Tatum, Tom Hardy, Mark Wahlberg, Mahershala Ali and Casey Affleck were all attached at one point or another.

Affleck himself had walked away from the project in July 2017 due to 'personal reasons'  two months after Netflix had picked it up  before rejoining in March of this year.

Triple Frontier is set to be be released on March 13, 2019, by Netflix.
Things appear to be going from strength to strength for Steve Jacobs and reported new girlfriend Emma Goody.

The pair were spotted enjoying a day out at Sydney's Bondi Beach on January 24.

Emma, 42, looked relaxed on a dark green collared shirt, French-tucked into her skinny black jeans.

Dog day afternoon! Steve Jacobs (left) and reported girlfriend Emma Goody (right) were spotted at Bondi Beach on January 24... where they saved a pooch from being hit by a car

Tortoiseshell glasses, a matching brown belt and black leather slip-on sandals completed her stylish outfit.

Steve, 52, also went casual in a grey collared shirt, white shorts and thongs as he strolled alongside florist Emma.

The pair first sparked rumours they were a couple when they were spotted running errands in Sydney's Bondi on New Years Day.

Chill! Steve, 52, also went casual in a grey collared shirt, white shorts and thongs as he strolled alongside florist Emma

Best foot forward: Emma, 42, looked relaxed on a dark green collared shirt, French-tucked into her skinny black jeans

They looked happy in each other's company as they shared a joke together on the way to the famous promenade at South Bondi.

The Nine weatherman appeared very much in holiday mode, sporting a five o'clock shadow, with his shirt undone to expose his tanned chest.

The pair were engrossed in conversation as they walked among the suburb's beach bums.

Artful accessories: Tortoiseshell glasses, a matching brown belt and black leather slip-on sandals completed Emma's stylish outfit

They had plenty to talk about - Steve was due to start back at the Today show full-time the week after, as weather presenter.

Steve, who was the main weather presenter for Today between 2005 and 2017, has since taken the reigns from Natalia Cooper, who is away on maternity leave.

Natalia took over the job from Steve back in 2017, after he relocated to Vanuatu in a last-ditch effort to save his marriage to then-wife Rosie.



Chats: They had plenty to talk about - Steve was due to start back at the Today show full-time the week after, as weather presenter

In harmony: The pair looked happy in each other's company as they shared a joke together on the way to the famous promenade at South Bondi

Canine conundrum! During Steve and Emma's day out, the weatherman rushed to the aid of a pet dog which had bolted into the traffic along Campbell Parade

During Steve and Emma's day out at South Bondi, the weatherman rushed to the aid of a pet dog.

The pup had bolted into the traffic along Campbell Parade, the main thoroughfare by the beach.

After spotting the frantic canine in distress, Steve wasted no time in leaping to the dog's aid, dodging traffic along busy Campbell Parade to snatch the pooch back to safety.

Ruff moment! After spotting the frantic canine in distress, Steve wasted no time in leaping to the dog's aid, dodging traffic along busy Campbell Parade to snatch the pooch back to safety. Emma held the adorable brown mutt to her chest as the couple took the beast back to its grateful owner

No mean feet: After being safely put back on its pink lead, Steve crouched down to give the pampered pooch a final pat before moving on, good deed of the day done

Fresh start: The pair were first spotted running errands in Sydney's Bondi on New Years Day

Emma held the adorable brown mutt to her chest as the couple took the beast back to its grateful owner.

After being safely put back on its pink lead, Steve crouched down to give the pampered pooch a final pat before moving on, good deed of the day done.

The couple then quickly headed off for a much-deserved spot of shopping after their adrenaline rush.
Romance was in the air on Thursday.

And Emma Roberts celebrated Valentine's Day by spending it with her boyfriend Evan Peters.

The 28-year-old actress was spotted sharing a kiss with her 32-year-old actor beau on the streets of New York City.

Smooching: Emma Roberts celebrated Valentine's Day by spending it with her boyfriend Evan Peters

A chill ran through the Big Apple air, and Emma did her best to keep cozy by donning a puffy black jacket.

Underneath she sported skintight blue jeans that highlighted her slender stems and she donned dark New Balance sneakers.

Her blonde tresses were parted just right of center and she pulled them down her neck and under her jacket.

Romance: The 28-year-old actress was spotted sharing a kiss with her 32-year-old actor beau on the streets of New York City

Kisses: A chill ran through the Big Apple air, and Emma did her best to keep cozy by donning a puffy black jacket

Evan opted for his own casual look, donning burgundy sweatpants and a black hoodie for their walk.

He sported a navy beanie on top of his brunette locks which feel freely around his head.

He sported tan work boots and had a bag in one hand.

Out on the town: Underneath she sported skintight blue jeans that highlighted her slender stems and she donned dark New Balance sneakers

Casual: Evan opted for his own casual look, donning burgundy sweatpants and a black hoodie for their walk

The couple began dating in 2012 and were previously engaged, but Emma has been spotted on occasion without her ring on.

Back in 2013, the actress was arrested for domestic abuse in Canada after officers responded to a report of a fight in a hotel room.

Emma was taken into custody after they allegedly found One Tree Hill star Evan with a bloody nose and a bite mark.

He declined to press charges and she was released several hours later, with the couple saying in a joint statement that it was 'an unfortunate incident and misunderstanding.'

The pair have remained famously tight-lipped about their relationship since.
The commitment ceremonies on Married at First Sight are always filled with plenty of drama and unexpected moments.

But one rather surprising revelation is how long it takes to film each couple's time in front of the experts.

Melissa Lucarelli, 38, told the Real Talk podcast on Wednesday that while on TV each couple appears for only a few minutes, it actually takes much longer to film.

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'You're up there for a very long time': MAFS' Melissa Lucarelli (pictured) reveals what really happens at the commitment ceremony

'The commitment ceremonies go on for a long time so you're up there for a long time,' she said.

You can be up there for 45 minutes.

'Say the Ines and Bronson [drama]... imagine that for 45 minutes that's why my face was [all over the place],' she said referring to incompatible couple Ines Basic and Bronson Norrish.

It comes after another bride, Cyrell Paule, 29, dropped a bombshell about her co-stars in an interview with Woman's Day podcast on Thursday.

'They think they're the next Nicole Kidman and Brad Pitt!' It comes after another bride, Cyrell Paule, 29, dropped a bombshell about her co-stars in an interview with Woman's Day podcast on Thursday. (Pictured Ines Basic and Sam Ball)

Cyrell claimed some of her co-stars, including her 'husband' Nic Jovanovic, 28, are only on the show to boost their acting careers and increase their Instagram followers.

'They're honestly thinking they're going to be the next Nicole Kidman and Brad Pitt... and they just want Instagram followers!' she said candidly.

'You guys think you're going to end up at the Oscars or something? This is like maximum six months... settle down.'

Cyrell claims she confronted Nic on the show, but producers haven't aired any of it to ensure that the seemingly down-to-earth electrician gets a 'good edit'.

Blowing the lid: Cyrell Paule (left), 29, claimed some of her co-stars, including her 'husband' Nic Jovanovic, 28, are only on the show to boost their acting careers and increase their Instagram followers

'From day dot, I said to Nic 'you're here for fame',' she said.

'And that's what they're not showing, he would ask 'why aren't we getting [photographed] Cyrell?' and 'what do you think happens when you get more Instagram followers?'

'They don't air me calling him fake and wanting fame, they didn't air me saying to him 'if you're here for fame tell me, but don't make me look like a fool!'

Channel Nine are determined to top the success of season 5, which drew in an impressive 1.75 million viewers during the reunion finale - and so far the drama appears to be paying off.

Editing tricks? Cyrell (right) claims she confronted her 'husband' Nic Jovanovic (left) on the show but producers haven't aired any of it to ensure that the seemingly down-to-earth tradie gets a 'good edit'

During it's first week, the total cross-platform average viewership exceeded 2.139 million viewers.

However, viewers have begun questioning just how authentic the show really is.

From the unconvincing 'affair' between Ines Basic and Sam Ball to the bizarre pairing of self-proclaimed 'former lesbian', Lauren Huntriss, with 29-year-old virgin, Matt Bennett, many viewers are convinced the cast are paid actors.

'Look honestly the worst part of this is how little chemistry Ines and Sam actually have. Hire some better actors next time #MAFS,' one viewer tweeted.

Contrived storylines? From the unconvincing 'affair' between Ines Basic and Sam Ball to the bizarre pairing of self-proclaimed 'former lesbian', Lauren Huntriss (right), with a 29-year-old virgin, Matt Bennett (left), many viewers are convinced the cast are paid actors

Staged? Viewers have claimed there is no chemistry between Ines and Sam

Editing fail: An embarrassing editing fail on Monday night's episode saw Sam's 'wife' Elizabeth Sobinoff wearing two different outfits and hairstyles in the same scene

'Ines and Sam meeting up seems so fake. Where did you find these actors? The dump?' another tweet read.

A third person wrote: 'How much money are you paying Ines and Sam lol obviously actors #MarriedAtFirstSight.'

One prominent media expert told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday that MAFS risks jumping the shark as the lack of authenticity is a turn off for viewers.

Turned off: One prominent media expert told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday that MAFS risks jumping the shark as the lack of authenticity is a turn off for viewers

'In a highly competitive media environment, conflict and drama are the 'low hanging fruit' that reality shows rely on to catapult them into ratings success,' said Nicole Reaney of InsideOut Public Relations.

'When reality TV first appeared on our screens, there was definitely more authenticity and 'risk' to those shows and that's what drew in the mass followings. Viewers enjoyed seeing a more relatable cast.

'The volume and shift in reality series as a whole has seen Aussies become more cynical in the intention behind the cast and the show. Over time shows risk losing their initial loyal audience.

Next stop, Hollywood? Sam, 26, who is among the most talked about grooms, has been revealed as an aspiring actor as seen on his Star Now profile

Experienced: In his Star Now bio, Sam says he has 'a lot of experience within modelling and commercial roles'

'With previous cast commenting and current viewer criticism of the show, Nine does risk overstepping that line.'

Newly surfaced 'acting' photos and videos of cast members have fuelled the 'paid actors' theory.

Sam, 26, who is among the most talked about grooms, has been revealed as an aspiring actor as seen on his Star Now profile.

Busted! Gold Coast electrician, Mike Gunner, was revealed as a working actor last week after footage surfaced on Instagram of the 43-year-old playing a gun-toting criminal in a low-budget action movie

TV career: Melissa Lucarelli, 38, has had plenty of on-camera experience as a presenter on Postcards, a traffic reporter for Sunrise and an emcee/host affiliated with Australia's Next Top Model

Gold Coast electrician, Mike Gunner, was revealed as a working actor last week after footage surfaced on Instagram of the 43-year-old playing a gun-toting criminal in a low-budget action movie.

Melissa Lucarelli, 38, has had plenty of on-camera experience as a presenter on Postcards, a traffic reporter for Sunrise and an emcee/host affiliated with Australia's Next Top Model.

Zen-obsessed 'groom' Dina Hira, 34, appears to also be obsessed with stardom after appearing on Channel Seven reality show First Dates last year.

He looks familiar! Zen-obsessed 'groom' Dina Hira, 34, appears to also be obsessed with stardom after appearing on Channel Seven reality show First Dates last year

Who knew they were friends? He's also appeared in various photo shoots, including one for prescription glasses company Speqs in 2017 - ironically with Jessika Power (left), 26, who also appears on MAFS this season

He's also appeared in various photo shoots, including one for prescription glasses company Speqs in 2017 - ironically with Jessika Power, 26, who also appears on MAFS this season.

Last month, Telv Williams from MAFS season 5, claimed there were paid actors on the show last year.

'... I wonder how many paid actors they've hired this year? I know most were actors in our season. I can't believe it hasn't come out yet,' he wrote on Instagram.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment.
She stars as a time-traveling assassin in the new Netflix comic book adaptation The Umbrella Academy.

And on Thursday night Mary J. Blige was every inch the star as she arrived for the show's premiere in Toronto, Canada, where it was filmed.

The recording artist and actress, 48, stood out from the crowd in a neon yellow pantsuit.

Eye-catching outfit: Mary J. Blige was every inch the star as she arrived for the premiere of Netflix's Umbrella Academy Thursday in Toronto, Canada, where the show was filmed

Blige stars as the show's main villain Cha-Cha.

She and her partner Hazel, played by Cameron Britton, carry out brutal killings while wearing giant animal masks.

They are pitched against a group of half a dozen adults born with mysterious superpowers who seek to discover the truth about their father's mysterious death and save the world from a global apocalypse.

The main protagonist is Vanya, played by Ellen Page.

New role: The recording artist and actress, 48, stars as a ruthless time-traveling assassin Cha-Cha in the comic book adaptation that drops on the streaming service Friday

Stylish: Blige stood out from the crowd in a neon yellow pantsuit with flared trousers and cape sleeves

Co-stars: Blige posed for pics with Ellen Page, who plays the show's main protagonist Vanya

Umbrella Academy is an adaptation of the comic book series created by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba and published by Dark Horse Comics.

Blige, who previously starred in the Netflix film Mudbound that earned her two Academy Award nominations, said she was drawn to the series by the character of Cha-Cha.

'The reason why she drew me to the role was that she represented something Ive never done, but I always wanted to do,' she explained to EW.com.

'Ive always wanted to play someone with no emotion, who didnt care about anything, whos just murder, murder, murder. All-business, never wavering,' Blige said. 'Ive always wanted to learn martial arts, I always wanted to shoot all different all kinds of firearms, and I did exactly that.'

Learned martial arts: Blige, pictured with Page and castmember Emmy Raver-Lampman, said the role of Cha-Cha 'represented something Ive never done, but I always wanted to do'

She revealed during an interview on Good Morning America ealrier in the day that she trained in martial arts for five months for the part.

'Just the fact that I get to fight, I get to learn martial arts, I was like yaassss!' she told the ABC morning show.

Blige was joined at the screening by Page as well as castmembers Emmy Raver-Lampman, David Castaneda, Robert Sheehan and Tom Hopper.

The Umbrella Academy is available for streaming on Netflix from Friday.

On trend: Raver-Lampman shimmered as she went bra-less in a red and black striped suit

Black and blue: David Castaneda and Robert Sheehan hammed it up as they posed for pics together
Kevin Bacon had a very romantic Valentine for his wife of than three decades, Kyra Sedgwick, on Thursday.

Kevin, 60, took to Instagram with a clip in which he played a rendition of Joni Mitchell's 'A Case of You' with a ukulele he bought Kyra, 53, for the holiday.

The Footloose actor began the clip sitting on his bedroom floor in hushed tones as the family dog Lily relaxed next to him.

Awww! Kevin Bacon, 60, had a very romantic Valentine for his wife of than three decades, Kyra Sedgwick, 53, on Thursday, as he took to Instagram with a clip in which he played a rendition of Joni Mitchell's 'A Case of You' with a ukulele he bought her for the holiday

'OK, we don't really do Valentine's Day in my family so shhh don't tell Kyra that I got her this little Valentine's Day present; all right? Just keep it quiet, thanks!' he said.

The veteran entertainer began playing and singing the 1971 folk song, with the lyrics, 'In my blood like holy wine/taste so bitter and so sweet/I could drink a case of you/Oh, baby/And I would still be on my feet/Still be on my feet.'

The Mystic River star wrapped up in saying, 'Happy Valentine's Day, honey. I love you.'

The clip was a big hit with The Closer actress, who responded in the thread, 'Omgggggggg I love you.'

Feedback: Both Kyra and parent daughter Sosie were amused by the patriarch's performance

Backup: The Footloose actor began the clip sitting on his bedroom floor in hushed tones as the family dog Lily relaxed next to him

Concert: The veteran entertainer began playing and singing the 1971 folk song

Unimpressed: The family dog Lilly didn't seem too moved by the actor's performance

The duo are parents to two adult kids, musician Travis Bacon, 29, and actress Sosie Bacon, 26, who replied to the thread with a reference to the family dog while adding more of the song lyrics.

She wrote: 'I think this song pertains more to your contentious relationship with Lilly than your lovely relationship with @kikkosedg "constantly in the darkness, where's that at? If you want me I'll be in the parkkk."'

It's not the first time Bacon has commemorated his long romance with Segdwick with classic music.

Milestone: Kevin and Kyra celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary last fall

Happy in Hollywood: The actor and his wife have maintained their marriage and careers over decades in Tinseltown

Last fall, the pair took to Instagram with a clip in which they sang the Bee Gees 1967 ballad To Love Somebody for their anniversary, writing, '30 years with this amazing woman. She is the music in my life. #luckyguy #tolovesomebody #beegees@kikkosedg.'

Bacon hailed his spouse's patience while chatting with People in 2017.

'I was watching videotapes of our family from the early '90s,' said the actor. 'Hearing me making these cheesy jokes from behind the camera, I said to my wife, "When I look at those tapes and hear the things coming out of my mouth, the fact that you have stayed with me is truly heroic."'
He's the Australian hunk who landed a leading role on American hit series UnREAL.

And now Aussie actor Adam Demos, 32, has been cast in the upcoming Netflix movie Falling Inn Love alongside Christina Milian.

Fittingly, the anticipated rom-com was announced by Deadline over Valentine's Day and mirrors Adam's past real-life role as a construction worker before he got his break in acting.

Paving his way to Hollywood! Australian actor Adam Demos (pictured) is cast in Netflix romance that mirrors his true life history working as a labourer

The chiselled star posted a photo of the news over Instagram on Thursday with the caption, 'Pumped!!'

The film centres around a city girl, played by Milian, who enters a Win An Inn contest on a whim.

After winning a run-down property in a small picturesque New Zealand town, she decides to fix and flip it, with the help of a good looking local contractor, played by Adam.

No doubt there will be more shirtless scenes, for which the hunk became known for during his time on UnREAL, a fictional spin of The Bachelor.

More work: In the new film, called Falling Inn Love, Adam plays a good looking local contractor who renovates an Inn in a New Zealand town. Pictured alongside Shiri Appleby in a scene from TV series UnREAL

Los Angeles based: Before his meteoric rise to fame, Adam worked as a labourer and demolition worker in Wollongong, NSW. Pictured in the Hollywood Hills

Before his meteoric rise to fame, Adam worked as a labourer and demolition worker in New South Wales' Wollongong.

The actor has told TV Week magazine that he had taken jobs in demolition, worked for a roofing company, and took on shifts at the Port Kembla steelworks before pursuing an acting career.

He also revealed he'd be happy to do it all again if the roles dry up, calling construction his 'real job'.

Speaking with The Herald Sun, he said: 'If I have to pick up a shovel again, I'll do it. You've got to pay your bills you know,' he told the paper.

More shirtless scenes to come? Adam (left) became known for his many scenes filmed without a shirt during his time on UnREAL (pictured above) and there may be more in Falling Inn Love

'I think that's the luckiest thing that's happened to me, that I had a career before this working in construction and realising acting is a job, but a real job is working 7-5 labouring,' he added.

The film, written by Elizabeth Hackett and Hilary Galanoy, is set to begin filming this month in New Zealand, though it is unclear when it will hit Netflix.

It's directed by Roger Kumble, of Just Friends and 1999 cult classic Cruel Intentions fame.
She is one of the most well-beloved actresses on the popular women's network.

And on Thursday, Lacey Chabert stopped by Hallmark's Home and Family to promote her new film, Love, Romance & Chocolate.

In celebration of both her Valentine's film, and the holiday, the mother-of-one looked lovely in a chic, red sheath dress.

Press stop: On Thursday, Lacey Chabert, 36, stopped by Hallmark's Home and Family to promote her new film, Love, Romance & Chocolate

Lacey paired her stand out frock with a pair of nude, strappy heels.

The pretty brunette accessorized minimally, choosing a gold bangle, rings and small earrings.

The Mean Girls star matched her dress to her lips with a bold red shade.

So chic: The former Party of 5 star shared the back of her beautiful hairstyle, which featured a half updo, waves and a braid

Pretty woman: In celebration of both her Valentine's film, and the holiday, the mother-of-one looked lovely in a chic, red sheath dress

Appropriate: The Mean Girls star matched her dress to her lips with a bold red shade

Lacey stopped by the show to promote her new romantic TV movie, Love, Romance & Chocolate.

The story follows New York accounatant Emma, who's boyfriend breaks up with her before they take their Valentine's trip to Belgium.

Her friend encourages to take the trip solo. While there, she meets a famous chocolatier and they eventually fall in love.

Desserts, oh my! While on the show, the star showed off yummy sweet treats

Well-dressed: Host Debbie Matenopoulos,44, looked great in a blue blouse decorated with bold red flowers

All in the family: Lacey and Debbie joined another Hallmark favorite, Cameron Mathison, 49

Up next for Lacy is a starring role as Tess in four Hallmark films.

The Mississippi native will take the lead in the TV movie series, The Crossword Mysteries.

She'll also star in Acre Beyond the Rye, alongside James Caan.
Josh Altman tossed an open house with vegan food and kambucha to sell a home in the Venice area during Thursday's episode of Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles.

The 39-year-old real estate agent took it up a notch after the Preston Way property lingered on the market after five months with a listing price of $5 million.

'I love it down here, it's cool,' Josh said as he was shown riding an electric scooter in the bohemian beachside neighborhood.

Venice house: Josh Altman hosted a funky open house to sell a custom-built home in the bohemian Venice area on Thursday's episode of Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles

'Venice has been very hot for the past five or six years,' added Josh who was trying to sell the five-bedroom house for artist and contemporary home developer Mario Romano.

He broke the news to Mario that they should reduce the price to $4.5 million.

Mario protested saying the property was 11,000 square feet with a huge yard, pool and a 'compound curve' on the roof.

Josh noted in a confession that Mario was 'more than a developer, he's an artist'.

Custom design: The Preston Way property was originally listed at $5 million but was on the market for five months

Price drop: Josh Altman met with artist and developer Mario Romano and suggested dropping the price to $4.5 million

'It's personal,' Josh said.

He suggested holding a 'huge open house' and lowering the price to $4.5 million to sell it.

'This better work,' Mario told him.

Personal business: Josh noted that Mario was a developer and artist and the sale was 'personal'

Big event: The real estate agent suggested lowering the price to $4.5 million and holding an open house for potential buyers

Josh and his brother Matt hosted an open house that was tailored to fit the hippy vibe of Venice.

The event featured free vegan food, kambucha drinks and live painting by local street artist Jules Muck whose mural art can be found throughout Venice.

'We gotta sell this thing. Today is as clutch as it gets,' Josh said.

Vegan food: The open house featured vegan food, kambucha and a live painting by local artist Jules Muck

Huge lot: The contemporary home featured a swimming pool on an 11,000 square-feet lot

Outdoor space: The Preston Way property also had outdoor entertaining space

They staged the open house at a cost of $30,000 and it drew a steady crowd of potential buyers, agents and brokers.

Josh later met up with Mario who was working on a new contemporary home in the upscale Brentwood area.

'We got an offer,' he told Mario and then informed him it was for $4 million.

The offer: Josh later met with Mario and said they received an offer of $4 million

'That offer is too low. Do you think Picasso does price reductions?,' Mario said.

Josh then revealed the 'best and final' offer they received was $4,250,000 in an all-cash deal with no contingencies.

'Get it off your books, $4 million in this neighborhood is a big f***ing deal,' Josh told him.

Too low: Mario protested that the offer was too low and asked if Picasso did price reductions before accepting the best and final offer of $4,250,000

'It has to be the right person and not just the right number,' said Mario who decided that it was 'time to let go' of the property.

'Deal?,' Josh asked.

'Absolutely. This is fantastic,' Mario said.

James Harris meanwhile met with seller Jesse after selling her Brinkley East - a $5.4 million home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles.

Together again: Jesse after buying a $5.4 million home from James Harris wanted him to sell her old house for $4 million

Jesse was looking to sell her old Brinkley West three-bedroom house on a 8,723 square-feet lot for $4 million.

James suggested listing it at $3.5 million and staging an open house to get the price as high as $3.7 million.

The London native recruited his mum Dawn who just moved to Los Angeles to stage the property for an open house with a budget of $15,000.

Family business: James recruited his mum Dawn to stage the property for an open house

'Just don't f*** it up, please,' he teased his mother.

Dawn ended up staging it for $20,000, but there weren't any complaints as she nailed the interior design.

'Your mom is the s***,' said David Parnes who works with James.

Duly warned: James playfully warned his mother not to mess it up

The before: The unfurnished home featured hardwood floors and white walls

The after: Dawn impressed the buyers with her staging work

Nice touches: The staging also included a children's bedroom

James and David afterward visited Jesse who was recovering from a calf injury and said they had one offer of $3.68 million.

She recalled her own recent home buying experience that included competitive bidding and asked them to 'build the FOMO' - short for Fear Of Missing Out.

David warned that a counter-offer of $3,715,00 could risk losing the deal, but Jesse wanted to go for it.

Counter offer: David Parnes joined his business partner James as they discussed an offer of $3.68 million

'I'm nervous now,' she said as James called the buyers.

The plan worked and the seller agreed to the counter-offer, which meant a commission of $111,450.

Tracy Tutor meanwhile worked with her friend Stephanie who wanted to sell her nine-bedroom, 15-bathroom Westside home after moving to Nashville with her husband and four children.

Getting nervous: Jesse wanted to increase the FOMO factor and made a counter-offer of $3,715,000

She was seeking $15.5 million for the house on a one-acre lot.

Tracy suggested dropping the price to $8,995,000 and staging it to attract buyers.

The staging cost $40,000 and Tracy told potential buyers that it was the 'best deal on the Westside in years'.

Friendly sale: Tracy Tutor met with her friend Stephanie who wanted to sell her sprawling property for $15.5 million

New price: The price was lowered to $8,995,000 as Stephanie was moving to Nashville and wanted to sell it

Living room: The nine-bedroom home featured a spacious living room

Hardwood floors: The 15-bathroom home featured gorgeous hardwood floors

Tracy later called Stephanie and said she had a 'best and final offer' of $8,250,000.

The all-cash deal would close in 14 days with no inspections and Tracy urged her to take it.

'We don't want any more drama,' said Stephanie who agreed to the offer that would earn Tracy a commission of $224,875.

Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles will return next week on Bravo.
She was brought in to host the the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Night Party.

And Shailene Woodley well and truly got into the party spirit as she chugged a bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne on stage on Thursday evening.

The actress, 27, let her hair down as she joked around with Virgin boss Richard Branson and music producer Mark Ronson on stage.

Down it! Shailene Woodley well and truly got into the party spirit as she chugged a bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne on stage on Thursday evening

Although Richard stood beside her with his head in his hands, it appeared that the stunt was taken in jest as they chuckled away.

Ensuring she made a statement during the evening, Shailene paired a red ostrich feather top with red leather trousers for her big night out.

The Big Little Lies star added shiny red heels and wore her hair piled high on top of her head in a stylish bun with strands framing her pretty face.

Jokers: Although Richard stood beside her with his head in his hands, it appeared that the stunt was taken in jest as they chuckled away

Pals: The actress, 27, let her hair down as she joked around with Virgin boss Richard Branson and music producer Mark Ronson on stage

Shailene completed her ensemble with a shiny gold box clutch.

The event was held to mark the opening of bookings for Virgin Voyages new cruise ship Scarlet Lady.

The ship will launch on its maiden voyage for the company from Miami in 2020, according to the Orlando Sentinel, and each sailing will make a stop at Bimini, the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland United States.

Rock on! Shailene reclined on a cream leather sofa covered in Virgin branded cushions

Blended with the carpet: Shailene headlined the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Night Party in the Big Apple

Fluffy: The actress donned a red ostrich feather top and wore her hair piled high on top of her head

Bared skin: The Big Little Lies star added red leather trousers and shiny red heels. She completed her ensemble with a shiny gold box clutch

'Ive dreamed of starting my own cruise line since I was in my 20s, and now the launch is finally getting close,' Virgin founder Richard Branson, who attended Thursday night's party, explained.

'We have taken the time to think about every detail and craft an experience that brings the Virgin brand to life and disrupts the travel industry,' he said.

The Scarlet Lady has room for 2,770 passengers and is the first of four planned Virgin Voyages cruise ships.

The cruises, which will begin in April, will only be available to adults 18 and older.

Maiden voyage: The event was held to mark the opening of bookings for Virgin Voyages new cruise ship Scarlet Lady

New venture: The ship will launch on its maiden voyage for the company from Miami in 2020, according to the Orlando Sentinel , and each sailing will make a stop at Bimini, the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland United States

She's a big one! The Scarlet Lady has room for 2,770 passengers and is the first of four planned Virgin Voyages cruise ships

Party time: The cruises, which will begin in April, will only be available to adults 18 and older

On the guest list: Disney Channel star Peyton List also showed up for the celebration
She lost an impressive 10kg in 10 days during her appearance on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!

And Ajay Rochester proudly showed off her weight loss in a swimwear photo shoot this week.

The 49-year-old former Biggest Loser host oozed confidence while flaunting her curves in a bikini.

'Forget your beauty standards': Ajay Rochester flaunts her curves in a bikini for a body-positive photo shoot - after losing 10kg on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

After the photo shoot, Ajay took to Instagram on Monday to make a powerful statement about beauty standards.

She shared a variety of hashtags, including: 'Eff your beauty standards', 'Every body is a beach body' and 'Sexy at any size'.

Ajay modelled two different designs by Swimsuits For All in the body-positive campaign, including a black two-piece.

Bikini model: The 49-year-old former Biggest Loser host oozed confidence in the photo shoot

Model behaviour: Ajay modelled two different designs by Swimsuits For All in the body-positive campaign, including a black two-piece

'Sexy at any size': After the photo shoot, Ajay took to Instagram on Monday to make a powerful statement about beauty standards

It comes after Ajay shared before-and-after photos of her 10kg weight loss following her stint in the South African jungle.

'I do believe had I stayed in longer I would have clocked the biggest weight loss ever on I'm A Celebrity,' she wrote on Instagram.

'But in the 10 days I was there I lost 10 kilos, had a massive detox, am now in double digits and am well on my way to a fitter, healthier 2019 knowing when I need to I can survive without sugar, fat and booze!'

I'm A Celebrity weight loss: It comes after Ajay shared before-and-after photos (above) of her 10kg weight loss following her stint in the South African jungle

The single mother was the first person to be voted off I'm a Celebrity last month.

After her departure, she was served a large platter including a plate of fish and chips, salad and chocolate mouse.

In a recent Instagram post, Ajay said she has been struggling to eat regular portions since leaving jungle because her 'tummy has shrunk from the starvation'.

The I'm A Celebrity finale airs Sunday at 7:30pm on Channel 10
Aquaman star Jason Momoa is in talks to join the star-studded cast of Denis Villeneuve's Dune reboot.

If a deal gets done, Momoa would play Duncan Idaho, a fierce and loyal warrior, in the big-budget film.

The impressive list of stars that have already signed-on includes Timothee Chalamet, Oscar Issac, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling, Dave Bautista and Josh Brolin.

Blockbuster in the making: Aquaman actor Jason Momoa is in talks to join the star-studded cast for the Dune reboot, which is being directed by Denis Villeneuve

Villeneuve, best known for his Oscar-nominated direction in Arrival as well as Blade Runner 2049, will helm the film and co-produce.

He also co-wrote the script with Oscar-winner Eric Roth (Forest Gump) and Jon Spaihts (Prometheus).

Dune is a space-faring adventure story that explores themes of politics, religion, and mans relationship to nature in the distant future.

Sci-fi vet: Villeneuve (right) is best known for directing Ryan Gosling (left) and Harrison Ford (center) in "Blade Runner 2049, as well as Arrival, which he was nominated for an Oscar

The story, which was based on Frank Hebert's famed science fiction novel, follows Paul Atreides (Chalamet), whose family assumes control of the desert planet Arrakis and its valuable spice commodity. Their rule ends up being contested by competing noble families, which leads to betrayal and, ultimately, rebellion.

Momoa's Duncan Idaho, described as a handsome man to whom women are easily attracted, is a skilled pilot, hand-to-hand fighter, and Swordmaster of the Ginaz.

In the storyline, Lady Jessica calls him an 'admirable fighting man whose abilities at guarding and surveillance are so esteemed.'

Monster hit: Momoa is coming off the huge success of Aquaman, which has grossed more than $1.1 billion worldwide in about seven weeks

The actor is coming off the huge success of Aquaman, which has grossed more than $1.1 billion worldwide in about seven weeks.

Currently he's filming the Apple series See, and he most recently voiced Aquaman in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.

Production on Dune will reportedly begin this spring with shooting schedules already set for Budapest and Jordan, according to www.comicbookmovie.com.
They are co-parenting champs.

And Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck proved worthy of the title as they took turns watching their three children in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The Dallas Buyer's Club star, 46, got caught in the rain after a work out as the Justice League alum, 46, accompanied Violet, 13, Seraphina, 10 and Samuel, six to the Jimmy Kimmel show.

Co-parenting champs: Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck, both 46, took turns watching their three children in Los Angeles on Thursday

Daring to impress, Jennifer looked fabulous even in the most casual of ensembles including a sweatshirt and black leggings.

Her trademark brunette tresses were swept back in a loose ponytail allowing a full view of her youthful face.

Her hands were full as she prepared to fill her trunk with all of her accessories.

Ben looked casual as well in a tan jacket and denim pants.

Impressive: Daring to impress, Jennifer looked fabulous even in the most casual of ensembles including a sweatshirt and black leggings

Hair story: Her trademark brunette tresses were swept back in a loose ponytail allowing a full view of her youthful face

Hands full: Her hands were full as she prepared to fill her trunk with all of her accessories

The comes amid reports Ben has been talking to and spending time with his ex Lindsay Shookus again according to a new report from Us Weekly.

The two split six months ago as a source for the publication claims they 'have been talking and have seen each other again.'

It is claimed that it was Lindsay who had opened up the lines of communication and that a romantic reconciliation could happen.

Why hello: Ben looked casual as well in a tan jacket and denim pants as he held hands with son Samuel

Rumors: The comes amid reports Ben has been talking to and spending time with his ex Lindsay Shookus again

The insider said: 'It wouldn't be surprising if they got back together.'

After their August split, Ben famously went on to have a fling with 22-year-old Playboy model Shauna Sexton.

During the tryst, The Town star checked himself into a 40-day rehab program for alcoholism.

They're back? The two split six months ago as a source for the publication claims they 'have been talking and have seen each other again'

The Us Weekly source said that everything has been trending up for Affleck as they explained: 'Ben is in a much better place healthwise and is a lot happier.

Affleck and Shookus, started dating in July 2017, just three months after he and ex-wife Jennifer Garner filed for divorce.

However the distance proved to be too great as Ben's three kids live in LA while Shookus lives in New York with a daughter of her own.

'They are still very amicable and have stayed friends,' a source said of their break-up in August.
First Dates: Valentine Special

Rating:

Death In Paradise

Rating:

Well, thats over for another year. The most perilous day in the calendar, when any remark might be the wrong one and theres a massive bill at the end, is February 14  celebrated in the First Dates: Valentine Special (C4).

Youve got to feel for 20-year-old Oscar, too young to know when his companion was fishing for compliments. Hannah, 23, gave him every opportunity to flatter her figure, her looks, her jokes, but Oscar was in the grip of daters paralysis.

His mouth was open and his brain was locked solid. Finally, Hannah gave him the easiest of chances to say something nice. I fink Im common, she blushed, am I?

Complete strangers Demi and Danny opened their hearts  her previous lover was a girl, his mother had repeatedly attempted suicide  it felt false and manipulative. These are personal details most people might wait weeks to reveal, not blurt out in the first ten minutes

Oscar just goggled. This girl had told him shed got her boobs done to impress her last boyfriend (it didnt work) and read her online dating profile aloud to him (If you like legs, Ive got two of them.).

She was, she reckoned, the epitome of a classy bird because she didnt chuck up on a night out.

Hannah made Danny Dyer look like Lord Peter Wimsey. But Oscar, you daft dollop, a gentleman shouldnt say so.

First Dates appeals to two audiences. One lot are just mortally grateful not to be dating. The others are looking for tips and inspiration, learning the art of romantic conversation by watching the mistakes of others.

It was an education to see how Kurtis, 25, deflected every difficult question by turning it around, and making that seem like a compliment.

Whenever his date, Jaleesa, asked him about his life, he insisted on hearing more about hers. This made Kurtis seem both charming and deeply interested, when the truth was hed already forgotten her name.

Still, he had a distraction: the producers had sent him on an awkward double date. His mum was at the next table, being chatted up by Lincoln, 57, a dustman. That would put any lad off his stride.

Youve got to feel for 20-year-old Oscar, too young to know when his companion was fishing for compliments. Hannah, 23, gave him every opportunity to flatter her figure, her looks, her jokes, but Oscar was in the grip of daters paralysis

Such artificial set-ups are the series biggest drawback. The matchmakers are trying too hard.

When Kurtis and his mum slipped away to compare notes in the ladies loo, the moment was so obviously scripted that it undermined the whole episode.

And when, later on, complete strangers Demi and Danny opened their hearts  her previous lover was a girl, his mother had repeatedly attempted suicide  it felt false and manipulative.

These are personal details most people might wait weeks to reveal, not blurt out in the first ten minutes.

But none of the romances went as catastrophically wrong as the wedding day of Florence and Patrice on Death In Paradise (BBC1).

She was shot in the stomach, he was murdered. Cupid really made a mess of that one.

The slaughterous antics on the Caribbean idyll of Saint Marie have been getting progressively darker this year.

But none of the romances went as catastrophically wrong as the wedding day of Florence and Patrice on Death In Paradise (BBC1). She was shot in the stomach, he was murdered [File photo]

When Detective Sergeant Florence followed her boyfriend into an abandoned warehouse at the climax of last weeks show, it was bordering on a horror movie.

Plastic flaps hung over deserted corridors, and neon bulbs flickered. This could hardly have been more noir if a maniac in a clown mask had disembowelled her with a cleaver.

Florence survived, but quit the show. Lets hope this gives the writers a chance to reverse the drift, away from the gore and emotional bleakness. Weve got Idris Elba in Luther for all that.

Viewers love Death In Paradise for the sunny backdrop and frivolity of the crimes. Lighten up. It might be murder, but its only a bit of fun.

Damp squib of the night: In Australia With Julia Bradbury (ITV), the eponymous presenter headed straight for Bondi Beach in Sydney.

But she took the British weather with her, and sat on the sand in buckets of rain. Thats probably not what the sponsors were hoping for.
He's currently seen on TV screens trapped in a loveless relationship with his Married At First Sight 'wife', Ines Basic.

But Bronson Norrish is hoping to be in far higher spirits when he celebrates his 35th birthday on board a party boat in Perth next weekend.

On Friday morning, the entrepreneur shared details of the upcoming bash on social media, even inviting fans to attend the festivities should they wish to fork out a $40 fee.

Would YOU pay $40 to party with a Married At First Sight star? On Friday, contestant Bronson Norrish invited fans to celebrate his 35th birthday on board a boat in Perth next weekend

You're invited! The entrepreneur shared details of the upcoming event on social media, even inviting fans to attend the festivities should they wish to fork out a $40 fee

The former stripper shared the event 'Bronson's Birthdy (sic) Boat Bash' on his official Facebook page, providing information on the four-hour cruise, complete with DJ and a bar stocking 'cheap drinks'.

'Light nibbles' will also be provided for fans prepared to part with their cold hard cash for a ticket - which are discounted down from $59.

And it appears that there are many members of the public who are keen to rub shoulders with the reality star, with at least 168 people claiming they are 'interested' in attending.

He knows how to party! The one-time stripper shared the event 'Bronson's Birthdy (sic) Boat Bash' on his official Facebook page. He is pictured during his former career

It's unclear whether Ines will be among those attending the festivities, with Bronson recently changing his relationship status to 'It's Complicated' in what appears to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to his disastrous TV marriage.

Despite all the other MAFS couples living together in their own apartments during the experiment, Ines and Bronson are the only spouses to live separately.

They have frequently clashed during their relationship, and fans have even accused Ines of being 'emotionally abusive' towards her husband.

You can say that again! Bronson recently changing his relationship status to 'It's Complicated' in what appears to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to his disastrous TV marriage

The entrepreneur finally snapped during last Sunday's commitment ceremony, calling his wife a 'c**t' three times.

Bronson received a stern warning from the relationships experts, but was widely praised on Twitter for standing up for himself.

Ines now has her sights set on co-star Sam Ball, and they pair have been plotting a secret 'affair' over the past few episodes.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine
She was left stunned as her doting husband filled their Kensington home with heart-shaped balloons and flowers.

And Tamara Ecclestone, 34, and Jay Rutland, 37, continued their Valentine's Day celebrations as they headed out for dinner at Japanese restaurant Nobu in London on Thursday evening.

The socialite commanded attention as she slipped her curvaceous physique into a scarlet ruched maxi dress, teamed with a trendy biker jacket.

Loved-up: Tamara Ecclestone and Jay Rutland continued their Valentine's Day celebrations as they headed out for dinner at Japanese restaurant Nobu in London on Thursday

Ensuring all eyes were on her, the daughter of business magnate Bernie enahcned her height in a pair of classic black stilettos.

The brunette opted for shimmery pink eye shadow and heavy strokes of dewy foundation, while her tresses were styled into loose waves.

Cutting a dapper figure, businessman Jay looked suave in a grey V-neck jumper, indigo jeans and navy suede boots.

Hinting the pair first met at the lavish restaurant, Tamara penned on Instagram: 'Back to where it all started.'

Memories: Hinting she met the 37-year-old businessman at the lavish restaurant, the socialite, 34, penned on Instagram: 'Back to where it all started'

Night night: Following their romantic dinner, Tamara snuggled up in bed with their four-year-old daughter Sophia

Earlier that day, doting husband Jay ensured Tamara and Sofia awoke to a memorable Valentines Day surprise.

The thoughtful property developer filled their sprawling home in upmarket Kensington with heart-shaped balloons and Valentine themed cupcakes while his oblivious family slept, completely unaware of his efforts.

With a generous scattering of rose petals, chocolate and heart-shaped confetti spread across every surface, Jay ensured Tamara and Sofia  affectionately referred to as Fifi  got their Valentines Day off to the right start.

Considerate: Earlier that day, doting husband Jay ensured Tamara and Sofia awoke to a memorable Valentines Day surprise

Taking to Instagram later that day, an appreciative Tamara credited Jay for his considerate surprise by documenting it with a series of pictures  and suggested the couple are set to celebrate the special day by returning to Ibiza, where they first met in 2013.

Captioning the snaps, she wrote: 'Fifi and I waking up this morning to this thank you @jayrutland looking forward to going back to where it all started tonight.'

The brunette also shared a short Instagram video of their balloon filled property with the accompanying caption: 'Blessed.'

Nice touch: The thoughtful property developer filled their sprawling home in upmarket Kensington with heart-shaped balloons and Valentine themed cupcakes while his oblivious family slept

Especially for you: Iced cakes and posh Godiva chocolates were also laid out for the Formula 1 heiress and their four-year old daughter

Finishing touches: A generous scattering of rose petals, chocolates and heart-shaped confetti was spread across every surfac

Jay's gesture comes shortly after Tamara revealed she has stopped breastfeeding her young daughter, the couple's only child.

'No more breastfeeding for me now  we stopped at the end of last summer,' Tamara explained, adding that her daughter 'still sometimes says Mummy boo boo and Im like, No were done! The milk has all gone!'

'Shes getting her head around it. It was a big part of her life I suppose so its no surprise she has a trigger and misses it, Tamara pointed out, adding that she doesn't feel like she's missing out on bonding time since stopping feeding.

Thank you: Taking to Instagram later that day, an appreciative Tamara credited Jay for his considerate surprise

Lucky me: The brunette also shared a short Instagram video of their balloon filled property with the accompanying caption, 'Blessed'

'It was such a bond breastfeeding Fifi but to be honest she still falls asleep with her head on my boob so we still have that bond. At some point she was going to stop and she did it when she was ready,' she explained.

Tamara also revealed she was keen to donate her milk when her daughter stopped and she was still producing.

'I actually decided to share it in the end. I went onto this breast milk website and found this mum who was going back to work and was worried about not being able to feed her baby.'

'She came to my house and I gave her all the milk I wasnt able to use. It felt like a really incredible thing to be able to do for another mother.'
Time was on Chiwetel Ejiofors side when he embarked on what would become his directorial film debut.

It is eight years since he read William Kamkwambas inspirational memoir about building a makeshift wind turbine using scrap to pump water to irrigate crops in his village in Malawi. In that time the actor was able to work on the screenplay for The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind and cast a young actor to play schoolboy William.

He was also able to visit Wimbe, where the events took place, often enough for him to know he should make his film where it happened.

The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind (pictured) will be launched on Netflix on March 1, though there are plans for it to be shown in some cinemas

Over a career spanning two decades, the award-winning star of Twelve Years A Slave and Kinky Boots has worked with film-makers of the calibre of Stephen Frears, Spike Lee, Ridley Scott, Steve McQueen and Alfonso Cuaron.

He observed them, but realised hed been making slightly directorial decisions all along.

Part of an actors job is editorial, he said. With the script, youre trying to work out the best way to say something, or the best way to make a scene work.

The directors making the choices. But youre always engaged, in a kind of low-level directorial way.

Ejiofor, who divides his time between homes in London and Los Angeles, said as a film-maker he wanted to create this teleportation experience for the audience and take them to Malawi.

Theyre invited into a small village, where a couple are discussing whether they can afford to send their son to school. As intimate as those moments are, theyre universal, he told me in Park City, Utah, where the movie had its world premiere at the Sundance Festival.

(The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind will be launched on Netflix on March 1, though there are plans for it to be shown in some cinemas.)

Its a touching drama. At its centre is a story about a boy and his father. Every father and son clash, the actor said. I was also moved by the struggles of the people and what they were going through.

Eight years of development helped Ejiofor (pictured) grow into the role. But the films real breakthrough is Maxwell Simba, who portrays William at 13

When Ejiofor first read the book he felt he was too young to play Trywell, Williams father.

Eight years of development helped him grow into the role. But the films real breakthrough is Maxwell Simba, who portrays William at 13.

The pictures casting director threw a wide net in the UK and U.S., and used contacts in Kenya, South Africa and Malawi in the hunt.

ejiofor watched an audition tape featuring Simba, but was puzzled. He had a minimalism I was stunned by. I couldnt understand how somebody so young, without any experience on camera, could know that doing very little could communicate these big emotional moments.

What he was doing was very powerful, so I got on a plane and flew to Nairobi to do a workshop.

Maxwell had done a couple of plays in school. He was 15 playing 13. We were charmed by him and he got the part. Dick Pope, the cinematographer, captures the lads quality. The world of the film is in Maxwell Simbas eyes.

Ejiofor is already working on another directorial project (this time set in America).

Before that, he and his collaborators at BBC Film are striving to ensure that The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind reaches audiences in the remotest parts of the African continent, so its energy is as widespread as possible.

Big Bafta fun before and after!

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosted a pre-Bafta soiree at Claridges last Friday  and the folk who run the Oscars will give another bash next year.

Charles Finch crammed every A-lister in town into the private 5 Hertford Street club in Mayfair on Saturday night, while Universal and Working Title partied until 4.30am on Sunday morning at the Chiltern Firehouse.

That was also the place to be in the early hours of Monday morning, for Netflixs big after-after-after the Baftas bash. They plan to return next year.

Talking Baftas, the organisation needs to run the show live on the BBC. Its inexcusable to cut and censor it for TV audiences  its not 1950. But it does need sprucing up. And so do the Duke of Cambridges speeches.

There were enough screenwriters at the Royal Albert Hall. Why didnt one of them write him something witty?

I still remember a quip his aunt, Princess Anne, made about being at Murrayfield when Scotland won a game. And that must have been 25 years ago.
Badass broads are a rarity on the cinema screen. Charlize Theron has nailed two of them and shes about to add a third to her CV.

The Oscar-winner will star in the film adaptation of The Old Guard, a five-issue comic book series by writer Greg Rucka and illustrator Leandro Fernandez about immortal warriors led by Andronika the Scythian; or Andy for short.

Therons Andy battles alongside two opposing soldiers from The Crusades; a French Renaissance thief; and the latest recruit, Nile, a U.S. Marine who will be played by KiKi Layne, the newcomer from Cincinnati whos so good in Barry Jenkins visual poem If Beale Street Could Talk.

Charlize Theron (left) will star alongside KiKi Layne (right) in the film adaptation of The Old Guard, a five-issue comic book series by writer Greg Rucka

The Old Guards authors describe their work as a fairytale of blood and bullets. Theron knows this terrain well, having played post-apocalyptic combatant Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road and savage spy Lorraine Broughton in Atomic Blonde (sequels for both movies are under discussion). But its rare to have two women playing comrades in arms (and swords) in the same picture.

The source material comics are real page-turners as Rucka and Fernandez take us through battlefields down the ages and around the globe.

One tale hurtles us into skirmishes involving Shoguns in feudal Japan.

Andys very, very old  5,000 years old, in fact; an Amazon from the Herodotus age of ancient Greece  and shes got no idea why shes still alive.

Film-maker Gina Prince-Bythewood, who made The Secret Life Of Bees and the woefully underrated Beyond The Lights (starring a stunning Gugu Mbatha-Raw), will direct the picture this year on several locations, including sets in London and Morocco.

Turner blesses new 'Tina'

Tina Turner has given her approval to the new her...the actress who will take over the lead in Tina: The Musical.

Nkeki Obi-Melekwe, who recently graduated from acting college in America, will play the girl from Nutbush, Tennessee, who became an icon  replacing Adrienne Warren, who launched the production at the Aldwych Theatre last year to rave reviews.

Obi-Melekwe (pictured) is currently making her off-Broadway debut in Duncan Sheiks Alice By Heart

Warren leaves in April to prepare Tina for Broadway. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, who portrays Ike Turner, Tinas first husband, also departs on April 13.

Producer Tali Pelman said Tina personally approves every Tina and Ike. She said the rock legend watched tapes from auditions Obi-Melekwe did in Manhattan, then called Pelman and said: Yeah, thats her. The young actresss final audition was done in New York, in front of Pelman, director Phyllida Lloyd, choreographer Anthony van Laast and music supervisor Nicholas Skilbeck.

The show is told through Tinas eyes and she never leaves the stage, Pelman explained. The role demands a relentless stamina and full power. Its physical first and foremost, but its also mentally tough to go through what Tina had to.

Nkeki has that power and presence. Its really exciting when a talent like that stands out at an audition. I think shell take the West End by storm.

Obi-Melekwe is currently making her off-Broadway debut in Duncan Sheiks Alice By Heart. Shell be joined in Tina by Ashley Zhangazha, the new Ike.
Pete Davidson compared himself to Britney Spears ex Kevin Federline in a comedy clip he filmed while he was dating Ariana Grande.

The Saturday Night Live star, 25, appeared on the YouTube show Kevin Hart: What the Fit, with the premise being the two comics helping a family move.

'Oh, my God, you're engaged to Ariana Grande!' a familily member named Skylar told Davidson, who answered, 'Yes I am - I am Mr. Grande - it's me, the new Kevin Federline; how are you?'

Parallels: Pete Davidson, 25, compared himself to Britney Spears ex Kevin Federline, 40, on the YouTube show Kevin Hart: What the Fit, which he filmed while he was dating Ariana Grande

In the clip, the Staten Island, New York native suffered an allergy attack due to a pair of dogs the family had on the premises.

As a medic asked what his name was, 'Davidson. My real last name is Grande, but I go by Davidson.'

The bit was filmed before Davidson and Grande's October split.

The songstress told The Zach Sang Show last week that she penned three versions of her hit thank u, next amid a tumultous time in her romance with the comedian.

Funnies: The Saturday Night Live star, 25, appeared on the YouTube show Kevin Hart: What the Fit, with the premise being the two comics helping a family move

Way back when: The bit was filmed before Davidson and Grande's October split

Labels: Pete called himself 'the new Kevin Federline' in the comedy clip

'In my relationship by the time things were, like, up and down and on and off and so I didn't know what was gonna happen,' said the Grammy-winning artist, 25. 'And then we got back together and so I had to make a different version of it.

'And then we broke up again and so we ended up going with that version.'

Grande said that she 'just wanted to cover all the bases' in making sure the romance-driven song accurately reflected what was going on in her life by the time she released it.

Oops: In the clip, the Staten Island, New York native suffered an allergy attack due to a pair of dogs the family had on the premises

Recovering: Davidson removed his oxygen mask and inhaled from a vape pen

'There's a version where I was getting married,' she said. 'There's a version where I'm not getting married. There's a version with nothing, we're not talking about anything. But we all knew the first version was gonna be the version we ultimately went with.'

Davidson is currently linked to British actress Kate Beckinsale, 45.

Federline, 40, became a pop culture focal point amid his romance with another pop superstar in Britney Spears, with the pair getting married in 2004 and splitting three years later. The former husband and wife have two sons, sons Sean, 13, and Jayden, 12.
Their marriage hit headlines when she was caught kissing her Strictly Come Dancing celebrity partner Seann Walsh during a drunken night out.

But Katya Jones, 29, and her husband Neil, 36, appeared to brush aside the drama as they put on a united front while heading to London's Quaglinos for a romantic Valentine's dinner on Thursday evening.

The Russian beauty caught the eye as she slipped her enviable physique into a perilously low-cut black dress, featuring a quirky asymmetric hemline, but made a somewhat worse for wear exit after the boozy meal.

Smitten: Katya Jones, 29, and her husband Neil, 36, put on a united front while heading to London's Quaglinos for a Valentine's dinner on Thursday

Flashing a hint of her lean legs, the professional dancer accentuated her frame in a pair of chunky black thigh-high boots.

The brunette bombshell showed off the silhouette of slender waist with gold chain belt, and toted a mini clutch bag by Louis Vuitton.

Katya framed her stunning visage with loose waves, and opted for a full-face of glamorous make-up for her date night.

Dapper Neil cut a suave figure in a burgundy blazer, off-black skinny jeans and patent brown boots.

Good night? The Strictly professional dancers looked in great spirits as they left the restaurant after a boozy dinner

Wow: The Russian beauty caught the eye as she slipped her enviable physique into a perilously low-cut black dress, featuring a quirky asymmetric hemline

Earlier that day, Katya took to Instagram to display her creative skills as she revealed she designed a custom denim jacket for her partner, emblazoned with the words: 'Gingers are super heroes!'

She then treated her social media followers to a glimpse of her intimate dinner date, which saw the pair belt out to Etta James' iconic track At Last.

Neil recently revealed he was hoping to put everything behind and renew his vows with Katya.

Wow-factor! Flashing a hint of her lean legs, the professional dancer accentuated her frame in a pair of chunky black thigh-high boots

She's got it! The brunette bombshell showed off the silhouette of slender waist with gold chain belt, and toted a mini clutch bag by Louis Vuitton

Radiant: Katya framed her stunning visage with loose waves, and opted for a full-face of glamorous make-up for her date night

Cool: Dapper Neil cut a suave figure in a burgundy blazer, off-black skinny jeans and patent brown boots

'Gingers are super heroes': Earlier that day, Katya took to Instagram to display her creative skills as she revealed she designed a custom denim jacket for her partner

However, as the couple have only been married for five years, Neil remarked that it was a 'bit too soon' for the pair to get renew their nuptials imminently.

Neil told The Daily Mail: 'We don't pay attention to what's being said about us. We know that we're happy and that's all that matters.

'We might renew our wedding vows but we've been married for only five years and I think that's a little bit too soon.'

In spite of the eye-opening cheating snaps that rocked the Strictly dance floor, the choreographer claimed Katya would be a 'great mum'.

Having fun: She then treated her social media followers to a glimpse of her intimate dinner date, which saw the pair belt out to Etta James' iconic track At Last

Honest: However, as the couple have only been married for five years, Neil remarked that it was a 'bit too soon' for the pair to get renew their nuptials imminently

The dancer also revealed he wants a 'big family' with three kids but he explained this won't be on the cards for a couple of years.

He went on: 'I want a big family. I want about three kids. I'm one of five and my sister has five kids, so it's going to happen, maybe not yet but in a couple of years.

'It will be harder for Katya when we have a baby because of the show. She has a very physical job. But we're both looking forward to that stage in our lives. I think Katya will be a great mum.'

Katya and Neil dated for five years before they decided to walk down the aisle in August 2013.

Kiss scandal: Their marriage was rocked last year when she was caught on camera kissing her Strictly Come Dancing celebrity partner Seann Walsh (pictured together)

They have weathered the cheating kiss shame well as the dancing duo continue to put on a united front on the red carpet and across social media.

Katya locked lips with comedian Seann when she was training him to dance for the BBC competition show Strictly Come Dancing.

Rebecca Humphries, who was Seann's girlfriend at the time, was sat at home waiting for her boyfriend to come home and celebrate her birthday with her.

Meanwhile, Neil has been hotly tipped to replace departing pro dancer Pasha Kovalev after eight 'incredible' years on the show.

Pasha tweeted on Wednesday: 'After scoring 93 perfect tens, reaching 4 finals and lifting 1 glitter ball, it's time for me to find a new challenge and so I've decided to make last year, my final season on Strictly.

'I've had eight fantastic years, full of wonderful memories, thanks to the incredible partners, professionals and a myriad of behind the scenes teams who all work to make Strictly the amazing production that it is.

'The biggest thanks go to all the members of the public who've supported me so much over the years - I look forward to seeing you on the Strictly Pro-Tour this spring, and for many more adventures to come.'
She was arrested in 2017 over an alleged drunken aggression on a police officer, and sentenced to one year probation.

And in a new promo for the upcoming season of Real Housewives of New York, Luann de Lesseps used her low point to help promote her appearance.

The reality star's new tagline had her pleading guilty to something far less violent.

'I plead guilty to being fabulous': In a new promo for the upcoming season of Real Housewives of New York, Luann de Lesseps, 53, joked about her previous arrest

'I plead guilty to being fabulous,' she said in the Bravo clip's opener.

The 53-year-old was styled in a shimmering gold halter dress and matching cage heels.

Her promo comes just days after it was revealed that the star was not 'keeping up with the terms of her probation,' according to TMZ.

Her issue: She was reportedly arrested in 2017 over a drunken aggression on a police officer, and sentenced to one year probation

According to the site, the former countess has not provided proof that she's been keeping up with her required AA meetings. She was to go twice weekly.

She has also not been participating in her random drug test order.

Luann received a warning to change in lieu of punishment for now. The star has completed half of her community service requirement, which is 50 by late August.

No compliance: Her promo comes just days after it was revealed that the star was not 'keeping up with the terms of her probation,' according to TMZ. She is seen in New York last week

The licensed practical nurse was one of the original cast members on the RHONY. She was briefly reduced to a recurring role when she moved out of NYC, but later returned to her full time position.

In her personal life, the Conneticut native has been married twice; to Count Alexandre de Lesseps from 1993-2009, and Thomas D' Agostino Jr. for eight months between 2016 and 2017. She shares two children with her first spouse.

Fans can see the star, as well as her other cast mates, when season 11 premieres on Bravo on Wednesday, March 6.
They failed to find long-lasting romance in the Mallorcan villa last year.

And Love Island stars Ellie Brown and Kendall Rae Knight celebrated their singledom at the reality star-studded Boohoo Galentines Party at Manchester's Grand Pacific Restaurant on Thursday.

The villa vixens looked suitably stylish for the glittering event, where they joined a host of Love Island alumni including Alexandra Cane, Samira Mighty, Georgia Harrison and Tyne-Lexy Clarson.

All the single ladies! Love Island stars Ellie Brown and Kendall Rae Knight celebrated their singledom at the Boohoo Galentines Party at Manchester's Grand Pacific Restaurant on Thursday

Ellie, 20, flaunted her toned curves as she slipped into a clinging scarlet strapless dress, which teased her cleavage as she struck a pose.

The gorgeous gown showed off her tanned legs, with the star boosting her height with metallic stiletto sandals.

Her caramel tresses were styled in soft waves while her pretty features were enhanced with a rich palette of make-up.

Trio: The villa vixens looked suitably stylish for the glittering event, where they joined a host of Love Island alumni including Steph Lam

Glamour: Ellie, 20, and Kendall, 27 brought the glamour at the bash

Style: Alexandra Cane, who romanced Alex George on the show, wowed in a fuchsia pink dress

Gorgeous: Villa alumni Samira Mighty and Tyne-Lexy Clarson wowed on the night

Kendall, 27, put on an extremely busty display in a plunging black bodice-style gown which showed off her braless decolletage.

The stunning dress hugged the star's lithe frame while also drawing the eye to her slender legs and metallic heels.

Her brunette tresses were styled sleek and straight while her striking features were adorned with metallic shadow, liner and a slick of rose gloss.

The dynamic duo were both castmates on the hugely successful 2018 series of Love Island.

Glamour: Alexandra showed off her toned legs as she enjoyed a drink

Sleek: Kendall showed off her glowing beauty as she posed

Star: Survival of the Fittest's Georgie Clarke looked chic in a white jumpsuit

Here she is: Georgia Harrison flaunted her midriff in red co-ords

Ellie found romance with millionaire Charlie Brake on the show, but was left heartbroken when they split shortly afterwards.

She has since enjoyed a brief flirtation with TOWIE star Joey Essex.

Kendall and Ellie returned to TV screens once again when she was reunited with a slew of Love Island stars for the televised Reunion.

Brunette beauties: Kendall and Alexandra were delighted to be reunited

Reunited: Samira and Alexandra put on a leggy display as they posed

Sparkle: Stephanie and Tyne-Lexy looked gorgeous at the dinner

Kendall was the talk of social media after she enjoyed an unlikely flirtation and locked lips with Eyal Booker on the show.

The dark-haired beauty was the first star to be eliminated from the Mallorcan villa over the summer when Adam Collard dumped her to chase Rosie Williams.

Kendall hit it off with former Love Island winner Kem Cetinay on After Sun and they were spotted sharing a kiss but the flirtation didn't come to fruition.

Glitter: Tyne-Lexy wowed in some thigh-high sparkly boots

Leading ladies: The group looked glam as they posed up together

Roses are red: Georgia Harrison clutched a red rose as she left the Valentine's bash
Greys Anatomy always finds a way to shed light on important issues. From racial inequality to discussions surrounding sexuality, this show has propelled crucial conversations forward.

This week, on the anniversary of the Parkland shooting, Greys decided to tackle the seriousness of gun violence, as well as open our hearts to love. It is Valentines Day after all!

A young boy named Colin is shot at a parade and comes to Grey Sloan Memorial with his father and an entire group of Scottish bagpipers. Colin is unresponsive and desperately needs surgery, but his father refuses to leave his side.

In this week's episode of Grey's Anatomy: A young boy named Colin is shot at a parade and comes to Grey Sloan Memorial with his father and an entire group of Scottish bagpipers.

Colin is unresponsive and desperately needs surgery, but his father refuses to leave his side

While heading to surgery, Colins father recalls a shooting that occurred in Scotland. The country decided to change its gun laws and a mass shooting never happened again

Jackson reveals in surgery hes terrified to let his daughter Harriett go anywhere and now he also has to be worried about her going to a parade

While heading to surgery, Colins father recalls a shooting that occurred in Scotland. The country decided to change its gun laws and a mass shooting never happened again.

Jackson (Jesse Williams) reveals in surgery hes terrified to let his daughter Harriett go anywhere and now he also has to be worried about her going to a parade.

DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) and Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) finally kissed during last weeks episode after much anticipation, but its time to see if their romance is even be able to get off the ground.

Not only is DeLuca much younger than Meredith, he also used to date her sister, Maggie (Kelly McCreary).

DeLuca asks Meredith out on a real date, but she needs to run it by Maggie first. Meredith tries to ask Maggie about the potential date, but she never gets a clear answer. And, despite trying very hard to resist flirting with DeLuca at work, Meredith just simply cant help herself. She may not be a girl in love, but shes definitely a girl in lust!

While the thought of Meredith dating DeLuca should be enough to occupy Maggies mind for days, she is immediately brought back to reality when her med school arch-nemesis, Kiki Thompson, becomes her patient.

Though Kiki lives in North Dakota, she has sought out Maggies expertise because she is suffering from heart complications. Maggie realizes Kiki needs an aortic graft replacement, a very complicated surgery, and one that Kiki could potentially die from.

Despite not really liking Kiki, Maggie knows she has to do everything in her power to save her and give her second chance at life. The surgery is a success because duh, Maggie is the best!

DeLuca and Meredith finally kissed during last weeks episode after much anticipation, but its time to see if their romance is even be able to get off the ground

Meanwhile, Betty aka Brittanys parents, Carol and John Dickinson come to Grey Sloan to meet with Amelia. After months of being away from Betty, they finally went to see her in rehab and they found out Amelia had been taking care of their daughter

Meredith asks Maggie about the date again following the surgery and she finally gives her sis the green light. At the end of the episode, Meredith agrees to go on a date with DeLuca, but only if she doesnt have to ride on the back of his motorcycle. Sounds like a great deal to us!

Meanwhile, Betty aka Brittanys (Peyton Kennedy) parents, Carol (Jennifer Grey) and John Dickinson (Kyle Secor) come to Grey Sloan to meet with Amelia (Caterina Scorsone).

After months of being away from Betty, they finally went to see her in rehab and they found out Amelia had been taking care of their daughter.

Naturally they want to meet Leo, which terrifies Owen. Carol and John quickly bond with Leo and arrange a plan to take him home with them, but Owen stops them and explains he is Leos legal guardian. Though Carol and John decide not to take Leo that night, its clear Owen may lose custody in the near future

Its exciting to see DeLuca and Merediths relationship blossom, but its also heartbreaking to watch Owen and Amelia struggle with their complicated family

Naturally they want to meet Leo, which terrifies Owen (Kevin McKidd). Carol and John quickly bond with Leo and arrange a plan to take him home with them, but Owen stops them and explains he is Leos legal guardian. Though Carol and John decide not to take Leo that night, its clear Owen may lose custody in the near future.

This show has always been its best when a patients storyline directly reflects what their doctor is going through in his or her own personal life. This happens to be the case this week when Teddys (Kim Raver) patient Lucille comes in with her husband and her male best friend.

Though Teddy and Koracick (Greg Germann) immediately think theyre in some sort of throuple relationship, Lucille clarifies the situation and explains how they handle their interesting dynamic. Sounds a lot like whats brewing between Teddy, Koracick, and her baby daddy Owen, right?! Thanks to Lucille, Teddy finally realizes its possible to be friends with Owen while also pursuing a relationship with Korasick.

Its exciting to see DeLuca and Merediths relationship blossom, but its also heartbreaking to watch Owen and Amelia struggle with their complicated family.

Though Owen has a child on the way with Teddy, its clear how much Leo means to him. Not to mention, next week is only going to get worse when Betty comes in after experiencing another overdose!
Channel 10's Changing Rooms performed so badly in the ratings it was beaten by an afternoon soap opera.

The renovation show, hosted by former Neighbours star Natalie Bassingthwaighte, debuted on Wednesday to just 304,000 viewers nationally.

More people - 313,000 to be exact - had watched U.S. drama The Bold and the Beautiful on the same channel three hours earlier.

From flip to FLOP! Channel 10 will reportedly 'bump' Changing Rooms from prime time after its season premiere was a ratings disaster

According to Sydney Morning Herald, Channel 10 will 'bump the show from its Wednesday time slot next week'.

A shift to Thursdays would mean Changing Room is no longer competing with Channel Nine's Married At First Sight and Seven's My Kitchen Rules.

'People are already invested in those shows, so it's much harder to get them watching a different show [in the same time slot],' media analyst Peter Cox said.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Channel 10 for comment.

Oh dear! The renovation show, hosted by former Neighbours star Natalie Bassingthwaighte, debuted on Wednesday to just 304,000 viewers nationally

In the five-city metro market, widely considered the most important for advertisers, Changing Room had a dismal audience of just 204,000 people on Wednesday.

Despite the abysmal ratings, the response to the show on social media was largely positive, with viewers praising Natalie as host.

However, some people complained about the 90-minute running time.

How embarrassing! More people - 313,000 to be exact - had watched U.S. drama The Bold and the Beautiful on the same channel three hours earlier

Channel 10 confirmed the return of Changing Rooms in September last year.

At the time, the network's Chief Content Officer Beverley McGarvey said: 'Our new show will capture the essence and appeal of the original format and re-energise it, with strong storylines and more kitchen and bathroom reveals, which are proven favourites with Australian viewers.'

Changing Rooms ran for over 17 seasons in the UK, and then had subsequent spin-offs in both Australia and New Zealand.
She shared a glimpse of her new music earlier this week.

But Iggy Azalea was teasing something else on Thursday when she stripped down to her sexiest black lingerie for a sizzling Instagram video.

In a short clip, the 28-year-old Fancy rapper flaunted her voluptuous figure in a lace bra and feathered nightgown.

A sexy Valentine's Day surprise? Iggy Azalea stripped down to black lingerie in a video shared to Instagram on Thursday

Iggy, who is dating 22-year-old hip hop star Playboi Carti, captioned the video with a love heart, hinting her outfit could be a romantic surprise for her boyfriend.

It comes after the Australian-born star dropped a major hint recently that she is about to release new music.

The Black Widow hitmaker has been an unsigned artist since November, but shared a video to Instagram on Tuesday of herself lip-syncing to an unreleased track.

All done up! Iggy, who is dating 22-year-old hip hop star Playboi Carti, captioned the video with a love heart, hinting her outfit could be a romantic surprise for her boyfriend

New man! Iggy is dating American rapper Playboi Carti (pictured)

In the clip, she danced suggestively in a denim mini skirt and matching cropped jacket while spitting rhymes.

In November 2018, Iggy announced she had parted ways with Island Records after just nine months with the label.

In a series of tweets, the Mo Bounce star said she was 'elated' to be a free agent.

New tunes? It comes after the Australian-born star dropped a major hint recently that she is about to release new music

'I'm officially unsigned!' she wrote. '[It's] wild you spend so long trying to get in a record deal... [I] never thought I'd be so elated to be out of one.'

'Now I'm free to release whatever kind of music I like, whenever I'd like!'

Iggy, whose last release was the Survive the Summer EP in August 2018, later admitted she was worried fans wouldn't support her as an unsigned artist.

'I guess I was worried people wouldn't get my choice and would make it negative somehow,' she said.

'Everyone's been really supportive of this move - thanks for understanding and making me even more excited for all the new stuff. Sky's the limit.'
She's forged a successful career in the fashion industry, owning one of the top clothing brands in the world.

And Victoria Beckham is set to treat her fans to a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of her eponymous brand as she launches her official YouTube channel on Sunday.

To celebrate her new venture, the Spice Girl, 44, who is working closely with the platform's Fashion and Beauty Director Derek Blasberg, will treat viewers to an exclusive livestream of her A/W19 collection during her London Fashion Week show.

Exciting: Victoria Beckham is set to treat her fans to a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of her eponymous brand as she launches her official YouTube channel on Sunday

The mother-of-four's channel plans to boast a wife variety of attention-grabbing content, including fun celebrity collaborations and insight into her role as Creative Director.

Launching her channel with a bang, Victoria's livestream will also broadcast on the wide screens of London's Piccadilly Circus.

The Spice Up Your Life hitmaker is set to ring in the celebratory moment in style as husband David, 43, and journalist Derek, 36, will host a glitzy afterparty following her hotly-anticipated showcase.

Speaking on the release of her new channel, Victoria shared: 'I am thrilled to launch my YouTube channel at such an important time of the year for me and offer an exclusive insight into my experience of London Fashion Week.

Style mavens: The Spice Girl, 44, who is working closely with the platform's Fashion and Beauty Director Derek Blasberg (pictured), will treat viewers to an exclusive livestream of her A/W19 collection during her London Fashion Week show

In style: Launching her channel with a bang, Victoria's livestream will also broadcast on the wide screens of London's Piccadilly Circus (pictured at her SS19 show in September last year)

Party time! The Spice Up Your Life hitmaker is set to ring in the celebratory moment in style as husband David, 43, and journalist Derek, 36, will host a glitzy afterparty following her hotly-anticipated showcase

'I cant wait to share my latest collection with as many as possible through the livestream.

'I look forward to building my channel with fun and exciting content that will keep me connected with my followers as well as build a sense of community with an amazing group of collaborators', she added.

YouTube executive Derek also commented on the exciting project: 'Victoria Beckham has been a style star for more than two decades.

'It's been fascinating to watch her evolution from Pop star to fashion designer, and I'm honored to be a part of her opening up her brand and her life to the world of YouTube.

In awe: 'Victoria Beckham has been a style star for more than two decades', YouTube executive Derek commented

'Victoria's channel will give people all over the world the chance to enjoy updates and behind-the-scenes access to the whole world of VB, and I believe it will truly spice up their lives', he added.

The fashion designer has hired a scriptwriter for the new channel, in which she discusses her 'famously discreet' nuptials with David, as well as suggesting a three-hour review show for the Oscars.

Likening herself to the Queen, the star teased at her new comedy venture by taking to her Instagram Stories last month while dressed in a pink satin robe and bath towel on her head.

Upcoming: Surrounded by her hair and make-up team on set, Victoria appeared to be in great spirits as she commenced filming for the YouTube series, In The Chair

New project: Likening herself to the Queen, the star teased at her new comedy venture by taking to her Instagram Stories last month while dressed in a pink satin robe and bath towel on her head

Surrounded by her hair and make-up team on set, Victoria appeared to be in great spirits as she commenced filming for the YouTube series, In The Chair.

The brunette is also seen joking about being a 'selfie stick virgin' as she gives her 24million followers an insight into her daily life.

A spokesperson for the star told MailOnline at the time: 'The main objective is to build a sense of community, be informative and fun. The channel will feature a wide variety of content formats featuring Victoria, her team and a number of collaborators.'
The participants on the new series of Married At First Sight were forced to live like 'prisoners' during filming, Daily Mail Australia can reveal.

After last year's couples ran riot once the cameras stopped rolling each night, engaging in secret parties and hook-ups, producers went to extreme measures to avoid similar incidents.

'When the talent weren't required on set they were basically on lockdown and had a long list of restrictions they must abide by,' revealed an insider.

Married At First Sight EXCLUSIVE: Contestants' prison-like conditions are revealed as it's claimed the brides and grooms were banned from socialising during filming 'lockdown'

Throughout filming, all the couples moved into apartments in Meriton Suites North Sydney - but there was no socialising during downtime.

Even the building's communal gym was off-limits from being used freely, with each cast member given a brief allotted timeslot to work out alone.

If a contestant wished to go to a nearby supermarket, they would first have to ask permission from their 'minder' who was on duty in the building at the time.

Once they were given the green light to leave - providing they wouldn't cross paths with any other participants - they were required to sign in and out of their apartments.

Lockdown: Throughout filming, all the couples moved into apartments in Meriton Suites North Sydney - but there was no socialising during downtime

Mobile phone use was also carefully monitored, with devices being confiscated during filming hours.

The cast would then be given their phones back each evening once they had returned to their rooms, but had to agree to several conditions.

'It was explained that they couldn't call anybody to discuss the show, or message other cast members to chat or follow them on social media,' said the source.

The reason for this was because 'producers didn't want a single thing happening if a camera crew wasn't there to capture it.'

Banned! Mobile phone use was also carefully monitored, with devices being confiscated during filming hours

The insider continued: 'A lot of the cast would joke that prisoners had more rights and freedoms than they did.

'But as far as the MAFS producers were concerned, the cast were there to make a show, not have a holiday.'

In terms of salary, none of the cast members were paid to appear on the show.

But they did receive weekly expenses to cover groceries, as well as a daily per diem of approximately $150 for days they were required for filming.
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Little Chef roadside eateries were part of the fabric of Britain for decades - but the brand became defunct last year.

However, the roadside diner concept is getting a new lease of life - because now celebrity-favourite Soho House is getting in on the action.

It's just opened an American-style motel-diner - with a drive-thru - in Buckland, Oxfordshire, beside the A420, with 79 rooms from just 50 a night. It's called Mollie's and is the first in a series of openings coming from the hip group to roadsides and city centres across the UK.

Mollie's Motel is the first in a series of Soho House openings coming to the roadside and city centres across the UK, inspired by the classic 1950s American diner, with rooms from 50

The restaurant, Mollie's Diner, looks like something straight out of Grease the movie but with a distinguishable Soho House twist. The mahogany wood booths are covered with dark green leather and there's a black-and-white checkerboard-style floor

Little Chefs were known for their cheap and cheerful interiors - and cheap and cheerful food

All the rooms are kitted out with king-size beds, Egyptian cotton sheets, high-pressure rainforest showers and Cowshed products in the bathrooms.

The restaurant, Mollie's Diner, looks like something straight out of Grease the movie but with a distinguishable Soho House twist.

The mahogany wood booths are covered with dark green leather and there's a black-and-white checkerboard-style floor.

The hotel is located in Buckland, Oxfordshire, beside the A420 and has 79 bedrooms

The bedrooms at Mollie's range in size from cosy double rooms to interconnecting family rooms to bunk rooms catering to larger groups. All rooms are air conditioned and decked out with Egyptian cotton sheets

Soho House CEO Nick Jones, who lives in Oxfordshire and is behind the Mollie's concept, said: 'My vision was to create an affordable place for everyone to enjoy. Whether you're a couple, a family or travelling for work, Mollie's offers a place to drive thru, eat in and sleep over.' Above, one of the communal spaces within the motel

Choose from dishes including a 'Dirty Burger' - a stack of meat, cheddar, mustard, mayo, lettuce, gherkin and tomato - mac and cheese or a banana split, alongside cocktails, sodas and milkshakes.

There's also a drive-thru that's open from 7am until 10pm, serving a selection of favourites from the main diner, including breakfast baps and burgers.

Soho House CEO Nick Jones, who lives in Oxfordshire, said: 'My vision was to create an affordable place for everyone to enjoy. Whether you're a couple, a family or travelling for work, Mollie's offers a place to drive-thru, eat in and sleep over.'

The motel held its official launch party at the end of the last month and it was a star-studded affair with the likes of Declan Donnelly, Jeremey Clarkson and Paloma Faith in attendance.

The Soho House group also owns the famous Soho Farmhouse near Chipping Norton, as well as other private members' clubs around the world.

The motel has a keyless entry system, and guests can gain access to their rooms via an app
Some tourists pay thousands to fly half way around the world to visit Hollywood Boulevard.

But they're wasting their time according to one internet user - because it 'smells like straight-up s***'.

This outpouring was just one of many that appeared on a forum dedicated to the revealing of 'overhyped' tourist attractions.

Pictured is Romeo and Juliet's balcony in Verona, which has been described as 'tiny' and 'crammed with people'

The discussion was started on US-based site Reddit when one user posed the question: 'What's a tourist attraction you've been to that was 100 per cent not worth the hype?'

And almost immediately 'girlthatfelltoearth' ranted about Hitler's typewriter, which is housed at Bessemer's Hall of History Museum in Alabama.

She said: 'Hitler's typewriter. It's a typewriter, I'm not sure what I expected.'

While 'Jay_1327' added that he was not impressed by the so-called Romeo and Juliet balcony in the Italian city of Verona.

He wrote: 'Like, 10,000 people all crammed into this tiny alleyway just to see a balcony that I found out was built after the play was written.'

For 'properrocky' the town of Roswell, New Mexico, was the most overrated place.

He said: 'You'd think it would be a hot spot for conventions and space geeks, but it was an incredibly tiny town with dozens of alien shops and barely any people. It was creepy as hell.'

One tourist said that Hollywood Boulevard, pictured, smelled like 'straight up s*** from the sewer'

While 'astroidzombies' was not impressed by Hollywood Boulevard: 'Just a bunch of homeless people and the place smells like straight-up s*** from all the sewers around.'

Atlantic City native 'Weapons_Grade_Autism' said they couldn't understand the attraction with their home town.

They wrote: 'I'm amazed that people actually come here for vacation. It's just a few crappy casinos and some run-down strip clubs.

'If you go one street off the boardwalk you're in the slums. The food is good but incredibly overpriced.'

While another user said the French Quarter of New Orleans didn't live up to the hype.

They wrote: 'Funny how nobody ever mentions the fact that French Quarter smells like an outhouse. I love the history but yeah... it seriously stinks.'

One New Yorker said Times Square was full of 'a**holes in costumes'

New Yorker 'SafetyDanceInMyPants' was perplexed by tourists in the city wanting to spend time in Times Square.

He wrote: 'The thing is... once you've seen it, keep walking. There is nothing there you want to buy.

'The people in costumes are obstacles and a**holes  tell them to eat a d*** and keep walking. The photos you'd take there have all been taken before. So come, see it, and continue walking.'

While 'ArcticPugs' was left unimpressed by another New York attraction - the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.

They wrote: 'There was so many people we couldn't even get that close. And once we were somewhat near I realized the only real reason we were there was to take pictures/make memories.

One tourist moaned that they walked for 90 minutes in Copenhagen 'for a 12-inch statue'

'The only memories I have from that night was the stress of that damn city!'

Meanwhile others commenting on the thread shared their experiences of well-known tourist attractions they say were too small or too inaccessible to enjoy.

One, 'JBleexy1979', said: 'Mount Rushmore. It looks exactly like any picture you've ever seen. It's not easy to get up close to it.'

Another, 'Gaius_Octavius', added: 'Mona Lisa, no. The Louvre, yes. Spend your time looking at everything else.'

While 'DJ_DD' moaned: 'Little Mermaid in Copenhagen. 90 minute walk for a 12 inch statue.' Well the clue, surely, is in the title...
Council chiefs in the Ibizan party resort of San Antonio are going to war on holidaymakers who use hippy crack.

Local police can only take action against people caught selling the drug in the street under current legislation.

But town hall bosses revealed on Thursday that they want to introduce new rules that mean users can be fined if they are caught inhaling the party drug - nitrous oxide or laughing gas as it is also known - in public.

Council chiefs in the Ibizan party resort of San Antonio are going to war on holidaymakers who use hippy crack (pictured)

The proposal - with fines for offenders of 750 (674) to 1,500 euros (1,374) - will be put to a vote at a full council meeting next Wednesday.

The move follows a number of media stories about the open use of nitrous oxide on beaches in San Antonio.

Hundreds of revellers were said to have gathered in groups to use the substance near two Radio 1 raves outside the Cafe Mambo party venue earlier this month.

A paper that exposed the scenes said some users claimed to have ordered silver cannisters of the gas, which contributed to eight deaths in Britain last year, online.

Others said they had bought the drug on the beach from African migrants who also offered ecstasy pills.

Most buyers in San Antonio are Brits.

Ibizan paper Diario de Ibiza dubbed part of the San Antonio seafront promenade where African street sellers peddle capsules in broad daylight as 'the independent laughing gas republic' in an expose last month.

Ibizan paper Diario de Ibiza dubbed part of the San Antonio seafront promenade where African street sellers peddle capsules in broad daylight as 'the independent laughing gas republic' in an expose last month

A spokesman for San Antonio Council said: 'The government team in San Antonio will propose a modification to an existing by-law governing civil coexistence which will ban the consumption of nitrous oxide in public.

'Under the current rules, local police can only act against those people they catch selling the substance in the street.

'Consumers cannot be punished because laughing gas is not considered to be an illegal substance or catalogued as a drug.'

Under the proposed new rules, sellers who provide the substance to minors will also face stiffer penalties.
Tourists hiking in Nepal's Himalayan mountains are being pressured into costly helicopter evacuations at the first sight of trouble by guides linked to powerful brokers who are making a fortune on 'unnecessary rescues', industry insiders say.

Dodgy operators are scamming tens of thousands of pounds from insurance companies by making multiple claims for a single chopper ride or pushing trekkers to accept airlifts for minor illnesses, an investigation has revealed.

It also found evidence of guides putting baking soda, which acts as a laxative, in food to give tourists diarrhoea and then pressuring them to be airlifted.

A group of tourists trekking in the Himalays. Industry insiders say they are being pressured into costly helicopter evacuations at the first sight of trouble by guides linked to powerful brokers who are making a fortune on 'unnecessary rescues'

In other cases, trekking guides, promised commission if they get tourists to return by chopper, are offering helicopter rides to tired hikers as a quick way home, but billing them as rescues to insurance companies.

The practice is so rampant helicopter pilots are reporting 'rescuing' tourists who appear in perfectly fine health.

Trekking outfits stand to make more in kickbacks from evacuating a hiker by helicopter than the cost of the trek itself, contributing to an alarming rise in rescues from Nepal's biggest tourist attraction: the fabled Himalayas.

One manager of a Kathmandu-based helicopter company said it paid $500 to brokers for each rescue flight.

'If we don't pay the commission, we can't get the business,' the manager told AFP on condition of anonymity.

UK-based Traveller Assist said 2017 was the most expensive year on record for travel insurance companies covering tourists in Nepal due to a startling number of helicopter rescues - though this year is on track to beat it.

Jonathan Bancroft of Traveller Assist, which carries out medical evacuations in Nepal on behalf of global travel insurance companies, said: 'It's a racket that's tantamount to fraud, and it's happening on a large scale throughout Nepal.'

Trekking outfits stand to make more in kickbacks from evacuating a hiker by helicopter than the cost of the trek itself

There is no centralised dispatch centre for helicopter flights in Nepal making it difficult to know precisely how many evacuations are carried out.

But over the past six years the skies of the Everest region have turned into a helicopter highway, with a six-fold increase in the number of choppers in the air, each logging over 1,000 flying hours per year, according to industry data.

Thanishwar Bhandari, who works at a small clinic in the Everest region, said: 'We used to see maybe one helicopter in two or three days. Now we are seeing 10 or so in a day.

TREKKER CLAIMS SHE WAS EVACUATED DUE TO COMMON COLD Australian trekker Jessica Reeves was urged by her guide to be evacuated by helicopter from near Everest base camp in October 2017 when she complained of a common cold. 'He kept telling me to get a helicopter,' Reeves told AFP. 'They said if I keep going it would be really risky so it was better to leave now instead of risking it.' She said nine or 10 hikers in her group ended up returning to Kathmandu on three helicopters but were instructed to say they were alone on the flight back. She alleged the company, Himalayan Social Journey, billed each of the tourists' insurance providers for the whole flight - pocketing around $35,000 in the process. 'They told us all to lie to the insurance company and say there was only one person on the helicopter when there were three or four of us on each,' she claimed. Reeves' insurance claim was in any case rejected because her policy had expired. The company owner, Ram Sapkota, denied that the insurance companies were each billed for the full flight. '(They) claimed insurance on a sharing basis and we received money from (the) insurance,' he said, dismissing allegations as 'fake'. Sapkota blamed the rise in helicopter rescues from the Himalayas on lazy hikers and hypochondriacs. 'When one client gets sick, then the group they say "I feel unsafe and just want to go'",' he said. Advertisement

Meanwhile, one foreign pilot, who requested anonymity, said he rescued trekkers on a near daily basis in April and May this year, peak trekking season.

'I think I took three people the whole season who appeared genuinely ill,' he told AFP.

Australian trekker Jessica Reeves also told how she was urged by her guide to be evacuated by helicopter from near Everest base camp in October 2017 when she complained of just a common cold.

Some hospitals in Kathmandu also have a stake in the rescue business. Company registration documents reviewed by AFP show that many large trekking outfits have financial ties to hospitals and helicopter providers, creating a conflict of interest.

Ram Sapkota of Himalayan Social Journey said his guides received a commission from some hospitals if they take a tourist there, saying he allowed it because his company needed to 'maintain relations' with medical providers.

He also bought a 10 per cent stake in helicopter firm Altitude Air last year, he told AFP.

A German trekker hiking in the Everest region in April told AFP that a broker offered him a return helicopter flight to Kathmandu - with the cost billed to his insurance provider.

'He said he knew a doctor who would sign it off as a rescue,' the tourist said, requesting anonymity.

The majority of rescues in the Himalayas are related to 'acute mountain sickness' caused by low oxygen levels at high altitude.

The symptoms are vague - headaches, nausea, loss of appetite - and the only treatment is to descend.

But once the patient is at lower altitudes the symptoms disappear, making it impossible to tell if the evacuation was medically necessary.

International insurance companies are beginning to wise up to the rampant fraud.

And now these firms have set a September 1 deadline for Nepal to clamp down on fraudulent helicopter rescues of tourists or they will stop giving cover, industry sources say.

Insurers have demanded all helicopter rescues are pre-approved and capped at $4,000 per flight.

There are an estimated 2,000 trekking companies in Nepal promising to whisk tourists into the Himalayas, but many are unlicensed, operating from scruffy, cramped offices in the dusty backstreets of Kathmandu

They also want an inquiry into business permits after it emerged that some trekking outfits, charter companies and helicopter owners were operating with forged documents.

The fraud became so acute that Nepal's government, which relies heavily on tourism, launched its own probe in June in a bid to keep insurers from pulling out altogether.

It investigated 36 trekking companies, 10 helicopter companies and six hospitals, finding there had been more than 1,300 helicopter rescues in the first five months of the year, costing insurers over $6.5 million.

But Danny Kaine of Traveller Assist said the probe was a 'PR exercise'.

'I don't believe that the ministry has run an investigation of this scale before and I think they are under quite a lot of pressure to show that they are doing something about the fraud,' he explained.

And other industry insiders have warned that the investigation has only revealed the tip of the iceberg, amid allegations that some businesses pressured the ministry to look the other way.

Insurance firms have set a September 1 deadline for Nepal to clamp down on fraudulent helicopter rescues of tourists or they will stop giving cover, industry sources say

The cost of the 14-day trek to Everest base camp varies wildly between the outfits, but many offer the tour for less than $1,000, below cost price according to multiple industry sources

'I know that there are some companies that are involved in the fraud that they haven't even spoken to,' a source close to the investigation told AFP.

A mass pull out by the insurers would seriously dent Nepal's vital tourism industry, which the government is banking on to revive the economy.

Ministers have set an ambitious goal of attracting two million tourists a year by 2020 - double the number who visited last year.

There are an estimated 2,000 trekking companies promising to whisk them off into the mountains, many of them operating from scruffy, cramped offices in the dusty backstreets of Kathmandu.

The cost of the 14-day trek to Everest base camp varies wildly between the outfits, but many offer the tour for less than $1,000, below cost price according to multiple industry sources.
Holidaymakers have been given fresh warnings to ensure they are vaccinated against measles after it emerged that European cases have reached an eight-year high.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned the number of cases of the highly infectious disease during 2018 have already outstripped any year since 2010.

The global health body said holiday hotspots such as France, Greece and Italy as well as Georgia, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine have all had more than 1,000 cases each so far in 2018.

Holidaymakers have been given fresh warnings to ensure they are vaccinated against measles after cases of the disease soared across Europe

Ukraine has been the hardest hit with over 23,000 people affected, it said.

Across Europe there were more than 41,000 measles cases recorded during the first six months of 2018, including 37 deaths.

The WHO said the highest annual total for measles cases since 2010 was recorded in 2017 when 23,927 cases were identified.

Meanwhile, Public Health England (PHE) issued further warnings for people who are travelling to countries with outbreaks.

It said people should ensure they are up to date with their measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination before travel.

Meanwhile, those who are starting university or attending festivals should also make sure they are protected.

Figures from the health body show that from January 1 to August 6 there were 807 laboratory confirmed measles cases.

PHE said many cases have been linked to ongoing outbreaks in Europe.

One of the symptoms of measles is a blotchy red-brown rash that usually starts on the head or neck

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF MEASLES DURING PREGNANCY? AND IS IT SERIOUS? Measles is a highly contagious virus that spreads via contact with an infected person. If a pregnant woman who has not been vaccinated becomes infected, she is at greater risk of suffering a miscarriage, stillbirth or premature labour. Infected pregnant women suffer the same symptoms as other measles patients. These include fever, cold, cough and rashes, which are characterised by red spots and bumps on the skin. Pregnant women showing symptoms of measles, or those who have been in contact with an infected person, should contact their GP or midwife immediately. They will then undergo a blood test to determine if they are immune to measles. If not, they may require an injection to boost their immune-cell counts, which should help to reduce their measles symptoms and the impact of the infection on their babies. Advertisement

It said 58 per cent of confirmed cases have been among children aged 15 and younger, who missed out on their MMR vaccine when they were younger.

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at PHE, said: 'We have seen a number of measles outbreaks in England which are linked to ongoing large outbreaks in Europe.

'Anyone who missed out on their MMR vaccine in the past or are unsure if they had two doses should contact their GP practice to catch-up.

'We would encourage people to ensure they are up to date with their MMR vaccine before travelling to countries with ongoing measles outbreaks, heading to large gatherings such as festivals, or before starting university.'

And Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO regional director for Europe, added: 'Following the decade's lowest number of cases in 2016, we are seeing a dramatic increase in infections and extended outbreaks.

'We call on all countries to immediately implement broad, context-appropriate measures to stop further spread of this disease.'

Measles is a highly infectious viral illness and can be deadly in some cases.

Early signs of illness include cold-like symptoms, sore eyes that may be sensitive to light, fever and small greyish-white spots on the inside of the cheeks.

Measles is a highly infectious viral illness and can be deadly in some cases. Early signs of the disease include cold-like symptoms

WHAT IS MEASLES, WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS AND HOW CAN YOU CATCH IT? Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that spreads easily from an infected person by coughing, sneezing or even just breathing. Symptoms develop between six and 19 days after infection, and include a runny nose, cough, sore eyes, a fever and a rash. The rash appears as red and blotchy marks on the hairline that travel down over several days, turning brown and eventually fading. Some children complain of disliking bright lights or develop white spots with red backgrounds on their tongue. In one in 15 cases, measles can cause life-threatening complications including pneumonia, convulsions and encephalitis. Dr Ava Easton, chief executive of the Encephalitis Society told MailOnline: 'Measles can be very serious. '[It] can cause encephalitis which is inflammation of the brain. 'Encephalitis can result in death or disability.' Treatment focuses on staying hydrated, resting and taking painkillers, if necessary. Measles can be prevented by receiving two vaccinations, the first at 13 months old and the second at three years and four months to five years old. Source: Great Ormond Street Hospital Advertisement

A few days later a blotchy red-brown rash will appear, usually starting on the head or neck.

Commenting on the WHO figures, Dr Pauline Paterson, co-director of the Vaccine Confidence Project team at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: 'With a vaccine-preventable disease, one case is one too many, and the number of measles cases so far this year is astounding.

'While most people vaccinate, some individuals do not. The reasons for non-vaccination can vary from issues of vaccine access, a lack of perceived need to vaccinate, and concerns around the safety of vaccination  in 2016 the Vaccine Confidence Project found that the European region was the most sceptical in the world on vaccine safety.

'Vaccines work. If measles is to be eliminated, we must continue to further our understanding of the underlying reasons for non-vaccination and to address them with effective evidence-based interventions.'
Hotel owners in Ibiza say they fear the party resort of San Antonia is 'finished' after a string of deaths this summer.

They say the image of the popular resort has been serious dented by a number of incidents and have called it the 'one of the worst summers in history'.

Among the incidents are drownings, fatal fights, balconing deaths, seizures of drugs in broad daylight, muggings and bottle parties.

The party resort of San Antonio in Ibiza. Hotel owners say they fear the resort is 'finished' after a string of deaths this summer

Tourism chiefs are being urged to plan a major change of image of San Antonio to make sure holidaymakers return in the years ahead.

It comes after earlier in the week when 24-year-old Brit Paul Gardner plunged 24ft to his death onto rocks on a beach near the resort whilst celebrating his birthday with friends.

On Sunday, a British expat died after falling from an apartment block in San Antonio, the same building where another 26-year-old Brit fell from last year.

And investigations are still continuing into the death of 23-year-old British man Conor Lee Spraggs following an altercation in the resort.

Five people, at least four of them Brits, have been arrested by police in connection with the incident.

Local newspaper Diario de Ibiza says local business owners, particularly hoteliers who have invested millions in improving their properties, are at their wit's end and are describing San Antonio as 'a territory without law'.

Some traders are blaming the closing of the popular West End area bars being moved to 3am rather than 6am as the main cause of problems with revellers spilling out on the streets but tourism chiefs do not agree.

Tourism chiefs are being urged to plan a major change of image of San Antonio to make sure holidaymakers return to Ibiza, pictured, in the years ahead

One trader told Diario de Ibiza: 'If you release 5,000 people suddenly in the street at three in the morning, they will continue the party. They do not go to sleep. They mess about on the beach or the promenade.'

Local councillors say they have been trying to change the current tourism model for three years with various new laws, including tough fines for anti-social behaviour, a crackdown on noisy clubs and bars and closing down terraces at midnight.

But one hotelier Ana Gordillo added: 'The private sector has invested a lot to change the bad image of San Antonio. We are fighting to vary that tourist model of drunkenness. We do not want exclusive tourism.

'We are in favour of all types of tourists but we do not want those who do not respect public order, those who are not civic and those who exclude other travellers. They think that they can come here to do what they want.'
Southwest Airlines is to only allow dogs and cats in the cabin on its flights as emotional support animals, it has been announced.

The US carrier also confirmed that it will only be permitting one animal per passenger and that the creatures must remain in a carrier or be on a leash at all times.

The changes to the airline's policy on animals will come into effect from September 17 and it follows a number of other carriers, who have tightened rules on emotional support animals to stop passengers from simply taking pets on board.

Southwest Airlines is to only allow dogs and cats in the cabin on its flights as emotional support animals, it has been announced

In order to take an emotional support animals on a Southwest flight from next month, passengers will need to present a complete letter from a medical doctor or licensed mental health professional on the day of the departure.

The airline says it would formally accept fully-trained psychiatric support animals as trained service animals.

Steve Goldberg, senior vice president of operations and hospitality at Southwest said: 'We welcome emotional support and trained service animals that provide needed assistance to our customers.

'However, we want to make sure our guidelines are clear and easy to understand while providing customers and employees a comfortable and safe experience.

'The ultimate goal with these changes is to ensure customers travelling with service animals know what to expect when choosing Southwest.

'Southwest will continue working with advocacy groups, employees, customers, and the Department of Transportation to ensure we offer supportive service animal guidelines.'

Airlines have started to tighten policies to fly animals on growing concerns about passengers bringing aboard exotic pets that could pose a safety risk.

Airlines have started to tighten policies to fly animals on growing concerns about passengers bringing aboard exotic pets, such as peacocks, that could pose a safety risk

There are also growing complaints of some passengers falsely claiming pets as emotional support or psychiatric service animals to avoid paying additional fees.

Last year, one passenger even tried to take a peacock on a United Airlines flight but was eventually refused.

The U.S. Transportation Department told U.S. airlines in May that they must continue to allow the transport of the most common service animals, but said it was asking for public comment about amending its existing regulations.

Rival Delta Air Lines tightened its requirements for passengers traveling with onboard service and emotional support animals earlier this year, while Alaska Air Group has also introduced new rules.

On American Airlines, banned emotional support animals include insects, goats, hedgehogs, chickens, ferrets and hawks.

American Airlines has also banned unclean animals or animals that have an odor.
A German airline passenger rights group is taking Ryanair to court over whether it should pay compensation to customers who were affected by strikes at the low-cost carrier.

Ryanair had to cancel one in six flights on Friday due to a walkout by pilots in five European countries, disrupting an estimated 55,000 travellers.

The worst affected country was Germany, where 250 flights were cancelled, affecting around 42,000 passengers.

A German airline passenger rights group is taking Ryanair to court over whether it should pay compensation to customers who were affected by strikes at the low-cost carrier

Consumer group, Flightright said it believes Ryanair is obliged to pay monetary compensation to customers and so has filed a complaint with a court in Frankfurt in a bid to clarify the rules around strikes.

EU rules state that passengers can claim monetary compensation of up to 400 euros for flights within the region for cancelled or delayed flights, unless the reason is extraordinary circumstances, such as bad weather.

Strikes have generally fallen under extraordinary circumstances although a ruling by the European Court of Justice in April said that a wildcat strike by staff at German airline TUIfly following a restructuring could not be classed as extraordinary circumstances.

A spokeswoman for the court said she was aware of the Flightright statement, but that she had not yet seen the complaint.

Ryanair said it fully complies with the European legislation on the matter, known as EU261.

A spokesman said: 'Ryanair fully complies with all EU261 legislation, however as these flight cancellations were caused by extraordinary circumstances, no compensation is due.

'Under EU261 legislation, no compensation is payable when the union is acting unreasonably and totally beyond the airlines control. If this was within our control, there would be no cancellations.

'Ryanair deals with each claim on a case-by-case basis and requires our customers to submit flight disruption claims directly to Ryanair before engaging third party claims chasers.

'We do this solely to ensure that all Ryanair customers will receive 100 per cent of their EU261 compensation without deduction of claims chaser fees, which can amount to 50 per cent of the compensation payable to the passenger.'

A deserted Berlin Schoenefeld Airport last Friday when Ryanair flights were cancelled due to a pilot's strike

Passenger rights groups such as Flightright help passengers to claim compensation from airlines under EU261 rules but in exchange for a share of the compensation received.

Many European airlines, including Ryanair, therefore urge passengers to file claims with them directly instead.

It comes as experts have been urging passengers whose flights have been delayed or cancelled to fight for the compensation theyre owed.

UK Aviation watchdog, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), says airlines should pay out when disruptions are caused by their own staff striking.

And Martyn James, from Resolver, an online complaints and claims site, says: The rules are clear. These strikes are not extraordinary circumstances.

'Submit a claim at contactform.ryanair.com or call 0330 1007 838. Include flight numbers, booking references and passenger names.'
British holidaymakers are flocking to Turkey as the collapse of the Turkish lira has seen prices in resorts plummet.

UK tourists heading to the likes of Marmaris and Antalya can buy a beer for just 1.37 - the same as the cost in Britain in 1990 - and also snap up a meal for a family of four with drinks for just 35 - down 50 per cent on last year.

But it's not just food and drinks that are cheap, prices of everything from sun cream to insect repellent and even buckets and spades are down as much as 65 per cent when compared to last year.

The resort of Marmaris in Turkey, which has seen an influx of Brits after the Turkish lira collapsed, making it ultra cheap

The figures, from Post Office Travel Money come as Turkey's currency crisis has been triggered by concerns over president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's economic policies and a trade and diplomatic dispute with the United States.

And now UK tour operators are seeing a huge surge in bargain hunters heading to Turkey with Antalya airport in the south of the country welcoming more visitors than the Spanish islands of Tenerife and Majorca.

Thomas Cook said there had been a 63 per cent increase in bookings to Turkey while the airline Jet2 is selling twice as many seats on flights to the country this year.

Fellow travel company TUI also said that Turkey is its third most popular destination behind Greece and Spain.

A table from Post Office Travel Money showing the prices of holiday items in Marmaris in 2018 compared to last year

Elsewhere, Post Office Travel Money revealed sales of the Turkish lira was three times higher than last year after losing 43 per cent of its value against the pound.

It said holidaymakers are able to get 4,091 lira for 500 this summer, as opposed to just 2,174 lira in 2017.

Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money said: 'Sales have been rising all year as it became clear that holiday costs in resorts like Marmaris had been falling steadily as sterling surged in value.

'We have seen our currency sales surge by 198 per cent compared with the same time last year.'

However, foreign currency suppliers in the UK are struggling to meet demand for Turkey's collapsed currency.

UK tourists heading to the likes of Antalya, pictured, can buy a pint of beer for just 1.22 - the same as the cost in Britain in 1990

Post Office Travel Money apologised to holidaymakers who have struggled to get hold of lira from some of its branches.

A spokesman for the firm said: 'We currently have strong supplies of Turkish lira across the Post Office network, however a small number of branches may be running low on stock due to the unprecedented demand.

'We expect to replenish stocks over the next 24 hours to those branches with limited stock and apologise if any customers have experienced delays when purchasing currency.'

Thomas Cook Money - which is supplied by Travelex - has also been running low on lira.

Managing director Anth Mooney said: 'With the lira in high demand across our stores, we're advising customers to put money on a pre-paid card which locks in the unprecedented rates now to spend on holiday later.'
The magnificent French city of Carcassonne  the largest walled city in Europe  is home to perhaps the most majestic medieval castle you will find anywhere: its the stuff of childrens fairytales.

This dramatic setting, where every battlement has a story to tell, is the backdrop to Kate Mosses brilliant and hugely popular trilogy of books set in the Languedoc region, which she began in 2005 with the bestselling Labyrinth.

Mosse fell under the spell of this wonderful region of France almost 30 years ago, and it has been inspiring her ever since.

Inspiring: Carcassonnes medieval citadel (above) in particular inspired Kate's storytelling

As she has previously written in an article for The Mail on Sunday: Its my passion for the history and landscape of the Languedoc region, and Carcassonnes medieval citadel in particular, that inspires my storytelling. Whenever I see its 52 turrets and towers, the mellow stone against the blue sky, I can hardly believe it is real.

ABOUT OUR SPECIAL GUEST Join Kate (above) on this magical trip Kate Mosse is an international bestselling author with sales of more than five million copies in 38 languages. Her fiction includes the novels Labyrinth (2005), Sepulchre (2007), The Winter Ghosts (2009), Citadel (2012) and The Taxidermists Daughter (2014). Kates latest novel is The Burning Chambers, left. It is the first in a quartet of novels covering 300 years of history and crossing the world from Carcassonne and Toulouse in the 16th Century and heading, via Amsterdam and the New World, to Franschhoek in South Africa in the 19th Century. The founder director of the Womens Prize for Fiction, Kate was awarded an OBE in the Queens Birthday Honours List in 2013 for services to literature. Kate divides her time between West Sussex and Carcassonne, which is the inspiration for her historical fiction. Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse is published by Mantle, priced 20. Offer price 16 (20 per cent discount) until 26/08/2018 using code FRANCE20. Order at www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640, p&p is free on orders over 15. Advertisement

On this exclusive tour you will be staying in the heart of Carcassonne, where you will have the chance to discover its atmospheric streets and centuries of dramatic history stretching back to the Crusades. You will also enjoy a special guest appearance from Kate, who will give a private talk and Q&A about her gripping novels and explain why this fascinating region of France has so inspired her storytelling.

REASONS TO BOOK

Talk with Kate Mosse

This holiday is a must for anyone who has enjoyed reading Kates books. As well as hearing about her new historical bestseller  The Burning Chambers  you will also have the chance to ask Kate your questions during this private talk and Q&A.

Private tour of Carcassonne

Visit many of the places that feature in Kates Languedoc trilogy on a tour that will also include a special appearance from Kate  the perfect person to bring the history and stories of this fascinating city to life.

Free copy of Kates new book

You will also receive a complimentary hardback of Kates new historical novel, The Burning Chambers, which she will be happy to sign for you during your trip.

Le Donjon Hotel

One of the only hotels located within the walls of the citadel, Le Donjon is one of Carcassonnes most atmospheric places to stay. The four-star hotel will be your base for the duration of your holiday.

Spectacular Languedoc

You will also explore the region beyond the walls of Carcassonne, including many other places that feature in Kates books. Toulouse, Narbonne, the traditional market of Mirepoix and Montsegur Castle are all part of your superb itinerary.
My stomach lurches as the lion turns to me, unblinking, distracted for a moment from the still-twitching waterbuck he has just slayed.

Luckily, my guide, Moses, at the Ila Safari Lodge in Zambias Kafue National Park, is the epitome of calm.

Sure enough, the lion flops into the long grass, his indifference almost insulting.

Majestic: Lions lie in wait in Zambia's Kafue National Park (above)

Kafue, Zambias oldest national park, might come as a shock to those whove done safaris in busier parks. The rarest sightings arent lions, but other people. My most memorable encounters  a sleeping pangolin and a rampaging herd of elephants chasing away hungry lionesses  are enjoyed without another vehicle in sight.

Its also only about a four-hour drive from Zambias capital Lusaka, eliminating the need for expensive air transfers.

Day one and the big five are in the bag, plus monitor lizards, basking crocs, pukus and wrinkly-browed vultures (one of Moses ugly five, along with hyenas and warthogs). Ive seen huge herds of impalas, known as African fast-food due to the McDonalds-like M on their bottoms.

On my second day, Im joined for a boat ride by two American ladies on their first safari. They spot a hippo, only to panic when it disappears under the water.

They scrabble to the other side of the boat and scream at Moses to start the engine. Naturally, he disobeys and, later, I find the ladies soothing frayed nerves with stiff drinks. It was definitely after us, one whispers.

My next stop is the riverside Kaingu Safari Lodge, in the Namwala Game Management Area on Kafues border. We drive for two hours along dusty tracks, pausing occasionally when a lion or elephant trundles into the road. Its the only lodge on one of the wilder sections of the Kafue river and leopards frequently wander between the six safari tents. Wild dogs are often spotted here, too  and they are at the top of my list.

On a walk through the forest, my guide points out weird and wonderful plants such as the euphorbia: its trunk resembles a tree, its upper half a cactus. Its branches contain a poisonous, latex-like substance. Locals throw slices into the ponds, then wait for their fish supper to float to the surface, says the guide.

Mother and child: Pictured above is a puku and her calf

My final stop is the rustic Musekese Camp, where four thatched chalets have bucket showers, large areas of netting, rather than solid walls, and handheld solar-powered lamps.

The camp overlooks a wildlife-filled wetland and downtime is spent admiring elephants and gazelles from the decking.

But still those wild dogs elude me. Then a guide points to some scuffs in the sand and tells me theyre footprints. He adds that the dogs are fearsome predators, with an 80 per cent success rate on kills. If only my rate for spotting them was as high.

Wild side: Cheetah spotting on safari. Tamara also saw lions and elephants during her trip

Back at the camp, Tyrone, Musekeses co-founder, recalls finding a bowl of yoghurt hed laid out for breakfast upended. I noticed the guilty-looking dog in the bushes, he says. His face was covered in yoghurt!

Its at Musekese that I develop a new appreciation of birds, thanks to a boat ride up the Kafue.

We spot a rare African finfoot, its oversized orange feet visible on a rare foray out of water. I realise its something special when a passenger tells me this sighting tops all others  and hes been coming to Africa for decades.

I leave without seeing any wild dogs  but that only gives me an excuse to visit again.
A new website lets users click through an endless library of fake human faces created by artificial intelligence.

Called ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com, the results are startlingly lifelike and may make you question what's real and what isn't.

Every time a user refreshes their browser, the site spits out a randomly generated face, spanning from older men and women to even children.

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At first glance, these photos appear to be of random people. However, a website called ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com uses AI to generate startlingly realistic copies of human faces

HOW DOES IT WORK? ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com was created by a software engineer at Uber. It randomly generates fake human faces using a neural network first created by Nvidia researchers. The neural network, called General Adversarial Networks, blends characteristics from one image with another to create a totally new face. Nvidia researchers supplied the algorithm with 70,000 faces from pictures uploaded to Flickr. In a matter of seconds, the algorithm, called StyleGAN, can generate a new face. StyleGAN was recently made open source and has been used to generate fake animals and anime characters. Advertisement

A few images may appear glitchy or blurred in some areas, but most would make you think the subject is a real human being.

Philip Wang, a software engineer at Uber, said he built the website using research first released by chipmaker Nvidia last year.

Nvidia researchers built an algorithm using a neural network called General Adversarial Networks (GAN) that's able to create customized and realistic looking faces.

GANs are able to learn from large sets of data to look for patterns and produce new data.

They supplied it with 7,000 images of human faces from Flickr. It learned by starting with low-resolution images and recognizing more and more details as the resolution of each image increases, according to Lyrn.ai.

In the case of Nvidia's algorithm, called StyleGAN, it's trained to generate random human faces, but the software is able to randomly generate any number of things, ranging from fake animals, anime characters and fonts, to even fake documents.

'Faces are most salient to our cognition so I've decided to put that specific pretrained model up,' Wang explained in a Facebook post.

Every time a user refreshes their browser, the site spits out a random face, spanning from older men and women to even children. Some may appear glitchy, but most seem startlingly realistic

Philip Wang, a software engineer at Uber, said he built the site using research released by Nvidia last year. Nvidia crafted its AI by supplying it with 7,000 images of human faces

'...Each time you refresh the site, the network will generate a new facial image from scratch from a 512 dimensional vector.'

In all, the process takes only a matter of seconds before a seemingly real, yet fake face appears before the viewer.

'Most people do not understand how good AIs will be at synthesizing images in the future,' Wang told Motherboard.

A video explains in further detail how Nvidia's StyleGAN is able to generate fake human faces on demand.

'Our generator thinks of an image as a collection of "styles," where each style controls the effects at a particular scale,' Nvidia researchers explained.

The AI was supplied with 7,000 images of human faces from Flickr, starting with low-resolution images and learning more and more details as the resolution of each image increases

These three categories include coarse styles, or the subject's pose, hair and face shape; middle styles, or their facial features and eyes; as well as fine styles, which includes the color scheme.

'We can choose the strength to which each style is applied, with respect to an "average face,"' the researchers said.

'By selecting the strength appropriately, we can get good images out every time (with slightly reduced variation.)'

While ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com and Nvidia's research showcase the impressive abilities of AI, they also undoubtedly raise questions about the tech's possible implications.

For example, GANs have been used to create 'deep fakes,' or artificially manipulated videos that use AI to swap celebrity faces onto porn star bodies.

In the image, the top row are the only legitimate photographs of real people, the rest have been computer generated. The AI uses various traits to create randomly generated people

The same technology has also been used to create digitally-altered videos of world leaders, including former President Barack Obama and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

'The idea that someone could put another person's face on an individual's body, that would be like a homerun for anyone who wants to interfere in a political process,' Virginia senator Mark Warner, who has led a crackdown on political ads on social media platforms, told CBS.

'This is now going to be the new reality, surely by 2020, but potentially as early as this year,' he added.
A British-led mission successfully tested a harpoon that's designed to spear space junk and capture it in orbit for the first time.

Airbus carried out the successful experiment which is a major step towards cleaning up space junk, as the number of spacecraft launches continue to increase.

Dubbed RemoveDebris, the team hope to tackle the issue of waste material in space, with between 16,000 and 20,000 pieces currently being tracked if orbit of Earth.

There are an estimated 8.1 million kilos of junk and debris floating around in space, consisting of debris from rockets and satellites.

A giant harpoon that could help to end the scourge of space junk has been successfully tested for the first time. The experimental 'space junk sweeper' (artist's impression) was used to retrieve a simulated space junk package in orbit above the Earth

The spear pierces through the skin of a sample piece of debris with force being dangled on a boom at about one and a half metres away from the spacecraft.

Once hit, a barb is deployed on the debris and hold on to it to secure it. The target breaks off the boom when the harpoon hits home.

The device is still years away from operational use, but the experiment is looking more and more likely to be made a reality as the number of launches increase.

There are currently more than 29,000 detectable objects larger than 10 centimetres floating around the earth. This waste can damage low satellites, spelling mayhem for global communications.

The junk can travel at speeds of around 15,534 mph (25,000 kmph) per hour meaning that if even a minuscule particle was to hit an existing satellite it could break through the protective layer and damage it.

Astronaut Tim Peake previously revealed the damage that this junk can cause spacecraft, when he shared an image of a chipped window panel on board the International Space Station in 2016.

The spear pierces through the skin of a sample piece of debris with force being dangled on a boom at about one and a half metres away from the spacecraft. Once hit, a barb is deployed on the debris and hold on to it to secure it. Shown here, how the RemoveDebris spacecraft works.

The giant net pierces through the skin of a sample piece of debris being dangled on a boom at about one and a half metres away from the spacecraft Here, The target breaks off the boom when the harpoon hits home

Once hit, a barb is deployed on the debris to secure it. The target breaks off the boom when the harpoon hits home. Harpoons, here, are just one possible solution to the junk issue. When in full operation, scientists aim to make the harpoon fire at debris up to 30 metres away

It is believed that something as small as a paint chip could have caused the damage, as it hurtled towards the ISS.

When in full operation, scientists aim to make the harpoon fire at debris up to 30 metres away.

Engineers back on Earth are still trying to work out how the system can be used to target moving objects.

The harpoon, which is a joint initiative including British efforts from Airbus, the University of Surrey and the Surrey Satellite Technology firm, is capable of travelling at 20 metres per second.

RemoveDEBRIS will demonstrate active debris removal by capturing two cubesats, or mini satellites, using techniques like a harpoon, net, visual navigation system and a de-orbit sail

The RemoveDEBRIS mission was started in 2013 by a consortium of 10 partners across Europe, including aerospace giant Airbus and the University of Surrey's Surrey Space Center

A previous RemoveDebris experiment demonstrated how a net could be used to catch potentially dangerous pieces of rubbish orbiting the Earth.

Next, the group are expected to test the drag sail part of the test on March 12.

Reacting to the development, Science Minister Chris Skidmore said: 'Space debris can have serious consequences for our communications systems if it smashes into satellites.

This inspiring project shows that UK experts are coming up with answers for this potential problem using a harpoon, a tool people have used throughout history.

'This mission is a powerful example of the UK's expertise in space technology and that by working together, our world-class universities and innovative companies can hugely contribute to the Government's aims for a highly skilled economy through our modern Industrial Strategy.'
An underground 'mountain' has been discovered that lies 410 miles beneath the Earth's surface that's taller than Everest.

A study by Princeton scientists into the boundary between the upper and lower mantle of the Earth have surprisingly found ridges and clefts that are potentially rougher than anything on Earth.

They are located at a boundary 410 miles (600 kilometers) straight down into the earth from the planet's surface.

A study by Princeton scientists into the boundary between the upper and lower mantle of the Earth have surprisingly found topography potentially 'rougher' than any mountain on Earth. They are located at a boundary 410 miles (600 kilometers) straight down into the Earth from the planet's surface.

Dr Wenbo Wu, one of the geophysicists on the paper said: 'In other words, stronger topography than the Rocky Mountains or the Appalachians is present at the 660-km boundary'.

Using wave data from a 8.2 magnitude earthquake in Bolivia, mountains and other topography were discovered on the base of the boundary.

The earthquake was the second-largest deep earthquake ever recorded and took place in 1994.

The most powerful waves on the planet come from giant earthquakes, that can generate shock waves which travel through the Earth's core to the other side of the planet in all directions and back again.

The data from the shock waves allow data scientists to study deep into the Earth by modelling wave data on the kind of topography that could have caused it to scatter in such a way.

They do so using powerful computers such as Princeton's powerful Tiger Cluster to simulate the complicated behavior of scattering waves.

Dr Wu, now a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute of Technology, added: 'We know that almost all objects have surface roughness and therefore scatter light.

That's why we can see these objects  the scattering waves carry the information about the surface's roughness.

In this study, we investigated scattered seismic waves traveling inside the Earth to constrain the roughness of the Earth's 660-km boundary.'

Using wave data from a 8.2 magnitude earthquake in Bolivia, mountains and other topography were discovered on the base of the boundary

An underground 'mountain' has been discovered that lies 410 miles beneath the Earth's surface that's taller than Everest (pictured), and possibly than any structure on Earth. But no one knows exactly how these huge jutting mountain structures may have evolved, although it's likely a result of movement of material between the Earth's the layers.

These studies can tell us a lot about the Earth's formation and how heat and material can travel through the Earth's its different layers.

But no one knows exactly how these huge jutting mountain structures may have evolved, but it's likely a result of movement of material and chemical mixing between the layers.

Dr Wu said: 'The smoother areas of the 660-km boundary could result from more thorough vertical mixing, while the rougher, mountainous areas may have formed where the upper and lower mantle dont mix as well.'

Speaking to Dr Jessica Irving, who led the research said: Whats exciting about these results is that they give us new information to understand the fate of ancient tectonic plates which have descended into the mantle, and where ancient mantle material might still reside.

The full study was published in Science.
The landing site on the Moon of space shuttle Chang'e-4 has been officially named 'Statio Tianhe' or The Milky Way Base, at a Beijing conference today.

The name, along with others for three craters and a peak nearby, were agreed by the China National Space Administration, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the International Astronomical Union.

Naming landing locations on planets is common practice, led by the United States and the former Soviet Union on their lunar explorations.

The Chinese names allude to ancient folklore, with the term Tianhe meaning Milky Way, its literal translation being 'sky-river' in Mandarin.

The Latin 'Statio' which means base, is also part of the landing site name.

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The landing site on the Moon of space shuttle Chang'e-4 has been officially named 'Statio Tianhe' or The Milky Way Base, at a Beijing conference today

Three craters close to landing site were also named Zhinu (weaver girl), Hegu (river drum) and Tianjin,after three constellations of ancient Chinese astrology.

The names all allude to an ancient folklore tale about the 'weaver girl' and her banished lover, a 'cowherder boy'.

They are separated by the Milky Way and can only meet once a year on a bridge formed by magpies, known as Queqiao, the name given to China's relay satellite on the dark side of the moon.

This special day, Qixi falls on the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar each year, often referred to as 'Chinese Valentine's Day'.

The names, which were also given to three craters and a peak nearby, were agreed upon by the China National Space Administration, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the International Astronomical Union. 'Hegu' (pictured) which means River Drum

Naming landing locations on planets is common practice, precedented by the United States and the former Soviet Union on their lunar explorations. Tianjin (pictured)

The Chinese names allude to ancient folklore, with the term Tianhe meaning Milky Way, its literal translation being 'sky-river' in Mandarin. Taishan or Mount Tai (pictured) is the peak found near the landing site and the name of a famous Chinese mountain.

A TIMELINE OF HOW CHINA REACHED THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON Chang'e-4 launched from the Xichang satellite launch centre in Sichuan, south-west China at 6:30 GMT on December 7 October 24, 2007 - China launches Chang'e-1, an unmanned satellite, into space where it remains operational for more than a year. October 1, 2010 - China launches Chang'e-2. This was part of the first phase of the Chinese moon programme. It was in a 100km-high lunar orbit to gather data for the upcoming Chang'e-3 mission. September 29, 2011 - China launches Tiangong 1. September 15, 2013 - A second space lab, Tiangong 2, is launched. December 1, 2013 - Chang'e-3 launched. December 14, 2013 - Chang'e-3, a 2,600 lb (1,200 kg) lunar probe lands on the near side of the moon successfully. It became the first object to soft-land on the Moon since Luna 24 in 1976. April 1, 2018 - Tiangong-1 crashes to Earth at 17,000mph and lands in the ocean off the coast of Tahiti. May 20, 2018 - China launches a relay satellite named Queqiao which is stationed in operational orbit about 40,000 miles beyond the Moon. This is designed to enable Chang'e-4 to communicate with engineers on Earth. The Chang'e-4 lunar rover is lifted into space from the Xichang launch centre in China's southwestern Sichuan province on December 7 December 7, 2018 - Chinese space agency announces it has launched the Chang'e-4 probe. December 12, 2018 - Retrorockets on the probe are fired to stabilise the spacecraft and slow it down. December 31, 2018 - The probe prepares for the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the Moon. January 4, 2019 - It lands the Chang'e-4 lander on the far side of the moon Planned for 2020 - Tiangong 3,a follow-up mission to the Tiangong-2 Before 2033 - China plans for its first uncrewed Mars exploration program. 2040 - 2060 - The Asian superpower is planning a crewed mission to Mars. Advertisement

China successfully achieved a global first with its trip to the far side of the Moon when it landed in the Von Karman crater on January 4, 2019.

The country has claimed it wants to be the first country to establish a base on the moon and says it will build it using 3D printing technology.

Officials from the Chinese space agency also said the country will return to the moon by the end of the year with the Chang'e-5 mission.

Three successive missions will further explore the barren surface and the viability of building houses there.

There have been numerous landings on the moon as a result of the 20th century space race between the US and the USSR - including the famed Apollo 11 mission which saw Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans on the moon. After Luna 24 landed on August 18 the next lunar landing was the Chinese mission Chang'e-3 on December 14, 2013. Chang'e-4 is the first spacecraft to land on the far side of the moon

The mission's rover is equipped with a variety of scientific instruments to help it analyse the surface of the moon, including a panoramic and infrared camera, ground-penetrating radar and a low-frequency radio spectrometer

China is swiftly establishing a reputation as one of the forerunners in the renaissance of the space race with its continued investment in both Martian and lunar missions.

After Chang'e-5 returns lunar rocks from the surface the next mission, Chang'e-6 will be the first mission to explore the south pole of the moon.

Chang'e-7 will study the land surface, composition and space environment in a comprehensive mission, it was claimed, while Chang'e-8 will focus on technical surface analysis.

Mission number eight will likely lay the groundwork for a potential lunar base as it strives to verify the technology earmarked for the ambitious project.

China National Space Administration (CNSA) said they also have plans to go to Mars in 2020, a timeline that would likely make them the first to do so, beating out the US, Russia and the plethora of private firms looking to colonise space.
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NASA's remarkable accomplishments have been put on display in a new book featuring more than 400 images from the space agency's archive.

Throughout its 60 year history, NASA has successfully put machines on Mars, captured images of a range of planets and asteroids and even put human beings on the moon.

This incredible journey has been immortalised via NASA photographers dedicated to curating a back-catalogue of its most memorable moments.

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Ed White photographed by Gemini 4 Commander Jim McDivitt (pictured). During the first of 66 orbits, they made an unsuccessful attempt to rendezvous with the spent upper stage of their Titan launch vehicle. On McDivitts advice, White waited one more orbit to recover from the effort of the failed rendezvous, and then exited the Gemini for his historic spacewalk on June 3, 1965

Robert McCall's mid-1970s prediction of NASA's space shuttle building a modular space station is close to what finally happened, except that the real shuttles only flew one at a time

Apollo 9 CM pilot Dave Scott emerges from the hatch, testing some of the spacesuit systems that will be used for lunar operations. The photo was taken from the hatch of the docked LM by Rusty Schweickart in March 1969

The imagery focuses heavily on the space race era and the Apollo missions, which are widely regarded to be the company's 'Golden Era'.

'Of course, many of the well-known shots were too beautiful to leave out, but we also wanted plenty of lesser-known images, so there was a big effort to delve into obscure archives,' Piers Bizony, the book's author and editor, told New Scientist.

'The fact remains that we cannot relocate 7 billion people,' says Mr Bizony.

'Earth has to be our priority in terms of securing a successful future for humanity.'

NASA came into existence on October 1, 1958, as the world's first civilian space agency.

It was opened as an emergency response to the Soviet Union's successful launch of Sputnik a year earlier.

Within a decade, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, universally known as NASA, took strides to catch up to its rivals in the Soviet Union.

The Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) is a hybrid of parachute and balloon technology. A new generation of flexible heat shield materials could enable a huge shield to be deployed from a small storage canister just before a spacecraft hits the atmosphere of its target planet. In July 2012 a HIAD survived a trip through Earth's atmosphere at 7,600 mph

Pictured: Lightning strikes the launchpad of Space Shuttle Challenger on August 30, 1983 prior to STS-8, the first pre-dawn launch of the space shuttle program. Launchpads are surrounded by tall lightning towers and other conductive systems. These create a giant Faraday Cage, diverting the electric charge of strike well away from the spacecraft

WHAT WAS THE SPACE RACE? The space race was a 20th-century competition between two super powers - the capitalist US and the communist Soviet Union. Each super power waged a bitter campaign to prove the superiority of their space technology in a race that became symbolic of the Cold War era. The race began in 1957 when a Russian ballistic missile launched the world's first ever man-made satellite to enter Earth's orbit, known as 'Sputnik'. Sputnik's launch took US military officials by surprise and in 1958 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) was created to take on the Russians' space superiority. But in 1961, the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit Earth, traveling in the capsule-like spacecraft Vostok 1 - the US were still second in the space race. Later that year, then-President John F. Kennedy made the bold claim that the US would land a man on the moon by the end of the decade, and Nasa's budget was hiked by more than 500 per cent over the next four years. Nasa met Kennedy's lofty target in July 1969 when U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin and Michael Collins set off on the Apollo 11 space mission. Armstrong would go on to become the first man on the moon - effectively ending the Cold War. Advertisement

It started as a collection of modest research teams experimenting with small converted rockets and has now become a global leader in aeronautics.

The agency is one of the most recognisable in the world but is not without its tragedies, issues and setbacks.

The space shuttle Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986, is the most memorable of these disasters and is one of the most devastating days in the history of space exploration.

Only a minute after its launch a fault with an O-ring caused a fire to start and spread up the rocket itself - killing all on-board.

Apollo 11 crew members Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. These astronauts became the first two human beings to ever set foot on the moon

Pictured: Technicians working at the base of Alan Shepard's Mercury-Redstone 3 launch vehicle are swathed in vapour from vented excess oxidiser gas on May 5, 1961. Subsequent rockets could not be so closely approached when fuelling

NASA scientists are confident that Buzz Aldrin's boot prints from Apollo 11 are still as sharp and distinct today as when they were first stamped down in 1969, because the Moon has no air or rain to erode them

The NASA Archives by Piers Bizony, Roger Launius, Andrew Chaikin. The 468 page hardback book measures 13 inches by 13 inches and is on sale for $150 (100)

A lunar landing research vehicle flown by the likes of Neil Armstrong to train for the moon landings. It trained the Apollo astronauts by replicating the lunar module

Mothership 'Balls Three' overflies an X-15 in 1961. Three operational X-15s were constructed and flown for 199 test flights between them, as they pushed at the envelope of speed and altitude, and reached the very edges of space

Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, aboard space shuttle Endeavour

Apollo 1 crew relaxing after water egress training. It is designed to allow them to survive a crash landing in water

The faint glow surrounding a shuttle, the result of nitrogen in its thermal cladding reacting with oxygen in the very thin atmosphere in low Earth orbit

Computer scientist and mathematician Annie Easley who was one of the first African-Americans to work as a computer scientist at NASA and worked on software for the Centaur rocket stage

Space shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station in 2005. Its first launch was in 1984 and it launched and landed 39 times
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Continued efforts to revive the almost totally extinct northern white rhino have taken an important step forward.

Only two northern white rhinos exist in the world: both are female and neither can bear calves. They have functional eggs but are unable to carry a baby to full term.

Experts are hoping to create a fertilised egg of the critically endangered species and implant it into a surrogate mother.

A surrogate would come in the form of a closely related species - the southern white rhino.

Ongoing research is being done to see if this would be possible by using frozen northern white rhino sperm to fertilise the embryo of a southern white rhino.

When researchers are happy this is successful, they hope to use the same method with frozen sperm from the extinct males and eggs taken from the last two surviving female southern white rhinos.

This pure-bred embryo would then be the last hope for the species' continued survival.

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Two northern white rhinos exist in the world but they are both unable to have offspring and there are no males of this species left in existence after the death of Sudan in March 2018

Team of experts led by Thomas Hildebrandt, right down, of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin have Scientists have harvested eggs of a female southern white rhino and hope to fertilise them with the sperm of the extinct northern males

A brand-new pioneering method is needed to ensure the survival of both the embryos and the surrogates, something scientists have called 'a little bit like rocket science'

As part of that work a team led by Thomas Hildebrandt of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin harvested egg cells from a female southern white rhino, 17-year-old Hope, at a zoo park in the Polish city of Chorzow.

They have recently done the same with selected southern white rhinos about 18 times in zoos across Europe.

With the size of a rhino and its weight of about two tons, it was another challenge for the scientists to find a way of harvesting the eggs without harming the animal.

As the ovaries are about two meters inside, they inserted an instrument they created for this purpose containing an ultrasound camera with a needle through the anus and into the ovarian tissue.

'It's a little bit like rocket science because there is no example which we can follow because we are the first in this field we developed everything from scratch,' Dr Hildebrandt said.

Since the remaining northern females, a mother and daughter called Najin and Fatu who live in Kenya, are unable to bear offspring themselves, the embryos created from their eggs will be implanted into a southern white rhino surrogate.

The process of implantation is what the scientists are now trying to perfect. Only when they master it can they risk using the egg cells of the two surviving rhinos and preserved sperm to produce 'pure' northern white rhino, to be carried by a southern white surrogate. They hope to achieve this in less than three years.

'First, we have to optimise the method of implanting the embryos,' said Jan Stejskal, a spokesman for Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic, which has a long history of rhino conservation and from which the last two females were taken to Kenya several years ago.

'We expect to be close to perfecting the method in several months,' Mr Stejskal said.

SCIENTISTS PIN HOPES ON IVF TO SAVE THE NORTHERN WHITE RHINO FROM EXTINCTION While the death of Sudan marks a symbolic turning point in the fight to save the northern white rhino, in fact the survival of the species has been entirely reliant on untested IVF techniques for years. It was hoped that Sudan, his daughter Najin and granddaughter Patu might be able to produce offspring when they were moved to Kenya in 2009, but their close genetic relationship rendered them infertile. Since at least 2015 scientists have been working with IVF and stem cell techniques in the hopes of being able to create a viable northern white rhino embryo, according to a GoFundMe page for the project. Researchers in Berlin and San Diego are using DNA samples collected from a dozen northern whites, including Sudan, and trying to apply techniques developed for humans to the animal. If a viable embryo can be created, it would then have to be implanted into the womb of a southern white rhino, since Majin and Patu will likely be dead before the technique is perfected. While the southern white rhino would be responsible for giving birth to the baby, because the infant's genetic material came solely from northern whites, it would be a member of that species. However, as Save The Rhino points out, the process is fraught with difficulty and has a low chance of success. In the last 15 years just 10 rhino births have resulted from artificial insemination and only two embryos have ever been created - one of which divided into two cells before perishing, and the other one into three. For the northern white rhino to be genetically viable a minimum of 20 healthy individuals must be born - meaning the whole process must be successfully completed 20 times - to avoid inbreeding. Then, it would be necessary to find a suitable habitat for them, since their old habitat has largely been destroyed and led the species to the brink of extinction in the first place. Advertisement

Team of experts harvested egg cells from a female southern white rhino, 17-year-old Hope, at a zoo park in the Polish city of Chorzow

Team of experts led by Thomas Hildebrandt, centre, of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, harvests the eggs

Experts recently did the same procedure with selected southern white rhinos about 18 times in zoos across Europe. With the size of a rhino and its weight of about two tons, it was another challenge for the scientists to find a way of harvesting the eggs without harming the animal

This female rhino and the procedure may be the last hope for the last two northern white rhinos left in the world. Scientists are hoping to salvage the species by using the eggs of southern white rhinos

Female southern white rhino, 17-year-old Hope, is shot with tranquillising darts, so a team of experts can harvest her eggs, at a zoo park in Poland

Anesthesiologists Frank Goeritz checks on 17-year-old Hope, as team of experts harvests the eggs from the animal at a zoo park in Chorzow, Poland

Thomas Hildebrandt of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin examines samples after harvesting eggs from female southern white rhino

Thomas Hildebrandt of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin examines samples. If they are viable they may be implanted with sperm from a now-dead male northern white rhino to try and salvage the dying species

Anaesthesiologists Frank Goeritz prepares to sedate female southern white rhino, 17-year-old Hope, so a team of experts can harvest the eggs
Killer robots should be banned to prevent them wiping out humanity, the worlds largest gathering of scientists was told yesterday.

While full-blown android soldiers remain the stuff of science fiction, advances in artificial intelligence mean machines with the power to select and attack targets without human input could soon be developed.

Such robots represent the third revolution in warfare after gunpowder and nuclear weapons, scientists and campaigners told the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences annual meeting in Washington DC.

Scientists have said that 'killer robots' should be banned to prevent them wiping out humanity

Mary Wareham, from the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, said: Bold leadership is needed for a treaty. The security of the world and future of humanity hinges on achieving a ban on killer robots.

Backers include UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has called autonomous weapons politically unacceptable and morally repugnant.
NASA is accelerating plans to return to the moon by 2028 for the first time since 1972 and claim that they will be there 'to stay'.

The aerospace agency's head Jim Bridenstine said they plan to make the moon sustainable for humans so they can go back and forth regularly.

Commander Gene Cernan was the eleventh and last man to walk on the lunar surface during the Apollo 17 mission 47 years ago.

President Trump said in 2017 that he wants to return Americans to the moon and establish a foundation there for an eventual mission to Mars.

As a way-station for trips to and from Earth, NASA want to build a space station, dubbed Gateway, in the moon's orbit by 2026.

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NASA is accelerating plans to return to the Moon by 2028 for the first time since 1972 and claim that when they do, they will be there 'to stay'. The aerospace agency's head Jim Bridenstine, here, said they plan to make the moon sustainable for humans so they can go back

The plan is to have the next man on the moon by 2028 adding that it's important that they get back 'as fast as possible,' Mr Bridenstine said at NASA's Washington headquarters.

'This time, when we go to the moon, we're actually going to stay. We're not going to leave flags and footprints and then come home to not go back for another 50 years.

'We're doing it entirely different than every other country in the world. What we're doing is, we're making it sustainable so you can go back and forth regularly with humans.'

Although to meet this deadline, Mr Bridenstine said that the agency wishes to work with private space companies.

NASA also aims to land an unmanned vehicle on the moon by 2024 and are now inviting bids from the private sector to build the probe.

They have pitched for ventures to build hardware, according to a document called the Broad Agency Announcement, a notice from the government that requests scientific proposals from private firms.

An artists conception shows astronauts standing next to a descent module with its ascent module stacked on top. (NASA Illustration) Mr Bridenstine said that the agency wishes to speed up the process by working with private space companies

An artists conception shows the space platform known as the Gateway in lunar orbit. (NASA Illustration) The agency wants to build a small space station, dubbed Gateway, in the Moon's orbit by 2026 which will serve as a way-station for trips to and from the lunar surface

The procurement plan calls for companies to propose concepts for a descent module, a space refueling system and a transfer vehicle by March 25th.

SpaceXs billionaire founder, Elon Musk, has said Starship could be ready for trips around the moon and journeys to Mars by the mid-2020s.

But at the moment Starship doesnt fit the specifications laid out in the Broad Agency Announcement.

The first selection is due in May, a tight timeline for an agency whose past projects have run years behind schedule and billions over budget.

'For us, if we had any wish, I would like to fly this calendar year' said Dr Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

However, he conceded that they 'may not be able to.'

Commander Gene Cernan was the eleventh and last man to walk on the lunar surface during the Apollo 17 mission 47 years ago. Here, Apollo 17 Mission Commander Eugene Cernan during the final manned mission to the moon, standing near the lunar rover and the US flag during a spacewalk on the moon in 1972

Earthrise over the moon: This view was taken by astronauts during the Apollo 10 mission in 1969. Jim Bridenstine, NASA's administrator, said that the agency will speed up plans backed by President Donald Trump to return to the moon, using private companies

The proposed Gateway space station in the moon's orbit will not be permanently crewed like the International Space Station (ISS), currently in Earth's orbit.

As with the ISS, NASA would seek the participation of other countries, who could provide some of the necessary needed, such as modules for the moon station or vehicles to allow landings on the surface.

NASA plans to build a small space station, dubbed Gateway, in the Moon's orbit by 2026 which will serve as a way-station for trips to and from the lunar surface. However, this will not be permanently crewed like the International Space Station (ISS), currently in Earth's orbit

'We want numerous providers competing on cost and innovation,' Mr Bridenstine said.

The agency is also calling for quick-turnaround bids to manufacture and launch such instruments, offering financial incentives to make it happen fast.

Dr Zurbuchen says that they do not expect that every one of the launches and landings will be successful and that they are 'taking risks'.

In January, a Chinese spacecraft made the first-ever landing on the far side of the moon. China said in 2017 it is also making preparations to send a person to the moon.
Wild lynx could soon return to Britain for the first time in more than 1,000 years.

The Eurasian lynx, the third largest predator native to Europe after the brown bear and grey wolf, is believed to have been extinct in Britain since 700AD.

But the Lynx UK Trust is set to submit a second licence application this summer to bring the big cats back to Kielder Forest in Northumberland.

The organisation has also selected three forest areas in Scotland for lynx, with an application due in the autumn which could see lynx return to the UK this year.

While supporters of 'rewilding' claim reintroducing the lynx would help to control deer populations and boost tourism, farmers have expressed concerns that lynx could pose a threat to their lambs.

The wild cats need to eat up to 4.5 pounds of meat a day.

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Wild lynx could soon return to Britain for the first time in more than 1,000 years. The Eurasian lynx, the third largest predator native to Europe after the brown bear and grey wolf, is believed to have been extinct in Britain since 700AD (file photo)

Claire Robinson, senior countryside adviser for the National Farmers' Union, said: 'The NFU's opposition has always been underpinned by our concerns about the impact lynx could have on the welfare of livestock.'

Phil Stocker, chief executive of the National Sheep Association, added: 'In recognition of the fact that lynx, as opportunistic predators, could pose a threat to sheep flocks in these areas, the National Sheep Association will continue to work hard to ensure these new applications and any reviews of previous applications do not result in their release into the UK.'

The Lynx UK Trust is seeking to release six lynx just 30 miles north of Glasgow in the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park region, plus another six in the Glen Feshie region, next to the Cairngorms National Park.

The third region to receive the same number of lynx would be the Kintyre peninsula region of Argyll and Bute.

Supporters hope the lynx would breed and roam across those three areas to create one giant natural habitat.

They point to research which suggests Scottish forests could sustain 400 Eurasian lynx.

The Lynx UK Trust is set to submit a second licence application this summer to bring the big cats back to Kielder Forest in Northumberland. The organisation has also selected three forest areas in Scotland for lynx, with an application due in the autumn which could see lynx return to the UK this year (file photo)

Despie having its application to reintroduce lynx to Kielder Forest turned down personally by Environment Secretary Michael Gove in December, the Lynx UK Trust plans to apply again this summer.

Guy Opperman, MP for Hexham, said he had surveyed 400 of the closest houses to where lynx might be reintroduced and 90 per cent of those who responded were against the idea.

He said: 'I am disappointed that the trust are once again asking to do this.

Their application previously was inadequate and very upsetting to the local community, and in particular to the many farmers who would have been affected.

'I know I speak for the many, many residents who contacted me making it clear that this wasn't supported by the local population.'

The Eurasian lynx has already been reintroduced to parts of Germany and the rewilding movement claim they could bring millions of pounds in tourism to Britain.

Those brought to Scotland and Northumberland, if licences are granted by Scottish Natural Heritage and Natural England, would be imported from Sweden.

Paul O'Donoghue, chief scientific adviser of the Lynx UK Trust, said: 'We certainly recognise the concerns that sheep farmers have, though farming unions have repeatedly overstated the threat.'

He added: 'Besides the ecological benefits, there are very clear real-world examples of lynx bringing phenomenal eco-tourism revenue and jobs to remote rural areas which would benefit the entire local community, particularly tourism and hospitality businesses.

'There's some fantastic habitat connectivity in Scotland making it possible for lynx to live all the way from Glasgow to Inverness and across to the Cairngorms if a trial reintroduction was successful, bringing huge positive change to rural communities across the Highlands.'
Virtual reality can cure autistic children of their phobias in 45 per cent of cases, and scientists claim the effects are permanent.

A so-called Blue Room allows specialists to create a safe environment for patients to gently immerse themselves into stressful situations and work their way through various scenarios to confront and conquer their fears alongside a therapist.

The treatment enabled 11-year-old schoolboy, Harry Mainwaring, to adopt and befriend a much-loved terrier.

A separate study has also shown for the first time that the treatment works for some autistic adults.

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Virtual reality can cure autistic children of their phobias in 45 per cent of cases, and scientists claim the effects are permanent

A so-called Blue Room allows specialists to create a safe environment for patients to gently immerse themselves into stressful situations and work their way through various scenarios to confront and conquer their fears alongside a therapist

The team, from Newcastle University, created virtual environments which do not require goggles to explore.

It tackles specific phobias including wasps, lifts, the dark, flying, dolls, balloons, public transport, school and walking into rooms.

The child uses an iPad controller to move through the scenario and remains in full command of the situation.

The Blue Room is based in County Durham and created with the university by technology specialists Third Eye NeuroTech.

Research, published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, has found 45 per cent of young patients benefited from the treatment six months later.

Professor Jeremy Parr, who led the study, said: 'For many children and their families, anxiety can rule their lives as they try to avoid the situations which can trigger their child's fears or phobia.

'To be able to offer an NHS treatment that works, and see the children do so well, offers hope to families who have very few treatment options for anxiety available to them.'

It is thought phobias affect around 25 per cent of children with autism.

The treatment also helped a 26-year-old to graduate from university after she overcame a crippling fear of walking through doors or down a long corridor.

HOW VR HELPED A BOY ADOPT A DOG Harry Mainwaring, 11, (pictured) was treated of his crippling fear using immersive virtual reality Harry Mainwaring, 11, had a terrible phobia of dogs. He was treated of his crippling fear using immersive virtual reality technology at Newcastle University. The technology allows specialists to create a safe environment for patients to gently immerse themselves into stressful situations. They then navigate the environment by controlling an iPad and work their way through various scenarios to confront and conquer their fears alongside a therapist. It allowed Harry to conquer his phobia and his family was able to get a terrier called Wilfy. His mother Lizzie said: 'As soon as Harry saw a dog he would become hysterical, screaming and running away. 'This was very dangerous as he would not look at where he was running, even if it was onto a road, as he just wanted to be nowhere near the animal.' The effect of the Blue Room treatment on the Tyne Valley schoolboy has been life-changing, she said. The treatment enabled 11-year-old schoolboy, Harry Mainwaring, to adopt and befriend a much-loved terrier (pictured) Advertisement

The team, from Newcastle University, created virtual environments which do not require goggles to explore. It tackles specific phobias including wasps, lifts, the dark, flying, dolls, balloons, public transport, school and walking into rooms

Newcastle University carried out a randomised controlled trial involving 32 children with autism aged 8 to 14 years

The child uses an iPad controller to move through the scenario and remains in full command of the situation. The Blue Room is based in County Durham and created with the university by technology specialists Third Eye NeuroTech

HOW VIRTUAL REALITY HELPED A 26-YEAR-OLD UNIVERSITY STUDENT TO GRADUATE Rebecca, 26, was diagnosed with autism four years ago and suffered a debilitating fear of walking through doorways. She was put in contact with the team and had four treatment sessions in the Blue Room. She said: 'The fear of going through a door or down a corridor with doors leading off it was so intense that it led to me to drop out of University for a year. The whole situation was not good. 'The first time I was in the Blue Room I was nervous, even though I had been told what to expect. The scene in front of me was like you'd find in a typical University corridor with doors stretching out in front of me. 'By the end of the third session in the Blue Room, I was able to push open and go through all the doors presented to me in the virtual scene. Then I had to do it in real life. 'Before the sessions, when I was out and about, my support workers had to go through doors before me - after the sessions, I went through first. The Blue Room gave me back my independence. 'I took what I had learned in the Blue Room and practised so that I am able to do things that I hadn't before, such as shopping by myself, travelling on the Metro and even travelling to Japan on my own. 'Most importantly I was able to return to my university studies graduating last year with a 2. 1.' Advertisement

Two weeks after treatment, the research shows that four of the first 16 (25 per cent) had responded to treatment and were able to cope with a specific phobia

Professor Jeremy Parr, who led the study, said: 'For many children and their families, anxiety can rule their lives as they try to avoid the situations which can trigger their child's fears or phobia

Newcastle University carried out a randomised controlled trial involving 32 children with autism aged 8 to 14 years.

Half received treatment in the Blue Room straight away and half acted as a control group, receiving delayed treatment six months later.

After receiving the treatment and with the support of their parents, the children were then introduced to the scenario they feared in the real world.

THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF AUTISM According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people with autism have trouble with social, emotional and communication skills that usually develop before the age of three and last throughout a persons life. Specific signs of autism include: Reactions to smell, taste, look, feel or sound are unusual

Difficulty adapting to changes in routine

Unable to repeat or echo what is said to them

Difficulty expressing desires using words or motions

Unable to discuss their own feelings or other peoples

Difficulty with acts of affection like hugging

Prefer to be alone and avoid eye contact

Difficulty relating to other people

Unable to point at objects or look at objects when others point to them Advertisement

Two weeks after treatment, the research shows that four of the first 16 (25 per cent) had responded to treatment and were able to cope with a specific phobia.

This effect remained, with a total of six showing improvement after six months (38 per cent), however, one reported a worsening of their phobia.

Meanwhile, in the control group, five untreated participants had become worse in the six months.

The control group went on to be treated in the Blue Room after this time. Results showed that overall 40 per cent of children treated showed improvement at two weeks, and 45 per cent at six months.

Harry Mainwaring, 11, made his recovery from his phobia of dogs and his family was able to get a terrier called Wilfy.

His mother Lizzie said: 'As soon as Harry saw a dog he would become hysterical, screaming and running away.

'This was very dangerous as he would not look at where he was running, even if it was onto a road, as he just wanted to be nowhere near the animal.'

The effect of the Blue Room treatment on the Tyne Valley schoolboy has been life-changing, she said.

'It is amazing to see how Harry now is with dogs,' she said.

'He loves our dog and whenever he sees others he's happy if they approach him and he'll stroke them.'

The university said NHS treatment is available to UK families through the Complex Neurodevelopmental Disorders Service at Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.
DNA from a rabbit belonging to Charles Darwin has helped show how Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection helped the population bounce back from the deadly myxomatosis of the 1950s.

The wild rabbit from Kent was among nearly 200 that were analysed as part of a study led by Cambridge University.

Scientists sequenced nearly 20,000 genes and found that modern rabbits in the UK, France and Australia have acquired resistance to myxomatosis through the same genetic mutations.

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Scientists from Cambridge sequenced nearly 20,000 genes and found that modern rabbits in the UK, France and Australia have acquired resistance to myxomatosis through the same genetic mutations.

Natural selection is a process where organisms that are better adapted to an environment will survive and reproduce.

Scientists were able to pinpoint mutations that have emerged since the myxomatosis pandemics of the 1950s.

They found that resistance to the disease relies on the cumulative impact of multiple mutations of different genes.

Lead author of the study Joel Alves, of Cambridge University, said: 'We compared rabbits collected before the virus outbreak in the 1950s with modern populations that evolved resistance, and found that the same genes had changed in all three countries.

'Many of these genes play a key role in the rabbit immune system. 'Often evolution works through big changes in single genes, but our findings show that resistance to myxomatosis likely evolved through lots of small effects spread across the genome.'

Dr Alves noted that it was difficult to obtain DNA samples from so many rabbits that died from the fatal disease in the 1950s, particularly since rabbits are 'not very exotic' compared to other species.

Darwin conceived his theory of evolution through natural selection in 1838 and Myxomatosis, which arrived in Britain in the 1950s, resulted in the deaths of 99 per cent of the rabbit population.

Darwin conceived his theory of evolution through natural selection in 1838.

Myxomatosis, which arrived in Britain in the 1950s, resulted in the deaths of 99 per cent of the rabbit population.

The disease, which is typically transmitted via blood-sucking insects, is nearly always fatal for rabbits

It is highly infectious and symptoms include runny and swollen eyes.

Darwin mentions the rabbit in his book The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication.

Rabbits have long been favoured as models in genetic studies of domestication.

The rabbit was part of a large donation of over 100 specimens of mammals and birds made by Charles Darwin to the Natural History Museum's collection in 1868, the museum said.

The study is published in the journal Science.
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A new interactive map shows how fast the proposed super-speed Hyperloop network could transport passengers to major UK cities across Britain from the capital.

The map, compiled from data made public about the system so far, estimates that for people wanting to travel from London to Leeds it would take a mere 15 minutes compared to 1.5 hours on a normal commuter train.

According to the data, connecting Edinburgh to London would take 30 mins, compared to the time it takes to get there by National Rail, which takes just under five hours.

There are also Hyperloop projects proposed for routes across the world, including the US, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

If given the go-ahead, the transport infrastructure would revolutionise the way we travel, making it faster than any other mode of ground transport currently available in the world.

The Hyperloop system involves pods travelling over an electro-magnetic track enclosed in a low-resistance tube with very low air pressure, essentially it is a long tube that has had the air removed to create a vacuum.

The project is currently just a concept, backed by Elon Musk's Boring company and Richard Branson's Virgin Hyperloop One.

If the project becomes a reality, the main north to south branch in Britain would see journey times slashed to as short as three minutes from London to Southend, whereas on regular trains it would take 51 minutes.

Scroll down on the module below to reveal the map

The map was created by engineering firm RS Components, who are backing the University of Edinburgh's proposed Hyperloop project.

They picked 20 of the UK's biggest cities for the map based on population information gathered by the London based Centre For Cities, a think tank dedicated to improving the performance of UK city economies.

They gathered journey time information on journeys between these urban centres using National Rail's journey planner, using direct train times with no changes.

They also restricted searches to the same time-and-date to make sure the data on trains was fair across cities and avoided weekend and bank holiday delays.

They then found the fastest train times between pairs of cities, for example London to Manchester.

For the Hyperloop speed calculation, then assumed a top speed of 670mph (1,078 kmh), somewhat short of the claimed maximum speed of 760mph (1,200 kmh) when the system was first unveiled.

They also took into account the fact that cities and their stations will be connected via special underground tunnels laid directly 'as the crow flies'.

They then calculated the amount of time it would take to cover the distances between various cities and London.

TIME IT TAKES TO CONNECT LONDON TO THE REST OF THE UK VERSUS NATIONAL RAIL Destination National Rail (mins) Hyperloop time (mins) Time saved (mins) Birmingham 83 9 74 Manchester 125 14.4 110.6 Glasgow 269 30.6 238.4 Newcastle 171 22.2 148.8 Sheffield 129 12.6 116.4 Leeds 134 15 119 Bristol 89 9 80 Nottingham 100 9.6 90.4 Liverpool 135 15.6 119.4 Portsmouth 96 6 90 Edinburgh 260 29.4 230.6 Leciester 65 7.8 57.2 Bournemouth 110 8.4 101.6 Swansea 181 14.4 166.6 Southampton 79 6 73 Stoke 88 12 76 Preston 132 16.8 115.2 Cardiff 124 11.4 112.6 Southend 51 3 48 Coventry 62 7.8 54.2

Hyperloop One set on an idea laid out by billionaire Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind electric car company Tesla and private space exploration endeavour SpaceX. It is essentially a long tube that has had the air removed to create a vacuum (artist's impression pictured)

WHAT IS THE HYPERLOOP? Hyperloop is a proposed method of travel that would transport people at roughly 700mph between distant locations. It was unveiled by Elon Musk in 2013, who at the time said it could take passengers the 380 miles (610km) from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes - half the time it takes a plane. It is essentially a long tube that has had the air removed to create a vacuum. For safety reasons, Hyperloop tunnels need escape hatches in case of fire. The tube is suspended off the ground to protect against weather and earthquakes. There are now a number of firms vying to bring the technology to life, including Elon Musk himself, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, and Virgin Hyperloop One. As several firms vie to create the first operational Hyperloop, Elon Musks vision of a radical transport system that could ferry passengers above land at 760 miles per hour continues to inch closer to reality Advertisement

Hyperloop would transport passengers at roughly 670mph (1,078 km) between distant locations in a short amount of time.

It was unveiled by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk in 2013, who at the time said it could take passengers the 380 miles (610km) from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes - half the time it takes a plane.

The Boring company have already opened the Boring test tunnel under the city of Los Angeles in December in a project that cost $10 million (8 mn). It is currently being used for research and development.

The US start-up hoping to create Hyperloop has already released a list of 35 routes in locations around the world vying to put the near-supersonic rail transit system to the test.

At present the idea is just a concept with companies like Elon Musk's Boring company and Richard Branson's project Hyperloop One competing schemes and insisting that they have the best solution for the UK

Hyperloop One currently has the only working testing facility in the world, the DevLoop track in the Nevada desert (pictured). It allows pods to rocket along rails through reduced-pressure tubes at speeds of up to a theoretical maximum of 760 miles (1,200 kilometres) per hour

Meanwhile, Virgin Hyperlink One has built a 500-metre test track in Nevada, and is working on a hyperloop connecting Mumbai and Pune in India.

They released a list of 35 routes in locations around the world vying to put the near-supersonic rail transit system to the test.

The proposed routes will connect over 75 million people in 44 cities, spanning 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometres).

Hyperloop's tube is suspended off the ground to protect against weather and earthquakes.

Passengers would sit in either individual or group pods, which would then be accelerated with magnets.

Capsules carrying six to eight people would depart every 30 seconds, with tickets costing around $20 (13) each way.

The proposed system involves pods travelling over an electro-magnetic track enclosed in a low-resistance tube with very low air pressure, essentially it is a long tube that has had the air removed to create a vacuum

At present the idea is just a concept with companies like Elon Musk's Boring company and Richard Branson's project Hyperloop One competing schemes and insisting that they have the best solution for the UK

The cost of building a line from LA to San Francisco has been estimated at $16 billion (10 billion) - although critics say it would be nearer $100 billion (65 billion).

Dubai announced last year its plans for building a line linking it to the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi within the next five years.

Representatives from groups behind the planned lines in the UK and Europe met with Hyperloop One this week to make their cases for the best option for the continent.

In the UK, three routes have been picked, that could see lines built from London to Edinburgh, Glasgow to Cardiff and a third route connecting cities in the North to Scotland.

These will face competition from six other routes across the continent, including Corsica to Sardinia in France, Tallinn in Estonia to Helsinki in Finland, an Autobahn route in Germany, the Dutch Loop in the Netherlands, Warsaw to Wroclaw in Poland and Madrid to Tangiers in Spain.
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Archaeologists in Syria have discovered the remains of a secret church that may date back to the first centuries of Christianity, hiding in plain sight in a territory held by ISIS for more than two years.

Its thought that the ancient tunnel system found in Manbij once served as a refuge for Christians who faced persecution during the Roman Empire, according to Fox News.

And somehow, the ancient gate leading deep underground appears to have gone unnoticed by the ISIS forces who formerly occupied it.

Beside a mound used to dump trash, researchers found the remains of a sprawling tunnel system containing escape routes, hidden doors, Greek inscriptions, and a makeshift altar  with crosses and Christian symbols etched all throughout.

Archaeologists in Syria have discovered the remains of a secret church that may date back to the first centuries of Christianity, hiding in plain sight in a territory held by ISIS for more than two years. Its thought that the ancient tunnel system found in Manbij once served as a refuge for Christians who faced persecution during the Roman Empire

The remarkable underground network was likely a significant haven for Christians in the third or fourth century AD, Fox News reports.

It even contains a graveyard that was likely used for the church clergy, with human remains found inside large stone tombs, according to Fox News, who toured the site.

Had ISIS found out about the ruins, which the team first discovered back in 2014, the site likely would have been destroyed.

Archaeologists kept it secret for years before excavations could finally begin in August of 2017, a year after ISIS was driven out of the area.

And, locals helped to unearth a second component of the tunnel system, with stone steps leading down to a cave filled with rooms and Christian symbols, Fox News reports.

Beside a mound used to dump trash, researchers found the remains of a sprawling tunnel system containing escape routes, hidden doors, and a makeshift altar  with crosses and Christian symbols (pictured above) etched all throughout

The remarkable underground network was likely a significant haven for Christians in the third or fourth century AD, Fox News reports. Above, Greek writings found at the site are pictured

This place is so special, Abdulwahab Sheko, head of the Exploration Committee at the Ruins Council in Manbij, told Fox News, speaking about the first location.

Here is where I think the security guard would stand at the gate watching for any movement outside.

He would warn the others to exit through the other passage if they needed to flee.

In the early centuries of Christendom, Christians faced persecution under the Roman Empire, first by the emperor Nero.

There were misconceptions about their practices, giving rise to accusations of incest, cannibalism, and other atrocities.

Somehow, an ancient gate leading deep underground appears to have gone unnoticed by the ISIS forces who formerly occupied it. Now, archaeologists are working to better understand the site that may have served as 'secret church' nearly 2,000 years ago

While the first location was likely used as a refuge for Christians to worship, the discovery of religious symbols all over the second site suggest it was used after Christianity became accepted, Fox News reports. Now that ISIS has been driven from the area and work can progress, researchers at the site say they are committed to protecting it

WHY DID EARLY CHRISTIANS WORSHIP IN SECRET? Today it may be the most widely practiced religion in the world  but, when Christianity first arose, its followers were forced to worship in secret. In the early centuries of Christianity, Christians were prosecuted and punished for their beliefs, largely based on misconceptions of the religion. Under the Roman Empire, beginning with Emperor Nero in 64 AD, Christians were severely targeted, according to the BBC. After a massive fire in Rome which destroyed much of the city, Nero had Christians rounded up and killed; some were even burnt alive or mauled by dogs. Persecution of Christians continued sporadically over the next century  then, it became systematic. According to the BBC, persecution of early Christians included charges of incest and cannibalism, which may have stemmed from misunderstandings of certain practices, including the body and blood of Christ. Christianity was decriminalized under Constantine around the year 312 AD. Advertisement

This was likely linked to a misunderstanding of Christian communion where Christ said to take and eat His body and drink his blood, John Wineland, professor of history and archaeology at Southeastern University, told Fox.

As a result, Christians were forced to worship in secrecy until 313 AD, when the religion was decriminalized by Emperor Constantine.

While the first location was likely used as a refuge for Christians to worship, the discovery of religious symbols all over the second site suggest it was used after Christianity became accepted, Fox News reports.

Now that ISIS has been driven from the area and work can progress, researchers at the site say they are committed to protecting it.
Arriving at Bristols Southmead Hospital in October 2015, Kevin and Julie OConnor held hands in trepidation. Julie had been referred to the hospitals gynaecology department by her GP, who suspected she had cervical cancer.

I asked the gynaecologist outright if it was cancer because all the signs were there, recalls Kevin. He said it definitely wasnt, and that Julie had what was called ectropion, or a thickening of the womb.

He drew a picture to show us where it was thickening and said there was nothing to worry about. He was a senior gynaecologist  the best available, we thought. We went away feeling relieved.

Yet Julie, who had received a normal smear test result from the same hospital just over a year earlier, continued to suffer irregular bleeding. She returned to her GP, who still suspected cancer, and was repeatedly referred back to Southmead for further biopsies, tests and examinations.

Julie OConnor (pictured above) was mistakenly told six times that she did not have cervical cancer

Every time, medical staff assured her there was no cause for concern. Julie, herself a nurse, had no reason not to believe them

Julie believed what she was being told. Why wouldnt she? asks Kevin.

Julies faith in the NHS was to prove tragically misplaced. After being given the all-clear by Southmead Hospital no fewer than six times between September 2014 and February 2017, the mother-of-two sought private treatment.

As soon as he examined her in March 2017, a gynaecologist at the private Spire Bristol Hospital diagnosed advanced cervical cancer, later discovering a 4.5cm tumour.

Julie O'Connor (pictured above) filmed a video just three days before she died

Despite chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the cancer spread quickly to Julies bones and lymph nodes and she died last week, aged 49.

Her smear, biopsies, clinical examinations  the pathologists and doctors at Southmead missed it all, says Kevin, also 49, who married Julie when they were both 21. This shouldnt have happened, and we hold them accountable.

The devastating result of the misdiagnosis  which North Bristol NHS Trust eventually admitted full liability for  was captured in a haunting video that Julie made from her hospice bed three days before she died.

Her glossy brunette hair gone, along with the beaming smile and bubbly personality she was known for, Julie was fragile and barely recognisable as she whispered: Its disgusting I have been suffering the way I have, and I continue to suffer.

Kevin, Julie's husband (left), Sophie, Julie's daughter (second left) Julie (third left) and Daniel, Julie's son(right)

To compound her familys torment, the financial settlement that North Bristol Trust finally offered Julie last month for failing to diagnose her illness is now subject to delays and renegotiations.

Jackie Linehan, the familys legal representative at Enable Law, explains: Following Julies death, there is a pause while the claim is transferred from her name to her Executors. Details of the losses are recalculated to reflect Julies death and to claim compensation for her estate and dependants. This pause is likely to take a few weeks.

Before Julie died, North Bristol NHS Trust had already made a full admission of liability. We were waiting for them to make an acceptable settlement offer. Once the losses have been recalculated, these will be forwarded to the representatives for North Bristol NHS Trust, and we hope to receive an acceptable settlement offer reflecting the impact of her illness and premature and untimely death.

When Julie died, her haunting video  uploaded to Facebook by Kevin  had already been seen thousands of times.

Julie had wanted to bring the hospital directors to the end of her bed to show them exactly what they had done, and this seemed the best way, says Kevin. She could hardly speak, but I could tell she was pleased people were watching. She was passionate about ensuring what happened to her doesnt happen to anyone else.

Kevin is now fighting for an independent public inquiry into cervical screening at Southmead Hospital, which has been implicated in a controversy surrounding misdiagnoses before. In 2015, an investigation by North Bristol Trust, found mistakes in 106 cases of cervical tests carried out in hospitals, including Southmead, between 2013 and 2015  the same time Julie had her initial smear.

The hospital say what happened to Julie was a rare incident, but we think there is a systemic problem there and that there are other victims, says Kevin.

Since Julies story came out, I have been contacted by other Southmead patients who have been wrongly diagnosed.

The mother-of-two (pictured above) had previously slammed health chiefs in a heartbreaking video filmed on her death bed

I meet Kevin ten days after Julies death at the home of her parents, Lesley and Brian, in Merseyside, where Julie will be cremated next week. Determined to remain strong for his children, Sophie, 22, and Daniel, 19, Kevin breaks down only once during our interview. He is still  understandably  struggling to comprehend the tragedy.

I feel Julie everywhere, he says. I keep talking to her, expecting her to be sitting next to me or sending me one of her texts filled with love heart emojis. I cant believe shes gone.

The couple met in a Merseyside pub, aged 18, when Julie was studying for her nursing degree at Liverpool John Moores University.

By the time they wed three years later, Julie was working as an intensive care nurse at the local NHS Arrowe Park Hospital, where she was later promoted to Sister.

She loved caring for people and and felt a strong allegiance to the NHS, says Kevin.

Julie (left) and her husband Kevin (right)

In 2006, the family moved to Munich for Kevins job as head of business assurance for a military aircraft company, and Julie found a job as a nurse at an international school there.

In 2014, they relocated to Bristol when Kevin was offered a job with the Ministry of Defence. Julie became a lead theatre nurse at Emersons Green Treatment Centre, a specialist NHS unit.

That September, Julie attended Southmead Hospital for the routine smear test women aged 25 to 54 are invited to have every three years. She was told by letter that the result was normal.

In the summer of 2015, she began experiencing irregular bleeding.

Kevin (left) and daughter Sophie (right) appeared on Good Morning Britain to talk about Julie

Julie thought at first she was menopausal  as did her GP  but when the bleeding became persistent, her doctor became concerned.

Indeed, so concerned that in October, the GP put her on a two-week cancer pathway  a national policy by which a patient suspected of having cancer must be seen within a certain time frame.

Julie was seen by Southmeads senior gynaecologist, a biopsy was taken and she was diagnosed with cervical ectropion  sometimes known as cervical erosion  in which the cells lining the inside of the cervical canal spread to the outer surface, causing bleeding.

Julie was given a contraceptive coil and pills to help stop the bleeding and was referred for another biopsy and a hysteroscopy to further examine her womb.

After the procedure that November, performed by the same gynaecologist, the tests were sent to the same pathology department that had previously found no abnormality.

Julie arrived at Bristols Southmead Hospital (pictured above) in October 2015 after being referred to its gynaecology department

For months, the treatment appeared to be working and the bleeding eased. But then it grew heavy again, to the extent Julie felt tired and became anaemic. In August 2016, Julies GP again put her on a two-week cancer pathway. This time, she was seen by a different consultant at Southmead and a trainee doctor.

After an examination, they recorded the same cervical ectropion, along with cysts on the cervix that they said they were unconcerned by. Julie was referred for a minor procedure to burn off the cells causing the bleeding.

The doctors were adamant that nothing was seriously wrong, and although Julie found the bleeding increasingly difficult to live with, she believed them, says Kevin.

Her GP, however, was less convinced and, when the bleeding continued, referred Julie to Southmead for a third time.

In February 2017, another Southmead doctor examined Julie, found nothing new and put her on the waiting list for laser surgery to thin the lining of her womb to reduce bleeding.

When she wasnt given another appointment for six months, Julie decided shed had enough and opted for a second opinion through her private healthcare.

Julie hoped going private meant that she could have any surgery needed to stop the bleeding more quickly, says Kevin.

Neither of them anticipated the news they were given. After what Kevin recalls as a simple, ten-second internal examination at the Spire, Julie was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer.

A scan confirmed the diagnosis.

The consultant said that how any competent gynaecologist could have missed it was beyond him, says Kevin. We were absolutely shocked.

Julie started the first of 16 sessions of chemotherapy and radiotherapy at the Spire that April. It took its toll, but we thought the cancer was treatable, says Kevin, who admits his wifes decision that July to take legal action against the NHS for failing to diagnose the disease only added to her distress.

When we arranged a meeting with a senior medic whod seen Julie, he asked if we could speak off the record, says Kevin. I said no: we wanted a transparent investigation. He tried to blame our GP. They denied everything and constantly stalled for time.

After requesting samples of Julies test results from Southmead Hospital, the couple paid 2,500 to send them to independent experts including Dr Sanjiv Manek, a consultant gynaecological pathologist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.

His damning report on Julies first smear test from September 2014 said there were plentiful abnormal cells and added that it should have been straightforward to pick out these abnormalities and make a diagnosis.

Yet North Bristol Trust refused to take into account this independent analysis. Their investigation was carried out by the gynaecological and pathology departments who had made the mistakes in the first place.

Julie could have had a hysterectomy to prevent the cancer spreading if it had been detected earlier, Kevin says. She could have been free of the disease. To hear the doctors who had failed to diagnose her claim that they had done nothing wrong was galling.

It wasnt until February 2018 that the couple learned North Bristol Trusts investigation had found abnormal cells present from Julies first smear. Three months later, they admitted that if they had correctly reported the smear, this would have resulted in Julie avoiding all treatment except for a minor day procedure and that she would not have developed cervical cancer.

The chairman of the Trust wrote to apologise unreservedly for failing to keep Julie informed. It was a relief to hear them finally admit they were at fault, says Kevin.

By this time, however, the cancer had spread to Julies left hip and thigh bones, which were replaced with titanium prostheses. By March 2018, it had entered her spine and lymph nodes and Julie was told it was incurable.

Julie was scared of dying, says Kevin, recalling  in tears  a moment when the couple were sharing one of their many cuddles in bed. She looked at me and said: I dont want to die. I wont see my grandchildren and I am worried about leaving you.

We both cried. She thought I might go off the rails without her. I assured her Id be OK and would make sure the children were, too.

As months passed, Julie grew weaker, requiring a second hip replacement that June and losing her hair from a final dose of chemotherapy. Even when nauseous from painkillers, she remained determined to enjoy life.

She wrote cards for the childrens birthdays shed miss in years to come and on Christmas Day let Sophie do her make-up before she joined her family at the table.

After she was admitted to St Peters Hospice in Bristol last month, her hand was held constantly by family, and Kevin was by her side when she died on Monday morning.

Her breathing grew shallower as I talked of the journeys wed enjoyed travelling across Europe as a family. Then she went, and I gave her a big hug.

Kevin is now busy preparing for Julies funeral next Friday. A silver car will take her white coffin to the church the couple married in, and there will be a prosecco reception to celebrate her life.

He refuses to be bitter. Anger is a wasted emotion, he says. But I need to make sure what happened to Julie doesnt happen to anyone else. Then Ill be able to grieve.

North Bristol NHS Trust is commissioning an independent review of the Root Cause Analysis carried out by the Trust into the care Julie received.

Medical director Dr Chris Burton said: We are extremely sorry to hear that Mrs OConnor has died. We have her family in our thoughts at this very difficult time and we send our deepest condolences.

We are committed to understanding the full circumstances of the care we provided so we can improve our services for the future, and we will be publicly open with the overall findings of the independent investigation. I have met with Mr OConnor and will remain in contact with him.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team has interviewed White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders as part of his sprawling Russia probe, she confirmed on Friday.

Sanders said in a statement Friday that she was 'happy to voluntarily sit down with them.'

'The President urged me, like he has everyone in the administration, to fully cooperate with the special counsel,' she said.

Neither the White House nor the Trump legal team has said when that interview took place. CNN was first to report about it on Friday.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, shown speaking with reporters on Friday, has acknowledged sitting down for a formal interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team

Mueller's Russia probe, which is at the end of its 21st month, is thought to be winding down

Mueller is believed to be close to wrapping up his investigation into so-far undocumented claims that President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign organization colluded with agents of Russia in order to tilt the presidential election toward him.

Trump has repeatedly denied that his campaign did anything improper, denouncing the investigation as a political 'hoax' or 'witch hunt' at least 10 times this year already.

Sanders has also called the Mueller probe a 'witch hunt.'

The president has said that he believes a trope about a Kremlin link to his campaign began when the Democratic national Committee and its presidentiaal nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign funded opposition research through a firm called Fusion GPS.

That company paid a former British spy named Christopher Steele to amass a dossier of possible connections between Trumpworld and Moscow. Although it was used in part to justify federal surveillance on at least one Trump adviser, its contents remain unsubstantiated.

Trump wrote last week on Twitter that the line of inquiry is 'all a GIANT AND ILLEGAL HOAX, developed long before the election itself, but used as an excuse by the Democrats as to why Crooked Hillary Clinton lost the Election!'

'Someday the Fake News Media will turn honest & report that Donald J. Trump was actually a GREAT Candidate!'

Trump has also recently castigated House Demcorats for what he calls a campaign of 'Unlimited Presidential Harassment' related to claims that international influences tainted his election.

Interviewing Sanders appears to be among the final loose ends Mueller's team has yet to tie up, coming at roughly the same time as the special counsel's interview with John Kelly, the former White House chief of staff.

One source told CNN that the White House initially balked on letting Mueller have access to Sanders. The network reported that one likely area of interest is 'how Sanders composed statements she made on the podium defending the President regarding the Russia investigation.'

John Dowd, Trump's former personal lawyer, said this week that says he doesn't expect the special counsel's conclusions about the president to be made public.

'I don't think there'll be a report,' Dowd told ABC News in a podcast. 'I will be shocked if anything regarding the president is made public, other than "We're done".'

Dowd characterized the entire probe as 'a terrible waste of time' and 'one of the greatest frauds this country's ever seen.'

Matthew Whitaker, who was until Thursday the acting U.S. attorney general, told reporters on January 29 that he had been 'fully briefed' about the Mueller probe and it was 'close to being completed.'

William Barr took his oath of office as attorney general on Thursday and now has operational control of the Mueller probe.

He told senators during his confirmaiton hearing that he doesn't believe Mueller is engaged in a 'witch hunt,' and he has no plan to influence him. The two men have been friends for decades.

Barr's predecessor, Jeff Sessions, recused himself entirely from the Russia investigation because he had been a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign.
Pro-remain Tory MPs said last night the party was being taken over by former Ukip members amid fresh infighting over Brexit.

Former ministers Nick Boles and Anna Soubry said a purple Momentum was gaining control of some local Conservative associations and leaving their sitting MPs facing the threat of deselection.

It came as Theresa May was warned that a dozen ministers will resign by the end of the month unless she agrees to postpone Brexit to prevent a No Deal scenario.

Miss Soubry yesterday said the Conservative Party was broken as the Prime Minister struggles to reconcile the warring factions.

Anna Soubry yesterday said on the BBC the Conservative Party was broken as the Prime Minister struggles to reconcile the warring factions

They are now in control of the associations. We have got a purple Momentum, Im not exaggerating, she told the BBC

The former business minister, who has been campaigning for a second referendum, said even MPs loyal to Mrs May were facing the prospect of being unseated because of the arrival of hundreds of ex-Ukip supporters in their constituency associations.

They are now in control of the associations. We have got a purple Momentum, Im not exaggerating, she told the BBC.

I spoke to a colleague of mine and he was telling me that he is now being threatened with deselection because he voted for the Prime Ministers deal.

In his association they have had 80 new members in about 80 days and they are all ex-Ukip members, they are not Conservatives.

Former ministers Nick Boles (right) and Anna Soubry (left) said a purple Momentum was gaining control of some local Conservative associations and leaving their sitting MPs facing the threat of deselection

It came as Theresa May was warned that a dozen ministers will resign by the end of the month unless she agrees to postpone Brexit to prevent a No Deal scenario

Other pro-Remain Tory MPs, including Miss Soubry, Dominic Grieve, Antoinette Sandbach Mark Pawsey and George Freeman, were also being targeted, he claimed

Instead of standing up to this, like Labour should have stood up to Momentum, we are falling into the same trap. Both main parties are broken.

What did Theresa May's motion say? MPs threw out Theresa May's latest Brexit motion by 303 to 258 - a majority of 45. The motion was intended to reinforce Mrs May's negotiating position by showing there was a majority for the Brexit deal in the Commons if the Irish border backstop is re-written. It said MPs still backed the vote on January 29 which spelt this out. The problem for the PM tonight is that on January 29 MPs also voted against no deal - creating a deep split inside the Tories about whether her motion also reflected this. The motion read: 'That this House welcomes the Prime Ministers statement of 12 February 2019; reiterates its support for the approach to leaving the EU expressed by this House on 29 January 2019 and notes that discussions between the UK and the EU on the Northern Ireland backstop are ongoing.' In the end, both Leave and Remain MPs abstained on the motion - consigning the PM to another humiliating defeat. Advertisement

Miss Soubry was backed up by Mr Boles, who said Mrs May was allowing zealots to run the party.

The fellow former business minister has been facing a deselection attempt in his Grantham and Stamford constituency since he threatened to resign the party whip if the Prime Minister pursues a No Deal Brexit.

Mr Boles said a systematic operation of infiltration by Ukip was taking place.

He said the party membership in his seat had increased from 400 to 500 in the past year.

Other pro-Remain Tory MPs, including Miss Soubry, Dominic Grieve, Antoinette Sandbach Mark Pawsey and George Freeman, were also being targeted, he claimed.

Mr Boles told The Times: You have already seen one great party taken over by a sect and destroyed. I worry that the Conservative Party is on the brink. It is happening in the constituencies and it is also happening in the parliamentary party.

The one advantage Labour has is that their parliamentary party is quite sane, though the front bench is controlled by the zealots. In our case we have somewhere between 30 and 80 zealots. They are more ideologically fixed than the Maastricht rebels were and are greater in number.

He added: A bit of pepper in the soup is never a bad thing, but Im not happy for my party to be run by zealots and at the moment Theresa is basically allowing them to run the party.

Ex-ambassadors warn Theresa May against no-deal Brexit A group of retired diplomats have issued a plea to Theresa May to delay Brexit to allow more time to establish a clearer plan or allow for a second referendum. In a statement to The Times, more than 40 former ambassadors and Foreign Office mandarins warned that if the Prime Minister secured agreement on her plan, it would not mark the end of uncertainty but the start of years of negotiations. They reported 'exasperation and incomprehension' among contacts overseas at the UK's failure to resolve its differences over its future relationship with the EU. The statement, organised by supporters of a second referendum, was signed by former ambassadors to the US, France and Russia, as well as one-time head of the Foreign Office Lord Kerr, one of the authors of the Article 50 clause which sets out the process for quitting the EU. Advertisement

The Tory divisions over Brexit yesterday widened in the wake of Mrs Mays Commons defeat on Valentines Day.

Mr Grieve said the next round of Brexit votes on February 27 would be a high noon moment when mass resignations might bring Mrs Mays Government down.

He told the BBC that he understood a number of ministers had already told Mrs May that if she was unable to secure a Brexit Withdrawal Agreement which could command the support of the Commons, she should extend the date when Britain leaves the EU beyond the planned March 29.

He said a dozen or even more ministers may resign if she refuses, including up to half a dozen from the Cabinet.

Steve Baker, deputy chairman of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of Tory MPs, dismissed the row over Thursdays vote as a storm in a teacup.

Brexit-backing MPs who abstained were not prepared to be associated with the catastrophic and foolish negotiating error of taking a No Deal Brexit off the table, he said.

It came as a senior EU source said Ireland was under growing pressure from Brussels to soften its Brexit stance.

The source said Dublin faces a choice between erecting a hard border with Northern Ireland or leaving the single market if Britain leaves without a deal.

A physical border would be required to protect the single markets integrity or all goods travelling from Ireland to the rest of the EU would need to be checked as if it were a non-member, the official added.

A senior EU diplomat said yesterday: Soon enough, Ireland will have to face up to the fact that either there is a border on the island or a border between Ireland and the rest of the EU.

What are the options for reworking the Irish border backstop? The EU has flatly dismissed calls for the Withdrawal Agreement to be reopened. But Theresa May has promised MPs that she will somehow get legally-binding changes that satisfy concerns about the Irish border backstop. Here are some possible options for how the PM might seek to get through the impasse. A unilateral exit clause Prominent backbenchers including former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has pushed Mrs May to seek a unilateral get-out from the backstop. The current mechanism can only be deactivated through a joint review system - although the EU insists it is technically 'temporary'. But Brussels has insisted that an 'insurance policy' that can be ended by one side is not acceptable. Expiry date A hard end date to the backstop would allay the fears of most Tory MPs - as long as it is not too far in the future. Boris Johnson has suggested he could vote for the deal if she manages to get a time limit, although he also said it should conclude before the next election in May 2022. The former foreign secretary also unhelpfully insisted a legal 'codicil' - an amendment which would run alongside the Withdrawal Agreement - would not be enough to win him over and he wants the whole thing unpicked. Again, the EU has insisted it will not agree to a backstop that is time limited. The 'Malthouse Compromise' Tory Remainers and Brexiteers have been working on a proposal to replace the backstop with a looser, Canada-style free trade arrangements. The plan would deploy technology in a bid to avoid a hard border. But Brussels has already dismissed the technogical solutions as 'magical thinking', saying the systems needed do not yet exist. Guarantees that the backstop will only be 'temporary' The EU's top official, Martin Selmayr floated the idea of 'unzipping' the Withdrawal Agreement and inserting new guarantees about the 'temporary' nature of the backstop during meetings with MPs. He suggested the text of recent letters from Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker could be cut and pasted in without reopening other terms. But that would be highly unlikely to satisfy Brexiteers. Advertisement
Network Rail has spent more than 3 million on flying its staff around the UK in the past five years  saying it is sometimes both cheaper and quicker than taking the train.

The state-backed company which oversees Britains rail infrastructure has revealed it spends more than 600,000 a year on flights to send staff to training courses and meetings.

It splashed out 594,742 on economy plane tickets last year, including 414 for a return flight from Birmingham to Glasgow to attend a training course. Other examples included 366 for a one-way flight from Glasgow to London for a meeting and a single trip from the East Midlands to Glasgow for 245.

Network Rail chiefs have used planes to send staff members to meeting across the UK - because it's cheaper than taking a train

A single first-class train fare from Glasgow Central to London Euston booked on a Friday and travelling on a Sunday would cost 164. But the average journey time is almost six hours, compared with about an hour and a quarter for a flight. Network Rail was forced to reveal the details following a Freedom of Information request. It said the vast majority of business trips were taken by train.

Graham Stringer, a Labour member of the Commons transport committee, said: Network Rail needs to work on improving their own efficiency if planes are cheaper  as well as quicker  than the trains. I think rail passengers and commuters would expect Network Rail employees to use their own product  they might then understand how poor services often are.

Network Rail said 98 per cent of its business journeys were taken by rail and it was mindful of the fact that the money we spend is public money.
British surgeons could be the first in the world to transplant a womb into a transgender woman who was born male.

Experts investigating whether the procedure is possible for those who have switched sex to female are convinced it is not only medically feasible but ethically justified.

The surgical team from Imperial College London and Oxford University have ethical approval from the NHS for 15 womb transplants on infertile women, which are expected to start in the coming weeks.

Womb transplants, which cost 50,000 per operation, were developed to allow women to carry a baby if they were born without a womb or have had it removed through illness. Roughly 15,000 women in the UK could benefit.

Trans females have a narrower pelvis than women but there would still be room to carry a child

But the team is also considering trialling the procedure on those who were born male, after they were approached by a number of transgender women. The organs would be taken from dead donors or from women who decide to become men and have their wombs removed in the process.

Writing in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the scientists said it would be perfectly possible to put a womb into a male body so that they could carry a baby to full-term. And they say it may be legally and ethically impermissible not to consider performing the procedure.

Ben Jones, a surgeon at Imperial and member of the Womb Transplant UK organisation which is planning the first operations this year, said a questionnaire of transgender women will help to determine whether or not there is a desire to undergo this process.

Several transgender men  those who were born women and then switched  have already given birth in the UK.

But in those circumstances it was merely a case of retaining the female reproductive organs after they transitioned, rather than having to implant female organs into a male body.

Womb transplants, which cost 50,000 per operation, were developed to allow women to carry a baby if they were born without a womb or have had it removed through illness (stock image)

However, the social complications of such transitions became clear last week when a transgender man who had given birth in such a way launched legal action demanding to be identified as their childs father  rather than mother  on the birth certificate. The experts stress it is likely to be several years before the procedure for transgender women can happen, but they believe they can overcome key physical differences between male and female body structure to make it a success.

They write in the journal: There is no overwhelming clinical argument against performing a womb transplant as part of gender reassignment surgery.

Six months after the surgery and the womb has healed, a donated egg would be fertilised with the transgender womans own sperm and the embryo implanted. The baby would then be delivered by caesarean section.

Campaigners argue transgender women should have the same right to carry a child as a woman born female. But not everyone shares their view.

Feminist campaigner Julie Bindel has previously argued against the idea of motherhood for transgender women, saying: This is not about transgender rights, its about a twisted notion as to what constitutes a real woman.

Ben Jones (pictured), a surgeon at Imperial and member of the Womb Transplant UK organisation, said a questionnaire of transgender women will help to determine whether or not there is a desire to undergo this process

Legal experts warn a legislative change would be needed because under current laws surgeons could face ten years in jail if they perform the operation. Writing in the same journal, Natasha Hammond-Browning, a law lecturer at the University of Gloucestershire, said: Since the announcement of the first live birth following uterine transplantation, there has been considerable interest from the trans community.

But embryo transfer into a person who was not born a woman is illegal under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.

Anyone performing it on a transgender woman could face a fine or imprisonment for up to ten years.

Interest in the idea has grown since the first baby was born from a womb transplant in Sweden in 2014. Since then 11 more have been born in this way in Sweden, the US and Brazil. The operations in the UK are to be charitably funded but experts hope in time they will be available on the NHS.
Shamima Begums toneless insistence that she did not regret joining Islamic State drove many to say that she should be barred from Britain.

But as the heavily pregnant schoolgirl spoke, a former jihadi bride now living halfway across the world from the extremist state felt a shiver of recognition.

Tania Joya, a mother-of-four who grew up in Harrow, Middlesex, read the story online from the comfortable apartment in Plano, Texas, where she lives with her second husband, an IT executive.

Although Miss Joya, 35, now insists she is completely rehabilitated, she was once in Begums shoes.

She was nicknamed the first lady of ISIS after marrying an American Islamic convert who became one of the states most senior commanders.

Today, she says she has renounced extremism and, in an interview with the Daily Mail, called for Begum to be given a second chance for the sake of her unborn child  and for a law to protect children from their religion.

Shamima was a child while she was groomed and she is still a child, she said. If she is willing to accept her mistakes, she could be rehabilitated. Give Shamima and her baby a chance to live. She will outgrow the brainwashing as I did.

Tania was radicalised in east London and married a jihadi. She went to Syria with him but escaped in 2013. She has now turned her back on islam and lives in Dallas, Texas (pictured in 2018)

Tania Joya with John (her jihadi husband). The pair fled to Syria from the US. Pictured in June 2009

In comments that place much of the blame on Islam rather than on personal responsibility, she added: I wish there was a law in England that could protect children from their religion.

If I had grown up in an agnostic, atheist, or even a Christian or Jewish home, I would not have been exposed to these suppressive ideas of women and how god controls everything  and it is just such a lie.

I feel sorry for [Shamima], she is so young, she has been in a toxic environment for all these years where she is not allowed to think anything different from the rest of the group. She is still in that state. She is only 19 and thats when I radicalised.

If we dont help her, the baby is going to die and it is her fault, 100 per cent her fault. But for humanitarian reasons we help that child. And if she wants help she has got to be willing to change.

It makes me really mad that she does not feel any remorse. She has got to be held accountable for her childrens deaths. That is because of her actions, because she went there in the first place.

For some, it may be hard to understand how Miss Joya, who once said she was thirsty for the Islamic state and that her children were born to serve the mujahideen, has made such a dramatic U-turn.

IS expert Graeme Wood, author of The Way of Strangers: Encounters with Islamic State, claimed that Miss Joya was no victim and had passed up a decade of opportunities to leave her husband John Georgelas.

The picture Miss Joya paints is very different  one of a lonely and isolated girl bullied at school who turned to extremism at her lowest ebb. Any radical group could have sucked her in, she said.

Tania Joya her wedding to Craig Burma in June 2018 in Las Vegas

And of the 150 women and girls who have travelled to Syria as jihadi brides, she is almost unique in publicly abandoning her beliefs  offering some insight into how or if these women can ever be re-integrated into western life.

Her story begins in Harrow, north-west London, where she was born Joya Choudhury, to culturally Muslim Bangladeshi parents like Begum.

Her father Nural Choudhury moved between jobs including bank clerk and accounts assistant, while her mother Jahanara ran a catering business. Miss Joya, one of five children, says she was brought up to believe men were on a pedestal.

She claims she was radicalised after the family moved to Barking, east London, when she was 17. There she encountered schoolgirls who slut shamed her for dressing in Western clothes.

Soon, she was wearing the full veil and being told by a friend to celebrate the bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York. By her own admission, she became a hardcore jihadist. Miss Joya said: We believed in jihad but the jihad we were thinking of was very rosy pictured. Islam had become the solution to everything.

She joined a Muslim matrimonial website and by February 2003 had met John Georgelas, from Plano near Dallas. He was the son of Colonel Timothy Georgelas and his wife Martha and had spent part of his childhood in Cambridgeshire. They were married within a month in a sharia ceremony that was made official at Rochdale Register Officer in October 2004. Miss Joya had the escape she craved, moving with her new husband first to an upmarket suburb where she was overawed by the Georgelas familys four-bedroom, five-bathroom home with a pool.

The couple travelled to England and Syria, initially funded by money from their marriage, then settled in California where Georgelas got a job as a data technician.

He was caught illegally accessing passwords for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, however, and was sentenced to 34 months in jail. He served his sentence, and Miss Joya stuck by him, and again during three years further probation in Texas.

By 2011, she had given birth to the couples third son and they were free to leave. They moved to Cairo where, according to Mr Wood, Georgelas met other jihadists and was a vocal supporter of pre-IS pro-caliphate voices.

By 2013, Georgelas was determined to go to Syria and in August took his wife, who was five months pregnant, and three sons over the border to the city of Azaz in north-western Syria.

Miss Joya insists that she was tricked, and in any case did not have a choice because of the control her husband exerted over her  a theme that she says is reflected in the brainwashing of Shamima Begum.

He controlled me, he owned me, she said. He was like my master and I was his slave.

If I disobeyed him, I was disobeying god. Any woman who has been in an abusive relationship would understand.

Locked at home like a house cat, she was repeatedly raped while her husband courted the Islamic militia. I used to cut myself just to keep him away from me, to stop him having sex with me, she said.

From her time in Syria, she remembers a place filled with once luxurious abandoned homes, limited food and no electricity.

She would be heckled for going outside without being fully covered up. Regular Syrian people would be hospitable and friendly, the local Syrians, she said. It was the foreign fighters and their wives. They would say, Mujahideens wives to not dress like that.

She continued: All I wanted to do was die. I couldnt kill myself because I had children.

I was in such a dark place. John thought it was just me being pathetic and weak.

At breaking point, Miss Joya told her husband she needed to escape. Tiring of her relentless begging, he agreed to take her and the children to the border.

So pregnant she was leaking amniotic fluid, she says she ran for the border with her three children, the youngest in a pushchair.

Tania Joya's ex husband and father of her children John Georgelas joined Islamic State (ISIS)

In an extraordinary denouement to her jihadi bride escape story, Miss Joya says she came under sniper fire and was forced to put her three boys alone on a strangers motorbike to a bus station in Turkey.

Her husband, she says, did not say goodbye. Now 35 and living under the name Yahya al-Bahrumi, he was said to have led the IS propaganda unit. Miss Joya says she no longer knows if he is dead or alive.

From there, she met a contact arranged by her husband, who got them on a plane to Istanbul.

She travelled with the children to London, then to Texas where she moved in with Georgelass parents. Today, she shares custody of the four children with them.

She remained in touch with her husband for several years after she had fled Syria, she says, but claims they lost contact in 2015.

Despite this, as recently as last month she was accused of being a dangerous person after telling Piers Morgan on ITVs Good Morning Britain that she still loved him, saying that he had given her four beautiful, lovely children and insisting everybody has a good side, everybody has a bad side. The interview was then cut short with Miss Joya insisting that she is no longer an extremist.

I was so annoyed by the way he [Piers] spoke to me that I was not giving him the answers he wanted to hear, she said.

Asked now about her former husband, she says she feels anger but adds: It is an unfortunate waste of a human being.

Her journey in and out of Syria was brief  just three weeks  but she is clear who she believes is to blame for her own radicalisation.

Today, estranged from her British family, Miss Joya is the wife of IT executive Craig Bruma, 49, who answered an advert she placed on dating website match.com stating: I have four kids. My husband abandoned me to go and become the next Osama Bin Laden.

Twice divorced himself and a father of three sons, he has introduced her to Unitarian Universalism, which is based in Christianity but advocates a search for spiritual growth.

Miss Joya said: I think America helped me because I had four children who were American citizens. I actually said to them, if you dont allow me back into the US, you are not going to have one American terrorist to deal with, you are going to have five. That was my fear.

She now describes herself as an activist.

I want to help prevent people from becoming like Shamima, she added. People who want to change, people who want to get away from that extremist mindset deserve a second chance.

Additional reporting: Barbara Davies
Banks have finally agreed to refund victims of sophisticated frauds.

They had been refusing to pay compensation in cases where neither they nor the customer was to blame.

But now a coalition of banks has agreed to pay into a fund that will ensure no genuine victim is left out of pocket.

It is a major victory for Money Mails Stop the Bank Scammers campaign, which had called on banks to pay up.

Around 1million a day is stolen through authorised push payment fraud, where customers are tricked into switching money into accounts controlled by criminals.

Stephen Jones, head of trade body UK Finance, now says they will offer compensation when the loss is neither sides fault

The scammers can pose as bank staff, solicitors, police officers and even tax inspectors.

Before their U-turn, banks had argued they should not pay out because the transactions were authorised by customers.

Stephen Jones, head of trade body UK Finance, now says they will offer compensation when the loss is neither sides fault.

He told MPs on the Treasury committee the new fund was an interim measure until a permanent solution could be agreed with banking watchdogs.

It is hoped that the interim compensation scheme will be in force by the end of the year.

Banks are considering ways of funding it, possibly with a levy on transactions. They will have to put in place security measures to ensure guaranteed compensation does not lead to higher levels of fraud.

Around 1million a day is stolen through authorised push payment fraud, where customers are tricked into switching money into accounts controlled by criminals. Stock image

Nicky Morgan, the Tory MP who chairs the Treasury committee, said: It is encouraging to hear that banks on the steering group, which includes Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS, have committed to fund an initial contribution to reimburse consumers in such cases.

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It is also encouraging to hear that those not on the steering group, including Santander and Nationwide, have made the same commitment.

The most recent figures from UK Finance show that 145million was lost to the push payment fraud in the first six months of last year.

The figure could be much higher because it is thought some victims may be too ashamed to come forward.

Gareth Shaw, head of money at consumer experts Which?, said: This long-awaited move to ensure victims of bank transfer scams are properly reimbursed when neither they nor the bank is at fault is a major victory for consumers.

The banks must now act to ensure this scheme is implemented as swiftly as possible so consumers can have confidence that losing life-changing sums of money to this type of fraud is a thing of the past.

A Lloyds spokesman said: We have committed to provide initial funding to the new scheme, ensuring that victims receive the right amount of protection while the longer-term funding structure is put in place.

A Santander spokesman said: We are fully supportive of finding a solution to the issue of no blame funding. We are committed to playing our part in funding the establishment of a reimbursement pot.

In February last year a steering group of banks and consumer representatives was set up by the Payment Systems Regulator after Which? raised a super-complaint about the lack of protection for customers who are caught by push payment scams.

The group agreed that victims should be refunded when neither the bank nor the customer had done anything wrong. But they were unable to reach a decision on who should foot the bill.

Nicky Morgan, the Tory MP who chairs the Treasury committee, said: It is encouraging to hear that banks on the steering group have committed to fund an initial contribution to reimburse consumers in such cases'

Banks such as which includes Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS have committed to reimburse customers

Banks claimed that it would not be fair for them to be held financially responsible  particularly if the scams were a result of data breaches in other sectors such as telecoms and retail.

A spokesman for the steering group said last night: The group has worked on the principle that where a victim of an authorised push payment scam has met their requisite level of care they should be reimbursed, and it is finalising the mechanism for this to take place.

A timeline for the launch of a new voluntary code of conduct on how banks deal with fraud victims is expected to be published at the end of the month.

It will outline the minimum standards that customers are required to meet to be found blameless for the fraud.

If they are found to have been negligent or reckless, banks will not have to pay.

Earlier this week it emerged that a new security check that would see money transfers blocked if the recipients name and account number did not match has been delayed, possibly until next year.

It was supposed to come into operation by this July.
A teacher described as a 'caregiver' and 'beautiful person inside out' was hit and killed by a truck as she dragged her small suitcase across a New York street Friday.

Sarah Foster, 27, passed away at the scene after being struck by the vehicle belonging to a heating oil company at around 5.45am on East 37th Street and Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

She was reportedly wearing headphones and hood when the Approved Oil truck made a left turn and she was knocked to the ground just steps away from her 36th street apartment.

Sarah Foster, 27, was hit and killed while crossing the road wearing earphones and a hood in New York Friday

Approved Oil company VP said: 'It's an unfortunate situation and prayers go out to her family'

The incident happened on East 37th Street and Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, near her Murray Hill apartment where the teacher dragged her small suitcase

Witnesses from the local Bagel Boys store saw the tragic incident where driver Steven McDermott, 51, remained before being charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian.

Law enforcement also said he was charged with failure to exercise due care and he is due to appear in court April 15 after being issued a desk appearance ticket.

The vice president of the oil company, Chris Fazio, told New York Post: 'It's an unfortunate situation and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family. We're just going to wait for further details from the investigation.'

Teacher Foster was killed at the scene and the driver waited after the collision occurred

Employees at Bagel Boss saw the incident. Driver Steven McDermott, 51, was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care

Foster (right) taught Social Studies in Harrison Central School District for more than two years

Foster recently moved into her Murray Hill home, where she lived alone.

The woman taught Social Studies in the Harrison Central School District for the past two-and-a-half years.

'She was a beautiful person inside and out,' her aunt told The Post. 'She and I just connected on so many levels.'

Social media images with her father Stu and sister Leah indicate she was a Boston Red Sox fan.

She was a Sigma Delta Tau sorority sister at Union College in Schenectady, New York.

Red Sox supporter Foster is pictured left with her sister Leah (center) and father Stu (right)

Foster (left) was described as a 'caregiver' and a 'beautiful person inside out'
David Gabbert of Bridgeport, West Virginia, has been accused of the frenzied attack on a couple on December 23

A West Virginia man has been accused of grabbing a woman's buttocks, punching her husband in the face and then throwing hot coffee over her after ripping her shirt.

David Alexander Gabbert has been identified as the responsible party for the frenzied assault at a Circle K store in Bridgeport, on December 23.

Police say Gabbert crashed a vehicle near the convenience store, and, along with two other passengers, he then walked inside.

Encountering the victim, Gabbert is said to have made a lewd comment to an unnamed woman at the counter, before grabbing her behind.

'She stated she then told him not to do that, and as she was walking outside of the store, he said more vulgar remarks to her,' according to Bridgeport Patrol Officer, Kris Burgess.

Outside, the altercation continued and Gabbert allegedly began to verbally assault the woman's husband, who tried to extinguish the conflict, as their two-year-old daughter was in the car.

The altercation happen at a Circle K, next to a Dairy Queen in Bridgeport. The attacked started in the store and escalated in the parking lot

The defendant is then said to have punched the husband in the face, who was sitting in the passenger seat, before launching a donut at him.

Gabbert was pushed away from the car by the female victim, and in the scuffle he reportedly ripped her shirt and threw burning hot coffee over her.

The woman suffered burned to her chest and arm.

Burgess said the police have interviewed three other witnesses who have all helped to corroborate the claims.

Gabbert has been charged with malicious assault and misdemeanor battery by Bridgeport police.
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Authorities have identified 45-year-old Gary Martin (above) as the gunman who opened fire Friday afternoon at the Henry Pratt Co. manufacturing warehouse in Aurora, Illinois, fatally shooting five coworkers and injuring several others. When police arrived he fired multiple shots at officers before hiding inside the warehouse. He was found about an hour later and shot dead in a gun battle

Six people, including a gunman, have been confirmed dead following a shooting at a manufacturing warehouse in Aurora, Illinois, on Friday.

The shooter was identified as 45-year-old Gary Martin. Chief of Police Kristen Ziman said at a news conference that he had been terminated from his job at the Henry Pratt Co. industrial valve manufacturing plant on the day of the shooting.

Martin allegedly opened fire inside the warehouse just before 1.30pm local time Friday, fatally shooting five people and injuring multiple others.

Police responding to reports of the shooting were met with a hail of gunfire in which five officers were shot and wounded.

Martin then hid inside the 29,000-square-foot warehouse. When police finally located him 90 minutes later, a gun battle ensued and Martin was shot dead.

Chief of Police Kristen Ziman revealed what details investigators have been able to confirm at two press conferences on Friday evening. Another press conference is scheduled for 10am CST Saturday.

Ziman said it is unclear whether Martin's attack was premeditated, but that initial reports suggest he may have been motivated by his firing.

The gunman's sister Tameka Martin told WBEZ that Martin had worked at Henry Pratt Co. for about 20 years before losing his job about two weeks ago.

His mother, Felicia Martin, told WGN: 'My heart goes out to all the victims and their families.'

It is unclear how many civilians were wounded in the shooting, but early reports indicated that a dozen had been shot. None of the victims, all of whom were said to be male, have been identified pending notification of family members.

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Relatives of Martin (above) said he had worked as a large valve assembler at Henry Pratt Co. for about 20 years before losing his job about two weeks ago. Police have not yet determined a motive in Friday's shooting

Witnesses described how Martin walked down an aisle of the warehouse shooting 'everybody' with a pistol

Police responding to reports of the shooting were met with a hail of gunfire in which five officers were shot and wounded

Employees at the 29,000-square-foot industrial complex are seen being led outside by law enforcement after the shooting

It is unclear how many civilians were wounded in the shooting, but early reports indicated that a dozen had been shot. None of the victims, civilian nor police, have been identified

According to witnesses, Martin had arrived for work at 7am like he would on other day. Things took a horrific turn after lunchtime when he walked down an aisle of the warehouse shooting 'everybody' with a pistol that had a laser scope attached to it.

One witness who spoke to ABC said: 'I saw a guy running down the aisle, with a pistol, I recognized him as a co-worker and he was shooting everybody.'

The man added: 'One of the guys was up in the office, he said this person was shootin', and, he come running down and he was bleeding pretty bad, and the next thing you know he was walking back and forth, I heard more shots, and we just left the building.'

Chief Ziman said police received multiple calls about an active shooter at the sprawling warehouse at 641 Archer Ave around 1.24pm. Four officers arrived on the scene within four minutes and were fired upon, injuring two of them.

Additional officers who arrived on the scene shortly after were also fired upon, leaving a total of five officers shot and wounded. Two were airlifted to trauma centers. A sixth officer was being treated for a knee injury.

As of 9pm local time, Ziman said none of the officers had life-threatening injuries.

'Thank you for your selfless act,' the police chief said to officers and other law enforcement officials involved in the shooting.

'Thank you for running towards gunfire and putting your lives in danger to protect those inside the business.'

Ziman said the active shooter situation lasted roughly one hour and 35 minutes, but noted that no shots were fired during the 90 minute period that Martin was hiding inside the warehouse.

She said all five of the victims killed were dead when emergency responders arrived. It was unclear whether Martin had targeted any of them specifically.

Aurora Chief of Police Kristen Ziman spoke at a press conference Friday night and thanked police for their brave response

Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin addressed the media after Ziman, saying: 'It's a shame that mass shootings such as this have become commonplace in our country.

'It's a shame that a cold and heartless offender would be so selfish as to think he has the right to take an innocent life. But we as a society cannot allow these horrific acts to become commonplace.'

Gov JB Pritzker also spoke at the news conference and expressed that there was no way for him to prepare for such a shocking event, the first tragedy of his administration.

President Donald Trump tweeted his condolences after the White House was briefed on the shooting

'There are no words for the kind of evil that robs our neighbors of their hopes, their dreams and their futures,' he said. 'There are no words to express our gratitude to the officers who were wounded in the line of duty as they responded to the gravest kind of danger they could face.'

President Trump reacted to the shooting on Twitter Friday evening, writing: 'Great job by law enforcement in Aurora, Illinois. Heartfelt condolences to all of the victims and their families. America is with you!'

Hundreds of law enforcement officials from local agencies in addition to SWAT teams, FBI agents and ATF officers remained on the scene hours after the shooting.

By 7pm Friday evening police had taped off a Chicago apartment unit where Martin was believed to have lived. Local media outlets reported that it did not appear anyone was home when officers arrived.

Neighbors could be seen huddled on the sidewalk near Martin's unit, speculating about whether they had ever crossed paths with the suspected shooter.

'This is a strange thing to come home to,' resident Mary McKnight remarked as she arrived at the complex and saw the massive law enforcement presence, according to the Associated Press.

Hundreds of law enforcement officials from local agencies in addition to SWAT teams, FBI agents and ATF officers were dispatched to the scene of the shooting

Authorities announced that the scene had been secured at around 3.30pm, two hours after the first reports of gunfire

The Henry Pratt Co. warehouse is near several schools and a university, which were both placed on lockdown until the active shooter situation was diffused.

West Aurora School District 129 said on its website that officials were 'holding all district students in place for their safety' and that 'teaching will continue with reduced movement'.

The district said it had been advised by the county sheriff to go into a soft lockdown situation.

President of the District 129 school board Bob Gonzalez, who lives and works about 50 feet from Henry Pratt Co., told the Chicago Tribune he and his twin four-year-old grandchildren were at home when they heard sirens and squad cars fly by.

Gonzalez said he initially assumed it was a fire, but became more concerned as countless other law enforcement vehicles flooded into the area.

As soon as he learned that a shooting had taken place, Gonzalez locked the doors to his office, closed the blinds and took his grandchildren to a bathroom in the rear of his home, warning them to stay away from the window.

He said he tried to stay calm and answer their questions without raising alarm, but admitted: 'I was very scared at the same time.'

Gonzalez said he hasn't experienced anything like this in the 31 years he's lived in Aurora.

'It's kind of unsettling,' he told the Tribune. 'It just makes me wonder, here, the door to my office is always unlocked, I see my clients come in, I know my clients, but it makes me wonder whether now I should have some kind lock that I can lock from the inside and keep my door locked at all times. Its very scary.'

'I've seen it on the news happening someplace else,' he said. 'But never here in Aurora.'

The shooting took place around 40 miles from Chicago, in the suburb of Aurora

Police armed with rifles patrol the scene at the Henry Pratt Co. water valve manufacturing plant after Friday's shooting
The federal judge overseeing the prosecution of longtime Donald Trump advisor Roger Stone is barring him from making statements on the courthouse steps that might prejudice a jury or witness in his case.

The order, by udge Amy Berman Jackson, further gags lawyers on both sides from statements that might impact the case.

"Counsel for the parties and the witnesses must refrain from making statements to the media or in public settings that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case," wrote Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is overseeing the case,' she wrote.

But in the case of Stone, who has been ubiquitous in the media since his indictment, her order was narrower, prohibiting him from making his case to the public or the media while on the courthouse steps or nearby.

All parties, including Stone and potential witnesses, must refrain from certain statements about the case when they 'are entering or exiting the courthouse, or they are within the immediate vicinity of the courthouse.'

The prohibition applies to statements to the media or the public that 'pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case or intended to influence any juror, potential juror, judge, witness or court officer or interfere with the administration of justice.'

Stone, who has blasted the FBI and the Mueller probe since his indictment, while hawking his book and wearing 'Roger Stone Did Nothing Wrong' t-shirts, will now have be conscious of where he is when he speaks.

As if anticipating a potential gag order, Stone gave a series of TV interviews immediately following his arrest, and took a somewhat lower profile after his court hearing in Washington where a potential gag was discussed.

Stone has made efforts to bash the prosecutors who charged him, railing against 'Gestapo' tactics in his arrest, which included use of armed agents, and according to Stone 'frog men' positioned in a canal behind his Ft. Lauderdale home.

He has not said publicly that he is seeking a pardon from President Trump, saying the only person he is seeking relief for is Marcus Garvey. Although the judge mentioned the potential for prejudice  influencing a jury that might hear the case  Stone had other reasons to talk.

Roger Stone will have to keep his lips zipped while entering and leaving a federal courthouse where his case is being tried

Roger Stone let loose on several members of the media in a rant against the press

Stone was a longtime advisor to Donald Trump, but says he is not seeking a pardon from the president

He regularly complains about his mounting legal debts, and relies on his attacks on adversaries and the mainstream media to raise funds.

Since those statements have been in TV interviews and online appearances, they do not appear to be impacted by the current order  although it could be modified later. The order stated there will be no additional resrtictions 'at this time.'

In a recent appearances on 'Infowars,' he called CNN host Anna Navarro, 'porquita,' blasted CNN host Don Lemon, and railed against 'leftist retards.'

He is in a prolonged public spat with Mueller witness Jerome Corsi over the chain of events and WikiLeaks contacts during the campaign. Stone is accused of witness tampering by launching online threats against comedian Randy Credico, including threatening his dog, according to the government.
The parents of a woman who died after being exposed to the deadly Novichok nerve have slammed the British government for sending ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal to live in Salisbury - claiming it put residents at risk.

Stan and Caroline Sturgess are speaking out as the anniversary of the first attack approaches, in which Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were targeted in Salisbury.

The pair were found slumped on a park bench in the town on March 4 last year, after being exposed to the nerve agent when it was sprayed on their front door handle.

Both eventually recovered, and the British authorities have highlighted two men - Alexander Mishkin and Anatoly Chepiga, thought to serve in the Russian military intelligence service - as responsible for the attack.

Just months later, on June 30, 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess was exposed to the nerve agent after her boyfriend Charlie Rowley found a perfume bottle containing the deadly poison.

Dawn Sturgess sprayed her wrists with a perfume bottle that contained the poison, and later died in hospital

Dawn Sturgess, left, who died following exposure to the nerve agent, and her partner Charlie Rowley, right

Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned by the chemical agent novichok in Salisbury in March

Mr Rowley recovered from the exposure, but Ms Sturgess sadly died in hospital due to the effects of the nerve agent - which starved her of oxygen and led to her suffering a bleed on the brain.

Now her parents have expressed anger at the British authorities for settling former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury - and have criticised how their daughter was portrayed as a homeless drug user in the weeks after the incident.

In an interview with The Guardian, Dawn's father Stan said: 'I want justice from our own government. What are they hiding? I don't think they have given us all the facts. If anyone, I blame the government for putting Skripal in Salisbury.'

Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russian military intelligence, was considered by the Kremlin to be one of the most damaging spies of his generation.

He was responsible for unmasking dozens of secret agents threatening Western interests by operating undercover in Europe.

He found his way to Salisbury after a spy swap in 2010 - and was one of two agents who came to Britain where he kept a low profile for the past eight years.

But Stan and Caroline Sturgess, from Durrington in Wiltshire, believe his being in Salisbury exposed residents to risk - arguing that he 'took risks' and 'must have known there was a chance people were still after him.'

The flat at Muggleton Road in Amesbury, Wiltshire, where Charlie Rowley lived - and where he and Ms Sturgess became ill after exposure to Novichok

A specially made model of the counterfeit 'Nina Ricci' perfume bottle that carried enough the novichok to kill 4,000

The parents also criticised how their daughter was portrayed in the wake of the attack, with Caroline saying: 'They were trying to get out the message that 'this couldn't happen to you, don't worry, it's because of their lifestyle'.'

Both also noted how they believed Rowley's account that the perfume bottle had been in a sealed box - and therefore could be one of a number brought into the country. As the bottle used in the attack would not have been sealed - due to its having been accessed once already.

Asked how Charlie found the bottle, Caroline suggested: 'I think he stumbled on it. I believe he had only just found it. If Charlie had found it in a bin in March he would have given it to Dawn straight away.'

Noting there could be more out there, Caroline said: 'This could happen again. There could be another package out there.'

Both Stan and Caroline shared a heartbreaking last goodbye with their daughter, before she eventually passed away on July 8.

Told they could touch her - but not brush their hands against their own skin afterwards - the couple had to endure the sight of their daughter hooked up to machines.

Caroline said: ''I keep picturing myself stroking her hair thinking she was going to die.' Before saying her final words: 'You've got to do what you've got to do.'

She is now thankful that Dawn was exposed to the bottle and not schoolchildren living in the area - and has also praised the hospital staff who helped look after her daughter.

She said: 'I feel thankful that Dawn took a bullet for many other people. I'm sorry we lost our daughter. I'm thankful it wasn't children.'

The news comes soon after a third suspect in the Salisbury novichok attack was unmasked as a high-ranking Russian spy.

Denis Sergeev is a graduate of an elite military academy in Moscow that churns out top intelligence officers.

The 45-year-old is thought to have left the UK on the same day as the nerve agent attack on former double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.
The Supreme Court said in a brief order on Friday that it will fast-track a case centered on whether the U.S. Census can ask Americans if they are citizens.

The Census, which the U.S. Commerce Department conducts every 10 years, is the primary driver of allocating seats in the House of Representatives and the distribution of hundreds of billions of federal taxpayer dollars.

Head-counts also impact how many Electoral College votes each of the 50 states receives in presidential elections.

The Supreme Court justices will hear an appeal in late April and decide whether to overturn a lower federal court ruling that barred the Trump administration from asking about citizenship on Census forms.

The case would ordinarily go through an appellate court before reaching the Supreme Court. But as 2020 looms, both sides agreed that it should be resolved quickly so census forms can be printed.

The justices are expected to announce a decision by the end of June.

Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ruled on Jan. 15 that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross made an 'arbitrary and capricious' decision to put a citizenship question on the Census for the first time since 1950.

Furman ruled that Ross concealed his true motives, violating federal law.

'Secretary Ross and his aides tried to avoid disclosure of, if not conceal, the real timing and the real reasons for the decision to add the citizenship question,' he wrote.

'He failed to consider several important aspects of the problem; alternately ignored, cherry-picked, or badly misconstrued the evidence in the record before him; acted irrationally both in light of that evidence and his own stated decisional criteria; and failed to justify significant departures from past policies and practices,' Furman added.

The Justice Department said last month that Ross is 'the only person with legal authority over the census' and his decision was 'reasonable.'

'Not only has the government asked a citizenship question in the census for most of the last 200 years, 41 million households have already answered it on the American Community Survey since 2005,' a DOJ spokeswoman said following Furman's ruling.

'Our government is legally entitled to include a citizenship question on the census and people in the United States have a legal obligation to answer. Reinstating the citizenship question ultimately protects the right to vote and helps ensure free and fair elections for all Americans.'

U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco petitioned the Supreme Court for 'certiorari before judgment,' the technical language for bypassing lower appeals courts.

No such request had been granted since August 2004.

According to federal rules, 'cert before judgment' is only appropriate 'upon a showing that the case is of such imperative public importance as to justify deviation from normal appellate practice and to require immediate determination in this Court.'

Democratic officials in California and numerous cities there have sued, claiming that asking people whether they are U.S. citizens is politically motivated and would discourage immigrants and Latinos from participating in the population count.

Households that skip the citizenship question but otherwise fill out a substantial portion of the questionnaire will still be counted, Justice Department attorneys said in court documents.

Ross director the Census Bureau in March 2018 to restore the question, saying he was fulfilling a request from the Justice Department to collect better citizenship data to enforce the Voting Rights Act.

Furman ruled, however, that there was 'no indication in the record that the Department of Justice and civil rights groups have ever, in the 53 years since the Voting Rights Act was enacted, suggested that citizenship data collected as part of the decennial census would be helpful, let alone necessary, to litigate such claims.'

The American Civil Liberties Union said last month that Furman's decision was 'is a forceful rebuke of the Trump administrations attempt to weaponize the census for an attack on immigrant communities.'
Utah troopers were forced to arrest a police chief last month after they suspected him of driving under the influence of prescription drugs.

In dash cam footage almost 19 minutes long, released Thursday after Utah Highway Patrol received numerous requests, Mantua Police Chief Shane Zilles is seen wobbling to the point he almost tips over as cops ask him to walk the line.

The start of the clip shows him speeding down the median of Route 91 at 86mph in a 65mph zone, struggling to maintain the lane.

Mantua Police Chief Shane Zilles is seen wobbling until he almost tips over and laughing in January 29 video after Utah Highway Patrol troopers pulled him over suspecting DUI

With no siren on, UHP signalled for him to pull over, which he did after cutting off another vehicle then switching on his overhead lights.

According to a police report, trooper Kent Goodrich recognized Zilles and noticed he couldn't locate the button to roll down the window on the front passenger's side so lowered the glass on a back window instead.

After being ordered to open the passenger door, the vehicle rolled 6-8 feet before the driver was able to do so.

The mayor of the small town of 700 said he was fired immediately after the incident

The situation appeared to worsen when Zilles said he was on his way to work, which was in the opposite direction, and the troopers could not understand his slurred speech.

'I'll be honest, you're very worrying me with your actions right now. Are you on any meds?' Goodrich asks in the clip. Although he confirms that he is, the details are muted in the video.

The trooper - assisted by Carl Stokes and Jerry Hardy - can be heard asking if Zilles knows where he is, what day it is and what time it is. He answers incorrectly or says he doesn't know.

Throughout the incident the police chief's speech is delayed and it's noted it 'came out more as a question than a confident answer'.

Zilles is also heard laughing as he cannot walk in a straight line and count during a Field Sobriety Test.

'Your balance is exceptionally poor,' Goodrich says. Hinting he thinks there may be a stronger influence on the officer, he adds: 'Help me understand what other medication you're on.'

Although the chief blows zeros on a Breathalyzer, it becomes apparent he needs a blood test.

A clip shows him speeding down the median of Route 91 at 86mph in a 65mph zone, struggling to maintain the lane

At that point the trooper addresses the cop by his first name and detains him.

'Shane, I hate to do this, it's an awkward position for me to do, but I don't think you're safe to be driving and unfortunately I don't have much of a choice. I'm going to place you under arrest,' he says.

After the incident in Sardine Canyon, Mantua north of Salt Lake City, Zilles was admitted to hospital for an undisclosed condition.

A 25-year-old woman was named as a witness in the report.

He was eventually charged with DUI and reckless driving February 8.

He had trouble during his Field Sobriety Test with an officer who recognized him

Zilles was put in handcuffs and taken to hospital to have blood drawn. A trooper said as he was arrested: ''Shane, I hate to do this, it's an awkward position for me to do'

The mayor of the small town of 700 said he was fired immediately after the incident.

'Chief Zilles has been terminated. We wish to commend the Utah Highway Patrol for the professional manner in which they handled a difficult situation. It is always unpleasant when called upon to take such action against another police officer. We also hope that Mr. Zilles can work his way through this tough time and find a better path in the future,' Mayor Michael Johnson said in a statement.

'It appears that prescription meds have claimed another good person's reputation. We are so thankful that no property was damaged and no people were injured in this unfortunate situation.'

Former police chief Zilles was eventually charged with DUI and reckless driving on February 8
A Green Beret who stands accused of murdering an unarmed Afghan man has requested all charges against him be dropped, as the investigator leading the probe as been accused of wearing medals he never earned.

In a memo filed on Wednesday, former Special Forces Major Matt Golsteyn demanded that his case either be accelerated to trial or the charges be dismissed entirely, forgoing his right to a preliminary hearing in military court.

Golsteyn's lawyer, Phil Stackhouse, says the decision has come following an anonymous tip about the case's lead investigator, Army Sergeant Mark Delacruz, who is accused of stolen valor.

Stackhouse claims the 1st Class Sgt. was caught wearing awards he hadn't actually earned for 'personal gain', including the much-coveted Purple Heart.

Matt Golsteyn (left) was accused of premeditated murder in 2018, after he admitted to killing an Afghan man he thought was a bomb-maker, eight years earlier (pictured: Golsteyn poses with a local man in Afghanistan)

Golsteyn (shown left in 2019) has now requested all charges against him be dropped or for the case the be fast-tracked to trial. His wife Julie (right) believes the whole thing has been a farce since the beginning

The attorney claims Delacruz has been charged with four counts of 'intent to deceive', for wearing other unearned accolades, such as the Combat Action badge.

Stackhouse believes the investigator's 'questionable conduct' casts doubt on the validity of Golsteyn's murder probe and the evidence Delacruz has alleged to have gathered.

In the memo to the US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) - which will oversee proceedings in military court - on behalf of Golsteyn, Stackhouse alleges Delacruz 'held himself out as a Special Forces soldier, infantryman, sniper, and bragged about killing people in combat.'

'Ironically, he's bragged about losing his Special Forces Tab for an alleged bad shoot in combat,' Stackhouse continued, pointing out that it's the same charge his client faces.

The Criminal Investigation Command (CID) have confirmed that Delacruz has been charged with the 'unauthorized wear' of military accolades.

Though, they say, he hasn't been suspended from duty because 'the allegations came to light in 2018'.

Golsteyn's lawyer, Phil Stackhouse, says an anonymous tip led to an investigation of the Sergeant overseeing the murder probe. Mark Delacruz now faces charges of stolen valor

Golsteyn (seen in white) made the stunning confession during a job interview with the CIA in 2011. an investigation was launched and he was charged with premeditated murder in November last year

The White House and USASOC are yet to comment on the situation.

In February 2010, Golsteyn is accused of fatally shooting an unarmed Afghan man, who he says he suspected to be a bomb-maker, in Marijah.

The confession was made during a polygraph test during a job interview with the CIA in 2011.

Golsteyn was in charge of a team of Army Special Force troops during the shooting, and he believed the man he shot - referred to as 'Rasoul' - was the architect behind an explosion that killed two Marines.

Rasoul had previously been detained and questioned over the bombing but was released citing a lack of evidence.

He was charged with premeditated murder by the US military in December, 2018.

Golsteyn could face life in prison or the death penalty, if convicted.

In an explosive Facebook post, Julie Golsteyn blasted the investigation as a 'cover-up'

Golsteyn allegedly admitted he believed the man - referred to as 'Rasoul' - to be the responsible architect behind a blast that killed two Marines

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

In a Facebook post, Golsteyn's wife Julie, said: '[The] first investigation was based on a lie. The lead agent from that one admitted under oath that he lied in every report he wrote.

'[The] lead agent from the second investigation [has been] charged with false statement and stolen valor.

'USASOC...are actively working to cover it all up.

'We have said from the beginning this is all about retribution and self-promotion.'

President Trump tweeted in December that after a series of requests, he would be looking into Golsteyn's case - a man he referred to as a 'US Military hero'.
A teenage girl was left seconds away from death after her GP dismissed symptoms of a brain abscess and prescribed her with sickness tablets.

Thalia Elliott began feeling unwell and visited her GP in Wales complaining of unbearable sickness.

Her family initially thought she had food poisoning and took the youngster to her local GP who prescribed her sickness tablets and Dioralyte to help with hydration.

However, two days later surgeons told her worried parents that they had no idea how she was still alive after they had found an abscess in her brain which had been inches away from killing her.

Thalia Elliott (pictured above) received two lifesaving operations after a huge abscess was spotted on her brain

Thalia (left and right) was rushed to hospital, where she had to have two life saving operations

By that point the 14-year-old had received two lifesaving operations  the second of which was carried out due to the proximity of the abscess from her brain.

Her parents had already been told to say their goodbyes by then.

The surgery, incredibly, saved her. But she suffered two strokes as a result. Her family were then told that the teen could be brain damaged, after they initially thought she had been suffering from a stomach bug or water infection.

'Thaila is the most beautiful, remarkable, strongest young girl who has never once complained,' said her auntie Ceri Elliott-Pitman.

Following the surgery Thalia was left wheelchair bound and profoundly deaf

'She's always got a massive smile on her face despite everything she has been faced with.

'She deserves to be back out with her friends living a care-free life like other teenagers.'

Thalia first became unwell in July 2018 and her aunt Ceri said they new something wasn't right with the teenager, after she became 'lethargic'.

'Her mum and dad became increasingly concerned. They went to the out of hours doctor in Prince Charles Hospital. They thought she had a water infection and sent her home with antibiotics.'

Following a second visit to out of hours, where she was discharged once again, Thaila took a turn for the worse at home.

'She was like a rag doll. Her nan had to hold her upright and her eyes were rolling into the back of her head,' Ceri added.

'She got up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night, and her mum found her having a seizure.'

Thaila was taken to Prince Charles Hospital (pictured above) where doctors struggled to find out what was wrong

An ambulance took Thaila to Prince Charles Hospital where doctors initially struggled to figure out what was wrong with her. But alarm bells began to ring when a foul-smelling clear liquid began to drip out of her nose.

'A nurse came to check on her and she could smell it from the other side of the room. They took a look at her pupils, and from then on it was just chaos on the ward.

'A crash team came in. Thaila at this point was unconscious and she was put on a life support machine.'

Thalia (pictured above) recently celebrated her birthday with her family

An MRI scan revealed that the 14-year-old had a massive abscess putting pressure on her brain.

Ceri said: 'Our world just fell apart at that point. It was horrendous. They explained how bad it was and that she'd need to be transferred to the University Hospital of Wales.

'Initially they wanted to take her by air ambulance, but she was too unstable to be transported by helicopter so they decided to take her by regular ambulance instead.

'None of the family were able to go in the ambulance with her as there were both paramedics and air ambulance staff on board. We just followed behind in our own cars.'

The family didn't know whether or not Thalia would make it to the hospital, where she later received two emergency operations to drain the fluid on her brain.

Before her family could see her, Thaila was taken in for emergency surgery which involved removing part of her skull and draining the massive abscess.

'They believe it may have been caused by an infection which started from her sinuses,' said Ceri.

In intensive care following the surgery, the distraught family were told that Thaila's pupils were not reacting and that she may be brain dead.

Having been on the ward for less than an hour, her brain pressure shot up dramatically and her parents were told to say their goodbyes.

Thaila, who has two older sisters and one younger sister, was discharged from hospital three weeks ago

A scan revealed that Thaila's brain was swelling and that there was a window of only minutes before it would be touching her brain stem.

Surgeons said there was only the smallest window of opportunity to save Thaila by performing a second emergency procedure to remove part of her skull so that the pressure could be released. At that point she was almost literally an inch from death.

Her doting mother Lisa Elliott said: 'They did manage to perform the procedure in time, and after the surgery Thaila's condition stabilised a bit and she was placed in to an induced coma on life support.

'The doctors told us they had never experienced a scenario quite like Thaila's and had no idea how she was still alive.'

The second operation, which could easily have claimed her life, was successful in reducing the pressure and swelling on her brain.

But medics confirmed the Afon Taf High School student had suffered two strokes.

Lisa added: 'The abscess, which was on her frontal left lobe, had killed the part of her brain that controlled speech, short-term memory loss and decision making but other than that they had no idea how the damage could affect her long-term.

'What I think they were saying was, whatever the outcome, we had a long journey ahead of us. But to be honest all I cared about at that point was that she was still alive.'

Thaila is now unable to walk and has spent the past six months in hospital.

Following the surgery Thaila was gradually weaned out of her coma and started to breathe on her own, but didn't regain consciousness. She was then moved to a room on the Owl Ward at the Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales.

After further procedures, Thaila's left hand began to move and she opened her eyes a few times. She started to feel people's watches and bracelets in an attempt to work out who was with her.

On August 29, 2018, more than a month after her first surgery, she teenager underwent another operation to replace the part of her skull which had been removed.

From then on she made slow but steady progress. She regained full consciousness and started copying the faces her family pulled at her.

Her NG tube was removed as she started to swallow food on her own, and when she'd regained a bit more strength she started a course of intensive physiotherapy in an attempt to get her moving again.

Auntie Ceri said: 'She is now on her long journey to getting back to her normal, cheeky, happy self.

'Because of the stroke her right side is really affected, she's wheelchair bound and she can only speak a bit.

'We also discovered that Thaila has also lost her hearing from the abscess so she is now also profoundly deaf.'

A major fundraising campaign has now been launched by Thaila's family with the aim of raising money for private physiotherapy and to get a cochlear implant fitted to help her hear.

Ceri said: 'She has had to learn how to do everything all over again, from being able to keep her eyes open to sitting up, having to use her arm to do daily things, to talk again, eat food, lip read - all the things we take for granted every day.'

Thaila has now been discharged from hospital and mother Lisa added: 'Last summer we stepped suddenly in to a completely different world.

'One minute we were caring for a child with a water infection and the next she was undergoing major brain surgery to save her life. It was unreal.

'But Thaila's a miracle and I can't believe having stood by and watched all she's been through, that she's doing so well.

'I can't even find the right words to thank the doctors who saved her life.

Our lives are different now but I wouldn't even want to think about the life we would be living without them.

'Without the amazing care Thaila has received, she most certainly wouldn't be here.'

Thaila, who has two older sisters and one younger sister, was discharged from hospital three weeks ago, following almost seven months of treatment, and now lives in a bungalow in Merthyr.

She was well enough to celebrate her 14th birthday on December 22 with her friends and family.

If you would like to donate please go to www.gofundme.com/help-thaila-sue-elliott-our-warrior-walk-again.
A middle school has apologized after asking a student to cover up a T-shirt that teachers found offensive, but was actually intended to oppose discrimination.

Teachers at Albritton Middle School on Fort Bragg in North Carolina were apparently confused by the message: 'Why be racist, sexist homophobic or transphobic when you could just be quiet?'

On Friday, seventh-grader Emery Smith was asked to cover up the shirt, which she had worn for 'dress down' day. Frank Ocean famously wore a shirt of similar design at the 2017 Panorama Music Festival.

Emery's mother Katie Smith was shocked to get the call from the school that her daughter's favorite shirt was offensive.

Emery is seen with her father, wearing the shirt that teachers found offensive. It says 'Why be racist, sexist homophobic or transphobic when you could just be quiet?'

The shirt is intended to be a statement against discrimination, but teachers found it offensive

'I don't think any of us really imagined adults would take issue with the shirt suggesting that discrimination is not OK,' Smith told WTVD-TV.

'I told the staff that the shirt represented categories of children who are marginalized. In a time we are trying to combat bullying, I think it's so counterproductive to that,' she continued.

In a statement, the Public Affairs Officer Jade Fulce with the Department of Defense Education Activity said administrators had apologized for the misunderstanding.

'Students are at the heart of everything we do. After further review of our dress code policies, we realized that the shirt did not violate our policies. The school reached out to the parents and apologized that same day,' Fulce said.

Frank Ocean famously wore a shirt of similar design at the 2017 Panorama Music Festival

Smith said that the incident could serve as a valuable learning experience for her daughter.

'We are having a lot of discussions, at home, about teacher micro-aggressions in the classroom setting and starting to really think about how that plays a role in bullying culture,' Smith wrote in a Facebook post.

'When she realized that this exposure could lead to helping educate other children and families and maybe even some kind of reform within the educational system, her eyes lit up at that opportunity!'

Smith added: 'And additionally I will be looking into pulling her out of the class of the teacher who is so offended by homosexuality and transsexuals just in case she decides that she identifies that way.'
Mobile phone giants could be forced to let smartphone users automatically switch to a rival network in remote areas.

Ministers want to tackle the problem of coverage not spots in the countryside by introducing rural roaming.

Industry regulator Ofcom will be asked to look at forcing mobile networks EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three to participate.

Ministers want to tackle the problem of coverage not spots in the countryside by introducing rural roaming. Networks could be forced to let smartphone users automatically switch to a rival network in remote areas [File photo]

Mobile roaming already operates when Britons go overseas to ensure they get a signal.

The proposals are among a number of measures outlined by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport yesterday to tackle poor service, protect against cyber-hackers and end rip-off deals for loyal customers.

Culture Secretary, Jeremy Wright, said: As the UKs telecoms regulator, Ofcom has a critical role in realising our shared connectivity aspirations for the UK. As well as ensuring the necessary improvements to broadband and mobile services, consumers must also be protected. I urge Ofcom to tackle harmful business practices and remove barriers to switching.

Ministers have also vowed to take action to end the scandal of a loyalty penalty that is said to cost mobile and broadband customers 1.3billion a year.

Companies can charge long-standing customers much more  hundreds of pounds a year  than new ones.

In some cases, people are being charged more for slower broadband packages.

Measures will also be taken to ensure a fresh auction of the nations airwaves to ensure services  especially the new higher speed 5G  cover up to 95 per cent of the UK by 2022.

The proposals are among a number of measures outlined by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport yesterday to tackle poor service, protect against cyber-hackers and end rip-off deals for loyal customers [File photo]

The issue of cyber-security has leapt to the top of the political agenda amid concerns over the control of tech giant Huawei by the Chinese government.

Critics fear Huawei, which is providing the infrastructure for telecoms services in the West, including the UK, could allow Beijing to spy on businesses and individuals.

BT is removing Huawei electronics from parts of its network amid espionage fears.

The government report says Britain is now reviewing infrastructure arrangements to ensure the secure and resilient deployment of new fixed and 5G networks. In theory, this could see a ban on any further involvement by Huawei.

It also makes clear that Ofcom will have a role in policing security arrangements.

The report adds: Ofcom has powers at its disposal ... to ensure providers comply with their statutory duties to manage security risks.
Situated 1,000ft above sea level and surrounded by rugged moorland, the town of Alston is at the centre of Englands last wilderness.

The Cumbrian settlement is so isolated it was cut off by snow last year, forcing the military to airdrop supplies via Chinook helicopter.

But as well as being the highest town in England, Alston is now at the forefront of a technological revolution.

Residents in Alston, Cumbria, have already installed their own 4G mobile network. In 2002, they started a broadband co-operative called Cybermoor after BT decided it was 'unviable' to provide broadband there. Daniel Heery, centre, is behind the project

It is one of the first places in the world to receive a 5G mobile network, giving its 1,100 residents internet speeds most city-dwellers could only dream of.

The remote north Pennines town has been an unlikely pioneer of new technology ever since BT decided it was unviable to provide broadband there nearly two decades ago.

So residents took matters into their own hands, starting a community broadband co-operative called Cybermoor in 2002.

Local farmers dug trenches to lay a network of fibreoptic cables and transmitters were nailed to cowsheds and chimneys.

Within a year, a higher proportion of houses in Alston were connected to broadband than in Silicon Valley.

Now the tiny market town has beaten major cities including Manchester to spearhead the UK rollout of 5G technology, which promises internet speeds up to 20 times faster than the current 4G system.

Farmers will soon be able to use a drone to check on their livestock, beaming back images over the 5G data network.

Situated 1,000ft above sea level and surrounded by rugged moorland, the town of Alston is at the centre of Englands last wilderness. But as well as being the highest town in England, Alston is now at the forefront of a technological revolution [File photo]

Daniel Heery, the founder of Cybermoor, said: Rural areas get left behind by the main internet providers, which means there is a huge problem with young people leaving villages for cities, but cutting-edge technology like 5G could be a real game-changer. There are some parts of Alston where there is no signal to make a phone call, but they can be now be connected by 5G.

It is hoped the trial of 5G technology, provided under a Government initiative, will also boost tourism to the area through an app called World Around Me, which allows tourists to experience historical sights in virtual reality.

Alston, which hosts a string of not-for-profit businesses, has been dubbed the worlds first social enterprise town.
A moped gang who raided a high-end jewellery store armed with samurai swords are facing jail time.

Miguel St Martin, 21, and Harry Doyle, 18, were convicted today of carrying out the raid at Boodles jewellery store in Sloane Street, Knightsbridge on March 26 last year.

One month later members of the same group, including St Martin, targeted the Yves Saint Laurent shop in Sloane Street, stealing 90,000 worth of handbags before leaving on mopeds.

St Martin and Doyle were among a gang of six people who armed themselves with axes, hammers and swords before arriving on mopeds at the Boodles store along with a stolen Land Rover - which they crashed into the side of the store in an attempt to break in.

When this didn't work they used a sledge hammer, but the robbers then fled empty handed after they set off a burglar alarm which emits a smoke cloud.

Miguel St Martin, left, and Alfie Wary, right, were part of a group of moped raiders

Harry Doyle, left, and Reece Salmon, right, both admitted conspiracy to commit robbery

Henry Histon previously admitted his involvement in the Boodles and Yves Saint Laurent raids

Pictured: Terrified staff fleeing as the car crashes into the Boodles jewellery store

Petar Dimov, a 48-year-old builder who was working at a site opposite Boodles, was slashed across the knees with an axe and stabbed in the back after he ran across the road to intervene.

Mr Dimov, who moved to Britain from Bulgaria 15 years ago, saw the gang 'slowly' approach the shop on mopeds with covered number plates, before the Land Rover ploughed into the building on a busy Monday morning.

He grappled with one gang member before the others piled in, slashing him with a sword and an axe.

He was left with a permanent limp, battling a lung infection, Blackfriars Crown Court was told.

Pictured: One of the swords used during the attack on the Boodles store last year

Pictured: An axe taken to the scene of the Boodles raid in Sloane Street in Knightsbridge

A helmet and axe which were used in the raid on the jewellery store in west London

Prosecutor Michael Shaw said: 'Having attacked Mr Dimov they jumped back on their motorbikes leaving the Land Rover abandoned and rode back to Islington from where they all originate.'

Officers tracked down the perpetrators while investigating an Islington-based moped gang that robbed three mobile phone outlets between May and November 2016.

Thirteen members of the gang and three handlers were convicted during trials that took place between August 2017 and October 2018.

In February 2018, it was discovered that a garage in Macclesfield Street in Islington was being used by other gang members who were snatching mobile phones from members of the public in Camden, Islington, Westminster, and the City between August 2017 and February 2018.

A search of the garage recovered stolen phones, SIM cards from stolen phones, the handle from a broken zombie knife and a replica firearm.

CCTV footage identified Miguel St Martin, 22-year-old Reece Salmon, two 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old.

Recovered mobile phone footage showed these suspects stealing a moped in broad daylight and threatening a security guard with a large zombie knife.

St Martin, Harry Doyle, 18-year-old Henry Histon, a 16-year-old boy and two other as yet unidentified people then attempted to rob Boodles jewellery store on Sloane Street SW1, armed with weapons including axes and samurai swords.

One month after the Boodles raid St Martin, said to be the 'mastermind' behind the plot, targeted the Yves Saint Laurent shop in Sloane Street along with Alfie Warry, 21, Henry Histon, and an as yet unidentified fourth person.

The gang smashed in the door and stole 90,000 worth of handbags and left on mopeds.

On the same day, officers tracked St Martin to a hotel in Kings Cross, where he was arrested on suspicion conspiracy to commit robbery.

The gang rammed a stolen car into a luxury jewellery store before stabbing a have-a-go hero who tried to stop them

This CCTV footage shows the moment a moped gang used a stolen car to attempt to smash into the luxury jewellery store Boodles

Miguel St Martin was the 'mastermind' behind the raids which took place at Boodles on March 26 last year

In his room a 'zombie' Knife, four stolen mobile phones, and two Saint Laurent handbags worth a total of 10,000 were seized.

The discovery of the handbags led officers to investigate the Saint Laurent burglary.

Mr Shaw said: 'When the store was shut, two mopeds with four men on them, all dressed in black, arrived and smashed their way into the store.'

Footage from inside the store showed two men lifting the shutters before going inside and looting bags.

The men abandoned their clothing and crash helmets in a Clerkenwell office block undergoing refurbishment but a mobile phone was left in a pocket of one pair of trousers.

CCTV from inside the store shows the gang looting Yves Saint Laurent in London's West End

They stripped the Yves Saint Laurent store of about 85,000 of handbags

Mr Shaw said leaving the phone was a 'major mistake', as this was recovered and used to track down the culprits.

Miguel St Martin, from Kings Cross, admitted conspiracy to commit robbery - relating to the Camden, Islington, Westminster, and City of London incidents - and conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary at Saint Laurent.

He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery at Boodles jewellery store after a trial at Blackfriars Crown Court.

Alfie Warry, from Camden, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary at Saint Laurent.

Harry Doyle, of Islington, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery at Boodles jewellery store. He was also found guilty of grievous bodily harm in relation to the assault of Mr Dimov.

Reece Salmon, 22, of Islington, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery relating to the Camden, Islington, Westminster, and City of London incidents.

He was accused of conspiracy to commit robbery at Boodles jewellery store, but was found not guilty by the jury.

Other members of the north London gang are still to be brought to justice.

Henry Histon, 18, of Camden, previously admitted his involvement in the Boodles and Yves Saint Laurent raids.

A 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty for conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary, namely 17 linked offences at three mobile phone stores across north and east London in 2016, and conspiracy to commit robbery (Camden, Islington, Westminster, and the City).

Footage from inside Boodles shows shoppers flee in panic as the car crashes into the side

Another 17-year-old boy pleaded conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary, namely 17 linked offences at three mobile phone stores across north and east London in 2016, and conspiracy to commit robbery (Camden, Islington, Westminster, and the City).

A 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy to rob Boodles.

Detective Sergeant Danny Watts of Operation Vocare said: 'These gang members were big operators in north and central London. However, we secured a number of significant convictions and sentences against them and they have been taken off the streets.

'We are committed to taking every opportunity to divert, disrupt, detect and prosecute those involved in these moped related crimes.'

Detective Constable Phelim Redmond, Flying Squad and officer-in-charge for the Boodles jewellery store armed robbery, said: 'This was a brazen attempt to rob Boodles jewellery store and a cowardly, vicious attack on an unarmed member of the public who bravely intervened.

'It is by sheer good fortune that having been set upon by four men wielding axes and swords that he did not sustain more serious injuries.

'This has been a complex investigation, and I hope the people of London are reassured that five of those involved in this robbery are now behind bars.'

Anyone who has any information in regard to these crimes or any moped enabled crime is urged to contact local police by dialling 101.

Alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or tweet @MetCC with any information.
Floyd Mayweather has sounded off against T.I. after the Atlanta rapper released a diss track geared toward the fighter and his support of Gucci.

The track - called 'F**k N***a' - was released on Thursday and its artwork features a picture of the retired boxer wearing the sweater that has since been pulled by Gucci.

Text under the image states that F**k N***a means someone 'who isn't about any of the s**t he or she claims to be; term used in the south, someone you don't like or who isn't solid; one that goes against his people and against code; a person who does ignorant s**t and deserves to get dealt with accordingly for their stupidity and/or b********s. Synonym f**k boy.'

The track - called 'F**k N***a' - was released on Thursday and its artwork features a picture of the retired boxer wearing the sweater that has since been pulled by Gucci

While T.I.'s (left) song does not mention Mayweather (right) by name, it does specifically asks why he hasn't helped with issues like the disappearance of black woman across the country/globe and the Flint water crisis

The song was released after Mayweather visited a Gucci Store and left with multiple shopping bags, carried by an entourage, the Business Insider reports.

While the song does not mention Mayweather by name, it does specifically ask why he hasn't helped with issues like the disappearance of black women across the country/globe and the Flint water crisis.

'Don't mean you s**t on the people who trying to be equal. Everyday fighting oppression and you just gon' side with the evil,' the Atlanta rapper spits on the track.

'What do you care about? did you not hear about. Black women missing, we don't know their whereabouts. See that's what you should be calling the mayor about. Offer what ever is a fair amount. It's a water crisis out in Flynt and ain't you from Michigan. Where is your empathy n***a?'

Flint is approximately two hours from Grand Rapids, where the 41-year-old was born and raised.

Mayweather responded on late Thursday night, questioning why the rappers and others were only boycotting Gucci for three months 'if what was done caused so much strife?'

Mayweather responded on late Thursday night, questioning why the rappers and others were only boycotting Gucci for three months 'if what was done caused so much strife?'

The fighter stressed that his appreciation with Gucci stems from his admiration of Dapper Dan (pictured), a black fashion designer

The fighter suggested that people should have been boycotting parent company Kering S.A.

He added: 'In this day, celebrities and failing artist pick and choose the hottest trending topic as a means of seeking attention and using fake advocacy as their platform when their "talent" no longer benefit them.

Mayweather - who once pleaded guilty to two counts of domestic violence - then goes on the offensive, claiming that the same celebrities 'stirring the pot' are also the same artists 'that inject rap lyrics fueled with drugs, murder and sexual promiscuity into the very Black Communities you're pretending to care so much about.'

In the note, he refers to 'proud deadbeat fathers' and 'unfaithful husbands' - direct jabs at 50 and T.I. - as being the 'prime contributors of influencing the destruction of our people by way of their musical content and imagery.'

The fighter stressed that his appreciation for Gucci stems from his admiration of Dapper Dan, a black fashion designer who works with the brand and is planning to meet Gucci's CEO in Harlem.

The post was immediately mocked by 50 Cent, who took the opportunity to poke fun at Mayweather's difficulty with reading on Friday.

The post was immediately mocked by 50 Cent, who took the opportunity to poke fun at Mayweather's difficulty with reading

'Y we gotta Boy cot Gucy? Fuk T eye, he nit knowbody,' the New York rapper mockingly said. 'His carear is ova! I know Fiddy Scent is gonna sea dis an say eye did it right dis... Fuck him two! Scentsearly, Flyd "$" Maywhat.'

The rapper has long mocked Mayweather and his ability to read, dating back all the way to 2014. 50 once offered Mayweather a check for $750,000 for a charity of his choice if he could read a page from a Harry Potter book.

The balaclava-style sweater that covered the nose above the cutout was ridiculed on social media as insensitive and racist

Alessandro Michele, creative director at the Italian fashion house, lamented in a letter to employees both his own pain and 'that of the people who saw in one of my creative projects an intolerable insult'.

The black sweater with a pull-up neck featured a cutout surrounded by cartoonish red lips.

Michele wrote that it was not inspired by blackface but by the late Leigh Bowery, a performance artist, club promoter and fashion designer who often used flamboyant face makeup and costumes.

Regardless, Michelle said he takes 'full accountability' for the sweater, which was pulled last week amid widespread criticism.

Gucci has apologized, saying in a previous statement posted on Twitter that it was committed to diversity and considered it a 'fundamental value to be fully upheld, respected and at the forefront of every decision we make.'

The balaclava-style sweater that covered the nose above the cutout was ridiculed on social media as insensitive and racist.
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The wreck of HMS Victory, which claimed the lives of 1,100 sailors when it sunk in 1744, is still tied up in a legal battle, despite being found a decade ago.

The sinking of HMS Victory is considered the worst single British naval disaster in the English Channel and the ship, which predated Lord Nelson's famous flagship, was long sought after by wreck finders.

Currently lying 50 miles southeast of Plymouth, it was discovered in 2009 by Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration.

Since then, there has been serious debate over whether the wreck should be excavated with artifacts kept in a museum, or if it should be allowed to rest undisturbed underwater.

The 100-gun ship was launched in 1737 and seven years later it was the flagship of Admiral Sir John Balchin as he successfully led a force to relieve a British convoy trapped by a French blockade of the River Tagus, in Portugal.

But on the return journey, Victory was separated from the fleet and sank with all hands on October 5, 1744.

Its exact location in the English Channel would remain a mystery for more than 250 years.

Pictured is a bronze cannon from the wreck of the HMS Victory. The sinking of which is considered the worst single British naval disaster in the English Channel. 1,100 sailors died when it sunk in 1744 and the ship, which preceded Lord Nelson's famous flagship, lay undiscovered for more than 250 years

Parts of the ship lay underwater, submerged in sand. The 100-gun ship was launched in 1737 and seven years later it was the flagship of Admiral Sir John Balchin as he successfully led a force to relieve a British convoy trapped by a French blockade of the River Tagus, in Portugal

Currently lying 50 miles southeast of Plymouth, it was discovered in 2009 by Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration. Since then, there has been serious debate over whether the wreck should be excavated with artifacts kept in a museum, or if it should be allowed to rest undisturbed underwater

'It was the wreck that every wreck-finder wanted to find,' said diver Richard Keen who began searching in 1973 for Victory the predecessor of Admiral Lord Nelson's more famous namesake ship.

The professional diver from Guernsey grouped together with five others to scour the seabed for two months near Les Casquets, a group of islands eight miles west of Alderney the northernmost Channel Island.

The group did manage to locate the wreck of passenger steamer Stella, which sank in 1899 claiming 105 lives but HMS Victory remained elusive.

Search efforts initially focused on the infamous Casquets - where the ship was thought to have been wrecked due to the poor navigation of Balchin.

But in 2009, Odyssey Marine Exploration announced it had discovered Victory, 62 mile away from those rocks.

This suggested that a fierce storm rather than a navigational error had been behind the sinking.

As with the Mary Rose, the Tudor warship which was raised in 1982, there was great public interest in the find.

Built during a period of British naval ascendancy, Victory, and its more famous successor, were two of the most expensive and grandest ships of the period.

'It was a time when the Royal Navy's power was absolutely central to British power, the growth of its maritime empire, and its prosperity,' said Philip Sheldon, executive director of heritage at the National Museum of the Royal Navy.

Artist John Batchelor's depiction of HMS Victory. The ship was the predecessor of Lord Nelson's famous flagship. Built during a period of British naval ascendancy, Victory, and its more famous successor, were two of the most expensive and grandest ships of the period

'It would be hard to overstate how important they [both ships] are.'

The wreck of the Mary Rose would go on to yield 19,000 artefacts of great historical significance but of no private commercial value, because of laws governing sovereign naval property.

But bringing Victory's treasures to the surface would be a costly exercise - one companies like Odyssey would usually fund through the sale of artefacts.

Despite the majority of the wreck lying some 75m below the surface, two of Victory's bronze guns, a giant 42-pounder and a 12-pounder, have been brought up from the deep with the permission of the government.

The discovery of the larger gun - only carried on a first-rate vessel of Victory's size during the first half of the 18th Century - enabled salvagers to identify the wreck.

As the only first-rate warship with an intact collection of bronze cannon, Victory's guns provide a unique snapshot: soon after such weapons would be made of iron, and naval tactics would shift.

Admiral Sir John Balchin was aboard HMS Victory during the ship's final voyage in October 1744 and he was long thought to be responsible for its sinking, due to poor navigation. However, in 2009, Odyssey Marine Exploration announced it had discovered Victory, 62 mile away from where it was thought to have sunk. This suggested that a fierce storm rather than a navigational error had been behind the sinking

Bringing Victory's treasures to the surface would be a costly exercise - one companies like Odyssey would usually fund through the sale of artifacts. This has prompted a tense legal battle over whether the wreck should be allowed to lay undisturbed or should instead be brought to the surface and taken to a museum

In addition to the cannon, rigging, glass bottle fragments and remains of the hull and anchors were discovered.

But a massive gold hoard rumoured to be aboard the Victory has not been found.

There is still more to be learned from the ship, Mr Sheldon said but the question remains - should that be done through surveying the site underwater, or should Victory be excavated?

One man who is convinced Victory's artefacts are best taken out of harm's way is Dr Sean Kingsley a marine archaeologist for the Maritime Heritage Foundation (MHF), which was gifted the wreck site in 2012.

He would like to see artefacts brought up and displayed in a UK museum.

'The government believes this unique wreck can be managed untouched, 80km offshore, in one of the world's busiest sea lanes.

'An irreplaceable piece of British history ends up abandoned, out of sight and mind, with the government's stamp of approval.'

The site is also at risk of damage from fishing trawlers, erosion and illegal salvage, something noted by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 2014.

While the extent of threat to the wreck from fishing and looting is disputed, Dr Kingsley is concerned a 2018 decision to put the foundation's initial 2014 'research and rescue' application on hold will mean the site could be further threatened.

While there is a consensus on the historical importance of the wreck, not everyone in the archaeological world agrees with the Maritime Heritage Foundation's plans for the site.

'This is basically a grave - this is the last resting place of 1,100 British sailors and it should not be disturbed lightly,' said Robert Yorke, chairman of the Joint Nautical Archaeology Policy Committee.

One man who is convinced Victory's artefacts are best taken out of harm's way is Dr Sean Kingsley a marine archaeologist for the Maritime Heritage Foundation (MHF), which was gifted the wreck site in 2012. The foundation's contractors are Odyssey Marine

'You don't go into a local churchyard and start digging them up hoping you're going to find some gold underneath the bodies.'

Mr Yorke has been a long-term opponent of the foundation's plan to excavate the wreck site, saying the project lacks adequate funding, facilities and a museum willing to house artefacts.

He also says the foundation's contractors Odyssey Marine are motivated by profit.

This is a claim the foundation rejects, pointing out that selling artefacts to fund the project would be illegal.

Encountering human remains is 'a daily part of archaeology', the foundation says, and can be dealt with sensitively.

When a skull was found on the Victory wreck, work immediately stopped and the MoD was informed, it says.

In September, the wreck site was declared 'environmentally stable' and ordered to be 'left in situ', according to the MoD and the Department for Digital, Culture Media & Sport.

The Odyssey Marine Explorer. Encountering human remains is 'a daily part of archaeology', the foundation under the group says, and can be dealt with sensitively. This decade-long saga faces a further twist though as the foundation has now been granted permission to launch a judicial review of the government's decision

In addition, Unesco rules do not allow for items to be removed from the wreck, the government departments said in a document.

This decade-long saga faces a further twist though as the foundation has now been granted permission to launch a judicial review of the government's decision not to allow preliminary archaeological work on the wreck.

The launch of legal proceedings at the Royal Courts of Justice on February 6 has been acknowledged by the MoD, which said it was inappropriate to comment further on the case as it was 'subject to ongoing litigation'.

For Dr Kingsley the current impasse means 'nobody wins'.

'After 10 years of lengthy dialogue between the MHF, Odyssey and government, a most likely outcome is a no-deal farce,' he says.

'The foundation is convinced the Victory's artefacts are best taken out of harm's way for display in a major UK museum for all to enjoy and learn from.'
President Donald Trump engaged in yet another bout of contentious back-and-forth with CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, who the president again dismissed as 'fake news' during a clash over immigration.

Trump called on Acosta, who had his credentials yanked by angry White House staffers following an earlier confrontation where the White House accused him of refusing to relinquish the microphone.

This time, Trump sounded off when Acosta asked a long question about immigration, following Trump's decision to go around Congress and declare an 'emergency' to secure $8 billion in funding.

'I wonder if you could comment on this disconnect that we seem to have in the country where you are presenting information about what's happening at the border, calling it an invasion, talking about women with duct tape over their mouths and so on, and yet there is a lot of reporting out there, a lot of crime data out there's a lot of Department of Homeland Security Data out there that shows border crossings at a near record low,' Acosta asked the president.

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'What do you say to critics who say that you are creating a national emergency? That youre concocting a national emergency here to get your wall,' CNN's Jim Acosta asked Trump

'That's because of us,' Trump interjected,' while Acosta kept talking.

Excuse me,' Trump continued, as the two talked over each other. 'It's still massive numbers of crossings.'

Acosta continued, pointing him to statistics that undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower levels than native-born Americans.

Trump

Trump told Acosta: 'You have an agenda. You're CNN. You're fake news'

'Sit down! You get one question!' Trump told Brian Kerem of Playboy magazine

'You don't really believe that stat,' Trump said. 'Do you really believe that stat? Take a look at our federal prisons,' said Trump, as Acosta kept going.

'I believe in facts and statistics,' said Acosta, as the clash grew nearer.

'Any more? Quick, lets go,' Trump said, motioning with his hand.

Then Acosta got to his question. 'What do you say to critics who say that you are creating a national emergency? That you're concocting a national emergency here to get your wall.'

The president shot back by pointing to the 'angel moms' that had been invited to the event, bearing pictures of their children slain by illegal immigrants in an emotional appeal Trump hoped to harness to back up his border wall.

Trump jumped in. 'Ask the Angel moms. You think I'm creating something? Ask these incredible women who lost their daughters and their sons, Okay?' the president told Acosta, as one of the women stood up. 'Because your question is a very political question,' the president claimed.

Then he grew fed up with his questioner: 'Because your question is a very political question because you have an agenda. You're CNN. You're fake news,' Trump scolded.

'The numbers that you gave are wrong,' Trump told him. Take a look at our federal prison population. See how many of them, percentage wise, are illegal aliens. Go ahead and see.

The libertarian Cato Institute examined the issue by looking at Texas, as the Washington Post reported, finding that native born Americans committed considerably more crimes than illegal immigrants. Legal immigrants committed even fewer on a per capita basis.

In keeping with new rules the White House adopted, Acosta relinquished the microphone, after Trump refused his request for a follow up.

Playboy reporter Brian Kerem picked up the effort, asking Trump where he gets his numbers, and pointing to federal statistics showing a decrease in border crossings and in violence.

'No no,' Trump scolded. 'You get one.'

'Sit down! You get one question!' Trump thundered when Kerem tried for a second effort.

'I get my numbers from a lot of sources,' Trump said, 'like Homeland Security primarily,' saying the numbers were 'a disaster.'

'I use many stats, but I also use homeland security. Next question,' Trump finished.
Robert Berchtold allegedly convinced other children he abused that they had been abducted by aliens according to the woman behind Abducted in Plain Sight, who has revealed several shocking details were left out of the documentary.

The Netflix hit tells the bizarre true story of how 12-year-old Jan Broberg was abducted twice by family friend Berchtold who had sexual encounters with both her mother and father, married her in Mexico and brainwashed her in to believing she had been abducted by aliens and could save the alien race by having a baby with him.

Filmmaker Skye Borgman admits in a new interview that she was skeptical about victim Jan Broberg's story surrounding her kidnapping and thought it could have been made up as a coping mechanism for Stockholm Syndrome.

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Robert Berchtold allegedly convinced other children they could save the alien race by having sex with him. He's pictured with victim Jan Broberg

The Netflix filmmaker thought Jan Broberg's (pictured) story surrounding her kidnapping could have been made up as a coping mechanism

The woman behind the documentary said she's often asked if the victim's late father Bob (right) had other sexual encounters with pedophile Berchtold. Mother Mary Ann is pictured left and Jan Broberg is second left

Borgman heard stories of others who didn't want to appear on camera while researching the Netflix film and they matched up to what Broberg has claimed. Broberg told how Berchtold would play her creepy recordings on a cassette player from the 'aliens'.

'I constantly questioned if this had really happened,' Borgman told Vanity Fair. 'Then, while we were working on the film, one of Berchtold's other alleged victims reached out to us and told us a story about him using this alien psychology and saying, "You're a princess from a different planet."

'He used this whole alien story on her, and that was the moment for me when I thought, "Oh my gosh, it's real. He did it".'

The cinematographer believes the kidnapper played off UFO news being popular in the media during the 1970s when Berchtold met the family. But he also had the upper hand due to what took place between himself and Broberg's parents.

As well as continuing an affair with Broberg's mother Mary Ann, while proclaiming he wanted to marry the woman's daughter, there was an incident in a car where he convinced the girl's father Bob to stimulate his genitals using his hand.

Abducted in Plain Sight filmmaker Skye Borgman (left) heard stories from other accusers

The stories matched what Jan Broberg said about being kidnapped and taken to Mexico by her captor aged 12 in the 70s

Desperate to keep the sexual encounters a secret, the victim's parents say they felt helpless when their child was snatched.

Borgman was reluctant to question the father about the details of which she found while going through legal documents, but he volunteered the information.

She explained: 'I think Bob realized that it was a critical element to the story, and how [Berchtold] was able to get into their family this way so seamlessly.'

Broberg was taken a second time and attended a private school in LA. She is pictured age 13 in January 1976

The filmmaker said although Bob  who passed away in 2018 - opened about the car incident in the documentary, a detail that was not in the book, he did not address whether his relationship with Berchtold continued.

'We certainly couldn't find any indication that it continued,' Borgman said, adding that she is often asked whether it did and is curious herself.

'I'm not sure that it matters if there was or if there wasn't, because it was this one indiscretion that really gave Berchtold the ammunition he needed to blackmail the head of the household. One time or more than that, the deed was done, and the ramifications of that were set in motion.'

Two years later Broberg was abducted again by Berchtold, this time going missing for 100 days when she was 14 years old.

Berchtold enrolled her in a Catholic girls' school, posing as her father to try and keep her family and the authorities away before she was eventually tracked down and returned home.

Left out of the documentary was an incident where Mary Ann met with Birchtold in a parking lot. The alleged gathering allegedly involved a gun and the woman's brother was present.

The filmmaker had to chop many riveting details for streamlining purposes.

Borgman revealed riveting aspects had to be cut from film including an alleged incident involving Berchtold (center with Jan Broberg), mother Mary Ann (right), her brother and a gun

The documentary, which was three years in the making, consists of reenactments of the events alongside talking-head interviews with the family of the victim, Berchtold's brother and an FBI agent assigned to the case.

The bizarre details of the case have shocked viewers but the kidnapper's brother still wanted to represent him in the documentary since no other family members would.

Berchtold took his own life in 2005 after a court meeting with the victim.

'It's something I think about a lotthat sibling love and how strong that is,' Borgman said about his brother Joe. 'I think that comes out a lot with Joe, that he loves his brother, even though his brother was a pedophile, and I think those two things really are conflicts in him.'
Headshots to mugshots: Ryan Jaselskis (above) was taken into custody on Tuesday after Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearm agents identified him as the man who allegedly set fire to Comet Pizza

A struggling model and actor has been arrested for setting fire to the pizza parlor that became infamous due to a false conspiracy theory that came to be known as Pizzagate.

Ryan Jaselskis, 22, is facing federal arson charges after being identified as the man caught on surveillance video at Comet Pizza on January 23, the same night that an individual intentionally set fire to the Virginia eatery.

He was identified by a firefighter who recognized Jaselskis' blue jacket from the surveillance video while treating him on February 4 following a bizarre incident at the Washington Monument.

On January 23, Jaselskis set fire to some curtains at the pizza parlor before fleeing, with footage showing his attempt to destroy at least one camera on his way out the door.

Jaselkis found himself in need of medical attention after he was tasered by an officer with the U.S. Park Police while attempting to break into the national landmark according to court documents.

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The night of: On January 23, the struggling actor and model was allegedly caught on camera (above) setting fire to curtains at the site of the infamous Pizzagate hoax

He was charged with unlawful entry and assaulting a police officer at that time and released from jail the next day.

That incident was captured by Cam Hasbrouck, who later uploaded the video to social media.

Jaselskis then returned to the Washington Monument hours after his release and again attempted to break in, only to be thwarted once again by US Park Police.

There was no resistance from Jaselkis during his second run-in with authorities, and he was later charged with unlawful entry, destruction of public property, and contempt in Superior Court.

It was not until Tuesday though that Jaselskis was officially declared a suspect by agents with the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents.

He was booked after a customer who was at Pizza Comet on the night of the fire picked Jaselskis out of a line-up.

On camera: He was first recognized by a firefighter who was treating Jaselskis, 22, after US Park Police Tased him (above during his Tasing arrest on February 4) for trying to break into the Washington Monument

Hiding out: Jaselskis was held in jail overnight after his first arrest at the Monument, and released the next day, at which point he again tried to break in again (above on January 23)

Jaselskis is now facing up to 20 years in prison on the charge of federal arson, and is being held without bond until a hearing next week.

This is not the first incident to occur at Comet Pizza in the wake of fake news reports claiming that is was a front for a child smuggling ring.

In 2016, a man invaded the pizzeria with an assault rifle.

He was later was given a four-year prison sentence.

Welch, 28, stormed into Comet Ping Pong, an upscale pizza house, with an AR-15 assault rifle after becoming outraged by right-wing talk on social media that it was central to a pedophile network with deep connections to Hillary Clinton and the Democrats.

No one was hurt, but police had to lock down the neighborhood before Welch surrendered.

The incident followed President Donald Trump's victory over Clinton in a heated contest that was fueled at times by fake news circulating on social media.

Welch, who drove from North Carolina to Washington to 'investigate' Comet himself, was seen by some as much a victim for having believed reports on websites such as Reddit and Infowars that the restaurant hid a politically connected pedophile ring.

SWAT: Fake news reports that circulated during the most recent presidential race claimed Comet Pizza was a front for a child sex ring (the scene outside Comet Pizza after a man entered with an assault rifle in 2016)

Horses and torsos: It was a week after that second attempted break-in that Jaselskis was picked up, and he is now facing 20 years in prison




Donald Trump said on Friday that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had sent him a copy of a five-page letter delivered to the Nobel Peace Prize committee, nominating the U.S. president for his efforts to defuse tensions with North Korea.

'He said, "I have nominated you," or "respectfully, on behalf of Japan, I am asking them to give you the Nobel Peace Prize." I said thank you,' Trump said during a press event announcing his decision to declare a national emergency at America's southern border.

'Many other people feel that way, too. I'll probably never get it. That's okay,' Trump said.

'They gave it to Obama,' the president continued, recalling the award his predecessor received after less than a year in office.

President Donald Trump claimed Friday that his Japanese counterpart nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize

Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, pictured last year during their first summit in Singapore, will meet for a second time later this month

Trump and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo, pictured in November 2018 at the G20 Leaders' Summit in Buenos Aires, are strong allies

'He didnt even know what he got it for. He was there for about 15 seconds and he got the Nobel Prize. He said, "Oh, what did I get it for?" With me, I probably will never get it,' Trump said.

The surprising anecdote came as he hailed Pyongyang's 'tremendous' economic potential and his 'great relationship' with his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un ahead of a second scheduled summit between the two leaders.

Trump also took a second dig at Barack Obama, suggesting his predecessor had been close to going to war with the nuclear-armed state.

Pyongyang has yet to provide any official confirmation of the Feb 27-28 summit, which will be the second time the pair come together following their Singapore meeting on June 12, 2018.

But Trump held out the prospect of growth and prosperity for the impoverished and isolated country should it follow a path of peace.

'Their location between South Korea and Russia and China, right smack in the middle, is phenomenal. And we think they have a great chance for tremendous economic prosperity in the future,' Trump said.

The president later hailed his warm relationship with Kim, adding that such an accomplishment had been beyond the capacity of Obama.

Recalling a conversation he had with Obama shortly before entering office, Trump said: 'I don't want to speak for him but I believe he would have gone to war with North Korea. I think he was ready to go to war, he told me he was so close to starting a big war with North Korea. Where are we now? No missiles, no rockets, no nuclear testing.'

Former President Barack Obama posed with his Nobel Peace Prize on Dec. 10, 2009, less than a year into his presidency

'We've learned a lot. But much more importantly... we have a great relationship. I have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un.'

Trump also ran through some of the highlights of the fiery rhetoric he and Kim exchanged in 2017 when tensions between the two countries were sky-rocketing.

'It was a very tough dialogue at the beginning: Fire and fury, total annihilation, my button is bigger than yours.

'People said 'Trump is crazy.' And you know what it ended up being? A very good relationship. I like him a lot and he likes me a lot. Nobody else would have done that. The Obama administration couldn't have done it.'
Amazon's home security chief has declared war on criminals who steal packages from doorstops or burgle homes with the tech giant's new home surveillance camera - despite privacy fears about how much footage the company could share with police.

Jamie Siminoff, CEO of the Santa Monica-based video doorbell company Ring, shared the vow in a March 2016 email galvanizing staff at the then-startup, which Amazon acquired in April 2018 for $1billion.

In the email, Siminoff addressed 'the dirtbag criminals that steal our packages and rob our houses ... your time is numbered because Ring is now officially declaring war on you!' according to the Intercept.

One of Ring's key features is the Neighbors app, which allows users to quickly share video of suspicious activity at their home with neighbors and, in some case, police.

An American Civil Liberties Union attorney has claimed the feature introduces privacy concerns and 'blurs the line' between state and private surveillance - a claim that is strongly rejected by Ring and the law enforcement agencies the company has partnered with.

Ring CEO Jaime Siminoff (above) is defending the Amazon subsidiary's partnerships with local police departments after questions were raised about privacy

In Florida, the Polk County Sheriff's office used this Ring footage to ask for the public's assistance in identifying a car burglar who was active on Friday

'Users have full control of who views their Ring footage,' Siminoff wrote in a blog post on Thursday.

'Only the content that a user chooses to make publicly available on Neighbors (by posting it to the app) can be viewed via the Neighbors app or by local law enforcement,' he continued.

Ring has partnered with police departments in several states, including Florida, California, and Texas.

In areas with such partnerships, local police are able to see videos posted to the Neighbors app within their jurisdiction - but the company insists that police see no more than a regular user would, and that names and exact addresses of customers are masked.

A camera-equipped Ring doorbell is seen in this file photo. The company allows users to quickly share footage of suspicious activity with neighbors and, in some cases, police

One feature available to only cops is the ability to request video from a users in a specific area for a specific time window, useful when seeking evidence in a crime. Ring sends out an alert to users in the area, who can choose whether to turn over their footage to police.

Matt Cagle, an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, argued in an interview with the Intercept that the feature gives law enforcement 'coercive power over [Ring] customers.'

'Many people are not going to feel like they have a choice when law enforcement asks for access to their footage,' said Cagle.

The attorney argued that Ring's partnership with law enforcement 'blurs the line between corporate and government surveillance.'

In a statement to DailyMail.com, Ring spokeswoman Kaleigh Bueckert-Orme asserted that the Intercept's report 'misrepresented' the Neighbors app.

She did not elaborate and referred to Siminoff's recent blog post for clarification.

Earlier this week, the company posted video testimonials from customers and police praising the Neighborhood app for helping to thwart crooks.

'Any time you can close that ground of occurrence to reporting it, you're gaining ground. It's a win not only for law enforcement but the community,' said Deputy Cody Held with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office in Florida, in one of the videos.

Held cited a case where footage of a prowler uploaded to the Neighbors app helped him apprehend a suspect who was trying to flee the scene.

In his blog post on Thursday, Siminoff doubled down on his warning to crooks in his 2016 email, although in somewhat more moderate language.

'Criminals and thieves take note,' he wrote, 'our team is working tirelessly to stop you and make safer neighborhoods for our families to live in.'
Andrew Hill (pictured above) has suggested that he did not receive the correct training before flying the aircraft

The Shoreham crash pilot has told a court that 'there may have been gaps in his training' on the plane which crashed and killed 11 men.

Andrew Hill suggested in court that he had not been given all of the information necessary to fly the 1950s Hawker Hunter fighter jet during his training.

The 54-year-old continued to be cross-examined in his trial at the Old Bailey today, Friday 15 February, where he has been speaking in public for the first time about the crash.

Prosecutor Tom Kark QC questioned Hill on the specifics of how to fly the aircraft, which plunged to the ground and exploded in a fireball on the A27 in West Sussex after he attempted a loop during the display on August 22, 2015.

One of the permits for flying the aircraft states that it would not be allowed to take-off if the jet pipe temperature is too low, which Hill suggested he was not aware of when flying the plane and claimed he had not been advised of this in his training.

The court heard it was an 'important' factor because if the temperature is not high enough, the plane could struggle to reach full power.

Hill has denied 11 counts of manslaughter by gross negligence.

A photo of the crash at the Shoreham Airshow on August 2015 where Andrew Hill had been performing a stunt

Mr Kark told jurors that information was mentioned in a set of flying notes found in Hill's pocket after the crash.

Known as flight reference cards, they are a guide to correctly and safely operating different models of aircraft.

Hill told the court this was not raised in his training on the aircraft with fellow pilot Chris Heames - who he said was much more experienced in flying the Hunter.

Mr Kark asked: 'Are you blaming Mr Heames for not training you properly?'

Hill replied: 'I don't know,' later adding: 'For whatever reason I had not picked it up.'

Mr Kark said: 'This is actually quite basic stuff.'

Andrew Hill (pictured above) told the court he had struggled to fly the plane because of his height

He suggested to Hill: 'When you took off in this plane you had not read these notes properly.'

Hill reiterated he had 'not read or understood' that part of the notes and agreed they had been on his person that day.

He was also asked if his stature made it difficult to reach some of the controls in the plane, particularly the flap lever - which controls the amount of lift to give a plane during slower speeds including take-off and landing.

Throughout his evidence, Hill has referred to a large map, situated behind him in the witness box, of the crash site and surrounding area.

Am image of the aircraft just moments before it landed on the motorway

This was the moment prior to the aircrash during the 2015 show

At one point he told the court he was struggling to point to the top of the map because he was not tall enough, before climbing up a step in order to do so.

Mr Kark asked: 'Is it a struggle to get to these instruments (in the plane)?'

Hill said: 'I definitely had to lean forward to reach the under carriage and the flaps.'

Asked if he had difficulty in other types of aircraft, the former British Airways pilot said reaching some of the controls in a particular Airbus model would involve being 'almost bent over'.

He continued to dismiss accusations from the prosecution that he breached rules at other airshows the year before the crash.

This included claims he flew over Lancing College - which sits next to the A27 - during the Shoreham Airshow in 2014, despite this being banned.

The court was shown footage of the display from the cockpit which was paused as the college chapel and surrounding buildings come into view through the front window of the aircraft.

Asked by Mr Kark if he accepted the video gave the impression he was about to fly right over the college, Hill replied: 'No.'

He said he was 'comfortably clear' of the college and previously said from his recollection he had been 'nowhere near it'.

The trial continues on Monday.
Magdalena Starzynska pictured leaving the court

A nurse injected a cancer patient with another mans medicine  because they were both named Roger  a court has been told.

Magdalena Starzynska, 37, administered an injection of the anesthetic Midazolam to Roger Allardyce, 78, instead of patient, Roger Sutton at Royal Free Hospital in London.

Mr Allardyce died four days later in February 2016, the Southwark Crown Court heard today.

Mr Allardyce had been suffering from lung cancer when the agency nurse confused him for another man on the ward who was also called Roger and was suffering from the same condition.

A court was told today the mix up did not cause the man's death.

Retired printer Mr Allardyce was admitted on February 21, 2016, accompanied by wife Anne, after he suffered from a blockage in his throat.

Prosecutor James Norman said: He had suffered, for a number of years, from some serious health problems, the most serious of which was diagnosed in 2014 where he was discovered to have lung cancer.

He was unwell and uncomfortable and not receiving any pain relief.

On the same ward was another man also called Roger, also suffering from lung cancer, who was receiving pain relief in the form of morphine and midazolam.

The following day, Starzynska and senior nurse Donner OSullivan were discussing which painkillers to administer to another patient, Roger Sutton, the court heard.

According to the prosecution the nurses began to talk about the injection but were each talking about a different Roger.

She made two basic errors before injecting Mr Allardyce with the syringe, explained the prosecutor.

She did not ask Mr Allardyce to confirm his own personal details, nor did she check, which she could have done, the identification bracelet attached to Mr Allardyces arm, either of which would have alerted her to her mistake.

She got the wrong Roger, added Judge Christopher Hehir QC.

The prosecutor continued: Shortly afterwards, Mr Allardyce appeared to his wife to fall asleep.

Far from being asleep, he was in fact unconscious and unresponsive.

A crash team was called and efforts were made to try and reverse the effects of the medicine - regrettably they were not successful.

Doctors at the hospital eventually agreed that nothing could be done for the ageing printer and his life support was withdrawn in the early hours of 26 September.

What we have here is an unauthorised administration of drugs, which led to what must have been for Mr Allardyces wife a very distressing scenario and for his family in general, the very distressing experience of watching him deteriorate.

The court heard how earlier that year, Starzynska had been reprimanded at Whipps Cross Hospital for taking a glass of milk into the controlled drugs room.

Andrew Morris, defending said the pathologists report concluded that the death had not been caused by the drugs.

He explained how Starzynska had travelled from Poland to the UK in 2003 and began her career in nursing in 2013.

The court was told how the defendant had suffered a breakdown since the incident and is currently living at a charity designed to help troubled women.

She has shown clear remorse right from the beginning, explained Mr Morris.

Sentencing Starzynska, judge Hehir said: Your carelessness led to a series of events, it is a quite shocking carelessness of which you are guilty.

The Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead where Roger Alardyce died. Although there was an error in his treatment it did not cause his death

It is accepted that the unfortunate administration of the wrong drug had not caused his death.

He was a man who was gravely ill and died of other causes. He never really recovered although he did regain consciousness.

I have to record my profound sympathies for what must have been a distressing episode.

Starzynska, of Egham Road, Plaistow, London, pleaded guilty to one count of administering a prescription only drug without authorisation.

She was ordered to pay a 300 fine and given three months in which to do so or face 14 days in prison.

The prosecution offered no evidence on a further count of failing to discharge a health and safety duty.

The nurses future in the career will be decided post-prosecution by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Police in Portland, Oregon, are investigating text messages between a police lieutenant and the leader of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, after left-wing activists claimed they were evidence of 'collusion'.

Hundreds of emails and text messages released by the city's police bureau on Thursday showed Portland Police Lieutenant Jeff Niiya exchanging text messages with Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson, often discussed Gibson's plans to demonstrate.

The messages from 2017 and 2018, first reported this week by the local Willamette Week newspaper, drew accusations of collusion between the officer and Gibson's group, whose demonstrations have devolved into violent clashes with antifa activists in the past.

In a video statement, Gibson blasted Portland officials for 'melting down' over the text messages, which he said were simple exchanges intended to alert cops to the group's plans and attempt to avoid confrontations with antifa counter-protesters.

Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson (above) has been accused of 'collusion' after hundreds of text messages between him and a Portland police officer were released

One of the many pages of released text messages is seen above

In response to Portland melt down over Gibsons released text messages Posted by Patriot Prayer on Thursday, 14 February 2019

In one of the text messages from December 2017, Niiya told Gibson that a group of antifa activists was headed toward his demonstration.

'We will have officers nearby but you may want to think about moving soon if more come,' Niiya said in the message.

In other messages, Niiya assures Gibson he can trust him, and praises his plans to run for the Senate in 2018.

Niiya has also exchanged text messages with representatives of left-wing antifa ahead of

'They're very normal text messages,' Gibson said in his video response, adding that he has similar exchanges with police in other cities where he has held events.

'Most of the police officers that I talk to are very respectful. It doesn't mean that they like me, it doesn't mean that they back me. But they're very professional,' he added.

'Portland is having a meltdown about this because they have so much hatred for the police in Portland,' Gibson said.

Antifa activists are seen at a Patriot Prayer rally in Portland in August. Gibson says his text messages with police were to help avoid confrontations with the far-left group.

Joey Gibson speaks with a Portland Police officer during a rally in August

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said the messages were 'disturbing,' raised questions about police bias and appeared to be encouraging Gibson, who Wheeler said leads a group that perpetrates hate speech and violence.

'Incidents like this contribute to the distrust that so many people have about the Portland Police Bureau,' Wheeler said in a statement on Thursday.

Patriot Prayer describes itself as a pro free-speech group that opposes big government and welcomes all races.

Portland Police Chief Danielle Outlaw said she ordered an internal investigation to review the communications and determine if any bureau directives were violated.

'If anything is identified that is deemed outside of our values and directives, it will be addressed,' Outlaw said late on Thursday in a statement.

Niiya and Gibson could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday. Police bureau officials did not immediately respond to a request for more details.

Four people were arrested in August after Gibson's group squared off with antifa counter-protesters in Portland. Four people were injured during similar rallies in June 2018.

Mayor Wheeler said in a statement he had ordered Chief Outlaw to investigate the matter.

He said that Niiya would be prohibited from contacting any event organizers until the investigation was complete.
The French national assembly has voted to amend its education law to replace the terms 'mother' and 'father' on school forms with 'Parent 1' and 'Parent 2'.

The move, which passed its first reading on Tuesday, paves the way for the change which lawmakers say gives fair recognition to families with same-sex parents and tackles discrimination.

President Emmanuel Macron's Republique en Marche (REM) party backed the amendment to the 'Schools of Trust' law in the interest of 'anchoring the diversity of families with children in the law', said Valerie Petit MP.

Members of the Parliament begin the session at the National Assembly in Paris on February 12, 2019, during which the amendment to an education bill was carried that would change mother and father to Parent 1 and Parent 2 on school forms

Petit, who tabled the amendment, cited many the fact that most forms - such as those for a student's absence - mention a father and mother but do not take into account the French marriage equality law that passed in 2013.

Another REM assembly member, Jennifer De Temmerman, agreed that today's 'social and family models are a little outdated'.

Valerie Petit MP, who represents the Nord department, tabled the amendment in order to 'anchor the diversity of families in the law'

'No one should feel excluded from this society by backward thinking,' she said.

The amendment says: 'To prevent discrimination, school enrollment, class registers, parental authorisations and all other official forms involving children must mention only Parent 1 and Parent 2.'

Parties on the left and centre welcomed the amendment, which has angered Christians and conservatives.

But it does not enjoy unanimous support in Mr Macron's party, as education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said that the removal of 'les meres' and 'les peres' was a legislative overreach by the government.

Alexandre Urwicz, President of the Association of Homo-parental Families, had mixed feelings.

'At first, we welcomed the amendment because, technically, it allows our families to be included in forms that previously did not allow it, ' he told AFP.

However, admitted that he was afraid that the new formula is misleading as it might lead to a parental hierarchy: 'Who is parent number 1 and who is parent number 2?,' he asked.

The amendment has its second reading on February 19. It has yet to be approved by the Senate but is expected to pass.

French Education Minister and Youth Affairs Jean-Michel Blanquer reportedly does not support the tabled amendment
One Arkansas woman definitely get's more than an A for effort for her Valentine's Day gift giving.

Cydney B., a 25-year-old jewelry boutique owner, gifted her beau Dorian B. with a personalized du-rag that featured 25 photos of the couple.

'I got my boyfriend a du-rag with all our pictures on it from start until now for Valentines Day,' the Little Rock resident said in her now viral post of the video. 'I love you baby.'

Du-rags - also called durags - help preserve the brushing pattern for hair textures that are not commonly suited for bedtime. Primarily warn by African American people, consistent wearing of a du-rag can create waves and prevent fizzing of hair.

Cydney B., a 25-year-old jewelry boutique owner, gifted her beau Dorian B. with a personalized du-rag that featured 25 photos of the couple

'I got my boyfriend a du-rag with all our pictures on it from start till now for Valentines Day,' the Little Rock resident said in her now viral post of the video. 'I love you baby.'

In the brief clip, Dorian apprehensively opens the gift bag. As soon as he sees what's inside the bag, his eyes get huge and he exclaims 'Yo!'

'Hold on where did you get this made at? This is fire,' he continues, in disbelief that Cydney has managed to pull off the stellar stunt.

Dorian asks Cydney how she did it, but she quickly retorts: 'Don't worry about it. Do you like it.'

Of course Dorian is a fan, so enthralled with his new gift that Cydney has to instruct him to show off the pictures.

Dorian asks Cydney how she did it, but she quickly retorts: 'Don't worry about it. Do you like it'

Of course Dorian is a fan. Cydney posted photos showing the military veteran rocking his new du-rag

'This is fire,' the 25-year-old asserts to his girlfriend. 'I don't know if I can wear this. I gotta hang it up!'

Cydney declares 'Periodt', a declaration recently made popular via Miami rap duo City Girls.

The video later shows Dorian checking out his newly worn du-rag, acknowledging that it is 'fresh.'

Cydney told the DailyMail.com that Dorian is always working on his hair.

LMMFAO flip that tail baby  pic.twitter.com/3dQGqatn7y  The Doll (@cyditty__) February 14, 2019

Cydney would later post a video of Dorian rocking his new du-rag and bragging about how it is 'silk.' 'LMMFAO flip that tail baby,' she said in the tweet

The couple have only been together for a year, after Cydney saw a funny meme on Dorian's page and slid into his DMs

'He is really extra,' she said. 'He could work on his waves. Brushes it one way. Make sure its laid down gets into it.'

The woman - who owns jewelry boutique Cyditty Jewels - shared that Dorian has a plethora of du-rags that he alternates between his various looks.

The woman - who owns jewelry boutique Cyditty Jewels - shared that Dorian has a plethora of du-rags that he alternates between his various looks. He wears a black one in the image

'He's a pretty big guy so he'll wear an Adidas jumpsuit and some white Jordans and match it with a bright du-rag,' Cydney explained, adding that her man also owns a yellow du-rag, pink du-rag and even a blue velvet one that constantly stains her bed.

And while the moment was certainly adorable, it almost didn't happen because Dorian was adamant that he didn't want Cydney to get him anything.

She said: 'He doesn't like me to spend money on him or anything. He was like "What the hell this little bag?!"'

Cydney feels extremely lucky because Dorian always takes her shopping - he had already done so the day before Valentines but did so again after receiving her gift.

'I am so lucky because he pours so much into me,' she stated.

Cydney would later post a video of Dorian rocking his new du-rag and bragging about how it is 'silk.'

'LMMFAO flip that tail baby,' she said in the tweet.

'He is really extra,' she said about Dorian's fun obsession with his hair. 'He could work on his waves. Brushes it one way. Make sure its laid down gets into it.' Dorian's waves can be seen in the image as a byproduct of wearing the du-rag

The couple have only been together for a year, after Cydney saw a funny meme on Dorian's page and slid into his DMs.

The retired military veteran, who now works in a hospital, is Cydney's first boyfriend. She had lived in Atlanta prior to moving back to Arkansas.

'I got my hoe years out,' she joked. 'This is my first one year anniversary. It didn't mean anything for me but not in a bad way. Everyday he treats me like Valentine.

The personalized du-rag is available on Etsy for $25 and ships from Texas.
A vegan Florida couple allegedly almost starved their five-month-old son to death after switching out his doctor-prescribed formula for an internet concoction made of mashed potatoes.

Julia French, 20, and Robert Buskey, 31, of Titusville, Florida, were charged with neglect after investigators found the infant weighed only 8 pounds, 8 ounces after being recorded at birth at 7 pounds, 9 ounces, according to WFTV news.

The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) said the boy was obviously malnourished with his ribs visible and eyes appearing sunken.

'At one point, when the child was doing good and healthy and gaining weight, he was on an organic formula and they changed it on their own,' said Titusville Police Detective Lauren Watson. 'I've never seen a child to this level, this close to possible death.'

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Robert Buskey, 31, seen here, is charged along with Julia French with child neglect

Julia French, 20, allegedly found a mashed-potato concoction on the internet that she fed to her infant rather than the doctor-prescribed formula fitting with her vegan lifestyle

While the couple is unmarried, a person familiar with the investigation told WESH that French claims to be Buskeys concubine under 'Nazarite Hebrew' religious principles.

The couple allegedly ignored the type of formula that would fit with their vegan lifestyle ordered by their doctor, and instead fed him on a potato-based creation found on the internet by French.

The parents, who could afford the prescribed formula, did not present a reason as to why they did not provide it to their child, according to police.

Robert Buskey, left, and Julia French, right, nearly starved their infant to death after he only gained about a pound of weight in five months since birth

Detective Lauren Watson of the Titusville Police Department said she had never seen a child this 'close to possible death'

Robert Buskey appeared to dispute details regarding his son's medical report during booking

Since Wednesday, the infant, who is now in DCF custody, has gained a half a pound on fluids alone.

The baby had been 'lethargic and not crying' when found according to court papers, and 'had difficulties maintaining his temperature and sugar due to dehydration and malnourishment.'

During booking, Buskey appeared to contest the medical reports about his child. Both Buskey and French are currently being held in Brevard County Jail.
President Donald Trump is anticipating a court fight that will start with a 'bad ruling' but an eventual victory, he revealed in a bizarre interlude Friday where he sketched out the legal journey of move to reprogram funds to build a border wall.

'So the order is signed. And I'll sign the final papers as soon as I get into the Oval Office,' the president said, describing the first step in his 'emergency declaration' to try to procure $8 billion in funds for a border wall despite wringing only $1.4 billion from Congress for fencing.

'And we will have a national emergency. And we will then be sued, and they will sue us in the Ninth Circuit even though it shouldn't be there,' Trump lamented, bringing up the San Francisco-headquartered Court of Appeals.

'And we will possibly get a bad ruling, and then we will get another bad ruling, and then we will end up in the Supreme Court, and hopefully we will get a fair shake, and we'll win in the Supreme Court,' Trump continued the riff.

Scroll down for video

And we will then be sued, and they will sue us in the Ninth Circuit even though it shouldn't be there,' Trump lamented, as he ran through the multi-step legal challenge he says will follow his emergency declaration

'Just like the ban,' Trump said, turning to the legal journey of his proposed muslim ban, which ended up as a ban on immigration from a handful of countries with majority-muslim populations.

'They sued us in the Ninth Circuit and we lost, and then we lost in the appellate division, and then we went to the Supreme Court and we won. And it was very interesting because yesterday they were talking about the ban, because we have a ban that is very helpful. Madame secretary, is that right?' Trump said, indicating Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

'Without the ban we would have a bigger problem. We have a ban on certain areas and certain countries depending on what's going on in the world, and we won.

The riff was just one stand-out part of the president's often rambling press conference, where he didn't use a teleprompter and went on extended tangents to describe his policies.

Trump acknowledged the looming legal fight, but predicted: 'we'll win in the Supreme Court'

'And we will have a national emergency. And we will then be sued, and they will sue us in the Ninth Circuit even though it shouldn't be there,' Trump complained

Trump said he'll get a win in the Supreme Court, where he nominated two of its current justices

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted out a black-and-white image of Trump signing the emergency declaration Friday

In response to a question, Trump acknowledged that he expects to face a legal challenge for the designation. Although presidents have made use of the law dozens of times, no president has yet used it to try to procure billions of dollars for a project Congress pointedly would not appropriate monies for, despite White House pressure. Trump is planning to reprogram funds designated by Congress to go to military construction and other programs, not the wall.

"I expect to be sued. I shouldn't be sued. Very rarely do you get sued when you do [a] national emergency,' Trum said.

'And then other people say if you use it for this, what are we use using it for? We've got to get rid of drugs and gangs and people. It's an invasion,' he said, making the case that conditions on the border are an emergency. 'We have an invasion of drugs and criminals coming into our country that we stop but it is very hard to stop. with a wall it would be very easy. So I think that we will be very successful in court.'

Trump may have harmed his legal case with some of his own public statements. He said at the Friday press conference: 'I didn't need to do this. But I'd rather get it done faster.' Administration lawyers will face the burden in court with arguing that there is an authentic crisis on the border that required the emergency designation.
Amazon has hit-out at Congressional newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her Democratic peers for creating an unjust hostile 'environment' that led to the withdrawal of their New York headquarters plan.

The online retailer announced on Thursday that they were pulling the plug on their proposal to create a second headquarters in New York's Long-Island City.

Speaking out about the withdrawal on Friday, Amazon's head of policy communications, Jodi Seth, pointed blame at Ocasio-Cortez and her anti-Amazon rhetoric.

Seth said it wasn't 'any one incident' but months of vitriolic political discourse - perpetuated by the likes of AOC - that ultimately resulted in the company's decision to look elsewhere for a new branch to its Seattle base.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 29, remained outspoken on the deal since its announcement in November. Now Amazon blame her rhetoric for foiling their plans

The Jeff Bezos-owned firm had proposed building an 8 million square foot Amazon campus in Long Island City Queens to act as a branch of its Seattle headquarters. The proposal was projected to bring in 25,000 jobs and generate $10 billion in revenue over 20 years

'It was that the environment over the course of the past three months had not got any better,' Seth told NBC on Friday morning.

Amazon's Jodi Seth (above) directly named AOC in her condemnation of New York lawmakers, saying her 'Never Amazon' rhetoric was damaging to the plans

'There were some local and state elected officials who refused to meet with Amazon and criticized us day in and day out about the plan.'

Seth, who has been with Amazon since 2017, added: 'If you talk to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, it's 'Never Amazon'.'

Ocasio-Cortez had long been a strong opponent to the plans, citing rent hikes and local displacement - as seen around the tech firm's headquarters in Seattle - as grounds for why the city should reject the proposal.

The 29-year-old responded to Amazon's shocking announcement on Thursday with glee, tweeting: 'Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazons corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world.'

She opposed the move for its massive tax incentives, previously tweeting such money could be used towards improving the city's crumbling subway system and investing in local communities.

AOC victoriously tweeted after Amazon announced they were pulling their plans to build a headquarters campus in New York, citing disagreement between local politicians as a concern

She was among the more high-profile critics of the deal from the Democratic Party's leftward flank and tweeted her opposition as earlier as last year. Above is a tweet from November

On Thursday she continued to criticize Amazon, pointing out how they paid nothing in federal income taxes yet made a whopping $11billion in profit

On Friday, Seth said she was 'pretty confident' the proposal would've been approved if Amazon decided to move-forward, but executives at the firm ultimately decided to hedge their bets elsewhere.

'Looking at the opposition and the timeline we decided we don't want to work in this environment in the long term,' Seth said.

Amazon's condemnation of AOC and other democratic lawmakers followed a scathing statement from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued on Thursday.

A furious Cuomo said 'tremendous damage' had been done by self-serving politicians in the state.

'A small group of politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community  which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City  the states economic future and the best interests of the people of this state,' Cuomo said.

'The New York State Senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity,' he added.

Seattle-based Amazon announced they would be withdrawing their plans to build a campus in New York, citing several months of opposition and political friction as the cause

Governor Andrew Cuomo has slammed politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for derailing Amazon's plans to build a sprawling headquarters in Queens, New York. Both politicians pictured above reacting to Amazon's pull out announcement on Thursday

Amazon's sprawling 8 million square feet campus was projected to bring an estimated 25,000 jobs to the area, with the city dangling a $3 billion tax break as collateral.

The plan was announced last November and would have created over $10 billion in revenue over the next 20 years.

Cuomo said the city lost a golden opportunity to be 'an emerging center for tech' and previously said the Amazon move was 'an extraordinary economic win not just for Queens and New York City, but for the entire region, from Long Island to Albany's nanotech center.'

Mayor Bill De Blasio released a statement on Thursday as well, but placed the blame on Amazon for 'throwing away' the opportunity rather than blaming politicians.

'You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world,' de Blasio said in the statement.

'Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity. We have the best talent in the world and every day we are growing a stronger and fairer economy for everyone. If Amazon cant recognize what thats worth, its competitors will,' he added.

Between himself and Cuomo, the pair had brushed aside their differences to come together and bring Amazon to the East Coast.

Cuomo called the loss of the projected Long Island city (pictured) bid a lost opportunity for New York to be 'an emerging center for tech'

Despite regular protests of vocal oppositions, polls indicate that 70% of New Yorkers supported the Amazon bid

AOC has been widely criticized for her rigorous stance on the Amazon bid, with one Twitter user calling her financial understanding short-sighted (above)

According to public polls, a majority of New Yorkers supported the creation of an Amazon office in Queens.

The United Food and Commercial union, which represents some New York Amazon employees, criticized the tech giant for pulling out of their New York plans.

'Amazon showed its true colors today and every American should be outraged,' the union said in the statement.

'Jeff Bezos had the opportunity to listen to the voices of working families and support the good-paying jobs New Yorkers deserve. But now we can see this is all about blind greed and Jeff Bezos' belief that everyday taxpayers should foot the bill for their new headquarters even as the company actively works to eliminate millions of American retail jobs,' the statement added.

According to a December poll conducted by Quinnipiac University, 57 percent of New York City residents supported Amazon's plans to move to queens. Just 26 percent opposed the proposal, according to Fox.

Amazon announced its cancelled plans on Thursday in a statement saying, 'We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion - we love New York.'

'For Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term.

'While polls show that 70 percent of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.
The US head of a major investment firm appeared in a Moscow court for a detention hearing Friday after Russia opened a fraud investigation into him and several of his colleagues.

Michael Calvey, the founder of multi-billion-dollar investment fund Baring Vostok, rejected all accusations against him.

'These accusations about Baring Vostok and about myself are not true,' the 51-year-old said, adding that he would cooperate fully with any probe.

Investigators asked for Calvey to be held until at least April 13, without bail, as he is a frequent traveler with 'considerable resources.'

A Moscow court notice showed Calvey had been detained on suspicion of 'fraud carried out by an organized group.' If found guilty Calvey could face up to to 10 years in prison, according to the Russian criminal code.

US investor Michael Calvey, (pictured above) attends a hearing at Moscow's Basmanny District Court into an application for a warrant for his detention

The firm said in a statement that the charges related to a commercial dispute over a Russian bank.

'Baring Vostok believes that the detention of its employees and the charges that have been brought are a result of a conflict with other shareholders of Vostochniy Bank,' it said.

'We have full confidence in the legality of our employees' actions and will vigorously defend their rights.'

The firm earlier confirmed that four of its employees had been detained, without providing their names.

Calvey, 51, is the founder and head of multi-billion-dollar investment fund Baring Vostok. He denies all charges against him

Among them was French citizen Phillipe Delpal, who oversees investments in the financial industry for Baring Vostok.

'I strongly object to the request for a detention,' Delpal said at a separate detention hearing.

'I have no connection with the alleged crime.'

Delpal said he had lived in Moscow for the last 15 years, and has a wife and two daughters in the city.

Two people from other companies had been held in connection to the investigation, agencies reported, citing a court spokesperson.

Baring Vostok partner, Philippe Delpal, (pictured above right) is suspected of complicity in large scale fraud

The Pervoye Kollektorskoye Bureau CEO Maxim Vladimirov is escorted to attend a hearing in connection with the Baring Vostok criminal case

Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told news agencies that the foreign investors, if found guilty, should expect to feel the full force of the law.

'If this is a fraud, what can I say: do not violate the law. If the facts are confirmed, no one can spare the perpetrators,' he said on the sidelines of an investment forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

'Be it a foreigner or a Russian, there is no difference here.'

The Baring Vostok fund specializes in private equity investments in Russia and the former Soviet Union.

The firm said in a statement that the charges related to a commercial dispute over a Russian bank

Since 1994 the fund has invested more than $2.8 billion in companies in the region, according to its website.

It employs more than 40 people in Moscow and has invested in major Russian companies including internet giant Yandex, media company CTC and telecommunications firm Golden Telecom.

A source familiar with the investment firm told AFP that the case could be an attempt by a local competitor to damage it.

The source said it would be a 'huge surprise' if the charges were founded.

'They're among the most professional investors in the Russian markets, there's never been any issues,' the source said.

Since 1994 Baring Vostok has invested more than $2.8 billion in companies in Russia, according to its website

'It's extremely negative for investment, very damaging.'

As well as founding the firm, Calvey is a senior partner.

Before moving to Moscow he worked in London and New York on oil and gas investments for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, according to a biography on the fund's site.

Calvey is also on the board of directors of the Atlantic Council think tank.

Delpal joined Baring Vostok in 2012 after founding Cetelem Russia, part of the BNP Paribas Group, according to his biography.

The pair are not the first foreign investors to fall foul of the law in Russia.

A source familiar with the investment firm told AFP that the case could be an attempt by a local competitor to damage it

American-born Bill Browder, once the biggest foreign investor in Russia, faced a string of criminal charges in 2008 after his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky revealed a massive fraud by state officials.

Both were charged with tax fraud, but Magnitsky died in pre-trial detention of untreated health issues.

His case later inspired the US Magnitsky Act intended to blacklist Russian officials implicated in human rights abuses.

Browder meanwhile was sentenced in absentia to nine years in jail.
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Temperatures rocketed to 64F (18C) today as Britons made the most of the unseasonably warm weather by hitting the beach and enjoying picnics in the park.

The glorious weather comes ahead of a half-term which will see temperatures well above average for this time of year, with the mercury hitting around 55F (13C) during the early part of the week.

It is a stark contrast to the weather seen two weeks ago, when temperatures plummeted to around -14C and most of the country was shrouded in snow.

 Slide me  The Caen Hill locks in Wiltshire looked transformed today as Britain enjoyed temperatures of 64C (18C), considerably higher than those seen two weeks ago when the mercury plummeted to as low as minus 14.5C (5.9F)

You'd be forgiven for thinking it was summer, as this chap stripped down to his swimwear for a nice afternoon on the beach in Old Portsmouth, Hampshire

A group gathered to enjoy a picnic and relax in the sunshine as temperatures hit highs of 64F (18C) today, a stark contrast to average temperatures for this time of year which typically hit around 8C (46F)

People row during late winter sunshine on the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park, London as Britain sees its warmest weather recorded on this day for the last 21 years

A woman reads in the sun in Greenwich Park, south London as temperatures rocket across the country. Those on half-term next week should also be expecting above-average temperatures - but not quite to the extent we saw today

The sun sets at Oxford Castle Mound as Britons enjoy the hottest day of this winter so far. Temperatures are forecast to taper off during half-term but will still remain above-average

It was a glorious day across most of the country, with temperatures reaching 64F (18C) in some parts. Pictured is the sun setting over the Hambleden Valley, Buckinghamshire today

Emma Smith, a meteorologist at the Met Office, told MailOnline today that temperatures had hit their highest for this day in 21 years - with the warmest weather recorded in Rhyl, North Wales.

She said: 'Temperatures have been well-above average for this time of year when we would normally see the likes of 46 or 48F (8 or 9C).

'Today was the warmest day of the winter so far, with temperatures reaching as high as 64F (18C) in northern Wales. That's the highest temperature recorded on this day for the last 21 years.

'The reason for this is because warmer weather has been drifting across to Britain from continental Europe.'

Temperatures are set to change as we move through the weekend and into half-term however. But will remain well-above average for this time of year.

Tomorrow morning, areas in East Anglia, southern England and the Midlands are likely to wake up to low cloud and fog, although this will burn off. Most of the country will remain dry apart from some showers in Scotland.

A deer is seen in the early morning light at Richmond Park in west London on Friday morning. The sun was captured shining through the trees

The warmest day of the year began with the sun shining on frosted ground in Richmond Park as early morning walkers saw the deer already grazing

A deer was pictured preparing to fight with another deer in the early morning light at Richmond Park as the weather turned

Although it was a frosty morning the deer enjoyed the sunlight as it broke through the trees in West London on Friday

Conditions tomorrow will be cloudy with sun in eastern areas on Sunday although it is expected to clear up early next week

This couple in Brighton looked out over the stony beach while enjoying an ice cream and enjoying the mild conditions

This couple sat down on the beach overlooking the waves in Brighton today as temperatures hit the mid teens

People sit on the beach next to the Brighton Palace Pier in Brighton, as locals make the most of the warm weather. Temperatures rocketed to their highest recorded on this day in the last 21 years, according to the Met Office

This couple in Greenwich Park took a selfie with the city in the background while enjoying the sunny conditions. It was the warmest day of the winter so far, with Rhyl in North Wales recorded as the hottest in the UK

Yellow flowers bask in the sunshine at Castle Park, Bristol. Dozens headed out to parks in the city today as temperatures hit their highest this winter

Britons enjoyed another day of warm weather on Friday after the unseasonably mild weather saw the warmest Valentine's Day in more than 20 years. People are seen here relaxing on the grass beside Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol

 Slide me  What a difference a fortnight makes! There has been a dramatic change in scenery at Caen Hill locks in Wiltshire - with snow seen on the right two weeks ago, and on the left how it looks today

Describing the weekend weather, Ms Smith said: 'We will see a change over the weekend for much of England and the south. Tomorrow temperatures will be around 57F (14C), which while above average is lower than we have seen today.

'Sunday will see a band of windier weather form the east, which will continue into the afternoon'.

Early next week, dry and bright conditions are expected in the south east, although patchy rain will hit the west and north west with strong winds also likely.

On Thursday and Friday, the dry and bright conditions should reach the north and Scotland, although there is a small chance of snow in eastern areas.

Describing the half-term weather, Ms Smith said: 'We could see highs of 54F (12C) as we move into the beginning of next week. And the weather will trend back down, moving to around 48F (9C) later in the week.

'But there will still be a lot of drier weather across much of the country, with brighter conditions expected in the south and east.'

The Met Office predicts that March should see long periods of settled weather across the UK with snow confined to higher ground in the north.
Taiwan is in talks with Google to blur images of its most sensitive military sites that have been accidentally revealed to the public through its latest 3D-rendered maps.

Detailed satellite images on Google's new 3-D maps exposed the location and structures of the self-ruled island's classified Patriot missile defence base in Xindian District, New Taipei - down to the types of launchers and models of the missiles.

Defence infrastructure at the National Security Bureau and the Military Intelligence Bureau were also revealed in detail, according to Taiwan media.

Detailed satellite images on Google's new 3-D maps exposed the location and structures of the self-ruled island's classified Patriot missile defence base in Xindian District, New Taipei

Google Map's otherwise stunning 3D renders were revealed on Wednesday, leading the island's residents on a flurry of searches for landmarks such as the capital's Taipei 101 skyscraper, where Google has its Taiwan headquarters on the 73rd floor

The structures were disclosed after Google launched the new function on Wednesday to feature three-dimensional terrain for four major cities in Taiwan: Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, and Taichung, according to Central News Agency.

Taiwan's Defence Minister Yen Teh-fa said a task force had been established to work with Google to seek appropriate adjustments to safeguard national security and to protect the secret locations from being targeted by Beijing in the event of a cross-strait conflict.

'Actually, the site of defence infrastructure at times of peace will not be the same as those at times of war,' Yen noted, as he tried to assure the public that the exposure will not affect Taiwan's military operations.

The Google Map images show a series of US-made Patriot surface-to-air missiles installations

Taiwan's Defence Minister Yen Teh-fa said a task force had been established to work with Google to seek appropriate adjustments to safeguard national security

The Patriot missile is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system and highly mobile. It is primarily used by the United States' military and several of its allied nations.

Taiwan's Fort Act prevents tech companies such as Google and Apple from revealing major military bases on the island. But the law does not extend to all sites including the Xindian installation.

Yen admitted Taiwan is not the only country facing national security threats in the face of advanced and precise commercial satellite technology.

This is not the first time Taiwan had asked Google to make alterations to their maps.

In 2016, ministry had to ask Google to blur out part of Taiping Island, or Itu Aba in the South China Sea that showed four new military structures on the western coastline.

The Patriot missile is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system and highly mobile. It is primarily used by the United States' military and several of its allied nations

China still sees Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunified, despite the two sides being ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949.

Relations between Taipei and Beijing have had a rocky start to 2019 after Xi Jinping delivered a bellicose speech last month describing the island's unification with the mainland as 'inevitable'.

Beijing has said it will not hesitate to use force if Taipei formally declares independence, or in the case of external intervention - including by the United States, Taiwan's strongest ally.
Friends of the Florida school girl who was the last known victim of serial killer Ted Bundy are speaking out in a new interview that will air Friday on 20/20.

Lisa Little, Sheri Roberts McKinley and Ruby Bedenbaugh say that Kimberly Leach was like a 'sister' to them growing up in Lake City.

That sisterhood all changed on February 9, 1978 when Bundy abducted Kimberly from the girls' junior high school, with her remain later found at the Suwannee River State Park, almost 50 miles away.

He was arrested less than a week later after being pulled over near the Florida and Alabama state line, having killed at least 30 victims over the course of his four-year killing spree.

Family and friends of those victims along with some of Bundy's survivors will tell their stories when 20/20 airs at 9pm Friday night on ABC.

Scroll down for video

Final victim: Kimberly Leach (above) was just 12 when she was abducted by Bundy from her school in Lake View, Florida on February 9, 1978 and murdered by the serial killer

RIP: It was just six days later that Bundy was arrested during a traffic stop near the Alabama state line (Leach's headstone above)

'I would like people to focus on the memory of Kim, who was the angel to our lives,' says McKinley.

Bedenbaugh also notes how the murder 'changed our lifestyles.'

Little agreed with that assessment, saying: 'Having Ted Bundy rob me of a good friend, i wonder what she would be like today.'

She then adds: 'She was more than just our friend, she was our sister.'

FBI Special agent Bill Hagmaier, who interviewed Bundy on death row for over 200 hours and Ray Crew, one of the first Florida State University police officers to arrive at the Chi Omega crime scene will speak about Bundy on the special Friday night.

She is the last known victim of serial killer Ted Bundy (pictured in court in June, 1979)

So will, Ken Katsaris, former sheriff of Leon County, Florida, who helped connect Bundy to the Chi Omega murders and Kathleen McChesney, former Washington State detective who worked on the Bundy case.

McChesney is not the only member of law enforcement who will speak on the special, with Robert Keppel, the former detective who took Bundys detailed confession about the murder of Georgeann Hawkins, also appearing on the episode.

Larry Simpson, lead Florida prosecutor who put Bundy behind bars will appear as well as John Henry Browne, one of Bundys defense attorneys.

And surviving Bundy victims Kathy Kleiner, Karen Chandler and Cheryl Thomas will also speak out about their experiences dodging death with the serial killer.
A mobile app promoting Chinese President Xi Jinping's ideology has become the most downloaded smartphone software in the country, beating hugely popular rivals such as messaging app WeChat and video app Douyin.

The app is almost like a Facebook for Communist supporters. It allows users to read reports from Chinese state media, carry out video chats and send virtual gifts to friends.

Its main function is to promote Xi Jinping Thought, the ideology of the most powerful leader of China since Chairman Mao, through digital friendly means such as quizzes and videos.

A mobile app promoting Chinese President Xi Jinping's ideology has become the most downloaded smartphone software in the country. A woman is pictured using the software in the picture published by Chinese state media People's Daily Online, citing Chongqing Daily

The app's main function is to promote Xi Jinping Thought from the most powerful leader of China since Chairman Mao. Pictured, President Xi speaks to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People on December 10, 2018, in Beijing

Released by China's central propaganda department on January 1, the app is called 'Study (Xi) Strong Country' (), which is a witty wordplay as President Xi's family name can also mean 'study' in Chinese.

Along with the mobile software, a website of the same name was also launched.

According to Beijing-based statistical consulting firm Qimai, 'Study (Xi) Strong Country' has topped the download chart for free apps for both iOS and Android systems in China.

It has been the most popular free iPhone apps since its release nearly seven weeks ago, according to figures from Qimai. The second and third place have been video app Douying, known in the west as TikTok, and Chinese podcast app Ximalaya.

Apparently, the huge success of the app, which is rated just 2.7 out of 5 on mobile analytics site App Annie, isn't because of how advanced or useful it is, but due to an alleged order from the Communist Party of China to its nearly 90 million members.

Along with the mobile software, a website of the same name was also launched on January 1

A chart released by statistical consulting firm Qimai shows 'Study (Xi) Strong Country' (green) topping the download chart for free iPhone apps for more than a month while video app Douyin (red) and podcast app Ximalaya take the second and third spot

It is reported that the ruling party has required its members to download the app and use it on a daily basis, reported BBC.

Some non-party members, such as workers at state-owned companies and public school teachers, have also been told to do so, according to the same report.

The Communist app has also been billed as the modern-day equivalent to the 'Little Red Book', a pocket-sized booklet with Chairman Mao's philosophy and a must-have item for Chinese people in the 1960s and 1970s.

The app has also been billed as the modern-day equivalent to the 'Little Red Book' (right), a booklet with Chairman Mao's (left) philosophy and a must-have item in China in the 1970s

It is estimated that more than one billion copies of Chairman Mao's 'Little Red Book' were circulated during China's Cultural Revolution, making it the second-most printed book in the world after the Bible.

Xi Jinping has been widely considered as China's most powerful leader since the nation's founding father Chairman Mao who ruled from 1949 to 1976.

Xi could potentially rule China for life after Chinese lawmakers in March last year abolished presidential term limits that had been in place for more than 35 years.

Last year, Xi was named by Forbes as the most powerful person on Earth, ending Putin's four-year reign at the top and pushing Trump down to the third.
This is the first picture of the ISIS fighter who married jihadi bride Shamima Begum and fathered the baby she wants to bring to Britain, MailOnline can reveal.

Dutch Islamist fighter Yago Reidijk, 27, wed Shamima 10 days after the Bethnal Green schoolgirl fled London for the Syrian desert four years ago.

Reidijk was linked to an IS terror cell planning Paris-style attacks and was in regular contact with seven men feared to have targeted a rock festival in the city of Arnhem.

Police smashed the Arnhem cell last year as the men were about to launch their attack.

Dutch Islamist fighter Yago Reidijk (pictured) married jihadi bride Shamima Begum and fathered the baby she wants to bring to Britain

Reidijk, 27, (pictured) wed Shamima 10 days after the Bethnal Green schoolgirl fled London for the Syrian dessert four years ago

Shamima (left and right), a former Bethnal Green schoolgirl fled London four years ago to become a jihadi bride. Now she is living in a refugee camp and wants to come back to the UK

Begum was just 15 when she and two other girls from Bethnal Green travelled to Syria in February 2015 and became a jihadi bride by marrying IS fighter Reidijk

Dutch police said Riedijk, who surfaced in Syria in 2016, was one of 29 Muslim men from Arnhem identified as having been radicalised.

Shamima told how she went to a house for jihadi brides before marrying Reidijk who was later accused of spying by IS and was tortured in prison before being released.

Before meeting her, Riedijk had been wounded fighting in Kobani.

Despite the grave charge against him, he was released from prison, but was no longer classified by Isis as a fighter.

They continued to live together in Raqqa, where she described life as alternating between normality and atrocity. 'Mostly it was a in Raqqa, every now and then bombing and stuff,' she said, using the contradictory vernacular common among indoctrinated Isis families.

'But when I saw my first severed head in a bin it didn't faze me at all. It was from a captured fighter seized on the battlefield, an enemy of Islam. I thought only of what he would have done to a Muslim woman if he had the chance.'

In January 2017 she left Raqqa, with Reidijk, to live on the outskirts of the town of Mayadin, where she was later slightly wounded in an airstrike that killed another woman and child in the same house.

By the time she had her first child, a daughter, Sarayah, the family had moved south-west along the Euphrates valley moving away from Syrian government advances.

Reidijk was linked to an IS terror cell planning Paris-style attacks and was in regular contact with seven men feared to have targeted a rock festival in the city of Arnhem

Dutch police said Riedijk, who surfaced in Syria in 2016, was one of 29 Muslim men from Arnhem identified as having been radicalised

The family moved on to Baghuz, which is now the last stronghold of IS.

Already pregnant with her third child, she then watched as her daughter grew sick there and died, too.

She described how in the past few weeks IS gave instructions to the families of all foreign fighters to make up their own minds whether they would stay in the besieged village to face the bombings.

A fortnight ago she walked out of Baghuz along a three-mile long road east of the town, where Reidijk surrendered to a group of Syrian government fighters. That was the last time she saw him.

Now she is living at the al-Hawl refugee camp near Syria's north-eastern border with Iraq - 200 miles north of Baghuz and wants to return to Britain where her baby can be looked after by the NHS.

She said: 'I'm not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago.

'I know what everyone at home thinks of me as I have read all that was written about me online. But I just want to come home to have my child. That's all I want right now'.

She added: 'I'll do anything required just to be able to come home and live quietly with my child.'

Begum is the only known survivor of the three friends who fled their homes via Turkey to join the caliphate.

Her mother says she understands why 'people in this country don't want her back'.

Renu Begum (pictured above), eldest sister of Shamima holds her sister's photo. Renu had previously given interviews to New Scotland Yard in order to assist them with their probe

Shamima was one of three schoolgirls at Gatwick Airport as she left the UK to marry a foreign fighter for ISIS in February 2015. Now the caliphate is crumbling she wants to come back

Shamima walked out of Baghuz three weeks ago with Reidijk who surrendered to a group of Syrian government fighters. That was the last time she saw him. Now she is living at the al-Hawl refugee camp near Syria's north-eastern border with Iraq - 200 miles north of Baghuz

Shamima's brother-in-law Mohammed Rehman told MailOnline: 'The family spoke with Shamima. It was very emotional. There's a mixture of elation and sorrow.

'We are happy that she's alive but sad that things have come to this. She's lost two children and put us all through a lot of heart ache. She's also gone through a very difficult time herself.

'Shamima's mother broke down when she heard her voice. Until the interview with her appeared in the newspaper we didn't know if she was alive or not. So you can imagine, this has come as a shock to us all.

'At one stage we thought she was dead. There has been no contact with her in almost 2 years. Shamima's mum just cried and told her to come home. She promised to make her her favourite food. We want her to come back so that she can be re-educated. As a family we can't understand how her head was turned like this and why she thought going to Syria was a good idea.

'I can understand why people in this country are angry and don't want her back. What she's done doesn't portray Islam in a good light.

'But she was only 15 when she went to Syria. We are appealing for compassion and understanding on her behalf.'
U.S. trade with Britain will rise 'very substantially' after Brexit, President Donald Trump has said.

Speaking at the White House today Trump signalled Washington welcomed a new trade agreement with Britain and said 'we are agreeing to move forward'.

His comments will be seen as a boost for Brexiteer hopes that Britain's departure from the EU will enable successful free trade deals around the world.

The President had previously warned that Theresa May's plans for close alignment with Brussels could 'kill' the prospect of a transatlantic deal.

U.S. trade with Britain will rise 'very substantially' after Brexit , President Donald Trump said at a press conference at the White House today (pictured)

'We're agreeing to move forward and preserve our trade agreement,' Trump said in Washington today.

'You know all of the situation with respect to Brexit and the complexity and the problems, but we have a very good trading relationship with the UK and that's just been strengthened.

'With the UK we're continuing our trade and we're going to be increasing it very substantially as time goes by.

'We expect that the UK will be very substantially increased as it relates to trade with the United States. The relationship there also is very good,' he said.

Washington's ambassador to Britain, Woody Johnson, backed up the President's comments saying a new deal would 'increase our trade substantially'.

'It will be great for jobs and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic,' he said.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said Trump had made clear there was a 'special trade relationship and real ambition on both sides of the Atlantic to enhance this,' according to a CNN reporter at the White House press conference.

Yesterday the UK and Washington signed a Mutual Recognition Agreement to preserve 12.8bn worth of trade, replacing the U.S. deal with Brussels.

'The UK and the US are the strongest of trading partners and this agreement will allow British and American businesses to keep trading as freely as they do today, without additional bureaucracy,' said Mr Fox.

Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan also welcomed Trump's words, saying that if the President delivered on the promise 'this is clearly very good news'.

Washington's ambassador in Britain Woody Johnson welcomed the news saying it would be 'great for jobs and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic'

In 2016 President Barack Obama, pictured in London in April that year, warned Britain would be at the 'back of the queue' for a trade deal

Brexiteers have long hoped that Britain's departure would allow for beneficial trade deals unencumbered by EU rules.

But Trump's America First agenda has seen him hike tariffs and tear up international agreements.

Speaking about China in the same press conference today he said: 'I happen to like tariffs'.

After Mrs May unveiled her Brexit withdrawal agreement last year Trump warned the PM to 'do something' about the trading terms.

'Right now, if you look at the deal, they may not be able to trade with us. And that wouldn't be a good thing,' he said last November.

In July he said her Brexit plan could 'kill' any UK-US trade deal because Britain would remain so closely aligned to the European Union.

Trump's predecessor, former President Barack Obama, had famously warned a post-Brexit Britain would be at the 'back of the queue' for a trade deal with Washington.

Last week Liam Fox's trade department admitted that the 40 free trade deals the minister promised to have ready by Brexit day are 'unlikely' to materialise.
Google has 'satisfied' Russia following demands that the web giant censor people's internet searches, it has emerged.

The Russian communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, has made frequent calls for Google to route citizens' web searches through the government's filtering system.

But the regulator's boss Alexander Zharov said today that he is now 'satisfied with the results of the dialogue' with the California-based tech company.

Google is said to have 'satisfied' Russia following demands that the web giant censor people's internet searches

Earlier this month, it was claimed that Google had reportedly agreed to start censoring searches in Russia after years of refusing to cooperate with the country.

This suggested that Google would now comply with Russian law passed in 2017, that requires any websites banned by the government to be omitted from search engine results.

It was reported that Google would be working alongside Roskomnadzor, who currently work to block sites including child pornography, drugs and suicide.

However, according to the Moscow Times, Roskomnadzor is widely criticised for being a mouthpiece for the government for its perceived favouring of state censorship.

The supposed independent body has previously been found to have blocked access to corruption investigations against government ministers.

Google was fined $7,500 by Russia in 2018 for not complying with regulation laws.

Alexander Zharov, the head of the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) said today that he is now 'satisfied with the results of the dialogue' with the California-based tech company

Last week, local paper Vedomosti reported that Google had already began deleting 70 percent of the sites blacklisted by the Russian government.

It was claimed that said 175 requests had been made by Russian officials to delete specific sites, in a Google Transparency report from last-year.

Russia also accounted for 75% of all global requests to delete content, according to the report.

According to Sky, Google has declined to make an official comment over its relationship with Roskomnadzor.

The the company has said: 'We're committed to enabling access to information for the benefit of our users in Russia and around the world.'




This adorable dachshund has made an amazing recovery just days after it was found freezing in a ditch with its mouth and legs taped up.

Jimmy the dachshund was discovered in a ditch in rural Jefferson County, Missouri, having allegedly been thrown out of a car to die in the cold.

He was found more than 12 hours later by a sheriff's deputy and was rushed to an animal clinic.

Shocking: Jimmy the dachshund was discovered in a ditch in rural Jefferson County, Missouri, with his muzzle and legs taped together, having allegedly been thrown out of a car to die

Video posted by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office shows Jimmy having made a miraculous recovery, running around and wagging his tail.

Paul Garcia, 39, of Barnhart, Missouri, has been charged with felony animal abuse and armed criminal action, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office told USA Today.

Arrested: Paul Garcia, 39, has been charged with felony animal abuse

They allege Garcia wrapped electrical and duct tape around the dogs muzzle and limbs.

Garcia is not the owner of the dachshund, and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is appealing for his true owners to step forward.

In a Facebook post, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office wrote: 'Do you recognize this dog?

'He was dumped in a ditch last weekend near Old Highway M and Schneider Road. He was cold, starving and may have had a concussion.

'A deputy found him while on patrol and took the dog to an animal hospital. "Jimmy," as he's become known, is doing much better now.

'We'd like to get him back to his owners.'

It is not known why Garcia, who is held on a $50,000 had the dog in his possession.
The head of MI6 has warned that ISIS fighters returning to Britain are 'potentially very dangerous' but cannot be stopped from entering the country.

In rare public comments, Secret Intelligence Service chief Alex Younger said returning militants had acquired 'skills and connections' which would make them a threat.

It comes amid a fierce debate over East London schoolgirl Shamima Begum, whose family have pleaded for Britain to let her return after she fled to join ISIS in 2015.

Alex Younger (left, at St Andrew's University on December 3) said returning militants had acquired 'skills and connections' which would make them a threat. The comments come amid a fierce debate over Shamima Begum, who wants to return to the UK to have her baby. She's seen on the right at Gatwick Airport leaving the UK for Syria on February 20, 2015

Mr Younger's comments put him at odds with Home Secretary Sajid Javid who had indicated he would block her from re-entering Britain.

Thousands of people have fled from ISIS as the terror group battles for its final patch of territory in Syria.

Speaking in Munich, Mr Younger did not comment on Ms Begum's case specifically but warned the returning fighters were an 'extremely complex and difficult problem', the Evening Standard reported.

'Public safety is the first thing that we will consider,' he said at the Munich Security Conference.

'It follows from that that anyone who has put themselves in this situation can expect to be questioned and investigated and potentially prosecuted if they return to our jurisdiction.

'We are very concerned about this because all experience tells us that once someone has put themselves in that sort of position they are likely to have acquired the skills and connections that make them potentially very dangerous.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured in London on February 12) has indicated he would block Begum from re-entering Britain

'The reality is that so far, it has been a completely manageable problem.

'I can't predict accurately what will happen in future, but it's a very complex environment.'

British nationals had a right to return to the UK, he said.

But the head of Counter Terrorism Policing, Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, said British nationals who want to return can expect to be investigated, and anyone allowed to come back will have to live under stringent limitations.

He said: 'The threat posed by UK nationals seeking to return from Syria or Iraq is something we have planned for and have been managing.

'Together with our intelligence partners we have been using a wide range of measures and powers available to us to mitigate this threat.'

Mr Basu added: 'Anyone who returns from Syria or other conflict zones, having gone in support of any proscribed terrorist group - whether that's fighting for or against Daesh - or for any other illegal purposes, can expect to be investigated by the police.

'Any investigation is carried out with an open mind and based on the evidence available. This is to determine if individuals have committed any terrorist or other criminal offences, regardless their motivation, and to ensure that they do not pose a danger to the public or the UK's national security.

'There can be no hope of repatriation without these investigations taking place, and anyone who does return to the UK from conflict zones can, at best, expect to live under stringent limitations set out in the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIM) Act.

'We as a society must learn that we can stop this from happening in the first place by trusting our Prevent strategy, reporting our concerns early and stopping people being radicalised, investigated and, most likely, criminalised by the poisonous rhetoric spewed by terrorist organisations of any ideology.'

Sajid Javid had said he would 'not hesistate' to stop the return of people who left Britain to join ISIS who he said were 'full of hate for our country'.

Mr Younger said ISIS, or Daesh, has morphed and is proving 'adept at inspiring at attacks rather than directing them', he said.

'Al Qaeda, which has always been in a rivalry, and almost zero sum relationship with Daesh, has, I think, undergone a certain resurgence as a result of the degradation of Daesh. It is definitely not down and out.'

Mr Younger also indicated that former spy Sergei Skripal could still be in danger from Russia, after he survived an assassination attempt in Salisbury lat year.

Russia was 'intent on breaking up the links and alliances that exist' between Western states and that he was determined to attach a cost to any such efforts, he said.

Asked about Skripal, he said: 'I think there is a standing threat from the GRU (military intelligence agency) and other Russian intelligence services and that very little is off limits.'

Yesterday, the father of one of the 'Bethnal Green three' said Britain has a duty to welcome Shamima Begum back.

He told MailOnline: 'She should be allowed to come home and have her baby in peace'.

Abase Hussen, whose daughter Amira is thought to be alive and still alongside ISIS in Syria, said the schoolgirls are victims who should be 'helped, not punished'.

Miss Begum is heavily pregnant with her third child and living in a Syrian refugee camp. She says Amira is alive but Kadiza Sultana, the third girl who fled the UK with them, died in an air strike two years ago.

Mr Hussen, 52, who once was filmed at a London flag-burning rally attended by Anjem Choudary, said the three young jihadi brides had 'just made a mistake'.

'These girls were young,' he told MailOnline. 'They were manipulated by evil people and they should be brought home and helped. Not punished. They pose no threat.

Abase Hussen, 52, the father of Amira Abase, (left today) welcomed news that his daughter and her friend Shamima Begum (right) are alive ans said that they should come back to Britain if then can

Mr Hussen (circled) attended a heat preacher's rally alongside one of Lee Rigby's killers - and took his daughter - yet said he moved to Britain in 1999 for freedom and democracy

'The British government have not done anything to help me or the other parents. We have been badly treated.

'Shamima should be allowed to come home and have her baby in peace.

'I'm just waiting for the time when I can see my daughter. Ever since she left I have had hope. Tomorrow is another day. You never know what will happen tomorrow. The last time I spoke to her was a very, very long time ago.'

Timeline of the London girls' journey into ISIS' heart of terror - but now one wants to come home Sharmeema Begum - the first Bethnal Green girl to flee to Syria before her three younger friends followed 2014 - December - Counter terrorism police question Shamima Begum, Kadiz Sultana and Amira Abase after their friend Sharmeema Begum goes to Syria. 2015 - February 17 - Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-olds Shamima Begum and Amira Abase leave their east London homes at 8am to travel to Istanbul in Turkey from Gatwick Airport. Begum and Abase - who has not yet been publicly named - are reported missing by their families later the same day. - February 18 - Sultana is reported missing to the police. - February 20 - The Metropolitan Police launch a public appeal for information on the missing girls who are feared to have gone on to Syria. - February 21 - Four days after the girls went missing, police believe they may still be in Turkey. It is revealed that at least one of the missing girls had Twitter contact with Aqsa Mahmood, who left her Glasgow home in November 2013 and travelled to Syria after becoming radicalised. - February 22 - Abase's father Abase Hussen says his daughter told him she was going to a wedding on the day she disappeared. Metropolitan Police officers arrive in Turkey, but refuse to confirm whether they are involved in the search for the teenagers. 2016 - August 2016 - Sultana, 17, is reportedly killed in Raqqa when a suspected Russian air strike obliterates her house. 2019 - February 14 - Begum, 19, tells Anthony Loyd of The Times that she wants to return to the UK to give birth to her third child. Speaking from a refugee camp in Syria, she adds she does not regret joining IS and that she believes, contrary to reports in 2018, that her other companion Abase is still alive in Baghuz. Advertisement

When asked if he thinks the girls should be able to return to Britain to restart their lives, he said: 'As a parent there is no question. To have your children around you... there is no question. That would make me happy. It gives me some hope as well.'

He added: 'It was just a mistake that the girls left their families to go to a place like that.

'What I would say to her, if she reads this, is just come back, please. Come home to us. That's all I can say'.

Mr Hussen, who has two other grown up children, said he and his wife had lost contact with Amira last year.

'The last conversation we had with my daughter was over a year ago when she called out of the blue,' he said.

'I was full of so much sorrow that I couldn't speak with her properly. My heart is filled with grief.

'I have two other teenage children and I constantly worry about what they are getting up to and that they might also be radicalised. I'm a humble man, I fear God and don't deserve this.'

Mr Hussen, a security guard, said three families of the runaway girls had been in close contact when they went missing in 2015, but had gradually lost touch.

'There's been no co-ordination in helping our children to return,' he said. 'Nothing is being done for us.

'The intelligence services visited a few times but we've had no help from the government'.

Mr Hussen, who has been in the UK since 1999, originally comes from Ethiopia, where Amira was born.

He blamed police for failing to stop his daughter fleeing to join ISIS.

But months after she vanished it transpired that he had taken her to an extremist rally when she was just 13.

He conceded the teenager was 'maybe' influenced by the rally organised by banned terror group Al-Muhajiroun.

Shocking footage subsequently emerged of him amid a flag-burning mob, screaming in rage at a protest outside the US embassy in London, in 2012.

Also at the rally were hate cleric Anjem Choudary and Michael Adebowale, one of the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby.

He later apologised for attending, but admitted going to two further rallies  with his impressionable daughter in tow.

One took place outside the Saudi embassy in London, in 2013, and is said to have been organised by the Islamic extremist group Al-Muhajiroun, founded by hate cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed and linked to many Islamic terror atrocities of the past decade.

The rally was held against the treatment of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia after human rights violations, and Mr Hussen, 47, who is from Ethiopia, said: 'We both lost many people back home, we wanted to try to get help for people back home, too many human rights violations there. Many died. Maybe it influenced her.'

Bethnal Green runaway Amira Abase (left in September) used a pictured of a woman in a full veil clutching a knife on her Twitter page, which has been shut down

Mr Abase, 53, says the families of the 'Bethnal Green three' have been badly treated

Ms Begum, now 19, was tracked down by The Times to a refugee camp in northern Syria where she is the bride of an Islamic State fighter, nine months pregnant and has had two infant children who are dead. Her husband is in captivity.

Stating that 'I don't regret coming here,' she told The Times: 'I'm not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago.'

She also told the paper: 'The caliphate is over. There was so much oppression and corruption that I don't think they deserved victory.

'I know what everyone at home thinks of me as I have read all that was written about me online. But I just want to come home to have my child. That's all I want right now. I'll do anything required just to be able to come home and live quietly with my child.'

Ms Begum, Kadiza and Amira , who all attended Bethnal Green Academy, left their homes in February 2015 to join a fourth Bethnal Green schoolgirl in Syria who had left London they year before. They each married an Isis foreign fighter, according to The Times.

Kadiza was reported to have been killed in an airstrike on Raqqa in May 2016, while Ms Begum has recently heard second-hand from other people that Amira, and the other schoolgirl who left Britain in 2014, may still be alive.

When she arrived, Ms Begum was put in a house where jihadist brides-to-be waited to be married, she said.

Ten days after arriving in Raqqa in 2015, she wed a Dutchman who had converted to Islam. She claims her husband was later arrested, charged with spying and tortured.

Kadiza Sultana, then 16, Amira Abase, then 15, in images released by police in 2015 after they ran off to Syria. Miss Sultana was killed in an air strike

She left Raqqa in January 2017 with her husband but her children, a girl aged 21 months and a three-month-old boy, both died in recent months. Her son had an unknown illness worsened by malnutrition, The Times said.

Ms Begum said she had a 'mostly' a 'normal life in Raqqa, interrupted every now and then by 'bombing and stuff'.

She told the paper: 'But when I saw my first severed head in a bin it didn't faze me at all. It was from a captured fighter seized on the battlefield, an enemy of Islam.

'I thought only of what he would have done to a Muslim woman if he had the chance.'
Ja Rule says he has plans for an iconic music festival despite the debacle of the fraudulent Fyre Festival he co-founded two years ago.

Ja Rule came up with the idea alongside young entrepreneur Billy McFarland.

But while McFarland was jailed, the musician painted himself as one of the victims, saying he lost 'plenty' of money on the scheme.

The New York rapper told TMZ: 'It is the most iconic festival that never was so I have plans to create the iconic music festival but you didn't hear it from me.'

Ja Rule said he plans to create an 'iconic music festival' despite the debacle of the Fyre Festival in 2017, which he said was 'the most iconic music festival that never was'

Fyre Festival Event Organizers Ja Rule and Billy McFarland photographed on Church Street in the Tribeca area of Manhattan in the run-up to their event in 2017

Ja Rule spoke out after two documentaries were released charting the epic failure of Fyre festival, which he co-founded (pictured with chief organizer Billy McFarland)

Ja Rule added, 'In the midst of chaos there's opportunity.'

McFarland was jailed for six years for fraud in 2018 and ordered to pay back $28 million to more than a hundred investors.

Meanwhile Ja Rule denied having anything to do with defrauding people as critics wondered why he had not faced criminal charges.

The Fyre Festival used celebrity influencers from around the world to push the luxury getaway in the Bahamas to wealthy millennials as a once in a lifetime experience.

In reality guests arrived on the island to find the site half-finished, their luggage missing, and the promised gourmet cuisine replaced by cheese sandwiches and soggy lettuce.

The first tantalising glimpse of 'the cultural event of the decade' came in December 2016 when 400 in-demand influencers paid by McFarland simultaneously posted orange squares on their Instagram accounts.

The disastrous scenes at the Fyre Festival were the subject of ridicule around the world as millennials jetted in from Miami to chaos

Guests paid $13,000 for a trashy unfinished site and canceled performances from big names

In reality, McFarland had no experience of organizing such an event and vastly underestimated the cost and the logistics involved.

The first disaster was the location itself. The original site chosen for the event was Norman's Cay, a private island with historic connections to drug smuggling.

McFarland spent a cool $1 million on a lease from the current owners on the promise that he made no mention of its criminal past.

When he bragged on social media that the island once belonged to drug lord Pablo Escobar, the lease was cancelled  just 45 days before the event was due to take place in April 2017.

McFarland subsequently got a permit from the Bahamian government to use a site at Roker Point on Great Exuma, just above the Sandals holiday resort, but continued to peddle the 'private island' lie.

Maps of the site were altered before being posted online to make it appear as if Roker Point was a deserted island in itself.

Organizers used vague descriptions of their concept to try to attract millions of dollars of investment

They laid quotes from the Persian poet Rumi over photographs of bikini-clad models and It girls

On top of all that, the date of the festival clashed with a popular annual regatta weekend on Great Exuma, which meant that all the accommodation on the island was already booked out.

By the time McFarland agreed to cancel the festival, thousands were stranded on the island and unable to get home.

Ja Rule claimed recently on Twitter: 'I too was hustled, scammed, bamboozled, hood winked, lead astray!!!'

He told TMZ he could not bring himself to watch the recent Netflix documentary about the scandal.

He said: 'It's not funny to me, it's heartbreaking to me it was something that I really wanted to be special and amazing but it just didn't turn out that way.'
A New York state lawmaker is being hailed as the man who dealt the death blow to Amazon's plans in Queens.

Despite freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's high-profile opposition to the Amazon campus in Long Island City, state Senator Michael Gianaris has emerged as the project's true vanquisher.

Gianaris, a Democrat whose district includes Long Island City, initially supported plans to bring Amazon to the area, but did an about-face after the deal was announced, criticizing the secrecy surrounding the negotiations and the nearly $3billion in taxpayer-funded incentives.

The tipping point came on February 4, when state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins nominated Gianaris as her appointee to the obscure Public Authorities Control Board.

New York State Sen. Michael Gianaris, center, is seen at a November protest against Amazon moving to Queens. The lawmaker is seen as the force behind Amazon's reversal

Newly-elected Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was estatic on Thursday following the announcement Amazon had dumped its New York plans

The arcane state panel was set to vote in 2020 on whether to approve the financial terms for Amazon set forward by Governor Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, who both championed the deal as an engine for job creation and economic growth.

Gianaris' installment on the board was seen as a sign that the state Senate was opposed to the deal, and sent Amazon scrambling for the exit.

Concerned that Amazon could be in limbo for more than a year ahead of the state panel's vote, the growing consensus within the company was that it did not make sense to move ahead in the face of persistent opposition with a headquarters in New York City, where it already has 5,000 employees, two people briefed on talks inside the company said.

Amazon had no binding legal contracts to acquire or lease the land for the project. It could exit with relatively little pain, the people said.

Company officials also concluded Amazon could shift the jobs that would have been created in New York to other corporate centers it has across the United States, from the San Francisco Bay Area to Boston. Reopening talks with former HQ2 contestants did not make sense, the people said.

Gianaris blamed Amazon for the reversal, saying the company refused to engage and address community concerns.

In a statement, Amazon blamed its reversal in Queens on 'a number of state and local politicians.' CEO Jeff Bezos is seen above in September

'Today's behavior by Amazon shows why they would have been a bad partner for New York in any event,' the lawmaker told DailyMail.com in a statement.

TAX BREAKS AMAZON WOULD HAVE QUALIFIED FOR IN NY: The total value of the incentive package New York used to lure Amazon totaled $2.988 billion. In simple terms, the city and state were set to pay Amazon $48,000 per job. Here's the breakdown: Amazon was set to receive $897 million from New York City's Relocation and Employment Assistance Program. The program offers business income tax credits to relocated jobs from outside of New York City. It would have also got a 15-year property-tax abatement worth an estimated $386 million via the city's Industrial & Commercial Abatement Program. The online retailer was going to receive $1.2 billion in refundable 'Excelsior' tax credits if its job creation goals - 25,000 full-time, high-paying roles in 2028 - were met. Amazon could have received an additional $505 million in a capital grant. Advertisement

'Rather than seriously engage with the community they proposed to profoundly change, Amazon continued its effort to shakedown governments to get its way. It is time for a national dialogue about the perils of these types of corporate subsidies,' Gianaris continued.

In a statement, Amazon blamed its reversal in Queens on 'a number of state and local politicians [who] have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required.'

Amazon's shock announcement of a pull-out came a joyous news to renters in the area, who feared soaring rents and overcrowding on the neighborhood's already strained public transit.

Business leaders and property developers were crushed, however.

'They announced it on Valentine's Day, and we were all devastated,' said restaurateur Sam Musovic, who owns apartments in Long Island City and told DailyMail.com that he had taken out $1 million in loans to renovate his properties in anticipation of the Amazon campus.

'It was basically a big blow to the community,' Musovic said of the reversal, blaming politicians who 'just want to make a name for themselves.'. He called for a national boycott of Amazon and planned to hold a protest outside of the company's Midtown book store on Tuesday afternoon.

Protesters gathered in Long Island City in November to blast Amazon's plans in the area. Fierce local resistance and key political moves led to Amazon's reversal on the plans

Up to the moment of the announcement, there were signs that the parties could work together.

One union leader said he and other labor organizers met on Wednesday with Cuomo and four Amazon officials, including Brian Huseman, its vice president of public policy.

'We had such a productive meeting yesterday. Everyone left happy,' said Stuart Appelbaum, head of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

The group is trying to organize workers at an Amazon facility in Staten Island, another New York City borough, despite the company's past opposition to unionization.

'It was a complete surprise that they would say they look forward to working with us, and we talked about next steps, and then they call it all off the next morning,' said Appelbaum.
A children's book checked out not long after the end of World War II made its way back home to a Maryland library with a note explaining its long absence.

The Silver Spring Library in Montgomery County revealed in a Facebook post last week that a picture book detailing the life of postal workers in the 1920s, 'The Postman,' was returned 73 years overdue.

'The sender's parents had borrowed the book for her from the old Blair House Silver Spring Library when she was a toddler, in 1946!' they wrote in the Facebook post. 'Then the family had to move on short notice and the book was packed up with the rest of their things.'

The sender turned out to be Mora Gregg who was two or three years old when her family her moved to Canada from the Washington D.C. suburbs, according to NBC 4 Washington.

A book checked out the year after the end of World War II was returned to the Silver Spring Public Library in Maryland just last week

Mora Gregg recently found the children's book that she had kept most of her life since her mother checked it out for her, and sent it back with a letter explaining what had happened

'The Postman' is a children's book depicting the life of a postal carrier in the 1920s

'I just loved the book. I loved the pictures,' Gregg, who still lives in Canada, told NBC after she had recently found the book and sent it back with the explanatory letter.

'I could've hung onto it forever,' she said. 'At my age, you give things back that you've lived with for many years.'

The acting director of the Montgomery County Public Libraries in Maryland, Anita Vassallo, was particularly surprised at receiving the letter.

'This is the oldest thing I've ever seen,' Vassallo said, 'and we don't always get an explanation of how it was lost to us for so long.'

Gregg explained that the book likely ended up being overlooked in the rush to move, or obstinately held onto by her as a child

Mora Gregg (lower left) was only two or three years old when she and her family left Maryland, with book in tow, for a new life in Canada

Gregg took the unusual step of explaining in a letter what had possibly happened to the overdue book decades ago

Acting director of the Montgomery County Public Libraries in Maryland, Anita Vassallo, was surprised by the return of such an overdue book

A rough calculation showed that if late fines were assessed on the long-overdue book, Gregg would have to cough up over $9,000.

'Good thing we no longer charge late fines for children's material!' the Montgomery Public Libraries posted with a smiley face emoji.

When Gregg was asked if she had been worried about paying thousands in late fees, she laughed it off and said, 'I would've talked my way out of it.'

While 'The Postman' is back home, according to the library, the book is too old and fragile to be checked out, but it is available to view for the interested public.

In her letter to the library, Gregg notes that she was willing to give it up now that she can visit the Toronto Public Library to read it any time she wishes.

'The Postman' depicts a very different time in the way mail was transported
Andrew Neil (pictured) is stepping down from the BBC political show and the broadcaster has announced it will be scrapped this summer

The BBC's long-running politics show This Week is to end after presenter Andrew Neil announced he was stepping down.

The programme, which follows Question Time on Thursday nights, will be scrapped this summer when its current series ends, the broadcaster said.

Neil has fronted the BBC One show since it began in 2003 and regular guests include former Tory MP Michael Portillo and shadow home secretary Diane Abbott.

The corporation's director of news, Fran Unsworth, said: 'We couldn't imagine This Week without the inimitable Andrew Neil, one of Britain's best political interviewers.

'After 16 years, Andrew is bowing out of late-night presenting on the show, at the top of his game.'

He will continue to present daytime show Politics Live, Unsworth added, and the BBC wants to keep the 69-year-old 'at the heart' of its political coverage.

Andrew Neil (pictured on set) has presented the show since its inception in 2003 and his decision to step down will coincide with the show being scrapped

This Week developed a reputation for irreverent exchanges between Abbott and Portillo, who have become an unlikely double-act over the years.

In one infamous exchange back, Abbott reduced Portillo to hysterical laughter when she suggested Communist dictator Mao Zedong did more good than harm.

Michael Portillo (right) and Diane Abbott (left) have been the show's most regular double-act

Ms Abbott said in the 2008 episode: 'I suppose that some people would judge that on balance Mao did more good than harm.'

The clip resurfaced in 2015 when Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell pulled Chairman Mao's Little Red Book from his pocket in the House of Commons to quote it's economic advice to the Tories.

Labour's Diane Abbott (left) and former Tory cabinet minister Michael Portillo (right) have formed an unlikely double-act on the show over the years with presenter Andrew Neil (centre) who is stepping down

This Week's scrapping comes amid uncertainty surrounding the corporation's news output as earlier this week its journalists wrote to the director-general to oppose the shortening of News At Ten after it emerged it would be cut by 10 minutes to make way for youth programming and Question Time.

Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen and other foreign correspondents have asked Lord Tony Hall to reconsider.

Last year, Sunday Politics, hosted by Sarah Smith, was axed and replaced by Politics Live, which airs Monday to Friday.
Concerns are mounting that a historic Texas cemetery already surrounded by the border wall will be all but forgotten once a barrier gate is installed.

The Santa Rosalia Cemetery in Texas, where more than two dozen veterans are buried, is beyond the border wall in an area that locals call 'No Man's Land.'

The border gate will be constructed in the next few months. A contract was awarded last year by Customs and Border Protection.

Some locals say visitors are already put off from visiting because of the wall and that the installation of the gate will deter other potential visitors.

'People I've spoken to, they saw the wall, and they think they can no longer come back here, they think we're in Mexico, and we're still in the United States,' J.J. Gonzalez, who's grandmother and other great grandparents are buried in Santa Rosalia Cemetery, told Fox News.

Some locals say visitors are already put off from visiting The Santa Rosalia Cemetery in Texas because of the wall and that the installation of the gate will deter other potential visitors

An open section of the wall leads people to the burial ground, but in the next few months, those visiting Santa Rosalia will see a border gate constructed

Gonzalez only recently discovered his grandmother's grave in the cemetery, covered in weeds.

He went on to find a number of his great grandparents are buried there and started to clean their graves.

This led to a desire to tidy up the cemetery as a whole and make other graves look well tended.

Gonzalez formed the Santa Rosalia Cemetery Preservation Society last year, along with a group of volunteers.

Since then the group have found nearly two dozen veterans buried in the graveyard.

More than two dozen veterans have been found buried in the cemetery

J.J. Gonzalez, whose ancestors are buried at the cemetery, believes the border gate will deter potential visitors to a cemetery already suffering the effects of neglect

Eugene Fernandez, a commissioner with the Cameron County Historical Commission told Fox News he doesn't believe the gate will put off visitors.

'Even if a Border Patrol person sees you, they'll ask you what's your mission here? And you say, 'well I'm coming to see my grandmother,' and they'll cut the conversation loose from then on,' Fernandez told Fox News.

The Santa Rosalia Cemetery was established in the 19th century to serve a ranching community that lived by the U.S.-Mexico border. Families moved and the cemetery fell into disrepair.
Two upstate New York teenagers who didn't attend school for more than two months because they hadn't been vaccinated have now been expelled, their mother revealed on Thursday.

The sisters, 13 and 15, from Buffalo, previously attended schools in West Seneca for several years and say their refusal to be vaccinated on grounds of their religious beliefs never caused issue.

But now, having moved to the the Orchard Park School District (OPSD) only last year, their mother Marina Williams says the girls' right to religious exemption has been denied and they haven't attended school for months as a result.

The girls have now reportedly been expelled indefinitely by the district, Williams said. The family now plan to take the OPSD to court.

The girls, who attend two schools in the Orchard Park School District, including Orchard Park High School (above) haven't attended school since November 30, after their claim of religious exemption to the school's vaccination police was denied

The girl's mother, Marina Williams, says the concept of vaccinations goes against the teachings of her evangelical church - but she isn't an anti-vaxxer

Video courtesy WKBW

'They simply told these kids youre out of the district  were giving you no services and if you show up on school grounds, we are going to arrest you for trespass  thats what they said,' claims Frank Housh, the family's attorney.

'This isn't a vaccination lawsuit and my client is not an anti-vaxxer. The issue here is she is seeking to avail herself of a religious exception.'

Housh added the family has opted again immunizations for 'generations'.

The two teenagers had been suspended off the school's books in the fall after repeatedly refusing to be vaccinated.

The OPSD, overseen by Superintendent Matthew McGarrity, said the protecting the 'health, safety and welfare of its students and staff' was of the utmost importance

The OPSD rejected William's request of religious exemption, and told the children not to return until they'd had the injections.

'It's against our belief system for foreign substances such as vaccines to enter our bodies, said Williams.

Court papers show the Williams family belong to an evangelical congregation known as the 'Temple of the Inner Flames Church'.

The family sent the school a letter from Reverend of the church - and self-proclaimed 'world renown psychic' - Carol Ann Liaros to reaffirm their stance.

'Based on our Christian biblical instructions from God, our beliefs include not taking any harmful or foreign substances into our bodies, which includes: excessive alcohol, recreational drugs, foreign substances (vaccines.)'

But in rebuttal, the school district released a statement insisting protecting the health of its students outweighs an individual's right to religious immunity.

That decision, according to New York state law, is justified, as current legislation leaves the decision of whether a parent's religious beliefs are a valid reason for exemption to the board.

'A school district has no duty more important than protecting the health, safety, and welfare of its students and staff,' the OPSD, overseen by superintendent Matthew McGarrity, said in a statement.

'Ensuring that the immunization requirements under state law have been met is critical to carrying out this duty. The New York State Commissioner of Education has denied a request to allow un-immunized students living in the District to attend school while they seek an exemption to the State Public Health Law requirements.

Temple of the Inner Flames Church Reverend and psychic, Carol Ann Liaros, urged the school to reverse their decision, by reaffirming William's stance

Housh however claims the school district are in breach of the law and will be taking their case to the state Supreme Court, claiming religious discrimination.

The attorney says that after the family's second request for religious exemption was rejected, the school refused to allow them to attend during their appeal.

He claims the district also refused to give them school work, home work or provide a tutor, leaving the girls to fall behind.

'They didn't follow the law and they've continued to not follow the case. That's why we're going to court,' Housh said.

'It's against the law and quite simply cruel to set these childrens' education lives back so far,' he added.

OPSD said they couldn't comment any further on the case, because of the pending court trial.

Erie County's Health Commissioner, Dr. Gale Burstein, told WKBK that he urges all children to get vaccinated.

'Vaccines are safe, vaccines are effective, so let your doctor love your children like you love your children,' Burnstein said.

The Williams' case is set to be heard in the state supreme court on Friday.

Williams says she is awaiting blood result to determine whether her daughter's have developed a natural immunity to the diseases the vaccinations are used to prevent.
The top U.S. general in the Middle East says he would have counseled President Trump against pulling forces out of Syria had the president consulted him in advance  and that the terror group is not yet defeated.

Gen. Joseph Votel, an Army four-star who heads U.S. Central Command, made comments that were at odds with Trump's December assertion that the U.S. and its allies had 'defeated ISIS' in Syria.

'When I say, "we have defeated them," I want to ensure that means they do not have the capability to plot or direct attacks against the U.S. or our allies,' Votel told CNN

Commander of United States Central Command Joseph Leonard Votel says ISIS is not yet defeated

'They still have this very powerful ideology, so they can inspire,' he told the network.

Votel has said previously the president did not consult him before announcing the decision to withdraw troops via Twitter. The move has earned brushback from Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who raised concerns about the U.S. abandoning Kurdish allied forces and once again giving a free hand to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

'It would not have been my military advice at that particular time,' Vogel said of the withdrawal Trump ordered.

'I would not have made that suggestion, frankly.' He said the ISIS-proclaimed caliphate 'still has leaders, still has fighters, it still has facilitators, it still has resources, so our continued military pressure is necessary to continue to go after that network.'

But Votel indicated he would follow the orders of the commander-in-chief.

Votel, who wasn't consulted by the president before Trump announced a withdrawal, said ISIS still 'has leaders, still has fighters, it still has facilitators, it still has resources'

A member loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) waves an ISIL flag in Raqqa June 29, 2014

Members loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) wave ISIL flags as they drive around Raqqa June 29, 2014. U.S. and allied forces continue to battle remnants of the group

President Trump declared victory over ISIS in December

Trump tweeted in December: 'We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.' Although he first said there would be an immediate pullout, it has since been slowed. The U.S. has about 2,000 troops there, mainly special forces, an outfit Votel used to command.

Trump also said 'We have beaten them, and we've beaten them badly' and 'we have won.'

There are still anti-Assad forces, known the Syrian Defense Forces or SDF, but they have relied on U.S. support and training.

'They still require our enablement and our assistance with this,' said Votel.

'We want (ISIS) to be able to be controlled or addressed by the indigenous partners, whether that's the Iraqi security forces in Iraq, or the Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria, that when they are capable of handing this threat on their own, without our assistance, that will be another key criteria indicating to me that we have accomplished our mission of defeat of ISIS' he said.

On Thursday General Raymond Thomas, head of US Special Operations Command, was reluctant at a Senate hearing to say what would constitute winning in Syria.

'I'd be hesitant to use the term winning, as opposed to the objective,' Thomas told the Armed Services Committee, AFP reported.

He said the 'objective is to reduce the threat in that area and to be able to maintain persistent capabilities so that an external threat cannot emanate from that in the future,' he added. But when asked if that had happened, Thomas said: 'I do not think we're there yet.'
Now ISIS stands on the verge of defeat in the crumbling town of Baghouz in Syria

Some 30,000 to 70,000 civilians are believed to have been slaughtered in Iraq

It is estimated that 367,965 people were killed in Syria in the fight against ISIS

Rampaging ISIS fighters were just an hour from Baghdad when a fleet of US Apache attack helicopters were scrambled to check their devastating advance with a hail of bullets and bombs.

The army of bloodthirsty jihadhis had routed the far from fearless Iraqi forces in a lightning fast and cruel campaign that saw them take a swathe of key towns including Mosul and Kirkut in less than two weeks.

Just days later on 29 June 2014, elusive Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, showing disdain for the $25m US bounty on his head, appeared in public at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul to announce a Caliphate in Iraq and Syria

How ISIS was defeated after an devastating and relentless air and ground offensive

The world was jolted awake to the new and grave threat of the 'Islamic State' - as thousands of foreign radical Muslims flooded in to fight for the terrorist homeland.

But now ISIS stands on the verge of defeat in the shell-pocked and crumbling town of Baghouz in Syria as just a handful of jihadis fight until the bitter end.

It's easy to think now that this victory was inevitable, but the decision to recommit to a major campaign in Iraq was deeply unpopular with many in the West - and importantly with the Iraqi population.

The loss of life has been grinding. It is estimated that 367,965 people have been killed in Syria in the fight against ISIS and between 30,000 and 70,000 civilians killed in Iraq.

The leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announces the Caliphate from Mosul in 2014

Babies, children, women and unarmed men have been slaughtered in bombing campaigns and by allied forces on the ground as fervent ISIS fighters ensured that every inch of land won was soaked in blood.

The cost to the West, largely, is not in lives but in dollars - hundreds of billions. The US alone has spent $5.6 trillion on wars in the Middle East.

There have been 18,826 US-led coalition airstrikes in Syria and 13,535 in Iraq. The most pounded city was the former stronghold of Raqqa which was hit 6,039 times by jets and drones.

On the eve of the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 strikes in 2014, President Obama effectively declared war on ISIS by announcing an open-ended bombing campaign that would extend into Syria.

It was a year after he had been embarrassed by failing to follow through on threats to launch missiles at Basha al-Assad's forces in Syria.

He said: 'We will conduct a systematic campaign of airstrikes against these terrorists. I will not hesitate to take action against Isil in Syria, as well as Iraq.'

'If left unchecked, these terrorists could pose a growing threat beyond that region  including to the United States.'

A man cries as he carries his daughter while walking from an Islamic State-controlled part of Mosul towards Iraqi special forces soldiers during a battle in Mosul, Iraq in March 2017

Iraqi special forces soldiers walk among destruction in a street in Mosul, Iraq, in March 2017

In the UK, MPs voted for action in Iraq - but delayed a vote on strikes in Syria. When they did eventually vote to back action in Syria in December 2015, there was high profile opposition.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the case for war 'did not stack up' and was heavily rebuked by his own MPs.

In a letter, that has not aged well, the leader of the opposition said: 'The Prime Minister did not set out a coherent strategy, coordinated through the UN for the defeat of ISIS.

Nor has he been able to explain what credible and acceptable ground forces could retake and hold territory freed from ISIS control by an intensified air campaign.'

The strategy formulated by the Obama administration relied on, unlike the Iraq war to remove Saddam Hussein, local forces to drive out ISIS from Iraq and Syria - bolstered by Western airstrikes and relatively small numbers of troops on the ground.

Former US President Barack Obama speaks during the Global Health Security Agenda Summit at the White House in Washington DC on September 26, 2014

This helped to gain the trust of locals who feared another invading army of occupation. And the new battle skills honed by the Western trained local forces meant they could hold the land - unlike the previous Iraqi army which crumbled spectacularly.

US, UK and Western special forces bolstered their valiant efforts on the battlefield - removing the need for a huge 'boots on the ground' strategy used in previous Middle East wars.

And the weight of relentless airstrikes brought a level of devastation that ISIS just could not contend with.

Donald Trump may have already declared victory over ISIS, tweeting in December that 'we have defeated' them and that 'it's time to bring our great people home', but his commanders have been more cautious.

On Sunday, the top US commander in the war against ISIS, General Joseph Votel, aligned himself with intelligence community estimates that there are 'tens of thousands' of ISIS fighters spread across Syria and Iraq.

US special forces monitor Iraqi forces as they advance towards Mosul airport on the southern edge of the jihadist stronghold in February 2017

Members of special forces with the US-backed coalition assemble a transmission device during an operation to expel the jihadists, in the countryside of the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor on February 14, 2019

'They are dispersed and disaggregated, but there is leadership, there are fighters there, there are facilitators there,' he said during a Middle East tour before he retires.

He would not put a timeframe on when US forces would leave the region, but said: 'The President's orders are very clear to us. We understand exactly what he has directed'.

The fear is that as soon as the US-led forces pull out of the region ISIS fighters who melted away after Trump's tweet will come flooding back.

And the rabid jihadis on their last legs in the town of Baghouz are not the last the world has seen of the worst death cult ever to grace the planet.

KEY BATTLES AND TURNING POINTS:

MOSUL:

When ISIS fighters tore across Iraq in 2014, their biggest prize was Mosul. Police and soldiers fled from their posts rather than put up a fight and militants quickly took their place - and their weapons - around the second biggest city in Iraq.

It was a hugely symbolic victory that gave credence to the terror group's claim to be building a state. Many residents fled but 600,000 stayed.

Iraqi students walk through a damaged road on their way back from school in the northern city of Mosul on November 28, 2018

It took three years before the city was liberated. During which time the population had been brutalised with whole families used as human shields. A mosque was blown up and antiques deemed 'ungodly' were destroyed with sledgehammers.

The nine-month operation to liberate the city camne at huge cost. It was in many districts entirely reduced to rubble. It is estimated the rebuilding the city and defusing explosives will cost $50bn.

BAGHDAD:

When ISIS came within 15 miles of Baghdad airport in June 2014, the US Army scrambled a fleet of Apache attack helicopters bristling with weapons to stop them in their tracks.

General Martin Dempsey said at the time: 'You're not going to wait until they're climbing over the wall. Had [ISIS forces] overrun the Iraqi unit, it was a straight shot to the Baghdad airport. So, we're not going to let that happen.'

When ISIS came within 15 miles of Baghdad (pictured) in June 2014, the US Army scrambled a fleet of Apache attack helicopters bristling with weapons to stop them in their tracks

The US quickly deployed 300 troops and 300 advisors, to train local troops, in a bid to bolster the Iraqi capital. It marked the start of an upturn in the number of troops deployed to the country which eventually numbered more than 5,000.

HOW ISIS MADE $2M A DAY FROM OIL

It is thought ISIS made hundreds of millions of dollars from stolen oil field to finance their terror campaign.

They captured the al-Omar oil field, Syria's largest oil facility that can produce 9,000 barrels of oil a day, in 2014 and controlled it for more than three years. ISIS took control of six Syrian oil and gas fields and a major pumping station that distributes oil from Iraq into Syria.

The ISIS oil and gas minister, Abu Sayyaf (pictured), was killed by US special forces in an operation that set out to capture him in eastern Syria in 2015

The ISIS oil and gas minister, Abu Sayyaf, was killed by US special forces in an operation that set out to capture him in eastern Syria in 2015. US hostage Kayla Mueller is thought to have been his personal captive. He was killed, but his wife Umm Sayyaf was captured. A Yazidi woman held as a sex slave was freed.

HOSTAGES

ISIS turned the creation of snuff video into an artform. The terror group harnessed the power of social media and the internet to beam its raw atrocities into homes around the world - in a bid to strike fear into the hearts of the countries it was fighting on the battlefield.

And biggest the stars of its sick, slick videos were the Beatles. Led by Jihadi John, Mohammed Emwazi, from London, the four are believed to have killed hostages James Foley, Steven Sotloff, David Haines , Alana Henning, Peter Kassig and numerous Syrian soldiers.

Alexanda Amon Kotey, left, and El Shafee Elsheikh, who were allegedly among four British jihadis who made up a brutal Islamic State cell dubbed 'The Beatles'

ISIS came up with ever sicker ways of killing people, burning downed Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh alive in a cage

The videos of their murders made headline news around the world. The Brits reveled in their notoriety until Emwazi was killed in Raqqa. Alexanda Kotey - George - and El Shafee Elsheikh - Ringo - are awaiting extradition to Guantanamo. While Aine Davis - Paul - has been jailed in Turkey.

ISIS came up with ever sicker ways of killing people, burning a downed Jordanian pilot alive in a cage, beheading dozens of Egyptian Christians on a beach in Libya, throwing men accused of being gay to their deaths from cliffs and buildings and crucifying their enemies. Always filmed, always released on the ISIS media channels shortly afterwards.

BAGHOUZ: THE LAST STAND

Around 1,000 diehard ISIS fighters are hunkered down in a network of tunnels in the small Syrian town in a desperate last ditch defence of all that remains of the 'Caliphate'.

'There is significant resistance. The fighting is fierce,' a spokesman for Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said.

Women sit together with their belongings near Baghouz, Deir Al Zor province in Syria

'There are many tunnels in Baghouz now. This is why the operation is dragging on. There are many suicide bombers attacking our positions, with explosives-laden cars and motorbikes.'

Malnourished and disheveled people are trickling out of the town. But they are in large part ISIS supporters who it turned out just didn't have the stomach to die for the cause.

WHERE IS ISIS LEADER ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI?

Despite numerous high profile jihadis being smoked out, it is not believed Baghdadi is in Baghouz.

Last year he released a 55 minute audio message entitled 'Give glad tidings to the patient' urging his followers to 'persevere' and carry on the fight.

He was thought to be hiding in the desert that stretches across the Syrian-Iraqi border region.

Despite having a $25m US bounty on his head he remains on the run.
The young daughter of Kelsey Berreth is all smiles in a photo shared by her maternal grandmother.

In the picture, Cindy Berreth and her granddaughter Kaylee are seen making a visit to the victim's former place of employment, Dos Aviation, as the happy little one poses on the wing of an airplane.

The family shared the image to social media just days before Patrick Frazee is due back in court after being accused of murdering his fiance.

The 16-month-old is temporarily in the custody of her maternal grandparents and it remained that way on Thursday ahead of Frazee's murder trial.

There will be another status haring in the custody case in April.

Scroll down for video

Berreth baby: Kaylee and her maternal grandmother pose for a photo at Kelsey Berreth's former place of employment

Staying with grandma: A judge last week ruled that Cindy Berreth (above with Kelsey and Kaylee) and her husband would maintain temporary custody of the baby with a hearing set for April

Frazee's appearance next week will be his first since his mistress Krystal Lee Kenney came forward to accuse him of murdering Berreth.

Krystal broke down in tears in court last week as she confessed to destroying Berreth's cell phone after learning that the young mother, 29, had been murdered by her fiance.

While agreeing to testify against Frazee at his murder trial, the former nurse, 32, told the judge that she learned about the homicide of November 22.

She will be sentenced after Frazee's trial for her own involvement after pleading guilty to one felony count of tampering with evidence.

Krystal did not provide any additional information as to how she destroyed the cell phone while in court.

'I learned that Patrick Frazee has committed a homicide on approximately Nov. 22, 2018 in Teller County. I knew that law enforcement would be investigating that crime,' said Krystal on Friday, reading from a prepared statement.

'I moved the victims cell phone with the intent to impair the phones availability in the investigation. I had no right or authority to move the victims cell phone. That occurred between November 24 and November 25, 2018. In Teller County.'

Berreth's body has still not been found.

Frazee was last in court two weeks ago for a custody hearing, arriving in a ballistics vest and surrounded by a small team of police and security, who hurriedly shuffled him into a courtroom after getting him out of a police cruiser.

At the same time, press was ordered out of the courtroom for the hearing, which was held in response to Frazee's mother requesting custody of his daughter Kaylee.

Target: Stein was then asked if Krystal feared that Frazee might murder her next, to which she replied: 'Yes, that's what I believe, yes' (Krystal leaving court on Friday)

Shackled: Frazee has been accused of murdering his fiancee Berreth, and Krystal has agreed to testify against him in court (Frazee leaving court in December)

Two individuals who worked with Krystal said that she and Frazee had been in a romantic relationship for months.

DailyMail.com spoke with two people who know the nurse professionally, and they both said that they had been told that Frazee was having an affair with Krystal.

Krystal divorced her husband a few years back and has two children.

Neither of those individuals knew exactly when the relationship started, but they believed it could have been as early as 2016 - prior to the birth of Frazee's daughter with Berreth.

That would have been the second time the pair dated after an earlier romance as teens.

One of the the people DailyMail.com spoke with also said that Krystal was in Colorado around Thanksgiving.

That would explain how Frazee was able to get the cell phone to Idaho while never leaving the state.

It was reported back in December that police in Idaho had discovered information pertaining to the missing mom's cell phone.

The Twin Falls Police Department revealed that officers from the force played a role in the investigation by obtaining search warrants and examining evidence in the case.

Berreth's cell phone pinged off a tower in Gooding, Idaho, on November 25, three days after she went missing and around the same time her employer received a text stating that she would not be in for work that week. The location it pinged is about 800 miles from where Berreth was last seen.

The complaint that was filed in the case states that Frazee plotted the murder of Berreth with at least one other individual in the three months before she went missing.
Property and business owners who stand to lose big from Amazon's decision to withdraw from a planned headquarters in Queens are reacting in fury to the news.

Amazon's announcement on Thursday that it would withdraw from plans for a campus in Long Island City was cheered by area renters, who feared rent hikes, as well as local politicians furious about the billion dollar business' tax breaks.

But the move was blasted by business leaders, developers and wealthy property owners who hoped it would boost business for them.

'My big question for those who opposed this is: What is their plan to replace those 25,000 jobs?' Queens Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Grech told DailyMail.com. 'That's the question that people in business are furious about.'

Announced with fanfare in November, Amazon's plan to split its second headquarters between Queens and Metro DC was trumpeted by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, but loudly opposed by some city and state lawmakers, as well as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose congressional district spans parts of Queens and the Bronx.

Many local residents had also raised fears about being pushed out of their homes and neighborhoods by soaring rents if the headquarters went ahead.

Business leaders blasted Amazon's announcement on Thursday that it was reversing course on plans to build a major campus in the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City (file photo)

Amazon faced fierce opposition over the nearly $3 billion in tax breaks officials offered, with critics complaining that the project was an extravagant giveaway - or worse, a shakedown - and that it wouldn't provide much direct benefit to most New Yorkers.

A Quinnipiac University poll released in December found New York City voters supported having an Amazon headquarters 57 percent to 26 percent. But they were divided over the incentives: 46 percent in favor, 44 percent against.

The death blow to the project was dealt by state Senator Michael Gianaris, whose district includes Long Island City.

Earlier this month, Gianaris was appointed to the Public Authorities Control Board, a little-known state panel that could have ultimately rejected the state subsidies.

Restaurants in the area had anticipated a big bump in foot traffic from HQ2 (file photo)

'Amazon underestimated the very, very small yet vocal opponents,' said Grech.

Construction industry groups and some local business leaders had urged the public and officials to get behind the plan.

Eric Benaim, a realty executive who gets most of his sales and rentals in Long Island City, had led a petition in support of Amazon, drawing 4,000 signatures.

'I woke up this morning and I had no clue this would happen. Zero. This news is a shock, and I'm devastated,' he said.

TAX BREAKS AMAZON WOULD HAVE QUALIFIED FOR IN NY: The total value of the incentive package New York used to lure Amazon totaled $2.988 billion. In simple terms, the city and state were set to pay Amazon $48,000 per job. Here's the breakdown: Amazon was set to receive $897 million from New York City's Relocation and Employment Assistance Program. The program offers business income tax credits to relocated jobs from outside of New York City. It would have also got a 15-year property-tax abatement worth an estimated $386 million via the city's Industrial & Commercial Abatement Program. The online retailer was going to receive $1.2 billion in refundable 'Excelsior' tax credits if its job creation goals - 25,000 full-time, high-paying roles in 2028 - were met. Amazon could have received an additional $505 million in a capital grant. Advertisement

Local restaurants and retail outlets also bemoaned losing the anticipated bump in business that the tide of Amazon employees would have brought.

'It's definitely heartbreaking,' Steve Logiudice, owner of the Centro Pizza Bar & Italian Kitchen, told the New York Post. His restaurant is about two blocks from where Amazon planned to build.

'There'll be less foot traffic, and we depend on foot traffic. We depend on, obviously, the locals, but we depend on the construction workers, the business workers, so we depend on all that.'

Restaurateur Sam Musovic, who owns an apartment in Long Island City, called for a nationwide boycott of Amazon, and planned to hold a protest outside of the Amazon Books in Manhattan on Friday afternoon.

Muscovic's spokesman said in a statement that he had 'invested over a million dollars into his facility, only for Amazon to stand him up on Valentine's day.'

But Grech, the chamber of commerce honcho, dismissed calls for a boycott.

'There's no reason to boycott, there's reason to say thank you to Amazon for considering us in the first place,' Grech told DailyMail.com. 'We were unbelievably fortunate and blessed to be chosen as one of the two locations.'

Grech said that he hoped there was still a chance to salvage the deal. 'Maybe in 60 to 90 days, cooler heads will prevail.'

The decision was a serious blow to Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who had both lobbied intensely to land the campus within city limits.

The Mayor responded to the news by criticizing Amazon in a series of tweets, saying the company 'threw away' an opportunity and failed to work with the community.

'You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity,' de Blasio said.

'We have the best talent in the world and every day we are growing a stronger and fairer economy for everyone. If Amazon can't recognize what that's worth, its competitors will.'

Newly-elected Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among the more high-profile critics of the deal from the Democratic Party's leftward flank.

'I think it's incredible. It shows that everyday Americans still have the power to organize and fight for their communities and have more say than the richest man in the world,' she said on Thursday afternoon.

When questioned about the loss of a promised 25,000 jobs for New Yorkers, Ocasio-Cortez hit back saying the city was 'subsiding those jobs' anyway.

'So if we were willing to give away $3 billion for this deal we could invest those $3 billion in our district ourselves if we wanted to. We could hire out more teachers, fix our subways,' she said.

'Additionally, there was no guarantee those jobs were for the New Yorkers that were here. I think we can come absolutely together to create an economic plan that actualy invests in New Yorkers and higher wages.'

Amazon's search for a second headquarters, which it described as HQ2, was deemed a massive, year-long public relations success, garnering worldwide publicity and interest from cities across the U.S.

The Seattle-based company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had planned to bring 25,000 jobs to New York and spend $2.5 billion building its offices.

The online retailer's billionaire founder has been embroiled in his own personal saga of late following revelations of his affair with TV anchor Lauren Sanchez and subsequent divorce from his wife MacKenzie.

'We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion - we love New York,' Amazon said in a statement on Thursday.

'For Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term.

'While polls show that 70 percent of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.'

The online retail giant announced its plans back in November to build the complex in Queens as one of two new headquarters. The other is planned for northern Virginia. Nashville, Tennessee was a finalist that was awarded a consolation prize of a 5,000-employee location.

Amazon said on Thursday it did not plan to re-open the yearlong search that drew 238 proposals from cities across North America.

'We will proceed as planned in Northern Virginia and Nashville, and we will continue to hire and grow across our 17 corporate offices and tech hubs in the U.S. and Canada,' the company said Thursday.
Disgraced property developer Salim Mehajer has lost an appeal against a conviction for assaulting a female journalist.

The former Auburn deputy mayor, who is serving time for electoral fraud, was convicted without penalty for slamming a car door on the arm of Seven Network reporter Laura Banks as he tried to leave a Sydney police station in April 2017.

Despite the extenuating circumstances, a judge has said 32-year-old Mehajer had been 'reckless' in not checking if Banks was beside the car.

Disgraced property developer Salim Mehajer has lost an appeal against a conviction for assaulting a female journalist (pictured moments before the assault)

Quoting the original decision, Judge Turnbull said Mehajer had been accosted by a media scrum which 'hunted him like a pack' for 16 minutes as he tried to flee the station (Ms Banks pictured left of Mehajar)

'He thought about the likelihood of hurting Ms Banks but ignored the risks,' Judge Graham Turnbull said as he dismissed his appeal at Downing Centre Local Court on Friday.

'This was no accident.'

Quoting the original decision, Judge Turnbull said Mehajer had been accosted by a media scrum which 'hunted him like a pack' for 16 minutes as he tried to flee the station.

The former Auburn deputy mayor, who is serving time for electoral fraud, was convicted without penalty for slamming a car door on the arm of Seven Network reporter Laura Banks (assault pictured) as he tried to leave a Sydney police station in April 2017

Banks (left) had 'goaded' the businessman and repeatedly 'ridiculed and derided' him, 'constantly laughing', Judge Turnbull said

According to agreed facts, Mehajer had climbed into a taxi, but the driver refused to take him after Banks and another journalist told the cabbie he was being released on bail for assaulting another driver.

The judge criticised police for not doing more to defuse the situation and, instead, forcing Mehajer to leave the cab where reporters including Banks were 'circling'.

Banks had 'goaded' the businessman and repeatedly 'ridiculed and derided' him, 'constantly laughing', Judge Turnbull said.

When a Porsche rolled up, Mehajer got into the driver's side and invited Banks to 'just jump in'.

Court documents state the reporter had stuck her hand holding a microphone into the car before he slammed the door, squashing her body between the door and pillar.

'He clearly did not confirm she was not still there when he closed the door,' Judge Turnbull said on Friday.

The judge criticised police for not doing more to defuse the situation and, instead, forcing Mehajer to leave the cab where reporters including Banks were 'circling'

'He clearly did not confirm she was not still there when he closed the door,' Judge Turnbull said on Friday (Mehajar pictured during a break at the Downing Centre Local Court)

'I have no difficulty in finding he was reckless to the injury which occurred.'

Defence lawyer Zali Burrows had attempted to argue an email exchange between Banks and her client prior to the incident showed the pair had a 'flirtatious', 'goading' and 'insulting' relationship.

However, Judge Turnbull dismissed the evidence, along with suggestions an undiagnosed mental illness had affected Mehajer's behaviour at the time.

Mehajer was convicted in June of enrolling voters at false addresses and sentenced to a minimum of 11 months in prison.
A former Massachusetts governor who ran for vice president in 2016 as a libertarian said Friday morning that he is launching a committee to explore a Republican run against Donald Trump next year.

'Im here because I think our country is in grave peril,' William Weld told an audience in the early primary state of New Hampshire, clad in a business suit and brown work boots  a common sight in the snow-blanketed American northeast. 'And I cannot sit quietly on the sidelines any longer.'

'Our president is simply too unstable to carry out the duties of the highest office in the land. He's simply in the wrong place,' he said, appearing at an event in the New Hampshire Institute of Politics' influential 'Politics and Eggs' speaker series.

'We cannot sit passively as our precious democracy slips quietly into darkness. Congress must do its duty and citizens we must do ours.'

Weld's entry into the race marks the first direct head-on challenge to Trump. A Republican National Committee spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, wearing work boots with a suit, declared his intention Friday to challenge President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination next year

Weld said Trump is 'too unstable' to continue in office for another six years; although he ran for vice president in 2016 as a libertarian, Weld is now once again a Republican

Forming a presidential exploratory is seen as a soft-launch for a genuine White House campaign, an ordinary first step that establishes a legal candidacy in the eyes of the law.

Exploratory committees can raise money like campaign committees, and are subject to the same limits for individual donors. But the money can be solicited and collected without full disclosure of where it comes from.

In general, though, the step Weld took on Friday signals that he is running against the current president for their party's nomination.

Trump, said Weld, 'acts like a schoolyard bully, except of course when he is around other bullies, like Mr. Putin. And then he turns ingratiating, all smiles, kicks the American press out of the Oval Office, and has his summit meeting with Mr. Putin with no news media present except TASS.'

'He has virtually spat on the idea that we should have freedom of the press,' Weld declared. 'He has failed to call out and denounce appalling instances of racism.'

'We have a president whose priorities are skewed toward promotion of himself rather than toward the good of the country,' he jabbed.

Weld could play spoiler: He noted that of the last 9 presidential incumbents, the 4 who lost re-election were the same 4 who had primary challengers

Weld signed a wooden egg keepsake on Friday, a tradition at 'Politics and Eggs' events; Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, a California U.S. senator, will be next in the speaker series on Tuesday

Weld, 73, was governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997. He was Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson's vice presidential running mate in the 2016 presidentia; election, criticizing Trump at every turn  and typically avoiding opportunities to hammer Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

He switched his affiliation back to Republican just last month.

The former governor outlined a series of conservative positions on Friday that have the potential to roil what he called 'the president's culture of divisiveness in Washington.'

Weld argued for shuttering the federal Department of Education, decriminalizing marijuana possession and use, eliminating trade tariffs and rejoining the Paris climate change accord that Trump withdrew the U.S. from last year.

But mostly he stood Friday as an anti-Trump contrarian, holding himself out as a tool for saving the United States if not the GOP.

Weld noted that four of the last nine incumbent presidents to run for second terms faced primary battles within their own parties. All four lost re-election.

'It's no one thing,' he said of his anti-Trump sentiments. 'It's a series of actions, and I would describe them as antics. And if th president is re-elected that means we're looking at six more years of this.'

Weld unveiled his intentions and his campaign logo on Friday

Weld says President Trump is oriented toward promoting his own interests and shouldn't be allowed to remain president for another four years

Reflecting on the potential international consequences of Trump continuing to control America's nuclear launch codes, he declared: 'It aint' pretty.'

Weld wouldn't say whether he would support Trump in 2020, should the president win renomination at the GOP's convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

'I find the current incumbent a difficult act to swallow. I'm not sure,' he said.

He added that other Republicans might join the race now that he has broken through and promised to appear 'often' in the Granite State.

It's 'important that the incumbent be challenged, even confronted,' he said.

In his speech Weld called out Republicans for supporting Trump, saying that 'many Republicans exhibit all the symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome, identifying with their captor.'

'The truth is that we have wasted an enormous amount of time by humoring this president, indulging him in his narcissism and his compulsive, irrational behaviors,' Weld said.

He made no mention of 'impeachment,' but called the 2020 election a chance for 'a mid-course correction.'

'We dont need six more years of the antics we have seen. We need to make a change, and install leaders who know that character counts.'

'In every country there comes a time when patriotic men and women must stand up and speak out to protect our own individual rights and the overall health of the nation,' he said. 'In our country, now is such a time.'

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, a U.S. senator from California, will be next in the 'Politics and Eggs' speaker series on Tuesday.
Alesha MacPhail was found naked lying face down in woodland near an abandoned hotel - as police hunted for her the murder suspect sent a selfie to friends and joked: 'Found the guy who's done it'

The teenager accused of raping and murdering six-year-old Alesha MacPhail had joked that he might kill 'for the lifetime experience', a court heard today.

The Scottish schoolgirl was found naked and face down in an area of woodland on the Isle of Bute on July 2 last year with 117 separate injuries.

Today the trial of the 16-year-old accused of abusing and killing her heard that the boy joked about her death in a social media post to 25 friends.

Giving evidence, a 16-year-old girl who was good friends with the accused, said Alesha MacPhail going missing was discussed in a Snapchat group chat of around 25 friends on the day she was found dead.

She said the accused sent a video of himself filmed in a mirror showing his top half but not his face to the group, followed by the message 'found the guy who's done it'.

The witness said she thought it was a 'bad joke' but she later told the police when it emerged he had been arrested.

The court heard that the girl alerted officers about a chat she had with the boy on Facebook Messenger in January 2017.

She recalled: 'It was a conversation about crime documentaries or TV shows.

'I remember he said that he would kill for the lifetime experience.'

Jurors were shown the message.

Alesha's mother Georgina Lochrane (centre) arrives at Glasgow High Court for the trial of her daughter's alleged killer

Another read: 'I'd only kill you for reason so I'd probs go in your room anyways tryna get something and cover my tracks while I am at.'

The 16 year-old girl was in touch with him via Snapchat on the day Alesha had initially been reported missing.

She recalled: 'During the conversation, he started to get anxious and said police were going to blame it on him

'One thing I knew about him was that he got panic attacks.

'He said police were always blaming for stuff that happened in the area. I tried to calm him down.

'I told him to think logically and that only if had done something would he be arrested.'

The boy was later held by police and police went on to speak to teenagers in the area.

Today the Glasgow High Court heard a police officer admitted he threw away a black Nike hoodie after thinking it was not relevant to the Alesha MacPhail murder investigation.

Alesha's father Robert MacPhail (pictured) has also attended every day of the rape and murder trial

The 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies raping and murdering the girl, as well as charges of child abduction and defeating the ends of justice.

A boy who attended an end of exams party held by the suspect said the teenager was 'suicidal' on the night of the abduction.

The school friend requested that screens were removed so he could see the boy in the dock.

The witness, also aged 16, told the court he believed it was an 'unlucky coincidence' that the accused was out of the house the night of the murder.

And he attended the boozy party held by the accused, which ended in a row between the boy and his mother .

The child witness said the accused confided in him that he was worried about his mother's drinking.

The witness recalled: 'He was face down on his bed.'

'He said he was depressed and was thinking about doing things to himself - harming himself.'

Around 15 teens had attended the party, which finished before 12.30am, the witness told the court.

He said the accused was wearing a tie-dye t-shirt, 'Hype' jogging bottoms, and that he put on a black Nike zip-up hoodie after saying he was going out to buy drugs.

When shown a picture of the black Nike hoodie found in a rock pool by a dogwalker, the witness agreed it looked similar.

The witness said he had seen the video showing the accused in a bathroom, where he said 'I know where the murderer's been hiding'.

The friend said: 'At the time I thought it was just a joke, he had a dark sense of humour.'

He recalled that when the youth was first arrested, 'a lot of people jumped on the bandwagon'.

But he told the court he believed the arrest was just an unlucky 'coincidence' of him 'being out buying weed at a dodgy time'.

Defence brief Brian McConnachie QC showed Snapchat messages to the court.

The accused had written in one message 'Aye a wee autopsy and they will know exactly what happened'.

When asked whether he thought the accused's mother had a drinking problem, the witness said: 'I don't know - I don't have an opinion on that.'

Another 16-year-old denied selling the accused cannabis on the night of the murder.

Alesha (left) with Mr MacPhail (centre) and his girlfriend Toni Louise McLachlan (right)

When asked by Iain McSporran QC if he had sold the accused cannabis in the early hours of July 2 at his house, the witness replied: 'No'.

Mr McSporran asked him about the accused's physique and if he lifted weights, and the boy said: 'Yeah he's in good shape.'

Alesha was reported missing by her grandmother, Angela King, at 6.23am on July 2, and the child's body was found at the site of an abandoned hotel on the Isle of Bute just before 9am that day.

She was found naked, face down with her legs spread, in an area of woodland.

Witness Zareya MacGillivray, 42, discovered a dark Nike jumper, size XL, when she was walking her dog.

She said it was a 'youth size' and told the court: 'It looked out of place.'

She contacted police fearing it was significant as she knew a 16-year-old had been arrested, but claimed she was told by an officer he 'didn't think it was relevant to the case' but would bag it anyway.

Sergeant Anthony Hannah was called to give evidence, and told the court that the black hoodie was found in a rock pool.

After attending the scene, he took the item back to Rothesay Police Station and 'discarded of the item in a nearby skip' as a suspect had been arrested.

He had attended the 'priority one' call when Alesha was first reported missing.

Sgt Hannah was asked by defence brief Brian McConnaghie if it was 'reckless' to dispose of the hoodie, but denied that it was.

He claimed he had no information of clothing being of 'outstanding' significance regarding the case and that the two sets of officers on the island had 'separate protocols'.

Witness Peter Morrison, 39, a volunteer for the Coastguard, told of finding a knife on the shoreline across the road from the MacPhail family home.

Clothing including men's boxer shorts and jogging bottoms were also found near the sceneon the Isle of Bute in Scotland, pictured last July - but a police officer admitted he had discarded a hoodie found in the area

On the morning of July 2, the day Alesha was reported missing, Mr Morrison found a kitchen knife on the beach after 7.30am.

He said it was not rusted, and shortly after the discovery the search was called off.

Dogwalker Glyn Williams, 59, was out with his pet when the dog picked up items of 'compacted clothing'.

Mr Williams said: 'We were walking along the beach and as we were walking, the dog was picking up an item.

'It was very tightly compacted clothes and it was on the beach with seaweed all around it.

'On the Wednesday when we were walking along the water had opened it up a bit and it became more noticeable to be clothing.'

He tipped off police at the MacPhail's home, and told the court: 'It looked like boxer shorts with a name on the band - something like Bawbags.'

The trial at the High Court in Glasgow continues.
Drug kingpin Tony Mokbel believes his former lawyer offered up crucial information that helped police catch him when he was on the run in Greece.

Drug trafficker Tony Mokbel, who sparked a 15-month long global manhunt in 2007 after he fled to Europe, is said to believe Informer 3838, who can't be named for legal reasons, fed information to authorities that led to his arrest in Athens.

Mokbel is convinced the unnamed lawyer, who represented him from 2002 to 2012, leaked details of his location to police handlers after finding out his whereabouts from some of his associates.

Drug lord Tony Mokbel (pictured) said to believe Informer 3838 - also known as Lawyer X - who cannot be named for legal reasons, fed information to authorities

'He is almost certain of this. People she was in contact with knew where he was. She would have learned of his whereabouts through his intermediaries,' a source close to Mokbel told The Herald Sun.

The underworld heavyweight wrote to the Office of Public Prosecutions claiming he was a victim of 'corrupt prosecution'.

He also documented 500 questions for Informer 3838 to be asked by the royal commission investigating her alleged 'unlawful conduct'.

But just one hour after he handed over the questions to representatives on Monday, Mokbel fell victim to an alleged brutal stabbing behind bars.

But just one hour after he handed over the 35-page letter on Monday, Mokbel (pictured being taken to hospital) fell victim to a brutal stabbing behind bars

There is no suggestion Informant 3838 had anything to do with the incident.

Mokbel's representatives may not get the opportunity to put the allegations to Lawyer X as she may not be compelled to appear at the hearing, for reasons that have not been clarified, according to The Age.

A fellow drug dealer dubbed as 'Human Source 3030' is the informant that police credit for his capture and the person in receipt of the $1 million bounty on his head.

The informant is also believed to have helped police uncover computer downloads that revealed detailed information about Mokbel's drug empire.

It's not confirmed whether Human Source 3030 and Informer 3838 knew each other.

It's reported that The Supreme Court has found 'sufficient foundation' for Mokbel to contest his conviction following his extradition due to details passed onto authorities by Informer 3838.

The 53-year-old's (pictured) legal team were planning to use Mokbel's belief as a key line of questioning at the public inquiry which began on Friday

Mobkel was among 22 convicted criminals to find out two months ago they could have an chance at an appeal because of their connection and involvement with the informer.

The $7.5 million royal commission was announced in December last year, after the High Court and Victoria's Court of Appeal publicly released decisions over Informer 3838.

The High Court labelled the lawyer's actions an appalling breach of legal obligations and the conduct of Victoria Police as reprehensible and atrocious.

Part of the royal commission's job is to determine how many cases were affected by information passed on by the informant, which ended in 2009.

Meanwhile, Teira Bennett and Eldea Teuira, both 21, were charged with Mokbel's attempted murder following the prison attack.

The pair also faced allegations of intentionally causing serious injury and causing serious injury intentionally in circumstances of gross violence against Mokbel and another inmate, named as 31-year-old Steven Logan.

Monday's attack at the maximum-security Barwon prison allegedly involved the use of makeshift knives.

The incident occurred a day after a newspaper report that Mokbel intervened in a standover racket run by Pacific Islander inmates.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton brushed off notions of a gangland hit.

'That's a bit of a stretch to jump to gangland hit in that case. At this stage, the most likely theory is around inter-prison feuding,' he told ABC radio on Thursday.
A 103-year-old woman was sworn in as a Grand Canyon National Park Junior Ranger as the park gears up to celebrate its 100th birthday.

Rose Torphy, 103, was sworn in as a junior park ranger while she was on her second visit to Arizona's Grand Canyon on January 14. Torphy, a lifelong Cubs fan, had made the trip west from her home state, Illinois.

Torphy learned about the Junior Ranger program when she and her daughter, Cheri Stoneburner, stopped in at the South Rim park store at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center.

Rose Torphy, 103, was sworn in as a Junior Ranger during her visit to the Grand Canyon National Park on January 14. She is three years older than that national park itself

Torphy was on her second visit to the Grand Canyon at the time. She is shown here at the 'edge' of the canyon. She first traveled to the park in 1985 with her husband

'I started talking to people about the junior ranger program because it teaches kids to protect the Canyon,' she told Good Morning America, adding that although her parents 'taught me to care for the land but not all kids have that.'

The program is primarily aimed at kids ages 4 and up and normally requires children to participate in a series of activities such as attending a ranger-led program, drawing pictures and writing a poem, before they take the Junior Ranger pledge and receive an official badge, according to the park's website. There does not appear to be a maximum age to participate in the program.

Video from Torphy's visit shows her taking the pledge to protect the park at the store, wearing her badge and signing and proudly displaying her certificate.

Under normal circumstances, Torphy would've had to have a park ranger sign off on her activities, but because she happened to be visiting during the partial government shutdown, things had to operate differently.

A Grand Canyon Conservancy spokesperson said the organization had to 'get creative' during that time and wound up training its visitor center store staff so they could help guide junior ranger wannabes, which is how Torphy wound up chatting about the program while browsing for souvenirs.

'I'm happy to protect it for my great-children to visit one day,' Torphy said.

Torphy proudly signed and displayed her official Junior Ranger certificate and wore her pin

Torphy's daughter said Torphy has been wearing her official pin nonstop since returning home

The signed certificate proving that Torphy is now an official Grand Canyon junior park ranger

During their visit to the park, Torphy (right) and her daughter, Cheri Stoneburner (left), stopped at the visitor center store, which is how Torphy learned about the Junior Park program

Torphy (left) and her daughter, Stoneburner (right), taking a break at Grand Canyon's Hermits Rest during their January 2019 visit to the national park

A vintage photo of the Grand Canyon taken in 1898. It was designated as a national park in 1919

Her daughter, Stoneburner, told GMA that since taking the pledge, Torphy, who wears her ranger pin on her coat all the time, has become 'a spokesperson for the park' because 'Everywhere we go, people ask her about her junior ranger pin and she says 'you're never too old to see the Grand Canyon!'

The first time Torphy  a mother of three, who has nine grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and 10 great-great-grandchildren  visited the Grand Canyon was in 1985 and 'was able to walk around,' Torphy said. She would've been in her late 60s at the time.

This time around, however, Torphy made ample use of the park's wheelchair access and ramps to 'go to the edge,' she said. While at the park in January, she called the view 'absolutely breathtaking.'

'We were able to get to an edge where she had taken a photo with my dad on their visit in 1985,' Stoneburner recalled of the trip.

The Grand Canyon National Park will celebrate 100 years since it was designated as a national park on February 26, meaning Torphy is technically three years older than the park.
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The picturesque snowscapes of Siberia have been turned an eerie black from pollution, leaving cars, buildings, streets and fields covered in thick soot.

Alarming pictures from the snow-covered region of Russia show how the pristine white snow has been filled with a dirty, thick layer of black powder.

Pollution from coal plants in the industrial region of Kemerovo has been blamed for the ghostly phenomenon blighting the landscape.

The cities of Prokopyevsk and Leninsk-Kuznetsky plus the town of Kiselyovsk have been affected.

Worried residents likened the scene to the 'snow in hell' while other scrawled SOS messages in the grimy covering.

The city of Prokopyevsk in the Kemerovo region has seen streets and buildings covered in a thick layer of black soot

Children in Kiselevsk, Siberia, walking through the blackened parks after the snow became covered in coal pollution

Eerie: Buildings and statues in the city of Prokopyevsk have also been covered in the creepy black dusting of snow

Roads have been left with the dirty covering of snow that has made the Siberian region seem 'hellish', residents have said

One picture posted online shows children playing in the black snow that has caked roads, parks, vehicles, buildings and statues in the area.

Local media in Russia blame local coal processing plants, and highlighted how parked cars were caked with a thick lawyer of black grime.

One comment on the morbid scene from a worried local read: 'Is this what snow looks like in hell?'

A picture posted online shows the Russian word '' - or 'help us' - written in the filthy snow.

But others say there is a perverted 'beauty' in the spooky gloom.

Kemerovo is famous both as Russia's leading coalmining region but also as home to Siberia's best ski slopes, famed for an annual swimwear piste run.

A ski slope in Prokopyevsk was left with a layer of snow dusted with the black powder, which was blamed on the nearby coal processing plants

Fields roads and parks have been blighted by the dirty covering of snow from nearby coal plants and processing centres

A local resident even wrote the Russian word '' - or 'help us' - in the filthy snow to show how dirty the city of Kiselevsk had become

A field on the outskirts of the city of Kiselevsk was left covered in thick soot after pollution tarnished the Kemerovo region

So far the colourful slopes of resort Sheregesh have not been tarnished by the pollution hitting residents elsewhere in the region.

State prosecutors are now examining whether to bring criminal prosecutions for pollution.

One local coal processing plant - called Prokopyevskaya - has accepted some responsibility.

Boss Anatoly Volkov told Vesti-Kuzbass TV channel that a shield to protect the air from coal power had stopped working.

Deputy governor of Kemerovo region Andrei Panov, who is in charge of ecology, is to meet local environmentalists to discuss the matter and also blames coal boilers and car exhausts as well as factories.

Icicles from a frozen ice fountain in the Kemerovo region were also covered in black soot and left this eerie formation

Nearby coal plants have been blamed for the blackening of the Siberian snow with some locals describing the scenes as 'hellish'

Prokopyevsk (pictured) Leninsk-Kuznetsky and Kiselyovsk cities have all seen the black snow covering the streets and buildings

A resident of Prokopyevsk city posted this image in social media showing the black snow-covered street outside the window

There has been a strong reaction from locals on social media.

Residents have pointed the finger at other plants too, alleging there is a long-term lack of environmental protection in an region that's lifeblood is coal, reported The Siberian Times.

'No cleansing systems, all the waste, dust and dirt, coal lay in the area. Our children and us are breathing it. It's just a nightmare,' a local said.

Another commented: 'The government bans smoking in public. But let us inhale coal dust all together and let it reside in our lungs.'

One resident added: 'The future of our children is terrifying.'

Streets and fields in Prokopyevsk were covered in grey and black snow after the pollution tarnished the Kemerovo region

Creepy: Another frozen ice fountain in the Kemerovo region was left with the black and grey covering from pollution

One resident on social media moaned: 'The government bans smoking in public. But let us inhale coal dust all together and let it reside in our lungs'
A chef who became a multimillionaire overnight through an online betting game proved the money would not change him after he still turned up to work on Valentine's Day, one of the busiest days of the year.

Sean Doyle, 33, bet just 8 on the Paddy Power online game Mars Attacks on Wednesday and netted a 4.2 million jackpot - the biggest ever online win in the history of the company.

But instead of staying up all night celebrating the chef went to bed in order to be on time for his 9am shift the next morning at the Artisan Cookhouse in County Down.

Sean Doyle, 33, from Newcastle, Co Down placed a 10 stake on an online slot game called Mars Attacks and won 4.2 million

But the Irish chef (pictured centre with colleagues) still turned up for his Valentine's Day shift at the Artisan Cookhouse on Thursday morning at 9am

Doyle, who had only been playing online for around six months, explained how he could not bear to look as the money started pouring in at 10pm on Wednesday night.

'I watched it until it reached about 1m on the count thing and I switched off my phone. I couldn't look. When I got home I couldn't believe my eyes after I saw the final amount!' he said.

The grand total was 4,283,863.55, part of which Doyle wants to use to set up his own business - but only after he has helped his family out.

'You wouldn't believe the amount of people's lives I'm going to change with this win,' he said.

Doyle had only been playing the online game for around six months before he netted its biggest ever payout

Doyle (second left) plans to use the money to help out his family first and later open his own cafe

'My sister is a single parent in New Zealand with three kids so I'm delighted because this means I will be able to help her out. I also have three brothers, my parents and a few aunts and uncles too.'

'I might set up my own shop, probably a cafe, which would mean I can down scale and relax more.'

A spokesperson for Paddy Power said: 'Roses are red, violets are blue, we found out Sean is single, so get in the queue!

'We're used to being down a few quid after Valentine's Day but this record breaking win takes the biscuit.

'We're absolutely thrilled for Sean and the fact that he was sound enough to turn up for work for his bosses, Alister and his son Cormack Evans, the next morning makes the thought of his success all the sweeter.'
A top conservative activist who's married to a senior aide to the president predicted Thursday that Robert Mueller's days as special counsel are numbered, creating a frenzy.

Now that the Senate confirmed President Trump's new attorney general, American Conservative Union head Matt Schlapp suggested in a tweet that Mueller would soon be given the boot.

'Tomorrow will be the first day that President Trump will have a fully operational confirmed Attorney General. Let that sink in. Mueller will be gone soon,' he wrote.

Schlapp's wife Mercedes is the White House director of strategic communications.

Matt Schlapp, a top conservative activist who's married to a senior aide to the president, predicted Thursday that Robert Mueller's days as special counsel are numbered, creating a frenzy

Now that the Senate confirmed President Trump's new attorney general, Schlapp suggested Mueller would soon be given the boot

His ominous tweet sparked concern that he knew something about Barr's plans to remove Mueller that wasn't public

His ominous tweet sparked concern that he knew something about Barr's plans to remove Mueller that wasn't public.

He explained Friday that he was only speculating that Mueller would finish his work faster with Barr, who has already served as attorney general once before, as the nation's top cop.

Schlapp told a Twitter user in an am tweet that 'the very fact that a lawyer of the stature of Bill Barr is AG will move Mueller along.

'And w no findings on Russia collusion the whole need for the investigation will soon end. That is the proper role of the US AG. No one is above oversight not even Mueller.'

The Senate on Thursday confirmed William Barr as attorney general, placing the veteran government official and lawyer atop the Justice Department as Mueller continues to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Schlapp's wife Mercedes is the White House director of strategic communications

Schlapp explained Friday that he was only speculating that Mueller would finish his work faster with Barr, who has already served as attorney general once before, as the nation's top cop

The Senate voted 54-45 to confirm him, mostly along party lines.

Barr, who previously served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993, will succeed Jeff Sessions. Trump pushed Sessions out of office last year after railing against his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation.

As the country's chief law enforcement officer, Barr will oversee the remaining work in Mueller's investigation into potential coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign and decide how much Congress and the public know about its conclusion.

He'll also take over a department that Trump has publicly assailed, often questioning the integrity and loyalty of those who work there.

Democrats, who largely voted against Barr, said they were concerned about his non-committal stance on making Mueller's report public.

Barr promised to be as transparent as possible, but said he takes seriously the Justice Department regulations that dictate Mueller's report should be treated as confidential.

Attorney General nominee William Barr won Senate confirmation on Thursday by a 54-45 vote that fell mostly along party lines

Opponents of Barr also pointed to a memo he wrote to Justice officials before his nomination.

In it, he criticized Mueller's investigation for the way it was presumably looking into whether Trump had obstructed justice.

Barr wrote that Trump could not have obstructed justice by firing former FBI Director James Comey since it was an action the president was constitutionally entitled to take.

That view has alarmed Democrats, especially since the obstruction inquiry has been central to Mueller's investigation.

'Mr. Barr's views about the power of the president are especially troubling in light of his refusal to commit to making the special counsel's findings and the report publicly available,' said California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary panel.

Feinstein said the attorney general should be someone who is 'objective, who is clearly committed to protecting the interest of the people, the country and the Constitution.'

When Barr is sworn into office this week, he will be tasked with restoring some stability after almost two years of open tension between Trump and Justice officials.

Trump lashed out at Sessions repeatedly before he finally pushed him out in November, and he has also publicly criticized Mueller and his staff, calling the probe a 'witch hunt' and suggesting they are out to get him for political reasons.

He has directed some of his strongest vitriol at department officials who were part of the decision to start investigating his campaign's Russia ties in 2016 and also the decision to clear Democrat Hillary Clinton in an unrelated e-mail probe that same year.

Trump has repeatedly suggested that the agents and officials, many of whom have since left, were conspiring against him.

The criticism extended to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller as special counsel. Rosenstein is expected to leave the department shortly after Barr takes office.
A pet owner in south China has been accused of animal abuse after she was caught violently hitting her dog at a park.

The young woman was punishing the black pooch after it lunged and barked at two other dogs, according to witnesses. The owner lost her patience and started whipping it with its leash and kicking it at the public park in Foshan, Guangdong province on Thursday.

The woman was seen hitting the dog nearly 20 times despite concerned bystanders trying to intervene and stop her.

The owner lost her patience and started whipping the dog with its leash and kicking it at the public park in Foshan, Guangdong province on Thursday after it would not behave

The clip, released by video news site Pear, shows the frightened yet confused dog sitting on the grass at the park as its owner continues to berate it

The clip, released by video news site Pear, shows the frightened yet confused dog sitting on the grass at the park as its owner continues to berate it.

'She's punishing it for lunging at two other small dogs,' an elderly woman told reporters.

'It's crying already, stop hitting it anymore,' a male passerby was heard saying in the video as the dog tries to avoid the blows.

'She's been beating the dog for so long though, poor thing,' another woman said. 'We tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen.'

'It's crying already, stop hitting it anymore,' a male passerby was heard saying in the video as the dog tries to avoid the blows. However the woman ignored the bystanders and kept hitting it

The woman was seen hitting the dog nearly 20 times despite concerned bystanders trying to intervene and stop her

Keith Guo, press officer at PETA Asia, said owners must learn to be patient when training their dogs.

'Very often dogs wouldn't understand our rules and would need owners to guide them patiently,' Guo told MailOnline.

'Instead of hitting the dog, the owner should ask herself why she wasn't holding onto the leash when her pet lunged at the other dogs,' he added.

'Her violent actions have definitely hurt the animal. We must never use violence on out pets under any circumstances.'

Keith Guo at PETA Asia said owners must learn to be patient when training their dogs

While China has legislation safeguarding land-based and aquatic wildlife, it currently lacks legislation protecting animal welfare or preventing cruelty to animals.

In September 2009, animal rights activists and legal experts began circulating a draft Law on the Protection of Animals and in 2010, a draft Law on the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for the State Council's consideration, according to Human Rights in China, a Chinese non-governmental organisation based in New York.

The draft proposes a fine of up to 6,000 yuan (693) and two weeks' detention for those found guilty of animal cruelty, according to China Daily. However till this day, no progress has been made.

While the country's first ever legislation protecting animal welfare has yet to be adopted, the increasing cases of animal abandonment and serious cruelty towards animals such as killing of dogs and burning of cats have led to serious resentment within society.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the United States had 'productive' talks with China over their trade dispute.

However negotiations in Beijing ended Friday with no sign that any concrete progress had been made.

Top officials from the world's two biggest economies had held two days of talks, hoping to at least create sufficient goodwill to stave off an escalation of their tariff war.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (left) and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (right) shake hands as they pose for a photo before the opening session of trade negotiations

In a tweet, Mnuchin said after the talks ended that he and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had 'productive meetings with China's Vice Premier Liu He,' Beijing's top economic official.

The talks closed around mid-day on Friday and the delegations parted with nothing announced.

Attention then shifted to a planned meeting later Friday between the US delegation and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with markets watching for signals that the world's two economic superpowers may look to maintain a truce on damaging reciprocal tariffs.

The high-level meetings began Thursday after President Donald Trump suggested that if talks in Beijing went well he may extend his March 1 deadline for China to make significant concessions on trade before resuming the tariff onslaught.

Trump's economic advisor Larry Kudlow had earlier said Xi's willingness to meet with the US officials was a 'very good sign.'

Kudlow also said 'the vibe is good' in characterising the talks, but said there was 'no decision' yet on extending Trump's tariff truce.

Steven Mnuchin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping before proceeding to their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing

Xi Jinping (center) speaks as he meets with Robert Lighthizer and Steven Mnuchin (left)

Liu He (far left) waves as he and Steven Mnuchin (left) and Robert Lighthizer (center) pose for a photo

After Trump suggested he may put off plans to more than double tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports after March 1, Bloomberg News reported that a 60-day postponement was being considered to allow more time for negotiations.

Multiple reports had indicated that little if any progress was made in the Chinese capital toward US demands, with the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg quoting anonymous sources as saying the two sides failed to narrow the gap on key issues.

Washington accuses Beijing of a range of unfair trade practices including myriad barriers against foreign access to its market.

It also accused the Government of offering subsidies that favor Chinese companies, rampant theft of intellectual property, and the requirement that foreign firms transfer proprietary technology to their partners in China as a condition of doing business.

Mnuchin and Lighthizer returned to their hotel after the talks ended but did not speak to the media.

Mnuchin and Lighthizer returned to their hotel after the talks ended but did not speak to media

Beijing and Washington have already imposed duties on more than $360 billion in two-way trade, which are weighing on their manufacturing sectors and have shaken global financial markets.

Expectations for an accord have being growing as China faces pressure from slowing economic growth, and as the market turmoil rattles Trump and his economic advisors.

But many China experts say Beijing's Communist Party rulers are unlikely to make significant changes to industrial policies that have abetted the country's economic rise without a long and tough fight.

In December, Trump had postponed plans to sharply hike tariffs, setting the March 1 ultimatum for Chinese concessions.

Trump has said that any eventual trade deal would need to be sealed personally between him and Xi in a summit meeting.
A 'deeply affected' policeman who shot dead a crazed Tinder stalker after he stabbed his ex-girlfriend says he wished he could swap spots with the knifeman.

Police opened fire on Paul Dennis Lambert, 36, at the end of a high-speed chase after he violently attacked Angela Jay and doused her in petrol at her Port Macquarie home in NSW in 2016.

Officers managed to force Lambert off the Pacific Highway near Coffs Harbour after chasing him 150km along the stretch of road.

Lambert then lunged at police before he was shot.

Paul Dennis Lambert, 36, was shot at the end of a high-speed police pursuit after he stabbed his ex-girlfriend and doused her in petrol at her Port Macquarie home in NSW in 2016

Police managed to force Lambert off the Pacific Highway near Coffs Harbour after chasing him 150km along the stretch of road (pictured, Angela Jay)

Acting State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan ruled shooting Lambert was unavoidable given his actions and said it 'deeply affected' the officers who pulled the trigger.

'Senior Constable Damien Buckley said he reflects on the death every day and desperately wishes that there could have been a different outcome and that he could have ''sent Paul home'' to his family,' the judgement reads.

'He even said he wishes he could have ''swapped spots'' with Mr Lambert.'

A NSW coronial inquest found police had no choice but to shoot dead the 'toxic' Tinder stalker.

'I do not consider there was any available alternative to lethal force,' Coroner O'Sullivan said.

'Senior Constable Damien Buckley (pictured in purple) said he reflects on the death every day and desperately wishes that there could have been a different outcome and that he could have ''sent Paul home'' to his family,' the judgement reads

Acting State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan ruled shooting Lambert was unavoidable given his actions and it 'deeply affected' the officers who pulled the trigger, the coroner found

Lambert was on parole at the time of the attack after he assaulted his previous partner in Queensland.

Coroner O'Sullivan said the only other way Lambert could have been stopped from attacking Dr Jay is if communication was better between Queensland and NSW.

She said Lambert had been in breach of his parole conditions when he lived in NSW.

Had Queensland Police issued an arrest warrant, Lambert could have been arrested when he was pulled over for speeding only a few days before the attack happened against Dr Jay.

The relationship, which lasted less than two months, deteriorated after Lambert became 'controlling and possessive', threatened suicide, lied about deaths and created a false identity, findings by the NSW Coroner released on Friday reveal

Included in his history of brief dates was Emmy award-winning TV reporter Brittany Ann Keil, 32

Though Coroner O'Sullivan said it wasn't her role to examine the state's parole system.

Lambert began dating mid north Coast doctor Angela Jay long-distance after matching with her on Tinder in August 2016.

The relationship, which lasted less than two months, deteriorated after Lambert became 'controlling and possessive', threatened suicide, lied about deaths and created a false identity, findings by the NSW Coroner released on Friday reveal.

But Lambert's 'insidious' manipulations were part of a much larger history of abuse against women, Coroner O'Sullivan found.

Included in his history of brief dates was Emmy award-winning TV reporter Brittany Ann Keil, 32.

Though his 'erratic' behaviour forced Keil to end the short-lived relationship.

He was the subject of 10 apprehended violence orders from five separate women, including his former wife.

Lambert broke into Dr Jay's home at Port Macquarie (pictured), ambushing and stabbing her 11 times in the chest, arms and legs days later on November 3

He was deported from the United States in 2015 for extorting a woman he dated while married.

He claimed diagnoses of psychological disorders including multiple personalities - up to nine at once - including 'evil Paul'.

Former workmates of Lambert said the man had struggled with mental illness, and described him as 'not right in the head' and said he told them he had been 'hearing voices'.

'When he was sacked he wrote an email to everyone apologising and saying he was trying to get help,' they said.

'He was so polished at work, it was only when you saw him regularly that you could see through it.

'He was always someone who really thought things through from every angle. He was non-stop thinking up plans and schemes, always thinking 10 steps ahead. He was pretty intelligent but always a bit weird.

'He'd just rant about a topic and turn it inside out, like he'd been trapped in a room thinking about it.

A NSW coronial inquest found police had no choice but to shoot dead the 'toxic' Tinder stalker

'He was professional at work and made us lots of money, but in private he struggled to relate to people and make true friends.'

Lambert abused his wife throughout their divorce back in Queensland and was convicted of assault but paroled immediately.

He then moved to Sydney and met Dr Jay.

His escalating violence against Dr Jay reached fever pitch in late-2016 when he rented a room at a hotel near her hospital to stalk her.

'It went from intense to feeling very uncomfortable and then it turned into feeling a bit more afraid,' Dr Jay said at an earlier hearing.

In one text message Lambert warned Dr Jay 'I need you to understand that this is my good side right now. The good side won't last long.'

He broke into Dr Jay's home, ambushing and stabbing her 11 times in the chest, arms and legs days later on November 3.

He waited until the young doctor returned from her hospital shift at 6pm and sprung into a vicious attack that left blood splatter all over walls of the wardrobe and throughout the bedroom.

In one text message Lambert warned Dr Jay 'I need you to understand that this is my good side right now. The good side won't last long'

He doused her with petrol and, bleeding heavily, Dr Jay managed to escape to a neighbour's home.

A neighbour told Daily Mail Australia Dr Jay remained calm as she explained to him and another neighbour what needed to be done to stop her from bleeding out.

'I heard a scream and initially thought someone had hurt themselves, I checked my family and then went outside,' the neighbour recounted.

He said even when he saw stab wounds on her arms and legs it 'took a while to click'.

'She was over at the [other] neighbours when I got there... even when I saw the bleeding I still didn't register what had happened.'

Dr Jay's neighbour recalled seeing stab wounds on her arms and one on her leg with her attacker, Paul Lambert, nowhere to be seen.

'He was either gone or hiding by the time we were helping her,' the neighbour told Daily Mail Australia.

Angela Jay still has the emotional and physical scars (pictured) from the harrowing attack

Coroner O'Sullivan said the combination of Dr Jay's skills and her neighbour's bravery and assistance saved the woman's life.

Lambert fled the scene and sent messages to his mother where he spoke about the attack in third-person.

'He's fighting his way out and I can only hold on so long,' he wrote.

Police gave chase and used road spikes to stop his car on the Pacific Highway.

Surrounded, Lambert ignored officers' requests for him to surrender. When he lunged at an officer with the knife they shot him dead.

In Lambert's rental car investigators found his passport, traffic fines, personal effects and a note.

'Your (sic) all now at peace and free to live happy lives without me f***ing it up and being a toxic blight on this world and to you all,' the note ends.

Coroner O'Sullivan recommended NSW Police continue to explore non-lethal options for knife-wielding offenders including shields.

She also recommended NSW Police consider implementing information sharing systems to stop people with outstanding AVOs purchasing knives without a check.

A neighbour told Daily Mail Australia Dr Jay (pictured) remained calm as she explained to him and another neighbour what needed to be done to stop her from bleeding out

Surrounded, Lambert ignored officers' requests for him to surrender. When he lunged at an officer with the knife they shot him dead
Dramatic footage shows a shopper use four cans of Stella Artois to stop a suspect on a push bike who was trying to escape armed police.

Ben McGill spotted the fleeing cyclist, who was pursued by officers carrying semi-automatic rifles, near to the Castle Dene shopping centre in Peterlee.

As the suspect approached him, Mr McGill asked: 'Do you want me to grab him?'

But without waiting for an answer, he whacked the man with a plastic carrier bag full of beer, causing the cyclist to crash.

Ben McGill, 31, captured the moment a fleeing cyclist was pursued by officers carrying semi-automatic rifles near to the Castle Dene shopping centre in Peterlee

The bag can then be seen lifted up to the camera, where there is a visible tear.

Moments later, armed police officers race past Mr McGill and pounce on the suspect.

The onlooker then approaches the scene as more officers gather around the now-restrained man.

The remarkable footage was filmed in County Durham yesterday as Mr McGill was out shopping.

He posted the clip online with the caption: 'Didn't expect me to be there with my bag of cans hahaha.'

Speaking today, he said: 'I asked a security guard what was happening. He said there was somebody up there with a handgun.

'He came down on his bike and everybody else seemed to be getting out of his way.'

Confirming his improvised weapon was a plastic bag containing four cans of Stella Artois, he said: 'So I put my bag of cans in front of him.

The remarkable footage was filmed in County Durham, yesterday as Ben McGill was out shopping

'The officers took my details after. I feel a little bit proud I suppose. Instinct just took over. The adrenaline was was pumping afterwards.'

A spokesperson for Durham Constabulary said: 'Police were alerted to reports of a disturbance in Peterlee town centre at around 10am yesterday morning.

'Officers attended the scene and encountered a man in a distressed state.

'A local man in his mid-20s was detained and arrested at around 10.30, and is currently in police custody.

'Enquiries are ongoing.'
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50 years ago this July, Neil Armstrong took 'one giant leap for mankind' as he became the first human to step foot on the moon's surface - and now, never-before-seen pictures provide a unique glimpse behind the profound 1969 voyage.

The incredible gallery of images, released to coincide with the landing's half-century anniversary, include a Michael Collins shuttle selfie, Neil Armstrong's parachute desert training, and Buzz Aldrin in his iconic spacesuit carrying out final checks just days before blast off.

All three members of Apollo 11s crew can also be seen looking quietly confident, as they stand in front of the newly unveiled Saturn V space rocket, in what would safely transport them to the lunar surface on July 20.

Coming as part of the new book Picturing Apollo 11: Rare Views and Undiscovered Moments, the gallery documents the early preparations for the pioneering pilgrimage, right up to an elevated perspective of the watershed moment of Armstrong and Aldrin planted the US flag into the moon's dusty surface.

Michael Collins is shown in the tight quarters of the Gemini 10 spacecraft. He has just completed a 25 minute stand-up extravehicular activity, in 1969

The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, undergoes desert survival training at Stead Air Force Base in northwestern Nevada on 16 August 1963. The astronauts were taught how to fabricate clothing and parachutes into survival gear in the unlikely event that their spacecraft landed in a desert

Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin (left to right) pose for news photographers as the Saturn V towers behind them just months before launch the July 16 launch

Spectators wave an American flag as Apollo 11 begins its journey to the Moon, on July 20, 1969

'The story of the first time humans landed on and explored our Moon has been told many timesby the Apollo 11 astronauts, by mission controllers, by NASA officials and historians,' explained co-author John Bisney, who aged 15, was just 12 miles away from the launchpad on 16 July 1969, the day of the Apollo 11 launch.

'Yet we believe this book will help to fill in visually the events surrounding this landmark in exploration, since a large percentage of the images you see have never been published previously.'

Bisney was one of a million-strong crowd in Florida who watched on as the three Apollo 11 astronauts were thrust from the Kennedy Space Center and out of the Earth's atmosphere.

Four days and 240,000 miles later, on July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans ever to land on the moon in their Eagle lunar module, as Collins watched on from nearby orbit.

Seven hours later, Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon.

Buzz Aldrin undergoes testing on his spacesuit in a training program. He would leave the planet within 12 weeks of this photo being taken

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, just days before launching into space, have a final look at the flight hardware

Astronaut Michael Collins sits in the three-seat gondola on the centrifuge at Manned Spacecraft Centerjust weeks before takeoff

A rare perspective of Armstrong and Aldrin plunging a US flag into the lunar surface

As he took his first bounding step, Armstrong famously quipped the immortal line: 'That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.'

The images come as part of the new book Picturing Apollo 11: Rare Views and Undiscovered Moments, released on March 14

An estimated 500 million people worldwide tuned in to watch Armstrong take his historic first steps on the Moon, the largest television audience for a live broadcast at that time and about 14 percent of the global population.

After spending a night sleeping on the moon, they left behind several artifacts on the lunar surface, including a plaque which read: 'Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moonJuly 1969 A.D.We came in peace for all mankind.'

Eight days after lift-off, the brave trio of Collins, Aldrin and Armstrong safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on 24 July, securing their place in history.

'When putting a book together, there is a fine line between choosing photos that are of interest as rare or unseen as opposed to using more familiar images that might, in some cases, tell a better story,' J.L Pickering, the book's other author added.

'I have also become aware that photos I consider common are not always viewed that way by others.

'This applies especially to younger people, who may be seeing the greatest space hits for the first time.

'That being said, this project, like our previous efforts, consists of as many unpublished images as possible, and we hope they give audiences of all ages some new views of the golden era of space flight.'

Cars and spectators crowd the Sand Point area of North Titusville, Florida on launch morning. This photo shows traffic along the Max Brewer Memorial Parkway

Details of the flight were eagerly devoured on the day after the landing; the News Citizen was a local Houston-area newspaper

Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins are addressed by President Nixon aboard the USS Hornet on 24 July 1969. He told the astronauts that the moon landing was the greatest moment in the history of the world, since our creation

The Saturn V space rocket is assembled by NASA during the 1960s

Aldrin, Collins, and Armstrong at Keneddy Space Center for an open house for space workers on the morning of 16 July 1989, for the twentieth anniversary of the launch

This week, NASA announced plans to return to the moon in 2024 - and they insisted that they won't be waiting another five decades go back after that.

The space agency is aiming to land an unmanned vehicle on the moon in the next five years, which will provide the basis for a manned crew to return for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

NASA say's it will develop a re-usable lunar lander, that aims to make it easier for astronauts to shuttle back and forth from the moon.

'This time, when we go to the moon, were actually going to stay. Were not going to leave flags and footprints and then come home, to not go back for another 50 years,' NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said on Thursday.

'Were doing it entirely different than every other country in the world. What were doing is, were making it sustainable so you can go back and forth regularly with humans.'

Picturing Apollo 11: Rare Views and Undiscovered Moments by J. L. Pickering and John Bisney, is available to buy here.
The two Nigerian brothers arrested over the Jussie Smollett attack are actors Abimbola 'Abel' and Olabinjo 'Ola' Osundairo, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

The pair were picked up by police at Chicago O'Hare Airport on Wednesday as they arrived back in America after visiting family in Nigeria to be questioned over the January 29 attack involving the star.

It came as Smollett faced allegations that he had staged the attack because he was being written out of Empire, the popular Fox show on which he appears.

The two brothers were arrested on suspicion of battery but, as of Friday afternoon, they had not been charged.

Police can now hold them for an additional 24 hours without charge if the prosecutor's office agrees, or must file charges by 5.45pm on Friday.

Ola appeared on Empire in 2015 and both brothers have had minor roles on Chicago PD.

Smollett follows their joint Instagram account and, according to their lawyer, sometimes goes to the gym with them. DailyMail.com has identified photographs of one of the brothers inside the gym in Smollett's apartment building in June last year. The gym is private to residents of the luxury condominium building.

They have denied any involvement in the attack and say they were horrified to hear o of it with the rest of the world when it grabbed headlines last month.

Scroll down for video

Abimbola 'Abel' (left), 25, and Olabinjo 'Ola' Osundairo (right) are the two brothers being questioned over the Jussie Smollett attack whose home was raided in Chicago on Wednesday

Chicago PD confirmed on Thursday that the pair seen in this image from surveillance footage around the time of the attack on January 29 (above) were the two people in custody. DailyMail.com can confirm that those people are Abel and Ola Osundairo

Police sources said on Thursday night that they were pursuing the theory that Smollett orchestrated the hoax because he was being written out of the show and wanted to drum up publicity to save his role - a claim that has been strenuously denied by the show and uncorroborated by the police department.

In his reports to police, Smollett says he was attacked by two assailants whose facial features he could not make out but that it was a racist, homophobic ambush during which they called him 'Empire f****t n****r' and shouted: 'This is MAGA country!'

The brothers' names are also included on a list of evidence that was left at their home after Chicago PD officers ransacked it on Thursday and the pair are listed in public records as the tenants of that house.

'The two individuals interviewed are classfied (sic) as potential suspects.

'Detectives have probable cause that they may have been involved in an alleged crime and we are working to corroborate the allegations and investigative timeline as our investigation continues,' Anthony Guglielmi, the chief communications officer for the Chicago Police Department, said in a statement.

Before returning to the US on Wednesday, they shared photographs and videos on Instagram of their time in Nigeria.

Neither has been charged and Chicago Police Department has until 5.45pm on Friday to charge or release them.

The brothers' lawyer Gloria Schmidt spoke out on Thursday to say they were 'baffled' by the allegations against them and that they are innocent.

'They were actually detained at customs at OHare airport yesterday around 5:45 p.m.

Ola appeared on the second season of Empire as an extra. He is shown with Lee Daniels, the show's creator, on set in 2015

The brothers' names are included in this inventory list that police left with their relatives detailing all the items they took from the house as part of their investigation. The list included proof of residency for both brothers and bottles of LA's Totally Awesome bleach

Smollett follows the brothers' joint Instagram account where they post videos and photographs of themselves working out

The two brothers were in Nigeria at the start of the month. They flew there hours after the Smollett attack on January 29 and returned on Wednesday

'They had no idea what was going on, and theyve been detained since then,' Gloria Schmidt, the pair's lawyer, told CBS Chicago on Thursday night.

'When they first learned about what happened to him they were horrified.

Smollett wept in his first interview about the attack that was aired on Good Morning America on Thursday and said he was heartbroken that his story had been questioned

'This is someone they know.

'This is someone theyve worked with, so they dont want to see somebody go through that.

'They are really baffled why they are people of interest.

'They really dont understand how they even got information that linked them to this horrific crime, but they are not guilty of it,' she said.

TMZ reported that detectives found the men by looking at ride-sharing history records from the night of the attack.

Smollett, 36, says he was attacked by two men on January 29 as he walked home from a Subway at 2am.

He has since said he believes he was targeted because he is a vocal critic of President Trump and that he would have had more public support if he had said his attackers were 'black, Muslim or Mexican'.

Among items police seized from the home were black ski masks. It is not known if they were the same as those shown above which the brothers sell online. Smollett said one of his attackers was wearing a ski mask when he was attacked

In a June 2018 Instagram video, one of the brothers is seen walking on his hands on a treadmill inside the private gym in Smollett's luxury apartment building

The gym in Smollett's building is only open to residents. The brothers' lawyer said on Thursday that they worked out with the actor and were friends

JUSSIE SMOLLETT ATTACK TIMELINE January 29 12.30am: Neighbor claims to see two suspicious men, one with a rope, outside Smollett's apartment building 2am: Smollett is filmed on surveillance cameras leaving Subway Sometime in the next few minutes, he is attacked by the men as he talked on the phone with manager Brandon Z. Moore. He is picked back up by surveillance cameras entering his apartment building afterwards, 2.35am: Frank Gatson, his friend who was in his apartment, insists that they call the police 2.42am: Police arrive at the actor's apartment and find him still wearing the rope the attackers placed around his neck. It is not fastened in a noose and is slack. Smollett takes himself to the hospital afterwards. January 30: Chicago PD releases surveillance footage of persons of interest seen near the area of attack at around the same time. Smollett's cast mates lead tributes to him and condemnations of the incident Smollett's manager, Brandon Z. Moore, tells Variety they were on the phone at the time of the incident and that he heard what the attackers say. January 31st: President Trump condemns the attack as 'horrible' February 1st: Smollett's family speaks out and labels the attack a 'hate crime' Smollett breaks his silence with his own statement slamming misinformation about the attack. February 2nd: A defiant Smollett plays a sold out show at The Troubador in Los Angeles February 5th: Chicago PD releases incident report which reveals Smollett did not want to call police. There is no mention of the MAGA country remark which he gave in a follow-up interview Brandon Z. Moore, his manager, gives police a screenshot to prove their call. February 11th: Smollett finally hands over redacted phone records to prove the phone call but police label them 'insufficient'. His neighbors say they don't believe his version of events. February 12th: Smollett's rep releases statement to say he is the victim and that he has been telling the truth February 13th: GMA teases interview with Smollett crying. Police say they are no further with inquiries. February 14: Smollett's full interview is aired between 7am and 8am. At 9.40am, police announce they have ID'd the people in the video Advertisement

While Chicago PD will not confirm on the record that the two men being questioned are the two black actors, they did tell DailyMail.com on Thursday that they are the men who were seen in surveillance camera footage walking near the area of the attack at around the same time.

Smollett said on Thursday that he had 'no doubt' the people in the video were who punched him, tied a noose around his neck and poured bleach on him.

He said the attack, which only lasted around 30 seconds, included them saying: 'This is MAGA country!' and calling him 'Empire f****t n****r'.

On Thursday, the show issued a statement to deny that Jussie was being written out of the show.

'The idea that Jussie Smollett has been, or would be, written off of EMPIRE is patently ridiculous.

'He remains a core player on this very successful series and we continue to stand behind him,' it said.

Chicago police also would not confirm that it was a hoax.

'Interviews will resume today with the two people of interest and their attorney.

'While we haven't found any video documenting the alleged attack.

This is the home in Chicago where the brothers live with their relatives. It was raided on Wednesday night

Chicago PD broke the door to the brothers' family home when they raided it on Wednesday and terrified their relatives inside

This was the scene after the police had 'searched' the family's home. Their relatives say they were asked about how the men knew Smollett

The photos show two men walking on North New Street (depicted above) near East Illinois Street around 1.45am on Tuesday. Smollett told police that he was walking alone down East North Water Street in the 300-block around 2am when the two men approached him

'There is also no evidence to say that this is a hoax. The alleged victim is being cooperative at this time and continues to be treated as the victim, not a suspect.

'The investigation continues,' Anthony Guglielmi, Chicago PD spokesman, said on Friday.

In a tweet on Thursday, he slammed ABC Chicago for reporting unconfirmed source claims.

'Media reports anout the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted ABC Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate,' he added.

Police seized a black face mask hat, an Empire script, a phone, receipts, five bottles of bleach, a red hat, two laptops and other items from the home where the brothers live.

The relative, who was home when the raid happened on Wednesday night, described hearing loud banging on the door before police flooded into the home and announced that they had a search warrant.

The woman, who is in her 20s, told CBS Chicago she was 'so scared' and thought she was going to die. She said she was patted down by an officer and asked by detectives if she knew Smollett.

She said that she thinks the brothers are being question because of their loose Empire connection to Smollett and the fact that they left for Nigeria on the same day of the attack.

In his hour-long interview with Good Morning America that was aired in part on Thursday, Smollett, wearing a collection of badges to show his support of Freedom and Pride among other causes, revealed his frustration at some of the public disbelief surrounding his version of events.

The actor wept as he said 'who the f*** would make that up' when addressing the skepticism surrounding his version of events

He said he does not think he would have been met with the same cynicism if his attackers weren't Trump supporters and revealed his belief that he was targeted because he is a vocal critic of the president.

Smollett also went into detail about why he did not immediately hand over his phone to the police to verify parts of his story and said he was trying to protect private photographs, videos, songs and phone numbers of high profile people and his partner.

He said he was frustrated that Chicago Police had not yet found surveillance footage of the incident and revealed his disappointment after learning that a camera at the very spot of the attack was turned in the opposite direction when it took place.

Choking back tears, he explained when asked why it took so long for him to contact the authorities: 'There is a level of pride there. We live in a society where as a gay man you are considered somehow to be weak and I am not weak. I am not weak and we as a people are not weak.'

Describing the chain of events once police arrived at his apartment at the request of 60-year-old Frank Gatson, his friend who was at the apartment when the attack took place.

'I told them what happened. I asked them to turn their body cameras off. I was like, "Please just come in.

'I don't want a big scene with my neighbors,"' he said, adding that he had left the rope around his neck and his bleach-doused clothes on for them to see.

He said that while he left the rope around his neck, it was not 'wrapped' tightly.

After the police had come into his apartment, he took them down to where the attack happened to walk them through it and became excited when he noticed a camera overlooking the exact spot where it took place.

Last week, police discovered a Chilli Habanero hot sauce bottle which seemed to contain bleach (above). It was found near where Smollett says he was attacked and had bleach poured on him . It was found 10 days after the attack

A week before the attack, Smollett received this threatening letter at the Fox studio where he works

'I looked up and saw there was a camera, directly on the post on the intersection.

Smollett is pictured in the hospital after a friend called the police to report him being attacked. He did not want to involve authorities

'Then the detective told me that the camera was facing north so they didn't have it and that was disappointing.'

Later, he added how desperate he was for them to find footage of the attack.

'I want that video found so badly because, for probably four reasons.

'Number one, I want them to find the people that did it.

'Number two, I want them to stop being able to say "alleged" attack.

'Number three, I want them to see that I fought back,' he continued, welling-up.

'I want a little gay boy who might watch this to see that I fought the f*** back. They ran off,' I didn't,' he said.

He was overcome with emotion when presented with the prospect that his attackers might not be found.

'Let's just hope that they are found.

'Let's not go there yet. I was talking to a friend and I said,"I just hope they find them." And she said, "Sweetie, they're not going to find them."


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Thousands of brave African-American soldiers were honored as they marched seven miles up Fifth Avenue to Harlem, two years after they were barred from farewell parades because 'black was not a color of the rainbow.'

These stunning images show the glorious heroes' welcome they received from white and black Americans as they marched through New York on February 17, 1919 after defeating the Kaiser in WWI.

Originally known as the 15th New York, an African-American regiment in a segregated Army and National Guard, the men of the 369th Infantry Regiment distinguished themselves in combat, fighting with the French Army.

They spent 191 days on the front - the most of any American regiment - and sustained 1,500 casualties - more than any American regiment.

Prior to their departure in 1917 a commander of the 15th asked to march in New York with the 42nd - nicknamed the 'Rainbow Division' - but was told by the commander that 'black was not a color of the rainbow.'

Among those who marched on their return in 1919 was Sgt. Henry Johnson who was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his brave fighting in the notorious Argonne Forest late in the war.

Historians believe Johnson may have been outnumbered by as many as 24 Germans as a raiding party descended on him - he earned himself the nickname 'the Black Death' after he wiped out four of them and sent the rest running.

The color guard of the 369th Infantry Regiment parades up Fifth Avenue in New York as thousands of men, women and children packed the streets to watch more than 2,000 of the 'Harlem Hellfighters' who distinguished themselves on the battlefields of France during WWI and helped defeat the Kaiser. The New York Times reported: 'The entire regiment was awarded the Croix de Guerre. Under fire for 191 days they never lost a prisoner or a foot of ground.' The paper was full of praise for the men that day, with the headline: 'Fifth Avenue Cheers Negro Veterans'

Originally known as the 15th New York, an African-American regiment in a segregated Army and National Guard, the men of the 369th Infantry Regiment were barred from a farewell parade in 1917 because a company commander of a division, known as the 'Rainbow Division' said 'black was not a color of the rainbow.' On their return the Times wrote: 'The negro soldiers were astonished at the hundreds of thousands who turned out to see them and New Yorkers, in their turn, were mightily impressed by the magnificent appearance of these fighting men'

Soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment parade up Fifth Avenue to a heroes' welcome as flags saying 'Welcome Home' fly from the skyscrapers and white and black American cheer them down the street. As they made the seven mile walk members of the public threw the men packs of cigarettes, flowers and sweets. The regiment spent more days than any other American unit on the front-lines with 191 days, and suffered the most casualties with 1,500.

Sgt. Henry Johnson of the 369th became a U.S. Army legend: he killed four Germans and chased away many others after they overran his position. 'They fled in fear as Pvt. William Henry Johnson wielded his bolo knife, hacking away at them after expending his bullets,' an Army article detailed. 'The French and American Soldiers, he served with on the battlefields of France during World War I, were in awe of him following that epic struggle.'

Soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment band stand at rest as they wait to march up Fifth Avenue in New York City on February 17, 1919 during the parade. The 369th relied upon their band for morale and by the end of the war their band was one of the most famous in Europe. It introduced Jazz to British and French audiences for the first time.

Children wait to cheer the soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment as they parade up Fifth Avenue. For many of the African-Americans it was the first time they had been permitted to or even felt it appropriate that they should show pride in waving American flags. The New York Sun reported that as they came into Harlem, the crowd and the veterans were overcome with emotion as they recognized each other: 'The fathers and mothers and wives and sweethearts of the men would no longer be denied and they swooped through police lines like water through a sieve'

Members of the regiment wave after returning home to New York. When they turned up in North Carolina before being sent to France, they suffered horrible racist abuse so their commander pushed for them to be sent to Europe as early as possible. The French Army were ambivalent about using black soldiers, recruiting widely from their African colonies during the war, and the Harlem natives were soon brought to the front

A cartoon of Sgt Henry Johnson from the time, it says: 'Sgt. Henry Johnson - American Hero of World War I - An Inspiration To Our Fighting Men Today.' He was finally awarded the Purple Heart in 1996. In 2002, the U.S. military awarded him the Distinguished Service Cross. Previous efforts to secure the Medal of Honor failed, but in 2015 he was posthumously honored with the award.

The 369th New York City Infantry and some of the 370th Infantry, Illinois (another African-American regiment) troops, docking at the Hudson in New York City after their transatlantic crossing in early 1919. Thousands of them would take part in a parade through the city in their honor.

Soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment parade up Fifth Avenue in New York City as members of the police force stand in their honor along with civilians. By this time news of their bravery had hit headlines in the Big Apple. A story in the Saturday Evening Post newspaper drew national attention with an article called 'Young Black Joe' which lauded Sgt. Henry Johnson for his courage in the Argonne Forest

Soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment parade up Fifth Avenue in New York holding their rifles with long bayonets attached after they saw some of the most heinous atrocities of war, having been exposed to more fighting than any other American regiment. The fighting in the Argonne Forest was notoriously brutal as the retreating German army embedded themselves in concrete pill boxes in dense forest.

Sgt. Henry Johnson waves to well-wishers, holding flowers and an American flag as his 369th Infantry Regiment march up Fifth Avenue. As his car went up the street, the New York Times reported: 'Shouts of "Oh you Henry Johnson" and "Oh you Black Death," resounded every few feet for seven long miles followed by condolences for the Kaiser's men.' Johnson's Medal of Honor citation, awarded by President Barack Obama in 2015 said: 'Wielding only a knife and gravely wounded himself, Private Johnson continued fighting and took his Bolo knife and stabbed it through an enemy soldier's head. Displaying great courage, Private Johnson held back the enemy force until they retreated.'

Wounded Soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment are driven up Fifth Avenue in New York City. The regiment suffered 1,500 casualties, the most of any of the US regiments in WWI after they were exposed to brutal levels of violence on the front-lines. Despite their heroism, the racial segregation of the Jim Crow era persisted into WWII and the blacks did not fight alongside the whites - they were kept apart and often given lowly combat support roles
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A Berlin zoo has released adorable photographs of an 11-week old polar bear, receiving her first ever medical exam at which she was confirmed female.

The youngster was vaccinated, wormed, weighed measured during yesterday's check-up, for which her mother Tonja had to be lured away from her cub for the first time with food.

The as yet unnamed cub was born in Tierpark Berlin on December 1 to the delight of zookeepers and visitors to the German capital.

A little polar bear was confirmed to be female after her first examination by the animal doctors at the zoo in Berlin, Germany on February 14

Zoo director Andreas Knieriem (pictured) said the as yet unnamed bear is 'cheery and strong' and that vets are satisfied with her development so far

Zoo director and vet Dr Andreas Knieriem said: 'The little polar bear is a cheery, strong girl. We were also able to convince ourselves personally of the development of the baby and are extremely satisfied.'

Staff also remarked that the baby bear had 'a loud voice and a few pretty sharp claws'.

The zoo has shared pictures of the cub and revealed she is 8.5kg (18.7 pounds) and is 61cm (24 inches) from head to tail.

But she still needs rest and zero stress in order for Tonja to nurse her to full strength as the infant mortality rate among polar bears is high; Tonja's last two cubs died within months of birth.

The cub was born on December 1 at Tierpark Berlin to mother Tonja, from whom she was separated yesterday for the first time for her medical exam

Animal doctor and zoo director Andreas Knieriem (centre) and animal doctor Guenter Strauss (left) examined the baby bear. The zoo wrote on Twitter that she has a 'loud voice and sharp claws'
A man was stabbed in the middle of Croydon during the morning rush hour today as a second victim was knifed just hours later yards from a primary school.

The first victim, a 42-year-old man, was stabbed in the chest on a busy high street at around 9am while the second, also a man, was attacked at around 12:30 pm in west London, in the shadow of St Lawrence R C Primary School.

The 42-year-old was taken to a South London hospital while the second was tended to just three hours later in Feltham west London after another horrific stabbing.

Police at the scene of the Croydon stabbing examine items left in the area the incident took place

Police survey the scene in Croydon this morning. A man was stabbed during morning rush hour

The man believed to be aged in his 30s, was found by police with a stab wound and remains in a critical condition in a central London hospital.

London Air Ambulance attended the sceneat the block of flats and a woman has been arrested in connection.

Concerning the Croydon attack, a spokeswoman for the Met said police were called at 8.46 this morning.

Images from the scene show officers behind a cordon checking for clues as the busy high street is shut off to passers-by.

The stabbing in Bertelli Place, Feltham took place opposite St Lawrence R C Primary School

Police confirmed a 42-year-old man had suffered a stab wound to the chest.

'He was taken by LAS to a South London hospital. We await an update on his condition,' said a statement.

They also said that officers from Croydon are continuing to investigate and that they are yet to make an arrest.

The man was stabbed in the chest this morning on Croydon High Street, pictured

Croydon High Street remains taped off to the public as police carry out their investigations

The cordon in South London stretched around 100 metres on the pedestrianised part of the street and does not affect the roads.

A second cordon ran outside The Arcade, a small shopping arcade that is populated by bars and cafes.

The cordon stretches around 100 metres on the pedestrianised part of the street

A spokeswoman for the London Ambulance Service said: 'We were called at 8:44am today (15 February) to reports of an incident on High Street, Croydon.

'We sent an advanced paramedic, an ambulance crew and two single responders in cars to the scene.

'We treated a man at the scene and took him to a major trauma centre as a priority.'

Already this year at least nine people have been murdered in the capital including Lejean Richards, 19, who was stabbed near Prince George's school earlier this week

The news follows a deadly knife attack in East Dulwich on Sunday, the day after three more stabbings in London - none of which were fatal, and two in east London.

A man in his 20s was found in Waddington Street, Stratford, with multiple wounds to his back at around 1.30pm on Tuesday.

Another man, aged in his late teens, was found in nearby Cruikshank Road with stab wounds to his leg and buttocks. Neither of the men's conditions were described as critical.

Dennis Anderson, 39, from Lewisham was the man stabbed to death in the early hours of Sunday morning, in an apparent row over cigarettes in an off licence.

On Saturday afternoon, four people were arrested in Hayes - including two teenage boys - following the stabbing of a 16-year-old boy.

Dennis Anderson was stabbed to death in East Dulwich over the weekend after a man confronted him in a corner shop in an apparent row over a packet of cigarettes

The victim was rushed to hospital by air ambulance where his condition is described as 'not life-threatening'.

A few hours later, a 17-year-old boy was shot in Isleworth, west London. He was taken to hospital where he is in a critical condition.

Eleven people have been murdered in London so far this year, at least seven of whom have been fatally stabbed.

It follows the deadliest year in a decade in the capital with 134 killings in 2018.

Last Thursday, the Office for National Statistics revealed that the number of fatal stabbings is now at the highest level since records began in 1946.

Some 285 people were stabbed to death in the year ending March 2018, with attacks 'most pronounced' in young men.
A Florida attorney has been sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay $19.7million in restitution for securities fraud.

Court records show that James Schneider, 77, of Hillsboro Beach, Florida, was sentenced Thursday in Miami federal court.

In December, a federal jury convicted Schneider of 33 charges, including conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud, as well as money laundering, according to a Department of Justice media alert.

Attorney James Schneider was sentenced to seven year in prison after being found guilty of 33 charges during his trial at the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. United States Courthouse in Miami

Schneider was one of 12 defendants who were convicted in a 'pump-and-dump' 'stock swindle,' a type of securities fraud in which the price of owned stocks are artificially inflated through false, extremely exaggerated or misleading statements, with the end goal of selling the cheaply purchased stocks at a higher price.

U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno (pictured) sentenced Schneider on Thursday

Authorities said the defendants were fraudulently registering shell companies with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), then issuing a class of free-trading shares in the companies that were secretly controlled and selling off the shares.

Schneider's role in the 'pump-and-dump' swindle was to author fake legal opinion letters to create 20 shell companies. The letters indicated that the company shares were owned by people who were not 'affiliates,' even though the shares were actually owned and controlled by his co-conspirators.

Investors then spent millions for shares of the companies from 2008 to 2013.

At his sentencing Thursday in Miami, U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno declared that Schneider would serve seven years in prison for his role in the securities fraud scheme.

Scheider was also told he would need to pay $19.7million in restitution to 2,156 investors, as well as forfeit $4.8million.

It's believed that Schneider and the 11 other defendants pocketed more than $5.6million in profits through their scheme, according to Law.com.
Prosecutors have opened an investigation into alleged 'sexual aggression' by Catholic priest Luigi Ventura (pictured)

The Vatican's envoy to France is being investigated over claims he sexually molested a young male employee at Paris City Hall.

Prosecutors have launched a probe into alleged 'sexual aggression' by Catholic priest Luigi Ventura, the Apostolic Nuncio to France.

According to French media, 74-year-old Ventura is suspected of having sexually molested the man in the capital on January 17.

Le Monde newspaper first reported the investigation and the allegations against Ventura on Friday.

Ventura has been based in Paris since 2009 and serves as a diplomat for Pope Francis.

He was reportedly accused of molesting a man at the Paris town hall where mayor Anne Hidalgo gave a traditional New Year's address to diplomats, religious leaders and civil society figures.

A complaint was filed by the mayor's office on January 24 which led to an investigation being opened the day after, a judicial source said.

An investigation will be conducted by Paris police, added the official, who was not authorised to speak publicly because the investigation is ongoing.

'During the ceremony, a city employee was repeatedly groped on the backside, in three instances, once in front of a witness,' a town hall source said.

'It was quickly decided to report the matter to the public prosecutor,' said Patrick Klugman, deputy mayor responsible for international relations.

Ventura has been based in Paris since 2009 and serves as a diplomat for Pope Francis. He is pictured with French President Emmanuel Macron on January 4, 2018

The town hall filed a complaint on January 24 and an investigation was opened the next day, the judicial source said.

The case involves a man in his 30s who works in the town hall's international relations' department.

Italian-born Ventura previously served in Brazil, Bolivia and Britain before being appointed papal nuncio to Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Niger, Chile and then Canada.

Catholic clerics have been denounced in countries as far afield as Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ireland and the United States, prompting pledges from Francis to rid the church of a scourge that has done enormous damage to its standing.

Pope Francis has vowed that the church will no longer ignore abuse allegations, and he removed two prominent cardinals from his inner circle late last year after they were tainted by paedophile scandals.

The Vatican flag flying on the building of the Vatican Embassy in Paris today

Ventura, an archbishop, has served as apostolic nuncio to France since 2009 and is covered by diplomatic immunity.

His Paris office did not respond to a request for comment.

The pope has summoned a Church-wide meeting next week at the Vatican to notably discuss abuse of minors by clerics.

France's Catholic Church has seen its share of scandals in recent years.

On March 7, a court in Lyon is due to give its verdict in the case of Philippe Barbarin, the southeastern city's 68-year-old archbishop, and five former aides, all of whom are accused of covering up the sexual abuse of former boy scouts by a priest.

That priest, 73-year-old Bernard Preynat, was charged in 2016 with assault cases going back more than 20 years. He is expected to be tried later this year.

French filmmaker Francois Ozon made a film related to the case, and a court will decide on Monday whether it can go on public release ahead of Preynat's trial.

French President Emmanuel Macron greets Apostolic Nuncio to France Luigi Ventura during his New Year address to diplomats at the Elysee Palace in Paris last month

In the past, the Vatican - in line with diplomatic custom - has recalled any representatives implicated in scandal.

In 2012, for example, Polish archbishop Jozef Wesolowski was secretly recalled as papal nuncio from the Dominican Republic following reports he paid for sexual encounters with children.

The Vatican refused to extradite him to Poland for trial, but an ecclesiastical court found him guilty and he was defrocked in June 2014.

The Church decided to further try him on criminal charges, but he died following a cardiac arrest in August 2015 before the trial opened. He was 67.

In another case however Australian Cardinal George Pell, a close aide to the pope, last year returned from the Vatican to Australia to face child sex charges.

Pell was not covered by diplomatic immunity in that case.
Prize-winning British author Andrea Levy, whose books included Windrush novel Small Island and The Long Song, has died from cancer aged 62.

One of the first black British authors to achieve both critical and commercial success, Levy was best known for her novel 'Small Island,' which tells the story of two couples, one English and one Jamaican, whose lives intertwine in London after World War II.

The saga of war and racism won several major literary prizes: the Orange Prize for women's fiction, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Whitbread Book of the Year award.

Georgina Moore from Levy's publisher Tinder Press said the author died yesterday after having been 'ill for some time.'

Small Island author Andrea Levy (pictured in 2005) has died of cancer, aged 62

Author Anna Mazzola expressed her sadness after hearing about Andrea Levy's death

Bonny Greer described Levy's fourth book Small Island as 'a masterpiece'

Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbot described Small Island as 'a groundbreaking, definitive book about the post war Caribbean immigrant experience'

Levy did not begin writing until she was in her mid-30s after completing a creative writing course. Her first books 'Every Light in the House Burnin,' 'Never Far From Nowhere' and 'Fruit of the Lemon' - drew on her background as the child of Jamaican immigrants growing up in London.

Levy's own parents had came to the UK from Jamaica on the Empire Windrush in 1948, eight years before she was born in London.

Though critically praised, her early books failed to win a mass audience. That changed with her fourth novel 'Small Island,' which made Levy one of Britain's hottest writers.

Levy's long-time editor and publisher of Small Island Jane Morpeth, said: 'Her legacy is unique, and her voice will be heard for generations to come. I miss her.'

Small Island won the Whitbread prize and the Orange Prize For Fiction as well as the Commonwealth Writers' prize.

Levy, who grew up in a working-class north London neighbourhood, started writing fiction in her 30s when she enrolled in a creative writing course in London.

Her publishers Tinder Press said they were deeply saddened after losing 'an award-winning, inspirational author' and a 'wonderful person and friend'

Telling the story of Jamaicans and Londoners involved in the Second World War, the 2004 novel was adapted into a BBC drama starring Naomie Harris and Ruth Wilson.

The much-loved work is also being adapted for the stage by the National Theatre.

Levy was said to be 'very involved' in the production, to debut this spring.

She was also known for her last novel, The Long Song, set in early 19th century-Jamaica during the last years of slavery and the period immediately after emancipation.

The award-winning 2010 novel, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize, recently aired as a three-part BBC drama.

She also published 'Six Stories and an Essay,' in 2014, a series of short stories and a piece about her Caribbean heritage.

Andrea Levy, pictured, only started writing when she was in her 30s after creating a creative writing course

Tottenham MP David Lammy said Levy left behind 'a special canon of work which will indelibly mark our understanding of the Black British and Caribbean contribution to the UK'

'When I started out, I was seen as a sort of marginal voice - the attitude was that only black people would read the books,' Levy told The Associated Press in 2005. 'It was very hard, because I was writing something a little bit different, in that I was just writing about family, small stories. At that time, the prevailing trend was more sort of guns and drugs and stuff, and so they didn't quite know what to do with me. They didn't think there'd be a market for it.'

But 'Small Island' became a classic word-of-mouth success, helped by warm reviews on Internet discussion groups.

Sharmaine Lovegrove paid an emotional tribute describing her passing as 'a huge loss'

It focused on people like her parents - the post-war 'Windrush generation,' named for SS Empire Windrush, a former troop ship that sailed from Jamaica to England in 1948 carrying hundreds of West Indian migrants.

The immigrants, many of whom fought against the Nazis in World War II, often found themselves to be unwelcome in Britain. Two characters from the book, Gilbert and Hortense, are shocked by the racism they encounter, and by the realization that the 'Mother Country' is a shabby dark nation recovering from war.

'I don't really believe in baddies and goodies,' Levy said. 'I don't believe in good and evil. I think we all have the capacity for both, every one of us, depending on circumstances. I like to bring that out in characters.'

Her novel, The Long Song was nominated for the Man Booker Prize in 2010

Sir Lenny Henry, who is a board member of the National Theatre and collaborated with the author, paid tribute to his friend: 'Andrea Levy came into my life via her wonderful book Small Island. I was incredibly annoyed because my friend and colleague Vicky Licorish had secured the rights for broadcast TV and the resulting two-parter was fantastic.

'I wanted it to go on forever. That's the thing about Andrea Levy's work - when you're dug deep, reading, experiencing the story with her characters  no matter how grim the tale  you don't want it to stop.

'Andrea's a don  long may her legacy reign.'

Her publisher Headline said 'she had been ill for some time'.

Levy's long-time editor and publisher of Small Island Jane Morpeth, said: 'Her legacy is unique, and her voice will be heard for generations to come. I miss her.'

Headline said Levy's 'novels have perhaps never been more relevant or important in their questioning of identity and belonging'.

She was 'widely regarded as the first black British author to achieve both critical and mainstream commercial success'.

Levy's father had sailed from Jamaica to England on the Empire Windrush and her mother joined him soon after.

Small Island won the Whitbread prize and the Orange Prize For Fiction as well as the Commonwealth Writers' prize.

Telling the story of Jamaicans and Londoners involved in the Second World War, the 2004 novel was adapted into a BBC drama starring Naomie Harris and Ruth Wilson.

The much-loved work is also being adapted for the stage by the National Theatre.

The author was said to be 'very involved' in the production, to debut this spring.

Levy was also known for The Long Song, set in early 19th century-Jamaica during the last years of slavery and the period immediately after emancipation.

The award-winning 2010 novel recently aired as a three-part BBC drama.

The Long Song was her last novel and was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize.

Levy's other works include Fruit Of The Lemon, Never Far From Nowhere and Every Light In The House Burnin'.
More than two dozen students from a middle school south of Atlanta have been taken to hospitals after eating candy and snacks on Valentine's Day.

The 28 school children had consumed food items which had reportedly been brought to the school in South Foulton, Georgia, to celebrate the occasion.

Officials at Sandtown Middle School said children had experienced nausea and shortness of breath and other reactions.

The 28 children had consumed snacks and candy which had reportedly been brought to the middle school in South Foulton, south of Atlanta, Georgia, to celebrate the Valentine's Day

City spokeswoman Ashley Minter-Osanyinbi says the students were taken to two local hospitals.

Fulton County Schools spokeswoman Susan Romanick says the students were first evaluated by paramedics, and then taken to two Children's Healthcare of Atlanta campuses.

Romanick said she didn't know what type of candy and snacks were eaten.

She said that question is part of an investigation being done by the school system's police department.
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Vice President Mike Pence and his wife have made their first visit to Auschwitz and were joined by Polish President Andrzej Duda to honor those killed by the Nazis.

Pence toured the memorial site of the infamous concentration camp in southern Poland on Friday morning, along with Donald Trump's son-in-law, and adviser, Jared Kushner.

It was Pence's first visit to the site where the Nazis murdered 1.1 million prisoners, most of them Jews, but also Poles, Roma, and other minorities during WWII.

Pence and his wife Karen were seen walking through the notorious gate with the German words 'Arbeit Macht Frei' - the Nazi slogan meaning, 'Work sets you free.'

Vice President Mike Pence (second from right) with his wife Karen (right) and Poland's President Andrzej Duda with First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda stand at the 'Arbeit Macht Frei' gate at Auschwitz

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence with his wife Karen lay wreaths at the 'death wall'

Vice President Mike Pence holds on to his kippah at the Monument to the Victims at the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz II-Birkenau, near Oswiecim, Poland, February 15

White House adviser Jared Kushner (left) joined Pence on the visit to the camp at Auschwitz

Poland's President Andrzej Duda (L), US Vice President Mike Pence (R) and White House US Senior Advisor Jared Kushner visit the former German Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau

A man is seen at the site of the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz, during a visit of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, in Oswiecim, Poland

The prisoners of Auschwitz were either gassed to death on arrival or worked til they were exterminated at the horrific site in occupied Poland.

The vast complex includes surviving barracks and watchtowers as well as the ruins of gas chambers and crematoria where the Nazis murdered people and burned their bodies.

The visit also took them to the nearby site of Birkenau, where they stood silently before a historic cattle car, sat on the same train tracks that were used to transport thousands of Jews to their deaths.

Vice President Mike Pence adjusts his kippah as he carries a candle at the Monument to the Victims at the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp

Poland's President Andrzej Duda (R) and US Vice President Mike Pence carry candles as they paid tribute to victims at Auschwitz-Birkenau, on February 15

Pence with his wife Karen walk through the memorial on Friday

Pence signs the memorial book as Second Lady Karen Pence (C-L), Polish President Andrzej Duda (2nd from R), Polish First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda (R) and Jared Kushner (4th from L), Senior Advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, look on at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp memorial

White House US Senior Advisor Jared Kushner (R) is greeted during a visit the former German Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, on February 15

Jared Kushner, Senior Adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, visits the Auschwitz concentration camp memorial in a delegation with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence

The delegation were joined by the other officials taking part in a a Middle East peace conference in Warsaw.

On Thursday, Pence joined prime ministers Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland to lay a wreath at the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Memorial.

The visit comes after Pence accused Britain, France, Germany and the entire European Union of trying to evade the US sanctions on Iran.

He will conclude his trip at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

Major European powers have sent low-level representation to the US-initiated meeting.

The Warsaw conference is timed just as Iran's clerical regime celebrates 40 years since the Islamic revolution ousted the pro-US shah.

Jared Kushner (3rd from L), Senior Advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, and Ronald Lauder, (2nd from L) President of the World Jewish Congress, pause at wreaths left by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Polish President Andrzej Duda

Vice President Mike Pence (C-L), Second Lady Karen Pence, Polish President Andrzej Duda and Polish First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda prepare to lay candles at the main memorial as they visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp memorial

The delegation prepare to lay flowers as they visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp memorial on February 15, 2019 in Oswiecim, Poland

The visit also took them to the nearby site of Birkenau, where they stood silently before a historic cattle car, sat on the same train tracks that were used to transport thousands of Jews to their deaths

Pence is in Auschwitz following his participation in the recent Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East that took place in Warsaw. Auschwitz was among the most notorious of the Nazi concentration camps and was used by the Nazis to murder Jews on a mass scale

The site of the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz II-Birkenau is seen during the visit of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence

Pence and wife Karen and Poland's President Andrzej Duda with first lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda stand at the Monument to the Victims at the former Nazi German concentration camp

Duda (back-L) with his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda (back-R) and the Pences in a former crematorium during their visit to the former Nazi-German death camp of Auschwitz, in Oswiecim, southern Poland

The Polish first lady and the wife of the US vice president hold red roses to leave in honor of the victims

It was Pence's first visit to the site where the Nazis murdered 1.1 million prisoners, most of them Jews, but also Poles, Roma, and other minorities during WWII

United States Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence, left, walk with Poland's President Andrzej Duda and his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda, right, to lay wreaths at a death wall during their visit at the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland

On Thursday, Pence threatened further US sanctions as 'the people of Iran take to the streets' and its 'economy continues to plummet'.

He accused Iran of plotting a 'new Holocaust' with its opposition to Israel and regional ambitions in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

His colleague Kushner spoke in a behind-closed-doors meeting that day about the magnitude of the Mideast challenge, saying that the region's history has shown that pessimists about Israeli-Palestinian peace were 'usually right.'

But, he added: 'It's the optimists that bring the change.'
A pet owner in south China was left with a broken neck after his overexcited husky jumped from the roof of his three-storey home and landed on him.

The 67-year-old man was knocked out instantly after his 66lb pooch fell on him while trying to greet him as he returned home in Chenzhou, Hunan province on Saturday.

The pensioner, surnamed Liu, later said he thought the wall of his house had collapsed on him and didn't realise it was his beloved pet.

The man is currently recovering at Chenzhou No 1 People's Hospital following surgery. The dog was not injured in the accident, according to Beijing Youth Daily.

A 67-year-old pet owner in south China was left with a broken neck after his overexcited husky (left) jumped from the roof of the three-storey home in Hunan province and landed on him

The pensioner is currently recovering at Chenzhou No 1 People's Hospital following surgery

'The man couldn't move his limbs after the dog fell on him, leaving him paralysed temporarily,' Dr Wang said.

The family had only adopted the dog several months ago, but the pet had already formed a strong attachment to his owner, the report added.

'As soon as it saw me, it jumped down from the second floor terrace,' Liu said. 'It loves me very much.'

Wang Yuansong, a doctor at the hospital, told video news site Pear that the dog had landed on the man's shoulder and neck area.

A doctor at the hospital said the pooch fractured its owner's cervical vertebrae, bruising his spine in the process, but added it was too early to see if the damage was permanent

The pensioner has refused to punish his beloved husky, but decided to keep the dog chained to the terrace at home in order to avoid a similar incident in the future

He said the pooch fractured its owner's cervical vertebrae, bruising his spine in the process, but added it was too early to see if the damage was permanent.

It would take at least three months before the patient could fully recover, according to Dr Wang.

'I've never ever seen a dog cause such an injury,' spine surgeon Tong Jie said.

The pensioner has refused to punish his beloved husky, but decided to keep the dog chained to the terrace in order to avoid a similar incident.
Ex-corporal Andy Neal has been locked up in a Dubai prison since October after being wrongly being arrested on drugs charges

The father of a decorated British soldier wrongly jailed in Dubai jail on drugs charges says his son is in more danger now than when he fought the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Andrew Neal, 44, a war hero, has languished in prison for four months even though the case against him has collapsed.

Speaking about the toll his ordeal has taken on the family, his anguished father Maurice Neal says he and wife Sue worry more about their son now than when he fought for his country.

Maurice, 69, from Nottingham, told MailOnline: 'The stress and worry about Andy over these past four and a half months, frankly eclipses whatever anxiety we felt when he was serving in conflict zones overseas.

'If anything happened to him then, we knew it was for a cause, in service to our country.

Mr Neal's father Maurice (far right) says his son is in more danger now than when he fought the Taliban in Afghanistan and he has blasted the government for not doing more to help him

The dad-of-two, moved to Dubai with his teacher wife (right) to run a dog training school after 24 years serving with the army. He's still in jail despite prosecutors confirming he is innocent

'He is suffering now, and is facing danger and hardships for absolutely no reason. We are worried about the toll this is taking on him, on his wife and our grandchildren. They can't understand why their dad has been absent all this time, and neither can we.'

Maurice also lashed out the British Government for, claiming their son has been abandoned and has received no help to secure his release.

'It just makes no sense, and the inaction of the British government is deeply disappointing. This should have all been resolved four months ago, but the nightmare just drags on with no end in sight. It is unbearable.'

Mr Neal, a father-of-two, was accused of drug dealing and arrested at his home in the Arab kingdom on October 4.

Seven plain clothes police seized him as he returned from work to the flat which he shares with his teacher wife, 35, and two children and handcuffed him for 17 hours.

Later, despite having no idea what was being put in front of him, Mr Neal was said to have signed a confession with his fingerprint when he touched the paper it was written on.

Ex-corporal Andy Neal has been locked up in a Dubai prison since October after being wrongly being arrested on drugs charges

Seven plain clothes police seized him as he returned from work to the flat which he shares with his teacher wife, 35, and two children and handcuffed him for 17 hours

The Detained in Dubai pressure group yesterday highlighted the former military dog handler's plight as it appealed to the Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Mark Spencer, the Conservative MP for Sherwood in Mr Neal's home city of Nottingham, for help.

Though a popular tourist destination, Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates, has a poor human rights record. Mr Neal's is just the latest in series of cases of unlawful detention in the Emirates.

Detained in Dubai spokesman Radha Stirling said: 'It is shameful that law enforcement has a rubber stamp to ruin lives, rob children of their parents, and jail innocent persons with impunity. How is it that forced confessions are still standard procedure in the United Arab Emirates?'

Mr Neal accrued 14 medals and a commendation during a 24-year Army career which began in 1991.

He served in the Worcester and Sherwood Foresters Regiment, transferring to the Royal Army Veterinary Corporation in 2009 as a dog trainer and handler. His career included tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Ireland.

The former corporal was diagnosed with PTSD after his last deployment to Afghanistan.

The Neals, who have a daughter, six, and a son, two, moved to Dubai in 2015 and Mr Neal set up a dog training business.

His mother told MailOnline: 'I am appalled that he could be so horrendously treated. How can a judicial system do this to a man they know is innocent? Andy has experienced enough trauma in his life.'

Detained in Dubai accused police of 'despicable practice' in seizing Mr Neal after showing him what they said was a warrant in an Arabic WhatsApp message.

Speaking about the toll his ordeal has taken on the family, Mr Neal's anguished father Maurice Neal says he and wife Sue worry more about their son now than when he fought for his country. Pictured: Mrs Neal and his wife with their two children

The officers allegedly punched him twice in the stomach and pinned him against the bedroom wall by the neck as they told him 'you need to co-operate or you will be going away for ten years'.

They then took Mr Neal to the flat of a Dutch national called Ray whom they also arrested - claiming he had sold drugs to Mr Neal, before the Briton sold them on to a Pakistani-Canadian called Ahmed. Both men were taken to the Al Barsha police station, where Mr Neal allegedly spent 17 hours 'painfully handcuffed with no food, water or access to the bathroom'.

However, the police failed to find any drugs on him or in his flat and drug tests returned negative.

Nevertheless, officers forced Mr Neal to sign a statement with his fingerprint that was written in Arabic. When he complained that he had no idea what he was signing, the interrogator told Mr Neal the text included 'exactly what you said'. He later found out it was a confession.

When police eventually examined Mr Neal and Ray's phones, they found they had not communicated. A series of court hearings - some of which were cancelled when the prosecutor failed to turn up - followed as Mr Neal continued to protest his innocence.

On January 23 Ahmed denied accusing Mr Neal of supplying him with drugs, and his statement was retracted. Detained in Dubai said Mr Neal has been exonerated and yet he remains in detention.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was 'providing assistance'.
Up to 10 Labour MPs could quit Jeremy Corbyn's party over Brexit as soon as today, it has been claimed.

Pro-EU MPs have lost patience with Mr Corbyn's refusal to support a second referendum on Brexit - insisting he wants to deliver his own Brexit instead.

The group is thought to include Chuka Umunna, Chris Leslie, Luciana Berger, Ian Austin and Angela Smith. All have clashed repeatedly with Mr Corbyn.

More than 40 MPs defied the Labour leader to vote in favour of delaying Brexit to avoid no deal last night.

The Labour leader ordered his MPs to abstain on the SNP proposal telling the Prime Minister to seek an extension of Article 50 of at least three months - but 41 voted in favour of the plan.

The rebellions will fuel fears in the Labour leadership that pro-Remain MPs could finally breakaway from the party in a catastrophic split.

Up to 10 Labour MPs - a group thought to include Chuka Umunna (pictured) - could quit Jeremy Corbyn's party over Brexit as soon as today, it has been claimed

The group is thought to include Chuka Umunna, Chris Leslie (right), Luciana Berger (left), Ian Austin and Angela Smith. All have clashed repeatedly with Mr Corbyn

One Labour source told BuzzFeed that 'Friday has been talked about as the day to do it' by a group of seven to 10 Labour MPs.

Another source confirmed to the website that a 'cliched Valentine's Day break-up' had been discussed.

During yesterday's Brexit debate former shadow chancellor Chris Leslie lashed his party's position on Brexit.

He said: 'The idea that the Labour Party is not together and arguing against this tragedy, against this disaster is for me entirely heartbreaking.'

The MP branded Brexit an 'unmitigated disaster', adding he held the Prime Minister 'responsible' for the conduct of the negotiations.

He went on: 'But the truth is there have been an increasing number of people on these benches abstaining, even front benchers abstaining.

'Therefore we have to wait for members of the payroll, Government ministers to do the brave thing and resign to counteract for the loss of some of those numbers on what should be a solid Labour move against this outrageous situation.'

The new act of defiance came after a senior Labour MP accused Mr Corbyn of helping to deliver a Tory Brexit.

Clive Lewis, who quit the shadow cabinet to vote against triggering Article 50, warned Labour would be punished by voters for facilitating Theresa May's deal.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (pictured leaving home yesterday) ordered his MPs to abstain on the SNP proposal telling the Prime Minister to seek an extension of Article 50 of at least three months - but 41 voted in favour of the plan.

Mr Lewis's intervention came as Mr Corbyn was warned he could face a walk out of shadow ministers for failing to demand a second Brexit vote.

Referring to the Lib Dems who formed the coalition with the Conservatives in 2010, Mr Lewis said: 'They were utterly and comprehensively destroyed by the British public and not forgiven because they facilitated austerity.

'They facilitated the Tories doing that. And my fear is that what we are now doing is we are helping to facilitate a Tory Brexit.

'And the ramifications for our party I think will be severe.'

He added: 'And I tell you what, the Tory right wing mainstream media will get behind that narrative.

'And it is us, the Labour Party, who will pick up a lot of the flack for what happens.'
The killers of a medical student slashed his throat and wrote 'he's gay' in his blood across the wall of his dorm room.

Assil Belalta was found dead at his student residence at University City in Ben Aknoun, just outside Algiers, Algeria, on Sunday.

The 21-year-old has his throat cut in what has been reported as a homophobic killing by two attackers who then stole his car.

According to local media, the junior medical student was followed into his room at the Taleb Abderrahmane campus by his killers who then left him for dead after smearing his blood on the wall.

Alouen, an LGBT rights group, claimed in a Facebook post that the murder was fuelled by the Algerian government's anti-gay views.

Medical student Assil Belalta (left) was found dead at his student residence (right taped off by police) in Algiers with his throat cut

The killers wrote 'he's gay' across Mr Belalta's student dorm room walls after slashing his throat

Homosexuality has been illegal in the Islamic county since 1966 under Sharia Law, which can lead to punishments of fines or up to two years in jail.

Describing the murder as a 'homophobic hate crime' and 'a vile act', Alouen (or Colours in English) wrote on social media on Monday: 'This institutional and state homophobia is becoming commonplace.

'And inciting hatred against sexual minorities in Algeria is becoming commonplace for buzz and populism.

'Political leaders as well as some homophobic media are the real culprits of this homophobic crime that shook the campus yesterday.'

It has been reported in the Algerian media that Mr Belalta's could have been bisexual as he wrote on his Facebook page that he was 'interested in men and women'.

Police and paramedics outside the Taleb Abderrahmane campus where Mr Belalta was killed

The morning after the killing, several hundred students stood outside the Faculty of Medicine to hold a minute's silence in honour of Mr Belalta and some formed a human chain around the building, Algerian news site Dernieres Infos D'Algerie reported.

According to the newspaper, Tahar Hadjar, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, went to the scene of the murder and met with students.

Some Algerian social media posts have questioned the campus security amid growing concerns for safety, Algerian newspaper Le Matin reports.
Dr Charles Gillies O'Bryan-Tear, pictured outside Portsmouth Magistrates' Court failed in his attempt to prevent his neighbour William Tyrwhitt-Drake from hosting 'noisy' shooting parties on his Hampshire estate

A millionaire pharmacist has been carpeted by a judge after he tried to force a nobleman to make his shooting parties 'less noisy' following a decade-long neighbour's feud.

Dr Charles Gillies O'Bryan-Tear dragged his 'bitter' and 'spiteful' dispute with aristocrat William Tyrwhitt-Drake to court after the pair were unable to reach a compromise on the century-old game shooting events.

The Cambridge University-educated 63 year old's prolonged row with the Tyrwhitt-Drake family saw him make a series of complaints over a 'lengthy period'.

These included threatening to call the police and other authorities, trying to get his neighbour removed from the Countryside Alliance and calling for his wife to step down from the local parish council.

District Judge Anthony Callaway criticised Dr O'Bryan-Tear, telling him his 'lack of judgement' led to him acting 'unreasonably' and causing him to 'lose perspective'.

The pharmacist and Mr Tyrwhitt-Drake have been locked in the legal battle for two years, after Dr O'Bryan-Tear took up a private prosecution to have a noise abatement order issued.

Mr Tyrwhitt-Drake, whose ancestor was godson of English sea captain Sir Francis Drake, hosts a variety of shooting events at the 2,500-acre Bereleigh Estate with relatives Thomas and Edward.

Groups, parties and businesses flock from cities - many from London - to the prestigious rural retreat in East Meon, near Petersfield, Hampshire, so they can enjoy country pursuits, considered among the finest in the country.

Aristocrat William Tyrwhitt-Drake, pictured outside court, owns the 1,500-acre estate near East Meon, Hampshire where he runs thrice-weekly clay pigeon and game shooting events

Dr O'Bryan-Tear, who has over 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry and now acts as an leading expert adviser to huge firms across the world specialising in the field, has filed for a noise abatement order to prevent Tyrwhitt-Drake creating noise levels which are a 'nuisance'.

The complaints relate to noises between July 2016 and January 2017 following shoots on the estate in quiet East Meon, Hampshire.

Portsmouth Magistrates' Court heard Dr O'Bryan-Tear allege noisy shoots were being held up to three times a week at the stunning estate, popular for its clay pigeon and game shooting.

It was heard a recording measured gunshots heard from 63-year-old Dr O'Bryan-Tear's patio at 71 decibels, with the average range between 58 and 63.

The pharmacist objected to 'persistent' gunshots, which disturbed the 'tranquil South Downs', with the stress caused by the noise compared to someone coming up behind you and shouting boo.

During the trial, it was heard Dr O'Bryan-Tear's daughter had been given permission to ride horses on Mr Tyrwhitt-Drake's land almost a decade ago.

After moving to their new country home, which they bought for 1.4million in October 2006, the O'Bryan-Tear family increased the size of the land they lived on, going from five to 38 acres and moving the boundary closer to the Tyrwhitt-Drakes estate.

Judge Callaway said the first 'formal rupture' in the two families' friendship came in 2010, when Dr O'Bryan-Tear's daughter was no longer allowed to ride on their neighbours' land as the area she used was to be turned into a car park.

After that, he started making complaints about a series of issues - including shooting noise, 'glamping activities' and events held on the estate.

Dr O'Bryan-Tear bought a 1.4 million home next to the estate in October 2006

The court heard Dr O'Bryan-Tear even went as far as 'demanding' Mr Tyrwhitt-Drake resign from the Countryside Alliance and his wife Philippa do the same from her role on the local parish council.

Giving evidence, Lucinda O'Bryan-Tear - who runs a pre-prep school in London - said she and her husband went to the Tyrwhitt-Drake's house in 2010 to discuss the noise from the shoots.

But Mrs O'Bryan-Tear said when they got there they were invited to sit on a 'low level dog's sofa', claiming it was an attempt to belittle them - which Mr Tyrwhitt-Drake denied.

Mr Tyrwhitt-Drake told the court there had been no complaint about shooting at the estate since he moved there in 1958, adding it provided a lot of work to local residents.

Dismissing the noise abatement orders, Judge Callaway said: 'Although this case is concerned with game shooting, it is apparent that its ambit has stretched over many other aspects and been the subject of bitter dispute.

'Was there any need to demand the resignation of the defendant from the Shooting and Countryside Alliance by making the personal slight he is not fit for office?

'Was there any need to invite Philippa Tyrwhitt-Drake, the wife of the defendant, to resign from her post as a parish councillor?

'I have concluded the above approach illustrates, on balance, the complainant acted to a very considerable extent unreasonable in his dealings.

'This may have been a consequence of a lack of judgement, or a product of the complainant becoming so involved he came to lose perspective.

'[Dr O'Bryan-Tear] is a bad advocate in his own case.

'Both the complainant and his wife were at pains to stress during evidence that they were most reluctant to make formal complaints about the gun noise given they were "outsiders".

'Regrettably, from a minor disagreement the argument has become bitter, protracted and in many ways spiteful. As a consequence, a full scale neighbour dispute developed.

'I find that the action has fallen well short of the requisite standard. I recognise my decision will be a bitter blow to the complainant, who believe in the existence of the nuisance alleged.'

In 2016 the Tyrwhitt-Drake family made headlines after they announced they were selling the painting of Elizabeth I - 400 years after it was first owned by Sir Francis Drake.

Dr O'Bryan-Tear holds the title of M.D and is a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, a medical organisation with professionals from the three Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom.

He was previously Vice President of Global Clinical R&D at GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals.

Around a decade ago he became Chief Medical Officer of a Norwegian biotech company - later bought for $2.9 billion - where he worked on the development of a radiopharmaceutical for prostate cancer.

Speaking after the trial, Mr Tyrwhitt-Drake said: 'We are obviously extremely pleased, and indeed relieved, to have won this case which we have had to fight for the past two years.

'We are also very pleased that the Judge, having listened to a great deal of evidence very carefully, recognised that the allegations simply couldn't be sustained and therefore ruled in our favour.

'We as a family are very glad that the matter is now at a close.

'It was vital for us, in fact a matter of principle, to robustly defend our livelihood and also the interests and reputation of the wider shooting community and industry.

'We are happy and relieved that these benefits will now be able to continue for many years to come.'

Chief executive of the Countryside Alliance Tim Bonner added: 'We welcome the judgement and the end of this long-running case.

'We are extremely grateful to the Tyrwhitt-Drake family for defending it so robustly.

'Many people would have folded faced with this sort of prosecution setting an extremely dangerous precedent. Everyone who shoots is in their debt.'
Question Time viewers praised the boss of a chemicals firm last night for a passionate speech revealing the impact of Brexit-related uncertainty on her business.

Dani Loughran, the managing director of Aston Chemicals in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, railed against about the 'massive headache' caused by the looming threat of red tape and increased costs.

She said: 'We are all going to lose employment, taxes and our underfunded and overstretched public services are going to suffer.

'And when that happens it's not going to be the Rees-Moggs and the Johnsons that are going to suffer, it's going to be us  the working people of the UK.'

Dr Loughran was lauded on Twitter for her 'sensible and well-educated comments', while one person even quipped that she should be 'made PM'.

Viewer Brian Sheehan wrote: 'Another sensible woman in the question time audience - she'll will be ignored by the brexit fanatics.'

Dani Loughran, (left) the managing director of Aston Chemicals in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, gave a passionate speech on Question Time in the town last night about the 'massive headache' caused by Brexit

Many Question Time viewers praised Dr Loughton's speech last night on Twitter

Addressing the Question Time panel at Aylesbury's Waterside Theatre, which included Mr Rees-Mogg and Labour's Lisa Nandy, Dr Loughran, 48, said she believed businesses were no longer being listened to by politicians.

'Over the past 30 years we've grown from nothing to a medium-sized company employing people here, bringing products from around the world and selling them in the UK and in Europe,' she said.

'Because of the trade that are being put up by Brexit, the duplicated regulations, and the massively increased costs we are now having to bypass the UK for half of our business.

'I don't want to do this, I want to employ people in the UK, pay UK taxes and support UK services, but because of people like the ERG [European Research Group]and their hardline Brexiteer stance I'm having to do this.'

Dr Loughran, a mother-of-three who was brought up by a single parent in Aylesbury and went to Aylesbury High School before studying biochemistry at Oxford University, insisted other UK companies were in a similar position.

'Any Brexit deal is going to be worse than what we've got. The worst case scenario is a no-deal Brexit, which would be absolutely catastrophic.

'But the Brexiteers just don't seem to care, or don't know actually what they are trying to do.'

Her comments were met with applause from many in the audience, while others praised her on Twitter.

Andrew Skea tweeted: 'The lady is right. She expressed my views perfectly. Brexit is going to be a bureaucratic nightmare for British exporters. The EU has been my domestic market for 20 years. It will now be hampered by terrible bureaucracy.'

Sue Tizard wrote: 'Completely agree, we are being continually lied to by the government. We'll be worse off if Brexit happens and they'll blame everyone but themselves.'

Others praised Dr Loughton for the way she made her points.

'The most sense I have heard on QT for years,' said Julian Smith.

And another user added: 'She spoke really well and encapsulated the thoughts of many in a few well chosen words.'

Dr Loughton blasted Jacob Rees-Mogg (right) and suggested he had been misleading the public

Others claimed she had highlighted the 'arrogance' of Mr Rees-Mogg, while one quipped: 'Make her PM'

Mr Rees-Mogg replied to Dr Loughton by saying the boss of the chemical giant Ineos Jim Ratcliffe had supported Brexit and criticised EU for 'foolish' taxes.

He continued: 'The EU is a failed economic model and we are freeing ourselves from it.

'We will be able to engage with the rest of the world rather than hiding behind the barriers that it thinks will help it.

'We can lower the prices of goods in this country by cutting tariffs by having cheaper food, clothing and footwear with will benefit the least well off in our society.

'Do I think industry will benefit in the end? Overwhelmingly, it will be good for competitiveness and good for British business.'

Speaking to MailOnline today, Dr Loughran said she had already been forced to ship products directly to warehouses in Europe, bypassing the UK, in order to prepare for a potential no-deal on March 29.

The business leader, whose firm imports and exports chemicals for the European personal care industry, accused Mr Rees-Mogg of deliberately avoiding the negative consequences of his hard-Brexit stance.

'Jacob Rees-Mogg is clever and educated, he must know what he is saying is not going to work,' she said.

'It is working people, and vulnerable people, who need public services that are going to suffer.

'I'm not a fat cat - business is very important and I can't understand why everyone is ignoring us.

'Because as soon as business declines you'll have less to spend on public services and welfare.'

Aston Chemicals (pictured) was established in 1990 imports and exports chemicals for the European personal care industry

Chris Gregory called her an 'absolute hero' while others said she had 'hit the nail on the head'

Dr Loughran, whose husband was in the RAF, claimed a second referendum could be the solution to the current impasse.

'A lot of people voted leave for reasons that they later realised were not true - such as the 350million for the NHS.

'Those people immediately realised their vote would not give them what they wanted.

'They are saying that they didn't realise this. I think if there was a second referendum the outcome would probably be different if it was done without the lies.'

The idea of holding a second referendum was proposed on Question Time last night by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.

This sparked an angry reaction from some in the audience, with one many insisting that people had to 'accept the referendum result'.

He said: 'If you have another one it might be just as close but the other way. Then where are we? Back to square one.

'We have already had a referendum and a general election where both major parties stood on a manifesto where they said we would leave the European Union.

'You have got to accept it, even if you don't agree with it.'
Some inmates in one of the UK's most 'challenging' prisons are suspected of smoking the pages of a Harry Potter book sprayed with a Spice-like drug.

A copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire found in an HMP Nottingham cell tested positive for a psychoactive substance similar to the zombie drug, Spice.

Staff at the prison suspected that 400 missing pages had been torn into strips and smoked.

The Prisons Minister has said in the past that HMP Nottingham (pictured) is 'causing concern'

Prison officer Adam Donegani said each strip was worth around 50.

'The prices are inflated within the prison service (compared with) street value, so that can be whatever they want to charge for it,' he told the BBC.

Spice, known as the 'zombie drug' for its effects on users, is usually smuggled behind bars by being sprayed on letters.

Convicts then suck the paper or mix them with tobacco to smoke.

The zombie-like effects are believed to last for ten to 30 minutes before users regain lucidity.

The Prisons Minister has said in the past that HMP Nottingham is 'causing concern' and that it was one of two in the UK that he is 'most worried about'.

But the spice epidemic has infiltrated many UK prisons and is being aided by government cuts.

In the past every prison had its own dedicated search team with sniffer dogs to ensure inmates and cells were drug free, but now five prisons are overseen by a single team.

Spiked copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (file) was found in an HMP Nottingham cell

Such is the drug problem in UK prisons, warders at HMP Durham alone dealt with up to nine overdoses from spice in just one day.

The outbreak during an epidemic of the drug was featured in a TV documentary series, Prison - from BAFTA winner Paddy Wivell - filmed over seven months inside the jail.

WHAT IS 'SPICE'? Spice is a synthetic high which falls into a category of drug-like substances that can be bought in shops or online without breaking the law, but which give the body the same artificial rush of endorphins - or 'high' - as illegal drugs such as cannabis or ecstasy. Black Mamba is a variation of Spice, a synthetic cannabinoid which has similar effects to natural cannabis. However it is much more potent and reacts more strongly with the brain's receptors. Regular use can cause a relapse of mental health illness or increase the risk of developing a mental illness especially if someone has a family history of mental illness. Earlier this year, a global drugs survey found that hospital admissions as a result of taking the herbal substance Spice have increased by one-third since 2014. Reported effects include convulsions, shortness of breath, kidney failure and cardiac arrest, as well as hallucinations and irreparable damage to the user's mental health. Spice was made illegal in May last year. Advertisement

In the three-part series that aired in July last year, prisoners revealed how they hide and sell spice, and use other inmates to test the strength of their stock.

In one scene, staff find nearly 40 pills of heroin substitute Bupernorphne hidden in a Kinder egg  a haul worth almost 2,000 in prison - showing that the drug problem is not restricted to just spice.

In another scene a gang-leader in HMP Durham tells the camera: 'Spice, spice is the kid I like. Make 3,000 off an ounce of Spice in here. When there's a nice team of lads on the wing, there's nothing people can do with you. Cause they'll just get done straight in.'

Lewis McMahon and his gang are also captured spiking another inmate's cigarette with Spice, laughing when he begins to walk around in a stupor while in the grip of the drug.

Guards explain that the problem is unlikely to be solved while the staffing shortage continues.

Figures released last year showed that seizures of smuggled-in drugs and mobile phones in prisons rose by 23% and 15% respectively in the year to March.

The figures were released as new body scanners and sniffer dogs were due to be introduced in 10 prisons, including HMP Nottingham, which are of the most concern.

The specially trained sniffer dogs have been brought in to tackle the spice problem head on, having been trained to detect the psychoactive substance, among others.

Prisons minister Rory Stewart said in August last year that he will resign in a year if he hasn't managed to reduce drugs and violence levels in the 10 target jails in England.

The ten jails are: Hull - Category B; Humber, East Riding of Yorkshire - Category C; Leeds - Category B; Lindholme, near Doncaster - Category C/D; Moorland, Hatfield Woodhouse, South Yorkshire - Category C; Wealstun, near Wetherby, West Yorkshire - Category C; Nottingham - Category B; Ranby, Nottinghamshire - Category C; Wormwood Scrubs, west London - Category B; Isis, south-east London - Category C.
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A homeowner has been told to pay 360,000 or face losing his home after the council mistakenly sold him a 700,000 flat at half price.

Antony Zomparelli, 54, bought his two-bed flat from Islington Borough Council for 340,000 in 2014, under the Right to Buy scheme which allows council tenants to purchase their homes.

But two years later the council wrote to the security guard, admitting they had accidentally undercharged him because they thought the home only had one bedroom.

The father-of-four was unable to fork out the difference - so the council is taking him to court to reclaim ownership of his flat or the money they claim he owes.

According to a property website the current average value of a property in the Islington street is 930,000, while another two-bed flat near the one under dispute sold for 900,000 in 2014.

Unhappy homeowner: Antony Zomparelli in his sitting room in the Georgian flat he bought through Right To Buy in 2014. The 54-year-old security guard has been told to pay an extra 360,000 which he cannot afford

The Georgian flat in Islington is marked in red. Two years after Mr Zomparelli bought it the council wrote to the security guard, admitting they had accidentally undercharged him because they thought the home only had one bedroom

What is the Right to Buy scheme? Right to Buy allows council flat tenants to buy their own homes with a discount of up to 108,000. Tenants must have been renting the property for at least three years - reduced from five in 2015 - before they can apply to buy the home. The discount is higher in London because of the much greater property prices in the capital. In 2017-18 the average receipt for a council home was around 83,000, according to government figures. The sales of council homes brought in almost $1billion for local authorities over the same period. The scheme was introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Government in the 1980s. It was credited with helping the Tories win the support of 'aspirational' working-class voters. However it has also been blamed for reducing the stock of affordable rental housing. Advertisement

Mr Zomparelli, who lives in the second floor flat alone, says the 'unforgivable' mistake has ruled his life ever since and is preparing for a court battle later this year.

However he fears he will lose the home regardless of the outcome because of legal costs.

He said: 'I would never have bought the property if I knew it was going to cost 700,000. It would never have crossed my mind.

'How can they expect me to afford to pay? It has ruined my life. I can't function as a normal person or think straight.

'It has caused me depression and I've had to go to the doctor's. It has put a massive strain on my relationship with friends and family. I've been in la la land since I got the first letter.

'I just couldn't believe it. I can't understand how they can do this, it seems impossible. They've clearly made a massive mistake and it's of no fault of my own.'

Mr Zomparelli has lived in the flat in Islington since 2001, and originally rented it from the council.

He bought it from the authority under the Right To Buy scheme in 2014, and because he'd lived there for so long he got an 102,700 discount.

The current average value of a property in the Islington street is 930,000, while another two-bed flat near the one under dispute sold for 900,000 in 2014.

Mr Zomparelli was previously paying 125 a week in rent but now pays around 1,800 a month in mortgage repayments.

Bedroom: Inside Mr Zomparelli's Georgian home which he bought for 340,000 in 2014. He is battling the council over the money it has demanded and says he is likely to lose the home even if he wins because of legal fees

The kitchen of Mr Zomparelli's Georgian home which he had rented from the London Borough of Islington since 2001, and then bought for himself in 2014 under the Right To Buy scheme first introduced in the 1980s

The council priced it at 340,000 in August 2013 and he got a 237,300 mortgage - for the remaining amount after the discount - in 2014.

But two years later, in 2016, he received a shocking letter from the council explaining the blunder, and demanding the remaining 360,000.

The council admitted it valued the home as a one-bed in a 'desktop' valuation - a way of valuing a property or business using existing information.

In legal documents Mr Zomparelli claims that before the sale took place, an independent surveyor conducted a site survey of the flat, while the council is claiming he has been 'unjustly enriched' by the apparent admin blunder.

In a letter to Antony in March 2016, the council explained where a public body 'acts outside their jurisdiction, their decision is void'.

The letter included the council's admission that it 'had no power to dispose of the premises at a lower valuation than that based on market value'.

The bathroom of the home which Mr Zomparelli bought for 340,000 but which the council said should have cost 700,000

Living room: Inside the Georgian flat, which has led to a court battle as the London borough council tries to reclaim ownership of his flat or the money they claim he owes

Kitchen equipment at Mr Zomparelli's home. The council tried to settle outside court but the efforts were unsuccessful

As a result, the council is entitled to recover the funds, 'by way of restitution for unjust enrichment', the letter said.

Lawyers acting on behalf of the council tried to settle outside of court and offered Mr Zomparelli the option to agree terms for 'restoration of the balance' of the purchase price.

But the two parties failed to agree terms, and in a letter sent to him in October 2017, he was issued an ultimatum - either accept liability to pay up, or enter a legal battle.

Court papers prepared for proceedings say the council has a duty to recover the missing 360,000, as they acted outside their statutory powers by granting the lease at an undervalue.

Both parties have prepared court papers but a start date for proceedings is yet to be confirmed.

Worried Mr Zomparelli said: 'Up until 2016 everything was completely fine. I first heard about all of this when the council sent me a pretty aggressive letter. It even said "we understand this letter may cause you some distress".

'They told me by letter my property had been undervalued and we need to resolve the 360,000 I now owe them.

'Even my barrister has said he has no idea what the outcome will be.

Mr Zomparelli in his kitchen. The council told him it 'had no power to dispose of the premises at a lower valuation than that based on market value'

The street in north London where Mr Zomparelli lives. He claims he would never have bought the house if it was on the market for 700,000

'I have no idea how they can justify asking for that much more money. It has always been a two-bed flat. It was never a one-bed. It's madness really. They have doubled the price of a property based on a box room.'

The homeowner fears that even if he wins in court he will have to sell his flat to pay for the legal bill - which he fears could top 60,000.

He said: 'No matter what happens I will have to sell the property to pay my legal fees.

'If I win I'll get the fee back for my barrister but I'll have to pay some costs for my solicitor and mortgage company.

'I wasn't surprised at the price when I bought it. It was the first time I'd ever bought a property so it seemed a lot of money to me.

'I wanted to get on the property ladder for my children and I was really happy. 'I wanted to make my children's lives easier for when they want a home. I thought it was odd how they valued it on a computer but I was ensured it was normal.

'The most unjust part of it is I will still lose the property even if I win. I can't get my head around it, even if I win I know I'll still be losing.'

Islington Borough Council has not responded to a request for comment.

Mr Zomparelli measures the box room for which he is expected to pay an extra 360,000, after buying the flat in 2014
President Donald Trump's son Don Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle celebrated their first Valentine's Day together as a couple yesterday.

The loved-up right-wing couple enjoyed a quiet dinner at an upmarket Italian restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side decorated with rose petals and giant teddy bears in honor of the occasion.

The former Fox News host wore a tight-fitting red dress to tie in with the Valentine's Day theme, while the US President's 41-year-old son wore a blue suit.

All loved up: Donald Trump Jr. and girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle celebrated Valentine's Day

The couple enjoyed an intimate dinner at an Italian restaurant in Manhattan on Thursday

Guilfoyle, who turns 50 next month, and Don Jnr. are thought to have started courting last spring, after the latter announced his divorce from estranged wife Vanessa.

Vanessa Trump filed for an uncontested divorce from Donald Trump Jr. in March 2018.

The couple have become a prominent fixture on the New York social scene, and were spotted on the front row at the Zang Toi show for New York Fashion Week.

The couple were joined in the front row by Marla Maples, Donald Trump's second wife, and Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer.

In celebration of Valentine's Day, the restaurant had placed giant teddybears as 'diners' at its outside tables

The former Fox News host wore a tight-fitting red dress with black rose detailing

Guilfoyle sported a black knit dress with butterfly details on one shoulder at the Zang Toi fashion show during New York Fashion Week

Earlier this week, Don Jr gushed about taking Guilfoyle on fishing and hunting trips as they hit the campaign trail prior to the midterm elections.

'Shes actually doing quite well [at fishing]' he told Page Six.

'Shes even been out with me down to Texas with some of my buddies there. They all go, "Hey, its a guy camp, are you sure shes going to be OK?" Im like, "Dont worry, boys, Im making you sign a waiver. Shes going to destroy all of you,"' he added.

He raved about her hunting skills saying, 'She's a very good shot and progressing with that as well.'

Guilfoyle credits her outdoor skills to her beau's teaching.

'He taught me everything I know. I grew up living in Ireland every summer since I was five. I was going fly fishing with my brother and father and so I love to enjoy that with Don,' she said.
A 59-year-old Thai woman with dementia has returned home after leaving her house eight months ago to see her son nearby, and accidentally walking 400 miles to China.

Kaeomanee Arjaw was reported missing on June 12 from her house in the Thai province of Chiang Rai, part of the mountainous 'Golden Triangle' zone which borders Laos and Myanmar.

She was found in late January in the southern Chinese city of Kunming carrying a Thai identity card, helping officials swiftly contact the local consulate.

Kaeomanee Arjaw, (centre), greets Thai Immigration Police upon arriving home in Chiang Rai after walking 400 miles to China

Kaeomanee went missing in Chiang Rai, part of the mountainous 'Golden Triangle' zone which borders Laos and Myanmar, and was found eight months later in Kunming, China

China borders both Laos and Myanmar and it was not immediately clear which route she took across the remote frontiers or how long her journey took.

'She told officials she went there by foot, she kept walking, asking for food from stalls along the way,' said Colonel Aekkorn Butsabarbodin of Chiang Rai immigration police.

On Thursday Kaeomanee's daughter Suchada, 35, flew with Thai officials to Kunming where the pair were filmed hugging each other - the daughter on her knees, sobbing with relief - in an emotional reunion.

In the footage, an official asks the woman where she was going when she left her daughter's home last June.

Kaeomanee Arjaw, (centre), is escorted by her daughter Suchada, 35, (right) who flew with Thai officials to Kunming in China to collect her mother, who has dementia

Kaeomanee Arjaw embraces a relative upon arriving home. The 59-year-old, who was dementia, said she went to visit her son last June and just 'kept walking', ending up in China

'I went to see my son... I met him, then I kept walking,' the woman answers. 'There were no cars around.'

She had lost 20 kilograms along her journey, her jubilant daughter added.

Kaeomanee and her daughter, who are from the ethnic Akha hill-tribe, flew back to Chiang Rai on Friday.
Chinese authorities have indefinitely closed the base camp of its side of Mount Everest to visitors, state media reported.

The Everest base camp in Tibet will be closed to visitors without a climbing permit until further notice as part of efforts to clean up the garbage that has accumulated at the site.

Ordinary tourists can only go as far as Rongbuk monastery which is slightly below the 5,200m (17,060ft) base camp level. Those with climbing permits would be allowed to go to the base camp or higher, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Climbers collect waste from the Chinese north side of Mount Everest in 2017. The Everest base camp in Tibet will be closed to visitors without a climbing permit until further notice

The Chinese base camp is gaining popularity among mountaineers as it is accessible by car, whereas the Nepalese camp can only be reached by a two-week hike.

'The core area will be closed for tourism for an indefinite period, mainly for ecological conservation,' Tang Wu, from the tourism commission of Tingri county, told video news site Pear. The 'core area' refers to the section over 5,200 metres above sea level.

The official announcement about the closure was made in December. It stated that three clean-up operations last spring had collected 8.4 tonnes of rubbish from the key area, including human faeces and mountaineering equipment climbers had left behind.

Ordinary tourists can only go as far as Rongbuk monastery (pictured) which is slightly below the 5,200m (17,060ft) base camp level. Those with climbing permits would be allowed to go to the base camp or higher, according to Xinhua News Agency

Authorities have been implementing major clean-ups on the world's highest peak as the number of visitors increases.

Parts of Everest are in China and Nepal. The Chinese Mountaineering Association said 40,000 visited its base camp in 2015. A record 45,000 visited Nepal's base camp between 2016 and 2017, according to Nepal's Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation.

China has set up stations to sort, recycle and break down garbage from the mountain, which includes cans, plastic bags, stove equipment, tents and oxygen tanks.

On the Nepalese side, mountaineering expedition organisers have begun sending huge trash bags with climbers during the spring climbing season to collect trash that then can be winched by helicopters back to the base camp.

Authorities have been implementing major clean-ups on the world's highest peak as the number of visitors increases. In 2017, 648 people reached the top of Everest

In January, authorities announced that they would limit the number of climbing permits each year to 300.

This year's clean-up efforts will include the recovery of the bodies of climbers who died at more than 8,000m (26,246ft) up the mountain's 'death zone', where the air is too thin to sustain human life.

In 2017, 648 people reached the top of Everest, including 202 from the Chinese north side, according to the non-profit Himalayan Database.

Six people were confirmed to have died on the mountain that year, one of them on the north side.
Adrian Cameron (pictured) believed that Dhayne Facey had stolen from him so he arranged his kidnapping and had him beaten

Thugs kidnapped and beat a mobile barber at gunpoint after he was wrongly accused of ripping off a drug lord who got his hair styled with him.

Dhayne Facey was lured to a meeting on the pretext of cutting another man's hair then bundled into a Jaguar and frogmarched to the home of Adrian Cameron who suspected the stylist had robbed him.

The 25-year-old was pistol-whipped, interrogated and forced to watch Cameron, 35, load a revolver with six bullets he called 'little soldiers.'

Cameron - known in Manchester as The Mace - then passed the gun to one of his cronies and demanded he shoot the victim before changing his mind as he did not want to get blood on the floor.

Mr Facey was eventually freed but was warned to be at a barber's shop the following morning to repay Cameron.

He subsequently went to hospital where he was treated for multiple bruising to his 'smashed up' face before contacting police.

Officers discovered Facey had deliberately left a tissue with his own blood at Cameron's flat as evidence he was there because he feared being 'disappeared.' He is now in hiding.

Cameron, from Levenshulme, and Ricardo Bell, 30, of Heaton Mersey, were jailed for 11 years at Manchester Crown Court.

Bell's uncle Michael Wright, 46, from Salford, got eight-and-a-half years. All were convicted of kidnap and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear. Each defendant denied wrongdoing.

Ricardo Bell (left) and his uncle, Michael Wright (right), were both jailed for their part in the kidnapping and beating

Azar Mohammed, 34, of Wythenshawe and Usman Rathore, 33, of Old Trafford, were also convicted of kidnap and were each jailed for three years.

Mr Facey regularly cut Cameron's hair but the pair fell out over the sale of a box of fireworks for Bonfire Night.

Later one of Cameron's drug runners was robbed of 900 of cocaine and cannabis plus 100 in cash and Facey became the prime suspect due to the earlier fallout.

The crime boss, known locally as 'The Mace', and who rigged his home with CCTV and used it as a base for his drug trafficking operation sent a series of texts to Facey who lived with his mother saying: 'You better move your mum out. Let's see who has the last laugh.

'Watch what I do to you and your family. You will see - I will get to you and you know it.'

The victim was lured to the meeting with two possible customers only to be attacked and taken to Cameron who was waiting in a nearby Jaguar car on November 2 2017.

Usman Rathore (left) and Azhar Mohammed (right) were jailed for their part in the kidnapping after a hairdresser was accused of stealing cocaine

Henry Blackshaw, prosecuting said: 'Mr Facey was accused of the robbery but he vehemently denied this, and considered this to be a false accusation. However Cameron told Mr Facey if he was identified as the robber, he would be taken to the moors and shot dead.

'Mr Facey was then taken to Cameron's room in order to be interrogated. Cameron's father, who also lived there was told: "This punk robbed us dad."

'Mr Facey was confronted with a screen which showed CCTV footage of the robbery and in an environment of fear and intimidation, he was being encouraged to confess. Mr Facey told the group he was not the robber but this was met with violence.

'Over the course of approximately two hours, Mr Facey was struck repeatedly at the hands of Cameron, Bell and Wright. and he was struck with a firearm. This weapon was genuine, capable of being fired at him. It was filled with approximately six bullets, referred to as 'little soldiers' to add to the scene of intimidation and fear.

'One of the men was given the gun by Cameron and told to shoot Mr Facey but Cameron then changed his mind, not wanting to get blood on the floor. Mr Facey feared he was going to be killed by these men and used a tissue of his own to mop up his blood, to be left in Cameron's room as evidence that he was there.'

During his captivity, Facey was able to call his mother who heard him say, 'mum, I'm in trouble'.

He was later dropped at home by Cameron who warned him: 'You are lucky tonight you are not dead - I could have killed you.'

He added: 'Now I know where your mother lives so tomorrow I'm going to see how much you respect your mum. Remember we know where your mother lives - you will know what I'm going to do to your mother when I call tomorrow and you don't answer your phone.'

Police later raided Cameron top floor and seized a CCTV hard drive from his bedroom plus bloodied tissues from a bin. Cameron himself was arrested the following month whilst hiding out a friend's home.

Sentencing Judge Hilary Manley told Cameron: 'This was a planned and coldly executed crime. The effect on Dane Facey is that he has been forced to leave the area and family members. You have displayed a degree of arrogance by believing that you could assert this control within the community.

After the case Det Insp Gareth Davies, of Greater Manchester Police said: 'This was a terrifying ordeal for the victim, who feared for his life when he was attacked and held against his will by these violent men. I hope this result brings him, and the wider public generally, some comfort in knowing these men are now behind bars facing up to their abhorrent actions.'
Gangsters told women diners to leave their Valentine's night dinner at a Moscow restaurant - before opening fire in a battle that left one dead and ten injured.

The clash in the Russian capital involved up to 100 people who arrived in expensive cars including a black Porsche Cayenne, said reports.

A dozen people were detained by police after the fight between rival gangs from the Chechen and Azerbaijani communities. The Azerbaijani owner of the Neolit restaurant Yashar Aliev was shot in the back.

When the restaurant was stormed during a Valentine's dinner the gangsters 'first asked women to leave and only then opened fire and began to fight', reported pro-Kremlin REN TV.

Gangsters told women diners to leave their Valentine's night dinner at a Moscow restaurant - before opening fire in a battle that left one dead and ten injured. Pictured: police near the scene of the violence

At least one man was killed and ten wounded in the clash in the Russian capital involving up to 100 participants using expensive cars including a black Porsche Cayenne, said reports

Fighting reportedly continued after the cafe shooting as the rival gangs embarked on a high speed car chase in southern Moscow.

'Ten cars were chasing this Porsche Cayenne, there was shooting,' said a woman witness. We called police.'

A man said: 'There were so many people with hand guns, it seemed unreal.

'We were coming back home from a shop, the street was empty. And those people came from nowhere, close to 100.'

Fighting reportedly continued after the cafe shooting as the rival gangs embarked on a high speed car chase in southern Moscow

CCTV cameras had been tampered with to stop police having footage of the 'mass fight' in and around the restaurant on 1st Kuriyanovskaya Street , said reports.

Police later sealed off the area.

One version was that the attack was revenge after a Chechen had 'orally abused' an Azerbijani.

In two years since the restaurant opened, locals have complained 62 times about 'noise, fighting and hooliganism'.
Shamima Begum's family have called for the government to urgently bring her back

The family of an East London schoolgirl who ran away to become an Islamic State jihadi bride have called for the government to bring her back 'urgently'.

The parents of Shamima Begum, who fled for Syria in 2015, said the 19-year-old's unborn baby is a 'total innocent' who has the right to grow up in the 'peace and security' of the UK.

Ms Begum was one of three Bethnal Green Academy schoolgirls who joined the terrorist group four years ago.

But the terror group has now been reduced to a tiny patch of land and Ms Begum is now in a refugee camp in Syria. The Government has indicated it will not allow her to return.

The development comes hours after a British former Guantanamo Bay prisoner called for Begum to be allowed to return because she is heavily pregnant and not a 'threat'.

On Good Morning Britain former U.S. prisoner Moazzam Begg came to her defence, as debate rages over her future.

They say the 19-year-old's unborn baby is totally innocent and deserves a good life in the UK. Pictured: Begum at Gatwick Airport heading for Turkey in 2015

Mr Begg, who was held from 2002 to 2005, said: 'I was held with young teenagers from the age of 14 to 15, some were terribly wounded, some were Western citizens.

'They ended up there because of decisions by their parents and so forth and ended up in prison.

'We keep saying she's unrepentant, but how has that been interrogated by a short interview by the Times?

'I think we cherry pick what's been said - she also says that the Islamic State didn't deserve victory because of its abuses.

'The issue here in relation to this young girl is will she be a threat? Well she's heavily pregnant at the moment. By the time she comes back, if she comes back, she'll be giving birth.'

Yvonne Ridley, a British journalist captured by the Taliban in 2001 who later converted to Islam, also came to the schoolgirl's defence.

She said: 'We're talking about a child who was groomed, that's essentially what happened. She's saying that she doesn't have any regrets but you have to remember she's in a refugee camp now with 39,000 other people.

'Goodness knows how many eyes are on her and she's been brutalised by war. We don't know what she's gone through, we don't know if she feels fearful or she's under threat.

Moazzam Begg, pictured left on Good Morning Britain with Macer Gifford, said the teenager would not be a 'threat' if she returned as she was about to give birth

'We also have to recognise that she could really help the intelligence services and help us all understand what were the triggers that made her go.

'If she's been radicalised, she can be de-radicalised. It's something that we should consider. She is a British citizen, she's our problem - we've got an excellent legal system in this country.

'What signal are we sending to the world that we're just using the world as a dumping ground for our problems? Britain has to take ownership of this problem.'

Speaking on This Morning, former glamour model Kimberley Miners - who was brainwashed by an ISIS recruiter - said Ms Begum should be allowed back as long as she showed remorse.

'She's still very young,' she said.

Former glamour model Kimberley Miners (pictured) - who was brainwashed by an ISIS recruiter - said Ms Begum should be allowed back as long as she showed remorse

Renu Begum, eldest sister of Shamima Begum, holds her sister's photo in a picture from 2015, as the family appeal for the teenager to be allowed to return home

'I was an adult when I was groomed, it took me a good two years to realise what was going on and how I'd been brainwashed.

'I was close to going (to Syria). They know the right words to say. When you're in that situation you don't know what you're doing. I still don't quite understand what happened.

'The baby shouldn't be punished.'

However Macer Gifford, who travelled to Syria to fight with the Kurdish forces against ISIS, showed no sympathy.

He said: 'As I was motivated to go out and fight ISIS, she was motivated by them. She wanted to go out and support ISIS. She saw all the same things that we did.

'She was part of the ISIS machine that persecuted Christians and Yazidis. She has no remorse for her actions and there is no evidence whatsoever that she is any less dangerous.

'I don't like the idea that she's somehow a victim. The real victims are the people that ISIS have butchered over the years.'
LONDON (AP) - Britain's Home Secretary has warned he'll block the return of Britons who traveled to the Middle East to join the Islamic State group.

Sajid Javid's comments come amid a furious debate about Shamima Begum, who ran away to join extremists when she was 15. Begum, who is now nine months pregnant, told The Times newspaper that she wants to come home.

Javid told the newspaper on Friday that he "will not hesitate" to prevent the return of Britons who "supported terrorist organizations abroad." Others have appealed for mercy, noting Begum's age when she fled.

Begum was one of three schoolgirls from London's Bethnal Green neighborhood who went to Syria to join IS in 2015 at a time when the group's online recruitment program lured teenage girls to its self-proclaimed caliphate.

This undated photo issued by the Metropolitan Police shows Shamima Begum. A pregnant British teenager who ran away from Britain to join Islamic State extremists in Syria four years ago has said she wants to come back to London, but her path home is not clear. Shamima Begum told The Times newspaper in a story published Thursday Feb. 14, 2019, that she wants to come back to London. (Metropolitan Police via AP)
This is the hilarious moment a bride-to-be collapses to the ground in joy when her boyfriend proposes on a beach in Italy.

The clip, filmed in Positano on the Amalfi Coast, captures Amanda Johnson and Matt Zagaja as they take photographs between two lines of sun loungers.

But as Ms Johnson, 28, begins to pose for the perfect shot, her boyfriend pulls a ring out of his jacket pocket and falls to one knee.

The clip, filmed in Positano on the Amalfi Coast, captures Amanda Johnson and Matt Zagaja as they take photographs between two lines of sun loungers

The bride-to-be stands in shock for a moment before she realises what is happening and covers her face with her hands.

She then falls to her knees as she embraces Mr Zagaja, 29, after answering 'Yes' to his proposal.

The shocked American then sobs joyfully on the sand when her husband-to-be slides a ring on her finger.

The overjoyed pair then kiss and embrace again as the footage comes to an end.

The video, posted to Instagram and YouTube in July last year, has since been viewed more than 500,000 times.

'We had the trip to the Amalfi Coast planned, but he for sure was throwing me off big time, months before the trip,' Ms Johnson said.

'If I would ever hint about getting engaged in the most beautiful Positano, he would shut me down.

'When we arrived in Italy, we had planned to have dinner in Positano the second day of our trip, which is where he ended up popping the question.

'I remember he was carrying his suit jacket in 90-degree weather, and little did I know, he was hiding the ring in that pocket, so that I would not notice it.

The bride-to-be stands in shock at the proposal for a moment before she realises what is happening and collapses to the ground in joy

We walked down the hill to the beach in Positano to the iconic spot with all of the colourful beach chairs and umbrellas. I was bugging Matt to take a photo of just me in the iconic spot, but he was waiting for the perfect moment when the sun was just behind the mountain.'

The visual merchandising manager said Mr Zagaja pretended to set up a self timer camera - but instead set out to record the picturesque proposal.

She said: 'He set up his camera and phone to record the video, on top of a champagne bucket that he put on top of a beach chair. I did not think this was that strange, because we always use the self-timer to take the perfect photo of each other on vacations.

'He also had a rubber band wrapped around the button on his camera to continually take photos of the big moment.

'He finally steps over to take a photo with me and the video shows our true, raw reaction. I thought we were simply taking a photo, and he all of a sudden pulls out a ring box and gets down on one knee.

'I could not believe my eyes and completely freaked when I saw the ring was exactly what I had always dreamed of, from my favourite designer, Lauren B.'
A second Tory minister has launched a fierce attack on haardline Brexiteers amid claims they should quit the Conservative Party.

Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood described the European Research Group's actions as 'provocative', accusing them of operating as a 'party within a party'.

His intervention on Newsnight came after claims the group led by Jacob Rees-Mogg are 'traitors' to the Conservatives who should join Nigel Farage's new Brexit Party.

Business Minister Richard Harrington - a Remain supporter who has vowed to resign if Theresa May backs a no deal Brexit - said members of the European Research Group are 'not Conservatives'.

He said the champagne party hosted by Mr Rees-Mogg on the night Mrs May lost the meaningful vote was 'treachery'.

Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood (left on on Newsnight last night) branded the European Research Group a 'party within a party) after Business Minister Richard Harrington (file right) said they are 'not Conservatives' and should defect to Nigel Farage's Brexit Party

The Brexit Party was officially recognised by the Electoral Commission last week and it has been endorsed by Mr Farage and other ex-Ukip officials as a new Eurosceptic party.

It has vowed to stand candidates in future elections and is now allowed to raise money.

Mr Harrington said the ERG were a 'minority of a minority' - a reference to the hard core of around 30 to 50 Tories MPs among the more than 100 who voted against the deal on January 15.

He told the House magazine: 'The Prime Minister has done a pretty good job of standing up to them up till now, but they were drinking champagne to celebrate her losing her deal and I regard that as being treachery.

'I read that Nigel Farage is setting up a new party called 'Brexit' and if I were them I'd be looking at that, because that seems to reflect their views more than the Conservative Party does.

'They should read carefully what that party's got to offer, because in my view they're not Conservatives.

'There are people who are very solid and stringent in their views and if I were they I would be looking at a party that seems designed for them  Nigel Farage's party.'

Mr Harrington said the champagne party hosted by Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured today in Westminster) on the night Mrs May lost the meaningful vote was 'treachery'

Mr Harrington has publicly warned the Prime Minister he could quit the Government to vote against a no deal Brexit.

And he was dismissive today of the so-called 'Malthouse Compromise' seen by some as a way of bridging the divide between Leave and Remain supporters on the Irish border backstop.

He said: 'It's basically regurgitated Canada Plus, which we know is not at all suited to our close relationship with the European union, plus a bit of glorified number plate recognition kit, which they've got there anyway.

'I think it's just fanciful nonsense.'
The shaken father of a little boy who made a miraculous recovery after accidentally being shot in the face said his son came just millimetres away from instant death.

The horrific accident occurred a year ago when then-five-year-old Cameron Calvis was playing with his cousin at the family farm near the Queensland-New South Wales border, and the youngsters found their grandfather's .22 rifle in the shed.

Tragedy struck when Cameron's cousin, who was playing with the rifle, accidentally shot him point blank in the face.

The bullet entered through his right cheek and burst into fragments, wedging into his vertebrae - but had the bullet not hit Cameron's vertebrae it would have hit his spinal cord.

'If it had moved any more it would have just been over, finished,' Cameron's father Robert Calvis told A Current Affair.

'He was just bleeding, he was sort of half-knocked-out, but still conscious,' he added.

While the family 'prayed for a miracle' little Cameron was rushed to a local hospital, but was later airlifted to Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Brisbane for emergency surgery.

Cameron's (pictured) cousin, who was playing with the rifle, accidentally shot him point blank in the face

The bullet entered through Cameron's (pictured) right cheek and burst into fragments, wedging into his vertebrae

Due to the awkward position of the bullet, which was a millimetre away from irreversible damage, doctors had to consult with their American counterparts on the best way to remove it.

It took an excruciating three rounds of surgery to remove the bullet and the remaining fragments.

In the following two months, Cameron was forced to wear a head brace to support his neck as he continued to recover.

A year on from the awful accident, Cameron's grandfather Tony said his grandson was 'full of beans' and added it was hard to 'keep him down'.

Although he said he couldn't 'imagine losing him' and admitted he struggled to recall the awful incident as it was 'so hard'.

Cameron's father Robert Calvis (pictured) was charged with one count of unlawful possession of weapons

In the following two months, Cameron was forced to wear a head brace to support his neck as he continued to recover (Cameron's skull scan pictured)

Both Cameron's father Robert and grandfather Robert faced criminal charges in relation to the incident.

Robert was charged with one count of unlawful possession of weapons, and Tony was charged with insecure storage of a weapon.

Both men pleaded guilty to the respective charges.

Cameron is now happy and healthy and is believed to still play with his cousin.
A backpacker from Britain was raped by a taxi driver after he dropped her off at her hotel and offered to walk her to her room in the Philippines , police said today.

The 21-year-old, from Torquay, Devon, arrived on holiday in Palawan, southern Philippines, earlier this month and met up with several other traveller friends.

The three of them were returning from a night out in the early hours of Wednesday morning when the driver stopped outside the insurance sales agent's hotel at 4am and offered to escort her in.

With the two others still sitting in the taxi - because they were staying at a different hostel and waiting for the driver to return - he then allegedly pinned the woman to the ground and raped her.

A backpacker from Britain was allegedly raped by a taxi driver during a dream trip to the Philippines. Police have arrested Parry Daquer Gaspe (pictured, left) over the attack

The driver stopped outside the insurance sales agent's hotel at 4am and offered to walk her to her room, police say. This is the spot where officers say the alleged attack happened

The alleged attacker, named as Parry Daquer Gaspe, 39, was gripped by a 'lustful desire', police said.

He continued the assault as the woman screamed 'No! Please Stop!', according to a police report.

Officers received the crime report at 7am and arrested the taxi driver on suspicion of rape at 9am.

He was taken to the station and was pictured sitting at a table while the woman, accompanied by her friend and a female police officer, identified as being the man she claims raped her.

Gaspe has now been remanded in custody over the incident outside the Elternative Hostel in the El Nido region of the popular tourist island.

The alleged victim, who police said holds an Irish passport but lives in England, has now left the area and continued her journey.

The alleged attacker, named as Parry Daquer Gaspe (pictured), 39, was gripped by a 'lustful desire', police said

A spokesman said today that she would not need to return for future hearings. They added: 'There is sufficient evidence to convict the suspect through inquest proceedings.'

A police report on the incident described how the taxi driver was gripped by a 'lustful desire' as he walked the girl back to her room.

It stated that the 'victim and her friends were riding in a tricycle driven by the suspect' bound for a hotel but that on reaching a petrol station, the woman asked the suspect to stop so she could get off.

He then 'offered the victim to accompany her towards the hostel, while her friends were left in the said vehicle considering that they are accommodated in a separate hotel.

'Thereafter, while at the alley approaching the hostel, the suspect took advantage of the victim and sexually abused the latter.

'The victim resisted and uttered "No! Please Stop!" but the suspect instead continued his lustful desire.

'The suspect fled after the incident. At about 8.15am of same date the personnel of El Nido MPS led by PO3 Alfonso A Kahal verified the incident to further identify the suspect.

'At about 9am of same date, the said PNCO returned together with one Parry Daquer Gaspe, which was positively identified and pointed by the victim to be the perpetrator.

'PO1 Michael Tim J Kutat, immediately arrested the suspect and informed him of his Constitutional rights. The suspect is now under the custody of El Nido MPS for Inquest Proceedings.

'A case for Violation of RA 8353 against the suspect is being prepared for subsequent referral to the Provincial Prosecution Office of Palawan.'
Hundreds of servicemen, police officers and volunteers were in attendance at the funeral of a World War II veteran, after news spread that he had no surviving family.

D-Day veteran James McCue of Lawrence, Massachusetts, died last week at the age of 97, and had outlived his wife and other family members.

With the threat of no one to attend his funeral on Thursday, a local veterans advocate called on Lawrence residents to turn up and pay their respects.

The flag-draped casket of WWII U.S. Army veteran James McCue arrives for his burial, attended by the veterans and civilians responding to reports that McCue had no family to attend the ceremony, in Lawrence, Massachusetts

A call was put out for local people to come and pay their respects at Mr McCue's funeral after it emerged that he had no living family members to attend

The Lawrence High School JRROTC Color Guard pay their respects at the casket of WWII U.S. Army veteran James McCue

The news of Mr McCue's funeral spread quickly on social media, and hundreds ended up turning up for the service.

'My dad was a Second World War vet. I'm a Vietnam vet,' one attendee told ABC News.

'I would hate to see my dad move on without anybody there.'

Another added: 'I'm here to show respect to another man who deserves it.

'Just another guy down. We're running out of [WWII] veterans,' Calvin Perry, an U.S. Air Force veteran from the neighbouring town of Andover told WBUR.

Mr McCue enlisted aged 21 and fought five major WWII battles in Europe, including D-Day

Iraq War veteran Peter Rooney salutes the casket of WWII U.S. Army veteran James McCue

WWII U.S. Army veteran James McCue is buried following a ceremony attended by hundreds

Ninety-one year-old Doris Sevigny holds the flag from the casket of her friend, WWII U.S. Army veteran James McCue

Well-wishers watch the burial of WWII U.S. Army veteran James McCue

'This was one that landed at Normandy and has five battle stars. It's a worthy day to show up and honor him.'

Mr McCue enlisted shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when he was 21 years old.

He fought in five major battles in Europe, including the D-Day Invasion where he landed on Utah Beach, local media reports.
PARIS - The French interior minister on Friday lashed out at comments made on an Italian television show by a leader of the Yellow Vest protests in France.



''And so one of the leaders of the Yellow Vests has announced a military coup to us...is this an Italian comedy or just the latest personal delirium?,'' Interior Minister Christophe Castaner tweeted, attaching footage of the latest incendiary statements made by the controversial Christophe Chalencon.



In an interview with the Italian show Piazza Pulita on La7, Chalencon called for civil war and ousting French president Emmanuel Macron with ''paramilitary'' groups prepared to intervene against ''those in power''. Chalencon is the same controversial Yellow Vest leader who Italian deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio met with in France alongside other protestors who are candidates in the Ralliement d'Initiative Citoyenne (RIC, or Citizens' Initiative Rally) list for European elections.



The meeting had angered the French government, which reacted by recalling its ambassador to Italy for several days. The ambassador is returning to Italy on Friday.
The style director of Brazilian Vogue has resigned after her 50th birthday party was criticised for evoking themes of slavery.

Donata Meirelles hosted the lavish dinner party last Friday in Bahia, northeastern Brazil.

But the event sparked an online backlash after a guest posted a photograph on Instagram showing Meirelles, who is white, seated on an elaborate throne surrounded by black women in traditional white dress.

Vogue Brazil's Style Director Donata Meirelles has resigned after images from her 50th birthday party drew criticism for evoking slavery

Guests were positioned on a throne-like seat while black women in traditional dress, reminiscent of former house slaves, posed for photographs

Critics quickly pointed out that the imagery of elaborately dressed black women welcoming guests and posing alongside them was reminiscent of Brazil's colonial past.

Rita Batista, a Brazilian black television presenter, re-posted the photograph alongside a similarly arranged image from 1860, also taken in Bahia, to demonstrate why Meirelles' party was so offensive to the region's black population.

Explaining the historical context, Batista quoted an excerpt from the book 'Joias de Crioula' ('Jewelry of the Brazilian Creole') by Laura Cunha and Thomas Milz.

'The slaves of wealthy houses were adorned by their own masters,' Cunha and Milz wrote.

Brazillian television presenter Rita Batista, posted this photograph on Instagram, which was taken in the same Brazilian region in 1860

'When they went out into the streets with their ladies or children, they were displayed in fine, jeweled garments.

'The slave herself was an object of the owner's ostentation, a luxury object to be shown publicly.'

Shelby Christie, a former Vogue employee, also explained the history of racism behind the motifs apparent at Meirelles' party.

Shelby Christie, a former Vogue employee, pointed out that the uniform of the women at Meirelles' party was that of Mucamas or house slaves, who usually wore white linen or cotton dresses and headwraps

'There appears to be a Brazilian slave and master theme,' she wrote on Twitter.

'Mucamas (house slaves) who were very clearly darker complexioned, were posed as props alongside guests. The uniform of the Mucamas, house slaves, was usually a white linen or cotton dress.'

Christie, who now hosts a podcast discussing the cultural impact blackness has had on the fashion world, wrote that the white dresses and headwraps worn by the black women at Meirelles' party were 'not coincidental'.

To demonstrate, Christie uploaded photographs of Brazilian female slaves from the 19th century in similar costume.

'Brazil did not outlaw slavery until 1888, almost the 20th century. Brazil, not America, has the largest population of people of African decent living outside of Africa - By 1888 Brazil had 40% of the total slave population in the Americas,' she added.

Donata Meirelles resigned from her role on Wednesday after the party on February 8 in Bahia, Brazil

In a now-deleted response on Instagram, Meirelles claimed the party 'wasn't a theme party', that the women flanking her were not 'dressed as slaves, but as party girls from Bahia,' and that the chair was not a throne but 'a chair from candomble,' an Afro-Brasilian religion.

Meirelles also denied purposefully evoking any imagery associated with slavery 'but if it looked otherwise, I'm sorry,' she said.

Vogue Brazil also released a statement on Instagram, saying it 'deeply regrets what happened and hopes that the debate generated will serve as a learning experience.'

The magazine added that empathy is required for the 'construction of a more just society, in which the historical inequalities of the country are debated and faced.'
The fiancee of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi has revealed his last words to her were 'it will not be long' just before he went inside the Saudi consulate and never returned.

Hatice Cengiz went to the consulate with the Washington Post writer and was left waiting for him outside as he was being brutally killed by a hit squad.

She now cannot leave her home in Istanbul without a bodyguard and is under surveillance, French magazine Paris Match reports.

The 59-year-old had gone into the consulate in Istanbul on October 2 last year to collect divorce papers from his previous wife for the couple's upcoming wedding.

Yesterday a Turkish police report suggested Ms Cengiz could also have become a second victim of the killing if the murderers knew she was waiting outside or if she had gone inside to find out why he had not returned.

Now Ms Cengiz says she is under surveillance and has to avoid crowded areas of her home city of Istanbul and has to have a bodyguard whenever she leaves the house.

Hatice Cengiz says she needs a bodyguard when she leaves her house and that she is under surveillance so avoids crowded areas

CCTV footage of Jamal Khashoggi and his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, at an apartment building in Istanbul just hours before his death in the Saudi Arabian consulate

CCTV video showing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi (right) entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on October 2, where he was 'offered a cup of tea' before being brutally murdered and his body dismembered

The 36-year-old told the Paris Match that as her fiance's remains have not been found she has been unable to grieve his death.

She also told the magazine the writer thought he would not be long in the Saudi consulate, but she started to worry after an hour.

Describing his last words to her, she told the magazine: '[He said] "wait for me there. It will not be long".

'An hour later, I started to worry. But I thought maybe he was talking to them, thanking them...He looked so happy.'

Mr Khashoggi did not know his life was in danger when he went to the consulate and only feared his passport might be taken by the Saudis, she added.

Ms Cengiz said: 'He did not know for a moment [he was under threat]. What he feared, however, was that if he went to the consulate, they would be confiscated his passport or he would be sent back to his home country.

'For a journalist, it's precious. They could also have tried to send him back to Arabia, it was unlikely because it would have needed the agreement of the Turkish authorities.'

Mr Khashoggi first tried to use a scanned document to prove his divorce from his Saudi wife so he could marry Ms Cengiz, but was told he needed the official document and had to return to the consulate in Istanbul.

Turkish police believe Hatice Cengiz could have also been a victim of the killing if the hit squad knew she was outside

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October last year when he went to pick up divorce documents so he could marry his Turkish fiancee

Describing his first visit to the consulate weeks before his death, Ms Cengiz said: 'We found the address of the Saudi consulate and we took a taxi. There, I was not allowed to return.

'But he was warmly welcomed by those present who knew him. They were happy to see him.

'He came back after an hour saying that he would have to go back in a few days. He had warned that he had to go to London, but that he would return on October 2. At first, he was relieved.'

The former government adviser who went into self-imposed exile in the United States in 2017 to avoid possible arrest and has been critical of some of the policies of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Riyadh's intervention in the war in Yemen after initially supporting the military action.

Since his exile he wrote columns in the Post criticising Saudi Arabia's policies towards Qatar and Canada, as well as the crackdown on the media and activists.

He said before he left the kingdom, the Saudi government banned him from Twitter 'when I cautioned against an overly enthusiastic embrace of then-President-elect Donald Trump'.

CCTV footage has emerged allegedly showing Jamal Khashoggi's body parts being carried into Saudi Arabia's consul residence in bags and suitcases on the day he was murdered

Former Saudi newspaper editor, Mr Khashoggi lived in Washington DC, for more than a year after he said the Saudi authorities had told him to stop tweeting.

US intelligence agencies believe the crown prince ordered an operation to kill Mr Khashoggi, but Riyadh has rejected accusations that the de facto ruler of the kingdom was involved.

A Turkish police report publish in the local media, said investigators believe Mr Mr Khashoggi's dismembered body could have been carried from the consulate where he was murdered to the consul general's residence nearby where his remains were burnt.

Turkish media agency, Anadolu, reported yesterday that the consul general's residence had two wells and a gas and wood floor furnace that could reach heat of over 1,000 degrees, destroying any DNA traces.

After making numerous contradictory statements about Mr Khashoggi's fate, Riyadh said he had been killed and his body dismembered when negotiations to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia failed.

Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post, was killed on October 2 shortly after entering the kingdom's consulate (pictured) in what Riyadh called a 'rogue' operation

Citing police sources, Turkish media said the 59-year-old's dismembered body was carried from the consulate where he was murdered in cases and bags to the consul general's residence where his remains were burnt

Despite Turkey's investigation looking at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, the consul's residence and several other locations, Mr Khashoggi's remains have not been found.

Mr Khashoggi's killing has severely strained ties between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, although Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has good ties with the Saudi monarch, King Salman.

Erdogan has said Mr Khashoggi's killing was ordered by the highest level of Saudi leadership and has repeatedly called on Saudi officials to identify a 'local cooperator' involved in the killing. Riyadh has rejected accusations that the crown prince was involved.

Footage from the police report shown on Turkish televisions showed a man believed to be a Mr Khashoggi impersonator walking alongside a man police say is the 'local cooperator' in the case. The identity of the man was not immediately clear.

Last week a UN human rights expert said Mr Khashoggi was murdered in a 'brutal and premeditated killing' carried out by Saudi officials.

Turkish officials have been frustrated by what they say is a lack of cooperation by Riyadh and have called for an international inquiry.

The images feature three men carrying five suitcases and two large black bags into the home of the Saudi consul general in Istanbul, Turkey

There has been speculation that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (centre) ordered the hit of Mr Khashoggi but Riyadh has absolved the de facto leader of any blame

Khashoggi's killing provoked widespread revulsion and tarnished the image of Crown Prince bin Salman, previously admired in the West for pushing deep changes including tax reform, infrastructure projects and allowing women to drive.

CCTV footage emerged in December allegedly showing Jamal Khashoggi's body parts being carried into Saudi Arabia's consul residence in bags and suitcases on the day he was murdered.

The images feature three men carrying five suitcases and two large black bags into the home of the Saudi consul general in Istanbul, Turkey.

The residence lies a short distance from the Saudi consulate where Khashoggi was butchered in a killing that has tested Riyadh's relations with the West.

Saudi Arabia has also repeatedly rejected Turkish demands to extradite suspects connected to the murder of the journalist, a critic of the crown prince.

The journalist had decided to leave his native Saudi Arabia for the US in September 2017, but was lured to the embassy in Istanbul on in October this year to collect papers for his upcoming marriage.

Listening devices planted inside the building by Turkish intelligence captured the 'kill squad' planning the murder in the days before and carrying it out.

A report by the Washington Post, to which Khashoggi was a contributing columnist, says that when he arrived at the consulate a member of the team asked 'whether he would take tea'.

Shortly afterwards, a member of the Saudi 'kill squad' chillingly told the journalist he would be 'going back to Saudi Arabia', before injecting him with a lethal dose of sedative.

Khashoggi's final gasps for air are audible on the tape recordings, officials told the Washington Post.

They added that there was nothing to suggest that the team had any intent to take Khashoggi alive.

Further reports quoting those who have listened to the recordings claim Khashoggi's last words were to tell his killers 'I can't breathe'.

Just moments after his gasps faded, the silence on the tape gives way to the sound of an electric saw, consistent with reports that Khashoggi's body was dismembered. His remains have never been found.
Dennis Anderson, 39, was fatally stabbed in Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, on Sunday

A man has been charged with murder after a stabbing which followed a row 'over cigarettes' in a London off-licence on Sunday.

Dennis Anderson, 39, from Lewisham, was attacked in the street after an argument in Lordship Lane, East Dulwich.

Jahmel Michael Riley has now been charged with murder and possession of an offensive weapon.

Riley, 24, appeared in Bromley Magistrates' Court today via video link from Lewisham police station.

Wearing a grey jumper he spoke only to confirm he could see and hear the court and his name, age and address.

Witnesses to the altercation described seeing an attacker slashing painter decorator Mr Anderson at the neck.

A woman lays flowers at the scene of the fatal stabbing in Dulwich on February 12

Dennis Anderson was stabbed to death in East Dulwich over the weekend after a man confronted him in a corner shop in an apparent row over a packet of cigarettes, said witnesses

Magistrate Mr Stephen Rogers said: 'As you have heard, this is an indictable only offence and will be heard at crown court.'

Several members of Riley's family as well as the police officer investigating the case sat in the public gallery during the short hearing.

Riley was remanded in custody until his next appearance at the Old Bailey next Tuesday.

Mr Anderson 'didn't have a bad bone in his body', friends said earlier this week.

He was devoted to his teenage daughter and had never even been in a fight before, according to friends.

Friends said Mr Anderson was popular in the area and was known as a family man who doted on his daughter. He is believed to have been returning home from a party when he was killed

The scene on Lordship Lane in East Dulwich, south London where Mr Anderson was killed

Friend Luke Roche, 29, told The Evening Standard: 'He loved his daughter. He was a family man and very popular, no one had a bad word to say about him.

'I honestly can't think of anyone he'd had a fight with. He just wasn't part of that life.'

Mr Anderson is one of seven people to have been stabbed to death in the capital so far this year.

In Neasden, North West London a 23-year-old man was critically injured in another stabbing on Saturday.

On the same evening, a 16-year-old boy received knife wounds in a fight in Hayes, West London.

Already this year at least nine people have been murdered in the capital including Lejean Richards, 19, who was stabbed near Prince George's school earlier this week
Security staff at a railway station in east China were shocked to see the silhouette of a child on their monitors during a baggage inspection.

A five-year-old girl climbed into the X-ray machine when her parents were not paying attention at Daminghu Railway Station in Jinan, Shandong province on Monday, Chinese media reported.

Three seconds later, the girl appeared from the other side of the luggage scanner and stepped off the conveyor belt in front of stunned officers.

Security staff at a railway station in east China's Shandong province were shocked to see a silhouette of a human being on their monitors during a baggage inspection

A five-year-old girl climbed into the X-ray machine when her parents were not paying attention at Daminghu Railway Station in Jinan, Shandong province on Monday. She was unhurt

The family of three were trying to catch a train from Daminghu to Liaocheng, about two hours away, according to Shandong Television.

Surveillance footage shows the mischievous girl running and jumping onto the conveyor belt while her parents were arranging their luggage.

'Please tell your child that the machine is for luggage only,' a train station officer was heard saying to the girl's parents. Luckily the girl is unhurt.

CCTV footage shows the mischievous girl running and jumping onto the conveyor belt while her parents were arranging their luggage. Officers have warned the girl's parents afterwards

Three seconds later, the girl appeared from the other side of the luggage scanner and stepped off the conveyor belt in front of stunned officers. Fortunately she was unhurt

Police have urged parents to take extra care of their children while going through security check after the incident, adding that the gaps in the conveyor belt might pose a safety risk.

While such security scanners produce radiation, the intensity is too low to cause any effect on the human body.

An X-ray of one's chest, limbs or teeth is equivalent to a few days' worth of background radiation, and has less than a one in one million chance of causing cancer, according to the NHS.

Police have urged parents to take extra care of their children while going through security check after the incident, adding that the gaps in the conveyor belt might pose a safety risk

Chinese railway staff were stunned to see the image of a boy on their monitor on October 9

This isn't the first time a person has gone through a baggage scanner.

In October, a boy crawled onto the conveyor belt of an X-ray machine when his father was not looking at a train station in Zhongshan, Guangdong province. The boy was unhurt.

Last February, a female passenger insisted that she climb into an X-ray machine with her handbag at a train station in Dongguan because she feared it might be stolen.
Former BA pilot Chris Burgess, 65, and his wife Cleide, arrive outside the High Court in London

A former BA pilot is embroiled in an bitter legal battle with his two sisters over their late mother's 1.5million fortune, after they claim he was meant to get less inheritance because he is already wealthy.

Chris Burgess, 65, was left with 500,000 of his mother's money when she died, under a will his sisters claim she was too frail and vulnerable to understand.

Freda Burgess, from New Milton, in Hampshire, split her 1.57m estate equally between Chris and his two sisters, Jennifer Penny, 69, and Catherine Kennard, 55.

The will was drawn up in January 2013 and she passed away aged 90 in February 2016. Her husband, lawyer and judge Jim Burgess, died in October 2012, aged 88.

But now the two sisters claim their brother was meant to get less of the inheritance because he was richer than them.

Mr Burgess, whose claim has been strongly supported by his glamorous Brazilian wife, insists his parents wanted them to be 'treated equally'.

Jennifer Penny, 69, (left) and Catherine Kennard, 55, (right) claims the new will should be void as her mother was not in the right frame of mind to sign it

Chris Burgess, along with his wife Cleide, have been battling his sisters in court following a dispute over inheritance

Chris Burgess and his wife Cleide bask in the sunshine while on holiday

The sisters said their mother 'did not know and approve of the 2013 will's contents', suggesting she was frail and vulnerable due to a fall nine days before the will was signed. They also claim it was not properly witnessed.

They are asking a High Court judge to rule in favour of an earlier document from April 2012 instead of the 2013 version.

The previous will left Mr Burgess, of East Molesey, Surrey, with just 20 per cent of his mother's fortune and the two siblings with 40 per cent each.

That was in line with his father's belief the two sisters should inherit more because Mr Burgess was the wealthiest of the children, the sisters claim.

The sisters' barrister, Katherine McQuail, said the court 'should not be satisfied that Freda knew and approved the contents of the 2013 will'.

This was due to her recent fall, the absence of independent advice, and 'the lack of any family-wide discussion either before or after the 2013 will was purportedly executed'.

Chris insisted he and his sisters traditionally expected to be treated equally when their parents died.

He denied claims from his siblings' barrister that he 'wanted to be in charge' of his mother's finances or become 'head of the family' after the death of their father, who was a family lawyer and judge in Hampshire.

Miss McQuail said: ''You took control, you wanted to be in charge - you wanted your sisters out of it.'

Mr Burgess' sisters claim he was supposed to get less of their mother's inheritance because he is wealthier

The property where Mr Burgess lives with his wife Cleide. A British and Brazilian flag can be seen draped out of two different windows

Mr Burgess explained he handled his father's will after his death in 2012, and helped his mother out with their affairs, as he claims the two sisters abandoned their mother.

He said: 'I asked my older sister if I could talk to her about my mother's finances but she wrote back and said "thank you for all your help".'

The barrister continued: 'Your mother reported to her GP that you took over her finances.'

But Mr Burgess told the court: 'I assisted my mother in everything, I just did whatever she told me and I explained everything I was going to do.

'I never did anything against her wishes.'

Thomas Dumont, acting as Mr Burgess' barrister, acknowledged the sisters' claims their mother was 'vulnerable' after her fall, but said Mr Burgess and his wife, Cleide, 'rallied round' and helped her.

A photo of the home which the the three siblings' mother used to live at before she passed away

Cleide Burgess, who met Chris while working as BA cabin crew, told the court her husband had done his best to care for his mum and to bring the family together.

Cleide describes her husband as her 'soulmate' on her counselling website.

And Mr Dumont described the ex-pilot as a 'palpably honest and generous individual who did his utmost to provide his mother with comfort and support when she needed it'.

The fall, although a shock to Freda, 'did not affect her capacity,' urged Mr Dumont.

He added that Freda was a woman who understood her actions and remained 'determined' and independent-minded following the accident.

And there was never any question of Mr Burgess suggesting that Freda should change her will, the court heard.

'He was surprised by his mother's desire to change her will, but it was her idea and he had never raised it with her,' said Mr Dumont.

Nor had either of the two sisters objected to the idea of an equal split, he pointed out.

Judge Catherine Newman QC reserved her decision in the case.
Twelve or more Conservative ministers including six Cabinet members could quit if Theresa May does not extend Brexit negotiations beyond March to prevent a no-deal exit, Tory Remainer Dominic Grieve has said.

The former Attorney General said the Tory rebels could walk out to join the fight against no deal on February 27, when the Commons is due to vote on the next round of Brexit motions.

Mr Grieve accused the Brexiteer European Research Group of being 'cavalier about the risks' of no deal, after the ERG fired a warning shot at the PM last night by abstaining on a Commons vote and consigning her to another humiliating defeat.

ERG sources told MailOnline today it wanted 'real changes, not just changed words' in Mrs May's withdrawal agreement with Brussels.

In a warning shot to the Prime Minister (pictured leaving Parliament last night), MPs in the hardline European Research Group refused to endorse her negotiating strategy, consigning her to another humiliating defeat in the Commons

Tory Remainer Dominic Grieve (pictured) said as many as six Tories could leave the Cabinet by February 27 when the Commons is due to vote on the next round of Brexit motions

Second Tory minister slams ERG as 'party within a party' Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood described the European Research Group's actions as 'provocative', accusing them of operating as a 'party within a party'. His intervention on Newsnight came after claims the group led by Jacob Rees-Mogg are 'traitors' to the Conservatives who should join Nigel Farage's new Brexit Party. Business Minister Richard Harrington - a Remain supporter who has vowed to resign if Theresa May backs a no deal Brexit - said members of the European Research Group are 'not Conservatives'. Mr Harrington said the ERG were a 'minority of a minority' - a reference to the hard core of around 30 to 50 Tories MPs among the more than 100 who voted against the deal on January 15. The Brexit Party was officially recognised by the Electoral Commission last week and it has been endorsed by Mr Farage and other ex-Ukip officials as a new Eurosceptic party. It has vowed to stand candidates in future elections and is now allowed to raise money. Advertisement

Mr Grieve said the 'overwhelming' majority of MPs were not prepared to accept no deal.

He told BBC's Today programme on Radio 4 that he understood a number of ministers had already told Mrs May that she should extend the negotiating period if the Commons does not back a deal.

If she refused, he said 'a dozen or even more' ministers may resign, including 'up to half a dozen' from the Cabinet.

Asked whether this could bring down the Government, Mr Grieve said: 'Yes it could, and this isn't a desirable outcome.

'The irony of all this is that most of us in the Conservative Party are sufficiently united to want to try to operate a coherent Government. But the truth is we're finding it harder and harder to do.

'It starts to bring into question whether in fact the Government is able to operate in the national interest'.

Last night Mrs May was abandoned by the ERG, who did not vote on a motion backing her negotiating position.

Some Remainer rebels also abstained, consigning the PM to defeat by 303 votes to 258.

The ERG's ringleader Jacob Rees-Mogg warned: 'I doubt legal verbiage without a change to the text will impress anyone.'

But Commons leader Andrea Leadsom insisted today last night's defeat was only a 'hiccup' for the PM and said she would continue to seek 'legally binding changes to the backstop' - with Mrs May to travel again to Brussels 'within days'.

Commons leader Andrea Leadsom (pictured leaving Parliament last night) insisted today last night's defeat was only a 'hiccup' for the PM and said she would continue to seek 'legally binding changes to the backstop'

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay (pictured in the Commons yesterday) told EU negotiator Michel Barnier Britain did not have to re-open the divorce deal in a major concession, it was claimed today

Mrs Leadsom told the Today programme that no was 'absolutely' still on the table.

She said: 'The prime minister carries on. She will continue to seek those legally binding changes to the backstop that will enable Parliament to support our deal.'

She added: 'The vote yesterday did not change anything.'

Despite Mrs Leadsom's claims, a source involved in the talks on the Irish backstop between Mr Barclay and Mr Barnier this week told The Times, the Brexit secretary said the British focus was on the 'outcome' and that the deal may not need to be reopened.

He told Mr Barnier as long as the commitments were legally binding 'it will meet needs'.

Mr Barnier was told the exact nature of the legal guarantees were a 'question for the attorney-general' and that there was plenty of room for 'creativity about how it can be done'.

As tensions mount today, Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said: 'We won't. We are not leaving without a deal. If you want to leave, you'd better agree one. In the next fortnight would help.'

He added: 'There is a majority in the House to reject no deal. Let's Leave, with the Agreement, and the chance of a new relationship with the EU.

'Honours both Leavers and those who voted to Remain. Let's all make the compromise.'

But Mr Baker, the ERG's deputy chairman, told Today he was 'standing up for what the majority of the people voted for', while still 'making enormous compromises'.

And despite the government defeat, he argued: 'It's still very clear that there is a majority in the House of Commons for a deal which replaces the backstop with alternative arrangements. The European Union should understand that.

'But they should also understand that there are those of us unwilling to vote to take a no-deal off the table.'

As tensions mount today, Mr Burt said: 'We won't. We are not leaving without a deal. If you want to leave, you'd better agree one. In the next fortnight would help.'

In total 66 Tories went missing for last night's showdown, while five actively opposed her.

Summing up the pincer movement Mrs May found herself caught in, both arch-Brexiteer Boris Johnson and his pro-EU brother Jo abstained.

Mrs May did not even bother to enter the chamber to hear the grim result, with Jeremy Corbyn demanding to know where she was and taunting that she 'can't keep running the clock down'.

The blow came despite Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay desperately trying to reassure mutinous MPs that no deal is not being taken off the table - and warning that Brussels will conclude the UK's 'resolve is weakening'.

But his tough words only served further to infuriate Remainers.

The defeat has no binding effect on the government, but plunges her deeper into chaos and could persuade the EU there is no point offering any more concessions on the Irish border backstop.

Theresa May was notably absent from the Commons chamber as the grim result was declared last night and Jeremy Corbyn taunted that she 'can't keep running the clock down'

Following the vote, a clearly jubilant Mr Corbyn said Mrs May needed to accept her strategy had failed and come forward with a plan that could bring people together to prevent the 'catastrophe' of no deal.

'The Government cannot keep on ignoring Parliament and ploughing on towards March 29 without a coherent plan,' he said.

What did Theresa May's motion say? MPs threw out Theresa May's latest Brexit motion by 303 to 258 - a majority of 45. The motion was intended to reinforce Mrs May's negotiating position by showing there was a majority for the Brexit deal in the Commons if the Irish border backstop is re-written. It said MPs still backed the vote on January 29 which spelt this out. The problem for the PM tonight is that on January 29 MPs also voted against no deal - creating a deep split inside the Tories about whether her motion also reflected this. The motion read: 'That this House welcomes the Prime Ministers statement of 12 February 2019; reiterates its support for the approach to leaving the EU expressed by this House on 29 January 2019 and notes that discussions between the UK and the EU on the Northern Ireland backstop are ongoing.' In the end, both Leave and Remain MPs abstained on the motion - consigning the PM to another humiliating defeat. Advertisement

'She cannot keep on just running down the clock and hoping that something will turn up that will save her day and save her face.'

He asked Speaker John Bercow if there was anything that could be done about Mrs May not turning up to the chamber to hear the result, but was told she was not obliged to be there.

Senior Tory MPs admitted the Commons showdown had turned into a 'fiasco', but tried to play down the implications - saying the next round of votes on February 27 would be far more significant.

A Downing Street spokesman said: 'While we didn't secure the support of the Commons this evening, the Prime Minister continues to believe, and the debate itself indicated, that far from objecting to securing changes to the backstop that will allow us to leave with a deal, there was a concern from some Conservative colleagues about taking no deal off the table at this stage.

'The motion on 29th January remains the only one the House of Commons has passed expressing what it does want  and that is legally binding changes to address concerns about the backstop. The Government will continue to pursue this with the EU to ensure we leave on time on March 29.'

The PM's spat with Brexiteers centred on a Remainer-backed amendment that was passed by MPs two weeks ago rejecting the idea of no deal.

An amendment put forward by former Cabinet minister Caroline Spelman said the UK should not 'leave the European Union without a Withdrawal Agreement and a Framework for the Future Relationship'.

It was narrowly approved by 318 votes to 310 despite the government whipping against.

Although that vote was not binding on ministers, the government motion due to be considered tonight endorses 'the approach to leaving the EU expressed by this House on 29 January'.

That was apparently intended as a reference to the Brady amendment, which called for the Irish backstop to be replaced with 'alternative arrangements' and was passed with Mrs May's blessing.

However, it was interpreted by Brexiteers as Mrs May admitting that no deal is off the agenda - despite her repeatedly insisting it is still a possibility.

During the debate, Tory MP Bill Cash said branded the Government motion 'doublethink' and said it 'further undermines public trust'.

He said: 'We're now truly entering the world of George Orwell's Ministry of Truth.

The PM crashed to defeat in a crunch vote on her EU plan by 303 to 258 after furious Conservative Eurosceptics declared they would abstain

'In his book 1984 Orwell said doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously and expecting both of them.

'This double motion is doublethink in action and I cannot possibly vote for it.'

But former chancellor Ken Clarke launched a scathing attack on the ERG.

He said: 'The Government has pursued one of the factions on our side of the House, we have a kind of breakaway party within a party, a bit like Momentum really, they've got their leader, they've got their chief whip.

'They are ardent right-wingers, and the Government has set off in pursuit of these bizarre negotiating tactics that some of them say, though some of them seem to want to leave with no deal, because any agreement with foreigners from the continent is a threat to our sovereignty.'

He warned that is 'the wrong group to pursue', and called the Brady amendment 'meaningless'.

But after Mr Barclay entreated Eurosceptics to fall in line, Remainer former Cabinet minister Oliver Letwin said he now believed Mrs May would go for no deal.

'When the chips are down, (she) will actually prefer to do what some of my esteemed colleagues prefer, and to head for the exit door without a deal, which the secretary of state informed us is the policy of Her Majesty's government in the event that her deal has not succeeded. That is terrifying fact,' he told the House.

Frantic peace talks took place with chief whip Julian Smith overnight to see if the motion could be reworded, but they appeared to reach no settlement.

Who were the 66 Tory MPs who abstained and the five who voted No to consign May to defeat? There were 66 Tory MPs who failed to vote at all on Theresa May's motion tonight - and five who joined Labour to vote No. The five who voted No were: Peter Bone (Wellingborough), Christopher Chope (Christchurch), Philip Hollobone (Kettering), Anne-Marie Morris (Newton Abbott) and Sarah Wollaston (Totnes). The abstainers were: Heidi Allen (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire) Sir David Amess (Conservative - Southend West) Mr Richard Bacon (Conservative - South Norfolk) Mr Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe) Guto Bebb (Conservative - Aberconwy) Crispin Blunt (Conservative - Reigate) Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham) Andrew Bridgen (Conservative - North West Leicestershire) Conor Burns (Conservative - Bournemouth West) Sir William Cash (Conservative - Stone) Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham) Mr Kenneth Clarke (Conservative - Rushcliffe) Mr Simon Clarke (Conservative - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative - The Cotswolds) Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley) Ms Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire) Richard Drax (Conservative - South Dorset) James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East) Mr Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green) Charlie Elphicke (Conservative - Dover) Michael Fabricant (Conservative - Lichfield) Mr Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford) Mr Marcus Fysh (Conservative - Yeovil) James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire) Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West) Justine Greening (Conservative - Putney) Mr Dominic Grieve (Conservative - Beaconsfield) Mr Sam Gyimah (Conservative - East Surrey) Mr Mark Harper (Conservative - Forest of Dean) Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham) Mr Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire) Sir Bernard Jenkin (Conservative - Harwich and North Essex) Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood) Boris Johnson (Conservative - Uxbridge and South Ruislip) Joseph Johnson (Conservative - Orpington) Mr David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West) Mrs Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire) Dr Phillip Lee (Conservative - Bracknell) Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South) Dr Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East) Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster) Mr Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking) Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham) Craig Mackinlay (Conservative - South Thanet) Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton) Mrs Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall) Dr Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon) Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham) Mr Owen Paterson (Conservative - North Shropshire) Dominic Raab (Conservative - Esher and Walton) John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham) Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset) Mr Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury) Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford) Douglas Ross (Conservative - Moray) Lee Rowley (Conservative - North East Derbyshire) Antoinette Sandbach (Conservative - Eddisbury) Grant Shapps (Conservative - Welwyn Hatfield) Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley) Anna Soubry (Conservative - Broxtowe) Bob Stewart (Conservative - Beckenham) Ross Thomson (Conservative - Aberdeen South) Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed) Mr Shailesh Vara (Conservative - North West Cambridgeshire) Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet) Mr John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon) Advertisement

Earlier, Trade Secretary Liam Fox pleaded with his colleagues not to rebel, warning that the Commons is not an 'internal debating society' and it would 'send the wrong signals' to Brussels.

Dr Fox told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning: 'Our European partners will be watching our debate and listening today to see if they get the impression that if they were to make those concessions Parliament would definitely deliver.

'There's a danger that we send the wrong signals.'

But ERG vice-chair Steve Baker shot back: 'Conservative MPs really ought not to be associated with anything, express or implied, which seems to take no deal off the table.

Ex-ambassadors warn Theresa May against no-deal Brexit A group of retired diplomats have issued a plea to Theresa May to delay Brexit to allow more time to establish a clearer plan or allow for a second referendum. In a statement to The Times, more than 40 former ambassadors and Foreign Office mandarins warned that if the Prime Minister secured agreement on her plan, it would not mark the end of uncertainty but the start of years of negotiations. They reported 'exasperation and incomprehension' among contacts overseas at the UK's failure to resolve its differences over its future relationship with the EU. The statement, organised by supporters of a second referendum, was signed by former ambassadors to the US, France and Russia, as well as one-time head of the Foreign Office Lord Kerr, one of the authors of the Article 50 clause which sets out the process for quitting the EU. Advertisement

'Compromising no deal would be the daftest negotiating strategy and not in the national interest. Today's storm in a teacup only arises because the Government's motion is not neutral. This unnecessary carry on is wanted by no one.'

Tory former minister Nicky Morgan, who has been urging a Norway-style relationship with the EU, added: 'If the Government had taken the time to discuss the wording of the motion with MPs on all sides of the Brexit debate they'd have achieved a clear & united signal to the EU as Brady did on 29th January.'

EU council president Donald Tusk upped the ante last night by jibing that the bloc had still not heard any 'realistic' solutions from the UK.

'No news is not always good news,' he tweeted.

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte also said Britain was a 'more diminished country compared to two or three years ago'.

Campaigners for a second referendum have been divided over whether to force a Commons vote on the issue tonight, with many fearing they would lose badly.

But the Commons business paper today included an amendment tabled by senior Tory Sarah Wollaston and backed by Lib Dem and Labour MPs.

It would have forced a series of votes in the House on Brexit options, and then throw the issue over to the wider public in a national vote if politicians could not agree on one course.

The Labour leadership had stayed tight-lipped over whether it would support the move - the only way it would have any chance of getting through Parliament.

But in the end the Speaker saved Mr Corbyn's blushes by ignoring the amendment.

Instead he chose three changes for debate. The first was a Labour demand for a new meaningful vote to approve the deal is held on or before February 27, which was comfortably seen.

An SNP amendment called for at least a three month extension to Article 50 to avoid a no deal Brexit on March 29.

It was backed by 41 Labour MPs, underlining the splits in Mr Corbyn's team, but came nowhere near passing.

A tweak tabled by Tory Anna Soubry insisted the Government must publish the most recent advice given to Cabinet on the implications of no deal.

The Soubry amendment looked on track to pass. However, she was persuaded to shelve the move for the time being after ministers said they will publish no-deal assessments soon.

MPs passed Spelman amendment that rejected no-deal Brexit The latest Tory infighting centres on a Remainer-backed amendment that was passed by MPs two weeks ago rejecting the idea of no deal. The text put forward by former Cabinet minister Caroline Spelman said the UK should not 'leave the European Union without a Withdrawal Agreement and a Framework for the Future Relationship'. It was narrowly approved by 318 votes to 310 despite the government whipping against. Although that vote was not binding on ministers, the government motion due to be considered tonight endorses 'the approach to leaving the EU expressed by this House on 29 January'. That was apparently intended as a reference to the Brady amendment, which called for the Irish backstop to be replaced with 'alternative arrangements' and was passed with Mrs May's blessing. However, in evidence of the level of distrust within the Tories it has been interpreted by Brexiteers as Mrs May admitting that no deal is off the agenda - despite her repeatedly insisting it is still a possibility. Advertisement

The row about tonight's Commons motion vote appeared to catch Downing Street by surprise. It was intended to produce a show of unity for Mrs May to take back to Brussels.

The ERG decision to pick a fight appeared to be motivated by anger over comments from Mrs May's chief Brexit negotiator Olly Robbins in a Brussels bar, in which he suggested Mrs May would rather order a 'long' delay to the UK's departure than leave without a deal next month.

Labour will back an amendment which would force Mrs May to delay Brexit if she cannot get her deal through Parliament.

Labour's Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer confirmed the party would support a revised amendment by Yvette Cooper obliging the Prime Minister to ask for an extension to Article 50 beyond March 29.

It was defeated in the Commons last month, after a number of Labour MPs voted against it.

Meanwhile, a group of retired diplomats have issued a plea to Mrs May to delay Brexit to allow more time to establish a clearer plan or allow for a second referendum.

In a statement to The Times, more than 40 former ambassadors and Foreign Office mandarins warned that if the Prime Minister secured agreement on her plan, it would not mark the end of uncertainty but the start of years of negotiations.

They reported 'exasperation and incomprehension' among contacts overseas at the UK's failure to resolve its differences over its future relationship with the EU.

The statement, organised by supporters of a second referendum, was signed by former ambassadors to the US, France and Russia, as well as one-time head of the Foreign Office Lord Kerr, one of the authors of the Article 50 clause which sets out the process for quitting the EU.
A Timor Island fisherman has claimed the recently passed medivac bill will spur Indonesia's people smugglers into action and says Australia's borders have reopened.

East Nusa Tenggara fisherman Amin Tagana told 9News he believes the new bill, along with the reopening of Christmas Island, will reignite the illegal trade.

'There are about 30 fishermen ready to go - go out and back, out and back, out and back,' Mr Tagana said.

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East Nusa Tenggara fisherman Amin Tagana (pictured) this week said he believes the new bill along with the reopening of Christmas Island will reignite the illegal trade

Mr Tagana claimed the recently passed medivac bill will spur Indonesia's people smugglers into action now that the borders have reopened

Under the new medivac bill, sick detainees on Nauru and Manus Island will be able to seek 'medical or psychiatric assessment or treatment' in mainland Australia.

Two doctors  either in person or remotely  can refer a detainee for travel but the person must meet strict criteria in order to be considered for travel.

To qualify, a detainee must require medical or psychiatric assessment or treatment, or not be receiving appropriate associated care in Nauru or Manus Island.

A decision by the Minister for Home Affairs must be made within 72 hours - and family members can also be recommended for travel.

The father-of-three, who previously smuggled asylum seekers from Indonesia to Australia, said he is ready to start ferrying asylum seekers across the Indian Ocean.

'I'm ready to go even if there's a big storm because I can make a lot of money, more than as a fisherman,' he said.

Mr Tagana, who was paid $5000 to smuggle asylum seekers in 2014, previously told The Australian fisherman in his village of Tablolong were hoping for weaker borders.

He was detained for three months as a result of his first run, but still managed to transport his 95 passengers to Australian waters before he was captured.

The fisherman said with the money he earned from his first run - which was more than he could earn fishing for a year - he built a new house to replace his old one.

He said his previous home was so desperately in need of repair, with its damp floors and leaking roof, that it brought constant illness to his wife and children.

Even though he spent three months in detention on Christmas Island, he said he had hoped to do another run before the crackdown by immigration authorities occurred.

Mr Tagana, who previously smuggled asylum seekers from Indonesia to Australia, said he is ready to start ferrying asylum seekers across the Indian Ocean

The medical evacuation bill, which was passed this week, will allow sick asylum seekers already on Manus Island and Nauru to be transported to mainland Australia for treatment

At the time, Mr Tagana said if the opportunity to do a second run came up he would probably would take it so he could afford to buy a small village shop or a motorbike.

'On a fisherman's salary I can't do that, so of course I want to try again,' he said.

Despite Mr Tagana's claims of interest by fisherman to resume ferrying, many asylum seekers already on the island aren't necessarily prepared to make the journey.

Many people, who have been left stranded in makeshift refugee centres on the island, have told reporters they are not willing to risk their lives.

Afghanistan refugee Asif Pazhwak told the publication the Australian government is not going to be happy if asylum seekers go to Australia by ship.

'We are homeless, we are just looking for a safe country,' Mr Pazhwak said.
A woman has copped a hefty fine for jumping into the back of a ute and doing a poo.

The 24-year-old woman was walking with her friend along Pittwater Road in Brookvale in Sydney's north with a friend about 1.55am.

As they were walking along, the woman and her friend snuck into a car dealership.

The 24-year-old woman was walking with her friend along Pittwater Road in Brookvale in Sydney's north with a friend about 1.55am

According to The Daily Telegraph, the 24-year-old jumped into the utility tray of a white Isuzu vehicle inside the dealership.

The woman then pulled down her underwear and proceeded to poo in the back of the car.

Police were patrolling the area at the time and spotted the woman as she was crouched down in the back of the car.

The 24-year-old saw the officers, pulled up her underwear and ran from the caryard to a street close by, while her friend stayed at the dealership.

Upon inspection, police found the woman's faeces and some paper in the vehicle's utility tray.

The Brookvale woman was found nearby and admitted to defecating in the back of the car.

She was fined $500 on the spot for offensive conduct and $350 for entering enclosed land (not prescribed premises) without lawful excuse.

Police told the woman to clean up her mess, which she did with a latex rubber glove before her and her friend were told to move on from the area.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plane was damaged in a minor crash ahead of take-off in Poland last night, it has emerged.

The 69-year-old leader and his entire entourage were on-board the chartered El Al plane when a vehicle towing the aircraft on the runway crashed into it at Warsaw airport.

Pictures show large scrapes in the underbelly of the aircraft following the crash, which happened at the end of Netanyahu's two-day visit to a high-profile security conference in the country.

Impact: Pictures show large scrapes in the underbelly of the aircraft following the crash

The 69-year-old leader and his entire entourage were on-board the chartered El Al plane when a vehicle towing the aircraft on the runway crashed into it at Warsaw airport

Netanyahu and his wife were taken off the plane and ushered back to their hotel where they stayed the night before flying out today at around noon.

Other aides, including Netanyahu's national security adviser and his military secretary, spent the night on the aircraft, saying they did not want to go through the hassle of pre-boarding security checks again.

A replacement plane was dispatched from Israel to urgently return the prime minster before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath at sundown.

The mishap happened as Netanyahu's government is trying to purchase an official plane for the prime minister to use.

It capped a tumultuous visit for Netanyahu, who was in Poland for a U.S.-sponsored security conference attended by several high-profile Arab officials from Gulf countries.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plane has been damaged in a minor crash ahead of take-off in Poland

Netanyahu had hoped to use the gathering to showcase his budding ties with the Gulf Arabs. But a verbal gaffe and a video leaked by his office threatened to overshadow the event.

On the eve of the meeting, Netanyahu appeared to call on other participants to prepare for "war with Iran." His office later said he had been mistranslated and only called on other countries to "combat" Iranian influence in the region.

Late Thursday, his office briefly leaked a video showing Bahrain's foreign minister, and representatives of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates playing down the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and harshly criticizing Iran.

Netanyahu's office said the video's release was a "technical error" and quickly deleted it.
A depressed beautician who was sent home from hospital against a psychiatrist's advice hanged herself after texting 'I love you' to a friend.

Monika Nos, 29, had run her own beauty business but lost clients and suffered from an acute medical episode which led her to being admitted to hospital for psychiatric treatment.

She was sent home against the recommendation of a consultant psychiatrist after appearing to improve. But despite further treatment over the following months she was found dead at a park near her home in Salford, Greater Manchester.

Monika Nos, 29, (pictured in undated photos) had run her own beauty business but lost clients and suffered from an acute medical episode which led her to being admitted to hospital for psychiatric treatment

Shortly before her death on October 5 last year she had been researching methods of suicide and sent a message to her flatmate saying: 'We need to prepare for the party - I love you xxx.'

Miss Nos, from Poland, had originally settled in Sheffield but moved to Manchester and later worked at a salon in Hyde.

Her cousin Klaudia told the Bolton hearing: 'She was a very open person and very friendly, was trusting of others and loved fashion and beauty.

'I don't think she ever had a problem forming relationships with people, she had become passionate about veganism and was helping people out with their problems in their life.

'I didn't see any difficulty with her but this started in January 2018 when her friend rang me to tell me that she had been sectioned. I was so surprised.'

Klaudia said her cousin was 'clearly not herself' when she saw her in Manchester.

'She was living in some kind of illusion. I couldn't believe that this was Monika, she was so different.

'When she was admitted to hospital, I still went to see her. She started to improve a little bit after taking the medication, but only a little bit. She wasn't herself.

'I remember coming to Manchester with her friend and we persuaded her that she was still in such a state and that she would require further medical care.

Miss Nos, from Poland, had originally settled in Sheffield but moved to Manchester and later worked at a salon in Hyde

Miss Nos' flatmate, Daria Kietla, said: 'Monika was really positive, open and happy. Then, that day in January, her friend from Sheffield rang me saying that she had called her because something was wrong.

'She wasn't herself, she was behaving in a different way and I wasn't sure when she was going to be OK to work again.

'When she came out of the hospital, she was not well enough in my opinion. I was looking for a new flat and I didn't know what to do with Monika.'

Miss Nos' father took his own life when she was a little girl, the flatmate said.

'I said to her please don't do anything like that because people love you'' she continued. 'In March, she called me and told me she felt like that, so I called Klaudia and we took her to the hospital.

'We were there for 24 hours while they were looking for a free bed for her - it was tough. I think she expected to feel better in those three weeks since she was discharged, but she didn't

'She went back to Poland, where her mum took her to the doctors, but she came back in September and moved in with me. In my opinion, she wasn't herself still.'

Miss Kietla said she pushed Miss Kos to find a job after she returned to the UK.

'She had a business before, but she lost a lot of clients. She said that she had lost her passion for nails. We wanted to put her in the hospital, but she said that hospital was the worst thing in her life and she didn't want to go back there.

'On the Friday, I came back home from work and then I went to pick up my friend from the airport. As I was coming home I got a message from Monika saying something like Hi, I am happy that you are on your way back, we need to prepare for the party - I love you xxx.

'When I got back, we went into the home and I opened the door to her room and she wasn't there. This was at about 11:30pm. I rang her phone but there was no answer, then I rang her boyfriend to go out looking for her.

'Then, the police knocked on the door at about 7 or 8am. We had long conversations about life all the time. I think she planned this.'

Dr Daryl Britto, a consultant psychiatrist said Miss Nos had been referred from Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport to a private hospital in Bradford, West Yorkshire under the Mental Health Act in January last year after suffering an 'acute psychotic episode'.

She later appeared at tribunal hearing on February 9 where a judge, a doctor and a layperson listen to evidence before deciding on a 'deferred discharge' which allowed her to be sent home the following week.

Miss Nos' flatmate, Daria Kietla, said: 'Monika was really positive, open and happy. Then, that day in January, her friend from Sheffield rang me saying that she had called her because something was wrong'

Dr Britto said: 'When she arrived she was struggling with association of speech and thought, she was in a manic state and she was aggressively agitated. She was very unwell.

'I recommended that she continued to stay sectioned in the hospital but I wasn't present at the tribunal, I left instructions for my assistant and it was noted in the tribunal. I think discharge is maybe the wrong word to use as it was a transfer.

'When a patient improves, we have to inform the NHS that they are duty bound to take the patient back.

'But, under no circumstances would I have applied for Monika's discharge from the hospital. That may be something that should be noted that first time acute psychosis patients should be properly investigated and treated before they are discharged.'

Dr Elizabeth Walker, a consultant psychiatrist at Pennine Care Trust which dealt with Miss Nos said: 'When Monika was admitted, she was extremely unwell. She was agitated, screaming and shouting.

Coroner Rachel Galloway recorded a verdict of suicide for Miss Nos

'We gave her medication, but she needed a more intensive ward with more patients. On February 12, she was discharged as a voluntary patient and on February 15, she had an appointment with her psychiatrist and there were no concerns about her mental health on that day.

'She said that she didn't want to continue on that medication because she didn't like the injections. She was extremely unwell with the first episode of psychosis but she made a quick recovery although it was still early days.

'Unfortunately, when you have a decision by a tribunal you can't do anything.'

Dr Helen Sanderson, a consultant psychiatrist at Tameside Hospital where Miss Nos was treated on March 22 said: 'She spoke quite freely about her mental health and she said that she felt sad.

'She said she couldn't find joy in anything at all. She was on tablets and she said that she thought they were helping her to improve. She talked about suicide, but said she had no plans to do it.

'On April 8, she was reviewed. She spent some time out of the hospital and she came back on April 12 and said that she wanted to be discharged. She then said that she wanted to go to Poland to see her mum. My preference would have been for her to stay here, but we made arrangements for her to see a doctor in Poland.'

Recording a conclusion of suicide, Coroner Rachel Galloway said: 'Monika Nos was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

'I accept the evidence that she improved somewhat, but contrary to the psychiatrist's view, as an experienced clinician, she was given a deferred discharge.

'She went to Stepping Hill hospital where she was ultimately discharged from their care.

'I find from the evidence that there was no third party involvement and I find that the actions were taken by Monika.'

For confidential support visit the Samaritans website or phone them on 116 123.
Over 400 people in meeting of friendship with Italy In Nice, many French and Italian mayors and delegates

(ANSAmed) - VENTIMIGLIA (IMPERIA), FEBRUARY 15 - About 400 people, including a large representation of Italian and French mayors, met in Garibaldi Square in Nice in a sign of friendship and brotherhood between the two countries.



The initiative was spearheaded by Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi, in light of recent tensions between the French and Italian governments.



Mayors or delegates from various cities were represented from the Italian province of Imperia, including the eponymous capital city, Sanremo, Ventimiglia, Vallecrosia, and Cuneo, and from the Maritime Alps, above all from the French side of the val Roja.



There were some criticism from a delegation of Yellow Vests protesters, but Cuneo Mayor Federico Borgna highlighted the cities' "determination" in their friendship.



"In life, difficult times are useful for putting the important things in order and for questioning ourselves," he said.



Nice Mayor Estrosi emphasised the common roots between the two countries.



"We are here both to show friendship and brotherhood between the French and the Italians, between the people of Nice and together with our compatriots, and to show that we are all united in these values," he said.



He pointed out the growing intolerance in Europe.



"I see anti-semitism, xenophobia, and racism growing in Europe, and that's why I want this Italian and French brotherhood to continue," he said.



Ventimiglia Mayor Enrico Ioculano of the Democratic Party (PD) said the two countries "need to maintain relations" because of integrated economies as well as "thousands of border commuters who go to work in France each day, because our top tourism and economic client is France, as we saw this morning with three-fourths of the cars parked in Ventimiglia".



"We can't forget all of this. There are sometimes unpleasant episodes (referring to the gendarmerie raid on a regional train to remove some migrants who were hiding in a bathroom, ed.) but we need to have the capacity and the intelligence to go beyond and to build relations for development and for the friendship that exists and that needs to be maintained," Ioculano said.(ANSAmed).




Jeff Sessions ranted the FBI was 'better off when you only hired Irishmen' because 'they were drunks, but could be trusted,' new Andrew McCabe book claims.

The former acting director of the FBI says that Trump's attacks on the FBI led them to seriously consider having Justice Department deputy director Rod Rosenstein wear a wire to record President Donald Trump.

He paints former Attorney General Sessions as unprofessional - someone who did not read intelligence reports and confused facts with news reports.

McCabe makes the explosive claims about Trump and his staff in an upcoming new tell-all book, The Threat.

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaking at the White House last October - he is painted as incompetent in Andrew McCabe's new book, The Threat

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, left, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein speaking last October - McCabe claims staff considered having Rosenstein wear a wire to covertly record Trump

President Donald Trump was irate over James Comey's use of an FBI jet to fly from Los Angeles to Washington after he fired him in May 2017, according to a new book by Comey's deputy

Then-deputy FBI chief Andy McCabe, who took over as acting director before his own firing the next year, says in a the book that Trump wanted Comey to pay for his own flight home even though the FBI's plane already had Comey's security detail on board and had to fly back to D.C. anyway

In excerpts from the book obtained by the Washington Post, McCabe claims Sessions blamed migrants for social problems and held racist sentiments.

Sessions allegedly stereotyped Irishmen as honest drunks when comparing the FBI's former workforce to their modern counterparts: 'They could be trusted. Not like all those new people with nose rings and tattoos  who knows what theyre doing?'

Sessions was fired by Trump the day after the mid-term elections in November last year.

McCabe doubled-down on the allegations against the Trump Administration in a recent '60 Minutes' interview on CBS, telling the broadcaster that lawyers were asked to consider secretly recording the President in the spring of 2017.

'McCabe ... says no, it came up more than once and it was so serious that he took it to the lawyers at the FBI to discuss it,' CBS anchor Scott Pelley said, describing his interview with McCabe.

Justice Department officials said at the time the remark was a joke and meant sarcastically.

McCabe also claims the President vented to him after firing James Comey that the suddenly former FBI chief was allowed to fly home from California at government expense.

Comey was giving a speech in Los Angeles when people in his audience told him cable news channels were announcing that he had been terminated.

The Comey deputy who took over the law enforcement agency writes that the vindictive President thought Comey should pay for his own airline ticket back to Washington to clear out his desk.

Instead the ousted lawman hopped on the same FBI jet he had used to fly west.

'I told him that bureau lawyers had assured me there was no legal issue with Comey coming home on the plane. I decided that he should do so,' McCabe writes, describing a phone call the following day.

'The existing threat assessment indicated he was still at risk, so he needed a protection detail. Since the members of the protection detail would all be coming home, it made sense to bring everybody back on the same plane they had used to fly out there. It was coming back anyway.'

Newly fired FBI director James Comey left Los Angeles on a plane to return to Washington on May 9, 2017

Video footage showed Comey climbing aboard the government jet, something that enraged the president when he learned about it

'The President flew off the handle,' McCabe continues, quoting Trump: 'That's not right! I don't approve of that! That's wrong!'

'The President said, I want you to look into that!' he adds. 'I thought to myself: What am I going to look into? I just told you I made that decision.'

The retelling was first published by The Atlantic, in the form of an excerpt from McCabe's book.

McCabe is promoting a book, due for a Feb. 19 release

The phone call started, McCabe recalls, with Trump calling him on an unsecure, unclassified line and introducing himself by an unfamiliar nickname.

'The voice on the other end said, "It's Don Trump calling",' he writes.

'I said, "Hello, Mr. President, how are you?" Apart from my surprise that he was calling at all, I was surprised that he referred to himself as "Don".'

McCabe also writes in his book that Justice Department officials at one point mulled a plan to invoke the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The would have allowed Trump's adversaries in his own administration to remove him from office with a majority vote of his Cabinet and the backing of Vide President Mike Pence.

McCabe, whose book is slated for a Feb. 19 release, may have a personal reason to go after the president: He recounts verbal slashing Trump offered on the expense of his wife Jill, who mounted a failed 2015 run for a state senate seat in Virginia.

The president asked after Jill, he writes, asking in a sneering tone: 'Yeah, that mustve been really tough. To lose. To be a loser.'

A statewide political action committee called Common Good VA contributed $467,000 to her campaign. Hillary Clinton headlined a fundraiser for the group shortly beforehand, raising $500,000 for it.

The PAC was run at the time by Terry McAuliffe, then the governor of Virginia. McAuliffe is a longtime Bill Clinton fundraiser and former Democratic National Committee chairman.

Jill McCabe's campaign also received more than $207,000 from the Democratic Party of Virginia, over which McAuliffe exerted significant control.

Common Good VA was the largest single donor to the McCabe campaign.

Trump dismissed McCabe Thursday on Twitter, referring to his firing.

Comey learned he had been sacked while giving a speech in L.A.: he thought members of the audience were joking when they told him TV screens in the auditorium flashed news of his pink-slip while he was on stage

'Disgraced FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe pretends to be a 'poor little Angel' when in fact he was a big part of the Crooked Hillary Scandal & the Russia Hoax - a puppet for Leakin' James Comey,' Trump wrote.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement read on MSNBC that McCabe 'was fired in total disgrace from the FBI because he lied to investigators on multiple occasions, including under oath.'

'His selfish and destructive agenda drove him to open a completely baseless investigation into the President. His actions were so shameful that he was referred to federal prosecutors. Andrew McCabe has no credibility and is an embarrassment to the men and women of the FBI and our great country.'

The president vented at McCabe Thursday on Twitter, saying he was a 'puppet' for Comey




A homeowner aimed fire at armed robbers after they tried to force their entry into his home.

Surveillance footage taken from outside the owner's home near S 145 E Avenue and Kenosha in Broken arrow, Oklahoma, on February 12, shows the armed suspects run towards the homeowner's property and kick his door open at around 6pm.

However the robbers soon flee the scene after a shot is fired in their direction by the homeowner stood waiting by his door.

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: A homeowner's worst nightmare was caught on camera. In a video, shared exclusively with Tulsa's Channel 8, three armed suspects can be seen kicking down a man's front door in Broken Arrow. -- https://t.co/2c6GDOXOm7 pic.twitter.com/nPnaVsK2bx  Tulsa's Channel 8 (@KTULNews) February 14, 2019

The three armed robbers run towards the home near S 145 E Avenue and Kenosha in Broken arrow, Oklahoma, on February 12, and kick down the door

The three suspects hover in the driveay for a few seconds after breaking the door to the house

During the footage, one of the armed suspects is seen leaping forward and breaking the door down with one sharp kick as his two accomplices follow suite.

The three armed suspects hover by the door with their weapons before a shot is fired at them and hits the homeowner's truck parked in the driveway.

After the homeowner fires his bullet, the armed suspects flee the scene.

Next-door-neighbour Cash McDonald told News On 6: 'I was just inside listening to my Will Smith CD.

'Neighbors came out and said they heard gunshots.'

The homeowner, who is stood waiting by the front door, fires a shot at the robbers and hits the truck parked in the driveway

The three suspects flee the scene and after the homeowner fires a shot in their direction

Mr McDonald added that he and other residents on the street then rushed outside their homes but the robbers had already fled the scene.

Following the encounter, the homeowner told News On 6 off-camera that he decided to get his gun and wait by the entrance to his property after spotting the three armed men standing in his driveway.

The homeowner said he believes the robbers targeted him as they thought he had money.

A police investigation is now underway and all three suspects are still on the run.
A Thai Airways flight had to dump fuel in the English Channel and turn back to Heathrow moments after take-off - when the pilot was told that a cargo door was open.

The flight left London at 9:35pm on Wednesday but during the ascent, a warning light appeared showing that the cargo hold door was not shut securely.

Flight radars show how the concerned captain circled several above the English Channel while burning and dumping fuel before bringing the Boeing 777-300ER back to Heathrow to land.

A Thai Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft was forced to return to Heathrow Airport on Wednesday night after a cockpit indicator warned the aircraft's cargo door might be open, file photo

The jet was forced to circle over the English Channel while it burned and dumped fuel to reduce weight so it could land safely. Aircraft engineers determined the warning was caused by a faulty sensor which was replaced allowing the plane to return to service

Webcams from Airlive net show the plane as it lands back at Heathrow.

There were 344 passengers onboard and 20 crew who were taken off the flight TG917 while engineers battled to identify the problem.

Airline officials eventually found that the door was secure but there was a problem with the warning light system.

Flight Lieutenant Pratana Patanasiri, Vice President Aviation Safety, Security and Standards Department, said that the plane was at 8,000 feet before the incident when the light appeared.

He said: 'The sensor for the cargo hold door look system showed an irregularity.

'Flight engineers took about two hours to check the whole aircraft. They found the notification light issue, there were no hazardous irregularities.

'The flight departed again at 00.32 yesterday. All crews arrived in Bangkok safely on the same day at 18.14, local time.'

Passengers followed the instructions and waited at the gate while engineers and maintenance staff checked the plane and it was refuelled.

The vice president also appreciated passengers understandings and patience. He added: 'On behalf of the Thai Airways cabin crews, I would like to thank all passengers for cooperating with us in this emergency situation.'

A passenger onboard the Thai Airways flight tweeted: 'Can't believe that of all planes, the one I'm on had to turn back to Heathrow an hour into the journey TG917.

'As far as I'm aware, engineers are checking it out. Don't know how long it will take though..not much information has been given to us yet, just sitting waiting.'
Activists have vandalised a statue of James Cook to mark the anniversary of the British pioneer's death.

'Good riddance' was scrawled at the base of the statue and yellow paint plastered on the leg of the First Fleet captain at St Kilda, Melbourne sometime on Wednesday night.

The graffiti and paint was promptly removed the following day.

Port Phillip mayor Dick Gross pointed out the vandalism happened on the same date Captain Cook died.

Activists have vandalised a statue of James Cook (pictured) to mark the anniversary of the British pioneer's death

That is, on February 14, 1779.

He pointed out the statue was often vandalised to protest colonisation.

The first time around, vandals doused the statue in pink paint during Australia Day celebrations last year.

The statue was later draped in rubbish, before vandals struck again in the most recent case.

While cr Gross said he always invited public debate on topical issues, he slammed the act of vandalism as a waste of taxpayer's money.

'I just don't welcome graffiti and the truckloads of money it costs to remove it,' he said.

Cr Gross said it cost between $1,000 and $1,500 to remove the graffiti - an unnecessary expense in his eyes.

'Every year council has to spend $330,000 on the eradication of graffiti. There's an amazing amount of graffiti removal in the area,' cr Gross said.

Cr Gross said the statue for its part, had managed to withstand the constant threat of vandalism since the time it was first raised.

'The statue was put there in 1914 and it's based on an English statue of Captain Cook. It's a heritage artwork that has been there for over a century,' he said.

Cr Gross said moving the statue would do nothing to solve the issue and encouraged people to trade in vandalism for public debate.

'We understand this statue is going to be a hot spot.

'I do not understand the complexity of colonisation which is a hot topic for a lot of people and I encourage them to talk about it. Just don't desecrate art.'
A man raped and beheaded a four-year-old girl before peeling off the skin of her face so she could not be identified, police say.

The 27-year-old, from Khopoli town in Maharashtra, India, had wanted to have a sexual relationship with the girl's mother, according to officers.

But he killed the child out of revenge after she rejected his advances and reprimanded him public, Indian media report.

A man raped and beheaded a four-year-old girl before peeling off the skin of her face so she could not be identified, police in India say (file picture)

He severed the youngster's head with a kitchen knife then dumped her torso about 1,000ft behind his house, police say. He is then accused of dumping her head nearby having peeled off the skin so authorities could not identify her.

A police source told The Times of India: 'The mother, who is hearing impaired, had warned him against entering the house.

'She had threatened to tell her husband about it too. The accused and the victim's father were friends and were both from Uttar Pradesh.'

Police say the girl visited the man's house at about 8.30am on Tuesday before he took her back to her mother.

But she is said to have publicly scolded him, prompting him to want to take revenge, the Times of India reports, adding that the man had wanted to have a sexual relationship with the woman.

He gagged the girl while her mother was busy elsewhere in the house and took her to his house, hiding her in the kitchen, police say.

Her mother and neighbours launched a desperate search when they could not find her.

Police later found the girl's torso and found he had tried to sexually assault the child, who also had burn injuries.
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Thousands of schoolchildren hit the streets of Britain today as they went on strike from school to protest over climate change - but the Prime Minister slammed them for 'wasting lesson time'.

Youngsters walked out of lessons for the Youth Strike 4 Climate protests in 60 towns and cities across the UK from Cornwall to the Scottish Highlands, leaving many parents concerned they would face a 60 fine for truancy.

The Met Police confirmed that three teenagers were arrested in London today - two for obstruction of the highway and one for a public order offence.

A 15-year-old girl was initially arrested for a public order offence, but was subsequently de-arrested.

Parents have been divided on social media over whether their children should go on strike one day before half-term, amid concerns over the walkouts in London being hijacked by hard-line climate groups and career activists.

Some of the teenagers in Westminster stood on the statues of former prime ministers David Lloyd George and Sir Winston Churchill at Parliament Square, with others carrying placards bearing Socialist Worker logos.

Young people boarded an open top city tour bus, climbing to the top deck to bringing roads in the area to a standstill. Hundreds of pupils, holding signs, chanted 'We're not moving' as they blocked traffic from moving.

Students want the Government to declare a climate emergency and take active steps to tackle the problem, tell the public more about the size of the ecological crisis and reform the curriculum so it is an educational priority.

The pupils began to slope off at 3.30pm - the usual time for the school bell - after bringing Whitehall to standstill

But in their wake came more than a hundred taxis to cause gridlock in protest at plans to ban the iconic black cabs from certain roads.

Scores of vehicles were parked around Parliament Square, while surrounding roads were brought to a total standstill.

The protest comes after similar roadblocks by taxis in the past months on London Bridge and Tottenham Court Road.

Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement demonstrate at Parliament Square in Westminster this afternoon

A student poses in handcuffs after being arrested in their school uniform on Parliament Square in Westminster today

Girls in school uniform pose next a police van as they enjoy the climate march at Parliament Square in Westminster today

A man is arrested at Parliament Square in Westminster today during the protests organised by Youth Strike 4 Climate

Students stand on the David Lloyd George statue as they protest at Parliament Square in Westminster this morning

Protesters on the Sir Winston Churchill statue at Parliament Square in Westminster (left) and another in the area (right)

Girls from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Parliament Square in Westminster today

Protesters at a Youth Strike 4 Climate demonstration outside Shire Hall in Cambridge this morning

Students walk through Brighton as they carry out a Youth Strike 4 Climate protest in the Sussex seaside town today

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas described the students' as 'inspiring' as she joined a protest, but school leaders and Education Secretary Damian Hinds have warned students they should not miss lessons to take part in the strikes.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Theresa May urged pupils to stop timewasting, saying it was 'important to emphasise that disruption increases teachers' workloads and wastes lesson time that teachers have carefully prepared for'.

Parents could be fined 60 if they allow their child to take an unauthorised absence in some areas where schools are under pressure from councils - despite others actively encouraging children to make banners and attend.

Some schools backing the protests posted pictures on social media of their children attending rallies, while Devon County Council said it 'fully welcomes and supports the aims of young people across the UK' today.

Among the banners held by pupils holding demonstrations across the country today were 'global warming isn't cool', 'there is no Planet B', 'when did the children become the adults' and 'don't burn our future'.

However, the National Association of Head Teachers has told members to not authorise truancy and instead help children 'engage with social issues' in other ways, such as discussions in class or at lunchtime.

The Government has insisted the issue is a matter for individual headteachers to deal with, but it is understood ministers would not expect absence to be granted simply for a protest.

Students stand on the statue of Winston Churchill as they protest at Parliament Square in Westminster this morning

Some have critised the protest, including Toby Young, former director of the New Schools Network, who said: 'Calling this a strike is ridiculous. What are they going to do? Down pencils? This is just truanting.'

The Youth Strike 4 Climate movement has already seen strikes in Australia, Switzerland and Belgium, and has been inspired by Greta Thunberg, 16, who protests every Friday outside Sweden's parliament to urge leaders to tackle climate change.

The strikes come in the wake of a UN report which warned that limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, beyond which climate impacts become increasingly severe, requires unprecedented action.

That includes cutting global carbon dioxide emissions by almost half within 12 years. They also want recognition that young people have the biggest stake in the future, should be involved in policymaking, and that the voting age should be lowered to 16.

In Parliament Square, two students brandishing a bottle of champagne climbed on to the roof of the number 11 bus to Fulham Broadway. Traffic around the square in central London was at a standstill after students blocked traffic by sitting in the roads.

Some young protesters climbed to the top of traffic lights around Parliament Square bearing banners and placards. Others climbed the statues in the square, including the one of Churchill, while placards were hung from the statue of Lloyd George, with one reading: 'you can have capitalism or you can have the planet'.

Mounted police and other officers tried to move the protesters off the roads and on to the pavements.

Some students at the protest in Parliament Square were seen drinking alcohol from bottles disguised by paper bags. Others ripped up homemade signs, chanting 'f*** Theresa May'.

Meanwhile, another student speaking over a loudspeaker said that 'violence' was unnecessary, pleading with the crowd to keep the protests peaceful.

Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest on Canterbury high street in Kent today

Students stand around the statue of former prime minister Winston Churchill at Parliament Square in Westminster today

Students take part in a climate change protest outside the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff today

Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement during a climate change protest today in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire

Police stand guard in front of Downing Street as students take part in a climate change protest in Westminster today

Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement shout and hold placards during the protest at Parliament Square today

The girl, who did not say her name, told the crowd: 'If we're angry and promote violence, that's not going to help us. We need positivity.'

Students hold placards and shout slogans as they take part in the climate change protest at Parliament Square today

Police have begun moving on some of the protesters sitting in the road, but many groups remain. A team of officers is moving from group to group while mounted officers try to herd crowds off the road.

Dozens of protesters had blocked a number 87 bus to Wandsworth from turning from Parliament Street into Bridge Street. Some sat in front of the bus while others stood in a close-knit huddle.

Drummers were beating out a rhythm while the group - many bearing signs and placards - chanted and shouted. A man was loudly booed after turning up with a megaphone and saying: 'We're all going to die, what are you worried about extinction for?'

Police have formed a wall in front of a bus where two people were surrounded by officers. A dozen officers encircled the pair. It is not clear how old they are. Bystanders said the pair had been arrested for sitting in front of the bus.

An unnamed protester has been arrested and taken away in handcuffs. According to a friend, the protester was sitting in front of a double-decker bus, blocking it from moving.

Student protesters had met in Parliament Square to call for action. Nico, 13, said that protesting about climate change was not a 'chance to bunk off school', but a push for a better future. It's our future and people in our generation should be fighting (for) what we're going to be living through.'

She added the Government 'isn't really prioritising the environment' and that it is 'much more important than anything that's going on now'. The pupil has already made protecting the environment her priority, having petitioned her school to remove the use of disposable cutlery from its canteen.

Students hold placards and shout slogans as they take part in the climate change protest at Parliament Square today

Students go on strike over the perceived lack of action on climate change, outside Parliament Square in Westminster today

Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement outside the gates of Downing Street during the protest today

Thousands of schoolchildren take part in the huge student climate march at Parliament Square in Westminster today

A young girl holds a banner saying 'I want you to panic' at Parliament Square today during the climate change march

She said: 'We started a petition at our school to get rid of the plastic cutlery because we think it's so unnecessary and it's bad for the environment. We're hoping that the Government will become more aware of it and start making a change.'

Alexandar Gyurov, 17, said he was at the protests in Parliament Square to 'raise awareness for climate change and get a bit of a 'move on' in terms of getting governments to change their ways of acting and going with a greener approach to things'.

What are the Youth Strike 4 Climate protests about? The walk-out is being organised by the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement, which has been encouraging children and their parents on social media to join in. Students in the UK are demanding the Government declare a climate emergency and take active steps to tackle the problem, communicate the severity of the ecological crisis to the public and reform the curriculum to make it an educational priority. They also want recognition that young people have the biggest stake in the future, should be involved in policymaking, and that the voting age should be lowered to 16. Youth Strike 4 Climate expects thousands of children - some as young as nine - to walk out at 11am and join protests in 40 towns and cities including Leeds, Bristol, Oxford and Exeter. The campaign leaders are being advised by militant green group, Extinction Rebellion, whose roadblocks brought parts of London to a standstill in November. Campaigners have put together a slick public relations operation, providing children with template letters to schools which can be signed by their parents. There are also campaign leaflets and model messages which can be uploaded and shared on Whatsapp and Facebook. Advertisement

'I think it's important to raise awareness about this problem and to put pressure on the Government and the people to take action now.'

One 14-year-old London schoolgirl, whose parents both support her decision to skip school to protest, said: 'Brexit won't matter if we don't have a world to live in'.

Pupils from across the country met in the capital to 'take a stand against emissions' as the crowds chanted 'Oh Jeremy Corbyn' and there was a return of 'f*** Theresa May'.

But not everyone saw it that way - with some claiming they 'just wanted the day off school' - labelling the protest as 'bulls***.'

The protesters marched from Parliament Square to Downing Street holding hundreds of placards as traffic was brought to a standstill.

One motorist said: 'They ought to be in school, these are the kind that won't even want to work like the rest of us.'

About 30 protesters sat down in the road while mounted police watched from the edge of the crowd and a helicopter whirled overhead.

Zara Sajovic, 17, from Elephant and Castle, south London, said: 'It's a very good that kids are here - this is for their future. It's much better for the kids to be here, but others wanted to protest things like Brexit and didn't come.'

Logan Wijay, a foreign affairs adviser, took the day off work to join his daughter to protest. He said: 'I'm glad to be here with my daughter. Although her school gave permission for all girls to attend, my daughter was the only student to attend from her class.'

Catherine Barley, 44, was protesting outside Number Ten with her two sons. She said: 'I don't think that anything else is working. The kids being off school works. There's no excuse.'

A student from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement climbs onto an Undergound sign next to Westminster station today

Green party MP Caroline Lucas speaks to students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement in Brighton today

Thousands of students gather at the Youth Strike 4 Climate protest at the New County Hall in Truro, Cornwall, today

Children from schools around Bristol skip class to protest climate change at College Green in the city today

Students gather at the Youth Strike 4 Climate environmental protest in Truro today

Elijah Caled holds a sign saying 'protect our planet' as he joins thousands of students at the New County Hall in Truro today

Her son, Maxwell Barley, ten, a student at Corpus Christi, Brixton, said: 'We shouldn't have to deal with this in the first place.'

But one student held a sign reading 'we're only here for a day off skl'. His friends added: 'We think that climate change is bulls*** - there's too many feminazis here, too.'

A girl climbs onto a traffic light during the Parliament Square climate change protest in Westminster today

The teenagers said they had travelled to the capital from Brighton for 'a fun day out'. Children gathered and chanted outside Westminster Station, carrying signs reading 'the climate is changing, why won't we' and 'eco not ego'.

While a student with a microphone let out cries of 'F*** Teresa May' - with a dozen others joining him as he singled out the PM.

School governor Rachel Wrangham, 44, said: 'I'm here to join the protest against the appalling fact of climate change on all our lives.

'I'm joined here by my three children, Alexander, 11, Robin, six and Catherine, nine. They are missing school, they have been given permission for off-site education.

'The best way of bringing about change would be if our politicians did what they were ought to do and led. But given that they won't do it that, ordinary people won't don't have many options, so this a good one.

Her son Robert, six, said: 'I'm here to stop climate change. I care about the world, I like turtles, fish and sharks. It's nice having a day off school, it's very hot.'

While her other child, Alexander, 11, said: 'This is not just about having a day off school. This is a way of getting attention, to allow people to at least say something. We want to make our point that this destroying our world. We are helpless.'

The children went to Kentish Town Church of England primary school and Acland Burleigh secondary school in Tufnell Park.

Hundreds pupils in London swarmed an oil tanker screaming 'shame on you' - while children in black masks made rude gestures at the driver today.

The Government has insisted the issue of absence is a matter for individual headteachers to deal. Pictured: Parliament Square

Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement shout slogans and hold banners at Parliament Square this morning

In Brighton, nearly 1,000 children and college students stayed away from school to take part in the strike

Students take part in the climate change demonstration in London, with one holding a sign saying: 'Respect your mother'

Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement march through Canterbury high street in Kent today

Shirtless youths clung to traffic lights while police attempted to allow drivers to pass through a sea of left-wing banners during the pupil strike in Whitehall.

Activists backing Youth Strike 4 Climate protests Roger Hallam Roger Hallam (pictured) is one of those backing the marches The 52-year-old is one of the founders of Extinction Rebellion. The veteran campaigner, who is researching a PhD in effective radical campaigning, went on hunger strike in 2017 to demand King's College London stop investing in fossil fuels. He became interested in climate change in his 40s when an organic farm he ran in Wales went bankrupt because of extreme weather conditions. Joe Corre Son of Vivienne Westwood and Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren. The 51-year-old campaigner against climate change and fracking, who founded lingerie company Agent Provocateur, once burnt an estimated 5million of punk memorabilia during a protest. Jake Woodier Former turtle ranger Jake Woodier is the key frontman behind the demonstrations The former turtle conservation ranger is the key frontman. A full-time 'campaigner and activist', Woodier, 26, pictured below, ran a vegan cafe in Somerset but now lives in Brighton. Janine O'Keeffe A veteran of helping organise school strikes in Sweden  where she is an academic in the economics department of Stockholm University  O'Keeffe said involving children generates powerful publicity. She has links with activists in Australia, Germany, France, Canada, Italy, Denmark, Finland and Netherlands and brings her radical expertise to the British children's movement. She says pupils should strike until 3pm before adults take over 'and do civil disobedience... such as blocking the road'. Robert Possnett The ex-paratrooper, 57, is a vociferous Extinction Rebellion supporter. The fanatical Remainer boasts he is preparing to run a soup kitchen for the starving after Brexit. Advertisement

One girl, thought to be 15, was put into the back of a police van after telling an officer to 'f*** off' repeatedly. Children sat in the road, forcing bus drivers to abandon their vehicles as they tried to negotiate with protesters.

One lorry driver was sat in his cab stuck in the gridlock for three hours - after starting his shift in Gravesend, Kent, at 6.30am.

He said: 'This is stupid, don't they realise how the world works, this has put me right out. I'm not convinced - they say my emissions are ruining the world - but how do they think they get deliveries.

'Everything they've got, iPhones, clothes and even food, came from a truck like mine. They have zero perspective.'

Protester Lauren Wright, 16, said: 'The revolution will be soon - we've had enough of corporations.'

When asked about the measures taken by the government to reduce carbon emission, she laughed.

Lauren said: 'F*** climate change, they are not doing enough, they're all the same. I'm feeling pumped. 'We are coming back in March, we want change and we want it now. F*** Theresa May.'

One teenage protester said children must 'rise up' against adults and homework. She said: 'We are here today because adults told us we should be doing homework.

'The future of the planet is in our hands, no one here today is reporting this. Why have we waited until there's 12 years of the world left. Why have we been betrayed by those older than us.'

'We will not stand by and do nothing. We are watching the governments response. This is the only way we will achieve anything and we will now rise up.'

Susan Barton, 48, who travelled with her children from the Isle of Wight this morning, said: 'My children wanted to have their voice heard. I obviously would have preferred them to be in school, but a seven year old can't come on his own.'

Protesters stood in Parliament Square while pupils took turns giving speeches. Some were trained speakers, blasting the government and fossil fuels in well-crafted vitriol.

Others stumbled through speeches where they discussed why their science A levels made them experts. Some students danced with flowers in their hair, others smoked suspicious-looking cigarettes.

In between speeches 'No Scrubs' by TLC blared through a speaker. Discarded banners and placards piles up on the green next to the statue of military general Jan Smuts.

Another protester hung off the statue of Churchill and held a banner reading 'don't write a will.'

The protests, pictured at Parliament Square in Westminster today, are organised by Youth Strike 4 Climate and other groups

Students hold banners as they protest against climate change at Parliament Square in Westminster this morning

The demonstration at Parliament Square in Westminster today is one of the dozens of nationwide strikes for climate action

Students protest at Parliament Square today, with one holding a banner saying: 'Climate CHANGE your attitude'

Students from Graveney School in Tooting join the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement in Westminster this morning

Students from the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement hold Socialist Worker banners at Parliament Square this morning

A middle-aged protester named Amlon handed out Socialist Party posters to the students. He said: 'Companies only care about profit margins, not about the environment.'

How the protests follow UN climate report urging 'unprecedented action' The protests follow a United Nations report released last October, warning of the unprecedented changes needed by society to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. While warming of 2C above pre-industrial levels has widely been thought of as the threshold beyond which dangerous climate change will occur, vulnerable countries such as low-lying island states warn rises above 1.5C will threaten their survival. Their concerns meant a pledge to pursue efforts to limit temperature rises to 1.5C was included  after tough negotiations  alongside the commitment to keep them 'well below' 2C in the global Paris climate agreement in 2015. When the target was put into the Paris Agreement, relatively little was known about the climate risks that would be avoided in a 1.5C warmer world compared with a 2C warmer world, or about the action needed to limit temperature rises to that level. So the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was tasked with providing the answers - and the report warns the world is well off track to keep to the 1.5C limit. Even with the promises countries have made as part of the Paris Agreement to cut the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, the world is set to breach the 1.5C threshold by around 2040. Based on those promises, we are heading for 3C by 2100 and even warmer after that. As more greenhouse gases lead to more warming, stabilising the planet's temperature at any level will require emissions to fall to zero overall. To keep temperatures from rising to more than 1.5C in the long term, countries need to cut carbon emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 and to net zero by 2050, with steep cuts in other greenhouse gases such as methane. Methods to take excess carbon out of the atmosphere will also be needed. Advertisement

Hundreds of young protesters chanted for climate justice outside Cambridgeshire County Council's offices in Cambridge.

Schoolchildren, missing lessons for the day, carried banners bearing slogans including 'there is no planet B', 'global warming isn't a prediction - it's happening' and 'when did the children become the adults?'.

One protester stood on the steps of the council's building with a megaphone and led chants of 'whose future? Our future' and 'hey, ho, fossil fuels have got to go'.

Jasper Giles, a six-year-old pupil at University of Cambridge Primary School, was at the protest with his mother Alissia Roberts.

His mother said: 'I think it's worth taking a day off school to show support for this movement. I think it's really important and it will gather momentum.'

Maria Boznikoba, 40, attended with her eight-year-old daughter Gwen who is home-schooled. 'I really worry for the future of my daughter and I don't want her to be dealing with the stuff we're going to leave behind,' she said.

Ten-year-old Zachary Hird, a pupil at Cambridge's Newnham Croft Primary School, attended with his mother Diane Hird.

He said: 'We don't want climate change and people just have to change their ways as we don't want the world as it is right now. We just want to make people aware of it. We were talking about it in our class so we just came along.'

Asked how he felt about missing lessons for the day, he said: 'I feel climate change is more important - the world dying is a lot more bad than just, yeah.'

In Brighton, nearly 1,000 children and college students stayed away from school to take part in the strike.

Despite warnings from headteachers across the city and wider Sussex area, they gathered at the Clock Tower before marching to The Level to hear Brighton MP Caroline Lucas speak.

Sussex Police struggled to cope with numbers with no road closures were in place and very few police on show to marshal the crowds and keep them out of traffic on the main road down the seafront.

Parents have taken to Twitter to discuss their thoughts on allowing children to go on protest marches instead of school today

Mother Rosie Brown from Brighton, who brought her 12-year-old daughter to the demonstration, said: 'I'm not a law breaker. I just want these children to be safe. My 12-year-old daughter is here and there are hundreds more children coming.

'It is ironic that it is the traffic that is causing the problem at a climate change demo. I'm just a member of the public and I'm concerned about safety.'

Caroline Lucas: Children should be allowed to miss school to join the protest Caroline Lucas has said children missing school to campaign for action to tackle climate change should be allowed to do so because of 'exceptional circumstances'. The Brighton Pavilion MP told thousands of campaigners taking part in the Youth Strike 4 Climate event: 'The time for talking is over, and time for action is now.' Ms Lucas, who was met with chants of 'Oh Caroline Lucas' and 'Tories out, Greens In', told the crowd in Brighton: 'The evidence is really shocking, we have less than 12 years to get off the collision course that we're on, my generation has let you down. 'In the last 12 months there's only been one debate on climate change in Parliament. There is a better way forward.' In Brighton, there were some jeers from the crowd as Caroline Lucas mentioned they should have been at school today. The Green MP told the crowd: 'You shouldn't be here, you should be in class. But students should only be allowed to miss lessons in exceptional circumstances. 'The collapse of civilisations is a vital exceptional circumstance.' Ms Lucas also referred to American congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's recently-unveiled Green New Deal as she called for a British version. 'In the US, she is calling for a Green New Deal, and here in the UK we are calling for a Green New Deal. 'What we are calling for are hundreds and thousands of good green jobs. What we are calling for is a huge investment in green energy and energy efficiency. 'I believe, and I share with you the belief, that people, at the age of 16, should get the vote.' Caroline Lucas, the only Green Party MP, said she was 'feeling quite emotional' following the 'incredible turnout' in Brighton. Sharing pictures of the event on Twitter, she wrote: 'This is most hopeful thing that's happened in years. 'Exciting thing is positive policies like GreenNewDeal are taking off too. We can win this fight for a safer, fairer future!' Earlier on in the day thousands of campaigners, young and old, circulated around the city's clock tower with banners and posters as part of the Youth Strike 4 Climate event. As they gathered, the group began chanting anti-Tory slogans and were also critical of world leaders, including Donald Trump. Stephen Bradley, 55, said: 'The situation in Venezuela is part of it, the United States is trying to get its hands on their oil reserves, which is going to accelerate global warming over the next few decades.' They also shouted 'tell the truth' as student socialist groups began circulating leaflets. Activist Connor Rosoman, 21, said: 'The Tories are a party of big business, they're not going to do anything. 'It needs to be ordinary people to make the change and turn society into something that's not based on profit. 'Nationalisation can help. We can't control what we can't own.' Roads were then brought to a standstill as the protesters marched through the city towards the park. Police cars and officers accompanied them throughout. Local residents watched from their windows and cars as the group moved through the streets. The march ended where they waited for Caroline Lucas to arrive. Advertisement

Demonstrator and college student Kitty Bovaird, 16, also from Brighton, said: 'They didn't shut the road even though we have been saying millions of times we are going to do this. No-one listens.

'The government are putting profits before our planet and our future. We are here because we care about climate change and nobody is listening to us. When we try to share our opinions, they just say we are kids and we don't know what we are talking about.

A spokeswoman from Cardinal Newman Catholic School, in Hove, said: 'We support the need to tackle climate change and its devastating effects.

'However, we cannot support student attendance at this protest because we have looked into the co-ordination of the protests and have no assurances that student safety can be guaranteed.

'The event co-ordinators have not publicly outlined their protest route and have planned the gathering in a heavily congested part of the city. We do not want our students missing out on their learning.

'We will therefore not authorise any student absence to attend the protest. We have an enriching geography curriculum which teaches the issue of climate change and it encourages our students to develop their ideas about longer term solutions.'

Blatchington Mill School in Hove, called for parents to not encourage their children to skip class. Headteacher Ashley Harrold said: 'As a school we support the cause. We have been focusing on climate change as an ever-growing issue with catastrophic consequences.

'However, we cannot support the protest on today. We need students in school. We take care to plan each day of their learning, and we don't want them to miss out.

'We are not assured that the coordination of the protest is sufficient to ensure student safety as it is located in a congested area of Brighton. We feel that the protests are a superficial response to a deep-rooted socio-environmental issue.

'The protest does not highlight the wider changes required, including government targets, green taxes or student pledges that could have far-reaching consequences in the long-term fight against climate change.'

Downing Street said that while it was important for young people to engage with issues like climate change, the disruption to planned lesson time was damaging for pupils.

'Everybody wants young people to be engaged in the issues that affect them most so that we can build a brighter future for all of us,' a No 10 spokesman said.

'But it is important to emphasise that disruption increases teachers' workloads and wastes lesson time that teachers have carefully prepared for.

'That time is crucial for young people, precisely so that they can develop into the top scientists, engineers and advocates we need to help tackle this problem.'

Around 50 campaigners gathered in Birmingham's Victoria Square - meeting with the city council's leader, Ian Ward, to deliver petitions, including one from twinned schools bearing more than 200 pupils' names.

Addressing a group of protesters outside the Council House, Cllr Ward said the authority would 'stand shoulder to shoulder' with the aims of young people across the country.

Mr Ward said: 'Just yesterday I was down in London talking to the Government about their need to provide local authorities up and down this country with powers and the resources to get people out of their cars and into modern public transport powered by electric or hydrogen.'

'We all have to do our bit,' Mr Ward said. 'I think it's fantastic to see young people taking an interest in this issue.

'We have only got one chance at this. There is nowhere else we can go and live.'

In Belfast, a small but passionate crowd of young people gathered outside City Hall.

Primary and secondary school children, many holding aloft home-made signs, joined in chants calling for the authorities to act on climate change.

Maia Willis Reddick, a 17-year-old student at Belfast's Methodist College, said time was running out. 'We are protesting against the Government for their ignorance of the problem of climate change,' she said.

'We have 12 years before this becomes an international disaster, and before those 12 years we need drastic action to take place in order to reduce carbon emissions for the entirety of the UK, the entirety of the world.'

Students from Graveney School in Tooting join the Youth Strike 4 Climate protest at Parliament Square in Westminster today

Students are protesting across the towns and cities of Britain today, including at Parliament Square in Westminster today

The demonstration in Cambridge today is one of the nationwide strikes for climate action taking place across the UK

The strike is being supported by environmental campaign groups and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas in Brighton today

Maia said her school had been supportive of her and her classmates' desire to protest. 'Us leaving school means we show we value the climate the same as we value our education,' she said.

Students hold a climate demonstration in London today

'We are still very conscious about school. I have A-levels, I have stuff to do, we just want to make the point that we are willing to take drastic action in order to highlight the problems of climate change.'

Megan Hoyt, from north Belfast, accompanied her four children - Finn, Penny, Aisling and Isabelle - to the protest at City Hall.

'We are here today because we think it's time for political action,' she said. 'Personal responsibility can only take us so far. We've got our reusable coffee cups, and we've got our paper straws, and we are vegetarians and all those kind of things, but personal responsibility can only take us so far and now is the time for political leadership.

'People are angry and we are ready for something and it could be such a great moment for a new kind of politics. We are here to show there are people who want a change.'

Rachel Agnew, from Broughshane, Co Antrim, attended with son Archie, eight, and daughter Bea, five, both pupils at Broughshane Primary School.

'We have come along because I would like a future for my children, a future where we have clean energy resources. We want planet earth to be here and we want a future, that's what's important,' she said.

Nicola Sturgeon has backed youngsters who are skipping school to take part in climate change protests, describing their actions as a 'cause for optimism in an often dark world'.

Girl, 13, at the forefront of climate protests in Britain Teenager Holly Gillibrand from Fort William is among those at the forefront of the Youth Strike 4 Climate protests. The 13-year-old said it would be a 'momentous day', tweeting: 'Young people all around the UK are uniting together in solidarity to demand that our leaders treat the climate and ecological crisis as the crisis it is.' Inspired by the similar actions of 16-year-old Greta Thunberg in Stockholm, she has stood outside Lochaber high school for the past five Fridays to take strike action. She told the Guardian last week: 'It's the first time I have done anything like this. But I feel very angry, very scared and I see that they (political leaders) are not taking climate change seriously.' Holly added: 'I take the bus, I am almost completely vegan, as are my parents, and my family has always been very environmentally aware.' Advertisement

The First Minister spoke out as schoolchildren in Scotland joined in the global demonstration. It came despite Mr Hinds warning pupils they should not miss lessons to take part in the strikes.

But Ms Sturgeon took to Twitter to offer her support, saying: 'It's a cause for optimism, in an often dark world, that young people are taking a stand on climate change.'

While she said the Scottish Government was a 'world leader' in acting against climate change, the urgency of the issue meant 'it is right that we are all challenged to do more and that we hear the voice of the next generation'.

Teenager Holly Gillibrand from Fort William is one of those taking part in the the protest, saying it would be a 'momentous day'.

She tweeted: 'Young people all around the UK are uniting together in solidarity to demand that our leaders treat the climate and ecological crisis as the crisis it is.'

Scottish Green Party education spokesman Ross Greer urged education bosses to back pupils who are taking part in the protests rather than punish them.

He said: 'I commend every young person in Scotland and across the world who is joining this growing movement and speaking out against this existential threat to their future.'

He stressed the Curriculum for Excellence system in Scottish schools 'is based on the idea that we support our young people to become responsible citizens'.

Mr Greer added: 'Every school student who takes action against the climate crisis on Friday is doing exactly that.

'They should know that they will not be punished for defending their own future. They have the Scottish Greens' support and I hope they will have the support of their teachers and education authorities.'

Anna Taylor, of UK Student Climate Network, said: 'We're running out of time for meaningful change, and that's why we're seeing young people around the world rising up to hold their governments to account on their dismal climate records.

The movement has been inspired by Greta Thunberg (pictured in Davos on January 25), who protests every Friday outside Sweden's parliament to urge leaders to tackle climate change

Students protest against climate change at a strike in Lausanne, Switzerland, on January 18

Speaking from Stockholm, climate activist Greta told ITV's Good Morning Britain that once people 'fully understand the meaning of the climate crisis, you can't un-understand it'

'Unless we take positive action, the future's looking bleak for those of us that have grown up in an era defined by climate change.'

Energy minister Claire Perry told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I suspect if this was happening 40 years ago, I would be out there too.

Mother of girl, 9, whose death was linked to air pollution speaks to pupils Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, whose daughter Ella died in February 2013 (file picture) The mother of a nine-year-old girl whose death has been linked to unlawful air pollution has spoken to the young protesters in Parliament Square. Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, whose daughter Ella died in February 2013, received a chorus of cheers and chants of 'justice for Ella' after addressing the group. Ms Kissi-Debrah said she felt very emotional after speaking on the sixth anniversary of her daughter's death. She added: 'It has been a very hard day but I had to talk to them so they got what today was all about. It's not about skipping school. Climate change needs to be part of the national curriculum.' Advertisement

'I'm incredibly proud of the young people in the UK who are highly educated about this issue and feel very strongly - quite rightly - that we do need to take action because it's their generation that will bear the consequences.

'I do want to slightly caution that with the more official view that we can't put any more burdens on our superb teachers and teaching staff. I do hope that anyone missing school today does get their work and their homework done.'

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said it supports the right of young people to express themselves but it did not condone students being out of the classroom to take action.

In a statement, the NAHT said: 'While a school leader's role is to ensure children attend school, are kept safe and receive a good quality of education, it is right that individual school leaders can decide how best to respond to any proposed protest by students in their school on Friday.'

Former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres voiced her support for the cause, saying the action was 'moving'.

She said: 'It's time to heed the deeply moving voice of youth and schoolchildren, who are so worried about their future that they need to strike to make us pay attention. It is a sign that we are failing in our responsibility to protect them from the worsening impacts of climate change.'

John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: 'Young people know that their lives are going to be changed dramatically by the impacts of climate change.

'The risks that older people hope they might dodge are the problems the young will inherit. And the longer the young wait for action to be taken, the harder it will be for them in future.'

Youth Strike 4 Climate organisers say strikes are taking place in 60 towns and cities from Cornwall to the Scottish Highlands

However, the strikes were not welcomed by school leaders and Mr Hinds, who said missing class was not the answer. He said: 'I want young people to be engaged in key issues affecting them and involving themselves in causes they care about.

Where are the Youth Strike 4 Climate protests? Ullapool Primary School

Primary School Lochaber High School, Fort William

Torquay t own hall

own hall Port Erin, Isle Of Man

Newcastle University

University Forest Row, East Sussex

Devon County Hall, Exeter

Shire Hall, Cambridge

St George's Clock Tower Canterbury

Holy Trinity Church, Guildford

Preston train station

train station Swansea University

University Senedd, Cardiff

Winchester Buttercross Monument

Buttercross Monument Clock Tower, Brighton

Bonn Square, Oxford

Sheffield town hall

town hall St George's Hall, Liverpool

St Helen's Square, York

Parliament Square, London

Lancaster

Market Square, Nottingham

Leeds Town Hall

Town Hall New County Hall, Truro

Market Place, Durham

SOS Green, Stroud

Taunton

Belfast City Hall

City Hall Parliament of Scotland, Edinburgh

Much Dewchurc h

Chester town hall

town hall High Wycombe town centre

town centre Huddersfield train station

train station Hay-on-Wye Clock Tower

Clock Tower Glasgow City Chambers

City Chambers Forres High Street

High Street Hastings town centre

town centre The Quay, Bideford

Church Street, Grantham

Henley Street, Stratford upon Avon

College Green, Bristol

Shipley town centre

town centre Victoria Square, Birmingham

Guildhall, Bath

Offord D'Arcy

Guildhall Square, Southampton

Bournemouth town hall

town hall Hereford Sixth Form College

Sixth Form College The Forum, Norwich

Newbury town council hall

town council hall Scarborough

Manchester Central Library

Central Library Petersfield town square Advertisement

'But let me be clear, missing class won't do a thing to help the environment; all they will do is create extra work for teachers.'

Mr Hinds said: 'I want young people to be engaged in key issues affecting them and involving themselves in causes they care about. But let me be clear, missing class won't do a thing to help the environment; all they will do is create extra work for teachers.'

He added it was ultimately a matter for headteachers, but he did not want teachers being burdened with the extra workload the strikes could create.

London mayor Sadiq Khan, speaking at the National Clean Air Summit at the Tate Modern yesterday, said he understands why children feel 'very strongly' about pollution and climate change and called for politicians to take 'great strides to clear up the air across our country'.

He said: 'I say to my fellow politicians, we can be the first generation to get it and find solutions, or the last generation not to get it.'

The strike is being supported by environmental campaign groups and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, who addressed students on their walkout in Brighton.

Ms Lucas, who described the action as 'inspiring', said: 'Our children recognise that this is a climate emergency. They are striking this week because they know we cannot carry on as normal.

'Teachers work hard to prepare students for their future but right now that future is at serious risk.'

Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman and former teacher Layla Moran also backed the young people who have 'taken up such an important and principled cause' and said she would be joining students in Oxford.

Speaking from Stockholm today, Greta told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'I think that the first time I heard about climate change when I was eight or nine years old.

'It was when my teachers told me there's something called climate change and it's caused by humans. They showed us films and pictures, and I just thought it was very worrying, I was very scared of it.

'I thought that it was very strange that there was such an existential threat that would threaten our very existence and our civilisation and yet that wasn't our first priority and we weren't talking about it that much.

'So I became interested in it, and I started reading about it  like books and movies and articles  and the more I read about it, the more I understand.

'Once you fully understand the meaning of the climate crisis you can't un-understand it  then you have to do something about it.'

Meanwhile Richard Baker, chief executive of extreme-scale data intelligence firm GeoSpock, said: 'It's inspiring to see some of our youngest citizens taking action on climate change, but it shouldn't have to take school strikes for governments and policymakers to act on this public health crisis.'

Students and young people are set to follow up on February's action with a second round of strikes taking place on March 15 as part of a global youth strike.

Meet Greta, the world's unlikeliest strike leader: Her mum was a Eurovision singer, her family boasts a Nobel prize and today she's inspiring thousands of British children to walk out of school over global warming

By JANE FRYER FOR THE DAILY MAIL

At precisely 11am today, thousands of children from schools in more than 60 towns and cities across Britain will get up from their desks, pick up their bags and march out of their classrooms.

Not because they're bored, or playing truant, or want an early start to half-term or even just fancy a breather from fractions and French lessons.

No, these kids, many as young as nine, will be taking part in a mass protest over climate change  a warm-up for a global school strike on March 15.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg attend a session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

Greta's mother is Swedish opera singer Malena Ernman. She is seen performing during the Eurovision grand final in Moscow on May 16

A good number of them have been inspired by Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old pig-tailed Swedish schoolgirl who has been obsessively researching climate change for seven years and who, since last summer, has been skipping school every Friday to sit on the steps of the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, with a home-made sign that reads 'Skolstrejk for Klimatet' (School strike for the climate).

She grows her own vegetables, refuses air travel and luxury hotels  even if the only option is a 32-hour train journey and a tent  and with her round face and simple clothes, looks even younger than she is.

Greta also struck the fear of God into attendees at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poland in December 2018, accusing them of leaving the burden of climate change with future generations.

'I don't want your hope. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day,' she told them firmly in her clear, calm, barely accented English.

She gave business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month both barrels, too  'our house is on fire!' she said, and looked IMF Chairwoman Christine Lagarde very hard in the eye as they shook hands.

How brilliant! Regardless of what you think about climate change, for once we have a proper role model who practises what she preaches with dedication and courage.

And, of course, had every child that's going 'on strike' today, as part of the so-called 'Fridays for Future' movement, been inspired and mobilised by Greta, then teachers, heads, parents and politicians alike would probably be more relaxed about them bunking off school to join her protest.

But sadly, Greta's campaign has been hijacked by a band of opportunistic militant anti-Tory career activists who are co-ordinating the walkouts and drumming up support among children on social media in an effort to further their own hard-line agenda, not just on green issues, but also promoting civil disobedience.

Greta Thunberg was born on 3 January 2003. Her father is actor Svante Thunberg, - here with her sister Beata. She is pictured with her other family members

They include in their hoary ranks Roger Hallam, 52, founder of Extinction Rebellion, whose roadblocks bought parts of London to a standstill in November; Janine O'Keeffe, an academic who specialises in 'empowerment struggles'; Jake Woodier, a former vegan cafe owner; and Robert Possnett, a 57-year-old ex-paratrooper and fanatical Remainer.

Little wonder Education Secretary Damian Hinds said yesterday that skipping school 'won't do a thing to help the environment', while teaching leaders say parents will face 60 fines if their children walk out.

So what inspired the girl who's sparked such a remarkable situation?

When Greta was 11, she became depressed and stopped talking and eating.

In December, she described herself as having been 'diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, OCD and selective mutism  'I only speak when I have something important to say'  and insists her autism helps her concentrate. 'I see the world a bit differently, from another perspective I can do the same thing for hours.' She comes from an eminent family.

Her mother is the beautiful blonde Swedish opera singer Malena Ernman who was the country's entry in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.

Her father is actor Svante Thunberg, who was named after a distant relative, Svante Arrhenius, the Nobel-prize-winning scientist who in 1896 first calculated the greenhouse effect caused by carbon dioxide emissions.

(While much of his work has stood the test of time, he did predict that it would take another 2,000 years for us to reach today's levels of warming.)

Greta's own crusade began when she was nine years old and learned about climate change at school in Sweden  a nation which prides itself on its progressive approach to climate control.

'They were always talking about how we should turn off lights, save water, not throw out food,' she said in one interview.

Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old pig-tailed Swedish schoolgirl, has been obsessively researching climate change for seven years

But she couldn't get her head around the fact that there were potential solutions available, but no action. 'If humans could really change the climate, everyone would be talking about it and people wouldn't be talking about anything else,' she said. 'But this wasn't happening.'

So she started researching climate change herself, and found she couldn't stop. She became a vegan, stopped buying anything that was not essential and refused to fly anywhere.

Her research was so time-consuming she was forced to give up her hobbies  theatre, singing, dancing, music, horse-riding  but she didn't care.

'You have to see the bigger perspective,' she insisted.

Then she began working on her parents. 'Some people claim my parents have brainwashed me, but it was the opposite: I brainwashed my parents,' she said. They quickly fell into line.

By 2016, her mother had given up flying  putting an end to her international performing career. The family gave up meat and dairy because of what they regard as the damaging environmental effects of raising animals, installed solar batteries, started growing their own vegetables, went vegan and cycled everywhere, keeping an electric car for emergencies.

But Greta was only just starting.In August last year, her private personal protest went public when she walked out of school and plonked herself outside the Riksdag. Her demands were simple  that politicians reduced carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement of 2015.

(Her protest chimed with a country struck by heatwaves and wildfires in the hottest summer since records began 262 years before.) And her homemade leaflets, handed out in the shadow of the Riksdag, were to the point: 'I'm doing this because you adults are sh****ng on my future,' they read. She was moved on several times by police, and was reprimanded at home by her parents.

But she sat there, alone, for three weeks during school hours, school books in her lap, until after the Swedish general election on September 9, and has been there pretty much every Friday since, in rain, sleet, snow and hail.

In November 2018, still aged just 15 and dressed in a blue hoodie and hair in long plaits she gave her first TED talk (the series of talks given by eminent speakers online for a global audience). It has had nearly a million views.

Soon her word was spreading across the world.

Tens of thousands of Belgian children have played truant from school to march on the streets of Brussels, Namur, Leuven and Liege, inspired by Greta's simple message. At the World Economic Forum convention in Davos last month, she camped in the snow in temperatures of -18C rather than accept luxury hotel accommodation  and that after enduring a 32-hour train journey with her long-suffering dad.

'I want to practise what I preach,' she said, in one simple sentence shaming her fellow Davos eco-campaigners, who descended on the Swiss resort in more than 1,500 private jets and helicopters.

Students gather to demand the government take action on climate change at Martin Place on November 30 last year

Greta holds a placard next to students during a 'strike for climate' held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum

And despite looking more like Pippi Longstocking than a global climate activist, she wasn't remotely fazed either by her fellow panellists (who included Bono, primatologist Jane Goodall and singer Will.i.am), or her audience of some of the world's richest and most powerful people.

'Someone is to blame,' she said. 'Some people. Some companies, some decision-makers in particular have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money,' she said. 'And I think many of you here today belong to that group.'

Unlike so many politically motivated campaigners, Greta has never wavered.

'I am doing this because nobody else is doing anything; it is my moral responsibility to do what I can,' she said.

Today, of course, she is no longer protesting alone, sitting bravely in the snow, clasping that damp banner to her chest.

No wonder so many kids were inspired by her. And no wonder school strikes have also been held in Germany, Switzerland, Australia and even Uganda.

But what a shame that her cause has been embraced, piggybacked, hijacked even, by a worrying number of militant activists in this country, desperate to politicise her campaign for their own selfish ends.

JANET STREET-PORTER: I applaud young people making the effort to protest but why can't they do it on their own time?

By JANET STREET-PORTER FOR MAILONLINE

A strike is a weapon of last resort.

Workers who withdraw their labour know they will be out of pocket, and their actions can thoroughly inconvenience people who have nothing to do with any dispute.

Strikes cause resentment and anger, but there's always the hope that taking such a drastic step will rally support for poor working conditions, unfair pay and unfair dismissals and bring about change for the better.

Those were the rules up to the summer of 2018.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg takes part in the 'School Strike for Climate' at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 25

Now, a series of so-called Youth Strikes by school students in Australia, all over Europe and in the UK this Friday signal that young people are thinking and behaving like adult workers on a wage.

The kids say their strikes are justified because our elected leaders are failing to deal with the devastating effects of climate change, and supporters claim that teenagers are the 'true grown ups' while adults are behaving 'like spoiled and dangerous children'.

The Strike 4 Climate Action campaign was started by a remarkable young Swedish woman, Greta Thunberg, who has Aspergers.

Since August 2018, she has refused to attend school on Fridays, staging a weekly protest outside the Swedish Parliament building. In January, Greta was invited to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Patronising journalists wondered if she had 'help' with her speech because it was so articulate, and asked who was 'behind' her one woman campaign.

The young woman replied: 'I am behind Greta. I have brainwashed my parents. I convinced them not to fly any more and to stop eating meat'.

Students protest for climate action during a school strike in Magdeburg, Germany, last Friday

Now, Greta's campaign has gone global and one of her fans, 13 year-old Alexandria Villasenor from New York, is planning a day of direct action across the US on March 15th.

Using the hashtag FridaysForFuture, thousands of teenagers around the world have been walking out of school and staging marches in city centres.

They've protested in Brussels and Berlin, Switzerland and Sweden. In Australia last November, thousands marched in Sydney, Melbourne and 20 major cities. Reaction from politicians was pitiful, to say the least.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged them to be 'less activist', and one minister moaned that kids should be in the classroom 'learning about mining and science - because that's what we're good at..all you learn from a protest is how to join a dole queue'.

They're both terribly wrong. I joined the Tories and then the Young Socialists in my teens, and went on protest marches again apartheid, nuclear weapons and the war in Vietnam.

I shouted abuse at police, waved my placards and chanted for world peace. I don't know what difference my voice made, but it was something I could not ignore.

Last month, Greta was invited to speak in Davos, and told journalists: 'I am behind Greta. I have brainwashed my parents. I convinced them not to fly any more and to stop eating meat'

Protest marches are the only way that ordinary people can make their voices heard, when most politicians have been privately educated, attended a small group of elite universities, studied the same subjects, worked in law or economics, and all belong to the same clubs.

Learning how to protest teaches you resourcefulness, wit and determination.

But should we be impressed by the actions of teenagers taking to the streets instead of sitting in classrooms learning stuff that might secure them a better job and a chance to be in power themselves one day?

It's easy to be cynical and see the appeal of bunking off school once a week.

Given the perfect excuse for a Friday loafing around a town centre or hanging out in a park, what teenager would refuse to join a protest movement? Particularly one that so many adults agree with.

In Australia, one striking student said 'when kids make a mess adults tell us to clean it up. When our leaders make a mess, they're leaving it for us to clean up'.

True enough.

In Australia, climate change is top of the agenda after months of extreme weather. During my visit last month there was flash flooding, serious bushfires, extreme heat and torrential rain. There is a huge reliance on coal and a reluctance to harness solar and wind power.

A country with a giant desert in the middle is determined to dig up every last seam of coal, come what may, in order to placate the powerful mining interests and the unions. Natural wonders, like the Great Barrier Reef, are devastated and dying.

There's no dispute that adults have failed to deal with climate change, pandering to vested interests and big business every time.

Australian students gather in Sydney to demand climate change action last November

But the way to bring about change is by infiltrating democracy from within, by becoming a powerful voice, a politician and a leader.

Some teacher's unions have said that the strikes will do pupils good and teach them a valuable experience. Others have complained that the disruption should not interrupt their education.

Information and knowledge are what give you power- so maybe schools should harness all this enthusiasm for saving the planet and devise imaginative projects and initiatives which inform as well as educate their pupils.

Responding with the threat of detentions will achieve nothing either.

One middle class female commentator says she applauds the young strikers because they are 'talking more sense than our MPs'. That might be the case, but working class parents will have a different view. Poverty forced both my parents to end their education at 14.

They scrimped and saved for my school uniform and were so proud that I attended grammar school - they would have been outraged if I had walked out of a single lesson.

To them, passing exams and academic achievement was my only way out of dead end jobs and low wages.

They were right.

They never complained about me attending marches as long as my political escapades happened in my free time, on the weekend.

I'm thrilled the younger generation are so idealistic and committed to a better future for us all (just like I was).

I'd just be more impressed if they gave up their Saturday morning lie-ins to fight for their cause.
An inner west Sydney couple have outbid a dozen first homebuyers and bought a luxurious rooftop apartment for their five-year-old son.

The forward-thinking couple on Thursday outbid nabbed the deceased estate with harbour views on Wylde Street in trendy Potts Point.

Raine and Horne Double Bays sale associate Juan DArcy, who shared the listing with his colleague Peter Starr, told realestate.com.au there was no shortage of interest.

An inner west Sydney couple have outbid a dozen first homebuyers and bought a luxurious rooftop apartment for their five-year-old son.

The forward-thinking couple on Thursday outbid several other buyers and nabbed the deceased estate with harbour views on Wylde Street (pictured) in trendy Potts Point

But despite many first home buyers who fought for the city bolthole, Mr D'Arcy said the property was eventually sold to the couple $40,000 over the reserve price.

The sales associate said the buyers planned to complete a $50,000 renovation of the property and rent it out for $425 to $450 a week until their son moved in.

Prior to the auction, Mr D'Arcy said he hoped a first homebuyer got their hands on the property because 'its such a great option'.

The listing, which advertised the property as a 'Herbourview "Blank Canvas" Studio, Ripe For Renovation' urged potential buyers to enlist a builder and interior designer.

Sydney Harbour Bridge views were the key feature of the listing, but it also stated the apartment was in much need of 'some imagination and a discerning touch'.

The property - which has great market entry potential for first-home buyers - is well positioned on the top floor of the 'Fairhaven' block.

Sydney Harbour Bridge views were the key feature of the listing, but it also stated the apartment was in much need of 'some imagination and a discerning touch'

The property (pictured) - which has great market entry potential for first-home buyers - is well positioned on the top floor of the 'Fairhaven' block

Located on a quiet and enviable street, it also includes a private car spot and direct lift access from the carpark.

The affordable $450,000 to $500,000 price guide - which included a car space - lured plenty of bidders, but the apartment was eventually nabbed for $540,000.

Aside from the inner west couple, another couple from the Hunter Valley had also shown strong interest at auction and repeatedly bid for the city bolthole.

While Mr D'Arcy knew the property would be popular with first homebuyers, he never imagined it would be bought for a five-year-old.
A militant vegan has been ruthlessly trolled after storming a farm to film cattle in a protest that ended when the owner fired his shotgun into the air.

Direct Action Everywhere member James Warden and a colleague made headlines across Australia after footage showed them being confronted by Jason Parravicini outside his Harvey property in Western Australia on Wednesday.



The farmer repeatedly asked the pair to stop taking photos of his cattle and to leave his property, but the activists refused to budge and continued to film him.

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Militant vegan James Warden (pictured) has been ruthlessly trolled after storming a farm to film cattle - leading the owner to fire his shotgun into the air

The Direct Action Everywhere member and a colleague made headlines across Australia after footage showed them being confronted by Jason Parravicini (pictured firing into air) outside his Harvey property in southwest Western Australia on Wednesday.

Mr Warden (pictured) said the farmer eventually went inside his house before emerging a short time later with a shotgun and firing two shots into the air

After posting footage of the confrontation on his Facebook profile, Mr Warden - who bills himself as a 'non-apologetic animal rights activist' - may have expected a positive reaction from viewers.

But the animal rights campaigner was instead met with a barrage of criticism from those who disagreed with his stance.

'Privileged mummies boy,' one user wrote.

'Waste your life trying to change the minds of millions of people.'

On another of Mr Warden's posts, a user asked him jokingly whether the verbal abuse he was receiving was worth the moment in the spotlight.

'The downside of fame...?,' the user added.

The farmer repeatedly asked the pair (Mr Warden pictured right, colleague in car with him not pictured left) to stop taking photos of his cattle and to leave his property, but the activists refused to budge and continued to film him

Other commenters took the opportunity to taunt the animal rights activist with pictures of meat.

'You're a loser here's a picture of a nice scotch fillet to lighten your day. Go the farmer - PS I'm a butcher,' one user said next to a Queensland-produced cut of beef.

Sharing the Channel 7 coverage of the incident, Mr Warden said the meat-production industries needed to be recognised for the animals they exploited.

After posting footage of the confrontation on his Facebook profile, Mr Warden (pictured centre) - who bills himself as a 'non-apologetic animal rights activist' - may have expected a positive reaction from commenters

But the animal rights campaigner was instead met with a barrage of criticism from those who disagreed with his stance (pictured one user trolling him with a picture of steak)

On another of Mr Warden's posts, a user asked him jokingly whether the verbal abuse he was receiving was worth the moment in the spotlight

One commenter mocked him by saying they were going out hunting for meat for a bacon sandwich

'Is this the type of backbone to our country we would like to support,' he said.

'These industries need to be recognised for the families they tear apart, the animals they exploit and the humans that they unlawfully abuse, not their so called "product".'

In the video, Mr Parravicini could be seen approaching Direct Action Everywhere member James Warden and his colleague, who were parked outside the property.

'Take the camera out of my face,' Mr Parravicini said, while pointing his finger toward Mr Warden's colleague, who was recording the conversation.

He told the pair he understood if people didn't want to eat meat, but said he is a primary producer.

'We're feeding most of the world and a lot of people don't complain, it's only guys like you - so I suggest you move on,' he said.

Not willing to back down, the activists continued to film the farmer, who then gave the pair a fiery ultimatum.

Mr Parravicini (right) can be seen approaching Direct Action Everywhere member James Warden and his colleague, who were parked outside the property

'I'll give her one minute to get rid of that (camera) or I'll remove it from you,' Mr Parravicini said, before he yelled out 'call the cops' to someone else nearby.

'This is ridiculous, move on mate,' he said.

The farmer then tried to grab Mr Warden's car keys from the ignition, resulting in punches being thrown between the pair through the open car window.

'Get the f*** out of my place,' Mr Parravicini screamed at the activists.

Mr Warden (pictured) said: 'These farming communities are an echo chamber for this type of violence and it does not surprise me whatsoever that they are now targeting and acting in violence towards human beings'

'You two, out! You are tormenting Harvey. Get the hell out of it.'

Mr Warden said the farmer eventually went inside his house before emerging a short time later with a shotgun and firing two shots into the air.

'Alright, he's got a gun, he's got a shotgun... he just shot bullets, he just shot bullets,' Mr Warden said in the video, to which a woman replied 'not at us, though'.

Mr Warden said: 'These farming communities are an echo chamber for this type of violence and it does not surprise me whatsoever that they are now targeting and acting in violence towards human beings.'

Sharing coverage of the incident, Mr Warden (pictured) said the meat-production industries needed to be recognised for the animals they exploited

But Mr Parravicini said he was the one that was being provoked by the vegan activists, who were 'just fabricating story after story'.

He said he would never hurt anyone with a firearm and claimed he regularly uses his shotgun for vermin.

Mr Parravicini also alleged Harvey locals were being harassed and made to look as though they were mistreating their animals.

'People have just had enough. If you want to be vegan by all means be vegan... that's their choice, but just leave us alone,' he said.
A tradie has been left devastated after gutless thieves ripped apart his truck to steal his trailer, along with more than $50,000 worth of tools.

Nick Esplin was working at a construction site in Ashgrove in Brisbane's inner west in the early hours of February 5 when his truck was ripped in half.

At the time of the theft, the construction site was locked with the truck parked in front of the trailer to block it.

Nick Esplin (pictured right) was working at a construction site in Ashgrove in Brisbane's inner west in the early hours of February 5 when the thieves ripped his truck in half

A tradie has been left devastated after gutless thieves ripped apart his truck to steal his trailer (pictured), containing more than $50,000 worth of tools

According to the Courier Mail, it had taken eight years for Mr Esplin to collect all the tools, many of which he was able to get after completing big jobs.

Queensland Police released images of the trailer and a white Nissan Navarra D22 they believe could be linked to the theft.

The thieves were able to hook the trailer up to their truck and hit Mr Esplin's truck as it drove off.

'That's my everyday vehicle. I have another car, but I had to get the truck towed to the mechanic,' the tradie said.

'It's been devastating for me mentally. I couldn't come into work for four days.'

Some people on social media falsely accused Mr Esplin of organising the truck to be stolen as an 'insurance job'.

'I don't care about the insurance, it won't cover half of what I've lost, not to mention the sentimental value of losing tools I've had since I first started work,' Mr Esplin said.

At the time of the theft, the construction site was locked with the truck parked in front of the trailer to block it

Hundreds of people have since taken to social media in support of Mr Esplin, who couldn't work for four days due to stress.

'That is bl**dy terrible. Surely someone knows something? Hopefully not an inside job, must have been watching you,' one user wrote.

'Nothing worse on the theft line of things than stealing a mans livelihood,' another person said.

Many on social media empathised with the young tradesman and shared their stories, bringing to light on the widespread targetting of expensive tools.

'This happened to my dad. It's devastating. Wouldn't wish it on anyone,' one woman wrote.

'Had our site broken into this week. Luckily we take most of our tools home each day,' another man commented.
A recreational fisherman has been found not guilty of murdering an Irish father-of-two by stabbing him in the head with a screwdriver during a fight next to Perth's Swan River.

Andrew Doan, 35, stood trial in the West Australian Supreme Court over the death of Charles John McCarthy, 32, in East Fremantle in the early hours of December 23, 2017.

Mr Doan was acquitted of both murder and the alterative charge of manslaughter on Friday after swift deliberations by the jury.

There were gasps and tears when the verdict was handed down. The father-of-one has already spent more than one year behind bars.

Andrew Doan, 35 (pictured), testified in a Perth district court that he raised his hands to protect his face after the victim Charles McCarthy rushed at him in the early hours of December 23, 2018

Mr Doan and his friend Tien Vu Huynh had been fishing without much luck for about two hours in Swan River on Riverside Drive, East Fremantle on the fateful night.

As Mr Doan emerged from the river, Mr McCarthy walked by with his wife Nicole and friend Jason Mikel Curran, who made a remark about the Asian men getting into trouble with Fisheries for their catch.

Mr Doan claimed one of the men said: 'Fisheries are going to get you.'

While prosecutor James Mactaggart told the jury it was a 'smart-a**e, throwaway' comment, Mr Doan said the remark was racist because there was a stereotype 'that all Asians catch undersize fish'.

The trio, who had been drinking at a Christmas function, began walking away but a sober Mr Doan followed them and they argued.

Mr Doan then realised he was outnumbered when Mr McCarthy began 'puffing up' and walked back towards him, 'really staunch' with his fists clenched.

'It looked like he was coming into a demonic rage,' Mr Doan testified.

He told the jury he panicked, pulled out a screwdriver and held it above his head, saying: 'Get back or I'll stab you.'

As Mr Doan retreated to his car, Mr McCarthy charged and moved to punch him, but impaled himself on the screwdriver.

Mr McCarthy (pictured) ran into the tool and impaled himself

Mr Doan said he had closed his eyes, threw his arms up to protect his face and forgot he was holding the tool.

He remained at the scene, telling police 'it was me' and claimed self-defence.

The Irish native suffered traumatic brain injury and died in hospital the next day.

The jury took less than an hour to hand down the not-guilty to Mr Doan.
(ANSAmed) - MADRID, FEBRUARY 15 - Faced with growing xenophobic trends throughout Europe, King Felipe VI of Spain praised ''the contribution of Moroccan immigrants to Spanish development''.



He was speaking in Rabat at the end of his official visit to Morocco. In a meeting with the Spanish community in the country, the king was quoted by Spanish media as urging stronger bilateral ties while taking note of the ''large Moroccan community living and without a doubt contributing to Spain's development''. The monarch was accompanied during his official visit by 6 ministers including Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, who at the end of the visit with his Moroccan counterpart Naser Burita in turn said that the his country had also been helped a great deal by the Moroccan community boasting over 800,000 people in Spain, 230,000 of whom registered on social security lists. El Pais quoted Borrell as saying that that are two opposite visions of immigration, one that uses immigration top foster fear and another that wants to look at the positive aspects that it has on society. Borrell stressed that there is the need to replace illegal and clandestine immigration with regularized, planned immigration, like in the case of the over 19,000 Moroccan workers who have a contract in Spain for harvesting strawberries in 2019. ''Closing the doors of a country cannot be the solution,'' he warned. Burita also criticized those who give priority to ''national egoism''. Imigration, with over 64,000 irregular arrivals on Spanish soil in 2018, marked the trip by the Spanish royal family to Morocco. On his arrival in Rabat on Wednesday, King Felipe VI thanked King Mohamed VI for his efforts for border control and asked that collaboration be stepped up to stop the waves of clandestine migrants arriving in the country. (ANSAmed).



XDP 15-FEB-19 13:11 NNNN
A Lyft driver has been hailed a hero after he saved the life of a toddler who was wandering alongside a road late at night during a rainstorm.

Del Hedrick had just dropped off a passenger around 10.30pm Tuesday in Santa Rosa, California when he spotted the 18-month-old girl walking alone nearby.

Hedrick posted a precious video to his Twitter page showing himself holding the baby girl in his arms while the two patiently wait for police to arrive.

He said in the clip: 'Well, I'm dropping somebody off at this apartment complex and I found this little baby walking around... no shoes on.

'I know nothin'... cops are on their way.'

Lyft driver Del Hedrick (above) found a lost toddler wandering on the side of a road Tuesday night in Santa Rosa, California

Hedrick posted a video to his Twitter page showing himself holding the little girl in his arms while the two patiently wait for police

Police arrived to the apartment complex shortly after the call and were able to locate the child' family.

Santa Rosa Police said in a Twitter statement: 'The officer resumed the search with the child, and was finally able to reunite her with her family.'

Police Sgt. Jeneane Kucker told The Press Democrat the unfortunate incident appeared to be a mistake made by the child's babysitter.

Authorities do not suspect criminal wrongdoing and charges were not filed against the babysitter.

Police arrived to the apartment complex shortly after the call and were able to locate the girl's family

The child was wearing no shoes and was believed to have snuck out the front door of her home, police said

Hedrick just dropped off a passenger around 10:30pm Tuesday at this apartment complex

Kucker told The Press Democrat: 'Looks like an open-door kind of thing... it was a total oversight by a babysitter... not realizing the child was gone.'

The department praised Hedrick as a community hero on Twitter Wednesday night.

'Del Hedrick's actions demonstrate how we all work together to keep our community safe...,' the department said.

'His initiative to shelter the toddler & help reunite her w/ family is both heartening & inspiring.

'On behalf of the Santa Rosa Police Department & our community, thank you for helping a member of our community in-need. It's because of people like you that we are #SantaRosaStrong.'

Santa Rosa Police said have hailed the driver as a community hero
A house painter allegedly raped a 13-year-old boy after meeting him on the dating app Grindr, pushing open the front door of his house and pulling his pants down, a court has heard.

Colombian national Oscar Javier Romero Rodriguez, 34, allegedly visited the boys home on Sydneys northern beaches on Wednesday and sexually assaulted him.

Rodriguez, from Belmore in Sydney's south west, was charged with aggravated sexual assault by Campsie police on Thursday after investigators left a card at his house saying they wanted to speak to him.

Colombian national Oscar Javier Romero Rodriguez, 34, allegedly visited the boys home on Sydneys northern beaches on Wednesday and sexually assaulted him

The court heard Rodriguez had a longtime girlfriend when he allegedly raped a 13-year-old boy on Sydney's northern beaches on Wednesday

Prosecutor Lara Mangion told a bail hearing at Burwood Local Court on Friday that Rodriguez and his alleged victim 'first came into contact through Grindr and then there was further contact through WhatsApp.'

The boy allegedly told Rodriguez he was 13-years-old, Ms Mangion told the court.

'Rodriguez then 'actively persuaded' the victim to meet up. Following his 'relentlessly ... harrassing behaviour', the boy provided Rodriguez with his residential address,' Ms Mangion told the court.

'The accused has attended the victim's home and has pressured the victim to open the front door,' she said.

'When the victim has unlocked the door, he has pushed the victim against the wall and pulled down his pants'.

Rodriguez allegedly met the teen through the dating app Grindr, then continued to communicate with him on Watsapp

Prosecutors told the court Rodriguez allegedly later sent the boy a message saying 'I'm falling in love with your eyes'.

Ms Mangion said the boy rang the Kids' Helpline after Rodrigeuz left the house and the matter was referred to police.

The boy was taken to the Sydney Children's Hospital for examination.

The court heard there was 'ongoing...forced persistence' from Rodriguez.

Prosecutors told the court Rodriguez later sent the boy a message saying 'I'm falling in love with your eyes'.

Rodriguez's Legal Aid lawyer, Chantelle Porter, told the court his detention was unjustified and that police were relying solely on the boy's evidence.

She said Rodriguez only had driving offences on his record previously and claims to be a business student at 'Town Hall'.

He has been working for himself as a renderer, has a girlfriend of two years and is the leaseholder of a home, Ms Porter said.

A 34-year-old man has been accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy he met on gay dating app Grindr

Ms Porter asked that her client be bailed with strict conditions including he surrender his passport, be banned from using a mobile phone and not go to Killarney Heights, where the victim lived.

But he was refused bail by Magistrate Robyn Denes who said 'it does seem to be a very strong prosecution case'.

She noted the evidence meant 'its not even a case where the child may have mistakenly identified somebody'.

Ms Denes said: 'When the police went through his (Rodriguez's) Google searches they found this child's address in there.'

'That's pretty strong evidence that would suggest contacting this child'.

Rodriguez appeared clean-shaven and composed in the dock. No family or friends attended court.

He will remain in custody until he faces court again later in the year.
Beto O'Rourke said that he would take down existing walls and fences along the US-Mexico border if given the opportunity.

The former congressman from El Paso made the declaration in an MSNBC interview Thursday after the House and Senate passed a spending bill allocating $1.4billion for President Donald Trump's proposed border wall.

The White House said Thursday that Trump intends to sign the spending measure but will declare a national emergency 'to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border'.

After the bill was passed by both chambers, Texas Rep Dan Crenshaw asked O'Rourke on Twitter: 'If you could snap your fingers and make El Paso's border wall disappear, would you?'

O'Rourke responded: 'Absolutely, I'd take the wall down.'

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Beto O'Rourke declared in an interview Thursday that he would take down President Trump's proposed border wall along with 600 miles of existing barriers along the US-Mexico border if given the opportunity. The former congressman from El Paso explained: 'Heres what we know: after the Secure Fence Act, we have built 600 miles of wall and fencing on a 2,000 mile border. What that has done is not in any demonstrable way made us safer'

Beto O'Rourke when asked, since Rep. @DanCrenshawTX asked on Twitter, if he would tear down the walls that are already in place: Yes and I think a referendum to do so would pass. pic.twitter.com/ENZuYvdqEa  Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) February 15, 2019

O'Rourke went on to explain that barriers along the border have not improved American security, saying: 'Heres what we know: after the Secure Fence Act, we have built 600 miles of wall and fencing on a 2,000 mile border. What that has done is not in any demonstrable way made us safer.'

'It's cost us tens of billions of dollars to build and maintain. And it's pushed migrants and asylum seekers and refugees to the most inhospitable, the most hostile stretches of the US-Mexico border, ensuring their suffering and death.

'More than 4,000 human beings, little kids, women and children, have died. They're not in cages, they're not locked up, they're not separated -- they're dead, over the last 10 years.

'We have walled off their opportunity to legally petition for asylum, to cross in urban centers like El Paso, to be with family, to work jobs, to do what any human being should have a right to be able to do, what we would do if faced with the same circumstances they were.'

O'Rourke made similar remarks earlier this week at an El Paso rally held less than a mile from where President Donald Trump was bolstering support for his proposed border wall

The 600 miles of fencing currently in place at the border was erected under the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which was supported by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats, including then-Sens Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

O'Rourke had made similar remarks during a rally in El Paso earlier this week, which he held less than a mile away from a rally where President Trump sought to bolster public support for his proposed border wall.

'Walls do not save lives. Walls end lives,' the possible presidential candidate told his cheering crowd that rallied a mere two hundreds yards away from Trump's gathering.

'We are making a stance for the truth, against lies, against hate, against ignorance, against intolerance,' he said as supporters yelled 'Beto, Beto, Beto.'

As O'Rourke spoke, behind him, in the distance, Trump filled a giant big screen set up outside his event for the overflow crowd and the president addressed his supporters from a stage flanked by two huge signs reading 'Finish the wall.'
Tragic scenes have unfolded in a sleepy suburban street, following a minor neighborhood dispute involving two residents and a pet dog.

Police and paramedics were called to a home near Kenyon Road and Lilli Pilli Drive, Southport, Queensland at 11.20pm on Friday morning to attend to a dog bite victim.

It is believed that a woman aged in her 50s was attacked by the canine, which led to an argument with her neighbour - the pet's owner.

A woman in her 50s was attacked by a Staffordshire terrier cross at Southport (stock)

Shortly following her treatment the Staffordshire terrier cross's owner, a male in his 60s, suffered a medical episode.

Despite the onsite presence of medical staff, the man was unable to be revived and died at the scene.

'The dog bite, disturbance and medical episode do not appear to be causally related,' a Queensland Police Spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.

'Early indications suggest the male may have suffered a heart attack unrelated to the other incidents.'

Gold Coast Council continue their investigations, with a spokesperson telling Daily Mail Australia they had 'seized a dog and were assisting police with enquiries.'
Four teenage girls have been rushed to hospital after suffering from an overdose of an unknown drug at a Gold Coast high school.

The girls are all students at Southport State High School and believed to be all aged less than 14-years-old.

They are believed to have overdosed on prescription medication.

The girls are all students at Southport State High School (pictured) and are aged in their mid-teens

They were taken by ambulance to Gold Coast University Hospital after ingesting prescription medication, a Queensland Ambulance spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.

The four girls were in a stable condition.

Emergency services received multiple triple-zero calls and some students said the drug involved was Xanax, Channel 7 reported.

Police officers are at the school and are investigating.

Almost a year ago, seven students overdosed on a Russian designer drug similar to GHB at another Gold Coast school.

The Saint Stephen's College students posted their horror experience to Snapchat, and five boys were rushed to hospital.
An IT nerd who boasted about his lavish lifestyle online has been charged over a $17 million drug operation he allegedly ran on the 'dark web'.

Cody Ward, 25, regularly posted photos of his new Maseratti and fancy international trips to Instagram, while also promoting himself as the CEO of a cyber security firm.

But despite promoting his IT business and success with Bitcoin, the secret life Ward did not flaunt on social media was allegedly uncovered by NSW Police this week.

From a weatherboard home in Callala Beach, a sleepy seaside town of just 800 full-time residents, police allege Ward ran a 'sophisticated online drug distribution network'.

While the IT whizkid ran the online side of the business, two sisters - Shanese, 24 and Patricia Koullaris, 20 - were allegedly employed by him to package and send drugs to all corners of the country.

Cody Ward (pictured), 25, has been charged with masterminding a $17 million drug ring which he allegedly ran over the dark web

The IT whizkid regularly boasted about his lavish lifestyle online, including driving luxury cars such as a Maserati (left) and Mercedes Benz (right) - both cars were seized by police following raids on Thursday

Raids on five properties on Thursday led police to uncover several kilograms of illicit drugs - including cocaine and MDMA - drug packaging material and $80,000 cash.

Police revealed following the raids that they had been tracking the syndicate for the past nine months before on Wednesday intercepting 85 parcels loaded with drugs.

Detectives said the syndicate, which had allegedly been run by Ward for a number of years, was one of the largest ever on the dark web in Australia.

During the raids at Callala Bay, Callala Beach and Quakers Hill, officers found 2.5kg of white powder which is believed to include cocaine, amphetamine and diazepam.

They also seized 200g of MDMA, more than 100,000 LSD tabs and cannabis, as well as Xanax which had been made to look like small candy.

Sophisticated computer equipment, money counters, and several vehicles including a Lexus, a Mercedes-Benz, a Ford Falcon and a Maserati were also seized.

Sisters Patricia (left), 20, and Shanese Koullaris (right), 24, were allegedly employed by Ward to package and send drugs to all corners of the country

The two sisters (Patricia is pictured) were each charged with four counts of drug supply and knowingly participate in a criminal group

Ward (pictured), 25, was charged with four counts of drug supply, knowingly direct activities of criminal group, and knowingly deal with proceeds of crime

Cryptocurrency, alleged to be the proceeds of crime, was also recovered by police.

Police have initially estimated the syndicate had turned over more than $17 million.

Ward, 25, was charged with four counts of drug supply, knowingly direct activities of criminal group, and knowingly deal with proceeds of crime.

Shanese Koullaris, 24, was charged with four counts of drug supply, knowingly deal with proceeds of crime, and knowingly participate in criminal group assist crime.

Patricia Koullaris, 20, was charged with four counts of drug supply, and participate criminal group contribute criminal activity.

NSW state crime acting assistant commissioner Stuart Smith said in a statement the massive bust was a sign to other drug dealers.

'We're putting would-be drug pushers on notice,' Asst Comm Smith said.

Ward allegedly ran the syndicate from a home (pictured) in the quiet seaside town of Callala Beach, on the New South Wales south coast

Police revealed following the raids that they had been tracking the syndicate for the past nine months before on Wednesday intercepting 85 parcels loaded with drugs (pictured)

During the raids officers found 2.5kg of white powder which is believed to include cocaine, amphetamine and diazepam, as well as MDMA, more than 100,000 LSD tabs (pictured), cannabis and Xanax

'You can no longer try to hide the peddling of poisons on the dark web.

'The co-ordinated investigative efforts by local and specialist investigators show that theres nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, even online.

'While we will continue to target the drug trade at every level of the supply chain, we remind the community that the demand of these prohibited substances needs to be addressed.'

The trio - facing a range of drug and other offences - did not apply for bail and it was formally refused when their matters were heard at Nowra Local Court on Friday.

Their cases are due back in court on February 22 and April 12.
A disgusted woman has slammed bystanders who stood and watched as skinheads tried to tear the hijabs off three Muslim women after taunting them with racial abuse.

The attack - which took place in the town centre of Dunedin, New Zealand - began when a group of two men and one woman approached the Muslim women in a lane.

A woman who witnessed the incident told the Otago Daily Times: 'Two skinheads and a girl came up trying to rip their (veils) off their heads, saying: 'Go back to your own ... (expletive) country!.'

Three Muslim women were attacked and racially abused by a group of racist skinheads, who then tried to tear off their hijabs, in the New Zealand city of Dunedin

The racist attack took place in the centre of Dunedin (pictured), New Zealand

The same women, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at that point she decided to intervene and told the skinheads to leave the Muslim women alone.

While she was subjected to more abuse by the woman of the group, the intervention worked, and the group stopped their attack and walked off.

''They went off up Albion Pl, saying: 'Oi! Oi! Oi!',' she said.

The woman was upset that no other bystanders chose to step in during the violent incident.

''When I was standing there watching people ... you could tell that people were really wanting to do something, but they were so intimidated. I was just disappointed because people could have chosen to do something,'' she said.

The skinheads also told the women to 'go back to your own country'

The skinheads, clothed in Doc Martin boots and black jeans, and with completely shaved heads, looked more like those that used to populate the South Island city in the 1980s, said the witness.

Dunedin Police said they have had no reports of the incident, and Otago Muslim Association chairman Steve Johnson had also not heard of the attack.

Mr Johnson told the Otago Daily Times that generally Dunedin residents were welcoming to the city's Islamic community.
A student has been charged with illegal wiretapping after he allegedly livestreamed a conversation with a Maryland congressman's aide on Facebook.

Jake Burdett, 20, is accused of recording the staffer and distributing the footage without their consent.

State Prosecutor Emmet Davitt announced the charge against the Salisbury University student Thursday.

Prosecutors say Burdett, an advocate for Maryland Marijuana Justice, took part in a rally in front of Rep. Andy Harris' office in Salisbury in October. He and others then met with a member of the congressman's staff in his office.

Harris' staff told the group not to record the meeting, citing office policy, but prosecutors say Burdett recorded and streamed it on Facebook Live without the staffer's consent.

He is now charged with illegally recording the staffer and distributing it. The law in Maryland states that both parties must consent to the recording of a conversation.

Jake Burdett, left, has been charged with illegal wiretapping after he allegedly livestreamed a conversation with an aide of congressman Andy Harris, right, on Facebook

'We need to ensure people are respecting boundaries set by Maryland's wiretapping laws,' said State Prosecutor Emmet Davitt.

But in an email Burdett argued he was not aware of the law, The Baltimore Sun reports. He claims to have deleted the recording as soon as he was made aware.

And he also wrote: 'This sort of thing happens all the time in Maryland, but it is very rare for someone to actually press charges about it, and it saddens me that Rep. Harris has decided to needlessly drop the hammer to make an example out of me over a mistake I quickly corrected and apologized for.

'I also find it odd that we, as citizens and constituents, are not allowed to record conversations with paid staffers by public officials in a taxpayer-funded space.'

Burdett's attorney Mark Goldstone said: 'There should be a public policy exception to the law. This should not be a felony violation.'

He confirmed Burdett is expected to plead guilty to one count of illegally taping and broadcasting in Wicomico County on March 1.

Andy Harris' staff told the group not to record the meeting, citing office policy, but prosecutors say Burdett recorded and streamed it on Facebook Live without the staffer's consent

Prosecutors say Burdett, an advocate for Maryland Marijuana Justice, took part in a rally in front of Rep. Andy Harris' office, pictured, in Salisbury in October

A statement from the office of the Maryland state prosecutor said: 'When a Congressional Staffer of Congressman Harris offered to meet with the group, Burdett and a few others agreed to meet with the Staffer in his office, which could only seat a few people.

'Noticing people on their phones, different members of Congressman Harris's staff notified the group that they were not allowed to record in the office because of office policy.

'Burdett, however, recorded the entire meeting, streaming it on Facebook Live, without the consent of the Congressional Staffer who was conducting the meeting.

'Burdett is charged with the illegal recording of the Congressional Staffer and the illegal distribution of that recording.'

Harris has clashed with those backing the legalization of marijuana after he worked to block the move in the District of Columbia.

The Baltimore Sun reports two protesters were arrested outside the Republican's Capitol Hill office in 2018 on charges of consumption of marijuana in a prohibited public space.
A Thai masseur who preyed on female clients at a Brisbane clinic for his own sexual gratification will be deported once he serves his prison sentence.

Pongsakorn Mekingrailas sexually assaulted 16 women during his employment at Authentic Thai Massage at Stafford between July 2016 and January 2018.

The 34-year-old touched 10 of their vaginas, on top of and sometimes underneath their underwear.

He massaged the nipples of one woman, cupped the breasts of another and brazenly assaulted one while her husband was in the next room.

Thai masseur, Pongsakorn Mekingrailas, sexually assaulted 16 women during his employment at Authentic Thai Massage in Brisbane (stock image)

Mekingrailas appeared in the Brisbane District Court on Friday where he pleaded guilty to and was sentenced for 18 counts of sexual assault.

Prosecutor Rebecca Marks described the Thai national's behaviour as 'depraved, invasive, predatory and very serious'.

Ms Marks said he abused the trust afforded to him as a masseur purely for his own sexual gratification.

'He placed the complainants in embarrassing and humiliating situations,' she said, adding he often moved their legs to expose their genitals.

Ms Marks read a statement from one of the victims, who described how the assault had affected her sleep, relationships with men, appetite and work.

'Just prior to the incident I was counting the blessings in my life and feeling happy and relaxed,' she said.

Mekingrailas, 34, was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended after four months, at the Brisbane District Court (pictured) on Friday

'After the incident occurred, I immediately felt anger at being violated and I felt like my feelings of happiness had been ripped away from me.'

Judge Vicki Loury QC said the overwhelming feelings of the women, aged 25 to 56 at the time of the assaults, were those of shame and guilt.

'The reality of this type of offending is that often the freeze response is what overtakes the victim,' she said.

Mekingrailas continued to assault his female customers despite protestations from some of them during their massages, and after one confronted him in mid 2017.

Mekingrailas continued to assault his female customers despite their protests during the massages (stock image)

The court heard he initially denied any wrongdoing and then claimed it was an accident.

When the woman told him it wasn't, he said he thought she had liked it and apologised.

Judge Loury said the masseur took advantage of the women's vulnerable state.

'You violated them in an appalling way,' she said.

Mekingrailas, who moved to Australia in 2010 with his ex-wife, was sentenced to three years' jail, suspended after four months.

The court heard he had been in immigration detention for more than a year and would be deported after his prison term.
A tribunal has found media personality Sonia Kruger vilified Muslims when she called for Australia to close its borders to followers of Islam because she 'didn't feel safe'.

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal delivered their decision on Friday - almost three years after Kruger's explosive comments were made on the Today Show in July 2016.

The tribunal found Kruger's 'vilifying remarks' had the ability to 'encourage hatred towards, or serious contempt for, Australian Muslims by ordinary members of the Australian population'.

But the tribunal dismissed a racial vilification complaint, determining The Voice Australia host did not engage in directing the controversial comments towards a race but rather a religious group.

A tribunal has found media personality Sonia Kruger vilified Muslims when she called for Australia to close its borders to followers of Islam on the Today Show in 2016 (pictured)

'The evidence does not support a finding that Muslims living in Australia are a 'race' by reason of a common ethnic or ethno-religious origin,' the tribunal said.

'Apart from that issue, we would have found that both [Kruger and the Nine Network] engaged in racial vilification of the Australian Muslim community, being Muslims living in Australia.'

Australian Muslim man Sam Ekermawi filed had the complaint saying Channel Nine had vilified 'ethnic Muslim Australians'.

Kruger shocked her fellow presenter David Campbell and former Today host Lisa Wilkinson when she discussed a column written by conservative commentator Andrew Bolt following a terrorist attack in Nice on Bastille Day.

'I mean, personally, I think Andrew Bolt has a point here, that there is a correlation between the number of people who are Muslim in a country and the number of terrorist attacks,' she said.

The tribunal found Kruger's 'vilifying remarks' had the ability to 'encourage hatred towards, or serious contempt for, Australian Muslims by ordinary members of the Australian population'

Australian Muslim man Sam Ekermawi filed had the complaint saying Channel Nine had vilified 'ethnic Muslim Australians'

'Now I have a lot of very good friends who are Muslim, who are peace-loving who are beautiful people, but there are fanatics.

'Personally I would like to see it stopped now for Australia. Because I want to feel safe, as all of our citizens do, when they go out to celebrate Australia Day.'

The tribunal decided Kruger was 'calm and measured' in her comments and believed she made it clear she did not think every Muslim person was a fanatic.

'Broadly, the Tribunal accepts that the purpose of the discussion in question was to have a debate about the size of the Australian Muslim population, the levels of Muslim migration and whether an increase in the level of either increases the likelihood of future terrorist attacks in Australia,' the Tribunal said.

'Further, the Tribunal accepts that to have a public discussion on such matters was in the public interest.'

While the tribunal accepted Kruger and Nine acted in good faith and without malice, they could not accept that her remarks were 'reasonable'.

But the tribunal dismissed a racial vilification complaint, determining The Voice Australia host did not engage in directing the controversial comments towards a race but rather a religious group

Kruger shocked her fellow presenter David Campbell (right) and former Today host Lisa Wilkinson when she discussed a column written by conservative commentator Andrew Bolt following a terrorist attack

'The principal difficulty we have with Ms Kruger's comments is that she suggests that 500,000 'Australian Muslims' is too many and that, in and of itself, such a number of Muslims living in Australia poses a safety threat to persons in Australia,' the Tribunal said.

'Consistently with this proposition, Ms Kruger concludes that all Muslim migration should be stopped because any addition to the number of Muslims in Australia increases the risk of terrorist attacks.'

Kruger told her co-workers that Japan has a population of 174 million people and 100,000 Muslims and the country never suffers terrorist attacks.

The Tribunal said Kruger's view about the Australian Muslim population and future Muslim migration was unsupported by any evidence placed before the Tribunal.

During the 2016 segment, Kruger's remarks drew a passionate response from her co-workers.

Hands waving, Campbell replied: 'I'd like to see freedom of religion as well! As well as freedom of speech! They both go hand and hand!'

Wilkinson (pictured) pointed out closing the borders to Muslims was the 'Donald Trump approach'

Campbell said the article they were talking about - written by conservative columnist Andrew Bolt in News Corp newspapers - 'breeds hate'.

When Wilkinson asked her directly whether she wanted the borders totally closed to Muslim migrants, Kruger said: 'Yes, yes I would'.

Wilkinson pointed out closing the borders to Muslims was the 'Donald Trump approach'. 'Well, perhaps it is,' Kruger said. 'For the safety of our citizens here I think it's important'.

The next day Kruger explained what led her to call for a ban on Muslim immigration: she was 'rocked to the core' after seeing a photograph of a child's dead body in Nice the previous week.
(ANSA) - Islamabad, February 15 - A Pakistani court on Friday acquitted the father, uncle and brother of a Pakistani-Italian woman from Brescia who was killed after refusing an arranged marriage.

The relatives of 25-year-old Sana Cheema were cleared of the 'honour killing' because of a "lack of clear proof", the court in Pakistan said.

Cheema's family claimed she had died of natural causes but an autopsy said she had been strangled to death.


A gunman has been shot and his female accomplice is in custody after hijacking a UPS truck and taking the driver hostage before leading California police on a chase.

The Santa Clara Sheriff's Office said a UPS worker was taken hostage Thursday evening in the truck which led to a chase and hour-long standoff.

The female suspect exited the vehicle during the standoff and was taken into custody.

One armed suspect remained inside the vehicle and shot at officers before fleeing on foot and being shot himself.

The hostage has been rescued by police.

Two suspects held a UPS driver hostage and took the truck on a police chase in San Jose, California

One suspect (seen in the UPS truck) fled on foot before being shot by officers

The male suspect was identified by friends as Mark Morasky, a father of a one-year-old girl

Suspect in San Jose UPS truck standoff flees on foot into the parking lot of an office park complex where he fell to the ground.https://t.co/gOhjPlx3wH pic.twitter.com/YOfFsoMWYv  NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) February 15, 2019

The chase led to an hour-long standoff with California police

The chase began near Chynoweth and Pearl avenues in San Jose around 5.15pm local time and came to a stop about 30 minutes later, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department said in a tweet.

The suspect has been identified by his friends as Mark Morasky, the father of a one-year-old daughter, though it has not been confirmed by police.

He reportedly shot at deputies during the pursuit.

That led to the standoff with cops which ended around 7pm local time when the man tried to run from the UPS truck and was shot.

Dramatic video shows the moment the male suspect exited the UPS truck with a shot gun in hand and fled through a parking lot on foot.

One female suspect exited the vehicle during the standoff and was arrested

Video shows the moment the suspect jumped out of the truck in an attempt to flee

Moraksy's friends say they were speaking with him during the standoff and tried to talk him into surrendering, according to ABC 7.

They said the San Jose man was crying from inside the truck and wanted his friends to tell dispatch to 'back up and give him time to make his phone calls and be okay with his decision of giving himself up to do life in prison because he's a two-striker.'

Aerial footage also caught a the female suspect walking with her hands up towards deputies after exiting the truck.

The hostage had been rescued and the female suspect was taken into custody before the standoff ended.

UPS spokesperson Kyle Peterson said the company was working with local authorities to investigate the situation.
An energy company has warned of a dangerous electricity bill scam flooding customers' emails.

The fake electricity bill is being sent to inboxes across Australia, with the sender posing as energy company EnergyAustralia.

The body of the email advises the recipient to click on the 'view bill' link to see their latest electricity bill, which will lead to a malicious file download.

'These emails are well-designed fakes and look very similar to actual EnergyAustralia notifications,' email security service MailGuard said.

But there is one telltale sign that the email is not bona fide.

Energy company EnergyAustralia has warned of a dangerous electricity bill scam flooding customers' emails across Australia (pictured)

Customers are urged to check if the email begins with 'Dear Customer' instead of addressing the customer directly, according to 9 News.

This appears to be the only tell-tale sign that the email is a scam, given that all other details in the fraudulent email appears to be authentic.

'They utilise high quality graphical elements such as the usage of the companys signature green branding and logo,' MailGuard said.

While some fraudulent emails may have grammatical and spelling errors, the EnergyAustralia forgery does not feature these mistakes.

People are urged to double-check any emails they might receive from EnergyAustralia before clicking any links.

If unsure, the public is also advised to call the company in order to verify an email.

Any scams detected should be immediately reported to the organisation and Scamwatch.
Irate farmers have labelled a State MP a 'green communist' after she blamed 'meat-eating' men for climate change while praising vegans.

Lisa Baker, the Labor member for Maylands in Perth, told the State Parliament her Government should promote reduced meat consumption.

She went onto state meat-eating men tend to produce more greenhouse gas emissions than vegan women.

Lisa Baker (pictured), the Labor member for Maylands in Perth, who infuriated a number of farmers this week with her views on meat consumption and climate change

Gary Buller, who breeds Angus cattle in WA's south-west, said Ms Baker needs to get a 'grip on reality'.

'There is much too much emotion in this whole debate and not enough dealing with the facts,' Mr Buller told the West Australian.

'People with these views are away with the fairies  they are green communists.'

Trevor Whittington, the WA Farmers chief executive, agreed with Buller.

He believes Ms Baker's outspoken views were an example of 'inner-city, green elitism gone mad'.

'Her world is a simple one of vegans, good, meat eaters bad,' he said.

'We will watch with interest to see if she (Baker) manages to convince her colleagues to take her views to the next election.'

David Littleproud was equally scathing in his criticism, with the Federal Agriculture Minister saying Ms Baker's comments were 'laughable.'

A spokesperson for Ms Baker told Daily Mail Australia the State MP stands by her comments and clarified she wasnt a vegan.
Four new cases of salmonella poisoning linked to a string of Vietnamese bakeries have been confirmed following an urgent warning from health authorities.

South Australia Health confirmed on Friday that the number of cases had risen to 15 and 11 people needed to be hospitalised because of the deadly disease.

The update comes the day after the health authority said they were investigating a cluster of salmonella cases linked to three Angkor Bakery stores in Adelaide's northern suburbs.

Four new cases of salmonella poisoning linked to a string of Vietnamese bakeries have been confirmed (stock image)

Victims of the food poisoning had fallen ill after eating Vietnamese rolls purchased at the bakeries, SA Health said on Thursday.

The salmonella cases are linked to the stores at Springbank Plaza in Burton, Hollywood Plaza in Salisbury Downs and Blakes Crossing Shopping Centre in Blakeview.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Nicola Spurrier, said they were in the process of identifying the source of contamination.

'SA Health authorised officers, in conjunction with local council Environmental Health Officers, have inspected stores at Springbank Plaza, Hollywood Plaza and Blakes Crossing,' she said.

'Food and environmental samples have been collected from all stores, and results will assist in identifying the source of the contamination.'

Dr Spurrier said early investigations suggested the cases could be linked to raw egg butter, pate or BBQ pork ingredients.

South Australia Health said they are investigating a cluster of salmonella cases linked to three Angkor Bakery stores in Adelaide's northern suburbs

'The businesses complied with a council request on Tuesday to cease using these ingredients and, from today, the businesses have agreed to cease selling all Vietnamese rolls until the source has been identified,' she said.

'Cleaning and sanitising procedures have also been assessed and improved, and will continue to be monitored.'

Those who have come into contact with the contaminated food may experience the symptoms between six and 72 hours after exposure.

The symptoms can last for three to seven days.

Symptoms can include fever, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, headache, stomach, cramps, nausea and vomiting.

More severe symptoms may present in young children, older people, pregnant women and people who are immunocompromised.
A 14-year-old Texas girl has been been found guilty in the stabbing death of her best friend during an argument over a sleepover.

Nylah Lightfoot, 14, of Fort Worth, Texas was stabbed in the chest and neck when she went to pick up her clothes from her friend's home on May 29, 2018.

The victim's mother Anntoinette Carter claims that the mother of then 13-year-old suspect stood by and watched the altercation between the two girls unfold, without stepping in.

The jury found the teen, who is not named due to her age, guilty of murder Thursday, but not guilty on aggravated assault charges, and could face anywhere from probation to 40 years in prison.

Nylah Lightfoot, 14, of Fort Worth, Texas was stabbed to death on March 29 by her then-13-year-old friend, who has been found guilty in her death

Nylah, pictured above, had gone to visit the suspect to retrieve clothes she left with her when she was stabbed in the chest and the neck and later died from her wounds

The guilty teen could possibly be transferred to an adult prison once she turns 19, prosecutors say.

According to the Star-Telegram, the suspect said killing her best friend it was something that she would forever regret.

'She was like a sister to me,' she testified.

Prosecutor Jim Hudons said during his closing statement: 'The case was graphic, disturbing and unsettling. Because of the decisions she made, a family now lives without a daughter. We ask that you send a message to her that these acts have consequences.'

'There is no arguing what her intent was,' Hudson said. 'When she came outside with the knife she was still in control. But not even her friend could stop her. She was only following through with what she had threatened twice.'

After the conviction, the accused's aunt said she does not believe the trial was fair.

Carter says her daughter Nylah and the suspect were 'on-and-off friends'.

She added that Nylah asked if the suspect could sleepover, to which Carter said no, according to The Star-Telegram.

Then the suspect asked Nylah to come over and retrieve clothes she had swapped with the teen.

Then the two got into an altercation at the Fort Worth apartment complex and things turned deadly.

The horrific stabbing unfolded at this Fort Worth apartment complex, police responded to a call around 3:30am last year

Nylah's mother Anntoinette Carter claimed that the 14-year-old suspect's mother watched on as the teenager stabbed Nylah

Nylah's family say they want justice for their her death who was stabbed after the suspect was denied a sleepover

The little girl was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital for her neck and chest wounds where she was pronounced dead, the Tarrant County medical examiner's office says.

'Now I'm daughterless. And my heart feels like it's just been ripped out and stomped on,' Carter said at the time.

Nylah's grandfather Dwight Roberts said he wants justice for her premature death.

'This is just a wake-up call for everybody. Not only my grandkids but other kids. When your parents tell you not to do something, don't do it. Just wait. Live another day,' he said.
A doctor charged with raping female patients and taking secret pictures of them during intimate examinations has been found dead in a park.

Dr Stewart Moroney, 68, was found dead at a reserve near Wangaratta, Victoria on Tuesday.

Police are not treating his death as suspicious.

Dr Stewart Moroney (main), 68, was found dead at a reserve near Wangaratta, Victoria on Tuesday

Dr Moroney was due to face court next month over more than 20 charges including rape, sexual assault, producing child pornography and capturing intimate images.

The married father and trusted family doctor was arrested in June last year following a series of alleged incidents at the Ely Street clinic in Victoria's northeast.

A woman reported Dr Moroney to the police after she underwent a female health exam on October 10, 2017.

She claimed he did not use surgical gloves, instead conducting the examination bare-handed.

The woman also claimed there was camera equipment in the exam room.

Investigators searched Dr Moroney's office and home address on November 30 and seized camera and computer equipment.

Detectives announced in June they had allegedly uncovered 'inappropriate images of female patients' on the doctor's devices.

Dr Stewart Moroney (pictured) was due to face court next month over more than 20 charges including rape, sexual assault, producing child pornography and capturing intimate images

The police went through the footage and allegedly identified 19 female patients by cross-checking time stamps on the footage with the GP's appointment records.

Victoria Police said there was no evidence to suggest more than one doctor at the Ely Street clinic was involved in the alleged abuse.

Dr Moroney was interviewed by police in January and suspended from practising.

He was charged with sexual assault and capturing intimate images.

A Victoria police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia: 'On February 12, emergency services were called after the discovery of man's body in a reserve on Adams Rd, Killawarra about 5.30pm.

'A cause of death is yet to be determined but it's not believed to be suspicious.'

For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14
Following Amazon's decision to axe its plans to build a headquarters in New York, like-minded Twitter jokers have all come up with the same punchline.

After Thursday's announcement, many flocked to social media to crack the joke: 'Why I'm Leaving New York, a personal essay by Jeff Bezos'.

The quip pokes fun at the 'Why I'm Leaving New York' essay trope where countless writers have published pieces detailing their exodus from the city.

Now that Bezos has already published a Medium blog post to explain his personal affairs, many teased that the billionaire follow up with an essay on his company's move away from New York.

Twitter users are making fun of Jeff Bezos saying he'll likely pen a 'Why I'm Leaving New York' essay to detail Amazon scrapping its plan to build a headquarters in Queens

Many joked that he'd write a 'Why I'm Leaving New York' essay to follow the Medium article he published last week where he revealed he was being allegedly blackmailed by the National Enquirer

This clever Twitter user joked Bezos would write a piece entitled 'Why I'm leaving New York City, Quitting Twitter & Taking a Break From Selfies'

Another joked the article would be written by Amazon HQ

So many people flocked to Twitter with the same punch line this writer said: 'I'm too late for it to be original'

Vulture associate editor Jackson McHenry joined the stream of 'Why I'm Leaving New York' jokes on Thursday

On February 7 the Amazon CEO spoke directly to the public in a Medium article to detail how he was allegedly being blackmailed by American Media Inc. and the National Enquirer.

The outlet allegedly threatened to publish explosive details about Bezos' affair with Lauren Sanchez.

The National Enquirer, which is controlled by AMI, published a story last month that included lurid texts between Bezos and former TV anchor Sanchez.

Reporters from CNN and Vulture shared tweets saying: 'Why I'm Leaving New York, by Jeff Bezos', teasing at the title of his would-be article.

The stream of jokes continued, though Bezos is notably yet to comment on Amazon's axed headquarters plan announcement

And many like-minded Twitter users followed suit tweeting out the same punch line.

'Why I'm leaving New York City, Quitting Twitter & Taking a Break From Selfies by Jeff Bezo,' one Twitter user joked.

'Why I'm Leaving New York" by Amazon HQ,' another added.

'Since brands are bad posters now, i expect amazon to post a bad "why i'm leaving new york" thinkpiece within the day,' one fan wrote.

'Was gonna make the Jeff Bezos "Why I'm Leaving New York" Medium post joke, but Twitter shows I'm too late for it to be original,' one writer echoed.

Last week he penned a bombshell report on Medium accusing the National Enquirer and American Media Inc of blackmailing him about his relationship with girlfriend Lauren Sanchez (pictured above)

'Jeff Bezos via Medium: Why I'm Leaving New York,' another Twitter user wrote.

Amazon announced its cancelled plans on Thursday in a statement saying, 'We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion - we love New York.'

'For Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term.

'While polls show that 70 percent of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.'
Shalina Abdulhussein, 39, was found slumped over a bathroom sink on the three-level Lady Rose catamaran on February 2

Devastated friends of a mother-of-two found dead in a party boat on Sydney Harbour have condemned rumours that she died of a drug overdose.

Shalina Abdulhussein, 39, from Berowra Heights in Sydney's northern suburbs, was found slumped over a bathroom sink on the three-level Lady Rose catamaran on February 2.

She had been attending a birthday party on the ship before her body was discovered by a deckhand during the four-hour cruise.

Drug rumours began swirling on social media even though police initially said they did not believe the death was drug-related, according to media reports.

An unnamed friend of the Ms Abdulhussein has reportedly spoken out against the hurtful social media rumours, saying they had upset friends of the woman.

'She was very much against that stuff,' she said in the Sydney Morning Herald.

'That's kind of what social media is all about; some are clueless who think they know everything.'

'[She was] not into the partying too much and kept a quiet life,' the friend reportedly said.

The last event Shalina Abdulhussein visited was a birthday party on this ship where preliminary investigations suggested she may have inhaled fatal levels of toxic gas

Daily Mail Australia was unable to confirm the report, however the family of Ms Abdulhussein has spoken out about their fears that she may have been killed by poisonous hydrogen sulphide gas in the bathroom of the ship.

On Monday, her distraught husband Daljit Singh said he believes an alleged modification to the toilet cubicle's sink may have allowed poisonous gas to flood into the cabin.

The cause of her death remains unconfirmed.

Ms Abdulhussein's aunt, Zahra Barhmal, believes her niece may have suffered a heart attack seconds after inhaling the toxic gas.

'Her husband is in deep shock. He said Shalina had no chance, he understandably wants answers,' she told The Daily Telegraph from her home in London.

Partygoers were treated for shock after Ms Abdulhussein was found. Some reported a 'weird smell' on board the ship. The cause of death remains unknown and the coroner is investigating

'We are all in shock but right now her husband is numb, he's in survival mode for their two boys.

'He adored Shalina, she went on a boat for just four hours to celebrate a birthday, she was so happy about going, he never expected to never see her again.'

Partygoers on the same boat as Ms Abdulhussein reportedly complained about a 'strange smell' hours before she was found dead.

Her mysterious death has investigators looking at whether she may have been overcome by toxic hydrogen sulphide gas from the sewage tank.

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest that the owners of the boat are in any way responsible for Ms Abdulhusseins death.

Hydrogen sulphide is a poisonous gas found in sewers that smells strongly of rotten eggs.

Sorrow flowed in reports of social media posts in the wake of the tragedy, including from Ms Abdulhussein's colleagues at Newnhams Solicitors where she worked as an assistant after moving to Australia from London to start a new life.

'We will all miss you so much....the office will not be the same,' one wrote, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

'God bless your beautiful boys.'

The Australian Maritime Services Authority (AMSA) is also investigating the death and possible breaches of national laws. Daily Mail Australia has contacted AMSA for comment

Her cause of death remains unknown and a report on her death is being prepared for the coroner.

Daily Mail Australia contacted All Occasion Cruises for comment via email as the telephone number listed on their website has been disconnected.

NSW Police originally said that hazardous materials specialists had found no suspicious substances on the day of Ms Abdulhussein's death, but had since confirmed new findings that indicate hazardous levels on the day following the death, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Daily Mail Australia was unable to confirm this report with NSW Police Media.

A police media spokesperson said no information beyond the original February 2 statement could be given due to the coronial investigation.

NSW Police urged anyone with information about the incident to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Theresa May was not in the Chamber yesterday evening for the result of the latest vote on Brexit policy.

She had been lurking behind the Speakers Chair a few minutes earlier but chose not to let Labour MPs jeer her in person when the 258 to 303 defeat was announced.

Jeremy Corbyn half-heartedly complained about her absence but few were particularly surprised. The debate had been a 2nd XI sort of game.

The vote was not legally binding but perhaps not entirely meaningless. It showed Mrs May and her dimwits that if they provoke the Tory and DUP Brexiteers, they will not win Commons divisions.

Theresa May was notably absent from the Commons chamber as the grim result was declared and Jeremy Corbyn taunted that she 'can't keep running the clock down'

What of the five-hour debate itself? Well, Dominic Grieve came close to saying he will quit the Tory party, Sir Oliver Letwin warbled that he had been pushed over the edge and now wanted the Commons to replace the Cabinet, and Yvette Cooper, quite the little actress, worked herself close to tears as she contemplated a No Deal Brexit.

In other words, ladies and gentlemen, it was just another Brexit bore-athon at the House of Horrors.

Huffs were taken. Backbenchers boiled at their party leaders. Miffery was widespread. And it is ALL YOUR FAULT for voting Leave in that referendum.

As your dutiful scribe I will relate certain high or (according to your leaning) low points but for sheer honesty and concision it was hard to beat a remark from Labour Remainer Alison McGovern.

'Should we really, asked Wirral Souths McGovern, keep going along with Brexit just because we said we would?

There it is in one sentence: the attitude of todays political class to their election manifestos. They undertook solemnly before the 2017 election to respect the result of the referendum. Now they breezily contemplate doing the opposite. Promises schomises.

Theresa May was driven away from Parliament tonight in the wake of the disastrous vote

The day could have been less antsy had Downing Street official Olly Robbins not dropped such a big ball-cock in a Brussels bar, boasting this week that No Deal was no longer a possibility. That unsettled Eurosceptic MPs and meant that Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay, opening yesterdays debate, had to reassure his fellow sceptics that No Deal was still the legal default position.

Mr Barclay, replying to David Davis (Con, Haltemprice & Howden) confirmed that March 29 is still departure day  ie, the Government does not, despite idiot Robbinss claims, seek a delay to Brexit.

Mr Barclay said No Deal is, in law, the alternative to a deal. Star Treks Mr Spock would like that logic.

But, eek! By saying that, Mr Barclay only set off the Europhiles. Jeepers, its tricky, this business. Tilt a half-inch to the Right and you enrage the Left. And vice versa.

Mr Barclay urged Tories not to give the EU any evidence that 'our resolve is weakening'

Mr Grieve, looking increasingly stringy and red-chinned, snapped that Brexit was a profanity. He added: There is going to come a time when my ability to support the Government is going to run out completely if we continue behaving in this absolutely crazy fashion.

Amazing that his Tory party locals in Beaconsfield put up with such strops. But I hear his association worthies are very much in Dominic fob-watchs pocket.

As for Sir Olive-oil Letwin, he, in sentences as ornate as a Swiss wristwatch, wittered: I have been driven finally to a conclusion: we will have to take on the government of this country! Oi, Queenie. Send for Letwin and beg him to be your PM, or youll have a revolution on your gloved hands.

I could go on. I could tell you about Hilary Benns encouragement of Yvette Cooper to oust Corbyn as Labour leader (sorry, I mean to say his encouragement of her plot to delay Brexit). Poor Chuka Umunna looks rather left out of things.

Tory Remainer Anna Soubry decided not to press, for the time being, an amendment to force the Cabinet to cough up sensitive documents. David Lidington went to sit next to her, like an Edwardian doctor hastening to a lady with the vapours. Mind you, hard to say which of those two is the odder.
A vegan activist who slammed an embattled dairy farmer after her family's farm was forced to close has revealed he's been the victim of death threats.

Vegan Joey Carbstrong, 32, told Casey Treloar, 26, to 'get another job' after she shared an emotional video detailing the sadness of having to give up her family farm in South Australia on Sunday.

In a 15-minute YouTube video, Mr Carbstrong reveals he's been inundated with messages from people who threatened to 'smash' his 'weak teeth' and hoped 'violence' found him soon.

'I hope you get cancer and die a painful death,' one commented, while another said they would help him jump off a cliff.

Mr Carbstrong (pictured) reveals he's been inundated with messages from people who threatened to 'smash' his 'weak teeth' and hoped 'violence' found him soon

Ms Treloar (pictured) had to give up their family farm they owned for 40 years in the Flerieu Peninsula

'You dirty little lying fascist, when I get my hands on you, you malnourished f***, you're dead. Dead,' one person wrote.

'I'm going to feed you my meat fist and smash your weak teeth down your throat if I see you anywhere,' another wrote.

'You're a pathetic weak c*** and I hope violence finds you soon.'

After reading one of the death threats, the vegan activist responded: 'I get accused of being a militant, extreme vegan... and accused of being violent (but) what is this?'

Ms Treloar had to give up their family farm they owned for 40 years in the Flerieu Peninsula.

In response, Mr Carbstrong posted a previous video to YouTube telling Ms Treloar and her family to deal with what he claimed was a decreasing demand for dairy products, saying the industry was an 'injustice'.

After reading one of the death threats, the vegan activist responded: 'I get accused of being a militant, extreme vegan...and accused of being violent (but) what is this?'

'What I found interesting is that she considered herself a cow person. Which is really, really bizarre seeing as all those cows go to the slaughterhouse, the bobby (newborn) calves are all killed, they're all taken away from their mothers, it's a horrifically cruel and abusive industry,' Mr Carbstrong said.

He claimed Ms Treloar was 'indoctrinated by dairy farming'.

'I mean it's been passed down traditionally, she said her father did it, her father's father probably did it too. Something she considers normal... but what's happening is demand is changing because we demand you release these animals and stop breeding them into existence to exploit them,' he said.

'It's time to move into plant-based alternatives... Why don't you just move industries? You're going to have to move industries eventually because dairy is going to become obselete.

'This dairy farmer here, she can get another job.'

Mr Carbstrong is originally from Adelaide but now lives in London, where he told Daily Mail Australia there is a 'big vegan movement'

Australia's $4 billion dairy industry ... the third-biggest producer of milk products on the planet Australia is a small producer of milk but is the world's third largest dairy exporter as 50% of production is exported. The dairy industry is Australia's third largest rural industry, ranking behind wheat and beef, and has a gross value of $4billion. Australia produces a range of dairy products including milk, milk powder, yoghurt, butter and cheese. The Australian dairy industry is concentrated in the south-east of Australia, Victoria is the largest production state, however other states have significant dairy industries. Victorian production is typically seasonal and enters the export market which makes it prone to volatile global prices. Other dairy production areas (i.e. much of NSW) supply the domestic market which requires year-round production. The dairy industry is heavily reliant upon water availability; the industry is currently facing uncertainty over water policy. Since deregulation in 2001, the industry has undergone rationalisation. This has left a core of efficient producers that are able to compete against international competitors who are heavily subsidised. Source: PWC's The Australian Dairy Industry report Advertisement

Mr Carbstrong is originally from Adelaide but now lives in London, where there is a 'big vegan movement' he told Daily Mail Australia.

He said he sympathises with Ms Treloar's plight, but believed it paled in comparison to that of animals on dairy farms.

'I do think that there are victims who are suffering more than dairy farmers, the cows and calves being taken to the slaughterhouse,' he said.

'Dairy is cruel and outdated. I do sympathise with her, but I also look at it from the animal's perspective.'

Mr Carbstrong said consumers were dictating to dairy producers that they no longer wanted their products, and that farmers would be have to adapt.

He disputed being labelled as a 'militant', arguing it better described the actions of dairy farmers.

'We're just trying to liberate animals from suffering. I think it's more militant what dairy farmers are doing,' he said.

'We are all about animals. I don't know whether they really love animals, if you did then you wouldn't turn them into burgers.'They might have a warped sense of what love is.'

Mr Carbstrong said he wants farmers to come to a 'middle ground', where they focus on plant-based alternatives to dairy.

Ms Treloar, who is a third-generation dairy farmer in South Australia, was brought to tears as she said farewell to the industry she has grown up in.

'The clock has run out and it's time to say goodbye,' she said.

'We are getting 38 cents a litre across the year and it's completely unsustainable. We can't really afford to keep going anymore.

'We're forever the optimist that the industry will get better - but for our family, we've come to a point where we can't do it anymore.

'Dairying is something my dad has done his entire life, and I have done my entire life, but it has come to the point where our family has had to say ''that's it for us''.'

She said her family's product had been devalued by dollar-a-litre milk, which had added to the problems facing the industry.

Supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles decided in 2010 to sell milk for a dollar a litre, sparking a sharp cut to the viability of farming dairy.

Dairy farmers have hit back ever since, claiming the price drop was devastating the industry.

Australia is the world's third-largest dairy exporter, with 50 per cent of production sent overseas.

The dairy industry is worth $4billion to the Australian economy. Australia produces a range of dairy products including milk, milk powder, yoghurt, butter and cheese.

Casey Treloar (pictured), 26, shared an emotional video revealing her sadness at her family having to give up the farm they had owned for 40 years
(ANASA) - Rome, February 15 - Italy has no intention of leaving the European Union, Deputy Premier and Euroskeptic League leader Matteo Salvini said Friday after the League's economic pointsman Claudio Borghi said Rome should exit the EU if it is "still toxic" after May's European elections.

"We have no intention of leaving Europe, we want to change it, improve it bit not abandon it," said Salvini, who is also interior minister.

League economy pointman Borghi said earlier Friday that Italy should consider leaving the EU if the bloc does not change radically following the May 26 European elections. "I think that this is the last chance. If, after the European elections, the same mandarins led by Germany are the ones driving the economic, social and migratory policies, for the sole benefit of Germany and to our detriment, I'll say we should leave," Borghi said.

"We either manage to change it or we'll have to come out".

The League MP said the EU project was a "failure" and "toxic for Italy".

"If the environment remains toxic, I'll say let's get out," he said. Rome should say clearly if it wants to exit the European Union, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said.

"Let the Italian government say clearly whether it wants to leave the euro and the European Union," Tajani said on Twitter.

"Too many ambiguities and ill-considered declarations only cause harm to Italy and the Italians".


British jihadis could be sent to Guantanamo Bay after the UK is being seen to do little to punish them, it has been reported.

US officials believe the UK is not doing enough to punish people returning from Syria as they are offered rehabilitation programmes, rather than facing legal consequences.

According to The Times there is a growing opinion the UK is avoiding its responsibility over extremist converts who have joined ISIS.

Now, the paper has been told the two surviving members of the British terrorist group known as 'The Beatles' because of their English accents, El Shafee ElSheikh and Alexanda Kotey, could be prosecuted in America.

The Trump administration fears they could end up evading justice and want to send them to Guantanamo where there is room for about 50 jihadis.

'These guys have American blood on their hands,' a source told The Times.

US photographer James Foley was executed by the leader of 'The Beatles' Mohammed Emwazi known as Jihadi John.

Fresh talks over how jihadis who return from Syria are dealt with have begun after the discovery of one of the three schoolgirls from Bethnal Green who fled to Syria in 2015.

A Kurdish security officer escorts Alexanda Amon Kotey, left, and El Shafee Elsheikh

Alexanda Amon Kotey, left, and El Shafee Elsheikh (rigth), who were allegedly among four British jihadis who made up a brutal Islamic State cell dubbed "The Beatles

DEAD: Mohammed Emwazi (picture above) , brandishes a knife in this still file image from a 2014 video

Shamima Begum (pictured in her passport photo, and right before she left aged 15) is now 19 and is alive in Syria - she wants to return to the UK

Shamima Begum, now 19, married in Syria after running away from home with friends Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultanta.

At nine months pregnant she wants to come home and have her third child in Britain, despite showing no remorse for joining ISIS. She left the surrounded village of Baghuz as ISIS fights for its last slither of territory in eastern Syria.

She said she has 'no regrets' about joining them.

Security Minister Ben Wallace said the UK would not be rescuing her from the Northern Syrian camp she escaped to.

He said: 'I'm not putting at risk British people's lives to go and look for terrorists or former terrorists in a failed state.

'The message this government has given for many years is that actions have consequences.'

Her journey: The different place in Syria where Begum has lived in the four years since she left east London for ISIS

Timeline of the London girls' journey into ISIS' heart of terror - but now one wants to come home Sharmeema Begum - the first Bethnal Green girl to flee to Syria before her three younger friends followed 2014 - December - Counter terrorism police question Shamima Begum, Kadiz Sultana and Amira Abase after their friend Sharmeema Begum goes to Syria. 2015 - February 17 - Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-olds Shamima Begum and Amira Abase leave their east London homes at 8am to travel to Istanbul in Turkey from Gatwick Airport. Begum and Abase - who has not yet been publicly named - are reported missing by their families later the same day. - February 18 - Sultana is reported missing to the police. - February 20 - The Metropolitan Police launch a public appeal for information on the missing girls who are feared to have gone on to Syria. - February 21 - Four days after the girls went missing, police believe they may still be in Turkey. It is revealed that at least one of the missing girls had Twitter contact with Aqsa Mahmood, who left her Glasgow home in November 2013 and travelled to Syria after becoming radicalised. - February 22 - Abase's father Abase Hussen says his daughter told him she was going to a wedding on the day she disappeared. Metropolitan Police officers arrive in Turkey, but refuse to confirm whether they are involved in the search for the teenagers. 2016 - August 2016 - Sultana, 17, is reportedly killed in Raqqa when a suspected Russian air strike obliterates her house. 2019 - February 14 - Begum, 19, tells Anthony Loyd of The Times that she wants to return to the UK to give birth to her third child. Speaking from a refugee camp in Syria, she adds she does not regret joining IS and that she believes, contrary to reports in 2018, that her other companion Abase is still alive in Baghuz. Advertisement

Many want the girls to be forgiven and welcomed home for rehabilitation.

The father of Sharmeena Begum  the first teenager from the East London school to flee to Syria  urged the British Government to forgive her.

Begum, who loved watching EastEnders and wanted to be a doctor, vanished in December 2014 at the age of 15. Two months later she was joined in Raqqa, the self-styled capital of the Islamic State, by her best friends Kadiza Sultana, Amira Abase and Shamima Begum.

Last night Sharmeenas father Mohammad Uddin said the girls should be forgiven because they were radicalised and brainwashed. A local imam disagreed, saying they were a danger to the community.

Abases father Hussen claimed that his daughter fled to Syria on a humanitarian mission after seeing images of civilians starving on the internet. He urged the Government to let her and the others back in to the country, insisting: They are no threat to us.

Mr Abase, 52, a security guard who came to Britain as a refugee from Ethiopia in 1999, said: The girls should be allowed to come back. When they left the country they were teenagers. They [British officials] have to understand that.

She is a naturally generous person. She saw in the media and on the internet [that] people over there are starving and I think she wanted to go and help. I have had no contact with her since she left. Its been very hard on my family  I have a wife and two other children, aged 13 and 17. They all miss her. It was just a mistake that the girls left their families to go to a place like that.

Kadiza was reported to have been killed in an airstrike on Raqqa in May 2016, while Ms Begum has recently heard second-hand from other people that Amira, and the other schoolgirl who left Britain in 2014, may still be alive.

When she arrived, Ms Begum was put in a house where jihadist brides-to-be waited to be married, she said.

Ten days after arriving in Raqqa in 2015, she wed a Dutchman who had converted to Islam. She claims her husband was later arrested, charged with spying and tortured.

The mother of the white British Islamic convert known as Jihadi Jack joined the calls for Shamima Begum to be allowed back into Britain. Sally Letts, 55, said at her Oxford home: Of course she should be allowed back. She was a child, she was groomed and abused and now they want to judge her as an adult!

Bethnal Green runaway Amira Abase (left in September) used a pictured of a woman in a full veil clutching a knife on her Twitter page, which has been shut down

Jack Letts, 22, went to IS territory and was captured two years ago by Kurdish fighters. He is awaiting trial in northern Syria.

Letts denies joining the terror group and his parents deny three charges of financially aiding terrorism. They are due to go on trial at the Old Bailey in May. They allege Letts went to the region for religious and humanitarian reasons.
Netflix's Hollywood offices were put on lockdown yesterday, after a disgruntled former employee threatened to 'take action', saying he had a gun and was on the premises.

Employees at the Sunset Bronson Studios were evacuated from the site as pictures online showed officers with guns drawn outside the offices of the streaming giant.

The suspect, who was arrested yesterday, was later found to neither have been armed nor at the studios, Los Angeles Police Department said.

The man had recently been fired, local news reports, and was later released without charge.

Pictures online show officers with their guns drawn outside the offices of the streaming giant

Director and writer David Hayter tweeted: 'Currently locked down in our offices at due to an active shooter.'

Hayter later added: 'Dearest Tweeps, The lockdown has been lifted. My fellow writers and I have left the lot safely. We are now recovering in typical writers fashion. Love you all.'

KTLA5 was also placed on lockdown. They reported seeing dozens of officers at the Netflix building at the entrance of the lot on Van Ness Avenue.

Police responded after a member of the public said they received a call from a former Netflix employee saying he was armed and 'ready to take action', according to reports.

Writer David Hayter tweeted: 'Currently locked down in our offices at due to an active shooter

Netflix's Hollywood offices, pictured, were put lockdown amid reports of active shooter

Employees at Sunset Bronson Studios were evacuated from the site and the lockdown lifted

Eyewitnesses say four helicopters were at the scene and police stopped traffic on Sunset Blvd. Workers were told to 'move to interior spaces' away from windows.

A Netflix spokesman told DailyMail.com: 'We received a tip about a potential law enforcement incident at our LA office.

'Police are conducting a sweep of the lot out of an abundance of caution. There is no immediate danger or threat to our employees.'

They later added: 'We've now received an all clear from the LAPD. There was never an individual with a firearm on the property.'
The word mother is no longer a gender-specific term, Government lawyers told the High Court yesterday.

Ben Jaffey QC, acting for the Department of Health, made the claim during a court hearing as a female-to-male parent attempted to be registered as the father of his child, despite giving birth to the baby.

Arguing against the claim, Mr Jaffey told the Family Division of the High Court in London that being a mother is no longer necessarily a gendered term a man can be and in this case is a mother.

The terms 'mother' and 'father' are being brought into question and dissected as a transgender man attempts to be registered as his child's father - despite giving birth to the kid (file image)

The single parent, referred to only as TT, was born a woman but now lives as a man after undergoing surgery. However, the court heard he was able to get pregnant and give birth to his child, known only as YY.

TT had legally become a man by the time the child was born. But a registrar told him the law requires the individual who gives birth to a child to be registered as mother.

He has now taken legal action, and says forcing him to register as the mother breaches his human right to respect for a private and family life.

If the legal bid is successful, the child would be the first to have no legally recognised mother.

Mr Jaffey said that TT had sincere and legitimate objectives but that if successful his case would rip up the current regime for registering births. Judgment was reserved for a later date.
Empire actor Jussie Smollet has been accused of staging last month's racist and homophobic attack by two local TV news stations - but police are pushing back at the claims calling them 'unconfirmed' and the sourcing 'uniformed and inaccurate'.

ABC Chicago and CBS Chicago both claimed that 'multiple sources' had said detectives were considering the possibility that Smollett - together with two male persons of interest brought in for questioning Wednesday night - had faked the story because Smollett was being written off of Empire.

CBS reporters claimed that police sources said Smollet 'potentially staged the attack' and said 'indicators point to Smollett orchestrating the event'.

The persons of interest are allegedly two former extras on Empire who are brothers and friends of Smollet - who traveled to Nigeria hours after the attack and returned on Wednesday when they were arrested at Chicago O'Hare airport.

Cops raided their home on Thursday and found numerous items including bleach and an Empire script.

Fox has now denied that Smollet was being written out of the show and Smollet has also repeatedly denied staging the attack.

In a statement Thursday evening, Chicago Police Department Chief Communications Officer Anthony Guglielmi tweeted: 'Media reports anout (sic) the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives.

'Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate.'

Around the same time, 20th Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment released a joint statement denying rumors that Smollett's place on Empire was in jeopardy.

'The idea that Jussie Smollett has been, or would be, written off of Empire is patently ridiculous, the network and studio said in a joint statement.

'He remains a core player on this very successful series and we continue to stand behind him.'

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Media reports claiming that investigators are looking into the possibility that Jussie Smollett may have staged last month's racist, homophobic attack because he was allegedly being written off of Empire were quickly labeled 'uninformed and inaccurate' by Chicago police Smollett is seen above during an emotional interview with Good Morning America

Chicago Police Department Chief Communications Officer Anthony Guglielmi tweeted about the reports on Thursday evening

Police took bleach, a black ski mask and an Empire script from the brothers' house

Chicago police Thursday morning that two persons of interest were being questioned by detectives.

Hours later, CBS Chicago reporter Charlie De Mar tweeted that he'd spoken to family of the two brothers, who are Nigerian and were both extras on Empire.

Police reportedly seized a black face mask hat, an Empire script, a phone, receipts, five bottles of bleach, two laptops and other items from the home.

The relative who was home when the raid went down Wednesday night described hearing loud banging on the door before police flooded into the home and announced that they had a search warrant.

The woman, who is in her 20s, told CBS Chicago she was 'so scared' and thought she was going to die. She said she was patted down by an officer and asked by detectives if she knew Smollett.

She said that she thinks the brothers are being question because of their loose Empire connection to Smollett and the fact that they left for Nigeria on the same day of the attack.

Law enforcement sources confirmed that the men returned from Nigeria on Wednesday night and investigators met them at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

Reports emerged Thursday that police had raided the home of two persons of interest in the Smollett case who may have been the same men seen in surveillance footage around the time of the attack on January 29 (above)

CBS Chicago reporter Charlie De Mar tweeted Thursday afternoon that he'd spoken to family of the two persons of interests, Nigerian brothers who were both extras on Empire

Police reportedly seized a black face mask hat, an Empire script, a phone, receipts, five bottles of bleach, a red hat, two laptops and other items from the home

When contacted Thursday by DailyMail.com a CPD spokesperson said the two persons of interest were the same men filmed walking near where the attack happened at around the same time.

TMZ reported that detectives found the men by looking at ride-sharing history records from the night of the attack.

CPD officials confirmed that Smollett was questioned again on Thursday, the same day he spoke about the attack in an interview with Good Morning America.

He told Good Morning America that he has 'never' had 'any doubt' that the two people in the image were the ones who attacked him and that when CPD released their image within the first few days of the incident, he became hopeful justice would be served.

Since then, there have been few developments and the police department has repeatedly spoken of the fact that Smollett did not hand over his phone when asked to do so on the night of the incident.

The two men, whose names have not been released, were filmed near to where Smollett was attacked on January 29 at 2am. They were filmed walking on the same street as the Empire star and getting up after he walked past them on the other side of the street.

To Smollett's despair, no footage of the actual attack has been uncovered yet.

In a Twitter statement on Thursday morning, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote: 'Through s meticulous investigation, Chicago Police detectives have identified the persons of interest in the area of the alleged attack of the Empire cast member.

'These individuals are not yet suspects but were in area of concern and are being questioned. Investigation continues.'

He posted a second tweet within a few minutes which read: 'The people of interest are alleged to be in the area where a crime was reported.

'They are not considered suspects at this time as they are currently being questioned by detectives. We remain in communication with the alleged victim. '

Smollett spoke about the horror attack in a Thursday interview with Good Morning America

The actor became emotional at several points during the interview as he described how he did not want to seem 'weak' when he finally agreed to report the incident to the police

Smollett also shared new photographs of his injuries which he said included a burn on his neck where the rope was placed and facial scratches

In his hour-long interview with Good Morning America that was aired in part on Thursday, Smollett, wearing a collection of badges to show his support of Freedom and Pride among other causes, revealed his frustration at some of the public disbelief surrounding his version of events.

He said he does not think he would have been met with the same cynicism if his attackers weren't white Trump supporters and revealed his belief that he was targeted because he is a vocal critic of the president.

JUSSIE SMOLLETT ATTACK TIMELINE January 29 12.30am: Neighbor claims to see two suspicious men, one with a rope, outside Smollett's apartment building 2am: Smollett is filmed on surveillance cameras leaving Subway Sometime in the next few minutes, he is attacked by the men as he talked on the phone with manager Brandon Z. Moore. He is picked back up by surveillance cameras entering his apartment building afterwards, 2.35am: Frank Gatson, his friend who was in his apartment, insists that they call the police 2.42am: Police arrive at the actor's apartment and find him still wearing the rope the attackers placed around his neck. It is not fastened in a noose and is slack. Smollett takes himself to the hospital afterwards. January 30: Chicago PD releases surveillance footage of persons of interest seen near the area of attack at around the same time. Smollett's cast mates lead tributes to him and condemnations of the incident Smollett's manager, Brandon Z. Moore, tells Variety they were on the phone at the time of the incident and that he heard what the attackers say. January 31st: President Trump condemns the attack as 'horrible' February 1st: Smollett's family speaks out and labels the attack a 'hate crime' Smollett breaks his silence with his own statement slamming misinformation about the attack. February 2nd: A defiant Smollett plays a sold out show at The Troubador in Los Angeles February 5th: Chicago PD releases incident report which reveals Smollett did not want to call police. There is no mention of the MAGA country remark which he gave in a follow-up interview Brandon Z. Moore, his manager, gives police a screenshot to prove their call. February 11th: Smollett finally hands over redacted phone records to prove the phone call but police label them 'insufficient'. His neighbors say they don't believe his version of events. February 12th: Smollett's rep releases statement to say he is the victim and that he has been telling the truth February 13th: GMA teases interview with Smollett crying. Police say they are no further with inquiries. February 14: Smollett's full interview is aired between 7am and 8am. At 9.40am, police announce they have ID'd the people in the video Advertisement

Smollett also went into detail about why he did not immediately hand over his phone to the police to verify parts of his story and said he was trying to protect private photographs, videos, songs and phone numbers of high profile people and his partner.

He said he was frustrated that Chicago Police had not yet found surveillance footage of the incident and revealed his disappointment after learning that a camera at the very spot of the attack was turned in the opposite direction when it took place.

Choking back tears, he explained when asked why it took so long for him to contact the authorities: 'There is a level of pride there. We live in a society where as a gay man you are considered somehow to be weak and I am not weak. I am not weak and we as a people are not weak.'

Describing the chain of events once police arrived at his apartment at the request of 60-year-old Frank Gatson, his friend who was at the apartment when the attack took place.

'I told them what happened. I asked them to turn their body cameras off. I was like, "Please just come in.

'I don't want a big scene with my neighbors,"' he said, adding that he had left the rope around his neck and his bleach-doused clothes on for them to see.

He said that while he left the rope around his neck, it was not 'wrapped' tightly.

After the police had come into his apartment, he took them down to where the attack happened to walk them through it and became excited when he noticed a camera overlooking the exact spot where it took place.

'I looked up and saw there was a camera, directly on the post on the intersection.

'Then the detective told me that the camera was facing north so they didn't have it and that was disappointing.'

Later, he added how desperate he was for them to find footage of the attack.

'I want that video found so badly because, for probably four reasons.

'Number one, I want them to find the people that did it.

'Number two, I want them to stop being able to say "alleged" attack.

'Number three, I want them to see that I fought back,' he continued, welling-up.

'I want a little gay boy who might watch this to see that I fought the f*** back. They ran off,' I didn't,' he said.

He was overcome with emotion when presented with the prospect that his attackers might not be found.

'Let's just hope that they are found. Let's not go there yet. I was talking to a friend and I said,"I just hope they find them." And she said, "Sweetie, they're not going to find them."

'That made me so angry. I'm just going to be left here with this? They get to go free and go about their life and do this to someone else and I am left with the aftermath of this bulls**t? That's not cool to me.

'I understand how difficult it will be to find them, but we gotta.

'I still want to believe there's something called justice,' he said.

Addressing why he did not hand over his phone to prove that he had been on a call with his manager when the attack took place, he said he did not feel comfortable being without the device for several hours when it contained the private information and phone numbers of celebrities and friends.

'They wanted me to give my phone to the tech for three to our hours. And I'm sorry but, I'm not going to do that because I have private pictures and videos and phone numbers, my partner's number, my family's numbers, my cast mates' numbers, my private emails, private songs, voice memos, pictures, videos...

'Honestly, by then, inaccurate statements had already been put out,' he said, referring to the false reports which emerged in the immediate aftermath of the attack including that the assailants were wearing MAGA hats and that his ribs were broken in it.

Smollett is pictured in the hospital after a friend called the police to report him being attacked. He did not want to involve authorities

Smollett condemned the avalanche of false information and speculation over why he had gone out so late which ensued after it became public.

'I've heard that it was a date hone bad which I so resent that narrative. I'm not going to go out to get a tuna sandwich and a salad to meet somebody. That's ridiculous and offensive.

'Yes there's Grindr... I have not been on that in years. I can admit that I was on that back in the day when I was single,' he said.

If I had said it was a Muslim or a Mexican or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me a lot more.

Another falsehood was that Smollett had told police his attackers were wearing MAGA hats.

'That I had said they were wearing MAGA hats,' he said, giving an example of the misinformation that was spread.

'I never said that. I don't need to add anything like that. They called me a f****t. I don't need to add anything like that. I don't need to make MAGA hat the cherry on the top of some racist sundae,' he said.

'It feels like if I had said it was a Muslim or a Mexican or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me a lot more.

'That says a lot about the place that we are at in the country right now,' he said solemnly.

The attackers called him 'Empire f****t n****r', punched him in the face, and told him 'This is MAGA country!' before fleeing.

Trump condemned the attack was 'horrible' when asked about it last month. Smollett said on Thursday that he did not know how to react to the president's reaction

Smollett believes they targeted him not only because he is gay and black but because is a vocal critic of the president who he referred to only as '45'.

'I can just assume, I come really, really hard against 45. I come really, really hard against his administration and I don't hold my tongue.'

He said he was stunned when the president addressed the attack in the Oval Office and lent him his support. Trump, when asked about the incident, told reporters: 'I saw it. That's horrible. There is nothing worse as far as I am concerned.'

Smollett was shocked by his comments.

'I don't know what to say to that. I appreciate him not brushing over it,' he said, adding that he believes he was targeted because of his disdain for the president.

'I can only go off their words. Who says 'f****t', 'Empire n****r', 'This MAGA country,' ties a noose around your neck and pours bleach on you, and this is just a friendly fight?' he said.

He added he has 'no doubt' that two people in a surveillance camera image that was circulated by Chicago police are the pair who attacked him.

'I was there. For me when that was released I was like OK we're getting somewhere.

'I don't have any doubt in my mind that that's them. Never did.'

He also said he gave police the 'best description' he could after his friend, Frank Gatson, insisted that they call the police around 40 minutes after the attack.

One of the attackers was wearing a ski mask. Smollett, 36, described him as the 'primary aggressor'.

'I gave the description as best as I could. It's Chicago in winter. People can wear ski masks and nobody's going to question that,' he said.

He said he had a large stature but could not recall any other details of either man's appearance, saying that he did not even see what color their eyes were.

Last week, police discovered a Chilli Habanero hot sauce bottle which seemed to contain bleach (above). It was found near where Smollett says he was attacked and had bleach poured on him . It was found 10 days after the attack

The Empire actor became emotional as he recalled realizing that they had placed a noose around his neck after hitting him in the face and ribs and calling him a racial slur.

'I noticed the rope around my neck and I said, "There's a f****** rope around my neck,"' he said.

'I'm p****d off. It's the attackers but it's also the attacks. At first it was a thing of like, listen if I tell the truth then that's it cause it's the truth.

'Then it became a thing of like, "Oh, how can you doubt that? How can you not believe that. It's the truth."

'And then it became a thing of like, "Oh. It's not necessarily that you don't believe that this is the truth, you don't even want to see the truth,' he said.

He also addressed the threatening letter he received in the mail a week before the attack at the Empire studio which contained a powder police believe may have been Tylenol.

'On the letter it had a stick figure hanging from a tree with a gun pointing to it. The return address said in big red caps, MAGA.

'Did I make that up too?' he said.

It was not the first attack he has received, he said, adding that he had become accustomed to them as an 'outspoken public figure'.

'I get threatened all the time on Twitter and Instagram and DMs and things like that but it's like, you know, I'm a public figure. I am very outspoken. Sometimes maybe too outspoken. But it's who I am.

'So I get the idea of p****** people off, that you're going to rub people the wrong way.'

A week before the attack, Smollett received this threatening letter at the Fox studio where he works

In the initial aftermath of the attack, Smollett received an outpouring of support from celebrities and fans alike who all condemned the discrimination he was subjected to.

But in the weeks since, details of the incident have been picked over forensically.

Some of his neighbors have expressed skepticism that it happened the way he said it did and the lack of evidence has done nothing to quell their cynicism.

They have also pointed out repeatedly that Smollett did not immediately turn over his phone records or his phone to prove that he was on a call with his manager, Brandon Z. Moore, when the attack took place as claimed.

It carries special significance because Moore claims to have heard the attackers calling Smollett 'Empire f****t n****r' and shouting: 'This is MAGA country!'

Within the first few days of the attack, he gave an interview to Variety saying he had heard the slurs but he has not spoken about it since.

On Monday, Smollett finally did hand over his records but they were redacted.

Chicago Police Department described them as 'insufficient proof' of the call.

The actor angrily responded that via a representative that he was never told as much and that they were redacted to protect 'personal contacts or high-profile individuals not relevant to the attack.'

The rest of Smollett's ABC interview will be shown on Nightline on Thursday.
A teacher used a two-way mirror to secretly film women and children showering inside his home.

The 52-year-old man, who has interim name suppression, appeared in the Wellington District Court on New Zealands North Island on Friday.

He pleaded guilty to 49 counts of making intimate visual recordings and making an objectionable publication.

A teacher used a two-way mirror to secretly film women and children showering inside his home (stock image)

Footage included recordings of girls aged between 12 and 14, NZME reported.

His hidden camera was discovered by a Hungarian tourist who found the two-mirror while she was cleaning.

The woman was staying in the home after responding to a homestay ad.

The 29-year-old had heard shuffling coming from the mirror in the bathroom while she was brushing her teeth in August last year, according tot he summary of facts.

She did not think anything of it, and went to take a shower. The woman then noticed the shower curtain did not pull all the way across.

His hidden camera was discovered by a Hungarian tourist who found the two-mirror while she was cleaning (stock image)

However, it wasnt until the following day, while she was cleaning that she discovered a whiteboard behind the mirror that led to the garage.

Police later searched the home and discovered a hidden camera and an external hard drive that had videos and photos of 54 different women.

There were also six videos of girls aged 12, 13 and 14.

The man has been remanded in custody until sentencing in June.

A psychiatric report has been ordered by Judge Peter Butler.
Controversial: Nick Goiran wants treatment for people considering a sex change

A Liberal MP has been criticised for saying that people considering a sex change should have 'psychological treatment.'

Nick Goiran made the controversial remarks on how the state should assist people with gender dysphoria during a debate on the Gender Reassignment Bill 2018 in the Western Australia parliament on Tuesday.

He said: 'In essence there are only two alternatives. One perspective believes the solution is a physical one. In other words, the state has a responsibility to assist and engage at a physical level.

'Whereas others, including me, believe the solution should be to treat it psychologically.

'If there is an issue there are two ways in which we can treat it. We can do it with either physical or psychological intervention.'

Mr Goiran's call for psychological treatment is at odds with medical and scientific advice, reported Out In Perth.

The World Health Organisation no longer categorises gender dysphoria as a mental illness after moving it to a sexual health category.

Campaigners have criticised the 41-year-old former solicitor for his 'outdated' view.

Rebekah Robertson, the founder of transgender support charity Transcend, told Daily Mail Australia: Mr Goiran has made assertions about a subject he clearly is unqualified to make.

'The experience of being transgender, non-binary or gender diverse is a natural part of human diversity. It is not something that needs curing.

She added: 'Prejudice, hatred and misinformation have a significant impact on the mental health of any person, and particularly those who are marginalised and dehumanised.

'We suggest Mr Goiran refrain from making statements about a subject he clearly has little knowledge of for short term political gain.'

Aram Hosie, who works with Equality Australia, wrote on Twitter: 'What Nick Goiran is really describing here is conversion therapy.

This is irresponsible and ill-informed from a Member of Parliament

'And conversion therapy has been demonstrated time and time again to be incredibly harmful.

'This is irresponsible and ill-informed from a Member of Parliament.'

Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of trying to change an individual's sexual orientation using psychological or spiritual interventions.

It has been used in the past to 'treat' gay people but was found to be ineffective and potentially harmful.

Its main advocates today are fundamentalist Christian groups who claim homosexuality is a 'disease'.

When contacted by Daily Mail Australia, Mr Goiran stood by his comments.

He said: 'Irrespective of which side of this debate people fall on, I am hopeful that all will agree that any decisions for invasive physical interventions should only be made by a person free of any psychological symptoms that may result in that decision being made under duress.'
Wild lynx could soon return to Britain for the first time in more than 1,000 years.

The Eurasian lynx, the third largest predator native to Europe after the brown bear and grey wolf, is believed to have been extinct in Britain since 700AD.

But the Lynx UK Trust is set to submit a second licence application this summer to bring the big cats back to Kielder Forest in Northumberland.

While supporters of rewilding claim the lynx would help to control deer numbers and boost tourism, farmers have expressed concern for their sheep [File photo]

Its first attempt was turned down personally by Environment Secretary Michael Gove in December.

The Lynx UK Trust is set to submit a second licence application this summer to bring the big cats back to Kielder Forest in Northumberland [File photo]

The trust has also selected three forest areas in Scotland, with another application due in the autumn.

While supporters of rewilding claim the lynx would help to control deer numbers and boost tourism, farmers have expressed concern for their sheep.

Lynx eat more than 4lb of meat a day.

Guy Opperman, MP for Hexham in Northumberland, said he had surveyed those in the 400 houses closest to where lynx might be reintroduced and 90 per cent said they were against the idea.
Facebook and the Federal Trade Commission are reportedly negotiating a multibillion dollar fine that would settle the agency's investigation into privacy lapses by the social media giant.

Sources familiar with the FTC probe have said the fine would be the largest ever imposed on a technology company, though the two sides have not yet agreed on an exact amount, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

Should negotiations break down, Facebook could find itself in a fierce legal battle with the US government, according to one of the sources.

The FTC declined to comment on reports of the negotiation, while Facebook confirmed that private talks were being held but would not offer any other details.

The social networking site has had several high-profile privacy lapses in the past couple of years. The FTC opened an investigation into one of the biggest breaches, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, last March after it was revealed that the data mining firm accessed the information from some 87 million Facebook users without their consent.

The agency is looking to determine whether Facebook violated a 2011 agreement with the FTC promising to protect user privacy. Facebook has maintained that it did not breach the agreement.

Facebook is reportedly negotiating a multibillion dollar Federal Trade Commission fine amid the agency's ongoing investigation into privacy lapses by the social media giant. Sources familiar with the negotiations have said the fine would be the largest ever imposed on a tech company, though the two sides have not yet agreed on an exact amount (file photo)

Experts say a multibillion-dollar fine would be somewhat of a 'reckoning' for Facebook, which has weathered privacy scandal after privacy scandal over the past several months as lawmakers fault the company for being reckless with user data.

'Facebook faces a moment of reckoning and the only way it will come is through an FTC order with severe penalties and other sanctions that stop this kind of privacy misconduct going forward,' Connecticut Democratic Sen Richard Blumenthal told the Post.

On the other side, how the FTC handles this specific negotiation will set the tone for how seriously companies in the technology industry take agreements with the agency in the future.

'It is an open question at this moment in time whether the Federal Trade Commission is an effective privacy agency,' Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told the Post.

'It is also an open question as to whether the FTC is willing to use its current authority to safeguard consumer privacy in the United States.'

The current record penalty was imposed on a tech company found breaking a government agreement was a $22.5million fine that Google paid to settle a probe in 2012.

A collection of consumer advocates led by EPIC last month urged the FTC to fine Facebook upwards of $2billion and to order limits on how and when the site collects user data.

'The company's business practices have imposed enormous costs on the privacy and security of Americans, children and communities of color, and the health of democratic institutions in the United States and around the world,' the groups wrote in a letter.

Lawmakers have also been pressing the FTC to accelerate its investigation.

'When Americans' privacy is breached, they deserve a speedy and effective response,' Democratic Sens Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut wrote in a letter in January.
Governor Andrew Cuomo is blaming Congress freshman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her peers for derailing Amazon's plans to create a headquarters in New York City.

Amazon announced they were pulling the plug on their New York building plans on Thursday, citing a lack of cooperation between local politicians.

It marked major blow for the city's mayor and governor who overcame their differences to bring the retail giant to the East Coast.

Cuomo was so furious with Amazon's decision he released a statement saying the politicians who drove the e-commerce business away should be held accountable.

'A small group of politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community  which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City  the states economic future and the best interests of the people of this state,' Cuomo said in a statement released on Thursday.

'The New York State Senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity,' he added.

Governor Andrew Cuomo is slamming politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for derailing Amazon's plans to build a sprawling headquarters in Queens, New York. Both politicians pictured above reacting to Amazon's pull out announcement on Thursday

AOC victoriously tweeted after Amazon announced they were pulling their plans to build a headquarters campus in New York, citing disagreement between local politicians as a concern

She was among the more high-profile critics of the deal from the Democratic Party's leftward flank and tweeted her opposition as earlier as last year. Above is a tweet from November

On Thursday she continued to criticize Amazon, pointing out how they paid nothing in federal income taxes yet made a whopping $11billion in profit

His statement didn't give specific names but zeroed in on Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Michael N. Gianaris.

They have been vocal opponents of bringing Amazon to build in Long Island City, Queens.

The ambitious sprawling 8million square feet campus would have brought an estimated 25,000 jobs to the city, as the city dangled $3billion in return in tax breaks and incentives.

The plan was announced last November and would have created over $10billion in revenue over the next 20 years.

Cuomo said the city lost a golden opportunity to be 'an emerging center for tech' and the Amazon move was 'an extraordinary economic win not just for Queens and New York City, but for the entire region, from Long Island to Albany's nanotech center.'

Ocasio-Cortez responded to Amazon's shocking announcement on Thursday with triumph saying: 'Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazons corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world.'

On Thursday Amazon announced its cancelling its plans to build a headquarters in Queens, New York, citing lack of cooperation between local politicians

She opposed the move for its massive tax incentives, previously tweeting such money could be used towards improving the city's crumbling subway system and investing in local communities.

Senator Gianaris also praised Amazon's drop out saying 'today's behavior by Amazon shows why they would have been a bad partner for New York in any event.

WILL AMAZON GO ELSEWHERE NOW IT'S DITCHED NEW YORK? Amazon's search for a second headquarters garnered worldwide publicity and drew 238 proposals from cities across North America. The online retailer announced in November it would be building a complex in Queens, New York as one of two new headquarters. The other headquarters is planned for northern Virginia. Nashville, Tennessee was a finalist that was awarded a consolation prize of a 5,000-employee location. Amazon said on Thursday it did not plan to re-open the yearlong search. It said the company would proceed as planned in Virginia and Nashville, and continue to hire and grow the 17 corporate office across the U.S. and Canada. When rumors were circulating that New York would be dropped, Chicago, Miami and Newark were among the passed-over finalists that expressed interest in another chance to become the home of an Amazon project that could bring 25,000 jobs. Nashville, which was awarded a 5,000-person center, also said it was open to taking on a bigger role should New York withdraw from consideration. Advertisement

'Rather than seriously engage with the community they proposed to profoundly change, Amazon continued its effort to shakedown governments to get its way. It is time for a national dialogue about the perils of these types of corporate subsidies,' he added in a statement on Thursday.

Mayor Bill De Blasio released a statement on Thursday as well, placing the blame on Amazon for 'throwing away' the opportunity rather than blaming politicians.

'You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world,' de Blasio said in the statement.

'Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity. We have the best talent in the world and every day we are growing a stronger and fairer economy for everyone. If Amazon cant recognize what thats worth, its competitors will,' he added.

According to public polls, a majority of New Yorkers supported the creation of a Queens Amazon office.

The United Food and Commercial union, which represents some New York Amazon employees, criticized the tech giant for pulling out of their New York plans.

'Amazon showed its true colors today and every American should be outraged,' the union said in the statement.

'Jeff Bezos had the opportunity to listen to the voices of working families and support the good-paying jobs New Yorkers deserve. But now we can see this is all about blind greed and Jeff Bezos' belief that everyday taxpayers should foot the bill for their new headquarters even as the company actively works to eliminate millions of American retail jobs,' the statement added.

Amazon's decision to drop plans to build a headquarters in New York has been slammed by the city's Mayor Bill de Blasio

The decision was a serious blow to de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who had both lobbied intensely to land the campus within city limits

Furthermore polls reviewed by Amazon showed that 70 percent of New Yorkers supported the giant's plans to build a campus in Queens.

According to a December poll conducted by Quinnipiac University, 57 percent of New York City residents supported Amazon's plans to move to queens. Just 26 percent opposed the proposal, according to Fox.

Amazon announced its cancelled plans on Thursday in a statement saying, 'We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion - we love New York.'

'For Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term.

'While polls show that 70 percent of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.'
For as long as I can remember, Conservative politicians have paraded as champions of marriage and the family, proclaiming these to be the most precious of all institutions and swearing to uphold and support them.

They have a mighty funny way of showing it. Indeed, throughout my 65 years on this Earth  almost two-thirds of them under Tory-led governments  state support for traditional families has been steadily whittled away.

When I was growing up, my stay-at-home mother received a tax-free family allowance for each of us four children. My father could also claim income tax breaks to help him provide for his dependent wife and young.

Families [in Hungary] with three or more children will also qualify for a subsidy of 2.5 million forints (6,900) towards buying a seven-seater vehicle. Meanwhile, women under 40 who marry for the first time are to become eligible for low-interest loans of 10 million forints (27,600) [File photo]

Add to this the fact that by todays standards housing was cheap, and one way or another  with many sacrifices here and there  my fathers modest salary as a 30-year-old journalist in the early Fifties stretched to buying a home that would cost several millions today.

He even had enough left over to send three of the four young Utleys to independent schools.

No such luck for those planning to start families in 2019. Yes, after a great deal of horse-trading with the Lib Dems, David Cameron finally kept his oft-repeated pledge to help married couples  and stay-at-home mums in particular  by making tax allowances transferable between husbands and wives (or civil partners). But there are two massive catches.

The first is that to be eligible for the so-called Marriage Allowance, one partner must have an income of 11,850 or less. The other is that only 1,190 of a partners personal allowance is transferable.

Today I ask you only to compare Whitehalls attitude to the family with the remarkable policies announced this week by Hungarys Prime Minister, Viktor Orban. Under plans he outlined in his state of the nation speech, mothers who raise at least four children will get a lifetimes personal exemption from income tax [File photo]

This means that the maximum anyone stands to gain from Mr Camerons lip-service to supporting marriage and stay-at-home mums is a miserly 4.58 a week!

Lets face it, this wont buy many packs of Pampers. Let alone will it go far towards the cost of a four-bedroom, Victorian villa in Islington, North London, like the house in which I was born.

To be fair, husbands, wives and civil partners can also benefit from the separate Married Couples Allowance, which can reduce a tax bill by between 336 and 869.50 a year.

But since one partner has to be at least 85 years old in order to qualify, I think we can safely say this wont help many parents of growing children at a time in their lives when money is tightest.

In fact, far from welcoming additions to the next generation of Britons, recent Conservative administrations seem to have gone out of their way to discourage couples from having more than a couple of children at most.

For example, since 2017 Child Tax Credit has been payable in all but a handful of cases only for a maximum of two children. Have any more, and youll get no further help from this quarter. Or take child benefit.

Not only does the rate at which it is paid drop off sharply after the first child  from 20.70 to 13.70 per week. These days, it is also subject to a swingeing tax charge if either parent earns more than 50,000 a year.

In fact, far from welcoming additions to the next generation of Britons, recent Conservative administrations seem to have gone out of their way to discourage couples from having more than a couple of children at most [File photo]

The upshot for a mother or father of four who earns 60,000 a year  a comfortable income, certainly, but hardly a kings ransom for a couple with four demanding young to feed, clothe and house at todays prices  is an annual tax bill of 3,213.00 to be paid on child benefit of 3,213.60.

In other words, such a household will be better off to the tune of precisely 60p a year, under this government run by the party of the family.

If you dont believe me, go to the Governments own website and feed the figures into its child benefit calculator.

No wonder so many mothers these days feel forced to go out to work  including many whose every instinct tells them theyd be far happier bringing up their own children at home, instead of handing them over each morning to (fantastically expensive) child-minders.

If you ask me, the tax-and-benefit systems active discouragement of breeding may also go some way towards explaining why, horrifyingly, 185,000 women a year in England and Wales feel driven to the heart-rending decision to terminate their pregnancies. But thats a controversy for another day.

Today I ask you only to compare Whitehalls attitude to the family with the remarkable policies announced this week by Hungarys Prime Minister, Viktor Orban.

Under plans he outlined in his state of the nation speech, mothers who raise at least four children will get a lifetimes personal exemption from income tax. But thats only the start of it.

Families with three or more children will also qualify for a subsidy of 2.5 million forints (6,900) towards buying a seven-seater vehicle. Meanwhile, women under 40 who marry for the first time are to become eligible for low-interest loans of 10 million forints (27,600).

Suffice it to say that this all makes the net 60p a year in child benefit, claimable by that middle-class British mother of four, look very silly indeed. And I dont say this only because my wife and I happen to have four sons ourselves.

Before I go an inch further, I must stress that Im no fan of Mr Orban, a sinister figure of the far Right whose politics are hideously reminiscent of his countrys support for Nazi Germany before and during World War II.

Indeed, theres a deeply unpleasant whiff of Hitlers drive for racial purity in his visceral hostility to immigration and his insistence that Hungarian children alone are the key to solving his countrys demographic problems. Migration for us is surrender, he says.

I should also acknowledge that the crisis in Hungary is rather different from ours. While our population is rising too sharply for most voters comfort, swollen in part by migration from Eastern Europe, Hungarys is plummeting.

Not only is its fertility rate a mere 1.45 children per woman  well below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. Numbers have also been depleted by the mass emigration, under the EUs freedom of movement rules, of some of the brightest and best of Hungarians to richer countries such as Britain.

No wonder so many mothers these days feel forced to go out to work  including many whose every instinct tells them theyd be far happier bringing up their own children at home, instead of handing them over each morning to (fantastically expensive) child-minders [File photo]

But one thing we have in common is that our populations are ageing fast, as average lifespans grow longer, and limited numbers of people of working age have growing armies of oldies like me to support.

With all 28 countries in the EU now experiencing fertility rates below the level needed to balance deaths with births (in Hungary, 131,00 died in 2017, while only 94,000 were born), you dont have to be an Orbanista to see that migration is in many ways an unsatisfactory solution.

Like it or not, it is simply a fact of life that homogeneous nations  whose people share a language and loyalty to a common culture, history and traditions  are easier to govern than more diverse populations.

Indeed, the paradox is that the more liberal an immigration policy, the more illiberal a government has to be to maintain law and order.

Speaking for myself, I dont care a jot what colour my fellow subjects happen to be, or what creed they profess, as long as they respect our laws and system of government, try to learn our language and dont foment hatred of our way of life.

The great majority of migrants to this country fulfil all these criteria, making a hugely valuable contribution to our society. But theres no denying that many dont.

All right, I grant you that being born in the UK is no absolute guarantee of loyalty to Britain. Think of the Jihadi bride Shamima Begum and the repellent creeps who radicalised and corrupted her.

Come to that, think of Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and their lifelong love affairs with terrorist enemies of the West.

But the citizenship we are born with is as good a start as we can get to feeling patriotic affection for our country and its people. That aside, the self-reliant family is the most cost-effective and humane welfare system known to man.

For the sake of Britains future, lets have more babies  and fewer abortions.

As for the Tories, its high time they set about justifying their claim to be the party of the family.
(ANSA) - Rome, February 15 - A 21-year-old Botswana woman was arrested Thursday night in connection with the case of a 16-year-old Roman girl, Desiree Mariottini, who was drugged, gang-raped and murdered in an abandoned building in the Italian capital's San Lorenzo district in October.

Prosecutors said the woman supplied Mariottini with drugs "in a continual and aggravated way" in the days leading up to her death.

Drugs and methadone were found on the woman, police said.

A Rome re-examination court on November 15 ruled that murder charges should remain against a 27-year-old Senegalese man in Mariottini's death in the Rome drugs dens.

Mamadou Gara is still charged with murder in the death of Mariottini.

For another two arrested men the re-examination court had dropped murder charges.


Lord Nazir Ahmed, 61, has been accused of exploiting a vulnerable woman

A peer has been accused of exploiting his position to have sex with a vulnerable woman who came to him for help.

Former Labour peer Lord Nazir Ahmed is also alleged to have propositioned a second woman who sought assistance.

The 61-year-old, who was once jailed for texting while driving before a crash that killed a man, denies all allegations.

Tahira Zaman, 43, told BBCs Newsnight last night that she was suffering from anxiety and depression when she approached the peer in 2017 through a friend.

She hoped Lord Ahmed would help get police to investigate a Muslim faith healer she felt was a danger to women.

Miss Zaman told Newsnight that Lord Ahmed said he wrote a letter to Metropolitan Police chief Cressida Dick. The peer, who quit Labour after he was accused of anti-Semitism, went on to have sex with Miss Zaman on a number of occasions.

She accepted the relationship was consensual but said: I was looking for help and he took advantage of me. He abused his power. She claimed the relationship ended two months later when Lord Ahmed told her he would not leave his wife. Miss Zaman said: I genuinely did believe that he had feelings for me. Im just so stupid  I believed that he was going to help me.

In January last year, she complained to the Lords Commissioner for Standards, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, saying: Lord Ahmed used my trust to repeatedly have intercourse with me.

She added: I feel I have been preyed upon due to my vulnerability and used by Lord Ahmed. But the Commissioner told Miss Zaman she was unable to investigate, stressing: The behaviour you describe in your email could amount to a breach of personal honour.

However, the code [of conduct] only applies in relation to a peers parliamentary work and, from your email, it looks as if your initial contact with him was not to do with his parliamentary work.

A second woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told Newsnight she had also asked Lord Ahmed for help. She claimed he suggested she should spend the night at his London home  which she interpreted as a proposition for sex. She refused.

A senior peer told Newsnight he believed the rules should now be clarified. Lord Carlile said: If someone comes to you for help, particularly if theyre vulnerable  and you form a sexual relationship, actually thats disgraceful.

He added: If it is not clear to the Commissioner, who is a very experienced lawyer, then I think the rules need to be clarified and in particular the guide to the code of conduct needs to be clarified.

He insisted: [Miss Zaman] went to Lord Ahmed because she believed he was in a position to do something influential for her. So its absolutely clear to me that what he was doing was in his role as a member of the House of Lords. But in a statement Miss Scott-Moncrieff, said: Though credible and substantial, the complaint provided insufficient evidence that contact with the member was in relation to his parliamentary duties. I was therefore unable to launch an investigation. To conclude otherwise, as Lord Carlile has done, is to misunderstand the code.

Lord Ahmed said last night: I completely deny the allegation that I have exploited my position to pursue an inappropriate relationship with any member of the public (vulnerable or otherwise) or that I have acted inappropriately in the presence of women either in my personal or professional capacity.

He added: I take my duties as a Parliamentarian extremely seriously. Lord Ahmed of Rotherham became the first Muslim life peer in 1998. In 2013, he was suspended from Labour following anti-Semitism claims. He resigned from the party later that year and is now an independent.
Rachel Johnson stripped off on Sky News this evening in a bid to 'get noticed' she told the audience and a stunned panel of co-presenters.

The Pledge host joked she will bare her breasts whenever she is talking about Brexit to be able to be heard.

Ms Johnson, journalist and sister of Brexiteer Boris Johnson took inspiration from Dr Victoria Bateman's naked appearance on BBC Radio 4 and GMB.

She said: 'As I know it can be hard to get your voice heard about Brexit nowadays.

'It feels like we've hit saturation point. Enter pro-EU campaigner Victoria Bateman who's come up with a striking way this week to get herself noticed.

'Appearing across the media completely starkers to make various points about Brexit  leaving Britain naked.

'So in tribute to Dr Dateman I've decided to follow suit  every time we decide to talk about Brexit just to make sure I get noticed.'

During the unexpected stripping Carole Malone pointed out that co-host Nick Ferrari had gone completely red faced.

However, Ms Johnson tweeted after the show to say she was 'wearing a boob tube' and was not totally naked.

Dr Victoria Bateman, (pictured) of Cambridge University, appeared naked on GMB and BBC Radio 4's Today programme

Rachel Johnson started the show fully clothed, but stunned the audience by taking her top off

Rachel Johnson whipped off her shirt on The Pledge to the shock of her co-stars on Thursday

Ms Johnson joked she will get naked when she talks about Brexit to be noticed after being joined by a naked campaigner

Dr Bateman made her naked protest by writing 'Brexit leaves Britain naked' across her body before appearing on the Radio 4 Today programme.

During her time as an economist the campaigner said she had written about Brexit and people had barely taken notice - so she decided to get them interested - by doing it naked.

She said: 'The key message that I have is that Brexit is the Emperor's new clothes. It's just not possible to deliver.'
Rapper 21 Savage has given his first interview since his release on bond, saying he was deliberately targeted and tracked with a helicopter by cops who said 'we got savage' when they snared him.

The Grammy nominated star spoke with Good Morning America after leaving the detention center Wednesday and claimed police 'said nothing more' when they pulled him over on February 3.

In the interview, set to air Friday morning, 21 Savage told ABC News' Linsey Davis: 'I was just driving. And I just seen guns and blue lights. And, then, I was in the back of a car. And I was gone.

'They didn't  they didn't say nothing. They just said, 'We got Savage. It was definitely targeted. There was helicopters.' He later clarified there was one helicopter.

The 26-year-old recording artist's legal team have already raised the possibility that 21 Savage was the victim of a vendetta by ICE officials who were angered by his criticism of Trump's family separation policy at the US-Mexico border.

Rapper 21 Savage has given his first interview since his release on bond

The musician spoke with Good Morning America and told ABC News' Linsey Davis, right, he was deliberately targeted and tracked with a helicopter

He flew home on a private jet soon after being released from an detention center on a $100,000 bond in Georgia Wednesday. He was arrested on February 3.

The rapper, whose given name is She'yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, posed with his mother, Heather Joseph, as they prepared to board the plane.

ICE officials said the British citizen overstayed his visa and has an October 2014 felony conviction in Fulton County.

They have accused him of living a 'false' life in the U.S. and said he came legally to America in July 2005 when he was aged 12. Officials said his visa expired a year later and he has lived in the U.S. illegally ever since.

But his lawyers have said the rapper was brought to the U.S. when he was seven and his legal status expired in 2006 through no fault of his own. They characterized him as a 'Dreamer' who has been the victim of a 'great deal of misreporting' that's led to 'false conclusions'.

According to his birth certificate, he was born on October 22, 1992, at Newham Hospital, in east London, to British parents, Heather Joseph and Kevin Emmons. He lived in the UK for 12 years before moving to Atlanta, Georgia.

His fans were shocked when he was arrested because they believed that he was born and raised in Atlanta given his thick Georgian accent. He has also never denied claims he was born and bred in the city where he is raising three young children.

Savage 21 left the Georgia ICE detention center in a private jet and was pictured with his mom after being released from custody on $100,000 bond Wednesday

The 26-year-old recording artist was arrested on February 3 after officials said the British citizen overstayed his visa. His lawyers have said the rapper was brought to the U.S. when he was seven and his legal status expired in 2006 through no fault of his own

Artists, such as Post Malone, pictured, showed their support backstage at the Grammys

Leslie Jones shows her support for rapper 21 Savage on Saturday Night Live

Supporters of 21 Savage attend #Free21Savage Rally at The Atlanta Immigration Court

The rapper quickly rose in the Atlanta underground music scene after a pair of 2015 mix-tapes. Collaborations with Atlanta artists including Metro Boomin and Offset of rap group Migos raised his profile.

He has also collaborated with Drake, Cardi B, as well as Post Malone and was scheduled to perform at Sunday night's Grammy show prior to his arrest.

Stars including Kendrick Lamar, DJ Khaled and SZA and have all rushed to support the musician. Jay-Z called his detention 'an absolute travesty'.

But an ICE spokesman has called 'his whole public persona false'. They added: 'He actually came to the US from the UK as a teen and overstayed his visa.'

Officials also say he's guilty of felony drug charges dating back to October 2014. His attorneys have disputed that.

Savage called himself a 'Dreamer' before describing how he had 'three US Citizen children' and had been working on a U Visa before he was detained by ICE, in a statement released by his legal team (Pictured: Savage with his father and two sisters as a child)

He was born in London on October 22, 1992 at Newham Hospital, to British parents

21 Savage had applied for a U-Visa in 2017 and it was still being processed when he was arrested. His team insist that he has very permanent ties to the country.

'Mr Abraham-Joseph has three US Citizen children, a lawful permanent resident mother and four siblings that are either US Citizens or lawful permanent residents,' the release said.

'This U visa was filed as a result of being the victim of a deadly shooting in 2013. That visa was filed in 2017 and remains pending,' the statement added.
Body camera footage released by Arizona authorities on Thursday shows the moment 18-year-old terrorism suspect Ismail Hamed (above) was shot by a Maricopa County cop as he appeared to be charging the officer with a knife outside a police station in Fountain Hills on January 7

Arizona authorities have released body camera footage of the moment a police officer shot a terrorism suspect who was charging at him with a knife.

Ismail Hamed, 18, was arrested following the confrontation with a Maricopa County sergeant outside a sheriff's substation in Fountain Hills on January 7.

Hamed, who was born in the US, has been described by police as a homegrown violent extremist in the process of 'radicalizing'.

He was trying to 'promote terror' by harming the deputy in the 'lone wolf' attack, according to investigators.

At a press conference on Thursday, Sheriff Paul Penzone played the body camera video as well as audio from a 911 call Hamed placed minutes before he was shot.

During the call, Hamed asked to speak with MCSO officers and warned the 911 dispatcher that he was armed with rocks and knife.

'I would like to do something in protest for the people suffering in Palestine and in the Middle East,' he says.

'I owe my allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.'

Police say Hamed called 911 and asked to speak with a law enforcement officer, telling a dispatcher that he was an ISIS supporter and warning that he was armed with rocks and a knife. A sergeant responded to the call and his body camera recorded the ensuing altercation

Hamed allegedly pulled out a knife and began advancing toward the sergeant, who issued multiple warnings telling the suspect to drop his weapon

When a sergeant showed up at the substation, his body camera filmed Hamed throwing rocks at him as the officer repeatedly shouts: 'Back off!'

Hamed then pulls out a knife and walks toward the sergeant.

'Drop it. Drop the knife. I will you shoot you,' the sergeant says.

The suspect ignores the warnings and keeps advancing before the sergeant fires two shots at him.

Hamed was taken to a hospital and then booked into jail on an aggravated assault charge the following day.

Prosecutors later tacked on a terrorism charge, alleging that Hamed provided 'advice, assistance, direction or management to the Islamic State of Iraq.

He pleaded not guilty to that charge on January 24 and is due back in court on March 8.

The sergeant fired two shots at Hamed, causing him to fall to the ground

Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone (above) spoke at a press conference on Tuesday

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office made an effort to seal the probable cause statement, a police report, 911 calls and footage of the incident, but a judge ordered the release of those records earlier this week amid pressure from the media.

An initial press release from the sheriff's department said: 'On the afternoon of Monday, January 7, 2019 a caller repeatedly called 911 stating he wanted to talk to an MCSO deputy at the MCSO Fountain Hills Substation located at 16705 E. Ave. of the Fountains, Fountain Hills, AZ.

'At approximately 5:35pm an MCSO Sergeant went outside to the substation parking lot and contacted the subject, later identified as an 18-year old male from Fountain Hills.

'The male subject began throwing rocks at Sergeant. The suspect then brandished a knife and advanced towards the Sergeant, despite his repeated commands for him to drop the weapon.

'The Sergeant discharged his service weapon which incapacitated the suspect. First aid was rendered on scene and the suspect was transported to the hospital. At the time of this release the suspect is expected to survive his injuries.

'The investigation into this incident is ongoing and more details will be released as they become available.
Squadron Leader Richard Churchill, the last survivor of the Great Escape, has died at 99

A survivor of the Great Escape has died aged 99.

Squadron Leader Richard Churchill was among the 76 men who crawled through tunnels in 1944 to escape Stalag Luft III, a Nazi prisoner of war camp.

However, only three of the men got clean away and 50 were rounded up and shot on Hitlers direct orders.

Mr Churchill was recaptured three days after the escape. He and his comrade Bob Nelson were found by farmers hiding in a barn and were handed over to the Germans. The RAF man believed he was not shot because the Nazis thought he may be related to Winston Churchill.

After his recapture Mr Churchill, of Crediton, Devon, was forced into gruelling winter marches across Germany.

Mr Churchill a former bomber pilot who joined the RAF in 1938 was instrumental in the execution of the escape

Down the hatch: A photo taken by officials at the German camp show the inside of the narrow tunnel, named 'Harry', in 1944. Some 76 men made it out before the escape was rumbled by Nazi guards

The Great Escape was immortalised in the 1963 film starring Sir Richard Attenborough and Steve McQueen.

He told the BBC in July last year: 'You fell into a certain category.

'Were you going to sit and enjoy the very few delights of a barbed wire prison camp until you were rescued by your comrades, if you were rescued, or were you going to try and get out of the place and rejoin and drop something on them?

'You could be a quiet person, do nothing much, above all don't annoy the Germans or the Gestapo, or you can try and do the opposite and feel better as the result of doing it.'

Making do: Stalag Luft III prisoners are seen walking past a watchtower around the perimeter of the camp in the winter months to keep fit and stay warm

The exploits of those who tunneled and escaped from the camp were made into a cult film starring Steve McQueen
A Northeast Ohio woman was arrested and charged Wednesday in connection with the shooting death of a man she met on the popular online dating site Plenty Of Fish.

Police in Cleveland said Shakira Graham, 24, linked up with Meshach Cornwall, 27, on the matchmaking service before the pair spent the night together at his home in Garfield Heights on December 15.

Two days later, Graham returned to her date's home where she allegedly robbed him of his guns, cellphones, gold 2009 Honda Accord and television before she fatally shot him.

A police report said the victim's horrified mother later found her son unconscious and bleeding at the bottom of his basement stairway.

Shakira Graham, 24, (pictured) has been arrested and charged in the December shooting death of Meshach Cornwall, 27

Graham and Cornwall linked up on the popular dating app Plenty Of Fish before the deadly incident

Police and firefighters in Garfield Heights determined Cornwall's cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds.

The suspect was taken into custody on a murder warrant Wednesday night at her mother's home in Cleveland.

Court records said authorities had obtained an arrest warrant for Graham on January 22.

The Garfield Heights Police Department released a statement Thursday confirming members of the US Marshals task force arrested her.

Graham spent a night at Cornwall's home in Garfield Heights (pictured) on December 15, before she returned two days later and allegedly killed him

She allegedly stole guns, cellphones, a TV and this gold 2009 Honda Accord

'Graham was arrested at her mothers home in Cleveland on Fairmount Blvd. Ms. Graham is currently being held on a $3,000,000 bond,' the statement said.

'The warrant was issued in connection with the murder of Garfield Heights resident Meshach Cornwall on December 17, 2018 in his home on Darlington Avenue.

'Thank you to GH Detectives who have been working diligently on this case since it happened almost two months ago. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.'

US Marshal Pete Elliott also thanked the Garfield Heights Police Department and his task force members for their 'tireless efforts' working the case.

'A violent fugitive is off the streets... we are very proud of the working relationships we share with the local police departments in Northern Ohio.'

Graham (pictured in a MySpace photo) is currently being held on a $3,000,000 bond
A Chinese coconut milk brand has released a startling advertising campaign claiming its beverage will increase the size of women's breasts.

Busty women feature in commercials for Coconut Palm coconut milk alongside slogans promising breast growth.

'Drinking more coconut milk every day will make your breasts fuller,' the slogan read.

An investigation into the campaign has been launched by the industrial and commercial bureau of Longhua district after claims of false advertising

'I drank from small to big,' another ad claimed.

An investigation into the campaign has been launched by the industrial and commercial bureau of Longhua district after claims of false advertising.

Daily Mail Australia made multiple attempts to contact the company.

The company faced a public backlash after the promotion was released, with multiple social media users questioning the legitimacy of the claims, a Shanghai news site reported.

The Hainan-based company had made headlines previously for its controversial advertising.

In 2017 it ran a commercial that featured women in low-cut tops frolicking through the waves

In 2017 it ran a commercial that featured women in low-cut tops frolicking through the waves.

'Drink one can every day, (your) curves will excite people, whiter and more plump,' one of the slogans read.

A representative told a Hong-Kong newspaper in 2017 that the company's claim of increasing breast size was based on a report from 1997 that said drinking coconut milk could assist in breast growth.
Two women and a man have been charged after police seized Australia flag acid tabs and uncovered a $17million mail order drug operation.

Detectives were led to the sophisticated online drug distribution network operating on New South Wales' South Coast as part of NSW Police's crackdown on the supply of illicit drugs across the state.

Officers arrested three people after executing five search warrants on Thursday at about 11am.

Two women and a man have been charged after police uncovered a $17million drug operation using the dark web and postal services

Police allege the man was operating as an online vendor, selling the prohibited drugs and prescription medications

Detectives arrested three people in Callala Beach after executing five search warrants on Thursday at about 11am

A 25-year-old man, 24-year-old woman and 20-year-old woman were taken to Nowra Police Station

A 25-year-old Callala Beach man, 24-year-old Callala Bay woman and 20-year-old Quakers Hill woman were taken to Nowra Police Station where they were charged.

Police allege the man was operating as an online vendor, selling MDMA, LSD, methamphetamine and prescription medications.

The two women allegedly assisted him by packaging and posting the items to buyers across the country.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said raids at five properties across the NSW South Coast and Sydney on Thursday morning led to the seizure of a substantial amount of drugs.

They recovered 2.5 kilograms of white powder believed to be cocaine, 200 grams of MDMA, more than 100,000 LSD tabs, cannabis, blue and yellow pills and a significant quantity of Xanax made to look like candy.

They also seized more than $80,00 cash, documentation, a laptop computer, electronic storage devices, mobile phones, a vacuum sealer, a label maker, money counters, and other items related to the packaging and distribution of illicit drugs.

A Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Ford Falcon were also seized while authorities investigate the ownership of a fourth vehicle, a Maserati.

'This is probably the first and largest penetration of the dark web in Australia and it's resulted in taking out a syndicate who have dealt around $17 million of drugs across the nation,' he told reporters in Sydney on Friday.

The trio were arrested in Callala Beach (pictured), on New South Wales' South Coast

The two women allegedly assisted him by packaging and posting the items to buyers across the country

Acting Assistant Commissioner Smith said the alleged mastermind was a hacker who had been running the business for a number of years, the Daily Telegraph reported.

'He learnt his skill as a youth, now he is a highly capable person using high-tech systems often used by government agencies,' he said.

'The syndicate was using Australia Post with masking techniques to send parcels across Australia.'

On Wednesday, officers recovered 85 packages from the Nowra Post Office, with the assistance of Australia Post.

Police say an initial analysis of the vendor cryptocurrency wallets shows transactions of more than $17million in recent years.

The arrests come after the State Crime Command's Criminal Groups Squad established Strike Force Royden in April 2018 to investigate criminal networks involved in drug supply.

Police say an initial analysis of the vendor cryptocurrency wallets shows transactions of more than $17million in recent years

Detectives also worked with officers from South Coast Police District and the Cybercrime Squad during their investigations.

'We're putting would-be drug pushers on notice  NSW Police Force has some of the most sophisticated technology and resources at our disposal; you can no longer try to hide the peddling of poisons on the Dark Web,' Acting Assistant Commissioner Smith said.

'The co-ordinated investigative efforts by local and specialist investigators show that there's nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, even online; if you're involved in crime, we will find you.

Acting Assistant Commissioner reminded the community that the demand of prohibited substances needed to be addressed.

Pictures from the arrests show a number of seized items including drugs and Australia Post packaging

'Concocted in filthy hovels by profit-driven criminal networks, there is no quality control with these toxic substances,' he said.

'Whether purchased on the street or online, illicit drugs are capable of causing serious injury or death.'

The man was charged with four counts of drug supply, knowingly direct activities of criminal group, and knowingly deal with proceeds of crime.

The 24-year-old woman was charged with four counts of drug supply, knowingly deal with proceeds of crime, and knowingly participate in criminal group assist crime.

The 20-year-old woman was charged with four counts of drug supply, and participate criminal group contribute criminal activity.


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The Darling River is in the grips of its worst crisis in decades as hundreds and thousands of dead fish fill the receding, murky waters.

Poor water conditions in the drought-hit river in New South Wales have encouraged algal blooms, which have led to millions of fish becoming starved of oxygen.

Starving wildlife such as kangaroos and remaining herds of cows and sheep have also been forced to rely on the unsanitary water to stay alive.

The scarce toxic waters are streaming through the bathrooms and kitchen sinks of residents, described as being as brown as black tea.

The Darling River is in the grips of its worst crisis in decades as hundreds and thousands of dead fish fill the receding murky waters

Starving state wildlife such as kangaroos and remaining herds of cows and sheep have also been forced to rely on the unsanitary water

The scarce toxic waters are streaming through the bathrooms and kitchen sinks of residents, described to be as brown as black tea

Residents have complained of the foul stench of water but were left with no choice when it came to showers and drinking.

Experts have warned if the mass of dead floating fish aren't removed off the 40km stretch of the river, they could decompose and badly contaminate the water.

Menindee resident Graeme McCrabb says it will take up to 30 years for the river to recover after this summer's mass fish deaths.

The Morrison Government has blamed the fish deaths on drought but farmers and residents say the brutal reality that disaster is man-made.

The lakes in Menindee have been drained in twice in four years, leading to low inflows.

'Dead fish and dying rivers are not because of the drought, it's because we are extracting too much water from our river,' said John Williams, an expert in water economics at the Australian National University.

Scientists have warned of people extracting vast amounts of water without check for irrigation or other uses, undercutting billions of dollars in investment

A water storage canal between Pooncarie and Menindee (pictured). The Darling River and the Menindee Lakes are under pressure from low water flow as a result of the continuing drought affecting more than 98% of New South Wales

Bill Campbell, 77, who has lived in Menindee for more than 60 years, says he has never seen the area in such poor condition

Cracked beds of barren water canals (pictured) between Pooncarie and Menindee are captured due to low water flow

Cracked beds of barren water canals between Pooncarie and Menindee have been created by low water flow.

Bill Campbell, 77, who has lived in Menindee for more than 60 years, says he has never seen the area in such poor condition.

He remembers being able to go fishing and never seeing Murray cod fish because they hid in the depths of the river - now he sees dead ones floating on top.

'When the government allowed the river to be used as an irrigation channel, it was the worst thing they could have done,' he said.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has warned the river's state remains bleak with almost no reserves of environmental water left in the northern basin unless it rains.

A resident remembers being able to go fishing and never seeing Murray cod fish because they hid in the depths of the river - now he sees dead ones floating on top

The Morrison Government blames the drought but residents and farmers say the brutal reality is a man-made disaster

Experts have warned if the mass of dead floating fish aren't removed off the 40km stretch of the river, they could decompose and make it difficult to remove their rotten remains
McDonald's has found itself in hot water with coffee drinkers after ditching their paper loyalty cards system and moving it online.

While the phasing out process has been ongoing for several years, the app-only new scheme officially went national at the start of 2019.

Customers are now required to download the MyMacca's app to access the popular 'Buy Five, Get One free' drink deal.

Some customers are McHatin' McDonald's decision to officially ditch their paper loyalty cards system

However, many have been quick to let the burger giant know that they're not 'McLovin' the change.

Caffeine aficionados shared their grievances on the McDonald's Facebook page, with many complaining about technical glitches and 'technological discrimination'.

Others were concerned about the practical limitations of using their mobile devices to access the app while driving.

'Just switched over to your app,' wrote Frank Gasperic. 'Amazingly this morning all previous purchases gone. Great scam. BRING BACK THE STAMPED CARDS.'

'Have you thought about elderly people who do not have a smart phone or those who would prefer not to be tracked?' wrote Kristy Pass.

'I used to be able to give my rewards card to nurses, paramedics, older people to share and enjoy. This has been taken away,' added Charlie Martin

Macca's also received complaints of 'technological discrimination' against older customers

Many also warned McDonald's that using the app to order a drive thru coffee was actually illegal.

'When using drive through you are technically still liable to adhere to traffic and road rules,' wrote Debbie Manning. 'Managers can be liable for aiding and abetting.'

'I contacted Victoria police about using the app in drive thru and they confirmed that yes you will be fined for using your phone ... in drive thru,' said Adro Krygger.

Users also warned McDonald's that logging onto the app in drive thru was technically illegal

McDonald's spokewoman Julia Buckland told Daily Mail Australia that most feedback to the company about the change had been positive.

'We've had great feedback from customers on the app and more people than ever before are taking advantage of our coffee loyalty program.'

'Customers with a seniors card can continue to take advantage of offers to a free coffee, juice or soft drink with purchase in participating restaurants.'

Julia also said customers should not be concerned about potentially breaking driving rules, as they can access the required information on their phones while stationary.

'You can place your order, apply any offers and retrieve your order number before you start moving,' she said.
The grandfather of a toddler murdered by his mother's boyfriend is demanding tougher sentences for child killers as he pleads with politicians to see the effects of similar violence.

John Sandeman's 17-month-old grandson Mason Parker was violently murdered by his mother's partner Troy Reed in 2011.

Reed was eventually convicted and sentenced to a non-parole period of 15 years.

Mr Sandeman, who has since devoted his life to advocating for legislation to protect children, told The Courier Mail Queensland's new child killer laws need to be even tougher.

John Sandeman (right) the grandfather of murdered toddler Mason Parker (left) is demanding tougher sentences for child killers

He also pleaded with the state's premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to apply the same attention toward the cause she's given to North Queensland's recent flood devastation.

'I've got photos of my grandson in a coffin,' he said, adding: 'she can come up here and I'll show her'.

'We'll show them the proof, then they might realise why we are so passionate about changing this law.'

The comments follow the Queensland government introducing a Bill expanding the definition of murder, adding an aggravating factor to manslaughter of a child under 12.

Under the update, murder's definition will be expanded to include deaths caused by 'an act or omission with reckless indifference to human life'.

Mason Parker was killed while in the sole care of Reed, his mother's partner, in Townsville in 2011.

John Sandeman's 17-month-old grandson Mason Parker (pictured) was violently murdered by his mother's partner Troy Reed in 2011

Mason's mother Cindy Sandeman (pictured) met Reed in 2010 and months later, they were living together in Townsville

The toddler suffered horrific injuries, including a 17cm skull fracture, more than 50 bruises and a ruptured bowel.

Moments after the murder, Reed made a frantic phone call to triple-0, claiming he didn't know what was wrong with the child.

'He's just not responding. He's turning blue,' he was heard saying in an audio clip aired on Channel Nine's 60 Minutes.

The operator told Reed emergency services would be there as quickly as possible.

He was heard calling the child's name: 'Mason, what do I do?' Mason? Mason?'

Moments after the murder, Reed made a frantic phone call to triple-0, claiming he didn't know what was wrong with the child

By the time paramedics arrived, the child was dead. Reed later claimed that Mason had suffered the horrific injuries after falling off his bed.

'He was up on the bed and he's fallen,' Reed is heard saying in a police interview shown on the program.

Childcare workers informed Ms Sandeman about severe bruising Mason had suffered in the months prior to his death

'I don't think he realised actually how close he was to the edge of the bed. And he's come down, and as he's come down he's hit his head.

'I picked him up and he fell onto my chest... I rang the ambulance.'

Reed was sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole for at least 15 years in 2013 after he was found guilty of murder and assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.

Mason's mother Cindy Sandeman met Reed in 2010 and months later, they were living together in Townsville.

'He came across as a nice, caring man,' she told 60 Minutes.

Childcare workers informed Ms Sandeman about severe bruising Mason had suffered in the months prior to his death, but she continued to let Reed care for the boy alone.

'Hindsight is a beautiful thing,' Ms Sandeman said.

'It was something I didn't contemplate. It didn't enter my mind. I did the best I could.'

Reed was eventually convicted and sentenced to a non-parole period of 15 years

Just three days after Mason's death, Ms Sandeman agreed to marry Reed.

'You know it wasn't about the wedding,' she said. 'It was about him making sure I was there with him staying on his side, not talking to the police.'

Mason's grandparents believe child care centres could have saved their grandson's life.

The couple have not spoken to their daughter since the day Mason died.
Australian drivers are embroiled in a heated online debate over the legality of changing lanes at intersections.

The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) posted the question on Facebook, asking online users to identify which vehicle or vehicles should not be changing lanes in a graphic.

The quiz's illustration shows three cars at various stages of crossing an intersection, all indicating their intention to move into the right lane.

But which one is breaking the law?

Scroll down for the answer

The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland posted the question on Facebook, asking online users to identify which vehicle or vehicles should not be switching lanes (pictured)

'Which vehicle, or vehicles, are performing an illegal manoeuvre?' RACQ asked, giving the following options: (a) red and pink, (b) red, (c) pink or (d) blue.

The Facebook post gained over 500 comments, with the majority of the users insisting the red and the pink car were both at fault.

'Pink is crossing the solid line where as the blue one is not, and red is changing lanes in an intersection,' one person said.

'Pink and red. If you think otherwise, who passed your licence?' another wrote.

However, not everybody agreed with this answer, with one person claiming the blue car should not be changing lanes because it appeared to be within 15 metres of the intersection.

'Hi everyone. We love a robust discussion but please keep it civil,' the RACQ reminded users as the discussion got heated.

Australian drivers have gotten into a heated debate online over a road rules question that made them think twice about what classified as an illegal lane change (stock image)

Eventually, the RACQ revealed that the pink car is the only one breaking the law.

'Pink, as the image shows a vehicle crossing a continuous line separating the lanes, which is illegal,' they said.

Despite this, many people were still not convinced.

'Are you sure?' one user asked the organisation. 'This (cars guide link) states the solid line prior to the intersection continues through to the other side so changing lanes mid intersection would be illegal.'

RACQ replied, saying the rules do differ between states and they could only advise on Queensland law.

Many people were still not convinced even after the RACQ revealed the pink car was the one making the illegal turn (screenshot pictured)

The RACQ said the rules in Queensland were different, meaning it would not be illegal to change lines in an intersection (screenshot pictured)

'In Queensland, line markings aren't carried through an intersection (apart from turn lines).

'The continuous line of approach can't be crossed.

'There isn't anything in the road rules that says you can't change lines in an intersection, but we would advise against it.'
Confronting new figures have revealed a child is reported as being abused every 21 minutes in a series of troubled towns in the Northern Territory.

On February 15 last year the horrific rape of a two-year-old girl in Tennant Creek became global news and in the past year, the number of child protection notifications from Territory Families has increased from 22,313 to 24,743.

An estimated 80 per cent of reports relate to Aboriginal children, the Northern Territory News reported.

Of the 24,743 reported notifications, 2110 incidents were substantiated, revealing almost 1750 youths had been or were likely to be, abused or neglected.

Shocking new figures have revealed a child is abused every 21 minutes in a series of troubled towns in the Northern Territory (stock image)

A number of troubled towns in the Northern Territory have high numbers of sexual abuse notifications

Graeme Smith, the Manungurra Aboriginal Corporation chief executive, said after reports of the Tennant Creek rape reached politicians in Canberra, the reaction at Parliament House was predictable.

'There was a lot of talk and a lot of huff and puff but a lot of decisions were made initially as knee jerk reactions without any research or planning around it,' he said.

Mr Smith also revealed there are high volumes of Indigenous children roaming the streets in Tennant Creek, resulting in a number of break-ins.

He wants to seen the introduction of a government-funded youth centre, offering a safe haven at all times.

'If you have 100 kids in a centre at night, you have got 100 kids off the street,' he said.

Steve Edgington, the Tennant Creek Mayor, also said he has received numerous reports of kids wandering aimlessly around the towns at odd hours.

'Not every young person is up to no good  some don't feel safe or comfortable being home at time,' he said. 'Often they are exposed to alcohol, or domestic violence.'

Both Mr Smith and Mr Edgington conceded the consumption of alcohol in remote areas remains a big issue.

A street sign north of Tennant Point, where the horrific rape of a two-year-old girl last February generated unwanted global attention

Newly released figures have revealed a child is abused almost every 20 minutes in a series of Northern Territory towns (stock image)

Indigenous communities across Australia are also in the midst of a devastating youth suicide crisis.

Experts predict that the last year could be the worst on record for indigenous suicide rates between the ages of 10 and 13.

Many had been sexually abused and almost all had been exposed to alcohol abuse and some form of domestic violence.

According to The Guardian, on a national scale indigenous people die from suicide at twice the rate of non-Indigenous people.
An endangered bird could derail Adani's controversial new coal mine in Queensland after a review found its management plan for the species wasn't good enough.

The Indian miner has reacted with anger after a draft copy of the review - ordered by the state government - was published by The Australian on Friday.

Adani claims the review is biased, 'reads like an anti-coal, anti-mining, anti-Adani lobbying brochure' and 'even references the work of anti-Adani campaigners'.

The conglomerate says the government cannot accept any of its recommendations and has questioned if they are deliberately trying to obstruct the project.

The draft review reportedly said the proposed $2billion mine should not proceed until Adani revises its plan to manage the endangered black-throated finch (pictured)

Adani claims the review is biased, 'reads like an anti-coal, anti-mining, anti-Adani lobbying brochure' and 'even references the work of anti-Adani campaigners'. Pictured: The mine site in Queensland

The draft review was written by Brendan Wintle, an ecologist at the University of Melbourne.

In November, Professor Wintle tweeted a photo of two young children holding a placard reading 'I'll stop farting if you stop burning coal' at a School Strike for Climate Action demonstration at the Victorian Parliament.

'On our way to Climate Strike! Fun! Climate action is fun!' Professor Wintle tweeted.

'Big crowd at Climate Strike! Kid power!'

The draft review reportedly said the proposed $2billion mine should not proceed until Adani revises its plan to manage the endangered black-throated finch, which lives on its Carmichael mine site.

It also recommends a trigger that would stop mining at the site unless Adani can prove finch numbers haven't dropped in the first five years of operation.

Earlier this week Adani launched an advertising blitz, accusing the state government of constantly shifting the goal posts for its mine.

The miner said it wanted 'a fair go' and accused the government of ordering the review at the last minute, after 18 months of work, consultations with the environment department, and seven sets of revisions.

In November, Professor Wintle tweeted a photo of two young children holding a placard reading 'I'll stop farting if you stop burning coal'

'If the Queensland government accepts any part of this report, it means their own Department of Environment's work over the past 18 months is at best incompetent, and at worst using purposeful delay tactics to slow down the delivery of the Carmichael project and the thousands of jobs it will provide,' an Adani spokeswoman said.

The government says Adani's project has been vetted free of political interference.

On Tuesday, Adani Mining chief executive Lucas Dow would not say if he believed Annastacia Palaszczuk's government was trying to white-ant the mine.

'On our way to Climate Strike! Fun! Climate action is fun!' Professor Wintle tweeted

'What the government's intentions are are really questions for the premier and the deputy premier,' Mr Dow said.

He said it was 'concerning' that the premier hadn't bothered to respond to his letter sent before Christmas, seeking clarity about how much longer it would take to obtain final approvals.

He said letters sent on February 4 to Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, and six other cabinet ministers had also gone unanswered.
Two American women who were detained by border patrol agents simply because they were overheard speaking Spanish are suing the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency for illegally holding them without reason.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit for Ana Suda and Martha 'Mimi' Hernandez, both of Montana, against Border Control on Thursday.

The two nursing assistants were speaking Spanish as they were waiting in line to buy milk and eggs at a convenience store in Havre when an CBP agent detained them in May 2018.

The two were held in the shop's parking lot for 40 minutes without reasonable suspicion or probable cause, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Great Falls.

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Montana women Martha Hernandez (left) and Ana Suda (right) are suing Border Control in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on Thursday. The women pictured above posing in front of the Havre, Montana, convenience store on January 23, 2019 where they were detained by a U.S. Border Patrol agent for speaking Spanish last year

Ana Suda (left) and Martha 'Mimi' Hernandez (right) say they were 'shunned and harassed by other town residents' following the May 2018 incident

The two women had lived in Montana for years. Suda says that following the incident her daughter (above) is now fearful to speak Spanish

Suda said she was chatting with Hernandez in line at the store when CBP Agent Paul O'Neill approached and asked where they were born.

She looked at him and asked 'Are you serious?' to which he replied 'I'm very serious', according to NBC.

He then asked the women for their IDs, and the three went outside the store into the parking lot.

Suda filmed her encounter in the parking lot with Agent O'Neill where she asks why he wanted their identifications.

'Ma'am, the reason I asked you for your ID is because I came in here and I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish, which is very unheard of up here,' O'Neill said in the video.

They're suing for an unspecified amount of money and a judge's order barring border officials from detaining anyone based on race, accent or language

When she asked if they were being racially profiled he said 'it has nothing to do with that' and insisted it was because they were speaking Spanish.

He later returned their IDs after around 40 minutes and let them go.

It's unconstitutional to detain people just because of their language, accent, or color of their skin," said Cody Wofsy, staff attorney with the Immigrants' Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, said to Fox.

The women's ACLU lawyers say O'Neill should have let them go as soon as they identified themselves as U.S. citizens, but he instead detained them in violation of the Fifth Amendment barring unreasonable searches and seizures.

The lawsuit says the O'Neill 'singled out, detained, and interrogated' the women 'because he heard them speaking Spanish.'

He 'offered no other justification for their detention, and there was no reason to believe that either Ms. Suda or Ms. Hernandez had violated any law,' the suit says.

It claims he targeted them based on their race.

O'Neill and later his supervisor made it clear through their words and actions that the women weren't free to leave the parking lot, ACLU attorney Alex Rate wrote in the lawsuit.

When they were detained a parking lot Suda brought out her phone to record CBP Agent Paul O'Neill who said: 'I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish, which is very unheard of up here'

'Speaking Spanish does not establish reasonable suspicion justifying a stop and detention, much less probable cause for an arrest,' Rate wrote.

CBP spokesman Jason Givens said Thursday the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation.

The women said that the incident was traumatizing and humiliating for them.

They had lived in Montana for years and after they were detained they've been 'shunned and harassed by other town residents'.

'This changed our lives, I believe, forever,' Suda said, according to the statement. She said the incident was so terrifying that even her young daughter is now afraid to speak Spanish.

Suda and Hernandez are asking for an unspecified amount of money in compensation, punitive damages and a judge's order barring border officials from stopping or detaining anyone based on race, accent or language.

Suda was born in Texas and moved to Montana with her husband in 2014. Hernandez was born in California and has been living in Montana since 2010. Both are certified nursing assistants who work at an assisted-living center.

Havre is a city of nearly 10,000 people about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the U.S.-Canada border and near two Native American reservations.

The city's population is mostly white and about four percent Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census.

In 2017, border patrol agents in the Havre sector made 39 arrests. Eleven of the people arrested were Mexican.
The search for Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's lost Endurance ship has been called off, after extreme weather trapped an underwater vehicle in a sheet of ice.

Severe weather closed in and the sea ice conditions in the Antarctic led to the loss of the AUV7, a specialist submersible autonomous underwater vehicle, which was deployed to locate the wreck using HD still colour cameras.

The Weddell Sea Expedition team was on the final leg of the mission when the vehicle entered underneath a vast sheet of floating ice to take images of the legendary ship but contact was lost with the Expedition research vessel, the S.A. Agulhas II.

The search for Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's lost Endurance ship (pictured) has been called off, after extreme weather trapped an underwater vehicle in a sheet of ice

The Weddell Sea Expedition team was on the final leg of the mission when the vehicle entered underneath a vast sheet of floating ice to take images of the legendary ship but contact was lost with the Expedition research vessel, the S.A. Agulhas II (pictured)

The Larsen C Ice shelf is the fourth largest in the Antarctic and only a handful of ships have navigated the area and where 'The Endurance' was abandoned deep in the ice

Despite efforts to recover the AUV7, the team decided to abandon the mission due to risks of becoming themselves trapped in the ice.

Any captured footage that may have been of Endurance on the seabed was lost.

The AUV7 had conducted what is believed to be the longest and deepest dedicated under ice survey ever, lasting over 30 hours.

Dr John Shears, polar geographer and expedition leader, said: 'The Weddell Sea Expedition team are truly disappointed that after such a huge effort, and overcoming several major setbacks, we have not been able to find Endurance.

Sir Ernest Shackleton pictured in 1922, seven years after he lost 'The Endurance'

'We are, however, very proud of our other achievements over the past weeks in Antarctica.

'We have greatly surpassed our primary Expedition objective of undertaking pioneering scientific research at the Larsen C Ice Shelf.

'We have also conducted an unprecedented educational outreach programme, allowing children from around the world to engage in real time with the expedition and our adventures from the outset.

'We will shortly begin our return leg to Cape Town, after an expedition which has been my great privilege and honour to lead.

'The Expedition team, and the officers and crew of the S.A. Agulhas II, have been simply outstanding.

'I would also like to thank The Flotilla Foundation, and all of our partners who have all played a key role in supporting this incredible expedition.'

Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, Endurance, was crushed by ice and sank in 1915.

The search for Endurance was part of a ground-breaking scientific research programme in the waters around the Larsen C Ice Shelf and the A-68 Iceberg in Antarctica.

The international team of glaciologists, marine biologists and oceanographers involved in the Expedition have surveyed the seafloor and the rich and little-studied biological systems that lie beneath the ice infested sea.

The conditions we are facing are challenging. There is an ice floe moving in from the West and air temperatures have dropped to below -14 degree centigrade. It gives us a sense of the harsh, unforgiving time that Shackleton and his men endured out here.  Weddell Sea Expedition 2019 (@WeddellSeaExped) February 13, 2019

The explorers hoped to find the wreck of the Endurance (pictured) before their submersible vehicle was lost

SA Aguilas II features a helipad on the rear of the hull and a large crane at the front which can be used to weaken the ice ahead

The ice-ridden Weddell Sea surrounds the Larsen C Ice Shelf where 'The Endurance' became trapped for months in 1915

Mensun Bound, director of exploration on the expedition, said: 'As a team we are clearly disappointed not to have been successful in our mission to find Endurance.

'Like Shackleton before us, who described the graveyard of Endurance as 'the worst portion of the worst sea in the world', our well laid plans were overcome by the rapidly moving ice, and what Shackleton called 'the evil conditions of The Weddell Sea'.

'We are pleased to have brought the story of Shackleton and Endurance to new audiences, and to the next generation, who will be entrusted with the essential safeguarding of our polar regions, and our planet more broadly.

'We hope our adventure will have engaged young people about the pioneering spirit, courage and fortitude of those who sailed with Endurance to Antarctica.

'We pay tribute to the navigational skills of Frank Worsley, the captain of the Endurance, whose detailed records were invaluable in our reaching the area where she was lost.'

Shackleton's attempt to cross Antarctica began in 1914.

After the vessel became trapped in ice for 10 months and then sank, the explorer and his crew survived for six months before reaching uninhabited Elephant Island.

Shackleton and five other men then set off to seek help at a whaling station on the island of South Georgia.

After three unsuccessful attempts, Shackleton finally rescued his men in August 1916.

The Weddell Sea Expedition team says it may attempt the mission again.
Three hundred babies a day are killed before their first birthday as a result of conflict, a charity believes.

Research by Save the Children found that more than half a million infants have died because of war and unrest in the last five years.

Some 420million children - almost one in five around the world - are living in areas affected by conflict, the highest level since 1990.

The grim death toll does not show children directly killed in fighting but looks at knock-on effects including starvation, disease and damage to hospitals.

Cost of conflict: Three children walk home from school in Mosul's Old City in northern Iraq where much of the housing has been reduced to rubble

It also does not account for the many more children who are horrifically and permanently wounded by war.

Yemeni boy Saleh, 12, suffered dreadful burns when a mortar bomb hit his house in the city of Taiz.

Describing his injuries after a year-and-a-half in hospital, he said: 'I got buried and screamed, and tried to get the fire off me.

'I was asleep and woke up burned. My mother started screaming and came to me while I was on fire.'

His mother Kalima said: 'Every now and then he had to have another operation.

'I had jewellery, I had gold. I had two sets of earnings, five bracelets, two long chains and a small necklace set. I sold them for my son.

Young victim: Saleh, 12, was badly burned after he was hit by a mortar bomb in his home in Yemen. He has been in hospital for a year and a half since the attack

Family torn apart: Khalida, 42, sits with her sons Hassouni, nine, and Sameer, seven, in their home in Mosul. The mother of seven lost two children, during the operation to re-take Mosul from ISIS in 2016

Place to play: Children play near their homes in Mosul's Old City in Iraq which has been severely damaged during the battle with ISIS

'He used to have more pain before the operations. He couldn't lie down or rest. He used to get up and sit like this and cry. And I would sit and cry with him.'

In Iraq, nine-year-old Hassouni was left with a paralysed hand and shrapnel in his skull after falling into a coma in Iraq.

He stopped going to school after it was badly damaged by an airstrike and his family were then hit by a car bomb, which killed his two brothers.

'When the bomb went off, everyone died. I got hit in the head, arm and back. When I try to play or write my arm hurts me,' he said.

His mother Khalida said: 'My children died in vain, hungry and thirsty, they never harmed anyone.

'Every day my grief is renewed. Every day I say I will forget, God willing, but the longer the years pass, I remember them more.

'My children died deprived. We were under siege here. They hadn't seen anything. If they wanted to eat something, they couldn't eat anything.

'If they wanted to get dressed, we couldn't clothe them. We barely had the means to sustain our livelihood.'

Suffering: Saleh, 12, with his mother Karima, younger brother and sister. His parents took him to a hospital in Taiz governorate where he stayed for three weeks, then transferred him to Sanaa governorate where he stayed for a year and a half.

Desperate: A child working in collecting scrap metal from ruined buildings in West Mosul, Iraq, carries some scavenged items

Children play near their homes in Mosul's Old City. Families are returning but much of the basic infrastructure is still lacking

The charity's research found that at least 550,000 deaths of children under the age of one could be attributed to the effects of conflict between 2013 and 2017.

Youngsters in Afghanistan, Yemen, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Iraq, Mali, Nigeria and Somalia were the hardest hit.

Child deaths rose to 870,000 when all children under the age of five were included.

By comparison, the charity estimates that almost 175,000 fighters or soldiers were killed in the conflicts over the same five-year period.

Kevin Watkins, CEO of Save the Children, said: 'The UK should be using its global influence to protect children living in war zones.

'From Yemen to Syria and South Sudan, children are bearing the horror of armed conflict.

'Some are treated as collateral damage in urban bombing. Others are deliberately targeted for killing, abduction and recruitment by armed groups.

'Millions go hungry because humanitarian aid is obstructed.

'Britain should send a clear message to the world: the war on children must end, and those who commit crimes against children will be held to account.'
UBS executive Shele Danishefsky (pictured) was in the midst of divorcing her much younger husband Rod Covlin when she was killed on New Year's Eve in 2009

The crime scene detective investigating what he called the 'suspicious' death of New York financier Shele Danishefsky didn't dust for fingerprints or swab for DNA on the day she died because he intended to come back to the apartment after her autopsy, which was initially waived, the detective testified Thursday.

During a contentious cross examination, Detective William Brown told the jury in the murder trial of Shele's husband, unemployed backgammon pro Rod Covlin, that he never recovered any physical evidence recovered from the apartment where Shele died on Dec. 31, 2009.

Despite his plan, Shele's Orthodox Jewish family waived the autopsy and Shele was buried and the case was closed. When the family eventually consented to a post mortem examination, it was discovered that her hyoid bone had been fractured, a classic sign of strangulation.

NYPD Detective William Brown (far right) told the Manhattan Supreme Court jury at Roderick Covlin's murder trial on Thursday he never recovered any physical evidence from the apartment where Shele Danishesky died on Dec. 31, 2009

Accused murderer Rod Covlin, pictured on Thursday at Manhattan Supreme Court, is accused of murdering wife Shele to get hold of her $5.4 million fortune

While Brown insisted that he and other detectives considered the case suspicious although he wrote in his report on the case that it looked like Shele had fallen in the tub, which is what Covlin had initially told police what he believed had happened.

Defense Attorney Robert Gottlieb pressed Brown on the conclusion that Shele had grabbed on to a cabinet door as she was falling in the tub.

'That's how I described it in my crime scene report,' a defensive Brown said.

'It looks as if the victim fell while holding on to the door.' That's what you wrote?' Gottlieb asked.

'Yes,' Brown said.

Brown also cataloged the crime scene photos he took, which were more gruesome and graphic than had previously been displayed.

Earlier on Thursday an officer who responded to the scene said that Covlin hugged the female NYPD sergeant who responded to the Upper West Side apartment where his wife lay dead, telling the sergeant he couldn't believe what was happening.

Yadelin Sanchez, now a sergeant herself, told jurors in Manhattan Supreme Court that she drove her boss to the scene, where Covlin accompanied them down the hallway to the bathroom and, unbidden, related to them what he thought had happened to his estranged wife, UBS financier Shele Danishefsky.

NYPD Sgt. Yadelin Sanchez said Roderick Covlin was upset but 'no crying, no tears or anything' when he showed her where his wife had died in the bathtub

He told the officers that he got the lifeless Shele from the tub and performed CPR on her, Sanchez said.

She said Covlin appeared to be upset, but 'no crying, no tears or anything.'

On the way back to the living room, Covlin said, 'I can't believe this is happening' and then embraced her boss, the since retired Sgt. Mary O'Donnell, Sanchez said.

'He hugged my sergeant, he hugged Sgt. O'Donnell,' Sanchez said. 'She [O'Donnell] said, 'I'm so sorry for your loss.'

She said that Covlin's T-shirt was apparently dry because after the hug, 'there was no wet anywhere.'

Earlier Thursday morning, the first cop on the scene, now-Sgt. Sean Noce, said he remembered thinking it was unusual that Covlin's clothing appeared dry.

'I remember thinking someone else removed the body from the tub,' Noce testified. 'I've removed children from a tub and got saturated. When you remove an object from a tub, whether a child or a fully grown woman, you're bound to get wet.'

Covlin is accused of murdering Shele days after she spoke to a lawyer about cutting him out of her will.

Covlin faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
Oscar winner Jon Voight has come out fighting to defend his controversial pro-life film Roe v. Wade, a movie about the US abortion law, insisting critics 'know nothing.'

Conservative actor Voight asserted to DailyMailTV that his 'really good' new project will educate many on the subject, which has prompted decades of heated debates and outrage.

The movie, set for release next month, was shot in secret as filmmakers feared backlash from pro-choice activists and has prompted huge outrage on social media.

But Voight, 80, who plays Nixon-nominated US Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger in the film, and writer Nick Loeb have urged critics to stay quiet until they see the movie in theaters.

Jon Voight has come out fighting to defend his controversial pro-life film Roe v. Wade, in an exclusive interview with DailyMailTV, saying that his 'really good' new project will educate people on the subject, which has prompted decades of debates and outrage

Voight cited that 'people know nothing' about the real case, but will be schooled by the movie.

'There is so much stuff that has been said about Roe vs. Wade, this decision of the Supreme Court in the 70s,' he explained.

'Really people are talking about it and getting excited and upset but they know nothing about it.

'Thank God somebody said let's make a movie about it and show all the aspects.

'The script was loaded with information that I never heard before. It is going to be exciting for people to see.'

In 1973 the US Supreme Court ruled it was a constitutional right for women to have access to safe and legal abortion.

At the time, the decision was met with a great deal of controversy with some lawmakers calling the ruling 'judicial activism', rather than constitutionally ethical.

But today, a Planned Parenthood study found that 72 percent of Americans wholeheartedly agree with the legalization of abortion. However, fierce opposition still remains, particularly in southern states.

Voight added that he is not fazed by the 'furor' from civil rights groups, campaigners and religious sects, saying: 'This moment - it is the tenure of the times that there is a lot of emotion and not an awful lot of scholarship - looking into things and finding the truth.

'So the thing is to encourage everybody to look for the truth.

'This will help. And that is why I did it. I said this is going to help. We will all go to school a little bit. Hopefully it will be entertaining too. There are some very good actors in it.'

Voight, 80, who plays Nixon-nominated US Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger (right) in the film, urged critics to stay quiet until they see the movie

In 1973 the US Supreme Court ruled it was a constitutional right for women to have access to safe and legal abortion, which was met with lots of controversy. Pictured: An estimated 5,000 people marching around the Minnesota Capitol building protesting the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision

Voight's comments were bolstered by the film's writer and co-director Nick Loeb, who refuted claims that film is 'right wing propaganda.'

He vigorously defended his portrayal of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger as a 'racist'.

'Her first project was called the negro project - her concept to reduce the number of Afro Africans, she was eugenicist,' he said.

'She wrote about it in her autobiography about how she spoke at KKK rallies.'

He complained that 'over 150' mostly negative reviews have been penned about the movie, adding: 'A lot of people do not want to hear the truth, they do not want to know the real story, people are afraid of it and twisted.'

Loeb asserts that the film is neutral, adding: 'We as producers and directors did not take a position. We wrote the characters as they were in real life.'

'If people want to protest against the truth, they do what they want to do. Everything in the movie is 100 percent accurate.'

Voight's comments were bolstered by the film's writer and co-director Nick Loeb (pictured), who refuted claims that film is 'right wing propaganda'

Voight, the father of Angelina Jolie, insisted the film should be critiqued only after viewing it so that people have a balanced argument.

'People are expressing themselves to it without knowing what it is,' he said.

'It was the same thing with the court decision in the first place. They did not know what it meant...

'So everybody gets on the same page, and then we can start saying, ''here is what I feel, here is what you feel.'''

Voight, who won the Best Actor Oscar for Coming Home in 1978 and has been nominated for four more, added that he picks roles now only on subjects that have 'truth' and 'resonate' with him.

He said: 'I am looking for stories, and if I think there is some truth to something, a good story and a part for me, I will be tempted to go that way.

'That is what I base it on. I do not have any prejudgments. When I see the piece I know if it resonates with me.'

The film's trailer has provoked huge reactions since its release a month ago.

Facebook has reportedly refused to authorize ads promoting the movie because the social media network considers the film a political ad. The producers wanted to buy advertising on Facebook

But the firm said the ad did not align with its new 'issues of national importance' guidelines, according to Breitbart

Facebook has reportedly refused to authorize ads promoting the movie because the social media network considers the film a political ad.

The film's producers wanted to buy advertising on Facebook but the firm said the ad did not align with its new 'issues of national importance' guidelines, according to Breitbart.

Writer Loeb also has a role, as Dr Bernard Nathanson, who ran one of the largest abortion facilities in the world before becoming a pro-life activist and narrator of the controversial 1984 movie The Silent Scream.

Loeb is pro-life and is famously involved in a legal battle with ex-girlfriend Sofia Vergara, who stars as Gloria Pritchett in Modern Family, over frozen embryos the former couple produced.

The 27th annual Movieguide Awards, which honor movies and TV series that are 'both well-made and uplifting,' took place at the Universal Hilton in Los Angeles that will air on Hallmark Channel later in the month.
Dr Gyorgy Rakoczy, a Hungarian doctor working at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, has been ordered to pass the IELTS test

A Hungarian children's doctor who previously left a little boy in a serious condition following a bungled operation has now been ordered to improve his English by passing the International English Language Testing System test.

Dr Gyorgy Rakoczy, who worked at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, wrongly injected the four year old with a potentially lethal amount of Phenol in 2009, which was handed to him by a nurse who had never worked with the drug before.

The 64 year old was temporarily suspended over the error in 2012, but later failed English tests in listening, reading, writing and speaking.

He was brought before a Medical Practitioners Tribunal this week, which put him a 12 month suspension under the condition that he passed the IELTS test.

The tribunal panel heard Dr Rakoczy, who is originally from Budapest, has been working in the UK since 2005.

The paediatric and thoracic surgeon was originally disciplined after a botched when a nurse, who had never worked with the drug before, handed Dr Rakoczy a concentration of 80% Phenol to inject into the young boy.

At the time Rakoczy - who was said at the hearing this week to have a 'limited command' of the English language - was meant to use a five per cent concentration of the substance but mistakenly used 80% strength.

The boy, who had been admitted over a suspected rectal prolapse, ended up with 'catastrophic' internal injuries and was left needing a colostomy bag.

Dr Rakoczy was temporarily suspended from his work at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital (pictured) after his misread a medicine bottle, causing a young boy serious internal injuries

He required numerous corrective operations, including the removal of a section of bowel and his parents - both healthcare professionals - said he found it difficult going to the park and attending birthday parties.

Rakoczy was allowed to carry on working at the hospital following the operation but was suspended for three months in 2012 for serious misconduct after a General Medical Council investigation.

He said he had an 'exceptionally heavy workload', including a number of important research and teaching roles and said he had 'terrible nightmares and sleepless nights' since the bungled surgery.

He underwent an assessment of his performance in 2016 and the following year took a test under the International English Language Testing System but he only scored an overall mark of 6.0 when he required 7.5 to pass.

Dr Rakoczy believes the IELTS tests are not appropriate for those over the age of 60 years old.

The hearing was told a team of assessors said there were 'issues with his command of English' and 'had difficulties with the use of it' with one saying she 'struggled to understand Rakcozy at times.'

But hospital colleagues said, whilst the surgeon's English was 'not perfect', it had 'improved considerably' and he was able to discuss matters and participate in team meetings.

A patient also came forward when to say the doctor would 'go beyond the call of duty' and added that she would be happy for him to 'perform surgery on her child tomorrow.'

The doctor's case came before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (pictured)

Rakcozy's lawyer Andrew Hockton said Rakcozy, who is not currently working, posed no risk to patient safety. He added: 'His English language skills were not a barrier to communication.'

Ruling on the doctor's future, panel chairman David Urpeth said: 'The Tribunal recognises that Mr Rakoczy is a skilled and highly regarded doctor who has practised in the UK for many years.

'It also recognises that his colleagues raise no concern about his ability to communicate with colleagues and patients. However, the Tribunal simply cannot ignore the fact that Mr Rakoczy has failed to achieve the minimum level of pass mark in two IELTS tests.

'It concluded that, in light of Mr Rakoczy's failure to achieve the minimum level of pass mark or acceptable overall level of pass mark; despite his extensive time working as a consultant, and the evidence of his colleagues about his communication skills, these do not amount to exceptional circumstances.

'It was of the view that a lack of English language skills at the required standard could present a risk to patient safety. Further, the Tribunal considered that an ordinary and well informed member of the public would be surprised to learn that a doctor who had failed the English language tests had not been found to be impaired.'

Under the terms of his conditions, Rakoczy must notify the General Medical Council of any medical jobs he takes and show evidence he has passed an English language assessment. He was cleared of unrelated allegations of 'unacceptable professional performance.'
The European Union has launched a bid to save the Iran nuclear deal by blocking Donald Trump's sanctions on companies trading with Tehran.

The European Commission, the bloc's executive, said it had started the process of renewing a sanctions-blocking measure this morning.

It comes after the US President pulled out of the Iran nuclear accord and gave businesses around the world notice to end their dealings with Tehran.

The European Union has launched a bid to save the Iran nuclear deal by blocking Donald Trump's (pictured) sanctions on companies trading with Tehran

The Commission said in a statement it had 'launched the formal process to activate the Blocking Statute by updating the list of U.S. sanctions on Iran falling within its scope,' referring to an EU regulation from 1996.

EU officials say they are revamping the blocking statute to encompass U.S. President Donald Trump's May 8 decision to revive Iran-related sanctions, after the expiry of 90- and 180-day wind-down periods, including sanctions aimed at Iran's lifeblood oil sector and transactions with its central bank.

The Commission said the EU measure would come into force within two months, unless the European Parliament and EU governments formally rejected it, but that it could also be activated sooner if there was strong political support.

US President pulled out of the Iran nuclear accord and gave businesses around the world notice to end their dealings with Tehran. Pictured: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

The EU's blocking statute bans any EU company from complying with U.S. sanctions and does not recognise any court rulings that enforce American penalties.

It was developed when the United States tried to penalise foreign companies trading with Cuba in the 1990s, but has never been formally implemented.

Other measures proposed by the Commission, the EU executive, include urging EU governments to make transfers to Iran's central bank and to start the legal process of allowing the European Investment Bank to lend to EU projects in Iran.
Theresa has urged Donald Trump to consider the impact America's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal would have on British business.

In a phone call to the US president Mrs May reiterated her support for the nuclear deal after Mr Trump vowed powerful sanctions against the Islamic republic.

The 2015 agreement had allowed the lifting of sanctions against Iran, meaning British businesses were able to pour billions of pounds into the Islamic republic.

But President Trump said the deal was not tough enough on Iran and experts have told MailOnline UK businesses could be fined and forced to choose between working in Iran and the US.

The world leaders spoke over the phone and Mrs May, left, reiterated her support for the Iran nuclear deal and urged Mr Trump, right, to consider the impact America's withdrawal from the deal will have on British businesses with billions of pounds worth of interests in the Islamic republic

Among the British businesses with interests in Iran are Rolls-Royce, Vodafone and British Airways, which could be forced to pull out of Iran or scrap any lucrative deals with Tehran.

A spokesman for Mrs May said: 'The Prime Minister reiterated the Government's position on the Iran nuclear deal, noting that we and our European partners remain firmly committed to ensuring the deal is upheld, as the best way of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

'The Prime Minister raised the potential impact of US sanctions on those firms which are currently conducting business in Iran.'

UK companies have been fighting for 450billion of business in Iran (pictured) since crippling economic sanctions were lifted two years ago but many deals may now be in tatters

Donald Trump last night tore up the Iran nuclear deal, which could force Britain's biggest businesses out of the country

UK companies have been fighting for 450billion of business since crippling economic sanctions were lifted after the 2015 agreement between the Persian state and the US, UK, Russia,France, China, and Germany.

Since then Vodafone did a deal to improve broadband and mobile internet in Iran, Rolls-Royce agreed to produce jet engines for Iran Air and British Airways re-started its flights to Tehran.

BP has operated a joint gas field in the North Sea with Iran's state oil company since the 1970s, although it is set to sell its stake to British company Serica Energy for 300million later this year.

Other British businesses are building hospitals, roads and other infrastructure including the world's largest solar energy farm in the country.

Banks will also be asked not to accept any funds sent via Iran.

Today Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei said he doesn't 'trust the UK' and that Trump will die and his body 'will be food for worms but the Islamic Republic will continue to stand'.

Trump blasted the Iran deal as a 'horrible' agreement as he announced the reinstatement of sanctions

It is not clear yet how any British firms would be punished but in a clue about what is to come Richard Grenell, Trump's new ambassador in Berlin and a known ally of the President, said last night: 'German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately'.

Boris Johnson is fighting to save the nuclear deal but British business has poured money into Iran since sanctions were relaxed in 2015.

World's 'economic policeman' Donald Trump could force UK businesses to choose between Iran and US UK companies operating in Iran could be forced to choose between working in Tehran or the US, experts said today. Donald Trump will also have the power to levy huge fines and pressure banks not to accept cash out of Iran after bringing back sanctions. Details of how UK businesses will have to change will emerge in the coming days but Richard Grenell, Trump's new ambassador in Berlin said last night: 'German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately'. Alexandra Renison, Head of Europe and Trade Policy at Institute of Directors, told MailOnline businesses are right to be 'very worried' about the consequences. She said: 'The message sent by the new US ambassador to Germany is very worrying given that there were a number of companies already operating in Iran 'To issue an ultimatum that non-US companies should divest completely from the country sets a seriously concerning. No business wants to pull out of a multi-million pound investment altogether, but the US Government has a record of robust enforcement particularly with banks to date. 'Most of them have American branches and so are at risk of being forced to choose between offloading their operations in the US or Iran'. She added: 'It may be that discussions between Washington, Brussels and European capitals in the coming days provide further clarity about whether there will be any waivers or exemptions for individual firms'. Advertisement

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told French radio that Trump's decision on Iran was a mistake and that the United States should not consider itself as the world's 'economic policeman'.

Former WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell called Iran 'one of the last great untapped opportunities for global business'.

The Rhum North Sea gas field has been co-owned by BP and Iran's state oil company since the 1970s.

It started producing gas in 2005, but this was suspended in 2010 due to sanctions.

With the support of the UK government, an agreement was put in place that allowed production to resume in 2014 while still complying with sanctions.

In 2016 the US Treasury renewed the licence to keep operating their joint gas field in the North Sea, and this was again renewed last year.

BP was also reported to have bought crude from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

It is about to sell Rhum in a 300million deal with Serica Energy, who will also pay for two other gas fields.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018 and sent Serica's shares tumbling today.

A Serica spokesman said: 'The Company is evaluating the implications of these statements and how they relate to the Rhum field in which the Iranian Oil Company (UK) is a 50 per cent partner. We will update the market, as appropriate, in due course.'

In December 2016 Rolls-Royce welcomed a $19billion deal between Airbus and Iran Air for the supply of 100 aircraft, which they make the jet engines for, including 16 Airbus A350s.

Britain's Vodafone, the world's second-largest mobile phone company, did a deal with HiWEB in Iran to improve its broadband and mobile network infrastructure.

With a young population and high levels of mobile ownership, Iran is seen as an opportunity for telecoms companies seeking to expand into frontier markets.

A spokesman said today they are 'monitoring the situation'.

Two years ago British Airways relaunched direct flights to Iran following the lifting of sanctions.

The carrier operates six flights per week between London Heathrow and Tehran, which was suspended in October 2012.

A spokesman said today: 'We constantly review our network to ensure that our routes match our customers' needs and are commercially viable.  We are in regular contact with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.'

And a Rolls-Royce spokesman said: 'We are examining the announcement and its potential implications.

'We conduct business in all countries, including Iran, in accordance with all relevant UK, EU or other national sanctions and export control regulations.'

British businesses have also tapped into Iran's medical, energy and engineering sectors.

International Hospital Group (IHG), a leading international healthcare services company based in Britain, signed an agreement worth 1.8 billion ($2.1 billion) with Iran to finance the construction of a network of cancer centres in the country.

A London-based investment fund agreed a deal to build one of the world's largest solar power projects in Iran by 2020.

The deal between Quercus and Iran's Ministry of Energy is worth over 440million.

Rolls-Royce is helping to make engines for Iran Air for the supply of 100 Airbus aircraft

BP has operated the joint Ruhm gas field in the North Sea (pictured is the neighbouring Bruce field ) with Iran's state oil company since the 1970s, although it is set to sell its stake to British company Serica Energy for 300million later this year

Britain's Vodafone, the world's second-largest mobile phone company, did a deal with HiWEB in Iran to improve its broadband and mobile network infrastructure (a HiWeb advert in Tehran)

The deal between Quercus and Iran's Ministry of Energy is worth over 440million and will see Iran's sunny climate (pictured)

Businesses around the world face crisis over Iran sanctions AVIATION - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Airbus and Boeing Co will lose licences to sell passenger jets to Iran. - IranAir had ordered 200 passenger aircraft - 100 from Airbus, 80 from Boeing and 20 from Franco-Italian turboprop maker ATR. All the deals are dependent on U.S. licences because of the heavy use of American parts in commercial planes. - Boeing said on Tuesday it will consult with the U.S. government on the 'next steps,' adding Boeing's 777 production plan 'is not dependent on the Iranian orders.' - Airbus said it needed time to study the impact of Trump's decision on Iran and will be evaluating next steps consistent with internal policies and in full compliance with sanctions and export control regulations. - Airbus shares fell 1 percent on Wednesday in response. CARMAKERS - France's PSA said it hoped the European Union would adopt a common position on Iran. - French automakers PSA and Renault have pushed hard into Iran after sanctions were lifted following the 2015 international nuclear pact. - PSA has signed production deals worth 700 million euros ($830 million) to reclaim the leading position it once enjoyed in the market, while Renault invested to increase its production capacity to 350,000 vehicles a year. - Germany's Daimler said it was closely monitoring any further developments and will then evaluate the potential impact on its business. - Shares of PSA and Renault were down more than 1 percent. MANUFACTURERS - German engineering group Siemens said it would closely monitor the situation in Iran and comply with all export controls that arise. - Siemens signed a contract in October 2016 to upgrade Iran's railway network and also to supply components for 50 diesel-electric locomotives to Iran. Shares were up about 5 percent on a bullish results forecast on Wednesday. OIL AND GAS - Britain's Serica Energy said it is looking into how renewed sanctions on Iran would affect a British gas field which it operates in partnership with the Iranian Oil Co (UK) Ltd. It is set to complete purchase of fields from BP in mid-2018. - Serica said it was evaluating the implications of Trump's statements on the Rhum field in Britain's North Sea, in which the Iranian Oil Co (UK) has a 50 percent share. - Shares of Serica Energy fell more than 7 percent in response. - Trump's decision could scupper French oil major Total's multibillion-dollar gas project in Iran unless it can secure a waiver. Total signed a deal with Tehran in July 2017 to develop phase 11 of Iran's South Pars field with an initial investment of $1 billion. TELCOS - Vodafone had deal with HiWeb, an internet and phone company and subsidiary of Iran's Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade in 2003 - South Africa's MTN Group said the U.S. decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran may limit the South African telecoms firm's ability to repatriate cash from MTN Irancell. - In 2018, MTN had repatriated about 88 million euros ($104.26 million) from MTN Irancell, with another 200 million euros due. - MTN shares fell more than 3 percent on Wednesday. Advertisement

Donald Trump faced worldwide condemnation last night after he pulled the US out of the nuclear Iran deal in a move that inflamed tensions in an already volatile region.

Theresa May, French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Angela Merkel said his decision had been met with 'regret and concern'.

In a joint statement they said 'the world was a safer place' because of the deal and pledged to remain committed to it.

Today Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei said todat he doesn't 'trust the UK' and that Trump will die and his body 'will be food for worms but the Islamic Republic will continue to stand'

The US President said he was walking away from the 2015 pact in order to stop a 'nuclear bomb' being acquired by the 'world's leading state sponsor of terror'.

Announcing 'powerful' sanctions, he warned that if he did not pull out from the deal which is 'defective at its core' then there would soon be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

And, in a fresh warning to Iran he said if the country developed nuclear weapons it would have 'bigger problems then it has ever had before'.

Iran's president responded by saying that if negotiations fail over the nuclear deal, the Islamic Republic will enrich uranium 'more than before in the next weeks'.

The announcement came despite desperate lobbying from a string of European leaders, including Prime Minister Mrs May, Mr Macron and Mrs Merkel.

After a joint phone call, the leaders said the agreement which they remained committed to was 'important for our shared security'.

'The world is a safer place as a result', they said. The leaders also urged Iran 'to show restraint in response to the decision by the US'.

They said: 'It is with regret and concern that we, the Leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom take note of President Trump's decision to withdraw the United States of America from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.'

In a much anticipated statement from the White House, Mr Trump said: 'If I allowed this deal to stand there would soon be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

'Everyone would want their weapons ready by the time Iran had theirs.

'We cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotting structure of the current agreement. The Iran deal is defective at its core.'

He went on: 'If we do nothing we know exactly what will happen.

'In just a short period of time the world's leading state sponsor of terror would be on the cusp of acquiring the world's most dangerous weapons.'

The deal was signed by world powers in 2015. Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities in return for eased economic sanctions.

Tehran claimed at the time it had been pursuing only nuclear energy rather than weapons.

President Trump said that since the agreement 'Iran's bloody ambitions have grown only more brazen'. He said that the deal 'didn't bring calm, it didn't bring peace, and it never will'.

At PMQs today, Theresa May said she had made her position 'clear' to Donald Trump before he announced his decision - and pledged to keep trying to win him over to the merits of a pact

Mrs May joined French president Emmanuel Macron (left) and Angela Merkel of Germany (right) last night in voicing regret over Mr Trump's decision on the Iran nuclear deal

The President pointed out that Iran  a regime of 'great terror' had boosted its military spend, supported terrorism and 'caused havoc' throughout the Middle East and beyond.

Controversial Iran deal that Trump tears up after calling it 'horrible' The 2015 nuclear deal was an agreement signed between Iran, the US, UK, Russia, France, China, and Germany. The deal lifted crippling economic sanctions on Iran in return for limitations to the country's nuclear energy programme, which many feared would be used to create a nuclear weapon. Under the deal, Iran agreed to keep its uranium enrichment levels at no more than 3.67 per cent, down from almost 20 per cent. The country's uranium stockpile was also to be kept at under 300 kilograms, which Mr Obama said would see a reduction of 98 per cent. Tehran also agreed to redesign a heavy-water nuclear facility it had been building that was capable of producing plutonium suitable for a nuclear bomb. The reactor would no longer produce any weapons-grade plutonium and no additional heavy-water reactors were to be built for 15 years. In order to ensure Iran stuck to the deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency was granted greater access and information regarding the country's nuclear programme. The agency was also given powers to investigate suspicious sites or allegations of covert facilities as well as having access to the supply chain that supports Iran's nuclear programme. Measures were put in place to ensure the 'break-out time' - the amount of time it would take Iran to create a nuclear bomb - was slowed dramatically, while its government agreed not to engage in activities, including research and development, that it would need to make one. In return, the lifting of sanctions meant Iran stood to gain access to more than $100bn in assets frozen overseas. It was also able to resume selling oil on international markets and use the global financial system for trade. But if the country was to violate any part of the deal, it was agreed that UN sanctions would 'snap back' into place for 10 years, with the possibility of a five-year extension. Advertisement

He said he had talked to France, Germany, the UK and friends across the Middle East and said they were 'unified' in their conviction Iran must never deliver nuclear weapons.

He went on: 'America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail.

'The US no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises I keep them.' He said he would be open to a new deal in the future.

In a statement immediately afterwards, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said there was a 'short time' to negotiate with the countries remaining in the nuclear deal.

He warned his country could start enriching uranium more than ever in the coming weeks.

Mr Rouhani spoke live on Iranian state television. He said he would send Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to countries remaining in the accord.

He said: 'I have ordered Iran's atomic organisation that whenever it is needed, we will start enriching uranium more than before.'

He said Iran would start this 'in the next weeks'.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was deeply concerned by the US decision to withdraw from the deal.

The EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said the EU wanted to preserve the deal.

She said: 'The European Union is determined to preserve it [the deal].

'Together with the rest of the international community, we will preserve this nuclear deal.'

'The nuclear deal with Iran is crucial for the security of the region, of Europe and of the entire world.'

Mr Macron tweeted: 'The nuclear non-proliferation regime is at stake.'

Tensions were already heightened in the region after Mr Netanyahu announced that Israeli spies had stolen thousands of files on Iran's nuclear programme.

Israel has also struck Iranian forces in Syria several times in recent weeks.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had travelled to Washington on Saturday where he made a last-ditch bid to prevent the US pullout.

Mr Johnson said Mr Trump would be in line for the Nobel Peace Prize if he can sort out the Iran nuclear deal.

Earlier in the day the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said Iran would not be 'passive' if President Trump left the nuclear deal.

He said: 'It will not be in the American's interests if the JCPOA (Iran's nuclear deal) collapses by their offensive...

'We will not be passive if the United States starts confrontation with Iran.'

Mr Trump has previously condemned the Iran accord signed by his predecessor Mr Obama as 'insane' and the 'worst deal ever'.

Scrapping it was a commitment he made during his election campaign.

Mrs May spoke to Mr Trump on the phone last weekend. Then Mr Johnson urged the President not to 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' by walking away.

He accepted the agreement was not perfect but warned that there was not a better alternative.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would rather face a military confrontation with Iran 'now than later'.

He said his country was prepared for a war to stop Iranian forces embedding in neighbouring Syria.

Mr Netanyahu said: 'We are determined to block Iran's aggression against us even if this means a struggle. Better now than later.'
Iran has condemned Israels attacks on its forces inside Syria as the crisis in the Middle East worsens following US President Donald Trumps decision to pull out of a nuclear accord with Tehran.

Israel attacked dozens of Iranian targets in Syria just two days after Trump announced his plan to withdraw from the 2015 agreement

Trump, who is preparing for a summit with North Koreas Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June to discuss the de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, has angered his international partners over his unilateral decision.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been in contact with Irans president Hassan Rouhani that she was still supporting the 2015 deal  as long as Tehran upheld its obligations. President Emmanuel Macron of France also gave Rouhani the same assurances.

MailOnline brings you the latest updates:

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Israel's UN ambassador is calling on the UN Security Council and the secretary-general to immediately condemn Iran's missile attack and demand that Tehran remove its military presence from Syria.

Danny Danon said in letters to the council and UN chief Antonio Guterres that 'the international community must not stand idly by while a tyrannical regime attacks a sovereign nation and continues to threaten the very existence of a member-state of the United Nations'.

'Israel is not interested in escalation, but under no circumstances will we allow Iran to establish a military presence in Syria whose purpose is to attack Israel and to deteriorate an already fragile situation in the region,' Dannon added.

The Security Council, which is deeply divided over Syria, is highly unlikely to issue a statement and no council member has asked for a meeting on the missile attacks against Israel and Syria.

But Secretary-General Guterres urged 'an immediate halt to all hostile acts' to avoid 'a new conflagration' in the Middle East, a UN spokesman revealed.

The UN peacekeeping force on the Golan Heights has maintained contact with the Syrian and Israeli military, 'urging both parties to exercise maximum restraint' and abide by the 1974 cease-fire agreement.

Israel's UN ambassador is calling on the UN Security Council ato immediately condemn Iran's missile attack and demand that Tehran remove its military presence from Syria. Pictured is an Israeli soldier on a multiple rocket launcher vehicle near the Syrian border in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on Thursday

The Security Council, which is deeply divided over Syria, is highly unlikely to issue a statement and no council member has asked for a meeting on the missile attacks against Israel and Syria. Pictured is an Israeli soldier directing a M113 armored personal vehicle in Golan Heights

Secretary-General Guterres has followed overnight reports of missile launches from Syria targeting Israeli positions and retaliatory strikes by Israel 'with utmost concern', spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

Dujarric said Guterres was relieved that 'partial normalization of the situation' had returned on Thursday and that he is 'very engaged' and has been in contact 'with various people at various levels' about the attacks.

The remarks come after Israel revealed it had attacked nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria, destroying dozens of sites - in an operation dubbed 'House of Cards' - after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time.

Israel released footage of the moment one of its missiles destroyed an Iranian rocker launcher in Syria as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran had 'crossed a red line' by firing 20 rockets across the border early on Thursday.

The 20-second clip shows a missile mounted with a camera hurtling towards the SA22 aerial interception system as soldiers stood just yards away - unaware of the impending impact.

Secretary-General Guterres has followed overnight reports of missile launches from Syria targeting Israeli positions and retaliatory strikes by Israel 'with utmost concern', spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday

The remarks come after Israel revealed it had attacked nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria, destroying dozens of sites in an operation dubbed 'House of Cards'

A SA22 aerial interception system, also known as Pantsir-S1, is a Russian-made truck-mounted short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapons system.

The targets of the strikes, Israel's largest in Syria since the 1973 war, included weapons storage, logistics sites and intelligence centers used by elite Iranian forces in the country.

Netanyahu said his country's strikes on Iranian targets in war-torn Syria were an 'appropriate' response after the Islamic Republic 'crossed a red line' by striking military positions.

'We are in the midst of a protracted battle and our policy is clear: We will not allow Iran to entrench itself militarily in Syria,' Netanyahu said.

Later, in a statement issued as Israel's security cabinet was meeting, Netanyahu said the strike on Iran's military installations inside Syria sent a 'clear message' to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not to attack Israel.

Netanyahu warned 'whoever attacks us - we will attack them sevenfold and whoever prepares to attack us - we will act against them first.'

A video shows Israeli missiles destroying Iranian military targets in Syria after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran that they'd 'crossed a red line' when they fired at the Golan Heights

He said that 'we are in a continuous campaign' and that 'Israel's military had carried out very extensive strike against Iranian targets' in Syria. Netanyahu said Syrian batteries fired at Israeli forces 'and therefore we struck them.'

Alongside the video of the strike, the IDF wrote that they 'struck an SA22 aerial interception system as part of a wide-scale attack against Iranian military sites in Syria.'

It added: 'The IDF strikes were a response to the rockets that were launched by the Iranian Quds Forces against IDF positions on the Golan Heights & the Syrian aerial defense fire at IAF aircraft.'

The military said previously it targeted a number of Syrian air defense systems - the SA22 as well as SA5, SA2, SA17 batteries - which had fired at Israeli planes, according to the Times of Israel.

It comes after Iran and Israel traded blows on the Syrian border overnight, marking the first time Tehran has directly attacked Israel.

Iranian forces fired 20 rockets across the border at Israeli frontline military positions early on Thursday, the Israeli military said.

The Israeli military said its Iron Dome defence system intercepted some of the incoming projectiles, while others caused only minimal damage.

The 20-second clip shows a missile mounted with a camera hurtling towards the SA22 aerial interception system as soldiers (pictured top left) stood just yards away - unaware of the impending impact

A SA22 aerial interception system (pictured), also known as Pantsir-S1, is a Russian-made combined short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-artillery weapon system

Lebanese soldiers inspect the remains of a surface to air missile that landed in the southern Lebanese village of Hebarieh on Thursday

Cows are seen alongside Israeli Soldiers and Merkava tanks deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border on Thursday

Israeli soldiers were deployed near the Syrian border in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights as Israel carried out widespread raids against Iranian targets in Syria

Israel carried out the raids after it said around 20 rockets were fired from Syria at its forces in the occupied Golan Heights at around midnight. Pictured, cows graze near Merkava tanks in Golan Heights

An Israeli soldier stands next to signs pointing out distances to different cities, on Mount Bental, an observation post in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Thursday

Israeli Merkava tanks are deployed in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near the Israeli-Syrian border on Thursday

The attack was followed by retaliatory strikes by Israeli jets, which struck 'dozens' of Iranian military installations within Syria. They struck a radar station, air defence positions and an ammunition dump, Syrian state media said.

Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman said the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) had 'hit almost all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria'.

HOW SA-22 GREYHOUND ANTI-AIRCRAFT VEHICLE CAN DOWN 12 TARGETS EVERY MINUTE A Pantsir-S1 is a Russian-made anti-aircraft system that is also known by its NATO code name: SA-22 Greyhound. It's a truck-mounted short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapons system that has been in active service since 2003. The vehicles, which combine the use of both guns and missiles, are designed to shoot down aircraft, helicopters, precision munitions, cruise missiles and drones. The eight-wheel trucks carry 12 57E6 surface-to-air guided missiles and two automatic guns developed from the two-barreled 30mm GSh-30 gun. A Russian Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft defence system The Pantsir-S1 can fire at two targets at the same time and attack up to 12 targets within a minute. Its missiles have a maximum range of just over 11 miles. Russia has sold the systems to countries including Iran, Iraq and Jordan. Syria is known to have a mixture of Russian-made anti-aircraft systems, including the Pantsir S-1 and the Buk M2 surface-to-air missile system. The Pantsir-S1 has been fired in Syria a number of times to take out drones and missiles. The first known combat use of the Pantsir-S1 was by the Syrian Army when a system tracked and downed a Turkish aircraft in June 2012. Advertisement

But he insisted Israel had 'no interest in escalation' of the situation, adding: 'I hope that we have finished this chapter and that everyone got the message.'

Meanwhile, France and Germany on Thursday urged Israel and Iran to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation of hostilities in the Middle East after the heaviest military exchange ever between the two regional adversaries.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the Iranian rocket attacks and Israel's response in Aachen, western Germany, and called for prudence and de-escalation.

'The escalations of the past few hours show us that it is truly about war and peace. And I can only call on all sides to exercise restraint here,' Merkel said during a ceremony awarding Macron the Charlemagne Prize for strengthening EU integration.

Britain also condemned a rocket attack on the occupied Golan Heights by Iranian forces based in Syria, and said Israel has every right to defend itself.

Downing Street called for calm on both sides and urged Tehran to refrain from further assaults. Number 10 also urged Russia to use its influence in Syria to rein in Iranian aggression.

Prime Minister Theresa May's official spokesman said: 'We condemn Iran's attack on Israel. Israel has every right to defend itself.

'We call on Iran to refrain from any further attacks and for calm on all sides. We call on Russia to use its influence in Syria to prevent further Iranian attacks.'

The White House also condemned Iran's 'provocative rocket attacks from Syria against Israeli citizens' and expressed strong support for 'Israel's right to act in self-defense.'

'The Iranian regime's deployment into Syria of offensive rocket and missile systems aimed at Israel is an unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East,' Trump's press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.

Syrian air defense missiles are seen in the sky over Damascus, Syria. According to Syrian official media reports, the air defense was responding to a new wave of Israeli missile strikes

Israel said Iranian forces had fired 20 artillery rockets at their military bases in the disputed Golan Heights and that their Iron Dome defence system had intercepted a number of them

An image released by the government-affiliated 'Central War Media' in Syria purportedly shows Syrian air defence systems intercepting Israeli missiles over Damascus' airspace

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured in Moscow on Wednesday) said his country's strikes on Iranian targets in war-torn Syria were an 'appropriate' response after the Islamic Republic 'crossed a red line' by striking military positions

UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli strikes killed at least 23 military personnel, including Syrians and non-Syrians.

Israel said the Iranian rockets were either shot down by its Iron Dome air defence system or fell short of the Golan targets, claiming the Quds Force, an external arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, carried out the launch.

The exchange of fire came less than a day after US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which lifts sanctions on Tehran in exchange for a halt on its nuclear program.

Merkel has scrambled to try to preserve the nuclear accord with Iran following Trump's announcement that the United States would be withdrawing from the accord.

In a call with Hassan Rouhani, Merkel called for talks to be held in a broader format on Iran's ballistic missile programme and its regional activities - including in Syria and Yemen, her office said in a statement.

Israeli Merkava tanks are deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights today after some 20 rockets were fired at Israeli military bases by Iranian forces from southern Syria just after midnight

Firing back: This photo supplied by Syrian state media allegedly shows Israeli missiles hittin air defense position and other military bases, in Damascus, Syria

The Israeli Iron Dome defense system is seen above on the Golan Heights attempting to intercept suspected Iranian missiles being launched from Syria

The project was given a bigger boost when the Obama administration sought and received hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding

The latest strikes were the heaviest Israeli barrage in Syria since the start in 2011 of its civil war, in which Iranians, allied Shi'ite militias and Russian soldiers have deployed in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

'We hit nearly all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria,' Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman told a security conference on Thursday morning.

'They need to remember the saying that if it rains on us, it'll storm on them. I hope we've finished this episode and everyone understood.'

An IDF spokesperson said Iran's Quds force fired the rockets at several Israeli bases, though would reveal how Israel determined the Iranian involvement.

If Israeli claims are true, it would be the first time Iranian troops have directly attacked Israel rather than using proxies such as Islamist militant group Hezbollah.

Trading blows: Iranian forces reportedly fired 20 rockets on the Golan Heights, to which Israel responded with dozens of strikes on Iranian positions in Syria

This frame grab from video provided on Wednesday by Syria News shows people standing in front of flames rising after an attack on an area known to have numerous Syrian army military bases in Kisweh, south of Damascus

The incoming attack set off air raid sirens in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, which was captured from Syria in the 1967 war.

People in Metula, a town in northern Israel, were reportedly asked to enter 'secure areas' following an explosion in the area.

While the IDF blames Iran for firing the initial barrage of rockets into the Golan Heights, Syrian media claims Israel fired first.

US LEAVING IRAN DEAL COULD SEE SPIKE IN OIL PRICES The United States' immediate reinstating of sanctions on Iran, could lead to a global spike in the price of oil. Oil prices are already at their highest level since November 2014 and as Iran is the world's fifth biggest oil producer, any new sanctions is likely to affect the market. However, U.S.-ally Saudi Arabia has said to will help meet the oil demands if Trump's withdrawal from the Iran deal would create any shortfalls. Advertisement

Israel's response saw war planes targeting Iranian positions inside Syria, according to an IDF spokesman.

Targets included the Mezzeh airbase in Damascus, according to Israeli media. More than 30 Israeli missiles have reportedly struck targets near the city, with the Russian military claiming 70 were fired - and half of them downed.

Russia's defence ministry said: '28 Israeli F-15 and F-16 aircraft were used in the attack, which released around 60 air-to-ground missiles over various parts of Syria. Israel also fired more than 10 tactical ground-to-ground missiles.'

Russia said Syria's air defence systems shot down more than half of the missiles, while the extent of the damage was still being assessed.

'The locations of Iranian armed groups and also the positions of the Syrian army's air defences in the area around Damascus and in the south of Syria were attacked,' the ministry said.

Syria's state media said Syrian air defenses had intercepted 'hostile Israeli missiles' early Thursday that were fired over southwestern Damascus.

'Air defenses confronted tens of Israeli rockets and some of them reached their target and destroyed one of the radar sites,' Syrian state news agency SANA reported, citing a military source. Another rocket hit an ammunition warehouse, it said.

Syrian state television was broadcasting footage of its air defenses firing at incoming rockets, and playing patriotic songs.

Long-exposure photographs showed Israeli artillery launched to intercept projectiles fired from Syria early today

THE GOLAN HEIGHTS: SYRIAN TERRITORY ANNEXED BY ISRAEL The Golan Heights form a strategic plateau between Israel and Syria of about 460 square miles. Israel captured it in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. About 18,000 Israeli settlers have moved to the Golan, which also borders Jordan, since 1967. Some 20,000 Druze Muslims also live there. Israel gave the Druze the option of citizenship though most rejected it. Syria tried to regain the Golan Heights in the 1973 Middle East war, but the assault was thwarted. The two signed an armistice in 1974 and the Golan has been relatively quiet until recently. The Golan contains important water sources and has further strategic value because it overlooks northeastern Israel including the Sea of Galilee, a tourist attraction and Israel's biggest reservoir. In 2000, Israel and Syria held their highest-level talks over a possible return of the Golan and a peace agreement. But the negotiations collapsed. Source: Reuters Advertisement

It said Israeli warplanes were firing the rockets from outside Syria's borders and targeting Baath City in Quneitra province.

Earlier, Syrian media said the hostilities began with Israeli fire at Syrian positions in the country's south from across the border. Pro-Syrian media said Syrian missiles then fired at Israeli forces.

One TV station, Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen, said at least 50 missiles were fired from Syria at Israeli forces in the occupied Golan Heights.

It was the first time in years that Syrians had fired at Israeli forces in Golan, Syrian media reported.

The news that Israel and Iran had exchanged fire saw several world leaders call for de-escalation in the area, amid concern about growing military tensions between the two nations.

This morning, France's President Emmanuel Macron was first to call for de-escalation, and will be meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel later today to discuss the Middle East.

This was echoed by Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who said: 'This is all very alarming, it causes concern. There should be work to de-escalate the tensions,'

An air defense missile is seen over Daraa, Syria on Thursday. Daraa is very near the southwestern border with Jordan and not far from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights

Anti-aircraft missiles are seen from the Syrian capital of Damascus before dawn on Thursday

The above image shows more Syrian air defense missiles as seen in the sky over the capital Damascus on Thursday

Syria's state media said Syrian air defenses had intercepted 'hostile Israeli missiles' early Thursday that were fired over southwestern Damascus

Israel has been on heightened alert in recent days, anticipating an attack from Iran following the Iranian regime's vows to retaliate to what it says are recent Israeli strikes in Syria targeting Iranian outposts.

Late on Tuesday, Syrian state media said Israel struck a military outpost near the capital of Damascus.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the missiles targeted depots and rocket launchers that likely belonged to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard.

Last month, an attack on Syria's T4 air base in Homs province killed seven Iranian military personnel.

On April 30, Israel was said to have struck government outposts in northern Syria, killing more than a dozen pro-government fighters, many of them Iranians.

SOHR said the attacks killed 23 fighters, including five Syrian soldiers.

The head of the Observatory, Rami Abdurrahman, said five Syrian soldiers, including two officers, and 18 militia fighters were killed. Abdurrahman says it is not immediately clear if he believed Iranians were among those killed.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied most of the airstrikes.

But for months, it has repeatedly said it will not accept a permanent Iranian military presence in Syria.

Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov today called for 'restraint on all sides', adding that Moscow was 'concerned' at the development.

The strikes came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country has provided massive military and diplomatic backing to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's seven-year civil war.

At the meeting Putin also expressed 'deep concern' over Trump's decision to withdraw from a key 2015 Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday, a decision Netanyahu supported.

On Wednesday the Russian leader called the situation in the Middle East 'unfortunately very acute'.

Netanyahu had told Putin that 'it is the right of every state, certainly the right of Israel, to take the necessary steps in order to protect itself from (Iranian) aggression)', his office said in a statement Wednesday, referring to Iran's presence in Syria.

An Israeli Iron dome system is seen deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights

An Iron Dome anti-missile system can be seen near the Israeli side of the border with Syria in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Wednesday

An Israeli tank can be seen near the Israeli side of the border with Syria in Golan Heights

The Israeli-occupied section of the Golan Heights was placed on high alert due to 'irregular activity by Iranian forces' across the demarcation line in Syria

An Israeli artillery unit takes position near the Syrian border in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights

Israeli soldiers stand on top of their Merkava tanks deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights

Israel has long objected to an Iranian military presence near the Golan Heights frontier

In February, Israel shot down what it said was an armed Iranian drone that entered Israeli airspace.

Israel responded by attacking anti-aircraft positions in Syria, but an Israeli warplane was shot down during the battle.

Iranian forces moved into Syria after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011 to back the forces of President Bashar Assad.

As that war winds down, and Assad appears to be headed toward victory, Israel fears that Iran, along with tens of thousands of Iranian-backed Shiite militiamen, will carry out attacks against Israel.

Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, an annual security gathering north of Tel Aviv, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel would response fiercely to any further Iranian actions.

'We will not let Iran turn Syria into a forward base against Israel. This is the policy, a very, very clear policy, and we're acting according to this policy,' he said.

'We, of course, struck almost all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria, and they need to remember this arrogance of theirs. If we get rain, they'll get a flood. I hope that we ended this chapter and that everyone understood.'

Iranian protesters burn US flags during an anti-US gathering outside of the former American embassy in central Tehran

Iranians reacted angrily on Wednesday to President Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Protesters are seen above walking on the US flag in Tehran

Rules of the agreement: Behind the historic 2015 Iran nuclear deal

Trump withdraws from Iran deal President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the nuclear deal with Iran, abruptly restoring harsh sanctions in the most consequential foreign policy action of his presidency. He declared he was making the world safer, but he also deepened his isolation on the world stage and revived doubts about American credibility with a rationale that contradicted the analyses of U.S. and foreign intelligence sources. The 2015 agreement, which was negotiated by the Obama administration and included Germany, France and Britain, had lifted most U.S. and international economic sanctions against Iran. In exchange, Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program, making it impossible to produce a bomb and establishing rigorous inspections. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the nuclear deal with Iran But Trump, a severe critic of the deal dating back to his 2016 presidential campaign, said Tuesday in a televised address from the White House that it was 'defective at its core.' On Wednesday, he warned Iran against resuming its nuclear weapons program. 'I would advise Iran not to start their nuclear program,' Trump told reporters at the start of a Cabinet meeting when asked about the potential consequences. 'I would advise them very strongly. If they do there will be very severe consequence.' He claimed the deal 'was going to lead to nuclear proliferation all over the Middle East' and bragged the sanctions would be among the strongest 'that we've ever put on a country.' U.S. allies in Europe had tried to keep Trump in and lamented his move to abandon it. Iran's leader ominously warned his country might 'start enriching uranium more than before.' The sanctions seek to punish Iran for its nuclear program by limiting its ability to sell oil or do business overseas, affecting a wide range of Iranian economic sectors and individuals. Iran's government must now decide whether to follow the U.S. and withdraw or try to salvage what's left with the Europeans. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said he was sending his foreign minister to the remaining countries but warned there was only a short time to negotiate with them. Trump also left open the possibility of a new deal, and told reporters Wednesday: 'We'll make either a really good deal for the world or we're not going to make a deal at all. He predicted Iran would choose to negotiate eventually, or face consequences. The administration said it would re-impose sanctions on Iran immediately but allow grace periods for businesses to wind down activity. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Trump's announcement as a 'historic move.' Trump said Tuesday that documents recently released by Netanyahu showed Iran had attempted to develop a nuclear bomb in the previous decade, especially before 2003. Although Trump gave no explicit evidence that Iran violated the deal, he said Iran had clearly lied in the past and could not be trusted. Iran has denied ever pursuing nuclear arms. In Iran, many are deeply concerned about how Trump's decision could affect the already struggling economy. In Tehran, Rouhani sought to calm nerves, smiling as he appeared at a petroleum expo. He didn't name Trump directly, but emphasized that Iran continued to seek 'engagement with the world.' Advertisement

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) traveled to Moscow on Wednesday to meet with President Vladimir Putin (right) and discuss military coordination in Syria
Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer turned the First Lady's anti-social media bullying cmapaign against her husband Thursday in response to a derisive tweet from Donald Trump.

The Senate minority leader tweeted simply '#BeBest' Thursday after President Donald Trump raged against him on Twitter.

'BeBest' is the name of Melania Trump's public awareness campaign to help children. She's focusing on childhood well-being, social media use and opioid abuse. She warned that children can turn to bullying, addiction or suicide when she rolled out the plan this week.

The Senate Democratic responded with two words: 'Be Best!' The slam was a reference to Trump's wife's anti-cyber bullying campaign

President Trump made Sen. Chuck Schumer his poster child for Democratic hypocrisy on the Iran nuclear on Thursday, pointing out that the politician was against it when it was signed but now says he supports it

Trump hit the fellow New Yorker in a tweet that referred to him by the derogatory nickname 'Cryin' Chuck' (right) and compared him to fired FBI director James Comey

Anti-social media bullying campaign: Melania Trump launched her Be Best initiative this week, with her husband at her side. It took only three days for it to be turned against him

Trump had made Schumer his poster child for Democratic hypocrisy on the Iran nuclear earlier in the day, pointing out that the politician was against it when it was signed but now says he supports it.

Trump hit the fellow New Yorker in a tweet that referred to him by the derogatory nickname 'Cryin' Chuck' and compared him to fired FBI director James Comey.

'Schumer fought hard against the Bad Iran Deal, even going at it with President Obama, & then Voted AGAINST it!' Trump said. 'Now he says I should not have terminated the deal - but he doesn't really believe that! Same with Comey. Thought he was terrible until I fired him!'

The New York Democrat voted against the deal when it came before the U.S. Senate in 2015 in a move that pitted him against then-President Barack Obama.

The top-ranking Democrat has since said the accord needs time breathe to see if it can work. Schumer said this week the that the Republican president doesn't 'have a real plan' to replace it, in remarks that clearly irked Trump.

'This is a little like replace and repeal  they had these words, they used them in the campaign, and they don't have a real plan here,' Schumer said, according to the Associated Press.

Trump lashed out against Schumer by name in a Cabinet meeting Wednesday.

The president noted that three years ago, when Obama was at the helm of the government, Schumer, who's Jewish, opposed the accord that lifted stiff economic sanctions on Israel's sworn enemy.

'Some of the senators, I watch them now as they say, 'Oh, he shouldn't have done it.' But they don't say it  the Democratic senators  they don't say with their full throat; they don't say it with heart. Because they have one problem: They were totally against it.

'Like Chuck Schumer was totally against the deal. He voted against the deal. He was fighting with Obama. In fact, I remember reading at the time they ended up in a fight together over this deal because he wanted to protect Israel,' Trump said.

'And he knows this deal is very bad for Israel and very bad for the Middle East. But I know that they voted against it, and then you'll see Chuck Schumer say, 'Oh, he shouldn't have ended the deal.' It's like, oh  perhaps he changed his mind. But, by the way, the deal only got worse.'

After he smacked Schumer again on Thursday, this time by tweet, the senior senator from New York attempted to his the president where it would hurt.

He mocked him using the phrase 'Be Best' in an apparent reference to the platform Melania Trump rolled out Monday. She specifically took aim at cyberbullying in the initiative -- something her own husband has repeatedly been accused of.

Schumer, while against Trump's withdraw from the deal, was not among the loudest Democrats complaining about the anticipated announcement.

Former President Barack Obama and ex-Secretary of State John Kerry had led the charge. They were backed up in their criticisms by 2016 Democratic presidential nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The White House ripped the trio on Wednesday after they publicly derided Trump's decision to ditch the deal as a mistake.

'I think based on each of those individuals' lack of success in this entire process on foreign affairs, they would probably be the last three people that we would look to for advice and counsel, and whether or not we had made the right decisions,' spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Wednesday at her daily briefing.
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Israel has today released footage of the moment one of its missiles destroyed an Iranian rocket launcher in Syria in retaliation for Tehran forces shelling the Golan Heights hours earlier.

The video was revealed as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran had 'crossed a red line' by firing 20 rockets across the border early on Thursday.

The 20-second clip shows a missile mounted with a camera hurtling towards the SA22 aerial interception system as soldiers stood just yards away - unaware of the impending impact.

A SA22 aerial interception system, also known as Pantsir-S1, is a Russian-made truck-mounted short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapons system.

Israel said it had attacked nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria, destroying dozens of sites, in an operation dubbed 'House of Cards' after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time.

The targets of the strikes, Israel's largest in Syria since the 1973 war, included weapons storage, logistics sites and intelligence centers used by elite Iranian forces in Syria.

Netanyahu said his country's strikes on Iranian targets in war-torn Syria were an 'appropriate' response after the Islamic Republic 'crossed a red line' by striking military positions.

'We are in the midst of a protracted battle and our policy is clear: We will not allow Iran to entrench itself militarily in Syria,' Netanyahu said.

Later, in a statement issued as Israel's security cabinet was meeting, Netanyahu said the strike on Iran's military installations inside Syria sent a 'clear message' to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not to attack Israel.

Netanyahu warned 'whoever attacks us - we will attack them sevenfold and whoever prepares to attack us - we will act against them first.'

A video shows Israeli missiles destroying Iranian military targets in Syria after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran that they'd 'crossed a red line' when they fired at the Golan Heights

He said that 'we are in a continuous campaign' and that 'Israel's military had carried out very extensive strike against Iranian targets' in Syria. Netanyahu said Syrian batteries fired at Israeli forces 'and therefore we struck them.'

Alongside the video of the strike, the IDF wrote that they 'struck an SA22 aerial interception system as part of a wide-scale attack against Iranian military sites in Syria.'

It added: 'The IDF strikes were a response to the rockets that were launched by the Iranian Quds Forces against IDF positions on the Golan Heights & the Syrian aerial defense fire at IAF aircraft.'

The military said previously it targeted a number of Syrian air defense systems - the SA22 as well as SA5, SA2, SA17 batteries - which had fired at Israeli planes, according to the Times of Israel.

It comes after Iran and Israel traded blows on the Syrian border overnight, marking the first time Tehran has directly attacked Israel.

Iranian forces fired 20 rockets across the border at Israeli frontline military positions early on Thursday, the Israeli military said.

The Israeli military said its Iron Dome defence system intercepted some of the incoming projectiles, while others caused only minimal damage.

The 20-second clip shows a missile mounted with a camera hurtling towards the SA22 aerial interception system as soldiers (pictured top left) stood just yards away - unaware of the impending impact

A SA22 aerial interception system (pictured), also known as Pantsir-S1, is a Russian-made combined short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-artillery weapon system

Lebanese soldiers inspect the remains of a surface to air missile that landed in the southern Lebanese village of Hebarieh on Thursday

Cows are seen alongside Israeli Soldiers and Merkava tanks deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border on Thursday

Israeli soldiers were deployed near the Syrian border in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights as Israel carried out widespread raids against Iranian targets in Syria

Israel carried out the raids after it said around 20 rockets were fired from Syria at its forces in the occupied Golan Heights at around midnight. Pictured, cows graze near Merkava tanks in Golan Heights

An Israeli soldier stands next to signs pointing out distances to different cities, on Mount Bental, an observation post in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Thursday

Israeli Merkava tanks are deployed in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near the Israeli-Syrian border on Thursday

The attack was followed by retaliatory strikes by Israeli jets, which struck 'dozens' of Iranian military installations within Syria. They struck a radar station, air defence positions and an ammunition dump, Syrian state media said.

Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman said the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) had 'hit almost all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria'.

HOW SA-22 GREYHOUND ANTI-AIRCRAFT VEHICLE CAN DOWN 12 TARGETS EVERY MINUTE A Pantsir-S1 is a Russian-made anti-aircraft system that is also known by its NATO code name: SA-22 Greyhound. It's a truck-mounted short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapons system that has been in active service since 2003. The vehicles, which combine the use of both guns and missiles, are designed to shoot down aircraft, helicopters, precision munitions, cruise missiles and drones. The eight-wheel trucks carry 12 57E6 surface-to-air guided missiles and two automatic guns developed from the two-barreled 30mm GSh-30 gun. A Russian Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft defence system The Pantsir-S1 can fire at two targets at the same time and attack up to 12 targets within a minute. Its missiles have a maximum range of just over 11 miles. Russia has sold the systems to countries including Iran, Iraq and Jordan. Syria is known to have a mixture of Russian-made anti-aircraft systems, including the Pantsir S-1 and the Buk M2 surface-to-air missile system. The Pantsir-S1 has been fired in Syria a number of times to take out drones and missiles. The first known combat use of the Pantsir-S1 was by the Syrian Army when a system tracked and downed a Turkish aircraft in June 2012. Advertisement

But he insisted Israel had 'no interest in escalation' of the situation, adding: 'I hope that we have finished this chapter and that everyone got the message.'

Meanwhile, France and Germany on Thursday urged Israel and Iran to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation of hostilities in the Middle East after the heaviest military exchange ever between the two regional adversaries.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the Iranian rocket attacks and Israel's response in Aachen, western Germany, and called for prudence and de-escalation.

'The escalations of the past few hours show us that it is truly about war and peace. And I can only call on all sides to exercise restraint here,' Merkel said during a ceremony awarding Macron the Charlemagne Prize for strengthening EU integration.

Britain also condemned a rocket attack on the occupied Golan Heights by Iranian forces based in Syria, and said Israel has every right to defend itself.

Downing Street called for calm on both sides and urged Tehran to refrain from further assaults. Number 10 also urged Russia to use its influence in Syria to rein in Iranian aggression.

Prime Minister Theresa May's official spokesman said: 'We condemn Iran's attack on Israel. Israel has every right to defend itself.

'We call on Iran to refrain from any further attacks and for calm on all sides. We call on Russia to use its influence in Syria to prevent further Iranian attacks.'

The White House also condemned Iran's 'provocative rocket attacks from Syria against Israeli citizens' and expressed strong support for 'Israel's right to act in self-defense.'

'The Iranian regime's deployment into Syria of offensive rocket and missile systems aimed at Israel is an unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East,' Trump's press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.

Syrian air defense missiles are seen in the sky over Damascus, Syria. According to Syrian official media reports, the air defense was responding to a new wave of Israeli missile strikes

Israel said Iranian forces had fired 20 artillery rockets at their military bases in the disputed Golan Heights and that their Iron Dome defence system had intercepted a number of them

An image released by the government-affiliated 'Central War Media' in Syria purportedly shows Syrian air defence systems intercepting Israeli missiles over Damascus' airspace

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured in Moscow on Wednesday) said his country's strikes on Iranian targets in war-torn Syria were an 'appropriate' response after the Islamic Republic 'crossed a red line' by striking military positions

UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli strikes killed at least 23 military personnel, including Syrians and non-Syrians.

Israel said the Iranian rockets were either shot down by its Iron Dome air defence system or fell short of the Golan targets, claiming the Quds Force, an external arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, carried out the launch.

The exchange of fire came less than a day after US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which lifts sanctions on Tehran in exchange for a halt on its nuclear program.

Merkel has scrambled to try to preserve the nuclear accord with Iran following Trump's announcement that the United States would be withdrawing from the accord.

In a call with Hassan Rouhani, Merkel called for talks to be held in a broader format on Iran's ballistic missile programme and its regional activities - including in Syria and Yemen, her office said in a statement.

Israeli Merkava tanks are deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights today after some 20 rockets were fired at Israeli military bases by Iranian forces from southern Syria just after midnight

Firing back: This photo supplied by Syrian state media allegedly shows Israeli missiles hittin air defense position and other military bases, in Damascus, Syria

The Israeli Iron Dome defense system is seen above on the Golan Heights attempting to intercept suspected Iranian missiles being launched from Syria

The project was given a bigger boost when the Obama administration sought and received hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding

The latest strikes were the heaviest Israeli barrage in Syria since the start in 2011 of its civil war, in which Iranians, allied Shi'ite militias and Russian soldiers have deployed in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

'We hit nearly all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria,' Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman told a security conference on Thursday morning.

'They need to remember the saying that if it rains on us, it'll storm on them. I hope we've finished this episode and everyone understood.'

An IDF spokesperson said Iran's Quds force fired the rockets at several Israeli bases, though would reveal how Israel determined the Iranian involvement.

If Israeli claims are true, it would be the first time Iranian troops have directly attacked Israel rather than using proxies such as Islamist militant group Hezbollah.

Trading blows: Iranian forces reportedly fired 20 rockets on the Golan Heights, to which Israel responded with dozens of strikes on Iranian positions in Syria

This frame grab from video provided on Wednesday by Syria News shows people standing in front of flames rising after an attack on an area known to have numerous Syrian army military bases in Kisweh, south of Damascus

The incoming attack set off air raid sirens in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, which was captured from Syria in the 1967 war.

People in Metula, a town in northern Israel, were reportedly asked to enter 'secure areas' following an explosion in the area.

While the IDF blames Iran for firing the initial barrage of rockets into the Golan Heights, Syrian media claims Israel fired first.

US LEAVING IRAN DEAL COULD SEE SPIKE IN OIL PRICES The United States' immediate reinstating of sanctions on Iran, could lead to a global spike in the price of oil. Oil prices are already at their highest level since November 2014 and as Iran is the world's fifth biggest oil producer, any new sanctions is likely to affect the market. However, U.S.-ally Saudi Arabia has said to will help meet the oil demands if Trump's withdrawal from the Iran deal would create any shortfalls. Advertisement

Israel's response saw war planes targeting Iranian positions inside Syria, according to an IDF spokesman.

Targets included the Mezzeh airbase in Damascus, according to Israeli media. More than 30 Israeli missiles have reportedly struck targets near the city, with the Russian military claiming 70 were fired - and half of them downed.

Russia's defence ministry said: '28 Israeli F-15 and F-16 aircraft were used in the attack, which released around 60 air-to-ground missiles over various parts of Syria. Israel also fired more than 10 tactical ground-to-ground missiles.'

Russia said Syria's air defence systems shot down more than half of the missiles, while the extent of the damage was still being assessed.

'The locations of Iranian armed groups and also the positions of the Syrian army's air defences in the area around Damascus and in the south of Syria were attacked,' the ministry said.

Syria's state media said Syrian air defenses had intercepted 'hostile Israeli missiles' early Thursday that were fired over southwestern Damascus.

'Air defenses confronted tens of Israeli rockets and some of them reached their target and destroyed one of the radar sites,' Syrian state news agency SANA reported, citing a military source. Another rocket hit an ammunition warehouse, it said.

Syrian state television was broadcasting footage of its air defenses firing at incoming rockets, and playing patriotic songs.

Long-exposure photographs showed Israeli artillery launched to intercept projectiles fired from Syria early today

THE GOLAN HEIGHTS: SYRIAN TERRITORY ANNEXED BY ISRAEL The Golan Heights form a strategic plateau between Israel and Syria of about 460 square miles. Israel captured it in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. About 18,000 Israeli settlers have moved to the Golan, which also borders Jordan, since 1967. Some 20,000 Druze Muslims also live there. Israel gave the Druze the option of citizenship though most rejected it. Syria tried to regain the Golan Heights in the 1973 Middle East war, but the assault was thwarted. The two signed an armistice in 1974 and the Golan has been relatively quiet until recently. The Golan contains important water sources and has further strategic value because it overlooks northeastern Israel including the Sea of Galilee, a tourist attraction and Israel's biggest reservoir. In 2000, Israel and Syria held their highest-level talks over a possible return of the Golan and a peace agreement. But the negotiations collapsed. Source: Reuters Advertisement

It said Israeli warplanes were firing the rockets from outside Syria's borders and targeting Baath City in Quneitra province.

Earlier, Syrian media said the hostilities began with Israeli fire at Syrian positions in the country's south from across the border. Pro-Syrian media said Syrian missiles then fired at Israeli forces.

One TV station, Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen, said at least 50 missiles were fired from Syria at Israeli forces in the occupied Golan Heights.

It was the first time in years that Syrians had fired at Israeli forces in Golan, Syrian media reported.

The news that Israel and Iran had exchanged fire saw several world leaders call for de-escalation in the area, amid concern about growing military tensions between the two nations.

This morning, France's President Emmanuel Macron was first to call for de-escalation, and will be meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel later today to discuss the Middle East.

This was echoed by Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who said: 'This is all very alarming, it causes concern. There should be work to de-escalate the tensions,'

An air defense missile is seen over Daraa, Syria on Thursday. Daraa is very near the southwestern border with Jordan and not far from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights

Anti-aircraft missiles are seen from the Syrian capital of Damascus before dawn on Thursday

The above image shows more Syrian air defense missiles as seen in the sky over the capital Damascus on Thursday

Syria's state media said Syrian air defenses had intercepted 'hostile Israeli missiles' early Thursday that were fired over southwestern Damascus

Israel has been on heightened alert in recent days, anticipating an attack from Iran following the Iranian regime's vows to retaliate to what it says are recent Israeli strikes in Syria targeting Iranian outposts.

Late on Tuesday, Syrian state media said Israel struck a military outpost near the capital of Damascus.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the missiles targeted depots and rocket launchers that likely belonged to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard.

Last month, an attack on Syria's T4 air base in Homs province killed seven Iranian military personnel.

On April 30, Israel was said to have struck government outposts in northern Syria, killing more than a dozen pro-government fighters, many of them Iranians.

SOHR said the attacks killed 23 fighters, including five Syrian soldiers.

The head of the Observatory, Rami Abdurrahman, said five Syrian soldiers, including two officers, and 18 militia fighters were killed. Abdurrahman says it is not immediately clear if he believed Iranians were among those killed.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied most of the airstrikes.

But for months, it has repeatedly said it will not accept a permanent Iranian military presence in Syria.

Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov today called for 'restraint on all sides', adding that Moscow was 'concerned' at the development.

The strikes came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country has provided massive military and diplomatic backing to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's seven-year civil war.

At the meeting Putin also expressed 'deep concern' over Trump's decision to withdraw from a key 2015 Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday, a decision Netanyahu supported.

On Wednesday the Russian leader called the situation in the Middle East 'unfortunately very acute'.

Netanyahu had told Putin that 'it is the right of every state, certainly the right of Israel, to take the necessary steps in order to protect itself from (Iranian) aggression)', his office said in a statement Wednesday, referring to Iran's presence in Syria.

An Israeli Iron dome system is seen deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights

An Iron Dome anti-missile system can be seen near the Israeli side of the border with Syria in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Wednesday

An Israeli tank can be seen near the Israeli side of the border with Syria in Golan Heights

The Israeli-occupied section of the Golan Heights was placed on high alert due to 'irregular activity by Iranian forces' across the demarcation line in Syria

An Israeli artillery unit takes position near the Syrian border in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights

Israeli soldiers stand on top of their Merkava tanks deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights

Israel has long objected to an Iranian military presence near the Golan Heights frontier

In February, Israel shot down what it said was an armed Iranian drone that entered Israeli airspace.

Israel responded by attacking anti-aircraft positions in Syria, but an Israeli warplane was shot down during the battle.

Iranian forces moved into Syria after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011 to back the forces of President Bashar Assad.

As that war winds down, and Assad appears to be headed toward victory, Israel fears that Iran, along with tens of thousands of Iranian-backed Shiite militiamen, will carry out attacks against Israel.

Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, an annual security gathering north of Tel Aviv, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel would response fiercely to any further Iranian actions.

'We will not let Iran turn Syria into a forward base against Israel. This is the policy, a very, very clear policy, and we're acting according to this policy,' he said.

'We, of course, struck almost all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria, and they need to remember this arrogance of theirs. If we get rain, they'll get a flood. I hope that we ended this chapter and that everyone understood.'

Iranian protesters burn US flags during an anti-US gathering outside of the former American embassy in central Tehran

Iranians reacted angrily on Wednesday to President Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Protesters are seen above walking on the US flag in Tehran

Rules of the agreement: Behind the historic 2015 Iran nuclear deal

Trump withdraws from Iran deal President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the nuclear deal with Iran, abruptly restoring harsh sanctions in the most consequential foreign policy action of his presidency. He declared he was making the world safer, but he also deepened his isolation on the world stage and revived doubts about American credibility with a rationale that contradicted the analyses of U.S. and foreign intelligence sources. The 2015 agreement, which was negotiated by the Obama administration and included Germany, France and Britain, had lifted most U.S. and international economic sanctions against Iran. In exchange, Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program, making it impossible to produce a bomb and establishing rigorous inspections. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the nuclear deal with Iran But Trump, a severe critic of the deal dating back to his 2016 presidential campaign, said Tuesday in a televised address from the White House that it was 'defective at its core.' On Wednesday, he warned Iran against resuming its nuclear weapons program. 'I would advise Iran not to start their nuclear program,' Trump told reporters at the start of a Cabinet meeting when asked about the potential consequences. 'I would advise them very strongly. If they do there will be very severe consequence.' He claimed the deal 'was going to lead to nuclear proliferation all over the Middle East' and bragged the sanctions would be among the strongest 'that we've ever put on a country.' U.S. allies in Europe had tried to keep Trump in and lamented his move to abandon it. Iran's leader ominously warned his country might 'start enriching uranium more than before.' The sanctions seek to punish Iran for its nuclear program by limiting its ability to sell oil or do business overseas, affecting a wide range of Iranian economic sectors and individuals. Iran's government must now decide whether to follow the U.S. and withdraw or try to salvage what's left with the Europeans. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said he was sending his foreign minister to the remaining countries but warned there was only a short time to negotiate with them. Trump also left open the possibility of a new deal, and told reporters Wednesday: 'We'll make either a really good deal for the world or we're not going to make a deal at all. He predicted Iran would choose to negotiate eventually, or face consequences. The administration said it would re-impose sanctions on Iran immediately but allow grace periods for businesses to wind down activity. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Trump's announcement as a 'historic move.' Trump said Tuesday that documents recently released by Netanyahu showed Iran had attempted to develop a nuclear bomb in the previous decade, especially before 2003. Although Trump gave no explicit evidence that Iran violated the deal, he said Iran had clearly lied in the past and could not be trusted. Iran has denied ever pursuing nuclear arms. In Iran, many are deeply concerned about how Trump's decision could affect the already struggling economy. In Tehran, Rouhani sought to calm nerves, smiling as he appeared at a petroleum expo. He didn't name Trump directly, but emphasized that Iran continued to seek 'engagement with the world.' Advertisement

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) traveled to Moscow on Wednesday to meet with President Vladimir Putin (right) and discuss military coordination in Syria
Theresa May today condemned Iran's attack on Israel after the first direct clashes between the two countries.

Downing Street said Tel Aviv had 'every right to defend itself' after Tehran's forces fired 20 rockets from Syria into the Golan Heights.

The PM also urged Russia to step in and ensure Syrian territory was not used for any more strikes.

'We condemn Iran's attack on Israel. Israel has every right to defend itself,' the premier's spokesman said.

'We call on Russia to use its influence in Syria to prevent further Iranian attacks.'

Theresa May, pictured in the Commons yesterday, has condemned Iran's attack on Israel after the first direct clashes between the two countries

In a statement, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urged Iran to 'refrain from further actions which will only lead to increased instability in the region'.

'It is crucial to avoid any further escalations, which would be in no one's interest.'

Israel said the Iranian rockets were either shot down by its Iron Dome air defence system or fell short of the Golan targets, claiming the Quds Force, an external arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, carried out the launch.

In retaliation, Israel launched dozens of missiles on Iranian positions in Syria, which hit a radar station, air defence positions and an ammunition dump, Syrian state media said.

The exchange of fire came less than a day after US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 Iran atomic agreement which lifts sanctions on Tehran in exchange for a halt on its nuclear program.

The Israeli response this morning was one of the country's largest military operations in recent years and the biggest such assault on Iranian targets, the military said.

'We hit nearly all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria,' Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman told a security conference on Thursday morning.
Iran is likely to launch cyber attacks on Western countries 'within months' in retaliation for the U.S. ripping up the nuclear deal, experts warn.

'All bets are off' with Donald Trump's move to reinstate tough sanctions as the Islamic regime was angry and saw no reason not to use its capabilities in response.

Most at risk were banks and financial services, government departments, critical infrastructure providers, and oil and energy firms.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he's ditching the Iran nuclear deal, calling it 'disastrous' and an 'embarrassment'

'I have ordered Iran's atomic organization that whenever it is needed, we will start enriching uranium more than before,' Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said

Planning for suck attacks was likely already underway, according to intelligence received by researchers at cyber security firm Recorded Future.

They said a former Iranian state-backed hacker revealed more than 50 operatives were competing for government-directed cyber attacks.

'Iran will likely respond quickly by launching destructive attacks on American, European, and rival nation (such as Saudi Arabia and Israel) businesses,' its report said.

Recorded Future Iran expert Levi Gundert said the regime would want not only revenge but to deter other countries from imposing sanctions.

'They've developed this ability over the last years and there's no reason for them not to use it now,' he said.

Iran is likely to launch cyber attacks on Western countries 'within months' in retaliation for the U.S. ripping up the nuclear deal, experts warn

Trump signed a document on Tuesday reinstating sanctions against Iran after announcing the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal

French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that their countries will remain in the Iran nuclear deal

'They want to try to induce other countries to think about repercussions before levying sanctions, and they have a real capability in the cyber domain.'

Iran has flexed its digital muscles before with devastating denial of service attacks on U.S. financial services in 2012 after Barrack Obama hit it with sanctions.

Then in 2014 it unleashed US$40 million in data destruction on the Sands Casino in Las Vegas after its billionaire Israeli owner Sheldon Adelson advocated testing an atomic bomb in Nevada as a warning to Iran.

Iran also conducts regular cyber espionage against Western targets, but has not made any attacks since the nuclear deal was signed in 2015.
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Iran and Israel traded blows on the Syrian border overnight, marking the first time Tehran has directly attacked Israel.

Last night, Iranian forces fired 20 rockets from Syria at Israeli front-line military positions in the Golan Heights, the Israeli military said.

UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli strikes killed at least 23 military personnel, including Syrians and non-Syrians.

Israel said the Iranian rockets were either shot down by its Iron Dome air defence system or fell short of the Golan targets, claiming the Quds Force, an external arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, carried out the launch.

In retaliation, Israel launched dozens of missiles on Iranian positions in Syria, which hit a radar station, air defence positions and an ammunition dump, Syrian state media said.

The exchange of fire came less than a day after US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which lifts sanctions on Tehran in exchange for a halt on its nuclear program.

Israel said Iranian forces had fired 20 artillery rockets at their military bases in the disputed Golan Heights and that their Iron Dome defence system had intercepted a number of them

Israeli Merkava tanks are deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights today after some 20 rockets were fired at Israeli military bases by Iranian forces from southern Syria just after midnight

Firing back: This photo supplied by Syrian state media allegedly shows Israeli missiles hittin air defense position and other military bases, in Damascus, Syria

The Israeli Iron Dome defense system is seen above on the Golan Heights attempting to intercept suspected Iranian missiles being launched from Syria

The project was given a bigger boost when the Obama administration sought and received hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding

Israel has been on heightened alert in recent days, anticipating an attack from Iran following the Iranian regime's vows to retaliate to what it says are recent Israeli strikes in Syria targeting Iranian outposts. Pictured: Israeli Merkava tanks are deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border today

An Israeli soldier is seen next to a signs pointing out distance to different cities on Mount Bental next to the Syrian border today

It was the heaviest Israeli barrage in Syria since the start in 2011 of its civil war, in which Iranians, allied Shi'ite militias and Russian soldiers have deployed in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

'We hit nearly all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria,' Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman told a security conference on Thursday morning.

'They need to remember the saying that if it rains on us, it'll storm on them. I hope we've finished this episode and everyone understood.'

An IDF spokesperson said Iran's Quds force fired the rockets at several Israeli bases, though would reveal how Israel determined the Iranian involvement.

If Israeli claims are true, it would be the first time Iranian troops have directly attacked Israel rather than using proxies such as Islamist militant group Hezbollah.

Trading blows: Iranian forces reportedly fired 20 rockets on the Golan Heights, to which Israel responded with dozens of strikes on Iranian positions in Syria

This frame grab from video provided on Wednesday by Syria News shows people standing in front of flames rising after an attack on an area known to have numerous Syrian army military bases in Kisweh, south of Damascus

The incoming attack set off air raid sirens in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, which was captured from Syria in the 1967 war.

People in Metula, a town in northern Israel, were reportedly asked to enter 'secure areas' following an explosion in the area.

While the IDF blames Iran for firing the initial barrage of rockets into the Golan Heights, Syrian media claims Israel fired first.

US LEAVING IRAN DEAL COULD SEE SPIKE IN OIL PRICES The United States' immediate reinstating of sanctions on Iran, could lead to a global spike in the price of oil. Oil prices are already at their highest level since November 2014 and as Iran is the world's fifth biggest oil producer, any new sanctions is likely to affect the market. However, U.S.-ally Saudi Arabia has said to will help meet the oil demands if Trump's withdrawal from the Iran deal would create any shortfalls. Advertisement

Israel's response saw war planes targeting Iranian positions inside Syria, according to an IDF spokesman.

Targets included the Mezzeh airbase in Damascus, according to Israeli media. More than 30 Israeli missiles have reportedly struck targets near the city, with the Russian military claiming 70 were fired - and half of them downed.

Russia's defence ministry said: '28 Israeli F-15 and F-16 aircraft were used in the attack, which released around 60 air-to-ground missiles over various parts of Syria. Israel also fired more than 10 tactical ground-to-ground missiles.'

Russia said Syria's air defence systems shot down more than half of the missiles, while the extent of the damage was still being assessed.

'The locations of Iranian armed groups and also the positions of the Syrian army's air defences in the area around Damascus and in the south of Syria were attacked,' the ministry said.

Syria's state media said Syrian air defenses had intercepted 'hostile Israeli missiles' early Thursday that were fired over southwestern Damascus.

'Air defenses confronted tens of Israeli rockets and some of them reached their target and destroyed one of the radar sites,' Syrian state news agency SANA reported, citing a military source. Another rocket hit an ammunition warehouse, it said.

Syrian state television was broadcasting footage of its air defenses firing at incoming rockets, and playing patriotic songs.

Long-exposure photographs showed Israeli artillery launched to intercept projectiles fired from Syria early today

THE GOLAN HEIGHTS: SYRIAN TERRITORY ANNEXED BY ISRAEL The Golan Heights form a strategic plateau between Israel and Syria of about 460 square miles. Israel captured it in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. About 18,000 Israeli settlers have moved to the Golan, which also borders Jordan, since 1967. Some 20,000 Druze Muslims also live there. Israel gave the Druze the option of citizenship though most rejected it. Syria tried to regain the Golan Heights in the 1973 Middle East war, but the assault was thwarted. The two signed an armistice in 1974 and the Golan has been relatively quiet until recently. The Golan contains important water sources and has further strategic value because it overlooks northeastern Israel including the Sea of Galilee, a tourist attraction and Israel's biggest reservoir. In 2000, Israel and Syria held their highest-level talks over a possible return of the Golan and a peace agreement. But the negotiations collapsed. Source: Reuters Advertisement

It said Israeli warplanes were firing the rockets from outside Syria's borders and targeting Baath City in Quneitra province.

Earlier, Syrian media said the hostilities began with Israeli fire at Syrian positions in the country's south from across the border. Pro-Syrian media said Syrian missiles then fired at Israeli forces.

One TV station, Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen, said at least 50 missiles were fired from Syria at Israeli forces in the occupied Golan Heights.

It was the first time in years that Syrians had fired at Israeli forces in Golan, Syrian media reported.

The news that Israel and Iran had exchanged fire saw several world leaders call for de-escalation in the area, amid concern about growing military tensions between the two nations.

This morning, France's President Emmanuel Macron was first to call for de-escalation, and will be meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel later today to discuss the Middle East.

This was echoed by Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who said: 'This is all very alarming, it causes concern. There should be work to de-escalate the tensions,'

An air defense missile is seen over Daraa, Syria on Thursday. Daraa is very near the southwestern border with Jordan and not far from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights

Anti-aircraft missiles are seen from the Syrian capital of Damascus before dawn on Thursday

The above image shows more Syrian air defense missiles as seen in the sky over the capital Damascus on Thursday

Syria's state media said Syrian air defenses had intercepted 'hostile Israeli missiles' early Thursday that were fired over southwestern Damascus

Israel has been on heightened alert in recent days, anticipating an attack from Iran following the Iranian regime's vows to retaliate to what it says are recent Israeli strikes in Syria targeting Iranian outposts.

Late on Tuesday, Syrian state media said Israel struck a military outpost near the capital of Damascus.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the missiles targeted depots and rocket launchers that likely belonged to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard.

Last month, an attack on Syria's T4 air base in Homs province killed seven Iranian military personnel.

On April 30, Israel was said to have struck government outposts in northern Syria, killing more than a dozen pro-government fighters, many of them Iranians.

SOHR said the attacks killed 23 fighters, including five Syrian soldiers.

The head of the Observatory, Rami Abdurrahman, said five Syrian soldiers, including two officers, and 18 militia fighters were killed. Abdurrahman says it is not immediately clear if he believed Iranians were among those killed.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied most of the airstrikes.

But for months, it has repeatedly said it will not accept a permanent Iranian military presence in Syria.

Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov today called for 'restraint on all sides', adding that Moscow was 'concerned' at the development.

The strikes came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country has provided massive military and diplomatic backing to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's seven-year civil war.

At the meeting Putin also expressed 'deep concern' over US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from a key 2015 Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday, a decision Netanyahu supported.

On Wednesday the Russian leader called the situation in the Middle East 'unfortunately very acute'.

Netanyahu had told Putin that 'it is the right of every state, certainly the right of Israel, to take the necessary steps in order to protect itself from (Iranian) aggression)', his office said in a statement Wednesday, referring to Iran's presence in Syria.

An Israeli Iron dome system is seen deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights

An Iron Dome anti-missile system can be seen near the Israeli side of the border with Syria in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Wednesday

An Israeli tank can be seen near the Israeli side of the border with Syria in Golan Heights

The Israeli-occupied section of the Golan Heights was placed on high alert due to 'irregular activity by Iranian forces' across the demarcation line in Syria

An Israeli artillery unit takes position near the Syrian border in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights

Israeli soldiers stand on top of their Merkava tanks deployed near the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights

Israel has long objected to an Iranian military presence near the Golan Heights frontier

In February, Israel shot down what it said was an armed Iranian drone that entered Israeli airspace.

Israel responded by attacking anti-aircraft positions in Syria, but an Israeli warplane was shot down during the battle.

Iranian forces moved into Syria after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011 to back the forces of President Bashar Assad.

As that war winds down, and Assad appears to be headed toward victory, Israel fears that Iran, along with tens of thousands of Iranian-backed Shiite militiamen, will carry out attacks against Israel.

Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, an annual security gathering north of Tel Aviv, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel would response fiercely to any further Iranian actions.

'We will not let Iran turn Syria into a forward base against Israel. This is the policy, a very, very clear policy, and we're acting according to this policy,' he said.

'We, of course, struck almost all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria, and they need to remember this arrogance of theirs. If we get rain, they'll get a flood. I hope that we ended this chapter and that everyone understood.'

This morning's exchange of fire comes after President Donald Trump's announcement on Tuesday that the US was withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran triggered uncertainty and threatened to spark more unrest in the Middle East.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday blasted President Trump, calling him a liar and saying that his move to pull out of the deal was 'foul play'.

Iranian protesters burn US flags during an anti-US gathering outside of the former American embassy in central Tehran

Iranians reacted angrily on Wednesday to President Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Protesters are seen above walking on the US flag in Tehran

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments came Wednesday as he met with a group of school teachers in Tehran, a day after Trump announced he was renewing sanctions on Iran.

'From day one, I said several times that the United States is not to be trusted. I said it publicly and privately. I said if you want to sign an agreement, first make sure that necessary guarantees are made,' Khamenei said in his speech

'What happened is a foul play on the part of the United States, and it does not surprise us,' he said during a speech he gave in Tehran.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Moscow on Wednesday to meet with President Vladimir Putin and discuss military coordination in Syria.

Russia has also sent forces to Syria to back Assad.

But Israel and Russia have maintained close communications to prevent their air forces from coming into conflict.

Together with Putin, Netanyahu toured a parade celebrating the anniversary of the Second World War victory over the Nazis and then met the Russian president at the Kremlin for consultations.

Rules of the agreement: Behind the historic 2015 Iran nuclear deal

Trump withdraws from Iran deal President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the nuclear deal with Iran, abruptly restoring harsh sanctions in the most consequential foreign policy action of his presidency. He declared he was making the world safer, but he also deepened his isolation on the world stage and revived doubts about American credibility with a rationale that contradicted the analyses of U.S. and foreign intelligence sources. The 2015 agreement, which was negotiated by the Obama administration and included Germany, France and Britain, had lifted most U.S. and international economic sanctions against Iran. In exchange, Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program, making it impossible to produce a bomb and establishing rigorous inspections. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the nuclear deal with Iran But Trump, a severe critic of the deal dating back to his 2016 presidential campaign, said Tuesday in a televised address from the White House that it was 'defective at its core.' On Wednesday, he warned Iran against resuming its nuclear weapons program. 'I would advise Iran not to start their nuclear program,' Trump told reporters at the start of a Cabinet meeting when asked about the potential consequences. 'I would advise them very strongly. If they do there will be very severe consequence.' He claimed the deal 'was going to lead to nuclear proliferation all over the Middle East' and bragged the sanctions would be among the strongest 'that we've ever put on a country.' U.S. allies in Europe had tried to keep Trump in and lamented his move to abandon it. Iran's leader ominously warned his country might 'start enriching uranium more than before.' The sanctions seek to punish Iran for its nuclear program by limiting its ability to sell oil or do business overseas, affecting a wide range of Iranian economic sectors and individuals. Iran's government must now decide whether to follow the U.S. and withdraw or try to salvage what's left with the Europeans. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said he was sending his foreign minister to the remaining countries but warned there was only a short time to negotiate with them. Trump also left open the possibility of a new deal, and told reporters Wednesday: 'We'll make either a really good deal for the world or we're not going to make a deal at all. He predicted Iran would choose to negotiate eventually, or face consequences. The administration said it would re-impose sanctions on Iran immediately but allow grace periods for businesses to wind down activity. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Trump's announcement as a 'historic move.' Trump said Tuesday that documents recently released by Netanyahu showed Iran had attempted to develop a nuclear bomb in the previous decade, especially before 2003. Although Trump gave no explicit evidence that Iran violated the deal, he said Iran had clearly lied in the past and could not be trusted. Iran has denied ever pursuing nuclear arms. In Iran, many are deeply concerned about how Trump's decision could affect the already struggling economy. In Tehran, Rouhani sought to calm nerves, smiling as he appeared at a petroleum expo. He didn't name Trump directly, but emphasized that Iran continued to seek 'engagement with the world.' Advertisement

After 10 hours together, Netanyahu said he conveyed Israel's obligation to defend itself against Iranian aggression.

'I think that matters were presented in a direct and forthright manner, and this is important. These matters are very important to Israel's security at all times and especially at this time,' he said.

Israel views Iran as its archenemy, citing Iran's calls for Israel's destruction, support for militant groups across the region and growing military activity in neighbouring Syria.

Israel has warned that it will not allow Iran to establish a permanent military presence in Syria.

Israel's military went on high alert on Tuesday and bomb shelters were ordered open in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights following reports of 'irregular activity of Iranian forces in Syria.'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) traveled to Moscow on Wednesday to meet with President Vladimir Putin (right) and discuss military coordination in Syria

After an uneventful night, the military on Wednesday called on residents to return to 'full civilian routine,' meaning studies and excursions would continue as usual, although the shelters would remain open.

Amos Gilead, a retired senior Israeli defence official, told a security conference in the coastal town of Herzliya that Iran's intentions in Syria meant a wider conflagration may only be a matter of time.

'They want to build a second Hezbollah-stan,' he said, referring to the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group that last fought a war with Israel in 2006.

'They are determined to do it and we are determined to prevent it. It means we are on a collision course.'
The White House ripped former President Obama and his secretaries of state on Wednesday after they derided President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Iran deal as mistake.

Obama in his statement slamming sitting President Donald Trump's sanctions on Iran called for 'principled, fact-based, and unifying leadership that can best secure our country and uphold our responsibilities around the globe.'

Clinton crowed that American's 'credibility is shot' and 'Iran is free to do what it wants' now that the U.S. has no leverage.

Kerry argued that Trump's announcement 'weakens our security, breaks America's word' and 'isolates us from our European allies,' among other things.

'I think based on each of those individuals' lack of success in this entire process on foreign affairs, they would probably be the last three people that we would look to for advice and counsel, and whether or not we had made the right decisions,' spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Wednesday at her daily briefing.

Former President Barack Obama reemerged on Tuesday to chide his predecessor for withdrawing the United States from an international agreement regulating Iran's nuclear activities

Former Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton blasted Trump's decision on social media, as well

Obama said in a long statement that he posted to social media accounts that Donald Trump had 'a serious mistake' in reneging on the United States' end of the accord

If the deal falls apart because of Trump's action, Obama warned, 'We could be hastening the day when we are faced with the choice between living with that threat, or going to war to prevent it'

Obama rarely comments on his successor's policies, even when they directly oppose positions he took in his two terms as president. He re-emerged on Tuesday, however. to chide Trump for withdrawing the United States from an international agreement regulating Iran's nuclear activities.

Obama said in a long statement that he posted to social media accounts that Donald Trump had made 'a serious mistake' in reneging on the obligations the U.S. agreed to when it signed on to the accord.

'Without the JCPOA, the United States could eventually be left with a losing choice between a nuclear-armed Iran or another war in the Middle East,' he said.

If the deal falls apart because of Trump's action, Obama warned, 'We could be hastening the day when we are faced with the choice between living with that threat, or going to war to prevent it.'

Lecturing the sitting president, Obama explained that his administration knew that the 2015 accord it helped to negotiate would not address every Iranian threat.

'We were clear-eyed that Iran engages in destabilizing behavior  including support for terrorism, and threats toward Israel and its neighbors,' he said. 'But thats precisely why it was so important that we prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.'

'Every aspect of Iranian behavior that is troubling is far more dangerous if their nuclear program is unconstrained. Our ability to confront Irans destabilizing behavior  and to sustain a unity of purpose with our allies  is strengthened with the JCPOA, and weakened without it.'

'They would probably be the last three people that we would look to for advice and counsel,' spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Wednesday at her daily briefing

The former secretary of state who lost out on the presidency to Trump, said it was a 'big mistake' to abandon the accord

Clinton crowed that American's 'credibility is shot' and 'Iran is free to do what it wants' now that the U.S. has no leverage

In a tweet commenting on Obama's post to Facebook, she asserted, 'It will also be harder to deal with other threats like ballistic missiles and terrorism. Now we have no leverage and Iran is free to do what it wants'

Late in the evening on Tuesday, Clinton decided to chime in on Twitter.

The former secretary of state who lost out on the presidency to Trump, said it was a 'big mistake' to abandon the accord.

'It makes America less safe and less trusted. Iran is now more dangerous. What's plan B? Anyone who thinks bombing is the answer is woefully misinformed.'

A follow-up tweet said: 'As Secretary of State, I helped negotiate the crippling international sanctions that brought Iran to the table. It would be much harder a second time, now that our credibility is shot.'

In a tweet commenting on Obama's post to Facebook, she asserted, 'It will also be harder to deal with other threats like ballistic missiles and terrorism. Now we have no leverage and Iran is free to do what it wants.'

Kerry, the United States secretary of state at the time the U.S. and Europe joined the alliance with China, Russia and Europe, also spoke out against Trump's decision.

'Instead of building on unprecedented nonproliferation verification measures, this decision risks throwing them away and dragging the world back to the brink we faced a few years ago,' Kerry said in a statement. 'The extent of the damage will depend on what Europe can do to hold the nuclear agreement together, and it will depend on Iran's reaction.'

Obama's secretary of state at the time the U.S. and Europe joined the alliance with China, Russia and Europe - John Kerry - also spoke out against Trump's decision

Kerry could run afoul of the Logan Act, a 200+ year-old federal law that made it a felony for civilians to conduct foreign policy without authorization

Kerry said that Trump, who he did not reference by name, should not have outsourced that responsibility to Europe. 'This is not in America's interests,' he added.

Trump has personally assailed Kerry for settling for the deal at hand instead of pushing for something that had more teeth. He mocked the ex-diplomat in a Friday speech for a bike accident Kerry had during talks with Iran in 2015 in France.

The president had already spoken out about Kerry's 'shadow diplomacy' on Monday following news reports that the Obama administration official has secretly met with foreign governments in a bid to save the much-maligned deal.

'The United States does not need John Kerrys possibly illegal Shadow Diplomacy on the very badly negotiated Iran Deal,' the president wrote. 'He was the one that created this MESS in the first place!'

He blasted Kerry again on Tuesday morning for huddling with foreign dignitaries, including the foreign minister of Iran and the presidents of France and Germany, in the lead-up to the announcement.

'John Kerry cant get over the fact that he had his chance and blew it! Stay away from negotiations John, you are hurting your country!' Trump said.

Since leaving office, Obama has kept a promise to extract himself from the political debate, except in instances when Trump has taken direct aim at policies that defined the two-term Democrat's presidency.

He said when he left office that although he would remain living in Washington, D.C. he planned to leave the duly elected president to the business of running the government.

Obama has only inserted himself in the conversation on two notable occasions last year: when Congress sought to unravel Obamacare and when Trump announced his decision to rip the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement.

His statement on Trump's intent to bring Iran to its knees by slapping it with a load of sanctions noted that there will inherently be changes in U.S. policy from one administration to the next.

'But the consistent flouting of agreements that our country is a party to risks eroding Americas credibility, and puts us at odds with the worlds major powers,' he said.

'Going forward, I hope that Americans continue to speak out in support of the kind of strong, principled, fact-based, and unifying leadership that can best secure our country and uphold our responsibilities around the globe,' he challenged.
Saudi Arabia will seek to develop its own nuclear weapons if Iran does, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told CNN on Wednesday, amid spiraling tension between the regional rivals.

Asked whether Riyadh would 'build a bomb itself' if Tehran seizes on Washington's withdrawal from the 2015 Iran deal to resume a nuclear weapons program, Jubeir said: 'If Iran acquires nuclear capability we will do everything we can to do the same.'

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has long said it would match any Iranian weapons development, but Jubeir's renewed vow came after US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of an accord designed to prevent Tehran's alleged quest for the bomb.

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Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, seen here at an Arab League meeting in Cairo in November 2017, said Iran would 'do everything' to match any Iranian bid to acquire a nuclear weapon

And it came amid growing tension between the Sunni kingdom and the Shiite Islamic republic over Iran's support for the Huthi rebels in Yemen, who have been firing rockets across the border.

Riyadh, which leads a regional coalition that intervened in Yemen's civil war to fight the Huthis, accuses Iran of supplying the militia with ballistic missiles.

'These missiles are Iranian manufactured and delivered to the Huthis,' Jubeir told CNN.

Such behavior is unacceptable. It violates UN Resolutions with regards to ballistic missiles. And the Iranians must be held accountable for this.

'We will find the right way and at the right time to respond to this,' he warned.

'We are trying to avoid at all costs direct military action with Iran, but Iran's behavior such as this cannot continue. This amounts to a declaration of war.'

Donald Trump said he was ready to work on a new nuclear accord, one that would also curb Iran's missile programme

A other looming debacle is whether the US pullout from the Iran deal could trigger a nuclear arms race.

Trump said his decision to leave the JCPOA was designed to counter that possibility.

'If I allowed this deal to stand, there would soon be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East,' he said.

But minutes after he spoke, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran could resume uranium enrichment 'without limit' if its interests are not assured by the remaining signatories.

'Whether or not (the Iranians) go for a military programme, you're going to get a nuclear race in the Middle East,' said Dorsey.

In March, Saudi Arabia's crown prince said if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, the kingdom would be compelled to follow suit.

Trump said Tuesday that he was ready to work on a new nuclear accord, one that would also curb Iran's missile programme.

Iranian demonstrators burn a picture of the U.S. President Donald Trump during a protest in response to his decision to pull out of the nuclear deal

Saudi Arabia's air defences intercepted two ballistic missiles over Riyadh on Wednesday, state media said, the latest in a series of attacks claimed by Iran-allied rebels in neighbouring Yemen.

Riyadh has long accused its regional archfoe Tehran of supplying Yemen's rebels with ballistic missiles, a charge Tehran denies.

Middle East analyst James Dorsey, a senior fellow at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, believes Iran will not compromise on its ballistic missile programme 'because that is the core of their defence policy'.

For Saudi Arabia, that is 'fine' because it means the return of sanctions and ratcheting up pressure on Iran in the region, including by Israel.

'It's about Iran,' said Dorsey, 'not about finding a solution.'
British businesses including Rolls-Royce, Vodafone and British Airways could be forced to pull out of Iran or scrap any lucrative deals with Tehran after Donald Trump tore up the nuclear deal last night.

UK companies have been fighting for 450billion of business since crippling economic sanctions were lifted after the 2015 agreement between the Persian state and the US, UK, Russia,France, China, and Germany.

Since then Vodafone did a deal to improve broadband and mobile internet in Iran, Rolls-Royce agreed to produce jet engines for Iran Air and British Airways re-started its flights to Tehran.

BP has operated a joint gas field in the North Sea with Iran's state oil company since the 1970s, although it is set to sell its stake to British company Serica Energy for 300million later this year.

Other British businesses are building hospitals, roads and other infrastructure including the world's largest solar energy farm in the country.

Last night President Trump promised 'powerful' sanctions and experts have told MailOnline UK businesses could be fined and forced to choose between working in Iran and the US. Banks will also be asked not to accept any funds sent via Iran.

Today Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei said he doesn't 'trust the UK' and that Trump will die and his body 'will be food for worms but the Islamic Republic will continue to stand'.

UK companies have been fighting for 450billion of business in Iran (pictured) since crippling economic sanctions were lifted two years ago but many deals may now be in tatters

Donald Trump last night tore up the Iran nuclear deal, which could force Britain's biggest businesses out of the country

Trump blasted the Iran deal as a 'horrible' agreement as he announced the reinstatement of sanctions

It is not clear yet how any British firms would be punished but in a clue about what is to come Richard Grenell, Trump's new ambassador in Berlin and a known ally of the President, said last night: 'German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately'.

Boris Johnson is fighting to save the nuclear deal but British business has poured money into Iran since sanctions were relaxed in 2015.

World's 'economic policeman' Donald Trump could force UK businesses to choose between Iran and US UK companies operating in Iran could be forced to choose between working in Tehran or the US, experts said today. Donald Trump will also have the power to levy huge fines and pressure banks not to accept cash out of Iran after bringing back sanctions. Details of how UK businesses will have to change will emerge in the coming days but Richard Grenell, Trump's new ambassador in Berlin said last night: 'German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately'. Alexandra Renison, Head of Europe and Trade Policy at Institute of Directors, told MailOnline businesses are right to be 'very worried' about the consequences. She said: 'The message sent by the new US ambassador to Germany is very worrying given that there were a number of companies already operating in Iran 'To issue an ultimatum that non-US companies should divest completely from the country sets a seriously concerning. No business wants to pull out of a multi-million pound investment altogether, but the US Government has a record of robust enforcement particularly with banks to date. 'Most of them have American branches and so are at risk of being forced to choose between offloading their operations in the US or Iran'. She added: 'It may be that discussions between Washington, Brussels and European capitals in the coming days provide further clarity about whether there will be any waivers or exemptions for individual firms'. Advertisement

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told French radio that Trump's decision on Iran was a mistake and that the United States should not consider itself as the world's 'economic policeman'.

Former WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell called Iran 'one of the last great untapped opportunities for global business'.

The Rhum North Sea gas field has been co-owned by BP and Iran's state oil company since the 1970s.

It started producing gas in 2005, but this was suspended in 2010 due to sanctions.

With the support of the UK government, an agreement was put in place that allowed production to resume in 2014 while still complying with sanctions.

In 2016 the US Treasury renewed the licence to keep operating their joint gas field in the North Sea, and this was again renewed last year.

BP was also reported to have bought crude from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

It is about to sell Rhum in a 300million deal with Serica Energy, who will also pay for two other gas fields.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018 and sent Serica's shares tumbling today.

A Serica spokesman said: 'The Company is evaluating the implications of these statements and how they relate to the Rhum field in which the Iranian Oil Company (UK) is a 50 per cent partner. We will update the market, as appropriate, in due course.'

In December 2016 Rolls-Royce welcomed a $19billion deal between Airbus and Iran Air for the supply of 100 aircraft, which they make the jet engines for, including 16 Airbus A350s.

Britain's Vodafone, the world's second-largest mobile phone company, did a deal with HiWEB in Iran to improve its broadband and mobile network infrastructure.

With a young population and high levels of mobile ownership, Iran is seen as an opportunity for telecoms companies seeking to expand into frontier markets.

A spokesman said today they are 'monitoring the situation'.

Two years ago British Airways relaunched direct flights to Iran following the lifting of sanctions.

The carrier operates six flights per week between London Heathrow and Tehran, which was suspended in October 2012.

A spokesman said today: 'We constantly review our network to ensure that our routes match our customers' needs and are commercially viable.  We are in regular contact with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.'

And a Rolls-Royce spokesman said: 'We are examining the announcement and its potential implications.

'We conduct business in all countries, including Iran, in accordance with all relevant UK, EU or other national sanctions and export control regulations.'

British businesses have also tapped into Iran's medical, energy and engineering sectors.

International Hospital Group (IHG), a leading international healthcare services company based in Britain, signed an agreement worth 1.8 billion ($2.1 billion) with Iran to finance the construction of a network of cancer centres in the country.

A London-based investment fund agreed a deal to build one of the world's largest solar power projects in Iran by 2020.

The deal between Quercus and Iran's Ministry of Energy is worth over 440million.

Rolls-Royce is helping to make engines for Iran Air for the supply of 100 Airbus aircraft

BP has operated the joint Ruhm gas field in the North Sea (pictured is the neighbouring Bruce field ) with Iran's state oil company since the 1970s, although it is set to sell its stake to British company Serica Energy for 300million later this year

Britain's Vodafone, the world's second-largest mobile phone company, did a deal with HiWEB in Iran to improve its broadband and mobile network infrastructure (a HiWeb advert in Tehran)

The deal between Quercus and Iran's Ministry of Energy is worth over 440million and will see Iran's sunny climate (pictured)

Businesses around the world face crisis over Iran sanctions AVIATION - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Airbus and Boeing Co will lose licences to sell passenger jets to Iran. - IranAir had ordered 200 passenger aircraft - 100 from Airbus, 80 from Boeing and 20 from Franco-Italian turboprop maker ATR. All the deals are dependent on U.S. licences because of the heavy use of American parts in commercial planes. - Boeing said on Tuesday it will consult with the U.S. government on the 'next steps,' adding Boeing's 777 production plan 'is not dependent on the Iranian orders.' - Airbus said it needed time to study the impact of Trump's decision on Iran and will be evaluating next steps consistent with internal policies and in full compliance with sanctions and export control regulations. - Airbus shares fell 1 percent on Wednesday in response. CARMAKERS - France's PSA said it hoped the European Union would adopt a common position on Iran. - French automakers PSA and Renault have pushed hard into Iran after sanctions were lifted following the 2015 international nuclear pact. - PSA has signed production deals worth 700 million euros ($830 million) to reclaim the leading position it once enjoyed in the market, while Renault invested to increase its production capacity to 350,000 vehicles a year. - Germany's Daimler said it was closely monitoring any further developments and will then evaluate the potential impact on its business. - Shares of PSA and Renault were down more than 1 percent. MANUFACTURERS - German engineering group Siemens said it would closely monitor the situation in Iran and comply with all export controls that arise. - Siemens signed a contract in October 2016 to upgrade Iran's railway network and also to supply components for 50 diesel-electric locomotives to Iran. Shares were up about 5 percent on a bullish results forecast on Wednesday. OIL AND GAS - Britain's Serica Energy said it is looking into how renewed sanctions on Iran would affect a British gas field which it operates in partnership with the Iranian Oil Co (UK) Ltd. It is set to complete purchase of fields from BP in mid-2018. - Serica said it was evaluating the implications of Trump's statements on the Rhum field in Britain's North Sea, in which the Iranian Oil Co (UK) has a 50 percent share. - Shares of Serica Energy fell more than 7 percent in response. - Trump's decision could scupper French oil major Total's multibillion-dollar gas project in Iran unless it can secure a waiver. Total signed a deal with Tehran in July 2017 to develop phase 11 of Iran's South Pars field with an initial investment of $1 billion. TELCOS - Vodafone had deal with HiWeb, an internet and phone company and subsidiary of Iran's Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade in 2003 - South Africa's MTN Group said the U.S. decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran may limit the South African telecoms firm's ability to repatriate cash from MTN Irancell. - In 2018, MTN had repatriated about 88 million euros ($104.26 million) from MTN Irancell, with another 200 million euros due. - MTN shares fell more than 3 percent on Wednesday. Advertisement

Donald Trump faced worldwide condemnation last night after he pulled the US out of the nuclear Iran deal in a move that inflamed tensions in an already volatile region.

Today Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei said todat he doesn't 'trust the UK' and that Trump will die and his body 'will be food for worms but the Islamic Republic will continue to stand'

Theresa May, French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Angela Merkel said his decision had been met with 'regret and concern'.

In a joint statement they said 'the world was a safer place' because of the deal and pledged to remain committed to it.

The US President said he was walking away from the 2015 pact in order to stop a 'nuclear bomb' being acquired by the 'world's leading state sponsor of terror'.

Announcing 'powerful' sanctions, he warned that if he did not pull out from the deal which is 'defective at its core' then there would soon be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

And, in a fresh warning to Iran he said if the country developed nuclear weapons it would have 'bigger problems then it has ever had before'.

Iran's president responded by saying that if negotiations fail over the nuclear deal, the Islamic Republic will enrich uranium 'more than before in the next weeks'.

The announcement came despite desperate lobbying from a string of European leaders, including Prime Minister Mrs May, Mr Macron and Mrs Merkel.

After a joint phone call, the leaders said the agreement which they remained committed to was 'important for our shared security'.

'The world is a safer place as a result', they said. The leaders also urged Iran 'to show restraint in response to the decision by the US'.

They said: 'It is with regret and concern that we, the Leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom take note of President Trump's decision to withdraw the United States of America from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.'

In a much anticipated statement from the White House, Mr Trump said: 'If I allowed this deal to stand there would soon be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

'Everyone would want their weapons ready by the time Iran had theirs.

'We cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotting structure of the current agreement. The Iran deal is defective at its core.'

He went on: 'If we do nothing we know exactly what will happen.

'In just a short period of time the world's leading state sponsor of terror would be on the cusp of acquiring the world's most dangerous weapons.'

The deal was signed by world powers in 2015. Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities in return for eased economic sanctions.

Tehran claimed at the time it had been pursuing only nuclear energy rather than weapons.

President Trump said that since the agreement 'Iran's bloody ambitions have grown only more brazen'. He said that the deal 'didn't bring calm, it didn't bring peace, and it never will'.

At PMQs today, Theresa May said she had made her position 'clear' to Donald Trump before he announced his decision - and pledged to keep trying to win him over to the merits of a pact

Mrs May joined French president Emmanuel Macron (left) and Angela Merkel of Germany (right) last night in voicing regret over Mr Trump's decision on the Iran nuclear deal

The President pointed out that Iran  a regime of 'great terror' had boosted its military spend, supported terrorism and 'caused havoc' throughout the Middle East and beyond.

Controversial Iran deal that Trump tears up after calling it 'horrible' The 2015 nuclear deal was an agreement signed between Iran, the US, UK, Russia, France, China, and Germany. The deal lifted crippling economic sanctions on Iran in return for limitations to the country's nuclear energy programme, which many feared would be used to create a nuclear weapon. Under the deal, Iran agreed to keep its uranium enrichment levels at no more than 3.67 per cent, down from almost 20 per cent. The country's uranium stockpile was also to be kept at under 300 kilograms, which Mr Obama said would see a reduction of 98 per cent. Tehran also agreed to redesign a heavy-water nuclear facility it had been building that was capable of producing plutonium suitable for a nuclear bomb. The reactor would no longer produce any weapons-grade plutonium and no additional heavy-water reactors were to be built for 15 years. In order to ensure Iran stuck to the deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency was granted greater access and information regarding the country's nuclear programme. The agency was also given powers to investigate suspicious sites or allegations of covert facilities as well as having access to the supply chain that supports Iran's nuclear programme. Measures were put in place to ensure the 'break-out time' - the amount of time it would take Iran to create a nuclear bomb - was slowed dramatically, while its government agreed not to engage in activities, including research and development, that it would need to make one. In return, the lifting of sanctions meant Iran stood to gain access to more than $100bn in assets frozen overseas. It was also able to resume selling oil on international markets and use the global financial system for trade. But if the country was to violate any part of the deal, it was agreed that UN sanctions would 'snap back' into place for 10 years, with the possibility of a five-year extension. Advertisement

He said he had talked to France, Germany, the UK and friends across the Middle East and said they were 'unified' in their conviction Iran must never deliver nuclear weapons.

He went on: 'America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail.

'The US no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises I keep them.' He said he would be open to a new deal in the future.

In a statement immediately afterwards, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said there was a 'short time' to negotiate with the countries remaining in the nuclear deal.

He warned his country could start enriching uranium more than ever in the coming weeks.

Mr Rouhani spoke live on Iranian state television. He said he would send Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to countries remaining in the accord.

He said: 'I have ordered Iran's atomic organisation that whenever it is needed, we will start enriching uranium more than before.'

He said Iran would start this 'in the next weeks'.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was deeply concerned by the US decision to withdraw from the deal.

The EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said the EU wanted to preserve the deal.

She said: 'The European Union is determined to preserve it [the deal].

'Together with the rest of the international community, we will preserve this nuclear deal.'

'The nuclear deal with Iran is crucial for the security of the region, of Europe and of the entire world.'

Mr Macron tweeted: 'The nuclear non-proliferation regime is at stake.'

Tensions were already heightened in the region after Mr Netanyahu announced that Israeli spies had stolen thousands of files on Iran's nuclear programme.

Israel has also struck Iranian forces in Syria several times in recent weeks.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had travelled to Washington on Saturday where he made a last-ditch bid to prevent the US pullout.

Mr Johnson said Mr Trump would be in line for the Nobel Peace Prize if he can sort out the Iran nuclear deal.

Earlier in the day the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said Iran would not be 'passive' if President Trump left the nuclear deal.

He said: 'It will not be in the American's interests if the JCPOA (Iran's nuclear deal) collapses by their offensive...

'We will not be passive if the United States starts confrontation with Iran.'

Mr Trump has previously condemned the Iran accord signed by his predecessor Mr Obama as 'insane' and the 'worst deal ever'.

Scrapping it was a commitment he made during his election campaign.

Mrs May spoke to Mr Trump on the phone over the weekend. Then Mr Johnson yesterday urged the President not to 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' by walking away.

He accepted the agreement was not perfect but warned that there was not a better alternative.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would rather face a military confrontation with Iran 'now than later'.

He said his country was prepared for a war to stop Iranian forces embedding in neighbouring Syria.

Mr Netanyahu said: 'We are determined to block Iran's aggression against us even if this means a struggle. Better now than later.'
High up on the agenda during the meeting were discussions of the Iran deal

Saudi Arabia has heaped praise on President Trump following his decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday.

The praise comes just a month after Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Washington in a meeting which included discussions about the Iran accord.

Following Trump's announcement, the world's largest oil exporter said it will take all necessary measures to prevent oil supply shortages as Iran is expected to retaliate against the US with its own sanctions.

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Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (left) speaks with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office

'The kingdom will work with major oil producers within and outside OPEC, and with major consumers as well to limit the impact of any shortages in supplies,' the Saudi energy ministry said in a statement late Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia's assurance came just hours after US President Donald Trump announced the United States was withdrawing from the landmark nuclear deal between world powers and Iran.

Trump also reinstated US sanctions which could curtail Iran's ability to export oil, its mainstay for public revenues.

Saudi Arabia also called upon the international community and parties in the Iran nuclear agreement to 'heed Mr Trump's call for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.'

Donald Trump shows a chart highlighting arms sales to Saudi Arabia during a meeting with the Crown Prince

Refineries in Saudi Arabia (pictured) are capable of compensating for the shortfall in supply if Iran decides to halt production

Before international sanctions were lifted following the nuclear deal in late 2015, Iran's crude exports stood at just one million barrels per day, mostly to Asia and European countries.

That figure has since soared to 2.5 million bpd.

Saudi Arabia currently pumps around 10 million bpd, but has capacity of around 12 million bpd - a surplus of two million bpd.

'The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to support the stability of the global oil markets to serve the interests of both producers and consumers and also the sustainability of global economic growth,' the ministry statement said.

Iranian politicians burning pieces of paper with the US flag on after the announcement on Tuesday

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Iran could reinstate the nuclear programme after the decision

Major oil producers from OPEC and non-OPEC members including Russia, the world's top producer, are linked to a deal until the end of the year to cut output by 1.8 million bpd to support prices.

Oil prices made key gains after Trump's announcement with Brent crude rising 2.4 percent to over $76.5 a barrel and US crude trading above $70 early Wednesday.

The UAE and Bahrain also backed Trump's decision - with the UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash tweeting: 'Iran's rhetoric & aggressive regional actions were the background to a flawed deal.

'The veneer of Tehran's compliance contradicted its bellicose policies. President Trump's decision is the correct one'.

Mr Trump said in his announcement that the United States consulted with our friends from across the Middle East. 'We are unified in our understanding of the threat and in our conviction that Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon,' he said.

Saudi Arabia has long accused its regional rival Tehran of supplying the Huthi rebels in Yemen with ballistic missiles.

Saudi Arabia's air defences intercepted two ballistic missiles over the capital Riyadh on Wednesday believed to have been fired from Yemen.

A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition said Saudi air defences hours earlier had also intercepted a ballistic missile originating from Yemen and targeting Saudi Arabia's southern city of Jizan.

Colonel Turki al-Maliki blamed the 'Iran-backed Huthi' rebels in Yemen for the attack.

Saudi Arabia launched a military coalition in Yemen in 2015, aimed at rolling back the Huthis and restoring the internationally recognised government to power.

The Huthis have in recent months intensified missile attacks against Saudi Arabia.

Iran nuclear deal - what happens next? Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal abruptly restores harsh sanctions on Iran, an any companies which trades with it, meaning major companies in the U.S. and Europe could be hurt, too. The sanctions seek to punish Iran for its nuclear program by limiting its ability to sell oil or do business overseas, affecting a wide range of Iranian economic sectors and individuals. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that licenses held by Boeing and its European competitor Airbus to sell billions of dollars in commercial jetliners to Iran will be revoked. New rules: US President Donald Trump, seen here shaking hands with National Security Advisor John Bolton, will impose sanctions on Iran, and companies doing business with Iran, immediately Certain exemptions are to be negotiated, but Mnuchin refused to discuss what products might qualify. He said the sanctions will sharply curtail sales of oil by Iran, which is currently the world's fifth largest oil producer. Mnuchin said he didn't expect oil prices to rise sharply, forecasting that other producers will step up production. The White House administration said it would re-impose sanctions on Iran immediately but allow grace periods for businesses to wind down activity. Companies and banks doing business with Iran will have to scramble to extricate themselves or run afoul of the U.S. government. In Iran, many are deeply concerned about how Trump's decision could affect the already struggling economy. In Tehran, Rouhani sought to calm nerves, smiling as he appeared at a petroleum expo. He didn't name Trump directly, but emphasized that Iran continued to seek 'engagement with the world.' Advertisement
The world has reacted with outrage after Donald Trump pulled the plug on US involvement in the Iran Nuclear Deal.

His White House Statement on Tuesday slammed the 2015 peace accords as 'disastrous', insisting they imposed 'no limits' on Iran's 'sinister' activities across the Middle East.

The decision sparked fury in Iran with politicians setting fire to the American flag, chanting 'Death to America' and accusing Trump of 'lacking mental capacity'.

Today the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran would wait for the day Trump dies and 'snakes and ants eat his corpse'.

The UK, France, Germany and Russia have condemned the 'regrettable' decision, with French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warning of a 'real risk of confrontation' if Europe doesn't act to counter Trump's 'rash' decision.

MailOnline brings you all the latest updates here:
France has condemned Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and vowed to ensure that the 2015 agreement is 'not dead'.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Trump had made a mistake and that the United States should not consider itself the world's 'economic policeman' as America reinstated financial sanctions on Iran.

French President Emmanuel Macron, along with the UK and Germany, voiced a regret over Trump's decision and reinforced their commitment to the deal, words echoed by several nations, including China and Russia.

The leaders of the UK, France and Germany spoke of their regret following US President Donald Trump's decision to torpedo the Iran nuclear deal (pictured from left: Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Merkel)

European officials will 'do everything' possible to protect the interests of companies working in Iran, which may now be exposed to new US sanctions against the country, an official in the French presidency said Wednesday.

The official added that European governments are going 'to do everything to protect the interests' of their companies, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

'The deal is not dead. There's an American withdrawal from the deal but the deal is still there,' French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian said.

Le Drian said France, like others, was well aware that there were concerns about issues other than nuclear capability, namely topics such as Iran's ballistic weapons programme, but added they too could be addressed without ditching the nuclear deal.

Le Drian, interviewed just hours after the announcement by Trump, said Macron's contact with Rouhani would be followed by meetings next week, probably on Monday, involving the Iranians and European counterparts from France, Britain and Germany.

'Yes, there is a real risk of confrontation,' he told RTL, regarding Trump's decision on Iran. 'I hope it will not be a setback for peace,' he added.

Last night, Macron, along with Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel released a joint statement, in which they emphasised their 'continuing commitment' to the deal and said they regretted Trump's decision.

I'm out guys: President Trump had previously fiercely criticised the Iran deal, which eased sanctions in exchange for commitments to abandon its nuclear weapons programme

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani meanwhile said his country will remain in the deal, and will instead trade with the other countries which signed it

Rules of the agreement: Behind the historic 2015 Iran nuclear deal

'It is with regret and concern that we ... take note of President Trump's decision to withdraw the United States of America from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

'We urge all sides to remain committed to its full implementation and to act in a spirit of responsibility.'

Iran meanwhile, has said it will remain in the deal, and will instead trade with the other countries which signed it, however its Supreme Leader has since said it needs 'solid' European guarantees that trade relations would continue.

Addressing Iran's government in a televised speech, Khamenei said: 'If you don't succeed in obtaining a definitive guarantee - and I really doubt that you can - at that moment, we cannot continue like this.'

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on all state matters under the laws of the Islamic Republic.

Israel - Iran's arch-nemesis - applauded Trump's decision to withdraw, but otherwise words of praise for Trump have been few and far between.

China's said it regrets Trumps decision, and that pulling out of the deal raises the risk of conflict in the Middle East.

A foreign ministry spokesman said China will safeguard the deal and it calls on all relevant parties to assume a responsible attitude.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the United States will be 'the loser' from Trump's move, while Russia's acting Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin remains committed to the Iran nuclear deal.

Iran nuclear deal - what happens next? Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal abruptly restores harsh sanctions on Iran, an any companies which trades with it, meaning major companies in the U.S. and Europe could be hurt, too. The sanctions seek to punish Iran for its nuclear program by limiting its ability to sell oil or do business overseas, affecting a wide range of Iranian economic sectors and individuals. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that licenses held by Boeing and its European competitor Airbus to sell billions of dollars in commercial jetliners to Iran will be revoked. New rules: US President Donald Trump, seen here shaking hands with National Security Advisor John Bolton, will impose sanctions on Iran, and companies doing business with Iran, immediately Certain exemptions are to be negotiated, but Mnuchin refused to discuss what products might qualify. He said the sanctions will sharply curtail sales of oil by Iran, which is currently the world's fifth largest oil producer. Mnuchin said he didn't expect oil prices to rise sharply, forecasting that other producers will step up production. The White House administration said it would re-impose sanctions on Iran immediately but allow grace periods for businesses to wind down activity. Companies and banks doing business with Iran will have to scramble to extricate themselves or run afoul of the U.S. government. In Iran, many are deeply concerned about how Trump's decision could affect the already struggling economy. In Tehran, Rouhani sought to calm nerves, smiling as he appeared at a petroleum expo. He didn't name Trump directly, but emphasized that Iran continued to seek 'engagement with the world.' Advertisement

Former President Barack Obama, who championed the deal, wrote on his Facebook that Trump was turning his back on U.S. allies.

'Walking away from the JCPOA turns our back on America's closest allies, and an agreement that our country's leading diplomats, scientists, and intelligence professionals negotiated,' he said.

Former Cabinet minister Lord Hague said withdrawing from the agreement would 'broadcast a message that Washington does not honour its word'.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Lord Hague said that ripping up the deal would be a 'very great error'.

He wrote: 'If he is wavering, he should picture himself sitting across from Kim (Jong-Un) in the near future.

'Ending the Iran deal would mean that what the US signs up to in one year, it can abrogate three years later.

'And that in turn would not bode well for an agreement with North Korea or the stability of the Middle East - and thereby for the peace of the world.'

Former Cabinet minister Lord Hague (left) warned that Kim Jong-Un (right) would find it difficult to trust the word of the US if Trump rips up the Iran deal

Iran president Hassan Rouhani has warned Mr Trump the West will regret 'like never before' if it sinks the nuclear deal with his country
President Donald Trumps national security adviser praised the decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement because the deal negotiated by the Obama administration was too flawed and too dangerous for us.

John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, told Laura Ingraham of Fox News that its in our security interest to get out of this flawed deal.

Bolton, who recently replaced HR McMaster as national security adviser, criticized the deal as not tough enough on Iran.

The objective should be to prevent Iran from getting deliverable nuclear weapons, Bolton said.

The deal not only didn't accomplish that objective. In many ways it facilitated Iran's efforts.

President Donald Trumps national security adviser, John Bolton (above), praised the decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement because the deal negotiated by the Obama administration was too flawed and too dangerous for us'

What President Trump did by pulling out of the deal is get back to what the real objective should be - stopping this dangerous regime from threatening us and our friends around the world with nuclear weapons.

Bolton also criticized John Kerry, the former secretary of state under President Obama, for his last-ditch efforts to salvage the deal.

He said Kerry and Obama gave Iran economic advantages and that the government in Tehran has demonstrated in so many ways it couldn't care less about the restrictions of this deal.

Bolton said the goal now was for America to bring Europe along and re-impose sanctions that not only address Irans nuclear program but also its ballistic missile development as well as its other activities against regional allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The national security advisers claim that the Iran deal failed to restrict the Islamic Republics nuclear ambitions has been refuted by American intelligence officials, European governments, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The leaders of Britain, Germany and France, which were signatories to the deal along with China and Russia, said in a joint statement that Trumps decision was a cause for 'regret and concern.'

Trump reacts to a question from the media after announcing his decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal

A Western diplomat was more pointed.

'It announces sanctions for which the first victims will be Trumps European allies,' the diplomat said, adding that it was clear Trump did not care about the alliance.

Abandoning the Iran pact was one of the most consequential decisions of Trumps high-stakes 'America First' policy, which has led him to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, come close to a trade war with China and pull out of an Asian-Pacific trade deal.

It also appeared to reflect the growing influence within the administration of Iran hawks like new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Bolton.

Both favored getting out of the deal but did not need to press their case as Trump had already made up his mind, a senior White House official said.

Bolton looks on (left) alongside Vice President Mike Pence during Trump's announcement

Trump had reluctantly been granting Iran sanctions relief every few months and by middle of 2017 was already furious at aides for trying to persuade him to stay in the deal, a source said.

Bolton told reporters on Tuesday that Trump did not withdraw from the agreement until now 'because he gave repeated opportunities to try to fix the deal.'

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Iran would remain in the deal without Washington.

Nevertheless, Trumps decision to exit the deal could tip the balance of power in favor of hardliners looking to constrain Rouhanis ability to open up to the West.

Iran denies it has tried to build atomic weapons and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

UN inspectors say Iran has not broken the nuclear deal and senior US officials themselves have said several times that Iran is in technical compliance with the pact.

Iranian state television said Trumps decision to withdraw was 'illegal, illegitimate and undermines international agreements.'

Renewing sanctions would make it much harder for Iran to sell its oil abroad or use the international banking system.

Iran is the third-largest member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and pumps about 3.8 million barrels per day of crude, or just under 4 percent of global supply.

China, India, Japan and South Korea buy most of its 2.5 million bpd of exports.

According to the US Treasury, sanctions related to Irans energy, auto and financial sectors will be reimposed in three and six months.

Oil prices recouped some losses after Trumps announcement, in a volatile session in which prices slumped as much as 4 percent earlier in the day.
Former President Barack Obama re-emerged on Tuesday to chide his successor for withdrawing the United States from an international agreement regulating Iran's nuclear activities.

Obama said in a long statement that he posted to social media accounts that Donald Trump had made 'a serious mistake' in reneging on the obligations the U.S. agreed to when it signed on to the accord.

'Without the JCPOA, the United States could eventually be left with a losing choice between a nuclear-armed Iran or another war in the Middle East,' he said.

If the deal falls apart because of Trump's action, Obama warned, 'We could be hastening the day when we are faced with the choice between living with that threat, or going to war to prevent it.'

Former President Barack Obama reemerged on Tuesday to chide his predecessor for withdrawing the United States from an international agreement regulating Iran's nuclear activities

Obama said in a long statement that he posted to social media accounts that Donald Trump had 'a serious mistake' in reneging on the United States' end of the accord

If the deal falls apart because of Trump's action, Obama warned, 'We could be hastening the day when we are faced with the choice between living with that threat, or going to war to prevent it'

Lecturing the sitting president, Obama explained that his administration knew that the 2015 accord it helped to negotiate would not address every Iranian threat.

'We were clear-eyed that Iran engages in destabilizing behavior  including support for terrorism, and threats toward Israel and its neighbors,' he said. 'But thats precisely why it was so important that we prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.'

'Every aspect of Iranian behavior that is troubling is far more dangerous if their nuclear program is unconstrained. Our ability to confront Irans destabilizing behavior  and to sustain a unity of purpose with our allies  is strengthened with the JCPOA, and weakened without it.'

Obama's secretary of state at the time the U.S. and Europe joined the alliance with China, Russia and Europe - John Kerry - also spoke out against Trump's decision.

'Instead of building on unprecedented nonproliferation verification measures, this decision risks throwing them away and dragging the world back to the brink we faced a few years ago,' Kerry said in a statement. 'The extent of the damage will depend on what Europe can do to hold the nuclear agreement together, and it will depend on Iran's reaction.'

Obama's secretary of state at the time the U.S. and Europe joined the alliance with China, Russia and Europe - John Kerry - also spoke out against Trump's decision

Kerry said that Trump, who he did not reference by name, should not have outsourced that responsibility to Europe. 'This is not in America's interests,' he added.

Trump has personally assailed Kerry for settling for the deal at hand instead of pushing for something that had more teeth. He mocked the ex-diplomat in a Friday speech for a bike accident Kerry had during talks with Iran in 2015 in France.

The president had already spoken out about Kerry's 'shadow diplomacy' on Monday following news reports that the Obama administration official has secretly met with foreign governments in a bid to save the much-maligned deal.

He blasted Kerry again on Tuesday morning for huddling with foreign dignitaries, including the foreign minister of Iran and the presidents of France and Germany, in the lead-up to the announcement.

'John Kerry cant get over the fact that he had his chance and blew it! Stay away from negotiations John, you are hurting your country!' Trump said.

Kerry could run afoul of the Logan Act, a 200+ year-old federal law that made it a felony for civilians to conduct foreign policy without authorization

In a Monday tweet he harangued Kerry for the meetings and for creating the 'mess' the United States now finds itself in.

'The United States does not need John Kerrys possibly illegal Shadow Diplomacy on the very badly negotiated Iran Deal,' the president wrote. 'He was the one that created this MESS in the first place!'

Since leaving office, Obama has kept a promise to extract himself from the political debate, except in instances when Trump has taken direct aim at policies that defined the two-term Democrat's presidency.

He said when he left office that although he would remain living in Washington, D.C. he planned to leave the duly elected president to the business of running the government.

Obama has only inserted himself in the conversation on two notable occasions last year: when Congress sought to unravel Obamacare and when Trump announced his decision to rip the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement.

His statement on Trump's intent to bring Iran to its knees by slapping it with a load of sanctions noted that there will inherently be changes in U.S. policy from one administration to the next.

'But the consistent flouting of agreements that our country is a party to risks eroding Americas credibility, and puts us at odds with the worlds major powers,' he said.

'Going forward, I hope that Americans continue to speak out in support of the kind of strong, principled, fact-based, and unifying leadership that can best secure our country and uphold our responsibilities around the globe,' he challenged.
Ahmedeltigani Alsyed, 20, planned to go to Syria to fight with ISIS but was too scared to get hit with a paintball while training in Surrey

An Islamic terrorist who wanted to die as a jihadi even though he was terrified of paintballing has today been jailed for more than four years.

Ahmedeltigani Alsyed, 20, and his brother Yusef Alsyed, 18, took out a gym subscription to 'increase their fitness' and attended a paintball event to train for battle in Syria.

The pair had a 'shared aspiration' to fight in the war-torn country and become martyrs with Mohammed Ali, 18, and a 17-year-old Deliveroo driver, who cannot be named, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

During the paintballing session, Ahmed, was filmed making an ISIS one fingered salute and telling the camera in Arabic: 'This is a message to everyone. If we do not come back safe and sound, look after our families. That is all.'

His brother, who stood next to him, is seen laughing in the video.

The four of them chatted on encrypted messaging app Telegram, under a group called 'Peace', about how to join the terrorist group throughout 2016.

Ahmedeltigani, known as Ahmed, was jailed for four years and three months.

His brother Yusef will be sentenced at a later date after spending yesterday in the hospital wing at Belmarsh Prison.

Scroll down for video

Paintballing jihadists Ahmeddeltigani Alsyed (left) and his younger brother Yousif Alsyed, 18, at the Blind Fire paintball, in Chobham, Surrey in September 2016

Ahmed Alsyed claimed the paintballing trip in September 2016 was an 'innocent afternoon' out, and had been invited to by his cousin.

He told the court: 'To be honest I was terrified,' he said 'I was hiding the whole match as well. I didn't want to get hit.'

Judge Andrew Lees said: 'You and your brother attended a paintball event on 3 September 2016 with two cousins.

'In the video footage of this occasion you were asked to say something in the camera.

'You said: 'This is a message to everyone; if we do not come back safe and sound, look after our families that's all!'

'There's further footage of you performing a single finger salute associated with, although not exclusively, Daesh.

'You said you were terrified at the paintballing event, not fighting jihad, and the single finger salute was the way you talked, rather than a gesture associated with Daesh.

Yousif Alsyed had earlier pleaded guilty to preparing terror acts. The two brothers had been part of a secret Telegram group called 'Peace', involving Muhammad Ali, 18, right, who was jailed in January along with a 17-year-old boy for attempting to join ISIS

'You said you were not attending the gym to get fit for jihad and pointed out that you had attended a gym in 2014 before your radicalisation.

'Having heard the evidence and considered the evidence of your radicalisation, your communication with others, and your intention to die as a martyr, I am sure that the comments were not about paintball but about jihad.

'It's with great concern that you were commenting in the way you were in front of your two young cousins who were 14 and 11.'

Prosecutor Annabell Darlow, QC, said Ahmed Alysed was born in Sudan in 1997 and was living in Hounslow at the time of his arrest.

She said: 'Ahmed and Yusef Alsyed shared an aspiration to travel to Syria to join and fight with fundamentalist jihadi groups and ultimately to die fighting in the belief that in death they would achieve martyrdom.'

Yusef came to the attention of police through the government anti-extremism strategy Prevent.

Ms Darlow said: 'In April/May 2016 an individual called 'Abu Ibrahim' was using Telegram to try to travel to Syria to become a Martyr and was awaiting the green light to travel.

'Abu Ibrahim was identified as Yusef Alsyed.'

Members of the Alsyed family went on holiday to Egypt and were stopped as part of a 'Schedule 7 Port Stop' on their return to the UK on August 10, 2016.

The brothers' seized phones contained a large amount of 'Islamist extremist mind-set material and Telegram contact with a facilitator in Yemen about potential travel to Libya or Syria in the purpose of joining Daesh,' said Ms Darlow.

'The messages recovered from the telephones reveals a number of significant conversations.

Ahmedeltigani Alsyed was jailed for four years and three months at Woolwich Crown Court

'Yusef communicated with an individual called 'N'. That conversation indicating that Yusef Alsyed intended to travel to Syria and had carried out inquiries and made plans to facilitate travel. He said he wanted to do Jihad.'

Yusef was asked by 'N' what his future plans were and he replied 'my plan is to die for Allah, to be a martyr'.

Ahmed Alsyed also spoke of his intention to travel to Syria in a conversation over Facebook with a user called 'Muthanna Seven'.

He told Muthanna Seven 'I know that I have to go to Turkey first but I don't know how to get to Syria, I don't even know how to get to the border'.

Ahmed Alsyed also said he had listened to Anwar al-Awlaki, the former leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen, who he thought he was an 'amazing person' and he 'loved him so much'.

He said he was motivated by 'watching videos of martyrs smiling'.

Speaking of his plan to fight in Syria, Ahmed said: 'I feel like I just want to be there as soon as possible'.

Ahmed also told Muthanna Seven in May 2016 that he had tried to persuade his cousin to accompany him on jihad and 'join him on the front'.

Two videos found on the brothers' phones were shown to the court, including one demonstrating where to stab victims in 'lone wolf' attacks and how to make bombs at home.

Ms Darlow said: 'It contains detailed instructions using knives in 'lone wolf' attacks in the West, including what type of knife and where to stab people, that culminates in a fatal demonstration on a live prisoner described as a spy.'

I'm sure it was your intention and had been an intention for many months to travel to Syria and die as a martyr. Judge Andrew Lees

A further section gives instructions on how to make an IED using hydrogen peroxide and ball bearings before being demonstrated on a live human being, also said to be a spy, who is shot at in a desert before the device explodes.

Pictures were also posted on a Telegram group, called 'Peace', of dead males in combat clothing, apparently smiling, to reflect a belief that those entering martyrdom smile at the point of their death.

Ahmed Alsyed also expressed the need to work on his fitness, joining Xercise 4 Less' in Hounslow in September 2016 and 'The Gym' in February 2017.

He denied attending the gym to 'get fit for jihad' but said he was 'passionate' about training because he wanted to be a bodybuilder.

The brothers were arrested at their home on 20 February 2017 after Ali and the 17-year-old were stopped trying to board a flight to Istanbul.

Judge Lees said: 'You and your brother and the other co-defendants shared an aspiration to travel to Syria to join and fight with fundamentalist Jihadi groups and ultimately to die fighting in the belief that in death you would achieve martyrdom.

'It is clear that you were both seeking information on how to travel and expressing the intention of following the others to syria to die in martyrdom.'

The judge said the pair had 'exchanged extremist material' on the secret messaging service Telegram including two videos, one entitled 'Crusades, battles and executions of prisoners of Daesh' and the other which was called ''You must fight them O Muwahhid.'

He said: 'It's truly sickening footage. You became radicalised, your actions must have acted as encouragement to the others in your group to prepare for terrorist acts and further your shared aspiration to travel to Syria.

'I accept that you did not have a passport and that you did not have the funds to travel at the time of your arrest. Nevertheless I'm sure it was your intention and had been an intention for many months to travel to Syria and die as a martyr.

'Both you and your brother held deep and extensive radicalised beliefs.'

Ahmed Alsyed, and Yusef Alsyed, of Feltham, Middlesex, admitted preparing acts of terrorism and disseminating terrorism publication.

Ahmed also admitted possessing information likely to be useful to a person preparing an act of terrorism.

He was detained for four years and three months at a youth detention centre. A parole board will rule whether he can be released after he has served half of the sentence. He will also be subject to a one year license period on his eventual release.

Ali, of Morden, south London, and the 17-year-old previously admitted preparing acts of terrorism.

Ali was jailed for four years and two months and the 17-year-old was detained for two years and eight months at the Old Bailey last November.

Yusef Alsyed will be sentenced on a date to be set.
A number of debt and mental health charities are together calling on the Government to regulate bailiffs, as polling shows more than four in five Britons think they should be subject to independent scrutiny.

The survey of more than 5,000 people, carried out by Citizens Advice and StepChange Debt Charity, found 86 per cent thought there should be an independent system to complain about bailiffs.

A further 83 per cent of National Debtline callers who had experienced bailiff action reported it had had a negative impact on their wellbeing.

11 debt charities including Citizens Advice, StepChange and Money Advice Trust have written to the Ministry of Justice calling for better regulation of bailiffs

The 11 organisations including Citizens Advice, Money Advice Trust, StepChange Debt Charity and Christians Against Poverty, have claimed that 2014 reforms by the Government have failed to have an impact.

Gillian Guy, the chief executive of Citizens Advice, said that 'Government action is long overdue' with 'mounting evidence that bailiffs continue to flout the rules'.

The charities' call comes as the Ministry of Justice finishes its consultation into a review of bailiff reforms that began last November.

Reforms in 2014, which the Ministry of Justice at the time said 'will help to clean up the industry and ensure bailiffs play by the rules', banned bailiffs from visiting debtors at night, banned them from seizing property for rent arrears without first going to court, and ensured debtors were given seven days' notice first.

However, a report by the Treasury Select Committee last summer found that an 'uncompromising' approach by local and central government to debt collection needed to be reformed, amid concerns that councils were using bailiffs 'overzealously' to reclaim debts like unpaid council tax.

Around 2.3million cases were passed to bailiffs from local authorities in 2016/17.

This is Money has frequently reported on stories of readers being harangued by debt collectors on everything from private parking charges to Dart Charge payments.

Often small initial charges frequently spiral into debts of many hundreds of pounds, followed by the involvement of debt collectors.

A survey of 308 advisers within the 11 organisations found that 37 per cent had thought the situation was now worse than before the April 2014 reforms, more than double those who thought that in 2015.

Citizens Advice says it has witnessed a 24 per cent rise in bailiff problems since 2014, and that the number of people seeking help with debt issues surrounding council tax and utilities bills has overtaken the number of people needing help with consumer credit issues like loans and credit cards.

Bailiff tale of woe? Do you have a bailiff horror story? Get in touch: editor@thisismoney.co.uk

The charities have claimed that even when bailiffs have broken the rules, debtors have often felt powerless to complain.

There have been just 56 complaints to court about bailiffs in the five years since the reforms were brought in, while a StepChange survey found that only 15 per cent of those who felt they had been unfairly treated by bailiffs complained.

Phil Andrew, chief executive of StepChange said: 'Only formal regulation can solve the problems in the bailiff sector.

'Complaints provide a case in point, where the complaints mechanism involves the bailiff industry's own trade body acting as adjudicator.

'Just 15 per cent of StepChange clients who felt they had been unfairly treated by bailiffs have complained.

'That's shocking but unsurprising, as the industry's complaints mechanism is fragmented, opaque and can't be trusted.

'Bailiff firms uphold only around 1 in 10 of the complaints put directly to them. By comparison, financial services firms uphold about half.

'Industry protectionism and self-interest are causing detriment and harm to some people who have legitimate cause for complaint about bailiffs.'

Gillian Guy added: 'The Ministry of Justice must move to establish independent bailiff regulation to stop harm being inflicted on people, especially those in vulnerable situations due to their debt or ill health.

'We're concerned that without a regulator, any attempts to improve practice in the sector will fail to protect people.

'They also need to create an independent complaints process, like in financial services, so complaints about bailiffs are dealt with impartially.'
The Royal Bank of Scotland has unveiled its second successive year in the black and a 1.6billion final dividend, resulting in a near 1billion windfall for the taxpayer.

Mr Kipling cake firm Premier Foods has scrapped plans to sell off its Ambrosia custard brand, blaming the current business climate.

Later today, we have the retail sales figures for January, which could exacerbate the existing weakness in the pound if they come in below the City's modest expectations of a 0.2 per cent rise.
A vital security check that could stop millions of people from being scammed will not now be fully introduced until late next year.

Campaigners said the delay was a 'betrayal' of banking customers.

The basic test would see money transfers blocked if the recipient's name and account number did not match. Major banks were told by the Payments Systems Regulator (PSR) to introduce the 'confirmation of payee' process by July 1.

But banking industry body UK Finance has said it will not be ready until sometime next year, and blamed complex IT systems and processes. It comes a month after it told the PSR the timetable was 'not achievable', and warned few banks would meet the deadline.

Put back: Campaigners said the delay was a 'betrayal' of banking customers

Consumer groups were last night angry. Gareth Shaw, of consumer watchdog Which?, said: 'Any extended delay to this vital measure would be a huge betrayal of bank customers and is likely to result in millions of pounds being lost unnecessarily to bank transfer scams  with devastating consequences for the victims. 'Confirmation of payee could eliminate a huge number of bank transfer scam.'

Currently banks do not check to make sure the name customers provide as the payee matches the account they send their money to.

They only check the account number and sort code correlate.

It means that if someone writes HMRC as the payee and the account actually belongs to Joe Bloggs, the payment would still go through. Around a third of money lost to bank transfer fraud  49.3m  was a result of invoice fraud, where scammers pose as solicitors, builders and other tradesmen.

Confirmation of payee would allow banks to cross check the payee name and account details before a transfer. Lloyds Banking Group, which includes Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, and Santander, will implement the process this year. Barclays and NatWest/RBS declined to comment.

Tom Clementson, of payment systems provider Shieldpay, said: 'The adoption of technology, which verify both identity and matching bank accounts, is one solution that can help eliminate risk and should undoubtedly be used more widely.'

The PSR said: 'We want to see it brought in as soon as possible and make sure that when it is introduced, it is an effective way to stop this crime. We are still working through the responses to our consultation, so no decisions on timing have been made.'

A UK Finance spokesman said: 'The industry is supportive of the PSR's direction on confirmation of payee. However, there needs to be sufficient time to allow the new service to be introduced in a way that delivers an effective customer experience across the entire retail payments market.'
AstraZeneca hailed the success of new drugs and strong performance in China as it returned to sales growth for the first time in a decade.

Sales rose 5 per cent to 4.5 billion in the final three months of 2018, bringing the total figure for the year to 16.4 billion.

It was vindication of a strategy under Pascal Soriot to develop lucrative new medicines.

Success: Sales rose 5 per cent to 4.5 billion in the final three months of 2018

When he arrived in 2013, Astra faced a series of expiring drug patents that threatened a 'cliff edge' for sales. But the chief executive focused efforts on new blockbuster cancer drugs, and analysts are predicting a period of rapid growth.

Success in China saw sales there rise 25 per cent in the year. Profits for the year were down 7 per cent to 2.6 billion, but the firm said this would improve as its momentum in sales continued.

Shares leapt 7.5 per cent, or 428p, to 6149p, putting them on track for their best day in 18 months.

Soriot, 59, said: 'This is a very exciting time for us. We're now back to growth.

'We have made enormous progress and we now have a very strong pipeline, which of course we need to turn into sales growth and profit improvements.
A Chinese takeover of a major British payments firm has sparked national security concerns.

Ant Financial  founded by billionaire Jack Ma, a member of China's ruling communist party  is buying London-based Worldfirst for a reported 550m.

The deal could give Ant control over sensitive financial data and millions of payments processed on behalf of UK citizens and businesses. But it comes after US officials blocked a similar takeover by Ant in America on national security grounds.

Concerns: The deal could give Ant control over sensitive financial data and millions of payments processed on behalf of UK citizens and businesses

And there are fears that should a serious rift develop between the UK and China, Britain's payments could be cut off, crippling businesses.

Last night MPs and experts called on the Government to thoroughly scrutinise the takeover of Worldfirst. Bob Seely, a Tory MP on the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: 'I have been concerned by our laissez-faire attitude to many of these deals, especially under previous governments.

'We should adopt a coherent strategy with our allies such as the US, Canada and Australia towards Chinese investment.'

Labour's Peter Kyle, an MP on the Commons business committee, said: 'We need to learn from the experience in America and consider being more cautious.

'You only need to get one of these decisions wrong and it can still have a very big impact on millions of people.'

John Hemmings, an Asia expert at the Henry Jackson Society, pointed to a US decision to block Ant Financial's takeover of payments firm Moneygram last year, saying: 'It is certainly a deal that deserves to be closely reviewed.'

In an email to Worldfirst's customers, chief executive Jonathan Quin said the British firm was 'proud to be a part of the Ant Financial family'.

Ant Financial said: 'Alipay and Worldfirst's capabilities and international footprints are highly complementary, and together, we will be able to better serve small businesses and promote financial inclusion.'
Humbled entrepreneur Luke Johnson has suffered a 183m loss after his scandal-hit cake chain Patisserie Valerie was rescued by an Irish private equity firm.

The company, left reeling after an alleged fraud by its former finance director, was sold by administrator KPMG to Causeway Capital following talks that lasted until 3am yesterday.

Around 2,000 jobs have been saved, and 96 Patisserie Valerie cafes will stay open.

Hit hard: Humbled entrepreneur Luke Johnson has suffered a 183m loss

But it is a devastating blow for executive chairman Johnson, 57, most of whose 260m fortune was tied up in Patisserie Valerie.

He had a stake worth 170m on the day the fraud was revealed to the market in October, leading to an immediate suspension of trading in its shares.

Chris Marsh, who was finance director at Patisserie Valerie at the time the scandal erupted, was arrested shortly after and subsequently released on bail. The value of Johnson's stake has now been wiped out, rendering stock worthless. He also ploughed 10m into the business to keep it afloat, and an extra 3m to pay staff their January wages after it had to call in administrators.

It is thought little of this money will be recovered. The wipeout means Johnson may have lost almost two-thirds of his wealth.

KPMG raised 13m from the rescue deal, which will be used to repay creditors.

Dublin-based Causeway, which owns BB Bakers and Baristas  with around 65 sites in the UK and Ireland  has taken on all Patisserie Valerie stores that remain open.

Another 21 Philpotts cafes which also belonged to the collapsed group, have been rescued by retail and wholesale firm AF Blakemore & Sons, which owns 280 Spar stores across the UK.

And the group's five London-based Baker & Spice stores have been sold to the Department of Coffee & Social Affairs for 2.5m.

Johnson's other investments include Brighton Pier Group, where shares have more than halved in a year, and luxury hospitality firm Elegant Hotels.

He is also chairman of Risk Capital Partners which owns bakery chain Gail's.

Johnson said last night: 'I'm pleased that Patisserie Valerie has been saved and the cloud of uncertainty lifted for its 2,000 employees. While I'm naturally deeply disappointed at the events that led us to this point, I wish the company well.'

It is a dramatic reversal of fortune for the Oxford graduate, one of Britain's best-known entrepreneurs and a former chairman of Pizza Express, Royal Society for Arts and Channel 4.

A self-proclaimed business guru, he has pontificated extensively on the subject of fraud.
A couple of companies on AIM have been caught up in the US-Iran crossfire this week.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said he was pulling his country out of the Iran nuclear agreement, calling it a horrible, one-sided deal.

In a speech given from the Diplomatic Room of the White House, Trump continued: In a few moments, I will sign a presidential memorandum to begin reinstating U.S. nuclear sanctions on the Iranian regime. We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction.

That second part was what really spooked investors, particularly those operating in Iran or working with companies from the Gulf nation.

US president Donald Trump said he was pulling his country out of the Iran nuclear agreement

Poor Westminster Group has spent more than a year touting a major business opportunity at an airport somewhere in the Middle East, which could be worth up to 35million a year to the security services supplier.

Thats an awful lot of money to a firm with a market capitalisation of less than 20million.

Westminster revealed on Thursday evening that the project is actually in Iran, adding that Trumps decision had created uncertainty in the country.

Following the developments and initial discussions with Westminster's customer and commercial partners, the board of Westminster has taken the decision to place the project on hold whilst the company further investigates the impact of the US withdrawal, read the statement.

Westminster said it believed its services and equipment to be supplied under the contract fell outside any sanctions, but investors werent taking the risk, with the stock down 34 per cent across the week to 12.5p.

Serica Energy was another caught out by Trumps comments.

One of the companys producing assets is the Rhum gas field in the UK North Sea, which it jointly owns with the UK arm of Irans state oil company.

Immediately following Trumps announcement, Serica said it was evaluating the implications of sanctions. Shares plunged by 34 per cent to 54.5p.

The biggest faller in London this week was Faron Pharma which fell off a cliff after its flagship drug failed in a late-stage trial.

Top-line data from the study of Traumakine in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome revealed that at 28 days the median number of ventilator-free days for patients on the drug was 10 days, only slightly higher than the 8.5 days for those taking a placebo.

Meanwhile, the mortality rate after four weeks was 26.4 per cent for those receiving the Faron treatment and 23 per cent for the placebo group.

Chief executive Markku Jalkanen said he and his team was incredibly disappointed and surprised at the results, as were investors, who were quick to sell out, sending shares 80 per cent lower across the week to 153p.

The biggest faller this week was Faron Pharma after its flagship drug failed in a late-stage trial

There was some good news out there this week. Property developer Ashley House surged 37 per cent to 12.6p after it released a bullish year-end trading update.

The company  which helps to build health centres, residential buildings and community centres  reported back in March that it had reached financial close of a project in Scarborough and said on Wednesday it has achieved financial close on three more schemes.

Financial close is when the project is legally committed and where Ashley can start to recognise income as things move to the construction stage.

With money starting to come in from these four latest projects, the AIM-listed firm has been able to slash its net debt, while it added that full-year profits are on track to meet expectations.

That was more reflective of the junior market, with the AIM All Share adding 11.9 points, or 1.1 per cent, to reach an all-time high of 1,078.5 come Friday afternoon.

The blue chips also headed back towards their record peaks, rising 136.8 points, or 1.8 per cent, to 7,703.2.

Another lifting the AIM market higher was Arian Silver  confusingly just a lithium explorer  as investors got excited about the prospect of a fresh start under new management.

The firms two co-founders, Jim and Tony Williams, have stepped down from their respective roles as chief executive and executive chairman.

Arian Silver - a lithium explorer - was one of this week's risers

Taking over the reins is Dennis Edmonds, a corporate solicitor by trade with plenty of experience of acquisitions and restructuring. Former Gunsynd non-executive director Chris Gordon, who has helped firms raise money in the past, has also joined the board.

Speaking of raising money, Ariana also brought in 600,000 through a share placing, which will give the new boss something to work with. The market gave the thumbs-up to the changes, with shares climbing 37 per cent to 12.6p.

Pathfinder Minerals shares also found its way this week.

The natural resources company had been locked in a dispute with shareholders over who should lead the firm forward, with a group of investors wanting to oust chief executive Nick Trew and executive director Henry Bellingham.

A vote was set to take place at a shareholder meeting next week (May 15) but that has been cancelled now after Pathfinder moved Trew and Bellingham to new positions of executive director and non-executive chairman, with Blair Sergeant and Simon Farrell - the former finance head and ex-CEO of Coal of Africa  taking their place.

Investors approved of the changes, and a 250,000 fundraise, sending shares 30 per cent higher to 0.98p.
Oil prices have reached their highest level since 2014 after US president Donald Trump pulled the plug on US involvement in the Iran nuclear deal.

A barrel of Brent crude oil rose to $77.16 in early morning trading. With world oil on the rise, motorists across the UK can expect to see prices at the pumps increase.

A spokesman for the AA told This is Money: 'The industrys rule of thumb is that a $2 change in the price of oil, at a constant exchange rate, causes a 1p change at the pump.

All change: Oil prices have reached their highest level since 2014 after US president Donald Trump pulled the plug on US involvement in the Iran Nuclear Deal

'Lower-income drivers are already under pressure from rising pump prices and any new increase makes their finances even more difficult.

'This could worsen if the Europeans fail to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive and the commodity market speculators cash in.'

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: 'Motorists are definitely feeling the effect of rising fuel costs, but things may be about to get a whole lot worse as a result of the United States' decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear agreement.

'The price of oil has already jumped on the back of this news which will lead to even higher prices at the pumps.

In numbers: The cost of a barrel of Brent crude oil from 2013 to the present day

'Last month saw almost 3p a litre being added to the average price of petrol and diesel making it the worst monthly fuel price rise since December 2016.

'And sadly, we fear we may see another couple of pence a litre going on as a result of the higher oil price and the fact the pound has slumped to a four-month low at $1.35.

'This could take the average cost of a litre of unleaded to 126.5p - a price last seen in October 2014 - which would make filling up a 55-litre family car cost nearly 70.'

FTSE 100 listed oil producing groups, including BP and Royal Dutch Shell, have seen their share prices rise on the news.

Outspoken: Donald Trump's tough stance on Iran could keep oil prices higher than they would otherwise be

On the FTSE 250, Tullow Oil and Cairn Energy were among the biggest risers, up over 5 per cent and and 4.4 per cent respectively.

The 2015 deal curbed Iran's nuclear activities in return for the lifting of UN, US and EU sanctions.

Pulling out of the deal means Trump could now re-instate a string of sanctions against Iran.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: 'Oil traders may have seen President Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the 2015 nuclear sanctions coming from some distance away, but confirmation of the move and American plans to exclude Opec's third-biggest producer from global markets is still giving a fresh lift to the price of crude.'

On BP and Shell's share price boost, David Cheetham, chief market analyst at online broker xtb, said: 'Both these firms have seen their share price rise to its highest level in several years this morning and if the price of oil continues to rise on the tensions in the Middle East, then there could be more upside to come.

'The gains have boosted the broader index with the FTSE 100 close to its highest level since January.

'The oil and gas sector accounts for roughly one-sixth of the benchmark, and the recent gains in this area are lifting the whole index.'

While Trump has pulled the US out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, Britain's government has vowed to stay put.

Foreign secretary Boris Johnson said the UK had 'no intention of walking away' from the deal.
Daniel Pawson admits that his salmon skin 'crisps' are much like Marmite  you'll either love them or hate them.

But he was so confident with the concept that he turned down 30,000 from Touker Suleyman, who wanted a 35 per cent stake in the business, on BBC Two's Dragon's Den which aired earlier this month.

And turning down the multi-millionaire on the popular television show appears to have paid off.

Not long after publicly turning down Suleyman's offer, his Yorkshire based start-up, Sea Chips, saw a 300,000 injection and mentorship by industry mogul Jonathan Brown.

Daniel Pawson (right) with investor Jonathan Brown and co-founder Dom Smith (left) believe Sea Chips will be a success in the US and will in the future expand the range and launch salmon jerky

The business has a new factory in Cumbria and, according to Pawson, it's now on a path to hitting 1million revenue within the next 18 months.

Brown is the owner of some of the most successful private-label smoked salmon brands in the world and previous boss of MacKnight foods. Investing in Sea Chips has led him to swap Miami for... Cumbria.

Pawson says: 'Our new factory in Cumbria is a huge step for growth in our business and Jonathan has given us a number of new buyer connections, as well as support with marketing costs.

'Jonathan has also made the move from Miami to Cumbria to put more focus on the business, for which we are wholly grateful.'

Pawson admits his experience on Dragon's Den was 'intense', but that he came across more bluntly than intended when he rejected the cash from Suleyman.

He told This is Money: 'Appearing on Dragon's Den was a great experience and exposure opportunity for us - but we really didn't feel Touker was passionate about or understood Sea Chips enough.

'We simply couldn't see how he could benefit us to warrant such a large portion of our company when we were offering just 10 per cent.'

Some other Dragons were interested in the business with Tej Lalvani, chief executive of vitamin company Vitabiotics, appreciating the health benefits.

However, Deborah Meaden - who made her name in the holiday park business - didn't throw her hat in the ring, believing that Sea Chips was in need of more money than what Pawson asked for in the pitch.

He adds that he spent only a small amount of money getting the product on the shelves of Harrods, Fenwick and Whole Foods.

Sea Chips are now also available on Amazon and Pawson is now in talks with other major retailers, including Sainsbury's, to stock his product.

'We only spent 5,000 in getting onto those retailers' shelves. I was making my own chips to make that happen and working long hours. He [Suleyman] wanted too much equity though'.

Pawson explains that the publicity from the show is what bagged him the type of investor he was looking for.

'It went viral and got 200,000 video views on one post and got a lot of enquiries across the UK and further afield, so it did what it needed to do which was to create brand awareness.'

Both co-founders Dom Smith (left) and Daniel Pawson (right) were happy to wait for the right investor after rejecting a 30k offer from Dragon's Den

While it generated interest and potential investors, he held off until he was satisfied he had the right person with the relevant market experience.

This came in the form of Brown, who contacted Pawson via social media initially, to offer the entrepreneur his large supply of salmon skin.

Pawson's top business tips for self-starters When asked for his advice to other keen entrepreneurs, the owner of Sea Chips imparted with four tips: 1. Don't be afraid to start small: You get the idea and some entrepreneurs go ahead and spend loads of money on the production run and branding and they forget to test and grow the product. Rather, create products that you can develop and sell. 2. Don't chase the big retailers from the start: Get a small but well known retailer to take you on. The sales may not be massive but it will sound really good and you will elevate your brand awareness. 3. People love a good story: Get a viable product you can create in the kitchen and create a story around it. Our brand is circular  we make sure there is no waste and it's nutritious for the consumer and we give back to the seas through our profits. We want to move onto compostable packaging too. 4. Time the market: I'd say for me the idea came three years ago and sustainability was just getting popular and food waste was only just starting to be talked about, so I would say get ahead of the market. We hit the market at the right time  consumers want brands that align with their own views.

'He's one of the largest producers in the world and initially he was just going to supply it.

'We got on well and I asked if he would join the team and investing.

'The 300,000 he invested comprised of cash and machinery and access to his team.

'We could access his distributors and wholesale partners not only in the UK but in the US too.

'We hope to launch in the US market end of 2019.'

Pawson says his unconventional idea of making chips from left over salmon skin came from his time when he was working as a chef in restaurants.

'When we baked the salmon we ended up throwing away the skin as people wanted it crispy, but we would then crisp up the skin and use it as a garnish and people loved it.

'We just put it in a pan separately and thought it would taste really nice  like a healthy alternative to pork scratchings.

'We found that fishmongers were throwing them away and speaking to nutritionists confirmed they were really healthy.'

Pawson says that he was lucky enough never to have approached retailers to stock his product.

He adds: 'We never approached retailers we've always gone down the route of creating a buzz through trade shows.

'We felt if we go to our story out the retailers came to us. We went through social media and have a loyal customer base.'

He is also at ease with the fact that his product has a polarising effect on people's taste buds.

The Sea Chips come in three flavours, lightly salted, lime and chilli and salt and vinegar.

Sea Chips is not to everyone's taste. Pawson says the product is a bit like Marmite - you either love it or hate it

Pawson admits that not everyone likes the taste and draws comparisons to another product that polarises taste buds: 'Some hate Marmite but it's still popular. Stay true to your customer base, don't try and please everyone.'

There are no imminent plans to change these flavours but Pawson says that he will introduce a further two flavours and a salmon jerky product, which will also help to reduce food waste.

Besides addressing the global issue of food waste, Sea Chips also donates 10 per cent of all profits to ocean charities which work to keep the sea clean.

Pawson's experience follows not long after entrepreneurial pair Alexandra and Rupesh Thomas, founders of drinks business Tuk Tuk Chai, rejected Peter Jones' 100,000 offer - and then were offered 300,000 after the show.

Asked whether he would advise others to follow his strategy of rejecting a Dragon's Den deal and find another investor, Pawson says it's all down to where you are with your business.

He says: 'If you are working on your own and struggling to get it known I'd say take the Dragon on, but if you already have a strong brand and you just need a little more awareness I'd say look for other investors.

'And if it goes bad then don't worry  any publicity for a start-up is useful. A lot of people don't like it but we're not here to please everyone.'
The cost for drivers to drop off or pick-up passengers at British airports can now cost nearly 1 per minute, figures show.

With a 30 minute drop off at London Stansted airport costing 25, drivers have to fork out nearly 1 a minute for the privilege of getting to the runway on time.

Most airport drop offs do not take half an hour, but even a 10 minute stop directly outside a terminal can be costly, at up to 4.50 a pop.

Expensive: A 10 minute drop off at London Southend Airport will cost you 4.50

Out of the 30 busiest airports in the country, Southend is the most expensive when it comes to a quick drop off right by the terminal, costing 4.50 for a 10 minute stop, Civil Aviation Authority figures analysed by taxi insurance firm Staveley Head show.

More than half of the country's busiest airports charge for a brief five minute drop off, with London Stansted being the most expensive at 3.

Both Stansted and Southend airports are in Essex, but have London added to the name.

Only six airports offer a free 10 minute drop off stay, including Cardiff, Guernsey, Inverness, London City, Newquay and Norwich.

The charges, which are based on Civil Aviation data from December 2018, apply to cars, taxis and private hire cabs, while drivers of minibuses could face different rules and charges.

How much will it cost you to drop someone off at the airport? Airport 5 mins 10 mins 15 mins 30 mins Southend Free 4.50 4.50 4.50 Manchester 3.00 4.00 N/A* N/A* Edinburgh 2.00 4.00 10.00 15.00 Stansted 3.50 3.50 8.50 25.00 Luton 3.00 3.00 8.00 23.00 Liverpool 3.00 3.00 3.00 10.00 Bournemouth 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 Leeds Bradford 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 Newcastle 1.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 East Midlands 2.00 2.00 7.00 22.00 Birmingham 2.00 2.00 5.00 20.00 Glasgow 2.00 2.00 4.00 10.00 Aberdeen 2.00 2.00 2.00 10.00 Doncaster Sheffield 2.00 2.00 2.00 5.00 Glasgow Prestwick Free 2.00 2.00 4.00 Southampton 2.00 2.00 2.00 3.50 Belfast International 1.00 1.00 3.00 5.00 Bristol 1.00 1.00 3.00 5.00 Exeter 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 Isle of Man 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 Cardiff Free Free 5.00 10.00 Inverness Free Free 3.60 3.60 Norwich Free Free Free 2.30 Gatwick N/A* N/A* N/A* N/A* Heathrow N/A* N/A* N/A* N/A* Jersey N/A* N/A* N/A* N/A* Guernsey Free Free Free Free London City Free Free Free Free Newquay Free Free Free Free Source: Staveley Head * According to the findings by Staveley Head, Gatwick, Heathrow and Jersey airports do not permit waiting. Manchester airport does not permit waiting for longer than 10 minutes, according to Staveley Head.

According to the findings, while most airports offer a free drop off zone, these are often not directly outside the terminal and require passengers to get a free shuttle bus to the exact location.

Many airports do offer free drop offs and pick ups directly outside a terminal for disabled passengers who hold a valid blue badge.

Access: Many airports do offer free drop offs and pick ups directly outside a terminal for disabled passengers

Taking a closer look at the costs, Stansted airport charges 3.50 for the first 10 minutes of a drop off or collection and then an additional 1 a minute after that up until 15 minutes.

A half hour stay at Standsted costs 25, with drivers who wait with their engines on could be slapped with a fine of 80, Staveley Head said.

A drop off at Edinburgh airport in Scotland could also prove costly. The airport charges 4 for 10 minutes, jumping to 10 for 15 minutes and 15 for 30 minutes.

Luton airport holidaymakers could also find themselves facing hefty charges, with a 10 minute drop off costing 3. While this is not the most expensive, a 15 minute stay rises to 8 and a 30 minute stay jumps to a hefty 23.

Setting the thorny issue of parking charges to one side, the price of all-inclusive trips this summer are up to 36 per cent cheaper than they were compared to booking the same time last year, recent research by TravelSupermarket claims.

Holidaymakers can go on an all-inclusive package holiday from as little as 196 per person for seven nights in May - and trips of this type have now become our favourite overseas' package holiday.

Spain has topped the list yet again with the most affordable destinations and Costa Brava is at the top of the list.
Donald Trump's arm-wrestle with China has not been unhelpful to Britain. Recent data show that in 2017 Chinese foreign direct investment in the UK reached 16 billion  twice the previous year  making this country the lead recipient of money from Beijing.

China is investing in almost every aspect of Britain. It is a key financial backer of EDF's nuclear plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset, has bought Britain's online travel site Skyscanner and much else.

In the latest foray, Ant Financial, an offshoot of Jack Ma's Alibaba empire, is buying UK payments group Worldfirst in a $700m (546m) deal.

Power struggle: Donald Trump's arm-wrestle with China has not been unhelpful to Britain

The transaction flies in the face of the US decision to block Ant's purchase of a US money transfer outfit Moneygram on national security grounds.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US has confined most rulings against overseas acquisitions to defence and technology. Financial technology (fintech) companies have moved into the firing line as they embrace the latest software, and potentially could be used to facilitate money laundering, sanctions-busting and the like.

At a time when the UK is seeking to present a global face to the world, the two-way traffic with China is appreciated. The City is the lead overseas centre for trading in the Chinese currency, the renminbi.

A highlight of Astrazeneca's latest numbers was a 22 per cent lift in sales to China. As the Chinese economy matures, stuff the UK is good at  services and sciences  will be greatly sought after.

The sell-off of Worldfirst fits into an unfortunate pattern. The UK currently is the world's bargain basement because of sterling weakness and stock market queasiness as a consequence of Brexit uncertainty.

The biggest loss in the fintech space was Worldpay, swallowed by US rival Vantiv. A smaller payments company Earthport is under siege from credit card rivals Visa and Mastercard. The country's first digital financial group, Atom Bank, now has France's Socgen as its biggest investor.

That Britain is a powerhouse in the fintech sector is brilliant and speaks well of skills and innovation.

But the tendency of founders to sell out rather than persevere in a space where the UK excels is disappointing. Chinese involvement adds a new security complication.

Compound growth

When the French chief executive of Astrazeneca, Pascal Soriot, saw the British boss of US giant Pfizer, Ian Read, off the field of battle in 2014, he did so with fantasy sales forecasts.

He also promised that if investors stayed with Astra, its pipeline of new medicines would deliver. It has taken an age and it had to work its way through a soft period when statins compound Crestor lost its patent.

But those who stuck with Soriot are seeing the payoff. He is winning on several fronts. Treatments which use advanced immunology science to attack cancer cells took off in 2018. The main drugs  Imfinzi and Tagrisso for lung cancer, and Lynparza for ovarian cancer  are being widely adopted and sales climbed 61 per cent to 1.4 billion.

Astra finds itself in a better position than Britain's other pharmaceutical champion, GlaxoSmithKline. It is playing catch-up with immunology, having just bought Tesaro in the US for 3.9 billion in the hope of gaining traction.

It is also doing well in China. Contrast that with Glaxo which never has fully recovered from a 2014-15 corruption scandal.

If there is a nagging uncertainty, it is over the future of Soriot. Ideally, he would be around to see the completion of the Cambridge research centre, at least a full year of fast growth sales for its cancer compounds and a rise in earnings.

A breakthrough for efforts to find a blood test which can precisely detect cancer cells, improving the chances of cure at an early stage, could be a crowning glory.

Soriot says he is staying. Good!

Pier fears

How romantic that Patisserie Valerie, which specialises in sumptuous cakes, found a saviour in the shape of Causeway Capital on St Valentine's Day.

Serial entrepreneur Luke Johnson walks away much poorer.

Investors in his other enterprises, notably the Brighton Pier Group, will be counting on him to pay more attention to what goes on under the bonnet. Pier shares look to be on the ghost train to nowhere after a 50 per cent fall from the 2018 peak.
A woman from London has managed to pay for the renovation of a second property by renting out cars through a vehicle sharing platform and claims to now make up to 1,500 a month.

Sana Shaikh, an interpreter, discovered the 'side-hustle' business after initially renting out her own vehicle on car-sharing platform, Drivy.

Since then, she expanded from letting out just the one car, to buying and renting out a fleet of eight motors that she bought specifically to make money from.

She says she has coined in 25,000 in the last two years.

Makeover: Sana managed to renovate her second home with the money she made from Drivy

This new way of earning money is becoming increasingly popular. As the cost of living continues to rise, utilising apps like Drivy into a so-called side hustle means people can earn extra income  without the stress of getting another job.

Sana said: 'I know that month-in, month-out, I will take at least 1,000 worth of bookings across my fleet and that's a quiet month.

'My cars cost me around 350 per month to insure and tax so each month I'm confident of at least 650 additional income from my Drivy fleet.'

However, she can earn more than double this amount at certain times of year.

She adds: 'I earn a lot more than that in the summer or in holidays like Easter or Christmas and all my fleet are out on rent. In these times, I make around 1,500 a month.'

How does it work? Most customers use Drivy to rent out their own car they either don't use during weekdays or weekends. Users can list their car, after signing up to the website, adding in pictures and descriptions. Drivy will take 21 per cent of each booking plus it takes 3 service fee which the driver pays. Every booking is covered by Allianz insurance, meaning that if there is any damage to your vehicle when it has been rented out, they will cover the costs.

Sana started renting out her cars on another car-sharing website a couple of years ago but says Drivy is easier to use.

She said: 'The app was a lot friendlier than the previous company I used and it had improved a lot of things.'

One of the features that sets Drivy uses to help its customers is Drivy Open, a smart unlocking technology, that means Drivy vehicles are available instantly after booking and can be opened using the Drivy app.

This means that customers can easily access the vehicle they have rented without having to wait for a time when the owner is free.

Once Sana started renting out her car to earn some extra cash, she realised that there was much more money to be made - especially in her area of West London.

'I started with just the one car but then realised there was demand after my car was being picked up most of the time and especially in the area I was living, so I increased my fleet.'

New: The bathroom in the home that Sana renovated with the profits from renting out her cars

Initially Sana bought Vauxhall Astra's to rent out but since changed all the eight cars in her fleet to Toyota models, including Prius' and Yaris'.

One of the potential issues of renting out such a large number of cars is where to keep them but Sana insists that was never a problem in her case.

She said: 'Even though I didn't have any permits outside my house, I could park them two streets down. But most of the time they were rented out so I didn't have to worry about it.'

Change: Sana standing outside the house that she has now completely renovated

With the immense profits that Sana began to make from sharing her cars, she saved up to renovate her second property, which she has now moved into, and is preparing to sell her first home.

While this wasn't Sana's initial aim, once she realised how much she could make, she said she couldn't pass it up.

'Once I knew how it worked, I saw an opportunity and decided to take it.'

Previous research conducted by Drivy has suggested that women are more likely to be open to sharing their personal vehicle for a financial benefit than men, however, it is still a male dominated industry.

Katy Medlock, head of UK at Drivy, hopes that Sana can lead the way for more women to start using the platform.

She said: 'It's great to see so many people embracing the car sharing community, however despite our research suggesting that one in three women are open to sharing their vehicle, we do find that Drivy car owners tend to be predominantly male.

'Sana is an exception to the general trend, as one of only a few women currently listing their cars on the platform.

'We hope to see more women enter the car sharing economy and reap the financial benefits.'

Sana has changed all the eight cars in her fleet to Toyota models, including the Yaris supermini (left). Her model range also consists of the Prius hybrid (right)

The kitchen in Sana's home has been completely renovated and given a more modern look

Top tips for becoming a car sharing mogul

Sana has also shared her advice for other people who may be thinking about renting their car on car-sharing platforms.

'Keep a diary! It is very important to be organised. Also, make it easy for customers to get access to your car.

'If you have a target and a bit of time, it is well worth doing. It is a bit of hard work but you can manage the work schedule yourself and if you do have a goal in mind, you will be able achieve it.

'I quite enjoyed dealing with the customers and renting out the cars. If youre friendly and like meeting people, it is quite rewarding.'

Changing rooms: One of the newly renovated bedrooms that Sana has now moved into

After renovating her home, does Sana have any further goals, now she knows what she can achieve?

'When we've paid off some of our other debts, the money will be used to live a life of luxury and go on holidays.

It is not just Sana who is making a tidy sum from renting out cars, Edward Baillie is another Drivy customer who has used his earnings from the platform to help fund a new venture.

He has put the money he has made from renting his car towards his not-for-profit organisation, New Dimensions, which helps prisoners with addiction issues.

When not using the car to travel to prisons around the country, Edward rents out his Audi A4 for 70 a day - making up to 400 a month.

He said: 'Without Drivy, I could not have bridged the gap between leaving my job and establishing New Dimensions, which will benefit hundreds of people with addictions each year.'

'Being able to share my belongings with others for a small fee is great for them and me and has been integral to launching this project which is so dear to my heart.'

Drivy launched in London in November 2017 and has more than 1,000 cars listed and being shared across the capital.

The company is now available nationwide and is accepting cars from all over the UK.
Curtis Jones, a U.S. Army veteran who has led Georgias Bibb County school system since 2015, was named Thursday as the 2019 AASA National Superintendent of the Year.

Jones was selected from a group of four finalists that included Jeff Butts from the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township in Indianapolis, Ind; Mary Ann Ranells, the superintendent of the West Ada Joint School District #2 in Meridian, Idaho; and Brian Woods, the superintendent of the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas.

Reading and literacy have been a key focus for Jones since he became superintendent of this district, which is headquartered in Macon, but includes urban, suburban and rural communities. Hes also worked to forge strong ties with community partners, including the United Way of Central Georgia and the Macon Chamber of Commerce, to support district initiatives.

The districts strategic plan, which Jones developed, Victory in Progress, has five key planks, including boosting student achievement, improving teacher and leader effectiveness, and strengthening stakeholder engagement.

Jones also set his eyes on boosting the districts graduation rate to 90 percent by 2025. It has since risen from 58.9 percent in 2014, the year before Jones took the helm in Bibb County, to 78.5 percent last year.

I am thankful and humbled by this recognition, Jones said in a statement issued by the district after the announcement.

I also know that this selection is because of the great work that teachers, principals and students are doing in the classrooms every day. It is because of the hard work that the senior cabinet and central office do to support school every day. And it is because of what parents and the community have done to support our efforts to increase reading proficiency, improve discipline, and make our schools safe, secure and fun places to be.

Jones also praised the Bibb County board of education for its commitment, which he called tremendous.

I know this is not about me, he continued. It is about what we as Bibb County Schools are doing day in and day out.

The award was announced in Los Angeles at the national conference for the AASA, the School Superintendents Association.

The groups executive director, Daniel A. Domenech, called all four finalists for the award, champions for children.

The award, which is given annually, comes with a $10,000 college scholarship to a high school student from the high school from which the winning superintendent graduated or to a school now serving the same area.

Photo: Curtis Jones, superintendent of the Bibb County school system in Macon, Ga., was selected as the 2019 Superintendent of the Year. Photo courtesy of the AASA, the School Superintendents Association.
South Africa: SA condemns deadly Kashmir attack

The South African government has in the strongest terms condemned the attack in Kashmir, India, that saw 40 security personnel killed and dozens others injured on Thursday.

The attack is reported to be one of the deadliest on Indian forces in this area in years.

It is reported that a suspected suicide attacker drove into a bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel along a highway in Indian-administered Kashmir's Pulwama district.

In a statement issued by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended South Africas deepest condolences, describing the attack as unjustifiable and cowardly. He said the thoughts of South Africans are with the people and the government of India during this trying time.

Acts of terrorism have no place in society and constitute a threat to development, peace and security. The South African government wishes to reiterate its solidarity with the Government of India in confronting the scourge of terrorism and will continue to support regional and international efforts to address terrorism in all its forms, read the statement.

According to media reports, Pakistan-based armed group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which has carried out a number of suicide attacks against Indian security forces, had claimed responsibility for the Thursday attack.

Kashmir is a Muslim-majority region at the heart of decades of hostility between the two South Asian nations, who rule parts of the region while claiming the entire territory as theirs, read an Aljazeera report on Friday.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-02-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The Crafty Traveller: Off on a long-haul holiday? Try starting in the high street



These days, most of us arrange our trips for ourselves on the internet. If we need advice, we can phone a travel agent, and many of the best work from home through an organisation called Travel Counsellors.

So are the days of the high street travel agent numbered? Last month, Thomas Cook announced it was closing nearly 200 branches, a move described by one expert as the largest single contraction ever on the high street for the travel industry.

Discovering the high street: Upmarket travel brand Kuoni now has 26 stores across the country

However, other major holiday companies are increasing their presence in our city centres.

Until recently, Kuoni - a leading provider of long-haul holidays - didn't have any shops. Now it has 26, four of which opened last autumn in John Lewis department stores. I recently visited the Kuoni concession in the Cardiff branch. On arrival, you're invited to sit in a smart little lounge area (sofa and armchairs courtesy of John Lewis), and to get you in the holiday mood, you're offered a glass of Pierre Mignon champagne (that's for every visitor, not just visiting journalists). If you want to keep a clear head, there are coffee, tea and juices.

You can watch videos of the hotels Kuoni use on a large screen and if you're not sure where you want to go, you can use an iPad to come up with ideas with the sales staff Kuoni call 'personal travel experts'.

The whole place feels infinitely more sophisticated than your run-of-the-mill travel agency, and in keeping with somewhere you might be willing to part with the thousands of pounds that most Kuoni holidays cost.

Out with the old? Traditional travel agents are in decline but, says Fred, there's still room for high street travel agents particularly if you're looking for a bespoke, far-flung trip



Next stop was Virgin Holidays' concession in Cardiff's House of Fraser - one of 100 Virgin Holidays stores to have opened in the past six years. Decked out in the same bold red livery as the airline, it's colourful and upbeat. And like all things Virgin, there's an informal feel to the set-up: discussing your holiday plans, you sit back on a sofa at right angles to the member of staff in front of their computer screen.

Unlike at the Kuoni concessions, you pay a 20 fee for booking the holiday in-store instead of on the phone or internet, which seems daft to me.

So is it worth visiting these shops? If you're after a packaged long-haul holiday, in a word, yes. The shops are pleasant environments, you're likely to get good, wellinformed service about the holidays on offer, and when forking out for expensive trips with perhaps complex itineraries - as is often the case with Kuoni and Virgin Holidays breaks - a face-to-face chat can make all the difference in ending up with what you want.



However, bear in mind that the Kuoni and Virgin Holidays shops sell only their own holidays and those from sister companies, so you won't be offered a wide range of booking options.

If you want to chat to someone in person about a tailor-made long-haul trip or flight, I'd recommend you also consider visiting one of the 26 Trailfinders travel centres around the UK.

The shops are less gimmicky than Kuoni or Virgin Holidays: don't expect sofas, iPads or free champagne.

However, staff are very well trained, well-travelled and knowledgeable, and there's no extra charge for bookings made in the centres.

Details of shop locations can be found on kuoni.co.uk , virginholidays.co.uk , and trailfinders.com .




Stalins empire hadnt a prayer

IRON CURTAIN: THE CRUSHING OF EASTERN EUROPE 1944-1956, by Anne Applebaum

Allen Lane 12.99  10.99 inc p&p

Rating:

Stalin once confessed that imposing communism on Poland was as absurd as trying to saddle a cow. He was enough of a realist to know that, like much of Eastern Europe, Poland was too Catholic, too tied to its historical traditions, too freedom-loving and too anti-Russian to be comfortably Sovietised.



Yet from the end of the Second World War, he imposed communism on the Poles and all the countries conquered by the Red Army, from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

Stalin knew he didn't have a prayer of successfully introducing communism into Poland

In 1946 Churchill warned of an iron curtain falling across Europe. Life behind it was obscured for decades. But with the opening of Soviet-era archives, the story can at last be told. Anne Applebaum is exceptionally well qualified to tell it. Her deep knowledge of the region, breadth of view and eye for human detail makes this as readable as her last book, on the Gulag.



Applebaum rejects the common argument that the Soviets began with a moderate approach and imposed harsher policies only after 1948 in response to the Cold War. She shows that from the start, the Soviets undermined centre-Left elected governments while paying lip service to democracy. German communist Walter Ulbricht said: Its got to look democratic. But we must have everything in our control.



He was one of the little Stalins trained in Moscow and flown into Eastern Europe after the Red Armys victory. Applebaum is good on these servile mediocrities, and on the grey policemen, also trained by Soviet masters, who took control of the interior ministries and used their power to discredit and arrest politicians standing in the way of communist hegemony.

The collapse of the Soviet empire took almost everybody by surprise. But it had its roots in the life of Eastern Europe's nations

The Soviets allowed elections only because they thought the communists would win. When voters turned against them, they rigged polling and stepped up arrests of centrist politicians and anyone accused of fascist sympathies.



The communists were masters of this salami tactic (a phrase coined by Hungarian communist leader Matyas Rakosi). First they bullied centrists into slicing off Right-wing colleagues. Then they allied with socialists to slice off the centre. In the end, only communists remained in power.

Applebaum is at her best exploring Sovietisations social impact. The Communist dictatorships crushed or subordinated churches, charities, societies and clubs. No independent body could be trusted: not even scouts or womens leagues.



Some civic leaders collaborated to advance careers or protect followers. Others bravely resisted: especially priests who refused to compromise their faith. As Applebaum says, it was not always clear what was right, morally or tactically. Cardinal Mindszenty spoke out against communist attacks on the Hungarian church, but was arrested and subjected to a humiliating public trial in 1949.



Yet his Polish counterpart, Cardinal Wyszynski, signed a document in 1950 compelling the clergy to support the communists. He was condemned by many Catholics, but had gained precious time for the Polish church to fight another day.



The church was fundamental to the Polish resistance. Their national movement began with widespread strikes in 1956, which in turn encouraged the Hungarian uprising that year.



This was Stalins worry when he spoke of saddling a cow: that the nations religion might preserve its freedom and help it to escape the Kremlins control. He was right. Polish resistance culminated in the Solidarity movement of the Eighties. It was based on a social vision of Catholicism backed by a Polish-born pope, John Paul II.



As Applebaum tells us in the final passages of her magisterial history, most Western commentators had assumed the opposition movements would be worn down as communism worked its way into the souls of nations by indoctrinating their youth. They were wrong. The collapse of the Soviet empire took almost everybody by surprise. But it had its roots in the life of Eastern Europes nations, in a spirit the communists could not control.



Vogue looks back in style

Vogue magazine is the fashionistas bible, not only following trends but setting them. But now it is looking backwards, having raided its archives for a new sort of collection: a series of books devoted to the great designers of the 20th Century.

Vogue looks backwards with a series of books devoted to the great designers of the 20th Century

The books feature photographs, such as those here, the work of Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Dior and Alexander McQueen
Sheridan Smith is a Hedda gabbler

Hedda Gabler (The Old Vic, London)



Rating:

It is for her portrayal of ordinariness and likeability that Sheridan Smith has shone on the stage: as the blonde who wasnt so dumb in the musical Legally Blonde; and as the brassy ex-barmaid in Terence Rattigans Flare Path, awaiting news of her husband, missing in action.

Theres nothing ordinary or likeable about Hedda Gabler, the original desperate housewife, in the Ibsen drama first staged in 1891.

In giving Smith the challenging role of the generals daughter who is a crashing snob and consumed with boredom, director Anna Mackmin was obviously casting against type. She is also, presumably, hoping to draw a new audience for Ibsens great play of Smiths Gavin & Stacey fans.



Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler directed by Anna Mackmin at The Old Vic. Sheridan Smith as Hedda Gabler and Daniel Lapaine as Eilert Loevborg

So, is Smith up to it? Not yet. Her voice is tight and locked on to one thin note, and she swallows the ends of her sentences: a gabbler more than a Gabler. For the first half she wears a fixed and oddly unreadable smile.



Perhaps it is intended as a mask, for Hedda doesnt appear to be amusing herself by sneering at Aunt Ju-Jus lack of sophistication or in bullying the maid, Bertha, whom she deliberately miscalls Berna. Smith (also to be seen in the new film Hysteria) simply cant do chilly or beastly with real conviction. Nor grand. Nor layers of feeling.

Fortunately, the smile drops off when Hedda begins to unravel and snivel, having realised that all her meddling in other peoples lives has spectacularly misfired. She becomes bleakly aware of herself as a waste of space. Brian Friels new version has lightened the mood of Ibsens sombre play. Heddas husband George (Adrian Scarborough) has become too much of a buffoon in the process: witness his absurd ritual of running to place a possessive arm around Heddas shoulders whenever a guest enters, and his ludicrous paean of praise to his embroidered slippers.

Relatable: Sheridan Smith (seen here in TV drama Accused) appeals to the masses

Darrell DSilva makes a revoltingly rakish judge and the marvellous Anne Reid is both cosy and frosty as dear old Aunt Ju-Ju. Only Smith is, as yet, too ordinary.

Some superbly judged performances in the Hampstead Theatre revival of David Hares play The Judas Kiss make it much more persuasive, witty and absorbing than it appeared to be when it premiered in 1998. It explores the relationship between Oscar Wilde (Rupert Everett, bulked up to look bloated) and his young aristocrat lover, Lord Alfred Bosie Douglas (Freddie Fox, exquisitely pretty, pouting and petulant).

Their disastrous liaison ultimately cost Wilde two years in jail. He lost his reputation, his health, his wealth and the company of his beloved children.

Hare imagines two key episodes in which, on both occasions, the worthless Bosie abandons Wilde. In the first, in a luxurious hotel room draped in silk, Wilde decides to stay in London and go on trial for sodomy rather than flee to Ireland. In the second, after his release, Wilde has shacked up with Bosie in a meagre villa in Naples. They are no longer lovers. Wilde watches while Bosie is practising astronomy with a bronzed Italian fisherman named Galileo, a neat excuse for some Wildean wordplay: See stars, did you? he wonders, without apparent jealousy.

Indeed, apathy and inertia would seem to be Wildes overriding emotions, whatever the situation, and Everett is excellent at affecting indifference.

Action is something my mother brought me up to distrust, declares Wilde, and he boasts of once taking a taxi to a party three doors away.

Hare portrays Wilde as a man who has cast himself in the tragic role of an exiled homosexual rather than the hypocrite living a lie. Bosie can betray him but Oscar will not betray himself.

Here, evidently, lies the importance of being Oscar. Whether it is true or not, Hare and Everett make a fascinating case.

Just too ordinary: Hedda Gabler starring Anne Reid and Adrian Scarborough

Caryl Churchills astonishing new piece, Love And Information, is a blast of 58 playlets. Each is very short, witty and poignant, a tiny, detailed snapshot of two people talking and exploring the relationship between facts and feelings. In every playlet  some no more than a fragmentary exchange of sentences  a piece of information is dropped, like a stone into a pond, leaving the ripples to be imagined by the audience.

A girl tells a boy that shes his mum, not his sister. A schizophrenic says a traffic light is telling her to hurt someone. A woman learns she has a ten per cent chance of being alive in three years. A savant can recall every detail of any particular day. A man insists hes in love with a computer-generated woman. Another man tells his girlfriend he is infertile.

Churchills theme is how we feel about specific, unalterable truths, be it impersonal stuff such as climate change, or the profoundly personal, such as the death of a husband.

James MacDonalds dazzling, playful production makes the piece a human experiment in which an outstanding cast bring each situation to vivid life inside a clinical white cube that is suggestive of a lab. The effect is similar to TV channel-hopping, as one catches a fleeting glimpse of dozens of different little dramas, each suggesting enough material for a ten-part series.

This joyous, exhilarating example of less proving infinitely more is easily my play and production of the year.
Nothing towers in Mumfords Babel

The need for a personal hinterland, as Denis Healey memorably put it, applies not only to politicians but to pop musicians. Or at least, to those who would treat pop as a serious business. Which is why the annexing of British pop by the well-to-do matters. Its not that such individuals are lacking in talent, its that their collective dominance has a deadening effect on the prevailing culture.

If your life has taken you from, say, nursery to private school, to Classics degree, to messing about with guitars, the results are liable to seem, well . . . unlived in. Thus with folk-rock band Mumford & Sons, although the millions who bought their first album, Sigh No More, would surely disagree.

Either those listeners find in its strenuous, earnest insipidity a thrill that eludes me, or their requirement for a favourite album is quite different from mine, which is to be transported, one way or another. Sigh No More, to me, is like jogging on the spot for 50 minutes, while men in waistcoats whine and strum in my ear.

Empty Smiles: Mumford & Sons have all the notes, but not the conviction (Left to right: Marcus Mumford, Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett and Country Winston)

There is a trend here, and it extends far beyond a folk revival that has given us both big-selling West London pallor (Mumford, Noah & The Whale, Laura Marling) and cultishly treasured Scots vitality (King Creosote, Withered Hand). It seems that the most successful new British acts of any genre are so often those who offer the form of the thing without the spirit of it.

Joss Stone did this with soul; The Vaccines are doing it with New Wave rock n roll. Folk music can be bloody or beautiful, raw or fragile; but in Mumfords hands it delivers, more than anything, tasteful, nostalgic solipsism. Its a hallmark of our time, and of our burgeoning market for those darling crafted things that are just so Me.

That market will love Babel too, no doubt, with its Olde England meets-faux-bucolic sleeve; its vigorous tappy-toe tunes (theyve gone upbeat! Hoorah!) and its robust sonic embellishments.



Iconic: Psychedelic pop group Pink Floyd found rich inspiration in English landscapes (L-R) Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Syd Barrett and Rick Wright

It is very much an artefact, which would be dandy  in a digital age, we could certainly use more of those  were it not one woven, with diligent and sincere care, out of navel fluff.

There is no doubting that these chaps put both their hearts and their elbows into it; that they mean each harmonised note and work each laborious stanza with every fibre of their being. But in the end, there is no life there. Nothing towers in Babel. No confusion of tongues clamours through it. Babel thrums and pounds and strives its way through its hearty songs and ambitious arrangements, and leaves you just the way it found you, in the very same place.

That this place is England is not the problem. Bands as varied as Pink Floyd, Doves and The Clientele have found rich inspiration in English landscapes.



Its true that the American West has a ready-made resonance, an aura of cinematic myth, but this alone cant explain why moving from the Mumford album to a Calexico gig takes us not merely across an ocean and a continent, but to a different world.

The fusion of Western and Hispanic implicit in the bands name, taken from a town on the Mexican border, has become more intricate and exuberant with the emphasis on the touring outfits Mariachi horn players. Their latest, lovely album, Algiers, is on the low-key side, but in performance theyre on peak form, with a rare lightness and vivacity.

They have songs that hang and drip like honeysuckle on desert air; that tread on cat-paws; that roll and sway with the haunted rattle of a freight train.

And they underscore that what matters is not where you draw your music from, but whether you can illuminate it from the inside with your own spark. Youve either got it or you aint, and a wall full of gold records cant change that.



Mumford & Sons, Babel Island, out tomorrow



CDS RELEASED THIS WEEK



DJ Shadow is a titanic figure in the world of sampling, having elevated to an art form the practice of splicing new music from old on 1996s Endtroducing....., his adored debut.

The true measure of Shadow is the moody brilliance he has been able to conjure from his unlimited palette.

Reconstructed maps two decades of this painstaking work over two CDs and its a cinematic trip, from the psychedelia of early singles High Noon and Organ Donor, via the lush soul-jazz of This Time (Im Gonna Try It My Way) to later collaborations with indie figures such as Radioheads Thom Yorke.

DJ Shadow, Reconstructed  The Best Of DJ Shadow

Island, out tomorrow

Silly hair: No Doubt in 2000. It has been eleven years since they last released an album

No disrespect to the chaps with silly haircuts who account for three-quarters of Californian pop giants No Doubt, but its unlikely the 11-year gap between albums was at their insistence.

In that time, Gwen Stefani has made two successful solo records, had two children and launched her own clothing line. Star quality, of which Stefani has more or less No Doubts full allowance, is something people will generally wait for.

The band humbly protest that the Jamaican tint to their bouncy sound doesnt make them pioneers. But they are a stylish, consistent lot; songs such as first single Settle Down and Easy achieve a considered balance of exotic detail and chart-readiness.

No Doubt, Push And Shove



Polydor, out tomorrow

From her Im Like A Bird debut via the dancefloor excursions of Maneater and Promiscuous, Canadian-Portuguese star Nelly Furtado has always sounded like herself, no small achievement in the homogenising pop factory.

Thats partly because of her distinctively nasal voice. But her musical palette, mingling R&B, pop and hip-hop with vibrant Latin splashes, is her real stock-in-trade.

If she had a divas vocal force, she might not take the trouble to root around for the remarkably effective car-horn accompaniment of Parking Lot, the ethnic strum of Bucket List or the raw, dark beats that bear aloft her paean to earrings, Big Hoops (Bigger The Better).

Nelly Furtado The Spirit Indestructible

Polydor, out tomorrow

Theres only so long that three larky Californian punks, touching 40, can sing power ballads about teenage alienation, so Uno! finds Green Day thrashing about again, the twist being that two further albums, Dos! and Tre!  after drummer Tre Cool  are due in November and January.

Green Day on their basic setting are straightforward  every song is Ramones-indebted with sometimes a trace of gypsy-folk, a dash of the Beach Boys, a bit of new wave.

Its all a bit juvenile, but they do it better than almost anyone, with an energy and panache that can usually enliven a formula that was old even before they adopted it.

Green Day Uno!
A cherished church built on pinecones



Most of us, if we think of pinecones, are more likely to be reminded of Christmas decorations than ancient fertility symbols. And when we picture a clever young woman, living with her sister in a large country house at the end of the 18th Century, we are more likely to conjure up a Jane Austenish character than someone interested in mythology and architecture.



But in her richly surprising new book, Jenny Uglow tells the story of Sarah Losh and one of the strangest and most magical churches in Britain: St Marys at Wreay in Cumbria.



Visionary: Sarah Losh, who designed St Marys, Wreay

Sarahs exuberant imagination can be seen throughout the Byzantine-style church, which she built in 1842. It is filled with carvings that were considered extraordinary, even shocking at the time: poppies and butterflies, an arrow piercing a wall, fossils, a flying tortoise gargoyle, a pulpit which is shaped like a hollow tree and her signature pinecones  symbols of fertility.

Sarah was born in Cumbria in 1786 into a family of wealthy landowners.

She grew up at Woodside, the big house at Wreay, but her mother died when she was only 13, and this brought her even closer to her younger sister, Katha-rine. The girls were much admired, but there seems never to have been any question of marriage.



This book is packed with extraordinary characters: the great Scottish mathematician John Leslie, who dyed his hair purple; the future Duke of Norfolk, who never washed but was hosed down by his servants when drunk; and the famous geologist William Buckland, who dined on toasted fieldmice. But it is Uncle James Losh who inspired Sarah to share his love of radical politics and poetry. He is the hero of the tale and his diary, preserved in Carlisle library, is the vital source for it.

After their fathers death in 1814 the sisters travelled widely in France and Italy, on their version of the Grand Tour. The buildings and carvings Sarah saw, especially in Rome, hugely influenced her: the Vatican collections include a Roman stone pinecone, the largest in the world.

On her return, she and Katharine started work, first altering Woodside, then rebuilding the village school and adding a Pompeian cottage.



When Katharine died in 1835, Sarah set about the church. She employed local craftsmen and learned from them how to carve and sculpt. At a time when there were no women architects, she even designed the new church herself, becoming, as Simon Jenkins puts it, a Charlotte Bronte of wood and stone.



Uglow does no more than hint at the questions raised by the many non-Christian symbols. It is, however, difficult not to be aware of phallic or erotic imagery: the lotus-shaped candlesticks Sarah carved herself out of pink alabaster, the many pinecones and the arrow piercing the wall suggest an intense subconscious at work.



Sarah died in 1853, but a version of Woodside still stands, as does the church. Its well worth a visit, all the more so once youve read this original and beautifully written book.

The Pinecone by Jenny Uglow

Faber 20  15.99 inc p&p

Polish on parade. . .

Spit and polish in the household has never been so glamorous. But this has nothing to do with cleaning the cutlery, its more about swords, buckles and armour.

Here comes the Cavalry: Proceeds from Uniquely British will go to the Cavalry's charity

The Household Cavalry always cut a dash as they clatter through the streets of London on Royal occasions.

But their role is not just decorative, for the men of the Life Guards and the Blues And Royals, who make up the Household Cavalry, are regular soldiers who have seen action in Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan.


Author Jonathan Dimbleby reviews The Cockleshell suicide mission by Paddy Ashdown

A Brilliant Little Operation by Paddy Ashdown: Aurum 25 % 19.99 inc p&p

The story of Operation Frankton, made famous by the 1955 film The Cockleshell Heroes, is highly susceptible to the Boys Own treatment: a handful of British commandos enter the jaws of Hitlers France in the winter of 1942 and paddle their way up the enemy-infested Gironde estuary to fix limpet mines to Nazi merchant ships in Bordeaux harbour. It is breathtaking stuff.

When this story is told by a former Royal Marine, whose political reputation has been burnished by his action man image, the sceptic is bound to fear the worst. But Paddy Ashdown has not fallen for the obvious. Instead he has written a meticulously researched and truly shocking account of an operation that should never have been authorised.

That it went ahead is bleak testimony to shameful inter-service rivalries, poor intelligence, inadequate planning and a casual attitude towards extreme risk by Lord Mountbatten who, as Head of Combined Operations, coined the phrase a brilliant little operation to describe what the author portrays convincingly as a not-so-brilliant cock-up.

Paddy Ashdown, former Liberal Democrat leader, has told a gripping and important story

The heroism of the 12 commandos who paddled into the Gironde can hardly be exaggerated, but it can only too easily be sentimentalised. Ashdown observes, however, that heroism has less to do with patriotic fervour than mutual survival. With the exception of their commander, Blondie Hasler, who emerges as an elusive oddball with a remorseless will, they were a military job-lot with no uniting cause except an appetite for adventure.

Haslers plan was no less oddball. He badgered his superiors into believing a raid, under cover of darkness, by canoes laden with high explosive would be the most effective way of torpedoing the vital flow of Axis supplies to and from Bordeaux. But the risks clearly outweighed the potential gains  as Haslers men would all too soon find out.

From the moment their six canoes were launched from a submarine at the mouth of the Gironde, Haslers plans started to unravel. He was apparently unaware of the dangerous overfalls  breaking seas kicked up by rip-tides  that bedevil the estuary, forming a mortal hazard to any small boat, let alone a heavily laden cockleshell. Disaster was inevitable. And it was to get worse.

Only two canoes and four men survived to paddle the 70 miles upriver, avoiding German patrols, to reach their target. In his account of this hair-raising, if not hare-brained, enterprise, Ashdown sustains an incisive narrative of great suspense, laced with a moral outrage that is all the more powerful for being both understated and underpinned by telling detail.

The author is particularly incensed by the fact that no plans had been made for the commandos to escape after an operation from which, according to Ashdown, Mountbatten did not expect any of them to return in any case. That two of the original 12, Hasler and his paddling companion, managed to evade capture, torture and execution is down to incredible luck and the courage of French citizens who led them to the Resistance.

Ashdowns devastating indictment of the whole enterprise is that Mountbatten would almost certainly have vetoed Haslers brilliant little operation if he had been aware of a parallel and far more promising raid being mounted against the same target by the Special Operations Executive. But such was the rivalry between the two services, and the shocking level of deceit, that neither knew what the other was up to.

Ashdown has told a gripping and important story from which the Cockleshell heroes  but almost no one else  emerge with distinction.

Jonathan Dimblebys new book, Destiny In The Desert, is published by Profile Books in October.




Lets hear it for a music hall Major!



My Old Man by John Major Harper 20 % 15.99 inc p&p

The fact that John Majors father had been one half of a music-hall double-act called Drum and Major prompted hoots of disbelief when it first became known. Nothing, it seemed, could be further from the gaiety and vulgarity of music hall than dry old Mr Major with his corncrake voice and horn-rimmed specs.



But as he writes in this affectionate, charming and unexpectedly lively book, politics and the music hall have a lot more in common than you might think. Several other Prime Ministers have been big fans, including Winston Churchill and Jim Callaghan, who once astonished fellow guests at a TUC dinner by launching into a song with the words: Im the man, the very fat man, who waters the workers beer.



Whats more, Major notes, Prime Ministers Questions often resembled my fathers description of a raucous night out at the Glasgow Empire.

Hard Life: Tom Major and his first wife Kitty in one of their sketches

Tom Major was 64 when his son John was born in 1943. His whole life had been spent in music hall: he started out as the top man in a four-man acrobatic pyramid when he was just eight, and went on to form a double-act with his first wife, Kitty.



Like most music-hall performers, Tom lived an itinerant, rackety life, flush one moment, skint the next. But as his career went on, the periods of prosperity, even solvency, became fewer and further between.The future Prime Ministers childhood was spent in two rented rooms in a Brixton house owned by his half-brother, Tom Junior, who also appeared on stage under the unlikely name of Signor Meneghini.



Major paints a vivid portrait of this Micawberish world in which  somehow, sometimes  all would be well. Except that it hardly ever was: the spectre of bankruptcy was always there; the bailiffs never far away.



As Major admits, he hardly knew his father: he was austere, distant, emotionally bottled up  Victorian to the core. It wasnt until the end of his life when Tom Major was bed-bound that the two became closer: his son became a kind of one-man audience, listening to him reciting the monologues that hed written long ago.



Famous son: John Major in his days as Prime Minister

Tom Major lived until he was 84, which in music-hall terms was almost unheard of. Time and again in these pages you come across people dropping dead in their prime. With performers such as The Hibernian Cannibal, whose act consisted of eating a live cockerel on stage feathers, feet and all, then downing a pint of brandy, you can understand why. But a lot of music-hall acts died young simply because they were burned out, exhausted by the strain of trying to entertain people for a living.



To make any sort of career you needed the common touch as well as a big personality. Often, women proved more robust than men. Bessie Bellwood, Queen of the Halls, once bit off part of a mans ear when he was rude to her.



You also had to be quick-witted. The entertainer G. H. Chirgwin started out with his brother in a black-face double-act known as The Brothers Chirgwin. Then in Liverpool one night, his brother got drunk and failed to turn up. Undeterred, Chirgwin went on stage alone and told the audience there had been no mistake in the billing: hed been christened Brothers Chirgwin, he explained, as his mother had been expecting twins.



At its height, music hall, as T. S. Eliot wrote, expressed the soul of the people. Major points out that Eliots contemporary, Virginia Woolf, was another improbable enthusiast, noting excitedly in her diary that shed been to see the legendary Marie Lloyd. By this stage though, Woolf recorded,

Lloyd was scarcely able to walk, waddling, aged, unblushing. Soon Lloyd was dead  at 52. And music hall was also dying, dealt a fatal blow by the arrival of the cinema. Today, all that remain are a few recordings and pieces of celluloid. Just a pale reflection of the real thing, Major writes sadly.



Every so often in My Old Man youre brought up short by Majorisms: what one critic called his 1950s coronation chicken vocabulary. He refers to prostitutes as ladies of the night and at one point extols the efficacious powers of tea.



Yet in a way these only increase its charm: the sense of Major having one foot in the present and the other in a long-distant past.


MY VIEW: Actors are as key to keeping a drama fresh as the scripts, says ROY MITCHELL, the co-creator of New Tricks

A couple of minutes chat taken from an interview with three stars of New Tricks, the BBC1 police drama I helped create, recently caused a mini sensation in the Twittersphere. Amanda Redman, Alun Armstrong and Dennis Waterman were discussing the characters theyve played with aplomb for nearly ten years.



They remarked that DS Sandra Pullman and retired coppers Brian Lane and Gerry Standing, who work in the Metropolitan Police cold case unit, had become stale.



To a degree, they may be close to the mark. In Britain for an hour-long drama to carry on for so many years is very rare. Spooks went on for ten series, Hustle for eight, but these, like New Tricks, are highly unusual.

The cast of New Tricks (from left) Dennis Waterman, Amanda Redman, James Bolam and Alun Armstrong

The common factor in all three shows success has been a strong cast of characters the public really liked.



The viewing figures for New Tricks show the audience is still in love with the show and its characters, who I think represent the policemen wed like to have. They may slightly bend the rules to get results, but without being remotely corrupt. Last year, New Tricks was the best-watched drama on BBC with audiences of nine million. The latest series, which started on Bank Holiday Monday, has eight million people watching. So, we must still be doing something right.



How can writers keep a long-running drama fresh? In America, to sustain quality and avoid staleness, programmes like CSI and NCIS have a different process, with teams of writers working on episodes collectively. Actors are rarely involved in any way in their creation.



Some say that to keep our long-running dramas exciting, we might have to adopt the American way of working.



Amanda Redman as Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman

But I passionately believe the best-loved characters are a joint creation of the writers and cast. I write at least two episodes of each series, and as an actor can make or break a script, I like to involve them in developing their characters. Theyre invited to comment on drafts of the story, and once again at the read-through stage.



The major problem of maintaining interest in principal characters over multiple series is theres only so much material to be mined before the character becomes repetitive or worse, cliched. One of the best ways to inject new life into a long-running drama is to create new main characters, with new back stories. Thats why, while Im sad to see James Bolam leave the series, Im relishing being able to create whole new storylines around the new member of the team, a Scottish detective played by Denis Lawson. His energy and enthusiasm should reinvigorate writers and cast alike.



New Tricks, Mondays, 9pm, BBC1.

From left: Jodhi May, Matthew Rhys (also far right), Alice Orr-Ewing and Sheridan Smith in The Scapegoat

Pick of the week : The Scapegoat



Daphne du Mauriers stories always adapt brilliantly to the screen (large or small), and this feature-length one-off is no exception. Even though it is very different from the original novel (which is set in France), it keeps the compelling central theme, of a man who gets the chance to swap lives with his double. Matthew Rhys (The Mystery Of Edwin Drood, Brothers And Sisters) plays John Standing, a sacked teacher setting off on a walking tour  and his louche doppelganger, Johnny Spence, aristocratic landowner and failed businessman. When these two meet by chance, Johnny seizes the opportunity to disappear and John, reluctantly at first, enters Johnnys complicated world A dark, unsettling and utterly gripping story unfolds. Tomorrow, 9pm, ITV1. Nigel Andrew



Steve Van Zandt as Silvio Dante in The Sopranos

Box Set Release: Homeland Season 1 22

In this gripping thriller Claire Danes stars as a passionate CIA agent convinced that rescued US soldier Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) is connected to a terrorist plot on American soil.



Out on Monday



Comeback Corner


Tories promise Dave a black eye if he bulldozes the Green Belt

They were intended to get the economy moving, but radical proposals by David Cameron to build on the Green Belt are about to get his own MPs moving against him.

Tory backbenchers, and some senior Ministers, are furious at suggestions that the Prime Minister is ready to reopen the emotive issue of whether new homes and businesses should be built in protected countryside, an issue they had thought was settled.

Mr Cameron risks a dangerous Cabinet split over his apparent willingness to sacrifice the Green Belt, a move that has emerged as he casts around for fresh ideas to stimulate growth.

David Cameron (right) held a crisis summit with Nick Clegg (left) and George Osborne (centre) to get the economy back on track

In a bid to inject momentum, he held a crisis summit with Nick Clegg and George Osborne at which it was agreed the Coalition had to think the unthinkable to get the economy back on track.

The lack of a growth strategy has been a constant criticism of the Government and Mr Osborne has been under increasing pressure over his lacklustre policies as the economy flatlines.

The Chancellor apparently made clear he was keen to reopen the debate to make it easier for thousands of homes to be built, as well as shops, hotels and infrastructure projects that would boost the construction industry.

He and Mr Cameron are trying to come up with ideas to put into an economic regeneration Bill, expected in the autumn.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson told Cameron to 'stop pussyfooting around'

The latest panic comes after Mayor of London Boris Johnson embarrassed the Prime Minister by telling the Coalition to stop pussyfooting around. Seen as a likely future leadership contender, he called for tax cuts and action on deregulation.

But Mr Osborne has ruled out tax cuts while attempts to deregulate are mired in Lib Dem objections. Last weekend, it emerged Business Secretary Vince Cable opposed plans by Mr Cameron to extend Sunday trading hours.

So Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne have reportedly alighted on the idea that laws governing Green Belt land might be relaxed. There is only one problem. The issue has just been the subject of a long and arduous process, culminating in a rule change trumpeted as protecting the countryside.

Draft proposals, published last year, were amended to strengthen Green Belt safeguards after they were opposed by groups, including the National Trust, the Campaign to Protect Rural England and Friends of the Earth, which said they amounted to a developers charter.

In March, Ministers published the new guidelines aimed at encouraging development on brownfield sites. A presumption in favour of sustainable development should be a key theme in planning decisions and local councils now get the final say on Green Belt decisions.

The suggestion that the new rules might be scrapped so soon after implementation has ignited Tory anger. Cabinet Minister Eric Pickles is furious. The Communities Secretary, who in March pledged the countryside was safe under the new rules, is said to be determined to stick to his word.

He is wise to do so. A U-turn could spark a bitter Tory rebellion. Mole Valley MP Sir Paul Beresford, said: If they try to do this, theyll have a fight on their hands. We are not going to allow it.

At last, Vince and Cameron find something to agree on

After his opposition to longer shopping hours on Sunday, Vince Cable has offered David Cameron an olive branch.

Im told the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary has been working with the Tories to see what deregulation moves can be agreed, in a bid to launch a package to boost business in the autumn.

But the devil is in the detail and it is proving hard for Ministers on both sides of the Coalition to agree on specific measures.

Vince Cable (left) has offered David Cameron (right) an olive branch after his opposition to longer shopping hours on a Sunday



After Mr Cable fought proposals to allow larger stores to stay open on Sunday, there were fears that he could continue that approach.

One Tory Minister said: The Lib Dems want to make it look as if we are trying to put children up chimneys. They want to spend between now and the next Election blocking every deregulation proposal we unveil so that they can say to their voters, Look what the evil Tories tried to do, and we stopped it. 

One proposal that is gaining consensus, however, is to simplify the laws relating to money-laundering.

At present, firms must carry out due diligence checks to make sure customers are who they say they are, especially when carrying out transactions in excess of 15,000 or when the customer is not physically present.

Ministers are working on a streamlined system whereby anyone with a British, EU or US bank account is presumed to be clean and does not have to undergo checks.

Said one insider: It makes sense to only require firms to do checks when someone turns up with a suitcase full of fivers.

Cool Theresa's a hot favourite



Keeping calm: Theresa May

Once derided for her beige approach to politics, Theresa May has won mounting plaudits for her steady performance in government. Even her staunchest critics have had to alter their view.

In fact, with Cameron, Clegg, Osborne and Hague now all on holiday, Tories are expressing relief that the seemingly unflappable Home Secretary has assumed control of the country.

The statuesque former leadership hopeful  she briefly considered a bid for the top job before backing Cameron  is seen to have done particularly well in a brief that has claimed so many scalps.



And with other Coalition Ministers lashing out under the strain, she is more than anything admired simply for her ability to keep cool and carry on.

Or as one MP puts it: She knows how to get from A to B without knocking over the drinks trolley.

As health service bosses begin the process of NHS reform, a strange memo has been leaked to me from St Georges Hospital in Tooting, South London.



This is the hospital where 22-year-old Kane Gorny died of dehydration and whose nursing staff were accused of appalling negligence at his inquest.

The memo from managers tells staff how to improve patient care by behaving like geese.

Entitled Careful Focus; Transforming healthcare by putting people before process, it says that just as geese fly more efficiently in a V formation, people who share a common direction and sense of community can reach their destination quicker and easier, travelling on the thrust of each other.

Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it immediately feels the drag, it explains. Lesson: Stay in formation.

Sometimes the leading goose gets tired and another takes over. Lesson: Take turns and share in leadership.



Geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up the speed. Lesson: Make sure your honking from behind is encouraging.

Needless to say, there is nothing about making sure patients are given water.






JAMES FORSYTH: Austerity sandwiches and the death of the euro... poor George has a lot on his plate

Meeting: All the Tory Secretaries of State gathered in David Cameron's House of Commons office last Wednesday to discuss the Autumn Statement

Theres a new marker of a significant event in these Coalition times: a Conservatives-only political Cabinet.



Last Wednesday, all the Tory Secretaries of State gathered in David Camerons House of Commons office to discuss the Autumn Statement.

Over what one Cabinet Minister calls austerity sandwiches and orange juice, they discussed how the party could win an overall majority at the next Election, even as the economic climate worsens.



One of those present explains: We all like Nick Clegg, but we dont want to be stuck with him for ever.

Stephen Gilbert, Camerons political secretary, and Andrew Cooper, who is his chief political strategist, presented the latest polling data. Their main finding was that support for Labours Plan B fell away when people realised that it involved more borrowing.

The numbers show that the public gets the Tories message that you cant borrow your way out of a debt crisis. Expect Ministers to refer repeatedly to Plan B for borrowing this week.

Coalition strategists expect Tuesdays Statement to be overshadowed by the Office for Budget Responsibility downgrading its forecasts for both the economic and fiscal position. One senior source predicts that it will be a good 24 hours for Labour.

Among the measures Osborne will announce are the scrapping of the 3p rise in fuel duty scheduled for January, a set of new roads projects and measures to create an e-infrastructure for Britain that will boost high-tech computing.

Frank: One Conservative Secretary of State admitted: 'We all like Nick Clegg, but we don't want to be stuck with him for ever'

These will go alongside State-supported lending to small business and a slew of private-sector infrastructure projects backed by Government guarantees.

The Chancellors message will be that he can do all these things because Britain has credibility in the international markets, thanks to the deficit-reduction plan he set out in his 2010 emergency Budget.



One close Osborne ally says that the main theme of his speech will be, Were doing what it takes to keep Britain safe in a more dangerous world.

The Liberal Democrats are understandably keen to take their share of the credit for this. One Clegg ally emphasises: Its the Coalition that has persuaded the markets.



Plans: Osborne is expected to announce the scrapping of the 3p rise in fuel duty scheduled for January, a set of new roads projects and measures to create an e-infrastructure for Britain that will boost high-tech computing

The Liberal Democrats have even taken to teasing their Coalition partners in meetings by passing around copies of Tory Election posters that predicted an implosion of Britains economic credibility if no party won an overall majority.



But Osbornes speech risks being overshadowed by events in the eurozone. The fact that Italy has to pay almost twice what it did a month ago to get its debt down is a sign that the crisis on the Continent is approaching its denouement.



The British Government is now, in the words of one senior Cabinet Minister, readying itself for the collapse of the single currency. I understand that the break-up of the euro is now regarded as probably the most likely option.

Friends say Osbornes recent comments that even France could get dragged into the sovereign debt spiral were a sign that he now thinks the euro is entering the endgame.



If the eurozones second-largest economy is not safe, then the whole project is doomed.



Treasury sources refuse to confirm this shift in the Chancellors mindset. But I hear that contingency planning for the break-up of the single currency is proceeding with increased seriousness. Everyone knows that this is not a drill any more.

Absence: In recent weeks, insiders have noticed how rarely Steve Hilton is to be found at his new desk

After the summer, Steve Hilton was given a desk right outside David Camerons office.



In No 10, where proximity is power, this was meant as a signal that the mercurial Hilton remained at the heart of the Cameron operation.

The move also placed Hilton alongside the Prime Ministers two other most powerful lieutenants, his chief of staff Ed Llewellyn and the Downing Street permanent secretary Jeremy Heywood.



The idea was to ensure that these three men all knew what the others were up to.

But in recent weeks, insiders have noticed how rarely Hilton is to be found at this new desk.

His absence has become a barometer of his dissatisfaction. Dubbed Thatcher in a T-shirt by the Lib Dems, Hilton has been irritated by the safety-first attitude of many of his colleagues.



One Tory tells me: Steve and all those guys who came in hoping to be seriously radical are very frustrated.

Cameron, though, cannot afford to lose Hilton. Hes the grit in the Downing Street oyster. Without him, this would be a far blander Government, and one less likely to rise to the challenge of the times.

David Cameron ordered an emergency meeting of the Governments strike committee on Friday. He was deeply concerned about the countrys borders ahead of Wednesdays industrial action.

They are, according to one of his close allies, flashing red in all of the Coalitions contingency planning.

The Prime Minister is worried the unions will succeed in hanging a Britain is closed to business sign across the countrys doors. At the meeting, he ordered an increase in the number of civil servants being asked to volunteer to man border posts. He is desperate to avoid the sight of British airports shutting down.

Plan of action: On strike day, Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office Minister who has been leading negotiations with the unions, will be running a war room in Great Smith Street

But even with these contingency measures, the Government is braced for hours-long queues at all major entry points. They are also expecting more than 90 per cent of state schools to shut. It will be a flash frost of discontent.

On strike day, Francis Maude  the Cabinet Office Minister who has been leading negotiations with the unions  will be running a war room in Great Smith Street. His job will be to ensure that as many key public services as possible are kept functioning. The Government, though, is in defiant mood, bolstered by polls that show increasing public opposition to the strike. One source argues that everyone staying off work will have a better pension than those struggling in.

Im told that if an agreement with the unions on public sector pensions is not reached soon, the Coalition will take away a lot of concessions and simply impose one. They are resolute that they will not reward a strike.

The trouble is that Brendan Barber, the head of the Trades Union Congress, is not in a strong enough position to make a deal. One No 10 source says: The problem is that Barber cant deliver the hard nuts.

The question now is whether Dave Prentis, the leader of Britains largest union, Unison, decides to fill this leadership vacuum. Prentis is a Labour man and not a Trot.

He might decide that in the current economic climate, a deal is in the best interests of his members. But if he does not, then a long winter of strikes lies ahead of us.

James Forsyth is political editor of The Spectator








Victory in Bulgaria for ski flat Britons: Inventors win back keys to their property



Journey: Paul Hassell, pictured with his wife Sharon, will be delighted the battle to reclaim his property is over

A group of Britons who faced arrest and threats of violence during a two-year dispute over the ownership of flats they had bought in a Bulgarian ski resort have finally won their case.



The 70 investors have gained access to the apartment block in the former Communist state as well as securing the title deeds to their flats, which they had purchased for 6 million.



The resolution of the dispute is considered so significant that Britains most senior diplomat in the country will attend a party next weekend at the All-Seasons leisure complex in the town of Bansko, 120 miles south of the capital Sofia.



The owners were denied entry after an influential local businessman took over the entire development and refused to hand over the keys.



The Britons staged a mass break-in to seize possession of the block but in a series of court cases their pleas for justice were ignored.

Financial adviser Paul Hassall, from Horsham, West Sussex, who was arrested twice by Bulgarian police during the campaign to get the flats back, said: The British Consul says this is the first time a group of British victims of property crime in Bulgaria have united and won their case.
Her public persona may be loud and proud, but in private Spice Girl Mel B was trapped for years in a toxic marriage that nearly destroyed her  and traumatised her young family, too. Here, she and her eldest daughter Phoenix open up about the years of abuse and how Mel finally escaped.

Plus scroll down for an exclusive chapter from the audiobook edition of her autobiography Brutally Honest.

Mel B and her eldest daughter Phoenix open up about the years of abuse and how Mel finally escaped

MELANIE BROWN, 43

When I decided to write about my marriages, my family and my life [in her autobiography Brutally Honest], it wasnt an easy decision. I knew Id have to be completely open  otherwise what was the point? But what floored me was talking about my daughters and how they suffered from my ten-year relationship with a man called Stephen Stansbury [he calls himself Stephen Belafonte]. I thought I was in love but it turned out I was in hell.

I am a Spice Girl  loud, proud Scary Spice who went around shouting girl power! from the rooftops. I am a judge on some of the biggest shows on television, such as The X Factor and Americas Got Talent. But who I really am is Melanie Brown, a girl from a council house in Leeds. A mother of three girls: my Phoenix, 19, Angel, 11, and Madison, who is just seven. And for far too long I was an emotional mess.

My daughters are my world. My sweet, sensitive Phoenix  who has the most wicked sense of humour  was born in London in 1999, three months after I married her dad [dancer Jimmy Gulzar]. Emma [Bunton] and Melanie [Chisholm] were in the room when this beautiful little creature came into the world and Victoria [Beckham] arrived with flowers and presents within hours. It was such a happy and special moment, and I loved Phoenix like Id never loved anyone before.

After I split from Jimmy in 2000, I went to Los Angeles to get away from the madness that came with fame. Jim moved to LA, too, to keep in touch with Phoenix, but for years it was just me and my little girl. We would hang out at the beach or around the swimming pool at home.

I was never the typical mother. My job wasnt nine to five and my work outfit might be a leather catsuit or a glittery evening dress. But whenever I was working, Phoenix was either with her dad or my wonderful assistant Janet Neale, and I always knew where she was and what she was doing.

Mel B remembers giving birth to Phoenix: 'It was such a happy and special moment, and I loved Phoenix like Id never loved anyone before'

EXCLUSIVE AUDIOBOOK EXTRACT

Melanie has been instrumental in the production of an audiobook version of Brutally Honest. As she is dyslexic, she felt unable to record the audiobook herself. She was keen to be involved in the audition process to find the perfect actress to take on her voice.

Melanie heard three finalists perform extracts from her book, and met with each of them to get to know them a bit and find out if they understood her story. In the end she chose Zaraah Abrahams.

Also on the audiobook recording is a chapter written and read by Phoenix  Melanies eldest daughter  and Andrea, her mother.

Click below to hear a chapter, courtesy of audible.co.uk

EXCLUSIVE AUDIOBOOK EXTRACT Melanie has been instrumental in the production of an audiobook version of Brutally Honest. As she is dyslexic, she felt unable to record the audiobook herself. She was keen to be involved in the audition process to find the perfect actress to take on her voice. Melanie heard three finalists perform extracts from her book, and met with each of them to get to know them a bit and find out if they understood her story. In the end she chose Zaraah Abrahams. Also on the audiobook recording is a chapter written and read by Phoenix  Melanies eldest daughter  and Andrea, her mother. Click below to hear a chapter, courtesy of audible.co.uk Advertisement

Then, in 2006, I met and fell in love with [Hollywood star] Eddie Murphy, and became pregnant very quickly. Sadly that relationship didnt work out. I was heartbroken, but when this curly-haired baby was born she felt like my angel, which is why I gave her that name. And then, three weeks later, I had a call from a guy I barely remembered meeting called Stephen. He was one of those people you would see at parties. He flirted with me and told me I looked beautiful. There was something fearless about him. He made me feel that I had someone by my side who could protect me from everything. Two months after we met, he proposed. I had two children by two different fathers and no husband  he was going to look after me. We married in Vegas the very next day.

Everything in my life changed, and I thought it was because Stephen wanted to give me as much support as possible. Hed already brought in a nanny to help with Angel and he told me he knew exactly what to do with my career and my public image. I trusted him. He got me to do Dancing With The Stars  the American equivalent of Strictly  and all of a sudden people were cheering me on because they got to see what I was really like.

Stephen booked more and more work for me. I had the first Spice Girls reunion tour [in 2007] and my diary filled up with jobs all over the world. He hired more nannies, got rid of my assistant Janet, chose my hair and make-up team and took over all my business and finances.

Then the British press ran a story saying that in 2003 Stephen had beaten up Nicole Contreras, his former girlfriend and mother of his other daughter, Giselle. [He pleaded no contest  an admission of guilt  to a charge of battery against her. His criminal record includes beating a mallard to death with a brick in 2007 and various charges of burglary and vandalism.] He kept telling me it was all lies and misunderstandings. He was incredibly convincing and I just wanted to believe him.

I was working so much that I barely had time to think, but Im a grafter and didnt complain. And then I fell out with my family. They thought Stephen was bad news, that he was not good for Phoenix. There were constant rows. One by one my close friends dropped away. We had new rules in the house  Phoenix was always being grounded. Stephen told me I was too soft; I was spoiling her. Did I want her to be a Hollywood brat? Id try to get my point across, but he would laugh it away.

I cant remember when I realised how unhappy I was, how unconfident I felt as a mother. He told me I was fat and ugly but he also told me he loved me. I was lucky that he took me on, a woman with two kids by two different dads. I didnt want to admit Id made a massive mistake. Five years into the marriage I became pregnant with Madison. Our baby didnt bond us. I felt under pressure about my appearance  my husband would say I looked old and overweight. Part of me didnt care  I loved my new baby girl and I actually liked being curvy, but all the vicious little jibes got me down.

No one guessed what was happening because at work  on tour and on shows such as Americas Got Talent  I was the same old larger-than-life Mel B, always laughing and joking. Im a better actress than anyone realises; plus there I could be who I wanted to be. I felt safe.

At home my world span out of control because I started drinking and taking drugs to try to block out the conflicting emotions spinning around in my brain. There was constant shouting. More rules. Phoenix was not allowed to take things out of the fridge, my kids had to eat on the floor because food might get on the expensive dining chairs. Stephen said I had to wear certain clothes with certain bags otherwise I looked like a tramp. I would wait until my kids were in bed, then drink.

Mel B on trying to protect Phoenix during the years of abuse: 'I felt trapped and ashamed. You lose your sense of time when you are locked into this sort of emotionally abusive relationship'

'I would see Phoenix watching me, her face twisted with worry, but I couldnt talk to her because I didnt know what to say,' says Mel

I told myself that I was managing to keep this mess hidden from my children. They were clean and fed; they travelled in the sort of luxury I never knew existed as a kid. As long as I could lock myself away and cry, as long as I could keep the screaming matches to the bedroom, I was keeping what I was going through a secret from my children.

I felt trapped and ashamed. You lose your sense of time when you are locked into this sort of emotionally abusive relationship. Sometimes things would seem OK, and sometimes it would be bad. But even in the OK times there was constant tension. I would see Phoenix watching me, her face twisted with worry, but I couldnt talk to her because I didnt know what to say. I saw Phoenix behaving the same way as me  barely talking, keeping herself to herself. Within a few years Id become expert at blocking my emotions.

In 2014, I did something that let the cat out of the bag. I was working on The X Factor UK. The public voted me the best judge and the fashion critics raved about me. All of us were living in a flat in Kensington, West London, and Phoenix was at a boarding school in Surrey. She told me she was happy. But I was very unhappy. It felt awful to be in a country where my parents were just a few hundred miles away in Leeds but I wasnt on speaking terms with them. I was drinking and taking cocaine in the hours before I went into work and after work, when the kids were asleep, because I felt as though I couldnt breathe.

I knew that taking an overdose of aspirin and paracetamol was a mistake. I knew I could never leave my girls. I wanted to go to hospital but ended up rowing with Stephen and collapsing in the bathroom. It was my hairdresser and security guy who took me to hospital the next day. The press got wind of it and, when I appeared on The X Factor covered in bruises and without my wedding ring, the rumours went into overdrive. I told everyone around me that I would leave Stephen, but a few days later I was told by a child expert that I could lose my children if it came out Id taken an overdose, so I went back to him.

I knew I had to do something, but it was only last year  after promising my dad on his deathbed that I would end my marriage  that I began to see what had happened to me as a woman and mother. I learned about emotional abuse and listened to other women talking about gaslighting  where you are made to feel that you are going crazy. I avoided thinking about what my kids had been through and focused on the fact that we were starting a new life. I had so much damage to repair with my family, with myself and with what the world was going to find out about me as a court case raged between me and my ex over custody and finances.

I walked away from the home I shared with Stephen and moved into a rented house, and every night I would hug my kids. We had meals at the table. I made pancakes. We would dance to music that I loved, music my kids loved. I was being the mum I wanted to be, the mum I was when Phoenix was a little girl. My mother came back into my life and we had roast chicken dinners together.

Mel B on finding strength from her horrifying experiences: 'I love my children. I love that I know we have a bond that is unbreakable'

When my daughter opened up about what she had been through  to my friend and writer Louise Gannon  I fell apart. I had stayed in a toxic relationship, and no relationship like that can be contained in a room  it spreads like a cancer through the whole family. I cried for days.

I rang Louise in the middle of the night, sobbing, Am I a bad mother? Who is with your girls now? she asked me. Who supports your girls? Who writes star charts on the fridge, who cleans their clothes, who knows what they like in their sandwiches? You are not a perfect mother, Melanie. But there is no such thing as a perfect mother.

During my court case, I had to write an itinerary of just a two-year period of my marriage. I was shocked when I read it. I never stopped working, barely had a few days off, barely had time to be with my children. My mother remembered me crying at an airport begging to go home and see my girls but being told by Stephen that I had to get on a plane for my next job.

I have learnt that, statistically, a very high percentage of women turn to drink and drugs in an abusive marriage because they cant deal with the reality of their lives. That helped me to forgive myself. We dont talk enough about these subjects  its viewed as shameful. I refuse to be judged as a bad mother and I hold my head up high, not just for myself but for all other women who are in these situations and trying to put their lives back together.

I love my children. I love that I know we have a bond that is unbreakable. I have been accused by my ex-husband  who shares custody of Madison  of drinking and taking drugs since we split up, because I have a public image that can be destroyed. I have been forced to take random drink and drug tests, and each one has been clean. I smile, because what I think of is my girls, my freedom and the years we are going to have together making life better and better. I am not a perfect mother but I am stronger, I am happier and I am the mother I want to be.

PHOENIX GULZAR BROWN, 19

When I think about my mum, I dont think of her so much as a mother. I think of her as a woman  a woman in pain, a woman trying to keep everything together, a woman who is sometimes helpless and sometimes strong.

When the world saw my mum as an amazing, happy, successful woman, on stage with the Spice Girls reunion tour, I was the one standing at the bottom of the stairs listening to her sobbing in her bedroom. I was maybe 11 years old, just a kid. I didnt know what else to do apart from stay close. I knew what was going on between her and Stephen. I was old enough to see the fights, old enough to witness the out-of-control drinking, old enough to know that the way Stephen cursed and swore at her was not right. She was not a fat b****, she was not an ugly c*** or stupid.

There are things I cant forget. I was maybe 14 or 15, I was in my bedroom. I could hear them fighting. My mum came downstairs to the kitchen followed by Stephen. I looked through the crack halfway up the stairs  where I could just see the kitchen  to check if everything was OK, which it was, then returned to my room. Then I heard more screaming and her shouting, Stop, get off, and heard little thumps. I went to the stairs again and saw Stephen with his pants down and my mum pushed over the couch. I froze, but then I just went back. This was my family life.

'Our relationship is complicated. Theres a lot we talk about now but theres still a lot we dont talk about and all of it is still there between us,' Phoenix reveals

In 2014 I was called out of class at my boarding school. No one would tell me why, but as soon as I saw my mums security guy, I knew something bad had happened. We drove to a hospital where Mum was recovering after taking an overdose. I knew she was going through hell but I never thought shed think of leaving us. Maybe I should have hugged her, but I just screamed at her, I was so angry.

Our relationship is complicated. Theres a lot we talk about now but theres still a lot we dont talk about and all of it is still there between us. It wasnt always like that. When I was a kid it was so simple. I was the luckiest girl in the world. My early memories begin after my mum and dad split up and we moved to LA. I went everywhere with Mum. If she was working, Id go with her and her assistant Janet would look after me. I loved Janet and we usually had our dog, Lordy, with us. I did cool things like hanging out with the other Spice Girls, travelling the world first class, going to Disneyland and skipping the queues. I didnt realise it was cool, though; for me it was just my life.

Mum would get up and say, Lets spend the day at the beach. My friends loved her and would hang out at our house. We had a pool. She painted everything in bright colours because shed read that was how you stimulated kids brains. Id see my dad on weekends; everything was very chilled. Looking back now, I realise Mums whole life revolved around me.

I loved Eddie [Murphy], who is Angels dad. My mum was really happy with him, but when they split up she was heartbroken. Then Stephen came into the picture and everything changed. Things happened slowly. There were rows between him and my mums family because I told them I hated Stephen. Our dog Lordy got beaten by Stephen. He once threw him in the pool  Lordy hit the water really hard and was so distressed. I think I tried to deal with all of this by blanking out my emotions. If I didnt cry or make a fuss there would be less trouble.

Phoenix says: 'Im a teenager trying to figure out my life and my mum is a woman figuring out hers, but because of what we went through together there is a bond that will never break'

We moved house all the time. Stephen became Mums manager and she was working constantly. Everything was extreme. The screaming and the silence. We didnt really talk about what was happening. Sometimes shed say things to me like, Life is hard. I knew that she wanted to leave him but I also knew something was stopping her and I didnt know what.

Our relationship is in no way typical, but it is our relationship. Things are different now. I wont pretend everything is perfect and back to the Disney movie of my childhood. Im a teenager trying to figure out my life and my mum is a woman figuring out hers, but because of what we went through together there is a bond that will never break. I know my mum tried to protect us. I tried to look after my sisters, too.

Rebuilding families after abuse Melanie is a patron for the national domestic abuse charity Womens Aid. Katie Ghose, its chief executive, says: Melanie has been incredibly brave in speaking out about her experience of domestic abuse and the effect that it has had on her family. At Womens Aid we know that abusers often isolate their partners by cutting them off from their friends and family. The abuser may attempt to damage the relationship between a mother and her children by lying to them  telling them that their mother doesnt care about them or that she is the reason he acts the way he does. Part of the abuse can include preventing the mother from spending quality time with her children, and this can make her feel even more alone. We run training courses to help mothers rebuild their lives and gain confidence in their parenting skills after living with domestic abuse, because we know that it affects thousands of women. Children who have witnessed domestic abuse are victims, too, and will respond to the trauma in different ways  they may be startled easily, feel anxious or depressed or feel that it is their job to protect their mother. Our national network of local domestic abuse services supports mothers and children as they rebuild their relationships by helping them to understand how their experience has affected their relationship. Together we work to understand the different strategies they have been using to get through this difficult time so that they can build mutual empathy. Well help to give the mother the confidence to find the best way to support her child going forward; theyll learn about healthy relationships and think about their hopes for the future. Domestic abuse can have an enormous impact on womens mental health, and women living with abuse can feel suicidal or use alcohol and drugs to try to block out what is happening to them. It is important that we do not judge women who have survived domestic abuse; we should let them know that they are not alone and that we support them to rebuild their lives. For more information and support, visit womensaid.org.uk Advertisement

Of course we row about the usual stuff: me being messy, staying out late. When Mum was my age she was in the Spice Girls; she knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life. Its not always easy having a mum who is a celebrity. I am supposed to have moved out and started being independent. My mum is big on independence  she left home to be a dancer as soon as she finished her GCSEs  but I still live in an apartment next door to her. I feel I have to be close. When awful things happen  like when my grandad was dying  the person Mum wants next to her is me. And when she needs me, Ill always be there.

Mel with Phoenix at 16 weeks

What Mum went through made me a good judge of character. But I still trust people. I think Im pretty normal for a kid in LA. I like to laugh and be creative; I want to make a business for myself in fashion [Phoenix is a stylist and designer]. Ive done work experience on magazines. Ive made coffee. Ive been brought up to know that you have to earn your place.

Like I say, I see my mum as a woman. Ive seen her weakness and I know her strength. When we went to Leeds because my grandad was dying, she and I talked for hours and thats when I knew how smart she is  and that she was leaving Stephen. Of all the people in the world, the only person I want respect from is my mum. I never really say this to her, but as a woman I think she is a hero.

Brutally Honest by Melanie Brown and Louise Gannon is published by Quadrille, price 17.99. To order a copy for 14.39 until 16 December, visit mailshop.co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640; p&p is free on orders over 15
I dont know where to start this column. Im in tears. Its the second time in two weeks. The first time was Davids fault, for telling me to Shush. The second time happened yesterday.

After Id done what I thought was a good deed, a man, a farmer, walked up to me and started yelling, right in my face. I find it very stressful to be yelled at, because I can see the anger, but I cannot hear it. Even with hearing aids, when Im stressed I go completely, utterly deaf. I kept saying, Pardon? and cupping my hand behind my ear. This only made him yell louder. My heart started crashing in my chest and I found it hard to breathe. You might wonder why 20-something PR girls at Topshop never spoke up. Im a grown woman, and all I could do was apologise, and shake, and throw up later into a hedge. I wonder if this bully would have yelled like that at a posh man? I somehow doubt it.

I learned to avoid conflict as a child because of an older sister whom even my parents were scared of. No one stood up to her, so I learned to tiptoe round her: when we shared a bed she would kick me all night. Once, I borrowed her red sweater, then put it back in the drawer. She came home from school, felt it was still warm, and flew into a rage so terrible Ive never forgotten it.

I understand completely why I was made bankrupt. I learned as a child to give, give, give, because otherwise someone will explode. Which led to everyone treating me like a tap they could just turn on. When the well was dry, they disappeared. I havent heard from that sister, the one whose mortgage I paid for six years, since I asked a year ago if she was going to our nieces wedding in Scotland and, if so, would she like to be picked up from the airport and stay at the Airbnb apartment Id rented. She said she couldnt go, but even so there was no thanks for the offer. Ive not heard a dickybird since.

Its puzzling, because I did nothing wrong other than placate her for 59 years. Ive been self- medicating with Friends, and the bit where Rachel calls Ross to congratulate him on getting a cat strikes a chord. And that, my friend, is what they call closure, she slurs, before hanging up the phone. Thats what I need. Closure. And so I text my sisters 21-year-old son, someone Ive known and loved his entire life. I text three times, asking what on earth is wrong. I receive not one single response. I email another nephew, in Australia, asking why was it that we got so close to me coming over for a visit  I had even arranged flights and times  and have since been blanked. I suppose you call it ghosting, but to be performed by members of your own family?

Patterns are so hard to break, arent they? Im upset, too, because, when you rent instead of own your home, Ive found out youre treated like dirt. My landlady in London told me, using CAPITAL LETTERS, the virtual equivalent of yelling, that water mustnt get on the kitchen floor, and that I should put a mat down. That I mustnt let the front door slam. That I have to water the plants on the balcony. That Im not to drink red wine on her sofa. Or light a candle. She texted the other day to say, You do know that pets are not allowed in my flat. She said a neighbour had phoned her, having seen dogs in my car outside. I replied: There was a stray cat on the balcony the other day, did someone call MI5?

She had the cheek to tell me not to be sarcastic. It all reminded me of when I rented a villa near St Tropez with my friend Isobel. I was sent so many rules and regulations (Soft furnishings must be brought in from the terrace every night because of dew; do not feed the tortoise), I fired off an email to the owner: Its supposed to be a holiday!

Its interesting, the butterfly effect. I felt intimidated as a child, which meant many, many years later I had to rehome the cats Ive loved with all my heart for 17 years. Who would have dreamed in a million years that would happen? Lifes a bitch, isnt it?
The new queen of primetime TV CHARLOTTE RILEY opens up to Kat Brown about royal connections, life lessons from her dad and the (hilarious) way actor husband Tom Hardy made her insanely jealous

CHARLOTTE WEARS DRESS, Rejina Pyo, from Harvey Nichols

If you were celeb-spotting the guests arriving for Harry and Meghans wedding back in May  and lets face it, who wasnt?  you may have noticed actress of the moment Charlotte Riley, wearing a vintage-look dark floral dress and strolling up to St Georges Chapel hand in hand with her husband of four years, Mad Max: Fury Road star Tom Hardy. It was a rare appearance in a supporting role (supporting the royal couple, that is, not her husband) for Charlotte, who seems to be grabbing more TV screen time than any other actress this autumn.

Charlotte with husband Tom Hardy at the royal wedding last May. The royal wedding felt nice and normal. A beautiful day full of a huge amount of love, she says

She was the idealistic deputy news editor, torn between duty and her personal life, in BBC Ones newspaper series Press; the family lawyer in Trust, BBC Twos drama about the John Paul Getty III kidnapping; and shes about to star as a young mother dealing with the aftermath of her parents unsolved murder in ITVs police thriller Dark Heart.

In the satirical stage and TV drama King Charles III, Charlotte played a fictionalised version of the Duchess of Cambridge, though sadly the paps didnt get that coveted shot of Kate and Charlotte together at Meghan and Harrys wedding. Other than the level of security and the crowds, I can honestly say it felt like a nice, normal wedding, she says, a really beautiful day full of a huge amount of love. Her dress, incidentally, was by The Vampires Wife, the label founded by Susie Cave, wife of musician Nick Cave: Id worn one of her dresses before, to a Bafta event. They are quite demure and I felt great in it, really elegant.

Charlotte may have been demure on that occasion, but at the moment shes looking distinctly goofy  sitting opposite me with her fist in her mouth. I mean literally  almost up to her wrist. Not what youd expect from a 36-year-old pregnant with her second child. But goofiness was her party piece when I knew her at Durham University 18 years ago, typical of the beautiful girl who loved to show her clownish side, and shes delighted to prove that she can still do it.

Having a Northern father telling you that if you lose your accent youre not allowed to come home keeps you grounded

I knew her as a star of the university Revue, completely comfortable in who she was  sweary, funny, energetic; no university crises here. That said, its still quite odd when the woman you went to toga parties with in freshers week, and who painted a sunrise on your bedroom wall, turns up as a guest at the royal wedding. (Her invitation came via husband Toms work with Prince Harry for the Princes Trust.) Shes been to the Oscars, for heavens sake! And shes married to a heart-throb: Tom has collected as many fans for his own Instagram account (he has 3.4 million followers) as for his macho film roles.

DRESS, Zimmermann, from Net-a-Porter. RINGS, The Pommier

The couple met when he played Heathcliff to her Cathy in the 2009 ITV adaptation of Wuthering Heights. They also starred alongside each other in BBC Twos Peaky Blinders, where Charlotte plays racehorse-training socialite May Carleton. Toms gang leader, Alfie Solomons, was killed off in the last series. Will Charlotte be back for series five or has pregnancy pressed pause? No, due to no reason other than I just havent been asked. At least, I dont think Ive been asked.

Famously private (they married in a low-key ceremony), the pair now live in West London with their toddler son and French bulldog Blue. Charlotte grew up in Teesside, the youngest of three children. She still has her soft accent (Having the threat of a Northern father telling you that if you lose your accent youre not allowed to come home is a good way of keeping you grounded), although its taken years of acting for her to develop the confidence to use it when auditioning for parts (she used it as Holly in Press). After Durham she studied at the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (Lamda) and went on to Ecole Philippe Gaulier, the Paris clown school whose alumni include Emma Thompson and Helena Bonham Carter.

She appeared on stage with Diana Rigg and Maureen Lipman (in Chekhovs The Cherry Orchard) and with Jessica Biel and Kristen Scott Thomas in the 2008 film of Noel Cowards Easy Virtue. Wuthering Heights won her a wider audience, as did roles alongside Tom Cruise in 2014s sci-fiaction film Edge of Tomorrow, written by Unforgotten creator Chris Lang.

Charlotte with Edward Akrout in new ITV drama Dark Heart

In Dark Heart, her character Juliette is enduring ongoing tragedy: her parents were brutally killed in her teens and their murderer was never found. Shes in what Charlotte describes as a fairly dysfunctional relationship: in the first episode she turns up in the old family home with her young son and a black eye courtesy of her murky new boyfriend. Meanwhile her brilliant younger brother Will, a detective, is struggling to balance worrying about his family and his on-off girlfriend with catching a vigilante serial killer who is targeting unconvicted paedophiles.

Ive lost people myself, so there was plenty for me to draw on, Charlotte says. But those two characters were orphaned at the ages of 16 and 17  how do you cope with that? Thats what my job is, to fill in those gaps and figure out what that leaves you with in terms of psychological scars or how that person interprets things in their life. Oddly, it was her clown training that helped her convey the emotion. She explains, If youre playing something thats quite dark on screen, people dont want to see the actors pain  they want to see the characters. Its not about you going to a painful place, its about finding the pleasure in portraying the pain.

For Tom and I childcare is a combination of juggling and help. Whats important for me is stability and a warm, loving environment

Fortunately, she finds switching off from difficult parts relatively easy. Dont get me wrong, Ive done roles that physically challenged me. I did a tough one at the Royal Court [Laura in the 2009 play The Priory] where my character was slitting her wrists every night. That was exhausting physically, but mentally  no. Particularly now being a parent  you have the journey home and youre, like: right, different gear!

Life at home with Tom is a happy, quiet affair. A perfect Saturday night for them is watching a documentary over a meal from their favourite Indian takeaway. Whats important for me is stability  thats what I aim for in terms of my friends, my family and my children. The best you can hope for is to create a warm, loving, safe and consistent environment. Her most treasured possessions are their photo albums. Ive got my mum and dads photo albums from their childhood, too. They trigger so many memories, dont they? Although Im terrible at recognising, Oh, this is a moment, get your phone out!

How do she and Tom combine their careers with parenting? We do it the same way everyone else does: a combination of juggling and help. Theres obviously going to be a bit more juggling soon, with a new baby due imminently: the working hours are tricky in terms of childcare. Becoming a mother led Charlotte to realise how very different life was for parents in her industry, and being able to take her baby son with her to work on King Charles III inspired her to join Raising Films, an initiative launched by a group of filmmakers aimed at providing childcare facilities on set. I was able to do my job and be with my child, which was a complete blessing for an actor. But in the meantime theres the rest of the cast and crew who are struggling to see their children because of the ridiculous hours we work.

Part of the issue is where childcare is coming from: Charlottes own parents live hundreds of miles away, so, she cant call on them for help easily. We dont live in this nuclear family any more, where youve got aunties and uncles and grandmas living on the same street. We lead isolated lives. One way to improve things, she says, is providing flexible childcare that both men and women can use. In our industry, youre not working all the time. So if somebodys got an eight-week project it would be great if they could bring their child and breastfeed, or if they could job-share, because a lot of positions on set are perfect for job-sharing.

Except for acting, of course. Charlotte has been cast in several period roles  in Marple, Stephen Poliakoffs 1940s drama Close to the Enemy and as the bewitched Mrs Strange in BBC Ones big-budget tale of Victorian wizardry, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. If she has no personal experience to draw on, she researches her roles, but hasnt had therapy.

COAT DRESS, Mulberry

Does talking to friends count? Having an amazing group of friends and family certainly helps me if Im struggling with anything. Im lucky, particularly with friends I made at Lamda. People have all stayed in touch and helped each other through the ups and downs of acting and daily life. In terms of life experiences Ive had, the opportunity to live with women in a shared house is probably one of the most important. And its good to do it when youre a bit older, I say. When we started university in 2000, there was very much a feeling that feminism was completed, that we were all equal in our laddishness. Do you think it was the naivety of youth or because we were coming out of that Spice Girls era? asks Charlotte. We did dress in quite an androgynous way. I wore baggy skater trousers and trainers, and was, like, Im set! But no, you cant just dress like men and suddenly its all equal. Female remakes of male-dominated films just dont do it for me, she says of titles such as Oceans 8. Why cant we just make an entirely new film that has amazing women in it?

This did happen with Edge of Tomorrow, where she starred alongside Emily Blunt, but its still quite male-dominated, she says. Emily was awesome. Shes totally nails, that woman. I remember when we were doing the training for it, she was so ripped it was unbelievable.

CHARLOTTE IN SHORT DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN THREE WORDS How do you do that?! I dont know, it changes minute by minute. WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?Its six and two threes. You can apply it to anything in life. Do I do this or do that? Its probably going to amount to the same thing in the end. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO? Radio 2 or Warren Zevon, AC /DC and stuff like that so we can have a little boogie with the children. WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING ON TV? Ozark is quite gory but so good. And the most recent season of Homeland. WHAT EMBARRASSES YOU? Im bad at remembering names. I get people mixed up. YOUR FASHION ICON? My friend Bonnie. I hate shopping, and when I do go, Ill say, Bonnie, Ive found a nice pair of jeans, and shell say, Buy them in every colour! Advertisement

Charlotte auditioned for the role of Catwoman in her husbands film The Dark Knight Rises, and is amused by the mystique surrounding big Hollywood superhero films. Its so veiled in secrecy that you dont know what youre auditioning for half the time. The directors watching it must be, like, What are these people doing? because you have no direction. I dont know who [the character] is talking to, I dont know who she is. Some of them were aliens. She shrugs cheerfully. Im useless when it comes to superhero things.

The real world is easier to understand, especially if there are animals involved. Charlotte and Tom are both huge pet lovers, and time on Peaky Blinders was even more of a family affair thanks to guest appearances from Toms labrador-cross Woody, who died last summer. Their French bulldog Blue is a new addition to the

household, although he has yet to make an appearance on Toms wildly popular Instagram. I didnt know he had an Instagram account until about three weeks ago, says Charlotte. I dont do anything like that.

Does it ever feel odd that so many people are invested in pictures of her husband with animals? Tom posts pictures of Battersea rescues to his own followers, and he is also the star of the hugely popular tomhardyholdingdogs fan-run account. Hes always been a bit of a Doctor Dolittle. There are numerous friends and family who now have dogs, that didnt know they wanted one until Tom happened to find a dog that didnt have a home. Even when we get a dog thats intended to be mine, it always loves him more than me.

Her husbands appeal also extends to one of Charlottes favourite people. I was very cross when Tom got to meet Paul OGrady at Battersea Dogs Home and I didnt. That caused a rift for a little while. Paul OGrady? Not, say, someone snazzy at the Oscars? Ive read all his biographies and Im slightly obsessed by him. I need to meet him.

I get the feeling thats not going to be a problem for Charlotte Riley.

Dark Heart starts at 9pm on 31 October on ITV

STYLIST: Jodie Nellist

HAIR: Shukeel at Frank Agency using Hair by Sam McKnight

MAKE-UP: Justine Jenkins using Burts Bees

PRODUCER: Sian Parry
Never one to shy away from controversy, bestselling US author JODI PICOULT tackles the hot-button issue of reproductive rights in her latest novel. In this highly personal piece for YOU, she makes a plea to end the shaming of women who seek abortions

When I was in college, one of my best friends had an abortion. Before she went, I remember many hard conversations, many tears, many sleepless nights as she and her boyfriend tried to amass the money to pay for the procedure. I lived, then, in a part of America where access to abortion was widespread; where women didnt have to travel impossible distances and where clinics were not subject to stringent laws that affected their ability to provide care. My friend was seven weeks pregnant, and I categorically supported her choice to terminate.

Years later, when I was seven weeks pregnant with my third child, I began spotting heavily. The thought of losing that pregnancy was devastating  in my mind, this was already a baby. Yet how could that be? How could I draw a line then that I hadnt been willing to draw a decade earlier?

Jodi Picoult tackles the hot-button issue of reproductive rights in her latest novel

The answer is complicated, which is why I chose to write about it in my new novel, A Spark of Light. Its also why, in America, reproductive rights are a hot-button issue. Where we draw the line shifts, not just between those who are pro-life and pro-choice, but in each womans lifetime given her current circumstances. It is also the reason that anti-choice legislation is so controversial. Laws are black and white  but the lives of women are a thousand shades of grey.

To break down the argument over choice, lets start with US moral philosopher Judith Jarvis Thomsons famous 1971 thought experiment. Imagine you wake to find yourself attached with tubes to a renowned violinist. He has a fatal kidney disease and the Society of Music Lovers has gone through all the medical records in the world and found that you are the only one whose blood can cure him. If he is unplugged from your body, he will die. However, if you wait nine months before unplugging him, he will be cured and live. If you disconnect him now, is it murder? Does the violinist have a right to life? Does he have the right to use your body in order to do so?

Heres another one. A building is on fire. On one floor are five babies. On another floor are 10,000 embryos. You can only evacuate one floor. Which do you pick? Anyone in their right mind would choose the five babies. But doesnt that suggest that there is a difference between a living baby and an embryo? What if on one floor were three babies, and on the other, 1,000 21-week foetuses? What if it were two babies versus 40 foetuses in the third trimester  a developmental point where, science shows, pain can be felt in utero?

These analogies frame the debate over abortion rights. Those who are pro-choice believe an embryo or foetus is part of a woman, therefore she gets to decide whether or not to bring the pregnancy to term. Those who are pro-life argue that every person alive was given the right to be born. Having an abortion violates the Golden Rule: do unto others as youd have them do unto you.

Given the emotional stakes, its important to know the facts. In the US, one in four women will have an abortion in her lifetime, and 88 per cent of abortions occur in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Only 1.3 per cent occur after the 21st week, and they include cases of incurable foetal disease or risk of maternal death. Abortion rates have declined overall, though they remain highest among poor women. In 2004, three-quarters of the women surveyed said they had an abortion because they couldnt financially care for a child. Meanwhile, there is a myth that limiting abortions legally will end abortion. In reality, in the States in the 1950s and 60s when abortion was illegal, its estimated that between 200,000 and 1.2 million procedures a year were still performed  unsafely.

Ive been pregnant three times, and twice I didnt even know until I was seven weeks along. When I was researching my novel, I spoke with pro-life advocates across America. None were religious zealots; they were lovely people who spoke from a place of deep personal conviction. All were appalled by acts of violence committed in the name of the unborn. They wished pro-choice advocates knew they werent trying to bully women into what they should do with their bodies; they just wanted women to realise that life was precious and their decision would affect someone who didnt have the voice to speak up.

Then I interviewed 151 women whod had abortions. The vast majority thought about the abortion daily. They wished pro-life advocates knew they were not bad people. As one woman said, I wish I could tell them that if I had to carry the child, I would have killed myself and the baby. I also wish I could tell them Im sorry. And: We are not using it as birth control; we are not lazy or dont care. We are as different as the human race, and it can break our heart, but it can still be the right thing for us.

Abortion: the facts  In England, Scotland and Wales, the 1967 Abortion Act allows a licensed medical practitioner to terminate a pregnancy (up to 24 weeks) as long as it is signed off by two doctors and meets certain conditions.  In the US, abortion is legal but there is huge variation in legislation from one state to another. Yet as American abortion laws have become more restrictive, attitudes in the UK have liberalised, and support for allowing women to have abortions simply because they dont wish to have a child has increased from 60 to 70 per cent since 2005.  In May this year, the Republic of Ireland voted to overturn its ban on abortion (it remains illegal in Northern Ireland, however), with the new system due to take effect from January 2019. And abortion hit a five-year high in England and Wales in 2015 as growing numbers of women in their 30s and 40s terminated their pregnancies.  In 2016, 81 per cent were carried out on single women, and the abortion rate was highest in 22-year-old women. Advertisement

I also shadowed Dr Willie Parker, a high-profile abortion provider in the American Bible Belt, as he terminated a five-week pregnancy, an eight-week pregnancy and a 15-week pregnancy. The first two procedures took less than five minutes. Nothing in the products of conception looked like a dead baby. The 15-week procedure was more complicated and took a few minutes longer. In the blood and tissue were minuscule, recognisable body parts. Dr Parker believes in transparency in his work and recognises that a foetus is a life. He does not, however, believe it is a person. He questions the moral responsibilities we have to each other. While pro-life protesters are championing the rights of the foetus, who is championing the rights of the women? The woman who had come in for that 15-week abortion had three children under the age of four and couldnt afford another child without compromising the care of the ones she already had. Does that make her a terrible motheror a responsible one?

Ultimately, the reason the debate over abortion rages is precisely because of these moral questions. When does a foetus become a person? Given rising rates of maternal mortality in the US, shouldnt a woman get to decide to face that risk? Is it possible to give rights to the unborn without taking them away from the woman? If we assume that nobody wants to have to make the choice to have an abortion, is there any way to reduce the need, without prohibitive legislation? Perhaps the best place to start is before pregnancy happens  with contraception. In the US in 2013 there were 26 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19. Compare that with the UK, where in 2015 it was just 14.5 per 1,000 in the same age group.

Unlike the States, the UK actively promotes contraception without judgment. If pro-life advocates really want to reduce abortion, they should offer free birth control  and yet that rarely happens because of religious beliefs. Second, if we know that financially strapped women choose abortions, we may reduce the need for termination by raising funds. What if minimum wage increased, so women had more financial security? Or what if the government funded childcare?

I do not know if America will ever come to an agreement about abortion rights. The stakes are too high, and both sides come from a place of strong principle. Instead of judging each other, perhaps we should focus on what we have in common  that none of us is perfect.

Its not just in the US: this March For Life rally took to the streets of Central London earlier this year

Id like to leave you with this statistic: of the 151 women I interviewed, only 25 wanted to be acknowledged in the book. The rest asked to remain anonymous. There is a stigma associated with abortion. Women have been socialised through books and film and politics to believe that if you are pregnant, the best outcome is to give birth and then raise the baby. What if abortion were no better or worse than childbirth or adoption? How many of those women I interviewed would have given their names?

I believe that there is no disgrace in choosing to terminate a pregnancy, if it is whats right for a woman at that moment. Just as the #MeToo movement has given a voice to women who had been silenced for years, Id argue that its time to #ShoutYourAbortion. The more women tell their stories, the less others will feel the pressure to stay silent. If we stop shaming women for their decisions, there will be no reason to hide.

Theres a hostagewe know how this will end

In this exclusive extract from Jodis new novel, a protester with a gun has taken the staff, patients and visitors of an abortion clinic hostage

When one of the junior detectives brought the word that his older sister Bex was out of surgery, Hugh winged a silent thank-you to a God he had long ago stopped believing in. The part of his brain that had been worrying about her could go back to focusing on Wren, who was still in there with a murderer.

First the two women had been released. Then the nurse and the injured abortion doctor. He paced the command centre from where he had made the call to give the shooter a few more minutes, in the hope he would make good on his promise to release all the hostages.

The question was, had he made a bad decision? A fatal one, for Wren?

Captain Quandt approached once again, blocking Hughs path.

OK, Im done waiting. He released most of them. Now were flushing him out.

You cant do that.

The hell I cant. Im in charge, Lieutenant.

Only on paper.

Hugh stepped closer, inches away from him.

Theres still a hostage. You go in there and we both know how this will end.

Quandt met his gaze.

We both know youre too close to this to be thinking clearly.

Hugh remained immobile, his arms crossed. Thats exactly why I dont want you blasting through that goddamn door.

The commander narrowed his eyes. I will give him ten more minutes to release your daughter. And then I will do everything in my power to make sure she is safebut were ending this.

Hugh picked up his phone and dialled the clinic number, the same one he had been using for hours now to speak to the shooter. It rang and rang. Pick up, Hugh thought. He had not heard any gunshots, but that didnt mean Wren was safe.

After 18 rings he was about to hang up. Then: Daddy? Wren said, and he couldnt help it, his knees just gave out.

Jodis novel A Spark of Light will be published on 30 October (Hodder & Stoughton, 16.99). To pre-order a copy for 13.59 until 4 November, visit mailshop.co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640. p&p is free on orders over 15. Jodi will be on tour in the UK from 27 October to 1 November. For details please visit jodipicoult.com
Discover all things nice with Donna Hays fresh take on favourite bakes

Banana bread

Spiced layered apple cake; Sticky date meringue cake

ESPECIALLY FOR YOU READERS

Modern Baking by Donna Hay will be published by Fourth Estate on Thursday, price 30. To order a copy for 24 (a 20 per cent discount) until 21 October, visit mailshop.co.uk/books, or call 0844 571 0640; p&p is free on orders over 15.

Donnas TV series Basics to Brilliance Kids continues on UKTV until 26 October; to be followed by Basics to Brilliance later in the year.

To mark the publication of Modern Baking, she will be in London at the end of October for events at Fortnum & Mason (fortnumandmason.com for details) and at The Soho Hotel, where Donna will be in conversation at 2pm on 3 November talking Cakes, Cookies and Everything in Between with YOU writer Fiona McCarthy, followed by a book signing and afternoon tea buffet featuring bakes from the book. Details and booking at firmdale.com. And you can also catch Donna on Saturday Kitchen on BBC1 on 3 November.

Recipes  Donna Hay Pty Ltd. Photographs  Chris Court, Ben Dearnley, William Meppem, Con Poulos, Anson Smart
Dress, 69.99 Violeta at mango.com

American bombshell Ashley Graham is the face of Mangos latest Violeta range  the go-to destination for on-trend statement pieces in sizes 14 to 26 (dont miss the luxe accessories either).

Model and body-positive activist Ashley describes the Violeta woman as polished, yet fierce  she knows that being smart and strong is sexy as hell.

Seeing these shots of her wearing cool picks from the new collection, I couldnt agree more.

Left: t-shirt, 17.99; jeans, 35.99; Right: coat, 149.99; Jumper, 35.99; Trousers, 59.99, all Violeta at mango.com

You can never have too many jeans...

...especially when they are by cool French designer Jeanne Damas, who is expanding her cult fashion label Rouje into the world of denim this season.

From around 116, rouje.com

In her mission to create the perfect pair, Jeanne has designed four key cuts  flared, high-rise, slim-fit and straight  one for each denim-defining moment and in multiple washes, in keeping with the brands modern vintage vibe.

Modelled here on girls Jeanne spotted on the streets of Paris, if the jeans are chic enough for les parisiennes, theyre chic enough for us. From around 116, rouje.com

This week I'm buying...

Treat: Leather coat; Steal: Midi skirt

TREAT: This butter-soft leather coat may be a major investment, but its a keep for ever statement piece. 599, finerylondon.com

STEAL: With its button details, this cute midi looks as though it should have a designer price tag. 25, Tu at sainsburys.co.uk

What to wear for an Autumn Escape

From 130 b&b, therectoryhotel.com.

Romantic rooms, log fires and a cosy pub just across the road The Rectory Hotel in the Cotswolds has low-key luxury covered, making it the place to hole up in this autumn. From 130 b&b, therectoryhotel.com.
For my birthday, David belatedly took me to John Lewis, where he purchased a wireless speaker so I can listen to all the music on my iPad. We got it home to the flat in Primrose Hill (yes, he has already complained about walking up that bloody hill after dinner at Lemonia; there is no pleasing some people), but were unable to get it to connect to the wi-fi. I said to David that somehow blowing on a stylus to remove dust, then placing it gingerly to a piece of black vinyl before hearing crackles from a scratch or warp somehow seemed infinitely more pleasurable and far less time-consuming.

When I moved out of my (rented) house in North Yorkshire and arrived with all my boxes at my one-bedroom flat with a balcony at the centre of the Western world, the two Romanian removal men said, Why would you leave that lovely house in the countryside, forthis. They simply dont understand. This is where its at. This is where my heart lies.

As part of my downsizing, and given my new addiction to Apple Music, I decided to get rid of my thousands and thousands of CDs. Nic has a young male friend, so I said he could come round and take his pick. I could tell, as he was fingering through my music spanning 30 years, eyes bulging in amazement at such an exhaustive collection, that he was thinking, Why does an old white bird have so much gangsta rap?

Why indeed. My record collection was entirely  apart from music by David Cassidy and Prince, who I fancied the pants off rather than for any musical reason  moulded and formed by the man I happened to be dating at the time.

My introduction to hip-hop was fuelled by Trevor, he of the high-waisted trousers and TCP for aftershave. With him, I bought my first-ever CD: 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul. I graduated to Public Enemy, NWA, A Tribe Called Quest, Biggie. Snoop Doggy Dog, the glorious Lauryn Hill, The Pharcyde.

After we broke up, when he ran off with a fashion stylist called Jenny, I moved on with Kevin, who introduced me to jazz. I always thought jazz was just a noise but, so keen was I to impress him, I never voiced such reservations and would sit, entranced and swaying, as he popped yet another obscure CD into my hi-fi, secretly yearning for Sex and the City. He was known to sit on the floor, serenading me with one of his own compositions. I never quite knew where to look. How did Pattie Boyd ever cope with the squirming embarrassment?

My ex-husband Nirpal was the reason I fell in love with Indian music: Ravi Shankar, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Talvin Singh. He loved house music, too, which never really appealed. Trying to edit down my thousands of books for my move, all the really intelligent tomes  John Keats Selected Poems, books on globalisation and the enlightenment, novels by Kiran Desai, Michel Houellebecq and VS Naipaul  were entirely due to his having left them behind in his rush to run off with other women. He was far cleverer than me, though lazy and unsupportive. I remember once, when I was asked by my paper to write a piece on skinny models at London Fashion Week, I had to rush off to a Jasper Conran show and interview Catherine, the wife of David Bailey. With only seconds to spare before I had to file my copy, he said, Well, I dont know why you dont just tell them to f*** off? Which has never been my attitude at all. Success isnt all about being a clever clogs, its about knuckling down, too.

As the young man, thrilled, took away boxes and boxes of CDs, I felt I was exorcising the ghosts of men past, and maybe opening a new door to something different. David has never introduced me to a new track or a new book or even a new move in bed, but he is kind. No matter how many DIY jobs Ive given him in my new home  David, can you put the smart TV on the bracket? David, can you find somewhere to put the ironing board? I doubt anyone says the name David in a plaintive voice more than me; on second thoughts, maybe Victoria Beckham  he has just trundled off to the hardware store, without a murmur. He will never cheat on me and I dont think the reason is infirmity or laziness or being unable to run up that hill. Ah, Kate Bushthe man who introduced me to her is another column entirely.
People from ethnic minority backgrounds have to work twice as hard and be twice as good as white people to achieve success, according to BBC Countryfile presenter Anita Rani.

Anita, 40, who has also hosted The One Show and Watchdog, makes the claim in an exclusive interview for todays You magazine, saying: As a non-white person you are always aware your experience is different to everyone elses  that you have to work twice as hard and be twice as good as a white person to be successful.

She says she never thought of herself as a role model but adds: The more people say to me Youve broken so many barriers as a brown-skinned woman on TV, the more I think, OK, Ill accept that. 

The presenter, whose next project is a forthcoming BBC2 programme about the Bollywood industry, met her husband, Bhupi Rehal, 38, a decade ago. Her parents, who moved to Britain from India in their 20s, had an arranged marriage but never put pressure on their daughter to follow suit. Anita jokes: Mum would always say, You can marry anyone you like as long as hes Indian! 

Funny and forthright, Countryfiles Anita Rani is one of TVs most wanted (and most loved) presenters. But her journey to primetime hasnt been a breeze. She tells Julia Llewellyn Smith about breaking barriers and the very personal reason why shes put motherhood on hold

Anita wears DRESS, Michael Michael Kors, from Selfridges. EARRINGS, Vicki Sarge

Anita Rani is perched on an armchair on a Soho rooftop on a glorious summers morning, munching an almond croissant and reflecting on the highlight of her year to date  being one of the BBCs presenting team for the royal wedding.

Anita presenting BBC Twos Bollywood: The Worlds Biggest Film Industry

I so lucked out being picked for that! she exclaims. Harry and Meghan smashed it  there was magic in the air that morning. I cried so much: at the gospel choir, and every time the cameras panned to [Meghans mother] Doria. The future king of England had just walked her daughter down the aisle and she held it together. What a moment for inclusivity! If an institution like the British royal family can put on a wedding that embraced so much diversity, then what excuse has anybody else got for not embracing it in their everyday lives.

Anita with Ore Oduba, covering the royal wedding for the BBC: I lucked out being picked for that; I cried so much!

She continues: I used to hate words like diversity and inclusivity, because they imply that brown-skinned people are outside, having to be brought in, and Ive always just felt normal. But now I love the fact Im living in an age where BAME [black, Asian and minority ethnic] issues are being discussed. Its not just racial identity but female politics, too. Finally, brown-skinned people and women can shout about things and others have to pay attention. So lets use those words.

Its hard to imagine a TV personality who embodies inclusiveness more than Anita, 40, who is every bit as fizzy and sharp-witted in person as she comes across on television. Diminutive and garrulous, she appears equally at home in wellies (in the enduringly popular Countryfile) and stilettos  as she demonstrated when she samba-ed to fourth place in 2015s Strictly Come Dancing. She presented last years One Love Manchester concert and the Last Night of the Proms, won the first series of The Great Sport Relief Bake Off and often hosts The One Show.

She has also reported from her parents native India, and was the subject of one of the most harrowing episodes of the family history show Who Do You Think You Are? Anita sobbed as she related how her Sikh female ancestors killed themselves or were killed by male relations during the Partition of India, rather than be slain or violated by the enemy. Now shes presenting a BBC two-part series, which she also co-produced, about one of Indias greatest exports: Bollywood.

Anita wears TOP, Stine Goya, from Fenwick. CULOTTES, Massimo Dutti. SHOES, Jimmy Choo

Anita was born and raised in Bradford after her parents moved here in their early 20s, but frequently visited relatives in India (she speaks fluent Punjabi) and later backpacked around the country. Like many British Asians, she grew up immersed in the vibrant images of the worlds largest film industry whose vast number of movies normally featured old-fashioned, boy-meets-girl love stories told through often surprisingly provocative song-and-dance numbers.

I had the idea for the series after Strictly, she says in her chirpy Yorkshire vowels. All the other contestants were going off to dance in the West End but Id always harboured this secret desire to dance in a Bollywood film. Even though Im really conflicted about its gyrating women and how hypersexualised they are.

The series contains plenty of fun footage of Anita in gorgeous costumes, gamely attempting to master intricate Bollywood dance routines to pulsating bhangra numbers. But its also packed with fascinating insights into how the traditional Indian values the industry portrayed are being challenged by a new generation of filmmakers.

Dad took me for my first half pint when I was 14 and taught me to play pool

Ive always had a love-hate relationship with Bollywood, Anita says. Theres so much dross; much of it is predictable and two-dimensional  the women always either played the simpering housewife, the distraught mother or the evil mother-in-law. But now these amazing new films are coming out from people whove grown up with the same culture as mine  watching Friends and Frasier and listening to drum and bass and hip-hop  and they want to tell their own stories.

One of the latest attempts to shake up the industry was a recent video that went viral featuring a hilarious spoof dance routine by Bollywood star Kangana Ranaut. In it, she sings about how she has to endure lower pay, objectification and being dubbed a diva, simply Cos I have a vagina. Anita hoots, I cant wait for that to go out on British TV. Indian parents will be grabbing the remote, saying [she adopts a perfect Indian accent] She said vagina! Indians in big cities like Delhi and Mumbai can be much more open-minded than their communities in the UK, who often seem trapped in the values of 1950s Britain because that is when they arrived here.

Compared with many of her peers, Anita and her younger brother received a relatively liberal, secular upbringing from their Hindu father and Sikh mother, who ran a clothing business and sent her to an all-girls private school with few Asian pupils. My parents are really cool, she says. My dad took me for my first half pint when I was 14 and taught me to play pool, which a lot of other Indian men of his generation found shocking.

BLOUSE, MSGM, from net-a-porter.com. TROUSERS, Emilia Wickstead, from Selfridges. MULES, Manolo Blahnik

The couple allowed Anita to reject the traditional Asian career trajectory of doctor/lawyer/pharmacist in favour of studying broadcasting at Leeds University, which led to her first television gig. Dad really would have loved to have been an RAF pilot and Mum wanted to be a particular Bollywood cabaret dancer called Helen, so though they would have been delighted if Id gone to Cambridge and become a barrister, they always wanted their children to have the things they were denied, including choosing their own career.

Although they had a successful arranged marriage, Anitas parents did not see the need for their children to follow such a traditional path. Though Mum would always say: You can marry anyone you like, as long as hes Indian! Anita laughs. It wasnt at all important to me where the person I married came from.

But then, ten years ago, when Anita attended a warehouse party in hip Hackney, East London (where she now lives), she was introduced by friends to Bhupi. Now 38, he is a technology director for a healthcare company, and  like her  second-generation Indian. When Mum heard Bhupis Indian name, she totally lost it, Anita says. From then on, she was determined wed be married. Id never really had any Asian mates before then, but I have to say the reason I fell in love with him is we are culturally very similar and theres something to be said for that.

Anita at her lavish 2010 wedding in Bradford: 'I call it my Punjabi sweat-fest!'

Bhupi proposed six months after they met and they had a three-day Indian wedding for 450 people in Bradford. I call it my Punjabi sweat-fest. It was incredible but it wasnt intimate; it was all about our families, while my non-Indian friends were doing very individual things like writing their own vows, she says. So next year were thinking of renewing our vows for our ten-year anniversary and making it very personal.

The couple enjoy a very contemporary marriage, with Anita often away for weeks filming. Bhupi knows how happy my job makes me, so we make it work, she says. At first his reaction was, Where are you going?, but now hes like, OK, bye! He has friends round for poker nights and watches terrible movies. He knows filming schedules are mental and that I dont need to call him all day, every day.

But it would be wrong to think that Anitas not family-oriented: shes devoted to her parents, now in their early 60s. Until last year, they lived in Bradford and my brother  whos just had a baby  and I were both in London, she says. I spoke to Mum and she said, Im feeling lonely and it broke my heart. She found them a house to buy in London and, within weeks, the couple had moved. Its wicked  we see so much more of them and Bhupis parents are in South London, so theyre also close by, but not too close. Mum wanted my key so she could pop round whenever she wanted, but I said, Nah, youre all right!

Im so lucky; 20 years ago my time would have been up at 40

Still, Anita continues, theres no doubt well look after them when theyre older. My husband and I have talked about it. Its ingrained in us; its part of Indian culture  though, again, things are changing. My grandparents didnt want to move in with Mum, and my parents are so independent they might not want to live with me. But caring for our parents is something we all need to think about. People think social care is paid for by the NHS, but its not so I think we could do a lot worse than instil in our kids from day one, youre going to look after me, mate. Ive done enough pieces for The One Show and Countryfile when you hear about people dying alone to know theres nothing sadder than lonely old people. For now, however, Anitas priority is work: I want my own series.

Shes never been a target of overt racism bar the odd mad tweet. But as a non-white person you are always aware your experience is different to everyone elses  that you have to work twice as hard and be twice as good as a white person to be successful. All our parents have told us that. So, although I never used to like being thought of as a role model, because I always thought of myself as being on my own trajectory, the more people say to me: Youve broken so many barriers as a brown-skinned woman on TV, the more I think, OK, Ill accept that.

On that basis, shes thrilled to be the Asian face in a dazzling band of female television presenters aged 40 plus. Im so lucky  20 years ago my time would have been up at 40, but now all the greats are in their 40s and 50s: Claudia, Tess, Davina. Alesha Dixons 39  Im obsessed with her. Anne Robinsons still going strong in her 70s  go Anne!

ANITA ADORES Look no creases! A post-shoot moment with the stylists steamer and a glass of fizz. Anita wears BLOUSE, MSGM, from net-a-porter.com. TROUSERS, Emilia Wickstead, from Selfridges. MULES, Manolo Blahnik Describe yourself in three words A right laugh. Last book you read Brit(ish) by [half-British, half-Ghanaian] Afua Hirsch. I interviewed her recently and shes really inspired me to think and talk more about identity politics. What makes you laugh? Dark things  Im quite Northern like that: The League of Gentleman, Inside Number Nine, and Matt Berry in Toast of London. On your bedside table Lots of books, Tiger Balm, a DAB radio and a foot cream. Last thing you do at night Give myself a foot massage (my mother taught me how to do that), listen to the radio, read. Favourite food Mums curry. What would surprise people about you? Im really into dance music  the 90s underground drum and bass scene. Motto Follow your passion  money will always come. Advertisement

Like nearly all married women in their 40s, Anita has had to endure intensely personal questioning about her plans for motherhood. Ive had all sorts of nonsense, she smiles. Someone said, A career is a career but there is a time in your life I was looking at her, thinking: What gives you the right? Another person  not even a family member  said: When are you going to make our Bhupi a father? Wow! Because I am the babymaker? Thats my job? Bhupi was fuming. Her immediate family have put on less pressure. Most have piped down a bit now, she continues. Mum was once like: Oh, you know, kids I said: Mum, its not like Ive been sitting around for the past ten years  Ive done so much with my career. And that was the end of the conversation.

Anita seems unfazed by doom-mongering statistics about womens chances of becoming pregnant after the age of 35. Women can have babies in their 40s, she says. I think if anyone sits in judgment over women having children older then they need to grasp the real world. Its wonderful that women can work as much as they want to and then have a kid later if they want to. I feel fit as anything, super-energetic, its all good.

She hopes her choice not to prioritise babies will help other members of her community. Theres still huge pressure on Asian girls to be wives and mothers, so now I think if I can show them they can do what they want, then thats a good thing. That resolve became even stronger after she filmed Who Do You Think You Are?

I recognised I come from a long line of women who had no choice about anything in their life  its terrifying, Anita says. By an accident of birth I find myself living in Britain in the 21st century and I am exercising my right to choose and Im having a bloody good time doing that.

Thats very clear  and life-affirming  to see.
So far, 2018 has been a year of fashion moments: Meghans wedding wardrobe, Rihannas papal Met Gala look and, er, Gareths waistcoat. But more than anything its been about the dress. After last season reignited our love for the midi weve been embracing frocks of all lengths and falling in love with summers bright colours and bold patterns  I for one have ditched my jeans and tee combo for a dress a day. And its a trend thats here to stay. If by now youve exhausted the high street for options (are the sales over yet?) and are looking for inspiration, here are my favourite under-the-radar labels to shop

WIGGY KIT has been around since 2015 but the fashion crowd is just catching on to Brit designer Wiggy Hindmarchs prairie-inspired cotton frocks (see left). Theyll see you through a multitude of occasions and are comfy, lightweight and flattering to all ages.

OWN THE LOOK is a UK -based site launched by a former fashion editor, which offers a unique edit of must-know brands at great prices. Its dress selection is particularly desirable and given that its USP is to have looks styled up for you by the experts, you might end up buying more than you meant to

SLEEPER'S nightwear is too pretty to keep in the bedroom: think silky slips that could double as wedding wear and heatwave-friendly light linens. The Ukrainian label has been spotted on tastemakers from Net-a-Porters Lisa Aiken to Man Repellers Leandra Medine, so is no doubt set for stardom.

What to wear to...A NIGHT AT THE PROMS

With events taking place until 8 September in London and across the UK , theres no excuse not to indulge in a bit of classical culture this summer. Tip: at Londons Royal Albert Hall, if your favourite evening is sold out, up to 1,350 standing tickets are available to buy on the day from just 6. bbc.co.uk/proms

THIS WEEK I'M BUYING...

TREAT SHOES, 415, Rejina Pyo, net-a-porter.com These pretty pink slingbacks  just because they look so good! STEAL BAG, 17.99, bershka.com This is similar to a sold-out Muun bag thats ten times the price.

I LOVE!

SUITCASE, 1,575, Mrs Alice x Misela, misela.com

TRAVEL BRIGHT

Make it sunny whatever your destination with Miselas rainbow luggage, designed in collaboration with fashion writer Alice Naylor-Leyland to mark its tenth anniversary. Ive been a fan of this Turkish label for a while  the pouch travels everywhere with me, carrying essentials from airport to beach and out to dinner; it even houses my laptop. Next on my list is this case  you wont miss it on the carousel! If youre as big a fan as me, keep an eye out for Miselas London store, coming soon.

POUCHES, from 215, Mrs Alice x Misela, misela.com

Fashion assistant: Stephanie Sofokleous
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30

My recent hospital selfie, which I unwittingly posted on Instagram while still sedated, has provoked a flurry of similar ailing celebrity patient snaps including Kate Beckinsale (burst ovarian cyst), Nicky Campbell (kidney stones) and Andy Murray (hip replacement)  and an even bigger flurry of mockery.

As Sarah Vine scoffed: Weve had snowkini poseurs, morning faces, thigh gaps, gym photos, but is there anything more annoying than the Instagram hospital selfie of yourself looking miserable from your sickbed?

Shes got a point.

My recent hospital selfie has provoked a flurry of similar ailing celebrity patient snaps including this from Andy Murray. Unfortunately Murray also posted an X-ray of his new hip...

Murray went further and posted an X-ray image to show off his new metal hip.

Unfortunately, it also inadvertently showed off another part of his lower abdominal region, one that definitely cant be replaced with a piece of metal

Susanna Reid and I were chuckling over his embarrassing cock-up (!) on Good Morning Britain this morning when a private message popped up in my Instagram inbox from the man himself: Can you stop discussing my genitals on national TV please! Then, deploying my new perfect excuse for any accidental embarrassing images, he added: I was heavily medicated at the time of posting!

Obviously, I promptly read out Murrays message and continued to discuss his genitals for another few minutes, much to our viewers amusement. One lady named Fran tweeted: Thanks for the, ahem, heads up Piers, just checked out Andys X-ray Mrs Murray, you lucky woman!

I sent this on to him and he replied with THREE large smirking emojis.

Now, one could be taken as wry amusement, two as unbridled joy, but three suggests Mr Murray was enjoying the discussion a lot more than he cared to admit.

Susanna had her own cock-up to deal with after massively overdoing a spray-tanning session and arriving looking as if shed been lying on a Barbados beach for a decade.

Ronseal Reids hands were almost ebony, prompting social media to erupt with hilarity when they saw them. WET WIPES, NOW! she screamed during the next commercial break, before frantically scrubbing her hands back to ashen white again, meaning they now looked a completely different colour to her dark brown face.

This wasnt even the funniest hand-related off-camera incident of the morning.

One of my favourite, albeit very childish hobbies, is staring at Charlotte Halo Hawkins while she reads the news, in an effort to distract her. Its never worked  until today, when, as a video package ran, she finally snapped and flashed me a savage V-sign.

Unfortunately for Halo, our in-house photographer Ken happened to be taking pictures of us at the time (I knew this) and captured the whole thing for me to expose to the world the devilish side that lurks inside my angelic co-star.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31

Heat magazine has long-listed me for its Secret Crush 2019 award.

Roll up, roll up, it beseeches, we urge you to delve deep into your hearts and fess up to those celebrity crushes that have been secretly getting you all hot and bothered.

Given that my so-called rivals include Kanye West, Ant & Dec and Ed Sheeran, Im quietly confident about this one.

Especially as the list also features Lord Sugar, whose face, ironically, looks as if its been the subject of a prolonged and intense crush  from a two-ton anvil.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1

When famous people die, I check the internet to remind myself of any interactions we may have had over the years that might make an insightful, personal tribute. Today, comedian Jeremy Hardy sadly passed away at just 57.

Comedian Jeremy Hardy has died at just 57. I could only find one mention ever linking us, a tweet from Hardy after hed seen one of my Serial Killer crime documentaries

I could only find one mention ever linking us, a tweet from Hardy after hed seen one of my Serial Killer crime documentaries, that read: Last night, I watched Piers Morgan interview a man who murdered 13 women. The only possible purpose in doing so was that Morgan looked relatively decent by comparison.

RIP Jeremy. You were a very funny guy, and thats the nearest thing to a compliment any comedian has ever paid me.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2

British Airways is celebrating its 100th anniversary and today they sent me an email revealing that this century I have flown 644,907 miles with them, equivalent to 25.9 times around the world.

The most memorable of all those trips came when I was invited on the final Concorde flight on October 24, 2003, and found myself sitting directly behind my then arch-enemy, Jeremy Clarkson.

After wed swapped foul-mouthed insults for 20 minutes, he turned round and chucked a drink over me.

Today, after I tweeted a photo of us on the plane, Clarkson finally broke his 15-year silence on the matter to deny he chucked anything: No, I carefully poured water into your crotch so, as you emerged, it would appear youd had a trouser accident.

Fortunately, the water had dried by the time we landed, but not before Joan Collins and Jodie Kidd came down the aisle asking to see my wet patch.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3

Talking of Clarkson, he and his Grand Tour co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond have been accused of homophobia for joking about a Jeep Wrangler being popular with the gay community, and playing Its Raining Men on its stereo.

Will Young led the charge against the Grand Tour hosts who've been accused of homophobia for joking about a Jeep Wrangler. For the love of God, you whiny little twerp: shut up

Leading the charge, as always, was the increasingly tiresome professional snowflake Will Young, who was so outraged that he is now even threatening to sue Amazon for airing the lame but harmless joke.

All you need to know about Mr Young is that he claims to suffer PTSD from being separated from his twin brother before they were born. Ironically, I now have PTSD from the torment caused by Youngs incessant, permanently offended bleating.

For the love of God, you whiny little twerp: shut up.
Pinter 7

Harold Pinter Theatre, London Until Feb 23, 2hrs

Rating:

In the seventh bill of the current season of Harold Pinter plays you get two shorts. Martin Freeman (of Sherlock fame) and Danny Dyer star in The Dumb Waiter, about a pair of hitmen. But more of that in a minute.

The evening opens with A Slight Ache, written for radio in 1958, and the staging here recreates the radio studio. Two actors, John Heffernan and Gemma Whelan, play a married couple on midsummers day wondering how best to kill a wasp thats got into the marmalade. The wifes strangulated voice is in full Fifties period  yes is earce.

This summery paradise turns somewhat darker when they invite indoors a smelly old match-seller whos been standing at their gate.

In the 7th bill of the current season of Harold Pinter plays you get two shorts. Martin Freeman (of Sherlock fame) and Danny Dyer (above) star in The Dumb Waiter, about a pair of hitmen

The old man we never see. But his presence brings out a bullying streak in his male host, who offers him exotic German wines with all the fake charm of an SS colonel.

Meanwhile, Flora, his wife, denied any warmth from her snarky husband, turns to the ponging match-seller in full seductress mode. Gemma Whelan makes the line You must see my japonica sound absolutely filthy.

This surreal, Freudian playlet is cleverly staged with the two actors making their own sound effects as they perform on air. If it finally outstays its welcome, its brought to life by two superb performances.

The evening opens with A Slight Ache, written for radio in 1958. This surreal playlet is cleverly staged and brought to life by its superb cast of John Heffernan and Gemma Whelan (above)

The Dumb Waiter is the better piece  also directed by Jamie Lloyd  but less well cast. I had trouble believing that the genial, flummoxed, hobbity Martin Freeman could swat a fly. Danny Dyer, however, is an unreconstructed cockney geezer who looks like he might drill your kneecaps.

The pair await orders in a sordid Birmingham basement with a service lift (the dumb waiter), which descends with a deafening, scary whoosh. The air of menace is relieved only by a vein of Pinter-ish comedy.

When the lift first comes down, the men gingerly inspect it as if it were a bomb. Instead its an order for braised steak and chips, jam tart, two teas no sugar. The menu is meant to be horribly tired but now sounds rather yummy.

The Dumb Waiter is the better piece but less well cast. While Danny Dyer looks like he might drill your kneecaps, it's hard to believe the genial Martin Freeman (above) could swat a fly

John Travolta appeared in this as a young actor and would later revive his career as one of a pair of similarly conversational hitmen in the film Pulp Fiction. My hunch is that the film was inspired by this Pinter play.

Though Ive seen it staged more nail-bitingly than this, it still packs a punch, and comes with a savage killer twist at the end.



Cost Of Living

Hampstead Theatre, London Until March 9, 1hr 45mins

Rating:

This smashing new play, by American writer Martyna Majok, is about disability, and it comes without violins or any soppiness.

Adrian Lester plays (superbly) a truck driver, Eddie, who supports his estranged wife, Ani, following a car smash thats left her quadriplegic. In return, she gives him a constant ear-bashing. For him, thats better than being lonely.

Over in a posher bit of town, John, a rich, snobbish PhD student with cerebral palsy (played by Jack Hunter) takes on a new carer, the nervy Jess (Emily Barber), whos on her uppers and living in her car. You soon realise that those doing the washing and towelling are the ones in deepest need.

Edward Halls expert direction covers up some cracks in the plot and coaxes fine performances from a top-notch cast, in particular Adrian Lester as truck driver Eddie (above)

It all builds into a play of human intimacy. In one unforgettable scene Eddie bathes Ani, his fingers gently playing piano on her useless arm to a tune on the radio.

Edward Halls expert direction covers up some cracks in the plot and coaxes fine performances from a top-notch cast.

Especially magical is the American actor and 2012 Paralympian Katy Sullivan as the fierce but vulnerable Ani. Highly recommended.



My Dad's Gap Year

Park Theatre, London Until February 23, 1hr 30mins

Rating:

Dave is a 45-year-old jobless drunk, addicted to computer games. To his horror, his stuffy gay son William, 18, has ambitions to be a marketing executive. Dad thinks the uptight boy is a boring poof.

The solution? He and his lad will hit the beach in Thailand in search of exotic birds  a phrase no one has heard since On The Buses.

In Tom Wrights comedy  sadly not as rambunctious as it promises  Dave hooks up with a mature, mothering ladyboy (Victoria Gigante), and William (Alex Britt) lets his hair down with a pouting architect (Max Percy) who wears Speedos.

Tom Wrights comedy My Dad's Gap Year is sadly not as rambunctious as it promises. Adam Lannon plays a jobless drunk who takes his gay son (Alex Britt, above with Lannon) to Thailand

Williams mum (played by Michelle Collins of EastEnders fame, in totteringly high heels) has had the wit to dump her idiot husband, so she cant be as impenetrably thick as she seems.

The show has one or two laughs but it too readily settles for a mawkish vein of man-and-boy self-discovery. A promising role-reversal idea for a TV sitcom perhaps, but in this format it doesnt deliver.
Brexit: The Uncivil War

Monday, Channel 4

Rating:

Cleaning Up

Wednesday, ITV

Rating:

Brexit: The Uncivil War was a drama written by James Graham, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Dominic Cummings, who masterminded the Vote Leave campaign. And if you thought youd had it with Brexit, couldnt bear to hear another word about Brexit, were suffering from Brexhaustion, this may have proved a shock as it was so highly entertaining. It was painful too (very) but the storytelling zipped along in a way that had to take you with it. Naturally, it has already divided opinion. Too sympathetic to Cummings, say Remainers. Were not just manipulated fools, say Leavers. It does make you wonder if there is anything left that wont polarise this country, and just so we are clear: I always put the milk in first.

Benedict Cumberbatch in Brexit: The Uncivil War. Cummings was a maverick, certainly. He liked to work from a cleaning cupboard. He didnt suffer fools gladly

Cumberbatch brought his usual flair, wit and intelligence to Cummings, previously a special adviser to Michael Gove, and who would only agree to lead Vote Leave if he was allowed to do it his way. He was sold to the campaign as a maverick genius, although Craig Oliver (a superb Rory Kinnear), leader of the opposing Remain campaign, begged to differ: Hes mental  an egotistical wrecking ball. Either way, Cummings was in possession of a key insight: Britain was already divided and Leave could win if they tapped into the simmering rage of those who werent thriving and whom the political classes ignored. Let them think Europe is to blame was his strategy, essentially, and while we all kind of knew that, it was riveting seeing it laid out.

Cummings was a maverick, certainly. He liked to work from a cleaning cupboard. He didnt suffer fools gladly, as he didnt suffer anyone gladly. He was Sherlockian, scribbling madly over whiteboards until reaching one of his many eureka moments. The Take Back Control slogan was his idea, as was that bus delivering the untrue claim that if we left Europe it would release 350 million a week for the NHS. He despised mainstream politicians with their leaflets and flyers and opted for a data-driven fight, sending around one billion highly targeted ads, mostly to those who had never voted before, dressed up as competitions. (Did anyone actually win that 50 million?) He also distanced Vote Leave from Arron Banks and that other moron (Nigel Farage). Initially, he planned to let them do all the dirty work around immigration but in the end he could not resist employing the further untrue claim that Turkey was about to join the EU and wed soon be flooded by a fresh wave of immigrants. 350 million and Turkey, 350 million and Turkey, 350 million and Turkey! was his mantra, the lying creep. (Oops. Sorry.)

Meanwhile, Oliver, with his facts and focus groups was, you sensed, battling for what he believed in, but hed lost touch with vast swathes of the electorate. The most devastating scene came when he joined a focus group and a woman broke down  I am fed up of being treated as nothing!  and he realised it was too late. He had missed what this was about. Two hours could never have told the whole story, particularly as it was filmed before Vote Leaves alleged criminality properly came into focus, but it did seem even-handed. Yes, Cummings may have been brilliant, but he also broke up the old order for the thrill of it, and the thrill of playing dirty rather than out of any moral purpose, while Remain were so convinced they knew what was best, they couldnt conceive of the vote going any way other than their way. And now, after this highly entertaining interlude, its back to Brexhaustion, I suppose. Tell me: are the borders soft or hard today? Or soft until lunchtime, after which theyll be hard again? Ive totally lost track.

ITVs new drama series Cleaning Up stars Sheridan Smith, an actress who brings such warmth and relatability to a role that her name alone acts almost as a Kitemark of quality. It stars Sheridan Smith. It will be great. But, unusually, the character she plays here is annoying.

She plays Sam, who works as a cleaner in one of those glittering Canary Wharf towers populated by rich traders. She is heavily in debt due to an online gambling habit. She prangs other cars while playing roulette on her phone, then drives off. She ejects her teenage daughter from her bedroom as they need to take in a lodger for the money. She builds up debts on her ex-husbands credit card, which he has to pay off. I did want to root for her but at the same time I was thinking: love, cant you please just take yourself to Gamblers Anonymous?

Instead, and having overheard a trader talking late at night (bit unlikely), she hits on a way to solve all her financial problems: insider trading. This may build into a substantial thriller  its Sheridan Smith!  but its often clumsy (that scene that told us shes good at maths) and its truly got its work cut out if its going to zip along in a way that takes us with it.
Theres one very cheeky question that everybody at the BBC wants to ask Evan Davis. Its not about politics or Newsnight or whether Deborah Meaden is as scary on Dragons Den as she looks. Its about his nickname around the Beeb  Tinsel T***  and whether the rumours really are true that under his business suits he has nipple rings and a more intimate piercing?

Davis laughs like a good sport. Im not going to answer it. But it was mildly helpful when people asked, because it became the most exotic and interesting thing about me, to be honest. I think its better to maintain an allure of mystery than to actually answer!

As the host of PM Evan Davis will now face the daily challenge of trying to steer us all through the bewilderments of Brexit, whatever happens next

I cant see any signs of anything under his thin white T-shirt so well move on. Davis has just quit as host of Newsnight to take over at PM, Radio 4s flagship early evening current affairs show, which is hugely respected but not nearly so glamorous. Why has he done that?

Radio is a medium that suits me better and I enjoy it more, says the 56-year-old, who has grown a salt-and-pepper beard since he came off the television.

Is he trying to say he has a face for radio? Yeah, I was, says Davis, grinning. Actually its not about the looks: its about having to think about how youre presenting yourself. I find that takes quite a lot of energy. You cant think straight. So if Im interviewing you on TV, I have to be like this

He sits up straight, adjusts an imaginary tie and tries to look interested. If Im interviewing on radio, I can be like this [leaning back], scrawling little things on a piece of paper...

Davis looks relaxed enough today, padding around his beautiful, modernised Victorian home in Kennington, south London, in his socks, black skinny jeans and a slightly punky white Diesel T-shirt, but he gives long, serious answers to every question (as long as it is not about his nipples).

I didnt want to do Newsnight for ever, because its an intense job and unsociable due to the hours. I would have liked to have gone on, but if something like PM comes up and you say no then someone else gets it, and therell be no vacancy for another ten years.

At this point his partner Guillaume, a landscape architect from France, walks into the room with an elegant, streamlined whippet called Mr Whippy. Hes so handsome, says Davis, talking about the dog rather than his partner. Hes got a face for television!

The couple met in a bar in 2002 and have been together ever since, entering a civil partnership in 2013. They celebrated with a party at their holiday home in Normandy.

Davis graduated from Oxford with a first in politics, philosophy and economics and took a masters at Harvard before joining the BBC as an economics reporter, then editor. He has been the host of Dragons Den for 16 seasons.

IT'S A FACT The most-listened to radio station in the UK is Asda FM, which reaches 18 million people a week (Radio 2 manages 14.6 million). Advertisement

Im on screen in Dragons Den for maybe a minute a programme. My voice is over the rest of it. My face should be better known as a news person, yet on the streets a lot more people still say, Oh, youre the guy from Dragons Den.

Four years ago he began presenting Newsnight, replacing the combative Jeremy Paxman with a gentler approach. If you take the view, as I do, that politicians are trying to do something quite difficult, you dont only want the accusing style of interview, he says. You want some warmth and curiosity.

He was brought in by Ian Katz, a former Guardian editor, who was accused of dumbing down the programme with stunts such as Kirsty Wark dancing to Michael Jacksons Thriller at the end of a Halloween edition. I didnt really notice it dumbing down, says Davis. People put too much weight on one or two moments like that or Emily Maitlis interviewing the Honey Monster. I dont think that by appointing me they were dumbing down. I think you want it to look like its dumbing down while actually being deeply intelligent.

There was outrage when it was revealed that Davis earned up to 299,000 a year, while his fellow Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis didnt even make the list of those making 150,000, but he kept a discreet silence during the scandal and only said afterwards: I think youll find thats now been rectified.

He must have had a pay rise now, too, because his predecessor at PM, Eddie Mair, was listed as earning 300,000-350,000 a year before joining LBC last summer. Davis joked on Twitter: Enjoyed four years of being told Im not as good as Paxman. I look forward to people saying Im not as good as Eddie Mair.

How has PM changed? Its not as funny. Im not trying to live up to Eddies wit. I remember he was interviewing Boris Johnson and Boris said, If I can just come back to the other question you asked before And Eddie said, No, this isnt a Two Ronnies sketch where you answer the question before last. It was just so quick.

Davis in the Radio 4 Today studio with fellow presenter Mishal Husain

Was he tempted to go for Question Time when David Dimbleby announced his retirement? I was thinking I should put my name into the ring. But PM came up at about the same time and it became apparent you could put your name in for one but not both.

Nick Robinson was the only man to be auditioned for Question Time; Fiona Bruce got the job. Jeremy Clarkson this week blasted the BBC, saying it was suffocating the life out of everything with its nonsense need to be politically correct, adding: Poor old Nick Robinson going for an interview  what a waste of petrol that was. No chance he was going to get it.

Its pretty clear the BBC bosses wanted a woman. Does he resent that? I cant take a public position on this, he says, laughing. But it was obviously going to go to a woman. The BBC has quite rightly decided to make sure we have a more gender-balanced portfolio of presenters in main roles.

Davis will now face the daily challenge of trying to steer us all through the bewilderments of Brexit, whatever happens next. Ive got a holiday booked in early February. Im just thinking, Oh crumbs, are we going to get that week off? We might want to be trying to claim that one on insurance.

Does he agree that our politicians have made a right mess of this? Im slightly more in the camp that says, Give the politicians a break, theyre doing their best to execute some really difficult and not terribly clear instructions. 

The BBC is accused of bias by people on all sides, so does that mean that it must be doing something right? It is absolutely essential that the BBC sees its job as trying to be fair to both sides. That doesnt mean allowing lies on either side to go through unchallenged.

That can be hard in the midst of Brexit. Its very easy to get stuck in the weeds of a conversation about border controls and trading rules and whats possible and whats not. And I think it has thus been difficult to hold politicians to account when they make claims about these things that may or may not be true. That can get you stuck in a very detailed conversation that is either over the heads of the listeners or sometimes over the heads of most of us presenters. Were in complicated terrain.

Fairness is needed now more than ever from presenters too, he says. Theres polarisation on economics. Theres a generational and cultural polarisation too, whether it is focused on same-sex marriage or transgender rights. These are issues that are more ferociously dividing the country than at any time since Ive been alive.

One of them is an issue personal to him as a gay man who came out in his mid-20s, deciding to tell his parents over Christmas lunch. It came completely out of the blue to them. They were clearly taken aback but the next morning they were totally supportive about it and have been ever since.

Something Davis has had to learn to deal with is an interest in the way he looks  mainly because of the contrast between his suits on TV and paparazzi snaps of him in jeans, biker boots and T-shirt with a chain dangling from his belt. We get paid very handsome salaries and we put ourselves in the public eye. I think taking shots of people across a road is impolite. But it wasnt through a bedroom window or something.

Has he had to modify his dress sense? A little bit but I dont make a big deal of it. Were back to the subject of nipples, so lets jump back to calmer waters for a last question. Its about Brexit, inevitably. Davis must be one of the best-informed people in Britain. Has he any idea where this country is heading?

Ha! He shakes his head. Who knows?

Evan Davis hosts PM, weekdays at 5pm, Radio 4
Pinter Five 2hrs 5mins

Rating:

Pinter Six 1hr 30mins

Rating:

Harold Pinter Theatre, London Until Jan 26

Starry casts are the hallmark of Jamie Lloyds season of short Pinter plays. The fifth collection starts with The Room, from 1957, written while Pinter was a young actor appearing in rep.

Rupert Graves plays Bert, who silently scoffs bread, bacon and weak tea, while Jane Horrocks, splendid as his inane missus, Rose, witters on about the weather. Its murder, she says of the cold outside. Theres your clue. In Pinterland, everythings murder. Its to do with all those whodunnits he used to appear in.

Patrick Marber directs, extracting as much menace as youll ever get out of this plays maddening mystery, in which the arrival of a blind man (Colin McFarlane) causes existential panic.

Pinter Five, the fifth in Jamie Lloyd's season of short plays opens with The Room, a maddening mystery starring Rupert Graves as Bert (above) and Jane Horrocks as his insane missus, Rose

Victoria Station, from 1982, is light relief. Graves is a cabbie whos totally lost the plot: Victoria Station  never heard if it. Colin McFarlane is terrific as his furious controller, issuing physical threats over the squelch of radio static.

Its a fine sketch, more satisfying than 1981s Family Voices, about a son (Luke Thallon) who has lost contact with his parents. Pinter groupies will note that the writer was himself spurned by his own son Daniel, who failed to attend his fathers funeral.

No Pinter play is happy. Indeed, biliousness is on tap in 1991s Party Time, from Pinter Six. Its about an exclusive club where the well-heeled members drink while mayhem rules the streets.

The arrival of a blind man (Colin McFarlane, above) causes existential panic. Patrick Marber directs, extracting as much menace as you'll ever get out of this play

Phil Davis creepily promises that after a bit of a round-up, things will be back to normal outside.

Celebration  from 2000 and the other half of Pinter Six  is about brothers and their wives enjoying (or not) a wedding-anniversary binge in a posh London restaurant.

Davis and Ron Cook (the latter superb) are the loadsamoney cockney wide boys.

IT'S A FACT On declaring himself a conscientious objector over National Service in 1948, Pinter faced two trials and was fined 80, which his father paid. Advertisement

Tracy-Ann Oberman and Celia Imrie are their gold-lame wives. John Simm plays a slimy banker who married his secretary (Katherine Kingsley), whom he calls a scrubber.

The drunken dinner is overseen by Gary Kemp as the oleaginous restaurateur, and Abraham Popoola makes a striking appearance as an eccentric waiter.

But its a one-note show, Pinter unwilling to communicate anything much except his contempt. You might think youre getting Pinter the prophet; what youre really getting is Pinter the snob.
When Michelle Robinson, a hot-shot lawyer at a fancy Chicago firm, was introduced to the new intern shed been assigned to mentor, she was not impressed. Not only did Barack Obama have a tongue-twisting name, but he was late for everything, had questionable taste in clothes and, worst of all, he smoked. For alpha-woman Robinson, whod propelled herself from blue-collar beginnings to the heart of corporate America by dint of working harder and smarter than anyone else, here was the opposite of everything  and everyone  she had ever wanted for herself.

The real challenge for Michelle Obama has always been dealing with the endless comments that come with being a black woman in public life

We know how the story ends, of course, with Michelle Robinson becoming Michelle Obama, not to mention First Lady of the United States. All the same, this brilliantly written and emotionally authentic memoir fills in some important gaps. She is candid, for instance, about how she tried to set up the scruffy intern on a blind date with a friend before realising that, actually, she wanted him for herself. Not only is he just about the cleverest man shes ever met, he has a noble heart and cares more than anyone she knows about social justice. The fact that he is pretty damn hot hardly hurts either.

IT'S A FACT In the God-fearing US, more citizens believe that President Barack Obama is a Muslim than accept the theory of evolution. Advertisement

Inevitably, being married to a man who turns into a human blur once he decides to run for political office is no walk in the park. Michelle tells us how she insists on checking in at one point for some marriage counselling to deal with the way that they no longer find time to talk to each other. Even more traumatic is the fact that she cant get pregnant  its the first time shes ever failed at anything in her life. There is nothing lonelier, she explains, than injecting yourself in the thigh every morning while your husband is busy being brilliant on the other side of the country.

Michelle Obama at her high school graduation in 1981

Once the Obamas, now the delighted parents of Malia and Sasha, are at the White House, life becomes even more surreal. No one is allowed to open a window, even on the most sweltering day, in case an assassin takes a pot shot. Ordering food regularly from the supermarket is out of the question since it makes the family vulnerable to a poison plot. Instead, teams of undercover White House shoppers make random trips to different stores to buy peanut butter and sushi. And then theres the fact that the First Ladys new clothes have to be stress-tested before they are deemed fit for purpose. Michelle spends a lot of time waving her arms, jumping and squatting in the privacy of her bedroom before she can risk going before the worlds merciless gaze.

Michelle Obama with her husband Barack on the 2008 presidential campaign trail

Its not just her clothes that are subject to constant scrutiny. The real challenge for Michelle Obama, of course, has always been dealing with the endless comments that come with being a black woman in public life. While her rise from working-class Chicago to the White House via Princeton and Harvard might seem like the quintessential American Dream, there are still plenty of Americans who feel it is a dream that belongs to white people alone. With remarkable forbearance, she describes how she has been constantly body-shamed  her butt is too big, she is actually a transsexual male. She has even been instructed to rein in her natural passion about social justice for fear of seeming like an angry black woman. That she writes about these outrages with such grace, style and, yes, humour makes Becoming not just a fascinating read but a genuinely moving one too.
The view from the top of Londons Greenwich Park is so expansive and busy that if you took out your phone for a snap, you wouldnt know where to start.

But its here that the finalists of Sky TVs Landscape Artist Of The Year have set up their easels in the attempt to capture the scene. Having seen off 1,497 competitors in the heats, this trio of painters are making their bid for the first prize of a 10,000 commission from the Royal Academy. This is art as competitive sport.

Artists, you have half an hour, announces the shows presenter, actor Stephen Mangan, and a ripple of tension courses through the watching crowd as they wonder if the threesome  Greg Mason, Jen Gash and Alan Marin  are going to have time to put the finishing brushstrokes to the most important work any of them has ever undertaken.

The finalists were given five hours to capture the scene in London's busy Greenwich Park Above: finalist Alan Marin

Today is very emotional. Weve got to know these people, made friends with them, says Dame Joan Bakewell, Mangans co-host. She has been involved in the programme since its inception four years ago, and she has found herself caught up in its intricacies and invigorated by its drama.

When we started the series we had all sorts of ancillary activity to flesh out what we thought might be monotonous routine, she says of the hour-long show. But the audience response has been that the art is the star.

The artists are given a fixed time  five hours in the final  to produce a finished piece. As they work to deadline, they are under the scrutiny of up to a dozen cameras. They are routinely interrupted by Bakewell, Mangan and the three specialist judges, who ask them to explain what they are doing. With all the distraction, how anyone gets anything done, never mind produce the glorious work developing in Greenwich Park, is close to astonishing.

Artists are routinely interrupted by hosts Joan Bakewell and Stephen Mangan (both above) and the three specialist judges, who ask them to explain what they are doing

Joan and I and everyone at home has an opinion  thats the fun of it, says Mangan. But we have to be careful  its the judges who know what they are talking about. Were there to make sure they explain their choices.

One of the other joys of the show is the chemistry between the presenters, who exude a shared, infectious enthusiasm. And, watching Bakewell move smoothly between the competitors, gently joshing with the crowd and judges, it is impossible to reconcile the fact that she is now 85. She seems to defy all laws of chronology. Im still flying the flag for oldies on screen, she says. There arent many of us. Theres David Attenborough, David Dimbleby Id have said Bruce Forsyth but sadly hes gone now. I stick at it because I think we oldies need representation.

In fact she reckons a huge swathe of the viewing public is not being served by TVs obsession with youth. There are lots of old people watching television that means nothing to them. I think there should be a channel just for old people  old movies, advice about knitting, recipes and comparative walking sticks.

Before she can launch Silver Surfer TV, however, Bakewell has the task of bringing this series of Landscape Artist Of The Year to a conclusion. She declares that time is up, and the judges move in to make their choice. It wont be easy: all three pictures are brilliant. Which is why Bakewell and Mangan are glad they have no part in the selection. Never mind choosing them, Im nervous enough just announcing the winner, she says.

The artists' ability to create such glorious work despite the many distractions from presenters, judges and cameras is close to astonishing, Above: finalist Jen Gash

Across four series of presenting the show, Bakewell has only ever taken home one of the works shes seen being created. It was of her, painted during the companion series, Portrait Artist Of The Year. I keep it in the attic, Dorian Gray-like, she says, referring to the Oscar Wilde character whose hidden likeness ages while he remains eternally youthful.

That explains it! says Mangan. I tell you what  its working.

The power of art indeed.

Landscape Artist of the Year: The Final is on Tuesday at 8pm on Sky Arts and Now TV
I Am Dynamite! A Life Of Friedrich Nietzsche

Sue Prideaux

Faber & Faber 25

Rating:

Friedrich Nietzsche proposed a philosophy of self-overcoming in which human beings must shake off any comforting belief in religious, political or moral ideals and take pleasure in uncertainty and in transience. In this witty and lucid new biography, we find not only an accessible introduction to Nietzsches work, but also an invaluable insight into the forces that helped to shape his ideas.

Born in 1844 in Prussia, Nietzsche was the son of a Lutheran pastor who died blind and insane at the age of 35. A sickly child, prone to bouts of vomiting and headaches, Nietzsche was nevertheless sent to the prestigious Schulpforta school, where he excelled in classics. By 24 he was professor of philology at the University of Basel, but eventually abandoned academia to wander the mountains and shores of Europe and devote himself to philosophy.

Friedrich Nietzsche was a brilliant and ingenious philosopher whose ideas have been repeatedly misused and misunderstood. Though he wrote in a ferocious and polemical style, his ideas are informed by a deeply humanist vision of individual potential

Despite his strident individualism, Nietzsches ideas were forged through passionate and volatile relationships. While a student he was introduced to the composer Richard Wagner, the stormy, stylish artist of the sublime. This was an age, says Prideaux, of male-to-male hero worship, and Nietzsche and Wagner became extremely close, collaborating on the art of the future.

But Nietzsche eventually became disillusioned with the composer and fell in with a French philosopher called Paul Ree, who introduced him to the intellectual femme fatale Lou Salome. Salome had a face of classic Russian beauty and a gaze that was intelligent, intense and passionate. Nietzsche was enthralled. He proposed twice but was rejected both times. This sacrosanct friendship also ended in disillusionment after Ree and Salome abandoned Nietzsche to form their own literary set in Berlin. Plunged into despair, the following isolation and humiliation would inspire Nietzsches definitive masterpiece, Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

Through Prideauxs vivid accounts of Nietzsches ill-health we see just how much his writing was a product of his condition

Nietzsches relationship with his sister Elisabeth was the most damaging. A wicked anti-semite, she manipulated Nietzsche by playing the helpless, ignorant female. When Nietzsche, like his father, died blind and insane, Elisabeth doctored his writings and turned her brother into the mystic prophet of her own convictions. His reputation has never fully recovered.

Through Prideauxs vivid accounts of Nietzsches ill-health we see just how much his writing was a product of his condition. His illness caused him to foster a depth of inner vision and a capacity for suffering that formed the roots of his revolutionary opposition to certainty.
When it comes to wine, chefs tastes are as demanding as their standards  and that sometimes means their wine choices often make my wallet wince. Thankfully Ive come up with some short cuts so you dont blow the budget when sipping in their footsteps. But what exactly do these gourmet gurus love to sip?

Matt Tebbutt, who I often appear with on BBC1s Saturday Kitchen, has a superb palate and loves a glass of decent Bordeaux. Top Bordeaux reds can stretch to hundreds of pounds a bottle but Ive found an example this week thats right up there for a comparatively reasonable 15.99.

Another French wine fan is Candice Brown of Bake Off fame  the Burgundian red and white she served at her recent wedding that I attended in France were both absolutely magnificent. For a glimpse of similar vino, own-label wines such as my Burgundy pick from Waitrose this week are capable of surprising.

Beyond France, restaurant legend Russell Norman recently inspired me to take a trip to Venice in search of his pal Luca Di Vita at Alle Testiere. Specialising in Italian wine with respect for nature, character and craftsmanship the wine list at Alle Testiere is a goldmine of gems with plenty of fascinating hand-made beauties  try the Occhipinti Terre Siciliane SP 68 2017 for its flourishing aromatics. And if Italian tomato-themed dishes are on your menu this week, grab my recommendation from Morrisons for a bargain.

On British shores, perhaps the greatest wine list in London right now is Tomos Parrys Brat in Shoreditch, offering classics to indulge in such as the underrated world of sherry (check out my sweet PX pick) as well as wines from off the beaten track such as Greece. In particular, Thymiopoulos Xinomavro Jeunes Vignes 2016 from Greece at Brat is a beguiling red that feels light in body with heavyweight flavours, as though Pinot Noir took off backpacking for a year and went a bit feral.

For a pristine Greek white, try my wine of the week - for under a tenner itll send your tastebuds over the Moon.
Dramatic Exchanges: The Lives & Letters Of The National Theatre

Edited by Daniel Rosenthal

Profile Books 25

Rating:

Golly gosh, the gush! Dearest Johnnie, You are an angel, thank you infinitely much, dear one, for your kindness, your generosity and your trouble, begins a letter to John Gielgud from your devoted and grateful Larry (Olivier) in 1964.

From then on its a non-stop Festival of Gush. Im delighted to be doing the play. I feel like a young chap in love for the first time writes Olivier to the usually rather steely Arthur Miller, who, infected by such bonhomie, replies: You delighted? Not half as much as I am

Your production of the Oedipus is one of the greatest creations in the history of European Theatre, writes an art gallery curator to the director Peter Brook in 1968. You are not just a terrific director, but more importantly a lovely man, writes James Corden to Nicholas Hytner in 2004.

One letter featured in Dramatic Exchanges reveals that Frankie Howerd declined Lord Oliviers invitation to act in a Peter Nichols play, The National Health

Oddly enough, Daniel Rosenthal, the editor of these letters from and about the National Theatre, talks of the raw, unmediated candour of private letters, and argues that they are more revealing than biographies or memoirs.

Yet there have been some remarkably sharp theatrical memoirs published recently, not least Stage Blood by the director Michael Blakemore, who fell out with Peter Hall in 1976, and resigned. In Stage Blood, Blakemore reprints a lengthy statement he read out to the associates of the National Theatre, including the overall director Peter Hall, in which he listed his complaints against Hall. These included the accusation that Hall was able to line his own pockets by using the state-subsidised National Theatre as a testing ground for new productions, then transferring them too speedily to the West End, where he could make a small fortune in personal royalties. The policy is a fruit machine paying out double money to one or two lucky winners, Blakemore concluded.

In his memoir, Blakemore wittily describes the look on his fellow associates faces as he listed these accusations. The group were looking at me as they might a man standing high up on a window ledge on the point of jumping. (How awful! But at the same time how interesting!)

A couple of pages are given over to this debacle in Dramatic Exchanges, but Blakemores statement is simply described in italics as an inflammatory challenge to Halls leadership, with no mention of the basis of that challenge, ie, that Hall was feathering his own nest at the expense of the organisation he was meant to be running. And though a letter from Blakemore to Hall is included, it has a long paragraph removed, and replaced with three dots. If you look up the unedited letter in Stage Blood, you see that the paragraph refers to the powers that be at the National having taken their revenge by stopping all Blakemores salary payments.

Dearest Johnnie, You are an angel, thank you infinitely much, dear one, for your kindness, your generosity and your trouble, begins a letter to John Gielgud from your devoted and grateful Larry (Olivier) in 1964. Laurence Olivier is pictured

This all strikes me as a lot more raw, unmediated and candid than most of the missives included in this authorised selection of National Theatre letters, so many of which are nothing more than thank-you notes, or fan letters, or a bit of both. Is there an element of whitewash to Rosenthals selection? This year also saw the publication of a book of letters by the iconoclastic theatrical agent Peggy Ramsay. In one, she complains that Peter Hall isnt human, and one glimpses the bodies of his victims, whom he has destroyed on his climb to power. In another, she talks of his maniacal will to power, which is almost destroying him. Neither is included in Dramatic Exchanges.

Equally, Nicholas Hytners recent memoir contained many more interesting revelations than are included in the chapter in this book devoted to his successful regime. Who can forget, for instance, Harold Pinter screaming Youre a f***ing liar, and youre a f***ing s*** at him in a hushed restaurant? Or Hytners verdict that the National Theatres 2011 play Greenland was a reconstituted turkey? As it is, Greenland doesnt rate a mention in Dramatic Exchanges.

The editor says that he read 12,000 letters before picking 800. Without seeing the missing 11,200, it is hard to know how well he has done his job, but some of those included seem almost unbelievably inconsequential.

Dear Nick and David, writes Helen Mirren to Nick Hytner and David Hare on a postcard in 2004. I loved Stuff Happens  thank you for your brilliant work  it was so beautifully realised. My heart sank at the beginning  all those men in grey suits. No sets! No costumes!  never mind  its good for me  but you and David and the actors made an amazing thing  watchable, funny, informative and absolutely dramatic. VERY VERY Brilliant  all love, Helen.

Why include that one? I suppose its because its from Helen Mirren, who is all the rage at the moment. Strangely, there are no letters included from the famous, and famously belligerent, Pinter. If this is because of copyright problems, the editor does not say. Instead, he includes a number of gushing letters from other people to Pinter, including one from his future mother-in-law, Lady Longford, cooing over his play Betrayal  I have reread it twice, each time with more enjoyment & understanding  and adding: A million thanks for sending us the tickets.

Both Alan Bennett and Arthur Miller are among the many playwrights whose letters are featured in the book

On the other hand, roughly a quarter of the letters contain something revealing or interesting or, at the very least, incendiary. Some of the most tantalising concern projects that never got off the ground: Ronnie Barker is unavailable to play Falstaff; Paul McCartney turns down the chance to write music for As You Like It; Frankie Howerd declines Lord Oliviers invitation to act in a Peter Nichols play, The National Health.

Thank heaven for the awkward squad, consisting largely of distressed playwrights who are prepared to make themselves unpopular. The never knowingly understated John Osborne complains to Robert Stephens in 1970 that the National Theatre is full of schoolgirlish commercialism, over-weening ambition, one-shot competitiveness (with its hangers-on and pushers), but, above all, ultimate and complete timidity as well as third-rate politicking and treachery.

Inevitably, critics come in for several duffings-up, not least from Osbornes mother Nellie, who writes a telegram to her son in 1966, saying: MY DEAR SON HOW DARE THESE CRITICS PULL TO PIECES SUCH FINE WORK, FOR TEN YEARS THEY HAVE INSULTED YOUR ART IN THE THEATRE, TO ME THEY JUST SMELL, I HATE THEM It so happens that years later, long after her death, Osborne rewarded Nellies loyalty by describing her as, among other things, a grabbing, uncaring crone. But you wouldnt get this from Dramatic Exchanges, which lacks much background information beyond the nuts and bolts of each production.

Thankfully, the saintly Michael Frayn takes a more forgiving line towards critics. A good bucket of cold water thrown over one is very reviving, he says, having received terrible reviews for a play. It will help to make me a spry pensioner.

Dear Nick and David, writes Helen Mirren to Nick Hytner and David Hare on a postcard in 2004. I loved Stuff Happens  thank you for your brilliant work...' Why include that one? I suppose its because its from Helen Mirren, who is all the rage at the moment

Perhaps unsurprisingly, most of the best letters come from playwrights, rather than from actors or directors (there are, incidentally, no letters from stage managers or costume designers or lighting men). Judging by this volume, there is a severe divide in playwrights between the unassuming and the punchy. I found your letter one of the most unfair, discourteous and belligerent I have ever received, writes Peter Hall to the great Simon Gray. Alas, there are no letters at all from the playwright Arnold Wesker, who once fell out with a director so badly that he started picketing his own play.

Alan Bennett scores the highest marks for self-deprecation. Dont worry if you think its pretty hopeless, he writes to Nicholas Hytner, enclosing The History Boys, and no pressure to read it straightaway. Five years later, he sends him The Habit Of Art, with the note: Dont worry if it doesnt seem even promising. To Peter Hall he confesses that he has started a dozen plays in three years, all of which have ground to a halt about 20 minutes in. When he hears that The Madness Of George III is playing to 99 per cent capacity, he confesses: Typically, I started worrying about the other one per cent.
Samantha Womack has made quite a career out of playing outwardly unhinged women, from her nine years as the nations favourite psychopath, Ronnie Mitchell, in EastEnders to her latest role as Rachel Watson, the alcoholic anti-heroine in a touring production of Paula Hawkinss 15 million-selling psychological thriller The Girl On The Train, which was also turned into a film with Emily Blunt. Her death by drowning on EastEnders in January last year drew an audience of nine million and caused an outcry from viewers mourning the loss of the lovably psychotic nightclub owner whose storylines included killing an ex-lover, stealing a baby and an attempted poisoning.

Does this mean she is forever going to be cast as crazy women?

Samantha Womack has made quite a career out of playing outwardly unhinged women, from her nine years as the nations favourite psychopath, Ronnie Mitchell, in EastEnders to her latest role as Rachel Watson, the alcoholic anti-heroine in a touring production of Paula Hawkinss 15 million-selling psychological thriller The Girl On The Train

It depends on the definition of crazy, she says. I dont see Rachel as crazy, I see her as someone who has had a series of terrible things happen to her [Rachels husband left her, she started drinking and then lost her job], and whose reaction is just: F*** it! Im not going to think about consequences, Im not going to conform any more. I get that. I like that. There have been times in my life when I have had exactly that thought. Im committed to making the stage version of The Girl On The Train something a little different, something my own. I want to give audiences something unexpected.

She adds: I was never conventional. I dont think there is a right way to do things, just one way to live. Ive always been fascinated by different approaches to life and eccentric people. As an actress I am drawn to these characters like Rachel, who are also not the women people think they are. She likes to drink but I dont want to play a cliched drunk, falling about. I think its much more in the way you hold yourself, the manner you have  its so much more subtle to underplay it. I have learnt from the very best watching Steve McFadden [Phil Mitchell in EastEnders], who does the very best portrayal of drunkenness of any actor Ive seen.

Womack, whose trademark blonde hair has been dyed a dark, glossy chestnut brown, says she was upset that her character was written out of EastEnders but more devastated that her views on Ronnie were not taken into consideration. I told the producers that it was all getting too much for Ronnie, going from one trauma to the next. I came into acting through theatre, which is a very collaborative process. But in EastEnders its just a relentless schedule and there isnt that collaboration. I knew Ronnie. I was Ronnie for nine years and there would be so many times when the plot would require her to be more murderous or bad, and Id say But why does she want to do this? and there would be no response apart from, that is your script, that is what you do.

I didnt want to leave, I didnt want her to die. I have left it behind but I know Ronnie hasnt completely gone from me yet.

Womack was not short of offers after leaving the show, having starred opposite Colin Firth in the Kingsman movies, but she has chosen to focus on her first love, theatre.

The daughter of hippy parents (her father was a musician, her mother an actress and musician), Womacks family dynamic changed when her father left and her mother married her second husband, a doctor whose work took the family all over the country. She spent much of her childhood with her grandmother, Sheila Holt, who worked as a choreographer on the QE2 and who used to take Womack with her on cruises. She was the reason I got into this business. She had all sorts of actors and performers staying with her and I felt this was a world I just had to belong to.

At the age of 15, she left home to attend acting classes at the Sylvia Young school in London and began taking small parts on stage and television. I now have a daughter who is a year younger than I was then and I cant believe I got a job in a nightclub and I got work. I was totally fearless, but looking back I was terrified most of the time because I didnt really know what I was doing.

'Im committed to making the stage version of The Girl On The Train something a little different, something my own,' says Womack

She credits acting  along with her marriage to actor Mark Womack  for grounding her life. She home-schools her daughter Lili and lives in the country just outside London. Given her frantic work schedule, the decision to home-school is perhaps an unusual one.

My older son Ben really suited school but it wasnt totally right for Lili. Shes very creative, shes into art and I had listened to a TED talk by Ken Robinson [who believes the education system kills creativity] and it felt like the right thing to do. She has tutors for science subjects. Mark studied fine art before he went to Rada and he does Shakespeare with her.

Before I went into it, I researched what was required and I studied the coursework in the subjects I felt I could manage. I do a lot of the history and philosophy with her, and obviously the drama. I also bring her with me when I work. She sits in script meetings and shadows the stage manager. She is absorbing a very wide set of skills.

You have your moments when you think, Oh God, have I got this right? But shes happy and she sees all her friends from school socially every week so she doesnt miss out on hanging out with kids her own age.

The Girl On The Train begins a tour of the UK and Ireland in Milton Keynes on January 21, girlonthetrainplay.com
Finding Dad

Thursday, BBC3

Rating:

Informer

Tuesday, BBC1

Rating:

Because I am quite ancient and rarely stray from Radio 4  my dears, Ive listened to so much You And Yours down the years theres nothing I dont know about shopping around for car insurance  I had never heard of Mim Shaikh. He is 26, a DJ for BBC Radio 1Xtra, as well as a writer and actor. I simply stumbled across his documentary Finding Dad and was gripped for the full hour. It was extraordinary. Mim has to hear what no one would wish to hear, but hears it with such grace, love and intelligence that I was moved to tears. That never happens with You And Yours. Well, hardly ever.

I had never heard of Mim Shaikh. He is 26, a DJ for BBC Radio 1Xtra, as well as a writer and actor. I simply stumbled across his documentary Finding Dad and was gripped for the full hour

The programme followed Mims search for his birth father, whom he has never met and about whom he knows nothing, but this was no soapy episode of Long Lost Family. There were no Davina McCall hugs, at no point was Nicky Campbell seen pretending to do research in a library and there was no big family reunion in Australia. Instead, it was Mim, sitting in his bedroom, about to open an envelope with Three pictures of Mims dad written across it. All my life, he says, Ive never seen a picture of this man. We werent told who provided the photographs. He opened the envelope. He said: Ive never had an image in my head. Now I do. I can see similarities. He has a big head. He is quite short. His complexion is dark thats my dad.

It wasnt just pictures of his father that had been withheld. There had never even been any talk of him at all. Mim was born in the West Midlands, but when he was six months old his beloved grandmother took him and his mother away to live with her in south London. His grandmother has since died, and he cannot question his mother, who has learning difficulties and mental-health problems. His cousins know nothing, but an aunt breaks her silence. His mother had said his father locked her in the house and was also hitting her. The family confronted his father who did not deny the charges. He said: When I tell her to cook some food, if I smack her then she cooks the food properly. Mim swallows and is on the brink of tears. Quite heavy, is all he can say.

He persists. He travels to Dudley but his father is not at any of his previous known addresses. By amazing chance, he happens upon three elderly gentlemen who recognise his father from the photographs and quickly give each other a look. Impatient, is all they would say of him. Just as amazingly, they have his fathers contact details, although he has moved back to Pakistan. Mim writes to his father and receives no reply. He calls and his father hangs up. He decides to go to Pakistan anyway and writes another letter: I want to meet you so I can say that in my lifetime I met my father. I am travelling to your country and in return I just require an hour of your time and that is all I want. Please, for the son you bought into this world, just allow yourself to have a conversation with me. Once there, his father gives him the run-around, but there is finally a meeting. Im reluctant to say too much because it feels like a spoiler. I will only say that Mim has to negotiate a place for himself emotionally, somewhere between his fathers sentimentality and what he knows to be the truth about him, then and now.

Finding Dad was as well made as it was affecting and ended with Mim expressing his gratitude to his grandmother for what she did, but not for doing such a terrific job. Thats not for him to say, but we can. She did a terrific job. Hes a terrific young man. Im minded to add that Ill listen to BBC Radio 1Xtra from now on, but what if You And Yours is doing a special on shopping for home insurance and I miss it?

Informer has been billed as the new Bodyguard and it would be the new Bodyguard had Bodyguard been phenomenally dull, which it was not. This counter-terrorism thriller stars Nabhaan Rizwan as Raza Shar, a second-generation British-Pakistani who is arrested for petty drug dealing after a friend overdoses in a club. This brings him to the attention of counter-terrorism cop Gabe (Paddy Considine) and his rookie colleague Holly (Bel Powley), who want to turn Raza into an informer. This first episode was paced achingly slowly, was packed with cliched cop-speak, and also did not serve the main character well.

Raza was responsible for his friends overdose (hed given her the drugs). It was Raza who rushed her to hospital. But in the hours and days that follow, he never asks after her once. He never wonders: How is she? Has she come round? Will she be OK? I dont know what this says about his character. That we should just leave him here?
Company

Gielgud Theatre, London Until Mar 30, 2hrs 45mins

Rating:

This is the show that gave us The Ladies Who Lunch. The song  a showstopper  is sung by the grand diva of Broadway, Patti LuPone as Joanne. Minked-up, on her third husband, this blowsy old broad growls at everyone over vodka stingers.

She is a true rock in this updated version of the 1970 show by Stephen Sondheim (with book by George Furth), the lethally clever composer whose tunes you famously cant hum.

The musical is about Bobby celebrating his 35th birthday and being, as his married friends helpfully point out, still single. Having Bobby join the club makes them feel better about their own brittle marriages.

Rosalie Craig makes it work as Bobbie largely because shes just so good  rueful, quizzical, but without a note of self-pity. Above with Richard Fleeshman as Andy

Now director Marianne Elliott has promoted Bobby to a woman, called Bobbie.

Shes played by Rosalie Craig in a flame-red dress, matching shoes and lippy. Craig makes it work largely because shes just so good  rueful, quizzical, but without a note of self-pity.

Mel Giedroyc of Bake Off fame adds comic yeast to the cast, opposite Gavin Spokes as her alcoholic other half. She settles her differences with a bout of jiu-jitsu.

This is the show that gave us The Ladies Who Lunch. The song  a showstopper  is sung by the grand diva of Broadway, Patti LuPone as Joanne (above)

The couple on their wedding day are now two gay men (Jonathan Bailey and Alex Gaumond), going through a pre-nuptial meltdown  cue Getting Married Today  of full-on madness.

Bobbie goes on various dates, one with a thick, chatty flight attendant (Richard Fleeshman). The song Barcelona is one of the best-ever accounts of a disastrous one-night stand.

The irony is that this is now a feminist show with a cast that has turned half the women into men.

IT'S A FACT Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber, viewed as the top two writers of the modern musical, share the same birthday, March 22. Advertisement

The upside is that Bobbies lonely aversion to family life seems (to me) even more crushingly sad.

The sliding, grey, neon-fringed boxes of Bunny Christies set never fully conjure up the shows vision of New York as a giant anxiety attack.

But Sondheims astringent music and lyrics certainly weave their urban magic.

I doubt newcomers to the show will be aware of the shows makeover. The best-known songs, Side By Side By Side and the great, climactic Being Alive, are fully intact.

Quibbles aside, this landmark musical is still stylish, still intelligent and, for the most part, still great company.

In Praise Of Love

Ustinov Studio, Bath Until Nov 3, 2hrs 30mins

Rating:

Rex Harrison was an actor of legendary rudeness. He was once so foul to an autograph-hunter that she punched him, producing the variously ascribed comment that it was the first case of the fan hitting the sh*t.

This, though, is based on Harrisons nursing of his fourth wife, the 32-year-old film star Kay Kendall, who was unaware she was dying of leukaemia. Harrison knew but never passed it on.

In the Seventies, Terence Rattigan used the sad story as the basis for this uncharacteristically hammy play.

Tara Fitzgerald plays Lydia, Sebastian's Estonian wife, a war survivor with a thick Baltic accent. She is also terminally ill  a fact she hides from her adored, faithless husband

Robert Lindsay  a big star in a tiny theatre  plays boozy Sebastian, a corduroy Marxist literary critic.

Tara Fitzgerald is Lydia, his Estonian wife, a war survivor with a thick Baltic accent.

She is also terminally ill  a fact she hides from her adored, faithless husband. In an obvious twist, he is doing the same. But the real disease here is galloping garrulousness.

Julian Wadham has the thankless role of the couples dull, rich American friend, but Christopher Bonwell is excellent as their 20-year-old son, a keen Liberal.

Director Jonathan Church has done great things for Rattigan but this forgotten play is probably incurable.

Measure For Measure

Donmar Warehouse, London Until Dec 1, 2hrs 45mins

Rating:

In Shakespeares problem play, the Deputy of Vienna, having sentenced a man to death for making his own fiancee pregnant, tries to use his power to seduce the condemned chaps sister  a novitiate nun begging for clemency.

Who will believe thee? is his contemptuous response when she threatens to expose him.

With this male misuse of power for sexual gain, the #MeToo parallels cry out, and Josie Rourkes lively production has a novel twist.

Hayley Atwells (above) fervent Isabella swaps from the nun to the predator Deputy role, and Jack Lowdens Angelo goes from shifty hypocritical Scot to put-upon urban dude

Part one comprises a highly filleted version, set in 1604; the same action then fast-forwards to 2018, with the roles of the Deputy and nun reversed, so that Hayley Atwells fervent Isabella swaps from the nun to the predator Deputy role, and Jack Lowdens Angelo goes from shifty hypocritical Scot to put-upon urban dude.

As the aggressor, Atwell, in a figure-hugging back dress, reveals more emotional complexity in her machinations, though with the same outcome.

As for a 2018 man rebuffing a sexual approach, the problem is solved with Angelo in some kind of quasi-religious programme, snapping an elastic band on his wrist when temptation rears.

Rourkes gender-focused version also hints that men today are rather less assured than their predecessors, while the Duke (a nicely judged performance from Nicholas Burns) turns gay.

Too gimmicky? Credulity in the contemporary story is occasionally strained but the production is pacy, entertaining and thought-provoking.

Mark Cook

Twelfth Night

Young Vic, London Until Nov 17, 1hr 45mins

Rating:

Twelfth Night begins: If music be the food of love, play on. This version has plenty of music and love.

The debut production by new artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah, co-directing with Oskar Eustis, is a feelgood, open-hearted evening, reworked as a musical set at the Notting Hill Carnival.

The musical numbers gloss the plot but also sock home the themes Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub (music and lyrics) want to sing out, about the need to be seen for who you really are.

Malvolios (Gerard Carey, above) pomposity swells marvellously into a tap-dancing extravaganza. Gabrielle Brooks is amusingly awkward as Viola

The songs can be pretty cheesy, but Malvolios (Gerard Carey) pomposity swells marvellously into a tap-dancing extravaganza. Gabrielle Brooks is amusingly awkward as Viola.

This does not explore the plays dark side but revels in its joy. It walks a fine line between accessible and lightweight, but youd have to be a Malvolio-level snob to mind.

Holly Williams
WHEN WE WERE WARRIORS by Emma Carroll (Faber 6.99, 248 pp)

WHEN WE WERE WARRIORS

by Emma Carroll (Faber 6.99, 248 pp)

The three loosely but skilfully interlinked stories in this volume will delight fans of Carrolls previous bestsellers, Frost Hollow Hall and Letters From The Lighthouse, as she revisits both venues and protagonists, but they work equally well as self-contained dramas for new readers.

In the title story, its the summer of 1942 and London siblings June, Stanley and Maggie are evacuated to a remote Devon mansion with a tragic secret past (Frost Hollow Hall). While in the second story, Olive discovers a body on the beach that holds the clue to wartime invasion plans first explored in Letters From The Lighthouse.

In the third, Operation Greyhound, Velvet is determined to save animals banned from air-raid shelters. Eventually, all three strands coalesce in a heart-warming finale.

Carroll is a remarkable writer, evoking vivid historical detail and atmosphere as a backdrop to her characters dramatic and often emotionally complex adventures.

A PINCH OF MAGIC by Michelle Harrison (S&S 6.99, 352 pp)

A PINCH OF MAGIC

by Michelle Harrison (S&S 6.99, 352 pp)

Harrisons blend of danger and magic is a proven successful formula, and this is a cracking example of her alchemy.

With early overtones of Great Expectations, we meet three sisters growing up in the misty marshes of Crowstone Island, outside a notorious prison where their father is incarcerated.

Their mother is dead, so they are brought up by their grumpy grandmother, from whom they learn that the family is cursed by an ancient wrong, which means they can never leave the island  but each girl also possesses an object which can cast a distinctive spell.

Fierce and feisty Betty determines to break the constraining curse, even if she has to enlist the help of a mysterious prisoner.

This is wonderful, edge-of-your-seat excitement with enchanting characters and a deeply felt sibling loyalty  and we can only hope to see more of the Widdershins clan. A pinch of magic indeed.

THE MIDNIGHT HOUR

THE MIDNIGHT HOUR by Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder (Chicken House Books 6.99, 272 pp)

by Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder (Chicken House Books 6.99, 272 pp)

Outspoken Emily isnt the easiest of children and clashes repeatedly with her bohemian, eccentric mother, Maeve, who creates bizarre art.

But when Maeve claims shes going to visit her estranged family for an emergency and doesnt return, and then Dad disappears, Emily sets out alone to track them down. Alone, that is, except for a hedgehog . . .

She knows only that her father works at the Night Post near Big Ben, but when she gets there  escaping a very frightening man who chases her all the way  she discovers that London is frozen at midnight in the Victorian era. The Night Post, operated by a selection of weird and wonderful staff, actually delivers messages between the Day Folk and the Night Folk  peopled by monsters and magic.

In a gripping and genuinely menacing narrative, Emily discovers what links her family to the Midnight Hour  and must find out whether she can rescue them from the other world.
MAIGRET DEFENDS HIMSELF by Georges Simenon (Penguin 7.99, 160 pp)

MAIGRET DEFENDS HIMSELF

by Georges Simenon (Penguin 7.99, 160 pp)

Three years off retirement, Maigret is the victim of a honey trap.

Coming to the aid of a government luminarys daughter, who is a stranger in Paris, the inspector is accused of sexual assault. Why has the girl told a pack of lies? Who has put her up to it?

The obvious culprit is a suspected jewel thief, a wheelchair-bound mastermind. But, in keeping up the pressure with unannounced visits, it occurs to Maigret that there could be someone else in the neighbourhood who might fear his frequent appearances.

The tale that unfolds is of a clever but vulnerable victim of circumstance, led by forces beyond his control.

Maigret is vindicated, but left to brood on the conflict between justice and his sympathy for human frailty.

BROTHERS KEEPERS by Donald E. Westlake (Titan Books 7.99, 304 pp)

BROTHERS KEEPERS

by Donald E. Westlake (Titan Books 7.99, 304 pp)

A throwback to the age when land was cheap, a small monastery occupies a prime site in downtown New York. But not for much longer, if a property magnate has his way.

When the monks refuse to go quietly, the scene is set for a battle with the philistines, who are no strangers to dodgy practices.

The plot centres on Brother Benedict, the youngest of the order, who departs into the wide world to confront the enemy. There, he meets the fun-loving daughter of his chief opponent, who leads him to a solution that might not be quite in the traditions of holy practice.

Its hard to categorise Westlake. Crime, yes, but comedy caper may be more apt. What is beyond dispute is his classic status.
MUSE OF NIGHTMARES by Laini Taylor (Hodder 16.99, 528 pp)

MUSE OF NIGHTMARES

by Laini Taylor (Hodder 16.99, 528 pp)

The massive metallic angel, home to a clutch of desperate godspawn, is still tethered above the desert city of Weep.

In its cavernous depths, monstrous little Minya still controls her siblings with her indomitable will and an army of ghosts.

But events take things out of her hands: Lazlo Strange, her sisters lover, offers the chance to avenge her familys slaughter by Eril-Fane.

Then another character, even more intent on revenge, enters the fray . . . No one writing in fantasy today rivals Laini Taylor for precisely sensual prose, extraordinary characters and awesome imaginative power.

Readers are swept along like bedazzled prisoners as twists are negotiated, truths exposed and the cruellest emotional pain is beautifully explored  and wonderfully resolved.

ROSEWATER by Tade Thompson (Orbit 8.99, 298 pp)

ROSEWATER

by Tade Thompson (Orbit 8.99, 298 pp)

Theres no right or wrong, good or bad, in the Nigerian town of Rosewater, a new community thats grown around a massive alien construction. Even the barriers between mind and matter have been dissolved.

Kaaro, a psychic sneak thief-turned-government agent, uses his powers to enter the minds of enemies of the state via the xenosphere  cyberspace for telepaths  but can he also contact the aliens?

This richly textured book shows how our flawed anti- hero deals with his past and future and how humanity manages a fungal invasion, flatulent carnivorous balloons, the undead and an unknowable threat.

When Kaaro uncovers the mystery, he is left with no easy choices  just a horrendous dilemma about which side to take.

SALVATION by Peter F. Hamilton (Macmillan 20, 544 pp)

SALVATION

by Peter F. Hamilton (Macmillan 20, 544 pp)

In the not-too-distant future, a mystical race of space pilgrims, the Olyix, will kick-start a gene therapy revolution as they swap their tech for ours. Meanwhile, space-shrinking portals offer not just free travel, but also the easy disposal of radioactive waste and various human miscreants across the universe.

Creation myth, detective thriller, epic  its nigh-on impossible to sum up this vast, intricate sci-fi showstopper.

Caught in the middle of mysteries that cross universes and time periods is a sprawling cast of engineers, detectives, assassins and specially trained interstellar guerrillas.

Suffice to say that, as we unpick the mystery of why the human race faces annihilation, the journey grips just as hard as the reveal.
THE BUS ON THURSDAY by Shirley Barrett (Fleet 14.99, 272 pp)

THE BUS ON THURSDAY

by Shirley Barrett (Fleet 14.99, 272 pp)

After her critically acclaimed and highly unusual debut, Rush Oh!, Shirley Barrett has now produced this weeks wildcard  crazy from start to finish, but also hilarious.

Having just had breast cancer, as well as some bad relationships, teacher Eleanor moves to the remote, beautiful town of Talbingo (were in Australia), where a job suddenly comes up.

Eleanor gets there to find no wi-fi, no one in the streets  and no explanation for the sudden and mysterious disappearance of Miss Barker, her predecessor.

A cast of Gothic rural locals are little help and, once the impulsive Eleanor starts a wild affair with the father of one of her pupils, things get hopelessly out of hand. Hand being the operative word when one is found in the local lake . . . is it Miss Barkers?

This witty, wise and rather demented novel occupies a strange, and possibly unique, space between screwball comedy, murder mystery and magical realism.

THE NEXT PERSON YOU MEET IN HEAVEN by Mitch Albom (Sphere 14.99, 224 pp)

THE NEXT PERSON YOU MEET IN HEAVEN

by Mitch Albom (Sphere 14.99, 224 pp)

Mitch Albom is obviously a hugely popular author, with 36 million books sold and counting. If hes your cup of tea, youll love the story of just-married Annie and Paulo, who have a tragic accident on their wedding night.

Alboms thesis is that when you go to heaven, you meet five people from your past who reveal unsuspected truths about your life.

In Annies case, these include the man who saved her from death in a fairground, her misunderstood mother and her pet dog.

The themes of forgiveness and redemption are fair enough and Albom has an agreeably zippy writing style. But I found all the death a bit depressing and all the moralising a little glib.

A SPARK OF LIGHT

A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult (Hodder 16.99, 368 pp)

by Jodi Picoult (Hodder 16.99, 368 pp)

In the last abortion clinic in Mississippi, a crazed pro-life gunman is holding staff and patients hostage.

Hugh, a police negotiator, is doing his best to free them  little does he realise (at first) his teenage daughter Wren is among those trapped inside.

Her companions include an abortion doctor whose work contravenes his religion and (nice twist) an undercover pro-life activist.

Picoults even-handed aim is to show all as human beings with understandable reasons for believing what they do.

If you like her big-themes oeuvre, youll lap it up.

For me, the challenge was the structure. The story works backwards to examine each characters motive and, if you dont pay close attention, its easy to get confused.
David Starkey has arranged himself artfully in a mullioned bay window at Hever Castle, ancestral home of the Boleyn family in Kent. Shortly he will tell me about the worst night of my life, but for now the historian, author of 24 books and curator of a new exhibition of Tudor-era portraits at the castle is enjoying a rare moment of peace. Behind his grey head the golden autumn sunshine illuminates the walls of the ancient keep, by his side a bottle of red wine shows signs of close attention and he is working his way through a pile of ready-salted crisps.

David Starkey with his late partner, James Brown, when he was awarded a CBE for services to history, in 2007

You might have been wondering where hes been recently. I feel a certain measure of guilt and shame at not having involved myself more in public debate, he admits. But Starkey, 73, hasnt been hiding. He has been recovering. On October 28, 2015, Starkeys partner of 20 years, the book publisher James Brown, died at the couples 18th-century manor house in Kent, aged only 43.

Jamess death was a profound rupture, he says. It was something horrible and dreadful. He came through the grief, as he has come through lifes obstacles since childhood, by hard work. Im still very seriously interested in my subject. I think I am becoming more so in a sense. Ive been doing huge amounts of very serious, original research, which I immensely enjoy and has been yielding fascinating results.

The fruit of that research is the exhibition he will shortly show me, but now, and for the first time in public, Starkey wants to tell me what he has been through. Lets be absolutely specific and talk about evidence, he says. That evening I found James dead, sitting on the sofa. He looked as though hed just gone to sleep in the snug, which was our favourite little sitting room. I didnt go in that room for another week until I finally thought, Now, either I confront this or well do a Miss Havisham and I didnt want to do that. So, I confronted it.

Starkey with a portrait of Henry VIII at Hever Castle. Right: Anne Boleyn

He was not expecting the death of a partner who was 27 years his junior, Not at all, he says. And nor was James. Starkey, one of the most high-profile academics in the country, on near constant call by television, radio and the press, hadnt realised just how much Brown had been drinking. I knew hed become an alcoholic but I had no idea how far it had gone, he says. The extent of this drinking is the one thing Starkey holds back on for the sake, he says, of Jamess family. The death certificate, as coy as these things are meant to be, said pneumonia. It covers a multitude of deaths. Very sweet and gentle.

There is the air of exile about Starkey. A conservative historian with an abiding faith in the Enlightenment notion of evidence, that you can demonstrate one way of doing a thing is better than another way of doing a thing, he can seem out of place in the age of #MeToo and transgender rights, a world where, as he sees it, feelings are valued over facts. This notion that the world is as you want it to be, he says. In other words, if you say youre a woman, youre a woman, even if you have a penis. The novel concept of women with penii is just absurd. The only way in which you should be able to settle these things is with test, with evidence, but instead we replace everything with feeling and sentiment, to the immense harm of people doing terrible things to their bodies.

His directness is legendary. On Radio 4s The Moral Maze, Starkey once responded to evidence from the Archdeacon of York by saying His fatness, his smugness, his pomposity: doesnt it make you want to vomit? On Question Time he said of the Tory MP John Redwood, sitting with him on the panel: John Redwood doesnt have a heart, he was beamed in from outer space. Hes completely inhuman.

I knew hed become an alcoholic, but I had no idea how far it had gone

Starkey himself has been attacked many times. Ed Miliband called him a racist after the 2011 riots when Starkey said: The whites have become black. A particular sort of violent, destructive, nihilistic gangster culture has become the fashion. Others have insidiously mocked his sexuality. A A Gill called me a pinkie, he says, making a camp gesture with his hand and clearly still annoyed decades later. But Starkey will not use his gayness as a shield. Nobody likes being abused, he says. But the absurd sensitivities that people now display are preposterous. Im not going to cry homophobia when people just dislike David Starkey. If you want to be liked, there are ways you are liked. You dwell permanently in the land of Radio 2, never utter a fault and become a national treasure and loved by everybody.

Despite his patrician tones Starkey is a working-class northerner who went through grammar school and on to a first at Cambridge. I dont want violins, he says. But if you had my history born crippled with a combination of club feet and polio, short-sighted with spectacles, turning out to be gay. Imagine what one went through. It makes you quite tough.

Tough, perhaps, but not invulnerable and Brown was there at home in Kent waiting for him when the criticism came flying his way. When you go home and say Wah-wah-wah and you get that support, it makes it much easier, says Starkey. James was fiercely loyal and extremely effective. The couple met at a bar near the London School of Economics in the early Nineties, and almost immediately Starkeys life changed.

Id had lots of affairs and special friends, he says. But Id never lived with anybody before James. I was already 49. I didnt do it lightly. I was an only child, Id always boasted of my self-sufficiency.

Starkey was born in Kendal in Westmoreland, a tiny northern town, very smug and self-satisfied, very self-contained. His father was a foreman in a factory. His mother was a Quaker Puritan, a former mill-worker overcome with pride when her son passed the 11-plus and then horrified when she heard he was going on a school trip to Catholic Rome. She said, Do remember to wash your hands, theyve got very funny toilet habits. 

In these circumstances being openly homosexual wasnt an option. It was also illegal until Starkey was 22. Nobody talked about homosexuality, he says. My mother didnt even consider it until I became one and then her reaction was truly, truly terrible. But my childhood was dominated by professional women who nowadays you would have automatically assumed were lesbian. Our family doctors were a pair of ladies who lived together. Pageboy haircuts parted in the middle, collars and ties, heavy tweed suits, brogue shoes. It was accommodated.

Starkey tells me it was his hero, Henry VIII, who made buggery a capital offence. Wandering through the long gallery at Hever, past the portraits of Henry, Anne Boleyn and others, Starkey explains why we are still so obsessed by the Tudors. The Tudors are where modern England begins, he says. Henry VIII was the first Brexit, that sense of an England thats different, of the Channel being the widest strip of water in the world.

Starkey looks askance at the present monarchys hands-off approach. It has played no part at all in the whole business of Brexit, he says. At the time of Munich, George VI and Queen Elizabeth received Chamberlain on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, they put the whole weight of the monarchy behind peace.

But what could the present Queen do about the turmoil of Brexit? Thats what everybody now says, but thats the result of 60 years of Elizabeth II, which have very much diminished the monarchy. What is there under the flummery? Thats the frightening question Charles will be asking.

And yet Starkey has come to appreciate the importance of flummery, the role that ceremony can play in lifes most significant moments. He found consolation in the rites of the Church of England, the denomination that came out of Henry VIIIs first Brexit 484 years ago. Jamess funeral service was at Rochester Cathedral. James had been a choirboy. He had a residual belief and he loved that grand, choral, ceremonial tradition about Anglicanism. The most extraordinary moment in the service, which nearly dissolved me, was the entrance of the coffin into the cathedral to Purcells death march for Queen Mary. They used that great trombone phrase from it as a kind of repeated punctuation of the funeral sentences, which were read by the Dean walking in the procession and each one interspersed with those great blasts on the organ. It was liturgy as drama. We need it.

Starkeys doing it again, standing aside from his own life to cast a historians eye over it. The one thing, I suppose, as a historian, you should be used to is the idea of death, he says. You spend the whole of your time communing with death. Im not sure how much that really helps. To be any good as a historian, you have to pretend theyre living anyway.

David Starkeys new exhibition at Hever Castle depicts the Tudors through art. hevercastle.co.uk
Its midday on a Sunday morning, and Im having to cover the soft ears of Mini Puppy, my eight-year-old border collie. Were at a dog-friendly screening of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, and its not Pierce Brosnans singing that offends her, but an extremely loud thunderstorm. Never mind that the dire acting renders this film as unbelievable as, well, Cher being ancient enough to play Meryl Streeps mother, the storm to Mini is very, very real.

She attempts to climb over my head, sending popcorn flying, towards the bright-orange chow chow on the seat behind, who, up till now, shes been staring at over the seat like an annoying child on a plane.

Liz Jones with her dog Mini. The Picturehouse chain runs a programme of doggy screenings in 16 of its 23 town centre cinemas nationwide

But the lovely thing is, despite all the wrestling going on in an almost-packed cinema, the occasional yaps, the frequent exits for a bathroom break, the chewing of squeaky toys and way, way too much kissing and cuddling of furry friends, my first ever visit to a dog-friendly screening reminds me that films are supposed to be fun, social events, not what they are these days: solitary, hunched experiences on an iPad, streaming movies from Netflix and Amazon.

The cinema in question is the Picturehouse in Piccadilly, central London. The Picturehouse chain runs a programme of doggy screenings in 16 of its 23 town centre cinemas nationwide. The idea was the brainchild of the rather inappropriately named Cat Courtney: Were huge dog lovers at Picturehouse Central and after small success at private events, we saw a great opportunity to make our furry friends happy. Its been fantastic to be at the forefront of this!

Even the pre-cinema congregating in the foyer is like a festive and very non-judgemental Crufts

The cinema first trialled a dog-friendly screening in 2016 with Laurie Andersons documentary Heart Of A Dog. That was such a success that its now hosting a dog-friendly Sunday matinee (dogs go free) roughly every six weeks. However, unlike an increasing number of parks and playgrounds, where if you attempt to enter as an adult without a child youre locked up, you dont need to own a dog to attend. As Cat says: I was talking to one girl who cant have a pet because she lives in a flat, so she came just to hang out with a load of dogs. In fact, Im here with my best friend, Sue, who lost her dog, Missy, a couple of years ago. She cant face the heartbreak of owning another dog, but has come along to feel the love.

Michael Mckean and John M Higgins in Best In Show.

Even the pre-cinema congregating in the foyer is like a festive and very non-judgemental Crufts, as new friends are sniffed and breeds and provenance explained by proud owners. I meet a lovely couple called Paul and Serhat, here with their smooth dachshund George, four, and Winston, a dachshund mix, who is just seven months old. Like most dog owners, theyd been scouring the internet for cultural doggy welcome mats; others had found out via Facebook. Weve been along once before, Paul tells me. Its perfect for dogs. They generally all fall asleep. And its nice not to feel discriminated against for once. I took George into John Lewis the other day, and I was marched out of the store like a criminal!

The star of the whole proceedings is not the far too waggy and eager-to-please Lily James, but a very over-confident mini-Pomeranian, and although the majority of the dogs are admittedly handbag-size, there is a rather lovely dog called Moose with his owner, Jo (hes a bulldog, so I wonder if hes seen Darkest Hour?), and a 15-year-old pug called Winnie, here with her human, Dan, who would like more info on the website about what to expect.

WHO'S A GOOD BOY? Picturehouse cinemas have hosted dog-friendly screenings at many of their 23 locations for more than a year, and offers free doggy snacks and water. But there are rules: heres a list of the essential doggy dos and donts: Your dog must sit on the blanket provided (on the seat and the backrest  staff clean thoroughly after each screening).

Return the blanket after the screening.

Clean up if your dog makes a mess  poo bags are not only for the park.

Dont let an overexcited dog stay in the cinema  take him or her outside

Dont let your dog get too excited by other dogs at the screening (we all know what this means) or they will need to leave Advertisement

Id have appreciated some advance warning detailing any potentially upsetting scenes (such as the aforementioned thunderstorm). I also think the sound is way too loud for canine ears: Id suggest turning it right down, and putting up subtitles instead. Id have also turned off the escalator, which Mini baulked at, and which could trap claws, though I was soon directed towards stairs.

And while Ive become inured to the fact that at most screenings Im the only person in the cinema, it makes a lovely change to be part of a proper audience (the chain wont release exact figures, but says the screenings are frequently sold out, unusual for a very quiet slot for cinemas: 11am on a Sunday). Most important, in a world where dogs are increasingly seen as pariahs  even my nearest open air cinema and theatre, at country house hotel Middleton Lodge in North Yorkshire, refuses entry to dogs  during a long, hot summer its great to be inside with air conditioning for a couple of hours.

The cinema chain has also commendably gone the extra mile: there are free dog treats, bowls of water literally everywhere, and each dog is given a blanket to cover their seat (no dog is expected to sit on the floor, and therefore miss all the action). There were no accidents on the day I went along, but if a dog does wee during, say, Niagara, the staff will clean it up, no questions asked.

Cat is hoping other chains will follow suit, and make cinemas even more inclusive and diverse, given a welcome number are now starting to screen films with subtitles, audio description, as well as slots for mums with toddlers, and singalongs. All too often, though, these not-so-niche screenings are super-early, or super-late, and far too infrequent.

Would I take Mini to the movies again? Shes very confident, but as she lives in the Yorkshire Dales she found the experience a little overwhelming, and over-long. I imagine next time she will know more what to expect. Her ears pricked up when she spotted the poster for Gods Own Country: perfect for sheepdogs feeling homesick.

A dog-friendly screening of Dog Days will be at Picturehouse Central in Piccadilly, London, at 11am on Aug 12. Tickets on sale soon. Go to picturehouses.com or dogfriendly.co.uk
July 17, 1968, saw the premiere of The Beatles Yellow Submarine. It was a feature-length animation based on a Paul McCartney novelty ditty sung by Ringo Starr. George Harrison, unhappy at the time with his role in the group, wasnt wholly excited by the project. John Lennon, true to acerbic form, would be more dismissive: The Yellow Submarine people were gross animals, he said in 1980. We had nothing to do with that movie and we sort of resented them. We didnt know what it was. And yet this psychedelic adventure, in which the Fab Four battled the blue meanies, was a hit. Half a century on, a spruced-up version is back in cinemas. Ahead of that, Event presents a shoal of things you never knew about it  including the fact that Lennon was fibbing

Yellow Submarine was a feature-length animation based on a Paul McCartney novelty ditty sung by Ringo Starr

The Beatles did not voice their own characters. Instead, voice actors were hired

These films are going nowhere, man

Yellow Submarine grew out of a deal struck by Beatles manager Brian Epstein to make a series of cartoons for American TV. But The Beatles said, Well only make them if theyre never shown in England,  says Jonathan Clyde, head of production at Apple. And they werent and weve still not shown them here.

He wouldnt let it be

Only A Northern Song, one of four new songs (including All You Need Is Love) featured in Yellow Submarine, isnt just a minor psychedelic masterpiece from George Harrison. Its also the guitarists dig at his lowly pecking order within The Beatles song publishing company, Northern Songs.

John, Paul, George and... Dick Emery?

The Beatles did not voice their own characters. Instead, voice actors were hired. One, Geoffrey Hughes, who played Paul, later played binman Eddie Yates in Coronation Street. Comedian Dick Ooh you are awful Emery also starred, though another voice actor, Peter Batten, fared less well. The animation team went to the pub in Soho at lunchtime and they still hadnt found someone to do George, recounts Clyde. Then they heard this Scouse accent at the bar It was a chap called Peter Batten, who did a few sessions, but then one day Military Police turned up and hauled him off  turns out he was a deserter from the Army.

John Lennon sang the backing vocals for Yellow Submarine through a condom, according to Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick

Geoffrey Hughes  who later joined Coronation Street  voiced Paul in the film (left); Dick Emery was one of the voice actors in the film (right)

Only A Northern Song, one of four new songs featured in Yellow Submarine, isnt just a minor psychedelic masterpiece from George Harrison. Its also the guitarists dig at his lowly pecking order within The Beatles song publishing company, Northern Songs

They worked eight days a week

To make Yellow Submarine, the British animation studio TVC hired Heinz Edelmann, a Czech-German graphic designer, to art-direct the film. Yellow Submarine was his first film  and his last. My father had a very difficult relationship with this film, says the late artists daughter Valentine. It was produced under very chaotic circumstances. If you want to write a book about how not to make a feature animation, Yellow Submarine ticks all the boxes. Dont start without a script. Dont start without enough money. Dont start without an animation studio that is fully equipped for the job. Dont do it in a very short time. Its a miracle that Yellow Submarine was made.

Back in the USSR...

Yellow Submarine had political undertones. My father [Heinz Edelmann, the films art director] was a refugee, says Valentine Edelmann. He had experienced Nazism and communism. So, the Apple bonkers that fall from the sky are bombs. The flying glove is the heavy hand of oppression. And the Blue Meanies are genocidal tyrants, though they were originally Red Meanies, an attack on communist forces. But an art assistant in the animation studio misunderstood his colouring instructions.

Give me that shock n roll music...

John Lennon sang the backing vocals for Yellow Submarine through a condom, according to Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick. John wanted to be recorded underwater to simulate being in a submarine, Emerick recalled. He didnt realise the implications I thought to get a bottle of water and put a microphone in the water and get him to sing to that. Then I realised there was a huge amount of electrical current going through the microphone. So to protect the mic [Beatles road manager] Mal Evans had a condom in his bag, and I put the mic in the condom and put it in the bottle. John couldve blown up because there was 240 volts running through this thing

Money, thats what we want

There was this epic struggle between the British and the American producers about money, recalls Valentine Edelmann. The British studio told the American producers that they needed more to finish it. But the Americans refused to move from the budget. So director Charles Dunning and the animators stole the only copy, put it in Dunnings bank vault, and told the Americans, You can have it back  if you pay. So they were given a bit more money. The final budget was 250,000.

Yellow Submarine grew out of a deal struck by Beatles manager Brian Epstein to make a series of cartoons for American TV

He had a ticket to write

The original script was written by a team of Americans  one of them, Erich Segal, was a professor of Greek at Harvard, as well as author of the classic 1970 weepie Love Story. Unsurprisingly, The Beatles didnt think the characters sounded like them. So Liverpudlian poet Roger McGough  who was in Merseybeat band The Scaffold (Lily The Pink)  was hired to give authentic voice to The Beatles, says McGough, because what they were currently speaking was Woody Allen meets Plato. I ending up writing the first scenes so, all the puns: Im a real lever puller [Liverpooler] Frankenstein? I went out with his sister, Phyllis  But contractual wrangling meant McGough was never credited for his work. Still, at least he was paid for his efforts: 500, which is 6,000 in todays money. A not insignificant sum for a geography teacher-turned-poet in 1968.

For you, John, blue

'John came to Soho to watch some early rushes, says animator Malcolm Draper. He had very long hair and granny glasses and he sat in the front row. Wed made about the first 25 minutes of the film, and the opening sequences were all in colour, but then the animation went black and white. John exploded, Wheres the f****** colour? We explained that these were the line tests, before we painted them. And John said, I didnt come all this f****** way to watch f****** black and white, and he left!

Yellow Submarine will be shown in cinemas nationwide on July 8. beatles.com
Tiffany Senter is just 25, but she has already had three sets of lungs.

She was born with cystic fibrosis, a chronic genetic disease that causes sticky fluid to build up in several organs, including the pancreas, liver, kidneys and intestine.

But it is most devastating to the lungs, which the disease effectively drowns in this malfunctioning mucus.

By age 16, Tiffany was dying.

A lung transplant at 17 saved her life, but four years later her body rejected the new organs.

Tiffany got yet another shot at life, receiving a second pair of donor lungs at 23.

For now, Tiffany is breathing easier at last, but she still has to spend much of her time at the hospital, as cystic fibrosis has ravaged her other organs, too, and leaves her vulnerable to infections that could prove deadly.

But Tiffany keeps her spirits up, with a little help from her idol, Marilyn Monroe, fixing her hair and make up to match the late starlet's exactly - all from her hospital bed.

Even more than her Marilyn, Tiffany looks up to the two organ donors whose lungs have kept her alive this long, and simply hold onto hope that these lungs will keep working as doctors say they won't be able to give her another pair.

Tiffany Senter (pictured) cystic fibrosis and has had two lung transplants (left) at just 25. Her third set of lungs is failing, but she hopes that medications will stabilize her enough to start doing make up professionally, including her signature Marilyn Monroe look (right)

Tiffany's grasp on life has always been a little tenuous.

When she was born, it was immediately clear Tiffany had severe cystic fibrosis. Doctors initially advised her parents to take their newborn home and enjoy the short time they would likely have with her, Tiffany told The Sun.

But they didn't give up on their daughter, and Tiffany didn't give up either.

Until age 14, Tiffany even went to school. But as her condition had continued to worsen and her lungs got weaker, it was too dangerous for her to be around other children whose common colds could be life threatening for Tiffany.

By age 16, things were dire.

Tiffany was transferred to Stanford University's hospital, where doctors told her that a lung transplant was her best option - her only option - for survival.

After nine months of feeling like she was trying to breath under water, a new pair of lungs became available for Tiffany. Her own lungs were functioning at just 20 percent of the capacity of healthy lungs.

Doctors removed Tiffany's lungs - which were nearly black and contorted with disease - and replaced them with the donor's, which had come from a young man, on the cusp of adulthood, who had died in a tragic accident.

Cystic fibrosis causes mucus to become thick and effectively drown and kill lungs like Tiffany's

For the last three months before her second transplant, Tiffany was confined to a hospital bed, hooked up to a machine breathing for her and a feeding tube

But he and his family had donated as many of his organs as possible, saving the lives of eight people - including Tiffany.

Soon after the operation, Tiffany's lungs were operating at 93 percent - almost as good as new. She was overjoyed.

And for four years, she got to live the life of adventure she'd dreamed of.

But then the unthinkable happened: Tiffany's body rejected the very organs that were keeping her alive.

It was back to Stanford, back to the transplant list and back to struggling to breath. Tiffany had to wait another nine months, and for the last three she was completely confined to a hospital bed with a machine breathing for her and a feeding tube, 24 hours a day, every day.

While there, she stumbled across a makeup tutorial on YouTube.

'I felt like I looked like I was going to die, and those videos inspired me to see you can transform how you look on the outside,' Tiffany told Daily Mail Online.

'My motto is: "If you look good, you feel good."'

Tiffany started order make up kits to the hospital, creating new looks and practically transforming into Marilyn Monroe, all from her bed.

Mean while, she only had nine percent lung function.

Tiffany has to take 70 medications every morning to keep her lungs, kidney and liver working

After four years, her body rejected the first pair of donor lungs. While waiting for another transplant, Tiffany taught her self to do makeup, and hopes to make it a career

'The pathologist said he didn't know how I was hanging in there. My right lung had completely died, and there was just one spot on the left lung that was giving me air,' Tiffany said.

'It's hard to see, many of us, you can't tell that we're chronically ill. Then when you get to see your lungs it puts in perspective what we actually go through - even for me.'

Again, the failing lungs were removed and replaced with a new set, in 2017.

'But when I had the first transplant, the other organs took a hit,' Tiffany said.

'Thankfully I was able to have a healthy enough kidney and liver to do it again, but my kidneys have taken a hit.'

For awhile, the new lungs worked perfectly. But after a year-and-a-half, they were in the first stages of failure and rejection.

Tiffany was diagnosed with chronic organ rejection, meaning that even the harsh medications she took to suppress her immune system couldn't stop her body from thinking her new lungs are a foreign object and attacking them.

Her body is too traumatized and too weak for Tiffany to have any shot at a third transplant.

Even if she had one, 'my sternum is already wired shut and clipped. There's really no room for them to operate and my chances of survival would be so low,' Tiffany said.

Her kidneys have failed three times in the last year and her lungs are functioning at 60 percent - but that's enough so long as the the medications she's on now - some of the 70 pills Tiffany starts her day with - continue to keep her stable.

'It's bittersweet. No one is ready to face the possibility of death at 25, so I hope the medications can keep me stable for a long time' Tiffany said.

She is transforming her Marilyn-themed bedroom into a makeup studio so she can see clients there and pursue her dream of being a cosmetologist - even as her lungs fail her

To that end, she's in the process of transforming her bedroom into a makeup studio and plans to get her cosmetology and business licenses so she can have clients come to her to have their makeup done.

And she continues to lift weights, rock climb with her brother, and go on hikes with her whole family.

'I have gotten seven-plus years because of my donors, and I couldnt ask for more than that,' Tiffany says.

'I feel very lucky to have had the time I have.'

She has sent letters to both of the families of her lung donors, but has never heard back from either.

Tiffany's message to the families is simple: 'I can't imagine what it would be like for them, and I just want them to know how much I appreciate their gift and i'm doing my best to do them justice.'

The causes of both cystic fibrosis and organ donation are near and dear to Tiffany's heart, and she has even started a fundraising campaign for the Children's Organ Transplant Association.
Injectable heroin and meth are driving up staggering rates of syphilis, which reached a record high in the US last year, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report issued Thursday.

Drug abuse and STDs have both reached the point of becoming critical public health issues nationwide.

Now, health officials warn that they don't just coincide - they feed one another.

Between 2013 and 2017, the rate of high-risk, transmissible syphilis in the US soared by 73 percent.

In the same period, the number of people who had syphilis and reported using injection drugs - meth and heroin - more than doubled, according to the CDC report.

Rates of heroin infection (pictured, file) and meth injection more than doubled among people with syphilis between 2013 and 2017, a new CDC report reveals

The sexually transmitted disease remains most common among men who have sex with men, but the alarming increases among drug-users are pushing the overlapping groups to a top priority for US health officials.

In 2017, over 101,500 people were newly infected with syphilis.

Of those, 30,644 had primary and secondary syphilis, the earliest stage of the infection when it can most easily be passed on through sexual contact or contact with blood.

That about nine one hundredths of a percent of The American population - a tiny fraction.

Among the small number of people that do have highly-transmissible syphilis, injection drug use is far more common than in the general population.

Nearly 17 percent of women with primary and secondary syphilis said they had used methamphetamine, 10 percent had used some form of injection drugs and 5.8 percent had used heroin in the past year.

Among men who have sex with women, the rates were similar.

Aside from sex itself needle sharing has long been a leading avenue for the transmission of HIV.

Globally, over 13 million people inject drugs and 1.7 million of them have HIV.

It is becoming increasingly clear that syphilis spreads in a similar way.

The bacterial infection is most often passed from person to person through vaginal, anal or oral sex.

In its early stages, syphilis causes sores to develop around the genitals and occasionally the mouth.

It's easy to treat with a course of antibiotics - typically penicillin - if the medication is started early enough.

However, if syphilis is left untreated for too long, the infection can start to damage the brain and even cause paralysis or blindness. Babies can be born with syphilis if their mothers have the infection.

Syphilis is not transmitted by skin contact - like sitting on a toilet skin - and is most often transmitted between men who have sex with men.

But reusing a needle that a person with the infection has used can also transmit the bacteria from one person's blood to another.

In addition to its own potential complications, syphilis raises the risks of contracting HIV, too.

So the CDC wants to make prevention efforts among drug users a high priority in public health efforts.

'STD programs should consider partnering with substance use disorder prevention and treatment programs and other organizations that provide services to persons who use drugs in the local community,' the report authors wrote.
A beauty therapist who battled suicidal thoughts believes the contraceptive pill triggered her depression.

Jasmyn Anderson, 20, from Edinburgh, was prescribed antidepressants around six months ago.

She later made the connection her mental health plummeted around the same time as she started taking Ridgevidon.

Since coming off the contraception four months ago, Miss Anderson claims she feels like 'a different person'.

Jasmyn Anderson has revealed she had suicidal thoughts while taking the contraceptive pill

The beauty therapist, 20, claims her mother (pictured) read an article about the possible links between the combined pill, and both anxiety and depression after it was posted on Facebook

Miss Anderson stopped taking the pill Rigevidon (pictured) and her symptoms vanished

Writing on Twitter, Miss Anderson said: 'I've been off the pill for almost four months and I'm honestly a different person.

'I've not thought about taking my own life, I'm generally just more happy.'

The beauty therapist claims to have battled with anxiety for years but things took a dramatic turn for the worse around a year ago when she began having suicidal thoughts.

After seeing her GP, Miss Anderson was given antidepressants and put on a waiting list for therapy.

'I was also told to make a doctors appointment every week to make sure I was okay and I wasn't going to do anything crazy,' she said.

'I made my first appointment at the doctors but got turned away from making my ongoing appointments as it was coming up for "flu" season and the doctors would be really busy.'

It was around this time Miss Anderson decided to stop taking antidepressants, which were making her feel 'horrible'.

Her mother then stumbled across an article on Facebook about the pill, which suggested it could be linked to anxiety and depression.

Looking back, Ms Anderson said her symptoms started once she began taking Ridgevidon.

After mulling it over with her boyfriend, Miss Anderson decided to also stop taking the pill.

She hopes her story will save others from depression, but admits it may just be her personal experience.

Ms Anderson said she is a 'different person' since coming off the pill four months ago

Looking back, Miss Anderson said she realised her symptoms had started once she began taking Rigevidon and therefore blames the pill for triggering her poor mental health

Miss Anderson shared her experience on Twitter, telling women with mental-health disorders to consider when their symptoms started and what could have been the trigger

She stressed her followers suffering from anxiety and depression should think about when their symptoms began and if it could be linked to their contraception.

'You have think of yourself and get rid of anything that you think might be related to how you feel', she said.

Since sharing her story, many other Twitter users have commented on their own fears the pill can cause ill health.

Since Ms Anderson shared her story, many other women came forward to claim what Rigevidon had done to their health. One said she struggled to piece herself back together

One Twitter user felt frustrated at the contraceptive options for women

One Twitter user said Rigevidon wasn't worth it, believing it caused her depression and anger

While many millions of women take the pill without any problems, a significant minority report a devastating impact on their emotional wellbeing.

Depression is listed as a side-effect in the warnings leaflet included in every packet, along with symptoms such as blood clotting, weight gain, pain and reduced libido.

Experts say doctors are failing to make women aware of the risks, as they believe medics are worried about a spike in unwanted pregnancies if womens trust in the pill is shaken.

Although there are dozens of different brands of the pill, most contain a mix of two synthetic hormones: oestrogen and progestogen.

The combined pill gives a dose of both of these; the mini-pill has only progestogen.

Many women who take the pill are mystified by the conflicting advice, with many discussions online about what brands cause what side-effects.

The Rigevidon pills are developed by the Hungarian pharmaceutical company Gedeon Richter Plc.

A spokesperson for Gedeon Richter Plc said: 'Mood swings and depression are class effects of hormonal contraceptives, including all combined oral contraceptives (COCs).

'As a class effect, the related contraindications, warnings and precautions are clearly highlighted in the package leaflet of all COCs in order to help women make informed and responsible decisions about their choice of contraception together with their healthcare professional.

'It needs to be stressed that assessing a potential causal relationship between a drug and an adverse event should always be based on a thorough medical investigation, involving all related medical records of the case. In the absence of these, drawing any evidence-based conclusion regarding the causal relationship is not possible.'

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
Women whose male romantic partners watch porn frequently are at greater risk of developing eating disorders, a new study suggests.

Researchers from Ohio State University found that women felt more pressure to have a thin body and lose weight when the men in their lives were regular consumers of porn.

The risk factors for eating disorders are complex and thought to involve genetic dispositions, particular brain chemistry and how the pressure of the world around people affects their psychology.

Some experts in the field are already pushing for prevention and treatment plans for eating disorders that involve not just the person suffering from anorexia, over-eating or bulimia.

The more pornography women's male partners watch in a week the more at-risk the women are for eating disorders, according to a new Ohio State University study

Low self-esteem and perfectionism are considered leading risk factors for disordered eating, but external forces can certainly tip the scale.

In the US, a minimum of 30 million people are estimated to struggle wwith some form of eating disorder.

Conditions like anorexia are often portrayed somewhat dismissively in the media but in fact someone dies as a direct result of an eating disorder about one every hour.

And some may develop the disorders partly in response to feelings of inadequacy.

The jury is out on porn and its mental health effects.

While some psychologists have pushed to have over-consumption of porn deemed an addiction, others have argued that graphic videos can be an outlet or even a bonding experience for couples that watch together.

But one of the risks associated with porn is its tendency to portray idealized and unrealistic versions of sex and people.

Drawing unfavorable comparisons between yourself and someone on screen can stir up deep-seeded insecurities - as can the belief that your romantic partner is making those same comparisons.

'We often talk about the influences of media, family and friends on eating disorders, but little has been done to determine how a partner's influence might contribute to a woman's disordered eating, said lead study author Tracy Tylka, an Ohio State University psychology professor.

't's a gap in the research and if certain partner variables are risk factors we should be giving them more attention.'

Tylka and her team suspected that women whose boyfriends or husbands watched a lot of porn might be at an increased risk for eating disorders.

So, the researchers surveyed over 500 women in the US, asking demographic questions and subtle ones that help psychologists identify eating disorders without asking about them out-right.

They also quizzed the study participants on the social pressures they felt from loved ones as well as the media to lose weight, and - asking a somewhat misfit question -how much porn their current and previous partners watched a week.

The link was clear: women whose partners watched as much as eight hours of pornography were at much greater risk

And that finding applied across the board, Tylka said.

'The women who were part of this study had an average age of almost 34, and were from a broader demographic than the stereotypical white adolescent girl with anorexia.

'Disordered eating affects many people who do not fit this description - as many as 20 to 25 percent of women - and this study helps us better understand the influences on these women.'

Porn habits acted as a sort of stand-in measure for how much pressure women really felt from their romantic partners, and was more closely associated with their eating disorder risks than other measures of perceived pressure.

'In many categories of eating disorder symptoms, perceived pressure from a romantic partner to be thin appeared to be more detrimental than pressure from friends or family, or even the media,' Tylka said.

'The relationship between partner pornography use and disordered eating was stronger for this group of women than for college women we've previously studied. That could be because these women have had more relationship experiences, and these experiences have shaped their relationships with food and their perceptions of their bodies.'

There's a silver-lining though. Educating and involving women's partners about patterns and behaviors that can increase risks for disordered eating - alongside the women themselves - could dismantle those tendencies.

'Some professionals are already advocating for integrating partners in eating disorder prevention and treatment, and these findings support this argument,' Tylka said.
Viewers of BBC Two's popular show Hospital were left outraged after the NHS refused to fund surgery for a wheelchair-bound teenager.

The 15-year-old - known only as Thomas - has quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy but does not fit the strict criteria for the life-changing operation selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR), which helps relieve muscle stiffness in a sufferer's legs.

Thomas' condition has robbed him of the ability to stand and causes him to endure such painful cramps he can barely sleep.

His parents, Helen and Neville, were forced to fundraise 29,000 for their son to have SDR at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool, and to pay for his physiotherapy.

Since going under the knife, Thomas is finally able to stand and feed himself.

BBC Two Hospital revealed the story of 15-year-old Thomas (pictured), who is unable to stand due to his cerebral palsy. He falls short of the funding criteria to have a spinal op - selective dorsal rhizotomy - on the NHS, despite the procedure having the potential to change his life

Thomas' mother, Helen (pictured), read a poignant poem called 'Welcome to Holland' on last night's episode, which describes what it is like to raise a disabled child

The programme explained how the NHS only funds the operation for children between the ages of three and nine who have some ability to walk.

According to Great Ormond Street hospital, 'children suitable for SDR need to demonstrate adequate muscle strength in the legs and trunk.

'They are usually able to stand up and support their body, hold their posture against gravity and make appropriate movements to crawl or walk.'

WHAT IS QUADRIPLEGIC SPASTIC CEREBRAL PALSY? Quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy is the most severe form of the condition and causes sufferers to not be able to use their legs, arms and bodies. Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that affects a patient's movement, motor skills and muscle tone. It affects around one in 400 children born in the UK to some extent. In the US, approximately 8,000-to-10,000 infants are born with the condition each year. Quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy is generally caused by brain damage before, during or shortly after birth. This may be due to infections, toxin exposure or medical negligence. Symptoms include: Muscles that rapidly contract and release

Joints that cannot stretch or move

Muscle tightness and tremors

Speech impediments

An inability to walk

Seizures

Cognitive issues Sufferers may develop limb and foot deformities, as well as curvature of the spine. Swallowing and respiratory difficulties can also occur. Treatment includes medication and physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Surgery may also be necessary. Source: Cerebral Palsy Guidance Advertisement

The surgery involves opening a patient's spinal canal and 'subdividing sensory nerve roots' that cause spasticity in the legs.

Thomas' neurologist recommended the teen have the operation, his parents wrote on his JustGiving page.

Research has shown the procedure is most beneficial to younger children, but lead SDR surgeons are gathering data to demonstrate it can also help older patients.

Alder Hey Hospital is one of only five centres in the UK to perform SDR.

'There is a spectrum for spasticity that goes from 1-to-5,' Thomas told viewers.

'Unfortunately 4s and 5s aren't capable of having it [SDR] funded for them because they are too tight and they wouldn't be able to walk.

'So the NHS sort of says, "whats the point in funding it for them?"

'It makes me feel happy for the people who have SDR, but at the same time, angry because I am like, why aren't you realising if we are higher on the spectrum [of spasticity] we are having more pain?'

Viewers were equally outraged and took to Twitter to express their rage.

One said: 'Tell me how on earth the NHS cant fund this when it wastes billions on drug addicts, smokers,... the list goes on! They get priority over young lads like this!! DISGRACE [sic].'

Another added: 'Kid is in pain but no funding for his operation. What?'

Thomas' mother said: 'I would just really like the opportunity to take the pain, it is not nice seeing your son with pain.'

She went on to read a poem, by Emily Perl Kingsley, that has helped her and her husband through hard times.

As her voice breaks, Neville takes over.

Viewers were left outraged that the NHS can't fund a life-changing operation for Thomas

One Twitter user believes it a disgrace that drug addicts get 'priority' over children like Thomas

Thomas' life is controlled by the condition, waking up four to five times a night in pain

The operation has only been available on the NHS for eight years and is only funded for children with a certain criteria, leaving viewers shocked

Viewers shared their disbelief at the lack of funding for Thomas, who is studying for his GCSEs

Thomas revealed he is too high on a spectrum of spasticity, meaning the NHS 'don't see the point' in giving him the surgery

Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool, is one of only five centres in the country to offer SDR, and is where Thomas received his operation

In emotional scenes, his mother said it wasn't nice to see her son in pain

Determined to have the operation, Thomas was forced to find the money himself - 16,000 for the operation and a further 9,000 for physiotherapy.

Physio is required for at least two years after the surgery to strengthen the teen's muscles.

To his family's amazement, Thomas was able to raise 29,000 in just four months in between studying for his GCSEs, which he is taking at a mainstream school.

Neville expected it to take two to three years.

The programme shows Thomas finally undergoing SDR.

And, in moving scenes, the teenager is shown standing - something he has not done since he was 11 years old - while counting to a minute.

'Everything has improved,' Neville said.

'Since Thomas had the operation he's got better at doing little things such as taking drinks and eating food.

'The other night we were just watching telly and he was feeding himself with a cone of chips and that's something he's never done before.'

Thomas was born nine weeks premature by emergency C-section and was immediately rushed to intensive are.

He spent the first 23 hours of his life on ventilation while he battled a collapsed lung and had his chest drained five times.

The youngster was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at nine months old.
An economist has urged governments all over the world to stockpile antibiotics in preparation for a pending flu outbreak.

Although antibiotics are ineffective against the viruses that cause flu, Ramanan Laxminarayan warns it is the secondary bacterial infections - such as pneumonia - that are most deadly.

As well as saving lives, a study found stockpiling the drugs would save governments billions in treatment costs and working days lost.

Prediction: Experts from the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy in Washington DC have urged governments around the world to stockpile antibiotics (stock)

The research was carried out by the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy in Washington DC.

The economists created a model that analysed the financial value of holding antibiotics to use in global flu outbreaks, The Telegraph reported.

Results - published in the journal Health Economics - revealed stockpiling the drugs would save global economies between $3 and $4 billion (around 2.3-to-3.1 billion).

These savings would come from avoiding the financial impact of sick days and urgent healthcare, as well as the death toll, Mr Laxminarayan said.

WHAT IS ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE? Antibiotics have been doled out unnecessarily by GPs and hospital staff for decades, fueling once harmless bacteria to become superbugs. The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously warned if nothing is done the world is heading for a 'post-antibiotic' era. It claimed common infections, such as chlamydia, will become killers without immediate solutions to the growing crisis. Bacteria can become drug resistant when people take incorrect doses of antibiotics or if they are given out unnecessarily. Former chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies claimed in 2016 that the threat of antibiotic resistance is as severe as terrorism. Figures estimate that superbugs will kill 10 million people each year by 2050, with patients succumbing to once harmless bugs. Around 700,000 people already die yearly due to drug-resistant infections including tuberculosis (TB), HIV and malaria across the world. Concerns have repeatedly been raised that medicine will be taken back to the 'dark ages' if antibiotics are rendered ineffective in the coming years. In addition to existing drugs becoming less effective, there have only been one or two new antibiotics developed in the last 30 years. In September, the WHO warned antibiotics are 'running out' as a report found a 'serious lack' of new drugs in the development pipeline. Without antibiotics, C-sections, cancer treatments and hip replacements will become incredibly 'risky', it was said at the time. Advertisement

'Most people dont realise that what kills people during a pandemic is not just an influenza virus, but a secondary bacterial infection,' he said.

'Make no mistake, its inevitable that there will be another flu pandemic - it may happen next year, or in the next 15 years, but it is inevitable and we cannot prevent it.

'There is huge value in stockpiling and withholding antibiotics so we are prepared.'

Mr Laxminarayan referenced the 1919 Spanish flu pandemic that killed between 50 and 100 million people around the world.

Most of these deaths were due to secondary bacterial infections, not the flu virus itself.

Around two per cent of the population died in the Spanish flu outbreak, which would equate to 886,877 deaths if it was to happen again.

Fears of a flu pandemic have mounted following the worst outbreak in recent years that rocked the UK, Australia and the US.

Dr Tedros Adhanom, chief of the World Health Organization, warned in February last year that humanity is 'vulnerable' to a pandemic.

The Cabinet Office already lists pandemic influenza as the biggest threat on the UK's Risk Register - ahead of terrorism and cyber-attacks.

A mutated strain is the most likely to wipe out millions because it can join together with other flu strains to become deadlier.

This is what sparked the Swine flu pandemic of 2009, which killed nearly 300,000 people across the world after striking around 60 countries.
It wasn't that Kristina Kruzan was against vaccines - she just wasn't ready to trust them blindly.

As a doula, Kruzan spends both her home and professional life ensuring the safety of mothers and children, and she simply wasn't prepared to accept doctors' blunt insistence that shots would protect and not hurt her three children.

'You want me to poke a needle in my baby's skin, put chemicals in them and you can't even tell me what it's made of?' she told TIME of her thoughts back then.

But then she met a naturopathic pediatrician wh.o actually took her questions seriously, and addressed them.

After a year-and-a half of conversations - not arguments - with Dr Elias Kass, Kruzan had the answers she needed. It was time to vaccinate her children.

Kruzan is an active member of her community in Seabeck, Washington, and as she learned that getting her children - and as many children as possible - vaccinated would protect others too sick, young or old to get shots, she was convinced.

Her three children are now among the 90 percent of Washington children who are vaccinated against measles, mumps, rubella and other diseases.

Kruzan and her family live some 200 miles from Clark County, where 53 people have been sickened by measles, due largely to low vaccinations, but Kruzan's change of hear suggests that more parents might vaccinate their kids if doctors addressed their skepticism.

Mother-of-three Kristina Kruzan (left and right), from Seabeck, Washington, did not vaccinate her children for 15 years. She said doctors couldn't tell her what was in the vaccines, which made her distrustful

Five years ago, she met a naturopathic pediatric practitioner - someone who focuses on using natural remedies to help the body heal itself. He spent a year answering her questions and convincing her that vaccines didn't just protect her children but also those around them

Kruxan, who is a doula, said she began doing research on the internet about vaccines when her eldest son was three years old.

She couldn't get a clear understanding of the risks and benefits of vaccines and, when she went to her pediatricians, they didn't seem to have any more answers.

'You want me to poke a needle in my baby's skin, put chemicals in them and you can't even tell me what it's made of?' she told TIME of her thoughts back then.

Five years ago, she met Dr Elias Kass, a naturopathic pediatric primary care provider, at a conferences for midwives.

She told TIME that Dr Kass was the first medical professional who didn't seem to annoyed by her questions.

Rather, he took the time to build a relationship with her and explain how vaccines didn't just protect her children but also vulnerable people around them.

Less than one percent of children under age two have not received any vaccinations, but public health officials have warned that inoculations not only protect individuals but the community as a whole in what is known as 'herd immunity'.

IS ANDREW WAKEFIELD'S DISCREDITED AUTISM RESEARCH TO BLAME FOR LOW MEASLES VACCINATION RATES? In 1995, gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield published a study in The Lancet showing children who had been vaccinated against measles, mumps rubella (MMR) were more likely to have bowel disease and autism. He speculated that being injected with a 'dead' form of the measles virus via vaccination causes disruption to intestinal tissue, leading to both of the disorders. At the time, Wakefield had a patent for single measles, mumps and rubella vaccines, and was therefore accused of having a conflict of interest. Nonetheless, MMR vaccination rates in the US and the UK plummeted, until, in 2004, the then-editor of The Lancet Dr Richard Horton described Wakefield's research as 'fundamentally flawed', adding he was paid by attorneys seeking lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers. The Lancet formally retracted Wakefield's research paper in 2010. Three months later, the General Medical Council banned Wakefield from practicing medicine in Britain, stating his research had shown a 'callous disregard' for children's health. In January 2011, The British Medical Journal published a report showing that of the 12 children included in Wakefield's 1995 study, at most two had autistic symptoms post vaccination, rather than the eight he claimed. At least two of the children also had developmental delays before they were vaccinated, yet Wakefield's paper claimed they were all 'previously normal'. Further findings revealed none of the children had autism, non-specific colitis or symptoms within days of receiving the MMR vaccine, yet the study claimed six of the participants suffered all three. Advertisement

This occurs when the vast majority of a community - between 80 and 95 percent - becomes immune so that, if a disease is introduced, it is unable to spread.

It helps ensure those who are unable to be vaccinated, including the ill, very young and very old, are protected.

'He always makes the time for me; he's never spoken down to me,' Kruzan told TIME. 'Finally I found a person who could say: "I know you have concerns. Let me find an answer".'

She said that after speaking to Dr Kass on and off for a year, her fears were eased and she had her kids - ages seven, 13 and 18, at the time - immunized.

Dr Ken Hempstead, a pediatrician from Roseveille, California, told TIME that not all naturopathic practitioners believe in vaccines - but the ones who can address concerns of parents who are hesitant.

He said this is because many parents view them as separate from traditional doctors and believe they are less biased.

'Like it or not, it really just falls down to trust,' Dr Hempstead told the magazine.

Dr Kass, who practices in Seattle, even received a Childhood Immunization Awards from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2017.

The awards are given annually 'to individuals who are doing an exemplary job or going above and beyond to promote childhood immunizations in their communities'.

Dr Kass told TIME that his way of easing parents' concerns is going through the entire CDC vaccine schedule and explaining what each shot is for.

He said he explains what's in the vaccines to the best of his ability and even the potential side effects.

Dr Kass added that he has a nine-week-old son, who is too young to be administered the majority of vaccines.

'It's really important to me in a really literal way because I don't want my son to get sick, but I also want people to value evidence, science and medicine,' he told TIME.

Vaccines have become a contentious subject over the last several weeks.

Measles outbreaks in anti-vaccination 'hot spots' have popped up across the country, affecting more than 100 people 10 states.

Particularly New York and Kruzan's home state of Washington have been struggling to contain the highly contagious infection.

The relationship convinced Kruzan (pictured, left, with her husband) to vaccinate her children. Doctors say building relationships with those who are vaccine hesitant will make them more likely to change their minds

Last month, officials in Washington declared a public health emergency after a measles outbreak that has affected 53 people in Clark County and one in King County.

Forty-seven of the cases are in residents who have not been vaccinated. Thirty-eight cases are in children aged 10 and under.

Kaiser Health News reported that orders for measles vaccines increased by 500 percent in Clark County in January compared to the same time last year.

Kruzan told TIME she is glad that she doesn't have to worry about her children and or potentially passing a sickness on to those who can't be vaccinated for medical reasons.

'I'm not worried about them getting measles, I'm not worried about them getting mumps, because we have healthy immune systems,' she told the magazine.

'I'm worried about them giving mumps to an elderly neighbor.'
Most hip and knee replacements will last for 25 years or more, patients can now be reassured.

A first-of-its-kind study has looked at how long joint replacements lasted in more than 200,000 people in more than six countries.

Eight out of 10 total knee replacements and six out of 10 total hip replacements will still work properly after 25 years, findings published in the Lancet show.

It will ease the minds of many patients who may fear more surgery down the line because of the risk of infection, fracture or wear and tear.

Surgeons will also have a better idea of the best time to conduct the surgery in an ageing population.

Hip and knee replacements last for 25 years or more, experts are now able to tell millions of patients due to findings from a study at the University of Bristol

'Over two million hip and knee replacements have been performed in the UK since 2003 and patients often ask clinicians how long their hip or knee replacement will last, but until now, we have not had a generalisable answer,' said lead author Dr Jonathan Evans, based at Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

'Previous studies have been based on much smaller samples.

'At best, the NHS has only been able to say how long replacements are designed to last, rather than referring to actual evidence from multiple patients' experiences of joint replacement surgery.

'Given the improvement in technology and techniques in the last 25 years, we expect that hip or knee replacements put in today may last even longer.'

Hip and knee replacements are two of the most common and effective forms of surgery.

Until now, the NHS has only said hip joints are designed to last for 15 years or more  but now doctors may be able to give their patients more concrete hope.

The aim is long-term relief of pain and restoration of function, often for sufferers of osteoarthritis, which affects around a third of people aged over 45 in the UK.

But knee and hip replacements fail for a variety of reasons, including loosening, infection, persistent pain, and instability.

WHAT IS HIP REPLACEMENT? A hip replacement is a routine operation carried out around 175,000 times a year in England, Scotland and Wales. People are usually referred for a hip replacement when their natural hip joint  where the thigh bone connects to the pelvis  has worn away or become damaged and is causing pain or disability. Most commonly this happens as a result of arthritis, in which cartilage around the joint is weakened or damaged and the bones grind against each other. Hip replacement surgery involves sawing off the head of the thigh bone  the femur  and the hip socket (the acetabulum) and replacing them with a metal or ceramic ball and socket connected to the skeleton. Most procedures are carried out on people between the age of 60 and 80. It can be done on younger patients but the artficial joints are only built to last for around 15 years, with multiple replacements becoming progressively more difficult and less successful. The operation usually takes around 60 to 90 minutes and involves spending a few days in hospital. Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

In around 10 per cent of hip replacements, the new joint can feel unstable and loose, and in three per cent of cases, the hip joint can come out of its socket while the hip is healing, according to the NHS.

Frustratingly, many patients end up needing more surgery and revision over the joint's lifetime, which may only worsen their problem.

The authors of the study, led by the University of Bristol, said: 'In the UK, in 2016, the typical patient requiring knee replacement was aged 69 years.

'Given enough time, all knee replacements will fail and need to be revised. Revision is expensive and results in worse outcomes than primary surgery.'

Planning when a surgery takes place is becoming increasingly relevant as people live longer.

The study involved the reports of a total of 215,676 people whose cases were followed up for 15 years after undergoing total hip replacements; 74,052 who were followed up for 20 years; and 51,359 who were followed up for 25 years.

The data came from Australia, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden  countries which hold more than 15 years' worth of figures.

The findings of the study, funded by the National Joint Registry, from the Musculoskeletal Research Unit at the University of Bristol, show that of the total hip replacements, 89 per cent were found to last 15 years.

After 20 years, 70 per cent had lasted, and 58 per cent lasted 25 years.

Of knee replacements, up to 93 per cent were found to last 15 years, 90 per cent lasted 20 years and 82 per cent lasted 25 years.

The figures were slightly lower for unicondylar knee replacements (UKR), which only replace the damaged part of the knee, compared to total knee replacements (TKR), which replace all the natural joint surface.

A total of 77 per cent of UKRs were found to last 15 years, 72 per cent lasted 20 years, and 70 per cent were seen to last 25 years.

There is considerable variation in how long different designs of hip and knee replacements last  including the materials used and how they are fixed  and these factors were accounted for in the study.

The only other option for the incurable degenerative joint disease osteoarthritis is medication to alleviate symptoms, leaving up to 8.75million people crippled in pain, according to Arthritis Research UK.
Milky Lane is known for their extravagant cocktails.

Now the American-style burger bar has upped their game with their latest creation - a $10 Mango Weis Bar cocktail.

Fans of the restaurant, with three locations in Sydney and one on the Gold Coast, have gone crazy over the new drink.

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Tasty! Milky Lane has upped their game with their latest creation - the Mango Weis Bar cocktail

'Holy mother of god this would solve everything right now,' one person commented on their Instagram page.

Another said: 'We should Sunday sesh at Milky Lane from now on.'

'This is my childhood in a glass,' another wrote.

Christian Avant told FEMAIL that the drink is made up of Calypso mangoes, 42 Below Vodka, vanilla syrup and vanilla thickshake blended together.

'At the moment it is Sundays only but the demand has been insane so there's a strong chance it'll make it onto the permanent menu soon,' he said.

Mr Avant added it was the perfect summer drink.

This isn't the first time that Milky Lane has created a decadent cocktail out of a beloved ice-cream.

New hangout! Fans of the restaurant, with three locations in Sydney and one on the Gold Coast, have gone crazy over the new drink

Most Australians will remember the classic Bubble O'Bill ice-cream with its blend of strawberry, chocolate and caramel ice confection, with a mega bubblegum nose, and a bullet hole through his hat.

'Our BUBBLE'O BILL COCKTAIL brings back the best childhood and summer memories ever (except now you can get boozy on it),' Milky Lane said on their Instagram.

In the glass there is lashings of chocolate syrup with a 'strawberry booze shake', an oozing caramel rim, topped with blue bubblegum foam and ball and a drizzle of chocolate Ice Magic.

'We've wanted to do this one for so long and it couldnt have turned out better,' they added.

The classic Bubble O'Bill ice cream with its classic blend of strawberry, chocolate and caramel ice confection with a mega bubble gum nose has been turned into a cocktail

The announcement of the addition sent the internet into a spin, as many couldn't believe their childhood dreams had come true.

'Omg we need to roll around in these naked,' one eager Instagram follower commented.

'Haha yusss [sic] so much nostalgia! This was my mum's favourite as a kid as well,' said another.

In the glass there is lashings of chocolate syrup with a 'strawberry booze shake', an oozing caramel rim, topped with blue bubble gum foam and ball and a drizzle of chocolate Ice Magic

The drink was originally offered as a temporary menu item but due to its popularity, as it quickly became Milky Lane's top selling special, it will be coming back as a permanent menu item.

If the Bubble O'Bill cocktail doesn't tickle your fancy there are a variety of other elaborate cocktails to choose from, such as the Marvellous Creationscocktail, which the restaurant owners said was the 'most requested MegaShake of the last year'.

The top of this decadent drink is made up of blue jelly bean foam, chocolate sauce and a packet of pop rocks.

If the Bubble O'Bill cocktail doesnt tickle your fancy there are a variety of other elaborate cocktails to choose from, such as the Marvellous Creationscocktail

The rim contains strawberry jelly bean frosting, smashed jelly beans and a Cadbury chocolate and popping candy mix.

Inside the glass is a delicious Nutella thick shake blended with chunks of Marvellous Creations chocolate and a strawberry sauce lining.

'Next month we have an incredible Gaytime Cocktail, this month it's a Salted Caramel and Hazelnut Cocktail served with a mini Magnum in the glass,' Mr Avant previously told FEMAIL.

They have also created a popular cocktail inspired by Cherry Ripe chocolates, which have been loved by Australians over the years
Celebrate our Silver Jubilee with favourite recipes from some of the biggest TV cooks to have graced our pages. . .

Jean-Christophe Novelli's minute scallops with endive and blue cheese are a speciality from Aveyron in southern France

A speciality from Aveyron in southern France which is said to have been served to the pilgrims en route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. We teach this at my cookery school, the Novelli Academy.

Serves 4

4 large scallops in their shells (ask your fishmonger to prepare them)

1tbsp extra-virgin rapeseed oil

1 large baking apple, unpeeled, cored and finely sliced

1 endive or chicory, finely sliced

1 small leek, finely sliced

1tbsp Cognac

100ml (3fl oz) Noilly Prat or dry white wine

150ml (5fl oz) creme fraiche

1tbsp parsley or chervil, chopped, plus sprigs for garnish

40g (1oz) Roquefort or stilton

Jean-Christophe says You can prepare the scallops in advance, cover with clingfilm and keep in the fridge until ready to cook. The sauce can be made in advance and warmed before adding the scallops. Advertisement

Separate the scallop flesh from the shell and fry for 1 minute on each side in the oil in a hot pan. Remove the scallops and reserve for later.

Using the same pan and no extra oil, introduce the sliced endive, leek and apple. Sweat for 2 minutes on a high heat and cover with a lid.

Carefully add the Cognac and ignite to flambe. Add the Noilly Prat or wine and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cube the cheese.

Reduce the sauce by about one third, then add the creme fraiche, cheese and chopped green herbs. Return the scallops to the pan and immediately turn off the heat. They are now ready to serve.

To serve, remove each scallop, cover with the sauce and finish with a sprig of parsley or chervil.

From Simply Novelli: Quick And Easy French Classics by Jean-Christophe Novelli, Relish, 20.

BOOK OFFER: You can get 20 per cent off all our Weekend top celebrity chefs books if you visit mailshop.co.uk/weekend or call 0844 571 0640, p&p is free on orders over 15. Spend 30 on books and get FREE premium delivery. Valid until 31 October 2018.
Lady Amelia Windsor looked stylish as she stepped out at London Fashion Week earlier today.

The socialite and fashion muse, 23, donned some chunky platform white trainers complete with tassels and a stylish floral red midi skirt which featured ruffles around the hemline for the occasion.

She bravely clashed prints by throwing on a leopard print long-sleeved jacket over a tight red crop top.

Completing the look, the royal accessorised with glasses which were casually propped on top of her head and posed with a stylish hand on her hip.

Lady Amelia Windsor looked the picture of cool as she attended the Matty Bovan show at London Fashion Week earlier today

The socialite and fashion muse clashed her red and pink floral patterned midi skirt with an over sized leopard print jacket

The granddaughter of the Duke of Kent was among the guests attending Matty Bovan's fashion show.

It took place at the BFC Show Space which is situated in The Strand and was to showcase his Autumn/Winter 2019 collection.

The stunning royal looked the picture of cool as she wore her blonde hair loose below her shoulders and flashed her tummy for the warming weather conditions.

She added several gold rings and a statement three-layered necklace to complete her edgy ensemble.

Lady Amelia Windsor, the granddaughter of the Duke of Kent, was among the guests attending American designer Matty Bovan's show

Striking a pose, Lady Amelia Windsor knew how to work her angles as she posed up a storm at the elusive event

Striking a pose while clutching her phone in her right hand, Lady Amelia Windsor knew how to work her angles as she posed up a storm at the fashion event.

Matty Bovan is a British designer from York whose work is often worn by the likes of Georgia May Jagger, Hailey Baldwin Rita Ora and Winnie Harlow. He has also worked with Marc Jacobs and Miu Miu.

London Fashion Week kicked off on Friday with star-studded events and is set to continue until Tuesday 19 February.

The elusive event began in New York City, moving on to London and then continuing on to Milan and Paris with royals and celebrities around the world set to attend.

The granddaughter of the Duke of Kent looked the picture of cool as she casually propped her sunglasses on her head and left her blonde hair loose

Clutching her phone in one hand, she then looked into the distance as the paparazzi continued to snap away as the stunning royal waited for the show to start

Also at the event was British Vogue's editor-in-chief Edward Enninful
Ivanka Trump cut a stylish figure in a marigold dress while attending the Munich Security Conference, but critics were quick to liken the orange frock to a prison jumpsuit, which they insisted the first daughter will soon be wearing.

The 37-year-old first daughter donned a $4,290 Oscar de la Renta tea-length cocktail dress with black leaf embroidery detail to meet with leaders from Germany, Estonia, and France on Friday at Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich, Germany.

Ivanka, who arrived in the city in the day, topped off her designer look with a black belt that cinched her waist and classic black pumps.

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Abroad: Ivanka Trump, pictured with French politician Florence Parly, donned a $4,290 Oscar de la Renta cocktail dress to attend the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday

All smiles: The first daughter, pictured with Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, discussed global women's empowerment with various world leaders on the first day of the conference

The White House senior adviser often wears her hair either poker straight or in loose curls, but she opted for an edgier style while abroad.

She had her blonde hair center-parted and styled in textured waves instead of the picture-perfect curls she tends to favor for public events.

The slightly undone hair was a juxtaposition to the elegant cocktail dress that she was wearing, and she completed her look with natural-looking makeup.

Ivanka took to social media on Friday to share photos from her meetings with various leaders, starting with a picture of herself sitting down with Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid.

'Great meeting with President Kaljulaid, the dynamic leader of Estonia. Under her leadership, Estonia is making tech education a national priority, and is renowned for its cutting-edge e-government systems. Fascinating discussion! #MSC2019,' she captioned the image.

Meet and greet: Ivanka smiled brightly as she spoke with German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen. She paired her vibrant cocktail dress with classic black pumps

New look: While Ivanka tends to favor perfectly coiffed hairstyles, she sported edgy, slightly undone waves on Friday

Added touch: Ivanka cinched the waist of her marigold dress with a black belt that matched the leaf embroidery on the front of the frock

Taking notes: The White House senior adviser had a pen in her hand and her trusty journal while speaking with the defense minister

A second photo shows a smiling Ivanka posing with French politician Florence Parly, who serves as the Minister of the Armed Forces in France.

The first daughter discussed global women's economic empowerment as a defense policy with both leaders, and she shared a similar caption while posting the photo of herself with Parly.

'Great meeting with the Minister of the French Armed Forces Florence Parly to discuss how both our countries are advancing global,' she wrote, using the hashtag #WomensEconomicEmpowerment.

'Looking forward to continuing this discussion at the G7 Summit in France later this year! #WGDP #MSC2019.'

Ivanka's meetings were all about empowering women around the globe, but critics were more interested in roasting her for wearing orange  a color associated with prison jumpsuits  when there is an ongoing criminal investigation looking into her family's business dealings.

'Perfect shade of orange . . . testing it out before having to live in a jumpsuit?' one person tweeted.

'You'll get used to it in prison': Critics roasted Ivanka for wearing orange, a color associated with jail jumpsuits, when her family's business dealings are under criminal investigation

Fan club: Despite the jokes, not everyone was against the look. Some fans genuinely meant it when the tweeted that orange looks good on the first daughter

'Trying out orange I see. Not your color, but oh well, you'll get used to it in prison,' another added.

And one Twitter user went as far as Photoshopping Ivanka's face onto a picture of an inmate in an orange jumpsuit, writing: 'You look beautiful in orange!'

Earlier this month, Ivanka said she's not worried Special Counsel Robert Mueller's broad Russia probe will ensnare her or her husband Jared Kushner.

During a sit-down interview with ABC's 'Good Morning America,' she claimed she knew 'literally almost nothing' about a proposal to build a skyscraper in Moscow with help from the Russian government during the 2016 election.

The businesswoman added that it wouldn't be unusual for a hotel chain to have projects in Russia.

'We're not talking about Iran. It was Russia. And we weren't even advanced enough that anyone had even visited the prospective project site. So it really was just a nonfactor in our minds,' she said.

She's here: Ivanka arrived in Munich earlier in the day, wearing a bright red coat and pumps. She was greeted by Richard Allen Grenell, the current U.S. Ambassador to Germany

Focused: Ivanka shared photos of herself speaking with Grenell, including this image of herself holding on to her luggage while they chatted

In good spirits: Ivanka posted Instagram Stories videos of her arrival in Munich

Saying hi: The first daughter shook Grenell's hand and gave him a kiss on the cheek upon her arrival

Ivanka insisted that recent reports regarding the Trump Tower project were overblown, saying she is 'really not' worried about the Russia probe because 'there's nothing there.'

''Yet it's created weeks and weeks and months of headlines. So no, I have zero concerns,' she said.

So far, Ivanka's wardrobe in Germany has consisted of radiant colors, including the bright red coat she had on when she stepped off her plane in Munich.

Although it was the day after Valentine's Day, the first daughter appeared to be still celebrating the holiday in her coat and matching crimson heels.

Ivanka posted Instagram Stories videos of her arrival in Munich, where she was greeted by Richard Allen Grenell, the current U.S. Ambassador to Germany.

In the clips, she is waving at the camera while rolling her carry-on luggage into the terminal. Her eyes are covered with dark sunglasses, which she later removed to pose for photos with Grenell.

'Just landed in Munich! Es geht los!' she captioned the images on social media.
A former jeweller has become the first known woman to say yes to a Poundland engagement ring.

Lizzie Bennetti, 48, from Shoreditch, was left speechless when her boyfriend Barry Fricker, 47, popped the question at The Shard in London on Saturday.

Barry had assembled a group of friends to hold up signs saying 'Will you marry me?' before getting down on one knee and presenting Lizzie with budget piece of jewellery.

The moment was captured on camera by Lizzie's close friend Sarah Gurton who streamed the proposal live with her Twitter followers.

Barry Fricker proposed to his girlfriend Lizzie Bennetti at the top of The Shard with a 1 engagement ring last Saturday

Lizzie was not deterred by the humble ring and immediately said yes to Barry, later telling The Sun that it was 'meant to be'.

Speaking to Fabulous Online she said: 'It turns out it was the last ring left in Poundland, and the blue topaz stone in the ring is actually my birthstone, and it fit!

'So it was fate  I was meant to have that ring for the proposal'

Barry had the idea to use the 1 engagement ring after he and Lizzie were in the studio audience of Channel 5 show Do The Right Thing.

Lizzie, a former jeweller said yes, and said that her previous career made her appreciate the ring more as she understands the 'pressure' for men to buy expensive rings

Following the proposal Lizzie, Barry presented her with a real diamond ring, seen here

His bride-to-be is a huge fan of its presenters Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford and the pair had discussed the bargain rock on the show, giving Barry the idea.

Following the proposal Lizzie, Barry presented her with a real diamond ring and the pair are already discussing a wedding date.

Lizzie told the Sun: 'We'd talked about getting engaged, my family are from Malta  Barry's been there twice and loves it, so we're planning on getting married there, probably in September 2021.'

Lizzie says that her history as a jeweller actually made her appreciate the ring more.

She told The New York Times: 'As an ex-jeweler, I saw how much pressure it was for men to buy expensive rings.

The couple (pictured together) are already discussing their wedding date and are hoping to get married in 2021

'There should be an affordable way, it's the thought that counts.'

Poundland released the range of four engagement rings in store in January and revealed last week that they had sold 20,000 in just one week ahead of Valentine's Day.

The pound shop's Bling Ring range, which are marketed as so-called placeholder rings, caused a huge stir when they went on sale last month.

The cheap jewellery range divided the nation, with some saying it was perfect for couples looking to choose out their rings together, while others said your partner should be picking the ring for you.

More than 20,000 Brits snapped up Poundland's engagement rings (pictured) ahead of Valentine's Day

The rings were marketed as placeholders, so that the happy couple can go and pick out their real engagement rings together

Frances O'Sullivan, Poundland's jewellery and Valentines buyer, said: 'Thousands of Brits are already quids in thanks to the 1 proposal. It's clearly a gem of an idea and the nation agrees.'

The rings cost 1 each, allowing one partner to propose with the placeholder before the couple subsequently choose a more traditional ring together.

They come in a box which reads: 'Because we promise they'll want to choose their own.'

According to Poundland, the rings have proved most popular in Yorkshire and the Midlands.
Meghan Markle's stylist BFF Jessica Mulroney was photographed out and about in New York City on Friday morning.

The 39-year-old, who is in New York for a Good Morning America segment she filmed yesterday, was dressed for comfort in a pair of dark joggers, Nike sneakers, and a warm camel-colored coat.

She was spotted with sunglasses perched on her head and then falling down her face as she looked at her phone on a Manhattan sidewalk.

On the town: Meghan Markle's best friend Jessica Mulroney was spotted out in New York City this morning

Chill: The 39-year-old stylist was dressed casually in dark joggers and black Nike sneakers

Bat an eye: She wore sunglasses but minimal makeup, mostly sticking to big, lush lashes

Her stuff: She was carrying a black leather bag and a red Lululemon shopper

Jessica appeared to be quite busy and was seen toting along a black leather bag and a red Lululemon tote.

She wore minimal makeup, with the exception of long, thick lashes, and had her brown hair tied back in a ponytail.

Yesterday, she'd posted a picture of herself on Instagram after filming her Good Morning America appearance, which aired on the show this morning.

'Valentines work [check,' she wrote. 'Catch the makeover madness tomorrow on @goodmorningamerica. The transformations are UNREAL. Im off to sip champagne, eat chocolate, and FaceTime my hubby from bed for a modern date night. Hope your day is filled with LOVE,' she wrote.

In the picture, she's wearing the same coat but is dressed in a tight blush turtleneck and distressed jeans.

Busy busy: Jessica is in New York for work, having filmed a segment for Good Morning America on Thursday that aired today

Pucker up: Despite her toned-down makeup look, Jessica still showed off her plump pout with the help of some lip gloss

OOTD: On Thursday, she shared a picture of the much more glamorous outfit she wore on-air

Jessica, who lives in Toronto with husband Ben Mulroney and their three children, is back in New York after visiting the Big Apple for yet another GMA segment last week.

After the February 8 segment  in which she gave women mini-makeover  she flew back home for a few days to spend time with her family.

There, she shared a photo of her 'welcoming committee' that celebrated her homecoming: her husband and her daughter Isabel, standing at the door.

'This was the first thing I saw when I got home and it made me [smile],' she wrote. 'PS: Bens footwear pre-dates me: now thats a solid pair of slippers.'

But it was back to Manhattan a few days later, meaning she missed out on celebrating Valentine's Day with her husband.

Back home: Meanwhile, her husband Ben and their three kids are at home. She posted on Instagram to wish him a Happy Valentine's Day

Miss them! When she got home last week, she posted a picture of her welcome committee

Best friends: The GMA correspondent, pictured with Meghan in 2015, has been friends with the Duchess for years

She still posted a picture of Ben, though, resting in bed with their three kids.

'Fact: I dont think Ben and I have spent Valentines Day together in the same city for years,' she wrote.

'We dont put any pressure on each other for gifts or date nights. We dont need just one day to feel all this love.

'Happy Valentines Day to my little tribe. Also Ben, I expect 50 roses, 10 boxes of chocolate and some wine and dining upon my arrival.'

Jessica has been especially busy running back and forth between Toronto and New York since October, when she was named Good Morning America's newest fashion contributor and made her debut appearance on the morning show.
The daughter of controversial British painter Lucian Freud has revealed what it was like to sit naked for him as a teenager.

Freud, who died in 2011, is regarded as one of Britain's greatest artists of the 20th century. His 1995 work  Benefits Supervisor Sleeping  sold for 44million at an auction in New York three years ago.

Now his daughter Rose Boyt, one of his 14 acknowledged children, has revealed the trials and tribulations she faced posing for her father at his London studio three or four times a week between 1977 and 1978, when she was 18.

A woman stands near 'Portrait of Rose' by Lucian Freud. It is about to go on display at a London gallery - and the model, his daughter Rose, has revealed how it felt to sit for her father

She was on a foundation course at Central School of Art and Design in London when they started on the piece he would name 'Rose'.

When the painting was finally unveiled, it caused quite the stir - the teenage Rose lies on her back with her legs open and a hand partially covering her eyes.

Writing for the The Times, the mother-of-two and author said: 'Nothing had been discussed, I just assumed I would be naked. I got undressed and asked him what he would like me to do.

Rose Boyt (pictured in 2014) has revealed the trials and tribulations she faced posing for her father at his London studio three or four times a week between 1977 and 1978

'He said it was up to me, so I lay on the sofa. But I didn't want to look obedient in my portrait; I didn't feel obedient.

'I wanted him to paint me, but not like the others  there was some kind of battle going on, unacknowledged, but expressed in the muscles of my bent leg. I was alert, prepared to spring up at any moment.'

Freud was the grandson of Sigmund Freud, a leading pioneer of modern psychoanalysis. He was born in Berlin in 1922 and moved to London with his parents Ernst and Lucie Freud in 1933 after Hitler and the Nazis rose to power in Germany.

He was naturalised as a British subject six years later and spent almost his entire working life based in London, where he was often seen at fashionable restaurants, sometimes with beautiful younger women, including the fashion model Kate Moss, who he painted nude, and other luminaries.

He was at the height of his fame in the last decades of his life, when he still continued to paint for long hours at his studio in London's exclusive Holland Park.

Freud, who died in 2011, is regarded as one of Britain's greatest artists of the 20th century. His 1995 work  Benefits Supervisor Sleeping  sold for 44million at an auction in New York

Following Freud's death Rose was the child  out of the many  whom he chose to be co-executor with a lawyer of his 96 million (pre-tax) estate.

She said of the painting: 'How did I feel about sitting? Angry and exhilarated, outraged by the terms and conditions, honoured to have been chosen.'

Nudity was a central feature of Freud's art. Painting people without their clothes, he believed, peeled away their outer layer and helped reveal their instincts and desires.

'I'm really interested in people as animals,' he told curators at the Tate Britain museum in advance of a major show in 2002. 'Part of my liking to work from them naked is for that reason, because I can see more ... I like people to look as natural and as physically at ease as animals.'

When the painting was finally unveiled, it caused quite the stir - the teenage Rose lies on her back with her legs open and a hand partially covering her eyes. (Pictured: A woman stands near the painting in 2009)

The painting of Rose and unseen photographs of the artist taken during the portrait's creation are the subject of the forthcoming exhibition at Ordovas in London.

On public display for the first time, Rose's behind the scenes photographs bring Freud's studio to life and place the portrait of his daughter in the context of its creation.

In the Studio will run at Ordovas, London from February 23 to April 27. The painting Rose will be on display in the exhibition.
Kensington Palace has announced the opening of a new exhibition showcasing Princess Diana's iconic style featuring one of her evening gowns and eight fashion sketches from one of her favourite designer.

After two successful years, Diana: Her Fashion Story, which demonstrated how she took charge of her style evolution, will be closing on Sunday.

It will make way for the new Queen Victoria exhibition opening in May - to mark the 200th anniversary of her birth at Kensington Palace.

But as the Princess of Wales played such an important part in the Palace's history, there will be a new small display dedicated to her, featuring a Catherine Walker-designed evening dress she wore at a 1988 state dinner in Bangkok.

It will be displayed alongside a selection of fashion sketches by one of her favourite designers, David Sassoon, including a drawing for a maternity dress she wore while expecting Prince William.

The centrepiece of the new display will be a Catherine Walker-designed evening dress worn by Diana at a 1988 state dinner in Bangkok (above). It was a subtle tribute to the national dress of Thailand, the Thai Chakkrabhat, and its colours reflected the flower of Thailand, the lotus blossom

The purple and red evening gown by Catherine Walker was worn by the late princess during her official visit to Thailand in 1988.

At the time, it was seen as a subtle tribute to the national dress of Thailand, the Thai Chakkrabhat, and its colours reflect the flower of Thailand, the lotus blossom.

The display will be accompanied by eight sketches of outfits worn by the late royal, forming a rotating selection of designs which will be changed every six months.

This is the first time the sketches have been on display at the palace, where Princess Diana would have first viewed them.

Design for a Red Velvet Maternity Dress, 1982

Worn: Royal Gala performance of 'The Night of Knights' at the Barbican Centre, 1982

David Sassoon created this maternity design when the Princess was pregnant with Prince William. She wore the dress to an event at the Barbican only two months before the Prince's birth. Sassoon took his design inspiration from 18th-century historic fashion to create a modern look for the Princess.

David Sassoon created this maternity design when the Princess was pregnant with Prince William. She wore the dress to an event at the Barbican (left) two months before the Prince's birth

Design for a Suit, 1986

Worn: Official engagements, 1986

This suit was perfect for the Princess' official working life of royal duties. Diana attended around 130 public engagements a year and knew how to dress correctly for every event.

Her fashion choices became increasingly sophisticated through the 1980s, as she learned what worked for her.

The fashion icon wore this suit for an official engagement on 17th September 1986. She attended around 130 public engagements a year and knew how to dress correctly for every event

Design for an Evening Dress, 1993

Worn: Film premiere of 'Backdraft', Leicester Square 1991

In the late 1980s and early 1990s Diana's look changed as she adopted an elegant and confident style.

'There was a tremendous change from the shy little girl who I had initially dressed to this overtly glamorous woman,' said David Sassoon.

'She was very charismatic as a person, not just because she was a princess. She had this caring quality. She had compassion.'

The Princess of Wales wore a dress designed by David Sassoon and Lorcan Mullany for Bellville Sassoon to the film premiere of 'Backdraft' in Leicester Square in 1991

Design for the Going Away Suit, 1981

Worn: Leaving for on their Honeymoon trip to Gibraltar on the Royal Yacht Brittannia 29th July 1981.

David Sassoon was one of Diana, Princess of Wales' favourite designers. She began working with him from the start of her public life, and the experienced designer guided her as she stepped into her new role.

She wore this design on her wedding day to go on her honeymoon. Diana chose the elegant pencil skirt, and David created two versions of the jacket, one with short sleeves and one with long, in case of bad weather.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles were pictured at Romsey Station in Hampshire, before leaving on their honeymoon trip to Gibraltar on the Royal Yacht Brittania on 29th July 1981. David Sassoon created two versions of the jacket, one with short sleeves and one with long, in case of bad weather

Design for a Chiffon Maternity Dress, 1982

Worn: Event at the Barbican in London, 1982

'Before she got married, she was not used to having clothes made for her, so the idea of having special clothes was something very new and very exciting for her,' explained David Sassoon. 'And she enjoyed clothes and they were fun, she enjoyed the process of choosing them.'

The Princess chose which designs she liked, writing comments for the designers like 'This one please!' She wore this dress when pregnant with Prince William, and two years later, with Prince Harry.

Princess Diana wore the chiffon maternity dress when pregnant with Prince William, and two years later with Prince Harry. She wore it with the Spencer family tiara and a diamond necklace in the shape of the Prince of Wales feathers

Design for a Day Ensemble, 1984

Worn: Solo tour Norway, February 1984

Diana, Princess of Wales, wore this design for her first solo overseas tour, to Norway in February 1984. The Princess loved dance and traveled as Patron of the London City Ballet to attend their performance of Carmen. The coat worked for other official events, and with her sense of fun in creating outfits, she wore it with bold matching blue tights.

Diana wore this design for her first solo overseas tour, to Norway in February 1984. The coat worked for other official events, and with her sense of fun in creating outfits, she wore it with bold matching blue tights

Design for an Evening Dress, 1989

Worn: Barbican, London, 1990

The Princess quickly picked up the traditional royal rules on dressing. However, as her confidence grew, she experimented with current fashions.

The white cuffs and collar on this design for a cocktail dress are inspired by a tuxedo in a playful way. It was an unusual choice for a princess yet showed her sense of fun.

The Princess of Wales pictured at the Barbican, London on 1st October 1990. The white cuffs and collar on this design for a cocktail dress are inspired by a tuxedo in a playful way. It was an unusual choice for a princess yet showed her sense of fun

Design for a Dress, 1983

Worn: Official tour of Australia, 1983

The Princess's public life required clothes for official duties. David Sassoon has designed clothes for almost every royal woman and many film stars and celebrities. He was an expert at designing for any occasion.

The dress was designed for the Prince and Princess of Wales' foreign tours in 1983. The bright yellow colour would have helped Diana stand out in the huge crowds who came to see the royal couple.

Princess Diana wore this design during her tour of Australia. Pictured at Alice Springs on 21st March 1983, sitting in the shade while exploring the town

'Following the success of our Diana: Her Fashion Story exhibition, we will continue to tell the story of Diana, Princess of Wales' style with this small and intimate new display at Kensington Palace,' said Matthew Storey, Curator at Historic Royal Palaces.

'The Princess lived at the palace for sixteen years and regularly met designers there, poring over sketches and collaborating on the creation of bespoke garments.'

He added: 'We are delighted to be able to show a small element of that creative process at the palace today, with this collection of sketches and of course  the finished product - a striking evening gown.'
A woman who battled cancer while at university is making it her mission to help other young people battling the disease feel stylish and confident.

Olivia Smith, 23, from Southampton is in remission after treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, and initially set up a Facebook page called Cancer Chicks as a source for anyone going through a similar ordeal.

She has now partnered with Trekstock, a young adult cancer support charity, and together they aim to help as many other cancer sufferers feel beautiful through events and meetups.

'When I was diagnosed with cancer as a girl in my early twenties, I found that the most daunting aspect of the treatment was how my identity was going to be ripped away from me,' Olivia said.

'I didn't want to become known as the 'girl with cancer' so I did everything possible to remain feeling stylish and "like myself". Fashion and beauty was how I managed to remain feeling so confident throughout my diagnosis.

'I began getting hundreds of messages from people in the same position as me seeking advice. I also did a questionnaire where I found that over eighty percent of young women found the change in appearance the most daunting thing about a cancer diagnosis.

Olivia Smith, 23, from Southampton pictured on the day of her graduation, has now recovered from her cancer and aims to help others feel stylish and beautiful through their cancer treatment

Olivia (pictured before her diagnosis) first experienced chest pains when she was on holiday in Menorca. When Olivia first went to the doctor with questions about chest pain, they initially passing off her symptoms as a result of alcohol. She was later diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma

Olivia pictured in hospital at her last during one of her 12 rounds of chemotherapy, when she decided to ditch the wig

'I felt that there is so much support out there for all aspects of cancer apart from the change in identity you go through, which is perhaps deemed as less important by health professionals.

'Eventually I found it impossible to keep up with all the messages, so I made a Facebook group for everybody to connect and I called it Cancer Chicks.

Olivia posted this picture to Instagram of a round of chemotherapy before she lost her hair, writing'this is how I actually look most of the time'

Pictured during her final chemotherapy session, Olivia has now been cancer free for seven months

Olivia began experiencing chest pains after having just a sip of alcohol while on holiday in Menorca, Spain.

WHAT IS HODGKIN'S LYMPHOMA? Hodgkin's lymphoma is a type of cancer that starts in the white blood cells. It affects around 1,950 people each year in the UK. A common early symptom is having a painless swelling in the armpits, neck and groin. Some people also experience heavy night sweating, extreme weight loss, itching, shortness of breath and coughing. Hodgkin's lymphoma is most common between the ages of 20 and 24, and 75 and 79. It has been linked to people with lowered immunity, a family history of the condition, smokers and those who are overweight. Treatment may include chemotherapy, radiotherapy, steroids and stem cell or bone marrow transplants. Source: Cancer Research UK Advertisement

Doctors initially passed off her chest-pain symptoms as a result of drinking.

It was only when Olivia noticed a few lumps had appeared on her neck that she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in February 2018.

She spent the beginning of her chemotherapy sessions feeling insecure as her hair began to fall out. She had 12 rounds of chemotherapy sessions and she would use wigs to hide her bald head, but as time went on, she realised that she was battling a tough illness and wanted to embrace the journey to show she was strong.

She proceeded to ditch the wigs and post on social media to encourage other cancer fighters not to feel ashamed of their appearance and journey.

In August 2018, doctors told Olivia her treatment had worked successfully and that she was in remission.

Her Facebook group now has more than 500 members and features tips on wigs, headscarves, fashion to cover your PICC or Hickman line, makeup, skincare and scars

'Cancer Chicks aims to keep people feeling stylish and confident through and beyond cancer. We aim to unite people who understand what one another is going through,' Olivia explained.

'Through my cancer treatment I always felt that I was being hugely supported in every area other than when it came down to my confidence and the huge change in appearance.

'But I was so grateful to be able to connect with so many via my blogging, who felt the same as me, and therefore we had one another.

After being inundated with messages about her cancer battle, Olivia set up the 'Cancer Chicks' group on Facebook, and has now set up her own company. Pictured with one of her Cancer Chicks

Olivia recently graduated from university with a degree in fashion communication. She posted the pictures on her Instagram, captioned:' Better late than never eh'

She's now set up Cancer Chicks as a company with Trekstock, a charity that aims to help people who have been diagnosed with cancer in their twenties and thirties

Olivia Smith with fellow cancer campaigner and broadcaster Lauren Mahon, who presents BBC's You, Me and The Big C

The 23-year-old currently has 35K followers on Instagram, where she shares inspiration quotes and stylish pictures

'However, I know not everybody is in the same position as me with being able to find people via a blog, so to have this readily available is so much more accessible.

'Trekstock came into my life when, in my second year of university, when cancer wasn't in my life, I did a project on the charity,' Olivia said.

'I did lots of research on the charity and felt so inspired by the people they supported. Little did I know in a few months' time I would be one of them, after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in February 2018.

'Together we can provide the best possible support for young adults living with cancer in the UK. Together we will address more key issues, such as confidence, by putting on events about finding your style after facing such a huge change to your appearance.

Olivia hopes she can inspire other cancer sufferers through Cancer Chicks, to embrace their baldness and provide support to other young sufferers

Olivia is now in remission, and her hair has started to grow again. Pictured above in January, with a new cropped haircut

Olivia (middle) pictured with her Cancer Chicks. She was told her cancer went into remission in August 2018, and is now determined to help other sufferers

'Cancer Chick members have commented, 'I absolutely love this Cancer Chicks group. It's given me so much advice and confidence through my treatment and kept me going on my darkest days.'

'When Cancer Chicks announced its partnership with Trekstock somebody said, 'It's like my two best friends have gotten married..'

'To know that I am hopefully making someone's life with cancer more bearable makes the fact that I had cancer so worthwhile.

'If I didn't have cancer those five-hundred Cancer Chicks members wouldn't have Cancer Chicks. It just makes everything worth it.

'My life has meaning now. My favourite quote is 'No Rain, No Flowers', because without me going through a bit of a rubbish patch I wouldn't have be living with such passion as I am now.'

For more information visit trekstock.com/event/stylenightmanchester
Channel Nine television reporter Julie Snook has revealed the chronic health battle that has impacted her both mentally and physically for the past 12 years.

In a post for 9Honey, the 31-year-old said she has been suffering from Endometriosis, since first being diagnosed at age 19.

Endometriosis is a condition affecting women's reproductive organs, and occurs when tissue, similar to the lining of the uterus, grows outside and can cause pain and infertility.

Julie explained the debilitating nature of the disorder that has seen her have 12 surgeries to date.

'The bright lights of television don't make us immune': TV reporter Julie Snook has revealed her chronic health battle, that has seen her have 12 surgeries, in a post for 9Honey on Friday

'I tried to run a bath and found myself unable to move on the bathroom floor,' Julie recalled of a typical day living with the condition.

Julie explained how heat packs and pain killers have become her 'normal' since first being diagnosed at age 19.

She went on to recall having gone through numerous scans, ultrasounds and examinations prior to her diagnosis, after having experienced growing abdominal pain.

Julie joked that she has become a 'frequent flyer' when it comes to hospital visits, having had 12 surgeries to date.

Condition: The 31-year-old told readers that she has been suffering from Endometriosis, since first being diagnosed at age 19. Endometriosis occurs when tissue, similar to the lining of the uterus, grows outside and can cause pain and infertility

Surgery involves doctors using a telescope to cut into the abdomen, to determine where the Endometriosis is, and if so, remove it.

'It all sounds straight forward, but I promise you, as wonderful as technology and doctors are, it's painful. And takes weeks to recover,' Julie said.

Julie also went into detail about the psychological impact of having Endometriosis, including having to miss social and family gatherings and considering the possibility of not being able to fall pregnant.

'Internally, the scarring is extreme. Externally, I'm just as damaged,' Julie admitted before going on to say that despite her public persona, 'the bright lights of television and filters of Instagram, don't make us immune.'

For more information on Endometriosis, visit Endometriosis Australia at www.endometriosisaustralia.org
An amused shopper has left the internet in stitches after sharing a hilarious 'expectation versus reality' snap of her 'online shopping fail'.

Michaela Smith, from Napier, New Zealand, couldn't believe her luck after stumbling across a stunning blue and white retro-style dress stamped with pink flamingoes.

She had gone to the effort of measuring herself twice 'just to be sure' before ordering the garment and decided on a 4XL.

What arrived in the mail was not only a 3XL - but a dress that looked very different to the one she saw on the website.

'According to the sizing chart, I would fit this dress well. I didn't. I couldn't get it over my boobs,' she said.

Michaela Smith (pictured right) shows how the dress fitted compared to the dress she actually thought she would receive in the mail (pictured left is the dress she ordered)

Instead of complaining, she decided to see the amusing side of the situation and put the dress up for sale on a New Zealand auction website.

She created an ad and posted two side-by-side images - one of the dress she thought she was buying and another of herself.

'I need to get this dress out of my life,' she began.

The mum says she measured herself twice and according to the size guide should have been a 4XL, however, she received a 3XL size instead

'I asked my kid to take a photo to send to my sister. My sister uploaded the photo to Reddit. The internet went mad.

'I was tagged in four thousand million Facebook posts with titles like "when online shopping goes wrong".'

'I was mortified. It wasn't even a nice photo of me. I had no makeup on. Hadn't shaved my legs. Hadn't even vacuumed.

'I was accused of cutting the dress (I didn't), asked if I even had a torso (I do!) and, helpfully, told I had ordered the wrong size.'

Ms Smith advised potential buyers the dress had a small bleach stain on the bodice although she didn't say whether the stain was on the dress when it arrived

At the time of writing the dress, which was listed for $1 reserve, had a total of 23 bids which totalled $181.

'Take this out of my life once and for all,' Ms Smith continued.

'You could own the second picture in the google search 'DRESS FAIL' for as little as $1! Money will go towards some therapy.'

As to be expected, the auction listing has received plenty of feedback from potential buyers.

One person asked: 'Were real flamingos hurt in the making of this dress?'

To which Ms Smith cheekily replied: 'No but my back was cos (sic) I had to aerobics my way out again.'
These days classrooms are filled with iPads, smart boards and laptops - but there's one thing modern students still have in common with the kids from years gone by: Healthy Harold.

Anyone growing up in Australia will fondly remember the excitement of the iconic giraffe visiting their primary school in a colourful van.

Affectionately known as the talking puppet who's the face of Life Education, Harold became such a memorable childhood of nearly every generation of Australians.

For four decades, the friendly giraffe travelled around the country talking to children from the back of his van about issues such as drugs, alcohol and healthy eating.

And to celebrate Healthy Harold's 40th birthday, Daily Mail Australia looks at the incredible transformation over four years - and it's enough to make you nostalgic.

And my, how times have changed! Healthy Harold travels around Australia with an 'educator' to teach children about issues such as drugs, alcohol and healthy eating (pictured in 2019)

Anyone growing up in Australia will fondly remember the excitement of Healthy Harold visiting their school in a colourful van (pictured in 1990s)

The idea to launch Life Education came to mind after founder Ted Noffs (centre in 1980) saw an opportunity to address health challenges through education

Who is Healthy Harold? Lovable giraffe, caring and loyal friend and passionate advocate for the health and safety of all Australian children and their families, Healthy Harold is an Australian icon. Alongside Life Education, Healthy Harold has been visiting schools for 40 years. These visits are often remembered as 'an amazing experience' and 'one of the best parts of my school year' by students and a 'fun, interactive way that really engages students' by teachers. More than six million young Australian students have participated in the educational program since 1979. Advertisement

More than six million young Australian students have participated in the educational program since 1979.

The idea to launch the initiative came to mind after founder Ted Noffs saw an opportunity to address the dangers of drugs and other health challenges through education.

'Let's not frighten our kids with scare tactics so they act in ways that we think are best for them. Let's motivate and empower them so they can and will actively draw on their own knowledge to make safer and healthier choices,' Mr Noffs said at the time.

And so Healthy Harold was born.

Over the next four decades, the Australian icon went from a humble mobile learning centre to an educational van with cutting-edge technology.

Besides the twinkling glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and the talking puppet, most Australians are also familiar with Harold's female counterpart TAM.

She's a 'Transparent Anatomical Model', designed to teach children about the workings of the body including the effects of drugs, tobacco and alcohol.

'All the wonderful things children remember about our program are still there today  Harold, the lights on the ceiling and TAM,' Life Education NSW CEO Kellie Sloane told Daily Mail Australia.

School children walking into the colourful van where Healthy Harold talks about the dangers of drugs and other health challenges through education (pictured in the 1990s)

Besides the twinkling glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and the iconic puppet, most Australians are also familiar with Harold's female counterpart TAM, designed to teach children about the workings of the body including the effects of drugs, tobacco and alcohol

And my, how times have changed! PAM has had a major transformation over the years (picture of educator Bill Crews teaching school children in the late 1970s)

The Life Education van has changed over the years - this was spotted at Martin Place in 2012

Healthy Harold and his humble van travelled to different schools, along with an educator who helped him teach children about making safer and healthier choices (pictured in 2000s)

Besides the twinkling glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and the iconic puppet, most Australians are also familiar with Harold's female counterpart TAM (right) - who's the 'Transparent Anatomical Model'

Did you know? Although Life Education is turning 40, Healthy Harold isn't  In fact, Harold a very special giraffe who is eternally youthful, and is always the same age as the students he teaches. Advertisement

'It's still an exciting, interactive experience and one they children tend to recall into adulthood.

'But in 2019 there are new challenges for children  issues such as cyber awareness and online bullying. We respond to the evolving needs of schools and students.

'Whereas the first vans were equipped with 16mm projectors and pull down screens, now our mobile classrooms now have touch screens.

'TAM has been joined by TAM-e, a software tool which includes 3D and augmented reality fly-through of the human body, designed to teach children about the workings of the body including the effects of drugs, tobacco and alcohol.

'So our mission remains the same but we have responded to changing times and have added new "wow-factors".'

Affectionately known as the talking puppet who's the face of Life Education, Harold became such a memorable childhood of nearly every generation of Australians (pictured in 2019)

More than six million young Australian students have participated in the educational program since 1979 (pictured in 2000)

Affectionately known as the talking puppet who's the face of Life Education, Harold became such a memorable childhood of nearly every generation of Australians

Healthy Harold and his humble van travelled to different schools, along with an educator who helped him teach children about making safer and healthier choices (pictured in 2000s)

Over the next four decades, the Australian icon went from a humble mobile learning centre to an educational van with cutting-edge technology (pictured 2019)

What Healthy Harold looks like today! Modern students today still get the opportunity to learn from the nation's much-loved giraffe

In 2017, the nation's much-loved giraffe was facing the axe after the federal government decided to withdraw funding from the children's program.

However, Healthy Harold was saved after a barrage of backlash from devastated Australians swayed the government to rethink its controversial decision.

'We support #HealthyHarold & will work with Life Education to ensure the funding & the program continues,' Education Minister Simon Birmingham tweeted at the time.

Earlier this month, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced $2 million of funding over the next four years to ensure the program reaches more children with an exciting new learning experience.

'I was so impressed to see the way in which over the past 40 years technology has emerged and changed to help children learn about their bodies, healthy lifestyles, and eating right; setting up those healthy habits for the future,' Ms Berejiklian said.

'It is so important that there is a platform like Life Education that reaches students on their level and helps educate them about the choices they will face.'

In 2017, the giraffe was facing the axe after the federal government decided to withdraw funding from the children's program. But Healthy Harold was saved after a barrage of backlash swayed the government to rethink its controversial decision (pictured in 1990s)

More than six million young Australian students have participated in the educational program since 1979 (pictured in 2000)
Adam Kay is a bona fide phenomenon. This shy, unshowy man is officially Britains favourite author of the past 12 months. His diary about his life as a junior doctor, This Is Going To Hurt, which is by turn hilarious and heart-breaking, has been at the top of the bestsellers list for more than a year.

It has won four National Book Awards and has sold more than a million copies.

By day he is working on an eight-episode adaptation of his book for BBC television while most nights hes performing to packed theatres all over the country where audiences laugh  and cry  over his hospital anecdotes and join in with his ditties about his rollercoaster life working in a hospital.

Hes one of the few performers who can get audiences to join in his song about diagnosis with gusto. This is not what Adam expected when he quit medicine eight years ago, after a seemingly routine birth went disastrously wrong. I thought I just needed some time out and presumed I would go back to being a doctor, he says when we meet in the decidedly un-NHS-like private members club, Soho House.

Adam Kay (pictured above) has gone from holding scalpels to writing scripts

This Is Going To Hurt (pictured above), a first-hand account of life as a junior doctor from doctor turned comedian Adam Kay

The only thing I liked doing outside of work was writing funny songs so I thought I would give it a go before going back to medicine. I never ended up going back but now I am talking about medicine all the time.

Adam was always going to be a doctor. He came from a family of doctors  father, cousins, siblings were all medics. He worked excruciatingly hard as a junior doctor and wasnt far off from being made a consultant when he quit. Even now he calls it, the best job in the world and says he misses it terribly.

Clearly, obstetrics were the best bit. You start with one patient and you end up sending two home  thats an amazing batting average, he grins. I delivered 2,000 babies but each time I got a high. When you are at a fertility clinic and help a couple get pregnant when they have been trying so hard you feel like a magician.

So it was understandable that when his few months of time out turned into five years  as he found success as a comedy writer for shows including Mrs Browns Boys and Have I Got News For You  he was still heartbroken when he was delisted from the medical register because he hadnt been practising.

With a degree of nostalgia, he looked back at his old diaries, kept partly because he needed to keep a record of what he had been up to and partly, he believes now, to keep his sanity. Some doctors turn to drink, others turn to drugs. Writing about my day became my solace. He realised they were funny and thought perhaps he could make people laugh with them.

This was two years ago and doctors were in the news because they were striking over working hours.

The junior doctors were under fire and upsettingly it felt like people were being told doctors were striking because they were being greedy and wanted more money, he says.

Adam Kay had previously found success as a comedy writer for shows such as Mrs Brown's Boys (clip pictured above)

From the outside they sounded awful. Doctors have such a quiet voice and what they had to say wasnt being heard. I knew it wasnt like that so I thought if I could present one blokes experience of being a doctor it might show a few people what it was like. The book shows the impact of the job on a human being which is what doctors are.

He decided to put together a show for the Edinburgh Festival hoping that if 5,000 people saw it, he would have done his bit.

Adam Kay (left) and Jonathan Ross (right) at the National Book Awards in London last year

But then audience members told him again and again that he needed to turn the diaries into a book. The rest is publishing history as his diaries became a huge bestseller. It has also been translated into 31 languages and he gets letters from fans all over the world.

The book  and his show in which he reads from it  is a powerful mix of comedy and tragedy. There are stories of patients with odd objects stuck in unlikely places in their bodies. They were known as the Eiffel Tower injuries, he grins. They always start by telling you: I fell.

There are the happy babies he delivered, the endless nights he worked and the surprising stories he tells of the nuts and bolts of working in the NHS, including the revelation that every year junior doctors start work and more experienced doctors move to different departments or hospitals on the same day, known among medics as Black Wednesday  black because it is quite a dangerous time for the public to be ill.

It is an incredible insight into the people who come into the NHS, from the father-to be who fell and cracked his skull while playing on a birthing ball to the translator who told Adam his patient was a hermaphrodite  it turned out they meant a haemophiliac. And the foot-in-the-mouth moments such as when he accidentally revealed the sex of his friends baby when she asked him to look at the scan. The temperature in the room dropped by about ten degrees, he recalls.

One of the most overwhelming impressions you get from the book is just how hard  and what long hours  doctors work. In one entry he wakes up on Christmas Day to a call from one of his colleagues asking where he is because he is late.

Adam Kay (right) had previously appeared on This Morning with Phillip Schofield (left) and Holly Willoughby (centre)

He gets flustered until he realises he is in his car in the hospital car park  he was so tired he fell asleep in there hours earlier on Christmas Eve. And the good thing was I wasnt even that late for work in the end, he laughs.

It is all done with such levity and good humour that the last entry comes as a shock. Its a routine pregnancy that goes horribly wrong and its the last entry because shortly afterwards he walked out of the job he loved.

We all have bad days at work but my bad day at work destroyed a family, he says.

The difficult thing was that no one was there for me to talk to about it. The reaction from the people around me was as if Id had a migraine  thats hard for you but youll still be at clinic tomorrow.

He was still at clinic but found overnight he was a different doctor. Paranoid and tetchy, terrified of another disaster. He told no one about how he was feeling. His family and the man he later married only discovered the reason he left the NHS the first time they heard his show.

The culture of not talking about these things needs to change but I acknowledge that I didnt help myself because I didnt tell anyone why I left, he says. I just told my parents, I dont think its for me. I dont think I was very convincing because I was passionate about my job.

Diary extracts that will make you chuckle These hilarious diarised extracts from Adams book give a snapshot of what its like working on the wards with Britains finest, starting with a retired heating engineer who thought he was a German professor. 18 August 2004 Patient OM is a 72-year-old retired heating engineer from Stoke-on-Trent. But tonight hes going to be an eccentric German professor with ze unconvinzing agzent. Not just tonight, in fact, but this morning, this afternoon and every day of his admission; thanks to his dementia, exacerbated by a urinary tract infection. Prof OMs favourite routine is to follow behind the ward round, his hospital gown on back-to-front, like a white coat (plus or minus underwear) and chip in with Yes!, Zat is correct! and the occasional Genius! whenever a doctor says something. On my solo rounds, I let him tag along for a bit. I dont particularly know what Im doing and I dont have vast depths of confidence even when I do, so its actually quite helpful to have a superannuated German cheerleader behind me shouting out, Zat is brilliant! every so often. March 15, 2007 I ask a patient in antenatal clinic how many weeks she is now. Theres a long pause. Cogs turn. A camera slowly pans across a wasteland. Maths isnt everyones strong point but Im after the number between six and 40 that people must constantly ask her. Finally: In total? Yes, in total. God, I couldnt even tell you in months  Has she got amnesia? Is she a clone of another woman currently being held prisoner in an evil sci-fi villains lair? I start to ask when her last period was and she interrupts. Well, Im 32 in June, so thats got to be more than a thousand weeks  Christ. May 2, 2007 I finish consenting a couple for Caesarean section. Any questions at all? I ask the room. Yes, chips in their six-year-old. Do you think Jesus was black? December 29, 2008 Seeing a patient in gynae clinic whose GP recently started her on HRT patches and now has some bleeding. I ask her how long shes been on the HRT and she lifts up her blouse and counts the patches. Six  seven  eight weeks. Her GP hadnt explained that she has to take the old ones off. This Is Going To Hurt: Secret Diaries Of A Junior Doctor by Adam Kay is published by Picador at 8.99. Go toadamkay.co.uk for information about Adams tour. Advertisement

Every night, when he talks about the incident which made him leave his job, he wells up. Tears have sprung to his eyes as we discuss it.

I used to wake up in a cold sweat at least once a week every week since it happened, he reveals. That hasnt happened since I started talking about it. It is not my branch of medicine but I was probably going through some sort of post-traumatic stress. I must have read that diary entry 300 times and it doesnt get easier. I dont want it to be easy, though.

I get a lot of messages from doctors and they say the book mirrors their experiences wherever they are in the world. All doctors have patients they cant forget. At least one out of every 30 will write to me about something they have never told anyone else and it will be a harrowing story. That is the culture of it, and its a culture that needs to change.

Sometimes a book comes along that changes things, and This Is Going To Hurt might just do that.

Adam had a fractious meeting with Jeremy Hunt, then Health Secretary and now Foreign Secretary, got sick of Adams fans sending him copies of the book and called him in for a chat. He is very slick, very clever, recalls Adam. I had half a decade of questions I wanted to ask him but first he wanted to tell me his side of the story. I dont know why he would think that I would change my mind.

When I started to ask my questions he eventually snapped: What is this, an interrogation? I thought I was inviting you for a nice chat. 

I told him I didnt come for a nice chat  I came because he invited me. From that point on it became like that moment you know you are in big trouble with your other half and all they will say is, yes, no, fine. It got to that stage of awkwardness. It was horrible. Eventually I said: I am really sorry if I came across nicer in the book than I do in real life. He said: Oh no, you have been quite consistent. 

But he is cautiously optimistic about the present Health Secretary Matt Hancock who has already read his book. They have been in contact and plan to meet.

Eight years after leaving medicine, he is surprised to find himself becoming an advocate for his former profession in particular for doctors working hours and looking after them better.

It isnt a political book but it does have a message, he says. The NHS is so precious and that is thanks to the people who work there. Medicine is a profession which is very good at caring for other people, but not for itself. You are forced to try to build an emotional forcefield because no one is caring for the carers.

No one trains you how to deal with trauma  so its a culture where everyone pretends to be fine. While I am no longer a useful member of society, I am happy to try and do what I can to help people.

Caring for the carers has long been a Cinderella issue, but people are starting to address it and being part of that conversation is hugely humbling. It is amazing to think that a book, which is on the face of it just funny stories about being a doctor, could make a difference.

If anything I do with my silly stories can actually help my former colleagues then I feel that is my lifes work done.
Iconic Australian denim brand Bettina Liano is returning to the fashion industry after going into administration in 2013.

Best known for its wardrobe staples such as denim jeans and jersey dresses, Bettina Liano first made its mark in the global fashion industry in the 1980s before its collapse.

And this month the label will be launching an affordable new denim collection in Target stores across Australia.

Now owned by Apparel Group, the brand will be focusing on 'redefining affordable fashion' and attracting a new generation of modern women with on-trend pieces that don't break the bank.

Iconic Australian denim brand, Bettina Liano, is returning to the fashion industry after going into administration in 2013. It will be available in Target sometime 'mid-February'

Best known for its wardrobe staples such as denim jeans and jersey dresses, Bettina Liano first made its mark in the global fashion industry in the 1980s (pictured left are the $49 Cult Skinny LA jeans and right is the Two Tone Skirt in 'mid wash', $39)

The new line, which will be launching before March in all Target stores, will embody the brand's signature style of femininity with a touch of edginess and will sell pieces for as little as $39.

Focused on autumn/winter fashion the signature skinny denim styles will be available in a variety of washes and colours and there will also be fashionable high waisted flares, denim minis and a range of on-trend basics.

High quality details remain, including the easily recognisable yellow tag, double stitching and branded hardware made famous by the brand's many celebrity fans including Kim Kardashian, Madonna and Serena Williams.

Pictured left are the Cult Skinny INK jeans, $49, and right is the Raw Edge Denim Jacket, $59

It's exciting news for former fans of the iconic label who were devastated to hear it had gone into liquidation due to manufacturing cost and increasing overseas competition

'We are redefining the relationship between fashion, quality and price, and are excited to bring the much-loved brand back into the wardrobes of Australian women,' Andrew Michael, Director of the Apparel Group, said.

It's exciting news for former fans of the iconic label who were devastated to hear it had gone into liquidation due to manufacturing cost and increasing overseas competition.

Bettina Liano herself has also lauched a new denim business - BYBL (By Bettina Liano).

There will also be on-trend high waisted flares on offer (pictured are the Wide Leg White Stitch Denim jeans, $59)

'We are redefining the relationship between fashion, quality and price, and are excited to bring the much-loved brand back into the wardrobes of Australian women,' Andrew Michael, Director of the Apparel Group, said

'The jeans look fantastic. These garments come from my studio, they are produced with the same integrity and philosophy as the old brand... simply by virtue of the fact it's me [making them],' she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

'I hope to be able to make as many women happy as I used to. My jeans are designed to flatter.

'The look isn't so much the low rise but there's high rise and relaxed fits. I will expand the range as I go along... it's such a specialised field  so why spread yourself thin?'
A mother-of-four who was told she had just months to live has miraculously survived after beating cancer more than 15 times.

Jenny Thulborn, from Tweed Heads in north-eastern New South Wales, was first diagnosed with melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, at the age of 30.

'It was the worst imaginable thing that could happen to anybody,' the now-54-year-old woman told 9News.

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Australian mother Jenny Thulborn (pictured with her daughter) has defied the odds of survival after miraculously beating cancer more than 15 times

At the age of 47, she had a tumour removed from her brain following another life-threatening diagnosis

She had a malignant melanoma removed from her back in 1994.

But after she was given the all-clear, the mother-of-four said CT scan found a mass on her brain after she started experiencing headaches and blurred vision 17 years later.

'I had a 39 millimetre brain tumour in my head, I could've died at any moment,' Ms Thulborn said.

However her excruciating battle didn't end there.

The brave cancer-stricken woman went on to fight against another eight brain tumours, five lung cancers and stage four melanoma.

'It's been horrific, it was a rollercoaster,' she said.

But she was given a glimmer of hope after undergoing a trial immunotherapy drug, in which she believes has helped extend her life.

'It works from the brain down, it cleared up pretty much straight away,' she said.

The mother has since been cancer-free for three years.

'I feel extremely blessed,' she said.

The brave cancer-stricken woman went on to fight against another eight brain tumours, five lung cancers and multiple melanomas

The mother previously revealed how lucky she felt after surviving cancer 15 times.

'I have been blessed to still be here today sharing important milestones with my beautiful children and living life with my husband, Tony,' she said in 2017.

'Sure, life is not the same, melanoma sent us all on a total different journey, but this hideous disease chose me so I have to deal with the best I can.

'I share my story often in hope that lives may be saved... My 16-year-old self would now say, love the skin you are in, get regular skin checks and if in doubt get it out.'

She also said at the time she believed 'vanity' in her youth nearly cost her life.

'I spent countless hours in Solariums and the sun trying to attain a golden tan,' she recalled.

'It's ironic because I wanted to be beautiful so I tanned but now because of melanoma I'm covered in scars.'

She was given a glimmer of hope after undergoing a trial immunotherapy drug, in which she believes has helped extend her life. She has since been cancer-free for three years

In December 2013, the cancer survivor revealed her financial struggles with paying for treatments - after losing her job, before her husband was made redundant.

Ms Thulborn told The Daily Telegraph she was forced to sell her family home just so she could afford her medical expenses.

In an interview with A Current Affair in July 2018, the mother opened up about how her multiple cancer battles took an emotional toll on her children.

'I have three daughters and a son and this is the hardest thing, the pain that I see in my daughters' faces,' she said.

'They want me at their wedding, they want mum to be there when they one day get married, to zip up their wedding dress and they want me to be there when they have their children.'
An office manager in Sydney has hit back after vile internet trolls accused her of editing her Instagram photos and saying she should 'die'.

Rebecca Lee, who made headlines for her incredible weight loss transformation in 2018, was horrified when one of her Instagram followers revealed her selfie was being shared on a Reddit page exposing Instagram users for editing their pictures.

The 31-year-old took matters into her own hands by creating a new Reddit account just so she could call out the bullies herself.

Rebecca, who weighed 116 kilos and was a size 22 at her heaviest, said she had become accustomed to such negativity, prior to dropping half her weight.

'This is a malicious act that says a lot about your character': Rebecca Lee, 31, hit back after being told by trolls that she should die. Pictured on the left prior to her weight loss transformation

Trolls: Rebecca was horrified when one of her Instagram followers revealed her selfie was being shared on a Reddit page exposing Instagram users for editing their pictures  attracting comments such as 'kill it with fire'

Rebecca was horrified when one of her 43,200 Instagram followers revealed her selfie was being shared on a Reddit page exposing Instagram users for editing their pictures  attracting comments such as 'kill it with fire'.

However she took matters into her own hands by creating a new Reddit account in order to call out the bully.

Rebecca was stunned when the troll, named Stephanie, responded with a heartfelt apology explaining she had deleted the post and would be 're-evaluating her actions'.

'I'm a strong person, I have been through a lot in my life, but imagine if I wasn't,' Rebecca said.

'Imagine if I was some vulnerable girl who hated herself and she saw that someone had done that.'

Rebecca's full response to the troll Hitting back: Responding directly to the troll, Rebecca wrote: 'You are a real piece of work - I wonder if your friends, family and employer know that you're this type of person?' Hi Stephanie, This is Rebecca Lee. the person whose photo you've decided to take a screenshot of and post on Reddit, a public forum to try and publicly humiliate. You Stephanie have opened up a discussion about me, which has allowed many to post nasty comments. You Stephanie, have taken a strangers photo, my photo, without thinking I would find out about it. You Stephanie are a real piece of work - I wonder if your friends, family and employer know that you're this type of person? I'm unsure if you're aware, but this is a malicious and nasty act that speaks a lot about your character and if you had read some of the articles on my website you'd know I do not tolerate. This link along with your social media account has been sent to me by one of my followers, a stranger on the internet just like you, with a very apologetic message attached saying, 'I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your photo has been placed on Reddit'. Stephanie, I want you to know that I have all of your social media accounts and this link. I know exactly who you are, so by the click of a button I too could blast your face on the internet for approximately 50,000 people to see worldwide across three very interactive platforms - the people over on my Facebook would have an absolute field day with you. To be honest, I don't even feel mad about this, I just feel sad that a woman would bring another woman down for the sake of some cheap entertainment and a laugh. You have a lot of growing up to do girl. Good chat Stephanie. Advertisement

Rebecca is pictured right before her drastic transformation

'I thought, I'm going to go back and say something,' she continued. 'Online trolls can be really nasty but if you actually sat down in a room with these people, they wouldn't dare say a thing to you.'

Responding directly to Stephanie, Rebecca wrote: 'You have taken a stranger's photo, my photo, without thinking I would find out about it. You are a real piece of work - I wonder if your friends, family and employer know that you're this type of person?'

Within an hour, Rebecca's confrontational warning had struck a chord with Stephanie, who apologised.

She wrote back: 'I apologise for hurting you, I have removed the post. Please understand that my intent was not to make fun of you, and I am truly sorry for hurting you.'

Remorse: Within an hour, Rebecca's confrontational warning had struck a chord with the troll, who apologised

Rebecca said she was surprised to receive an apology, and even felt sorry for the troll - who she believes must have been struggling in her own life to resort to lashing out at someone else.

'I have been bullied throughout my whole life by all different types of people,' she said. 'I used to get upset but I'm strong now and it's just like water off a duck's back.

'When I first saw it I was annoyed but then I thought, whoever she is, she must be really sad. I was surprised the troll responded and apologised. I feel like she was sincere in what she said but she also must have freaked out a little bit and realised that I could quite easily find her on the internet and do the same thing to her.'

Rebecca said that she hopes she's made people stop and think about their actions.

'There's always people watching, the internet is like your digital footprint,' she said. 'I'm always pumping out good vibes on my social media. There's so much badness in the world, we don't need more bitterness and hostility.'

This is not the first time Rebecca has dealt with bullies, having been accustomed to such negativity when she weighed 116 kilos at her heaviest.

Transformation: Rebecca previously tipped the scales at 116 kilograms and was a size 22

The former pizza addict later transformed her body after ditching takeaways and dropping half her weight.

Doctors warned Rebecca that her weight was crushing her organs which would prevent her from ever having a family of her own.

Rebecca was so distraught after being told her weight was dramatically affecting her health, and lost an incredible 36 kilos.

Now a size 12, Rebecca previously said: 'I was overweight and frumpy before I started my weight loss journey. I was housebound and eating unhealthy snacks 24/7.'

'One of my biggest cravings was pizza and I'd eat a large one to myself every day.

'But after being warned by doctors that my frame was crushing my organs, I decided enough was enough.'

Rebecca decided to showcase her amazing transformation on social media.

Weight loss: She is now a healthy size 12 and has swapped greasy takeaways for lean protein and vegetables

Rebecca's day on a plate before and after Before Diet: Breakfast: Two bacon and egg rolls from Mcdonalds with a chocolate milkshake Lunch: Large McDonalds Big Mac meal with coke Dinner: Large domino's pizza After Diet: Breakfast: Healthy cereal with low fat milk Lunch: Salad or chicken wrap Dinner: Grilled chicken and vegetables with water Advertisement

'When people look at my before photos they didn't know how sad I was or how much I cried,' she said. 'I hated being housebound but I didn't haven't the confidence to go outside.

'I had tried to lose weight for years but nothing worked until recently.

'After being told there was a chance that I couldn't have kids due to my size I knew it was now or never. It was the wake-up call I needed to turn my life around.'

'I started going to the gym three times a week and pushed myself in ways that I never have before.'

Rebecca used the weightlifting machines and treadmill while at the gym - and was even laughed at and mocked by a group of schoolboys which tested her confidence.

'I finally got the courage to go to the gym and I was being laughed at by a group of boys that were standing behind me,' she said.

'They were mocking my weight so I could hear, it just ripped through any confidence that I had.

'I don't know how people could be so cruel to someone they don't even know.'
Princes William and Harry have both recently taken to leaving their ties at home when they step out for daytime engagements.

William, 37, has been seen with an open shirt collar at both of his public appearances this week, while Harry, 34, also opted for a more casual look when he joined Meghan for visits to Bristol and Birkenhead in recent weeks.





This is in contrast to their father Prince Charles who is almost always seen in full suit and tie no matter what the formality of the engagement.





Speaking to FEMAIL, etiquette expert William Hanson said the brothers could be hoping to strike a more 'smart casual' tone, particularly when meeting with well-wishers across the UK.





He noted their grandmother the Queen, who is said to be fond of maintaining a certain standard of dress within the Royal Family, probably 'does not mind' their more relaxed dress as long as its suitable for the occasion.

Princes William and Harry have both recently taken to leaving their ties at home when they step out for daytime engagements. Pictured, William without a tie in London on Thursday

On Wednesday the royal father-of-three wore a blue shirt with the top button undone as he visited homeless charity The Passage, hours after being announced as patron

Prince Harry chose to wear chinos, shirt, jumper and coat but no tie when he joined the Duchess of Sussex for a busy day of engagements in Bristol earlier this month, pictured

The Duke of Sussex also went without a tie for their joint visit to Birkenhead last month, above

This is a stark contrast from their father Prince Charles who is almost always in full suit and tie no matter what the engagement. Pictured: In Liverpool on Tuesday

William Hanson told the MailOnline: 'The monarchy has a fine line to thread. On one hand the public want them to be regal, but on the other they want to be able to connect with them and feel they are just glossier versions of ourselves.

'Due to their younger ages, Princes William and Harry attend less formal or more active, sporty events and in these instances you can see why they chose to 'dress down' and attend in what would usually be called 'smart casual' clothes.

'To arrive in a suit and tie may not ingratiate them to those attending and those observing at home. It's always important at any event, royal or not, for all guests to look like they are part of the same event.'

William has been seen more often without a tie during the day than his younger brother, although both have by no means given them up completely.

They also both continue to wear ties to evening engagements, as well as to church services. Military uniform is worn at other formal daytime events including investitures.

Hanson added: 'Naturally, for formal occasions - including those where their grandmother The Queen is attending - the younger male royals do not sport an open neck and wear a tie.'

He added: 'I suspect The Queen does not mind that her grandsons relax their dress, so long as it fits with the occasion.'

Yesterday Prince William wore a grey suit with a white shirt but no tie as he attended a charity event in Paddington, north London.

Prince William wore a similar look when the Duke of Cambridge attended an event marking 30 years of the London Air Ambulance Service last month, pictured

Prince William wore an open collar to the Kensington Palace Christmas party in December, left. He also chose to go without for a visit to the Evelina Children's hospital in London that month

The day before the royal father-of-three wore a blue shirt with the top button undone as he visited homeless charity The Passage, hours after being announced as patron.

It was a similar look when the Duke of Cambridge attended an event marking 30 years of the London Air Ambulance Service last month.

A notable recent exception to this new wardrobe trend was when the duke joined the Duchess of Cambridge to officially opened the V&A in Dundee last month. He wore a suit, white shirt and patterned tie for the outing.

Father-to-be Prince Harry was seen without a tie on a number of occasions during the royal tour of Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji last year. Pictured, the royal couple in Sydney, left, and Melbourne, right, during the visit in October last year

While the Duke of Sussex remains slightly more formal, he has also gone without a tie on his two most high-profile engagements of the year.

Prince Harry plumped for the smart-casual look when he joined the pregnant Duchess of Sussex in Bristol two weeks ago, and in Birkenhead last month.

And the father-to-be was seen without a tie on a number of occasions during the royal tour of Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji last year.

A notable recent exception to this new wardrobe trend was when the duke joined the Duchess of Cambridge to officially opened the V&A in Dundee last month. He wore a suit, white shirt and patterned tie for the outing, pictured
A mother has revealed how she gave birth to her baby daughter in the back seat of an Uber car on the way to the hospital.

Emma Williams, from North Coogee in Perth, was swimming in her pool during the scorching 37 degree heat when she started experiencing cramps.

Speaking to 9News, the mother-of-two said she ended up using the ride-sharing app when she started having contractions in the car on the way to Fiona Stanley Hospital on Friday, February 8.

The pregnant woman - who wasn't due to give birth for another week - was picked up from her home at 4.25pm - and within 24 minutes, she delivered her baby girl Lexi. At 4.51pm, she arrived at the hospital.

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Mother-of-two Emma Williams (pictured with her newborn and son Blake) has revealed she gave birth to her baby daughter Lexi in the back seat of an Uber car on the way to the hospital

'I didn't say anything to the guy, I just got in and said "can you just switch the air-con up" because I was in a lot of pain,' she said.

'Then I kind of shouted out to him, "I'm really sorry, I'm in labour and I'm about to have a baby in your car". I think I freaked him out a little bit.'

Before the dramatic birth, the mother said she messaged her husband to warn him about the possibility of their child arriving early.

'I had a few cramps. It wasn't contractions, but I just felt uncomfortable. I basically messaged my husband to say "maybe don't go for beers tonight, potentially I might be in labour",' she recalled.

The mother said she ended up using the ride-sharing app when she started having contractions in the car on the way to Fiona Stanley Hospital on Friday, February 8

The pregnant woman - who wasn't due to give birth for another week - was picked up from her home at 4.25pm - and within 24 minutes, she delivered her baby girl

Her waters broke just minutes away from the hospital, leaving the driver stunned.

Since welcoming her baby daughter into the world, people have constantly asked her the same question: 'Why didn't you take an ambulance?'

'To which I say "well, I didn't expect to have a baby in under an hour",' she said.

Ms Williams said the birth of her son Blake took seven hours so she never imagine it would happen so quickly with her daughter in an Uber car on the way to the hospital.

Uber has offered to waive the clean-up fees, saying they were just 'delighted' to hear about the birth of their youngest ever rider.
A mother who was caught 'talking dirty' to her husband by their 12-year-old daughter asks other parents for advice on how to move on.

The anonymous woman, believed to be British, posted the story on Reddit and explained that her daughter thought it would be 'funny' to 'sneak' into their room and hide at the end of the bed with the intention of scaring them.

Only the girl's prank backfired as she had to witness her parents' naughty exchange of words - while they were completely oblivious to her presence.

And social media users were quick to offer their support - by sharing their own hilarious stories in a bid to make her feel better.

'I walked in on my parents in the same situation - except I was in college,' penned one. 'I blame their new high-loft carpeting that prevented me from seeing the light on under the door and muffled any sound from getting out. Totally thought they were asleep.'

A mother revealed she was caught out when her 12-year-old daughter hid at the end of the bed to scare her parents and overheard them 'talking dirty' (stock image)

Towards the end of the post, the embarrassed mother admits she doesn't know how to move on from the incident.

'My husband and I, while still trying to gain composure because we both almost jumped out of our skin, are now completely confused on how to proceed,' she wrote.

Revealing that their daughter 'ran in her room and closed the door' after the dirty words were exchanged, she then asks how other parents have handled similar situations - and she was inundated with responses.

In a bid to make the parents feel better, many commented to say they had been scarred by very similar experiences when they were younger.

The anonymous woman posted the story on Reddit (above) and explained that the unfortunate situation arose after her daughter thought it would be 'funny' to 'sneak' into their room and hide at the end of the bed with the intention of scaring them

One woman revealed how she had walked in on her parents when she was just eight.

'They were never ever intimate so knocking didn't even occur to me,' she said, recalling her horror story. 'But there it was, my dad's bare a** clear as day. I quickly shut the door and ran outside to have an existential crisis.'

Another told of an occasion when she was six: 'I was hiding under my parents bed to scare them and they started having sex. I was mortified and was scared to leave because I didn't want them to see me so I stayed there and covered my ears.'

She added: 'Pretty sure I slept under their bed that night. I have yet to tell them this story and I'm 22.'

And for one unsuspecting child, she was feeling poorly and went to seek comfort from her parents, but had the shock of her life.

'I was feeling sick and came in saying "I don't feel so...." and then my dad panicked and jumped out of bed completely naked. I survived but I'm not sure their sex life did,' she joked.

Speaking of her own experiences of walking in on her parents having sex, one woman joked: I survived but I'm not sure their sex life did'

Meanwhile, a parent who had been caught out by his child explained how he and his wife were on the phone to a good friend when they cracked a 'raunchy joke about a foot fetish' - but with bad timing.

'It was about the same time that the 11-year-old walked in the room,' he explained. 'The kid has a look of horror and confusion on his face.'

Others were keen to offer some proper advice and suggested the parents have the 'birds and the bees' talk.

'The talk isn't a one time thing,' penned one. 'It's an ongoing process that ages with the child. This is a really great chance to further open the lines of communications about sex and model a healthy relationship.'

Agreeing, another commented: 'She's probably old enough for you to just say "hey, sorry about the timing". Making a huge deal about it will probably just embarrass her.

'You shouldn't act like you're embarrassed. It is your bedroom. That's exactly the sort of thing you're supposed to be doing in there.'

The worried mother was offered advice. Many suggested she have the 'birds and the bees' talk. 'This is a really great chance to further open the lines of communications about sex and model a healthy relationship,' wrote one




While it's not uncommon for single Australians to have a list of 'must-haves' for potential suitors, it seems some are far pickier than others.

And while things like bad body odour and neediness are common deal breakers, other traits like poor grammar, odd eating styles and unusual grooming habits also come into play.

Now these gripes have been revealed online as harsh singles confess the raft of petty and bizarre reasons they ditched their dates.

While it's not uncommon for single Australians to have a list of 'must-haves' for potential suitors, it seems some are far pickier than others

Poor grammar

Taking to a Reddit thread, one woman said she simply couldn't handle her potential date's bad grammar.

'I just rejected someone on a dating site because they put spaces before commas, periods, and question marks when texting me. Like this , for example. Isn't it annoying?' She wrote.

'He wasn't French or German or even foreign... I think he was just one of those dumb a***s who doesn't understand that writing has rules.'

Corrupting the English language was also the reason a male user gave for turning down a date.

'cUs sHe TeXteD LiKe dIs,' he wrote, to which another commented, 'You're too old for tweens anyway!'

For one picky user getting the past tense of the verb 'too see' was a line that couldn't be crossed.

'Yup same, just dropped some girl after they replied 'I've seened it',' he posted.

Taking to a Reddit thread, one woman said she simply couldn't handle her potential date's bad grammar

Specific physical features

Although language fails were a common theme, others focused more on physical features.

'If they have baby carrot fingers. I don't want those things touching me,' one man wrote.

Long manicured nails on men was another common turn off.

One woman said: 'My best friend and I both had a crush on this dude in high school. He was really cute and played nine instruments. We thought he was a total catch and would always joke about which one of us was going to eventually date him.

'One night we went to watch his band play a show. After the concert, he came up to my friend and I in the venue and started chatting with us. Then, ever so slowly, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a nail file.

'He proceeded to file his nails while talking to us, which wasn't too bad, but then, practically in unison, my friend and I noticed that his finger nails on only one hand were filed into really long, sharp, points.'

One woman got over her high school crush after he pulled out a nail file and started buffing away

Bizarre and annoying habits

'A girl l met on OKCupid ghosted on me after I told her I didn't like Twilight. Dodged a bullet,' one man wrote.

Fiddling with the radio was another no-no.

'I once ended a date early because, while driving to dinner, she started changing the presets on my car radio without asking,' one man wrote.

A man then added: 'Changing the station would be forgivable, but the PRESETS?? That girl must be living in crazy town if she thinks that's socially acceptable.'

Changing the presets on the car radio and eating one pea at a time were the stranger reasons given

What are the biggest mistakes people make when meeting somebody new? We often avoid initiating a handshake and looking directly at people's faces, eyes and smiling. The tendency is to be focused on ourselves rather than thinking about putting other people at ease One of the biggest distractors to creating positive first impressions is our addiction to mobile phones. While they are most useful and necessary tool for modern communications, we recommend you defer calls (unless urgent) when you are meeting people, particularly for the first time. Nothing is more off-putting and rude than being interrupted and waiting while someone takes a call. If this happens suggest to the caller you will return the call. Otherwise turn the phone to silent. Advertisement

'Changing the presets sounds like a stage 5 clinger,' another said.

However the most bizarre and petty reason mentioned related to how someone eats their peas.

One user said he had to dump someone because they ate their 'peas one a time'.
Keeley Hawes returns to Westminsters corridors of power in new Channel 4 post-war spy thriller Traitors this week  but her role is a world away from the glamorous and seductive home secretary Julia Montague in last years Bodyguard.

The nation was spellbound over six spine-tingling episodes of Bodyguard as David Budd (Richard Madden), the personal protection officer assigned to look after the home secretary, repeatedly put his life on the line to save hers and then succumbed to her advances before she was blown up by a terrorist bomb  sparking endless online conspiracy theories as to whether she really was dead.

The final episode drew an astonishing 15.9 million viewers, but while Keeley probably wont be part of the planned second series, shes back at Whitehall as a frumpy, bespectacled civil servant with a penchant for Gilbert & Sullivan in Traitors.

Without a scrap of make-up and dressed in a drab grey suit, white blouse and brown tights twinned with sensible black shoes, Keeleys strait-laced Priscilla Garrick couldnt be further from the glamorous characters she usually plays.

Keeley Hawes, 42, (pictured centre as Priscilla with Feef Symonds, Thomas Rowe, Hugh Fenton and Jackson Cole) is set to return to screens in new Channel 4 thriller Traitors

Its a very different type of role to Bodyguard, of course, she says when we meet on location in north London. Priscillas a spinster and a perfectionist.

'When my daughter Maggie found some of my scripts she said, Mmm. Pris-killer! So shes now known in my house as Pris-killer.

'Im a perfectionist myself, so Im quite like Priscilla. I like things to be a certain way and if theyre not I think, This is winding me up.

'But thats what Priscilla is  very, very ordered.

My life being the way it is and having three children, I have to be very organised, adds Keeley, whos mother to Maggie, 14, and Ralph, 11, from her marriage to former Spooks co-star Matthew Macfadyen, and 18-year-old son Myles by her first husband, cartoonist Spencer McCallum.

Im super-organised, my husband is too. Its not like hes scatty and Im organised, were both similar in that way.

In Traitors, Priscilla works under Clement Attlee, the new prime minister after his Labour Party won a shock landslide victory over Winston Churchill in 1945.

Churchills defeat has sparked uneasy times in the special relationship between Britain and the USA as the allies jostle for supremacy in the new world order.

One war is over, but the Cold War is just beginning, and Priscilla suspects one of her young underlings, Feef Symonds, played by newcomer Emma Appleton, is spying on the British government for America.

This is one of the trickiest shows ever to talk about because everybody has a secret, says Keeley.

Keeley revealed her character Priscilla who works underneath the new post-war prime minister wants to champion Feef (pictured: Feef and Hugh)

Priscillas an under-secretary working for the prime minister and she and her colleagues are involved in government policy, the prime ministers speeches and all that nitty gritty.

'So its quite a high-pressure, stressful job and shes the only woman involved at that level which is the interesting thing. Its very much a mans world.

Priscilla campaigns for her female colleagues rights, lobbying for the marriage bar  an unwritten rule that women should stop work after their wedding day  to be lifted within the government, even though she herself is unmarried and thus free to work.

Shes a champion of womens rights and very modern in that way.

'She sees a bit of herself in Feef because shes bright and Priscilla wants to champion her too, explains Keeley.

This is a tricky story to talk about; everyone has a secret

Its such an interesting period.

'I didnt know much about it, or Id learnt it at school and forgotten it because it was years ago.

'The marriage bar, for example, I had no idea about  I had to Google it.

Women are being asked to go back to being housewives.

'They spent the war stepping up and being ambulance drivers and all the other things they did.

'Then suddenly theyre given the sack, it was terrible.

The war is over, but it must have been a very odd time and something of an anti-climax because the war was so dramatic  every day it was life or death.

'And suddenly youre back to sort of nothing.

'And the really interesting thing, which again I didnt know about, was this department that Priscilla works in had to create the new benefits system with a shortage of paper and pencils.

Keeley (pictured in last year's hit show Bodyguard) revealed she had a challenge to stay professional while working alongside Michael Stulhbarg to film Traitors

The plots a nail-biter and the sets brilliantly evoke war-ravaged Britain.

One spectacular scene shot in Cardiff features a street converted into a bomb site with burned-out and shattered buildings, the setting for an explosion involving a 1940s London bus.

But on location today in a typical Victorian square in Islington (save for the fact that the grass has been left deliberately unkempt to give it that authentically shabby look), Keeleys been filming a more tranquil scene with Michael Stuhlbarg, star of Guillermo del Toros Oscar-winning film The Shape Of Water, who plays fanatical American secret agent Thomas Rowe.

I had my first and only scene today with Michael  hes hot! I mean, in sort of career terms.

'Well, in every term obviously, she laughs.

I loved every second of it. I tried to look professional, but hes a huge star and hes just so good.

'And hes really lovely, charming, gracious and kind too.

I think we were very lucky to get him because he was riding high off the back of a mass of Oscar nominations for three films he was in that year.

Shes referring to The Shape Of Water, Call Me By Your Name and The Post, which collected a total of five Oscars.

So when they said, Weve got Michael everyone was thinking, What?! It was a thrilling moment when we got that news.

Michaels character Rowe steps in to direct Feef after shes been seduced by rogue American spook Peter McCormick (Matt Lauria) into spying on her own country to uncover a Russian agent at the heart of the British government.

Civil servant Feef (pictured centre) becomes embroiled in a spying plot, Feef discovers Priscilla has secrets of her own

But meeting idealistic, newly elected MP Hugh Fenton (Luke Treadaway) morally complicates things for Feef.

However Rowe, who has troubled American soldier Jackson Cole (Brandon P Bell) working for him, is prepared to go to dangerous extremes to achieve his ends and Priscilla inevitably gets caught up in the fallout, although Feef will soon discover that Priscilla has secrets of her own.

Priscillas only release valve seems to be the deliciously camp Gilbert & Sullivan Society at Whitehall.

The singing is another side of these very grey people, says Keeley.

Priscillas been in a relationship with her colleague Philip, played by Stephen Campbell Moore, which she keeps very private, and theyre both in the Gilbert & Sullivan Society.

When I read the script I was romping along in this spy thriller and suddenly theyre all singing.

'I thought, Gosh, pages from another script must have got in here.

Im a perfectionist like my character

'But actually its such a brilliant idea as that society really did exist and it was an outlet for them in this high-pressure job.

'We had a whole day where Stephen and I had a duet, which was lovely and romantic.

'I sing solo, quite badly, at this show we put on for our co-workers. Its a relief and a breath of fresh air.

I havent sung for years, and this is an operetta so its right up there. I can hold a tune but this is something else.

'So I said Id love to do the job but that was the only thing that was making me feel a bit nervous.

'They said, Well give you the option to sing, and if not well get somebody else to sing it.

'So we went to record the solo and this American girl turned up.

Keeley (pictured second from right with the cast of Traitors) revealed she felt nervous about starring in her new role as it requires singing

'She sang it and they recorded her, and then I sang it and they said, Actually, well just use that. So theyve used me!

Keeleys happy to hand over the glamour in this series to her co-star, former model turned actor Emma, 27, as Feef.

Shes like a baby Audrey Tautou, laughs Keeley, 42. Thats what she looks like. Every time I look at her shes Amelie to me.

Feef was born into an aristocratic family but shes been disenchanted by the expectations of her dominating parents, to be a good little girl and get married.

She joins the civil service longing for adventure, but when its not forthcoming, her disappointment and her social class make her an easy target for recruitment by US agents Peter McCormick and Thomas Rowe to spy for America on Britains new Socialist government.

Feef is very naive in terms of how the world works, explains Emma.

She goes into this thinking its the good guys fighting against the bad guys, but over the course of it she realises that theres no such thing.

'Feef sees Priscilla as a sort of alternative mother figure in the end because she motivates her and validates her.

'She sees a lot of herself in Priscilla, and Priscilla is everything she admires and respects.

Emma took deportment lessons for the role, and had plenty of action scenes.

I didnt realise quite how physically demanding it was going to be.

'Its very different when you read something in a script from when youre there, actually doing it.

Keeley (pictured as Priscilla with Feef) says Feef who is played by Emma Appleton is very naive in terms of how the world works

'Like when I had to go swimming naked at night in a freezing-cold lake in Wales.

'It was only for ten minutes but it seemed like a lifetime as I was trying not to panic.

Feefs youthful verve and chutzpah are enough to impress the hard-bitten Rowe.

She has a different perspective on things that he doesnt have, which delights and surprises him and takes him aback a bit because shes so young, explains Michael Stuhlbarg, whose character is based on Frank Wisner, head of the Office of Strategic Services in south-eastern Europe at the end of the war.

Shes never done anything like this before, but he thinks hes found his own particular niche.

'Then this young girl comes along and she can do things he cant, which he really respects.

Rowe trains OSS agents.

'He thinks its essential that America has an operational intelligence agency to compete with all the other countries that have them, particularly the Russians, who have infiltrated all over Europe.

'His motto is, Whatever it takes.

'Basically, thats how he lives his life, hell do whatever it takes to get the job done even if it means lying, cheating, stealing and committing murder.

'It all makes for a really gripping drama.

Traitors begins tomorrow at 9pm on Channel 4.
A radio host has hit out at critics for questioning the safety of women travelling alone following the tragic death of a female British backpacker.

New Zealand media personality Meg Annear broke down in tears when she read out her open letter about Grace Millane live on radio.

The 22-year-old backpacker was found dead in the Waitakere Ranges, west of Auckland on Sunday after she was reported missing on December 5.

Speaking on The Edge Breakfast with Dom, Meg & Randell, the breakfast radio presenter fired back at critics for questioning why Grace was a solo traveller.

'I have heard and seen too many comments asking the question "what was [Grace] doing travelling by herself?" Or whether she was on a Tinder date or not,' Meg said.

'I will say it again louder for the people in the back, this was not her fault. Nor was it her parents who would have proudly dropped her off at the airport with a backpack on her back and a smile on her face.

'The question we should be asking is "why did a 26-year-old man feel he had the right to take her life?"'

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New Zealand media personality Meg Annear (left) hit out at critics for questioning the safety of women travelling alone following the tragic death of British backpacker Grace Millane (right)

Reflecting back on when she was a solo traveller in the US at the age of 19, Meg described Grace as a 'young, vibrant, adventurous' woman who wanted to see the world like any other female backpacker.

'I know of many women who have done the same - family members, co-workers and friends, all packing up their lives to enjoy the world,' Meg said.

'And they all come home, full of stories and memories and life experiences they never would have been able to achieve by staying still.

'Grace won't be going home and telling her stories. She won't get her friends crowd around her over brunch and flick through her photos in her phones with memories of new friends.

'She would not be able to fulfil her dreams, fall in love, tick more things off her bucket list. She was unfairly, gut wrenchingly taken away from us. And it wasn't her fault.

'Every women should have the freedom to travel without the fear of death and violence.'

The New Zealand radio host broke down in tears when she read out her open letter about Grace live on radio

Delivering her powerful message, she begged men to call out their friends if they are disrespecting women following the tragic death of Grace

Meg went on to say how Grace wanted to visit New Zealand so she could 'enjoy all of the things we love about our country, what we pride ourselves on... The scenery, the food and the friendly people'.

She was reduced to tears as she talked her female listeners through activating the emergency button on their smartphones.

'My female friends, please let friends know where you are, who you're with and keep in touch with each other,' Meg said.

'There's an alarm on your iPhone you can activate that would call the police if you are scared. Press on the on/off button five times in a row. Samsung users, press that button three times and it will call your emergency contact.

'Look after each other.'

Delivering her powerful message, she begged men to call out their friends if they are disrespecting women.

'Men, please keep each other accountable. If you hear a mate talking disrespectfully of woman, be an ally to us and call them out on it,' Meg said.

'We have a long way to go for Aotearoa (New Zealand) to be the safe oasis we advertise ourselves as.

'Rest in peace to Grace, whose only crime was to chase an adventure and living her life.'
When it comes to finding the perfect mascara, beauty fans the world over are prepared to hunt high and low for the dream formula.

But one may well be on its way to its way to cult status, thanks to a whopping 316 per cent surge in searches on image sharing site Pinterest.

Lancome's Monsieur Big Waterproof Mascara not only promises big bold lashes, but its sweat-proof formulation makes it the perfect pick for hot summer days and nights.

And while at $47 it's not cheap, its one-application creamy formulation and uniquely designed brush make it a 'must try' according to fans.

Lancome's Monsieur Big Waterproof Mascara has surged in searches on image-sharing site Pinterest by a staggering 316 per cent

Part of this mascara's appeal lies in the fact that's waterproof and creates long, luscious lashes after a single application

The mascara is one that's perfect if you love long fluttery eyelashes without any hint whatsoever of clumping.

Its lash wand is designed to coat the lashes evenly with one application, and has been created in a unique manner so rather than a firm brush, soft wavy fibres pick up enough formula to ensure lashes are completely covered.

According to product information on Lancome's website, the secret to the mascara's success lies in its 'ultra-creamy formulation'.

YouTube makeup star Issey Hawker (pictured) reveals how the mascara creates the longest and most lavish lashes

Issey's eyelashes not only look significantly longer but as can be seen there's not even a hint of clumping

Those who've tried Lancome's Big Waterproof Mascara and left reviews on Mecca's website have hailed it 'the best waterproof mascara ever'.

One reviewer, a makeup artist who specialises in bridal makeup, wrote how she was always on the lookout for the perfect product for tearful brides.

'This mascara holds so well, no flaking, no smudging and separates the lashes really well. It also holds the lash curl very well making it an amazing mascara to use on its own or blend it with false lashes.'

Inka Errendira Ma Kim (pictured) demonstrates just how much of an incredible statement this mascara makes

Another, also a professional makeup artist, said alongside Lancome's Hypnose Drama, this mascara was her 'next favourite' one that offered the 'blackest of black pigment which goes on like cream'.

'It has a fantastic big brush for easy application and most important, gives dramatic volume.

It's simply amazing to see how it makes the eyes look so much more open and big. For people looking for a game changer mascara, this is definitely a must try!'.

While another added: 'I wore this when I was in Singapore and it lasted really well - I did still get some "panda eyes" but nowhere near as much or as fast as I have had with other mascaras.'
When it comes to the property market, for millennials it can be hard to know where to start.

But one savvy student couple Daniel and Melinda have turned over a $186,000 profit in just two years, after they bought and renovated their Gold Coast apartment.

Here, FEMAIL reveals how the pair did it - and spent just $24,811 on renovation.

Savvy student couple Daniel and Melinda have turned over a $186,000 profit in just two years, after they bought and renovated their Gold Coast apartment (pictured: the kitchen)

 Slide me  The savvy couple explained how they renovated the property, spending just $24,811 in the process (pictured: the main space before and after)

The young couple bought the property, which features two bedrooms and two bathrooms, in May 2016 for $335,000 - they later sold it in May 2018 for $565,000

 Slide me  'We knew first-hand what renovated properties were selling for in our target suburb on the Gold Coast, so we pounced on this property the day it came on the market,' Melinda said (pictured: the area before and after)

What are the figures? Property: 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment on the Gold Coast Purchased: $335,000 (May 2016) Sold price: $565,000 (May 2018) Renovation spend: $24,811 Net profit: $186,000 (after buying/selling/renovation and holding costs). Advertisement

The young couple bought the property, which features two bedrooms and two bathrooms, in May 2016 for $335,000.

They later sold it in May 2018 for $565,000.

'We knew first-hand what renovated properties were selling for in our target suburb on the Gold Coast, so we pounced on this property the day it came on the market,' Melinda told Renovating for Profit.

They explained that the property ticked lots of boxes because it was perfect for a cosmetic makeover and already boasted a great floor plan and oversized patio.

'It was located in a "gentrifying" suburb, with a lot of infrastructure upgrades and new developments happening,' Melinda - who is a Renovating for Profit student - added.

And while there was clearly work to be done, she said it already offered much of what they were looking for - in the form of open-plan living, good natural light and an expansive 40-square-metre terrace with a leafy outlook.

Daniel and Melinda explained the property ticked lots of boxes as it was perfect for a cosmetic makeover and already boasted a great floor plan (pictured: one of the bedrooms before)

And while there was work to be done, it already offered much of what they were looking for - in the form of open-plan living and good natural light (pictured: one of the bedrooms after)

It wasn't just the property that was a good find, but the area too.

The couple highlighted that it is on the doorstep of good cafes, restaurants and supermarkets, as well as being close to public transport.

The property became their principal place of residence throughout the renovation, which meant that they avoided capital gains tax, and they renovated it over a two-year period.

The couple highlighted that it is on the doorstep of good cafes, restaurants and supermarkets, as well as being close to public transport (pictured: the study bedroom after)

Daniel and Melinda centred their renovation around the kitchen, which the couple knew was the 'focal point' of the living space (pictured: the kitchen after)

What are Daniel and Melinda's tips for renovating? * Focus on the kitchen, as this is something many people see as the focal point of a home. * Modernise a kitchen with new tiles, paint and floor - and give it a modern feel with an L shape. * Use mirrored wardrobes in the bedroom to create an illusion of space. * Tap into body corporate funds to improve the apartment block in general as this will help. * Focus on the outside area, which can also add value. Advertisement

So what did Daniel and Melinda do?

First of all, they jackhammered up the tiles, removed all old carpet and instead installed high-gloss 'spotted gum' laminate flooring throughout.

Next, they removed the dated 'stipple' ceiling and re-plastered it for a more contemporary feel.

They then re-painted the entire place, by using a neutral palette and a darker shade to the main wall, putting floor-to-ceiling mirrored wardrobes in the two bedrooms to create the illusion of space.

As well as this, the couple installed ceiling fans in the living room and bedrooms, and air-conditioning in living areas to combat the Gold Coast's high humidity in summer.

 Slide me  They also honed in on the two bathrooms - the main room and the ensuite, which were both gutted and fitted with new fixtures and tiles (pictured before and after)

Daniel and Melinda centred their renovation around the kitchen, which the couple knew was the 'focal point' of the living space.

Daniel and Melinda said they re-jigged the layout, by removing the angled breakfast bar and cramped fridge and corner pantry, instead opting for a more modern L-shaped kitchen with white high-gloss Kaboodle flat-pack elements.

They also honed in on the two bathrooms - the main room and the ensuite, which were both gutted and fitted with new fixtures and tiles.

The feature lights were found at a clearance sale, while a laundry was integrated into the main bathroom.

 Slide me  Lastly, Daniel and Melinda thought they should focus on the outdoor area, by creating a resort-style al fresco entertaining area (pictured: before and after)

Lastly, Daniel and Melinda thought they should focus on the outdoor area, by creating a resort-style al fresco entertaining area.

They used paving paint for the concrete, installed a flat-pack pergola with a retractable cover and added black mesh balistrade screening to block the view from the street.

'We put sheer curtains on the pergola for wow factor, planter boxes with tropical with tropical palms doubled as bench seating, cordylines plants in pots, and outdoor cushions.'

They also tapped into $38,000 of body corporate funds to improve the apartment block in general, focusing on the roof, gutters and interior staircase.

'Due diligence told us that a couple without kids or downsizers would purchase the unit, so we strategically styled the second bedroom as a multi-purpose study with a sofa bed,' the couple explained.

They later wrote their own property blurb, hired a photographer to take images and produced a video to show off the property to its best potential.

The couple are not done with their renovations yet, and have now purchased a new unit in Brisbane which they intend to renovate.

 Slide me  Australian renovation expert Cherie Barber said it's all about a cosmetic refresh, which can breathe life into something old (pictured: the outdoor area before and after)

Speaking previously to FEMAIL about how you can make money on property, Australian renovation expert Cherie Barber said it's all about a cosmetic refresh, which can breathe life into something old.

'You need to choose your strategy. You should either focus on cosmetically enhancing properties for a smaller profit or the more lucrative path of structural renovation,' she said.

She also recommends adopting a 'cookie-cutter' mentality when redesigning and refurbishing the interior of your properties.

'The key is to find a winning signature style. Use the same colour scheme, same type of kitchen, same everything so when you start redoing multiple properties you almost create a production-line for yourself,' Cherie said.

'You don't need to reinvent the wheel for every project and if you do it this way you know exactly what you'll spend every single time.'
Fun-loving Prince Harry is so good at putting people at ease that it's just like chatting to a 'normal person' when you meet him, royal insiders have revealed, while his brother William maintains a 'faint awkwardness'.

Speaking as part of a new documentary The Story of the Royals, which airs this week on ABC, commentators reveal how Harry can make people laugh 'in seconds', and isn't afraid to joke at his own expense.

Meanwhile, William is more polished and charming and always knows the right thing to say, but maintains a 'faint awkawardness'.

The two-part documentary produced by People magazine and ABC also reveals how the Queen doesn't sleep with her beloved corgis because they snore.

According to the documentary The Story Of The Royals, which airs on ABC this week, Prince Harry can make anyone laugh in seconds and isn't afraid to joke at his own expense. PicturedL The royal on a visit to the StreetGames' Fit and Fed initiative in London in July 2017

Prince William is charming and knows the right things to say, but has a 'slight awkwardness', according to royal biographer Penny Junor. Pictured: William at a commemoration marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Amiens, at Amiens Cathedral in August 2018

When you speak to Prince Charles, you get the feeling the air to the throne is someone 'different', according to royal biographer Penny Junor. Pictured: The future king attending Royal Ascot in June 2018

Former soldier David Wiseman - one of the architects of Harry's Invictus Games, reveals in the documentary how the prince can only truly be himself when he's around veterans.

'I mean, he does have a cheeky side. He likes a joke, he likes his banter,' he explained. 'But there are only very few situations where he can let that shine, and one of those is when he's around the lads,' he explained.

'He understands he comes from a position of privilege, and he's not ashamed of that. He understands it's his duty to use that to have a positive impact.'

Wiseman added that Meghan is 'incredibly passionate' and says he believes the pair have huge power to affect change.

The Queen at Aberdeen Airport on her way to Balmoral with her beloved corgis in 1974. Her Majesty dotes on her dogs, but doesn't let them sleep in her bed with her as they snore

According to royal biographer Penny Junor, Willian is 'absolutely charming', and like his brother he's 'very funny'.

The prince is genuinely interested in people, according to the writer, but she added that he has a 'faint awkwardness' that's completely absent with Harry.

Penny Junor said that both future kings have an air of something 'different' about them, while Harry comes across just like any 'normal person'.

Harry makes you laugh within seconds. He will make a joke at his own expense. He will make a joke at your expense.

It's like talking to a normal person. With the Prince of Wales and with William, there's always a feeling that they are somebody a little bit different.'
Supernanny Jo Frost has a sparked a debate after questioning if parents are becoming 'lazy' and 'enabling' - describing how teachers are having to potty train fie-year-old.

Frost, 47, took to Twitter to ask why young children appear to be taking longer to reach crucial milestones in their development.

Explaining that she wasn't referring to kids with medical conditions, the parenting expert tweeted: 'Toddlers still on pacifiers; teachers potty training 5YO; 6YO still in pushchairs; bottoms still being wiped at 7YO.

'Have parents become lazy, enabling, Too helpful to Please? What is your take on this all,would love to hear your thoughts please.'

Other social media users were quick to react, with many suggesting 'lazy parenting' was to blame.

Supernanny Jo Frost (pictured on This Morning in April) has questioned if parents are becoming 'lazy' and 'enabling' after commenting on young children taking longer to reach crucial milestones in their development

Posting on Twitter, she described how teachers are still potty training five-year-olds while six-year-olds are still in pushchairs

One commented: 'Wow that is all so wrong! How embarrassing going to school & not being toilet trained.

'Not fair on the child. I accept some circumstances can't be helped though. However no excuse for lazy parenting.'

Another added: 'Lazy parenting!! My almost 3 year old tries to wipe his own bottom (I help occasionally) and is toilet training! Wouldn't dream of sending him to school not able to do either!!'

Meanwhile, one Twitter user wrote: 'Too busy on their iPhone etc to bother with children'.

Other social media users were quick to react, with many suggesting that lazy parenting was to blame (above). Some suggested parents were too busy on their iPhones

However, others suggested there was nothing wrong with children developing at different times.

Frost, who rose to fame on Channel 4's Supernanny (pictured at an event in 2016) asked her followers on Twitter for their thoughts on the issue

One wrote: 'Although it's not ideal - sometimes children take a bit longer or parents circumstances don't make it possible.

'Not always about laziness in my opinion.'

Another commented: 'I don't believe in pushing children to do something just because they have reached a certain age.

'If you push some kids too soon it just puts them back.'

Frost, who rose to fame on Channel 4's Supernanny programme, made her comments on Twitter after she shared a debate on Good Morning Britain last week about the right time to stop using a pushchair.

Agreeing with an expert who suggested that children should be out of a pushchair as soon as they can walk, Frost wrote: 'Saving time, finding excuses,robs our children of learning what is needed for them to thrive with their development.

'Find the middle ground parents, say NO to polarizing parenting.'
Kate Garraway has been mercilessly mocked by her GMB colleagues after it emerged she breastfed a cow for a 2008 documentary.

Kate, 51, was reminded of her cringeworthy stunt during a segment on new reality series Celebs on The Farm, which tasks pampered stars with getting stuck into hard-working rural life.

The presenters were trying their hand at milking a cow during Monday's show, when co-star Charlotte Hawkins brought up the stunt and a visibly embarrassed Kate replied: 'Now it was all part of a documentary.

'It was a serious piece of journalism on Channel 4 called Other People's Breast Milk about people who drink other people's breast milk.

'Now people were horrified by this, but the thing is when you give your baby formula you're giving it milk from the breast of a cow.'

Kate Garraway was reminded of this cringeworthy stunt, in which she breast fed a cow for a 2008 documentary on breast milk. It was during a GMB segment on new reality series Celebs on The Farm, which tasks pampered stars with getting stuck into hard-working rural life

'It's not something I'm proud of': After Kate Garraway's co-star Charlotte Hawkins brought up this breastfeeding stunt (from a 2008 documentary, pictured) during Monday's episode of Good Morning Britain, a visibly embarrassed Kate said: 'Now it was all part of a documentary'

Later on in the show, viewers were threatening to switch off following a bizarre segment which saw presenters milking a fake cow.

Kate Garraway, Jeremy Kyle and Charlotte Hawkins, who are standing in for Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, all took turns with the rubber udders on the chat show.

The presenters had just interviewed Bobby Norris and Lorraine Chase, who are taking part in a new reality series.

Kyle struggled to get any milk out and had to be helped by Kate, before Charlotte came over and had her turn.

The bizarre segment left viewers scratching their heads, with one joking it was 'time to watch the udder channel'.

One tweeted: 'Sorry GMB but I have turned over to BBC1. I need to know what's going on in the world. I don't want to watch Jeremy Kyle milk a cow.'

Kate Garraway, Jeremy Kyle and Charlotte Hawkins (pictured) took turns to milk a fake cow on Good Morning Britain on Monday

The bizarre segment left viewers scratching their heads, with one joking it was 'time to watch the udder channel' (pcitured)

A third said: 'What is this obsession with cows on GMB?', while another said it was 'utter rubbish' and commented that Charlotte must be 'mortified'.

The GMB presenters tried their hand at life on the farm by sitting on a milking stool and trying to milk the fake cow, which mooed as they worked.

Kyle went first but was quickly interrupted by Kate, who showed him how to pull the udder properly.

Kate took over from Kyle (pictured) and told him he had to 'pull not squeeze' before filling up the bucket

Kyle sat down on the studio floor to milk the cow (pictured). He is currently a stand in presenter while Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan are on holiday

The Good Morning Britain camera zoomed in as Kyle struggled to milk the rubber udders (pictured)

The presenters had just interviewed Bobby Norris and Lorraine Chase (pictured), who are taking part in Celebs on The Farm to see if they could handle being farmers

'You pull not squeeze. You've got to get your hand round it,' she said before taking over.

She admitted that she'd 'done it before' as she managed to fill the bucket up with milk.

Meanwhile Charlotte was hidden off camera before Kyle called her over to have a go, saying: 'Hawkins isn't playing ball.'

She then came and sat elegantly on the stool before milking the cow and pulling a face at the camera.

Kyle said: 'Oh look at that! She sits down like the Duchess of Sussex.'

Charlotte explained that her grandfather was a farmer so she'd had lots of practice with cows.
The chilling final episode of ITV drama Unforgotten aired last night, and left viewers gnashing their nails as the Bristol-based murderer was finally unmasked.

As the sixth episode of the hour-long detective drama reached a nerve-jangling crescendo, many of those watching at home took to social media to say they were 'too scared to sleep' after the drama played out.

The whodunnit thriller, in its third series, saw DCI Cassie Stuart (Nicola Walker) and DI Sunny Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) edge ever closer to finding their man, only to be led down a criminal cul-de-sac, where they realised not only did their evidence no longer make sense, but they were now likely to be hunting a serial killer.

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Unnerved: Prime suspect in the murder of a local teenager, Tim Finch (Alex Jennings) left viewers of the final episode of ITV drama Unforgotten on the edge of their seats as it was revealed the Bristol-based detective squad were now hunting a serial killer of adolescent girls

'She's acting her socks off!' Nicola Walker who played jittery cop DCI Cassie Stuart during the final interview with her chief suspect; some said the drama left them too scared to sleep

The first 30 minutes of the show, which is written by Chris Lang, set pulses racing, with it all proving too much for some.

@icansmellsnow took to Twitter to share their fear as the plot reached its peak, writing: 'Holy s***! Just had to get up and turn the lights on! #tense #Unforgotten

@kellyloumugg felt the same, saying: 'Not gonna lie - I have all the lights on. #Unforgotten.'

@Wendy09009 added: 'Omfg this is so intense'.

So, how did the tension ramp up? After DCI Stuart is seen reassuring teenage victim Hayley's family that the police team are close to making an arrest, of sinister doctor Tim Finch (Alex Jennings), the thriller then takes an unexpected twist when links to another murder is made.

With other suspects, Chris Lowe, James Hollis, and Pete Carr, all now firmly eliminated, viewers were left anticipating yet another twist - but there was no loitering unknown killer to be found; with Finch dramatically going against his previous own protestations to admit to killing two teenage girls.

The moment the creepy medic, who has claimed his innocence throughout, finally reveals he's the killer was amplified by deeply intense stares, close-ups galore and a dramatic musical backdrop.

When DI Khan reveals the evidence they'd been depending on to arrest Finch is in doubt, viewers were expecting another as yet unknown killer to surface

As it dawns on DCI Stuart that this case is far from closed; viewers at home were left on the edge of their seats - with some saying they'd turned to alcohol to see them through the drama

DCI Stuart and DI Khan began questioning Dr Finch...and against all odds, he finally gave them what they wanted...but not before requesting a cup of tea

Finch's unexpected words: 'I'd love a cup of tea first and then perhaps I'll go through everything with you' left viewers gasping with anticipation.

@clemsonsocial penned: '#Unforgotten So good! epic, amazing, but way too scared to sleep. I need to watch something calming now.'

@alisonpope uttered that she wasn't 'okay' after watching the hour-long stomach-flipper.

Others called quickly for BAFTAS for actors Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar and a fourth series, the odds of which are looking good if a tweet by writer Lang is anything to go by.

As the show wrapped up and praise poured forth on Twitter, Lang offered hope, writing: 'A lot of people have asked about #Unforgotten series 4 & I can certainly tell you....that an announcement will be made very soon! #Unforgotten4 @UnforgottenTV Watch this space!'

The news was music to the ears of many including @elegantpianist, who wrote: 'Loved #Unforgotten #itv best drama Ive seen in years. I hope theres a series 4. PLEASE!!'

@RobMoore_1 added: 'How good was #Unforgotten last night? Best programme of the year by far that had to watch live, step up from series 1 & 2 ... series 4 please!'
An entrepreneur who made it to the finals of The Apprentice has revealed she's banned staff from gossiping in the three companies she runs.

Pregnant Michaela Wain, who appeared in last year's series of the BBC show, said she thinks 'chatting over the water cooler' is counter-productive and comparable to bullying.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Monday, the 33-year-old said it was a her 'duty' to make sure her staff don't 'go home crying every night' after becoming the target of office gossips.

Her comments were crticised by GMB viewers who claimed it would be 'impossible' to ban gossiping, and compared the idea to 'thought police'.

The Apprentice star Michaela Wain, 33, appeared on GMB on Monday (pictured) and revealed she had banned her staff from gossiping at her three companies - saying it was her 'duty' to protect her staff

Michaela, who runs three companies - 3D Custom Coverings, Vantage Utility Connections, and Design and Build Construction - was debating the issue after the news that several Australian firms have banned gossiping in the workplace.

And Australian workplace expert Rose Bryant-Smith said the common habit could end up seriously affecting your career.

Michaela supported the move, saying companies should follow suit and 'nip gossiping in the bud'.

She explained: 'Everybody's got different personalities and the way I would deal with something isn't necessarily how a weaker character would deal with it so you just need to nip it in the bud because it's not productive.

'No sales are going to come from Sandra putting on three pound are they?'

Michaela's comments were criticised by Good Morning Britain viewers (pictured), who took to Twitter to say it would be 'impossible' to ban gossiping

Michaela appeared in The Apprentice on BBC One last year (pictured in a promo picture for the show)

Viewers disagreed with her arguments, and said it was 'ridiculous' to think bosses can control gossiping.

One tweeted: 'Ban oxygen next......oh please just stop. Stop it! This ''Ban it'' is getting ridiculous.'

'What next... the thought police?' another posted.

A third said: 'How can you ban people taking? Honestly the western world with its thought police has gone mad.'

Another wrote: 'OMG how ridiculous! They are trying to control every aspect of our lives!'

However, Michaela, who is six months pregnant, said the move isn't about trying to control people, but having 'morals'.

She continued: 'When it comes to something like this, gossiping and people's feelings, how is that PC? It's not, it's just about being a nice person and growing up with morals.

'You just don't speak about people and cause trouble; it's just unnecessary, nasty and I personally don't agree with it.'

She added: 'I think I have a duty to my staff to make sure everybody in the office is happy and comfortable and If I hear somebody's been going home crying at night of course I'm going to intervene.'

Michaela has revealed she is six months pregnant with her first child with her Apprentice co-star Harrison Jones. Pictured on the red carpet together in London in June

Earlier this year Michaela revealed she is expecting her first child with her Apprentice co-star Harrison Jones.

Speaking to The Sun, Michaela revealed the couple are expecting a baby boy and said she was 'very happy' to be having another baby, as she also has a child from a previous relationship.

Michaela's baby news comes after she previously revealed she had suffered several miscarriages, and calls her eight-year-old son - also named Harrison - her 'miracle child'.
Meghan's 200,000 Givenchy wedding gown is set to go on display at Windsor Castle later this year.

Royal sources say the dress will be on show to the public as part of an exhibition at the Queen's residence in Berkshire, where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex tied the knot in May.

The stunning ivory gown is expected to bring in thousands of visitors to Windsor Castle, in what has already been a bumper year for the attraction.

The Royal Collection Trust, which manages the public openings of the Queen's official residences, told the Daily Express that any announcements would be made later this year.

Meghan's 200,000 wedding dress by Givenchy designer Clare Waight Keller is set to go on display at Windsor Castle. The Duchess of Sussex is pictured above leaving St George's Chapel on her wedding day in May

The stunning ivory wedding dress by Givenchy is expected to bring thousands of visitors to Windsor Castle, where Prince Harry and Meghan tied the knot in May (above, the couple riding past the castle during their wedding procession)

However, a source suggested that an agreement has already been made to put the Givenchy gown on display later this year.

It comes as Windsor Castle has seen a dramatic rise in visitors this summer, thanks to the frenzy over the royal wedding in May.

Bookings have risen by 92 per cent this summer, as tourists flock to the Queen's residence to see where Prince Harry and Meghan tied the knot.

It is likely to be a record-breaking year for Windsor Castle, which was visited by 1.4million in 2017 - the second-highest figure for the attraction.

Meghan (pictured leaving St George's Chapel with Prince Harry) surprised the fashion world in May by choosing Clare Waight Keller, the British artistic director of French fashion house Givenchy, to design her bridal dress

The Duchess of Sussex (leaving St George's Chapel in May) wore her Givenchy gown with a 16ft-long veil, embroidered with the flowers of all 53 countries of the Commonwealth

Meanwhile, the interest around the royal residence is only set to continue, as Princess Eugenie and her wine merchant fiance Jack Brooksbank prepare to tie the knot at St George's Chapel in October.

A spokesperson for the Royal Collection Trust told the Express: 'It's fair to say it's very busy down there.'

Meghan, 37, surprised the fashion world in May by choosing Clare Waight Keller, the British artistic director of French fashion house Givenchy, to design her bridal dress.

The Duchess of Sussex wore the sweeping gown with a 16ft-long veil, embroidered with the flowers of all 53 countries of the Commonwealth.

The Duchess of Sussex later changed into a more contemporary halterneck dress by Stella McCartney for her evening reception at Frogmore House.

Meghan (above, leaving Windsor Castle with Prince Harry for their evening reception) later changed into a halterneck dress by Stella McCartney for their reception at Frogmore House

Speaking about designing Meghan's wedding dress, Waight Keller previously revealed how Prince Harry spoke to her after the ceremony at St George's Chapel.

'He came straight up to me and he said "Oh my God, thank you, she looks absolutely stunning",' she said.

The Givenchy creative director said Meghan and Harry are just 'so in love', adding: 'They were just radiant at that time.

'Well I think everybody saw on television - he was absolutely in awe I think. She looked just incredible and it showed.'

A spokesperson for the Royal Collection Trust told MailOnline: 'We have nothing to announce at present.'
A terminally ill mother has revealed the heart-wrenching letters she's writing to her one-year-old daughter to read after she dies.

Sophie George, 27, of Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, was told she only has 18 months to live in February after being diagnosed with a stage four brain tumour after experiencing headaches.

The devastated full-time mother-of-one said the hardest thing is knowing she won't be around for her daughter Marcie Godfrey, who she shares with husband Jay, 28.

Just a day after her shock diagnosis, Sophie proposed to Jay, and they plan to marry in September of this year, to create a lasting memory for their little girl.

She is now writing letters for the day Marcie starts school, her first heartbreak, when she gets married and every birthday - and she hopes that the letters will bring comfort to her daughter during key moments in her life.

Sophie George, 27, from Essex, is writing daughter Marcie, 1, a letter for the key moments in her future after she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in February and given 18 months to live (seen in matching tartan with Marcie and husband Jay, 28)

In one heart-wrenching letter Sophie writes: 'My darling Marcie.

'Today is your first day of big school and even though mummy isn't there to hold your hand or kiss you goodbye as you go in to your class, I will be watching over you and keeping you safe.

'There is a tissue in your school bag that daddy has sprayed with Mummy's smell so if you get scared just give it a smell to remind you of mummy and that everything will be okay.

'Some children might not be very nice to you and you might get sad by that but don't worry mummy will always love you very much.

'Whenever you feel sad give your 'mummy' teddies' hand a squeeze to hear my voice.'

Sophie said: 'I want to make memories and I want her to remember the times she had with her mum.

Pictured: Sophie's scar after having the tumour removed earlier this year. The terminally ill young mother is now undergoing chemotherapy in the hopes of extending her 18-month life expectancy and to spend as much time with her daughter as possible

Sophie is writing letters for the day Marcie starts school, her first heartbreak, when she gets married and every birthday - and Sophie hopes that the letters will bring comfort to her daughter during key moments in her life (Sophie seen with husband Jay, 28, and their little girl this year)

Sophie's letter to Marcie on her first day of school 'My darling Marcie. 'Today is your first day of big school and even though mummy isn't there to hold your hand or kiss you goodbye as you go in to your class, I will be watching over you and keeping you safe. 'There is a tissue in your school bag that daddy has sprayed with Mummy's smell so if you get scared just give it a smell to remind you of mummy and that everything will be okay. 'Some children might not be very nice to you and you might get sad by that but don't worry mummy will always love you very much. 'Whenever you feel sad give your 'mummy' teddies' hand a squeeze to hear my voice.' Advertisement

'It scares me every day that I won't be with her. I've started writing her little letters for her to open as she's growing up.

'I've written one for when she has her first day at school, for when she has her first period and first heartbreak and for when she gets married and has her first baby.

'I'm writing cards for every birthday. I'm telling her that I'll always be watching over her and keeping her safe,' she added.

'They will be for those times when she needs her mum and so that she's got something of me to keep my memory alive.

'They're for those moments when she would maybe be talking to her mum.

'Marcie is my life. She's an energetic ball of fun who makes people laugh with her funny cheeky character.'

Sophie and Marcie's dad Jay, who have been together for four and half years after meeting on Facebook, are also crowdfunding for help towards medical expenses.

Pictured: Sophie's scar after the operation. The full time mother-of-one was given the shock diagnosis of stage 4 brain cancer after complaining of headaches and going for an MRI scan which revealed the tragic diagnosis

Sophie George, 27, receiving treatment for her cancer in hospital. Sophie is now having chemotherapy having just finished six weeks of radiotherapy to try and prolong her life.

Sophie said she first started to get headaches in January and by February they were getting really bad - even waking her up in the night.

Sophie said: 'It was for 24 hours a day for about three weeks.

'It was like a shooting pain all over my head. I was taking strong painkillers but they wouldn't touch it.

'Jay's mum took me to opticians but I was being sick and couldn't speak.

Sophie George, 27, seen with a letter that she wrote for her daughter Marcie Godrey, one (seen as a baby in the picture), and a journal full of their memories and photos that she will be passing onto the little girl

Sophie George, 27, seen with the letter that she wrote for her daughter Marcie Godrey, one, underwent a six-hour operation to remove 90 per cent of the tumour and was told they would target the rest with chemotherapy and radiotherapy

'I went to A&E to see if I could have a scan and they told me it didn't warrant one so sent me away with some painkillers.

'That was on a Thursday and by the Sunday I couldn't see or speak so we went back to the hospital.

'I had an MRI scan which revealed I had a 4.5cm tumour on the left frontal lobe.

When I got there they went through everything. She said a lot of people have a stage one or two tumour but mine was a stage four and it was incurable

'At that point I was just relieved to have a diagnosis. I was relieved to find out what it was and that they'd given me medication to stop the headaches.

'You don't think it's going to be cancer. I remember thinking it would be fine.

'I thought they'd remove it and it would be okay. I never thought for one minute it would be what it was.'

Sophie underwent a six-hour operation to remove 90 per cent of the tumour and was told they would target the rest with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Sophie said: 'When I woke up from the operation it was a shock. There was quite a big scar on my head and it was a shock to see myself like that.

Pictured: Sophie George, 27, and her daughter Marcie Godrey, one, posing together in her bed at home this year as they capture every moment together to put together memories for their little girl to look back on

Pictured: Sophie after the operation to remove the tumour. She is looking at options in Germany for more advanced treatment, however this is more expensive and she isn't sure they can afford it

'The surgeon mentioned it could be a glioblastoma brain tumour but they would have to do a biopsy.

'It took 10 days for the results to come through. That was horrible. I cried every day.

'They rang me after the tenth day which was on a Monday and told me to come in on the Thursday to pick up my results.

'I thought it would be okay because if it would have been bad news they would have called me in earlier. So travelling up to the hospital we were all feeling very positive.

'When I got there they went through everything. She said a lot of people have a stage one or two tumour but mine was a stage four and it was incurable.

'They said they couldn't say how long I have left but the average is 18 months.

'Obviously it was heartbreaking. I wouldn't see my little baby grow up. She'd just turned one and a half and I was thinking I'll never see her go to school.

'I was with my mum, dad, partner and his parents. They broke down. We were all devastated.'

Sophie is now having chemotherapy having just finished six weeks of radiotherapy to try and prolong her life.

The couple are also planning their dream wedding as Sophie decided to propose to builder Jay the day after her devastating diagnosis (Jay, Sophie and Marcie seen posing together at their local pub this summer)

Sophie said: 'Physically I've lost some of my hair due to radiotherapy. That's one of the worst physical aspects.

'Marcie is too young to understand what's happening. I have a hair piece so she doesn't notice that I look any different.

'At the moment I feel fine. I've not had any headaches.

'They've told me towards the end I may start to lose my memory and that scares me that my daughter will see me like that and that maybe I won't remember who she is.

'I'm trying to be as positive as I can and taking each day as it comes. I'm trying to prolong my life for as long as I can.

'We are looking at other options in Germany but it's very expensive so I'm not sure how realistic that is.'

The couple are also planning their dream wedding as Sophie decided to propose to builder Jay the day after her devastating diagnosis.

Sophie said: 'I want to make the best of the time I've got left with Marcie and Jay so we're getting married in September.

Pictured: Sophie George, 27, and her daughter Marcie Godrey, one, pose together on her bed at home. The pair are documenting their moments together with as many pictures as possible.

'We'd spoken about marriage before but we weren't engaged. I thought 'we've got to do it'. It seemed right. I want us to be husband and wife.

'The day after I got my diagnosis I said we'll get married this year.'

The couple are to marry at The Warren Estate in Maldon, Essex, who have offered the venue for free while a local estate agent has paid for her wedding dress.

Sophie said: 'It's taken a lot of the stress away. Everyone is coming together and the support we've had from people has been amazing.

'We're really looking forward to it. We've got a videographer to make sure that the whole day is captured and Marcie will be able to look back on it.

'It will mean everything to me to be married.'

The couple are now planning plenty of trips together to make memories with Marcie while they can.

WHAT ARE ASTROCYTOMA TUMOURS? Astrocytomas are the most common type of primary brain tumour within the group of brain tumours called gliomas. Gliomas are brain tumours starting in the glial cells, which are the supporting cells in the nervous system. There are three types of gliomas; astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma and ependymoma. The most common glioma are astrocytomas, which are found in the cells of the brain that support the nerve cells. Gliomas can be low grade (slow growing) or high grade (fast growing), and doctors use these grades to determine what kind of treatment is needed. Source: Cancer Research and The Brain Tumour Charity Advertisement

They've already taken her to Peppa Pig World and Disneyland Paris and are also hoping to visit Disneyland in Florida.

Sophie said: 'I'm only in my twenties and you don't ever think you'll be facing something like this.

'It makes you cherish the little things and be grateful for every moment. I'm so grateful for everything.

'I know Marcie will be fine. She's going to be so well looked after by her dad and we've got a big family who love her to bits.

'Jay has been my rock ever since I met him. He's looked after me and gone above and beyond to make me happy.

'Seeing him with Marcie and the way he looks at her with so much love. It makes me feel warm inside as I know she will always be looked after.'

Jay and Sophie's dad Anthony George are taking part in the three peaks challenge later this month to raise money to help the couple make memories.

Sophie was diagnosed with a stage four brain tumour, which is also known as a Glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma is the more common name for the type of brain tumour known as a grade 4 astrocytoma. Glioblastoma are 'diffuse', meaning they have threadlike tendrils that extend into other parts of the brain. They are fast growing and likely to spread. You may also hear them called glioblastoma multiforme, GBM or GMB4.
A mother-of-three has revealed how she had no idea she was pregnant until she went into labour and gave birth to her fourth child on her bathroom floor.

Sarah Bailey, 29, from Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, was already mother to son Rio, 11, and twins Isabella and Tamiya, almost two, with partner David Lee, 29, when she started experiencing pain in April.

Sarah thought she may be constipated, but when she began to lose massive amounts of blood, her mother Pat, 60, took a look to see what was happening and realised she was in labour.

Minutes later, Pat was delivering her own granddaughter - Desirae, who weighed a healthy 7lb 14oz, on the toilet floor as Sarah blacked out.

Sarah said the surprise birth had come as a complete shock as she had been using contraception with her partner, hadn't gained any weight during her pregnancy and had continued to have what she believed were her periods. And she had drunk alcohol throughout.

Later Sarah was told that the position of her placenta, which was in front of her uterus, was masking her bump.

Sarah Bailey, 29, from North Yorkshire, thought she was experiencing constipation pains in April 2018 - but ended up giving birth to her fourth child, baby girl Desirae, on her bathroom floor (pictured with partner David Lee, 29, at two months pregnant in August 2017)

Sarah thought she may be constipated, but when she began to lose massive amounts of blood, her mother Pat, 60, took a look to see what was happening and realised she was in labour (pictured at six months pregnant)

And there was further shock to come when Desirae stopped breathing shortly after her birth but thanks to quick work by paramedics, who quickly arrived on the scene, mother and baby were both doing well.

Speaking about the moment she gave birth, Sarah said: 'It was so surreal. I could hear the voices and remember seeing a commotion around me, but it all felt miles away, like I wasn't really there.

'I'd had no idea I was pregnant, let alone seconds away from giving birth.

'When Desirae was born, I felt guilty that I'd been drinking and running around on my feet all day as normal while I'd not known she was there.

'I asked the doctors if it was my fault she hadn't been breathing at first, but they said it was just where her body had gone into shock.'

Desirae's birth on 12 April wasn't the only surprise Sarah and her partner, security worker David Lee, 29, had experienced.

After having their son Rio, now 11, the couple spent years as a family of three.

Then, in 2016, they decided they were ready to expand their brood, so Sarah had her contraceptive implant removed - and ended up conceiving twin girls, Isabella and Tamiya.

'We were dumbfounded when we found out. Twins run in both our families, so I suppose it was inevitable, but suddenly we'd gone from a three to a five,' she said.

'When the shock passed, we were delighted though.'

Sarah took to Facebook to make the shock announcement about the new arrival, writing: 'Well what a day its been didn't think for 1 min we would be ending our day with our extra addition to the family, no idea I was pregnant let alone ready to give birth.

'We have no name yet but every1 meet our little girl.

Baby bailey-lee born at home 2.50pm. 7lb 14oz xx.'

Desirae, pictured, was born on 12 April after Sarah gave birth on the bathroom floor with the help of her mother Pat, 60. Sarah made a Facebook announcement to her shocked friends soon after (pictured)

Mother Sarah has revealed she thought her labour pains were constipation as she had no idea she was pregnant until she gave birth in April. Throughout her pregnancy she continued to drink alcohol, including at her brother's wedding (pictured) (L-R) David, Isabella, Rio, Tamiya and Sarah in August 2017 - when Sarah would have already been two months pregnant

Sarah is seen with daughter Tamiya - one of her twin girls, who will be two next month. Sarah's pregnancy with her girls wasn't all plain sailing, though, as they were born seven weeks early on September 11 2016, meaning they had to spend 17 days in hospital in incubators before they were strong enough to be discharged

Sarah's pregnancy with her girls wasn't all plain sailing, though, as they were born seven weeks early on September 11 2016, meaning they had to spend 17 days in hospital in incubators before they were strong enough to be discharged.

From there, life ticked along as normal for the family, with them all jetting over to Ireland for a wedding in August 2017.

There, drinks flowed as guests toasted the happy couple  something Sarah now looks back on with feelings of guilt.

'It was my brother's wedding, so I'd gone to his bride's hen do then the big day,' she recalled. 'We've since been able to work out that I must have conceived in July 2017, so it feels bizarre to look back on those wedding photos now knowing I was pregnant in them.

'I feel bad that I drank, but I had no idea Desirae existed then.'

For months, Sarah showed absolutely no symptoms of pregnancy.

Sarah and baby Desirae are seen at her mother Pat's wedding in August 2018 (right) and during a day out in the summer (left) as Sarah adjusts to being a mother for the fourth time

Isabella, David, Rio and Sarah seen on holiday in May 2018 - just a month after she gave birth to their fourth child baby Desirae. Having not gained any weight during her fourth pregnancy, she was still able to fit into her size 10 jeans, and medics have since discovered that the position of her placenta, which was in front of her uterus, was masking her bump

HOW CAN WOMEN BE PREGNANT WITHOUT REALISING IT? Janet Fyle, of the Royal College of Midwives said although this situation is uncommon, it is not unheard of. She told MailOnline: It might happen for a variety of reasons. Its different for any women. There are some women with good abdominal muscles and fat and the baby lies flat against the back so they dont have a bump. Some women wont have the normal pregnancy symptoms - some feel the baby moving inside them, but some dont.' She added: A lot of the symptoms of pregnancy are "everyday" symptoms. So they might not know that having wind is a sign of pregnancy. Especially if theyve never had a baby. Advertisement

Having not gained any weight, she was still able to fit into her size 10 jeans, and medics have since discovered that the position of her placenta, which was in front of her uterus, was masking her bump.

She also thought she was still having regular monthly periods  but now knows the bleeding was actually her placenta slowly rupturing.

'Doctors have said it was just one of those unpreventable things and can't say exactly what caused it. I thought it was just a heavy period,' she said. 'I'd not long had the twins, so assumed it was my body getting back to normal, and that the hormones and trauma of the birth had had an effect.

'David and I had been using condoms, so we weren't having unprotected sex. But I guess we were just in that tiny percentage of people they don't work for.'

Then, in April 2018, Sarah started to experience terrible back ache.

She added: 'This wasn't normal back pain. It was almost behind my lungs.

Desirae pictured in an ambulance after she was delivered. Desirae had been born not breathing, and had to be resuscitated on the bed after Sarah went into a shock labour in April

'Doctors have since said that Desirae was breech virtually the entire pregnancy, so the pain was her moving against my back, ready to get into position for being born.'

Then, on 12 April, Sarah was at home, due to have her hair cut and coloured by a mobile hairdresser, when she had to go lie down instead because she was in so much pain.

Assuming she was badly constipated, something she had suffered with in the past, she asked her mum Pat, who lived nearby, to go out and get some laxatives.

Within a few minutes though, she was racing to the upstairs toilet, where she was horrified to discover she was bleeding.

After three days in hospital, Sarah and Desirae, who'd been born weighing a healthy 7lb 14oz, and is believed to have been full term, came home (pictured at a week old)

'It sounds graphic, but it was like big clots gushing from me,' she said. 'I felt like my bowel was going to fall out.

'I felt so claustrophobic in that toilet. I was terrified. Mum deserves a medal, she was trying her best to reassure me that I'd be okay.

'She examined me, and could see something but wasn't sure what it was at first. Then, she suddenly realised and told me, "You're having a baby".

Realising the urgency of the situation, David, who'd been looking after Rio and the twins downstairs, phoned for an ambulance.

Her memory still very hazy, Sarah recalls feeling an overwhelming urge to push before glimpsing a baby between her legs and passing out.

Coming to, her house was swarming with paramedics, who broke the news that Desirae had been born not breathing, and had to be resuscitated on the bed.

As Sarah had given away all her baby supplies, thinking she'd never need them again, the now mother-of-four, was completely unprepared  but kind family and friends rallied round to gather donations. Pictured, one of Sarah's twins Isabella, and Desirae at a few weeks old

Now the picture of health, Desirae is doted on by her siblings after her shock arrival. Pictured, Desirae at just a few months old playing with her twin sisters Isabella and Tamiya at home

Luckily, the tot quickly started breathing normally, and she and Sarah were then raced to Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital to be checked over.

'I'd given birth very quickly with no pain relief, so my body was in complete shock, which is why I blacked out,' she said. 'All I wanted was my mum. At some point in hospital, I must've drifted off again, because suddenly I woke up and Mum was there at my bedside.

'She said, 'The baby is absolutely fine.' At first, I'd no idea what she meant. Then I remembered I had given birth.

'David was there too, utterly astonished. He just kept saying, "Oh my god, we have another baby girl".

'We didn't know how to tell people, so David suggested posting on Facebook so everyone knew in one go. At first, people thought I was messing around and that I'd posted a picture of a doll  but they soon realised I was completely serious.'

After three days in hospital, Sarah and Desirae, who'd been born weighing a healthy 7lb 14oz, and is believed to have been full term, came home.

As she'd given away all her baby supplies, thinking she'd never need them again, the now mother of four was left unprepared  but kind family and friends rallied round to gather donations.

Now the picture of health, Desirae is doted on by her siblings.

Sarah has had a slightly tougher time, fighting off womb infections and still possibly in need of a blood transfusion.

Desirae, who was born not breathing, is now the picture of health, and is doted on by her three older siblings, but Sarah, who was unaware she was pregnant, says she is happy with her brood and plans to stop at four children

Sarah said the surprise birth of Desirae - pictured - had come as a complete shock as she had been using contraception with her partner, hadn't gained any weight during her pregnancy and had continued to have what she believed were her periods

But despite everything, she feels lucky to be alive  and a mum to her miracle girl.

'People have been amazing. Bags and bags of baby things were donated to us. I can't thank everyone enough,' she said.

'This has all been such a whirlwind. I still shudder to think what would've happened if I'd been alone with nobody to help me, or if Mum was forced to choose between saving me and Desirae.

'She deserves a medal. We still can't quite believe she delivered her granddaughter.

'Rio is over the moon with Desirae, and the twins love fussing over her. She's such a wonderful little baby, and she's living proof that the body doesn't always react to pregnancy in the way you'd expect.'
Cathay Pacific flight attendant Lenni Liu is in the sky more than most top models, business moguls and even the Kardashians.

But the 34-year-old doesn't waste time when she's on the ground, using her layovers as a means of seeing more of the world's most iconic sites.

'I've been fortunate enough to travel to numerous places as a flight attendant. Some of my highlights have been Blausee in Switzerland, Toronto, Johannesburg and San Francisco,' she told FEMAIL.

Cathay Pacific flight attendant Lenni Liu (left) is in the sky more than top models, business moguls and even the Kardashians

Lenni (left of left and right) has visited Dublin (left), Peru, the Philippines and Barcelona - which she calls the foodie capital of the world (right in Jordan)

Cebu in the Philippines allowed for swimming with whale sharks (pictured)

On Valentine's Day she found herself in Switzerland staying in a lakeside cabin, for instance.

'I remember sitting by the fire when it began to snow outside, which created one of the most beautiful and romantic views you can imagine,' she explained.

In Canada's city of Toronto she decided to get truly 'adventurous' and explore the local islands.

Out in the world! Lenni's visit to Africa was one she's not likely to forget (pictured)

Standing structures: The architecture in Barcelona (left) and Jordan (right) were a highlight

'Machu Picchu is one of those historic picture-perfect places you need to visit,' she said

'I bought a waterproof backpack from duty-free, and rented a kayak and armed with my camera in my bag I paddled through the islands taking photos as I went,' she said.

'Another memory I won't forget was once during a layover in San Francisco, a colleague and I drove about an hour out of the city to go pick cherries, peaches and plums. We ended up with about 20 kilos of cherries which we needed to share around.'

While it may seem as though so much time away from home would make it difficult to socialise, Lenni has never had a problem.

While it may seem as though so much time away from home would make it difficult to socialise, Lenni has never had a problem (pictured in Jordan)

'Funnily enough, becoming a flight attendant has actually improved my social life,' she explained (pictured in Africa)

'Funnily enough, becoming a flight attendant has actually improved my social life,' she explained.

'Being able to travel so easily and so far has allowed me to keep in touch with friends and family all around the world.

'My two best friends live in New York and San Francisco, and because Cathay Pacific flies in and out of these destinations so regularly, we get to spend quality time together despite living in different countries.

'Once I visited my friend in San Fran eight times in one year. It was the best.

'I've also made great friends with my colleagues, especially during layovers. We often get to explore the cities we are in and get to know each other really well.'

Lenni has spent a good amount of time exploring the capital cities (pictured in Bangkok)
Elise Webber was travelling home to Sydney from Brisbane via a Jetstar flight when staff members allegedly refused to accommodate Bobby's disability

A mother has slammed an airline after she was forced to carry her four-year-old quadriplegic son up a flight of stairs onto the plane without any assistance.

Elise Webber was travelling home to Sydney from Brisbane via a Jetstar flight on Saturday night when staff members allegedly refused to accommodate Bobby's disability.

The mother claimed she had no choice but to carry her boy - who weighs 17kg - up the flight of stairs after his wheelchair was taken away to be 'loaded in a cargo'.

And to make things worse, Mrs Webber claimed not only did she have her son in her arms, but she needed to lug a torso restraint, a carry-on bag and an iPad.

'I don't know what was worse - me looking around desperately for a knight in shining armour to save me from my harrowing ordeal or the Jetstar staff member who asked me if I have any other kids and if there is anything "wrong" with her too,' the mother claimed.

A Jetstar spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia the company has reached out to Mrs Webber to apologise about the experience she had after travelling with the airline.

'We're very sorry to hear about Mrs Webber's experience and have reached out to her directly to offer our sincere apologies and to also provide her with a full refund as a gesture of goodwill,' the Jetstar spokeswoman said.

'We are investigating what happened and have reminded our airport teams of the correct procedures when supporting customers requiring special assistance.

'Our customer team spoke directly to Mrs Webber today, apologised and advised that her concerns have been escalated to our airport manager and the right teams in the organisations.

'They will give her another call with the outcome of the internal investigation regarding the incident.'

The mother claimed she had no choice but to carry her son - who weighs 17kg - up the stairs after his wheelchair was taken away to be 'loaded in a cargo' (picture of Bobby by the plane)

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Mrs Webber said she appreciated the 'kind gesture' but she wanted to hear Jetstar's version of events.

'I appreciate their kind gesture of the refund however I look forward to hearing from them about how going forward their service in relation to customers with different abilities can be improved,' she said.

'I'm interested to know their procedures as there seemed to be no continuity when it came to passenger transfers to and from the gate when checking in.'

Prior to arriving at Brisbane Airport, the mother claimed she called the airline to inform them about her son's disability, needs and his wheelchair size.

'I contacted Jetstar to book the flights and informed them of all of Bobby's needs and his wheelchair's weight, length, height and that it is a fixed structure that can't be folded down,' she explained on Bobby the Brave Facebook page.

'On the way to Queensland, they were fantastic and what upset me most is that there is no consistency in procedures when assisting impaired passengers.

'I would love to hear Jetstar's version of events and how they could have improved their service to assist me in a safe environment for my son.

'I actually look forward to a positive resolve for both of us.'

The mother claimed she was forced to carry her quadriplegic son up a flight of stairs of the plane without any assistance (pictured at the airport with all their carry-on belongings)

The story of Bobby Webber Bobby Webber was just seven months old when he was left a quadriplegic after he suffered horrific abuse at the hands of his uncle over a four-hour period at a Central Coast home in NSW in September 2014. Andrew Nolan was babysitting the couple's baby when they were on their honeymoon on the Gold Coast. His devastated parents rushed to the hospital where doctors told them to turn off the life support because he would never recover from the severe injuries. He endured multiple skull fractures from blunt force trauma, blood pooling in his eye from being shaken so violently, fractured vertebrae, bruised genitalia and bite marks on his body. But against all odds, Bobby managed to keep breathing and has since made a remarkable recovery more than three years on. Nolan has been sentenced to at least 11 and a half years behind bars. Advertisement

Following the flight, the heartbroken mother spoke out about her 'harrowing ordeal' on social media after she was left in tears.

'I was extremely anxious for our flight home. I just had a feeling that it was not going to be as seamless as it was on the way to Queensland,' she said.

'I arrived at the airport to check in, allowing two hours before my flight so that should any issues arise there is plenty of time for them to be corrected - I am very glad I decided to do that...

'I go up to the counter to check us in and after about half an hour back and forth, we get told "Bobby's chair is too heavy to take to the tarmac and needs to be loaded in cargo". Okay that's fine but what do we do now...'

Ms Webber claims she was then told by a staff member: 'Can you carry him to the gate and up the stairs to the plane?'

'To which I respond absolutely not. He is far too heavy and it is extremely dangerous not only for Bobby but for me as well,' she claimed.

'Oh and did I mention I was also carrying their torso restraint in my arms that they told me they barely knew how to use because they "don't have to very often" as well as my carry on luggage.

'Suddenly Bobby's chair was taken and here I am with Bobby in my arms, a torso restraint that should have been on the plane, my carry on bag and Bobby's iPad.

As tears filled her eyes, the desperate mother then asked a staff member how she was going to carry everything, including her son, on her own.

'He bought over a wheelchair which was just as big an insult as the sibling question. A tiny chair with no support whatsoever. I stated once more "Bobby's a quadriplegic he can't sit unaided",' she claimed.

'I was then offered, by chance a stroller that by sheer dumb luck, had been left just near the baggage claim. The staff member himself told me that these were never usually around and how lucky we were.

'Lucky is DEFINITELY NOT the word I would use.'

The little boy was left a quadriplegic after he suffered horrific abuse at just seven months old

She strapped her son to the stroller, only to be told she needed to take him back out and put all their belongings on the conveyor belt.

'I strapped Bobby in and we were nearly there... so close to boarding the plane, relief that Bobby's Dad will be meeting us on the other side,' she said.

'I reach security and boom what do you know... once again I am asked to do the near bloody impossible.

'Take Bobby out of the stroller, put all of our stuff on the conveyor belt including the stroller, all the while holding 17kg Bobby in my arms.

'By this time I was barely holding back the tears. Jetstar and Queensland airport you've nearly broken me but not quite yet... let me give you another chance shall I?'

When the family arrived in Sydney, the mother claims there were no chairs to assist or anyone to offer any help with carrying their things.

'We board the plane via a back door sort of situation and a lift... we get sat down and enjoy our flight... we arrive in Sydney and that's it... NO CHAIR to assist, no one even offering to help with our carry on,' she claimed.

'To say I was heartbroken, embarrassed by the numerous comments made towards Bobby (he is asleep)... No guys he is a quad and this stupid stroller can't help him hold his head up and the sheer stress it caused for myself and Bobby has made me rethink travelling ever again.

'If this is the way a person with a disability is going to be treated not just by an airline but also an airport, there needs to be a serious investigation as to why there are no procedures in place that can eliminate everything that happened to Bobby and I.

'I just don't understand how on the way there it was seamless and Bobby was treated with such respect and on the way home the complete opposite.

'The lack of empathy from some staff is human error but Jetstar need to take a long hard look at how their treatment causes anguish and upset to the already vulnerable.'
Anne Boden, 58, is CEO of Starling Bank, which she founded in 2017. She lives in London.

I didnt set out to be a banker. I was born in Swansea, where I did a degree in computer science.

When I graduated, I applied for jobs in that field but my mum told me to apply for one job in a bank, as a safe option.

I joined Lloyds Bank in London in 1981. I may be one of the only bank CEOs who has ever served behind the counter in a branch.

Anne Boden, 58, is CEO of Starling Bank, which she founded in 2017, but says she didn't intend to be a banker

After working my way up, in 2012 I was asked to help turn around Allied Irish Bank, which had been bailed out by the EU. I used strategies Id learned in fintech (financial technology), but after a year, I decided to go around the world to find out what other banks were doing.

I went into branches everywhere from Australia to America, and they all said: We want to move all of our transactions to mobile, but we dont have any money for the technology right now because weve refurbished the branches. But now we have this lovely sofa! As I looked at yet another one of these sofas that nobody was sitting on, I had my lightbulb moment.

Many people do everything on mobiles now, from shopping to listening to music, and theres no reason banks should be any different. Thats when I quit my job  at the age of 54  to set up a new kind of bank.

When developing the concept for Starling, we asked people what they wanted from a bank. They didnt like paying fees to use their debit card abroad, so we eliminated them.

They didnt want to pay penalties for going into their overdraft, so we dont charge them.

They were concerned about security, so we made it app-only because apps are much more secure than websites.

We launched in May 2017 and now have 200,000 accounts and 220 staff, and have won two prestigious awards  Best British Bank and Best Current Account Provider.

Im a steelworker and shop assistants daughter from Swansea, and now a fintech entrepreneur who started a bank in my 50s. Women have to work twice as hard to be valued the same as men, but I believe most women can do a lot more than they think they can.

starlingbank.com
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Ivan Lajara is Senior Editor of the Freeman. He has been with the publication since 2001, starting as a copy editor and then Life Editor. Other roles have included web, regional engagement and audience lead for the publication and the New York cluster.
Teachers, principals, and district leaders all agree that behavioral disruptions have increased in grades K through 5 in recent years.

But there are some striking differences between how teachers view the problem of classroom disruptions and how school and district-level administrators see it.

In a new report called Breaking Bad Behavior: The Rise of Classroom Disruptions in Early Grades and How Districts Are Responding , a survey of nearly 2,000 teachers, principals, school staff, and district-level administrators reveals telling differences. The types of disruptive behaviors identified in the survey include tantrums, oppositional defiance, bullying, verbal abuse, and physical violence directed at both students and staff. The survey and report were done by EAB, a Washington-based research firm.

One of the more telling findings in the survey is the disconnect between administrators and those closest to students.



All the district administrators who responded to the survey, for example, reported having PBIS policies in their districts, while just a little more than half of the teachers said they were using those practices frequently or very frequently in their classrooms. And 93 percent of districts said they had an SEL curriculum, while only a quarter of teachers said they were using SEL in their classes.

And training in those practices varied. While 63 percent of teachers said they were trained in PBIS, only 27 percent said they were trained in trauma-informed care, and 33 percent in restorative practices. A little more than half said they were trained in de-escalation techniques.

Ninety-eight percent of district administrators in the survey said their districts had explicit districtwide protocols for managing disruptive behavior. But less than half of the principals thought their district did so, and 34 percent of principals said that their districts did not. That disconnect between administrator and practitioner continued on down to the school building level.

One of the most glaring findings from the study was that at the district level people would say We are doing PBIS; we are doing SEL... " said Pete Talbot, the managing director of K-12 research at EAB. The question is, What is the consistency with which its being implemented from school to school within a district, and within the school? Whats the degree of fidelity down to the classroom level?.... I think thats one of the biggest areas for improvement for districts. Its not enough to simply do a one-time training or allow schools to go their own way.

While its possible that a fraction of teachers may object to some of the strategies,Talbot said he thinks the disparity is more likely because districts and schools are trying to get teachers to do so many different things and they may not be getting the support they need.

They are trying to get teachers to do so many different things, and the teachers often feel like it is restorative justice one week, then its PBIS the next week, then its SEL, then trauma-informed care, he said. Thats a lot to throw at teachers. Some of the districts that weve heard had more success have been a lot more single-minded and focused on some of those areas.

Educators Say Disruptions Are More Frequent

Among educators surveyed, 36 percent of district administrators said classroom disruptions were significantly more now than they were three years ago, while 38 percent of teachers said the same.

But classroom-based educators and administrators were on different ends of the spectrum when it came to the percentage of students who they said were exhibiting those behaviors.

District and school administrators said they thought that six and eight percent of students, respectively, were exhibiting severe behavioral disruptions. General education and special education teachers put that percentage as high as 23 and 26 percent of students.

One explanation for that gap could be the pressure school districts have been under to reduce suspensions and expulsions. As a result, teachers are left to deal with more of those discipline issues in their classrooms and fewer of those incidents are rising to the district level, Talbot said.

I dont think that district administrators are not aware of the problem, he said. In fact, it was district-level leaders who requested that the survey focus on the issue after hearing anecdotally that disruptions were increasing in the lower grades. The request was also partly driven by pressures district officials were feeling to end suspension and expulsion policies for younger students and other punitive approaches to discipline.

The survey data suggested that the problem was more widespread than they realized, and it may be that teachers are suffering a little bit in silence because of some of the efforts to stem discipline referrals and suspensions..., he said.

According to the survey, a quarter of teachers said that incidents of tantrums and oppositional defiance occurred several times a day. However, incidents of physical violence toward classmates as well as verbal and physical violence toward teachers and other adults were less likely to occur.

And while educators agreed that a host of factors were responsible for the increase in disruptions, teachers were less likely than administrators to see a history of trauma in the family and untreated mental health conditions as the major reasons for students behavior.

Lost Instructional Time

The uptick in disruptions have led to a significant loss of instructional time144 minutes a week or 14.5 days annually, according to EAB.

When teachers are concerned about other thingsincluding test preparationthat are already chipping away at teaching time, thats a pretty significant chunk of time, Talbot said.

The survey was conducted among close to 2,000 teachers, school support staff, principals, and district administrators from districts that are part of EABs District Leadership Forum.

While the group polled a large number of school staff, the data are not nationally representative, Talbot said.

The survey results were accompanied by a fuller document for EAB members that contained strategies to combat the disruptive behaviors and examples of how some districts are addressing the issue.

The longer paper contained a menu of options for districts to address behavioral issues in the early grades.

They include early-intervention efforts, such as universal behavioral screenings and teacher-home visits, along with expanding play time for students, districtwide PBIS, and additional support for students with greater needs. It also explores reasons why some districts have been hesitant to use some of those programsfor example, there is worry from some administrators that universal screening might label too many students.

Image source: Breaking Bad Behavior: The Rise of Classroom Disruptions in Early Grades and How Districts Are Responding
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Ms. Annette "Honey" Brock age 96 of Dalton, GA, went to be with the lord Tuesday June 22, 2021. She was born October 21, 1924 in Memphis, TN a daughter of the late Edwin Douglas and Ann Louise Johnson. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Paul "Pete" Brock, sisters and brothers, da
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...FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING... The Flash Flood Watch continues for * Portions of Illinois and northwest Indiana, including the following areas, in Illinois, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Kankakee, La Salle, Livingston and Southern Will. In northwest Indiana, Benton, Jasper and Newton. * Through Saturday morning * Several rounds of thunderstorms are expected through early Saturday morning. Flash flooding will be possible as storms with heavy rain move repeatedly over the same location. * Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, streams and other low-lying and flood-prone areas. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Flash Flood Watch means rapid-onset flooding is possible, but not yet certain, based upon the latest forecasts. Flash flooding is a dangerous situation. Persons with interests along area rivers, creeks, and other waterways should monitor the latest forecasts and be prepared to take action should flooding develop. &&
Kankakee, IL (60901)

Today

Cloudy this evening with thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 69F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Cloudy this evening with thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 69F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
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GBP/EUR Outlook: Pound Volatility Forecast on Brexit Developments

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The Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate is up today and is trading around 1.1361 on the inter bank market.The Euro struggled against the Pound today following the publication of Spanish CPI figures for January, which fell by 1.3%.These were followed by disappointing Italian EU trade balance figures for December, which fell to  0.613bn.Meanwhile the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, has called for a snap general election for 28 April following the rejection of the governments national budget by Catalan secessionists and other parties.Sanchez said:Spain needs to keep advancing, progressing with tolerance, respect, moderation and common sense I have proposed to dissolve parliament and call elections for 28 April.EUR investors are remaining increasingly cautious as political upheavals continue to wrack the European Union, and with the UKs Brexit and Spains recent domestic political disputes  as well as the feud between France and Italy  market confidence in the single currency is slipping.The Pound, meanwhile, gained on the Euro today following better-than-expected retail sales figures for January, which soared to 1.0%.Thomas Pugh, an economist at Capital Economics, commented:In contrast to the Brexit pessimism, which seems to be weighing on other sectors, the rise in retail sales volumes in January implies that consumers are still willing to spend.Many GBP traders are turning their attention to Brexit developments after Prime Minister Theresa May faced a humiliating defeat in Parliament last night, which further highlighted the lack of faith both parties have in Mays Brexit strategy.However, last nights vote had no legal leverage, with the Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom saying:[The vote was] more of a hiccup than the disaster that is being reported. . . The prime minister carries on.Many GBP investors are remaining cautious, however, as the fractions on show in the House of Commons last night have raised concern of a possible no-deal.Theresa May is now in a more difficult position to negotiate with the EU, as growing frustration is evident as the UK struggles to secure clarity on its Brexit position.The Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, commented:Some British parliamentarians say that we want to trap them in a permanent limbo The EU is interested in moving to the next phase as soon as possible and starting a new relationship with the United Kingdom.GBP traders will be looking ahead to next week, with Tuesday seeing the publication of the UK average earnings  excluding bonus  figures for December, and with any signs of an increase the Pound could rise.Tuesday will also see the publication of Germanys ZEW survey of economic sentiment for February, which is expected to decrease and potentially weakening the EUR/GBP exchange rate further.The GBP/EUR exchange rate is likely to remain dictated by political developments next week as time ticks down for Theresa Mays Brexit deal, and now as mounting pressure increases, it is highly probably that the Sterling will fluctuate.

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Chris Pratt, Justin Bieber, and the cool Christian celebrity.Laura TurnerVoxFebruary 6, 2019It was a Maui street preacher who convinced Chris Pratt, future star of Guardians of the Galaxy and Parks and Recreation, that he needed God. At 19, Pratt had dropped out of community college in his home state of Washington and accepted a friends offer to live with him on the Hawaiian island, waiting tables at Americas most picturesque restaurant, Bubba Gump.We just drank and smoked weed and worked minimal hours, 15-20 hours per week, Pratt, now 39, told the Independent in a 2014 interview. [I]t was a charming time.Midway upon his journey of weed-smoking and drinking, Pratt and his friends were approached by an evangelist in a grocery store parking lot.This guy came by and was like, What are you doing tonight?The evangelist, who was with a Messianic Jewish organization called Jews for Jesus  people who converted to Christianity from a Jewish background  asked Pratt if he was planning on fornicating that night, or doing drugs and drinking; Pratt, with his trademark goofy charm, we can imagine, responded that he hoped to be doing all three.I stopped because Jesus told me to stop and talk to you, the evangelist said, according to Pratts telling of the story. He said to tell you youre destined for great things.Pratt ditched his friends that night and became a Christian two days later. Now, he regularly attends LAs Zoe Church, reportedly alongside his faith-minded fiancee Katherine Schwarzenegger.Pratt, beloved doofus turned hot dad, is part of a growing trend of celebrities, including Justin Bieber, Kendall Jenner, Selena Gomez, Hailey Baldwin, and Kevin Durant, who are vocal about their faith. The churches many of them flock to  Zoe, Hillsong, and Churchome are the prominent examples  may look like they offer something different and more progressive than traditional evangelicalism but are actually quite consistent with evangelical teachings. In an era when religious affiliation is on the decline for young people, these churches can only gain from this proximity to stardom. But how are these cool new rising churches different from other churches? What is it about Hillsong and Zoe that attracts this star power?It used to be that to be an evangelical Christian was to be like Kirk Cameron or Jeff Foxworthy, old and irrelevant and consigned to made-for-TV B-movies. But there is an effort from churches like Zoe and Hillsong underway  probably more unconscious than deliberate  to make Christianity accessible, cool, and interesting to young people. This form of Christianity involves fashion, music, and, of course, celebrity, since modern American evangelicalism has always spread in part by being adjacent to power.Recent attempts by churches to be more attractive to secular populations have led cool churches to emphasize relationship over religion. This seeker sensitive approach to church has its roots in the megachurch movement of the 1980s and 90s  churches like Saddleback and Willow Creek  that sought to make church more attractive to nonbelievers by playing songs that werent hymns, offering preaching that was relevant to daily life, and designing churches that didnt look particularly religious, including no crosses or stained-glass windows, no pews, and pastors wearing street clothes instead of collars.The Jesus message is not one of religion but of relationship, Rich Wilkerson Jr., pastor of Miamis Vous Church and the officiant at Kim Kardashian and Kanye Wests wedding, wrote in his book Friend of Sinners.Carl Lentz, a Hillsong pastor and close friend of Justin Bieber, said, We dont use the word religion, because its hard to get people excited about religion.  Religion has no power. But a relationship with God is a superpower.This tonal shift within evangelicalism away from the dour restrictions associated with religion and toward the freedom and dynamism of a relationship has been ushered in by this new breed of Instagram-friendly, celebrity-surrounded pastors. But with the spread of Hillsong in America  it now has campuses in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Connecticut, Los Angeles, Orange Country, and San Francisco  were starting to see more and more figures like Lentz in paparazzi photos or Instagram posts with celebrities like Bieber. Some of these pastors are themselves the focus of buzz and reality TV, such as Wilkersons short-lived Oxygen series Rich in Faith.Both Zoe and Hillsong, as well as places like Wilkersons Vous Church and Judah Smiths Churchome, trade on cringeworthy attempts at cultural relevance: Zoe Pastor Chad Veach is fond of saying that the church is pronounced zo-AY, like, be-yon-SAY. And who can forget the hat, a ubiquitous trendy fedora worn by so many Hillsongers that it practically became another character in Taffy Brodesser-Akners excellent profile of that church.These pastors  all straight white men  have become religious versions of influencers, with their hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram. Their social media feeds are heavy on posed selfies and promotional posts urging their followers to buy their friends books. Its sometimes hard to realize they are pastors at all.But what about the celebrities who are part of this narrative? Do Pratt, Bieber, and Baldwin belong to Bible studies? Are they ushered in and out of services by an entourage? What do they find appealing about being there?Pratts religiosity, for example, seems refreshingly free of the politics of past evangelicalism. He isnt endorsing political candidates or going on right-wing talk radio. However, part of the implicit narrative of Pratts religiosity, I suspect, also has to do with his divorce from actress Anna Faris, and the inherent laxity of biblical sins like divorce. Such a spiritual mulligan would not be afforded to people in gay relationships, which are not mentioned at all in the Bible in the way we understand them today, yet are swiftly condemned.Meanwhile, Bieber, whose ups and downs have been chronicled endlessly over the past decade, embodies what the author Brennan Manning called the Ragamuffin Gospel: the idea that the gospel of Jesus is only good news for those of us who are willing to admit that we are, basically, screw-ups in need of Gods grace.There is also a lack of institutional memory where many younger celebrities are concerned. Pratt was born the year the Moral Majority was formed; Bieber was born 15 years later. Bieber isnt old enough to remember the harm these groups did in the name of Christianity, and while Pratt may have been around for some of it, he wasnt engaged in it  he was raised Lutheran but wasnt active in his faith until he was 19.Both men have been part of a faith tradition that wasnt wedded to politics, so their version of evangelicalism has looked different from the one that grew out of the Reagan years: more personal, less political. More concerned with inclusion and welcoming, less rigid about drawing lines around whos in and whos out (or, at least, less explicit about those categories). Church as a gathering place for the cool kids, the kids who might have had too much to drink the night before but know theyre welcome no matter what on Sunday morning. Based on these churches websites, attending services looks like a fashion show, putting a new twist on getting dressed in your Sunday best when you might be sitting next to a supermodel.But beyond the sheen of cool telegraphed on church Instagram feeds, this new generation of pastors  several of whom, like Wilkerson and Smith, are themselves the sons of prominent pastors  preach a gospel that steers clear of partisan politics. Theres not a strategy or a network, Wilkerson told Christianity Today in 2015. Its just, Lets befriend people. The goal is to be like Jesus, and I think Jesus would show love and grace to anybody in his path.The political question is particularly interesting with Pratt, who has talked about his arsenal of guns and publicly shared his appreciation for law enforcement. But for all his seeming conservatism, Pratt walks a very careful line. He has never expressed support for President Trump, and he has talked about wanting to be a bridge between left and right. In reality, he is already poised to act as a bridge between evangelicals and Hollywood and, perhaps, introduce the possibility that one can be in both worlds but not of them. Or at least not an asshole.The attraction to power that has been part of evangelicalisms 20th-century legacy and the prosperity gospel that has always been part of the Pentecostal tradition, of which Hillsong is a part, were married in the early-21st-century spread of trendy Christianity. The hard power of politics gave way to the soft power of Hollywood, and the easy moralizing of Kirk Camerons evangelicalism gave way to the vague welcome of hipster faith.And while Pratt and Bieber are individuals who likely hold different views than their churchs leadership on many issues, the welcoming patina of places like Hillsong can easily be dented when you scratch the surface.Bieber invited a gay fan who was struggling to find a church to join him at Hillsong, telling her, If you ever want to come to any of the services, any of them would love to have you. But the leaders of the church tell a different story. In a 2015 blog post titled Do I Love Gay People? Brian Houston, the founder and senior pastor of Hillsong in Australia, wrote, Hillsong Church welcomes ALL people but does not affirm all lifestyles. Put clearly, we do not affirm a gay lifestyle and because of this we do not knowingly have actively gay people in positions of leadership. ...Many seemingly progressive churches seem so only because they are young. Their theology is actually fairly conservative, but it dresses up in leather leggings and cool hats. When it comes time to dig beneath the surface, what youll find isnt all bad, but it isnt much more forward-thinking than the churches our parents grew up in. It just looks a little cooler.Laura Turner is a writer living in San Francisco.
Eugene Crow, age 91, of Cullman, went home to be with his Lord on Saturday, June 19, 2021. He was born June 13, 1930 to Felix and Pearl Stowe Crowe. He was preceded in death by his loving wife Irene, his parents, two brothers and a sister. Mr. Crow served his country and is a veteran of The 
The following are recent arrests released by the Bridgeport Police Department on Feb . 14, 2019.

Feb. 13

An 18-year-old North Avenue man was charged with risk of injury to a child, criminal mischief, larceny and robbery.

A 30-year-old Cheshire man was charged with criminal trespassing, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and harassment.

A 24-year-old Poplar street woman was charged with criminal mischief, false incident report and breach of peace.

A 31-year-old Union Avenue man was charged with illegal alteration of a firearm, illegal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm.

As of January 2019, Hearst Connecticut Media does not include names in online police blotters.
The idiom hoist with his own petard is sometimes misconstrued to mean hoisted up. Not so.

A petard was a medieval explosive device. To be hoisted with ones own petard is to be blown up with your own bomb. President Trump is doing precisely that with an emergency declaration to build his wall due to the legal and practical impossibility of acquiring the property rights necessary to build a wall along the Southern border.

The history on this issue began in 2006 when President George W. Bush initiated a border fence project. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 authorized and partially funded 700 miles of border fence. When he signed the bill into law, President Bush said, This bill will help protect the American people. This bill will make our borders more secure. It is an important step toward immigration reform.

Acquiring more than 1,000 separate properties in 2006 through voluntary negotiation and the draconian power of eminent domain proved difficult. There were 334 eminent domain cases filed in South Texas, and 60 to 70 cases are still being fought in court a dozen years later.

Aside from the practical impossibility of assembling all the property for Trumps wall and the hundreds or thousands of expensive lawsuits over compensation that would take decades to resolve, the real cost of such an effort is in social justice and equity.

The Texas Civil Rights Project has stepped up to protect the rights of individuals with few resources and little practical experience in defending their property rights. The government has made take-it-or-leave-it low ball offers for their properties and pressured them to sell.

The Texas Civil Rights Project has achieved real results and its director Efren C. Olivares received national recognition from the Owners Counsel of America for defending the property owners.

Olivares has said: If you dont have a lawyer, youre just going to get railroaded. Were trying to make sure this isnt going to happen.

To understand why the emergency declaration is doomed to fail, we turn to the constitutional and statutory scheme for eminent domain. The federal government has the constitutional authority to take private property for a public use or purpose. Challenges based on public use would be difficult cases for the property owners to win, but there are good arguments that there are better alternatives than the wall.

On the statutory side, the fundamental power of the federal government to take property by eminent domain comes from an 1888 act providing that the federal government may acquire real estate for the erection of a public building or for other public uses and the Declaration of Taking Act of 1931 establishing the process for eminent domain takings.

Importantly, the Declaration of Taking Act enables a quick take, which is what we have in Connecticut under state law. The government files a declaration that it intends to take the property, deposits what it thinks the property is worth into court (almost always too little), and then takes possession. Without the quick take authority, assembling large numbers of properties for a major project is a nightmare because the very last holdout controls the entire project. The Declaration of Taking Act is absolutely necessary if Trump is to build his wall.

And here is Trumps problem  the law has been read to require a legislative enactment and appropriation as conditions necessary for an eminent domain taking. The Office of the General Counsel of the General Accounting Office has made clear that the Declaration of Taking Act requires a statutorily authorized purpose, citing a legal case where the court said: First, the court must determine that the condemnor was in fact authorized by the legislature to effectuate the taking.

An emergency declaration by Trump would not be based on a statutorily authorized purpose by the legislature. He cannot use the Declaration of Taking Act to effect the quick takes of the land he needs for his wall. He may be relegated to going through state court proceedings.

Regardless, he will be bogged down in litigation for a near eternity and whether the wall is truly a public use or purpose will be up for debate in the courts.

So with President Trump having taken the route of an emergency declaration, he will be hoisted with his own petard.

Dwight Merriam is a lawyer practicing in Simsbury and is the Connecticut Member of Owners Counsel of America, www.ownerscounsel.com, a network of eminent domain lawyers committed to protecting private property rights.
Chances are that you -- or someone you know -- had a really bad experience with an edible.

In fact, most weed horror stories begin with some variation of, "Oh, man. One time I ate this (brownie, cookie, gummy, peanut butter cup) and I was, like, out-of-my-mind high for 24 hours."

This kind of terrifying trip was immortalized in a famous New York Times op-ed by Maureen Dowd, in which she recounts a particularly horrible encounter she had with a caramel-chocolate flavored candy bar in Denver.

I, too, will confess to having my own scary run-in with an edible. I'd just had surgery and was looking for something other than Oxycontin to ease the pain, so I took a pill with a high THC count. An hour later, the buzz hit me so hard that I put on my heart monitor to make sure I wasn't in cardiac arrest.

Whether you've had a bad edible experience or you think we're just a bunch of winy lightweights, we can all agree that stories like these are not good PR for the plant. Many a potential customer, who could truly benefit from cannabis' healing properties, are scared away by that one bad high.

Call it Post Traumatic Edible Disorder (PTED). It's not only bad for consumers' health -- it's bad for business.

In the interest of finding out what happened to me and so many other scarred edible customers, and how we can avoid future bad trips, I spoke with Uwe Blesching, Ph.D, a medical writer and author of three books on cannabis, including The Cannabis Health Index.

Related: 5 Things You Need to Know About Edibles

Blame it on your liver

It turns out that those of us with PTED aren't crazy. Edibles can make you higher than other forms of cannabis consumption, according to Dr. Blesching.

The liver is the culprit.

When you ingest THC, it will take about an hour or so for it to be broken down into various metabolites. This explains why you don't feel the psychoactive effects right away, unlike you do when smoking it.

One of those metabolites created by your body is something called 11-OH-THC, which is "much more potent as far as psychoactivity is concerned because it crosses the blood-brain barrier up to four times faster than just THC," says Dr. Belsching. So when you eat an edible, "you're not just getting the high effect from THC, you're also getting the effect of the metabolites," he says.

Related: 5 Smart and Safe Ways to Package Edibles

The more you ingest, the greater the high. This explains that sudden, uneasy feeling of getting a massive jolt to the brain. One second you feel nothing, the next second you're completely stoned.

Blame it on yourself

Another reason that edibles are so potent is that we tend to consume too much of them -- either because we're impatient, hungry, or both.

"A lot of people make the mistake of thinking it's been an hour and I'm not feeling anything, so they eat more," says Dr. Beschling. "The impatience and the expectancy actually contribute to the experience being very unpleasant."

Dr. Belshing admits to making that mistake himself. One time, he dripped some cannabis-infused coconut oil over some almonds and they tasted so good that he kept eating more and more. An hour later, he was high as a kite.

"Remember those old martial art movies that were really poorly dubbed, where you see the mouth is moving and then ten seconds later you hear the translation?" he says. "That happened to me. It was literally a disassociation between what I saw and what I heard." The high lasted for 12 to 15 hours.

Know your limits

Part of the challenge of eating edibles is understanding how to dose properly. Unlike smoking THC in which you feel the effects almost immediately, ingesting it and waiting for the effects make it harder to titrate the dosage. For this reason, many of the best edible brands go out of their way to warn against over-indulging. For example, Wana Brands, which makes Colorado's best-selling edibles, says to "Start Low and Go Slow" right on their packaging.

Related: Meet the Martha Stewart of Edibles

What is low and slow? While there's no one-size-fits-all prescription, Dr. Beschling advises adults to ingest no more than 2.5 to 5 milligrams an hour. "If you don't feel anything, you can gradually add a little more," he says. Then wait another hour.

Dr. Beschling also warns against eating edibles on an empty stomach because "absorption rates are much faster." That said, when you ingest THC with a full belly, it might take longer for the THC to kick in so, again, exercise caution.

"It's a very fine line between a THC-induced adverse effect and a THC-induced therapeutic effect," Dr. Beschling says.

Make sure yours is therapeutic not post traumatic.

Related:

Why Do Edibles Make You So Darn High?

What You Need to Know About The Endocannabinoid System

5 Things You Should Know About CBD



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OSWIECIM, Poland - Under thin sunshine, Vice President Mike Pence stood silently before a specially reinforced wall against which Nazis executed some of the estimated 1.1 million people slaughtered at Auschwitz.

The long moment of reflection Friday was part of a somber walking tour of the world's most infamous former Nazi death camp and the remnants of a satellite camp, Birkenau, that are now a Polish state museum.

Shortly before, Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, had walked through the iconic Auschwitz camp gate, under crude metal letters spelling out the cruelly ironic Nazi motto "Arbeit Macht Frei," or "work makes you free."

His visit was the emotional heart of a four-day European diplomatic trip focused on what the Trump administration calls Iran's threatening posture and support for terrorism, and on spotlighting White House support for Israel.

Pence met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of a U.S.-planned Middle East conference in Poland on Thursday, and the two men toured a memorial to Warsaw's murdered Jews.

Speaking with reporters after leaving the camp Friday, Pence likened the Nazi genocide to the vow of modern-day Iran to "wipe Israel off of the map of the Middle East," and said Tehran voices "the same vile, anti-Semitic hatred that animated the Nazis in Europe."

"And the lesson of the 20th Century is that when authoritarian leaders breathe out anti-Semitic threats of violence against the Jewish people, freedom-loving people should take them seriously and be prepared to confront them," Pence said.

Pence defended President Donald Trump's response to a deadly white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. After marchers chanted, "Jews Will Not Replace Us," Trump said there were "fine people on both sides," of the clash that killed a counterprotester.

"There is no tolerance in our administration for white supremacists or anti-Semitism," Pence said Friday.

"I think the president was very clear in his condemnation of the Nazis and the white supremacists at Charlottesville, and I know he feels very strongly about that," Pence said.

As a candidate, Trump drew criticism for a 2015 remark to the Republican Jewish Coalition that some construed as repeating anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish wealth and influence.

As president he retweeted a doctored video mocking his 2016 Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, from an account that had previously posted racist and anti-Semitic material.

Trump's equivocal relationship with white nationalism and its echo of Nazism co-exists with strong backing for Israel and political support from conservative, pro-Israel Jews. Trump fulfilled a campaign promise to declare contested Jerusalem the capital of Israel and move the U.S. Embassy there, leading to a boycott of his administration by the Palestinian Authority.

Both Trump and Pence have condemned a tweet from freshman Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, that many construed as an anti-Semitic suggestion that U.S. support for Israel is motivated by money.

Omar, who has apologized for the tweet, rejected Trump's call that she resign, saying in another tweet Wednesday that Trump has "trafficked in hate your whole life-against Jews, Muslims, Indigenous, immigrants, black people and more."

Omar has been critical of Israel for its occupation of the West Bank and treatment of Palestinians.

Trump son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, who is accompanying Pence in Europe, aired rough ideas about the Trump administration's Middle East peace plan with diplomats attending the conference in Poland. The administration has kept details of the package secret ahead of an expected release after the Israeli national elections in April.

Pence, a devout Christian, prayed privately near the remnants of a crematorium at Birkenau, and appeared deeply moved as he signed a memorial book. He spent some three hours at the sites, and said later he was still struggling to absorb the enormity of what happened there.

Asked whether he would recommend that Trump also visit, Pence did not answer directly.

"I think it's important for everyone to see it," Pence said. "Everyone who loves freedom to see it."
The irony and coincidence couldnt have been more glaring.

There was state Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano trotting out his now-diminished caucuss 2019 versions of good government; their proposals to provide better oversight of state services and save taxpayer money.

We want to keep Connecticut moving forward, he said, with just a few fellow senators behind him, who possibly knew what was coming when the reporters questions would shift their focus from the odds-against initiatives to the fox in their hen house. Foster confidence and investment in Connecticut.

A couple hours earlier, their former Capitol attorney and fundraiser, Mike Cronin, had finally been arrested on an 11-page larceny charge for stealing $267,816.30 from the Senate Republican Leadership Committee PAC. Apparently he had enough sense to keep the withdrawals from the PAC below $10,000 a pop over the six-year scam, so he currently faces only a single felony charge.

Somehow, the $90,000 or so that he admitted to Fasano (in the ruins of the GOP losses last December) that he had stolen, hit a multiplier as the forensic fraud examiner in Chief States Attorney Kevin Kanes office performed a deep dive into the embezzlement that may have sunk the Republicans aspirations to gain their first majority since 1994-95.

Among the purchases Cronin made was a $3,000 ring for his second wife; and more than $9,000 for back rent for the apartment where they were living in Glastonbury. Cronin was using the Republican Senate offices address in the Legislative Office Building to fight a bankruptcy and foreclosure proceeding in the West Hartford home occupied by his former wife. In a related action, at the time Cronin was residing in Glastonbury, he listed his primary residence in West Hartford.

Coincidentally, or ironically, depending on ones view, on the day Fasano fired Cronin, Dec. 3, the foreclosure action was withdrawn, likely because Cronin coughed up an estimated $80,000 in back payments and penalties. Cronin  treasurer of the PAC beginning in 2007  and his first wife apparently defaulted previously on their mortgage, because they were ineligible for mediation.

The story gets messier, because he related to the court that in April 2017 the West Hartford house was his primary residence. But in August 2018, in attempt to get out from under the foreclosure, he testified in Superior Court filings that he divorced his wife in 2014, and deeded the house to her. Mediation is only available if the home in question is ones primary residence.

Then, of course, the IRS could become interested in this white-collar crime, since  nearly comically  there are guidelines for crooks to report ill-gotten income or they can face federal charges. Even John G. Rowland, the twice-convicted former governor and federal inmate, reported his income during that latest tangle with the feds, or he might still be in the slam.

The arrest warrant says that the day after his firing, Cronin went to Kanes office and admitted he was the sole signatory, and the chief fundraiser for the PAC, set up in the states landmark 2005 election reforms, which limited contributions to individual candidates to $100, while allowing legislative leadership PACs to accept $2,000 per contributor. Mr. Cronin admitted that it was possible that sometimes he took cash donations for his own personal use and that money never made it to the SRLCs bank account, the warrant says.

Maybe Senate Republicans werent going to dodge Novembers blue wave, which swept away three veteran senators  Toni Boucher from Wilton, Scott Frantz in Greenwich and Mike McLachlan in Danbury. Cronin, according to the arrest warrant, returned about $32,290, for a net loss of $240,081.17. Some of that would have been available to prop up, say, McLachlan and Frantz who received no contributions from the PAC, according to State Elections Enforcement Commission filings. Boucher got about $4,400 from other committees.

Toward the end of his news conference, after Fasano let the other GOP senators melt away, he announced that the PAC accounts will now be closely monitored at the end of each month. I dont think it has any effect upon the 2018 races at all, he said, whistling in the hen house. Nope, just a ironic coincidence.

He lied to us about the bank balances and therefore thats sort of how he covered his tracks, Fasano said, his voice halting with emotion. This is someone who was held in great respect in this building. Someone a lot of us considered a friend. The Republicans have filed a civil suit for restitution.

But their credibility as a fiscal watchdog, who spent most of the previous eight years railing against Gov. Dan Malloy as an ineffective manager unable to supervise and rein in state government, has been tattered from the inside.

Ken Dixon, political editor and columnist, can be reached at 203-842-2547 or at kdixon@ctpost.com. Visit him at twitter.com/KenDixonCT and on Facebook at kendixonct.hearst.
NEW HAVEN  A Connecticut State Police detective Thursday read aloud in court an emotional letter from defendant LeRoya Moore in which she said that she and her two young children were meant to die today.

Detective Brian Connolly testified he found the letter near the bodies of Aleisha Moore, 6, and Daaron Moore, 7, when he searched their East Haven home for evidence.

Moore, 39, is charged with two counts of murder. The bodies of her son and daughter were discovered the afternoon of June 2, 2015. When police led her out of the house on Strong Street, they noticed she had cuts on her arms and wrists.

Connolly, who was called in to assist the East Haven Police Department after a town police sergeant found the bodies in the living room, described seizing many bottles of prescription and over-the-counter medication. An associate with the state office of the chief medical examiner testified Wednesday that Aleisha died from acute intoxication of diphenhydramine and alcohol, while Daaron died from acute intoxication of diphenhydramine.

Moore began the lengthy letter by saying, Im sure theres an expert somewhere that will say the children suffered, but I let them know they were loved very much and they were going to heaven. We said the Lords Prayer to protect their souls.

She continued: I know this was meant to end the way it did. I dont know the reason why, but we were meant to die today.

She wrote that at age 35, I was convinced for a while I would be okay and I wouldnt ever be this sad again because I had great jobs, good kids and a house and car and I did these things all by myself. I am all by myself still.

Im not meant to be here past this time, she said. Its okay and Im not scared. Im numb and if I burn for eternity, at least Ill know why I deserve it. I dont know what I did to deserve this life and these kids dont deserve to be brought into it to have sadness and suffering all of the time. I watch them cry and act out because they dont know what they did for their parents to leave them to fend for themselves.

In her letter Moore made repeated references to her marital struggles with Michael Moore, the father of the two children. She wrote: I told you when I first got pregnant with Daaron that I could not be a single parent again.

Michael Moore has not appeared in court during the first two days of testimony. He attended a candlelight vigil on the East Haven Green three days after the bodies of his children were found. During that gathering he tearfully thanked all who were there with him and asked that people keep the family in their prayers.

In the letter she wrote, Moore said, I couldnt leave any more of my kids to the system. They dont all get a happy ending. I love them all. I love them all so much. I only wanted to be better for them but they were missing the one thing I couldnt ever give them on my own. They were in pain and now theyre in heaven.

Moore added, I will be cremated and the bank will get the house and the car. ... I really tried. ... I asked God to stop me if I was making a mistake. I asked (him) to show me I was wrong and save them. They should not be left to burden anyone because I am the only one who could love them like a mother. Not an institution or a social worker.

She said of her children, They will be in heaven with the people who we lost and loved. They deserve that.

Moore then wrote, They got to do all of the things they wanted to do before they died today. They ate their favorite things. They had ice cream and they wanted to paint their nails, so we got nail polish and they had fun and really liked how it came out. I saw them truly happy, not being shipped off to multiple babysitters and just hanging out with mommy.

Moore alluded to her three other children; she had lost custody of them to the state Department of Children and Families. She wrote: I made the mistake the first time and didnt end things when I could have, before I made it far and had more kids. My older kids escaped the same fate because I was too depressed to move and make it happen. My angel saved me, saved us. Now they are suffering. I wont do this injustice to my other kids.

Toward the end of her letter, Moore wrote, Theres no more pain for Daaron and Aleisha. They left this world as innocent as they were when they came into it ... not scarred and heart-broken by people who make promises to love and protect them.

In an apparent reference to such love and protection, Moore added: I wish my parents would have awarded me the same courtesy, if the thought ever crossed their minds just once.

In the final paragraph of her letter, Moore wrote: Im done. Theres nothing else to say and no further explanation to give. We love you and be proud of these two angels that will watch over and protect you all.

Moore, attired in a white sweater and blue jeans, continued to show little or no emotion during the testimony, even when photos of her dead children were displayed on a computer screen near her. She is being held in lieu of $2 million bail. Her defense team is expected to pursue a strategy of impaired mental health.

Connolly, who took dozens of photos during his search of the house, said Aleisha was wearing a pink dress.

Connolly also recalled the bed in what appeared to be the master bedroom was littered with prescription medication. He testified he also found many medications around the couch near the kids bodies. He noted bottles of alcoholic beverages were in that room and in other rooms he found an empty bottle of tequila, a bottle of Southern Comfort and a bottle of vodka as well as wine and beer bottles.

In addition, Connolly told Senior Assistant States Attorney Stacey Miranda he seized multiple wrappers of Klondike ice cream bars.

During a cross-examination by Supervisory Assistant Public Defender Jennifer Bourn, Connolly said he did not find any items used for cutting or blunt force instruments.

In other testimony, East Haven police Sgt. Steven Paulson pulled out large quantities of the confiscated medications from a half-dozen paper bags. The material included multiple containers of Ibuprofen and allergy relief treatment as well as nighttime cold medication, sleep aids, aspirin and childrens Motrin. Paulson said some of the items contained alcohol.

A third witness Thursday, East Haven police Sgt. Paul DeCrosta, said he took cheek swabs from Moore when she was at the Yale Psychiatric Institute. A videotape was shown of this process. Moore three times said No, I wont when DeCrosta told her he had a court warrant to take the swabs. Eventually she complied but she asked him: Do you know who I am?

randall.beach@hearstmediact.com
BRIDGEPORT  The city school board did not violate its contract with teachers when it switched health plans last fall, state arbitrators have decided.

The Bridgeport Education Association challenged the switch to the states Connecticut Partnership Plan, a policy that essentially provided the same coverage to teachers at less cost to the district.

Still, the unions challenge was based on principle, with BEA Attorney Eric Marshall telling the Board of Education last fall that it couldnt change the policy unilaterally, but was bound to negotiate the change.

The change to the less expensive plan was in fact made on Sept. 1, 2018, while the challenge worked its way through the arbitration process. The union argued that the Partnership Plan was completely different and not merely a change of carriers. They also requested a reduction in premiums charged to teachers.

Attorneys for the school board argued that technically there was no carrier and that union representatives acknowledged the new plan is a good one.

The union informed its members that this grievance was not about the quality of the two plans but about whether the unilateral implementation violated the contract, said the decision by arbitrator Susan R. Meredith.

Some members will pay more under the new plan, but many will pay less.

In the 2018-19 district budget, the health insurance savings for certified staff is estimated at about $2 million, according to Marlene Siegel, chief financial officer for the district.

An attempt to switch to the Connecticut Partnership Plan was instituted with all board and city employees. About half agreed and half sent the matter to arbitration.

On Monday, BEA President Gary Peluchette acknowledged the decision but did not comment on it.

lclambeck@ctpost.com; twitter/lclambeck
BRIDGEPORT  The police departments Tactical Narcotics Team recently took several guns and drugs off the streets and charged those caught in possession of them, Police Chief Armando Perez said Thursday.

Its so disheartening, he said. Some people just have no compassion for other peoples lives.

On Jan. 30, Calvin Boyd, 28, was charged with possession of possession and possession with intent to sell, court records show.

Police said he was arrested after he was stopped for a suspected drug transaction. Boyd was found in possession of about 50 grams of marijuana, police said.

Boyd was held on a $15,000 bond. Court records showed he was released from custody. Hes next expected in court on March 20.

The next day Raevon Peters, 26, was charged with sale of a narcotic substance, possession with intent to sell, criminal possession of a firearm, illegal possession of a large-capacity magazine and stealing a firearm, court records show.

TNT officers recently investigated Peters, who was suspected of dealing cocaine out of a third-floor apartment in the 50 block of Worth Street. After the officers saw him complete a drug transaction in Milford, officers followed Peters back to Bridgeport, where they arrested him for the sale.

Officers got written consent to search the Worth Street apartment and found 5 grams of cocaine packaged for sale, 10 amphetamine pills, small amounts of oxycodone and marijuana, cutting agents and drug factory equipment, police said.

The TNT officers also seized a stolen Taurus 9mm handgun with high-capacity magazine. Peters is a convicted felon, adding to his charges.

He was held on a $200,000 bond. Court records show Peters was not released from custody. He is next expected in court on March 6.

On Feb. 5, 46-year-old Angel Diaz was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, illegal possession of a large-capacity magazine, possession with intent to sell and possession of drug paraphernalia, court records show.

TNT officers were doing surveillance in the area of Pembroke and Arctic Street, which is a haven for illegal enterprise including firearms and narcotic trafficking, police said. One officer spotted Diaz do a drug transaction and later detained and arrested him.

The officers found a loaded Ruger .40-caliber handgun with a high-capacity magazine, nine bags of powder cocaine, 12 bags of crack cocaine and drug factory equipment, police said.

Diaz was held on a $100,000 non-surety bond. Court records show he was released from custody. He is next expected in court on Feb. 22.

Also on Feb. 5, 33-year-old John Matthews was charged with stealing a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance, engaging police in a pursuit and reckless driving, court records show.

TNT officers got information that Matthews was driving around in a vehicle with a firearm. Police said Matthews was the target of a investigation by TNT officers. The information was given out to patrol officers and the vehicle was spotted and stopped after a brief pursuit.

Officers found two guns  a stolen .38-caliber revolver and a 9mm Sig Sauer  and 28 grams of marijuana and several pills, possibly of a controlled substance, police said. Matthews and two other people in the vehicle were arrested.

Court records show Matthews was not released from custody. Hes next expected in court on Feb. 21.

During a recent motor vehicle stop, 21-year-old Taj Myers was found to be in possession of 4.73 ounces of marijuana, police said. TNT officers had been investigating Myers for drug transactions out of a residence in the 40 block of Freeman St.

During a search of Myers residence, police also found a Ruger P-90 .45-caliber handgun, ammunition and $478 in cash. There were no updated court records for his charges available Thursday.

Perez praised the TNT officers involved in with the arrests.

They do a real great job  every day, he said.
BRIDGEPORT - A former judicial marshal accused of sexually assaulting a woman he had assisted in the Milford courthouse pleaded not guilty Friday.

Ezekiel Carr Jr., who resigned as a marshal following his arrest, entered his plea before Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin to first-degree sexual assault, third-degree sexual assault and first-degree unlawful restraint. He asked for a jury trial

The judge continued the case to March 8.

He was a highly respected judicial marshal and has been for years, said Carrs lawyer, Hugh Keefe, as they left the Fairfield County Courthouse. Hopefully this will work out for him.

Police said the victim complained on Oct. 22, that she had been at the Milford courthouse for a legal matter and asked a marshal, whom she later identified as Carr, what courtroom she should be in. Police said the woman told then that later, during a court recess, Carr had approached her and told her to take a walk with him so that he could discuss her case with him.

While walking in the direction of the train station, when police said, Carr grabbed the woman by the neck and roughly kissed her.

I told him I didnt brush my teeth, but he kissed me anyway. He shoved his whole tongue down my throat. While hes kissing me, he put his hands in my pants, police said the woman told them. I told him I had a disease, that I couldnt have sex. He was like, I dont care.

She said Carr then raped her, according to police. After the assault, she told police, Carr told her to go back into the courthouse and put her smile back on.

Police said that when the woman went back into the courthouse she told a family relations counselor what she claimed Carr had done to her. The counselor then told police.

Police said that when they later confronted Carr with the womans allegations, he said he had sex with her, but that she had dared him to do it and that it had been consensual.

According to a Dec. 4, 2018, arrest summary log from Milford police, Carr was taken into custody on Nov. 28, 2018, for an active warrant for his arrest, charging him with first-degree sexual assault, third-degree sexual assault and first-degree unlawful restraint.
BRIDGEPORT  Dyshon Williams was found dead on a city sidewalk about two hours after a call came in to a computerized system that shots had been fired in the area.

The 19-year-old Cowles Street resident was shot around 10:45 p.m. Monday. He was pronounced dead after police found him roughly two hours later on Boston Avenue, according to Police Chief Armando Perez.

Officers were initially sent to the area of the north parking lot of the Luis Munoz Marin School, 479 Helen St., for a report of shots fired. There, police found Williams car, unoccupied. Though officers tried to canvass the area for a victim, the chief said, Williams wasnt nearby.

He was shot and he ran away from the vehicle, Perez said. They looked but they couldnt find him.

Investigators did find blood in an empty car in the lot.

They decided to do a more thorough search and they found the body, near the firehouse at 950 Boston Ave., Perez said.

He said Williams was dressed in dark clothing and had collapsed on the sidewalk.

Williams died from a single gunshot wound to the torso with penetration to the neck, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

It was such an unfortunate thing, Perez said of Williams death.

The case remains under investigation.

Anyone with information about the killing is asked to call 203-576-8477.
BRIDGEPORT  Police arrested a local man Friday morning in connection with a fatal shooting last year in a North End motel.

Glenn Pettway, 25, of East Main Street, was charged with murder, felony murder, criminal possession of a pistol, carrying a pistol without a permit, criminal use of a firearm and attempted first-degree robbery.

He was held in lieu of $1 million bond pending arraignment in Superior Court on Tuesday.

Pettway is accused of killing 48-year-old Alfanso Anderson on Feb. 26, 2018, at the Sunnyside Inn on Lake Street.

Police Lt. Chris LaMaine said they developed information that the homicide was committed while Pettway was attempting to collect a debt owed to a prostitute and mistakenly identified Anderson as the man that owed the debt.

No evidence was uncovered to believe that Anderson had any connection to Pettway, the prostitute, or that he had engaged in any illegal conduct; it appears that he was a truly innocent victim, LaMaine said.

Initial investigation of the crime led police to three potential suspects caught on surveillance footage at the motel.

As far as I know, theyre still very, very much investigating, Police Chief Armando Perez said later Friday. Detectives are still working the case.

He said nothing could bring the victim back, but he was glad the arrest could give Andersons family some peace of mind.

This arrest is the result of the outstanding work done by all those who participated in this case, which was led by Detective Martin Heanue. Additionally, the facts of this case would never have come to light without the hard work of Assistant United States Attorney Rahul Kale, LaMaine said.

The chief echoed similar sentiments.

Our detectives are second to none, he said.

Pettway is currently on probation for a 2014 conviction for robbery with a dangerous weapon.
The winner of the 2018 Connecticut Book Award for fiction is a Holocaust novel, We Were the Lucky Ones, which has been translated into a dozen foreign languages.

It also has been optioned for limited TV series by Thomas Kail, who directed the musical, Hamilton. Very recently, a screenwriter signed onto the project, preparatory to seeking a producer.

I cant give you a name yet, says the novels author, Georgia Hunter, but her first impression was its the Game of Thrones of the Holocaust. Because its this very global story told through one familys eyes.

The family is Hunters. We Were the Lucky Ones is essentially the true story of how her Jewish grandfather, his four siblings and their children managed to survive the Nazi invasion of their native Poland and their scattering across a world at war.

Hunter, who lives and writes in Rowayton, had a map made of their individual odysseys, but hesitates to show it because it might spoil the surprising arc of the book.

Thats the wow factor of the book, she says. Readers may think, Oh, a Polish Holocaust story. Its going to end up in a camp. Yes, they survived. But the paths they took spanned five continents.

All lived under the threat of death and in the proximity of death, however. One of the siblings (the family name is Kurc) risks drowning in a freezing river. Another is deported to a Siberian labor camp, then fights with the Polish army in the battle of Monte Cassino in Italy. Most acquire forged identification papers and fear being exposed as Jews.

The most harrowing (and mini-series ready) story belongs to a child, Felicia, who is five months old when the novel begins in March 1939.

By wars end she will have hidden in a sack of rags, waited trustingly while her mother dug their graves at a mass execution site, kept silent under a table watching the blood drain from a summarily executed hideaway, been dropped from a second-story window stuffed in a straw mattress and buried in the rubble of a bombed convent.

Now 80, Felicia lives in Paris, married to the owner of a lingerie company. When Hunter began her research travels in earnest in 2008, she made Paris a first stop.

It was hard. I took a very gentle approach with her, Hunter says of their meeting. She spoke in a very black-and-white manner. It was, this is what I had to do to survive.

Up to that point Hunter had only a sketchy understanding of the siblings experience. Growing up in Attleboro, Mass., she knew her grandfather, who had changed his name from Addy Kurc to Eddy Court, as a composer and engineer turned businessman. But she did not learn that he had eluded Nazi capture or even that he was Jewish until shortly after his death when she interviewed her grandmother for a school ancestry project.

Her grandmother, from South Carolina, had met her grandfather in Rio de Janeiro late in the war. He was writing songs in Paris in the spring of 1939 and reached Rio by a circuitous, risky route that included long stops in Africa. Suddenly, talking to her grandmother, Hunter herself had acquired a new identity. She had become one quarter Polish Jew and granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor.

It was shocking certainly, but not in any negative sort of way, Hunter says. I remember brimming with questions and curiosities. Tell me more. What about the rest of the family? How did they survive?

Her grandmother didnt know the details. More emerged at a family reunion in Massachusetts in 2000, the year after Hunter graduated from the University of Virginia. They came mostly from Kurc children in the form of second-hand anecdotes. Hunter saw the potential for a family saga, but did not pursue it. Instead, she married and began a career as freelance writer and editor.

They were living in Seattle when she says she finally put a stake in the ground to go ahead with a project that had nagged her. She remembers the exact date, Jan. 17, because that was the day she reached for a binder of material about her grandfather her mother had put together.

I pulled it off the shelf and the first thing I saw was the program for my grandfathers memorial service. And I noticed it was the same day, Jan. 17. It felt like he was there in the room, saying, Do this. Its about time.

The next month she was on the way to Paris. She had long known that she would have to travel, but she didnt set out to write a 400-page novel, never mind one that would find an international readership.

The goal was really to capture the family history. I wanted it to live in the shape of a book, that would be something tangible I could pass on to honor my family. And the fact that it turned into what it did and sort of snowballed is very surreal.

She continued to do research even as the manuscript went through multiple drafts. When Viking bought rights to the book in June 2015, it had a different title, The Eternal Ones. By then Hunter had acquired an editor, an agent and a son, who is now seven.

Hunter and her husband, Robert Farinholt, who she met in college, moved to Rowayton about the time he was born. A second son was born prematurely the week after she finished the hardcover book tour in March 2017. The acknowledgements section consumes several pages, citing Kurc family descendants and others who helped during the books long gestation.

Its family details may co me from interviews, but none are invented. A mother used breast milk to coax open her babys frozen eyes in a Siberian labor camp. The husband of the Kurc sister who forded the Bug River became an expert document forger, using just boiled eggs to lift official stamps. Felicias mother escaped their mass grave by bribing a Germa n officer with her wedding ring.

What Hunter did invent was sensory feelings of cold, sweat, pain and separation. One of the recurrent themes in the book is that family members often didnt know where the others were or if they were alive. Hunters grandfather in Brazil felt especially cut off. He did not learn the family, including his parents, had survived until he got a Red Cross telegram in 1946.

Many of the books short chapters are prefaced with a timeline of the war. For the Kurc sons who joined the Polish army  and for millions of others in eastern Europe  a significant event occurred in June 1941 when Hitler made the fateful decision to invade Russia, turning the Soviets from collaborator to enemy.

Hunter says the process of pitching the book as a tv series is all new to her. Thomas Kail though is a longtime family friend. He and Hunters husband met in summer camp as teen-agers. Kail followed the books progress and interviewed her for a book launch event.

Hunter already is plotting her next book. She sees it as being set in Italy or Greece, places again outside the usual Holocaust territory. Its modern day narrator, she says, might be the granddaughter of a survivor who discovers this family secret.

We Were the Lucky Ones is currently the One Book-One Town community read in Easton. Hunter is due to speak there Wednesday, March 27.

Joel Lang is a frequent contributor to Sunday Arts & Style.
Close

A woman whose boyfriend or husband regularly watches pornography is more likely to report symptoms of an eating disorder, new research suggests.

The study is one of the first to look at how a romantic partner's behavior might be linked to the likelihood of a woman experiencing or engaging in such things as extreme guilt about eating, preoccupation with body fat, binging or purging.

In addition to finding an association between a partner's porn habits and eating disorder symptoms, the research also found a higher incidence of those symptoms in women who said they feel pressure from their boyfriends or husbands to be thin.

The study, led by researchers at The Ohio State University, appears in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

"We often talk about the influences of media, family and friends on eating disorders, but little has been done to determine how a partner's influence might contribute to a woman's disordered eating," said Tracy Tylka, a professor of psychology at Ohio State's Columbus and Marion campuses. "It's a gap in the research and if certain partner variables are risk factors we should be giving them more attention."

The study is also the first research of its kind to address these partner influences in women who are older and more likely to be in long-term relationships.

"The women who were part of this study had an average age of almost 34, and were from a broader demographic than the stereotypical white adolescent girl with anorexia," Tylka said.

"Disordered eating affects many people who do not fit this description - as many as 20 to 25 percent of women - and this study helps us better understand the influences on these women."

The participants, 409 U.S. women in relationships with men, answered a questionnaire designed to identify symptoms of eating disorders and answered questions about perceived pressure from the media and others (partners, friends and family) in their lives to lose weight and have a thin body. They also reported how many hours of pornography their current partner viewed per week, ranging from none to more than eight hours, and estimated how often their previous partners had viewed pornography on a scale ranging from never to almost always.

The researchers then analyzed the relationships between those responses and found a clear association between eating disorder symptoms and both perceived partner pressure to be thin and pornography use.

"In many categories of eating disorder symptoms, perceived pressure from a romantic partner to be thin appeared to be more detrimental than pressure from friends or family, or even the media," Tylka said.

And both partner pornography viewing and pressure to be thin appeared to be associated with a woman's disordered eating behavior even if she didn't idealize thinness, according to the study.

That's important to note, Tylka said, because women may be responding solely to what they think their partner values, even if they don't value that "thin body ideal" for themselves.

Tylka said she was interested in the potential relationship between partner pornography use and eating disorders because it could prompt women to feel pressured to aspire to unrealistic body types, or to "feel sexless because their partners are spending time with porn instead of connecting with them."

"The relationship between partner pornography use and disordered eating was stronger for this group of women than for college women we've previously studied. That could be because these women have had more relationship experiences, and these experiences have shaped their relationships with food and their perceptions of their bodies," Tylka said.

The study did not examine potential differences between women who watch pornography with their partners and those whose partners view pornography alone.

Tylka said further study is warranted in the area of partner influences on disordered eating among older women. Understanding these factors could help improve eating disorder prevention and treatment, she said.

"Some professionals are already advocating for integrating partners in eating disorder prevention and treatment, and these findings support this argument."

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Croda showed its support of the Panama Beauty Project, an initiative aimed at positively impacting the lives of Panamanian women and children.

During the event, held February 8-13, 2019 at the Centre for Panamanian Women, sponsors and volunteers provided services and education on personal care product development, hygiene and wellness and technology.

Along with sponsoring the event, Croda provided formulations for hair masks, moisturizing creams and hand wash for the project.

The Centre for Panamanian Women works with low-income women in largely indigenous areas, assisting them in improving their quality life, strengthening their leadership skills, promoting the formation and strengthening of grassroots womens organizations and enhancing their trade skillsets.

At Croda, we believe in supporting the rights and developing the potential of all women and young people in all social spheres and we are proud to be supporting this Panamanian community, Sandra Breene, president, personal care at Croda. Sustainability is fundamental to everything we do, and in supporting this project we get to share our expertise to help them establish new means of leadership and trade.
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Website sfbot.net uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 175608 bytes (171.49 kb uncompressed) and 28988 bytes (28.31 kb compressed).

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2019-09-27, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
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Website provence-info.de uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery and Boostrap. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 54650 bytes (53.37 kb uncompressed) and 14426 bytes (14.09 kb compressed).

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(Image source from: Hindustantimes.com)

44 CRPF Jawans Killed In Jammu And Kashmir:- It is sure the deadliest attack in the country after 44 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel have been killed after Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist group attacked the vehicles of the CRPF jawans with explosives. The attack happened after a SUV rammed into the bus of the jawans. 12 jawans have been severely injured and are battling for life. A lone suicide attacker in Mahindra Scorpio with around 350 kgs of explosives rammed into a bus at 3.15 PM at Lethapora in Pulwama district.

The incident took place about 30 kilometres from Srinagar. The bus was blasted and the bodies of CRPF jawans were strewn on the highway all over. Several shops and other vehicles in the surrounding regions have been damaged There were bullet marks on the vehicles which indicated that there were more terrorists nearby. High alert has been issued in Jammu and Kashmir after JeM claimed responsible for the attack. The suicide attacker was identified as Adil Ahmad Dar and he joined the group in 2018. India slammed Pakistan for the attacks and asked them to stop supporting the terrorist groups.
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Its an age-old query but in the past, to answer it, we have cautioned contractors against whether they should use a UK-registered limited company abroad, writes Kevin Austin, managing director of overseas contracting advisory Access Financial.

This is because without localisation of the company and its workers, the UK-registered Ltd (also known as a Personal Service Company) would almost certainly be operating non-compliantly.

Where it is possible to localise the company and the worker, then this changes matters drastically, as a limited company can be a good way for a contractor to work abroad in the most tax-efficient way while ensuring continuity from a legal and accounting perspective on return to the UK. In fact, it could be argued that from the UK Criminal Finances Act 2017 perspective, the PSC route is the best way to go.

Immigration

The first point we need to consider, rather obviously, is whether or not the director has the legal right to work. If he has not, then it is most unusual that his company, as a foreign company, will be able to sponsor a work permit. In this case, the use of a limited company to work abroad will fail the first test.

Registering the company

The rule of thumb for compliance is that the company should be recorded as a foreign employer, so that it can operate a payroll in compliance with the laws in the country of work with regard to income that has arisen there. The limited company, as a separate legal entity from its director (usually the worker), must be legalised in its own right in the work country. The ways naturally vary country-by-country.

Registering the individual

Similarly, the worker (the director of the company in this case) is regularised in a similar to how any other employee working in that country would be regularised. This would include matters such as registration at the local Town Hall, being enrolled in the social security system of the host country and obtaining a personal tax number.

Permanent Establishments

Different countries have different attitudes towards when a Permanent Establishment (PE) is created, although the rules in the Double Tax Treaties look much the same. In some states you can be almost sure that a PE will be created; in others that it will be created after a given period in-country, -- and in others, a PE will be created after a considerable time. What this means in practice is that where there is a PE, local corporation tax will be due and credit given against the corporation tax back home which implies that the higher rate is the effective one.

The formation of a PE will also have ramifications for the need to register locally for VAT.

Top destinations where using a UK-registered PSC can pay dividends

In the 12 bullets below you can see the countries where using a PSC is well-established, together with the tax and social security rates. From these and knowing what salary you need to draw to live on and your overall income, you can determine what your effective tax and social security costs will be in each of these countries.

Belgium

Corporation tax rate

29% plus a 2% crisis tax, which is a surtax, implying an effective rate of 29.58%.

As of tax year 2019 (financial years ending 31.12.2018 and later), SMEs will be able to benefit from a decreased rate of 20% plus a 2% crisis tax, implying an effective rate of 20.40% on the first bracket of EUR 100,000 profit.

Dividend tax rate

Resident taxpayers are taxable on dividend income from a Belgian or foreign-source. However, it is not compulsory for individual resident taxpayers to report dividend income provided it has been subject to Belgian withholding tax, which in most cases is 30%.

Social Security Rates

Employer: Approximately 27.50% of total income.

Employee: 13.07% (average rate)

Is it a country where dividends attract social security?

No

Denmark

Corporation tax rate

The CIT rate is 22%.

Dividend tax rate

Dividends are taxed separately at fixed rates of 27% (up to a limit of DKK 52,900) or 42% (for income above DKK 52,900) (2018).

For married couples, a double threshold applies.

Social Security Rates

Employer: Employer contributions include contributions to a number of funds; total contributions amount to approx. DKK 8-10,000 per year.

Employee: The employee social security rate is a monthly lump-sum contribution of DKK 94.65 (DKK 1,135.80 per year). It is not calculated as a percentage.

Is it a country where dividends attract social security?

No

Finland

Corporation tax rate

The CIT rate is 20%.

Dividend tax rate

Investment, including dividend income, is taxed at rates of 30% and 34% (34% is applicable when the annual taxable capital income exceeds EUR 30,000).

Social Security Rates

Employer: 22.08% (average rate)

Employee: 9.78% (average rate)

Is it a country where dividends attract social security?

No

France

Corporation tax rate

For tax years beginning on or after 1.1.2019, the standard CIT rate is 28% on taxable income up to EUR 500,000, and 31% on taxable income in excess.

Dividend tax rate

In general, investment income, including dividends and interest, is taxed at ordinary progressive tax rates, subject to tax treaty provisions.

Total income is split according to family status (i.e. 'the more children you have, the less tax you pay). Under income-splitting rules, total taxable income is divided by the number of shares awarded to the taxpayer: one share for a single person, two shares for a married taxpayer without children, half a share for each of the first two dependent children, and one full share for the third and each subsequent child. Thus, the income of a married taxpayer with three children is split into four.

However, the tax saved from income splitting is limited depending on the net taxable income of the tax household. Figures vary for married taxpayers and for single and divorced taxpayers with dependent children.

Rates are progressive from 0% to 45%, plus a surtax of 3% on the portion of income that exceeds EUR 250,000 for a single person and EUR 500,000 for a married couple and of 4% for income that exceeds EUR 500,000 for a single person and EUR 1 million for a married couple.

Social Security Rates

Employer: 45% (average rate)

Employee: 23% (average rate)

Is it a country where dividends attract social security?

Yes

Contribution Sociale Generalisee (CSG) = 9.9%

Contribution au Remboursement de la Dette Sociale (CRDS) = 0.5%

Other levies = 6.8%

Germany

Corporation tax rate

Profits are subject to two taxes; corporation tax and trade tax.

CIT is levied at a uniform rate of 15% and is subject to a surcharge of 5.5% (solidarity surcharge). An effective total tax rate of 15.8%.

Trade tax rate is a combination of a uniform 3.5% tax rate and a municipal tax rate (which varies according to where the business is based). Municipalities with at least 80,000 inhabitants levy trade tax at a rate of 12.6% to 20.3%.

E.g. if the basis for the two taxes is identical the overall burden on corporate profits earned in Berlin would be 30.2% and Munich 33%.

Dividend tax rate

Worldwide investment income is subject to German income tax at 25 percent plus solidarity surcharge plus church tax (where applicable). The tax is generally withheld at source. The tax withheld is final unless one of the following applies.

The taxpayer's income tax rate is lower than 25%..

Not all investment income was subject to withholding (such as foreign investment income).

Church tax was not considered in the withholding although applicable.

A standard annual deduction of EUR801/EUR1,602 (single/married) is offset against the taxable part of worldwide investment income. Investment income includes interest, dividends, and gains from the sale of shares purchased after 31 December 2008.

Social Security Rates

Employer: 19.38% (average rate)

Employee: 20.63% (average rate)

Is it a country where dividends attract social security?

No

Hungary

Corporation tax rate

The CIT rate is 9% of a positive CIT base.

If a companys CIT base or the pre-tax profit, whichever is higher, is < 2% of its total income reduced by the income of its foreign permanent establishments (PEs) (i.e. the minimum tax base), the company can choose to file a declaration and pay CIT according to the general provisions or to pay CIT on its minimum tax base.

Dividend tax rate

Dividend income is taxed at 15%.

Social Security Rates

Employer: 21% (average rate)

Employee: 18.5% (average rate)

Is it a country where dividends attract social security?

No

Ireland

Corporation tax rate

Standard rate 12.5%

Higher rate 25% on passive income: Non-trading (passive) income includes dividends from companies resident outside Ireland (with some exceptions), interest, rents, and royalties. The higher rate also applies to income from a business carried on wholly outside Ireland..

Dividend tax rate

Dividends are taxable as part of an individuals total taxable income:

Filing status

2019 (EUR)

Tax at 20%

Tax at 40%

Single and widowed person: no dependent children

Income up to 35,300

Balance of income over 35,300

Married couple: one income

Income up to 44,300

Balance of income over 44,300

Married couple: two incomes

Income up to 70,600

Balance of income over 70,600

Social Security Rates

Employer: 10.85% (average rate)

Employee: 4%

Is it a country where dividends attract social security?

No

Luxembourg

Corporation tax rate

15% CIT for businesses with taxable income < EUR 25,000.

Businesses with taxable income between EUR 25,000 and EUR 30,001 are subject to CIT computed as follows: EUR 3,750 plus 33% of the tax base above EUR 25,000 (for 2018).

18% CIT for companies with taxable income in excess of EUR 30,000.

Solidarity surtax: A 7% solidarity surtax is imposed on the CIT amount.

the aggregate CIT rate is 19.26% for companies with taxable income in excess of EUR 30,000.

Municipal business tax: Municipal business tax is levied by the communes and varies from municipality to municipality. The municipal business tax for Luxembourg City is 6.75%.

The effective combined CIT rate (i.e. CIT, solidarity surtax &municipal business tax) for Luxembourg City is 26.01%.

Dividend tax rate

Dividend income is taxed under personal income tax.

Luxembourg income tax liability is based on the individual's personal situation (e.g. family status). For this purpose, individuals are granted a tax class. Three tax classes have been defined:

Class 1 for single persons.

Class 2 for married persons as well as civil partners (under certain conditions).

Class 1a for single persons with children as well as single taxpayers aged at least 65 on 1 January of the tax year.

Tax is calculated in accordance with a progressive table, ranging from 8% on taxable income in excess of 11,265 euros (EUR) to 42% on income in excess of EUR 200,004 for 2018. A solidarity tax of 7% of taxes (9% for taxpayers earning more than EUR 150,000 in tax class 1 and 1a or more than EUR 300,000 in tax class 2) must also be paid.

Social Security Rates

Employer: 15.01% (average rate)

Employee: 12.45% (average rate)

Is it a country where dividends attract social security?

No

Netherlands

Corporation tax rate

Standard CIT rate is 25%.

A lower rate of 20% applies to the first income bracket up to EUR 200,000. 25% applies to the excess of taxable income.

Dividend tax rate

30% - taxed under Box 3 income.

(Box 3 applies to taxable income from savings and investment)

Social Security Rates

Employer: 19% (maximum)

Employee: 27.65% (maximum)

Is it a country where dividends attract social security?

No

Norway

Corporation tax rate

CIT is, in general, assessed at a rate of 22%. Certain companies within the financial sector are assessed at a CIT rate of 25%.

Dividend tax rate

22% - taxed under general income tax rate.

(The general income tax base comprises all categories of taxable income (i.e. income from employment, business, and capital))

Social Security Rates

Employer: 14.1% (The employer contributes by paying 14.1% social security on behalf of the employee to the tax collector).

Employee: 8.2% (The contribution is included in the general tax assessment).

Is it a country where dividends attract social security?

No

Sweden

Corporation tax rate

As of 1.1.2019, the CIT rate is a flat rate of 21.4% (to be decreased to 20.6% in 2021). Until 31 December 2018 the corporate tax rate was 22%.

Dividend tax rate

30% (if resident in another Nordic country this may be reduced to 15%)

Social Security Rates

Employer: 31.42% (A reduced rate (20.7 percent) applies for foreign employers with no permanent establishment in Sweden

Employee: 7% (Collected with income tax)

Is it a country where dividends attract social security?

No

UK

Corporation tax rate

The CIT is 19%

Dividend tax rate

Dividends are always treated as the top slice of income and will be taxed at an individual's highest marginal tax rate.

For 2018/19 a tax free allowance of GBP 2,000 applies.

Thereafter, dividends are taxed according to the tax slab in which they fall:

Basic rate: 7.5%

Higher rate: 32.5%

Additional rate: 38.1%

Social Security Rates

Employer: 13.8%

Employee: 12% (2% on all earnings above 892 GBP per week.)

Is it a country where dividends attract social security?

No

__

What about non-UK registered companies?

In principle, it does not matter where your company is registered so long as it is bona fide and not set up solely to achieve a tax or social security benefit which is called treaty shopping and disliked by the authorities.

Double Tax Treaties and Social Security treaties

When using a limited company abroad, the Double Tax Treaties do and do not apply. If this sounds confusing, it is because while treaty law is supposed to trump domestic law, often the tax authorities can circumvent this! In several countries, for example, where the company is held to be labour-leasing, then taxes can be due from day one rather than the period allowed under the treaty. In most cases, trying to counter a tax authoritys decision can be fruitless. It is just easier and neater to pay local taxes from the contract start then, no matter how long you may spend there, one cannot suffer the pain of a carryback from the 183rd day to the first day, for taxes due where the stay exceeds 183 days.

In the case of Social Security, where your company can obtain an A1 or Certificate of Coverage from your home social security authorities, then you can remain in your home social security system, subject to conditions such as taking up private medical insurance. In the EU/EEA, this period is generally for up to 24 months, but other social security treaties can provide for much longer.

What is the route to highest retentions?

For most contractors, the overall retention is the key driver. The limited company may have many advantages, but it is not necessarily the most tax or social security-efficient way to work. The most financially-attractive means depends on the interplay of salary, dividends, social security costs and corporation taxes, so this is a complex decision and we never advise that a contractor embarks on this course without competent professional guidance. Oh, and if the bottom-line is your highest considertion, you need to factor in living costs on top of the above too!

In short, remember that, in some countries, it is not possible to use a limited company as a foreign worker. Its a strict red light. In others, there are much better legal retentions to be had. So an amber light at best. And in others, the limited company is probably the way to go! The solid green light many have been hoping for. The only aspect unifying all three? The answer is to seek the best advice you can find.
02/15/2019

Photo (c) JasonDoiy - Getty Images In 2016, a man named Albert Scaglione crashed and rolled over his Tesla Model X on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. He survived and told police afterward that he had been engaging Autopilot at the time.

Tesla quickly stepped in to dispute what Scaglione told police. On Twitter, Elon Musk asserted that not only had Scalione not been using Autopilot, but that the crash would not have occurred if it was on.

For years, Tesla has offered such assertions about the safety of Autopilot, even in the wake of three fatalities that occurred after the drivers had allegedly engaged Autopilot.

Tesla was bolstered by regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which announced two years ago that crash rates for Tesla cars dropped by 40 percent after Autopilot was introduced.

But a new report by an independent researcher suggests that the agency fudged those numbers.

Faulty data

R.A. Whitfield is a statisiton and the director of Quality Control Systems, a safety firm that researches car defects. Whitfield submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to NHTSA two years ago, asking for the raw data behind NHTSAs assertion that Autopilot reduces crash rates so dramatically.

But the agency initially refused to hand the data over. They said very explicitly that they did it with fear of doing substantial competitive harm to Tesla, Whitfield tells ConsumerAffairs.

Quality Control Systems finally obtained the data two years later by filing a FOIA lawsuit to compel the federal government to release the data.

According to Whitfields resulting analysis, NHTSA used faulty methodology to claim that Autopilot makes roads safer. In fact, the numbers suggest that Autopilot actually increased crash rates by 59 percent.

The importance of this research goes well beyond the specific issues addressed in our statistical analyses, the Quality Control Systems report says, arguing that the findings call the safety of the entire self-driving car industry into question.

Standing by previous claims

NHTSA didnt dispute Whitfields findings. The agency told the Los Angeles Times that regulators are reviewing the report released by Quality Control Systems Corp. with interest and will provide comment as appropriate.

In a statement to the paper, Tesla stood by its safety claims, writing that the data shows that drivers using Autopilot were significantly less likely to be involved in an accident than those driving without using Autopilot.
The crucial words in yesterdays Government motion were that the Commons reiterates its support for the approach to leaving the EU expressed by this House on 29 January 2019.

That risked being read as a reference not only to the Brady amendment (which supported the removal of the backstop) but also to the Spelman amendment (which effectively called for No Brexit if the choice was between No Brexit and No Deal).

Remainers such as Guto Bebb and Justine Greening were never going to vote for Brady. And Leavers such as Steve Baker were never going to vote for Spelman.

There are more members of the European Research Group than Conservative second referendum supporters, which helps to explain why the former are in the spotlight this morning. But most of both joined in not backing Theresa May.

So why did the Government not slap down a bland motion that didnt risk giving second referendum supporters and ERG members alike reasons or excuses to revolt?

One explanation being floated by Government loyalists is that Downing Street or the whips or both were attempting to stave off the resignation of pro-Soft Brexit and Remain Ministers over the prospect of No Deal.

But most of these seem to believe that they dont need to quit yet to achieve that end. And there is a questionmark over whether many will at all.

Another is that the whips or Number Ten or both were trying to thwart the Letwin/Cooper/Boles attempt to make the legislature, in effect, the executive. But there was no prospect of the Commons voting for that plan yesterday.

Then there is a conspiracy theory  that the whips were seeking to flush out the number of ERG members who might in due course oppose a deal with an amended backstop, but miscalculated. This is fantastical.

To date, the EU appears to have decided that it would rather negotiate with Theresa May than the Commons. That is the most natural reading of its decision to engage in further talks with the Government after the House voted for the Brady amendment.

So a further question this morning is whether the EU will pull the plug during the next few days. If it doesnt, then the consequences of the Governments defeat yesterday will be few. If it does, they could be many.

Either way, experienced hands like Robert Syms and Nicky Morgan were asking yesterday afternoon what on earth the Government was trying to achieve. Perhaps today will bring answers.
Bob Seely: The rule of law is an absolute. It cannot be dispensed with when we deal with ISIS terrorists.

Bob Seely is a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, and is MP for the Isle of Wight.

The case of Shamima Begum, who ran away to live under ISIS rule when she was a teenager, is deeply troubling. In 2015, aged just 15, she went to Syria to support the terror group, and was almost immediately married to a Dutch jihadi convert. She now wants to return to the UK with her surviving child. Two other are dead.

She is one of hundreds of former and current ISIS supporters who hold UK passports, and who now may try to make their way back to Britain as ISIS faces final collapse.

Before I entered Parliament, I served with our armed forces during the campaign to destroy ISIS so-called caliphate. I was proud to do so. The territory that ISIS controlled, which initially stretched from central Syria through to Mosul in Northern Iraq, was a true heart of darkness. It was a revolting regime that mixed mediaeval theocracy with police state practises, and which advertised its death cult in infamous beheading videos.

Four years of bombing and ground force assault by the US, its British and French allies, our Kurdish partners on the ground in Iraq (the Peshmerga) and Syria (the SDF) have defeated ISIS as a physical force, but this victory intensifies a problem: what are we to do with returning ISIS fighters and their fellow travellers? What do we do with those who continue to nurture the idea of violent jihad in their minds? Getting our decision wrong could cost lives.

There is a natural  and exceptionally understandable  instinct to feel anger and contempt for the decisions made by Begum and others. The public revulsion has been rightly expressed by Sajid Javid.

However, it has proved hard to prosecute those who went to live in the ISIS-controlled area. As a result, Javid and his team steered through the Counter Terror and Border Security Act, which this week became law. First, it brings in a designated area offence, allowing prosecution for being in a geographical location without good reason. Second, it makes revoking UK citizenship easier. Third, it brings in Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures  super ASBOs  to disrupt those engaged in extremism in the UK.

However, this law cant be used retrospectively. In addition, if Begum is a British citizen and does not have a second citizenship, she has the right to return. This is not a negotiable point. It is illegal to make her stateless, and attempts to do so will see the Government in court. Furthermore, she was a child when she left. She has made some dire life choices, but her age should be taken into account. Either way, if she makes it to our shores, we will have to find a solution for her and for people who have done worse.

Public anger is understandable, but our priority must be public safety  and that means making some difficult choices.

In practical terms, it means continuing to develop intelligence on ISIS returnees. We need to be collecting on both UK and other internationals who served ISIS. We need to do so to be able to make judgements on their relative danger to our societies, how we monitor them and how they can be deradicalised. The more information we have, the more we can judge which returnees are a threat. Everything we do, including the deals we strike and whom we decide to prosecute, has to be based on that.

Back in 2016, it was reckoned that 700 UK citizens were fighting for, or supporting, ISIS. That figure now totals between 800 and 1,000. Of those, between 100 and 250 have died. UK air power killed some of them; the US and the French others. More were killed by our Kurdish the Peshmerga and the SDF. Other UK fighters who survived and who have a second passport will not be able to return  because they have been quietly stripped of their UK citizenship.

However, even if we identify most of those British citizens who served ISIS and are now considering returning, we will miss some of them. However good our agencies information is, some will have slipped through. Therefore, the need for information, on both known and unknown ISIS terrorists and fellow travellers, is our priority. The greatest protection we have against another Manchester bombing, 7/7 or Borough attack is knowledge.

We do not have to help ISIS terrorists and their war brides to return. But for those who make it here, whether they are prosecuted or not, there must be a price for returning and living their lives in the freedom that they denied others when they lived in ISIS-controlled territory. That price is information.
May says no deal is more likely after Commons defeat

T

Prime Minister suffers defeat on Plan B  FT

but doesnt even turn up for grim result  Daily Mail

May concedes UK will settle for assurances, not changes  Daily Express

Coveney says EU wont sacrifice Ireland  News Letter

heresa May has said a no-deal Brexit is more likely after Tory Eurosceptics condemned her to another humiliating Commons defeat. The brief Tory truce over Brexit was shattered as 66 Conservatives  including Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab  abstained in a vote over the Governments way forward, which Mrs May lost by 303 votes to 258. The result was a serious blow to Mrs Mays chances of winning concessions from Brussels over the Brexit deal. Mrs May had told the EU that a vote in favour of her Brexit strategy last month gave her a stable majority for the deal she is trying to broker, but that majority was wiped out at a stroke by her 45-vote defeat. Brexiteers from the European Research Group had refused to back a Government motion which followed a day-long Brexit debate because they believed it meant no deal was being taken off the table.  Daily Telegraph

Brexiteers:

European Research Group denies holding the Government to ransom  The Guardian

Baker warns that Government could collapse if deal passes as-is  Daily Express

>Today:

>Yesterday:

as Harrington urges Brexiteers to quit the Tories

Hardline Conservative Brexiteers were accused of treachery by a minister as the partys fragile truce crumbled again yesterday. Richard Harrington, a business minister, told the European Research Group (ERG) of backbenchers that they should quit the party and join forces with Nigel Farage instead Mr Harrington, who voted to Remain in the EU in 2016, has emerged as one of the most passionate ministerial opponents of a no-deal Brexit. Last month he praised Airbus for telling it like it is after the company said the governments handling of Brexit had been a disgrace, and said he would be very happy if Mrs May sacked him for his opposition to leaving the EU without a deal. But yesterday Mr Harrington, MP for Watford, said he would not countenance resigning and nor should other Remainers, because it would give the ERG pleasure.  The Times

Grieve plans mass Remainer walkout to bring down May  Daily Express

Pro-EU MPs vow to take control of the Government and delay Brexit  The Sun

The Tories Brexit tribes  FT

More:

Public wont forgive Labour if we support the deal, warns Lewis  The Times

>Today: MPs Etc.: Nearly a quarter of Conservative MPs failed to support the Prime Minister yesterday

>Yesterday:

Brussels should trust UK on clearing, says Bank of England

EU asset managers could move to UK after dual-trading ban  FT

Process has cost UK 80 billion since vote  The Guardian

Dutch leader starts row by saying Britain is on the wane  The Sun

EU regulators should drop ambitions for greater direct supervision of London clearing houses after Brexit, to avoid imposing potentially conflicting requirements on institutions that play a key role in global markets, according to a top official at the Bank of England. Londons clearing houses, which manage the risk around trades if one side defaults, have become ensnared in Brexit politics because they handle the bulk of the 660tn market for derivatives cleared in Europe. While EU authorities have a valid interest in monitoring the Citys clearing houses, they should defer to UK regulators, David Bailey, director of markets infrastructure at the BoE, said in an interview. We have lots of experience co-operating with overseas regulators, making sure where they have a valid interest in a UK clearing house, they have the relevant input they need, he said.  FT

Comment:

Carneys canary in the mine moment  Patrick Jenkins, FT

Mark Harper: To fix the backstop, May must press ahead with the Malthouse Compromise

We risk putting ourselves in a very difficult situation. However, some calm, sensible decision making at this critical point can avoid such a mistake. There are three options to deal with the backstop. First, the ability for the UK to unilaterally exit from it; second, a short time limit which ensures it would come to an end before the 2022 General Election or third, replace it with something better. The solution must be something that can be carried in Parliament primarily by the Conservative Party and our DUP allies. We know that this is possible because on 29th January, the House of Commons voted  by a majority of 16  to require the Northern Ireland backstop to be replaced with alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border; supports leaving the European Union with a deal and would therefore support the Withdrawal Agreement subject to this change. For a backstop to have the reassurance required by the EU and Ireland, it needs to be capable of being permanent but for the UK, if it were to be permanent, it would need to be acceptable for all parts of our country  both Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  Daily Telegraph

The meaningful vote process has failed us  Jack Simson-Caird, Times Red Box

Brexiteers have given Brussels a great excuse not to give ground  Asa Bennett, Daily Telegraph

Six weeks to go and were none the wiser  Henry Newman, Times Red Box

Britain needs more time, but May cant be trusted with it  Gary Younge, The Guardian

This desperate Government doesnt know which way to turn  Michael Deacon, Daily Telegraph

Javid will try to block return of ISIS bride

The family of the London schoolgirl who ran away to join Islamic State appealed last night for her to be shown mercy as the home secretary tried to shut the door on her hopes of returning to Britain. Relatives of Shamima Begum, 19, pointed to her youthful innocence at the time when she was groomed online to join Isis in February 2015 Sajid Javid declared, however, that he would use all available

powers to prevent Ms Begum coming back to Britain and would seek to try her for

terrorism offences

if she did return.

MPs take hard line on pleas to come home  The Times

Taxpayer could face huge costs from dozens of brides  Daily Mail

US plans to jail British jihadis in Guantanamo  Daily Telegraph

We must remember that those who left Britain to join Daesh were full of hate for our country, the home secretary told. My message is clear  if you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return. If you do manage to return you should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted.  The Times

Comment:

Dont underestimate the role of female jihadis  Raffaello Pantucci, Daily Telegraph

Begum deserves to return to Britain  Philip Collins, The Times

Jihadi bride voluntary shacked up with killers, this is not her home  Brendan ONeill, The Sun

She made her bed and should lie in it  Alison Pearson, Daily Telegraph

Britain should be strong enough to take her back  Richard Barrett, The Guardian

>Today: Bob Seely MP in Comment: The rule of law is an absolute. It cannot be dispensed with when we deal with ISIS terrorists.

May urged to back fracking

Theresa May is today urged to back the fracking revolution as new tests signal the East Midlands is sitting on 30-years worth of gas. Ineos, Britains biggest private company, claims drilling results from its field in Nottinghamshire suggest US levels of shale gas under the soil. Tests found an average level of 60.7 standard cubic feet per tonne of gas  compared with an average 39 (scf) at a vast shale field in Texas. Ineos Shale chief operating officer Tom Pickering claimed it was the most significant drilling result so far in the short history of Britains shale industry. He told The Sun: Its obviously early days but these are the highest readings in the UK we have ever seen. Geologists believe there could be 436 trillion cubic feet of gas in this part of the Bowland Basin. This test is consistent with that.  The Sun

McDonnell stands by Churchill jibe

the whole of Europe from a barbaric fascist and racist tyranny and our debt to him is incalculable.  The Times

Tories need to wise up to his plans  Iain Martin, The Times

That the left think hating Churchill is rebellious shows how little they know  Tom Harris, Daily Telegraph

Blunder adds to doubts about his patriotism  Ian Austin MP, Times Red Box

Shadow Chancellor has lost his grip on history  Boris Johnson MP, Daily Telegraph

Row is part of glib approach to history that gave us Brexit  Simon Jenkins, The Guardian

John McDonnell has defended his description of Winston Churchill as a villain over his role on the Tonypandy riots, saying he was just being honest. Mr McDonnell did acknowledge that Churchill was a war hero but said there was another side to him that should be taught more often. Chris Williamson, another Labour MP, agreed that Churchill was a villain who had been in the right place at the right time during the Second World War. Mr McDonnell has come under pressure to withdraw comments he made on Wednesday when he was asked at an event hosted by the Politico website whether Churchill was a hero or villain. Tonypandy: villain, he replied. Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, said that Churchill saved this country and

>Today: Iain Dales column: Were it not for Churchill, McDonnell might be speaking German. And so could the rest of us.

>Yesterday: Phil Taylor in Comment: In its bid for bleakness, Labours broadcast is both glib and deceptive

Khan promises to help low-earners scrap diesel cars

People with low incomes and polluting cars will be given grants to scrap them under a plan by the mayor of London. However, the programme is not expected to start until months after charges of 12.50 a day in the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) begin in London. Sadiq Khan, the mayor, has pledged 25 million for the scheme, which will pay for a fraction of non-compliant cars to be scrapped. Recipients will be able to use the money to help buy a cleaner car or pay for a greener form of transport. About 1.5 million diesel cars registered before 2016 and 500,000 petrol cars registered before 2006 entered the area covered by the Ulez at least once last year and will be liable for the charge if they enter again from April 8. Mr Khan has yet to set the amount of each grant but if it was 2,000, as suggested yesterday by the UK100 city leaders group that he supports, then his 25 million fund would pay for scrapping only 12,500 cars.  The Times

Berry to be Green mayoral candidate again in 2020  The Guardian

Comment:

Fund to tackle polluting cars wont go far  Steve Gooding, The Times

SNP advisor calls for softest possible model of independence to try to win vote

Think the unthinkable: Sturgeon is on the way out  Brian Monteith, The Scotsman

A key economic adviser to Nicola Sturgeon has called for the softest of all forms of independence in order to win a Yes vote. Andrew Wilson, who penned the recently revised economic blueprint for an independent Scotland  the Sustainable Growth Commission  says this is the way to win big. But the ex-SNP MSPs comments prompted criticism from pro-union parties who insisted there is no such thing as soft independence. Ms Sturgeon has pledged to set out her timetable for a second referendum in the coming weeks. The pro-independence campaign has faced increasingly awkward questions over the practicalities of leaving a centuries old union, in light of the turmoil engulfing the UK over its looming departure from the EU. But Mr Wilson sought to play down such concerns in his weekly column for the national newspaper today.  The Scotsman

>Yesterday:

At least 100 MPs will go on holiday despite recess being scrapped

At least 100 MPs will go on holiday next week  despite their half-term break being scrapped. They had been ordered to stay in Parliament to tackle the Brexit deadlock and sort through masses of crucial legislation. But sources say Tory and Labour politicians are being paired off for hols so they dont have to be at votes. Staff are still required to work in the Commons and staff its canteens next week. PMs Questions could now see one of the lowest attendances in modern times. Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom cancelled the break last month amid fears about how ready the UK is for a March 29 Brexit. Some MPs demanded refunds for booked holidays, but Parliaments expenses watchdog refused. Chief whip Julian Smith then promised those who want to spend time with families or who had arranged trips abroad could carry on unhindered.  The Sun

News in Brief:
World condemns deadly Pulwama terror attack; over 40 killed

In one of the most heinous terror attacks in Kashmir, more than 40 jawans were killed and dozens injured when a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus in Pulwama district. The incident took place when 2,547 CRPF personnel were coming in a convoy of 78 vehicles from the transit camp in Jammu and headed to Srinagar. The IED blast was followed by gunshots in Goripora area of Awantipora.

The incident took place when 2,547 CRPF personnel were coming in a convoy of 78 vehicles from the transit camp in Jammu and headed to Srinagar. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@ANI

In a post on Twitter, Home Minister Rajnath Singh blamed the Pakistan based, Pakistan-backed, banned terrorist organisation, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) for the dastardly attack. This terror group is led by the international terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by Government of Pakistan to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity, said the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in a statement.

         - -                                Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) February 14, 2019

The Government of India is firmly and resolutely committed to take all necessary measures to safeguard national security. We are equally resolved to fight against the menace of terrorism. We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries, it added.

Reactions by U.S Members of Congress on #Pulwama #KashmirTerrorAttack

on 14 February 2019. pic.twitter.com/qWLXP5d4KY  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) February 15, 2019

The attack is worse than the one in Uri, where terrorists killed 19 army men. Also, this was the the first suicide car bomb attack in Kashmir since the 2001 strike on the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in which 41 people were killed. Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the incident despicable and said that the sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain.

Attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs. May the injured recover quickly.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 14, 2019

Union Minister Arun Jaitley termed this attack as cowardice and condemnable act of terrorists and also stated that Terrorists will be given unforgettable lesson for their heinous act. India also withdrew the "most favoured nation" status given to Pakistan in trade services in 1996.

Most Favoured Nation status to Pak stands withdrawn



MEA will engage with international community to ensure that convention on international terrorism is adopted



Security forces will ensure those responsible for this heinous attack pay a heavy price: Union Minister @arunjaitley pic.twitter.com/4IX7NrUvC4  PIB India (@PIB_India) February 15, 2019

Congress president Rahul Gandhi also condemned the terror attack and extended his condolences to the family of the martyrs.

Im deeply disturbed by the cowardly attack on a #CRPF convoy in J&K in which many of our brave CRPF men have been martyred and a large number wounded, some critically. My condolences to the families of our martyrs. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 14, 2019

Mehbooba Mufti, President of the Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party, also expressed her anger and wrote, How many more lives will be snuffed out before this madness ends?

Disturbing news coming in from #awantipura . Twelve of our security personnel have been martyred and several have been injured. No words are enough to condemn the gruesome terror attack. How many more lives will be snuffed out before this madness ends?  Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) February 14, 2019

From US to Russia and Sri Lanka to Nepal, the world condemned the devastating terror attack on Indian CRPF personnel. This followed the appeal made by MEAs to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM Chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.

The U.S. Mission in India strongly condemns todays terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. The United States stands alongside India in confronting terror and defeating it. #KashmirTerrorAttack  Ken Juster (@USAmbIndia) February 14, 2019

In a press release, the US Department of State said it condemns the terrorist attack on the Indian CRPF convoy and asked Pakistan to uphold its responsibilities to deny support to terror groups.

The U.S. condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack today on an Indian Central Reserve Police Force convoy in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and their families. https://t.co/xbkdtHWhpA pic.twitter.com/pBs8c5s2nI  Robert Palladino (@StateDeputySPOX) February 14, 2019

"The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a late night statement on Thursday.

"This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counter-terrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India," she said in a strongly-worded statement issued by the White House.

The Russian embassy released a statement condemning the attack. Calling for a strong response to terror, Russian embassy said, We denounce terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with decisive and collective response without any double standards.

This attack is one of the most deadliest terror attack in Jammu and Kashmirs three decades of militancy. Sincere condolences to the family members of our fearless security personnel who have made the supreme sacrifice.

CRPF Personnel Ratan Thakur's (who lost his life in #PulwamaTerrorAttack ) father in Bhagalpur: I have sacrificed a son in Mother India's service, I will send my other son as well to fight, ready to give him up for Mother India, but Pakistan must be given a befitting reply.#Bihar pic.twitter.com/rI6cM38Agh  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

If you wish to add your thoughts, feel free to comment below.
Bank of Singapore ties up with Edelweiss Group to capitalise on Indias wealth

Bank of Singapore has tied up with Indias largest financial service provider Edelweiss Group to allow clients of both entities to access their respective platforms- Bank of Singapores wide range of global investment solutions offered through its open-architecture platform and Edelweiss robust wealth solutions and investment opportunities in India.

Non-Resident Indian (NRI) clients of Bank of Singapore will benefit from this partnership as it will avail a wider range of investment opportunities in India.

This partnership will allow Bank of Singapore to significantly raise its profile in one of Asias fastest growing wealth markets through one of Indias largest industry players, said Bank of Singapore in a media release.

Indias total personal wealth is expected to top USD5 trillion (SGD6.79 trillion) by 2022 according to Boston Consulting Group.

This partnership also offers Edelweiss clients the opportunity to access Bank of Singapores product platform, creating a powerful global investment proposition.

Bahren Shaari, Chief Executive Officer, Bank of Singapore (left) with Rashesh Shah, Chairman and CEO, Edelweiss Group at the Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony. Photo courtesy: Bank of Singapore

This partnership represents a milestone in our business strategy to tap into Indias growth. As Asias global private bank, we are well placed to be the gateway to the global financial markets for Indian entrepreneurs by providing them with suitable solutions to diversify their investments, said Bahren Shaari, Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Singapore.

Edelweiss is a highly respected wealth manager in India, with an excellent product platform across the financial services value chain. We are delighted to be working together with such an esteemed partner and look forward to combining our strengths and achieving a successful collaboration, said Vikram Malhotra, Global Market Head, Global South Asia & Middle East, Bank of Singapore.

We are delighted to partner with Bank of Singapore which is one of the largest Asian private banks. Our combined network, business knowledge, and decades of on ground experience in the financial services space will act as catalysts to our joint ambition of providing the best in class solutions to our collective clientele, said Rashesh Shah, Chairman and CEO, Edelweiss Group.

Bank of Singapore caters to the global NRI diaspora and is a renowned market stalwart. Edelweiss, on the other hand is the market leader in the onshore India wealth market. By working together, we aim to bring together the best of both worlds for the whole of Asia, said Nitin Jain, CEO of Edelweiss Wealth & Asset Management.

This is the first time that an Indian wealth manager of Edelweiss size and stature is partnering with an offshore private bank. Bank of Singapore had previously signed similar strategic partnerships with two financial institutions  one from Japan and another from Switzerland.

Edelweiss Group is one of Indias largest diversified financial services groups. Its wealth management arm is amongst Indias leading wealth managers with assets under advice (AUA) of USD14.4 billion (SGD19.56 billion). It provides a unique platform across asset classes, customised to help new-age clients create and protect their wealth and aspirations.

Bank of Singapores strength and stability as one of the few private banks in the world to hold an Aa1 rating from Moodys, its global research and advisory capabilities as well as its open-architecture platform, which offers clients access to a wide range of global innovative investment solutions, were factors behind Edelweiss decision to partner with the bank.

Notably, Bank of Singapores non-resident Indian (NRI) clients will benefit from this partnership as it will avail a wider range of investment opportunities in India  a growing interest that has been seen from this segment.

The Singapore-headquartered private bank has one of the largest coverage of NRIs in the world, with more than 80 bankers serving such clients.
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J.P. Morgan Chase plans to launch what is considered to be the first cryptocurrency backed by a major bank, a move that could legitimize blockchain as a vehicle for fiat cryptocurrencies.

JPM Coin, as the bank is calling its new cryptocoin, is considered fiat currency because it's backed by U.S. dollars in accounts designated at JPMorgan Chase N.A.

One JPM Coin has the equivalent value of one U.S. dollar. Trials for the new cryptocoin are expected to begin in the next few months, according to a CNBC report.

In the crypto industry, an instrument like JPM Coin is known as a "stablecoin" because it has an intrinsic value, unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum's ETH coins, whose value is based on supply and demand of virtual money.

"When one client sends money to another over the blockchain, JPM Coins are transferred and instantaneously redeemed for the equivalent amount of U.S. dollars, reducing the typical settlement time," JPMorgan said in an online FAQ. "The JPM Coin is based on blockchain-based technology enabling the instantaneous transfer of payments between institutional accounts."

J.P. Morgan Chase How JPM Coin differs from other cryptocurrencies.

In short, JPM Coin is basically a way of using a permissioned blockchain ledger to keep track of balance transfers within the bank's business and internationally between institutional clients.

J.P. Morgan clients would purchase JPM Coin, using the tokens in lieu of actual funds to make payments and transfers; JPM would then facilitate the recipient receiving the commensurate number of dollars, according to Dayna Ford, a Gartner research director focused on payments within electronic and mobile commerce.

"As such, if institutional clients would like to move foreign funds into a different institution, it would need to involve [J.P. Morgan] as an intermediary bank," Ford said. "Once the funds are converted to a local currency within [J.P. Morgan], they would ride existing rails, such as wire or SWIFT, between the two banks in-country, at least initially."

J.P.. Morgan Chase did not respond to Computerworld queries as to whether the bank is considering using a cryptocurrency in its retail business.

Even if only used for its wholesale business, JPM Coin amounts to a public endorsement of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and its practical functionality for business  something enterprises have sought from blockchain-based solutions for years, according to Kevin McMahon, executive director of emerging technologies at digital technology consultancy SPR.

"While the direct impact will be limited to JP Morgan and their institutional clients, the optics and endorsement of the technologies will ripple beyond the financial services industry," McMahon said, "meaning the outcome of this JPM Coin experiment will be watched closely by those considering distributed ledger technologies for their own purposes."

McMahon noted nuances with other cryptocurrencies, saying JPM Coin isn't exactly crypto but a "financial instrument that leverages blockchain technologies.

J.P. Morgan Chase

"Just like Bitcoin, JPM Coin can be thought of as an application written on top of a blockchain platform," McMahon added. "JPM Coin is looking to streamline the institution's business-to-business money movement flows by reducing counterparty and settlement risk and enabling instant money transfers amongst their institutional clients."

In 2017, J.P. Morgan's CEO, Jamie Dimon, called Bitcoin a "fraud" that will "blow up." McMahon noted that view isn't inconsistent with the company's launch of JPM Coin because it isn't a true cryptocurrency.

"It's not intended to replace or even compete with cryptos like Bitcoin," McMahon said. "This is an application of [DLT] to improve specific business cases that JP Morgan and their institutional clients have."

Within the world of digital commerce payments, JPM Coin won't have much of an impact on legitimizing cryptocurrencies, Ford added.

"JPM has stated that it will not be available to retail investors but only to their large institutional clients, which means it won't be in the hands of individuals and won't be used for commerce or even for investing," Ford said. "It wouldn't be particularly applicable for speculative investing anyway, since its value is tied to the U.S. dollar."

The benefit from using JPM Coin comes with blockchain's DLT, which has the potential to speed funds transfers, "most notably international funds transfers" compared to existing banking rails or messaging networks such as SWIFT.

SWIFT relies on legacy platforms designed around daily cut-off times and batch processing, Ford said.

While JP Morgan Chase could have partnered with a crypto-backed, real-time settlement system such as Ripple rather than build its own, the company has signaled an appetite for controlled pilots with selected clients, and their own private network was likely the best way to achieve that, Ford noted.

While J.P. Morgan may be the first major bank to announce a cryptocurrency backed by fiat money, it's certainly not the first to propose crypto-backed assets.

The original idea behind bitcoin was to create a decentralized electronic currency for everyday purchases; however, it has rapidly become a speculative asset, with a volatile value over the past year; it skyrocketed to nearly $20,000 in value only to plummet below $3,500.

The head of the People's Bank of China's (PBoC) new Digital Currency Research Institute wants that nation's central bank to create a cryptocurrency, which he claimed would provide stability to China's fiat money.

In a blog, "Fedcoin: On the Desirability of a Government Cryptocurrency," David Andolfatto, an economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, argued that government-backed cryptocurrencies would provide greater transaction transparency.

A government-backed, blockchain-based digital token would offer the benefits of an international currency usable for settlement of global trade and holdings. And it would be one with lower fees because it would require less administration through the use of smart or self-executing contracts.

In order to be viable, a state-issued digital token would need the backing of the government itself or a central bank, such as the U.S. Central Bank, the Bank of England, or the Monetary Authority of Singapore, for example. Such stablecoin cryptocurrencies are tied directly to a country's fiat money or backed by a commodity such as gold.

For example, OneGram is a gold-backed cryptocurrency that backs each digital coin with a gram of gold. Each transaction of OneGram Coin (OGC) generates a small transaction fee which is reinvested in more gold (net of admin costs), thus increasing the amount of gold that backs each OneGram, according to a white paper explaining how OGC works.

The U.K's Royal Mint has begun selling cryptocurrency tokens against bars of gold, and has even called its Royal Mint Gold, "The New Digital Gold Standard."

While they're still nascent, new start-ups are launching applications that allow users to convert cash, property and digital assets into cryptocurrency that can be tracked and kept in a blockchain immutable ledger.

DLT has the ability to take anything, from a piece of artwork to gems and real estate, and represent them as cryptographically hashed assets on a peer-to-peer, open electronic network that has no central authority, such as a bank, governing their trade or sale. The cryptocurrency market capitalization is estimated to be $211 billion, according to a report from auditing and business services firm KPMG.

Cryptocurrencies have gained significant attention for their ability to solve problems in the global financial world, such as feeless cross-border payments, and it has diversified to include different types of assets such as stablecoin.

KPMG pointed to a wave of start-ups and established financial services firms, such as Fidelity Investments, launching various crypto products and services for the emerging tokenized economy. The firm suggested that a tokenized economy will likely be one of the more significant innovations enabled by cryptoassets like bitcoin, Litecoin and Ether.

While J.P. Morgan's JPM Coin isn't likely to directly disrupt the payments industry, it does provide a blueprint for how other centralized, digital payments could be constructed within a permissioned blockchain network, according to SPR's McMahon.

"The challenges and problems that JPM Coin was designed to solve dont necessarily overlap with those of the traditional payment processors or industry, as these banks and institutions arent using the traditional payments ecosystem for settlement and transfers," McMahon said. "However, the technologies and approach used to implement JPM Coin provides insight into what digital payments might look like on other networks, such as social networks, or platforms, such as gaming systems."
Robert Lee Alexander passed away in Florissant, Missouri on June 11, 2021, at the age of 90. He was a loving and devoted husband of 64 years to Jacqueline Lee (Blaine) Alexander, who preceded him in death in 2018, and a devoted and loving father to Cindy Sander, and Robert Alexander Jr., and
Discussing the new School Emergency Response Team for Chandler Unified and Kyrene schools inside Chandler city limits are, from left, Kyrene IT Director Damien Nichols, Chandler Unified Security Director Tanya Smith, Chandler Assistant Fire Chief Scott Chapman and Chandler Police Commander David Levoy.
Columbia, MO (65201)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. Low 74F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Isolated thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. Low 74F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
Ted Fuller, a research assistant in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, celebrated his 90th birthday on Valentines Day.

After two party cancellations, one due to illness and the other because of inclement weather, Fuller was finally able to celebrate his birthday with colleagues and his daughter on Feb. 14. His actual birthday was on Feb. 7.

Fullers party was an intimate gathering of nine in room six of the Armsby Building. They celebrated with presents, homemade chocolate cake, laughs and jokes.

Ray Hoy, a research associate, was responsible for making the cake. When asked what special ingredient he used, he replied, Just my love for Ted Fuller.

After opening his gifts, Fuller gave a brief speech thanking everybody for coming to celebrate with him. He also described their impact on his life.

Im a lucky guy, Fuller said to his colleagues. I hit 90 and Im in pretty good shape and I have all of you.

Fuller began his career at Penn State in 1953 as a student, originally in the geography department before pursuing a Ph.D. in agricultural economics in 1957.

Its a lifetime, Fuller said. Its been a fun gig.

Fuller has been working in the agricultural department for the past 62 years. He said he currently creates reports on the Pennsylvania's economy.

In one report, Fuller found evidence of two Pennsylvanias, demonstrated by different economies within the state. He received recognition in multiple newspapers, and Fuller and the team that helped him with the economic discovery spoke in 12 interviews regarding the finding.

Dr. Fuller is interested in created reports that are geared towards average, layman readers, Tessa Sontheimer, a research associate, said, so not creating heavy academic reports that people cant use.

Sontheimer (graduate- community, environment and development, and global and international studies) said their reports include a lot of graphics and maps with little text. The maps Sontheimer creates are typically done with computer programs.

However, Sontheimer said Fuller still creates the maps with paper and colored pencils.

[Fuller] can make more complex maps by hand than I can make with a computer, Sontheimer said.

Sontheimer said Fullers ability to visualize the maps in his mind has taught her the importance of really understanding the numbers.

Fuller said he has been practicing his technique for years.

[Fuller] is very patient," Sontheimer said. [Hes] not afraid to take the time to [make the maps] right.

Sontheimer was responsible for organizing the birthday party and attended the event as well. She began working with Fuller in 2016 after her professor at the time and associate of Fuller, Theodore Alter, offered her a position at the center of economic and community development.

Alter, a professor of agricultural, environmental and regional economics and co-director for the center of economic and community development, also attended the party.

Alter met Fuller in the mid-70s after coming to work at Penn State in the Department of Economics and Rural Sociology. Alter said they have had a connection ever since.

Fundamentally, [Fuller] has had a real impact on me, Alter said, Hes been an inspiration to me in my work, [showing me] how important it is to try to keep complex issues simple enough so that people can understand them.

Alter added that Fullers impact on his personal life was even more important to him.

[Fuller] has always encouraged me in our discussions, but also in his actions and his behavior and engagement with the work that we do," he said. "Even though Ive been here for 45 years, we still have a lot to contribute."

Fuller said he continues to work because of the inspiration students provide. Every day, Fuller said he takes the Red Link from the Recreation Center to his office in the Armsby Building  a routine which brightens his day because he gets to spend time with students.

Right now, [my favorite part] is working with all these great young people. Fuller said. Theyre so enthusiastic and it rubs off and keeps me going.

Sontheimer said Fuller has impacted her life in many ways. When Sontheimer graduated, Fuller told her family that Sontheimer had taught him about growing, which was remarkable because he was 89 years old. Sontheimer said the comment brought her mother and grandmother to tears.

She countered, however, that Fuller has taught her how to grow as well.

[Fuller] embraces [change] with humor and a willingness to learn, Sontheimer said. Fuller tries and learns and succeeds because of that.

Sontheimer said she had research experience in the past; however, this position has provided her with the most hand-on application.

Its really empowering to sit at a table with Dr. Fuller and Dr. Alter, Sontheimer said. They actually want my opinion on what I think about the research were conducting together.

Sontheimer said her favorite saying of Fuller's is a quote from Ralph W. Sockman  The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder"  because she believes it exemplifies Fuller as a person.

She said she would describe Fuller as positive, persistent and hardworking. She added funny to the list after remembering some of her and Fuller's jokes together.

After learning that Sontheimer said he was funny, Fuller told one of his favorite jokes.

Whats the definition of an economist? Fuller asked. Someone who is good with figures but doesnt have the personality to become an accountant.

Fuller is also a member of a band called "Second Winds," which plays music from the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

Fuller said the band is a group of seniors, some experienced musicians, that have been together for roughly 10 years. They practice every week and play at retirement homes in the fall and winter.

Sontheimer said one of Fullers most admirable qualities is his ability to consistently be apart of something and always show up. She added with a smile that this did not include Wednesdays, when Fuller attends band practice.

Alter spoke of the lasting legacy Fuller has left on the community.

The thing that we have in life that we leave, our legacy, is how we treat people and how people feel about how we treat each other, Alter said. [Fullers] legacy is that hell always be remembered as somebody who cared deeply about other folks and respected them.

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No matter the industry or whether you're a salaried or hourly worker, employees in the U.S. can't seem to leave when their shift ends.

On average, American workers stay late 2.5 days a week, meaning most go home when scheduled only about half the time. And each after-hours session eats up 32 minutes of our free time, on average, according to a new survey of 1,188 working-age people by Amerisleep, a mattress company.

How you're compensated for your time makes no real difference to how often you stay late either, the survey found. While it might seem safe to assume salaried workers are more likely to keep at it after business hours end, it turns out hourly workers stay late an equal amount of days.

Where the two groups differ is in how long those extra work sessions last. Salaried employees spent an additional seven minutes, on average, working past their shift end, than hourly employees did when they decide to work late.

But both groups agree they stay late too frequently, saying a once weekly occurrence is acceptable.

So why are we putting in all these extra hours? For some workers, it was about impressing a boss or coworker, others said they couldn't get everything done during their typical shift, but 82 percent said they were directed or felt pressure from a supervisor to work later.

About 60 percent of workers believed their position was in jeopardy if they didn't comply with a boss's request, while 39 percent felt safe declining such an ask.

Financial gain is another key motivator: Workers who put in more overtime earn more money.

As one might expect, hourly workers who always took on additional shift time outearned workers who rarely stayed late to the tune of more than $14,000, on average, annually, according to the survey.

But salaried employees, who were also more willing to work late, pocketed more too  about $9,600 extra a year over coworkers who left on time, the survey found. One potential reason for this: They were seen as more dedicated and thus awarded higher raises or compensated with additional overtime wages.

Every additional dollar earned comes at a cost, though.

Workers who put in extra hours lost precious family time; 60 percent admitted to sacrificing moments with a partner or kids to work late. And 56 percent broke a promise to a partner or friend so they could keep on at the office.

Finally, extra work hours damaged people's health. People slept 46 minutes fewer on days they stayed late and had lower quality sleep on those days too. About half of workers ate more fast food when working late and 43 percent skipped the gym or other exercise they'd normally do.

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Michael Calvey, co-managing partner of Baring Vostok Capital Partners, gestures during an interview at the company's headquarters in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, April 4, 2011.

A U.S. citizen and private equity founder has been arrested in Moscow on Friday on suspicion of embezzlement.

According to Russian news agency IFAX, Michael Calvey, has been detained along with others in relation to the theft of 2.5 billion roubles ($37.5 million).

The same media has reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not aware of Calvey's detention and that the arrest was made based on evidence from The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB).

Later Reuters reported that Calvey told a Russian court that the allegations were false and had arisen because his fund is in a dispute with Russia's Vostochny Bank.

In an earlier statement provided to CNBC Friday, the head of Russia's Sovereign Wealth Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, said he considered Calvey a professional.

"It is very difficult to comment on the situation around Michael Calvey's detention not knowing the details of the charges. However, here at the Russian Direct Investment Fund we know Michael Calvey and the team of Baring Vostok as highly professional investors, committed to the highest ethical standards accepted in the investment community" he said.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Dmitriev added that he would personally vouch for Calvey.

"I am ready to provide personal guarantee for Michael Calvey and believe that he did a lot for attracting foreign investment in Russia and helped many Russian companies to grow and mature."

"We hope that it is a very transparent process that will follow," Dmitriev told CNBC's Hadley Gamble. "Mike said today he believes in the Russian legal system... so we need to make sure the system works, but we support Mike Calvey and we believe that hopefully this is a misunderstanding that gets resolved."

CNBC has learned that Dmitriev and Calvey have previously co-invested on a number of projects.
A volunteer carries a bag with US humanitarian aid in Cucuta, Colombia, on the border with Tachira, Venezuela, on February 8, 2019

The Trump administration is sending another large shipment of humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan border in Colombia, this time using U.S. military aircraft to pressure Nicolas Maduro to give up power, according to a leaked State Department email to Congress.

The 250 tons of emergency supplies will begin arriving Saturday to the border city of Cucuta, where tons of boxes of emergency supplies stamped with the U.S. flag are already warehoused waiting for delivery into Venezuela.

The email sent Friday was provided to The Associated Press by a congressional aide who isn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

While the U.S. military has long supported civilian-led humanitarian assistance missions around the world this is the first time they are being used to deploy aid for Venezuela.
A new player has entered the discussion over the Club West Golf Course, adding new uncertain
President Donald Trump promised to eliminate the national debt during his campaign, but he said Friday that building up the military is more important.

Total public debt outstanding topped $22 trillion earlier this week, with nearly $2.1 trillion coming under Trump's watch.

When touting his plans to stimulate the economy, Trump insisted that the growth  which would come from tax cuts, less regulation and greater infrastructure spending  would offset debt and eventually eliminate the national IOU. However, Congressional Budget Office projections indicate that the budget deficit will only grow in the years ahead, pushing the debt ever higher and eventually reaching about 150 percent of GDP in the next 30 years.

Read more: Here's where the money for Trump's border wall will come from

Asked during a White House news conference Friday about the red ink, Trump said military spending has taken priority.

"But first I have to straighten out the military. The military was depleted," he said.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will meet with cabinet colleagues Friday morning to discuss a solution to his government's legislative paralysis.

The meeting comes after two Catalan separatist parties that had supported his Socialists (PSOE) in the Madrid parliament voted against his budget for the current fiscal year.

Sanchez is one of Europe's last remaining center-left leaders, a decade on from the financial crisis that cratered the Spanish economy.

Just days after the European Commission issued surprisingly healthy economic forecasts for Spain, Sanchez had been trying to pass a budget that would increase spending to address some of the country's long-standing economic inequality.

There were almost no specific concerns raised about those draft spending proposals. But after the failed vote this week, his own budget minister acknowledged that without an approved budget for the year, Sanchez could struggle to argue that he has a mandate to govern.

Political analysts say Sanchez had the ability to simply roll over last year's spending framework, introduced by the previous party in government, the Partido Popular (PP), but that appears unlikely to happen.

"Sanchez has not passed the budget ... by himself," Pablo Simon, a political science professor at Madrid's Carlos III University, told CNBC. "It makes sense as consequence to assume that he does not have a workable majority in Parliament."

The economy could nevertheless continue to perform well in the near term, and after years of austerity under the previous government, the country's finances now look comparatively healthy despite political uncertainty.

"We face opportunity cost in terms of reforms," Simon said of the political chaos. "But the deficit is not so problematic."

Wednesday's parliamentary proceedings  with 191 lawmakers voting against, 158 in favor, and 1 abstention  marked the second time since 1979 that a government has lost a vote on its budget, and the first time in almost 24 years.

In the wake of the 2017 Catalonia crisis and a corruption scandal that together roiled the once dominant center right, Sanchez himself took power from the PP, thanks to support from a handful of Basque deputies and 17 lawmakers from two Catalan separatist parties.
Singapore's financial district. Pakin Songmor | Moment | Getty Images

With an election looming, the Singaporean government is expected to announce on Monday a "generous" budget that subsidizes health care and other costs of living for a substantial portion of the population. "Budget 2019 will likely be generous and expansionary, setting the stage for a possible early general election," analysts from Malaysian financial services firm Maybank Kim Eng wrote in a recent report. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has suggested that the election, which must be held by April 2021, could take place as early as this year. Lee's People's Action Party has been in power on the island since 1959  even before the city-state became independent. The impending election and the need to spur economic growth amid a challenging global environment mean the government will likely  for the first time in four years  spend more than it is projected to earn. Singapore's budget deficit for the year starting April 2019 is estimated to be between 1.2 billion and 6.9 billion (approximately $883.3 million to $5.08 billion), according to five analyst forecasts compiled by CNBC. That's around 0.3 percent to 1.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Singapore's financial ammunition

The tiny but wealthy Southeast Asian city-state can, in theory, fund a much bigger deficit than what's expected because it has accumulated large surpluses from past years' budgets. Under Singapore's constitution, the government's revenue and expenditure must be balanced over a typical five-year term. Budget 2019 is the fourth  and possibly last  before a new electoral cycle.

From 2016 through the current financial year, the country is estimated to accumulate surpluses totaling 20 billion Singapore dollars, according to analysts from Citi. That would give Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat  who's tipped to take over as prime minister from Lee  financial ammunition to fund higher spending in the next year or two. But Heng is not likely to spend all of that money, Citi added. Singapore is typically conservative in managing its finances, so Citi analysts projected that more than half of the surpluses will eventually head to the country's reserves.

A big ticket item

An expected big ticket item in the coming financial year's budget is a raft of health care subsidies for roughly 500,000 Singaporeans born in the 1950s  a national program called the "Merdeka Generation Package." Merdeka is the Malay word for independence. The initiative was announced last year by Lee, who said more details will be revealed during the budget speech on Monday.

It's about growing the pie. Growth means a steady rise in revenues from which to fund expenditure. Irvin Seah senior economist at DBS

Economists from Singaporean bank OCBC said the package could cost 4 billion to 7 billion Singapore dollars, but analysts from Citi and Maybank Kim Eng estimated the price tag to be as high as 8 billion Singapore dollars. If the 2019 budget does turn out to be a pre-election spending spree, OCBC analysts said  based on the bank's analysis of past government expenditure  there could be personal tax income rebates and cash bonuses for Singaporeans.

Powering the economy

Singapore's economy is highly dependent on global commerce and is therefore vulnerable amid the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China. Gross domestic product in the Southeast Asian country grew 3.2 percent in 2018, slowing from 3.9 percent the previous year. Growth is expected to moderate further in 2019 amid a challenging external environment. Against that backdrop, the country's finance minister said Thursday that the upcoming budget will help companies improve productivity and stay competitive. That's a continuation of past years' effort to incentivize firms to use technology and innovation to expand their businesses.

The Singaporean workforce is also a focus, the minister said. That could mean incentives for workers to learn new skills, analysts said. Ultimately, growing the economy should be a priority because it's "the best way" to fund the increase in social spending that comes with an aging population, noted Irvin Seah, senior economist at Singaporean bank DBS. "It's about growing the pie. Growth means a steady rise in revenues from which to fund expenditure. But with the population aging and productivity growth moderating, it is hoped that the next stage of growth will be driven by local companies venturing overseas," Seah wrote in a note.

New taxes may be coming
The most recent earnings report from Singapore Airlines showed "encouraging signs," according to one analyst who spoke to CNBC.

Those comments came after Singapore Airlines, also known as SIA, reported third-quarter earnings on Thursday that came in above expectations despite a 27 percent drop in net profit compared to the year-ago period.

Singapore Airlines made 284 million Singapore dollars (approximately $209 million) in the three months that ended on Dec. 31, down from S$389 million a year-earlier, which was restated to reflect accounting changes. That was above the $240.2 million Singapore dollars (about $176.7 million) expected by three analysts in estimates obtained by Reuters and Refinitiv.

Yields for the Singapore carrier as well as other regional airlines have been "going down for a few years quite consistently," but Singapore Airlines' namesake carrier has resumed growth over the last three to six months, Brendan Sobie, chief analyst at CAPA Centre for Aviation, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Friday.

"The trend does seem to be bottoming out, which is a very encouraging trend for SIA," Sobie said. "5 percent growth, which is not much. But it's, you know, a lot better than zero, which they've basically been at for the last few years."

"I think the results were largely in line with our expectations," Paul Yong, senior vice president of equity research at Singaporean bank DBS, told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Friday. The bank has a buy rating on Singapore Airlines' stock, with a target price of 11 Singapore dollars per share.
President Barack Obama (C) greets (L-R) Supreme Court Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer before the State of the Union address on Capitol Hill on Jan. 25, 2011.

The announcement was made in a brief email sent by court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe Estrada, who wrote that "Justice Ginsburg is attending conference today."

The development comes after surgeons removed about half of Ginsburg's left lung in a Dec. 21 operation. The justice, who turns 86 next month, has appeared only briefly in public since her surgery, and until Friday the court had not provided any guidance about when she was expected to return.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be at the court for a private conference on Friday, marking the first time that she has attended a conference in person since she underwent cancer surgery nearly two months ago.

The last private conference took place on Jan. 18, according to the court calendar.

Ginsburg had been working from home as she recovered from the procedure. Cancer doctors with experience performing pulmonary lobectomies  the type of operation that Ginsburg had  said that a typical recovery period would allow Ginsburg to return to the court in time for its February sitting. The justices are scheduled to hear the first oral arguments of the month on Tuesday.

The justices will consider which cases they plan to review during Friday's conference. One case that is expected to be granted concerns the Trump administration's decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. A federal judge in New York blocked the addition of the question in a lengthy ruling last month.

Ginsburg's health has been the subject of intense public scrutiny, and has sparked the generation of a nebulous web of conspiracy theories among those on the right.

The nine-member court is currently divided 5-4 among Republican and Democratic appointees. Ginsburg's departure from the bench would likely allow President Donald Trump to nominate her replacement, further solidifying the conservative majority.

Ginsburg is a senior member of the court's liberal wing, and a popular public figure whose rise to the top court was dramatized in a recent movie, "On the Basis of Sex," that was released last year and starred Felicity Jones.

WATCH: Ginsberg's famous women's rights cases centered around money
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, a Republican, is exploring a challenge to President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination in 2020.

Weld served as governor of the Bay State from 1991 to 1997. He ran for vice-president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2016, with former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson at the top of the ticket. He rejoined the GOP recently.

In making his announcement, Weld pushed for a smaller federal footprint in K-12, including eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, according to published reports.

As governor of Massachusetts, Weld signed the states landmark Education Reform Act , which sought to bolster standards and accountability while providing a substantial boost to public school spending. The standards put in place by that legislation were long considered among the most rigorous in the nation. And in 1993, he also signed an at-the-time ground-breaking law prohibiting discrimination against gay and lesbian students in the public schools.

In 2010, when Massachusetts was mulling new assessments aligned to the newly adopted Common Core State Standards, Weld said it would be madness to eliminate the states signature standardized test, the MCAS . (The state did use the Common-Core aligned PARCC tests for a while, but has switched back to MCAS).

In 2005, Weld served as the chief executive of Decker College in Kentucky. When he stepped down, the college faced bankruptcy and had clashed with the U.S. Department of Education on accreditation of certain courses and online learning.

Weld is the first Republican to announce a challenge to Trump, but he may not be the last. Former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan are all rumored to be mulling a presidential run on the GOP ticket. More on their records here.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld smiles as he talks to a reporter at Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Bakers election night event as the polls close Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014 in Boston, MA. --Stephan Savoia/AP

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., conduct a news conference in the Capitol about a continuing resolution to re-open the government on Friday, January 25, 2019.

The party signaled a protracted fight  both on Capitol Hill and in the court system  to challenge the president's executive action. The move would allow Trump to circumvent lawmakers to redirect government funds to build his proposed border wall, after a bipartisan spending bill gave him only about a quarter of the $5.7 billion he sought to construct barriers.

In a joint statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said lawmakers "will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the Courts, and in the public, using every remedy available." They added that the issue "transcends partisan politics" and pushed Republicans to "join us to defend the Constitution."

"The President is not above the law. The Congress cannot let the President shred the Constitution," the Democratic leaders said.

Even before Trump declared the national emergency, he sparked concerns about overreach of executive authority. Critics argue he has manufactured a crisis at the southern border to divert funding and fulfill a campaign promise, stepping on congressional authority in the process.

Some Republicans worried the action would create a dangerous precedent for future presidents, who would see a lower threshold for declaring an emergency over separate issues. In all, the president's move will likely trigger legal and legislative battles that will test GOP allegiance to Trump and the party's congressional leaders. Many Republicans who slammed what they called Obama administration overreaches wholeheartedly backed Trump's action Friday.

Both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will not try to block Trump's executive action. In a statement Friday, McConnell appeared to blame Democrats for forcing Trump's hand by denying him the money he demanded for the wall. The border security deal came out of a conference committee with lawmakers from both parties and chambers.

"President Trump's decision to announce emergency action is the predictable and understandable consequence of Democrats' decision to put partisan obstruction ahead of the national interest," he said.

On Thursday, McCarthy said "we face a humanitarian and national security crisis at the border that must be addressed."

Other Trump allies, from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, cheered the emergency declaration on Friday. But not all of the party's lawmakers agreed.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said, "Extraconstitutional executive actions are wrong, no matter which party does them." In a statement Friday, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., "I don't believe a national emergency declaration is the solution" for border security.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Thursday that he was "skeptical" whether he could back the president's move. Others  including Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas  have warned against declaring an emergency in recent weeks.

Still, criticizing the declaration and actually voting to block it are two different matters. Many Republicans may hesitate to rebuke the president.

Democratic House members have already pushed to introduce a resolution to disapprove of the president's action. While Pelosi and Schumer did not directly reference such a measure in their statement, it is one concrete way for Congress to challenge the president's declaration. They have to vote on it within 15 days.

If the Democratic-held House passes such a measure, the GOP-controlled Senate would have to take it up by law, putting pressure on Republican senators. Trump could also veto it, which would require a two-thirds majority in both chambers to overcome. With McConnell supporting the emergency declaration and Republicans holding 53 of 100 Senate seats, it is unclear whether lawmakers could block it.

Rep. Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican and another Trump confidant, argued Congress would lack the votes to override the president's veto.

"Given Congress will try to block this executive action, I'm seeing speculation Congress could override a POTUS veto w/ GOP votes. They will not. The votes will not be there," he tweeted.

Trump seemed prepared for a long fight Friday. "I expect to be sued" over the declaration, he said.

He argued that he had the authority to take the step, and thinks he will ultimately prevail in the Supreme Court. "I think we will be very successful in court," he said.

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Roger Stone, longtime advisor to US President Trump, leaves the U.S. District Courthouse after his arraignment in Washington, United States on January 29, 2019.

A federal judge on Friday slapped a partial gag order on Roger Stone and lawyers for the longtime controversial Republican operative, barring them from making statements to the media and in public that risk prejudicing the case against him.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson also said barred Stone and his lawyers from making such statement as the enter and leave the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., courthouse because of the risk that they could taint potential jurors in his criminal case and make it difficult for the long-time friend of President Donald Trump to get a fair trial.

But the judge pointedly did not impose a full gag order on the notoriously verbose Stone.

That case was against Stone was lodged in late January by special counsel Robert Mueller. Jackson's partial gag order also applies to Mueller, whose prosecutors already have a practice of never publicly talking to reporters anywhere.

The self-admitted dirty trickster Stone, who was free on a $250,000 bond, is charged with witness tampering, obstruction of justice and making false statements to Congress.

Mueller says Stone lied to Congress about his alleged efforts to have WikiLeaks release material hacked by Russian agents from Democrats, including Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, during the 2016 campaign that ended with Trump's victory.

Stone has pleaded not guilty.

In her order Friday, Jackson said: "Counsel for the parties and the witnesses must refrain from making statements to the media or in public settings that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case."

"And all interested participants in the matter, including the parties, any potential witnesses, and counsel for the parties and the witnesses, must refrain, when they are entering or exiting the courthouse, or they are within the immediate vicinity of the courthouse, from making statements to the media or to the public that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case or are intended to influence any juror, potential juror, judge, witness or court officer or interfere with the administration of justice."

Jackson added that she "has particular concerns about the potential impact of public statements made in the District of Columbia, directed at individuals who may be members of the venire from which the jury will be drawn."

The judge noted that "there will be no additional restrictions imposed on the defendant's public statements or appearances at this time, although this order may be amended in the future" if necessary.

Stone's lawyer Grant Smith's told NBC News, "As you can see in the order, Roger Stone is not in any way 'gagged' and the courthouse steps is a reasonable place for everyone to act with restraint and decorum."

A spokesman for Mueller declined to comment.

The special counsel is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion by the Trump campaign, as well as possible obstruction of justice by Trump himself. The president has denied any wrongdoing.
New York State Sen. Michael Gianaris on Friday defended his opposition to Amazon's now-scuttled plan for what would have been a new headquarters in the Queens section of New York City.

"Amazon needs to get ahold of what they mean to communities, and act responsibility," Gianaris said in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box." "When they come in and take over a community like that, the community dies."

The New York Post, known for its edgy cover headlines, called Gianaris "the man who killed the Amazon deal."

Gianaris, whose district includes the Long Island City neighborhood in Queens where Amazon had agreed to build, claims Seattle businesses have not really benefited from having the e-commerce giant based there.

"In Seattle, the local restaurants are dying," he argued. "It's all insular to the campus. They go home at 5 o'clock. No one is having dinner in those restaurants."

"If you're going to come to a community, and you're going to turn Long Island City into what's happened in those towns in Seattle that I mentioned, you got to come correct and say, 'I want to help this community thrive,'" he added.

In response, a spokesperson for Amazon said Gianaris' comments on Seattle were "incorrect" and pointed CNBC to a blog post on the company's impact on the city. The Amazon post said the company has paid more than $25 billion in wages to its local workforce and invested $4 billion into its Seattle campus.

The city of Seattle did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Gianaris' interview.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort (L) arrives at a federal courthouse with his attorney Kevin Downing, November 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. Getty Images

Special counsel Robert Mueller asked a judge Friday to schedule a new criminal sentencing date in Virginia federal court for former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort "as soon as practicable." Mueller said a ruling this week by another judge in Washington, D.C., federal court that Manafort had lied multiple times to the special counsel's team while under a plea agreement means that "there are no outstanding issues warranting delay" in the related Virginia criminal case. "The government is prepared for sentencing at the Court's earliest convenience," Mueller wrote in a filing to Judge T.S. Ellis in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Mueller also said he expects to file a sentencing submission in the case with Ellis later Friday. Manafort, who has been in jail without bond since June after being accused of witness tampering in his cases, already is scheduled to be sentenced March 13 in the Washington case. He had been scheduled to be sentenced in Virginia on Feb. 8. But that was postponed due to the dispute in the Washington case over whether Manafort had breached his plea deal with Mueller. Manafort's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC. The longtime Republican operative was convicted Aug. 21 of eight felony counts  which included tax fraud, failure to file a report of a foreign bank and financial accounts, and bank fraud  after trial before Ellis in Virginia. A jury deadlocked on 10 other counts in that case. That case related to income Manafort made while doing consulting for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine, work that preceded his tenure as chairman of Trump's presidential campaign in 2016. On Sept. 14, Manafort pleaded guilty in Washington federal court to conspiracy charges, just three days before he was due to go on trial there. That case also related to his work in Ukraine. Manafort as part of his plea agreed to cooperate with Mueller's ongoing probe of Russian interference in the presidential election, and possible collusion by members of the Trump campaign in that meddling. President Donald Trump denies any wrongdoing by his campaign.
Wechat's logo. Omar Marques | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

The ongoing U.S.-China trade fight, Washington's sanctions against Chinese telecommunications company ZTE as well as the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou were among the "sensitive" topics censored on Chinese tech giant Tencent's WeChat platform in 2018. That's according to a report published Monday by WeChatscope, a team of researchers from The University of Hong Kong's Journalism and Media Studies Centre that describes itself as a group aiming to "make censored articles of WeChat's public accounts in China open access." The so-called "public" accounts are those created by organizations ranging from government institutions to private enterprises, producing what WeChatscope's report termed "content similar to Facebook pages." Using a computer program built to visit published articles multiple times over a period to record their contents, WeChatscope tracked more than 4,000 public accounts that covered daily news. The posts were flagged as censored if the program detected that they had disappeared from the platform, the report said.

"By the end of 2018, a total of more than 1.04 million articles were included. Out of these, roughly 11,000 have been removed by the internet censorship system," said the report's authors, Marcus Wang and Stella Fan. A representative for Tencent declined to provide comment for this story. The report did, however, acknowledge that the system built by WeChatscope was unable to track posts that had already been censored by WeChat's own system before they were published. The filter, they said, is based on a list of keywords "created and constantly updated by state censorship authorities, and then handed down to platform operators." WeChat is China's most popular messaging app, with Tencent claiming a monthly user base of more than 1 billion people as of September 2018. While it started out as a messaging service, it has transformed into an app for everything from paying bills to hailing rides or even booking flights.

Self-censorship top reason for removal of posts

In its findings, WeChatscope said there were four official reasons that were typically offered for a post's removal: the original publisher deleted the post, WeChat removed it because it was found to violate a law, WeChat removed it because it was flagged by other users as breaking platform regulations, or WeChat blocked the original publisher for regularly breaking community rules. The study found that 8,092 of the approximately 11, 000 articles flagged as censored fell under the category of posts that were removed by their authors  accounting for approximately 74 percent. "Self-censorship is a common practice among internet users in China as online speech can easily bring them trouble," Wang and Fan said in the report. "Users will often remove their own posts if they receive warning from senior colleagues or employers." In a follow up conversation over email with CNBC, a representative for the WeChatscope team said the program had yet to develop a "solid argument on self-censorship" as its research was mainly focused on systematic censorship. "We detected articles related to certain highly censored topics which were also collectively removed by public account users. For instance, the issue of (the) US-China trade war," they said. "In some cases, we would be skeptical to those self-removal cases that might be under pressure of overarching political censorship. However, we have to examine on a case by case basis." When asked about the possibility of posts being removed by their authors due to an error, WeChatscope acknowledged that it had "observed news articles that were collectively removed by authors because of misinformation."

Tencent investment in Reddit
Cannabis producer Canopy Growth rallied Friday after it reported third-quarter revenue rose 282 percent over the last year in what represented one of Wall Street's first looks into the legal recreational marijuana market in Canada.

Here's how the company did compared with what Wall Street expected when it reported earnings on Thursday:

Net loss per share: 38 Canadian cents ($0.28) vs. a loss of 16 Canadian cents expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv. That compared with net income of 1 Canadian cent per share in the year-ago period.

Revenue: CA$83 million ($62.5 million) vs. CA$81.2 million expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv. That compared to net sales of CA$21.7 million in the year-ago period.

Canopy sold 10,102 kilograms of pot and equivalents during the fiscal third-quarter. Of that total, the company sold 7,381 kilograms of recreational cannabis in business-to-business transactions and 1,611 kilograms of medical cannabis.

Chief Financial Officer Tim Saunders has informed the company of his decision to retire from that position in mid- to late-2019.

Despite missing profit expectations, investors appeared relieved by the sales numbers, which were supported by sales of legal marijuana in Canada. Revenue numbers fell short of expectations in the prior quarter. The stock rallied 3.5 percent shortly after the opening bell Friday.

Hoping to address sector supply shortages and steep demand, the company said in a press release that it placed "significant focus" on shipping core products into retail locations in the third quarter. Oils, including the company's popular softgel capsules, accounted for 33 percent of product revenue for the three months ended Dec. 2018.

"The Canadian recreational cannabis market will be dominated in the long term by businesses delivering excellent products and consumer experiences," Canopy CEO Bruce Linton said in a press release Thursday. "Sales from the first wave of products and retail environments launched in the third quarter demonstrate that we are capturing consumers' attention."

Canopy also introduced new products such as oral cannabis sprays and pre-rolled joints made by its custom-built, proprietary automated cannabis rolling machines at its headquarters in Smiths Falls, Ontario. Still, operational costs remain elevated at Canopy when compared to peers, said top cannabis analyst Vivien Azer, and likely contributed to the profit miss.

"While industry disclosure around gross margin can vary from company to company, for Canopy, cash cost of goods sold per gram of $5.11 looks to be meaningfully higher than its peers, having climbed 15 percent sequentially," Azer wrote in a note to clients. But "from a gross revenue perspective, adult use was a much bigger contributor than we had modeled, accounting for 86 percent of sales."

The past few months have been eventful for the cannabis industry as a whole and Canopy in particular.

In the United States, the $867 billion farm bill signed into law in December included a provision for industrial hemp legalization that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had introduced. The provision removed industrial hemp from the federal government's list of controlled substances, making it a lawful agricultural commodity.

That legislative development has acted as a sort of catalyst for many of the largest cannabis companies, which can now extract cannabidiol (CBD) from hemp in the United States. CBD, a chemical compound found in both marijuana and hemp, is a non-psychoactive agent claimed to have a wide range of health benefits, including a calming effect.

How the compound is consumed, however, remains a point of confusion and safety for many regulatory and law enforcement agencies. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration prohibits companies from adding the active ingredients in drug products to foods and beverages. CBD falls into this category because it's the main ingredient in Epidiolex, a drug the regulator approved last year to treat severe childhood epilepsy.

Still, the farm bill and its impact on hemp production acted as a trigger for Canopy Growth. The company was granted a license by New York state to process and produce hemp with the help of Democrats Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Sen. Charles Schumer.

Depending on board approval of a specific site, Canopy plans to invest between $100 million and $150 million in its New York operations, "capable of producing tons of hemp" on an annual basis. It plans to locate its new operation somewhere in southern New York, putting it in close proximity to international alcohol giant and business partner Constellation Brands.

Canada became the first Group of Seven country to approve the recreational use of cannabis on Oct. 17, though each of the country's 10 provinces are able to regulate the market. Marijuana use is still illegal in the United States at the federal level, though many states have passed laws legalizing the use of cannabis for medical or recreational uses.

WATCH: The cannabis sativa plant isn't just for smoking. You can build your home with hemp
Indian security forces inspect the remains of a vehicle following an attack on a paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy that killed 44 troopers and injured several others near Awantipur town in the Lethpora area of Kashmir about 30km south of Srinagar on February 14, 2019.

A suicide bomber rammed a car into a bus carrying Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir on Thursday, killing 44 of them in the deadliest attack in decades on security forces in the disputed region, raising tensions with arch foe Pakistan.

The Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack. The Indian government accused Pakistan of letting militant groups operate from its soil and called on it to take action.

Islamabad said it rejected the suggestion it was linked to the attack.

Kashmir is a Muslim-majority region at the heart of decades of hostility between India and Pakistan. The neighbors both rule parts of the region while claiming the entire territory as theirs.

The explosion targeting a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was heard from several miles away, according to witnesses. Mohammad Yunis, a journalist who reached the site minutes later, told Reuters he saw blood and body parts scattered along a 100-metre stretch of the main highway running through the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries," the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement, hours after the attack.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the attack a matter of "grave concern". But in a brief statement early on Friday it added, "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations."

Islamabad has previously denied New Delhi's accusations that it gives material help to the militants fighting Indian rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir.

It says it gives only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination.

Television images showed a mangled car amid rubble and snow around the site.

Reuters photos showed tens of policemen surveying damaged vehicles and one policeman was seen carrying a plastic cover with guns inside.

The death toll stood at 44, a senior police official said.

The Central Reserve Force Police is a paramilitary organisation that is working with the Indian military to quell the 30-year insurgency in Kashmir.

"I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.

Indian forces have sporadically battled Islamist militants in mountainous Kashmir since an armed revolt in 1989 in which tens of thousands were killed, but car bombings are rare.

A video circulating on social media on Thursday purportedly featured the suicide bomber, and showed a young man holding a gun and threatening more attacks. Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the video.

The Indian foreign ministry accused the Pakistani government of giving the militant group Jaish a free run in Pakistan, saying it has allowed the group's leader, Masood Azhar, "to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity".

The last major attack in Kashmir was in 2016 when militants raided an Indian army camp in Uri, killing 20 soldiers.

Tension with Pakistan rose after that incident when New Delhi said the attackers had come from Pakistan to stage the assault. Pakistan denied any involvement.
Justin Wolfers, an economics and public policy professor at the University of Michigan, says he's optimistic about the U.S. economy because "recessions don't die of old age, they're murdered." However, he is worried "that a small adverse shock could turn into something more calamitous with policy mistakes coming out of the White House."

Watch the video above to learn more about why Justin Wolfers thinks President Donald Trump poses the biggest risk to a strong U.S. economy.
Famed short-seller and Democratic donor Jim Chanos plans to support former Vice President Joe Biden if he runs for president in 2020.

"Like many other Americans, I certainly hope Vice President Biden decides to run in 2020. If he does run, I fully expect to support him any way I can," Chanos said in a statement first given to CNBC.

When asked how much he is looking to spend to support a potential Biden candidacy, Chanos first responded, "lol no comment," and added: "Let's see if he decides to run, first."

A spokesman for Biden declined to comment.

Chanos, a longtime friend of Biden's, planned to support the former Delaware senator last time he was mulling a run for president ahead of the 2016 election. Chanos did not give to Hillary Clinton's campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Chanos, who founded Kynikos Associates, has a history of supporting Democratic candidates, potentially making him a key financial ally for Biden if the former vice president chooses to run for president in 2020.

Chanos reportedly hosted a $10,000 a plate fundraiser in March 2018 to benefit House Democrats during the midterm election campaign. Biden was the special guest at the event.

While records show Chanos gave minimally during the 2018 race, he donated just over $50,000 to President Barack Obama's Victory Fund during his 2012 re-election bid. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2016 saw Chanos donate over $55,000 to their cause.

The records don't reflect the fundraisers or other efforts Chanos has made in the past behind the scenes to help Democrats get elected.

Biden has been in touch with donors about possibly running for president in 2020 and has privately acknowledged he's leaning toward entering the race, according to people with direct knowledge of the talks. Biden has not made a final decision.

Chanos would not say whether he has heard from Biden.
February 11, 2019: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (L) at a political rally with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Lucknow, the capital of the election bellwether Uttar Pradesh state. STR/AFP/Getty Images

A scion of India's prominent first family has entered politics and is being touted as a threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's coalition government in the country's upcoming general election. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the younger sister of Rahul Gandhi who leads the opposition Congress party, was named general secretary of the faction last month. It was seen as a strategic move aimed at bolstering Congress' support ahead of a national vote due by May. The 47-year-old, who is widely referred to by her first name, is considered the more savvy Gandhi sibling due to her charm and oratorical prowess. Both Priyanka and Rahul come from a storied family that has framed Indian politics since the nation's independence in 1947. Their grandmother Indira Gandhi, daughter of the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and their father Rajiv Gandhi, were both massively popular prime ministers before they were assassinated. The Gandhis have led Congress for decades. Following the death of Rajiv, his wife Sonia, who is of Italian descent, took over the party's presidency and passed the reins over to her son Rahul in 2017. Priyanka has previously participated in Congress campaigns but never held an official post in the party until now. Under Rahul's leadership, Congress' performance has been dwindling and the party suffered major losses in the 2014 general election. But after winning three state polls in December, the party's morale is on the rise. It now stands a real chance of revitalization with the addition of Priyanka, experts say.

It is very possible that she could make a difference at the ballot box. Lindsay Hughes Future Directions International

"The fact that Priyanka Gandhi has entered Indian politics at this particular juncture marks a major turning point for a party that many had written off as one whose importance was a thing of the past," Lindsay Hughes, senior research analyst at Future Directions International, an Australian think tank, said in a recent note. "It is very possible that she could make a difference at the ballot box." Priyanka's new role also coincides with rising criticism toward Modi's government. The prime minister, whose ruling Bharatiya Janata Party won a landslide victory in 2014, enjoys widespread support. But the shine has come off amid backlash from his party's Hindu nationalist ideology, the 2016 demonetization move and rural discontent. Attacks on Christian and Muslim minorities by radical Hindus, the BJP's core constituency, have also increased under Modi, according to numerous reports, as his government is accused of supporting religious mobilization. Congress can capitalize on these areas, analysts say. The opposition group believes Priyanka has "charisma, resemblance with Indira Gandhi and enough verbal ammunition" to challenge Modi, Rasheed Kidwai, a visiting fellow specializing in governance at the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank, wrote in a recent note.

Priyanka's appeal

The parallels between Priyanka and her grandmother are considered key to Congress votes. Her physical resemblance to Indira, India's only female prime minister, saw Congress supporters carry signs saying "Indira is back" when the Gandhi siblings began a roadshow in Uttar Pradesh this week.

"The conflation of Priyanka with Indira could lend to the perception that the Congress Party has re-discovered its purpose, that it has a definite goal and that the secularism it has historically espoused and the safety it offers India's minorities could replace the Bharatiya Janata Party's nationalistic tendencies," said Hughes. Despite limited political experience, Priyanka's "modest forays into public life suggest a natural comfort with the thrust and parry of Indian politics," said Milan Vaishnav, director and senior fellow of the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in a note. Sentiment aside, there's a much more tangible way that Priyanka can help Congress  by attracting fresh funds. "The Priyanka Gandhi play is not only about winning allies and lifting spirits; it's also about cash," said Vaishnav. "The party is short of it, and Gandhi substitutes for the political finance that the Congress desperately needs." The BJP's victory over Congress in the 2014 election was partly due to its "impressive fundraising advantage," Vaishnav said, noting that Modi's party reported $82 million in donations during the 2014 election period, compared to Congress' $49 million. Heading into the 2019 polls, it doesn't look like the situation has improved much. "Reports suggest that Congress state units have been starved of funds from the party high command due to the fiscal crunch," according to Vaishnav. "This is where the Priyanka Gandhi factor will make a difference," he said. "Lacking a sizable advertising budget, the Congress can ensure wall-to-wall television coverage of any event in which Gandhi even remotely figures ... India's ratings-mad news channels will gladly cut into live programming to air any speech, press conference, or casual remark she gives on the trail."

Too little too late?
For many of us, the availability of cheap, mass-produced clothing is a blessing. For a few dollars we can bulk buy everything from shirts and shorts to pants, underwear and sweaters.



While "fast fashion" may be a boon for our wallets because of its value, its impact on the environment is significant.



In October 2018, the U.K. Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee highlighted just how much our appetite for clothing affects the planet, publishing submissions it had received from experts for an inquiry into the sustainability of the fashion industry.



The findings make sobering reading. According to a submission from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, in 2015 the global fashion industry generated 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. This represents more emissions than maritime shipping and international flights combined, the submission added. In 2017, the European Union said that the EU textile industry produced an estimated 16 million tons of waste annually.



In the Netherlands, a business called Mud Jeans wants to produce jeans in a sustainable manner using organic cotton and recycled denim. The company's goal is to eventually design jeans produced from 100 percent recycled denim.



When it comes to the manufacturing process, it is also looking to use sustainable methods.



"Energy efficiency is very high up on our agenda," Eva Engelen, who works on corporate social responsibility at Mud Jeans, told CNBC's "Sustainable Energy." "We do this through prioritizing energy efficient production processes and supply chain partners."



"For example, our fabric mill, Tejidos Royo, they have an energy generation system  in their factory, which uses the steam from the production lines to produce energy through a steam turbine," she added. Engelen explained that the system allowed the site to be "100 percent self-sufficient with regards to energy."



In a bid to prevent waste in the clothing industry, Mud Jeans has also developed a leasing system for its products, through which customers can pay 12 monthly instalments of 7.50 euros ($8.51).



At the end of that period, they can decide to keep the jeans or send them back to the business. Mud Jeans' CEO Bert van Son told CNBC that if the latter took place, "we promise that we will use the raw material again."

Looking at the broader picture, work still needs to be done to ensure that the fashion sector becomes sustainable.



"The clothing industry is recognized as possibly the second most polluting industry globally," Steve Evans, director of research in industrial sustainability at the University of Cambridge's Institute of Manufacturing, told CNBC.



"It knows this and it's energetic in trying to change it," Evans added. "It's a very convoluted industry though: The brands don't own their own factories, so their ability to influence what the factories do, how they create pollution in their local water, air and land, is difficult."



Evans added that well-known brands were becoming more sustainable every year. Issues will not be sorted out overnight, however.



"Most factories and industries around the world are pushing very hard to make sure that their products arrive to consumers at the lowest possible cost," Evans went on to explain. "You love them for doing that for you," he added.

"Unfortunately, it means that they're really focusing hard on labor productivity and capital productivity and they've put less attention on things like energy productivity. With 200 years of not tackling energy productivity, that gives them a really juicy thing to squeeze and if they do tackle it they can go a long way very quickly."
Germany's former finance minister expressed his concerns about an upcoming election at the EU this year, saying voters would only shun populist politics if the benefits of globalization are fully explained to them.

European citizens are due to vote on new representatives for the European Parliament between May 23 and 26. However, years of economic stagnation and long-lasting crises over immigration in Europe have translated into a push toward anti-establishment parties across the continent.

As a result, non-mainstream politicians have gained ground in national elections over the last few years and are likely to see further gains at this EU-wide vote.

"It's a real danger for the next European Parliament," Wolfgang Schauble, president of the German Parliament and former finance minister, told CNBC's Annette Weisbach.
February 14, 2019: Indian security forces at the site of the explosion on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. Waseem Andrabi/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

A deadly attack on Indian-controlled Kashmir by Pakistani terrorists could prompt New Delhi to respond with punitive action that could set off a full-blown crisis between the historical enemies. More than 40 Indian security officers died on Thursday following a suicide attack in Pulwama, a district south of Srinagar under Indian control. Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, has claimed responsibility for the incident. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to respond strongly to the brutality. "A befitting reply will be given to the perpetrators of the heinous attack and their patrons," the popular politician said on Twitter Friday. "No force will succeed in disturbing peace, progress and stability of India." The incident drew a barrage of international criticism toward Islamabad for failing to sufficiently crack down on domestic terrorists and terror financing  a longstanding issue that's landed the South Asian nation on global financial blacklists. Jaish-e-Mohammad is banned in Pakistan but the group is still believed to operate in the country. In a two-line statement, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country has "always condemned heightened acts of violence" in Kashmir and that it will "strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations."

If [Modi] moves to threatening Pakistan, the tit-for-tat mudslinging will begin and temperatures on both sides would force an escalation Moeed Yusuf U.S. Institute of Peace

As Modi campaigns for re-election ahead of a national vote due by May, close attention is being paid to how he will respond to Thursday's attack in such a politically crucial year. A military option wouldn't be out of the question for Modi, who in 2016 ordered surgical strikes on Pakistan-controlled Kashmir after an attack on an Indian army base in the Himalayan valley. Some Hindu nationalists, who make up the core constituency of Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, have also suggested diplomatic retaliation. Subramanian Swamy, a firebrand BJP parliamentarian known for controversial views, said on Twitter that "India must break diplomatic relations with Pakistan." Swamy added that Kashmir "should be the only issue" in India's upcoming election.

Rising tensions

Domestic pressure from his base could force Modi to retaliate but doing so risks aggravating Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's government. That could also trigger a new cycle of bilateral tensions, experts warn. Kashmir is a sensitive issue for both countries, which have fought two wars over the mountainous area. In 2014, Pakistani and Indian forces exchanged fire there in border clashes that sparked mass panic. "The current situation has all the making of an India-Pakistan crisis," Moeed Yusuf, associate vice president of the Asia Center at the U.S. Institute of Peace said in a note. "If [Modi] moves to threatening Pakistan, the tit-for-tat mudslinging will begin and temperatures on both sides would force an escalation."

"Any actions by India will escalate pressure on Pakistan to respond," echoed Mosharraf Zaidi, a former principal advisor to the Foreign Minister of Pakistan and currently a senior fellow at Islamabad-based think tank Tabadlab. "The escalatory ladder is steep and has potentially devastating consequences," he added. It's hoped that Modi and Khan will engage in dialogue first but many are skeptical of that prospect. "Their track record tells me though they won't  and if they do, they'll only use it to embarrass the other," said Yusuf, adding that he believed Modi will "use this attack to the hilt for domestic political gains." "India's leaders must not use the attack as a political instrument and the Pakistani leadership must engage India to try to defuse tensions," said Zaidi. The developments coincide with a series of high-level visits by Saudi and U.S. officials to South Asia. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is due to arrive in Pakistan Friday before later travelling to India. Khan's government is also due to receive U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad and the Afghan Taliban next week for Afghan peace talks.

US, China response

Reaction from China and the United States to Thursday's attack will also be closely monitored.
Most CEOs would not balk at the idea of Apple buying their company.

But Epic Systems CEO Judy Faulkner is not like most CEOs.

In January, CNBC's Jim Cramer suggested that Apple should consider buying Epic, one of the largest private health IT companies in the world. The move would help Apple convince customers and investors that it's serious about health care, as Epic sells its medical record software to many of the largest hospitals in America.

But a buyer needs a seller, and Epic isn't interested.

"We're not going to do that," Faulkner told HealthCareITNews at the HIMSS health conference earlier this week.

Faulkner, who founded the company nearly 40 years ago and grew it to billions of dollars in revenues, is now the third richest woman in the country. The 75-year-old founder rarely gives interviews, but has made her guiding principles very clear to employees and investors. Among them: Epic Systems doesn't do deals, and it will never go public. These rules are plastered everywhere on the company's campus in Verona, Wisconsin, including in every bathroom and breakroom.

Faulkner went on to explain that none of her customers were concerned about the possibility. "It was just very gratifying that not a single health system contacted us about it and said they were worried. They all said they laughed," she said.

"I think the thing that amazed me most about it is not that he said it. But that the message is so clear around the whole industry that we wouldn't do that," she said. "And nobody questioned it. That was a real achievement, I think."

Faulkner also dismissed the ambitions of cloud providers Amazon, Microsoft and Google as they try to sell to large hospitals. All three companies attended the same conference, HIMSS, to tout their offerings in the cloud.

"They might come to us. (But) right now they're not going to the major cloud vendors such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft. Because they're not yet  because as far as I understand it, the large amount of data that they would have to run their databases isn't how those three organizations have organized, so they would have to change some things in order to be able to handle that," she explained. "And I know that we do have at least one customer, probably two, trying to work with them for disaster recovery. And there's hurdles to get them. They've got to figure out those hurdles."

Read the full interview with HealthcareITNews here.
Democratic presidential hopefuls are on the verge of going on a hiring binge in the crucial early primary state of South Carolina as they look to staff up for a bruising 2020 campaign.

One of the major players in the mix is former Vice President Joe Biden, who has yet to declare his candidacy but is considered the early frontrunner.

"I anticipate in the next two or three weeks we will see an increase in staff," Trav Roberston, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, told CNBC. "We will be almost one year from a primary in South Carolina at that time. I do get occasional questions if I've heard of people looking for opportunities. I forward their resumes to whoever I may know of that may work for their respective campaigns."

South Carolina is slated to hold its primary Feb. 29, 2020, following the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary and the Iowa and Nevada caucuses earlier that month. Longtime South Carolina political consultants believe a victory in the state's primary in 2020 could go a long way in determining the party's eventual nominee.

"The voting demographics of primary voters in the state are very reflective of many of the state that follow and S.C. will serve as a real test of organizations strategy, bandwidth and staying power," said Antjuan Seawright, South Carolina Democratic strategist and CEO of the firm Blueprint Strategy. "So we command the best, and that's why you see candidates running political stop signs, and breaking speed limits to get here."

The 2016 United States Census Bureau survey shows that a majority of South Carolina's voting age population ranges from 45 to 64 years old. Sixty-nine percent of election participants are white, while 27 percent are listed as African-American.
The USS Truxtun (DDG-103) destroyer sits in dry dock at the General Dynamics Corp. NASSCO shipyard facility on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018.

Credit Suisse downgraded General Dynamics shares to neutral from outperform on Friday, saying the company is "well behind defense peers" in projected growth this year.

"In the greatest peacetime defense upcycle since the Reagan administration, GD is guiding to topline growth in its defense businesses of just 3.5% in 2019," Credit Suisse analyst Robert Spingarn wrote in a note to investors.

In addition to the "disappointing" forecast, Spingarn said Credit Suisse's downgrade was driven by a re-evaluation of two issues for General Dynamics: The recent acquisition of CSRA and accelerated risks from competitors.

CSRA, a massive IT services firm, was "purchased at a toppy valuation," Spingarn said. The deal is "well short" of Credit Suisse's accretion expectations, he said. Additionally, Spingarn said "this acquisition has significantly reduced GD's balance sheet flexibility and may limit future shareholder returns."

Credit Suisse also sees "rising competitive threats" for General Dynamics to all of its major businesses: Aerospace, information technology and mission systems.

General Dynamics shares were unchanged in premarket trading from Thursday's close of $172.10 a share. Credit Suisse has a price target of $184 on General Dynamics shares.
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is planning to lay off about 2,000 people, or 15 percent of its workforce, this year, a source familiar with the situation said Friday.

That confirmed earlier Chinese media reports that Didi CEO Cheng Wei said in an internal meeting Friday that the company is preparing for difficult times.

Didi declined to comment to CNBC.

Didi is ultimately planning to hire about 2,500 employees this year in areas such as safety, technology and offline management operations, according to the source familiar with the matter. That would bring the company's 2019 year-end headcount to about 13,000, which would be on par with staffing at the end of 2018.

Didi is one of the most valuable start-ups in the world and bought Uber's China operations in 2016.

On Wednesday, Chinese tech news site 36kr, citing leaked internal financial statements, said Didi lost 10.9 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) last year and spent 11.3 billion yuan on driver subsidies. That was a marked acceleration from the company's 2017 loss of 2.5 billion yuan, according to the report.

WATCH: Uber unveiled its flying taxi prototype, which looks like a giant drone
The report was crafted under section 232 of a 1962 trade law, a provision that allows tariffs on items that threaten national security that was scantly used before the Trump Administration. In March 2018, the president used the provision to slap duties on foreign steel and aluminum, and called for an investigation into automobiles several months later, tweeting before the research was conducted that he'd be interested in a 25 percent rate.

The Commerce Department is expected to deliver its long-awaited report on auto tariffs to the president by a Feb. 17 deadline, according to two sources familiar with the matter. But as President Trump deliberates his next moves  by law, he has 90 days to decide he will face an uphill battle from companies, foreign allies and Republican lawmakers if he decides to impose duties.

Whether the Commerce Department took the president's lead in recommending tariffs on all imported automobiles is unclear. But such a move would face resistance in the West Wing. "There's not a whole lot of support for auto tariffs," a senior administration official told CNBC. "But only one person's opinion matters."

In July 2018, President Trump called on Twitter for tariffs of 20 percent on foreign automobiles, and in November upped the suggestion to 25 percent following news of layoffs at General Motors.

Business groups are already warning of the economic impacts. A new study by the Center for Automotive Research found a 25 percent tariff on autos and parts would increase the price of a car by an average of $2,750 and as many as 366,900 U.S. jobs would be lost. Its analysis factors in exclusions for South Korea and assumes Canada and Mexico would also be exempt under the yet-to-be-passed U.S. Mexico Canada trade agreement.

Pro-free-trade Republicans are building new tools to push back, in case the president implements new tariffs in the name of national security.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) introduced a bill last month that would give Congress sixty days to approve any proposed tariffs under section 232. It would also apply retroactively to steel and aluminium tariffs, giving Congress 75 days to pass a resolution to approve those tariffs.

Sen. Toomey says he has heard from dozens of Pennsylvania companies who use steel and aluminium products who have been hurt by the increased cost of materials. "We have seen this administration use this tool in a way that was never intended," said Toomey.

Sen. Robert Portman (R-OH) also has a proposal to address what he sees as the misuse of national security in trade fights. Under his proposal, the Pentagon would make the primary determination that a tariff is needed, not the Commerce Department. And Congress would have the right to disapprove of those measures.
Apollo Global Management affiliates will buy a majority stake in Cox Media Group's broadcast TV stations, Cox announced Friday.

Cox Enterprises will still maintain a minority stake. Apollo and Cox will form a new company headquartered in Atlanta to operate the stations, according to the press release, and Apollo Funds will also acquire a majority stake in Cox's radio and newspaper properties in Ohio.

Cox's TV stations, which span cities including Atlanta, Charlotte, North Carolina, Seattle, and Boston, reach a combined 31 million viewers across the country, according to the company. Cox announced last year that it wanted to sell its 14 TV stations as the broadcast industry continues to consolidate and take on pay-TV providers, which pay retransmission fees to broadcasters for the right to carry their stations.

CNBC previously reported that TEGNA, Hearst and EW Scripps were planning to submit final bids for the TV stations prior to Cox's deadline at the end of last month, according to people familiar with the matter. Nexstar had also been interested in a bid before removing itself from the running after announcing a $4.1 billion deal for Tribune in December.

CNBC's Alex Sherman contributed to this report.

Here is the full announcement from Cox:

Cox Enterprises Inc. today announced that it has reached an agreement with funds (the "Apollo Funds") managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, "Apollo") (NYSE: APO) to buy a majority interest in Cox Media Group's broadcast television stations, including the company's radio, newspaper and TV properties in Ohio. Cox Enterprises will maintain a minority stake and will join the Apollo Funds in forming a new company to operate these stations, which will be headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. Cox Media Group's high-performing TV stations serve some of the most desirable markets in the country and reach a combined 31 million viewers nationwide. With a deep focus on investigative journalism, these TV stations are leading local news and information outlets, and cornerstones of the communities they serve. The stations, which represent Cox Media Group's entire television portfolio, are: WSB-TV, ABC Atlanta, Ga. WFTV-TV, ABC Orlando, Fla. WRDQ-TV, Independent Orlando, Fla. WSOC-TV, ABC Charlotte, N.C. WAXN-TV, Independent Charlotte, N.C. WPXI-TV, NBC Pittsburgh, Pa. WHIO-TV, CBS Dayton, Ohio KIRO-TV, CBS Seattle, Wash. WHBQ-TV FOX, Memphis, Tenn. WFOX-TV, FOX Jacksonville, Fla. WFXT-TV, FOX Boston, Mass. KOKI-TV, FOX Tulsa, Okla. KMYT-TV, My Network Tulsa Okla. Cox Media Group also provides proramming, sales and other operations services for WJAX-TV, CBS Jacksonville, Fla. In addition to WHIO-TV, the Apollo Funds will acquire a majority stake in Cox Media Group's other media platforms in Ohio: Dayton Daily News WZLR, 95.3 FM and 101.1 FM Springfield News-Sun WHKO, 99.1 FM Journal-News WHIO, 95.7 FM and 1290 AM Cox Enterprises began exploring strategic alternatives for the stations last July with the goal of finding a motivated strategic partner with a shared vision for the future and the resources to continue investing in the business to build scale. Apollo intends to maintain the successful management and operating structure Cox Media Group's TV business has created. "These stations have decades of experience breaking barriers and delivering the news and information their communities need daily," said Alex Taylor, president and CEO, Cox Enterprises. "We wanted to find a company that is committed to investing in broadcast television now and in the future, and we found that in Apollo." "We are extremely excited for our funds to acquire a majority interest in Cox Media Group's broadcast television stations and are humbled by Cox Enterprises' decision to entrust us to steward these stations and carry on the Cox legacy. We have an extraordinary amount of respect and admiration for the journalistic integrity, news quality, and commitment to community across Cox Media Group's broadcast stations," said David Sambur, Senior Partner at Apollo. "We look forward, in collaboration with Cox Enterprises, to supporting the high standards to which each station operates and contributing to the platform's future growth and prosperity." The transaction is subject to customary regulatory review and closing conditions. Barclays PLC, Moelis & Company LLC and BDT & Company, LLC served as the financial advisors and Eversheds Sutherland LLP and Covington & Burling LLP served as the legal advisors to Cox Enterprises in this transaction. RBC Capital Markets LLC, Guggenheim Partners LLC, and LionTree Advisors, LLC served as the financial advisors and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and Greenberg Traurig, LLP served as the legal advisors to the Apollo Funds in this transaction.

Watch: 'Cord-cutting' expected to jump nearly 33% this year according to eMarketer report
Amazon is becoming a player in the logistics and shipping industry. That's what analysts think about the recent expansion of Amazon Air to include 50 planes and several new regional hubs, including a $1.5 billion hub opening in northern Kentucky in 2021. According to Wolfe Research, the e-commerce giant is now handling its own shipping for 26 percent of online orders. In a December press release, Amazon said that it can "transport hundreds of thousands of packages per day" with its new "dedicated air network" and that its fleet of planes make "two-day shipping possible almost anywhere in the U.S." "Amazon is looking to become a logistics company in their own right," said Ravi Shanker, Morgan Stanley's North American transportation analyst. "We think that Amazon will be a top logistics provider, whether it's in trucking or in air, in the coming years. I think the question is just how quickly they will ramp that operation." Amazon is even acknowledging the importance of this business to investors: In its 2018 annual financial filing released earlier this month, it listed "transportation and logistics services" among its group of competitors for the first time.

Katie Schoolov

Why it makes sense for Amazon to control shipping

Amazon's shipping costs jumped 23 percent last quarter, reaching a record $9 billion. It spent $27 billion on shipping in 2018. The more of these steps Amazon can control itself, the more it can control the costs. "We estimate that Amazon will pay about $6 a box to move this themselves on their own air network," said Morgan Stanley's Shanker. "Versus what we estimate Amazon paying UPS and FedEx: about $8 or $9 per box today ... and given Amazon's scale, that could be a couple of billion dollars at least in savings." By bringing shipping in-house, Amazon also has more control over the speed of deliveries. "Amazon's going to do more of its business in-house and they're going to just outsource the costly operations that they don't want to build capacity for, they're going to outsource it to carriers like UPS and FedEx," said Tarek Abdallah, assistant professor of operations at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "By gaining more control over their supply chain, they can make sure to provide a better service because if a customer does not receive his package on time, they're not going to blame UPS or FedEx, they're going to blame Amazon."

Amazon packages are sorted at Ontario International Airport on February 4, 2019. Katie Schoolov

"If they could shave any cent out of this delivery route, this can be passed out to their sellers. And this means that their sellers could offer their products at a cheaper cost. And that gives them a huge advantage in this online e-commerce space," Abdallah said.

Inside an Amazon Air operation

Amazon Air currently has planes at 21 U.S. airports and it's opening new regional hubs this year in Fort Worth, Texas, Wilmington, Ohio, and expanding one in Rockford, Illinois. Amazon will open a $1.5 billion air hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in 2021. There it will have capacity for 100 planes  double the number in its fleet now  and will plan to schedule 200 flight landings and departures each day. One bustling Amazon Air operation is at Ontario International Airport in Southern California. It recently dethroned Atlanta as the country's No. 1 airport for outgoing cargo. "We have about eight flights a day on Prime Air," said Ontario International Airport Deputy Executive Director Atif Elkadi. "I know when they started here a couple of years ago it was maybe three or four flights a day and it has steadily increased." Some of the Amazon aircraft CNBC saw at Ontario International are repainted with blue Prime branding, while others still carry logos of the airlines Amazon leases the planes from: Atlas Air, ABX Air and air cargo conglomerate Air Transport Services Group. Once Amazon packages are offloaded from Amazon planes, they're sorted on site at the Ontario airport, loaded onto Amazon semitrucks and sent out to one of its 185 fulfillment centers. Amazon Air has gotten so busy in the region that it recently opened a new center at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley, just 30 miles from Ontario International.

Amazon Air operates up to five daily flights out of March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley, California, pictured here on February 4, 2019. Katie Schoolov

Amazon is not just bulking up in the air  it's taking on the ground as well. Amazon, UPS and FedEx all rely on the U.S. Postal Service for the especially difficult and expensive job of taking packages from fulfillment centers to individual doorsteps. That's why Amazon ordered 20,000 vans last year and has begun testing more advanced delivery methods like Scout sidewalk robots. In Los Angeles and London, it's testing out a program called Shipping With Amazon. Sellers who've used the service say Amazon offers shipping rates at half the price of UPS.

FedEx says it's not worried

As its own shipping capacity goes up, Amazon's reliance on FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service drops. That spells trouble for these partner organizations. After Morgan Stanley detailed Amazon Air's expansion to investors in December, FedEx and UPS shares dropped 20 percent from recent highs. "If Amazon Air did not exist at all, we reckon that UPS and FedEx revenues would be about two percent higher than they are today," Shanker said. But FedEx's senior vice president of integrated marketing, Patrick Fitzgerald, said he's not worried at all. "We honestly don't see a world where Amazon would be a competitor to FedEx," Fitzgerald said, because, "there is no sensible way to compare them." "You can carve out some local delivery in highly dense markets. That's in no way a competitive threat to the broad portfolio of business that FedEx does."

A FedEx plane is parked at Ontario International Airport on February 4, 2019.
Copies of the Financial Daily newspaper featuring a front page report on Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are displayed for sale at a stand in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018.

Roger Ng, a former Goldman Sachs Group banker accused of playing a role in defrauding sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), will return to the United States to face criminal charges against him, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Ng will waive extradition to the United States on Friday during an appearance in a court in Malaysia, according to his lawyer Marc Agnifilo. Ng intends to plead not guilty when he appears in a U.S. federal court, Agnifilo said.

Ng, who left Goldman Sachs in the spring of 2014, has been detained in Kuala Lumpur since Nov. 1, shortly after the U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against him for allegedly laundering funds siphoned off from 1MDB.

Tim Leissner, another Goldman Sachs official, and Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho have also been charged in the United States over the alleged theft of billions of dollars from 1MDB.

"As we have said all along, we are outraged that any employee of the firm would undertake the actions detailed in the government's charges," a Goldman Sachs spokesman said when asked about Ng.

Goldman Sachs itself is being investigated by Malaysian authorities and the U.S. Department of Justice for its role as underwriter and arranger of three bond sales that raised $6.5 billion for 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
As student debt grows, so do the plans to squelch it. A new federal program offers up to $75,000 in student loan relief for those who work for three years in the health-care field, battling the opioid epidemic. Meanwhile, student loan assistance, which started as a niche offering by a handful of companies, is finding its way into the mainstream menu of workplace benefits. Some of the other ideas are pretty creative: New Jersey, for example, considered establishing a lottery for borrowers burdened by student debt. Other ways of garnering money to eliminate your education debt don't rely on luck, but rather require rolling up your sleeves or knowing historical facts.

Keep in mind, however, that these endeavors aren't free aid. The funds are taxable, even money from an organization in return for volunteer work. "All money you receive for volunteering or win on a trivia app or lottery is considered income by the IRS," said Mark Kantrowitz, a student loan expert. Here are some of the ways to get other people to pay off your debt.

1) At your job

Wang Zhao | AFP/Getty Images

"In order to attract and retain talent, employers are looking at offering contributions to people's student loans," said Katie Berliner, account executive at YouDecide, a benefits firm. Companies that have offered their employees help with their student loans include Aetna, Penguin Random House, Nvidia and Sotheby's. A spokesman for Fidelity said nearly 60 companies  including Hewlett Packard Enterprise, New York Air Brake and Millennium Trust  are currently (or will soon be) using its student debt employer contribution program. (Fidelity also offers a student debt benefit for its own employees.) "Do a quick Google search and find the employers who are out there doing this," Berliner said. Most likely the company you're interviewing with won't offer the benefit, yet that shouldn't stop you from asking about it, Berliner said. "In the course of the interview, there comes a point where the interviewer says, 'Do you have any questions?'" Berliner said. "It would not be out of line to say: 'I want to get your perspective on whether you think this a valuable benefit.'"

2) Volunteering

Some organizations will help you pay off your student loans if you offer to do volunteer work. Check out sponsorchange.org, where you can search to help in fields like disaster relief or politics, and will receive payments to put toward your education debt in return. Borrowers can enroll with Shared Harvest Fund. Users create a profile and list the social causes they're interested in, such as gender equality or homelessness. You'll work on projects for nonprofits and businesses and receive a monthly stipend of $250 to $1,000.

3) Packing up and moving

Maine
Clinton, IA (52732)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 67F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 67F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
William Fitchew, Senior Consultant, XPS Pensions Group In February 2018, Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) were the first to announce that they had agreed to work towards replacing their current DB and DC schemes with a CDC scheme for around 142,000 employees. However, this was subject to the proviso that the Government would need to legislate to allow for such schemes. Even though the Pension Schemes Act 2015 contains legislation which could be used to provide for CDC schemes, these provisions would significantly change the existing pension regime, therefore the Government has decided that new primary and secondary legislation is required instead. CDC benefits are intended to be a form of money purchase (MP) benefit, so that it will be clear to employers that they will not have to fund any shortfall in benefits that might arise. Consequently, CDC schemes would not be eligible for entry into the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) in the event of employer insolvency. Similarly, CDC schemes will be required to communicate clearly with members to ensure they understand that the level of benefits is not guaranteed and will depend on various factors, including the performance of scheme assets. The Government intends that they will be trust-based private sector schemes and no changes to the categorisation of existing schemes will occur, so CDC schemes will be for new benefits only. Initially, the regulatory framework will just allow for CDC schemes of the broad form and nature of the one proposed by Royal Mail, however, the intention is that the DWP could modify the framework in light of future experience without an Act of Parliament being required. The DWP intends that CDC schemes will be occupational trust-based schemes and will be subject to an assurance and regulatory regime similar to that for master trusts. They will therefore be scrutinised by the Pensions Regulator (TPR) before they are authorised. As with master trusts, the costs of authorisation would be met by the scheme. The authorisation process would look at various matters including the schemes continuity strategy, its financial sustainability, the robustness of its systems & processes, and whether individuals significantly involved in its running are fit and proper. It would also consider the level of target benefits relative to contributions, how benefit adjustments are carried out, how transfer values are determined, and how communications explain to members what they might expect from the scheme. Legislation will include provisions enabling additional requirements to be added later if necessary. Before a CDC scheme can approach TPR for authorisation, an independent actuary will be required to peer-review the actuarial assumptions underlying the schemes design. Once authorised, a CDC scheme will be required to appoint a scheme actuary to carry out annual valuations to assess whether benefits should be adjusted (up or down), and to test the schemes overall sustainability. The DWP considers that such adjustments should apply across the entire scheme membership (i.e. to accrued pensions as well as pensions in payment) and should be the result of a mechanism set out in the scheme rules, not trustee discretion. Although the DWP believe that the current Trustee Knowledge and Understanding (TKU) requirements should suffice for CDC schemes, it is minded that TPR is likely to consider the collective expertise and experience of the proposed trustees as part of the authorisation process. As they will be a form of MP benefit, the DWP proposes that CDC schemes will be subject to the same charge cap applying to standard MP schemes. Even though the cap will be set at the same level (i.e. 0.75% p.a. on funds under management), it will apply to the scheme as a whole instead of to an individual members pot. Transfer values are also an area for consideration as the DWP acknowledges that the existing basis for calculating transfer values might need to be amended for CDC benefits. CDC schemes would be a new addition to the pensions landscape. Although the DWP intends to legislate as soon as possible, it might be some time before the necessary framework is in place. It also remains to be seen how much demand there is amongst employers to use a CDC scheme for their pension provision.


U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sits onstage as the third speaker of the David Berg Distinguished Speakers Series, during an event organized by the Museum of the City of New York with WNET-TV held at the New York Academy of Medicine Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018, in New York.


Acquires 100% of Baltic Banking Service

Vilnius, Feb 15, 2019 AEST (ABN Newswire) - iSignthis Ltd ( ASX:ISX ) ( FRA:TA8 ) ("The Company") is pleased to announce that it has acquired 100% of the share capital of UAB Baltic Banking Services ("BBS"), https://www.bbservice.lt/en Highlights- BBS expected to contribute positively to 2019 EBIT- Acquires SEPA CORE and INSTANT network capabilities- Lithuanian based core banking and central bank connectivity provider- BBS develops document management system with electronic signature capabilitiesBBS is located in Lithuania, and has developed specialised banking software that allows rapid connectivity to the SEPA Core and SEPA Instant networks, together with the development of specialised core banking modules on a basis of document driven solution including client onboarding (KYC, AML), transaction core, product configuration, electronic document management (automated document relations and storage), reporting, etc, which will integrate with Paydentity(TM) and incorporate components of iSignthis' patented intellectual property.With Lithuania becoming a jurisdiction of choice for banking, payments and emoney operators1, the Company sees advantages in BBS' integration with the Central Bank of Lithuania's ("CBL") CENTROLink service.The CBL provides technical access for any EU authorised bank, emoney institution and payment service provide ("PSPs"), enabling the PSPs to send and receive SEPA payments. CENTROlink is a payment system operated by the Bank of Lithuania, providing a key gateway, clearing, and settlement mechanism ("CSM") to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The CBL is unique amongst Eurosystem central banks in accepting PSP's licensed in other jurisdictions to gain access to its CENTROLink CSM.About 100 financial companies and start-ups from Britain and elsewhere are applying for a licence in burgeoning fintech hub Lithuania to ensure they have access to the European Union after Brexit, the CBL told Reuters.BBS is a registered testing partner with the CBL, and already provides services to more than 16 CBL licensed financial institutions, including 8 banks/credit unions, and 8 payment service providers, making it the leading integration provider for gateway services into the CBL.StrategySynergy of BBS technology including SEPA GATEWAY and the Probanx(R) CorePlus banking platform, and together with ISXPay(R) and Paydentity(TM), will create a fully integrated solution for banks, emoney institutions, and wallet operators.BBS will extend their network engineering experience as well as core banking "know-how" into other jurisdictions, including Australia's New Payments Platform, leveraging their network engineering skills.Deal TermsThe Company will issue on 28th February 2019 converted to AUD$ at the RBA spot of EUR75k in ordinary shares at the entire February monthly VWAP, plus a EUR75k payment ("Initial Payment") An earn out applies, based upon multiplier of EBIT at 31st December 2019 minus the Initial Payment, capped at EUR1.5m, with consideration payable as 85% ordinary shares with a majority escrow provision, and 15% cash component. EBIT estimate will be provided to market post mid year audit, or as major contracts develop.John Karantzis, CEO of iSignthis said, "BBS is a high calibre, specialised provider of network and core banking services, that compliments our Probanx(R) CORE Banking, ISXPay(R) transaction banking and Paydentity(TM) identity verification platforms. I welcome the BBS team, led by Raimundas Maciulevicius, into the iSignthis Group, and look forward to working closely with them to take advantage of the opportunities in Lithuania and beyond"About iSignthis Ltd

iSignthis Ltd (ASX:ISX) (FRA:TA8) is a hybrid monetary financial institution and also a RegTech leader in remote identity verification, payment authentication with deposit taking, transactional banking and payment processing capability. iSignthis provides an end-to-end on-boarding service for merchants, with a unified payment, electronic money and identity service via our Paydentity(TM) and ISXPay(R) solutions.

By converging payments and identity, iSignthis delivers regulatory compliance to an enhanced customer due diligence standard, offering global reach to any of the world's 4.2Bn 'bank verified' card or account holders, that can be remotely on-boarded to meet the Customer Due Diligence requirements of AML regulated merchants in as little as 3 to 5 minutes. Paydentity(TM) has now onboarded and verified more than 1.5m persons to an AML KYC standard.

iSignthis Paydentity(TM) service is the trusted back office solution for regulated entities, allowing merchants to stay ahead of the regulatory curve, and focus on growing their core business. iSignthis' subsidiary, iSignthis eMoney Ltd, trades as ISXPay(R), and is an EEA authorised eMoney Monetary Financial Institution, offering card acquiring in the EEA, and Australia.

ISXPay(R) is a principal member of Mastercard Inc, Diners, Discover, (China) Union Pay International and JCB International, an American Express aggregator, and provides merchants with access to payments via alternative methods including SEPA, Poli Payments, Sofort, PRZ24 and others.

Probanx Solutions Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of iSignthis Ltd, provides API based access to CORE Banking solutions, SEPA Core, SEPA Instant and SEPA business scheme, for neobanks, banks, credit unions and emoney institutions, and provides a bridge to the Eurosystem's Central Bank of Lithuania's CENTROLink service.
Fathers Day is always a reminder of a few things. First and foremost, how much I miss my father. How much I enjoy being a father. How great my late brother and brothers-in-law were as fathers and the Cleveland Cavaliers winning a championship five years ago.
Henry Winkler

The Fonz is coming: Actor Henry Winkler, who so memorably played "The Fonz" on TV's "Happy Days" in the 1970s and '80s, will appear at 7 p.m. April 16 at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple, 23737 Fairmount Blvd. in Beachwood.

The Cleveland Jewish News' "An Evening with Henry Winkler" will feature the Emmy Award-winning actor telling humorous anecdotes and relating inspirational life lessons about overcoming adversity in his storied career.

Winkler's passion for helping others stems from his struggle with undiagnosed dyslexia. He has worked tirelessly to bring awareness and support to children who learn differently by advocating for changes in the education system and informing parents and teachers about learning challenges.

Tickets are on sale now at cjn.org/henry. VIP tickets cost $160 each, and include a 5:30 p.m. meet-and-greet reception with Winkler, heavy hors d'oeuvres, wine, beer, soft drinks and post-event dessert reception with Winkler.

You can use the promo code EARLYBIRD through Feb. 28 to get $10 off your ticket price.

Wheelchair accessible seating is available by contacting Gina Lloyd at 216-342-5196.

University Heights Mayor Michael Dylan has named the city's community park for involved resident Walter Stinson, 90.

Park named for Stinson: During his state-of-the-city address given Feb. 13 at John Carroll University, University Heights Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan announced that the city's new, large community park will be named this year for longtime resident Walter Stinson.

Stinson, 90, was in the audience when Brennan made the announcement and received a nice ovation.

"I think it's great. I'm very flattered," Stinson said of the honor at the address's conclusion.

A mock up of the sign that will stand outside University Heights' city park.

Stinson, for many years, under a program begun by former mayor Beryl Rothschild, would welcome with needed information new residents by greeting them at their doors. He is still involved in city activities through his work in coordinating Thursday programs for the city's senior citizens at the city's library.

The Visit: Make plans now to attend the premiere of the Shaker Arts Council's film about the 1965 visit Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made to Shaker Heights.

The date is March 24 and the location is the the Tri-C East Simon and Rose Mandel Theatre, 4250 Richmond Road in Highland Hills.

The MetroHealth System will present the non-profit SAC's documentary film, "Conversations in Courage: The Visit," which includes interviews with many of those involved with King's visit, and which was directed by Marquette Williams.

The afternoon will begin at 2 p.m. with a director's reception. Attending the reception will be civil rights activists including Edwina Moss, and the Reverends Joan Campbell and Albert Pennybacker.

The film will be screened at 3 p.m., and then followed by a panel conversation and audience Q&A session hosted by Dee Perry.

Tickets for the pre-screening reception are $35, and include a ticket to the screening. General admission tickets are $5 for students and seniors, and $10 for adults.

For reservations and more information, call 216-916-9360. Tickets can also be purchased at shakerartscouncil.org.

Scam alert: Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood has sent out word that a congregant recently received an email for what appeared to be a request from the temple seeking support for a Go Fund Me account.

The temple's Executive Director Steve Borstein notes in a release that, "This email is a scam.

"The email was NOT sent by Fairmount Temple. If you receive such an email asking to support the fund, you should delete it."

If you have any questions, contact Borstein via email at sborstein@fairmounttemple.org.

Collecting history: Beachwood's Neue Auctions will post on Feb. 23 its Spring Fine Art and Antiques Online Auction catalogue at neueauctions.com. The catalogue will be posted for a full month before the live online auction begins on March 23.

Neue's Spring Auction is offering a carefully curated sale of art, antiques and decorative arts, as well as rare books, antique maps and antiquities.

A couple of highlights from the auction include a bronze sculpture by Sir Anthony Caro, valued at $50,000-$80,000, and an Imperial Japanese Silver Bowl by Hirata Shigemitsu VII, at $25,000-$35,000.

If you think I know anything about the art I'm writing about here, you most assuredly would be wrong. I do know that I have a silver bowl somewhere deep in the recesses of my cupboard, valued at 25-35 cents.

But, lack of knowledge aside, I'll nevertheless continue on with more fine art news, such as this -- Neue Gallery will present a session called "Collecting 101" from 6:30-8 p.m. Feb. 27.

This free (yes, even in the world of fine art some things are free) evening is for those who are curious about collecting items of artistic and historical significance, but aren't sure where to start.

Neue co-owner Cynthia will talk about what people like to collect and why, the most popular art and history items that people are collecting now, and share items for first-time collectors to look for to integrate into more contemporary interior design.

Seating is limited. Refreshments and light bites will be served. To reserve your seat and learn more about all of the above, call 216-245-6707.

College news: It seems a week can't go by without receiving news about the college students from our area.

For example, we learned this week that December graduates from Berea's Baldwin Wallace University included Shaker Heights' Adam Artman, with a master's degree in business administration, management, and University Heights Jeanita Blue, with a bachelor of arts degree in marketing.

And, from Tufts University in Massachusetts, we received word that the fall semester dean's list included Shaker Heights' Alexis Chauvette, Caroline McCormick, Andrew Mohar and Miriam Ricanati, as well as Beachwood's Allison Cohen and Catherine Perloff.

News from the University of Kentucky is that Shaker Heights' Nahjae Doucet, a junior majoring in psychology, made the fall dean's list, while at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., Beachwood's Livia Eppell earned a spot on the dean's list.

Receiving their degrees from Miami University in Oxford in the fall were Minyan Wu, of Beachwood; Claudia Read, of Shaker Heights; and Remy Groh, of University Heights.

And, among the graduating Penguins from Youngstown State University was Cleveland Heights' Curtis Parks.

The Pop Tarts: The Pop Tarts will bring their matching mod '60s attire and girl group sounds from 2-3 p.m. Feb. 24 to the Beachwood Community Center, 25225 Fairmount Blvd.

This free concert, made possible by grants from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture and the Ohio Arts Council, is sure to entertain with a blast from the past.

My request for this show would be to have The Pop Tarts sing The Marvelettes "Beechwood 4-5789," but we can spell it, for this concert, "Beachwood 4-5789."

For more information on this Beachwood Arts Council presentation, call 216-595-3400.

Endowing the arts: Twenty-nine Ohio recipients have been awarded grants through the National Endowment for the Arts' Art Works, Challenge America, and Creative Writing Fellowship programs.

Throughout the United States, $27 million in grants were awarded during the first round of funding announcements.

Locally, we had two such recipients. They are The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra's Apollo's Fire, which received $35,000, and from Shaker Heights, Verb Ballets, which is the recipient of $10,000.

Spend your money well.

Help for Holocaust survivors: The new Diamonds Direct store, 2101 Richmond Road at LaPlace in Beachwood, held its diamond sale for VIPs to benefit the Kol Israel Foundation on the weekend of Feb. 8-10.

A portion of the proceeds went to help the foundation, whose mission is to support Holocaust survivors, maintain memorials and educate the public.

We are told that, in all, the sale raised $5,400 for the foundation.

Eating with the birds: The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes and the Rotary Club of Shaker Heights will continue their partnership by offering the annual "Pancake Breakfast with the Birds" from 8 a.m. to noon Feb. 23 at the Nature Center, 2600 South Park Blvd. in Shaker Heights.

The breakfast features pancakes and gluten-free pancakes served plain, with blueberries or chocolate chips, as well as northeast Ohio maple syrup. Breakfast also includes sausage, apple sauce, juice, coffee and tea.

Why, my mouth is watering just writing this.

While the food would be the main attraction for me, I am told that the morning will also include, if you leave the dining area, the opportunity to learn about our feathered friends. You can discover the habits and habitats of birds with a guided adult bird walk at 8 a.m. (I don't think this means you have to walk like a bird, or maybe not), and guided family bird walks at 10 and 11 a.m.

The morning also offers a craft beginning at 8:30, and "Feathered Friends" presentations featuring therapy birds from Frisky Ferrets, Fuzzies & Feathered Friends Rescue & Sanctuary at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m.

There will also be raffles for gift baskets.

The cost is $9 for adults; $5 for children ages 4-10; and nothing at all for children 3 and younger.

Reservations can be made by calling 216-321-5936.

The importance of sleep: From 9:30-10:45 a.m. Feb. 24, First Unitarian Church, 21600 Shaker Blvd., will host "Spotlight on Sleep: A Wake Up Call."

Colleen Lance, MD, pulmonologist and internal medicine practitioner, along with the Cleveland Sleep Center's Sunjeet Kaur, MD, will answer questions such as "Why do older people have more sleep challenges?" "Is there a reason why the need for sleep varies among people?" "Is there a genetic susceptibility to sleep problems?" and "What can be done to improve sleep disorders and overall quality at various stages of life?"

Stop by for this free session and learn. Just make sure you're really interested and want to be there. You don't want to be the person who falls asleep at a sleep disorder discussion. Others would be envious.

If you would like to see an item included in Press Run, send me an email, at least 12 days prior to an event, at jeff.piorkowski@att.net.
CLEVELAND -- The biggest threat to democracy is not the stalemate in Washington, D.C., over whether to fund a border wall. Instead, the problem that threatens the fabric of democracy is metastasizing thousands of miles away in a cradle of democratic government, Britain, where the conundrum called Brexit threatens to derail the countrys economic and political institutions, in a perfect storm of democracys contradictions.

As the United Kingdom careens toward a March 29 exit deadline from the European Union, the countrys economy, which is tethered to the EU -- the confederation that binds European countries in a single market governed by a common set of laws -- is beginning to crater. Businesses are stockpiling products, automobile investments are tumbling, and experts fear that Britains gross domestic product could drop by more than 9 percent.

To those of us who cherish democracy and revel in Winston Churchills famous quip to the effect that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others, Brexit is a stomach-churning nightmare. It suggests, contrary to the Depression and World War II -- when democracies rose to the occasion in national crises -- that democratic government is febrile, beaten down by popular distrust and institutional paralysis, unable to reach any semblance of broad-based agreement that can prevent the U.K. from crashing out of the EU come March 29.

Richard M. Perloff is a professor of communication and political science at Cleveland State University.

How did it come to this? What does Brexit tell us about the state of democracy today?

The first explanation for Brexit points to a failure of the electorate. While voters who wanted to leave the EU had economic grievances and good reasons to be hostile to globalization policies that left them economically and intellectually behind more cosmopolitan Brits, their votes were rooted partly in ignorance, even prejudice.

As public policy expert Jason Brennan noted, in a Dec. 21, 2016 New Statesman America article ominously titled Is this the end of democracy?, the Leave voters, hyper-concerned that the EU facilitated migration of waves of decidedly non-British immigrants, believed, wrongly, that EU immigrants constituted 20 percent of the U.K. population. The accurate percentage was about 5 percent, according to Brennan.

A key reason why many U.K. voters held fast to these false beliefs is the glaring prevarications of politicians, who are, according to democratic ideals, supposed to present issues forthrightly to their citizens. (Dont laugh; you have to start with ideals.) The clownish Boris Johnson, former mayor of London who was a leader of the leave-EU campaign, falsely claimed that if the U.K. exited the European Union, it could recoup about $470 million a week in health care monies from the EU. But, as Stephen Castle reported in a New York Times article shortly after Brexit passed, Nigel Farage, the leader of the anti-EU Independence Party, acknowledged this figure was a mistake hours after declaring victory.

Yet another democratic deficit in Brexit lies in the structural problems in public referenda. As desirable as it may seem to have the public vote on an issue, political scientists quoted by Amanda Taub and Max Fisher in a recent New York Times analysis note that referenda offer simplistic yes-versus-no choices on complex public policies, and tap into the popularity of a particular political leader rather than reasoned assessments of the issue at hand.

All this brings us to the grand irony of Brexit. The option democratically selected by 52 percent of the electorate cannot be implemented without negotiations with the EU by the peoples democratically elected representatives, many of whom opposed Brexit and had themselves helped cause the problem by placing an inordinately complex issue before voters. Direct democracy clashed with representative democracy in the land of parliamentary sovereignty, as scholar Andrew Glencross noted in a 2016 book, Why the UK Voted for Brexit: David Camerons Great Miscalculation.

The British may yet find a solution, but it will only paper over more systemic problems. More than half the U.K. population in essence signified dissatisfaction with the elite leaders who fashioned an oh-so-continental, sleekly cosmopolitan view of Europe, yet failed to develop a narrative that took into account the resentments and frustrations of fiercely nationalistic older citizens who, rightly or wrongly, felt that internationalist ideologies of pro-EU elites threw them under the double-decker bus.

The populist revolt that shook Britain in 2016 represents a continuing problem for Western democracies. These issues should not be lost on the democracy on the other side of the Atlantic, where populist sentiments played a part in the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and fuel his base. Democratic presidential candidates who focus on identity politics, while failing to develop an inclusive economic narrative that appeals to working class voters, risk losing another presidential election. And Republicans leaders who slavishly support President Trumps economic policies, while failing to consider their at-best modest impact on wages, do so at their peril, as well.

Richard M. Perloff is a professor of communication and political science at Cleveland State University and author of The Dynamics of Political Communication.

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WASHINGTON, D.C.  Ohio Democrats and at least two of the states Republican Congress members were dismayed Friday by President Donald Trumps decision to declare a national emergency to fund construction of a wall on the nations southern border.

I ran on a very simple slogan: Make America Great Again, Trump said in making the declaration after Congress refused to allot the border security money he sought in a spending bill he signed to keep the government open for the rest of the fiscal year.

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told reporters that Trump plans to use roughly $3.6 billion from Treasury Department and Defense Department financial accounts for wall construction.

This is authority given to the President in law already, said Mulvaney. Its not as if he just didnt get what he wanted so hes waving a magic wand and taking a bunch of money.

While many Ohio Republicans applauded Trumps action, freshman Republican Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Rocky River expressed trepidation. He said he unequivocally backs the requested border fencing, but he fears Trump will set a dangerous precedent whereby a future president whom I dont support could declare a different national emergency to enact a different set of policies without the consent or approval of Congress.

While I will wait to see the full declaration to comment further, I believe this is something all members of Congress should consider deeply as we proceed further, Gonzalez said.

Dayton-area Republican Rep. Mike Turner, whose congressional district includes Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, said securing the border shouldnt be done at the expense of previously funded military construction.

I believe it is a dangerous precedent for the President to be forced to declare a national emergency because Congress refuses to provide necessary funding to protect our country, said Turner.

Holmes County GOP Rep. Bob Gibbs supported the declaration, saying an unsecured border is a national emergency and should be treated as such.

Of course its a national emergency, Champaign County GOP Rep. Jim Jordan agreed on Twitter. To back up his point, Jordan cited the largest fentanyl bust in history, caravans of immigrants that keep coming, and families losing loved ones to violent criminals who enter the country illegally.

What will it take for the Left to acknowledge the crisis on our border? he concluded.

Of course its a national emergency.



-Largest fentanyl bust in history, enough to kill 57 million Americans

-The caravans keep coming

-Angel families losing loved ones to violent criminals



What will it take for the Left to acknowledge the crisis on our border? #DoWhatWeSaid  Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) February 15, 2019

Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman agreed that more fencing and barriers are needed to address a crisis on the nations border, but said he would have preferred to find a legislative solution instead of declaring a national emergency that will likely be tied up in courts.

As expected, Democratic leaders in the House Senate condemned the move. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York released a statement that called Trumps declaration a power grab by a disappointed President, who has gone outside the bounds of the law to try to get what he failed to achieve in the constitutional legislative process.

Their statement said the action violated the congressional power of the purse granted by the U.S. Constitution, and theyll use every remedy available to defend their authority.

Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is gauging a presidential run against Trump, called the emergency declaration reckless and irresponsible.

Instead of building a wall, we should be passing a bill to provide back pay for the contract workers the President hurt with his shutdown, said a statement from Brown.

Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who chairs a House subcommittee that funds Army Corps of Engineers public works projects, expressed fear that Trumps border wall would steal funds from life-saving flood prevention and hurricane reconstruction efforts, and also pick the pockets of high-priority military construction projects.

Past national security emergencies have involved hurricanes, wildfires, hostage crises, epidemics and public health emergencies and terrorist attacks posing grave and immediate risk to American lives, said Kaptur. The situation at the border clearly falls short.

Niles-area Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan said Trump shouldnt declare a national emergency to address border security. Ryan, who is also weighing a White House run, introduced legislation Thursday that would establish a nonpartisan commission to review and assess the U.S. immigration system and border security.

We arent going to solve this through an executive overreach; we need targeted fact-based solutions, said a statement from Ryan.

Trump cant redirect disaster money to build his wall, say top Democrats including Toledos Marcy Kaptur
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- State officials have named a new leader of JobsOhio, Ohios private, non-profit economic development corporation.

J.P. Nauseef, a businessman and economic development official from Dayton, is JobsOhios new president and chief investment officer, according to a news release from Gov. Mike DeWine and JobsOhios nine-member board. Nauseef replaces the outgoing John Minor, who had led JobsOhio since 2012 and announced his plans to leave last year.

J.P. Nauseef is the right person to lead JobsOhio, DeWine said in a statement. His extensive experience in the economic development field, and passion for selling Ohio as the best location for new and expanding businesses will help us take Ohio to the next level.

Nauseef is the former president and CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition, JobsOhios regional development arm in the Dayton area. Most recently, he was the chairman of Krush Media Group, a Dayton-area digital advertising and media company. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.

Nauseef has personal and professional ties to Lt. Gov. Jon Husted  both previously worked together on economic development while Husted worked for the Dayton Chamber of Commerce and Nauseef worked for the Dayton Development Coalition. The Dayton Daily News reported on Thursday that Krush Media Group was founded with financial backing from Dayton-area billionaire Clayton Mathile, a major supporter of Husteds political campaigns. Like Husted, Nauseef graduated from the University of Dayton and the two overlapped there.

Husted thinks very highly of J.P., and JobsOhio is lucky to have him, a spokesman said.

JobsOhio is structured as a private organization, but its board members are appointed by the governors office, and its leader requires governors office approval. The organization is funded by profits from the states liquor monopoly. Gov. John Kasich created it in 2011 to take over many of the state governments economic development functions. Lawmakers designed it to be exempt from state public records laws.

State officials did not share Nauseefs salary. Minor received a total compensation of $528,945 in 2016, the most recent year for which JobsOhios public tax filings are available. The DeWine administration hasnt said whether it plans to make any major changes to how JobsOhio is structured.

To help with the transition, Minor will remain with JobsOhio as a senior adviser to the board until he leaves on March 29.

I think JobsOhios in a very strong place right now, and we look forward to J.P. joining and well see whats to come, Minor said.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Presidents Day, celebrated the third Monday of February, falls on Feb. 18 this year.

The federal holiday is officially called Washingtons Birthday, though thats not until Feb. 22.

Federal, county and state buildings are closed on Presidents Day, but the RTA will run its normal weekday service. The majority of local libraries are open, though Cleveland Public Library is closed.

Heres whats open and closed:

Banks: Individual banks differ but most are closed.

Libraries

Cleveland Public Library: Closed

Cuyahoga County Public Library: Open

Heights Libraries: Open

Lakewood Public Library: Open

Akron-Summit County Library: Open

Federal offices: Closed

County offices: Closed

State offices: Closed

Post offices: Closed

RTA: Regular weekday service, office closed

Schools: Closed. Some universities, such as Cleveland State, also closed.

Trash service and city hall operations: Trash pickup services and city hall services vary between communities. Contact your city hall to see whats happening.
Rotunda Rumblings

On the job: Gov. Mike DeWine announced a new leader of JobsOhio on Thursday, cleveland.coms Andrew Tobias reports. J.P. Nauseef, a business executive and economic development official from Dayton, is taking over for the outgoing John Minor as JobsOhios president and chief investment officer. Nauseef has ties to Lt. Gov. Jon Husted  Nauseef was the leader of the Dayton Development Coalition while Husted worked for the Dayton Chamber of Commerce.

Sued: Planned Parenthood and other Ohio abortion providers are suing over a state new law that bans the procedure known as dilation and evacuation. D&E is the most common second-trimester abortion method, cleveland.coms Laura Hancock writes.

Deja vu? FBI and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents raided Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budishs office on Thursday and seized his computer and cell phone, cleveland.coms Peter Krouse reports. Agents arrived at the county building shortly before noon and asked employees to leave while they searched. Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost recently took control of a local investigation into members of Budishs administration, and federal agents also have been investigating issues involving the county jail. Budish is a former Democratic speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives.

Budish responds: In an interview after the raid, Budish told cleveland.coms Courtney Astolfi that he had done nothing wrong, and that there was no reason for the FBI to perform a public raid. Ive worked my entire life to build a reputation for integrity and honesty and I will be damned if I will let a political attack destroy that, he said.

Budget hors doeuvres: Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday announced he is seeking slightly higher budgets for both the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation and Ohio Industrial Commission for the next two years. These two budgets, which are usually non-controversial, are traditionally proposed and passed ahead of the main state budget, which will be introduced in separate legislation. Both the BWC and OIC budgets are funded through workers comp premiums paid by Ohio employers.

So whats in these budgets? The governors proposed BWC budget asks for $645 million to cover the bureaus administrative operations  about $52 million more than the bureaus current budget. The governors budget plan for the BWC includes $40 million for safety grants; a multi-million-dollar increase in a program to help employers in Scioto, Ross, and Montgomery counties hire and keep workers recovering from substance abuse; an additional $3 million to raise awareness of that program; and $2 million to build a new Safety and Health Center of Excellence, which would research ways to prevent accidents, illnesses, and injuries on the job.

Oh, I see: DeWines OIC budget, meanwhile, totals $109.5 million  about $6 million more than was appropriated for the current budget cycle. Its the first time in 16 years that a governor has sought a budget increase for the commission, according to OIC spokesman Adam Gibbs. The reason for the increase, said DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney, is to pay for a $1.6 million upgrade to computer servers and phones, as well as $4.6 million in extra payroll because 2020 happens to be a year with 27 pay periods, instead of the usual 26.

Happy Trails: TourismOhio, with an assist from Ohio History Connection, has unveiled The Ohio Presidential Trail. The Plain Dealers Susan Glaser writes that the online guide features 14 sites across the state with historical presidential connections, including the James A. Garfield National Historical Site in Mentor and the William McKinley Presidential Library & Museum in Canton.

Drug deal: Ohio will receive $7 million in a settlement with Walgreens, Yost said in a news release Thursday. The settlement resolves allegations that the national retail pharmacy chain fraudulently over-billed Medicare and Medicaid patients for insulin pens, and over-billed Medicaid for some prescription drugs.

Powerful support: A new poll has found that Ohios political conservatives strongly favor renewable energy over coal and especially over nuclear power, writes John Funk of The Plain Dealer. Public Opinion Strategies conducted the poll for the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum.

Civil bites: State policymakers have cut funding for the Ohio Civil Rights Commission -- which investigates claims of discrimination based on race, sex, age, religion, disability and other protected classes -- by $1.4 million in todays dollars, or 20 percent since 2000, according to a new study. Policy Matters Ohio, a left-leaning think tank, said the reductions have resulted in a staff of 80 today, compared to 199 in 2000. This comes at a time when complaints of discrimination are on the rise.

Political police blotter: Franklin County Domestic Relations / Juvenile Court Judge Monica Hawkins pleaded guilty on Thursday to an operating a vehicle under the influence charge, writes Sheridan Hendrix for the Columbus Dispatch. Hawkins was arrested and charged on Jan. 31, just weeks after she took office.

ICYMI: Another judge, Portage County Common Pleas Judge Becky Doherty, was arrested earlier this week and charged with drunken driving following a single-car crash on an Interstate 76 off-ramp, writes Eileen McClory for the Portage County Record-Courier. Body camera footage shows Doherty told responding police Im so intoxicated. She will be arraigned on Friday.

Harshing your mellow: In a Thursday opinion column, cleveland.com/Plain Dealer editorial board member Ted Diadiun offered an opposing view on legalizing recreational marijuana, which he argues isnt as benign as even he once believed. Once its legal and accepted everywhere, itll be awfully hard to unring that bell, he writes.

Chair lift: Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof announced his final set of committee assignments on Wednesday evening. They include a number of new chairs, such as Frank Hoagland (Agriculture), Rob McColley (Transportation, Commerce and Workforce), and Lou Terhar (Ways and Means). State Sen. Steve Wilson will remain chair of the Energy and Public Utilities Committee.

Five Questions

Retired Maj. Gen. Deborah Ashenhurst is the new director of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services.

1. What are your priorities in office?

My primary focus is those returning veterans, or those coming off active duty, getting them hooked up with jobs. If they can step out of the uniform and into a job, I just think it can alleviate a lot of other problems along the way.

2. How can the department help do that, beyond what its doing already?

I think we need to make more inroads into getting ahead of those coming off active duty. So how do we work with the Department of Defense to make sure that we arent getting the information after theyve transitioned out [and] how to get ahead of that Transition Assistance program, and make sure they understand how veteran-friendly Ohio is.

3. Much of the press about your appointment notes that you are the first woman director of the Department of Veterans Services. Is that important to you? What do you make of that?

Its not important to me. Now, if its important for other women trying to find their way into the workforce and to politics ... then Im glad that they pointed it out. Ive spent my career being the first woman in this and the first woman that. For me, its all about, am I the best person for the job, and do I do justice to the job?

4. You were U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers guest to the State of the Union address earlier this month. How did that go?

It was incredible. I dont know how [Stivers] did it, but he got me the first seat in the first row of that [House] gallery. The State of the Union was fabulous, [but] the more interesting was before the speech actually started, being able to look down, whats the interaction of the legislature and how they interacted with each other.

5. If you were not doing this job, what career path do you think you would follow?

Be a grandma. I have been retired for three years before being offered the opportunity to come serve these great veterans. Ive perfected some craft projects, and Im still working on my cartwheels (laughs). Its a joy seeing these two little girls in my life.

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.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Thursdays high-profile search by law enforcement agents of the offices of Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish is reminiscent of the dramatic raids more than 10 years ago on the homes and offices of top county officials.

In both cases, FBI agents and others arrived with search warrants in hand and, as part of a public corruption investigation, seized documents and computer files.

One difference, however, is this:

The raids in July 2008 made public for the first time an investigation that had been under way for months, had dozens of targets, and evidence gathered through wiretaps and secretly recorded videos.

Thursdays search involves a much narrower investigation that has been known to all for nearly a year, coming after 17 subpoenas publicly served on a county administration that is cooperating with investigators.

So, why did prosecutors feel the need for Thursdays search?

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who took over the investigation earlier this month from county Prosecutor Michael OMalley, has declined to discuss the search.

Budish, meanwhile, told cleveland.com that he believes the search was politically motivated to sully his good name. Yost is a Republican and Budish is a Democrat represented by former U.S. Attorney Steve Dettelbach, who ran against Yost last year.

The buildup to the 2008 raid on county offices, officials homes, and private businesses, was far more secretive. The first public inkling that a massive investigation was underway was the raid itself.

By that time, the FBI had secretly already collected mounds of evidence against the targets of their probe, including incriminating video from a trip to Las Vegas by then-County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, county Auditor Frank Russo and others that was financed by cronies looking for favors.

By Thursdays search, on the other hand, the public was well aware of the current investigation. The 17 subpoenas show the probe began with concerns about possible contract steering in the IT Department and an improper employee-incentive policy endorsed by county officials. But the probe transitioned over time into an examination of the county jails and whether actions resulting in a nursing shortage inside the jails rose to the level of a crime.

The complexion of the corruption investigation has changed in recent weeks, particularly the political optics involved.

OMalley turned over supervision of the investigation to Yost, although two of OMalley assistant prosecutors remain involved, because OMalley had a conflict of interest stemming from the charges against Mills. OMalley said he could not defend the county against jail-related civil lawsuits that crossed over into his offices criminal investigation.

Complicating matters is the fact that the attorney representing Budish is Dettelbach, former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. Dettelbach ran for attorney general last year and lost a contentious campaign to Yost.

After Yost took over, investigators took more of an interest in Budish.

Last week, the grand jury issued a subpoena seeking the complete email accounts of Budish and several of his top officials. That information was to be turned over on Thursday morning, the day of the raid, but according to Budish, the county had received a one-day extension.

The search warrant used to justify Thursdays search focused on Budish and records related to jail operations, including any criminal investigations by the county Sheriff Department into deaths at the jail.

Its unclear if the raid is connected to the subpoenaed records, but when nine agents with the FBI and BCI entered Budishs offices on the 8th floor, his computer and personal cell phone were among the items seized. Also taken was the computer of Budishs assistant.

Budish has insisted he has done nothing wrong and that he has been cooperating with authorities. He said Thursday that the there was no justification for the raid and that the investigation has become a political circus.

The 2008 corruption probe, the largest in the history of the county, resulted in the convictions of Dimora and Russo and dozens of other officials and contractors who participated in pay-to-play schemes.

The current investigation has so far resulted in three indictments. Former IT administrator Emily McNeeley, former Corrections Director Ken Mills and current Chief Talent Officer Douglas Dykes have been charged with various felonies and misdemeanors. All three have pleaded not guilty

McNeeley and Mills have resigned. Dykes remains on the job and Budish has resisted a call for Dykes to be placed on leave, stating in a letter to a county councilman, There is no allegation or suggestion that Mr. Dykes benefitted personally from his actions but instead was simply implementing an HR decision.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  The corruption investigation of Cuyahoga County government pivoted in recent weeks from the countys IT Department to its troubled jail operations, as evidenced by the search Thursday for jail-related records in the office of County Executive Armond Budish.

Yet the top jail official, Sheriff Cliff Pinkney, has not been named in any of the jail-related subpoenas served on the county by corruption investigators, an omission that no one with knowledge of the investigation is willing to discuss.

The office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, which took over the investigation earlier this month, did not respond to a request for comment on Pinkney or Thursdays search. Its unclear who is cooperating with investigators and who might have provided information that led to Thursdays search.

Pinkney did not respond to a request for comment Friday by cleveland.com. County spokeswoman Mary Louise Madigan declined to comment.

We dont speculate on the meaning, we just comply with the subpoenas, Madigan said.

Jail-related subpoenas have thus far sought records from Budish, Pinkneys director supervisor, Public Safety Chief Brandy Carney and former jail director Ken Mills, who reported to Pinkney.

Mills email account was the subject of one subpoena dealing with operations at the county jails, where seven inmates died under Mills watch in 2018. An eighth died in December, about six weeks after Mills tendered his resignation days ahead of the U.S. Marshals Service making public findings of inhumane conditions in the jails.

Mills was indicted Jan. 19 on charges accusing him of lying about his role in blocking the hiring of nurses needed to take care of inmates at the jail. He also is accused of lying to investigators about his interactions with a high-level Cuyahoga County official. Prosecutors havent identified that official.

Former IT General Counsel Emily McNeeley and Budishs current head of human resources, Douglas Dykes, also have been indicted on charges unrelated to the jails.

The focus of the investigation transitioned to the jails in late 2018. The charges against Mills, in part, dealt with the lack of an adequate number of health-care providers at the jails. The email accounts of other high-ranking county officials, whose positions relate to hiring and financial decisions, also were sought by grand jurors in a subpoena made public this week. That includes the accounts of Dykes and his underling in the HR department, Director of Employee and Labor Relations Ed Morales, as well as Maggie Keenan, director of the Office of Budget and Management.

The search warrant authorizing Thursdays raid sought documents related to nurse hiring decisions, plans to regionalize the countys jails, criminal investigations of deaths or assaults in the jails, and Budishs ousting of a MetroHealth official who made public in May problems with the delivery of health care to inmates.
ROOTSTOWN TOWNSHIP, Ohio  A deputy serving felony warrants was seriously injured Thursday night when the suspect threw a flammable liquid on the officer and then set him on fire.

According to the Portage County Sheriffs Office, the unidentified deputy was taken to the burn unit at Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital. His condition was not available early Friday morning.

Deputies arrived at the suspects residence on the 3900 block of Ohio 44 in Rootstown at about 6:43 p.m.

As the deputy approached, the male suspect threw a container with flammable liquid at the deputy and quickly ignited it, according to the sheriffs office.

Officers on the scene rushed to help the deputy, while other officers were able to grab the suspect.

The residence also caught on fire and was heavily damage, the sheriffs office reports. Several other deputies had to be treated for smoke inhalation.

The sheriffs department says it will release more information on the incident at a later time.

If youd like to comment on this story, visit Thursdays crime and courts comments section.
ATHENS, Ohio  A wrongful-death lawsuit is blaming hazing by an Ohio University fraternity for the death of an 18-year-old student in November.

Collin L. Wiant of Dublin, Ohio, died on Nov. 12 after being found unresponsive in a residence that the lawsuit, filed by Wiants family, claims is an unofficial annex of the Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Pi fraternity, The Post reports.

According to WCMH Channel 4, the lawsuit says Wiant was subjected to extensive hazing by members of the fraternity. This included being punched, beaten with a belt, forced to take drugs and pelted with eggs.

He also was deprived of sleep and forced to drink a gallon of alcohol in an hour, the lawsuit says.

The hazing began very quickly to all pledge class members and included just some horrific acts," Rex Elliott, the lawyer for the Wiant family, tells ABC 22.

Much of the hazing reportedly occurred at the annex house, which is located off-campus, in an area called the fun room or education room," the lawsuit claims.

We sit here in 2018 and 2019 and we still have out-of-control fraternities running amok, hazing young college students to the point of injuries or, in this case, death, Elliott tells The Post. This isnt the 70s and 80s anymore and the fact that this is still going on is appalling.

WCMH reports a toxicology report shows Wiant died of asphyxiation due to nitrous oxide ingestion, commonly referred to as whippets. The lawsuit says Wiant was forced to take the drugs.

The fraternity, its national organization and 10 unknown people are named as defendants in the lawsuit. According to ABC 22, the lawsuit accuses members of the fraternity of holding an emergency meeting hours after Wiants death and initiated the remaining pledge class as full members in order to close ranks and get their story together.

Instead of being concerned about Collin and his family they were concerned about their own survival and that frankly makes me sick to my stomach," Elliott tells ABC 22.

Activities by the fraternity have been suspended by Ohio University and the school continues to investigate, a university spokesperson tells The Post.

If youd like to comment on this story, visit Thursdays crime and courts comments section.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As Yogi Berra, Jimmy Dimora, Frank Russo and Roger Stone might say, it's looking like deja vu all over again at the Cuyahoga County administration offices.

Thursday, agents from the FBI and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) executed a search warrant on the offices of Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish, as part on an ongoing corruption investigation into his administration.

In my opinion, Budish's response to the surprise search came off sounding like President Trump and Roger Stone, stopping short of calling it a "Witch Hunt," but suggesting it was politically motivated and unnecessary.

We can only hope a search of Budish's back doesn't turn up a tattoo of Jimmy Dimora, like Stone's back depicting Richard Nixon

Budish subpoena extension request could have prompted search.

The search appears to be related to the latest of 17 subpoenas corruption investigators have served on the Budish administration.

Wednesday, it was made public that Budish had been served a subpoena seeking all information related to his email accounts. Those records were supposed to have been turned over to a grand jury by Thursday. But Budish had requested and received a one-day extension.

The search warrant had sought many of the items listed in the subpoena, according to Budish's attorney Larry Zukerman.

It's reasonable to speculate that Budish's extension request stoked concern by investigators that there was a risk that records may be destroyed and that's why they went in to obtain them the day they were originally supposed to be delivered to the grand jury.

It's the same reason the FBI went in heavy to arrest Roger Stone, in a surprise early morning action, because they had a legitimate concern that evidence would be destroyed.

Like Budish, Stone complained that the FBI's surprise raid on his home was unnecessary and overdone.

After their 4hr search of Budish's offices, agents left with two computers, five boxes of material and Budish's cell phone, for which he provided the password.

"All they would've had to do was ask us for anything they wanted and we would've have given it to them," claimed Budish.

Obviously, investigators did not believe that was the case, or they would not have been granted a search warrant and have executed it in surprise joint agency action.

Budish turns Trumpian.

"I've worked my entire life to build a reputation for integrity and honesty and I will be damned if I will let a political attack destroy that.

Astolfi reports, "Budish also said he would be damned if he would let a political attack interfere with the work that the administration does for Cuyahoga County residents."

Budish seems to be implying the search was politically motivated by newly-elected Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.

The Budish subpoena was the first issued by Yost since the investigation was turned over to his office by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley. O'Malley had to recuse himself because as County Prosecutor he has to defend Budish in civil suits relating to deplorable conditions in the County Jail. However two of O'Malley's assistants are still involved in the investigation.

As state auditor, Yost was criticized last year for issuing Budish a subpoena over the annual county audit. "The practice is not common as audits are not part of an adversarial process. Auditors and the subjects of those audits work side-by-side and exchange information without the need for subpoenas.," Cleveland.com reports

While the BCI is a division of Yost's attorney general's office, the FBI is not. There has to be just cause for Judge to grant a search warrant, especially in case at this level.

Budish-Democrats double standard.

Budish said he'd be damned if he will let a political attack destroy his reputation. In a formal statement Budish also asserted the search turned the corruption investigation "into a political circus"

A political attack isn't destroying Budish's reputation, the indictments of three of his current and former administration officials is damaging his reputation. His failure to place a current indictited official on leave is damaging his reputation. His lethal mismanagement of the County Jail is damaging his reputation.

The FBI that searched Budish's office is the same FBI investigating the Trump administration and campaign. It's the same FBI run by Director Chris Wray.

It's a double standard for Democrats like Budish to defend Wray and the FBI's investigation of the Trump administration, but then cry foul when they are investigated.

Budish once hosted a show called "Golden Opportunities." Sadly, his administration is looking more and more like another golden opportunity for county corruption and mismanagement.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  State and federal agents who raided Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budishs office in downtown Cleveland on Thursday sought evidence of corrupt activity, extortion, civil rights violations and other crimes, according to a copy of a search warrant obtained by cleveland.com.

The evidence agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Cleveland FBI sought relates to problems at the county jail, which came under increased scrutiny in recent months following eight inmate deaths.

The warrant and the corresponding documentation provides an in-depth look at some of the issues and events that investigators are probing as part of a sprawling criminal probe now led by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yosts office.

Additional charges referenced in the warrant include obstructing official business, intimidation and tampering with government records. While Budishs office was the target of the search, Budish has not been charged with any crimes. In a video posted to the countys YouTube page on Friday, he went on the defensive, saying his office has fully cooperated and characterizing the raid as wrong and a political stunt.

Three current or former members of Budish administration were indicted last month, including former Corrections Director Ken Mills. All three have pleaded not guilty.

Budish has not said who exactly is carrying out any sort of political attack or why.

On Friday, following a public records request, the county released copies of the warrant and a list of items agents taken from the office. Visiting Judge Peter Handwork signed the warrant Wednesday. Many of the names and events either directly referenced or alluded to in the paperwork have been the subject of previous cleveland.com stories.

(You can read the warrant and corresponding documentation at the bottom of this story.)

Agents took five boxes of items during their search, along with two computers  one belonging to Budish and one to his assistant, Laura Roche  and an envelope with miscellaneous equipment.

They also took Budishs cellphone, according to county spokeswoman Mary Louise Madigan. Budish said in an interview Thursday that he provided investigators with passwords for his phone.

Among the items taken were folders labeled Akram Boutros, Jail Cleveland Mayor, Judge Russo, Jail Progress Report, Brady and Earl.

Talk of problems in the county were persistent in 2018, both publicly and between government officials, especially between June and December as inmates died. The U.S. Marshals Service issued a report Nov. 21 that said inmates were subjected to inhumane and unconstitutional conditions in the jail, including an understaffed crew of corrections officers and inadequate access to medical health care.

Budish and his administration said they are committed to fixing the problems in the jail.

The warrant itself provides a roadmap of where investigators are going as they continue to investigate Budish and his administration for issues related to the jail.

Agents wanted records related to talks to regionalize the county jails, their medical staffing and about criminal investigations related to jail deaths or assaults.

The warrant contains a reference to NaphCare, an Alabama-based company that Mills proposed in 2017 as a way to save the county money in healthcare costs. At the time, the administration proposed a move away from MetroHealth, the county hospital that provides health services to inmates. The move never came to fruition.

Investigators also sought documents related to Rachel Winder and Rob Zimmerman, both who lobbied for the county and NaphCare at the same time, state records show. Zimmerman is a city councilman for the city of Shaker Heights.

Winder and Zimmerman did not immediately return phone calls Friday.

Agents also wanted records related to a May 22 County Council public safety committee meeting, in which then-jail medical director Gary Brack accused Mills of creating an unsafe environment in the jail, as well as a meeting Budish had the following day at MetroHealth in which he demanded the hospital system remove Brack from the jail.

The warrant also sought records related to a previously-unreported meetings Budish had on Jan. 10, 2018 at Grumpys Cafe, a restaurant on West 14th Street in Clevelands Tremont neighborhood, and on April 4 at the county building. It was not immediately clear who was at either meeting.

There is also a reference to an Oct. 6, 2017 Bag Lady Luncheon charity event.

Budishs attorney Larry Zukerman said Friday that Budish denies any wrongdoing.

While the search warrant may enumerate various allegations pertaining to an investigation, it remains just that, allegations, Zukerman said.

He said there are no specific allegations of any criminal activity attributed to Mr. Budish in the warrant and that many of the items sought in the warrant were requested by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutors Office and were already provided.

There was no need for this media circus, Zukerman said.

When asked who was carrying out a political attack Budish referenced in an interview on Thursday, he said he was not at liberty to discuss that.

In addition to the warrant, corruption investigators have served 17 subpoenas on Budishs administration over the past year. The latest subpoena sought the complete email accounts belonging to Budish and several of his top executives, as well as Mills phone records. The subpoena required the information be presented to the grand jury by Thursday morning, though Zukerman said Thursday that he received a one-day extension.

In addition to the probe led by Yost, the U.S. Attorneys Office is reviewing the marshals report to see if there are any civil or criminal violations to pursue.
One lie is all it takes for everyone to lose their faith in you. What makes the USA and lap-doggys think that doubling down on lies makes that rule any different?

So why do I publish Windows to Russia?

Because I like people? Because it is propaganda? Because it is fun? Because it makes me money? Because I am bored? Because  Because  Because?

No to all the above

I write on Windows to Russia, Because it is the right thing to do and the simple truth.

I have over 7000 posts (7300 + as of writing this post.) of various types of information, that covers the scale from cell phones that I buy, basic lies told by so many, about living in a Tiny Russian Village, living in Moscow and a whole bunch of my opinions mixed into the fray

I do not care if you hate me, I prefer telling the truth instead and I am not working for your love. I dont do it for hate either, I do it for truth. I tell the truth and while it may be truth in my eyes, it is truth and nothing but the truth.so help me god

It is truth that has a whole bunch of reasons behind it and I am letting you know that someone is watching the stupidity as it happens. Me!

I travel Russia and many other countries and the truth is that you do not hear 1/10th of what Sveta and I do. I just write about what is going through my mind at the moment that I start to write. It has nothing to do with sending any special message and wanting you to love/hate what I say

It is simply what is, is what is

If you want to debate what I say? Then you are at the wrong place! I would not say it, if I wanted to debate it. I say it because it is what is right and correct.you do not do anything about the situation that we are in and at least I am willing to stick my neck out and call foul when it is foul. I cant call all fouls, for there are simply just too many fouls being tossed around.I call out what I can

When I say that Libya is screwed and Syria is a USA induced %$#^&* pile and the financial side of the world is collapsing. When I say that the Western Empire is a sack of crap and needs to be buried as cow dung fertilizer. That is what I mean and you are not going to change my mind about it.When I say that what we are now doing in Venezuela is wrong, it is wrong and you know it.When I say that sanctioning Russia is wrong because we lie about why we do it, then it is wrong.When I say that the USA is cheating and trying to cover up their inadequacies about China, that is exactly what is happening. I call out America for being so scared and afraid of competition, that we look like a bully and that is what we are. Bullies are actually a very insecure person who confronts their own fears by trying to act tough

As a sniper, I watched many humans drop like a rock and I watched many wiggle like a worm on the ground and nothing will stop the inevitable  I know what being screwed royally is. We are all screwed in one way or another, it is just how you deal with being screwed.I live with my actions every day and every night

The best thing that I did in my life was to erase as much of my past as I could, with the last of my wealth and move on to a different existence in the world. Of course the past really never leaves you completely and it will haunt you late at night while it sneaks up in your dreams as you try to slumber and forget what was

As a Lance Missile crew member, I was taught to rejoice at the fact that I had a life span of less than a minute in a real combat situation. Yes, we rejoiced about that. We would brag that we had a more important job, because we would die quicker than you would

I am a lot wiser than you know and I have done a 100 times more things than 99% of you have in this world. I have seen things that would make your pee and bowels run freely as you try to escape it and I had realty checkmate me after having returned several id wallets to family in other countries of men that I mortally wounded and they asked me to do them a favor, as they died

Try that on for size! Go knock on the door of the family of the man you shot a years earlier while you invaded a foreign country and tell them how he died and by who, because he asked you to as he died

I could not live with ignoring his last request to me as he died in my arms

Honor in death, even of your enemy.this is part and fully what is majorly wrong with things happening now in the west

My word is gold and even a handshake is not necessary to enact my bond. Many years ago, I shipped a car to America and the whole transaction was done by trust in me. 10s of thousands of dollars were entrusted in me and the person had never met me, except by e-mail and a couple of phone calls. I can be trusted and what I say can be trusted

I will tell you one thing, not many people have shipped a classic car in that time frame from Russia and not many people have the contacts to do this in Russia and be a foreigner to boot. I think about that car everyday and have a slew of pictures of it. It was a true beauty and many times I wished that I had bought it for myself. It was a true Soviet Treasure (In my eyes!)

One day, maybe I will write about that escapade and it was a blast I will tell you

The problem is that I do not find very many Americans that I trust anymore, but I have found a whole world of trusting Russians that deserve to never be let down by a Western World of deceit

So why do I publish Windows to Russia?

Truth about life, truth about Russia and truth about my America that I was forced from, by a system that has destroyed the American way of life

That way of life has been found again in Russia, by me and for all the issues Russia has, they still try to put their children and life before material and financial items and issues

Have a good day

WtR
ROOTSTOWN, Ohio  Officials have identified and charged a man accused of setting a Portage County sheriffs deputy on fire Valentines Day while serving a warrant.

Jay Brannon, 49, of Atwater doused Sgt. James Acklin with a flammable liquid and set him on fire during the incident that happened about 6:45 p.m. on Ohio 44, officials say.

Acklin was taken to the burn unit at Akron Childrens Hospital, according to a news release. He suffered severe burns and is still in the hospital,Portage County Sheriff David Doak said in a news release.

Brannon is charged with attempted aggravated murder, aggravated arson, the news release says.

Authorities received information that Acklin was at in a building on a property on Ohio 44, according to a news release.

Brannon was found crouched in front of a pickup truck that was in the process of being repaired, the news release said.

Brannon lit a can of flammable liquid, made threats towards Acklin, saying he was going to kill the cops, the news release said. He also commented that he wanted the officers to kill him.

Brannon threw the can of liquid at the officers, striking Acklin.Officers rushed to help Acklin while others took Brannon into custody.

The home also caught on fire and sustained heavy damage, the sheriffs office said.

Medics treated two other officers for smoke inhalation and released them at University Hospitals, the release says.

Brannon is being held in Portage County Jail pending an arraignment date.

If youd like to comment on this story, visit Fridays crime and courts comments section.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland man charged in an armed robbery at a Chinese restaurant is also a suspect in another hold-up that occurred days later at another eatery, court records say.

Kevin Felder, 43, is charged with aggravated robbery in a Feb. 9 incident at China Town on Pearl Road near Mapledale Avenue, in Clevelands Brooklyn Centre neighborhood, according to court records.

Felder is also a suspect in a Feb. 11 armed robbery at the China Wok restaurant on Broadview Road near West 30th Street, in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood, court records say. He has not been charged in connection with that incident.

Felder was arrested Tuesday, and demanded a preliminary hearing during his arraignment Thursday in Cleveland Municipal Court. The preliminary hearing is scheduled Feb. 22.

He remains in custody at the Cuyahoga County Jail on $10,000 bond.

Detectives identified Felder as a suspect in the China Town robbery by reviewing surveillance video of the incident, court records say.

A 52-year-old employee was working at the cash register just after 7:50 p.m. when a man wearing a black Oakland Raiders jacket came into the restaurant and pointed a gun at her, police reports say.

The robber demanded she open the register, then took approximately $400 in cash before he ran from the restaurant.

The robber in the China Wok hold-up also wore a black Oakland Raiders jacket, police reports say.

In that incident, a 34-year-old employee was working at the cash register about 9:45 p.m. when a robber ran in and pointed a gun at her. He shouted at her to open the register, police reports say.

The robber took approximately $200 in cash before he left the restaurant.

China Wok also provided surveillance video that captured the robbery, police reports say.

Felders criminal history dates back more than 20 years and includes prior convictions for attempted robbery, burglary, and vandalism, according to Cuyahoga County court records.

He was indicted Feb. 12 on charges that accuse him of trying to sell counterfeit cocaine last year in Cleveland. His arraignment in that case is scheduled Feb. 27.

To comment on this story, visit Fridays crime and courts comments page.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland man is accused of attacking his ex-girlfriends new boyfriend with a hammer in a parking lot in the citys Clark-Fulton neighborhood.

Joseph R. Diaz, 34, is charged with felonious assault in a Monday incident on Clark Avenue near West 30th Street, according to court records.

Diaz demanded a preliminary hearing during his arraignment Thursday in Cleveland Municipal Court. The hearing is scheduled Feb. 21.

He remains in custody at the Cuyahoga County Jail on $25,000 bond, court records say.

A 37-year-old man suffered injuries to his head, mouth and arms in the attack. He received treatment at MetroHealth but needed to see a dentist for additional treatment, court records say.

The attack occurred when Diaz confronted his ex-girlfriend and her 37-year-old boyfriend to a parking lot just before 8:30 p.m. and threatened them, according to a police report. The ex-girlfriend believed Diaz followed them to the parking lot because shed previously accused him of stalking her.

The ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend were sitting in a car outside Save-A-Lot when Diaz pulled up in his own car. Diaz got out of his car and came toward the couple aggressively, yelling at them as he approached, police reports say.

The 37-year-old boyfriend grabbed a hammer for protection and got out of his car to confront Diaz. He struck Diaz in the head in self-defense, the police report says.

Both men struggled over the hammer, and Diaz gained control of it. He repeatedly hit the boyfriend in the head, mouth and arms, police reports say.

Diaz stopped hitting the boyfriend when his ex said she was going to call 911. He got back into his truck and drove to the Cleveland police departments Second District to report the incident himself.

Diaz, who was bleeding from his head, told police officers that the boyfriend assaulted him with a hammer. He also said he goes to Save-A-Lot every day, and that he had no intention of running into his ex, police reports say.

The ex-girlfriend reported Nov. 20 that Diaz had been harassing her at her workplace and on social media, according to a police report. Diaz was not charged in connection with that incident, but the ex-girlfriend was referred to a prosecutor to discuss the case.

To comment on this story, visit Fridays crime and courts comments page.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A judge on Friday said the convicted robber who made national headlines when a Cuyahoga County judge ordered his mouth taped shut during a court proceeding was a narcissistic individual who blamed others for his own actions.

Visiting judge Patricia Cosgrove said 32-year-old Franklyn Williams did not learn from his four previous prison stints for escalating crimes over the last decade before she imposed a 33-year prison sentence.

A decade of criminal history victimizing the citizens of Cuyahoga County, Cosgrove said. This has got to come to an end.

Williams was convicted in December 2017 of multiple felony charges that said he carried out a string of armed robberies in December 2014, led state troopers on a high-speed chase and cut off his ankle monitor and fled to Nebraska in the middle of his 2017 trial.

Williams remained quiet throughout the hearing and made no interruptions or outbursts.

Williams portrayed himself as a social justice icon throughout a 12-minute statement to the court Friday. He said he wished to be the voice of black men and teenagers killed by police across the country, using the names of Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin and Oscar Grant, and said he hoped to be a beacon of the First Amendment and Eighth Amendment rights of freedom of speech and protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

Williams said he was treated like a dog about to be put to sleep, when Common Pleas Court Judge John J. Russo ordered courtroom deputies to tape his mouth shut after he repeatedly interrupted his July sentencing. He said he deserved be treated like a human and asked Cosgrove to impose the minimum sentence of less than 20 years in prison.

I suffered the ultimate humiliation, Williams said.

Williams did not apologize to any of the victims in the case, who did not attend the court hearing Friday.

Cosgrove said that Russos order to tape Williams mouth shut may have not been the correct route perceptually, but that there is legal precedent for it. Legal experts made similar comments to cleveland.com last summer.

We cannot go back, she aid. We can only go forward.

Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Eben McNair called Williams, who robbed a 75-year-old man outside a doctors office, a local business owner on his way to deposit his days keep and a young man outside of an apartment complex, a one-man crime wave.

He is an unrepentant, un-rehabilitatable menace," McNair said.

Cosgrove ordered sheriffs deputies in the room to let Williams hug his mother after the sentencing. A sheriffs supervisor stepped in and told Cosgrove that it was against the departments policy, but she ordered them to allow it.

Williams mother hugged her shackled son, kissed him and told him she loved him, as three deputies flanked them.

Fridays hearing marked the third time that Williams was sentenced in the protracted case.

McNair said in court Friday that Williams was sexually promiscuous and used and sold drugs while he was in Nebraska. Williams attorney, Deanna Robertson, took issue with McNairs comments, and implored Cosgrove to focus on the facts of the crimes for which Williams was convicted.

She acknowledged that three robberies are serious, but she said Williams did not maim, rape or kill anyone,

When you see a defendant sitting in a courtroom with his mouth taped, your first impression is, he must have killed someone, Robertson said. He must have done something really, really horrible to be treated like an animal by someone who is supposed to represent justice and fairness.

Williams struck a plea deal negotiated by his defense attorney, Michael Cheselka, in 2016 and Judge Deena Calabrese sentenced him to 14 years in prison. But the Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals threw out his plea after they found Cheselka misled Williams into thinking that he would be eligible for early release after serving less than eight years, when he had to serve a mandatory minimum of 12 years. Cheselka justified his behavior because he was trying to convince Williams to take a plea deal when faced with charges that could have resulted in a 70-year prison sentence.

The appeals court kicked the case back to Common Pleas court, and Calabrese recused herself. Judge John J. Russo took the case and Williams took the case to trial in December 2017.

It was in the middle of the trial that Williams cut off his monitor and fled the state. Russo found that Williams voluntarily forfeited his right to be present for the proceedings against him and ordered the trial to continue without him. Jurors convicted Williams of several counts. Police in Omaha, Nebraska arrested Williams on a drug charge and shipped him back to Cleveland for sentencing in July.

Williams interrupted Russo, prosecutors on the case and his own defense attorneys dozens of times throughout his sentencing. Russo ordered deputies to tape shut his mouth after warning Williams that he would do so if his outbursts continued.

Russo denied Williams request for a psychiatric evaluation, and eventually sentenced him to 24 years in prison.

After video of the hearing shot by WJW Channel 8 garnered national attention, Russo allowed Williams to withdraw his plea, apologized for the act and recused himself from further pleadings in the case. The Ohio Supreme Court then picked Cosgrove to take over the case.

Williams continued to file multiple motions, and went through three defense attorneys. He refused to cooperate with a psychiatric evaluation, before ultimately agreeing to an examination at Northcoast Behavioral Center that found he was competent to stand trial.

Williams filed several handwritten motions with the court seeking removal of his lawyers, Cosgrove and others involved in his case.

In court Friday, he withdrew a motion to kick Robertson off the case, and Cosgrove denied a motion for a new trial that Williams filed and that Robertson adopted in court Friday.

Williams asked for Cosgrove to order the 8th District Court of Appeals to appoint an attorney to represent him on appeal.

To comment on this story, please visit Fridays crime and courts comments page.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A judge on Friday imposed a life sentence on a 20-year-old man immediately after a jury convicted him of murder and other charges in the death of a 1-year-old girl.

Tariq Debardeleben will be eligible for parole after spending 15 years behind bars.

Jurors returned guilty verdicts on Friday morning, two days after closing arguments in the trial that lasted six days. They found Debardeleben guilty of murder, felonious assault and endangering children charges in the Aug. 26, 2017 death of Morgan Dilliard.

Jurors rejected an aggravated murder charge, and instead found Debardeleben guilty of the lesser-included reckless homicide charge on that count.

Debardeleben was babysitting Morgan, who is his girlfriends niece, and five other children under the age of 4 in the Walford Apartment Complex on Walford Road in Warrensville Heights the night of her death.

Debardeleben told investigators that he was giving Morgan a bath when he propped her up and left her in the bathtub for about two minutes to check on the other children in the house, who were getting loud, according to police reports.

He told investigators that he returned and Morgan was still playing in the tub and splashing around, according to court records. He took her out of the bathtub, dried her off and began to dress her when her body went limp, according to court records.

Debardeleben splashed Morgan's face with water and yelled her name to try to get a response, he told investigators. He called 911, then gave the girl CPR until an ambulance arrived, according to police reports.

Debardeleben carried Morgan downstairs and ran her out to the paramedics when they arrived. Morgan was taken to University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center, where she died.

Officers noted in police reports that the bathtub was wet and there were feces covering the side of the tub.

Investigators wrote in police reports that the death appeared to be from drowning or some illness. But the medical examiner's ruling that Morgan died from blunt force injuries caused them to investigate the case as a homicide.

Investigators charged Debardeleben after learning Morgan had no injuries as of 8 a.m. that day. They also learned Morgan was alone with Debardeleben the entire day, according to police reports.

To comment on this story, please visit Fridays crime and courts comments page.
ORANGE, Ohio -- Suspicion, theft from auto; Smithfield Road: A resident reported at 2:19 a.m. on Feb. 10 that she had just turned on all of their outside lights after noticing two men going through her car -- including the trunk.

The suspects fled in the car they had parked in the driveway, making off with an estimated $725 worth of belongings, including prescription tinted Aviator glasses ($250), a DeLorme GPS ($200), a Kindle reader ($140), leather gloves ($75) and a Viking battery charger ($60). Another resident told police he had not locked the car.

Disturbance, disorderly conduct, warrants served; Orange Place: Responding around 5:30 a.m. on Feb. 9 to a fight-in-progress at the Courtyard Marriott, police arrived to find a large gathering in the second-floor hallway acting disorderly.

A primary instigator was detained after he provided no I.D., then said he forgot his Social Security number and then gave police a wrong name. When the Warrensville Heights man, 26, came clean, police found active warrants from his home city and Solon.

Woodmere police were called in for extra manpower. When a Maple Heights woman, 25, continued to exhort the crowd, she was charged with disorderly conduct, while a Euclid man, 24, was taken into custody on warrants out of Beachwood and South Euclid.

Simple assault, Park Avenue: An officer was flagged down by a manager outside the Silverspot Cinema around 4:15 p.m. on Feb. 11, saying he had just fired an employee who then spit on him and ran off.

The suspect, a Garfield Heights man, 29, was seen on security video jumping over the wall near the loading dock. Police made contact with him about an hour later and advised him of the charges, adding that he was no longer allowed on the property.

When he refused to go to the police station, a warrant was soon issued after the manager signed a complaint but declined to seek a protection order.

If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page.
William Russell Allton was born in Dewey, Oklahoma on April 25, 1931 to Russell Frank and Alice Mae (Steffens) Allton. He attended school in Claremore and graduated with the class of 1948. On August 26, 1949 Bill married Jimmie Louise Reed and the couple made Tulsa home for the first 25 year
The day before the one-year anniversary of the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida, New Hampshire lawmakers said they are hoping to take advantage of a Democratic-controlled legislature to move ahead with gun control legislation that would allow school districts to create gun-free zones.

But some opponents say creating such zones make schools a target for shooters.

The gun control bills were up for a hearing Wednesday. In addition to the gun-free zones bill, another bill would require background checks for commercial gun sales while one would create a waiting period of seven business days between the purchase and delivery of a firearm.

The zones would include the schools and school buses and the bill would bar anyone not authorized by the school district from possessing a firearm on school grounds. Anyone dropping off a child could have a gun in their car as long as it was locked away and not loaded.

Supporters  some holding signs with messages like Save Our Schools From Gun Violence  said the zones ensure a safe learning environment and is the first step in dealing with gun violence.

Public safety is a legal, legitimate state interest and what could be more obvious state interest than safeguarding the lives of our children, said Tracy Hahn-Burkett, a parent who heads a grassroots group in New Hampshire against gun violence.

Opponents, who packed the hearing room and far outnumbered supporters, argued the zones wouldnt work and would make those schools a target for criminals and potential shooters. They also argued it would make vulnerable those who use guns for protection.

Still, others argued it was unnecessary since the state is already one of the safest in the country. They also warned that lawmakers would be held accountable if students were harmed.

If this is passed and we have a school shooting, the blood of those children will be right here, said Rep. John Burt, a Republican from Goffstown.

Mitchell Kopacz, president of the Gun Owners of New Hampshire, said all this legislation would do is to make people feel safer, not actually keep them safe.

Everyone in that safe school zone is now a target. Nobody is armed, Kopacz said. Safe schools dont stop bad people from doing bad things.

The New Hampshire School Board Association also came out against the bills, saying similar proposals put forth at a January assembly of the states school boards were defeated by a slim margin.

While the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act bans weapons within 1,000 feet of a school, New Hampshire law gives the state legislature the sole authority to regulate guns. That has caused confusion and several efforts to remedy the problem. Last year, a similar bill allowing for the gun-free zones was rejected by the Republican-controlled Senate.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu has argued that gun-free zones are ineffective deterrents and said the focus should be on combining the tactical realities of defending schools with mental health components.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
On Saturday night, February 9, John Robinson Blockpublisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, one of more than a dozen news outlets owned by his company, Block Communications, Inc.entered the Post-Gazette newsroom. Members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, which has engaged in contentious contract negotiations with Block Communications since their contract expired nearly two years ago, had months earlier posted a sign on a bulletin board: Shame on the Blocks!

A new addition to the @PGNewsGuild bulletin board in the @PittsburghPG newsroom. Heres why8 percent pay cut for a decade, 13 years without a raise and two years violating federal law by not paying our health-care premium increases. Shame on the Blocks, indeed! pic.twitter.com/ll1ZGbX4Uk  Michael A. Fuoco (@michaelafuoco) December 11, 2018

According to multiple accounts published by the guild, Block, who had brought along his pre-teen daughter, demanded that the sign be removed, and then attempted to pose his child for a photograph beside it. Post-Gazette staffers and union members characterized Block that night as loud and violent, very angry and irate, and going crazy.

One Post-Gazette staff member says Block forcefully grabbed his daughters forearm, pulling her into the picture as she tried her best to pull away from him. Block ranted about the union and former employees; threatened to get rid of Michael Fuoco and Jonathan Silver, two guild leaders; and said he might close the paper and burn the place down. One staff member, who estimated the incident lasted for an hour or more, provided video and audio recordings of the incident to a local ABC affiliate; the material includes a voiceunidentified, though it sounds like Blockinviting people to resign. Ultimately, staff members say, an editor and a Block Communications VP persuaded Block to leave the newsroom and then the building.

ICYMI: Sinclair fires reporter as she battles cancer

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The incidentwhich was covered by several Pittsburgh news outletsprompted the guild to file an unfair labor practice complaint against Block and his company through the National Labor Relations Board. Its the third such complaint filed by the guild against the Post-Gazettes owners in the past two years; this time, the focus is on Blocks behavior and statements. Block, the complaint says, threatened employees with discharge in retaliation for engaging in union or other protected concerted activity.

On Thursday evening, Block Communications provided CJR with a statement on behalf of Block, disputing guild members accounts of events:

Last Saturday evening, the Publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette expressed his frustration to the newsroom staff about several issues of concern to him. We have conducted a review of all information available, and we disagree with the characterization of Saturday evenings events as expressed by the Newspaper Guild. No one in the newsroom was physically threatened contrary to published reports. We highly value our employees, and consider their safety and security a top priority. We have and will continue to provide a safe work environment. The Publisher expresses his sincere regrets over his conduct that evening and did not intend his actions to upset anyone. Because the Newspaper Guild has filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board concerning these events, we will not be making any further comment on the matter until those proceedings are resolved.

A response from the guild, sent after 9pm, called the Block Communications statement a false narrative, and said it amounts to outright lies and a bare-minimum effort to address a corporate crisis over the abhorrent actions of John Block.

An earlier statement from Johns brother Allan, who is the companys chairman, had characterized the scene on Saturday as an unfortunate exchange, and attributed any angst on Johns part to frustration over financial and other challenges in the newspaper industry. Allan adds that the company supports the well-being and safety of all our employees, and expresses regret if anyone present may have misconstrued what occurred as anything other than an indication of strong concern and support for the Post-Gazette. The guild called this characterization of the event cowardly, despicable, and a blatant lie.

News about the incident was conspicuously absent from the Post-Gazettes pages until Wednesday, when a short item about the labor complaint appeared. First-hand accounts by Post-Gazette staff were published instead on the guilds website, where four union members offered on-the-record recountings . The guild went on to collect nearly a dozen such stories, and provided them to Allan Block. (According to Fuoco, a guild leader, there are no plans to make the additional accounts public.)

ICYMI: A reporter asked for 20 years of lottery winner data. After analyzing the records, he noticed something unusual.

In recent history, the Post-Gazette has avoided detailing the tensions between its guild and ownership. Early last year, 150 guild members signed a letter condemning an editorial, Reason as Racism, which called allegations of racism the new McCarthyism and was widely decried as offensive. The guild published the letter to its site, too, claiming that Block had prevented it from running. (Disclosure: The author was a staff reporter at the Post-Gazette from January 2012 to September 2015, and signed a letter from former Post-Gazette employees who objected to the editorial.) Another, more recent letterthis one sharing staff objections to the publication of three misogynistic editorial cartoons within a weekalso appeared on the guilds site after it was turned down for publication in the Post-Gazette.

The guilds contract with the Post-Gazette expired in March 2017; until a new contract is negotiated, its terms remain in effect. The sticking point, according to the guild, is healthcare costs: according to the expired contract, the Post-Gazette must pay up to five-percent of the increase in health-insurance premiums for guild members. After the company twice refused to do so, the guild took its case to the National Labor Relations Board, which ruled in the guilds favor. (The Post-Gazette has appealed the ruling.) In January 2018, all 150 guild members staged a four-day byline strike to draw attention to the contract dispute. In December, guild members handed out informational flyers outside the Omni William Penn Hotel, where John Block was giving a speech to the Rotary Club. During that speech, Block said the Post-Gazette was not a profitable segment of Block Communications holdings; for Pittsburgh Quarterly Magazine he wrote that the paper had not turned a profit consistently since 2004.

Fuoco says that the unions priorities are ensuring employee safety and shielding Blocks daughter from further trauma. Were fearful for his safety and our own, he tells CJR.

Block returned to the newsroom on Wednesday, but did not interact with any staff other than Keith Burris, the editorial page editor. According to Fuoco, several guild members opted to work from home because they did not feel safe with Block in the newsroom.

Though Post-Gazette staff members did not call police on Saturday, one guild account suggests they came close. Fuoco did not fault newsroom employees for not making the call. Hindsight is 20/20, he says. Things were happening very quickly. It was so surreal, and it wasnt lost on anybody that this was their boss. In one account, a staffer wrote that Block held his daughter firmly by the wrist as she was sobbing. The staffer told Block to stop, then took her from the room to a cafeteria in the building. They did intercede and get her away from him, says Fuoco, which was the immediate thing that needed to be done.

From the archives: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazettes baffling editorial decision

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Kim Lyons is a Pittsburgh-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other local and national publications. She was a 2015 Kiplinger Fellow in Public Affairs Journalism at Ohio State University, and is co-host of The Broadcast Podcast, focused on amplifying women's voices.
Solar Bill Clears KY Senate, Awaits House Input

By The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - Legislation backed by power companies picked up momentum over objections from solar power interests on Wednesday, as the Kentucky Senate passed the bill that would change how utilities provide credits to customers with rooftop solar panels.

The Senate voted 23-12 to approve the measure, a few hours after it cleared a committee.

The bill now goes to the House, where members took immediate steps to put it on a fast track. A House panel was scheduled to review the measure at a meeting on Thursday.

The proposal delves into the system  known as net-metering  in which utilities compensate customers with excess power from their solar panels. The bill would let regulators with the Kentucky Public Service Commission set the value to be credited to solar customers.

"We have a unique opportunity to modernize solar in Kentucky," said Sen. Brandon Smith, the bill's lead sponsor. "To give it something that's dependable and moves it forward in a way that takes care of the utilities, the customer and solar. And that's not easy to achieve."

Opponents framed it differently, saying the result would be to give utilities a monopoly over solar power at the expense of small solar companies looking to gain a foothold in Kentucky.

"The real purpose of this bill, as it's always been, is to help utilities ensure their monopoly over our industry," Matt Partymiller, president of the Kentucky Solar Industries Association, said when the bill was reviewed by a Senate panel on Wednesday.

Solar interests say the measure would result in power companies paying substantially less for the energy generated from solar customers. Utility companies argue the current system results in paying more to solar customers than it costs them to generate their own energy.

People with solar panels on their homes generate their own electricity. When they don't have enough power, they buy it from the utility company. When they have too much power, the utility company buys it from them. The law now requires utility companies to buy the power at the same rate they sold it. People with solar panels on their home then get a credit on their power bill, paying less than customers who don't have solar panels.

The bill would change the process by letting the PSC decide how much power companies should compensate those customers with solar panels.

Smith, R-Hazard, disputed claims from the bill's critics that state regulators would be inclined to side with utilities. Smith said it's a "calculated risk" for utilities to "let their chips fall where they may and let the Public Service Commission do it."

A similar measure narrowly passed the Kentucky House last year. That proposal stalled in the Senate during the final days of the session.

The Kentucky Solar Industries Association on Wednesday urged the House to take a more deliberate review that includes discussions with utility interests to deal with what it sees as the bill's flaws.

"We have been trying to work on a compromise since last session, but there has been no interest in a balanced bill that benefits consumers rather than monopolies," the group said in a statement.

___

The legislation is Senate Bill 100.
The tech worlds influence on journalism is finally receiving policy pushbackat least, outside the United States. Governments are busy drawing up plans to directly intervene with tax support and even direct subsidies for journalism. In the past year, a hail of European bills aimed at taxing and curbing platform growth have been introduced. At the end of 2018, Canada announced that it would draw up a media salvage package worth $600 million in Canadian dollars. Now it is Britains turn to kick the tires on the idea of directly funding more public interest journalism, to protect it from the ravages of the digital marketplace. An inquiry ordered by the British government into the state of quality journalism released its findings in a report this week, recommending that publishers and platforms receive subsidies and tax breaks and that they be subject to codes and regulations.

Led by Dame Frances Cairncross, a journalist and academic, The Cairncross Review, as the report is called, is squarely critical of the market created by Google and Facebook, one that fails to incentivize or support robust journalism, particularly at the local level. Its findings seem may seem uncontroversial: public interest journalism is in crisis because the financial incentives of digital publishing platforms neither encourage or bankroll the costs of reporting.

The Cairncross Review made nine recommendations. They range from the softbetter digital literacy, a code of conduct for platforms and media, commitments by platforms to quality news, a new institute dedicated to public interest journalismto the hard, including investigations and more regulation.

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In particular, the report calls for investigations into the online advertising market, dominated by the digital duopoly of Google and Facebook, and the BBC, for its possible encroachment into the market of online commercial news suppliers. The government, the report says, should also provide both tax incentives and direct support for public interest news.

There are two parts of the Cairncross Review that, for different reasons, are potentially more consequential than they appear. The first is an acknowledgment that Facebook, Google, and the shift of distribution and advertising revenues to large technology platforms have damaged some parts of journalism to a point where the market cannot repair them. This might seem obvious, but in America in particular we will be waiting a very long time before a government policy paper talks about market failure in such bald terms.

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The assumption in the US that news will eventually find a market model that does work has been one of the most consistent and damaging misconceptions advanced over the past twenty years. Chasing such a marketone that gatekeepers have rendered structurally impossiblehas distracted resources, policies, and attention from finding a non-market solution to mitigating the worst of our local news failures.

Journalism owes the Cairncross Review at least a thank you for naming the disease. All governmentsand journalistsmust understand how to arbitrate between the necessity of reporters and the intolerant super structure of alien social platforms. And soon.

The second recommendation that stands out is the suggestion that the BBC should be under special scrutiny for the role it plays in the digital news ecosystem. Joshua Benton, the director of Harvards Nieman Journalism Lab, pointed out that an investigation of the BBC might end up having more lasting effect than anything else that might be implemented from the report. The BBC gets $5 billion in funding every year from the public Licence Feean arrangement that has long been a source of commercial jealousy, and occasionally outright animosity from the incumbent Conservative government, which has always felt the BBC is biased in favor of the left.

Local news chains in the United Kingdom have suffered the same bad fortune as those in the US: plummeting revenues made worse by poor governance from boards asleep at the wheel, salaries to top executives that are far too high, and consolidation that leaves remaining reporting resources thin. With such a large funding reservoir, the BBC could, if it wished, reform public media and its own role in a dynamic landscape. But its managers seem reluctant or unable to do so and, as a result, the BBCs resources may end up being the main casualty of a report that intended to limit the overwhelming power of tech companies.

The solution is not to set the BBC on a level field in commercial competition. A far better aspiration ought to be that the BBC be properly incentivized by the government to do its job. Much as one might not like an interventionist approach to journalism, the alternative has been worse. Ethical and reporting-focused owners of commercial news organisations have often failed in the print market because they were not profitable enough, only to be replaced by a generation of truly terrible ownersfrom vultures like Alden Global Capital to vested interest billionaires like Sheldon Adelson. When news organizations are in no position to turn down money from wealthyand largely opaquepatrons, we are in a deep crisis.

In the US, commentators tend to find the arguments for public subsidy of journalism difficult to rationalize, yet they seem perfectly at peace with the idea that Google and Facebook should, by default, take over the role of supporting journalism. Indeed, those companies have started: in March 2018, Google announced its News Initiative, to help bust fake news and support journalistic organizations; in January, Facebook committed $300 million to come to the aid of local news.

The Cairncross Review is a very British type of white paper, clear in its language and interventionist in its scope. Is ultimate effect, however, is likely to be determined by how much the British government wants to take on the BBC and its many alliesor the intimidating might of Silicon Valley.

READ: Boosting local news with data journalism and automation

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Emily Bell is the director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School.
The New York City Council voted on Wednesday to dissolve the Councils newly created For-Hire Vehicles Committee after its chair, City Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr., made homophobic remarks and refused to apologize for them. The move to strip Diaz Sr. of his committee assignment is a bold one  not only because the committee was created just last year specifically for the Bronx councilman to chair  but because kicking lawmakers off their committees is somewhat rare, whether at the city, state or national level. This is a harsh judgment not taken lightly by the Council, said George Arzt, a seasoned political consultant and press secretary to former New York City Mayor Ed Koch.

When people have been stripped of committees assignments, its often been done for lawmakers facing indictments or arrests. Losing ones standing on a committee for making bigoted or offensive remarks is almost unprecedented. It is very much akin to Steve King in Washington, said Arzt, likening the Councils move to the Iowa congressman recently being stripped of his committee assignments for comments he made defending white supremacy. But, as with Kings history of making racist remarks, this isnt Diaz Sr.s first time inveighing against the LGBTQ community. Arzt argues that its not one offense that the councilman is being punished for, but a pattern of incendiary comments and actions, including hosting an anti-same-sex marriage rally in the early 2000s and describing New York Citys Taxi and Limousine Commission as killers after several cab drivers committed suicide. Ruben is really being punished not for what he said specifically this time, but for the cumulative effect of what he has said over the years. If it was a one-time thing, I think people would slap him on the wrist and that would be it, but over the years he's said some things which have bothered a lot of people.

Still, some are concerned that the Councils move to punish a lawmaker for comments made off the Council floor may set an unwelcome precedent. You may not like it, and it may be distasteful, but it does raise the question of are you opening a door that is going to be difficult to close, said veteran lobbyist Sid Davidoff.

Though kicking lawmakers off committees is rare, New Yorks rich history of political corruption means that the move is not totally foreign. From the 1960s to 2018, the following are a few of the instances in which lawmakers have been stripped of their committee assignments.

Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

adam_clayton_powell_jr-james-j-kriegman-united-states-library-of-congress.gif Alt Text: Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Title Text: Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Caption: Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Description: Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Image Credit: James J. Kriegman/United States Library of Congress

In 1941, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. made history as the first African-American man elected to the New York City Council and, in 1945, he became the first black man to represent New York in Congress. But as chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor, Powell spent the 1960s embroiled in controversy about his mismanagement of the committees budget and irregular attendance record. In 1967, the House Democratic Caucus stripped Powell of his chairmanship.

Allan W. Jennings Jr.

A city councilman from the Bronx, Allan W. Jennings Jr., lost his committee leadership role in the midst of an investigation that ultimately found him guilty of harassing two female subordinates in 2005. City Council leaders said, however, that it was not the sexual harassment allegations, but his poor leadership skills, which prompted the move.

Michael Cole

Michael Cole was lost his post as a ranking member of the New York Assembly Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse in 2007 for one of the more ironic violations in New York history  sleeping at the home of a 21-year-old intern after a night of heavy drinking.

Vito Lopez

Former Assemblyman Vito Lopez was censured by the Assembly and unseated as chair of the Housing Committee in 2012, after the Ethics Committee found that he had groped, kissed and harassed two female employees. The controversy followed Lopez through to his resignation in 2013.

Malcolm Smith

Malcolm-Smith-NY-State-Senate.gif Alt Text: State Senator Malcolm Smith. Title Text: Malcolm Smith. Caption: Malcolm Smith. Description: State Senator Malcolm Smith. Image Credit: NY State Senate

In 2013, after being charged for taking part in an alleged bribery scheme to secure a place in the Republican mayoral primary, former Democratic state Sen. Malcolm Smith was stripped of his leadership role in the Independent Democratic Conference, along with his committee assignments.

Ruben Wills

Former City Councilman Ruben Wills was charged with corruption for failing to disclose his financial dealings in multiple disclosure reports in 2015, and was subsequently removed as chairman of a subcommittee on drug abuse. Willis was later convicted of stealing more than $30,000 of public funds in 2017.

Chris Collins

Chris_Collins_official_photo.gif Alt Text: Chris Collins, the congressman representing New Yorks 27th district. Title Text: Chris Collins. Caption: Chris Collins. Description: Chris Collins, the congressman representing New Yorks 27th district. Image Credit: US Government

Chris Collins, the congressman representing New Yorks 27th district, was indicted on charges of insider trading in 2018. Although he wont face trial until 2020, former House Speaker Paul Ryan booted Collins from the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Todays telecommunications companies operate in an era of constantly connected users. From smartphones to smart cars, the Internet of Things has greatly increased the number of devices connected to communications networks. This expansion is driving telcos to adopt new technologies to simplify and automate processes while reducing costs. And this is where artificial intelligence enters the picture for telephone companies, Internet service providers and other players in the telco industry.

To meet the demands of always-connected customers and drive operating efficiency, telcos are investing in AI  in a big way. Market intelligence firm Tractica forecasts that global telecommunications industry investment in AI software, hardware and services will reach $36.7 billion annually by 2025.1

There are good reasons for the industry to jump on board the AI train. By adopting AI, telcos can improve efficiency in network performance monitoring, predictive maintenance and data-routing configurations, to name just a few of the applications of AI within the industry. And beyond the network, virtually all telcos, from the largest to the smallest players, are using AI-enabled technologies like chatbots and customer voice interfaces to streamline customer service.

The big picture: Telcos understand the potential of AI to drive higher productivity and efficiency, reduce costs, enhance quality, optimize supply chains and transform backoffice operations.

Common use cases

There are countless use cases for AI in complex telcos environments. Heres look at a few of the more common ones in use today.

Expert systems  One of the first AI applications in telco was network management expert systems. These systems are used widely in the industry today to improve the efficiency of infrastructure. In fact, some of the worlds first practical expert systems based on AI were employed to improve operations and maintenance of telco networks and services.

Network operations monitoring and management  In the coming years, the leading use case for telecom AI deployments will be network operations monitoring and management, according to Tractica. The research firm predicts that this use case will account for 61 percent of the sectors AI spending between 2016 and 2025.1

Predictive maintenance  AI systems enable telco operators to analyze massive amounts of data to predict and prevent hardware and network problems, including issues ranging from cell towers to the set-top boxes in homes. AI systems can be trained to monitor the state of equipment, detect patterns and anomalies that are indicative of emerging issues, and to predict the likelihood of failures. Operators can then work proactively to address equipment issues before customers are impacted.

Customer service chatbots  With the capabilities of AI-enabled systems and technologies for chatbots and virtual agents, service providers can automate customer service inquiries and the routing of customers to the proper agents. These systems can include self-service capabilities that give customers guidance on things like installing and troubleshooting devices. Such AI-driven capabilities are another way operators can improve the customer experience while containing the costs of customer service functions.

Speech and voice services  With new natural language processing capabilities in AI systems, telcos can enable their customers to explore and purchase media content using spoken words. This is already happening in various forms. For example, in June 2018, Dish Network Corp announced a partnership with Amazon that allows its users to search for and purchase content using Alexa-powered Echo devices.2

Network security

With cybersecurity attacks on the rise, telcos need new armaments to fight back. AI is one of those weapons. AI systems can be trained to analyze millions of data points in real time, continually scan systems and networks for vulnerabilities, and identify anomalies, unusual patterns and suspicious behaviors that could be indicative of cyberattacks. They can also be trained to block suspicious traffic and take steps mitigate attacks in real time.

Biometric and facial recognition  In a rapidly emerging use case, companies are using fingerprint, eye and facial recognition capabilities to provide enhanced security for specific applications and end-user devices. As a sign of this trend, Deloitte Global predicts that, by the end of the decade, fingerprint readers will have become as ubiquitous as front-facing cameras on smartphones.3

A case study

AI-enabled biometric security capabilities  including fingerprint, iris and facial recognition  are on the job every day when people use smartphones and other mobile devices. One example: Mastercard is increasingly using biometrics as a tool to verify the identity of card users. In one such application, the Mastercard Identity Check service allows online shoppers to authenticate a purchase by touching the screen of a smartphone or simply showing their faces to the device and blinking  a concept sometimes referred to as selfie pay.4

In another leap forward, Mastercard is using technology that identifies and verifies users based on their online interactions  behavior that cant be replicated by a third party. For example, the technology considers how individual users hold a mobile device, the way they swipe it and tap it, and the pressure they put on the screen.4

Key takeaways

While AI wont address all the challenges of an industry swept up in a tidal wave of disruptive changes, it is clearly one of the must-haves for telco success in an era of ever-rising customer expectations and explosive growth in IoT devices and network data. With AI, telcos have the opportunity to leverage massive amounts of data to enhance network management, improve customer service quality, automate processes and reduce operational costs.

As a Tractica industry analyst notes, The telecom industry is ripe for AI-driven solutions, with their promise of lowering costs and boosting efficiencies through automation.5

Ready to learn more?

To learn more about unlocking the value of data with artificial intelligence systems, explore Dell EMC AI Solutions.

___________________

1 Tractica, Telecommunications Industry Investment in Artificial Intelligence Software, Hardware, and Services Will Reach $36.7 Billion Annually by 2025, April 30, 2018.

2 Reuters, Dish expands Amazon Alexa features for set-top boxes, June 12, 2018.

3 Deloitte, Technology, Media and Telecommunications Predictions, 2017.

4 Dell EMC, Fighting fraud the smart way  with data analytics and artificial intelligence, December 2018.

5 Tractica, Telecommunications Industry Investment in Artificial Intelligence Software, Hardware, and Services Will Reach $36.7 Billion Annually by 2025, April 30, 2018.
Texan Mauricio Vidaurri fears he will soon lose his fatheragain.

The elder Vidaurri, a World War II veteran, is buried in a 200-year-old cemetery on his 1,300-acre La Laja Ranch, which was passed down to Mauricio and his seven siblings. The Zapata County property has been in their family since the late 18th century. It was issued through a Spanish land grant before the United States of America declared its independence.

But now the younger Vidaurri worries that a portion of the property, which lies along what is now the U.S.-Mexico border, will be seized by the federal government to make way for the wall championed by President Donald Trump. And he will be forced to surrender the graves of generations of his forebears.

RELATED: As border wall construction moves ahead in Texas, judge rules feds can survey church's land

Texas is about to become the front line of the real battle for Trump's border wallone that could pit the U.S. government against an estimated 5,000 landowners who have no intention of giving up their family legacies or hard-earned homes. It's a conflict that could drag on for years and cost taxpayers far more than the nearly $1.4 billion congressional leaders have allotted for fencing along the border in their latest proposal. (Trump has estimated the price tag for a full wall could be as little as $15 billion, but his adversaries have pegged it at as much as $70 billion.)

Trump hasn't signaled whether he'll sign the latest bill, which funds only 55 miles of fencing along the border in the valley. He had wanted 215 miles.

Currently, only about a third of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico boundary is fenced or walled, or has barriers in place. It's typically in the most populated areas in California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Much of that land is government-owned, so there was no need to invoke eminent domain to seize it.

The barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border

Tony Frenzel

But in Texas, where most of the border property is privately owned, the Rio Grande has served as a natural border and deterrent. The last big round of border fencing, part of President George W. Bush's Secure Fence Act of 2006, triggered hundreds of lawsuits in Texas, dozens of which are still in the courts.

READ ALSO: The salary you need to earn to buy a home right now in San Antonio

"If this goes forward, this will be one of the largest exercises in eminent domain in the modern history of the federal government," says Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, a think tank. "Realistically, hundreds, even thousands of people will lose their property. There will be legal battles over the legal compensation."

The court challenges are likely to multiply even further if the president bypasses Congress and declares a national emergency to get the wall built. A particularly contentious battlefield could be the 62 miles of a Native American reservation along the Arizona border. It's not clear if the president could seize that property without congressional approval. And it's unlikely that a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives would approve the emergency taking of that land.

Of course, not all lawmakers believe the wall is necessary. The only Republican member of Congress along the border, Rep. Will Hurd, called the proposed barriers a third-century solution to a 21st-century problem. All nine members of Congress serving the districts along the border oppose its construction.

Mauricio Vidaurri fears the federal government will seize his family land along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Photo provided by Mauricio Vidaurri

Residents such as Vidaurri aren't interested in political squabbling. For them, the barrier is personal.

"Well lose our history that goes back almost 300 years. ... That's painful," says Vidaurri, 60. He lives in Laredo, TX, about 22 miles from the family land. But he visits his 140 acres of the ranch at least twice a week to check on the graves of four generations of his family. The land is currently used for hay production, hunting, and natural gas drilling.

This doesn't mean that Vidaurri and his family would lose all of their property on the Mexican side of the wall. They would cede the land under and around the wallwhich in Vidaurri's case would likely include the family cemetery. Under the Secure Fence Act, gates were erected that landowners whose property straddled the border could open with a code. But many property owners don't feel safe having such gates.

"You're putting a big ol' bull's-eye on my back," Vidaurri says. "Guess who wants that code? The cartel, the drug smugglers, and the human smugglers."

Legal challenges could drag on for decades and jack up costs

Landowners aren't likely to win a David-and-Goliath-style battle with the federal government. But they may be able to successfully challenge the amount of real estate they ultimately cede, says Jim Burling, an eminent domain attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation in Sacramento.

They can also push back against very low offersin effect, driving up the price tag for the wall.

"Local, state, and federal agencies are notorious for trying to pay as little as possible for properties they take," says Burling.

About a decade ago, the government took less than 10 acres of Tudor Uhlhorn's property along the border to put up fencing. But it lowballed him, so he went to an attorney and received a larger settlement.

That's typical. Of the 334 eminent domain lawsuits filed in the southern part of Texas during the George W. Bush years, about 70 cases are still in court, according to the Washington Post. Most of those lawsuits revolve around money. And property owners with attorneys received about triple what they were initially offered, according to ProPublica and Texas Tribune.

"Everybody needs to have an attorney that knows what hes doing," says Uhlhorn, the commissioner of the city of Harlingen, TX.

The Tohono O'odham Nation, which has 62 miles along the border on their Native American reservation in Southern Arizona, already has its attorneys in place.

"The land on the U.S.-Mexico border is precious, sacred land. This land is not for sale," says Verlon Jose, vice chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation.

The tribe has about 34,000 members, although only 9,000 to 10,000 of them live on the reservation. The pain of losing the property, Jose says, would be akin to "taking a knife and cutting it across your heart."

But even as the question of funding remains unresolved, the government is gearing up to take private property from scores of homeowners.

The federal government is planning to survey Nayda Alvarezs land, a preliminary step before seizing it.

Krystal Anne Gonzalez

High school speech teacher Nayda Alvarez, 47, received a letter from U.S. Customs and Border Protection in January stating the agency will be filing an action in federal court that will allow it to access her property on the outskirts of Rio Grande City, TX, for 12 months to conduct "necessary" surveys. It's one of the first steps toward an eminent domain seizure.

"Border security tactical infrastructure, such as border walls, lighting, and roads, are critical elements to gain effective control of our Nation's borders," reads the letter dated Jan. 9. "The purpose of border security infrastructure is to deter illicit cross-border activity such as drug smuggling, border violence and illegal immigration."

The agency did not respond to a request for comment.

These are very real issues along the boundary of the two countries. About a year ago, drug smugglers abandoned a car on Alvarez's property as they were pursued by border control. (They didn't cross into the U.S. through her property.) The vehicle was removed before she came home from work.

But Alvarez still feels safe in her four-bedroom, two-bathroom home, where she had planned to retire. She scrimped and saved to build it 12 years ago, and now is afraid the government will take it away.

"I'm very upset. I've worked my [butt off] to pay for it," says Alvarez, who shares the home with her 22-year-old daughter. "And now I'm going to start at zero."

Last year, the Army Corps of Engineers attempted to lease part of her grandfather's property, next door, for four years for a grand total of $750. She refused.

"I'm a born U.S. citizen, and I dont feel like its right for someone to take away what is mine," says Alvarez.

Will a wall saveor sinkstruggling border towns?

With the exception of San Diego, about 30 miles north of Mexico, border towns tend to be sparsely populated and lack good jobs.

The border cities of McAllen and Brownsville in Texas, about an hour apart, are two of the poorest cities in the nation. Both already have some fencing along the U.S.-Mexico line.

In the 80 U.S-Mexico border ZIP codes, median home prices are about a third lower than the rest of the nation, at just $195,282 as of December 2018, according to a realtor.com analysis. And annually, homes aren't appreciating nearly as much as those in the rest of the country2.3% compared with 7.1% nationally.

"In Texas alone, you've got cities on the border where you have high levels of unemployment and povertyand real estate values reflect that," says Terence Garrett, a public affairs and security studies professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Brownsville. "[We're] so far away from the state capitals and Washington, DC, [we] become an afterthought, an area that is not well-understood."

But the wall could also have benefits for some in these struggling communities and real estate markets. It would make some folks feel safer as they wouldn't have to deal with the repercussions of immigrants crossing through their properties illegally. (Opponents say immigrants without documents will still find ways to enter the United States.)

Once those problems are pushed out of those areas, it raises the property values, says Tom Fullerton, an economics professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, who specializes in border economies.

"It's going to be viewed as a safety [protection]," adds Sue Ann Taubert, a Texas real estate broker and president of the Harlingen Board of Realtors.

While a wall may not be a scenic sight, it's not likely to affect too many folks on a day-to-day basis. The areas where it would be built tend to be fairly rural.

And in the short term, construction of the wall could create an employment boom for nearby towns and cities. Although most new workers would likely be temporary, they would still be spending money locally, including on housing.

Intertwined economies are difficult to unwind

But the economic picture is complicated on the border. Communities often have large sister cities on the Mexican side, and locals go back and forth between them frequently. Those economies tend to be closely intertwined.

Mexican customers "are extremely important to support businesses on the American side," says Garrett. "This is the fear about amping [up] border security: It drives customers away."

It could also affect U.S. businesses that have workers, plants, and warehouses in Mexico as well as the Rio Grande Valley's emerging eco-tourism sector. A wall would cut through the National Butterfly Center in Mission, TX, and the 2,088-acre Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Alamo, TX. Congress previously spared the refuge, a popular destination for bird-watching, from division by a barrier.

The National Butterfly Center is expected to be plowed over to clear the way for President Donald Trump's border wall after the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed a challenge by environmental groups.

SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/Getty Images

Already talk of the wall, and the weaker peso, has deterred Mexican nationals buying homes in the Rio Grande Valley, says McAllen, TXbased real estate broker Rene Galvan, of RGV Realty. Many are selling the vacation homes they already own on the American sidefor a loss.

"All of these things are mounting up," Galvan says. "It's like pulling the welcome mat off the front door."

The post The Real Border Wall Battle: It's Texas Homeowners Who May Pay the Price appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's property tax bill dropped 14 percent over the last two years largely because of factors that involved no action on his part and a tax break available to all Texas homeowners.

Last week, the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News reported on their websites that Patrick had benefited from an unusually large reduction in the tax bill on his Montgomery County home in 2017 and 2018.

That Feb. 8 article ("Property tax crusader Dan Patrick can't complain about his own bill") incorrectly reported some of the details.

New information makes it clear Patrick's taxes dropped because he took advantage of the state's homestead exemption, market values dipped in his neighborhood and county tax officials corrected an over-estimate of the size of his home.

The homestead exemption reduces the taxable value of a person's principal residence. It is available to all Texans. Patrick applied for it in 2018, the year after he purchased his home on Lake Conroe.

The Chronicle and Express-News relied in part on information about the homestead exemption for Patrick's property that was listed on the website of the Montgomery County Tax Office. The information turned out to be erroneous, and the office has since corrected it.

Another portion of the reduction in Patrick's tax bill stemmed from a separate error in tax records, which overstated the size of his home by 500 square feet. The Montgomery County Appraisal District discovered the error when reviewing the previous owner's sales listing. Once the error was confirmed and corrected, the taxable value of the home, and thus Patrick's tax bill, declined.

An additional factor was a decline in market values in his neighborhood. Most of Patrick's neighbors have also seen the taxable values of their homes drop over the past two years.

Even so, the assessed value per square foot of Patrick's home remains higher than that of many of his neighbors.

The two newspapers have removed the Feb. 8 article from their websites. The Chronicle and the Express-News regret the errors.
Democrat Beto ORourke doesnt just oppose building more border walls and fences in Texas, he wants to tear down existing barriers.

In an interview on MSNBC on Thursday night from El Paso, ORourke was asked by interviewer Chris Hayes if he would take down the more than 40 miles of walls and fences in El Paso and he said he would absolutely do that.

Id take the wall down, ORourke told Hayes.

ORourke said the current barriers have not made El Paso safer and have cost billions of dollars to build and maintain. In addition, he said, its pushing asylum seekers away from cities to more dangerous places to cross.

Hayes said he asked the question because U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, posed the same question to ORourke on Twitter.

The talk show host also asked ORourke if he thinks El Paso voters would agree with him, if there were a referendum on taking down the wall.

I do, said the former El Paso congressman.

Crenshaw took to Twitter moments after ORourkes interview aired.

At least Beto is honest about his open border policy. Most Dems claim to support a secure border while simultaneously undermining it at every turn, Crenshaw wrote.

He pointed out that El Pasos mayor has previously said the fence along the border with Juarez has worked.

El Paso Mayor Dee Margo, a Republican, said in an interview in late December on FOX News that the border barriers do work.

It has stopped criminal activity and it works, Margo said during the interview.

ORourkes comments come just days after he was part of a rally in El Paso to counter President Donald Trumps call for building more barriers. Trump used El Paso as an example where border fencing has made the city safer. ORourke rejected that idea, saying that El Paso was safe even before the border wall was first constructed in 2008.

All of us together are going to make a stand here, in one of the the safest cities in the United States of America, not because of walls, but in spite of walls, ORourke said on Monday during the rally in El Paso.

The interview on MSNBC came just as Congress was approving a new spending plan to prevent another government shutdown. While the measure has funding for border security, it does not give Trump the billions of dollars he originally wanted to build walls along the southern border.
A Houston family has sued a nightclub for allegedly serving alcohol to their underage daughter, an exotic dancer there, before she died in a wreck in June 2017.

The parents of Alanna Luengas allege that the Splendor Gentlemans Club in the Willowbrook area routinely provided the 18-year-old dancer drinks to loosen up, then allowed her to get in her car at the end of the night on June 25.

When she crashed, she had a blood-alcohol concentration of .23, nearly three times the legal limit, according to the lawsuit.

Our grief is barely tolerable, her parents, Jade James and John Luengas, said in a statement. She was beautiful, funny, remarkably self-confident, friendly and had a way of putting a smile on everyones face. Its impossible for our hearts to understand that we will never touch her, smell her, or see her ever again.

The suit seeks $10 million in damages.

Tory Taylor, an attorney representing the club, declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. The club has denied the allegations in written responses filed in court.

This case is a long way from over, Taylor said.

The Luengas familys attorneys said that for most of the night, the teen was with a 55-year-old who was a frequent, and favored, customer of Splendor.

Managers brought free alcoholic drinks and shots to the table, the lawsuit alleges. The patron then bought more. He paid for a total of 17 alcoholic beverages and a bottle of champagne, according to the lawsuit.

Splendor managers and waitstaff served Alanna with many drinks, the second amended petition of the lawsuit states. As a result, Alanna became visibly drunk, left Splendor in her vehicle, and met her death shortly after.

The night of the crash, Splendor wasnt enforcing a policy requiring workers to sign out with their managers, the lawsuit alleges.

Luengas got in her car around 2 a.m., even though she clearly presented a danger to herself and others, the lawsuit states.

Luengas made an unsafe lane change while driving home in the 11600 block of Katy Freeway. She hit a vehicle, lost control and then hit a second vehicle, according to police reports. She then struck a concrete barrier head on and died, her parents attorneys said.

The teens parents argue that her employer had a duty to take reasonable care to prevent her from driving when she left the club. They werent aware that she was working there until the night of the crash, and have since heard that their daughter intended to stop working there after about one month of employment. The clubs operations manager said he had no comment on the lawsuit.

Luengas was legally of age to work at the club. Previous efforts to raise the age have failed or died in committee.

Splendor became the source of a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission investigation months after the crash. The agency received an anonymous citizen complaint in February 2018 regarding the wreck and conducted undercover operations at the establishment. Investigators didnt find any violations and the complaint was closed, spokesman Chris Porter said.

The club has been fined on several occasions, according to state records. Between 2002 and 2011, Splendor paid more than $44,000 in fines for violations including soliciting alcoholic beverages, possessing/permitting the possession of drugs, lewd acts or exposure of a person and place or manner of prostitution. No violations have been recorded since 2011.

James and Luengas said they hope the lawsuit will help them discover exactly what happened to their daughter that night, and to hold the club responsible.

By doing so, we hope that this lawsuit will result in a meaningful change in how this particular club operates, as well as any other clubs that choose to hire 18-year-olds to work for them, they said. If this lawsuit prevents even one family from having to go through the extreme pain and anguish that we have endured, then it is the least we can do to honor Alannas memory.

samantha.ketterer@chron.com

Twitter.com/sam_kett
Gov. Greg Abbott has set March 5 as the date for the special election runoff to succeed state Sen. Carol Alvarado in the Texas House.

Early voting begins Feb. 25 and ends March 1.

An eight-candidate field was whittled to two on Jan. 29, when Democrats Christina Morales and Melissa Noriega finished with the most votes, but short of a majority needed to win the election outright.

More than two weeks into the runoff, they are battling for the seat vacated by Alvarado, D-Houston, after she was elected to the Senate in a December special election to replace Sylvia Garcia, who was elected to Congress.

About 3,500 voters turned out for the first round of the special election, in which Morales finished with 36 percent of the vote and Noriega drew 31 percent.

The heavily Hispanic district covers part of the Heights, cutting southeast through downtown, South Houston and Pasadena to Beltway 8. Turnout amounted to about 5 percent of the districts 73,000 registered voters.

Though Morales and Noriega have taken similarly liberal policy views, they are campaigning on different messages.

Noriega has emphasized her background as a former Houston city council member and the seats former state representative, saying she could transition quickly to the role amid an ongoing legislative session.

Meanwhile, Morales often brings up her community ties as a local businessowner, and casts herself as a strong Latina leader who would legislate in the mold of Alvarado.

Thus far, Morales has drawn the support of Garcia. Noriega has touted the endorsements of former Democratic foes Elias de la Garza and Oscar Del Toro, who finished fourth and fifth in the first round of the special election.

Planned Parenthood Texas, the Texas Organizing Project and former Houston mayor Annise Parker also have endorsed Noriega, while Morales has received City Councilwoman Karla Cisneros endorsement.

Alvarado has not weighed in on the race, though many of her top campaign staffers are working on Morales election bid.

The runoff winner will join the Texas Legislature during an ongoing session in which lawmakers are taking an early focus on reforming property taxes and Texas school finance system, two topics that Abbott has flagged as emergency items.

One other House seat remains open: a Republican and Democrat are in the runoff for San Antonios House District 125 seat. For now, Republicans outnumber Democrats 83 to 65 in the lower chamber, though Democrats are guaranteed a 66th seat in District 145.

jasper.scherer@chron.com

twitter.com/jaspscherer
UPDATE:

Melina Lopez was a 23-year-old Hispanic woman who died February 15 from gunshot wounds at 5801 Memorial Drive #A, Houston.

ORIGINAL STORY:

A woman described as a faithful employee was killed in a possible murder-suicide Friday inside a Memorial Drive Dunkin' Donuts, police say.

Officers rushed to the doughnut shop in the 5800 block of Memorial Drive around noon after receiving reports that a woman who worked there had been shot, according to the Houston Police Department.

When they arrived, they found the woman dead and the suspected shooter  only described as a male  dead as well, according to police officers on scene.

BOMBSHELL: Police can't find informant used to justify deadly Pecan Park drug raid

Whether or not the two knew each other is yet to be determined, although it is a possibility, officers said. The woman is believed to be a manager at the cafe.

Believing they knew the woman, nearby residents and business people described the woman as "darling" and a hard worker who gave them a smile and personal greeting every day.

"She made you feel welcome to come in," said Kisha Amao, who works nearby and frequents the shop. "To hear someone going in there and shoot her ... this is horrible."

Police had not released the identities of the woman or man as of Friday afternoon.

Houston homicide detectives are investigating.

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
The bride wore jeweled Christian louboutin heels and pure gold chains

The bride is a "high achiever" :

The bride is not Cinderella, though she wears the glass slipper. The bride, rabiatu adawiya, is of royal descent. She is as beautiful as a flower. In 2012, she worked as a systems data analyst for a network company in brunei. In 2013, I worked as an IT lecturer in a high-tech company in brunei. She also received core certificate of Internet and computing certification, Adobe certification and Microsoft Office certificate of expertise. In her spare time, she enjoys reading books on Islam, especially on issues such as the role of Muslim women.

Royal guard with shield and spear

Brunei darussalam:

Every time the brunei royal family gets married, it gets global attention. In 2004, 30-year-old brunei crown prince mohamed mukhtar billah married 17-year-old commoner Sara salehi. Though it was because of the royal family corruption and abuse of public scandals in Sudan ordered a "low key" wedding, but with gold and diamonds or unable to hide the country's rich, even the crown prince of the car are golden open-topped Rolls-Royce, which in a huge golden canopy. Then, in 2007 and 2012, two of brunei's princesses married, showcasing luxury and nobility. The princess's wedding dress was studded with diamonds and sparkling.

The newlyweds prince malik and his wife attended the wedding ceremony

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The children's wedding was so expensive because their father, the sultan of brunei, was so rich. Brunei Sudan topped Forbes magazine's 2007 ranking of the world's royal wealth. Later, despite the fall in the rankings, they did not change their "tuhao" nature. Sudan is reported to have two large luxury yachts, a Boeing 747 and more than 20 private jets. With 7,000 luxury cars in his garage, he is the world's largest owner of Rolls-Royce cars, with more than 600. In addition to the famous car, he has a famous horse, and his stable of 400 fine horses is reportedly equipped with air-conditioning.

Though brunei is a tiny, area is smaller than Shanghai, but because of the earth's crust is rich in oil and gas, make it become one of the world's richest countries, in 2012 the per capita GDP of $48000, ranked fifth, "rich" is used to describe brunei a little too.

The prince changed into a formal military dress, his epaulettes and collar studded with diamonds. His wife wore a ruby crown, matching necklaces and brooches, and a huge platinum diamond ring on her right hand.

Read more at:chiffon bridesmaid dresses uk
An internal Houston police investigation has uncovered alarming deficiencies in the department's narcotics division that led to an allegedly falsified search warrant used to justify a southeast Houston drug raid last month that killed two Pecan Park residents and injured five officers, according to documents obtained Friday by the Houston Chronicle.

In a hastily called press conference, Police Chief Art Acevedo said Gerald Goines, the veteran narcotics case agent at the center of the controversy, will likely face criminal charges. The internal investigation revealed he allegedly lied about using a confidential informant to conduct an undercover buy at the residence on Harding Street. The buy led to a raid and a fatal gunfight at the house the next day, killing Dennis Tuttle, 59, and Rhogena Nicholas, 58, and injuring five Houston Police Department officers.

The debacle, which has infuriated officers across the department and which critics say has damaged public trust in HPD, and infuriated members of the department's rank-and-file, also prompted Acevedo to order an "extensive audit" of the 175-member narcotics division and an examination of Goines' recent cases.

FOR SUBSCRIBERS: Undercover officer has history of allegations, only on HoustonChronicle.com

"We know that there's already a crime that's been committed," Acevedo said. "It's a serious crime when we prepare a document to go into somebody's home, into the sanctity that is somebody's home. It has to be truthful, it has to be honest, it has to be factual. We know already there's a crime that's been committed. There's high probability there will be a criminal charge."

Houston Police Officers' Union President Joe Gamaldi said that while he was "extremely concerned and disturbed" by the allegations that came to light Friday, they were "not indicative" of the performance of the rest of the department's 5,200 officers. He pledged to back any reforms needed to avoid similar misconduct in the future.

"We certainly feel this is an isolated incident," he said. "However, we will certainly support any review or changes to policy that need to be made in order to ensure that something like this never happens again."

The critical allegations were outlined in a sworn affidavit written by HPD Officer R. Bass, with the department's Special Investigations Unit, who asked a judge for a search warrant to examine the cell phone of officer Steven Bryant, an undercover narcotics officer relieved of duty after the shooting.

The Chronicle normally does not publish the names of undercover officers, but Goines and Bryant were identified in an affidavit related to a search warrant and both have been relieved of duty by Acevedo.

In the initial HPD warrant, Goines wrote that he monitored a buy at the home by a confidential informant, who identified the substance that was purchased as heroin and said there was a 9mm handgun in the house. Police obtained a no-knock warrant allowing them to enter unannounced  and burst into the small southeast home the next day to a hail of gunfire.

At the end of the shootout, both Tuttle and Nicholas had been shot to death, and five officers were injured  four by gunfire. Police found 18 grams of marijuana  about half an ounce  and a little more than a gram of white powder, but no heroin or trafficking paraphernalia. After the fatal operation, neighbors pushed back on assertions by police the residence was a drug house.

HPD investigators have not been unable to locate the confidential informants who Goines claimed  in two separate interviews  made the undercover purchases at the Pecan Park home, according to Bass' affidavit.

When detectives talked to the informants, both said they'd worked for Goines but never purchased drugs at the 7815 Harding home where Tuttle and Nicholas were killed. Investigators then got a full list of Goines' confidential informants, and they all denied making a buy at the Tuttle house or ever purchasing narcotics from Nicholas or Tuttle.

Bryant told investigators he had retrieved two bags of heroin from the center console of Goines' police car at the instruction of another officer. That was not consistent with the affidavit used to obtain the warrant for the Jan. 28 raid, which said Bryant identified heroin brought out of the house. Though he took the two bags of drugs for testing to determine that they were heroin, Bryant eventually said he had never seen the narcotics in question before retrieving them from the car.

Investigators are reviewing Goines' past cases, Acevedo said, adding that he's assigned Assistant Chief Pedro Lopez to take a broader look "to make sure that we're not being myopic, that we look at our entire narcotics operation out there, in terms of the street level units, and they'll be conducting a very extensive audit."

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The allegations of false information used to conduct a raid that led to the death of two residents and left five officers injured further stunned and angered residents. It marked one of most significant cases of police misconduct within the narcotics division in decades.

"When I joined this police department I told my people that if you lie you die," Acevedo he said. "I've been here over two years and you will not find anyone here that has a sustained dishonesty violation who is a member of this department."

As Friday's revelations raised renewed calls for outside scrutiny, Acevedo dismissed the need for an independent investigation.

"The Houston Police Department is conducting a robust investigation, a thorough investigation, an impartial investigation into everything that occurred leading up to and during that raid," he said, repeating past promises of transparency.

However, he was emphatic his officers had legitimate reasons to investigate the house, citing a 911 call about the location from a woman reporting to be the mother of a young woman using heroin there.

"We have the CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch), we have the audio, we have the patrol units that responded," Acevedo said. "This was not just an investigator who decided to go target a house as far as we've determined so far, for no reason."

The Chronicle has requested a copy of the 911 call Acevedo referenced, but HPD has asked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to allow the request to be withheld.

ONLY ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Lack of body cameras limits answers from botched Houston drug raid.

Mayor Sylvester Turner called for a "full and thorough" investigation, urging that it be completed "as soon as possible."

"I will refrain from commenting about it until I have all facts before me," he said, in an emailed statement.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said her office was continuing to work with police to investigate the matter.

"After a thorough review, our Civil Rights Division prosecutors will present this case to a grand jury to determine if any criminal charges are warranted," Ogg said, in an emailed statement.

Former Chief Charles A. McClelland said the scandal constitutes serious violations of civil and constitutional rights, and possibly puts the city in civil jeopardy.

"It goes to the highest type of corruption any time police officers are accused of fabricating evidence," he said. "And it has betrayed the public trust."

McClelland, who allowed FBI agents to review HPD investigations into a number of police brutality cases, said the scandal merited an external probe.

"If I was chief, I would also ask the FBI to conduct its own independent investigation," he said. "Everybody at HPD needs to be held accountable  from Goines' supervisors all the way to the chief of police."

Houston defense attorneys warned that Goines' conduct could jeopardize many pending cases.

"The saddest part of all of this, is this guy probably would have gotten away with it, but for the fact it was a botched raid and police officers were shot and innocent people killed," said Doug Murphy, a criminal defense attorney and president of Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association.

Acevedo showed little tolerance for the alleged conduct of his officers, and later expressed compassion for the relatives of the couple slain in the botched raid.

"When laziness includes lying on an affidavit, you're more than likely going to get arrested," Acevedo said. "And we will have no problem putting ... handcuffs on someone who violated the public trust."

The chief said he had spoken directly to the family, but gave no details.

"I feel really badly for the Tuttle family, because no matter what we find there will always be a doubt," Acevedo said. " I'm not saying we're not going to find things but there's always 'what could they have done differently,' and my heart goes out to them because, they have a lot of unanswered questions."

Samantha Ketterer and McKenzie Misiaszek contributed to this report.

st.john.smith@chron.com

keri.blakinger@chron.com

james.pinkerton@chron.com
The host of Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" and one of the most meme-able faces on the internet, Guy Fieri, is once again a viral sensation.

In early September, a new Fieri meme made its way on to social media platforms and it has taken the state by storm.
On Wednesday, Feb. 27, The Hallmark senior living community will host a complimentary Brunch with the Best event for those interested in planning for their golden years. An informative and interactive presentation will begin at 10 a.m., featuring retirement planning experts.

Attendees will learn about downsizing, guidance on selling homes, and tips to make the transition into retirement easier. A design coordinator will share details on residence options, custom upgrades and modern nishes.
Many older Americans think if they have to work, they want to do something they are passionate about. They are, or want to be, encore entrepreneurs. These are people who might be starting a business for the first time as they near retirement age. Or, they may be retired already, and seeking a new path.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (www.sba.gov), an independent federal agency that works to assist and protect the interests of American small businesses by delivering the answers, support and resources small businesses need, can assist help, with resources to plan, launch, manage and grow a business.

Since its founding in 1953, the SBA has delivered millions of loans, loan guarantees, contracts, counseling sessions, and other forms of assistance to small businesses.

What the Small Business Administration can do:

Help entrepreneurs develop and write a business plan. A good business plan can guide you through the starting and managing of your business.

Briefly, in a business plan, you describe what your company is, and why you think it will be successful.

Up until this point, your ideas about starting a business may have only been in your head. Writing up a business plan makes it real.

In the business plan you will have to state how you plan to fund your business. Seniors will have to decide if they will tap into their retirement savings, borrow against their 401(k) plan, or apply for a loan. Business plans can also help you get funding.

Not all businesses require a lot of capital to get started. Some can get started with as little as a few thousand dollars.

A study of loan apps by Biz2Credit found that while younger business owners were more likely to request funding, older entrepreneurs were more likely to have their loan application approved.

Help with market research and competitive analysis. Market research can help you find customers for your business. Competitive analysis helps you make your business unique and stand out from the competition. Combining them will give your small business a competitive advantage.

Provide market research. This market research can help find the answers to these questions to get a good sense of your market:

Demand  Is there a desire for your product or service?

Market  How many people would be interested in what you are offering?

Location  Where do your customers live?

One particularly helpful tool the Small Business Administration has is called a SizeUp tool, which helps small business owners discover how their business stacks up against competitors by city and industry.

Over 4 million Americans over the age of 50 work for themselves. And, according to the AARP, one in six baby boomers who work for someone else hope to be self-employed in the future. The Small Business Administration is ready and able to help.

For more information, contact: Houston SBA District Office, 8701 S. Gessner Drive, Suite 1200, Houston, TX 77074, 713-773-6500, www.sba.gov/offices/district/tx/houston.
For 20 years, Buckner International (the parent organization of Parkway Place, a faith-based senior living community in Houston) has donated nearly four million pairs of shoes to children in poverty-stricken countries.

Now, residents and associates of Parkway Place are taking part in the annual shoe drive, and the community invites the public to participate.

The community asks anyone in the Houston area to donate money or new childrens-sized shoes to the senior living community, located at 1321 Park Bayou Drive.

Donations will benefit vulnerable children around the world by providing them with their own pair of shoes.

Parkway Place will be collecting donations until Thursday, Feb. 28. Chaplain John Bender is leading the project and set this years goal at 200 pairs of shoes, equal to about $5,000.

This is my favorite project each year because it puts smiles on the faces of children around the world, said Bender. Ive led this project for three years now, and each year it gets bigger and bigger. With this year being number 20, we want to collect 200 pairs of shoes.

We will be accepting new shoes for both boys and girls in all sizes.

About 30 percent of the shoes stay in the United States, which helps children in the Houston area, and the other 70 percent go to children in other countries.

Since the shoe drives inception, children in 83 countries have benefited from this project.

I am excited for Parkway Place to host another shoe drive to benefit children locally and around the world, said Susan Phelps, executive director. Through this drive, we can provide children with something many people tend to take for granted. With everyone pitching in, we can make a difference in the lives of so many children.
It may still be winter, but it will be time soon to sign up for the spring session of Life Enrichment of Houston (LEOH), the learning experience for senior adults.

Registration will be Thursday, March 14, from 10 a.m. to noon at Bellaire United Methodist Church, 4417 Bellaire Blvd., at Newcastle. LEOH moved to the church last year.
In some states clients are charged court costs and attorneys fees based on the worth of their probate assets. Thus, the cost of the administration of the estate increases as the value of the probate estate increases. As a result, many clients in other states wish to avoid the costs of probate to the greatest extent possible. The most common way to avoid the costs of probate in states suffering from expensive probate processes is to utilize a trust.

Fortunately, this is not the case in Texas. Typically, it is cheaper, quicker and easier to go through probate in Texas than it is in almost every other state. In Texas, we have what is known as an independent administration, which means executors can handle the tasks involved in winding down an estate and distributing assets to beneficiaries with very little court involvement.

The type of trust that is most often employed to avoid probate is called an inter vivos trust. It is also known as a revocable management trust or a living trust.

Often clients will come into their attorneys office with a preconceived idea of which estate planning documents they need and whether they should use a will or a living trust. Selecting the correct estate planning tool, however, depends on each clients unique situation. It is best to understand the advantages and disadvantages of both a will-based plan and a living trust-based plan before making the final decision.

Although what is best for each individual client varies, here are some advantages of using a living trust in Texas:

Avoiding probate. Although cost of probate is not a valid reason for avoiding probate in Texas, there are other reasons that a client may want to avoid the public probate process, such as the concern for privacy. Historically, having a trust meant avoiding the need to file an inventory listing assets with the court during probate. However, that is no longer always required. Some estates are eligible to keep the inventory away from public view by presenting it only to beneficiaries of the estate. Thus, the decedents assets may remain private.

Management during disability. A living trust goes into effect during ones lifetime so if the grantor of the trust becomes disabled or unable to manage their affairs, an alternate trustee can step in and act quickly to manage assets and pay bills without costly court supervision.

Avoiding the need for an additional probate in another state. If you own real property outside of the state of Texas at your death, then once your will is probated in Texas, your executor has to go through the additional process of having the will proven valid in each state in which you own real property. This can be time-consuming and expensive.

If you have a living trust, then the out-of-state parcels of property can be deeded into the trust during your lifetime avoiding the need for probate in the other state. Upon your death, the trustee can handle the out-of-state property in the living trust with ease.

Ease of administration during lifetime. Even though Texas recently passed new laws making it easier for financial powers of attorney to be accepted by financial institutions, those managing assets with powers of attorney still face difficulty having their authority recognized. Simply put, financial institutions are more likely to recognize the authority of trustees in the management of assets.

There is a misconception that having a living trust is simpler than having a will-based plan. This is not necessarily true. The most complicated part of having a living trust is not the document, but rather the process of funding the trust. It is imperative that after the trust is established that all of your assets are transferred or retitled into the name of the trust. If an asset is controlled by beneficiary designation, then the trust must be named a beneficiary.

When retirement accounts are involved, funding the trust can be complicated. If the funding does not occur properly or if assets are left out of the trust, then probate will likely be necessary. Even if only one asset is left out of the trust, probate will likely still be required. Then, unfortunately, not only would there be costs associated with the administration of the trust estate but also additional fees associated with probate.

It is true that the use of living trusts as a substitute to a will-based plan has exploded in many states. In Texas, it should not be an automatic choice. Rather, each clients situation should be considered in determining the best estate plan for their purpose. Living trusts are good for some people but perhaps inappropriate for others. As always, you should meet with an experienced estate planning attorney to find out what is best for you.

Wesley E. Wright and Molly Dear Abshire are attorneys with the firm Wright Abshire, Attorneys, P.C., with offices in Bellaire, The Woodlands, and Carmine. Both are Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Estate Planning and Probate Law and are certified as Elder Law Attorneys by the National Elder Law Foundation. Nothing contained in this publication should be considered as the rendering of legal advice to any persons specific case, but should be considered general information. Visit the website at www.wrightabshire.com.
Lamar Elementary group donates art supplies

Thursday afternoon, Feb. 14, six students from Lamar Elementary Schools Destination Imagination team presented their service project at Texas Childrens Hospital, The Woodlands.

Teacher Danielle Goff explained that the students organized a donation of art supplies to give to the hospital so that sick children would have something to do during their stay.

They really impressed me and worked really hard, Goff said.

Cynda Parrish, the manager of Texas Childrens Patient and Family Services, received the donation on behalf of the hospital.

Art does amazing thingsthe supplies here help our girls and boys get better faster. This will help hundreds and hundreds of kids, Parrish told the students as she thanked them for the donation.

Conroe ISD early voting dates set

The Conroe Independent School District released the early voting dates and locations for their May 4 bond referendum election. Early votes can be cast April 22 through 27 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and April 29 through 30 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

To see a complete list of early voting locations, click here.

Lone Star College given scouting award

Stuart Schroeder, vice chairman of the Tall Timbers district of the Boy Scouts of America chapter, presented the Spirit of Scouting award to the Lone Star College System Board of Trustees at their Feb. 7 board meeting.

Schroeder said the board was receiving the award because they made facilities and equipment available to scouts for years at the LSC-Montgomery Campus.

Lone Star College students named as scholarship semi-finalists

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation named 21 LSC students as semi-finalists for the undergraduate transfer scholarship. If selected, students who secure the scholarship will receive up to $40,000 per year to cover educational expenses at a four-year institution so they can complete their bachelors degree.

The semi-finalists also receive advising from foundation staff and will be eligible to apply for $50,000 annually for graduate school. The foundation has awarded more than $175 million in scholarships for the past 19 years.

LSC students were named from LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-North Harris, LSC-Tomball and LSC-University Park, and some were members of the systems Honors College. Finalists will be named in April.

Lone Star College awarded almost $1 million grant

Earlier this month, the Texas Workforce Commission awarded the Lone Star College System with a grant of almost $1 million to focus on the skilled workforce shortage.

The money is to be used to help Dakin Industries, an air-conditioning company located in Waller, Texas, train over 400 employees and hire an additional 115 employees. This is a partnership with Lone Star Corporate College.

Color Run at The Woodlands Christian Academy

Last Saturday, Feb. 9, The Woodlands Christian Academy hosted a Color Run to raise funds for the schools athletic programs. There were more than 250 runners who attended and were treated to a visit from U.S Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, at the event.

jane.stueckemann@chron.com
More than a hundred of people chose to forgo a restaurant reservation for Valentines Day Thursday night and instead brought their chairs to The Woodlands Waterway Square, settling in for the first night of the Inspire Film Festival.

The third annual event began with a free short film screening night under the stars. Alex Bunch, the festivals creative director, greeted the attendees after a group of dancers from The John Cooper School performed a number for the crowd.

Inspire Film Festival is all about us coming as we are and leaving a little bit differently, Bunch said.

Bunch, along with the festivals founder and executive director Jane Minarovic, introduced the eight short films that ranged in duration from two-to 15-minute shown Thursday night  all focused on people who are game changers, which is the weekends theme.

Viewers laughed throughout Pickle, which comically detailed the lives and deaths of one couples unusual pets; and many cried through For the Love of Mary, which showed one 97-year-old mans commitment to running as well as his late wife.

'GAME CHANGERS': Inspire Film Festival returns for 3rd year in The Woodlands

In addition to the film screenings, the organizers had a few surprises planned for the crowd. The stars of three of the films  from as far away as California and Washington, D.C.  attended the event to address the audience after their short film was played.

The short film Why Not Now? featured Vivian Stancil, who wooed the crowd with her boisterous spirit both during and after her film.

Stancil overcame issues with her weight and her blindness to learn to swim at an older age. She has now won more than 270 medals for swimming and started a foundation that provides free swim lessons to kids and adults.

Dont let anyone hold you backyou do what youve got to do to the glory of God, Stancil said to cheers from the crowd.

The festival had a first this year: they showed a film thats a work in progress, titled The Homecoming. It was about both disabled and non-disabled writers, actors and crew members working together to make a feature-length film.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Get ready to stuff your face at these upcoming food festivals in Houston

The filming is done at Zeno Mountain Farms in Vermont, a camp run by the Halby brothers. Its the same organization that produced Becoming Bulletproof, another film featured at the festival. Will Halby told the crowd about the importance of diversity in the film environment.

You bring all these different people that move and think and talk in unique ways, and you make art togetherWhat they bring to it individually makes the art better, Halby said. Disability needs to be included in everything.because youre injecting something different, something the world needs to see.

The final guest, Matt Zeller, spoke to the crowd after the short film Brother. In the film, Zeller tells the story of how when he was in the U.S. Army, his Afghan interpreter Janis Shinwari saved his life when they barely knew each other. This interaction led to a lifelong friendship and the creation of a foundation to help other interpreters secure their special immigrant visas to come to America for protection from the Taliban.

I shouldnt be alive today, I shouldnt be talking to you todaybut my guardian angel showed up on a battlefield when I was 26 years old on the 14th day of my war, because he believed we kept our word, Zeller said.

HELPING HAND: The Woodlands Charities dedicates 2019 funds to give needy children new clothes

Zellers story is echoed in another feature film to be shown this weekend, The Interpreters.

One of the goals of the festival is to help filmgoers engage with stories like these. Through the Inspire Film Festival app, attendees can easily connect with films that inspire them through an act now button.

Attendees can also use the festival app to vote for their favorite film of the weekend. The winning film will be given the Inspire Award from the Howard Hughes Corp. on Sunday night.

VIP party showcases fashion and film

After the short films, festival staff, sponsors and special pass holders streamed into the Event Center at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion for the VIP party. Aerial dancers posed in cubes around the room as guests grabbed specialty cocktails and appetizers.

Minarovic expressed her gratitude for how the community helped make the event a success.

ROBINSON ROAD WORK: Why traffic will improve in the Woodlands soon

Everyone in this room is a game changer for helping us get this thing through three years. Hopefully well continue for many more, Minarovic said.

Then, a much-awaited fashion presentation quite literally stole the show. Creative forces Mindy Fisher and Betz DeMonico made interpretive dresses for 12 of the 30 films to be shown throughout the weekend.

Models displayed the extravagant dresses made of playing cards, brain scans and water bottles as a video and voice-over explained the ties to the films. The film ambassadors will be at the event throughout the weekend displaying the dresses.

jane.stueckemann@chron.com
Courtesy of the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce

A substantial sum of money was on the line as Sam and Latrell Shannon traversed Tomball for days seeking participants for a survey that could help the city fund needed drainage improvements.

They knocked on doors, explaining to residents that the surveys were a requirement in the process of applying for a grant. Thanks to their diligence, the city of Tomball met the grants eligibility requirements.
The City of Missouri City hosted artist talks, live music and an original art exhibition Wednesday, Feb. 13, as part of the citys Fifth Annual Black History Month Celebration.

City manager Anthony Snipes welcomed guests and introduced historian and art collector Sam Collins III, who served as guest speaker. Collins serves as board member for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, The Bryan Museum, and the Ruby Bridges Foundation.

When we talk about art, culture, history, all these things tie together as art touches many different facets of our lives, Collins said. Art is currency; but its not just about dollars and sense because art allows us to network and build relationships in different communities.

The art exhibit featured original work by two Houston-area artists: Amy Cassidy and Ted Ellis.

Cassidy, who also served as guest speaker, talked about the ideas and inspiration that influenced her art and shared her experience as a member of the Imperial Art Alliance, a Sugar Land-based non-profit working to promote and support local artists through group exhibits, art classes and monthly networking events.

Art is my passion, Cassidy said, who serves as outreach coordinator for the group. Being able to share my knowledge with other artists through the Imperial Art Alliance has been a very empowering experience.

Paintings and prints by the nationally-renowned artist Ted Ellis, known widely for his African-American themed art, were also included in the exhibit.

Before and after the artist talks, guests enjoyed cocktails, snacks and live music performed by regional jazz saxophonist Theresa Grayson.

The event was held at the citys Visitors Center located at 1522 Texas Pkwy. For information about upcoming events hosted by the City of Missouri City, visit www.missouricitytx.gov
under permission of JR Central / under permission of JR Central

Texas Central, the company behind the proposed high-speed train that would take passengers between Houston and Dallas in less than 90 minutes, may begin construction in late 2019 or early 2020.

The project has had its detractors. Recently, a judge in Leon County ruled that the company is not a railroad and did not have the authority to make property owners sell or provide land for the rail.

Its a very long process. We will be appealing that case, said David Hagy, regional vice president of external affairs for Texas Central.

Despite the setback, the company plans to move forward, saying that construction for the 240-mile project may begin as early as the end of this year. The construction could take up to five years and cost approximately $12 billion.

BULLET TRAIN: Houston to Dallas bullet train gives the green light to local environmental company

The train would travel at 200 miles per hour between 10 counties with trains departing every 30 minutes.

The proposed route runs up through northwest Harris County roughly paralleling U.S. 290 until turning north toward Waller County, according to maps provided on the Texas Central website. The route from Houston to Dallas could include a midpoint stop in Bryan or College Station.

According to estimates, commuters could travel about 50 minutes faster by the proposed train than plane and about 70 minutes faster than by driving in either direction between Houston to Dallas.

Aside from a fast commute, the rail may also alleviate congestion along the major roadways between Houston to Dallas, including Interstate 45.

In 2018, Texas Central said it had obtained about a third of the needed properties between both cities.

Texas Central said it is not taking state funding for the proposed train and will be turning to investors instead.

RELATED: Bullet train sparks fight as old as Texas: Progress vs. tradition

While this is a transportation alternative between Houston and Dallas, its not going to take money from other transportation projects that are really, really needing it instead, Hagy said.

Another high-speed train project was recently canceled in California after Gov. Gavin Newsom said there isnt a path to completing the 171-mile rail between San Francisco to Los Angeles that would have cost up to $77 billion to construct.

Hagy said Houston and Dallas were chosen because both cities had a population of about 7 million people, which could help justify and sustain the need for a rail.

Unlike California, the terrain along the route from Houston to Dallas is also mostly flat, allowing the construction to be more straightforward without the need to dig tunnels or build additional infrastructure to support the train.

RELATED: California governor scales back high-speed train

One of the most important considerations in determining the route is making sure it is as straight as possible for safety reasons, Hagy said.

Not a lot of mountains, not a lot of earthquakes, things of that nature. Not a lot of tunneling, not a lot of rivers. We came to Texas because of the number of people and the flatness in between, he said.

The Texas train would be modeled after Japans Shinkansen High-Speed Train system that travels between Tokyo and Osaka, which was chosen because of its safety record and efficiency.

The proposed tracks would have one train each traveling northbound or southbound and not share the rail with freight trains, Hagy said.

We found the best technology in the world and we found the best place to put it in, Hagy said.

mayra.cruz@chron.com
You may want to be extra careful how you drive at two Pearland intersections that recently were focus areas for police patrols after a jump in traffic accidents in those areas.

After an increase in accidents blamed on traffic violations at the intersections of Business Center Drive and Broadway and of Broadway and Pearland Parkway, police recently boosted patrol presence on one day at each spot from 3-7 p.m.

The westside intersection near Business Center got the attention on Jan. 25; the eastside crossing at Pearland Parkway got its turn on Feb. 1.

The goal? To educate motorists on the importance of driving safely and following traffic signs and laws.

Police report that both areas have seen an increase in accidents related to speeding, unsafe lane changes and failure to yield right of way.

SLOW DOWN: Readers share the worst speed traps they've seen around Houston

A 44 percent increase in accidents was reported along the 2800 block of Business Center and the 10800 block of Broadway Street, police spokesman Jason Wells said. The area between the 3200 block of Broadway to the 2700 block of Pearland Parkway saw an 18 percent increase in accidents. Information on the number of accidents that occurred and over what period was unavailable.

The police department posted two messages on its Facebook page days before alerting drivers of this presence in these areas.

A lot of it comes down to a lot of people coming in and out of those driveways from the businesses in those areas, Wells said.

On the citys Facebook page, one motorist, who admitted she was accelerating, expressed frustration over being issued a speeding ticket for the first time in 10 years while driving near Southfork and Magnolia Road. most of the commenters about the PPDs effort were positive, with one poster saying the practice should be permanent.

AVOID THESE ROADS: The worst traffic hot spots around Houston's suburbs

The extra presence was an effort, said Wells, not to hand out tickets.

Our goal is safety and to educate, not citations, Wells said.

For more information, visit the Pearland Police Department Facebook page
Houston ISDs pursuit of a permanent superintendent will continue after trustees rejected a motion Thursday to suspend the search amid a recently launched state investigation into potential violations of open meetings laws.

Trustees voted 5-3 to continue the search for a permanent leader to replace former superintendent Richard Carranza, who left the district in March 2018 to become chancellor of New York City public schools. Three trustees who favored suspending the effort argued the district cannot attract qualified candidates with the looming threat of sanctions tied to the state investigation, while the five opponents argued the district should push forward despite the inquiry.

I promised my community that I would do a superintendent search, and thats what Im following. said HISD Board President Diana Davila, who voted against suspending the search.

'A STEP BELOW HELL': Video gives inside look at HISD boards dysfunction

HISD launched a nationwide search for Carranzas successor in September 2018, later setting an April 30, 2019, deadline to select a leader. A search firm hired by trustees hosted community meetings and an online public survey in January to receive feedback to aid the search. Board members are expected to interview candidates over the next several weeks.

The search has been complicated for months by the looming threat of a state takeover of the districts school board tied to chronically low performance at four schools. The takeover threat increased in January, when the Texas Education Agency launched its investigation into potential Open Meetings Act violations by five trustees. However, the odds of such intervention tied to the inquiry are unknown. TEA officials have not publicly disclosed a timeline for completing the investigation.

The vote Thursday further illustrated clear lines drawn among trustees who are split about how to approach selecting a superintendent.

The three trustees who supported suspending the search  Wanda Adams, Jolanda Jones and Rhonda Skillern-Jones  have all advocated for permanently retaining Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan, arguing she has proven her ability to lead the district.

The trio of trustees have been highly critical of five board members who secretly communicated with former HISD superintendent Abelardo Saavedra, then voted in October 2018 to replace Lathan with Saavedra. Allegations of open meetings act violations by the five trustees who spoke to Saavedra triggered a special accreditation agency investigation by the Texas Education Agency. The five trustees have denied wrongdoing.

Supporters of suspending the search argued the potential for severe sanctions tied to the investigation will limit the pool of candidates willing to jump to HISD. If state officials order the replacement of the HISD board, new trustees could immediately replace the freshly hired superintendent.

I cannot imagine that a highly qualified candidate who is rational and sane would come here in the face of uncertainty, when they may not have a job soon, Skillern-Jones said.

The five trustees who voted against the motion Thursday  Davila, Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca, Sergio Lira, Elizabeth Santos and Anne Sung  have pushed for a nationwide search. Trustee Sue Deigaard, who previously supported giving Lathan a short-term contract and simultaneously conducting a nationwide search, abstained from Thursdays vote, telling her colleagues she is not going to be part of this divide anymore.

We all need to figure this out and not continue to be divisive on this subject, Deigaard said.

POSSIBLE SANCTIONS? HISD investigation puts state takeover of board on radar

The vote followed a presentation by the boards search firm, HYA & Associates, summarizing community feedback about their hopes for the next superintendent.

The firms president, Hank Gmitro, said residents and educators want a leader who can create a positive work climate, work with the often-divided school board, recruit and retain strong staff members, and respond to the needs of a diverse student population. Gmitro added that the public voiced support for a superintendent dedicated long-term to HISD following Carranzas 18-month tenure in Houston.

Gmitro said he has spoken to potential candidates who have questioned him about the possibility of state intervention, with out-of-state candidates inquiring the most.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com

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A dispute over a recent change in dispatching procedures has prompted some Fort Bend County officials to consider stripping Sheriff Troy Nehls of his authority over the emergency response system in unincorporated areas.

Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers said his office is reviewing how other counties, such as Montgomery and Williamson counties, use third-party emergency agencies  independent of the sheriff's office  to dispatch deputies when a 911 call comes in.

"Let's see if that is a model that is workable for Fort Bend County," Meyers said.

County Judge KP George said he's in discussions with Meyers and Nehls, but wants to review all the data before he makes a decision. The topic is slated to come up at the next commissioner's court meeting on Feb. 26, he said.

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"We know there is a problem," George said, adding he and Meyers will conduct a "complete analysis" to learn what they can from other counties. "We're not going to reinvent the wheel."

Prior to Jan. 1, the sheriff's office would dispatch the closest deputy  from the sheriff's office or a constable's office  to a service call. But since then, the sheriff's dispatchers have not been summoning constable's deputies  even in neighborhoods the constable is under contract to patrol, said Precinct 3 Constable Wayne Thompson.

Thompson believes the policy change will lead to higherresponse times. In at least one instance, Thompson said, sheriff's deputies arrived at a scene seven minutes after a constable's deputy had arrived.

"I don't think there is any reason that they can give that justifies why they would not dispatch us to calls," Thompson said.

According to the sheriff's office, the change has led to faster, not slower, response times.

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In statement, Chief Deputy David Marcaurele said the sheriff's office had compared average response times to dispatched calls for a six-month period prior to January 2019. He said the switch had reduced response times in three of its patrol districts, including District 5, which covers most of Fort Bend County Precinct 3.

"The result is that we saw a 14.4 second reduction in average response time to dispatched calls," Marcaurele said. "We will take an improvement of service any day, and in the end, know that is what is expected of our dedicated employees working in dispatch and those deputies (sheriff and constable) working in the field."

Thompson called the estimates from the sheriff's office "out-of-context," because "January is a slow month and there's no way you can compare that to the last six months."

The sheriff's new policy "doesn't make a whole lot of sense" to Meyers, who said he's received complaints from residents, homeowners associations, municipal utility districts and the county fire marshal.

"We've got a certified peace officer who is in the neighborhood," Meyers said, referring to constable's deputies. "He is just as certified as a sheriff's deputy. Just because his services are paid directly by the subdivision, rather than through the property taxes that are paid generally, to me that doesn't make a difference between their qualifications."

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House alarms make up the majority of calls, and Meyers said he is not aware of any instances where someone was injured or burglarized as a result of a delay in service.

"I just don't want there to be a case where that happens," he said. "What I want is  if we have certified peace officer on site, dispatch him. I don't care if he is a constable, or a sheriff's deputy or he is contract or regular. If he's there, that's the guy that you dispatch because they can get there the quickest."

Meyers said his office's research found that in counties similar in size to Fort Bend, such as Williamson County and Montgomery County, residents benefited from a third-party dispatch center.

Montgomery County has roughly 200,000 fewer people than Fort Bend County, which is home to roughly 760,000 people, according to recent census data. The Montgomery County Emergency Communication District, run by a board of managers., handles all emergency calls in Montgomery County.

Marcauerele said the debate was political.

"(Thompson) did not like this change and has put out information that has alarmed people and created a political scenario based upon fear and not reality," he said.

George said the county is taking the issue seriously.

"It is about the safety and security of our citizens and that's going to be very close to my heart personally," George said. "We are going to fix it. We are going to fix it."

michelle.iracheta@chron.com
Within less than an hour, elementary school children in Klein ISD learned how to save a life.

On Feb. 14 and Feb. 15, Klein ISD nurses, Klein Cain High School students and medical professionals gathered at Bernhausen Elementary to teach 5th grade students how to perform basic CPR chest compressions and how AEDs are used. The event was organized by Elizabeth Goedde, school nurse at Bernhausen Elementary, and Emily Berry, school nurse at Klein Cain High School.

Goedde said the event is the first to happen in Klein ISD. Teaching CPR to children this young is rare, she said. The events, which were aided by representatives from Northwest EMS Community Health, was held in honor of Cardiac Awareness Month, observed in February.

The state of Texas requires that high school students get exposure to it, but I'm kind of under the impression that the earlier the better, Goedde said. Even if it's just basic exposure, these students can be inspired by it. They can take it into their community and they might actually be able to do something to save a life because bad CPR is better than no CPR.

During the event, students were put in groups of three after watching a video showing the importance of knowing CPR and answering questions about the heart and cardiac arrest. While in groups, students practiced doing 100 to 120 chest compressions in a minute alongside an instructional video with assistance from EMS professionals and Klein Cain students. Goedde played Stayin Alive by the Bee Gees to get students used to the rhythm needed to do CPR properly.

The Klein Cain students aiding in the event were CPR certified and interacted with students by correcting their form and rhythm as well as clapping along to the beat. Eisha Ahmed, Klein Cain junior, said she and her classmates helping out made the experience more relatable for the 5th graders.

We still have more experience than the 5th graders do and so I feel like when they see us doing it they think about growing up and being like us, she said.

After practicing chest compressions, students learned about automatic external defibrillators, or AEDs, and where to find them in the building if an adult needs to use one. Eric Steffel, clinical educator with Northwest EMS, said it is more beneficial for the children to perform CPR when needed than wait multiple minutes for an ambulance. Administering CPR immediately can reduce possible injury to a victim of cardiac arrest or other heart problems.

Think about somebody whose heart is stopped and how hard it would be for them to hold their breath for ten minutes or 8 minutes, he said. When you do CPR, you start moving that blood again. You start moving that oxygen again and even though they're not awake, you're actually helping them.

Berry said starting CPR training younger will eventually create a cycle of education throughout the school system.

I was the nurse [at Bernshausen] for three years and then moved to Klein Cain, she said. I've been there for two years and Bernshausen feeds Cain. Children that I had here as 5th graders are now freshmen on my campus in high school. These children will eventually catch back up to me again in high school.

Several Bernshausen Elementary 5th graders said they never thought they would learn CPR at this point in their lives. Student Ammar Shariq said he was glad to learn a skill that could save a life.

When paramedics and the ambulance get there 10 minutes later, you have to know how to do CPR so you can make sure that they can stay alive, he said. Like he said, you triple their chance of staying alive. That's very important.

Goedde said she would like to host this event in the future to keep children educated and prepared.

Recently, I had a student who came upon an unconscious person, she said. Here was a group of adults standing around not sure what to do, but the student had just been trained in CPR and brought the man back to consciousness. He was able to be transported to the hospital  If I can even teach them good CPR then we might have a positive outcome that may never have happened.

chevall.pryce@chron.com
A Houston man is behind bars Thursday, accused of offering up his dog for bestiality to an undercover police officer.

Three of his dogs believed to be used for bestiality were also seized.

The 31-year-old man, who has yet to be formally charged, was the target of an undercover sting by the Houston Police Department's major offenders and animal cruelty units, according to HPD spokesperson John Cannon.

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The man is accused of participating in several online forums surrounding the illegal act, which piqued the interest of investigators.

At some point during the investigation, the man offered up one of his dogs to the undercover officer and others, Cannon said.

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Officers raided his home along Amherst Street in the Rice Village/West University Place area Wednesday morning, where they found the three dogs and other evidence, Cannon said.

The three dogs were taken to Houston's BARC Animal Shelter:

Bo, a four-year-old male German shepherd

Sayhass, a three-year-old male Jack Russell terrier

Mozzie, a two-year-old male brindle

The man was taken into custody at a relative's house about a mile away.

The three dogs are at Houston's BARC Animal Shelter, where they will receive medical care, according to BARC spokesperson Lara Cottingham.

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
Dave Parsons, 2011 Texas Poet Laureate, is now in the most distinguished of company at Conroes Founders Plaza Park.

After a nearly two-year project, a bronze bust of professor, historian, author and Pulitzer Prize winner Annette Gordon-Reed was unveiled under a sunny spring-like sky Friday afternoon. The sculpture was created by local artist Craig Campobella who has numerous artworks on display in the county.

Her statue is placed next to a statue of Parsons that was unveiled at the park several years ago.

We at the Montgomery County Literary Arts Council have been thrilled for this historic - and we believe long overdue - recognition, Parsons told those gathered on Friday.

Councilman Seth Gibson read a proclamation from Conroe Mayor Toby Powell declaring Feb. 15, 2019 as Annette Gordon-Reed Day in Conroe as a part of the ceremony.

Then Parsons removed a covering to unveil the statue to a round of applause from those gathered to celebrate Gordon-Reed and her achievements.

Im so glad that Im able to be here with you today, she said. And Im so glad that I got an opportunity to see all my friends, my cousins, people who were my mothers students and former teachers of mine, best friends and everyone coming together on this day to do something that Im very, very grateful for.

She looks forward to returning to New York with all of the good feelings and warm wishes that shes gotten from people since she returned to Conroe for the event.

She reflected on how much the town has changed since she grew up here in the 1960s and 1970s.

As I walked past the Crighton Theatre, I remembered going to the movies with my brother. I remembered sitting in the balcony at the time because that was the custom, even though the law had changed, said Gordon-Reed. And I also thought about all of the nice things that happened here as well and that this is a town that has a lot of history and Im glad to say that I have been a part of it.

Parsons credited the Conroe Concerned Citizens, the Greater Conroe Arts Alliance, the Montgomery County Literary Arts Council, Margaret Madeley, Lucinda and Rigby Owen Jr., Frances Peoples, Jim and Susie Pokorski, Dorothy Reece, The Signorelli Company and the Society of the 5th Cave with the completion of the project.

In his remarks, Parsons also thanked Alfred and Betty Jean Gordon, her parents, for choosing Conroe to live and raise their brilliant daughter.

Gordon-Reed is a graduate of Conroe High School and first gained interest in history and Thomas Jefferson while in school here.

Gordon-Reed serves as the Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History at Harvard Law School. Gordon-Reed also is a professor of history in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University.

Gordon-Reed won the Pulitzer Prize in History in 2009 for The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family. She also is the author of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy, Andrew Johnson and most recently Most Blessed of the Patriarchs: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination.

The City Council voted unanimously to allow the bust to be added to the park.

Such honors are reserved for Conroe citizens that have been recognized, either statewide or nationally for their works in the Arts. Eventually more busts will be added to Founders Plaza in recognition of excellence in the Arts.

The Conroe Art League and the Greater Conroe Arts Alliance hosted a reception for Gordon-Reed prior to the unveiling and Gordon-Reed went on to speak at a lecture and book signing on Friday night at Lone Star College-Montgomery.
While most high school students in Conroe ISD are studying Shakespeare or algebra, students at the Newcomer Program at Hauke Academic Alternative High School are learning to read.

These 19 recent immigrants are the first in Texas to plunge into an ambitious program aimed at helping them overcome years of educational deficiencies in a single year of instruction.

A year and a half ago, CISD officials collaborated with the Mexican consulates Plazas Comunitarias program to create a new curriculum to help academically deficient students achieve an elementary and secondary education in one year.

The recently immigrated students are far behind the districts requirements for 15- to 17-year-olds. Still, the odds of graduating from an American high school are in their favor.

Since these are mature kids, were able to take it further and faster than your average second grader, said Rod Chaves, director of community outreach, dropout prevention and health services. Theyre very smart.

The students

Dayren Carlisle, CISD coordinator of bilingual/ESL programs, was smuggled into the U.S. from Cuba when she was 5. Her father came to the U.S. in the Mariel Boatlift in 1980. Her family was granted amnesty thanks to the wet-foot, dry-foot policy, which allowed anyone from Cuba to enter the country without a visa, but she didnt receive citizenship until she was 22.

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My story is a lot like the stories I hear from the students, so I have a very personal connection with what theyve been through, she said.

Some of the 15-to 17-year-old students in the program at Hauke have below a fifth-grade education. Some primarily speak Quiche, an indigenous language from Guatemala. Some stopped going to elementary school because they were afraid of gangs, Chaves said.

The students, mostly from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Venezuela, tell harrowing stories of violence and unrest.

Their teacher, Adriana Guarinos, makes home visits and talks to the families regularly to make sure students are safe and supported.

We work on building trust so that they can view our program as a haven, and having been in war-torn situations, they really enjoy how peaceful it is at our school, Chaves said.

New collaboration

In the Newcomer Programs, students take classes with only other English learners for math, science, English and social studies and spend electives like art and gym with the rest of the student population. In five years, the number of English learners in the district has risen from 6,770 in 2013 to 8,586 in 2018. Now four high schools and two junior highs have a Newcomer Program. Five years ago, CISD had none.

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While most of the children who immigrate to Conroe have had enough education in their country of origin to jump into English learner programs, some need more support.

The year-and-a-half-old program at Hauke is taught in Spanish and uses the Mexican Consulates Plazas Comunitarias curriculum for math and science. The Mexican government created the program to help rural children who are older than 15, who cannot read or write or who havent finished elementary or middle school.

Students can earn elementary and secondary certificates that say they completed up to ninth grade in science and math in Mexico. Those credits count toward the graduation requirements set by the Texas Education Agency.

There are 231 Plazas Comunitarias programs in 32 states across the country, according to AASA, The School Superintendents Association. There are five in Houston, but this is the first time the program has been used as curriculum for a school district in Texas, said Nuria Zuniga, under counsel for community and cultural affairs for the Consulate General of Mexico in Houston.

Its the most successful, Zuniga said. Its a role model for all the school districts in the United States because they not only have the students acquire a certificate, but they also transition them.

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Out of 17 students last year, all completed the elementary certificate and nine went on to complete the secondary requirements for math and science in the Plazas Comunitarias program. CISD views those courses equivalent to math of models and integrated physics and chemistry, respectively.

The students, who are at a high risk of dropping out, get a double block of ESL classes and a world history class that uses ESL techniques and support from a Newcomer Program aide. While the ultimate goal is graduation, even if a student completes the elementary or secondary school certificates, Carlisle deems the program a success.

If they came in reading at a kindergarten level, and they leave reading at an eighth-grade level, even only in Spanish, that adds value to the student, she said.

Changing Conroe

Chaves was born in Costa Rica and came to the United States on a student visa. He said hardly any staff spoke Spanish when he started working for CISD 20 years ago.

In 2001, he started a district hotline for Spanish-speaking parents to call and ask school-related questions.

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Chaves, however, found that most of the questions had to do with housing, health care and immigration. It was the beginning of a relationship with the Hispanic community.

They think a lot of times there isnt a voice at this level who understands what the families have gone through, Carlisle said.

Carlisle said she talks to students about what it means to have grit and determination, to push through the obstacles they will face as new immigrants to the United States. She said she wants to be an example to the students, so they can see that they can be successful, too.

I try to give them hope, she said.

ana.goni-lessan@chron.com
A Montgomery County grand jury took no action against Montgomery County Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley after a series of criminal investigations.

Riley was the center of two separate investigations by Montgomery County law enforcement after officials received two complaints about Riley allegedly misusing county resources, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office

An investigation into the first series complaint started in August 2017 and focused on then-Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal and Riley reportedly storing personal equipment, including a large barbecue pit, at the Precinct 2 Maintenance Barn in Magnolia and Riley's alleged use of a Magnolia ISD truck to move equipment for his campaign kickoff in October 2016.

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A grand jury declined to indict Doyal and Riley after that investigation in April 2018.

Then in November 2018, authorities received another series of complaints about Riley again allegedly misusing county resources. The allegations in that complaint were not clear.

A grand jury recently took no action against Riley for the second time, according to the DA's office.

"Regardless of the outcome of this investigation, the district attorney's office is committed to sharing publicly available information with county leadership in an effort to improve accountability and strengthen public confidence in government," Special Crimes Bureau Chief Tyler Dunman said in a statement.

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
Forty-four million Americans live in counties with a shortage of primary care physicians, according to a discouraging new report from UnitedHealth Group. This shortage will grow worse as our population ages  and thus requires more medical care.

Doctors educated abroad  including many American citizens who have gone to medical school overseas  are eager to fill the gaps in the U.S. physician workforce. And theyre doing so in increasing numbers. Given the depth of the doctor shortage, the country will need even more of them.

The average wait to get a first-time appointment with a family medicine physician increased by 50 percent between 2014 and 2016, according to a study of 15 large metropolitan areas. The study found that people in Los Angeles wait an average of 42 days. Bostonians, an alarming 109 days.

Theyre waiting because most doctors  80 percent, per one survey of nearly 9,000 doctors  are overextended or operating at full capacity.

Things arent slated to get easier for patients, or doctors. By 2030, the U.S. population will increase by 27 million. The number of Americans over 75 will jump 55 percent. Seniors need more medical care than younger Americans; about four in five people above the age of 75 suffer from multiple chronic diseases.

In total, the United States could be short 49,000 primary care physicians by 2030.

U.S. medical schools cant fix this shortfall on their own. Last year, less than 40 percent of their graduates chose residencies in primary care.

Doctors trained at international medical schools are more likely to enter primary care specialties. About seven in 10 internationally trained doctors selected residencies in family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics in 2018. Thats an increase from 2017.

International medical graduates are also more likely to practice in minority communities, where the physician shortage is most severe. Nationally, about one in four doctors was educated at an international med school. But in areas where at least 75 percent of the population is non-white, international medical graduates account for more than one-third of physicians.

Many international medical graduates are actually U.S. citizens intent on returning home to practice. Three in four students from the school I lead  St. Georges University in Grenada  are from the United States.

Last year, international medical graduates matched for U.S. residencies at the highest rate in 25 years. Thats good news. But America needs even more of them.

Funding more residencies would be a start. The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act would expand the number of federally funded residencies, especially in areas suffering from severe primary care shortages. States ought to contemplate similar initiatives. It stands to reason that doctors will stick around to practice after theyve spent years building their professional networks and communities where theyve done their residencies.

Medical schools could also recruit more students from rural and low-income areas. Most med students come from the upper end of the income distribution and from urban or suburban areas. Theyre more likely than not to return to their communities, or ones like them, when they settle down to practice.

At St. Georges, weve partnered with several U.S. universities that have a history of educating students from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds to offer qualified undergraduates guaranteed admission to our medical school.

America faces a shortfall of primary care doctors. To fill that shortfall, state and national leaders must look abroad  to graduates of international medical schools.

G. Richard Olds, M.D., is President of St. Georges University.
Many people think about breast cancer striking women more than 40, but it also affects young women who are in college, just starting their careers or well ahead of starting families.

Houstons branch of the Young Survival Coalition is raising funds to support young women diagnosed with breast cancer through programs, support and education.

In its 20th year, Young Survival Coalition was started by three young women in New York, each facing a tough diagnosis and not really knowing where to turn.

They were kind of by themselves and somehow connected with each other and really saw very quickly what a unique circumstance it was to be under 40, to have young children, to be at the beginning of your career, being faced with dating, intimacy issues and reconstruction and all that comes with it, said YSC State Leader Michelle Pina.

Now across the nation, the organization has state leaders like Pina that work with health care providers, hospitals and other nonprofits to build relationships, raise awareness and provide free electronic resources, literature, navigators and both virtual and face-to-face support groups.

About a dozen women from YSC are hosting a charity poker tournament this Saturday at Christians Tailgate, located in the Heights at 2820 White Oak Drive. Registration for the tournament starts at 12:30 p.m.

People can sign up when they arrive and purchase their playing chips. Its a full-fledged poker tournament, Pina said. They keep playing until the last man standing.

The event will also have raffle prizes and silent auction items, and all proceeds will support the HoUSton Strong Fundraising Team as they head to the YSC Summit conference next month. Young women dealing with breast cancer and their co-survivors  husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends, parents, siblings: whoever that key person is  will gather in Austin from March 7-9 for a few days of learning, social gatherings and supporting each other.

Amy Johannson was first diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago when she was just 29. She originally found a lump in her breast and figured her doctor would say she was too young to have breast cancer, to not worry about. When she learned otherwise, she was grateful to find help from the Young Survival Coalition.

I think what you find out is that the doctors and nurses give you a lot of medical information, but you dont get any emotional support and you dont hear about what other people in similar circumstances have gone through, Johannson said.

She started going to face-to-face support groups, many of which meet near her Spring Branch home at Omnia Healthcare on Woodway Drive. Johannson finished her treatment in April 2018. A long road of recovery had brought her surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and medication. She now takes another medication to keep her well and still has to get checkups, but she is healthy and volunteers with YSC.

Pina is a breast cancer survivor of 13 years. Diagnosed at 33, she found YSC through its discussion boards. The first on both sides of her family to be diagnosed, Pina said she quickly became an advocate as friends would approach her for help when someone they knew was diagnosed.

Once Pina completed her initial round of treatment, she began volunteering with YSC locally. Twelve years later, she is still working on behalf of young survivors. With a cancer diagnosis comes lots of treatment decisions, so Pina encourages women to listen carefully in the doctors office so they can better comprehend their options.

Keep asking questions until you understand, she said. Dont ever walk out of the room. Dont ever make a decision unless you are completely, 100 percent comfortable, youve got all the information in front of you to make the best decision at that moment.

This October, Pina is looking forward to taking part in her fifth Tour de Pink. The three-day bike ride will take both Pina and Johannson along 200 miles of the California coast as they raise money for the organization while other riders make a similar trek on the East Coast.

This will be Johannsons first time to make the trip. She is excited about riding on the Third Coasters team  an homage to the Texas Gulf Coast  and is working on a training plan.

Battling cancer is tough. Johannson said the Young Survival Coalition can help women navigate a number of issues ranging from where to find a wig and what to look for to making sure they consider an egg retrieval process so they she can possibly have children in the future.

This is where you get that sort of resources and support from other people, she said.

To learn more or to donate, visit www.youngsurvival.org. You can also get connected to support groups by searching for Young Survival Coalition on www.meetup.com.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
Lone Star College-Kingwood faculty and staff are better than ever as they celebrate the official grand reopening of their newly renovated campus on Feb. 15.

The Kingwood campus sustained about $60 million in damage as Hurricane Harvey dumped water in six of their nine buildings. Most of their buildings had at least 3 feet of floodwaters.

LSC-Kingwood faculty and staff immediately got to work creating hybrid and online courses for their students while the campus was under reconstruction for 16 months.

The library is scheduled to open in April.

Lone Star College-Kingwood President Katherine Persson acknowledged every LSC-Kingwood faculty and staff members as well as local stakeholders who played a key role in restoring the Kingwood campus.

While we remained open during the post-Harvey time, the progress you see today is really the culmination of a lot of hard work and planning on the part of many, and I refer to those are miracle workers, Persson said.

Lone Star College Kingwood Chancellor Stephen Head said the journey of rebuilding LSC-Kingwood was a memorable one.

I admire what weve done and Katherine has a done a great job in communicating and being the lead person over here, Head said.  The employees over here, I think all of us have a sense of what (they were) feeling which was really important. Lone Star College has been a great example of why we do what we do.

While LSC-Kingwood was under reconstruction, many students either had to take online courses or they had to go to another LSC campus. This transition was hard for many students to adjust to, especially for Marquita Johnson a dental hygiene student.

Persson said the dental hygiene program was temporarily relocated to a facility on FM 1314. This program only allows 15 students a year.

Johnson lives in Galveston makes the trip to LSC-Kingwood almost everyday  sometimes with her 11-year-old daughter Honesty.

Johnson said she will never forget how Hurricane Harvey affected her.

The night before Harvey, Johnson and her daughter were at the LSC-Kingwood campus.

I remember getting ready to drive back to Galveston, and thats when I received the call that my daughter and I were not able to drive back to Galveston because the bridge was closed, Johnson said.

Johnson and her daughter stayed with a former boss for a week until they went back to Galveston to check on her home. Johnson said she lost clothes, food and memories she will never be able to replace.

In that moment may daughter and I both learned that when faced with challenges, never give up, Johnson said.

Dedicated to staying on top of her studies, Johnson would get electricity from a local Kroger to charge her electronics and do her homework.

Johnson will graduate from LSC-Kingwood in May.

There was a lot for me to take on and I knew I couldnt give up because my daughter was watching every moment of this challenging situation, Johnson said. I have to say Im so glad I didnt give up.

kaila.contreras@chron.com
Updates on two projects, the Northpark Drive expansion and the Herons Kingwood Marina, were provided at the second gathering between Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 10 members this year.

After issuing a press release to residents on Jan. 28 asking for their comments on the Northpark Drive Improvement project, Houston City Council Member Dave Martin, who was present at the monthly meeting 8 a.m. Thursday at Kingwood Community Center, thanked board members for amplifying his effort with a letter signed by chairperson Stan Sarman.

Similar to Martins press release, Sarman emphasized that the project, based on a draft ranking from the Houston-Galveston Area Council will not receive funding. The Northpark Drive expansion is placing 29th out of 60, and according to Martin H-GAC will back approximately 10 projects.

Public comments can greatly impact a projects ranking, Sarman said in the letter. If you decide to submit public comments, please let us know you have done so via email at northparkdrive@elmorepr.com.

Thoughts on expansion

With the expansion, Northpark Drive will go from a four-lane roadway to a six-lane thoroughfare, which will also act as an all-weather evacuation route. It also includes a bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and Loop 494.

Martin still hasnt received the latest information on the ranking  the public-comment period is still open until Feb. 28  but he remains positive about our position today and moving forward.

He said that this is the only project with the approval of figures such as Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, all 16 city council members, Montgomery County elected officials and state representatives Dan Huberty and Dan Crenshaw.

(Sarman), (consultant) Ralph de Leon and myself, weve met with the head of H-GAC and had a very good meeting, Martin said. We expressed our disappointment that the projects score in the cost-benefit analysis is very low, lower than others that got approved. We were concerned about that.

Comments about the Northpark Drive expansion project can be mailed in (H-GAC, P.O. Box 22777, Houston, TX 77227-2777), online (www.h-gac.com/2018-call-for-projects/submit-comment.aspx?id=197) or over the phone (toll-free number 855-363-2516).

Marina matters

Martin said developers of the controversial upscale development, the Herons Kingwood Marina, are applying for a Section 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that will allow them to discharge dredged material into waterways and wetlands.

Due to changes implemented post-Hurricane Harvey and from personal experience, Martin said it will be a hefty task that can go on until the end of 2019.

Since he said that much disinformation is being circulated, Martin also provided a few facts about the project: It has seen no action since June 26, the dredge area has had no update since 2007, and the dredging area that is mapped is not within the wetlands.

The latter point means the developers dont need to file for a Section 404 permit.

The only dredge area they have is an excavation permit that has been approved by Harris County Flood Control and the City of Houston for excavating the area they called the marina, Martin said.

He added that there had been a meeting between him, the city, the engineers, the developers and the public-relations firm two weeks ago and many points  the main one being impacts on flooding  were raised. The engineers said there is the potential in the Herons Kingwood Marina that the area for the boat docks will have to be dredged constantly to clear out sand.

Martin also said that they brought up the scenario of other developments with unfavorable initiatives stepping in should the Herons Kingwood Marina be shelved.

Everybody knows that the City of Houston is a no-zoning city, so if they get the permits they can abide by the rules and regulations and anybody can buy that land and build anything they want to, he said.

That said, he is aware of and has notified parties behind the $2.5 billion project that its in an area where navigating by boats isnt ideal, citing the rivers shallowness, lack of beauty and the West Lake Houston bridges low height.

Jessica Beemer, Dave Martins chief of staff, said that a public hearing hosted by the USACE is likely.

The USACE is still receiving comments about the project until March 1. They can be submitted by mail (P.O. box listed in the public notice), fax (409-766-6301) or email (swg_public_notice@usace.army.mil) and should include the reference number SWG-2016-00384.

Intersection updates

Rachel Ray-Welsh of Walter P. Moore said that the lights at Kings Crossing and Northpark will be on next week, later than its scheduled time frame of last week.

A bad module in the traffic signal cabinet was also found and will be addressed either next week or the week after, she added.

The TIRZ will reconvene 8 a.m. on March 14 at Kingwood Community Center. Members of the public may also attend.

nguyen.le@chron.com
Authorities are investigating the reported theft of 10 rifles on Jan. 28 at Whitley Drywall, 4430-A FM 2351.

An employee arrived at 4:30 a.m. to find the front door kicked in, according to the report. Surveillance images recorded at 11:20 p.m. Jan. 27 showed a white pickup truck, possibly an older model Ford F-250 with an extended cab, a long bed, clearance lights on the cab and a tool box in the bed, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the department at 281-996-3300.

Burglary

Ten dollars in change, an irrigation tester and a Ryobi reciprocating saw were stolen from a vehicle between Jan. 26 and Jan. 28 at Bridgestone Apartments, 4949 FM 2351, police said.

Police filed a burglary report after finding a broken glass window Jan. 28 at C Nails, 212 S. Friendswood Drive. The break-in occurred sometime between 5:30 p.m. Jan. 26 and 9 a.m. Jan. 28, but nothing appeared to be missing, police said.

Officers responding to a burglar alarm Jan. 29 in the 300 block of Scenic View found a screen off a window and the window broken. The homeowner told an officer she had only been gone from the home 30 minutes, according to the report.

A resident in the 5100 block of Shady Oaks Lane returned home from work to find her back door open and the inside of her home ransacked, according to a Jan. 29 police report. Jewelry and cash were stolen, police said.

Two televisions were reported stolen Jan. 30 from the Church of Latter-day Saints, 505 Deseret Drive, police said. Police believe the suspect or suspects entered through a window the previous night, according to the report.

A purse and cell phone were stolen from an unlocked vehicle Feb. 1 at Big Blue Marble Academy, 3001 W. Bay Area Blvd., police said.

The owner of an unoccupied residence in the 5300 block of Shady Oaks Lane believes someone has been squatting in an upstairs room, according to a Feb. 2 police report. The owner found the door unlocked and a damaged door frame, but nothing was reported missing, police said.

Theft

Police charged a Pasadena man, 20, with theft after a necklace was reported stolen Jan. 30 at Marrone Market, 610 S. Friendswood Drive.

A former employee stole more than $1,900 worth of household goods  including antique glassware and old wood tile  from a residence in the 900 block of Layfair Place, according to a Jan. 30 police report.

The owner of Harbour Liquor, 2407 W. Parkwood Ave., told police a middle-aged man attempted to purchase a bottle of vodka with a credit card that did not belong to him on Jan. 24, according to a Feb. 1 report. The card was declined, and the suspect allegedly left in a black Jeep without paying for a second bottle he had placed in his jacket, police said. The store owner said a woman attempted to purchase the same bottle of vodka the next day with a debit card that shared the same name as the one used earlier, according to the report. The second card also was declined, police said.

A man stole two bottles of alcohol Feb. 1 from One Stop Liquor Store, 520 N. Friendswood Drive, after asking the owner if he could take them to the parking lot and allow his wife to choose which one she wanted, police said. The owner reportedly agreed because he recognized the man  described as a white male, 35 to 45 years old, weighing more than 300 poundsas a previous customer.

Police charged a Houston man, 38, and Rosharon woman, 33, with theft after a traffic stop for a seatbelt violation Feb. 2 in the 300 block of West Parkwood Avenue. The officer reportedly found a methamphetamine pipe, an empty bottle of methadone and several items with price tags but no receipts during a vehicle search. The male driver was taken into custody for no insurance and the woman for possession of drug paraphernalia, police said. However, as the investigation continued, the officer learned some of the items with price tags  flashlights, Bluetooth speakers, clothing and sunglasses  allegedly had been stolen from Burlington Coat Factory, according to the report. Bond for each was set at $500.

Fraud

A Friendswood mans identity was used fraudulently to open a loan, according to a Jan. 28 police report. He received a notice in the mail stating the bank was unable to approve the requested loan, police said. The letter reportedly offered a 72-month loan instead.

A Friendswood woman told police her identity was used to open a Verizon account and purchase two iPhones, according to a Jan. 30 report.

A Friendswood resident sold a dress on PoshMark for $200 but received a check for $1,750, according to a Feb. 1 police report. The buyer allegedly requested $1,550 in return. The check bounced, police said.

Narcotics

Police charged a Houston woman, 23, with marijuana possession after a traffic stop for expired registration Jan. 31 in the 100 block of West Edgewood Drive. She did not have a drivers license with her and produced a bag of marijuana when asked about its smell, police said.

Police charged a Houston man, 32, with possession of a controlled substance after a traffic stop for suspected warrants Feb. 2 in the 100 block of West Parkwood Avenue. The man did not have a drivers license and admitted to having marijuana inside the vehicle, police said. The officer reportedly found a marijuana cigarette in the cup holder and inside a can as well as a methamphetamine pipe and methamphetamine during a vehicle search. The passenger, a 27-year-old Houston woman, faces a charge for possession of drug paraphernalia as she was found with ledgers detailing drug prices and weights, police said.

Driving while intoxicated

Police charged a Crosby man, 35, with DWI after he allegedly pulled out of a parking lot, crossed several lanes and the median strip and then made an unsignaled turn from FM 528 onto Blackhawk Boulevard. An officer conducted a traffic stop in the 17200 block of Blackhawk Boulevard and found an open can of beer during a vehicle inventory, police said. The driver failed a field sobriety test and agreed to a blood test, according to the report.

A Pearland man, 35, was charged with DWI after a traffic stop for speeding Feb. 2 in the 200 block of East Parkwood Avenue, police said. He reportedly failed a field sobriety test and agreed to a blood test. Bond was set at $1,000.

Police charged a 50-year-old Friendswood man with DWI after he reportedly failed to signal a lane change and appeared to have difficulty maintaining a single lane Feb. 3 in the 200 block of East Parkwood Avenue. He failed a field sobriety test and refused a breath or blood test, police said. Bond was set at $1,000.

Traffic

Police charged a 17-year-old Friendswood man with failure to stop and give information after a three-car crash Jan. 28 at the intersection of Sunset Drive and Briarmeadow Avenue. According to witnesses, the driver ran a stop sign and fled the scene. An officer found him at his home in the 16800 block of Barcelona Drive, police said. The teen also received citations for failure to control speed, disregarding a stop sign, no drivers license, no insurance and possession of a tobacco product by a minor, according to the report.

A Sugar Land man, 39, was charged with no drivers license and possession of drug paraphernalia after a traffic stop for illegal tint Jan. 31 in the 17100 block of Townes Road, police said. Police charged the passenger, a 26-year-old Houston man, with possession of drug paraphernalia. The officer reportedly found marijuana roaches inside the vehicle.

Police charged a Santa Fe man, 35, with driving while license invalid after a traffic stop for making a left turn from a straight-traffic-only lane Jan. 31 in the 100 block of East Parkwood Avenue. The vehicle also had an expired temporary license plate, and the driver did not have insurance, police said. In addition to warrants for DWI, stalking and harassment, the driver had a suspended license, according to the report.

Police charged a Friendswood woman, 26, with reckless driving after she allegedly hit a parked vehicle with enough force to destroy the front grill and engine block and deploy the front airbags Jan. 31 in the 300 block of Brigadoon Street. The parked vehicle was moved a significant distance and hit another parked vehicle in a nearby driveway, according to the report. Medics treated the woman, but she refused transport to the hospital, police said. An officer reportedly found marijuana shake on top of the womans center console as well as a used Suboxone patch and a butalbital pill on the floorboard.

Case update

Police arrested two Pasadena men, 41 and 38, in connection with the October 2018 theft of a boat and trailer from a storage facility at 4830 FM 2351.
The body of 19-year-old Shelley Sikes of Texas City has been missing since 1986, she is presumed dead.

One man convicted of kidnapping her will remain in prison for at least 5 more years after his parole was once again denied last week by the Texas Board of Pardons & Paroles.

Gerald Zwarst, 63, was convicted of aggravated kidnapping in Sikes' disappearance in 1988. He was sentenced to life in prison and was first up for parole in June 2007.

NEW CHARGES: Death row inmate accused of trying to kill 2 more people in 1995 case

Each time he's up for parole, Texas City authorities and people close to Sikes' family fight to keep Zwarst in prison.

Sikes' sister, Dana Wild, told the Bay Area Citizen before Zwarst's 2012 parole hearing that every proceeding opens wounds, but her family will not stop fighting to keep Zwarst in prison.

"Even if he gets denied parole this time and gets put up for five more years, I know that in five more years we're going to be doing this again," Wild said. "Every time that the sore begins to heal, then something scratches the surface off and it's bleeding all over again."

John Robert King, also convicted of aggravated kidnapping in the Sikes case and sentenced to life in prison, died in prison in October 2015.

On May 24, 1986, King was driving Zwarst's car when he ran Sikes off the road as she drove home from her job at Gaido's restaurant on the Galveston Seawall.

Sikes' car was found the next day on Interstate 45 near Dickinson, but Sikes was never found.

King confessed that he and Zwarst abducted and murdered Sikes in a 1987 phone call to the El Paso police. Because a body was never found, both men were instead charged with aggravated kidnapping.

Both men were offered deals in exchange for the location of Sikes' body, but neither provided a valid location to investigators.

Zwarst's parole was last denied on Sept. 29 on the grounds that he remains a danger to society.
Conroes big fire of Feb. 21, 1911 was so significant to the town, its still being commemorated 108 years later.

At a commemoration of the fire in February 2018, current Conroe Fire Chief Ken Kreger gave some history on the fire and events that lead up to major changes in the citys building ordinances.

In 1901, a fire wiped out the town center, which was then located on the east side of the railroad tracks at the time.

The town center was rebuilt on the western side of the tracks.

Kreger found in December 1910 notes from the city council that an ordinance was discussed to update the fire code to have buildings be constructed of noncombustible material.

However, before that could happen, the fire of Feb. 21, 1911 struck.

It has been said that a cold front had come through town and during the night fire broke out in the upstairs of a drug store on the western side of the courthouse. Kreger described how the firefighters of the time rolled out hoses on metal reels.

Unfortunately they quickly ran out of water.

All that could be done was to drag the contents of the buildings out into the street.

When the fire was over, 65 wooden buildings and three blocks in downtown Conroe were destroyed.

In his memoir, A Silhouette of Conroe, Texas 1976 Cedric N. Nutter describes the night of the fire in downtown Conroe. Nutter was 16 at the time of the fire.

One of the patriotic holidays back then was George Washingtons birthday and we had always gotten a holiday from school on that day. But, on Feb. 22, 1911, the Skipper (Conroe ISDs Superintendent Hulon N. Anderson), had told us there would be no holiday since we had missed so many days due to bad weather.

A few hours before midnight on Feb. 21, the whistles started blowing, bells ringing and guns shooting. Fire had broken out upstairs in the back of the Hailey Drug Store.

There was a real strong norther blowing and soon fire was everywhere.

Tode Talley and I went into Everetts Store and asked Mr. Everett if we could help carry out anything.

He said Thank you boys, its is gone. Just help yourself to anything you want.

I had always wanted a new gun and plenty of ammunition. Well, there was plenty of new guns of all kinds and ammunition. I picked up a big red apple and started across the street to the Dr. Hicks building. I bit into the apple and it had a big worm in it.

The Hicks building was two-story and Dr. Hicks had his dental office in the front and Dr. Earthman had the back half for his MD offices upstairs.

The stairs came down about halfway to a landing and then went to the front sidewalk.

As I stopped up on the front sidewalk, I heard a loud noise up the stairway. I jumped back and out came Dr. Earthman and his iron safe. It had gotten away from them at the top of the staircase. The doctor was on the lower side of the safe and he fought that safe all the way down to the sidewalk.

He got up and never had a scratch on him. We rolled the safe to the middle of the street and left it.

By that time, it was moving time. The flames were lapping all the way across Simonton Street into the next block.

We were wondering about the Chrisman Hotel. As you know, it is built of brick and plaster with plaster lathes inside.

It had two small windows on the north side, one in each hall upstairs and downstairs, and S.S. Griffiths Racket Store was about a foot away. It was wooden.

My father said Joe, get me some tubs of water and all the wet blankets you have.

They stomped out the flames from coming in the windows and saved the hotel.

By daylight on Washingtons birthday, there were just a few smoldering fires and we had no school that day.

The two blocks between Davis and Collins streets and Main and Pacific streets had only the Chrisman Hotel and the building which is now Carters Drug Store left and there was nothing on the block between Main and Thompson and Simonton and Collins.

I dont know of anyone that got hurt physically. It didnt take Conroe long to build back.

They passed an ordinance that the outside walls of all new buildings had to be fireproof. However, they were allowed to put up some temporary buildings for a short length of time.

According to the application for a historical marker commemorating the downtown fire written by Larry Foerster, Chairman of the Montgomery County Historical Commission, the day after the fire, salvaged business inventories were ready for sale on the County Courthouse Square and along the I&GN Railroad Tracks. Families displaced from the fire found temporary lodging with family and friends until they could construct a new place to live.

Nick and Kate Carnochan lost their restaurant and home in the rooms behind their restaurant, but were back in business within a few days using two tents erected on wood floors, facing the railroad tracks. Their restaurant was called The Phoenix, proudly displaying their name on a hand-painted sign at the front of the dining tent. The other tent was used for cooking and living quarters for the family. This restaurant was the first business to rise from the towns ashes. Other businesses followed which were constructed of brick and mortar such as:

1. The First State Bank Building on the northwest corner of Avenue Z (today Pacific Street) and Simonton Street.

2. J.A. Gramaldi & Son Furniture Store on the east side of the County Courthouse Square constructed by Pete West at Chambers and Simonton.

3. The Randolph Building on Simonton Street housing four retail facilities.

4. Collier and Harris Building, a two-story brick building on the site of The Corner Drug Store at Simonton and Avenue Z (today Pacific Street)

5. The Capitol Drug Store - Masonic Lodge, a two-story building on Chambers (N Main) Street

6. Wahrenbergers General Mercantile Store was re-built of brick at the northeast corner of Chambers (N Main) and Paddock (N Davis).

7. A. L. Koonce Building, a two-story building at Chambers (N Main) and Simonton Streets

8. Madeley Brothers Building on Simonton Street (which later housed the Conroe Telephone Exchange).

9. J. L. Hicks Building, a two-story building on Simonton Street

By February 1912, 20 businesses had re-opened in brick buildings on the fire-devastated blocks of the 1911 fire. More businesses were to come as The Delta Land and Timber Company began plans to build a very large saw mill south of the fire-ravaged area in 1913 in an area south of the Santa Fe Railroad track. The little town of Conroe was beginning to flourish with new brick business buildings and industry rising up out of the ashes of the devastating fire of 1911.

The event also lead to a more formal organization of the fire department, especially when Chief Ed Grabein took on leadership in 1925.

Editors Note: Portions of the aftermath part of the story are by Larry Foerster, Chairman of the Montgomery County Historical Commission. Visit www.montgomerycountyhistoricalcommission.com for more on Montgomery County history.
Two longtime north Houston restaurants are expected to close in 2019.

After more than six decades in the Oak Forest area, Doyle's Restaurant, which claims to be one of the first places in Houston to serve pizza on a daily basis, will relocate and downsize under a new name, said owner Peter Doyle.

The restaurant, located at 2136 W. 34th since 1957, could close sometime in the second half of 2019, he said.

"It's going to be really sad," he said of the closure. "It's like a family here."

No location or name for the new restaurant has been established, Doyle said. Ownership is expected to be transferred to the current general manager at Doyle's, and the new venture will share additional ties to the original restaurant and its owner through financial backing and repurposed equipment.

BATTLE OF THE MIDCENTURY: Houston homeowners make tough choices to preserve or build new after years of flooding

Doyle said he expects the new restaurant will be located outside Houston. Ideas being discussed include delivery and drive-thru options and a limited dining area.

Avenue, a Houston non-profit focused on building affordable homes and community development, has an option to purchase the site where Doyle's now sits. Though no timetable has been set, the group plans to build a five-story affordable housing development called Avenue on 34th, said Executive Director Mary Lawler.

The development would include 68 apartments, which includes 21 1-bedroom apartments, 27 2-bedroom apartments and 20 3-bedroom apartments. Lawler said the development, which has about 68,000 square feet of rentable space, could appeal to young families, seniors and workers earning between $35,000 and $60,000 annually.

Critics of the project cite traffic issues and its effect on area property values. Lawler disputed a Change.org petition characterizing the project as "section 8 housing" while Doyle described the development as a positive addition to the Oak Forest neighborhood.

SECOND WARD: How German Street lost its name

Doyle's father, Leo, and his aunt, Cloe, started Doyle's Delicatessen on Ella Boulevard at 43rd in 1954. Three years later, it moved to its current location, where soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas and hamburgers have been served ever since. Its pizza oven has been in operation for about 60 years.

But current economics were making it difficult for the restaurant to continue operating.

"Increasing costs, taxes and the competitive food service environment created the need for the family to make changes," Doyle wrote in an email to the Chronicle.

Meanwhile, Heights restaurant Happy All Cafe is expected to close at the end of February as the restaurant's lease on the property comes to an end, said Kevin Keane, listing agent with Noble House Real Estate. The landlord for the property also confirmed that a new tenant will be sought.

A person who answered the phone at the restaurant disputed claims it was closing, but offered no specifics regarding its future.

The Chinese restaurant, at 1343 Yale, has been in the Heights since 1997. Longtime Heights residents might recall that decades ago a Rettig's Ice Cream shop was at that location.

The building will likely undergo redevelopment once a new tenant is secured.
Running a gas station is a cutthroat business. When a competitor across the street lowers prices, that forces nearby stations to slash prices, too. And at time when gasoline demand is flattening, competition is growing fiercer.

Houston oil refining giant Motiva Enterprises, which sells its fuel under the Shell and 76 brands, hopes to give stations that carry its fuel a digital leg up by partnering with a startup GetUpside founded by two former Google product managers.

GetUpside exploits how gas stations compete for customers by negotiating discounts on gasoline sold by individual stations and mapping out those discounts on a smartphone app. Drivers get personalized discounts based on their previous behavior - much like how Google personalizes online advertisements based on users browsing history.

The app already has 1.1 million users since launching in Washington D.C. in 2016. It recently launched in Texas starting with 500 gas stations in Houston. Austin, Dallas and San Antonio launches are forthcoming.

GetUpside has partnered with Motiva to give gas stations selling Motiva fuel access to the app to lure more customers. GetUpside also will launch a partnership with BP and Amoco at stations outside of Houston in March and wants to go nationwide by the end of the year.

RELATED: Saudi Aramcos Motiva eyes $6.6 billion petrochemical expansion on Gulf Coast

Traditionally, gas stations compete on a street-by-street, highway-by-highway exit basis. Thats why prices can vary widely depending on where you are in town. GetUpside undercuts that system by only offering its services to one station in a given geographic cluster, shutting out other stations so that competitors without the app dont know the stations true price. Plus, each driver gets a different discount, reducing the risk of a price war by preventing rival stations from discovering the other stations prices.

By tracking consumers history, GetUpside can calculate the incremental profit it brings to wholesalers and it takes a 30 to 40 percent cut of that profit, said Alex Kinnier, CEO and co-founder of GetUpside, which operates under the legal name Upside Services Inc.. On average stations have seen between a 2 percent to 6 percent increase in sales volume, he added.

Motiva has 90 percent of its wholesalers using the app, the Saudi Aramco-owned refiner said. So far Motiva-supplied stations have seen a 1 percent to 3 percent increase in fuel sales volume, although some individual stations have seen a 10 percent uptick in fuel sales, said Jeff Rubin, director of marketing and competitive intelligence for Motiva.

Weve seen new customers coming to our station that weve never seen before, Rubin said. The more stations sell the more fuel they buy from suppliers like Motiva.

Related: Gas prices to start low, but push $3 a gallon by spring

Under a traditional model, Motiva would have to arrange for more wholesale contracts and add gas stations to sell more gasoline and diesel to wholesalers. The goal of the app is to lift sales without significant capital investments.

That is a far better return-on-investment than buying more supply contracts or more stations which are under utilized, Kinnier said.

Kinnier and co-founder Wayne Lin ran Googles advertising platform before helping grow a home energy analytics firm Opower. Cloud computing giant Oracle bought Opower for $532 million in 2016. Now Kinnier and Lin are getting advice and funding from chief Google economist Hal Varian for GetUpside. The startup is also backed by funding the venture capital firm Builders VC.

Although GetUpside started with gasoline, its also added grocery stores and about 225 restaurants too. The Houston refiner is leveraging its business relationships with gas station owners to help GetUpside expand into retail because many gas station owners also own fast food eateries and grocery stores.

Motiva said it has put resources toward the apps development and spent $6.5 million on advertising to promote the app last year. Rubin said its partnership with GetUpside is part Motivas effort to be seen as innovative tech-driven company.

Its showing Motiva as an innovator and looking beyond just our business, Rubin said.
10 a.m.-1 p.m., UH Bauer College SBDC, 2302 Fannin, Suite 200. Cost: $49. Information: www.sbdc.uh.edu.

Understand your Numbers and Drive More Profits to Your Business:

Hosted by SCORE Houston. 1-3 p.m., Houston Community College, 1600 Texas Parkway, Missouri City. Registration: www.houston.score.org.

Fort Bend County Day:

The Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce will hold a bus trip to Austin to meet with members of the state legislature and key state agencies and receive a presentation from the Texas General Land Office Commissioner George P. Bush. Meet at 6 a.m. at Safari Texas Ranch, 11627 FM 1464, Richmond. Bus returns at 10 p.m. Information: 281-491-0800.

QuickBooks Online:

9 a.m.-1:30 p.m., UH Bauer College SBDC, 2302 Fannin, Suite 200. Cost: $79. Information: www.sbdc.uh.edu.

Creating Enforceable Contracts:

9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., UH Bauer College SBDC, 2302 Fannin, Suite 200. Cost: $29. Information: www.sbdc.uh.edu.

Digital Marketing Q&A:

10 a.m.-1 p.m., UH Bauer College SBDC, 2302 Fannin, Suite 200. Cost: $39. Information: www.sbdc.uh.edu.

Thursday

2018 Tax Return Preparation Issues  Understanding How the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Affects 2018 Returns:

Hosted by national law firm Chamberlain Hrdlicka. 7-9 a.m., The Houstonian, 111 North Post Oak Lane. Two hours of CPE credit or 1.75 CLE hours available. Cost: $45 per person with pre-payment or pre-reservation; $55 walk-in. Registration: http://tiny.cc/FebTaxForum.

How to Win Small Business Innovative Research and Technology Transfer Awards:

10 a.m.-noon, UH Bauer College SBDC, 2302 Fannin, Suite 200. Cost: Free. Information: www.sbdc.uh.edu.

Friday

Create and Monitor Your Online Marketing:

Hosted by SCORE Houston. 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., The Kingdom Builders' Center, 6011 W. Orem. Registration: www.houston.score.org.

Franchising:

Hosted by SCORE Houston. 1-3 p.m., Northwest Branch Library, 11355 Regency Green Drive, Cypress. Registration: www.houston.score.org.

Building a Culture With Intent:

Hot Topics in HR event hosted by Murray Resources. 7:30-9:30 a.m., The Junior League of Houston, 1811 Briar Oaks Lane. Cost: $30-$50. Information: : 713-935-0009.

Table for Ten - Menu, Management and Marketing for Restaurants:

11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., UH Bauer College SBDC, 2302 Fannin, Suite 200. Cost: $49. Information: www.sbdc.uh.edu.

Saturday

Small Business Tax Workshop and Business Owner's Responsibilities:

Hosted by SCORE Houston. 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Houston Community College-Alief/Hayes Campus, 2811 Hayes Road, Room 319/320. Registration: www.houston.score.org.

Cash Management:

Hosted by SCORE Houston. 10:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m., Friendswood Library, 416 South Friendswood Drive, Friendswood. Registration: www.houston.score.org.

Do you have an Effective Board of Directors and Bylaws?

Hosted by SCORE Houston. 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Mission Bend Library, 8421 Addicks Clodine. Registration: www.houston.score.org.

Montrose Walking Tour:

Hosted by Architecture Center Houston. 10 a.m.-noon, Menil Bookstore, 1520 Sul Ross. Cost: $10. Information: aiahouston.org/tours.

katherine.feser@chron.com

twitter.com/kfeser
Baker Botts, one of the oldest, largest and most successful corporate law firms in Houston history, has chosen its first non-Texas-based partner as its next leader - a signal that many Baker Botts leaders believe that the firms future growth will take place outside the Lone Star State.

Last week, Baker Botts partners elected John Martin, a corporate transactional lawyer based in the firms Palo Alto office, to be its managing partner starting April 1.

A 1984 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, Martin has represented business clients in mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and capital markets for 35 years - all at Baker Botts. For the past five years, he has led the firms growing operations in Silicon Valley.

In an interview with The Texas Lawbook, Martin said the future of Baker Botts is bright, the firm has no plans to merge with a competitor and he has no plans to move to Houston.

I have deep roots in Texas, but I now consider myself a Californian, he said. I dont plan to relocate. I will be living on airplanes visiting with our lawyers and clients, but I have no plan to move.

Martin said that Baker Botts remains strong in Texas, but that the firm is focused heavily on growing in California, New York and London.

Baker Botts currently has 742 lawyers spread out over 14 offices. Exactly half of the legal team - 371 attorneys - is based outside of Texas and 371 have offices in the state. Baker Botts reported $731.8 million in revenues in 2017. The Texas Lawbook estimates that 55 percent of those revenues were generated by lawyers based in Texas.

It says something that 90 percent of the 24 lateral partners weve hired since Jan. 1, 2018, are based outside of Texas, Martin said.

Martin replaces Andrew Baker, who also was a corporate partner in Baker Botts Dallas office when he was elected eight years ago and then moved to Houston to be the firms full-time leader. Baker Botts limits lawyers to serving two four-year terms as managing partner.

Robb Voyles, a long-time partner in Baker Botts litigation section, was widely viewed as the firms next managing partner, but he left Baker Botts in 2014 to be the general counsel of Halliburton.

Born and raised in Dallas, Martin is the first lawyer in his family. He went to college at Baylor University and law school at the University of Texas, which is where he was initially introduced to lawyers at Baker Botts.

During his 35 years at the Houston-based law firm, Martin has specialized in corporate mergers and acquisitions, especially in the technology sector. He was one of the lawyers who helped open the Dallas office and then moved to California in 2013 to help lead the firms operations there.

Despite leading Baker Bottss recruitment efforts, Martin says he is still the target of law firms and headhunters.

I get called pretty frequently, he said. It is definitely a different, more competitive market for talent and clients, but I view the rising competition as a validation of our strength.
Stonelake Capital Partners, a real estate private equity firm with an office in Houston, has received construction financing for a 15-story office tower it has planned on Westheimer along Mid Lane.

The new building -- Park Place Tower -- will have 210,000 square feet of office space and ground-floor retail at 4200 Westheimer Road.
INGLESIDE  A pair of spherical storage tanks located along the Corpus Christi Ship Channel may soon become an alternative hub for exports of propane, butane and other liquefied petroleum gases.

Houston marine terminal operator Moda Midstream is already exporting crude oil from its Ingleside facility, but the company is making multimillion dollar upgrades to use the twin storage tanks to ship propane and butane to customers around the world.

Known in the oil and gas industry as LPGs, propane and butane are byproducts of oil and natural gas extraction and the refining process. The two gases can be compressed into a liquid form at relatively warm temperatures and low pressures, making them easy to store and transport. They are typically stored outdoors in giant spherical or pill-shaped tanks.

Related: Moda Midstream kicks off second round of expansion at Ingleside terminal

Along with the bounty of oil and natural gas, the shale revolution has produced record volumes of liquefied petroleum gases, which include propane and butane, as well as ethane, a feedstock for petrochemicals and plastics.

Moda Midstream is aiming to turn its Ingleside complex into an alternative to Mont Belvieu, the national hub for LPGs located about 30 miles east of Houston. Prices for propane and butane are set based whats called the Mont Belvieu index.

Propane is currently trading at around 68 cents per gallon and butane is trading just below 83 cents per gallon but prices for both are higher overseas. The two gases are replacing wood, coal and animal dung as sources for cooking and heating in the developing world while petrochemical plants in Asia and Europe are them using as feedstocks.

The United States exported more than 1.2 million barrels of LPGs per day in 2017, according to the U.S. Energy Department. A majority of the nations LPG exports come from Mont Belvieu, but Moda is hoping to make inroads into those numbers.

A lot of customers that weve talked to would like to have an alternative area besides Mount Belvieu for LPG operations, said Moda Midstream CEO Bo McCall

On HoustonChronicle.com: For Mont Belvieu, geology rather than geography is destiny

Moda said it is in discussions with multiple companies to buy LPGs stored at the Ingleside facility. The two above-ground spheres each store 40,000 barrels of LPGs but with more capacity coming to the Coastal Bend over the next two years, the company has room to expand.

San Antonio pipeline operator EPIC Midstream Holdings is building a pipeline that is expected to begin moving petroleum gases from the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico to the Corpus Christi area in early 2020.

EPIC operates a processing plant, called a fractionator, in Robstown, about 35 miles from Ingleside. It will process the raw gas and separate it into products such as ethane, propane, and butane for export or use in local petrochemical plants. McCall said those gases can easily be shipped to Modas Ingleside facility for export.

With all the big new petrochemical plants that have been announced and being constructed in the Coastal Bend expected to consume a lot of the ethane  the propanes, the butanes and the heavier products will have to go to the water, McCall said. Were trying to position ourselves for that.
James Durbin / For the Chronicle / For the Chronicle

James Durbin / For the Chronicle / For the Chronicle

Austin oilfield data company Drillinginfo has rolled out a cell phone-friendly version of a service that is being touted as oilfield version of Zillow.

Buyers and sellers of oil leases can now use the company's "DI Dealmaker Suite" on their smartphones to check how much neighboring leases were bought and sold for.

Drillinginfo debuted the upgrades to the service during the North American Prospect Expo, or NAPE, in downtown Houston this week.

"If you look at what Zillow did for real estate, it's basically democratizing data," Drillinginfo Senior Vice President Colin Westmoreland told the Houston Chronicle. "You instantly have all access to all comparables when you try to buy or sell something."

OILFIELD 2.0: Drillinginfo launches platform to track M&A deals

Using technology that Drillinginfo acquired when it bought competitors PLS and 1Derrick in June 2018, Dealmaker offers prices and analysis based by scouring information obtained from county court filings, property records, drilling permits, drilling rig locations, production data, investor presentations, press releases and other online sources.

"All of these things tied in with production data are important but it's not as valuable until you have the context of it all in one place," Westmoreland said.

Dealmaker improves upon the company's Executive Deal Summary platform, which debuted in December to track oilfield merger and acquisition deals. Originally a desktop computer product, Westmoreland said users wanted a cell-phone friendly version and the company obliged.

FUEL FIX: Get energy news headlines in your inbox

Similar to Zillow and other similar mobile apps, developers at Drillinginfo gave users of Dealmaker the ability to receive cell phone push notifications for oil leases bought or sold in a geographical area that they select.

Dealmaker even goes one step further by allowing users to look at the public records and other source materials to determine its estimated prices and analysis.

"Whether or not your're a mineral owner or the CEO of a major oil and gas company, these are things that you're going to want to know," Westmoreland said.

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Must-see exhibitions of 2019  Europe

Van Goghs sunflowers in Amsterdam, Eliasson and Sherman in London, contemporary photography in Arles  our updated guide to the best shows in Europe this summer and beyond

1

Van Gogh and Britain Tate Britain , London, until 11 August 2019 Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) arrived in London in his early 20s, and his three-year stay in the capital was to have a profound and lasting impact on his life. Van Gogh and Britain will reveal how the young Dutchman, alone in London, became immersed in British culture  even becoming a fan of Charles Dickens. The show also features British artists who had an affinity with the brilliant but troubled genius, including Francis Bacon and David Bomberg.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Prisoners Exercising, 1890. Oil paint on canvas. 800 x 640 mm  The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

Dont miss Prisoners Exercising (1890). Van Gogh was horrified by the poverty he encountered in England. This picture is based on a print of Newgate jail which inspired him to commit to making art for the people.

2

Van Gogh and Sunflowers

until 1 September Van Gogh Museum , Amsterdam,until 1 September Van Goghs Sunflowers are now among the most familiar images in the art universe, and this exhibition examines their gestation and what they reveal about the painters working methods and ambitions. There are 23 works on display, most of them related to the period in the Yellow House in Arles, when he painted the flowers for his housemate Paul Gauguin.

Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1889

Dont missSunflowers (1889). The ground and paint layers of Van Goghs celebrated still life are stable but extremely sensitive to vibrations caused by movement and changes in humidity and temperature. For that reason, the Van Gogh Museums most famous painting is no longer allowed to travel  you have to travel to it. But its worth it.

3

Cindy Sherman

until 15 September 2019 National Portrait Gallery , London,until 15 September 2019 In her obsession with the gulf between appearance and reality, between truth and illusion, Cindy Sherman can stake a claim to be the most prescient artist of the 20th century. All the concerns she has been examining since the beginning of her career have become more pressing as the years have passed. Thats why this retrospective is likely to be one of the most telling and signifcant shows of the year. Bringing together more than 150 works spanning 40 years, it includes her groundbreaking series Untitled Film Stills, in which she photographs herself in a range of costumes, hairstyles and settings that captured the look of 1950s and 1960s Hollywood, and which has never before been seen in the UK.

Cindy Sherman, Untitled #92, 1981. Courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures, New York

Dont missUntitled #92 (1981). In this photograph, one of the most affecting in the artist's oeuvre, Sherman captures herself in a moment of cinematic distress. Backed into a corner, her fingers and body crisped, she stares blankly into the camera. With the fate of the girl unknown, Untitled #92 presents a very real and heightened sense of danger and suspense.



4

Fra Angelico and the Rise of the Florentine Renaissance

until 15 September 2019 The Prado, Madrid,until 15 September 2019 An artist with a deep and honest faith, Fra Angelico (1395-1455) painted religious subjects that were designed to encourage his fellow brethren in prayer. This exhibition examines the beginnings of the Florentine Renaissance in the 1420s, with this pious ascetic taking centre stage.

The Virgin of the Pomegranate, c. 1426. Tempera on panel. 83 x 59 cm. The Prado, Madrid

Dont miss The Virgin of the Pomegranate (circa 1426), recently acquired from the Duke of Alba by The Prado for 18,000,000. It was painted during a period in Fra Angelicos life when he was experimenting with light and space. The Pomegranate has a double symbolism  in the hands of the Madonna it refers to her chastity, while by touching it the Christ child prefigures his own death and resurrection.

5

Balenciaga and Spanish Painting

until 22 September Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza , Madrid,until 22 September This fabulous show looks at the artistic influences on Cristobal Balenciaga, the fashion designer described by Christian Dior as the master of us all. His designs were characterised by their stark, striking silhouettes, and the contention of this exhibition is that they were influenced by the simple, minimalist lines of religious habits. Balenciaga constantly studied the history of art and made use of the imagery he found there  from the flounce on a flamenco dancers dress to the black-on-black aesthetic of Habsburg court dress. The show brings together some of his most iconic and important creations  and a carefully selected group of paintings. Sumptuous doesnt begin to describe it.

Rodrigo de Villandrando, Isabel de Borbon wife of Philip IV, c. 1620

Dont miss Isabel de Borbon, wife of Philip IV (circa 1620). In this exquisite portrait by Rodrigo de Villandrando, the king of Spains wife wears a stiff, intricately embroidered court dress that emphasises her royal status. Although Spanish in cut, the gold brocade and white silk are in keeping with the style of the Portuguese court, which was then under Spanish rule.

6

Bartolome Bermejo: Master of Spanish Renaissance

until 29 September National Gallery , London,until 29 September There are huge blockbusters, and then there are smaller exhibitions of incredible beauty. This show of the work of Bartolome Bermejo, who lived from around 1440 to 1501, falls into the latter category. It includes six loans that have never been seen outside Spain, including two of Bermejos masterpieces: the Madonna of Montserrat and Piedad Despla, named after the man who commissioned it, the archdeacon of Barcelona Cathedral.

Bartolome Bermejo, St Michael Triumphant over the Devil with the Donor Antoni Joan, 1468. Oil and gold on panel. 179.7 x 81.9 cm. The National Gallery, London (NG6553) The National Gallery, London

Dont miss St Michael Triumphant over the Devil (1468), newly restored to all its former glory. This striking portrait reveals  as does the show as a whole  how a combination of technical skill and imaginative invention made Bermejo one of the great painters of his age.

7

Velazquez, Rembrandt, Vermeer: Parallel Visions

until 29 September Museo del Prado , Madrid,until 29 September This show of late 16th- and early 17th-century Masters is a contemplative study, part of a research project with the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which is responsible for some of the loans. Its aim is to reflect on the pictorial traditions of Spain and the Low Countries, two nations that were almost permanently at war during this period. Art history suggests that their traditions are essentially different; the show attempts to find parallels between them and qualities they share. What they definitely have in common is a plethora of Masters making art that worms its way into your brain: not only the men listed in the title, but also Ribera, Hals and others. Unmissable.

Johannes Vermeer, View of houses in Delft. c. 1658 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. Gift of H.W.A. Deterding, London

Dont missView of Houses in Delft (c. 1658). Known as The Little Street, this composition by Golden Age Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer is one of only two surviving outdoor vistas by the artist, better known for his intimate domestic scenes.

8

Rebecca Horn: Theatre of Metamorphoses

until 13 January 2020 Centre Pompidou Metz , Metz,until 13 January 2020 Throughout her provocative career, the German artist Rebecca Horn has explored the antagonistic contradictions that underlie our lives: subject and object, body and machine, human and animal, desire and violence. This exhibition looks back over five decades to examine the role of transformation in her work. A sister show, Body Fantasies at the Museum Tinguely in Basel (5 June-22 September), examines her use of machines and kinetic structures, but this one concentrates on the way that she employs materials and fetish objects such as fans, feathers and stilettos, and subjects them to constant change.

Achim Thode, Rebecca Horn, Unicorn, 1970

Dont miss Unicorn (1970), one of Horns first sculptures designed to be worn by a naked female performer. Made from a series of vertical and horizontal fabric straps and a canonical horn, Unicorn serves as a binding bodice that mediates on the fragility and vulnerability of the human body.

9

Les Rencontres d'Arles 2019

1 July to 22 September Various locations , Arles,1 July to 22 September Since 1970, Arles has been staging a joyful and hugely popular photography festival. This years incarnation includes a celebration of its 50th birthday, a focus on young and emerging talent, and exhibitions that examine how contemporary photography deals with the body (under the heading My Body is a Weapon), the environment and its own history. There will also be music, talks, events and hopefully a lot of sunshine.

Alys Tomlinson, Sans titre, serie Vera, 2018, on show in Arles

Dont miss Sans titre (2018). This black and white image, a central work in British photographer Alys Tomlinsons Ex-Voto series, explores the life and work of Vera, an Orthodox Christian nun living in Belarus.

10

Olafur Eliasson: In Real Life

11 July to 5 January 2020 Tate Modern , London,11 July to 5 January 2020 In any vote on the most popular of Tate Moderns Turbine Hall commissions, Olafur Eliassons The Weather Project would come top. His great yellow sun was an experience that everyone could share and think about, and that was absolutely his intention. This exhibition of more than 30 works from three decades, from installations to new paintings and sculptures, is the most comprehensive UK survey of his work to date. It aims to explore key themes, from his early investigations into space, motion and natural phenomena (such as Moss wall (1994), featuring lichen from his native Iceland) to his continuing experiments with light, colour and perception, such as Stardust particle (2014).

Olafur Eliasson, Beauty, 1993. Installation view at Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2015 Photo: Anders Sune Berg. Courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles  1993 Olafur Eliasson

Dont miss Beauty (1993). This immersive installation, which is made from a punctured hose that sprays fine mist, creates an illusion of a rainbow when a bright light shines on it.

11

Degas at the Opera

24 September to 19 January 2020 Musee dOrsay , Paris,24 September to 19 January 2020 To be a social butterfly in Paris in the late 19th century required entry to the Paris Opera  the fin-de-siecle equivalent to Studio 54  where the brilliance of the audience was every bit as crucial as the performances on stage. As this exhibition reveals, it took the Impressionist painter Edgar Degas (1834-1917) years to inveigle his way backstage. Here, away from the tension and the drama of the spectacle, he captured those quiet, private moments behind the curtain, where the real business of living takes place.

Dont miss The Orchestra at the Opera (circa 1870), a radical composition painted from the viewpoint of the audience, capturing the musicians in the pit and the dancers on stage.

12

Gauguin Portraits

7 October to 26 January 2020 National Gallery , London,7 October to 26 January 2020 Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) saw himself as a displaced hero, an outsider, and painted himself accordingly. This hotly anticipated show of 50 portraits focuses on the French geniuss Symbolist period, which ran from 1880 to his death in the Marquesa Islands in 1903, and reveals that his gift for self-invention was of a piece with his paintings and sculpture. Bullish, saintly, angry, wronged, he personified them all across canvases, yet perhaps the most touching of pictures will be those of his friends and children, the ones he left behind in his quest for self-fulfilment.

Self-Portrait Dedicated to Carriere, Paul Gauguin, 1888 or 1889. Oil on canvas, 46.5 x 38.6 cm. Collection of Mr and Mrs Paul Mellon  National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Dont miss Self-Portrait Dedicated to Carriere (1888 or 1889). Gauguins sense of himself was multiple and various; in this portrait he is the the hero of his own life.

13

Leonardo da Vinci

24 October to 24 February 2020



The Louvre , Paris,24 October to 24 February 2020 At the time of Leonardo da Vincis death in 1519, Italys Renaissance superman was working as a court painter for the king of France, Francois I, and as a result, the Louvre holds almost a third of his pictures. To mark the 500-year anniversary of Leonardos death, the museum has brought together as many paintings as possible attributed to the Florentine genius, together with notebooks of drawings.

Dont miss his notebooks (1478-1518). Leonardo had a life-long fascination with engineering, and even produced blueprints for weapons of mass destruction. Codex Atlanticus is a collection of drawings and notes created between 1478 and 1518 that reveal his mechanical wizardry.

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14

Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits Royal Academy of Arts, London,

27 October to 26 January 2020 27 October to 26 January 2020 Lucian Freud (1922-2011) painted flesh like no other. By focusing on the small inconsistencies of skin tone, he lingered on the aspects we took for granted, like a reddened hand against a white torso or the hardened skin on the sole of a foot. In a world first, the Royal Academy has brought together more than 50 self-portraits in which the modern British master turned his unflinching eye on himself.

Lucian Freud, Reflection, (Self-portrait), 1985. Oil on canvas. 56.2 x 51.2 cm. Private collection, on loan to the Irish Museum of Modern Art  The Lucian Freud Archive / Bridgeman Images
Henry Geldzahler: Curator, influencer, cultural svengali

Henry Geldzahler was once described as the most powerful and controversial art curator alive. As an important David Hockney double portrait of the curator and his partner comes up for auction, we recall his radical impact on New Yorks arts scene

Its hard to think of many figures more influential on New Yorks cultural scene in the second half of the 20th century than Henry Geldzahler. During an 18-year spell at the Metropolitan Museum of Art he was Curator of American Art and then Contemporary Art, before serving as Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for New York City between 1977 and 1982 under Mayor Edward I. Koch. According to The New Yorker magazines longstanding art critic Calvin Tomkins, If you were involved in any way in the [cultural] world, you met Henry. David Hockney first met Geldzahler on a trip to New York in the mid-Sixties, and the pair would become firm friends. In one of his greatest works  the double portrait Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, which is being offered from The Barney A. Ebsworth Collection at Christies in London on 6 March  the British artist painted Geldzahler with his then partner in their 7th Avenue apartment. There are lots of pictures of Henry, Hockney said recently. He didnt have many mirrors in his home. He knew what he looked like just by asking people to make portraits of him. Frank Stella, Alice Neel and the sculptor George Segal are among the other artists who have depicted Geldzahler, who was also the subject of a 90-minute film by Andy Warhol, Henry Geldzahler, in which he can be seen, close up, silently smoking a cigar. Everyone thought of him as their friend, Stella said after Geldzahlers death in 1994 aged 59. The thing about Henry was that he lived among us. Read more about Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott (1969) by David Hockney

The son of a diamond broker, Henry Geldzahler was born in the Belgian city of Antwerp in 1935. The family fled to the United States in 1940, the year of the Nazi occupation of Belgium. Raised in New York, Geldzahler studied art history at Yale and then Harvard before joining the Met. New York at the time had established itself as the unquestionable centre of the art world, wresting that status away from Paris thanks, above all, to the rise of the Abstract Expressionists. In the early 1960s, the city was the crucible for another major movement  Pop Art  and Geldzahler was at the absolute heart of it. He admitted to speaking to Andy Warhol every day on the phone, often for hours, and perhaps a good way to think of him is as a kind of embedded curator. (Geldzahler even took part in Claus Oldenburgs Happenings, for one of them lying on a rubber dinghy in a swimming pool dressed in a terry-cloth robe.) Randall Bourscheidt, who appeared opposite Nico in Warhols 1966 film The Closet, remembers Geldzahler regularly turning up for lunch at The Factory. He and Andy were good friends, and that was the unusual thing about Henry, he says. He went out of his way to hang out with artists, 24/7. He immersed himself in the scene, which was really a novel thing to do at the time. Museum curators were meant to liaise with patrons, not artists.

Henry Geldzahler photographed in New York in 1972. Photo: Arnold Newman/Getty Images. Artwork:  2019 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by DACS, London

This novel approach would bear fruit in 1969 with one of the landmark exhibitions of the entire 20th century, New York Sculpture & Painting: 1940-1970 at the Metropolitan Museum. Curated by Geldzahler, it was a giant affair featuring 408 works in 35 galleries, by 43 artists who in recent decades had made his city artistically great. They ranged from Arshile Gorky, Jackson Pollock, Stella and David Smith to Jasper Johns, Mark Rothko, Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg. My guiding principles in deciding which artists to include in the exhibition have been the extent to which their work has commanded critical attention or significantly deflected the course of recent art, Geldzahler explained in the press release announcing the show. These deflectors, as they may be called, are those artists who have been crucial in redirecting the history of painting and sculpture in the past three decades. In the accompanying catalogue, Geldzahler wrote that not even at the height of the High Renaissance, Impressionism or Cubism has anything like this number of artists seemed so crucial to the development of the art of their time. We are celebrating a fortunate era of plenitude. Convinced this show was truly special, he held it in the Mets second-floor galleries, clearing out all the Old Master paintings by European artists that usually hung there. It proved a hit with visitors and critics alike, soon becoming known  widely and simply  as Henry's Show.

Henry Geldzahler (second right) shows visitors around New York Sculpture & Painting: 1940-1970, the landmark exhibition he curated at the Metropolitan Museum in 1969. Photograph:  Bruce Davidson / Magnum Photos. Image  2019 The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence. Artwork:  Franz Kline, DACS 2019

According to Stella (again speaking in 1994), the nickname was apt: That was as important a show as there has ever been in New York, a high watermark, and Henry was solely responsible. I mean, there was support for it at the Met, but Henry carried it all out on his own. In truth, a number of conservative New Yorkers, many of them inside his own museum, objected that the Metropolitan  celebrating its centenary that year  was an august institution meant for work by historic greats; that this was a storming of the citadel; and that New York had numerous other venues to show contemporary pieces. In an interview in 1993, Geldzahler recalled the The New York Times art critic Hilton Kramer attacking the show on even more occasions than his paper covered the Vietnam War. As Calvin Tomkins remembers it, however, such figures were in the minority. New York Sculpture & Painting: 1940-1970 represented an enormously exciting moment, he says, a triumph of American art. Geldzahler was just 34 at the time, a dynamic, charismatic, young man who swiftly became the subject of much publicity. New York magazine dubbed him the most powerful and controversial art curator alive. In the 1970s, he supplemented his duties at the Met with a role at the National Endowment for the Arts (a US government agency supporting cultural activity nationwide). As its visual arts director, his initiatives included the introduction of grants for museums to buy the work of living, American artists.

Even the most radical new art is continuous with and dependent upon tradition  Henry Geldzahler

In 1977, he left the Metropolitan Museum completely, becoming head of New York Citys culture department. There, he reconnected with Randall Bourscheidt, who served as his deputy and remembers him as an inspiring boss but also a maddening one. He placed great confidence in his team, entrusting us to make his many plans a reality, Bourscheidt explains, but lets just say he wasnt at his desk much. Henry felt his job was to be out and about, meeting cultural players across the city. Theres no doubt, however, that, in his five years as commissioner, New York benefited greatly. Among his successes was overseeing a doubling of the citys cultural budget (to $42 million), making it the highest of any city or state in the US. He also proved adept at negotiating with private corporations and foundations to give generously to cultural causes  and this at a time when New York was still recovering from a fiscal crisis in 1975 that had left it almost bankrupt.

Geldzahlers credits include the opening of both Socrates Sculpture Park and the Isamo Noguchi Museum, as well as the Lila Acheson Wallace wing, devoted to modern and contemporary art, at the Metropolitan Museum; the renovation and extension of Carnegie Hall; and the ratification of long-term, financial support for institutions such as New York State Theater at Lincoln Center. Then, one morning in October 1982, Geldzahler walked into Mayor Kochs office, with a bunch of flowers in one hand and his resignation letter in the other. Five years in city politics was enough, he felt. He was to spend the rest of his life working as an independent writer and curator  and while not the constant fixture at galleries and studios he had been in the Sixties, he still gave support to a wave of new artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Francesco Clemente. Geldzahler always appreciated that art was a continuum, that it doesnt  in his words  get sliced into decades like salami. He wrote in the catalogue for New York Sculpture & Painting: 1940-1970 that even the most radical new art is continuous with and dependent upon tradition. And in that sense, showing contemporary pieces in the Metropolitan wasnt, for him, an act of provocation but of logic.

People took notice of what Henry said and did  over a prolonged period of time  Vincent Fremont

According to Vincent Fremont, who managed Warhols Factory studio for many years, what most stood out about Geldzahler was his warm and ready wit. You really had to be quick to keep up with him. An oft-told story comes from during his heyday at the Met, when Geldzahler took a phone call from the switchboard. This simply has to stop, an irate operator told him. Two of every three calls to this museum are for you. My dear, Geldzahler replied, can I help it if Im the only curator here whose artists are still alive? Some have suggested he also influenced artists work. Warhol himself once said, Henry gave me all of my ideas. That, of course, was an exaggeration, but Geldzahler did take credit for inspiring the Pop Art star's Flowers paintings following a taxi ride in 1965, during which he showed Warhol a two-page magazine advert featuring colourful blooms.

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'What are they afraid of?' Archbishop of York challenges Government over One Yorkshire devolution snub

The Archbishop of York has questioned the decision by Communities Secretary James Brokenshire to turn down the One Yorkshire devolution deal.

The One Yorkshire plan, which would have seen the transfer of some powers from Whitehall to an elected mayor, was rejected despite having the backing of 18 out of the region's 20 local councils.

Defending the decision, Mr Brokenshire told local councils that the plan did 'not meet our devolution criteria' but added that he was 'prepared to begin discussions about a different, localist approach to devolution in Yorkshire'.

In an apparent challenge to Mr Brokenshire to reconsider, Archbishop John Sentamu said on Twitter: 'He should listen to Yorkshire's united voice!'

'Yorkshire people will stand firm v.those who would divide us [SIC]. What are they afraid of?Better together!' he tweeted from Kerala, India, where is he is currently attending the Mar Thoma Convention.

News of Ministers snub to One Yorkshire bid has reached me in India.He should listen to Yorkshires united voice!I am here in Kerala speaking at Mar Thoma Convention in Maramon.Yorkshire people will stand firm v.those who would divide us. What are they afraid of?Better together!  John Sentamu (@JohnSentamu) February 13, 2019

His tweets were welcomed by the Yorkshire Post which wrote in an editorial that his 'steadfast support is reassuring after this week's setback'.

'One Yorkshire proponents are right to follow Dr Sentamu's lead. Questions about this region's future governance and growth will remain long after Mr Brokenshire has left office and his opposition, some might say obstinacy, should not be allowed to become insurmountable when the future of over five million people is at stake,' the newspaper wrote.

'Yet, rather than policy-making by press release, the means by which the Communities Secretary announced his latest decision, he should accept One Yorkshire's invitation for personal dialogue. After all, a way forward can only be found once the answer to the Archbishop's question is clearer  just what are Ministers afraid of?'

In another response, the Yorkshire Post said that One Yorkshire supporters would not give up on the 'holy grail' of devolution.

'The stakes could not be higher, with Manchester, Liverpool and the Tees Valley all using devolved powers handed down from government to tackle issues of regeneration, health and economic growth as Yorkshire looks on from the sidelines,' it said.
'The 21': The story of the Coptic Christian martyrs

Exactly four years ago, on a beach in Libya on February 15, 2015, 21 orange-clad men were beheaded by fighters of Islamic State.

The actual moment of death is missing from the video, perhaps because it is too amateurish and messy to fit the careful choreography of the atrocity. But it's still a moment that made it utterly clear to the world that this was an evil with which there could be no compromise.

Twenty of the men were Coptic Christians from Egypt, all from the same small area and identifiable by the small crosses tattooed at the base of their thumbs. The 21st, Matthew, was from West Africa, perhaps Ghana. No tattoo for him, and his captors are said to have told him to go. However, he said 'I am a Christian' and chose to share the others' fate. Like them, his demeanour facing death was extraordinarily peaceful. It is this evident willingness to die, with the last whisper of 'Ya Rabbi Yassou!'  'O my Lord Jesus!' that has led to them being hailed as martyrs by the Coptic Church.

Their story is told in a fine account by novelist Martin Mosebach, whose book The 21: A Journey into the Land of the Coptic Martyrs is an extraordinary exploration of the spirituality that allowed these 'ordinary men'  and this ordinariness is a recurring theme in the book  to rise to such a height.

In February 2017, Mosebach travelled to Upper Egypt to meet the families of the 21 and other people who knew them. Apart from Matthew, they were Coptic migrant workers from Egypt, who came from poor farming families and had travelled to Libya to find better paid work. In Libya, they had been sleeping side by side on the floor in a large room, so they could save more money to send home to their families. Some of them could read but probably not write  others were illiterate.

Mosebach explores their lives and homes, and the landscape of their faith. Their black and white passport photographs punctuate the pages. He paints a picture of a people who for the last 1,400 years, since the Arab Muslim invasion, have been a minority, often oppressed and downtrodden. But their outsider status has helped preserve their greatest treasure: their Christian faith, which also preserves them in the face of all their trials.

This faith is profound and personal, and not only among 'professional' Christians, the priests and monks. Back to 'ordinariness': Mosebach interviews a bishop who asks him why he is so curious about the martyrs. 'This is not a Western church in a Western society. We are the Church of Martyrs. I take no special risk when I say that not a single Copt in Upper Egypt would betray the faith.'

As Mosebach says: 'Well, if they were indeed your average young men, then the bar for what was average had been set pretty high.'

And this from a young woman: 'They were ready to die, and even longed to. We all do! We're all ready and yearning because we all want to vouch for Christ.'

Mosebach's journey, as a German traditional Roman Catholic into the faith that could make martydom routine, is fascinating; he has long been interested in Oriental Christianity. Roman Catholicism, he tells Christian Today, is in a 'deep crisis'. 'There is a complete incapacity to find a real religious language; it is shrinking, losing influence.' In this 'martyrdom of illiterate young people', he says, we are reminded that 'the real essential of Christianity is not to talk about the problems of the world, but to witness to the resurrection'.

'I found that seeing real martyrs is much more important than what any pope or bishop or theologian may quote or say in everyday media,' he says. 'It was a return for me to the real important thing.'

Reflecting on the young girl who said she was ready to die for her faith, he suggests Coptic Christians may have a different concept of 'truth'. 'In the Western world we have had a particular problem in the last 200 years with the word "truth". It's something embarrassing. We are sceptical, we doubt and we think there are so many kinds of truth, and what is for one person the truth is for the next a lie, or meaningless, or that every age has its own truth. But Jesus said, he is the truth. The words of Jesus are big rocks on the way of our thinking. You cannot diminish them.'

The Coptic Church  with its 1,400-year history unruptured by Reformations and schisms  has preserved this notion of truth unsullied. Even its liturgy is mainly musical and visual: it has no place for the argumentative and intellectual sermon that characterises Western devotion. Consequently, says Mosebach, Coptic Christianity is a spiritual time capsule, which has preserved for the Western church an image of the early church. The martyrdoms under the Emperor Diocletian and the martyrdoms on that beach in Libya are not different in kind: Copts know how to die, because they remember. As Mosebach says in his book: 'In their isolation, the Copts of Upper Egypt experience the events of the early church as if they had only happened yesterday, and this helps them preserve the simple core of the Christian message.'

What is the future for Copts in Egypt? There are regular outbreaks of violence against them. Many are very poor. They are used to being marginalised; the Egyptian government will not even count them, because there are probably more of them than they think. His last interlocutor, a hotelier, asked what can be learned from all this, says: 'Whatever you do, don't belong to a minority! That's what can be learned!'

But Copts are used to being a minority, and they are not going anywhere.

Mosebach has a novelist's insight and way with words. The 21, his first major non-fiction work, is also a fine piece of journalism. It helps us to understand, if not the ferocity of the killers, the quiet heroism  the ordinary heroism, perhaps  of the martyrs.

And as he says, reflecting on the explosive mood of Egypt today: 'Meanwhile, simply by renouncing revenge and retribution, the invisible army of martyrs grows, ever greater and ever more powerful.'

'The 21: A Journey into the Land of the Coptic Martyrs' is published in the UK by Plough Publishing, 18.99.

Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
Tajik authorities confiscate, burn 5,000 Baptist calendars

Customs authorities in Tajikistan have confirmed they have confiscated and burned 5,000 Christian calendars ordered by a Baptist church in the Central Asian country.

The calendars were confiscated at Dushanbe International Airport in December and later burned, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Rahmonali Rahimzoda, who heads the enforcement branch of the Customs Service, said the calendars contained 'propaganda of an alien religion'.

'Following the conclusion of linguistic experts in the Culture Ministry that found elements of propaganda of an alien faith, the calendars were confiscated,' he said.

'One can freely enter that religious group, but it is illegal to bring religious literature into this country without special approval from the Culture Ministry.'

Representatives of Tajikistan's Church of Evangelic Christian Baptists said the calendars were 'illegally' confiscated. They said their church was ordered to pay a fine of 4,000 somonis, or about $420.

There are only around 200 registered Baptists in Tajikistan and church representatives said authorities told them the calendars were also confiscated because of their quantity, which implied they were to be used for evangelism.

Tajikistan is a 90 per cent Muslim country and propagating other faiths is forbidden.

The Baptist church was established in Tajikistan in 1929 by believers who were exiled from Russia.

In 2004, unknown assailants shot dead

A Baptist pastor, Sergei Bessarab, was shot dead in Dushanbe in 2004. No one has ever been arrested.
Split grows over same-sex blessings in Anglican Church in New Zealand

The decision by the Anglican Church in New Zealand to allow blessings for same-sex relationships has led to a widening rift with those who believe in the traditional position on sexuality.

The Synod of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia (ACNZP) passed a resolution last year stating that although there was no change to its teaching on the nature of marriage 'as between a man and a woman', vicars could request permission from their bishops to hold a 'non-formulary service' to bless a same-sex relationship.

That move has disappointed some vicars who are choosing to break away and start new churches instead of remain in a Church that they feel has strayed from the Bible.

The latest vicar to go is Andrew Allen-Johns, who stepped down from AnglicanLife Rangiora in Christchurch to lead a completely new church outside of the ACNZP.

Anchor Charismatic Anglican Church, of which he is senior pastor, has just started holding services this month. His new church is getting off the ground just as the first same-sex blessings in Canterbury - the region in which Christchurch sits - are starting to take place.

In May 2019, the church plans to apply for affiliation with the Extra Provincial Diocese which is being formed by those who have left the Anglican denomination over the issue of same-sex blessings. Under the Extra Provincial Diocese, the churches will be faithfully Anglican and yet distinct from the Province.

In a letter to his former parish, Allen-Johns said his vision for Anchor was for a 'new church designed to be millennial-friendly, more intently focussed on evangelism and making disciples'.

'I now view the disruption this church is going through over samesex relationships as a major opportunity to strengthen the church for its mission in the next few decades,' he said.

'For me to formally bless such relationships is to announce a blessing on something that I don't believe that God blesses, furthermore, it would be irresponsible and unloving to do so when there is the risk that the behaviour could lead to exclusion from the Kingdom of God.

'I will have to give an account before the throne of God on how I have taught and pastored people under my spiritual care, and thus, it will not surprise you that this is a matter of conscience.'

In some cases it is not vicars who have left but entire parishes. In Christchurch alone, three have decided to leave the ACNZP - St Stephens in Shirley, St John in Latimer Square and Christchurch South.

St Stephens minister Jay Behan, who is also chair of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans in New Zeland, is also planning for his church to be part of the newly formed Extra Provincial Diocese.

He has received news of the first same-sex blessing in Canterbury with 'sadness'.

'This is what the decision allows and it is what Peter [Carrell, Bishop of Canterbury] promised he would do before his election as bishop,' he said.

'It is not unexpected, but I have a sadness. This continues to be a really difficult issue for the church to wrestle with and it is one that is painful for all involved.'
Quarter of Americans think God wanted Donald Trump to become president

Sarah Sanders was the subject of some derision when she shared her belief that God 'wanted Donald Trump to become president'. But it clear she's not the only one.

A new poll by Fox News reveals that a quarter of registered voters in the US share the same conviction and not surprisingly, that figure increases significantly among white evangelicals to over half (55 per cent).

Republicans are also far more likely to believe that Trump was God's pick for the White House (45 per cent), even among female Republicans (49 per cent).

Similarly, 42 per cent of male Republicans hold the same view as do 40 per cent of voters who describe themselves as conservative.

By contrast, only nine per cent of Democrats agreed that God wanted Donald Trump to become president. Those who described themselves as liberal also overwhelming rejected the idea, with 85 per cent disagreeing.

Trump has enjoyed strong support from white evangelicals throughout his presidency. After his surprise victory in 2016, evangelist Franklin Graham declared, 'God showed up.'

One of his fiercest defenders is Dallas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, who this week blasted anti-Trump Christians as 'spineless morons' who 'cannot admit they were wrong'.

He made the controversial comments in an interview with conservative radio host Todd Starnes while railing against Democrats for rolling back late-term abortion regulations.

'This is an issue of life and death. This is so black and white, so much about good versus evil. I don't get it,' Jeffress said.

'It really goes to the core of who we are as a country and what kind of a country we have in the future, and if we can't get this issue of life right, I just don't know where we're going to go down the road.'

Trump has seized on the late-term abortion debate to firm up support among his pro-life supporter base.

In his State of the Union address last month and again this week at a Texas rally, Trump promised to fight any relaxation of the laws around late-term abortions.

'Millions of innocent beautiful babies are counting on us to protect them. And we will,' he said at the El Paso rally on Tuesday.

Aware of the importance of evangelical support, Trump has repeated promises to work with them and for them, most recently at the National Prayer Breakfast, where he vowed to protect religious freedom and the sanctity of life.

'I will never let you down - never,' he told them.

He made a similar promise on Religious Freedom Day last month, when he said religious freedom was 'under attack'.

'Tragically, attacks on people of faith and their houses of worship have increased in frequency in recent years,' Trump said.

'My Administration is taking action to protect religious liberty and to seek justice against those who seek to abridge it.'
Move over testosterone, another hormone is also vital for making boys  and it doesn't come from the testes

Often the first question parents are asked after the birth of their child is "congratulations, girl or boy?". For parents of one in 2,000 to 4,000 births, however, there is not an easy answer. This is when the baby has "ambiguous" genitalia, where it is not clear which sex they belong to. In baby boys, this was long thought to be caused by problems linked to testosterone  as were more common disorders such as undescended testicles and malformed penises, which respectively occur in 9% and 1% of births.

But now it is clear that the reality is slightly different. According to new research in which I am a co-author, another hormone known as androsterone  which originates in the placenta and foetal adrenal gland  is also vital to the process that turns foetuses in boys. These insights have the potential to make a big difference to how we treat sexual disorders in male babies in future  and are also relevant to the whole debate about male and female identity.

Even small children are aware that men and women usually look different. It is common knowledge that boys become men because the testes of the man produce the "male" hormone testosterone and, in turn, testosterone makes men masculine. We know this thanks to the French endocrinologist Alfred Jost's groundbreaking studies in the early 1950s.

There are several times in boys' lives in which bursts of testosterone play a key role in their development as males. The most well known is of course puberty, in which the testes start making much more testosterone. This makes boys hairier, grows their genitals and makes their voices break.

The other times are the "mini-puberty" that takes place at around three months after birth, which leads certain changes in the testes and brain; and when a boy is still a foetus in the womb, around three months into his mother's pregnancy. While all these bursts of testosterone are probably very important in making a normal male, it is the one in the womb that affects whether the child will be a boy at all. What is now clear is that testosterone and the testes have been hogging the podium when in fact we need to share the honours around.

Testosterone and super-testosterone

Testosterone is part a family of male sex hormones called androgens. To get a normal male, testosterone needs to be turned into another androgen called dihyrotestosterone or DHT, a "super-testosterone" that is five times more potent than its cousin. This conversion is done in the tissue of what will become the penis, along with the other parts of the body that develop male characteristics. The consequences of the process are clear: boys who cannot turn testosterone into DHT are born looking female and only become more obviously male at puberty.

These include the Guevedoces in the Dominican Republic, who, due to a genetic mutation, lack the enzymes to make the DHT conversion. Studying these extraordinary children in the early 1970s led the American researcher Julianne Imperato-McGinley to develop the drug finasteride to treat prostate cancer.

For years, this story was considered complete  masculinisation was due to testosterone and the conversion of testosterone to DHT. Then an Australian zoologist named Marilyn Renfree, in an elegant series of studies in the 2000s, published the first evidence that things may not be that simple. She was actually studying wallabies, since the young in the pouch were easily accessible for experimental purposes and they mimic much of the period of pregnancy in humans and other mammals with placentas. Renfree found that the genitals of the young male wallabies made DHT even without testosterone from their testes. The only reliable conclusion was that they were converting other androgens to DHT.

It became clear that there are two ways to make a "male signal" in a wallaby foetus, both of which are necessary to normal sexual development. The first is by testosterone from the testes. The second is through different androgens that can also be made by other organs in the human, including the foetus's adrenal glands, liver and the placenta. These other processes came to be known as the "backdoor" pathway.

But was the same thing true in humans? It was later shown that it was, by studying male human newborns who were not properly masculinised; they had undescended testes and ambiguous genitals, despite having testes that made testosterone. It turned out they were unable to make the backdoor androgens because they had mutations in the genes of enzymes that were key to the process of the conversion into DHT.

As further evidence that both types of male signal are essential to normal development of human male foetuses, it was also discovered that foetuses whose placentas are not working properly are around twice as likely to be born with undescended testes or with malformed penises  especially if they are also born abnormally small (for their gestational age).

What we have shown

In our research, which also involved the University of Glasgow and French and Swedish collaborators, we have been able to explain why. We measured the levels of different male sex hormones in the blood of male and female foetuses, and were surprised to find that only two androgens were higher in males than females: testosterone and androsterone. The relevance to the placenta is that it is up to 6,000 times heavier than the foetus and it makes large amounts of a hormone called progesterone, which it can convert into androsterone  as can the foetal liver and adrenal glands. The human foetuses' testes have no ability to make this conversion.

We then also showed that the testosterone and adrosterone were converted into DHT in male target tissues like the penis. And not only are both androgens required to masculinise the foetus, there can be abnormalities where levels are lower than normal: for example, a good index of the degree of masculinisation is the distance between the anus and genitals, and this is shorter than usual in newborns with malformed penises.

People affected by disorders of sexual development, including malformed penises, can have a very difficult time and face delicate surgery, hormone therapy and other treatments. Every new piece of information into how masculinisation happens raises the prospect of improving when and how these disorders are detected and treated in future. Early enough diagnosis of reduced placental function related to androgen production in early pregnancy might enable treatment before penis formation is complete, avoiding the need for corrective surgery later in life.

A final take-home message from our study is that while testosterone and androsterone are indeed higher on average in male than female foetuses, the difference is quite small. There is also considerable overlap between the lowest levels in boys and the highest levels in girls. Those in society who are adamant that the only choice for people is a binary choice of man or woman are not basing their views on biological reality. Treasured beliefs about the supremacy of testosterone and the testes in making a man are also obviously flawed.

Paul Fowler, Chair in Translational Medical Services, University of Aberdeen This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Hillsong pastor Brian Houston commends Chris Pratt's 'bold faith in Jesus' after LGBTQ criticism

Pastor Brian Houston praised actor Chris Pratt for his "bold faith in Jesus" as he endured public attacks from actor Ellen Page for going to church.

The Sydney Australia-based Hillsong megachurch, which is attended by a number of celebrities including Justin Bieber, Kevin Durant and Selena Gomez, found itself at the center of a media firestorm after Page publicly accused Pratt's church of being "infamously anti LGBTQ."

After Pratt responded and explained that his personal values represent him, not his church affiliation, a number of outlets  including Variety, CNN, and NBC  reported that the church in question was none other than Hillsong, which has several campuses across the U.S.

But in a series of tweets on Thursday, Houston, who with his wife, Bobbie, founded the megachurch in 1983, attempted to correct and clarify the mainstream media's false reports.

"The weird thing about all the media regarding Chris Pratt and Hillsong Church is that it's built on a falsehood," he tweeted. "I am so grateful for Chris's bold faith in Jesus. But he is not now, and never has been a member of Hillsong Church."

Houston further addressed misinformation reported by the media, including the fact that Hillsong supports gay conversion therapy: "It is completely false that Hillsong Church practice, recommend, or suggest 'gay conversion therapy' to anyone. I have always been a vocal opponent in fact. Again, it's built on a false narrative," he tweeted.

The pastor went on to share a statement from Hillsong Church, which explained that the church "does not preach against anyone or any group" and is "not 'anti-anyone.'"

"We are an inclusive Christian church that loves, values and welcomes all people, regardless of their background, ethnicity, beliefs, values, or personal identity," reads the statement.

"We are also a church that adheres to mainstream biblical values shared by the overwhelming majority of evangelical Christian churches around the world, and millions of Christians across the USA," it continues. "Believing the teachings of the Bible and loving all people  including those who have different perspectives  are not mutually exclusive. In fact this is the very definition of tolerance and inclusiveness."

The statement concludes by declaring that Hillsong, which received backlash in 2015 after its leadership called homosexuality a sin, wants to be known "by who we are for."

"We are for people finding hope in Jesus, we are for people finding love and acceptance, and we are for helping people in any way we can. Our focus is on pointing people to Jesus as 'the way, the truth, and the life.'"

Pratt, along with his fiancee Katherine Schwarzenegger, attends Pastor Chad Veach's Zoe Church in Los Angeles. Following Page's comments, the actor posted a response on his Instagram story explaining how much the church was supportive of him during his divorce from Anna Faris.

"It has recently been suggested that I belong to a church which 'hates a certain group of people' and is 'infamously anti-LGBTQ.' Nothing could be further from the truth," he wrote. "I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone. Despite what the Bible says about divorce, my church community was there for me every stop [sic] of the way, never judging, just gracefully accompanying me on my walk. They helped me tremendously offering love and support. It is what I have seen them do for others on countless occasions regardless of sexual orientation, race or gender."

The "Lego Movie 2" star also shared a Bible verse from John 13:34 in the post.

"Jesus said 'I give you a new command, love one another,'" he wrote. "This is what guides me in my life. He is a God of Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness. Hate has no place in my or this world."

Courtesy of The Christian Post
France to replace 'mother' and 'father' with 'Parent 1' and 'Parent 2' on school forms

School forms in France are set to go gender neutral after the French parliament voted to replace the words 'mother' and 'father' with 'Parent 1' and 'Parent 2'.

The new terms are being introduced following changes to the country's education laws passed by President Emmanuel Macron's majority REM party this week that also make school attendance mandatory for three-year-olds.

The removal of les peres and les meres in official paperwork within the education system is being brought in to stop discrimination against same-sex parents, The Times reports, but it does not have the backing of the education minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer.

'This amendment aims to root in law children's family diversity in administrative forms submitted in school,' said REM minister Valerie Petit.

'We have families who find themselves faced with tick boxes stuck in rather old-fashioned social and family models. For us, this article is a measurement of social equality.'

The changes are yet to be approved by the Senate but the French upper house is not expected to block the measures.

But concerns have been raised and not only by conservatives.

Alexandre Urwicz, president of the Association of Homoparental Families, said it could lead to a hierarchy of parents.

'Who is 'parent number 1' and who is 'parent number 2'?' he said, adding that it might be less controversial to use 'father, mother and legal representative' instead.

Conservative MP Xavier Breton suggested the change did not reflect reality.

'When I hear people say this is an old-fashioned model [to use 'mother' and 'father'], I would remind people that today among unions celebrated, civil or marital, some 95 per cent are man-woman couples,' he said.

Conservative MP Xavier Breton went further in his criticism, saying it was indicative of a 'frightening ideology'.

Laurent Wauquiez, leader of the opposition Republicans party, said 'mother' and 'father' would be reinstated if his party wins the elections.

'Our citizens do not share anything with the political class nor the policies they are imposing,' he said, according to The Times.

Ludovine de la Rochere, leader of the Catholic Demonstration for All, which protested against the introduction of same-sex marriage, called the new terms 'absolutely dehumanising'.

'Children need guidance,' she said. 'This amendment goes towards the disappearance of fundamental references.'

The debate has continued on Twitter where some people mocked the terms 'Parent 1' and 'Parent 2'.
Catholic dioceses in New Jersey release names of accused priests

Five Roman Catholic dioceses in New Jersey on Wednesday released the names of 188 clergy members who have been accused of sexually abusing children dating back decades, including a former cardinal facing defrocking by the Vatican.

The disclosure was the result of an internal investigation of archdiocese records and all of the priests and deacons listed have previously been reported to law enforcement and none remain in the ministry, Newark Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Tobin said in a statement.

'It is our sincerest hope that this disclosure will help bring healing to those whose lives have been so deeply violated,' he said, noting some of the abuse dates back to 1940.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal formed a task force in September to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by members of the clergy in his state, along with any efforts to cover up such abuse.

'I am pleased to see that our task force's grand jury investigation has prompted the dioceses to finally take some measures to hold predator priests accountable,' Grewal said in a statement on Wednesday.

'Our investigation remains ongoing,' he said, adding, 'We anticipate taking criminal action wherever appropriate.' Grewal could not be reached for further comment.

'Solace to survivors'

The Newark Archdiocese released the names of 63 clergy members, 33 who are deceased and 33 who are accused of having multiple victims. Some of the deceased are among those accused of having multiple victims.

The Paterson Diocese had 28 clerics on its list, the Camden Diocese listed 57 clerics, the Trenton Diocese had 30 and the Metuchen Diocese listed 11 clergy. One priest on the Newark list also appeared on the Paterson list.

'We hope that seeing these names in print will bring solace to survivors and let victims who may still be suffering in silence find the strength to come forward,' the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said in a statement.

Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who rose to be a power broker in the American Church as archbishop of Washington, DC, from 2001 to 2006, was among the clergy members on the Newark list.

He has previously responded publicly to one of the allegations, saying he has 'absolutely no recollection' of an alleged case of sexual abuse of a 16-year-old boy more than 50 years ago. He has not responded publicly to separate allegations by several priests and ex-priests.

McCarrick resigned last year and is living in seclusion in a remote friary in Kansas. He will probably be dismissed from the priesthood, which would make him the highest profile Roman Catholic figure to be defrocked in modern times, according to Vatican sources.
Christian grocery store owner receives death threat for Hell has open borders ad

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The Christian owner of a grocery store chain received a death threat in response to a message on his weekly ad mailer that featured a statement about Heaven, Hell and border walls.

Macs Cash Savers, which has grocery stores in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, sent the weekly ad, which in addition to noting prices for certain products also included the statement Heaven has a wall, a gate and a strict immigration policy. Hell has open borders. Let that sink in.

Reggy McDaniel, owner of Macs, told The Christian Post in an interview Monday afternoon that the chief purpose of the ad was to get people to thinking about their salvation.

The mailer has garnered national headlines by media outlets that are drawing attention to the few who've voiced their objections to the ad's message.

Please remove me from any mailers. I will no longer shop in your store. I find your mixture of religion and politics disgusting, one person lamented, according to Fox News.

McDaniel explained to CP that each week's mailer ad includes a message "to get [people] to thinking about how they are going to get in them Pearly Gates up there, in Heaven. And the only way they are going to get in them is through Jesus Christ.

McDaniel noted that the statement was not meant to be political, saying that it was a coincidence that it was published in an ad running at a time when the border issue was a deal, adding that I saw that statement around for a long time.

One weekly mailer ad released last month had the statement Today, spend some time alone with Christ and experience joy that is full of pleasures that are eternal.

Another weekly ad from last year read It is possible to pollute the water of the source, through rebellion. Obedience to God is a key to true satisfaction.

I thought it was a really good Christian statement that Heaven has gates and borders and it does have a strict immigration policy: youve got to believe in the Son, Jesus Christ, or you dont get there, McDaniel said.

McDaniel also took issue with the claim that the statement was racist or xenophobic, telling CP that there nothing racial about it.

It aint talking about one color getting to Heaven, added McDaniel. I dont care what color you are. As a matter of fact, Jesus wasnt white come to think of it.

Regarding backlash, McDaniel estimated that 85 to 90 percent of the feedback he's received was positive in nature. He said he had gotten one death threat, but brushed it off, saying weve had them before.
North Carolina could outlaw abortion after 13 weeks

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Republican North Carolina legislators have proposed a bill that could outlaw abortion after 13 weeks as New York State Democrats made headlines last month for passing a bill that allows abortion up to birth if the health of the mother is threatened.

"We need to work together towards eliminating abortion not expanding it to the point that we kill infants in the hospital beds," Rep. Keith Kidwell, R-Beaufort, who sponsored House Bill 28, said in a statement cited by WRAL last Thursday. "Lax laws have resulted in nothing short of genocide, so today we're here to send a message."

Kidwell told WRAL that because the U.S. Supreme Court won't decide when life begins, he wants to set it at "quickening," or the first fetal movements. North Carolina currently bans abortion after 20 weeks, except when the mothers life or physical health is threatened.

If House Bill 28 is passed, the new law would go into effect on Dec. 1, 2019. The law would also make North Carolina the state with the earliest abortion ban in the U.S., according to Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Alison Kiser.

"This is a medically unnecessary and arbitrary cutoff to a woman's ability to access safe and legal abortion care," Kiser told WRAL.

North Carolina Republican legislators also proposed House Bill 22, which would require doctors to tell women that abortions induced by taking the drug mifepristone can be reversed halfway through.

Kiser argued, however, that the reversal isnt supported by reliable science.

"To be clear, the proposed course of treatment in this bill has not been proven by any credible research or medical evidence to be effective or even safe," she told WRAL.

"This is just more of the same from anti-abortion legislators in North Carolina who will really stop at nothing to shame a woman's decision to end a pregnancy and whose ultimate aim is to ban all safe and legal abortion," Kiser added.

Contrary to Kiser's comments, many women have given birth to babies after initially taking an abortion pill. Heartbeat International has reported that hundreds of babies have been saved thanks to abortion pill reversal.

While Republicans are working to protect unborn babies, top Democrats in North Carolina such as Rep. Graig Meyer, Sen. Jay Chaudhuri and Sen. Terry Van Duyn have already proposed legislation called the Whole Womans Health Act that would legalize abortions up to birth, as long as it is conducted by a physician, according to Longleaf Politics. The bill would reportedly remove the requirement that abortions be limited to medical emergencies after 20 weeks. The only requirement for a late-term abortion would be that a physician must carry out the procedure. Doctors would not be required to record a reason for an abortion after 20 weeks.

On Jan. 22, New York State legislators passed the Reproductive Health Act to codify federal abortion rights guaranteed under the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision and remove abortion from the state's criminal code.

Shortly after that decision, Virginia Democrat Delegate Kathy Tran proposed a now tabled bill that would remove barriers to late-term abortions. Soon after, Democratic Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia defended that bill with comments that some interpreted as support for infanticide.

In his State of the Union speech last Tuesday, President Donald Trump called out lawmakers in New York and Virginia for their support of late-term abortion and urged Congress to enact a law against the practice.

There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our nation saw in recent days. Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb moments before birth, the president said.

These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world. And then, we had the case of the governor of Virginia where he stated he would execute a baby after birth. To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother's womb. Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth  all children  born and unborn are made in the holy image of God.
Most pro-choice Americans oppose late term abortion: poll

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Around two-thirds of Americans who identify as pro-choice oppose third trimester abortions, according to a newly released poll by YouGov and the pro-life group Americans United for Life.

Last month, New York state garnered national headlines when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law that effectively allows for abortions for any reason up until the moment of birth.

Soon after, from Feb. 6-7, YouGov and AUL conducted a national survey of 1,145 American adults, 53.1 percent of whom identified as pro-choice. The margin of error was not included in the report.

According to an AUL announcement released Tuesday, the survey found that 68 percent of pro-choice Americans oppose abortion on the day before a baby is born, 66 percent oppose abortion in the third trimester, and 77 percent oppose ending medical care for a viable baby.

AUL President Catherine Glenn Foster said in a statement in response to the survey's findings that she believed they showed the American peoples common-sense appreciation for the sanctity of life and the widespread horror, even among self-identified pro-choice Americans, of new laws like New Yorks.

Planned Parenthood and elected officials like Governor Cuomo who support abortions up to the point of birth are out of step with not only their supposed core constituents  but also our countrys essential tenets of life, liberty, and the opportunity to pursue happiness, Foster said Tuesday.

It is our hope that the critical information brought to light here will advance the democratic process by inspiring more Americans to hold their representatives and public institutions to account.

In January, Cuomo signed the Reproductive Health Act soon after state legislators passed the bill on the 46th anniversary of the 1973 United States Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade.

Similar legislation is being seriously consider in other states.

In Rhode Island, a state legislator introduced the Reproductive Health Care Act, with Gov. Gina Raimondo having expressed support for the bill should it come to her desk.

In Vermont, more than 90 members of the General Assembly have opted to co-sponsor H. 57, which seeks to codify state law allowing for abortions at all stages of pregnancy.

Last month, the Students for Life of America's Institute for Pro-Life Advancement released a poll that found strong support among millennial-aged Americans for restrictions on abortion access.

The institutes January poll was conducted by the polling company inc./WomanTrend with a sample space of 400 respondents and a margin of error of 4.9 percent.

According to the institutes January report, 70 percent of millennial respondents supported limits on abortion. This included 42 percent opposing abortion broadly and 28 percent supporting specific policies like parental notification and limiting abortion later in pregnancy.
Gov. Cuomo claims Trump wants to roll back Roe v. Wade after meeting on late-term abortion

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New Yorks Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo claims President Trump wants to roll back the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision after a closed door meeting at the White House Tuesday evening in which the two discussed taxes and Cuomos support of late-term abortion.

The president raised his concerns to Governor Cuomo about Democrats support of late term abortions, Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said in a statement cited by the Daily Caller after the meeting.

Deere further noted that Trump and Cuomo also discussed the positive impacts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on the American economy, and the president listened to the governors concerns regarding SALT. The president reiterated the negative impact that high taxes in states like New York have on hardworking families and job creators.

Responding to a question about Deeres statement on the meeting, Cuomo said in an interview with WCBS 880 that following their meeting the administration feels "constrained to reiterate their divisions with the Democrats."

"And he's right." Cuomo said. "He wants to roll back Roe v. Wade which is a Supreme Court case that guarantees a woman's right to choose. Take us back to a time when women couldn't get an abortion legally."

Abortion rights advocates have been bracing for a potential rollback of the Roe v. Wade decision which some have said would trigger bans on abortion in as many as 22 states.

But Pro-Life Action League Executive Director Eric J. Scheidler has dismissed that claim as fearmongering.

"At most, only a couple of states with extremely conservative legislatures might even attempt something like a total ban on abortion," Scheidler said in a previous interview with The Christian Post.

"[It's] far more likely that states would seek to further restrict abortion, in line with the view of most Americans, with measures like banning late-term abortion and holding abortion facilities to the highest health and safety standards," he added.

In a controversial move that captured national headlines and the attention of the president, on Jan. 22 Cuomo signed the Reproductive Health Act, which in New York state allows abortion up to birth for any reason that threatens a womans mental or physical health. It also removed abortion from the state's criminal code.

In his State of the Union speech last Tuesday, Trump called out lawmakers in New York and Virginia, which tabled a proposal to New Yorks RHA, for their support of late-term abortion and urged Congress to enact a law against the practice.

There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our nation saw in recent days. Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb moments before birth, the president said.

These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world," Trump continued. "And then, we had the case of the governor of Virginia where he stated he would execute a baby after birth. To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother's womb. Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth  all children  born and unborn are made in the holy image of God.

In discussing the $10,000 cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes included in Trumps 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Cuomo also argued that it created a tax increase for New Yorkers.

It is a critical issue for New York state because it's essentially a tax increase on New Yorkers. And remember, New York already pays more to the federal government than any state in the United States of America. We subsidize almost every other state, Cuomo claimed. But according to the website Money Rates, New York comes in at No. 4 among a list of states that pay the most federal taxes.

"Cuomo is blaming the states $2.3 billion budget shortfall on a political party that doesnt run the place," The Wall Street Journal's editorial board wrote Monday. "He says the state is suffering from declining tax receipts because the GOP Congress as part of tax reform in 2017 limited the state-and-local tax deduction to $10,000."

What it does is it has created two different tax structures in this country, Mr. Cuomo lamented Monday. And it has created a preferential tax structure in Republican states. It has redistributed wealth in this nation from Democratic states to red states.

But, "in reality," WSJ adds, "the once unlimited deduction allowed those in high tax climes to mitigate the pain of state taxes. It amounted to a subsidy for progressive policies."

Last summer, New York, Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey, sued the federal government to void the $10,000 cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes.

I told the president myself today: SALT repeal is hurting us. And if you hurt New York, youre harming the economic engine of the nation, Cuomo said in a tweet Tuesday evening.

WSJ's editorial board added: "Taxpayers can still write off $10,000, which means those with modest means are spared a tax increase. The Tax Foundation reported last month that repealing the cap would 'almost exclusively provide tax relief to the top 20 percent of income earners, the largest tax cut going to the top 1 percent of earners.' The government would lose $600 billion over 10 years.

"This must be the first time in years that a Democrat has said the government needs less money, or that the rich need a tax cut."
Trump meets with abortion survivor, rallies pro-lifers to push for laws protecting babies

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President Donald Trump met with an abortion survivor and a child who was born after just 20 weeks of gestation before urging thousands of pro-life supporters Thursday to pressure for the passage of a federal law to protect babies who survive abortions.

The 72-year-old Trump and top White House staff met with Melissa Ohden, who survived a saline solution abortion in 1977, and Micah Pickering, a 6-year-old child who was born in the 20th week of pregnancy but survived, during a White House meeting to promote the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (also known as the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act).

Following the meeting, Trump spoke on a conference call with about 4,000 pro-life supporters in which he not only called for the passage of the legislation but stressed the stark differences between his administrations policies and the pro-late-term-abortion stances of Democrats running for president in 2020.

Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King Jr., and Florida televangelist Paula White, one of Trumps closest spiritual advisers, also participated in the event.

The president is truly pro-life. There has been so much speculation since the [2016] primaries about whether his heart is true or not. I can say walking out of that Oval Office today that this is a deeply-held and sincere conviction, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life lobbying organization Susan B. Anthony List, told reporters after the meeting Thursday.

It would be difficult to understand why someone would invite all these people and want to get to know them if it wasnt a sincere conviction. Yes, it is a politically smart move that he has made in advancing human rights in this way. But it is also the right thing to do.

Dannenfelser, who served as the chair of the Trump 2016 campaigns pro-life coalition, briefed the president prior to the meeting and conference call. With thousands on the call, Dannenfelser assured that participants were from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds.

This is a call that he rarely does. He doesnt do these conference calls very often, she said. But he is clearly taking advantage of an important moment in trying to get legislation looked at in the Senate and the House. He is demanding that this is brought to his desk so he could sign it.

The call comes as the topic of late-term abortion has been all over the news in the recent weeks with the passage of a New York law allowing abortion until birth and the introduction of similar bills in states like Virginia, Vermont and New Mexico.

The call also comes as Democrats in the House of Representatives have supported in previous congresses the Womens Health Protection Act, which according to Dannenfelser, is the federal version of the bill that passed in New York and would outlaw state bans on third-trimester abortions.

If you look at every Democrat in the Senate that is speculating or has announced that they are going to run for president [in 2020], every single one of them  have all co-sponsored this bill, Dannenfelser said.

As for the Born-Alive Abortion Survivor Protection Act, there is optimism from pro-life activists that the bill introduced this session by Nebraska Republican Ben Sasse could have success in the Republican-controlled Senate. Dannenfelser believes that there will be a vote on the bill soon in the Senate.

The bill would amend the federal criminal code to require that medical professionals ensure that children born alive after an attempted abortion are given the same care as any other human being and that they are admitted to a hospital.

Tim Head, executive director of the evangelical grassroots organization Faith & Freedom Coalition, was one of the pro-life supporters on the call with the president.

I think there is a really good chance that [the bill] will come out of the Senate and I think that is going to provide for many awkward conversations in the U.S. House delegation for Democrats later on this summer and fall, Head told CP.

While some are hoping to get enough signatures on a discharge petition to force a vote in the Democrat-controlled House, Dannenfelser explained that getting any pro-life legislation to pass with the current makeup in Congress will be close to impossible.

Head felt the same way.

I would be surprised if the U.S. House would have much stomach to take up a bill like this, Head explained. If we can get something out of the Senate, I actually think it would be a really great point of pressure for the liberal members of the U.S. House to have to explain why they dont want to take a vote on infanticide.

Dannenfelser wondered at what point late-term abortion issues will drive a wedge in the Democratic Party. She said that the party needs to return to an era where Democrat lawmakers are allowed to vote their conscience and not face consequences for it in the following election.

Having worked for a pro-life Democrat in the House of Representatives, I can say they use to be the party of the little guy and one that would never turn their back on the littlest and most vulnerable among us. But now, we are living in a different era, Dannenfelser stressed. The modern-day Democrats [support] abortion-on-demand up until the point of birth. It is not the old Democratic Party. They have inadvertently provided a contrast.

Trump made headlines after he confronted Democrat Sen. Chris Coons of Deleware about abortion at a dinner the night before the National Prayer Breakfast earlier this month.

He saw a Democrat in the room, a Democrat whos known to be a person of faith, and he was like, Why aren't you speaking out about this? a source familiar with the exchange told Politico.

During the State of the Union address last week, Trump called on Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother's womb. Such legislation is referred to as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our Nation saw in recent days, Trump said during the speech. Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb moments before birth. These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world. And then, we had the case of the Governor of Virginia where he basically stated he would execute a baby after birth.

According to Head, Trump also mentioned the New York and Virginia cases in Thursdays call with supporters.
Pastor Brian Houston praises Chris Pratt for 'bold faith in Jesus' amid attacks on church

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Pastor Brian Houston praised actor Chris Pratt for his bold faith in Jesus as he endured public attacks from actress Ellen Page for going to church.

The Sydney Australia-based Hillsong megachurch, which is attended by a number of celebrities including Justin Bieber, Kevin Durant and Selena Gomez, found itself at the center of a media firestorm after Page publicly accused Pratts church of being infamously anti LGBTQ.

After Pratt responded and explained that his personal values represent him, not his church affiliation, a number of outlets  including Variety, CNN, and NBC  reported that the church in question was none other than Hillsong, which has several campuses across the U.S.

But in a series of tweets on Thursday, Houston, who with his wife, Bobbie, founded the megachurch in 1983, attempted to correct and clarify the mainstream media's false reports.

The weird thing about all the media regarding Chris Pratt and Hillsong Church is that its built on a falsehood, he tweeted. I am so grateful for Chriss bold faith in Jesus. But he is not now, and never has been a member of Hillsong Church.

Houston further addressed misinformation reported by the media, including the fact that Hillsong supports gay conversion therapy: It is completely false that Hillsong Church practice, recommend, or suggest gay conversion therapy to anyone. I have always been a vocal opponent in fact. Again, its built on a false narrative, he tweeted.

The pastor went on to share a statement from Hillsong Church, which explained that the church does not preach against anyone or any group and is not anti-anyone.

We are an inclusive Christian church that loves, values and welcomes all people, regardless of their background, ethnicity, beliefs, values, or personal identity, reads the statement.

We are also a church that adheres to mainstream biblical values shared by the overwhelming majority of evangelical Christian churches around the world, and millions of Christians across the USA, it continues. Believing the teachings of the Bible and loving all people  including those who have different perspectives  are not mutually exclusive. In fact this is the very definition of tolerance and inclusiveness.

The statement concludes by declaring that Hillsong, which received backlash in 2015 after its leadership called homosexuality a sin, wants to be known by who we are for.

We are for people finding hope in Jesus, we are for people finding love and acceptance, and we are for helping people in any way we can. Our focus is on pointing people to Jesus as 'the way, the truth, and the life.

Pratt, along with his fiancee Katherine Schwarzenegger, attends Pastor Chad Veachs Zoe Church in Los Angeles. Following Pages comments, the actor posted a response on his Instagram story explaining how much the church was supportive of him during his divorce from Anna Faris.

It has recently been suggested that I belong to a church which hates a certain group of people and is infamously anti-LGBTQ. Nothing could be further from the truth, he wrote. I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone. Despite what the Bible says about divorce, my church community was there for me every stop [sic] of the way, never judging, just gracefully accompanying me on my walk. They helped me tremendously offering love and support. It is what I have seen them do for others on countless occasions regardless of sexual orientation, race or gender.

The Lego Movie 2 star also shared a Bible verse from John 13:34 in the post.

Jesus said I give you a new command, love one another,' he wrote. This is what guides me in my life. He is a God of Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness. Hate has no place in my or this world.
Mississippi passes 'heartbeat' abortion ban, gov. says he'll sign into law

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Mississippis legislature passed a pair of bills Wednesday aimed at banning abortion at the time a baby's heartbeat is detected, which occurs as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.

Known as the heartbeat bill, the proposed legislation does not include exemptions for rape or incest. This and the early time in the pregnancy makes the proposed legislation, according to the Mississippi-based Clarion Ledger, one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the U.S.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant applauded the passage of the bills on his Twitter account, stating his intention to sign the legislation into law when it comes to him.

Ive often said I want Mississippi to be the safest place for an unborn child in America. I appreciate the leadership of the MS House and Senate, along with members of the legislature, for passing the fetal heartbeat bills today. I look forward to signing this act upon passage, tweeted Bryant.

Felicia Brown-Williams, Mississippi director for Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates, denounced the bills in a statement.

These bills would ban abortion  outlawing the procedure before most women even know theyre pregnant, said Brown-Williams, according to the Clarion Ledger. Individual rights and freedoms go to the heart of who we are as a country, including the right to access safe and legal abortion. Mississippians should be able to make their own most personal health care decisions without politicians controlling when, how, or why.

Other states considering similar heartbeat bills include Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee, according to The Associated Press.

Last month, a district court judge ruled that an Iowa law banning abortion once a baby's heartbeat can be detected was unconstitutional.

In his decision Polk County District Judge Michael Huppert cited the Iowa Supreme Court and its previous striking down of a law mandating a 72-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions.

The Iowa Supreme Court held that a womans right to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy is a fundamental right under the Iowa Constitution, and that any governmental limits on that right are to be analyzed using strict scrutiny, wrote Huppert in January.

For its part, Mississippi previously passed a law that banned most abortions after 15 weeks, only to have it declared unconstitutional. Last November, the state decided to appeal the decision.
Liberal Lutheran pastor melts purity rings into vagina sculpture, presents it to Gloria Steinem

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Liberal Lutheran Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber unveiled a sculpture of a vulva made entirely of old purity rings to protest evangelical purity culture and presented it to pro-abortion second-wave feminist Gloria Steinem.

Bolz-Weber, the founding pastor of Denvers House for All Sinners and Saints, showed off the sculpture  which was made by melting down the old jewelry  during the 2019 Makers Conference last week.

Every single thing and person that seemed so powerful and inescapable, I name them and then I just go footnote, Bolz-Weber told conference attendees. I mean, seriously, Pontious Pilate? Hes a footnote. Your bully from middle school? Footnote. Your depression? Footnote. Your s----y boss? Footnote. All of those things are very real, and the harm that they have on us and the world is also real."

But to me, the whole point of having faith is it allows us to believe in a bigger story than the one we tell ourselves. Those purity rings are a footnote, she declared, unveiling the sculpture.

The [rings] we couldnt melt down spell out the word freedom and were woven into this heart, Bolz-Weber said, gesturing toward the sculpture.

Isnt it amazing? she said while presenting the sculpture to Steinem amid audience applause.

In some evangelical Christian circles, purity rings, also known as promise or chastity rings, were given to young girls as symbols of a promise they made to abstain from sexual activity until marriage.

The controversial pastor, who has defended the use of so-called ethically sourced porn, first announced her art project at the 2018 Makers Conference, where she explained she wants to take down the church's teachings around sex and evangelical purity culture.

This thing about women that the church has tried to hide and control and that is a canvas on which other people can write their own righteousness  its actually ours, Bolz-Weber told HuffPost. This part of me is mine and I get to determine what is good for it and if its beautiful and how I use it in the world.

She then put out a call on Twitter, asking any women who no longer use their purity rings to donate them to her for use in the sculpture. In exchange for donating their ring, the pastor said she would give each person a copy of her new book, Shameless: A Sexual Reformation, in which she argues that Church teaching on sexuality has caused harm to many people.

According to a video posted on the Makers Conference website, the response was overwhelming, with hundreds of women sending in their rings. One female welder agreed to make the sculpture after five men refused, claims the video.

The purity movement of the 1990s and 2000s was spurred in part by Joshua Harris 1997 book I Kissed Dating Goodbye, which sold more than 1.2 million copies. The book, aimed at teenagers and young adults, argued against physical intimacy outside of marriage and said romantic relationships should exist only as a means of preparing for marriage.

Two decades after his book was published, Harris posted a statement of apology on his personal website: While I stand by my books call to sincerely love others, my thinking has changed significantly in the past 20 years. I no longer agree with its central idea that dating should be avoided.

Declaring his book would be discontinued, Harris explained that while it promotes some good and biblical ideas, it also presents a narrow and unhelpful view of sexuality, relationships, and dating.

"I didn't leave room for the idea that dating could be a healthy way of learning what you're looking for in a long-term relationship, that it could be a part of growing personally," he admitted.

"I gave the impression that there was one formula that you could follow, and if you followed that, you'd be happily married, God would bless you, and you'd have a great sex life and marriage. Obviously, the real world doesn't work that way."

"Fear is never a good motive," he said, adding, "Fear of messing up, fear of getting your heart broken, fear of hurting somebody else, fear of sex."

Tim Challies, an author and pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario, recently urged the Church to find ways to address sex and purity in a healthier and more biblical way.

The dating and courtship movements represented a weird phase in evangelicalism and, as they finally fade, I think we are in a position to speak in much healthier and much more biblical ways about sexuality, about purity, about marriage, and about relationships, he said. This time, lets try to do so with wisdom, balance, and discernment instead of those radical extremes that simply lead to more error.
Bible Translator Killed, Houses Burned Down, Huge Disruption to Bible Projects in Cameroon Crisis

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A Bible translator has been killed, with Christians seeing their houses burned down and major disruptions to Bible projects in Cameroon, which has recently been gripped by wide-spread violence in clashes between French and English-speaking populations.

Bruce Smith, president and CEO of Wycliffe Associates, told Mission Network News last week that at least one local translator, named Anka Terence, was killed by soldiers in the Ngwo region on May 23rd.

"There has been a number of people that have had their homes burned," Smith said. "They have had to flee into the bush. ... The problem is the violence just seems to continue to be escalating with no end in sight. We're concerned, naturally, for the people of the country, but also for the progress of Bible translation there as well."

He added that a number of the 85 Bible translation projects taking place in Cameroon have had to be put on hold as the violence has worsened over the past few months, with 17 of the projects located in the dangerous western region of the country.

"There is just a huge disruption to the whole family of Bible translation projects that are going on. Even though it's only affecting 20 percent of them, 20 percent is a pretty large number when it's your brothers and sisters in Christ," Smith said.

Amnesty International separately reported that English speakers in the country have been attacked by the Cameroon military and armed Anglophone separatists. The human rights group shared of victims beating beaten, tortured and electrocuted by soldiers.

The crisis has grown out of longstanding grievances the English-speaking provinces in the country, which make up around 20 percent of the population, have with the Francophone central government.

So far, more than 160,000 people have been displaced by the violence, with close to 21,000 having to flee as refugees to Nigeria.

Wycliffe Associated clarified that it is not so much a religious war and that the Church has not specifically been targeted, but Christians are still caught in the crossfire.

"Unfortunately as the Church leaders have tried to mediate this disagreement between different parts of the country, they have also been targeted in lawsuits by the government and basically intimidated in order to back down so that they wouldn't continue to influence the process," Smith said.

He explained that his group has been trying to help other Bible translation partners that have gone missing.

"We're trying, first of all, to secure the people's safety, the translators that are part of the teams that have been driven out of their homes. Most of them have lost their fields, they have lost their herds, their animals, things like that as well as their physical homes," he continued.

"They're basically just surviving [by] hunting and gathering in the bush. So we're trying to locate them, we're trying to get them to safe places, trying to help them reconsider resuming their Bible translation work, but they really have to go through some counseling and some adaptation in between now and then in order to make that possible."

Wycliffe Associates has launched projects in some of the most dangerous places in Africa, including recently in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where people have seen shocking forms of violence.

"It grabs at my throat to think about what the people have gone through in the DRC," Smith said in April.

"Generations of tribal violence ... people hunted like animals ... torture, mutilation, kidnapping, executions ... fear and anger and utter, total despair that anything can ever be different."
Beloved pastor, father of five, suffers fatal heart attack after communion service

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The Rev. Charles M. Franklin Jr., a beloved father of five and pastor of Ray of Hope Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland, died Sunday after suffering a heart attack shortly after a communion service. He was 47.

My heart is heavy, but Earth has no sorrow Heaven cannot heal. I was blessed to have married an exceptional man from which I now have amazing and beautiful children to live on and carry out his legacy. His departure, though untimely for us, was all on time according to God, wrote Ayanna Franklin in a post on Facebook Monday.

Ray of Hope, be not sad, but rejoice in having had such an inspirational, vibrant pastor who was devoted to his calling, and represented each of us and the legacy of his father, Rev. C.M. Franklin Sr., very well. We've celebrated 40 years, and our faith journey is not over. We will continue to be a beacon of hope, a ray of light to all who are in darkness and do not yet know their Savior. My husband, my pastor, our pastor preached the Good News of Christ and served God's people well. I love you all, and remember, everyone Needs a Ray of Hope! she added.

Darrell B. Giles, a deacon at Ray of Hope, told The Baltimore Sun that Franklin suffered a seizure in his office at about 1 p.m. after preaching at the church and serving communion.

He had a seizure about 1 p.m. The church nurse went in and they were soon calling an ambulance, Giles said.

Members of the congregation followed their beloved pastor to the Union Memorial Hospital and after waiting for about an hour they were informed that Franklin had died.

Like Franklins wife, many of those who knew the late pastor remembered him as a respected and principled spiritual leader.

He was his fathers only son and he was born to be a preacher, the Rev. Alfred C.D. Vaughn, pastor of Sharon Baptist Church and a family friend who was a classmate of the senior Rev. Franklin, told The Baltimore Sun. He fell right into his fathers footsteps. He was one of the kindest, most gentle-hearted and compassionate persons you could ever hope to meet.

State Delegate Talmadge Branch told the publication he was shocked by the preachers death.

He was a caring guy who led his church well. He had a total belief in what he was doing. He was an active pastor and was always coming up with a new project for his congregation. He believed in community activism, Branch said.

He knew his members by name, Branch added. His style of preaching mixed in humor. He would tell jokes in the pulpit  and talk about what it was like growing up as a pastors son. He was well respected.

The Christian Post reached out to Franklins church for further comment on his passing Friday morning but no one was immediately available.

Visitation for Franklin will be held on Sunday, Feb. 17 at Ray of Hope Baptist Church from 2  7 p.m. Service location is pending.
New Yorks Trinity Church has a diverse investment portfolio worth $6 billion

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As many churches in New York City struggle to survive and keep their buildings, Trinity Church, a land-rich, over 300-year-old congregation in Lower Manhattan, has emerged as a major real estate developer with a diverse investment portfolio worth $6 billion, according to the churchs current rector, the Rev. William Lupfer.

The news comes six years after a legal dispute erupted publicly about whether the Episcopal congregation was doing enough to help those in need.

Jeremy C. Bates, who filed a lawsuit that led to the institution making its financial records public, told The New York Times that he believes the church is now more unified.

We currently work with many partners in New York City and around the world to build neighborhoods, to help develop clergy and lay leadership for the church, and to help our partners resource their ministries, Patti Walsh, a spokeswoman for the church, told The New York Times.

Much of the churchs financial success has been attributed to their tax-exempt status as well as wise management of their holdings which can be traced to a gift of 215 acres from Queen Anne in 1705, the Times said. The church still owns about 14 acres of that grant.

And now that Lower Manhattan is in the middle of a real estate boom, the value of the churchs holdings in an area known as Hudson Square, has helped to improve the churchs wealth immensely.

The churchs real estate arm, Trinity Real Estate, entered into a joint venture that gave it a majority stake in 12 buildings with 6 million square feet of commercial space. Just last year, they signed a $650 million deal with the Walt Disney Company.

It is also building its own glass tower that will house administrative offices, public gathering spaces and commercial tenants while giving its historic sanctuary a $110 million renovation.

While there may have been disagreements over how the church was managing its wealth over time, the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, also a New York City landmark with a nonprofit real estate arm, said there is value in a church paying attention to the bottom line.

Butts real estate organization, which focuses on affordable housing and community development, was forced to sell off properties to satisfy debts after having overextended itself.

We were just trying to do good where others were not doing it, Butts said. We did what we could, hit a bump, and had to sell off real estate.

After focusing on real estate development, Trinity went on to diversify their holdings, and entered into a joint partnership with Norways Norges Bank Investment Management.

The proceeds from that partnership have been $1.73 billion since 2015, and used to reinvest in other areas. The churchs latest audited financial statement from 2017 shows investments yielding a return of $301 million.

Those wise investments have put the church in a position to help other churches with grants. It gives away about $10 million annually and funds humanitarian projects such as a 325-unit affordable residence for older adults and those with disabilities.

While the success of Trinity Church is being celebrated by some, the Rev. Donna Schaper of Judson Memorial Church in the West Village, told the Times that she hopes smaller churches arent replaced by the corporate style congregations like Trinity Church.

My fear is that the very thing that makes New York so lovely and interesting  the variety of our culture  is threatened by congregations becoming restaurants and high-end apartments. Its almost as tragic as losing the beautiful buildings, she said.
JD Greear says 700 victims can't be 'whole story,' urges other victims to come forward

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Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear suggested Monday that the 700 victims of reported sexual abuse at the hands of leaders and volunteers in churches over the last 20 years doesn't give the whole story of the problem and urged other victims to come forward and get help.

What can easily be lost in the size of these numbers, which are grievously large, is the tragic fact that they cannot be the whole story. More must be said and done in the coming days. But today, we want to provide some initial guidance to victims who have not yet come forward on how they can receive care, wrote Greear and Pastor Brad Hambrick in a blog post.

Hambrick serves as pastor of counseling at The Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina, where Greear is senior pastor. He's also an instructor of biblical counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

On Sunday, The Houston Chronicle published the first of a three-part series which found more than 700 victims of alleged sexual abuse by 380 Southern Baptist leaders and volunteers since 1998. Some 220 have been convicted and 100 are still in prison.

Many of the victims, who were children when the abuse occurred, accused other Southern Baptist leaders, including past presidents, of concealing their ordeal. Some of those who were accused of sexual abuse also reportedly left their congregations and were able to find jobs in other Southern Baptist churches.

We completely agree with the words of ERLC President Russell Moore: Jesus does not cover up sin within the temple of his presence. He brings everything hidden to light. We should too. When we downplay or cover over what has happened in the name of Jesus to those he loves we are not protecting Jesus reputation. We are instead fighting Jesus himself. No church should be frustrated by the Houston Chronicles reporting, but should thank God for it. The Judgment Seat of Christ will be far less reticent than a newspaper series to uncover what should never have been hidden, Greear said.

In his outreach to victims who have not yet come forward, Greear pointed them to resources such as, The National Hotline for Domestic Violence at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233); The National Child Abuse Hotline number at 1-800-422-4453 and The Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network number at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

He urged pastors to help promote these resources to their members, reiterating the need to avoid the impulse to protect their image.

Please share the resources above through your personal and churchs social media accounts. It is easy for church leaders to become self-centered and self-protective when news of churches failures come to light. But it would be another tragedy and a reinforcement of the problem if we allow that to happen, Greear advised.

People in our churches and community need to know that we are concerned about their safety, not about our reputation. Until that confidence is restored, no one who has been abused will feel safe in our churches. The way we respond in this moment  either in protecting and caring for victims, or defending ourselves and our institutions  will either obscure or adorn the gospel we claim to preach, he added.
Harvest Bible Chapel founding pastor James MacDonald fired; 'shocking' audio revealed

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Longtime leader of the Chicago-area megachurch Harvest Bible Chapel James MacDonald has been ousted as senior pastor in light of unsavory remarks he made on a hot mic that were aired on local media Tuesday.

In an elders update posted on the church website Wednesday, the HBC elders stated "with great sadness" that they had determined that MacDonald should be removed from his role at the church. This action, they explained, came about following "highly inappropriate recorded comments" MacDonald had made that were played on the air of a local radio program Tuesday morning.

"Given that and other conduct under consideration, in accordance with the procedures in our Bylaws, Pastor MacDonald was removed as Senior Pastor and as an Elder of the church for engaging in conduct that the Elders believe is contrary and harmful to the best interests of the church. His employment has been terminated from Harvest Bible Chapel, effective today, February 12, 2019," the elder update reads.

"This decision was made with heavy hearts and much time spent in earnest prayer, followed by input from various trusted outside advisors."

MacDonald's firing comes after the publication of a lengthy investigative piece by Julie Roys in World magazine. Her article, "Hard Times at Harvest," which took eight months to complete, documented alleged financial malfeasance, abusive dynamics within the church from the top-down  particularly MacDonald's temper  and a culture of fear and intimidation.

Chicago radio host Matthew Erich "Mancow" Muller, who is a former parishioner of HBC, played portions of recorded comments of MacDonald on his WLS/AM 890 show Tuesday.

Among the things said in the audio is MacDonald talking about planting child pornography on Christianity Today CEO's Harold Smith's computer, crude remarks about Julie Roys  including joking that she had an affair with CT Editor-in-Chief Mark Galli  and a vulgar reference to Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. Muller also threatened to start a class-action lawsuit against MacDonald and the church.

Writing on her blog Tuesday, Roys articulated her disgust, calling MacDonald's words "shocking" and "breathtaking."

She explained that in addition to his rude comments, she was troubled that MacDonald accused her and someone else who used to attend HBC of approaching the homes of people who were victims in a DCFS investigation, shouting at them about a cover-up at the church.

MacDonald can be heard in the audio saying that Roys was off the rails and that in 30 days she was going to be riding a tricycle with a midget on [her] shoulders.

The allegation that she was harassing people was "a complete fabrication," Roys asserted Tuesday.

The Chicago radio personality is reportedly in possession of approximately 100 more hours of MacDonald on tape. He is planning to air in its entirety the 50-minute conversation from which he played audio excerpts Tuesday in an upcoming podcast.

Muller had claimed Friday on his Twitter feed that MacDonald was being ousted. The Christian Post reached out to HBC at the time to confirm that but received no response.

In a Wednesday post, Roys expressed relief MacDonald was finally out.

"No longer can he prey on the sheep he was supposed to protect. No longer can he use church members money to line his pockets. No longer can he rage on innocent employees and get people to believe the lies hes spread about those who challenge him," Roys wrote.

"A church is in shambles. Evangelicals are publicly embarrassed  again. And more men remain in positions of influence who have done reprehensible things," she added, urging Christians to seek God, repent, and pray for revival.

Before the publication of Roys' investigation in World, the church sued her as well as two former members, along with their wives, who had been writing critically of HBC and MacDonald since 2012 on a blog called The Elephant's Debt. The church said both Roys and the Elephant's Debt bloggers had broken the law and had spread misinformation about them. But HBC dropped the lawsuit in January after a judge denied the church two motions in order to keep documents subpoenaed in the case private.

In a Wednesday statement, the Elephant's Debt bloggers expressed both sorrow for HBC members and gratitude for those who had helped uncover the problems at the church and with MacDonald.

"Over the past several weeks, Mr. Muller has displayed a courage that is often profoundly lacking in the evangelical community; and we will always be appreciative of the true leadership he provided in this era," the ED bloggers wrote.

"We recognize that many people at Harvest Bible Chapel are hurting today. And we are hoping and praying for better days ahead for your community."
"In order that men might have knowledge of God, free of doubt and uncertainty, it was necessary for divine truth to be delivered to them by way of faith, being told to them as it were, by God himself who cannot lie."

No one claimed Thomas Aquinas got famous on his looks. He was colossally fat, suffered from edema (dropsy), and one huge eye dwarfed his other. Nor was he a particularly dynamic, charismatic figure. Introspective and silent most of the time, when he did speak, it was often completely unrelated to the conversation. His classmates in college called him "the dumb ox." Today, recognized as the greatest theologian of the Middle Ages, he is called "the doctor of angels."

Timeline 1208 Francis of Assisi renounces wealth 1215 Magna Carta 1220 Dominican Order established 1225 Thomas Aquinas born 1274 Thomas Aquinas dies 1302 Unam Sanctam proclaims papal supremacy

Temptations of a future theologian

He was born in an Italian castle to "Count Lundulf" of Aquino (though he was probably not a count) and Lundulf's wife, Theodora. At age 5, the pudgy boy was sent to the school at the nearby monastery of Monte Cassino (a community founded by Benedict seven centuries earlier). At age 14, Thomas went to the University of Naples, where his Dominican teacher so impressed him that Thomas decided he, too, would join the new, study-oriented Dominican order.

His family fiercely opposed the decision (apparently wanting him to become an influential and financially secure abbot or archbishop rather than take a friar's vow of poverty). Thomas's brothers kidnapped him and confined him for 15 months; his family tempted him with a prostitute and an offer to buy him the post of archbishop of Naples.

All attempts failed, and Thomas went to Paris, medieval Europe's center of theological study. While there he fell under the spell of the famous teacher Albert the Great.

Wrestling with reason

In medieval Europe, all learning took place under the eye of the church, and theology reigned supreme in the sciences. Still, non-Christian philosophers like Aristotle the Greek, Averroes the Muslim, and Maimonides the Jew were studied alongside the Bible. Scholars were especially fascinated by Aristotle, whose works had been unknown in Europe for centuries. He seemed to have explained the entire universe, not by using Scripture but by his powers of observation and reason.

This emphasis on reason threatened to undermine traditional Christian beliefs. Christians had believed knowledge could come only through God's revelation, that only those to whom God chose to reveal his truths could understand the universe. How could this be squared with the obvious knowledge taught by these newly discovered philosophies?

Thomas wanted to explore this issue, and he determined to extract from Aristotle's writings what was acceptable to Christianity.

His thoughts consumed him. According to one story, he was dining with Louis IX of France (later "Saint" Louis), but while others engaged in conversation, he stared off into the distance lost in thought. Suddenly, he slammed down his fist on the table and exclaimed, "Ah! There's an argument that will destroy the Manichees!"

At the beginning of his massive Summa Theologica (or "A summation of theological knowledge"), Thomas stated, "In sacred theology, all things are treated from the standpoint of God." Thomas proceeded to distinguish between philosophy and theology, and between reason and revelation, though he emphasized that these did not contradict each other. Both are fountains of knowledge; both come from God.

Reason, said Thomas (following Aristotle), is based on sensory datawhat we can see, feel, hear, smell, and touch. Revelation is based on more. While reason can lead us to believe in Godsomething that other theologians had already proposedonly revelation can show us God as he really is, the triune God of the Bible.

"In order that men might have knowledge of God, free of doubt and uncertainty," he wrote, "it was necessary for divine truth to be delivered to them by way of faith, being told to them as it were, by God himself who cannot lie."

In other words, someone looking at nature could tell that an intelligent creator exists. But that person would have no idea whether the creator was good or if he might work in history. Furthermore, though a person apart from Christianity can practice certain "natural virtues," only a believer can practice faith, hope, and love, the truly Christian virtues.

Volumes of straw

Thomas's writings (including the Summa Contra Gentiles, a manual for missionaries to the Muslims, which also contains several hymns) were attacked before and after his death. In 1277, the archbishop of Paris tried to have Thomas formally condemned, but the Roman Curia put a stop to the movement. Though Thomas was canonized in 1325, it took another 200 years before his teaching was hailed as preeminent and a chief bulwark against Protestantism. Four years after the Council of Trent, in which his writings play a prominent part, Thomas was declared a doctor of the church.

In 1879, the papal bull Aeterni Patris endorsed Thomism (Aquinas's theology) as an authentic expression of doctrine and said it should be studied by all students of theology. Today both Protestant and Catholic scholars draw upon his writings.

Thomas, however, would not necessarily be pleased. Toward the end of his life, he had a vision that forced him to drop his pen. Though he had experienced visions for years, this was something different. His secretary begged him to start writing again, but Aquinas replied, "I cannot. Such things have been revealed to me that what I have written seems but straw."

His Summa Theologica, one of the most influential writings of the Christian church, was left unfinished when he died three months later.
"Faith is awe in the presence of the divine incognito; it is the love of God that is aware of the qualitative difference between God and man and God and the world."

"The gospel is not a truth among other truths. Rather, it sets a question mark against all truths." Karl Barth not only said this, he spent his life setting question marks, in the name of Christ, against all manner of "truths." In the process, he did nothing less than alter the course of modern theology.

Timeline 1870 First Vatican Council declares papal infallibility 1880 Abraham Kuyper starts Free University 1885 Wellhausen's documentary hypothesis 1886 Karl Barth born 1968 Karl Barth dies 1974 Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization

Shocking liberalism

He started out life conventionally enough: he was born in Basel, Switzerland, the son of Fritz Barth (pronounced "bart"), a professor of New Testament and early church history at Bern, and Anna Sartorius. He studied at some of the best universities: Bern, Berlin, Tubingen, and Marburg. At Berlin he sat under the famous liberals of the day (like historian Adolph von Harnack), most of whom taught an optimistic Christianity that focused not so much on Jesus Christ and the Cross as the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.

After serving a Geneva curacy from 1909 to 1911, Barth was appointed to a working-class parish in Switzerland, and in 1913 he married Nell Hoffman, a talented violinist (they eventually had one daughter and four sons).

As he pastored, he noted with alarm that Germany was becoming increasingly militaristic and that his former professors were supportive of this. Barth, dismayed with the moral weakness of liberal theology, plunged into a study of the Bible, especially Paul's Epistle to the Romans. He also visited Lutheran pastor and theologian Christoph Frederick Blumhardt and came away with an overwhelming conviction about the victorious reality of Christ's resurrectionwhich deeply influenced his theology.

Out of this emerged his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (1919). He sounded themes that had been muted in liberal theology. Liberal theology had domesticated God into the patron saint of human institutions and values. Instead, Barth wrote of the "crisis," that is, God's judgment under which all the world stood; he pounded on the theme of God's absolute sovereignty, of his complete freedom in initiating his revelation in Jesus Christ.

He spoke dialectically, in paradox, to shock readers into seeing the radicalness of the gospel: "Faith is awe in the presence of the divine incognito; it is the love of God that is aware of the qualitative difference between God and man and God and the world."

The first of six heavily revised editions followed in 1922. It rocked the theological community. Barth later wrote, "As I look back upon my course, I seem to myself as one who, ascending the dark staircase of a church tower and trying to steady himself, reached for the banister, but got hold of the bell rope instead. To his horror he had then to listen to what the great bell had sounded over him and not over him alone." Liberal theologians gasped in horror and attacked Barth furiously. But Barth had given that form of liberalism a mortal wound.

His theology came to be known as "dialectical theology," or "the theology of crisis"; it initiated a trend toward neo-orthodoxy in Protestant theology.

In 1921 Barth was appointed professor of Reformed theology at the University of Gottingen, and later to chairs at Munster (1925) and Bonn (1930). He published works critiquing nineteenth-century Protestant theology and produced a celebrated study of Anselm.

In 1931 he began the first book of his massive Church Dogmatics. It grew year by year out of his class lectures; though incomplete, it eventually filled four volumes in 12 parts, printed with 500 to 700 pages each. Many pastors in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, desperate for an antidote to liberalism, eagerly awaited the publication of each book.

Fascist idolatry

Barth fought not just with liberals but allies who challenged some of his extreme conclusions. When Emil Brunner proposed that God revealed himself not just in the Bible but in nature as well (though not in a saving way), Barth replied in 1934 with an article titled, "No! An Answer to Emil Brunner." Barth believed that such a "natural theology" was the root of the religious syncretism and anti-Semitism of the "German Christians"those who supported Hitler's national socialism.

By this time, Barth was immersed in the German church struggle. He was a founder of the so-called Confessing Church, which reacted vigorously against the ideology of "blood and soil" and the Nazis' attempt to create a "German Christian" church. The 1934 Barmen Declaration, largely written by Barth, pitted the revelation of Jesus Christ against the "truth" of Hitler and national socialism:

"Jesus Christ  is the one Word of God.  We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church could and would have to acknowledge as a source of its proclamation, apart from and beside this one Word of God, still other events and powers, figures and truths, as God's revelation."

When Barth refused to take the oath of unconditional allegiance to the Fuhrer, he was fired. He was offered the chair of theology in his native Basel, however, and from there he continued to champion the causes of the Confessing Church, the Jews, and oppressed people everywhere.

Pastor Karl

After the war, Barth engaged in controversies regarding baptism (though a Reformed theologian, he rejected infant baptism), hermeneutics, and the demythologizing program of Rudolf Bultmann (which denied the historical nature of Scripture, instead believing it a myth whose meaning could heal spiritual anxiety).

Barth also made regular visits to the prison in Basel, and his sermons to the prisoners, Deliverance to the Captives, reveal his unique combination of evangelical passion and social concern that characterized all his life.

When asked in 1962 (on his one visit to America) how he would summarize the essence of the millions of words he had published, he replied, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

Though Barth made it possible for theologians again to take the Bible seriously, American evangelicals have been skeptical of Barth because he refused to consider the written Word "infallible" (he believed only Jesus was). Others gave up on Barth's theology because it overemphasized God's transcendance (to the point that some former Barthians began championing the "death of God"). Nonetheless, he remains the most important theologian of the twentieth century.
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem."

Louis IX's dying words

He didn't act like a king. He wore hair shirts and visited hospitals, sometimes emptying the bedpans. He collected relics and built a chapel to house them.

Such unkingly behavior was one reason Louis IX developed the reputation as the most Christian of rulers.

Timeline 1173 Waldensian movement begins 1202 Death of Joachim of Fiore 1208 Francis of Assisi renounces wealth 1214 Louis IX born 1270 Louis IX dies 1272 Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica

Teenage Christian king

Born the fourth of 11 children to King Louis VIII and Queen Blanche, Louis became heir to the throne after his three older siblings died. Blanche raised her son to be strictly religious: "I love you, my dear son, as much as a mother can love her child," she once said to him, "but I would rather see you dead at my feet than that you should ever commit a mortal sin." At age 12, prepubescent Louis found himself king, with a devout but smothering mother at his side.

At 20 he married Margaret of Provence ("a girl of pretty face, but prettier faith"), to whom he quickly became devoted. She bore him 11 children. When he left on a crusade, he took his wife and children along.

Louis lived his faith, and his reputation spread. The Latin emperor of Constantinople gave Louis the Crown of Thorns in 1238, and Louis built the magnificent Sainte Chapelle to house this relic of Christ's crucifixion.

In 1242 Henry III of England invaded Angevin. Louis managed to drive off the English king but contracted an infection that almost killed him. He vowed if he got well, he would do what men of nearly every generation in his family had done for 150 years: he would lead a crusade.

Failed crusade

With 36 ships loaded with 15,000 men, their horses, and supplies, Louis headed for Egypt, the center of Muslim power and the doorway to Jerusalem. After capturing Damietta, he led his army inland toward Cairo. But an epidemic forced Louis to retreat. The king suffered so badly from dysentery that he cut a hole in the back of his pants and marched with the rear guard.

Louis and part of the army were captured before making it back to the ships. Their ransom was so high, it reportedly took two days to count the gold. When one of Louis's officials bragged about cheating the Muslims, the king angrily ordered the ransom paid in full.

The defeat plunged him into despair and deeper piety. He blamed himself for the loss, believing God was punishing him for his sins. He began dressing plainly, eating simply, and helping the poor. Instead of going home, Louis took his army to Palestine, where they built walls and towers around several coastal cities. He stayed four years, returning to France only upon hearing of the death of his mother, who had been ruling in his absence.

Dying on a bed of ashes

Back home, Louis redoubled his penance and his efforts to create a holy nation. He systematized customary law, recorded cases as precedents, and replaced trial by combat with the examination of witnesses under oath. He outlawed usury (lending money at an excessively high rate), ordered blasphemers to be branded on the lips, and forbade feudal lords to make private war on one another.

All feudal lords made a show of charity and good works. What made Louis different was his humility and perseverance. Every year, he went to the abbey of Saint Denis barefoot and bareheaded. Louis not only served the poor at his table, but he and his sons washed the feet of the beggars. He was especially generous to the widows of crusaders. Louis had a special passion for sermons, then just coming into vogue, and he encouraged the preaching friars, repeating his favorite homilies to those at his table. Queen Marguerite's confessor records that she would often get up at night and cover the king with a cloak while he was at his lengthy prayers, because he did not notice the cold.

Twenty-two years after his first crusade, Louis tried to redeem himself with another. He landed in Tunis, in northern Africa, in the heat of the summer of 1270. Dysentery or typhoid quickly swept through the unsanitary camp. Louis fell ill and died while lying penitently on a bed of ashes, whispering the name of the city he never won: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem." He soon became the only king of France named a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.
"O conscience, upright and stainless, how bitter a sting to thee is a little fault!"

By his early fifties, Dante had been exiled from his hometown, wrestled with the top authorities of the church, and taken up arms against his fellow countrymen. He had made plenty of enemies, and he was not pleased. So he did with his enemies what many have wished to do: he sent them all, even the pope, to hellliterarily, that is. But his damnatory writing was no screed; it was the finest poem of the Middle Ages, a summation of classical and medieval beliefs so profound that its critics labeled it "divine": The Divine Comedy.

Timeline 1215 Innocent III assembles Fourth Lateran Council 1220 Dominican Order established 1232 Gregory IX appoints first "inquisitors" 1265 Dante Alighieri born 1321 Dante Alighieri dies 1370 Catherine of Siena begins her Letters

Papal power plays

Dante was born into a Florentine family of low aristocracy. They likely had some status but not much wealth. More importantly, they were supporters of the pope. All of Dante's life was shaped by the long conflict between the champions of papal power (the Guelfs) and those who supported German imperial control of Italy (the Ghibellines). One side would rise to power and severely punish the other, only to be overthrown a few years later. The see-saw had continued for over a century, but during Dante's early years the Guelfs (to which his family belonged) had secured ascendancy. He witnessed the acme of Florentine democracy and fought in the front ranks for the Guelf cavalry.

All participants in public life had to belong to a guild, so Dante joined the union of physicians and apothecaries. Soon, he was elected as a prior (chief magistrate) of the city. When the republic was again ripped apart by political turmoil, Dante chose the wrong side. His opponents gained control, and the poet-philosopher was charged (falsely) of hostility to the church, fraud, and corrupt practices; he was fined and barred from holding office ever again. When he refused to pay the fine, he was sentenced to death by burning. Dante fled the city.

Exile

Dante left behind a wife and children, and plunged again into his writing. He had penned his first book in Florence: a mix of blank verse and poetic prose called La Vita Nuova ("the new life"). It tells the story of his love for Beatrice, a woman he'd met briefly when they were both 9 years oldand whom he had loved ever since, even after her death and his marriage.

In exile he also wrote a defense of the ideal Italian language: the vernacular. The clerical Latin, he wrote, would be eclipsed by the urban Italian vernacular. History would prove him right.

In 1308 Henry of Luxembourg became the Holy Roman Emperor (supported by French pope Clement V), and Dante, believing him to be the renovator of Christendom, wrote his famous work De Monarchia. He acknowledged "that the Roman government is in [some ways] subject to the Roman pontificate, for in some ways our mortal happiness is ordered for the sake of immortal happiness," but generally, the emperor is supreme in temporal matters over the authority of the pope. An earthly monarch is necessary for creating a universal peace, and his authority comes directly from God, not through the pope. Unfortunately for Dante, Henry's monarchy never really got off the ground.

The felicitous comedy

After wandering from town to town, the exiled Dante finally settled in Ravenna in about 1317, where he set about completing his masterpiece, La Commedia, begun a decade earlier. In essence, it is an epic poem chronicling an allegorical journey through the afterlife, divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The purpose, Dante wrote, was to convert a corrupt society to righteousness, "to remove those living in this life from a state of misery and lead them to a state of felicity."

In Inferno, Dante is guided by the Roman poet Virgil through the nine concentric circles of hell ("Abandon all hope, ye who enter here"), where they meet various sinners from history, myth, and Dante's enemies list. Purgatory is a nine-tiered mountain where Dante must confront his own shortcomings and seek redemption ("O conscience, upright and stainless, how bitter a sting to thee is a little fault!"). Before he reaches Paradise, Virgil is replaced by Dante's long-lost Beatrice and Bernard of Clairvaux, and together they meet Dante's heroes as they journey through the nine concentric circles of heaven ("Like the lark that soars in the air, first singing, then silent, content with the last sweetness that satiates it, such seems to me that image, the imprint of Eternal Pleasure"). Dante finished the epic poem just before his death, and it was almost immediately recognized as brilliant. His epitaph begins: "Dante the theologian, skilled in every branch of knowledge that philosophy may cherish in her illustrious bosom."
"The Christian is directed to turn away from evil and turn to the Scriptures."

"The church is in ruins," wrote John Darby, then a successful Anglican priest in Ireland. Echoing the lamentations of Protestant reformers three centuries earlier, he believed that the Church of England had lost any notion of salvation by grace and that it had forsaken biblical ideas of what church should be. For Darby it was time to start afresh with a new church and prepare for Jesus' imminent Second Coming. What resulted from Darby's departure was a new way of viewing the church and history that still pervades much of evangelical Christian thought.

Ever-changing vocation

Born in London into a prominent Anglo-Irish family, Darby received the best education possible. He attended London's Westminster School until his parents moved to an ancestral castle in Ireland. He graduated from Dublin's Trinity College as a Classical Gold Medalist and continued his studies in law, being admitted to the Irish Chancery Bar in 1822.

Timeline 1789 French Revolution begins 1793 William Carey sails for India 1799 Schleiermacher publishes Lectures on Religion 1800 John Nelson Darby born 1882 John Nelson Darby dies 1895 Freud publishes first work on psychoanalysis

But Darby's law career was to be short-lived. Within four years, largely due to his desire to help poor Irish Catholics, he was made a priest as a curate of the Church of Ireland. "I owed myself entirely to [God]," he explained of his career switch. "I longed for complete devotedness to the work of God."

He was assigned to a parish in the mountainous regions south of Dublin, and he quickly became an excellent pastor; rarely would he return to his cottage from pastoral visits before midnight. Still, as he read his Bible, he became frustrated with how "established" the church had become. The formalized Anglican church, so associated with the State, was lifeless beyond repair.

"It is positively stated (2 Tim. 3) that the church would fail and become as bad as heathenism," he wrote. "The Christian is directed to turn away from evil and turn to the Scriptures, and Christ (Rev. 2 and 3) is revealed as judging the state of the churches."

And so Darby resigned his position a mere two years and three months after receiving it. He joined a group of similarly disillusioned Christians who called themselves simply "Brethren." Committed to operate by strict biblical methods, the group had no professional ministers. Rejecting denominationalism, they believed the Holy Spirit would lead worship, so they focused their meetings on simple Communion services, served by a different individual each week.

Though officially no more a leader than anyone else in the group (now called the Plymouth Brethren because of their gathering in that city), Darby quickly became its most prominent voice. His pamphlet The Nature and Unity of the Church of Christ (1828), which described their beliefs and practices, quickly spread throughout the West. The former priest traveled to churches in Western Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand condemning denominationalism and calling believers to his new ecclesiology.

The end of the world

Believers came, drawn not only to Darby's view of the church but also to his view of history, especially the end of it. Premillennialism, the belief that the world will get worse until Christ returns to set up a visible, thousand-year reign of peace, had fallen out of favor for 1,500 years. Some occasional premillennalist movements had appeared over the centuries, but usually ended in disappointment after predicting Jesus' imminent return.

Darby, on the other hand, developed a new premillennialism, which he called "dispensationalism" after the division of history into eras or dispensations. Though later dispensationalists quibbled over the number and names of these periods, most agreed with Darby that there were seven, like the seven days of creation. Darby listed the ages as: Paradise, Noah, Abraham, Israel, Gentiles, the Spirit, and the Millennium.

Darby saw history as a "progressive revelation," and his system sought to explain the stages in God's redemptive plan for the universe. There was nothing especially radical about dividing history into periods. What separated Darby's dispensationalism was his novel method of biblical interpretation, which consisted of a strict literalism, the absolute separation of Israel and the church into two distinct peoples of God, and the separation of the rapture (the "catching away" of the church) from Christ's Second Coming. At the rapture, he said, Christ will come for his saints; and at the Second Coming, he will come with his saints.

Harsh critic

Though Darby's teachings became increasingly popular (and became more popular still after his death when C.I. Scofield published Darby's ideas in the annotated Scofield Reference Bible in 1909), Darby's return to England brought a split to the Plymouth Brethren. Riled at a member's differences on issues of prophecy and church order, Darby excommunicated him even after the man admitted and repudiated his error. Darby demanded that public refutation of those beliefs be the basis of admitting people to the Lord's Table. When the Bethesda church refused to comply with the demand, Darby refused to receive any of its members.

Eventually, Darby's followers created a tight group of churches known as Exclusive Brethren (also called Darbyites), while the others, maintaining a more congregational church government with less stringent membership standards, were called Open Brethren.

Historians have criticized Darby's tendency to treat opponents harshly: "His criticisms of what he considered error were forceful and enlightening yet at times extreme, perhaps closing otherwise open doors," says one, noting that Darby condemned Dwight Moody (they disagreed on freedom of will), who made efforts to befriend his British colleague.

Though Darby may have burned his bridges, his message gained a larger and larger following. Today his dispensational premillennialism is the view of many modern fundamentalists and conservative evangelicals.
"I believe in the personal God revealed in Christ, in his omnipresent activity and endless resources to achieve his purposes for us and for all men."

Though "born again" at age 7, Harry Emerson Fosdick early on decided he wanted nothing to do with the born-again movement known as fundamentalism, just then coming into adolescence. Fosdick also rejected Calvinism, which he believed produced "a God who is a devil," and instead relied on his own personal spiritual experiences. The Lord was to be found in living experience, he argued, not at the end of some creed.

Timeline 1857 Prayer Meeting Revival begins in New York 1860 U.S. Civil War begins 1870 First Vatican Council declares papal infallibility 1878 Harry Emerson Fosdick born 1969 Harry Emerson Fosdick dies 1974 Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization

Fosdick, on the way to becoming the most celebrated preacher of his day, took some psychological and theological tumbles; yet he remained true to his early instincts, and as such, he mirrored the larger movements taking place in American Christianity. He became, as one biographer put it, "the most influential interpreter of religion to his generation."

Theological rebel

In his high school and college years, Fosdick was already developing a reputation as "the Jesse James of the theological world" (later in life he boasted that he had never repeated the Apostles' Creed). At Colgate University, under the tutelage of liberal William Newton Clarke, he studied the divide between religious experiences and the intellectual and cultural forms in which they were expressed: "We must distinguish between abiding experiences and changing categories," he wrote. From there he went on to New York's Union Theological Seminary.

In 1903 he was ordained at the Madison Avenue Baptist Church, and in 1911, he joined the Union faculty while accepting the pastorate at First Baptist Church in Montclair, New Jersey. His preaching reputation grew, but it was his writing that drew him to the nation's attention to him. Six early devotional books (among others, The Meaning of Faith and The Meaning of Prayer) sold in the millions.

He rejected a pessimistic Christianity that wallowed in sin or forecast doom for the planet. In spite of his experiences ministering in inner-city ghettos and French trenches (which he visited during World War I), he remained confident about the future: "I believe in the personal God revealed in Christ, in his omnipresent activity and endless resources to achieve his purposes for us and for all men."

Challenging the fundamentalists

From 1918 to 1925, Fosdick, though a Baptist, served as minister of First Presbyterian Church in New York, where his eloquence earned him a reputation among liberals and conservatives alike. The pressure built as fundamentalists worried aloud about Fosdick's brand of Christianity. Fundamentalist intellectual J. Gresham Machen asked, "The question is not whether Mr. Fosdick is winning men, but whether the thing to which he is winning them is Christianity."

In a May 1922 sermon, "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?" Fosdick replied by repudiating the core beliefs of the fundamentalist faith: belief in the virgin birth was unnecessary; the inerrancy of Scripture, untenable; and the doctrine of the Second Coming, absurd. Though he ended on a note of reconciliation, in the sermon he castigated fundamentalists as "bitterly intolerant."

Baptist oil baron John D. Rockefeller, the wealthiest man in the nation, loved it and paid for some 130,000 copies to be printed and distributed to every Protestant minister in the United States. What had been up to this time a series of skirmishes between fundamentalists and liberals now exploded into war.

Presbyterian William Jennings Bryan sought to expose Fosdick's "utter agnosticism" to the New York Presbytery and the General Assembly and have him dismissed from First Presbyterian. Debate raged across the nation, with prominent periodicals taking sides. Fosdick tried to be conciliatory, but he refused to budge theologically or become a Presbyterian to retain his pulpit. By 1924 he felt compelled to resign.

Pulpit psychologist

In May of the following year, he became pastor of Park Avenue Baptist Church in New York, and then moved on to newly built (thanks to Rockefeller money) Riverside Church, a modern Gothic cathedral seating over 2,300. For the last 16 years of his active ministry, and for the following 28 of his retirement, it was Fosdick's church home, where he practiced his liberal values (for example, offering worship in a variety of styles, from Quaker style to high church) and speaking out on key issues of the day (he was a champion of civil liberties, for instance, and invited blacks to preach from his pulpit).

Fosdick was no diehard liberal, and in 1935, he shocked his progressive colleagues with a sermon, "The Church Must Go Beyond Modernism." Incorporating the emerging neo-orthodox themes of Karl Barth and Reinhold Niebhur, he criticized liberalism's habit of changing beliefs to accommodate culture, of softening the reality of God and downplaying the themes of personal and social sin.

Since 1927 Fosdick's sermons had been broadcast from Boston to Chicago on the "National Vespers Hour," and more than 2 million listeners tuned in. For the most part, he concentrated on practical and experiential Christianity, defining preaching as "personal counseling on a group scale."

The personal emphasis didn't end in the pulpithe did a great deal of counseling of individuals, and his On Being a Real Person, influenced by Freud, Jung, and his own personal experiences (he'd had a nervous breakdown in seminary), was a pioneering book in the newly emerging field of pastoral counseling.

As one historian put it, Fosdick's life was "the biopsy of an epoch." His ministry spanned two world wars and, in retirement, reached to Vietnam. In his 50 books, thousands of sermons, articles, and lectures, he walked hand-in-hand with American liberal Christianity as it made its way through the tumult of the first six decades of the twentieth century.
"When we are speaking about truth and life and redemption, we are speaking about Christ."

"When we speak of wisdom, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about virtue, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about justice, we are speaking about Christ. When we are speaking about truth and life and redemption, we are speaking about Christ." So wrote Ambrose, bishop of Milan, biblical exegete, political theorist, master of Latin eloquence, musician, and teacher; in all these roles, he was speaking about Christ.

Arrested career

The first Latin church father from a Christian family, Ambrose was also born into power, part of the Roman family of Aurelius. The pope and church dignitaries visited his parent's home when he was a child, and he was a governor in Italy's northern provinces before the age of 30. As he was sent, the prefect gave him a word of prophetic advice: "Go, conduct yourself not as a judge, but as a bishop."

Indeed, even as governor he had ecclesiastical problems to deal with. Orthodox Christians and Arians were practically at war at the time. Ambrose was no friend of the Arians, but he was so well regarded that both sides supported him. When the bishop of Milan (an Arian) died, Ambrose attended the meeting to elect a replacement, hoping that his presence would preempt violence between the parties. Much to his surprise, both sides shouted their wish for him to be their replacement.

Ambrose really didn't want to be an ecclesiastical leader; he was doing quite well as a political one. And he hadn't even been baptized yet! But the people wrote to Emperor Valentian, asking for his seal on their verdict. Ambrose was placed under arrest until he agreed to serve.

Timeline 270 Antony takes up life of solitude 313 "Edict of Milan" 325 First Council of Nicea 339 Ambrose of Milan born 397 Ambrose of Milan dies 398 Chrysostom consecrated bishop of Constantinople

If the Arians had hoped to gain favor by supporting Ambrose as bishop, their hopes were soon dashed. The new bishop was as orthodox as could be, and he soon took the Arians to task. He refused to surrender a church for use by Arians, and he wrote several works against them, including On the Faith, The Mystery of the Lord's Incarnation, and On the Holy Spirit.

Having been trained in rhetoric and law and having studied Greek, Ambrose became known for his knowledge of the latest Greek writings, both Christian and pagan. In addition to Philo, Origen, and Basil of Caesarea, he even quoted Neoplatonist Plotinus in his sermons. He was widely regarded as an excellent preacher.

In many of those sermons, Ambrose expounded upon the virtues of asceticism. He was so persuasive that noble families sometimes forbade their daughters to attend his sermons, fearing they'd trade their marriageable status for a life of austere virginity.

One piece of his pastoral advice is still universally known: "When you are at Rome, live in the Roman style; when you are elsewhere, live as they live elsewhere."

Ambrose also introduced congregational singing, and he was accused of "bewitching" Milan by introducing Eastern melodies into the hymns he wrote. Because of his influence, hymn singing became an important part of the Western liturgy.

The emperor repents

Ambrose's most lasting contribution, though, was in the area of church-state relations. He wrestled with three emperorsand won each time. His relationship with Theodosius, the first emperor to try to make Rome a Christian state, is the most well-known example.

In 390, local authorities imprisoned a charioteer of Thessalonica for homosexuality. Unfortunately, the charioteer was one of the city's favorites, and riots broke out when the governor refused to release him. The governor and a few others were killed in the melee, and the charioteer was freed.

Fuming, Theodosius exacted revenge. He announced another chariot race, but after the crowds arrived, the gates were locked and the townspeople were massacred by the emperor's soldiers. Within three hours, 7,000 were dead.

Ambrose was horrified. He wrote an angry letter to Theodosius demanding his repentance. "I exhort, I beg, I entreat, I admonish you, because it is grief to me that the perishing of so many innocent is no grief to you," he wrote. "And now I call on you to repent." He forbade the emperor to attend worship until he prostrated himself at the altar.

Theodosius obeyed, marking the first time church triumphed over state.

In that event, Ambrose introduced the medieval concept of a Christian emperor as dutiful "son of the church serving under orders from Christ." For the next thousand years, secular and religious rulers struggled to determine who was sovereign in various spheres of life.

Though there is some question about the historicity of Theodosius's famous statement, "I know no bishop worthy of the name, except Ambrose," the emperor continued to hold the bishop in high regard and died in his arms.

"I confess I loved him, and felt the sorrow of his death in the abyss of my heart," Ambrose eulogized.

Two years later, Ambrose himself fell gravely ill. The worries of the country were expressed by one writer: "When Ambrose dies, we shall see the ruin of Italy." On Easter eve, 397, the man who had been bishop of Milan for more than 23 years finally succumbed.

Only one name is more associated with Ambrose than Theodosius's, and only one student outshined this teacher: Augustine. The skeptical professor of rhetoric had gone to Milan in 384 to hear the bishop's famous allegorical preaching. By the time he left four years later, he had been baptized by Ambrose and given a philosophical basis he would use to transform Christian theology.
"Without seeing any vision, he understood and knew many things, as well spiritual things as things of the faith."

Ignatius of Loyola, writing of himself

"Soul of Christ, make me holy." So says the first line of a prayer that Ignatius of Loyola recommends to those who take up his Spiritual Exercises, one of the most influential devotional books in the church's historyit's still being published, and followed, some 460 years after he first conceived it.

In fact, whatever Ignatius touched seemed to be set apart as something special: the order he founded, the Society of Jesus, became one of the most influential of Catholic orders.

Yet Ignatius' little prayer sums up not only his legacy but also his person.

Given to vanities

He was born Inigo Lopez de Loyola, to a noble and wealthy Basque family, and sent to the Spanish court to become a page. He embraced court life with enthusiasm, learning weapons, gambling, and courtly lovehe was "a man given to the vanities of the world," he later wrote in his autobiography, "whose chief delight consisted in martial exercises, with a great and vain desire to win renown."

In a battle with the French for the town of Pamplona, Spain, he was hit by a cannon ball the size of a fist. The five-foot-two-inch Inigo was helped back to Loyola by French soldiers (who admired his courage). He underwent surgeries to reset his right knee and remove a protruding bone. For seven weeks he lay in bed recuperating.

During this time, he began reading spiritual books and accounts of the exploits of Dominic and Francis. In one book by a Cistercian monk, the spiritual life was conceived as one of holy chivalry; the idea fascinated Inigo. During his convalescence he received spiritual visions, so that by the time he recuperated, he had resolved to live a life of austerity to do penance for his sins.

In February 1522, Inigo bade farewell to his family and went to Montserrat, a pilgrimage site in northeastern Spain. He spent three days confessing his life sins, then hung his sword and dagger near the statue of the Virgin Mary to symbolize his break with his old life. He donned sack cloth and walked to Manresa, a town 30 miles from Barcelona, to pass the decisive months of his career (from March 1522 to mid-February 1523). He lived as a beggar, ate and drank sparingly, scourged himself, and for a time neither trimmed his tangled hair nor cut his nails. He attended Mass daily and spent seven hours a day in prayer, often in a cave outside Manresa.

While sitting one day by the Cardoner River, "the eyes of his understanding began to open," he later wrote, referring to himself in the third person, "and, without seeing any vision, he understood and knew many things, as well spiritual things as things of the faith." At Manresa, he sketched the fundamentals of his little book Spiritual Exercises.

After a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he headed back to Europe: "After the pilgrim he learned that it was God's will that he should not stay in Jerusalem," he wrote, "he pondered in his heart what he should do and finally decided to study for a time in order to be able to help souls."

He chose to defer priesthood, which would have taken but a few years of study, for a more intense and lasting 12 years of education. Inigo studied at Barcelona, then Alcala, where he acquired followers. But Inigo soon fell under suspicion of heresy (as a non-ordained person encouraging others to reflect on their spiritual experiences, he was distrusted by the church hierarchy), was imprisoned and tried by the Spanish Inquisitionthe first of many such encounters with the Inquisition. He was found innocent, left for Salamanca, where he was imprisoned (and acquitted) again. With this, he and his companions left Spain for study at Paris.

During his long stay in the French capital, where he changed his name to Ignatius, he won the coveted master of arts degree, gathered more companions (among them Francis Xavier, who became one of the order's greatest missionaries). In 1534 he and his little band bound themselves by vows of poverty, chastity, and obediencethough they had not yet decided to found a religious order.

Jesus incorporated

Then they made their way to Venice, and there, in 1537, Ignatius and most of his companions were ordained. For the next 18 months they ministered and prayed together. One companion later remembered about Ignatius, "When he did not weep three times during Mass, he considered himself deprived of consolation."

During this time Ignatius had one of his most decisive visions. While in prayer one day, he saw Christ with a cross on his shoulder, and beside him was God the Father, who said, "I wish you to take this man [meaning Ignatius] for your servant."

Jesus said to Ignatius, "My will is that you should serve us."

Ignatius was also told that his group was to be called "the company of Jesus," that they were to be like a company of fur traders yet focused on doing God's will.

In 1540 the small band gained the pope's approval and was named the Society of Jesus: they determined a method of decision making, vowed to obey the pope as the voice of Christ, and elected Ignatius as superior general. Thus began 15 years of administrative life in Rome for Ignatius.

The vision and disciplines of the "Jesuits," as they came to be called, caught the imagination of Europe. Soon Jesuits were found in Europe's major cities as well as in the new world: Gao, Mexico City, Quebec, Buenos Aires, and Bogota. They opened hospices for the dying, sought financial support for the poor, founded orphanages, and opened schools.

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus was probably the most important work of Ignatius's later years. His followers abandoned some traditional forms of religious life (such as chanting the divine office, physical punishments, and penitential garb), in favor of greater adaptability and mobility. The Society was above all to be an order of apostles "ready to live in any part of the world where there was hope of God's greater glory and the good of souls."

His greatest legacy is his Spiritual Exercises, which has been in constant use for 460 years. The Exercises lead a person through four "weeks" (a flexible term) of meditations and prayers, guided by a spiritual director, generally during a retreat (though there are provisions for non-retreat direction).

Purifying one's soul is the object of the first week; greater knowledge and the love of Christ, the second; freeing the will to follow Christ, the third; and releasing the heart from worldly attachments, the fourth. The perfection of the soul, the imitation of Christ, and the soul's attachment to God are goals for the exercises that reflect the holy ambitions of Ignatius from his conversion.

Ignatius was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622. In 1922 he was declared patron of all spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI.
"Praised be You, my Lord, with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day and through whom You give us light."

It is difficult to think clearly about Francis of Assisi. The first thing that comes to mind is the gentle saint who preached to birds, tamed wolves, and padded about in flower-filled fields basking in the love of God. But it's also difficult to imagine how such a benign figure could turn thirteenth-century Europe upside down.

In fact, Francis was a complex figure, a man who contemporaries claimed lived out the Sermon on the Mount better than anyone else, except of course, the man who first preached it. If that's even close to the truth, it's a bit easier to see why he left such an impression on his age and every age since.

From hermit to itinerant

He was born in Assisi, Italy, as Giovanni Francesco Bernardone, son of a wealthy merchant. As a young man, Francis led a worldly, carefree life. An early biographer said, "He squandered his time terribly. Indeed, he outshone all his friends in trivialities." In 1202 he marched off to battle against the city of Perugia, full of a young man's dreams of military glory. But he was taken prisoner during the battle, and a year passed before his father could arrange ransom. That was followed by a year's convalescence in Assisi, a year in which Francis, now in his early twenties, was slowly transformed.During his illness, he experienced dreams and visions. One day as he prayed in a dilapidated church in San Damiano, at the edge of Assisi, he heard Christ say three times from the crucifix: "Francis, go repair my house, which, as you can see, is falling completely to ruin." Francis understood that he was to repair the church he prayed in (though his followers later would see this as his call to reform the church), so he proceeded to sell off family goods to raise money for repairs.

When his father caught wind of this, he was furious. He dragged Francis before the local bishop to force his son into changing his unseemly behavior and to pay him back. In the course of the interview, Francis took off his clothes and laid them neatly in a pile before his father. "Up to today I called you 'father,'" he said to him, "but now I can say in all honesty, 'Our Father who art in heaven.'" He walked out of the cathedral to become a hermitto "be alone in solitude and silence," a biographer noted, "to hear the secrets which God could reveal to him."

Other inspirations followed. One day in church he heard from the Gospel of Matthew, "Take no gold or silver or copper in your wallet, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics or sandals or a staff." He took it literally and began an itinerant life: he intended to live in utter simplicity and to preach a gospel that usually entailed strong injunctions to repent. "He denounced evil whenever he found it," wrote one early biographer, "and made no effort to palliate it; from him a life of sin met with outspoken rebuke, not support."

Francis was more rigorous than popular imagination allows. In winter, he sometimes hurled himself in a ditch full of ice and stayed there until every vestige of sinful temptation departed. To avoid lust, he fixed his gaze on the sky or ground whenever he spoke with a woman.

Though known for his infectious joy, Francis abhorred laughing or idle words. "Not only did he wish that he should not laugh, but that he should not even afford to others the slightest occasion for laughing."

Timeline 1141 Hildegard of Bingen begins writing 1150 Universities of Paris and Oxford founded 1173 Waldensian movement begins 1182 Francis of Assisi born 1226 Francis of Assisi dies 1232 Gregory IX appoints first "inquisitors"

By 1209 he had gathered a small band of "brothers" (12 men who wished to share in his life and ministry). He wrote a Rule and set off to Rome to gain the church's approval for his work. This became the First Order of Franciscans, and Francis was elected superior.

Women also were fascinated by Francis's message, and when Francis received a rich young women of Assisi named Clare, the Second Order of Franciscans was founded, also known as Poor Clares. (The Third Order of Franciscans, which Francis founded in 1221, is for those who lead their secular lives while trying to live by a modified Franciscan rule.)

Francis wandered all over Italy and at one point crossed the Mediterranean, visited a Crusader expedition in Egypt, crossed enemy lines, and attempted to convert the Muslim sultan. The sultan was unconvinced by the message but so impressed by the messenger that he afforded him safe passage back.

Embracing death

Soon his brothers (called friars, and growing rapidly in numbers) were making trips to France, Spain, Germany, England, Hungary, and Turkey, preaching the message of repentance, gospel simplicity, and radical obedience to Christ's teaching.

It was an era, like many, in which corruption infected ecclesiastical circles and indifference permeated the laity. But as one contemporary noted, as a result of the preaching of the Franciscan brothers and sisters, "persons of both sexes, rich and worldly, have renounced possessions and, for the love of Christ, turned their backs on the world." In short, Francis had begun a religious revival that spread over Europe.

With the order's growth came complications. The Rule that had served a small band was inadequate for the large organization the Franciscans were becoming. Francis himself sensed his own inadequacy to continue leading a large organization, so after penning a new Rule and his Testament (in a sense, last wishes), urging his brothers to retain the primitive standards used from the beginning, he resigned as head of the order.

In his last years, Francis popularized the living creche to highlight the poverty into which Christ was born. In 1224, on a mountaintop retreat, Francis had a mystical encounter that left him with bleeding wounds in his feet, hands, and sidethe first recorded instance of stigmata.

As he entered his mid-forties, illness racked his body, finally taking his eyesight completely.

In his last years, he composed his famous Canticle of Brother Sun. From this poem Francis gets his deserved reputation as one who reveled in God's creation:

"Praised be You, my Lord, with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun,

Who is the day and through whom You give us light "

In the poem Francis also praised "Brother Wind" and "Brother Fire" and "Sister Mother Earth." What many forget is that near the end of the poem, he wrote this:

"Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no man can escape.

Woe to those who die in mortal sin.

Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will. "

Such was the death of Francis, whose life was so clearly committed to God's "holy will" that he was canonized within two yearsexceedingly fast by Roman Catholic standards.

After Francis's death, the Franciscans continued to grow andironic for an order once told by their founder "to appropriate nothing for themselves, neither a house, nor a place, nor anything else"soon became quite rich. A stunning basilica was built in Assisi, and Francis's relics were moved there in 1230.
"When I came to this blessed family, I then saw, and never before, the power of godliness in its lively vigor and efficacy."

Historians customarily date the beginning of the modern missionary movement in 1792, with William Carey's voyage to India. But a full 150 years earlier, Puritan John Eliot was evangelizing Native Americansthough the long-range impact of his work was destroyed by colonists' fears.

Impressed with the vigor of godliness

Eliot was born to a wealthy family in Herfordshire, England. After graduating from Cambridge in 1622, he came under the influence of Puritan pastor Thomas Hooker, the man chiefly responsible for his conversion: "When I came to this blessed family," Eliot later wrote, "I then saw, and never before, the power of godliness in its lively vigor and efficacy."

In 1631, as Anglican leaders applied heat to Puritans, Eliot emigrated to Roxbury, Massachusetts. There he became pastor of a church composed of many of his English friends. The following year, he married Ann (Hannah) Mumford.

Timeline 1567 Presbyterian Church becomes state church of Scotland 1588 British Navy defeats Spanish Armada 1600 East India Company Chartered 1604 John Eliot born 1690 John Eliot dies 1729 Jonathan Edwards becomes pastor at Northampton

The main legacy of Eliot's early years was producing the first book published in America: the Bay Psalm Book (1640), which put the psalms in metrical verse.

Eliot was a quintessential Puritan: he was frugal, eating just one plain dish for dinner. He also rejected tobacco, wigs, and long hair for men. But he was unique in this: he cared deeply for the Indians who populated New England. At Roxbury, he began learning Algonkian and by 1647 was preaching in the native tongue. He began translating and in 1663 published the entire Algonkian Biblethe first Bible printed in America.

Unfortunately, he was a product of his age: he confused Christianity with English culture. He delayed many Indian baptisms "until they were come up unto civil cohabitation, government, and labor, which a fixed condition of life will put them upon." In other words, until they began living like Englishmen, "they were not so capable to be trusted with that treasure of Christ."

This meant, among other things, haircuts for the men, English clothing for all, and moving Indians into villages patterned after English towns. By 1674, there were 14 such towns with a total of 1,100 "praying Indians," as they were called.

Ministering to broken bands

The system gave some Indians the rudiments of the Christian faith and some training for the ministry. But it also isolated them, both from their own people (whose culture they were required to reject) and from their English sponsors (they were not even permitted to join Puritan churches).

During the bloody King Philip's War (167576) between Wampanoags and the English, the "praying Indians" were caught in the middle. Though they supported the English, the English colonists distrusted their loyalty, rounded them up, and confined them to concentration camps. The war not only destroyed the trust of the Indians, but also nearly all copies of Eliot's Algonkian Bible and all but four of the Indian villages.

Eliot refused to be discouraged, and he continued to minister to broken bands of Indians until his death. Villages of "praying Indians" continued into the early eighteenth century.
"Be great in little things."

Within five years of its founding, the Order of the Jesuits was already famous for religious zeal. Word of Jesuit preaching and care of the sick in central Italy had spread throughout the Continent, and Catholic princes everywhere wrote begging for as many Jesuits as the Order could spare. When Portugal's King John III asked for six Jesuits for colonies in the Orient, founder Ignatius Loyola replied that he could only send two.

Timeline 1479 Establishment of Spanish Inquisition 1488 First complete Hebrew Old Testament 1497 Savonarola excommunicated 1506 Francis Xavier born 1552 Francis Xavier dies 1582 Mateo Ricci and colleague begin mission in China

At the last minute, however, one fell ill. His replacement, Francis Xavier, was given time only to mend his cassock before shipping out. Such was the beginning of one of the most wide-ranging and successful of missionary endeavors.

Occidental accident

The son of an aristocratic Spanish-Basque family, Xavier had been Loyola's roommate at the University of Paris, Europe's theological center. Gradually, the two had forged a friendship and a kinship in religious ideals, and with five others, they dedicated themselves to lives of poverty and celibacy in imitation of Christ. While Xavier traveled to Lisbon, Pope Paul III formally recognized his and Ignatius's followers as a religious order: the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits.

At the request of King John III, Xavier was sent to Goa, India, the center of Portuguese operations in the East. After a year's journey (during which he first earned his reputation for sea-sickness), Xavier spent five months preaching and ministering to the hospitalized. He walked the streets with a bell, inviting children to church. Once he had enough Portuguese children, he taught them the catechism and gave them instructions to share what they learned with their parents.

"Give me the children until they are 7 and anyone may have them afterwards," he said. Eventually the adults themselves, originally unreceptive to the missionary, were flocking to hear him preach.

But Xavier figured that if he was meant to evangelize the Portuguese, he could have stayed in Portugal. He boarded a ship again, bound for the pearl fisheries of India's southern peninsula. About 20,000 Indians in the area had been baptized a mere seven years earlier, mainly because Christianity was the religion of the powerful Portuguese. Xavier wanted to instruct and confirm these neophytes as well as evangelize.

However, India's caste system created another block to sincere conversion: many members of the lower castes sought conversion mostly as a means of social advancement. Higher castes saw the religion as subversive to the social order. Xavier and his followers were often persecuted, and Xavier himself was once shot with arrows. To make matters worse, reputedly Christian Portuguese soldiers were setting horrible examples for the new converts.

Complications

On his missionary travels (he definitely reached Sri Lanka, and some believe he may have been the first apostle to the Philippines), Xavier converted a Japanese man named Han-Sir. Japan had been reached only five years earlier by Europeans, and Xavier was astonished at Han-Sir's reports of Japan's sophisticated culture.

Hoping to reach "the best people yet discovered," as he called them, he sailed with Han-Sir, two other Japanese men, and two fellow Jesuits. As in India, he was well-received and thousands converted. Convinced that he had the beginnings of a flourishing church, Xavier returned to India for a brief respite.

News awaited him. The Jesuit order had decided to organize a new province including all the territories east of South Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Xavier himself was to be its head. What Xavier really wanted, however, was to continue evangelizing Japan.

In fact, he thought he could reach more Japanese if he could first reach China, because, as Xavier believed, the Japanese looked to China for wisdom: "What encourages us is that God has inspired this thought in us," Xavier wrote to the King of Portugal. "And we do not doubt that the power of God is infinitely superior to that of the king in China."

China, however, was closed to outsiders, and Xavier died of fever while trying to gain entrance to the country.

Catholicism's greatest missionary?

How many converts Xavier made is left to the educated guesswork of history. The numbers go as high as 1 million, but modern scholars peg the number around 30,000, while the Jesuits claim 700,000. And while some of Xavier's methods have been criticized (he forced converts to take Portuguese names and dress in Western clothes, approved the persecution of the Eastern Church, and used the Goa government as a missionary tool), he has also earned praise. He insisted that missionaries adapt to many of the customs, and most certainly the language, of the culture they wish to evangelize. And unlike later missionaries, Xavier supported an educated native clergy. Though for a time, it seemed his work in Japan was subsequently destroyed by persecution, Protestant missionaries three centuries later discovered 100,000 Christians in the Nagasaki area.

In 1622 the Roman Catholic church canonized Xavierand in 1927 named him patron saint of all missions.
"Lord Jesus, it is for thee that I patiently endure this cruel death. I pray thee to have mercy on my enemies."

Early in his monastic career, Martin Luther, rummaging through the stacks of a library, happened upon a volume of sermons by John Huss, the Bohemian who had been condemned as a heretic. "I was overwhelmed with astonishment," Luther later wrote. "I could not understand for what cause they had burnt so great a man, who explained the Scriptures with so much gravity and skill."

Timeline 1321 Dante completes Divine Comedy 1348 Black Death hits Avignon 1349 Death of William of Ockham 1369 John Huss born 1415 John Huss dies 1431 Joan of Arc burned at stake

Huss would become a hero to Luther and many other Reformers, for Huss preached key Reformation themes (like hostility to indulgences) a century before Luther drew up his 95 Theses. But the Reformers also looked to Huss's life, in particular, his steadfast commitment in the face of the church's cunning brutality.

From foolishness to faith

Huss was born to peasant parents in "Goosetown," that is, Husinec, in the south of today's Czech Republic. (In his twenties, he shortened his name to Huss"goose," and he and his friends delighted in making puns on his name; it was a tradition that continued, especially with Luther, who reminded his followers of the "goose" who had been "cooked" for defying the pope).

To escape poverty, Huss trained for the priesthood: "I had thought to become a priest quickly in order to secure a good livelihood and dress and to be held in esteem by men." He earned a bachelor's, master's, and then finally a doctorate. Along the way he was ordained (in 1401) and became the preacher at Prague's Bethlehem Chapel (which held 3,000), the most popular church in one of the largest of Europe's cities, a center of reform in Bohemia (for example, sermons were preached in Czech, not Latin).

During these years, Huss underwent a change. Though he spent some time with what he called a "foolish sect," he finally discovered the Bible: "When the Lord gave me knowledge of Scriptures, I discharged that kind of stupidity from my foolish mind."

The writings of John Wycliffe had stirred his interest in the Bible, and these same writings were causing a stir in Bohemia (technically the northeastern portion of today's Czech Republic, but a general term for the area where the Czech language and culture prevailed). The University of Prague was already split between Czechs and Germans, and Wycliffe's teachings only divided them more. Early debates hinged on fine points of philosophy (the Czechs, with Wycliffe, were realists; the Germans nominalists). But the Czechs, with Huss, also warmed up to Wycliffe's reforming ideas; though they had no intention of altering traditional doctrines, they wanted to place more emphasis on the Bible, expand the authority of church councils (and lessen that of the pope), and promote the moral reform of clergy. Thus Huss began increasingly to trust the Scriptures, "desiring to hold, believe, and assert whatever is contained in them as long as I have breath in me."

A political struggle ensued, with the Germans labeling Wycliffe and his followers heretics. With the support of the king of Bohemia, the Czechs gained the upper hand, and the Germans were forced to flee to other universities.

The situation was complicated by European politics, which watched as two popes vied to rule all of Christendom. A church council was called at Pisa in 1409 to settle the matter. It deposed both popes and elected Alexander V as the legitimate pontiff (though the other popes, repudiating this election, continued to rule their factions). Alexander was soon "persuaded"that is, bribedto side with Bohemian church authorities against Huss, who continued to criticize them. Huss was forbidden to preach and excommunicated, but only on paper: with local Bohemians backing him, Huss continued to preach and minister at Bethlehem Chapel.

When Alexander V's successor, the antipope John XXIII (not to be confused with the modern pope by the same name), authorized the selling of indulgences to raise funds for his crusade against one of his rivals, Huss was scandalized and further radicalized. The pope was acting in mere self-interest, and Huss could no longer justify the pope's moral authority. He leaned even more heavily on the Bible, which he proclaimed the final authority for the church. Huss further argued that the Czech people were being exploited by the pope's indulgences, which was a not-so-veiled attack on the Bohemian king, who earned a cut of the indulgence proceeds.

Scripture rebel

With that Huss lost the support of his king. His excommunication, which had been tacitly dropped, was now revived, and an interdict was put upon the city of Prague: no citizen could receive Communion or be buried on church grounds as long as Huss continued his ministry. To spare the city, Huss withdrew to the countryside toward the end of 1412. He spent the next two years in feverish literary activity, composing a number of treatises. The most important was The Church, which he sent to Prague to be read publicly. In it he argued that Christ alone is head of the church, that a pope "through ignorance and love of money" can make many mistakes, and that to rebel against an erring pope is to obey Christ.

In November 1414, the Council of Constance assembled, and Huss was urged by Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund to come and give an account of his doctrine. Because he was promised safe conduct, and because of the importance of the council (which promised significant church reforms), Huss went. When he arrived, however, he was immediately arrested, and he remained imprisoned for months. Instead of a hearing, Huss was eventually hauled before authorities in chains and asked merely to recant his views.

When he saw he wasn't to be given a forum for explaining his ideas, let alone a fair hearing, he finally said, "I appeal to Jesus Christ, the only judge who is almighty and completely just. In his hands I plead my cause, not on the basis of false witnesses and erring councils, but on truth and justice." He was taken to his cell, where many pleaded with him to recant. On July 6, 1415, he was taken to the cathedral, dressed in his priestly garments, then stripped of them one by one. He refused one last chance to recant at the stake, where he prayed, "Lord Jesus, it is for thee that I patiently endure this cruel death. I pray thee to have mercy on my enemies." He was heard reciting the Psalms as the flames engulfed him.

His executioners scooped up his ashes and tossed them into a lake so that nothing would remain of the "heretic," but some Czechs collected bits of soil from the ground where Huss had died and took them back to Bohemia as a memorial.

Bohemians were furious with the execution and repudiated the council; over the next several years, a coalition of Hussites, radical Taborites, and others refused to submit to the authority of the Holy Roman emperor or the church and fended off three military assaults. Bohemia eventually reconciled with the rest of western Christendomthough on its own terms (for example, it was one of the few Catholic regions that offered Communion of both bread and wine; the rest of Christendom simply received the bread). Those who repudiated this last compromise formed the Unitas Fratrum ("Union of Brethren"), which became the foundation for the Moravian Brethren (Moravia is a region in the Czech Republic), who would play an influential role in the conversion of the Wesley brothers, among others.
"Now I begin to be a disciple.  Let fire and cross, flocks of beasts, broken bones, dismemberment  come upon me, so long as I attain to Jesus Christ."

Ignatius was going to die. He knew it. He wanted it. The only possible problem, as he saw it, was meddling Christians.

Timeline 4 B.C. Birth of Jesus 14 Death of Augustus 30 Crucifixion of Jesus; Pentecost 35 Ignatius born 107 Ignatius dies 120 Papias is bishop of Hierapolis

"I fear your kindness, which may harm me," he wrote to Roman Christians hoping to free him. "You may be able to achieve what you plan. But if you pay no heed to my request, it will be very difficult for me to attain unto God." And that was truly Ignatius's goal: to imitate "our God Jesus Christ" in death. If Christians really wanted to do something, they should pray that he would remain faithful. "If you remain silent about me, I shall become a word of God. But if you allow yourselves to be swayed by the love in which you hold my flesh, I shall again be no more than a human voice."

That Ignatius truly wanted to die was about as much as we know about his martyrdom. It's not even known for certain that he was killed, though that's likely.

As the second (or third) bishop of Antioch, one of the most important churches of the day, he was certainly one of the most prominent Christians of the time immediately succeeding the apostles. But Antioch was also home to some religious debates, and while Ignatius denounced division as "the beginning of evil," the bishop engaged in debate with tenacity.

To the Magnesian church (near Ephesus) he wrote scathingly of the Ebionites, who demanded the keeping of Jewish regulations. "It is outrageous to utter the name of Jesus Christ and live in Judaism." Similar attacks were launched against the Docetists, who believed Christ only appeared to be human. Anyone believing such nonsense that Christ only seemed to suffer could not truly be called a martyr, he asserted.

He was probably arrested on the charge of "atheism"denial of the Roman godsand was taken from Antioch to Rome by an escort of ten soldiers. At nearly every stop, he met leaders of local churches, and during the trip he penned, with the help of a secretary, seven letters.

Though most famous for being one of the church's earliest martyrs, his letters also served to record the rapid development of church hierarchy. "Follow, all of you, the bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father," he wrote to Polycarp's church at Smyrna (now Izmir, Turkey). "Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be, even as wheresoever Christ Jesus is, there is the catholic church. It is not lawful apart from the bishop either to baptize or to hold a love-feast [church meal]," he continued in his letter to Smyrna. The instruction is also remarkable because it is the first recorded use of the phrase "catholic [meaning, universal] church." (He was also the first outside the New Testament to speak of Jesus' virgin birth.)

The details of Ignatius's death are lost to history, but not his desire to have his life count for something: "Now I begin to be a disciple  Let fire and cross, flocks of beasts, broken bones, dismemberment  come upon me, so long as I attain to Jesus Christ."
"Wherever you find yourself, do not go forth from that place too quickly. Try to be patient and learn to stay in one place."

Born into a wealthy family, Antony submitted to his parents and their expectations that he follow in their wealthy footsteps. They died when Antony was only about 20 years old, and he inherited every penny. But about that same time, Antony happened to hear a reading from the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus tells a rich young man, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor." Antony believed he was that rich young man and immediately did exactly as Jesus instructed.

Fleeing to the desert

Everything we know about Antony comes from a hagiography (a favorable biography of a saintly person) written shortly after his death by the famous theologian Athanasius. According to him, Antony saw the Christian's task as both simple and formidable: become a "lover of God" by resisting the Devil and yielding to Christ. Antony saw the world as a battlefield on which God's servants waged war against the Devil and his demons.

His journey into purity began by removing himself from the village. He took up strenuous spiritual exercises: sleepless nights spent in prayer, fasting every other day, and eating only bread and water. He discovered, Athanasius wrote, "the mind of the soul is strong when the pleasures of the body are weak."

Timeline 70 Polycarp Martyred 180 Irenaeus writes Against Heresies 230 Earliest Known Public Churches Built 251 Antony born 356 Antony dies 367 Athanasius's Letter Defines New Testament Canon

Soon Antony left the village territories and sought refuge in nearby tombs where, according to Athanasius, devils and wild beasts assaulted him both physically and spiritually. Like an athlete in the arena, Antony endured repeated attacks until the demons were finally scattered by the presence of God. In the peace after the turmoil, Antony asked God why he had been left to do battle alone. God told him that, though he was present, he waited to see the saint fight.

From the tombs Antony fled again, this time seeking refuge in an abandoned Roman fort on a solitary desert mountain. There he shut himself up for 20 years, waging a silent, solitary battle. When he emerged, Antony had become a symbol of strength and wisdom for all of Egypt.

Ascetic superstar

Having built a foundation of solitude and ceaseless prayer, Antony was ready to share his secrets with others who sought to follow his way. Many were attracted to his wisdom, and these he encouraged to seek self-denial and the hermetic life. The Apophthegmata, a collection of sayings attributed to the desert fathers and mothers, tells this story of Antony's wisdom:

A brother renounced the world and gave his goods to the poor, but he kept back a little for his personal expenses. He went to see Abba Antony. When he told him this, the old man said to him, "If you want to be a monk, go into the village, buy some meat, cover your naked body with it and come here like that." The brother did so, and the dogs and birds tore at his flesh. When he came back the old man asked him whether he had followed his advice. He showed him his wounded body, and Saint Antony said, "Those who renounce the world but want to keep something for themselves are torn in this way by the demons who make war on them."

Antony also came to the aid of the larger church. When Roman Emperor Diocletian began persecuting Egyptian Christians in 303, word reached the lonesome Antony in his desert cell. He and several other monks traveled to Alexandria and ministered to the persecuted. He was so respected that even the authorities left him alone to evangelize, console, and ease the suffering of the prisoners. In fact, under Maximin he offered himself as a martyr but was refused.

Only one other time did Antony leave his desert solitude. Near the end of Antony's life, Arius (a former deacon in Alexandria) began to spread his heresy that Christ was created, and thus not equal with God. Many Egyptian Christians were swayed by Arian teachings. Athanasius, leader of the church in Alexandria and defender of orthodoxy, called Antony to the Egyptian capital to champion the truth. After preaching, the monk fled the world a last time, returning to his quiet cell. When, at the age of 105, he knew he was near the end of his life, he took two companions with him into the desert to wait for his death. They were ordered to bury his body without a marker so no one could make his grave or relics an object of reverence.

Though Antony was not the first monk, his passion for purity blazed the way for a monastic spirituality. Athanasius's biography became a "best-seller" and inspired thousands to take up the monastic life, which developed into one of the most important institutions in Western history.
"May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love, and joy of God's presence."

As a young man, Andrew Murray wanted to be a minister, but it was a career choice rather than an act of faith. Not until he had finished his general studies and begun his theological training, in the Netherlands, did he experience a conversion of heart. In a letter to his parents, Murray wrote, "Your son has been born again.  I have cast myself on Christ."

Timeline 1816 Adoniram Judson begins mission trip 1819 Channing issues Unitarian Christianity 1827 J. N. Darby founds the Plymouth Brethren 1828 Andrew Murray born 1917 Andrew Murray dies 1931 C.S. Lewis comes to faith in Christ

This "casting of the self" became Murray's life theme. Sixty years of ministry in the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa, more than 200 books and tracts on Christian spirituality and ministry, extensive social work, and the founding of educational institutionsall these were outward signs of the inward grace that Murray experienced by continually casting himself on Christ.

"May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love, and joy of God's presence," was his prayer. "And not a moment without the entire surrender of myself as a vessel for him to fill full of his Spirit and his love."

School of prayer

At age 21, Murray received his first appointment as the only minister in the Orange River Sovereignty, a 50,000-square-mile territory in remote South Africa. Constant travel to distant parishes and outreach to the unevangelized soon depleted his strength. A bout of illness so weakened him, he was forced to return to England for rest.

When he returned to South Africa, he took a position in Worcester, where he became involved with the newly opened Theological Seminary of Stellenbosch. His passion for Christian education prompted him to found a succession of institutions, such as the Bible and Prayer Union (which encouraged Bible study and prayer) and the Huguenot Seminary, where young women could prepare for educational work.

From Worcester, Murray accepted a more prestigious preaching position in Cape Town and then, seven years later, the pastorate of a church in Wellington, a more rural parish. Here Murray honed his preaching skills and led a holiness revival (historian Walter Hollenweger considers Murray a forerunner of Pentecostalism). Through his preaching and writing, Murray slowly became an international figure.

Murray wrote to interpret the Scriptures in such a way that Christians were free to believe and experience the grace of God. He believed that God had done everything necessary for people to live rich, productive, meaningful lives that participated in the life of God. The obstacles to such lives included half-hearted surrender to God, a lack of confidence in the anointing of the Spirit, and a deep-rooted skepticism about the power of prayer.

One of his most popular books, With Christ in the School of Prayer, takes New Testament teachings about prayer and illumines them in 31 "lessons" designed to help the reader move past shallow, ineffectual prayer into a fuller understanding of the work God has called them to do. According to Murray, the church does not realize that "God rules the world by the prayers of his saints, that prayer is the power by which Satan is conquered, that by prayer the church on earth has disposal of the powers of the heavenly world."

He strove to align his spiritual insights with his Reformed theology, but he was accused by Reformed critics of teaching free will and that God wills the redemption of all.

In the face of criticism, though, Murray insisted that the believer can expect to receive the fullness of the Spirit. As Murray put it, "I must be filled; it is absolutely necessary. I may be filled; God has made it blessedly possible. I would be filled; it is eminently desirable. I will be filled; it is so blessedly certain."
"Let us remove the ignorance and darkness that spreads like a mist over our sight, and let us get a vision of the true God."

New Age thought is really not all that new, nor is the twentieth century the first time Christians have been forced to respond to this strain of religious teaching. One early form of New Age type thinking was Gnosticism, which flourished in the second and third centuries, and one of the most effective Christian responders was Clement of Alexandria.

The "new philosophy"

He was born Titus Flavius Clemens, most likely to pagan parents in Athens. As an adult, he sought out truth from a number of teachers in Greece, lower Italy, Syria, Palestine, and finally Alexandria, a city of perhaps one million inhabitants. There he sat under Pantaenus, who taught Christianity in light of the scientific teachings of the day.

Timeline 64 Fire of Rome; Nero launches persecutions 110 Ignatius of Antioch martyred 150 Justin Martyr dedicates his First Apology 150 Clement of Alexandria born 215 Clement of Alexandria dies 215 Origen begins writing

In about 190, Clement opened his own "school," which was more like a cycle of conferences drawn out over years. He taught a "new philosophy" that addressed the cultural and philosophical concerns of the day. The "philosophy" was not all that newChristianitybut Clement's teaching of it was. He wrote three books to expound his views.

His Exhortation to the Greeks was an introductory philosophical work for the unbaptized, in which he attempted to show the reasonableness of the Christian faith. "Away then, away with our forgetfulness of the truth!" he exhorted. "Let us remove the ignorance and darkness that spreads like a mist over our sight, and let us get a vision of the true God."

In Instructor, he outlined the specific duties and ethics taught by the "Instructor" (i.e., the Logos, or Christ): "Our superintendence in instruction and discipline is the office of the Word [Logos, in Greek], from whom we learn frugality and humility, and all that pertains to love of freedom, love of man, and love of excellence."

His Miscellanies is a multicolored patchwork of teachings in advanced philosophy, ethics, and disciplined instruction for "Christian Gnostics" to lead them into esoteric knowledge (gnosis): "The man of understanding and discernment is, then, a Gnostic. And his business is not abstinence from what is evil ... or the doing of good out of fear ... nor any more is he to do so from hope of promised recompense ... but only the doing of good out of love, and for the sake of its own excellence is the Gnostic's choice."

If this sounds mystical, it is. Clement sought to reach the literati of his day, and Gnosticism was the rage. He sought to present the Christian faith in terms these people could recognize.

The problem of wealth

Clement didn't spend all his time on pagans but also sought to help the church. One of history's most famous sermons is Clement's. In it he tried to address a recurring problem in church history, but one which Christians were facing for the first time in his day: in light of Jesus' parable of the rich young ruler, what should rich Christians do with their wealth? Clement took an approach that has been debated but usually followed ever since.

Clement puts the issue this way: "Since possessions of one kind are within the soul, and those of another kind outside it, and these latter appear to be good if the soul uses them well, but if they are badly usedwhich of the two is it that he [Jesus] asks us to renounce?"

He answers, "The Lord admits the use of outward things, bidding us put away, not the means of living, but the things that use these badly. And these are ... the infirmities and passions of the soul."

In other words, it's our attitude toward possessions (i.e., greed), not the possessions themselves, that are the problem.

Clement also advocated using the visual arts in worship at a time when some early Christians were reluctant to employ painting or drawing, fearing attention to their work might constitute idolatry. Clement concluded that Christians are not to depict pagan gods, nor sword or bow, nor wine cups, nor reminders of sexual immorality.

Instead, "Let our emblem be a dove, or a fish, or a ship running before the wind, or a musician's lyre, or a ship's anchor. And if there be a fisherman, he will remind us of an apostle, and little children being drawn up out of the water."

In addition, one of the earliest Christian hymns is that appended to Clement's Instructor, "Hymn of the Savior Christ." Its earliest rendering in English verse (in 1846) appears in many hymnals today as "Shepherd of Tender Youth." Three stanzas translated from the original Greek bring a vivid picture of the praise-life of the Alexandrian church:

Bridle-bit of untamed colts,

Wing of birds that do not go astray,

Sure Tiller of ships,

Shepherd of the King's lambs!

Gather your children

Who live in simplicity.

Let them sing in holiness.

Let them celebrate with sincerity,

With a mouth that knows no evil,

The Christ who guides his children!

His ministry, both in and outside the Alexandrian church, was cut abruptly short in 202, when persecution broke out during the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus. Clement was compelled to flee the city. He settled in Cappadocia, and by 215 had died.

But his influence did not end when his life did. He was, according to tradition, the teacher of Origen, a theologian of immense influence in the next generation. His mystical theology may have also influenced Psuedo-Dionysius, who was the theologian who shaped medieval mysticism. And in the 1700s, John Wesley drew on Clement's depiction of the true Gnostic for help in describing Christian perfection.
"The plain and simple gospel suits best for any people."

Richard Allen and his associate Absalom Jones were the leaders of the black Methodist community in Philadelphia in 1793 when a yellow fever epidemic broke out. Many people, black and white, were dying. Hundreds more fled the city. City officials approached Allen and asked if the black community could help serve as nurses to the suffering and help bury the dead.

Allen and Jones recognized the racism inherent in the request: asking black folks to do the risky, dirty work for whites. But they consentedpartly from compassion and partly to show the white community, in one more way, the moral and spiritual equality of blacks.

Preaching in his sleep

Allen was born into slavery in Philadelphia in 1760. He was converted at age 17 and began preaching on his plantation and at local Methodist churches, preaching whenever he had the chance. "Sometimes, I would awake from my sleep preaching and praying," he later recalled. His owner, one of Allen's early converts, was so impressed with him that he allowed Allen to purchase his freedom.

In 1781, Allen began traveling the Methodist preaching circuits in Delaware and surrounding states. "My usual method was, when I would get bare of clothes, to stop travelling and go to work," he said. "My hands administered to my necessities." Increasingly, prominent Methodist leaders, like Francis Asbury, made sure Allen had places to preach. In 1786 the former slave returned to Philadelphia and joined St. George's Methodist Church. His leadership at prayer services attracted dozens of blacks into the church, and with them came increased racial tension.

Timeline 1729 Jonathan Edwards becomes pastor at Northampton 1732 First Moravian missionaries 1740 Great Awakening Peaks 1760 Richard Allen born 1831 Richard Allen dies 1835 Charles Finney's Lectures on Revivals

By 1786 blacks made up about 10 percent of the Methodist church in the United States, and though whites and blacks often worshiped together, blacks enjoyed no real freedom or equality. Segregated seating was typical; the area reserved for blacks was usually called the "Negro Pew" or the "African Corner."

St. George's had no history of segregated seating, at least until the later 1780s. Then white leaders required black parishioners to use the chairs around the walls rather than the pews. During one service in 1787, a group of blacks sat in some new pews that, unbeknownst to them, had been reserved for whites. As these blacks knelt in prayer, a white trustee came over and grabbed Absalom Jones, Allen's associate, and began pulling on him, saying, "You must get upyou must not kneel here."

Jones asked him to wait until prayer was over, but the trustee retorted, "No, you must get up now, or I will call for aid and force you away." But the group finished praying before they got up and walked out.

Allen had for some time thought of establishing an independent black congregation, and this incident pushed him over the edge. Nonetheless, he had no desire to leave Methodism or the local Conference: "I was confident," he later wrote, "that there was no religious sect or denomination would suit the capacity of the colored people as well as the Methodist; for the plain and simple gospel suits best for any people." Still he recognized that blacks needed a place they could worship in freedom.

Though Methodist leaders resisted Allen and Jones, threatening them with expulsion from the Methodist Conference (while at the same time pleading for their help during the 1793 epidemic), Allen went ahead and, in 1794, purchased an old frame building, formerly a blacksmith's shop, and created the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Bishop Francis Asbury dedicated the building and, in 1799, ordained Allen as a deacon.

For the next 15 years, white Methodist leaders in Philadelphia tried to keep Allen's congregation and property under its jurisdiction. But on the first day of 1816, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the church belonged to Allen and his associates.

A denomination quickly came together. In April, delegates from several black Methodist churches convened in Philadelphia and drew up an "Ecclesiastical Compact" that united them in the independent African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). Allen was ordained an elder and then consecrated as bishopthe first black to hold such an office in America.

Blacks in Baltimore, Wilmington, Attleboro, and Salem followed Allen's example and established independent African Methodist churches. Allen oversaw the rapid growth of the AME's mother church in Philadelphia, which grew to 7,500 members in the 1820s. The denomination became by all accounts the most significant black institution in the nineteenth century, and today has over 6,000 churches and over 2 million members.
Today is the 24th anniversary of Delphi 1... and the company is celebrating by releasing Delphi 10.3 Rio Release 1 (or 10.3.1). Happy birthday, and long live Delphi.

Delphi 1 was introduced by Borland on February 14th 1995, so today it marks the 24th anniversary of the product. If you want to see some of the history about the product and its launch, you can refer to my blog post "22 Years of Delphi and it Still Rocks". In that post, there is a collection of my pictures of the early days of the product, some even predating it.

For today's celebration, I'm going to focus on screenshots, instead, comparing Delphi 1 and its Windows 3 operating system with Delphi 10.3.1 and its Windows 10 operating system. A fairly striking difference... but with some surprises. Before I do that, however, let me spend a second on today's actual announcement.

Delphi 10.3.1 has been Released Today

As you can read on Sarina's official announcement https://community.idera.com/developer-tools/b/blog/posts/rad-studio-10-3-1-is-here-happy-birthday-delphi. Delphi 10.3.1 is mostly focused on quality, but with some nice addition (particularly the new IDE tools from David). You can also check:

The docwiki release notes at http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/RADStudio/Rio/en/10.3_Rio_-_Release_1

The list of bugs fixed at http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/RADStudio/Rio/en/New_features_and_customer_reported_issues_fixed_in_RAD_Studio_10.3.1

Delphi's 24 Years Challange

Rather than the recent 10 years challange, let's do a 24 years challange, but using software rather than our selfies. The following images are my contribution. How did your software look 24 years ago? Here is how Delphi compares...

Let me start by showing the operating system way to find and start applications, 24 years ago and today:

Where did you find the Delphi start icon and where do you find it today?

On Delphi 1, there was a direct link to the help file, you now have to enable from the product:

After starting Delphi 1 you got a new project and a new VCL form by default, as there were not many other options. Today you get a Welcome page and from that you can create a project, for Windows/VCL or multi-device/FMX (like below):

OK. Now let's use old and new Delphi to create the same application! Here are a button, an edit, and a listbox (rebuilding one of the most classic introductory demos of the product). The one below uses FireMonkey:

Great user interface (kidding!). Let's write an event handler for the OnClick of the button. Oh wait, that code looks INCREDIBLY SIMILAR! Talk about code portability over 24 years and different frameworks!

Perfect. Let's now run the application, on Windows 3 for Delphi 1 and on Windows 10 for Delphi 10.3... but the same exact source code compiles and runs on Android 9 now!

Of course you could and still can debug your application (now also on mobile):

By the way, let's look also to the project source code (even if the menu item moved at some point, causing a huge debate among users):

What about getting information about the compiled program? The old one was a bit smaller... but still Delphi produces native binary files on all supported platforms!

Any project options? Here are the Delphi compiler / language project options 24 years ago and today:

One of the early gems of Delphi 1 was its database support and its Database Form Expert. These days we can tout the RAD Server Wizard...

The editor has changed quite a bit, so the Find Text dialog box:

And to conclude here are the about boxes of these 2 versions of the product:

Last, but not list the product has always had Easter Eggs including the list of contributors (the hidden key combination to reveal it is till the same!). Notice in Delphi 1, third from the bottom, the author of the Delphi language, the C# language, and the TypeScript language!

That's all, I'm considering doing a full video... but maybe for next years birthday! Enjoy the celebration of a long time product still alive and kicking, with a great past but also a great present and future. And if you are an active update subscription customer, enjoy Delphi 10.3.1! If not, you can still buy it, use a trial, or download the new Community Edition.
"There can be no Christianity without community."

Nearly two centuries after Luther posted his 95 Theses, Protestantism had lost some of its soul. Institutions and dogma had, in many people's minds, choked the life out of the Reformation.

Lutheran minister P.J. Spener hoped to revive the church by promoting the "practice of piety," emphasizing prayer and Bible reading over dogma. It worked. Pietism spread quickly, reinvigorating Protestants throughout Europeincluding underground Protestants in Moravia and Bohemia (modern Czechoslovakia).

The Catholic church cracked down on the dissidents, and many were forced to flee to Protestant areas of neighboring Germany. One group of families fled north to Saxony, where they settled on the lands belonging to a rich young ruler, Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf.

Rich young ruler

Born into Austrian nobility and raised by his grandmother, Zinzendorf showed an early inclination toward theology and religious work. As the godson of P.J. Spener, he was raised in a strong Pietist tradition. But as a count, he was expected to follow his late father's footsteps into government. He did as he was told and in October 1721 became the king's judicial counselor at Dresden.

After less than a year at court, he bought the estate of Berthelsdorf from his grandmother, hoping to form a Christian community for oppressed religious minorities. Almost immediately a Moravian named Christian David showed up at his door and became his first tenant. Ten Moravian Protestants arrived before December and founded a settlement on the count's land. They named it Herrnhut"the Lord's watch."

Timeline 1668 Rembrandt paints Return of the Prodigal Son 1675 SpenerAs Pia Desideria advances Pietism 1685 Edict of Potsdam grants asylum to Huguenots 1700 Nikolaus von Zinzendorf born 1760 Nikolaus von Zinzendorf dies 1781 Kant publishes Critique of Pure Reason

By May 1725, 90 Moravians were gathered at Herrnhut. Because of the spirited preaching at the Berthelsdorf parish church, the population of this "small city" had reached 300 by 1726.

The count was still a devout Lutheran and tried to keep the refugees within the parish church. His goal was to form ecclesiolae in ecclesia"little churches within the church"to act as a leaven, revitalizing and unifying churches into one communion. But with the diversity at Herrnhut, discord soon arose. When it did, Zinzendorf moved to Herrnhut with his family. He went from house to house counseling those who needed it and created a "Brotherly Agreement" of manorial rules. He also appointed watchmen, almoners, and other caretakers.

"There can be no Christianity without community," he said.

Getting serious

In July 1737 Zinzendorf accidentally discovered a copy of the constitution of the Unitas Fratrum (Unity of the Brethren) of the fifteenth-century Hussite movement in Bohemia and Moravia. He was amazed that the Unitas Fratrum was "a fully established church antedating Lutheranism itself." Even more amazing, the constitution was very similar to his newly adopted "Brotherly Agreement."

He raced back to Herrnhut to share his discovery, and at a powerful Communion service, the Moravians at Herrnhut vowed to restore the older church with Zinzendorf. The Berthelsdorf parish church would continue as a Lutheran parish, but became Herrnhut, a Unity of the Brethren congregation; they would later become known as the Moravian Church.

Like the Pietists, the Moravian Brethren believed that Christianity should be a "religion of the heart"which went against the grain of the growing acceptance of Enlightenment beliefs. They emphasized experience of faith and love over doctrine, and thus were more accepting of varying denominational differences. In fact, Zinzendorf may have been the first churchman to use the word "ecumenism." The Moravians also placed special importance on community: families' allegiances were superseded by "choirs"groups delineated by age, sex, and marital status.

The real missions father

Visiting Copenhagen in 1731 to attend the coronation of King Christian VI, Zinzendorf met a converted slave from the West Indies, Anthony Ulrich. The man was looking for someone to go back to his homeland to preach the gospel to black slaves, including his sister and brother. Zinzendorf raced back to Herrnhut to find men to go; two immediately volunteered, becoming the first Moravian missionariesand the first Protestant missionaries of the modern era, antedating William Carey (often called "the father of modern missions") by 60-some years.

Within two decades, Zinzendorf sent missionaries around the globe: to Greenland, Lapland, Georgia, Surinam, Africa's Guinea Coast, South Africa, Amsterdam's Jewish quarter, Algeria, the native North Americans, Ceylon, Romania, and Constantinople. In short order, more than 70 missionaries from a community of fewer than 600 answered the call.

By the time Zinzendorf died in 1760 in Herrnhut, the Moravians had sent out at least 226 missionaries.

Zinzendorf's influence is felt much wider than in the Moravian Church. His emphasis on the "religion of the heart" deeply influenced John Wesley. He is remembered today, as Karl Barth put it, as "perhaps the only genuine Christocentric of the modern age." Scholar George Forell put it more succinctly: Zinzendorf was "the noble Jesus freak."
"If the Head had to suffer such torture, anguish, misery, and pain, how shall his servants, children, and members expect peace and freedom as to their flesh?"

"The error of the cursed sect of the Anabaptists  would doubtless be and remain extirpated, were it not that a former priest Menno Symons  has misled many simple and innocent people," complained a letter to the regent of the Netherlands in 1541. "To seize and apprehend this man we have offered a large sum of money, but until now with no success. Therefore we have entertained the thought of offering and promising pardon and mercy to a few who have been misled  if they would bring about the imprisonment of the said Menno Symons."

Holy Roman Emperor Charles V joined in the hunt, offering 100 gold guilders for Menno's arrest. One Dutch man was broken on the wheel and executed merely for allowing Menno to stay with him. But the former priest, a pacifist armed with ideas but no weapons, was never caught. Instead, he led the Anabaptists out of their radical, violent, millennialist fantasies into a moderate, devotional, pacifist movement. Neither the first nor the most original interpreter of the radical Reformation's Anabaptism, he was such an outstanding leader that the movement today is known by his name: Mennonites.

Eucharist crisis

Little is known about Menno's early life until his ordination as a priest at age 28. Though educated in a monastic school and trained for ministry, he had never even touched the Scriptures. "I feared if I should read them they would mislead me," he later wrote. "Behold! Such a stupid preacher was I for nearly two years."

After those two years, he had a crisis of faith. The bread and wine he dispensed at each Mass did not seem to transubstantiate into Christ's body and blood as Roman Catholic doctrine taught. He figured such thoughts had been suggested by the Devil, and prayed for God to ward them off. "Yet, I could not be freed from this thought," he wrote. "Finally, I got the idea to examine the New Testament diligently. I had not gone very far when I discovered that we were deceived, and my conscience, troubled on account of the aforementioned bread, was quickly relieved."

Timeline 1456 Gutenberg produces first printed Bible 1479 Establishment of Spanish Inquisition 1488 First complete Hebrew Old Testament 1496 Menno Simons born 1561 Menno Simons dies 1563 John Foxe's Book of Martyrs published

Believing the Bible to be authoritative, Menno developed the reputation as an "evangelical" preacher. "Everyone sought and desired me," he recounted. "It was said that I preached the Word of God and was a good fellow." But to Menno, it was a lie; his life was still empty and full of "diversions" like gambling and drinking.

Three years later, an otherwise unknown Leeuwarden Anabaptist was beheaded, sending Menno into another spiritual crisis. "It sounded very strange to me to hear of a second baptism," he wrote. "I examined the Scriptures diligently and pondered them earnestly but could find no report of infant baptism." Again, he wrote, "I realized that we were deceived." But his life changed little: "I spoke much concerning the Word of the Lord, without spirituality or love, as all hypocrites do."

Eventually, he was hit with a final crisis. Three hundred violent Anabaptists, dreaming of the imminent end of the world and attempting to escape persecution, captured a nearby townand were savagely killed by the authorities. Among the dead was Menno's brother, Peter.

"I saw that these zealous children, although in error, willingly gave their lives and their estates for their doctrine and faith  But I myself continued in my comfortable life and acknowledged abominations simply in order that I might enjoy comfort and escape the cross of Christ."

The realization led to an emotional, tearful cry to God for forgiveness. For nine months thereafter he essentially preached Anabaptist doctrine from his Catholic pulpit, until he finally left the church and (a year later) fully cast his lot with the radical Reformers.

Mellowing the fanatics

At the time, however, Anabaptists were unloved by all. Even Protestant Reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin opposed them as "fanatics," "scatterbrains," and "asses"just as bad as the papists. Those feelings weren't helped in 1535 when a despotic Anabaptist leader took over the town of Munster, ruling as a cruel theocratic dictator until Catholic and Protestant troops overran the city in bloody battle.

Menno was as worried about the violent Anabaptists as anyone and had even tried to stem their fanaticism as a priest. Sympathetic, he knew they had zeal without knowledge. But once he left the Catholic church, he met a group of peaceful Anabaptists who strongly opposed Munsterite thinking. He joined them and was ordained.

For the rest of his life, Menno (and, later, his wife and his children) lived in constant danger as heretics. He traveled throughout the Netherlands and Germany, writing extensively and establishing a printing press to circulate Anabaptist teaching. He took the Bible extremely literally, sometimes even legalistically; though he defended the doctrine of the Trinity in a small book, he refused to use the term because it did not appear in Scripture.

His writings aren't the most articulate Anabaptist theological treatises, nor are they the first. But they served to defend the faith against both Catholic and Protestant attacks and to distance the group from more zealous militants. In one of his first writings, The Blasphemy of Jan van Leyden, Menno opposed the unchristlike "proponents of the sword philosophy": "It is forbidden to us to fight with physical weapons  This only would I learn of you whether you are baptized on the sword or on the Cross?"

The Christian's duty was to suffer, not fight, Menno believed. "If the Head had to suffer such torture, anguish, misery, and pain," he asked, "how shall his servants, children, and members expect peace and freedom as to their flesh?"

In his later years, he was occupied with other internal Mennonite struggles, mainly over shunning excommunicated church members. But in each of his writings (more than 40 survive), he began by quoting Paul's letter to the Corinthians: "No other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." He finally laid his pen down at age 66, as he became ill on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his renunciation of the Catholic church. The next day, he died a natural death. Today nearly 900,000 Mennonites follow his teachings.
"Under the rush of his [Asbury's] utterance, people sprang to their feet as if summoned to the judgment bar of God."

 Biographer Ezra Tipple

Some today might call him a workaholic. Or maybe just utterly dedicated. English-born Francis Asbury certainly had the numbers: during his 45-year ministry in America, he traveled on horseback or in carriage an estimated 300,000 miles, delivering some 16,500 sermons. He was so well-known in America that letters addressed to "Bishop Asbury, United States of America" were delivered to him.

And the result of all this labor and fame? He put American Methodism on the denominational map.

Rapid ordination

Asbury was born into a working-class Anglican family; he dropped out of school before he was 12 to work as a blacksmith's apprentice. By the time he was 14, he had been "awakened" in the Christian faith.

He and his mother attended Methodist meetings, where soon he began to preach; he was appointed a full-time Methodist preacher by the time he was 21. In 1771, at a gathering of Methodist ministers, John Wesley asked, "Our brethren in America call aloud for help. Who are willing to go over and help them?" Asbury volunteered.

When in October 1771, Asbury landed in Philadelphia, there were only 600 Methodists in America. Within days, he hit the road preaching but pushed himself so hard that he fell ill that winter. This was the beginning of a pattern: over the next 45 years, he suffered from colds, coughs, fevers, severe headaches, ulcers, and eventually chronic rheumatism, which forced him off his horse and into a carriage. Yet he continued to preach.

Timeline 1735 George Whitefield converted 1738 John & Charles Wesley's evangelical conversions 1742 First production of Handel's Messiah 1745 Francis Asbury born 1816 Francis Asbury dies 1827 J. N. Darby founds the Plymouth Brethren

During the Revolutionary War, Asbury remained politically neutral. To avoid signing an oath disclaiming his allegiance to England and to dodge the American draft, he went into hiding for several months. "I am considered by some as an enemy," he wrote, "liable to be seized by violence and abused." By war's end, he had retained his credibility with the victorious Americans and was able to continue his ministry among them.

After the war, John Wesley ordained Englishman Thomas Coke as Wesley's American superintendent. Coke, in turn, ordained Asbury at the famous Baltimore "Christmas Conference" of 1784, which gave birth to the American Methodist Episcopal Church. On Christmas Day, Asbury was ordained a deacon, the following day, an elder, and on December 27, a superintendent (against Wesley's advice, Asbury later used the term "bishop"). As Coke put it, "We were in great haste and did much business in a little time." Within six months, Coke returned to England, and thereafter, Asbury held the reins of American Methodism.

Organizational man

Organization was Asbury's gift. He created "districts" of churches, each of which would be served by circuit riderspreachers who traveled from church to church to preach and minister, especially in rural areas. In the late 1700s, 95 percent of Americans lived in places with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants, and thus most did not have access to church or clergy.

This is one reason Asbury pushed for missionary expansion into the Tennessee and Kentucky frontiereven though his and other preachers' lives were constantly threatened by illness and Indian attacks. According to biographer Ezra Tipple, Asbury's preaching was more zeal than art, and highly effective. Tipple wrote there were occasions when "under the rush of his utterance, people sprang to their feet as if summoned to the judgment bar of God."

Though a school dropout, Asbury launched five schools. He also promoted "Sunday schools," in which children were taught reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Asbury didn't limit his work to administration and preaching. Asbury hated slavery and petitioned George Washington to enact antislavery legislation. "My spirit was grieved at the conduct of some Methodists," wrote Asbury, "that hire slaves at public places to the highest bidder, to cut skin, and starve them."

Asbury pushed himself to the end. After preaching what was to be his last sermon, he was so weak he had to be carried to his carriage. By then, though, Methodism had grown under his leadership to 200,000 strong. His legacy continued with the 4,000 Methodist preachers he had ordained: by the Civil War, American Methodists numbered 1.5 million.
This 18th century Irishman became one of the founders of the Disciples of Christ and the Church of Christ.

"The union of Christians with the apostles' testimony is all-sufficient and alone sufficient to the conversion of the world."

Separated by the Atlantic Ocean, Presbyterian preacher Thomas Campbell and his son Alexander simultaneously came to the same conclusion: the future was not with Presbyterianism.

Why these two Irish men concluded that, and what they did about it, created one of the most powerful movements in American religious historyand a uniquely American denomination.

Just Christians

The plan was for Thomas to sail to America first with his family to follow later. But the ship carrying Campbell's family was shipwrecked, and they had to spend a year in Scotland. There, 19-year-old Alexander answered the call to preach and began studying at the University of Glasgow. He quickly became disgusted with what he perceived to be theological pettiness in Presbyterianism. One Sunday he refused Communion, symbolically breaking with the faith of his father.

When Alexander finally arrived in Pennsylvania, though, he discovered his father had also seceded from the local presbytery! One reason: a perceived lack of scriptural support for infant baptism. Thomas had founded The Christian Association of Washington (County, Pennsylvania). "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak," declared Thomas, "where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent."

In 1811, Alexander began pastoring Bull Run Church, a group of Presbyterian refugees. The birth of his first child led him to reconsider his views on infant baptism. He decided that his own infant baptism was invalid, so he sought out a Baptist minister to immerse him as an adult believer. His church then joined the local Baptist association.

Timeline 1740 Great Awakening peaks 1771 Francis Asbury sent to America 1779 John Newton and William Cowper publish Olney Hymns 1788 Alexander Campbell born 1866 Alexander Campbell dies 1870 First Vatican Council declares papal infallibility

Alexander traveled on horseback through the Midwest and South, preaching a simple gospel stripped of "dogma" and "creeds." In 1823 he launched The Christian Baptist, a monthly that, wrote editor Campbell, "shall espouse the cause of no religious sect, excepting that ancient sect 'called Christians first at Antioch.'"

That purist spirit eventually drove a wedge between Campbell and the Baptists, but it created an affinity with Barton Stone and his followers, some 10,000 strong and known simply as "Christians." They too were championing a "restoration" of primitive Christianity. Stone's followers and Campbell's (some 12,000 known as "Disciples") merged in 1832 to form a loosely organized group of independent-minded churches committed to primitive Christianityeventually called the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

The Bible alone

Campbell's evangelistic methods were varied, to say the least. A life-long debater, Campbell once sparred with popular atheist Robert Owen, delivering an address on the evidences of Christianity that lasted 12 hours! Later Campbell visited Owen and pleaded with him to accept the Christian faith; Owen wouldn't budge, though Campbell's appeal allegedly moved him to tears.

Perhaps Campbell's most important work was launching and editing The Millennial Harbinger. The journal defined and fueled the Restoration movement's spectacular growth, from about 22,000 in 1830, when the journal was launched, to over 200,000 in the year of Campbell's death.

In 1840 Campbell chartered Bethany College in Bethany, Virginia, to provide more education for ministers. He published a translation of the New Testament (1827), and wrote several books, including The Christian System (1839) and Christian Baptism (1854).

In The Christian System, he elaborated on the principles that drove him all his ministry. He was deeply disturbed by denominationalism: "In what moral desolation is the kingdom of Jesus Christ! Was there at any time, or is there now, in all the earth, a kingdom more convulsed by internal broils and dissensions than what is commonly called the church of Jesus Christ?"

He sought desperately to get back to a "simple evangelical Christianity," founded on the Bible and the Bible alone. Only thisnot creeds or confessions or liturgycould bring unity to Christians: "The testimony of the Apostles is the only and all-sufficient means of uniting Christians." And only in unity could Christians effectively evangelize: "The union of Christians with the apostle's testimony is all-sufficient and alone sufficient to the conversion of the world."

Campbell's emphasis on New Testament Christianity appealed powerfully to frontier Americansand to many Christians since.
On a warm, bright Christmas morning in early 16th-century Spain, Thomas of Villanova completed the gospel reading and advanced to the pulpit. The Augustinian friar was preaching on the nativity story found in Luke:

"The simple hasten eagerly to see the newborn king lying in a manger  they adore and rejoice and mingle their artless praises with the heavenly hymns.  How the Virgin rejoiced at the devotion of these simple folk! How delighted and gladdened she was by their praises! For by his own announcement God had begun to make known to human beings the mystery of divine condescension which had occurred in her womb for their salvation."

Throughout the Christian era, rich traditions have arisen surrounding the nativity of Jesus, and these traditions have given a prominent role to Mary. As the mother of the Christ, the "Word made flesh," Mary plays a special role in God's plan of salvation. Although Christians differ on this role, she has been honored throughout history for being the handmaiden of the Incarnation over 2,000 years ago.

Place of birth?

Matthew and Luke give few details about Jesus' actual birth. According to the Gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke, Mary was a young Jewish woman, possibly still a teenager, betrothed to a man named Joseph. Although the Gospels say nothing about his age, the church has traditionally viewed Joseph as much older than Mary, in part because of his apparent death before Jesus' ministry.

Whatever their ages (Luther boldly asserted Mary was 15; the early church thought 12), we do know that the couple traveled to Bethlehem, Joseph's ancestral hometown, for a census. Upon their arrival, it became clear that Mary would soon give birth, and yet they could not find a place to stay. The "inn" ...
Luke's elegant two-volume literary work, the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, is shaped, plot-wise, like a 45 degree angle. At the vertex, the point of departure, is a Jewish girl of a Jewish family, keeping the feasts, expecting the consolation of Israel. She lives within pilgrimage distance of Jerusalem, not obligated like the men to attend the thrice-yearly observances in the holy city, yet pious and devoted to the God who brought her ancestors out of Egypt. Their collective story long antedates the occupying Romans, who are but another checkmark on a long list of oppressorsat this point, anyway, no worse than Philistines or Assyrians or Babylonians.

The temple of the Jews dates back 1,000 years (as the center of righteous worship, if not the building itself), and it is this temple that marks the distance along Luke's angle-shaped story, as the one axis veers further and further from the other. By the end of the historian's tale, the temple, soon to be obliterated, has been left behind by persecuted Christians who are driven away from the center of Israel's faith in order to convert the nations. The angle opens wide into an embrace that must, of necessity, include all the Gentiles. But trace its lines back, back before the expulsion, before the trial of the Messiah, the cleansing and the controversies, and you find the young Mary with her husband Joseph, presenting the child Jesus, just as Zechariah prophesied in that same Temple months before.

A temple-dwelling girl

In the popular imagination of the church, this is not Mary's first visit to the temple. Apocryphal though they are, the 2nd-century Greek Protevangelium of James and its 8th-century Latin copycat the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew fill ...
His letter is the earliest authoritative statement to fix the New Testament as we know it today.

Since you know my will, grant free admission to all those who wish to enter the church. For if I hear that you have hindered anyone from becoming a member, or have debarred anyone from entrance, I shall immediately send someone to have you deposed at my behest and have you sent into exile.

These are the words of Emperor Constantine the Great, written c. 328 to Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria. Athanasius had not followed Constantines growing interest in ecumenism. Instead, he had insisted upon excluding from the church anyone who did not subscribe to the Creed of Nicea. Consequently, Athanasius was deposed in 335 and exiled to Trier (today in West Germany, near the border with Luxembourg). Two years later, after Constantines death, he returned to Alexandria, but he was removed from power again in 339 and fled to Pope Julius I, a supporter, in Rome. He returned in 346, only to be exiled three more times for various reasons. Athanasius finally resumed his bishopric in 366, which he held until his death in 373, at the age of 78.

Most of his writings defend the orthodox position against the influence of Arianism (Three Speeches against the Arians, c. 335), but he also ably defended the faith against pagan and Jewish opposition (Speech against the Pagans and Speech on the Incarnation of the Word, both c. 318). Another lasting contribution to church writings is his Life of St. Anthony, c. 357, one of the first lives of a saint that can justifiably claim authenticity. The book, an early best seller, widely disseminated information on monasticism.

Famous Festal Letter

Perhaps Athanasiuss single most influential writing, however, was his Thirty-Ninth Festal Letter of 367.

It had been customary after Epiphany each year [the Christian ...
In the fall of 1740, a farmer near Hartford, Connecticut, heard life-changing news. Nathan Cole was a conventionally religious man whose conscience had been increasingly troubled by an unmet need for God. The news was that the young revivalist George Whitefield would be preaching twelve miles away in Middletown. Immediately, as Cole later wrote, I  ran to my pasture for my horse with all my might, and with his wife hastened to Middletown as if we were fleeing for our lives. They arrived just in time to see Whitefield mount the scaffold that had been erected for his sermon. To Nathan Cole the young British evangelist lookt almost angelical. But it was Whitefields message that changed his life: My hearing him preach gave me a heart wound; by Gods blessing my old Foundation was broken up, and I saw that my righteousness would not save me. After several more months, Cole was confident that he had been reconciled to a gracious God.

First Stirrings

Nathan Cole and his wife were among the thousands who thrilled to the message of George Whitefield at the high-water mark of Americas Great Awakening. But the roots of this revival extended deep in time before Whitefield, and its fruits could be observed for generations. First stirrings occurred during the early decades of the eighteenth century. Preaching aimed at awakening the spiritually sluggish or harvesting those with a new interest in Gods grace took place in New England Congregational churches, in Dutch Reformed congregations in New Jersey, and among scattered Presbyterians in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Solomon Stoddard (grandfather and predecessor of Jonathan Edwards as minister in Northampton, Massachusetts), Theodore Frelinghuysen (a Dutch minister trained ...
Sometime during October 31, 1517, the day before the Feast of All Saints, the 33-year-old Martin Luther posted theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. The door functioned as a bulletin board for various announcements related to academic and church affairs. The theses were written in Latin and printed on a folio sheet by the printer John Gruenenberg, one of the many entrepreneurs in the new print medium first used in Germany about 1450. Luther was calling for a "disputation on the power and efficacy of indulgences out of love and zeal for truth and the desire to bring it to light." He did so as a faithful monk and priest who had been appointed professor of biblical theology at the University of Wittenberg, a small, virtually unknown institution in a small town.

Some copies of the theses were sent to friends and church officials, but the disputation never took place. Albert of Brandenburg, archbishop of Mainz, sent the theses to some theologians whose judgment moved him to send a copy to Rome and demand action against Luther. By the early months of 1518, the theses had been reprinted in many cities, and Luther's name had become associated with demands for radical change in the church. He had become front-page news.

The Issue of Indulgences

Why? Luther was calling for a debate on the most neuralgic issue of his time: the relationship between money and religion. "Indulgences" (from the Latin indulgentiapermit) had become the complex instruments for granting forgiveness of sins. The granting of forgiveness in the sacrament of penance was based on the "power of the keys" given to the apostles according to Matthew 16:18, and was used to discipline sinners. Penitent sinners were ...
Jonny Woods, a third year undergraduate student at the University of St. Andrews, is the first to translate the shorthand notes from Andrew Fuller's early sermons.

For years, scholars have been tantalized by Andrew Fullers sermon notes. Theyre written in an idiosyncratic shorthand that, thus far, no one had been able to trackuntil recently.

A student-professor team at St. Andrews University recently cracked the code of Fullers shorthand. Jonny Woods, a third-year divinity undergraduate, has become the first person in the world to read some of the hundreds of pages of shorthand notes left by famous Baptist leader Andrew Fuller. Under the supervision of Dr. Steve Homes, Head of the School of Divinity at St. Andrews, Woods has translated a number of Fullers early sermons. Woods and Holmes hope their discovery will lead to a full translation of all of Fullers shorthand writings and provide insight into Fullers meteoric rise within the Baptist denomination.

Caleb Lindgren, theology editor at CT, recently sat down with Woods and Holmes to hear about their research and learn what it was like to be the first person to read a two-hundred-year-old sermon from a pivotal figure in Christian history.

CT: First, it would be helpful to have some background on Andrew Fuller. Who is he and why is he important?

Holmes: Andrew Fuller is a leader of one of the two streams of the British Baptists in the later 18th/early 19th century. Hes part of the Particular Baptists, the Calvinist stream. His historical importance is twofold.

First, he wrote a bookand it really is the bookcalled The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, which dragged the Particular Baptists, especially those round London, into the Evangelical Revival in the 18th century. Fullers book gave rise to the warmhearted evangelical Calvinism that became the hallmark of British Baptists until now really. Certainly someone like Spurgeon would look straight back to Fuller as the key figure who defined his theological tradition.

Secondly, along with William Carey, Fuller founded what we now call the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) in 1792. This was the very first of the modern Protestant mission movements. Carey went over to Serampore in India. Fuller stayed home and alongside pastoring his church started this amazing itinerant ministry, traveling the length and breadth of Britain, collecting money, encouraging people to pray, and disseminating news.

Careys the first missionary; Fuller is the first one saying that missionaries need an organization, need support, need prayer, need giving, need people to channel news back and forth, need people to recruit and train and send out more missionaries. And so in those two ways, hes a very, very significant figure.

CT: Getting more specific about this project and this research, why havent we been able to read his early sermons before now?

Holmes: Fullers own practice in terms of his writing of his sermonsinsofar as he did write them downwas to write them in his own shorthand system. Because he was just writing for himself, nobody has been able to read it.

Among Fullers immediate contemporaries, John Rippon, another significant Baptist leader, had his own shorthand. Weve got several other examples. My best guess is its something to do with paper being expensive. If you write on one page what would have taken you three, then its a win.

CT: What indicated to you that the shorthand could be cracked?

Holmes: This past summer, I was the latest in a fairly long line of Fuller scholars to make the trip to Bristol Baptist College where Fullers notes are kept in the archive. I assumed I wouldnt be able to read them either.

As I was going through the manuscripts, making notes, I noticed that every sermon had a longhand heading indicating the date and the text. So I thought, well, if nothing else, I might come away with some interesting dates or trends in his preaching.

And then near the end, I came to a page which was headed Confession of Faith, October 7, 1783. And I knew that that was the date of his induction into a new pastorate of a church in Kettering. And I knew that hed been required, as was the custom back then, to give a confession of his own faith as part of that service, that it had been recorded I think in the church meeting minute book, and it had been printed in one of the very first biographies, written by his son.

So I looked at this and thought, Well, if that is the same text, and it looks like it could well be, then we might be able to put that next to the printed version and this thing weve got what is purported to be a key but wasnt very helpful, and out of the three of them start to make some sense of how it works. And that was the hope, and at that point it was no more than a pious hope.

CT: There was some sort of purported key then?

Holmes: Yeah. So weve got this thing that says Key. Its written by his son and really its just the alphabet with a sign underneath each letter. And thats well-known. Everyone had looked at it. Everyone had tried to use it to get into the shorthand, and no one had made it work.

CT: How did [undergraduate student] Jonny Woods get involved with the project?

Holmes: When I came back here [to St Andrews], I asked the folks at Bristol Baptist College if I could have electronic copies of the key bits of the text, which they very finely supplied, and then the teaching semester hit me like a train.

Id done just enough work to say, I think this is possible. I knew we have this great scheme at the University of St Andrews where theres money which allows us to pay undergraduate students to help us in our research.

CT: Jonny, did you think you could do it?

Woods: I really wanted to think I could [crack the code]. When Steve explained it to me, it seemed doable. I hadnt spent a lot of time looking at the text, so I didnt realize quite how messy it all was, but the logic sounded really good. So I determined to at least make sure that if it could be done, I was going to do it.

CT: At what point in the process did you feel that it was definitely possiblethat you were going to be able to do it?

Woods: I spent the first month or two months just solely looking at the Confession. Each word I came across I was putting into a sort of dictionary [of Fullers shorthand]. And so the list of words was building and building.

There are 20 articles [in Fullers confession of faith] and toward the end of article 17 or 18 on the Confession, I was trying to test whether I could do it without looking at the typed-up version Steve had given me. And I actually realized that I could do quite a lot of it without the prompt. And so it was maybe toward that phase that I got really excited at the thought of looking at the sermons.

At one point, I decided to have a go at a random sermon, to see how much I could do. I didnt get all of it but got enough to give Steve enough faith to point me in the direction of a couple of sermons he really wanted us to do first.

CT: So Dr. Holmes, there were particular sermons that you specifically wanted to see?

Holmes: So, when Jonny came to me and said, I think I can do this, I picked two sermons. Fuller had grown up in a little village in Cambridgeshire called Soham, been converted into the church there, and became its pastor really quite young, 21 or 22 [years old]. He served there as pastor for several years and then received a call to a much bigger church in a town a few tens of miles away.

Fuller really struggled with this call for about two years. Weve got his diary from the period, and hes agonizing over this decision to leave. One moment he feels he should go, another he feels such a kind of love for this little church thats nurtured him. I knew there were two sermons that were preached on his last Sunday in Soham, morning and evening. And I thought if we can get into this, thats where I want to start because those are going to be really, really interesting.

CT: How did it go?

Holmes: A week after Id given them to [Woods], I got an email from him with an attachment saying, Heres the text of the first one. And I think I got the eureka moment that Jonny never got, because hed been slogging and getting better and better. And even reading the sermons, hed kind of been going word by word, painstakingly. And then I got to open this document and read the sermon that no one had ever read before.

CT: Jonny, you never had a eureka moment? Did it ever hit you that you were reading something that no one else has read before?

Woods: Definitely not in these first two sermons because it was so new to be working on and it was quite difficult at times.

Over Christmas break, Steve had given me a couple more to work on, and they were the funeral sermons. Toward the end of one of those sermons, Fuller recorded a number of stories about the woman who had just passed away.

That felt really special to hear about an incredible woman and hear stories of her faith, especially toward the end of her life. To know that no one had even known this woman existed for over 200 years and to be the first person to hear, that was probably the best.

CT: Jonny, how much did you know about Fuller before this? Do you feel like you have a greater appreciation for him than you did before?

Woods: To be honest, I hadnt actually heard of Fuller before Steve approached me. I think the first time we met, he gave me a collection of the sermons, the Confession of Faith, kind of all the documents I needed alongside a biography of Fuller, so that I could try to understand this man. And oh my word, what a man.

I started to get really excited about working on his sermons when I learned about how big an impact he had and just the impact he had with The Gospel Worthy of all Acceptation and BMS was incredible. But just him as a person from the diaries and what people said about himI was quite in awe of the faith and humility that really comes across. So I was excited to get to share more of him with the rest of the world.

CT: What was the process for translating the sermons like? How did you work together on them?

Holmes: Jonny did a first draft, and then I went through to make some suggestions of alternative readings and so on. And then we sat down together with a big screen and electronic copy and went through them piece by piece.

We had various arguments about whether certain words existed. We were sitting there at one point, and I said, Okay, this word? And Jonny says to me, That looks like brangles. I said, Yeah, I know it looks like brangles, but it isnt, is it. Because brangles doesnt exist.

Every couple of minutes Jonny said, It really does look like brangles. And after about 15 minutes of this, I pulled out an 18th-century dictionary and discovered that brangle was an 18th-century word.

CT: Really? What does it mean?

Holmes: It means arguments, confusions, and dissensions, that whole kind of thing. Its quite a nice word, actually. Over here it alliterates very well with Brexit. [Laughter]

Sometimes it would go the other way round. At one point Jonny said, I couldnt make any sense of this sign at all. And I said, Yeah, thats a number two with nd written next to it.

CT: How many of Fullers sermons have you translated? What is the next step?

Holmes: In terms of fair copy thats ready to be published on the general editors desk, weve done just those two Soham sermons, which will be published in an upcoming issue of the Baptist Quarterly.

Jonnys then been working on this collection of five funeral sermons. I havent really had time to look at yet, but we think those make another nice, little collection, which well send to a journal.

Really after that, weve got some hundreds of pages of this early collection that we started working on. There are another few hundred pages of much later material but in the same shorthand. Thats in Kettering, where his church was. We havent seen those yet, but we think they could be worked on. And just in the last week, because of the news story, weve discovered another 80-page notebook of material in his shorthand that, interestingly, dates from quite close to the formation of the Mission Society.

CT: Are there indications of Andrew Fullers missionary proclivities and support in the early sermons from what youve seen so far?

Holmes: I dont think weve seen it yet. But we hope so.

This new set [of sermons] reallybecause they date from the late 1780s to the early 1790s, just as the missionary idea is taking fruit and theyre getting excited about itI really hope that well get something there. Kang San-Tan, the general director of BMS, and I have already talked about that a bit just on the Facebook feed. Its certainly on the radar.

What I really hope to see from the early sermons as we work through the whole collection is some sign of how he goes from one place to the other. Hes born to a poor farmer family with almost no education as a child. Then we rediscover him at age 30, writing The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, which is so powerful and significant that it changes his denomination. How does his mind develop?

The other thing is the publication of sermons was a massive business in the 18th century. People would publish special sermons or polish something theyd been working on. But we never hear about the ordinary pulpit. Here weve got just the notes that Fuller took with him to church Sunday morning by Sunday morning. In terms of a new glimpse into the history of the churches at the time, I think that might actually be interesting and significant too.

CT: Jonny, whats next for you? Do you want to keep working on this research?

Woods: Well, definitely my plans after university have become a bit less clear now. Weve discovered another few hundred sermons. For the short term, anyway, I just want to do as many of these as I can. The dream would be to get the whole lot. I would love to be involved in it. But as long as someone does them Ill be happy.
Could This Beauty Be for Us?: Natural Artistry Defies Darwinism Share Tweet

The wings of a bird, the colors of a butterfly, and the patterns on a seashell defy the theory of Darwinian evolution. Many of us intuit, simply by looking at the splendor that permeates the natural world, that there must be some agent involved other than blind mutations or mere survival-of-the-fittest mechanisms. And now, it seems, some scientists are beginning to accept that intuition, finally admitting that beauty cannot be explained by the theory of evolution, at least as we know it.

In a surprising article in The New York Times, Ferris Jabr writes about a small but growing band of scientists who argue that natural selection alone cant account for the eye-popping artistry we see in nature. He cites Yale ornithologist Richard Prum, who argues in his book, The Evolution of Beauty, that the elaborate plumage and outrageous mating displays of many birds confer no obvious survival advantage. Instead, they often put these birds at a disadvantage, wasting precious energy and making them stand out to predators.

By all the conventional rules of evolution, such costly adaptations should have disappeared long ago. Instead, says Prum, we find them all over nature, not only in birds, which play their wings like violins, but in beetles with high-fidelity, crystalline scales, fish with flags for tails, and a whole assortment of mammals sporting over-the-top headgear. Our world is bursting with unnecessary beauty that Jabr describes as an affront to the rules of natural selection.

Now, the traditional explanation for aesthetically awe-inspiring traits is that they show off an animals fitness to potential mates. The parrot with the brightest plumage might have the healthiest immune system. The lion with the bushiest mane must be the most successful hunter.

But more and more scientists are challenging this so-called good genes theory. Many natural ornaments, like the flamboyant tail of the peacock, put their owner in serious danger without necessarily signaling genetic fitness. Yet peahens (or the females) keep picking the fellahs with the biggest, brightest tails to sire their offspring.

While many scientists insist that somehow a cumbersome caboose confers a survival benefit, Prum thinks thats ridiculous. Animals are beautiful not because beauty is useful, he insists, but becausethey like it! Through a process called sexual selection, Prum and other experts now believe animals shape their own evolution, choosing features in mates that strike their fancy, and exaggerating these over countless generations to produce colors, shapes, and behaviors that dazzle human observers.

Now, maybe animals do like being beautiful, but that seems as much a forced theory as the one it replaced. Im glad some Darwinists are recognizing that survival alone cant account for the art gallery we call the natural world, but is it really a better option to look at that same art gallery and conclude that the paintings produced themselves?

Well, heres another option Recently, Evolution News reported on a peer-reviewed study by scientists in Spain that suggests that just seeing natural designs improves human engineers creativity. The researchers created a program that help[s] industrial designers find natural shapes that [are] both functional and aesthetically pleasing by showing them the features of plants and animals.

This is just the latest in an emerging field called biomimetics, which literally means copying life. The paper uses the term design no less than 130 times and agency over 140 times. Considering this, plus Jabrs outstanding piece in the Times, its fair to wonder if we are approaching the threshold of design acceptance in science.

I hope so. Faced with a natural world brimming with beauty and engineering, scientists should reconsider the dogma that all of this created itself. Instead, they should consider that the mind-boggling beauty we see around us was always intended for our eyesdesigned by a master Engineer and Artist, to display His genius and glory through the language of beautyin a language best understood not by peahens, but by people.

As Andrew Peterson sings, could the beauty before usbe for us? I look forward to the day when science joins Christianity in saying yes.

BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun by Chuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on todays news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us at BreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions.

John Stonestreet, the host of The Point, a daily national radio program, provides thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

Publication date: February 15, 2019

Photo courtesy: David Clode/Unsplash
Mike Pence Warns World Leaders of Iranian Plot for 'Another Holocaust' in Israel Share Tweet

During a conference on Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence warned European and Middle Eastern leaders of the new Holocaust the Iranian regime is plotting.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced on Monday  during the 40thanniversary of the Islamic Revolution  that he would 'raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground' if the U.S. military attacked.

Two days later, during a two-day conference in Warsaw, Poland, Pence spoke to world leaders noting the Iranian regimes threat to eliminate Israel.

He said, the Authoritarian regime in Tehran represses the freedom of speech and assembly, it persecutes religious minorities, it brutalizes women, executes gay people and openly advocates for the destruction of the state of Israel.

He continued noting remarks made by the former Supreme Leader of Iran. Pence said, Ayatollah Khomeini himself said that it is the mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to erase Israel from the map.

Pence went on to condemn anti-Semitism, urging each of the world leaders in the room to condemn anti-Semitic rhetoric as well. Anti-Semitism is not just wrong, its evil, Pence said.

Anti-Semitism must be confronted where ever and whenever it arises, and it must be universally condemned, he added.

But beyond this hateful rhetoric, the Iranian regime openly advocates another Holocaust and it seeks the means to achieve it, Pence warned.

According to the Daily Mail, before the conference began, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shared the same sentiments as Pence with reporters. Pompeo said, The three H's  the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah  these are real threats ... you can't get peace in the Middle East without pushing back against Iran. Pompeo was referring to the Islamic regimes envoys in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.

On Thursday, Pence denounced the decision by France, Germany and Britain to allow businesses from their respective countries to continue to operate in Iran, noting that the U.S. will be implementing stronger sanctions on the Middle Eastern nation.

Pence said of the European countries decisions, It's an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the EU and creates still more distance between Europe and the United States.

The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and join with us as we bring the economic and diplomatic pressure necessary to give the Iranian people, the region and the world the peace, security and freedom they deserve,' he charged.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/

Video courtesy: C-Span
With 19 children, there are plenty of marriages in the future for the Duggar kids. The most recent couple to tie the knot, John-David Duggar and Abbie Burnett, are just too cute together, but that doesnt mean all the Duggar couples are having success in the love department. There are more than a couple of potentially troubled marriages for the new generation of Duggars. Which Duggar couple is most likely to call it quits?

Jill and Derick Dillard

Jill married husband Derick in 2014 after traveling to Nepal to meet him. At the time of their courtship, Derick was working as a missionary and had reached out to Jim Bob Duggar as a prayer partner. The approved courtship brought record television numbers to the familys show, but things seem to have soured now that theyve been married for several years, according to In Touch.

Derick and Jill Dillard no longer appear on Counting On, thanks to Dericks unprovoked Twitter attack on Jazz Jennings. The lack of appearances means the family of four lost a major stream of income. While Derick has a degree and is now enrolled in law school, rumor has it that Jim Bob is fuming over Dericks inability to keep his family in the spotlight. The Dillards, specifically Derick have also been surprisingly absent from several family events, leaving fans wondering if the family is secretly feuding.

When a family hates a partner, divorce is a distinct possibility. If Jill wants to get back on the TLC payroll, shell need to dump Derick fast. Nothing would freshen up the old Duggar brand like another scandal.

Josh and Anna Duggar

Josh Duggar, as the oldest, was the first to marry, and unsurprisingly his marriage was the first to unravel. Wife Anna, whom he wed in 2008, stood by Josh after molestation allegations were uncovered in 2015. Anna has stated that she was well aware of Joshs behavior prior to their marriage. She has gone on to state she believes he repented for his actions.

While Anna stood by her man, a new scandal was brewing for the couple. In 2015 Josh was outed as a serial cheater amid the Ashley Madison scandal. Hackers released the names and email addresses of famous and powerful men who had active accounts on the extra-marital affair website. Joshs name was among them. Shortly after that women quickly came out of the woodwork to speak about their time with Josh.

He checked himself into a treatment center and sent his wife and kids to live with Michelle and Jim Bob, according to Cosmopolitan. While Anna has stuck it out thus far her older brother, Daniel Keller is ready to jump in if Anna needs help. He has been outspoken about his distaste for Josh and his desire for Anna to leave the marriage behind. If all else fails, she has an easy out and a support system to help her with the couples five kids.

Amy and Dillon King

Cousin Amy has been a staple on the Duggars television programming. As the fun, rebellious and outgoing cousin, Amy showed the world that even ultra-conservative Christians have exposure to different lifestyles. Amy married Dillion King in 2015. They appeared on Marriage Bootcamp to air out some of the problems in their relationship and have been open about their need to keep things spicy and wild in their marriage. If Marriage Bootcamp taught fans anything, its that Amy and Dillon do have marital issues.

Since they dont adhere to the same ultra-conservative Christianity that their famous family does, divorce is an option if things get bad. All seems well between the lovebird though, as they recently celebrated the opening of a store, and are open about their desire to start a family.
This week, the U.S. Senate passed sweeping legislation that will preserve Tennessees natural beauty and protect our historical sites. I have seen first-hand how a popular park or museum can provide a recreation or educational experience for Tennesseans. But these sites can also help local economies by attracting tourism, which brings with it jobs and tax dollars to Tennessee.

The bill I cosponsored and voted for this week includes several different pieces of legislation I sponsored that will be especially valuable to our state.



First, it will permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which will help ensure Tennessees beautiful lands, water resources, and recreation areas are protected and preserved for future generations. The LWCF has played a large role in protecting Tennessees outdoors for over 50 years, and in total, and it has provided over $200 million to conservation and outdoor recreation efforts in Tennessee. For example, in its first 50 years, the LWCF helped protect nearly 200,000 acres within the Appalachian National Scenic Trail corridor which spans from Georgia to Maine. Rocky Fork, a nearly 10,000 acre tract that serves as Upper East Tennessees gateway to the Appalachian Trail, was protected in part due to funding from the LWCF. The State of Tennessee acquired 2,000 acres of the 10,000 acre tract to create the Lamar Alexander Rocky Fork State Park.

The bill will also expand the boundary of Shiloh National Military Park in Shiloh. Learning from the past helps us become better Americans in the future, and preserving and protecting these sites will allow future generations to learn their history by walking these fields. Expanding the Park will also provide an opportunity to attract more visitors to Tennessee and boost local economies.

It will also take the next steps to protect and preserve President James K. Polks home in Columbia as a national treasure. Tennessee is full of history, and the Polk Home is a special prize for Tennesseans as well as all Americans. We talk a lot about the importance of science and math, but according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, most high school seniors in America score the worst in history. I can think of no better way to encourage the study of U.S. history than to protect and preserve sites like the Polk Home.

Additionally, the bill will name a bridge on the Foothills Parkway in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park after Dean Stone. It is hard to imagine Blount County without Dean Stone. No one worked harder for the Foothills Parkway than Dean, and I cant think of anyone more fitting to name this bridge on the Foothills Parkway after than him. Dean talked to me about the Foothills Parkway when I was at Maryville High School as the school newspapers editor, and he talked to me in every job I've ever had since, literally. Naming this bride after Dean ensures he will be a part of the Smokies for generations to come.

Finally, the legislation includes a bill I sponsored with Senator Heinrich of New Mexico, the Every Kid Outdoors Act, which will allow fourth graders and their families free entrance to all federal lands and waters, including national parks.

Tennessee is filled with rich history and is home to some of our nations most beautiful lands. In order for future generations to enjoy our great outdoors and historical sites the same way that we have, it is important that they are protected and preserved.

Im glad this legislation passed in the U.S. Senate this week and hope this bill will be passed by the House of Representatives and signed by President Trump soon.

Senator Lamar Alexander
On Saturday, March 2, at 2 pm, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will conduct a special one-hour program focusing on Spanish contact in the Southeastern United States, specifically in the Chattanooga region.

This is a free program and will take place at the Gateway Site, near 134 Hamm Road, in Moccasin Bend National Archeological District. Special Program signs will be also be placed along Manufacturers and Hamm Roads to assist participants to the program location.

Sometimes our reasons for doing certain things are not always what they seem.

In 1540, the first Europeans made contact with the indigenous people living in todays greater Chattanooga area. That contact did not seem like such a bad thing at first. Unfortunately, Hernando de Soto led the Spanish conquistadors making this contact, and he was not there as a friendly envoy from the king of Spain. Soto was after something far more self-serving: gold and glory. Years before, as a member of Francisco Pizarros expedition in Peru, Soto helped capture and ransom the Incan Emporer Atahualpa. The vast riches he witnessed in Peru pushed Soto on a similar expedition into the Southeast. Come learn about the atrocities spread by these Spanish conquerors as they trekked through this region almost 480 years ago.

For more information about programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, contact the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706-866-9241, the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at 423-821-7786, or visit the park website at www.nps.gov/chch.


Senator Lamar Alexander released the following statement on Friday after President Trump announced a national emergency on the Southern border:

The president has made a strong case for increased border security, but declaring a national emergency is unnecessary, unwise and inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution. It is unnecessary because significant additional money already has been approved by Congress that he could spend on border security without declaring a national emergency. In fact, the president announced today that he would spend $3 billion of this additional funding to fund construction of the border wall. This $3 billion is in addition to the $22 billion Congress appropriated on Thursday for detention beds, technology, border patrol agents, ports of entry, replacing existing wall and 55 miles of new wall.

It is unwise because if this president can declare a national emergency to build a wall, the next president can declare a national emergency to tear it down; or declare a climate change emergency to close coal plants and build wind turbines; or a health care emergency and force into Medicare the 180 million Americans with health insurance on the job.

It is inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution because, after the American Revolution against a king, our founders chose not to create a chief executive with the power to tax the people and spend their money any way he chooses. The Constitution gives that authority exclusively to a Congress elected by the people.

Senator Alexander voted on Thursday for legislation that Congress passed and the president will sign that made a significant down payment on border security. That new law included $22 billion for border security, which includes 55 new miles of physical barrier or wall on the southern border, an increase of 5,000 detention beds, funding for technology and more border agents and funding to secure the ports of entry, through which so much of the illegal drug traffic travels.



U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said, I am pleased that Congress has passed, and President Trump has signed, funding for USDA for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2019. We will be moving at full speed on all of our responsibilities, making good on our motto by doing right and feeding everyone. Since Congress did not act to protect our southern border, the President has also declared a national emergency, which helps him fulfill a clear promise to protect our national security interests. He is exercising his Constitutional authority, as presidents from both parties have done many times in the past.



Even with the passage of the appropriations bill, Congress still has unfinished business in areas of great concern for USDA and the customers we serve. Farmers and ranchers were battered last year by a series of monumental storms, robbing them of their livelihoods and inflicting damage well beyond the financial risks they normally assume in their operations. These are the men and women who dedicate their lives to feeding, fueling, and clothing this nation, and we cannot turn our backs on them when they need assistance. Just as importantly, another devastating wildfire season left our Forest Service badly in need of replenished funds to fight fires, remove excess fuels, and conduct necessary forest management. Without these resources, we risk falling behind in forest maintenance and inviting even more severe seasons in the future. I will continue to work with the President and the Congress to address these critical issues.


The Best of Show drawing from the 2018 Tennessee Annual Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest is now a collectible waterfowl stamp.

Orders are being taken for the collectible stamp that is produced annually and sold for conservation education the through the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

Brienna Miller from Lafollette was honored as the 2018 state winner. As a senior at Campbell County High School, Briennas winning artwork in pencil and pastel depicted a pair of northern shovelers. She received the Jeanette Rudy $1,000 scholarship and other prizes for her effort.

Since 1999, a collectible stamp has been created from the annual Tennessee Junior Duck Stamp program contests Best of Show. The program is an art contest managed by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service designed to teach the importance of conserving wetlands habitat and waterfowl to students. It pairs science, the arts, and other core subjects to creatively teach greater awareness of our natural resources.

As part of the program, students are invited to participate in an annual art competition. Creating an entry is a valuable experience. It helps students tie together lessons on animal form and function, plant science, observation, wetland habitats, and more. In the visual arts, students practice sketching, drawing, painting, and composition.

The public is invited to purchase the collectible stamp. Each state stamp is numbered and printed in full color, measuring 1 2/8 by 2 inches. In addition to this years stamp, stamps since 1999 are available.

Funds from the sale of the stamp will be used for habitat improvement. Stamps are $10 each and there is a $1 processing per order and they may be ordered by completing the Wildlife Stamp order form located in the Watchable Wildlife Information under Wildlife Enthusiasts on the TWRA website at www.tnwildlife.org.

Students from across Tennessee participate each year in the contest. The TWRA The entry deadline is each March and winners are presented awards at a ceremony in the spring. (To obtain a copy of the free curriculum or for more information on the Junior Duck Stamp Program, contact the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge at (731) 642-2091.

Winners from all 50 states compete with best-of-show winners each year. The winner of the national winners becomes the artwork used for the Federal Junior Duck Stamp each year.

The public is reminded that the State of Tennessee Waterfowl stamp is voluntary and not required to hunt. However, the Federal Duck stamp is required to hunt waterfowl in Tennessee.
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will host the first presentation in its new Emerging Scholars Lecture Series on Saturday, Feb. 23.

This one-hour lecture, entitled, Bountiful Land and Poor Distribution: East Tennessees Agriculture and Its Impact on the Civil War will be presented in the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Centers theater at 2 pm.

Some of the most cutting edge scholarship on the Civil War era is being conducted by graduate students at universities and colleges throughout the nation, and this lecture aims to promote the work being done by the next generation of Civil War scholars.

Lucas Wilder is a Ph.D. candidate at Mississippi State University, where he is researching the environmental effects of the Civil War in Tennessee and Appalachia. His presentation will explore how the environment and agricultural practices affected Civil War operations in the region. This presentation is made possible through the support of the parks cooperating association, Eastern National.

For more information about upcoming programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, contact the Lookout Mountain Visitor Center at 423-821-7786, the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706-866-9241, or visit the parks website at www.nps.gov/chch.


Cleveland State Community College will host the 15th annual Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss celebration on Saturday, March 2. The event will take place from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. in Cleveland States Library and is sponsored by the Early Childhood Education program and the CSCC Library. The celebration is organized by students in the language and literacy class.

This years event will honor the book And to Think That I Saw it On Mulberry Street, Dr. Seuss first childrens book. The story follows a boy named Marco, who describes a parade of imaginary people and vehicles traveling along a road, Mulberry Street, in an elaborate fantasy story he dreams up to tell his father at the end of his walk. However, when he arrives home he decides instead to tell his father what he actually sawa simple horse and wagon.

As with previous events, special guests will include Dr. Seusss most well-known characters, the Cat in the Hat, Thing One and Thing Two and the Grinch. Both children and adults are familiar with the uncontrollable and entertaining Cat from Dr. Seusss book, The Cat in the Hat. The Cat is accompanied by the twin mischief-makers, Thing One and Thing Two, and together they bounce from one catastrophic fun-making adventure to another. The Grinch, the title character from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, is a cynical cave-dweller who has a sudden change of heart when he realizes the real meaning of Christmas.



Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss is free to children of all ages; however, all children must be accompanied by an adult. Each child will receive a goody bag, a hard back Dr. Seuss book, and may participate in literacy-related activities assisted by students in Cleveland States language and literacy class. Other activities will include face painting, hat making, egg decorating, chalk art, fishing, digging for worms, and music and movement. Refreshments and door prizes will also be a part of the celebration.

According to Wood, the Kiwanis Club of Cleveland has generously given money to purchase books for the event, and members of the Kiwanis club will be there to give a free hard back Dr. Seuss book to every child that attends. A representative from Dolly Partons Imagination Library will also be on hand. The Imagination Library is a nonprofit organization that promotes early childhood literacy by giving free age-appropriate books to children from birth to age five around the country.

The Early Childhood Education Program at Cleveland State began in 1999 out of an initiative from the Tennessee Board of Regents requiring that all community colleges in the state have an early childhood program. Students may receive a Child Development Associate (CDA) designation by completing a four-course option and related credentialing procedures, a 24 credit hour Early Childhood Education Technical Certificate, or may pursue an Associate of Applied Science degree by completing the two-year, 60-credit-hour program. The Early Childhood Education program is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Cleveland State also has transfer agreements with many area colleges that allow students to transfer and complete their degree to teach pre-K through third grade.



Those interested in more information about the Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss event or the Early Childhood Education Program should contact Suzanne Wood, program coordinator, at 472-7141, Ext. 282.
Azerbaijan's Minister of Defense, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov held a meeting with the military attache of the Russian Armed Forces, Colonel Igor Lobastov, the press service of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense reported.

During the meeting, the sides expressed satisfaction with the level of cooperation between the two countries in the military, military-technical and military-educational spheres, exchanged views on the prospects for the development of bilateral relations, as well as noted the importance of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to ensure security in the region.

Zakir Hasanov and Igor Lobastov also discussed the "introduction of the Russian-made modern, high-precision combat equipment and weapons into Azerbaijan's armed service, as well as discussed the expansion and continuation of activities in this field on the basis of mutual agreement and consent of both states.

The sides also paid attention to the issues of conducting joint military exercises, organizing mutual visits, working meetings, exchanging experience at the level of experts, training Azerbaijani cadets and specialists in military educational institutions of Russia.

The Russian military attache expressed gratitude for the warm welcome and noted that he would continue to make every effort for deepening military relations between the two countries.
The East Ridge City Council denied a developers request to rezone property near the Bachman Tunnels to build a luxury apartment complex, Thursday night during its regular meeting.

After hearing a chorus of concerns from citizens that the new 80-unit complex would clog traffic, increase crime and create stormwater issues in the area, the council voted unanimously to deny the request by property owner P.J. Patel.

Former East Ridge Mayor Bob Johnson, a 40-year resident of Seminole Crest Lane, told the council that South Seminole is like a runway for cars coming from Georgia as a cut-through during the morning rush hour. He noted there are no sidewalks for children who catch a school bus in the morning near the proposed site. I dont know how to do this and make it safe, he said.

Marvin Scott, a retired FBI agent who built a house on South Seminole Drive in 1993, told the council that when it rains its like a river of water that comes down the street. He said that water frequently pools in yards on the street.

Charles McCullough, a citizen activist who lives on Reeves Avenue, said he was concerned about crime. He said that Patel owns other businesses in East Ridge (a nearby convenience store and a motel on the east end of the city) where calls for police service are frequent. McCullough brought with him documents that he said indicated 734 calls to police to Patel properties from 2015 to 2018.

We have evidence of how Patel runs his properties, we dont need another, he said.

Mr. Patel was asking to rezone the long-vacant property at 1023 South Seminole Drive from residential and commercial status to R-3 residential apartment district. He said his investment of $11 million in building the complex would generate $2 million in city and county property taxes over a period of time and generate $1 million in consumer spending to adjacent businesses.

He said that East Ridge is experiencing a resurgence.

I consider this project a Pioneer Project for the west side, Mr. Patel told the council.East Ridge is beginning a new life and I can add to that with this new development.

Mr. Patel brought in two engineers, one who did a traffic study and another who addressed drainage issues, in an attempt to overcome objections.

Former county engineer Steve Meyer, who did the traffic engineering study for Exit 1 on Interstate 75, told the council of the methods he employed to study the traffic at Ringgold Road and South Seminole as it pertained to the apartment complex. He said there would be more traffic and lines of cars would occur during morning rush hour. He said adjusting the timing on the red light at the intersection could address the issue.

Its not going to be like Hamilton Place at Christmastime, Mr. Meyer said.

Thomas Retseck, an engineer with March Adams and Associates, told the council that the property was a tough lot to develop, but that his firm is basically a bunch of problem solvers.

Mr. Retseck said the stormwater issues could be addressed by building several underground catch basins to hold the runoff. The water would be metered out to a pre-development flow to the existing stormwater drains both along Ringgold Road and to the south.

Mr. Retseck said that if this property wasnt developed now that it would most likely lie dormant for years to come.

Mr. Patel said his intention was to build an upscale apartment complex with nice amenities that would be rented for about $1,200 a month to reputable people. He said he would comply with the crime free lease addendum in an effort to suppress criminal activity. He noted that police calls for service was public record but that reports shouldnt be used to condemn a business.

Mr. Patels pleas fell on deaf ears.

As bad as I hate to lose the tax money and see this property go back to tent city, I make the motion to deny (the rezoning), said Councilman Jacky Cagle. (Tent city was a reference to a homeless camp that had once been established on the property).

In other action during the meeting, Assistant City Manager Kenny Custer announced that the property on Rebecca Drive that the city was attempting to purchase for a new animal services facility was sold to another party. Mr. Custer said the other party made a higher bid and the city was given no opportunity to make a counteroffer.

This isnt going away, Mr. Custer said in regard to finding property to build a new animal shelter. This is just a small set back.

Mr. Custer also announced that Life Center of America intends to break ground in April on a $40 million expansion of its facility near I-75.

Mayor Brian Williams led a discussion of moving forward with the hiring of a new city manager. Williams said that UTs Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) had reviewed the candidates resumes and ranked them. The council decided to interview the six top-ranked candidates in public interviews. Williams said he wanted to get the interview process started as quickly as possible, which may include special called meetings.

The council passed on second reading an ordinance that would allow the sale of beer in businesses adjacent to churches along Ringgold Road. The rationale was to spur economic growth. The vote was 4-1, with Councilman Cagle casting the lone dissenting vote.

The council passed on first reading a bevy of ordinances that would update building codes. Assistant City Manager Custer said the state requires these codes to be updated periodically to national standards. The city is currently operating under building codes that were adopted in 2012.

The council approved a resolution to extend an agreement with Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis to act as government affairs counsel for the city in regard to affairs in the Tennessee General Assembly. The firm will be paid $20,000 for its efforts.

The council waived fees for the River City Corvette Club to have its annual car show at Camp Jordan Arena. The club donates half of the proceeds from the show to the East Ridge Needy Child Fund.

The council approved a change order in the amount of $17,500 for electrical work on scoreboards for ball fields at Camp Jordan Park. The park is currently undergoing a $2.3 million renovation.
Chattanooga firefighters responded to a fire at 2:40 a.m. on Friday at 2745 Folts Drive.

Battalion Chief Don Bowman said the first firefighters on the scene reported fire on the outside of the structure. The firefighters attacked the fire aggressively and had the fire out in roughly five minutes.

Chief Bowman said the cause of the fire appears to be electrical in nature, but what exactly sparked the blaze remains undetermined. No injuries were reported.





The house is a residency for the Orange Grove Center. Though the damage was confined to the exterior of the building, electrical service to the building had to be disconnected for safety reasons. Three Orange Grove residents, plus a house supervisor and her child, will have to stay elsewhere until repairs to the house are completed. Volunteers with the American Red Cross were called in to provide assistance to the displaced residents.





Chattanooga Police, Hamilton County EMS and EPB also provided valuable assistance on the scene.
It was the father of Samuel Williams who spied out one of the most beautiful vistas in the South on the Tennessee River near the future Chattanooga.

As spelled out in the old Williams lawsuit that was found last March, George Washington Williams had come first to Hamilton County from the pleasant narrow valley at Paint Rock, Ala. He had left some of his grown children, including Samuel, behind. Paint Rock is near Scottsboro in Jackson County.

Temperance "Tempie" Kyle Williams, who was the wife of G.W. and the mother of Samuel, had died in 1824.

G.W. Williams was born in North Carolina on Feb. 1, 1787. He was the son of another Samuel, who lived from 1738 to 1788 and served in the Revolution. His wife was Hannah Isbell. That Samuel was the son of George, who lived from 1710 to 1758, and Priscilla Thomas. He was the son of Samuel, who lived from 1680 to 1748, and was the son of Roger Williams, who was born in 1619 in England, and married Mary of Surry County, Va.

George W. Williams had moved to Bedford County, Tn., and met and married Tempie there. Most of the children were born at Paint Rock. Hannah was born in 1805, Samuel in 1807, G.W. Jr. in 1809, and Polly in 1813. The youngest sons were Silas and Jesse. Since most of his family was still in Paint Rock, G.W. Williams Sr. was back and forth between there and his new home. It was a trip of around 85 miles by horseback.

It was said that George W. Williams Sr. "was nearly illiterate, not even knowing his English alphabet." But he had an excellent eye for good land. In Hamilton County, he was able to acquire a site where the Tennessee River takes one of its many turns - this one going into the then-fearsome Grand Canyon of the Tennessee River.

It overlooked what was then called Brown's Island for John Brown, a storied character who had occupied his substantial two-story log cabin in Lookout Valley since 1803 and who operated a ferry across the river just downstream from his island. Lookout Mountain was straight ahead also, and there were other mountains all around. His home, the log Brown's Tavern, still stands in Lookout Valley, but it has an uncertain future after the property was sold to a developer.

This property, that grew to include 531 and 3/4 acres, was always referred to as the home place. G.W. Williams built a two-story frame home there that faced the island and Lookout Mountain.

It was just a few miles from Ross's Landing, but that was still Indian territory.

The home place was acquired from the family of Richard Waterhouse, an early speculator who had floated down the river from Knoxville when he heard of the impending land opportunities. His acquisitions included a grant along the river that was one acre wide and 220 acres long.The price was $2.20 or a penny an acre.

The Williams papers include the original grant that went to Richard G. Waterhouse and his heirs in 1823. William Carroll, governor of the state of Tennessee, had his seal affixed at Murfreesborough. March 12, 1823. Daniel Graham was secretary. It was recorded in the register's office of West Tennessee. April 4, 1823. Brice F. Martin deputy register. It was recorded in the Hamilton County. Register's Office on May 13, 1825.

The papers include the July 30, 1830, deed from Richard Waterhouse, Blackston Waterhouse was the executor of R.G. Waterhouse dec. Witnesses were James Smith and William Stringer. Asahel Rawlings was the clerk.

A document said George W. Williams "has title to the within tract of land. William Carroll governor. Sam A. Smith secretary, D.P. Armstrong register of E.L. Nov. 9, 1832. This was the grant recorded in my office. The Grant. State of Tennessee No. 17.518. In consideration of an entry made in the Entry Takers Office of Hamilton County of No.40. Dated the 24th day of January 1831 by George W. Williams."

There was also Grant 17.520. Entry made at the Entry Takers Office of Hamilton County of No. 35. Dated the 30th day of -- 1831. 250 acres on the banks of the Tennessee beginning on a sycamore tree at or near the Tumbling Shoals, then up the Tennessee River as meandered south. . . to two walnuts. Kelly's Turnpike Road and cross to Richard G. Waterhouse Tumbling Shoals tract (now belonging to George W. Williams), crossing the road to a white oak on the Waterhouse line, to a white oak to a black oak crossing the road. Containing 50 acres more or less, which tract was entered in the entry taker's office in Hamilton County under the names of William H. Stringer and Joshua Johnson Jan. 4, 1825. Conveyed by deed from Stringer to James Cunningham Sept. 8, 1829, and by Cunningham to Josiah Lusk Jan. 7, 1833. Sold to George W. Williams March 5, 1834. Witnesses Daniel Sivley and Cornelius Milliken.

The Williams papers also include a deed from Sept. 16, 1831, detailing a sale to George W. Williams of 63 acres "on the side of Wallens Ridge." It was at "the corner of land that George W. Williams purchased of R.J. Waterhouse. To a 50-acre entry made by Stringer and Johnson. To an entry made by James Cunningham. To a bluff." William Carroll was governor of the state of Tennessee at the time. Affixed to the deed was the great seal of the state. This was "on the 20th of August in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred And Thirty Two - and of American Independence the fifty seventh."

Another deed that is included in the papers told of property "lying in the Third District of Hamilton County. On the north side of the Tennessee River adjoining David Fields' reservation. Beginning at a white oak, to a box elder on the river bank, thence down the river. To a stake on the river, to two black walnuts on the riverbank, to Joseph Keeny's, to a large Spanish oak marked B at the foot of the mountain. To a black oak, to a post oak, to a stake at Fields' reservation."

In a time when surveying was not so precise, another deed of the time referred to the place "where Hugh Cunningham drowned in the river."

The deeds also outline who were some of the Williams neighbors at this early date. In the papers is a "list of district returned by Cornelius Milliken Esq. for 1834." This would make it one of the earliest county tax lists yet found. Alas, it was one of the papers that wound up in the dumpster and a number of the names cannot be read.

Those that can be made out are David Bunch, Thomas Canning, John Fryar, John Ford, William Ford, Joseph Ford, Jeremiah Fryar, Robert Freeman, John Howith, William Holman, Jesse Hartman, Dickison Jennings, John B. Inlow, James Keeny, William H. Lusk, Josiah Lusk, Ivy Lawson, Lewis Montgomery, James Moss, William Perrell, Elisha Rogers, Alfred M. Rogers, John Rogers, James Rogers, Henry Rogers, Daniel Sivley, Absalom Sivley, John Starling..... George Williams, Samuel Williams, David Walling.

Meanwhile, Samuel Williams had married and he began having children at Paint Rock. His wife was Rebecca Davis, daughter of William and Tiny Berry Davis of Paint Rock.

However, his brother, George W. Jr., moved up to live with his father across the line in Tennessee. It was said, "The father was very infirm in health. He had no slaves and little personal property. He had two older children and two younger sons and a married daughter. George W. Jr. had been taught to write and instructed a little in the elementary branch of learning. He manifested some capacity to trading to advantage. Having confidence in the fidelity of his son George W. and in his business capacity, after paying for the lands he had the title to the Waterhouse property made out to George W. on July 30, 1830 - although he had never paid one cent for it."

Peter Sivley, an early settler, said, "I was acquainted with the Old Man. I heard him say that the home place was G.W.'s. That he had bought a place in Alabama and given it to Samuel. And he bought another place on the Tennessee River for Silas. It was bought from John Gwinn. Another place was to be bought for Jesse."

Alfred M. Rogers recalled, "Part of the children lived in Alabama, part here. The Old Man had some hogs, a horse or horses, and some farming utensils."

John Baker, son-in-law of George W. Williams Sr. related, "I lived 12 miles from George Sr. in Alabama. The boys was all left there together and my wife also. Samuel Williams lived with his mother in Alabama and was raised, I suppose, by the assistance of the property left in Alabama. After Samuel Williams married, he never got any benefit of the land that his father had in Alabama."

Baker also said, "George W. Williams the ancestor bought the home place from Waterhouse and paid for it. When he became in bad health, he told his son to go see Waterhouse and get the deed to the land he had purchased made to him (George Jr.), which was done. He instructed George to convey to his brothers and sisters equal portions of the land.

"George Williams paid me $150 in 1832, I think in May. It was for my wife's interest in the home place. George paid me $140 in 1832 and Samuel paid me $10 more after they went into partnership. He borrowed it from a man named Lusk. I gave George a receipt and both me and my wife, Polly, subscribed to it."

George D. Foster, who was a protege of Col. Whiteside and later lived at the top of his Whiteside Turnpike on Lookout Mountain, said of the land around the Williams home, "Of the 50-acre tract, I reckon about 30 acres is bottom and about 20 acres is upland. It is common bottom and common upland. George W. came from Alabama to live with his father.

"George W. Sr. was living there when I came to the country. George W. Jr. may have been there then. He farmed there with the old man until a year or two before the old man died. George Sr. had an old Negro woman and two small boys that he let Richard Waterhouse have after the death of Richard G. Waterhouse. It was an over payment that was to go to Waterhouse to go toward paying for the land that Bud Taylor or some other of the connection had bought from Waterhouse.

"The Old Man built the house. The labor that was done there seemed to be under his direction. There has been some land cleared and some stables built since the Old Man died. I don't think the house and yard and well are in as good a repair as when the Old Man was living. The stables are such as common country farmers have to keep their horses in. The first time I ever saw George W. he was living in Alabama and had come up to see his father. The next acquaintance I had with him he had come up and was living with his father on the farm. I think farming was his chief occupation."

John Starling reminisced, "I think it has been about 21 years last winter since I first became acquainted with George W. Williams. I worked at the home place. I thought it belonged to the Old Man and George Williams. I don't know of any buildings being done after I went there. There was some land cleared after I went there which the old man paid for. There was a house weatherboarded after I went there, which was also paid for by the Old Man. George and the Old Man lived together about three years after I went to it and before the Old Man died.

"The first year I went there young George and I worked together in the crops. I then went off and, while I was gone, there was goods bought and George traded in them and continued trading in them until the Old Man died and, after his death. I came back a while before Christmas and the Old Man's death.

"George Sr. did not have a great deal of property beside the home place. He had some cattle and hogs, and young George carried off one small drove of hogs for the Old Man before he died. The Old Man showed me a parcel of silver, for how much I don't know, which he said George had brought back for the hogs. The merchandise goods were bought after George took the hogs off. George bought his goods in the fall and winter and the Old Man died the following February. He worked on the farm until he got the goods and then he attended to them. Silas lived with the Old Man part of the time.

"They bought a tract from Lusk that was known as the Freeman place. One tract the Old Man bought I heard say that he bought it for his son, Silas Williams."

Archibald Brown said he became acquainted with George Sr. in the spring of 1830. "I worked a good deal on the farm, minding stock."

If his birth day of 1787 is correct, George Sr., who was often referred to as "the Old Man," was not yet 42 when he died at the home place by the Tennessee River on Feb. 18, 1832. He was buried at the property.

* * * * * * * * * *

A remodeling project on Walnut Street unexpectedly turned up documents from Chattanooga's earliest days in March 2018.

Rob Bentley, a young man who has developed a love for Chattanooga's history, said he got a call from his friend Robert Parks about the discovery. His company, T. U. Parks, was doing the demolition and build-out of the former Elks Building at Walnut and Seventh and the small adjacent former Title Guaranty and Trust building.

Mr. Bentley, who works at the venerable Chattanooga firm of T.T. Wilson and Company, said, "When they were demoing the old vault the workers found the old documents. Robert went to look at them and a check made out to T.T. Wilson was on top of the pile so he called me to let me know what he had found. I asked him if they would stop the demo of the vaults so i could come take a look at the papers.

"By the time I got to the job site some of the documents had already been thrown into the dumpster and destroyed. I loaded up all the documents I could save out of the dumpster and the ones not yet thrown away into my truck. I went home and organized them the best I could."

The cache included many other checks to pioneer Chattanooga businesses.

The retrieved items included some 800 pages of old documents related to a lawsuit against Chattanooga pioneer Samuel Williams. Some of the documents date to well before the Indian Removal and to the earliest days of Hamilton County.

Mr. Bentley later met with Sam Hall, who has been saving thousands of old Chattanooga photos and documents through his Deepzoom Chattanooga website (now ChattanoogaHistory.com).

Mr. Hall was excited about the find and began scanning the Williams legal documents. He scanned a large group that was saved before some were thrown in the dumpster. Those retrieved from the dumpster, he photographed. Portions of those documents had water damage so that about a fourth of each page cannot be read.

Some of the documents bear the signature of H.C. Beck, one of the founders of Title Guaranty and Trust. The title company later built a much-larger headquarters next door. Both are directly across from the County Courthouse.

Through the years, the upstairs portion of the initial Title Guaranty building was rented to attorneys, including Lewis Coleman, a protoge of Coca Cola bottling magnate Jack Lupton. It is believed that the papers that were located were from one of the attorneys renting the upstairs office or from the Title Guaranty operation itself.

Later the small building was merged with the Elks Building next door. The county named the pair of buildings the Mayfield Annex. The county in recent years vacated the buildings and they are being renovated by Lamp Post Properties, which has been restoring several downtown historic buildings for new uses.

The Williams documents can be read on ChattanoogaHistory.com. They are in two files - the undamaged scanned ones and the photographed pages with water damage.

The links to the Williams papers on Sam Hall's website are here.


Congressman Chuck Fleischmann on Thursday said the Conference Report to Accompany H.J. Res 31  Consolidated Appropriations Act includes an installment towards ongoing border wall construction.

He said, Throughout conference negotiations, I advocated for the highest dollar amount of funding for the border wall. Additionally, I fought to ensure that there was not an internal enforcement cap on ICE beds, which I viewed as a nonstarter.

In this bill, there is funding for 55 miles of new border wall to address the top three priority points along the Rio Grande Valley. Although I would have preferred to fully fund the Presidents request, which I voted to fulfill previously, this package provides a substantial installment towards the ongoing border wall construction and additional technology. This legislation also supports the men and women of ICE by giving them the tools they need to do their job. Included in this legislation is an increase in the number of detention beds, by up to 18%, which allows for our immigration enforcement officials to respond to current dangers and have the resources to prepare for future spikes in illegal immigration.

It is important to note that I did not vote for this funding package because I believed it was the final answer to the crisis at our Southern border. However, I could not support another harmful government shutdown and therefore I voted in support of the bill. It was an honor to be part of the conference committee and have the immense responsibility to come up with a bipartisan and bicameral funding package. Tonights vote was not the end in the border security discussion, and I will continue to support a strong, safe, and secure southern border.

I will not support a bill that falls so short that President Trump is forced to declare a national emergency to meet the growing needs at our southern border. I support President Trump using constitutional executive action to build the wall and keep our country safe, and I regret that Congress is putting him in this position.

However, Rep. Tom Graves said the bill falls short and he did not vote for it.

He said, As a member of the conference committee charged with creating this bill, I hoped that this would be a transparent process, with vigorous debate and an outcome that improved the security of our country. Instead, we discovered that Democrats had already written a bill before our first meeting. This set the stage for a policy that is wrongly focused on handcuffing law enforcement, rather than known criminals who illegally cross our border."

Rep. Graves served as one of 17 members of the conference committee charged with creating this legislation, referred to as a conference report. He frequently spoke out about the lack of committee meetings and called for greater public access to debate and information. Late last night, Rep. Graves was allowed to see the 1,159 page bill for the first time, and given only one hour to review it before he had to decide whether to give his signature of approval. He declined to sign his name.

Senator David Perdue (R-GA) said, The Senate took action to address the national security crisis at our southern border. This bipartisan solution funds 55 miles of new barrier in the Rio Grande Valley border sector  the most dangerous and heavily-trafficked sector of the U.S.-Mexico border. Earlier this week, I visited the Rio Grande Valley to see the crisis firsthand. The growth in illegal drug and human trafficking is alarming. Our border patrol agents need these additional resources and barriers so they can do their jobs and protect the American people. This bipartisan package is a step in the right direction and allows President Trump to better secure the most concerning areas along our southern border.

The fact that Congress is still discussing border security funding five months into the current fiscal year only underscores the dysfunction in Washingtons broken funding process. Additionally, I am deeply disappointed that Congress still has not addressed disaster relief funding for Georgia and other states that were devastated by last years hurricane and wildfire damage. Our people are hurting and in desperate need of more assistance as they work to rebuild, and we will have their backs.

Senator Lamar Alexander said he "voted for legislation to provide increased border security at our Southern border and fund the government:

In his State of the Union address, the president did a good job of establishing the need for increased border security. In this bill, Congress responds with $22 billion for border security, which includes 55 new miles of physical barrier or wall on the southern border, an increase of 5,000 detention beds, and funding for technology and more border agents. There are also funds to secure the ports of entry, through which so much of drug traffic travels.

This is a significant down payment on border security and a response to a major national problem. I congratulate Chairman Shelby, Senator Leahy and the committee for producing this result, and I hope the president signs it.

The bill passed. President Donald Trump said he would sign it, but would also declare a National Emergency. It passed in the Senate 83-16.



Rep. Fleischmann said, in addition to providing funding for homeland security, the act fully funds the six remaining appropriations bills and includes:
GPS sixth-grade students in Mrs. Tugmans class dissected sheep hearts during a session led and instructed by special guest and GPS alumna Dr. Kelly Rowden Richardson 90.

Dr. Richardson, a cardiologist at Memorial Hospital, gave the class a brief lesson on the hearts anatomy and physiology before the girls hit the lab tables. Explaining how the heart pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood and beats about 100,000 times per day, Dr. Richardson explained how the heart has to be in good shape to do that. The heart is like a muscle, so if you work it, itll get bigger, she says, deducing that this is often why athletes have large hearts.

She also taught the girls about the pathway of blood through the heart and, consequently, clarified the differences between arteries and veins. She provided girls with mnemonic devices to help remember relevant information such as a-arteries, a-away because arteries carry blood away from the heart.

I really appreciated having Dr. Richardson come in and share so much with the girls, says Kipton Lankford Tugman 92, science teacher. I have not performed a formal dissection with sixth grade in the past. Having someone so knowledgeable about the heart made the experience very rewarding for the girls and me.

Dr. Richardson moved back to Chattanooga this summer from California and has a sixth-grade daughter, Eliana Tabibiazar 25, at GPS, who is a student in Mrs. Tugmans class. The GPS student and her mother had practiced dissecting a sheep heart at home.

I overheard Eliana telling her group members about the parts of the heart, beyond what we had discussed in class, Mrs. Tugman says. It was exciting to see her take a leadership role in her group and help her classmates beyond what was required.

The fellow GPS alumna had reached out to Mrs. Tugman about leading the lab activity and also offered to provide the hearts. I used to lead similar visits in schools in California, Dr. Richardson says. I really enjoyed those opportunities, so I am excited to continue that here in Chattanooga.

Dr. Richardson also says she enjoyed her time at GPS and is happy for her daughter to experience it, too. Its fun to be back; its different, but in many ways its still the same. And its great to be able to send Eliana here, she says.


High School sophomores and juniors in the Chattanooga area are invited to attend the Coast-to-Coast College Fair on Tuesday, March 5, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

For 25 years, the Coast-to-Coast Fair has hosted an array of schools in higher education, colleges and universities that represent the full spectrum of college options. Over 100 colleges and universities  public and private, large and small, rural and big city  from California to Washington, DC, and states in between, will have admission representatives present, eager to introduce their schools and enthusiastically answer students questions, officials said.

While students are introducing themselves to college representatives and gathering information about their favorite schools, parents may attend one of two financial aid workshops presented by Eric Farmer from the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation.



Officials said, "Join friends, bring parents, and broaden horizons at the Coast-to-Coast College Fair."

Students should register and check out the full list of colleges attending the fair at the Coast-to-Coast College Fair website.

Sponsoring schools are Baylor School, Girls Preparatory School, McCallie School and St. Andrews-Sewanee School.
A Criminal Court jury on Friday night found Jason Sanford not guilty in the 2000 strangulation death of an East Ridge woman.

The defense put on no proof.

Sanford spent two and a half years in jail awaiting trial in the Cold Case.



Earlier on Friday, a Michigan man gave a deathbed statement that his first cousin had admitted killing Sarah Davis Perry.

The jury heard the videoed statement from Mitchell Penterics, who visibly struggled through the two-hour deposition with effects from his spreading cancer.

His cousin, Sanford, was taken to Michigan from the Hamilton County Jail to sit in on the statement. Sanford stood trial in the courtroom of Judge Tom Greenholtz. Judge Greenholtz had sent the case on to the jury on the single charge of first-degree murder though defense attorney Amanda Dunn said pre-meditation had not been proven. Attorney Johnny Houston also defended Sanford.



Penterics said he moved to Chattanooga in 1999. He said, "I had won a lawsuit and I just wanted to get out of Michigan." He said he went to computer school and took a job at Convergys, where he met the eventual murder victim Sarah Davis Perry. He said he introduced her to Sanford, who had joined him in Chattanooga.

He said Sanford and Ms. Perry began living together, though he said their relationship was "rocky. They fought a lot." Questioned by District Attorney Neal Pinkston, he agreed they both had drug problems.

The witness said in the evening of June 15, 2000, that Sanford came over to his residence and told him, "I killed Sarah. I need money for a bus ticket." He said he eventually agreed to provide the money and take Sanford to the Greyhound station.

He said Sanford gave no other details of the slaying.

Penterics said he did not call police because "I just didn't know what to do." He said he "stayed in Chattanooga another year or so" before returning to Michigan. He said he had a "cordial" relationship with Sanford once they both were again in their home state.

Penterics, who is now deceased, said he was diagnosed with rectal cancer in 2011 and it spread to other parts of his body, including his brain.

The jury on Thursday heard a jail call in which Sanford discussed with his mother and his cousin ways to get his cousin to remain quiet about knowledge he had of a 2000 murder.

Sanford told Penterics, "Keep your chin up and your mouth shut."

That came just a few days after Sanford was charged with the strangulation murder of the 21-year-old Ms. Perry in East Ridge. Her body was found stuffed in a garbage can under a bridge at Spring Creek.

In the phone call, Penterics told Sanford, "I don't know how to tell you this, but it's really bad. Unfortunately, they got me to say something. I said something bad. I shouldn't have said it. I just feel really bad."

He said police had threatened him and wanted him to wear a wire and try to get Sanford to talk. He said he refused to do that.

Police in the DA's Cold Case Unit afterward learned that Penterics had become terminally ill. It was hastily arrange to take his deposition at his Michigan home with Sanford and his attorney present. The jury on Friday morning was to hear the two-hour death-bed statement. It was to be the state's final proof.

In a call from the jail to his mother, Sanford discussed how she could call the mother of Penterics concerning the cousin's telling on him. Sanford said, "Be careful how you say it, but let them know."

He also said, "My lawyer seems to feel that he is going to stick to his guns and tell the same story."

The mother said, "That makes me sad."

Sanford replied, "Me too."

The jury also heard a tape of detective Brian Ashburn of the Cold Case team interviewing Sanford. The detective said, "Now is the time to lay it all out on the table. We didn't come all the way up here from Tennessee just to drive around."

The detective had interviewed the cousin the day before, and he arrested Sanford at the end of the interview with him.

Sanford denied any involvement, saying, "I don't remember seeing her after she got out (of Valley Psychiatric Hospital)." He said, "I wanted nothing more than to be away from her."

Ms. Perry, who had two children, left the facility against the wishes of the staff on the evening of Tuesday, June 13. She was seen alive for the last time on Wednesday morning. The garbage can that her body was stuffed in was taken from Fine's Body Shop on that Wednesday night. The body was discovered and Sanford left town on Thursday, the 15th.

A witness who had not been questioned by police earlier testified that she saw a man she identified as Sanford drive slowly past her and then back by in an older white pickup truck. She said she afterward saw the same pickup at the creek and the garbage can was no longer in it. She said she could tell it had been dragged under the bridge.

Attorney Amanda Dunn said the witness, Mary Ruth Boyd, said the man had shaggy hair. She produced a booking photo taken a couple of months before the slaying that showed Sanford with a short haircut. She said Sanford did not have a white pickup truck and no other witness tied him to that type vehicle.

She also noted that semen found in the victim did not match that of Sanford.

Dr. Stephen Cogswell, assistant medical examiner, said Ms. Perry was strangled to death with some type of ligature (cord or similar item) and possibly also suffocated, according to the autopsy by Dr. Frank King. He said from the marks on her neck that someone had come up behind her.

He said she had a broken nail on her left thumb, indicating a possible struggle.
Jeffrey Lyash has been selected by TVAs board of directors to serve as president and chief executive officer of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Mr. Lyash currently serves as president and CEO of Ontario Power Generation Inc. and as chair of EPRI. He has extensive leadership and management experience from roles at OPG, CB&I Power, Duke Energy and Progress Energy, and has personally held a senior reactor operator license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Early in his career, he worked for the NRC in a number of senior technical and management positions throughout the northeast United States and in Washington, D.C.

Senator Lamar Alexander said, Mr. Lyash is inheriting the leadership of the Tennessee Valley Authority at a time when TVA is doing a good job of filling its responsibility to produce large amounts of reliable clean electricity at the lowest cost to ratepayers. He appears to be well-qualified for the position, and I look forward to working with him in appropriate ways as the United States Senate provides oversight of the agencys operations.




The House of Commons voted by 303 votes to 258 against a motion reiterating support for British Prime Minister Theresa May's approach to Brexit  support expressed by lawmakers in votes just two weeks ago.

The defeat has no legal force and Downing Street said it would not change the PM's approach to talks with the EU.

Two weeks ago, Parliament sent a contradictory message, voting to send May back to Brussels to seek changes to a section of the withdrawal agreement intended to ensure an open border between the U.K.'s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit.

The crunch vote is now expected to come on February 27 - and lawmakers who fear leaving without a deal could try to seize control of Britain's departure from the EU, Reuters reported.
Russia's crude export duty will be increased by $10.5 to $91.2 per ton from March 1, 2019, according to the Russian Finance Ministry's website.

Russia's current crude export duty is $80.7 per ton.

From January 15 to February 14, the average price of Urals petroleum mix was $61.70304 per barrel or $450.4 per ton.
Totally independent countries just do not exist, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after holding the talks with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.

Putin said that the European Parliament takes far more decisions mandatory for all EU members that the Soviet Unions Supreme Soviet made in its day in relation to the constituent republics of the USSR. "Totally independent countries just do not exist,"the head of state stressed.

The president also pointed to the military alliances and NATO. "Do you think that any of the European countries wants U.S. medium-range missiles to be deployed in Europe? Nobody wants this, but they prefer to keep quiet. Where is their sovereignty?" TASS cited Putin as saying.
Argentina's cement consumption declines 16% in January

ICR Newsroom By 15 February 2019

Cement demand in Argentina fell 16.3 per cent to 873,958t in January 2018, when compared with 1,043,732t in January 2017, according to the latest data from the Argentinian cement association, AFCP. This demand was supplied entirely by domestic producers and no imports were reported.



Total output declined by 14.2 per cent YoY to 884,334t in the first month of the year from 1,030,361t in January 2017. Of this total, around 10,376t were exported, a significant improvement when compared with 8629t of product exported in January 2018.

Published under
Europe does not wish to see the emergence of U.S. missiles on its territory, but do not dare to argue with Washington, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"Do you think that any of the European countries wants US medium-range missiles to be deployed in Europe? Nobody wants this, but they prefer to keep quiet. Where is their sovereignty?" the head of state asked.

"Apparently, they think that in the final count they are generally interested in such an organization [as NATO], to which they delegated part of their sovereignty," TASS cited Putin as saying.

According to him, the European Parliament takes far more decisions mandatory for all EU members that the Soviet Unions Supreme Soviet made in its day in relation to the constituent republics of the USSR. "Totally independent countries just do not exist," he stressed.

Commenting on the situation in the Eurasian Economic Union, Putin noted that there were certain supra-national agencies to which the member-countries had delegated part of their powers, thus creating certain inter-dependence.

"We transferred part of our sovereignty and our independence there. We did their consciously, being well aware that this mode of doing business makes us more competitive," the president said.
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OPERATOR: Welcome and thank you for standing by. At this time all participants are in listen-only mode until the question-and-answer session for todays conference call, at that time you may press star one to ask a question over the phone. Todays conference call is being recorded, if you have any objections you may disconnect at this time. I would now like to turn the call over to Kathy Harben. Thank you. You may begin maam.

KATHY HARBEN: Thank you, Dulana and thank you everyone for joining us today for the release of a new CDC Vital Sign. This one is on Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students.

Were joined today by Dr. Anne Schuchat, Principal Deputy Director of CDC; Mitch Zeller, Director of FDAs Center for Tobacco Products; Dr. Brian King, Deputy Director of CDCs Office on Smoking and Health; and Laura Oliven, Tobacco Control Manager for the Minnesota Department of Health.

Ill turn the call over now to Dr. Schuchat.

ANNE SCHUCHAT: Thank you for joining us today.

CDC works 24/7 to protect the health, safety, and security of all Americans. One of the ways we do this is by identifying health threats and working to address them. This Vital Signs Report contains an important update focused on youth and their use of all tobacco products. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States and almost all tobacco product use begins during adolescence. Todays Vital Signs Report highlights annual data from the National Youth To bacco Survey collected in 2018, it provides national estimates of tobacco product use amongst middle and high school students.

Let me give you the bottom line. In 2018, 27.1 percent of high school students and 7.2 percent of medical  middle school students currently use any tobacco product that equates to 4.9 million of our nations youth who reported currently using tobacco product, a substantial increase over 2017. The increase is being driven in a surge e-cigarette use in these young people. There were 1.5 million more youth using e-cigarettes in 2018 compared to 2017.

From 2017 to 2018 e-cigarette use increased from 11.7 percent to 20.8 percent among high school students and from 3.3 percent to 4.9 percent among  middle school students. There was no change in the use of other tobacco product including cigarettes from 2017 to 2018. E-cigarettes are still the most commonly used tobacco product among middle and high school student, reported for the fifth year in a row but within the past year use of e-cigarettes among our nations youth has reached unprecedented and epidemic proportions and those who are using them are using them more often as we reported in November.

Teens should not use any tobacco products including e-cigarettes. They shouldnt be using these products routinely or even experimenting with them.

At CDC we are concerned about this increase in tobacco product use. Let me be clear that any use of any tobacco product is unsafe for teens. Our report finds many are using multiple products; these products typically contain nicotine and several other harmful ingredients. We want everyone particularly parents and teachers to know how dangerous use of nicotine in any form is for kids. Nicotine is highly addictive and can harm brain development including harmful effects on learning, memory, and attention.

Before we start taking questions Mitch Zeller who is the Director of FDAs Center for Tobacco Products will share a few remarks followed by Laura Oliven, the Tobacco Control Manager with the Minnesota Department of Health, shell describe what shes seeing in Minnesota and what the state has done in response. Then Dr. Brian King from CDCs Office of Smoking on Health will give additional details from todays report.

Now heres the FDAs Mitch Zeller.

MITCH ZELLER: Thanks, so much Dr. Schuchat.

Protecting our nations youth from the dangers of tobacco products is among the most important responsibilities of the Food and Drug Administration. To help address this concerning rate of e-cigarette use amongst kids, highlighted in the NYTS data, FDA has taken a rigorous enforcement stance over the past year. This has included a number of actions to combat the illegal sale of e-cigarettes to youth, weve also taken steps to target companies engaged in kid-friendly marketing that increases the youth appeal of these products, and we launched The Real Cost Youth E-Cigarette Prevention Campaign, a new comprehensive effort that targets nearly 10.7 million at-risk youth with advertising on Digital and Social Media and even in schools.

Were also committed to meaningful policy changes. Notably this past November, FDA Commissioner Gottlieb announced proposed new steps to protect youths by preventing access to flavored tobacco products including e-cigarettes. This policy framework aims to ensure these products are sold in ways that make them less accessible and appealing to youth and include issuing proposed rules to ban menthol in cigarettes and all characterizing flavors in cigars. We have several other efforts well be announcing this year as we continue put the put the full scope of our regulatory tools against this mounting public health crisis.

Id like to thank CDC for having FDA join this call.

And now Ill turn it over to Laura Oliven, Tobacco Control Manager with the Minnesota Department of Health.

LAURA OLIVEN: Thanks Mitch.

E-cigarette use is the rapidly escalating and widespread phenomena here in Minnesota. Similar to the national numbers one in five high school youths here are using e-cigarettes and exposing their brains to potentially intense levels of highly addictive nicotine.

At the Minnesota Department of Health, we are responding rapidly to this crisis and using our public health platform, tools, and partnerships to try to stem the tide and prevent further expansion of use.

We have issued an MDA Health Advisory and send It to a Public Health network to warn providers of the health harms of early nicotine exposure on the adolescent brain and the increased susceptibility for future addiction.

Weve collaborated with the Minister of the Department of Education to issue a joint letter to over 8,000 school officials including school nurses, school health counselors and more. Along with it we provided a toolkit with an array of new resources and actions that school staff can take to protect their students.

We are partnering with physician groups and the healthcare community to educate providers and increase their capacity to protect their patients and warn parents. Weve activated our network of local Public Health and  officials and community grantees to disseminate information at the local level.

And finally, we have highlighted a series of policy actions that communities can take to better protect youth and make sustainable change. This is a full-court press and we are moving forward on this comprehensive approach with urgency and alacrity.

Now Id like to turn it over to Brian  Dr. Brian King.

BRIAN KING: Thank you, Laura.

So the report were releasing today is based on data from the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey which is an annual survey of over 20,000 students in grades 6 through 12 and in 2018 more than one in four U.S. high school students and approximately one in 14 middle school students reported currently using any tobacco product.

Although e-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among youth, 13.9 percent of high school students and 3.3 percent of middle school students currently report using a combustible tobacco product such as the conventional cigarette, cigars, hookah, pipe tobacco, or bidis.

As Dr. Schuchat noted, the substantial increase in e-cigarette use was the primary driver of this overall increase in tobacco product use from 2017 to 2018 which was previously reported by CDC and FDA November of last year so you may be asking yourself whats new today and there are several new findings in todays study.

First the findings from this new study show that use of other tobacco products including cigarettes did not change during this period. We also found that use of multiple tobacco products was common among middle and high school youth, among current tobacco products use is about two in five high school students and one in three middle school students currently used two or more tobacco products. E-cigarettes and cigarettes were the most common combination of products that were use among youth.

The report also notes changes in frequency of tobacco product use among our nations youth specifically related to e-cigarettes. Among current tobacco product users frequent use which we consider youths who use the product on 20 or more days in the past 30 days increased significantly among current school e-cigarette users from 20 percent to 27.7 percent.

However, in contrast to what we saw in e-cigarettes no change in frequent use was observed for other tobacco products including cigarettes. This means that in addition to there been 1.5 million more youth who are using e-cigarettes in 2018 compared to 2017, youths who are using e-cigarettes are using them more frequently.

Todays report also shows differences in tobacco product use across population groups with any use being higher among male, white, and older students. In 2018 e-cigarettes were the most commonly used among all racial ethnic groups except for black high school students, among whom cigars were the most common product.

So a question you may also be asking yourself, is do we know why youth tobacco product uses increasing. The answer to that is yes. As I noted before the advertising will bring a horse to water, the flavors will get them to drink, and the nicotine will keep them coming back for more. We know that exposure to tobacco product advertising and imaging through various media including retail stores, the Internet, television, and other sources can cause youth to start using tobacco products.

Additionally, some new types of e-cigarettes have become popular particularly among kids in this country, the increase in e-cigarette use among youth weve seen in the past year occurred at the same time as increases in sales of the e-cigarette Juul. Juul entered the U.S. market in 2015 and since December 2017 has held the greatest market share of any e-cigarette in the United States. We know that Juul devices are being used among kids in schools including inside bathrooms and classrooms and we also know that similar to many other e-cigarettes, Juul comes in a variety of flavors which can appeal to teens.

Juul also has a high nicotine content, among the highest of the any cigarette  e-cigarette on the U.S. market. The devices also use nicotine salt which can allow high amounts of nicotine to be inhaled more easily and with less irritation than the free-base nicotine thats used in most other e-cigarettes on the market.

So although e-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among youths, todays report also shows that they are not the only product being use; we have over 4 million high school student and 840,000 middle school students who are currently using any tobacco product, this includes the variety of smoked, smoke less and electronic product and many youths are using multiple product which can increase the risk of addiction and dependency.

So in conclusion today, the bad news is that there is an epidemic of e-cigarette use among our nations youth but the good news is that we know what works to combat this epidemic, using a proven evidence-based strategy. The sustained implementation of these strategies in coordination with FDA regulation of tobacco product will result in reducing tobacco product use including e-cigarettes and initiation among youth.

We can and we should protect our nations youth from this completely preventable health threat.

Id now like to turn it over to a moderator who will ask the operator to open the line for some questions from those who have called in today.

KATHY HARBEN: Thank you, Dr. King.

Dulana, were now ready for questions.

OPERATOR: Thank you. If you would like to ask a question over the phone please press star one, unmute your phone and record your name clearly when prompted. Your name is required to introduce your question. If you need to withdraw your question press star two. Again, to ask a question over the phone, please press star one. It will take a few moments for questions to come through so please stand by.

Mike Stobbe from Associated Press, your line is open.

MIKE STOBBE: Hi, thank you for taking my call. This is a question for Laura Oliven. Laura could you tell us what the trend is with conventional cigarette use in Minnesota? I may have a follow-up.

LAURA OLIVEN: Yes. We have reached a historic low in our cigarette use rates here in Minnesota and were very pleased of course with that decline.

MIKE STOBBE: Has it been flat the last few years or has it been steadily declining?

LAURA OLIVEN: Its been steadily declining and I credit our Comprehensive Tobacco Control interventions, like clean indoor air, high tax rates, and advance comprehensive tobacco control efforts but the e-cig use of course is a disruptor to this success just as smoke  tobacco-free generation was within reach, this is compromising and undermining our efforts.

MIKE STOBBE: Why do say its compromising your efforts if the smoking rate is still going down in Minnesota?

LAURA OLIVEN: We consider this overall tobacco use and nicotine exposure is particularly damaging to the early adolescent brain development so from a public health perspective this is a threat that we are very concerned about.

MIKE STOBBE: OK. Thank you.

KATHY HARBEN: Next question please.

OPERATOR: Yes. One moment.

Our next question comes from Sarah Wheaton from Politico. Your line is open.

SARAH WHEATON: Hi, thank you. I wanted to ask if you had asked the youth which brand of e-cigarette they were using or if you would consider doing that in the future? And kind of related to that, I know some pro-vaper groups have argued that this survey would include other types of products under the e-cigarette category like marijuana-based for instance and that they think that thats kind of conflating the numbers, what would you say to that?

BRIAN KING: Yes. So this is Brian King from CDC. With regard to the brand question we do include questions on the individual brand in terms of both cigarettes as well as e-cigarettes. Of note the 2017 and 2018 survey did not include Juul and were in the process of working with our FDA colleagues to update the survey so they will include the specific brand descriptor around Juul but nonetheless this suggests that we are capturing a large portion of Juul use among kids, given now that Juul command 75 percent of the U.S. market share of e-cigarettes and the increase in use among youth has corresponded with skyrocketing rates of sales of these products with a six hundred percent increase between 2016 and 2017 alone with further increases in the 75 percent of the market share.

So this specific study today did not present any information on brands but the survey does include questions on brand and moving forward we will have more data specifically in Juul.

And in terms of your second question, with regard to the e-cigarettes and the use of other products, we do ask the question about the use of other substances in e-cigarettes and CDC released a study last year that found that one third of U.S. middle and high school students who are using e-cigarettes reported using marijuana in the device and thats consistent with the findings of the 2016 Surgeon Generals Report which also concluded that these products are being use to accommodate other psycho active substances.

So in terms of this particular study, its likely that we could have some underestimation in terms of Juul use and there are variants of Juul including PAKs (ph) that are specifically used to administer marijuana but we do have questions that capture the use of other psychoactive substances and basically right now, it suggests about a third of kids are using marijuana in these devices but were still actively capturing kids who are using other things besides marijuana, most notably nicotine which h we know can be highly addictive but also can harm the developing adolescent brain which continues to develop into young adulthood and so we are concerned not only among youth but also the increasingly prominent use of these products among young adults as well thats been captured in other surveys.

QUESTION: So sorry, just to clarify, a third of the e-cig users that are already captured in the survey are also using it for marijuana, like a third about 28 percent?

BRIAN KING: Thats correct. So among those who currently use e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, one third of those report that theyve used marijuana in and e-cigarette.

SARAH WHEATON: Got it. Thank you.

KATHY HARBEN: Next question please.

OPERATOR: Betsy McKay from Wall Street Journal, your line is open.

BETSY McKAY: Hi, I had a couple of questions, if thats OK? One for Mitch Zeller if hes still on the call, which is not anecdotally you know, parents report that flavored e-cigarettes are still pretty easy for their kids to get so what progress is you know, is being made on restricting access after the FDAs announcements in November I believe?

And then the second question I guess for Dr. King, following up on what Mike Stobbe was asking about use of combustible cigarettes, nationally why do you think use of combustible cigarettes is not declining in this  you know, is there a relationship with the increased exposure  nicotine exposure from e-cigarettes?

MITCH ZELLER: This is Mitch, Ill answer your first question.

When we issued our policy announcement in November, we said that we were going to take steps, drawing a line between flavors other than mint and menthol tobacco flavors so cherry, and strawberry, grape, bubble gum, cotton candy, the idea being that for those kinds of flavored product whether they are sold in a brick-and-mortar store, a gas station, a convenience store, or sold online that they need to be accompanied by heightened age restrictions so if its a brick-and-mortar establishment and w ell be getting additional information guidance out very shortly on this, there needs to be an age-restricted location, either the entire establishment is off-limits to kids or there is some age-restricted location inside the store which is the only place that adults would be able to purchase those other flavored products.

We are extraordinarily concerned about the ongoing appeal that all flavored tobacco products have to kids, all policy options are on the table and as I said in my remarks and its that the Commissioner announced in November, this goes beyond e-cigarettes; we know how incredibly popular menthol is still being present in cigarettes so we have announced the first time in the Agencys history the intention to issue a Proposed Rule To Ban Menthol in Cigarettes and a separate rule To Ban All Character izing Flavors, including menthol in Cigars so the problem of flavors being an attractive aspect of all tobacco products including e-cigarettes when it comes to kids is across the board and something that needs to be addressed in a comprehensive way.

BETSY McKAY: OK and but you know, I know its only been a couple of months but do you, you know, is access being restricted yet, I their other you know, some of these voluntary actions actually taking effect do you think or theres more need to be done?

MITCH ZELLER: Well the proof will be in the  in the next round of surveys that take place both NYTS and other surveys that are in the field. As you said its only been a couple of months since the November announcement and were close to getting additional guidance out for brick-and-mortar and online retailers so it may be too early to tell the impact that purely voluntary actions have had since.

But the Commissioner has also made clear that, well go back to the drawing board and revisit where we drew the line in November depending upon the 2019 results and we are concerned that the 2019 results will continue to show an upward increase in kids use of e-cigarettes especially flavored e-cigarettes at which point we will be more than willing to reconsider our policies.

BETSY McKAY: OK. Thank you.

And then the question

BRIAN KING: Yes, so this is Brian King. To answer your question about why are combustibles not declining.

So theres multiple factors that could be contributing to this. Of course, in the field of Tobacco Control we have the luxury of over a half a century of science showing us what works, whether that be price increases, comprehensive smoke-free laws, hard-hitting mass-media campaigns, youth access restrictions, we know what works. That being said not everyone is implementing these proven strategies that we know work and theres a lot of variability particularly across state and so when you look at state-level estimates we are  prominent use of cigarette-smoking rates particularly among kids, its still 8 percent nationally but when you look at state levels theres also some variability as well and its no surprise that the higher rates of smoking are in the places where people are not protected by the evidence-based strategies that we know work.

So these findings are really an important kick in the pants in terms of reminding us that we dont want to play a game of public health Whac-A-Mole where we allow certain products to go up and others to go down, we want all forms of tobacco product use to go down among kids because there is no redeeming aspect of any form of tobacco product use when were talking about kids.

That being said its important to note that the landscape of tobacco products has diversified significantly within the past several years and we have new products including e-cigarettes and so e-cigarettes could be playing a role in the patterns of use were seeing among kids in terms of cigarette smoking and a very important finding from todays study is that there is two in five high school students are using two or more tobacco products and one in three middle school students are and irrespective of whether middle or high school students, the most common combination is e-cigarettes and cigarettes and so that it is possible that we are reinforcing and perpetuating dependency in terms of nicotine and when it comes to the diverse array of products that youths are using.

Its also important to note that there is an emerging body of science showing that kids who use e-cigarettes are more likely to smoke conventional cigarettes in the future. We now have over two dozen studies from multiple countries including the United States, the U.K., and Canada showing that kids who use e-cigarettes are more likely to smoke cigarettes in the future.

So although its not conclusive and we still need more science on this issue, the science is certainly pointing to a direction that e-cigarette use can influence future conventional cigarette smoking and so its possible that weve now have a high enough rate of e-cigarette use among youth thats now starting to influence the rates that were seeing in terms of conventional smoking among kids.

And so taken altogether, the science suggests that theres multiple factors that could be influencing this but the bottom line is that the direction that we want tobacco product use to go is down and irrespective of whether its increasing among e-cigarettes or its staying the same among all tobacco products, we need to redouble our efforts to protect our nations use from this completely preventable health threat; any form of tobacco product is unsafe among kids a respective of whether it is smoked, smokeless or electronic.

MITCH ZELLER: This is Mitch. Let me  let me call out one other really important finding from these results which Brian included in his opening remarks. In an

In past years when the National Youth Tobacco Survey data was released, going back now three years showing the increase  the extraordinary increase in kids use of e-cigarettes one of the responses was, Yeah, but its really very infrequent use, say five days per month in the past 30 days down to one. Well one of the most important and concerning findings in this release is the extraordinary increase in frequent use which is typically defined as using 20 or more days in the past 30 days and that number went up considerably almost 40 percent from 2017 to 2018 and from a public health perspective we should be very concerned about what that might mean especially with the popularity of these pod-based products, with incredibly high levels of nicotine in them, which is not to say that all these kids are becoming addicted but there is  theres nothing good from a public health perspective that comes from more frequent use of any tobacco product and an almost 40 percent increase in frequent use of e-cigarettes by kids in one year is cause for concern.

BETSY McKAY: Thank you.

KATHY HARBEN: Next question please.

OPERATOR: Our next question comes from Salynn Boyles, from MedPage Today, your line is open.

SALYM BOYLES: Thank you very much, appreciate it. I have a couple of questions. My first one for Dr. King. So these are data from the last few years but doesnt this reflect actually the first significant increase in youth tobacco usage in more than a couple of decades?

BRIAN KING: So its  its  its tricky to do an apples-to-apples comparison because the survey has changed over time so our best baseline when weve assessed all these products is 2011 where we started assessing the diversity of product including hookah and e-cigarettes and we did actually see a slight decline in the earlier years, from 2011 to 2013 but then it up ticked, it declined again in 2015 and 16 but this is the greatest single year-over-year increase that weve ever seen in terms of any tobacco product use.

And of course, going back weve seen consistent declines in tobacco product use for two decades, since the mid-90s.

SALYM BOYLES: Right.

BRIAN KING:  cigarette smoking has been declining among kids but as the landscape has diversified, its complicated our ability to do an apples-to-apples but this is a single most year-over-year increase in any tobacco use that weve seen from the National Youth Tobacco Survey since we began monitoring back in 1999.

SALYM BOYLES: OK.

So the single biggest increase in any single year for

BRIAN KING: Correct.

SALYM BOYLES:  sure. OK.

And also, you point out in the report, this is the first reflect a rise in Juul usage, can you elaborate on that a little bit, how  why is that?

BRIAN KING: Yes, so certainly. So it ultimately comes down to looking at the diversity of different surveys that collect data on this issue and one of the most useful rapid-response surveillance systems is retail sales data and they have been instrumental and be able to monitor what the current landscape is in terms of product being sold nationally and so CDC published a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association last year which found that there was a six-hundred percent increase in the use of  in the sales of Juul in particular between 2016 and 2017.

Its important to note that that study ended by December 2017 but if you look at the sales data one of the most pronounced upticks after that time period was during the summer, between 17 and 18 and so the youth  the National Youth Tobacco Survey is fielded in the spring and so the last time that we conducted the survey, we werent necessarily capturing the time period where the majority of that sales increase occurred nationally and so if I had my crystal ball I would suspect that we surveyed the kids in 2017 and many of them went home for the summer, and went to camp and they met with their friends and they went on YouTube and found all about this hot new product called Juul and then they subsequently came back to school in 2018 and then we collected our data in spring and we noted a significant increase in the use reported among youth and so that sales data coupled with the emerging body of other surveys which have assessed self-reported use of Juul among kids confirms what were seeing in the National Youth Tobacco Survey, demonstrating that you know, the only modifiable factor during this period was primarily these USB pod-mod devices including Juul which skyrocketed in sales at the same point that we saw this increase in use among youth.

KATHY HARBEN: Next question

SALYM BOYLES: Thank you.

OPERATOR: Richard Harris from NPR. Your line is open.

RICHARD HARRIS: Thanks. Ive got two quick questions for, I guess for Dr. King both.

One of which is you said a couple of times two in five high school kids are using two or more products, thats 40 percent. If the overall rate is 27 percent, and Im a little bit confused for any high  for any tobacco product so Im a little confused what that two in five really means?

BRIAN KING: Yes. So the two in five is actually among current tobacco product users so the denominator, the bottom of the fraction, and so its among youths who are currently using tobacco product, two and five high school students and one in three middle school students are using two or more products and so those other numbers that were recording among all the kids but that multiple product use, the bottom denominator line is just the kids who are using tobacco not all kids.

RICHARD HARRIS: So two in five high school users are using two or more products, is that right?

RICHARD HARRIS: And the other question is, just curiosity, is nicotine coming from tobacco still or is it  is it synthesized so the  Im just wondering why you call these tobacco products?

BRIAN KING: Yes. So in terms of the actual nicotine thats used in the vast majority of tobacco products including e-cigarettes it is derived from the tobacco plant. Nicotine is naturally occurring in tobacco, its traditionally extracted from the tobacco plant using ammonia, although there are certain things that can be done during the manufacturing process as well to change the acidity of the nicotine and like an example of that is with Juul, uses nicotine salt so its still nicotine but its a different type of nicotine that can make it to go down easier, which is certainly concerning to us in terms of nicotine naive-populations such as youth and young adults but in terms of CDC we categorize these products as tobacco products because the FDA regulates them as such.

And so it is possible to create synthetic nicotine but it would be extremely expensive in the current market, it would not be lucrative to you know, sell you know, using synthetic nicotine although the  there are certainly a lot of people that are researching that and looking at alternative avenues in which to obtain nicotine but for the most part the vast majority of tobacco products as well as e-cigarette product on the U.S. market do in fact include nicotine which is derived from the tobacco plants in which case it is under the regulatory purview of FDA.

Ill note that you can also obtain nicotine from vegetables but I can assure you that it is hundreds of pounds of potatoes and egg plants in order to get even the equivalent of one pack of cigarettes so the likelihood of someone using either vegetable-derived nicotine or other sources is simply not financially or even reasonably possible in the current environment.

RICHARD HARRIS: OK. Thanks.

KATHY HARBEN: We have time for two more questions. Next question.

OPERATOR: Andrew Siddons from Congressional Quarterly. Your line is open.

ANDREW SIDDONS: Thanks for doing this today. First for CDC, you said  you said the most frequent combination cigarettes and e-cigarettes, could you just say what proportion of the dual users are using that combination? And second for Director Zeller, last week Commissioner Gottlieb sent a letter to Juul talking  expressing concern that their commitments  that theyre sliding back on their commitments, could you specify what actions they have been taking that are concerning to you all? Thank you.

MITCH ZELLER: This is Mitch. Ill go first. I would refer anybody interested in this to any of the public statements that either Juul or Altria put out in the aftermath of the meetings that they had at our request with them last October and November and thats why last weeks letters went out to have both companies come back in to basically explain so that we can better understand how things that were said last fall, especially as regards the marketing of flavored pod-based products, how that squares with their positions today and Ill just leave it at that.

BRIAN KING: And then in turn  this is Brian, the answer to your other question so among the high school students who currently use two or more tobacco products, the proportion of use, e-cigarettes and cigarette was 14.8 percent and among middle school students it was 14.4 percent so its important to remember that theres a lot of different combinations, there can be two products, it can be three or more, it could be you know, all five you know, products that were assessed but in terms of the percentage of multiple products users and the prevalence of the combination, it was about 15 percent among high school students and about 14 percent among middle school students.

ANDREW SIDDONS: Thank you.

KATHY HARBEN: Final question please.

OPERATOR: Janel Miller from Healio. Your line is open.

JANEL MILLER: Yes. Thank you for taking my call and having the conference call with us today. Can you talk a little bit about what clinicians can do to curb this epidemic because they are not going to have the effort  theyre not going to be able to affect media campaigns or campaign to lower the prices as much as some of the other stakeholders you mentioned so I was hoping you could specifically talk to what the primary care physician should be doing to curb this epidemic? Thank you.

BRIAN KING: So this is Brian King. And I think its important to reinforce and this Vital Sign does so in the supplemental fact-sheet information thats provided along with todays report, the fact that there is a variety of people that play a critical role in terms of addressing the epidemic of e-cigarette use in this country.

And consistent with the Surgeon Generals Advisory which was released last year we know that there is a variety of individuals who can take action, its not just you know, the national, state, and local you know, policymakers and decision-makers, its also parents and educators, healthcare providers, individuals, schools as well as states and communities.

And when it comes to healthcare providers, there are several things that they can do. One of the most important is asking specifically about e-cigarettes when they screen for tobacco products use, and it is extremely important for pediatricians, but any healthcare professionals thats working with youth and we need to make sure that you know, we dont have to reinvent the wheel here but we have to grease the squeaky wheel to ensure that were addressing the diversity of tobacco products that kids are using.

So first and foremost, identify the use of the product and ask kids whether they are using them and that may include using the current terminology, and saying, You know, do you use the Juul? Do you use, you know, a, Vape Pod? The kids may not necessarily identify the product as an e-cigarette but identifying use, is particularly important using the terminology that the kids are using. And its also most important that once they identify whether they are using them but even if theyre not ensuring that theyre warned about the risks of tobacco products use.

We know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and that the vast majority of adult tobacco users begin during adolescence and so this is a critical period in terms of intervention to ensure that we prevent kids from using all forms of tobacco products use.

So the bottom line is when it comes down to healthcare professionals ask them about the product using relevant terminology and if they are using it, warn them to stop using it completely including the risk of nicotine on their developing brain and its impact on learning and memory and cognition, and helping to work with them to get off of these products. And we do know that behavioral counseling has shown to be effective by healthcare professionals, to help kids quit tobacco product and as a critical lever in coordination with right reminders from parents and other use influencers to reinforce the dangers of these products among youth.

MITCH ZELLER: This is Mitch. Let me add a point from a different FDA perspective and that is treatment and pharmacotherapy, the reality is there are no FDA-approved medications to treat use tobacco cessation of any type; there never have been and this is a gap and we convened a public hearing just a few weeks ago to bring in researchers, clinicians, folks working at the community level, to inform our thinking about what can be done to address the role of medicines when it comes to treatment.

The increasing number of reports that were hearing albeit anecdotally of kids who are either becoming addicted or showing signs of addiction to especially these pod-based products is really concerning. In the past when we had lots of kids smoking cigarettes, there were no FDA approved medicines, theyre still arent so this remains a gap in the treatment arsenal that needs to be closed and we are working closely with colleagues to try to do that.

OPERATOR: OK.

KATHY HARBEN: Thank you to all of our participants both their opening remarks and for the Q&A. If reporters have follow-up questions you can call the CDC Press Office at 404-639-3286 or you can send us an email at media@cdc.gov.

Thank you everyone for joining us. This concludes our call
First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva and Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva have visited the secondary school No. 18 named after Nizami Aydin and the orphanage-kindergarten No. 32 in the city of Ganja.

School principal Matanat Rzayeva informed the first vice-president that the school underwent renovation in 1988, and that it needs a major overhaul.

The school offers classes in the Azerbaijani and Russian languages. The 640-seat school currently enrolls 795 students who are served by 56 teachers.

Mehriban Aliyeva viewed the classrooms and gave relevant instructions on the immediate reconstruction of the school.

In addition, Mehriban Aliyeva and Leyla Aliyeva have visited the orphanage-kindergarten No. 32.

Principal of the orphanage-kindergarten Sahila Huseynova said that 75 children in four groups are served by a 20-strong staff here.

Mehriban Aliyeva was informed that built in 1985, the 280-bed orphanage-kindergarten now needs major repair.

The First Vice-President stressed the importance of reconstructing the orphanage-kindergarten in a short span of time and with quality.
ATLANTA (CBS46)  It was a warm June afternoon like any other for Louis Nava and his friend Dakari Sloley in 1998. But, that day would turn from happiness to horror with the pull of a trigger. And now, the man who allegedly pulled the trigger is looking for love online.

Nava and his friend were in Sloleys aunts white BMW to pick up a dog from a grooming on June 6, 1998. When they returned to the car that evening after learning the dog wasnt ready, Eric Perkinson and an accomplice got into the back seat and held both teens at gunpoint while demanding cash.

The robbers ordered Sloley to drive to a nearby church parking lot where they met up with accomplices. Perkinson put Nava into the trunk and told Sloley to drive away from the area. They ended up in Bartow County, Georgia on Paga Mine Road.

There, Perkinson pulled Nava out of the trunk and walked him to some nearby bushes where he shot him in the head. Perkinson then took Sloley to the bushes, but he was able to escape. Perkinson shot at Sloley, hitting him in the arm. Perkinson and his accomplices then drove away from the scene.

It wasnt until early the next morning that police arrived at Navas home and told his family that the teenager was dead.

We had the knock on the door from the DeKalb County Police, said Laura Lynn, Navas mother. I just sat down and knew our lives changed forever.

On August 27, 1998, Perkinson was found guilty of murder and on the next day he was sent to Georgias death row to await execution for his crimes.

Louis Nava Murder Case Timeline See a timeline of key events in the murder case of Louis Nava

Twenty-one years later, a dating profile appeared on the website Inmate Mingle that features a man who said hes single, enjoys nature, and great conversation. The man is Perkinson and he, or someone on the outside on his behalf, is soliciting love.

Im not seeing anything that mentions he carjacked two teenage boys, stuffed one in a trunk and shot them both, Lynn said. (correct! This is all her, shes the only sound in the piece) Wow. Wow.

Seeing her sons killer seeking love is appalling Lynn told CBS46. She was also stunned that he described himself as lonely. But it turns out, Perkinson is not the only Georgia inmate looking for love on the Internet.

CBS46 found five other Georgia inmates with convictions ranging from credit card fraud to murder are on the site too. That prompted the CBS46 Bulldog to pick up the phone and ask the Georgia Department of Corrections if this type of activity was allowed or should be allowed.

The Georgia Department of Corrections told CBS46 that no offender is allowed open access to the Internet. However, the department cant control what people on the outside do on a prisoners behalf. The Department of Corrections said it will investigate complaints of inappropriate online behavior by convicts, but for now, the dating profile is within the current rules.

For Lynn, shes hoping that bringing the issue to light, perhaps things will change for sites like Inmate Mingle.

People are going to be made aware of it, Lynn said.

Perkinsons appearance on the Inmate Mingle website is not the only reason his name has come back to CBS46s attention. A federal judge ruled last week that Perkinson should be re-sentenced after calling his original defense team into question. No date has been set for Perkinson to be re-sentenced.

UPDATE: Shortly before publication of this story, Perkinson's profile was removed from the Inmate Mingle website.
Opening

The Honda Civic is all set to make a comeback to the Indian market. In its 10th generation now, the new Civic is larger and sportier than its eighth-gen predecessor that adorned our roads. Although this charismatic sedan might still have a fan-following in our country, Hondas bold step in a segment thats been shadowed by the popularity of SUVs may raise more than a few eyebrows. With the new Civic, Honda claims to have completed the sedan offering by plugging the gap between the City and the Accord.

But the real question is, can Honda attract some of the lost charm this segment has witnessed over the years? Before we answer that, lets take a closer look at the new Civic.

Appearance Exterior

Building on the popularity of its futuristic design, Honda has undoubtedly kept the momentum rolling in the latest model too. You can still witness the inherently low-slung profile. One thats complemented by a brutally swooping roofline, an even edgier body-line with minimal overhangs, and a wide stance. Unmistakably sporty, youd agree.

Its front-end is characterised by a wedge-inspired nose with Hondas signature chrome slat thats flanked by a pair of sharply-etched headlamps. And if you thought the rear was any less dramatic, thank the creases at the C-pillar which meet the boomerang-shaped tail lamps that lend it a sporty stance. One that will stand out from todays SUV crowd.

Appearance Interior

When it comes to the dashboard, despite the Honda design flair being obvious, the multi-layer layout is surely pleasing to the eye. The same goes for the soft touch-points on the dash and door pads. This, combined with the brushed silver trim and large infotainment screen, unmistakeably point to a premium feel. When seated, the superior visibility through the large glass area gives you that extra confidence. That said, it is only while backing up that you really depend on the rear view camera since the rear windscreen is angled sharply.

Furthermore, we were impressed by the sound quality from the infotainment system. But at the same time, we expected a bit more in terms of frame rates, graphics and screen resolution. Whats nice is that the air-con controls can also be controlled from the touch screen. And just like the CR-V, the screen also shows you a live camera feed of the left-hand side when the left indicator is actuated.

Interestingly, the gear lever is placed higher which offers optimum ergonomics, and in the process, highlights the two-storeyed cubby space. While we appreciate the extra space, plugging into the available connectivity ports can get tricky at times. Honda has also thrown in an extra cup/bottle holder, and some much needed concealed storage for your valuables under the drivers armrest.

As for the front seats, theyre well cushioned with appropriate contours and enough lateral support to hold you in place. Additionally, theres adequate headroom, legroom and shoulder room too. Nevertheless, we felt that the front seats could have offered more shoulder support along with adjustable passenger seats (like the electric drivers seat) to regulate the thigh support.

At the rear, the comfy bench offers adequate legroom with a nice backrest angle. That said, space is optimum for two passengers and so is the headroom. Accommodating a third passenger will push the others to the corners where the sloping roofline will constantly brush their heads. When it comes to the 430-litre boot, the enclosure is devoid of obstructions. Besides that, theres more than enough space for two large suitcases and a few soft bags.

Performance Drive

Under the hood of the 2019 Honda Civic will be two engine options. A 1.8-litre four-cylinder i-VTEC petrol motor that makes 141bhp/174Nm using a CVT gearbox, and a 120bhp/300Nm diesel 1.6-litre four-cylinder i-DTEC engine with a six-speed manual gearbox. Honda expects the petrol to return 16.5kmpl, and the diesel an astounding 26.8kmpl! We ultimately found out why the diesel may give you such figure, but well get to that later.

Considering the sporty lineage of the Civic, we shall begin with the petrol CVT. Just like with all Honda petrol motors, this one is just as smooth and refined. It gets off the line with more than enough grunt which makes for a truly swift commute within city limits. We have to admit that the engines refinement coupled with the superb cabin insulation makes for a peaceful drive every time. However, being a Civic means it has to live up to sporty expectations, right? So, we floored the throttle.

And what happened next was far from entertaining. While the CVT gearbox displayed its prominent rubber-band effect, the revs took too long to build up. Which also means that one needs to plan an overtake much in advance. The truth is, theres just not enough grunt from this motor to get your pulse racing, even in S mode. To make matters worse, the engine whines at the upper rev-limit which eventually persuades you to go easy on the throttle. But offering some respite are the paddle shifts which at least give you quicker access to the required rev band.

Over to the diesel, then. I mean, how sporty can this get, right? We were so wrong! With 300Nm shunted to the wheels at just 2000rpm, I think you feel me already. The little void that the petrol CVT left us in, was decidedly filled by the diesel version. Theres a strong tug when you get on the move, which is then followed by a fairly linear power delivery. You will notice the surge from 1500rpm onwards which lasts all the way to the rather-high 4800rpm redline.

Mash the throttle and you also witness the refinement of this diesel engine. None of the traditional diesel traits (in terms of NVH) are sucked into the cabin. In fact, noise insulation is brilliantly sealed off from the cabin. Also, favouring the engine characteristics is the slick-shifting six-speed manual transmission with closely-stacked gates. We also enjoyed the short gear lever which uses bare-minimum throws to actuate the shift. So much so, that we were caught shifting gears just for the joy of it!

There is one concern though. This gearbox is extremely tall-geared. So, in city traffic, you will constantly have to shift gears to be on the move. But on the flipside, this diesel can hover about 120kmph at 2000rpm in sixth gear! Which is the true factor behind the tall fuel efficiency claim of 26.8kmpl. Even when it comes to the handling characteristics, the diesel pips ahead of the petrol. Clearly, the 50 extra kilos not only come handy in making it more planted than its petrol sibling, but also makes the steering better-weighted.



This does not mean the handling on the petrol version is inadequate in any manner. The diesel just shines on this count. On the whole, the new Civics road manners is kept tight by the great chassis balance which uses a superior suspension and damper setup. The light and quick steering offers an accurate response, which is further aided by very few turns from lock-to-lock. This translates into less arm work while driving. All these qualities, coupled with very little roll gives one that added assurance to hold your line while attacking corners.

Besides that, the Civics ride quality remains plush over most broken surfaces at all speeds without being harsh even at the damping limit. Theres adequate ground clearance too (considering the earlier models low clearance). We noticed that it remains reasonably flat over most undulations that we encountered on the freshly-paved tarmac roads to Nandi Hills in Bangalore. Theres hardly any suspension noise too. The only downside, was some tyre noise at higher speeds. But isnt that something you can avoid by turning-up the volume to your favourite soundtrack?

Conclusion

Lets be critical first. The Civic is a low car which requires some bending for ingress/egress. Also, rear windscreen visibility isnt the best, and so is the rear seating for three. The biggest concern would be of the overall performance of the petrol CVT.

But that aside, theres a lot to like about the new Civic. The cabin is comfy and silent, it is feature-loaded, the engines are refined, and it is dynamically sorted. Given this concoction has all the right ingredients, it makes for not just a proficient city commuter, but an accomplished mile-muncher too. Quite the all-rounder.

So, does the new Honda Civic have what it takes to awaken this segment? Before our adrenaline-pumped excitement jumps the gun, we admit that the sealing factor would be the price. Especially considering Hondas City retails all over the expected price point. Come 7 March, we will have an answer.



Pictures By Kapil Angane

Honda Civic  N/A Onwards

Honda Civic | Honda Civic | Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda
The Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC), has through a notification release, invited applications from eligible candidates (male and female) for recruiting 28 Hostel Welfare Officers (Grade-II) under the A.P. Tribal and B.C. Welfare Sub Services through direct recruitment. The online application process towards the same will start from 27 February 2019 and will close on 20 March 2019.

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Hostel Welfare Officers Organisation Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC), Govt. of AP Educational Qualification Graduation/Diploma/B.Ed Experience Freshers can apply Job Location Andhra Pradesh Salary Scale Rs. 24,440/- to Rs. 71,510/- per month Industry Civil Services Application Start Date February 27, 2019 Application End Date March 20, 2019

Age Criteria And Fees

Candidates interested in applying for the post of Hostel Welfare Officers through APPSC Recruitment must have attained 18 years of age as on 01 July 2019, and not exceeded 42 years, with relaxation (upper age limit) up to 5 years for OBC candidates and 10 years for SC/ST candidates.

Candidates must pay a requisite amount of Rs. 250/- as application processing fee and Rs. 80/- as exam fee through online (Internet Banking/Debit/Credit, etc. payment gateways) mode only. SC/ST/BC/PWD and Ex-servicemen candidates are exempted from paying Rs. 80/- (exam fee).

Also Read: NRHM Maharashtra Recruitment 2019 For 7562 Health Officers; Apply Before 23 February

Educational Criteria

Candidates interested in applying for the post of Hostel Welfare Officers through APPSC Recruitment must possess a Graduation Degree with B.Ed/Diploma in Education from a University/Institute established by law and duly recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Selection And Pay Scale

The selection of candidates as Hostel Welfare Officers through APPSC Recruitment will be done through a Written Examination of competitive nature (Computer Based Test) in Objective format to be held in June (2nd week) 2019 and a Personal Interview.

Candidates selected as Hostel Welfare Officers will be paid an emolument in the scale of Rs. 24,440/- to Rs. 71,510/- per month.

Also Read: National Fertilizers Limited Recruitment 2019 For Junior Engineers (Asst. Grade II)

How To Apply

Candidates applying for the post of Hostel Welfare Officers through APPSC Recruitment must first register online through OTR on the official APPSC website at https://psc.ap.gov.in/(S(2xvueicphmbf02k1ttujcsra))/Default.aspx

For One Time Registration (OTR) click here http://203.145.179.112/UI/RegistrationForms/OneTimeRegistration_New.aspx

Using the ID generated through OTR, candidates must fill the application form and complete the application process on or before 20 March 2019.

For detailed notification about APPSC Recruitment for Hostel Welfare Officers click here
First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva and Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva have met with Ganja residents in Khan Baghi culture and recreation park, one of the must-see places of Ganja.

Mehriban Aliyeva was informed that the park was completely changed.

Trees, and decorative bushes brought from different countries are planted in the park. The park features fountains. A state-of-the-art lighting system was installed, local Venice was renovated, a 350-seat Green Theatre was constructed in the park.

First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva then met with representatives of the general public of the city of Ganja.
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.
Do you have an athlete in mind that contributes to the team or sport, holds sportsmanship and team spirit, has epic playmaker moments and/or in general makes the the sports fun? If yes, please make your nominations for our edition of Athlete Spotlight.

CLICK TO NOMINATE
Everything you need to know about South Dakota government
Slavic festival Maslenitsa will be held in the Baku Old City on March 9.

The festival offers special menus with a huge variety of pancakes to try. Various games, competitions, master classes, face art, colorful show await the guests of the event, Trend reported.

Maslenitsa, also known as Pancake Week, is the last week before Lent. It celebrates the end of winter, symbolized by the burning of effigies.
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Disconnecting Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) international banking network would hit the global financial system in the first place, head of the State Dumas Committee for Financial Markets Anatoly Aksakov said.

According to him, the current anti-Russian sanctions are ineffective and primarily political, forming a negative atmosphere in Russia-U.S. relations.

"In economic terms, the Russia-U.S. trade turnover is growing at a rate of more than 20% - economic interests outweigh the political negativity," RIA Novosti cited him as saying.

Therefore, Aksakov believes, disconnecting Russia from SWIFT would cause a much greater effect. However, such a measure would hit the entire global financial system, not Russia.

The deputy reminded that financial transactions for supplies of gas and other goods from Russia are sent through SWIFT. Obviously, such a decision would have hit Europe and SWIFT itself, Anatoly Aksakov said.

The advisor on macroeconomics to the CEO of the 'Opening-Broker' brokerage house, economist Sergey Hestanov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the United States does not have a direct opportunity to disconnect Russia from SWIFT. "The SWIFT system exists in the form of a cooperative in Belgium. At the same time, as we know, the U.S. pressure was enough to disconnect Iran from SWIFT. But it is important to note that such a decision is extremely unlikely in the foreseeable future," he stressed.

"The fact is that disconnecting Russia from SWIFT creates very big inconveniences, first of all, for large American corporations that have subsidiaries in Russia. In addition, Russia created two domestic SWIFT analogs, one was implemented by the Central Bank, the other by a commercial company. Most likely, this opportunity will be just discussed in order to create pressure," Sergey Khestanov said.

Financial operations between Russia and the world will continue even without SWIFT, the economist pointed out. On the one hand, payments will not be as fast as we are used to. On the other hand, it is important to understand that SWIFT is a rather young system, and the counties traded with each other before it was created, he said.

"At the same time, disconnecting Russia from SWIFT should be treated as a theoretical threat. The lobby of American companies, widely represented in Russia, will not allow this to be done," the advisor on macroeconomics to the CEO of the 'Opening-Broker' brokerage house concluded.
JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- The Jackson County Sheriff's Office is searching for a stolen gauge which contains radioactive material.

Sheriff Mike Ezell said Friday deputies responded to a Mississippi Department of Transportation work site after receiving a burglary report. Stolen was a Troxler Nuclear Density Gauge containing the radioactive material.

The material could be harmful if tampered with. The gauge is inside a yellow 3x3x2 container.

If the container is found, contact the JCSO at 228-769-3063. Ezell said MDOT has notified the Mississippi Department of Health regarding the theft.

In addition, anyone with information on this incident can also notify the sheriff's office or Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers at 877-787-5898.


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The search continues for the phone belonging to a drowned Sunshine Coast doctor whose body was found on Dicky Beach on Thursday, as tributes are shared for the victim. Gemma Diessel, 27, was found by an off-duty lifesaver just after 5am and investigators believe her phone could be crucial to shedding further light on her movements before entering the water. Dr Diessel graduated from university at the end of 2018 and worked as a doctor at Sunshine Coast University Hospital. Her death is being treated as non-suspicious. She had been working in her dream job as a general doctor at Sunshine Coast University Hospital for the past month after graduating from Griffith University on the Gold Coast. Sarah Evans, whose son was in a relationship with Dr Diessel for five years until 2014, said she had "nothing but good memories" of her. "She [Dr Diessel] was lovely, funny, kind and just a nice girl, just graduated in December and had just started a new chapter," Ms Evans said. "She was looking forward to her career and helping people, she had spent nine years at university getting to that stage of doing a job she loved." Ms Evans said Dr Diessel's older sister, Tanya, and parents lived on the Gold Coast and she had grown up in the Gold Coast suburb of Worongary. "She was my first daughter-in-law, she came on holidays with our family," Ms Evans said. "We were shocked, we spoke to her family in December ... we cant imagine what they must be going through." Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service chief executive Adjunct Professor Naomi Dwyer expressed her grief and said support would be offered to Dr Diessel's colleagues. "Our sincere condolences go out to this young womans family at this very sad time," she said. "We also want to support our staff who may be impacted by this very sad and unexpected news. "We are providing counselling and support for her peers and colleagues via our confidential Employee Assistance Program." In October last year, Dr Diessel's older sister congratulated her on completing her degree. "So proud to announce that, after nine years at uni, my baby sister has passed all her exams (results released today) and is all clear to graduate," she wrote. "I now have a doctor as a little sister! So proud of you Gemma Diessel." Police said on Friday morning that Dr Diessel's phone still had not been recovered. Senior Sergeant Matt Campbell said on Thursday her phone was a "pertinent piece of evidence". "What I will seek some community assistance with is finding the phone that belonged to that young girl, we believe that its a black S9 Samsung," he said. "So if anyone in the Kawana or Caloundra beach area comes across such an item, we would be seeking to know that. "As you can imagine, prior to an incident like this, any kind of communication with anyone could give us a lot better insight into whats happened." Based on tide movements, police believe the woman entered the water at Kawana or Caloundra. A report will be prepared for the coroner.

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E-mailed bomb threats prompted the evacuation of about 5,000 people from ten organizations in Moscow today, a law enforcement source said.

"Anonymous E-mail bomb threat messages were received by 10 addressees, including the office of the Russkoye Radio broadcaster and the Center-T shopping mall," TASS cited the source as saying.

The police inspected some of the buildings, but no explosive devices were found.

Last night, anonymous bomb threat messages were sent to Moscows Yaroslavsky and Kievsky railway stations as well as two pre-trial detention centers. All of them have proved to be fake.
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It will be at least two weeks before Canberra firefighters start any industrial action as part of a dispute with the Emergency Services Agency over their employment conditions. United Firefighters Union ACT branch secretary Greg McConville said his members were prepared for a protracted battle, warning it was "just the beginning" as firefighters pushed for the money from a 10 per cent pay rise they rejected to instead be invested in the fire service. Dozens of firefighters wearing union T-shirts and carrying flags stood with Mr McConville outside the Fyshwick Fire Station on Thursday morning as he spoke of nearly two years of "frustrating" enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations. Mr McConville revealed exclusively to The Canberra Times a day earlier that the union had applied to the Fair Work Commission for a protected action ballot order. The commission is set to rule on the application on Friday morning, having listed the case for a hearing in Melbourne. Should the application be approved, the Australian Electoral Commission would hold a secret ballot of the more than 330 United Firefighters Union members in the ACT. For industrial action to be authorised, at least half the eligible members would need to participate, and at least half of those taking part would need to vote in favour. The union would then have to give the Emergency Services Agency at least three days' notice before members could commence action. "There won't be any industrial action for at least two weeks," Mr McConville said on Thursday, reiterating his assertion that public safety would not be compromised because firefighters would continue responding to emergencies. Mr McConville said he was confident his members would vote in favour of industrial action because they had "almost unanimously" rejected an enterprise bargaining agreement offer made by the Emergency Services Agency in December. He said the offer contained a 10 per cent pay rise, which members turned down because it would have required firefighters to give up key conditions including that the union agree with the agency on a number of standards around fire stations, equipment, recruitment and training. "Firefighters did this because their priority is the safety of the people of the ACT," Mr McConville said. "They've said, 'Keep the pay rise. Invest in safety instead'. "Instead of this additional 10 per cent pay rise, firefighters want money put into measures that would enhance community safety, such as additional firefighters, improved emergency response and training. "This decision has not been made lightly." The union believes ACT Fire and Rescue needs an extra 204 firefighters in the next four years to cope with increasing demand, staff new and upgraded fire stations, and to improve firefighter training. The Emergency Services Agency, which oversees ACT Fire and Rescue, declined to comment on the issue on Thursday. On Wednesday, commissioner Dominic Lane said the agency would continue to work with the union and abide by any Fair Work Commission rulings. Mr Lane said he would also be seeking the union's assurance that any industrial action would not compromise public safety. It is understood the agency raised the issue of public safety in meetings with the union and both parties' lawyers on Thursday afternoon. Mr McConville said the union had assured the agency that public safety would not be placed in jeopardy by industrial action, and further reassurances were unnecessary.

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CAMEROUN :: Will Professor Maurice Kamto be sentenced to death by dictator Paul Biya of Cameroon?

A very serious tragedy is going on in Africa today. Being a political opponent is clearly dangerous for your life. There is in fact no rule of the Law in many African countries. The political system of many so-called democracies is at the entire disposal, most often, of the unique executive power of the state. The counter-powers are too weak, due to many factors: colonial origin of the states who remain dominant in their structure and way of governance, non-republican armies, lack of public space for free debates, default of political culture for many citizens who have to deal with poverty in their great majority, tribalism, corruption of the state and the civil society, cynical exploitation of these fallen states by the powerful multinational enterprises, and so on.

In Cameroon, we exactly have a sad illustration of this terrible phenomenon: the leader of the opposition, Maurice Kamto, has demonstrated that he won[1] the last presidential election[2] of October 7th, 2018. But the ruling President, who dictates his will to the country for 38 years, used the power of the army to remain on oath. The country is now, one more time, in a inextricable political crisis. After many public manifestations through the streets of the Cameroonian towns and campaign, the popular mobilization was becoming strong when the dictatorship decided to break the neck of the contestation by arresting the leadership of the opposition. The probably elected President, Professor Maurice Kamto, many of his advisors are two hundreds other people have been jailed[3] the 28th of January 2019.

But this is not all the story. The dictator Biya decided to go forward in his audacious will to maintain an absolute control over the country. His corrupted justice intends to sentence the leadership of the opposition to death for rebellion, insurrection, and hostility to the fatherland[4]. The questions, therefore, are: who is really the rebel? The elected President Kamto or the remaining dictator Paul Biya who has never been fairly elected at the head of the Cameroonian state? Who is insurging himself against the Cameroonian people sovereignty? He who ask for the respect of his victory in the polls or the barbarian regime who refuses to recognize the defeat democratically? Who is hostile to the fatherland? Is it the freedom fighters of the opposition or the dominant and cynical regime of Mr Biya who leads the country through corruption, violence, lies, and incompetence for many decades now?

In fact, the dictatorship may be sentencing the elected President Kamto to death, just in order to deviate the attention of the opinion from the prey to the shadow. It is a cynical game. All Cameroonians regions are in a very strong ebullition against Mr Biyas too long domination. The Anglophone emancipation movement has open the path of all Cameroonians to true freedom and democracy. So Mr Biya needs to fix the Cameroonian opinion on a short term and sterile goal: saving the lives of Professor Kamto and his advisors. So that, the Cameroonian people will feel himself very satisfied if they save these lives. But what will happen next? The dictator expects the people to go back to their homes and to stop their manifestations if they obtain the survival of the leaders of the struggle. But before going to jail, Professor Kamto[5], the elected president, told to everyone:  I am not going to jail for myself, but for your own freedom. Whatever happens to me, continue the struggle for our liberties, our dignity and our sovereignty!

Clearly, the Cameroonian people are not free at all. And this is exactly the situation in many others African countries today. The most important, for all these countries is the structural change of mentalities which leads everywhere to a qualitative improvement of any political system. This change could happen if and only if leaders like Professor Maurice Kamto are deeply supported by their compatriots and by all the international positive powers for the full democratization and political progress of the whole world. Without this common consciousness, hope is suspended and sufferings will be going on. The release of Professor Kamto and his companions depends on the continuation of the Cameroonian peoples struggle against Mr Biyas dictatorship. If the resistance decreases, the domination increases. And like the French philosopher Alain said: A despised people who does not react, is a contemptible people.

[1] http://www.africanews.com/2018/10/08/cameroon-maurice-kamto-declares-himself-winner-of-presidential-election/

[2] https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2018/10/09/presidentielle-au-cameroun-maurice-kamto-a-la-certitude-d-une-victoire-incontestable_1684117

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/29/cameroon-opposition-leader-maurice-kamto-claims-won-2018-election-arrested

[4] https://www.france24.com/en/20190213-cameroon-opposition-leader-kamto-rebellion-biya

[5] https://www.thecameroononline.com/2019/01/30/voici-le-discours-historique-de-maurice-kamto-a-lendroit-du-regime-biya/
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Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi has strongly denounced and expressed deep regret over a deadly terrorist attack on a group of IRGC forces in the south-east of Iran, vowing to take revenge for the attack whose perpetrators are supported by certain regional states.

Iran Front Page reports in its article Iran to Avenge Terrorist Attack on IRGC Forces that Qassemi offered sympathy to the families of the victims and those injured in the tragic incident. He condemned the inhumane attack by the terrorist group that claimed responsibility for it, and said the group receives military, financial, and intellectual support from certain regional states.

Such inhumane attacks will just make the Iranian nation and government more determined to continue its fight against terrorism in the region, he noted. Qassemi also vowed that Iranian intelligence and military forces will definitely take revenge for the blood of the incidents martyrs.

A suicide attack by Pakistan-based Takfiri elements on a bus carrying Iranian border guards in Irans Sistan and Baluchestan province has killed and wounded dozens of IRGC forces.

The attack, claimed by the so-called Jaish ul-Adl terrorist group, targeted the bus carrying IRGC border guards travelling between the cities of Zahedan and Khash in south-eastern Iran.

At least 27 have been killed and 13 other wounded in the blast.

The IRGCs Quds Headquarters said in a statement that an explosive-laden car rammed into the bus, which was taking the personnel back to their homes.

Following the deadly attack, the governor-general of Sistan and Baluchestan declared three days of mourning.
Hedge Fund Disrupts Chinese SOEs Bid for Portugals EDP

By Isabelle Li / Feb 15, 2019 07:34 PM / Business & Tech

State-owned energy giant China Three Gorges (CTG) is facing a surprise roadblock in its hopes to acquire Portuguese utility Energias de Portugal (EDP).

Activist investor U.K. fund Elliot Advisors, one of Energias de Portugals (EDP) major shareholders, released a letter on Thursday calling for an alternative, more promising pathway to replace CTGs bid.

The company said it believes EDP possesses a collection of high-quality yet undervalued assets, with substantial unrealized potential, but added that CTGs bid, if consummated, will leave the company weaker, more volatile, and with a less attractive portfolio and diminished growth opportunities.

CTG is already EDPs largest shareholder, with a 23% stake. In May, it offered to take over EDP with 9 billion euro ($10.7 billion)  but EDP rejected the initial price as too low. The current status of the deal has not been disclosed.

CTG told Caixin that the company is unaware of the issues raised in Elliots letter.

Related: Quick Take: EDP Rejects Takeover Offer From China Three Gorges
The suspect, Donald Fazenbaker, a 48-year-old Mesick man, was arraigned on two felony counts including conspiracy to deliver ecstasy and attempted possession of ecstasy.
MHHS announced an action plan to address problems with its new approach to case management.
Is this the new norm?

The winter season of 2018-19 could be sign of things to come
An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross yesterday performed the official sod-turning for Dublin Airports new North Runway project.



The new 3.1km runway will be located almost 1.7km north of Dublin Airports current main runway. Construction will take about two years and a nine-month period of commissioning will then take place. It is believed the North Runway will support the creation of 31,200 new Irish jobs and 2.2 billion in additional economic activity by 2043.



The Government says the new runway is urgently needed to allow for expansion to underpin Irelands long-term economic growth. Dublin Airports existing main runway is effectively full at peak times every day following a 45% increase in passenger numbers since 2014.

The delivery of North Runway is a key recommendation of the Governments National Aviation Policy, which it hopes will enable Ireland to continue to grow as a gateway between Europe and North America.



North Runway is being built by a joint venture comprising Irish construction company Roadbridge and the Spanish infrastructure group FCC Construccion (FCC). Roadbridge FCC won the main construction contract last October, following an international tender process.

Roadbridge FCC will be working closely with daa and Fingal-based development company Empower to fill as many positions as possible from within the local community.

The contract includes building 306,000sq m of new runway and taxiways, 6km of new internal airport roads, and two new electricity substations. New drainage and pollution controls will be installed, as well as about 8km of electrical cable, 11km of CCTV cable and more than 2,100 new runway and taxiway lights.

Separately, daa is also planning a new five-year investment programme for Dublin Airport. It includes a 900 million investment in new boarding gate areas, aircraft parking stands and other improvements alongside about 200 million worth of airfield works and a 120 million annual spend on repair and maintenance and revenue generating projects.



Speaking yesterday, the Taoiseach said, "Dublin Airport is our main gateway to the world and is crucial for Irish tourism, business and trade. This new runway is part of the Governments 116 billion Project Ireland 2040 plan to modernise our infrastructure, remove bottlenecks and enable future growth. Connectivity is one of the principles behind Project Ireland, linking Ireland to the world and all parts of Ireland to each other. More than 31 million passengers passed through Dublin Airport last year, with new routes opening in 2019 to Shenzhen in China, four locations in North america, and Ukraine."

He added, "The North Runway will allow further expansion, with connections from Dublin expected to rise by a third within ten years of opening. Its been promised for decades. Under this Government, its being delivered. So, Im honoured to be here, along with my colleague Minister Ross, to turn the sod and formally start work on it.



Source: www.businessworld.ie
A "small number" of Irish firms are likely to see their credit ratings cut if Britain leaves the European Union without a transition deal but there could be a no deal silver lining for the country's services sectors, S&P Global said on Thursday.

With close trading links to Britain, Ireland's export-focused economy is considered the most vulnerable of the remaining 27 EU members to a disruptive exit by its nearest neighbour

S&P said in a new report that the agricultural sector would be hardest hit by a no-deal Brexit but banks were unlikely to see many "near-term" rating moves and it did not expect to downgrade the country's sovereign rating.

"What's clear today is that the Irish economy is booming," S&P credit analyst Frank Gill told reporters, citing the highest level of net immigration in a decade and a recent return to a government budget surplus as key positives for the EU's fastest growing economy.

"Certainly our base case is that a no deal does not move the needle on the sovereign given all the other credit strengths," he added, while acknowledging that sectors such as agriculture and food processing faced enormous uncertainties.

S&P, which rates more than 50 firms in Ireland, has rated Irish sovereign debt as A+ with a stable outlook since June 2015.

It said it still expected the UK to reach a deal with the EU but that the risks that it doesn't were rising. A no-deal Brexit would increase pressure on Irish issuers with rating actions envisaged for a small number whose rating performance is already "somewhat challenged."

While some larger agricultural firms have the flexibility, scale and contingency plans to withstand any disruption, smaller companies without the ability to diversify away from the UK market will struggle, S&P's Patrick Drury Byrne added.

However, S&P said that by focusing primarily on vulnerable indigenous exporters, most economists sidestepped the question of what Brexit means for the current boom in Ireland's dominant services sector.

S&P, which was itself officially opening its new European headquarters in Dublin, said the pace of services employment growth was likely to survive a no-deal Brexit and even accelerate in some of Ireland's largest sectors, including financial services, in the event of a no-deal outcome.

"We believe that the silver lining for Ireland - in the medium term - could be its ultimately positive effect on the labour-intensive services sectors," the report said. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
After successfully launching Galaxy M 10 and Galaxy M20 smartphones in India, Samsung is looking to launch the Galaxy M30 at a starting price of Rs 15,000 in the month of February. According to the IANS, the sale of Samsung Galaxy M30 with a triple rear-camera system and a massive 5,000 mAh battery will begin in the first week of March. Galaxy M30 would be the third smartphone to launch under the Galaxy 'M-series' category.

The design language of the new Galaxy M30 is expected to be similar to the both Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20 smartphones. However, Samsung M30 would get an AMOLED screen rather than the TFT screens that were seen on Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20. The Samsung M30 is expected to come with a full-HD + screen measuring 6.38 inches with a screen resolution of 2210 x 1080 pixels. The leak also suggests a water drop notch for the Galaxy M30. A small bezel is visible at the bottom of the phone which could house navigation buttons.

As far as the optics of the Samsung Galaxy M30 is concerned, the smartphone is expected to come with a 16 megapixel selfie camera. At the back, the Galaxy M30 will have a triple camera system. Galaxy M30 can be seen with a vertical camera layout with the configuration as 13 megapixels + 5 megapixels + 5 megapixels. One of the three cameras will have an ultra wide-angle lens together with a telephoto lens.

Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy M30 won't have an in-display fingerprint sensor. As per the design leak, the fingerprint sensor is located at the back. There is a USB Type-C port but there is no mention of 3.5mm audio jack.

The Samsung Galaxy M30 will be powered by a 5000mAh battery and it will run on Samsung Experience 9.5 UX. As far as connectivity is concerned, the smartphone connectivity options include Bluetooth, 4G VoLTE, dual-SIM, GPS, GLONASS etc.

Edited By: Udit Verma

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy M30 image leaks; shows waterdrop notch display, triple rear camera

Also Read: Samsung debuts Galaxy M series in India, prices starting at Rs 7,990
Last year, a report by global financial information company Experian had sent alarm bells ringing when it claimed that one in four Indians directly experienced frauds while transacting online. With the digital revolution underway in the country, with people increasingly turning to online and mobile banking, users have become more vulnerable to data theft. And phishing is one of the most common cyber frauds in India.

So, leading banks like State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank now prominently display advisories on their websites to alert customers about the growing threat as well as to educate them on protecting themselves. Here's all you need to know about this fraud:

"Phishing is a type of fraud that involves stealing personal information such as Customer ID, IPIN, Credit/Debit Card number, Card expiry date, CVV number, etc. through emails that appear to be from a legitimate source," HDFC Bank said on its website, adding that fraudsters nowadays also use phone (voice phishing) and SMS (Smishing).

How do the fraudsters operate?

Fraudsters send spoofed emails that appear to be sent by a legitimate bank to large number of recipients with an urgent tone that calls for quick action to verify, update or reveal one's confidential account information by clicking onto a link in the email. But once you do that, the link will direct you to a replica page of a known financial institution where you will be presented a web form to divulge your confidential personal data. "Or while the user is online, a form will populate through an in-session pop-up," ICICI Bank cautions on its website.

The customer's confidential account information or identity credentials so collected by phishers is then used to commit fraudulent transactions. According to the SBI, the perpetrators may use the information for siphoning money from the victim's account or run up bills on victim's credit cards. In the worst case, one could also become the victim of identity theft.

How to identify a phishing attempt:

1. Be on guard against unsolicited emails, calls from strangers or websites asking for confidential banking details or urgent action due to "security reasons".

2. The URLs of most fake web addresses start with 'http://' while the authentic ones boast 'https://' where "s" stands for secure site.

3. Check the Padlock symbol. This depicts the existence of a security certificate, also called the digital certificate for that website.

4. The fraudster may use well known bank's email address, domain name, logo, etc to give an authentic feel but such fake emails will always address you by a generic salutation, say, "Dear Net Banking Customer". On the other hand, a bank's authentic emails will always address you personally by your name.

5. The links embedded in such fake emails may sometimes look authentic but when you move the cursor/pointer over the link, there may be an underlying link/URL to a fake website

Also read: What are the best investment options for working women in their 30s?

How can you safeguard yourself?

The easiest thing to do is to not open any spam mails. Be especially cautious of emails with any of the above-mentioned red-flags. If you do open the email, then ensure you do not click on any suspicious links in it or open any unexpected email attachments, including those promising a cash reward.

Banks have been repeatedly sending SMS alerts and emails informing customers that their employees will never ask for customer's sensitive data. So never disclose details like passwords, debit card grid values, etc. to anyone, not even someone who claims to be from the RBI, your card issuer or the income tax department.

Next, when conducting online transactions, look for signs that the site is secure, such as a lock icon on the browser's status bar or a "https:" URL. Always access your bank website by typing in the correct website address on your web browser instead of clicking on any link.

It also helps to install the latest anti-virus/anti-spyware/personal firewall/security patches on your computer or smartphones and updating it regularly.

What to do if you suspect you have become a victim?

The first thing to do is to change your passwords immediately if you have accidentally revealed sensitive data or have clicked on a dodgy link. Banks say that you should also report the incident on their customer care helplines - forwarding phishing emails also helps.

(Edited by Sushmita Choudhury Agarwal)

Also read: 5 reasons why provident fund is so important to the salaried class!
Podcast: Arun Jaitley resumes charge of Finance Ministry today

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Upper caste Hindus own 41 per cent of India's total wealth: study



Everybody knows that income inequality in India not only has a rural-urban and gender bias but also a socio-religious component. What's worrying is the extent of disparity in the latter. According to a recent study, titled Wealth Ownership and Inequality in India: A Socio-religious Analysis, the population belonging to Hindu High Castes (HHCs) boasts four times more wealth than those classified as Scheduled Castes (SCs). Moreover, HHCs hold 41% of the total wealth in the country, which is almost double their population size of 22.28%.



India to produce 7.5 lakh Kalashnikov rifles in joint venture with Russia



The iconic Kalashnikov rifle, also regarded as world's favourite assault rifle, will now be made in India. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi led central government on Thursday approved a proposal to manufacture 7.5 lakh Kalashnikov rifles to be built by Ordnance Factory Board in a joint venture with a Russian firm, suggested media report.



Pulwama terror attack: Death toll reaches 44; internet services suspended in Jammu



The death toll in the Pulwama terrorist attack has reached 44, making it one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. A convoy of around 2,500 CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel was targeted by a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar. He was driving an SUV carrying around 200 kg IED explosives. The vehicle rammed into one of the buses carrying jawans, leaving several body parts strewn around the area.



US experts on South Asia suspect ISI role in Pulwama terrorist attack



The involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammad in Thursday's terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir has raised serious questions about the role of the Pakistani spy agency, ISI, in it, American experts on South Asia have said. The experts said the terror strike shows the United States has failed to persuade Pakistan to act against Jaish-e-Mohammad and other terrorist groups



Arun Jaitley resumes charge of Finance Ministry today



Union minister Arun Jaitley, who returned from the US last week after undergoing medical treatment, has resumed charge of the Finance Ministry today. After resuming the charge he would also attend a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security to discuss the Pulwama attack that killed at least 37 CRPF personnel. In his absence, the charge of the Finance Ministry was given to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, who presented the sixth and the last budget earlier this month before the general elections.



IndiGo cancels around 130 flights for Friday



Acute shortage of pilots along with NOTAMs at some airports forced IndiGo to cancel around 130 flights for Friday. The cancelled flights account for almost 10 per cent of the airlines operations, the source said. An Indigo spokesperson, however, said the airline has not cancelled any additional flights other than the schedule cancellations. The Gurugram-based budget carrier operates over 1,300 flights per day with a fleet of 210 planes.



Airbus abandons iconic A380 superjumbo, lacking clients



European plane maker Airbus said Thursday it will stop making its superjumbo A380 in 2021 for lack of customers, abandoning the world's biggest passenger jet and one of the aviation industry's most ambitious and most troubled endeavors. Barely a decade after the double-deck, 500-plus-seat plane started carrying passengers, Airbus said that key client Emirates is cutting back its orders, and as a result, "we have no substantial A380 backlog and hence no basis to sustain production." The decision could affect up to 3,500 jobs and already cost plane maker 463 million euros (about $523 million) in losses in 2018, Airbus said.
















Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to host his Iranian and Turkish counterparts today to discuss how to resolve the conflict in Syria as Islamic State made a last stand in the east of the country and Washington prepares to withdraw troops.

The Defense Post reports in its article Russias Putin hosts Iran and Turkey leaders for Syrian war talks that the international anti-ISIS coalition is set to meet on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference while U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will attend a conference on the Middle East in Warsaw. At their meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Putin and Irans Hassan Rouhani  who back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad  and Turkeys rebel-backing Recep Tayyip Erdogan are set to discuss ways to advance intra-Syrian dialogue. Russia has been a key player in the conflict since launching military intervention in 2015 in support of Assads regime, which now controls almost two-thirds of the country.

The Astana peace process, launched on the initiative of Moscow along with Iran and Turkey, has eclipsed parallel talks led by the United Nations without coming up with a definitive solution to the conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday the leaders would discuss forming a special committee tasked with drawing up a new post-war constitution for Syria. In late December, the United Nations admitted it had failed to put such a committee in place, citing problems with changes wanted by Damascus to the list of proposed members. Lavrov said Wednesday: We are ready to search for a solution to this situation  We will continue this work.

The meeting will be the fourth summit between the countries leaders since November 2017.

"Terrorist nets"

Following their emergence in 2014 and proclamation of a caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq, ISIS controlled major cities, but they are now squeezed into a few square kilometers. Around 2,000 U.S. troops are due to be pulled out of the region following a surprise announcement by President Donald Trump in December. But Washington has still not given a precise timeline for this. The most recent summit between the three leaders was in September in Iran, when they made public their differing views on the future of Syrias northeastern province of Idlib.

At a separate meeting later that month, Putin and Erdogan managed to block an offensive planned by Syria on Idlib. Instead they agreed to create and jointly monitor a buffer zone around the vast region where rebel groups still remain and Assads forces have not managed to take control. Erdogan and Putin are set to discuss the future of the province at a separate meeting ahead of their summit with Rouhani.

A Russian-Turkish agreement calls for all radical fighters  including those belonging to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance led by Syrias Al-Qaeda affiliate  to leave the area. But its fighters have since strengthened their hold on the region.

Lavrov said Wednesday in Sochi that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had seized 90 percent of the territory and stressed that no agreements permit the eternal preservation of this nest of terrorists on Syrian soil. We will do all we can to help the Syrian government and its armed forces to solve the problem of liberating their territory, Lavrov added.
The Jet Airways share price rose in early trade today after the airline approved a bank-led provisional resolution plan (BLPRP) which will pave the way for conversion of the airline's debt into equity, making lenders the largest shareholders in the company. The Jet Airways share price rose 7.55% to 242.85 compared to the previous close of 225.80 on the BSE.

The Jet Airways share price opened lower at 224.15 and hit an intra day low of 215 before heading north on the bourses. The Jet Airways share price has lost 68.51% during the last one year and fallen 14.24% since the beginning of this year.

Also read: Debt-ridden Jet Airways posts Q3 net loss at Rs 587.8 crore; board okays debt resolution plan

The Jet Airways share price was trading below its 50-day and 200 day moving average of 253.83 and 257.96, respectively. Plan by the lenders, led by State Bank of India, includes an equity infusion, debt restructuring and the sale or sale and lease back of aircraft

The plan proposes restructuring, under the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India's February 12, 2018 circular, to meet a funding gap of nearly Rs 8,500 crore.

"The BLPRP contemplates conversion of lenders' debt into 11.40 crore shares of Rs 10 each by allotment of such number of equity shares to the lenders that would result in the lenders becoming the largest shareholders in the company," the airline said in a filing to exchanges.

Also read: Why Indigo has cancelled so many flights up till March-end

It said the allotment of 11.40 crore shares will be made at an aggregate consideration of Re 1 since under the RBI circular, lenders can convert debt into equity at Re 1 when the book value per share of a company is negative.

Under the plan, lenders' nominees will be appointed to the board of directors of the airlines.

The BLPRP envisages the company receiving the requisite approvals from shareholders at their meeting scheduled to be held on February 21.

As of December 31, 2018, the airline's promoter- Naresh Goyal's stake was 51 percent while that of Etihad Airways was 24 percent. The airline's debt stood at Rs 8,052 crore as on September 30, 2018.

The BLPRP currently estimates a funding gap of Rs 8,500 crore (including proposed repayment of aircraft debt of Rs 1,700 crore) to be met by appropriate mix of equity infusion, debt restructuring, sale/sale and lease back/ refinancing of aircraft, among other things.

The proposed resolution plan will be presented to the consortium of lenders, overseeing committee of the Indian Bankers' Association, board of Etihad Airways and the promoter, for consideration.

The BLPRP also talks about sanctioning of appropriate interim credit facilities by domestic lenders.

The airline said implementation of the final bank-led resolution plan (BLRP) will take place under the guidance of a monitoring agency.

Jet Airways on Thursday reported a standalone net loss of Rs 587.77 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, owing to higher fuel cost and rupee fall. The company had posted a standalone net profit of Rs 165.25 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal, the airline said.

However, on a consolidated basis, the airline posted a net loss of Rs 732 crore for the quarter, against a net profit of Rs 186 crore for the same period last year. The carrier said revenue from operations during the quarter under review stood at Rs 6,147.98 crore as against Rs 6,086.20 crore in the year-ago period.

Also read: DGCA monitoring Jet Airways' flight schedule every 15 days, says official

Edited by Aseem Thapliyal
The country's exports grew marginally by 3.74 per cent in January due to subdued performance of key sectors including engineering, leather, and gems & jewellery, even as the trade deficit narrowed to $14.73 billion.

According to data from the commerce ministry, exports during the month increased to $26.36 billion, compared with $25.41 billion in January 2018.

Exports growth remained almost flat in November and December 2018.

In January, engineering exports grew by only one per cent, while leather, and gems & jewellery recorded a growth of 0.33 per cent and 6.67 per cent, respectively. Petroleum exports contracted by 19 per cent.

Imports also remained almost flat at $41 billion during the last month. The trade deficit stood at $15.67 billion in January 2018.

However, the deficit in January 2019 widened as compared to December 2018 when it stood at $13 billion.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ganesh Kumar Gupta said the nominal growth in exports is due to tough global condition and some constraints on the domestic front.

ALSO READ:US considers withdrawing trade concession to India: Report

"Global trade growth is slowing down and global economies, including China and South East Asian nations, are also facing contraction in manufacturing worsening the fragile global situation," he sad.

He demanded immediate support including augmenting the flow of credit, higher tax deduction for research and development and better fiscal support for boosting exports.

Gold imports also grew 38.16 per cent to $2.31 billion in January this year as against $1.67 billion in the corresponding month of 2018.

During the April-January period of the current financial year, exports grew 9.52 per cent to $271.8 billion. Imports rose by 11.27 per cent to $427.73 billion.

The trade deficit widened to $155.93 billion during the 10 months of the current fiscal from $136.25 billion in April-January 2017-18.

Oil imports in January rose by 3.59 per cent to $11.24 billion. These imports rose by 36.65 per cent to $119.34 billion during the 10-month period of the current fiscal.

Non-oil imports in April-January 2018-19 were $308.39 billion which was 3.80 per cent higher as compared to the same period last fiscal.

Further, according to the data, services exports in December 2018 recorded a growth of 7.50 per cent to $17.93 billion. Its imports during the month rose by 12.53 per cent to $11.38 billion.

ALSO READ:Pulwama Attack: What is MFN? Why it means little in trade with Pakistan

ALSO READ:US, China hold talks to clinch deal to end trade war
The death toll in the Pulwama terrorist attack has reached 44, making it one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. A convoy of around 2,500 CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel was targeted by a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar. He was driving an SUV carrying around 200 kg IED explosives. The vehicle rammed into one of the buses carrying jawans, leaving several body parts strewn around the area.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the sacrifices of "our brave security personnel shall not go in vain", people across the country have demanded the strongest possible action against the dastardly terrorist attack.

Massive anti-Pakistan protests have rocked Jammu and Kashmir's winter capital. Demonstrations and candle light marches were held after the attack. Braving the rains, several people took to the streets in Jewel Chowk, Purani Mandi, Rehari, Janipur, Gandhinagar, Bakshi Nagar, Muthi, Talab Tilloo and Satwari and protested against the killings.

An NIA team with suitable forensic component will leave today for Kashmir to assist the Jammu and Kashmir Police in forensic evaluation of the spot. Mobile internet services have also been suspended in Jammu over security concerns.

"We strongly condemn today's attack in J&K's Pulwama. We express our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives & to the people & Govt of India. We wish a speedy recovery to injured & call for those behind the attack to be brought to justice," the United Nations said in a statement.

This was the first suicide car bomb attack in Kashmir since the 2001 strike on the Legislative Assembly in which 41 people, including three suicide attackers, were killed. The scene of Thursday's attack is not very far from the Commando Training Centre at Lethpora, which was stormed by Jaish militants on December 31, 2017, killing five CRPF personnel.

The Srinagar-Jammu national highway has been a favoured route for militants to target security forces. The CRPF bore the brunt of a militant attack at Pampore, less than seven km from Lethpora, in June 2016, losing eight jawans while 22 others sustained injuries. In an attack on the Uri military base in September 2016, Jaish militants killed 18 Army jawans and injured dozens of others. The ferocity of the attack led to India conducting a surgical strike against Pakistan.

With agency inputs

Also Read: Kashmir terror attack: At least 44 jawans killed as Jaish suicide bomber blows CRPF convoy
As 44 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans died in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Awantipora, in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, a 22-year-old Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Adil Ahmad Dar was identified as the suicide bomber who carried out the attack. Reports suggest Adil Ahmad lived only 10 km away from the spot where he smashed his car packed with explosives into a security convoy on Thursday.

The bomber Adil Ahmad Dar, also known as "Adil Ahmad Gaadi Takranewala" and "Waqas Commando of Gundibagh" became a part of Masood Azhar led Jaish-e-Mohammed only last year. A school dropout, Adil Ahmad was from Gundibagh village in south Kashmir. Gundibagh is a known breeding ground of terrorists of Pulwama district. Dar dropped out of school in March 2017 and joined Pakistan based terror outfit.

A video of Adil Ahmad was released by Jaish-e-Mohammed just minutes after he carried out the dastardly attack in the Pulwama district. In the video, shot sometime before Adil went on the fedayeen mission, he addressed the Kashmiri people and said, "The war that they can't win with force, they are trying to win by compromising your belief. They want to mislead you from the etiquettes of Islam. They want to mislead you from the path of Islam by luring you with worldly pleasures."

The bomber introduced himself and then went on an anti-India rant, "My name is Adil, I joined the Jaish-e-Mohammad a year ago. After a year's wait, I have got the chance to do what I joined the Jaish for... By the time this video reaches you, I will be in heaven... this is my last message for the people of Kashmir."

A convoy of around 2,500 CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel was targeted by Adil Ahmad Dar. Commenting on the terror attacks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the sacrifices of "our brave security personnel shall not go in vain", people across the country have demanded the strongest possible action against the dastardly terrorist attack.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh too assured the people of the country that the terror attack on a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir, carried out by Pakistan-sponsored Jaish-e-Mohammed, will be avenged.

In a statement, Home Minister said the central government is determined to foil the designs of those who want to disrupt peace through such a terror attack "sponsored and sheltered by Pakistan".

Meanwhile, Pakistan has rejected Indian media and government's allegations of the country's link to the strike "without" probe.

Edited By: Udit Verma

Also Read: Pulwama terror attack LIVE updates: PM Modi-led CCA meeting ends; NIA teams rush to J&K suicide blast site

Also Read: Pulwama terror attack: Death toll reaches 44; internet services suspended in Jammu
After the attack on CRPF jawans in Pulwama, actress Shabana Azmi and lyricist husband Javed Akhtar declined an invitation from the Karachi Art Council for the birth centenary of poet Kaifi Azmi. The couple was invited for a two-day event on the poet by the art council. Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar also condemned the attack that claimed at least 40 lives.

"Javed Akhtar and I were invited for a 2 day event celebrating Kaifi's Centenary and were truly looking forward to it. I appreciate that our hosts the Karachi Arts Council mutually agreed to cancel the event at the nth hour in the wake of Pulwama attack," Shabana Azmi tweeted.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in the district. Apart from the soldiers who succumbed to the injuries, many were left critically injured as well.

She further tweeted: "Will there be no let to these heinous attacks? These mindless killings. this utter disregard for human lives? Extremely shocking news coming from Pulwama. I strongly condemn the worst terror attack on CRPF convoy and stand united with the grieving families (sic)."

Will there be no let to these heinous attacks?These mindless killings.this utter disregard for human lives?Extremely shocking news coming from Pulwama.I strongly condemn the worst terror attack on CRPF convoy and stand united with the grieving families - Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) February 14, 2019

Lyricist Javed Akhtar, who had penned the CRPF anthem also took to Twitter to condemn the attack. "I have a special relation with CRPF. I have written Their anthem Before putting the pen to paper I met a number of CRPF officers n whatever I learned my respect admiration and love for these braves increased by many a fold Today I share the grief of the dear ones of the martyrs," he said.

I have a special relation with CRPF. I have written Their anthem Before putting the pen to paper I met a number of CRPF officers n what ever I learned my respect admiration and love for these braves increased by many a fold Today I share the grief of the dear ones of the martyrs - Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) February 14, 2019

In an official statement, Shabana Azmi said: "I am filled with pain and grief and all else by the dastardly Pulwama attack. For the 1st time in all these years I feel weakened in my belief that people to people contact can force the establishment to do the right thing. We will need to call halt to cultural exchange as of now. There is no way we can carry on when our martyrs are laying down their lives are for us. I stand in solidarity with the grieving families.

Javed and I were invited by Karachi Arts Council for a 2 day event celebrating my father Kaifi Azmi's birth centenary. I appreciate that our hosts have mutually agreed to cancel the event at the nth hour in wake of the Pulwama attack. Rekhta has also cancelled their 3 day celebration in Dubai which included a show of our play Kaifi aur Main by IPTA. All Indians stand united as one.

Also read: Pulwama terror attack: PM Modi says terrorists will pay a huge price as India gears for revenge

But let's not lose sight of the fact that we must not confuse the Pakistan establishment with the people of Pakistan and vice versa. On both sides of the border there are sisters and brothers who stand divided by circumstances they have had nothing to do with."

During the inauguration of the much-anticipated Train 18 or Vande Bharat Express, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed similar sentiments and condemned the attacks. "There's a lot of anger in the nation, the blood is boiling. I understand it... Our forces have been given full freedom. I want to tell terrorist groups and their leaders that they have made a big mistake, they will have to pay a huge price. I want to assure the country that the powers behind this attack and those responsible will be punished for their actions."

Also read: Pulwama Attack: What is MFN? Why it means little in trade with Pakistan
Pulwama attack live updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the security forces have been given full freedom to give a befitting reply for the Pulwama terror attack which killed at least 40 CRPF jawans. PM Modi said that the forces behind this act of terrorism and those responsible for it would pay a 'very heavy price' and had made a 'big mistake'. He said that security forces have been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response.

Also read: Pulwama attack anniversary: India pays homage to bravehearts; look back at terror attack that shook India

"There's a lot of anger in the nation, the blood is boiling. I understand it.Our forces have been given full freedom. I want to tell terrorist groups and their leaders that they have made a big mistake, they will have to pay a huge price. I want to assure the country that the powers behind this attack and those responsible will be punished for their actions," PM Modi said earlier in the day. He said that if our neighbour, which is totally isolated in the world, thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a 'big mistake'.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also said the country would avenge the dastardly attack carried out by Pak-sponsored Jaish-e-Mohammed. On Thursday, in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Kashmir, a CRPF convoy of 70 vehicles was targeted by a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber, resulting in the death of 40 jawans. Heads of various countries have expressed condolences over the Pulwama attack. India slammed Pakistan for the attack and blamed it for supporting Jaish-e-Mohammed and its founder Masood Azhar. Pakistan issued a statement rejecting India's attacks. The Jaish suicide bomber, identified as Adil Ahmad Dar, rammed an SUV laden with over 3000 kg of explosives into the CRPF bus carrying about 40 personnel.

Catch all the live updates on the Pulwama terror attack on BusinessToday.In's live blog.

11:13 pm: Pune Rural Police has arrested a Junior Ticket Collector, Kumar Upendra Bahadur Singh, for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans during an event to pay tribute to CRPF jawans who lost their lives in Pulwama terror attack, ANI reported. He has been suspended by the Railways.

10:50 pm: Talking to India Today, CRPF DG RR Bhatnagar revealed that a new dimension was added to terrorist activist in Kashmir as an explosive-laden vehicle was used to target a convoy for the first time in the Pulwama terror attack. Calling for new effective counter-radicalisation measures, Bhatnagar said that police will definitely hunt down terrorists who plotted this attack.

10:45 pm: Mortal remains of some of the jawans will be taken to Prayagraj in Indian Air Force's C-17 aircraft, from where they will be taken to different locations in eastern India. Another C-130 aircraft will take the mortal remains of other jawans to Pathankot. Some mortal remains will be taken to different locations in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand by road.

10:40 pm: "The response of the international community in condemning this barbarous attack in one voice will strengthen our resolve to fight this menace," the former President of India said.

10:40 pm: "I'm extremely pained by this act of inhumanity perpetrated by terrorists. In this hour of grief, we must stand together as a nation. The united front put up by political parties and politicians across the spectrum is a sight of that unity," says former President Pranab Mukherjee.

10:33 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute to the soldiers martyred in the Pulwama terror attack. "We salute you, brave sons of Mother India. You lived for the nation and served the country with unparalleled valour. We stand in solidarity with the bereaved families," PM Modi said on his Twitter handle.

10:25 pm: The Punjab government has announced that it would accord a state funeral to the four CRPF personnel from the state, who died in the Pulwama terror attack, officials told India Today.

The four jawans from the state included Jaimal Singh of Dharamkot, Moga, Sukhjinder Singh of Tehsil Patti, Tarn Taran, Maninder Singh Attri of Dinanagar, Gurdaspur and Kulwinder Singh of Anandpur Sahib, Ropar, the official said.

10:15 pm: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Pulwama attack: It is a matter of concern that political discourse is reaching a new low in recent years. We should reverse this trend at the earliest. People in public life should understand that they are only rivals, not enemies.

"We should consider each one of our friends, who are in different political spectrum, our rivals only. It is only competition, healthy competition that is required," ANI quote Naidu as saying.

10:10 pm: All prior commitments of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for tomorrow and day after tomorrow have been cancelled. She will go to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to pay last respects to the CRPF jawans of the two states, who lost their lives in terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, ANI has reported.

10:00 pm: Earlier in the day, a candlelight march, organised by Ladakh Buddhist Association, was taken out in Leh in protest against terrostist attack in Pulwama, ANI has reported.

9:55 pm: Police and CRPF personnel has said this could not have been a one-man operation. "There is a high level of planning and expertise involved," India Today has reported.

9:50 pm: Delhi: Visuals from outside Palam airport. The mortal remains of some CRPF jawans are now being taken to their native places. #PulwamaTerrorAttackpic.twitter.com/w7qcIWtaSW

Sources said that the IPS Association of Uttar Pradesh has decided to contribute one day salary to the families of martyrs who lost their lives in yesterday's terror attack in Pulwama. The amount will be sent to the CRPF Headquarters in Delhi via CRPF Frontier Headquarters, Lucknow

9:30 pm: A day after terror attacks on security forces in Kashmir, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday questioned the Central government on whether there was a major intelligence failure that resulted in the biggest ever attack in Pulwama.

"I feel there was intelligence failure, I spoke to many people and most have said the same. Why were so many vehicles sent together?" she told India Today.

"After Pathankot it is a big incident. It is most unfortunate but how did it happen? What is the National Security Advisor doing? What has happened is wrong and we have a right to know," she added.

9:15 pm: NIA team and forensic experts have collected materials required for forensic evaluation of the scene of crime. Considering the status, team would continue with sifting of material tomorrow too, ANI reported. Outcome would be made known after analysis is over.

9:10 pm: India's Deputy High Commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia leaves Pakistan MoFA in Islamabad after he was summoned by the Additional Secretary Asia Pacific over the allegations of Pakistan's direct role in Pulwama terror attack, as per media report.

9:00 pm: A very strong demarche was made to the Pakistani High Commissioner by the Foreign Secretary earlier today, suggested media report.

As part of continuing diplomatic efforts to isolate Pakistan after Pulwama attack, Foreign Secretary has met around 25 Heads of Mission based in New Delhi today from all P-5 countries, all South Asian countries and other important partners like Japan, Germany, Republic of Korea and others, sources said.

8:35 pm: PM Modi arrives at Palam airport and pays homage to the 40 slain soldiers.

Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi lays wreath on the mortal remains of the CRPF jawans. #PulwamaTerrorAttackpic.twitter.com/59BBNzTmBI - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Lata Mangeshkar's mesmerising song 'Ae mere watan ke logon...' is playing in the background as leaders pay tribute to brave hearts.

#WATCH live from Delhi: Wreath laying ceremony of the CRPF jawans at Palam Airport. #PulwamaAttackhttps://t.co/WF8fVaDjX6

8:30 pm: NIA team with suitable forensic component reached Awantipora to help the Jammu and Kashmir Police in forensic evaluation of crime scene, ANI reported.

8:25 pm: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Home Minister Rajnath Singh reach Palam airport. They will pay tribute to slain CRPF men at Palam airport.

8:15 pm: Congress president Rahul Gandhi pays homage to the CRPF jawans killed in the Pulwama terror attack at the Palam airport.

Sources said that PM Modi has asked BJP MPs and ministers in BJP governed states to attend last rites of CRPF jawans, who lost their lives in Pulwama attack, in their respective constituencies and states.

7:50 pm: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government has cancelled all its official programmes on Friday as a mark of respect towards the 40 CRPF personnel killed in Pulwama attack.

7:45 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to pay his last respects to slain CRPF men at Palam airport. The mortal remains of CRPF jawans reached Delhi's Palam airport a few minutes ago.

7:35pm: Delhi: Mortal remains of the CRPF jawans who lost their lives in yesterday's #PulwamaAttack have been brought to Palam airport. pic.twitter.com/ppYTIJaM8r

7:30 pm: The mortal remains of CRPF jawans arrived at the Palam Airport. The wreath-laying ceremony begins.

7:25 pm: Congress President Rahul Gandhi is on his way to Palam Airport where the mortal remains of CRPF jawans are being brought today.

Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi is going to Palam Airport where the mortal remains of CRPF jawans, who lost their lives in yesterday's #PulwamaAttack, are being brought today. (File pic) pic.twitter.com/LWBvFduqO7 - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

7:15pm: MEA meeting ends: Representatives from South Korea, Sweden, Slovakia, France, Spain, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Nepal were present at Ministry of External Affairs.

7:10 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announces Rs 50 lakh will be given to families of martyrs who lost their lives in yesterday's terror attack in Pulwama.

7:05 pm: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat announces Rs 25 lakh will be given to the martyrs' families from the state.

7:00om: Union Mininster Piyush Goyal: "Our armed forces and people of India are competent to give a befitting reply to such forces. Our jawans will ensure that any forces which are enemy to India's interest get a strong rejoinder and people of India will continue to give confidence to them."

6:45pm: Initial probe has revealed that there was no use of RDX in the Pulwama attack. Sources said that a very fine quality of urea ammonium nitrate was used in the IED blast in Pulwama. The chemical substance is commonly used in stone quarries in Kashmir.

6:00pm: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called an all-party meeting on Saturday at 11 am in the Parliament library.

5:50 pm: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who reached Srinagar on Friday morning, has said that the Centre has requested state governments to extend the maximum help they can lend to the families of the martyr. "I've given all the necessary directions to the officers. The morale has not taken a hit. We'll see this fight against terrorism to the end," he said during a press conference.

Targeting separatists, Home Minister said that there are some elements who are hand in glove with terror organisations, terror forces and the ISI across the border. "They are involved in terror conspiracies too. They are toying with the future of the people, especially the youth, of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

"In the wake of suicide attack on CRPF convoy yesterday, it has been decided that the civilian movement will be stopped for sometime when a large convoy of security forces passes through an area." He passed on this information after meeting with the Army Commander, DG CRPF and other senior officers.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh meets injured CRPF personnel at Army base camp in Srinagar #PulwamaAttackpic.twitter.com/aBxgf4qT1w - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

Mumbai's Shri Siddhivinayak Temple trust has announced Rs 51 lakhs as a help for the families of CRPF personnel who lost their lives in terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

5:20pm: Media report suggested that MEA officials are reaching out to all important partners through diplomatic missions in wake of terrorist attack in Pulwama to apprise them of involvement of Pakistan backed terror groups.

5:15pm: PM of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu: To my dear friend, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, we stand with you, the security forces and the people of India following this heinous terrorist attack. We send our condolences to the families of the victims. #PulwamaAttack (file pic) pic.twitter.com/v029Sr4cvl

In yet another ceasefire violation along the LoC, Pakistani forces resorted to shelling in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir today.

Sanjay Raut has said that Shiv Sena has demanded a joint session of Parliament to hold discussions over yesterday's Pulwama Attack.

Shabana Azmi on Pulwama Attack:"I am filled with pain and grief and all else ..by the dastardly #Pulwama attack . For the 1st time in all these years I feel weakened in my belief that people to people contact can force the Establishment to do the right thing.We will need to call halt to cultural exchange as of now. There is no way we can carry on when our martyrs are laying down their lives are for us. I stand in solidarity with the grieving families."

4:55pm: Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb announces Rs 2 lakh each for families of #CRPF personnel who lost their lives in #PulwamaAttackpic.twitter.com/9B7qm7ka7f

4:40pm: Ghulam Dar, father of the suicide bomber, told India Today that he did not know anything about his terror links. Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Adil Ahmad Dar was identified as the suicide bomber who carried out the attack."He was a class 12th dropout. He disappeared in March last year. Since then we came to know that he has joined militancy. Yesterday, we were informed by the police that he has been killed."

4:35 pm: Home Minister Rajnath Singh helped carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan before it was flown out of Jammu and Kashmir in a special aircraft, an official present at the function said. Before this, he laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the troops, who were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. Among others, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh were also present at the wreath laying ceremony.

Budgam: Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh lend a shoulder to mortal remains of a CRPF soldier. #PulwamaAttackpic.twitter.com/hF5CmYb1yR

The commerce ministry may soon notify to the World Trade Organization (WTO) its decision to revoke the most-favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan on security grounds, PTI quoted an official as saying.

This would allow India to increase custom duties on goods imported from Pakistan. In 2017-18, India imported goods worth USD 488.5 million from Pakistan.

4:00pm: Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria will leave tonight for Delhi for the consultations tomorrow, sourced told ANI.

3.55pm: Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the family of a CRPF jawan from the state, reports PTI.

3.51pm: India calls its High Commissioner to Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria, to Delhi for consultations.

Sources to ANI: Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of yesterday's #PulwamaAttack. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/lYjHQKEhuC - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

3.47pm: Uddhav Thackeray on Pulwama attack: "Every citizen has only one reaction that enough of this rhetoric. Take decisive action once and for all. These attacks have exposed our intelligence network. If we are not getting information about the possible attacks, then what the intelligence services are doing? What the people at decision making level are doing? (The govt should) remove them, if they are unable to do their job."

3.38pm:India initiates process to revoke MFN statusto Pakistan. The commerce ministry will write to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) conveying India's request to withdraw the MFN status to Pakistan by invoking Article 21 of WTO, which is called the Security Exceptions Article.

3:21pm: Visuals of Union Minister Rajnath Singh and J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh lending a shoulder to mortal remains of a CRPF soldier.

Budgam: Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh lend a shoulder to mortal remains of a CRPF soldier. #PulwamaAttackpic.twitter.com/hF5CmYb1yR - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

#WATCH: Home Minister Rajnath Singh and J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh lend a shoulder to mortal remains of a CRPF soldier in Budgam. #PulwamaAttackpic.twitter.com/CN4pfBsoVr - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

A petition moved in Delhi High Court seeking to issue a direction to the press and electronic media to use 'respectful words on the martyrdom of soldiers' : ANI.

3:12pm: Slogans of 'Veer Jawan Amar Rahe' raised at CRPF camp in Budgam after wreath laying ceremony of soldiers who lost their lives in the Pulwama attack.

#WATCH Slogans of 'Veer Jawan Amar Rahe' raised at CRPF camp in Budgam after wreath laying ceremony of soldiers who lost their lives in #PulwamaAttackpic.twitter.com/BvBGDYGT4w - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

3:00pm: Budgam: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik and Army's Northern Command chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, pay tribute to CRPF personnel who lost their lives in #PulwamaAttackpic.twitter.com/nrdz5jh5Io

2:55pm: Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani said in a press statement, "Terrorism is a cancer in the region, and it requires collective efforts to root it out."

Afghanistan Pres statement: President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemns terror attack targeting CRPF personnel in J&K.Afghanistan expresses sympathy and deep condolences to the Indian government and people, and the families of the soldiers who fell victim to the incident. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/OFEbPaVu5C - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

2.45pm: Lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar and his wife and actress Shabana Azmi have cancelled their scheduled visit to Karachi. They were invited to appear for a programme on poet Kaifi Azmi in Pakistan.

2.40 pm: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has reached Srinagar. He is likely to meet top security officials later today to take stock of the situation in the state after the deadliest terror attack on a CRPF convoy Thursday evening.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh arrives in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir. #PulwamaAttackpic.twitter.com/pTOt2GGQUk - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

2.35pm: Pakistan High Commissioner to India, Sohail Mahmood, summoned by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.

#WATCH Delhi: Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood(on the left) leaves from MEA. He had been summoned by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale. #PulwamaAttackpic.twitter.com/0on0k0bPNX - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

2.32pm: IGP Jammu says: "Don't play into the hands of anti-national elements. They want to disturb our societal harmony".

Don't play into the hands of anti- national elements. They want to disturb our societal harmony. Defeat their designs. Dont get provoked. Maintain calm: IGP Jammu - J&K Police (@JmuKmrPolice) February 15, 2019

2.24pm: Curfew imposed in some areas of Kashmir, including bus stand, Nawabad, Bakshi Nagar, Peer Mitha, Pacca Danga, Channi Himmat, Janipur, Domana, and Bagh-E-Bahu areas.

2.16pm: The family of CRPF personnel Nasheer Ahmed in mourning at Rajouri; the Jawan lost his life in Pulwama terror attack.

Rajouri: Family of CRPF personnel Nasheer Ahmed in mourning. The Jawan lost his life in #PulwamaTerrorAttack yesterday. #JammuAndKashmirpic.twitter.com/KxMRujDCPy - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

2.13pm: No terrorist from within the country or outside, should be spared, says yoga guru Ramdev.

             l            ,        l                        ! pic.twitter.com/7a8IvD7rA4 - Swami Ramdev (@yogrishiramdev) February 14, 2019

1.58pm: The government should call for an emergency parliament session and abolish Article 370, says Sajjan Jindal.

The government should call for an emergency parliament session and abolish Article 370. Let the country see which party supports this and which doesn't. We have to draw the line right here! #PulwamaAttack@PMOIndia@narendramodi@RahulGandhi - Sajjan Jindal (@sajjanjindal) February 15, 2019

1.56pm: Sajjan Jindal, Chairman and MD of JSW Group, says: "It's high time we teach a lesson to the terrorists. We need to end it once and for all."

I strongly condemn the dastardly attack that martyred our CRPF braves. Our thoughts are with the deceased and prayers with those who got injured. #RIPBraveHearts - Sajjan Jindal (@sajjanjindal) February 15, 2019

1.45pm: Punjab Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu asks whether an entire nation can be blamed for a handful of people. "For a handful of people, can you blame the entire nation and can you blame an individual?...it (the attack) is a cowardly act and I condemn it firmly. Violence is always condemnable and those who did it must be punished."

1.34pm: Terrorist incidents in J&K in 2018:

Total 614 terror incidents were reported from Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, in which around 38 civilians were killed. India lost 91 security personnel and killed 257 terrorists.

1.29pm: DGP UP, OP Singh, observes two-minute silence to pay homage to the CRPF personnel killed in Pulwama Attack.

1.26pm: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh reaches Jammu and Kashmir. He will take stock of the security situation in the state in view of the terror attack.

1.18pm: Locals are protesting in several parts of the J&K against the ghastly terror attack on security forces.

Jammu and Kashmir: Locals protest in Kathua against Pakistan. #PulawamaTerrorAttackpic.twitter.com/o48ZcPo4QA - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

1.16pm: After the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting, the National Security Agency convenes a crucial meeting with top security officials, including DIB, DG R&AW, Special Secretary J&K, senior officials of Army and CRPF. The agencies are likely chalking out a crucial action plan to avenge the terror attack.

12.54pm: India-Pakistan trade: Total India-Pakistan trade has increased marginally to USD 2.41 billion in 2017-18 as against USD 2.27 billion in 2016-17. India imported goods worth USD 488.5 million in 2017-18 and exported goods worth USD 1.92 billion in that fiscal, reported PTI.

12.50pm: What is MFN status, and how will it affect Pakistan?

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated. The MFN status was accorded under WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this; and are members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which means they have to treat each other and the other WTO member countries as favoured trading partners in terms of imposing customs duties on goods. Removal of this status means India can now enhance customs duties to any level on goods coming from Pakistan, a trade expert told PTI.

12.46pm: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has announced Rs 20 lakh compensation to the family of CRPF personnel Tilak Raj who lost his life in Pulwama Attack.

12.13pm: Former PM Manmohan Singh says: "The Congress party stands in full support of our jawans and their families. We will do all that is necessary to keep this nation united."

12.11pm: "The entire opposition will stand together with our jawans and our government," says Rahul Gandhi.

12.11pm: "This is a terrible tragedy. This type of violence done against our security forces is absolutely disgusting. The aim of terrorism is to divide this country and we are not going to be divided," says Rahul Gandhi.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi: This is a time of mourning, sadness, & respect. We are fully supporting the govt of India and our security forces. We are not going to get into any other conversation apart from this. #PulwamaAttackpic.twitter.com/Dkfn5yh3KH - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

12.08pm: Former PM Manmohan Singh and Congress President Rahul Gandhi address media on terror attacks in Pulwama. "Today is the day of mourning. ...we shall never compromise with the terrorist forces."

LIVE: Former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress President @RahulGandhi address media on terror attacks in Pulwama. https://t.co/R18I4ID44P - Congress (@INCIndia) February 15, 2019

11.51am: Five suspects have been detained in Avantipura town of Pulwama.

11.37am: "Our party strongly condemns this terrorist attack, says BSP chief Mayawati.

-                     -                            - Mayawati (@Mayawati) February 14, 2019

11.21am: "If our neighbour which is totally isolated thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a big mistake," says PM Modi.

PM @narendramodi says free hand given to defence forces and nation stands with our forces, warns perpetrators will have to pay a huge price pic.twitter.com/YFo0Li5Y1N - Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) February 15, 2019

"I thank all the nations who have supported us and condemned this incident in the strongest of terms. A strong reply will be given to this attack," says Prime Minister Narednra Modi.

11.12am: "If our neighbour which is totally isolated in the world thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a big mistake," says PM Modi.

11.07am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the "security forces have been given full freedom" to take a punitive action against the terrorists.

PM Modi on #PulwamaAttack : The forces behind this act of terrorism & those responsible for it, will be definitely be punished. pic.twitter.com/ucSXnB9BvO - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

10.58am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi observes two-minute silence for the CRPF personnel martyred in the Pulwama terror attack.

Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi observes two-minute silence for the CRPF personnel who were killed in #PulwamaTerrorAttack yesterday. pic.twitter.com/PE9Y7Ydzbs - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

10.54am: India will ensure complete isolation of Pakistan at global level, says Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. "The 'most favoured nation' status which was granted to Pakistan, stands withdrawn."

Arun Jaitley: The 'most favoured nation' status which was granted to Pakistan, stands withdrawn https://t.co/OKHXS69Ukq - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

10.46AM: The Prime Minister of Bhutan says his country's prayers are with the grieved families.

Deeply saddened by the news of the horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir. Bhutan strongly condemns terrorist attack of any nature. Our prayers are with the grieved family and we are following the situation closely. - PM Bhutan (@PMBhutan) February 14, 2019

10.39am: Former army chief and Minister of State VK Singh says the government's action against the terror attack would be a well thought of decision. "It will be well thought of. What you do must have result. It is a very sad incident. Each incident in Kashmir is sad. Each incident tells you what needs to be done People on ground will come up with appropriate response," he says.

10.38am: The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government announces an-exgratia of Rs 25 lakh to the families of the 12 CRPF jawans from the state who were killed in the Pulwama terror attack.

10.30am: Sudhar Jaao Warna Sudhaar Denge (mend your ways or you will be taught a tough lesson), says cricketer Virender Sehwag.

Really pained by the cowardly attack on our CRPF in J&K in which our brave men have been martyred . No words are enough to describe the pain. I wish a speedy recovery to those injured.#SudharJaaoWarnaSudhaarDenge - Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 14, 2019

10.14am: Indian Air Force C-17 will carry the mortal remains of CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama terror attack.

10.10am: Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Pulwama terror attack: "We strongly condemn this brutal crime."

Russian President Vladimir Putin to President of India Ram Nath Kovind & PM Narendra Modi on #PulwamaAttack: Please accept the most sincere condolences. We strongly condemn this brutal crime. The perpetrators & sponsors of this attack, undoubtedly, should be duly punished. pic.twitter.com/nhHEwC9k51 - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

10.08am: The NIA team rushes to the Pulwama terror attack site; the entire blast attack area has been cordoned off by security officials.

10.05am: Some latest visuals from the Pulwama attack site.

Latest visuals from the site of #PulwamaTerrorAttack in Jammu and Kashmir. 40 CRPF soldiers lost their lives in the terror attack yesterday. pic.twitter.com/mCQpNvOxTW - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

10.00am: "The cowardly enemy will NOT weaken our resolve. We WILL wipe out every terrorist from the country," says Minister of State Rajyavardhan Rathore.

The cowardly enemy will NOT weaken our resolve. We WILL wipe out every terrorist from the country. We mourn the braveheart martyrs, and stand with their families in this difficult time. - Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) February 14, 2019

9.57am: The government has issued an advisory for the private media channels in wake of the terrorist attack in Pulwama.

9.56am: Former Army Chief Bikram Singh says it shows the emboldened instance of local terrorists.

Former Army Chief, Bikram Singh: But this thing where a local boy who has been radicalised, he has undertaken a 'fidayeen' action on a moving convoy, shows the emboldened instance of local terrorists, also the fact that radicalisation levels have gone up. https://t.co/ZlXRsCRjFe - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

9.49am: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, NSA Ajit Doval have also arrived at PM Modi's residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg for the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting.

Delhi: The meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security is underway at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. pic.twitter.com/y8aL7sytlu - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

9.45am: Who is Adil Ahmad Dar? Reports suggest the 22-year-old Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist who rammed his SUV on the CRPF convoy that killed 44 jawans lived just 10km from the attack site.

9.30am: Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi says she was outraged by the "barbarous attack" on the CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir and expressed hope that those responsible for it will be brought to justice. "My heart goes out to the loved ones of each and every victim. I share their grief and pain with all my heart. I sincerely hope that those responsible for this dastardly terror attack will be brought to justice and made to pay for this appalling act, that goes against every tenet of humanity," the former Congress chief said, reported PTI.

9.25am: Arun Jaitley has resumed the charge of Union Finance Minister days after he had handed over the responsibility to his ministerial colleague Piyush Goyal. Jaitley had gone to the US to received medical treatment. He will be present during the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence. Army Chief General Bipin Rawat will also be present during the meeting.

9.20am: In wake of the terrorist attack in Pulwama, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cancels all political programmes for today.

9.18am: The Minister of External Affairs statement on the Pulwama terror attack: "The Government of India is firmly and resolutely committed to take all necessary measures to safeguard national security. We are equally resolved to fight against the menace of terrorism. We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries."

9.17am: India has called the international community to support India's bid to ban Masood Azhar at the United Nations Security Council (UNCC) in the wake of the dastardly attack in Pulwama in Kashmir.

9.15am: Sibghatullah Ahmadi, Spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, says his country expresses its "condolences and sympathy with the people and the government of the friendly country India".

Foreign Ministry Statement Regarding Recent Terrorist Attack in #Jammu & Kashmir of #India Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of #Afghanistan strongly condemns the recent terrorist attack that took place in Jammu and Kashmir of #India. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/bnDYM3B97J - Sibghatullah Ahmadi (@Sibghat_Ah) February 14, 2019

9.09am: Pakistan's foreign office issues a statement, saying the attack in Pulwama is a matter of grave concern. "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations."

9.08am: "Jaish-e-Mohammed has carried out this terror attack. We assure the country that we will undertake whatever it takes to avenge this," says Rajnath Singh.

         - -                               - Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) February 14, 2019

9.03am: Massive anti-Pakistan protests rocked Jammu and Kashmir's winter capital on Thursday night. Raising anti-Pakistan, anti-terrorist slogans, the protestors demanded action against Pakistan for "sponsoring terrorism in the Valley."

Varanasi: Locals hold protest against Pakistan and terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar over the #PulwamaAttack. pic.twitter.com/fXqXuRue0F - ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 15, 2019

8.50am: Some latest images from the Pulwama Terror Attack site in Jammu and Kashmir.

Latest Visuals from the site of #PulwamaTerrorAttack in Jammu and Kashmir. 40 CRPF soldiers lost their lives in the terror attack yesterday. pic.twitter.com/Wv9r7yW9hk - ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

8:25am: PM Modi said to chair Cabinet meet on security

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet a Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) to discuss the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir

7:55am: US condemns Pulwama attack, asks countries to not provide safe haven to terrorists.

United States has strongly condemed the terror attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pulwama and asked the countries to deny safe haven and support for terrorists.

7:45am: Pulwama attack 'matter of grave concern': Pakistan

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said, "We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in Valley."

EDITED BY MANOJ SHARMA
The attack on a large paramilitary convoy of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Jammu and Kashmir Thursday has invited sharp condemnation from the NDA government with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announcing the withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. The decision has been taken to isolate Pakistan economically and diplomatically. But what is MFN and how will its withdrawal affect Pakistan economically?

What is MFN?

Every member country of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is required to accord the MFN status to all other member countries as is specified under Article 1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), 1994.

The primary objective of WTO is to monitor trade and resolve trade related issues amongst the member nations. However, MFN itself is a misnomer; it actually means non-discrimination amongst member nations.

Being a WTO member, India accorded Pakistan MFN status in 1996 but Pakistan has not yet reciprocated with the same status to India. The main items India imports from Pakistan are cement, petroleum products, fresh fruits, finished leather, bulk minerals and ores. The export items include cotton, cotton yarn, chemicals, plastics, manmade yarn and dyes to Pakistan.

Pakistan decided to accord the MFN status to India in 2011 with the objective to make it effective from 1 January, 2013, but failed to do so. In March 2012 it came out with a 'Negative List' of 1,209 prohibited product imports from India which means India is not allowed to export these items to Pakistan.

Also Read: Pakistan rejects link to Pulwama terror attack, calls it a 'matter of grave concern'

How will the MFN withdrawal affect Pakistan?

The decision to revoke the MFN status to Pakistan will mean that India can increase custom duties on goods imported from Pakistan up to the bound level duty rates. Currently, India's customs duties on goods to WTO members are below the bound level rates. The current customs duties imposed are called applied rates and the level at which the duties can be increased are known as bound rates.

In terms of numbers, India imported goods worth $489 million in 2017-18 from Pakistan and exported goods worth $1.92 billion.

Meanwhile, the total imports from Pakistan increased 7.70 per cent from $454 million in the year 2016-17 to $489 million from April to November in 2017-18. The total exports to Pakistan also went up 5.59 per cent from $1.82 billion in 2016-17 to $1.92 billion in April-November in 2017-18. India accounts for 1.55 per cent of Pakistan's imports and 2.55 per cent of its exports.

The top five items India imported from Pakistan in the year 2017-18 were mineral fuels and oils, edible fruits and nuts, salt; sulphur; Earths and stones; plasting material, lime and cement, fertiliser and ores. Whereas, the top five items exported by India to Pakistan in the year 2017-18 include cotton, organic materials, plastic, dyes and pharmaceutical products.

Since the bilateral trade between India and Pakistan is low, many experts believe that MFN makes no difference to both the countries. This move is only symbolic and that the chances of illegal trade between the countries will increase.

MFN withdrawal process

India announced to initiate the process of revoking the MFN status of 23 years to Pakistan today. It has been revoked for the first time since 1996 when India granted the status to Pakistan.

The process of moving the communication to WTO has begun. According to Commerce Ministry sources, the ministry will now write to WTO to formally inform it of the withdrawal of MFN status to Pakistan by invoking Article 21 of WTO which is called the Security Exceptions Article. Pakistan cannot withdraw the status as it never gave India the MFN status.

Since MFN entails least possible tariffs and highest import quotas, it is only beneficial for developing countries giving them wider access to the markets of the member countries at much lesser costs.

Also Read: Pulwama terror attack: 22-year-old JeM suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar lived 10km away from attack site
The meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded on a strong note, with the Indian government withdrawing the symbolic 'Most Favoured Nation' status from Pakistan. India has also said that it would isolate Pakistan at the international level after this dastardly attack on the Indian jawans, which left 44 CRPF personnel dead.

The meeting took place at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg in New Delhi against the backdrop of deadliest Pulwama attack in Jammu & Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the sacrifices of "our brave security personnel shall not go in vain." US has warned Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven to all terror groups operating in its soil. However, Pakistan has strongly rejected Indian media and government's allegations of the country's link to the strike without probe.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Home Minister Rajnath Singh , NSA Ajit Doval, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley attended the CCS meeting. PM Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cancelled all the political programmes following the terror attack in Kashmir. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off Vande Bharat Express. Senior officials from National Security Guard, National Investigative Agency had also left for Jammu and Kashmir to join the investigative team of Phulwama attack. Home Minister Rajnath Singh will also leave for Srinagar to join the probe team.

Besides, Indian Air Force C-17 will also be flown to the attack spot to get the mortal remains of CRPF personnel killed in Phulwama terror attack.

A convoy of around 2,500 CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel was targeted by a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar. He was driving an SUV carrying around 200 kg IED explosives. The vehicle rammed into one of the buses carrying jawans, leaving several body parts strewn around the area.

Massive anti-Pakistan protests have rocked Jammu and Kashmir's winter capital. Demonstrations and candle light marches were held after the attack. Braving the rains, several people took to the streets in Jewel Chowk, Purani Mandi, Rehari, Janipur, Gandhinagar, Bakshi Nagar, Muthi, Talab Tilloo and Satwari and protested against the killings.

Soon after the attack Prime Minister Modi, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and several global leaders condemned the attack. A statement was iisued by MEA which stated, "This terror group is led by the international terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by the Pakistani government to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under Pakistan's control and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity."

(Edited by Sameer Gaur)

Also read: Pakistan rejects link to Pulwama terror attack, calls it a matter of grave concern
Home Minister Rajnath Singh Thursday assured the people of the country that the terror attack on a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir, carried out by Pakistan-sponsored Jaish-e-Mohammed, will be avenged.

In a statement, he said the central government is determined to foil the designs of those who want to disrupt peace through such a terror attack "sponsored and sheltered by Pakistan".

"Jaish-e-Mohammed has carried out this terror attack. We assure the country that we will undertake whatever it takes to avenge this," he said.

Singh will be visiting Srinagar Friday to take stock of the situation in the wake of the attack on the convoy that killed at least 39 CRPF personnel.

He will also hold review meetings with senior security and police officials to make ground level assessment and review further operational actions.

Singh has cancelled all his political engagements in Bihar Friday.

He called up Governor Satya Pal Malik, who apprised him about the prevailing situation in the state. Singh also spoke to National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Director of Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain and Director General of CRPF R R Bhatnagar and gave them necessary instructions, a home ministry official said.

In a tweet, Singh said, "Today's dastardly attack on CRPF in Pulwama (J&K) is extremely painful and disturbing. I bow to each and every CRPF jawan who has sacrificed his life in service to the nation. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured."

The home ministry is also closely monitoring the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, which is currently under the President's rule.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi may meet on Friday to take stock of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

The CCS, the country's top decision making body on strategic affairs, comprises the Home Minister, the Defence Minister, the External Affairs Minister and the Finance Minister besides the Prime Minister.

At least 39 CRPF personnel were killed in Pulwama when the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in.

This is one of the worst terror strikes in the state since the Uri attack in 2016.
Budget carrier Indigo Friday cancelled around 130 flights owing to acute pilot shortage along with NOTAMs at some airports in the country, a source said. "IndiGo has cancelled around 130 flights for Friday as it continues to face shortage of pilots," the source said.

These however are the scheduled cancellations. Indigo has not cancelled any additional flights, according to the source. The dropped flights account for almost 10 per cent of IndiGo's operations out of 1,300 flights it operates per day with a fleet of 210 planes. Meanwhile, the airline refused to issue a formal statement regarding this matter.

Also Read: Why Indigo has cancelled so many flights up till March-end

A query sent to IndiGo spokesperson and also to its chief operating officer Wolfgang Prock-Shauer remained unanswered. The budget carrier has been cancelling flights since last Saturday after rain and hailstorm hit the Delhi-NCR region last week.

On Thursday it did not operate as many as 70 flights, citing reasons like planned cancellations and partial closure of the Bengaluru airport due to the Air Show. "As stated earlier, the anticipated cancellations are 30 flights per day. The operations will be completely normalised by the start of the summer schedule from March 31. "Additionally, a NOTAM in Bangalore started effective today (February 14), which caused additional 40 flight cancellations, rescheduling for which had been completed a month back and passengers were informed and re-accommodated accordingly," the airline said in its earlier statement.

It had cancelled 49 flights on Wednesday as well. "The cancellations on February 13 were caused by several factors like anticipated weather conditions on February 14 and NOTAMS at various airports. This resulted in extended duty times which then made it necessary to re-roster our crew and optimise our operations," it said in a statement on Wednesday. Further, the airline said it has decided to curtail its schedule for the remaining period of this month by "approximately 30 flights a day". "This is in order to stabilise its operation and adjust crew rosters due to the reasons mentioned above. Passengers are in the process of being informed and re-accommodated," the carrier had said.
Oil rose for a third day on Thursday to reach its highest so far this year as financial markets drew support from investor optimism that the United States and China could resolve their trade dispute. Consumer News and Business Channe reports in its article US crude rises 1%, settling at $54.41, on US-China trade optimism, OPEC output cuts that the price of crude has risen 20 percent this year, driven primarily by the prospect of a decline in oil supply from OPEC and other top exporters such as Russia.

"This rally that we're seeing over the last two to three days is completely justified when you put the predicted OPEC production cuts into your global oil supply and demand equation," Tamas Varga of PVM Oil Associates said.

Brent crude futures were up 95 cents at $64.56 a barrel by 1007 GMT, down from a session high of $64.81, while U.S. crude futures rose 56 cents to $54.46 a barrel.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia and Oman have agreed to cut crude output by a joint 1.2 million barrels per day, 800,000 bpd of which will come from OPEC.

Adding to the positive backdrop was data showing a surprise increase in China's exports in January, as well as a sharp rise in imports of crude oil ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays in early February.

European stock markets rallied following a flurry of upbeat earnings reports and after U.S. President Donald Trump said talks between Washington and Beijing over trade were going "very well".

This week's positive tone in oil futures, however, has masked a dislocation in the physical markets. The steep rise in availability of U.S. shale oil is leading not only to a build in domestic inventories of crude, but also in refined products.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday U.S. crude stocks rose to their highest since November 2017 as refiners cut runs to the lowest since October 2017 to combat tumbling margins, particularly for gasoline.

Prices for physical barrels of light, sweet crude that yield large quantities of gasoline have come under pressure. Heavier, sour grades that yield higher-value middle distillates such as diesel, like Russian Urals, have benefited from OPEC's output cuts and U.S. sanctions on competing grades such as Iran's.

Crude inventories rose for a fourth week in a row, by 3.6 million barrels, compared with forecasts for a gain of 2.7 million barrels.

Stocks of gasoline increased by 408,000 barrels to a near-record 258.3 million.
By Michael MartinaBEIJING (Reuters) - Talks between China and the United States this week made important progress, President Xi Jinping told top U.S. trade negotiators on Friday, adding that efforts would continue in Washington next week to resolve their bruising trade war. Xi met U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin after a full week of trade negotiations at senior and deputy levels in Beijing, and called for a deal both sides could accept, state media said.U.S. duties on $200 billion worth of imports from China are set to rise to 25 percent ...
By David Shepardson and Mai NguyenWASHINGTON/HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese airlines will be able to fly to the United States and codeshare with American carriers after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration declared the Southeast Asian country complies with international safety standards.The U.S. aviation safety agency said in a statement late on Thursday that it was awarding Vietnam a "Category 1" rating, two weeks after Reuters reported the decision was expected."It's recognition by a very developed aviation authority which requires a very high standard of safety and security," Vietnamese ...
By David Lawder and Michael MartinaWASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - The Trump administration's top two negotiators in trade talks with China will meet on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but there has been no decision to extend a March 1 U.S. deadline for a deal, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Thursday."The vibe in Beijing is good," Kudlow told Fox News Channel of the U.S.-China talks that are set to conclude on Friday in Beijing.But Kudlow's upbeat assessment contrasted with reports from two people familiar with the talks, who said progress has been difficult on the ...
The United States and China will resume trade talks next week in Washington with time running short to ease their bruising trade war, but US President Donald Trump repeated on Friday that he may extend a March 1 deadline for a deal and keep tariffs on Chinese goods from rising. Both the United States and China reported progress in five days of negotiations in Beijing this week. Trump, speaking at a White House news conference, said the United States was closer than ever before to "having a real trade deal" with China and said he would be "honoured" to remove ...
By Arnab Paul(Reuters) - The Sensex and Nifty followed their Asian peers lower, dragged by drugmakers, as muted domestic earnings and weak U.S. retail sales hurt risk appetite.Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd was the top loser on the NSE index, falling nearly 30 percent after research firm Jefferies said 11 FDA observations under Form 483 on a unit of the drug firm included four repeat observations. The generic drugmaker's Hyderabad-based plant was marked by the U.S. Food And Drug Administration last week. The FDA Form 483 notifies a company's management of objectionable conditions. That had ...
prices rallied on Friday, with Brent crude futures hitting fresh 2019 highs amid U.S. sanctions against and and supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Brent pushed above $65 per barrel for the first time in 2019, before edging back to $64.91 a barrel by 0143 GMT. That was still 0.5 percent above the last close.

The international benchmark for prices is at a near 3-month high and set for a 4.5 percent gain for the week.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $54.74 per barrel, up 33 cents, or 0.6 percent, from their last settlement.

and some non-affiliated suppliers including are withholding supply in order to tighten the market and prop up prices.

The producer group known as OPEC+ has agreed to cut crude output by a joint 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd). Top exporter said it would cut even more in March than the deal called for.

has cut its production by 80,000-90,000 barrels per day from its level in October, Moscow's reference level for its cuts, the country's minister said.

of Merrill Lynch said in a note that "Brent should average $70 per barrel in 2019, helped by voluntary (Saudi, Kuwait, UEA) and involuntary (Venezuela, Iran) declines in supply."

The U.S. added that it expects "a 2.5 million barrels per day drop in supply from 4Q18 into 4Q19."

Standing against the supply cuts is soaring U.S. crude production, which rose by more than 2 million bpd last year, to 11.9 million bpd, making the world's biggest oil producer.

Most analysts expect U.S. output to rise past 12 million bpd soon, and perhaps even hit 13 million bpd by the end of the year.

(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.)
By Michael MartinaBEIJING (Reuters) - Top U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators had "productive meetings", U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a tweet on Friday, as the world's largest economies wound down two days of high-level talks to resolve their bruising trade war.Mnuchin did not elaborate on the discussions he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, a top economic advisor to President Xi Jinping, who the two U.S. officials met later on Friday in Beijing.The U.S. delegation had a banquet with Chinese counterparts at a Beijing hotel ...
By Tanvi MehtaBENGALURU (Reuters) - Beleaguered Indian carrier Jet Airways is seeking an $840 million bailout from shareholders and a state-backed fund, Business Television India said, after earlier approving a deal with its lenders to help plug a billion-dollar funding hole.Jet will receive 15 billion rupees ($210 million) from the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund in return for a 20 percent stake and it may also seek to raise 45 billion rupees via a rights issue priced at 125-150 rupees per share, the news channel reported, citing unnamed sources.The funds would come as a huge ...
(Reuters) - More than a year of work to bring Amazon.com Inc's headquarters and tens of thousands of jobs to New York City ended on Thursday with a couple of phone calls.Jay Carney, the company's top policy executive, told New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that the world's biggest online retailer would not go ahead with plans to invest $2.5 billion to build a second head office in the New York City borough of Queens.Carney, a former press secretary for President Barack Obama, told New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio the same shortly after.Abruptly scuttling its Big Apple plans blindsided Amazon's ...
By Nidhi VermaNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has asked one buyer of Venezuelan oil to consider paying the South American nation's national oil company PDVSA in a way that avoids the U.S. financial system, an Indian government source said, after Washington imposed fresh sanctions on Venezuela last month.The United States is seeking to cut off Venezuela's oil revenue and pressure the nation's President Nicolas Maduro to step down after it recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as head of state. The sanctions mean that if oil buyers pay PDVSA through the U.S. banking system, the funds could be ...
By Joseph AxNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wasted no time on Thursday in calling Amazon's decision to scrap plans to build a major New York outpost with nearly $3 billion (2.34 billion pounds) in city and state incentives a big victory for progressive politicians.The democratic socialist congresswoman has become the face of the Democratic Party's ascendant left wing, thanks in part to her upset victory last year in a district near the proposed Amazon.com Inc development."Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & ...
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc's decision on Thursday to scrap its proposal to locate a second headquarters in the Queens borough of New York City ignited a sea of duelling reactions on Twitter, with some calling it a victory for working people while others said it meant that fewer people would work.Some people who praised the pullout included references to the wealth of Amazon's chief executive and founder, Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man with an estimated fortune of about $135 billion, while many who saw the decision as a blow to New York cited the loss of potentially tens of ...
Countries from across the globe, including the US, Russia, Australia, France, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh, have condemned the Pulwama terror attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and extended support to India in the fight against terrorism.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a JeM suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Condemning the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday said perpetrators and sponsors of the attack should be brought to book and reiterated his country's support for further strengthening counterterrorist cooperation with India.

In a message to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin said, "...We strongly condemn this brutal crime. The perpetrators and sponsors of this attack, undoubtedly, should be duly punished."



The US specifically singled out Pakistan in its statement condemning the attack.

In a stern message to Pakistan, the White House asked Islamabad to "immediately end" its "support" to all terror groups and not to provide "safe haven" to them.

"The US calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

"This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the US and India," she said.

Australia's political leaders also condemned the "heinous" terror attack.

"We convey our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and all those injured. Our thoughts are with my friend Prime Minister @narendramodi and the Indian people," Prime Minister Scott Morrison tweeted.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten said it was an atrocious attack. "To the family and friends of the soldiers killed and injured - we send our deepest condolences, support, and hope for a timely recovery for the injured," he said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia said it stood with India's fight against terrorism and extremism and denounced as "cowardly" the suicide attack.

The strong condemnation came days ahead of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's state visit to India next week for talks with the top Indian leadership.

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said the country "condemns this terrorist act" and reiterated its "principled and unequivocal position rejecting all forms of violence and terrorism".

Afghanistan, which has lost a number of its armed personnel to terrorist attacks, emphasised the need for closer cooperation between countries in the fight against terror.

"The Govt of I.R #AFG expresses its condolences and sympathy with the ppl and govt of the friendly country #India due to the loss of 40 #Indian Police, and once again stresses the need for solidarity and closer cooperation of countries in the fight against this common enemy," Sibghatullah Ahmadi, Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said.

French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affair Jean-Yves Le Drian extended support to India, saying France has always been and always will be by India's side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms.

"I most firmly condemn the heinous attack just perpetrated in India... France has always been and always will be by India's side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms...I call on every State to fight effectively against terrorist networks and their financing channels and to prevent cross-border movements of terrorist groups, such as the JeM, which has claimed responsibility for this attack," he said.

Nepal said it unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

Condemning the attack, Maldives Preseident Ibrahim Mohamed Solih tweeted that the Maldives will continue to work with India and the international community to combat terrorism.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, "Bangladesh remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and maintains a zero-tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities. We would continue to work and cooperate with international community including India to eradicate menace of terrorism."



Other Islamic countries -- Jordan, Lebanon and Bahrain -- also condemned the attack.

Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering tweeted, "Bhutan is deeply saddened by the of the horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir. Bhutan strongly condemns terrorist attack of any nature..."



Sri Lankan premier Ranil Wickremesinghe and leader of the Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa condemned the terrorist attack and offered their condolences to Prime Minister Modi.

China also expressed deep "shock" over the terror attack carried out by the Jaish suicide bomber.

"China has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

Greece, Estonia, South Africa, Portugal, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore and Dominican Republic also condemned the attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Countries from across the globe, including the US, Russia, Australia, France, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh, have condemned the brutal terror attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group (JeM) and extended support to in the fight against terrorism.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in and when a (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in district.

Condemning the attack, Russian Friday said perpetrators and sponsors of the attack should be brought to book and reiterated his country's support for further strengthening counterterrorist cooperation with

In a message to and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin said, "Please accept the most sincere condolences in connection with the loss of Indian law enforcement officers in the terrorist act in the state of and We strongly condemn this brutal crime. The perpetrators and sponsors of this attack, undoubtedly, should be duly punished.

"I would like to reiterate the readiness for further strengthening counterterrorist cooperation with Indian partners. In Russia, we share the grief of friendly people of and hope for speedy recovery of the injured," he said.

The US specifically singled out in its statement condemning the attack.

In a stern message to Pakistan, the has asked Islamabad to "immediately end" its "support" to all terror groups and not to provide "safe haven" to them.

"The US calls on to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region," Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

"This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the US and India," she said in the statement issued by the

Australia's political leaders also condemned the "heinous" terror attack. "We convey our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and all those injured. Our thoughts are with my friend Prime Minister @narendramodi and the Indian people," Prime Minister tweeted on Friday.

Opposition Bill Shorten said it was an atrocious attack. "To the family and friends of the soldiers killed and injured - we send our deepest condolences, support, and hope for a timely recovery for the injured," he said in a statement.

said it stood with India's fight against terrorism and extremism and denounced as "cowardly" the suicide attack.

The strong condemnation came days ahead of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's state visit to India next week for talks with the top Indian leadership.

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said in a statement that the country "condemns this terrorist act", and reiterated the country's "principled and unequivocal position rejecting all forms of violence and terrorism".

French Minister of and Foreign Affair Jean-Yves Le Drian extended support to India, saying has always been and always will be by India's side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms.

"I most firmly condemn the heinous attack just perpetrated in India. My thoughts go out to the families of the fallen soldiers and my deepest solidarity to the and people. has always been and always will be by India's side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms."



" I call on every State to fight effectively against terrorist networks and their financing channels and to prevent cross-border movements of terrorist groups, such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed, which has claimed responsibility for this attack," Drian said.

said its unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and believes that such heinous acts of terrorism cannot be justified on any ground.

Condemning the attack, Preseident Ibrahim Mohamed Solih tweeted that the will continue to work with India and the international community to combat terrorism in our region and the world at large.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, " remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and maintains a zero-tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities. We would continue to work and cooperate with international community including India to eradicate menace of terrorism," Hasina added.

Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, tweeted, " is deeply saddened by the news of the horrific terrorist attack in strongly condemns terrorist attack of any nature. Our prayers are with the grieved family and we are following the situation closely."



Sri Lankan Prime Minister and of the Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa condemned the terrorist attack and offered their condolences to Prime Minister Modi.

also expressed deep "shock" over the terror attack carried out by the Jaish suicide bomber.

" has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families," spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang told a media briefing in when asked about the incident.
A 42-year-old woman Friday sought the Calcutta High Court's permission to terminate her 28-week pregnancy after medical reports suggested that her child would be born with Down Syndrome, along with problems in the oesophagus, heart and abdomen.

Her lawyers, Kallol Basu and Apalak Basu, approached the division bench of the court after its single bench refused permission for the abortion.

Stating that losing a child is a mother's worst nightmare, the woman pleaded that her age and financial status will come in the way of giving the child required treatment and care.

The lawyers also told the division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice B Somadder that the child would suffer in absence of proper medical care owing to the family's humble financial condition.

They said that the petitioner, a homemaker, would approach a registered private facility for the medical process, if permission is granted, as government hospitals are averse to aborting a foetus at such an advanced stage.

Her husband (48) works in a private firm, earning a very modest salary, they reasoned.

The couple have another school-going child who is 13 years old.

The division bench, also comprising Justice Arindam Mukherjee, concluded the hearing and reserved its judgment, which it is likely to be delivered at the beginning of the coming week, given the urgency in the matter.

According to the Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971, permission of high court is required to abort a foetus which is 20 weeks old or more.

A single bench of the high court had on January 29 refused permission to the woman to terminate her pregnancy, when the foetus was 26-week old.

A medical board at the state-run SSKM Hospital had in a report to the court said the prognosis of the baby is likely to be better if it is delivered on completion of the full term of pregnancy.

The board also said test reports have suggested that the foetus was suffering from Down Syndrome, along with defects in the oesophagus, heart and abdomen.

Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty had noted that the report did not mention any threat to the petitioner's life.

Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder that involves birth defects, intellectual disabilities and characteristic facial features.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India's decision to withdraw the 'most favoured nation' (MFN) status to Pakistan will adversely impact the neighbouring country's economy which is already in "deep trouble", Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said Friday.

India on Friday revoked the MFN status to Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.

"The impact of India's decision to withdraw MFN status on Pakistan economy, which is already in deep trouble, could be significant.

"On the other hand, India's exports are marginally dependent on Pakistan's market and these can be successively diverted to markets in the Middle East," Kumar told PTI.

He further said India's large market will now be closed for Pakistani exports.

Noting that India has always refrained from taking any trade and commerce related measures despite repeated provocations from Pakistan, Kumar said, "India has been forced to take the step of withdrawing MFN status for Pakistan after the latest extreme provocation in Kashmir."



In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the MFN status to Pakistan stands revoked.

Withdrawal of the MFN status would significantly hit Pakistan's exports to India, which stood at USD 488.5 million (around Rs 3,482.3 crore) in 2017-18.

The MFN status was accorded under World Trade Organisation's (WTO) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this, and are members of the WTO.

Under the MFN pact, a WTO member country is obliged to treat the other trading nation in a non-discriminatory manner, especially with regard to customs duty and other levies. Withdrawal of the status would mean that India could impose heavy customs duties on Pakistani goods.

In 2012, Pakistan had committed to giving the MFN status to India but retracted later due to domestic opposition. Instead of MFN, Pakistan said it was working on granting Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) status to India but that also was not announced.

Total India-Pakistan trade has increased marginally to USD 2.41 billion in 2017-18 as against USD 2.27 billion in 2016-17. India imported goods worth USD 488.5 million in 2017-18 and exported goods worth USD 1.92 billion in that fiscal.

India mainly exports raw cotton, cotton yarn, chemicals, plastics, manmade yarn and dyes to Pakistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya, wanted in India on alleged fraud and charges amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crores, has filed his application in the UK High Court, seeking permission to appeal against an extradition order signed by the British Home Secretary.

The 63-year-old businessman, who remains on bail on an extradition warrant in the UK, made the application in the Administrative Court division of the High Court on Thursday, 10 days after Home Secretary Sajid Javid signed off on the order triggering a 14-day window for his appeal application.

The application has been sent for a judge on papers decision, which is expected any time between two to four weeks, a UK court representative said.

A judge on papers decision will involve a High Court judge determining the merits of the application and if it is accepted, the case will proceed to a substantive hearing in the next few months' time.

In the event that Mallya's application is rejected at this stage, he will have the option to submit a renewal form.

The renewal process will lead to a 30-minute oral hearing during which Mallya's legal team and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) - on behalf of the Indian government - will renew their respective claims for and against an appeal for a judge to determine if it can proceed to a full hearing.

The process, to be heard in the Royal Courts of Justice in London, could take months as the listing of a hearing will depend on the availability of judges and other factors.

Following the outcome at the High Court level, both sides could apply for the right to appeal to the Supreme Court, which would involve at least another six weeks. However, that process is more complex as the UK High Court must certify that the appeal involves a point of law of general public importance, and either the High Court or the gives leave for the appeal to be made.

Mallya and his legal team have not made a renewed comment in relation to the appeal but soon after the UK home secretary had signed off on the Westminster Magistrates' Court order in favour of extradition on February 4, the businessman had taken to social media to confirm his plans to seek an appeal.

After the decision was handed down on December 10, 2018 by the Westminster Magistrates Court, I stated my intention to appeal. I could not initiate the appeal process before a decision by the Home Secretary. Now I will initiate the appeal process, he said in a Twitter statement earlier this month.

The former boss of the now-defunct took to Twitter again this week to call on Prime Minister Modi to accept his settlement offer in relation to the airline's loan default.

I respectfully ask why the Prime Minister is not instructing his Banks to take the money I have put on the table so he can at least claim credit for full recovery of public funds lent to Kingfisher, he said, adding that his offer to the Karnataka High Court should not be dismissed as frivolous because it is a perfectly tangible, sincere, honest and readily achievable offer.

Mallya has been based in the UK since March 2016 and remains on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017.

In her verdict at the end of a year-long extradition trial in December last year, Judge Emma Arbuthnot had ruled that the flashy billionaire had a case to answer in the Indian courts.

The court had also dismissed any bars to extradition on the grounds of the prison conditions under which the businessman would be held, as the judge accepted the Indian government's assurances that he would receive all necessary medical care at Barrack 12 in Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail.

India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty signed in 1992 and in force since November 1993. So far only one successful extradition has taken place from the UK to India under the treaty - that of Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India in 2016 to face trial in connection with his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.
The Vatican's envoy to France is being investigated for sexual assault after he was accused of molesting a official at the Paris mayor's office during a ceremony last month, a judicial source told AFP.

The envoy, 74-year-old Luigi Ventura, has been based in Paris since 2009 and serves as a diplomat for Pope Francis.

He was accused of molesting a man at the Paris townhall on January 17 where mayor Anne Hidalgo gave a New Year's address to diplomats, religious leaders and civil society figures.

A complaint was filed by the mayor's office on January 24 which led to an investigation being opened the day after, the judicial source said. Le Monde newspaper first reported the investigation and the allegations against Ventura on Friday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal Friday said going ahead with the inauguration of the Vande Bharat Express according to schedule was a message to terrorists behind the Pulwama attacks that India will not bow down to terror.

He said the decision to continue with the flagging off programme was inspired by the way Mumbai reacted by showing their resilience in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

"The way Mumbai answered them, with everybody going to their work discharging their responsibilities, similarly the Vande Bharat Express today was dedicated to the nation on time in the service of its people.

"This is the biggest answer to the terrorists. Neither our jawans nor our people would ever bow before them," he said on board the train which is on its inaugural run between Delhi and Varanasi on Friday.

Goyal said the country and its soldiers are capable of answering the terrorists in a befitting manner.

India's first semi-high speed train, the Vande Bharat Express, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday from the New Delhi Railway Station amid sombre mood in the backdrop of the terror attack in Pulwama.

Goyal and members of the Railway Board were present on the occasion and will be on board the train on its inaugural journey.

"I am grateful to designers and engineers behind the Vande Bharat Express which will take its first trip from Delhi to Varanasi today. With our sincerity and hardwork in the last four-and-half years we have tried to improve railways," the prime minister said at the flagging off event.

The train will travel from Delhi to Varanasi in nine hours and forty-five minutes. This includes stoppage time of 40 minutes each at Kanpur and Allahabad where there will be special programmes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal Friday said going ahead with the inauguration of the Vande Bharat Express was a befitting reply to the terrorists who perpetrated the Pulwama attacks in which 40 CRPF jawans lost their lives.

He said the decision to continue with the flagging off programme was inspired by the way Mumbai reacted by showing their resilience in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

"The way Mumbai answered them, with everybody going to their work discharging their responsibilities, similarly the Vande Bharat Express today was dedicated to the nation on time in the service of its people.

"This is the biggest answer to the terrorists. Neither our jawans nor our people would ever bow before them," he said on board the train which is on its inaugural run between Delhi and Varanasi on Firday.

Goyal said the country and its soldiers are capable of answering the terrorists in a befitting manner.

India's first semi-high speed train, the Vande Bharat Express, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday from the New Delhi Railway Station amid sombre mood in the backdrop of the terror attack in Pulwama.

Goyal and members of the Railway Board were present on the occasion and will be on board the train on its inaugural journey



"I am grateful to designers and engineers behind the Vande Bharat Express which will take its first trip from Delhi to Varanasi today. With our sincerity and hardwork in the last four-and-half years we have tried to improve railways," the prime minister said at the flagging off event.

The train will travel from Delhi to Varanasi in nine hours and forty-five minutes. This includes stoppage time of 40 minutes each at Kanpur and Allahabad where there will be special programmes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Patricia Oliver, FAIA, dean of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design, has been named one of 2019s Distinguished Professor Award laureates by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.

The dean of the University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design, Patricia Belton Oliver, FAIA, has been named one of 2019s Distinguished Professor Award laureates by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. The ACSA represents more than 40,000 architecture faculty and students worldwide and bestows the honor annually to an elite group of educators for their notable work in building design, community collaborations, scholarship and service.

In 2010, Oliver became the first female dean of the Universitys Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design. She has also served as senior vice president of educational planning and architecture at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

During her tenure at UH, the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design was named among the top 35 Most Admired Architecture Schools in America by Design Intelligence, an independent company that is dedicated to the business success or organizations in architecture, engineering, construction and design.

Oliver has implemented several new programs including designLAB, the professional/research arm of the college, the Hines International Studio and the Center for Sustainability and Resilience.

I am honored to receive this award as the college continues to make a name for itself on the global stage. Architecture students and faculty have earned international acclaim for their work, and I expect that to continue, said Oliver.

Work by UH architects and design students has been featured at the world-renowned Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin, Germany, and the Venice Biennale, where leading architecture entries from around the world are invited to present.

Dean Oliver shares the 2019 Distinguished Professor laureate with Thomas Barrie, North Carolina State University; Thomas Fischer, University of Minnesota; Stephen Schreiber, University of Massachusetts Amherst; and Andres Mignucci, University of Puerto Rico. She will accept her award Friday, March 29 at the ACSA annual meeting in Pittsburgh.
Top US economic officials were to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday after wrapping up trade talks in Beijing without announcing any progress.

The world's two biggest economies were aiming to at least end the discussions on deep trade differences with enough goodwill to avoid an escalation of their tariff war.

The high-level engagement began Thursday after President Donald Trump suggested he may extend his March 1 deadline for China to make significant concessions on trade if enough progress was made this week in Beijing.

The talks pitted a visiting delegation led by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin against one fronted by China's economic czar Liu He.

They ended around mid-day on Friday and the delegations parted with nothing announced.

Attention now shifts to a planned meeting between the US officials and Xi on Friday afternoon.

Trump's economic advisor Larry Kudlow had earlier said Xi's willingness to meet was a "very good sign." "They're covering all the ground. They're hard at it," Kudlow said of the talks.

He also had said that "the vibe is good," though there'd been "no decision" yet on extending Trump's tariff truce.

Trump had originally threatened to escalate tariffs on China after March 1, but this week eased up on that ultimatum pending the outcome in Beijing, with Bloomberg reporting he could push it back 60 days.

But multiple reports indicated little progress was made in the Chinese capital on thorny issues such as US demands that Beijing stop requiring forced technology transfers by foreign firms as a condition of doing business in its market, and reduce subsidies that favour domestic companies.

The Wall Street Journal said China had offered to boost imports of US goods with promises of major purchases of semiconductors and other items, but that officials "remained deadlocked on a number of issues".

Bloomberg reported that the two sides failed to narrow the gap on Chinese structural reforms wanted by Washington.

Both cited anonymous sources.

Mnuchin and Lighthizer returned to their hotel after the talks ended but did not speak to the media.

The United States accuses China of a range of unfair practices, including erecting myriad barriers to accessing its market and systemic theft of US intellectual property.

But China is not expected to make significant reforms without a lengthy fight.

Beijing and Washington have already imposed duties on more than USD 360 billion in two-way trade, weighing on their manufacturing sectors and shaking global financial markets.

In December, Trump had postponed plans to sharply hike tariffs, setting the March 1 ultimatum for Chinese concessions.

Trump has said that any trade deal would need to be finalised in a meeting between him and Xi.

Expectations for an accord have grown as China faces pressure from slowing economic growth, and as swooning global markets pose a challenge to Trump and his economic advisors.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A US judge ruled Thursday against a butterfly sanctuary that had sued to keep President Donald Trump's proposed border wall from cutting the refuge in two.

For months the National Butterfly Center has been arguing that the wall would be devastating for those insects and other creatures living in this habitat in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

As many as 200 species of butterfly live in the sanctuary, as do bobcats, coyotes, skunk pigs, armadillos and Texas turtles.

Financing for a wall going through the sanctuary was approved last year and is separate from the border appropriation fight that is currently roiling Washington. Construction could begin in a matter of weeks, local people said.

The North American Butterfly Association, which runs the refuge, sued the government on grounds that the sanctuary is private property.

But federal judge Richard Leon ruled Thursday that the project can proceed.

"On the same day the president announces he will declare a state of emergency, the federal judge throws out our case. We are not going away that easily!", the butterfly center said in a tweet.

The White House announced Thursday that Trump will declare a national emergency on the border with Mexico to build the wall by bypassing Congress to access funds that lawmakers are denying him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
American experts suspect the role of Pakistani intelligence agency ISI in "supporting the masterminds" of the Pulwama terrorist attack in which at least 37 CRPF personnel were killed.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

The experts on South Asia said the terror strike shows the United States has failed to persuade Pakistan to act against Jaish-e-Mohammad and other terrorist groups.

"The self-proclaimed involvement of JeM in the attack raises serious questions about the role of the ISI in supporting the masterminds of this operation," Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst, told PTI.

The terrorist attack, which has direct footprints inside Pakistan, poses the first major challenges to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, said Riedel, who is now a scholar at the Brookings Institute think-tank.

"This will be a real challenge for Imran Khan, the first serious challenge of his administration," he said.

Anish Goel, a former National Security Council official in the previous Obama administration, said the horrific attack highlights just how actively Pakistan-based terrorist groups still operate in Kashmir.

By claiming such quick credit for the attack, Jaish-e-Mohammed is clearly indicating that they will continue to cause trouble in the region and stoke tensions between Pakistan and India, he said.

In the wake of this attack, there will likely be increased pressure on Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi to take action against all militant groups still active in Kashmir," said Goel.

Alyssa Ayres from the Council on Foreign Relations said, "Unfortunately, the attack also shows the limits of US and international policy efforts to date to persuade Pakistan to take serious action against these groups. The urgent question is what else the international community can do.

According to Moeed Yusuf from the US Institute of Peace, the current situation has all the making of an India-Pakistan crisis.

Prime Minister Modi cannot take it lying down but Pakistan isn't going to be able to absorb any Indian action either. Things are simply too tense between India and Pakistan, he said.

Ironically, the biggest deterrent to any escalation is the presence of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman in the region, he said.

"Salman arrives in Pakistan Friday and is coming to India too. His visit will be seriously overshadowed. The Saudi relationship is too important for either side to want that to happen," he noted.

I think the damage to India-Pakistan relations is going to be immense even if the situation doesn't escalate. The hope was that India and Pakistan will get back to talking after the Indian elections later this year. I think the hawks on both sides are going to make it very difficult for that to happen now, Yusuf said.

Terrorist attacks as in Kashmir are not possible without an ideology or theology that justifies terrorism and brainwashes its followers that massacring others leads a person to paradise. The terrorist mindset must be removed along with the terrorist infrastructure on the ground, said noted Hindu scholar David Frawley.

The latest attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed is another example of how Pakistan's intelligence services continue to sponsor terrorist incursions into India, Washington-based Hindu American Foundation said.

While it's heartening to see that a wide swath of the international community is unequivocally condemning the attack, such statements of solidarity must be backed up by actions which help bring to an end the ability of such terrorist groups to kill with impunity and destabilize the region, the foundation said.

Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP)-USA in a statement demanded that United Nations designate Masood Azhar as global terrorist.

China should be ashamed of itself in blocking Azhar's ban at the UN. Indian diaspora demands that if Pakistan is sincere in seeking peace with India, it should arrest Maulana Masood Azhar and his cohorts and disband all terrorist organisations station in Pakistan.

"Pakistan is a pariah nation anyhow and if it wants to exist in the real world, it should not play games, resort to lies, and abet terrorism. It should get rid of all terrorist organization from its soil, it said.

"It's long past time for Pakistan's establishment to root out these fanatic groups, many of which operate in the open and with the support of elements of the Pakistani state. It's unacceptable. And it's outrageous the world didn't draw a collective red line on this a long time ago," Jeff Smith of the Heritage Foundation said.

At least 37 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US Friday strongly condemned the terror attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Kashmir's Pulwama district and called on all countries to deny safe haven and support for terrorists.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a Jaish suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 37 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

Condemning the terror strike, the US State Department said in a statement that it was resolutely committed to working with the Indian government to combat terrorism in all its forms.

"The US condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack today on an Indian Central Reserve Police Force convoy in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino said and extend his deepest condolences to the deceased paramilitary personnel and their families.

The UN designated, Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed responsibility for this heinous act. We call on all countries to uphold their responsibilities pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions to deny safe haven and support for terrorists, Palladino said.

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In a stern message to Pakistan, the White House has asked Islamabad to "immediately end" its "support" to all terror groups and not to provide "safe haven" to them, as the US strongly condemned the deadly Pulwama terror attack.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday that left at least 40 CRPF soldiers dead and five others critically wounded.

"The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a late night statement on Thursday.

"This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India," she said in a strongly-worded statement issued by the White House.

Sanders said the United States condemns in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attack in Pulwama by a Pakistan-based terrorist group.

"We express our deep condolences to the victims' families, the Indian government, and the Indian people for the loss of life in this brutal attack," said the Press Secretary of President Donald Trump.

Several US lawmakers also expressed solidarity with India in the wake of a dastardly terror attack and said the two countries stand united in condemning and defeating terror.

Cutting across party lines, over 50 Congressmen and Senators took to social media to express their solidarity with the people of India and called for strict action against the JeM terror outfit and its state sponsors.

"I strongly condemn the terror attack in Kashmir. The United States stands with our friends in India, and I send heartfelt condolences to the families that lost loved ones," top Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer tweeted.

Democratic Senator Robert Menendez said he was outraged by the terror attack, "one of the deadliest in the region since 1989".

Republican Senator Johnny Isakson strongly criticised the terror strike and pledged the US' support to India in defeating terrorism.

"Today, more than 40 Indian military police were killed by a radical Islamist terrorist group in the deadliest attack in 30 years on Indian forces in Kashmir. I send my deepest condolences to the soldiers injured and killed in this senseless attack, to their families, and to India, a critical ally in the global war on terror, said Republican Senator John Cornyn, Co-Chair of Senate India caucus.

"My heart is with the victims of the Kashmir Terror Attack. The United States stands with our Indian allies against those behind this heinous act of terrorism," Democratic Senator Mark Warner, who is co-chair of the Senate India Caucus and Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, posted on Twitter.

Congresswoman and Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard said, "We stand with the people of India in condemning the terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir, and send our condolences and prayers to the victims families. We must all stand up against these jihadists and their ideology.

Heartbreaking. My thoughts are with the families of the victims of heinous terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir today. We must confront terror and defeat it, wherever it occurs, Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said.

Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said countries must not allow terrorist groups like JeM to operate with impunity.

Congressmen Brian Fitzpatrick, Dan Crenshaw, Al Green, Don Bacon, George Holding, Joe Wilson, Jeff Van Drew, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Frank Pallone, Michael McCaul, Joe Morelle, Will Hurd, Brad Sherman, Ted Yoho and Congresswomen Elissa Slotkin, Paul Gosar also expressed outrage at the attack and sympathised with the affected families.

At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

India slammed Pakistan over the attack carried out by JeM and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

Meanwhile, Pakistan said the terrorist attack in Pulwama district is "a matter of grave concern" even as it strongly rejected Indian media and government's allegations of the country's link to the strike "without" probe.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Ukrainian court on Friday placed a high-ranking regional official in custody after he was charged with organising a deadly acid attack on an activist.

Vladyslav Manger will be held until at least March 3, with bail of 2.5 million hryvnia (81,560 euros, $91,800,), press secretary for General Prosecutor Larysa Sargan told AFP.

Manger, the head of the regional council in the southern region of Kherson, was charged with organising the attack on prominent anti-corruption activist Kateryna Gandzyuk.

The 33-year-old was attacked in July and had a litre of acid poured on her. She died in November after months of treatment, including more than 10 operations.

Her murder sparked shock and protest, with activists accusing the authorities of failing to complete the investigation or identify the mastermind. General Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko earlier this week said Manger "ordered and partially organised this crime by financing it".

According to the charge sheet released by Lutsenko, Manger was guided by "personal animosity" because Gandzyuk opposed "illegal logging" in the region.

Lutsenko said the prosecution had obtained enough testimony from witnesses about Manger's role, adding that the attackers had received "no less than 4,000 dollars." If found guilty, Manger faces up to life in prison.

Manger was a member of the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a key rival of President Petro Poroshenko in the March 31 presidential election.

He was expelled from the party last week.

Gandzyuk's death has sparked condemnation of the government and drawn renewed attention to dozens of assaults on other anti-corruption campaigners in Ukraine over recent months.

Both the European Union and the United States have called the attacks on activists unacceptable and urged authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The UK government on Friday condemned the terrorist attack in Pulwama, which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawans in Kashmir, as a "senseless and brutal act".

Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday.

"Shocked by today's senseless and brutal act of terror in...Kashmir. I offer my sincere condolences to the victims' families. We stand with India," UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Twitter.

His statement came amid a widespread outpouring of support for India in the wake of the attack, with a number of British MPs taking to social media to condemn the terror strike.

"I am deeply saddened by the terrorist attack in Kashmir. Thoughts are with the Indian security personnel killed and injured by this appalling crime, said Conservative Party MP Tom Tughendat, who is chairing the ongoing parliamentary Global Britain and India inquiry.

Another Tory MP and leader of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Hindus, Bob Blackman, also took to Twitter to say it was time for India to isolate Pakistan.

"Pulwama attack: India will 'completely isolate' Pakistan. We stand with India. Time to isolate & proscribe the terrorists responsible for this atrocity, he said.

Indian-origin Opposition Labour Party MP Virendra Sharma condemned the attack and called on the UK government to reconsider the reference to "India-administered Kashmir".

"I was pleased to see the British Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, has offered his sincere condolences to the victims' families, and stated that 'we stand with India', but I am concerned that he used the phrase 'India-administered Kashmir'," he said.

Sharma said he has written to the Foreign Secretary to reiterate that Kashmir is an integral part of the Indian state and has been since it formally acceded in 1947.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Uttarakhand Assembly Friday paid homage to CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama terror attack and unanimously passed a resolution offering one month salary by every member to help families of those who laid down their lives.

Members from treasury and opposition benches alike condemned the suicide attack, terming it as a dastardly act executed by Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad.

They said the entire state stands with the country's security establishment and the families of the brave soldiers of the CRPF who made the supreme sacrifice for the country.

Theyalso hoped that the Centre will give a befitting reply to the perpetrators of the dastardly assault and teach Pakistan a lesson.

The resolution on every member contributing one month salary to the families of the martyrs was later unanimously passed by the Assembly by voice vote.

Three CRPF jawans from Uttarakhand were among those killed in the Pulwama attack.

They are Virendra Singh from Udham Singh Nagar district, Mohan Lal from Uttarkashi and Bhopal Singh Kirula from Almora.

The state's annual budget, which was to be tabled in the House in the post lunch session as per the original schedule, will now be laid on Monday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A local court has sentenced two persons to life imprisonment for killing a man in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district in the year 2010.

The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on Iqbal and Mohsin after finding them guilty under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on Thursday evening.

According to the government counsel, Aasif, a farmer, was shot dead by the accused over a land dispute in the district's Kairana town in 2010.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two out of the four disgruntled Congress MLAs, against whom a disqualification petition is pending with the assembly Speaker, Friday met party leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah here and reportedly pledged loyalty to the party.

"MLA Shri Nagendra and Shri Ramesh Jarkiholi met CLPleader Shri @siddaramaiah along with minister Shri Zameer Ahmed Khan," Karnataka Congress said in a tweet.

Though what transpired at the meeting was not known, party sources calling it a one-to-one meeting said, the legislators pledged their loyalty to the party and requested the CLP leader to withdraw the disqualification petition while narrating their grievances.

Siddaramaiah is said to have advised both Jarkiholi and Nagendra not to take any decision in haste until the Lok Sabha elections are over, according to the sources.

The CLP leader Thursday had said his petition seeking disqualification of four disgruntled party MLAs was pending with the Speaker, who is the competent authority to take action under the anti-defection law.

The former Chief Minister said his petition to the Speaker has nothing to do with the four MLAs attending the session since Wednesday, as he noted that the legislators have violated the whip in earlier instances.

The four disgruntled Congress MLAs, who had gone missing for several weeks amid political turmoil in Karnataka, surfaced here Wednesday two days after the party recommended their disqualification to Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar.

The lawmakers had kept the party on tenterhooks for several weeks, defying its whip twice to attend theCongress Legislative Party (CLP) meetings on January 18 andFebruary 8.

They had skipped the assembly Budget Session since February 6 and surfaced only on Wednesday.

The four-- Ramesh Jarkiholi, Umesh Jadhav, B Nagendra and Mahesh Kumathali-- were reported to be in touch with the BJP, which has been accused of trying to poach the MLAs to bring down the JDS-Congress government.

Though Umesh Jadhav and Mahesh Kumathali have not metSiddaramaiah, they had attended the session on Wednesday and Thursday.

Party insiders have said Jadhav may have made up his mind to join the BJP and he has reportedly been promised Gulbarga Lok Sabha seat against Congress veteran Mallikarjuna Kharge, whom he considers arch rival.

Surprisingly, Kumathali known as close confidant of Jarkiholi kept away from Friday's meeting, with reports of alleged cracks in ties between them.

The Congress had petitioned the Speaker on Monday, seeking action against the four MLAs after warning them to mend their ways and fall in line.

The MLAs were earlier given notices, seeking an explanation for their conduct and to meet Siddaramaiah in person, which they had not complied with.

According to sources, the four decided to attend the proceedings to vote in favour of the finance bill during the budget that concluded on Thursday, to save themselves from the disqualification move.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Patna, Feb 15 (IANS) A cattle trader was shot dead and his money was looted by criminals in Bihars Samastipur district, police said on Friday.

Police officer Amit Kumar said Mohd Mumtaz was killed after Rs 5 lakh cash looted from him by three motorcycle-borne men near Gangauli Manda Chaur late Thursday evening.

According to police, Mumtaz along with a friend was on way to Bachwara after buying cattle from a village when the criminals surrounded them. The criminal demanded money from the victim and shot him dead when he tried to resist.

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His friend managed to escape from the site and raised an alarm, forcing the criminals to flee.
Donald Trump hailed Pyongyang's "tremendous" economic potential Friday, ahead of a second scheduled summit between the US president and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un.

"Their location between South Korea and Russia and China right smack in the middle is phenomenal. And we think they have a great chance for tremendous economic prosperity in the future," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Pyongyang has yet to provide any official confirmation of the Feb 27-28 summit, which will be the second time the two leaders come together following their June 12 Singapore meeting.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The BJP-IPFT government in Tripura has approved the Rs 6000 financial assistance to farmers having upto two hectares of cultivable lands under the Pradhanmantri Kissan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PMKSNY), state Agriculture minister Pranajit Singha Roy said Friday.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the council of ministers held here on Thursday evening, he said.

The assistance would be given in three instalments a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches the programme on February 24, he said adding all the MLAs, public representatives, BDOs, SDMs and district collectors were requested for wide publicity of the scheme.

The money for the first instalment would enter the farmers' bank accounts before March 31, Singha Roy said.

The first phase of the programme begins on Dec 31 and ends at March 31, he said.

The forms for it would be available in the offices of the gram panchayats, the agriculture department, nagar panchayats, municipal councils or corporations from February 18 and the farmers availing the scheme were required to fill them up, the minister said.

The government would also help in expeditious mutation of the farmland in case the owner is dead and it was not partitioned, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Tripura government Friday announced a donation of Rs two lakh each to the family members of the slain CRPF jawans', who laid down their lives in the terror attack in Pulwama on Thursday.

A total of 40 CRPF jawans were killed in the terrorist strike in Jammu and Kashmir.

We express our sympathy to the bereaved family members of the martyr jawans, who laid down their lives at Pulwama district of Kashmir and condemn the incident. We hope and believe our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh will take right decision in this matter.

The state government has decided to donate Rs two lakh to each of the bereaved families," chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb told reporters at the civil secretariat here.

The amount would be provided to all the deceased jawans irrespective of the place they belong to. There is nobody from Tripura in the list of the soldiers who lost their lives.

Regarding issuing alert in the state, Deb said that the Centre didn't communicate about issuing alert in the state as of now.

Meanwhile, a series of protests were held here during the day against the incident.

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) burnt Pakistan's national flag at two locations here this evening in protest against the attack amidst slogans of 'Pakistan Murdabad', 'Us Ghar me ghus kar marenge, jis Ghar see Azalea niklega' and call for severe action against Pak terror.

ABVP Tripura general secretary Saruj Deb said that the Pulwama attack is a burning example of anti-India conspiracies hatched by Pakistan and terror groups of Pak-origin.

He demanded the Government of India to take immediate and severe action against the neighbouring country to set an example of consequences of attacks on India.

The CM also walked in a candle light protest march organized by ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Agartala city Friday evening.

Opposition Congress condemned the Pulwama attack and said they were with the Government of India at this time. We are with the government for any step they take. Pakistan should be treated as they deserve, Tripura Congress vice president Tapas Dey told PTI.

Tripura Left Front convener Bijan Dhar condemned the Pulwama attack and said the central government should explore both military and political means to solve the crisis.

There are no words left to criticize this incident (Pulwama). This is the legacy of partition still going on. This problem cant be solved only by weapons. Both political and administrative solution should be explored, Dhar said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb has condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which left 40 CRPF personnel dead on Thursday.

The CRPF personnel were killed when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into a bus at Awantipora in Pulwama district.

"The attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is a shameful act of cowardice. I pray for the quick recovery of the injured. Our nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of our martyrs," Deb tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the backdrop of the killing of ruling TMC MLA Satyajit Biswas, the party leadership has sought reports from all district presidents about the threat perception of its MLAs and important leaders, Trinamool Congress functionaries said.

Apart from enhancing the security of MLAs, TMC district leaders also want official security for key people in the party organization ahead of the elections.

"We are preparing a report on the security status of MLAs in the district. We are preparing a separate report on our key organizational leaders who may not be MLAs or elected representatives but need to be provided security cover," a senior minister and district president of TMC told PTI, wishing not to be named.

The party leadership will finally submit a report to the state administration and police, and they will take a call on it.

TMC chief whip in the state assembly Nirmal Ghosh said most party MLAs have voiced concern about their security and either appealed for enhanced cover or made their own arrangements.

"I am more cautious now and have taken steps to strengthen my security. I have also asked MLAs to be more careful," Ghosh said.

Biswas, the TMC MLA of Krishnaganj, was shot dead by unidentified assailants inside a Saraswati puja marquee in Nadia district on Saturday evening. Biswas was gunned down in the presence of a host of party workers when he was climbing down the dais at a puja pandal at Phoolbari within Hanskhali police station limits in the district that borders Bangladesh.

There were allegations of complete lack of security at the scene of the crime despite the presence of the MLA and a minister.

A TMC MLA of South 24 Paraganas district was attacked by unidentified gunmen last year. The MLA escaped unhurt but two of his associates were killed.

Nadia district TMC president and MLA Gouri Shankar Dutta said he was in discussion with local leaders for preparing the report.

Senior TMC leader and state food and civil supplies minister Jyotipriyo Mullick said enhancing security of elected representatives and party leaders is a must as they apprehend more such attacks in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.

"The way the BJP is making provocative statements, there are apprehensions that there will be more such attacks on our leaders. The BJP can't defeat us politically, so they have taken this route of physical attacks. But we will foil these attempts," Mullick told PTI.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, however, said instead of blaming his party for the violent attacks, the TMC should take steps to check infighting in West Bengal's ruling party.

"The BJP doesn't believe in of violence. In Bengal, it is the BJP which is at the receiving end of the TMC's reign of terror. Instead of blaming us they should take steps to control infighting," Ghosh said.

The TMC currently has 213 MLAs. The government also has the support of 18 other MLAs from the Congress and the Left Front who switched over to the TMC but are yet to resign as lawmakers.

Apart from the chief minister and ministers who are allotted Y+, Z and Z+ security cover depending on the threat perception, MLAs of the ruling and opposition parties are allotted 1-2 personal security officers (PSO) by the state government.

The TMC follows the practice of dividing each assembly constituency into 6-7 organizational areas, with a local leader being appointed in-charge.

"I need security cover for some of these leaders as they are valuable assets of the party," Mullick said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP President Friday appealed to to rise above politics and come together on the issue of security, saying these are times when "we must strengthen our resolve to make India stronger and safer".

Shah's appeal came in the wake of one of the deadliest terror attacks on security forces in that left 37 CRPF personnel dead on Thursday.

The had attacked the Modi government, saying incidents of terror attacks have gone unabated under its rule.

"These are times when we all must come together and strengthen our resolve to make India stronger and safer. I appeal to the political class- let us rise above politics and show that we are together when it comes to matters of security. Nothing matters above India!" Shah said in a series of tweets.

The horrific attack in Pulwama has saddened the entire nation, he said, condemning the barbaric mentality that speeds such kind of hate and violence.

"PM Narendra Modi assured the nation that the sacrifices of our martyrs shall not go in vain.130 crore Indians stand in complete solidarity with the families of the courageous heroes who devoted their life in service of the nation. Generations to come will remember their valour. We pray the injured get well soon," the BJP president said.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway in Awantipora in South on Thursday.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday called for giving a befitting reply to Pakistan for the attack on CRPF soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama by terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad, saying "the time for peace talks is over and they should be taught a lesson.

Moving a resolution for condemning the terror attack and adjournment of the House, he accused Pakistan of playing a double game, saying "their prime minister (Imran Khan) is talking peace and the general (Qamar Javed Bajwa) is talking war."



The Punjab Assembly Friday strongly condemned the terror attack in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed and passed a resolution for adjournment of the proceedings of the House for the day.

Members of the House, cutting across party lines, paid tributes to the CRPF personnel killed in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, and observed two-minutes silence in their memory.

"Enough is enough... The time for talking peace is over and I think it is time to teach them a lesson, and I hope the Government of India will understand this point and will take it up," the chief minister said.

The country should condemn the Pulwama terror attack in the strongest possible words, he said, adding this is getting beyond control now.

In his around 12-minute emotional speech in the House, Singh asserted, "This is becoming too much and if we do not act they may again resort to such misadventure. The time has come for the Centre to understand their (Pakistan's) designs and give them a befitting response."



Accusing Pakistan of playing a double game, he said, "I hear (Pakistan) prime minister saying he wants to start a Guru Nanak Dev University and perform sewa at Gurdwara sahib. And his protg and the ISI are trying to foment trouble."Alleging that Imran Khan was made prime minister at the behest of the Pakistan army, Singh said, "Bajwa is the commander in chief and Bajwa's army made him (Imran) PM and (Pakistani intelligence agency) ISI is under Bajwa.""What is the double game being played at their national level, earning Sikhs sympathies by saying these things and on the other hand, killing people in the country," the Punjab chief minister asked, adding "among those killed in terror attack were four sewaks of Guru Nanak Dev.""I have said many a times that if you (Pakistan) want to shake hands with India, which their PM says every day, then why do not you stop all these attacks," he asked.

Taking on the Pakistan Army Chief, Singh said if Bajwa tried to do anything in Punjab, he would get a befitting response.

"Let their Bajwa know. I want to say openly. You are a Punjabi and we are also Punjabi you dare to try anything in Punjab we will set you right," he warned.

"They should understand that they cannot play any game in 2019," the Punjab chief minister said referring to 'Referendum 2020', a campaign started by separatist and pro-Khalistan elements from other countries.

Later, talking to reporters outside the House, Singh hoped the Pulwama terror attack will not impact the Kartarpur corridor and reiterated his plea for visa-free access to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur.

He expressed confidence that the corridor would be well protected, but said there was a need for a change in attitude on the part of Pakistan if peace between the two countries was to be promoted.

"The 'Referendum 2020' which was clearly working at ISI's behest, was also a sign of their continued attempts to disturb peace in Punjab," Singh said, but asserted they will not succeed.

Earlier, before seeking an adjournment motion in the House, the chief minister said the hearts of all Indians go out to the families of the 40 CRPF men killed in the dastardly attack.

As the Question Hour commenced on the fourth day the Budget session of the Punjab Assembly, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) member Bikram Singh Majithia sought adjournment of the House in the wake of Pulwama attack.

He asserted that such a big tragedy has never occurred before and said the House's request for condemnation of Pakistan and its Prime Minister Imran Khan be placed on record.

Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra supported Majithia's call for the adjournment.

"This is the worst ever terror attack... It has been strongly condemned world over. We should understand the gravity of the situation. The nation is in mourning and we should adjourn the House," Majithia said.

Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema sought Rs 1 crore compensation and jobs for the kin of four CRPF men from Punjab killed in the terror attack.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tickets of the first commercial run of Vande Bharat Express on February 17 have been completely sold out, a senior railway official said Friday.

The bookings for the train, which will run five days a week between Delhi and Varanasi and back, began Thursday.

"The first commercial run of the train on February 17 is fully booked. The train is 100 per cent occupied on its to and fro journeys as of 11.15 am Thursday," said Girish Pillai, Member, Traffic, Railway board.

From Delhi to Varanasi, an air-conditioned chair car ticket will cost Rs 1,760 and the executive class fare will be Rs 3,310, while on the return, a chair car ticket will cost Rs 1,700 and that of a seat in the executive class Rs 3,260. Both fares are inclusive of catering charges.

The chair car fares are 1.4 times the base price of Shatabdi trains running the same distance and that of the executive class 1.3 times of a first class air-conditioned ticket in the premium train.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal who is on-board the train on its inaugural run said the tendering process for 30 more similar train sets has begun.

India's semi-high speed Train-18, with its maximum speed of 180 kmph, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from New Delhi on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters on board the Vande Bharat express, Goyal said the Train 18 will offer a convenient experience to passengers and also reduce travel time on New Delhi-Varanasi route to eight hours compared to 13-14 hours other trains take for the trip.

"The fastest train on Delhi-Varanasi route (776 km) takes 11.5 hours, this train will eight hours," said Pillai.

Tickets include meal charges.Passengers travelling from New Delhi to Varanasi in the executive class will be charged Rs 399 for morning tea, breakfast and lunch, and travellers in the chair car Rs 344 for the same.

Those travelling from New Delhi to Kanpur and Prayagraj will be charged Rs 155 and Rs 122 for executive and CC classes, respectively. From Varanasi to New Delhi, passengers Rs 349 in the executive class and Rs 288 in chair car, according to the order.

Passengers cannot opt out of meals. But those travelling from Allahabad to Varanasi and on the return journey Varanasi to Allahabad can opt out of meals, saving Rs 222 on CC tickets and Rs 244 on EC tickets by opting out of the meals provided by the IRCTC.

"I have started the tendering process of 30 more such trains and have taken the permission of the PM to make 100 such trains to start semi-high speed train services in other parts of the country," he said.

He said several routes have been identified.

"Also, we will modernise tracks in some routes to support such high speed trains. Our vision is that slowly the 'golden quadrilateral' and its two laterals are prepared for 160 kmps speed," he said.

"It is a manifestation of our engineering talent and is a pride of the railways and the country. It's a matter of pride that the train set has been built by our engineers and workers. Its top speed is 180 km," Goyal said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three persons, including a ticket collector, Friday died after falling off crowded suburban trains in two separate mishaps here, the Railway Police said.

In the first incident, Arun Gaikwad, a TC with the Central Railway, fell off a local train at Umbarmali, a station on the Kalyan-Kasara section of the suburban network, and suffered serious injuries, they said.

The injured TC was rushed to the Sahapur rural hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead, the police said.

Gaikwad was on duty and checking tickets on the train when the mishap took place, they said.

In the second mishap which took place at about 10.30 am, two commuters died after falling from a speeding suburban train near Mumbra railway station, the police said.

The duo, Maved Shaikh (20) and Mohammad Imran Shaikh (24), residents of Mumbra town in Thane district, died instantly, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thousands of schoolchildren went on "strike" across Britain on Friday in a protest against climate change, with hundreds rallying in London's Parliament Square.

Children of all ages chanted "save our planet", cheered as flares were lit and clambered onto statues in the shadow of Big Ben to call for action, and to raise awareness.

"As humans, we got ourselves into this predicament, it's our responsiblity to get out of it," said 15-year-old Hal, who normally attends a shool in Hammersmith, west London.

"As well as being a message to the politicians, it's a way to spread awareness to everyone," added the teenager, who was wearing his school uniform "to accentuate the fact that I should be at school".

The protesters waved makeshift placards reading "Make Earth Cool Again," "Don't Mess With My Mother", "We Stand For What We Stand On" and



"I'm Getting Detention For This."



There were similar protests in dozens of towns and cities, including Brighton, Leeds, Manchester and OxfordMany of the children said their schools had shown them leniency in attending the "Youth Strike 4 Climate" event, part of a Europe-wide movement that has seen walkouts in Belgium, France, Germany, and Sweden.

"I'm originally from Germany so my friends already did it, then I saw people talk about it, and I said 'Oh my god, I've got to come," art student Emily El-Harake, 17, told AFP.

The teenager called on politicians to get Brexit sorted quickly in order to focus on "more important issues" like the environment.

"Young people are a lot more conscious of it, most people I know, we buy our clothes second hand," added friend Erin Mantle, 16, who said their school was supportive of their strike.

"It's the little things that we are doing but it's the government that needs to do the big things."



Prime Minister Theresa May's office said it was good that young people were "engaged in the issues that affect them", but that the protest "wastes lesson time that teachers have carefully prepared for."



The movement was inspired by the actions of Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old girl who held a solitary protest outside the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm last year.

Geography student Paige Reardon, 16, said her teacher was "happy that I was going" to the protest, and urged politicians to take action.

"They need to consider it's their children and grand children who are going to suffer. Stop being selfish." Some parents were also in attendance, including Minnesota native Sally Hodgkinson, 42, and her 11-year-old daughter Isis.

"She expressed an interest, as did some kids from her school, and I thought it was a good way for them to get engaged," said mother Sally.

"It has to be put to the top of the agenda." Student Hal said that social media was helping young people to coordinate action worldwide.

"It would've been a much smaller cause without it. It's a really good thing social media brought all these people together.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hyatt Hotels has entered into a management agreement with Jabal Omar Development Company, a leading developer in the Middle East, for a Hyatt Centric hotel in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, as part of the Jabal Omar integrated real estate development.

Jabal Omar Hyatt Centric Makkah Hotel and Residences will boast a prime location in close proximity to the Grand Mosque of Makkah, ideally positioned within one of the fastest growing religious tourism markets in the world.



Were honoured to work together again with Jabal Omar Development Company on the second Hyatt hotel in the holy city of Makkah," said Peter Fulton, group president  Europe, Africa, Middle East and Southwest Asia, Hyatt. Together, we hope to strive towards the kingdoms goal to attract more than 30 million tourists by 2030. The Jabal Omar Hyatt Centric Makkah is being designed to accommodate the unique needs of both visitors and pilgrims and will offer a contemporary hospitality experience connecting guests to the heart of this cultural and religious destination.



Slated to open in 2023 as a launch pad for exploration, the hotel will feature 196 guestrooms and suites as well as 200 residences supported by a passionately engaged team providing local expertise. Both the hotel and residences will offer modern design elements skillfully blended with touches of local art and culture. Guests will also enjoy state-of-the-art facilities and experiential offers that are synonymous with the Hyatt Centric brand.



We anticipate an immensely positive reception to the new Jabal Omar Hyatt Centric Makkah, which will stem from our strong relationship with the Hyatt brand and its success in the region," said Yasser Faisal Al-Sharif, CEO of Jabal Omar Development Company. The hotel will further contribute to our prestigious development project with unique propositions that meet the needs of our growth. We are confident in delivering a unique hospitality experience that will support the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to promote religious, social and commercial activities in Saudi Arabia. - TradeArabia News Service
Thailand's powerful army chief on Friday dismissed rumours of a coup ahead of next month's scheduled national elections, insisting he was "very close" to junta leader Prayut Chan-o-Cha.

Speculation over a fresh military takeover coursed through Thailand this month after the failed prime ministerial candidacy of Princess Ubolratana.

She was disqualified by the country's election commission after a stern rebuke from her brother, King Vajiralongkorn, raising concerns of fresh political instability in a country that has seen a dozen successful military coups since 1932.

But Apirat Kongsompong, who was appointed by the king to head the army last October, waved away suggestions of a fresh putsch ahead of long-delayed polls.

"A coup is not going to happen now in Thailand," he told AFP. "There will be elections on March 24." Apirat said he was "very close" with Prayut and the general now had to "follow his own path leading our country back to democracy".

He vowed that the army would "step back" for the election. Princess Ubolratana had sought the candidacy of Thai Raksa Chart party, a political party linked to ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Prayut -- himself a former army chief, who is contesting next month's election as the lead candidate of a military-aligned party -- took power in 2014 after the army toppled the administration of Yingluck Shinawatra, the sister of the former premier.

The Constitutional Court is mulling whether to dissolve the Thai Raksa Chart party after the palace rejected Ubolratana's candidacy as "highly inappropriate".

Thailand has some of the harshest lese majeste laws in the world and the king's orders are considered final.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
: Telangana Chief Minister and TRS leader K Chandrashekhar Rao Friday condemned the attack on CRPF jawans in Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir, an official press release said here.

Forty personnel were killed Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in.

The attack was one of the worst terror strikes in the state in recent years, the release said.

Rao said he was moved by the loss of lives and by those injured in the ghastly incident.

The Chief Minister conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families and wished speedy recovery of the injured.

He said the entire nation was in a state of mourning in this hour of grief and appealed to his party cadre not celebrate his birthday falling on February 17, according to the press release.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal Friday urged the people of the state to cooperate in the hearing process of National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Hearings for the claims and objections regarding the NRC updation began in 1436 centres across the state during the day, officials said.

The chief minister asked all officials engaged in the work to ensure smooth completion of the hearing process of claims and objections as an error-free NRC would make the implementation of Clause 5 of Assam Accord possible, he said.

Chairing a meeting here to discuss various issues connected to the claim and objection process during the NRC updation, Sonowal said the process for preparing an error-free citizens register has been going on under the direct supervision of Supreme Court in which both the central and state governments have extended support.

Names of 40.37 lakh people were not included in the final draft of NRC which was published on July 30, 2018. Out of them 36.28 lakh people have claimed for inclusion and another two lakh have registered their objections.

In a statement Sonowal appreciated the peaceful environment maintained by the people during the publication of the first and the finals drafts of the NRC and appealed for maintaining it during the hearing process of claims and objections.

The state had been witness to large-scale protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which has lapsed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A sixty-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping a girl who had run away from home, the city police said Friday.

The victim, who is 16 years old and lives in Sewree area in south Mumbai, was scolded and slapped by her sister for returning home late at night on Wednesday, the police said.

In a fit of anger, the victim left the house and took a train to Panvel.

Ganesh Krishna Shetty (60), the accused, approached her when she was sitting on a bench on a platform at Panvel railway station all alone early Thursday morning.

The victim told him that she was an orphan and looking for work and shelter.

Shetty promised to get a job for her at a medical clinic, and took her to a lodge where he allegedly raped her, the police said.

He later brought her back to the station, and asked her to stay there till he got food for her.

A railway police personnel saw the girl crying and asked her the reason. The girl narrated her ordeal to him.

After Shetty returned to the station, he was arrested.

He was booked for kidnapping and rape, the police said.

He was produced before a court here Friday. His lawyer, R U Jha, said Shetty was remanded in police custody till Febraury 25.

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Six people were killed Friday when lightning struck them in Jasmai Mansoorpur village in this district of Uttar Pradesh, police said.

The incident took place in the morning when people had gathered to perform last rites of a man, who had died earlier, they said.

The deceased have been identified as Mani Awasthi, 28, Shivam, 25, Ravindra, 30, Jigni, 34, Siyaram, 39, and Fatmi, 18, Additional Superintendent of Police Dhananjay Singh said.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, he said.

Three people, including two boys, were killed in Bareilly and Jalaun districts on Thursday when lightning struck some parts of the state.

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A day after a clash broke out between villagers and Assam Police personnel in disputed Langpih area, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday said the situation was normalised there.

Talks between the two states on the matter have started, though prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC was imposed in Langpih as a precautionary measure by the authorities in Meghalaya.

A report from Assam quoting police in Kamrup district said seven persons, including five police personnel, were injured in the clash on Thursday and two people were detained.

Langpih - or Lumpi, as it called in Assam - has been a bone of contention between the two north-eastern neighbours for decades. Meghalaya claims it to be part of West Khasi Hills district, while Assam asserts that it falls under its Kamrup district.

"The situation was normalised but four people were injured and two people were arrested," Meghalaya Chief Minister told reporters in Shillong.

He said, "We have immediately spoken to the Assam. West Khasi Hills district SP has informed the matter to the SP of the other side. They have discussed it and I think the two people will be released."



During the day, sub-divisional officer of Mawshynrut area has promulgated section 144 CrPC in Langpih as a precautionary measure following the clash, officials said.

The clash took place at Umawali village near Langpih on Thursday when the Assam Police tried to stop work for electrification there and arrested two persons, a senior officer of Meghalaya Police said.

"They said the area falls in Assam. When the villagers protested and started pelting stones, the Assam policemen resorted to lathi charge and, in the process, four persons were injured," he said.

Jogendra Barman, Officer-in-Charge of Boko police station in Kamrup district of Assam, said labourers working under a contractor were illegally engaged in electrification work at Lumpi claiming that the area belonged to Meghalaya.

People of Lumpi tried to stop the workers who then attacked the locals, Barman said.

A police team reached the spot on being informed but unidentified people from Meghalaya pelted stones at them injuring one assistant-sub-inspector of police and four constables, the OC said.

DSP Kalyan Pathak and Barman himself then went there with more personnel and controlled the situation after resorting to a lathi charge, Barman said adding that two labourers were detained for interrogation from the spot where policemen and CRPF personnel were deployed.

The Meghalaya chief minister said the government is trying to ensure that development reaches to the people and status quo is maintained.

He said a "very strong" communication has been sent to the Assam government on the matter.

Sangma, however, said such incidents keep on happening from both sides.

"It is not only from their side, things happen from our side also. When Assam government does some work in some areas, our people also object to it. You can't blame the people," he said.

Asked about chief minister level talks on the border dispute, Sangma said it requires a bit of preliminary discussion.

He said, "I can assure you that we are discussing at different levels. But if meetings happening at CM or chief secretary level, it should come up with some concrete points. We are doing our homework and lets see how it moves forward."



In 2010, four Khasi villagers were killed and eight others were injured in police firing in disputed Langpih.

Assam and Meghalaya have at least 12 areas of differences along the nearly 900 km inter-state border.

Carved out of Assam as an autonomous state in 1970, Meghalaya became a full-fledged state in 1972.

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Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is serving a seven-year imprisonment in a corruption case, has been shifted to a hospital in Lahore from the Kot Lakhpat jail here for cardiac treatment.

Sharif, 69, was brought to the Jinnah Hospital from the jail in high security. The Punjab home department has declared the private ward of Jinnah Hospital a "sub-jail" for the duration of Sharif's stay there.

The ousted premier was shifted back to jail on February 7 after having a six-day treatment at Services Hospital where a multi-disciplinary medical board examined him and unanimously opined that he needs some kind of cardiac intervention.

Subsequently, the PML-N supremo's personal physician Adnan Khan had requested the Punjab government to provide round-the-clock expert cardiac care to Sharif at a facility where cardiology intervention and multidisciplinary backup would be available.

Entertaining the request, the Punjab Home Department accorded sanction for "shifting of high-profile National Accountability Bureau convicted prisoner Sharif from central jail to Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, for medical treatment for minimum required period.



The PML-N has been demanding shifting of Sharif to London for his treatment. The PML-N has also submitted a resolution in the Punjab Assembly demanding that Sharif should be shifted to London as he always had undergone cardiac treatment there and the doctors knew his medical history.

The medical board here, however, declared that Sharif's treatment is possible in any specialised cardiac health facility in Pakistan.

After examining all results of his tests, the medical board has reached a unanimous decision that Sharif needs some kind of cardiac intervention. For the purpose he should be shifted to a cardiac institute, the head of the medical board at the Services Hospital, Professor Dr Mahmood Ayaz, had said.

He said Sharif had heart issues because of his previous history of some diseases, including high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney problem.

Dr Ayaz further said: According to the findings of the board, Sharif is facing some problems in blood supply of heart veins that must be addressed by cardiac specialists. We had engaged some cardiac specialists from the Punjab Institute of Cardiology who examined the patient and his test reports and suggested little change in Sharif's medicines.

Sharif has been behind the bars since December 24, 2018, after an accountability court convicted him in one of the three corruption cases filed under the direction of the Supreme Court.

On Thursday Sharif's younger brother PMLN president Shahbaz Sharif got bail from high court in two corruption cases.
Veteran actor Shabana Azmi on Friday said she and her husband, lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar, have decided not to attend Kaifi Azmi's birth centenary celebrations in Karachi in the wake of Pulwama terror attack.

The couple was invited to Pakistan by the Karachi Arts Council for a two-day event.

"@Javedakhtarjadu and I were invited for a 2 day event celebrating Kaifi's Centenary and were truly looking forward to it. I appreciate that our hosts the Karachi Arts Council mutually agreed to cancel the event at the nth hour in the wake of Pulwama attack," Azmi posted on Twitter.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a Jaish suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

Azmi condemned the attacks and said she stands united with the grieving families.

"Will there be no let to these heinous attacks? These mindless killings. This utter disregard for human lives? Extremely shocking coming from Pulwama. I strongly condemn the worst terror attack on CRPF convoy," she wrote.

Akhtar, who had penned the CRPF anthem which was launched in 2014, also took to Twitter to pay his condolences.

"I have a special relation with CRPF. I have written their anthem before putting the pen to paper I met a number of CRPF officers and whatever I learned, my respect, admiration and love for these braves increased by many a fold. Today I share the grief of the dear ones of the martyrs," he wrote.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jammu and Kashmir Police has detained seven persons from Pulwama district of South Kashmir in connection with the deadly terror attack that left 40 CRPF personnel dead near Awantipora, officials said Friday.

The youths were detained from Pulwama and Awantipora during the night on suspicion of links with the planning of the suicide attack, the first of its kind in which a terrorist of Jaish-e-Mohammed detonated an explosive-laden vehicle near a CRPF bus.

The overall planning is believed to be done by a Pakistani national, Kamran of JeM, who has been operating and moving in areas -- Pulwama, Awantipora and Tral area of South Kashmir.

The 'fidayeen' (suicide attacker) was identified as Adil Ahmad from Kakapora in Pulwama. He had joined the JeM in 2018.

According to initial investigations, the planning for the terror strike was done at Midoora area of Tral in South Kashmir.

Police are also looking for another local JeM overground worker who was instrumental in arranging the explosive material.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Security was tight Friday in Bangladesh as hundreds of thousands of people gathered for a Muslim gathering rivalling the Hajj in Mecca for size.

The Biswa Ijtema, or the World Congregation, draws up to three million Muslims from Bangladesh and abroad on the banks of the river Turag at the factory town of Tongi.

The annual gathering, which takes place some 25 kilometres north of Dhaka, was launched by the Tablig Jamaat group in 1964.

However, tension has been running high ahead of this year's four-day event after violent clashes between two Bangladeshi rival factions left one person dead and dozens injured in December.

The congregation, which is normally held in January, was postponed following the violence, prompting Bangladesh authorities to hold several rounds of meetings with rival factions to broker peace.

Police said they would deploy hundreds of officers including many in plainclothes at the congregation ground to prevent any repeat of the clashes. "We have adequate preparations to make the congregation peaceful," Benazir Ahmed, head of elite police unit, told reporters on Thursday.

Ahmed urged the two factions to "forget division and dispute", warning that any "accident" in the congregation could turn "dangerous" due to the size of the crowd.

Bangladesh's home minister Asaduzzaman Khan has also warned against any "incendiary statements" on social media during the gathering.

A spokesman for the Tablig said "hundreds of thousands" of Muslims have already joined the congregation, which will continue to February 18 with each of the two factions holding the gathering for two days.

"The congregation ground has already been filled up. People have also thronged on the nearby roads," Jahir Ibne Muslim told AFP.

Ibne Muslim said the division in the Tablig occurred last year over a Delhi-based Islamic cleric, Saad Kandhalvi, whose great grandfather founded the non-political group that urges people to follow the tenets of Islam in their daily lives.

While one faction believes Kandhalvi is the rightful claimant of the global leadership of the movement, its rival group, which is backed by a hardline Bangladeshi Muslim outfit, strongly opposes him, saying he misinterprets some parts of the Koran and the traditions of the prophet Mohammed, he said.

Bangladesh, the world's eighth-most populous country, is home to the world's fourth-highest number of Muslims. Ninety percent of the 165 million population are Muslims.

Most of those who attend the Ijtema are from rural areas of Bangladesh although the event also draws thousands from Muslim countries in North Africa, Central Asia and even China.

The event has been dubbed a mini-Hajj, especially by the poor Bangladeshi Muslims who cannot afford a plane ticket to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, where more than two million attended the Hajj in 2018.

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Leading figures from government, trade, investment, and technology are set to share predictive analysis on the shifts taking place within the world economy at an upcoming trade conference organised by DMCC in Dubai, UAE.



The UAE Ministry of Economy has announced its support for the upcoming, The Future of Trade: The Middle Easts Pivot to Asia conference, to be held in partnership between DMCC and Asia House at Almas Tower on March 24.



The conference follows the successful New Global Trade Order forum  held by Asia House and DMCC in Dubai last year  which also received official support from the UAE Ministry of Economy.



This is a seminal event, and one designed precisely to tackle some of the most pressing economic issues of the day, said Abdulla al Saleh, Undersecretary for Foreign Trade at the UAE Ministry of Economy.



The UAE has made significant strides forward in securing sustainable and inclusive growth against a challenging global economic backdrop. Understanding how best to navigate this difficult landscape, and drive progress towards economic prosperity, is a priority for cities and governments across the world. This will be the focus of the Dubai event and for that reason, I have no doubt it will draw international interest, he added.



In January, DMCC signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Asia House to bring a series of high-profile trade dialogues to the Middle East. The signing was announced during a meeting held at the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in London, and in the presence of Sulaiman Hamid Almazroui, UAE Ambassador to the United Kingdom.



DMCC is delighted to partner with Asia House and host a gathering of political and business leaders to discuss trade at this crucial juncture for the global economy, said Feryal Ahmadi, chief operating officer, DMCC.



Since its inception in 2002, DMCC has always looked to serve and support Dubai in achieving its bold economic vision. Our event will not only discuss the scale of the present challenge but also explore how business and governments can work together to deliver economic prosperity and growth. Leadership is required in times of uncertainty and this event will underscore Dubais ability to drive sustainable growth and be the worlds business capital by working alongside its valued international partners, especially in Asia, she added.



The conference will see delegates give keynote speeches and take part in a range of high-level discussions on the future of global trade, renewable energy and digital technologies  all held on the record and open to media.  TradeArabia News Service
Budget carrier on Friday said scheduled cancellations of 30 flights every day would continue till March 31 and denied that 130 flights were being cancelled on Friday.

IndiGo's statement came a day after media reports said the would cancel 130 flights on Friday. The carrier also said that out of the listed 130 flights, it was operating 120 flights, "as scheduled, with more than 20,000 travelling passengers".

In a statement, said it was maintaining its position "regarding scheduled cancellations of 30 flights per day until March 31, 2019".

However, it said these cancellations do not include NOTAMs (Notice to Airmen) which are issued by various airports due to operational reasons.

Generally, NOTAMs are issued to operations to inform them about airspace restrictions.

On Thursday, when asked whether the was cancelling 130 flights on Friday, an spokesperson said it has not cancelled any additional flights other than the schedule cancellations. However, no formal statement was issued to this effect.

"As stated earlier, the anticipated cancellations are 30 flights per day. The operations will be completely normalised by the start of the summer schedule from March 31.

"Additionally, a NOTAM in Bangalore started effective today (February 14), which caused additional 40 flight cancellations, rescheduling for which had been completed a month back and passengers were informed and reaccomodated accordingly," the airline said in a statement on Thursday.
The Supreme Court Friday decided to hear a fresh plea challenging the constitutional validity of a 1993 central law by which the government acquired 67.703 acres of land, including the disputed premises of Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid, in Ayodhya.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi tagged the matter with the main petition on title dispute pending before a constitution bench.

"List the matter before the bench already seized with the issue," the bench of Chief Justice Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said.

The plea, challenging legislative competence of Parliament to acquire religious land, was filed a week after the Centre had moved the apex court seeking modification in its 2003 order and allow it to return to original owners the 67 acres "non-disputed" land around the disputed structure in Ayodhya.

The petition, filed by seven individuals, including two Lucknow-based lawyers claiming to be devotees of Ram Lalla, has contended that Parliament had no legislative competence to acquire land belonging to the state.

Moreover, it said, the state legislature has the exclusive power to make provisions relating to the management of affairs of religious institutions inside its territory.

The petitioners, including lawyers Shishir Chaturvedi and Sanjay Mishra, has submitted that the Acquisition of Certain Areas of Ayodhya Act, 1993 infringes upon the right to religion of Hindus guaranteed and protected under Article 25 (freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion) of the Constitution.

The plea has sought the court's direction restraining the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government from interfering in "Puja, Darshan and performance of rituals at the places of worship situated within the land admeasuring 67.703 acres acquired under the Act particularly at the land belonging to Shri Ram Janam Bhoomi Nyas, Manas Bhavan, Sankat Mochan Mandir, Ram Janmasthan Temple, Janki Mahal and Katha Mandap".

It also said that the law, by which the entire disputed and adjoining undisputed land was acquired, violated the freedom of the Hindus to practise their fundamental religious rights under Article 25 of the Constitution.

The central government had on January 29 moved the apex court seeking its nod to return the 67-acre undisputed acquired land around the disputed site to original owners.

The 0.313 acre plot, on which the disputed structure stood before it was demolished by 'kar sevaks' on December 6, 1992, was within the 2.77-acre disputed premises, the plea filed by the BJP-led NDA government had said.

The government had then acquired 67.703 acres, including the 2.77-acre plot, through a legislation in 1993. The Ram Janambhoomi Nyas (RJN) is the owner of as much as 42 acres of the acquired non-disputed land.

The Centre's plea has said that the RJN (a trust to promote construction of Ram Temple) had also sought return of excess land acquired to original owners.

The Centre has claimed that only 0.313 acre of land was disputed on which the structure stood before it was demolished by 'kar sevaks' on December 6, 1992.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court Friday agreed to examine a plea challenging the appointment of 1982 batch IAS officer S R Mohanty as chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh on the ground that he was allegedly involved in a corruption case pertaining to state industrial development corporation.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Sanjiv Khanna issued notice to the Centre and sought its reply in six weeks.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for petitioner Manohar Dalal, said that the present case demonstrates a glaring abuse of power by Mohanty.

He also pointed out that abuse of power gets established by the fact that Director General (DG) of Economic Offences Wing (EOW) who was probing the corruption case against him was removed on January 2, immediately after Mohanty took charge as chief secretary on December 31, 2018.

Singh said the DG of EOW was appointed only six months before that but was replaced.

The petitioner had sought directions for quashing Mohanty's appointment and a fresh departmental inquiry against him.

Dalal also sought transfer of the case registered by EOW against Mohanty to CBI for further investigation.

He sought that fresh departmental inquiry be held under the supervision of a retired judge of the apex court or the high court.

The petitioner, a practising advocate in MP High Court said that Mohanty is also required to be shifted from the critical and important post of Chief Secretary as was done in the corruption case against Neera Yadav, who was chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh.

"During his tenure as the Managing Director of MPSIDC from 2000-2004, S R Mohanty disbursed loans in violation of the decisions of the state government and contrary to Article of Association of MPSIDC," the plea said.

It added that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in its 2003 report had pointed out that MPSIDC which was under Mohanty, illegally disbursed financial assistance without approval of the state government and contrary to the provisions of Article of Association.

Referring to a report of Raghav Chandra, who was successor to Mohanty in MPSIDC, the plea said that he had pointed out that Mohanty disbursed Rs 91.57 crore to 18 borrowers, of which some were fake companies.

The state government then sent a report to the state EOW which on detailed inquiry registered FIR in 2004 against 84 persons including Mohanty for abusing his official position by conniving with private companies and had caused loss to the state government.

"Despite serious corruption case pending against S R Mohanty, the newly elected state government, which came back into power after 15 years, appointed him as the chief secretary of the state of Madhya Pradesh on December 31, 2018," it said.

It said that before the appointment of Mohanty as chief secretary, the state government had completed the departmental inquiry, pending against him for 11 years, within one week and exonerated him of all charges.

"The entire inquiry was a farce and concluded post haste only to exonerate S R Mohanty, so that he can be appointed as Chief Secretary," it said, adding that immediately after being appointed Mohanty on January 2, transferred the Madhu Kumar as DG of EOW and replaced him with a new officer.

"The state government has decided that through newly appointed director general of EOW, it would withdraw the corruption charges against S R Mohanty pending before the competent court," the plea said.

It further said that the state government has also decided to withdraw a case against Mohanty pending in the apex court.

"The closure of such a serious corruption case against senior official would also amount to miscarriage of justice, who abused his official position and caused loss to the state exchequer", it said.

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The Supreme Court Friday decided to examine various grievances raised in a PIL on acid attacks including compliance with guidelines and laws for compensation, rehabilitation of victims and including male survivors within the purview of the law.

The petition came up for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna which said a direction can be passed by giving opportunity to all respondents for their views.

The court issued notices to the Centre and all state governments and Union Territories for their responses within four weeks.

The petition filed by advocate Anuja Kapur sought directions to the Centre and state governments for compliance to the existing guidelines, policies and various laws for compensation and rehabilitation of acid attack survivors.

She was accompanied by a male acid attack survivor Chandrahass Mishra who works for the Uttar Pradesh chapter of Acid Survivors and Women Welfare Foundation.

The plea further sought directions to constitute a committee for framing of guidelines to provide the survivors with the necessary organs (such as eyes, artificial skin grafts and other facial organs required to the victim).

It also sought directions to include men to be a part of existing women Centre Acid Laws, which are being enacted by central and state governments.

The plea further said there was a need to maintain the registers and documents relating to jobs and education, compensation, medical facilities and legal aid and services provided to the survivors at central and state level.

It called for a policy for termination of licences of shopkeepers for illegal trading of the sale of the acid over the counter and registration of FIR for it.

"Licences are not being terminated by the centre and state governments for violation of laws and there are no record of the maintenance of the sale register online," it said.

The plea claimed that no proof of ID verification or licence were checked by the shopkeepers at the time of selling the acid and no search warrants were being issued.

"FIRs are not being filed by police stations, rather attempts are made to compromise the heinous crime," it said.

The plea said that as per the guidelines and directions of the apex court and Allahabad high court, government and private hospitals were to provide free medical treatment and aid including plastic surgeries.

"But the scenario at the grass root level is total violation of the guidelines and directions. Private hospitals does not entertain acid attack survivors even after they are laws," it claimed.

The plea claimed that there is a clear failure of victimology and the survivors no longer trust the police, government departments and judicial system.

"They believe they all are corrupted and fail to provide justice to the victim. It is the need of an hour to held accountable and liable the central and state governments for not complying with the guidelines and orders of the apex court," it said.

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The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the execution of death penalty against a school teacher, who was convicted for raping a four-year-old girl in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh in June last year.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices L Nageswara Rao and Sanjiv Khanna stayed the execution of the death sentence of convict Mahendra Singh Gond, which was scheduled for March 2 in a Jabalpur jail.

"There shall be stay of execution of the death sentence of the petitioner," the bench said.

According to the prosecution, the girl was so brutally assaulted that she had to spend months in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi to get her intestines realigned.

After raping her, the convict had dumped her in a jungle, thinking she was dead, and her family members had found her in the wee hours when she was barely alive, the prosecution had said.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court had, on January 25, confirmed the death sentence awarded to the convict by the trial court.

The trial court had convicted Gond on September 19, 2018 and awarded him death penalty under the recently-introduced section 376(a)(b) (raping a minor under 12 years of age) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Thereafter, the convict had approached the Supreme Court against the high court order.

Section 376(a)(b) of the IPC provides for death penalty for rapists of girls below 12 years of age. The provision was inserted into the IPC last year through the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court Friday said selection of information officers for the CIC and SICs should include people of eminence from various fields and not be limited to bureaucrats, a "bias" which is "writ large" in the current selection process.

It said Parliament intended persons of eminence in public life be taken as Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) as well Information Commissioners but a "strange phenomenon is happening", that those persons who have been selected belong to only one category which is public service.

It said that to bring transparency in selection of ICs, states should adopt the process adopted by the Centre in which it uploads on the website the names of the Search Committee, the names of the candidates who have been shortlisted as well as the criteria which is followed for selection.

A bench of Justices A K Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer said that the Right to Information Act is enacted not only to sub-serve and ensure freedom of speech but on proper implementation, "it has the potential to bring about good governance which is an integral part of any vibrant democracy".

"Many persons who fit in the aforesaid criteria have been applying for these posts. However, a strange phenomenon which we observe is that all those persons who have been selected belong to only one category, namely, public service, i.e., they are the government employees," it said.

The bench said it is difficult to fathom that persons belonging to only one category are always found to be more competent and more suitable than persons belonging to other categories.

"In fact, even the Search Committee which short-lists the persons consist of bureaucrats only. For these reasons, official bias in favour of its own class is writ large in the selection process", it said.

The court said that attaining good governance is also one of the visions of the Constitution.

"We also expect that Information Commissioners are appointed from other streams, as mentioned in the Act and the selection is not limited only to the Government employee/ ex-government employee," the bench said.

The top court directed the Centre and eight states -- West Bengal, Orissa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karanataka -- to fill up the vacancies without any delay within a period of one month to six months.

"For this purpose, it would be apposite that the process for filling up of a particular vacancy is initiated 1 to 2 months before the date on which the vacancy is likely to occur so that there is not much time lag between the occurrence of vacancy and filling up of the said vacancy," it said.

Dealing with transparency in the selection process, the bench said, "Insofar as transparency in appointment of Information Commissioners is concerned, pursuant to the directions given by this Court, the Central Government is now placing all necessary information including issuance of the advertisement, receipt and applications, particulars of the applicants, composition of Selection Committee etc. on the website. All States shall also follow this system".

The bench said that as per the RTI Act, the appointment of information commissioners and CIC is done on the same terms and conditions as applicable to the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioner but it would be appropriate if the terms and conditions are made public.

"It would also be appropriate if the said terms and conditions on which such appointments are to be made are specifically stipulated in the advertisement and put on website as well," it said.

The court further added that it would also be appropriate for the Search Committee to make the criteria for shortlisting the candidates public, so that it is ensured that shortlisting is done on the basis of objective and rational criteria.

"The right to information, therefore, is not only a constitutional right of the citizens but there is now a legislation in the form of RTI Act which provides a legal regime for people to exercise their fundamental right to information and to access information from public authorities," the bench said.

With regard to West Bengal, the bench suggested that at least three more posts for IC should be created to clear the pendency of cases and the decision in this behalf should be taken by the state government within one month and the newly created posts shall be filled up within six months thereafter.

It asked Andhra Pradesh to fill up the post of state chief information commissioner and information commissioner at the earliest and in any case within three months from the date of the verdict.

Similar directions for filling up the existing vacancies in SICs within a period six months were issued by the apex court for Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court Friday refused to withdraw judicial work from Meghalaya High Court judge Justice Sudip Ranjan Sen who had created controversy by his remarks that India should have been declared a Hindu country at the time of partition in 1947.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna asked the petitioner, who has sought withdrawal of judicial work from Justice Sen, to amend the prayer and seek expunction of the controversial remarks in the judgment.

Justice Sen had written in his judgement, "Pakistan declared themselves as an Islamic country and India since was divided on the basis of religion should have also been declared as a Hindu country but it remained as a secular country.

"Even today, in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis, Khasis, Jaintias and Garos are tortured and they have no place to go and those Hindus who entered India during partition are still considered as foreigners, which in my understanding is highly illogical, illegal and against the principle of natural justice," Justice Sen had said.

The plea filed by Sona Khan and others contended that the judgment authored by Justice Sen is "legally flawed and historically misleading".

The observations made by the judge violates the citizenship law and makes a case for India as a country of and for Hindus, the petition said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court Friday refused to stay the procurement of 500 standard-floor buses, fitted with hydraulic lifts to facilitate accessibility to differently-abled persons, by the AAP government in the national capital.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, however, issued notice to the city government on an appeal which challenged the Delhi High Court order allowing purchase of standard-floor buses (SFBs) provided they are fitted with hydraulic lifts.

The high court, on October 22, last year, had dismissed the PIL filed by a differently-abled person, Nipun Malhotra, who had challenged the Delhi government and the DTC's decision to buy 2,000 SFBs instead of low-floor buses (LFBs) for the national capital.

The high court said there was no reason to prohibit the Delhi government from procuring more buses in pursuance of a tender for 1,000 SFBs as it had been undertaken they would be fitted with hydraulic/ mechanical lifts to facilitate accessibility to differently-abled persons.

Malhotra, in his appeal to the apex court, has said that SFBs were not disabled-friendly as they were mounted on truck chassis and their height prevented differently-abled persons from boarding them.

Besides seeking an interim stay on the purchase of buses, the appeal has sought a direction to Delhi government that only LFBs be purchased.

Earlier, the apex court had allowed the Delhi government to purchase 500 standard-floor buses to take care of "pressing needs" of commuters using public transport here.

The court had said the city government was allowed procurement of SFBs as an interim measure after it was assured hydraulic lifts would be installed in these buses for the benefit of differently-abled persons.

The direction had come on an appeal of the Delhi government and the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) challenging the Delhi High Court's June 1 order barring them from procuring 2,000 standard-floor buses without the enabling facility for the special category commuters.

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The Supreme Court Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking to withdraw recognition of BJP as a national party with immediate effect.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna dismissed the plea filed by former reader in Delhi University, saying it found no ground to entertain it.

"Having heard the petitioner-in-person and upon perusing the relevant material, we find no ground to entertain this petition under Article 32 of the constitution. The same is accordingly dismissed," the bench said.

The top court was hearing a plea by Devendra Kumar seeking to withdraw recognition of the party on the ground that it has violated the Election Commission's code of conduct.

The plea said that the party has been repeatedly and continuously has been using public funds, public place and government machinery for advertising the party and to propagate its election symbol in different ways.

The petitioner has also challenged the order of the Election Commission of India which had on June 8 last year dismissed his complaint to withdraw recognition of BJP as a national party.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court Friday refused to pass any interim order on pleas relating to the sale of controlling stakes of to Malaysian IHH Healthcare Berhad by former promoters and hospital operators -- Malvinder and

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said that it would accord final hearing in the case on February 26.

The apex court was hearing the plea of Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo which is seeking to recover Rs 3,500 crore, awarded to it by a Singapore tribunal in its case against Malvinder and

The Japanese firm, which has filed the contempt plea against the Singh brothers in the apex court, has said that it was promised some shares of by the Singh brothers.

"Instead of passing any order on the interlocutory applications, we fix the matter for final disposal on February 26 at the top of the Board," the bench said.

The apex court, on December 14 last year, had ordered status quo with regard to the sale of controlling stakes of



ALSO READ: Ashutosh Raghuvanshi replaces Bhavdeep Singh as Fortis Healthcare CEO

"Status quo with regard to sale of the controlling stake in Fortis Healthcare to Malaysian IHH Healthcare Berhad be maintained," the bench had said.

The top court had also issued notices to the Singh brothers asking them to explain as to why contempt proceedings be not initiated against them for allegedly violating its earlier order by pledging the shares.

The board of Fortis Healthcare had approved in July a proposal from IHH Healthcare to invest Rs 4,000 crore by way of preferential allotment for a 31.1 per cent stake.

The Malaysian IHH Healthcare Bhd became the controlling shareholder of Fortis Healthcare Ltd by acquiring a 31.1 per cent stake in the company.



Daiichi had bought in 2008. Later, it had moved the Singapore arbitration tribunal accusing that the Singh brothers had concealed information that was facing probe by the and the Department of Justice, while selling its shares.

Daiichi had to enter into a settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice, agreeing to pay USD 500 million penalty to resolve potential, civil and criminal liability.

The company had then sold its stake in Ranbaxy to Sun Pharmaceuticals for Rs 22,679 crore in 2015.
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- A Jackson County jury found Hubert Patrick Anderson guilty of capital murder Thursday, nearly three years after he shot a Biloxi man in the back of the head during a robbery in the Ocean Beach Estates subdivision southeast of Ocean Springs.

According to testimony during the four-day trial, witnesses detailed the events of March 21-22, 2016. Testimony revealed that Anderson, Rita Johnson and Donta Banks were friends and had spent much of March 21 together in coast casinos and using drugs.

Ultimately, the three traveled to Ocean Springs Estates, a sprawling subdivision adjacent to the St. Andrews community, stopping on a dirt road just off Cook Street. Anderson told Johnston to check a nearby residence to see if it was occupied in the hopes of robbing the home.

Johnston testified that as she made her way back to the vehicle they were traveling in, she saw Anderson shoot the 29-year-old Banks in the back of the head, after which Anderson took money from Banks' pocket.

Banks' body was found by a Jackson County deputy on patrol the next morning. It was later determined the vehicle, a 2004 Chrysler Pacifica, had recently been purchased by Banks.

After the murder, Anderson and Johnston drove to Wiggins, where they used the money taken from Banks to purchase clothes, shoes and other personal items. Later, the vehicle was spotted by a Biloxi police officer who attempted to initiate a stop, but the car sped away and then crashed into a house on Lackland Drive in Biloxi. Johnston was injured in the crash and taken into custody, while Anderson fled on foot.

Biloxi K-9 units were brought to the scene and Anderson was ultimately found hiding in an enclosed area of a carport on Popps Ferry Road.

Items connecting the two to the murder were found in the vehicle.

After Thursday's verdict was read, Judge Dale Harkey sentenced Anderson to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A separate hearing was held Friday morning as required due to Anderson's status as a habitual offender, but as his capital murder sentence already called for no possibility of parole, no changes in sentencing were necessary.

Johnston had previously pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to capital murder and attempted burglary and will be sentenced at a later date.

"This was an act of pure greed that led to the senseless loss of life," said district attorney Angel Myers McIlrath. "The defendant was looking to rob someone and when he didn't find a stranger, he robbed and killed his friend. I'm proud the jury followed the law and evidence to the truth. The defendant will not be able to hurt another person again."

"I commend the investigation by the Jackson County Sheriff's Department," said assistant district attorney Michael Dykes, "who worked diligently at the crime scene to collect pertinent footprint evidence that was necessary to present a clear case to the jury this week. Through their efforts, we were able to put a habitual criminal in jail for the rest of his life."
The Supreme Court Friday directed all state governments to sensitise their police personnel about its March 24, 2015 verdict which had scrapped Section 66A of Information Technology Act, so that people are not unnecessarily arrested under the struck down provision.

It also asked all the high courts to send the copy of the verdict to all the trial court to avoid people being prosecuted under the scrapped provision which provided for jail term to people who posted offensive content online.

A bench of Justices R F Nariman and Sanjay Kishan Kaul disposed of the application filed by NGO PUCL alleging that people were still being prosecuted under the scrapped provision.

Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, said the apex court verdict needs to be sent to all the high courts and to the district courts, so that prosecution does not take place.

On January 7, while hearing the application of PUCL, the bench had observed that it is shocking that people are still being prosecuted under Section 66 A of the IT Act even after it has been scrapped by the apex court in 2015.

It had sought response from the Centre and warned the concerned officials from sending them to jail for violating its orders.

Advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for the NGO had said prosecutions are taking place even after the provision has been struck down three years ago.

As per the data available, he had said, more than 22 prosecutions have taken place till now after the provisions was struck down.

Terming liberty of thought and expression "cardinal", the top court had on March 24, 2015, scrapped the provision saying that "the public's right to know is directly affected by Section 66A of the Information Technology Act.

The first PIL on the issue was filed in 2012 by a law student Shreya Singhal who sought an amendment in Section 66A of the Act after two girls Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Shrinivasan were arrested in Palghar in Maharashtra's Thane district.

While one had posted a comment against the shutdown in Mumbai following Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray's death, the other had 'liked' it.

PUCL was also one of the petitioners in the case and has challenged the constitutional validity of section 66A of IT Act.

"...despite the clear and unequivocal holding of this Court in Shreya Singhal case, Section 66A of the IT Act continues to be applied in the legal system. A recent working paper by the Internet Freedom Foundation demonstrates that pending prosecutions under Section 66A of the IT Act have not been terminated, and further that it continues to be invoked by police across India in FIR registered after the verdict," the PUCL plea said.

It said that research paper has considered several media reports as also the NCRB data but that is not an exhaustive list of the cases.

It added however that the data sufficiently establishes that Section 66A of the IT Act continues to live on in the legal system despite the judgment in Shreya Singhal case.

"That from the existence of several quashing petitions filed before High Courts, it is apparent that trial courts and prosecutors are not actively implementing the decision of this Court, and the burden of terminating illegal prosecutions based on Section 66A of the IT Act is unfairly falling upon accused persons," the plea said.

It added that the harm emanating from this state of affairs is enormous as besides indicating disregard for the Constitution and this Court, the continued use of Section 66A of the IT Act is a direct violation of the fundamental rights under Articles 19(1)(a) and 21 of the persons against whom the provision is invoked.

The NGO sought full compliance of the verdict of March 24, 2015, immediately through issuance of appropriate circulars/ advisories addressed to the Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories, and the Director Generals of Police of all States and Union Territories.

It also sought direction of the court to the apex court registry to send a copy of judgement to all the high courts to pass appropriate orders in pending cases concerning Section 66A of the IT Act as well as appropriate circulars to bring the Shreya Singhal judgement to the notice of all district courts within their jurisdiction to prevent failures of justice.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Saudi Arabia Friday said it stood with India's fight against terrorism and extremism and denounced as "cowardly" the suicide attack carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group in Jammu and Kashmir that killed at least 40 CRPF soldiers.

The strong condemnation came days ahead of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's state visit to India next week for talks with the top Indian leadership.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Strongly condemning the terror attack, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said Riyadh denounced the explosion that targeted a military convoy that killed a number of people and injured many others.

The official Saudi Press Agency, quoting a Foreign Ministry source, stressed the Kingdom rejects these "cowardly terrorist acts" and the Gulf Kingdom stood with the "friendly Republic of India against terrorism and extremism."





Riyadh also offered condolences to the families of the victims, the Indian government and the people and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

Crown Prince, who is arriving in Islamabad on Saturday for talks with the Pakistani leadership, will travel to New Delhi on Tuesday for a two-day visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The issues that could come up for discussions are investments, defence and security, including counter-terrorism, and renewable energy," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday in New Delhi.

Saudi Arabia is India's fourth largest trading partner and the bilateral trade is worth USD 28 billion.

The oil-rich country supplies 20 per cent of India's crude oil requirement and the Indian diaspora in Saudi Arabia is 20 million-strong.
South Africa has deplored Thursday's terror attack on a paramilitary convoy in Jammu and Kashmir and expressed its solidarity with India in fighting terrorism.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in three decades of militancy in the state, a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

The South African government condemns in the strongest terms the attack in Kashmir, a statement from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation read.

On behalf of the South African government, President Cyril Ramaphosa extended deepest condolences to the people of India and said that "acts of terrorism have no place in society".

The South African government wishes to reiterate its solidarity with the Government of India in confronting the scourge of terrorism and will continue to support regional and international efforts to address terrorism in all its forms, the department said.

Ela Gandhi, a human rights activist and Mahatma Gandhi's granddaughter, said



in a letter to Indian High Commissioner Ruchira Kamboj, All the peace-loving people of the world must unite to not only condemn these wanton attacks but bring an end to such acts of terrorism wherever they are being perpetrated."



We are with you in solidarity during this time of grief, Gandhi said.

The India missions have arranged a memorial service at the Consulate General in Johannesburg on Sunday morning.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Reserve Bank has warned Yes Bank of regulatory action for disclosure of nil divergence report in violation of the confidentiality clause, the private sector lender said Friday.

Yes Bank in a press release earlier this week had said the RBI has not found any divergence in the asset classification and provisioning done by the lender during 2017-18.

In a regulatory filing Friday, Yes Bank said it has received a letter from the RBI which noted that the Risk Assessment Report (RAR) was marked 'confidential' and it was expected that no part of the report be divulged except for the information in the form and manner of disclosure prescribed by regulations.

"Therefore, the press release breaches confidentiality and violates regulatory guidelines. Moreover, NIL divergence is not an achievement to be published and is only compliance with the extant Income Recognition and Asset Classification norms," the RBI said in its letter.

"The issuance of the Press Release has, therefore, been viewed seriously by the RBI and could entail further regulatory action/s," the letter added.

The RAR also identifies several other lapses and regulatory breaches in various areas of the bank's functioning and the disclosure of just one part of the RAR is viewed by RBI as a deliberate attempt to mislead the public, the central bank said.

The RBI conducted its first asset quality review (AQR) of banks in 2015 in order to find corporate loan accounts with severe financial weakness which were still classified as standard accounts on the books of the lenders.

Post this review, RBI found a large divergence of Rs 4,176 crore in the reported gross NPAs in the books of Yes Bank for 2015-16.

Further, the RBI judged gross NPAs at Rs 8,373.8 crore for Yes Bank for 2016-17 against the declared gross NPAs of Rs 2,018 crore. Thus, there was a divergence of Rs 6,355 crore or three times the reported amount.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The (RBI) on Friday withdrew the 20 per cent limit on investments by FPIs in of an entity with a view to encourage more

As part of the review of the in undertaken in April 2018, it was stipulated that no FPI should have an exposure of more than 20 per cent of its corporate bond portfolio to a single corporate (including exposure to entities related to the corporate).

While the provision was aimed at incentivising FPIs to maintain a portfolio of assets, market feedback indicates that (FPIs) have been constrained by this stipulation, the RBI said.

"...in order to encourage a wider spectrum of investors to access the Indian market, it has been decided to withdraw this provision with immediate effect," the central bank said.

The RBI said the directions in this regard have been issued the
Former Chief Minister Narayan Rane, whose Maharashtra Swabhimani Paksh (MSP) is an ally of the ruling BJP, Friday said his party will contest the ensuing Lok Sabha polls on its own.

Rane, who has pockets of influence in the coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra, said his fledgling party will neither tie-up with the Congress-NCP combine nor the saffron outfits the BJP and the Shiv Sena.

Addressing party workers here, the veteran politician also announcedthe candidature of his son Nilesh Rane from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg parliamentary seat.

"We are not going with Congress-NCP or Sena-BJP. We are contesting (Lok Sabha polls) independently with all seriousness," he said.

Rane said his party will contest a few Lok Sabha seats and candidates will be announced in phases.

Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabhaseats.

The former chief minister took a swipe at BJP and Sena leaders for holding pre-poll alliance talks when the country was mourning the death of 40 CRPF soldiers in a terror attack at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The meetings should have stopped. But these meetings were for selfish motives to stick to power," he charged.

Both the Sena and the BJP have been critical of each other despite being in ruling alliance and are now getting back together for the sake of power, Rane alleged.

"Despite being critical of BJP, the Sena leadership had meeting with BJP for an alliance (for Lok Sabha polls) without any shame. The Sena thinks Marathi people will support them irrespective of whatever they do," he claimed.

Lashing out at the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, Rane, who was once in the Sena, said the Maharashtra-based outfit had done nothing to safeguard the interest of Marathi-speaking people.

He said there are four prominent parties in the election fray, but they don't have candidates for all the seats in the state.

"We are different from these four. We will not go with either the 'agadhi' (Congress-NCP) or the 'yuti' (Sena-BJP)," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Referring to Hindi movie "Thackeray", based on the life of Sena founder Bal Thackeray, Rane said he hasn't seen the film since he can't watch anyone in the late leader's place.

"The son (Uddhav Thackeray) is not even 5 per cent of Balasaheb. What will the actor (in the film) do?" he said.

The movie was made with the sole purpose of making money in late Thackeray's name, the former chief minister alleged.

Rane formed his own outfit in 2017 after the quitting the Congress.

The 66-year-old politician is a Rajya Sabha MP from the BJP quota and also a member of the BJP's manifesto committee.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Protest rallies and human chains were held in various parts of West Bengal Friday to protest against the terror attack in Pulwama, which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel, including one from the state.

Parties cutting across political lines demanded exemplary punishment for the perpetrators of the dastardly attack and organized protest marches and condolence prayers.

The ruling Trinamool Congress took out processions in various parts of the state to protest against the attack.

The Left Front took out a protest march in Esplande area of city, while the BJP state unit cancelled all its political programs and offered floral tributes to the martyred CRPF jawans.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad organized protest marches in various parts of the state, including in the busy Shyambazar area the city and demanded avenging of the death of the CRPF jawans.

The VHP activists carried national flags and placards condemning the attack on security forces and shouted slogans against Pakistan and terror outfits.

They also demanded that Mashood Azhar, the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) which had claimed responsibility for the dastardly attack, be brought to India and hanged.

In some parts of the state students and youths took out processions and demanded exemplary punishment for the perpetrators.

There were reports of effigies of Pakistani political leaders being burnt in some parts of the state, while prayers were also organised.

Students of Jadavpur University and Calcutta University heldcandle light march and made human chains to protest against the killings.

Bablu Santra hailing from Howrah district of the state and Sudip Biswas of Nadia district were among the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in Thursday's terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

Senior TMC minister Arup Roy visited Santra's family members and assured them of the state administration's support.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Home Minister Rajnath Singh Friday helped carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan after he laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the troops, who were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Shortly after arriving from Delhi, the home minister attended a solemn function here where the remains of 40 CRPF personnel were kept in coffins, draped with tricolour.

Singh helped carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan before it was flown out of in a special aircraft, an official present at the function said.

The home minister, Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar, DGP Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath-laying ceremony.

"The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans. I have paid my last respects to the martyrs of Pulwama. The sacrifice will not go in vain," Singh said.

The dignitaries stood in silence till the coffins were loaded in a truck which went to the Srinagar airport, the official said.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles CRPF travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Prime Minister on Friday said those responsible for the attack will pay "a very heavy price" and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished.


Home Minister Rajnath Singh left for Jammu and Kashmir on Friday to take stock of the situation in the state in the wake of a terror attack in Pulwama that killed at least 40 CRPF personnel, officials said.

He is accompanied by top home ministry officials.

During the visit, the home minister will take part in a high-level meeting in Srinagar to be attended by Governor Satya Pal Malik and top civil, police and other security officials.

The home minister will take stock of the security situation in the state in view of the terror attack on Thursday, a home ministry official said.

Singh will also pay his last respects to the CRPF jawans who were killed in Pulwama.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said those responsible for the attack will pay "a very heavy price" and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A railway employee was Friday arrested for allegedly raising 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans at Lonavala in the district, where some local residents had gathered to pay homage to the CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama terror attack, a police official said.

The man, Upendra Kumar Bahadur Singh (39), a junior ticket checker with the railways, was arrested under IPC section 153 (B) (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), police said.

"On Friday morning, some local residents had gathered at Shivaji Chowk in Lonavala to pay homage to the CRPF jawans martyred in the Pulwama attack," B R Patil, senior inspector of Lonavala police station, said.

"When people were paying homage, Singh reached the venue andstarted raising 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans. People present there got angry and tried to beat him up. But since police personnel were deployed there, he was immediately detained," he said.

According to Patil, Singh was produced in the court, which remanded him in police custody till February 18.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday paid tributes to the CRPF jawans killed in the Pulwama terror attack at the Palam airport here after their mortal remains were brought from Srinagar.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed in the attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Gandhi paid homage to the slain security personnel by laying a wreath where the caskets carrying the mortal remains of the soldiers were kept at the Palam technical area here.

The Congress chief paid his tributes after the three armed forces chiefs' homage to them.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi described the assault as an attack on India's soul and said his party as well as the entire opposition was fully supportive of the government and the security forces.

No amount of hatred or anger can do anything to the love and affection that India is built on, Gandhi said at a press conference.

There is going to be no other discussion from the Congress party over the next couple of days other than the fact that "our most beloved people have been killed, their families need us, and we are going to stand with them," he asserted at the press conference.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"The perpetrators must be punished for killing my father, our jawans, even if it means carrying out surgical strikes across the border," demanded the daughter of CRPF Head Constable Maneswar Basumatari, who was martyred in Thursday's terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

Basumatari, the head constable CRPF 98 Battalion was among the 40 soldiers who were killed in the Pulwama attack. He is survived by his daughter, Didmaswari, wife, Sunmati, and son.

"We want justice. Give a befitting reply to the cowards responsible for the Pulwama attack," said an inconsolable Didmaswari on Friday.

Talking to reporters at the family's residence in Kalabari village in Assam's Baksa district, she also demanded that the government should look after the family now.

Basumatari had recently visited home, said the slain head constable's wife with tears running down her face.

She was unable to talk further.

After the attack, there were rumours circulating on social media that three more soldiers from Assam had been killed in the attack.

The CRPF jawans rumoured to have been killed in the blast took to Facebook on Friday to refute the rumours.

One of the soldiers, Mizing Basumatary of Udalguri district said in a Facebook post, "This is fake I am doing fine and nothing has happened to me. Please don't share the fake post."



CRPF jawan, Pabitra Barman, a native of Bongaigaon, said, "Hi friends...I am fully safe & sound. I'm deployed in other district of Kashmir, which is far away from Pulwama where the mischief happened. Jai Hind."



Family of the third CRPF jawan, Ananta Saiki of Nagaon district's Gorubandha, also stated that he was safe.

His sister, Purnima, told reporters, "By God's grace, Ananta is safe. He called us today. He was on a bus which was ahead of the convoy of 78 vehicles, carrying 2,547 CRPF jawans, that was attacked."



Meanwhile, various organisations held protests across Assam. Protesters burnt effigies of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, which claimed responsibility for the attack, and flags of the neighbouring country.

Protests were held by members of Sadou Assam Goria Moriya Yuva Chatra Parishad, a minority students' organisation, All Bodo Minority Students Union, ABVP, Krishak Shramik Unayan Parishad, Hindu Jagran Manch. Protesters raised anti-Pakistan slogans.

People lit oil lamps across the state in memory of the martyrs.

The Congress paid tributes to the martyred jawans at its party office at Rajiv Bhavan here.

Paramananda Rajbangshi, president of Assam Sahitya Sabha, the apex literary body in the state, condemned the terror attack and urged the people to unitedly oppose forces trying to destabilise the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Odisha government Friday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of two slain CRPF jawans from the state, who were among 40 personnel killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

The ex-gratia was announced after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik spoke to the family members of the two jawans.

"I spoke to the family members of the two martyrs and assured them of all help. I am with them," Patnaik said.

Prasanna Sahu of Naugaon area of Jagatsinghpur district and Manoj Behera of Niali area in Cuttack district, were among the 40 jawans killed in the Thursday's terrorist suicide bomber attack.

Strongly condemning the incident, the chief minister asked finance minister S B Behera and health minister Pratap Jena to visit brave jawans houses to pay tributes to them.

Patnaik, while attending a farmers meeting at Kendrapara, observed two minute silence as a mark of respect towards the victims of the Jammu and Kashmir terrorist strike.

"Deeply saddened by the martyrdom of so many @crpfindia #jawans in terrorist attack in #Pulwama district of #JammuAndKashmir. Strongly condemn the cowardly act and condolences to the bereaved families (sic)," Patnaik tweeted.

Aravind Agarwal, the district collector of Jagatsinghpur district, visited Naugaon village and met the family members of Prasanna Sahu.

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In the wake of Pulwama terror attack, in which at least 40 CRPF jawans lost their lives, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani Friday cancelled all his official engagements.

Besides Rupani, Gujarat BJP and Congress also cancelled their party events and meetings scheduled be held in parts of the state on Friday.

Protests condemning the terror attack are being held in different parts of Gujarat.

In Rajkot, members of Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad, floated by Pravin Togadia, burnt an effigy of terrorists and demanded retaliation.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal have planned similar protests in different parts of Gujarat in the evening.

Paying tributes on Twitter to the Pulwama terror attack martyrs, Rupani announced cancellation of his programmes scheduled to be held in Surendranagar and Modasa towns Friday.

Expressing grief over the loss of lives in Pulwama, Gujarat BJP chief Jitu Vaghani tweeted that two 'Cluster Sammelans' scheduled to be held in Dhoraji and Amreli this evening, have been cancelled.

Opposition Congress said it has cancelled three of its crucial meetings scheduled to be held at the party headquarter here Friday evening.

The party has organised a candle march at Sabarmati Ashram here to pay respects to the departed souls, said Gujarat Congress spokesperson, Manish Doshi.

"We have cancelled three meetings today. Our party condemns this cowardly attack on our soldiers and demand that the central government takes stern action against terrorists behind this attack," he said.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in in one of the worst terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.

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In the wake of terror attack on a on CRPF personnel in Kashmir, 24 film associations including Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), Indian Film & Television Directors' Association (IFTDA) and others will protest on Sunday at a suburban film studio.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed in the attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday. Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

"All major film bodies including FWICE, IFTDA, Allied Mazdoor Union, association of Cinematographers, make up men, costumes, junior artists, editors, fighters, dancers and others will participate in the protest that will be held on Sunday at Filmcity



"Also, there will be no film and TV shoots happening between 2 to 4 pm on the same day in Mumbai," President of IFTDA, Ashoke Pandit, told PTI.

"We are inviting the film industry people to be a part of this protest in Mumbai. We will pay our tribute to the martyrs. The country is in pain, we all are hurt. The film industry stands by the side of our nation," Pandit says.

According to Pandit, 25,000 to 30,000 people are expected on Sunday.

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All political programmes of BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah, scheduled for Friday have been cancelled following the terror attack on CRPF personnel in Kashmir.

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Top BJP leaders, including Modi and Shah, have been holding rallies and other political programmes in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.

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One was planning the wedding of his daughter, the other eagerly awaiting the arrival of his second child.

The dreams of Sanjay Kumar Sinha and Ratan Kumar Thakur went up in smoke in a trice. They were among the 40 CRPF jawans who lost their lives in the brazen suicide attack at Pulwama in Kashmir on Thursday.

The family and friends of Sinha received the earth-shattering of his death with sorrow, anger and disbelief.

His father Mahendra Prasad, who himself served in the CRPF, is proud of his son but equally concerned about what would happen to his family.

"My son attained veergati (martyrdom). I hope the government now takes care of the gati (future) of his family," he said.

Sinha had left his village Taregana Dih on the outskirs of the state capital for Kashmir only last week after a vacation.

"He has two grown-up, unmarried daughters. While leaving for duty, he had said that on his next visit to the village he would finalize the marriage of the elder one. We are distraught," says the grief-stricken father of Sinha.

Sinha's wife Babita is inconsolable ever since the family got the Thursday night, alternating between spells of stupor from exhaustion and uncontrollable wailing as her two daughters try to comfort her, struggling to retain composure themselves.

The villagers are livid and want his death avenged.

"We want a strong retaliation. There should be another surgical strike. How long will we go on losing our people to dastardly attacks by terrorists from across the border?" they said.

The atmosphere is sombre at Thakur's home in Bhagalpur, some 240 km from Patna.

He has left behind a four-year-old son and a wife who is expecting their second child.

"We were expecting a call from Ratan by the evening as he had told us he would speak to us after joining duty in Srinagar. Instead, we received a call from one of his superiors who broke to us the terrible news," Niranjan Thakur, the slain CRPF constable's father, said.

The family had recently shifted to a rented accomodation in Bhagalpur town from a village in Kahalgaon tehsil.

"With Ratan landing a job with the CRPF, we were looking forward to a bright future for his younger brother who is studying in BA. We hoped he will ensure good education for his own children. I am ready to let my younger son join the force, but the enemy must be taught a lesson," a crestfallen Thakur said.

The thought of how his daughter-in-law will cope with the loss leaves him distraught.

"I shudder to think of Rajnandini (Ratan's widow). She is so young and has such a long life before her. How will she bring up her children?" he said, bewilderment writ large on his shrivelled face.

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Several US lawmakers Friday expressed solidarity with India in the wake of a dastardly terror attack on a paramilitary convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district and said that the two countries stand united in condemning and defeating terror.

Cutting across party lines, over 50 Congressmen and Senators took to social media to express their solidarity with people of India and called for strict action against the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and its state sponsors.

The JeM has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.

I strongly condemn the terror attack in Kashmir. The United States stands with our friends in India, and I send heartfelt condolences to the families that lost loved ones, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer tweeted.

Senator Robert Menendez said he was outraged by the terror attack, "one of the deadliest in the region since 1989".

Senator Johnny Isakson strongly criticised the terror strike and pledged the US' support to India in defeating terrorism.

Today, more than 40 Indian military police were killed by a radical Islamist terrorist group in the deadliest attack in 30 years on Indian forces in Kashmir. I send my deepest condolences to the soldiers injured and killed in this senseless attack, to their families, and to India, a critical ally in the global war on terror, said Senator John Cornyn, Co-Chair of Senate India caucus.

Senator Tom Cotton said the US stands with its "partner India as it recovers from a terrorist bombing in Kashmir. Jaish-e-Mohammed and its state sponsors must face consequences for this attack".

"My heart is with the victims of the #KashmirTerrorAttack. The United States stands with our Indian allies against those behind this heinous act of terrorism," Senator Mark Warner, who is co-chair of the Senate India Caucus and Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, posted on Twitter.

Senator Chris Coons expressed his condolences to the families of those affected and said the world must stand united in condemning and defeating terror.

Congresswoman and Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard said, "We stand with the people of India in condemning the terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir, and send our condolences and prayers to the victims families. We must all stand up against these jihadists and their ideology.

Heartbreaking. My thoughts are with the families of the victims of heinous terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir today. We must confront terror and defeat it, wherever it occurs, Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said.

Congressman Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said countries must not allow terrorist groups like JeM to operate with impunity.

Senator Ben Cardin said, Praying for the victims, and their loved ones, of this heinous terror attack that's already taken 45 lives. I will continue to monitor the situation and hope to be briefed when more information is available."



Congresswoman Grace Meng said she was "devastated" by the terrorist attack on the CRPF convoy, while Congressman George Holding, Co-Chair of the House India Caucus, said the US stands with India in their collective effort to end violent extremism and terrorism.

Congressmen Brian Fitzpatrick, Dan Crenshaw, Al Green, Don Bacon, George Holding, Joe Wilson, Jeff Van Drew, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Frank Pallone, Michael McCaul, Joe Morelle, Will Hurd, Brad Sherman, Ted Yoho and Congresswomen Elissa Slotkin, Paul Gosar also expressed outrage at the attack and sympathized with the affected families.

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The Rajasthan government on Friday announced ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh and a job to the family members of CRPF jawans from the state who were among the 40 killed in the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Five CRPF personnel were also injured in Thursday's attack, one of the deadliest in Jammu and Kashmir, when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.

Soldiers Welfare Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said the government stands with the families of the slain soldiers in the tough times.

The state government will give Rs 25 lakh to the wives of martyred soldiers or Rs 1 lakh cash along with 25 bigha land or Rs 1 lakh cash with one MIG house, he said.

Khachariyawas said Rs 3 lakh will given to the parents of martyrs, a job for wife or son or unmarried daughter, besides other facilities.

Earlier in the day, the minister paid tributes to the martyred soldiers at Mahatma Gandhi's statue at the state secretariat.

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As tempers run high in neighbouring Deoria's Jaidev Chapia, the native village of 30-year-old CRPF jawan Vijay Kumar Maurya who was killed in the Pulwama terror attack, the proud father of the soldier seeks a befitting reply to Pakistan.

Vijay Maurya joined the paramilitary force nine years ago and got married in 2014. He is survived by wife and a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter. He was home on February 2 on vacation and left for Jammu only on February 9.

"I am proud that my son gave up his life for the nation but Government should give a befitting reply to Pakistan as soon as possible. The action should be so strong that Pakistan dare not enter our territory and kill our soldiers ever again, Vijay's father Ramayan Maurya said.

Vijay Maurya's inconsolable wife said, "I lost my husband and my daughter lost her father. Whenever such incidents take place a lot of people express their emotions but after 4-5 days everything becomes normal and Government never does anything.

The family came to know of the attack from Vijay's cousin Rajesh Maurya, who is posted as DSP, CRPF in Jammu and Kashmir, Ramayan Maurya said.

The entire village is angry over the terror attack and is raising slogans against Pakistan. Hundreds of people are gathered outside the martyr's house since early Friday morning.

A huge number of youth of the village with tricolour in hand also demanded that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visit the village and family.

"We will continue demonstration until CM comes here," villager Arun Dubey told newspersons gathered in the village.

SDM Vineet Singh and BSP state president RS Kushwaha rushed to the village on Friday morning to meet the family.

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Several persons Friday congregated in Begumpura area in Aurangabad and burnt Pakistan's national flag in protest against the terror attack on a CRPF convoy in restive Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

Raising anti-Pakistan slogans, the gathering, comprising mostly youth, asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terror activities and giving terrorists a safe haven to launch attacks against India.

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir.

Pakistan-based terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.

Officer-bearers from several political parties as well as citizens' groups here said that they planned to hold protests in different parts of Aurangabad, including Kranti Chowk, later Friday afternoon.

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In a strong warning to Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday declared those responsible will pay a "very heavy price" and said the security forces have been given a free hand to decide on the timing, place and nature of their response to the carnage that left 40 CRPF men dead.

As the shock after the Thursday attack by a Jaish suicide bomber resonated across the country with families awaiting the bodies of their loved ones in coffins wrapped in tricolour, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling", adding the terror outfits and those aiding and abetting them have made a "big mistake".

An IAF transport aircraft brought the coffins to the national capital from Srinagar Friday night and they will be later taken to the homes of the victims.

"A befitting reply will be given to the perpetrators of the heinous attack and their patrons," asserted Modi, a day after the bomber rammed his vehicle laden with explosives into a CRPF bus in a convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed(JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack on the convoy of 78 vehicles in one of the deadliest terror attacks in the border state.

Simultaneously, the government made it clear that India means business with a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS) presided by Modi deciding to revoke the Most Favoured Nation(MFN) status to Pakistan. Withdrawal of the MFN status would significantly hit Pakistan's exports to India, which stood at USD 488.5 million (around Rs 3,482.3 crore) in 2017-18, sources said.

After the meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters that the Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) will take all possible diplomatic steps to isolate Pakistan.

Hours later, the government reached out to the international community, most of whom has univocally condemned the attack by the UN-proscribed JeM, in a major diplomatic offensive against Pakistan.

The MEA held a briefing for envoys of 25 countries, including from the P5 nations -- US, China, Russia, the UK and France -- during which it highlighted Pakistan's role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

Before the briefing, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood to his South Block office and issued a very strong demarche over the attack and asked Islamabad to take "immediate and verifiable action" against JeM.

According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack.

An all party meeting has been convened by the Ministry Of Home Affairs in Delhi on Saturday to take stock of the situation.

Protests against Pakistan broke out in several parts of the country, including in Jammu city where curfew was imposed amid demands for retaliation against Pakistan.

The Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF) said it won't "forget and forgive" but will "avenge" the death of its 40 personnel.

The country's largest paramilitary force put out a tweet from its official handle saying, "We will not forget, we will not forgive."



"We salute our martyrs of Pulwama attack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged."



In a hard-hitting speech in the national capital, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will definitely be punished.

"I want to tell the terror outfits and those aiding and abetting them that they have made a big mistake. They will have to pay a very heavy price for their actions. Let me assure the nation that those behind this attack, the perpetrators of this attack will be punished," Modi said at a function to flag off the Vande Bharat Express, India's fastest train from Delhi to Varanasi.

He said the security forces have been given "complete freedom".

"Security forces have been given complete freedom, the blood of the people is boiling...Our neighbouring country, which has been isolated internationally is in a state of illusion, thinks such terror attacks can destabilise us, but their plans will not materialise," Modi said.

Addressing a public meeting in Jhansi later in the day, the prime minister again did not name Pakistan but said the attack was an outcome of its desperation as it is in a bad shape and has been forced to go to different countries with a "begging bowl" to meet even its daily expenses.

Asserting that the sacrifices of CRPF soldiers will "not go in vain", he said, "Security forces have been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response... This is an India of new convention and policy,"



As the government and politicians reacted to the attack with anger and the families of those killed came to grips with the enormity of the tragedy, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh travelled to Srinagar and laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the troops.

The remains of the 40 CRPF personnel, many of whom were returning from leave to rejoin work in the Valley, were kept in coffins, draped in the tricolour, ready to make their final journey home.

Singh gave a shoulder to the coffin of one the jawans killed.

"The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans," Singh said.

Echoing Singh's views, the younger brother of V V Vasanth Kumar, who had left his home in Kerala's Wayanad district on February 8 and was one of those killed, said his sacrifice would never be forgotten.

"My elder brother died for the country and we are proud of his sacrifice," Sajeevan told PTI.

Vasanth Kumar's mother Shanta and wife Sheena are inconsolable and his two young children have not yet been informed.

Their grief found resonance in 39 other homes across the country.

Describing the terror assault as an attack on India's soul, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said his party as well as the entire opposition was fully supportive of the government and the security forces.

"I want to make it very clear that the aim of terrorism is to divide this country and we are not going to be divided for even one second, no matter how hard people try," he told reporters.

The Himachal Pradesh Assembly unanimously passed a resolution seeking a befitting reply to Pakistan.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh called for giving a befitting reply to Pakistan, asserting "the time for peace talks is over and they should be taught a lesson."



As questions cropped up whether there was any intelligence failure, experts of anti-terror commando force the National Security Guard (NSG) and investigators from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) joined the probe into the attack.

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Punjab minister Balbir Singh Sidhu Friday cancelled his scheduled visit to Lahore to lodge a "strong protest" against the Pulwama terror attack orchestrated by a Pakistan-based terror group in which at least 40 CRPF men died.

The animal husbandry and labour minister was supposed to attend an International Buffalo Congress organised by the University of Animal & Veterinary Sciences, Lahore from February 18 to 20.

The decision was taken "to lodge a strong protest against the dastardly attack on the CRPF personnel at Pulwama", an official release said.

Sidhu said that he was slated to go to Pakistan along with the farmers of the state to take part in the congress which will be attended by the representatives from different countries, he said in the release.

The gruesome attack on CRPF convoy has shaken me emotionally and in order to show solidarity with the families of the jawans who lost their lives, I have decided to cancel my visit to Pakistan, he further said.

The Punjab Assembly too strongly condemned the attack and passed a resolution for the adjournment of the proceedings of the House for the day.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel (CRPF), many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir.

The JeM claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.

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Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar Friday said the Pulwama terror attack was an attack on the nation andthere should be no attempts to politicise the issue.

The former Union minister also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over some of the latter's statements after such attacks during the Congress-led UPA regime.

Speaking to reporters on home turf Baramati in Pune district, Pawar called Thursday's attack on the CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir as an attack on the nation.

"I can remember, Prime Minister Modi, before coming to power, used to say in his election rallies that (then PM) Manmohan Singh's government had failed to teach Pakistan a lesson (after such attacks).

"He (Modi) used to say the Manmohan Singh government did not have ability to teach a lesson (to Pakistan). He also used to remark that only those with a 56-inch chest could administer a tough lesson to Pakistan," Pawar said.

Modi, in his rallies, used to exhort people to replace the UPA government with that of the BJP so that Pakistan could be given a befitting reply for such terror attacks, Pawar told reporters.

"But everyone has seen what has happened now. But today I will not repeat that same demand which he (Modi) had made (at that time)," Pawar said.

The kind of image that Modi created of himself in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls had now become a "100 per cent failure", he said.

The hand of state players in Pakistan cannot be ruled out in the Pulwama attack looking at its magnitude and explosives used, Pawar said. Having such capabilities was not possible for common persons or outfits, he added.

"Such explosives and weapons are generally available with the army. Since they cannot get it from the Indian Army, it is clear the neighbouring nation provided such weapons to the attackers," he claimed.

Pawar said the way the attack was carried out showed the attacker/s were trained by experts.

"Since the army can give such training, it shows the attackers were given training from the neighbouring nation's soil," claimed Pawar.

The former defence minister said the attackers had knowledge of the CRPF convoy's movement.

"After the attack, some terrorists opened fire at the vehicles. It shows the attack was pre-planned," he said.

"Today the entire nation stands with the families of the martyred soldiers. To fight such attacks, the country needs to stand as a strong nation," he said.

Calling the situation worrisome, Pawar said there was need to give national security and defence greater importance.

He said, if needed, an all-party meet should be convened so that a message goes out the entire country stands united during this trying time.

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Condemning the "cowardly" Pulwama terror attack in which at least 40 CRPF men died, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri Friday accused Pakistan of unleashing a proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir.

"We express our grief with the families of the CRPF jawans who were martyred following the dastardly and cowardice act of terror in Pulwama yesterday," Puri said here.

Orchestrated by Pakistan based terror group Jaish e Mohammad (JeM), Thursday's attack in which a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into a CRPF bus in south Kashmir was one of the deadliest in the Valley.

Addressing a press conference here, Puri said Pakistan was unleashing a proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir and alleged that the country had not taken concrete steps to stop terror attacks on India.

On the Kartarpur corridor issue, Puri said the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre was committed towards letting devotees to pay obeisance at the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan.

However, he warned: "On one hand, Pakistan responded to (setting up) the corridor but on the other hand, it is supporting terror groups on its soil against India. How long will this go (on)?"



Without taking any name, the union minister said political leaders went to Pakistan and hugged Pakistan army chief without realising that such people engineered terror attacks against India.

"As per my opinion, trade activities cannot take place with the Pakistan in the light of prevailing circumstances particularly after terror attack in Pulwama," he said.

Asked about his will to contest Lok Sabha elections from Amritsar as he has been visiting the city frequently, Puri said, "I do not intend to contest elections from the Amritsar Parliament seat."



"I have come here for a meeting -'Bharat Ke Man Ki Baat' organised here by Punjab BJP," said the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs.

The meeting brought together representatives of all sections of the society including academicians, intellectuals, and NGOs among others to seek suggestions for the 'Sankalap Patra' -- the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he said.

Puri said the meeting was part of a nationwide exercise to seek and review the suggestions of all segments of the society and forward them to the manifesto committee.

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The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress passed a resolution on Friday, calling for "an appropriate and effective response" to avenge the killings of 40 CRPF personnel in a terror attack in Pulwama.

At a meeting here, the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee adopted the resolution, saying "the party solidly stands in solidarity with the nation and calls for an appropriate and effective response to avenge the killings".

The meeting was chaired by the party's state president G A Mir.

The party shares the grief, anguish and anger of the nation over the dastardly and barbaric terror attack over a CRPF convoy in Awantipora in Pulwama on Thursday.

The party appealed to the people to express their anger and anguish unitedly in a peaceful and non-violent manner and maintain communal harmony at all costs to defeat "nefarious designs of the enemy".

As a mark of respect to the slain jawans, the meeting decided to defer all scheduled programmes of the party in the state for a week, including the provincial-level convention on February 17.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for the attack on the convoy of 78 vehicles that was on its way from Jammu to Srinagar.

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India today withdrew the 'Most-Favoured Nation' status to Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack that left nearly 40 CRPF



personnel dead.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said all efforts will be made to ensure that perpetrators of the attack are brought to book.

He said those aiding and abating the perpetrators will have to pay a heavy price.

Briefing reporters outside the Prime Minister's residence, he said the Ministry of External Affairs will launch an all out effort to isolate Pakistan and all diplomatic efforts will be launched in this regard.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be visiting Srinagar on Friday and would convene an all-party meeting most likely on Saturday to brief political parties on the incident so that the nation speaks in one voice on the issue.

The Cabinet Committee on Security meet was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

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India will give a befitting reply to the perpetrators of the Pulwama terror attack that left at least 40 CRPF men dead, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Friday.

The Minister for Commerce and Industry described as "unfortunate" the killing of the security personnel on Thursday when a suicide bomber of Pakistan based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) rammed his vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into the CRPF bus.

"It is an unfortunate incident in which our enemies attacked our soldiers. We will not only condemn the attack, but give a befitting reply. We cannot tolerate such acts and will respond appropriately," he told reporters.

Speaking at the 'Noida Dialogue - Vision 2030 Gautam Buddh Nagar', Prabhu said there was a need for people to prioritise the country ahead of themselves.

The minister recalled his visits to countries like Japan and China, where he said the people's sense of ownership of their land had led to cleaner cities and better quality of life.

"The government has initiated Smart Cities programme across the country. Noida will also be developed as a smart city where people, we believe, will have a world-class experience," he said.

Noting the limited availability of water and land, the Union Minister said emphasis should also be laid on better utilisation of natural resources to meet challenges thrown by an ever growing population.

"Gandhi ji said that most of India resided in its villages. True. But now a lot of people are moving towards cities so there is another challenge to ensure good quality of life for people living in cities," he said.

It is also to be ensured that participation of women is made mandatory when we want to establish new cities, he added.

"We must create a society that strives towards complete development," he said further.

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In a major diplomatic offensive against Islamabad after the Pulwama terror attack, India held a briefing for envoys of 25 countries, including from P5 nations -- US, China, Russia, the UK and France -- during which it highlighted Pakistan's role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

Before the briefing, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood to his South Block office and issued a very strong demarche over the attack in which at least 40 CRPF personnel were killed in Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Pakistan must take "immediate and verifiable action" against the JeM and that it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories, Gokhale told the envoy.

According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack.

Hours after vowing to isolate Pakistan diplomatically in the wake of the attack, the government undertook the exercise of reaching out to the international community, most of which has univocally condemned the attack by the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based JeM terror outfit.

China expressed deep "shock" over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by a Jaish suicide bomber, but did not give an assurance to India that it will back New Delhi's appeal to list the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based terror group's chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

Apart from the envoys of the P5, Gokhale met the envoys of key countries in Europe and Asia such as Germany, South Korea, Japan, as well as Australia, they said.

"All the Heads of Missions were left in no doubt about the role played by Pakistan based and supported JeM in the terrorist attack and our demand that Pakistan ceases forthwith all support and financing to terror groups operating from areas under their control. The foreign secretary also highlighted the role played by Pakistan in using terrorism as an instrument of its state policy," a source said.

The MEA will continue to take all steps to expose the complicity of Pakistan in the Pulwama terrorist attack and demand immediate and verifiable action against JeM and its leader Masood Azhar, the source added.

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, briefing reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, said the MEA will make a major diplomatic push to isolate Pakistan.

India on Friday also withdrew the 'most-favoured nation' status to Pakistan.

Jaitley said those aiding and abating the perpetrators will have to "pay a heavy price".

Countries from across the globe condemned the terror attack with nations such as the US, UK, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India in this hour of grief.

Condemning the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin said perpetrators and sponsors of the attack should be brought to book and reiterated his country's support for further strengthening counterterrorist cooperation with India.

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Condemning the terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, the Himachal Pradesh Assembly unanimously passed a condolence motion on Friday and sought a befitting reply to Pakistan.

Moving the motion, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said, "Himachal is with PM. Himachal has the same sentiments which is of the entire country. HP is with the country for giving befitting reply to Pakistan for Pulwama attack."



In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

The Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed the responsibility for the attack.

Thakur said there is no doubt that "our neighbouring country Pakistan is behind this terrorist attack. Pakistan denied its hand but everyone knows this act has been done by none other than Pakistan."



The chief minister said, "Now this situation cannot be tolerated at all. Whatever decision the leadership at the Centre takes, Himachal will fully support that."Announcing Rs 20 lakh as ex-gratia help to the family of slain CRPF jawan Tilak Raj from Himachal Pradesh, Thakur said he had on February 11 left home in Jawali of Kangra district to rejoin duty after leave.

Speaking on the resolution, Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri said the Pulwama attack was a big challenge before the country.

Stating that Pakistan's role in the Pulwama attack was obvious, he said a befitting reply should be given to Pakistan.

Saying that this is the biggest terrorist attack in the recent past, he said the terrorists are now targeting our army, security forces and their camps. Earlier too, army camp was attacked in Uri sector in 2016, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Vikramaditya Singh said that whatever step the prime minister takes to retaliate, the entire country will be with him.

Paying his condolence, the lone CPI(M) MLA Rakesh Singha said violence could not be a solution to any problem.

Speaking on the occasion, former CM Virbhadra Singh, Ministers Mahender S Thakur, Govind Singh Thakur, Inder Singh, Dhani Ram Shandil, Suresh Kashyap, Nand Lal and Ashish Butail also paid homage to the slain CRPF jawans.

Speaker Rajiv Bindal adjourned the proceedings of the Assembly till Saturday after passing the motion supported by all the members. He also announced that Governor Acharya Devvrat had cancelled the dinner for MLAs scheduled at Raj Bhawan on Friday following the terror attack.

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As they mourned the loss of four CRPF men from Punjab, the grief of families and villagers was etched with anger as they demanded that Pakistan be given a befitting reply over the Pulwama attack.

The four personnel were among the 40 killed in the attack a Central Reserve Paramilitary Force (CRPF) convoy on Thursday.

Jaimal Singh from Kot ise Kham village in Moga, Sukhjinder Singh from Gandiwind village in Tarn Taran, Kulwinder Singh from Rauli village in Anandpur Sahib and Maninder Singh Attri from Arya Nagar village in Gurdsapur died in the attack.

Heartbreaking scenes were witnessed in the villages as families mourned the loss of their loved ones. Locals gathered in large numbers to join the mourning and expressed pride in the jawans' sacrifice for the country and demanded that Pakistan be given a befitting reply.

Jaimal Singh was the driver of the bus that was blown up by a suicide bomber who rammed his explosive-laden SUV into it on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Awantipora area.

His father, Jaswant Singh, said he was proud of Jaimal for sacrificing his life for the motherland. He said his son had spoken to his wife and five-year-old son on Tuesday night.

In Tarn Taran's Gandiwind village, located near Amritsar, the family of 35-year-old Sukhjinder Singh was inconsolable. He had recently joined duty after a long vacation, villagers said.

Panchayat member Angrez Singh said Sukhjinder had got married five to six years back and he was the father to an infant boy.

"He was very patriotic. Since childhood, he wanted to join the armed forces. The entire village is in shock and disbelief and there is anger among people. They want that Pakistan be given a befitting reply," he said.

Sepoy Kulwinder Singh (26), who hailed from Rauli village Anandpur Sahib district, was engaged and he was to get married in November this year, a local said.

Kulwinder's father was a bus driver and his mother a housewife, the villager said, adding that he had joined the force four years back.

He said that while the family was in grief-stricken and there was anger among villagers, who wanted Pakistan to be taught a lesson.

The terror attack triggered angry protests at several places in Punjab and Haryana and people burnt effigies of Pakistan and terrorism, raising slogans against the neighbouring countries. Schoolchildren also took out marches in some areas.

"What is our government waiting for. How many sacrifices will our soldiers have to make? This needs to stop," said Jagtar Singh, who was part of one such march taken out in Kurukshetra.

Earlier on Friday, the PunjabAssembly strongly condemned the terror attack and the House was adjourned the day. In solidarity with those killed, legislators cutting across party lines unanimously passed a resolution for adjournment of the proceedings for the day.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kgs explosives into their bus.

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday said the terror attack in J&K on a CRPF convoy at Pulwama which claimed 40 lives was due to "intelligence failure" and demanded that there be three-day nationwide mourning to show respect to the slain jawans.

She questioned why the Centre was not declaring national mourning for the CRPF jawans and said "Will mourning take place only when political leaders die?"



"I demand 72 hours mourning for the ultimate sacrifice of the soldiers. At least for national respect. Only one flag is not enough for it," she told reporters after returning from New Delhi.

Banerjee said that the government as well as all the political parties should put a stop to all scheduled programme in view of the terror attack.

"I am sorry to see that the prime minister inaugurated one project today. After any serious incident takes place, we should avoid political programmes and government programmes. Why have they (Centre) not declared a three-day mourning?



Describing the attack as "the biggest" one after the Uri terror attack in 2016 and said that people should not do with it.

"We do not want to do with this incident that is why we did not say anything. Not only us but all the other partyies who belong to the opposition have not said anything on this. All we said is that we stand by our countrymen," she said.

"We(TMC) want to express all solidarity to the countrymen and our jawans. I salute my jawans. This (Pulwama attack) is an unfortunate incident.

Questioning the role of the national security adviser, she said "We have the right to know what had actually happened. What was the national security adviser doing ?



"Why did we not come to know anything before the attack? Why did so many jawans get killed? These are the questions of the people not only mine," she said.

"This is actually an intelligence failure. I have spoken to many jawans whom I know. They also said that it was a complete intelligence failure. Why were so many vehicles going together?," she asked.

Banerjee also demanded stringent action against the terrorists behind Thursday's attack on the jawans.

"Let us have a very sensitive inquiry to find out who were involved. We must take stringent action against the culprits. We demand strong action. So many soldiers died, it will demoralise other jawans," she said.

On the Centre calling for a parliamentary party meeting Saturday, Banerjee said, "I do not understand why they have called it instead of political parties ... Specially now when the Lok Sabha is over ... I doubt that they have got some feedback."



TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay will go to New Delhi Saturday morning for the parliamentary party meeting, she said.

The chief minister said that she spoke to the family members of one CPRF jawan who died in the attack.

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Hundreds of people from all walks of life Friday gathered at India Gate and Jantar Mantar to hold candle light marches to express solidarity with the families of the CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama attack.

Some members of the Youth Congress were detained as they attempted to march towards the Pakistan High Commission to protest against the audacious attack in south Kashmir that left at least 40 jawans dead.

From students to politicians, members of social organisations to the common folks, the crowd gathered at the two venues demanded adequate compensation for the families of the dead soldiers and that Pakistan be given a "befitting reply".

"Pakistan has to be given a strong reply," said Om Prakash, Delhi chief of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party as he participated in the candle light march at India Gate.

"We also demand that the government announce Rs 1 crore (as compensation) for the martyrs families," he added.

Amit Shukla, who too participated in the march at India Gate, said the sacrifice of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans must not go in vain as he urged the Union government to take urgent steps against Pakistan.

"Delhi Police facilitated the movement of people who gathered at India Gate in large numbers to express solidarity and pay homage to the martyrs who were killed in the attack," Madhur Verma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) said.

Around 100 Indian Youth Congress (IYC) members assembled at Teen Murti Marg and raised slogans against Pakistan.

IYC vice president Srinivas B V alleged that there were lapses on the part of the Union government which led to the attack.

The IYC volunteers, who planned to protest outside the Pakistan High Commission, were detained by police near Chanakyapuri Police Station at Teen Murti Marg.

At least 15 people who protested outside the Pakistan High Commission here courted arrested but were let off later, Verma said.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a JeM suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district on Thursday, killing around 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

Protests and candle light marches also took place across national capital.

To express their solidarity with families of CRPF personnel, the doctors and nursing staff of the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital pledged a day's salary.

The doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) also held a candle light march in the hospital campus.

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Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and his ministerial colleagues continued their dharna outside the Raj Nivas for the third day Friday protesting Lt Governor Kiran Bedi's "negative stand" towards his government's proposals awaiting her approval.

The chief minister, his cabinet colleagues and legislators belonging to the Congress and the DMK continued the agitation outside the Lt Governor's residence where a large number of Rapid Action Force personnel have been deployed.

Asked if he would turn up for a meeting the Lt Governor had scheduled with him at Raj Nivas on February 21 to sort out the issues, he said, "There is absolutely no need for any such meeting. We have placed before her all our proposals and she is quite aware of them."



Bedi left for New Delhi Thursday and would be back on February 20.

Narayanasamy contended the Lt Governor was aware of all the proposals the government had submitted for her approval and they all are related to welfare schemes, including distribution of free rice and sanctioning of funds for payment of wages to workers in government undertakings.

"In all, 39 proposals were submitted to her (Bedi) for approval. Let her at least give her nod to some of the important proposals which include free rice scheme and grants for the public sector undertakings," he said.

The chief minister said he had written several letters to the Lt Governor seeking her nod for the government proposals but there was no response.

Claiming that the Centre had not taken any step in response to his government's plea seeking the Lt Governor's nod to the proposals, Narayanasamy accused the Union government of using the Lt Governor as a pawn to embarrass the elected government here.

Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker V Vaithilingam wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh urging him to appoint an interim administrator to bring to an end the "unusual and disturbed situation" in Puducherry as the Cabinet has been staging a dharna outside the Raj Nivas since February 13.

In the letter, copies of which were circulated to the media here, the Speaker urged Singh to "either depute a responsible representative of the Home Ministry at appropriate level to Puducherry to resolve the issue now prevailing in the Union Territory or consider appointing an interim administrator who can handle the situation in the interest of the welfare of people here."



Vaithilingam alleged that the administration has been facing "problems due to unnecessary interference by the Lt Governor in the day-to-day functioning".

The Lt Governor and the government headed by Narayanasamy have been at loggerheads over various issues ever since Bedi assumed office in May 2016.

Narayanasamy had led an agitation in front of the Parliament on January 4, demanding that the Centre sanction statehood for Puducherry and recall Bedi, a former IPS officer.

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For the family of Tilak Raj, one of the 40 CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama terror attack, it has been a wide pendulum swing from birth to death.

The 30-year-old from Jawali in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district left home just three days before Thursday's strike, one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years, following the birth of his son last month.

He also leaves behind another son, just three years old, his parents and his elder brother. His parents Rama Ram and Bimala Devi said they were proud their son had laid down his life for the country.

The family, and the entire village of Dhewa, was stunned when of the attack came in.

We have lost our son but want Pakistan to be given a forceful reply so it doesn't have the courage to carry out such an attack again," his father said.

"Tilak Raj was injured in this attack and succumbed to his injuries in the army hospital in Kashmir yesterday," added Sandeep Kumar, deputy commissioner of Kangra.

Awaiting the body for the last rites, the family is stricken with grief, the official said.

Officials said his body will reach Pathankot airport on Friday evening where Food Supply Minister Kishan Kapoor, Sandeep Kumar and Superintendent of Police Santosh Patial will be present.

The family has asked the state government to give Tilak Raj's sons government jobs when they grow up.

Chief Minister Jayaram Thakur, who has announced Rs 20 lakh for the martyr's family, is likely to be in Dheva for the last rites on Saturday morning. He also spoke to Tilak Raj's father over the phone to say that the entire state stands behind them in their hour of mourning.

State minister Kishan Kapoor and legislator Arjun Singh also met the family and gave them a cheque of Rs 5 lakh for the family as immediate help.

The Congress and the BJP both welcomed the announcement of cash compensation to help the family.

Governor Acharya Debavrat has cancelled the dinner for legislators in Raj Bhavan.

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Public outrage spilled out on the streets in several parts of Bihar on Friday against the Pulwama terrorist strike which has claimed the lives of 37 CRPF personnel, two of them belonging to the state.

Sanjay Kumar Sinha and Ratan Kumar Thakur, both of them hailing from Bihar,are among the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in Thursdays terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sinha hailed from Taregana Dih village on the outskirts of the capital city while Thakur was a resident of Bhagalpur.

Holding aloft posters of top political and military figures of Pakistan, besides placards calling for hukka paani band (complete boycott) of the neighboring country, hundreds of students gathered at the Kargil chowk in the capital city, built in the memory of those who had laid their lives fighting cross-border infiltrators in Jammu and Kashmir two decades ago.

There must be another surgical strike! For every jawan killed, 10 terrorists must be slain were some of the slogans that were raised by the hot-blooded youths who were upset over the of the dastardly attack that took place in the Kashmir valley on Thursday.

In Motihari, district headquarter of East Champaran, citizens took out a procession raising slogans against the terrorist strike and burnt tyres on national highway NH 28 A, resulting in disruption of vehicular traffic.

In Munger, condolence meetings were organized at government and private schools with children urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give befitting reply to those responsible for the attack.

In Purnea, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav led party workers in observing a two-minute silence. He also demanded that martyred personnel of paramilitary forces like CRPF, ITBP, BSF etc., be extended the same facilities by the government which are given to army men who lose their lives while on duty.

Political parties, cutting across ideological divides, are also scheduled to organize protests at the Kargil chowk later in the day. Youth wing of Chief Minister Nitish Kumars JD(U), in addition to Hindustani Awam Morcha and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party both belonging to the opposition camp but not on good terms with each other will be taking out candle marches almost simultaneously in a virtual show of solidarity in the hour of national crisis.

The BJP OBC Morcha national convention, which was to be inaugurated with much fanfare in Patna, remained a subdued affair with party workers refraining from making political statements at a function that was aimed at securing a foothold among the sizeable social segment.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters here, firebrand BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh said the time has come for a tit for tat. Moreover, those who condone acts like stone-pelting by separatists in Jammu and Kashmir in the name of human rights must also be held accountable.

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Massive protests and candlelight marches were held on Friday in different parts of the country against the Pulwama terror attack which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel, while curfew was imposed in Jammu city following violence during demonstrations there.

Raising slogans against Pakistan and terrorists, protesters defied curfew to take out rallies and police had to resort to cane charge at Residency Road, Kachi Chawani and Dogra hall areas in Jammu.

The protestors burnt tyres and placed barricades on several roads. Five vehicles were set afire in Gujjar Nagar area, while there were also reports of stonepelting.

Demonstrations were held in Purani Mundi, Rehari, Shaktinagar, Pacca Danga, Janipur, Gandhinagar, Bakshinagar, Muthi, Talal Tilloo and Satwari in Jammu city where Army conducted flag marches in sensitive areas.

The grief and outrage over the terror attack spilled onto the streets as families of the slain soldiers, hailing from different states, waited for their coffins.

Emotions ran high as protesters converged at India Gate and Jantar Mantar in national capital to express solidarity with the families of the martyrs. Activists of different political parties, social groups and trader outfits joined common people during demonstrations in Lucknow and others state capitals.

In UP, demonstrations were held in Bareilly, Azamgarh, Mau, Meerut, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi and Shahjahanpur, reports reaching here said.

In Gorakhpur, Samajwadi party workers burnt a Pakistani flag and an effigy of Prime Minister Imran Khan and raised slogans against the neighbouring country.

A large number of youths blocked Chapra- Gorakhpur track in Deoria demanding that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visit the family of the local youth martyred in the attack and raised slogans against Pakistan.

In Bihar, which lost Sanjay Kumar Sinha and Ratan Kumar Thakur in the attack, hundreds of protesters, including students gathered at the Kargil Chowk in state capital Patna demanding firm action those responsible for the attack.

Protesters burnt tyres on national highway NH 28 A in Motihari, resulting in disruption of vehicular traffic.

Protests were held in Assam by members of Sadou Assam Goria Moriya Yuva Chatra Parishad, a minority students' organisation, All Bodo Minority Students Union, ABVP, Krishak Shramik Unayan Parishad and Hindu Jagran Manch.

People lit oil lamps across the state in memory of the martyrs.

Protesters burnt effigies of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, which claimed responsibility for the attack, and flags of the neighbouring country.

The terror attack also triggered angry protests at several places in Punjab, which lost four jawans, and Haryana. Schoolchildren also took out marches in some areas.

"How many sacrifices will our soldiers have to make? This needs to stop," said Jagtar Singh, who was part of one such march in Kurukshetra.

Gujarat Congress organised a candle march at Sabarmati Ashram to pay respects to the slain soldiers. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal also held protests in different parts of the states this evening.

Protests were also held in Maharashtra. People gathered in Begumpura area in Aurangabad and burnt a Pakistani flag.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg explosives into their bus.

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A police official allegedly shot himself dead at Gondi in Maharashtra's Jalna district Friday.

Sub-inspector Anil Parjane (41) allegedly shot himself with his service revolver, a police official said.

Parjane was in-charge of Gondi police station in Ghanswangi tehsil.

He allegedly committed suicide in his bedroom after returning home from the police station Friday morning, a police official said.

Inspector general of police, Aurangabad range, Prakash Mutiyal and district superintendent of police S Chaitanya visited Gondi after learning about the incident.

The cause of the suicide was yet to be ascertained.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday warned Pakistan that the attack such as the one on CRPF soldiers in Pulwama will not weaken India and those responsible will have to pay a "very heavy price".

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said security forces will be given complete freedom to crack down on terrorism, and the "blood of the people is boiling".

"Our neighbouring country thinks such terror attacks can weaken us, but their plans will not materialise," he said at a function to flag off a new semi-high speed train from Delhi to Varanasi.

On Thursday, an explosives laden truck rammed into a CRPF convoy in Pulwama outside Srinagar killing at least 37 soldiers in one of the biggest terror attacks in recent years.

"My condolences to families of those martyred in the Pulwama attack, those behind the terror strike will pay a very heavy price," Modi said.

"I am thankful to all nations which condemned the Pulwama attack and urge them to come together to crush terrorism," the prime minister said.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Yavatmal and Dhule district of Maharashtra Saturday to launch several projects, an official release said here.

At Yavatmal in Vidarbha, the prime minister will inaugurate Eklavya Model Residential School for tribal students.

He will also hand over the keys of houses constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) to some of the beneficiaries.

Modi will also flag-off Ajni (Nagpur)-Pune Train service through video link.

He will distribute certificates or cheques under the Maharashtra State Rural Livelihoods Mission (MSRLM) to women Self-Help Groups.

In Dhule, the prime minister will inaugurate the Lower Panazara medium project under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchan Yojana (PMKSY).

He will also lay foundation stone of Sulwade Jamphal Kanoli Lift Irrigation Scheme and Dhule City Water Supply Scheme.

Modi will also lay foundation stone of Dhule-Nardana and JalgaonManmad third railway line besides flagging off



Bhusaval-Bandra Khandesh Express through video link.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stone for schemes worth more than Rs 20,000 crore here on Friday and said the Bundelkhand region would soon be developed on the lines of Kutch in Gujarat.

Addressing a public meeting after inaugurating various schemes, including the defence corridor and piped drinking water line, the prime minister said, "These projects will give a new dimension to the development of Bundelkhand region which would be done on the lines of Kutch in Gujarat."



Recalling his earlier visits to the region, especially the ones before 2014 general elections, Modi said this time he had come to return the favour with full interest in the form of development for the votes his party got.

Stressing that his government has been working wholeheartedly for development for the past four years, Modi said the Yogi Adityanath government in the state has also been working with the motto of education for children, jobs for youths, medicines for the old and irrigation for the farmers.

"With the defence corridor from Jhansi to Agra, employment opportunities will come up for the youth and the Bundelkhand region will be turned into a corridor of development, " he said.

The prime minister said investments are coming from industrialists from across the world and contracts worth Rs 4,000 crores have already come through.

"Once any big industry comes over, it helps the growth of small and medium businesses in its surrounding," he said.

Speaking on the problem of potable water in the area, Modi said the Rs 9,000-crore piped water supply scheme will ensure drinking water is supplied to Jhansi and Chitrakoot Dham divisions.

He said the Amrit Yojna, set up at a cost of Rs 600 crore for Jhansi district and its surrounding villages, and Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna would benefit almost 95 per cent farmers in the state.

The prime minister said the aim behind the public to open bank accounts in the past four years was to ensure that the money of government subsidy could be directly be deposited in the bank accounts.

"Rs 1 lakh crore is being saved because of the money going directly in the bank accounts which was going in the pockets of some people. Modi is standing like a wall between you and those who are looting you," he said.

The prime minister credited Uttar Pradesh for ensuring a strong, full majority government came to power at the centre in 2014 after a gap of 30 years, and hoped he would would continue to have the people's blessings here to develop India.

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The Punjab Assembly Friday strongly condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama in which at least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and passed a resolution for adjournment of the proceedings of the House for the day.

Members of the House, cutting across party lines, paid tributes to the CRPF personnel killed in a one of deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, and observed two-minutes silence in their memory.

Moving the resolution seeking adjournment of the House, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said "enough is enough" and urged the Centre to give a befitting reply to the "dastardly act of Pakistan".

"It is the time to teach (them) a lesson. Pakistan PM speaks peace and the General speaks war," he said.

As the Zero Hour commenced on the fourth day the Budget session of the Punjab Assembly, SAD MLA Bikram Singh Majithia sought adjournment of the House in the wake of terror attack in Pulwama.

Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and Parliamentary Affairs minister Brahm Mohindra supported Majithia's call for the adjournment.

"It is the worst ever terror attack... It has been strongly condemned world over. We should understand the gravity of the situation. The nation is in the mourning and we should adjourn the House," Majithia said.

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama on Thursday.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.

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The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Friday arrested a panchayat samiti head for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district.

Moharam Bai Tanwar, 30, head of Manhorethana panchyat samiti in Jhalawar, had demanded Rs 15,000 as bribe from a member of the samiti for sanctioning Rs 10 lakh for construction of an interlocking road in Bhojpura village, Assistant Superintendent of Police, ACB, Chandrasheel Thakur said.

Ratanlal Lodha, the member of the samiti, approached the ACB Thursday to register a complaint against Tanwar, following which a trap was laid Friday morning, he said.

Tanwar was caught accepting the money at her home, he said.

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A pall of gloom has descended on Pharsma village of Vijay Soreng, who was among the 40 CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama terror attack.

"I feel proud of the martyrdom of my son. I expect from the government of India to avenge the killings," Brish Soreng, a retired army person and the father of Vijay Soreng, told persons visiting his home on Friday.

A CRPF officer gave the sad of Vijay's death to his family last night following which villagers have been flocking his home in Pharsma village in Basia block of the district, about 94 km from capital Ranchi.

Vijay's mother said she wants a revenge for the terror attack.

Basia sub-divisional Officer Vinod Kumar, the block development officer and the circle officer also joined the grieving family members.

Born in 1974 and completing matriculation in 1990, Vijay had joined the force in the Signal group in 1993.

He is survived by a son from his first wife. He married again after his first wife left him in 2002 and had one son and two daughters from the second marriage, according to family sources.

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A Pakistani-origin member of the House of Lords has embroiled in accusations that he used his position to exploit vulnerable women who came to him seeking help.

Lord Nazir Ahmed, who is at the forefront of anti-India campaigns including backing pro-Khalistan groups in the UK, is alleged to have conducted a sexual relationship with a woman after she asked him for help, according to a BBC report.

Another unnamed woman who had sought Ahmed's assistance also claims he suggested she should spend the night at his London home, it said.

"Lord Ahmed used my trust to repeatedly have intercourse with me," Tahira Zaman told Lords' Commissioner for Standards, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, in a complaint.

"I feel I have been preyed upon due to my vulnerability and used by Lord Ahmed," the 43-year-old said.

Zaman says she approached Ahmed in February 2017 through a mutual friend, hoping he would help get the police to investigate a Muslim faith healer who she felt was a danger to women.

He agreed to help but she then alleges that he repeatedly asked her for dinner and eventually invited her to his east London home.

While she accepts their relationship was consensual, Zaman stresses that she was looking for help and he took advantage of her.

"He abused his power," she said.

After reviewing Zaman's complaint, the House of Lords commissioner said she was unable to investigate. Scott-Moncrieff concluded it didn't fall within parliamentary code as Ahmed's offer to help her was not part of his parliamentary work.

"The behaviour you describe in your email could amount to a breach of personal honour. However, the code only applies in relation to a peer's parliamentary work, and, from your email, it looks as if your initial contact with him was not to do with his parliamentary work," she wrote to Zaman.

A second woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, told BBC that she had also asked Ahmed for help and claims he suggested she should spend the night at his London home, which she interpreted this as a proposition for sex and refused.

Lord Carlile, a fellow peer and former Deputy High Court Judge, called on the House of Lords conduct rules to be clarified because, in his view, what Ahmed had done breached the code covering conflicts of interest and another which stipulates that Lords must behave on "their personal honour".

"She went to Lord Ahmed because she believed he was in a position to do something influential for her. So, it's absolutely clear to me that what he was doing was in his role as a member of the House of Lords," he said.

Ahmed has denied any wrongdoing or acting "inappropriately" towards women.

"I take my duties as a Parliamentarian extremely seriously and would not act so as to undermine my personal or professional reputation," he said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan will not make any "emotional decision" following India announced the withdrawal of the (MFN) status to the country and respond to it after due deliberation, a senior official said on Friday.

India on Friday revoked the MFN status to Pakistan in the aftermath of Forty CRPF personnel were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into their bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday.

The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the attack on the convoy of 78 vehicles that was on its way from Jammu to Srinagar.

Advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister on Trade Abdul Razzak Dawood told reporters here that a response to Indian decision would come after due deliberation.

"India has removed us from the list of MFN nations but we will not make any emotional decision and will issue a response after making due thinking, he said.

Withdrawal of the MFN status would significantly hit Pakistan's exports to India, which stood at $ 488.5 million (around Rs 3,482.3 crore) in 2017-18.



But a finance ministry official told PTI that the impact of India's decision will be marginal.

"As the trade between the two countries was just over $2 billion dollars and Pakistan's exports were a fourth of it.

"So Pakistan is not going to lose much in terms of money in the short term," the official said.

Under the MFN pact, a WTO member country is obliged to treat the other trading nation in a non-discriminatory manner, especially with regard to customs duty and other levies.

Withdrawal of the status would mean that India could impose heavy customs duties and discriminate Pakistani goods vis-a-vis similar items of other trading partners.

He said the decision will, in fact, hurt Indians as after revoking the MFN status tariffs would be more on the about $ 500 million Pakistani exports, including items like cement and salt.

Pakistan exports fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products, bulk minerals and ores and finished leather to India.

But, it is believed that the decision might have long-term consequences as it will further dim the chances of normalisation of trade and tapping the potential of bilateral trade.

The World Bank in report called "A Glass Half Full: The Promise of Regional Trade in South Asia" estimated that Indo-Pak bilateral trade could reach to $37 billion if trade barrier are removed.

The trade through the third country would increase as already about $ 3 billion worth goods are trade either through the UAE or Singapore.

India accorded the MFN status to Pakistan in 1996 as part of the WTO free trade regime to treat all members of the world trading body on non-discriminatory basis.

Pakistan was close to reciprocate the Indian move in 2011 when the Cabinet approved the MFN status for India but it was never implemented.
Pakistan cannot weaken India by orchestrating attacks and those responsible will pay a "very heavy price", Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned on Friday as echoes from the Pulwama terror strike rang across the country with families awaiting the bodies of their loved ones in coffins wrapped in the tricolour.

Security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists, the prime minister said, a day after 40 CRPF soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into their bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the attack on the convoy of 78 vehicles that was on its way from Jammu to Srinagar.

All efforts would be made to isolate Pakistan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood and lodged India's strong protest, official sources said.

Making it clear that India means business, the Cabinet Committee on Security, which met on Friday morning, decided to withdraw Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan.

It would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

India granted MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but it has not yet reciprocated.

In a hard-hitting speech at the launch of the Vande Bharat train 18 here, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will definitely be punished.

"Security forces have been given complete freedom, the blood of the people is boiling...Our neighbouring country, which has been isolated internationally, thinks such terror attacks can destabilise us, but their plans will not materialise," Modi said.

Addressing a public meeting in Jhansi later in the day, the prime minister again did not name Pakistan but said the attack was an outcome of its desperation as it is in a bad shape and has been forced to go to different countries with a "begging bowl" to meet even its daily expenses.

Asserting that the sacrifices of CRPF soldiers will "not go in vain", he said, "Security forces have been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response... This is an India of new convention and policy."



Briefing reporters after the CCS meeting, which is unusual, Jaitley said all efforts will be made to ensure that perpetrators of the attack are brought to book.

Jaitley said the Ministry of External Affairs will launch an all out effort to isolate Pakistan and all diplomatic efforts will be launched in this regard.

Describing the terror assault as an attack on India's soul, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said his party as well as the entire opposition was fully supportive of the government and the security forces.

"I want to make it very clear that the aim of terrorism is to divide this country and we are not going to be divided for even one second, no matter how hard people try," he told reporters.

As the government and politicians reacted to the attack and the families of those killed came to grips with the enormity of the tragedy, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh travelled to Srinagar and laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the troops.

The remains of the 40 CRPF personnel, many of whom were returning from leave to rejoin work in the Valley, were kept in coffins, draped in the tricolour, ready to make their final journey home.

Singh gave a shoulder to the coffin of one the jawans killed.

Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath laying ceremony.

"The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans," Singh said.

As if in echo, the younger brother of V V Vasanth Kumar, who had left his home in Kerala's Wayanad district on February 8 and was one of those killed, said his sacrifice would never be forgotten.

"My elder brother died for the country and we are proud of his sacrifice," Sajeevan told PTI.

Vasanth Kumar's mother Shanta and wife Sheena are inconsolable and his two young children have not yet been informed.

Their grief found resonance in 39 other homes across the country.

Protests against Pakistan broke out in several parts, including in Jammu city where curfew was imposed.

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In a tit-for-tat move, Pakistan on Friday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner here and lodged a protest against India's allegation of its role in the brutal Pulwama terrorist attack.

Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday that left 40 CRPF soldiers dead and five critically wounded.

The summoning of the Indian diplomat comes after India earlier in the day summoned Pakistan HC to India Sohail Mahmood and issued a very strong demarche over the killing of the CRPF soldiers.

Pakistan must take "immediate and verifiable action" against the JeM and that it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told the envoy.

Though the Foreign Office has not issued any statement, sources said the FO summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and rejected "baseless allegations made by India" against Pakistan on the Pulwama attack.

A short video clip of the Indian diplomat leaving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also circulating in the social media.

Meanwhile in a tweet, FO spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua today briefed ambassadors of the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and China on the Pulwama attack and rejected India's allegations.

"FS today briefed P5 Ambassadors at MoFA. Rejected Indian allegations on Pulwama attack," he tweeted.

"FS said Pakistan has pursued a constructive approach towards India. Pakistan's offer of dialogue and the #Kartarpur initiative are a clear evidence of this. Ratcheting up tensions in the region will be counterproductive," Faisal added.

Following the Pulwama terror attack, India Friday withdrew the 'most-favoured nation' status to Pakistan, a move which would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands revoked.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated.

According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's information minister Fawad Chaudhry said in an interview that Pakistan would take action against anyone if India share evidence.

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Pakistan on Friday summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and lodged a protest against India's allegation of its role in the brutal Pulwama terrorist attack.

Pakistan-based terror group (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday that left 40 CRPF soldiers dead and five critically wounded.

The summoning of the Indian diplomat comes after India summoned Pakistan HC to India Sohail Mahmood and issued a very strong demarche over the killing of the CRPF soldiers.

Pakistan must take "immediate and verifiable action" against the JeM and that it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told the envoy.

Though the Foreign Office has not issued any statement, sources said the FO summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and rejected "baseless allegations made by India" against Pakistan on the Pulwama attack.



A short video clip of the Indian diplomat leaving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also circulating in the social media.

Following the Pulwama terror attack, India Friday withdrew the 'most-favoured nation' status to Pakistan, a move which would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands revoked.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated.

According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack.



Meanwhile, Pakistan's information minister Fawad Chaudhry said in an interview that Pakistan would take action against anyone if India share evidence.

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has condemned the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's district and said it is a matter of grave concern even as it rejected pointing out Islamabad's link to the incident without investigations.

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in district.

Pakistan's Foreign Office, after keeping quiet for hours, issued a statement after midnight.

The attack in in "is a matter of grave concern," it said.

"We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in the Valley," the FO said.

also rejected that it was in any way involved in the attack.

"We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of without investigations," the FO added.

on Thursday slammed Pakistan over the carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.

The asked Pakistan to immediately end "support" and "safe haven" to all terror groups as it strongly condemned the Pulwama terrorist attack.

"The calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region," Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a late night statement on Thursday.

Condemning the attack, the US State Department said in a statement that it was resolutely committed to working with the to combat terrorism in all its forms.
A Pakistani court on Friday acquitted all the accused in the murder case of a 26-year-old Pakistani-Italian woman Sana Cheema.

District and Sessions (Gujrat) judge Amir Mukhtar Gondal ordered the release of the father of Sana Cheema's father Ghulam Mustafa Cheema, her uncle Mazahar Cheema and her brother Adnan Cheema on "benefit of doubt".

In a suspected case of honour killing, Sana was by her father, brother, and uncle for resisting their proposal to marry a relative.

The three killed thw woman in her hometown of Mangowal in Gujrat, some 150kms from Lahore, in April last as she wanted to marry a man of her will in Italy.

Declaring her death as "accidental", her family buried her in a graveyard far from their residence.

Police arrested the three men after an Italian publication claimed that Sana had been murdered in the name of 'honour' in her hometown.

Sana had been living in Italy since 2002 and was to return to Italy on April 19 but she was killed a day prior to her return.

She wanted to marry an Italian man and had turned down proposals from within her family. She came to Pakistan some two months ago. Sana was working as a driving instructor in Italy.

The body of Sana was exhumed on April 24 on the court's order as police suspected that she might have been killed in the name of 'family honour'.

Autopsy report had confirmed that Sana was strangled to death. Police had arrested the three suspects in the light of the autopsy report and charged them for her murder. But police failed to produce prosecution witnesses that resulted in acquittal of the suspects.

Few years ago, a British-Pakistani woman Samia Shahid was allegedly killed by her first husband and father in Punjab province for contracting second marriage with a man of different Muslim faith.

Over 1,000 women are killed in Pakistan every year in the name of honour.

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is committed to implementing the decision of the International Court of Justice in the case, a senior Pakistani official said as the country's delegation left for the Hague on Friday for the oral proceedings in the case that will commence at the world court from February 18.

Indian Jadhav, 48, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. moved the ICJ in May the same year against the verdict.

A 10-member bench of the ICJ on May 18, 2017, had restrained from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.

Pakistan's Anwar Mansoor would lead the Pakistani delegation at the ICJ while Director General Mohammad Faisal would lead the Foreign Office side, a senior official told Dawn.

The ICJ has set a timetable for the public hearing in the case from Febraury 18 to 21 in The Hague and Harish Salve, who represents in the case, is expected to argue first on February 18.

The English Queen's Counsel Khawar Qureshi will make submissions on February 19 from Islamabad's side. Then will reply on February 20 while Islamabad will make its closing submissions on February 21, the daily said.

It is expected that the ICJ's decision may be delivered by the summer of 2019.

"We are fully prepared with our strongest evidence being the valid Indian passport recovered from Commander Jadhav with a Muslim name, the official told the Dawn, adding that was committed to implementing the decision, irrespective of what decision came from the ICJ.

In reply to a question about Iran, the official said the was convinced that had no role in Jadhav's episode though he remained there for some time. "India wants to drag into this dispute but we will not let it happen," he said.

In New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson on Thursday declined to go into the details of the case.

"The oral proceedings on the International Court of Justice are commencing on February 18. India will present its case before the court. Since the matter is subjudice it is not appropriate for me to state our position in public.Whatever we have to do, we will do at the court," he said in response to a question.

Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from restive province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Jadhav's sentencing had evoked a sharp reaction in India.

India had approached the ICJ for "egregious" violation of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963, by Pakistan in Jadhav's case.
A day after 40 CRPF personnel were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into their bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, former President Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday that he was "pained by the inhuman act perpetrated by terrorists".

Releasing a compilation of speeches of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi, the former president said, "We must stand together as a nation in this hour of grief."



The former president also said that the response of international community in condemning the terror attack in one voice would strengthen the resolve to fight terrorism.

The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for the attack on the convoy of 78 vehicles that was on its way from Jammu to Srinagar.

Alluding to Pakistan's role in Thursday's terror attack, Vice President Naidu said at the event that "our neighbour" has been "aiding, abetting, funding, training terror groups for long".

Naidu also stated that such an attempt to "destabilise and impede" the country's progress would no longer be tolerated.

The vice president also said that terror reared its ugly head Thursday and Indians must stand together with a resolve to make every inch of "our motherland safer".

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In a veiled reference to Pakistan, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said "our neighbour" has been "aiding, abetting, funding and training terror groups for long" and attempts to "destabilise" India through terror acts like the one in Pulwama, would no longer be tolerated.

His comments came a day after 40 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus.

Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.

Naidu also asserted that the UN must conclude the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), act firmly to effectively uproot terror through a multi-pronged strategy, and recognise that "peace is a prerequisite for prosperity".

Terror "reared its ugly" head again on Thursday and Indians must stand together with a resolve to make every inch of "our motherland a safer place", he said.

Naidu was addressing a gathering at Vigyan Bhawan, where a compilation of his speeches from the last one-and-a-half years was released.

"Our neighbour has been aiding, abetting, funding, training terror groups for long," the vice president said.

Such an attempt to "destabilise and impede the country's progress would no longer be tolerated", Naidu said.

"There is an urgent need for all countries in the world to come to a firm resolve to combat these sources of terror and enemies of humanity. Terror has no religion, it is an enemy of humanity. The UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved if there is no peace," he added.

Countries across the globe have condemned the terror attack in Pulwama, with the US, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India in combating the menace of terrorism.

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Experts of anti-terror commando force the National Security Guard (NSG) and investigators of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) left for Jammu and Kashmir on Friday to join the probe into the terror attack in Pulwama in which at least 37 CRPF personnel were killed, officials said.

The decision to send the teams was taken in view of the high number of casualties in the worst terror strike in the state since the Uri attack in 2016.

On Thursday, a home ministry official had said an NIA team with forensic experts was being sent to Srinagar to assist Jammu and Kashmir Police in forensic evaluation of the scene of crime.

Explosive specialists of the Black Cat commando force NSG would also join in the investigation into the attack, another official had said.

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district on Thursday.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir.

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Russia gave "no new signals" Friday about saving a landmark Cold War missile control agreement, the head of NATO said, as fears grow of a new arms race in Europe.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Segei Lavrov brought no breakthrough and no indication that Moscow might be willing to back down over a missile system which NATO says breaches the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

The impending collapse of the 1987 agreement -- seen as a cornerstone of global arms control -- has raised doubts about the future of the fight against proliferation.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said more talks between Russia, the US and European nations were urgently needed to save the deal.

The US began pulling out of the INF treaty earlier this month in response to Moscow's deployment of the 9M729 missile, prompting Russia to announce its own withdrawal.

NATO has been urging Russia to save the treaty by abandoning the missile system, which officials say can hit capital cities throughout Europe as far as London.

"There were no new signals from the Russian side," Stoltenberg said after talks with Lavrov at the Munich Security Conference.

NATO has begun planning for the collapse of the treaty, but insists it will not "mirror" Russia, and Germany's Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said there should be no "tit for tat".

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The Maharashtra government has signed a memorandum of understanding with a city-based NGO to beautify neighbouring Thane and Pune with art works and by conducting sanitation and hygiene workshops.

An agreement was signed earlier this week in Pune by government authorities with NGO Rouble Nagi Foundation (RNAF) in the presence of Maharashtra cabinet minister Girish Bapat.

An RNAF statement informed it would soon sign similar MOUs with the state government to carry out such works in Nagpur, Vasai and Virar.

"As part of the MoU, the RNAF will provide art teachers in our municipal schools, decorate the city by installing murals and art works and also help beautify the city," Thane municipal commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal told PTI.

"This partnership will help us work towards development goals in education, urban beautification, sanitation, hygiene and women empowerment," RNAF founder Rouble Nagi said.

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The residents of Khudawal village in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh remember CRPF jawan Ashwini Kumar Kachhi as an ever-smiling man, who would often encourage the locals to join the armed forces.

The of his death in the terror attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, sent the village, located around 40 km from the district headquarters, into mourning.

Kachhi, 30, was among the 40 CRPF personnel who lost their lives in when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

As the of Kachhi's death reached his village, the locals started visiting his inconsolable parents to comfort them. The bachelor was the youngest son in the family.

"Martyr Ashwini Kumar always wore a smile on his face whenever he met me," recalled Vinay Asathi, a resident of Khudawal village. "He used to encourage the youth of our village to join the armed forces," he added.

Ashwini is the third martyr from the village, Asathi said. Rajendra Upadhyay and Rameshwar Patel who served in paramilitary forces were killed in the line of duty, he said.

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A special court in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district Thursday sentenced the owner of a multi-utility vehicle to ten years in jail for possessing and transporting poppy husk.

Bhanvarlal Vishnoi (35), a resident of neighbouring Rajasthan, was also fined Rs 1 lakh by special judge (NDPS) Rupesh Kumar Gupta, according to deputy director, prosecution, Bapusingh Thakur.

On June 3, 2010, acting on a tip-off, police had intercepted the vehicle and seized 2.96 quintal poppy husk from it, he said.

The driver escaped but the police, based on the vehicle's registration number and other documents, zeroed in on Vishnoi, said Thakur.

Vishnoi was charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985, he said.

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Like the two previous days, reports poured in on Friday afternoon that images of History question paper of Madhyamik examination were circulated on social media shortly after the test began, but the state education minister said there was no 'leak'.

Purported images of Bengali and English question papers had also been circulated on WhatsApp on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, after the state board's school leaving examinations began.

Asked about reports of purported images of History question paper circulated on WhatsApp on Friday, the third day of the class ten board examinations half an hour after start.

"I have kept a tab on the examination process today. There has been no incident of any question paper leaked on WhatsApp before the examination," Chatterjee told reporters.

He said the examination passed off smoothly like the two previous days and mobile phones were not allowed inside examination halls.

Chatterjee had discounted reports of any question paper leak on first two days of examinations.

"If someone clicks a photo half an hour after writing the paper, can that be termed as question leak? Question leak happens when it comes out before the commencement of the examination," he had told a press meet on Wednesday.

He had said some people were trying to malign the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBSEB) that conducts the Madhyamik examination.

The WBBSEB had lodged a complaint with Bidhannagar Police Cyber Crime cell against unknown persons for sharing purported images of Bengali question paper, WBSEB president Kalyanmoy Ganguly had said.

On Friday's incident, Ganguly said, "If anyone has got any such image, please share the sender's number with us."



A total of 10,66,000 students are appearing in the class 10 school leaving examination.

Chatterjee said, "I have continuously been in touch with district magistrates and superintendents of police during the day. There is no question paper leak. These are rumours being spread deliberately.

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Former communications minister and his brother have again approached the Friday seeking to quash the fresh charges framed against them by the trial court in the illegal

They claimed that guidelines were not followed by the trial court at the time of framing charges in the case.

When the matter came up before Justice Jagadish Chandira today, the judge directed the petitioners to approach Justice Anand Venkatesh who had passed orders in connection with the above matter on January 29.

The Special Court on January 30 framed fresh charges in the illegal filed by the against Maran brothers and others after a detailed order was passed by the high court.

There was no documentary evidence to show that telephone connections were used for SUN TV, said.

He alleged it was a foisted case and registered for political gains.

"There is no evidence to prove that the connections were given illegally and in violation of law," he said.

Again challenging the framing of charges, the Maran brothers have filed a petition to stay the proceedings as well as to quash the fresh charges framed on January 29.

The charges were framed under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating), and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

All the accused individually denied the charges against them.

The judge then posted the case to today, for trial to begin with the examination of the witnesses.

On March 14 last year, the court had discharged all the accused, holding there was no prima facie case against them.

But the on July 25 quashed the order, holding there was 'heaps' of material against the Maran brothers and other accused to proceed.

The high court order was challenged by Dayanidhi Maran, grandnephew of late DMK president M Karunanidhi, in the Supreme Court which upheld it and directed him to face trial in the special court, following which the charges were framed.

According to the CBI, misused his official position as the then minister for communications and information technology in the UPA-1 government and got private telephone exchanges installed at his residences here which were used for business transactions of the Sun Network, owned by his brother
The Maharashtra government Friday paid tributes here to the 40 CRPF jawans martryed in Thursday's terror attack in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Maharashtra Minister of State for Revenue Sanjay Rathod, state Chief Secretary D K Jain and Principal Secretary in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) Bhushan Gagarani paid tributes to the CRPF personnel at a brief ceremony held at the Mantralaya, the state secretariat.

A two-minute silence was observed as a mark respect to the departed souls.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis condemned the "cowardly" terror attack.

"Deeply pained. Entire Nation stands with the #CRPF family. We salute the supreme sacrifice for the Nation and pray for speedy recovery of the injured ones!" he tweeted.

On Thursday, an explosives laden truck rammed into a CRPF convoy in Pulwama outside Srinagar, killing at least 40 soldiers in one of the biggest terror attacks in recent years. Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed the responsibility for the terror attack.

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Kartik Aaryan says his upcoming film "Luka Chuppi" has a different, fun take on live-in relationships.

The actor believes Indian society has become more realistic and being in live-in is no longer a big deal.

"Indian society today is more realistic... In a way it is good that our thinking is widening. People are open to thinking in a way which was not there earlier. We are in a good democratic situation where we are free to think, free to say and do things, which are not harming anyone else," Kartik told PTI.

Bollywood has made several movies on the theme of live-in relationship namely "Salaam Namaste", "Cocktail", "Shuddh Desi Romance", "Katti Batti" among others, Kartik says "Luka Chuppi" is different from all them primarily because it is "live-in with family".

"This is the first film which is saying that come live-in with family. It is the funny quotient of the film. This has never happened. This is the unique and interesting aspect about the film.

"'Luka Chuppi' was one script that I really loved. It is content driven film which has commercial aspect to it. We are happy that the trailer has got good response and there is positivity around the film," he said.

Also starring Kriti Sanon, the film is set to release on March 1.

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The owner of a local television channel and three of his employees were booked and one of them was held for allegedly blackmailing a head clerk of the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC), police said on Friday.

The scribes were allegedly blackmailing the head clerk with video clippings, in which he was purportedly seen in a compromising position with a woman, they added.

Superintendent of Police (SP), City, Shlok Kumar told reporters that the GMC employee had lodged a complaint at the Kavi Nagar police station against two persons, alleging that they had recorded his video with a woman.

The complainant alleged that the duo had arranged his meeting with the woman, a job-seeker, at a hotel here, the officer added.

While the meeting was on, the accused took photos and recorded a video of the woman and the complainant and subsequently, started blackmailing the latter, saying they would make the clippings viral on the social media if he did not pay Rs 15 lakh to them, the complaint stated.

The complainant had agreed to pay a sum of Rs six lakh and had paid an amount of Rs 50,000 to the accused on February 13, it added.

One of the accused, who was arrested from a bus stop in the Kavi Nagar area on Thursday, confessed to his crime, adding that he was working on the instructions of the owner of the channel, the police said.

He also confessed that the woman was hired to honey-trap the complainant, they added.

The arrested accused was produced before a court, which sent him to jail, while the other accused were still at large, the police said.

The SP said the District Information Office and the Press Council of India were informed about the incident.

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Terming the terror attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama district "heinous", Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Friday consoled the family of brave heart from Mandya, H Guru, who was killed in the incident.

The chief minister instructed officials to speed up the process of compensation and directed them to verify the educational qualifications of Guru's wife so that she can be provided a job by the government.

"I spoke to martyred #CRPF soldier H Guru's family over the phone and consoled them. Their grief is heart wrenching. We are with them. I have instructed officials to speed up the process of compensation. #Pulwama," Kumaraswamy tweeted.

Describing the massacre in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama as "heinous act of mindless cowardice", the chief minister said he was deeply disturbed and pained at the loss of lives of the brave CRPF personnel.

"The government should act immediately and take steps to end the menace of terrorism from our soil forever," he said in another tweet.

Guru (33), who hailed from Gudigere village near K M Doddi in Mandya district, was attached with the 82 Battalion posted in Kashmir.

He was initially posted in Jharkhand after joining the paramilitary force in 2011.

The brave-heart married about six months ago and had constructed a new house at his native about a year back.

He was at his home till last week on a vacation.

"I should have spoken to him over phone... he had called me in the morning, but I couldn't speak to him. I'm really feeling devastated. It has not even been four days since he had gone from here," an inconsolable Kalavathi, Guru's wife, told reporters in Mandya.

"We were speaking daily... I couldn't speak to him today (Thursday)... I tried contacting him, but couldn't reach him... he had called me in the morning (Thursday), but I had some work, so couldn't speak to him," Kalavathi said as she broke down.

Guru is survived by his wife, his aged parents, two brothers and other family members.

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: Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi has described as "a huge tragedy" the killing of CRPF personnel in a terror attack in Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir.

"40 brave CRPF Jawans killed in J&K. This is a huge tragedy. And a serious security challenge for the country. This situation demands a united strong response. As also full support to the bereaved families in all possible ways," the former IPS officer tweeted late Thursday night.

The CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

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A three-year-old boy was rescued by the Thane district police Friday in less than twenty-four hours after he was kidnapped.

The police also arrested the alleged kidnapper, identified as Surajsingh Darasingh (20), a resident of Surat.

The boy was kidnapped from near his house in Sahyadri Nagar locality of Ulhasnagar town around 5 pm Thursday, the police said.

The Crime Branch of Ulhasnagar police suspected that Surajsingh, who knew the boy's aunt and who had visited the boy's house to meet her in the morning, could be involved in the crime.

The accused evaded arrest initially, leading the police on a chase, but eventually the police could contact him through the boy's aunt, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Deepak Deoraj.

Surajsingh allegedly said he would release the boy only if the boy's aunt came alone to collect him at a spot near the Thane railway station around 4 pm Friday.

The police kept a watch and pounced on Surajsingh after he arrived at the spot, and rescued the boy.

Senior inspector Mahesh Tarde said the exact motive of the accused was yet to be ascertained.

Preliminary probe revealed that Surajsingh, who lived in the same neighbourhood in Surat as the boy's aunt, used to make advances towards her.

When she came to live with her sister in Ulhasnagar, Surajsingh allegedly followed her there.

He visited the boy's house Thursday morning and allegedly threatened her, the police officer said.

He has been booked under IPC section 363 (kidnapping). Further probe is on.

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: For the first time in its history, Kerala Tourism participated in the International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

With this, Kerala Tourism is foraying into the largely untapped Israeli market to increase footfalls from the Middle- East.

Director of Kerala Tourism P Bala Kiran, led the state delegation to the two-day event which concluded Thursday.

The IMTM is the largest annual professional tourism fair of its kind in eastern Mediterranean and the official and only professional exhibition for the tourism trade market in Israel.

To mark the occasion, Kerala Tourism launched a sleek and glossy coffee-table book, the first-of-its-kind visual odyssey of the Jews who decided to make Kerala their home before several of the diasporic community returned to Israel, their fatherland, a press release said.

The book was formally launched by Indian Ambassador to Israel Pavan Kapoor, who also visited the Kerala stall at the event.

Expressing happiness over the debut of Kerala Tourism at the IMTM, Tourism Minister Kaakampally Surendran said it was a successful outing for the tourism in the state.

"In the highly competitive global marketplace, we need to scout for new source from markets abroad to attract tourists. Our participation in a prestigious event like IMTM will act as a trigger to meet that objective," he said.

The minister said there is a direct flight from Tel Aviv, the second most populous city in Israel, to Delhi and Mumbai.

"Now, a new direct flight will be launched by Arkia Israeli Airlines from Tel Aviv to Kochi in September, which will be a major boost to tourism in India in general and Kerala in particular, he added.

Tourism secretary Rani George said the participation of Kerala in IMTM was part of a campaign of its tourism department to woo visitors from non-traditional markets.

"We have already made our presence felt in Gulf countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Forging strong ties with the tourism segment of Israel will open new vistas of expansion for Kerala Tourism in that region," she noted.

Kerala was visited by 15,339 Israeli tourists in 2018, an increase of 29 per cent as compared to 11,892 in 2017 and 10,922 in 2016, while it registered a surge of over 15 per cent in terms of tourist arrival from that country during 2013-18.

Bala Kiran said the visit yielded extremely positive outcome.

"We've held a series of discussions with various stakeholders of the tourism and hospitality industry of Israel, and it would pave the way for two-way visits from Kerala and Israel," he added.

Kochi, formerly Cochin, was one of the oldest Jewish settlements on Asian soil, which had a larger Jewish community than New York and surpassed it not only numerically, but also culturally.

The Cochin Jewish community in 1792 had about 2,000 Jews and nine synagogues of considerable antiquity while New York had only 72 Jewish families and only one synagogue, he said.

The coffee-table book, aptly titled 'One Heart, Two Worlds The Story of The Jews of Kochi,' brings alive the riveting real-life account of the Jewish community in Kochi, their hearts caught between a deep love for their adopted motherland India, and a 2000-year-long yearning of the Jews across the world to return to their fatherland.

The book, published by Stark World Publishing, has been chronicled by scholar and historian Dr K S Mathew and creative director and writer Yamini Nair.

The incisively researched book dives deep into the life and times of the Jews of Cochin, their distinctive faith, culture, history and dreams.

With less than 30 Jews remaining in Kochi presently, Bala Kiran said the need to document the Jewish diaspora, who co-existed peacefully in the socio-cultural fabric here and were welcomed by the kings, acquires an immediacy and timeliness.

Featuring nearly 200 exquisitely shot and vintage images from private collections and museum archives, the book takes the reader on a visual journey of the rain-swept seashores of Kerala, past the olive-tree dotted landscapes in Israel.

Quintessential Jewish ceremonies, vibrant celebrations, prayers, fasts, regional kosher recipes, Hebrew-Malayalam song books and symbolic interpretations, leading up to life during and after 'Aliyah' - the immigration of diasporic Jews to Israel form part of the book's narrative.

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The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Friday asked people of the state to maintain communal harmony and not allow vested interests to divide the state on regional lines.

The KCCI was reacting to the violent protests in Jammu, a day after at least 40 CRPF personnel died in a suicide attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

"Everyone has condemned yesterday's killing (of CRPF personnel). We condemn any sort of killing and we condemn this (protests) also as we are losing human lives," KCCI president Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad told reporters here.

"... Unfortunately in Jammu, some elements are trying to create a regional divide. They are politicising the issue ahead of the elections. A common man has no role in all this," he added.

Ahmad said the regional brotherhood in Jammu and Kashmir (J-K) should be maintained at all costs.

"We spoke to our counterparts in Jammu and told them that our regional brotherhood should be maintained at all cost. We are also talking to the administration to ensure that no attempt is made to give it a communal colour," he said.

The KCCI president said the government should address the Kashmir issue so that loss of lives in violence is stopped.

"There should be talks on Kashmir issue... We do not want to lose more lives. We have to take steps that send a message of brotherhood," he said.

"We are also in touch with Jammu Chamber and if need arises, we will send our team to Jammu. We have to live together," he added.

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Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is serving a seven-year sentence in a corruption case, was on Friday shifted to a leading hospital here for cardiac treatment.

Sharif, 69, was brought to the Jinnah Hospital from the high security the Kot Lakhpat jai. The Punjab home department has declared the private ward of the hospital a "sub-jail" for the duration of Sharif's stay there, officials said.

The ousted premier was shifted back to jail on February 7 after undergoing treatment for six days at the Services Hospital where a multi-disciplinary medical board examined him and unanimously opined that he needs some kind of cardiac intervention.

Subsequently, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party supremo's personal physician Adnan Khan had requested the Punjab government to provide round-the-clock expert cardiac care to Sharif at a facility where cardiology intervention and multidisciplinary backup would be available.

Accepting the request, the Punjab Home Department accorded sanction for "shifting of high-profile National Accountability Bureau convicted prisoner Sharif from central jail to Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, for medical treatment for minimum required period."



The PML-N has been demanding shifting of Sharif to London for his treatment. The PML-N has also submitted a resolution in the Punjab Assembly demanding that Sharif should be shifted to London as he always had undergone cardiac treatment there and the doctors knew his medical history.

But a medical board here declared that Sharif could be treated in any specialised cardiac health facility in Pakistan.

"After examining all results of his tests, the medical board has reached a unanimous decision that Sharif needs some kind of cardiac intervention. For the purpose he should be shifted to a cardiac institute," the head of the medical board at the Services Hospital, Professor Dr Mahmood Ayaz, had said.

He said Sharif had heart issues because of his previous history of some diseases, including high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney problem.

Dr Ayaz further said: "According to the findings of the board, Sharif is facing some problems in blood supply of heart veins that must be addressed by cardiac specialists. We had engaged some cardiac specialists from the Punjab Institute of Cardiology who examined the patient and his test reports and suggested little change in Sharif's medicines.

Sharif has been behind the bars since December 24, 2018, after an accountability court convicted him in one of the three corruption cases filed under the direction of the Supreme Court.

On Thursday Sharif's younger brother and PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif got bail from high court in two corruption cases.

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The BJP leaders in Odisha held a condolence meet in Sambalpur Friday to pay tribute to the CRPF jawans who were killed in the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

The party's national president Amit Shah was scheduled to address booth-level workers in the district, but the programme was called off in the wake of the dastardly attack.

The "political programme turned into a prayer meet", where party leaders and workers paid tributes to the 40 jawans who were killed in the attack, BJP national secretary Suresh Pujari said.

Union minister Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan and BJP legislature party leader K V Singhdeo were also present at the meet, he said.

Two of the 40 jawans killed in Thursday's attack hailed from Odisha.

Sources said several BJP workers in the district raised anti-Pakistan slogans near Sambalpur railway station during the day and sought action against the perpetrators.

A Jaish suicide bomber Thursday rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into a bus carrying CRPF personnel in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. While 40 jawans were killed in the attack, five sustained injuries.

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Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Friday announced financial aid of Rs 50 lakh each to the families of two CRPF jawans from the state who were martyred in the Pulwama terror attack.

Fadnavis made the announcement in Sangli district where he is on an official visit, an official in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.

Meanwhile, the chief minister tweeted the pictures of the martyred CRPF soldiers - Sanjay Rajput and Nitin Rathod - natives of Malkapur and Lonar towns, respectively, in Buldhana district of the state.

Their families will get Rs 50 lakh each from the state government, the official said.

The two were among the 40 paramilitary personnel killed in an audacious terror strike in South Kashmir's Pulwama district Thursday. Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish- e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the deadly assault.

Fadnavis also paid tributes to the martyred soldiers.

"Maharashtra salutes these two brave soldiers and rest of the jawans who laid down their lives in service of the motherland," he tweeted.

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Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Friday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the family of a CRPF jawan from the state, who was among the 40 personnel killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir, an official statement said here.

The CM also promised a government job to a member of CRPF jawan Vijay Soreng's family, it said.

Condemning the attack, Das asserted that the country will continue its fight against terrorism.

"Pakistan has been fighting a proxy terror war for over 50 years now. India has taken a pledge to fight till we win Our army is ready to face any situation" the statement said quoting Das.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), under Prime Minister Narendra Modi leadership, has made it clear that the sacrifice of the CRPF personnel "will not go in vain", the CM said, terming the decision to revoke the 'most favoured nation' status to Pakistan as "an initiative to break the back of the neighbouring country".

Meanwhile, a condolence meeting was held at Raj Bhavan Friday, where government officials paid tribute to Soreng, who hailed from Gumla district, in the presence of Governor Droupadi Murmu.

A Jaish suicide bomber Thursday rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into a bus carrying CRPF personnel in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kahmir. At least 40 jawans were killed in the attack and five sustained injuries.

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A condolence meeting to pay homage to the CRPF jawans martyred in the Pulwama terror attack was held Friday in Itarsi town in Madhya Pradesh at the site where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to address a public rally.

In Indore, noted Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai- Bachchan paid tributes to the martyred jawans at a programme of a private university.

Addressing the meeting in Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh BJP president Rakesh Singh termed the deadly attack on a bus ferrying CRPF jawans as "very unfortunate".

The Lok Sabha MP from Jabalpur said suitable action will follow, but the people of the country will always remember the sacrifice made by the CRPF jawans.

The prime minister was supposed to address a public rally at the Railway Ground in Itarsi, but it was cancelled in view of the Pulwama attack. The condolence meeting took place at the same venue.

Modi's another meeting in MP's Dhar district on Saturday, too, has been cancelled.

Meanwhile, at the Indore programme, Aishwarya paid tributes to the martyred jawans by holding a lit candle in her hand.

The actress was in Indore as chief guest at the World Management and Commerce Conference organised by the Sage University.

Petrol pumps in Indore also paid tributes to the martyred jawans by not selling fuel from 3 pm to 3.15 pm.

Protests demanding stern action against the perpetrators of the deadly terror attack in Pulwama were held in different cities of the state.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into their bus in Pulwama district.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied suggestions of going along with Holocaust historical revisionism in Poland.

Netanyahu was asked Thursday in Warsaw about the issue by a reporter and replied: "Here I am saying Poles cooperated with the Nazis. I know the history and I don't whitewash it. I bring it up."



Last year Poland and Israel were embroiled in a bitter dispute over a Polish law that made it a crime to blame the Polish nation for Holocaust crimes.

Israel saw it as an attempt by Poland to suppress discussion into the killing of Jews by Poles during the wartime German occupation.

The dispute was resolved when Poland softened the law and Netanyahu and his Polish counterpart agreed on a joint declaration stressing Polish involvement in helping Jews.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday expressed solidarity with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, saying the Jewish nation stood behind India after the "henious" terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed at least 40 CRPF soldiers.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, at least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Reacting to the terror attack, Netanyahu, who is expected to visit India in the coming weeks, said, "To my dear friend, Prime Minister of India @narendramodi, we stand with you, the security forces and the people of India following this heinous terrorist attack.

"We send our condolences to the families of the victims," the Israeli prime minister said in a tweet.

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The petitioners opposing reservation for Marathas, Friday told the Bombay High Court that the five institutes, whose survey report formed the basis for granting quota to the community, did not possess the requisite technical expertise to carry out the survey.

The submission was made before a bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre by advocate Pradeep Sancheti, the lawyer for Sanjeet Shukla, one of the petitioners in the case.

As per the state's records, five institutes- Gokhale Institute, Rambhau Mhalgi Probodhini, Shivaji Academy, Sharda Academy and Gurukrupa Sanstha- were assigned the task of conducting the survey on the educational and economic backwardness of Maratha community in western Maharashtra, Konkan, Marathwada, Vidarbha and north Maharashtra.

However, advocate Sancheti Friday argued that the government had not conducted proper background checks on these institutes before assigning the task to them.

"None of these institutes had any prior experience of conducting a large-scale and important survey. Besides, three of these five institutes have political affiliations. Therefore, how could their survey reports have been relied upon by the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission?" Sancheti argued.

His arguments, however, were vehemently opposed by the state's counsel V M Thorat, who cautioned Sancheti and other petitioners against making such insinuations.

"Are the petitioners suggesting that the Commission was biased? On what basis can they make such insinuations?" he said.

The bench has been hearing a bunch of petitions in favour of and against the state's decision to grant the Marathas in the state a 16 percent quota.

The quota was granted following a recommendation of the State Backward Class Commission.

On November 30, 2018, the Maharashtra legislature passed the bill giving 16 per cent quota to the Marathas following an intense agitation by the community.

The high court will continue hearing arguments in the matter on Monday.

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An Indian-origin global negotiator has been appointed as the director of a renowned academic institution in South Africa.

Professor Faizel Ismail will take charge as the director of the University of Cape Town's (UCT) Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance from Professor Alan Hirsch in July.

Ismail is known for his role in negotiating major agreements for South Africa, including with the Southern African Customs Union as well as the Trade and Development Agreement with the European Union.

Ismail, a professor at the UCT's School of Economics, has in the past served as an ambassador to the World Trade Organisation and a senior advisor to the Minister of Trade and Industry.

He chaired the International Trade and Administration Commission from 2015 to 2018, and was reappointed for a five-year term till 2023.

In a statement, Ismail said he viewed his appointment as an opportunity to contribute to rebuilding the institutions of the democratic state and the capacity of the next generation of policy makers, based on the values of the late President Nelson Mandela.

The school has trained 1,400 students from across Africa in leadership and academic programmes since its establishment in 2011.

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will by mid-2020s surpass as the world's largest growth market, accounting for over a quarter of incremental global demand, UK supermajor said in its annual outlook.

The 2019 edition explores the key uncertainties that could impact the shape of global markets out to 2040. "The greatest uncertainties over this period involve the need for more energy to support continued global economic growth and rising prosperity, together with the need for a more rapid transition to a lower-carbon future. These scenarios highlight the dual challenge that the world is facing," it said.

Global is expected to increase by around a third by 2040, driven by improvements in living standards, particularly in India, and across This will be met mostly by natural gas, which is expected to overtake coal as the second largest source of energy by the mid-2020s and converging on by 2040, the report said.

Renewables are also expected to continue their upward trajectory, as their share in the energy mix is expected to increase from 4 per cent today to 15 per cent by 2040.

"All of the growth in comes from fast-growing developing economies, led by and China," the outlook said. "Developing economies account for over 80 per cent of the expansion in world output, with and accounting for around half of that growth."



India's will rise by 156 per cent to 1,928 million tonnes of equivalent by 2040 from 754 million tonnes of equivalent in 2017. This at an annual growth of 4.2 per cent.

Much of the increase in global is concentrated in developing (India, China, and Other Asia), where rising prosperity and improving living standards support increasing per head.

"China's transition to a more sustainable pattern of economic growth means that by the mid-2020s, India surpasses China as the world's largest growth market, accounting for over a quarter of the growth in global energy demand over the Outlook. Even so, China remains the largest market for energy: roughly double the size of India in 2040," it said.

All of the net global growth in industrial demand is met by and electricity, with these fuels accounting for around two-thirds of the energy used in industry by 2040. Coal consumption within industry declines as China, the EU and North America switch to cleaner, lower-carbon fuels, partially offset by growth in India and Other Asia, the outlook report said.

Almost all of the growth in power demand stems from developing economies, led by China and India.

"India is the largest growth market for coal, with its share of global coal consumption more than doubling to around a quarter in 2040," the energy outlook said, adding the majority of the increase is used to meet robust growth in power demand.

said the focus should be on meeting growing energy demand and the push for lower emissions.

Chief executive Bob Dudley said: "Predicting how this energy transition will evolve is a vast, complex challenge. In BP, we know the outcome that's needed, but we don't know the exact path the transition will take. Our strategy offers us the flexibility and agility we need to meet this uncertainty head-on.
India on Friday summoned Pakistan's top envoy and lodged strong protest over the killing of nearly 40 soldiers in the terror attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

JeM has claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's district on Thursday that left at least 40 soldiers dead and five others critically wounded.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned High Commissioner to India and lodged strong protest over the killing of the soldiers in Pulwama, official sources said.
India on Friday summoned the Pakistan High Commissioner to issue a very strong demarche over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in which at least 40 CRPF personnel were killed, and asked Islamabad to take "immediate and verifiable action" against the terror group.

According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan HC to India Sohail Mahmood to his South Block office, and issued a very strong demarche over the killing of the CRPF soldiers, the sources said.

Pakistan must take "immediate and verifiable action" against the JeM and that it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories, Gokhale told the envoy.

The Foreign Secretary also rejected the statement made by Pakistan's Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

Reacting to the Pulwama attack, Pakistan had said it was "a matter of grave concern" and strongly rejected Indian media and government's allegations of its role in the strike "without" a probe.

JeM has claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday that left at least 40 CRPF soldiers dead and many others critically wounded.

The summoning of the Pakistani envoy comes after India on Thursday slammed its neighbour over the attack and asked it to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.

India is firmly and resolutely committed to take all necessary measures to safeguard national security, the MEA said.

"We are equally resolved to fight against the menace of terrorism. We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory, and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries," the statement said.

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India slammed Pakistan for stating that it had no role in the carried out by Pakistan-based terror group JeM, saying Islamabad could not claim that it was unaware of the presence of terror groups on its soil as the links of such outfits to the country were there for everyone to see.

Pakistan on Friday summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner in Islamabad and lodged a protest against India's allegation of its role in the

Hitting back at Pakistan, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: "JeM has claimed responsibility for the attack. The organisation and its leadership are located in Pakistan."



The Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and other terror groups had welcomed the news of the attack and those groups were also based in Pakistan, he asserted.

"Pakistan cannot claim that it is unaware of their presence and their activities. They have not taken any action against these groups despite international demands, especially against groups and individuals proscribed by the UN and other countries," Kumar said.

The links to Pakistan were clear and evident for all to see, he added.

Pakistani ministers had shared the same podium with UN-proscribed terrorists, Kumar said.

He asserted that the neighbouring country's demand for an investigation was "preposterous" when there was a video of the suicide bomber declaring himself a member of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

There were also other audio-visual and print material linking JeM to the terror attack, the MEA spokesperson said.

"We have, therefore, no doubt that the claim is firmly established," he added.

There was no constructive approach from Pakistan on its relations with India, Kumar said.

"What we have noticed however, are claims to offer dialogue on one hand, while sponsoring and sheltering terrorists and terrorist organisations such as JeM on the other," he added.

India demands that Pakistan should take immediate and verifiable action against terrorists and terror groups operating from territories under its control to create a conducive atmosphere in the region, free of terror, Kumar said.

The JeM has claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel dead and five critically wounded.

The summoning of the Indian deputy high commissioner by Pakistan came after India, earlier in the day, summoned the Pakistani High Commissioner to India, Sohail Mahmood, and issued a very strong demarche over the killing of the men.

Pakistan must take "immediate and verifiable action" against JeM and it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told the envoy.

Though Pakistan's Foreign Office has not issued any statement, sources said it summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner and rejected the "baseless allegations made by India" against Pakistan on the

A short video clip of the Indian diplomat leaving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad was also circulating on social media platforms.

Meanwhile, in a tweet, Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua briefed the ambassadors of the US, Russia, France, the UK and China on the on Friday and rejected India's allegations.

Following the terror strike, India withdrew the "most-favoured nation" status to Pakistan on Friday, a move which would enable it to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stood revoked.

India had granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in 1996, but the neighbouring country is yet to reciprocate.

According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said in an interview that his country would take action against anyone if India shared evidence.
Chartered accountants' apex body Friday withdrew an announcement regarding applicability of rotation of auditors at companies, following a directive from the corporate affairs ministry.

In a rare instance, the ministry told the Institute of of India (ICAI) to "immediately withdraw" the announcement and also provide reasons for making such an announcement, according to a letter.

On January 29, the issued a clarification on applicability of rotation of auditors under the Companies Act, 2013.

Under the Act, implemented by the ministry, certain class of companies are required to rotate their auditors and there is also a cooling off period to be followed by the auditors.

In a communication on Friday, the said announcement regarding clarification on applicability of rotation of auditors issued on January 29 has been withdrawn.

"The Corporate Laws & Corporate Governance Committee had issued the announcement regarding clarification on the applicability of rotation principles on a company as per Section 139 of the 2013 where the company ceases to fall under the ambit of Rotation principles in subsequent years on January 29, 2019," it noted.

The move came after a letter from the ministry on Friday asked the ICAI to withdraw the announcement.

"... it is stated that the issuance of any clarification on different provisions of falls in the domain of this ministry and the ICAI is neither empowered nor competent to issue such a clarification and especially so without prior consultation with this ministry," the letter said.

Further, the ministry has asked the ICAI to intimate the "reasons for issuing such announcement without any authority and without the specific approval of this ministry".

However, an official said that the ICAI announcement could have resulted in companies removing or re-appointing an auditor just on the basis of non-applicability of the rotation norms.

The official noted that an auditor cannot be removed in an unfair manner and that companies should be following the law in letter and spirit.
A military plane carrying the mortal remains of the men killed in a terror attack in arrived on Friday evening, officials said.

The bodies were received by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and senior officials of the at the Palam Technical area, they said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal are among those likely to pay their last respects to the personnel at the airport.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. A Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in district.
Social activist Anna Hazare, who is currently hospitalised following his fast, said Friday that he still had enough strength to drive a military truck.

Hazare, who was once an Army driver, was reacting to the terrorist attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir in which at least 40 jawans were killed.

"I can not pick up the gun because of my old age, but if the need be, I can surely hold the steering wheel to ferry supplies to our armymen fighting for the country," a close aide of Hazare quoted him as saying from the hospital bed.

Hazare, an octogenarian, ended his six-day fast over the demand of appointment of anti-corruption watchdog Lokpal on February 5.

Suffering from certain health issues, he is now admitted to a hospital in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.

Before he attained national fame as anti-corruption crusader, Kisan Baburao Hazare, fondly known as Anna, joined the Army in 1960 as a truck driver. He served in the Khem Karan sector during the Indo-Pak war of 1965.

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The Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is setting up an LPG bottling plant with a capacity of filling 42 lakh cylinders per year at Rayagada in Odisha to meet the growing demand, a top officials of the company said Friday.

Announcing this at a press meet here, Dharmendra Behura, HPCL Deputy General Manager, LPG Region, Bhubaneswar, said Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the plant on February 19.

The new plant will be the second LPG bottling plant of HPCL in Odisha as it already has one at Jatni.

State owned Oil marketing companies now have LPG bottling plants at Balasore, Jharsuguda, Khurda and Jatni in the state.

The current bottling capacity of the four plants is 2.80 crore cylinders per annum.

In addition to the proposed plant at Rayagada, oil marketing companies have plans to set up new plants at Bhubaneswar and Balangir, Behura said.

Odisha will then have a total of seven LPG bottling plants and their total capacity will be about 4.06 crore cylinders per annum, he said.

There has been a significant growth of LPG in Odisha where the LPG consumer base of 20.22 lakh as in 2014 has grown up to 76.65 lakh now, an increase 279.1 per cent, he said.

The demand for packed LPG in Odisha was 3.2 crore cylinder last year which is expected to be 4.3 crores cylinder by 2020.

The HPCL has 26.64 lakhs customers at present and they consume about 1.3 crore cylinders in a year and it is expected to increase to 1.6 crore cylinders by 2020.

With the LPG demand growing particularly in Western and south-western Odisha, need for putting up a new bottling plant was felt and the historical town of Rayagada was chosen for locating it considering its logistics advantage, Behura said.

The Rayagada plant, once commissioned, shall be supplying cylinders to the consumers in 11 districts.

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Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Dev Vrat has expressed profound grief on Friday over the death of 40 CRPF personnel in a major terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, an official spokesperson said.

He wished a speedy recovery to those injured in the attack.

Pained over the tragedy, the governor has called off a dinner which was to be organised this evening at Raj Bhawan for the members of the state assembly.

As per tradition, the governor organises dinner during every budget session in the honour of members of the state assembly.

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More than 200 scientists from seven countries are participating in the International Group Meeting on wheat being held at CSK Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, Palampur, near here.

Addressing the conference, former Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), V L Chopra, said, "Wheat productivity enhancement through climate smart practices was a timely and an important issue.Wheat productivity was at apex point so to take it to next level was a challenge for the scientists."



He also called for international collaborations on research issues related to wheat.

Michael Baum, Director, Biodiversity and Crop Improvement, International Centre for Agriculture Research in Dryland Areas, Morocco, said India is an important country for farm research.

G P Singh, Director, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) of ICAR, Karnal, said that earlier research concentrated on increasing the wheat production but now the emphasis is on value addition and finding solutions to new diseases for this important crop.

Ashok Kumar Sarial, Vice-Chancellor of the host University, informed that wheat is grown all over the state occupying 65 per cent of cultivable area.

Scientists from countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Jordon and Morocco are taking part in the event.

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With the bugler playing the 'last post', Home Minister Rajnath Singh turned a pallbearer Friday as the bodies of 40 paramilitary personnel killed in an audacious terror strike in South Kashmir's Pulwama district were sent on their last journey home.

Singh, accompanied by a high-level team comprising officials from the CRPF, NIA and Home Ministry, arrived here Friday afternoon and drove straight to the adjacent CRPF campus where a wreath laying ceremony was held for the slain jawans.

As the bugler played the 'last post' and guard called for 'shok salami shastra' (reversing of arms in honour of fallen soldiers), a two-minute silence was observed after which the Union home minister gave a shoulder to the coffin of a jawan which was being taken to his native place in a special aircraft.

The home minister, Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath laying ceremony.

"The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans. I have paid my last respects to the martyrs of Pulwama. The sacrifice will not go in vain," Singh said.

The dignitaries stood in silence till the coffins were loaded in a truck which went to the Srinagar airport, the official said.

As many as 40 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles of the CRPF travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said those responsible for the attack will pay "a very heavy price" and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished.

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The Madras High Court Friday directed the Centre to file a report on Monday on Adhichanallur excavations taken up by the Archaeological Survey of India over ten years ago as it came down heavily on the ASI for the delay in making public the findings.

Justices N Kirubakaran and S S Sundar of the Madurai Bench observed whether the central government did not want the ancient Tamil culture and civilisation to be known to the country.

Hearing a batch of petitions filed by PIL litigants seeking fresh excavation in the area, they wondered if Tamil Nadu was in India and condemned the ASI for not releasing the report about the outcome of the excavations taken up between 2003 and 2005.

The ASI had not come out with the detailsabout the articles excavated in Adhichanallur. "This is not acceptable", the Judges said and asked the Centre to file a report on Monday and adjourned the hearing to that day.

Adhichanallur is located in Tuticorin district in southern Tamil Nadu where ancient burial sites had been unearthed.

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Petitioner Benjamin Exeter was not as comfortable as this when he was cross-examined. (SVGTV Photo)

Hearing in the matter of two 2015 election petitions was expected to enter its fifth day today.

Cross examination of the witnesses on behalf of petitioner Benjamin Exeter, the New Democratic Partys candidate for Central Leeward in the December 9, 2015 General Elections, ended on Wednesday.

Among those cross-examined included Exeter, lawyers Maia Eustace and Zita Barnwell, and a number of agents employed by the NDP on election day.

Eustace, in explaining her role as a roving agent for Exeter, said that agents were given notebooks to record any objections, the number of votes on the count and any disagreement with the count.

Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes, lead Counsel for the respondents, inquired whether tally sheets were provided to the agents, to which Eustace responded that this was to be provided by the election officers at the count.

Eustace and the count

Mendes asked Eustace if she had been able to determine whether or not any of the other agents had indicated that their count differed from that of the presiding officers.

She responded that they seemed to be in accordance with the scores of the presiding officers.

Eustace added that she was present at the final count which took place on December 10, 2015, one day after the elections, and despite some reluctance by the returning officer, they were provided with copies of the count.

"There was not sufficient time to record all the information, Eustace told the court, but she said that she was able to record some notes on the final day.

She testified that there were instances where the number of names recorded in the Form 16, the document containing the final count, differed.

According to Eustace, there were instances where it was evident that a figure was written over another, and cited polling station CLC, in which she said got 412, based on her count, but the document had 307.

"But it seems like the 307 is written over something, Eustace said.

In relation to polling station CLB, she said she recorded 350  238 votes between the candidates, 111 unused and I spoiled ballot. But the document (Form 16) had 238, and here too, it appeared that it was printed over another figure, Eustace proffered.

She was unable to indicate, however, if her numbers matched that of the other agents.



Petitioner takes the stand

When petitioner Exeter was called on Tuesday, his cross- examination focused on his allegation that the ballots were pre-printed with the official mark, contrary to the law.

But his evidence, photographs taken of ballots, did not show, as lead Counsel Mendes said, that they had any stamp on them.

When Exeter insisted that his allegation had weight, he was drilled by Mendes and at times the judge, as to whether he was disregarding the Supervisor of Elections Sylvia Findlay-Scrubbs sworn affidavit, in which she said that she had made an error in saying the stamp and official mark were pre-printed, which amounted to a retraction of a statement to the contrary that she had made earlier.

He gave no clear response to this inquiry.

But in a later response to Mendes cross-examination, Exeter acknowledged that his polling agents were shown the ballots before voting began.

"I am confused, " Exeter said, seemingly in exasperation.



Other witnesses made uneasy

Barnwell, who was at the final count on December 10, also took the stand on Tuesday, and found herself at variance with a statement she made late in her cross-examination, to one she had made earlier. This was in respect of a certain ballot which she purported to have examined during the final count.

Ethron Creese also testified on Tuesday.

Paul Creese, NDP agent at polling station CLB1, took the stand on Wednesday.

He confirmed that he was present during the count, but said that he was unable to determine if the stamp and initial of the presiding officer were on the ballot.

Creese told the court that he was focusing on tallying the votes.

"I was looking for the vote and not the stamp, he said.

He said that he was aware of the importance of the ballot having the stamp, but did not pay any attention to that detail.

Mendes pointed out to him that in his statement, he said that the ballots had no stamp, this after saying that he did not look for the stamp.

Creese repeated that he made notes about things going on, but did not think that the issue of the stamp on the ballot was a critical one.

"When did you think that it became a critical issue?, Mendes asked.

The following day, he responded, when the issue of some ballots not having stamps was raised, and said further that he then remembered that there was no stamp.

Sam explained that she used a system where she assigned numbers to voters in the order in which they entered the polling station.

Mendes then asked for her to identify and affirm if the final number was on the last page of the document submitted by her.

Upon doing so, Senior Counsel Mendes then asked her to determine whether or not she repeated numbers, to which Sam said she could not recall.

However, Mendes said that when he checked, she had in fact repeated some numbers and he went ahead and gave the court two examples of where it was done. In addition, he said, Sam repeated numbers on 10 occasions.

"It went from 29 to 31, Mendes said.

Also missing among the numbers assigned, according to Mendes, were 25 other numbers, which he listed for the court.

Both the notebook and tally sheet used by Eustace were submitted as evidence by the petitioners.Mendes said that based on the submissions made by Eustace, the results on the tally sheet matched what was recorded, such as in polling station CLB1, where the tally sheet and Eustaces notes corresponded.The Senior Counsel brought it to his attention that he had not presented any evidence to say that any of his agents had admitted to seeing any stamp pre-printed on the ballots, when they were shown them on the morning before voting began.That seems to have all but summarized Exeters time on the witness stand.Agent Esla Sam, employed as an agent for Exeter in polling station CLA1, said the lists did not correspond.Mendes also pointed out to the court that Sam missed numbers, for example, there was no number 30, he said.Sam, in her defence, said that she had someone else assist her while she was allowed to take a short break.But Mendes said that that individual stated on record that she was assigned numbers 204 to 218, and that Sam was there to the end.
The Delhi High Court Friday sought response of the AAP government on a plea by Balwan Khokhar, who along with former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment in a 184 anti-Sikh riots case, seeking parole to file an appeal.

Justice Najmi Waziri issued notice to the AAP government on the petition in which the convict said he wanted parole for a month to file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court's December 17, 2018 verdict.

The high court on December 17, 2018 had set aside the trial court's verdict which had acquitted Kumar in a case related 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 during that period.

The riots had broken out after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 by her two Sikh bodyguards.

The high court had also upheld the conviction and varying sentences awarded by the trial court to the other five -- Khokhar, retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal and former MLAs Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar.

It had also convicted them for criminal conspiracy to burn down residences of Sikh families and a gurdwara in the area during the riots.

The trial court in 2013 had 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.

The high court in its judgement had said that the riots were a "crime against humanity" perpetrated by those who enjoyed "political patronage" and aided by an "indifferent" law enforcement agency.

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Quoting Mahatma Gandhi's dictum that practice is better than preaching, a Madras High Court judge has ordered installation of CCTV camera in his chamber while recommending the same for offices of all highly-placed Tamil Nadu government officials to tackle sexual harassment at work places.

Justice S M Subramaniam directed the court registry to install CCTV camera in his chamber within two weeks, while disposing of petitions from IPS officer S Murugan and a woman police superintendent who had made sexual harassment charges against the senior police official.

In his order, the judge referred to Gandhiji's quote "An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching", and gave the go ahead for a probe by an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) and the CB-CID which had registered an FIR on the woman officer's complaint.

Justice Subramaniam recommended to the state Chief Secretary installation of CCTV cameras inside the chambers and offices of all highly-placed officials in order to avoid such allegations and to safeguard women employees from sexual harassment.

The judge tasked the state chief secretary with initiating action against the IPS officer under the service rules which he said was necessary under the facts and circumstances of the case.

The IPS official, among other things, had challenged the validity of the ICC forwarding the SP's complaint to police for registration of an FIR.

On this point, the judge, in his order, said the registration of an FIR cannot be found fault with.

"When a woman police officer in the rank of Superintendent of Police is making such a statement, this court is of the considered opinion that such a statement requires a serious consideration warranting a deeper enquiry and appropriate action against the person against whom the allegation is made," he said.

The matter had been unfortunately kept in abeyance for the past around six months by raising the dispute regarding constitution of the ICC, the judge noted.

The woman SP in her August 4, 2018, complaint made her intention to initiate criminal action against Murugan clear.

The "employer," in this case, the Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (a police wing) ought to have forwarded her complaint for registering an FIR, but the ICC, on the contrary, forwarded it, the judge noted.

However, the procedure adopted to forward the plaint would not vitiate the FIR which only requires information.

The judge upheld the constitution of ICC and also directed it to proceed with the enquiry by following the procedures laid down in The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

Opportunity should be given to the parties concerned and a report should be submitted within a period of two weeks from the date of order, he said and directed the CB-CID to proceed in the matter according to law and commence investigation.

On the probe being put in abeyance for six months by raising a dispute on the setting up of the ICC, the court said higher officials must have held an enquiry by this time and it is mandatory.

A reading of the complaint disclosed allegations affecting the modesty of a woman and registration of a criminal case is "just and necessary.

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Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed should be brought to India or should meet the fate of Osama bin Laden, Yoga guru Ramdev said Friday, while seeking strong action against Pakistan.

Describing Thursday's strike on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, in which 40 soldiers of the force were killed, an attack on the "unity, integrity and sovereignty" of India, he said time has come to merge Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) with India.

"All terrorists, whether coming from across the border or already inside our territory, must be eliminated, especially (2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind) Hafiz Saeed and (Jaish-e-Mohammad chief) Masood Azhar.

"Wherever they are, they must be brought to India or should meet the fate of Osama bin Laden (who was killed by US forces inside his secret residence in Pakistan's Abbotabad)," Ramdev said on sidelines of an event here.

He said the terror camps operational in PoK must be destroyed, and if possible the region should be merged back into India.

"Pakistan is behaving like an immature, stupid and uneducated country. So, the Indian prime minister must now take a major step to teach Pakistan a lesson with some action," the yoga guru said.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Ramdev said, "We often say that we will avenge the killings of our martyrs and offer a lot of lip service and engage in verbal wars. But they (verbal wars and lip service) are no more effective."



"The prime minister must now take a major action and the entire country should back him. No cheap politics should come in the way of the action because now it is about India's unity, integrity and sovereignty," he said.

Ramdev said it was now time to move beyond surgical strikes and all terror camps in PoK must be destroyed.

"We should not be scared by the thought that Pakistan has nuclear weapons. India too is equipped with nuclear weapons. But it is not about nuclear weapons, this is a question on our bravery and sovereignty.

"We think thousands of crores would be lost in finance in a fight, but whatever be the expenses, there should be decisive action for once," he said.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group had claimed the responsibility of the attack that took place just 20 km from Srinagar.

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Gujjar community members continued to block railway tracks in Rajasthan for the eighth consecutive day on Friday despite the state government releasing a notification to give 5 per cent reservation to them and four other communities agitating for it.

State tourism minister Vishvendra Singh and representatives of the Gujjar community are holding discussions to end the deadlock, Station House Officer of the Malarna Dungar police station Brijendra Singh said.

The ongoing dharna led by Gujjar agitation leader Kirori Singh Bainsla on railway tracks and a blockade laid on highways has caused much inconvenience to people.

As per the North Western Railways spokesperson, 64 trains have been cancelled, 71 diverted and 32 partially cancelled in the last eight days.

Bainsla and his supporters began their sit-in on railway tracks in Malarna Dungar area of Swai Madhopur district on February 8, demanding 5 per cent quota for Gujjar, Raika-Rebari, Gadia Luhar, Banjara and Gadaria communities in jobs and education.

The Rajasthan Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill giving 5 per cent quota in government jobs and educational institutes to the Gujjars and four other communities agitating for it.

The Gujjar agitators are sitting on Mumbai-Delhi railway track near Malarna Dungar and Sawai Madhopur-Jaipur rail track at Chauth Ka Barwara in Sawai Madhopur district.

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Social activist and her husband Javed Anand Friday appeared before the Ahmedabad Crime Branch to record their statements in the alleged Rs 1.4 crore fund embezzlement case related to their Mumbai-based NGO Sabrang Trust.

The activist couple was allowed to go after primary questioning at the Crime Branch office here, said a senior police official, adding the duo will be called in the future if needed.

On February 8, the had granted anticipatory bail to Setalvad and Anand in the case.

While giving them relief, the court had also asked the couple to appear before Crime Branch officials on February 15 for questioning and recording statements.

The Crime Branch had filed an FIR against Setalvad and Anand in March last year, alleging they used fraudulent means to secure funds of Rs 1.4 crore from the Union Human Resource Development Ministry between 2010 and 2013 through their NGO.

The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by Setalvad's former associate, Raees Khan Pathan.

The case was registered against Setalvad and Anand under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property) and 406 (criminal breach of trust).

It is alleged the husband-wife duo had used the funds to pay witnesses to make false deposition in some of the post- Godhra riot cases of 2002.

In the past, the couple has denied all the allegations against them.
From Harpur in Uttar Pradesh to Gudigere in Karnataka, many villages across the country that send out young men to the armed forces were joined in grief Friday, a day after the suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir.

At many places, grief combined with anger over Thursday's terror strike that killed 40 jawans.

"No doubt we are proud that my son gave his life for the motherland but the government should take tough steps against the attackers, Pankaj Tripathi's father Om Prakash Tripathi said in Harpur in UP's Maharajganj district.

The time for talking is up, it's time to take revenge, he said.

On the streets, villagers shouted slogans, calling for revenge. Badla lo, badla lo, Pakistan se badla lo, they chanted.

Tempers also ran high in Deoria's Jaidev Chapia, the native village of 30-year-old Vijay Kumar Maurya.

He left for Jammu only on February 9, after spending time in the UP village with his family which includes a one and half year old child.

"I am proud that my son gave his life for the nation but the government should give a befitting reply to Pakistan as soon as possible, his father Ramayan Maurya said.

The action should be so strong that Pakistan dare not enter our territory and kill our soldiers ever again, he said.

In jawan Bablu Santra's Chakkashi Rajbangshipara village in West Bengal, his wife and mother wailed and his nephew talked of revenge.

"We want the killing of mama', and those who died with him, avenged. Those behind the cowardly attack must be taught a lesson they don't forget, Raghubir Mondal said.

When Santra came home on leave a month and a half back, he had urged the nephew to prepare for the test which could land him a job in the Central Reserve Police Force.

Mondal said his uncle was a hard-working man, who lost his father at a young age. As a college student, he supported his family by selling fish.

At Khudawal village in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district Ashwini Kumar Kachhhi is remembered by some for his smile.

Martyr Ashwini Kumar always wore a smile on his face whenever he met me," recalled Vinay Asathi. "He used to encourage the youth of our village to join the armed forces."



Over the years, the village has lost three men who became soldiers.

CRPF jawan Bhagirath Singh and his brother were raised by their farmer father Parshuram in Rajasthan's Jaitpur village after their mother died.

He loved guns, village sarpanch Kapur Chand Gurjar recalled.

In a village in Punjab's Tarn Taran, Sukhjinder Singh also was fond of the uniform.

He was very patriotic. Since childhood, he wanted to join the armed forces, said panchayat member Angrez Singh.

The entire village is in shock and disbelief and there is anger among the people, he said.

Also from Punjab was Jaimal Singh, said to be the soldier who drove the bus into which a terrorist rammed an SUV packed with explosives.

The jawan had spoken to his wife and five-year-old son over the phone only on Tuesday, his father Jaswant Singh said.

H Guru from Gudigere village in Karnataka's Mandya district too had called home just hours before the attack.

"I should have spoken to him over phone. He had called me in the morning, but I couldn't speak to him. I really feel devastated, his wife Kalavathi said.

Guru was among the jawans who had returned to their unit only days back.

Tilak Raj from Jawali in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra went back to work on Monday, after celebrating the birth of his son last month.

Rajasthan's Bhagirath Singh left his home just two days back for Jammu and Kashmir. His family never imagined it would be his last visit home, the village sarpanch said.

Pankaj Tripathi left Harpur three days back, wrapping up a two-month vacation with his wife Rohini and a three-year-old son.

On Friday, the family awaited his return this time it would be in a coffin wrapped in the tricolour.

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The government is considering a proposal to enable interoperability for public network, which will translate into a seamless connectivity experience for users, a top official said Friday.

Telecom secretary said 3.7 lakh hotspots have been deployed by the industry - against the stated commitment of rolling out one million hotspots by December 2019 - and added that once security nod is obtained on interoperability, it would lead to seamless experience for users and generate new revenue sources for small enterpreneurs.

"Working in tandem with TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) and with service providers, we are hoping to deploy an interoperable public Wi-Fi network," Sundararajan said.

She was speaking at an event 'De-licensing of 5 GHz for public Wi-fi' organised by Forum (BIF).

"Telecom service providers have committed to a target of rolling out one million Wi-Fi hotspots by end of 2019, and so far we are at about 3.7 lakh Wi-Fi hotspots, which have been deployed, but they have not yet become interoperable. Once we get the security clearance for this, we expect to have a full interoperable Wi-Fi ecosystem, which will be pioneering," she said.

The proposed model of interoperability will be a "gamechanger", she added.

"The MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) has to give the final security clearance, they are looking at it. We expect it to be given shortly," she told reporters.

She said interoperability will make the customer experience seamless, ensuring single log in and one time payment for users.

"Today if you go to an airport you have to log in each time and in some cases you have to pay... unless it is bundled with your service provider...This (interoperability) will mean that you can access it anywhere, any Wi-Fi provided by any service provider and you need to pay once, log in once and use anywhere....That will be something completely new," she said.

Also though the Public data offices or PDO model, it will provide source of revenue to small enterpreneurs.

Public Wi-Fi is vital for India, given the surge in data consumption and the fact that connectivity needs to reach one billion Indians.

Moreover, futuristic technologies like Internet of Things and Machine to Machine communications would fuel a five-time jump in the number of connected devices in future, pushing the need for public Wi-Fi networks, she added.
The Indian Express group chairman Viveck Goenka Friday said the government and media should neither be friends nor enemies.

They should work with mutual respect, where the journalist plays the role of a watchdog, and the imperatives of the government are also taken on board, he said.

"We at the Indian Express believe that the government and the Press do not need to be friends, but they do not need to be enemies either," Goenka said, at an event organised by the Vidarbha Daily Newspapers Association here.

Newspaper proprietors felicitated Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the event.

Journalists and the government play their part in this "wonderful, chaotic and participative dance of democracy", Goenka said. Attributes of fearlessness and having no political colour "nurture a healthy relationship" between the two, Goenka said.

He acknowledged that the relationship between the Press and the government is a complicated one and may also become combative at times, and underlined the importance of mutual respect on both sides.

This relationship can also shift depending on personality and policy position of each leader, he said.

Goenka praised Fadnavis for being accessible to media.

"At a time when social media is not just hyper- partisan but also enables leaders to one-sided conversations, this gentleman (Fadnavis) is not only accessible to Press, he is ever ready to take questions and above all, he listens very carefully," Goenka said.

He recalled Fadnavis saying that good journalism is fearless and does not have any political colour.

Goenka also requested the chief minister to remove the disparities in rates for newspaper advertising between the government and commercial enterprises.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan Friday said the Pulwama terror attack had shaken the country to the core and demanded a "bigger and befitting" response to the audacious strike that killed 40 CRPF jawans.

Talking to reporters after paying tributes to the martyrs at the Mumbai Congress office, Chavan said his party stands firmly in support of security forces and government agencies, who he hoped, will take necessary action.

The former chief minister said there is anger and sadness among each and every Indian over Thursday's dastardly attack claimed by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e- Mohammad.

"A befitting and a bigger response from our side is expected," Chavan said.

The Lok Sabha MP from Nanded said the Pulwama attack was the biggest terror strike on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir and had shaken the country to the core.

"This requires strongest possible condemnation. The Congress party is not frightened. Our leaders have laid down their lives for the sovereignty of the country.

"There can be no compromise on the country's security and sovereignty," Chavan asserted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje Friday condemned the Pulwama terror attack that claimed the lives of at least 40 CRPF personnel.

Offering his condolences, Gehlot prayed for the departed souls and strength to the bereaved families, an official said.

The veteran Congress leader also wished early recovery to those injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into a CRPF bus on Thursday.

Gehlot said the gruesome assault was a cowardly act and highly condemnable.

Such incidents would not lower the country's commitment to fight against terrorism, he added.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vasundhara Raje in a tweet said: "Your martyrdom has filled tears in everyone's eyes but your bravery, valour and sacrifice has made every Indian proud."



"I wish peace for the departed souls of the soldiers, courage for the families and speedy recovery of the injured," she said.

Of the at least 40 Central Police Reserve Force (CRPF) jawans killed in the attack, five were from Rajasthan including Rohitash Lamba of Shahpura, Hemraj Meena of Sangod, Bhagirath Kasana of Rajakheda and Narayan Lal Gurjar.

The Rajasthan Police too paid tributes to the soldiers as officers and personnel under the leadership of DGP Kapil Garg observed a two-minute silence at the police headquarters.

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Part of the procession featuring the early learners who donned the costumes of their favourite reading book characters.

The USAID/OECS Early Learners Programme (ELP), in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, held an ELP Literacy Road Show through the streets of Kingstown last Friday, 8th February.

Students and teachers from schools participating in the programme, parents, interested persons, well-wishers and officials from the USAID/OECS Early Learners Programme and the Ministry of Education comprised the march that began at the Peace Memorial Hall, travelled along Bay Street, turning on to Higginson Street then onto Back Street, and culminating at Heritage Square.

As the procession moved along its path, the harmonic strains of the voices chanting the activitys theme of, "Literacy on the Go: Read, Learn, Grow, seemed to have the desired impact as the faces of onlookers and passersby took on a questioning attitude.

The ELP: Goals and Achievements



The ELP is a reading programme geared towards students from Kindergarten to Grade 3. Its main focus is its belief that students who learn to read at their grade level or higher in primary school, will ultimately be better prepared to master work at higher primary school levels and in secondary school.

To deliver this programme, which has also been implemented in Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia, over four hundred local teachers in the indicated grades have been trained over the past two years.

Addressing the gathering assembled at Heritage Square, Chief Education Officer Ag., Mrs. Elizabeth Walker, lauded the programme and expressed the Ministrys excitement with it.

She noted gains achieved thus far, mentioning the seventy-one primary schools on stream. Additionally, she stated, "Just yesterday, the ELP awarded ten persons who participated in the Write-to-Read competition designed to encourage Vincentians and citizens of other member states, to put their creative abilities into practice by writing and publishing their pieces.

"I am pleased to add that two persons, Ms. Anna Warrican, former Kingstown Preparatory School student, and Mrs. Phyllis Ducnan-DaCosta, a teacher at the Lowmans Windward Anglican School, were recipients of regional awards in the Children and Teacher categories respectively.

Mrs. Sisera Simon, Head of the Education Development Management Unit OECS Commission in St. Lucia, congratulated SVG on its regional winnings, before she focused on the children, encouraging them to never stop reading. She left them with a quote by Dr. Seuss, "The more that you read, the more things you will know; the more that you learn and the more places you will go.

In her feature address, educator Ms. Gloria Williams registered her excitement for the programme, using the first verse of Rachael Plattens Fight Song to describe its impact: " Like a small boat on the ocean, sending big waves into motion; like how a single word can make a heart open; I might only have one match but I can make an explosion. 

Williams likened the ELP-trained teacher to the "small boat, and the students to "the ocean, with great potential in her classroom.

"This teacher, she continued, "then goes about making big waves into motion by igniting her one match fuelled by the word expertise she gained from her training in the ELP. With receptive, open hearts, an explosion of children acquiring reading and literacy abilities is created, that stretches out across the entire nation.

Williams implored members of the general public to get on board, as there was room allocated for their involvement.

"There is room for persons like yourself to continue this reading process out of school. Just visit the school and dialogue with the teacher. Help to make your child an avid reader, she encouraged.

To add to what went before, Mrs. Licha Goddard told her own reading success story which took her from a non-reader to an entrepreneur. Students of the C W Prescod Primary School gave two enlightening and entertaining performances, then children from a number of schools paraded in costumes of characters they had read about in books, as teacher/educator Maxwell Tajoe Francis sang his own composition describing the pivotal role of a teacher in programmes like the ELP.

This set the platform for providing information on the programmes goals, its work and its need for the general publics assistance in promoting reading at a national level. These were laid out at the culmination of the march at a rally at Heritage Square.The goals for the event had been achieved. It was left to the members of the public to get involved.
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French school children are set to skip school and demand action on climate change on Friday, following the example of other young demonstrators around Europe and in Australia for the first time.

The students have called for a rally outside the environment ministry to urge the government to "declare a state of ecological and social emergency", organisers said on Facebook.

Environment Minister Francois de Rugy voiced support for the demonstration.

"I would rather have protesters outside my ministry saying 'we're not doing enough for the environment, we need to act more quickly and boldly' -- which is exactly what I think -- than people saying 'stop, stop, we're going too fast and too far'," he said.

The student action comes ahead of a global climate strike by youngsters on March 15 inspired by 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg.

She first grabbed the spotlight in August when she began staging "school strikes for the climate", skipping classes on Fridays to protest outside the Swedish parliament.

Students in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands have already staged marches in recent weeks to raise awareness of climate change.

Youth for Climate France said students in more than 40 French cities would take part in the March 15 strike in protest at adults "who do nothing" to tackle climate change.

"We, high-school, college and university students, will not remain silent while the majority of adults do nothing. Our future is at stake," it said in a statement Thursday.

"Nobody wants to study or work for a future which doesn't exist. Everyone can do their bit, but if our futures are destroyed by the inaction of adults, our efforts will be in vain.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nagpur-based director Anurag Bhusari, who has made a film on Union Minister Nitin Gadkari titled "Gadkari", says the movie is not a propaganda and merely chronicles facts.

The trailer of the movie was recently released on YouTube and Anurag says the film takes a balanced stand on the life of the Minister.

"Lately, there have been a number of biopics (on politicians) where people said they were like propaganda. But what I can assure the audience is that I have only shown the facts," Anurag told PTI.

"I have not tried to show 'Look how Nitin Gadkari is a good person' but I have shown his struggles. I have shown the facts and everything which has happened with him," he added.

"We have covered his life, growing up years up until 2014, until he became a Union Minister, we have covered everything."



The feature film joins a long list of biopics being made on politicians in Bollywood.

Anupam Kher featured in "Accidental Prime Minister", which chronicled ten years of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office while "Thackeray" brought to life Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray's journey.

Vivek Oberoi will headline a biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the shooting of which is underway.

With a crew of nearly 20 people, Anurag started working on the project last year in September, after a research period of six months and completed the film in under two months.

Shot entirely in Nagpur, the film is made by crowd funding and Anurag says the decision was taken to avoid interference.

"It would have been easy to take a single producer, there were people who were ready to invest in the name of the protagonist but I thought it'll be better if we make it as a crowd funded film because then I have the liberty to make it my way.

"If I had taken a single producer, there would have been a political influence or I would have been asked to make changes in the script. So crowd funding was difficult, but the right process."



When asked if he took permission from Gadkari before making the film, Anurag said, "We never asked him for permission but I had a conversation with his wife Kanchan Gadkari and we met his childhood friend.

"He might have been aware about the film but I never had a word with him."



"Gadkari", which features Rahul Chopda in the lead, is looking for a release on YouTube before March 5.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When Rohitash Lamba, Bhagirath Singh and Hemraj Meena left their homes in Rajasthan earlier this week with the promise that they would return to their families soon, few imagined that it would turn out to be their last visit.

Lamba, Singh and Meena were among the 40 CRPF personnel killed in a terrorist attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

Their families Friday recalled their passion and love for the country as they grieved the demise of their loved ones.

Barely two months ago, Lamba had expressed his joy on becoming a father on the social media.

He rejoined duty on February 12 after spending several days with his family, including his two-month-old son.

A pall of gloom descended at Govindpura Basadi village near Shahpura, around 65 km from Jaipur, as the of Lamba's death reached.

Former deputy speaker of Rajasthan Assembly and former Shahpura legislator Rao Rajendra Singh met Lamba's family members on Friday and expressed his condolences.

He said that Lamba's wife fell unconscious on hearing the tragic and had to be hospitalised.

The family of 27-year-old Bhagirath Singh, a resident of Jaitpur village in Dholpur district, was struggling to come to terms with the loss.

On Friday, the entire village of Jaitpur mourned the death of the young man.

"We never knew that he would leave us so early. He had promised his father and family to return soon two days ago but they had never imagined that it would be his last visit home," Jaitpur sarpanch Kapur Chand Gurjar said.

He said that Singh's mother had passed away when he was a kid. His father Parshuram, a farmer, brought up his two sons alone. Singh joined CRPF four years ago, whereas his younger brother Balveer joined Uttar Pradesh Police.

Singh got married Ranjna four years ago and has three-year-old son Vinay and a-year-and-a-half-old daughter Shivangi.

Hemraj Meena's wife Madhu received a call from the CRPF camp in Jammu around 10 pm Thursday, informing her about his demise.

Soon after the reached the area, villagers came out their homes and gathered outside Meena's home to pay their tributes.

Kota-Bundi MP Om Birla, local MLA Bharat Singh, former MP Ijayraj Singh, former MLA Bhawani Singh Rajawat and several other dignitaries and administrative officials reached Meena's home and consoled the wailing family.

Hemraj Meena, the only government servant among four brothers and one sister, had been full of love for the country and patriotism since his early days, his elder brother, who runs a tea stall in the village, said.

Hemraj Meena is survived of four children -- two daughters and two sons.

The bodies of the slain jawans are expected to reach their homes late Friday night or Saturday, officials said.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying CRPF personnel from Jammu to Srinagar.

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The country's exports grew marginally by 3.74 per cent in January due to subdued performance of key sectors including engineering, leather, and gems & jewellery, even as the trade deficit narrowed to USD 14.73 billion.

According to data from the commerce ministry, exports during the month increased to USD 26.36 billion, compared with USD 25.41 billion in January 2018.

Exports growth remained almost flat in November and December 2018.

In January, engineering exports grew by only one per cent, while leather, and gems & jewellery recorded a growth of 0.33 per cent and 6.67 per cent, respectively. Petroleum exports contracted by 19 per cent.

Imports also remained almost flat at USD 41 billion during the last month. The trade deficit stood at USD 15.67 billion in January 2018.

However, the deficit in January 2019 widened as compared to December 2018 when it stood at USD 13 billion.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ganesh Kumar Gupta said the nominal growth in exports is due to tough global condition and some constraints on the domestic front.

"Global trade growth is slowing down and global economies, including China and South East Asian nations, are also facing contraction in manufacturing worsening the fragile global situation," he sad.

He demanded immediate support including augmenting the flow of credit, higher tax deduction for research and development and better fiscal support for boosting exports.

Gold imports also grew 38.16 per cent to USD 2.31 billion in January this year as against USD 1.67 billion in the corresponding month of 2018.

During the April-January period of the current financial year, exports grew 9.52 per cent to USD 271.8 billion. Imports rose by 11.27 per cent to USD 427.73 billion.

The trade deficit widened to USD 155.93 billion during the 10 months of the current fiscal from USD 136.25 billion in April-January 2017-18.

Oil imports in January rose by 3.59 per cent to USD 11.24 billion. These imports rose by 36.65 per cent to USD 119.34 billion during the 10-month period of the current fiscal.

Non-oil imports in April-January 2018-19 were USD 308.39 billion which was 3.80 per cent higher as compared to the same period last fiscal.

Further, according to the data, services exports in December 2018 recorded a growth of 7.50 per cent to USD 17.93 billion. Its imports during the month rose by 12.53 per cent to USD 11.38 billion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US-based direct selling major Amway Inc expects India to be a huge growth driver for the company and play a role in its global supply chain through innovative herbal products, a top company official said Friday.

The company also aims a sustained double-digit growth in the next five years in India, a market which it is expecting to break into its top-five global markets in the mid to long term.

"Of course we do. The size and the scope and the breadth of the Indian market, we see it as a huge growth driver for us globally," Amway Inc Co-Chairman Douglas L DeVos told PTI here in an interview.

He was responding to a query on whether Amway believes that India can be among its top-five global markets. Currently, the country is ranked seventh after China, US, South Korea, Japan, Thailand and Taiwan.

Amway has already set a target of USD 1 billion sales in India by 2025. In 2017-18, the direct selling firm had sales of Rs 1,800 crore and expects to touch Rs 2,000 crore in 2018-19.

Commenting on the company's ambitions in India, DeVos said: "We have grown at a rate of 7 per cent now, so we are going to have double digits in the near future. We believe that is the pace we can maintain certainly for the next five years and hopefully even accelerate."



The growth will be driven by the company's existing products besides new introductions such as the locally developed herbal range.

He said some of the markets like Thailand and Malaysia have already expressed interest in the herbal products from India.

"Indonesia and markets in South East Asian region would be very interested in products like these. We see India having a role in global suply chain, not just India for India but for other markets as well," DeVos.

Last year, Amway India made a foray into herbal skincare products, positioning a dominant number of items under its Attitude range.

Elaborating on growing expectations from India, he said: "We made investment in manufacturing here and at that time, it may have been more India for India but I think as we talk about the innovation side, like the (herbal) products, we are trying to use the resources that we have as a global company."



Also, he said Amway could look at replicating what it did in the US with the Nutrilite brand for producing natural plant-based health supplements through organic farming.

"...That idea can be applied here in India, and apply potentially in China (too)," DeVos said adding that even ideas from India could go back to the US.

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The European Parliament on Friday cancelled an event that was to be attended by Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, citing "security threats".

"There is a high risk that the proposed event could pose a threat to the maintenance of public order on Parliament's premises," the speaker's office said.

Puigdemont has been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium since Spain cracked down on his efforts to lead the Catalonia region to independence via a referendum.

He had been due to meet reporters on Monday in the European Parliament at an event hosted by the Belgian MEP Ralph Packet.

But his presence was furiously opposed by Spanish lawmakers, who regard his secession bid as illegal, and the assembly president ordered a security review.

The review noted increased tensions surrounding the ongoing trial of several of Puigdemont's Catalan colleagues who have been charged in Spain with "rebellion".

And earlier this month, pro-independence protesters temporarily occupied EU buildings in Barcelona.

"The analysis has concluded that the security threats linked to the event cannot be mitigated by Parliament security services," the statement said.

Puigdemont accused the parliament's president Antonio Trajani of bending to pressure from the "authoritarian drift of Spanish democracy" and vowed to hold his meeting elsewhere.

"Europe is losing democratic credibility," he complained. Meanwhile, Spanish conservative MEP Gonzalez Pons welcomed the decision.

"The European Parliament has acted responsibly by suspending the act of the escaped coup plotter, Puigdemont," he said, in a tweet.

"After the independentistas took over the headquarters of the European institutions 15 days ago in Barcelona, it was necessary to prevent them repeating the aggression."



If he ever returns to Spain, the former Catalan regional president faces prosecution for pushing an independence referendum in October 2017 in defiance of a court ban.

The referendum was followed by a declaration of independence by leaders in the wealthy northeastern region -- a dozen of whom are now on trial The move sparked Spain's deepest political crisis since its transition to democracy in the 1970s.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A day after the Pulwama attack, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said his party and the entire opposition is fully supportive of the government and the security forces.

No amount of hatred and anger can harm the love India is built on, Gandhi said at a press conference along with former prime minister Manmohan Singh and other Congress leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad and A K Antony.

"This is a terrible attack, this type of violence is disgusting. Terrorism tries to divide the nation, we can't be divided by any power. The entire opposition is with security forces and the government," Gandhi said.

"Those who have done this should not feel that they can harm the country. It is a time of mourning and sadness," he added.

Singh said the nation can never compromise with terrorism.

"Terrorism is a scourge which we can never compromise...," the former prime minister said.

On Thursday, an explosives laden truck rammed into a CRPF convoy in Pulwama outside Srinagar, killing 37 soldiers in one of the biggest terror attacks in recent years.

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At 11.19 am on Friday, India's first engineless train, Vande Bharat Express rolled out from the New Delhi railway station on its inaugural journey to Varanasi, a testament to the government's 'Make in India' initiative.

The train, formerly known as Train 18, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The atmosphere along the route was marked by both a sense of excitement as well as a feeling of pride for the indigenously made train.

As the blue and white long nosed train began its journey with Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, a media contingent comprising national and international reporters and senior railway officials on board, Modi waved goodbye. Cameras caught the moment for posterity.

Minutes later, speaking to reporters on board the train, Goyal said this state of the art train will offer a convenient experience to passengers and reduce travel time on the New Delhi-Varanasi route to eight hours compared to 13-14 hours other trains take for the trip.

"It is a manifestation of our engineering talent and is a pride of the railways and the country. It's a matter of pride that the train set has been built by our engineers and workers. Its top speed is 180kmph," he said.

The train's first halt was at Kanpur Central Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh.

Along the route, in a treatment usually reserved for celebrities, people clicked photos and recorded videos as the train zoomed past them.

At the station, the train was welcomed by a huge crowd amid chants of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram'.

People jostled to touch the train and its windows as it pulled into the station. Majority of them had their cameras out here as well -- taking selfies with the train in background.

Some even tried entering the train but were stopped by the security personnel.

"Kya andar ja sakte hain? (can I go inside)," a woman in her 50s asked the security personnel at the gate.

"Just wanted to see how it looks and if they have made it exactly the way said it would be," said another onlooker.

Goyal addressed the gathering before the train left the station for its onward journey.

On its halt at Allahabad also, the train was welcomed by a large number of people. Once again, security personnel had to stop curious onlookers from getting inside the train.

Here too the minister addressed the crowd.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Election Commission of India (ECI) Friday asked the Odisha government to effect all transfers of officers by February 20 to ensure a free and fair polling during the upcoming Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections.

The directive was issued when an ECI team led by Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa met Chief Secretary A P Padhi and Odisha DGP R P Sharma here earlier in the day.

"The commission has directed the chief secretary to ensure that all transfers are effected by February 20 as per the ECI's policy regarding transfer of officers," Lavasa told reporters while winding up the ECI team's three-day visit to review poll arrangements in the state.

On Thursday, some political parties had drawn attention of the team to state government's alleged reluctance in shifting certain officers.

Even the state unit of the BJP had submitted a list of officers continuing in their posts for more than three years.

According to the ECI's policy, the officers remaining in one posts for three years or above should be shifted from their place of posting.

The commission also directed the state government to ensure that basic facilities, including electricity, ramps, sheds, drinking water and toilets be provided without fail in all the polling stations.

Lavasa said the commission has also asked the government to provide protection to political leaders while campaigning in areas affected by the left-wing extremism (LWE).

Sealing of borders in LWE areas and deployment of the central armed forces was also desired, he said.

The district magistrates and police officers have been directed to carefully look into law and order concerns and take appropriate action for building a conducive environment, Lavasa said, adding that they were asked to ensure speedy execution of non-bailable warrants (NBWs) and disposal of pending cases of electoral offences from the last elections.

While police have been asked to identify anti-social elements and take action against them, adequate CCTV coverage and webcasting in polling stations in sensitive areas will be ensured, he said.

All the police check posts across the state will be under observation round the clock, with the help of webcasting and videography, during the elections, he added.

Stating that the commission is committed to deliver free, fair, peaceful, transparent, ethical and inclusive elections, Lavasa said an effective mechanism is being fine-tuned for smooth conduct of the electoral process.

Asserting that the commission follows zero tolerance for any negligence by officials, he said, "Officials cannot indulge in any overt or covert party activity. Whenever required, the ECI stands by officers if they are victimised even after elections."



Steps should taken to ensure effective use of IT applications to attend to complaints promptly, he said, adding that the Samadhan, Suvidha and eVigil apps have time-stamping facility to ensure transparency.

Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Secretary A P Padhi said the state government will strictly adhere to the guidelines of the ECI for the ensuing simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state.

"Since the polling will be held during the summer, the ECI team underscored the need for uninterrupted power supply and adequate supply of drinking water at all booths," he said.

"As decided at the meeting, security will be tightened in Maoist-affected districts while the state police will remain in constant touch with their counterparts in the neighbouring states to collect intelligence report on the movement of the left-wing extremists along the bordering areas," Director General of Police (DGP) of Odisha R P Sharma, said.

He said special security provisions will be made for critical booths and efforts will be made to foil any attempt to influence the voters with money.

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Inmates of a UK jail used pages from a copy of 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire', a popular book authored by JK Rowling, which were sprayed with drugs to smoke up illegally behind bars.

It is believed the drugs had been sprayed on to the paper before the book was brought into HMP Nottingham jail in the East Midlands region of England.

At least 400 pages of the book were missing, which staff suspect had been torn into strips and smoked.

Prison officer Adam Donegani told the BBC that each strip containing a "spice-like substance" was worth about 50 pounds.

"The prices are inflated within the prison service (compared with) street value, so that can be whatever they want to charge for it," he said.

The banned spice-like drug, which mimics marijuana and leaves users in a zombie-like state, was discovered after tests using a new drug-testing machine at the prison, installed as part of a 1.4-million pounds investment to refurbish HMP (Her Majesty's Prison) Nottingham and bolster security at what is considered one of the UK's most dangerous prisons.

In January last year, Peter Clarke, the UK's chief inspector of prisons, had triggered an "urgent notification" procedure at HMP Nottingham after concluding that it was "dangerous, disrespectful and drug-ridden".

"This prison will not become fit for purpose until it is made safe," he noted.

The procedure compelled the UK justice secretary to draw up an action plan to bring about improvements, including reducing the population by 200 to 780.

The jail is among one of 10 on UK Prisons Minister Rory Stewart's urgent improvements list.

"There is still much to do, and I do not underestimate the scale of the challenge, but the first six months have given us a solid platform from which we can set a more positive direction for all our prisons," Stewart said.

HMP Nottingham's governor, Phil Novis, said conditions were improving but admitted the jail remained "fundamentally unsafe".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Persons involved in marijuana cultivation here are being encouraged to make use of the provisions of the Amnesty Act, and to consider the benefits of involvement in the medicinal marijuana industry.

An appeal has been made to those farmers already involved in the informal cannabis cultivation and the cannabis trade generally, to take advantage of the amnesty provisions as outlined under the (Amnesty) Bill recently passed in Parliament.



They have also been urged to make themselves ready to participate in and benefit from the Medicinal Marijuana Industry that is expected to take root here.

Such farmers, he said, should remain open-minded about the possibilities of the legitimate production and eventual legal exportation of medicinal cannabis.

The Amnesty Bill passed in Parliament late last year, gives those involved in the illegal cultivation of marijuana an opportunity to give up their involvement without being prosecuted.

The Act provides for the crop to be turned over, and once it meets the required standard and quality, it will be exported as medical marijuana.

As a result, Minister Gonsalves stated that a decision had been taken to remain conservative in determining the projected revenue for the fiscal year 2019.

"This year, we have taken into account the time required to establish and operationalize the Authority (Medicinal Marijuana); the steps involved in conducting due diligence of applicants; the licensing and the establishment of cultivation and production facilities that can meet necessary legal and technical requirements; and the actual production and export of medicinal products, Gonsalves said.

It was cited that revenues generated under the sector will be derived primarily from licensing fees.

St Vincent and the Grenadines became the second CARICOM member country, behind Jamaica, to establish the legal framework for a medicinal marijuana industry.

The appeal came from Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves on Monday during his 2019 Budget address.A date for the commencement of this amnesty period was previously set, but scrapped and revised, so as it now stands, a date is to be determined by the Minister of Legal Affairs, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves.But there were a number of challenges - international treaty compliance, correspondent banking relations, logistical hurdles, new burdens on local education and health care apparatuses, Gonsalves said.
At least 60 illegal gold miners were feared dead in Zimbabwe on Friday after water flooded two disused shafts in a mining town southwest of Harare, a government minister said.

Between 60-70 miners were in the two shafts when they were flooded on Tuesday, Local Government Minister July Moyo said.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, had declared a "state of disaster", he added.

A government mining engineer, Michael Munodawafa, told AFP outside the mine, 145 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of the capital, that "hope of finding anyone alive is very slim since it happened Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. It's almost over 24 hours".

Moyo said "frantic efforts were being made to pump out water from the flooded shafts before retrieval of the victims".

The government has launched an appeal for $200,000 to be used "to pump out water, feeding the bereaved families and the (rescue) teams on the ground, transportation and burial of the victims", he said.

"Given the magnitude of this disaster, we kindly appeal to individuals, development partners and the corporate world for assistance in cash and kind," he said.

Zimbabwe is the throws of a deep economic crisis, the worst in a decade. The country has valuable platinum, diamond, gold, coal and copper deposits.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It's been over one decade and 20 films since Marvel superheros hit the big screen, but fans are yet to find out how Nick Fury came to wear the iconic eyepatch. Samuel L Jackson says he has no idea if his character loses his left eye in the upcoming "Captain Marvel".

The 70-year-old actor says he doesn't know if the Brie Larson-fronted film shows how the S.H.I.E.L.D. director got his famous scar.

"I have only seen the trailer. I haven't seen the film. I don't know how he loses the eye," Jackson told PTI in a group interview here.

The actor reprises his role as the inimitable Fury but will be seen 30 years younger to suit the timeline of the film.

Asked what makes Fury such a rage among Marvel fanatics, he says it would be hard to believe but the beloved character is "a lot more personable".

"Amazingly enough, he's a lot more personable that you would believe. He has this knack for convincing people to join and see his point of view, becoming a part of what he is. He's pretty amazing at pulling people in and creating trust," he said.

Jackson says he missed being part of last year's Marvel blockbuster "Avengers: Infinity War". The actor, however, appeared in a crucial post-credits scene linked to "Captain Marvel".

"I missed me in 'Infinity War'. And in 'Civil War'. Even I wondered where I was. 'Where am I?'. I was like 'Where am I when my kids are fighting?'" Jackson says.

The actor, who shares a natural chemistry with co-star Larson both on and off screen, fondly calls "Captain Marvel" his "first alien".

Jackson says appearing as young Fury was a regular day at work.

"I just had my negotiator face on. I had dots on my face. It was more up to them that I did not have dots on my face. I'd often forget that I had dots on my face.

"But think about it, it was just like going to work, do stuff. Nick wasn't as worldly and smart and cynical that he is as an older person. This is a brand new Nick Fury meeting his first extraterrestrial."



The Oscar-nominated actor says an artiste needs to be "unique" in a specific kind of way to be able to become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

He has been part of the MCU since the first film in the franchise "Iron Man" released in 2008.

"You also need to be very honest about the other characters that you're around in terms of who you are and what you can pull off, what you may or may not need from them, what you bring to the party, you show up.

"People help you and they will do everything they can to make sure you are received by the audience in a specific and crowded way. Bad guys, good guys alike, everybody has their place and everybody's got their favourites," he adds.

Also featuring Gemma Chan, Jude Law, Annette Bening and Ben Mendelsohn, the film releases in India on March 8.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A day after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel, the Friday said terrorist bases in Pakistan must be destroyed and expressed hope that the Indian government would respond to it "resolutely, firmly and effectively".

In a statement, VHP's international working president Alok Kumar said the act was perpetuated by a local youth, indoctrinated in the name of religion.

"Clearly the young persons are being enrolled...to wage jihad, perpetrate murders, all in the name of religion and luxuries in 'jannat' (heaven). This is a challenge to all humanity and the global community must rise to answer such ideology," Kumar said.

Demanding action against Jaish-e-Mohammad, a terrorist organisation which has claimed the responsibility for the attack, Kumar said it is a Pakistan-based and Pakistan-backed outfit.



"Efforts to declare it a terrorist organisation have been vetoed at UN by China. The nexus must be broken and terrorist bases in Pakistan destroyed."



"We believe that Indian government will respond to the attack resolutely, firmly and effectively," Kumar said.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a Jaish suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in Kashmir Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm on Thursday.
Delhi Police organised a condolence meeting on Friday to express solidarity with the families of the personnel killed in the Palwama terror attack.

Officers observed a two-minute silence and prayed for the speedy recovery of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel who were critically injured in the attack.

The meeting, chaired by Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik, was attended by officers of all ranks, a senior official said.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into their bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delhi government cancelled all its official programmes on Friday as a mark of respect towards the 40 CRPF personnel killed in Pulwama attack, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal extending full support to the Centre and armed forces in taking whatever action they deemed fit.

Terming the attack a "highly condemnable and cowardly" act, the AAP convener also paid homage to the personnel killed at a gathering at the party office on DDU Marg.

"Delhi government and people of Delhi are fully with the Central government at this hour and we support whatever action the Central government and our armed forces deem fit," he said.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a Jaish suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing around 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded on Thursday.

The Delhi chief minister said the entire country is in grief and there is "tremendous anger" among the people on this "highly condemnable and cowardly" act, he said.

"We are ready for any cooperation to deal with this dastardly attack," he said.

Delhi government cancelled all its public programmes, including inaugurations of various developmental works and festivals, said a government statement.

Kejriwal cancelled the inauguration of a new office building of District Magistrate (West) at Shivaji Palace. Other events where he was to participate at Hazrat Nizamuddin and Moti Nagar, were also cancelled, the statement added.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and other ministers of the Kejriwal government also cancelled their events and public engagements of the day.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delhi unit of the Congress Friday paid homage to the jawans who were killed in the Pulwama attack, one of the deadliest in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy.

The attack killed 40 CRPF personnel on Thursday.

Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit expressed "deep sorrow" and extended her condolences to the families of the slain CRPF personnel in a letter to the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.

A condolence meeting of Congress' Delhi unit also passed a resolution, mourning death of the security personnel.

"We are anguished to learn about the tragedy in Jammu and Kashmir. We convey our heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased," the resolution said.

Dikshit said as Congress president Rahul Gandhi has announced, the party is behind the security forces, the Jammu and Kashmir administration and the government of India in this "hour of crisis".

A Jaish suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing around 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded on Thursday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hundreds of animal species, including parrots and lizards, may be at the risk of extinction due to existing policies that respond slowly to scientific knowledge, according to a study.

The study, published in the journal Science, suggests concrete steps policymakers can take to speed up a wildlife protection process that can take more than two decades.

"New trends in wildlife trade can develop quickly, with some species going from common to near extinction in just a few years," said Eyal Frank, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago in the US.

"A policymaking process needs to respond quickly to new information in order to prevent extinction for hundreds of animals and plants. That is why it is absolutely critical that policymakers allow science to inform a speedy protection process," Frank said in a statement.

Researchers, including those from Princeton University in the US, analysed 958 species on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List that are endangered by international trade.

Of those, they discovered that 28 per cent are not protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the primary international framework for preventing species extinction due to international wildlife trade.

When studying how quickly species from the Red List became protected under CITES, they found that 62 per cent needed to wait as long as 19 years for protection under CITES or are still waiting to be listed up to 24 years after being first considered.

These patterns are the same for even the most threatened species, researchers said.

At the same time, the study points out that 36 per cent of species studied were protected by CITES before making it on the Red List.

This could be because the CITES authorities had information not available to the IUCN, or it could be due to staffing and other resource constraints at the IUCN.

"CITES and the Red List are two of the most important tools we have to save wildlife threatened by international trade. It is vital that these two institutions work together closely and quickly to stop the killing," said David Wilcove from Princeton University.

Researchers recommend that any nation that is part of CITES advocate that Red List species threatened by international trade be quickly protected under the treaty in order to clear the backlog.

The goal should be that any threatened species on the Red List that is threatened by trade receive a prompt vote for immediate protection under CITES, researchers said.

Independently from CITES, all countries can use the Red List as a source of information and take measures to protect threatened species found within their borders, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A day after 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a terror attack in Pulwama, separatists on Friday said they "regret every killing" on Kashmir's soil.

Separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and stated this in a statement without mentioning the suicide attack by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.

"People and leadership of regret every killing that happens on its soil," the statement said.

"The delay in the resolution of the dispute... is wreaking havoc in especially," they said.

"If killing and counter killings have to stop and if we really want peace in the region, we have to put an end to hostilities... engage and listen to the concerns of all three stakeholders and address them in the spirit of humanity and justice. Resolve the Kashmir dispute for all times," they added.
The toll in the terror attack on CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district has risen to 40 even as a full Court of Inquiry (CoI) has been ordered by the force headquarters in Delhi, a senior official said Friday.

A Jaish suicide bomber Thursday rammed a vehicle carrying about 100-kgs of explosives into a bus carrying CRPF personnel in Pulwama district.

"A total of 40 personnel have been killed in Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmir. Five troops are injured," the senior official said.

While 38 personnel have been identified, DNA and forensic tests are being conducted on two bodies, he said.

Amongst the killed is a personnel of the CRPF road opening party (ROP) who was tasked to sanitise the highway route for convoy movement, the official said.

In the wake of the incident, the CRPF has issued a 'high vigil' alert to all its formations in the Kashmir Valley and other places in the state and has asked its units to be in "full preparedness."



A Court of Inquiry (CoI) has been ordered into the incident, the official said.

The force also posted a message on its official Twitter handle saying: "We will not forget, we will not forgive."



"We salute our martyrs of Pulwama attack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged," the social media post said.

The forces' headquarter in Delhi also issued a list of 36 killed personnel who have been "identified" till now.

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Director General R R Bhatnagar and senior officials of the force have left for Kashmir as part of a team led by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to assess the situation.

They are also expected to meet the injured who are admitted to the 92 base hospital of the Army in Srinagar, they said.

More than 2,500 CRPF personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm on Thursday.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar, officials had said.

Police identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmed, who officials said joined the Jaish in 2018.

He was driving a vehicle packed with over 100 kg of explosives on the wrong side of the road and hit the bus, in which an estimated 39-44 personnel were travelling, head-on, an official at the spot had said.

The powerful explosion, which reduced the bus to a mangled heap of iron, was heard many kilometres away, including in some parts of Srinagar adjoining Pulwama district. It is estimated that about 70-80 kgs of high grade explosive was used in the blast.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The toll in the terror attack on CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district has risen to 40, a senior official said Friday.

A Jaish suicide bomber Thursday rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into a bus carrying CRPF personnel in Pulwama district.

"A total of 40 personnel have been killed in Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmir. Five troops are injured," the senior official said.

In the wake of the incident, the CRPF has issued a 'high vigil' alert to all its formations in the Kashmir Valley and other places in the state.

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Director General R R Bhatnagar and senior officials of the force are leaving for Kashmir as part of a team led by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

They are also expected to meet the injured who are admitted to the 92 base hospital of the Army in Srinagar, they said.

More than 2,500 CRPF personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm on Thursday.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar, officials had said.

Police identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmed, who officials said joined the Jaish in 2018.

He was driving a vehicle packed with over 100 kg of explosives on the wrong side of the road and hit the bus, in which an estimated 39-44 personnel were travelling, head-on, an official at the spot had said.

The powerful explosion, which reduced the bus to a mangled heap of iron, was heard many kilometres away, including in some parts of Srinagar adjoining Pulwama district. It is estimated that about 70-80 kgs of high grade explosive was used in the blast.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Daniel Cummings, lead NDP MP on Health, has pushed the Minister of Health Luke Browne (back right) into a defence mode. If not into a catch-up situation.

Daniel Cummings, Opposition New Democratic Party Parliamentary Representative for West Kingstown and Shadow Minister of Health, is of the view that Health officials here are not coming clean with the tuberculosis situation.

Further, he reiterated his condemnation of the governments handling of the health care generally, at a press conference staged at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, Democrat House, last Wednesday.

The West Kingstown parliamentarian was particularly upset by the governments (mis)handling of a situation at the Mental Health Centre, located at Glen.



TB-related death

The tuberculosis matter and more had, earlier this month during the 2019 Budget Debate, triggered clashes between Cummings and Minister of Health Luke Browne, to whom he said he had given the opportunity "to come clean on the questions of health, but that "their (government) concern was how the Unity Labour Party will look.

Cummings spoke about tuberculosis-related deaths at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, and urged the media to investigate and verify this matter for themselves.

He lamented the situation whereby the staff at the Mental Health Centre was checked following the death of a patient from that institution.

Cummings alluded to information he secured from medical sources dated January 30, 2019, which he contended, contained information about the tuberculosis concern.

The West Kingstown parliamentarian expressed his desire to "protect peoples privacy, but blasted the government for "denying the existence of tuberculosis, and contended that 80 persons tested positive for tuberculosis from a total of 200.

Further tests will be needed, he advised.

According to him, conditions at places like the Mental Health Centre, prisons, hospital, were breeding grounds for the spread of tuberculosis. And with the death of a patient from tuberculosis related infection, a number of at-risk persons must have gone without any clue as to what they might have been exposed to.

He decried the situation whereby doctors treating "active tuberculosis cases, were constrained by their professional ethics.

More health woes

In essence, the West Kingstown MP painted a dismal picture of the Health affairs here, and alluded to shortages of Tetanus vaccines for at least three months in 2018.

He repeated his statement of the absence of tetanus-related medicine treatment he made in the House of Assembly and which was denied by the Health Minister.

Cummings described the government as "recalcitrant in its payments to the Pharmaceutical Procurement Services, and outlined that as a factor contributing to the shortage of tetanus supplies.

The Chief Medical Officer also came in for some lambasting from Cummings. He coated his comments by acknowledging respect for parents of the officer, and declared that "the Public Service had a responsible role to play.

Cummings questioned the legitimacy of the government, three years after its return to office, and he chided the ruling regime for "protecting the ULPs image, by any means necessary.

For him, the disturbing pattern of activity was made more "strident with the appointment of Senator Luke Browne as Health, Wellness and Environmental Minister.

Cummings and Browne were at each others throat during the Budget Debate, with charges and counter charges as they relate to the health situation.

He was particularly vocal on the situation where "everybody must be coerced into saying all is well.

Cummings defended his principle of protecting the persons from whom he acquired his information. But he was adamant that there are concerns surrounding the way tuberculosis (TB) is being dealt with by the Health officials.For Cummings, the situation cannot be "pushed under the rug, neither can citizens be given "half-truths and innuendos.Challenged as to whether the opposition NDP was hell bent on removing the government, Cummings alluded to a situation when the government apprised them of a situation at the then National Commercial Bank, and that the Opposition kept its word so as to avoid a run in by patrons. Cummings wondered why would they want to do such a thing with health.
Curfew was imposed in Jammu city on Friday as a precautionary measure following massive protests over the terror attack in Pulwama in the Kashmir Valley in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, officials said.

The Army has been requested to help the administration in maintaining law and order and conduct flag marches, they said.

Curfew was clamped as authorities feared a communal backlash, officials said. Protesters, particularly in the old city, refused to disperse even after loudspeakers announced that curfew was imposed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Curfew was imposed in Jammu city on Friday and the Army conducted flag marches in sensitive areas following massive protests and incidents of stone-pelting and arson over the in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed, officials said.

Internet was shutdown in Jammu as a precautionary measure, they said.

Defying curfew, angry people took out rallies against the attack and police had to cane charge to disperse the protestors at Residency Road, Kachi Chawani and Dogra hall areas, while a bandh was observed in the city.

Five vehicles were set afire in Gujjar Nagar area, while several others were overturned by protesters who alleged that there was stone-pelting on them from rooftops when they were taking out marches against the attack, they said.

The curfew was imposed in Jammu city as authorities feared a communal backlash, the officials said.

Divisional Commissioner Sanjay Verma told PTI that the administration had called for the Army's help which conducted flag marches in Gujjar Nagar, Shaheedi Chowk areas.



Verma said additional forces were deployed in sensitive areas.

As per reports, the violence was triggered when a rally was being held in Gujjar Nagar area and some people threw bricks on the protesters from rooftops.

Purported videos of stone-pelting from the rooftops and burning of vehicles went viral on social media.

Police teams rushed to the spot and resorted to teargas shelling and cane charge to disperse angry protestors.

Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industries (JCCI) had Thursday called for a shutdown in Jammu in protest against the killing of CRPF jawans in the terror attack.

A complete bandh was observed in Jammu, with no traffic plying on roads and all shops and markets remaining closed, officials said.

Massive anti-Pakistan protests were held at Jewel Chowk, Purani Mundi, Rehari, Shaktinagar, Pacca Danga, Janipur, Gandhinagar, Bakshinagar, Muthi, Talal Tilloo and Satwari among other areas.

Raising anti-Pakistan and anti-terrorists slogans, the protestors burnt tyres and placed barricades on several roads, saying Pakistan was a sponsor of terrorism in the valley.



Led by Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena and Dogra front, the people also took out candlelight marches in the city and held protests.

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Jammu, suspended work in all courts in the city, including the high court and tribunals, as a mark of respect and to express solidarity with the bereaved families.

Ikkjutt, an organisation advocating tri-furcation of Jammu and Kashmir, paid floral tributes to the 40 personnel killed.

Its patron, Hari Om, said the situation in the state had turned very alarming. He lashed out at former chief ministers, claiming their security should be withdrawn as they were preaching soft-separatism in the garb of mainstream politics.
Rajesh Rajput spoke to his younger brother Sanjay, a CRPF jawan, on phone Thursday morning.

Little did he know that it would be their last conversation.

Sanjay Rajput (45) was among the 40 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force killed when a terrorist rammed a bomb-laden vehicle into their bus in Pulwama district of south Kashmir Thursday afternoon.

A pall of gloom descended over the CRPF Group Centre Colony here, where Sanjay's family lives, as the came.

Rajesh told PTI that his brother was attached to the CRPF's 213th battalion, based in Nagpur, for the last four years.

He lived in the CRPF colony with his two sons Jai (13) and Shubham (11) and wife Sushma Rajput.

"He left Nagpur on February 11 for his new posting with the 115th battalion in Srinagar. I called him yesterday morning, around 9.30 am, when he told me he had left Jammu at 3.30 am to join his new posting," said Rajesh.

Rajesh said his brother, in 23-year-long career with the paramilitary force, had served in Kashmir, Chhattisgarh and also in the North-East.

The Rajput family hails from Malkapur in Maharashtra's Buldhana district.

Sanjay's mortals remains are expected to arrive in Nagpur Saturday, his brother said, adding that the last rites will be performed at Malkapur in the evening.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nothwithstanding the row over the Sabarimala women entry issue, the ruling CPI-M-led LDF in Kerala Friday bagged 16 out of the 30 seats in the bypolls conducted for various local bodies across the state.

The Congress-led United Democratic Front got 12 seats while the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) and a Congress rebel retained the seats at Onchiyam in Kozhikode and Alappuzha district respectively.

The BJP, which spearheaded the Sabarimala protests and had high hopes, came a cropper, failing to win any seat.

In a setback to the ruling CPI(M), the RMP, to which slain leader T P Chandrasekharan belonged, retained the Onchiyam Panchayat seat.

The CPI(M) had been saying the RMP had lost its relevance and was expecting to win this seat.

RMP's P Sreejith won the fifth ward of Onchiyam panchayat with a majority of 308 votes and retained power in the Panchayat.

The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of RMP member A K Gopinath.

The election assumed importance as RMP was formed by Chandrasekharan, who was a former fellow-traveller of the CPI(M).

Chandrasekharan was killed in May 2012, three years after he parted ways with the CPI(M) and founded the RMP.

In the bypolls, UDF lost five of its sitting seats in which four were won by the LDF and one by a Congress rebel. However, UDF won the five seats which were the sitting seats of ruling LDF.

In the November 2018 bypolls, the LDF had won 21 out of the 39 seats. The UDF had secured 12 seats while BJP two.

The Supreme Court had on September 28 last year allowed women of all age groups to enter the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple, where earlier women in the menstruating age of 10-50 years were barred from offering prayers.

With the LDF government making it clear that it was constitutionally bound to implement the top court verdict, the BJP and right wing outfits and a section of devotees had launched massive and violent protests on the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Delhi court Friday reserved its order for February 19 on AgustaWestland accused and lawyer Gautam Khaitan's bail plea in a fresh case of alleged money laundering after the ED termed him a 'habitual offender', even as he said his arrest was 'malicious'.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar reserved the order after the agency submitted that the charge sheet in the case was about to be filed and if left free, Khaitan may tamper with the evidence and influence witnesses as the probe is at a crucial stage.

"The amount of laundering that is coming to light is huge and it is to be looked into. He is a habitual offender and habitual launderer. Half of country's laundered money comes through this man. Most of the laundering through Dubai and Malaysia is done by this man.

"His association with Deepak Talwar has also come to light and both cases are under investigation," said ED's special public prosecutors D P Singh and N K Matta.

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra and advocate P K Dubey, appearing for Khaitan, opposed Enforcement Director's (ED) submission saying that agency's case was a figment of its imagination.



"Its a malicious and unjustified arrest. They already had full opportunity to quiz Khaitan. No purpose will be served by keeping him in further custody," the counsel said.

Khaitan had earlier claimed before the court that ED was forcing him to falsely implicate someone influential in "any defence deal" which happened during the UPA regime.

His lawyer had said: "They asked me (Khaitan) to give any name involved in any defence deal (of UPA period). They asked to give any name, that they needed it within these two months. They are constantly forcing me to give name and I will be absolved.

"When Michel (middleman recently extradited from Dubai) came, you (ED) said he had taken my name and I was required to be confronted. But nothing came out of that case. Now you have come up with this case."





According to ED's advocate Samvedna Verma, the present case under the PMLA was filed by the ED against Khaitan on the basis of a case filed by the Income Tax Department against him under Section 51 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.

Khaitan was placed under arrest on January 25 by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Income Tax Department had earlier carried out searches against Khaitan in this new case filed under the anti-black money law.

Khaitan had been arrested by the ED and the CBI a few years ago in connection with their probe in the Rs 3,600-crore

A charge sheet was also filed against him by the two agencies and he was currently out on bail.
The Maharashtra Congress, which has been trying to persuade Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) leader Prakash Ambedkar to join the anti-BJP coalition, says it was disappointed with his approach as he was not showing any flexibility and keenness for a tie-up.

The Congress said Ambedkar was adamant that the party should give an action plan in writing on bringing the RSS in the constitutional framework.

The Congress and NCP have earlier said they were ready to give four seats to Ambedkar. However, the latter has announced candidates for 12 Lok Sabha seats.

Interestingly, the Dalit leader, grandson of Dr B R Ambedkar, has not announced his own candidature from Akola, a Lok Sabha seat he had earlier represented.

The Congress Friday expressed surprise that he was yet to announce the candidate from Akola.

"We agree there has to be a common minimum programme. But Ambedkar's insistence that the Congress gives an action plan in writing on how to curb parallel administration run by the RSS in the government is laughable," a Congress source said on Friday.

"Congress will be in a position to give an action plan or take steps in that direction only if we are in the government. Now, focus has to be on how to win the election by ensuring there is no division of votes. Ambedkar's stand is a sign that he is not keen on alliance. We are disappointed with his approach," the source added.

The state leadership has become cautious about Ambedkar's moves and feels that his tactic of not announcing a candidate in Akola so far, is due to his uncertainty of his prospects in Akola.

"There are speculations that he may not contest the Akola seat, where he had finished third last time," the source said.

"Since the Congress has become cautious, the party is preparing to field a new face in Akola, who will give a tough fight to sitting BJP MP Sanjay Dhotre and Ambedkar if he decides to contest on his own or field his nominee. As far as the Congress is concerned, it will wait for Ambedkar to make his next move. We don't want a message to go that we were not accommodating," the Congress insider said.

Congress and NCP have said they were ready to give four seats to Ambedkar in order to avoid division of votes.

Talking to PTI, Ambedkar said he has announced candidates in 12 constituencies - Buldhana, Nanded, Yavatmal, Madha, Amravati, Latur, Satara, Sangli, Baramati, Pune, Hatkanagale and Nashik.

"We had sought 12 seats where Congress didn't have candidates to field or where they have been consistently losing. The number of seats was immaterial. We wanted an action plan from the Congress regarding bringing the RSS within the constitutional framework. If there is no discussion on this, we are not going with the Congress," Ambedkar said.

State Congress chief Ashok Chavan said Ambedkar was offered four seats as against his demand for 12 seats.

"As far as his other demand of restricting the RSS is concerned, Congress is supportive of it. We too are against that ideology. Now, it is up to Ambedkar to respond," he said.

Meanwhile, the Congress is expected to begin the process of finalising its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections next week.

The list will be announced later. The first list will include constituencies where there is no dispute over choice of candidates, the party insiders said.

Party sources told PTI that Wednesday's meeting between NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Congress president Rahul Gandhi was aimed at discussing the issue of joint campaigning.

Accordingly, both the parties will have a joint rally in Nanded and later in Parli (in Beed district) next week. Sharad Pawar and AICC general secretary Mallikarjun Kharge are scheduled to address the two rallies along with the state leaders.

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The commerce ministry would soon notify to the World Trade Organization (WTO) its decision to revoke the most-favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan on security grounds, an official said Friday.

The decision would enable India to increase custom duties on goods imported from Pakistan. India imported goods worth USD 488.5 million in 2017-18.

"Now, the commerce ministry will notify to the WTO to revoke the MFN status to Pakistan by invoking Article 21 of the WTO which is the security exception," the official said.

The ministry would work on a list of goods imported from Pakistan over which India would increase the customs duties.

After the Pulwama terror attack on Thursday, India on Friday withdrew the MFN status to Pakistan. Following this, India can raise customs duties on goods being imported from Pakistan up to the bound level duty rates. Currently, India's custom duties on goods to members of the WTO are below the bound level rates. The current customs duties imposed are called applied rates and the level at which one can increase is known as bound rates.

The main items which India imports include fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products, bulk minerals and ores and finished leather.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country had not yet reciprocated.

Total India-Pakistan trade has increased marginally to USD 2.41 billion in 2017-18 as against USD 2.27 billion in 2016-17. India imported goods worth USD 488.5 million in 2017-18 and exported goods worth USD 1.92 billion in that fiscal.

India mainly exports raw cotton, cotton yarn, chemicals, plastics, manmade yarn and dyes to Pakistan.

Trade experts said this decision would not have a major implication on bilateral trade between the countries as the value of trade is below USD 3 billion annually.

They said that although Pakistan can drag India into the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism on the matter, their case would be weak as they have not yet granted the tag to India.

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Four persons, including a cleric, have been arrested in Pakistan's Punjab province for allegedly using derogatory language and instigating people against Prime Minister Imran Khan over his plan to set up 1,100 cinema halls in the country, the police said on Friday.

The cleric, Maulana Abdul Rauf Yazdani and his three followers were arrested on Thursday from Multan, about 300 kms from here, they said.

Yazdani had delivered a speech in a mosque in Multan allegedly instigating people against Imran Khan for his "plan to establish 1,100 cinema halls" in the country, according to the FIR.

He also slammed Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry for defending "drinking", besides criticising a proposed bill on allocation of quota for the non-Muslims in the jobs of Islamic studies teachers.

Police said that his three followers were arrested for recording the cleric's speech on their mobile phones and uploaded it on their Facebook accounts.

On Sunday last, the Federal Investigation Agency had arrested television talk show host and journalist Rizwan Razi for allegedly uploading "defamatory and obnoxious" posts against the judiciary, government institutions and intelligence agencies.

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China has banned the entry of visitors who don't have climbing permits into the core zone of the Mount Everest National Nature reserve in Tibet to better conserve the of the world's highest mountain.

But for travellers, who have a climbing permit, the mountaineering activities will not be affected, according to the reserve, which was set up in 1988.

Covering an area of around 33,800 square km, including a 10,312-square km core zone, the reserve is home to one of the world's most vulnerable ecosystems.

Recently, a report went viral online claiming the Qomolangma base camp was "permanently closed due to heavy pollution."



But local authorities denied the claim.

In Tibet, the the 8,848-metre high Mount Everest is called as Mount Qomolangma.

The deputy director with the reserve's administration, Kelsang said ordinary tourists are banned from areas above Rongpo Monastery, around 5,000 metres above sea level.

A new tent camp will be set up nearly two-km away from the original one, the state-run Xinhua agency reported on Friday.

Between April and October every year, villagers from Dingri County usually set up black tents at the foot of Mount Qomolangma, providing tourists accommodation as a means of earning money.

Though ordinary visitors can't go beyond the monastery, it won't affect them from appreciating the mountain.

"The new tent camp for ordinary tourists can still allow them to clearly see the 8,800-metre-plus mountain," Kelsang said.

Travellers who have a climbing permit can go to the base camp at an altitude of 5,200 metres, Kelsang said, adding that the mountaineering activities have been approved by the regional forestry department.

Decades after the epic climb to the world's peak, Tibetans at the foot of Mount Qomolangma have conquered poverty by receiving professional and amateur mountaineers and tourists, who have also posed an environmental challenge to the mountain.

To conserve the surrounding Mount Qomolangma, China carried out three major clean-ups at an altitude of 5,200 metres and above last spring, collecting more than eight tonnes of household waste, human feces and mountaineering trash.

This year, the clean-up will continue and the remains of mountaineering victims, who died climbing or coming down the summit above 8,000 metres will be dealt with for the first time.

Meanwhile, the number of people who stay at the base camp will be kept under 300.

Currently, there are 85 wildlife protectors in the reserve, and 1,000 herders have part-time jobs patrolling and cleaning up garbage.

"These measures aim to strike a balance between various demands such as environmental protection, local poverty relief, mountaineering and education," County chief of Dingri Wang Shen was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

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China on Friday expressed deep "shock" over the carried out by a Jaish suicide bomber but did not give an assurance to India that it will back New Delhi's appeal to list the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based terror group's chief as a global terrorist.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

"China has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families," spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang told a media briefing here.



"We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all forms of terrorism. We hope relevant regional countries will cooperate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability," Geng said.

When asked about China's stand on the listing of Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council, he said: "As for the issue of listing, I could tell you that the 1267 Committee of Security Council has a clear stipulation on the listing and procedure of the terrorist organisations".



"JeM has been included in the Security Council terrorism sanctions list. China will continue to handle the relevant sanctions issue in a constructive and responsible manner," Geng said in an apparent reference to External Affairs Ministry's appeal to all members of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

China, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC and a close ally of Pakistan, has consistently blocked moves first by India and later by the US, the UK and France to designate Azhar as a global terrorist by the 1267 Committee by putting technical holds.

Asked whether China would be re-looking at the issue in view of the positive momentum in bilateral relations generated by last year's Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Geng said: "JeM as an organisation has been included in the sanctions list of the Security Council.

"As to the listing of an individual, we have always upheld an earnest, responsible and professional manner. We always acted in accordance with the requirement of the situation. We will continue to maintain close communication with India and relevant parties on this issue".

Replying to a question on India not permitting UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), Geng said: "Both India and Pakistan are important countries in this region. We hope the two countries can properly resolve (differences) through consultations. We also hope the regional countries can cooperate to uphold stability and peace in this region to curb terrorism".

India on Thursday slammed Pakistan over the carried out by JeM and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.
The Delhi High Court was informed by the police on Friday that installation of CCTV cameras was completed in 170 of the 182 police stations in the national capital and the system was functional now.

The police said the work of installation of CCTV cameras in eight police stations would be completed in a month's time and the remaining four were related to the Metro unit of the Delhi Police, which were functioning from a single room.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Metro has been requested to identify the locations for the installation of CCTV cameras at these Police Stations and get the same installed as per requirement, the police said.

Taking note of the submissions, a bench of justices Ravindra Bhat and Prateek Jalan asked the police to furnish a certificate of an independent agency concerned, stating that CCTVs were installed at all the police stations here and they were functional.

The bench asked the police to indicate the period of monitoring the CCTVs -- half-yearly or quarterly -- and indicate its choice of an independent agency for the purpose like the CISF or any other agency.

Delhi government's standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra and additional standing counsel (criminal) Rajesh Mahajan told the court that the installation of 6,600 CCTV cameras in the vulnerable areas of the city was in progress and the work would be completed within the time-line prescribed by the court.

Regarding the issue of frequent malfunctioning of streetlights, which often posed a threat to the lives of citizens, especially women, the court said it had earlier asked the Delhi government to look into it, but no progress was indicated except that the complaints received were forwarded to the authorities concerned.

The bench directed the Delhi government and civic agencies to convene a meeting and discuss the framework on the issue of streetlights and file a report.

It clarified that the mechanism should cover the aspect of accountability when the streetlights are not functioning.

The court listed the matter for further hearing on March 20.

Advocate Meera Bhatia, assisting the court as amicus curiae, had said the Delhi Police was not adhering to the time-line for installation of CCTV cameras.

The police had earlier told the court that the cameras it planned to install in the vulnerable areas of the city would record hi-definition videos and have facial recognition and number plate identification features and would cost around Rs 404 crore.

The court was hearing a PIL initiated by it in 2012 after the horrific December 16, 2012 gang rape of a young woman in a moving bus in the national capital. The woman had later succumbed to the injuries.

Apart from that, the court was also hearing a plea moved by social activist Ajay Gautam, alleging that there have been several deaths inside police stations in the city last year and the presence of functional CCTVs could act as a deterrent.

In both the matters, the court has been, from time to time, issuing directions with regard to increasing the number of police officers in the city, installation of CCTV cameras in police stations as well as vulnerable or crime-prone areas, reducing delay in testing of samples in FSLs and ensuring speedy disbursal of compensation to victims of sexual assault.

Earlier, the court had directed the Delhi government and the police to abide by the respective timelines given by them for filling up vacant posts in FSLs and installing CCTV cameras in police stations.

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The Cabinet Committee on Security met Friday morning to discuss the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is chairing the meeting. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Arun Jaitley, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj were also present at the meeting.

Top security officials are learnt to have made a presentation on the incident and the overall security situation in the state.

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

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Exporters and industry Friday raised several concerns including dip in bank lending, delay in refund of input tax credit and withdrawal of GSP benefits by the US, during a meeting of the Board of Trade, chaired by Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu.

"The representatives of industry expressed concerns about decreasing flow of credit to export sector, retrospective effect of pre-import conditions, delays in refund of ITC, withdrawal of GSP benefits by US, exports to Iran and availability of incentives for exports to neighbouring countries," the commerce ministry said in a statement.

It said the issues were addressed by the senior officials and will be taken up in the forthcoming meeting of the Committee of Exports and the GST Council.

The US has decided to review India's eligibility to enjoy duty-free access for certain products in the American market under a tax benefit scheme -- Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). Exporters are worried over this move as it would decrease their price competitiveness in that market.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ganesh Kumar Gupta said the global trade has entered a tough phase in the second half of 2018 and is expected to slow further in 2019.

He suggested the government to introduce a scheme for promoting branded exports, enhancing budget for organising trade fairs and improving infrastructure.

Industry body CII also emphasised that it is critical to address issues related to trade financing, incentives and logistics, to help exporters become globally competitive.

Addressing the board members, Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan said the country's exports have been growing on a consistent basis since 2016-17 for almost three years and are likely to reach a new peak in the current financial year.

He said exports have faced a challenging period in recent years but steps taken by the government have helped arrest the downturn effect on shipments.

"As a result, barring a few stray months, our merchandise exports have been growing on a secular basis since 2016-17 for almost three years and are likely to reach a new peak in 2018-19," he said.

On this occasion, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu launched a new online 'Anytime-Anywhere' export awareness course to train, mentor and hand-hold potential exporters.

A mobile app of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) was launched, where exporters can log their grievances, apply for various licences, besides accessing information about latest trade notices, circulars, foreign trade policy and trade fairs.

In the meeting, the ministry emphasised that the government is committed to make all processes completely paperless. It has approved a project for the revamp of the entire IT system of the DGFT.

The meeting was chaired by the commerce minister. It was attended by secretaries of different departments and other senior officials of key line ministries including, finance and agriculture. Besides, all major trade and industry bodies, export promotion councils and industrialists were present at the meeting.

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A local BJP leader's daughter has been allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint from her residence by a gang of miscreants in West Bengal's Birbhum district, a senior police officer said Friday.

One suspect has been detained for questioning in connection with the incident, Superintendent of Police Shyam Singh said.

Suprabhat Batyabyal, who switched to the BJP from the TMC around five months ago, was not home when the miscreants broke into his house at Labhpur area in the district and kidnapped his 22-year-old daughter, according to his brother.

Before joining the TMC, Batyabal was a district committee member of the CPI(M).

"Five miscreants barged into the house around 8pm, on finding out that Suprabhat was not home.

"First, they confined us in a room and locked it from outside. Then, at gunpoint, they dragged my niece out and forced her into a car, which was parked near our home, and drove off," Sujit Batyabal said.

The SP said that the police haven't found any political motive behind the incident so far.

"We are investigating into the incident from all seconds. Prima facie, we haven't found any political motive behind the kidnapping, but no possibility can be ruled out," Singh added.

The incident has sparked panic among the local people, who gheraoed the Labhpur police station and blocked the Suri- Katwa road in the district Thursday night, demanding that the girl be traced immediately, police sources said, adding that situation was tense in Labhpur.

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The BJP has extended its 'Bharat ke Mann ki Baat, Modi ke Saath' programme, seeking people's mandate ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, to Uttar Pradesh, a party leader said.

BJP president Amit Shah and senior party leader Rajnath Singh had launched the month-long exercise on February 3 to seek suggestions from 10 crore people across the country to help the party prepare its 'sankalp patra' (manifesto).

The programme held at the district-level in the state will witness participation of Union ministers and senior party office bearers who will reach out to voters from different sections of the society, programme convenor Santosh Singh said.

The programme was launched in the state on February 14 and will commence on March 3, he said.

He said, "The BJP has started Bharat ke Mann ki Baat, Modi ke saath campaign with an aim to know what type of Bharat people want? What is their imagination for a new India? What are the expectations from the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi? and what are the suggestions for the government?".

On February 17, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and senior BJP leader Ram Lal will interact with artists and intellectuals in Lucknow. On February 20, Union minister Smriti Irani will interact with fishermen and boatmen in Varanasi.

National spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi will be in Meerut on February 22. On the same day, Union minister Uma Bharti will meet small traders in Jhansi.

Similarly, party national general secretary Arun Singh will be in Mirzapur to link people associated with the handloom industry, the programme convenor said.

He said External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will be in Gorakhpur on March 3 and interact with migrant workers and seek suggestions from them.

The politically crucial state sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha.

UP BJP media coordinator Rakesh Tripathi also informed that one video van will be moving in every Lok Sabha constituency and a feedback box will be placed in every assembly constituency in the state, to enable the people to give their views.

"The video of the achievements of the Modi government will be played in the video van. Apart from this, information and feedback will be gathered from the voters for the election manifesto, and an appeal will be made to the voters to vote for the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections," Tripathi said.

In the last general elections, the BJP had won 71 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. Its ally the Apna Dal bagged two seats.

The Samajwadi Party won five seats while the BSP did not win any seat.

The Congress had registered win on two seats in the state.

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has attached assets worth Rs 4.62 crore of a firm linked to Robert Vadra, Congress president Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law, in connection with the Bikaner land scam money laundering case.

"The attached assets include movable assets amounting to Rs 18,59,500 pertaining to four individuals and one immovable property situated at 268, Sukhdev Vihar in New Delhi to the extent of Rs 4,43,36,550 owned by Robert Vadra's company Ms Sky Light Hospitality (P) Ltd (now LLP)," the agency said.

The ED issued a provisional order for attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

It had grilled Vadra in this case in Jaipur twice last week. His mother Maureen was also asked to depose but was allowed to go after completion of brief legal procedures.

The ED had registered a criminal case in connection with the deal in 2015, taking cognisance of a clutch of FIRs and charge sheets filed by Rajasthan Police after the tehsildar of Bikaner complained about alleged forgery in the allotment of land in the area, considered sensitive due to its proximity to the Indo-Pak border.

Probe revealed, the ED said, that the central government had acquired land of as many as 34 villages in Bikaner district for the purpose of establishment of Mahajan Field Firing Range (MFFR) and the state government proposed for rehabilitation of the displaced people by providing land equivalent to their acquired land.

"Fraudster Jai Prakash Bagrwa and others in collusion with state government officials got 1,422 bigha government land illegally allotted to fictitious persons in guise of a government scheme for people displaced due to establishment of MFFR and illegally sold 1,372 bigha out of this land to various persons and companies," it said.

On detection of fraud, impugned land was recorded back as government land in revenue records by Rajasthan great, the ED said.

Subsequently, it said, these impugned fraudulent lands were further sold by subsequent purchasers to individuals and companies and all these subsequent sellers of the impugned land generated a considerable amount of profit.

"These fraudulently generated profit by these entities is nothing but proceeds of crime as defined under the PMLA and Vadra's company Sky Light Hospitality (P) Ltd had purchased 275 Bigha (69.55 hectare) fraudulent land for Rs 72 lakh and sold the same for Rs 5.15 crore to Allegeny Finlease (P) Ltd and illegally generated profit of Rs 4.43 crore," he said.

Four other individuals had also generated profit of Rs 18.59 lakh in sale of impugned fraudulent land, it said.

The ED has filed charge sheet in this case against 9 accused and the total attachment in this case stands at Rs 6.44 crore now.

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:City-based vaccine- manufacturer Bharat Biotech Friday signed an agreement to acquire Chiron Behring Vaccines, Ankleshwar, Gujarat, from GlaxoSmithKline-Asia for an undisclosed amount.

According to chairman and managing director of Bharat Biotech Krishna Ella, Chiron Behring makes rabies vaccine and has an installed capacity of 15 million doses per annum.

"This acquisition is strategic in helping us enhance our opportunities to achieve greater scale in tackling public health problems," he said.

Bharat Biotechwouldstrengthen its product portfolio and increase product availability to meet the growing demand for the vaccine, Ella told reporters here.

Bharat Biotech currently has rabies vaccine- manufacturing capacity of 10 million doses per annum.

With the acquisition, the total capacity would go upto 25 million making it the largest manufacturer of rabies vaccine in the world, he said.

Quoting WHO reports, Ella said rabies claims lives of over 55,000 people each year mostly in Asia and Africa.

India accounts for 36 per cent of the world rabies deaths.

Replying to a query, he said Bharat Biotech at present makes vaccines for 16 diseases and plans to add six more in the coming three to four years.

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An Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes was Friday arrested in Kurnool after assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, including a duplex house, were unearthed, the State anti-corruption bureau said.

Andhra Pradesh Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Director General R P Thakur said in a release here that searches were conducted on the properties of assistant commissioner P Nagendra Prasad in Kurnool, Anantapuramu, Tirupati and Hyderabad city.

Prasad is currently under suspension after having been trapped by the ACB last year while receiving an illegal gratification of Rs 50,000 from a trader, the release said.

A duplex house and a residential flat in Anantapuramu town, a house site in Kurnool district, two motorcycles in Prasads name and promissory notes and cheques related to loans extended by him were discovered during searches.

About 770 grams of gold worth Rs 21 lakh, Rs 7.10 lakh and 2.14 kg silver worth Rs 60,000 were discovered in the name of Prasads daughter.

A two-wheeler (scooty) was also registered in her name.

In another disproportionate assets case in Prakasam district, ACB teams unearthed moveable and immoveable assets in the name of P Ravi Prakash, a deputy executive engineer in the panchayat raj engineering department, the release said.

The ACB said a two-storied building and four house sites were found registered in Prakashs name.

Another eight house sites were registered in his wifes name in different parts of Prakasam district while a three-storied building and a house site were registered in the name of their two daughters, it said.

Three other house sites were registered in the name of Prakashs 'benamis,' the release said.

"Total (book) value of the immoveable properties is Rs 1.20 crore," the ACB said.

The ACB also found 836 grams of gold ornaments valued at Rs 12.34 lakh, 1.95 kg of silver worth Rs 59,200, a bank balance of Rs 7.36 lakh, household articles worth Rs 6.83 lakh and Rs 1.35 lakh in cash, the release added. PTI DBV



The officer has been arrested, according to the DG.

PTI DBV it is not meant for you.

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Asserting that Kashmiri people living in other states could be soft targets in a surcharged atmosphere, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah Friday asked Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to direct all state governments to ensure their safety.

"My earnest appeal to @rajnathsingh ji to please issue directions to all state governments to take special care in areas/colleges/institutions where Kashmiris are residing/studying. They are soft targets in a surcharged atmosphere," Abdullah tweeted.

He also asked people to unite against terror and maintain peace.

"Kashmiris/Muslims in Jammu didn't attack our CRPF jawans yesterday (Thursday), terrorists did. This violence is a convenient tool by some to shift the blame. Let's unite against terror, let's not allow terror to divide us," Abdullah said.

His remarks came after curfew was imposed in Jammu as a precautionary measure following massive protests and stray incidents of violence over the terror attack in Kashmir's Pulwama on Thursday that killed 40 CRPF personnel.

"Giving vent to anger by attacking innocent people because of their ethnicity or religion is no way to honour the sacrifices yesterday. Reports of violence & arson in Jammu are deeply worrying. I hope political leaders & civil society are able to ensure cooler heads prevail," Abdullah, who is also the National Conference vice president, said.

He said if the attention of security forces and the administration is shifted to dealing with "communal violence" in Jammu instead of investigating the attack and preventing further such attacks "who are we helping with the arson & violence?"



At least 40 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed when a terrorist of Pakistan-based outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus they were travelling in, in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama's district.

Meanwhile, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said miscreants in Jammu were trying to take advantage of the situation by inciting tension.

"Distressed to hear about miscreants in Jammu trying to take advantage of the situation by inciting tension. Guv (Governor) adm (administration) should have preempted this by securing minority dominated areas. Have spoken to IG (inspector general of police) Jammu to deploy additional security," Mehbooba wrote on Twitter.

She said the need of the hour is to show compassion and come together.

"It will be a travesty & against the spirit of our secular ethno-cultural values to use this terror attack as an excuse to target minorities. Hour of the need is to show compassion & come together (sic)," she said.

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Retired technocrat Ashwani Lohani took charge as the chairman and managing director (CMD) of Air India on Friday.

He took the charge in presence of recently appointed Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola and senior officials of the national carrier.

This is Lohani's second tenure as Air India chief.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on February 13 cleared Lohani's re-induction on a contract basis for a one-year tenure.

Lohani is a 1980-batch IRSME (Indian Railway Service Mechanical Engineering) officer hailing from Madhya Pradesh.

He had headed the national carrier from August 2017 to September 2017 before being moved to the Railway Board as the chairman, from where he retired in December, 2018.

It was during his tenure that Air India made its first operating profit of Rs 105 crore in the 2017 financial year, since the merger of Indian Airlines and Air India in 2007.

Kharola was the chief of Air India till February 6, when he was transferred to the position of civil aviation secretary.

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As protests erupted in the city over the attack on CRPF convoy at Pulwama, a flag-seller here did a brisk business -- in Pakistani flags.

Murudkar Zendewale, a famous flag-seller, sold over 100 national flags of Pakistan Friday and gave a lighter free with every flag.

Pakistani flags were burnt at many places in the city in the wake of the terror attack at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir Thursday in which at least 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

People expressed anger about the neighbouring country, which is accused of harbouring Jaish-E-Mohammad, the terror outfit which has claimed the responsibility for the ghastly attack, by burning Pakistani flags.

"Since morning, we sold over 100 Pakistani flags. We gave a lighter free with every flag," said Girish Murudkar, the owner of Murdudkar Zendewale.

His family is in the flag-making business for three generations and the shop sells national flags of almost all the countries in the world, he said.

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The Supreme Court Friday sought response from the Delhi government on a petition challenging the appointment of controversial Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan as chairperson of Delhi Wakf Board on the grounds of alleged corruption and irregularities committed by him during his previous tenure.

The apex court was hearing an appeal filed against the November 16, 2018 order of the Delhi High Court which had said that any relief under the Delhi Wakf Rules could be sought by approaching the Tribunal.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sasnjiv Khanna also issued notices to Khan and Delhi Wakf Board to respond to the petition challenging the high court order and the allegations raised in it.

The petition filed by Mohd Irshad, a north Delhi resident, alleged that during the previous tenure of Khan from March 12, 2016 to October 7, 2016 as the member and Chairperson of the Delhi Wakf board, there were allegations of massive corruption, irregularities and illegalities against him.

He submitted that due to alleged illegalities committed by Khan, two members of the Board had tendered resignation to the Lieutenant Governor on October 5, 2016.

Later, the Lt Governor by an order of October 7, 2016 had revoked the March 11, 2016 order by which the Board was reconstituted.

Advocates Prashant Bhushan and Pranav Sachdeva submitted that the controversial AAP MLA was appointed as the member and chairperson of the Delhi Wakf Board in violation of the principle of 'impeccable integrity and institutional integrity' laid down by the apex court.

The petitioner submitted that on the findings of a three-member committee set up to review the legality and propriety of all actions taken by Khan as the Board's chairman, the CBI had registered a complaint against him under Prevention of Corruption Act and section 120B of the Indian penal code for conspiracy.

"Appointment of such a person with tainted and dubious character as chairperson of a pious and religious body like the Delhi Wakf Board is in gross violation of all sorts of propriety and impinges Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution which inter alia provides the people of India the right to live in a corruption and criminal free society," the petition said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Anti-Pakistan protests were held across Gujarat Friday in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack in which at least 40 CRPF men were killed.

Candle-light vigils were also held in various parts of the state to pay homage to the slain jawans.

In Ahmedabad, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal workers burnt Pakistan's flag in Paldi area.

The two right-wing outfits held similar protests in other parts of Gujarat too, the VHP said in a statement.

Demanding action against Pakistan for supporting terrorism, workers of Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad, headed by by Pravin Togadia, burnt a Pakistani flag at Ellis Bridge here.

In Rajkot, AHP members burnt an effigy of terrorists and demanded that India retaliate over the attack.

An effigy of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was burnt in Thaltej area of Ahmedabad.

Members of the Muslim community, led by Congress MLAs Gyasuddin Shaikh and Imran Khedawala, held protests against the terrorist attack in the Walled City area here.

Posters of Pak-based terrorist Masood Azhar, whose outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the ghastly attack, were torn during the protest.

BJP's minority cell chairman Sufi MK Chisty and others took part in a candle-light vigil here. Similar vigils were held by various schools, associations and residential societies in the city.

The Congress party, led by Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Assembly Paresh Dhanani, organised a candle march at Sabarmati Ashram here to pay homage to the martyred jawans.

Clothe traders associations in Ahmedabad said in a statement that all garment shops in the city would remain closed Saturday.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in in one of the worst terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The AMU on Friday suspended an undergraduate



student from Kashmir for allegedly lauding a terrorist outfit in a social media post after the terror strike in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) spokesperson Omar Peerzada told PTI that the matter is being further probed and "strong deterrent action" will be taken once the investigation is complete.

"AMU has zero tolerance for any such pernicious activity and anyone indulging in such an act will not be spared," Peerzada said.

The student's alleged remarks had triggered outrage on social media.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Condemning the terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, Ajmer Sharif Dargah dewan Syed Zainul Abedin Ali Khan Friday urged the government to not allow devotees from Pakistan to visit the shrine.

Ali Khan, the descendant of Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Hassan Chishti, paid tribute to the personnel killed in the attack.

He urged the government to not allow 'jatha' or group of devotees from Pakistan to visit the famous shrine in Rajasthan's Ajmer during festivals, including Urs, which commemorates the death anniversary of the Sufi saint.

Describing the attack as "non-Islamic", he said harming lives of innocent people by attacking them cowardly is against the fundamental principles of the religion.

Several devotees from Pakistan visit the Ajmer Sharif Dargah every year.

On Thursday, an explosives laden truck rammed into a CRPF convoy in Pulwama outside Srinagar, killing 40 soldiers in one of the biggest terror attacks in recent years.

Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid reports of talks between AIADMK and BJP for a tie-up to fight the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu, the state ruling party Friday said a decision on finalising an alliance with various parties will be taken soon.

"A good, cordial decision will be taken in a day or two," AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam told reporters here when asked whether an alliance between his party and the BJP was being firmed up.

Separately, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad and the party's state unit chief Tamilisai Soundararajan expressed confidence of stitching a powerful combine in the state.

Panneerselvam, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister, said the AIADMK was continuing talks with national and state parties on stitching an alliance for the Parliamentary polls, but did not name any party.

Their remarks came a day after Union Minister Piyush Goyal, party election in-charge for Tamil Nadu, said "All possibilities are under consideration and discussions. At the right time, we will give you the good "



He had held talks late Thursday night with senior AIADMK leader and Minister P Thangamani, considered close to chief minister K Palaniswami.

When asked if his party will seek support from top actor Rajinikanth, Panneerselvam evaded a direct reply and merely said "the election victory will prove that people are with the AIADMK."



Speaking to reporters in Madurai, Prasad "it is going to be a powerful alliance of NDA in Tamil Nadu."BJP would be finalising its "strategic partner," very soon, and "it is a very strong, effective, and resurgent NDA which will take on the Congress and DMK," he said.

Soundararajan claimed parties that were not part of the DMK-Congress combine will be joining hands with the BJP and other potential allies to form a robust alliance.

"Very soon, in two to three days the decision on coalition will be announced," she said adding talks were going on smoothly and in the "right direction," and a "sweet news" could be expected soon.

Prasad, Union Minister for Law and Justice, said people of Tamil Nadu too, like the rest of the country wanted "Narendra Modi to be Prime Minister again."



"I am sure the BJP by itself will cross 300 seats and along with NDA it is going to be 350 plus minimum", he claimed.

The Minister termed the opposition's proposed 'Mahagathbhandhan' (grand alliance) a "spurious opportunistic alliance" saying, their only agenda was to remove Modi.

"Who is their leader? not known. What is their programme? Not known...But they have only one agenda, that is to remove Narendra Modi (from office)," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A day after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were martyred, the Jammu and Kashmir government Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking that Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Zahid Farooq be shifted from Jammu jail to Tihar in the national capital, saying he is "indoctrinating" Indian inmates.

A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and M R Shah, agreed to examine the plea and issued notice to Centre and sought its response in four weeks.

Farooq was arrested by security forces while trying to cross border security fence on May 19, 2016.

The state government said that intelligence inputs received indicate that militants belonging to terror outfits like Jaish-e-Muhammad and LeT are indoctrinating the minds of other inmates lodged in the prison.

It further said that it has been reliably learnt that the prisoner and other similarly situated individuals have considerable local support and it cannot be ruled out that they may be receiving information, resources as well as other help to carry out terrorist related activities.

The state also sought shifting of the trial to Delhi saying it apprehends that transporting the militant to court and back to prison poses a threat to escorting policemen and common public.

State's standing counsel Shoeb Alam cited an example of an attack on a police party last year when policemen were killed and a Pakistani terrorist prisoner was freed from custody while on a hospital visit.

"The petitioner State has received confidential intelligence inputs which show that he poses a threat to national security in as much as his involvement in planning and designing terror attacks against the citizens/residents in India cannot be ruled out.

"To execute such nefarious schemes, it is understood that the prisoner and other similarly situated individuals have been mobilising support within the jail premises by influencing the minds and psyche of other inmates," the state government said.

Transfer of Farooq from his current prison in Jammu & Kashmir to a high security prison outside the state is in the interest of national security, it said.

"Foreign prisoners like the private respondent are radicalising and brainwashing local Kashmiri youth in prison. There is a concentration of prisoners with similar backgrounds and linkages to terrorist organizations in local prisons in the State of J&K," it said.

The effect of such radicalisation is that the brainwashed local youth who are inmates with these prisoners, are spreading the menace of terrorism and creating sympathisers by influencing, mobilizing against the state, it said.

"The petitioner state has received intelligence inputs that some similarly situated prisoners have affiliations with terror outfits like Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba, who have received specialized training in indoctrinating the minds of the other inmates lodged in the prison to turn against the State and its citizens.

"Such indoctrination is now, unfortunately, being put to perilous use by spreading anti-national sentiments within and outside the prisons and planning attacks sovereignty and integrity of the nation," the plea said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A disaster management team found body parts of five persons from the debris of a burnt plastic furniture manufacturing factory in North 24 Parganas district Friday, four days after the fire incident there.

Five workers of the unit had gone missing after the fire broke out there in Ghola area on Monday.

"A disaster management team retrieved body parts of all the five missing workers from the debris. They were charred to death in the major fire on Monday," West Bengal Fire Services Minister Sujit Bose told PTI.

The body parts were sent for post-mortem examination, the minister said.

The factory was gutted in the blaze which was extinguished a little after 8 pm Monday, he said.

Bose and Director General of Fire Services Jagmohan had supervised the fire fighting operations at the spot.

After the fire was extinguished, Disaster Management personnel were deployed to conduct search for the missing five workers.

An FIR was registered by the Fire Services department.

It was being checked whether norms and guidelines were flouted in the factory, Mitra had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two radicalised Singaporeans, one of whom was based in Malaysia, have been detained by Singapore authorities for allegedly supporting ISIS fighters in Syria, officials said.

of these detention came as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria's (ISIS) caliphate has been dismantled, with several hundred mostly foreign fighters making their last stand to defend an area under 1 sq km near Syria's border with Iraq, according to media reports.

Businessman Mohamed Kazali Salleh, 48, and his Singapore-based friend Hazim Syahmi Mahfoot, 28, a freelance car exporter, were detained in January for their involvement in terrorism-related activities, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Friday.

Salleh, who was based in southern Peninsular Malaysian state of Johor, had funded and been in active contact with Syria-based ISIS militant Wan Mohd Aquil Wan Zainal Abidin, also known as Akel Zainal, of Malaysia, it said.

Akel, who was a member of 1990s Malaysian rock band Ukays, reportedly instructed two Malaysian ISIS supporters to attack places of worship and police stations in Malaysia early this year. The plots were foiled when the supporters were arrested last November.

In December, Kazali received instructions from Akel to carry out an attack against a Freemasons centre in Johor Baru, the state capital on the southern end of the Peninsular and closer to Singapore. But it did not follow through as he was afraid to be caught by the authorities, the ministry added.

The Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) also announced on Friday that they have arrested Kazali and five other individuals from the Malaysian states of Johor, Selangor and Sabah in the past two months for their alleged association with militant groups.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two more persons were arrested separately from Nadia district in connection with the murder of Trinamool Congress MLA Satyajit Biswas, taking the total number of arrests to four, police said Friday.

Kalipada Mondal, an accused named in the FIR, and Nirmal Ghosh were picked up from Hanskhali and Chakdaha areas respectively on Thursday night, Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar said.

Abhijit Pundari, the prime accused, is still at large.

The Krishnaganj MLA was shot from a point blank range by unidentified assailants in the evening of February 9 inside a Saraswati puja marquee at Phoolbari village in Nadia district, about 15 km from the Bangladesh border.

Earlier, the police arrested Sujit Mondal and Kartik Mondal on the night of the murder.

Police sources said Nirmal Ghosh was arrested following interrogation of Kartik and Sujit.

BJP leader Mukul Roy was among four people booked on Sunday in connection with the killing of the MLA.

The Calcutta High Court Wednesday directed the West Bengal police to not arrest Roy, who had quit the Trinamool Congress to join the BJP, till March 7 in connection with the murder case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
G Subramanian, one of the CPRF personnel killed in the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, had returned to his camp barely five days ago after celebrating the Pongal festival with his family in his native village in Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu.

about his death came as a shock to his family members as the young jawan had last spoken to his wife Krishnaveni on Thursday morning, hours before the suicide bomb attack on the CRPF convoy that left 40 personnel of the paramilitary force dead in Pulwama.

Subramanian, who belonged to Savalaperi, had joined CRPF in 2014 and was posted in Uttar Pradesh and in Chennai before being moved to Jammu and Kashmir, a family member said.

He got married in 2017.

The jawan had come home on a long leave last month for Pongal festival and returned to his camp only on February 10, he said.

Besides him, C Sivachandran from Ariyalur district in the state was also among those killed.

In Chennai, Chief Minister K Palaniswami Friday announced a solatium of Rs 20 lakh each to the families of the two CRPF personnel from the state.

He condemned the deadly attack carried out by a Jaish suicide bomber who rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into a bus carrying CRPF personel.

In a release, Palaniswami said he was also grieved to learn that two of the 40 killed were from Tamil Nadu.

DMK President M K Stalin also condemned the attack.

"I'm deeply grieved and firmly condemn the cowardly attack on #CRPF soldiers in Awantipora.

"DMK while expressing deep condolences to all the bereaved families stands firmly with the security personnel in the service of the nation," he tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
G Subramanian and C Sivachandran, the two CPRF personnel killed in the Pulawama terror attack, had returned to their camps barely five days ago after spending about a month's leave in their home state Tamil Nadu.

about their deaths came as a shock to their families.

Both the young men had spoken to their spouses only hours before they were killed in the terror attack.

Subramanian, who belonged to Savalaperi, had joined CRPF in 2014 and was posted in Uttar Pradesh and in Chennai before being moved to Jammu and Kashmir, a family member said.

He got married in 2017.

The jawan had come home on a long leave last month for Pongal festival and returned to his camp only on February 10, he said.

Krishnaveni, Subramanian's wife, said her husband had sustained injuries following stone pelting in Kashmir months after her marriage.

"But he did not disclose it. He will never reveal such hazards he faced in the line of duty as we will be upset," she told Tamil Television channel 'Puthiya Thalaimurai.'



The school where Subramanian studied in the village observed silence for a few minutes and paid homage to the martyr.

Sivachandran from Ariyalur district in the state was also among those killed.

Sivachandran's brother-in-law V Arun told PTI that he had left home only on February 9 to resume duty after a month's leave when he visited his village of Karugudi about 30 km from Ariyalur town.

"Sivachandran is survived by his wife Kanthimathi who is now pregnant. They have a two-year-old son," he said.

Sobbing inconsolably, Arun said a government job should be given to his sister considering her future and family needs.

Sivachandran, a post graduate in history, joined the CRPF in 2010 and he had always been brave and cheerful. "Hours before his death, he called my sister by 12 o'clock on the fateful Thursday," he said.

"They have no earning male member in the family. Sivachandran's 27-year-old younger brother died of electrocution last year and his sister is speech impaired and unmarried," Arun said.

Sivachandran's father Chinnayan sobbed, saying "he went to save the nation, but could not protect his family."



In Chennai, Chief Minister K Palaniswami Friday announced a solatium of Rs 20 lakh each to the bereaved families.

He condemned the deadly attack carried out by a Jaish suicide bomber who rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into a bus carrying CRPF personel.

In a release, Palaniswami said he was also grieved to learn that two of the 40 killed were from Tamil Nadu.

Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and top actor Rajinikanth condemned the attack.

"...time has come to put an end to all these barbaric acts. My heart goes out to the families of the jawans who lost their lives...may their souls rest in peace," the actor said.

DMK President M K Stalin also condemned the attack.

"I'm deeply grieved and firmly condemn the cowardly attack on #CRPF soldiers in Awantipora.

"DMK while expressing deep condolences to all the bereaved families stands firmly with the security personnel in the service of the nation," he tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Stephen P Cohen, the noted American scholar on South Asia, has a genius description for Pakistani strategic thought. Pakistan, he says, negotiates with the world by holding the gun to its own head: Give me what I want, or I will blow my brains out. You then handle the mess.

Has Pakistan pulled that trigger in Pulwama? First, get any notion that this was a purely indigenous act of terror out of the way. The suicide terrorist was a radicalised Indian Kashmiri. But count the reasons why his couldnt be an entirely Indian planned and executed operation: The Jaish-e-Mohammed ...
He seemed somehow subdued, his voice almost a whisper, but what he said was arresting. Ive got a new slogan for them when I get back  Chase China!. The words didnt sound as if they would galvanise an Indian mob but George was so profoundly impressed by every aspect of the progress China had made that he wanted India to emulate it. Chase ...

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday expressed solidarity with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in the wake of the dastardly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 45 CRPF personnel.

"To my dear friend, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, we stand with you, the security forces and the people of India following this heinous terrorist attack," Netanyahu said on Twitter.

"We send our condolences to the families of the victims," the Israeli leader added.

The international community led by the US strongly denounced the Thursday strike by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) during which an operative of the group crashed a car bomb into a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway.

US President Donald Trump asked Pakistan to "end immediately" the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil and said that the attack strengthened "our resolve to bolster counter-terrorism cooperation and coordination between the US and India".

It was the worst ever strike on security forces on any single day since a separatist campaign broke out in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Pope's envoy to France is being investigated for allegedly committing sexual assault against a Paris city hall worker, officials said on Friday.

Archbishop Luigi Ventura, who was appointed by the former Pontiff Benedict XVI in 2009 to represent the Vatican's interests in France, has been accused of inappropriately touching a young man who welcomed him during an official ceremony at the capital's city council.

The ecclesiastical diplomat, aged 74, allegedly let his hand wander on the local government employee during the annual New Year's reception held on January 17 at the Hotel de Ville building's arcade hall, Efe news reported.

Officials said that the investigation was launched on January 24, when the case was referred by city authorities to the office of Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz.

The story was first reported by French daily Le Monde.

Ventura, who was born in the northern Italian province of Lombardy, was ordained a priest in 1969 before joining the Vatican's diplomatic service in 1978.

A doctor of letters licensed in canon law, he served in the Church's legations to Brazil, Bolivia and the UK.

His first assignment holding the position of apostolic nuncio - as the papal envoys are officially known - was at the shared legation to three French-speaking West African countries: the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Niger.

In 1999, he was moved to Chile for two years before Pope John Paul II appointed him nuncio to Canada, where he served for eight years until his move to Paris.

This latest sexually-tinged scandal comes amid an avalanche of thousands of abuse allegations against Catholic priests that emerged in recent years, many of them involving underage victims.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Things appear to be in a flux in the Kerala Congress ( Mani) - third biggest ally in the Congress-led United Democratic Front -- as one of its tallest leaders P.J. Joseph, who is also working chairman of the party, was absent in the concluding programme of the statewide yatra of his party held here on Friday.

The yatra began on January 24 from Kasargode in north Kerala and passed through the state. It was led by party chairman K.M.Mani's son, Jose K. Mani, who is a Rajya Sabha member.

Speaking to the media in the state capital on Friday, Jose K. Mani said "things are all fine" and that it's all a media creation.

"It was Joseph who had flagged off my yatra and he mentioned that he would not be present today, as he has to take part in a Kerala government programme in the UAE. The media is making unnecessary speculation that I am going to be the new chairman of the party. Such a thing is not at all on the agenda," said Jose K. Mani.

The first signs of trouble surfaced in the party after K.M. Mani decided to nominate Jose K Mani, who was a sitting Lok Sabha member from Kottayam in the gifted Rajya Sabha seat by the Congress, when Mani returned to the UDF last year after quitting it in 2016.

Joseph was keen to send one of his trusted aides for that seat, and since then, strains appeared in the relationship.

With the UDF all set to select candidates for the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state, it was Joseph who first raised the demand that Kerala Congress (Mani) get two seats, one more than that they got.

The Congress over the years has contests 16 seats, the IUML- 2, Kerala Congress (M) and RSP, one each.

Jose K. Mani pointed out that the seat-sharing talks in the UDF is going to be held on the February 18 and that all such matters would be raised in the meeting.

--IANS

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The Telangana High Court on Friday directed its judicial registrar to take into custody state Legislative Assembly Secretary V. Narasimhacharyulu and Law Department Secretary Niranjan Rao in a contempt of court case.

The two senior officials were later set free after they furnished Rs 10,000 sureties each.

Justice V. Siva Sankara Rao ordered the custody of the officials in a contempt case filed by two former Congress MLAs for not implementing the court orders for restoration of their Assembly membership last year.

Congress MLAs Komatireddi Venkat Reddy and S.A. Sampath Kumar were disqualified by then Speaker S. Madhusudhanachary in March 2018 for unruly behaviour during the Governor's address to the joint session of the state legislature.

They were charged with throwing microphone, which allegedly injured Legislative Council Chairman Swamy Goud. The MLAs denied the allegations.

The Legislature Secretary subsequently notified the vacancies for the constituencies the two Congress MLAs were representing.

On a petition challenging their disqualification, the Congress legislators moved the High Court which on April 17 restored their Assembly membership and set aside the government notification to declare vacancies for Nalgonda and Alampur (SC) constituencies.

As their membership was not restored, the MLAs filed contempt petition against then Speaker and officials. The same was pending when the Telangana Assembly was dissolved in September last year.

In the Assembly elections held on December 7, both Venkat Reddy and Sampath and also the Speaker were defeated.

The High Court had taken serious note of the officials made respondent in the case not appearing before it despite the notices.

Last week, the High Court had issued bailable warrants against the Assembly Secretary and Law Secretary with a directive to Hyderabad police to produce them in the court. However, both the officials voluntarily appeared before the court.

The court on Friday issued notices to Madhusudhanachary, the Director General of Police and the Superintendents of Police of Nalgonda and Gadwal districts to appear before the court on March 8.

The judge also took exception to certain remarks made by Additional Advocate General J. Ramachandra Rao during the hearing last week.

--IANS

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Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Friday announced Rs 2-lakh compensation for each family of the nearly 50 CRPF troopers killed in the suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

"People of Tripura and the state government would remain behind the families of 45 martyred CRPF personnel," the Chief Minister told the media after announcing the compensation.

Meanwhile, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress activists separately burnt effigies of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Pakistan flags and held candlelight rallies in memory of the slain CRPF troopers.

Silence was observed in various government and non-government gatherings, including the inaugural ceremony of the Agartala Book Fair, to pay homage to the martyred CRPF personnel.

In the worst-ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989, a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, killing at least 49 troopers and leaving the security established stunned.

--IANS

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Geneva, Feb 15 (IANS/AKI) Abdul Aziz Muhamat, a Sudanese refugee who has been held in Australia's notorious offshore Manus Island processing centre for over five years, has won the prestigious Martin Ennals human rights prize, the UN refugee agency UNHCR has said.

"Recognized as a true leader, human rights and humanitarian advocate, Muhamat has tirelessly cared for fellow refugees, and eloquently drawn the world's attention to their plight," the UNHCR said in a statement.

It is the first time that the major prize has been awarded to an individual focused on refugee issues and who has been a victim of human rights violations by a Western democracy.

Muhamat, from the Zaghawa ethnic group of Darfur, in north-western Sudan, was granted refugee status in early 2015 but has been detained on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea since 2013 as he has not found a host country, according to the Swiss-based Martin Ennals Foundation.

"I have the deepest admiration for Muhamat, for his courage, his humanity and indomitable spirit," said Volker Turk, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, who met with him earlier this week.

"His testimony is a wake-up call to the world about what happens when policies dehumanize and mistreat other human beings."

In the statement late on Wednesday, UNHCR urged Australia to find solutions for all detainees on Manus and other remote Pacific islands "as a matter of urgency".

As part of Muhamat's peaceful advocacy for the many hundreds of refugees and asylum-seekers held by Australia in offshore detention centres, he sent over 4,000 messages to report on his experiences for the multi award-winning podcast, The Messenger.

UNHCR continues to urge that solutions be found for all refugees and asylum-seekers under Australia's 'offshore processing' in Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

Switzerland granted Muhamat a temporary visa allowing him to travel to Geneva for the prize-giving ceremony on Wednesday and he will return to Manus Island soon after, according to award organisers.

The annual Martin Ennals Awards are named after a Nobel Peace Prize-winning British human rights activist.

--IANS/AKI

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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South African authorities have said that controversial businessman Ajay Gupta, a member of the India-born Gupta family who own a business empire in the country and are accused of collaborating with former President Jacob Zuma in looting the state coffers, is no longer wanted by the police in a corruption case.

An arrest warrant for Gupta, issued in February 2018 on corruption charges, was cancelled on Thursday, the BBC reported on Friday.

The authorities had sought to question Ajay Gupta on allegations that he attempted to bribe former Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas and offered him the post of Finance Minister if Jonas helped the Gupta family with its business ventures in South Africa.

The Guptas deny any wrongdoing.

Jonas told the commission investigating state corruption that Ajay Gupta had offered him $42 million to take up the post of Finance Minister. He claimed this happened during a meeting set up by Zuma's son Duduzane.

Corruption charges against Duduzane Zuma were provisionally withdrawn last month, while evidence continued to be heard by the corruption commission.

As a consequence, the police said, they had to withdraw the arrest warrant against Ajay Gupta.

Former President Zuma was earlier accused of letting the Guptas interfere in ministerial appointments. The family reportedly wields enormous political influence in South Africa, with critics alleging that it tried to "capture the state" to advance its business interests.

As much as they are alleged to have influenced the hiring of ministers, they are also accused of trying to fire ministers who may have got in the way of their business interests.

One of the highest profile among the suspected Gupta-linked firings was former Finance Minster Pravin Gordhan, who later accused the family of being involved in "suspicious" transactions worth about $490 million, which they deny.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After another snub by Congress for funding his border wall, President Donald Trump will declare a State of Emergency on Friday in order to divert money to his pet project and back away from his threatened government shutdown, according to the White House.

Unlike in India, an Emergency of the type that Trump is planning does not bring sweeping powers or allow suspension of civil rights and arbitrary arrests, but only enables limited action in government operations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party's leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, declared that imposing an Emergency would be "a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency".

With the threat of another government shutdown looming, Congress passed a bill on Thursday with $1.375 billion for a 55-mile fence, nowhere near the $5.7 billion Trump had demanded for the wall along the Mexican border that he had promised during his election campaign.

The measure was hammered out by lawmakers from both parties after Trump allowed the government to reopen after a 35-day shutdown in a showdown over the wall funding.

Trump had threatened to veto any bill without the money he demanded for the wall, but is now agreeing to it while making good on his threat to impose an Emergency to get money for the wall.

"President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action -- including a national Emergency -- to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border," his Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Thursday.

The declaration of an Emergency will be challenged in court.

Calling it a "presidential over-reach" and "a dangerous precedent", Democratic Party Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi said: "The Constitution maintains that only Congress has the power of the purse and may appropriate funds. This is not a Constitutional power any President has."

Pelosi said a legal challenge was "an option and we'll review our options".

Several lawmakers from Trump's own party were against an Emergency declaration. Republican Senator John Cornyn called it a "dangerous step", saying: "The President is going to get sued and it won't succeed in accomplishing his goal."

He added that if Pelosi introduces a resolution against the Emergency, it will split the Republicans.

According to media reports quoting the White House officials, Trump plans to spend a total of $8 billion on the border barrier. While there is $1.375 billion allocated in the spending bill, he wants to make up the rest by diverting money from the military construction budget and funds seized from drug smugglers and dealers.

Trump had said during his election campaign that he would make Mexico pay for the border wall - an unrealistic claim that has continued to haunt him as he sought funding in the US budget.

While government was under a shutdown with all but the essential services operating and 800 government employees under temporary layoff, Trump scaled back his idea of a wall to a series of metal slats along the border.

Having had to back down from his funding demand with Pelosi standing firm amid growing opposition to the shutdown, Trump sees the Emergency as the only way for him to build his barrier and save his credibility among his most steadfast supporters.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)

--IANS

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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday that the government has decided to review the security provided to separatist leaders in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the suicide bombing that killed 49 CRPF troopers.

Although he did not use the words "separatist leaders", the Minister made his intention obvious when he told the media: "There are some elements here who are hand in glove with terrorist organisations in Pakistan and its (intelligence agency) ISI.

"These elements are not only against the progress and development of the state but they are also destroying the future of the local youth.

"There are elements in Kashmir who receive money from Pakistan and ISI. I have told the state authorities to review the security of those elements who receive money from Pakistan and ISI."

Many leading separatists are guarded by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. These include Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

The Minister said the entire nation saluted the sacrifice of the CRPF troopers.

"I have requested the state government to extend maximum help they can lend to the bereaved families."

After paying tribute to the slain CRPF personnel, Rajnath Singh held a meeting attended by Governor Satya Pal Malik, the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and officers of the Army and central security forces.

"Whatever essential directions were necessary have been given to the security forces. The morale of our security forces is high," he said.

"The war we are fighting against terrorism will be won and the entire nation stands with us in this war against terrorism.

"I want to assure the people of Kashmir that the nefarious designs from across the border to sustain terrorism against India will not be allowed to succeed. I am happy that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are with us in the war against terrorism.

"I want to warn the people that there are some forces who would like to stoke communal passions. Whenever the county has faced such problems, people cutting across various sections of society and religious divide have stood together to defeat such designs.

Rajnath Singh said if anybody tried to create communal trouble, he would be dealt with strongly. "Today various Muslim countries are internationally united to fight terrorism."

Asked if there had been a security failure vis-a-vis the terror strike, the Minister said: "That is a matter of investigation and we will have to wait till the investigation into the terrorist strike is completed."

Rajnath Singh earlier visited the Army Base Hospital in Srinagar where he met some of the injured troopers.

--IANS

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The Supreme Court on Friday tagged with the main matter -- challenge to 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict on title suit -- a plea challenging the 1993 central law for the acquisition of Ayodhya land, including the disputed site.

Tagging the plea with the main matter, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said the plea would be heard along with the main matter on the next date of hearing.

A group of Lucknow residents, including two lawyers, Shishir Chaturvedi and Sanjay Mishra, describing themselves as devotees of Lord Rama, have moved the top court challenging the acquisition of the land at Ayodhya.

The petitioners have contended that the Parliament has no legislative competence to pass a law taking over/ acquiring the land belonging to the state as it squarely falls within the exclusive domain of the state legislature.

The state legislature has exclusive powers to make provision relating to the management of the affairs of religious institutions working in the state, the petition added.

The petition also contended that The Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act, 1993, infringed upon Article 25 of the Constitution guaranteeing freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.

The petitioners have sought direction to restrain the Central and Uttar Pradesh governments from interfering in puja, darshan and performance of rituals at places of worship "situated within the land admeasuring 67.703 acres acquired ... particularly at the land belonging to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, Manas Bhavan, Sankat Mochan Mandir, Ram Janmasthan Temple, Janki Mahal and Katha Mandap."

The Centre had on January 29 moved the top court seeking its nod for giving a part of the 67 acres of undisputed land to Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas and other original owners.

The Centre had moved the top court for the modification of its March 31, 2003 order, directing the observance of status quo on the acquired 67 acres of undisputed land.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas owns about 42 acres of the undisputed land out of the 67 acres which was acquired way back in 1993.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas had approached the government seeking the return of the 42 acres of land which the Centre in its application on Tuesday described as "superfluous."

--IANS

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Saudi Arabia on Friday denounced the terror attack by the Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of at least 45 CRPF personnel.

The Kingdom strongly condemns and denounces "these cowardly terrorist acts and stands with India against terrorism and extremism", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was cited as saying by the Saudi Press Agency.

"Saudi Arabia offers condolences to the Indian government, families of the victims and wishes the injured a speedy recovery," the Ministry said.

An operative of the Pakistan-based JeM group crashed a car bomb into a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway on Thursday, making it the worst ever attack on security forces on any single day since a separatist campaign broke out in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Twenty seven-year-old Sudip Biswas was looking forward to his marriage when a suicide bomber snatched away his life.

The sole bread earner of his family, Biswas's death in Thursday's terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district has left his mother and sister devastated.

Biswas, hailing from West Bengal's Nadia district, had made the last call to his family on Thursday, a relative said on Friday.

"He was initially untraced, but today morning we got a phone call confirming his death. He was the family's sole earning member as his father (a day labourer) is suffering from physical ailments," Samapta Biswas, the slain trooper's brother-in-law, told IANS.

Struggling hard to keep his trembling voice clear, Samapta said the family tried to 'hide the sad news' from his father but failed.

"We were rebuilding our house as my son had agreed to get married. He spoke to me over the telephone on Thursday, asking my whereabouts. Now we have lost him," said Sanyasi Biswas, the bereaved father.

The inconsolable mother and sister were not in a condition to speak.

After completing his higher secondary education, Biswas trained hard as he wanted to join the defence services. He joined the CRPF almost four years ago.

After training in Siliguri and Kerala, Biswas got posted in Jammu and Kashmir.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India on Friday summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood and lodged a strong protest over the Pulwama terror attack that claimed the lives of 45 CRPF troopers in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Foreign Secretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale summoned Mahmood to the MEA at 2 p.m. and issued a "very strong demarche" in connection with the terror attack on Thursday that also left 38 troopers injured.

Gokhale conveyed that Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), which claimed responsibility immediately after the attack, and that it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism and operating from Pakistani territory.

He also rejected the statement made by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry denying any involvement in the suicide attack, that has been called the worst-ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy began there in 1989.

The JeM, a Pakistan-based outfit, claimed responsibility for the attack in which a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a Central Reserve Police Force bus that was part of a large convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway around 3.15 p.m., killing 45 troopers and leaving the security establishment stunned.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Pulwama attack has forced the forces to go back to the operation table to rework the entire security matrix as they fear that deployment of troops will be impacted in the state if the vehicle-ramming tactics by terrorists become a norm.

The officials said the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had the intelligence input about a possible attack using Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs) around the anniversary of Afzal Guru's hanging on February 9, but it was never envisaged that terrorists will use car bombing to target convoys.

As an immediate measure, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has already announced that traffic would now be stopped during the movement of security forces' convoys even on busy roads such as the Jammu-Srinagar Highway where the attack took place.

A senior official said the road was never sanitized earlier because of inconvenience it caused to the people and admitted that even the road opening party (ROP) could not detect the suspicious vehicle.

Reacting to the criticism that the movement of troops, around 2,500 of them, made them easy targets, the officials said the large transportation was planned to deter any ambush, but it failed because the vehicle-ramming tactics was not factored in.

The officials admit that deployment of troops will now become a big challenge.

--IANS

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Police was put on alert in Dehradun after dozens of rightwing activists on Friday stormed several educational institutes here and sought "ouster" of Kashmiri students in the wake of the deadly Pulwama attack.

"We have deployed our police force around certain educational institutes and put our police force on alert," said Ashok Kumar, Director General of Police (DGP) Law and Order.

The activists belonging to Bajrang Dal and VHP stormed Rash Behari Bose University and allegedly vandalized some furniture and broke window panes after a Kashmiri student, who allegedly made offensive comments on the social media. Similar protests were seen outside some other educational colleges also. However, police denied any reports of vandalism.

K Aysir Rashid, who was perusing a medical course from Rash Behari Bose University in Dehradun, was placed under suspension after he made some offensive comments on the Pulwama attack, the university authorities said.

"We received a message on WhatsApp which read 'Happy today, aaj to chicken dinner ho gaya'. This message has already gone viral. It is natural that the message should be linked to the Kashmir attack," the University Registrar said in a note to Rashid.

The university ordered an inquiry to look into the controversy and also asked the student to send his clarification on the controversial comment. Rashid is a first year student of Bachelor of Medical Radio Diagnosis and Imaging Technology course at the Ras Behari Bose Subharti University, which has asked him not to enter the campus till further orders.

After posting the comment, Rashid was heavily trolled on social media. Many social organizations and groups reached the Rash Behari Bose Subharti University in Dehradun and vandalized some furniture in the building. They expressed their anger.

After making the controversial post, Rashid later expressed his apology on the Facebook. "As u all friend know that i posted a silly post last night ...that was by mistake... i apologize for that..," Rashid said in his post on Facebook.

--IANS

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NASA plans to put American astronauts back on the Moon by 2028, with unmanned demonstration missions in 2024 and 2026, the US space agency chief Jim Bridenstine has said.

Bridenstine on Thursday laid out the space agency's plan to support the development of commercial hardware capable of landing astronauts on the moon, the GeekWire reported.

"This time, when we go to the Moon, we're actually going to stay," he said.

"We're not going to leave flags and footprints and then come home, to not go back for another 50 years."

The mission architecture represents a dramatic shift from the way NASA had put humans on the Moon when Apollo 11 in July 1969 put Neil Armstrong as the first man to walk on the lunar surface.

The procurement plan, as laid out in a document known as a Broad Agency Announcement, calls for commercial ventures to propose concepts for a descent module, a space refuelling system and a transfer vehicle by March 25.

In May, NASA would select several companies for an initial six-month phase to study and develop in this line and will allocate up to $9 million to each company, GeekWire reported.

Based on the progress made during the first phase, two companies would be chosen to build hardware for a series of demonstration missions.

The hardware would then be launched aboard commercial rockets and NASA's yet-to-be-built Space Launch System to the Gateway space platform, which the US space agency and its international partners plan to build in lunar orbit during the early 2020s, the report said.

The first demonstration mission, scheduled for 2024, would involve sending down an unmanned descent module from the Gateway to the lunar surface.

The second mission, set for 2026, would be again another unmanned demonstration of the descent module, plus an ascent module to get back from the Moon to the Gateway.

Astronauts would make their first trip to the lunar surface in 2028, using the same three-element infrastructure. NASA's plan calls for four astronauts to spend as long as seven days on the Moon, the report said.

--IANS

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Texans who are not prohibited by state or federal law from possessing a gun can carry handguns without a license or training starting Sept. 1, after Gov. Greg Abbott signed permitless carry bill into law. Will this spur handgun sales?

You voted:
With over one crore downloads at Google Play store in four years since its launch, the Narendra Modi (NaMo) app, the official app of the Prime Minister, has established itself as a major platform to share the opinions of the government and -- to some people's disliking -- of the party he belongs.

The controversy surrounding the ownership of the app or why the "official app" of the Prime Minister is being used to promote party propaganda is, however, not new.

The fresh controversy to hit the app in the election year is the accusation that it is being used to spread false propaganda against BJP's political rivals by some users.

At the centre of this allegation is the "My Network" feature that promotes news feed from a handful of accounts.

This section works just like a social media platform where people can like and comment on the posts. It also allows users to "repost" and share the post on other social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Twitter among others, making it easier for the users to spread the word seen on the app.

In a blog post in January, journalist Samrath Bansal reported that while some of these accounts share regular political updates, their Facebook pages openly circulate fake news, making millions of NaMo app users vulnerable to misleading information.

It seems BJP is not unaware of the fake news problem on the NaMo app.

Amit Malviya, head of BJP's IT cell, acknowledged that there is "some scope for misinformation" on the platform and "multiple posts have been taken down", according to the blog post.

If you thought the NaMo is all about 'know about the activities of the Prime Minister', listening to his "Mann Ki Baat" state addresses, and keeping track of the "positive" news about the government that he leads, you would be underestimating to what extent the platform is being used to run the PM's public relations efforts.

The "Merchandise" section in the app is already selling wristbands and T-shirts with "NAMO AGAIN" tag, all apparently in preparation for the upcoming general election.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A number of Muslim organisations and leaders on Friday condemned the suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir and underlined that the entire nation was standing with the security forces in this hour of grief.

Delhi's Jama Masjid's Shahi Imam Maulana Ahmed Bukhari in a statement extended his condolences to the families of the deceased.

He also raised questions over the security arrangements in the Kashmir Valley as well as on the efficiency of intelligence agencies "which seemed to lack coordination among themselves".

Pakistan-based militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district where a CRPF bus was rammed into by a suicide bomber driving a SUV packed with explosives.

Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind General Secretary Maulana Mahmood Madani too strongly condemned the attack and asserted that such terror strikes contradicted the holy spirit of Islam.

"All Indian citizens stand shoulder to shoulder with the bereaved families of the deceased troopers and are united in the condemnation of terrorists," Madani said.

All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat President Naved Hamid said "condemnation" would be a small word to denounce such a horrendous attack.

"My heart goes out to the families of the dozens of martyred CRPF personnel in Pulwama terror attack. The international community needs to take notice of this attack and it is time to unearth the real culprits," he added.

--IANS

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With the number of flights to and from the northeastern states witnessing a sharp decline over the past several months, passengers from the region are facing severe difficulties travelling to other parts of the country.

The drop in flight numbers to the mountainous states of Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya is mainly attributed to modification in the Civil Aviation Ministry's 25-year-old Route Dispersal Policy (RDP), which made it mandatory for all airlines to operate 10 per cent of their flights in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.

While ticket prices for flights to Kolkata, Delhi and other cities from all the northeastern states have shot up three to five times after Jet Airways, SpiceJet and IndiGo carriers suspended operations or reduced their frequency, the situation is most critical in Mizoram, from where no air tickets are available thoughout February.

"Some people from Mizoram wanted to go to neighbouring Silchar (in southern Assam) to catch Kolkata or Guwahati-bound flights, but there are no tickets available until the first week of March," said a travel agent in Aizawl.

Mizoram BJP President Johny Lalthanpuia said Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu has promised the state new Air India flights from Aizawl to Guwahati and Delhi.

But following delay in these, the state government has started negotiating with some private airlines to start their services from Aizawl, said the state government's principal consultant for civil aviation Wing Commander Joe Lalhmingliana said.

Tripura Transport Minister Pranajit Singha Roy said the state government has approached both the Prime Minister's Office as well as the Civil Aviation Ministry on countless occasions requesting them more flights to and from Agartala.

"We even requested BJP president Amit Shah to intervene in the matter, but without success," Singha Roy told IANS, adding, "We've almost lost hope."

The minister said that in November 2018, the Tripura government even reduced the VAT (value added tax) on aviation turbine fuel by two per cent to lure private airlines.

"This reduction in VAT results in a revenue loss of Rs 1.20 crore per year for the state government. But we've done it to reduce the inconvenience to the people," he added.

Over the past one year, Lok Sabha MPs from Tripura Jitendra Chaudhury and Shankar Prasad Datta, and Rajya Sabha member Jharna Das Baidya too have met the Civil Aviation Ministry bosses and CMDs of private airliners many times with requests to increase their flights to the Northeast, but with no positive outcome.

"The current BJP-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government wants to diminish government control on civil aviation, telecommunication and petrochemicals causing a monopoly of private companies," Chaudhury told IANS from Delhi, where he met the Civil Aviation Minister and SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh.

A senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) official, on condition of anonymity, said that in 2016, the Civil Aviation Ministry amended the RDP (formulated in 1994) reducing the liability of airlines from 10 to six per cent flights in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast, and adding Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Kochi in Kerala to the mandatory list.

"This amended policy has hampered the interest of Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast creating an unprecedented crisis of flights between these regions and other parts of the country," the AAI official added.

He said that taking advantage of the amended RDP, the airline companies are gradually reducing their services from the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir on the pretext that these routes are losing sectors.

"These arguments of the airline companies are factually incorrect. In the mainland states, air passengers are just 10 per cent of their total population, while they are around 40 per cent in the northeastern states.

"In addition, a large number of people from bordering districts (along India) of Bangladesh are availing of Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai-bound air services from the Northeast," the official added.

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)

--IANS

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Former Bihar Chief Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi on Friday dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring 420 chopped heads of terrorists to silent the boiling anger of Indians.

"Until the government led by Modi bring 420 chopped heads of terrorists, the boiling anger of people will not be silent," he told the media here, reacting to Thursday's terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir which left 45 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel dead and 38 injured.

Demanding why the government did not take any action, Manjhi said: "A country is not run merely by 'jumlebazi', the government has to do something concrete on the ground."

He further said that the Modi government has so far failed to curb terror activities and this was reflected in what happened in Pulwama.

Manjhi said he shared the pain and grief of the families of those martyred.

Bihar Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav said that before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party had claimed to bring 10 chopped heads in revenge of one Indian killed but after winning, Modi went to Pakistan to eat biryani.

Yadav said he and his party - the Rashtriya Janata Dal - are with the families of the martyred CRPF personnel.

--IANS

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday demanded that the Centre should declare a three-day mourning for the slain CRPF troopers in the Pulwama terror strike, and criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for flagging off the Vande Bharat Express in the aftermath of the tragic incident.

"I am sorry to say that the Prime Minister inaugurated one rail project on Friday. If anything serious happens, we should avoid all political and even government programmes," Banerjee told mediapersons here on her return from New Delhi.

Modi flagged off the indigenously built Train 18, now christened as the Vande Bharat Express, from the New Delhi railway station on Friday.

Banerjee also attacked the Prime Minister for not declaring a three-day mourning.

"Why didn't he (Modi) declare three days' mourning? Only when political leaders die, a three-day mourning is declared, not when so many people die. You do not understand the feelings of the people.

"I demand 72-hour mourning for the CRPF troopers as they sacrificed their lives for the nation. At least for (showing) national respect," she said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Childhood cancer comprises almost 3-5 per cent of the total cancer cases in India, experts said here on Friday, expressing concern over the low cure rate due to lack of available data.

"The disturbing reality is that the cure rate of pediatric cancer is almost 80 per cent in the developed countries. When we see the data from major cancer centres, it actually can match up to the Western standard but this data is not enough," Haemato-Oncologist Vivek Agarwala said at an awareness programme conducted by Narayana Superspecialty Hospital, Howrah.

According to the Indian Council for Medical Research, cancer in children constitutes approximately 3-5 per cent of the total cancer cases in India.

Agarwala said a large portion of the incidence of childhood cancer in society is still not addressed.

Also, a large section who don't have access to premier institutes are often diagnosed late due to financial crunch and that is why the overall treatment rate in India is low.

"Probably, the government and society at large are not considering it a big problem as it is just around 5 per cent. We are always campaigning for breast and cervical cancers," Agarwala said.

"We must remember this 5 per cent of cancer is majorly curable if given proper treatment," he said.

Leukaemia and retinoblastoma (a form of cancer where children have a white eye) are the two common forms of cancer in children.

Talking about awareness and symptoms that parents need to watch out for, he said: "Symptoms are different for different cancers, but children who have cancer have poor growth, poor weight gain and decreased appetite. One must get their children evaluated on seeing these symptoms".

On International Childhood Cancer Day, the hospital organised a 'Sit and Draw competition' with pediatric patients and rewarded the winner.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Friday consoled the family of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper H. Guru who hailed from the state and was among those killed in a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

"I spoke to martyred CRPF soldier H. Guru's family over the phone and consoled them. Their grief is heart-wrenching. We are with them. I have instructed officials to speed up the process of compensation," Kumaraswamy tweeted.

Guru, 33, was from Gudigere village in Mandya district, about 100 km from here. He was attached to the 82nd Battalion posted in Srinagar.

--IANS

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Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Friday announced Rs 10 lakh compensation and job to a kin of Vijay Soreng who was one of the 45 CRPF personnel killed in the suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

"Chief Minister Raghubar Das has expressed grief over death of the CRPF personnel in Kashmir. The Chief Minister has also announced a compansation of Rs 10 lakh and job to one kin of the killed CRPF personnel Vijay Soreng," an official statement said.

Vijay, from Gumla district, was posted as hawaldar in Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

According to the family, Vijay called his wife Bimla on Thursday and said: "We are going to Kashmir and not sure we will come back. Take care of the children."

Vijay leaves behind five children, including three daughters. He had returned to duty after remaining on leave from February 1 to 8.

"I am proud of my son. The government should take revenge of the killing," said Vijay's father Birish Soreng.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Pulwama attack is being seen as a revival of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) whose cadre strength had shrunk drastically in recent years.

Sources said the Pakistan-based terror group founded by Masood Azhar was on a recruitment drive in Jammu and Kashmir to increase its strength as it lost almost its entire leadership with its numbers coming down to barely half-a-dozen just three years ago.

On the target of JeM are young Kashmiris who manage to escape the radar of the security agencies because of their low-profile background. Adil Dar, who drove the explosive-laden vehicle into the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy was one such young recruit who was just a year old in the organization.

The local sentiment after the killing of Burhan Wani in 2016 made the atmosphere conducive for JeM recruitment drive.

Sources said that another distinct trend that has emerged is the shortened life-span of these young recruits. Because of action by security forces, most of these youngsters get killed within a few years of joining the terror groups unlike in the past when an average life-span of a terrorist was anywhere between 10 and 12 years.

The JeM had worked under the shadow of Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen, the two dominant groups, but it has been involved in almost every attack on security forces this year. The revival attempts started last year when the outfit began carrying out daring attacks. According to estimates by security agencies, its numbers have swelled to nearly 100 after the local recruitment efforts.

Intelligence officials are of the view that instead of blaming Pakistan, answers should be demanded from China for shielding JeM as Beijing has been stalling move to declare Masood Azhar as designated terrorist under 1267 sanctions of the UNSC.

--IANS

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Teachers and students from Jamia Millia Islamia condemned Thursday's deadly attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir.

The students, along with teachers, took out a peaceful march inside the campus and held a meeting at gate number 7 of the university where a statue of poet Mirza Ghalib stands.

"The Jamia Teachers Association (JTA) sends a strong message of solidarity and condolences to the families of the martyrs. JTA condemns and denounces the attack on our security forces, the fellow citizens, in Pulwama.

"The history of Jamia is full of struggle in the path of nation development since 1920, and we will not leave any stone unturned this time, too, in helping the families who suffered an unbearable loss," secretary of the association, Majid Jamil, said.

In the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989, a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district killing 49 troopers.

-- IANS

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Union Minister Arun Jaitley, who returned from the US last week after a medical treatment, will resume office as the Finance Minister on Friday.

Official sources said Jaitley will resume function as the Finance Minister and attend the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) convened at 9.15 a.m.

The CCS meeting has been called to access the situation and discuss India's response to the terrorist attack on a convoy of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on Thursday in which at least 45 soldiers were killed and 38 injured.

The 66-year-old Jaitley had in January flown to New York for the treatment after reportedly being diagnosed with soft tissue cancer which required surgery.

In wake of his absence just ahead of budget presentation, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was given additional charge of Finance. He had served as the Finance Minister briefly even in 2018 during Jaitley's absence for kidney transplant surgery.

Sources said that Jaitley is recovering well and will be able to assume the responsibilities of the Finance Ministry.

--IANS

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The US commander who has been leading the war against the Islamic State (IS) said on Friday that he disagreed with President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria and warned that the terror group was far from being defeated.

Joseph Votel, the Pentagon commander in charge of American forces in the Middle East, told CNN from Oman that he would only have declared that the IS had been defeated, as Trump did in December, if he was sure they no longer posed a threat.

"When I say, 'we have defeated them', I want to ensure that means they do not have the capability to plot or direct attacks against the US or our allies," Votel said. "They still have this very powerful ideology, so they can inspire."

The general added that the US-backed forces on the ground in Syria were not ready to handle the threat of IS on their own.

Trump had announced his troop pullout decision late last year, claiming that the local IS force was largely defeated. His decision led to the resignation of former US Defence Secretary James Mattis.

"It would not have been my military advice at that particular time... I would not have made that suggestion, frankly," Votel said of the troop withdrawal.

"(The caliphate) still has leaders, still has fighters, it still has facilitators, it still has resources, so our continued military pressure is necessary to continue to go after that network."

Votel had earlier said he "was not consulted" before Trump's controversial announcement.

He told CNN that the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who launched an offensive to oust the IS from its only remaining enclave in Syria last weekend, could not defeat the terror group without continued American assistance.

"They still require our enablement and our assistance with this," the general said, adding that the US military was still in the midst of executing a "well-crafted military campaign".

"We want (the IS) to be able to be controlled or addressed by the indigenous partners, whether that's the Iraqi security forces in Iraq, or the SDF, that when they are capable of handing this threat on their own, without our assistance, that will be another key criteria indicating to me that we have accomplished our mission of defeat of IS."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Representatives of industry and exporters on Friday voiced concerns with the government, including the sharp fall in export credit, delay in the refund of input tax credit (ITC) and withdrawal of GSP benefits by the US, at a meeting here of the Board of Trade chaired by Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, an official statement said.

The most recent issue concerns Indo-American trade relations and relates to the US decision to withdraw the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) that grants some Indian exports duty-free preferential access to US markets, which is to take effect shortly.

"The representatives of industry expressed concerns about decreasing flow of credit to the export sector, retrospective effect of pre-import conditions, delays in the refund of ITC, withdrawal of GSP benefits by the US, exports to Iran and availability of incentives for exports to neighbouring countries," a Commerce Ministry statement said.

"The issues raised by the trade were addressed by the senior officials and will be taken up in the forthcoming meeting of Committee of Exports and GST Council."

Besides Secretaries of different departments and other senior officials, the meeting was attended by all major trade and industry bodies, export promotion councils and industrialists, the statement added.

According to the ministry, on the occasion the Commerce Minister launched a new online 'Anytime-Anywhere' export awareness course to train, mentor and hand-hold potential exporters.

A mobile app of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade was also launched, where exporters can log their grievances, apply for licences, besides accessing information on trade notices, circulars, foreign trade policy and trade fairs.

--IANS

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At least 66 people were killed on Friday by unidentified gunmen in Nigeria's Kaduna state, officials said.

The Kaduna state government said in a statement that eight settlements were attacked, Xinhua news agency reported.

The attack took place on the eve of Nigeria's presidential election.

Twenty two children and 12 women were among the victims.

The state government said the cause of the violence was unclear, and warned against any reprisal attacks.

--IANS

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Faced with public outrage over the Pulwama terrorist attack, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government is being pressured by some of its MPs to give a "muscular response" to Pakistan.

As the attack comes ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP MPs from Uttar Pradesh recalled the surgical strikes against Pakistan which sent a signal across the globe that India would no longer sit back and tolerate attacks such as the ones in Pathankot and Uri. They expected the Modi government's response to be like the September 2016 surgical strikes on militant across the border to "teach Pakistan a lesson".

The last major terror attack in India was on September 18, 2016, when militants raided an Indian Army camp in Uri, killing 20 soldiers. India responded with a surgical strike on suspected militant camps across the border in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 10 days later.

IANS spoke to various BJP MPs from Uttar Pradesh and sought to know what expectations they had from the government and many of them, while recalling the surgical strikes, said the government would take an "appropriate" action.

Union Minister Santosh Gangwar, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Bareilly, condemned the attack and said that it had once again exposed Pakistan's character.

"We will definitely take some major steps in the coming days. My sympathies are with the families of those CRPF personnel who were killed. It seems Pakistan is not ready to understand. The sacrifice of our soldiers would not go in vain. We are sad. We can not repay for the loss, but would certainly take whatever action is required," he said.

BJP's Meerut MP Rajendra Agarwal described the attacks as unfortunate and said that the government would explore all options.

"It was a very unfortunate incident. It appears to be a security breach as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir (Satya Pal Malik) has also said. The Cabinet Committee on Security has met today and I hope the government is working on all options to isolate Pakistan on international fronts," he said.

He said what "military action" government would be taking is not something to be disclosed but "we should not forget that the sugical strike emerged as one of the options after Uri".

"After this attack, India has taken the lead in the fight against terrorism. The entire world should stand by India. People are outraged. We are not a weak nation now. People have faith in this government. I hope the Prime Minister and his government would do something," he told IANS.

RSS ideologue and BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha called the issue "very sensitive" and said the Prime Minister was as anguished over the incident as common people are and it was evident when he said the perpetrators of the attack had committed a "grave mistake" and that they would pay a big price for this.

"We need to understand the sentiment behind what the PM has said. It represents the feelings of the people. This government is aware of the people's feelings. It's the government's job to make a strategy, but it is definite that they will do their best to defeat mercilessly those supporting terrorism inside and outside the country," he said.

Another BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj said the government would do its best.

"People have lots of expectations from this government and the government would definitely give a muscular response," he said.

Among the CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama attack, 12 are from Uttar Pradesh, the state which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha and where the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party had forged an alliance to oust Modi.

Those killed from the state are Awadhesh Kumar Yadav of Chandauli, Pankaj Kumar Tripathi of Maharajganj, Amit Kumar of Shamli, Vijay Kumar Mourya of Deoria, Ram Vakeel of Mainpuri, Mahesh Kumar of Allahabad, Pradeep Kumar of Shamli, Ramesh Yadav of Varanasi, Koushal Kumar Rawat of Agra, Pradeep Singh of Kannauj, Shyam Babu of Kanpur Dehat and Ajit Kumar Azad of Unnao.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Noted actor Manoj Bajpayee has condemned Thursday's terror attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Jammu and Kashmir, and said the Central government is capable enough to tackle the situation.

Manoj said this here on Friday while interacting with the media at Cine And TV Artistes' Association (CINTAA) and 48 Hour Film Project's first edition of 'Act Fest 2019', along with Sara Ali Khan, Ronit Roy and Divya Dutta.

The citizens of the country should have faith in them (government) and support them in such trying circumstances, he said.

In the worst-ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989, a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber on Thursday rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, killing at least 45 troopers and leaving 38 critically wounded.

"Words will fall short to express our anger for this kind of heinous act. My prayers are the families of soldiers who have lost their dear ones in the tragedy and it's their irreparable loss," Manoj said.

"I feel scared and hurt... I get angry whenever I hear of such evil acts... I am feeling really sad to hear about what has happened in Jammu and Kashmir," Sara Ali Khan said.

More than 2,500 CRPF personnel were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.

The Pakistan-based JeM terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India on Friday started the process to isolate Pakistan internationally in the wake of Pulwama attack with

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale meeting at least two dozen envoys in the national Capital, including those from the P-5 nations, sources said.

India also summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood earlier in the day and made a strong demarche over its continued support to terrorist outfits such as Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) which has claimed responsibility for the Thursday's deadly attack on CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulawama that left at least 49 troopers dead and many others injured.

According to sources, the Foreign Secretary met around 25 ambassadors, including the P-5, all South Asian countries and other important partners like Japan, Germany, Korea and others.

P-5 refers to US, Russia, China, France and United Kingdom - which are permanent members of the UN Security Council.

During his meetings with the foreign envoys, Gokhale highlighted the role played by Pakistan in using terrorism as an instrument of its state policy.

"All the heads of missions were left in no doubt about the role played by Pakistan-based and supported JeM in the terrorist attack and our demand that Pakistan ceases forthwith all support and financing to terror groups operating from areas under their contro", said a source.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A least nine labourers suffered burn injuries when a massive fire broke out in a nail polish manufacturing factory here in the early hours of Friday, a fire officer said.

"Around 2.48 a.m, the Delhi Fire Service control room received information about a fire in a nail polish factory at West Delhi's Bawana Industrial area. Fifteen fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the fire, which started from a chemical container," the officer said.

"The fire was doused by 5 a.m. but during the rescue operation, nine labourers were found injured from the spot. The victims, identified as Bablu (20), Chhoto (21), Ram Singh (21), Kanhaiya (21), Jaggi (22), Pappu (22), Ravi (25), Holi Lal (28) and Birpal (40), were admitted to a nearby hospital, where they are undergoing treatment," he added.

"The victims were working when a chemical container caught fire," the officer said.

This is the fourth major fire incident in the national capital over the last few days. On Tuesday, 17 people had lost their lives in a devastating fire at Hotel Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Facebook is negotiating a multi-billion dollar fine with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the social media giant's past privacy practices.

According to a report in The Washington Post on Thursday, the specific amount is yet to be determined but it would be the largest fine the FTC has ever levied on a tech company.

"If talks break down, the FTC could take the matter to court in what would likely be a bruising legal fight," said the report.

Facebook confirmed it was in discussions with the FTC but declined to comment further.

The largest fine ever imposed by the FTC to safeguard consumers' data was a $22.5 million penalty that Google paid in 2012.

The FTC opened its probe into Facebook in March 2018 after the Cambridge Analytica data scandal that breached the privacy of 87 million users came into light.

"Facebook faces a moment of reckoning and the only way it will come is through an FTC order with severe penalties and other sanctions that stop this kind of privacy misconduct going forward," Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) was quoted as saying.

Consumer advocates have urged the FTC to fine Facebook exceeding $2 billion.

Washington DC's top prosecutor Karl Racine has also sued Facebook in the first significant US move to punish the firm for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Facebook is currently being probed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the FTC and the Department of Justice.

In the UK, the company was fined 500,000 pounds over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the maximum fine the British data regulator can impose.

Bigger trouble may arise from the Irish data protection regulator, which is investigating Facebook for multiple admissions of security flaws, in what is being seen as the first major test of Europe's new privacy rules as dictated by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Centre and the state government to file a detailed reply on a public suit seeking protection of transgender rights in the national capital.

The Delhi government, in a reply filed earlier, stated that it has taken various steps and initiatives with respect to empowerment and development of the transgender community in the national capital.

The court asked the state government to file a detailed reply with documents mentioning details of meetings, formation of committees and steps taken for the welfare of transgenders in the city.

The Central government told a division bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V. Kameswar Rao that the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 has been passed by the Lok Sabha in December 2018.

The court has asked the Centre to file a reply with reports from the Rajya Sabha on the Transgender Rights Bill.

The court has listed the matter for further hearing on July 23.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by two students of Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies-- Rashi Jain and Mihir Garg -- who have raised the issue that Supreme Court directions on transgender rights have not yet been implemented.

In the plea, they said that transgenders had been denied basic right to education, employment opportunities and access to a dignified life.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The political and economic crisis in Haiti has worsened eight days after violent protests began against the government led by President Jovenel Moise.

The protest, in which nine persons have died so far, began on February 7, coinciding with the second anniversary of Moise's rise to power, whose resignation the protesters demand, Efe news reported on Friday.

While people are in the streets, desperate for food and water, the President has remained silent since February 9 when he called for dialogue, which was rejected by the leaders of the protest.

In a press conference on Thursday, Senate President Carl Murat Cantave urged Moise and Prime Minister Jean Henry Ceant to speak to the nation while calling for dialogue to resolve the crisis.

He said that "after a week of crisis the country needs responsible leaders".

The capital remains paralyzed as schools, banks, petrol stations and several business establishments are closed.

Transport in the capital remains precarious, with only motorcycles providing service, and several streets are blocked.

A woman citizen said it is "very serious what is happening in the country" and the poor "are the one who suffer the most".

The violence in the streets as a result of the demonstrations has forced some embassies to temporarily suspend some services.

The protests, which have increased insecurity in this Caribbean nation and caused a climate of chaos and uncertainty, are taking place amid a severe economic crisis, aggravated by a sharp depreciation of the gourde -- the official currency -- and by the electricity crisis resulting from the shortage of gasoline.

--IANS

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Shops, vehicles and other property belonging to a particular community came under attack in Poonch and Jammu, forcing authorities to clamp curfew in Jammu, during a shutdown to denounce a suicide bombing that killed 49 CRPF troopers in the Kashmir Valley.

Authorities first imposed curfew and sought the Army's help to restore order in the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir where scores of youths protesting against the suicide attack torched some vehicles and smashed many more believed to be from the Valley.

Jammu District Magistrate Ramesh Kumar said curfew had been imposed in the entire Jammu city to maintain peace.

Police used tear smoke and batons to disperse the mobs. The curfew was imposed initially in Jammu's Gujjar Nagar, Talab Khatikan, Janipur, Bakshi Nagar, Chenni Heemat, Bus Stand and some other places in old city area and later extended to the entire city.

Violence also erupted in Poonch district, where too shops and vehicles belonging to a particular community were attacked in Aala Peer area, forcing police to use tear smoke and batons.

"People are advised to maintain calm and not play into the hands of anti-social elements who want to exploit the situation for their nefarious objectives," a police officer said.

One of the 49 CRPF soldiers killed in Thursday's suicide bombing in Pulwama was identified as Naseer Ahmad of Rajouri district in the state.

The Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), an influential body of traders and industrialists, had earlier called a shutdown in Jammu city against the terror strike in the Valley's Pulwama district on Thursday on a CRPF convoy.

Rakesh Gupta, President of JCCI, an influential body of local traders and industrialists, told IANS: "I appeal to the people belonging to different sections of the society to maintain the traditional harmony and brotherhood for which Jammu has been known ever since the fires of violence spread in the (Kashmir) Valley."

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh attended the wreath laying ceremony of the troopers at the Humhama Regimental Training Centre of the CRPF in Badgam district.

Rajnath Singh co-chaired a meeting of the Unified Headquarters with Governor Satya Pal Malik here.

The Unified Headquarters is the apex anti-militancy grid in the state comprising top officials of the Army, central armed forces, local police and state and central intelligence agencies.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China on Friday imposed anti-dumping duties on chicken imports from Brazil but exempted 14 firms in exchange for a price undertaking, said the Commerce Ministry on Friday.

The tariffs - ranging from 17.8 per cent to 32.4 per cent - will come into effect on February 17 and will be in place for five years, the Ministry was cited as saying by Efe news.

It added that the tariffs were introduced to protect domestic producers from unfair competition from Brazilian firms.

The Ministry reached the decision to exempt the 14 firms after months of negotiations with Brazilian chicken producers and after the firms offered an acceptable "price undertaking".

The Ministry said that it exempted the firms from the tariffs on condition they export to China at prices not below the set minimum prices.

Brazilian chicken imports are the largest source of frozen chicken meat in China and constitute more than 50 per cent of the chicken consumed in the country.

The new measure was announced after an anti-dumping investigation on chicken from Brazil was launched, following reports that it had caused substantial damage to domestic suppliers.

The investigation began in August 2017 and preliminary results were announced on June 8, 2018.

The investigation had recommended placing duties of between 18.8 per cent and 38.4 per cent on all of China's imports of Brazilian broiler chicken.

The final tariffs were announced only after additional investigation was conducted by the authorities.

China, the world's second largest producer and consumer of chicken, had fully opened its market to chicken from Brazil in 2008 after intense negotiations.

The country which had imposed health restrictions on the Brazilian product, already imported non-processed chicken from Brazil, but it came through Hong Kong.

The measure against Brazilian chicken imports come after Chinese poultry prices had reached a record high late last year.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China on Friday condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 45 CRPF troopers and said it has dealt professionally on the issue of declaring Pakistan-based terrorist Masood Azhar whose JeM group claimed responsibility for the killings.

Beijing also said that it will remain in touch with India to ban Azhar at the UN but will handle the issue in a "constructive and responsible manner". Beijing has repeatedly blocked India's bid to designate Azhar an international terrorist.

"We are deeply shocked by this attack. We offer our condolences and sympathies to the injured and families of the bereaved. We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all form of terrorism," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said here.

"We hope all relevant regional countries will cooperate to deal with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability," he said.

Asked if China will rethink its decision on Azhar this year, Geng said: "As to the issue of the listing, I can tell you that 1267 committee of the Security Council has clear stipulations on the listing and the procedure of terrorist organization and individuals and the JeM which has taken the responsibility of the attack has been included on the Security Council counter-terrorism list.

"As to the listing of the individual, we have always dealt with the issue in an earnest, professional and responsible manner," he added.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad on Friday said soon the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will announce a strong electoral alliance in Tamil Nadu for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.

Speaking to reporters in Madurai he said: "Very soon a strong coalition will be announced in Tamil Nadu. There will be an effective and powerful NDA (National Democratic Alliance)".

According to him, the BJP on its own would cross 300 Lok Sabha seats and the NDA about 350 seats in the general elections.

He said the Central government has provided various assistance and projects for Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, the first official round of electoral alliance talks between AIADMK and BJP in Chennai ended on Thursday night amicably, said officials of the two parties.

Union Minister and BJP's Tamil Nadu election in-charge Piyush Goyal and leaders of the state's ruling AIADMK on Thursday met to discuss an alliance for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Goyal, accompanied by state BJP leaders, met the AIADMK leaders at an industrialist's house here.

On Thursday BJP President Amit Shah, speaking in the state's Erode, also said the party would soon form a strong electoral alliance in the state.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a major blow to Congress President Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law Robert Vadra, who was questioned twice by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case involving the Bikaner land deal, the agency on Friday attached the properties related to his company Skylight Hospitality in Delhi.

A senior ED official said the agency has attached Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd., which has now been named as Skylight Hospitality LLP's property in Delhi's Sukhdev Vihar. Its worth is Rs 4.43 crore.

Besides the Delhi property, the agency also attached movable properties worth Rs 18.59 lakh pertaining to four persons linked to the Bikaner land deal case.

The agency claimed that Skylight Hospitality (P) Ltd had purchased 275 bigha (69.55 hectare) fraudulent land for Rs 72 lakh and sold the same for Rs 5.15 crore to Allegeny Finlease Pvt. Ltd., illegally generating profit of Rs 4.43 crore.

The four other individuals too generated a profit of Rs 18.59 lakh in the sale of impugned fraudulent land.

The agency had earlier attached properties worth Rs 1.82 crore and filed a chargesheet before the Special PMLA court against nine accused.

So far, the total attachment by ED in the case is worth Rs 6.44 crore.

Vadra, along with his 75-year-old mother Maureen Vadra, was questioned for the first time in the land deal case on Tuesday for over eight hours in Jaipur. However, on Wednesday, Vadra was also questioned alone for over eight hours by the agency sleuths in Rajasthan capital.

The ED has been probing the alleged irregularities in the purchase of land in Kolayat area of the border town of Bikaner in Rajasthan, which was meant for those displaced due to Army's field firing range.

The agency registered a criminal case under the Money Laundering Act in 2015, taking cognizance of the case filed by the Rajasthan Police after forgery allegations.

The agency had earlier issued notices to Skylight Hospitality, but had not mentioned Vadra's name or any company linked to him in its FIR.

According to the ED, during investigation it had surfaced that Allegeny Finlease as a company was "not involved" in any "real business activities" and many of its shareholders were found to be dummy or non-existent.

The government had cancelled the mutation (transfer of land) of 374.44 hectares of land after allotments were found to have been allegedly made in the names of "illegal private persons".

Revenue officials had said in the complaint that government land in 34 villages of Bikaner, which was meant to be used for expanding the Army's firing range, was "grabbed" by the land mafia by preparing "forged and fabricated documents" in connivance with government officials.

The ED suspects that a huge amount of money was laundered in this case by people buying land at cheaper rates through forged documents.

Vadra was also questioned for over 24 hours last week in Delhi for three days -- Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday -- in a separate money laundering case.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian vaccine manufacturer Bharath Biotech will ship two lakh doses of its typhoid vaccine to Pakistan, which is grappling with the outbreak of severe drug-resistant version of the disease.

Hyderabad-based company will be shipping the doses of Typbar TCV vaccine to the neighbouring country on Monday.

Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech on Friday said they received a request from Aga Khan University of Karachi to immediately despatch the vaccine to tackle the severe outbreak of drug resistant typhoid fever.

He said the company already donated to Pakistan 100,000 doses of Typbar TCV, which is the world's first Conjugate Typhoid Vaccine (TCV) clinically proven to be administered to children from 6 months of age to adults.

According to Pakistan media reports, Extensively Drug Resistant (XDR) typhoid has claimed over a dozen lives in Sindh province. It is spreading fast in the province, especially in Karachi.

Authorities in Sindh plan to include Typbar TCV in Extended Programme on Immunisation (EPI) after receiving the full consignment of the vaccine from Bharat Biotech later this year.

Typbar TCV is the only vaccine prequalified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to prevent XDR typhoid, a multi-drug resistant strain of typhoid fever that is resistant to 3rd generation Cephalosporin antibiotics.

Bharath Biotech exports its 16 vaccines to 140 countries. It despatched 3.8 billion doses during last 20 years.

Krishna Ella said the company so far received $136 million grant for clinical research from global health agencies including Bill and Melinda Gates and Welcome Trust.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bharat Biotech on Friday announced that it has signed an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline Asia to acquire Chiron Behring Vaccines, which would make it the largest manufacturer of rabies vaccine in the world.

Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech will acquire 100 per cent equity stake in Chiron Behring Vaccines Pvt Ltd, located in Ankleshwar, Gujarat, in an all-cash transaction.

This was announced by Dr. Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech, at a news conference. He, however, declined to reveal the value of the transaction, which is expected to be completed next month.

Chiron Behring Vaccines, the world's oldest vaccine company, was formed as a result of the purchase of the vaccines business of Hoechst AG by Chiron Corporation USA.

Chiron Behring Vaccines is a WHO pre-qualified manufacturer of rabies vaccines, eligible for supplies to UN agencies and has product registrations in 37 countries.

Ella said Chiron Behring will continue to operate as a separate company but will make the rabies vaccine under a new brand name. The unit has the capacity to manufacture 15 million doses.

He said Bharat Biotech would also continue production of its rabies vaccine Indirab. It is currently manufacturing 10 million doses annually.

He said they together could add the capacity by 10 million more doses, which would help India meet the shortage.

There are an estimated two million dog bites in India every year. According to him, India require 35-40 million doses to meet the requirement. The vaccine is currently priced at Rs 200.

Two to three companies, including Bharat Biotech, are currently supplying the vaccines to government agencies.

Ella said their first priority would be to meet the requirement in India. The acquisition has given the company immediate access to supply rabies vaccines to 37 countries, including countries in Latin America and Africa, which are facing severe shortage of these vaccines.

According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, rabies is a vaccine-preventable disease. It is claiming the lives of over 55,000 people each year, mostly in Asia and Africa. India accounts for 36 per cent of the world's rabies deaths.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that it would file on Monday (February 18) its response to a PIL challenging the amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act mandating prior permission of the government for prosecuting a government servant for alleged graft.

Allowing the Centre time till February 18 to file its response, the bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna gave the petitioner Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), an NGO, a week's time thereafter to file its rejoinder.

The top court had on November 26, 2018 issued a notice to the Centre and gave it six weeks time to file its response.

The CPIL had also challenged the deletion of a provision under which misuse and abuse of official position for giving pecuniary or other advantage to anyone was considered misconduct.

A provision calling for a mandatory prior nod was introduced by Section 17 A (1) and the one relating to misconduct stood erased with the deletion of Section 13(1)(d)(ii) in the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The provisions for prior government nod for proceeding against a public servant accused of graft and deletion of the one relating to misconduct were effected in the Prevention of Corruption Act by amending it.

With regard to the provision relating to misconduct, the petitioner NGO has contended that it has been used in most prosecutions of public servants under the Prevention of Corruption Act where there may not be a charge of directly accepting a bribe.

This provision, the petitioner NGO said, was used for prosecuting the officials in the coal scam cases where officials had given coal mining leases to companies.

The PIL said the amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act violate Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution and have rendered the anti-graft law "almost ineffective by completely diluting the scope of some of the original provisions" and would now "protect corrupt officials and exponentially increase corruption."

CPIL counsel Prashant Bhushan had said that this was the "third attempt by the Union of India to introduce a provision which has already been twice held unconstitutional by the top court by its two separate judgements."

--IANS

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The BJP on Friday said the party has cancelled its political programmes in solidarity with the 45 CRPF troopers killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

The remarks came soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Vande Bharat Express, the country's first engine-less train which would travel from New Delhi to Varanasi.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sambit Patra said all political programmes, including rallies of the Prime Minister and BJP President Amit Shah, have been cancelled as "the party is standing with the martyrs".

The Prime Minister was to start election campaigning in Madhya Pradesh from Friday.

"We want to send out a message. We want to make it clear that while all political programmes have been cancelled as we stand by the nation, but the development works of the country would continue with even more speed," Patra told the media.

Patra added that India would avenge the attack when the time was right.

In the worst-ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus was rammed into by an explosive-packed SUV on Thursday in Pulwama killing 45 troopers and leaving 38 injured.

--IANS

vv/mag/mr/soni

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ONGC rose 3.48% to Rs 136.70 at 9:29 IST on BSE after net profit rose 64.8% to Rs 8,262.70 crore on 20.4% increase in net sales to Rs 27,694.09 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017.

The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 14 February 2019.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 57.12 points, or 0.16% to 35,819.10.

On the BSE, 3.03 lakh shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 4.17 lakh shares in the past two weeks. The stock had hit a high of Rs 139.40 and a low of Rs 135.05 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 194.15 on 27 February 2018. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 127.90 on 14 February 2019.

ONGC got $66.38 for every barrel of crude oil it sold in the quarter, 13.6% higher than $58.42 per barrel realisation a year ago. Gas prices were 16.3% higher at $3.36 per million British thermal unit.

ONGC said total crude oil production dropped 4.8% to 6.036 million tonne, but total gas output rose 6.6% to 6.691 billion cubic metre.

Further, the ONGC board approved a proposal for buyback of its equity shares. Around 25.29 crore equity shares of the company will be bought back at the price of Rs 159 per equity share payable in cash. The total cost of this share buyback will not exceed Rs 4,022 crore, ONGC said in its statement. The process of buyback is likely to be completed in February 2019.

ONGC has notified total 11 discoveries so far in 2018-2019. These include four made in the October-December quarter. The company made oil and gas discoveries in Kutch offshore, Vindhyan Basin in Madhya Pradesh, Assam and in western offshore.

Two new basins i.e. Vindhyan and West Bengal have been upgraded to Category II during the current financial year. The appraisal plans are drawn to further upgrade them as producing basins, the statement said.

Maharatna ONGC is the largest crude oil and natural gas company in India, contributing around 70% to Indian domestic production.

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ONGC's net profit rose 64.8% to Rs 8,262.70 crore on 20.4% increase in net sales to Rs 27,694.09 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 14 February 2019.

The company got $66.38 for every barrel of crude oil it sold in the quarter, 13.6% higher than $58.42 per barrel realisation a year ago. Gas prices were 16.3% higher at $3.36 per million British thermal unit.

ONGC said total crude oil production dropped 4.8% to 6.036 million tonne, but total gas output rose 6.6% to 6.691 billion cubic metre.

Further, the ONGC board approved a proposal for buyback of its equity shares. Around 25.29 crore equity shares of the company will be bought back at the price of Rs 159 per equity share payable in cash. The total cost of this share buyback will not exceed Rs 4,022 crore, ONGC said in its statement. The process of buyback is likely to be completed in February 2019.

Nestle India's net profit rose 9.6% to Rs 341.76 crore on 11.2% increase in net sales to Rs 2,878.83 crore in Q4 December 2018 over Q4 December 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 14 February 2019.

Jet Airways (India) reported net loss of Rs 587.77 crore in Q3 December 2018 compared with net profit of Rs 165.25 crore in Q3 December 2017. Net sales rose 1% to Rs 6,147.98 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 14 February 2019.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways' board approved a Bank led Provisional Resolution Plan (BLPRP), proposing restructuring under the provisions of the RBI Circular in order to meet a funding gap of nearly Rs 8500 crore which is to be met by an appropriate mix of equity infusion, debt restructuring, sale/ sale and lease back/ refinancing of aircraft, among other things.

The BLPRP will be presented for consideration of each of the consortium of lenders, the overseeing committee of the Indian bankers' association, the board of directors of Etihad Airways, and the promoter.

CG Power and Industrial Solutions said that its board considered and in-principally approved the proposal of initiating process for merger/amalgamation of CG Power Solutions ('CGPSOL'), a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, with the company, subject to the finalisation of necessary terms and conditions of such merger/amalgamation including finalisation of the scheme and subject to requisite approvals as may be required by the company and CGPSOL in this regard. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 14 February 2019.

Siemens said it will transfer its leasehold interest in the property located at Halol, Gujarat to LM Wind Power Blades (India) for Rs 193.50 crore. The proposal is subject to receipt of all requisite statutory and regulatory approvals from the concerned authorities and signing of firm agreements between the company and the proposed assignee in this regard. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 14 February 2019.

Shares of sugar manufacturers will be watched. With the aim of benefitting sugar farmers and in order to clear their arrears/cane dues, the Union Government has decided to increase the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of sugar from Rs 29 to Rs 31 for the year 2019-2020.

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Nestle India fell 2.17% to Rs 10,381.45 at 10:21 IST on BSE after net profit rose 9.6% to Rs 341.76 crore on 11.2% increase in net sales to Rs 2,878.83 crore in Q4 December 2018 over Q4 December 2017.

The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 14 February 2019.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 130.78 points, or 0.36% to 35,745.44.

On the BSE, 6,568 shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 4,559 shares in the past two weeks. The stock had hit a high of Rs 10730.10 and a low of Rs 10318.65 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 11,777 on 7 February 2019. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 7,429.50 on 15 February 2018.

Total sales increased by 11.2% while domestic sales grew 12% in the December quarter supported by volumes and was broad based, it said. Export sales remained flat due to lower exports to Bangladesh & United Arab Emirates.

Total sales and domestic sales for the year increased by 10.7% and 10.9% respectively. These growth rates were adversely impacted due to lower reported sales by the change in structure of indirect taxes.

Commenting on the results, Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director, Nestle India said that the firm has, once again, delivered volume led profitable growth. There was double digit growth in almost all the categories, supported by a step up in demand generating activities including on new products. Brands like Maggi, Nescafe, Kitkat, Munch and Everyday continued to deliver strong performances, he added.

NestlIndia is a subsidiary of NestlS.A. of Switzerland. Nestlis the world's largest food and beverage company. It has more than 2000 brands ranging from global icons to local favourites, and it is present in 191 countries around the world.

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Dr Reddy's Laboratories fell 6% to Rs 2509.65 at 10:47 IST on BSE, recovering from the day's low amid high volatility.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 146.53 points, or 0.41% to 35,729.69.

On the BSE, 2.52 lakh shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 57,000 shares in the past two weeks.

The stock hit a day's high of Rs 2650.10 in early trade. It corrected as much as 22.63% to hit the day's low of Rs 2,065.30 in morning trade. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 2,875 on 4 February 2019. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 1,888 on 21 May 2018.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories informed on 8 February 2019 that US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) completed the audit of its formulations manufacturing plant - 3 at Bachupally, Hyderabad. The company was issued a Form 483 with 11 observations. The company said it will address them comprehensively within the stipulated timeline.

A foreign brokerage and research firm reportedly retained underperform rating on Dr Reddy's stock with target at Rs 2,180 per share. It noted that the drug maker's formulations manufacturing plant - 3 at Bachupally, Hyderabad had been inspected by the USFDA. It has been issued a Form 483 with 11 observations, out of which four are repeat observations. The observations are around lack of thorough investigations, written records lacking details, employees not being trained and lack of infra. The clearance for Bachupally unit by USFDA could take time and believes that observations related to facility structure are negative, the research firm reportedly said in a note.

On a consolidated basis, net profit of Dr Reddy's Laboratories rose 65.28% to Rs 500.30 crore on 1.16% rise in net sales to Rs 3850 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories is an integrated pharmaceutical company.

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The United States, while condemning the dastardly Pulwama terror attack, has urged Pakistan to "end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil."

"The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region. This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India," a statement by The White House on February 14 noted.

"The United States condemns in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attack by a Pakistan-based terrorist group that killed over 40 Indian paramilitary forces and wounded at least 44 others. We express our deep condolences to the victim's families, the Indian government and the Indian people for the loss of life in this brutal attack," the Press Secretary's statement outlined.

The dastardly terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district claimed the lives of 40 security personnel on Thursday. The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar - the slain personnel were in a bus which had 42 CRPF men on board.

Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged in a blast and ensuing gunfire on the vehicle.

The United States had previously issued a travel advisory to its citizens, urging them to "reconsider" travelling to Pakistan due to terrorism. Washington has further restricted the travel of its diplomats in the country and has explicitly asked its citizens to refrain from visiting Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, including the erstwhile FATA province, and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

After the attack, India on Friday withdrew the Most Favoured Nation to Pakistan.

Even though the international community has expressed support to India in the wake of this heinous terrorist assault, China is yet to issue a statement on the Pulwama attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United States, while condemning the dastardly Pulwama terror attack, has told Pakistan to "end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil."

"The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region. This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India," a statement by The White House on February 14 noted.

"The United States condemns in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attack by a Pakistan-based terrorist group that killed over 40 Indian paramilitary forces and wounded at least 44 others. We express our deep condolences to the victim's families, the Indian government and the Indian people for the loss of life in this brutal attack," the Press Secretary's statement outlined.

The dastardly terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district claimed the lives of 40 security personnel on Thursday. The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar - the slain personnel were in a bus which had 42 CRPF men on board.

Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged in a blast and ensuing gunfire on the vehicle.

The United States had previously issued a travel advisory to its citizens, urging them to "reconsider" travelling to Pakistan due to terrorism. Washington has further restricted the travel of its diplomats in the country and has explicitly asked its citizens to refrain from visiting Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, including the erstwhile FATA province, and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

After the attack, India on Friday withdrew the Most Favoured Nation to Pakistan.

Even though the international community has expressed support to India in the wake of this heinous terrorist assault, China is yet to issue a statement on the Pulwama attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US Congress has extended its united support for India in the wake of the ghastly Pulwama attack, which has claimed the lives of around 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Infuriated to hear about the #KashmirTerrorAttack in India today - one of the deadliest in the region since 1989. I unequivocally condemn this brutal terrorist attack and am keeping the victims and their families in my prayers," Democrat Senator Bob Menendez tweeted right after the attack on Thursday.

"The United States stands with our partner India as it recovers from a terrorist bombing in Kashmir. Jaish-e-Mohammed and its state sponsors must face consequences for this attack," Republican Senator Tim Cotton from Arkansas put forth.

2020 Presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard also denounced the incident and tweeted, "We stand with the people of India in condemning the terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir, and send our condolences and prayers to the victims families. We must all stand up against these jihadists and their ideology. #KashmirTerrorAttack".

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal further condemned the incident while tweeting, "Heartbreaking. My thoughts are with the families of the victims of heinous terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir today. We must confront terror and defeat it, wherever it occurs. #KashmirTerrorAttack".

"I condemn the terrorist attack in Pulwama in the strongest terms, and I send my heartfelt condolences to the victims of this attack and all those touched by it. We must all stand united against terrorism," Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi tweeted.

The United States has told Pakistan to cease providing a safe haven and support to terrorist organisations on its soil, while extending its support to India. Washington also issued a travel advisory to its citizens from travelling to Pakistan due to terrorism, explicitly asking them not to visit Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Around 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives when their bus - which had 42 personnel on board - was targeted by a suicide bomber on Thursday. Their bus was part of 78 vehicle convoy which was transporting 2,500 personnel from Jammu to Srinagar when the terrorist attack took place. JeM has since taken responsibility for the attack.

The international community has taken a stand against terrorism following Thursday's heinous incident on Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

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United States President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency to fulfill his long-pending demand to build the barricade across the border with Mexico, the White House confirmed on Thursday (local time).

Trump will also sign a compromise border security deal that will allow funding for the wall.

"President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action-including a national emergency-to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border. The President is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

The development comes after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that Trump would declare a national emergency and also sign the deal reached by Congressional negotiators that provides USD 1.3 billion in funding for the wall, in a bid to avert another partial government shutdown, The Hill reported.

McConnell, who reportedly told Trump not to declare a national emergency, said that he was in favour of the US President's decision.

Later, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the border security legislation to prevent a fresh shutdown. The final vote count stood at 83-16. The House is expected to give the go-ahead to the deal later in the day.

The new deal would fund a quarter of the government agencies till September 30. The bipartisan agreement would provide USD 1.3 billion in funding to build 55 miles of the wall along the US-Mexico border, well short of Trump's demand for USD 5.7 billion.

On Wednesday, Trump said that he did not want to see another partial government shutdown, asserting that it "would be a terrible thing" and did not want to see "another one."

An impasse between the US Congress and Trump over funding for the wall had earlier triggered the longest-ever partial government shutdown in the US last December, which lasted for 35 days and left scores of federal workers without pay for the period.

A stop-gap measure was in place till February 15, while the negotiators were racing against time to finalise a deal to prevent another shutdown.

Trump has kept up his demand for the wall, despite Democrats labelling the fence as a wastage of public money. He had also indicated declaring a national emergency to get the barricade built "at any cost.

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Thermo Fisher Scientific, a leader in serving science, participated in a social media event to demonstrate its commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by packing 3,00,000 meals to serve the underprivileged in India in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

The event witnessed the participation of more than 900 employees from Thermo Fisher was organised. Thirteen other NGOs were beneficiaries of this event.

The team members of Thermo Fisher helped in packaging meals. The compressed meal packets incorporated 500 grams of uncooked rice and lentils, enough to feed a family of six. The distribution teams were deployed at Leonia Holistic Destination, Hyderabad and served about 25 tons of rice and lentils in the form of meal packages.

The company engaged with a leading NGO, Rise Against Hunger, an organisation dedicated to eradicating hunger by providing food and aid to the world's most vulnerable people and creating a global commitment to mobilise necessary resources.

"Thermo Fisher Scientific is committed to contributing to a healthier India by ensuring a nutritious and unadulterated food supply to every Indian. I congratulate the entire team of Thermo Fisher Scientific who participated in this initiative which further demonstrates our core objectives and commitment to benefit society in multiple ways,'' said Amit Chopra, Managing Director and VP/GM, India and the Middle East, Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with revenues of more than USD 24 billion and approximately 70,000 employees globally. Their mission is to enable the customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. It provides aid to customers accelerate life sciences research, solves complex analytical challenges, improves patient diagnostics, delivers medicines to market and increases laboratory productivity.

Through their premier brands - Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Services - they offer an unmatched combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and comprehensive services.

The Global Hunger Index of the year 2017 puts India at 100 on a list of 110 countries on the basis of following parameters- the prevalence of wasting and stunting in children under 5 years, under 5 child mortality rates, and the proportion of undernourished in the population.

As per the official estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, about 195.9 million people are undernourished in India. This equates to about 14.8 per cent of the population of India is malnourished.

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Nepal has condemned the deadliest terrorist attack in decades in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel on Thursday.

"The Government of Nepal strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir today (Thursday) that has resulted in the loss of many precious lives," the release from Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs put forth late Thursday.

The release further outlined that any kind of heinous act of terrorism cannot be justified, reinforcing Nepal's stand against such kind of manifestations.

"In line with its principled position, Nepal unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and believes that such heinous acts of terrorism cannot be justified on any ground," the release added.

Nepal's Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, on Thursday evening, called his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to extend condolences and concern while condemning the ghastly attack.

The dastardly terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district claimed the lives of 40 security personnel on Thursday. The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar - the slain personnel were in a bus which had 42 CRPF men on board.

Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has since claimed responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged in a blast and ensuing gunfire on the vehicle.

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Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday (local time) said that India should stop "accusing" Pakistan with "baseless allegations" over its involvement in the Pulwama terror attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel.

While speaking to a German news outlet in Munich, Qureshi said that the Pakistan government wanted better and stable relations with all the neighbouring countries, including India.

"Prime Minister Imran Khan's statement is on record (in this regard). India should desist from levelling allegations against Pakistan," he was quoted by ARY News as saying.

Qureshi's comments came two days after as 40 security personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle on their convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar - the slain personnel were in a bus which had 42 CRPF men on board. It was the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir.

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based terrorist group, claimed responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged in the blast and ensuing gunfire on the vehicle.

After the dastardly act, India demanded that the UN ban JeM and its chief Masood Azhar who roams freely in Pakistan.

In a statement, India's External Affairs Ministry said that all UN member countries should support a proposal for proscribing Azhar as an international terrorist.

Reflecting the outrage in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that "the blood of Indians is boiling" and issued a clear warning to Pakistan, declaring that the "guardians" of the perpetrators of the Pulwama terror attack will be "definitely punished".

Asserting that a "befitting reply" will be given, he said, "Our neighbouring country forgets that this (India) is a country with new intent and new policy."

He said the terror organisations and their "guardians" have committed a "grave mistake" by carrying out the attack and that the Indian armed forces have been given a go-ahead to hit back at the "time", "place" and "form" of their choosing.

He said Pakistan is making a "big mistake" by thinking that it can destabilise India "through its tactics and conspiracies."

Prime Minister Modi also thanked the countries which have supported India and condemned this incident in the strongest of terms.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reiterated the nation's resolve to take on terrorists decisively in Jammu and Kashmir, saying that security forces have been given full freedom to carry out anti-terror operations to retaliate Pulwama terror attack, which claimed the lives of nearly 42 CRPF jawans.

"We have given full authority to the security forces to decide the time, place, and nature of any further operations that need to be carried out in response to Pulwama terror attack," said Prime Minister here after laying the foundation stone of several development projects in the BJP ruled state.

"Our neighbours' intentions will be given a befitting reply by the people of India. All major world powers are with us and supporting us. The messages I have received show that they are not only sad but are also angry. Everyone is in favour of ending terrorism," he said.

CRPF personnel were killed when their convoy was targeted on Srinagar-Jammu highway on Thursday. The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Coming down heavily on Islamabad, Prime Minister Modi said: "Pakistan has been isolated and the international community has severed ties with this nation, which is faced with the worst kind of economic crisis."

Calling for unity, Prime Minister Modi said: "The whole nation should come together to give a befitting reply to the perpetrators of the dastardly terror attack on the CRPF personnel on Thursday. The international community and the world leaders are in support of India."

Earlier addressing a public gathering in New Delhi before flagging off Vande Bharat Express train for Varanasi from here, Prime Minister Modi said: "The perpetrators of Pulwama terror attack act will be punished."

He also warned that the perpetrators and those aiding and abetting terrorists have made a big mistake and will have to pay a heavy price. "We have given full freedom to the security forces. We have full faith in the bravery and valour of our security forces," he said.

"Let me assure the nation that those behind this attack will be punished," he said. "I also understand the sentiments of those who are criticising us. They have full rights. It is, however, my request to all my friends that it is a very sensitive and emotional moment and the nation stands united in its fight against terror."

"Our neighbour, which is already isolated by the global community, is in a state of illusion. If it thinks that it can demoralise India with its dastardly acts and nefarious designs, let me state categorically that it should stop day dreaming to destabilise India. This neighbour of ours which is in a state of economic despair must know that any such attempt is destined to fail and will be foiled," he said.

"130 crore Indian will give a befitting reply to any such act or attack. Many big countries have strongly condemned this terror attack, have stood behind India and expressed support for India. The menace of terror can be contained only when the nations are united in the fight against terrorism," he said.

India on Friday also announced the withdrawal of most favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. India had granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, a year after the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but Pakistan never reciprocated.

In Uttar Pradesh's Bundelkhand, Prime Minister Modi was all praise for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led BJP government. "Bundelkhand has started a campaign to build a corridor for the security and development of the country. This defense corridor, from Jhansi to Agra, will empower the country as well as provide new employment opportunities to the people of Bundelkhand," he said.

"Today, the foundation stone of a pipeline constructed at a cost of Rs 9, 000 crore has been laid in an attempt to help Bundelkhand to get rid of the water problem," he said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi's all scheduled political engagements in Madhya Pradesh's Itarsi and Dhar have been cancelled.

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Security around the Pakistan High Commission in the capital has been tightened as a safety measure following the Pulwama terror attack.

Earlier today, Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood evaded questions when quizzed on the deadly terror attack in which nearly 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives.

Anti-Pakistan protests are being held across the nation to condemn the dastardly terror attack.

While key leaders across the globe stood in support of India in the wake of the ghastly attack, anti-Pakistan slogans were raised in Uttar Pradesh.

Effigies of Masood Azhar, the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed (which claimed responsibility for the attack), were burnt in Varanasi as a sign of protests against the killing of the security personnel on Thursday.

Protesters thronged the streets with placards that read ''Aakhir Shahadat kab tak?" (How long will this martyrdom continue?) and festoons displaying various demands and needs of the Indian soldiers.

In the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir, around 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when their convoy was targeted by a suspected suicide bomber of Pakistan-backed JeM in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway.

The convoy of 78 buses, in which around 2500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar, came under attack at around 3.15 pm at Ladhu Modi Lethpora.

Indian Air Force C-17 will soon fly to Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar from Hindon to carry the mortal remains of CRPF personnel.

This is the deadliest attack on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

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The Supreme Court on Friday tagged a plea challenging the constitutional validity of the 1993 law for acquisition of the land, including the Ayodhya disputed site.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said the petition will be heard on the next date along with the main case.

The petition was filed by seven residents of Lucknow, including two advocates, Shishir Chaturvedi, and Sanjay Mishra, who said they were devotees of Lord Ram.

The petition challenged the Constitutional validity of 'The Acquisition of Certain Area At Ayodhya Act, 1993 on the ground that Parliament has no legislative competence to take over/acquire the property belonging to the State.

State Legislature has exclusive power to make provision relating to the management of the affairs of religious institutions working in the State, the petition added.

The petition said that the 1993 Act infringes upon the right to religion of Hindus guaranteed and protected under Article 25 (freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion) of the Constitution.

The petition has also sought direction "to restrain the Central government and the Uttar Pradesh government from interfering in Puja, Darshan and performance of rituals at the places of worship situated within the land admeasuring 67.703 acres acquired by the Act particularly at the land belonging to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, Manas Bhavan, Sankat Mochan Mandir, Ram Janmasthan Temple, Janki Mahal and Katha Mandap."

Centre had also filed a petition seeking modification of its 2003 order to allow it to return the "excess/superfluous land" out of the 67.703 acres acquired in Ayodhya to its original owners including the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas.

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The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Delhi government on an appeal seeking direction to purchase low-floor buses which are differently-abled friendly to augment public transport in the capital.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna also refused to stay the Delhi High Court's October 2018 order.

The Court had allowed the AAP government last year to procure 500 standard floor buses for the capital.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao made it clear that the standard floor buses, proposed to be procured, should have hydraulic lifts for easy access to differently-abled persons.

On July 11, the Delhi cabinet had approved the engagement of 1,000 low-floor environment-friendly electric buses.

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Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Friday announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for families of deceased CRPF personnel who lost their lives in Pulwama terror attack.

While condemning February 14 attack in Pulwama which claimed the lives of around 40 CRPF jawans, the chief minister said: "I condemn the barbaric killing of the CRPF personnel by terrorists. We will give Rs 2 lakh each for families of deceased CRPF personnel."

"We are with the families of the jawans and our condolences are with them," he added.

Earlier in the day, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu also announced compensation of Rs 20 lakh each to the families of CRPF personnel, who hail from the states, killed in Pulwama terror attack.

Around 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into a bus carrying them on Thursday. The bus was extensively damaged in the blast, which was followed by firing on the vehicle.

The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Soon after, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is based in Pakistan and backed by the Pakistani administration, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was carried out by its suicide bomber.

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Assessing the sensitivity of global and regional sentiment against the theocratic fascist and terrorist state of Pakistan, the Saudi Crown Prince must immediately cancel the Pakistan visit, said Shafi Burfat, the chairman of Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM), on Friday.

The chairman of JSMM in a statement said, "In the current situation, Saudi Crown Prince's Pakistan visit would be considered as encouragement of Pakistani fascism, nefarious terrorist designs and the dirty cold war in the region."

"Saudi diplomatic delegation seems to have been interested not in economic and political cooperation but rather purchase of Pakistani nuclear weapons, warheads, and mercenary military services from Pakistan. In fact, this would be globally considered as the direct support of Pakistani terror policy in the region," he said.

Burfat said: "Pakistan is directly behind Pulwama, Indian Kashmir, terror attack. Pakistan is an irresponsible terrorist state and has imposed a reign of terror against humankind. Pakistan has been taking advantage of India's democratic behaviour in international forums and diplomacy."

"The Saudi Crown Prince and authorities must condemn the cowardly cross border terrorism and cancel the visit to Pakistan, otherwise, the will consider this visit as encouragement of Pakistani Radical Islamist Psyche," said Burfat.

Burfat's statement comes a day after the ghastly terror attack which claimed the lives of around 40 CRPF personnel in Pulwama on Thursday.

"US, Germany, Canada, Russia, Afghanistan, Turkey, and all Islamic countries must condemn the terrorist state of Pakistan and completely isolate it on the international diplomatic front. US must impose complete political and economic sanctions upon the terrorist fascist state of Pakistan."

Hitting out at Pakistan for its terrorist activities, the Sindhi leader said: "Pakistan has intensified cross border terrorism in India and Afghanistan, and state torture in its occupied territories after its establishment of close ties with China. That's why China, Turkey, and KSA would have to clear their position regarding Pakistan's policy of sponsoring cross border terrorism."

Moreover, Burfat alleged that the Pakistani Army and ISI are nourishing various terror outfits and asserted that any country which supports Pakistan in such situation would be considered as the direct partner of the country in its sponsorship of Islamist extremist terrorism and crimes against humanity.

"Pakistan Army, and ISI have been nourishing and training Jaesh-e-Mohammad, Jama'at-ud- Da'wah (Lashkar-e-Taibba), Haqqani Network, Taliban and dozens of other terrorist outfits to export terror in India, Afghanistan and other regions of the world," he said.

"And any country which supports or aides Pakistan diplomatically or economically in these conditions would be considered as the direct partner of Pakistan in its sponsorship of Islamist extremist terrorism and crimes against humanity," said Burfat.

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Shri Siddhivinayak Temple trust here on Friday decided to contribute Rs 51 lakh to the families of the slain CRPF personnel in the Pulwama terror attack.

Chairman of Siddhivinayak Temple trust Aadesh Bande confirmed that the temple trust has decided to give 51 lakhs as a help to the families of the deceased in the terror attack.

Various states including Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, have also announced ex gratia to the families of the deceased jawans.

Around 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into a bus carrying them on Thursday. The bus was extensively damaged in the blast, which was followed by firing on the vehicle.

The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Soon after, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is based in Pakistan and backed by the Pakistani administration, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was carried out by its suicide bomber.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take speedy action against Pakistan and terrorism after around 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a terrorist attack in Pulwama on Thursday.

Ramdev said, "PM Modi has to take big action. Everyone should stand with the Prime Minister. There should not be cheap politics on this matter because it is about India's unity, integrity and sovereignty."

Terming the attack as an attempt to break the country's unity, Ramdev said: "India should not leave any terrorist alive, especially Hafiz Saeed and Azhar Masood. They should be captured and brought to India, be it dead or alive."

Ramdev also called Pakistan "dumb and fool" country and said India should teach them a lesson.

"We have to move beyond surgical strike, it is time to merge PoK with India. All the militants and terrorist in PoK should be neutralised. Destroy all the operational terrorist camps in PoK and if possible merge it with India. Without this, Pakistan will not learn a lesson," Ramdev added.

In case of war between India and Pakistan, Ramdev said: "This matter is about India's bravery. We don't need to fear about the nuclear attack. If Pakistan has a nuclear bomb then we have 10 nuclear to give them a befitting reply."

Around 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when their convoy was targeted by a suspected suicide bomber of Pakistan-backed JeM in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway.

The convoy of 78 buses, in which around 2500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar, came under attack around 3.15 pm at Ladhu Modi Lethpora.

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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday paid tribute to CRPF soldiers who lost their lives in the Pulwama terror attack, at the wreath-laying ceremony at CRPF camp in Budgam.

Nearly 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a terrorist attack in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway on Thursday.

Accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik and Army's Northern Command Chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, the Home Minister also lend a shoulder to mortal remains of a CRPF soldier.

The Home Minister arrived here in the wake of the dastardly attack in Pulwama. He will hold review meetings with senior security and police officials to make a ground level assessment and review further operational actions.

Earlier, the Home Minister has said, "The attack was carried out by Pakistan backed Jaish-e-Mohammed. A strong reply will be given and I assure the people of the country this. The country pays tribute to the brave jawans who were martyred.

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A day after Pulwama terror attack, Union Home Minister Rajanth Singh on Friday held a meeting with Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik and various other state officials to make a ground level assessment and review further operational actions in Srinagar.

Earlier in the day, Singh paid tribute to the deceased soldiers during the wreath-laying ceremony at CRPF camp in Budgam.

Soon after the attack, in which nearly 40 CRPF personnel were killed, the minister had assured, "The attack was carried out by Pakistan backed Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). A strong reply will be given and I assure the people of the country this. The country pays tribute to the brave jawans who were martyred."

In the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir, on Thursday the convoy of CRPF personnel was targeted by a suicide bomber of JeM in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway.

The convoy of 78 buses, in which around 2500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar, came under attack at around 3.15 pm at Ladhu Modi Lethpora.

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A day after the deadly terror attack in Pulwama where around 40 CRPF personnel were killed, a group of people on Friday congregated outside High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi to stage a protest.

The security around the Pakistan High Commission has been escalated as a safety measure following the Pulwama terror attack.

"You have seen what has happened yesterday. This is mass murder," a protestor said on the killing of the CRPF personnel.

Around 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when their convoy was targeted by a suspected suicide bomber of Pakistan-backed JeM in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway.

The convoy of 78 buses, in which around 2500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar, came under attack around 3.15 pm at Ladhu Modi Lethpora.

Earlier today, Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood evaded questions when quizzed on the deadly terror attack in which nearly 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives.

Anti-Pakistan protests are being held across the nation to condemn the dastardly terror attack. While key leaders across the globe stood in support of India in the wake of the ghastly attack, anti-Pakistan slogans were raised in Uttar Pradesh.

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The terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir on Thursday evoked strong condemnation from political leaders from across the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned the attack, that took place in Pulwama claiming the lives of 40 personnel and asserted that the sacrifices of the brave security personnel will not go in vain.

President Kovind too condemned the attack and assured that the entire nation is united to fight against the forces of terror and evil.

Union minister Jitendra Singh told ANI, "It's a dastardly act done out of desperation. I call to question those who while living in India and describing themselves as mainstream Kashmir politicians tend to be apologetic about these terror activities sponsored from across Indian soil."

Hansraj Ahir, MoS Home asserted that a befitting reply to those who attacked the jawans will be given. Ahir told ANI, "The IED blast that took place in Pulwama has martyred many of our CRPF jawans. The martyrdom of the jawans is unfortunate and we take it as a challenge. Befitting reply will be given."

Former Defence minister Manohar Parrikar took to Twitter to express his pain. He said, "The attack on CRPF jawans at Pulwama is an act of extreme cowardice & disregard for human life. India's resolve for peace mustn't be counted for weakness & passivity. India stands with CRPF, its martyred jawans & their families."

While addressing a public rally BJP President Amit Shah too extended condolences to the families of the jawans who lost their lives in the ghastly attack. He said, "I would like to extend my condolences to the families of the martyred jawans, the whole nation is standing with the families like a rock."

Condemning the attack, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the media, "The attack was a cowardly act and India will give a befitting reply to it. We condemn this incident."

Speaking on similar lines Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath told ANI, "We condemn this cowardly terror attack. This is a crime against humanity. The sacrifice of our jawans will not go in vain. The entire nation should condemn this and support Indian government's fight against terrorism."

The Polit Bureau of the CPI (M) too strongly condemned the terrorist attack mounted on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in Jammu & Kashmir.

In a statement it said, "Violence is not the answer to resolve issues which require the engagement of all stakeholders in the state. The Modi government had promised, three years ago, to initiate a political process involving all stakeholders through a dialogue. This has not happened. This must be done immediately."

Adding further it said, "The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) calls upon the Central government to ensure that peace and normalcy prevails in the state. The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) conveys its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of the personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty."

Around 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in the deadliest terror attack on security forces in a decade when their convoy was targeted in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway.

The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

A bus, in which 42 CRPF personnel were travelling, was extensively damaged in the blast which was followed by firing on the vehicle. The injured have been shifted to a hospital.

Earlier in September 2016, an Army camp was stormed by terrorists in Uri, killing 19 soldiers.

Prior to that, 28 BSF personnel were killed in an attack on a convoy of the paramilitary force in 2004.

Pakistan-based terror outfit JeM claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by a suicide bomber, according to a local news agency.

A host of other leaders, including leaders from US, Russia, France and also condemned the attack.

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An NIA team with a suitable forensic component on Friday reached Awantipora. They will be assisting the Jammu and Kashmir Police in forensic evaluation of the crime scene.

This comes after nearly 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when their convoy was targeted in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway.

The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

A bus, in which 42 CRPF personnel were travelling, was extensively damaged in the blast, was followed by firing on the vehicle.

Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by a suicide bomber.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said "the blood of Indians is boiling" and issued a clear warning to Pakistan, declaring that the "guardians" of the perpetrators of the Pulwama terror attack will be "definitely punished".

Asserting that a "befitting reply" will be given, he said, "Our neighbouring country forgets that this (India) is a country with new intent and new policy."

He said the terror organisations and their "guardians" have committed a "grave mistake" by carrying out the attack and that the Indian armed forces have been given the go-ahead to hit back at the "time", "place" and "form" of their choosing.

"Haivaniyat ka poora hisab liya jayega... Muh todd jawab diya jayega (the inhuman act will be fully avenged. A befitting reply will be given)," Modi said.

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India lodged a strong protest against Pakistan as its High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood was summoned by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on Friday in connection with the Pulwama terror attack.

According to sources, Gokhale issued a very strong demarche in connection with the terrorist attack in Pulwama and conveyed that Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

He also conveyed to Mahmood that Pakistan must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism from operating from its territories, the source added.

The Foreign Secretary also rejected the statement made by the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan yesterday with regards to the attack, the source said.

As many as 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber attacked a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district with a vehicle laden with explosives.

The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar - the slain personnel were in a bus which had 42 CRPF men on board.

JeM, a Pakistan-based terrorist group, claimed responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged in the blast and ensuing gunfire on the vehicle.

India has, on Friday, revoked Pakistan's status as the Most Favoured Nation as investigations are underway.

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Curfew has been imposed in Jammu after scores of people took to the streets and blocked the Jammu-Pathankot highway on Friday to protest against the deadly terror attack which claimed the lives of around 40 CRPF personnel.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC have also been imposed in Jammu, while data services in various districts of the state have been suspended in the wake of protests by locals.

"In order to maintain law and order, public tranquillity and to protect life and property of the general public, in the exercise of the power vested in me under Section 144 CrPC, I hereby impose curfew in the Jammu city," read a letter signed by Jammu's district magistrate Ramesh Kumar.

Security has been beefed up in the state to prevent further attack.

Speaking to ANI, Udhampur Superintendent of Police Rajiv Pandey said, "Paramilitary, as well as army jawans, have been deployed to foil any other incident if any. We have increased our vigil in Jammu-Kashmir highway, special checkpoints have been established at various parts, checking and frisking has also been increased."

While demanding a befitting reply to the terrorists, protesters raised slogans against Pakistan and militants supporters in Kashmir and widely criticized the brutal killing in the blast.

Speaking the ANI, ABVP leader Naman Dogra said, "I want to request the government to take action against Pakistan so that it does not dare to repeat its mistake."

A section of people agitating also condemned the government for not looking after the safety of the soldiers. "I want to ask the politician why there is proper security for your caravan, but not for the CRPF jawans," said a local.

In Mumbai too, locals took to streets to protest against the terror attack.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured that those behind the Pulwama terror attack will be "definitely punished" for the "grave mistake" committed.

The CRPF personnel were killed when their convoy was targeted on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway on Thursday.

The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Soon after, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is based in Pakistan and backed by the Pakistani administration, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was carried out by its suicide bomber.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Afghanistan, while condemning the Pulwama terror attack, said the attack is a "copy-paste of what Pakistan backed terror groups" do in their country.

"The heinous act of terror in Kashmir has all the hallmarks of a common source & sponsor of terrorism in our region. It is a copy paste of what Pakistan backed terror groups do in Afghanistan. We condemn the attack & convey our condolences to Indian people," Amrullah Saleh, the acting Minister of Interior of Afghanistan, tweeted in the aftermath of the heinous assault.

The dastardly terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district claimed the lives of 40 security personnel on Thursday. The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar - the slain personnel were in a bus which had 42 CRPF men on board.

Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has since claimed responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged in a blast and ensuing gunfire on the vehicle.

The international community, right from Thailand to the United States, has severely condemned the terrorist attack, extending their support for India.

Scott Morrison, the Australian Prime Minister has also decried the horrific incident while tweeting, "Australia condemns the heinous terrorist attack on an Indian police convoy in Jammu and Kashmir. We convey our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and all those injured. Our thoughts are with my friend Prime Minister @narendramodi and the Indian people," on Friday.

Furthermore, Spain and Italy too have condemned the attack.

"We strongly condemn the attack perpetrated today in #Pulwama, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, against a convoy of the #CRPF. The Government of Spain expresses its support to the people and authorities of #India in these moments of pain," Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted in Spanish.

"Astonishment for a serious terrorist attack that hit Indian security forces in #Pulwama, with numerous deaths and injuries. # Italy condemns terrorism in all its forms. Strong solidarity and heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims," Italy's Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted in Italian.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted that the sacrifices of the brave security personnel will not go in vain while condemning the attack. President Ram Nath Kovind too has assured that the entire nation is united to fight against the forces of terror and evil following the ghastly assault.

Mobile internet services stand suspended in Jammu in the wake of the attack.

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Several countries, including Canada, Germany, Saudi Arabia and UAE, have condemned the ghastly Pulwama attack which claimed the lives of nearly 40 CRPF personnel in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Canada strongly condemns the terrorist attack that took place in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir today. Canada offers its deepest condolences and profound sympathy to the families and friends of those killed and injured in the attack," a statement issued by Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland noted.

"Canada remains steadfast in its support of the global fight against terrorism. We stand in solidarity with the government and the people of India in the fight to prevent radicalization and defeat terrorism in all its forms," the statement further puts forth.

Around 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives when their bus - which had 42 personnel on board - was targeted by a suicide bomber from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) on Thursday. Their bus was part of 78 vehicle convoy which was transporting 2,500 personnel from Jammu to Srinagar when the terrorist attack took place. JeM has since taken responsibility for the attack.

"Germany condemns terrorism in all forms. We are gravely shocked and deeply saddened. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims. Germany stands with its strategic partner India," Jasper Wieck, Charge d'Affaires of the German Embassy in India told ANI on Friday.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said, "The UAE stands in solidarity with the government and people of India in their fight against violence and extremism," while referring to the dastardly attack.

Saudi Arabia has also put forth its denunciation of the attack. Riyadh, on Friday, reinforced its support to India against terrorism and extremism, wishing for the speedy recovery of the wounded.

The nations join an ever-growing list of countries who have strongly denounced the attack while extending their support to India. The United States, in fact, has called on Pakistan to cease providing a safe haven and support to terrorist organisations in the wake of the deadliest attack on Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

India, on Friday, revoked the Most Favoured Nation status awarded to Pakistan following the attack while investigations are underway to bring the perpetrators to justice, Indian authorities noted.

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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman returned to India from Sweden on Friday and will attend a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack in Kashmir.

Union Minister Arun Jaitley, who will assume charge as the Finance Minister today, is also likely attend the meeting, sources said.

Besides the Prime Minister, the CCS comprises the ministers for Home, Finance, Defence and External Affairs.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed when their convoy was targeted on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway on Thursday.

The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was caused by a suicide bomber, according to a local news agency.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be visiting Srinagar after the CCS meeting to take stock of the situation in the wake of the attack. He will hold review meetings with senior security and police officials to make a ground-level assessment and review operational actions.

Meanwhile, arrangements are also being made to airlift the mortal remains of the soldiers who lost their lives in the ghastly attack.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Rajyavardhan Rathore, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force paid tributes to the CRPF personnel who were killed in Pulwama terror attack.

The mortal remains of 40 CRPF personnel, wrapped in tricolour, were brought to Palam airport on Friday evening.

Most of the soldiers, who fell victim to the dastardly terror attack in Pulwama that shook the nation hailed from Uttar Pradesh.

Ten of the 40 martyred soldiers were from Uttar Pradesh, five hailed from Rajasthan, four were from Punjab while two each belonged to Maharashtra and Uttarakhand.

Other soldiers who lost their lives were from Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka, Assam and West Bengal.

Earlier in the day, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), made a review and an assessment of the situation on the ground.

As many as 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed after a suicide bomber attacked a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district with a vehicle laden with explosives.

The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar - the slain personnel were in a bus which had 42 CRPF men on board.

JeM, a Pakistan-based terrorist group, claimed responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged in the blast and ensuing gunfire on the vehicle.

Reflecting the outrage in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier on Friday said, "the blood of Indians is boiling" and issued a clear warning to Pakistan, declaring that the "guardians" of the perpetrators of the Pulwama terror attack will be "definitely punished".

Asserting that a "befitting reply" will be given, he said, "our neighbouring country forgets that this (India) is a country with new intent and new policy."

He said the terror organisations and their "guardians" have committed a "grave mistake" by carrying out the attack and that the Indian armed forces have been given a go-ahead to hit back at the "time", "place" and "form" of their choosing.

He said Pakistan is making a "big mistake" by thinking that it can destabilise India "through its tactics and conspiracies."

Modi urged the international community to unite to wipe out the scourge of terrorism and isolate those responsible for the menace.

The Prime Minister also thanked the countries which have supported India and condemned this incident in the strongest of terms.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday paid tribute to 40 CRPF personnel, who were killed in a terror attack in Pulwama on Thursday. The prime minister observed a two-minute silence before flagging-off semi-high speed train Vande Bharat Express on Friday.

"I pay tribute to soldiers who lost their lives in Pulwama Attack. Our security forces have been given full freedom. We have full faith in their bravery," Prime Minister Modi said.

"The forces behind this act of terrorism and those responsible for it will be definitely punished," the prime minister added.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi cancelled all scheduled political engagements in Madhya Pradesh's Itarsi and Dhar in the wake of the ghastly terror attack.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed when their convoy was targeted on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway on Thursday.

The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was caused by a suicide bomber, according to a local news agency.

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All prior commitments of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for Saturday and Sunday have been cancelled in wake of the Pulwama attack.

The Defence Minister will be visiting Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to pay last respect to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans of both states who lost their lives in the Pulwama terror attack.

On Friday, Sitharama paid tributes to 40 CRPF jawans whose mortal remains, wrapped in tricolour, were brought to Palam airport in the capital.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday directed the ministers in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states and party MPs to attend the last rites of CRPF jawans, who were martyred in Pulwama terror attack, in their respective states and constituencies.On Friday, Prime Minister Modi, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Rajyavardhan Rathore, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force paid tributes to the CRPF personnel.Most of the soldiers, who fell victim to the dastardly terror attack in Pulwama that shook the nation, hailed from Uttar Pradesh.Ten of the 40 martyred soldiers were from Uttar Pradesh, five from Rajasthan, four were from Punjab while two each belonged to Maharashtra and Uttarakhand.Other soldiers who lost their lives were from Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka, Assam, and West Bengal.Nearly 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber attacked a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district with a vehicle laden with explosives.The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

JeM, a Pakistan-based terrorist group, claimed the responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged in the blast.Reflecting the outrage in the country, Prime Minister Modi earlier on Friday said, "The blood of Indians is boiling." He issued a clear warning to Pakistan, declaring that the "guardians" of the perpetrators of the Pulwama terror attack will be "definitely punished.

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Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi have cancelled their upcoming trip to Pakistan, following the Pulwama terror attack that killed around 40 CRPF personnel on Thursday. The couple was scheduled to attend poet Kaifi Azmi's birth centenary celebrations in Karachi.

"Kranchi art council had invited. Shabana and me for a two day lit conference about Kaifi Azmi and his poetry. We have cancelled that. In 1965 during the indo Pak war Kaifi saheb had written a poem. AUR PHIR KRISHAN NE ARJUN SE KAHA," Akhtar wrote on Twitter.

Responding to one of the comments on his tweet, Akhtar wrote, "Dont get upset with me. talk to those who are running your country , who are protecting and nurturing terrorists like Masood Azhar . Those who had sent Qasab to my city . If you are getting a terrible reputation they are responsible no one else ."

A CRPF convoy, while moving from Jammu to Srinagar, was attacked by a suicide bomber in Lethpora area on the national highway at around 3.15 pm yesterday.

According to CRPF, 37 of its personnel were killed and 5 were injured in the attack. Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Expressing her anguish, Shabana Azmi tweeted, "I am filled with pain and grief and all else ..by the dastardly #Pulwama attack . For the 1st time in all these years I feel weakened in my belief that people to people contact can force the Establishment to do the right thing.We will need to call halt to cultural exchange."

She further wrote, "#Pulwama attack There is no way we can carry on with cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan even as our martyrs are laying down their lives for us. I stand in solidarity with the grieving families."

However, she added, "But lets not lose sight of d fact dat there is a difference between d Pakistani Establishment n d people of Pakistan n vice versa. On both sides of d border stand sisters n brothers divided by circumstances with which they had nothing 2 do."

Yesterday, when the news of the attack was made public, Akhtar had tweeted, "I have a special relation with CRPF. I have written Their anthem Before putting the pen to paper I met a number of CRPF officers n what ever I learned my respect admiration and love for these braves increased by many a fold Today I share the grief of the dear ones of the martyrs.

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The High Court Dean of Diplomatic Corps Hans Dannenberg Castellanos, on Friday condoled the death of CRPF personnel in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kasmir's Pulwama, and extended support to the Indian government in their "fight against terrorism".

Around 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into a bus carrying them on Thursday. The bus was extensively damaged in the blast, which was followed by firing on the vehicle.

The High Court Dean of Diplomatic Corps Hans Dannenberg Castellanos in a statement said, "On behalf of Diplomatic Corps in India, we would like to express our deep sympathy to Indian government and families of victims of this horrendous act."

The statement further added that firm support will be given to the Indian government in its "fight against terrorism".

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is based in Pakistan and backed by the Pakistani administration, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was carried out by its suicide bomber.

After the dastardly act, India demanded that the UN ban JeM and its chief Masood Azhar who roams freely in Pakistan.

In a statement, India's External Affairs Ministry said all UN member countries should support a proposal for proscribing Azhar as an international terrorist.

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After Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama witnessed a dastardly terror attack, which claimed lives of 40 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Thursday, condemnation and sympathy poured in from all quarters of the Bollywood.

Condemning the attack lyricist Javed Akhtar tweeted, "I have a special relation with CRPF. I have written Their anthem Before putting the pen to paper I met a number of CRPF officers and whatever I learned my respect admiration and love for these braves increased by many a fold. Today I share the grief of the dear ones of the martyrs."

Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor expressed shock and said, "Saddened & Shocked to hear of the cowardly attack on our #CRPFJawans in #Pulwama my heart goes out to their families..."

Alia Bhatt also took to the micro-blogging site and wrote, "The Pulwama attack is despicable. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the martyrs. I pray for the recovery of the injured."

In the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir, around 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when their convoy was targeted by a suspected suicide bomber of Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

The convoy of 78 buses, in which around 2500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar, came under attack at around 3.15 pm at Ladhu Modi Lethpora.

This is the deadliest attack on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier in September 2016, an Army camp was stormed by terrorists in Uri, killing 19 soldiers.

Prior to that, 28 BSF personnel were killed in an attack on a convoy of the paramilitary force in 2004.

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Coming down heavily on Pakistan over the ghastly terror attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Friday said the neighbouring country is "highly frustrated" due to the successful completion of Panchayat elections and a restriction on stone pelting in the state.

In an exclusive telephonic interview to ANI, Malik said: "Pakistan is frustrated by successful elections, they could not recruit new terrorists, and stone pelting has stopped so it wanted to do something. We have alerted all installations and cantonments; Pakistan may do something else."

Following the terror attack, Pakistan, while terming the attack as a "matter of grave concern", had strongly rejected allegations of the country's link to the incident.

In response to this, Malik retorted: "Pakistan is talking nonsense. We saw terrorists holding open rallies in Pakistan saying we will do something and openly threatening India."

On being asked to share the next course of action, Malik said after attending the wreath-laying ceremony of those who lost their lives with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, there will be a review meeting with top security and intelligence officials to find out the security lapses that led to the attack.

"I will be leaving for wreath laying ceremony of martyrs in Kashmir, the Home Minister (Rajnath Singh) is also coming. We will hold a review meeting of with top security and intelligence officials, we will find out where are the lapses."

Around 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into a bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on Thursday.

The bus, consisting of 42 CRPF personnel, was extensively damaged in the blast, which was followed by firing on the vehicle.

Soon after, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is based in Pakistan and backed by the Pakistani administration, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was carried out by its suicide bomber.A

After the dastardly act, India demanded that the UN ban JeM and its chief Masood Azhar who roams freely in Pakistan.

In a statement, India's External Affairs Ministry said all UN member countries should support a proposal for proscribing Azhar as an international terrorist.

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Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Friday continued his 'dharna' along with his colleagues outside Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi's official residence for the third day demanding that she accord sanction for 39 government proposals including a free rice scheme.

Bedi has been at loggerheads with the Puducherry government on various issues, with Narayanasamy accusing her of delaying clearance to welfare schemes and bypassing the elected government.

On Wednesday, the chief minister had begun a protest outside the Raj Bhawan, Bedi's official residence, alleging that she was misusing her powers and also interfering in the day-to-day activities of the government.

Protesting outside the Raj Bhawan wearing black clothes, Narayanasamy alleged that Bedi was forcing upon the law-abiding citizen's rules such as the compulsory wearing of helmets among others.

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"The blood of Indians is boiling," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday as he sent out a stern warning to Pakistan, declaring that the "guardians" of the perpetrators of the Pulwama terror attack will be "definitely punished" with a "strong reply".

Modi said the terrorist organisations and their "guardians" have committed a "grave mistake" and that the security forces have been given "complete freedom" to act.

He was speaking at an event here after chairing a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) which decided on a number of steps, including withdrawing the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status granted unilaterally to Pakistan.

Pakistan is making a "big mistake" by thinking that it can destabilise India "through its tactics and conspiracies", the Prime Minister said while paying homage to the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in the Pulwama attack yesterday.

"I want to tell terrorist organisations and their guardians that they have committed a grave mistake. Those behind the attack will be definitely punished for their actions...The blood of Indians is boiling... A strong reply will be give to this attack," Modi said here while flagging off the Delhi-Varanasi high-speed Vande Bharat Express train.

After the attack, Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit claimed responsibility for it, saying it was carried out by a suicide bomber.

"If our neighbour, which is totally isolated in the world, thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a big mistake. Its plans will never succeed, they will not be allowed to succeed," the Prime Minister asserted.

The Prime Minister also appealed to leaders of parties not to make political comments at this "sensitive and emotional time".

"I understand the emotions of those who are criticising us. They have full right to do so. But I request all my friends that it is a sensitive and emotional time. So stay away from political comments. A message that the whole country is unitedly fighting against this attack will go across the world," Modi said.

He urged the international community to unite to wipe out the scourge of terrorism and isolate those responsible for the menace.

The Prime Minister also thanked the countries which have supported India and condemned this incident in the strongest of terms.

Modi, who was accompanied by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, observed a two-minute silence in memory of the para-military force personnel before flagging-off the train.

Earlier, the Prime Minister chaired a meeting of the CCS to discuss the situation in the wake of the attack.

"Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands withdrawn," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said after the meeting which was also attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

India had granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, a year after the formation of World Trade Organisation (WTO), but Pakistan never accorded the same status to India.

India will also make all possible efforts to ensure "complete isolation" of Pakistan in the international community and work for early adoption of the long-pending Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), which is pending before the United Nations, Jaitley said.

Modi also cancelled all scheduled political engagements in Madhya Pradesh's Itarsi and Dhar in the wake of the terror strike.

The CRPF personnel were killed when their convoy was targeted on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway on Thursday.The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

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Union Minister and former Indian Army Chief General (retired) VK Singh on Friday said Pakistan should take stringent action against the banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and its chief Masood Azhar after the dastardly terror attack in Pulwama.

Condemning the attack on a CRPF convoy in which at least 40 CRPF personnel were killed, Singh told ANI, "Appropriate action will be taken, it is a very sad incident, it is deplorable, it is something which should lead us to take action so that this should not happen again. Pakistan must take action against JeM and Masood Azhar, the onus is on Pakistan now."

Meanwhile, former Army Chief Bikram Singh said terrorists have now changed the tactics of attack.

"It shows the change in tactics of terrorists. An IED has been used after a long time, IEDs were used in the past, in 2001-2002 when I was there, this was a normal practice of terrorists, and then they resorted to firing from distance,' he said.

The former Army Chief also opined that radicalisation levels in Jammu and Kashmir have gone up.

"But this thing where a local boy who has been radicalised, he has undertaken a 'fidayeen' action on a moving convoy, shows the emboldened instance of local terrorists, also the fact that radicalisation levels have gone up," Bikram Singh said.

37 CRPF personnel were killed while five others sustained injuries after a suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into a bus carrying CRPF personnel, according to an official statement released on Thursday

The bus carrying 42 CRPF personnel was extensively damaged in the blast, which was followed by firing on the vehicle.

Soon after, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is based in Pakistan and backed by the Pakistani administration, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was carried out by its suicide bomber.

After the dastardly act, India demanded that the UN ban JeM and its chief Masood Azhar who roams freely in Pakistan.

In a statement, India's External Affairs Ministry said all UN member countries should support a proposal for proscribing Azhar as an international terrorist.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The hand of Pakistan in dreaded terror attack on the CRPF convoy in Pulwama on Thursday has been completely revealed, said Lieutenant General (Rtd) DS Hooda on Friday, while underlining the need for "a more consistent and long term policy" to deal with the menace of terrorism.

Lieutenant General Hooda, who oversaw the 2016 Surgical Strike, told ANI: "It is a big tragedy. Very clearly Pakistan's hand is completely revealed. There needs to be a response to this, but let's have a more consistent and long term policy."

Nearly 40 CRPF personnel were killed when a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist rammed a vehicle carrying over 100-kg explosives into their bus on Srinagar-Jammu highway on Thursday at around 3.15 pm at Ladhu Modi Lethpora. The convoy consisted of 78 buses in which around 2,500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Earlier on Friday, Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood evaded media questions when quizzed on the deadly terror attack in which nearly 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives.

India on Friday also announced the withdrawal of most favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. New Delhi had granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, a year after the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but Pakistan never reciprocated.

Anti-Pakistan protests were held on Friday across the nation to condemn the dastardly terror attack, while the key world leaders from across the globe stood in support of India, underlining the need for defeating the menace of terrorism in unison.

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Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the kin of the two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans from the state who were martyred in Pulwama terror attack.The Chief Minister also urged all the educational institutions in the state to observe two minutes silence on Saturday at 11 am.The two soldiers from the state martyred in the terror attack were identified as Manoj Kumar Behra and PK Sahoo.Around 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into a bus carrying them on Thursday. The bus was extensively damaged in the blast.

The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.Soon after the attack, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is based in Pakistan and backed by Islamabad, claimed the responsibility for the attack, saying the attack was carried out by its suicide bomber.

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Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday paid a condolence visit to the kin of former Goa Deputy Chief Minister Francis D'Souza, who died on February 14.

Parrikar reached the D'Souza official residence in Mapusa town on a wheelchair with a tube in the nose and a urinary sheath connected to him.

All government offices and schools in the state have declared a holiday on Friday. A three-day state mourning has also been announced.

D'Souza was undergoing treatment at a private hospital here after undergoing surgery for cancer at a hospital in the US.

D'Souza, who had been ailing for some months now, was dropped from the State cabinet along with his colleague Pandurang Madkaikar on health ground. He was removed from the cabinet when he was being treated in the US.

Francis D'Souza was elected to the Goa Legislative Assembly in 1999 as Goa Rajiv Congress party candidate and was later shifted to BJP to get elected to the state legislative assembly in 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017 from Mapusa constituency.

With his death, the BJP's strength in the 40-member Goa Assembly came down to 13.

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Lockheed Martin will participate at the 12th Aero India Exhibition, to be held at the Yelahanka Air Force Station located here, Feb. 20 - 24, 2019.

The company's participation in the premier biennial aerospace event in the country reaches back to its inception in 1996. This year, Lockheed Martin will present a selection of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, precision weapon systems, as well as the Indago unmanned aerial system which offers payload options and advanced ground control software, among others.

Lockheed Martin representatives will also participate in a number of showcases that reflect the work the corporation has undertaken with the India Innovation Growth Program (IIGP), which Lockheed Martin Co-founded over 12 years ago. These events include the Start-up Showcase and Drone Olympics.

Lockheed Martin will be located in Hall E, Stand E2.19. This story is provided by NewsVoir.

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"The barbaric terrorist attack yesterday on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, in which nearly 40 jawans became martyrs, is an attack on India and a crime against humanity," said senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani on Friday.

"Terrorists and their sponsors should know that India can neither be divided nor deterred by their evil designs. The entire nation should stand united in firm support of whatever way the Government of India decides to respond to this attack," he added.

"My heart goes to the families of the bereaved jawans. And I pray for the recovery of all those injured in this attack," the senior BJP leader said in his concluding remark.

In the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir, around 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when their convoy was targeted by a suspected suicide bomber of Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway.

In the wake of the attack, India suspended 'Most Favoured Nation' (MFN) status granted to Pakistan and called for international isolation.

BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav lauded the government's move and said, "Withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan was an important tactical step by govt. Ministry of External Affairs will undertake major diplomatic initiatives to ensure that Pakistan is brought to justice."

Punjab Minister and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu called for dialogue in the wake of the deadly attack.

"It is condemnable, it is a cowardly act. It needs a permanent solution through dialogue, how long will the Jawans sacrifice their lives? How long will the bloodshed continue? People who do this must be punished. Hurling abuses won't help," he told ANI.

The convoy of 78 buses, in which around 2500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar, came under attack at around 3.15 pm at Ladhu Modi Lethpora.

This is the deadliest attack on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier in September 2016, an Army camp was stormed by terrorists in Uri, killing 19 soldiers. Prior to that, 28 BSF personnel were killed in an attack on a convoy of the paramilitary force in 2004.

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Launching a concerted diplomatic offensive against Pakistan in the wake of Pulwama terror attack, Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday apprised around 25 Heads of Mission (HoMs) about Islamabad's role in sponsoring terror outfit-Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

"As a part of continuing diplomatic efforts to expose Pakistan's role in Pulwama terror attack, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale has met around 25 Heads of Mission (HoMs) in New Delhi, including five permanent members of the United Nations," the source told ANI.

"All HoMs were left in no doubt about the role played by Pakistan-based and supported Jaish-e-Mohammed in the terrorist attack. India raised the demand that Pakistan must cease forthwith all support to terror groups operating from the areas under their control," said the source.

"Foreign Secretary Gokhale also highlighted the role played by Pakistan in using terrorism as an instrument of its state policy. The MEA will continue to take all steps to expose the complicity of Pakistan in Pulwama terror attack and demand immediate and verifiable action against Jaish-e-Mohammed and its leader Masood Azhar," added the source.

MEA's meeting with HoMs comes after India vowed to take all possible diplomatic steps to ensure Pakistan's complete isolation internationally.

The meeting, held at the Ministry of External Affairs here in South Block, started at 6 pm on Friday. The representatives from South Korea, Sweden, Slovakia, France, Spain, Bhutan, Germany, Hungary, Italy, European Union, Canada, Britain, Russia, Israel, Australia, and Japan were present in the meeting.

Earlier in the day, India lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over Pulwama terror attack and its High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood was summoned by the Foreign Secretary in connection with the attack.

According to sources, Gokhale issued a strong demarche in connection with the terrorist attack in Pulwama and conveyed that Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against JeM.

He also conveyed to Mahmood that Pakistan must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism from operating from its territories, the source added.

The Foreign Secretary also rejected the statement made by the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan on Thursday with regards to the attack.

Nearly 40 CRPF personnel were killed when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist rammed a vehicle carrying over 100-kg explosives into their bus on Srinagar-Jammu highway on Thursday at around 3.15 pm at Ladhu Modi Lethpora.

The convoy consisted of 78 buses in which around 2,500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar. JeM, a terror outfit based in Pakistan and led by Masood Azhar, has carried out several terror attacks in India including the attack on Pathankot airbase in 2016.

Masood was released by then Central government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in exchange for hostages on board flight IC-814 in December 1999. India has approached the United Nations to list Masood as a global terrorist, but China always vetoes New Delhi's bid in this regard.

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The Telangana Police arrested six people for 'forcibly' marrying off a young couple at a park in Kandlakoya village on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Thursday.

The six accused have been identified as Srihari Chary, Anand, Avinash, Ashok, Suresh Kumar and, Chandra Shekar.

The incident was reported from Oxygen Park in Kandlakoya village in Medchal district of Telangana. On Valentine's Day, these 'Hindu activists' found the two teenagers in a park and forced them to get married.

A video of the whole episode was filmed by the activists and uploaded on social media. In the video, the boy can be seen tying around the girl's neck a thread smeared with turmeric, which appears to be a 'mangalsutra.'

The video also shows the activists congratulating the couple and clicking a picture with them.

Balanagar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Padmaja said, "We have received a complaint from the girl's father who was forced to get married in the park stating that he left his daughter at college and later he noticed a video is circulating in social media in which his daughter with his long relative Rakesh was in a park and few persons forced them to get married."

The DCP further stated that the father went to Kondlakoya Park where the incident happened and got to know that few persons misbehaved with his daughter and forced to get married to Rakesh.

Following the father's complaint, a case has been registered under Section 342, 354, 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Further investigation in the matter is underway.

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A Delhi court on Friday reserved for February 19 its order on the bail plea of lawyer-businessman Gautam Khaitan, who was sent to judicial custody in a black money and money laundering case.

The order was reserved Patiala House court Special Court Judge Arvind Kumar.

Khaitan, an accused in the AgustaWestland case, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the case. Later, Khaitan moved a bail petition after which the court had sought a reply from the ED till February 15.

The ED opposed the bail plea of Khaitan and said, "As far as the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) is concerned, there is a prosecution complaint in this. We have read laundering of money. There is no question of retrospectivity as it remains a continuing AcT."

The agency said, "During the investigation in the past 14-20 days, we have come up with three more accounts which have never been mentioned before. He is a master launderer on a pretext of a law firm and a repeat offender."

It said, "Khaitan's income tax accounts and bank details are in variances. There is an apparent attempt to hide his foreign accounts used for laundering of money."

The ED claimed, "Half of the money laundering of this country is done through this man. He is at the centre of the controversy. Any money coming from Dubai and Mauritius is through him. There are details which he denied but we have established the proof."

Appearing for Khaitan in the court, senior advocate Siddhartha Luthra said, "How can my client be prosecuted under the Act when the accounts in question as per the Income Tax department are closed. What is the justification of arresting him under the PMLA? The Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) has been denied to me. How cleverly the issue of search has not been mentioned. The ED went through everything, file, documents, computers. The dates of transaction have still not found anything. This is a case of malicious and unjustified arrest."

He submitted, "This court has seen my conduct. There has been no violation of the conditions and there has been no contempt against me. If conduct is to be seen then the difference between my conduct and the Department's conduct is apparent. This is punitive detention and not a legally justified detention. Retrospectivity is not accepted in the criminal law."

On February 9, a Delhi court had granted six days custodial interrogation of Khaitan to the ED in the case.

A few weeks back, the Income Tax department sleuths had raided the offices and various other properties in Delhi-NCR belonging to Khaitan.The I-T department has claimed to have gathered evidence against Khaitan for allegedly receiving kickbacks in other defence deals too, besides AgustaWestland during the UPA tenure.

On the recommendation of the I-T department, the ED had registered a case against him under the Black Money Act.

Khaitan was in ED's custody in connection with a case under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income) and Assets Act, 2015.

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Egyptian lawmakers on Thursday (local time) overwhelmingly voted to pass a series of controversial constitutional amendments, including an extension to presidential terms which could see President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi staying in power until 2034.

The approval received in the Egyptian Parliament will then head for a national referendum. Under the proposal, the presidential terms will be extended from the current four years to six years and give more powers to the country's military, CNN reported quoting Egypt's Al Ahram news.

"Some 485 members of the 596-seat assembly approved the changes in a Thursday session, more than the two-thirds quota required to pass any changes to the country's national charter," according to Al Ahram Online.

Sisi's second four-year term is due to end in 2022. Following this, the term would be extended to six years and the proposal would allow the Egyptian President to run for two more terms. However, any person after Sisi will be only allowed to run for two presidential terms, as per Al Ahram citing CNN.

Supporters of the constitutional amendments argue that the changes will bring stability to the country's economy which is slowly recovering from political turmoil of the last few years amid an ongoing Islamist insurgency in the desert nation.

However, critics say that the proposal would further advocate authoritarianism, which was already seen during the decades-long rule of former President Hosni Mubarak, who was ultimately ousted from power in 2011.

Last year, Sisi emerged victorious in the presidential elections held in two rounds, securing more than 90 per cent of votes each time. He had previously said that he had no intention of remaining Egypt's president for life.

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HiMedia Laboratories, a leading bioscience company, has been conferred with the Pride of Maharashtra award by Maharashtra Industrial and Economic Development Association (MIEDA).

The company was ranked as the best company for 2017.

The award will be given at a ceremony on February 21 in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

HiMedia has a presence in more than 150 countries and is among the top three brands in microbiology in the world.

The company has a rich portfolio of quality products backed by strong research and development in various areas of bioscience.

HiMedia Laboratories was founded by Dr Gangadhar Motiram Warke, his wife Saroj and younger brother Vishnu M. Warke.

.

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Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh) [India], Feb 15 (ANI)

SSP Akash Kulhari said, "The head of the cyber cell saw an objectionable tweet on Thursday and reported it. An FIR is registered under relevant sections including IT Act 67 and IPC 153-A."

"His Twitter ID was deactivated so we were unable to gather more information. According to his account, he is a Mathematics student of AMU. We have also contacted the AMU administration," said Kulhari.

When asked about the accused, AMU PRO Omar Saleem Peerzada said: "Basim Hilal who hails from Kashmir, is a student of Mathematics here. We have suspended Basim Hilal for his highly objectionable tweet. The tweet was seen as a support to the terrorist group."

The tweet mentioned the name of the same terrorist group who was involved in the deadly terrorist attack in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway on February 14.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh confirmed that the attack in which around 40 CRPF personnel were killed, was carried out by Pakistan backed Jaish-e-Mohammed.

According to the police FIR, the tweet is an insult to the jawans who have lost their lives. It also hurt the feelings of the people.

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The Central government has called an all-party meeting here on Saturday to deliberate upon the situations arising out of Pulwama terror attack, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley after the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) here on Friday.

In the meeting, the Central government will brief the opposition leaders about the action being taken to deal with the situations arising out Pulwama terror attack," sources said. The meeting is scheduled to take place at 11 am in the Parliament Library. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the meeting.

India on Friday also announced the withdrawal of most favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. New Delhi had granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, a year after the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but Pakistan never reciprocated.

The Central government has also stepped up diplomatic efforts to mount pressure on the Government of Pakistan to take action against those who are indulged in exporting terror to India. For long, India has sought the help of the global community in fighting against Pak sponsored terrorism.

Nearly 40 CRPF personnel were killed when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist rammed a vehicle carrying over 100-kg explosives into their bus on Srinagar-Jammu highway on Thursday at around 3.15 pm at Ladhu Modi Lethpora. The convoy consisted of 78 buses in which around 2,500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

JeM, a terror outfit based in Pakistan and led by Masood Azhar, has carried out several terror attacks in India including the attack on Pathankot airbase in 2016. Masood was released by then Central government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in exchange for hostages on board flight IC-814 in December 1999. India has approached the United Nations to list Masood as a global terrorist, but China always vetoes New Delhi's bid in this regard.

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Agitated over the debilitating terror attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, Youth Congress workers here on Friday burnt the flag of Pakistan, while protesting outside Pakistan High Commission located in the city state's Diplomatic Enclave.

They also shouted slogans against Islamabad for patronising terror outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which has taken the responsibility for carrying out this year's deadliest terror attack in the Valley.

"Pakistan must be made to pay a heavy price for their deadly act. The Central government should step in and take strict action against all Pakistan-backed and based terrorist groups, which are killing our people and soldiers," said an agitating Youth Congress worker.

"The government of the day at the Centre must avenge the martyrdom of our nearly 40 CRPF jawans no matter what are the consequences. We need to ensure that incidents like this should never happen again," he said.

Nearly 40 CRPF personnel were killed when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist rammed a vehicle carrying over 100-kg explosives into their bus on Srinagar-Jammu highway on Thursday at around 3.15 pm at Ladhu Modi Lethpora. The convoy consisted of 78 buses in which around 2,500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

JeM, a terror outfit based in Pakistan and led by Masood Azhar, has carried out several terror attacks in India including the attack on Pathankot airbase in 2016. Masood was released by then Central government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in exchange for hostages on board flight IC-814 in December 1999. India has approached the United Nations to list Masood as a global terrorist, but China always vetoes New Delhi's bid in this regard.

During the protest, the Youth Congress workers tried to cross the barricades and attempted to stage a sit-in protest, but the police did not allow them to do so. Delhi Police have further tightened the security in and around Pakistan High Commissioner.

Besides the capital, several parts of Jammu and Kashmir were badly hit by violent anti-Pakistan protests. Curfew has been imposed in Jammu after scores of people took to the streets and blocked Jammu-Pathankot highway.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC have also been imposed in Jammu, while data services in various districts of the state have been suspended in the wake of protests by locals against Pulwama terror attack.

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Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the terror attack that took place in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on Thursday killing around 40 CRPF personnel.

In a press statement, Ghani said: "Terrorism is a cancer in the region, and it requires collective efforts to root it out."

Kabul also expressed sympathy and extended deep condolences to the Indian government and people, and the families of the soldiers who lost their lives or were injured in the deadly terror attack.

Afghanistan Foreign Ministry also issued a statement condemning the terrorist attack.

"The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan expresses its condolences and sympathy with the people and government of the friendly country Republic of India due to the loss of 40 members of Indian Police Force, and once again stresses the need for solidarity and closer cooperation of countries in the fight against this common enemy," the statement read.

The CRPF personnel were killed when their convoy was targeted on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway on Thursday.

The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Soon after, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is based in Pakistan and backed by the Pakistani administration, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was carried out by its suicide bomber.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian equities dropped following a decline in global stocks as trade tensions between the U. S. and China continued to weigh on sentiment, with the two sides reported to be far apart on proposed resolutions.

Indias key indexes capped their worst weekly decline in nearly four months. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex dropped 0.2 per cent to 35,808.95 at the 3:30 p.m. close in Mumbai, paring a loss of as much as 1 per cent in the day. The NSE Nifty 50 Index also fell 0.2 per cent and both the gauges extended their retreat this week to 2 per cent, the steepest for that period since ...
The plane started its journey from Lucknow and upon landing the crew and pilgrims were welcomed by Iraqi officials. "This is the first time in the last 30 years" that a plane has come from India to Iraq, said Pradeep Singh Rajpurohit, India's ambassador to Iraq, at the international airport that serves the Shiite holy city. The five-and-a-half-hour flight from Lucknow to Najaf will operate on Mondays and ...

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.

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India has asked one buyer of Venezuelan oil to consider paying the South American nations national oil company PDVSA in a way that avoids the US financial system, an Indian government source said, after Washington imposed fresh sanctions on Venezuela last month. The United States is seeking to cut off Venezuelas oil revenue and pressurise the nations President Nicolas Maduro to step down after it recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as head of state. The sanctions mean that if oil buyers pay PDVSA through the US banking system, the funds could be seized ...
With India exploring every possible way to respond to Pakistan in the wake of the horrific terror attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel, Commerce Department officials said the country was within its rights to launch an economic offensive against its neighbour and revoke Pakistans Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status. India has considered revoking Pakistans MFN status twice  after the attacks at Uri and Pathankot.

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.

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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.



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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday promised a strong response to a car bombing in Kashmir that killed 40 paramilitary that his government blamed on Pakistan, ratcheting up tensions with the nuclear-rival. The attack on a military convoy in Jammu and Kashmir where India has been battling an insurgency was the worst in decades and comes just months before Modis ruling Hindu nationalists face a tight general election. We will give a befitting reply, our neighbour will not be allowed to de-stabilise us, Modi said in a speech soon after he called his security ...
The Supreme Court on Friday pulled up Unitech Limited for not cooperating with the forensic auditors it had appointed and warned the company of initiating contempt proceedings for obstructing judicial work.

It has asked the company to provide all data, as requisitioned by the auditors, within two weeks from today. The observations by the court came after auditors from Grant Thornton told the court that although they had been provided with about 45% of financial and operational data until now, Unitech had expressed inability to provide data for the forensic imaging of all electronic ...
Shares of Dr Reddys Laboratories shed nearly 30 per cent in intra-day trade on Friday, following a statement issued by the Food and Drug Administration. The US drug regulator indicated in the statement that the manufacturing standards at the companys Bachupally plant in Telangana were sub-par.

However, the stock recovered later in the day. The plant, along with its Srikakulam and Duvvada plants in Andhra Pradesh, is the key supplier of drugs exported to the US market. North America is the single largest market for Dr Reddys and accounts for more than 40 per cent of its ...
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.

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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.



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Bryan, OH (43506)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
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Hes in hot water!

A Pennsylvania man faces no less than 10 years behind bars after a Brooklyn federal jury convicted him of attempting to smuggle more than 15 kilograms of drugs into the country inside boxes of chili peppers shipped to the Red Hook Container Terminal.

The sentencing is a worthy punishment for a plot that the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York called dangerous  and idiotic.

The defendants scheme to conceal 16 kilograms of cocaine in a shipment of chili peppers wasnt such a hot idea, and with todays verdict, he has been held responsible for his crimes, Richard Donoghue said following the Feb. 14 conviction. I commend the prosecutors and the Drug Enforcement Administration agents for their excellent work in preventing illegal narcotics from being distributed in our country.

Cover story: The cocaine was stashed in these boxes filled with the spicy fruit. U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York

Keystone State resident Humberto Baez, 50, worked as a produce importer and in 2016 started scheming with accomplices to bring cocaine from the Dominican Republic into the United States, according to prosecutors, who said he contacted a co-conspirator  whom Baez did not know was also working with the Feds  to store the drugs at the Red Hook port.

The pair set up two so-called dry runs, during which they shipped containers filled only with chili peppers to Kings County, to make it appear as if the duos operation was a legitimate business, prosecutors said.

But in February 2018, Baez alerted his partner that about 16 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a shipment of cardboard boxes filled with the spicy fruit  which he referred to in code as ripe tomatoes  arrived in Florida from the Dominican Republic.

Baez instructed his accomplice to drive the cocaine up to his Pennsylvania warehouse, but on March 1 of that year, law enforcement officials seized the drugs before they ever made it out of the Sunshine State, according to the Feds, who said officials arrested the suspect later that month in Manhattan.

Off the market: A Brooklyn federal jury on Thursday convicted a Pennsylvania man of attempting to smuggle this cocaine into the United States through the Red Hook Container Terminal. U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York
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Schneps Media is proud to announce Schneps Broadcasting, the companys newest division that produces unique podcasts and radio shows.

The streaming arm debuted with a Power Women podcast hosted by President and Publisher Victoria Schneps-Yunis, and the return of an all-new Brooklyn Paper Radio program.

Schneps Broadcasting will bring content from New York States largest local-news company to the airwaves, giving its millions of followers a new way to connect with their communities, according to Schneps-Yunis.

The idea of creating Schneps Broadcasting was to have yet another way to reach our readers and provide more opportunities for our clients to reach the community, she said. We want people to tune in to our latest innovative way of reaching our audience in each of the markets we serve  from Long Island, to New York City, to Westchester.

The Power Women podcast debuted with an episode featuring a must-listen interview between the Brooklyn-born-and-bred Schneps-Yunis and her childhood friend, the Hon. Judith Sheindlin  whom millions of television viewers know better as Judge Judy.

And the programs second episode featured an equally compelling conversation between its host and Brooklynite the Hon. Patricia DiMango, one of three judges on CBS syndicated court show, Hot Bench, created by Sheindlin.

Tune in to hear DiMango tell Schneps-Yunis about her childhood growing up in Brooklyn, and how support from her family and local community allowed her to flourish.

Brooklyn Paper Radio returned after a brief hiatus on Feb. 12, with co-hosts Anthony Rotunno, the editor-in-chief of Schneps Medias six Brooklyn newspapers, and Johnny Kunen, whom some listeners will remember as Jimmy the Producer, debuting an all-new format.

The two welcomed Brooklyn reporters and editors into the studio for news-packed, seven-minute discussions about top local stories, and where to go and what to do in Kings County over the days ahead.

Listeners can find the podcasts streaming on all Schneps Media websites, including the new Schne psBro adcas ting.com , Brook lynPa per.com , QNS.com, BXTim es.com , TheVi llage r.com , Brown stone r.com , Carib beanL ifeNe ws.com , and GayCi tyNew s.com .

The podcasts are also available on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Alexa, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, and Castbox.

Schneps Broadcasting draws its audience from Schneps Medias massive digital, social media, and print footprint, which reaches more than 3,000,000 print impressions, more than 2,500,000 digital page views, and more than 210,000 newsletter subscribers each month.
A property group is calling for legislation to ban borrowing for property against self-managed super funds (SMSF).

RiskWise Property Research has said all the major banks pulled out from offering the product last year as well as their subsidiaries and other banks like AMP.

According to CEO Doron Peleg, the ATO had also expressed concern about the risk to the retirement savings of individual SMSF trustees in the event of property decline and the Financial System Inquiry recommended a ban on direct borrowing by SMSFs to prevent an unnecessary build-up of risk in the superannuation system.

Peleg called lending to SMSFs an accident waiting to happen as people gamble with their retirement funds.

Super is the only asset class you can leverage against but using it to buy property is definitely high risk if things go wrong, he added.

Peleg said this risk had been acknowledged by the major banks and the Council of Financial Regulators should take notice and implement it across the entire industry.

However, while most banks have halted the practice, non-banks lenders are filling the void and continued to do so.

There are more than 600,000 SMSFs in Australia, managing nearly $750,000 in assets, according to APRA.

RiskWise said many SMSF borrowers were choosing off-the-plan properties, which Peleg said carry a large level of risk largely due to potential oversupply, leading to squashed property values, high vacancy rates and a cooler market.

Peleg said, What this means is that many individuals fall into debt they cant climb out of as their SMSF hits the rock bottom known as a property bust.

Peleg said when considering buying property through a superannuation fund it was important to identify loss of income if there was an oversupply in the area and there was a problem finding

tenants to rent the property, especially as these dwellings appealed to a limited market and not families with children seeking bigger homes and a decent-sized block.
Latest News Firstmac announces $750m green home loan RMBS deal RMBS deal thought to be the first of its kind in Australia

Lendi team joins Vinnies CEO Sleepout to help homeless Lendi, ANZ, GetCapital and others on hand for charity event

The government introduced the legislation last week to establish a $2bn securitisation fund to help small and medium businesses get better access to finance.

The fund, which will allow for smaller banks and non-bank lenders to on-lend to SMEs on more competitive terms, was announced towards the end of last year.

SMEs can find it difficult to obtain finance other than on a secured basis and can find it difficult to access additional funding once they have pledged all their real estate as collateral.

The fund was developed to unlock a competitive funding source for those smaller lenders, allowing them to compete with the major banks.

Wayne Morris, CEO of FIFO Capital, said the fund would fill the void where banks are not able to support or willing to support SMEs.

He explained, The upside is that this gives second tier lenders affordable funding they can pass on to clients; this in turn will create more opportunity and access to funding. Cost of funds will come down, which creates more opportunity for competition and growth.

The problem is small businesses dont have expansion plans as they dont have access to funds  this initiative creates that opportunity which creates growth, jobs, and ensures businesses can capitalise on opportunities.

The downside would be how these funds are made available to the lenders, and the conditions put in place around how these funds can be deployed.

The $2bn Australian Business Securitisation Fund will be administered by the Australian Officer of Financial Management, consistent with their prior involvement in the Residential Mortgage Backed Securities Market in 2008.

In an announcement, treasurer Josh Frydenberg said, With more than three million small and medium-sized businesses employing around seven million Australians, enhancing small business access to funding is part of the Coalition Governments plan for a stronger economy.
Latest News Firstmac announces $750m green home loan RMBS deal RMBS deal thought to be the first of its kind in Australia

Lendi team joins Vinnies CEO Sleepout to help homeless Lendi, ANZ, GetCapital and others on hand for charity event

A broker group is calling on the treasurer to start a consultation with the broking industry before making any changes to remuneration.

Mortgage Choice CEO Susan Mitchell said brokers had just had their entire world changed without any consultation after the recommendations from Commissioner Hayne.

She said there was no right of reply to the royal commission and that the industry had concerns about the impact on consumers and competition if the changes were implemented without industry discussion.

The current government has said it will hold a review after trail commission is removed in July 2020 to assess the impact before deciding whether to remove upfront commission. But Mitchell said there needs to be discussion with the industry when it comes to removing trail as well.

She added that the industry was under unnecessary stress at the moment over the lack of clarity on broker remuneration plans.

She said, Im calling for confirmation from both sides of government that a consultation process will be instigated. This will at least give the broking industry comfort that our point of view will be heard.

It is understandable that the Australian public want to see significant change in banking practices following the evidence given at the Banking Royal Commission hearings but the mortgage broker channel, which is both successful and popular with borrowers, is bearing the brunt.

The same can be said for the smaller lenders that do not have a branch network, for whom brokers provide a shopfront.

Looking ahead, I hope common sense prevails and the industry and both sides of federal politics can all work towards a level playing field for lenders and brokers. I believe this can best be achieved through consultation with the mortgage broking industry. Australian borrowers deserve nothing less.

Concerned for Mortgage Choice customers, Mitchell said it was already hard enough for borrowers trying to afford a home.

Adding more costs in the form of an upfront fee paid regardless of whether the customer goes to a broker, or directly to a lender, cannot possibly be a good outcome for consumers, she added.

Fees could also prove to be a disincentive for refinancing and switching to a better financial product if the interest savings dont offset the switching costs.

These changes will result in poor consumer outcomes, which is not in line with the original intentions of the banking royal commission.
Culiacan, Mexico: US officials are hailing the conviction of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman as a victory for the Mexican people, but in the drug lord's home state of Sinaloa, cradle to his powerful cartel, many residents say they don't expect violence and trafficking to abate.

As news that the Sinaloa cartel kingpin will likely spend the rest of his life in a US prison headlined Wednesday's newspapers in the state capital of Culiacan, most people took it in their stride, though Guzman's family members in the mountains were said to be angered by the verdict.

"For the crimes he committed, life in prison seems pretty fair ... I mean, it's not going to end the problem of narco-trafficking," said Culiacan resident Mario Rodriguez, adding that he feels "very unsafe" in his city.

Sinaloa regularly posts homicide rates among the highest in Mexico, including 43.89 killings per 100,000 residents in 2017  well above the national average. The violence is often localised and often involves conflicts between rival gangs over street-level drug dealing.
Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping said "important progress" had been made towards a trade deal with the US as he met with Washington's hardline trade representative Robert Lighthizer and commerce secretary Stephen Mnuchin on Friday night.

But few details were released after two days of trade talks in Beijing, and the US and Chinese negotiating teams agreed to meet in Washington next week.

A March 1 deadline for escalating tariffs on $US200 billion ($280 billion) in Chinese exports to the United States looms.

US President Donald Trump later said the trade negotiations were "going extremely well" and "it would be my honour to remove" punitive tariffs - but only if the two sides can reach a deal.
Nampo, North Korea: Power-strapped North Korea is exploring two ambitious alternative energy sources - tidal power and coal-based synthetic fuels - that could greatly improve living standards and reduce its reliance on oil imports and vulnerability to sanctions.

Finding a lasting energy source that isn't vulnerable to sanctions has long been a top priority for North Korean officials. Leader Kim Jong-un used his New Year's address last month to call on the country to "radically increase the production of electricity" and singled out the coal-mining industry as a "primary front in developing the self-supporting economy." For the longer-term, he stressed the importance of atomic, wind and tidal power.

Young joggers pass by as smokes billows from the stack of the Pyongyang Power Plant in Pyongyang, North Korea. Credit:AP

Since further development of atomic energy is unlikely anytime soon, the power-scarce country is developing technology to "gasify" coal into substitute motor fuels. It also is looking into using huge sea barriers with electricity-generating turbines to harness the power of the ocean's tides.

Coal and hydroelectricity are North Korea's main energy resources. The North imports nearly all of its oil and petroleum products from China. Solar panels are visible just about everywhere, from urban balconies to rural farm buildings and military installations. Wind remains a very minor energy source.
It's not illegal  it's not even unusual  for a politician to use their taxpayer-funded resources to print material benefiting a candidate of the same political persuasion, or even to put them on the payroll, but what galls is that Senator Pratt refuses to answer questions about how much of taxpayers' funds have been spent. A spokesman for her office said: "All printing and communications undertaken are submitted and approved by the Department of Finance, as consistent with the guidelines". Senator Louise Pratt in Canberra last year. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "Senator Pratt uses a range of print and electronic media to engage with voters about the issues that matter to Western Australia  like the Liberal Partys savage cuts to WA schools, hospitals and infrastructure," he said after further requests for detail on the spending. "All expenditure complied with parliamentary work expenses rules."

She won't say how much taxpayer money is being spent on the Mellisa Teede campaign, or when Ms Teede was employed in her office or how much she was paid or even what her duties were while she was employed. But figures released by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority reveal Senator Pratt spent $1384.11 on printing and communications from January to March, 2018, but then $42,999.88 from April to June, 2018, after Ms Teede started campaigning. Senator Pratt won't answer questions about how much of that money was spent on Labor's Canning Campaign. Questions to the campaign itself were also sidestepped. Why did Senator Pratt's office pay for advertising material for the campaign?

"Senator Pratt has used her printing and communications work expenses in line with finance approvals processes," a spokeswoman for Ms Teede said. What was her role in Senator Pratt's office? When did she start? Is she full-time or part-time? Does she have any other jobs? The reverse side of advertising material authorised by Senator Louise Pratt for Labor's Canning campaign. "Mellisa is no longer working for Senator Pratt," the spokeswoman said. "Mellisa is currently unemployed and is currently campaigning full time."

'Sad': State pollies grumpy and it's only the first week back WA Parliament returned this week, but the mood of its members wasn't improved by the lazy summer weeks since it last met. Leader of the House David Templeman and Housing Minister Peter Tinley were involved in an exchange of words according to eye witnesses. It was all about who was rostered to sit in the parliament as "duty minister" (this is the grown-up assigned to mind the backbench so they don't get up to anything naughty). Mr Tinley was pretty sure it wasn't his turn, but rather Seniors Minister Mick Murray.

He was so sure, expletives were unloaded. The Opposition started on the wrong foot as well. They pulled on a motion to refer Premier Mark McGowan to privileges committee to be investigated over a $206 million deal with Chinese telco Huawei. Loading This meant the Premier's statement on the first day back from break was pushed back, and delivered later in the day. Very inconvenient. "The Opposition has absolutely no respect for this place or the conventions of this place," he told the house.

"I find it very sad that an Opposition would be so disrespectful to the conventions of the Parliament and so pathetic, frankly, that it would misuse the standing orders in this way." And things went downhill from there. Mr McGowan castigated Geraldton MP Ian Blayney for his "lack of intelligence". Later, in question time, he hopped into Nedlands MP Bill Marmion: "Oh my God, you are so bad," the Premier said. "Member for Nedlands, what are you62 years of age or something like that? "What have you learnt all these years? What have you actually learnt?"

Mr Marmion asked the Premier to reveal the advice from ASIO about the Huawei contract. That was never going to happen. Speaking of Huawei ... Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is increasing its footprint in Perth before its contract to build a 4G communications system for Perth's public passenger trains gets under way.

The company applied to the City of Perth to approve a $151,281 fitout of a floor of 225 St Georges Terrace. Luckily, that's at the Parliament end of the street and only a short walk from the ministerial suites in West Perth's Dumas House. Libs to choose candidate for Stirling Nominations have closed for the Liberal party to choose a candidate to replace retiring MP Michael Keenan. Sources say next Saturday's vote will be a contest between Vince Connelly and ECU General Counsel Joanne Quinn.

Also in the race is Michelle Sutherland, wife of former Mount Lawley MP Michael Sutherland. Tweet of the Week Looks like ABC Perth has a preference for which kind of candidate they'd prefer to represent the party in the seat. And here is the tweet of the week from 6PR's Oliver Peterson, explaining all.
Former lord mayor Robert Doyle has withdrawn his Supreme Court injunction blocking Melbourne City Council from releasing its investigation into allegations he sexually harassed a woman at a 2016 event.

But the council is now claiming it cannot release its investigation report because of a complaint by the woman to Victoria Police over Mr Doyle's behaviour.

The move to continue to keep the report secret has angered the woman, Kharla Williams, who says the council is doing everything in its power to sweep the matter under the carpet.

Kharla Williams at the Melbourne Health dinner in June 2016. Robert Doyle, right, was seated next to her.

A trial over Mr Doyle's injunction to stop the investigation report's release was set to begin on Monday.
An endangered bird could blow Adani's Queensland coal mine off course after a review found its plan to protect the species wasn't good enough.

The Indian miner has reacted with anger after a draft of the review  ordered by the state government  was published by News Corp Australia on Friday.

A black-throated finch at Adani's proposed Carmichael Mine site in Queensland's Galilee Basin. Credit:Stanley Tang

Adani claims the review is biased, "reads like an anti-coal, anti-mining, anti-Adani lobbying brochure" and "even references the work of anti-Adani campaigners".

It says the Queensland government cannot accept any of its recommendations and has questioned if the state is deliberately trying to obstruct the project.
Although it has been nearly 100 years since a government last lost a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, in some ways the passing of a bill like the crossbench Medivac one has been coming for some time.

After all, the influence  and votes  of minor parties and independents have been growing for a number of years. To date, their power has largely been exercised in the Senate, but the recent influx of lower house independents were bound to try to flex their muscle eventually.

Which means, as rare as it has been, in some sense this is actually the system functioning as designed. But that doesnt mean this is a good thing for Australia, or for faith in our democracy.

Crossbench MPs Julia Banks and Kerryn Phelps shake hands with Greens leader Richard Di Natale after the Senate agreed on House's amendments to its amendments to the Home Affairs Legislation Amendment Bill. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Whatever else this bill is, there is little doubt it is a potential weakening of the border protection regime.
Mr Shorten says the medical evacuation measure is strictly limited to people already in offshore detention, and accused Mr Morrison of using rhetoric that encouraged people to board a boat to Australia. Bill Shorten passed the 'medivac' bill, prompting rhetoric from the Government that he was soft on border protection. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen It's understood the opposition has insisted to the heads of Home Affairs and Operation Sovereign Borders that there be no reduction in patrols or scrutiny of the sea to the north of Australia during any transition period. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video More than 14,000 refugees and asylum seekers are living in Indonesia and only several hundred are resettled by the United Nations each year. The rest have been told that they may never be resettled in a third country.

The former people smuggler said of people who were waiting six or more years for resettlement, "they will ride [a boat] eventually, I think". However, among a dozen asylum seekers and refugees interviewed in two locations by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald in Indonesia, there is little enthusiasm to take a boat. One group, from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sudan were on the streets outside the West Jakarta Immigration centre. The others lived two hours south of Jakarta in the town of Cisarua. Sayed Hussaini outside the UNHCR in West Jakarta. Credit:James Massola Four of the 12 men were aware of a law change in Canberra this week on medical evacuations, with two across the detail. But only one, Afghan Hazara Sayed Ali Hussaini, who has been recognised as a refugee, said he was willing to try a boat. When Mr Hussaini arrived almost six years ago, he expected to take boat in a matter of weeks. But when turnbacks started under Tony Abbott, he changed his mind. He has been in Jakarta ever since.

"Back then I was worried about the boats being turned back. Secondly, I was told that the process here was quick. 'You just wait here,' the UNHCR said. But I have been waiting for [almost] six years." Loading Asked if he might try a boat if the Australian government changed he said: "Inshallah [God willing]. "Yes, if it is possible, if I have the money ... If there is [an opportunity] I want it because I am tired. Who wants to be like this, just sleeping and eating?" However, he has little money left to pay a smuggler.

The other 11 refugees interviewed, most of whom had come to Indonesia with family, insisted that boat journeys were too dangerous. Khalil Payeez, a Pakistani Hazara who arrived in Indonesia in July, 2013, agreed that if Labor wins the next election "of course people smugglers will try to start moving and make propaganda," and that "Some might think of jumping [on a boat]." "The smugglers will try to persuade people with promises ... The first boat is a test boat. If they go to Australia and get taken to Nauru or Manus no-one else will try. Here is much better than Manus, Nauru or Christmas Island," he said. Afghan Hazara Refugees Rajab Ali and one of his children, Farhad, 16. Credit:James Massola Mr Payeez is sceptical about the impact of the medical evacuation law change, but doesn't doubt - as Prime Minister Scott Morrison has argued - that would-be people smugglers could try to use the legal change to tempt new customers.

"Its too soon to say if it has an impact. I just got the news. I dont think its a huge impact. But people pay attention," he said. "[However] I don't think people here will be deceived again. It might be some might be interested, but not many. There are more families here [Cisarua] now and so people say the risk is too high, no one wants to get on a boat with children and family members." Many spoke at length about family and friends who had drowned, saying they did not want to risk the lives of their own children. Five members of Ashraf Jawadi's family and close friends died trying to get to Australia by boat, and he won't risk the journey with his wife and two children. Credit:James Massola Ashraf Jawadi, a 33-year-old Afghan who has lived in Cisarua for the past three years, insisted he, his wife and two children are "waiting to go legally. Not by boat. It is too dangerous".

"I lost many friends in 2011, 2012, 2013. Even now, we don't know what happened to them." "If you go by resettlement [through the UNHCR] it means the Australian government invite you. If you go by boat they don't invite you. There is a door and a window. Don't go by window." The decisive factor in most people's decision to stay in Indonesia has been the turn-backs policy. The former smuggler, who was at one time a mid-level operative for a major syndicate, agreed. "[Turn-backs] costs both the passengers and the smugglers," he said. Habibullah Habibi, an Afghan Hazara refugee who came to Indonesia in 2015 and lives in Cisarua with his wife and two young children. He says he won't get on a boat because he doesn't want to die. Credit:James Massola

However, a number of wealthy smugglers from the former boat trade in 2012 and 2013 were still in business, and hoping to start the route to Australia again. He named several, including Zahid Nanna, who organised a boat in 2012 that killed 96 people, and Sayed Naveed, who deputised for the infamous Sayed Abbas when he was in prison in Indonesia. "This time they are very big. They are rich because of Europe," the former smuggler said. If they were successful in re-establishing the route to Australia, "there will be no limit of passengers, especially from Afghanistan. Thousands of people are trying to get out, they are already here in Pakistan. A lot of them." Sayed Abbas who was accused of people smuggling, in court in Jakarta in 2013. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen In response to questions, Mr Shorten said, "Let me make it very clear to people smugglers in Indonesia or elsewhere: you and your trade are not welcome. Any government I lead will deploy the full force of the ring of steel of the Australian defence forces and our border forces."
Australia and Indonesia will sign a free trade agreement after months of tensions over Australia's proposal to move its embassy to Jerusalem threatened to derail the multibillion-dollar deal.

The trade deal, which has been eight years in the making, will see Australian universities and health providers given access to the 250 million person market, as well as greater access for cattle, potato and wheat farmers.

Minister for Trade Simon Birmingham and Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a press conference. Credit:AAP

The Morrison government's recognition of West Jerusalem as Israel's capital strained relations with Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population and supports a two-state solution in the Middle East.

Australia's Trade Minister Simon Birmingham on Friday confirmed he would be finalising the deal in March, a day after Indonesian Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita suggested the deal would finally be signed at a business conference.
An international study led by researchers from the Institute of Space Sciences, from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya has discovered that carbonaceous chondrites, a class of meteorites, incorporated hydrated minerals along with organic material from the protoplanetary disk before the formation of planets.

Scientists from the study published in the journal Space Science Reviews note that these meteorites played "an important role in the primordial Earth's water enrichment" because they facilitated the transportation of volatile elements that were accumulated on the external regions of the so-called protoplanetary disk from which planets were formed more than 4.500 years ago. Earth was formed in an environment close to the Sun, very much reduced due to the relative lack of oxygen.

Carbonaceous chondrites come from asteroidal bodies that due to their size, generally inferior to hundred kilometres, never melted, and neither suffered internal chemical differentiation as planets did. Thus, the study gives clues about the initial accretion phases of the first bodies that formed the planets. The meteorites analysed in this work belong to the NASA's Antartic collection, whose CSIC's Institute of Space Sciences is the only repository Spanish centre, and the meteorites that fell in Murchison (Australia) in 1969 and in Renazzo (Italy) in 1824. Representative samples of the two more-hydrated types of carbonaceous chondrites (CM and CR groups) have been studied.

"Chondrites constitute a fossil legacy of the creation of the planetesimals, which provide information about the accretion of the first building blocks of planets, and also about everything that happened inside them shortly after their formation. In this study, we want to go a step further to identify processes of water incorporation befallen in the same protoplanetary disk", explains CSIC researcher Josep M. Trigo-Rodriguez, who works at the Institute of Space Sciences and has led the study.

CSIC researcher adds: "There is a great debate about the origin of water in Earth and our study proves that carbonaceous chondrites were able to transport water in a very efficient way in their matrices. That water seems to come from two types of objects formed at different distances from the Sun: hydrated asteroids and comets. Obviously, in order to know the origin of water in Earth, we must study not only the comets but also the carbonaceous chondrites that come from an asteroid population called transitional. These bodies were far more numerous 4.000 millions of years ago, but suffered a gravitational destabilisation during Jupiter and Saturn's migration to its current location. Those that did not end being swallowed by Jupiter and Saturn were rejected towards the terrestrial planets and to other regions of the Solar System, transporting water and organic material inside them", explains the CSIC researcher.

The study also points at the direct implications for the origin of water in Earth. "Our calculations indicate that, coinciding with the so-called 'Heavy Bombardment' produced by the gravitational destabilisation of the main asteroid belt, billions of tons of carbonaceous chondrites reached Earth about 3.800 years ago. And they did it transporting in their fine matrices water and other volatile elements in form of hydrated minerals", says Trigo.

In this study have participated Safoura Tanbakouei and Victoria Cabedo from the Institute of Space Sciences; Albert Rimola from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona; and Martin Lee from the University of Glasgow (Scotland).

Aims for future missions

Currently, there are two ongoing missions for sample return from primitive asteroids: NASA's OSIRIS-Rex and JAXA's (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Hayabusa 2. The results from the carbonaceous chondrites' analysis at a micro- and nanoscale that are published in this new study reveal the importance of the sample-return missions, that can bring to Earth rocks less altered by collisions than the meteorites that land on the terrestrial surface.

Please follow Astrobiology on Twitter.
A private company tasked with security vetting government officials has four foreign-born directors, raising concerns about government oversight of its vetting program.

But the Defence Department says none of the companies involved are foreign-owned, nor has it identified issues with their foreign engagement.

Little is known about the security vetting companies digging into the pasts of top government officials. Credit:Greg Newington

The Australian Government Security Vetting Agency's management of the years-long backlog of security clearances and the practices of the 22 contractors used to dig into the pasts of officials is under scrutiny, after it was revealed contractors use commercial couriers due to cybersecurity concerns.

In a hearing this week, Labor MP Julian Hill revealed AIM Screening, one of the companies that does top-level positive vetting, had two directors born and living in the United States, a director born in Britain living in Australia and a director born in China and living in Australia. But an official assured Mr Hill that the company had met Defence's requirements.
"This chaos and confusion will do one thing, and thats drive up energy prices for consumers. Not only are they bad for energy policy, they are now dangerous." Queensland Energy Minister Anthony Lynham. Credit:AAP However a spokesman for Mr Taylor described the claims as "incorrect" and said the government's policy "has not changed". He said the Australian Energy Regulator was asked to develop both a default market offer and reference bill, to be implemented by July this year, and "that work is ongoing". The default market offer would essentially cap the amount that electricity retailers can charge consumers who are on standing offers.

It is unclear whether the government would rely solely on that intervention if it dumped the reference bill from its plans. Australian Energy Council chief executive Sarah McNamara said the energy industry continued to support the reference bill option and was very concerned about any suggestion that it was off the table. She said state energy ministers had not supported the default market offer and the Australian Energy Market Commission had advised it would likely increase power prices for many customers. Meanwhile, splits have surfaced between the Coalition partners after the government shelved plans to enact a "big stick" crackdown on power companies ahead of the May election, adding to the list of energy policies it has failed to legislate. The Nationals are pushing for the bill to be considered in one of the few remaining sitting days before Parliament rises, but Finance Minister Mathias Cormann on Friday insisted the government would seek a mandate by taking the proposal to the next election.

The government put away its "big stick" electricity laws after a Greens amendment which would have prevented under-writing of coal-fired power stations. Credit:Bloomberg The proposed legislation would force large energy companies to sell off assets if they were found to be misusing their market powers. The measure is central to the Morrison governments signature pledge to curb skyrocketing power bills. The government on Thursday pulled the bill after a Greens amendment, which would prevent taxpayer money being spent on new coal-fired plants, appeared to have gathered enough support to pass as part of the new laws. The retreat means the government cannot spruik the success of the laws during the election campaign and has provoked consternation within the Nationals, which believes energy costs for households and businesses are a vote-swaying issue in regional Australia. Loading

Senator McKenzie told Sky News on Friday that our intention as a government to introduce that legislation in the April sittings  a move that would help keep the issue alive in voters minds weeks out from the election. However Senator Cormann poured water on those suggestions, telling Sky News that we will take this legislation to the next election. The introduction of the bill is one thing, but we believe the biggest stick that we can get in order to drive electricity prices down is a mandate from the Australian people at the next election," he said. The energy industry, business groups and experts have argued that the big stick proposal may perversely cause power prices to rise. The government will argue that Labors opposition to the big stick proposal proves it is siding with big energy companies rather than consumers. Labor will focus its attack on uncertainties in the laws that it says will cause divested entities to fall into private hands.

A clutch of marginal Queensland seats are set to shape the outcome of the election, and the privatisation of public assets is highly unpopular with voters in that state. Dr Lynham, the Queensland Energy Minister, on Friday said Queenslanders have made their views clear at two elections: public ownership of electricity assets is non-negotiable. Federal Labors climate change and energy spokesman Mark Butler said the big stick bill was going after the publicly owned electricity assets that Labor governments have refused to privatise. Privatising energy assets hasnt led to lower prices or better outcomes for consumers; it has led to massive private profits and electricity prices that keep going up and up, he said. Yet electricity privatisation remains in the Liberals DNA.

Queensland Nationals MP Keith Pitt accused Labor of abandoning the coal industry by supporting the Greens amendment to ban public underwriting of new coal plants. Queensland Nationals MP Keith Pitt. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen This is an ideological position for the Labor party, they have been taken over by the left wing and the Greens. They are against Australian resources [and] we are not, he said. Mr Pitt claimed the amendment would damage coal exports, before being forced to concede this was not the case. Taxpayer support for coal-fired power plants is a option that sits uneasily with some in the Liberal Party who believe the government should embrace the renewables transition.

Meantime, the government faces a repeat of this week's embarrassment of a loss in the House of Representatives when it resumes on Monday. On Thursday night the Senate passed a Labor amendment to a Treasury bill which would give small businesses financial protection if they decide to take competition action against a larger competitor, by ensuring the firm did not have to pay the legal costs of the business it was fighting. Senator Cormann conceded to the Senate that the government did not have the numbers to prevent the proposal being passed by the Upper House. On Monday it will go to the House of Representatives where the motion is expected to have support of the crossbench and among parts of the National Party that would ensure its passage. The national small business and family enterprise ombudsman, Kate Carnell, on Friday backed the Labor bill.
The first residents could be moving into their freshly-built homes in Melbourne's new outer suburbs within about four years but it could take much longer for the suburbs to have schools and hospitals.

It is expected to take up to 20 years for residential areas to reach their final state.

The land on Melbourne's fringes will become new suburbs over the next few years. Credit:James Davies

The Victorian Planning Authority has been working to identify sites for infrastructure such as transport, education, healthcare and recreation within the 12 new suburbs that will accomodate 50,000 housing lots in growth areas.

However, much of this infrastructure will not yet be available when the first homes are completed.
Toowoomba horse trainer Ben Currie is facing seven more breaches of the rules of racing over allegations including using a jigger (a battery-powered shock device) and unauthorised shockwave treatments.

Other charges, including failure to report bleeding horses to stewards and race-day treatment breaches in contravention of the rules of racing issued by the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission on Friday.

Ben Currie, one of Queensland's top racing trainers, is facing more than 30 breaches. Credit:Facebook

It was believed breaches were made between January 2016 and April 2017.

This is additional to the more than 20 alleged rule breaches stewards issued to Mr Currie on July 4 and four alleged illegal substance breaches issued on November 28 and December 14 in 2018.
A motorbike rider has died in a head-on crash with a cattle truck on a Queensland highway.

Emergency services were called to the scene on the DAguilar Highway at Woolmar, about 100 kilometres north-west of Brisbane and near Kilcoy, about 3.20pm on Friday.

Police said the motorbike collided with the cattle truck, which had livestock aboard at the time.

The motorcyclist, a 49-year-old woman from Ilkley on the Sunshine Coast, died at the scene.

The cattle truck driver, a 58-year-old man, was not injured.
The four Gold Coast high school students who overdosed on prescription medication on Friday have been released from hospital.

A Gold Coast University Hospital spokeswoman said all four girls, aged in their mid-teens, had been released by 7am on Saturday after doctors kept a close eye on them.

Paramedics raced to Southport State High School on Friday morning after reports of an overdose. Credit:Google Maps Street View

The four girls had not been formally interviewed by Saturday morning, but they had spoken to detectives, according to a police spokeswoman.

Paramedics were called to Southport State High School on the Smith Street Motorway about 8.30am on Friday after a reported overdose.
The family of a Gold Coast schoolgirl urged to commit suicide by fellow students in a Snapchat video says they were failed by the Queensland government and schools.

A video containing schoolgirls screaming vicious abuse went viral this week, and clocked up more than 70,000 views before it was removed.

A family has issued a statement saying their daughter, Amber, was the victim of the bullying, apparently by Helensvale State High School students.

They say Amber had moved to the school in 2018 to escape cyberbullying at an independent school.

The family said they sought help from authorities to no avail.
Former Australian Tax Office deputy commissioner Michael Cranston says he was "just doing my job" after he was exonerated of misusing his senior position in the public service to pass information on to his entrepreneur son.

After nearly three weeks on trial before NSW District Court judge Robyn Tupman, a jury took two days to find the 40-year ATO veteran not guilty of dishonestly obtaining information in his capacity as a senior public servant to benefit Adam Cranston, as well as a charge of using his influence to improperly obtain a benefit for his son.

Mr Cranston said outside court that he was "absolutely shocked" when he was charged.

"I just know looking at what I did, I was just doing my job, passing on a matter. I declared my conflict about my son and thats what I do everyday," he said.
He voices full support for his boss, upper house MP Cate Faehrmann, who is associated with the environmental wing of the party; along with fellow MLC Justin Field; and the partys candidate for the seat of Lismore, farmer and environmental lawyer Sue Higginson. The fissure To understand the rift, it helps to remember a bit about the partys history. The Australian Greens, which is a confederation of state parties rather than a single entity, was born not only of Tasmanian environmental activism but also from the Western Australian nuclear disarmament movement and parts of the radical industrial left in NSW. NSW Greens MP Jenny Leong says reports of division in the Greens are exaggerated. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Given that heritage, it is not surprising that tension has long simmered within the party. Some prominent figures, such as former leaders Bob Brown and Christine Milne and the partys first NSW MP, Ian Cohen, were always identified as being driven by environmentalism. Others such as the former NSW MP and senator Lee Rhiannon, the serving MP David Shoebridge and the former MLC John Kaye, who died in office in 2016, were seen as proponents of the social and political reform. Rhiannon, whose parents were active in the Communist Party of Australia, edited the magazine Survey, a monthly digest of trends in the Soviet Union from 1988 until it closed in 1990.

Though no formal factional system exists in the Greens, most MPs can now be identified as belonging to either the industrial left of the party or the environmental activist faction or as the groups are sometimes known, the Watermelons and the Tree Tories. The dispute between the groups came to a head when the party sought to discipline the upper house member Jeremy Buckingham, who is broadly identified with the environmentalists. Jeremy Buckingham quit the Greens in December. Credit:Brook Mitchell Buckingham was first elected to Orange City Council in 2004, becoming the first Green to win such a vote west of the Great Dividing Range. When he made the jump to state politics he worked to win over regional voters who were traditionally suspicious of environmental activists, convening the Australian Country Greens. In November last year tensions came to a head when the member for Newtown, Jenny Leong, used parliamentary privilege to call on Buckingham to resign over historical allegations of sexual harassment of a staffer. In a statement at the time, she said, "The culture of sexism, sexual harassment, and unwanted sexual advances in society in general and in politics, in particular, must change. Survivors must be listened to and believed. No more excuses. No more delays."

She made her speech despite an internal Greens investigation that found in part that, "the Greens NSW resolve this matter with no adverse finding against you with respect to sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour towards [the complainant]". In December, the partys state delegates council voted narrowly to call on him to remove himself from the partys ticket. Loading Buckingham quit in disgust, saying the party had lost its way. After his resignation, Faehrmann and Field also held talks with other MPs and with the partys elder statesman, Bob Brown, about leaving to form a breakaway party more focussed on conservation and climate change. At a meeting entitled "How the Radical Left Wins", Rhiannon is shown in a recording to urge attendees to join the party so they can vote on the party's upper house ticket. In a recording of the event she voices her concern that if they do not the party might preselect candidates who support good policy, but are not wedded to "transformative change" of "the system". This is viewed by Gough and other critics of the left as evidence of deliberate efforts by the faction to take over the party.

Last year odd spikes in membership caused such concern among some party officers that Carole Medcalf, then the partys executive officer, checked the Australian Electoral Commissions roles. Under Australian electoral law a party must give the AEC the names and addresses of 500 members to register. Medcalf has given the Herald a list of names she says exist on both the register of the Socialist Alliance and the NSW Greens, in contravention of Greens rules. Medcalf left her position as executive officer after disputed allegations of misconduct, which she and others claim were politically motivated. She also believes a deliberate effort to takeover the party by the hard left has crippled it. Temperature records have regularly been broken across the country. Credit:Nick Moir Greens membership officer David Briggs says the members in question had been contacted and told to select one party alone. "The issue has been resolved." Rhiannon dismisses claims that there has been any effort by a radical left or that there has been any bullying by figures seen as sympathetic to the left's cause. "There is certainly a more critical evaluation of capitalism as the world grapples with the horrors of climate change and gross inequality," she says. "The Sanders/Corbyn/Ocasio Cortez experience is resonating here. Any radicalisation going on in the Greens NSW is part of a global trend." According to Rhiannon such allegations are part of a "McCarthyist style attack" by "Buckingham forces" designed to discredit those who challenged his bad behaviour. Rhiannon says she stands by her record as an activist on behalf of environmental causes.

Wherever the new members were coming from, Gough says their presence was immediately felt at branch meetings. He says the new members were aggressive and argumentative and their language appeared to have been refined in far-left campus organisations. Their focus, says Gough, was the overthrow of capitalism and they proved to be expert at using the partys regulations and rules block any action that they opposed upon ideological grounds. "It is death by committee, death by meeting," one MP says of the partys internal processes. Gough believes the groups targeted the party in order to harness its existing profile and platform to their own ends, and because its democratic processes left it vulnerable to infiltration. He notes that upon leaving federal parliament one of Rhiannons first acts was to move onto the governing committee of the Search Foundation, the successor organisation to the Communist Party of Australia. Last week the Herald reported that an internal party report showed that that party was shrinking as the fighting continued, with up to 485 party members quitting in the 12 months to November 2018 - a decline of almost 13 per cent.

'This has always been a progressive party' Sitting in a Newtown coffee shop this week Leong says reports of division in the Greens - and the impact on the current campaign - are exaggerated. She dismisses the suggestion that Buckingham was forced out for political reasons and says that in todays current climate it would be untenable not to take firm action over his alleged behaviour. And she also dismisses Goughs criticism that she and Jamie Parker, the Greens MP for the seat of Balmain, have focused too closely on local issues at the cost of accepting responsibility for portfolios and driving debate on key environmental issues. Leong notes that much of her time is spent working on behalf of public housing residents in need of immediate assistance in securing not only basic maintenance but also long-term mental health and drug and alcohol support. "You cant tell someone you are not going to help them get their intercom fixed because climate change is the most pressing global issue," she says.

Parker agrees, adding that as lower house members they are in a position to work alongside with - and challenge - the premier and key ministers over broader environmental issues in a way they could not in the upper house. Leong says it was natural that there would be some upheaval in the party after the retirement of national figures such as former leaders Brown and Milne, and the departure of Rhiannon from the Senate. And she says that though the NSW Greens have no formal leader, John Kaye had served as a de facto head. She agrees that the language of Rhiannon and some members associated with her might be reminiscent of left-wing politics of an earlier day, but says the policies that they advocate for they are in line with the broader ideals of the Greens. "This has always been a progressive party," she says. For Gough though, the Greens are irredeemable as an engine of urgent environmental reform. He laments not only that the party has fractured internally but that as it grew the broader environmental movement appeared to abandon it, leaving it vulnerable to what he sees as a deliberate takeover.
The historic defeat of the Coalition government on the floor of the House of Representatives over medical evacuations reflects rising community concern about Australias treatment of people seeking asylum. It does not represent a weakening of border protection, let alone an invitation to people smugglers to reboot their ugly trade.

The legislation to ease the passage of people in medical need includes ample safeguards. It applies only to those currently on Nauru and Papua New Guineas Manus Island, some of whom have been there for as long as six years. It gives the minister veto powers. It does not preclude a return to the islands after treatment.

Scott Morrison responded to the loss by announcing the reopening of the detention centre on Christmas Island. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

It is an immediate medical solution to an urgent medical problem, as its instigator, independent MP Kerryn Phelps  a former head of the Australian Medical Association who snatched Malcolm Turnbulls former Liberal blue-ribbon seat of Wentworth on a wave of support from people nominating the issue as important  has successfully argued to the majority of the opposition and crossbench.

The law covers several hundred people who have been terribly treated in a misguided bid to deter others through punitive detention. It does not do anything to change the core elements of Australias policy settings, which have bipartisan support: mandatory offshore detention (long-opposed by The Age) of people who arrive by boat, never to live here and indefinite until settled in a third country; and the turning back of boats, when safe, by border security forces.
In the end it was impossible for the coronial court to say what caused the fatal failure of bolts holding the concrete boom as it swung over the heads of workers.

When the boom fell that morning, shortly after being serviced, it killed a young man named Ben Catanzariti, three weeks into the job and only 21 years old.

The collapsed concrete pouring boom that killed Ben Catanzariti on July 21, 2012.

"It's been six years, six months and 25 days since the preventable death of our son Ben, 21 years old," his mother Kay Catanzariti said on Friday, her voice competing with jack hammers from a nearby work site.

"Ben just went to work and was killed on the 21st July 2012."
A man in a small space talking on a phone doesn't sound like a great subject for a film, so it's surprising how riveting it can be. Danish director Gustav Moller's The Guilty is set entirely within two drab rooms in an emergency call centre, where policeman Asger Holm (Jakob Cedergren) is serving out his last night shift before facing a tribunal for some unspecified breach of discipline the following morning.

The job demands preternatural calm, but it is a fair assumption that Holm is holding much more than the urge to tell the man who rings to complain that a prostitute robbed him that he got what he deserved. The camera fixes on his impassive face, his drumming fingers, occasionally on the backs of his ears. Even those ears look anxious. Then comes the call that counts: a woman in a car speeding up the middle of the country who tells him, while pretending she is speaking to her daughter, that she has been kidnapped. She can only say a few words, mostly yes and no. When she calls again, both we and Asger Holm start piecing. When he does, having called the relevant police stations and other agencies, he decides to take matters into his own hands  at least as much as is possible while sitting on the phone.

Jakob Cedergren in Gustav Moller's The Guilty. Credit:null

Danish cinema habitually punches well above its ostensible weight, but The Guilty has carried everything before it. A year ago, as a first film from an unknown film-maker, it was voted the best film in the Sundance Film Festival's World Cinema section. It went on to win awards at festivals from Rotterdam to Turin and was one of nine films shortlisted for the Oscar for best foreign language film. Although it missed the final cull to five nominees, Cedergren says the team was thrilled. "I have seen three of the five, masterpieces all of them, with budgets of I think $40-50 million or more," he says. "Just to be in there with the last nine has meant so much."

The first inspiration for The Guilty, Moller told web magazine Awards Circuit, came from a recording on YouTube of a real emergency call. "I was fascinated by how suspenseful a phone call could be. But mainly, I was fascinated by how I felt after I listened to the call. It felt like I had an image of the people and the places they were in." As the film shows, a computer shows the caller's location; the responders roam the country on the back of a cursor. Each scene is set with random sounds heard over the phone: slamming car doors, engines, endless Scandinavian rain. "The weirdest thing," says Cedergren, "is hearing these people's problems from all over the place."
Behrouz Boochani is in good company. His fellows include Miguel de Cervantes, John Bunyan, Oscar Wilde, Jean Genet and Daniel Defoe  all great writers who had the dubious privilege of composing some of their most significant works in prison. Today, too many writers are in the same plight: the Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International monitors between 700 and 900 cases of persecution each year.

Boochani is not in a prison: first he was in a detention centre on Manus Island, and now he's in alternative accommodation. But the reality is the Kurdish asylum seeker has spent almost six years in a place he never wanted to be in, without any chance to leave. He calls it a cage; he says it's part of a system that tortures innocent people; and he blames the Australian government.

"A cruel game", refugee Behrouz Boochani says of the ongoing uncertainty about the US people swap deal. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

In an event that made international news, Boochani's book No Friend But the Mountains won both the non-fiction and the literature prize at the 2019 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, a total of $125,000. The judges had to bend the rules a bit to get his book into contention because Boochani is not an Australian citizen, but good on them for doing so. If ever there was an important book about Australia today, then surely this is it.

Even the way this book was written was extraordinary. At least Cervantes and company had access to pen, ink and paper. Boochani had to write in short bursts of Farsi on a mobile phone and send his pieces via WhatsApp to his translator, Omid Tofighian. Together with interpreter Moones Mansoubi, they turned the text into English. And not even the phones were safe: one was confiscated by guards, another was stolen.
To be fair, Michael Adams generally makes for an entertaining read as he charts Maguire's family life, with aspirational mother (born in tiny Lillimur some decades before I was) and boxer-footballer father, and, in time, four sisters, who much later were dubbed "the marrying Maguires". These early chapters are perhaps the best in the book, with the author not only setting the family in place but also quite vividly evoking the social and cultural climate of Australia of the time, with royal visits, the advent of talkies, the Bodyline scandal, and more.

The front-cover blurb reads: "The amazing story of forgotten Hollywood star Mary Maguire." After reading its 400 pages, I wonder still in what sense is it "amazing"? She was never a "Hollywood star" (except in the pages of Australian newspapers) and, if she has been "forgotten", this may be because there wasn't much to remember.

In the last sentence of Australia's Sweetheart, the author refers to his book as a "biography". In the following "sources" section, he describes it as "a work of creative non-fiction". But can it really be both? I know the latter is now a fashionable descriptor though am never quite sure what it implies, apart from authors' taking on a few ascertainable facts and then playing as fast and loose with them as suits their purposes.

Australia's Sweetheart, by Michael Adams.

Mary  christened Helene Teresa Maguire, later called Peggy, then Mary  was born on February 22, 1919, and from early childhood was always mad about the movies, even wagging school to see them. Adams' book begins with his imagining her farewelled by an adoring crowd as she leaves Sydney on a ship headed for Hollywood, having been described in the newspapers as "The most famous girl in Australia". If this were indeed so, one can only reflect on the poignant fleetingness of fame.

How did this fame come about? She made her professional debut in the pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, a show in support of Mary Pickford's latest film at Melbourne's State Theatre. But it was really as a film star she foresaw her future, and was urged on by her mother's ambitions for her. Mrs Maguire wanted wealth, fame and social success for her daughters, and the family was on the up-and-up when it moved from Melbourne to take over a posh Brisbane hotel where famous persons were often to be found.

Adams gives a lively account of the filming of Mary's cinema debut in Charles Chauvel's Heritage (1935) and the publicity surrounding it. Mary, still Peggy, won a talent quest for the role of Biddy O'Shea in Chauvel's historical epic of bush life in early Australia. This was pretty demanding for a 15-year-old, but, after a disruptive on-set accident that threatened the film's future, the newspaper coverage, according to the author, "confirmed the show couldn't go on without her because she was now a movie star". What? Even before the film was finished, let alone released? There were two other locally made films before she took off for the northern hemisphere where she would spend the rest of her life.

English actor-director Miles Mander chose Mary to co-star with Hollywood box-office attraction Charles Farrell in her second film, The Flying Doctor (1936) and would surface again in her life. Once Mary was in the US with father Mick, Mander gained her access to Hollywood studios and to the glitterati of the day. She later acquired the support of the Hearst press and one of his papers named her "a definite find for Hollywood". In the event, she made five films in Hollywood of which all but one  Confession (1937) in which she had a supporting role  was a "B" movie: that is, the short film before the interval when you went out for ice-cream and chocolates.
Still, it's rare to hear such people publicly admit they once smoked marijuana, took acid trips or pashed all their flatmates while on ecstasy. Just think of NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann who made scandalised headlines recently for speaking openly about her own drug use.

My generation mocked Bill Clinton's claim that he never inhaled, yet most of my middle-aged friends are now equally cagey about admitting they once used illegal drugs. Particularly to their children. But the truth is that drug use was everywhere when I was young, especially among my university peers, many of whom have gone on to be successful and even prominent people.

Although he joked about it, my son is terrified of illegal drugs and insists he'll never use them. Like most kids his age, when he thinks of drug users he imagines scary men with few teeth, lurking in dark alleys. He certainly doesn't think of doctors, lawyers, teachers and politicians. He doesn't imagine ordinary mums and dads.

When my son's primary school offered a "drug education" course, he thought it was hilarious. He jokingly imagined a class where he would be taught the finer points of buying and using drugs. For advanced students, workshops on distribution and smuggling.

Now contrast that media frenzy with the reaction she might have received if she'd said that back in her university days, she often got so drunk that she threw up. Such a confession would have failed to make a single news report. And if it did, the headline would probably have been MP BLOODY LEGEND!

Yes, there were illicit drugs around when I was at university. But my youth was positively soaked in booze, and my own excessive drinking was considered completely normal by my peers. Because just about everyone I knew was doing it. We binge-drank at parties, bonded over beers at the pub, celebrated our hangovers rather than regretting them, and laughed indulgently at the friends who went too far and got sick. We drank beer together in the way I might now catch up with a friend for coffee. And it was those who didn't indulge that were seen as having the problem.

For many of us, this sort of behaviour doesn't end when we get older. In Australia, the normalisation of excessive drinking crosses all generations and demographics. Alcohol is obligatory at family barbecues and after-work get-togethers, and is even slipped in at children's parties and primary school fetes. It's just that we middle-aged professionals pay more for our wine, and so tell ourselves that swilling it is respectable. Classy even.

Abstinence months like "Dry July" have traction precisely because they are a novelty, an aberration in our normal drinking schedules. And the people who undertake the challenge are described as "brave", as if avoiding alcohol for 31 days is on a par with scaling Everest, sans oxygen.

There were people in my extended university social circle who died young due to illegal drug use and that's a tragedy. But I know far more whose lives have been damaged by excessive drinking. And the older I get the more I notice the impact it's had on the generation before me. So many people dying or suffering debilitating health problems as the direct result of a lifetime of alcohol abuse, most of which passed under the radar, just as the role that alcohol played in their deaths is downplayed or ignored.
Global energy giant Shell will start making household batteries at the former Holden plant in Adelaide after it bought German battery maker Sonnen.

Shell bought the German firm, for an undisclosed amount, to grow its New Energies business, which is focused on low-carbon energy generation.

By acquiring Sonnen, Shell also gets a battery manufacturing footprint in Australia at the former Holden plant in Elizabeth, South Australia. Credit:AFR

Full ownership of Sonnen will allow us to offer more choice to customers seeking reliable, affordable and cleaner energy, Mark Gainsborough, executive vice president of New Energies at Shell, said.

Together, we can accelerate the building of a customer-focused energy system in support of Shells strategy to offer more and cleaner energy solutions to customers.
Working for large corporates, Cat Harding and Mardi Brown, saw first hand the amount of electronic waste generated and came up with the unlikely solution of turning the e-waste into food.

The two friends both quit their jobs and started social enterprise PonyUp for Good just over two years ago.

Cat Harding (left ) and Mardi Brown, founders of PonyUp for Good with some of the electronic waste their social enterprise is diverting from landfill. Credit:Eddie Jim

"What we are aiming to do is keep technology out of landfill so we collect decommissioned technology and provide data cleansing and a debadging service when required," Harding says. "Often this technology is turned around long before its life is up."

Melbourne based PonyUp for Good works with businesses nationally including Australia Post, Telstra and Nando's to collect their old technology.
Want to praise someone or get something off your chest? Darts and Pats is the place to do it.
A person on the Paris subway has been seriously injured after being burned with an "unknown liquid" in what French media have described as an acid attack.

The victim was attacked on the metro, near the station of Bastille, during rush hour on Friday morning.
The offensive on the last enclave held by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria has been blunted by the discovery of hundreds of civilians still living there, a commander with the Kurdish-led force fighting the extremists said.

The US-backed force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched the offensive to liberate the IS-held village of Baghouz a week ago, after more than 20,000 civilians, many of them foreign wives of IS militants, were evacuated through a corridor from the area in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.

Adnan Afrin told the Associated Press that in the last three days, IS militants had brought hundreds of civilians up from underground tunnels to make the SDF and the US-led coalition aware of their presence.

Kurdish-led forces closed in on the Syrian border town of Baghouz, where Islamic State fighters were putting up a desperate fight defending the last shred of the original "caliphate" https://t.co/Lfnp8fv11m pic.twitter.com/2GtuIq4JP0  AFP News Agency (@AFP) February 14, 2019

He estimated that around 1,000 civilians, including women and children, were still in the area. He added that militants were hiding among them and using them as human shields.

"This was a surprise. We did not imagine there would be this number of civilians left," Mr Afrin said.

He said they were likely to be families of IS militants, but their discovery has blunted the offensive. "We do not want to cause a massacre against civilians in the last (IS) pocket," he said.

A blitz of air strikes and shelling last week was believed to signal the end of the campaign against IS in its last toehold in Syria.

Thousands of people, including many foreign fighters and their families, emerged from the area amid ferocious fighting as the SDF closed in from three sides under the cover of air strikes by the US-led coalition.

IS militants are clinging to their last patch of land in Baghouz, and the anticipated declaration of victory against the group has been delayed by the discovery of civilians.

Organised access to the front line has been restricted for journalists amid security concerns, particularly after the injury of an Italian photographer earlier this week.

US-backed forces are conducting precision operations targeting the militants' outposts in and around the village of Baghouz and working to clear surrounding villages of remaining fighters, SDF officials said.

The capture of Baghouz and nearby areas would mark the conclusion of a devastating four-year global campaign to end the extremist group's hold on territory in Syria and Iraq, their so-called "caliphate", which at the height of IS power in 2014 covered nearly a third of Iraq and Syria.

President Donald Trump has said the group is all but defeated. He announced in December that he would withdraw the 2,000 American troops in Syria.

It is not clear whether IS is holding any civilian prisoners in the enclave beyond their own families.

"We aim to save any prisoners, but we have no information about them. They can be among the civilians, or in underground prisons, we have no information," said Mr Afrin.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon's leading official said he foresees a "bigger and stronger" American-led international coalition combating IS globally as the US withdraws its troops.

Pat Shanahan, on his first trip abroad as the acting secretary of defence, made his comment after meeting representatives of the dozen or so countries that provide troops in Iraq and Syria.

"While the time for US troops on the ground in north-east Syria winds down, the United States remains committed to our coalition's cause, the permanent defeat of Isis, both in the Middle East and beyond," Mr Shanahan said.

Civilians flee fighting near Baghouz, Syria, on Sunday. Pic: AP

Mr Trump's decision in December to pull out of Syria angered some allies, confounded US military officials and prompted Jim Mattis to resign as defence secretary.

General Joseph Votel, who as head of US Central Command is overseeing military operations against IS in Syria and Iraq, said last week that he was not consulted before Mr Trump made his decision.

In an interview with CNN on Friday, Gen Votel went a step further, saying: "It would not have been my military advice at that particular time. I would not have made that suggestion, frankly."

Mr Shanahan said the US will "continue to support our local partners' ability to stand up to the remnants of Isis", but did not explain how.

He said that in Syria, IS has lost most of its leadership and resources - although he did not say it has lost all its territory.

"Together, we have eliminated the group's hold over 99% of the territory it once claimed as part of its so-called caliphate," he said.

"We have ensured Isis no longer holds the innocent people of Syria or Iraq in its murderous iron fist."
India's prime minister has warned of a "crushing response" to the suicide bombing of a paramilitary convoy in Indian-controlled Kashmir which killed 41 people and was the deadliest in the divided region's volatile history.

Narendra Modi placed the blame for yesterday's bombing on Pakistan, which India accuses of supporting rebels in Kashmir.

"Our neighbouring country thinks such terror attacks can weaken us, but their plans will not materialise," he said, adding that government forces have been "given total freedom" to deal with the militants.

"Security forces have been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response," he said.

Pakistan's ruling party rejected his allegation, saying India's ruling party was blaming Pakistan for the attack for political gains in an upcoming national election.

"The Indian allegations against Pakistan over yesterday's incident are part of the election campaign," said Naeemul Haq, a senior leader of the Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which came to power in last year's parliamentary election.

He said the violence in Kashmir was "the result of the brutalities of Indian-occupied forces in Kashmir".

The attack has ratcheted up already high tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who both administer parts of the disputed territory but claim it entirely.

Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley said New Delhi was withdrawing the most-favoured nation trade status given to Pakistan and would take all possible diplomatic steps "to ensure the complete isolation from international community of Pakistan of which incontrovertible evidence is available of having a direct hand in this gruesome terrorist incident".

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the country condemns acts of violence anywhere in the world and denied involvement.

"We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations," it said in a statement.

Rebels, many of whom want Kashmir united with Pakistan, have been fighting Indian control since 1989, but the Muslim-majority region has experienced renewed attacks and repeated public protests in recent years as a new generation of Kashmiri rebels, especially in southern areas, has challenged New Delhi's rule with a mixture of violence and social media.

In Thursday's attack, a local Kashmiri rammed an explosive-laden van into a bus travelling in the paramilitary convoy. In addition to the dead, the attack wounded nearly two dozen other soldiers, India's paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force spokesman Sanjay Sharma said.

Police said the bus was destroyed and at least five other vehicles were damaged.

The Greater Kashmir newspaper reported that militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility. A pre-recorded video circulated on social media showed the purported attacker in combat clothes, surrounded by guns and grenades.

Authorities suspended movement of security convoys in the Kashmir valley today and home minister Rajnath Singh arrived in Srinagar to review the security situation.

The attack has raised tensions elsewhere in Hindu-majority India. Hundreds of residents carrying India's national flag in Hindu-dominated Jammu city in the Muslim-majority state burned vehicles and hurled rocks at homes in Muslim neighbourhoods, officials said.

Authorities imposed a curfew and appealed for restraint. Some people were reported injured in the mob attacks.

Nearly 100 protesters chanting slogans such as "Pakistan down!" and "Attack Pakistan!" burned an effigy of Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan in a park close to India's Parliament in New Delhi.
France is sending its ambassador back to Italy following the biggest diplomatic dispute between the two countries since the Second World War.

France's European affairs minister Nathalie Loiseau said on RTL radio that ambassador Christian Masset will return on Friday to Rome.
Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest airport for international travel, has briefly halted flights over an alleged drone sighting.

The airport said it halted flights from 10.13am to 10.45am local time on Friday over "suspected drone activity".

Flights were later resumed, it said.

Alleged drone sightings have previously disrupted flights into the airport, which is the base of the long-haul carrier Emirates.

Drone owners are now required to register with the United Arab Emirates' General Civil Aviation Authority.

Authorities also ban hobbyists from putting cameras or lasers on their drones and flying in certain areas.

PA
During an angry drunken rampage an Illinois engineer called people the devil as he assaulted hotel staff and smashed up the lobby before going to the fifth floor to throw a fire extinguisher and other things from the balcony.

Some customers had to be locked into the hotel bar for safety at the height of the rumpus, a court has heard.

Albert Santiago of Holdridge Avenue, Beach Park, Illinois, pleaded guilty to a total of 16 charges at Cork Circuit Criminal Court arising from incidents at the Clayton Hotel on Lapps Quay in Cork city centre on August 12 2018.

This included two charges of assaulting receptionists, one charge of reckless endangerment, one charge of engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour, one charge of being intoxicated and a danger to himself and others and 11 charges of criminal damage.

Judge O'Donnabhain was told a total of 16,000 in damage was caused to property at the hotel on the night in question including artwork, a revolving door, a lift call station, a fire station, walls, glass panels, a fire extinguisher, chairs, a table, a hotel bedroom door and golden spheres.

Detective Garda Cormac Crotty testified that the specialist engineer who was a regular at the hotel and had visited Ireland many times as part of his work over the past 13 years without incident.

However, at the height of this incident he was smashing up the hotel and hurling items including a fire extinguisher from the fifth-floor balcony into the lobby below.

Patrons had to be locked into the bar to keep them from danger during the incident.

Santiago, 54, flew from Chicago to Heathrow to Cork and then went out and had too much to drink and caused extensive damage back in the hotel.

He was very drunk. He approached the reception desk. He became abusive to a guest. He tried to pull the guests phone from his hand. He pulled a lamp from reception. He was approached by members of staff. He pushed one of them in the face.

He remained in the lobby for 20 minutes, pulling lamps and computers to the floor, throwing lamps around the lobby area, cracking glass in the revolving door, Det. Garda Crotty said.

He picked up the top of a metal bin and threw it, striking the chest of another member of staff.

He went to the fifth floor. He caused damage, breaking up chairs and tables and he began throwing things from the balcony to the lobby below, the detective said.

He caught a fire extinguisher by its hose and swung the heavy metal cylinder causing damage to walls and the lift door before throwing the device over the balcony.

There was a lot of panic in the hotel during the 40 minutes that this was going on. Some of the guests had to be locked into the bar because items were being thrown down.

Following his arrest he was apologetic and visibly upset when shown CCTV.

Santiago lost the job he held for the past 31 years in Illinois as a result of his behaviour in Cork.

Defence barrister, Ray Boland, said of Santiago: He was completely off his head. He was on prescription medication. There was no question of recreational drugs being used. He had way too much to drink.

He had a recollection of being assaulted on his way back to the hotel. He was injured and bleeding as a result of his. When he came back to the hotel in such a condition of paranoia and rage he was calling people the devil randomly, Mr Boland said.

Mr Boland BL said the defendant had been planning to retire within the next three to five years but now faces having to rebuild his career as an independent contractor willing to travel worldwide.

Any conviction would have consequences for these plans, the barrister said.

He had brought 11,000 to court in compensation for the hotel and a further 5,500 in a bail bond would also be available for compensation eventually.

Santiago had no previous convictions.

The judge postponed sentencing pending the issue of compensation to the two staff members assaulted on the night. The judge put sentencing back until November 1.
University College Cork has removed the name of a Nobel Prize winner from a building at its health campus following controversial comments about race.

The name of Dr James D Watson has been removed from a building at the Brookfield Health Campus with immediate effect. The building had been named after Dr Watson since 2016.

He has been stripped of a host of honorary titles after making racist remarks in a recent documentary.

Watson, now 90, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1962 alongside Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins for their discovery, in 1953, that DNA is a double helix and "its significance for information transfer".

In a recent documentary film, Watson claimed there is a direct correlation between intelligence and race. It reflects comments he made in an interview with the Sunday Times in 2007.

In the PBS documentary 'American Masters: Decoding Watson', he said: "Theres a difference on the average between blacks and whites on IQ tests. I would say the difference is, its genetic.

The comments prompted an outcry by UCC staff and the UCC Students' Union, prompting the university to consider removing Dr Watson's name from the building.

In 1997, he said: If you could find the gene that determines sexuality, and a woman decides she doesnt want a homosexual child, well, let her. He has also been critical of women and said that it would be great if all girls were pretty.

In 2003 he said the Irish curse was not alcohol, but ignorance. "I grew up with that, where the Irish were, you know, not a serious people  blarney, full of blarney," said Professor Watson. "You can be real dumb or you can seem dumb because you dont know anything  thats all Im saying. The Irish seemed dumb because they didnt know anything."

Under its asset naming process, UCC reserves the right to revoke naming honours 'without consultation' in cases where the affiliation may be 'prejudicial' to the university's reputation.

That review is now complete, with Dr Watson's named removed with immediate effect.

Staff were informed of the change in an all-staff email by Professor John O'Halloran, deputy president and registrar off UCC.

University College Cork (UCC) rejects the deplorable comments by Dr James D. Watson, expressed on the subject of ethnicity and genetics during the documentary, American Masters: Decoding Watson, that recently aired on the American public broadcaster, PBS. These comments are utterly incompatible with the mission and values of UCC," he said.

"Upon review of these statements, and following a recommendation of the University Asset Naming Group, UCC has taken the decision to rescind the name of the building at the Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, which was named after Dr Watson in 2016.

"UCC acknowledges Dr Watsons scientific contribution, in particular, his research on DNA. However, his most recent statements, which invalidate the apology and retraction Dr Watson made in 2007, are irreconcilable with UCCs core values of respect, diversity and equality.

"UCC wishes to thank the contribution of its staff and students on this issue."

The renaming of the building at the Brookfield Health Sciences Complex will 'occur together with the university community, under the established university process', the university has confirmed. In the interim, the building will return to being the Assert Centre.
500 ambulance personnel are picketing at locations across the country today in a dispute over union recognition.

It is the second day of strike action by workers belonging to the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA).
The High Court has referred to Europe a number of questions relating to a five-year extension of planning permission for a liquid gas terminal on the Shannon Estuary.

Mr Justice Garrett Simons has asked the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) to give a preliminary ruling on a number of questions raised in a case brought by Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) against An Bord Pleanala.

The board granted the five-year extension for the development to Shannon LNG which is a notice party in the case. The project will include the construction of four large tanks, jetties to receive ships, and associated works at Kilcolgan, near Tarbet in north Co. Kerry.

FIE claims the board failed to take account of the possibility of the significant effects the proposed development will have on local wildlife and flora, including Bottlenosed Dolphins in the Lower River Shannon special area of conservation.

FIE also claims there was a failure to take account of the 2015 Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 which is intended to drive Irelands transition in line with its commitments under the Paris Agreement.

The dispute centres on whether the five-year permission extension engages the EU Habitats Directive which means the planning authority is obliged to fulfil certain procedural requirements before agreeing to a project which is likely to have a significant effect on a European conservation site.

Mr Justice Simons said the issue was whether those procedural requirements only applied when the original planning permission was granted or, alternatively, whether they also apply to the subsequent decision to extend for five years which involves no physical change to the original permission.

The board and Shannon LNG maintain that a mere temporal change - the period within which work can be carried out - does not require screening or assessment under the Habitats Directive.

FIE says it does.

Mr Justice Simons said recent High Court and Supreme Court decisions found the Habitats Directive did not apply in a case where an extension of permission had been granted.

However, there had been a significant legal development since last November when Juliane Kokott, Advocate General at the CJEU, delivered an opinion in a separate case saying the extension of duration of a building development is, in principle, subject to the Habitats Directive.

Mr Justice Simons said it had been accepted by all parties that the outcome of the case involving the Kokott opinion could have a significant bearing on this case.

Given Mr Kokott's opinion, it cannot be said that the applicability of the Habitats Directive to the five-year planning extension was clear.

In the circumstances, the judge decided it was necessary to refer a number of questions to the CJEU for preliminary ruling.

These include whether the five-year extension decision constitutes the agreement of a project such to trigger the Habitats Directive.

It also includes the question of to what extent, if any, is the obligation of the national court to interpret legislation insofar as possible in accordance with the Habitats Directive and the Aarhus Convention, providing the parties have expressly raised those issues.

The judge adjourned the matter generally pending a decision of the CJEU.
More than 300km of new mountain biking trails are to be delivered in seven counties in a bid to establish Ireland as one of the world's top destinations for the sport.

A 13.6 million funding package was announced as part of the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund. It is estimated that significant investment in the sector will generate as many as three million visitors in the next ten years.

The international mountain biking (MTB) proposition comprises four national trail centres across seven counties and over 300kms of trails at these centres. They will be located in Ballyhoura (Limerick/Cork), Coolaney (Sligo), Slieve Blooms (Offaly/ Laois) and Ticknock & Ballinastoe (Dublin/Wicklow).

According to Failte Irelands economic impact report, the development of the trail centres could see visitors generating spend of more than 22 million per annum when completed.

As the centres are located in rural and some remote areas, this impact will be felt where there are few other economic drivers.

There are an estimated 20 communities around the country which will see new and increased visitor numbers in their area.

The project will be delivered over a three-year period and each site or additional trail development will be opened to the public as it is completed.

Coillte, Ireland's largest commercial forestry company, welcomed the announcement, which was made by Michael Ring, Minister for Rural and Community Development and Heather Humphreys, Minister for Business, Enterprise, and Innovation at an event in Castleblaney, Co. Monaghan.

Deborah Meghen, director of stewardship for Coillte, said: "We want to continue to work with the best service providers to create outstanding destinations for mountain bikers.

"Investment has been made in the past by project partners in mountain biking across Ireland, but never to the scale needed to elevate this to an international proposition.

This funding will now allow the existing trials to be upgraded to a standard that can attract visitors at home and abroad.

The funding was announced as part of the second phase of the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund.

In all, 62 million was announced this week, bringing the total announced to date to 86 million. 84 projects are to benefit.

This week's announcement included the development of a new regeneration project for Thomastown, Kilkenny, the development of a major tourism at the site of Granard Motte and the allocation of 1.1 million for recreational and commercial facilities in Banteer, including an astro-turf pitch, cafe and shop.

However, Cork County Mayor Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy was unhappy with the total allocated to the county.

Cork County Council submitted 48 high quality measured applications, significantly more than any other organisation, 37 million in total in projects. This announcement related to projects valued at 62 million. We were successful with one single application, valued at 276,000. While I acknowledge Kinsale Library received over 2 million at the first round announcement last year, this round is hugely disproportionate, particularly when you realise that as a Local Authority, Cork County Council covers a population that is almost 10% of the entire country."
The Psychiatric Nurses Association has suspended next week's strike action.

Its members were due to down tools on February 19, 20 and 21.

In a statement, it says both sides have agreed to re-engage at the Workplace Relations Commission on Monday.

"Today, representatives from the PNA attended the Labour Court in relation to our ongoing recruitment and retention dispute.

"At this hearing the issues were discussed and the membership of the court were informed of the positions of both parties.

Following this, it became apparent to the court that there continues to be a need for further engagement between the union and the employer.

"The court suggested that the parties re-engage under the auspices of the WRC in order to resolve any outstanding issues prior to returning to the court.

"Both parties have now agreed to re-engage with the assistance of the WRC on Monday 18th February prior to a reconvening of the Labour Court on Wednesday 20th February.

"At this point in time, no agreement has been reached between the parties that would resolve the recruitment and retention crisis within the mental health services.

"We hope that further engagement will rectify this.

"Following a request to suspend our strike action in order to facilitate the completion of this process, the strike action planned for February 19th, 20th and 21st is now suspended.

"We will provide further updates as the process progresses."

@PNA_IRL See notice re.outcome of today's Labour Court hearing and suspension of strike action planned for next week 19th,20th and 21st pic.twitter.com/dZNWcrhOE5  PNA (@PNA_IRL) February 15, 2019

It comes after the union attended the Labour Court today in relation to its ongoing recruitment and retention dispute.

Monday's talks will come ahead of another meeting of the Labour Court on Wednesday.
The Irish Prison Service (IPS) paid nearly 30,000 to two private investigation firms, it has emerged, as an investigation continues into claims that officers were tracked and monitored during covert surveillance on the countrys prisons.

The IPS has confirmed two private investigation firms were employed by the service in 2011 and 2012. Both companies were employed by the Operational Support Group of the prison service, which oversees security.

The records show one firm was paid 18,228 over the two years, while a second received 10,774 in 2011.

In a letter to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), secretary general of the Department of Justice Aidan ODriscoll said he was not in a position to confirm whether this money was for covert surveillance.

It is not possible from the information available to determine if these payments relate to the surveillance of prison staff, Mr ODriscoll said.

However, a copy of the invoices concerned have been forwarded to the Inspector of Prisons as part of her ongoing investigation.

In an explosive affidavit in November, whistleblower assistant chief officer David McDonald made a series of claims including:

Tracking devices were placed on several prison service vehicles and in the private cars of prison officers;

The drivers of the prison vehicles, and the prison officers whose private cars were tracked, were unaware of the surveillance;

Some of these devices remained in place over a long period and intelligence gathered was passed to gardai;

Listening devices were put in the visitor area of one prison to gather information. In some instances, these devices were in place when prisoners had conversations with their solicitors;

Personnel from the private detective agency were provided with false identities to enter the prison and install covert surveillance cameras. The images from the cameras were beamed to another location despite obvious security concerns about such images falling into the hands of criminals.

Following the publication of the allegations in the Irish Examiner, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan appointed the inspector of prisons, Patricia Gilheaney, to conduct a preliminary investigation.

Mr ODriscoll wrote to the PAC yesterday: The Irish Prison Service has no information to suggest that any authorised covert surveillance of a prison officer has been undertaken by the Irish Prison Service or on its behalf during the last five years.

It is unclear from the letter how exactly authorised covert surveillance could be carried out by the IPS.

Mr McDonalds claims about covert surveillance date from more than five years ago, although some of his claims of malpractice date are more recent.

The inquiry will have to examine a number of strands to the claims, including whether, if covert surveillance was carried out, is it possible that it was done so legally?

PAC member and Fianna Fail TD Marc McSharry said he was concerned bosses at the IPS did not know what was going in prisons.

I have information that l have to get legal advice on that will contradict some of the stuff we have here, said Mr McSharry.

Some of the stuff just doesnt stand up and we will have to revisit it and I have a concern that Longford [IPS headquarters] doesnt know whats going on in some prisons.

Were not sure that money spent on surveillance was of staff, its just not credible. Expenditure is supposed to be OK-ed by director of operations of the prison service and why would he or she OK something that they didnt know what it was for.

Ms Gilheaney is conducting the probe under the 2007 Prisons Act. The Irish Examiner understands that, during one recent interview, the interviewee had to be excused due to ill health.

Another former prison officer has declined, on legal advice, to be interviewed.

Ms Gilheaney is expected to report back to the minister by the end of the month.
Gardai did not carry out a new investigation when a woman suing her father, for allegedly sexually abusing her as a child and facilitating neighbours to do the same, made a complaint as an adult in 2010, the High Court has heard.

In 1988, two years after the woman, her sister and mother left the family home for a refuge, a file was sent to the DPP on foot of a garda and health board investigation of the original abuse allegations. The DPP did not recommend prosecution because the child, who was between four and six when the abuse allegedly occurred, was too young to give evidence, the court heard.

The father says it never happened.

In 2010, when the woman was in her 20s, she made her own complaint to gardai who took her prepared statement.

A detective garda from her locality told the court today he took that prepared statement from her and asked her a number of questions. She also made a declaration in relation to her personal details and other details.

After he tracked down the 1988 file on the matter through the DPP's office, he then forwarded his own report to the DPP, along with the woman's own statement, "to have the entire matter reviewed". The DPP directed in October 2011 that there be no prosecution against the father, the garda said.

The case was on its fourth day before a judge and jury. Nothing can be reported that might identify the woman.

Under cross-examination by Bernard Madden SC, for the father, the detective garda agreed there had been no new investigation in relation to matters in the woman's statement, including an interview with the father or any of the other parties accused of abuse.

He agreed with counsel that none of the allegations made in the woman's prepared statement of 2010 were investigated by him or any other garda.

The garda also said he did not see it as "a fresh complaint" as it had been investigated before (in 1988) and he had sought a review from the DPP as to what could be done.

Another garda, now retired, who investigated the 1988 complaint, which arose out of interviews between the child and social workers at that time, told Sasha Gayer SC, for the woman, that she (garda) questioned the then eight-year-old child in detail about the allegations.

Under cross-examination, Mr Madden, for the father, put it to the retired garda that the three-page statement from 1988 was "not the language of a child of eight". The garda replied: "All I can say is it is a statement of what the child said".

A consultant liaison psychiatrist who first saw the woman in 2013, told the court she formed the opinion that she had post-traumatic stress disorder and a damaged personality.

The case, before Mr Justice Michael McGrath and a jury of 10 men and two women, resumes on Tuesday.
Ruth Morrissey who is terminally ill with cervical cancer will have to return to the witness box at the High Court in the coming weeks.

The mother who began her legal action last July against the HSE and two US laboratories over the alleged misreading of two of her cervical smear slides taken under the CervicalCheck screening programme is to be cross-examined by lawyers for the HSE.

The 37-year-old woman who has at most two years to live has already given evidence twice before Mr Justice Kevin Cross in July and at the start of her resumed action two weeks ago.

Today, Patrick Hanratty SC for the HSE said it will be necessary to recall Ms Morrisey to court on the issue of alleged medical negligence.

The move came as Mr Justice Kevin Cross was told the young mother is very concerned about potential delays in her long-running action.

Her resumed action has taken evidence over 11 days having adjourned last July after hearing four days of evidence.

Jeremy Maher SC for Ms Morrisey said their instructions were that Ms Morrissey was very concerned about the potential delays in the defendant's case.

Mr Justice Cross said he did not want gaps between witnesses or the ping pong of expert reports and witnesses between the sides as the case moves into its third week at a resumed hearing.

The judge said the case which had initially been fast-tracked was now proceeding at the slow speed of a tram.

The judge, after hearing submissions, ruled he was not going to allow Quest Diagnostics to bring in another expert witness in the case.

Earlier, cytotechnologist Sandra Tan from the US who reviewed the 2009 and 2012 Ruth Morrissey slides last year, told the court when she reviewed Ms Morriseys 2009 Quest Diagnostics slide at 10 times magnification, it took her 15 seconds to find abnormality.

She said there was a large abnormal group of cells. Her conclusion, she said, was it was abnormal and should have been passed on to the pathologist.

After another examination of the slide in September 2018, she said she made the same findings.

Referring to Ruth Morrisseys 2012 MedLab slide, she said there were enough atypical cells that it should have been passed on to a pathologist for review.

Ruth Morrissey and her husband Paul

Ruth Morrissey and her husband Paul Morrissey of Kylemore, Schoolhouse Road, Monaleen, Co. Limerick have sued the HSE and the US laboratory Quest Diagnostics Ireland Ltd with offices at Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin along with Medlab Pathology Ltd with offices at Sandyford Business Park, Dublin 18.

It is claimed there was an alleged failure to correctly report and diagnose and there was an alleged misinterpretation of her smear samples taken in 2009 and 2012.

A situation it is claimed allegedly developed where Ms Morrisseys cancer spread unidentified, unmonitored and untreated until she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in June 2014.

It is further claimed a review of the 2009 and 2012 smears took place in 2014 and 2015 with the results sent to Ms Morrissey's treating gynaecologist in 2016, but she was not told until May 2018 of those review results which showed her smears were reported incorrectly.

The HSE, the court has already heard, admitted it owed a duty of care to Ms Morrissey. The laboratories deny all claims.

The case before Mr Justice Kevin Cross continues on Tuesday.
A judge said today that feuding Travellers in Ennis have behaved like savages to each other.

Judge Gerald Keys made his comment before jailing three men for a series of confrontations between the Sherlock and Molloy families who are related to each other.

Cumulatively, Judge Keys imposed jail terms totalling 50 years and seven months on 12 members and associates of the Sherlock and Molloy families concerning four separate prosecutions.

The vast proportion of the jail terms are suspended and are to run concurrently to the jail terms imposed by Judge Keys.

Addressing the offenders at Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Keys told them that with the feud all of you have been a disgrace to your families but more importantly to your fellow Travellers.

"All of you have brought great shame on your community which seriously tests the patience of law-abiding citizens."

Judge Keys said that there is no sign of common sense prevailing in the feud and said that the offenders actions can and do lead to resentment towards Travellers.

Judge Keys said that the feuding must stop and this court will not tolerate this ongoing criminal activity before saying that some of the participants in the feud dont even know what it is about.

Judge Keys said that the offenders have been jumping on the bandwagon and you behave like savages to each other.

The judge said: This has to stop.

In sentencing, Judge Keys imposed a three-year jail term with one year suspended on Declan Sherlock (aged 23) formerly of Dromard, Ennis for a daylight street assault on Sean Slattery that was a flashpoint between the Sherlock-Molloy families on July 28, 2017.

In the assault on Ennis's O'Connell Street, Mr Sherlock struck Mr Slattery while he lay on the footpath 10 times across the head and body with a long wooden pole.

The attack by Mr Sherlock was in response to his brother, Damien Sherlock, being assaulted earlier that day by Thomas Molloy (aged 26) and James Molloy (aged 20) both of Ballaghboy halting site.

In response to that attack, Judge Keys jailed James Molloy and Thomas Molloy for two years for that assault.

The Sherlocks father, James Sherlock (aged 50) formerly of Dromard, Ennis, was the getaway driver for the attack on Sean Slattery.

However, James Sherlock escaped jail and was given a number of suspended sentences for his role in three separate flashpoints.

Judge Keys told him that he would have been jailed but for Mr Sherlocks decision to relocate to Co. Leitrim.

Judge Keys told Mr Sherlock: You have let yourself down and your family down."

The judge told Mr Sherlock that if he sets foot in Ennis during the period of his suspended jail terms, he will go to jail.
The Health Services Executive has secured a temporary High Court injunction against a man who has allegedly set up a misleading website that is confusingly similar to the HSE's crisis pregnancy freephone service 'My Options'.

The temporary injunction was granted today by Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds against Mr Eamonn Murphy, who the HSE claims has established a website passing off the service known as 'My Options '

Mr Murphy denies any wrongdoing and had opposed the granting of an injunction that would result in him having to suspend the website.

The order prevents Mr Murphy, or anyone under his control from using a website he allegedly registered last month called www.myoptions.website, or any other variation of a website using the term 'my options' until further order of the court.

The Judge said she was making the order in order to deal with the "immediate" and "clear confusion" that was being caused by the use of the term 'my options' in website names.

Representing himself Mr Murphy had sought an adjournment in order to obtain lawyers to contest the injunction application.

However, as he was not prepared to offer the court an undertaking not to suspend the operation of www.myoptions.website, until the case has been determined, the Judge said she was putting a temporary order in place until both sides of the cases are before the court.

The HSE, represented by Jonathan Newman SC claims Mr Murphy is inappropriately offering pregnancy scans, is trying to convince women not to go ahead with abortions, or berating those who have chosen to undergo a termination.

Mr Murphy with an address at Finglas Road, Dublin 11, allegedly registered that websites domain name days after the Minister for Health publically announced that the HSE's service would be called 'my options'.

The HSE claims Mr Murphy's actions are not a coincidence, are leading to substantial confusion and is damaging the goodwill and reputation of the HSE's service.

In December, the HSE secured the contract to run the freephone information and confidential counselling service, which is the first point of contact between it and the public.

Its website, www.myoptions.ie went live late last year, and the phone service commenced in January.

The HSE says that in recent weeks it became aware of a website called www.myoptions.website which contains Mr Murphy's phone number, promises a free ultrasound.

The HSE says that women are finding the defendant when they intend to find the service operated by the HSE.

The website is also giving the impression that Mr Murphy is offering services in connection with the HSE, or that objective counselling and information services are being provided, it is claimed.

The HSE says it asked him to remove or rename the website, but he has failed to do so.

In court, Mr Muphy denied any wrongdoing and said it was the HSE who was causing the confusion. He told the court that he wished to bring a counteraction against the HSE over the use of 'My Options'and the service it offers.

He also told the court that he intends to take an action over the HSE's 'myoptions.ie' service because it was putting women's lives in "real danger."

He said that myoptions.website had been extremely successful and had hits from persons all over the world.

He said that the website is part of the services he has provided for pregnant women for many years. The services have been operated under many names including the Women's Counselling Network or the Good Counselling Network.

He said the service saved the lives of woman and babies. He also claimed that the service being operated by the HSE is flawed and had resulted in "the unlawful killing of babies."

In addition, he said that he had made a criminal complaint about the service, Health Minister Simon Harris and doctors to the Gardai.

Ms Justice Reynolds noting that the myoptions.website domain name was registered by Mr Murphy two days after the Minister for Health had announced that the service would be called 'My Options', said she was satisfied to make the temporary order.

That took the urgency out of the matter, the Judge said.

Mr Murphy the Judge said was free to continue to operate the lawful service he has been providing since the 1990s. Nobody was stopping him from doing that, she said.

However any breach of that order the judge said would have serious consequences, the Judge added.

The matter will return before the court in two weeks time.
Frustrated Fine Gael TDs and senators have demanded the government come up with an action plan to protect rural Ireland, including the beef industry and communications infrastructure.

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed has agreed to requests to outline initiatives to the party meeting next week, including on fears the party will be punished in upcoming elections over the neglect of rural Ireland.

A number of politicians have raised the plight of rural communities, but particularly how the beef industry was facing all-time low prices, especially amid the uncertainty of Brexit.

Senator Tim Lombard warned Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and other ministers that there were huge issues in rural Ireland, including low beef prices.

He called for a new action plan, a whole-of-government approach, as party figures say one launched by Minister Heather Humphreys when she was in charge of culture was incomplete.

"Up to 52% of our beef goes to the UK. A bad Brexit would have major knock-on effects and decimate the industry," he said.

Junior transport minister Brendan Griffin warned last week about huge isolation problems in rural Ireland. Mobile phone coverage and broadband problems have also been highlighted, as has fears of an electoral backlash in May's local elections.

After a request from Fine Gael's parliamentary party chairman Martin Heydon, Minister Creed has agreed to consider the requests for action.

Meanwhile, Tanaiste Simon Coveney warned of the impact on Irish industries in the event of Britain crashing out of the EU without a deal.

No matter how prepared we are, a no deal would cause enormous strain on the economy and on communities north and south, he told the All-Ireland Civic Dialogue on Brexit at Dublin Castle.
A fisherman has been found not guilty of murdering an Irish father-of-two in Australia.

Andrew Doan, 35, was accused of fatally stabbing Charles John McCarthy, 32, in the head with a screwdriver during a fight next to Perth's Swan River in 2017.

After a brief deliberation, jurors found Doan not guilty of both murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter today following a trial in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

There were gasps and tears when the verdict was handed down.

Mr McCarthy's brother Dan and twin sisters Siobhan and Sinead had travelled from their home in Cork to watch the trial.

Doan, a father-of-one, had spent more than one year behind bars.

The trial heard how Doan had been fishing with his friend Tien Vu Huynh in East Fremantle in the early hours of December 23, 2017 when Mr McCarthy, his wife Nicole and friend Jason Mikel Curran walked by.

Doan said that when the men saw him and Mr Huynh emerging from the water, they asked: "Have you caught much?"

He mumbled "not much" in reply and they shot back "bit of s*** luck", according to Doan.

Their next comment - along the lines of "Fisheries are going to come and get you" - upset him and Mr Huynh, who are both Asian and interpreted it as racist.

Prosecutor James Mactaggart told the jury it was a "smart-arse, throwaway" comment, Mr Doan said the remark was racist because there was a stereotype "that all Asians catch undersize fish".

The trio walked off but Doan pursued them and a profane, verbal argument erupted.

Doan said his anger soon gave way to feeling vulnerable and outnumbered when Mr McCarthy began "puffing up" and walked back towards him "really staunch" with his fists clenched.

"It looked like he was coming into a demonic rage," Doan said.

He said he panicked, reached into his hoodie pocket, pulled out a screwdriver he had been carrying for crabbing and held it above his head, saying: "Get back or I'll stab you."

Doan said that as he retreated to his car, he had a scuffle with Mr Curran and Mr McCarthy kicked a wheelie bin at him, which just missed.

He said Mr McCarthy then charged and moved to punch him - ignoring his wife's frantic pleas to stop - and impaled himself on the screwdriver, which Doan was still holding.

Doan insisted he had closed his eyes, thrown his arms up to protect his face and forgot the tool was in his hand.

When he opened his eyes, Mr McCarthy was on the ground, Doan said.

He remained at the scene until emergency services arrived, telling police "it was me", and claiming self-defence.

PA
Dublin-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell has been named by Pope Francis as the new 'Camerlengo', a high-ranking member of the clergy who runs the Vatican between the death or resignation of a pontiff and the election of a new one.

The 71-year-old was born in Drimnagh and became a cardinal in November 2016.

He was appointed as the Bishop of Dallas in 2007, where he served until he was appointed as the first prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life in August 2016.

This role put him in charge of planning the World Meeting of Families in Dublin in 2018.

He is the highest-ranking American in the Vatican, and takes over the role from French cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who died in July.

The Camerlengo runs the ordinary affairs of the Vatican city-state during the period known as the sede vacante (empty seat).

He must confirm the death of the pope if the situation arises,

Cardinal Farrell was one of the bishops questioned last year when it accusations against Archbishop Theodore McCarrick emerged.

He denied having any knowledge of accusations of sexual abuse or harassment against McCarrick, under whom he had served as an auxiliary bishop and lived with for six years.
A solicitor for women who worked in the High Park Magdalene Laundry has been refused information by the Department of Justice in relation to a dispute over whether they worked in the laundry after 1980.

A total of 14 women who were in the An Grianan training centre after 1980 and who worked in the High Park Magdalene laundry in Dublin have yet to receive a provisional offer for redress from the department.

A number of these women said they have been told by the departments Restorative Justice Unit (RJU) in the Department of Justice, which administers the redress scheme, that the reason for the delay is that the order that ran the institution  the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge  has stated that it stopped sending girls from An Grianan to work in the main laundry in 1980.

Solicitor Wendy Lyon, of criminal defence and human rights firm KOD Lyons, represents a number of the affected women. She said she had requested information on the details supplied to the RJU by the order from the Department on three separate occasions.

I was twice refused, once I only got an acknowledgment of receipt, she said.

A number of the women have been invited into the department to inform it of the work they carried out in the laundry after 1980. It is believed some of the women declined this invitation.

The women have learned that a potential reason for this cut-off point is a claim that a separate laundry was constructed at An Grianan that year and that no girls were sent to work in the main laundry as a result.

However, the Irish Examiner has obtained documents showing this laundry was constructed in the early months of 1984 at a cost of 17,001.

The Irish Examiner asked the department if this issue was one of those cited by the order. It declined to respond to the question.

In a statement, it said its goal is to process their applications as quickly as possible and that Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan is strongly committed to ensuring that those entitled to redress receive it.

In the case of those who resided in An Grianan, the department is currently working to understand the operation of the institution from 1980 onwards to facilitate the processing of applications, said the department.

As part of this process, a number of applicants have been invited to speak to the department about their work. The department has also asked the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity for information. We would, of course, be happy to receive any other evidence which anyone may possess which would further aid this work.
Update 5.34pm: The firm behind the construction of the new National Childrens Hospital has said it would opt out of the contract if the board wanted to retender the controversial project.

In a statement, Kildare firm BAM also said it did not benefit inappropriately from the tender process and that much of the commentary was based on incomplete and inaccurate information.

Following the statement Independent TD Mattie McGrath called on the Taoiseach and the Health Minister to put an immediate halt to works being carried out on the St Jamess site and for due consideration to be given to the relocation of the new hospital.

Mr McGrath said: The statement by BAM today completely undermines the narrative that has been put out there by the Taoiseach, the Minister for Health and indeed the Minister for Public Expenditure, Pascal Donohoe, with respect to the alleged inability to reconsider a possible relocation of the NCH.

His comments came after Independent TD Mick Wallace claimed in the Dail on Thursday that retendering the construction contract for the hospital would save half a billion euro.

Mr Wallace said that cancelling the current deal would make financial sense in the long term and that it was not too late to do so before costs spiralled further.

But the Government rejected the claim.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney said the advice being given to Government was that retendering would not result in a saving.

Meanwhile, the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board says it is "committed to delivering the new children's hospital".

It issued a statement on the matter this evening.

- Press Association

Earlier: Contractor offers to opt out of children's hospital; calls for Taoiseach to clarify Dail statements

Update 1.44pm: The company contracted to build the National Children's Hospital has offered to opt out of the contract if the hospital board wishes for it to re-tender for it.

BAM is the lead contractor for the project and the firm has said that much of the commentary in recent weeks on the cost overruns at the hospital is "based on incomplete and inaccurate information".

They have also highlighted the Taoiseach's comments in the Dail this week when he was asked about the tendering process for the children's hospital.

Mr Varadkar had said on Tuesday in response to questions from Independent TD Michael Lowry: "We also particularly want to look at past form of contractors and public service references because there are one or two contractors who quite frankly I would not like see get a public contract again in this State."

Theo Cullinane, the chief executive of BAM, said : "In response to the Taoiseachs comments in the Dail on Tuesday February 12 last, BAM has written to the Taoiseach directly to respectfully request him to clarify that he was not referring to BAM in the Dail and that BAM has made and continues to make a significant contribution to Ireland, including in the context of the New Childrens Hospital, where BAM is in full compliance with all its obligations.

In its statement, the Kildare-based firm said it did not "benefit inappropriately from the tender process" for the project.

However, BAM said the company "will continue its commitment to the new Children's Hospital and the confidence of all parties involved is a vital requirement for the company."

They said they will engage with PwC to ensure all relevant facts are disclosed.

Their statement said: "In recent weeks there have been many adverse comments in relation to the New Childrens Hospital.

"BAM wishes to confirm that it did not benefit inappropriately from the tender process and much of the commentary is based on incomplete and inaccurate information."

"BAM will fully engage with PwC to ensure all relevant facts are disclosed.

"In response to the Taoiseachs comments in the Dail on Tuesday February 12 last, BAM has written to the Taoiseach directly to respectfully request him to clarify that he was not referring to BAM in the Dail and that BAM has made and continues to make a significant contribution to Ireland, including in the context of the New Childrens Hospital, where BAM is in full compliance with all its obligations.

"BAM will continue its commitment to the New Childrens Hospital and the confidence of all parties involved is a vital requirement for the company.

"BAM wishes to advise the hospital board that if it would prefer to opt out of this contract and procure the work in some other way, then BAM will cooperate with them to facilitate this option, said Theo Cullinane, CEO BAM Ireland and member of the Management Board of Royal BAM Group."
The CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has called for the introduction of legislation to make upskirting a criminal offence.

This week upskirting, which the term used for taking an unsolicited image up a womans skirt, was made a criminal and sexual offence in England and Wales.
Former Sunday Business Post editor Ian Kehoe has told a High Court jury articles in the newspaper in March 2015 were not about businessman Denis O'Brien but about Ireland and a report that "cast a lie" about what the banks were telling everyone at the time of the financial crash in 2008.

Mr O'Brien has sued Post Publications, publisher of the SBP, claiming the articles wrongly meant he was among a gang of 22 borrowers who wrecked the country and they defamed him and injured his reputation.

The defence denies those meanings, defamation or malicious publication and has pleaded "fair and reasonable publication on a matter of public interest".

Today, Mr Kehoe said he and journalist Tom Lyons had discussed leaving Mr O'Brien out of the articles but decided he had to be left in because he was named in the report, given by Price WaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to the government in November 2008, as among the 22 biggest borrowers with Irish banks in 2008.

There was an "immense fear factor" across the media around anything to do with Mr O'Brien and anything involving him had to "go through me" and lawyers.

When Mr O'Brien's name was mentioned, it was like being "in a fire station with a light going around and around".

"He is the only person in that category," he told his counsel Michael McDowell SC.

He and Mr Lyons had discussed, in the interests of a "quiet life", leaving Mr O'Brien out but decided it was "not our job to doctor a government report".

Core journalistic values mean treating all reports and individuals fairly, Mr O'Brien was named because he was one of the 22 named in the report and the articles also reported Mr O'Brien had paid all his debts, he said.

Asked why not anonymise all 22, he said he got into journalism because he believes in transparency and informing people what is going on.

This story was about a report that showed how fundamentally the banks misled PWC at the time of the bank guarantee in September 2008, he said.

The PwC report showed an immense concentration of debt in a small group of people "who could have been the best or worst borrowers".

It was not about Mr O'Brien or any other of the 22 individuals but about Ireland, Irish banks and why even now investment is not being put into areas "that so badly need it".

The story was of "immense public and national importance", he and Mr Lyons were fully engaged with it, he himself read the entire PwC report and went through the articles to ensure they were correct.

Denis O'Brien

He had not discussed the story with the company's then chairman, Conor Killeen, who at no time sought to exercise any control over any editorial content.

Earlier, during continuing cross-examination of Mr Lyons, Paul OHiggins SC put to him he had falsely stated in his articles that Mr OBrien had large borrowings for land and development, the nuclear button in terms of the banks exposure, when he, Mr Lyons, knew that was false and had then shredded the PWC report that could have exonerated Mr OBrien.

Mr Lyons disagreed and said PWC had said the risk relating to land and development borrowings exposure isolated by PWC might relate only to part of the [particular borrowers] connection.

Mr OHiggins put to Mr Lyons he had falsely stated the PWC risk assessment of various borrowers was not in this particular report but in other reports.

Mr Lyons said he did not recall the particular page of the report and, because the copy of the report provided to him was in black and white, would not have seen the colours PWC used to identify particular risk assessment of individual borrowers.

He disagreed his treatment of the risk assessment issue amounted to scandalous journalism.

If the article was read properly, it was clear the 63 billion figure referred to related to the banks total land and development exposure, he said.

Mr O'Higgins also played an interview given by Mr Lyons to RTE's This Week radio programme on March 15th 2015, the day the articles were published.

Mr Lyons denied that showed his attitude in 2015 was that a small group of the biggest bank borrowers had disappeared off "into the sunset" and left the people of Ireland holding the baby at the time of the financial crisis in 2008.

He said he made no reference to Mr OBrien during the interview and had no opportunity to outline what was said in the articles about Mr O'Brien, which was his loans were performing in 2008 and he went on to repay all his debts.

The interviewer had asked him, before beginning to record the interview, not to make any reference to Mr OBrien because the lawyers had said "not to go near him", he said.

Mr Kehoe will continue his evidence on Tuesday.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has warned of the consequences for workers of a no-deal Brexit.

The General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Patricia King, who was attending the All-Island Civic Dialogue in Dublin today, said a no-deal- Brexit "cuts right across the letter and spirit" of the Good Friday Agreement and the North's peace process.

It comes as the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, dismissed reports that Ireland may be forced to comply with checks on exports to mainland Europe in the event of a Brexit no-deal.

Todays All-Ireland Civic Dialogue at Dublin Castle is discussing the all-island implications of Brexit involving trade unions, business groups, non-governmental organisations and political parties from across the island.

Ms King said: We are now six weeks away from the UK exiting the EU and with each passing day a no deal Brexit is looking more likely. As a body that represents the interests of over 800,000 workers across the island of Ireland we are seriously concerned about the political, social and economic implications of such a no deal Brexit for workers and their families across the island.

"It has the potential to set back and further undermine important North/South and East/West relations for some time, which also undermines strand 2 and 3 of the Agreement."

She said that in the absence of an alternative arrangement that meets the requirements of the EU and the UK to seek a soft Brexit, we believe the draft Withdrawal Agreement needs to be considered again by the House of Commons".

The General Secretary said: We need to ensure that workers rights and conditions of employment are protected in any post Brexit scenario north and south of the border and that when devolution returns in Northern Ireland the Assembly maintains decent workers rights and labour standards by implementing EU directives in these areas.

In the event of a no deal Brexit it is critical that the Irish government intensifies its ongoing engagement with the ICTU and other social partners in responding to such an emergency situation. It is also essential that the UK government set up and implement our proposal for a Forum for Social Dialogue in Northern Ireland whereby we can seek to mitigate the worst consequences of a no-deal Brexit for workers and others.

"Both the UK and Irish government will need to respond to such an economic emergency by setting up appropriate Brexit Adjustment Assistance Funds (BAAF) in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland respectively."

"This is critical to meet the challenges of job and economic displacement. We must ensure that workers across this island do not pay the price of Brexit.
US-Chinese talks on a war of wills over Beijing's technology ambitions have "made headway" on important issues, the chief American envoy said, but he gave no indication whether Washington would postpone a looming tariff hike.

Robert Lighthizer expressed optimism but gave no details of the two days of negotiations. Economists said they were too brief to resolve the tariff fight that threatens to chill weakening global economic growth.

"We feel we have made headway on very, very important and difficult issues," Mr Lighthizer told Chinese President Xi Jinping in a meeting after the talks ended.

"We have additional work we have to do but we are hopeful."

Mr Xi said Beijing and Washington "share broad mutual interests" in promoting global economic prosperity and stability.

"We shoulder important responsibilities," the Chinese leader said.

There was no indication whether the talks made progress on the thorniest dispute: US pressure on Beijing to scale back plans for government-led creation of Chinese global leaders in robotics and other technologies.

US and Chinese negotiators will meet again next week in Washington, the official Xinhua news agency said.

President Donald Trump had made "no decision" on the tariff hike set for March 2, his adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters on Thursday in Washington.

The president said on Tuesday that he might let the deadline "slide for a little while" if the talks went well.

Washington, Europe, Japan and other governments say Beijing's industry plans violate its market-opening obligations. Some American officials worry they might erode US industrial leadership.

Mr Trump raised tariffs in July over complaints that Beijing steals or pressures companies to hand over technology.

The dispute has spread to cover cyber-spying traced to China, the country's multibillion-dollar trade surplus with the US and support for state industry.

Beijing has offered to narrow its trade surplus by purchasing more American soybeans, natural gas and other exports, but has resisted pressure to cut back development plans it sees as a path to prosperity and global influence.
A major shortage of construction workers is being made worse by a myriad of problems in the apprenticeship system, the president of Cork Institute of Technology has said.

Barry OConnor was speaking as the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) warned of nine in 10 firms experiencing severe difficulties in sourcing tradespeople, especially in block laying, plastering, tiling, and painting and decorating.

The CIF report said there was also a severe lack of engineers, quantity surveyors, foremen, project managers, general operatives, ground workers and apprentices.

Three-quarters of firms said the recruitment issues are having a direct effect on their ability to deliver projects on time.

The CIFs Dermot Casey said a negative perception of trades remained.

There is a noble purpose to a career in construction and we have to get that message out to young people. Unfortunately, schools are only considered truly successful when over 95% of their students go on to third level.

The high dropout rates of young people after one year in colleges shows the problem with this thinking, Mr Casey said.

Cork Institute of Technology president Mr OConnor said there was a myriad of problems within the current apprenticeship system that was contributing to a dearth of tradespeople.

He said one issue was the fact that a person had to be tied to a specific tradesperson before academic training for the apprenticeship could be taken up in the likes of Cork Institute of Technology.

Mr OConnor pointed to careers like IT where certain overall skills were learned before deciding what specific avenue to go down.

Cork Institute of Technology

The fact that young people had to be apprentices tied to a specific tradesperson meant they were the most vulnerable to being let go in a downturn, Mr OConnor said.

The CIF has officially called for work permits to be issued for tradespeople based outside the EU, such is the lack of talent, it said.

The Department of Business currently considers bricklayers, roofers, plumbers, carpenters, plasterers, floorers and wall tilers, painters and decorators, and construction and building trades supervisors to be ineligible to n on-EU workers, which had to change, according to the CIF.

The building body has made a submission to the department to have what it called a number of essential trades added to the eligibility list for work permits for those outside the EU.
Friday, February 15, 2019 at 9:45AM

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

Modernity is rarely a welcome concept for those rooted in tradition. What many see as progress is often decried as the destruction of long-held values and an attempt to push out members of the old guard who still adhere to customs they do not believe to be outdated. Every community must adapt to technological progress in some way or remain isolated from the rest of the world, a strategy that cant last forever.

In Colombia's Birds of Passage, which made the nine-wide finalist list for foreign film but missed the nomination, the setting is the 1960s and the disruptive influence is the drug trade. Rapayet (Jose Acosta) becomes engaged to Zaida (Natalia Reyes), and, according to the customs of their indigenous Wayuu community, must present her family with a substantial dowry. Motivated by pride more than anything, Rapayet sees a business opportunity to provide Americans from the Peace Corps with marijuana...





His quick presentation of the entire requested assortment of goods is met with suspicion by Zaidas mother, creating the first crack in the foundation of a populace previously able to remain separate from new vices and influences.

While Rapayet is chastised for his behavior, what most within his society object to is his partnership with Moises (Jhon Narvaez), whose background is different. They see him not as an invading foreigner but as an other just as worthy of contempt. Moises does himself no favors by refusing to respect the way in which the Wayuu expect him to behave. Rapayet remains reserved and far less showy, but, as is often the case, the allure of financial prosperity beyond prescribed means is impossible to resist.

This film feels a lot like the first and so far only Colombian film nominated for Best Foreign Film, Embrace of the Serpent. Birds of Passage's married co-directors Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra served as producer and director, respectively, on that earlier black-and-white drama about two white scientists searching for a mystical plant with an Amazonian shaman. Serpent provided a haunting depiction of what external influence looks like on established culture. Birds starts at a later point of intersection, where its native populace is already aware of what lies beyond its borders and survives by insisting that continued adherence to what they believe is the surest path to stability.

As with Serpent, Gallego and Guerra excel most at portraying the people, immersed in the power of their ritual dances or the emphasis on word messengers to relay news and broker important treaties. The most compelling and unforgettable images find characters clad in both modern and ceremonial garb gathered within a large white house that sits all by itself in the middle of a vast landscape, representing one last stronghold in a place that once used to be defined by peace and has now been corrupted by competing interests and the destructive pull of money.

Especially in an age where Pablo Escobar is frequently featured in television and film projects, presenting Colombia as a land overwhelmed by drugs and the riches that come from its proliferation, its affirming to see a slower take inspired by real events that spends time with those who arent seen partying and spending every dollar to build themselves impenetrable fortresses but still play a part in bringing violence and unrest to a previously untouched community. It also serves as a strong follow-up to Embrace of the Serpent, preserving its depiction of indigenous culture and placing it within the context of an appropriately reserved epic drama.

Grade: B

Birds of Passage has now opened in New York and Los Angeles movie theaters.
Businesses should be examining gender balance in their workplace now in advance of the Gender Pay Gap Information Bill eventually comes into force, advises Patrick Robertson, managing director of Performance Reward Consulting.

PRC is a boutique reward consultancy focusing on the Irish market, North and South. PRCs survey of 100 leading organisations across Ireland, employing 133,444 Irish-based staff, showed a rather surprising lack of urgency on workplace gender issues.

While more than 50% of Irish businesses report that the gender pay gap is an issue for their organisation, that still leaves almost 50% not seeing this as an issue. While 41% of organisations are actively planning steps to improve gender pay equality over the next two years, with a further 35% of companies unsure if they will be taking active steps.

According to Eurostat, the gender pay gap in Ireland was found to be 13.9% compared with an EU 28 figure of 16.7% in 2014. Although Ireland appears somewhat ahead of the EU average, the reported gender pay gap is still significant.

I was surprised by the near half of employers who dont see this as a major issue for their organisations, remarked Patrick Robertson, PRCs managing director. Despite the statistics showing that Ireland is performing better than the EU average on this issue, my own experience in the Irish market is that there doesnt tend to be great diversity at senior level.

When you go in to meet with executives in many companies, in many cases you are meeting with a team of men. There might be a female HR director. A lot of businesses out there really need to wake up to this issue. A lot of businesses are distracted by Brexit right now and they would seem to be overlooking this issue.

The Governments National Strategy for Women and Girls includes a range of measures to try to address gender pay issues in the coming years.

In June 2018, the Irish Government published the general scheme of the Gender Pay Gap Information Bill currently going through the Dail. The Bill provides that companies will, in due course, have to publish key information on gender pay within their organisation.

It is planned that this will start with companies of more than 250 employees, moving down to companies of 50+ employees on a phased basis. Transparency and reporting will, therefore, be introduced in Ireland in the near future. Reporting is already in place in the UK for organisations with over 250 employees.

Im not sure exactly when companies in Ireland will be obliged to report on their gender pay gaps, but they should definitely be asking themselves these questions now before having their arms twisted on it, said Mr Robertson.

A lot of companies like to talk of their strong employment brand when seeking to attract and retain talent. How they perform on this subject will be a key issue for most companies. Surely it is better to look at it yourself now rather than being forced into it later.

The PRC survey has particular relevance for businesses in the south. Of the 100 companies participating in the survey, 65% have employees in the Republic of Ireland only, 24% have employees located both North and South of the border and 11% have employees located in Northern Ireland only.

Patrick Robertson advises businesses to review the adverts they have placed to fill vacancies. Do these adverts mention work flexibility?

Do the companies actively promote diversity in the workplace? Outside of the impending regulations, do they see the importance of these issues in the way that many people perceive their company?

Mr Robertson said: The gender pay gap can arise for a range of reasons, including employers offering limited flexibility and part-time working and failing to attract a mix of candidates through progressive recruitment practices.

Although there is no overnight fix to this issue, it is important for business leaders to first recognise and identify the issue and then start planning active steps to address it. The first stage in this process is to conduct internal analysis to assess how significant the gap is, and then plan out active steps to help remove it. It is clear that a number of Irish businesses are already starting this process, while others are waiting for legislation to go through before starting.

PRC advises on appropriate reward strategies to support business plan goals. It also helps companies design performance-based incentives that motivate employees. PRC also aims to tailor their reward solutions to each clients commercial strategy and unique business environment.

In terms of looking at the issue of gender and pay, the first step for many companies will be to come around to the starting position that there is an issue to address.

Although it is reassuring to see that many Irish businesses are now planning steps to start identifying and addressing this issue, it is surprising that almost half of Irish organisations do not report it as an issue at this stage, said Mr Robertson.

You only have to look at the makeup of the boards and management teams of many organisations around Ireland to notice gender inequality. In addition, the pay levels of female employees in management and executive teams often appear to lag male employees in the same teams.

Grapevine business movers

Gary Hammond has been newly-appointed as head of digital insights and client success with Monsoon Consulting  the e-commerce provider with offices in Dublin, London and Kiev. He will oversee implementation of a range of new professional services. He was formerly MD and founder of Iterate, the UX design and development agency which led to become an industry leader, working with some of the best known and most recognisable brands and organisations in Ireland.

Gary Hammond

At Monsoon, he will work closely with and advise clients on competitive opportunities to allow them to thrive digitally, leading to a significant return on investment.

Matt Elliott has been appointed as chief people officer with Bank of Ireland. He joins from Virgin Money where he was group people director; he will report directly to CEO Francesca McDonagh and will be a member of the banks group executive committee. With Virgin Money, he helped introduce the UK Senior Managers Regime (SMR) and worked closely with the board to implement a new variable remuneration scheme for all employees.

Matt Elliott

An advocate for inclusion and diversity, he has appeared as a leading ally in this years Financial Times lists for gender (HERoes), ethnicity (EMpower) and LGBT+ (OUTstanding), the only person to appear in all three lists.

Denise Manton has been appointed as business development and commercialisation manager with Lero, the SFI-backed Irish Software Research Centre, based in University of Limerick. She replaces Joe Gibbs, who has been named as GM with Lero. Denise was formerly technology gateway manager of TSSG, an ICT research centre.

Denise Manton

She has also held senior roles in the tech and life science sectors. She has also worked as an engineer and technical lead on large scale control system and automation projects for multinationals such as Janssen Pharmaceuticals and MSD. Denise holds a BSc in Computer Applications from CIT an MSc in Technology Management from UCC.

Sean Moran has been named as president of the Hardware Association Ireland, the body for over 370 hardware and DIY retailers, builders merchants, and manufacturers and distributors across Ireland. He has served on the board for four years and as treasurer for two years. He is CEO and majority shareholder of the Home Project Centre Group, which has 14 trading units around the country, employs 250 people and operates trading brands including TJ OMahonys, C+D Providers, PH Ross, Commons Hardware and McCarthys Hardware.

Sean Moran

He has held senior roles, including with Stone Developments, part of the Sisk group. A qualified accountant, he was also MD of the McMahon Group.

Graham Murphy has been appointed as head of data with Three Ireland. This new role will see Graham lead Threes centralised data function which will use data to provide meaningful business insights and inform business decision making. He joins Three from Deutsche Bank, where he was head of data protection advisory for the past four years. Prior to that, he held the position of data analytics and governance lead with Deloitte for two years.

Graham Murphy

He has also worked with Bank of Ireland for more than 10 years in roles including data management consultant and manager of fraud and AML intelligence. He holds a BSc in Computer Science, Portobello College.

Pauline Houlihan has been named as a partner with executive search firm Amrop in Ireland. She joins from professional services firm RGP, where she spent 12 years as talent management director, acquiring and deploying senior executive project consultants across Ireland and Europe. She has also worked with eircom in a number of finance and project management roles. She trained and qualified as a chartered accountant with Coopers & Lybrand, specialising in the large scale manufacturing audit area.

Pauline Houlihan

She holds a Bachelor of Business Studies degree from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters in Accounting from University College Dublin.
Recent heavy snowfall in Westman wont necessarily translate into a bumper crop for farmers this year.

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This article was published 14/2/2019 (861 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Recent heavy snowfall in Westman wont necessarily translate into a bumper crop for farmers this year.

"The snowfall is welcome," said Keystone Potato Producers Association manager Dan Sawatzky.

"How much it will contribute (to subsoil moisture) really depends on how the spring comes and what kind of thaw-freeze cycle we will have."

Despite heavy rains that inundated producers fields during last falls harvest, ruining crops for many, subsoil moisture is still low, Sawatzky said.

"So even though we had rains to slow down the harvest, we had a dry summer," he said. "We actually had a dry season the previous year, as well."

While there was a fair amount of reserve in 2017, it was mostly used up last year, he added.

"The rainfall that we did get during harvest was certainly constant and prevented people from making progress."

In the end, though, the rain didnt replenish the subsoil moisture.

Sawatzky noted potato producers in some areas of the province rely on runoff to fill reservoirs, "and the more snow we get, the more chance there is that runoff will occur."

If the ground is frozen, however, some of the snowfall will just run into the waterways, Sawatzky said, "and we may not get a whole lot soaking in."

The impact of snowfall on this years crop cannot be estimated in February, a provincial government spokesman said.

The best guess of spring soil-moisture levels during the winter months is based on the fall soil moisture survey, he said.

"Only 20 per cent of annual precipitation occurs from November to March, which we are unsure of how much gets captured in the soil, and 45 per cent from May to July, which we know feeds crops and recharges soil."

Winter snowpack can help, but its not necessary for crop production in Manitoba, he said.

Manitoba Agricultures weather program reports that between Nov. 1 and Feb. 3, areas such as Killarney, Baldur, Waskada and Pierson in the southwest part of the province have received less than 25 millimetres of total precipitation.

Areas southeast of both Riding Mountain National Park and Duck Mountain Provincial Park have received between 40 and 68 millimetres.

Meanwhile, the southwest and northwest areas of the province saw between 35 and 115 per cent of normal precipitation over a 30-year period since Nov. 1.

Areas around Miniota, Kenton, Rivers, Brandon, Wasagaming, McCreary, Neepawa and Ruthenia have received at least 75 per cent of normal precipitation.

Amanda Prysizney, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said the Brandon area received 23.6 centimetres of snow by the first week of February, thanks in large part to a Colorado/Wyoming weather system. Thats almost as much as the 25 centimetres the area received in all of January.

"It was a good start of the month, in terms of precipitation," Prysizney said.

Although specific to the Brandon reporting station, the snowfall amounts are representative of most of southwestern Manitoba, she said, noting Minnedosa tends to get a bit more snow because of the escarpment there.

 brobertson@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @BudRobertson4
SAINT JOHN, N.B. - A forensic expert says he cannot tell how old the bloodstains are on the jacket Dennis Oland was wearing the day his father was beaten to death, or how they got there.

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This article was published 15/2/2019 (860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dennis Oland heads to the Law Courts in Saint John, N.B., on January 29, 2019 as his trial in the bludgeoning death of his millionaire father, Richard Oland, continues. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

SAINT JOHN, N.B. - A forensic expert says he cannot tell how old the bloodstains are on the jacket Dennis Oland was wearing the day his father was beaten to death, or how they got there.

The brown Hugo Boss jacket is key prosecution evidence at the Oland murder trial.

It has the only blood evidence potentially linking Dennis Oland to the scene where his father, Richard Oland, was killed in 2011.

But RCMP Sgt. Brian Wentzell, a forensic bloodstain expert, told the trial Friday he has no way of knowing how four small bloodstains from Richard Oland got on the jacket or how long they were there.

Oland had the jacket drycleaned in the days following his father's murder.

Defence lawyer Alan Gold said during his aggressive cross-examination of Wentzell that it is possible the bloodstains could be the result of "innocent transfer," referring to something like a nosebleed or a small cut.

"You cannot say how those stains got on the jacket can you?" asked Gold.

"No," answered Wentzell.

"You can't say it was spatter and you can't say how old they are, can you?" Gold asked.

"No," the bloodstain expert said.

Dennis Oland, 51, told police on July 7, 2011, the day his father's body was found on the floor of his Saint John office, that he was wearing a navy jacket when he visited his dad late on the afternoon of the previous day.

But eyewitness accounts and security video showed he was wearing the brown jacket that was later found to have the four small bloodstains on its exterior.

The trial already has heard from several witnesses that multimillionaire businessman Richard Oland liked to touch people when greeting and talking to them.

"There is nothing inconsistent with them being innocent transfer," Gold asked Friday, referring to the bloodstains on the jacket.

"No," Wentzell answered.

Despite blood spatter that radiated in all directions during the killing on July 6, 2011, no blood was detected in the car Dennis Oland was driving that day, on items he was carrying, such as his cellphone, or on his clothing - except for the jacket.

Wentzell said he, like other police officers involved in the case, did expect the assailant who killed Richard Oland would have blood spatter on their clothing.

But in the case of Dennis Oland, it is largely absent - apart from the four tiny stains on the jacket that are almost impossible to see with the naked eye.

"It's a reasonable inference - there is no way that jacket was worn during the blood-letting?" Gold asked Wentzell.

The question prompted an objection from Crown prosecutor P.J. Veniot, and Wentzell did not answer.

The bloodstain expert explored the tale told by the patterns of blood at the crime scene during his testimony for the prosecution on Thursday. Richard Oland, 69, at the time of his death, was killed by more than 40 blows to his head that cracked his skull and sent blood, bone and brain matter flying around the room.

But Wentzell said the amount of blood and gore that lands on an attacker is impossible to calculate. It depends, he said, on the angle of the blows and the type of weapons used.

Oland was struck with a blunt, hammer-like object and a sharp-edged implement. The weapon was never found but some have suggested it could have been a drywall hammer that has both a hammer and an axe side.

"I am aware of a case where a person was stabbed multiple times in a vehicle, and there was no blood found in the vehicle," Wentzell said.

Friday was day 35 of Oland's retrial for second-degree murder. He was charged with the killing in 2013 and convicted in a jury trial in 2015. However, the verdict was overturned on appeal in 2016, due to an error in the judge's charge to the jury, and the new trial was ordered.

The current trial, before judge alone, is expected to conclude by mid-March. The judge is then expected to take at least two months to render a verdict.
OTTAWA - The son of Liberal MP Joyce Murray is awaiting a medical evacuation from Mexico to Vancouver after suffering severe injuries during his honeymoon in Cancun.

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This article was published 15/2/2019 (860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Liberal MP Joyce Murray rises in the House of Commons in Ottawa on May 20, 2016. The son of Liberal MP Joyce Murray is awaiting medi-evac to Vancouver General Hospital after suffering severe injuries during his honeymoon in Cancun. Murray said in a statement Erik Brinkman fell from a height early Monday and underwent extensive surgery at a local hospital. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - The son of Liberal MP Joyce Murray is awaiting a medical evacuation from Mexico to Vancouver after suffering severe injuries during his honeymoon in Cancun.

Murray said her son Erik Brinkman fell from a height early Monday and underwent extensive surgery at a local hospital to stabilize multiple fractures.

She and other family members arrived to support him and his wife, Arianna, later that day.

Brinkman will require many more surgeries, she said.

"He has been amazingly strong so far in dealing with this very difficult situation and we are optimistic about his recovery," Murray said in a Friday statement.

Brinkman has not yet been transported because he needed transfusions of O-negative blood, which was in short supply nearby.

Public Facebook posts were widely shared asking for help and brought out donors who, alongside two family members with matching blood types, are expected to supply enough blood for Brinkman to be stabilized for transport.

"We want to thank all those who have reached out in love and support and are keeping Erik and his wife in their thoughts and prayers," said Murray. "Its an extremely difficult time for our family and I would respectfully ask for privacy for us at this time."

Murray was first elected in Vancouver Quadra in 2008 and is the parliamentary secretary to the president of the Treasury Board. She was previously an MLA in British Columbia from 2001 to 2005.

Murray has two sons and a daughter with her husband, Dirk Brinkman. They founded the tree-planting company Brinkman Group in 1979.

Their other son is Canadian rapper and playwright Baba Brinkman.
CALGARY - The Crown has stayed a sexual assault charge against prominent Calgary chef and restaurant owner Michael Noble because there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction.

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This article was published 15/2/2019 (860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The sign at the Calgary Courts Centre in Calgary is shown on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. The Crown has stayed a sexual assault charge against prominent Calgary chef and restaurant owner Michael Noble. Alberta Justice spokeswoman Katherine Thompson says prosecutors determined there was no reasonable likelihood of a conviction. Police alleged that Noble followed an employee into a bathroom during a downtown Calgary social gathering in January of last year and sexually assaulted her. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Graveland

CALGARY - The Crown has stayed a sexual assault charge against prominent Calgary chef and restaurant owner Michael Noble because there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction.

Police alleged that Noble followed an employee into a bathroom during a downtown Calgary social gathering in January of last year and sexually assaulted her. He pleaded not guilty and a trial had been scheduled for next month.

"Circumstances have significantly changed over time and the existence of a reasonable likelihood of conviction no longer exists in this case," Alberta Justice spokeswoman Katherine Thompson said in a statement Friday.

"As such, the Crown had an obligation to terminate the prosecution."

She said the decision to report sexual assault is deeply personal and can be extremely difficult.

"The survivors who come forward should be commended for their bravery. Crown prosecutors treat sexual assault cases with the utmost care and compassion."

Jennifer Ruttan, Noble's lawyer, said her client was pleased the charge has been stayed.

"Mr. Noble has been confident since entering a not guilty plea on his first court appearance that the court would properly dispose of the accusation against him," she said in a statement.

"The Crown decision to stay the prosecution supports his confidence in the criminal justice system."

She said Noble is seeking privacy as he tries to "move forward and put this incredibly difficult and public ordeal behind him."

The stay halts the legal process for the case but the Crown could lift the stay within one year.

Noble is known for running well-known Calgary restaurants The Nash and Notable.
Inspire You Studio will host an event tonight aimed at helping Brandonites un-haunt their homes and clear out bad energy.

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This article was published 15/2/2019 (860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Julia Sotas, the instructor who will help people clear their negative entities during today's session. (Submitted)

Inspire You Studio will host an event tonight aimed at helping Brandonites "un-haunt" their homes and clear out bad energy.

Julia Sotas, originally from Birtle, will be helping people clear up bad energy and entities that might be affecting them, said Robin Chant, owner of the yoga studio. She added that Sotas does this through acts of consciousness and making people aware of the entities around them.

Sotas is an Access Consciousness certified facilitator.

Chant blames bad energy for the reason people crave alcohol or cigarettes. She said the entities  otherwise known as ghosts  who dont have a body anymore still crave these things and pressure living people to do them.

"If you ever have anybody in your mind saying Oh well, wouldnt it feel so good to have a smoke right now, thats probably an entity talking around you, not in you, and theyre fighting you to take another drag of the cigarette."

Chant said she has gotten a good response from people in Brandon about the event and she estimates 15 to 20 people are coming.

"I think its going to be quite interesting," she said.

The event runs from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Inspire You Studio. Tickets are $150.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
Another large convoy of trucks will be rolling past Brandon this afternoon on its way to Ottawa to protest federal government policies.

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This article was published 15/2/2019 (860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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CP The "United We Roll" convoy of semi-trucks prepares to leave Red Deer, Alta., Thursday, on its way to Ottawa to draw attention to lack of support for the energy sector and pipelines. (The Canadian Press)

Another large convoy of trucks will be rolling past Brandon this afternoon on its way to Ottawa to protest federal government policies.

More than 150 trucks and other vehicles left Red Deer Thursday morning, said Glen Carritt, an organizer of United We Roll! Convoy for Canada.

While they wont stop at Brandon, they will take a break at the A&W in Virden for about half an hour before resuming their journey.

"We are just not pleased with our current government," Carritt said.

Organizers expect to see as many 350 to 400 trucks take part in the event as the convoy travels along the Trans-Canada Highway, with up to 1,500 personal vehicles and buses joining in along the way.

They plan to arrive at Parliament Hill on Tuesday, where they will spend two days holding rallies to highlight a number of issues, including the need for pipelines to move product to the world market; a stance against the federally enforced carbon tax; the repeal of Bill C-48 regarding an oil tanker ban; the quashing of Bill C-69, which enforces regulations on future pipelines and the United Nations Global Compact for Migration.

That may sound a lot like the yellow vest protest movement, but Carritt said the convoy has no affiliation with that group.

"Everybody is welcome," whether they identify as being with the yellow vest movement or not, Carritt said. "As long as they are peaceful and respectful."

He added, "Radicals are not welcome."

In late January, a yellow vest protest convoy left Virden and travelled to Brandon to protest many of the same issues as United We Roll.

Members of the loosely affiliated yellow vest movement  which began in France in mid-November with protests over rising fuel prices and has since moved across Europe and North America  say they oppose the carbon tax, illegal or "irregular" immigration, any censorship laws or measures and the import of foreign oil.

They also call for a total reform of Canadas electoral system and equalization payments, cutting "wasteful spending in Ottawa" and withdrawal from the United Nations Global Compact for Migration, a non-binding intergovernmentally negotiated agreement that covers all dimensions of international migration.

As well as representatives from the oil and pipeline industries, United We Roll organizers are inviting participation from those affected by federal policies surrounding the convoys key protest issues, such as agriculture and trades. The public is also welcome to join the movement at any point along the route and drive as much or as little as they choose.

Carritt noted the convoy is expected to travel past Brandon between 1 and 2 p.m.

 brobertson@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @BudRobertson4
Darius Riley 19

AN: My grandpa is old now, and recently he's been getting sick, and it's been stressing me and my family. But I have to keep doing work and keeping up all my extracurriculars, and so I have to put on a mask here of, 'I'm doing okay. I just gotta keep working.' I'm scared to take time off, or I don't have access to go home for a week, if anything were to happen.

RT: I don't always feel like I can tell my family my struggles here. I am a junior, and I still don't feel like I can be honest with them and tell them I'm struggling, because it is a tremendous privilege to be here, with all its resources and supportand then to be crying about an essay when my dad is struggling to go to work, you know?

LH: I am an only child. My dad was the only one of his siblings to finish high school. My mom grew up in the Philippines, and she didn't finish middle school so she could work on her family's rice plantation while her brothers went to school. So it is weird to compare what I am dealing with here to what they went through.

DR: Bowdoin has made me closer with my family. My sister is four years younger than me, and my little brother is eight years younger. They got to come here for Family Weekend, all the way from California, and they're like, 'Oh, you get to go to school where Harry Potter went!' Having my little brother and sister be able to see this space and say, 'Oh wow, this is what you're pursuing!' Even though they can't recognize the struggles we're enduring as students, I at least am giving them the idea [of going to college], an example.

WH: This is a trivial thing. But I have been acting since fifth grade, and I've kept it up [at Milton and Bowdoin]. I have never talked about inviting my mom or anyone to come to my shows. And it is not because I don't think she wouldn't want to see it, it's because I can't feasibly see how it would work out for her, with work and everything else, like expenses.
Keisha Payson, far left, with other college representatives recently honored for their school's climate-related actions

Second Nature, one of two organizations hosting this year's Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit, praised Bowdoin for "raising the bar with leadership and innovation, inspiring the network [of colleges and universities] to strive toward our shared climate goals."

Keisha Payson, Bowdoin's sustainability director, attended the February summit in Tempe, Arizona. She accepted the climate leadership award for Bowdoin and met with other college and university representatives to discuss ways to accelerate progress in climate action on campuses across the country.

Payson said Bowdoin was able to forge ahead of its climate neutrality goals thanks to the strong leadership of College administrators, as well as dedication from staff, faculty, and students.

Indeed, the College's commitment to addressing climate change translates to many educational opportunities for students, she added. "We have outstanding opportunities for students to learn about these issues in the classroom, as well as out in the field," she said. "Students also engage with these issues through campus clubs, summer internship opportunities, and employment positions with the sustainability office."

Now that Bowdoin has achieved carbon neutrality, it is in the process of drafting its next Climate Action Plan, which will lay out a roadmap for making the College even more sustainable by 2030.

This year's Climate Leadership Summit included workshops on how campuses can reduce their carbon footprints and address the social justice implications of climate change, in that severe and unpredictable weather most threatens marginalized communities and vulnerable people.

Bowdoin was not the only school recognized for its climate achievements at the conference. American University was also honored for attaining climate neutrality, and several other schools received awards for taking strong climate action. Hundreds of educational institutions have committed to becoming carbon neutral, starting with the launch of the Presidents' Climate Leadership Commitments over a decade ago, when then-Bowdoin president Barry Mills signed.

This fall, President Clayton Rose this fall added his name to a list of higher education leaders who support putting a price on carbon to curb fossil fuel use and mitigate the worst effects of climate change.
David Whitely defends actions as legally sound

Texas secretary of state apologizes for how he rolled out voter citizenship review. But he still supports the effort.
Hong Kong: Smoking amendment bill gazetted

The Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Bill 2019 was gazetted today.

The bill seeks to ban the import, manufacture, sale, distribution and advertisement of alternative smoking products, including electronic cigarettes, heat-not-burn products and herbal cigarettes.

The ban on import will cover parcels, cargoes and articles brought in by incoming travellers. Articles in transit, air transhipment cargoes and people in transit will be exempted.

The Government also proposes to ban possession for the purpose of manufacture, sale or distribution of alternative smoking products.

Exports of such products will not be banned and sellers can export the products to clear out their stocks.

The ban will come into force six months after gazettal of the ordinance upon passage of the bill.

A lenient approach will be adopted during the initial period after the ordinance comes into operation in cases where incoming visitors voluntarily surrender such products that they have brought to Hong Kong.

The bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council on February 20.

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Cameroonian authorities should immediately investigate an attack on Paul Chouta, a reporter for the privately owned news website Cameroon Web, and ensure that those who assaulted him are swiftly brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

A traffic policewoman pictured in Yaounde in October 2018. A journalist was attacked outside his home in the city on January 31. Credit: CPJ/Reuters/Zohra Bensemra.

Chouta told CPJ yesterday that three unknown men stabbed him with a knife and beat him as he left his Yaounde home just after 6am that day. The journalist was treated for stab wounds to his right hand and elbow and bruises to his face. "They didn't say anything as they started to physically attack me," said Chouta. "My neighbours came to my rescue and the attackers fled in a black Mercedes that had been waiting for them."Chouta and Emmanuel Vitus, the editor-in-chief of Cameroon Web, told CPJ they believe the attack was in retaliation for Chouta's journalism. Vitus said he suspected the attack may be related to a January 22 F acebook Live interview Chouta did with Paul Eric Kingue, the campaign manager for Cameroon's jailed opposition leader, Maurice Kamto.Kamto has been mobilising dissent against President Paul Biya since losing the October election, which he has described as fraudulent, Al-Jazeera reported "We urge Cameroonian authorities to ensure that those who attacked Paul Chouta are identified and punished to the full extent of the law," said CPJ Africa program coordinator Angela Quintal in New York. "The government needs to send a message to those who want to silence and intimidate journalists that just because they may disagree with what the press writes or says, they cannot resort to violence and escape accountability."Vitus said that Chouta broadcast the interview on his personal Facebook page, which has 54,000 followers, and that Cameroon Web shared it on its platforms. He added, "The attack doesn't come as a surprise. He consistently receives threats." Vitus said the journalist received threatening comments on social media.Chouta reported the attack to the police yesterday. National police spokesperson Joyce Ndjem told CPJ she does not give comment over the phone and that CPJ would need to come to Yaounde to request comment.The attack on Chouta came the same week that police arrested Theodore Tchopa and David Eyengue Nzima from the privately owned daily, Le Jour. Denis Nkwebo, deputy editor-in-chief of Le Jour and president of the Cameroonian journalists' trade union, told CPJ that the journalists were arrested while covering an opposition meeting in Douala on January 28. The journalists were released without charge today, Nkwebo said.At the time of CPJ's annual prison census , Cameroon was the third worst jailer of journalists in Africa after Egypt and Eritrea, respectively, with at least seven journalists behind bars for their work as of December 1, 2018.
The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) is expected to reach a roll-over agreement with the United Kingdom post Brexit.

Final agreement

The department briefed Parliaments Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry on developments made by its negotiating team regarding preferential trade arrangements after the British exit (Brexit) from the European Union (EU).Brexit is expected to occur on 29 March, while the negotiating team expects to reach the agreement by 21 February.Committee Chairperson, Joan Fubbs, commended the department and other government departments for the work they are doing in ensuring a form of continuity in arrangements after Brexit.The Chief Director for Trade Negotiation, International Trade and Economic Development Division at the dti, Niki Kruger, explained the intricacies of the agreement. It is only once the UK leaves the EU without an agreement that the UK can draw up its own agreements with other countries. The impact of them not reaching an agreement with the EU before Brexit is difficult to quantify now, said Kruger.Fubbs said all should be done to ensure more positive agreements for South Africa and all African countries in the future.The committee heard that a final agreement will be signed by the end of the first week of March.In addition, the committee heard that no agreement has been reached between the UK and the EU about the UKs continued use of existing EU trade agreements.The UK is currently South Africas second biggest trading partner in the EU, despite South Africa having a negative trade balance with the EU.South Africa has a positive trade balance with the UK and this has increased significantly over the last few years.The South African and UK trade balance is currently at about $1.5bn in South Africas favour. The UK currently receives about 40% of all fresh food products or agricultural products exported from South Africa to the EU.
Atmosphere Communications welcomes 4 new clients

Atmosphere Communications has expanded its client list with four new additions. The PR agency has been appointed to manage German airline Lufthansa's public relations locally.



Additionally, Atmosphere has been tasked with handling Procter & Gamble's external and internal communications as well as the promotion of its CSI initiatives. British brand Childs Farm, which will launch in South Africa soon, has also looked to the expertise of the agency.



Finally, Dutch urban clothing brand G-Star Raw has also signed on; the agency had previously localised and launched its global 'Uniform of the Free' brand campaign.
Nigeria has two sets of elections scheduled in the coming weeks: the federal elections on February 16 and state elections on March 2. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has joined calls for Nigeria to ensure internet and social media services remain connected during elections.

An electoral worker prepares identity card and biometric verification readers, at the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Kano, northern Nigeria, on February 14, 2019. CPJ joined a call for Nigeria to ensure that internet and social media services remain connected during the upcoming elections. Credit: CPJ/AP Photo/Ben Curtis.

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined more than 15 rights organisations and the #KeepItOn Coalition to call for Nigerian authorities to ensure that internet and social media services remain connected during upcoming elections, and safeguard internet speeds of websites and messaging applications.In early February, Nigeria's federal government denied rumours of plans to shut down the internet during upcoming elections, according to the privately owned Guardian Nigeria and Quartz news outlets. Nigeria has two sets of elections scheduled in the coming weeks: federal elections on February 16 and state elections on March 2.The letter, addressed to Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman and chief executive officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission, emphasised how internet disruptions inhibit journalists' ability to safely conduct reporting and run contrary to international law. It also highlighted additional social and economic costs of internet outages"The media is critical to this particular election and critical to people understanding both the [election's] processes and procedures," Festus Okoye, national commissioner of Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission, told CPJ on February 13.Okoye also emphasised the importance of internet connectivity because the smart card readers used for voter identification are based on the internet. "Three networks - Glo, MTN, and Airtel - are powering them [the smart card readers], so if you jam the network there won't be any election... that's just the bottom line," he said.
The new innovation company will house the current innovative pipeline of 8 assets

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has announced that its Board of Directors has given an in-principle approval to spin off the innovation business into a new company in the US.

Setting up of the new company will provide an enhanced focus to the innovation business and help accelerate the pipeline towards commercialization.

The new innovation company will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glenmark and will be based in the US. It will have an independent board and a new Chief Executive Officer. The other members of the management and the team remain unchanged.

According to the plan, all innovative molecules in the pipeline, including preclinical assets and technology; the R&D centres in Switzerland, R&D centre at Paramus in the US and R&D centre at Navi Mumbai, India related to the innovation business, and the biologics manufacturing facility in Switzerland along with all employees associated with innovative R&D will be part of the new company.

The new company will have over 400 employees as part of this business. The specialty and generics business will continue to be housed in the parent company and will not be part of this new company.

The transfer of the assets and employees to the new innovation company is expected to be completed in the next 6 to 9 months.

Glenn Saldanha, chairman and managing director of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said, Glenmark has built strong capabilities in the area of innovation in terms of world class infrastructure, talent pool, and technology. We currently have a pipeline of 8 NMEs most of which are first-in-class globally. The cutting edge work that the innovation team has delivered over the years has resulted in numerous achievements most notably among them being the fact that we have out-licensed our novel molecules to big pharmaceutical organizations consistently. With the pipeline at an advanced stage, we believe its the right time for the innovation business to be an independent entity and charter its own journey towards becoming a leading biotech organization globally. This change will provide enhanced focus to the business, a better operating ecosystem and additional opportunities to unlock value for the parent company in future.

Glenmarks current innovation pipeline consists of 8 assets, including new chemical entities (NCEs) and new biological entities (NBEs), in various stages of development in the areas of immunology, oncology and pain management. The pipeline includes 3 immuno-oncology bispecific antibodies developed through Glenmarks proprietary BEAT platform.

The new company will further leverage the BEAT platform to enhance the pipeline. Of the 5 clinical and 3 pre-clinical assets in development, 2 clinical assets are currently in Phase 2b, and 1 asset is likely to enter Phase 2b in FY20.
For Immediate Release, February 15, 2019 Contacts: Kassie Siegel, Center for Biological Diversity, (951) 961-7972, ksiegel@biologicaldiversity.org

Nalleli Cobo, South Central Youth Leadership Coalition, (562) 388-5646, nallelicobo@gmail.com

Ashley Hernandez, Youth for Environmental Justice, (310) 780-7753, ashley@cbecal.org Court Rejects Oil Industry's Retaliatory Lawsuit Against L.A. Youth Groups LOS ANGELES A California appeals court today dismissed an oil-industry lawsuit against youth groups from South Los Angeles and Wilmington, the Center for Biological Diversity and the city of Los Angeles. The California Independent Petroleum Association, which represents Exxon, Chevron and hundreds of crude-oil and natural-gas producers and related entities statewide, filed the suit after the groups won protections against neighborhood oil drilling from the city. Using lawsuits to shut people up has long been a part of the oil industrys playbook, but the tides are changing, said Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversitys Climate Law Institute. This decision affirms that communities have the right to demand protection from pollution without fear of retaliation from polluters. Oil and gas drilling releases toxic chemicals known to cause a range of health problems, from asthma and headaches to a higher risk of cancer. Drilling sites in South Los Angeles and Wilmington, neighborhoods that are predominantly black and Latino, are on average hundreds of feet closer to homes, schools and playgrounds than drilling sites in neighborhoods with larger numbers of white residents. For decades the oil industry has put our health and safety in jeopardy, said Nalleli Cobo, an activist with the South Central Youth Leadership Coalition. Now we the youth are fighting back, and were winning. Its time for justice and its time to put peoples health over profit. In 2015 Youth for Environmental Justice and the South Central Youth Leadership Coalition, joined by the Center for Biological Diversity, sued the city of Los Angeles for rubber-stamping oil projects in communities of color. Both sides reached a settlement in 2016 after the city adopted new requirements for drilling applications to ensure compliance with state environmental review rules and protect vulnerable communities. The Petroleum Association then countersued the city and groups, arguing that the new requirements raised drillers costs without due process. The groups filed an anti-SLAPP motion, which was denied by the L.A. Superior Court in an unexpected ruling. Todays decision in the California 2nd District Court of Appeal reversed that decision, siding with the groups and dismissing the Petroleum Associations suit as having no probability of prevailing. The court also said the decision obliterates the Petroleum Associations claim for nearly three-quarters of a million dollars in attorneys fees from the city and groups. Ill never let the oil industry bully me into silence, said Briannda Escobedo of Youth for Environmental Justice. This win shows what happens when communities come together to stand up to polluters. It gives me hope to continue fighting for the healthy neighborhoods we deserve.
President Trump did not explain the Democrat opposition to the border wall, the theory that the more foreign nationals who come to the USA, the more registered democrats there will eventually be. Thats exactly what happened in California which is now a one party state. Thats important for Americans to know.

The rest of his speech today was effective in putting forth the danger from the porous border.



There will be legal challenges to the declared State of Emergency but I believe the President will prevail.



Enjoy the website and the weekend.
Spearfish, SD (57783)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to cloudy skies and rain overnight. Low 57F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to cloudy skies and rain overnight. Low 57F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
The Ultimate Rug Roundup: Styles for Every Home
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Thai security forces gather at a fruit plantation in Yaha, a district in the Deep South province of Yala province, where two villagers were shot dead, Feb. 14, 2019.

Unidentified gunmen shot dead two farmers at a remote fruit plantation area in Thailands Deep South on Thursday, officials said, in a flare up of violence that has killed at least 24 people in the insurgency-hit region since January this year.

Ahama Taleh, 39, and Abdulroha Hajiyamah, 49, were found dead next to a motorcycle on a hilly dirt road in Yaha, a district in the predominantly Muslim province of Yala, police said. Investigators said the two men were attacked while they were on their way home.

The shooting took place on a dirt road at the back end of Chokaladee village, Police Capt. Isawat Yingkong, the deputy investigator for Yaha station, told reporters. We found a motorcycle that fell on the ground and two men next to it  shot multiple times.

He said investigators had retrieved three 5.56 mm rifle shells, two 9 mm shells and a 9 mm pistol ammunition at the scene, indicating that there were at least two shooters.

From initial investigation, two to three gunmen used an M-16 rifle to ambush them, followed by pistol shots after the motorcycle fell, Isawat said.

He said he could not immediately determine the attackers motive, but added that investigators were looking at all angles, including possible involvement of insurgents.

Meanwhile, Police Lt. Col. Paiboon Watatham, investigator for Ra-ngae police station, said a homemade bomb exploded while a group of soldiers were on patrol near Pa Pai railway station in Ra-ngae, a district in the nearby province of Narathiwat.

Unidentified men triggered the bomb as six soldiers walked by, but none were injured. They were keeping peace for teachers, Paiboon told reporters. I believe insurgents wanted to take revenge at officials for the recent deaths of their comrades.

On Monday, security officials said they killed two suspected insurgents  Useh Jehming and Muhammadsakirin Same  in a jungle area in Ilakoh mountain in Chanae, a district next to Ra-ngae, as they traded gunfire with security forces who were in pursuit operations related to the recent killings of two Buddhist monks.

Col. Pramote Prom-in, spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4, told reporters Monday that authorities believe the two men were involved in the Jan. 18 attack at the Ratananupab Temple in Su-ngai Padi district in which the abbot and the vice abbot were killed and two other monks were wounded.

After the gunfire died down, officials found two men dead, Pramote said. Officials found an AK-102 and M-16 A-2 rifle. We believe they were part of gunmen who killed two monks and injured two others at Ratananupab Temple. He did not elaborate.

About 80 percent of the Buddhist-majority nations southern tip is Muslim, populated by descendants of a former Malay Sultanate that was annexed by what was then known as Siam in 1902.

The area, known as Deep South, borders Malaysia and encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces, as well as four districts in Songkhla province.

A steady stream of shootings and bombings in the region have claimed at least 7,000 lives since the insurgency flared up in early 2004.
More than 70% of respondents to a city survey supported keeping outdoor areas on decks and in parking spaces and lots.
Anti-Pakistan protesters torch vehicles in Jammu city to demand retaliatory action against Pakistan for its alleged role in a deadly bomb attack on security forces in Kashmir, Feb. 15, 2019.

Updated at 10:01 a.m. ET on 2019-03-01

Protests calling for a full-blown military offensive against Pakistan erupted across India on Friday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned that terror groups would pay a heavy price after suspected militants killed at least 40 Indian troops in one of the deadliest attacks in volatile Kashmir.

On Thursday, a suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militant rammed a bomb-laden vehicle into a 78-vehicle convoy ferrying more than 2,500 paramilitary personnel on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.

The Pakistan-based JeM claimed responsibility for the bombing, according to local media, which said the vehicle was driven by a 22-year-old militant.

I want to tell the terrorist groups and their masters that they have committed a big mistake, Modi said after an emergency cabinet meeting. They have to pay a heavy price.

Demonstrators took to the streets of several Indian cities, shouting anti-Pakistan slogans and burning Pakistans national flag while calling on Indias Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to retaliate for Thursdays bombing.

How long will we silently tolerate martyrdom? We want our government to attack Pakistan with all its military might, Gopal Pandey, a protester from Uttar Pradeshs Varanasi town, told BenarNews in a phone interview.

In Jammu, anti-Pakistan protesters turned violent and set ablaze a dozen vehicles, prompting authorities to fire teargas to disperse the crowd, deputy city commissioner Ramesh Kumar told BenarNews. A curfew has been imposed throughout the city, he said.

An all-out military offensive against Pakistan, which denied any involvement in the attack, was neither desirable nor the answer, analysts said.

There is a window of punishment short of all-out war. We need to exploit that. In addition to that, there are diplomatic and non-military actions that can be taken, retired Brig. Anil Gupta, a Jammu-based defense analyst, told BenarNews, adding that Delhi had made a move in the right direction by withdrawing Pakistans Most Favored Nation status.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters that New Delhi would isolate Islamabad in the international community, but the Pakistan foreign ministry issued a statement rejecting any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations.

The White House, in a brief statement issued Thursday, called on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region.

This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India, it said.

Pakistan previously denied allegations from India that it gives material support to armed groups operating in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Analysts expect retaliation from India

Home Minister Rajnath Singh flew to Srinagar on Friday morning to attend a memorial ceremony for the slain soldiers.

Some elements are hand-in-glove with militant groups and ISI across the border, Singh told a news conference, referring to Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence agency. They are involved in conspiracies too.

Aside from isolating Pakistan diplomatically, the Indian government would be expected to retaliate against the attack, especially with the general elections  due in April  right around the corner, said Kabir Taneja, a security expert at New Delhis Observer Research Foundation.

National security is sacrosanct for the BJP, Taneja told BenarNews. So, losing face just before the general elections is not an ideal situation for the party.



But the military options, he said, resides only around the Line of Control (LoC)  a de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Right now, obviously Pakistan will have its guard up, expecting retaliation from India. India may respond militarily, but obviously at the time and place of its choosing, like it did after the Uri attack, Taneja said.

In September 2016, four JeM militants stormed an army base in Uri town near the LoC in Baramulla district, killing at least 19 soldiers in a pre-dawn attack. India responded by launching what it called surgical strikes in Pakistan that inflicted significant casualties. Indian newspapers reported the Pakistani casualty figures as between 35 and 50.

Muslim-majority Kashmir, a scenic valley in the Himalayan Mountains, has grappled with a separatist insurgency that has killed more than 70,000 people since the late 1980s. The region is claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan, who have fought two wars over it.

Flawed solution

Meanwhile, Indian Kashmirs former police chief, Kuldeep Khoda, said New Delhis approach to solving the problem of militancy in the insurgency-ravaged region was flawed, inspiring a growing number of Kashmiri youths to join rebel groups.

Khoda was referring to Adil Ahmad, alias Waqas, 22, who was identified by JeM as the militant who carried out Thursdays suicide bombing.

Widespread protests against Indian rule also took place in the Kashmir valley after security forces killed Burhan Wani, a young commander of the militant group Hizbul Mujahideen, in what authorities described as a gunbattle in July 2016.

The government still believes that security forces alone can restore peace by eliminating terrorists. But it has completely ignored the increasing number of youths joining militant ranks because they feel a sense of alienation, Khoda told BenarNews.

The government must create an atmosphere that addresses the sense of alienation among Kashmiri youths and engage them in job-oriented courses in order to prevent them from being vulnerable to radicalization, he said.

CORRECTION: An earlier version reported incorrectly that at least 46 troops were killed in the car-bombing.
A discussion panel at the Beyond Brexit: The Future of Ireland conference at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast on January 26

I wrote this in November 2014, 19 months before the EU referendum: "When you scratch the surface of even the most laid-back and agnostic, when it comes to identity, they do have an opinion on the constitution. It's what I call the 'border poll moment': how will you vote when that poll comes (and I still think it will be sooner than most people imagine)?"

Senior figures across unionism told me that it was nonsense to mention a poll, most of them adding a variation of "the sort of circumstances in which a poll would even be considered as a possibility are not happening any time soon".

Today, the border poll issue is rarely away from the headlines. A recent conference at the Waterfront Hall - attended by the broadest swathe of nationalism (from both sides of the border) in my lifetime - indicated huge support for Irish unity, along with the need for an agreed strategy to promote and deliver it as soon as possible.

The unity question has already been discussed within Theresa May's Cabinet, with reference to LucidTalk's opinion poll research on the impact of various Brexit options.

A number of media sources reported last weekend that three Cabinet ministers had suggested that an early border poll would be necessary in the event of a hard Brexit, or a no-deal withdrawal.

Responding to a question from Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald about when a border poll would be called, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said: "The conditions for a border poll are set out in the Belfast Agreement. It remains the Northern Ireland Secretary's view that the majority of the people in Northern Ireland continue to support the current political settlement and that the circumstances requiring a border poll are not satisfied."

Here's the key part of those conditions: "The Secretary of State shall exercise the power (to hold a poll) if at any time it appears likely to him (sic) that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom..."

Of course, the word 'likely' is a classic example of the constructive ambiguity which lies at the heart of the Belfast Agreement: in other words, it is open to a number of possible interpretations.

Let's take a number of 'for examples' into consideration: unionists no longer have a majority in the Assembly (for the first time since 1921); in the local government elections in 2014, the Assembly elections in 2016 and 2017 and the general elections in 2015 and 2017, the total unambiguously 'unionist' vote averaged at just below 50%; opinion poll evidence suggests a significant shift towards support for Irish unity in the event of a hard Brexit/hard border/no-deal outcome; we have entered the third year without an Assembly/Executive and there seems little likelihood of a reboot anytime soon; and, crucially, nationalism now seems to be moving beyond the Assembly and an internal power-sharing arrangement to underpin stability in Northern Ireland.

Add all those 'for examples' together and you reach a point at which a Secretary of State could, quite reasonably, concede that the chances of a border poll resulting in a victory for Irish unity - albeit by a very thin margin - certainly falls into the space between possible and likely.

The days when the unionist vote was well into the high 50s in percentage terms have gone. That doesn't mean they would, necessarily, lose a border poll (personally, I don't think they would at this juncture), but it does mean that they need to take a very close look at the figures and work out how to build the pro-Union vote. Just in case.

A border poll would, like the 1998 referendum, push the turnout up very considerably. But no one can say with any great certainty were those extra votes would go.

Neither the pro-Union nor pro-unity side can bank any of them in their own camp. The variables will be enormous, particularly in the event of a hard Brexit.

Would the British and Irish Governments take a position and choose to lobby for the respective camps? To be honest, I don't see how the Irish Government could be neutral during a border poll which, if it resulted in a majority vote in favour of a united Ireland, would present it with enormous political, constitutional, economic and governance challenges.

It would hardly just shrug its shoulders and say, "Ah well, let's just see how the poll goes before we do anything".

It's worth bearing in mind, too, that the response of the Irish Government would be a crucial factor in any call an Northern Ireland Secretary of State would make.

If the Irish don't think they're ready for unity (and, as I say, it would be a huge challenge and problem for them) and aren't convinced that there would be a reasonably convincing majority for it (they really don't want to deal with a wafer-thin victory), then they will - very quietly, of course - let the UK Government know.

I've thought for some time now (although I think the 2014 article was the first time I wrote about it) that a border poll was more likely than not. It is not inevitable and the chances of it happening will lessen if there is a soft landing for Brexit and a Lazarus-like recovery for the Assembly.

That said, circumstances have forced the issue to the top of the agenda for nationalists in Northern Ireland.

And let's not forget the important fact that the solidly pro-Remain 'small-n' nationalists and 'small-u' unionists now seem much more willing to listen to a well-made case for Irish unity.

Unionists do not need to panic. But only a very stupid unionist would dismiss the possibility of a border poll, and further dismiss the possibility of losing it, if one were called.

Very few unionists predicted a victory for Leave in 2016 and the consequent problems we now face. Very few unionists predicted losing the majority in the Assembly in 2017.

Very few unionists predicted the huge mess that the RHI saga would dump upon the DUP's doorstep. Very few unionists predicted the collapse of the Assembly and the rise of post-Assembly nationalism.

Putting it bluntly, unionists should take nothing for granted. Anything and everything could be in play. And that means they need to be prepared for all eventualities.

Personally, I'm sick to death of flag-waving and worn-out mantra-chanting, rather than thought-through strategies, solid deconstruction of pro-unity arguments and a coherent narrative to attract the tens of thousands of extra voters who will turn out if there is a border poll.

Panic isn't required; preparation for all eventualities is.
Theres more to love than chocolates, rubbish roses and an overpriced three-course meal

It was the grotesque bunch of roses that really got me. There they were, at the centre of a huge Valentine's Day display, but these roses weren't the ubiquitous red kind that you traditionally see. Instead, each petal had been artificially coloured in lurid shades of blue, pink and purple, and were liberally doused in silver glitter. Nasty.

Imagine a fresh rose, wet from a summer shower: a natural marvel of scent and beauty. Imagine the way the petals feel and smell, and the touch of the raindrops on your face as you bury your nose deep in the centre of the flower.

Now picture these ugly, tawdry, chemically treated blooms, most of which were already going brown around the edges, waiting to be flogged - at a vastly inflated price - to some hapless male with more money than taste.

If somebody presented me with those on February 14, I'd consider it an act of war.

Right there, you have the perfect metaphor for the annual glitzy tack-fest that Valentine's Day has become. It has as much to do with true love as these tortured blossoms have to do with real roses.

For a start, it's all incredibly arbitrary. Why has society declared that February 14 is the day you must show you care? What about the other 364 days of the year?

And tell me, what's so thrillingly romantic about obediently herding into restaurants, alongside hordes of other couples, and munching your way through an over-priced three-course themed menu, simply because convention tells you that's what you're supposed to do on this particular day?

How boring, how predictable, how lacking in imagination.

Or maybe you stayed at home and bought in your romance, supermarket-style. This year Morrisons was selling raw heart-shaped steaks for you and your significant other - because nothing says 'I love you' than sharing a slab of dead cow, no? I mean, why not go the whole hog and divvy up an entire ox heart between you?

Meanwhile Marks & Spencer outdid itself with its embarrassingly suggestive 'love sausage' - two "lightly truffled" bangers wrapped in bacon and forcibly contorted into the shape of a heart.

I can't imagine what it was like being woken up yesterday morning for a Valentine's breakfast in bed with this pungent crime against good taste sliding greasily around the plate. If that happened to you, my deepest sympathies.

Ironically enough, studies show that couples are statistically more likely to break up in the weeks before and after Valentine's Day.

Perhaps the impossible weight of expectations gets to them: the realisation that their relationship is less Heathcliff and Cathy (and that didn't end well), more Itchy and Scratchy. Or maybe it's the unbearable thought of the love sausage and its gruesome ilk.

But Valentine's Day is a mere flash in the pan compared to the monstrous commercialism of the wedding industry, which brazenly takes the idea of romantic love and turns it into cold, hard, loveless cash.

It never ceases to amaze me how otherwise sentient people lose the run of themselves and start throwing thousands of pounds around so that they can have an orchestra at their reception, plus bags of tinted sugared almonds that match the exact colour of the bride's satin bloomers (I exaggerate, but only slightly).

Sorry, but what does any of this silly, banal, sentimental guff have to do with love?

It really bewilders me that couples would saddle themselves with eye-watering levels of debt, which may take decades to pay off, so that they can spend one day of their lives - one single day! - showing off, flouncing about and acting like minor members of the British royalty. That's not romance. That's insanity.

And what's more, it's a singularly poor way to prepare for a lifelong relationship.

The novelist Andrew O'Hagan, commenting on the current trend for over-the-top weddings, puts it perfectly.

He said: "I'm too romantic to fall for a commercial deception masquerading as a sacrament, and too much a believer in love's reality to imagine it requires a tinsel show. Can't we argue for a little simplicity?"

Yes, please, can't we? Because love, at heart, really is simple. It doesn't need 3ft-high teddy bears, rotten, pimped-up roses, or a 10-layer wedding cake decorated with gold-encased hummingbirds to prove its existence.

Love is perennial. You find it all year round in the small, private gestures that show you care deeply about one another.

Anything else is gilding the lily.
Hundreds of thousands of students and adults across the US state of Florida and beyond bowed their heads in a moment of silence to mark the first anniversary of the shooting rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that left 17 people dead.

Its a permanent sore spot, said Fort Lauderdale High School junior Jake Lynch.

Forever, me going forward, Ill feel this day, and this time and those names.

It reminds me of where I want the world to be. 

From suffering, better things come out.

Expand Close Students at Fort Lauderdale High School pause to reflect (Wilfredo Lee/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Students at Fort Lauderdale High School pause to reflect (Wilfredo Lee/AP)

The massacre on February 14 2018 inflamed the national debate over guns, turned young people into political activists and gave rise to some of the biggest youth demonstrations since the Vietnam era.

The moment of silence at more than 1,000 Florida schools was held at 10.17am, though the shooting actually began around 2.20pm.

School officials picked a different time because Stoneman Douglas students were being dismissed early to avoid being on campus at the hour of the attack.

The time 10.17 was selected to denote the 17 killed.

Many Stoneman Douglas students arrived wearing the burgundy #MSDStrong T-shirts that have become an emblem of the tragedy.

Expand Close A memorial of flowers and colourful stones and messages adorn the corner of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School campus (Emily Michot/Miami Herald/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp A memorial of flowers and colourful stones and messages adorn the corner of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School campus (Emily Michot/Miami Herald/AP)

Outside, clear plastic figurines of angels were erected for each of the 14 students and three staff members killed.

Reporters were not allowed inside the school, but students worked on service projects as a way of trying to turn the tragedy into something positive, and grief counsellors and therapy dogs were made available along with massages and pedicures.

An interfaith service was scheduled for later in the day at a park nearby.

Freshmen Jayden Jaus and Matthew Sabia, both 14, helped mark the day by packing lunches for children in Haiti, putting rice, vitamins and soy into bags.

Many other Stoneman Douglas students skipped school. For some it was too emotional; others did not want to be in the spotlight.

Expand Close Stones at a memorial (Al Diaz/Miami Herald/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Julia Brighton would not go inside, instead placing flowers at the outdoor memorial.

She said she suffered with nightmares for months.

Staying outside felt like it would be a better experience for me instead of being at school and putting myself through that, she said.

Alexis Grogan, a junior, said she was spending the day picking up beach rubbish, dedicating her work to those who died.

Expand Close Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Sophia Rothenberg, from left to right, her mother Cheryl Rothenberg and sister, Emma Rothenberg (Al Diaz/Miami Herald/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Sophia Rothenberg, from left to right, her mother Cheryl Rothenberg and sister, Emma Rothenberg (Al Diaz/Miami Herald/AP)

I survived something, and I dont want to waste what I call a second chance at life because those who have passed dont get that, she said.

We have to make a difference for them.

Classes were almost over last Valentines Day when authorities say 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz stormed the place with an AR-15 assault rifle.

Cruz, now 20, had a long history of emotional problems and threats.

He is awaiting trial.

It later emerged that fewer than 10% of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High students showed up for school on the anniversary.

The Broward County school district said 291 of the schools approximately 3,200 students attended.
President Donald Trump has claimed he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (Evan Vucci/AP)

Donald Trump has said Japans Prime Minister nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to open up a dialogue with North Korea.

At a White House event to discuss the proposed border wall, Mr Trump spoke about his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam.

The president said early exchanges with Mr Kim were filled with fire and fury but since their first meeting last year, the two have established a good relationship.

Expand Close Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is said to have nominated Donald Trump (Dan Kitwood/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is said to have nominated Donald Trump (Dan Kitwood/PA)

Mr Trump said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave me the most beautiful copy of a letter that he sent to the people who give out a thing called the Nobel Prize.

He said, I have nominated you, respectfully, on behalf of Japan. I am asking them to give you the Nobel Peace Prize.'

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has also credited Mr Trump with starting negotiations with North Korea, has endorsed him for the prize as well.

In 2009, President Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize for laying out the US commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.

Ill probably never get it, but thats OK, Mr Trump said. They gave it to Obama. He didnt even know what he got it for.
Angry Tory loyalists have turned on the partys Brexiteers after Theresa Mays plans for leaving the EU suffered another humiliating Commons defeat.

Downing Street insisted the Prime Minister would continue with her negotiating strategy, with ministers dismissing Thursdays vote as no more than a hiccup.

However there was fury among some Conservative MPs after a last-minute announcement by the pro-Brexit European Research Group it had taken a collective decision to abstain.

With some Remainers also failing to vote, and five Tory MPs voting with the opposition, the Government fell to a 303 to 258 vote defeat.

Expand Close Tobias Ellwood has accused the ERG as operating as a party within a party (PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Tobias Ellwood has accused the ERG as operating as a party within a party (PA)

While some ministers insisted the result was largely symbolic, it underlined the depth of the divisions which are threatening to tear the party apart.

Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood described the ERGs actions as provocative, accusing them of operating as a party within a party.

Tory backbencher Jonathan Djanogly said the ERG was seeking to pull the UK off the cliff and that he had seen nothing to show the Government had the determination to stop it.

Pro-Remain MP Anna Soubry said Mrs May needed to stand up to the group she described as the purple Momentum, a reference to left wing grassroots group which helped propel Jeremy Corbyn to the Labour leadership.

Our party will become yet again unelectable and we will fall into the wildernessAnna Soubry

If she carries on like this, then we all know what is going to happen.

Our party will become yet again unelectable and we will fall into the wilderness, she told BBC2s Newsnight.

Business Minister Richard Harrington accused the ERG, led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, of treachery and called on them to join former Ukip leader Nigel Farages new party.

In an interview with Parliaments The House magazine, conducted before the vote, he said they had celebrated after Mrs May was defeated in last months vote and were not true Conservatives.

The Prime Minister has done a pretty good job of standing up to them up till now, but they were drinking champagne to celebrate her losing her deal and I regard that as being treachery, he said.

I read that Nigel Farage is setting up a new party called Brexit and if I were them Id be looking at that, because that seems to reflect their views more than the Conservative Party does.

They should read carefully what that partys got to offer, because in my view theyre not Conservatives.

Expand Close Steve Baker has dismissed the furore over the ERG as a storm in a teacup (Dominic Lipinski/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Steve Baker has dismissed the furore over the ERG as a storm in a teacup (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker dismissed the row as a storm in a teacup and suggested the groups critics should grow up.

He said the ERG had not been prepared to be co-opted into ruling out a no-deal Brexit by voting for the Government motion.

Members had been infuriated by the wording of the motion which endorsed the approach set out in a series of Commons votes at the end of January.

On that occasion, MPs voted for a Government-backed amendment calling on ministers to reopen negotiations with Brussels on the Northern Ireland backstop, which the ERG supported.

However the Commons also voted for a non-binding cross-party amendment rejecting a no-deal break with the EU.

Mr Baker insisted Thursdays vote would not affect the Prime Ministers negotiating mandate with Brussels.

Its time for some people to grow up and think about what is in the national interest, he said.

The defeat had been largely unexpected with most attention focused on the next set of votes due on February 27 which is expected to see a concerted cross-party push to prevent a no-deal break.

Downing Street chose to turn its fire on Mr Corbyn, accusing the Labour leader of risking a no-deal Brexit by putting party before country.

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Whatsapp Jeremy Corbyn is struggling to keep the Labour Party together (House of Commons/PA)

The Labour leader responded by saying that it was time for Mrs May to accept her strategy had failed and to come forward with a new plan which could command broad support among MPs.

However, Mr Corbyn is also struggling to keep his party together, with impatience among some MPs at his unwillingness to back a second referendum and rumours of a breakaway party.

In the Commons, Chris Leslie, one of the Labour MPs linked with a possible split, said they were being played for fools by the leadership.

Chuka Umunna, another critic of Mr Corbyn, said it was the Labour leaders job to keep his party together, not his backbenchers.

When I joined the Labour Party, I intended to be a member on my death-bed. Ultimately whether we keep the party together is a matter for the leadership, he told Sky News.

However shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon said he was not expecting a split.

I certainly hope that no Labour MP elected as a Labour MP leaves the Labour Party, he told BBC2s Newsnight.
Shamima Begum left her East London home and travelled to Syria when she was 15 (Metropolitan Police,PA)

Runaway schoolgirl Shamima Begum should be allowed to return to the UK as a matter of urgency to safeguard her unborn child, her family has said.

In a statement issued to ITV News, they said the revelation the 19-year-old is still alive came as a shock to them, and they urged the Government to help her return to Britain four years after she travelled to Syria to join Islamic State.

Given Shamimas four-year ordeal, we are concerned that her mental health has been affected by everything that she has seen and endured, they said.

Now, we are faced with the situation of knowing that Shamimas two young children have died  children that we will never come to know as a family.

This is the hardest of news to bear.

The welfare of Shamimas unborn baby is of paramount concern to our family, and we will do everything within our power to protect that baby who is entirely blameless in these events.

Speaking to The Times at a refugee camp in northern Syria, Ms Begum said she would do anything required just to be able to come home and live quietly with my child.

During the interview she admitted that she did not regret travelling to IS-controlled Syria, and asserted she is not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago.

The statement her family issued on Friday evening said they were shocked by her comments in the interview, but her words were those of a girl who was groomed.

We are also mindful that Shamima is currently in a camp surrounded by IS sympathisers and any comments by her could lead directly to danger to her and her child, they added.

Her family said her unborn child, who will be British, has every right as a total innocent to have the chance to grow up in the peace and security of this home.

We welcome an investigation in what she did while she was there under the principles of British justice and would request the British Government assist us in returning Shamima and her child to the UK as a matter of urgency, the statement said.

Expand Close Alex Younger, the head of MI6, said public safety had to be the first priority (Andrew Milligan/PA Wire) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Alex Younger, the head of MI6, said public safety had to be the first priority (Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

Ms Begum, who says she has lost two children to illness, also told The Times of her fears about what would happen to her baby.

I dont want it to be taken away from me, or at least if it is, to be given to my family, she said.

I knew that coming back to the UK wouldnt be a quiet thing, she added. Its uncomfortable. If I ever do go back, itll be a long time before the cameras stop and all the questions stop.

The head of MI6 had earlier warned that Britons returning from Islamic State are likely to have acquired potentially very dangerous skills and connections.

Alex Younger, who did not comment specifically on the case of Ms Begum, said UK nationals have a right to come home but that public safety was the first priority.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Sajid Javid warned he will not hesitate to prevent the return of Britons who travelled to join IS.

The head of Counter Terrorism Policing, Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, said: Anyone who returns from Syria or other conflict zones, having gone in support of any proscribed terrorist group  whether thats fighting for or against Daesh  or for any other illegal purposes, can expect to be investigated by the police.

Any investigation is carried out with an open mind and based on the evidence available. This is to determine if individuals have committed any terrorist or other criminal offences, regardless their motivation, and to ensure that they do not pose a danger to the public or the UKs national security.

There can be no hope of repatriation without these investigations taking place, and anyone who does return to the UK from conflict zones can, at best, expect to live under stringent limitations set out in the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act.

Expand Close Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Neil Basu, said society must stop people being radicalised (Nick Ansell/PA Wire) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Neil Basu, said society must stop people being radicalised (Nick Ansell/PA Wire)

We as a society must learn that we can stop this from happening in the first place by trusting our Prevent strategy, reporting our concerns early and stopping people being radicalised, investigated and, most likely, criminalised by the poisonous rhetoric spewed by terrorist organisations of any ideology.

Mr Javid said those who left the UK to join IS were full of hate for our country, while security minister Ben Wallace warned that runaways who now want to come back must realise that actions have consequences.

Anthony Loyd, The Times correspondent who found Ms Begum, said she was a 15-year-old schoolgirl who made a terrible mistake and we must do our best to rehabilitate her amongst our own people.

But her plea has been strongly rejected by others  including the brother of Alan Henning, the British aid worker beheaded by Mohammed Emwazi, who said she should absolutely not be allowed back.

Any hopes of a rescue mission by British officials were also swiftly quashed on Thursday as the Government ruled out an effort inside Syria to assist Ms Begum.

While refusing to comment on individual cases, Mr Wallace told the BBC: Im not putting at risk British peoples lives to go and look for terrorists or former terrorists in a failed state.

Theres consular services elsewhere in the region and the strong message this Government has given for many years is that actions have consequences.

While no official operation to remove Ms Begum from Syria will be carried out, questions have been raised over whether Britain would be able to prevent Ms Begums eventual return to the UK.

Former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Lord Carlile told the BBC that if Ms Begum has not gained a second citizenship of another country, she will have to be allowed back to her homeland because under international law it is not possible for a person to be made stateless.

Meanwhile, Richard Barrett, a former director of global counter-terrorism at MI6, suggested it would be unreasonable to expect the Syrian Defence Force to look after her indefinitely.

He also warned that summary execution is the most likely outcome for such captured foreign nationals who are handed over to Syrian or Iraqi authorities.
Shamima Begum, who left Britain as a 15-year-old to join the Islamic State group, is now heavily pregnant and wants to come home (Metropolitan Police/PA)

The Home Secretary has warned he will not hesitate to prevent the return of Britons who travelled to join Islamic State as debate flared over what should happen to runaway schoolgirl Shamima Begum.

Sajid Javid said those who left the UK to join IS were full of hate for our country, while security minister Ben Wallace warned that runaways who now want to come back must realise that actions have consequences.

Ms Begums family have pleaded for the 19-year-old, who is heavily pregnant, to be shown mercy and to be allowed to return to east London.

Speaking to The Times at a refugee camp in northern Syria, Ms Begum said she would do anything required just to be able to come home and live quietly with my child.

Her case has received high-profile backing, with a former MI6 chief saying the teenager should be given a chance if we are to stand by our values.

Meanwhile Anthony Loyd, The Times correspondent who found Ms Begum, said she was a 15-year-old schoolgirl who made a terrible mistake and we must do our best to rehabilitate her amongst our own people.

But her plea has been strongly rejected by others  including the brother of Alan Henning, the British aid worker beheaded by Jihadi John, who said she should absolutely not be allowed back.

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Whatsapp Shamima Begum left the UK in 2015 to join Islamic State (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Speaking to The Times, Mr Javid said: We must remember that those who left Britain to join Daesh (IS) were full of hate for our country.

My message is clear  if you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return. If you do manage to return you should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted.

Labour shadow home secretary Diane Abbott responded: We are not in favour of making people stateless. However, if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that anyone who is entitled to return to this country either committed or facilitated acts of terrorism, they should be fully investigated and where appropriate prosecuted.

Our priority must always be public safety. We need proper safeguards, particularly if the individual is associated with an international terrorist group. All significant risks must be thoroughly assessed.

Any hopes of a rescue mission by British officials were swiftly quashed on Thursday as the Government ruled out an effort inside Syria to assist Ms Begum.

While refusing to comment on individual cases, Mr Wallace told the BBC: Im not putting at risk British peoples lives to go and look for terrorists or former terrorists in a failed state.

Theres consular services elsewhere in the region and the strong message this Government has given for many years is that actions have consequences.

While no official operation to remove Ms Begum from Syria will be carried out, questions have been raised over whether Britain would be able to prevent Ms Begums eventual return to the UK.

Former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Lord Carlile told the BBC that if Ms Begum has not gained a second citizenship of another country, she will have to be allowed back to her homeland because under international law it is not possible for a person to be made stateless.

Those who left Britain to join Daesh were full of hate for our countrySajid Javid

Meanwhile, Richard Barrett, a former director of global counter-terrorism at MI6, suggested it would be unreasonable to expect the Syrian Defence Force to look after her indefinitely.

He also warned that summary execution is the most likely outcome for such captured foreign nationals who are handed over to Syrian or Iraqi authorities.

Writing for The Guardian, he said: Governments have a responsibility to address the problems created by their captured nationals and also to look more closely at why they made the choices they did.

He added: Even (Ms Begum), as unrepentant as she may be, should be given a chance, if we are to stand by our values  and if we believe our society is strong enough to reabsorb a 15-year-old who went badly off the rails.

Ms Begums admission that she did not regret travelling to IS-controlled Syria, and her assertion that she is not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago has been highlighted as a cause for concern by some.

Dr Kim Howells, a former counter-terrorism minister, told the Daily Mail: She sounds to be completely unrepentant, she sounds cynical.

Mr Hennings brother Reg told The Sun: The authorities should take her passport off her. She made her choice, didnt she? She made her bed and she should lie in it.

Expand Close Sajid Javid said he would not hesitate to prevent the return of Britons who leave the UK to join IS (Dominic Lipinski/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Sajid Javid said he would not hesitate to prevent the return of Britons who leave the UK to join IS (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

However, Ms Begums brother-in-law Mohammed Rehman told Mail Online that her family want her to be allowed to return and be re-educated.

He said: I can understand why people in this country are angry and dont want her back. What shes done doesnt portray Islam in a good light. But she was only 15 when she went to Syria. We are appealing for compassion and understanding on her behalf.

Ms Begum was one of three schoolgirls, along with Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, from Bethnal Green Academy who left the UK in February 2015.

Another girl, Sharmeena Begum, also from Bethnal Green but not related to Shamima, had travelled to Syria two months earlier.

Ms Sultana was reported to have been killed in an air strike in 2016.

Shamima Begum said she had recently heard second-hand that the other two girls may still be alive.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the authorities needed to speak to Ms Begum if she intends to return to the UK.

Mr Khan told LBC: As far as this individual person is concerned, I think whats important is for the authorities, that means the police, that means the other authorities, to speak to her if she decides to ever return to the UK, to consider whether any criminal offences have been committed.

If they have then its really important that, following due process, she faces a trial.

And we will have to wait and see what happens in relation to that.

I think its really important though for me as someone who is a public figure not to inadvertently prejudice a future trial.

Mr Khan said it was his understanding that someone could not be made stateless unless they have dual nationality, or have nationality of another country.
Female trotter Atlanta made harness racing history in 2018 by becoming one of the few fillies to win the prestigious Hambletonian, and she's made history once again off the racetrack by becoming the highest-priced Standardbred sold at auction in North America.

The four-year-old daughter of Chapter Seven - Hemi Blue Chip was being sold to dissolve a partnership dispute between her previous connections. Those owners included trainer Rick Zeron, Crawford Farms, Holland Racing Stable, Howard Taylor and Brad Grant.

Selling online through OnGait, Atlanta's auction closed on Friday (February 15) with the final price posted as $1.55 million, and selling to Michelle Crawford of Crawford Farms. That sale price makes her the highest priced Standardbred sold in North America, topping the $1.1 million price tag fetched by trotting filly Cameron Hall in 2001.

Brad Grant told Trot Insider after the auction had concluded that Crawford was representing the previous owners with the exception of Zeron, so the owners of Atlanta will be Crawford Farms, Brad Grant, Howard Taylor and Holland Racing Stable.

"We're happy, she's a great mare," said Grant. "There was a lot of serious interest in her, which shows that people believe she's a great mare. We'll move forward, and I want to wish Rick the best on his future endeavours, and hope things work out."

Grant noted that a decision on who would train Atlanta for 2019 has yet to be confirmed by the group.
Scottish Finance Secretary Derek Mackay and Welsh Finance Minister Rebecca Evans have asked for more clarity from the UK Government (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

The Scottish and Welsh governments have called for more clarity to be issued over funding after Britain leaves the European Union.

Representatives from both devolved administrations are due to meet with Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss in Cardiff on Friday.

Ahead of the meeting, Scottish Finance Secretary Derek Mackay and Welsh Finance Minister Rebecca Evans have asked for more clarity from the UK Government on how funding will affect future budgets and public sector pensions among other areas after Brexit.

Mr Mackay is hopeful Ms Truss will take an even handed approach in meeting all costs ahead of March 29.

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He said: Funding from the EU supports jobs in Scotland, from major infrastructure projects to sustaining rural communities and delivering research funding for our world-class universities.

That is why the Scottish Government is determined to defend its hard-won fiscal responsibility and maintain the benefits that EU funding has provided to many sectors and individuals in Scotland.

With just weeks to go until the planned EU exit day, we remain deeply concerned about the lack of detail regarding replacement arrangements for EU funding streams given their importance to individuals, businesses and communities across Scotland.

Today I will be calling on the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to provide reassurance that Scotland should not be financially worse off as a result of the EU exit and to guarantee that all lost EU funding will be replaced in full.

As the Scottish Government Chief Economists State of the Economy report set out, Brexit uncertainty is already impacting key economic indicators and a no-deal Brexit would lead to a major dislocation to the Scottish economy.

The UK Government must immediately rule out the possibility of a no deal Brexit and extend the Article 50 process. However, as a responsible government we will also continue  and indeed intensify  our work to prepare for all outcomes as best we can.

On Thursday night Theresa May tumbled to another substantial Commons defeat after fewer than 250 of her MPs voted in favour of a motion which backed the Brexit plans endorsed by the Commons on January 29.

An SNP amendment to extend Article 50 was also rejected by 315 votes to 93.

Speaking ahead of Fridays meeting, Ms Evans said she will be pushing for ongoing and meaningful dialogue about the challenges we are facing.

She said: With the clock ticking as we approach EU exit day, it is absolutely vital we are at the heart of decision making and are able to prepare for the impact of Brexit.

Alongside this, I will also be pressing for further clarity and assurances about the cost associated with the UK Governments changes to public sector pensions and how it intends to fund it.

Only last week, the First Minister and local government leaders wrote to the Chancellor seeking clarification. Worryingly, even as local authorities are finalising their budgets, there is still some uncertainty about funding.

Worryingly, even as local authorities are finalising their budgets, there is still some uncertainty about fundingRebecca Evans

The Federation of Small Business (FSB) has also weighed in ahead of the meeting, having previously been vocal about avoiding a no-deal Brexit.

Colin Borland, FSB director of devolved nations, said: Avoiding a no-deal Brexit at the end of March is the highest priority for smaller businesses. Elected members at every level need to push hard to avoid this outcome.

On the other hand, at FSB we would encourage local businesses from Aberystwyth to Aberdeen to check out official sources of advice to ensure theyre as prepared as they can be for what could be an abrupt change in trading conditions.

It is especially important for Welsh and Scottish local economies that we get both replacement arrangements for EU funding streams and our post-Brexit immigration system absolutely right and that neither nation is disadvantaged as a result of Brexit.

Those in business expect Ministers based in Edinburgh, Cardiff and London to be able to work constructively together to find solutions that deliver for everyone.

A Treasury spokesman said: We are working closely with the devolved administrations so they have the resources to prepare as we leave the European Union.

This includes allocating 55 million to the Scottish Government and over 30 million to the Welsh Government to support Brexit preparations for all scenarios in 2019-20.
Schoolchildren are taking a stand against climate change, with thousands of pupils walking out of class to demand immediate action.

Youth Strike 4 Climate movement organisers said strikes are taking place in 60 towns and cities, with youngsters carrying banners bearing slogans saying: There is no planet B.

Other signs read: When did the children become the adults? and Why should I clean my room when the world is in such a mess.

At one protest outside Cambridgeshire County Councils offices, a demonstrator led chants of Whose future? Our future and Hey, ho, fossil fuels have got to go.

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Jasper Giles, a six-year-old pupil at University of Cambridge Primary School, attended with his mother Alissia Roberts.

She said: I think its worth taking a day off school to show support for this movement, I think its really important and it will gather momentum.

Ten-year-old Zachary Hird, a pupil at Cambridges Newnham Croft Primary School, was at the protest with his mother Diane Hird.

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He said: We dont want climate change and people just have to change their ways as we dont want the world as it is right now.

We just want to make people aware of it.

We were talking about it in our class so we just came along.

Loads of children in #Devon today involved in #climatestrike. Devon County Council cabinet is recommending that the authority declare a #climateemergency at Full Council on 21 Feb and that DCC works with the LNP, LEP and others regs collective action needed to meet IPCC targets pic.twitter.com/ZovaZnUIKr  Devon Local Nature Partnership (@Devon_LNP) February 15, 2019

Asked how he felt about missing lessons for the day, he said: I feel climate change is more important  the world dying is a lot more bad than just, yeah.

Children also gathered in Brighton, with some waving banners refusing to take exams and calling for immediate action on climate change.

The protesters also took the cause to Westminster, descending on Parliament Square to demand change.

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Whatsapp Students make their voices heard in Parliament Square (Nick Ansell/PA)

Dressed in their school uniforms, some broke into chants of Save our planet and Now, climate justice.

Former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres voiced her support for the cause, saying the action was moving.

She said: Its time to heed the deeply moving voice of youth and schoolchildren, who are so worried about their future that they need to strike to make us pay attention.

It is a sign that we are failing in our responsibility to protect them from the worsening impacts of climate change.

John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: Young people know that their lives are going to be changed dramatically by the impacts of climate change.

The risks that older people hope they might dodge are the problems the young will inherit.

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And the longer the young wait for action to be taken, the harder it will be for them in future.

However, the strikes were not welcomed by school leaders and Education Secretary Damian Hinds, who said missing class was not the answer.

Mr Hinds said: I want young people to be engaged in key issues affecting them and involving themselves in causes they care about.

But let me be clear, missing class wont do a thing to help the environment; all they will do is create extra work for teachers.

Expand Close Three-year-old Violet Wicks, from London, joined the protest in Westminster (Nick Ansell/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Three-year-old Violet Wicks, from London, joined the protest in Westminster (Nick Ansell/PA)

But the demonstrators gained the support of Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who described their actions as a cause for optimism in an often dark world.

The movement has already seen school strikes in Australia and European countries including Belgium, and was inspired by teenager Greta Thunberg, who protests every Friday outside Swedens parliament to urge leaders to tackle climate change.

The strikes come in the wake of a UN report which warned that limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, beyond which climate impacts become increasingly severe, requires unprecedented action.

That includes cutting global carbon dioxide emissions by almost half within 12 years.

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Students in the UK are demanding the Government declare a climate emergency and take active steps to tackle the problem, communicate the severity of the ecological crisis to the public and reform the curriculum to make it an educational priority.

Anna Taylor, of UK Student Climate Network, said: Were running out of time for meaningful change, and thats why were seeing young people around the world rising up to hold their governments to account on their dismal climate records.

Unless we take positive action, the futures looking bleak for those of us that have grown up in an era defined by climate change.
Pupils at a climate change protest outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh (Tom Eden/PA)

Striking pupils from across Scotland have walked out of classes to join climate change protests.

The schoolchildren missed lessons on Friday to join demonstrations demanding action on climate change.

Pupils gathered at a demonstration outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, waving handmade placards and signs and speaking of their desire for change.

One child, six-year-old Dougie, attended the protest with his mother and sister.

Dougie said: Were here to do climate strike, which is something you do for your own future because the parliaments arent acting for us so were having to act on our own and its pretty annoying.

We didnt want to have to do this but we are having to do it. We want people to act for this climate because no-ones acting.

Asked what his message to politicians would be, he made reference to the UNs warning that there are only 12 years to limit the effect of climate change.

We need to act now because when Im 18 and my sisters 21 we cant act any more, he said.

Expand Close Marla Gavin-Daunt, 6, and Elsie Gavin-Daunt, 8, with mum Sophie at the demonstration (Tom Eden/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Marla Gavin-Daunt, 6, and Elsie Gavin-Daunt, 8, with mum Sophie at the demonstration (Tom Eden/PA)

The strikes were praised by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who wrote on Twitter: Its a cause for optimism, in an often dark world, that young people are taking a stand on climate change.

While she said the Scottish Government was a world leader in acting against climate change, the urgency of the issue meant it is right that we are all challenged to do more and that we hear the voice of the next generation.

Some pupils thought that governments should be doing more.

Portobello High School pupil Adam Ballard said of politicians: Its time to actually start doing stuff now.

People talk about it but they dont actually do anything  so please do.

Expand Close Adam Ballard, 12, and Lucas Ballard, 9, at a climate change protest outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh (Tom Eden/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Adam Ballard, 12, and Lucas Ballard, 9, at a climate change protest outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh (Tom Eden/PA)

The 12-year-old explained this was the first time he had missed school for the climate strikes.

He said: I just think its important that I go and campaign about stuff that matters like the climate.

Getting cars off the road and reducing carbon emissions is important to me.

People arent taking (climate change) seriously enough, and are finding Brexit much more important when actually its much less important.

The UK Education Secretary Damian Hinds has warned pupils they should not miss lessons to take part in the strikes.

But Scottish Green Party education spokesman Ross Greer urged education bosses to back pupils rather than punish them.

Mr Greer said: I commend every young person in Scotland and across the world who is joining this growing movement and speaking out against this existential threat to their future.

He stressed the Curriculum for Excellence system in Scottish schools is based on the idea that we support our young people to become responsible citizens.

So much energy at Glasgow #YouthStrike4Climate! Everyone from primary to secondary to college and uni students plus teachers and parents here saying enough is enough a #ClimateStrike pic.twitter.com/Wxb3nHII8g  Ross Greer (@Ross_Greer) February 15, 2019

Mr Greer added: Every school student who takes action against the climate crisis on Friday is doing exactly that.

They should know that they will not be punished for defending their own future.

They have the Scottish Greens support and I hope they will have the support of their teachers and education authorities.
CCTV still of the raiders at work (Northumbria Police/PA)

Police have likened CCTV of shop thieves driving through a shopping centre to a scene out of the 1960s caper The Italian Job.

The raiders smashed their way into the Forum Shopping Centre in Wallsend, North Tyneside, at around 4.10am on January 29.

Rather than using red, white and blue Minis like Michael Caines mob in the movie, the real-life criminals used a black hatchback to drive through the mall and up to the O2 shop, where they broke in and stole phones and other expensive technology.

They then fled the scene in their vehicle and have yet to be caught.

Northumbria Police said the scene wouldnt look out of place in the film The Italian Job.

In a statement, Pc David Hudson said: The significant damage to the shopping centre and the burglary has caused substantial financial loss for the businesses involved.

aThe significant damage to the shopping centre and the burglary has caused substantial financial loss for the businesses involveda.



More details about this crime below. If you have information, please get in touch.  pic.twitter.com/h6Y6ktzxla  Northumbria Police (@northumbriapol) February 15, 2019

An investigation has been launched and I urge anyone with information, or who may have been in the area at the time and witnessed something, to get in touch.

Anyone with any information should contact police via 101, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Best quality available. Photo taken from Twitter with permission from @BradleyStokes_ of a fire at the George Bryan Centre in Staffordshire.

A man has been charged with arson after a fire ripped through a mental health facility.

Zoltan Rozsa was arrested after firefighters tackled the severe blaze at the George Bryan Medical Centre, near the Sir Robert Peel Community Hospital in Tamworth, on Monday night.

The 43-year-old has now been charged with arson with intent/reckless as to whether life was endangered, Staffordshire Police said.

Images of the fire showed flames and smoke billowing from the buildings roof, part of which appeared to have fallen in.

#Update A man has been arrested and charged in in connection with a fire at the George Bryan Medical Centre in Tamworth earlier this week. https://t.co/zriM9sfFUW pic.twitter.com/E4uUp8d9Kv  Staffordshire Police (@StaffsPolice) February 15, 2019

Around 50 firefighters from Staffordshire, West Midlands and Warwickshire fire services were deployed as fire took hold at the facility, prompting the evacuation of 20 occupants and staff.

Police said they were called to the incident at 9.15pm and there were no reported casualties.

The facility is run by the Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and provides mental health services for adults, including acute care under the Mental Health Act.

Neil Carr, chief executive of the trust, said: We recognise this was a traumatic and distressing event for all involved and we will now ensure that all those affected receive whatever help and care they need to support their emotional well-being.

Rozsa, of no fixed address, will appear at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on Friday.
A dozen or more Government ministers could quit by the end of the month if Theresa May refuses to extend the Brexit negotiating period beyond March 29, a leading Tory opponent of EU withdrawal has said.

Former attorney general Dominic Grieve said that the next round of Brexit votes on February 27 would be a high noon moment when resignations on this scale  which he said could include six Cabinet members  might bring Mrs Mays Government down.

He was speaking as Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt made clear his unwillingness to accept a no-deal departure, telling hardline Brexiteers in a tweet: We are not leaving without a deal. If you want to leave, youd better agree one. In the next fortnight would help.

Angry Tory loyalists have turned on the partys Brexiteers after Mrs Mays plans suffered another humiliating Commons defeat on Valentines Day.

Business minister Richard Harrington accused the European Research Group (ERG), led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, of treachery and said they were not Conservatives and should join former Ukip leader Nigel Farages new Brexit Party.

Defence minister Tobias Ellwood accused the ERG of acting as a party within a party and described their behaviour as provocative.

Meanwhile, Margot James became the latest minister to rule out remaining in the Government if it allowed a no-deal Brexit.

The Digital Minister told Channel 4 News: I could not be part of a government that allowed this country to leave the European Union without a deal.

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Downing Street insisted the Prime Minister would continue with her negotiating strategy, with ministers dismissing Thursdays vote as no more than a hiccup.

Number 10 said Mrs May spoke to the Polish President Mateusz Morawiecki, the Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas and the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite on Friday afternoon.

Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom acknowledged that Thursdays defeat had not strengthened Mrs Mays hand in her effort to persuade the EU to change the proposed backstop arrangements to keep the Irish border open after Brexit.

But she told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The Prime Minister carries on. She will continue to seek those legally binding changes to the backstop that will enable Parliament to support our deal.

The one problem with last nights vote is that it allows the EU to continue with this pretence that they dont know what we want. They do know what we want.

Ms Leadsom did not discount the possibility of ministerial-level resignations, telling Today: Resignations from Government do happen People have very, very strong, heartfelt views about leaving the EU or remaining within it. That is a matter for them as individuals.

No. We wonat. We are not leaving without a deal. If you want to leave, youad better agree one. In the next fortnight would help. https://t.co/c10w17TPCd  Rt Hon Alistair Burt (@AlistairBurtUK) February 15, 2019

But she insisted: The vote yesterday didnt change anything. The Governments position remains to resolve the issues of the backstop and then come back to Parliament with a fresh meaningful vote. Its essential we crack on with that work, and thats what we are doing.

There was fury among some Conservative MPs after an announcement by the pro-Brexit ERG moments before the crucial vote on Thursday evening that its members had taken a collective decision to abstain.

With some Remainers also failing to vote, and five Tory MPs voting with the opposition, the Government fell to a 303 to 258 vote defeat.

Mr Grieve said the ERG seem to be completely cavalier about the risks that the country might run if we leave with no deal, something which he said the overwhelming majority of MPs were not prepared to accept.

It starts to bring into question whether in fact the Government is able to operate in the national interest at allDominic Grieve

He told Today that he understood a number of ministers had already told Mrs May that if she was unable to secure a Withdrawal Agreement which could command the support of the Commons, she should extend the two-year Article 50 negotiating period.

If she refused, he said a dozen or even more ministers may resign, including up to half a dozen from the Cabinet.

Asked whether this could bring down the Government, Mr Grieve said: Yes it could, and this isnt a desirable outcome.

The irony of all this is that most of us in the Conservative Party are sufficiently united to want to try to operate a coherent Government. But the truth is were finding it harder and harder to do.

It starts to bring into question whether in fact the Government is able to operate in the national interest at all.

We are facing a great crisis and we are not really looking at all the options for trying to resolve it.

ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker dismissed the row over Thursdays vote as a storm in a teacup.

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Brexit-backing MPs who abstained were not prepared to be associated with the catastrophic and foolish negotiating error of taking a no-deal Brexit off the table, he said.

He accused Mrs May of reinterpreting last months vote, which authorised her to replace the backstop with alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border in Ireland.

Im afraid people didnt want to be treated like that twice, Mr Baker told Today.

I really do rather object to being called hardline when what we are doing is trying to deliver an exit with a deal which works for everybody, with a transition period. We are making enormous compromises to work across the party.

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Greek foreign minister George Katrougalos told Today that Thursdays vote was part of the contradictory message that we are receiving as the 27 from the UK.

Mr Katrougalos said: It complicates even further the situation. Its very, very difficult to be optimistic about Brexit under these circumstances.

I cannot exclude a miracle. Miracles happen, but I cannot see what kind of miracle it is that could save the day.

It was not foreseeable that the EU would reopen negotiations or take the backstop out of the UKs Withdrawal Agreement, he said.
The former deputy chief constable of Greater Manchester police John Stalker, who lead an investigation into the RUC's shooting of suspected IRA members, has died aged 79.

The police man was one of the most recognised of his time having also worked on the Moors murder investigation into the killings by Ian Brady, who tortured and killed five children with his partner, Myra Hindley, between 1963 and 1965.

Before becoming deputy chief constable he was the youngest detective chief superintendent in the UK when appointed head of Warwickshire CID.

But it was his work during Northern Ireland Troubles which he was most recognised for.

Mr Stalker was asked to investigate the RUC shootings of six people but was removed from the inquiry shortly before it was due to report in 1986.

He was taken off the case at the moment he believed he was about to obtain an MI5 tape of one of the shootings.

Suspended over allegations of associating with criminals, he was later cleared of any wrongdoing and reinstated in his job as deputy chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, but his report was never published.

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In 2016 state papers release, a diplomat revealed how Mr Stalker was concerned of a Masonic plot within the police acting against him.

In a letter in 1986, the Irish ambassador to London Noel Dorr wrote to then-taoiseach Garret FitzGerald about a brief private conversation with the police chief.

He said Mr Stalker was frustrated over not getting access to senior politicians, including the then Secretary of State Douglas Hurd, to make his case.

He said his report was 90% complete but feared it would be rewritten.

"In general he found the RUC were all right except for some people very near the top who were very much to blame," wrote Mr Dorr.

It was "sad and ironic" that the force's opposition to his investigation had damaged it much more than had it co-operated, acknowledged wrongdoing and turned over a new leaf, Mr Stalker said to him.

He retired in 1987 and went on to host the TV series Crime Stalker on ITV.

Announcing his death on Friday, his daughter Colette Cartwright paid tribute in a statement describing him as a "beloved husband, grandfather and great-grandfather who enriched the lives of many"

"After marrying my dear mum Stella in 1961, he spent his life as a devoted police officer, proudly serving the people of Greater Manchester for over 30 years.

He is fondly remembered by many as going above and beyond the call of duty and was committed to making a difference for those most in need. As testament to this, he devoted his life to a career in the CID, where he worked for 16 years, rising to the rank of detective superintendent.
Political parties from Northern Ireland and the Republic were in agreement that the backstop is a vital part of any Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

Representatives from Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein, SDLP, The Green Party, Labour Party, Social Democrats and People Before Profit, all spoke on Friday at the All-Island Civic Dialogue hosted by the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

All parties, who hail from across the political spectrum both in the north and south, had a rare moment of unison as they noted their constituents were worried about the effect of Brexit on jobs, security, farming and the economy.

The @sinnfeinireland delegation at the Civic Forum on Brexit at Dublin Castle. We need a conversation and forum to plan for referendum on #irishunity in the event of a crash Brexit #time4unity #tA32 pic.twitter.com/hBJEcJC21F  Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) February 15, 2019

The border, however, was the key issue for every party.

The British Prime Minister is counting down the clock demanding a renegotiation of her own agreement and we do now face a possible no-deal crash due to British belligerence or incompetence, said Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald.

No-one knows where Brexit will land, but there is no good Brexit, hard or soft, but a question of the degree of damage, the impact on trade, citizens rights, the peace process and Irish-British relations.

The Withdrawal Agreement is imperfect but will mitigate the worst excesses of Brexit  backstop is a vital insurance policy and bare minimum of what we need.

We need to remain united across this island; We need to ensure that the backstop is fully and totally protected; and We need to protect the Good Friday Agreement from being dismantled by the British Government and the DUP. #AllIslandCivicDialogue pic.twitter.com/jLGmqw4Oj8  Daniel McCrossan MLA  (@McCrossanMLA) February 15, 2019

SDLP Brexit spokesman Daniel McCrossan, who represents a border town, said the impact of a no-deal Brexit could be catastrophic.

I hear daily very genuine concerns, the fear of a border, and I want to make it clear there can be no return of the past and no return of any hard border to divide the people of this island.

We need to remain united across this island and that the backstop is totally and fully protected, and we must protect the Good Friday Agreement from being dismantled by the British Government and the DUP.

Alliance Party deputy leader Stephen Farry, lamented the implications for citizens across Northern Ireland.

There is no such thing as a sensible Brexit, it is a self-inflicted wound with implications for all of UK.

Welcome the consensus on Brexit amongst business and farming communities and civic society in Northern Ireland, Stephen Farry, Member of the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly at the the All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit. #allislanddialogue pic.twitter.com/70bhiRLAmc  MerrionStreet.ie #StaySafe #HoldFirm (@merrionstreet) February 15, 2019

To be very clear, any form of negotiated Brexit does require the backstop and that backstop has to be open-ended and all-weather, and to be anything other, it is not a backstop.

Green Party leader in Northern Ireland Clare Bailey noted that Northern Ireland voted to remain in the Brexit vote.

Northern Ireland voted to remain, and we feel we are being dragged out against our will and that should not be forgotten, she said.

We believe the only democratic way forward is to put the final deal to the people and ask them: Is this what you want?

We have No-Deal Brexiteers advocating for No-Deal Brexit and openly admitting theyve never read the Good Friday Agreement. The only voice we have in Westminster is the DUP, who were always anti-agreement.
NASA held a media briefing session today at NASA HQ. The purpose of the briefing was to talk about the various lunar activities NASA is engaged in.

Specifically there was discussion by NASA SMD AA Thomas Zurbuchen about the science and technology missions that NASA is planning. Next week 12 payloads will be announced as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. 9 companies are cometing to place these payloads on the Moon. Zurbuchen is off on a race to make these things happen much faster than is usually the case at NASA. This means that there will be more risks taken - but with that comes a greater chance to try new things. Indeed, if the program achieves what it aspires to do, there could be payloads on the surface of the Moon by the end of 2019.

These missions will conduct pure science and applied technology. The applied technology is designed to build up capabilities that will be needed when human landings are attempted at the end of the next decade. Among other things locating resources for fuel generation and lunar base construction will be explored.

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Irish Premier Leo Varadkar has said anyone hoping that EU solidarity with Ireland will falter on the Brexit border backstop is in for a nasty surprise.

Speaking at the All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit in Dublin Castle, Mr Varadkar said: One of the most striking things about what has unfolded since the UKs decision to leave has been the remarkable solidarity from the EU.

Despite many attempts to bilateralise issues or to divide the 27, the solidarity has been strong and resolute and those who think it will break at the last moment are in for a nasty surprise, he said.

Irish premier Leo Varadkar says although he ahas viewsa on whether Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn could be more constructive regarding Brexit, he thinks it better aif I did not intervene in British politicsa.



aIad be happy to talk about it with him over a drink or something.a pic.twitter.com/fBUdlkKs06  aoife moore. (@aoifegracemoore) February 15, 2019

Irelands concerns have become the European Unions concerns.

Mr Varadkar added that no-deal planning is now planning for a very real and possible outcome.

I explained to (European Commission) president (Jean-Claude) Juncker the assistance Ireland will require in the event of a no-deal Brexit, for his part he emphasised that the EU stands ready to help Ireland in finding and funding the specific solutions to the challenges we might face.

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said he could not believe the British Government has let the issue of no deal get this far.

I think it is extraordinary and unbelievable really that the British Parliament and British Government have let it come to this, he said.

We are 42 days out until Britain is due to leave, there is still division within a political party that is causing Ireland to spend hundreds of millions of euro to prepare for no deal.

Mr Coveney added that the border is a key issue for Ireland.

There is a legal basis that needs to be put in place for the border, he said.

The idea that there is even a possibility of a no-deal Brexit is crazySimon Coveney, Irish foreign minister

We will have a legal text published next week and emergency legislation to protect that Common Travel Area.

A no-deal Brexit will cause enormous strain on Ireland north and south and many people will be deeply impacted.

The idea that there is even a possibility of a no-deal Brexit is crazy.

Mr Coveney, who is often noted for his optimism, said he felt it was the governments role to be optimistic.

I believe the Prime Minister can find a way of getting a majority on the Withdrawal Agreement, he said.

The EU will try to accommodate the Prime Minister but will have to be reasonable.

If you listen to what they (the EU) are saying, the Withdrawal Agreement is not up for negotiation.

Watch a live stream of the 5th Plenary of the All Island Civic Dialogue hosted by Taoiseach @CampaignforLeo and TAnaiste @SimonCoveney here: https://t.co/MC3Kew22xW Discussions will focus on People, Citizens and Rights and Business Preparations. #BrexitReady #AllIslandDialogue pic.twitter.com/UyYQ5Sbxsi  MerrionStreet.ie #StaySafe #HoldFirm (@merrionstreet) February 15, 2019

The British Parliament will act on the basis of whats right to protect British interests but it will be a fractious journey to get there.

We cannot and will not allow a situation, that in order for the Prime Minister to get a deal with hardline MPs, we will not allow Irish interests to be sacrificed to achieve that  we cant.

Mr Coveney would like further discussions between the Conservatives and Labour on Brexit.

The Labour Party in the UK are important in these discussions, he said.

Certainly it would be helpful to see serious dialogue between the two large parties in Westminster and it needs to happen yesterday.

Finally, on Article 50 being extended, Mr Coveney said: Ireland has always said we will not be an obstacle to an extension if it was reasonable to do it.
A picture taken with a drone of a Border crossing between Co Fermanagh in Northern Ireland and Co Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland near the town of Clones (Niall Carson/PA Wire)

The All-Island Civic Dialogue will offer an opportunity to listen to the concerns of groups from both sides of the border as Brexit looms, the Tanaiste has said.

Simon Coveney said the Government was deeply aware of the potentially profound impacts of the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal and was stepping up its no-deal preparations.

The Tanaiste and the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will co-host the fifth plenary session of the All-Island Civic Dialogue in Dublin Castle today.

It will be chaired by Tom Arnold and feature updates from the government, contributions from political parties as well as discussions on people, citizens and rights, and business preparations.

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The event builds on more than 20 sectoral dialogues that have taken place across the country as well as the previous plenary sessions.

Speaking ahead of the event, Mr Coveney said: This is an opportune time to host another plenary session of the All Island Civic Dialogue.

There have been many significant developments since our last plenary session in April 2018, including the agreement of the Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and UK Government.

Despite this, uncertainty over Brexit persists, and I welcome the chance to provide an update on the work that Government has undertaken to prepare for all possible outcomes, and to listen to the concerns from representative groups across society, North and South.

We are all deeply aware of the potentially profound political, social, economic and trade impacts of a no-deal Brexit.

The Government is taking very clear steps to mitigate these impacts and has stepped up its preparations for Brexit across Government, including for a no-deal Brexit.

Minister of State for European Affairs Helen McEntee said: Engagement with stakeholders is an important pillar of the Governments Brexit response.

The Dialogue has been complemented by the recent Getting Ireland Brexit Ready programme of events held across the country, and allows us to hear from those most impacted by Brexit and feed this back into our ongoing planning.

Ms McEntee will participate in the panel discussion on business preparation.
BAM Ireland chief executive said the firm would cooperate if the Government decides to opt out of the contract for the building of the the new National Childrens Hospital (Niall Carson/PA Wire)

The firm behind the construction of the new National Childrens Hospital has said it would opt out of the contract if the board wanted to retender the controversial project.

BAM Ireland chief executive Theo Cullinane said: BAM wishes to advise the hospital board that if it would prefer to opt out of this contract and procure the work in some other way, then BAM will cooperate with them to facilitate this option.

In a statement, the Kildare-firm also said it did not benefit inappropriately from the tender process and that much of the commentary was based on incomplete and inaccurate information.

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The Government has come under increasing pressure over spiralling costs of the new hospital, on the campus of St Jamess Hospital in Dublin

It has soared from an original estimate of 650 million euro to more than 1.7 billion euro.

The controversial overrun has heaped pressure on Health Minister Simon Harris.

An independent inquiry by PWC, which was set up to assess the errors, is expected to be completed by the end of next month.

BAM said it would fully engage with the independent inquiry by PWC to ensure all relevant facts are disclosed.

The company said it had written to the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar following comments he made in the Dail on Tuesday requesting him to clarify that he was not referring to BAM in the Dail and that BAM has made and continues to make a significant contribution to Ireland, including in the context of the New Childrens Hospital, where BAM is in full compliance with all its obligations.

Mr Cullinane added: BAM will continue its commitment to the New Childrens Hospital and the confidence of all parties involved is a vital requirement for the company.

Expand Close TD Mick Wallace believes that retendering the construction contract for the hospital would save half a billion euro (Niall Carson/PA Wire) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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A spokesman for the Government said Mr Varadkar did not reference any specific company in the Dail.

The Government is not satisfied with several aspects of how the new National Childrens Hospital project has been delivered, he said.

There is understandable public concern about the matter.

For this reason, PWC has been commissioned to carry out an independent examination.

He hopes and trusts that all parties and contractors will co-operate fully with it.

In a statement issued on Friday evening the board handling the development of the hospital said: The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board is committed to delivering the new childrens hospital.

It added: We have nothing further to add at this time.

Following the statement Independent TD Mattie McGrath called on the Taoiseach and the Health Minister to put an immediate halt to works being carried out on the St Jamess site and for due consideration to be given to the relocation of the new hospital.

Mr McGrath said: The statement by BAM today completely undermines the narrative that has been put out there by the Taoiseach, the Minister for Health and indeed the Minister for Public Expenditure, Pascal Donohoe, with respect to the alleged inability to reconsider a possible relocation of the NCH.

His comments came after Independent TD Mick Wallace claimed in the Dail on Thursday that retendering the construction contract for the hospital would save half a billion euro.

Mr Wallace said that cancelling the current deal would make financial sense in the long term and that it was not too late to do so before costs spiralled further.

But the Government rejected the claim.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney said the advice being given to Government was that retendering would not result in a saving.
Sinn Fein delegation: (left to right) Conor Murphy, Michelle ONeill, Gerry Kelly and Mary Lou McDonald at Stormont House in Belfast (David Young/PA)

Sinn Fein accused the UK Government of indulging in a sham merry-go-round after a meeting to take stock of Stormonts powersharing crisis failed to chart a way forward.

Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald claimed the roundtable talks involving the five main Stormont parties and UK and Irish governments were only called to give a false impression that Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley was proactively trying to resolve the impasse.

We are open to any credible proposition to restore powersharing, but what we had today was not that, Mrs McDonald said after the 90-minute exchanges at Stormont House in Belfast.

Ahead of the meeting, DUP leader Arlene Foster laid the blame for the two-year political deadlock squarely at Sinn Feins door, accusing the republican party of holding Northern Ireland to ransom with unreasonable demands.

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I think most people in Northern Ireland want to see us getting back in to deal with all the issues that affect them in their everyday lives, instead of dealing with very narrow sectional issues, she said.

Sinn Fein have held Northern Ireland to ransom these past two years, I deeply regret that.

Fridays meeting came two years after the last DUP/Sinn Fein-led coalition imploded amid a row over a botched green energy scheme.

The wrangle over the renewable heat incentive (RHI) was soon overtaken by disputes over the Irish language, the regions ban on same sex marriage and the toxic legacy of the Troubles.

A number of attempts to find a negotiated deal to restore the institutions have ended in failure.

The latest discussions involved Mrs Bradley, Irelands deputy premier Tanaiste Simon Coveney and the leaders of the five main parties.

They ended, as expected, without a meeting of minds on any of the outstanding issues.

Met today with Sec of State Bradley and the 5 main NI parties to discuss finding a way forward on getting the #GFA institutions operating again. Not straightforward, but shared sense of importance and urgency. pic.twitter.com/VIaljiYCiJ  Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) February 15, 2019

Mrs McDonald said the two governments had failed to put forward any credible proposition to navigate a way of out the impasse.

It is a disgrace that for two years we have not had our powersharing institutions, she said.

We have established again that, without a shadow of doubt, the DUP remains wedded to an agenda of denial of rights.

We have established that the British Government remains in a position where they are happy to facilitate that veto on rights and we have made very, very clear that any serious attempt to restore the powersharing institutions has to be based on the principles of powersharing and at the core of that is a recognition of peoples rights, at the core of that is a commitment to full powersharing and sustainability.

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Flanked by party colleagues in the Great Hall of Parliament Buildings, Mrs McDonald added: There is a point at which honesty has to enter into the equation and for the Secretary of State to call a meeting to give the impression of action, when in fact the reality is one of inertia, is that helpful?

We dont believe that it is. We want more than that.

There is no appetite to go around on a merry-go-round again in a circular conversation that winds up with the DUP either unable to deliver an accommodation or unwilling to deliver solutions to what are very legitimate asks, made in the spirit of equality and the spirit of powersharing.

The republican leader continued: We are open to any credible proposition but we will not participate in anything that amounts to a sham.

People two years on deserve so much more than that, so much better.

I don't think Brexit should prevent us from having a government in Northern IrelandArlene Foster

With the UK Government reluctant to reintroduce direct rule from Westminster, Northern Ireland has operated in a political limbo land for two years, with senior civil servants being left to run public services.

Those civil servants are seriously hamstrung, with ongoing uncertainty over what decisions they are able to make in the absence of elected ministers.

As a consequence, numerous governmental decisions are in abeyance with many major policy initiatives in cold storage.

Mrs Foster called on Sinn Fein to get serious about restoring the institutions.

We need devolution back in Northern Ireland, she said as she arrived for the talks with party MEP Diane Dodds.

It should have been back in after March 2017, after that election.

It didnt and its a source of great frustration at this point, not just for us but for the whole population of Northern Ireland, that we are still talking about talks rather than actually dealing with government issues.

Mrs Foster reiterated that her party would go back into devolved government immediately, insisting the outstanding political disputes could be resolved in parallel.

Many believe the prospects of an imminent return to powersharing are bleak, with the crisis seemingly in drift as political attention focuses on Brexit.

Mrs Foster said that did not need to be the case, insisting the Brexit process should not be a barrier to restoring powersharing.

I dont think Brexit should prevent us from having a government in Northern Ireland, she said.

I wish that we had had a government up and running since March 2017, thats when we should have been back into government, instead, because Sinn Fein has refused to go back in, we have to deal with that.

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The DUP leader expressed hope that there would be a Brexit deal before March 29.

We want to see a deal in relation to Brexit because we believe a deal that works for the whole United Kingdom and one that deals for the European Union is good for everybody, she said.

On Brexit, Mrs McDonald said: Brexit sets the scene and the tone for everything that happens now in Irish politics.

Here in the North people voted to remain, as Arlene (Foster) is well aware, she defies that democratic decision, she advocates what, in our view, is a very, very reckless position in respect of Brexit.
Wayne Boylan was murdered in a house in Warrenpoint last month

A man arrested on suspicion of the murder of Warrenpoint man Wayne Boylan has been released on police bail pending further enquiries, the PSNI revealed last night.

The 26-year-old, who was arrested yesterday, was also held on suspicion of attempted murder.

The development follows the release on Wednesday of a 44-year-old male, who had been detained on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and a drug-related offence, on bail pending further enquiries.

He had been arrested the previous day.

Last month Mr Boylan was shot dead when two gunmen burst into a house in Warrenpoint and shot him in the head with a shotgun.

A woman (21) was also seriously injured in the attack after being struck in the face and neck by shotgun pellets.

Police have said officers were following two lines of enquiry linked to drugs and paramilitaries.
Police are investigating a report that a man acted indecently on a Belfast-bound train.

The incident is alleged to have happened on the train from Newry at around 8.30am on Thursday January 2019.

The train arrived at Great Victoria Street Station at around 8.45am.

The man is believed to be in his 30's to 40's, heavy build, 6ft plus in height, going bald with short black shaved hair, black stubble and had a big broad face. He was wearing maroon leather work type boots and a wooly type jacket.

A PSNI spokesperson said: "We believe that two people may have witnessed this behaviour and would like to speak to you about the incident.

"These two persons are described as a smartly dressed female in her 30's or 40's who left to sit at a different seat, and also a smartly dressed male in his early 50's with grey hair, who was sat next to the above male.

"If you believe this was you, or if you think you may have witnessed this male acting indecently, then please contact us on 101 quoting reference number 516 of 17/01/2019. Alternatively you can contact CrimeStoppers on 0800 5551111."
Families in Belfast have welcomed a new scheme providing advice on caring for children with autism.

A series of regular advice clinics launched by DUP MP Emma Little-Pengelly is to be rolled out across the south of the city in collaboration with the Belvoir ASD Support Group.

Parents Caroline and Timothy Browne said they had struggled for years to get the right support for their daughter, who is now in P6.

"For girls, who can mask their condition, it is difficult to get recognition of the support they need, as only those closest to her see the devastating effect of her anxiety and social interaction difficulties," they said.

They said the support they had already received from Belvoir ASD has been "phenomenal".

"They have given us support we have not had after six years 'in the system'. They have guided us and given up their time to support us," they added.

"After so long fighting on our own for our daughter, these people just completely get it, they get us and they understand."

Another parent, Sarah McCready, said: "The support I have received from the Belvoir ASD has been invaluable.

"The youth club on a Tuesday provides a safe, fun environment for parents and kids. The coffee morning on Monday is practical advice for the parents."

Today, an advice clinic is to be held for the first time at the Lough Moss Centre in Carryduff from 3-5pm.

Speaking ahead of the clinic, Mrs Little-Pengelly said that getting a diagnosis for a child with autism could often be a battle.

"Many parents are the first to spot the potential signs, but seeking and obtaining help is difficult," she said.

"Likewise, when a child eventually gets a diagnosis this can be the start of another challenging journey - navigating getting the right benefit support, ensuring educational needs are met and finding the best way to work with and help their child strive within the family environment."

In May last year figures from the Department of Health showed that 8,442 school-age children were diagnosed with autism in 2017/18, representing a 69% rise over five years.

Allison Breadon, a parent and chair of the Belvoir ASD support group, welcomed Ms Little-Pengelly's support.

"We are delighted that Emma has agreed to take the lead on this very important issue," she said.

"We have worked with Emma in her capacity as an MLA and now as an MP.

"We are in regular contact with her office and find their help and assistance very useful for our group."
Belfast Lord Mayor Deirdre Hargey with some of the photographers whose work has gone on display on 10 buses

A photography exhibition on the theme of 'Home' and developed by people with a mental health illness, addiction or learning disability has been launched at Belfast City Hall.

The Home Through The Lens project coincides with a Belfast City Council programme exploring what 'Home' means to the people of the city.

Over the past 12 weeks eight participants from Inspire - a charity which supports people living with mental ill health, addiction or a learning disability - have worked with photographer Kelly Morris to learn the skills to capture, explore and translate their relationship with the city of Belfast as their 'Home' through still images.

The photographs will be displayed on 10 buses, giving commuters a unique opportunity to view the exhibition as the images travel around Belfast.
Most schoolchildren learn that the Earth has three (or four) layers: a crust, mantle and core, which is sometimes subdivided into an inner and outer core.

That's not wrong, but it does leave out several other layers that scientists have identified within the Earth, including the transition zone within the mantle.

In a study published this week in Science, Princeton geophysicists Jessica Irving and Wenbo Wu, in collaboration with Sidao Ni from the Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics in China, used data from an enormous earthquake in Bolivia to find mountains and other topography on the base of the transition zone, a layer 660 kilometers (410 miles) straight down that separates the upper and lower mantle. (Lacking a formal name for this layer, the researchers simply call it "the 660-km boundary.")

To peer deep into the Earth, scientists use the most powerful waves on the planet, which are generated by massive earthquakes. "You want a big, deep earthquake to get the whole planet to shake," said Irving, an assistant professor of geosciences.

Big earthquakes are vastly more powerful than small ones -- energy increases 30-fold with every step up the Richter scale -- and deep earthquakes, "instead of frittering away their energy in the crust, can get the whole mantle going," Irving said. She gets her best data from earthquakes that are magnitude 7.0 or higher, she said, as the shockwaves they send out in all directions can travel through the core to the other side of the planet -- and back again. For this study, the key data came from waves picked up after a magnitude 8.2 earthquake -- the second-largest deep earthquake ever recorded -- that shook Bolivia in 1994.

"Earthquakes this big don't come along very often," she said. "We're lucky now that we have so many more seismometers than we did even 20 years ago. Seismology is a different field than it was 20 years ago, between instruments and computational resources."

Seismologists and data scientists use powerful computers, including Princeton's Tiger supercomputer cluster, to simulate the complicated behavior of scattering waves in the deep Earth.

The technology depends on a fundamental property of waves: their ability to bend and bounce. Just as light waves can bounce (reflect) off a mirror or bend (refract) when passing through a prism, earthquake waves travel straight through homogenous rocks but reflect or refract when they encounter any boundary or roughness.

"We know that almost all objects have surface roughness and therefore scatter light," said Wu, the lead author on the new paper, who just completed his geosciences Ph.D. and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute of Technology. "That's why we can see these objects -- the scattering waves carry the information about the surface's roughness. In this study, we investigated scattered seismic waves traveling inside the Earth to constrain the roughness of the Earth's 660-km boundary."

The researchers were surprised by just how rough that boundary is -- rougher than the surface layer that we all live on. "In other words, stronger topography than the Rocky Mountains or the Appalachians is present at the 660-km boundary," said Wu. Their statistical model didn't allow for precise height determinations, but there's a chance that these mountains are bigger than anything on the surface of the Earth. The roughness wasn't equally distributed, either; just as the crust's surface has smooth ocean floors and massive mountains, the 660-km boundary has rough areas and smooth patches. The researchers also examined a layer 410 kilometers (255 miles) down, at the top of the mid-mantle "transition zone," and they did not find similar roughness.

"They find that Earth's deep layers are just as complicated as what we observe at the surface," said seismologist Christine Houser, an assistant professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology who was not involved in this research. "To find 2-mile (1-3 km) elevation changes on a boundary that is over 400 miles (660 km) deep using waves that travel through the entire Earth and back is an inspiring feat. ... Their findings suggest that as earthquakes occur and seismic instruments become more sophisticated and expand into new areas, we will continue to detect new small-scale signals which reveal new properties of Earth's layers."

What it means

The presence of roughness on the 660-km boundary has significant implications for understanding how our planet formed and continues to function. That layer divides the mantle, which makes up about 84 percent of the Earth's volume, into its upper and lower sections. For years, geoscientists have debated just how important that boundary is. In particular, they have investigated how heat travels through the mantle -- whether hot rocks are carried smoothly from the core-mantle boundary (almost 2,000 miles down) all the way up to the top of the mantle, or whether that transfer is interrupted at this layer. Some geochemical and mineralogical evidence suggests that the upper and lower mantle are chemically different, which supports the idea that the two sections don't mix thermally or physically. Other observations suggest no chemical difference between the upper and lower mantle, leading some to argue for what's called a "well-mixed mantle," with both the upper and lower mantle participating in the same heat-transfer cycle.

"Our findings provide insight into this question," said Wu. Their data suggests that both groups might be partially right. The smoother areas of the 660-km boundary could result from more thorough vertical mixing, while the rougher, mountainous areas may have formed where the upper and lower mantle don't mix as well.

In addition, the roughness the researchers found, which existed at large, moderate and small scales, could theoretically be caused by heat anomalies or chemical heterogeneities. But because of how heat in transported within the mantle, Wu explained, any small-scale thermal anomaly would be smoothed out within a few million years. That leaves only chemical differences to explain the small-scale roughness they found.

What could cause significant chemical differences? The introduction of rocks that used to belong to the crust, now resting quietly in the mantle. Scientists have long debated the fate of the slabs of sea floor that get pushed into the mantle at subduction zones, the collisions happening found all around the Pacific Ocean and elsewhere around the world. Wu and Irving suggest that remnants of these slabs may now be just above or just below the 660-km boundary.

"It's easy to assume, given we can only detect seismic waves traveling through the Earth in its current state, that seismologists can't help understand how Earth's interior has changed over the past 4.5 billion years," said Irving. "What's exciting about these results is that they give us new information to understand the fate of ancient tectonic plates which have descended into the mantle, and where ancient mantle material might still reside."

She added: "Seismology is most exciting when it lets us better understand our planet's interior in both space and time."

"Inferring Earth's discontinuous chemical layering from the 660-kilometer boundary topography," by Wenbo Wu, Sidao Ni and Jessica Irving, appears in the Feb. 15 issue of the journal Science. The research was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, grant 2014CB845901), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant XDB18000000), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 41590854), and the National Science Foundation (grants EAR1644399 and 1736046).



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Families of the Omagh bomb victims have said they fear the PSNI may not have given the Police Ombudsman all information in their cases.

Michael Gallagher and Stanley McCombe last night hit out at the force's "secrecy and lack of transparency" in dealing with victims.

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Mr McCombe branded the current system "dysfunctional" and said no other country in the world would tolerate the police failing to disclose information on murders to investigators.

He said Northern Ireland seemed to be a place apart where "heads never roll, no matter how great the failure or how badly victims are let down".

Mr McCombe's wife Ann and Mr Gallagher's son Aiden were killed in the Real IRA bomb in the town in 1998.

They were speaking after the PSNI apologised for not disclosing "significant, sensitive information" about a loyalist massacre to the Police Ombudsman.

The information, some of which related to covert policing, hadn't been handed over to Ombudsman investigators working on the UFF's 1992 attack on Sean Graham's bookies in south Belfast.

The existence of the material came to light when police prepared to disclose it to the bereaved families as part of civil proceedings. The PSNI attributed the omission to human error.

The information has opened new lines of enquiry for the Ombudsman in the bookies attack, the 1993 murder of west Belfast teenager Damien Walsh, and about two-dozen other loyalist killings in the north west.

Mr Gallagher told the Belfast Telegraph: "We are now naturally questioning whether all the information in the police's possession was handed over to the Ombudsman in our case.

"There is a ripple effect to the latest revelation. Many families will be anxious about whether all the information in their cases was disclosed or just half of it.

"We've long believed the PSNI's books should be thrown open for the Ombudsman, rather than there being a closed system where the Ombudsman must request information."

Mr McCombe said: "I feel so much for the families affected by this latest controversy. The police saying sorry isn't good enough. It won't fix it. In no other country in the world would excuses be tolerated for failing to disclose information on murders.

"Those responsible would be held to account and heads would roll. But in this country, heads never roll no matter how great the failure or how badly victims are let down."

Mr McCombe added that police services elsewhere bent over backwards to help victims in their fight for justice, but too often the same didn't apply here, and he was "sick, sore and tired listening to excuses from the PSNI and Garda".

Meanwhile, Damien Walsh's mother said she doesn't accept Deputy Chief Constable Stephen Martin's apology over the failure to disclose information to the Ombudsman. The 17-year-old was shot dead by the UFF as he worked at a coal and fuel depot.

The case is the longest running on the Ombudsman's books, ongoing since 2004 when Marian Walsh first approached the office about the murder of her son. The publication of the Ombudsman's report was imminent but has now been delayed as the information the police had originally withheld sheds new light on the killing.

Speaking yesterday, Mrs Walsh said she broke down when she found out the report wouldn't be published.

"I thought, I am so tired now, I have just got so old, so sick and I don't know how I am going to go on with this," she said. "And then I rallied and thought, I have no choice, I have to keep going to see this through."

Deputy Chief Constable Martin insisted the PSNI "never sought to deliberately withhold this information" and police deeply regretted that researchers had previously been unable to find it.

But Mrs Walsh said: "He didn't apologise to me personally, I just heard he apologised somewhere to somebody. It is just a sham, and excuses.

"How come one person was able to find it and yet all these other ones couldn't?"

No one has been convicted of Damien's murder, and Mrs Walsh - who has been diagnosed with PTSD after fighting for justice for her son for 26 years - said she wasn't hopeful anyone ever would be.

Yesterday victims' group Relatives for Justice said the families affected were "unanimous in their disbelief that this was human error or an oversight, as claimed by Deputy Chief Constable Stephen Martin".

The group said: "How many times have there been excuses of various sorts to justify PSNI failings on legacy? And when do we ever get accountability rather than excuses?"

It called for more resources to be given to the Ombudmsan's office. "This will become even more urgent if, as the PSNI now suggest, Ombudsman staff get freer access to the archives."

People Before Profit south Belfast representative Paul Loughran said questions must be asked about what the PSNI had to hide in the bookies case.

"All information relating to this tragedy should be made available immediately, so a full understanding of what took place and who knew what can be ascertained," he said. "The families who lost loved ones in this tragedy have waited painfully for years to find out the truth, it's time they received it."
A Northern Ireland council which paid 1,500 for a table at a DUP dinner hosted by Ian Paisley breached its own policy by attending the event.

An internal report by the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) reveals Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has a policy which limits spending on attending gala dinners and events to 500.

The report, seen by the Belfast Telegraph, states the council "did not discuss its attendance at the dinner in line with this policy".

However, the report does say that "as an innovative and ambitious organisation, council wants to ensure opportunities for networking and promotion of Mid and East Antrim can be secured."

The council has undertaken to review its policy on attendance at gala dinners and will consider the approach taken by other local authorities.

Sinn Fein councillor Patrice Hardy said: When I first raised fears that ratepayers money may have been used to fund the DUP through the decision to buy a table at this event, these concerns were dismissed by Mid and East Antrim Council.

I was forced to submit Freedom of Information requests and to ask the Electoral Commission to intervene, simply to try and get answers as to how ratepayers money was being used by the council.

Now the latest revelations from the Audit Office raise more questions about the actions of the council. Local authorities are not permissible donors to political parties but if it is the case that council officers knowingly breached their own policy in order to pay this money, that is a very serious matter.

The ratepayers of Mid and East Antrim have a right to know whether the DUP benefited financially from the councils money, and if so, what is going to be done about it.

A revised policy, which would remove the spending limit and allow senior staff to use ratepayers' cash on events involving officials without seeking councillors' approval, has been presented to councillors at committee level and is to go to full council for approval.

Ms Hardy is against the change arguing councillors and not staff should have the final say on how money is spent on attendance at events.

Given the history of this council, particularly the Paisley dinner, it seems incredible that council officers are now attempting to bring in a new policy that would not have any spending limit in place," she said.

To compound matters, they are attempting to do this without seeking the approval of elected members first. That is entirely unacceptable. Elected councillors are the decision makers and I will be strongly opposing any move to subvert that principle.

The fundraising dinner, hosted by DUP MP Ian Paisley, was held at Tullyglass Hotel, outside Ballymena, in September 2017.

The event was attended by Environment Secretary Michael Gove. Causeway Coast and Glens council also attended the event and paid 1,500 for a table.

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council previously said the 1,500 money was paid to the hotel where the North Antrim Annual Business and Community dinner was held, and not to the DUP. The payment is being investigated by the Electoral Commission and the NIAO issued public recommendations to the councils.

A council spokesperson said: Mid and East Antrim Borough Council takes its responsibilities in relation to financial prudence and accountability very seriously.

Our robust and extensive compliance mechanisms ensure efficient, effective and transparent governance across all council functions.

As with any expenditure, decisions taken under this policy, if ratified, will be subject to extensive and fully auditable scrutiny, both internally and externally.
A Northern Ireland chef turned up for work hours after scooping a 4.2m online jackpot.

Sean Doyle from Newcastle, Co Down, picked up the biggest online win in the history of Paddy Power from a 10 stake.

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He placed his bet at 10pm on Wednesday on an online slot game called Mars Attacks and won the Jackpot King Deluxe.

The 33-year-old reported for work at The Artisan Cookhouse in Downpatrick at 9am on Valentine's Day, one of the restaurant's busiest days of the year.

Mr Doyle said he could not believe the amount he won.

I watched it until it reached about 1m on the count thing and I switched off my phone. I couldnt look. When I got home I couldnt believe my eyes after I saw the final amount! he told Paddy Power.

My sister is a single parent in New Zealand with three kids so Im delighted because this means I will be able to help her out. I also have three brothers, my parents and a few aunts and uncles too.

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Mr Doyle, who is single, said he was considering opening his own business after the unexpected windfall.

Ah, Im sure the expected things will come too, after helping the family out. I might set up my own shop, probably a cafe, which would mean I can down scale and relax more.

Speaking about the win Paddy Power said that he didn't see Sean remaining single for long after clinching the jackpot.

Roses are red, violets are blue, we found out Sean is single, so get in the queue! Were used to being down a few quid after Valentines Day but this record-breaking win takes the biscuit, the gambling firm's boss said.

Were absolutely thrilled for Sean and the fact that he was sound enough to turn up for work for his bosses, Alister his son Cormack Evans, the next morning makes the thought of his success all the sweeter.

Mr Doyle's win comes months after Northern Ireland couple Patrick and Frances Connolly scooped a 115m EuroMillions jackpot.

The pair, who live in Moira, Co Down, have vowed to give away most of the money to their friends and family.
Colin Davidson In his studio with some of his work

Belfast artist Colin Davidson has revealed his portraits of the late Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness and how he insisted they be displayed side-by-side.

Davidson is one of the leading artists of his generation.

His career, since he first lifted a paint brush at the age of seven, has seen him take on the likes of the Queen, Bill Clinton, John Hume, Seamus Heaney, Liam Neeson, Brad Pitt and Ed Sheeran.

For the portraits of the former first and deputy first ministers he said they sat for him in 2014 and 2015, " each displaying a genuine affection for the other.

"I stipulated that their portraits would only be hung together. They agreed."

Speaking to the BBC he said there was a "divisiveness" creeping into Northern Ireland politics and a cooling of the warmth that existed when the two held power which was cause for "great concern".

He revealed to the Belfast Telegraph he had painted the late Lord Bannside during an interview in 2014.

"We had a brilliant day and got on very well," he said adding he hoped to paint McGuinness later that year.

It will be interesting to have painted two men who have had important roles in the peace process here.

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Born in south Belfast in 1968, the son of Rowland Davidson, one of Ireland's best-known figurative painters, he was educated at Methodist College and the University of Ulster College of Art  where he graduated in 1991 with a first class honours degree in graphic design.

He first came to the wider public's attention with a stunning collection of Belfast cityscapes, a theme he then pursued in Dublin, London and Chicago.

Since 2010, he has been drawing and painting large-scale head portraits of well-known people from the Irish and UK arts community, including a series of paintings that hang in the foyer of the Lyric Theatre in Belfast.

As sworn enemies for decades Paisley and McGuinness set aside their differences to share power in 2007. They became friends and both remained close up until the DUP founder's death in 2014. Martin McGuinness died in 2017
Larry Brennan was shot four times by a lone gunman as he sat outside Enterprise Taxis, where he was a driver and depot manager

The brother of a taxi driver murdered by the UFF has said the PSNI's failure to disclose information to the Police Ombudsman "stinks to high heaven".

Father-of-two Larry Brennan was shot dead in January 1998 as he sat in his car outside a taxi depot on the upper Ormeau Road in south Belfast.

He had been told by police that he was on a loyalist hit-list. His fiancee was a Protestant, and he had been threatened by loyalist paramilitaries.

His brother Patsy believes the police investigation into the murder was thwarted by the desire to protect an informer.

Ombudsman Michael Maguire was due to release his findings on the case, but publication has been postponed following the revelation that the PSNI failed to disclose "significant sensitive information" about the UFF attack on Sean Graham's bookies on the lower Ormeau Road in 1992.

The material in question, which has since been given to the ombudsman by police, has opened up new lines of enquiry in the Brennan and other cases.

Patsy Brennan last night told the Belfast Telegraph: "I believe that the PSNI deliberately held back the information. I find it very strange that the police would find information suddenly out of nowhere. I think it was yet another cover-up, and it all stinks to high heaven. As a family we're very disappointed that the Ombudsman's report has been delayed, but Michael Maguire made the right call.

"To do a proper job on this and other murders, he has to have time to examine and follow up all the material." No one has ever been convicted of the 52-year-old cabbie's killing.

"That UFF unit in south Belfast were allowed to murder with impunity," Mr Brennan said.

"They shot dead 20 people, including the five in Sean Graham's bookies, and there wasn't one conviction. That is the disgraceful reality of it all.

"We absolutely believe the lack of justice we all have suffered is because the police wanted to protect an informer, whose identity we know."

Larry Brennan was shot four times by a lone gunman as he sat outside Enterprise Taxis, where he was a driver and depot manager. He had worked there for 27 years.

He was treated at the scene by paramedics but died in the Royal Victoria Hospital. The attack took place just three months before the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

The taxi driver lived in the Markets area of Belfast with his elderly mother Mary, whom he looked after.

His brother said: "My mother was just heartbroken. Larry would finish about 3am, go to bed for a few hours, then get up and do all the housework for her.

"He'd do the shopping, the washing, the ironing - whatever needed done. He was just a great guy."

Speaking after the murder, his fiancee Dorothy Creaney said the couple had been threatened by loyalist paramilitaries but had been determined to get married despite that.

Thirty years before his murder, Larry Brennan had rescued three people from a burning building in the Smithfield area of Belfast.

He was presented with an award for bravery at a ceremony in Belfast City Hall, which made front page news.

His brother added: "Larry was a gentle giant. "He hated the paramilitaries, and as my big brother, he had always warned me never to get involved with them when we were growing up.

"Apart from the loyalists who threatened him, he had no enemies. He had friends in every part of the community. Religion meant nothing to him. There wasn't a sectarian bone in his body. His two best friends were Protestants."

Mr Brennan said the family would not give up in their quest for justice.

"I looked up to Larry so much. He was magic," he said.

"I'm almost 70 years old now, but I will keep on fighting for him until my dying breath. And my son has told me that when I'm gone he will continue the battle for his Uncle Larry."
The Co Tyrone woman shortly after her release from prison in Peru

Michaella McCollum Connolly pictured during an interview with RTE in 2016 after being released on parole from a Peruvian prison

Former drugs mule Michaella McCollum is to receive an undisclosed payout for newspaper publication of an intimate photograph.

The 25-year-old, from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, sued the owners of The Daily Star for alleged invasion of privacy.

Proceedings issued at the High Court in Belfast also claimed breach of the Data Protection Act over the image said to have been taken from her Facebook account.

McCollum's lawyers contended that the partially pixelated image was private and published in 2016 without her consent.

Solicitor Kevin Winters, of KRW Law, confirmed an out-of-court settlement was reached in the lawsuit.

He said: "I'm happy to say Michaela is pleased with the outcome. Her decision to take a case has been vindicated.

"The damages figure is very satisfactory and all costs have been paid."

No apology is being made under the terms of the resolution.

In 2013 McCollum was caught with Scottish woman Melissa Reid attempting to smuggle 1.5m worth of cocaine out of Peru.

They initially denied the charge, claiming that they had been forced to become mules.

Known as the 'Peru Two', the pair later admitted to drug smuggling and were jailed for six years and eight months. Both women were released in 2016.

McCollum, now a mother-of-two, is pursuing similar privacy actions against a number of other media organisations.

Mr Winters added: "We are confident that all other contentious publications, both print and online, will now be resolved without recourse to formal litigation."
Danske Bank has announced that it will be closing two branches in Belfast and Bangor later this year.

The Main Street, Bangor and Lisburn Road, Belfast branches will close on May 24.

There are currently five Danske Bank branches in the greater Belfast area.

Danske Bank is currently upgrading its other Bangor branch at Bloomfield Shopping Centre.

Richard Caldwell, Danske Banks managing director of personal banking & small business, said the closures were due to customers accessing banking in different ways, including online banking.

The way customers use branches has changed significantly in recent years. Many are now choosing to use different ways to bank with us, such as digital or banking on the telephone. As a business, we must respond to these changes, therefore priorities for investment will adapt and change, he said.

Sometimes this can mean investing more in certain key branches. Through transformational upgrades, we have invested over 3 million in key local branches over the past two years. This development programme will continue in 2019 - for example we are currently upgrading our other branch in Bangor at Bloomfield Shopping Centre.

On other occasions, unfortunately it means taking hard decisions to close certain branches that are being underused. We do not take such decisions lightly.

SDLP Botanic representative Gary McKeown expressed concern at news of the closure of the Lisburn Road branch.

"For many people, especially those with mobility issues or a lack of access to transport, banks in their local community provide an essential service. This closure means than access will not only be restricted for these customers, but will also have an impact on local businesses," Mr McKeown said.

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"At a time when many small shops and services are struggling, the presence of banks in our communities helps draw people in and encourages them to spend money locally.

"This bank closure on the Lisburn Road will be a disappointing blow for residents and businesses owners in the area, so I am urging people to rally round and continue to shop and spend time in the area to support the local economy and community."

After the closures on May 24 Danske Bank will have a network of 40 branches across Northern Ireland.

Scott Kennerley of the Consumer Council urged customers to check if the new arrangements will meet their banks needs.

"Whilst some consumers are comfortable accessing banking services via the internet, through apps, and over the phone; it is important to remember there are still many people, and small businesses, who continue to rely on face-to-face banking services," he said.

"Before these latest closures we would advise customers to liaise with the branch and discuss their banking needs and alternative options available.

"If visiting a branch is still important to you, there might be alternative banking options available in your area, including accessing banking services at the Post Office. See our financial services maps available on our website www.consumercouncil.org.uk."
A councillor who claims he recorded conversations with officials connected to legal action over a proposed 20m resort on the north coast must disclose the material within days, a High Court judge has ordered.

Deadlines were set for Padraig McShane to provide pen drives and transcripts following his dramatic intervention in the challenge to planning permission for the hotel and leisure complex near Portstewart, Co Londonderry.

Mr Justice McCloskey said: "Councillor McShane introduced this bolt from the blue almost three months ago... I don't think I can extend the indulgence of the court indefinitely towards the councillor."

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council had sought an order for any tapes connected to the proceedings to be handed over.

But lawyers representing Mr McShane indicated he is prepared to release the recordings.

Barrister David Scoffield QC confirmed today that a transcription agency is currently going through the material.

Once that process is completed Mr McShane intends to carry out checks for accuracy, the court heard.

TUV leader Jim Allister has brought the case against the Council for giving the green light to the luxury accommodation facilities.

The North Antrim MLA, who has a home overlooking the development site, claims that decision was unlawful.

Plans include a 120-bedroom hotel, spa, holiday cottages, conference facilities and restaurant being built on the Ballyreagh Road, close to the North West 200 race route.

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Mr McShane was a member of the Council's planning committee which approved the proposed resort last year.

Claiming to have "hours" of recorded material, he has attempted to secure whistleblower status.

With legal arguments due to resume next month, Mr Justice McCloskey said he has remained "extremely patient" about issues over the recordings.

He also reiterated his sympathy for Mr McShane's position.

But he ordered that pen drives of the recordings are to be made available to all other parties by next Tuesday, and transcripts provided three days later.
Lesley Bello-Hernandez, who was killed in Cambridgeshire yesterday

A former pupil of Coleraine High School has died in England after being struck by a moped that was being ridden by a suspected drug dealer.

Lesley Bello-Hernandez (67) was crossing the road beside a doctor's surgery at about 2.10pm on Wednesday when she was struck by the vehicle.

Local reports suggest that the police had attempted to stop the moped shortly before the fatal crash.

Ms Bello-Hernandez was treated by paramedics, but she was declared dead at the scene.

She is believed to have been from the Coleraine area, but was living in Cambridge.

Her son, Jamie Bello-Hernandez, told Cambridgeshire Live yesterday: "At the moment things are very raw."

The 37-year-old told the website other family members had been abroad when the crash happened and he did not want to comment further until they had spoken.

"It is not something I expected I would have to write this time yesterday," he said.

"However, I think our family would agree that she was an extremely loving and kind sister, mother and grandmother.

"She always did more than she needed for the family, so we are devastated by the loss of such a bright soul and the light of our lives. There are no words - (there's) just heartbreak right now.

"We will not comment on the details of the terrible circumstances surrounding her death and request privacy during this difficult time."

After the news broke, hundreds of people took to social media to pay tribute to the much-loved French teacher.

Rebecca Robinson wrote: "Such sad news. She was a lovely lady and always kind.

"Thoughts are with her family. You will terribly missed."

Tony Langley added: "Witchford Village College folk will remember Lesley.

"She was my first and best ever French teacher."

Natalie Welton said: "Absolutely devastating.

"An extremely lovely lady who was a good friend to my family for a long time. Our love goes out to her family."

Police later arrested a 25-year-old man on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking and possession with intent to supply drugs.

A 19-year-old woman was also arrested, but she has since been released under investigation.

Officers are appealing for anyone who has dash-cam footage of the collision or who saw what happened to make themselves known to detectives.

An inquiry has been launched into the incident.

A spokesman for the Independent Office for Police Conduct said: "We were made aware of an incident that took place in Arbury Road, Cambridge, and have declared an independent investigation."

Ms Bello-Hernandez studied languages at Royal Holloway, University of London, and later worked as a manager at the University of Cambridge.
People from Northern Ireland will be able to travel anywhere within the European Union after Brexit, Leo Varadkar has said.

The Taoiseach, speaking at the All-Ireland Civic Dialogue on Brexit event at Dublin Castle, said that free movement will remain for citizens of Northern Ireland but that this will not be the case for the rest of the United Kingdom.

"No matter what happens we know that Northern Ireland citizens will have the right to travel anywhere in the EU from Athens to Athenrye," he said. "It is regrettable for British citizens that will not be the case.

"What's been remarkable is the solidarity from the EU, despite attempts to divide the 27, it has remained resolute."

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It is thought the Taoiseach was referring to people who live in Northern Ireland who hold Irish passports. The Belfast Telegraph approached the Taoiseach's office to clarify the comments.

Mr Varadkar admitted that a no-deal Brexit was a very real and possible outcome but said now is not the time for a United Ireland border poll.

"I explained to President Junker the assistance Ireland will require in the event of a no-deal Brexit, for his part he emphasised that the EU stands ready to assist."

"Deal or no deal, the Government will continue to take into account the concerns of businesses all over Ireland.

"I know some people feel Brexit has changed the rules of engagement and perhaps it has, but now is not the time for border polls. It only serves to sow divisions."

The Taoiseach said he was encouraged by the inter-party talks in Belfast on restoring Stormont which are talking place on Friday.

"All Northern Ireland parties want to restore working institutions in Northern Ireland," he said.

"I welcome the fact that inter-party talks will take place today in Belfast."

However, Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald called for a border poll on Irish unity if the issue of the border in Ireland is not mitigated.

Ms McDonald said: We are six weeks out from Brexit. The British Prime Minister has effectively binned her own agreement and is counting down the clock, demanding a renegotiation in order to appease the DUP and hard-line Brexiteers.

She added: "it is time to look beyond Brexit and beyond partition. If the border cannot be mitigated, it must be removed.

The demand for Irish unity is growing. Ireland north and south is changing. Now is the time to look the future.

It is time for an all-Ireland conversation and forum to look to the future. To plan for all possible outcomes. To define a new and united Ireland.
A Belfast man who stole jewellery from city centre stores has been a drug addict since he was eight years old, a court has heard.

Ryan McGuckin avoided jail after a judge was told of his ongoing battle against a dependency on illicit substances.

The 26-year-old, of Powerscourt Place, was convicted of carrying out two thefts on December 20 last year.

He stole four bracelets worth 70 from House of Fraser, along with a necklace and more bracelets valued at 69 from Argento.

Appearing before Belfast Magistrates' Court, he indicated he was ready to go to prison before his lawyer sought an alternative outcome.

Defence barrister Conn O'Neill argued that McGuckin struggles to get through each day.

"This is someone who has had a drug addiction since he was eight years old," counsel said.

District Judge Fiona Bagnall pointed out the defendant was in breach of a previous suspended sentence for a separate theft.

However, she decided to impose two years probation, with a condition that McGuckin undertakes a drug and alcohol treatment programme.

"I suspect this might be a bit of a risk with him because I'm concerned the pattern of drug-taking has settled in," Mrs Bagnall said.

She warned him that any breach of the order or further offending will lead to immediate imprisonment for "quite a long time".
A passionate crowd of school children have demonstrated in Belfast to demand action on climate change.

The small but vocal gathering of primary and secondary pupils made their voices heard as they held aloft home-made signs and chanted outside City Hall.

The environmental protest was one of a series of co-ordinated events around the UK as young people left their classrooms to make their point on global warming.

Expand Close Pupils from Methodist College Belfast took part in the protest (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Pupils from Methodist College Belfast took part in the protest (Brian Lawless/PA)

Maia Willis-Reddick, a 17-year-old student at Belfasts Methodist College, said time for action is running out.

We are protesting against the Government for their ignorance of the problem of climate change, she said.

We have 12 years before this becomes an international disaster, and before those 12 years we need drastic action to take place in order to reduce carbon emissions for the entirety of the UK, the entirety of the world.

Maia said her school had been supportive of her and her classmates desire to protest.

Expand Close Megan Hoyt joined the protest with her four children (David Young/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Megan Hoyt joined the protest with her four children (David Young/PA)

Us leaving school means we show we value the climate the same as we value our education, she said.

We are still very conscious about school. I have A-levels, I have stuff to do, we just want to make the point that we are willing to take drastic action in order to highlight the problems of climate change.

Megan Hoyt, from north Belfast, accompanied her four children  Finn, Penny, Aisling and Isabelle  to the protest at City Hall.

She said: We are here today because we think its time for political action.

Expand Close Rachel Agnew and her two young children came to the protest armed with placards (David Young/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Rachel Agnew and her two young children came to the protest armed with placards (David Young/PA)

Personal responsibility can only take us so far. Weve got our reusable coffee cups, and weve got our paper straws, and we are vegetarians and all those kind of things, but personal responsibility can only take us so far and now is the time for political leadership.

People are angry and we are ready for something and it could be such a great moment for a new kind of politics.

We are here to show there are people who want a change.

Expand Close The protest was one of several being staged by school children across Britain (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp The protest was one of several being staged by school children across Britain (Brian Lawless/PA)

Rachel Agnew, from Broughshane, Co Antrim, attended with son Archie, eight, and daughter Bea, five, who are both pupils at Broughshane Primary School.

She said: We have come along because I would like a future for my children, a future where we have clean energy resources.

We want planet earth to be here and we want a future, thats whats important.
After the success of Moonlight - which won three Oscars two years ago - all eyes were on what director Barry Jenkins would do next.

The answer? An adaptation of James Baldwin's novel If Beale Street Could Talk, starring the likes of Regina King and Brian Tyree Henry.

For Jenkins (39), the weight of expectation placed on his follow-up project was something he was well aware of.

"It would be a lie to say I didn't acknowledge it," says the Miami-born filmmaker.

"But the script for If Beale Street Could Talk already existed - I had written it at the same time I wrote the screenplay for Moonlight.

"In a way, it was almost protective because, as opposed to entertaining all these other offers, all this other noise in the system, I knew exactly what I wanted to do next."

Jenkins' formal introduction to Baldwin's books was in the form of Giovanni's Room and The Fire Next Time.

"These works opened up my world view of what masculinity was, what black masculinity was," he says.

"The 'a-ha' moment wasn't necessarily one particular thing he said; it was the way he expressed himself and the depths with which he investigated things he was studying.

"His legacy is very important and very rich. James Baldwin matters because he told the truth."

But even as a self-professed Baldwin fan, Jenkins wasn't as familiar with If Beale Street Could Talk - a love story set in early-1970s Harlem - as some of the American author's other work.

The film follows 19-year-old Tish Rivers (newcomer KiKi Layne), whose fiance Fonny (Stephan James) - also the father of her child - is arrested for a crime he did not commit.

While prison takes its toll on Fonny, Tish is left facing parenthood and holding down a job without her partner at her side, and has to adjust her perspective on the realities of her existence.

Determined to prove Fonny's innocence, the teenager relies on familial and inner strength to reaffirm their hope and resilience.

"I just love the characters," admits Jenkins. "I fell in love with Tish and Fonny and how pure their love was.

"I thought, 'If there is a way to wrestle the language syntax of Baldwin to the ground and translate it into imagery, it would be the story of Tish and Fonny.'"

Jenkins, who earned a scholarship to attend Florida State University, was originally planning on becoming a teacher, but his career plans changed after he signed up for a course on film.

In 2008, he released his debut, a low-budget feature called Medicine For Melancholy.

It was his second film that really brought him to our attention - Moonlight, about an African-American man growing up gay in the mean streets of Miami.

The breathtaking coming-of-age drama led to him becoming the fourth black filmmaker to be Oscar-nominated for directing, and he went on to win the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay, along with Tarell Alvin McCraney.

Moonlight also triumphed in the best picture category, a prize La La Land was expected to win - although first came an envelope mishap that went down in history.

La La Land was originally declared the victor due to duplicate sets of cards - held by the only two people who knew the results - being mistakenly handed out to presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, before it was announced there had been a mistake.

What was it like for Jenkins in the days following the ceremony?

"The first days were kind of cool - surreal, but cool," he recalls. "I'd be walking down the street and people would honk their horns. I'd go to the cafe and people would buy my coffee. I was like, 'This is really strange.'

"But then I also saw in it (that) people just saw the film and what happened to us as a symbol, you know, the possibility of creating the work in an uncompromising way and having that work actually being received by the world at large.

"Even this idea of the envelope, that shifted for me as well because people often think that a body like the academy - which theoretically is older, white, male; that can't relate to a subject matter that isn't about their lives - that group did vote Moonlight best picture.

"Even that got a bit obscured with the envelope, but I saw it in what people were saying to me."

For example, following the awards, Jenkins heard that Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, who wrote and produced Blindspotting - a racial drama set in Oakland - were spurred on by Moonlight's success.

"They told me that they had the script for Blindspotting sitting in a drawer for like five years, then they saw us on stage accepting best picture and called their producer and said, 'Okay, we have to make this - let's keep fighting,'" he says.

"And then that movie was at Sundance the following winter, so I think in ways like that, it was a really lovely time in the aftermath."

Talk turns to this year's Oscars, which are almost upon us. If Beale Street Could Talk is up for three awards: best adapted screenplay, best supporting actress (for Regina King, who plays Tish's deeply compassionate mother Sharon) and best original music score.

On nomination day last month, Jenkins - whose next project is directing a TV series of Colson Whitehead's novel The Underground Railroad for Amazon - shared a photograph of notes slipped under his hotel room door, informing him of each nomination.

"We started it on Moonlight," he explains. "I just happened to be in Europe whenever the nominations came out.

"I was so tired and we were in Amsterdam and I was like, 'I don't want to watch this live, this doesn't make any sense,' and so I just took a nap and woke up to these notes under the door.

"Then we did the same thing (this year), and it's wonderful. I like the spread of the nominations, between Nick and his score and Regina and her performance and then Mr Baldwin with the adapted screenplay nomination, which is a really wonderful affirmation of the work we put into the film."

If Beale Street Could Talk is in cinemas now
Patisserie Valerie has been bought out of administration (:auren Hurley/PA)

Morethan 60 jobs in Belfast have been saved after a Dublin-based private equity firm took over cake chain Patisserie Valerie, which has three stores in Northern Ireland.

The purchase by Causeway Capital Partners of 96 Patisserie Valerie sites follows the buyout of Downe Retail Park and Bow Street Mall by the Kildare-based Comer Group.

The deal safeguards an estimated 2,000 jobs across the UK, including dozens of positions in Belfast. However, Causeway Capital Partners deal does not include 27 outlets belonging to the firms sister brands, Philpotts and Baker & Spice. Those companies are thought to be being sold separately to a different buyer.

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Patisserie Valerie, which was chaired by businessman Luke Johnson, was put up for sale last month after it collapsed following the discovery of fraudulent activity in its accounts.

But the chain has, like all retailers, faced other pressures including high rents and rates  a fact highlighted by NI Retail Consortium director Aodhan Connolly.

Causeway Capitals Matt Scaife welcomed the purchase of the company.

Patisserie Valerie is a heritage brand, much loved by its loyal customers, he said.

This investment should mark the end of a turbulent period for customers and suppliers alike.

Patisserie Valerie chief executive Steve Francis added: We are delighted to welcome Causeway Capital as our partners in Patisserie Valerie, ending a disruptive period of uncertainty for the business.

The affection and loyalty for the brand among our customers and employees, and Causeway Capitals enthusiasm and support for the business, creates for us the foundations for an exciting future for the business.

The firms parent company, Patisserie Holdings, has been grappling with the accounting issues since October.

Last month the firm said the extent of the fraud meant it was unable to renew its bank loans with HSBC and Barclays and it did not have sufficient funding to continue trading, leaving it with no option but to appoint KPMG as administrator.

KPMG has already closed 70 stores, resulting in 920 redundancies.

The Belfast Telegraph revealed earlier this month that the Comer Group, which is led by brothers Brian and Luke Comer, had bought over Bow Street Mall in Lisburn and Downe Retail Park in Downpatrick. The Lisburn retail asset was purchased for approximately 12m  some 33% below its 18m price tag.
Payam Farjoodi, MD, an orthopedic spine surgeon at the Spine Health Center at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, Calif., discusses the future of spine technology.

Question: What emerging technology or technique do you think will have the biggest impact on the spine field five years from now?

Dr. Payam Farjoodi: Navigation will become an increasing part of spine surgery. As this technology evolves by becoming easier to use and more cost effective, it will allow for procedures to be done more accurately and with fewer complications.



Q: Where do you see the biggest room for innovation in spine?

PF: Patient evaluation and selection. Making the correct diagnosis and devising the appropriate treatment plan are, in my opinion, the most difficult part of spine surgery. A more objective algorithm for accomplishing both of these would allow for much better outcomes.



Q: What do you need to provide better care that doesn't currently exist?

PF: The use of artificial intelligence to interpret vast amounts of data in order to improve patient selection. This would allow surgeons to calculate more accurate outcomes and complication risk for specific patients allowing for better results.

To participate in future Becker's Q&As, contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com.

For a deeper dive into the future of spine, 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.
Mitchell Levine, MD, chief of spinal neurosurgery at New York City-based Lenox Hill Hospital, examines the big opportunities in the spine technology field for the next several years.

Question: What emerging technology or technique do you think will have the biggest impact on the spine field five years from now?

Dr. Mitchell Levine: Navigation and robotic-assisted techniques will become standard. The technology is constantly evolving and is more user friendly.

Q: What do you think will fade or disappear from the spine field over the next few years?

ML: Interventions for focal back pain and neck pain without neurological involvement are going to trend down. Insurance companies are tightening their criteria for approving fusion surgeries and evidence-based care will be standard. This increased scrutiny on efficacy will be brought to bear on all aspects of spine care, including pain management and physical therapy as well. The overuse of epidural steroids and ablative procedures in spinal stenosis treatment is already being evaluated.

Q: Where do you see the biggest room for innovation in spine?

ML: Innovations in the evaluation of degenerative spinal deformity and systems which minimize adjacent level effects will be forthcoming. As our understanding of the biomechanical consequences of deformity correction increases, newer instrumentation will be developed to minimize these effects.

Additionally, preoperative planning and imaging will be easier to accomplish, as will intraoperative imaging. To improve care to all patients the operating room of the future needs to have imaging, analysis and display capabilities so all team members can see and understand all aspects of the procedure, including the preoperative imaging, the surgical correction plan and real time 3D visualization of the surgery for everyone in the room.

To participate in future Becker's Q&As, contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com.

For a deeper dive into the future of spine, 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.
Ronald Lehman, MD, director of degenerative, minimally invasive and robotic surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Och Spine Hospital in New York City discusses the big trends and opportunities in the spine arena.

Question: What emerging technology or technique do you think will have the biggest impact on the spine field five years from now?

Dr. Ronald Lehman: The biggest impact on the field of spine surgery over the next two to five years will be the increased utilization of robotic assistance, navigation guidance and surgical synergy. This is an exciting time for the field of spine surgery, as many of our industry partners are actively pursing the use of 'assist technologies' to help make spine surgery: 1) safer, 2) more efficient, 3) more accurate, and 4) more reproducible for all spine surgeons.

Additionally, robotic assistance and navigation are currently being combined into one system, thereby allowing the surgeon and their team to have the best of both worlds. Also, planning software and enabling technologies are actively assisting surgeons to carefully plan their cases preoperatively. Some of these planning tools are incorporated into the robotics platform, thereby allowing true 'surgical synergy' to allow the surgeon and team to begin with planning, culminating with accurate execution in the operating room.



This allows us to perform more minimally invasive spine surgery with more accuracy, and with better techniques, so that we can execute a fusion, decompression of interbody fusion in much the same fashion as standard, traditional open techniques; but with smaller incisions. Another exciting concept is that as these technologies evolve, there will be an increased ability for these systems that utilize segmentation and alignment registration to begin to perform additional aspects of the surgery in addition to pedicle screw placement. This will really allow our field to evolve, similar to other surgical specialties that have been using this technology for over a decade.

Furthermore, there is a growing understanding of using predictive modeling, risk stratification and artificial intelligence to predict which patients will have good outcomes after surgical intervention. By understanding and mitigating risk factors, we can better optimize and predict patient-reported outcome measures, therefore allowing us to have better dialogue and understanding to tell patients what the 'real' risks are for various surgeries.



Q: What do you think will fade or disappear from the spine field over the next few years?



RL: It is always difficult to predict if anything will fade or disappear, but there continues to be better adoption of more minimally invasive techniques, less muscle and tissue dissection and faster return to work and activities. Now that we are truly beginning to understand that we have to restore lordosis in the lumbar spine, even with one-and two-level surgeries, we hope that we can prevent the need for performing three column osteotomies (pedicle subtraction osteotomies).

Q: Where do you see the biggest room for innovation in spine? What do you need to provide better care that doesn't currently exist?

RL: The biggest room for innovation will be in coordinating preoperative planning, reproducibly executing the plan intraoperatively and understanding in 'real-time' if we achieved our surgical goals. This will allow us to make everything more objective, so that we are relatively certain before leaving the operating theatre that we achieved all of our goals for each individual patient. As previously stated, the next several years will be an exciting time for innovation in our field as our understanding of patient-specific risk factors, assessing and executing surgical goals and being able to standardize this approach across the world continues to improve the care for our patients.

To participate in future Becker's Q&As, contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com.

For a deeper dive into the future of spine, 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.
Keith Berend, MD, founding physician of Joint Implant Specialists in New Albany, Ohio, is among the initial surgeons to participate in the clinical trial of MyMobility, the app launched through a partnership between Zimmer Biomet and Apple.

MyMobility is designed to help joint replacement patients optimize their outcomes. Participants use an Apple Watch with the MyMobility app to track their progress and receive reminders and alerts during the recovery period. Researchers aim to include up to 10,000 patients in the study from across the country.

Here, Dr. Berend discusses the app and where he sees technology playing a role in orthopedics going forward.

Question: Why did you decide to participate in the study to examine MyMobility?

Dr. Keith Berend: We were selected by Apple and Zimmer Biomet due to our capacity for research, our being among the busiest joint replacement practice in the Midwest and our reputation.



Q: What has been your experience with MyMobility so far? What aspects of the app are most advantageous?

KB: The patients have been nearly universally happy with the program. The app allows for efficient communication between our practice and our patients. Additionally, it appears that the app and the Apple Watch are synergistic with our approach to physical therapy where we constantly seek to benchmark our care to be the most cost efficient but also the most productive.



Q: How are the patients responding to MyMobility? Are there any roadblocks or pitfalls you're running into in terms of utilization?

KB: There have been very few roadblocks other than the percentage of patients who have Android type smart phones and are thus not currently eligible to participate. Patients are responding well. Amazingly, even our elderly and rural patients are embracing the technology.



Q: What excites you most about this technology? What role do you see apps like MyMobility and other consumer technologies playing in orthopedics over the next decade?

KB: To me the most exciting aspect of the study and the technology is the potential to gather perioperative information out to a year on more than 11,000 patients. With this magnitude of data, we should be able to have real-time predictive analytics and artificial intelligence that can tell us ahead of time who will do well, who needs more or less PT, who is at risk for a complication and when can we intervene to prevent it. We will be able to finally tell the world how much better a partial knee can be versus a total knee, or how much faster the anterior minimally invasive approach recovers than a posterior.

To participate in future Becker's Q&As, contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com.

For a deeper dive into the future of orthopedics and spine, 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.
A California-based podiatrist has been charged with fraud for allegedly inflating medical bills, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

Four key notes:

1. Schlomo Schmuel, MD, ran two businesses in Los Angeles  Innovative Orthopedic Solutions and Diamond Orthopedic Services  which allegedly double-billed insurance companies for the Vital Wrap System, a hot/cold water unit.

2. The California Department of Insurance investigators also accused Dr. Schmuel of involvement in a kickback scheme where injured workers were prescribed Vital Wrap Systems when they weren't medically necessary. According to the report, investigators allege he also paid marketers for units prescribed to injured patients by other providers.

3. Due to the scheme, the insurance department reportedly lost more than $360,000.

4. Dr. Schmuel has a court date March 6.
The microbes living inside insects could help scientists fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria, NPR reports.

Scientists have uncovered dozens of microorganisms living in or on insects that produce antimicrobial compounds. Some of these compounds may hold the key to creating new antibiotic drugs.

"There is a growing demand [for antibiotics], and a diminishing supply," said Gerry Wright, PhD, who directs the institute for infectious disease research at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.

Most antibiotic drugs were discovered from bacteria living in the soil. But Cameron Currie, PhD, professor of bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said looking to soil for new antibiotics has become increasingly futile.

Dr. Currie and a team of 28 researchers recently published a paper in Nature Communications that found some of the bacteria living in insects are successful at killing the germs that make people ill.

"There's an estimated 10 million species [of insects] on the planet," Dr. Currie said. "That implies a huge potential for a lot of new [antibiotic] compounds."

The research team tested bacteria from each insect to find whether the bacteria could kill common human pathogens, including Escherichia coli and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. They then compared the results from strains of insect bacteria to strains drawn from plants and soil.

"We were really surprised that [insect strains] were not just as good, but apparently better at inhibiting [pathogens]," Dr. Currie said.

Dr. Currie's team found dozens of promising bacterial strains in insects that could have an ingredient to use for new antibiotic compound.

The researchers isolated one compound from a promising bacterial strain and showed that it could inhibit fungal infections in mice, an important step in drug development.

The compound, cyphomycin, is found on Brazilian fungus-farming ants. Although the drug is far from being approved, the research indicates antibiotic compounds new to science can be isolated from insects.
Houston Methodist Hospital researchers are working to cure flesh-eating bacteria, a deadly disease that attacks the muscle, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Although the disease, called necrotizing myositis, is not common, up to 50 percent of all humans who develop it will die, according to a release from the hospital cited by the Chronicle. It often leaves survivors with severe deformities and missing limbs.

For the research, James Musser, MD, PhD, chairman of the department of pathology and genomic medicine at Houston Methodist, and his team effectively used TraDIS, a genetic tool used in horses to treat "strangles," an infection similar to severe strep throat.

The tool allowed them to rapidly concentrate on the genes responsible for causing or contributing to group A strep necrotizing myositis. By doing this, researchers identified "every gene important for this bacteria to infect muscle," according to the release.

"We call this identifying the secret life of group A strep because before this novel work was done we really did not understand the full range of different genes that were contributing to this terrible infection," Dr. Musser said. "We now understand precisely what high-value targets we should be going after to disable or destroy."

Dr. Mussar said he expects a vaccine or treatment for the disease to be created in the next 10 to 15 years, KHOU reported.
A jury awarded a former employee of Camarillo, Calif.-based St. John's Pleasant Valley Hospital $1.03 million in a discrimination lawsuit, according to a Ventura County Star report.

Virginia Hoover, who worked as a radiologic technologist at the hospital, alleges she was discriminated against after injuring herself moving medical equipment at work, according to the report.

She had lifting restrictions due to the injury, but the hospital did not appropriately accommodate her and terminated her employment in 2014, she said.

Attorneys representing the hospital argued that it gave Ms. Hoover a leave of absence and made efforts to help her return to work, according to the Star. But attorneys said the hospital decided Ms. Hoover was not able to perform her job duties.

The award to Ms. Hoover includes payments for lost earnings due to the firing and emotional distress.

The hospital said it is considering an appeal of the decision.
A New York physician pleaded guilty Feb. 14 to accepting bribes and kickbacks from Insys Therapeutics in exchange for prescribing its powerful fentanyl spray Subsys.

Alexandru Burducea, DO, was one of five New York physicians charged in a federal indictment last year for allegedly conspiring to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute.

The indictment charged that Dr. Burducea received approximately $68,400 in speaker fees in exchange for prescribing large volumes of Subsys. In addition, Insys hired Dr. Burducea's then-girlfriend, now wife, to work as a sales representative. The drugmaker alledgedly paid her large commissions based on the volume of Subsys prescribed by her assigned physicians, including Dr. Burducea.

Dr. Burducea pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute. He faces up to five years in prison.

"As he admitted today, Alexandru Burducea, a prominent Manhattan pain management doctor, accepted tens of thousands of dollars in speaker fees from Insys in exchange for prescribing large volumes of Insys' powerful fentanyl-based spray, Subsys," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said. "The corrupting influence of money has no place in medicine, especially when it comes to prescribing fentanyl and other dangerous opioids."

Subsys is Insys' powerful painkiller that is about 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. It was approved by the FDA to manage pain in cancer patients.
A federal judge ruled Feb. 14 that House Democrats will be able to intervene in a lawsuit that seeks to undo the ACA, according to The Hill.

The 20-state lawsuit, Texas v. United States, claims the ACA's individual mandate is unconstitutional because the tax law signed by President Donald Trump in December 2017 eliminates the penalty associated with the mandate, and the mandate is not severable from the rest of the health law.

U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor sided with the states in his Dec. 14 ruling.

The U. S. Justice Department said it would not defend major provisions of the ACA, including the individual mandate and provisions guaranteeing coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. Subsequently, 16 states and the District of Columbia received permission to intervene in the case and defend the health law.

This week's ruling from Judge Leslie Southwick, on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, allows the House to also intervene, according to The Hill. However, Judge Southwick declined to expedite an appeal of Judge O'Connor's ruling.
The National Nurses United is accusing Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Hospital of retaliating against two nurses involved in a unionization effort, according to The Baltimore Sun.

The union's complaint, filed with the National Labor Relations Board, alleges hospital officials were contentious toward the nurses for their involvement in the effort, the Sun report states.

The complaint specifically points to the firing of one of the nurses. That nurse said she lost her job when she was pregnant and had requested family leave, according to the report. The nurse, an African American woman, also alleged racial discrimination after her involvement in an effort at the hospital for fairness and equity in her unit.

In a separate complaint to the NLRB, nurses have also alleged that Johns Hopkins officials interfered in unionization efforts. They accuse the hospital of prohibiting nurses from discussing union issues at work and visiting the hospital on their days off to talk to colleagues who were on their breaks about organizing.

The NLRB has found enough merit to probe the allegations and has scheduled a hearing March 6 during which nurses and hospital management will testify.

Johns Hopkins nurses said they began organizing efforts last year because of "inadequate conditions and other standards, compared to other nationally recognized university hospitals."

The nurses say the work conditions are leading to high nurse turnover at the hospital.

Hospital spokesperson Ken Willis stood behind the hospital, according to a statement to Becker's.

"We deeply respect our nurses, their contributions to our organization, and all of their rights as employees including their right to support or oppose a union," he said. "As a standard practice we do not discuss individual personnel matters. In all cases, we follow a standardized and rigorous human resources process before any employee is dismissed. We believe the union's charges lack merit, and we stand by our workplace practices."

More articles on human capital and risk:

NYC nurses show up to protest; counts differ

New York City nurses prepare for day of protest over staffing

California hospital wins order from court telling strikers to quiet down
Cold weather has intensified negotiations between Iowa City-based University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and unionized employees, according to The Gazette.

In a Feb. 12 Facebook post, the Service Employees International Union Iowa  UIHC Chapter says hospital officials are leaving employees "out in the cold."

"We've heard some troubling stories about UIHC employees stranded at the hospital at the end of their shifts  during the [recent] snowstorm. People who got off after 7:30 p.m. said there were no buses or vans running out to the Arena-Finkbine lots. That left them walking roughly a mile to their cars in the middle of the storm, or paying for an Uber to get them there," the post stated.

After the union put up the post, several employees shared stories related to cold weather and frustrations they've had with parking, transportation and other issues.

UIHC spokesperson Tom Moore told The Gazette that employees receive notice of weather events and "many hotels offer discounted rates for those who live outside the area and need to stay in town."

The hospital also makes space available for staff inside the facility, he said.

There's also 24-hour emergency service to jump start cars or provide rides, and there are shelters from the cold available for employees to wait for a bus, he said.

The union's remarks come as it is in contract negotiations with the hospital. The hospital's previous offer was rejected by workers.

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Last week, Compass co-sponsored one of the glitziest pageants Palm Beach County will see all year  with Katalena Davenport Dupree taking home the crown. Here is SFGNs official fashion rundown highlighting all the top moments from the show that took place on the Lake Worth Playhouse stage.

The entertainers

Last years Miss Palm Beach Pride, Rianna Petrone, performed the opening act, which was a Jennifer Lopez medley of Waiting for Tonight and Lets Get Loud  all while sporting silver metallic thigh-high boots and a matching fringe metallic bodysuit. Im just excited to see what the next girl is going to bring to the table, Petrone said. Im anxious to see what they represent themselves and how they capture the true art of drag.

After a hot performance from Petrone, Miss Palm Beach Pride 2017, Tayanna Love, serenaded Hero by Mariah Carey to the audience. Her stunning floor length canary yellow sheath gown, featuring the most beautiful gathered long sleeves was the definition of diva.

Pageant host Melissa St. John and Velvet Lenore also joined in on the fashion fun with matching emerald green dresses and tons of personality to match. St. John performed solo in an iridescent cardigan-style dress that left little to the imagination. Lenore, who will be celebrating her fabulous 47th birthday in March wowed the crowd with her yellow chiffon gown, accentuated with silver applique. Lenore showed off her soft and theatrical side as she performed No Ordinary Love by Sade.

Moments before the ladies showcased their formal wear, special guest performer and judge Midwest All-American Gent Antonio Edwards lit up stage in an arousing rendition of I Have Nothing by Whitney Houston wearing black slacks and a allover gold sequin blazer.

The contestants

The first segment of the evening, presentation, was all about personality. Contestants were challenged to pick one color that represents them, or the entire rainbow and express that through their outfits.

One of the most daring outfits showcased the entire rainbow, which came from contestant Anahi Santos. She entered from stage right in a full rainbow jumpsuit complete with black platform heels and a matching belt that cinched her tiny waist. She finished her ultra-glam look with a red curly wig and statement earrings. One of the biggest trends of the pageant was red; most of the contestants strutted in red in at least one category.

Contestant Lupita Hollywood showed exactly why she has been doing drag for thirteen years. Her red sheath gown was the obvious winner upon first glance. Hollywood represented the LGBT community with her sprawling rainbow wings and matching headdress. Hollywood told SFGN that all her outfits were custom-made.

Although each contestant held their own, SFGN is still swooning over the high neck gold sequin long sleeve gown, with horsehair hem and silver back panels worn by contestant Adelaide Queen, who earned second place overall. I wanted my entire look to be very refined. Im a total showgirl, so I wanted to use softer makeup versus anything over the top, said Adelaide, whose pageant dress was originally made for her drag mother Sky Bickett.

Adelaide accomplished that showgirl attitude during the talent portion when she did a striptease number to Diamonds are a Girls Best Friends, covered only by a diamond-studded bra with lace panties and stockings.

Contestant Vasti Love Montana stood out from the competition during the talent portion simply because she changed three times. She entered the stage with a red tiered coat, then she transformed into a dress that was made like the Puerto Rican flag. Just when you thought she was doneand tired, she then de-robed the dress and revealed a black latex bodysuit and matching thigh high boots. Not only did she provide a magnificent performance, it was also revealed that she did her own makeup throughout the entire pageant.

The best of the best

Dupree walked away the winner of Miss Palm Beach Pride. With so many stellar moments during the pageant, its hard to tell when the judges fell in love with her. Maybe it was when she side-stepped her way to the stage in her form-fitting blue metallic sheath, featuring a high slit. Or, it could have been the fully-embellished maroon form fitting evening gown that she wore during the formal scene.

She co-designed the dress, did her own makeup (and other contestants) in the pageant. Whatever the outfit, one could not deny the electrifying performance Dupree gave when she did Last Dance by disco diva Dionna Summers. Her performance included several flips, dips, and high kicks, all while wearing thigh-high red boots along with a floral bodysuit.

No matter the amount of sparkle, or the height of hair, each contestant wore the most important accessory: courage. Compass is inviting you to its annual Pride Celebration on March 30. Expect to see a performance from the newly-crowned Compass representative Dupree.




Google may be developing a service that lets physicians fax medical information to its cloud storage platform Google Drive, CNBC's digital health reporter Christina Farr reports.

The service was demoed at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's annual trade show Feb. 11-14 in Orlando, Fla., and described as a "prototype of the possibilities enabled by [application programming interfaces] and an open cloud platform," according to the report.

Fax machines are still widely used in healthcare, and the service could offer one way for Google to differentiate its cloud from competitors like Microsoft and Amazon  two companies also making moves in healthcare.

Microsoft recently released an Azure API that uses Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, a standardized data format designed to enable seamless data sharing. Amazon in November unveiled an EHR data-mining tool that connects to its cloud platform Amazon Web Services.

At a separate conference Feb. 12  the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco  Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said that the company was trying to ramp up its cloud strategy.

"We are hiring some of the best talent from around the industry to grow our sales organization, and you will see us competing much more aggressively as we go forward," he said.
Digital health developers are increasingly seeking physician involvement in the design of their tools. However, physicians will need to find time and opportunities to participate in the development process, according to a blog post from the American Medical Association.

The AMA is currently working on a few strategies to support the development of necessary technologies that do not add administrative burdens to physicians. The trade group's Digital Health Implementation Playbook, which it released in late 2018, lays out key steps, best practices and resources to move care outside of exam rooms.

The AMA also launched its Physician Innovation Network to give physicians the opportunity to get involved in the development process of emerging solutions. The network gives physicians the chance to connect with technology companies.

Indu Subaiya, MD, co-founder of digital media company Health 2.0, expressed similar ideas about physicians becoming more involved in digital health development during a presentation at AMA National Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C, earlier this week. She said that if tech companies and physicians collaborate, new tools could be developed for decision support, care coordination, patient education and patient identification.

Physicians can also help encourage digital health companies to integrate social determinates of health into treatment solutions, she added.

To read the AMA's complete report, click here.


Eight recent health IT vendor contracts and go-lives:

1. Veterans across the U.S. will soon have the option to access their medical data through the iPhone's Health app, thanks to a new partnership between Apple and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

2. Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and technology company Leidos entered into a strategic collaboration to advance the research, development and market adoption of tools and technologies for patient care.

3. MIB, a membership corporation that providers underwriting services to insurance companies, signed an agreement to access EHR data from Veradigm, a subsidiary of Allscripts, for underwriting purposes.

4. Philadelphia-based Einstein Healthcare Network implemented clinical improvement solutions from Zynx Health to its Cerner EHR.

5. Hackensack (N.J.) Meridian Health partnered with Microsoft to use the company's cloud computing platform Azure.

6. Columbus, N.C.-based St. Luke's Hospital implemented an Epic EHR system.

7. The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Mass., embarked upon a three-year partnership with IBM Watson Health to develop predictive algorithms for cardiovascular diseases.

8. The VA issued an authority to operate for Diameter Health's Analyze Data Quality Tool, which the agency plans to use to analyze its patient data.
Moody's Investors Service has assigned an "Aa2" rating to Iowa City-based University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics' proposed hospital revenue bonds.

The assignment is supported by Moody's expectation that the system's strong brand as the only academic medical center in Iowa will continue to translate to a strong market share.

The rating outlook is stable.
Southwestern Electric Power Company disconnected electric utility service to De Queen (Ark.) Hospital Feb. 12 for nonpayment. Service was restored Feb. 13 after SWEPC received payment for past-due amounts, according to the Texarkana Gazette.

The hospital has multiple accounts with SWEPC, seven of which were disconnected Feb. 12. A portion of the hospital was not affected by the shut-off, according to the report.

"We understand the importance of healthcare facilities to DeQueen and the surrounding communities, and we will continue to work with hospital officials," a spokesperson for SWEPC said in a prepared statement to the Texarkana Gazette. "However, when disconnecting for non-payment, we are also protecting our other customers from having to absorb the cost of unpaid electric bills."

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Blue Earth, Minn.-based United Hospital District is notifying 2,143 patients about a June 2018 phishing scheme.

A hospital employee's email account was compromised in a phishing attack June 10-27, 2018. After an investigation, the hospital determined Dec. 12 that the email account had contained patient information, including:

 Names

 Addresses

 Health insurance information

 Internal patient identifiers

The email account also contained a limited number of patients' medical treatment information, medical diagnostic information and Social Security numbers.

While the hospital is unaware of any reported cases of identity fraud or improper use of information as a result of the incident, United Health District is offering free credit monitoring and identity theft services to patients whose Social Security numbers were contained in the affected email account.

Editor's note: Becker's reached out to the hospital for comment. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth is notifying 42,161 patients about an August 2017 data breach that may have exposed personal information.

The Office of the Vermont Attorney General posted a copy of the letter AdventHealth sent patients.

The hospital discovered an unauthorized third party gained access to systems at AdventHealth Medical Group Pulmonary & Sleep Medicine at Tavarse (Fla.) Dec. 21, 2018. AdventHealth took immediate action to investigate the breach.

Patient information that may have been affected by the incident includes names, Social Security numbers, gender, race, addresses, emails, phone numbers, dates of birth, health insurance information, heights, weights and medical histories.

Since the incident, AdventHealth has adopted improved processes to enhance auditing and system safeguards.

Editor's note: Becker's reached out to AdventHealth for comment. This article will be updated when more information is available.
President Donald Trump appointed Apple CEO Tim Cook and IBM President and CEO Ginni Rometty to the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, according to CNBC.

As part of the board, Mr. Cook and Ms. Rometty will work with 25 other appointed members representing a slew of industries, universities and organizations to "develop and implement a strategy to revamp the American workforce to better meet the challenges of the 21st century," the U.S. Department of Commerce described in a statement.

The advisory board is part of a larger initiative to help support the rise of automation without letting artificial intelligence replace jobs. As technology continues to advance, the board will promote education and training, improve relevant labor market data and develop strategies to foster effective private sector investments in AI-focused areas.

"Emerging technologies like AI will change the way every job is done," Ms. Rometty told CNBC. "I look forward to finding new ways for all Americans to participate in this digital era by building the job skills that are already in demand in our economy."
Sandy Springs, Ga.-based Atlanta Surgery Center has several quality measures in place, ranging from accreditation to risk assessments.

The key details to know:

1. Atlanta Surgery Center is involved with the ASC Quality Collaboration, Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care and CMS Healthcare Quality Alliance and Association of periOperative Registered Nurses.

2. Instrument sterilization, healthcare acquired infection prevention and medication administration safety are monitored by Atlanta Surgery Center's team.

3. Atlanta Surgery Center's quality initiatives also target infection control and patient satisfaction.
Social media lit up Thursday with posts describing the potential gay bashing of an Orlando area man. Turns out they were false  at least according to a police report from the Orange County Sheriffs Department.

Everyone please pray for my friend. He was beaten and left for dead in Orlando 2 nights ago. He is on life support and the outcome is not looking very good, one post read. Police are looking for anyone who may know anything about the situation. If you have any knowledge, please contact them this person or persons need to be held accountable and locked up. Stay strong my friend and fight as hard as you can.

According to the police incident report an unresponsive man with a head injury was found in a retail store parking lot. The hospital found traces of meth in his system, and the doctor stated in the report the man may have overdosed.

SFGN is not identifying the man, and is only writing about it because the social media posts created such concern in the community.
Craft breweries in Texas got a long-desired boost with a tentative compromise to allow to-go sales of their product at each site. If the full House and Senate approve this proposal, Texas could join 49 other states that already made this shift. Lawmakers should ensure that this bill makes it to the governors desk instead of being derailed by powerful lobbyists, a fate that has happened before to craft breweries and other entities in this state.

The change is pretty straightforward, and would copy an option that is already in effect at the states wineries. It would allow consumers to purchase up to two cases of 12-ounce packaged cans or bottles at a production brewery, which typically sends the bulk of its product to other stores for sale.

The amount of profit from such small-scale sales wouldnt be huge, but it would help a struggling brewery, as many of them are in the early stages. More importantly, the to-go sales would help craft brewers spread awareness of their brand: A person or couple visits a local brewery and takes home a six-pack or two. They stick it in their fridge, and maybe offer one to visitors. In turn, these people learn about the beer and maybe decide to buy a few bottles for themselves on their next visit to the grocery store.

Southeast Texas has one brewpub in operation and two more in the planning stage, and this change could encourage more entrepreneurs to join them. Brewpubs, like Neches Brewing Co. in Port Neches, already are licensed to sell some beer for off-premises consumption, usually through growlers filled at the site.

Small production breweries had been seeking this option for years but were stymied by distributors, who wanted that business for themselves. Because this compromise is so limited, they shouldnt be affected that much.

Its important to note that virtually no other industry in Texas, or the nation, for that matter, labors under an antiquated restriction like this. Generally speaking, if you make something in your shop or store, you can sell it to whoever walks in the front door.

Yet going back to Prohibition, the sale and production of alcohol in Texas and many other states has taken on many quirks that are absent in other forms on commerce. Its time to modernize this process in Texas, especially for the craft breweries that have become so popular with beer drinkers.

Even previous opponents of this change like beer distributors and wholesalers saw the writing on the wall. They knew that the old rules had to change, and this compromise is the result. Its a reasonable one, and it should become the law in Texas.
Ryan Pelham / The Enterprise

After bringing some 350 people to Austin this week for Golden Triangle Days, local leaders are cautiously optimistic that this legislative session will see progress in health care, infrastructure, education funding and other matters of importance to Southeast Texans.

For more than a decade, the Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange chambers of commerce have sent delegations to the Capitol to advocate for the region with senators and representatives.
Two vacant retail spaces are expected to soon be open for business again, one occupied by a new grocery store and the other with something entirely different.

Mark Fertitta, owner of Fertitta Realty and other development companies that hold property across the Golden Triangle, confirmed this week that the former Gander Mountain property off the Eastex Freeway in Beaumont could be an Aldi store as soon as this summer. The property is held by his family firm.

Aldi is looking at the location and they have the contract, but they have an inspection period that isnt up until April 8, Fertitta said. Then, their lease goes hard. They will probably do a four-month construction period.

The German-based grocer will have until the end of the inspection period to have its construction plan and request for a certificate of occupancy approved by the city, he said.

Aldi declined to comment on its plans. But a profile from the International Council of Shopping Centers shows the grocery chain generally looks at areas with about 40,000 residents with household incomes of about $50,000 living within 3 miles.

Fertittas other project involves retooling the former Super Kmart in Groves into a mammoth climate-controlled warehouse and office space that can comfortably accommodate at least four tenants at a time.

The 170,000-plus-square-foot store was built in 1995 behind restaurants and businesses off Twin City Highway. It remained one of the largest retail spaces in Groves, even after Kmart vacated in 2004. The building was used briefly as office and warehouse space by Motiva. It has been vacant since 2008.

Work is mostly completed converting the mammoth retail space into a climate-controlled warehouse and office space designed to comfortably fit at least four tenants at a time. Fertitta said he expects to cater to the petrochemical industry as several local firms seek storage space during expansion and maintenance projects.

Sure, I would want the longest-term lease I could get, but Im trying to put together a facility that is a premium facility for someone that wants to come in and do short-term storage for turnarounds, Fertitta said. Every day some of the refineries are in a shutdown, they lose tens of millions of dollars. They want something close and accessible that can accommodate large projects.

He thinks the facility could attract attention from companies between Baytown and Lake Charles. He said he has already inked a deal with Motiva to lease 47,000 square feet of warehouse space, leaving 5,200 square feet of office quarters and 117,000 square feet of warehouse space for other tenants.

Fertitta and several unnamed partners invested in the building and began updating the heating and air conditioning. Contractors replaced most of the wiring and pipes, which had been looted while the building was vacant.

Construction manager Kenny Rone said about four weeks of work remain.

Everything has mostly stayed in the same space, besides diving out some of the rooms for fire doors, Rone said. Its really just columns and beams once you move all the shelving out.

Fertitta said that what the property lacks in architecture, it makes up for in accessibility, with more than 20 acres of paved parking that would appeal to companies looking to park their heavy equipment and access their storage quickly.

You couldnt realistically pave the amount of asphalt that is already there and offer the kind of rates Im offering for a facility like this, Fertitta said.

He said he is conscious of how visible the building is and is therefore investing in LED lighting for the parking lot and new paint jobs for the interior and exterior.

D.E. Sosa, Groves city manager and director of the citys economic development corporation, said it that kind of cooperation made him and other city leaders relieved to see the hulking building finally occupied.

It was used off and on for some purpose or other, but we are never going to see a big retailer in the store ever again, Sosa said. In our opinion, this is one of the best and most profitable uses. He is helping himself and his partners (with the project), but he is also helping our community.

Sosa, wasnt with the city when the Kmart was built, but he is familiar with the kind of challenges an empty behemoth can create.

Sosa and other city leaders had little luck working with prospective businesses to fill the building. He said most retail companies, even those that operated warehouses, couldnt handle all the space.

It wasnt just a Kmart. It truly was a Super Kmart, Sosa said. It was always too big for whoever was looking at it, regardless of what their business was. Im not seeing anyone left that could handle a property that size.

According to the earliest online tax roll listing from the Jefferson County Appraisal District, the property was valued at around $4 million in 2005. Its taxable value steadily dropped to $1.3 million in 2016, where it remained until the last assessment.

During that empty period, Sosa said the building became an attraction for nuisances. Motiva put up a fence around the property during its stay, along with some other security measures, but Sosa said police still monitored it frequently. Trespassers found their way inside.

As Groves was dealing with the empty building, it was also missing out on nearly $300,000 in personal property tax the building netted the city from the inventory it held during Motivas three-year stay.

As shopping continues its shift toward online, more cities are finding themselves searching for the same solutions as Groves.

In 2017, a record closing of 6,700 physical stores in the U.S. added to the number of empty properties no longer generating tax incomes for their communities.

Some abandoned stores or malls have become lifestyle centers or even churches. Texas has become famous in some circles for box-store reuses. A 124,500-square-foot Walmart-turned-library made McAllen a sort of poster child for community investment in blighted retail property. The project cost the city $24 million.

As for Groves, Sosa said Fertitta and his companys warehouse was one of the best solutions the city could hope for.

If a subdivision went there, and it could, we would have to maintain streets, put in sewers and we could but as far as effort put out to gain property tax, this is the best use, Sosa said. The building is staying there, it is being maintained and is run by a local businessman with an interest in our community.

jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/jdickjournalsim
The Human Rights Campaign must learn to actually do something other than issue press releases announcing its positions on various federal judicial nominations. The group needs to do what this community used to do: Take action. Or, at the very least, show a plan.

So, without HRCs lead, let me offer the following suggestion on how to make change almost immediately and on a subject we all care about.

Federal judges are appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Senate needs 50 votes to confirm, and then a judge has a lifetime appointment. In the current Congress, Republicans have 53 senators. The vice president can vote in case of a tie. So in order to stop a nomination, you would need to get four Republicans to either vote against a judge or not vote.

How about announcing a campaign that would warn that any senator up for reelection in 2020 would not be endorsed if they vote for homophobic judges? Maybe take out a full-page advertisement in the Washington Post? Whom would that affect? Maybe Susan Collins of Maine, Cory Gardner of Colorado, David Perdue of Georgia and Thom Tillis of North Carolina?

Those are four swing states where the races will be tight and every vote will be needed. Plus, those four Republican senators are all up for reelection in 2020.

And guess what? The odds are on our side in 2020, as there are more Republicans up for reelection than in 2018, when there were more Democrats facing voters. And, if things keep going as they are, and the Republicans are beginning to get nervous, other senators from other states might pay attention.

Heres the finer point: While federal judges are appointed by the president, they are suggested by the senators from the region where they will sit. Translation: An announcement that we will not support your reelection might, on its own, stop senators from suggesting homophobic nominees to the process.

HRC, stop sitting on your hands and having lovely dinners. Do something that actually matters and can create real change.

Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nations most-award-winning commentator in LGBT media.
Muncy said the homeowner, William Mitchell 45,of Jolo, was arrested and charged with possession with intent to deliver a Schedule I controlled substance. Muncy said Mitchell was also found to be wanted for a capias (failure to appear warrant) out of McDowell County as well.
Dustin Allen Lewis, 26, was arrested Tuesday, February 12, on five counts of third-degree sexual assault and arraigned before Magistrate Sandra Dorsey, according to statement released by the office of Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney George Sitler.
After being investigated by the U.S. Department of Labors Wage and Hour Division (WHD), it was discovered that XMV was in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The FLSA deals with an employees overtime, minimum wage, labor standards, and other employee rights, according to the press release from the U.S. Department of Labor.
John Cox can be reached at 661-395-7404. Follow him on Twitter: @TheThirdGraf. Sign up at Bakersfield.com to receive free newsletters about local business.
Fashion guru Carson Kressley loves to vacation in Fort Lauderdale and next week, he has two reasons to head for the citys sunny beaches.

On Thursday, Feb. 21, he will co-host Pride Fort Lauderdales first Pride Runway Fashion Show at the Hard Rock Event Center. The show, the opening event of the four-day festival, will feature collections from Project Runway alumni designers modeled on male, female, transgender and drag models.

Im very excited, he said in a telephone interview. I love Fort Lauderdale, I get to work on my tan. Ive always been a fan of Project Runway and they are some of my favorite designers.

The flamboyant and funny Kressley burst onto the fashion scene as a member of the original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy cast in 2003 and has since hosted or guest starred in a long list of talk, reality and fashion television shows. Hes a regular guest judge on the Emmy-winning RuPauls Drag Race and just reunited with Queer Eyeco-star Thom Filichia on Bravos interior design series, Get a Room with Carson & Thom.

Its a very dynamic industry, especially right now, he said. [Fashion is] a mirror of whats going on in society. Its a relatively turbulent time and the industry is responding. Fashion is a statement. In a more positive lightnow more than everfashion is anything you want it to be. Its a great way to reflect who you are and were not limited to the rules and the norms anymore. Its about being comfortable.

Speaking about Queer Eye, which was recently rebooted by Netflix, Kressley reflected, I think its wonderful that the brand we helped to build is so strong and relevant. It has an impact on gay kids everywhere, seeing five gay men being successful and having a positive impact on TV. It shows gay youth they can come out and be happy.

On Friday evening, Kressley will make a special presentation at the Stonewall National Museum and Archives gala at the Ritz-Carlton hotel on Fort Lauderdale Beach. Kressley will be on hand to honor author, educator and diversity champion Brian McNaught with the 2019 Paul Fasana Legacy Award.

Kressleys relationship with McNaught goes back more than 20 years. Kressley was a student questioning his sexual orientation at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania when McNaught delivered a guest lecture there.

Brian was such a positive influence on my life, Kressley recalled. It was such a profound experience for me, this gay man who was out and so brave. I wondered if I could be that brave one day, confident on stage, poised and successful. It was a touchstone for meIm excited to present him with that award because hes been such an inspiration.

While the gala offers an opportunity to reflect on the past, Kressley emphasized that these types of events also sow seeds for the future generation of LGBTQ leaders.

For tickets and more information about the Pride Fashion Runway Show on Thursday, Feb. 21 at the Hard Rock Event Center, go to PrideFortLauderdale.org. For tickets and more information about the Stonewall National Museum and Archives gala on Friday, Feb. 22 at the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale, go to Stonewall-Museum.org.

In addition to SFGN arts and entertainment editor, J.W. Arnold is co-executive director of Pride Fort Lauderdale.
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Kyrgyzstan is a strategic partner and ally of Russia in Central Asia. Kyrgyz-Russian cooperation is multidimensional in nature, characterized by the proximity of approaches to international and regional affairs, focusing on the development of Eurasian integration processes.

The Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of Russia lifted restrictions on the meat import from Kyrgyzstan, introduced in 2007, the press service of the Kyrgyz State Inspectorate for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Inspection reported.

This decision was made in view of the improvement in the epizootic situation of foot and mouth disease in Kyrgyzstan on February 11, the ministry said.

Restrictions were imposed on the importation of meat, meat products, feed and feed additives in 2007.

The head of the Kyrgyz State Veterinary Inspectorate, Kalys Zhumakanov, previously informed the Russian side that the epizootic situation in Kyrgyzstan has changed dramatically since then, and the Kyrgyz veterinary service has taken a series of measures in this direction over the past three years.

"The programs of rehabilitation and regionalization were introduced. There were no outbreaks of acute infectious diseases registered in Kyrgyzstan, the epizootic situation, including foot and mouth disease, is prosperous", the State Inspectorate assured.

The removal of temporary restrictions will allow the export of meat products and raw meat from enterprises that are included in the Eurasian Economic Union register.

Diplomatic relations between Kyrgyzstan and Russia were established on March 20, 1992.

Kyrgyzstan has traditionally close relations with Russia - both countries are strategic partners, are included in such organizations and associations as the SCO, CSTO and the EEU.

Russia and Kyrgyzstan interact in the framework of such associations as the CIS, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Kyrgyzstan joined the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) on August 12, 2015, of which Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia are also members.

Russia's exports to Kyrgyzstan following types of goods: mineral products; food products and agricultural raw materials; metals and products from them; chemical industry products; machinery, equipment and vehicles; wood and pulp and paper products; textiles and footwear.

The structure of Russian imports consists of the following groups of goods: cars, equipment and vehicles; metals and products from them; textiles and footwear; food products and agricultural raw materials; chemical industry products.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The Federal Republic of Germany considers one of the priorities of the foreign policy strategy to establish long-term full-scale cooperation with a dynamically developing Turkmenistan, confidently following the path of progressive reforms and transformations.

A Turkmen-German business forum was held in Berlin, where Turkmen delegation was among participants.

The current event is also aimed at further developing the traditional dialogue of friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation of Turkmenistan with European countries, strengthening the positions of its domestic industries in the foreign market, increasing their export, innovation and investment potential.

The Turkmen-German Business Forum brough together representatives of the German Foreign Ministry, federal ministries of economy and energy, agriculture and food of Germany, the German Society for International Cooperation, the East European Association for the Promotion of Entrepreneurship, the Representative Office of the German Economy in Central Asia, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Germany, academic circles of Germany and many companies engaged in various industries.

Among the areas of their specialization are banking, printing, biotechnology, production of electronic equipment, road-building and agricultural equipment, the oil and gas industry, mechanical engineering and aircraft building, logistics, etc. In total, 70 large companies participated in the Forum.

The ministries of agriculture and environmental protection, energy, finance and economics, the textile industry, health care and the medical industry, the Turkmengas and Turkmenkhimiya State Concerns, the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs, the Ahal velayat khyakimlik, the Turkmen Agricultural University, the International University oil and gas, the International Sea Port of Turkmenbashi, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs represented Turkmenistan at the Forum.

The sides made new proposals on the forums agenda for planning further trade and economic cooperation. The parties specified its directions and discussed the possibilities of more efficient use of mutual potential.

The forum provided a comprehensive assessment of the economic potential of Turkmenistan, characterized the structural reforms taking place in various sectors, presented the most significant indicators and prospects for their development, analyzed the current state of trade between Turkmenistan and Germany and agreed on measures to further increase its volume, taking into account the interests of the two countries.

Special attention was paid to building up the innovative component of the Turkmen economy, a favorable investment climate in the country and favorable conditions for the activities of foreign companies. As noted, important factors of investment attractiveness of Turkmenistan are political stability, the strengthening of the rule of law and the creation of a financial control system, the improvement of the banking sector and the insurance market.

Under the leadership of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the government is improving the business environment in order to encourage investment, and a strategy has been developed and successfully implemented for the export-oriented industry development. GDP growth in Turkmenistan amounted to 6.2 percent at the end of 2018.

German companies also make a significant contribution to the implementation of long-term projects in Turkmenistan. Among them are the long-term and effective activities in Turkmenistan of such companies as Siemens AG, Claas Global Sales GmbH, John Deere Walldorf GmbH & Co. KG", "Umax Trade GmbH", as well as several others. In addition to them, the forum allowed for a wider presentation of other German companies seeking to gain a foothold in the Turkmen market.

The first session was devoted to investment opportunities in the fuel and energy complex and the chemical industry of Turkmenistan. The strategy of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in this area is aimed at diversifying hydrocarbon supplies and is in favor of creating multi-vector routes for bringing Turkmen natural gas to foreign markets, including European ones.

Great opportunities are opening up for German companies producing equipment for the oil and gas industry such large projects implemented by Turkmenistan as the construction of the gas pipeline Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI), natural gas processing enterprises with a production of polyethylene, polypropylene, synthetic gasoline and other products.

All this is a big field for establishing cooperation with the global giants of the chemical industry.

Turkmenistan also leads with stakeholders a substantive discussion of cooperation issues in the electricity and electrical industries, including the implementation of international projects - the construction of power lines from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Among the potentially capacious spheres that could interest the German business community is the development of the transport industry in Turkmenistan, to which Turkmen President attaches great importance.

The second session of the business forum was devoted to the creation of a modern, multimodal transport infrastructure, where special attention was paid to the formation of new logistics schemes taking into account the capabilities of the International Sea Port in the Turkmenbashi city.

An important area of bilateral relations is the agro-industrial complex and the further development of partnership in the supply of agricultural equipment to Turkmenistan and the training of engineering and technical personnel. This range of issues was considered at the session Potentials for the Development of Cooperation in the Sphere of Agriculture and Food Industry.

The economic strategy of Turkmenistan provides for a gradual increase in the share of privately owned enterprises in the gross domestic product. Therefore, a significant area of cooperation is the establishment of direct and close ties between the business communities of the two countries, the attraction of investments, the introduction of effective management methods and advanced management decisions.

As part of the business event, an exhibition of goods produced in Turkmenistan was organized. In addition, representatives of Turkmenistan and Germany held bilateral meetings on the margins of the forum.

The program of the business trip of the Turkmen delegation also included a series of negotiations and consultations in the state structures of Germany, visits to German companies and acquaintance with their innovative experience.

Diplomatic relations between Turkmenistan and Germany were established on March 6, 1992.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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By Trend

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ratified a cooperation agreement with Greece in the field of shipping, Trend reports via Turkish media outlet Resmi Gazete.

The agreement on cooperation in the field of shipping between Turkey and Greece was signed on March 4, 2013.

The cooperation agreement entered into force on Feb. 14, 2019.

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WASHINGTON (February 14, 2019)Maryland lawmakers are proposing a bill to simplify the process of applying for federal aid for students who have no contact with their parents.



Reps. Elijah Cummings, D-Baltimore, Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Timonium, and John Sarbanes, D-Towson, introduced the FAFSA Fairness Act of 2019 in the House, while Maryland Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin will introduce companion legislation in the Senate.



"We believe this is an important piece in making college more affordable for more students," Van Hollen told Capital News Service in an interview. "This is a small but important measure to help students who, for all practical purposes, do not have parents who can help them participate in paying for college."



The bill would apply to students who do not have contact with their parents because they escaped abusive homes, were abandoned or have incarcerated parents.



"Students that have faced difficult and abusive life circumstances that leave them unable to contact their parents should have the same chance as their peers to apply for federal student aid and make informed financial decisions," Cardin said in a statement..



The current FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) does not allow for students to apply under independent status.



Students with special circumstances must contact each college or university to which they applied and request a "dependency override" before their aid package is calculated. This process can be arduous and dissuade students from completing their applications, Van Hollen said.



The bill includes a key provision that would allow students to apply under a "provisionally independent" category. They would instantly receive a conditional calculation of their financial aid award and complete the dependency override only with the school at which they are enrolling.



"This bill will help prevent our financial aid process from continuing to be an unintended barrier to higher education," Cummings said in a statement.



Van Hollen said simplifying the FAFSA application process became important to Maryland lawmakers because of concerns voiced by their constituents.



"We've been hearing about the need to do thisfrom students across the state," he said.



Cummings, Cardin and Van Hollen first introduced the bill last year as the FAFSA Fairness Act of 2018, but it did not pass the Republican-controlled House. Democrats took control of the House in January.



This time, Van Hollen said he expects the bill to garner bipartisan support.



The FAFSA bill is expected to be part of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which Van Hollen says the House will take up this year.



"The most likely route to success would be to include this provision as part of that larger bill," Van Hollen said.



Several educational organizations have announced support of the bill, including the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and the American Council on Education.
By Trend

The Turkmen-German business forum was held in Berlin, Trend reports referring to the Watan newspaper.

The event was devoted to the investment opportunities in the fuel and energy complex and the chemical industry of Turkmenistan.

Such projects as the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline and the construction of natural gas processing plants open up great opportunities for German companies producing equipment for the oil and gas industry.

Representatives of the German Foreign Ministry, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry and about 70 companies took part in the business forum.

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By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

The Southern Gas Corridor, which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, can also transport gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, Elshad Nasirov, vice president for marketing and investment at Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR, told Italian journalists, Trend reports citing aboutenergy.com.

If the countries of the European Union need more, we can also transport gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, he said.

Nasirov noted that gas supplies from the Azerbaijan Shah Deniz 2 field will be roughly distributed as follows: 6 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey; half a billion to Albania (or more depending on requirements); one billion to Greece; another to Bulgaria via the IGB interconnector; up to 18 billion cubic meters for Italy if needed.

In light of the supply obligations, as noted by Nasirov, there are no alternatives: Everything has to start by the last quarter of 2020.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority projects for the EU and envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.

The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor was held in Baku on May 29, 2018, while opening ceremony of TANAP was held on June 12, 2018 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir.

The gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field has already gone through the first segment of the Southern Gas Corridor - from the Sangachal terminal to the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline.

Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) have been recently connected on the Turkish-Greek border.

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By Trend

The Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan commented on the claim of the spouse of Taleh Baghirov, convicted for organizing the Nardaran events in Azerbaijan, Trend reports referring to the Penitentiary Service.

Baghirov's spouse claimed in interviews with several news websites that Baghirov, currently serving a prison sentence, is being put under pressure by the prison staff, saying that he is not being allowed to meet with a lawyer or have phone calls, and that, for this reason, he has been on a hunger strike for a long time.

The Penitentiary Service reports that the prison governor Aftandil Aghayev received Baghirovs father Kamil Baghirov and spouse Leyla Ismayilzade on February 12, 2019, and they were informed that there are no grounds for concern. It was noted that no illegal actions had been committed against Baghirov, and that the necessary conditions were provided for his meeting with his lawyer and relatives, and also for proper phone calls. Taleh Baghirov, however, refused meeting his lawyer, Bahruz Bayramov, and making phone calls at appointed times. Each of these cases has been documented.

Given the anxiety of the relatives, conditions were created for Baghirov's meeting with them in the office room. Upon entering the room, Baghirov expressed dissatisfaction with the arrival of his relatives and rudely told them to leave. When the prison governor, calling him to discipline, asked why he refused to meet with lawyers and relatives, as well as to make phone calls, Baghirov replied that he wanted to keep being talked about, to remain on the headlines, and that this is his chance. He then told his relatives: "Go tell everyone that I am on a hunger strike."

The Penitentiary Service once again reports that Baghirov has never filed an application about any illegal actions or a hunger strike.

His safety is ensured and all his rights are protected, said the Penitentiary Service.

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By Trend

Azerbaijani Defense Minister, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov met with Colonel Igor Lobastov, the military attache of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, who is completing his activity in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

During the meeting, the sides expressed gratification with the level of cooperation between the two countries in the military, military-technical and military-educational spheres, exchanged views on the prospects for the development of bilateral relations, and noted the importance of resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for ensuring security in the region.

Moreover, the sides discussed the Russian-made modern, high-precision combat equipment, weapons, and other military equipment obtained by the Azerbaijani army, as well as the expansion and continuation of activities in this field based on mutual agreement and consent of both countries.

The sides also paid attention to the issues of conducting joint military exercises of the two countries, organizing mutual visits, working meetings, exchanging experience at the level of experts, training Azerbaijani cadets and specialists in Russias military education institutions.

Russian military attache expressed gratitude for the warm welcome and noted that he would continue to make every effort for deepening of military relations between the two countries.

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By Trend

Along with improvement of the social well-being of students, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs orders on raising scholarships are also a step taken in a very important direction for education sector - raising the academic performance of students, Azerbaijani Education Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said, Trend reports on Feb. 15.

The presidents order on additional measures to improve the scholarship system at universities creates an incentive to improve the academic performance of 16,000 students from the next month, he said.

According to the presidents recent orders, scholarships for students studying at various levels of education increased from 14 percent to 25 percent.

Saying that this concerns about 110,000 students, the minister added that from March 1, besides students who are already receiving scholarships, 16,000 more students will obtain the opportunity to receive scholarship.

"This means a 30-percent increase in the number of students receiving scholarships, Bayramov said. At the same time, the ratio of the number of students receiving scholarship to the total number of students in 2019/2020 academic year will be increased from current 31 percent to 45 percent, while beginning from 2020/2021 academic year - to the level of at least 50 percent.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed an order on additional measures to improve the scholarship system at universities.

According to the order, from March 1, 2019, the number of students receiving scholarship funded by the state on the basis of academic performance will increase by 16,000 at the universities.

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By Trend

The head of the working group of the Azerbaijani Parliament on inter-parliamentary relations with Australia and New Zealand Khanlar Fatiyev and a member of the group Asim Mollazade today leave for Sydney, Trend reports referring to the Parliaments Office on Feb. 15.

The MPs will hold a number of meetings, discuss development of cooperation in various fields between Azerbaijan and Australia.

The visit will end on Feb. 27.

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By Trend

The city of Guba in Azerbaijan is not the only place in the world where Azerbaijanis and Jews have been coexisting peacefully. Prior to the ethnic cleansing carried out by Armenian nationalist forces, they lived in religious and ethnic harmony in Armenia in the village of Yeghegis (known in Azerbaijani as Alayaz) of Armenias former Yeghegnadzor district (now a part of Vayots Dzor Province). This village is located about 18 km from the city of Yeghegnadzor and 135 km from Yerevan, on the slopes of the ridge of Daralayaz, at an altitude of 1,640 m above sea level.

Important archaeological discoveries in these parts of Armenia were made by scientists back in 1996. Tombstones which, besides having inscriptions in Azerbaijani, also contained inscriptions in Hebrew and Aramaic, were among the finds. The graves date back to the middle of the 13th century  with some dating even to the year 1337  and are not only a convincing evidence of the existence of the Jewish community in Armenia from ancient times to the modern period, but also of its coexistence with the prevailing Azerbaijani population of the province.

It is clear that the contributing factor to the exodus of the oldest Jewish community from Armenia was the exodus of their neighbors, the Azerbaijanis of Yeghegis, the indigenous population of the historical Daralayaz province. The exodus of the Jews, on the backdrop of the flourishing Jewish communities in Georgia and Azerbaijan, is a dark spot in the history of the Armenian people, as is the genocide of Azerbaijanis.

Due to a policy of methodical ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis, Turks, Kurds, Assyrians, Yezidis, Molokans, Greeks and Jews, Armenia has turned into a monoethnic state, where more than 99 percent of the population is made up of Armenians from various parts of the Middle East. But the miraculously preserved old Azerbaijani-Jewish cemetery is a tangible evidence of the actual history of these lands. On the outskirts of the village, a shaky bridge leads to the other side of the river, separating the Jewish cemetery from ... the Azerbaijani one, which, in a way, relates Yeghegis to Guba, where, to this very day, Jews and Azerbaijanis live as one family.

Elkhan Alasgarov, Ph.D., Head of Expert Council of Baku Network

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By Trend

A citizen of the United Arab Emirates, who was going to hunt without a relevant permit, was detained near the village of Pirsaat in the Hajigabul District of Azerbaijan, Trend reports referring to the press service of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources.

A criminal act and record were issued against the poacher, and he was fined 2,000 manats.

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By Trend

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev sent a congratulatory letter to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my cordial congratulations to you and the people of your country on the occasion of the national day of the Republic of Serbia, President Aliyev said.

I believe that the strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Serbia and our cooperation based on mutual trust and support both in bilateral format and within international organizations will continue contributing to the benefit of our two peoples, he added.

On this remarkable day, I wish you the best of health, success in your endeavors, and the friendly people of Serbia peace and prosperity, the president said.

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By Leman Mammadova

Azerbaijans State Migration Service talked about conditions for granting the citizenship, changes made with respect to foreigners staying in the country and other issues in an interview with Azernews.

Last year, a number of new legal acts have been adopted to protect the rights and freedoms of foreigners and migrants, as well as to simplify the legislation.

Deputy Chief at the Public Relations department of State Migration Service Elnur Kalantarov said that the registration of foreigners in their place of residence in the country is now applied to those who are temporarily staying in Azerbaijan for more than 15 days. Previously, the number of days one could stay in Azerbaijan without registration was ten.

Foreigners or stateless persons who have continuously and legally resided in the territory of Azerbaijan for the last five years, have a legal source of income, who are obliged to abide by the Constitution and the laws of Azerbaijan and who submit a document proving the knowledge of the Azerbaijani, regardless of origin, race or nationality, political or other convictions, may be granted citizenship of Azerbaijan upon their own request.

Calculating you permanent residence duration

The term of permanent residence of a foreigner or stateless person in the territory of Azerbaijan is calculated since the date of granting a permanent residence permit.

In addition, foreign and stateless persons may be granted Azerbaijans citizenship without taking into account the residence period indicated above, if the person has high achievements in the fields of science, technology, culture or sports, as well as if he or she is of particular interest to Azerbaijan and in other exceptional cases.

Persons residing in Azerbaijan apply for Azerbaijani citizenship to the State Migration Service, while persons residing in foreign countries apply to the diplomatic missions or consulates of Azerbaijan. The documents received by diplomatic missions and consulates of Azerbaijan abroad are sent to the Foreign Ministry.

If a person applying for citizenship of Azerbaijan calls for a violent change of the state system enshrined in the Constitution of Azerbaijan, commits actions that harm state security, public peace, health or morality of the population, promotes racial, religious and national exclusivity, and also if this person is associated with terrorist activity, the application for citizenship is denied.

Measures taken to protect rights of foreigners and stateless persons living in Azerbaijan

Last year, the Training Center of the Migration Service organized free training courses for foreigners living in Azerbaijan to study their rights and obligations as well as Azerbaijani language, history, culture. Hundreds of people from about 40 countries attended the courses.

Also, more than 1,300 foreigners and stateless persons have been trained in their rights and responsibilities, history and culture of Azerbaijan, as well as psycho-social issues within Strengthening cooperation for effective human trafficking through capacity building and technical support in Azerbaijan - Phase VI project carried out by IOM.

The new mobile application of the State Migration Service - MIGAZ was presented to the public in December 2018 to simplify access to electronic services, as well as to minimize the time spent on appeals to the Service and on registration at the place of residence.

At present, the foreigners are provided with the opportunities of the issuance of registration, temporary and permanent residence permits,

The mobile application also allows checking the restriction and appeal status of foreigners visiting or leaving the country, calculating the latest registration history, making online payment, taking a place in online queue, using "ASAN visa" and other services. Requests in this mobile app proceed in Azerbaijani, English and Russian languages.

Information campaign

Taking into account the significant increase in the number of foreigners coming to our country, a large-scale information campaign was launched in December last year.

The cooperation has been established with Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping, Baku International Sea Trade Port, Azerbaijan Railways, Baku Transport Agency, Park Cinema and Cinema Plus cinema network, 189 Taxi, Park Bulvar, Dafne-Dalida restaurant network within the framework of this campaign. The campaign was conducted in two directions: general information through video clips and targeted information for foreigners.

As many as 103,741 phone calls were received by the Service's Call Center (919 telephone lines). Over 3,580 appeals were responded through "Interactive correspondence" via the official website. Answering questions from WhatsApp mobile application is also provided since November 2018.

Labor rights

Touching upon the labor rights of foreigners, the Services representative emphasized that the same conditions as defined by law for Azerbaijani citizens, are applied to the migrant workers.

Azerbaijan joined the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families in 1998, and in 2010, the Convention on legal status of migrant workers and members of their families of the State Parties of the CIS.

Involvement of foreigners and stateless persons in paid labor in Azerbaijan is regulated by labor quota. In accordance with the quota number, foreigners and stateless persons are granted work permits in Azerbaijan.

Privileges were granted in terms of issuing work permits to foreigners working in Garadagh Industrial Park to ensure sustainable development of the non-oil sector, to support entrepreneurship, to apply discounts to entrepreneurs engaged in the organization of competitive industrial production based on modern technologies and to provide the state support to stimulate the development of this sector.

ASAN service

In the end, the spokesperson of Migration Service spoke about the role of ASAN service in the implementation of migration services.

He noted that in addition to a range of public services, the ASAN service centers also provide relevant services in the field of migration, while improving the quality of service, ensuring transparency and expanding the service network, including the principle of operability, transparency and courtesy in ensuring citizen satisfaction.

These services include identification of citizenship; registration at the place of residence; and issuance of work permits

Illegal migration

Answering to the question about the cooperation in the fight against illegal migration Kalantarov stated that over the past year, the State Migration Service has attached special importance to the expansion of bilateral and multilateral relations and participation in international projects.

He underlined that the relations with organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the European Union (EU), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and international dialogue tools, including cooperation within the framework of the Prague, Budapest and Almaty processes has been expanded.

Furthermore, within the framework of the fight against illegal migration, Azerbaijan has ratified the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime on May 13, 2003, and two of its supplementary Protocols namely, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea.

In addition, Azerbaijan joined the CIS agreement to combat illegal migration in 1998.

Last November, Azerbaijan and Belarus signed The Agreement on Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Republic of Belarus in the field of migration.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

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Marilyn "Molly" Margaret Frink, 70, of Hollywood, MD passed away February 13, 2019 at her home. She was born April 8, 1948 in Erie, PA to the late Roger Rose and Marie Moritz Rose. Molly married Timothy Frink on January 15, 1994. Together they have celebrated over twenty-five years of marriage.



Molly was truly an extraordinary woman full of love and life. She loved and served the Lord her God with all her heart, with all her soul, and with all her mind. She also dearly loved her five children, her nine grandchildren, her many church daughters and 15 church grandchildren, her many dear friends, family members, and her neighbors as herself.



For the last 34 years Molly surrendered her life, chose to deny herself and take up her cross daily and follow Jesus. As a result, the love of Jesus compelled her to love and serve her neighbors as herself. Molly was one of God's great servants. She was always laying down her life, her time, and her talents helping others. She was very active in a variety of ministries in her church, Our Fathers House Assembly of God, teaching children and adults, producing dramas, and leading major ministries over the last 34 years.



She loved King's Christian Academy, which she was certain is the best school in the County. She poured her considerable talents into teaching English, producing dramas, and mentoring students at KCA, where she taught for almost 25 years. She also volunteered at CareNet Pregnancy Center of Southern MD, helping the needy at HOPE, and leading the speech contest at the County Fair.



In addition to her husband Tim Frink, Molly is survived by her children, Andy Buonviri (Ariadna) of Lovettsville, VA, Nathan Buonviri (Maria) of Philadelphia, PA, Katherine Buonviri of Hollywood, MD, Katherine Stamp (Kyle) of Fairplay, CO, Christianna Jones (Chris) of Roscommon, MI and nine grandchildren. Molly is also survived by her mother Marie Rose of Middletown PA, siblings, Ron Rose of Philadelphia, PA, David Rose of Seattle, WA, Mark Rose of Seattle, WA and Barbara Galkowski, of Erie, PA.



A Celebration of Life Service will be celebrated by Pastor Lanny Clark at 1 p.m., at Our Father's House AG, 45020 Patuxent Beach Road, California, MD 20619. A light reception will be held at the church after the service. In lieu of flowers donations can be given to CareNet Pregnancy Center, 21562 Thames Ave. Lexington Park, MD 20653. Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A., Leonardtown, MD
By Trend

The Institute of History of the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences will hold a conference in Poland devoted to the Khojaly genocide, director of the Institute, academician Yaqub Mahmudov, said, Trend reports referring to the Institute.

Mahmudov made the remarks at the meeting of the Scientific Council in Baku on Feb. 15.

The academician stressed that the Institute of History is actively involved in the information war with Armenia and its aggressive policy, adding that his recent awarding with the Emek Order of the first degree is a high assessment, which was given not only to him, but also for the activity of the Institute of History and its scholars as a whole.

On Feb. 9, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree awarding Yaqub Mahmudov with the Emek Order of the first degree for many years of fruitful activity in the field of research of the Azerbaijani history.

The Scientific Council of the Institute expressed gratitude to the president for the award.

In 2012, 13 employees of the Institute received the Azerbaijani state awards for the works on the history of Karabakh, Nakhchivan and Irevan khanate upon President Aliyevs order.

The presentation of the books by historian Nazim Mammadov and journalist Latif Shamkhal (Mustafayev) was held at the scientific council.

During the ongoing Karabakh war, on February 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As a result of the genocide, 613 people were killed, including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly, 487 people became disabled, and 1275 residents were taken hostage.

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By Laman Ismayilova

The Mariinsky Theater Second Stage invites you to enjoy the ballet of Azerbaijani composer Arif Melikov.

The ballet "Legend of Love" will be staged on March 23 as part of the 18th International Mariinsky Ballet Festival, Trend Life reported.

The international ballet festival will be held on March 21-31.

The Mariinsky Ballet Festival is one of the most significant events in the ballet season, drawing ballet-lovers from all over the world to St Petersburg.

The main strategy of the festival is to attract stars of world ballet to Russias cultural capital.

The author of a libretto is playwright Nazim Hikmet. His libretto is based on his own version of drama "Farhad and Shirin".

In 1958, Arif Melikov began work on a ballet that lasted two years.

The premiere of the ballet took place on March 23, 1961 at the Mariinsky Theater.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Cultural and humanitarian aspect continues to be one of the important factors that make a significant contribution to the development and strengthening of friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

An exhibition of a rich collection of books sent by the National Library of Azerbaijan named after Mirza Fatali Akhundzade opened in the Cultural Center of Azerbaijan named after Heydar Aliyev in Tashkent.

The collection of books includes publications on statehood, history, culture, economics, literature, cooking, etc. Of interest are books about the life and work of national leader Heydar Aliyev, the reforms carried out by President Ilham Aliyev over the past few years, reports AZERTAG.

Guests visiting the Cultural Center, as well as young people participating in courses and clubs, will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the exhibits of the exhibition, which will last a week. Those interested can read these books in the library, as well as get their copies.

At the end of the exhibition, a collection of books will be transferred to the Tashkent State University of the Uzbek language and literature named after Alisher Navoi and to the Azerbaijan Center for Culture, Education and Research named after Mohammed Fizuli, which will be created here.

Visitors to the center via the Internet will have access to electronic libraries of Azerbaijan. The center also plans to hold meetings with Azerbaijani scientists, literary critics, seminars, open lessons and lectures.

Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan were established on October 2, 1995.

Azerbaijan pays great attention to the creation and development of cultural relations with the countries of Central Asia. This requires the unity of language, national customs, culture and art.

Multilateral relations, cultural cooperation between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan continues successfully.

Systematic meetings of the Azerbaijani and Uzbek presidents help develop cooperation between two countries, expand cultural and spiritual ties.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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By Laman Ismayilova

Famous Azerbaijani designer Rufat Ismayil took part in the New York Fashion Week.

His collection "Butterfly Effect" was presented as part of the fashion show, Trend Life reported.

The fashion collection was inspired by the Monarch butterfly, which he saw during one of his visits to North America. Black, orange and white pattern can be seen in the fabrics.

The fashion collection features orange, emerald green and black colors.

While creating these looks, the designer used luxurious materials, such as crepe-chiffon, silk and fabrics, custom-made with a pattern of the wings of a Monarch butterfly.

Talking about the collection of the autumn-winter 2019-2020 season, Rufat Ismayil stressed that it is for strong, strong-willed and mysterious women who will tease with their breathtaking appearance, while being inaccessible.

Rufat Ismayil became the first and only Azerbaijani and Turkish designer to date, whose collections were shown at such significant events in the fashion world as Italian, Dubai, Turkish, Iranian, Beirut fashion weeks.

For the first time, Rufat Ismayil represented Azerbaijan at the New York Fashion Week on September 7, 2018.

His fashion collection "Power of Fire" stunned fashion lovers.

Rufat Ismayil is the Creative Director and Co-Founder of AFFFAIR brand. He is involved in the Collection Design and leads the innovative and creative lab of the garment production line.

As a teenager he started modeling for fashion houses, which brought him the title of Best Model of Azerbaijan in 2000. He continued working as a model for major names such as Paco Rabanne and Valentine Yudashkin. Soon his passion for fashion shifted from modeling to creating his own looks.

He decided to move to Istanbul to pursue the launch of his own label. That has been the beginning of "AFFFAIR" as it is now. Rufat is involved in all the areas of establishing a collection from design and creative direction, to being in charge of the textiles and garment production factory.

Moreover, Rufat Ismayil was recognized as the best Turkish designer by Turkish Association of Fashion Designers.

Rufat presented his unique and imaginative collections in Italy, Iran, Turkey, UAE and other countries.

His men's clothing collection was shown at Pitti Uomo 2015, the most important International event for menswear and men accessories collections.

The world's leading fashion publications, including Vogue magazine (Italy) wrote about fashion collection created by the Azerbaijani designer.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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By Trend

Five more ASAN Service Centers will open in Azerbaijan by the end of the year, Ulvi Mehdiyev, head of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of Azerbaijan, told Trend.

According to him, the centers will be opened in the cities of Shamakhi, Kurdamir, Tovuz, Aghjabadi and Balakan.

"Thus, the number of centers will reach 20 and will cover most of the country. At present, construction work is being intensively carried out in the aforementioned districts. The centers are expected to be commissioned during the second half of this year," said Mehdiyev.

The services alternative to those provided by the ASAN Service have been eliminated, which, according to Mehdiyev, means that government agencies will provide those services through ASAN Service Centers.

"The coverage is quite wide. In the future, we will be ready to provide other, new types of services, if necessary," said Mehdiyev.

The ASAN Service under the State Agency for the provision of services to citizens and social innovations under the President of Azerbaijan has been operating in the country since 2012. The Service Centers provide services of government agencies, as well as a number of functional support services. ASAN also provides outbound services through its mobile service and the ASAN train.

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By Leman Mammadova

Every year, trade and economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey diversifies and covers new areas. Both countries are interested in the maximum expansion of relations. In this terms bilateral investments are an important indicator.

Azerbaijans investments in Turkey totaled $516 million in 2018, Trend reports with reference to the Central Bank of Turkey.

At the same time, Azerbaijans direct investments in Turkey account for $489 million.

During the year, the biggest volume of investments from Azerbaijan to Turkey was made in November ($178 million), the smallest - in December ($13 million). Azerbaijan accounts for almost 8 percent of all investments in Turkey.

The total value of foreign investments in Turkey amounted to $6.5 billion in 2018.

Investments worth $4.2 billion account for the share of European countries, which is 14 percent less compared to 2017, the report said.

Investments by Asian countries in 2018 increased by 3 percent compared with the previous year and amounted to $1.7 billion.

Spain holds the first place among investors in Turkey. The value of direct investments from this country to Turkey amounted to $1.2 billion.

Dutch share in total investments was 13 percent, thus $ 833 million of direct investments in Turkey have come from the Netherlands.

In direct investments Dutch share followed by Azerbaijan with $ 516 million, Italy with $ 509 million, $ 465 million with Australia and $ 446 million.

Italy was the country with the highest increase in the amount of investment.

Turkey and Azerbaijan, both effectively use their economic and energy capabilities, as well as the geopolitical position to expand bilateral and regional cooperation.

Azerbaijani investments in Turkey are estimated at $14.5 billion, about $13 billion of which falls on the oil and gas sector. In turn, Turkey has invested $11.8 billion in Azerbaijan, of which $9.1 billion account for the oil sector. Turkey has invested $2.7 billion in the non-oil sector of the Azerbaijani economy, being the leading investor in this sector.

There are about 3,400 companies with Turkish capital in Azerbaijan, and 2,400 Azerbaijani companies in Turkey.

Turkey is a partner in many strategic projects of Azerbaijan. Turkey was the first state to recognize Azerbaijan's independence in 1991 and has been a staunch supporter of Azerbaijan in its efforts to consolidate its independence, preserve its territorial integrity and realize its economic potential arising from the rich natural resources of the Caspian Sea.

Two countries have gained good experience in the implementation of large-scale projects of international importance, which are well known in the region and the world. These are Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, TANAP, the Southern Gas Corridor and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.

All projects initiated by Azerbaijan and Turkey are implemented successfully and serve further development and well-being of two nations.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

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By Trend

As part of the self-employment program, 5,800 people received materials and goods necessary for the creation of economic entities in 2019, Azerbaijani Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population, Sahil Babayev, told Trend on Feb. 14.

"In 2018, 7,000 people were involved in the program, while by the end of this year 8,000 people are planned to be attracted," he said.

"The self-employment program has a positive effect, which is testified by the analysis of the situation on the labour market, based on the results of the three-month operation of the mechanism," Babayev said.

Speaking about the complaints that are received in connection with the self-employment program, the minister said that 99 percent of the recipients are pleased with the materials they receive.

"About one percent accounts for complaints of the program participants," he said. "Their wishes were taken into account. We changed the materials with which they were displeased. Their problems were solved."

"In general, the effectiveness of the program may be assessed in about a year or two years," Babayev said.

"The program is designed for a two-year period, during which we will have to hold monitoring and determine the percentage of families who received the materials and were able not only to support but also expand the business," the minister added. "The ultimate goal of the program is to create 6,000-7,000 micro-enterprises."

"The matter does not rest in the creation of medium-sized business," the minister added. "Nevertheless, in case of a competent approach of implementing this mechanism, this will definitely have an impact on the development of the overall business sphere in Azerbaijan."

The self-employment program has been implemented in the country since 2016. As part of these measures, the Ministry of Labour provides low-income families with various assets (goods, materials, livestock) for them to be able to launch their small business.

In 2018, 7,000 citizens were attracted to participate in the program. Some 42 million manats is envisaged for financing the self-employment program in 2019 (35 million manats in 2018).

(1.7 AZN = 1 USD on Feb. 14)

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By Trend

The food products of 21 Azerbaijani companies will be showcased under the "Made in Azerbaijan" brand at a single stand at the "Gulfood 2019" exhibition, to be held February 17-21 in Dubai (UAE), Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy.

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy and the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) support the participation of the countrys companies in the exhibition.

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By Trend

Many Azerbaijani companies are ready to work in various fields in Kiev, Azer Khudiyev, Azerbaijani ambassador to Ukraine, said at a meeting with Vitali Klitschko, head of Kiev City State Administration, Trend reports referring to the embassy.

Eliminating difficulties faced by some Azerbaijani companies in Kiev and providing them with appropriate support were discussed during the meeting.

The importance of holding a separate meeting with the Mayor of Kiev Vitali Klitschko for the participation of Azerbaijani companies in important infrastructure projects in the Ukrainian capital was also stressed.

Klitschko noted that Ukraine is ready to adopt the most advanced experience in road repairs and building modern infrastructure, adding that Azerbaijani companies are already working in Kiev in road construction. This cooperation, according to him, should be brought to a more efficient and mutually beneficial level.

The mayor stressed the importance of strengthening joint cooperation to increase financial investments in the Kiev projects.

Another topic discussed during the meeting was the work to be carried out in connection with the construction of a monument for the Azerbaijani poet Imadaddin Nasimi in the Ukrainian capital.

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The U.S.-China trade talks in Beijing this week concluded without any sort of agreement and they will reconvene next week in Washington, D.C. There was hope for a memorandum of understanding to result from this week's talks, but clearly there was not enough progress.

Background: The U.S. team, led by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping after two days of talks with Vice Premier Liu He and his team.

Given that President Trump met Liu in D.C. two weeks ago it would have been a very bad sign if Xi did not reciprocate.

What we're hearing:

From the White House statement...

These detailed and intensive discussions led to progress between the two parties. Much work remains, however. Both sides will continue working on all outstanding issues in advance of the March 1, 2019, deadline for an increase in the 10 percent tariff on certain imported Chinese goods. United States and Chinese officials have agreed that any commitments will be stated in a Memoranda of Understanding between the two countries...

Next week, discussions will continue in Washington at the ministerial and vice-ministerial levels.

The Wall Street Journal reports more detail from people briefed on the talks...

In the latest round, senior officials from both sides made some progress in sketching out the agreement, which would be in the form of a memorandum of understanding...

They described it as a bare-bones pact that both sides said could serve as the framework for a deal that President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping later finalize at a summit...

The memorandum in the works is expected to cover issues related to Beijing's offers to purchase more American goods and services, accelerating China's market-opening efforts in sectors such as financial services and manufacturing, as well as improving its protection of U.S. intellectual-property rights...

The latest: In his press conference today, Trump affirmed a willingness to extend the discussions past the March 1 deadline if there is progress.

My thought bubble: The idea that Beijing is unable to move on the U.S. requests, most made 9 months or even years ago, and that another 60 days will be enough time for them, seems to go against the idea of seeking truth from fact.

Beijing will have more time to find and exploit various avenues to pressure Trump to agree to a lesser deal, and pushing the negotiations closer to the start of the 2020 U.S. election cycle may also increase the political pressure on the president to compromise.

It appears that there is momentum towards some sort of a framework deal to at least halt new or increased tariffs, but it is possible the markets and the Chinese are now too confident there will be a deal or at least an extension by March 1.

Go deeper:
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on February 15, 2019

2019/02/15

At the invitation of Han Zheng, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, Mohammed Bin Salman Al Saud, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, will visit China from February 21 to 22. Vice Premier Han Zheng will co-chair with Crown Prince Mohammed the third meeting of the China-Saudi Arabia High-Level Joint Committee.

At the invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Djibouti, will pay an official visit to China from February 19 to 21.

At the invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Foreign Minister Chingiz Aidarbekov of the Kyrgyz Republic will pay an official visit to China from February 19 to 23.

Q: Can you give us an update on the trade talks between China and the United States? Can you tell us will the two countries release a joint agreement or joint statement or a Memorandum of Understandings once the trade talks are finished?

A: Please be patient for a little longer. The answer will be revealed very soon.

Q: Just now you announced that Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed will visit China. Could you tell us relevant arrangements and what expectations China has for this visit?

A: During the visit, President Xi Jinping and Vice Premier Han Zheng will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed respectively. Vice Premier Han Zheng will also co-chair with Crown Prince Mohammed the third meeting of the China-Saudi Arabia High-Level Joint Committee. The two sides will sign a series of cooperation agreements.

In recent years, the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Saudi Arabia has maintained a sound momentum of development with deepening political mutual trust, fruitful practical cooperation in such areas as energy, infrastructure and space satellite, as well as closer people-to-people and cultural ties.

Through this visit, we look forward to further strengthening the China-Saudi Arabia comprehensive strategic partnership, building greater synergies between our development strategies, deepening cooperation in various sectors under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and having in-depth exchange of views on international and regional issues of common concern, to achieve greater progress in China-Saudi Arabia relations.

Q: Around 45 Indian security personnel were killed in a terror attack in Kashmir yesterday. This is one of the worst terror attacks in the region ever. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the attack. Indian has once again appealed to all countries to put this organization and its chief on the UN Security Council sanctions list. And now there is a growing clamor in India that China is not doing enough on the listing issue of Jaish-e-Mohammed's chief Masood Azhar. Do you think if India puts forward the application this year, China will rethink its decision?

A: We have noted relevant reports and are greatly shocked by this attack. We express our deep sympathy and condolences to the bereaved families and the injured. China firmly opposes and strongly condemns all forms of terrorism and hopes that relevant countries in the region could make joint efforts to combat terrorism and preserve regional peace and security.

As for the listing of the certain organization and individual by the UN Security Council 1267 Committee you asked about, the UN Security Council 1267 Committee has detailed criteria for the listing and designation procedures for terrorist entities or individuals. The Jaish-e-Mohammed which claimed responsibility for this attack is already on the Security Council sanctions list against terrorism. China will continue to deal with the relevant listing issue in a constructive and responsible manner.

Q: The Wuhan Summit has led to a positive turn-around in India-China relations. Considering the bilateral relations have moved further after Wuhan, do you think that China would perhaps look at this case differently and can we expect a different outcome this year?

A: I have already given you an answer. China has been acting in a constructive and responsible manner in dealing with this listing issue. The Jaish-e-Mohammed, which is a terrorist organization, is already on the Security Council sanctions list against terrorism.

As for the listing of the relevant individual, China has been participating in the deliberations on this issue in an objective, unbiased and professional manner and in line with relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the rules of procedure of the UN Security Council 1267 Committee. We will continue to do so and remain in communication with all parties including India on this issue.

Q: A China-New Zealand Year of Tourism event scheduled to take place this week in New Zealand was reported to be postponed. It is also said that China issued warnings against Chinese tourists travelling to New Zealand. The Prime Minister of New Zealand is still waiting for final approval for her visit to China. Can you tell us how is the relationship at the moment between China and New Zealand? Is it true that the Chinese tourists have been warned that they shouldn't go to New Zealand?

A: As far as I know, China and New Zealand are in communications over arrangements for the 2019 China-New Zealand Year of Tourism event.

As to China warning its tourists not to travel to New Zealand, where did you get that information or how did you come to that conclusion?

Journalist: There is a Global Times article that is written in English this week. Some people have seen that and have interpreted it as the Chinese government saying Chinese tourists shouldn't go to New Zealand.

A: I have not seen this Global Times article. And as a general principle, we do not comment on remarks by the press, think tanks, experts or scholars. You should know that we, not a Chinese newspaper, represent the official position of the Chinese government.

As far as I know, the Chinese Embassy and Consulate General in New Zealand altogether issued three safety notices recently. The latest one is issued by China's Consulate General in Christchurch on February 8 on massive bush fires in the South Island of New Zealand. On January 14, the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand issued a safety notice for Chinese tourists traveling to New Zealand during the Spring Festival holiday. On December 7, 2018, China's Consulate General in Christchurch issued a notice reminding Chinese tourists and overseas Chinese to take precautions against robbery and theft. I don't think these notices can be interpreted as "warning" Chinese tourists against traveling to New Zealand. Those insisting on such an interpretation are evidently either making a big fuss over nothing or harboring ulterior motives.

On bilateral relations, a China-New Zealand relationship enjoying sound and steady development is in the interest of both countries and peoples. China stands ready to work with New Zealand on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit for new progress in bilateral relations.

Regarding the New Zealand leader's visit to China, China attaches importance to having exchanges with New Zealand at all levels, including at the top. The two sides have been in contact on relevant issues.

Q: Does China plan to continue using its position in the UN Security Council to block India's attempt to designate the chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammed?

A: I already answered this question. The UN Security Council 1267 Committee has detailed criteria for the listing and designation procedures for terrorist entities or individuals. China will continue to deal with the relevant listing issue in a constructive and responsible manner. We will also keep in close communication with all relevant parties on this issue.

Q: The United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan is mandated to monitor violations on the Line of Control from both sides at Kashmir, but India has not been allowing this group to work on the India-controlled side of the region. What is China's comment on this?

A: We have repeated many times that as major countries in South Asia, Pakistan and India should properly resolve this issue through dialogue and consultation. We also hope that relevant regional countries will make joint efforts to combat terrorism and preserve regional peace and security.

Q: Regarding Kyrgyz Foreign Minister's visit to China, could you tell us more about the arrangements for his visit as well as China's expectation?

A: This is Foreign Minister Aidarbekov's first official visit to China. During this visit, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will hold talks with him. The two sides will exchange views on bilateral relations, BRI cooperation, the SCO and other issues of mutual interest.

China and Kyrgyzstan are friendly neighbors and comprehensive strategic partners. Over the past 27 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China-Kyrgyzstan relations have been developing with a sound momentum. The two sides are enjoying close high-level exchanges, solid political mutual trust and fruitful BRI cooperation. We believe this visit will further move forward bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields.

Q: There were newspaper reports in Britain that the Chinese government has canceled a round of trade talks with Britain following a speech by the UK Defense Minister. Is that true? And if so, could you explain the situation to us?

A: I have not heard of that.

Q: Venezuelan President Maduro said in an interview that he hopes to target Asian markets as destinations for Venezuelan oil, specially citing the continuing support of China. On the other hand, the President of Columbia said China's role in Latin America will be stronger if it recognizes the Venezuelan opposition leader. Does China have any response to either of these comments?

A: Venezuela is China's important partner for economic and trade cooperation in Latin America, and companies of the two countries have been doing business based on the principles of equality, mutual benefit, common development and commercial rules. China will continue to advance across-the-board exchange and cooperation with Venezuela to deliver more benefits to our two peoples.

Regarding your question on the situation in Venezuela, China has been calling for efforts to facilitate dialogue within the framework of the UN Charter, and promoting dialogue and consultation between relevant parties in Venezuela for a political solution.

Q: According to reports, You Xiaorong, an American scientist born in China, was arrested for allegedly stealing trade secrets from Coca-Cola. Her purpose was to set up a company to compete with US companies and win China's "Thousand Talents" award. What is your comment on this case?

A: I'm not aware of that. I will see if I can get more information for you.

Q: Venezuela's Foreign Minister said that a newly formed support group for the Maduro government, which includes China, will take actions in the coming days "to raise awareness around the dangers the Venezuelan people face". I was wondering if you could share details on what these actions might be and whether China's role in this support group means it won't recognize opposition leader Guaido?

A: China supports the Venezuelan government's efforts to uphold national sovereignty, independence and stability, and calls on all sides to support the Venezuelan government and opposition in seeking a political solution through peaceful dialogue within the framework of the Venezuelan Constitution. We believe that all countries should uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and refrain from interfering in other country's domestic affairs.

Q: Just a clarification on your answer for the trade talks. You said the answer will be revealed very soon. By that do you mean today?

A: Please be patient. I'm also waiting for more details to be released.

Q: We learned that an employee of Japanese trading house Itochu was arrested by Chinese security authorities. Can you confirm that and share some information with us?

A: As I recall, you asked this question yesterday. (journalist nods)

China has taken measures in accordance with the law on the Japanese citizen suspected of violating Chinese laws. Following the China-Japan Consular Agreement, China maintains unimpeded consular communication with the Japanese side and provides necessary assistance for them to fulfill consular duties. I'd refer you to competent authorities for details of this case. Meanwhile, I hope the Japanese side can remind its citizens in China to respect Chinese laws and regulations and steer clear of criminal activities.

Q: Sweden has confirmed that its Ambassador to China is being investigated for alleged involvement in an unauthorized meeting with Chinese businessmen who claimed they were acting on behalf of the Chinese government for the case of Gui Minhai. Is China planning to investigate this case?

A: The Chinese Embassy in Sweden has responded to this matter.
Terry McAuliffe remembered the "Operator 1" calls from the days when President Bill Clinton would ring him at 1 a.m.

Now, McAuliffe was Virginia's 72nd governor. President Donald Trump was calling about the racist violence that had exploded that day in Charlottesville.

McAuliffe  who tells the story in his book coming July 16, "Beyond Charlottesville: Taking a Stand Against White Nationalism"  was about to give a press conference. Trump, who was at his club in Bedminster, N.J., was also about to speak. McAuliffe told the president to go first, and said he'd wait.

Watching on TV as he prepared to go to the microphones, McAuliffe then saw Trump blame "many sides."

as he prepared to go to the microphones, McAuliffe then saw Trump blame "many sides." "I fully believed hed do the right thing," McAuliffe told me in an interview. "I was shocked."

hed do the right thing," McAuliffe told me in an interview. "I was shocked." "There was so many lessons learned coming out of Charlottesville," the former governor added. "I had the front-row seat, calling the shots. Someone had to write it."

The book, from the Thomas Dunne Books imprint of St. Martins Press, is  sadly  newly relevant after the blackface controversy in the government he left behind. Gov. Ralph Northam was lieutenant governor under McAuliffe.
Vice President Mike Pence today called on Americas European allies to exit the Iran deal and chastised them for what he called "an effort to break American sanctions against Irans murderous revolutionary regime."

Pence speaks in Warsaw. Photo: Janek Skarzynski/AFP/Getty Images

Speaking at a summit in Warsaw, Pence called the European special purpose vehicle established to circumvent U.S. sanctions an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the EU and create still more distance between Europe and the United States.

Pence called the European special purpose vehicle established to circumvent U.S. sanctions an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the EU and create still more distance between Europe and the United States. The U.K., Germany and France were represented, despite initial reluctance to travel to Poland for what was initially billed as an anti-Iran summit and then became something else  though it was never entirely clear what.

were represented, despite initial reluctance to travel to Poland for what was initially billed as an anti-Iran summit and then became something else  though it was never entirely clear what. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo closed with a call for more sanctions, more pressure on Iran. The Europeans clearly aren't on board. Iran, meanwhile, called the event a desperate circus.

While the summit left many observers perplexed, one notable aspect was that Israel and several Arab countries were present  though the Palestinians were not.

Jared Kushner gave a presentation behind closed doors on the Trump administrations Middle East peace plan, which he said would be presented some time after Israels April 9 elections.

L-R: Rouhani, Putin, Erdogan. Photo: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Turkey skipped the Warsaw gathering. Instead, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended a Syria summit in Sochi with Irans Hassan Rouhani and Russias Vladimir Putin.

Putin said the three leaders agreed U.S. withdrawal from Syria is a positive step and that Syrian government troops should fill the void left behind.

What to watch: Almost five years after the militant groups lightning sweep across parts of Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State is surrounded on all sides and the SDF expects to declare victory within days, the Washington Posts Louisa Loveluck reports from Syria.
1 big thing: The battle to lead Nigeria

Supporters of the opposition People's Democratic Party in the town of Jimeta. Photo: Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images

With Nigerias presidential election just two days away, two political heavyweights are competing to lead the African giant through a critical four years.

Why it matters: The winner will govern a country with massive unfulfilled economic potential and worsening humanitarian and security crises. There are fears a bruising and close-fought election could give way to violence and instability.

Nigeria is Africas largest economy but the government is almost entirely reliant on oil revenues. The country is ranked among

Nigeria has a laundry list of challenges, and its hard to see any positive inroads on any of them, says Matthew Page of Chatham House, a U.K. think tank. He says the question is: Can they take them on or will they just twiddle their thumbs as Nigeria barrels toward this moment of catharsis?

Incumbent Muhammadu Buhari made history in 2015  three decades after he was toppled as a military strongman  by becoming the first opposition candidate to defeat a sitting president.

Buharis appeal rests on his incorruptibility, but institutionalized corruption remains unscathed after four years, according to Transparency International

It has been a grueling four years. Buhari has faced health struggles, economic headwinds and a relentless Boko Haram insurgency.

Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, represents the Peoples Democratic Party, which ruled Nigeria for 16 years until Buharis election. This is his fourth run for the top job.

Abubakar, a wealthy businessman, says hell open the country up for more investment. He has been dogged by allegations of corruption and almost symbolizes Nigeria's infamous system of political patronage, Page says.

As Max Siollun puts it in Foreign Policy

Both men are in their 70s. Both are Muslims from Nigerias north. Neither is proposing transformative reforms. This is kind of their last bite at the apple before a younger generation comes in, Page says.

The big picture: The population has doubled over the past two decades to 200 million and is set to double again by 2050  at which time Nigeria will have the third-largest population on Earth.

Nearly 3 in 4 Nigerians polled told Gallup

Confidence in the fairness of elections is improving

John Tomaszewski, Africa director for the International Republican Institute, says that beyond who wins, its essential that this election keeps Nigerias democracy moving forward.

What hes watching for: Voter intimidation from police or security personnel, a lack of transparency from the electoral commission, long lines and confusion at polling places, and tensions spilling over into possible violence.

The bottom line: Nigeria needs to get this right for Nigeria, first of all. That will have reverberating effects all around Africa but also for Europe. This is an important election for the world, Tomaszewski says.
Egypt's parliament today essentially cleared the way for President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to rule through 2034. Constitutional changes that "would demolish ... safeguards [Sisi] introduced in 2014" are now on track for approval "within three months," per the NY Times.

MBS (L) and Sisi in Cairo. Photo: Bandar Algaloud/Saudi Kingdom Council/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Flashback: Sisi told CNBC before last year's sham election that he supported the system of "two four-year terms" and would "not interfere" with the constitution.

Sisi told CNBC before last year's sham election that he supported the system of "two four-year terms" and would "not interfere" with the constitution. Between the lines: "Washingtons unquestioning embrace of Mr. el-Sisi, whom President Trump has called a 'great guy,' emboldened the Egyptian leader to act with little fear of American pushback," the Times notes.

Meanwhile: Members of Congress have taken a series of steps since the murder of Jamal Khashoggi to pile pressure on the Saudis, and in particular Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Trump has rebuffed them at every turn.

The latest: The Trump administration missed a recent deadline to assign responsibility for Khashoggi's death and potentially trigger sanctions. It ignored a deadline to certify the Saudis are limiting civilian casualties in Yemen. The House just passed a bill to cut off military assistance to the Saudis in that war  and the White House has threatened a veto if it passes the Senate.

The Trump administration missed a recent deadline to assign responsibility for Khashoggi's death and potentially trigger sanctions. It ignored a deadline to certify the Saudis are limiting civilian casualties in Yemen. The House just passed a bill to cut off military assistance to the Saudis in that war  and the White House has threatened a veto if it passes the Senate. Between the lines: The administration has been steadfast in backing the Saudis. But the votes in Congress show the winds outside the White House are blowing in a different direction.

Go deeper: Despite Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia unlikely to lose U.S. investments
A new report this week underscores a wider trend: The Energy Department's data arm and private forecasters alike have consistently underestimated the U.S. crude oil production surge in recent years.

Why it matters: There are geopolitical, economic and environmental repercussions from the faster-than-expected growth, which is driven largely by surging output in the Permian Basin region of Texas and New Mexico.

What's new: The EIA's latest monthly forecast sees U.S. crude production, already at record levels, averaging 12.4 million barrels per day this year and 13.2 million bpd in 2020. That's a substantial uptick from projections just a month earlier, and if history is any guide, the latest increase won't be the last upward revision.

The intrigue: EIA is hardly alone in low-balling the surge, which saw U.S. output climb 2 million barrels per day last year alone.

The price recovery that began in 2016 and saw consistent gains from mid-2017 until last October has spurred things along.

But the known unknowns of price forecasting aren't enough to explain why U.S. growth has confounded banks, the International Energy Agency, and consultancies.

By the numbers: Harry compared EIA's forecasts in their monthly short-term energy outlook with actual production data that arrives later. He found...

U.S. crude oil production has outpaced EIA forecasts every month since January 2017. The one-year forecasts have been too low by an average of more than one million barrels.

During the same time period, the 6-month forecasts were always revised upwards but still proved too low  by an average of about 465,000 barrels per day.

Between the lines: This faster-than-expected growth has several effects, including...

It complicates the joint OPEC-Russia efforts to continue propping up prices through their supply-cutting pact.

It brings economic gains to Texas and elsewhere, but the speed has also left local officials playing lots of catch-up on housing, infrastructure and other civic matters.

It could boost global greenhouse gas emissions in the long-term if it keeps going higher and higher, based on findings from a recent study released via the think tank Resources for the Future.

What we're hearing: Analysts offered a suite of reasons why growth has exceeded forecasts, such as the decline in technology costs, which helped U.S. producers expand output at lower costs.

"Since the end of 2016 through now, operators have really shown that they can optimize their operations and kind of get the most out of different prices far more than we have previously anticipated," Meg Coleman, a senior EIA analyst, tells Harry.

Quick take: One overarching thing is that it's just hard to get a handle on how to model the characteristics of the shale resource, given the complicated geology and the limited history of the U.S. boom.

It is just a dynamic resource theme, a dynamic time in the industry where so much is changing so fast. That it makes it hard for anyone to take a snapshot and say this is what informs me about the future," says Wood Mackenzie analyst R.T. Dukes.

After all, the boom began relatively recently  in the mid-late 2000s  as advances in fracking and horizontal drilling unlocked huge resources in Texas, North Dakota and elsewhere.

Another big challenge is that the U.S. industry is very fragmented, with players of all shapes and sizes undertaking scattered developments. It's harder to analyze than big conventional projects planned far in advance, like big Gulf of Mexico projects.

The big picture: This is hundreds of operators utilizing hundreds of service companies, accessing hundreds of markets and making their own individual decisions, and the markets have largely rewarded growth," Dukes said.

What's next: Coleman said EIA is working to improve its forecasting models. "Every month we're looking to update parameters, to find that predictor that is a leading indicator of growth," Coleman said. "We're constantly updating and improving models to capture a very very dynamic industry."
NEWCASTLE, Australia  Coal exports out of this resource-rich nation brought in record-high revenue last year, according to government data released this month.

The big picture: As concerns about climate change grow, coal is considered on its way out. But for many growing economies in Southeast Asia that are Australia's biggest coal customers, it's often seen as the preferred, cheapest electricity option.

Driving the news: Coal exports brought in a record $66 billion (in Australian dollars) in export value last year, according to data from the government's Bureau of Statistics released earlier this month.

The data also shows that coal surpassed iron ore to become the biggest export in Australia, one of the worlds largest exporters of fossil fuels and other resources.

The intrigue: Earlier this week, I visited coal-export terminals in Newcastle, a couple hours' drive north of Sydney. The collective volume of approximately 160 million tons a year makes the area the single biggest port for coal exports in the world, according to executives at the Port Waratah Coal Services, which runs the largest operation on site here.

The expansive terminal sits along the banks of the Pacific Ocean along Australia's Southeast coast and loads 10,000 tons of coal an hour onto ships.

sits along the banks of the Pacific Ocean along Australia's Southeast coast and loads 10,000 tons of coal an hour onto ships. The company receives 35 to 40 trains of coal a day from the nearby Hunter Valley, which is known for its coal mines and wineries.

35 to 40 trains of coal a day from the nearby Hunter Valley, which is known for its coal mines and wineries. About 1,300 ships a year come through Port Waratah's operations, sending the coal mostly to Southeast Asian countries, including Japan and South Korea.

Between the lines: The type of coal exported from Newcastle is considered a cleaner type compared to the worlds other big coal exporter, nearby Indonesia. This is why Australias coal producers think they can thrive in a world addressing climate change.

"There's definitely industry recognition that the world is on a certain path. The industry in Hunter Valley expects to be a part of the thermal coal picture for as long as there is a significant thermal coal industry on the basis of having a superior product thats accessible to large parts of what is going to be longer term markets."

 Hennie du Plooy, CEO, Port Waratah Coal Services

What's next: du Plooy says growth is expected to remain stable through at least the next decade or more due to demand from Southeast Asia. This contrasts with government policy moves in places like Europe, much of which is looking to shut down coal plants due to climate-change concerns.

The big looming challenge for Australian producers is to what degree permits for new coal mines in Hunter Valley and elsewhere are rejected on the basis of climate change concerns, based on a potential precedent setting court ruling

Go deeper: The world needs clean coal but can't get it
LONG ISLAND CITY, New York  On the corner of 41st Avenue and 12th Street, right in front of the Queens Library Tech Lab, people were giddy, furious and astonished at the news they heard today: Amazon, after all, will not build a gigantic new headquarters in their neighborhood, employing 25,000 people earning an average of $100,000 a year each. One emotion seemed ubiquitous: whiplash.

What's happening: Amazon said it will add jobs to 17 of its existing offices around the country rather than build in New York, angry at pushback that spilled over here and elsewhere in the city over the $3 billion price tag promised to attract the company, as Axios' David McCabe has reported.

There, a couple of blocks from the 21st St.-Queensbridge subway stop, was Debra Lee, who has lived for 38 years at Queensbridge Houses, the country's largest housing project, which dominates the neighborhood.

Like many of the dozen people Erica spoke with, Lee said the enormity of the Amazon project would have pushed old-time residents out. And that made them unsentimental about Amazon's decision.

"There's no need for Amazon. Go somewhere else," Lee said.

Amazon's decision is not entirely surprising: Axios reported yesterday that the company's plans  born in a different era in which Big Tech was feted everywhere  had gone aground in a new age of popular unhappiness with the companies.

On this corner, you could feel the kind of in-your-face personality that Amazon perhaps had not anticipated  or feared. In this case, that personality was April Simpson, president of the Queensbridge Tenants Association, who until now had publicly supported the potential of new neighborhood jobs.

When asked if she was upset, she said, "Do you want me to beat you with this cane?" Simpson lashed out at Amazon.

"I'm very disappointed because we were in negotiations with them. This is shameful. They should be ashamed."

 April Simpson, president of the Queensbridge Tenants Association
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

2017 to 2019 model years are affected, manufactured from May 8th, 2016 through January 16th, 2019. The number of affected vehicles was determined based on manufacturing records, but the question is, what causes the crack in the first place?Internal investigations revealed that certain undiluted, low pH, sulfuric acid-based vehicle cleaning agents may adversely interact with the fuel pump and feed port. Depending on the state of the feed port, Honda dealerships are instructed to install a fuel pump cover kit or replace the whole assembly.Vehicles assembled starting January 17th feature the fuel pump cover mentioned in the previous paragraph, which seals the fuel feed port from drainage. American Honda expects the failure rate of the fuel pump to be low, and there are no special tools required for this repair according to the documents sent to theThe automaker announced that it would complete customer notifications by the end of March 2019. The recall begins on March 7th, and as expected, the repair comes at no charge to the owner of the Ridgeline.Described as an all-purpose pickup truck, the unibody workhorse is manufactured in Alabama since 2008. The second generation was introduced in 2016 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, carrying over plenty of the features and capabilities of the original.For the 2019 model year , the RT with two-wheel drive and the 280-horsepower V6 starts at $29,990. All-wheel drive is available starting with the Sport, and then there are the RTL, RTL-T, RTL-E, and Black Edition.At $43,420 for the Ridgeline Black Edition, lots of customers would rather get a mid-size pickup such as the 2019 Ford Ranger . For reference, the Lariat 4x4 SuperCrew starts at $38,385, featuring Co-Pilot 360 and FordPass Connect with 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot.
The online configurator for Deutschland starts with the SkyActiv-G 2.0 M Hybrid, a four-cylinder engine that outputs 122 PS (120 horsepower). Connected to a six-speed manual from the get-go, the inline-four motor is also available with the SkyActiv-Drive six-speed automatic transmission for an additional 2,000 over the starting price.Customers who prefer the SkyActiv-D 1.8 need to shell out 2,300 more, and once again, the slushbox costs 2,000. The wide range of standard equipment starts with full-LED lighting, satellite navigation for the 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, Advanced Head-Up Display, adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist, parking assist, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, air conditioning, black headliner, and eight speakers for the audio system.Next up, the range-topping trim level is the Selection. For an additional 1,300, this configuration includes heated front seats and steering wheel, rearview camera, keyless entry, automatic climate control, windshield wipers with de-icing function, parking sensors up front, and auto-dimming door mirrors.Magmarot Metallic (pictured) is the most expensive exterior paint option (900) while others cost 580 and 770, respectively. 16-inch alloy wheels come standard, and for 500, the diameter grows to 18 inches and the finish changes from silver to light gray.Customers who want leather upholstery need to pony up a mind-boggling 1,800 for this option while the i-Activsense safety package is 1,200. The Design Package and BOSE surround sound system complete the list of optional extras.The SkyActiv-X engine will be introduced later this year, packing 181 PS (179 horsepower). Over in North America, pricing starts at $21,000 for the sedan with the SkyActiv-G 2.5 and automatic gearbox while the hatchback is $23,600 because it comes with more standard equipment.All-wheel drive is also available from $25,000, but nothing much is known about this drivetrain for European customers. Little by little, expect Mazda to expand the range of features for the Old Continent as well.
Mills Oakley has continued to expand its workplace relations, employment, and safety practice with the hiring of a seasoned lawyer in Perth.

Rebecca Taseff has been appointed as special counsel by the national firm, adding to the firm nearly 20 years of private-practice experience in a number of top firms in Australia. Taseff was previously a special counsel at K&L Gates, senior associate at Herbert Smith Freehills, senior lawyer at AdventBalance, and senior associate at Ashurst.

She specialises in all areas of industrial relations, employment and safety law and has particular experience in workplace change and restructuring, termination of employment claims, and conducting and advising on workplace investigations. She regularly acts for clients before the Fair Work Commission, as well as other courts and tribunals. Taseff advises corporate clients in the finance, hospitality, retail, higher educations, and health industries, as well as government agencies and NGOs.
Also based in Sydney, Stehlik is a part of the firms property and injury liability group who is known for his expertise in insurance, risk management, and general commercial litigation. He has defended large property losses and recoveries, advised on policy indemnity for property and construction losses, and worked on public and product liability injury claims for a wide range of clients.

Haworth, who is also a member of the property and injury liability team and is based in Brisbane, is an expert in complex insurance and commercial litigation matters. She specialises in defending public, products and property liability insurance claims, and is routinely instructed in complex coverage disputes, multi-party large-loss, dust disease, and catastrophic injury claims, Carter Newell said.

The firm has also promoted Sarah Tuhtan, Michelle Christmas, and Jasmine Wood to senior associate.

Tuhtan, a member of the firms property and injury liability group in Brisbane, specialises in in personal injuries and property damage public liability claims, product liability, and workers compensation claims. She is also an experienced defendant insurance lawyer.

Based in Melbourne and a part of the financial lines team, Christmas works in professional negligence and disciplinary proceedings, property damage, and personal injury claims. She has a focus on employment related matters.
Allen & Overys consulting business is launching in Australia and will be headed by a former Commonwealth Bank executive.

Lee Alam was general manager of global regulatory affairs at CBA and was previously a managing director of JP Morgan Australia, and held roles at the UKs Financial Conduct Authority.

He will lead the team at A&O Consulting in Australia and Asia Pacific, building on the launch of the business in London last September.
Local Magazine is here!

The summer 2021 issue of Local Magazine is out. Pick up a copy of your favorite local magazine around town or peruse our e-edition below. Because the best things in life are local.
There may be a longshot chance that you are unfamiliar with the mrudangam. It is a South Indian percussion instrument that Rajna Swaminathan has introduced into American music since she became a part of the New York City jazz community in 2011. She is a protege of the renowned mrudangam maestro, Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman and tours with him and other Indian musicians. She also collaborates with prominent jazz artists based in New York, including the influential pianist Vijay Iyer, himself of Indian heritage, and saxophonist Yosvany Terry, a Cuban who has been based in New York since 1999. Here they are in concert in Harvard Universitys Holden Chapel. Listening closely while letting this music generate its own atmosphere, the <em>Rifftides</em> staff found it curiously relaxing. Perhaps you will, too.

Again, the mrudangam players name is Rajna Swaminathan.
Amazon had a deal and could have simply gone ahead. But the company had no allegiance to Queens and no need to be where it wasnt wanted. Amazons retreat from Queens shows us the dynamics of a new local power game  one in which giant tech companies play on the same field with governments, as equals, with equal influence over our economies and communities.  Axios




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Today

Partly cloudy skies early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain late. Low 67F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

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Partly cloudy skies early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain late. Low 67F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
BarcelonaFormer Catalan minister Joaquim Forns cross-examination has given rise to the first exchange of words between the Prosecutor General's Office and the pro-independence leaders sitting in the Supreme Courts dock. Following former-vice president Oriol Junqueras refusal to answer questions put to him by the chief prosecutor, former Interior Minister Joaquim Forn took part in a heated face-to-face exchange with prosecutor Fidel Cadena. During the cross-examination, Cadena made several blunders and mentioned some rather unexpected details, such as when in reference to the events of 20 September 2017 outside the headquarters of the Ministry of Economy he spoke of seven vehicles belonging to the Spanish Guardia Civil. ARA decided to take a closer look at some of the information.
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Posted on: February 15, 2019 3:36 PM

Tributes have been paid to the Bishop of Tamale, Jacob Ayeebo, who died suddenly this week in the office of his dioceses development agency. He was aged 58. Bishop Jacob, the second Bishop of Tamale in Ghana, part of the Church of the Province of West Africa, died on Tuesday (12 February) at the offices of ADDRO  the Anglical Diocesan Development Organisation, in Bolgatanga, Ghana. Please join us as we offer our prayers and deepest condolences to his family, the ADDRO staff, the Anglican Diocese of Tamale and everyone in the Church of the Province of West Africa, the Provincial Secretary, Canon Anthony Eiwuley, said.

Between February 2009 and January 2017, Bishop Jacob served as a member of Ghanas Council of State, an official body which exists to advise the countrys President. Dr Ayeebo served two terms as a Council member, having been elected to serve the Upper East Region. He built a partnership with Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD), the development agency of the US-based Episcopal Church, and collaborated with ERD staff on integrated programmes to address poverty and disease in the Upper East region.

He was in charge of the economic desk of the internal province of Ghana and had served as a board member of the British-based Anglican mission agency USPG. He also served as Chairman of the Board of the Toende Rural Bank in Zebilla, capital of the the Bawku West District.

Canon Dennis Tong of Saint Cyprian Anglican Church told the Ghana News Agency that Bishop Jacob was pronounced dead on arrival at Bolgatangas regional hospital, where he had been taken by some ADDRO colleagues. The cause of death has been stated as congestive cardiac failure.

Canon Eiwuley said: We will always remember Bishop Jacobs warmth and friendship.

Funeral arrangements are being finalised. Bishop Jacob. He leaves a wife, Rita, a daughter and three sons.
Google may start updating apps that are pre-loaded on your new Android smartphone, automatically even without you logging into your account.

Most people, when they set up a new phone or do a factory reset, will log into their Google account so they can access the Play Store and other things. But, there are some that do not log into their account. Since the Play Store doesnt work without a Google account being logged into, it means that other pre-installed apps will not get updates. This is what Google is looking to change.

Google has already started emailing developers about this, stating that this is something itll be testing in the coming months. Google also says in the email that users are going to be able to turn this off, if they wish too.

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Not all developers are getting emailed, only those that need to take some action. This is mostly those that have apps that are pre-loaded on various devices or OS versions. Google wants developers to verify that new versions of the app will work with or without a Google account  depending on the app. And Google also notes that this will only work with devices that shipped with Android Lollipop or later. Lollipop was released in 2015, so that is basically any device on the market these days.

The reason for this change is so that Google can give all users the same experience, whether they are using their Google account or not on the phone. This is important for non-Google apps that are on your phone too, especially if you bought a phone that was released a few months ago. As many of the apps on that phone likely has an update or two, which wont be installed until you log into the Play Store. By updating these apps automatically, it means that these apps will be up-to-date, improving everyones experience.

It is worth mentioning that this is just a test at this point. Its not something that Google is going to be rolling out to everyone just yet. Google does these tests all the times, with different features and UX changes that it does across its many apps and services. And many of them never make it to users. So just because Google is testing these features, doesnt mean that it will be made available to everyone using a phone that has been Google Mobile Services certified.

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The way this will likely work is, you can opt to uncheck a box during the setup process to keep apps from auto-updating without you logging into your Google account. And once youve gone through the initial setup, youll see a notification in the status bar that is updating all of the apps on your phone. Now this isnt going to bother most people, except maybe those buying Amazon Prime devices. Since those do have Amazons app store on-board. Those in China do not have the Google Play Store, so updating them automatically is not possible on that side of the world.
Along with a new exterior design, upgraded internal components and updated software, the Samsung Galaxy S10 series will also introduce a new Over the Horizon ringtone thats now been revealed by the OEM.

The new interpretation of Samsungs famous ringtone celebrates the ten-year anniversary of the Samsung Galaxy S flagship smartphone series. Over the previous smartphone generations the ringtone was redone in a number of music genres, ranging from Rock and Symphony Rock to Orchestral Pop and Fusion Jazz, but this year the ringtone was inspired by the ocean, its vastness, and beauty, and has been reimagined as a Classical Crossover musical piece.

This years Over the Horizon ringtone was composed by Steven Price, the Academy Award-winning composer that scored the 2013 film Gravity and was involved with other musical compositions for Batman Begins and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, just to name a few. His Over the Horizon composition was performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra at the London Abbey Road Studios and currently acts as the soundtrack of a promotional video published by Samsung Newsroom on YouTube.

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The video was filmed off the shore of Sipadan Island in Malaysia and stars Guinness World Record-holding freediver and conservationist, Ai Futaki. The 5-minute clip is mostly filmed underwater and showcases the beauty of marine life, with Samsung claiming that the video is meant to highlight the importance of ocean conservation.

The new Over the Horizon score embedded in the YouTube video below will be the default ringtone for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S10 series scheduled to be unveiled on February 20. The new lineup is expected to encompass at least three smartphone models including the standard version, the Galaxy S10+, and the Galaxy S10e, the latter of which is supposed to carry the lowest price tag of the three.

Rumors also hinted at a possible fourth variant boasting 5G connectivity but details are scarce, and it remains to be seen if Samsungs first foldable smartphone based on flexible display technology will have the same ringtone.

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While the Samsung Galaxy S10 series represents the OEMs tenth flagship generation, its interesting to note that there have only been eight Over the Horizon ringtones over the years. This is due to the fact that the original Samsung Galaxy S launched in 2010 didnt have this signature sound which was introduced along with the second model in 2011, and because both the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S5 shared the same Symphony Rock iteration of Over the Horizon, before Samsung mixed things up again with the Galaxy S6 and its ringtone reimagined as an Orchestral Pop tune.

Readers who would like to hear all the versions of Samsungs iconic ringtone reimagined over the years can head down to Samsung Newsroom where nine Samsung Galaxy S models (save for the original) have been listed alongside their custom ringtones. The page also highlights how the ringtone morphed from the Rock genre into New Age a year later, to Symphony Rock, Orchestral Pop, Fusion Jazz, Crossover, Nordic Orchestra, and now Classical Crossover, in that particular order.
Earlier this year, Google blogged about how it plans to support smart regulation and policy innovation this year and now the company has delved deeper into smart regulation in its latest public policy blog post. The company believes that fighting illegal content is a major challenge and it is important to determine a legal framework to combat it in a way that doesnt threaten social values such as freedom of speech, innovation, and diversity.

The search giant says that tackling illegal content is a complex task and although the company has poured in millions of dollars to fight it effectively, it cannot be solved totally. However, per Google, it can be managed and the company is constantly refining its practices to deal with it. One thing pointed out in the blog post is context, which can vary depending on the perspective the audience has and is something of a gray area. So, even though it is a relatively easy process to submit takedown notices, the company only decides which content to pull after ensuring that the removal process isnt being misused.

Google believes that a smart regulatory framework is needed to take an appropriate approach towards illegal content. The company abides by four key principles that it believes are important constituents of an effective regulatory framework. Firstly, the company terms illegal content as a societal challenge, one which must be tackled by companies, users, and the civil society together. So, for instance, if a flagged content isnt entirely illegal, legal help could be sought to determine an appropriate course of action.

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Secondly, the blog entry emphasizes the importance of rule of law and presses upon the need for clarity regarding what platforms can do to perform their legal responsibilities. Moreover, legal protection is also being sought for Good Samaritan practices such as the voluntary removal of illegal content by platforms. The third principle included in the companys regulatory framework says that laws governing illegal content must not be rigid and specific, and evolve according to changing technologies. These laws should focus on the underlying problems instead of mandating fixes. Lastly, the company stresses the importance of fairness and transparency while also emphasizing that fairness is a fluid notion.

Google receives a plethora of removal requests each day and some of these pertain to the deletion of legitimate content. Given this quandary, the company has raised concerns about any potential laws that may not take a balanced approach towards content removal. The company has pledged to continue a debate with policy watchdogs, governments, industry and the civil society to contribute to the development of the ecosystem of tools and institutions to address the issue.

The removal of illegal and offensive content is a heated topic in the industry right now. At the beginning of this month, Google had to pay a fine to Russia for its failure to exclude blocked resources from its search engine results. However, Google isnt the only company being held responsible for content policing, as this is an industry-wide problem. Both Twitter and Facebook have also pledged to take steps to fight misinformation and fake news. There is an increased call for government regulation for news content and it remains to be seen if tech bigwigs and government agencies are able to find a middle ground to tackle misinformation. Tech companies have apparently gotten better at self-regulation with time as a recent European Commissions (EC) Code of Conduct report has revealed that social media platforms examine 40-percent of flagged content within 24 hours and remove 28-percent of it.
Google is feeling the love and in honor of Valentines Day is offering people the option to save $1 on the cost of an Android app purchased from the Google Play Store.

While some people have already received emails directly advising them of the promotion, this is not one that is dependent on receiving the email and everyone in an eligible country can take part.

Speaking of which, Google has now confirmed that this promotion is open to Play Store users in the US, the UK and Japan. Thats currently the full extent to the list so you will need to be based in one of these locations to redeem the promotion. Or at least, have an active Google account thats registered in one of the locations.

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If you received the email, then redeeming the $1 off promo is as simple as clicking the link thats included in the email.

For everyone else, you can take part by heading to the Google Play Store on the web, and when logged in to an account clicking on the Redeem option in the menu. From here you just need to enter the code and it will give you the option to apply the discount to your account for use at a later time.

Mobile users can add the code in much the same way by opening the app, clicking on the Payments methods tab and then on the Redeem code option. Again, just enter the code and confirm you want to add the promotion to your account.

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Interested parties have up until February 28, 2019 to apply the code to their account and then will have up until March 1, 2019 to actually use it on a purchase.

Besides the restriction that the code only works in some locations, the only other major caveats are the type of content you can buy and the overall price.

For example, the code is only redeemable against the purchase of an app  it wont work on movies or anything else thats available to buy/rent from the Google Play Store.

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As for the cost restriction, the app does need to be on sale for a minimum of $3 at the time of purchase for the code to take effect. So this is more of a discount on a paid app, then the opportunity to bag a $1 app for free.

The code itself is VALENTINE2019 without the quotation marks for users in the US. Those in the UK have the opportunity to save 1 against the cost of a 3 or more app by using VALENTINE2019GB instead. For those based in Japan, the same discount and overall cost rules apply, although the code is 201902.

Coinciding with the promotion, Google is also currently running a Love is in the air themed app section on the Play Store. Here you will find app suggestions that you might be interested in for you and your valentine to both share, as well as some for those of us flying solo this year. You can check out the full selection of the love-themed and highlighted apps here.
The Washington Post has reported that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Facebook are in talks right now over a fine to penalize the social networking company for its numerous privacy lapses. It would likely be a multi billion-dollar fine and the amount would be much steeper than the $22.5 million penalty levied on Google for continuing to track Apple s web browser Safaris user after agreeing to not do so.

The specifics of the penalty, especially the fine amount, havent reportedly been decided yet. Facebook has been under constant scrutiny following last years Cambridge Analytical scandal, whereby it emerged that the political consultancy firm was able to improperly harvest the data of 87 million users on the platform.

Numerous other data breaches emerged after the Cambridge Analytical debacle, raising concerns about the social media giants commitment to safeguarding user information. The FTC is inquiring whether the privacy mishaps violate the 2011 deal that Facebook made with the agency that mandated the company to explicitly seek consent from users before passing on their data to third parties. The ongoing negotiations could mark the end of the now almost two-year-long probe. However, its worth noting that Facebook has denied accusations that it breached the agreement.

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In fact, sources close to the matter have revealed that the social media company is reluctant to give in to FTCs demands and disagreements could prevent the talks from going through. If the two have a falling out, the matter could be taken to court. However, that would escalate the issue further and such a scenario could be damaging for both sides and would likely be avoided. Otherwise, it would ensue in a lengthy legal battle, sending top Facebook executives to the court again and deal a blow to FTCs authority.

A record-breaking fine is apparently intended to serve as a reminder to Facebook and other tech companies in the U.S. to prevent privacy misconducts in the future. Consumer groups have been calling on the FTC to not settle for an amount less than $2 billion as anything in millions would not serve the purpose. To put things into perspective, the social media giant had reported fourth-quarter profit of $6.9 billion and a fine in millions would be peanuts for it.

Groups such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Color of Change, and Open Market Institute are also pressing the FTC to break up Facebook to prevent it from abusing its monopoly position and restore innovation and competition in the tech industry. It remains to be seen if the two other Facebook-owned applications, Instagram and WhatsApp, will also be affected as a result of the ongoing negotiations. However, it is a given that Facebook would resist any attempts to divest any of its businesses.

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Facebook could enter an accord with the U.S government by paying a fine and reforming its business practice. Moreover, the FTC could also subject the social media platform to firmer checkups to ensure its complying with the agreement. The FTC has not commented on the alleged settlement talks yet while Facebook has acknowledged that its working with the agency.
Top-of-the-line variant of the Samsung Galaxy S10+ has now surfaced on both AnTuTu and Geekbench. Both of those listings share some spec information when it comes to this phone, while we also get to see its benchmark scores on both fronts, and it surfaced with a SM-G975F model number.

Starting with AnTuTu, the device managed to score 326,185 points, which is actually quite close to the score that a 6GB RAM variant of the phone was able to provide, and its one of the best scores on AnTuTu to date. AnTuTu also confirms that the phone will ship with Android 9 Pie, 12GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

The display resolution provided by AnTuTu seems to be completely off, though, as the listing says that the phone will ship with a fullHD+ (2280 x 1080) display, while it will almost certainly include a QHD+ (3040 x 1440) display. It is also worth saying that this is the Exynos variant of the phone, so its fueled by the Exynos 9820.

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Geekbench listing also reconfirms Android 9, 12GB of RAM, and the Exynos 9820. The phone was able to hit 4,450 points in the single-core benchmark on Geekbench, while it scored 9,753 points in the multi-core benchmark. This listing also reveals that the phones processor will be clocked at 2.0GHz.

More Info About The Galaxy S10+

The Samsung Galaxy S10+ is said to arrive in three different variants, including 6GB, 8GB, and 12GB of RAM options. Those three variants will ship with 128GB, 512GB, and 1TB of storage, leaks say. The most powerful variant of the Galaxy S10+, the one that got benchmarked, will include a ceramic backplate, unlike all other variants, while it is also rumored to ship with 5G support. Other than that, and the difference in RAM and storage departments, it will be identical to other models.

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The Galaxy S10+ will reportedly feature a 6.4-inch QHD+ (3040 x 1440) AMOLED display, which will be curved, and the phone will also include an in-display fingerprint scanner. One 16-megapixel and two 12-megapixel cameras will be included on the back of the device, while you will be able to find 10 and 8-megapixel cameras on its front side.

The Galaxy S10+ is said to ship with a 4,100mAh non-removable battery, and both Ceramic Black and Ceramic White versions have leaked thus far. The device will ship with Android 9 Pie out of the box, with Samsungs One UI overlay on top of it, like every other Galaxy S10 model. The Galaxy S10+ is rumored to weigh 175 grams, though the ceramic variant of the device will be a bit heavier than that.

Launch Date & Other Variants

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Samsung will introduce its Galaxy S10 series of smartphones on February 20 in San Francisco, and other than the Galaxy S10+, the company will also announce the Galaxy S10e and S10. The Galaxy S10e will be the cheapest, and smallest Galaxy S10 handset, while the Galaxy S10 will be quite similar to the Galaxy S10+, at least according to a ton of rumors and leaks that surfaced in the last couple of weeks.




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The Ocasio-Omar-Tlaib triumvirate: The new face of the Democratic Party

The impending demise of the Democratic Party would be a thing of joy to behold if we could be certain that its end is actually near. It should be. Any Democrat who thinks the abolition of air travel, all use of fossil fuels (cars), and the mandated retrofitting of every building in America are legitimate, doable transformations of every aspect of American life is a moonbat of inexplicable proportions. In short, such people are delusional. All of the declared Democrat candidates for president in 2020 have endorsed this bit of nonsense. They are apparently unaware that fossil fuels are the engine of modern life and that it is capitalism, capitalism alone, that has provided human beings with a quality of life unknown before the discovery of oil and the innovations of its many uses that have made life on Earth safer and more comfortable for multi-millions of people. Never before capitalism were humans more innovative, more self-starting, more free and independent. The phenomenal success of capitalism is the result of the Founders' dream: a nation of self-starters, free to make their own way, to provide for themselves and their families in their own way. Only with the liberty prescribed by our Constitution could the United States have become the global economic powerhouse it is. That liberty, that freedom to choose one's own path, that independent spirit that built this nation is what the Democratic Party of today means to destroy. The party of JFK has been transformed into the party of Stalin and Mao. Ocasio-Cortez's ridiculous Green New Deal is the highlight of the latest incarnation of the Democratic Party. These people, Ocasio-Cortez and those who have signed on to her crackpot "proposal," are certifiably insane.

Those of us of a certain age know only too well about the dumbing down of our educational system. We've seen it with our own eyes as our children and grandchildren have systematically been uneducated and indoctrinated with leftist propaganda. The Marxist powers that have controlled academia for three decades have seen to it that the truth of American history is not taught; a perversion of it is inculcated along with the hoax of man-made global warming so that young people actually believe that their country was founded on racism alone and that humans are responsible for the climate changes on a planet billions of years old, a planet on which humans are a mere blip. Enter the egregiously ignorant of all things economic Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; the even more clueless Ilhan Omar, the Muslim Somali who is so comfortable and self-assured with her vicious anti-Semitism; and Rashida Tlaib, also a Muslim who self-identifies as a Palestinian. Like Ocasio-Cortez, these two others hate Jews and Israel. These three women are the now the face of the Democratic Party, and Pelosi is letting it happen; she is putting them up front and in our faces. She is embracing their unmitigated moonbattery and blatant anti-Americanism! The American left has finally and overtly gone full socialist. If there are Democrats who oppose this massive shift to the radical left, where are they? Who are they? If they exist, they are cowards (as so many Republicans are cowards), afraid to buck the silly policies of these three constitutionally illiterate women. Their elevation to positions of power is a sad commentary on political awareness of voters in their districts. (Ocasio-Cortez won with 16,000 votes, one quarter of the registered voters in her district.) Ocasio-Cortez , Omar, and Tlaib as new members of the House are the latest wake-up call as to who and what the American left has become: fully Marxist, socialist, Alinskyite. They are either a treacherous danger to America or the tipping point that will shock enough of the American people who still know that socialism and communism are evil. Like Obama, they mean to transform us into an energyless socialist utopia of their imaginations, but we are a nation of freedom-loving individuals with a reverence for liberty and the comforts capitalism has provided for us all. We are not a collection of victim groups who seek to be taken care of by a tyrannical, all-powerful government. Omar, who knows nothing about American history, on Wednesday felt thoroughly comfortable attacking Eliot Abrams, special envoy to Venezuela, by rudely painting him as a supporter of genocide and other crimes decades in the past. She was reading, so one cannot help but wonder who wrote her despicable script. She also supports Iran's threatened war on Israel. Have the Democrats wagered that their overt anti-Semitism will keep black Americans in their camp? What explains their acceptance and defense of these women's outrageous statements? As long as Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Tlaib are the new faces of the Democratic Party, Trump will easily win re-election in 2020. The American people are not nearly as stupid as our "betters" in D.C. think we are. Millions more than voted for the man in 2016 are now supremely cognizant of Trump's many successes: black and Hispanic unemployment at an all-time low, a booming economy benefiting millions of workers, trade equalization, NATO paying its bills, and an energized pride in America as the beacon of freedom for the world. The left would have us all think the U.S. is a blight upon the planet when in fact we are the gift that keeps on giving to the rest of the world, which is why people from everywhere risk everything to come here. This toxic triumvirate of ignorance, bigotry, and intolerance needs to be exposed as the threat to America it is, that the Democratic Party is. Thomas Paine wrote, "It is the duty of the patriot to protect its country from its government." We would be wise to take this prescription to heart.
It didn't, according to Daniel DiSalvo, one of the authors of the study.

Washington Examiner:

Workers could still voluntarily join a union, but it was widely believed that the contract provisions were the main factor in getting workers' support. Public sector unions depend on those contract provisions to ensure a steady flow of revenue, and many braced for a financial blow from losing them.

But new state legislation generally made it easier for unions to attract and maintain members by ensuring unions had contact information for public sector workers and requiring the workers to meet with them.

Some went further. California, Washington, and New Jersey prevented public entities from informing workers that they could opt-out. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, signed an executive order prohibiting public entities from sharing worker contact information, which prevented conservative groups from alerting the workers to their rights. New York has granted public sector unions a monopoly for providing workers with benefits, such as life insurance. New York and Rhode Island allow certain unions to refuse to represent nonmembers in grievance proceedings.

Unions also stepped up in terms of organizing efforts. AFSCME claimed that it had representatives meet personally with 600,000 workers represented by its contracts, translating into a 12,000-member net increase in 2018. On average, unionized public sector workers make 10-14 percent more in salary than their nonunion counterparts, so unions could often make a strong pitch.

Either way, workers benefit from the Janus ruling, DiSalvo says. "The unions have to be more responsive to their members and focus on the bread and butter stuff now."
Sign the border deal and take the issue to 2020

President Trump has every right to be irritated with people who hate him so much that they can't remember when President Obama told us we had "a humanitarian crisis" on the border. President Trump should sign the current bill and concentrate in two areas:

1. Take the money and start building the wall. As I understand it, they are already building a wall, so keep going. After that, take a few trips to the border this year and update voters on the progress of the construction. 2. Get ready for 2020 and the issue of border security. I don't think all those members of Congress from competitive districts want to run in 2020 without some support for a wall or border security. Twenty twenty will be very different. In 2018, you saw a Democratic Party united around dislike of President Trump and the perfect storm of the first midterm election. In 2020, we will see a Democratic Party with a terrible identity problem, from health care to green energy. Democrats will probably have to deal with well funded leftist primary challengers forcing current members of Congress to avoid the generalities of 2018. And the face of the party will be either former V.P. Biden putting out fires from unhappy leftists or Senator Harris explaining why she wants do away with private health insurance. The Democrats now own the "there is no crisis on the border" narrative. I hope President Trump reminds their constituents of it. PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
It's not just that the badly needed funds for a border wall were slashed to a mere $1 billion. (As a means of comparison, the California bullet train got $77 billion allotted for its construction, with an easy $3 billion of that from the feds.)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lived up to her " cut your head off and you won't even know you're bleeding " characterization from her own daughter in the upcoming border deal, and not just for Republicans.

Actually, the DACA kids got nothing.

The border wall for the DREAMers deal, sometimes put forward by President Trump as a means of sweetening the wall funding for the Democrats, didn't figure in the recently completed negotiations for government funding.

What did get through as the magic bargaining chip for the meager wall funds was something far more disturbing: expanded catch-and-release. Breitbart reports:

The spending package provides the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency with less detention space to house border crossers and illegal aliens, funding about 40,250 beds rather than the 52,000 beds that Trump had requested. This is about the same level of detention space that is currently funded and that which ICE officials have said is not sufficient. Due to the massive number of illegal aliens in the U.S.  around 12 to 22 million  and roughly 1,300 new border crossers coming to the country every day, ICE officials have had to routinely exceed this 40,250 bed limit.

There is also this from Breitbart:

A key provision in the spending bill being presented to President Trump for signing stipulates that the federal government give specific Texas border counties the opportunity to derail any efforts to build barriers, fencing, or walls by simply opposing the construction of the border security measures  but many of the specified counties have a long and recent history of top officials taking bribes from the Mexican Gulf Cartel. Ultimately, the bill allows county offices with historic ties to the Gulf Cartel to stop U.S. border barriers from being constructed in the region.

Both of these will encourage more illegal immigration. Instead of relief for the DACA kids, Democrats went with that.

It's just in time for the five million people from south of our border who are already raring to come over this year, and you can bet it's not just south of our border where would-be illegals are working up their plans for illegal immigration. The prospect of wearing an easily cut ankle bracelet instead of detention is going to make migrating illegally that much more attractive, while the wall itself will be gummed up in lawsuits from mobbed up county officials.

Sorry, DACA kids. Instead of relief for you, which this bill might have entailed, you get additional migrant competition from south of the border, all hankering for the same amnesty you are looking for  and it's millions and millions of people. Obviously, you aren't so very special, except as a talking point for Democrats. Democrats want you just where you are, living amnesty-to-amnesty, a few years here, a few years there, never moving forward with long-term plans in your lives. All that ballot-harvesting for a Democratic takeover of Congress, and you got nothing.

This rather explains why DREAMers have shown some willingness to obnoxiously mau-mau Pelosi, who claims to champion them. Actually, she gave them the shiv. One almost wonders if it was those protests that got them the shiv.

This is astonishing, really: nothing for DACA, but a large amount of succor to human-smuggling cartels that profit off illegal immigration and a huge new welcome mat for millions of new illegals. What we see here is the Democratic Party's vested interest in chaos  not a solution for one of its favorite protected classes, the DACA kids, but a dinner triangle to call for more illegal immigration. Democrats under Pelosi don't care about the plight of DREAMers; their real interest is in an ever larger pool of illegals with no voting or citizenship rights, but lots of bureaucrat-hiring to deliver "services" to them, and greater congressional representation for Democrats as their numbers fill the precincts. The only thing Democrats want for illegals is their numbers, and as for their interests, or their voice, it will continue to be turned over to activists and federally financed NGOs who purport to represent them. Actual relief for illegals to do their own thing and eventually live as Americans isn't anywhere near in this picture.

This is the doing of Democrats. This is "who they are," and it demonstrates in spades what their use for illegal aliens really is: a vast helot class with no official rights to bolster Democrat priorities, always staying illegal. If I were an illegal alien of any kind, I'd be looking to Republicans for some kind of naturalization deal palatable to Republicans and focused on the rule-of-law front, maybe some kind of deal where they can apply legally in their home country same as the others to get in, with credit for academic achievement, English mastery, military service, and U.S. job needs in the states, over this newly revealed Democrat plan for them, with amnesty forever dangled out.

Nancy Pelosi has cut their heads off. It shows just how stupid it is for anyone, even those she claims to champion, to trust this human viper.

Image credit: YouTube screen grab from Tucker Carlson's Fox News show.
Immigrants and the Jewish death wish

A thousand American rabbis sign a petition to bring refugees carrying the Jew-hating gene into America. Jewish bodies condemn President Trump for enacting a temporary "Muslim ban" (entirely for security reasons) on a handful of Jew-hating countries. Jewish billionaire George Soros troubles every corner of Europe with mad visions of a border-free bloc. American Jews take tikkun olam (repairing the world) to mean sheltering Muslims without legal papers. Jews are for Palestinian rights  for any right that has nothing to do with Jewish rights. How to explain Jewish activism for people with ideas of the evil Jew transmitted through the blood and implanted in the brain? Even the left-wing Huffington Post concluded the obvious: "Migrants streaming into Europe from the Middle East are bringing with them virulent anti-Semitism which is erupting from Scandinavia to France to Germany." Today, to keep honest, the HuffPo would have to add "Muslim Democrats bringing to Congress with them virulent anti-Semitism."

Somali-born Ilhan Omar is one of these elects. "It's all about the Benjamins, baby," Omar tweeted. "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel" is another of the congresswoman's tweets. Her fellow Jew-baiter is the first Palestinian elected to Congress. Rashida Tlaib, the Democratic representative for Michigan is a BDS advocate on a mission. Tlaib wants to offer congressional members an "alternative" introduction to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to show them "the side that I know is real." By the "real side," she does not mean the Palestinian "welfare" system, which paid suicide murderers and their families $300 million in 2018, to incentivize more Palestinians to take the martyr route to paradise. She will not take her delegation to meet Mr. 20%, the nickname for P.A. chairman Mahmoud Abbas, on the Forbes list of the wealthy for never doing an honest day's work. Tlaib's party will not speak to Arab regimes that view Palestinians as a subversive, treacherous, destabilizing element. They will not inspect Lebanese camps where tens of thousands of Palestinians languish in conditions unfit for pigs. No, Tlaib's group will focus on "the side that is more real," meaning on the evil that Zionists do. Her grandmother in a West Bank village will tell Congress members what's what. Yet bewitched by the beauty of social engineering ("diversity" in the lingo), Jews of no sane mind want more immigrants fed by mother's milk on Jew-hatred. Their minds are not thoughtful or compassionate. They cannot be when every case screams out the end awaiting diasporas when Muslim influences weaken the fabric of tolerant Western society. To be a Jewish activist is not to wear your heart on your sleeve, but to hold a death wish in your psyche. Where Jews once lived unthreatened, they don't anymore, to look at Britain, at France, at Holland, at Germany, at Belgium, at Sweden, at, of all diasporas, America. Every country case cries from the hilltops: the minority group that will bear the brunt of Muslim migration is the Jewish minority. Have there been anti-Christian upticks, or anti-Hindu upticks, or anti-black upticks, or anti-Hispanic upticks? Perhaps there have been anti-Muslim upticks, but they are in reaction to the Muslim influx, not from it. Is there anything to compare to the anti-Jewish uptick  in the streets, in mainstream politics, in the mainstream media? Are Christians and their countries vilified? Or Hindus and their countries? Are Africans or Hispanics and their origins hated with a passion? Only the Jews and the planet's only Jewish country set minds on fire. This is not to claim that it's always, or even mostly, imported Jew-hatred. Much of it, especially in party politics and the media, is home-grown. But home-grown Jew-hatred seems to be the product of Muslim immigration. Is it sheer coincidence that Jew-hatred in the British Labor Party, headed by anti-Semite Jeremy Corbyn, coincides with the muscle-flexing of Labor's Muslim constituents and constituencies? Is it sheer coincidence that the new naked hatred in Congress gets a fillip from Arab-Americans? Or that the stakeholders of the New York Times and CNN share the worldview and the affiliations of migrants Omar and Tlaib? What to say? When Jews make common cause with Jew-haters, the incapacitating casualty is that well earned clear-thinking Jewish "kop." The writer is an economist and cost accountant and prolific author of novels, non-fiction, opinion, and essays. Steve blogs at http://enemiesofzion.wordpress.com.
Congress should reject Ilhan Omar before she makes anti-Semitism acceptable

It is becoming more obvious by the day  even by the tweet-hour  that newly elected Congresswoman Omar is anti-Semitic and is peddling her anti-Israel and anti-Jewish stance through the well known and effective drip-by-drip method. It is a strategy, as we have seen from Islamists in Europe, where an anti-Israel or anti-Jewish statement is made and then partially retracted after an uproar. It is repeated multiple times, followed by multiple half-hearted retractions, with the goal and effect of a slow but inevitable seepage of anti-Jewish caricatures into the country's political discourse and into the minds of its people. This successful strategy has poisoned Europe's discourse against Jews and Israel and is being imported here with the arrival into Congress of Ms. Omar and Ms. Rashida Tlaib.

The question today is, do the leaders of the U.S. Congress, and especially Ms. Pelosi, have the conviction and will to oust this never-ending shower of anti-Jewish rhetoric as they would if such was being said against other groups? Will they permanently shut this down before it metastasizes? There is no question that Ms. Omar's playing-innocent type of apologies are done in such a manner as to momentarily quell the outcry against her remarks while assuring her base that she has not capitulated to the powers outside her community. Her nonchalant use of anti-Semitic stereotypes and language is furthermore disturbing for reflecting her community's comfort with and approval of anti-Semitic ideas that most Americans deem beyond the pale. Omar should be censured and, beyond that, removed from the powerful and influential House Foreign Affairs Committee that Speaker Pelosi surprisingly granted to this first-year legislator. Omar's thinking, her conduct, and her blithe willingness to inject anti-Semitic tropes into the legislative process make her unfit to hold such a strategic position. She and Ms. Tlaib have come to Congress with unprecedented brazenness, defiance, and impropriety that go beyond mere difference of opinion. Right out of the gate, both women have overridden expected norms and decency as single-minded propagandists eager to use their presence and committee positions as platforms to propagandize against Israel, and Jews who support Israel, by making the heretofore unacceptable now acceptable. No one should be afraid to censure and remove Ms. Omar from the committee on behalf of stopping the drip-by-drip plot to sully Israel and the Jewish people, nor be afraid of being labeled "anti-woman" or "racist" or "Islamophobic." Omar's defenders and organizations here, such as CAIR, will label her censure indicative of the "power of the Zionists," but what it will in fact be is the power of justice and the American way. Rabbi Aryeh Spero is author of Push Back, president of Caucus for America, and spokesman for National Conference of Jewish Affairs. Image: Leopaltik1242 via Wikimedia Commons.
WASHINGTON, Feb 15: The U.S. government and Facebook Inc are negotiating a settlement over the companys privacy lapses that could require the online social network to pay a multibillion-dollar fine, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Facebook had not agreed on an amount, citing two people it said were familiar with the matter. Facebook reported fourth-quarter revenue of $16.9 billion and profit of $6.9 billion.

The FTC has been investigating revelations that Facebook inappropriately shared information belonging to 87 million of its users with the now-defunct British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

The probe has focused on whether the sharing of data with Cambridge Analytica and other privacy disputes violated a 2011 agreement with the FTC to safeguard users privacy.

An eventual settlement may also mandate changes in how Facebook does business.

Facebook declined to comment directly on the Washington Post report. We have been working with the FTC and will continue to work with the FTC, a spokeswoman said.

The FTC declined to comment.

The biggest FTC fine for a privacy lapse was $22.5 million levied on Alphabet Incs Google in 2012. The agency has had bigger settlements on other issues.

The FTC settled with pharmaceutical company Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in 2015 for $1.2 billion to resolve antitrust violations committed by Cephalon, which it had acquired.
Senate loser Beto O'Rourke told MSNBC's Chris Hayes, "Yes, absolutely  I'd take the wall down." Hayes was questioning O'Rourke about a tweet from GOP rep. Dan Crenshaw, who posed a question to Beto, asking "If you could snap your fingers and make El Paso's border wall disappear, would you?"

Here's a glimpse at just how much 2020 Democratic candidates for president will pander to the open borders crowd and just how radical those campaigns will be.

Fox News:

Asked whether El Paso residents would support that move in a referendum, O'Rourke replied, "I do." He continued: "Here's what we know. After the Secure Fence Act [of 2006], we have built 600 miles of wall and fencing on a 2,000-mile border. What that has done is not in any demonstrable way made us safer. It's cost us tens of billions of dollars to build and maintain. And it's pushed migrants and asylum seekers and refugees to the most inhospitable, the most hostile stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border, ensuring their suffering and death." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Democrats, including then-Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, supported the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which authorized the construction of some 700 miles of fencing at the border. As of 2015, virtually all of that fencing had been completed, according to government figures. "More than 4,000 human beings, little kids, women and children, have died," O'Rourke continued. "They're not in cages, they're not locked up, they're not separated  they're dead, over the last 10 years, as we have walled off their opportunity to legally petition for asylum, to cross in urban centers like El Paso, to be with family, to work jobs, to do what any human being should have a right to be able to do, what we would do if faced with the same circumstances they were."

The 4,000 dead chose to attempt illegal crossings of the border. Hadn't they ever heard of an American consulate in the countries they started from? You don't have to make a dangerous attempt to get here illegally and then petition for asylum. You can do it in the air-conditioned comfort of a U.S. embassy or consulate.

But O'Rourke's argument is a straw man argument. Tugging at our heartstrings by describing dead women and children and trying to blame the U.S. for their deaths is typical. In Beto's world, and the world of most Democratic candidates for president, preventing a human tsunami at our border is "immoral"  that anyone who wants to live and work (?) in America should be able to.

If O'Rourke would "absolutely" tear down existing border walls, he will absolutely lose any election he stands for as a candidate, including senator, representative, or dog-catcher. Given that both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton supported the construction of additional border barriers in 2006, and that Beto and other Dem hopefuls in 2020 oppose it, just how radical do you think these candidates will be if they oppose border protection supported by those two far-left liberals?
Ironically, laws here in New York forbade parents from having their childrens ears pierced without parental permission, but Planned Parenthood needed no such admonition about allowing those metal instruments to be inserted into minors requesting termination of inconvenient pregnancies.

On my first bus trip to the Right to Life March in DC, the driver put in the tape of the infamous film, The Silent Scream, narrated by Dr. Bernard Nathanson. Nathanson was one of the original co-founders of NARAL, (the first abortion advocate group), whose mind was changed about the issue after watching an ultrasound showing the struggle of a fetus fighting for its life. What I found incredible about the film was a display of the many deadly instruments depicted that would be inserted into the womans body.

I doubt that the Governor cares about being ostracized from a church he doesnt even attend, but what might shake him up is when Democrat Catholics change their political registration to Independent or Republican. Perhaps its time that the clergy start preaching about how evil it is to kill babies just because they are inconvenient. Perhaps its time for Democrat voters to admit the party is not what it was before. Their party believes in infanticide and open borders that threaten our security.

Then, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gleefully signing an abortion bill euphemistically called the Reproductive Health Act that allows abortion till birth, while still claiming his values are part of his Catholic faith since he was an altar boy, brought out calls for his excommunication.

Then, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gleefully signing an abortion bill euphemistically called the Reproductive Health Act that allows abortion till birth, while still claiming his values are part of his Catholic faith since he was an altar boy, brought out calls for his excommunication.

The admission by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam that born alive aborted babies could be killed if parents and physician decided on this choice, shocked people more than the blackface picture in his yearbook.

The admission by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam that born alive aborted babies could be killed if parents and physician decided on this choice, shocked people more than the blackface picture in his yearbook.

Last years film, Gosnell: the trial of Americas biggest serial killer, largely suppressed in theatrical distribution by the left, is now on DVD and being widely distributed, is an eye-opener to the truth about the filthy and dangerous clinics available to minority women.

Last years film, Gosnell: the trial of Americas biggest serial killer, largely suppressed in theatrical distribution by the left, is now on DVD and being widely distributed, is an eye-opener to the truth about the filthy and dangerous clinics available to minority women.

Up until this time, abortionists could argue that the fetus was just a clot of bloody cells, but the new technology showed the fetus as alive, breathing with a heartbeat and feeling pain. Besides Nathanson, McCorvey and Cano, many Planned Parenthood workers have become converts to the respect life movement. The public ignorance about what actually goes on in abortion clinics is coming to an end for several reasons.

Dr Nathanson, who had presided over 60,000 abortions as an OB/GYN and performed over 5,000 himself including his own child by a former girlfriend, became increasing uneasy when he witnessed a live abortion on the newly developed ultrasound. It reminded me of an article I read in Esquire magazine. It was a page long and illustrated with a picture of what appeared to be a procedure room. It was written by a doctor passing by this room where an abortion was taking place. Another doctor had inserted a saline solution into the womb and the passing doctor viewed with interest the needle protruding from the patient. He watched as the needle started moving back and forth and then watched it move violently as the fetus fought for its life as the killing solution filled the womb. The article was written not long after the Roe v. Wade decision, and the author of the article did not weigh in on the issue in depth other than to suggest that he was disturbed by the fetus's fight for life.

I felt crushed under the truth of this realization. I had to face up to the awful reality. Abortion wasn't about 'products of conception'. It wasn't about 'missed periods'. It was about children being killed in their mother's wombs. All those years I was wrong. Signing that affidavit , I was wrong. Working in an abortion clinic, I was wrong. No more of this first trimester, second trimester, third trimester stuff. Abortionat any pointwas wrong. It was so clear. Painfully clear. 

I was sitting in O.R.'s offices when I noticed a fetal development poster. The progression was so obvious, the eyes were so sweet. It hurt my heart, just looking at them. I ran outside and finally, it dawned on me. 'Norma', I said to myself, 'They're right'. I had worked with pregnant women for years. I had been through three pregnancies and deliveries myself. I should have known. Yet something in that poster made me lose my breath. I kept seeing the picture of that tiny, 10-week-old embryo , and I said to myself, that's a baby! It's as if blinders just fell off my eyes and I suddenly understood the truththat's a baby!

The truth is that Sandra was pregnant and wanted her baby. She had already had two babies who were at that time in state care and she wanted them back. She loved babies and wanted to have them. Her lawyer lied and said that Sandra wanted to be sterilized. More lies. Both McCorvey and Cano subsequently became active pro-life spokespersons. They attempted to set the record straight and to dispel the lies surrounding Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. Lies, all lies and I wonder if these lawyers should have been disbarred for lying to their clients.

There were more lies to come from abortion advocates in the other case before the SCOTUS, Doe v. Bolton. This case extended the right to abortion from the first trimester to the point of delivery. According to Sandra Cano, Doe, she didnt want an abortion at all. She had come to see her lawyer about a divorce. She never had an abortion nor sought one. Her ACLU lawyer saw an opportunity to advance the cause of abortion so, without telling her client, Ms. Cano, she proceeded to push this case all the way to the Supreme Court. Sandra Cano never knew this was even happening. The case came up with no evidence  unheard of at the Supreme Court. There was presented an affidavit that said that Sandra Cano asserted that she would go crazy if she had to have another baby.

According to a repentant Nathanson, Roe v. Wade was decided in the SCOTUS through a series of lies and deceitful testimony. Jane Roe, aka Norma McCorvey, admitted she lied to her attorneys about being gang-raped. One of her lawyers had recently had an abortion in Mexico but told McCorvey she did not know where she could obtain one. She also lied to the court that Ms. McCorvey had sought out many places to have it performed. Bernard Nathanson admitted lying about the number of back ally abortion deaths, and said the figure of 5,000-10, 000 was completely fabricated. According to health records of 1972 over 130,000 women attempted self abortions; 39 died.

On my first bus trip to the Right to Life March in DC, the driver put in the tape of the infamous film, The Silent Scream, narrated by Dr. Bernard Nathanson. Nathanson was one of the original co-founders of NARAL, (the first abortion advocate group), whose mind was changed about the issue after watching an ultrasound showing the struggle of a fetus fighting for its life. What I found incredible about the film was a display of the many deadly instruments depicted that would be inserted into the womans body.

Ironically, laws here in New York forbade parents from having their childrens ears pierced without parental permission, but Planned Parenthood needed no such admonition about allowing those metal instruments to be inserted into minors requesting termination of inconvenient pregnancies.

According to a repentant Nathanson, Roe v. Wade was decided in the SCOTUS through a series of lies and deceitful testimony. Jane Roe, aka Norma McCorvey, admitted she lied to her attorneys about being gang-raped. One of her lawyers had recently had an abortion in Mexico but told McCorvey she did not know where she could obtain one. She also lied to the court that Ms. McCorvey had sought out many places to have it performed. Bernard Nathanson admitted lying about the number of back ally abortion deaths, and said the figure of 5,000-10, 000 was completely fabricated. According to health records of 1972 over 130,000 women attempted self abortions; 39 died.

There were more lies to come from abortion advocates in the other case before the SCOTUS, Doe v. Bolton. This case extended the right to abortion from the first trimester to the point of delivery. According to Sandra Cano, Doe, she didnt want an abortion at all. She had come to see her lawyer about a divorce. She never had an abortion nor sought one. Her ACLU lawyer saw an opportunity to advance the cause of abortion so, without telling her client, Ms. Cano, she proceeded to push this case all the way to the Supreme Court. Sandra Cano never knew this was even happening. The case came up with no evidence  unheard of at the Supreme Court. There was presented an affidavit that said that Sandra Cano asserted that she would go crazy if she had to have another baby.

The truth is that Sandra was pregnant and wanted her baby. She had already had two babies who were at that time in state care and she wanted them back. She loved babies and wanted to have them. Her lawyer lied and said that Sandra wanted to be sterilized. More lies. Both McCorvey and Cano subsequently became active pro-life spokespersons. They attempted to set the record straight and to dispel the lies surrounding Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. Lies, all lies and I wonder if these lawyers should have been disbarred for lying to their clients.

In her second book, Won By Love, Norma McCorvey wrote about why she changed her stance on abortion:

I was sitting in O.R.'s offices when I noticed a fetal development poster. The progression was so obvious, the eyes were so sweet. It hurt my heart, just looking at them. I ran outside and finally, it dawned on me. 'Norma', I said to myself, 'They're right'. I had worked with pregnant women for years. I had been through three pregnancies and deliveries myself. I should have known. Yet something in that poster made me lose my breath. I kept seeing the picture of that tiny, 10-week-old embryo, and I said to myself, that's a baby! It's as if blinders just fell off my eyes and I suddenly understood the truththat's a baby! I felt crushed under the truth of this realization. I had to face up to the awful reality. Abortion wasn't about 'products of conception'. It wasn't about 'missed periods'. It was about children being killed in their mother's wombs. All those years I was wrong. Signing that affidavit, I was wrong. Working in an abortion clinic, I was wrong. No more of this first trimester, second trimester, third trimester stuff. Abortionat any pointwas wrong. It was so clear. Painfully clear.

Dr Nathanson, who had presided over 60,000 abortions as an OB/GYN and performed over 5,000 himself including his own child by a former girlfriend, became increasing uneasy when he witnessed a live abortion on the newly developed ultrasound. It reminded me of an article I read in Esquire magazine. It was a page long and illustrated with a picture of what appeared to be a procedure room. It was written by a doctor passing by this room where an abortion was taking place. Another doctor had inserted a saline solution into the womb and the passing doctor viewed with interest the needle protruding from the patient. He watched as the needle started moving back and forth and then watched it move violently as the fetus fought for its life as the killing solution filled the womb. The article was written not long after the Roe v. Wade decision, and the author of the article did not weigh in on the issue in depth other than to suggest that he was disturbed by the fetus's fight for life.

Up until this time, abortionists could argue that the fetus was just a clot of bloody cells, but the new technology showed the fetus as alive, breathing with a heartbeat and feeling pain. Besides Nathanson, McCorvey and Cano, many Planned Parenthood workers have become converts to the respect life movement. The public ignorance about what actually goes on in abortion clinics is coming to an end for several reasons.

Underground videos of Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of aborted fetal parts has been confirmed by testimony of an ex procurement technician for biotech startup Stem Express.

Last years film, Gosnell: the trial of Americas biggest serial killer, largely suppressed in theatrical distribution by the left, is now on DVD and being widely distributed, is an eye-opener to the truth about the filthy and dangerous clinics available to minority women.

The admission by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam that born alive aborted babies could be killed if parents and physician decided on this choice, shocked people more than the blackface picture in his yearbook.

Then, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gleefully signing an abortion bill euphemistically called the Reproductive Health Act that allows abortion till birth, while still claiming his values are part of his Catholic faith since he was an altar boy, brought out calls for his excommunication.

I doubt that the Governor cares about being ostracized from a church he doesnt even attend, but what might shake him up is when Democrat Catholics change their political registration to Independent or Republican. Perhaps its time that the clergy start preaching about how evil it is to kill babies just because they are inconvenient. Perhaps its time for Democrat voters to admit the party is not what it was before. Their party believes in infanticide and open borders that threaten our security.

Its also time for no more lies about the evil of abortion still paid for by taxpayers.

No mas.
'The Road to Shariadom' in America

The Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America (AMJA) is part of an international network of Muslim scholars that preaches shariah rule as a government system, even issuing a fatwa delineating sharia's "superiority" over democracy. It is one of many Muslim organizations now dangerously and politically active in the United States. They include the 25-year-old Council of Islamic Relations, CAIR, self-described as a "Muslim civil rights organization" with an Islamic perspective on American public issues. More recent organizations  created in 2015 and similarly politically dedicated  include JETPAC, the Justice, Education and Technology Policy Advocacy Center, which encourages American Muslims to get involved in local politics, and MPower Change, committed to creating a political platform for Muslim issues and organizing around it. All these politically active Muslim-American groups, prominent Muslims and other Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organizations within the U.S. publicly avow that they have no intention of implementing sharia in the U.S. Yet, their stated political goals, public statements and recent reports, betray their true intentions: to grow in political strength sufficient to replace our democracy with their religious governance.

More than 100 top Muslim leaders belong to AMJA, which began in 2003. Imams at over 3,100 U.S. mosques look to AMJA for instructional guidance to lead their congregations. The group's name in Arabic, "The Group of Sharia Specialists in America," implies its purpose: to impel Muslims to follow its comprehensive, sharia-compliant fatwas. Many of the group's leaders attended Egypt's Al-Azhar University, the world's highest academy of Islamic learning and interpreter of the definitive sharia text  The Reliance of the Traveller. Thus, AMJA possesses authority to provide legal rulings for the worldwide Islamic community and keep all Muslim Americans and affiliated Muslim Brotherhood organizations in line with unalterable sharia law. The organization rules on how Muslims must conduct themselves in the non-Muslim world until sharia becomes law. One fatwa revealingly instructs Muslim judges in non-Muslim countries to judge by Sharia "as much as possible, even if by ruse." Following the 2016 election and the perceived "calamity" of Trump's victory, AMJA issued a major, fatwa-filled report: "AMJA Post-Election Statement: Principles and Roadmap." It cited concern over three specific Trump administration actions: the executive order barring entry to those from "countries of concern"  Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen  support for a congressional bill to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization and the announced move of the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. In response, AMJA's Roadmap calls on Muslims to defend Islam and use U.S. constitutional rights to their benefit. It cautions them to defer to trained scholars, assumedly AMJA leaders, and avoid violating sharia tenets. It calls for Muslim unity, alignment of their dawah efforts and coalition building with other ethnic and religious groups and movements that serve Muslim community causes. The Roadmap also issued veiled threats to American citizens. The foundation for AMJA's Roadmap exists in a 1991 Muslim Brotherhood document, the Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America, entered into evidence during the 2008 HLF-Hamas trial. The secret internal document, written by senior MB officials and a Hamas leader, clearly defined the Brotherhood's goals, activities and infrastructure in America. It elucidated plans to infiltrate and take over American democracy and the Constitution and replace them with an Islamic government and sharia. It clearly defines its "work in America as a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within." AMJA's general secretary, Dr. Salah Al-Sawy, who also founded Mishkah Islamic University of North America (formerly Sharia Academy of America) has proclaimed that the Muslim American community seeks to improve its position regarding jurisprudence, rather than imposing sharia, as they are not yet in a position to do so in the west. However, Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR spokesman and co-founder, was more forthright in a 1993 interview when he stated that he wants the U.S. to be governed by Islamic law in the future. In 2003, he admitted that if Muslims became a majority in America, they would likely seek to replace the Constitution with sharia. CAIR, an un-indicted, co-conspirator in the HLF-Hamas trial, has thwarted efforts to protect fundamental constitutional rights, such as the American Laws for American Courts, ALAC, legislation which seeks to prohibit foreign laws from being used in U.S. courts. CAIR has falsely claimed anti-Muslim bias in a bill that actually protects Americans from foreign law and affirms America's commitment to the U.S. Constitution. The newer Muslim American organizations not surprisingly echo the Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR and AMJA positions and activism. MPower Change, co-founded by MB operative, Linda Sarsour, joined CAIR to fight for repeal of Trump's entry ban on people from designated terrorist havens. It also endorses the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement that targets Israel. It has worked to increase voter turnout with #MyMuslimVote partners national network and held the first ever, National Muslim Voter Registration Day, registering new voters at 50 different nationwide events, including many mosques, and called 10,000 voters in a #CallingAllMuslims phone-bank effort. Meanwhile, JETPAC developed proprietary software for social media outreach, fundraising, canvassing, and media communications. It also teaches promising candidates grassroots organizing techniques and how to leverage civil rights issues for Muslim community causes. In November 2018, CAIR, JETPAC and MPower Change jointly published "The Rise of American Muslim Changemakers: Political Organizing in the Trump Era." The report showcased Roadmap and MB strategic plan results. It summarized successful efforts to increase Muslim participation in the American political process and reaffirmed the MB's commitment to influencing the political landscape and advancing Islam. Promoted as "an analysis of the rise of the American Muslim political class in the Trump era," the report profiles the 276 American Muslims who ran for office between 2016 and 2018. They raised $16.2 million and ran for mostly local, county and state legislative offices. Of those, 131 were elected, 36% women and 64% men. More than half of the candidates were in California, New Jersey, Minnesota and Michigan, states with the largest Muslim populations. The report also used data on American Muslim voter attitudes from CAIR's 2018 midterm election exit poll survey of 1,027 respondents to provide insight into increased Muslim participation and political success. It characterized Muslim Americans as "unapologetically Muslim" in the face of alleged "Islamophobia" and as aligned with progressive leftist voices in the current political spectrum, citing a 78% Muslim vote in the midterm elections for Democrats. It calls attention to the rise of anti-Muslim bigotry and discounts the role of understandable public concerns about rampant Islamic terrorism and of blatant attempts by Muslim leaders to integrate sharia aspects into American communities. The report also mentions, as an example of bigotry, opposition to build a mosque at the 9/11 site and fails to recognize the insensitivity of such a plan. It also fails to mention worldwide Islamic terrorist attacks and Muslim ideology spewed nationwide in mosques and universities that are radically antithetical to western principles of liberty and equality. The report attributes "Islamophobia" to the Republican Party, particularly in the Trump era, rather than righteous caution concerning Muslims after radical Islamic activity in the U.S. and abroad. Despite these conclusions, the report characterizes American Muslim candidates as focusing on community needs to ensure that "American political culture serves everyone, equally and equitably." It says most American Muslim candidates enjoy localized and highly networked support with overlapping constituencies or "intersectionality," affiliate with the Democratic Party and align their interests with those of other ethnic and religious minorities. Remarkably, given Islam's position on homosexuality and drugs, they support LGBTQ and promote marijuana decriminalization. As these positions are antithetical to Islamic norms and values, this smacks of pure opportunism to ally with the Left to advance Islam. The political advances of these new American Muslim organizations, detailed above, are not surprising. For three generations, the Muslim Brotherhood in America has been building an observant Muslim base to integrate sharia and promote Islam. Their work is beginning to bear fruit as evidenced by the burgeoning of Muslim American political power. This a horrifying prospect given that Islamic doctrine unalterably prohibits the separation of mosque and state, mandates the supremacy of Muslims over non-Muslims and codifies the dominion of men over women. We should be alert and recognize that this movement represents a growing threat to democracy and American values.
In 1838, Abraham Lincoln spoke before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois. There, Lincoln observed that "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." While Lincoln was talking about the dangers of slavery, his message also applies today. More particularly, congressional Democrats are so obsessed with defeating the president that they have lost touch with reality. Some of the proposed policies by those on the far left will serve to destroy the country from within by leaving the country more porous, more vulnerable, and in dire financial shape. For this reason, these far-left policies must be rejected.

Almost three weeks ago, President Trump announced a three-week temporary end to the partial government shutdown that did not include funding for a border wall. In doing so, he put country over politics and put the onus on the Democrats to negotiate in good faith and to put partisan politics aside on the issue of border security. The three-week period ends today. According to the Washington Examiner, just days away from another potential government shutdown, House and Senate negotiators reached a "bipartisan" deal "in principle" that provided 1.375 billion dollars in funding for physical barriers along 55 miles of the Rio Grande Valley. In addition, per PBS, the deal would include "funding for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain an average of 45,274 people a day for the rest of this fiscal year, which Democrats assert would force ICE to cut daily detentions for the rest of the year.

If the president does not have adequate funds to build the wall, our borders will remain highly porous, and people who are in the country illegally could be set free. In addition, "Senate Democrats recently introduced legislation to prevent the president from using military and disaster relief funds to construct the U.S.-Mexico border wall should he declare a national emergency," according to The Hill. In other words, they blatantly attempted to circumvent the president's powers under the National Emergency Act.

The Democrats' refusal to adequately fund the border wall simply to get back at the president is dangerous and leaves the country more porous and more vulnerable.

Taxes

According to some of the far left, the time has come to significantly raise taxes on the wealthy. There is no better example than the State of New York. According to the New York Post, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren (D) and New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently proposed that "Americans who happen to be very rich pay upward of 70 percent tax on their incomes." Ocasio-Cortez intended to use the tax hike to fund her Green New Deal. According to Americans for Tax Reform, "[t]he current top federal income tax rate is 37 percent, so the Ocasio-Cortez plan will nearly double the tax rate for the top bracket. New York State has a top income tax rate of 8.82 percent while New York City has a top rate of 3.876 percent. So under this proposal, her constituents would pay a top combined income tax rate of 82.7 percent."

While some might argue that the "very rich" should pay more in taxes, the "progressive" proposals by Warren and Ocasio-Cortez have historically failed and carry certain risks. For example, the wealthiest people in New York (and elsewhere if other states follow suit) could decide to leave the state for a more tax-friendly environment. Additionally, companies could decide against setting up shop in New York if they face exorbitant taxes, making for fewer job opportunities. This socialistic approach was previously implemented in Sweden and failed miserably.

The impact of such exorbitant tax hikes would hurt individuals, businesses, and jobs throughout the country. Sadly, these failures would be the byproduct of our own policies and decisions.

Medicare for All

Medicare for All sounds nice on paper. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and several other Democrats have strongly pushed for this type of system. In essence, this system abolishes Medicare and outlaws private insurance. Therefore, the government controls everyone's medical care and decides on the payment schedules, treatment options, and coverage (and limitations thereto).

However, because the government will be paying for all medical care, it will pay doctors and hospitals at reduced rates. As such, since doctors can't make up their losses by billing private insurance (which is barred), they will have to see more patients, thereby reducing the quality of care. This would ultimately hurt everyone. Elderly patients would be hit particularly hard because their medical conditions are typically more complicated, and doctors would push them to the end of the line, given the amount of time it would take to see them. According to The Hill:

As is evident, this far-left system (proposed by some within the United States), is virtually impossible to maintain and is un-sustainable.

The United States is a melting pot with people from all over the world. It is a country that welcomes people with open arms and gives them the opportunity to live the American dream. Our freedoms rely on our nation's laws and policies, the majority of which are just and fair. Unfortunately, some of the proposed policies by those on the far left will serve to seriously hurt the country by leaving the country more porous, more vulnerable, and in dire financial shape. For this reason, these far-left policies must be rejected.

Mr. Hakim is a writer, commentator, and practicing attorney. His articles have been published in The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, The Western Journal, American Thinker, and other online publications.

https://thoughtfullyconservative.wordpress.com

Twitter: @ThoughtfulGOP
Men in neon-colored T-shirts lined up outside the Isle of Capri construction site Thursday morning to protest the lack of local workers being used for projects at the Westlake casino.lWere here because there is work going on inside from a company that bid the work and then brought in peopl
Lake Charles  Last night at approximately 11:00 p.m. the Calcasieu Parish Sheriffs Office received a call in reference to a man in the roadway near the intersection of Opelousas Street and Ange Street in Lake Charles.
Kathmandu, Nepal: The Charge dAffaires ad Interim of Japan to Nepal, Mr. Yuzo Yoshioka, signed a grant contract for the construction of a health center in Chaudandigadhi Municipality, Udayapur District. The grant contract was signed between the Embassy of Japan and Ms. Mausham Rai, Chairperson of the Female Awareness Campaign Team Nepal (FACT Nepal).

The Project for the Construction of a Health Center in Chaudandigadi Municipality, Udayapur District is funded under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) of the Japanese Government. The total grant assistance is USD 67,944 (approximately NPR 8.0 million).

The project will support the construction of a health center with an emergency department. Currently, the Municipality runs a small health post in the area in a rented residential house. The health post has two small rooms and there is no facility to ensure the necessary hygiene and safety environment for medical treatment.

The new health center will have enough space and facilities to provide medical services to the local communities. Especially, the health center will focus on maternity health and childrens healthy development by providing the necessary vaccinations and regular check-ups.

FACT Nepal has been contributing to the betterment of health services in the region since its establishment in 2004. They provide trainings and awareness campaigns on public health, early child development education, and income generation for local women in Udayapur District.

The Embassy of Japan expects this project will improve the health care services for the people in rural areas and that more people will have access to basic medical treatment in the vicinity. The Embassy also hopes the assistance will further strengthen the bilateral relationship between Japan and Nepal.
By Fayaz Bukhari





SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - A suicide bomber rammed a car into a bus carrying Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir on Thursday, killing 44 of them in the deadliest attack in decades on security forces in the disputed region, raising tensions with arch foe Pakistan.





The Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack. The Indian government accused Pakistan of letting militant groups operate from its soil and called on it to take action.





Islamabad said it rejected the suggestion it was linked to the attack.





Kashmir is a Muslim-majority region at the heart of decades of hostility between India and Pakistan. The neighbors both rule parts of the region while claiming the entire territory as theirs.





The explosion targeting a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was heard from several miles away, according to witnesses. Mohammad Yunis, a journalist who reached the site minutes later, told Reuters he saw blood and body parts scattered along a 100-meter stretch of the main highway running through the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.





"We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries," the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement, hours after the attack.





Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the attack a matter of "grave concern". But in a brief statement early on Friday it added, "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations."





Islamabad has previously denied New Delhi's accusations that it gives material help to the militants fighting Indian rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir. It says it gives only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination.





The White House urged Pakistan in a statement "to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil". It said the attack strengthens U.S. resolve to step up counter-terrorism cooperation with India.





Television images showed a mangled car amid rubble and snow around the site. Reuters photos showed tens of policemen surveying damaged vehicles and one policeman was seen carrying a plastic cover with guns inside.





The death toll stood at 44, a senior police official said.





The Central Reserve Force Police is a paramilitary organization that is working with the Indian military to quell the 30-year insurgency in Kashmir.





"I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.





Indian forces have sporadically battled Islamist militants in mountainous Kashmir since an armed revolt in 1989 in which tens of thousands were killed, but car bombings are rare.





A video circulating on social media on Thursday purportedly featured the suicide bomber, and showed a young man holding a gun and threatening more attacks. Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the video.





The Indian foreign ministry accused the Pakistani government of giving the militant group Jaish a free run in Pakistan, saying it has allowed the group's leader, Masood Azhar, "to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity".





The last major attack in Kashmir was in 2016 when militants raided an Indian army camp in Uri, killing 20 soldiers.





Tension with Pakistan rose after that incident when New Delhi said the attackers had come from Pakistan to stage the assault. Pakistan denied any involvement.





MODI UNDER PRESSURE





The attack could put Modi, who faces a general election due by May, under political pressure to act against the militants and Pakistan.





Randeep Singh Surjewala, a spokesman for the main opposition Congress party, accused Modi of compromising on security.





"Zero political action & Zero policy to tackle terror has led to an alarming security situation," Surjewala said in one of a series of tweets.





Kanwal Sibal, a former top diplomat, said a diplomatic response from India would not be enough.





"They will have to do something otherwise I think it will be very difficult for government to absorb this blow and be seen to be doing nothing," Sibal told Reuters.





The Jaish-e-Mohammad group is one of the most powerful militant groups operating in Kashmir. It was blamed for a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that led to India deploying its military on the border with Pakistan.





In a statement carried by GNS news agency, a spokesman for the group said dozens of security force vehicles were destroyed in the attack.





Arun Jaitley, a senior minister in Modi's cabinet, said India would retaliate, tweeting that "terrorists will be given unforgettable lesson for their heinous act".





On Wednesday, an explosion at a school in Kashmir wounded a dozen students. The cause of the blast remains unclear.




Over the past week, yet another recently-elected progressive congresswoman found herself in the eye of a media storm. On February 10, Somali-American Congresswoman Ilhan Omar retweeted a posting by American journalist Glenn Greenwald which criticised attacks on her and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib for their support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, adding, Its all about the Benjamins baby.

Shortly after Batya Ungar-Sargon, an editor at the Jewish periodical The Forward, asked Omar to clarify who, she was suggesting, pays US politicians, to which the congresswoman responded with a single word AIPAC, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

AIPAC is a right-wing Zionist lobby group, which, as it declares on its website, advocates pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive Branch of the United States. As any other lobbyist operation, it raises funds and uses them to influence politicians. As an Al Jazeera documentary and other investigations have demonstrated, AIPAC leverages its large budget to gain influence over US politics. In this sense, there is nothing factually wrong about Omars assertion.

Yet Ungar-Sargon was quick to charge Omar with anti-Semitism, accusing her of peddling anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish conspiracies. A battle of accusations ensued, involving politicians in both the Republican and Democratic parties, as well as the Zionist and anti-Zionist Jewish advocacy groups.

Even US President Donald Trump became involved, hypocritically calling on Omar to resign, claiming anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress.

After facing mounting pressure, Omar caved in and needlessly apologised for her comment. Once again, the US political establishment and the mainstream media demonstrated that they cannot tolerate progressive, anti-Zionist voices like Omars and will persist in their relentless campaign to silence them with fake accusations of anti-Semitism.

However, this episode also elucidated two important facts: one, that liberal Zionism does not differ in substance from right-wing Zionism; and two, that intersectionality in politics and advocacy is increasingly becoming a grave threat to Zionists and their supporters in the US.

The liberal Zionist fallacy

That Ungar-Sargon was among the first to accuse Omar of anti-Semitism should not come as a surprise.

The Forward claims to be the most influential nationwide Jewish media outlet today providing rigorous reporting and balanced commentary on politics. It is perceived to be progressive or liberal due to its occasional critique of Israeli government policies and tokenisation of marginalised voices.

Liberal Zionism presents itself as a left-wing political alternative to its more explicit fascistic version. In a recent article, Ungar-Sargon precisely expressed this false notion by attributing white supremacy exclusively to the right-wing branch of Zionism.

But the liberal Zionism, which Ungar-Sargon and The Forward represent, de facto serves to grease the machinations of Israels reactionary politics by sanitising the white supremacist essence of the Zionist movement, concealing its motivations and trajectory.

Thus, it was hardly surprising that Ungar-Sargon chose to accuse Omar of anti-Semitism by deploying Zionist propaganda which co-opts Judaism as a weapon of oppression and a shield against criticism, consequently labelling resistance to Zionism and Israeli policies as anti-Semitic.

As veteran Israeli journalist Gideon Levy has said: If you remain a Zionist, you can no longer be of the left; if youre of the left, you can no longer be a Zionist.

Or in other words, Ungar-Sargons feigned liberalism or left-wing slant far better represent oppressive and reactionary Zionist principles peppered with identity politics, than a genuine left-wing Jewish outlook.

All versions of Zionism, including The Forwards liberal sort, lead to the same reactionary end of unbridled expansionism and continued settler colonial genocide of Palestinian people.

Zionism has always been a white supremacist, settler colonialist, anti-democratic, right-wing ideology, which has demanded a loyalty based on nationalist racism. Zionists of all sorts, including of the liberal kind, have collaborated with anti-Semitic forces towards a mutual goal of global apartheid, often at the expense of Jews who live outside Israel.

Zionism and its denialism appeals to white supremacists in the United States who similarly are in denial of the American genocide of Native Americans and enslavement of black Africans.

The threat of intersectionality

This recent attack on Omar is part of the concentrated, fraudulent smearing campaign against her and Congresswoman Tlaib and is directly linked to the targeting of other pro-Palestinian men and women of colour (such as Marc Lamont Hill and Angela Davis).

What all of these people have in common is that they represent intersectional, anti-imperialist, leftist and feminist politics; that is, they all recognise that the sources of oppression they face in their everyday lives are interconnected and interdependent.

For someone like Omar  a black Somali Muslim woman  oppression manifests itself in the white supremacy that seeks to subjugate all non-white races, in the imperialism that has stoked war in her home country Somalia, in the Islamophobia which demonises and marginalises her Muslim community and the patriarchy which constantly tries to relegate women to a secondary, subordinate position in society.

Although she is not Palestinian, her experience of all these forms of oppression cannot but make her sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. This is because all of them  white supremacy, imperialism, Islamophobia and patriarchy  lie at the very core of the Zionist movement which has victimised and brutalised Palestinians for more than seven decades now.

Seeing and resisting oppression through the lens of intersectionality galvanises lessons of past anti-colonial movements and helps break apart the fictitious political narratives of white supremacy, imperialism, racism and patriarchy. Furthermore, the recognition that various oppressed peoples have common enemies serves to reinforce solidarity between them and assists in principled grassroots movements, such as BDS.

The reason why Zionists consider intersectional solidarity dangerous and why they tend to attack viciously those who represent it (such as Omar, Hill, Davis, etc) is because it dispels fragmenting propaganda and empowers Palestinians and pro-Palestinian forces to build a wider front to challenge Zionism and the hegemonic powers which support it. It is able to mobilise an increasing number of people under the anti-Zionism banner who are unified in their call for justice in Palestine.

To maintain this united front, moving forward, it is important to retain clarity of vision and defy the pernicious conflation of Zionism and Judaism or anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.

As Omar Barghouti, a founding committee member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and cofounder of BDS, once wrote: In response to this fatal alliance of savage capitalism in the West with Israeli racism, exclusion and colonial subjugation, the global movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel presents not only a progressive, anti-racist, sophisticated, sustainable, moral and effective form of civil non-violent resistance, but also a real chance of becoming the political catalyst and moral anchor for a strengthened, reinvigorated international social movement capable of reaffirming the rights of all humans to freedom, equality and dignity and the right of nations to self determination.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Elections are big business, and look no further than the ongoing frenzy over the upcoming Nigerian election for proof. It is hard to miss how much money is being made in both the main event and the ecosystem around it.

Politicians are no longer just candidates, but also brands, backed by elaborate merchandising and advertising apparatuses that are designed to catapult their public image to victory. Outside the core tug of war, media companies around the world wrestle for the attention of viewers, listeners and readers with elaborate, attention-grabbing infographics and chyrons.

The triumph of political style over substance in the capitalist election is almost complete, and with it the unparalleled influence of money over political decision-making. As Nigeria inches towards this critical vote, it does so in the shadow of profound questions about the changing nature of elections in Africa and beyond.

Over the last few years, there has been rising alarm over the role of social media in politics around the world. 2013 was arguably Kenyas first social media election, where candidates for the first time invested significant sums of money into shaping the behaviour and conversation of voters on these platforms.

A startling expose from the British journalist Carole Cadwalladr and others confirmed that similar tactics were deployed in crucial votes like the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom and the United States general election in 2016. Political groups are spending considerable amounts of money on data analytics and data mining firms that specialise in consuming, digesting and regurgitating our online behaviour into political messaging.

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In Kenya, media reports confirmed that investment in this industry had escalated considerably since the 2013 election, with both the ruling coalition and the main opposition party spending sizeable amounts of money on well-known firms specialising in these practices. Kenyan elections were already expensive and these investments only heightened the cost.

By some estimates, the average Kenyan politician spends $50m on their presidential campaign, but the ruling Jubilee Party allegedly spent $6m on Cambridge Analytica alone, the nominally defunct British firm that also worked on the US and UK votes.

These firms were also involved in the 2015 Nigerian elections, perhaps in a more sinister way, by playing on existing religious animosity that has in the past flared into inter-communal violence.

One of the major fears for analysts watching the February 2019 vote is whether these social media parasites will return. In this regard, the election in Nigeria will be a bellwether for the increasing anxiety over the role of foreign private companies in African elections.

Underneath this panic over social media lies a broader conversation on the changing nature of elections worldwide. Money is more influential than ever and normative ideas about democratic values are in decline.

In Africa, countries and institutions that are self-styled watchdogs of democracy are becoming increasingly apathetic, while the advance of a capitalist electoral system is coupled with the retreat of structures that civil society especially relies upon for mitigation or redress.

The January 2019 elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were instructive in this sense. As that vote demonstrated, election observation has become increasingly just a formality. The allegations of fraud were rampant, well-documented and rapidly disseminated.

Yet, with the exception of the Catholic Church within the DRC, the people and institutions that have always insisted on the need to preserve elections chose to look the other way, hoping to keep the country stable, or  more accurately  profitable.

This suggests that in many countries, the electoral race is no longer about voting. Rather it has been turned into a performance piece aimed at rubber-stamping the international political status quo and the domestic elite consensus, even as they falter and fail to deliver.

More and more, the real decision-makers are those who can use their money more efficiently to tilt the scales in their own favour  basically, those who invest the most in branding and advertising, in lobbying foreign nations, or even as in Kenya, in manipulating the electoral system directly.

For voters, the process of achieving truly representative or inclusive government has never been more difficult.

190214131921566

Indeed, the issue of psychometrics and social media analytics is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to examining how money is undermining the integrity of electoral systems around the world.

When financial gain trumps all other consideration, our collective tolerance to injustice increases, leaving many who dont have access to power or influence vulnerable to the whims of the people with the deepest pockets.

These practices are grounded in standard advertising, marketing and PR methods. However, it is one thing to use them for highly targeted advertising to sell jeans and a completely another thing to spend ones term leeching the treasury to amass unmatched wealth and then use it to influence the political will of a country through PR schemes.

Political advertising should be a special class of its own, separated from the vagaries of advertising in general. The stakes are different, especially because the outcome will have an impact far beyond the individual or company buying or selling these services.

Such advertising is restricted on traditional media in many countries  with candidates forced to declare what they have paid for certain types of content. But the law and practice have failed to keep up with the behaviour online, leaving the door open for the kind of disproportionate spending and subsequent political compromise that has left faith in electoral democracy in countries like Kenya and the DRC shaken.

Money and politics have always been closely connected, but the idea of electoral democracy is to give people a little bit of the power back  one person, one vote, not one dollar, one vote.

The lesson from studying the role of social media on recent elections is that this is changing dramatically. Advertising changes everything, and we arent quite able to grasp its massive scale yet.

Thanks to the tenacity of journalists around the world, the ugly underbelly of corporatisation of politics around the world has been dragged into the open. Social media companies have been forced to make adjustments to the standards they use in permitting political advertising, but they have not gone far enough.

On Saturday, Nigeria will be a test for how much we have all learned since 2016.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Kathmandu, Nepal: The Charge dAffaires ad Interim of Japan to Nepal, Mr. Yuzo Yoshioka,signed a grant contract for US$ 599,216 (approximately 63 million NRs.) with Mr. Takafumi Miyake, Country Director of Shanti Volunteer Association (SVA), for strengthening the resilience of earthquake affected schools in Nuwakotand Rasuwa Districts.

The support was made under the Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO Projects Scheme for FY 2018, and will be implemented by SVA, a Japanese NGO. SVA will work with local partner NGO,Community and Rural Development Society Nepal.

SVA has already reconstructed six schools in Nuwakot and Rasuwa Districts in the past two years. This is the third year of the project and thegrant assistance will be used to reconstruct two schools in Nuwakot District and one school in Rasuwa District.The reconstruction has been implemented, respecting the standards of the Ministry of Education and National Reconstruction Committee, in order to ensure quality and quake resistance.

In addition, SVA will provide educational materials, such as illustrated story cards and books, to teachhow to save their lives during natural disaster. They will also hold study sessions to simulate a disaster situation to enhance the preparedness of local communities.

The goal of the project is not only to reconstruct the school buildings in areas affected by the earthquakes that occurred in 2015, but also to develop the preparedness of students as well as their families by increasing awareness and understanding of disaster management.

The Embassy of Japan hopesthat the project will develop communities capacity for disaster preparedness and create a safer environment for school children. The Embassy of Japan also hopes that the project will further enhance the cordial friendship between the peoples of Japan and Nepal.
By Kyle Campbell, a law student at the University of Alabama

Nearly everyone who has taken a philosophy class is familiar with the trolley problem. In the problem, a train is hurling towards a fork in the track and will soon hit and kill five people who are trapped in its path. The reader has the option to pull a lever, which will divert the train to another track on which one person is trapped; the moral dilemma is whether to actively choose to end one persons life to save five other people whose lives the reader was not responsible for saving. I personally would pull the lever, but there are many people who wouldnt and many legitimate moral arguments for not doing so.

Elected officials face a slight variation on the trolley problem all the time. Here, a train is hurling towards a fork in the track and will soon hit and kill five people, but rather than another person on the other side of the track, there sits someones property  in the form of money or anything else  that will be lost to save those five lives. No defensible moral code would allow anyone not to pull the lever, and yet refusing to pull the lever is the governing philosophy of nearly half of this country, manifested most clearly in the Republican Party but also shamefully adopted by many Democrats.

As grotesque as the valuation of property over human lives is, it is so common that most people necessarily avoid thinking about it. If we acknowledged the blood required to maintain our ways of life, our society would come apart. We are so accustomed to this selfish and immoral ideology that we reduce advocacy for life-ruining and life-ending policies to mere differences of opinion. Yet there is one policy so severe  so needlessly cruel and heartless  that it shocks the consciences even of the desensitized. As has so often been the case for similar policies over this countrys history, you can find that policy in Alabama.

Alabamas refusal to expand Medicaid, true to our states moral framework, is generally written about in economic terms. Many have called attention to the fact that the federal government footed the full bill for the expansion for three years, and that it now offers more than a ten-to-one return on dollars states invest into their Medicaid programs. Economists and health policy experts react incredulously to lawmakers refusals to accept Medicaid expansion in the face of these numbers, but their arguments miss the mark. Not even the Deal of the Century will be persuasive to people whose actions show that they fundamentally do not care whether residents of their state live or die. Alabamas officials have had every opportunity to pull the lever and send the train to an empty track, and they have chosen to do nothing every time.

The data on refusal to expand Medicaid are clear. In one study, researchers found that for every mile increase in distance to the nearest hospital, deaths due to unintentional injury and heart attack increase by six percent. For residents of Alabama communities where thirteen hospitals (including seven rural hospitals  one this week in Georgiana) have closed since 2011, distance to the closest hospital has increased by far more than a mile. Another study in the Journal of Health Affairs found that: [T]he ACAs Medicaid expansion was associated with improved hospital financial performance and substantially lower likelihoods of closure, especially in rural markets and counties with large numbers of uninsured adults before Medicaid expansion.

For three years, Alabama had the opportunity to receive money to keep these hospitals open at absolutely no cost to the state. In the years since, the federal governments share of the burden has fallen all the way to 94 percent, and next year it will fall to its lowest portion of 90 percent. Even if the state had to pay the full dollar to keep these hospitals open, to save the lives of vulnerable people in isolated communities, it should have done so. But it wouldnt even chip in a dime. Governors Bentley and Ivey have presided over executions of people responsible for far fewer deaths and far less suffering than each of them is for this decision alone.

Often, when I try to understand how people could possibly live with themselves after making such decisions, I look back at photos of lynchings. In some pictures, while dozens or even hundreds of men, women and children surround a suspended corpse that was screaming in agony just moments before, they look at the camera and smile. Some of their smiles seem malicious, but those are a minority. Most of them just seem content, as if posing for any other photo, drowning future viewers with their callous indifference. It is this indifference that enrages me, nearly as much as the lynchings themselves. I would love to think that when a hospital closes, the people responsible arent able to sleep at night  that theyre haunted by the ghosts of those who, but for their indifference, would still walk the earth. I would love to think that. But deep down, I know theyre all just smiling.
This story was written for the Press-Register by popular local columnist Leslie Anne Tarabella

"Why do they call this big cookie a pie? And if it's the moon, it's supposed to be white. Hey! Can I wear these beads to Aunt Roo Anne's wedding next week?" -- "OK kid, now you're pushing it. Enough with the questions!"

Children and Mardi Gras seem to go together, when in reality, it's a centuries-old celebration for adults who are headed into the Lenten season. The festivities are laced with so many meanings and symbols that children are often confused, yet their curiosity is boundless.

Families feel comfortable attending Mobile's G-rated (OK, maybe PG at times) street parties and parades, so the naturally inquisitive children's eyes grow wide with wonder. They can't seem to get enough of the pageantry, colors and sounds. With schools dismissed for an entire week, the younger set is highly motivated to learn all they can about this crazy celebration.

This childlike wonder is what inspired Karyn Tunks, a professor of Elementary Education at the University of South Alabama, to write the rhyming storybook, "Mardi Gras in Alabama!" Colorfully illustrated by Alexis Braud, the detailed book mentions all the Alabama highlights like Joe Cain, the Excelsior Band and the Mammoth Parade and shows the sparkling skyline of Mobile illuminated in purple and gold.

To satisfy an extra dose of inquisitiveness, Tunks ends the book with a simple glossary of fun Carnival facts. If you have a child who loves to pore over each detailed page, there's also a hide-and-seek game throughout the book with "Folly" -- a mischievous character well known to Mobilians.

"I moved to Mobile when I was a college student," said Tunks, "and was excited to see my first Mardi Gras parade and still remember all the questions I had about the customs.

"Growing up in Oklahoma, we didn't have anything remotely like this."

Later, Tunks lived in New Orleans, but always preferred the beauty of the first Mardi Gras that she had witnessed in Alabama.

"I've caught a little bit of backlash with people in the publishing industry questioning if there really is a Mardi Gras in Alabama," she said. "One reporter for NPR interviewed the illustrator and quipped, 'Mardi Gras in Alabama? This won't take long.'"

Even though talented illustrator Braud grew up in Louisiana, she jumped to the defense of Mobile, since during her research for the book, she, too, had been captivated by the customs and beauty of Mobile's original celebration.

The phrase that Southerners use to explain the misconceptions of outsiders is, "Bless their hearts, they just don't know any better" and that's exactly why Tunks and Braud wanted to showcase this area's celebration, so children everywhere will know about Mobile's rich Carnival history.

Interestingly, Tunks' publisher, River Road Press, is situated in the New Orleans area. "Hey, I love everything about New Orleans," said Scott Campbell, president of the publishing company, "but I also know a good book when I see one."

In addition to teaching her regular college courses in children's literature and supervising student interns in area schools, Tunks enjoys reading her book to groups of children. "The children want to tell me about their experiences with Mardi Gras and are surprisingly observant about the details in the illustrations," she said.

As the book's illustrator, Braud had to readjust what she knew about Mardi Gras to accurately portray the Port City of Alabama. "Mobile has its own story and flair. I was very careful to learn about what makes this celebration unique," she said.

The artist explained, "Using purple and gold, no green, like in Louisiana, and researching the downtown parade routes and traditional floats and characters with, of all things, pig bladders, are things I never knew about until I worked with Karyn."

No matter how long you've lived in Mobile or how old you are, "Mardi Gras in Alabama!" is a treat for all who love to celebrate what is special about our city's largest party.



Where to find it

"Mardi Gras in Alabama!" is available in Mobile at the Mobile Carnival Museum, Toomey's, Moonpie General Store, Ashland Gallery, The Haunted Book Shop, Fort of Colonial Mobile, Gulfquest maritime museum, and the USS Alabama gift shop. On the Eastern Shore, it's at Barnes & Noble, Page & Palette and Jubilee Gift Shop.
Darnell Davenport has spent most of his life fighting crime.

The Los Angeles native at age 14 started as a police explorer scout. In 1988, he joined the LAPD full time and from then on continued to rise through the ranks until he made captain there. This week, Davenport was announced as the Birmingham Police Departments newest deputy chief, taking over operations of the Patrol Division.

But Davenport said fighting crime is not just a job to him. Its something he has experienced up close.

A 1993 on-duty shooting left him wounded by gunfire. The shooting happened when Davenport became involved in a high-speed chase of gang members as they attempted to assault community members. The chase ended in a gun-battle and Davenport was shot twice.

Though wounded, Davenport re-engaged himself in the gun fight as a suspect began to approach his partner. He was awarded the departments highest bravery honor  the Medal of Valor  in 1995 for that shooting, and in 2013 received the department Purple Heart.

Violence has touched me. Its touched my family, Davenport said. And so, when we talk about crime, this is not something foreign, this is something very personal.

Davenport replaces former Deputy Chief Mike Richards, who retired after spending less than one year on the job. Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith, also a LAPD veteran who took over as Birminghams top cop in June 2018, said Davenport joins BPD with more than 30 years of experience.

Were hoping to have tremendous impact on crime in Birmingham. This is a part of my commitment, making sure we get the best equipment, the best technology and also finding the best people I know that can drive this mission, Smith said. I stand committed to my goals here in the city.

Davenport graduated from California State University where he obtained his degree in Sociology. He went on to get his masters degree in public administration and also is a graduate of the FBIs National Academy. In 2017, he received the LAPDs Command Leadership Award.

His resume is vast and reflects experience and leadership in a variety of divisions. Most recently, he was the commanding supervisor of the department Community Outreach and Engagement. He said he plans to continue that work in Birmingham.

Our goal will to be to bridge the community and the police department into a seamless operation and, at the end of the day, were going to be reducing crime in the city significantly, Davenport said. Im very committed to that. I have a lot of experience in this area and I looked forward to the next couple of months in terms of crime reduction.

Davenport acknowledged that police departments across the U.S. traditionally have experienced difficulty in terms of building trust in some communities. There are always issues in law enforcement, theres always questions about how a police department conducts themselves, he said. If the police department is going to be effective, if the city is going to be effective, we have to work as partners and we have to work tirelessly to be able to build that relationship and reduce crime.

Police need the support of the community to do their job. The people who were there when the crime occurred are not usually the police. Its the community, he said. They are the ones who are going to have to tell us what happened. Well take that information, investigate the crime and come to a resolution.

Asked what motivated him to take the job in Birmingham, Davenport said, The chief spoke to me and he sold me. I believe in his mission. I believe in what he wants to do here.

This was a big move for me. This was 2,000 miles away from the city of Los Angeles. This is a very different place, he said. But I will tell you that Ive spend my whole life in law enforcement. Im committed to law enforcement. Im committed to making communities safe.

We all have a responsibility in the reduction of crime. We all have a responsibility in making sure that relationships between the police and the community are good relationships, he said. While Im here, Im going to continue my commitment to ensuring that this department is responsive, that Im responsive, and that were doing all of the things that we can to ensure that everybody can walk the streets of Birmingham safe.
A 25-year-old Tuscaloosa mother is charged with murder in the death of her infant son.

Lakendra Yashekia Williams was booked in Tuscaloosa County Jail Thursday following an indictment issued against her the day before. She was indicted on the charges of murder and aggravated assault, court records show.

Williams was initially arrested on a domestic violence/assault charge in March of 2018 after Tuscaloosa police responded to Children's of Alabama in Birmingham on a report of a child suffering severe head trauma.

Once at the hospital, detectives launched an investigation into the assault of the child. The findings led to this initial charge against Williams.

According to a deposition in that case, the 8-week-old boy was rushed to DCH Regional Medical Center on March 28 after he became unresponsive at home. Once at the hospital, the boy went into cardiac arrest and was then transferred to Childrens of Alabama.

Medical staff there determined the boy received multiple fractures to his head and bleeding to the brain. Williams told detectives that she was holding her son in her arms and later dropped him on his head on the kitchen floor. The defendant also believed she may have elbowed the victim in the head while she was asleep, the investigator wrote. The defendant state that the baby was whining which caused her to harm the victim.

The deposition said the blunt force injuries to the boy happened between March 26 and March 28, 2018.

According to the indictment issued Wednesday, Williams did willfully torture, willfully abuse, cruelly beat or otherwise maltreat said child by physically beating and/or striking him multiple times. It also says she inflicted the injury with the intent to cause death.

Records dont indicate when the boy died. Williams remained jailed Friday on $60,000 bond.
A Birmingham man who was tried a second time for a murder in the citys Southtown housing project was acquitted after a three-day trial.

Fessor Raynard Pearson was charged with murder in the December 2015 shooting death of 56-year-old James Morgan. Pearsons trial began Monday in Jefferson County Circuit Judge Teresa Pulliams courtroom, and Wednesday jurors found the 34-year-old not guilty.

In September, Pearsons first trial ended in a mistrial. In that case, jurors had just began their deliberations when, according to court records, one juror took out his cell phone and Googled Pearson to find his criminal record. After the juror found the information, he told other jurors.

Court records state, "This Court has no alternative, but to declare a mistrial based on juror misconduct."

Morgan was shot to death late on the evening of Dec. 4, 2015, in the street on Ninth Court South in the city's Southtown housing projects. Police were called to the scene about 1 a.m. on Dec. 5, and found Morgan with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead on the scene at 1:20 a.m.

Deputy District Attorney Carlos Gonzalez, who was the prosecutor in Pearsons first trial, said several witnesses identified Pearson as the shooter and police found a gun when they arrested Pearson that matched the caliber shell casings found near Morgans body.

Pearsons attorney Sammie Shaw said in court Pearson had nothing to do with the crime and was sleeping in a friends Southtown apartment when Morgan was killed. Shaw said police focused on Pearson and ignored evidence that could have pointed to someone else as the shooter.

Deputy District Attorney Foster Marshall prosecuted the case, while Shaw represented Pearson.

The tragic death of Mr. James Morgan, Jr. and the subsequent trial of Mr. Fessor Pearson for his murder highlights one of the biggest problems we as a community face in Jefferson County, Marshall said. There were other people present at the scene who saw what happened to Mr. Morgan but did not want to get involved. Only one reluctant witness came forward and testified at Mr. Pearsons trial. Sadly for Mr. Morgans family, the jury did not find the testimony of this single witness enough to find Mr. Fessor Pearson guilty.

Shaw told AL.com, Mr. Pearson and I are happy the results of the trial. Mr. Pearsons life has been on hold for 3 years and he is now looking forward to a fresh start.
A man wounded in a shooting in east Birmingham more than three months ago has now died.

The Jefferson County Coroners Office identified the victim as 32-year-old Napolean January. The shooting happened on Nov. 9, 2018.

Birmingham police and firefighters responded just before 4 p.m. that Friday to the 7500 block of 67th Courtway South. That location is in the Marks Village public housing complex in the Gate City community.

Police said residents found the man  now identified as January - outside in front of an apartment and called 911. He was shot in the stomach and taken within minutes to the hospital by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service.

He remained at UAB Hospital until his death at 8:50 a.m. Thursday. Its been the hardest three months, said a family member, who didnt want her name used. He was up and down, and he turned for the worse about two weeks ago.

On Thursday morning, his heart rate began to drop, and the family gathered around him to say their goodbyes. Its been tough, the family said. He was fun, he was loving, he was kind and he was an awesome father.

He had one little girl, she said. Shes heartbroken and doing a lot of crying because she wants her father.

Melvin Taylor

The family said they still dont know what led to the shooting because January was never able to talk about it with them. Birmingham police less than two weeks after the November shooting charged Melvin Akeem Taylor, 26, with attempted murder in the shooting of January.

In December, Taylor waived a preliminary hearing and the case was sent to the grand jury for indictment consideration. That charge is now expected to be upgraded to murder.

Taylor has been in the Jefferson County Jail since Nov. 18. Though his bond in the shooting is set at $80,000, he is being held without bond for a probation violation on a 2012 robbery conviction in which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison with three to serve.

Januarys family plans to hold a vigil in his memory at 6 p.m. Sunday in Gate City.
President Trump said he will declare a national emergency to build an $8 billion barrier along the U.S./Mexico border.

The president made the announcement on Friday, just after Congress passed a spending bill that omits most of the funding for one of his administrations signature projects. Trump announced he plans to sign the measure.

I am going to be signing a national emergency, Trump said. Were talking about an invasion of our country with drugs, with human traffickers.

"We dont control our own border. Were going to confront the national security crisis on our southern border and were going to do it  one way or the other we have to do it."

The president plans to redirect $3.6 billion in military construction funding; $2.5 billion from the Pentagons drug-interdiction program; and $600 million from the Treasury Departments asset-forfeiture fund, The Hill reports.

The move is expected to lead to multiple court filings seeking to block Trumps efforts.

Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described the move as a power grab by a disappointed president.

Just as both parties honored our oath to protect the American people by passing the conference committee bill, the Congress on a bipartisan basis must honor the Constitution by defending our system of checks and balances, they said in a joint statement. The president is not above the law. The Congress cannot let the President shred the Constitution,

The president originally requested $5.7 billion in funding for a wall.
A man has been charged with capital murder and attempted murder in a shooting that left a man dead and another injured in Birmingham Wednesday night.

J.C. Hrabowski, 61, of Birmingham, was arrested and charged with capital murder Thursday, said Sgt. Johnny Williams.

Hrabowski is accused of fatally shooting 28-year-old Princeton Jamarco Swain and injuring another person in Birminghams Fountain Heights community.

Police responded to the 1100 block of 14th Street North at 7:25 p.m. Wednesday on a report of two people shot. The arrived and found Swain unresponsive on the grass in front of a home. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Another person was taken to UAB Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, Williams said Wednesday night.

Hrabowski was being held in Jefferson County Jail.

Further details about the shooting were not immediately available.
Update:

The U.S. House passed the funding bill 300-128 Thursday night. President Trump is expected to sign the measure.

Earlier:

The compromise spending bill that includes money for President Trumps border barrier would also give federal civilian workers a pay raise.

The measure  passed 83 to 16 by the Senate Thursday  includes a 1.9 percent across-the-board raise for federal workers. The pay raise would be retroactive to Jan. 1 and is a half a percentage point more than last years increase.

Uniformed military personnel had earlier received a 2.6 percent pay increase.

Congress has until midnight Friday to approve the measure and avoid another partial government shutdown. Several federal agencies were closed for 35 days from December to January during the impasse over Trumps funding request for a border wall. About 400,000 federal employees remained on the job during the shutdown and another 400,000 were furloughed; neither group was paid until the government reopened.

President Trump has earlier signed an executive order freezing federal employee pay in 2019 and nullifying any pay raise. The Congressional action would override the order and boost pay for federal workers.

The current bill contains $1.375 billion in funding for a barrier at the U.S./Mexico border, far less than the $5 billion requested by the president. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell indicated Thursday the president will sign the measure, despite the funding difference.

The House could vote on the measure as soon as tonight.
Teenager gets 7 years and 3 months for shooting in Moscow Region school

 RIA Novosti, Anton Denisov

17:27 15/02/2019

MOSCOW, February 15 (RAPSI)  A court in Ivanteevka (Moscow Region) has sentenced a teenager to 7 years and 3 months in young offender colony for shooting in his school, the Moscow Regional Courts spokesperson Anna Tyurina has told RAPSI.

The boy has been found guilty of hooliganism committed with the use of explosives and attempted murder.

Moreover, the court has partially granted a lawsuit filed by the victims demanding over 2 million rubles ($30,000) from the defendant.

The incident took place in the town of Ivanteevka, 20km northeast of Moscow, on September 5, 2017. According to investigators, a 15-year old student attacked a teacher with an axe, then he opened fire from an air gun and threw several smoke bombs in a classroom.

As a result, the teacher received an open craniocerebral trauma. Three minors panicking jumped out of the window and were injured as well, the Investigative Committee reported.

Earlier, attorney Viktor Zaprudsky told RAPSI that the teenager repented all what he had done and apologized to victims. According to the lawyer, the boy's parents were ready to be financially liable for their sons actions.
Birmingham City Councilor (District 2) Hunter Williams says he opposes Mayor Randall Woodfins recently announced effort to rename the Birmingham CrossPlex for former mayor Larry Langford, who died last month just days after being released from a federal prison due to his failing health.

Langford, who was 72, served eight years and eight months of a 15 -year sentence for bribery and corruption convictions stemming from his time on the Jefferson County Commission.

During Tuesdays City Council meeting, Woodfin said he would make a formal proposal for the remaining to the council at a certain point.

The idea was backed by Councilors John Hilliard and Steven Hoyt.

Williams, however, in a letter the councilor says he hand-delivered to the mayors office on Thursday, wrote:

You and I both share the unique joy and responsibility that comes with representing the citizens of Birmingham, Alabamaa city that helped raise us both into the men we are now.

Former Mayor Larry Lanford had a tremendous vision for this city. His penchant for showmanship and turning big dreams into reality is something that cemented his place as a Birmingham icon, who is revered by many and whose efforts helped create tremendous assets like Railroad Park, Regions Field, and the CrossPlex.

That said, I have been receiving calls, emails, and letters from my constituents who do not agree with the effort to rename the CrossPlex in honor of Mr. Langford.

I, too, have concerns about the message this sends, especially to the citys youth.

I do not want to send the wrong message by renaming a facility after a public servant who was convicted on felony bribery and corruption charges. Of course, those actions eventually led to what was the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of our country.

Taxpayers are still feeling the aftershock of that and they deserve to know that their involuntary contributions to the city are being handled by good stewards.

At this time, the mayors office has not responded to a request for comment on the letter.

In a conversation Thursday evening, Williams reiterated that he had received a very, very strong backlash from constituents in all areas of the Crestline neighborhood, with whom he had just shared the letter.

My district does not agree with renaming a facility for somebody that caused such mistrust, Williams added. I want to make sure mayor understands theres a new set of leadership in Birminghamthats us. We have to be visionaries like Larry Langford but do it in an ethical way. We have to represent ourselves in the best possible way to people who invest in Birmingham and to our youth, who look up to us and could possibly say, This guy got here by cheating. Thats not right.

People entrust us to spend their money in a wise way so there wont be a tax burden on the county for 30 years.

Williams said he did not reach out to fellow council members before crafting and delivering the letter.

Williams emphasized that his opposition is not personal. He says, in fact, Langford gave him his first job in City Hall--as a economic development intern, while Williams was a student at Southern Methodist University. It happened to be the same summer Langford was initially indicted.

It was an interesting time at City Hall," Williams said. I really like the guy. He gave me an opportunity, so personally, I have mixed emotions. But as a leader in this community were going to have to choose an ethical path on how we spend taxpayer dollars.

Williams added that he signed the letter asking for Langfords compassionate release "and was happy to do so because it was the right thing to do.

I dont want to be an enemy to him or his family.

Langfords niece, LeNa Powe, said" At the end of the day grace and mercy are given to all, but not many people decide to give it to others."

Updated at 1:42 p.m. on 2/15 with quote from Langfords niece.

This story will be updated.
Those participating in Southern Researchs upcoming MedTech Symposium should expect to get a crash course in how a startup can blaze a trail in developing new medical devices.

Whats more, organizers say, theyll be able to meet others in the Birmingham area and, with a little luck, start conversations that could help transform Birmingham into a center for MedTech innovation.

Thats the hope of Southern Research, which is hosting the symposium Feb. 28.

The event, to be held at Southern Research, will include several speakers, including Craig Buerstatte, acting director for the U.S. Commerce Dept.'s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Global Center for Medical Innovation CEO Tiffany Wilson and Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield.

Stacey Kelpke, director of Southern Researchs Medical Technology program, said it has been around since 2014. But since last July, Southern Research has been working on engaging Birminghams healthcare and startup communities in talking MedTech.

But what is MedTech?

Basically, its anything that doesnt fall under drugs, Kelpke said. It can be anything - data, wearables, bone plates, implantable devices, as well as diagnostics,"

The advantages of MedTech are several - while drug trials can last a decade, the clinical testing for medical devices is about half that, she said. Some of the time lag depends on the device.

Birmingham would seem a natural for MedTech innovation, given its history as a healthcare hub and its rising tech entrepreneur community. But the symposium, and an advisory board Southern Research formed last year combining healthcare and industry leaders, is part of a push to create some energy locally.

And it would seem a good time for that conversation. Birminghams AerBetic turned heads in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, getting awards from The Chicago Tribune and Best Reviews for its wearable diabetes alert system.

That was a big win for Birmingham, Kelpke said.

The symposium will deal with general education, collaboration, trends in medical manufacturing, and the market. Medical technology has its own geography, such as navigating regulatory reimbursements, insurance, incorporation, and business plans. Its the first of many events like it, she said.

For more information, click here.
Gov. Kay Ivey says she supports President Donald Trumps declaration of a national emergency to fund the building of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Ivey, in Birmingham today for a speech before the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, said she supported the move in response to a question from the media at a press availability.

Earlier today, Trump made his announcement after Congress passed a spending bill to prevent a government shutdown. The president plans to redirect $3.6 billion in military construction funding, $2.5 billion from the Pentagons drug-interdiction program, and $600 million from the Treasury Departments asset-forfeiture fund, The Hill reports.

Speaking today, Ivey expressed confidence that an emergency declaration was the best course of action.

We certainly have a problem with security at the border and we need to fix that security problem, and so Im supporting President Trump in his effort to keep our borders safe, Ivey said. He declared it, hes the president, and people that are close to the situation, they know the best.
More people are working in Alabama than ever before - but theres still about 200,000 who arent in the labor force.

How to change that - and how to prepare the next generation of workers - were some of the topics at a roundtable today hosted by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA) at Birminghams Harbert Center. Gov. Kay Ivey spoke later during the lunchtime hour.

To listen to the roundtable participants, Alabama is acting on several fronts to plug the unemployed into jobs, and to prepare those wanting jobs with the skills they need to gain employment.

The way our workforce system is set up, said Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington, we will be a model. Were on the right track, were not off the foundation.

But the unemployed, the disabled, and the poor face multiple challenges to upward mobility. As Alabama Department of Human Resources Commissioner Nancy Buckner explained, the number of people on Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) in Alabama is less than 8,000. However, many of those are grandparents, aunts or uncles raising another family members child.

A child growing up in a lower-income home may appear locked into the same future. The rural poor may also have transportation challenges in getting to a good job. The urban poor often struggle to find childcare to accommodate their work shifts.

And having a good job training program may not be enough for a participant if a job isnt immediately available once their training is over. What most of the participants talked about is better coordination between government agencies and programs to marshal the available resources, and educate the public.

For example, Washington said one key to bringing down Alabamas unemployment rate over the last four years has been simply educating the public about what jobs are available, not just through the Joblink website but the states network of career centers. Last year, more than 400,000 people accessed job information through those two portals.

Nick Moore is director of the Governors Office of Education and Workforce Transformation. He said the state is trying to create a seamless system.

Part of that involves aligning education and business to get students who want to work into the system as quickly as possible, as well as training them for the jobs that are available. That includes not just students but veterans, single parents, the disabled, the underemployed and those entering the job market following incarceration.

Were breaking it down region by region, into subgroups and industry clusters, Moore said. How do we figure out what the needs will be over the next decade. Were ensuring that in real time, we can fill the jobs that are being brought to Alabama.

Later on, Ivey in her address alluded to one goal of the education reforms - high school students earning, through dual enrollment, a high school diploma, an associates degree and job certification upon graduation.

That is possible, that is doable, and that is the wave of the future and we must press on with that, she said.
SANAA, Yemen  The messy civil war that has raged in Yemen for nearly four years has left its mark on the country's political, economic and cultural life. The countrys cultural and historical heritage has been ravaged despite repetitive calls by UNESCO to all fighting sides to do their utmost to protect Yemen's unique heritage.

Yemen is one of the richest countries in the region when it comes to natural, cultural, historical and architectural heritage. It has four sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List: the Socotra Archipelago, the old city of Sanaa, the old walled city of Shibam in Hadramaut governorate and the historic town of Zabid.

Four years ago, at the onset of the war, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova described Yemeni heritage as a reflection of centuries of Islamic thought, rich exchange and dialogue. She also called on the people of Yemen, as well as on countries in the region engaging in military operations in Yemen, to do all they can to protect Yemens invaluable cultural heritage.

Today, it is clear the call had little effect. Yemen witnessed the destruction of 101 heritage and archaeological sites, whether by airstrikes or bombings, according to the countrys General Organization of Antiquities and Museums (GOAM).

Mohanad al-Sayani, the chairman of GOAM, told Al-Monitor that the war caused massive damage to Yemeni archaeological sites. GOAM has so far identified 66 archaeological sites and monuments that were hit by airstrikes," he said. "Also, 35 religious sites and shrines were destroyed and vandalized by terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and others, who believe such shrines and monuments are forbidden [by God].

As a precautionary method, GOAM closed museums and archaeological sites at the beginning of the war and stored some antiquities at safe locations, he said. But the continuation of this long, drawn-out war threatens many of these historical pieces which are not in a suitable environment, he added.

The war has not spared heritage sites across the various governorates of Yemen. Besides shelling [of the monuments and museums], archaeological sites were used as military sites by the warring parties, Sayani said. Artifacts were stolen and smuggled. Slum areas were constructed in an arbitrarily and chaotic manner over parts of archaeological sites amid the weakness of government agencies.

Sayanis description can be seen on the ground in Aden, a multifaith strategic port city in the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The city has been home to churches, synagogues and Hindu temples, all serving as witnesses to the diversity that is currently struggling to survive. Half the buildings are now destroyed.

Wadee Aman, director-general of the Aden Heritage Center, a nongovernmental organization, told Al-Monitor, The war in Aden has caused the destruction and loss of archaeological monuments. The military museum in Aden was used as an arena for military confrontations. Some of its parts were destroyed by artillery shelling. Historical tanks were also shelled.

Aman continued, Several monuments have been deliberately vandalized and desecrated. Old churches and temples, attesting to the citys diversified religious heritage and sectarian and religious coexistence in the ancient period, were set ablaze.

The Washington Post published an article last month, co-written by Deborah Lehr, the founder and chair of the Antiquities Coalition, and Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, Yemens ambassador to the United States. The co-authors called for an end to the smuggling of Yemens antiquities and their sale in US markets. Yemen has warned the United Nations and the world of this illicit trade, presenting evidence that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants and Houthi rebels are taking a page from the Islamic State playbook by arming their cause with the plunder and sale of Yemens ancient treasures, they wrote. Research by the Antiquities Coalition demonstrates that, over the past decade, the United States has imported more than $8 million worth of declared art and antiquities from Yemen. There is reason to suspect that the total is much higher.

In November, a report by the independent Yemeni group, Mwatana for Human Rights, reiterated the concerns on the destruction of heritage. The report stated that all parties to the conflict have been involved in attacks and hostilities against many cultural properties, including archaeological sites and historical landmarks dating back more than 2,000 years.

GOAM Chairman Sayani said the prevailing conditions of war and division among state organs made it very easy to destroy or illegally smuggle archaeological objects out of the country.

I reach out to all concerned international organizations, because their efforts have the greatest impact on the various parties, to protect Yemens antiquities and to urgently cooperate with the GOAM," Sayani said. "Everyone must know that antiquities are not the property of a specific party or a group, but they belong to all Yemenis, and to the entire humanity.

Aman warned that government agencies and international organizations are not properly handling this disastrous crisis. Serious and concrete action must be taken by the competent international organizations regarding this situation. Government plans are urgently needed to safeguard the Yemeni cultural heritage. This requires the participation of all concerned civil society organizations," he said.

Since its onset in March 2015, the war in Yemen has affected the countrys present, future and history. Yemen is reeling under one of the worst humanitarian crisis in history: 22.2 million people are in dire need of urgent humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations. Meanwhile, the warring parties keep fueling the conflict, heedless of the fate of the country or its people.
Turkey's voters will elect their mayors, city council representatives and mukhtars (leaders of neighborhoods and villages) come March 31. But how "free" will the elections be?

President Recep Tayyip Erdogans coalition, formed between his Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), is branding the elections a matter of survival, assigning to it all the fervently militaristic attributes of a war. On Jan. 11, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu sent a memo to governors and security forces in 81 cities titled Election Measures. It warns, Remarks [by anyone] that attempt to manipulate the results of the elections will not be allowed. How this will be prevented isn't specified, though the memo promises  or threatens  close monitoring.

A few critical voices remaining in the Turkish media asked what the government is really preparing for with this memo.

The most daunting aspect of the memo is the language it employs about those who are in charge of public safety. Along with official security personnel  which include the police, gendarmerie and coast guard  the memo calls for regular and volunteer security guards to be on duty.

In October 2016, village guards changed their name to security guards; they are a paramilitary unit active since the mid-1980s under the Gendarmerie General Command. Initially, these paramilitary units were to be recruited from local Kurdish villagers to help armed forces battle the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey considers a terrorist organization. For decades, security guards served in eastern and southeastern Anatolia, which are mostly Kurdish areas. Since 2018, the guards have been operating in the eastern Black Sea region as well.

Speaking on condition of strict anonymity, a retired two-star general with a decade of experience with the village guards told Al-Monitor, Reading the memo from the Interior Ministry to the governors, one cannot help but worry. These paramilitary units have two weeks of training. All of them are armed. There is no specification in the memo, so we must ask: Is this system expanding to all of Turkey now? When the president equates a political party [the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP)] with 6 million voters to a terror organization [PKK], I don't see how public safety can be sustained.

Meral Danis Bestas, a lawyer and HDP parliament member, told Al-Monitor, The Interior Ministry announced that 7,000 security personnel will be serving in places that are potentially risky. To begin with, this memo is against the election laws of Turkey. Security forces, whose regular residences are not in these towns or cities, will be voting in the municipal elections  to elect people to govern these districts" they are patrolling.

Though the government says the massive security presence is necessary for safety, it appears to be actually designed to control election results.

"That's why for months we have been trying to document unlawful voting schemes," she said.

Those forces aren't the only concern. Bekcis, who operate under the police force, are official, armed, uniformed security guards who patrol towns, asking people for IDs  mostly in opposition neighborhoods. They act as the government's eyes.

A mukhtar from Izmir told Al-Monitor, "The age-old night guard has changed since the [July 2016] coup attempt. Traditionally, bekcis would use a whistle and maybe a baton and monitor streets at night against petty criminals. Now, armed night guards are going around in groups in non-AKP neighborhoods asking people for ID and causing trouble. On several occasions, the police have been called to restrain a violent bekci. They are not on every street  only in places where the AKP wants to increase its presence.

Then there are two rogue elements: Members of waqf (charitable endowments under Islamic law), who are connected to AKP elites; and mafia bosses.

Videos of young men pledging allegiance to different AKP-linked waqfs are shared widely on social media platforms. In addition, militia groups that emerged after the attempted coup, such as the Peoples Private Forces (HOH), have evolved into the National Mobilization Movement (MSH). They strive for the spotlight to declare their loyalty to Erdogan and the state.

The divisive language of AKP officials and Erdogan was promptly echoed by Sedat Peker, a convicted mafia boss. He emerged in Istanbul on Feb. 4 and advised his followers to "arm for the election campaign."

[Erdogan opponents] are planning to call on their supporters to take to the streets following the elections. Their objective is to mix their supporters with members of terrorist groups and cause destruction across the country," he charged. "Our police and military are strong, but the children of this country will also come to defend the streets, Peker said. He asked the crowd that cheered for him with Islamists slogans to acquire licensed guns, rifles or any weapons possible.

Peker has previously delivered several provocative and violent messages to the public. In a particularly gruesome 2016 statement on his website, he took aim at academics who had been accused by Turkish authorities of spreading "terrorism propaganda." He said, We will spill your blood, and we will take a shower with your blood. An Istanbul prosecutor indicted him for threatening academics and inciting violence. Though Peker has previous convictions on similar charges, he was acquitted in 2018 in that case.

Al-Monitor asks two questions about these militias and the mafia threat. One, who is the target? A law professor from an Istanbul university speaking on condition of anonymity said, This time around, Peker's and other groups threats are not necessarily targeting the liberals or left-leaning groups; rather, their main focus is to instill fear to preempt fallout from the right-wing coalition. Second, why are Peker and other groups not punished for their open public threats? Bestas explained that Peker "represents the spirit of the state."

"If they prosecute him, their own mindset will be on trial. So he is protected under freedom of expression," Bestas said.

On the evening of the last national election, held June 24, 2018, armed civilians fired their weapons in the centers of several towns and cities. Uniformed police officers didn't stop these "celebratory" gunshots in support of Erdogan.

One governor who asked to remain anonymous told Al-Monitor that Erdogan "fears that the publics unconditional love and support are eroding."

He said, Prices [of basic household items] are going up, unemployment is on the rise and Erdogan no longer has any credible promises for the public at large. He no longer campaigns for new voters. His only struggle is to keep his base [intact].  Armed men with little training and no uniforms are ticking time bombs for public safety. They also make sure people remain scared of the state.

Erdogans coalition with ultranationalists adds new groups daily to the list of enemies of the state. Paramilitary groups  whether dubiously employed by the state or tacitly supported by different groups linked to the state  are now being used as part of the election campaign. Erdogan has made it clear to the public that any sort of criticism is treason and if the opposition parties don't support him, they aren't patriotic. For now, all vocal paramilitary groups are loudly supporting the state. How long this support can be sustained and how it will be used is yet to be seen. For now, we can safely conclude that political competition  even on life support  will no longer be tolerated in Turkey.
SOCHI, Russia  The presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran convened for their fourth summit on Syria in Russias southern resort city of Sochi on Feb. 14. Earlier leaders of the guarantor countries of the Astana process met in November 2017 in Sochi, in April 2018 in Ankara and in September 2018 in Tehran.

Given that this is the first meeting of Astana guarantors since the US drawdown announcement, political and on-the-ground implications of Donald Trump's decision set a certain tone and framework for the Sochi talks.

Prior to the meeting in the trilateral format, Putin hosted Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani for bilateral discussions. The Russian leader began both encounters by expressing respective condolences on the collapse of a residential building in Istanbul on Feb. 6 and on the terrorist attack in southeast Iran on Feb. 13.

Friends, we have accomplished a great deal together, we have come a long way," Putin told the Turkish delegation. "All of us know that this was not a straightforward task, and it is not over yet. Not all the goals have been achieved, but if we continue working actively, coordinate our efforts and seek compromises, we will definitely succeed."

Putin later told the Iranians: I would [also] like to say how grateful I am to Iran for its contribution to the settlement in Syria. We have been working hard in a coordinated manner, which is the only way to attain our goal. Not all the problems have been settled. We definitely have enough subjects to discuss in the trilateral format today. As for bilateral relations, I would like to say that our plans are being implemented overall, but we do need to work even more efficiently in this sphere.

In the run-up to the Sochi meeting, speculations  some substantiated  over a growing rift between Moscow and Tehran grew strong, and both Russian and Iranian leaders chose to mildly acknowledge they exist yet emphasized some cooperative trends.

[B]etween January and November 2018 our bilateral trade increased by 7.5% and reached $1.5 billion," Putin noted at his 16th meeting with Rouhani. "It is notable that imports from Iran have grown by over 40%. We are working to implement major joint projects in nuclear generation, the oil and gas sector and other fields. We are delighted with this progress. I hope that our meeting today will give a fresh impetus to the further development of our bilateral ties.

Rouhani, on his fifth trip to Russia, echoed Putin's optimism: Happily, relations between Russia and Iran are very good and continue to develop. They are moving toward a strategic level. We hold consultations on various international and regional matters.  Our cooperation on the settlement in Syria is going forward very well. We are confident of our cooperation in the fight against international terrorism.

The summit in Sochi reiterated a central trend within the Astana trio that the previous gathering in Tehran exposed: Disagreements within the Astana trio persist, yet the three states continue to value their framework, which, in the absence of a better alternative, helps Moscow, Tehran and Ankara promote their own agendas and coordinate efforts in moving the course of action in Syria.

At a press conference following the talks, Putin said, Within the Astana process  we managed to create a truly efficient mechanism of direct contacts between the Syrian government and the armed opposition. Astana and Sochi have hosted 11 meetings.  These meetings facilitated the progress in achieving a peace settlement in the Syrian Arab Republic. It is certainly a positive result that we have achieved together.

The big difference from the past meeting was the factor of the US presence in Syria. The conventional wisdom at the time was that American forces were a serious irritant for the three. Now that the United States seems to be on its way out, two ideas have crystallized: why this presence was a problem for each of the states, and how Putin, Erdogan and Rouhani seek to play it, each for their own benefit.

"Should the [US] decision to leave Syria be implemented, the move will contribute to stability and security in Syria in light of aforementioned principles [sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity], the final communique from the meeting reads.

The devil is in the details when it comes to individual country positions, though.

Irans Rouhani argued, "Over the last 20 years America has played a destructive role in our region, be it in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Syria and now in Yemen.  We believe America should revise its approach. He added, however, that he didnt feel particularly optimistic about the US withdrawal.

Putin, somewhat contrary to official Russian assessments as well as his own earlier skepticism, expressed more confidence in the US decision, by separating, in his usual manner, Trumps wheat from Washingtons chaff.

Of Trump's desire to wind down the American presence in war-torn Syria, Putin said, "We know that Donald Trump has been actively working to deliver on his campaign promises. This is a rather rare practice in the political life of the United States."

President Erdogan said the US withdrawal must not lead to a vacuum of power on the freed territories and the reign of terrorists there.

He added that Ankara expects Astana partners to assist in ensuring theres no terrorist corridor on the Turkish-Syrian border.

This in itself is an interesting statement, perhaps signaling that Turkey has given up on its earlier idea of creating a safe zone with the United States and is now considering Russian offers.

Remarkably, President Rouhani spoke for the Kurds, urging that "their rights should be ensured in the future of Syria and they should have their role in the Syrian sovereignty.

Days before the Sochi gathering, Russian military police expanded their patrol area near Manbij, into the Kurdish-dominated settlement of Avsharia, to prevent any type of provocations" from either side.

Idlib has come up as yet another contentious issue. The three leaders spoke against the growing influence of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in the Idlib de-escalation zone. President Erdogan even reminded everyone of the respective memorandum the Russian and Turkish militaries signed in Sochi in 2018 as a guarantee for Idlib to be stabilized. But he also spoke of Turkey's concerns over a potential humanitarian crisis that may unfold as a result of a military operation.

Turkey has done a lot, despite all the difficulties, despite provocations by some countries, to keep calamity [from] Idlib, Erdogan insisted.

Putin, however, signaled Moscows unease with the protracted stalemate over the area.

We need to agree on how to provide for the final de-escalation in Idlib," Putin urged Erdogan. "We are managing the cease-fire in the province, but that does not mean we have to accept the presence of terrorist groups in Idlib. This is why I suggest examining practical steps that Russia, Turkey and Iran might take together to eradicate the terrorist stronghold completely.

The security and geopolitical issues have not entirely subsided important practical matters. The final communique reaffirms the leaders commitment to expedite the work on the Syrian Constitutional Committee in close coordination with all the involved Syrian parties and the UN envoy on Syria, Geir Pedersen.

A special emphasis was put on the return of Syrian refugees and the restoration of the country. The former, the trio agreed, should be carried out in partnership with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The latter should be carried out with international humanitarian organizations and focus on the restoration of schools, hospitals and water and electricity supply systems. This, too, is an interesting development, given that earlier Astana guarantors, Russia in particular, appealed to European states and the Gulf to act as prime donors for the reconstruction of Syria. This in no way suggests Moscow reconsidered its approach, but it may signal that now that a new element  US sanctions on those cooperating with Damascus  is in place, Russia is seeking every option that may work.

The United States may be out physically, but the leverage its likely to exert will still be influential. The American game of denial of the trio successes, as seen in Russia, Iran and, to a lesser degree, Turkey, is a new level that the Kremlin will find much more difficult to work against. But this is a fight that will continue to glue Moscow and Tehran together, despite the disputes.
WASHINGTON  If the Warsaw conference that wrapped up today only seemed to amplify differences between Donald Trump administration officials and their European allies regarding Iran, one attendee displayed high satisfaction with the event: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Veteran US peace negotiator Dennis Ross says he moderated a panel of three Arab foreign ministers at a closed-door dinner in Warsaw on Wednesday night. That was then immediately followed by Ross interviewing the Israeli prime minister, who is running for re-election in April.

Apparently, there was a decision to have some outside people come as moderators, Ross told Al-Monitor by email today.

I was asked to moderate a panel of Arab ministers for the opening night and then following that discussion to interview Prime Minister Netanyahu, Ross, now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said. The focus was, as you might imagine, largely on Iran.

Ross described his role at the US-Polish co-hosted conference to Al-Monitor after tweeting observations that warned the Palestinian Authority (PA), which skipped the Warsaw meeting, could find itself left behind.

The PA may not like it, but Arab states will pursue their interests even when the Palestinian leadership opposes, Ross wrote on Twitter. Case in point: the Warsaw Conference. Arab states had more of an interest in arguing for unity of effort against Iran than boycotting a conference the PA opposed.

At the Warsaw Conference, I conducted back to back discussions first with three Arab ministers and then with Israeli PM Netanyahu, Ross tweeted. Same room, same views of Irans aggressive, threatening posture in the Middle East, and unmistakable convergence of what should be done to counter it.

A still photo from a video uploaded by the Israeli prime ministers office before it was deleted, and published by the Israeli daily Haaretz, showed Ross moderating a panel that included Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

Bahrains foreign minister can be heard blasting Iran as a toxic party, Haaretz reported on the since-deleted video of the dinner discussion in Warsaw, further quoting him as saying, "If it wasn't for the toxic party  guns and food soldiers of the Islamic Republic, I think we would have been much closer today in solving this issue with Israel."

Amazing to be sitting [within] a few feet of the [foreign ministers of] Yemen, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Bahrain & @Netanyahu (others in region here too) having open/honest talk about the numerous regional challenges, Trump peace envoy Jason Greenblatt tweeted. Under @POTUS we have a chance to solve these issues. We must work on these various challenges.

Aaron David Miller, who long served as a US Middle East peace negotiator, said the increasingly open convening of Israeli and Arab officials in the same room in Warsaw made more clear a regional transformation that has been underway.

Look, the prime minister of Israel had dinner in a private session with  a number of Arab foreign ministers, Miller, now with the Woodrow Wilson Center, told Al-Monitor. He met with [Omani Foreign Minister] Yusuf bin Alawi [in Warsaw]. He has [recently] seen [Omani Sultan] Qaboos.

My take away from this  what is so stunning, so preternaturally amazing, is that at a time when there is no peace process and no prospect of one, and there is one of the most right-wing governments in Israeli history, and the [Trump] administration is waging a political and economic war against the Palestinians, Israels stock in the region and in the international community is higher now than at any point since the state was created, Miller said. He attributed the change to a combination of regional exhaustion, fatigue with the Palestinian issue and the jihadi and Iranian threat.

To me, what is so stunning about Warsaw is what it says about the change in regional dynamics, he said. What it doesnt show in my judgment is that the Arabs are now inclined to forget about the Palestinian issue.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also declared the Warsaw meeting a truly historic gathering.

At the dinner last night, Arab and Israeli leaders gathered in the same room to talk about deeply common and shared interest, Pompeo said in a press availability with Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz at the close of the meeting today.

Its undeniable that Irans aggression in the region has brought Israel and Arab states closer together, Pompeo said. What I think was even more remarkable is that it didnt feel all that historic. It felt right, it felt normal, because we were working on a common problem.
BEIRUT  Four women have been appointed to Cabinet positions in Lebanons new 30-member government, a record-breaking figure for the country, which does not have a gender quota for political representation. Shortly after announcing the end of the political deadlock that had left Lebanon without a government for nine months after elections, Prime Minister Saad Hariri tweeted on Feb. 1, Proud of Lebanese women, proud of the four female minister in the government, proud of the first woman interior minister in the Arab world, proud of the future, proud of Lebanon.

The news garnered widespread attention by international media, particularly Future Movement member Raya el-Hassan, a former finance minister, being chosen to oversee the Interior Ministry, one of Lebanons four sovereign ministries, a position affording her significant power.

Nada Boustany of the Free Patriotic Movement was appointed energy and water minister, another senior portfolio, while May Chidiac, a member of the Lebanese Forces, became minister of state for administrative development, and Violette Safadi, an independent, was named minister of state for economic empowerment of women and youth.

The nominations of these women will hopefully change the perception of society toward women and their capacities, Claudine Aoun Roukoz, president of the National Commission for Lebanese Women and daughter of Lebanese President Michel Aoun, told Al-Monitor. Its important that we have women representing different sectors, because obviously a womans voice in politics is needed across all sectors, not just in those related to gender. Women are directly affected in all political decisions that are made, whether it be related to the environment, social affairs or electricity. We are needed to ensure a proper democracy.

Carmen Geha, who conducts research on Lebanese women in politics as a professor of political studies and public administration at the American University of Beirut, told Al-Monitor that the appointments are a testament to Lebanese political leaders' ability to find qualified women to fill high-ranking posts if they so choose.

Boustany had since 2010 worked with the Energy Ministry as a consultant and had coordinated her partys energy advisory committee for the past several years. Chidiac, founder and president of the May Chidiac Foundation, which focuses on Lebanese media, democracy and social welfare, is a former journalist who heavily criticized Syrias heavy hand in Lebanon. It was Chidiacs work as a journalist that led in September 2005 to an attempt on her life, which many blame on Syria, whose forces occupied Lebanon from 1976 to 2005 and which withdrew only reluctantly.

Hassan is currently chair of the Tripoli Special Economic Zone, the authority responsible for rehabilitating and expanding Tripolis port, the second largest in the country. She has yet to announce whether she will be stepping down from that position. Safadi has a background in journalism and business.

Geha observed about Lebanese politics, Parliamentary elections take on a more populist approach. You need candidates who are well known in the community and who have money to run, and generally, these people are usually men. On the other hand, finding women who are competent and highly skilled within Lebanons political parties is not difficult.

In the May 2018 parliamentary elections, six women were elected to the 128-seat body.

The prime minister has appeared to be personally very committed to the issue of female representation, Geha said. Im not saying this to endorse him. He has highlighted the issue many times. Its a bit up to the whims, but for once, the whims seem to be good.

Paula Yacoubian, a member of Sabaa and one of the six women elected to parliament, both praised and criticized the appointment of women to head ministries.

Its great that these women with impressive backgrounds were appointed, however, the number of women in the Cabinet and parliament is still not high enough, Yacoubian told Al-Monitor. Female appointments only make up 12% of the government. We were hoping for at least 25%.

Wafaa Hamze and Leila Solh Hamade, daughter of former Lebanese Prime Minister Riad Solh, were the first two women appointed to a Lebanese Cabinet, in 2004. Under Prime Minister Umar Karami, Hamze was minister of state for parliament affairs, and Hamade headed the Industry Ministry. In subsequent cabinets, female representation never exceeded two posts, until now.

Roukoz, who along with her organization had lobbied the new prime minister to nominate more women, had also hoped for a higher number. But, its a first step, she said. This is the most women weve had so far in a Cabinet, and well continue to push for more in the future.

Yacoubian was more critical. The current appointments strike her as window dressing, earning political leaders points for their inclusion while evading the systemic reforms needed to ensure gender equity in representation at the political level.

For me, the most important reform when it comes to women in politics is introducing a quota, Yacoubian said. We need a quota, and in a country defined by quotas, having one is not humiliating for women.

Lebanon, a country long divided along sectarian lines, ended its 25-year civil war with the Taif Agreement, an accord that upheld the division of powers at the top of the government among its religious groups. Accordingly, the presidency is reserved for a Maronite Christian, the premiership a Sunni and the speaker of parliament a Shiite.

Without a quota, there will never be adequate representation of women, Yacoubian asserted.

The Lebanese have kept an eye on the moves of the new government. With an economy on the edge of a cliff  Lebanon is the third-most indebted country  the decisions made in the next few months will be pivotal. Regardless, Geha noted, it would be unfair to expect these women to cast aside Lebanese political tradition in trying to hastily turn the country around.

Its a double standard, Geha remarked. We should not expect these women to [ignore] party lines, just as we would not expect men to.

In under a week, Hassan issued a list of priorities and asked that the public hold her to account in seeing them through. Her agenda includes better implementation of domestic violence laws, a crackdown on the illicit use of weapons and reform of the countrys electoral law to increase voter accessibility.

On Feb. 5, Hassan removed security barriers outside the Interior Ministry, in Beiruts Sanayeh Park neighborhood, that for five years had resulted in a lane closure on a busy road, regularly causing traffic jams during peak hours. Her decision was met with praise from the community, but skepticism by her male predecessor, Nouhad Machnouk.

In Geha's assessment, the appointment of the four new ministers represents a good precedence. Theyll certainly be under more scrutiny [than their male counterparts] and under the public eye, she said. We should wait and see what happens.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Israel has begun the third and final phase of a massive barrier along its border with Gaza. On Feb. 3, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted, Over the weekend, we began building the above-ground barrier along the Gaza border. The barrier will prevent terrorists from Gaza from penetrating into our territory on the ground. He added, If the quiet is not maintained in Gaza, we will not hesitate to act.

The galvanized steel wall will be 40 miles long and 20 feet high when completed, which, it is estimated, will be by the end of the year. Its primary purpose is to prevent Palestinians from tunneling under the border and into Israel to launch attacks.

The first phase began in 2016, with workers digging to install the underground portion of the barrier. An Israeli military official told the New Arab that the metal-reinforced cement wall is about one meter thick, but declined to say how deep it runs. Estimates of the depth have varied, with one Israeli official being quoted as saying it's deep enough. Motion sensors will be installed to detect any attempts at tunneling.

The second phase got underway in May 2018 and ended last month. That portion consisted of building a sea barrier at the Ashkelon extending 656 feet out into the Mediterranean and 20 feet above the water.

The Times of Israel reported on Feb. 3 that the wall will contain 20,000 tons of steel. It will stand meters away from the current border fence, which will be left in place. The Israeli army has deployed drones and personnel to protect the workers building the wall, which is expected to cost around 3 billion shekels ($825 million).

Speaking to Al-Monitor, Yusuf al-Sharqawi, a military expert and retired general in the PLO's ranks, noted the impetus behind the wall, stating, The armed operations carried out by the Palestinian factions during the war in 2014, especially by Hamas, forced Israel to construct a barrier to prevent the recurrence of such armed operations. He does not, however, believe the barrier will be successful in eliminating tunnels or armed operations.

Abu Ahmed, the senior military commander of the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza, told Al-Monitor that the Palestinian factions have the military and engineering capabilities to penetrate the wall underground and above ground. He noted how over the years the various factions have been able to overcome many of the obstacles Israel has devised to prevent attacks.

Regarding the latter, Abu Ahmed cited the example of Israel planting hundreds of trees along the border to block the Palestinians' view of its military positions. In November, however, Hamas was able to target a bus transporting Israeli soldiers near the border, striking it with a Kornet missile, which represented a new challenge for Israel.

Speaking to Al-Monitor, Hamad al-Reqeb, a Hamas leader, expressed confidence that the Palestinians can overcome obstacles posed by the wall and other Israeli measures on the border. He conceded, however, that once the wall is completed, Israel will have tightened its continuous land and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007. The siege has affected all Palestinian factions and sectors in the Gaza Strip. Since March, Palestinians in Gaza have been trying to lift the blockade through peaceful protests along the border billed as the Great Return March.

Although the design of the barrier project would appear to be fit for purpose, some senior Israeli army officials told Haaretz in September that the barrier will not entirely eliminate the threat posed by Hamas' tunnels. Hesham el-Maghary, a security and military expert close to Hamas and head of Al-Awda University College in Gaza, expressed the same sentiment to Al-Monitor.

Palestinian factions have the military tools that could overcome this barrier whether underground, on land or at sea, said Maghary. The factions don't reveal what tools those might be, but analysts believe the factions might resort to bombing the wall or targeting it with guided missiles.

Maghary said Israel is also sending a political message with the construction of the Gaza wall as well as the separation barrier in and around the West Bank. Through them, he asserted, Israel is presenting the Palestinians with its vision of its permanent borders.
Nine members of terrorist group banned in Russia get long prison terms

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

16:57 15/02/2019

MOSCOW, February 15 (RAPSI)  The Moscow District Military Court on Friday sentenced nine members of Hizb ut-Tahrir terrorist organization banned in Russia to prison terms ranging from 11 to 16 years, the courts press service told RAPSI.

Three defendants were found guilty of organizing a terrorist group, other six persons were convicted of participation in a terrorist organization.

Prosecutors earlier asked the court to sentence three defendants to 17 years in high security prison and demanded 13 years for the others.

According to attorney Dagir Khasavov, three convicts pled not guilty but confirmed their Hizb ut-Tahrir membership. However, they do not regard the organization as terrorist. Other defendants denied involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir.




The Egyptian parliament on Feb. 14 overwhelmingly endorsed sweeping constitutional changes that include extending presidential terms from four years to six and exempting President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi from his current two-term limit. Some 485 out of a total of 596 lawmakers (more than 81%) in the House of Representatives voted in favor of proposed revisions that could allow Sisi to remain in power until 2034 and would expand the military's authority by allowing a council of military officers to "oversee the state."

The proposed amendments have been submitted to parliament's Legislative and Constitutional Committee for review before they are put to a national referendum that critics expect will likely be rigged in favor of the changes.

The news that parliament had given a nod to the controversial changes was largely met with apathy in Egypt. The country's civil society and political parties, weakened by years of political repression, had clearly resigned themselves to that outcome given that the bulk of the deputies are from parliament's majority "Support Egypt" bloc that had spearheaded the proposed revisions. It is a well-known fact that the lawmakers in Egypt's lower house were handpicked by the country's notorious security agencies to ensure that the laws passed are a rubber stamp for Sisi's decisions.

The subdued reaction to parliament's swift approval of the amendments is a far cry from the stiff resistance faced by President Mohammed Morsi when he attempted to pass a controversial decree that would have raised his edicts above judicial review in 2012. Although the Muslim Brotherhood-backed president had sought to allay the concerns of the opposition that the decree was temporary (lasting only until a constitution was approved), the fierce backlash he faced from the judiciary, civil society, leftist political parties and ordinary citizens forced him to quickly rescind his decision. The following year, Morsi was ousted by Sisi.

The situation is vastly different today: A spate of arrests and prosecutions of opposition figures has succeeded in intimidating most critics into silence. Filmmaker and member of parliament Khaled Youssef, who had expressed his rejection to the proposed amendments on social media, has reportedly been forced to flee the country for fear of arrest. This occurred after "scandalous" videos of the lawmaker were leaked on social media networks and picked up by the pro-government Egyptian media. The videos purportedly showing him engaging in sexual activity with multiple actresses went viral in Egypt this past week. They have also prompted the arrests of two young actresses who appear in one of the videos, on charges of blasphemy. If found guilty, the women risk three-year jail sentences.

Speaking to BBC Arabic from France, Youssef insisted that the leaked videos were part of a moral assassination campaign by the regime as punishment for his opposition to the amendments. Similar tactics have also been used to pressure Haitham al-Hariri, another leftist opposition member of parliament, into submission. Hariri had initially spoken out in parliament against the proposed amendments, warning that "tampering with presidential terms would create an authoritarian, despotic regime." But he made an abrupt turnabout after a telephone conversation he allegedly had with a married woman was leaked on social media. A pro-government lawyer filed a legal complaint against Hariri, accusing him of sexual harassment. The lawyer also called for Hariris parliamentary immunity to be lifted so he can be prosecuted on charges of "committing adultery." Bowing under pressure, Hariri retracted his earlier statements and wrote on Facebook that if the proposed constitutional changes are approved by parliament, then the process is "purely democratic. He also urged Egyptians to vote in the upcoming referendum, adding that "we all have to respect the will of the people. Egyptians will have the final word."

Other deputies hailed parliament's endorsement of the amendments as a "historic day." Lawmaker Mervat Al Kassan called on Egyptians to approve changes that she insisted were "for the benefit of the people, citing the quota guaranteeing 25% representation of women in parliament as an example. She also applauded plans to set up an upper house of parliament, while failing to mention that one-third of its members would be appointed by the president.

In the climate of intimidation and fear, only a handful of critics still dare to speak out publicly against the amendments. In a fiery speech to parliament, lawmaker Ahmed El Tantawi condemned the changes as unconstitutional and warning that they would drag the country back to medieval times.

"All the articles are a revision, a setback, a return to a system of rule that is worse than what existed before January 25," he said, referring to the 2011 uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak to step down as president.
No more of the one metric ton of plutonium designated for removal from South Carolina will be sent to the Nevada National Security Site, according to Bruce Diamond, the National Nuclear Security Administration's general counsel.

"I now file this declaration to clarify my previous statement and again assert that NNSA has completed all plutonium shipments to the Nevada National Security Site and the state of Nevada under the proposed action at issue in this case," Diamond said in a Feb. 13 court declaration.

"As stated in the United States' status report in response to the court's minute order ... no more plutonium will be shipped to the Nevada National Security Site from any location as part of the supplement analysis' proposed action," Diamond continued.

A half-metric-ton of defense plutonium has already been relocated to NNSS. That tranche was handled prior to November 2018 and was publicly revealed in a separate declaration made by Diamond in late January.

The relocation campaign  followed by high-profile government outrage  is the result of a December 2017 court order, which requires the U.S. Department of Energy to get one metric ton of weapons-usable plutonium out of the Savannah River Site and South Carolina in general by 2020.

The NNSA is a semiautonomous energy department agency.

A NNSA spokesperson last year told the Aiken Standard half of the one metric ton would be taken out of the state by the end of 2018  that came to fruition. The remaining half, the spokesperson said, would be moved out of the state by the end of 2019.

A NNSA senior spokesperson earlier this month said the agency continues to be "on track" to satisfy the court's order.

The total one metric ton of plutonium, according to a July 2018 NNSA study, was scheduled to be sent to NNSS and the Pantex Plant in Texas for staging.

The metric ton will eventually be used for weapons  pit production  purposes at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, according to the same study.

"This material will ultimately be used for vital national security missions and is not waste," NNSA Chief of Staff William "Ike" White wrote in a letter to Nevada officials.

NNSS is northwest of Las Vegas.
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The Savannah River drawdown simulation has reached the target level, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website.

The drawdown is a simulation showing those in both South Carolina and Georgia what the Savannah River pool would look like under the Corps preferred alternative to the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam.

The preferred alternative, known as Alternative 2-6d, would create a fixed weir with in-channel fish passage and a dry floodplain bench, as well as remove the current lock and dam.

The fixed weir is expected to decrease the water level about 1 to 2 feet at the 5th Street Bridge gauge during average flow conditions in the downtown Augusta area, the Corps blog, Balancing the Basin, said in a Jan. 31 post. It also said that because of increased rainfall since November, the simulation may appear more dramatic compared to what is typically observed in downtown Augusta between June and October.

A post on Wednesday announced the river level in the Augusta area has reached target elevation, and that the simulated level will be maintained for about seven days. Wednesdays post echoes that because of increased rainfall, the simulation appears more dramatic than what is usually seen between June and October.

North Augusta Mayor Bob Pettit said on Tuesday the drawdown is clearly noticeable.

North Augusta City Council passed a resolution in January officially supporting a different alternative, option 1-1, that would retain the dam with fish passage on the Georgia side.

I think the impact is dramatic, and I think it validates what our concerns are, Pettit said Tuesday.

North Augusta City Council member Fletcher Dickert expressed concerns with the Corps preferred alternative Tuesday, saying he supports the alternative Council passed the resolution on. Dickert said the fixed weir takes away control of the river elevation and the ability to flush the river if needed.

+2 N.A. City Council officially takes position on future of Lock and Dam North Augusta officially made its position on the future of the New Savannah Bluff Lock and 

According to their website, the Corps will be releasing a draft report laying out their modeling and analysis of the alternatives. After the report is released, there will be a 30-day comment period. Wednesdays Balancing the Basin post also says the Corps plans to hold an interactive workshop in the Augusta area in early March where the public can learn more about the report.

According to a chart shown by the Corps at a November public meeting, the final report decision on the project will come in June 2019. The Corps is required by the Water Infrastructure Improvement for the Nation (WIIN) Act to provide passage for short-nosed sturgeon. The WIIN Act also deauthorized the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam.

Alternative 2-6d was one of many alternatives the Corps was considering for the project, and was decided on by the Corps based on six factors: the ability to pass fish, cost, navigation, water supply, recreation and flooding.
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Beef exports continued to set records in November, according to the USDAs latest trade figures and an analysis from the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

November exports were up 1 percent from a year ago, while export values for beef grew by 6 percent. From January through November, beef exports were up 8 percent and values were up 16 percent.

These numbers highlight the strong international demand for U.S. beef, as exports are accounting for a larger share of growing U.S. production and are fetching higher prices, with some U.S. cuts trading at record prices in Asia, the USMEF says in its analysis.

The export value per head averaged just under $323 in November, up 5 percent from a year ago and up 14 percent over the first 11 months of 2018. Exports accounted for 13.1 percent of total November production.

Pork exports, on the other hand, were down 8 percent in November, thanks in large part to retaliatory tariffs in major markets. From January through November, pork exports were nearly even with year-ago figures, while pork values were down 1 percent.

2018 was truly a remarkable year for U.S. beef exports, which shattered previous records in both volume and value and reached new heights in several of our top markets, says USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom. In the first half of the year, pork exports were also on a very positive trajectory, but unfortunately U.S. pork has been heavily targeted for retaliation.

We remain hopeful that these disputes can be resolved soon, so that U.S. pork can get back on a level playing field with its competitors.
SEYMOUR, Wis.  About 40 percent of U.S. farmland is rented and more than one-third of that land is owned by women, according to the American 
I recently wrote to Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer of England and to the British government, asking her for the basis of her statement to the BBC regarding MMR: "It's a safe vaccination - we know that", and was a lucky enough to receive a reply (letter of 12 November, from which I extract):

We know that confidence in the UK vaccine programme is at very high levels and the vast ma-jority of parents choose to have their children protected by vaccination. Vaccines are one of the best public health interventions we have - saving lives and preventing millions of people from getting life-threatening diseases.

Specifically in relation to whether MMR vaccines may be a cause of autism, a substantial body of population-based research has found no evidence to suggest a causal association. This ev-idence (not just for MMR, but other types of vaccine) is available for review in the published medical literature, and was summarised in a meta-analysis in 2014 which is free to download ( https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X14006367?via%3Dihub ). In relation to vaccine safety monitoring more generally, I can assure you that systems are in place to keep safety under review. This includes continual review of suspected adverse reac-tion reports (such as those submitted through the Yellow Card Scheme), evaluation of GP and hospital-based health records linked to immunisations, review of worldwide data and close collaboration with international health authorities.

Vaccine safety is extremely important and taken seriously, and the safety of MMR vaccines has remained under continual review. As with any vaccine, MMR vaccines can have side effects in some people, and these are listed in the product literature. The potential for side effects has to be balanced against the benefits of protection against what can be very serious and potentially life threatening infections. When safety issues have been confirmed in the past these have been acted upon. Your e-mail refers to the action taken with Urabe mumps-containing vaccines, and another example includes the identification and precautions around the risk of immune thrombocytopenic purpura with MMR vaccines. Should emerging evidence confirm any new risks, I can assure you that appropriate action would be taken.

In November we published an extract from a letter to myself from the British Government's chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, and the full text of her letter has now been published by the British Government under Freedom of Information. However, the timing is somewhat interesting. While the text was apparently released by her department on 21 Dec last year it was not actually published to the web till two days before she announced her retirement on 8 February. Clearly you would expect someone in her position to present the best evidence available.Here is the full text of her letter below with my original article underneath (with thank to Angus Files for pursuing this matter). I had asked Dame Sally to support her statement "It's a safe vaccine -we know that". This was her reply:

Specifically in relation to whether MMR vaccines may be a cause of autism, a substantial body of population-based research has found no evidence to suggest a causal association. This evidence (not just for MMR, but other types of vaccine) is available for review in the published medical literature, and was summarised in a meta-analysis in 2014 which is free to download (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X14006367?via%3Dihub).



In relation to vaccine safety monitoring more generally, I can assure you that systems are in place to keep safety under review. This includes continual review of suspected adverse reaction reports (such as those submitted through the Yellow Card Scheme), evaluation of GP and hospital-based health records linked to immunisations, review of worldwide data and close collaboration with international health authorities.

It is noteworthy that the "meta-analysis" by Luke E Taylor is identical to the one cited by Thomas Insel to a US Congressional committee in 2014, but it constitutes no more than a bureaucratic fig-leaf. Dame Sally - who is the UK's leading government adviser on medical matters - ought to be able to do a lot better than this if every child is to be subjected to these products. It is, if anything, a rather naive response citing a shallow collection of studies which were published under political pressure decades after the policy was introduced. I have since attempted a conscientious and detailed reply:

21 November 2018

Dear Dame Sally,

Thank you for your letter of 12 November. I would point out that though you are quite right I am concerned about the rise in autism I specifically asked about the evidence base for MMR safety. That said it is reasonable to point out autism for a whole host of reasons is a much more serious problem in modern Britain (and elsewhere) than measles. When the DHSC last surveyed this problem in 2004-5 the overall ASD rate among school children was ~1% which was 5 times higher than the rate for those young people born between 1984-8 mostly before MMR was introduced, as reported in the equivalent 1999 survey. Since then your department has neglected to look at the issue (apart from a couple of failed adult autism surveys) as everything manifestly got worse, year on year [1,2].

As it is, a recent survey carried out by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland showed that the rate had risen from 1.2% in 2009 to 2.9%, while in Belfast it was as high as 4.7%. Moreover, 60% are educational Stage 5 [3], ie the most severe level of disability, so these are not cases that could previously have been missed because somehow subliminal. Educational data from across the nation and reports of collapse in educational services in the media testify that Northern Ireland is not an isolated case, but just better documented [4].

Regarding the meta-review by Taylor 'Vaccines are not associated with autism' [5] which you cited I note that there are just six MMR related studies included all of which have major problems. Three of the studies show apparent protective effect of MMR vaccines against autism (Madsen 8% [6], Smeeth 14% or 22% [7] and Mrozek-Budzyn 83%!!! [8]) which suggests bias. Of the Madsen paper Cochrane 2005 warned [9]:

"The follow up of diagnostic records ends one year (31 Dec 1999) after the last day of admission to the cohort. Because of the length of time from birth to diagnosis, it becomes increasingly unlikely that those born later in the cohort could have a diagnosis"

It remains troubling that as with a number of studies from this Danish group the co-ordinator on behalf of US Centers for Diseases Control, Poul Thorsen, is wanted for financial fraud from the CDC, though not extradited to the US now after nearly 8 years [10].

Of the De Stefano paper Cochrane commented [9]:

The conclusion, however, implied bias in the enrollment of cases which may not be representative of the rest of the autistic population of the city of Atlanta, USA where the study was set.

And indeed in 2014 the paper was repudiated by one of the leading authors, William Thompson [11]:

I regret that my coauthors and I omitted statistically significant information in our 2004 article published in the journal Pediatrics. The omitted data suggested that African American males who received the MMR vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism. Decisions were made regarding which findings to report after the data were collected, and I believe that the final study protocol was not followed.

The study by Smeeth [7] is compromised by its patchy data source, the General Practice Research Database where the autism rate represented is perhaps only one tenth of cases diagnosed [12]. Cochrane commented [9]:

In the GPRD - based studies (Black 2003; Smeeth 2004) the precise nature of controlled unexposed to MMR and their generalisability was impossible to determine

It remains problematic whether the unvaccinated in this study were genuinely unvaccinated.

Of the Uchiyama study [13] Cochrane commented [14]:

The cohort study of Uchiyama 2007 was potentially affected by a different type of bias, considering that the participants were from a private clinic and that definitions of applied Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) diagnosis and of methods used for ASD regression ascertainment were not clearly reported.

And the Uno study [15] will suffer from similar issues since the cases came from the same clinic. Moreover, in both instances the studies were far too small (904 persons and 413) to necessarily provide any clear result even if they had been better controlled.

Nor can the Taylor meta-analysis [5] cover up the entire absence of pre-marketing studies. In 1988-9 when the British government was persuaded to introduce Pluserix, MMR2 and Imravax there were no safety studies at all, and successive governments have been forced into the defence of a policy which they had embarked on without safety evidence.

As to the robustness of the yellow card reporting system I note the recent correspondence in the columns of BMJ On-Line regarding monitoring of Pandemrix vaccine from Wendy E Stephen and Clifford G Miller [16], which has serious implications for how the MHRA monitor all products. The MHRA has, of course, the ultimate conflict of being entirely funded by the manufacturers. It may be mentioned that in 1992 the Pluserix and Imravax vaccines were withdrawn not apparently by the British Government concerned about patient safety but by the manufacturers catching the government on the hop [17].

We are confronting a catastrophic situation among our young people with chronic illness replacing infectious illness as the main issue and cost to the state, and laying the emphasis on infectious diseases (with endless hate campaigns in the media against critics labelled anti-vaxxers) is a distraction, and a distortion of policy. It would be unfortunate if ministers were being advised about the safety of the programme on such a threadbare and inadequate basis. Re-examining the policy is both essential and urgent.

[1] John Stone, Response to David Oliver I (The Indisputable Rise in Autism), BMJ Rapid Responses 28 August 2018, https://www.bmj.com/content/362/bmj.k3596/rr-12

[2] John Stone, What about autism? BMJ Rapid Responses, 21 August 2018, https://www.bmj.com/content/362/bmj.k3596/rr-0

[3] Information Analysis Directorate 'The Prevalence of Autism (including Asperger Syndrome) in School Age Children in Northern Ireland 2018', published 10 May 2018, https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/health/asd-children-ni-2018.pdf

[4] Responses to Viner RM, 'NHS must prioritise health of children and young people', https://www.bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k1116/rapid-responses

[5] Luke E Taylor et al, Vaccines are not associated with autism: An evidence-based meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies, Vaccine 2014, https://autismoevaccini.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/vaccines-are-not-associated-with-autism.pdf

[6] Madsen et al, A Population-Based Study of Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccination and Autism, NEMJ 2002, https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa021134

[7] Smeeth et al, MMR vaccination and pervasive developmental disorders: a case-control study. Lance 2004, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15364187

[8] Mrozek-Budzyn et al, Lack of association between measles-mumps-rubella vaccination and autism in children: a case-control study. Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal 2010, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19952979

[9] Demicheli et al, Vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella in children., Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2005 Oct 19;(4):CD004407.

[10] Office of Inspector General, US Department of Health and Human Services, Fugitive Profiles, https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/fugitives/profiles.asp

[11] https://legislature.vermont.gov/assets/Documents/2016/WorkGroups/House%20Health%20Care/Bills/H.98/Witness%20Testimony/H.98~Jennifer%20Stella~William%20Thompson%20Statement~5-6-2015.pdf

[12] John Stone, An old story: the GPRD does not provide credible autism data 11 February 2014 https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/3/10/e003219.responses

[13] Uchiyama et al, MMR-vaccine and regression in autism spectrum disorders: negative results presented from Japan. J Autism Dev Disord. 2007 Feb;37(2):210-7.

[14] Demicheli et al, Vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella in children., Cochrane Systematic Review - Intervention Version published: 15 February 2012, https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD004407.pub3/full

[15] Uno et al, The combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines and the total number of vaccines are not associated with development of autism spectrum disorder: the first case-control study in Asia, Vaccine. 2012 Jun 13;30(28):4292-8. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.01.093. Epub 2012 Apr 20.

[16] Responses to Godlee, A tale of two vaccines BMJ 2018, https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k4152/rapid-responses

[17] Report, BMJ 26 September 1992, https://www.bmj.com/content/305/6856/777

When your government, the BBC or the mainstream media tell you that MMR is safe, this the best that the British government can do. After three decades of pure bluster they need to go back to the drawing board.

******

We published my response to a second letter from Dam Sally last month 'Institutional Confirmation Bias and the United Kingdom Department of Health: Letter to Dame Sally Davies' and we hope to be able to publish the full correspondence at some future date.

John Stone is Age of Autism's UK editor
Vodafone Idea Ltd., Indias largest telecommunications service provider, known to provide a holistic living experience for its customers, in its latest initiative is geared to provide free medical assistance/check-ups to the residents of Kerala. The digital medical initiative called Hello Arogyam is a gesture by Brand Vodafone to salute the health and spirit of Kerala. Vodafone would be setting up medical camps at 10 locations in areas where medical assistance has not been adequately equipped, such as parts of Ernakulam, Mananthawadi, Chaliyar and Munnar starting 11th February 2019.

The Hello Arogyam initiative was inaugurated at the General Hospital, Ernakulam in presence of representatives from the brand, local administration, Asha workers and doctors from the medical fraternity along with 150 participants. The event was flagged-off by District Medical Officer, Ernakulam Dr. N.K. Kuttappan, by receiving a video call from the Tele-cart from Family Health center at Kuttampuzha (a rural area outskirt of Ernakulam district). A doctor at General Hospital then demonstrated the first distant diagnoses done on the patient with the help of IOT enabled stethoscope and fundus camera and other IOT based medical equipment. To provide a practical demo for the attendees, a live projection of the process was arranged. This distant diagnosis technology is set to revolutionize the medical health in rural areas of Kerala. In addition to the live diagnoses, the participants saw three demos which gave them a glimpse of how the Hello Arogyam medical camp will roll out in other parts of Kerala.

The medical camps, planned would be equipped with simple medical machines like a BP monitor and Pulse Oximeter to complex instruments like a Fundus camera. The camp would also be furnished with state-of-the art IoT enabled tele medicine equipment along with other infra requisites. A medical team on site would include doctors and paramedical staff who would assist participants with medical check-ups. The open-to-all camp for residents of a catchment area would get an opportunity to address their medical needs to experts or specialists located in other parts of India and abroad through video conferencing who would provide free consultation to these patients.

Speaking about the initiative, M.D. Prasad  Circle Business Head, Vodafone Idea, Kerala said, At Vodafone, we are constantly finding new and innovative ways to help our customers lead a progressive life. In an attempt to offer a new age solution to Keralas healthcare, we at Vodafone devised a digital solution that will assist in the welfare of the people. With the launch of Hello Arogyam initiative we aim to provide no-cost/complimentary medical assistance to the people in remotest parts of Kerala.

Visitors to the Hello Arogyam camp site would be provided medical assistance across practices like retinopathy screening, cardiology, gastroenterology, urology neurology, ophthalmology & oncology.

Brand Vodafone always strives to ensure that it provides to its customers something new each time they interact. The brand continues to provide a wholesome experience and ever ready to push its boundaries to deliver unmatched experience to customers.
Lokmat, Indias No.1 Marathi newspaper today changed its newspaper masthead to black from red to pay respect for the death of 44 CRPF jawans in Kashmir. Commenting on this initiative, Vijay Baviskar, Group Editor  Lokmat Media Group said Lokmat has come out with black masthead on 15th February issue across Maharashtra, New Delhi & Goa editions. This initiative is taken to protest, mourn and pay condolence to the sacrifice of 44 CRPF jawans yesterday in Kashmir and our support with the families of the brave martyrs.
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, Indias leading private general insurance company today unveiled its new brand identity as Caringly Yours. The new identity was revealed through a hoarding at high traffic vantage location in Pune, which expresses the tag line in the formation of around 1500 actual helmets. The objective behind adopting such innovative way to launch its tagline is to pass on the message to people of this city on Valentines Day that, If you love, show care by wearing helmets, which not only ensures riders safety, but also a peace of mind for their loved ones.

Mr. Sanjiv Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance; Mr. Tapan Singhel, MD & CEO, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance in presence of Dr. K. Venkatesham, Commissioner of Police  Pune City and Ms. Radhika Apte, Renowned Actress unveiled this hoarding encouraging the people to ride safely.

With this new identity, Company aims to reposition itself in the minds of Indian consumers as a brand that protects and cares in great detail about all their financial worries around their most prized possessions - their health, home & content, vehicles, businesses etc.

The underlying philosophy of the brand with this new identity is the belief that no one should compromise on their day to day happiness because their problems arent being met with adequate solutions. Since most of the worries stem from a financial standpoint, the brand envisions to be there as Caringly Yours for all its customers by creating ecosystems that protect them against all such everyday worries and problems.

Highlighting the new brand objective, Tapan Singhel, MD & CEO, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance said that, At Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, our philosophy has always been to work towards addressing the worries of people in whichever manner possible and being there with them when they need us. We felt that caring about the customers is taken for granted many a times and yet should be the backbone of any service industry. Be it care at the stage of consideration, purchase, experience, claim or renewal, with Caringly Yours our intention is to make insurance a seamless part of the customers lives where they will be able to relate their everyday worries to the product and allied services that we will be able to provide. With this we aim not just to take our service to the next level, but also aim to provide the best customer experience at every touch point.

Speaking about the brand transition, Chandramohan Mehra, Chief Marketing Officer, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance said, The refreshed brand transformation reflects on our commitment towards solving customers worries through our proactive solutions. Humanising the brand further, it embodies our values of care, agility and innovative. As a leader of the category, we aim to transcend the general insurance category from transactional to emotionally engaging.

Utmost commitment to its customers and their needs has been the cornerstone of the companys brand communication. It has always been ahead of the curve by translating needs of consumers into affordable products and exceptional services that deliver value for money. Its new tagline shall help it to clearly differentiate and distinguish its brand identity in the marketplace and help it to positively influence awareness, image as well as its vision of being the first choice insurer for customers.
Adelaide Uni welcomes AFL Indigenous All Stars

Friday, 15 February 2019



The University of Adelaide will host the AFL Indigenous All Stars Summit from Sunday, 17 February, the first time South Australia has held the event.



Around 80 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players plus industry leaders will attend the four-day summit which will include workshops, player training and community events.



The University has partnered with organisers to provide lecture theatres, gym and training grounds.



Professor Shane Hearn, Dean of Indigenous Research and Education at the University of Adelaide, said it was a pleasure to open the university to the summit.



Hosting the Indigenous AFL All Stars is a way for us to further our engagement with the community, he said.



Sport has always played an important role for the Aboriginal community and, by bringing together the University of Adelaide and this AFL summit, we hope to highlight that education and sporting prowess can go hand in hand.



The Indigenous AFL All Stars are capable and resilient individuals, both on and off the field.



By bringing them to our University, we hope to get them thinking about their future careers and the stability that comes with education.



On Wednesday, 20 February, the local community is invited to watch an open training session from 2pm and then take part in a Kick to Kick with players at 3pm.



Both events will be held at the University of Adelaides Park 10 Sporting Ground.

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Butte County Sheriff's Office issues evacuation orders along River Road

The Butte County Sheriff's Office has issued evacuation orders along River Road between Chico River Road and Highway 32. This is due to flooding. Stay with Action News Now for the latest updates as they become available.

Power outages cause traffic hazards in Redding

Power outages in Shasta County are causing some traffic hazards as many traffic lights are still out. Redding police reported a crash Thursday night on Highway 273 at south Bonneyview Avenue. They want to remind drivers to treat a defective traffic light as a four-way stop sign.

Storm system puts 30 million under a flood watch on West Coast

A Pineapple Express storm system has more than 30 million people on the West Coast under flood watches. A pineapple express storm is when a series of storms start in the Hawaiian islands, and gather water from the Pacific Ocean. Some parts of California have gotten up to eight inches of rain in one day.

First responders continue the search for body reported in Lindo Channel

First responders in Chico will continue the search for a possible body seen in Lindo Channel. A woman reported seeing a body in a sleeping bag floating down the channel at Mariposa and Manzanita Avenues at around 8 a.m. Thursday morning.

Department of Water Resources asks judge to dismiss lawsuit in Oroville Dam spillway crisis

Friday, the d-w-r will ask a judge to dismiss part of a lawsuit surrounding the Oroville Dam spillway crisis. The lawsuit claims the department had a hostile work environment at the dam, including an incident in which employees harassed an african-american employee by hanging a noose in a meeting room. A federal report found "human and organizational factors" played a role in the crisis.

Shasta County Sheriff's Office charging Redding suspect in killing of man and two dogs

The Shasta County Sheriff's Office is charging Kody Smith with the murder of a person and their dog. Deputies say Smith shot them in his living room on Equestrian Drive Tuesday night. The person's name and the circumstances around the shooting has not been released.

President Trump to declare a national emergency Friday

Friday, President Trump plans to declare a national emergency to fund the southern border wall. This is expected after he signs a spending bill in order to avoid a government shutdown.
UPDATE 12:32 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, 2019 - The Shasta County Sheriff's Office has identified the man killed in a Redding homicide on Wednesday.

The victim has been identified as Richard Westley Maxion, 69, of Redding.

Authorities say that Kody James Smith, 30, of Redding, killed Maxion along with his two dogs on Wednesday.

The incident is still under investigation.

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REDDING, Calif. - The Redding Police Department arrested a suspect who told police that he shot a man and his two dogs on Tuesday.

On Feb. 13 at around 10:28 p.m., dispatch received a call from Kody James Smith, 30, of Redding, who told them that he had killed someone at his residence at 8282 Equestrian Drive, Redding.

Smith told dispatchers that he shot the victim and two dogs that belonged to them.

He was detained as soon as officers arrived at the scene.

The victim was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died at the hospital. The identity of the victim has not been released.

Smith was booked into Shasta County Jail for murder charges.

The incident is still under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Shasta County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit at (530) 245-6135.
MAGALIA, Calif. - California Gov. Gavin Newsom was in Magalia on Thursday, meeting with Camp Fire survivors and talking about wildfire prevention.

The governor, along with state lawmakers and local leaders, spoke with Camp Fire survivors, including staff and students at Pine Ridge Elementary.

On Wednesday, Newsom signed two bills to provide emergency funding to local governments like those in Butte County.

Newsom spoke about PG&E declaring bankruptcy and said it's important to hold the company responsible.

"They're going to be held accountable in the letter of the law," he said. "We're going to hold them to account to make sure the victims made whole and hold them accountable to make sure that the service remains consistent. We're going to hold them accountable, beyond the bankruptcy court, not just long term strategies."
OROVILLE, Calif. - The Department of Water Resources (DWR) was back in court Friday regarding the Oroville Dam spillway lawsuit.

A Bay Area law firm is representing the city of Oroville and employees of DWR.

The firm told the court DWR perpetuated a "hostile work enviroment" at the Oroville Dam. This refers to a complaint from an African-American employee who said co-workers displayed a noose in a meeting room.

Friday the DWR's attornies asked the presiding judge to strike all work environment complaints from the record.

A federal report says an investigation revealed that "human and organizational factors" played a role in the Oroville Dam spillway crisis.

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OROVILLE, Calif. - The Department of Water Resources will be in court on Friday regarding the Oroville Dam Spillway lawsuit.

The Bay Area law firm is representing the City of Oroville, along with the employees of the department.

It is stated that the department perpetuated a "hostile work environment" at the dam. This includes a complaint from an African-American employee who says coworkers displayed a noose in a meeting room.

Today the department is asking a judge to strike all work environment complains from the record.

"DWR wants to remove those from the complaint but if they were a cause of the collapse, the jury has every right to hear about them," said Plaintiffs Attorney Niall McCarthy. "All reports said this was preventable and there was a number of red flags that were ignored."

A federal report found "human and organizational factors" played a role in the crisis.

The law firm says its clients suffered $100 million in losses.
Instagram Celebrity

It remains to be seen if the birthday cake-stomping is a part of her dance routine or not, because if not, she does a good job in hiding her flustered face.

Feb 15, 2019

AceShowbiz - Paris Hilton had one of the best nights in her life when she held early birthday party on Wednesday night, February 13. The star, who will be turning 38 this Saturday, gathered her friends at a pompous gathering which took place at an unknown location in Manhattan, New York.

That night, the blonde beauty looked stunning in a sparkling mini dress which she paired with matching boots and white glasses. Taking to Instagram Stories, the socialite was seen dancing passionately and seductively on the table where her candle-covered birthday cake was placed. She wasn't shy a slightest bit in showcasing some of her finest dance moves before the crowd.

Paris appeared to get carried away during the dance as she stomped on the bright pink, heart-shaped cake with her stiletto. She didn't seem that much shocked though as she continued dancing for the cheering crowd. It made people wonder if the birthday cake-stomping was a part of her dance routine or not, because if not, she did a good job in hiding her flustered face.

A slew of famous faces turned up at the bash. The Blonds catwalker took to her Instagram account to treat her 10.4 million followers to a few videos taken from the fun-filled party. In one of her posts, she was seen striking a pose with her gal squad that was made of Nicki Hilton, Stella Maxwell and AndrejaPejic.

Following her birthday party, Paris is set to throw another party. The Donald Trump supporter will next DJ the Anti-Valentine's Day party on Thursday night at LAVO Italian Restaurant and Nightclub in Manhattan. "I'm sure everyone who's with someone will be on a date, but everyone who's single can come to this party," Paris, who split from fiance Chris Zylka in November 2018, teased to Page Six on Wednesday. "It's going to be really fun. I'm going to wear red, something sparkly and short, with really high heels. And lingerie for the end of the night!"
WENN/Adriana M. Barraza TV

During an interview on 'Good Morning America', the 'No More Drama' hitmaker reveals that she underwent five months of tough training for her role as Cha-Cha on the superhero series.

Feb 15, 2019

AceShowbiz - Mary J. Blige went all out for her new superhero series, "The Umbrella Academy", and insisted on performing her own stunts.

The "No More Drama" hitmaker plays villain Cha-Cha on the series, which is adapted from a graphic novel co-created by former My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way, and she reveals she underwent five months of tough training to learn how to fight onscreen.

"We were in Toronto for five months," she told U.S. breakfast show "Good Morning America" on Thursday, February 14. "The first day that I landed, I was amped to go and train in martial arts. So everyday we had to train for martial arts, then we had to train for fights, then we had to train to act and fight (at the same time)..."

"I already knew how to shoot guns before I got there, because my girlfriend took me to the shooting range, so I already learned how to shoot an MP 40, which is the gun that Cha-Cha is supposed to use. Then I just said, 'Let me learn everything else', and I was prepared for the gun part when I got there, but the fighting was a lot of work."

Blige enjoyed her stunt work, but admits it left her with some nasty cuts and bruises along the way.

"The stunt work was amazing," she recently told Variety. "I was hanging from wires, for real. I was pulling glass out of my face. It was crazy."

Mary J. Blige did many of her own stunts for #TheUmbrellaAcademypic.twitter.com/tUVfIvrKlk  Variety (@Variety) 13 February 2019

"We just did it," she continued. "I said, 'Look, don't be afraid. Throw me, punch me, whatever! Do it. Just do it'. I'm strong like that. We were pretty sore and beaten up the next day."
Instagram Celebrity

Caiden Mills, the son of rapper Consequence, is North's first boyfriend who gifts her a Tiffany & Co. necklace for the special occasion.

Feb 15, 2019

AceShowbiz - North West may only be five years old, but she's not celebrating Valentine's Day alone. The fashionista daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West apparently gets herself a "boyfriend" who is already spoiling her with expensive gifts for the special occasion. The lucky boy in question is Caiden Mills, the son of rapper Consequence.

Caiden took to Instagram on Thursday, February 14 to share a picture of him holding several gifts which appeared to be presents for North. "Love is in the air," so he captioned the post. For those who are curious to know what kind of gifts the 7-year-old boy got for the girl, his previous Instagram post has the answer to that. It was a gold necklace from Tiffany & Co.

"She's gonna LoVe It. Wrap that up sir. I'll take it," Caiden wrote alongside a picture of him at the store where an employee was seen handing him the lavish jewelry. He followed it up with another picture of him posing with the blue bag from the fashion brand. "Shout out to Northie. Babygirl I'll see you soon," he wrote alongside the image.

It's unclear when the two started "dating," but Caiden was invited to Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott (II)'s daughter Stormi's first birthday party at Universal Studios. He shared a picture of him and North during the extravagant bash, sort of making their relationship Instagram official. "Boo'd Up," Caiden captioned a shot of him wrapping his arm around North's shoulder.

Given the fact that his father is friends with Kanye, Caiden is already close to the members of Kardashian-West family. He once posted a picture of him hanging out with both Kim and Kanye, as well as an image of him spending the day with North and her brother Saint. "North, Saint and I had the BEST time on our play date at @exploratorium. It was so much FUN," he captioned the latter image.

Well, congratulations for the new couple!
Instagram Celebrity

A clip shared via the Toyota Center's Twitter account shows concertgoers going wild when Mayor Sylvester Turner honors the 'Sicko Mode' hitmaker 'for keeping the Texas city on the map'.

Feb 15, 2019

AceShowbiz - Rapper Travis Scott (II) was handed the key to his native Houston, Texas during a tour stop on Wednesday night, February 13.

The city's Mayor Sylvester Turner hit the stage at the Toyota Center to honour the "Sicko Mode" star and paid tribute to him for raising Houston's profile.

"We owe so much to this guy for keeping Houston on the map," Turner said, before revealing Scott's "Astroworld" album had inspired city leaders to launch a new themepark for the area.

Because of him, we want to bring another amusement park back to Houston.



Mayor @SylvesterTurner gives a key to the city to @trvisXX! pic.twitter.com/0IJpstfkEz  Toyota Center (@ToyotaCenter) 14 February 2019

It was truly lit at @ToyotaCenter this evening. I was honored to present @trvisXX with a key to the city along with @aturner4545.



The crowd went in #SickoMode.



A surreal experience. #Astroworldpic.twitter.com/icqOPXclhK  Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) 14 February 2019

"Those of us that remember (Houston themepark) 'Astroworld', and because of him, we're gonna bring another amusement themepark back to the city. This city loves you."

Scott opened up about his plans to revive his childhood themepark on the "Astroworld" album's first track, "Stargazing", rapping: "99, took AstroWorld, it had to relocate/Told the dogs I'd bring it back, it was a seal of faith."
WENN/Alan West Celebrity

Officials from the Crown Prosecution Service notes that they also took Duke of Edinburgh's volunteer surrendering of his driving licence into account in the collision case.

Feb 15, 2019

AceShowbiz - British royal Prince Philip will not be prosecuted over his recent car crash, which injured another motorist and her passenger.

The Duke of Edinburgh was involved in an accident as he drove his Land Rover vehicle out of a driveway near the royals' Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England on January 17. The driver of the other car, a Kia, was hospitalised with minor injuries.

On Thursday, February 14, officials from the U.K. Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced the 97-year-old would not face any further action, having already voluntarily surrendered his driving licence.

"The CPS has carefully reviewed material submitted by the police in relation to a traffic collision on the A149 (road) on 17 January this year," Chris Long, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the East of England, said in a statement. "We took into account all of the circumstances in this case, including the level of culpability, the age of the driver and the surrender of the driving licence. We have decided that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute."

The duke's vehicle was flipped on its side in the accident and emergency services were called to the scene. The other car was being driven by Ellie Townsend, 28, with her nine-month-old baby and passenger Emma Fairweather, 46, travelling with her.

Philip penned an apology letter to Fairweather, who broke her wrist in the smash, and gave up his licence last week.

After the announcement that the prince would not face charges, officials at Buckingham Palace told The Guardian he "respects" the decision taken by the CPS. However, they refused to elaborate on whether he would give up driving on private land.
WENN/Joseph Marzullo Celebrity

In commemoration of the romantic milestone, the 'Trainwreck' star uploads a photo of her laying on the floor with her chef husband, Chris Fischer, and their dog, Tati.

Feb 15, 2019

AceShowbiz - Amy Schumer is celebrating her first wedding anniversary with her chef husband, Chris Fischer.

The "Trainwreck" star surprised fans  and even some of her close friends and family  when she wed the 39-year-old after a whirlwind romance.

Amy, who is heavily pregnant with the couple's first child, took to Instagram to commemorate the romantic milestone.

Posting a snap showing the couple laid on the floor with their dog Tati, she wrote, "These clowns have been married one year today and are very happy about that."

Amy wed Chris in a surprise ceremony held in Malibu, California on 13 February 2018, and in a video from the big day shared by the 37-year-old on Instagram, the couple sweetly described their love for each other as they officially became man and wife.

"I love you, Amy, you bring happiness and joy to every part of my life, you are the best thing that ever happened to me. I love you with every piece of my heart," Chris gushed.

While Amy went on to explain why she was desperate to get married after a three-month courtship.

"People are wondering why the rush, why so fast, and it's because I truly cannot wait another second to be your wife," she shared, before stating, "I love you."

She also cheekily told an X-rated joke about performing a sex act on her husband.

"I said I promise to do my best to continue to go down on you even though everyone says I won't," the comedienne revealed on "The Howard Stern Show". "I just thought, 'Let's really vow what's at stake here, you know?' You got to keep f**king. It's not been a problem."

Amy and Chris announced in October that they were expecting their first child.
WENN/FayesVision Movie

Confident that the film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's books will one day get a reboot treatment, the 'Jungle' actor expresses his interest in seeing how long his films will stay untouched.

Feb 15, 2019

AceShowbiz - Daniel Radcliffe is certain he won't be the last actor to play Harry Potter on the big screen.

The 29-year-old starred as the boy wizard in eight movies based on J.K. Rowling's world-famous books, with the franchise coming to an end with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II" in 2011.

The interest in the stories hasn't waned though - with play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" still a sell out in England, America, Australia and Germany.

And reflecting on the current trend for rebooting classic movies, Daniel told IGN that he believes it's just a matter of time before someone tries a new take on the tales.

"I'm sure there will be some other version of it; I know I'm not the last Harry Potter I'm gonna see in my lifetime - we've already got a few more," he said, referencing Jamie Parker and Gareth Reeves playing Potter in "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child".

"It will be interesting to see how long those films stay... it feels like there's a sacredness around them at the moment, but that'll go, the shine will wear off at some point. It'll be interesting if they reboot them and just do the films again or do a series; I'm fascinated to watch."

Since starring in the "Harry Potter" movies, Daniel has gone on to appear in films such as "Swiss Army Man" and "Jungle".

But while he continues to book work long after his wand-waving days, the actor is well aware that some directors may be hesitant to cast him because of his links to the "Potter" franchise.

"Any project that the script is good for, I would be into," he explained. "I can completely understand why some directors would be hesitant about putting me into a franchise because I have a lot of baggage from another franchise, so I can see why that would make people not want to do that necessarily. But I would be very happy to."
WENN/Ivan Nikolov Celebrity

Persons of interest who have been questioned by police in Smollett's attack case are reportedly 'Empire' extras, who are 'very cordial' with the actor on the set.

Feb 15, 2019

AceShowbiz - Chicago police's investigation in Jussie Smollett's alleged hate attack case has led them to a new conclusion. After they questioned two persons of interest in the case, investigators believe that the actor "potentially staged the attack" on him, according to local news outlets.

Police raided the home of the two persons of interest on Wednesday night, February 13 and reportedly took bleach, shoes, electronics, receipts and other items from the home. The two men's attorney, Gloria Schmidt, says they both have appeared as extras on "Empire" and do know Smollett.

"They do know Jussie," the attorney says. "They have worked with him on 'Empire'. My preliminary investigations show that on set it's very tight. They're all very cordial with each other, so they're baffled why they are people of interest."

The two men, who are both of Nigerian descent, left for Nigeria the same day of the attack, January 29. Their attorney says they went to Nigeria to visit family and were picked up at O'Hare on Wednesday night.

Multiple sources tell Rob Elgas, a reporter at ABC 7 in Chicago, that Smollett orchestrated the attack with the two men because his character was being written off the show. Brad Edwards, a reporter at CBS Chicago, additionally reports a source said that investigators believe the "non-cooperating 2 witnesses are co-conspirators in a potentially staged attack."

FOX, however, denies that Smollett would be written off the show. "The idea that Jussie Smollett has been, or would be, written off of 'Empire' is patently ridiculous," the network and studio say in a joint statement. "He remains a core player on this very successful series and we continue to stand behind him."

Pamela Sharp, a spokeswoman for Smollett, claims the reports of the actor staging the attack are "ridiculous rumors." She insists, "He's been very cooperative and very consistent."

Anthony Guglielmi, a Chicago police spokesman, also calls the reports "inaccurate." He releases a statement via Twitter which reads, "Media reports [about] the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate."

Media reports anout the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate. pic.twitter.com/iSO5YFv452  Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 15, 2019

Police previously said the two persons of interest were not treated as suspects yet. Smollett himself was questioned at CPD Area Central on Thursday, February 14.
WENN/JRP Celebrity

The American Idol alum has filed the motion ahead of the scheduled March trial for the custody case, but David Otunga is asking for an extension to respond to the request.

Feb 14, 2019

AceShowbiz - Jennifer Hudson is asking a judge to seal her custody battle with former fiance David Otunga from the public.

The "Dreamgirls" star announced her separation from the wrestler, her partner of a decade, in November, 2017, and accused him of "aggressive, threatening and harassing behaviour".

She filed for an emergency protection order, claiming her ex had pushed her while holding their son, but later dropped the petition after Otunga denied the allegation.

The former couple has been battling for custody of son David, Jr. ever since the split, with Jennifer and her ex firing off legal claims and counter-claims, with Hudson admitting she feared her former lover would kidnap their son, while he accused the star of defaming him.

Frosty relations between the pair briefly thawed as Jennifer agreed to make David their kid's primary caregiver, as part of a temporary custody deal, while she juggled parenting with her career commitments, including serving as a judge on both the U.K. and U.S. versions of "The Voice" talent show.

However, the warring couple has returned to the battlefield to scrap over David, Jr.'s schedule, and Otunga has even attempted to subpoena Jennifer's sister, Julia, to sit for a deposition. He has also accused Hudson of hypocrisy for demanding he be barred from speaking to the media about their custody battle, while releasing her own statements.

The case will proceed to trial if the former couple is unable to agree a settlement before March (2019), and Jennifer is requesting the public be banned from "the upcoming child-related legal proceedings".

According to The Blast, Otunga is asking for an extension to respond to the motion.
Warner Bros. Pictures Movie

The hiring of David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick by Warner Bros. comes after the appointment of Noah Gardner and Aidan Fitzgerald as writers for 'The Trench', a spin-off to the hit DC Comics film.

Feb 13, 2019

AceShowbiz - Warner Bros. has started work on the "Aquaman" sequel - hiring David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick to write the script.

The film, based on the DC comics character and starring Jason Momoa as the title character, with Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, and Nicole Kidman in supporting roles, was directed by James Wan, and became a huge hit for the movie studio.

It took $68.7 million (60.2 million) in its opening weekend in North America, and sailed past $1 billion (778 million) worldwide. And according to editors at The Hollywood Reporter Johnson-McGoldrick, who co-wrote the "Aquaman" script with Will Beall, has been given the go ahead to start work on the sequel.

Johnson-McGoldrick, who worked with director Wan on "The Conjuring 2", first began working on the script for the original movie three years ago after reading the "Aquaman" comic books during filming for the horror.

In an interview with website Moviehole in December he explained writing the DC Comics franchise was a lot of fun.

"It was a little like getting to go play and I felt like the challenges that were faced were harder for Zach Snyder for 'Justice League' - because he was the one who had to figure out who Aquaman was, he told the website. "Zach cast Jason (Momoa) which completely shattered people's perceptions and we were able to steer Jason back to the classic Aquaman. I don't think you could've shown him in a suit right out of the gate. He had to show Aquaman was cool."

At present it's unclear whether Wan will return to direct the sequel, but he is said to be in talks to return as producer.

The news of Johnson-McGoldrick's hiring comes after Warner Bros. announced that it is developing a spinoff around "Aquaman" villain "The Trench". Wan and Safran are reportedly set to produce the flick, which is being developed as a lower budget version of "Aquaman". However, none of the main cast is set to be involved.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  An Albuquerque company has been targeted by two federal agencies, which question its claims that such products as Lions Mane and Turkey Tail Mushroom Powder can cure or prevent certain diseases.

Pure Nootropics LLC received a warning letter this month, along with two other companies in Florida and South Carolina, from the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission.

The letter says some of the claims on Pure Nootropics website might violate regulations because the products are not generally recognized as safe and effective for use against such conditions as diabetes, Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease.

Turkey tail and lions mane are types of mushrooms.

Pure Nootropic, in a statement, said the letter is based primarily on implied claims due to the mention of a disease on our website. However, none of the companys products has such claims on its packaging or labels, according to a written statement.

At the moment, we are currently in the process of developing a corrective action plan in response to the warning letter and the issues it raises, the statement said. We will act swiftly to update our website to be in compliance with all applicable rules and regulations and to make certain that it is clear that our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.

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The agencies, in their warning letter, targeted Pure Nootropics website claims about seven of its products. Among some of them:

 Alpha GPC 50% Capsules and Powder are Helpful in reducing symptoms of cognitive decline (prescribed in Europe to Alzheimers patients)

 Turkey Tail Mushroom Powder helps to fight infections, illness and diseases.

 Piracetam Capsules Subscription  Major diseases, such as dementia, schizophrenia, Alzheimers and Parkinsons, have all been treated using piracetam. Even dyslexia can be improved with piracetam usage.
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Copyright  2019 Albuquerque Journal

When 16-year-old Joshua Owen walked onto the campus of Cleveland High School before classes started Thursday morning, he was wearing a ski mask and he had a note in his back pocket that spoke to his deadly intentions, according to court documents.

1. Find ex gf

2. Kill ex gf

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3. Kill other people

4. If you have a last bullet take your own life

Owen, a sophomore, didnt kill anyone. Instead police say he tried to shoot at three students, then fired a single shot, causing the school to be evacuated and classes to be canceled for the rest of the week.

Owen later told police he was hearing voices in his head that told him to carry out his list.

He is charged with three counts of attempted murder as well as unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon on school premises and unlawful possession of a handgun by a person under 19.

Owen will have his first appearance before a judge in the 13th Judicial District Court in Bernalillo on Monday.

His defense attorney did not return calls requesting comment. Family members also could not be reached Friday.

Gun malfunction

Shortly after 7 a.m., Rio Rancho Police Department officers were called to Cleveland High School, near Paseo del Volcan and Unser NE, for reports of a shooting.

When detectives arrived they watched security camera video footage showing Owen arriving on school grounds with a mask over his face, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in 13th Judicial District Court in Sandoval County.

Before he entered the building, he removes the face mask and walks up to a group of three students  sitting in an alcove, the detective wrote in the affidavit. One student stated Joshua pointed the gun at them and it didnt go off. 

Owen then manipulates the gun and pulled the trigger, firing a shot, according to the affidavit.

He put the firearm, a .45 caliber handgun, on the floor and ran down the hallway.

Owens teacher later told police she saw him running away and 20 minutes later got a text from him saying, Im sorry Miss. Sawyer but the voices wont stop and asking if he hurt anyone.

He told the teacher he was in an arroyo by his house, which is across the street from the campus, and officers began following footprints away from the school.

They found an abandoned backpack with a black nylon handgun holster and school work inside, according to the affidavit.

Officers say when they found Owen and began talking to him, he reached into his front pocket, removed and threw a handgun magazine behind him.

Then the officers took him into custody.

When he was interviewed at the police station, Owen told investigators he had a note in his back pocket, dated Feb. 13, which laid out his sparse plan for the shooting. He also told them he had a sorry letter in his room at his house.

A short time later, Joshua also informed officers of a journal that was in his room on a bookshelf next to his Legos, the affidavit states. He also stated that he was hearing voices which instructed him to carry out the aforementioned list.

No previous charges

A clerk at the 13th Judicial District Court said Owen had not previously faced criminal charges there.

And it remains unclear how or where he got the handgun.

Thats part of our investigation, said Capt. Andrew Rodriguez, an RRPD spokesman. Im not comfortable releasing any information about the gun or how it got into his hands.

School officials did not respond to questions Friday about whether Owen had been in trouble at school previously.

Court records show his parents had a contentious relationship, and the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department had been called to the home.

In March 2015, his mother filed two orders of protection from domestic abuse against her husband, Owens father.

Its unclear whether those orders were upheld, but in the first one Tamara Owen wrote that her husband, Dale Owen, physically/verbally abused my sons.

She wrote my son Joshua was slapped/hit on the back of his head five times and the back. The abuse happened at home. CYFD was contacted.

She wrote that CYFD told Dale Owen he could not have contact with the rest of the family for 45 days, and she asked for him to be ordered to attend anger management therapy.

Ten days later, Tamara Owen filed another order saying her husband was harassing and stalking her and that he wouldnt leave the family alone.

She said her husband doesnt have any weapons. It is unclear if the parents are still together.
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CLOVIS  Speaking through tears to dozens of victims who addressed him earlier this week in their own impact statements, Nathaniel Jouett apologized and said he wanted to get better.

Im absolutely horrified by my actions and take full responsibility, he said in court Wednesday in his first public address since the Aug. 28, 2017, library shooting for which he was convicted last year.

Jouett, who turned 18 last month, pleaded guilty to 30 felony counts from that violence, including two first-degree murder charges for the shooting deaths of library employees Wanda Walters and Krissie Carter.

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His statement followed closing remarks from attorneys, who had argued their request for Jouetts ensuing prison sentence to state District Judge James Hudson. For what Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Stover called the evil perpetrated in this community, the state requested 96 years in the Department of Corrections.

The judge is expected to announce Jouetts sentence today.

Defense attorney Stephen Taylor, emphasizing Jouetts possibilities for mental health treatment, asked that his client serve only 20 years in prison and said the case was a story of hopelessness and a story of despair.

The court had once again reviewed videos attendant to the shooting, including those Jouett filmed on his cellphone before the shooting, declaring his intentions of an act of mass violence, as well as surveillance footage from inside the library during the event.

Jouett said he did not recognize the 16-year-old on those videos, but knew it was him.

I do not have an answer to why this happened, he said. I want to get better, and I can get better.

Jouett echoed a point made a day earlier by the therapist seeing him in the Curry County Juvenile Detention Center that he had been largely sheltered from the consequences of his actions while in custody the past 16 months. This week, he heard emotional testimony from those present or close to people inside the library, as well as statements from his own family members as to how his decision to fire randomly in the Clovis-Carver Public Library had permanently altered numerous lives.

I wish more than anything I could take those actions back, he said.

Jouett offered to meet with any victims who wanted to talk, hear from or address him directly, if it will help with their healing. That would have to be a prison visit, but his sentence will be announced by Hudson at 2 p.m. today.

This is probably the hardest kind of decision any judge can make, Hudson said prior to dismissing the court for recess on Wednesday. Its been hard for everybody.
Members and some residents wants the council to adopt an ordinance against cooperating with the federal immigration agency.

Kennebunk Post

"We are trying to tell the narrative of our town as a whole, all the pieces that makes us who we are today."
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Copyright  2019 Albuquerque Journal

Big changes are planned for cornerstone education systems installed during the administration of former Gov. Susana Martinez.

But before the state officially says goodbye to controversial structures such as A-F school grades or other school accountability processes that included the threat of closure for chronically low-performing schools, the community will get a brief period to weigh in on proposed replacements.

The Public Education Department posted revisions to the states federally approved Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, plan Thursday night, beginning an official two-week public input period.

The revisions are really looking at school accountability work and the school grading, and moving away from A-F, said Education Secretary-designate Karen Trujillo.

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She said more revisions will be coming to ESSA in the future.

Included in Thursday nights proposed changes are getting rid of school grades, no longer using the PARCC standardized test to measure student growth and shifting the states accountability system to a New Mexico Spotlight dashboard.

A survey is now available on the PED website (ped.state.nm.us) for people to provide input; it will be up for 14 days.

Compiling input is going to require a fast turnaround as the PED aims to submit its revisions to the U.S. Department of Education by the beginning of March.

Approval on the federal level is needed to move forward on the proposed changes.

ESSA changes

Under the proposal, A-F school grades would be scrapped.

The department is replacing the existing A-F school grading system with designations that shift the philosophy from identifying schools as failing to providing support for schools in need and celebrating success, the ESSA summary says.

The state is planning to launch the New Mexico Spotlight dashboard this fall.

The current A-F system provides a letter grade for a school, which is primarily grounded on student growth in reading and math, and measured partly through end-of-the-year exams, including PARCC.

The new dashboard will highlight high-performing schools, identify which schools need additional financial support and provide more details about the school. The dashboard echoes Senate Bill 229, sponsored by Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, which outlines what else will be included, such as a digital profile for individual schools that details academic achievement, and the schools goals, missions, curricula and teacher quality, among other items.

Trujillo has said shes excited about the dashboard concept, saying it gives parents and family more nuanced information that wasnt encompassed through an A-F grade.

And she sees it as a tool for the PED to identify where schools need support.

School ratings

While the New Mexico Spotlight dashboard will continue to identify schools that are under-performing, it takes closure off the table for schools that are identified as in need of more rigorous intervention, or MRI, the lowest ranking.

Instead, the NM PED will provide critical resources and partner with schools, tribes and districts to significantly restructure and redesign the school with intensive support for curricular, instructional, and pedagogical practices, as well as pairing schools with evidence-based interventions, such as community schools models, the plan says.

The possibility of closure was one of the most contentious parts of the previous MRI process, even resulting in lawsuits.

Currently, the state outlines four intervention strategies for MRI schools, including closure, reopening the school as a charter, advertising and facilitating transfers to higher-rated schools, or redesigning and relaunching the school. And if the intervention did not cause the schools to reach benchmarks by a certain time, closure was still a possibility.

Under the ESSA revisions, schools will be now be labeled as:

 New Mexico Spotlight School: Schools scoring above the 75th percentile.

 Traditional Support School: Schools scoring above the threshold for support and improvement.

 Targeted Support School: Schools with one or more groups of students in need of support.

 Comprehensive Support School: Schools scoring in the bottom 5 percent of schools overall, or those that have a graduation rate of less than 67 percent.

 More Rigorous Intervention School: Schools not exiting the Comprehensive Support School category after three years.

The states current plan has its own indications of targeted support, comprehensive support and MRI designations.

The ESSA revisions propose assessing schools on student academic performance, including graduation rates, student achievement growth, English-language proficiency, and indicators of school quality that contribute to college and career readiness.

The ESSA amendments also detail the elimination of PARCC to measure student growth.

The amendments replace the PARCC assessment and Value Added Modeling from the ESSA calculation, while still keeping the focus of determinations on student growth, the plan summary says.

Community input

Some are worried about the tight deadline to provide feedback.

Amanda Aragon, executive director of the nonprofit group NewMexicoKidsCAN, said, I understand the timeline from the U.S. Department of Education is tight, and I understand we have a new governor and a new PED  but squeezing what took over a year into two weeks, theres no way that can meet the bar of enough stakeholder engagement.

She also questioned the need for changes.

We have looked through all the reviews from nationwide organizations, comparing and contrasting state ESSA plans. In nearly all of them, if not all, New Mexico is highlighted, so our fundamental question is going to be: Why are we making changes?

This was echoed by Aly Sha Wagley, a teacher at Animas High School and co-founder of Educators for Elevating New Mexico, another organization made up of educators, principals and education assistants.

She said her group will be analyzing the proposed changes to ESSA and offering feedback, but added she didnt think the PED was providing enough time for people to comment on the revisions.

Trujillo said the ESSA revisions mirror what the states School Grades Work Group determined when it researched school grades. That group, created through a Senate memorial and made up of teachers, superintendents, parents, a Public Education Department representative and others, was formed in 2017.

She also said the PED is touring the state to get feedback and meeting with school officials.

Weve already started engaging the community, and we are already touring the state and getting feedback on the changes, she said, adding the PED will be implementing feedback throughout the process.

Albuquerque Teachers Federation President Ellen Bernstein said what PED does with community feedback is more important than how long it takes to gather it. You can ask for input for a really long time and totally ignore it or ask for input for less time and take it into consideration, she said.

Ultimately, she said the union is excited to see changes coming to ESSA and hopes they reflect current education research, which she believes is lacking in the states current plan.

The union NEA NM said it also welcomes proposed changes to ESSA.
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A 41-year-old former Air Force major from Albuquerque, currently working as an army civilian in Landstuhl, Germany, fended off a home invasion, killing one of four intruders.

The man and his family were not identified and were in the protective custody of German authorities, concerned about possible recriminations from the attackers, some of whom remain on the loose.

Thats according to a report Wednesday in Stars and Stripes, the independent news source for active duty service members, veterans and Department of Defense employees.

The Albuquerque man was interrupted while reading a bedtime story to two of his three children Sunday night when his doorbell rang.

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Stupidly, I opened the door and four people rushed him, he told investigators.

A 10-minute fight ensued, with the man trying to hold off the intruders at the front door while his wife tended to an infant and the other two children on the second floor of the home.

As he called to his wife, telling her to phone the police, one of the assailants got past him and ran up the stairway. His wife is screaming bloody murder; shes screaming my baby, my baby,  he told Stars and Stripes.

The whole time, I am swinging, he said. I am pounding on anybody and everything that comes near me. I just fought like hell. I dont know how I got the three guys back out the door.

He was then able to close the door, which automatically locked.

The man then went into his kitchen, grabbed a knife and ran upstairs, where the intruder had pinned the wife down, had one hand around her neck and was telling her in broken English no talk.

The husband and the intruder subsequently scuffled in the bedroom doorway, where the intruder was stabbed three times before running back down the stairs, exiting the house and getting into a waiting getaway car.

During the melee, the 5-year-old boy took his sister and they hid under a bed. I am amazed he had that in him, said his father. Weve never practiced what to do in a situation like this. He thought his mom was getting killed by bad guys.

The four intruders drove off, but stopped in the village of Krickenbach, about 10 miles southeast of Landstuhl, German police said. They lay the injured man on the sidewalk. One of the assailants waited with him while the other two drove off. The man who waited asked a passerby to call for medical help.

The injured man died at the scene. He was 43. The man who waited with him was his 51-year-old brother  both of them German nationals.

German officials said an autopsy indicated the injured man died from blood loss as a result of the knife wounds. The brother has been charged with attempted robbery. Police were still looking for the other two accomplices.

A preliminary review of the incident by German police indicates that the Albuquerque mans use of lethal force was justified.
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Copyright  2019 Albuquerque Journal

U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, on Thursday reintroduced legislation that, if passed, would create a Medicaid-based public health care option.

The State Public Option Act would allow states to create a Medicaid buy-in program for residents regardless of income, allowing individuals who are not currently eligible for Medicaid to purchase state-sponsored coverage similar to Medicaid. Lujan and Schatz introduced a similar bill in 2017.

Lujan said in a statement that the bill is part of an effort to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, expand health coverage and drive down health care costs.

A state public option would make real strides in our fight for universal coverage, Lujan said. Thats why 14 states are already considering using a Medicaid Buy-In to close their coverage gaps and save families money. Weve seen tremendous progress around this idea in New Mexico, and I look forward to continue working with Sen. Schatz to replicate that success on the national level.

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey found bipartisan support for a Medicaid public option. The poll found that 75 percent, including 64 percent of Republicans, favor allowing people who arent covered by their employer to buy insurance through their states Medicaid program.

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But the idea isnt sitting well with medical insurance companies.

Americas Health Insurance Plans lobbyist Brent Moore told a New Mexico legislative panel last week that medical insurance companies are concerned that a Medicaid buy-in system could erode the market for individual health insurance, The Associated Press reported. Moore also said private insurance providers worry that low Medicaid reimbursement rates could drive away medical providers.

The bill had 61 co-sponsors as of Thursday, including U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall of New Mexico.
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SANTA FE  For years, most New Mexico Republicans have steadfastly opposed proposals to legalize recreational marijuana use.

But with an increasing number of states moving toward cannabis legalization, three Senate Republicans have teamed up with three Democratic colleagues on a bipartisan bill, filed Thursday, that would allow for the sale of marijuana through state-run stores.

Marijuana is not coming  its here, said Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque, one of bills sponsors. What is worrisome to us is if we dont try to get ahead of it.

Under the terms of Senate Bill 577, a state agency  called the Cannabis Control Commission  would be created to oversee marijuana production, sales and product standards.

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Businesses would be allowed to maintain a drug-free workplace, and a 17 percent tax rate would be levied on retail marijuana sales.

The state, cities, and counties would all get a cut of that revenue, with some of it earmarked for training law enforcement officers on how to detect drugged driving. Other revenue would go toward substance abuse and mental health programs.

Another one of the bills sponsors, Sen. Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho, said hes been mulling over marijuana-related legislation for several years.

I believe and have believed for several years that its inevitable we are going to have legalized recreational marijuana, Brandt told the Journal.

He said the bills idea of using state-run stores is based on how Utah and New Hampshire handle liquor sales.

The model, which would not allow for private dispensaries, would give the state more ability to ensure edible marijuana products do not end up in the hands of children, Brandt said.

Thats an issue that flared up in neighboring Colorado, which in 2012 became the first state to legalize recreational cannabis.

Meanwhile, the bipartisan bill introduced Thursday is one of several cannabis-related proposals up for debate during the ongoing 60-day session.

A Democratic-backed House bill that would impose taxes of up to 19 percent on recreational marijuana sales while also expunging criminal records on marijuana arrests and convictions has already cleared one committee.

Both that bill and the Senate bill filed Thursday would leave intact the states medical marijuana program, which has about 70,000 patients.

In addition to Moores and Brandt, others who have signed on to the just-filed bill include Sens. Jacob Candelaria and Gerald Ortiz y Pino, both Albuquerque Democrats, and Republican Sen. Cliff Pirtle of Roswell.

Brandt, a two-term senator who said he has never tried smoking marijuana, said he believes legalized recreational cannabis use will be coming to New Mexico soon.

I just feel like its going to happen, whether we like it or not, he told the Journal.
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There are few, if any, issues that are more contentious and generate more animosity and anxiety than immigration. We are awash in stories of illegal immigration, separation of parents from children at the border, cartels, human smugglers, drug trafficking and walls. Both sides of the debate are dug in and nothing short of angry about the other point of view.

So its worth taking a moment to recall that we also have legal immigration and to appreciate a story about one individual who followed the rules to recently become a U.S. citizen.

Shirley Barreto, an Albuquerque Public Schools teacher and native of Ecuador, stood before hundreds of students last week as she raised her hand and repeated the Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America.

Mrs. Barreto, you are now Americas newest citizen, Jesse Mendez of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service told her. The first-grade teacher at Barcelona Elementary then led the room in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance  her first time as a U.S. citizen. Students clapped, yelled, waved U.S. flags and held signs. We love you, they cheered.

Barreto has been in the U.S. for 25 years and talked to the students about the process of first becoming a permanent resident and then going through a waiting period before you can apply for naturalization. She explained you must be able to speak and understand English and pass a civics exam  something that would behoove a lot of Americans to do.

We live in a wonderful country with liberties and freedoms not often found in other countries, she said. What makes this country especially great is that its a melting pot of people, ideas and customs from all over the world. And it doesnt matter where you came from or who you are, in the United States you can aspire to be anything you wish.

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Barreto, 45, came to the U.S. when she was 20. Her husband and daughter are U.S. citizens. She said many of the parents in the South Valley neighborhood where she teaches are fearful because of their own immigration status. But I wanted them to see the other side of the coin and know that the immigration officials are not their enemy. If they follow the law and the process, they can also become citizens.

This is a nation of immigrants  one that has a border and is based on the rule of law. Shirley Barreto is a teacher, and people on both sides of the immigration debate could benefit from the lesson she gives us.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
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As the dust settles after the Albuquerque Public Schools levy and bond election fiasco, perhaps we should explore opportunities for APS to do better.

I have spent much of the past 20 years partnering with K-12 Education  School to World, Science Bowl, the Community Capital Advisory Commission (CACC), professional development for teachers, internships, et al., to name a few. I am still a strong supporter of public education. I continue to support our teachers. I have experienced the good, bad and ugly of APS. I will try to focus on process rather than people in this piece.

What is the takeaway from this election? The proposed tax increase hurt the chances of success; however, voter frustration with APS in regard to the lack of communication, transparency, credibility and financial stewardship played a role. In summary, APS should see this failure as a resounding vote of no confidence.

Apathy was also a factor, with an astounding voter turnout of about 30 percent. Folks I talked to who did not vote simply stated: Who cares as APS pays little if no attention to the community and their customers! Wow! Citizen anger lingers over APS lack of foresight, planning and contingency development, combined with the whining, arrogance and ignorance of certain members of the APS Board and administration.

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Many of us in the dreaded business community have offered assistance, suggestions and support in areas where we are rather competent. We leave the pedagogy and teaching up to the educators; yet we may be more expert in finance, systems engineering, planning, communications and customer focus than most at APS. Our efforts have been rejected over and over again. There are business/organizational tools that we use daily that could be of great assistance. Unfortunately, the egos of certain administrators and board members preclude that.

I understand that the APS job is not easy and is ever-changing, with both the fair and unfair demands of parents, teachers, politicians and both the informed and uninformed public. I also understand and respect the complicated issues the district is faced with as to the design, construction, operations and maintenance of such a large, often dated and dispersed physical plant. It is imperative that APS address the following:

1. Develop an integrated strategic plan to include instruction, finance, staffing, security, safety, capital, operations and maintenance, both teacher and leader recruitment and development, and the necessary partnerships to address their strategies, tactics and goals with the appropriate metrics to be reported to the community and stakeholders.

2. Based on the aforementioned planning, proactively develop the APS narrative that clearly and distinctly defines who APS is and will be as well as its guidelines for the journey  its mission, vision, values. Who created the narrative today? The media, the union and disgruntled employees and citizens.

3. As APS approaches bond and mill levy elections, ensure that it has an effective and efficient strategy for communications as well as a contingency plan for the possibility that the election fails  i.e., a Plan B. It seems as though APS waited until after this election to develop such plans, based on Journal articles and APS spokespeople.

4. Develop processes for their operations and administration that clearly demonstrate transparency and fiscal responsibility. Include stakeholders and engage partners who have a vested interest in the success of APS. The CACC predicted that the bond and mill levy as proposed by APS would fail. They were ignored.

Our future is dependent on these issues. Is this really too much to ask? We should demand nothing less. Board elections are coming up this fall, yet the union controls that outcome in light of voter apathy. I hope that APS has not merely retrenched into its insular thinking as it develops a better way to hoodwink the public into supporting the next election in November. Really? How arrogant.

And let us all remember that this is ultimately about the education, safety and development of our children to enable them to be prepared for success in the dynamic world in which we live.
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This is a big year for New Mexico.

The new governor has promised a moonshot for education, and public schools are ready for it.

We are hopeful that part of that moonshot includes pre-kindergarten. The governor is calling for universal pre-K, and we stand in support and ready to open up our public pre-K programs even more to serve our youngest learners.

The benefits of pre-K are indisputable. Pre-K is a sure bet. Study after study  both in New Mexico and nationally  has shown that children who attend high-quality, full-day pre-K read earlier, are better prepared for kindergarten and elementary school, and are more likely to graduate. And that means lower poverty rates, fewer crimes, a more skilled workforce and a stronger economy for the state. In a nutshell, pre-K benefits children, families and the state.

But today, there are over 14,000 New Mexico children who are eligible for pre-K but do not have access. The incremental funding that the state has provided has been critical, helping to create the over 5,000 high-quality pre-K seats currently in New Mexicos public schools. Now its time to expand pre-K to ensure that every four-year-old can have access if they want it. We need a stable plan for expansion and growth of pre-K so that all New Mexico public schools can provide pre-K in their communities.

The Moriarty-Edgewood School District was a plaintiff in the recent lawsuit that sought to ensure that all children had equal access to education. Just before the winter holiday, Judge Sarah Singleton issued her afindings of fact and conclusions of law and order re final judgment on the Martinez/Yazzie education lawsuit against the state of New Mexico. She found that the current discretionary funding method for public school pre-K leaves thousands of students without pre-K. But the State Equalization Guarantee (SEG), known as the school funding formula, is an exemplary method of funding because it seeks to provide each student equal access to programs and services appropriate to his or her educational needs regardless of geographic location or local economic conditions.

Thats why Im supporting SB 298. Its a bill to create universal, high-quality, pre-K for four-year-olds through the public schools and fund it through the state equalization guarantee. This proposal ensures that there will be space for every four-year-old who wants it and the funding for pre-K will be part of the structure of how public schools are funded. That means that more school districts will provide pre-K, ensuring that more children have access.

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SB 298 also maintains the 50/50 split with private providers by dramatically expanding pre-K for three-year-olds through the existing private provider network. Private providers are our partners, and were glad to have meaningful local collaborations to serve our youngest learners.

Heres what wont work  simply creating a new early education department to coordinate funds and study the problem. Its time for real action. A new department can work, but alone, it does not create more pre-K. Weve studied the problem diligently already  the states Legislative Finance Committee has shown that high-quality New Mexico pre-K works, year after year. Its time to create seats and access to pre-K for everyone in every corner of the state and fund it in a way that will satisfy Judge Singletons findings  through the public school funding formula.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was a passionate advocate for universal, public school pre-K during her campaign. New Mexico is ready to join the 11 other states that fund pre-K to ensure stable funding, predictable growth and equitable access.

The moonshot begins with our youngest learners. By making sure every child has access to high-quality pre-K, the moon is in reach.
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SANTA FE  The state Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a proposal aimed at making it easier for business owners to file documents with the Secretary of States Office.

Senate Bill 167, sponsored by Sen. Clemente Meme Sanchez, D-Grants, now heads to the House.

The measure would authorize the secretary of state to accept business documents through email, an online portal or other electronic means.

I thank the Senate for passing this bipartisan legislation today and look forward to working with the House to make sure it gets to the Governors desk, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said in a written statement.

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  Police say a Las Cruces security guard is facing an aggravated battery charge after shooting his girlfriend in the shoulder this week.

Israel Salas, 28, was arrested in the incident that happened around 9 p.m. Tuesday, according to a Las Cruces Police Department news release.

The agency said officers responded to a report of a person being shot and found a 24-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her shoulder. The woman was taken to a local hospital, then transferred to University Medical Center of El Paso with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

Salas, who was off-duty, initially told police he was home with his girlfriend, unholstered his 9mm handgun from his utility belt and put it on the kitchen counter when it somehow discharged, striking his girlfriend, according to the release.

But in a subsequent interview, Salas changed his story and indicated he ejected the guns magazine, pointed the firearm at his girlfriend and pulled the trigger.

Salas indicated to investigators that he did not clear the chamber for a live round before pulling the trigger.

Salas was booked into the Dona Ana County jail early Wednesday on a third-degree felony count of aggravated battery against a household member causing great bodily harm. He was released the same day on a $2,000 unsecured bond, police said.

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RIO RANCHO, N.M.  A Cleveland High School male student, who fired a shot in the building before the start of school on Thursday and then fled, leaving the handgun behind, was apprehended less than 30 minutes later in a nearby arroyo.

No one was injured. A handful of agencies came together shortly after that 7 a.m. incident.

Later that day, Joshua Owen, 16, was charged with three counts of attempt to commit murder, a first-degree felony; one count of unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon on school premises, a fourth-degree felony; and a count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a person younger than 19, a misdemeanor, according to Rio Rancho Police. He was booked into Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Center.

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The gun was recovered inside the school.

All involved agreed every step taken had been precise and led to the quick apprehension; a SWAT team cleared the CHS campus, wary there could have been multiple suspects, but none was found.

All I know is my daughter called me this morning, said that somebody had a gun on campus, that they were locking down the school, said Casey Pippin, the mother of a CHS sophomore, as she waited for her daughter to meet her at Santa Ana Star Center. Im from Aztec, so this hits close to home.

I live here; Im from Aztec; two of my kids still go to Aztec schools, she said.

At a 9:30 a.m. news conference not far from the campus, Rio Rancho Police Chief Stewart Steele, Rio Rancho Public Schools Superintendent Sue Cleveland and Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull answered questions after Steele laid out what he knew to that point.

The shots-fired call came into RRPD at 7:04, he said, and officers were on scene within minutes. CHS classes begin at 7:20, Cleveland noted.

A handgun was left behind; officers were able to find the handgun quickly, Steele said. The school made a quick assessment, along with the PD, where the safest locations were for students to be moved to, and they were moved to a location that was secure.

Soon, students were loaded onto buses and transported to Santa Ana Star

Center, where parents were able to pick up their teenagers. Students who drove their cars to school were allowed to drive them home.

Rio Rancho Police officers and a Sandoval County Sheriffs deputy found Owen in the arroyo.

Officers did a really good job on tracking the suspect; in their search, they located the suspect off-campus, Steele added. That was deemed through their investigation and witness information; they took the suspect into custody and the suspect has been transported and is doing interviews at this time.

Steele thanked the RRPS administration and Rio Rancho Fire Rescue Department for their cooperation: We train together for these type of situations  you hope you never have to use them, but when things like this happen, that training means so much.

The shot did not hit anything; there were no injuries in the incident, thank God, he said. It could have been a lot worse.

Cleveland echoed that a good plan was in place.

That plan was executed with precision  when people know what theyre supposed to do, they do it well, Cleveland said. I also want to say our staff did a fabulous job. They stayed calm, they helped the students, and our students did a great job, and they were calm and they did everything we asked them to. The response  was absolutely phenomenal.

Cleveland said she had spoken to two students who had witnessed the gunshot, and said counseling services were available to any students who needed them.

Were just very lucky to live in a community where our people respond so quickly and with such compassion and care for our kids, she said, noting that the situation will be reviewed and officials will look for ways to do better.

Sandoval County Sheriffs Office, New Mexico State Police and Santa Ana Pueblo Police also responded.

The incident is over, the students are safe and theres no further threat to the community, Steele concluded. Im a parent also; I know how that makes you feel, but until you see your kid, youre not going to feel relief.

School board members Wynne Coleman and Catherine Cullen have daughters who attend Cleveland, and both believed their students were going to be safe.

I was pulling up and a teacher came out to the court, had us roll down the windows, and said they were evacuating and it was not a drill, Cullen said. So I headed off campus with my daughter as police were showing up.  The police department did a fantastic job. The response time was pretty quick.

Parents waiting for their students at the Star Center were anxious.

My daughter called me before school started and said she was in a bathroom with her friend and they heard a gunshot, said Delilah Myers, as she arrived to get her freshman daughter. They could hear people in the halls screaming  and they all ran out.

Carlton Bannerman said he learned about the incident when his wife called him at work.

She told me what was going on, so I had to drop everything and get on out here, make sure everythings good out this way, Bannerman said, also anxious about his freshman son.

Myers, Bannerman and Pippin each told the Observer they were in favor of arming the security guards, as RRPS decided to do last year.

As long as theyre trained, I think its a good idea, Bannerman said.

Somebody has to do something different, because our kids should be safe at school, Pippin added. Ive really got a lot of faith in Cleveland High School; they handled this pretty quick today and they had messages out to parents  Ive been out to that school  you cant get into it unless you know somebody.

At least one reporter noted that the incident occurred exactly one year after a school shooting in Florida claimed the lives of 17 people, but Steele, Cleveland and Hull deemed it coincidence.

Watching this community respond to this event makes me understand why I am always so impressed with our school district, and our public-safety personnel  police and fire first responders, communications individuals  that really kept everybody in the know, and kept us communicating; working closely with the city as well to get the Star Center open, so we could evacuate these students and get them reunited with their parents as quickly as possible, Hull said.

In an earlier meeting last week with the Observer, Chief Operations Officer Mike Baker said 10 RRPS security workers are undergoing the final stages of the process to carry guns on school campuses. Baker said he was hopeful all the training and qualifications will be completed in time for armed guards to go on campus after the March 22-29 spring break.

We do believe that many students will be affected by this incident, said a joint press release from the police and school district. We encourage parents to be especially sensitive and prepared to offer support to their child during this time. Administrators have developed a plan to provide support and help students and staff cope with these events when they return to school at CHS.

Other schools are also prepared to provide support to students who need it. If parents have any concerns about their childs reaction to this incident, Rio Rancho Public Schools asks that they contact their school counselors or administrative staff.

According to the press release, the investigation is ongoing and information will be released as its available.
The Volta Regional Office of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has arrested a 50-year-old man who allegedly faked the Authoritys registration number to sell bottled water.



Yao Amenuvor, the Suspect, was said to have manually bottled dense natural purified alkaline water at Sokode-Lokoe, near Ho, under unhygienic conditions and placed faked FDA registration number on them for sale.



Mr. Gorden Akurugu, the Volta Regional Head of FDA, who briefed journalists, said the Authority, during its routine post-market surveillance, saw the product and was suspicious of the registration number and traced the source to Amenuvor at Sokode-Lokoe.



He said during interrogation, Amenuvor confessed faking the registration number and was handed over to the Police in Ho for further investigations.



Mr. Akurugu said apart from the fake FDA registration number, Amenuvor also gave a wrong location address - Voradep Village, instead of Sokode-Lokoe on the product, all to deceive the public, which was unlawful.



He said the Authority also suspended five sachet production facilities at Pillar Six and Seven at Aflao on the Ghana-Togo Border for producing under unhygienic conditions.



Mr Akurugu said the products were Al-Kawthar sachet water, Yram Keli sachet water, Blessed sachet water, and Madina sachet water, with the fifth product yet be located on the market.



The Regional Head said his outfit was carrying out post-market surveillance at pharmacy shops and on over-the-counter medicines and assured the public of its commitment to ensuring that the public consumed safe and quality food and drugs.

Source: GNA









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SANTA FE, N.M.  They are powerful images. One is of an anguished young mother lying in a hospital bed holding her lifeless baby. The other is of the father, saying a prayer over the tiny boy just before handing him over to the Office of the Medical Examiner.

It was the only time Zach and Aileen Smith held their son, whom they named Dimitri after Aileens grandfather.

The child was born by Caesarean section in a Santa Fe hospital in an effort to save him, just hours after the Smiths were involved in a crash with an alleged drunk driver on June 10 on Interstate 25 in San Miguel County. Aileen was seven months pregnant at the time.

Ramon Hernandez, 43, of Las Vegas  who has at least four prior DWI convictions  appeared in court on Tuesday on charges of multiple offenses.

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He was originally charged with felony DWI and causing injury to a pregnant woman. The latter charge was amended a few days later to vehicular homicide.

Thats the key issue that will have to be dealt with, said Las Vegas, N.M., District Attorney Richard Flores. Initially, the charge was injury to a pregnant woman, but subsequent to the accident, the baby was born, lived for about a minute and then died from his injuries.

The charges were amended after we conducted preliminary research and found case law that we believe allowed us to charge him with vehicular homicide.

State Motor Vehicle Division records show that Hernandez was convicted of DWI twice in 2000, once in 2003 and again in 2004. His drivers license was revoked when the June crash took place.

Flores said Hernandez was also being detained over immigration concerns.

Hernandez pleaded innocent to charges in baby Dimitris death during the arraignment hearing in district court on Tuesday. He is in jail under a $25,000 cash bond.

His attorney, Ben Andrew Mondragon, was in court Wednesday and did not return phone messages.

The Smiths were devastated by the loss of their child.

It sets us back as a family in every way  emotionally, physically and financially, said Aileen Smith during a phone interview Tuesday.

The Smiths were traveling from their home in Colorado Springs to their native San Diego to attend a baby shower.

It was a big deal, Aileen said. This was the first child in my family since I was born, and the first child in Zachs family. People were coming from all over.

The trip came to an end when Hernandez merged onto I-25.

We were going down 25 when a Pontiac came onto the freeway, Aileen explained. He merged, and we pulled completely across our lane, but he came in front of us and we T-boned him.

Although their Suzuki Grand Vitara remained upright, Aileen suffered contusions to her abdomen and a broken sternum. She was taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe, and doctors decided to perform a C-section in an effort to save the unborn child.

There was nothing they could do, Aileen said. I woke up from surgery and was reaching out asking for my son, and the nurse leaned over and told me that he had passed.

The coroner determined that baby Dimitri died from massive head injuries and bleeding on the brain.

Naturally, the Smiths are angry  not just over the needless loss of their child, but because of the circumstances.

I lived in Santa Fe for a year, and I knew the drunken driving laws were lax back then, said Zach, who attended St. Johns College. I come from California, where if you have a third DWI, they put you away.

Aileen finds it hard to understand how  if Hernandez has immigration issues  he can be in this country for that long  and have so many offenses and still be allowed in the country, she said. Its a terrible failure of the system.

Both said they would do what they can to advocate that the laws be changed in New Mexico, so the tragedy that hit their family wont happen to anyone else.

This is the death of our son, Aileen said. Well follow this case completely through and do our best to see that justice is brought to Dimitri.

Flores said he would do the same.

Its a tragic event, but were prepared to move forward and prosecute this case, he said.
Staff reports

Aberdeen News

The right to vote is the crown jewel of American liberties, and we will not see its luster diminished, said President Ronald Reagan.

Voting is a core element of a democratic society. Protecting American voters right to make their voices heard should be one of the pillars our elected officials seek most carefully to uphold.

Why, then, are South Dakota legislators trying to cut the allotted time for absentee voting down by more than half?

Currently, South Dakota allows 46 days for absentee voting. House Bill 1178, co-sponsored by Sen. Brock Greenfield and Rep. Karl Perry, if approved, would cut that down to 14 days, though that amount of time could be expanded.

HB 1178 was first read in the state House of Representatives on Jan. 29, and referred to the House State Affairs committee. As of Friday afternoon, its appearance before that committee hadnt yet been scheduled.

First, lets clarify our terms: In South Dakota, absentee voting means all votes cast before election day (sometimes colloquially referred to as early voting). So, when you go to your county auditors office three weeks before Election Day  for whatever reason  thats absentee voting. Sending in a ballot while youre deployed overseas? Absentee voting. Mailing in a ballot while you spend the winter in Arizona, or are away for college? Absentee.

Second, lets look at a little history. Absentee voting in the United States started during the Civil War as a way for soldiers to vote while they were far afield. Known as excuse-required absentee voting, it required the voter to provide a valid reason  like military service  why they couldnt make it to the ballot box on Election Day.

But the convenience led some people to start fudging excuses  so instead of states cracking down, they decided to make it more accessible. Enter no-excuse absentee voting in the 1970s. Early in-person voting followed soon after in the 80s.

To reiterate, earlier state legislators took a now-rare approach to legislating by actually listening to their constituents and working to make their lives easier. Now, 37 states offer some form of early or absentee voting.

Now lets look at the reasoning behind this proposed reduction in vote time. Perry, a Republican from Aberdeen, said Forty-six days for early voting, in my opinion, is too long.

Why? Its longer than the national average of 22 days, apparently.

Greenfield, a Republican from Clark, offered little more by explanation, other than a 46-day lead requires early ballot printing. Sometimes, he said, candidates want to change their mind about running, but they cant because their name is already on the ballot.

Heres our response: So?

Voting laws should be crafted to accommodate and protect voters, not politicians. And we certainly shouldnt be worrying about politicians who may or may not know if they really want to run for office.

Pennington County Auditor-elect Cindy Mohler said county auditors across the state widely oppose this bill. Fourteen days is simply not enough time to mail out an absentee ballot, have the voter fill it out and return it, and be processed by the auditors office.

Thats a tight window to get a ballot to someone in Arizona, much less someone stationed in the Middle East.

And thats the group of people were most worried about: our active-duty deployed military members. How does this bill factor in the federal Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting Act, which mandates 45 days for deployed military absentee voting? Are our legislators unaware of that, or do they simply expect our county auditors to abide by multiple deadlines?

Another group of people this will hit: farmers and ranchers. As one of our readers astutely pointed out, it can be difficult for farmers and ranchers to get away. Broken fences, sick livestock and malfunctioning equipment dont care if its Election Day.

In Pennington County, thousands of people vote absentee every election. Prior to the November election, nearly 9,000 people had voted by Oct. 24. If this law had been in place, people wouldnt have even been able to start casting absentee ballots until Oct. 24. Think of the added lines and increased time commitment  for voters and county officials. How many voters will this disenfranchise?

Is that what our legislators want?

To all legislators bent on making it hard to vote, we have to ask you to take a long, hard look at why. They say theyre willing to compromise and go longer than 14 days, but again, how is 22 days really much better? Voter turnout is already dreadfully low. Shouldnt we be doing everything we can to get more people to the polls than less? Isnt this kind of ill-informed policy-making exactly what turns voters off from feeling like they have a voice?

HB 1178 is a bad bill. We hope the majority of our legislators see that and stop its progress.
Kelda J.L. Pharris

kpharris@aberdeennews.com

The days are slowly getting longer but itll still be a while until spring.

Why not make that wait a little easier with a good book or two? Although there is the Good Book, Christian faith leaders in Aberdeen have a variety of favorites to share.

What follows is a list of suggested books and mini-reviews from some pastors in town.

Dakota by Kathleen Norris and Land Circle by Linda Hasselstrom have long been two of my favorite books about South Dakota. But to be honest, during a long, cold winter, I need to read stories set in different  and warmer!  places.

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry. Reading Berrys nonfiction work in college changed my life. Hes one of our countrys greatest truth-tellers. And poets. And fiction writers. Jayber Crow, about a young mans return to his hometown in Kentucky in the 1930s, is one of my all-time favorite works of fiction.

The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon. Capon was an Episcopalian priest, and hes one of the most influential theologians for me. He was also quite the cook and had a razor-sharp wit. He manages to combine all of those  theology, cooking, and humor  in this book. Plus you get a few recipes out of it, too.

The River Why by David James Duncan. This is a beautiful and funny novel about fishing, nature and a young man growing up in the Pacific Northwest.

Portofino by Frank Schaeffer. This book is hilarious (especially for those who grew up in very religious families). Its about a preteen boy, Calvin, and his missionary familys yearly vacations to Portofino, Italy, in the 1960s. Ive read it several times over the last 20 years. When you cant take a vacation yourself, reading this book feels like one.

A couple of more recent reads that Ive loved: The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, which is about a Bengali couples immigration to the U.S. and raising their family in a suburb of Boston. Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches is by John Hodgman of The Daily Show and those Mac vs. PC ads from about 10 years ago. His self-deprecating humor is as good in his books as it is on screen.

 The Rev. Erin Heidelberger, Zion Lutheran

My favorite books ... and what Im enjoying now.

Right now; I am reading Robert Fagles translation of The Iliad. It is not only a fantastic epic poem, but it is a profound reflection on human nature, human struggle and how we become human. It is, of course, about the Trojan War, but at its heart, it is about Achilles journey to humanity.

Classics that I highly recommend are: anything by Charles Dickens, because his use of language is amazing and his novels always strip away the illusions to reveal the deeper experiences of society and life.

John Steinbeck: East of Eden. A loose allegory of the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. It is simply magnificent, and the ending will change your life.

I am also reading Phil Klays collection of short stories Redeployment, about those who have served in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The stories are intense, beautiful and an opportunity to understand more completely the experiences of those who have and are serving.

 The Rev. Michael Griffin, St. Marys Catholic Church

Ive been reading The Unexpected Adventure, by Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg. Its a book that challenges me to get out beyond my comfort zone and to share my faith with others, outside the church setting, which is quite a challenge in todays society and amidst a very busy life. But, as the authors conclude, sharing my faith with others can be very rewarding and spiritually stimulating.

Might sound kind of boring, but sometimes I find good reading when I am doing a Bible study on a specific topic and utilize a Bible commentary such as The Gospel of John (commentary) by D.A. Carson. Sounds like it could be dry and boring, but can be stimulating to my mind and my heart, and greatly help my understanding.

 The Rev. Jon Droege, Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

I finished the wonderfully dark Beartown by Fredrik Backman. This Swedish author paints a complex picture of a small town where hockey is life, even at the expense of the most vulnerable. Great storyline and high school characters, but not for the faint of heart. You wont know who to cheer for! Also, Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor. Wonderful meditations on finding Gods presence in the dark.

 The Rev. Kevin Bergeson
Staff reports

Aberdeen News

Aberdeen executive Alvin Gerlach of Hub Music & Vending was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the AMOA-National Dart Association, an international trade association focused on the sport of electronic darts, according to a news release.

Gerlach is a past president of NDA and has been an active volunteer leader for more than 16 years, according to the release. He helped introduce management software for NDA tournaments and developed its annual Junior Dart Tournament.

Gerlach recently celebrated his 32nd anniversary at Hub Music, according to the release. He became the company's service manager in 1996.

Gerlach has also served two terms as president of the South Dakota Music & Vending Association, according to the release.
On January 18, 2005, the day Airbus unveiled its 544-seat A380 superjumbo - the largest aircraft ever built - for the first time, its corporate website got over 14 million hits. On just that one day, twice as many people logged onto the site as normally seen in an average month, all eager to check out the world's first double-decker passenger jet that was being called the European aviation firm's 21st century flagship.

But Airbus yesterday announced that it will pull the plug on this iconic jet. The decision was prompted after Emrirates - the largest A380 customer - decided to reduce its orderbook for this aircraft from 162 to 123 following a review of its operations. According to Reuters, the Gulf carrier opted to order 70 of the smaller A350 and A330 Neos instead. "As a consequence and given the lack of order backlog with other airlines, Airbus will cease deliveries of the A380 in 2021," the firm said in a statement yesterday.

In a conference call with analyst post announcing the Q4 results, Airbus Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders said it was "a painful decision" since the firm had "invested a lot of effort, a lot of resources and a lot of sweat" into this aircraft. "But obviously we need to be realistic," he added.

According to him, the "consequences" of Emirates' decision to reduce its A380 orderbook by 39 aircraft "are largely embedded in our 2018 full year results". The firm reported a net negative impact of Euro 463 million related to the A380 programme. So Airbus will produce just 17 more of these planes - 14 for Emirates over the next two years and 3 for Japanese airline ANA.

"On average, an A380 takes off or lands every six minutes around the world," Airbus had said in a statement in mid-2013 after over a 100 of these super-jumbos had been delivered to 9 airlines. So how did things reach such a sad ending just six years on?

The A380, which was a major step in Airbus' efforts to compete on equal terms with arch rival Boeing and challenge its legendary cash-cow 747, failed to take hold as airlines started backing smaller, more nimble jets.

Airbus had envisaged that soaring demand for air travel along with increasingly congested airports would force the global aviation industry to bet on larger planes. But, on the contrary, sales of the massive four-engined jets took a hit as operating airlines got lured by the improvements in lighter twin-engined alternatives, such as the Boeing 787 and 777 or Airbus's own A350. Besides, not all airports boasted the infrastructure to handle such jumbo jets. India, for instance, only lifted the ban on A380s - also prompted by concerns that foreign carriers would further hurt state-run Air India by grabbing a larger share of international traffic - in 2014.

Also read: Naresh Goyal to lose control of Jet Airways as board clears resolution plan

"The A380 is Emirates' flagship and has contributed to the airline's success for more than ten years. As much as we regret the airline's position, selecting the A330neo and A350 for its future growth is a great endorsement of our very competitive widebody aircraft family," said Guillaume Faury, President of Airbus Commercial Aircraft and future Airbus CEO. The decision to axe the A380 will be the last major step by Enders, who steps down in April.

Airbus said it will start discussions with unions in the next few weeks regarding the "3,000-3,500 positions potentially impacted over the next three years". Responding to behind the-scenes concerns from customers from Asia to Europe, Enders stressed Airbus would continue to support the A380 as long as it remains in service. Emirates, which had built its global brand around its 100 A380s as well as Boeing 777, said it was disappointed by the closure. The A380 will remain a pillar of the Emirates fleet well into the 2030s, the airline added.

Sushmita Choudhury Agarwal with agency inputs

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Pulwama terror attack LIVE updates: PM Modi warns Pakistan, says security forces have full freedom
The Sonoma Coast is not made for sunbathing, but you can eat all the crab and become one with nature along 55 miles of gorgeous, rugged coastline.

Just make sure you pack layers.

Hikes + Beaches on the Sonoma Coast (c1.staticflickr.com) Hiking There's no shortage of hiking trails on the Sonoma Coast that wind through redwood forests and along ocean cliffs. Bodega Head (Westshore Road, Bodega Bay) is one of the heaviest-trafficked spots for a quick and easy jaunt paired with panoramic ocean views. Take either the roughly 1.5-mile Bodega Head Trail loop or the three-mile overlook trail. // Salt Point State Park (25050 California 1, Jenner) offers 20 miles of hiking trails, including eight miles of coastline, a pygmy forest, and an underwater park made up of lively tide pools. During the rainy season, catch the Phillips Gulch beach waterfall. // Sonoma Coast State Park (CA-1, Bodega Bay) stretches 17 miles up the coast from Bodega Bay to Jenner. The Kortum Trail is an easy 3.5 miles, while the Pomo Canyon Red Hill Trail will get your heart rate up along a 6-mile trek. // If you're willing to head farther north, Sea Ranch is home to the area's most undiscovered hiking paths. The six Sea Ranch Coastal Access Trails are all under two miles, but each leads to a quiet stretch of sand. The best time to hike is during the spring, when many of these trails are spectacularly transformed by wildflowers. Wherever you're headed, pack your binoculars and keep an eye out for whale tails and spouts and seals snoozing on the rocks. Goat Rock Beach (Highway 1 and Goat Rock Rd., Jenner) is a hot bed for seal activity, but if you want to get even closer, rent a kayak or stand-up paddle board from Bodega Bay Kayak. Beach Combing Sonoma Coast is dotted with beaches and coves along 55 miles of coastline. The two-mile long Doran Beach (201 Doran Beach Road, Bodega Bay) is the most popular stop for tourists, while Salmon Creek (3095 CA-1, Bodega Bay) is much quieter and frequented by surfers. But really, all you have to do is pull over to discover your own slice of sand. Just make sure it's not private property.

Where to Eat & Drink Along the Sonoma Coast (Courtesy of Rocker Oyterfeller's) Wine Tasting Most Sonoma Coast wineries are situated inland, but there are a few, and they come with views. Fort Ross Vineyard (15725 Meyers Grade Road, Jenner) takes some effort to get to, but at the end of a windy, wooded drive is a spectacular terrace from which you can practically taste the sea. They specialize in pinot noir and chardonnay that they grow only a few miles from the Pacific, but also produce a varietal that you'll be hard pressed to find anywhere else; Pinotage, grown mostly in South Africa, is bigger and bolder than any Napa cab you've tasted. // Located right in town in Bodega Bay, the Sonoma Coast Vineyards tasting room (555 CA-1, Bodega Bay) is simple and understated, but that's because it's all about the ocean views from their picture windows (if you go in wintertime, you can catch the sunset at the end of the day). The winery produces the usual chardonnay and pinot noir that the Sonoma Coast is known for, but also a sauvignon blanc and sparkling wine.

Meals Get your seafood fix at hyper-local shacks Spud Point Crab Company (1910 Westshore Road, Bodega Bay) and Fisherman's Cove (1850 Bay Flat Rd., Bodega Bay). Bodega Bay is especially known for its crab and clam chowderthey literally have an annual Clam Chowder Day, where local eateries compete for title of Best Chowderso you can't go wrong with either order anywhere you go. // Rocker Oysterfeller's (14415 Highway OneValley Ford) serves up Tomales Bay oysters five ways, including The Rocker Oysterfeller, their twist on the Oysters Rockefeller featuring arugula, bacon, cream cheese, and cornbread crust. Wash them down with a classic Rocktail. // Or, go Wine Surfing at Bodega Bay classic, Gourmet au Bay (1412 Bay Flat Rd, Bodega Bay). Much less adventurous than it sounds, Wine Surfing entails selecting a flight of three wines, presented in a wooden surfboard. Pair them with a Clamtastic flatbread (chopped clams, smoked bacon, garlic, olive oil, parsley, Pecorino Romano, Parmesan), oysters, or a crab sandwich and grab a few local bottles at the wine shop on your way out. You'll be glad you have them at your room later, for there's no nightlife here. // Most Sonoma coastal dining is super casual, but if you're seeking more of a fine dining experience complete with ocean views, check out River's End (1048 Highwy 1, Jenner). Four words: Dungeness Crab tasting menu.
Jon Askonas in The New Atlantis:

The rumors spread like wildfire: Muslims were secretly lacing a Sri Lankan villages food with sterilization drugs. Soon, a video circulated that appeared to show a Muslim shopkeeper admitting to drugging his customers  he had misunderstood the question that was angrily put to him. Then all hell broke loose. Over a several-day span, dozens of mosques and Muslim-owned shops and homes were burned down across multiple towns. In one home, a young journalist was trapped, and perished.

Mob violence is an old phenomenon, but the tools encouraging it, in this case, were not. As the New York Times reported in April, the rumors were spread via Facebook, whose newsfeed algorithm prioritized high-engagement content, especially videos. Designed to maximize user time on site, as the Times article describes, the newsfeed algorithm promotes whatever wins the most attention. Posts that tap into negative, primal emotions like anger or fear, studies have found, produce the highest engagement, and so proliferate. On Facebook in Sri Lanka, posts with incendiary rumors had among the highest engagement rates, and so were among the most highly promoted content on the platform. Similar cases of mob violence have taken place in India, Myanmar, Mexico, and elsewhere, with misinformation spread mainly through Facebook and the messaging tool WhatsApp.

More here.
The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth Rs 4.62 crore of Sky Light Hospitality, a company owned by Robert Vadra, in the Bikaner land scam case. The action from the probe agency comes close on heels of two-days of its interrogation in relaton to the case with Vadra earlier this week.

"The attached assets include movable assets amounting to Rs 18,59,500 pertaining to four individuals and one immovable property situated at 268, Sukhdev Vihar in New Delhi to the extent of Rs 4,43,36,550 owned by Robert Vadra's company Ms Sky Light Hospitality (P) Ltd (now LLP)," the ED said.

The ED had registered a criminal case in connection with the land deal in Bikaner back in 2015, taking cognisance of a series of FIRs and charge sheets filed by the Rajasthan Police. The agency had had registered a money laundering case against Sky Light Hospitality owned by Vadra.

Vadra's company had bought land in Kolayat, Bikaner at dirt cheap prices and allegedly sold it to Allegenery Finlease for Rs 5.15 crore. The tehsildar of Bikaner had complained about alleged forgery in the allotment of land in the area, considered sensitive due to its proximity to the India-Pakistan border. The land was meant for rehabilitating poor villagers but was bought by Vadra through illegal transactions. ED also claimed that Allengenery Finlease was a fictitious company and had no real business.

At the beginning of this week, Vadra and his mother Maureen were interrogated by the ED in relation to the land scam in Bikaner. His wife and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi had accompanied him to the probe agency's office in Jaipur.

Venting on the social media, Vadra had blamed the government of vindictive action against him and his mother. He said that the investigation against him is only an election gimmick ahead of the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Vadra had failed to appear before ED on three occasions in the Bikaner case. He and his mother were asked by the Rajasthan High Court to cooperate with the probe agency after they approached it seeking directions that no forceful action is taken against them by ED.

Last week, the ED had quizzed Vadra for three days in a money laundering case against him for allegedly procuring properties in London in an illegal manner. The agency had claimed that several mansions and apartments owned by Vadra in London were actually kickbacks in a petroleum and defence deals during the UPA regime.

ALSO READ:'Please keep her safe': Robert Vadra's emotional post for wife Priyanka Gandhi
MVRDV has released design for a new tower in Tirana, as the construction work has already begun at site. Called Downtown One, the 140-metre-tall mixed-use skyscraper will become Albanias tallest building in Tirana.

The most striking element of the 37-storey tower is its relief of cantilevered houses and offices, which form a pixelated map of Albania, each representing a town or city, turning this building into an icon in the heart of Tirana, Albania. Developed by Kastrati Construction, the building is expected to be completed in 2024.

Located in central Tirana on the Bajram Curri Boulevard, to the south of the Lana River, Downtown One is envisioned as an expression celebrating the progress of Albania.

Image  MVRDV / REDVERTEX

On its principle facades, the 140-metre rectilinear tower features a series of cantilevered houses and offices, forming a relief pattern on the buildings surface. Every house or office represents a village or town, so that when viewed from a distance, these cantilevers form an abstracted map of Albania.

"The importance of the cantilevers is not only iconographic; for occupants of the building, the projecting bay windows offer spectacular panoramic views of the city and the mountains, while the terraces created enable communication and connection between residents to give the feeling of a vertical village," said MVRDV.

"Residents will also be able to identify their home by reference to the geography of the Albania: somebody will live in the Tirana pixel, somebody else in the 'Durres pixel', and so on."

"Albania has come a long way. Ten years ago it was the poorest country in Europe. Now it is a country with energy and ambition, working towards great economic improvements. We want to express this with our building," said Winy Maas, co-founder of MVRDV.

Image  MVRDV / REDVERTEX

"The tower brings the feeling of a vertical village to the busy city centre, individual housing where communication with the neighbours is encouraged. Maybe it could even be seen as a vertical country! Every house or office adopts a town or city, together forming this map of Albania."

"The building will be visible from the nearby Skanderbeg square at the heart of the city. It forms part of the ensemble of towers that surround the square, the epicentre of the country," Maas continued.

Encompassing a total of 77,000 square metres, Downtown One will give the centre of Tirana an important boost through the mix of apartments, shops, offices, and restaurants. The 37-storey tower does not sit parallel to Bajram Curri Boulevard, but is rotated on its plot so that its principal facade faces toward Skanderbeg Square.

Image  MVRDV

At its base is a park with local vegetation and an educational playground, while the inside of the building is divided into several layers: above the ground floor commercial spaces and underground parking, the lower half of the tower is devoted to office space, while apartments occupy the top 18 floors.

MVRDV believes Albania is a region with tremendous potential for progressive development. The tower is just a short distance from another project by MVRDV which will transform the face of Albanias capital city: the Pyramid of Tirana.

Image  MVRDV

In both projects, the Rotterdam office seeks local architects and engineers as partners, and works with them according to the latest BIM guidelines. As the area is earthquake-prone, work is carried out according to the strictest European building standards and quality.

MVRDV designed Downtown One on behalf of Kastrati Construction, a company of Kastrati Group. Arup is the supervisor for structure and MEP, with Albanian firms Elteknik as MEP engineers and LEAL as structural engineers.

Project facts

Location: Tirana, Albania

Year: 2016+

Client: Kastrati Construction

Program: 77,000m2 mixed-use tower to include apartments, offices, a commercial plinth and underground parking

Building name: Downtown One

Design: MVRDV

Principal-in-charge: Winy Maas

Director: Stefan de Koning

Design Team: Sanne van der Burgh, Ronald Hoogeveen, Guido Boeters, Boris Tikvarski, Thomas Boerendonk, Stavros Gargaretas, Akshey Krishna Venkatesh, Katarzyna Nowak, Manuel Magnaguagno, Angel Sanchez Navarro, Christy Li Yu Wai, Johannes Pilz, Christine Sohar and Sanne van Manen.

Visualization: Antonio Luca Coco, Davide Calabro and Pavlos Ventouris

Copyright: MVRDV 2018 - Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries

Partners

Client: Kastrati Construction

Investor: Kastrati Group

Structure: LEAL & Arup

MEP: Arup, Elteknik

Top image  MVRDV / REDVERTEX

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WATERLOO -- An automatic alarm that alerted firefighters to an apartment fire likely saved the lives of a Waterloo woman and her infant child, according to fire officials.

Waterloo Fire Rescue was called to 3855 Pineview Place in Waterloo on Thursday evening for an automatic alarm going off.

They found a woman and baby asleep in the bedroom of the apartment when they arrived.

Fire crews also found a stove-top fire had been put out by the apartment's kitchen sprinkler, which activated and extinguished the fire before it could spread, according to Waterloo Fire Marshal Chris Ferguson.

The woman and baby were treated for unspecified injuries.

The cause of the fire was a burner that had accidentally been left on, according to Ferguson.

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CEDAR FALLS  Karen Zacharias play Legacy of Light has been described by critics as both an intellectual joyride and flight of fancy. The playwright explores the lives of two women three centuries apart who are struggling with the same questions about life, love, motherhood, science, art and the legacy they will leave behind.

Theatre UNI will present the romantic comedy through March 3 at the Strayer-Wood Theatre on the University of Northern Iowa campus.

Director Amy Osatinski says the production is both challenging and exciting. Its a play written by a woman about women. Its exciting and rare to tell a story about women from the perspective of women.

Emilie Du Chatalet, a real-life 18th century French scientist and scholar, was philosopher Voltaires lover. He makes an appearance, and there are discussions about Isaac Newton. Chatalets work on the properties of light and energy formed the scientific foundation for discoveries to follow by scientists like Albert Einstein. She wasnt allowed to publish her work under her own name, and she died in 1749 after childbirth.
President Trump announcing an emergency declaration to build his wall. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

At worst, President Trumps claim of emergency powers that would allow him to expand barriers on the southern border is a gross violation of democratic norms. At best, it is a craven ploy to cover his own blundering. Either way, it is a devastating indictment of his capacity to handle his job.

Begin with the worst-case scenario. As a matter of principle, the Constitution establishes a system that requires the House, Senate, and the president to approve new laws. In some cases, expediency requires the president to act unilaterally. Those rare cases are not defined as emergencies because theyre important  lots of policy is important, even life-threatening. The emergencies are cases where the executive needs to act in an especially urgent way, and where congressional involvement may not be practical.

Most of the uses of emergency powers involve foreign policy, an area where Congress has (for better or worse) ceded most of its authority to the president anyway. Presidents have not been able to use emergency powers to simply roll over congressional opposition. Bill Clinton considered health-care reform an extremely vital problem with literal life-and-death consequences  and he was right  but he never contemplated using some form of emergency powers to impose the reforms he couldnt get Congress to enact.

Trump has of course tried to portray his power grab as just such an emergency. But illegal immigration is nothing like the kind of sudden crisis that justifies rapid action. It is a decades-long policy dispute, with border crossings now at levels well below that of a decade ago. The closest thing to a crisis is a recent surge in migrants seeking asylum, a process that entails crossing the border legally, and for which a wall is completely irrelevant. Whats more, Trumps non-solution would take years to complete. The presidents lack of urgency to address the alleged border crisis during his first two years, when he had unified control of government, attests to his disingenuousness.

Trumps extemporaneous commentary defending his emergency decision repeatedly gave away his own rationale. He admitted he could have passed border funding through Congress during his first year and a half, but he was too new to politics, and his fellow Republicans didnt step up. He framed the border wall as a gambit for his campaign (Ive already done a lot of wall for the election  2020.). And he admitted the emergency declaration was a luxury rather than an emergency (I didnt need to do this. But Id rather do it much faster.). He is clumsily undermining his already-shaky legal case, while making it plain his ploy is to claim Executive powers to override an area of control for Congress.

Lou Dobbs, a Fox Business Network host who frequently speaks to the president both through the screen and on the phone, expressed the premise of using a emergency order to circumvent democratic debate. I really believe that the way forward here is for him to declare a national emergency, and simply sweep aside the recalcitrant left in this country, he said on air last month. They have obstructed, resisted, and subverted for far too long. Note, in particular, the chilling authoritarianism of the term subverted to describe a policy dispute between coequal branches of government.

Trump echoed this spirit in his ill-fated national address touting the border wall, when he concluded, When I took the oath of office, I swore to protect our country and that is what I will always do so help me God. In fact, the oath of office commits the president to protect the Constitution, not the country. The distinction between the two things is substantial. The actual oath binds Trump to a form of government and the rule of law. Trumps version of it invests in his own office unlimited authority to define security and carry it out as he alone sees fit. In his remarks defending his decision, Trump chillingly praised anti-drug policy in authoritarian China, which he claims has achieved total success by brutalizing criminals. His argument for a wall could just as easily be used to justify overriding criminal-justice protections.

Few Republican officials have echoed this kind of bluntly fascistic rhetoric. Instead, they have responded to the threat much as they have responded to the broader currents of authoritarianism emanating from the Oval Office. First they pushed back quietly, and then finally relented:

McConnells statement that hes prepared to support the national emergency declaration plus an angry Chuck Grassley bonus via @atrupar pic.twitter.com/dmaGGFCKJa  southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 14, 2019

As always, the mere fact Democrats are decrying Trumps abuses is causing Republicans to rally around them. We are becoming more unified as the Dems push out there, a Republican House member tells John Harwood. Real optimism on our side based upon the extremists on their side.

If Trump were to succeed, he would distort the effective meaning of the Constitution beyond recognition. That is precisely why his ploy is unlikely to survive the legal challenges. The Supreme Courts five Republican justices may stretch the Constitution to defeat liberal policies they abhor, like universal health insurance, but they probably dont care about the wall and have no reason to spend their reputational capital on a decision upholding it.

The anticipation that courts will smack down Trumps attempted power grab has created some complacency about the brazenness of his attempt. The clever take in Washington is that Trump is claiming emergency powers knowing full well he will probably lose.

But it hardly vindicates the president. Trump impulsively engineered a government shutdown out of the mistaken belief that somehow it would give him leverage over Democrats, and without any understanding of the humanitarian fallout. After he quickly realized it wouldnt, he made almost no effort to negotiate in good faith, even though it certainly would be possible to imagine immigration policies most Democrats and some Republicans would want enough to authorize more border-security funding.

Having deliberately inflicted pain on his own country on a whim, he is defying democratic norms in order to extricate himself from the humiliation of a retreat. That he is likely to lose may mitigate the offense, but doesnt excuse it. Trump has at minimum proven that he lacks the temperament or basic competence to serve as president of the United States.

This post has been updated throughout.
CEDAR FALLS  Jeff Danielson, an Iowa state senator, and Cedar Falls firefighter is resigning from both positions, citing the citys Public Safety Officer program as his reason.

Danielson, 48, announced his resignation during an interview on KWWL and related it to the controversy between Cedar Falls and the firefighters union.

The city of Cedar Falls wasnt informed of his resignation prior to his announcement. Danielson will be the eighth firefighter to resign since September.

The Democrat was in his fourth term in the Iowa Senate before his resignation and was vice president of the Cedar Falls firefighters union.

During the interview with KWWL, he called this decision the hardest one of his life.

Danielson said he has a job lined up that he will announce at a later time.

Gov. Kim Reynolds will have to schedule a special election, and whoever wins will be up for reelection in 2020.

The city of Cedar Falls did not release a statement on Danielsons resignation at this time. Cedar Falls firefighters were fighting a fire as Danielson made his announcement Thursday night and were also unavailable for comment.

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WATERLOO  A Waterloo man has been sentenced to prison on firearm charges after authorities found a weapon with a high-capacity magazine while investigating drugs in 2017.

Prosecutors allege Antonio Rodriguez Ross, 24, had a 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun with a 30-round magazine on Nov. 30. 2017. Authorities allege he was prohibited from possessing firearms because he used marijuana.

Ross pleaded to possession of a firearm by a drug user and on Wednesday was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

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ST. LOUIS --- A man bound a dogs legs and mouth with duct tape, then threw it out the window of his vehicle in rural Jefferson County, where a deputy found it in a ditch about 12 hours later, charges say.

Paul Garcia, of Barnhart, was charged with animal abuse and armed criminal action after a dog was found dumped in Jefferson County with its mouth and legs duct-taped. The dog survived.

Sheriff Dave Marshak said a deputy on patrol found the dog Saturday morning, near Old State Road M and Schneider Road in the Antonia area.

The black-and-brown dachshund was cold, malnourished and possibly suffering from a concussion. Temperatures the night before were in the teens, Marshak noted.

The dog, named Jimmy by workers at the animal hospital to which he was taken, is getting better, Marshak reported.

On Thursday, Paul Garcia, 39, of Barnhart was charged with felony animal abuse and armed criminal action. Authorities say Garcia wrapped electrical and duct tape around the dogs mouth and legs before dumping it. Garcia was in custody Thursday with bail set at $50,000.
HAMPTON -- An Iowa man faces a ninth drunken driving charge after authorities responded to a report of a potentially impaired driver at a Pardeeville, Wis., bar last week.

Charles J. Raggo Jr., 59, of Hampton, faces a ninth charge of operating while intoxicated and a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to a criminal complaint, a Columbia County (Wis.) sheriffs deputy responded to a report Feb. 7 of a possible impaired driver at Caddy Shack Bar in Pardeeville.

A witness reported seeing an impaired driver leave the bar in a blue Chevy Silverado with distinct lettering on the rear, the complaint said.

Upon arrival, the deputy reported seeing a vehicle matching the description traveling on Highway P and conducted a traffic stop, the complaint states. The deputy reported the drivers eyes were very glassy, and a strong odor of intoxicants was coming from inside the vehicle.

Raggo allegedly told the deputy he drank two Stellar beers over a shrimp basket meal and one beer before eating. According to the complaint, Raggo stated he had two pocket knives and a one-hitter marijuana pipe in his possession.
J.P. Marshall with the Harmony Foundation of North Liberty led the installation.

This award-winning a cappella group will celebrate its 40th anniversary with the annual spring show May 4 at Central Intermediate School.

Men in the Cedar Valley who like to sing are welcome to attend rehearsals at 7 p.m. Tuesdays at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 4031 Lafayette Road, Evansdale. For more information, call 229-4291.

Historical group hosts meeting

WATERLOO  Bob Cutsforth is the guest speaker at the Feb. 26 meeting of the Cedar Valley Historical Society.

Cutsforth will discuss the history of the Waterloo Fire Department, where he worked from 1962 to his retirement in 1994. For years, he has been collecting firefighting history and paraphernalia, some of which will be on display at this event.

His presentation will begin in 1861, when the Waterloo Hook and Ladder Co. was formed. This, as well as other early fire departments, were volunteer. It was not until 1904 when the city agreed to fully fund the fire department, hiring a fire chief and 11 firemen.
IOWA CITY  Nominations are now open for University of Iowa Stead Family Childrens Hospitals 2019 Kid Captain Program.

Nominations are open until March 17 for current or former pediatric patients of UI Stead Family Childrens Hospital ages 18 and younger. Only parents and legal guardians may nominate their child.

Since 2009, Kid Captain has been a partnership between childrens hospital and the Iowa Hawkeyes, featuring stories of strength, courage and inspiration.

People are asked to consider nominating children with life-changing stories for the 2019 program.

All Kid Captains will receive a commemorative jersey, special recognition from UI Stead Family Childrens Hospital and the Iowa Hawkeyes, and an invitation to a special behind-the-scenes tour of Kinnick Stadium in August.

Children of any age may be nominated as an honorary (away game) Kid Captain. Due to sideline safety concerns, only children who will be 6 or older by November may be nominated as a home game Kid Captain.

For more information or to nominate a child, go to uichildrens.org/kidcaptain.

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TAMA  An Oregon man who pulled a shotgun on another man in a casino parking lot has been sentenced to federal prison on weapons charges.

Judge Linda Reade sentenced Harold Ray Amos, 40, of Coos Bay, who also has a Traer address, to eight years in prison during a Wednesday hearing in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. Amos will have to serve three years of supervised release following prison. He pleaded guilty to prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

Authorities allege Amos is barred from handling firearms because of prior felony drug and domestic abuse convictions.

On March 14, Amos was at the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel in Tama when he got in an argument with others. He and another person involved in the argument left the building, and Amos retrieved a shotgun from his pickup truck, according to prosecutors. He pointed the weapon at the other man and took $400 in cash from him, according to court records.

Police were notified and discovered a loaded sawed-off shotgun in Amos truck.

Amos had been arrested on state robbery charges in connection with the incident, and he pleaded to assault while participating in a felony and was sentenced to up to five years in prison.

Waterloo man sentenced to prison
Photo: Pawel Supernak/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock/Pawel Supernak/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

We in the foreign policy community do not use the phrase dumpster fire. We think its beneath us. Also, its overused. But there really is no other term for the conference the Trump administration put on in Warsaw this week.

First, lets talk about the dumpster, and lets give credit where it is due. Over the first year of the Trump administration, State Department officials worked frantically to try to come up with a side agreement between the United States and Europe that would convince President Trump not to pull out of the deal to rein in Irans nuclear weapons program. They got real results, and both Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his successor Mike Pompeo backed their efforts and tried to convince Trump to uphold the agreement.

They failed. Trump pulled out, and the reward Pompeo and the State Department team got for their efforts was to be sent back to Europe to negotiate a plan to squeeze Iran even harder.

No surprise, they failed again. After 18 months of trying to sweet-talk Trump, European leaders have begun to give up. When asked about recent reports that Trump had considered pulling out of NATO, a source close to Emmanuel Macron told Bloomberg that at this point, nothing Trump could do would surprise the French president. German intellectuals are debating the countrys role in a post-U.S. order. And Europe has made Iran policy its test case, saying publicly that they reject the legitimacy of new U.S. sanctions and rolling out a financing mechanism to allow companies to do business in Iran around the sanctions.

Some diplomatic strategists would think the February rollout of that mechanism meant this is a bad time to stage an international conference intended to demonstrate Irans isolation. But not Team Pompeo. They pushed Poland (not usually a big player on Iran policy) to host a conference, and send out the invitations.

The responses came back, and they werent encouraging. The head of E.U. foreign policy was busy. The German and French foreign ministers were busy. The U.K. foreign minister would need to leave early. Russia and China dont actually want to isolate Tehran, so they werent going to come. To drive the point home, the Warsaw meeting took place as Russian president Vladimir Putin hosted the presidents of Turkey and Iran, to discuss a final settlement in Syria  something over which Washington has less and less influence.

So the administration tried something else, shifting their marketing from an Iran conference to a Middle East conference. Oh, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be delighted to come  he happens to be running for reelection, and his close ties to the Trump White House are a central part of his campaign. The administration put out a new set of rumors: Jared Kushner would use the conference to put out his long-awaited Middle East peace plan.

So the conference opened with no outcomes in sight and a group of mostly second-tier attendees who outspokenly disagreed with the core goal of the conference. Oh, and Vice-President Pence. Maybe it would just go by quietly and irrelevantly.

This is where we add the fire to our diplomatic trash bin. At a premeeting press availability, Netanyahu said the purpose of the gathering was to prepare for war with Iran. It took his team a surprisingly long time to claim there was a translation issue, deciding that they hadnt meant war, they had meant battle. Possibly, it took them just long enough for an Israeli news cycle to hear a candidate threatening war on Israels enemies, while assuring the international community later that no, of course he didnt mean a literal war.

Pence, meanwhile, used his speech at the conference to go after exactly the countries we used to call Americas closest allies  the ones with democratic governments and treaty commitments to respond to an attack on the U.S. as if it were an attack on them. The ones who responded in support of Washington after 9/11, who sent troops to fight beside ours in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. He called out Britain, France, and Germany by name, demanding not just that they stop facilitating trade with Iran but that they follow Washingtons 2018 move and withdraw from the Iran deal.

Mind you, there were allies in Warsaw that Pence and Pompeo were celebrating. Who were they? Senior officials from Saudi Arabia and its regional partners. Americans and Israelis crowed that leaders of Arab states that dont recognize Israel sat next to Netanyahu at an opening dinner. No major breakthroughs on the long-promised Kushner peace plan emerged, but hey, the foreign minister of Yemen shared his microphone when Netanyahus broke.

Thats Yemen, where half the population needs food aid and half a million children are at risk of imminent starvation  kids too weak even to cry. Some ally. After the festivities in Warsaw had wrapped up for the night, the House of Representatives took a historic vote to cut off U.S. funding for the war in Yemen and the humanitarian catastrophe it is fueling. But for every fire Congress attempts to dampen, the administration seems set on starting another.

The only problem with the dumpster fire metaphor is that it suggests a problem or embarrassment that is contained. And the Trump administrations quest to break old alliances and set up an Iran conflict with its partners of convenience is anything but contained. Its not normal for the U.S. to lecture allies in public; its not normal for those allies to acknowledge in the press that they reject U.S. policies. And as the administration is fecklessly telling Europe to get in line, it is looking to ramp up missile programs those same countries have told Washington they dont want, to counter Russia or Iran. All that at the same time it has put forward a candidate to head the World Bank who makes allies very uncomfortable  perhaps in part because its unclear whether Trump believes in the mission of the World Bank.

Washington has a long history of convening international conferences to leverage the power of partners. Many are forgettable. Some, like the Helsinki summit process of the Cold War years, succeed far beyond expectations not so much because of what they do, but what they inspire others in and out of governments to do  even, sometimes, spurring people to push back against U.S. mistakes and hypocrisy. Perhaps the Warsaw meeting, in its own way, will inspire that. Or, perhaps, it will fail far beyond its apparently small stature.
Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.
Presidents Trump and Putin in Helsinki, 2018. Photo: Yari Kadobnov/AFP/Getty Images

In July, 2017, North Korea test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile. President Trump initially dismissed intelligence reports of the launch as a hoax, according to former FBI Director Andrew McCabe. Trump often refuses to accept intelligence findings, but in this case, his reasons were  interesting.

He thought that North Korea did not have the capability to launch such missiles, McCabe writes. He said he knew this because Vladimir Putin had told him so.

Trump has met repeatedly with Putin in unusually secretive circumstances, barring other American officials from attending and leaving no recording of the discussion. Putin has apparently influenced Trumps thinking on North Korea in other ways. Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported, as an aside within a somewhat light story about how to persuade Trump, that Trump wanted to halt joint military exercises with South Korea because Putin had suggested it.

Trump is clearly smitten with using North Korea as evidence of his deal-making prowess, frequently boasting that he alone prevented nuclear war and claiming in the face of all evidence that he has eliminated North Koreas nuclear threat. Apparently, in addition to his own ego, Trumps almost comically credulous stance is also a reflection of Russian influence.
Prince Harry is spending part of Valentines Day away from wife Meghan Markle as he heads north on official royal duty.

The prince traveled to Norway on Thursday to visit service members. In his role as Captain General of the Royal Marines, the former army captain will see how Exercise Clockwork  the traditional name of the annual winter exercise  has trained over 16,000 Royal Marines and Royal Navy sailors and airmen since 1969. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the exercise.

Harry took over the Captain General role from his grandfather Prince Philip, 97, in December 2017, as the Duke of Edinburgh gradually gave up some of his patronages surrounding his official retirement from public life.

The royal flew to the Air Station in Bardufoss, Norway, to meet some of the personnel living and training on the base. He will also view a variety of outdoor Ground Training Stances, which will demonstrate the equipment and training that is conducted at Clockwork.

RELATED: Prince Harry Is Ready for Fatherhood in This Swoon-Worthy Photo Alongside Pregnant Meghan Markle Play Video

During the multinational exercise, personnel are taught how to survive, operate and fight in the extreme cold weather and gain experience of operating aircraft in severe cold weather and mountainous environments.

Cant get enough of PEOPLEs Royals coverage? Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

The prince is also likely to see some of the specialist aircraft housed in a hangar  including Apache helicopters, which he flew on his second tour of Afghanistan in late 2012.

Despite the distance (just a couple hours by plane), Meghan will find a way to make the day special for the couple. As she once revealed on her former lifestyle site, The Tig, Hook, line and sinker, I am such a sucker for Valentines Day.
Even though President Trump announced in December the withdrawal of all US troops from Syria, no detail has been revealed by Washington, as Western allies become sceptical of Americas commitment on defeating the Islamic State group. After meeting at the annual security conference in Munich with representatives of the dozen or so countries that provide troops in Iraq and Syria, acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Friday that the United States is committed to defeating the Islamic State (IS) group in the Middle East and beyond.President Trump's announcement in December that he was withdrawing all 2,000 US troops from Syria surprised and rattled allies. Many top aids opposed the decision, including Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, who quit, leaving his deputy Shanahan in charge of the Pentagon.US officials have crisscrossed the Middle East in recent weeks to reassure them that Washington remains committed to the region.However, European officials said they were given few details during the closed-door meeting in Munich and many questions remain. "We are still trying to understand how the Americans plan to withdraw. I don't think there is any clarity still," one European official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.Another official said Shanahan did not provide allies with a timeline of the American withdrawal from Syria and allies expressed scepticism during the meeting.The meeting, Shanahans first trip abroad as the acting secretary of Defence, included about a dozen defence ministers from the coalition to defeat the Islamic State group.Kurdish-led fighters are battling to capture the Islamic State group's last major stronghold in Syria, but even without territory, the militant Islamist group is widely seen as a continuing threat. Trump has said he expects a formal announcement as early as this week that the coalition fighting IS has reclaimed all the territory held by the group.A senior US defence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said no commitments were made during the meeting and there was little discussion about timelines."These meetings don't tend to have specific deliverables or decisions. It tends to be more focused on taking stock of where we are," the US official said.Shanahan also said he envisioned a "bigger and stronger" coalition to fight the Islamic State group globally. "We will continue to support our local partners' ability to stand up to the remnants of ISIS," he added, using an old acronym for Islamic State.(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

Even though President Trump announced in December the withdrawal of all US troops from Syria, no detail has been revealed by Washington, as Western allies become sceptical of Americas commitment on defeating the Islamic State group.

After meeting at the annual security conference in Munich with representatives of the dozen or so countries that provide troops in Iraq and Syria, acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Friday that the United States is committed to defeating the Islamic State (IS) group in the Middle East and beyond.

President Trump's announcement in December that he was withdrawing all 2,000 US troops from Syria surprised and rattled allies. Many top aids opposed the decision, including Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, who quit, leaving his deputy Shanahan in charge of the Pentagon.

US officials have crisscrossed the Middle East in recent weeks to reassure them that Washington remains committed to the region.

However, European officials said they were given few details during the closed-door meeting in Munich and many questions remain. "We are still trying to understand how the Americans plan to withdraw. I don't think there is any clarity still," one European official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Another official said Shanahan did not provide allies with a timeline of the American withdrawal from Syria and allies expressed scepticism during the meeting.

The meeting, Shanahans first trip abroad as the acting secretary of Defence, included about a dozen defence ministers from the coalition to defeat the Islamic State group.

Kurdish-led fighters are battling to capture the Islamic State group's last major stronghold in Syria, but even without territory, the militant Islamist group is widely seen as a continuing threat. Trump has said he expects a formal announcement as early as this week that the coalition fighting IS has reclaimed all the territory held by the group.

Story continues

A senior US defence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said no commitments were made during the meeting and there was little discussion about timelines.

"These meetings don't tend to have specific deliverables or decisions. It tends to be more focused on taking stock of where we are," the US official said.

Shanahan also said he envisioned a "bigger and stronger" coalition to fight the Islamic State group globally. "We will continue to support our local partners' ability to stand up to the remnants of ISIS," he added, using an old acronym for Islamic State.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)
The US ratcheted up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday by sanctioning some of his top security officials and the head of the state oil company, also unveiling plans to airlift over 200 tons of aid to the Colombian border. The United States Treasury said it sanctioned PDVSA chief Manuel Quevedo, three top intelligence officials and Rafael Bastardo, who U.S. officials say is the head of a national police unit responsible for dozens of extrajudicial killings carried out in night-time raids on Maduro's behalf.Separately, a U.S. official said U.S. military aircraft are expected to deliver more than 200 tons of humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan border in Colombia, with the shipment likely to take place on Saturday.The steps are part of a wider effort by the United States to undermine Maduro, whose 2018 election it views as illegitimate and whose government it has disavowed, and to strengthen opposition leader and self-declared president Juan Guaido.U.S. military aircraft are likely to deliver the aid to the Colombian side of the border with Venezuela on Saturday, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.Another U.S. government source who asked not to be named said the food and medicine would go to the Colombian border town of Cucuta on Saturday.However, it is unclear if any of it will reach Venezuelans.Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse in the oil-rich country that has left millions struggling to buy food and medicine and has fuelled an unprecedented migration crisis in the region, has refused to allow supplies in.An aid convoy supplied by the United States and Colombia arrived in Cucuta last week, where it is being held in warehouses."This man Maduro has created a humanitarian crisis," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters in Reykjavik. "As soon as this weekend we will continue to deliver massive humanitarian assistance. Hopefully Mr. Maduro will allow that in to his country.Guaido invoked constitutional provisions to declare himself interim president last month, arguing that Maduro's 2018 re-election was a sham. Most Western countries, including the United States and many of Venezuela's neighbours, have recognized Guaido as the legitimate head of state.Maduro retains the backing of Russia and China and control of Venezuelan state institutions including the military.The U.S. Treasury took aim at some of Maduro's allies with its sanctions on Friday."We are sanctioning officials in charge of Maduro's security and intelligence apparatus, which has systematically violated human rights and suppressed democracy, including through torture," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.Also targeted was Ivan Hernandez, commander of Maduro's Presidential Guard, which Treasury says has tortured Maduro's opponents and carried out other human rights abuses.Manuel Cristopher, director general of Venezuela's Sebin intelligence agency, and Hildemaro Rodriguez, first commissioner of the service, also were sanctioned.The Treasury's action freezes all property in the United States belonging to the five as well as that of any entities in which they own 50 percent or more.In a sign that the Trump administration may be trying to split the men from Maduro, the Treasury Department noted in its statement that "U.S. sanctions need not be permanent; sanctions are intended to bring about a positive change of behaviour.""The United States has made clear that we will consider lifting sanctions for persons ... who take concrete and meaningful actions to restore democratic order, refuse to take part in human rights abuses, speak out against abuses committed by the government, and combat corruption in Venezuela," it said.(REUTERS)

The US ratcheted up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday by sanctioning some of his top security officials and the head of the state oil company, also unveiling plans to airlift over 200 tons of aid to the Colombian border.

The United States Treasury said it sanctioned PDVSA chief Manuel Quevedo, three top intelligence officials and Rafael Bastardo, who U.S. officials say is the head of a national police unit responsible for dozens of extrajudicial killings carried out in night-time raids on Maduro's behalf.

Separately, a U.S. official said U.S. military aircraft are expected to deliver more than 200 tons of humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan border in Colombia, with the shipment likely to take place on Saturday.

The steps are part of a wider effort by the United States to undermine Maduro, whose 2018 election it views as illegitimate and whose government it has disavowed, and to strengthen opposition leader and self-declared president Juan Guaido.

U.S. military aircraft are likely to deliver the aid to the Colombian side of the border with Venezuela on Saturday, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Another U.S. government source who asked not to be named said the food and medicine would go to the Colombian border town of Cucuta on Saturday.

However, it is unclear if any of it will reach Venezuelans.

Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse in the oil-rich country that has left millions struggling to buy food and medicine and has fuelled an unprecedented migration crisis in the region, has refused to allow supplies in.

An aid convoy supplied by the United States and Colombia arrived in Cucuta last week, where it is being held in warehouses.

"This man Maduro has created a humanitarian crisis," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters in Reykjavik. "As soon as this weekend we will continue to deliver massive humanitarian assistance. Hopefully Mr. Maduro will allow that in to his country.

Story continues

Guaido invoked constitutional provisions to declare himself interim president last month, arguing that Maduro's 2018 re-election was a sham. Most Western countries, including the United States and many of Venezuela's neighbours, have recognized Guaido as the legitimate head of state.

Maduro retains the backing of Russia and China and control of Venezuelan state institutions including the military.

The U.S. Treasury took aim at some of Maduro's allies with its sanctions on Friday.

"We are sanctioning officials in charge of Maduro's security and intelligence apparatus, which has systematically violated human rights and suppressed democracy, including through torture," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

Also targeted was Ivan Hernandez, commander of Maduro's Presidential Guard, which Treasury says has tortured Maduro's opponents and carried out other human rights abuses.

Manuel Cristopher, director general of Venezuela's Sebin intelligence agency, and Hildemaro Rodriguez, first commissioner of the service, also were sanctioned.

The Treasury's action freezes all property in the United States belonging to the five as well as that of any entities in which they own 50 percent or more.

In a sign that the Trump administration may be trying to split the men from Maduro, the Treasury Department noted in its statement that "U.S. sanctions need not be permanent; sanctions are intended to bring about a positive change of behaviour."

"The United States has made clear that we will consider lifting sanctions for persons ... who take concrete and meaningful actions to restore democratic order, refuse to take part in human rights abuses, speak out against abuses committed by the government, and combat corruption in Venezuela," it said.

(REUTERS)
Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange demonstrate in front of presidential palace regarding his Ecuadorian citizenship, in Quito, Ecuador, October 31, 2018, REUTERS/Daniel Tapia/Files

By Mark Hosenball

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. investigators pursuing a long-running criminal investigation into WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange have dug into the website's activities going back years, people who have been in contact with witnesses in the case say.

American investigators are gathering information and pursuing witnesses involved in both recent WikiLeaks disclosures and the website's large-scale postings of U.S. military and diplomatic messages over several years from 2010.

Officially, U.S. authorities have issued no public comments about the status of Wikileaks-related investigations.

But a document which U.S. authorities said was mistakenly filed in open court in an unrelated case last November alluded to a sealed U.S. criminal complaint against Assange, though the document does not provide specifics regarding which laws U.S. prosecutors believe Assange violated.

U.S. prosecutors have not officially confirmed an Assange indictment but the existence of secret charges against him also has not been explicitly denied.

A spokesman for the U.S. prosecutors office in Alexandria, Virginia declined to comment.

A source who met Assange inside the Ecuadorean Embassy said that the WikiLeaks founder believes that among the subjects upon which he suspects an American indictment would be based would be WikiLeaks' publication in March 2017 of a trove of hacking tools developed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which WikiLeaks called "Vault 7".

Federal prosecutors in New York last year indicted a former CIA employee, Joshua Schulte, for that hack. Schulte has pleaded not guilty.

Another source in regular contact with Assange said U.S. investigators have been pursuing potential witnesses connected to earlier WikiLeaks disclosures, including the website's publication in 2010 of hundreds of thousands of U.S. military reports related to the Afghan and Iraq wars and U.S. diplomatic cables.

Story continues

A former U.S. Army soldier, Chelsea Manning, was charged and convicted for leaking the reports and cables to WikiLeaks but was released from a lengthy prison term after her sentence was commuted by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Obama Administration officials said that the former president's administration decided not to prosecute WikiLeaks because its activities were too similar to those of the media, whose activities are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

However, even though candidate Donald Trump praised WikiLeaks during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign for making public documents hacked from the Democratic Party and aides to his rival Hillary Clinton, top Trump presidential aides have expressed deep hostility to WikiLeaks.

Ecuador's new president, Lenin Moreno, has expressed an interest in dislodging Assange from his country's London Embassy, where he has taken refuge since 2012. But British government sources said U.K. officials presently had no reason to believe an Ecuadorean move to throw Assange out of the London Embassy is imminent.

An Ecuadorean Embassy official in London said the Embassy had no comment.

(Reporting By Mark Hosenball, Editing by William Maclean)
Donald Trump has said Japans Prime Minister nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to open up a dialogue with North Korea.

At a White House event to discuss the proposed border wall, Mr Trump spoke about his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam.

The president said early exchanges with Mr Kim were filled with fire and fury but since their first meeting last year, the two have established a good relationship.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is said to have nominated Donald Trump (Dan Kitwood/PA)

Mr Trump said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave me the most beautiful copy of a letter that he sent to the people who give out a thing called the Nobel Prize.

He said, I have nominated you, respectfully, on behalf of Japan. I am asking them to give you the Nobel Peace Prize.'

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has also credited Mr Trump with starting negotiations with North Korea, has endorsed him for the prize as well.

In 2009, President Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize for laying out the US commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.

Ill probably never get it, but thats OK, Mr Trump said. They gave it to Obama. He didnt even know what he got it for.
Eight years ago on 11 February, Hosni Mubarak was overthrown by a popular uprising, part of the Arab spring which swept the region.Galip Dalay, a Middle East expert and visiting scholar at the ... Preisdent Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, accused by critics and rights groups of cracking down on all dissent, maintains that tough measures are needed to stabilize his country which has faced years of unrest after the fall of Mubarak.After more than 30 years in power, Mubarak was replaced briefly by Islamist President Mohamed Morsi who was himself deposed in 2013 by former army chief al-Sisi.But there are concerns that maintaining domestic stability could come at too high a price.On the sidelines of a visit to Egypt late last month, French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that he thought current policies are perceived by intellectuals and Egypts civil society as tougher than under the Mubarak regime.I cant see how you can pretend to ensure long-term stability in this country, which was at the heart of the Arab Spring and showed its taste for freedom, and think you can continue to harden beyond whats acceptable or justified for security reasons, Macron said.So how will France, and indeed Europe exert any diplomatic influence on Egypt and the rest of the region?Galip Dalay says there cant be stability without transformation and this is what Europe needs to focus on when building ties. Listen to his interview here.Declining US influenceEurope needs to come up with its own policy in the Middle East, to counter balance the shift in US policies.We are talking about the two sides of the Mediterranean which is a liquid border which means its passable whatever happens in the Middle East will have immediate ramifications on the streets of Europe.In any case, Sisi does not see himself going anywhere anytime soon. On February 3rd, Egyptian lawmakers tabled proposed constitutional changes that would allow Sisi to extend his rule beyond 2022.The vast majority of the current parliament supports the Sisi government, with only around 10 lawmakers making up the opposition.As Egypt takes on the rotating presidency of the African Union, all eyes will be on it to lead the way on security, foreign policy issues and of course domestic issues such as terrorism in the Sinai region.Sisi, attending the AU Summit in Addis Abeba on Sunday called for the root causes of extremism to be tackled.Hi words echoed those of the African Union's peace and security chief Smail Chergui who highlighted youth unemployment as a key challenge.

Eight years ago on 11 February, Hosni Mubarak was overthrown by a popular uprising, part of the Arab spring which swept the region.Galip Dalay, a Middle East expert and visiting scholar at the ...

Preisdent Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, accused by critics and rights groups of cracking down on all dissent, maintains that tough measures are needed to stabilize his country which has faced years of unrest after the fall of Mubarak.

After more than 30 years in power, Mubarak was replaced briefly by Islamist President Mohamed Morsi who was himself deposed in 2013 by former army chief al-Sisi.

But there are concerns that maintaining domestic stability could come at too high a price.

On the sidelines of a visit to Egypt late last month, French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that he thought current policies are perceived by intellectuals and Egypts civil society as tougher than under the Mubarak regime.

I cant see how you can pretend to ensure long-term stability in this country, which was at the heart of the Arab Spring and showed its taste for freedom, and think you can continue to harden beyond whats acceptable or justified for security reasons, Macron said.

So how will France, and indeed Europe exert any diplomatic influence on Egypt and the rest of the region?

Galip Dalay says there cant be stability without transformation and this is what Europe needs to focus on when building ties. Listen to his interview here.

Declining US influence

Europe needs to come up with its own policy in the Middle East, to counter balance the shift in US policies.

We are talking about the two sides of the Mediterranean which is a liquid border which means its passable whatever happens in the Middle East will have immediate ramifications on the streets of Europe.

In any case, Sisi does not see himself going anywhere anytime soon. On February 3rd, Egyptian lawmakers tabled proposed constitutional changes that would allow Sisi to extend his rule beyond 2022.

Story continues

The vast majority of the current parliament supports the Sisi government, with only around 10 lawmakers making up the opposition.

As Egypt takes on the rotating presidency of the African Union, all eyes will be on it to lead the way on security, foreign policy issues and of course domestic issues such as terrorism in the Sinai region.

Sisi, attending the AU Summit in Addis Abeba on Sunday called for the root causes of extremism to be tackled.

Hi words echoed those of the African Union's peace and security chief Smail Chergui who highlighted youth unemployment as a key challenge.
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's presidential election set for Saturday is now expected to be delayed in parts of the country, two diplomats and a government source said on Friday, citing difficulties in transporting electoral materials in some areas.

President Muhammadu Buhari faces a tight election contest in Africa's largest economy, top oil producer and most populous nation against the main opposition candidate, businessman and former vice president Atiku Abubakar.

An official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) told Reuters that "some result sheets and some ballot papers are reportedly missing. We want to track every (piece of) sensitive material, take inventory of what we have and what is missing".

The official said if the election was to be postponed, INEC would have to talk with the political parties first before making any pronouncement.

"A decision has been taken. We are going to address you soon," Rotimi Oyekanmi, chief press secretary to the National Chairman of INEC told reporters.

A government official said "the legitimacy of the entire process will be questioned and the winner could lack the moral authority to superintend the affairs of the state".

One Western diplomat said: "Sensitive materials (ballot papers and results sheets) have been delayed in being distributed."

Nigeria is also dealing with pockets of instability. Throughout the day, authorities bolstered security in much of the country on the eve of the vote in Africa's largest democracy where past elections have been marred by violence, voter intimidation and ballot rigging.

Dozens of combat policemen and other security forces were deployed from police headquarters in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state on the country's northeast frontier that has been worst hit by Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State in West Africa Province.

(Reporting by Paul Carsten, Alexis Akwagyiram, Ardo Hazzad, Camillus Eboh; additional reporting by Lanre Ola, Aaron Ross, Garba Muhammad, Nneka Chile, Percy Dabang and Abraham Achirga; writing by James Macharia and Alexis Akwagyiram; editing by Frances Kerry and G Crosse)
TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese man thought to have been kidnapped by North Korean agents decades ago but whose presence there had never been confirmed is alive and living in the North Korean capital with his family, Kyodo news agency said on Friday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made the issue of Japanese abducted by North Korea to be trained as spies a top priority and the news could mean renewed diplomatic pressure on Japan's reclusive neighbour to reveal the truth at a time when ties with South Korea have also become increasingly fraught.

North Korea had denied that Minoru Tanaka, a restaurant worker who Japan believes was kidnapped in or around 1978 after he set off for Europe, ever entered the country.

"It was discovered on Friday that North Korea had told Japan that the former ramen (noodles) shop worker, who was 28 when he disappeared, is married and living in Pyongyang with his wife and children," Kyodo said, quoting unnamed Japanese government sources.

In 2002, North Korea said that it kidnapped 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s, and five returned home. Japan believes 17 of its citizens were abducted, five of whom were repatriated. Eight were said by North Korea to have died, while four were said to have never entered the country.

The information about Tanaka had been conveyed to Japan several times from 2014, Kyodo said. It said last year that Tanaka may have entered North Korea.

No further details were available and Japanese Foreign Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are holding their second summit later this month, but Japan has been unable to arrange a meeting with Kim, raising fears that it is being sidelined diplomatically in the region.

Tokyo's ties with South Korea have been strained recently by a number of issues, including a dispute over World War Two forced labour, including "comfort women" forced to work in military brothels.

(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Still shopping. Just doing a little bit less of it. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The economic data has gotten confusing again. For two months running, we have had very strong jobs reports, showing accelerated job growth and wage growth. On the other hand, consumer sentiment nosedived in January, and now we have learned seasonally adjusted retail sales unexpectedly fell in December, the key Christmas shopping month.

A report from the Census Bureau said retail sales fell 1.2 percent in December, after adjusting for seasonal variation, the fastest rate of decline since 2009. Some of the decline was due to falling gas prices (when gas is cheaper, people spend less at gas stations, for obvious reasons)  but even after adjusting out gasoline sales, the drop was 0.9 percent.

Whats going on here? Is the economy getting stronger or weaker?

I find it mystifying, says Jason Furman, a professor of economic policy at Harvards Kennedy School of Government and former top economic adviser to Barack Obama.

Furman says were seeing signs of slowing economic growth at the same time as robust employment growth. That could be explained by low productivity growth: More people are working, but theyre not getting a lot better at what theyre doing. But that would be inconsistent with the recent wage data  wages are rising faster than prices, which tends to happen when productivity growth is strong.

As for consumer sentiment, which fell in January to its lowest level since Trump was elected, Furman says the government shutdown was a likely factor. If so, we may see improvement in the February survey. Furman also said he found, when looking at past shutdown and debt-limit disputes, these events appeared to affect measures of consumer sentiment but did not affect economic activity in a way that could be measured at the economy-wide level. So, this drop in sentiment may not tell us much about the real economy.

Ernie Tedeschi, a former Treasury Department economist who now produces economic forecasts for the investment advisory firm Evercore, emphasizes that a slowdown in the rate of economic growth is consistent with forecasts from the Federal Reserve and others. He says there was a sugar high from the expectation and enactment of the tax cut bill, and as that wears off, you should expect the economy to grow more slowly  which is not to say you should expect a recession, in which the economy actually shrinks.

Were for the most part talking about magnitudes of positive growth, he said. Were debating whether or not different measures are as good as we expect them to be. Were still not in a world where  I think, I hope  we are talking about things being, in absolute terms, bad.

Okay, but what about the falling retail sales number? Thats not a slowdown in growth. Thats an actual decline. But, it is only one month of preliminary data. We may get a later revision that makes the figure look better. Tedeschi also notes the survey on retail sales was conducted during the government shutdown, which could be an added factor influencing its accuracy.

The Census Bureau swears that even though there was the government shutdown, that they were still getting timely data, complete data, response rates were actually a little higher than normal, he told me. I trust them, but we cant rule out that theres some tainting of the data because of the government shutdown.

Furman is also more inclined to look at the (positive) jobs numbers, rather than the (worrying) figures on economic output like retail sales.

As a general rule, I would place two-thirds weight on employment data and one-third weight on output data in signal extraction, he told me, regarding which economic indicators tell you most about where the economy is headed, based on research he did at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. And in this case, since it is not the full output data, would put even less than one-third weight on it.

Doug Holtz-Eakin, the president of the conservative American Action Forum and a former top economic adviser to George W. Bush and John McCain, told me he hasnt yet come up with a story to reconcile the contradictory data because its early yet. The sentiment number and the retail number both look bad  but in each case, its just one month of data.

Those can both be pretty noisy, so Im just waiting for more info, he said.
By Fayaz Bukhari and Sanjeev Miglani

NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR (Reuters) - India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan on Friday to expect a strong response to a suicide attack that killed 44 paramilitary policemen in Kashmir, ratcheting up tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

The car bomb attack on a security convoy on Thursday was the worst in decades of insurgency in the disputed region. India said it had "incontrovertible evidence" of Pakistani involvement, a statement quickly rejected by Islamabad.

"We will give a befitting reply, our neighbour will not be allowed to de-stabilise us," Modi said in a speech, after meeting security advisers to discuss options.

The attack comes months before national elections in India.

The Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility soon after a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a bus carrying police personnel.

India has for years accused Muslim Pakistan of backing separatist militants in divided Kashmir, which the neighbours both claim in full but rule in part.

Pakistan denies that, saying it only offers political support to the Himalayan region's suppressed Muslim people.

The White House urged Pakistan "to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil".

Pakistan is due to host peace talks next week between the Afghan Taliban and the United States as part of efforts to seek a political settlement to the Afghan war, but escalating tensions with India could divert Pakistan's attention.

As outrage and demands for revenge flooded Indian social media, Arun Jaitley, one of the most senior figures in the Hindu nationalist-led government, told reporters India would work to ensure the "complete isolation" of Pakistan.

The first step, he said, would include removing most favoured nation (MFN) trade privileges that had been accorded to Pakistan - though annual bilateral trade between the countries is barely $2 billion.

Story continues

The last major attack in Kashmir was in 2016 when Jaish militants raided an Indian army camp, killing 20 soldiers. Weeks later, Modi ordered a surgical strike on suspected militant camps across the border in Pakistan Kashmir.

When he swept to power in 2014, Modi vowed to pursue a tough line with Pakistan. The two countries have gone to war three times since independence from Britain in 1947, twice over Kashmir.

The Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Indian- and Pakistani-held Kashmir, is widely regarded as one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints, especially after the two countries became nuclear armed states in 1998.

CALLS FOR REVENGE

Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan's ambassador, Sohail Mahmood, and issued a demarche demanding that Islamabad take verifiable action against Jaish. India also recalled its ambassador in Pakistan for consultations, a government source said.

Pakistan's foreign ministry also summoned the Indian deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad to reject New Delhi's "baseless allegations," a Pakistani official said.

Crowds gathered in Jammu, the Hindu-dominated part of Jammu and Kashmir state, to demand stronger action against Pakistan.

A curfew was briefly imposed in Jammu after crowds overturned and set fire to some vehicles. Protesters were also marching to the Pakistani embassy in New Delhi.

The attack comes at a difficult time for Pakistan, which is struggling to attract foreign investment and avert a payments crisis, with its swiftly diminishing foreign currency reserves at less than $8 billion, equivalent to two months of import payments.

The escalating tension risks overshadowing a visit to the region by the Saudi crown prince, who is due in Islamabad over the weekend and New Delhi next week, with both governments hoping to attract Saudi investment.

On Friday, Islamabad said the two-day visit had been put back by a day until Sunday but the programme would remain unchanged. It gave no explanation for the change.

India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh flew into Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir, and joined mourners carrying the coffins of the dead policemen, before they were sent to their homes across India.

Hundreds of thousands of Indian troops are deployed in Kashmir. Singh said civilian vehicles will be stopped if there is a major movement of military convoys on the main highway following Thursday's attack.

The separatist insurgency has waxed and waned since the late 1980s, but began to pick up in the last five years as a fresh generation of Kashmiris was drawn to militancy.

Soon after Thursday's attack, Jaish released photographs and a video of a young Kashmiri villager, Adil Ahmad Dar, who it said had carried out the suicide attack on the convoy.

In the video, Dar warned of more attacks to avenge human rights violations in Kashmir. On Friday, hundreds of people gathered at his village of Lethipora to mourn his death.

His parents told Reuters the 20-year-old took up the gun after he was beaten by troops in Kashmir three years ago.

Suicide car bomber kills 44 policemen in Kashmir IMG - https://tmsnrt.rs/2TM34k8

Jaish is one of the most deadly groups operating in Kashmir.

In 2001, it mounted an attack on the parliament in New Delhi that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

Indian efforts to add Jaish leader Masood Azhar to a U.N. Security Council blacklist of al Qaeda-linked terrorists have been blocked by China.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang expressed "deep shock" at the latest attack and said Beijing hoped "relevant countries in the region" could cooperate to combat the threat.

(Additional reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Robert Birsel)
Defending champions Croatia will take on Spain and Russia in Group B in the pool stages of the 2019 Davis Cup following the draw on Thursday night in Madrid.Croatia, led by Marin Cilic, won the 2018 rendition against France under rules used since the inception of the tournament in 1900.The old format featured several rounds of four singles and a doubles match over three days. The matches were the best of five sets.From November 2019 at the Caja Magica in Madrid, 18 teams will gather over seven days to battle for the trophy. Divided into six groups of three, they will play the pool stages over the first four days involving two singles matches as well as a doubles tie. The matches will be the best of three sets.The six group winners and the two best runners-up will advance to the knockout stages.Barcalona defender, Gerard Pique, whose Kosmos company is pouring around 3 billion euros into a 25-year deal with the Davis Cup organisers, said: "We have been working for more than a year and we have created a great team to carry out this project."Rafael Nadal, the world number two, is likely to lead the Spanish charge for a sixth title.However world number one Novak Djokovic has said he plans to focus on the ATP World Team Cup which will be staged in Australia in January.Djokovic's Serbian compatriots will feature in Group A with the 2018 runners-up France and Japan.The 2016 victors Argentina, Germany and Chile are in Group C.Group D will pit Belgium, Colombia and the 28-time champions Australia against each other.Britain, who have been champions on 10 occasions, will be with Kazakhstan and Netherlands in Group E.The United States, who have a record 32 victories are in Group F with Italy and Canada.

Defending champions Croatia will take on Spain and Russia in Group B in the pool stages of the 2019 Davis Cup following the draw on Thursday night in Madrid.

Croatia, led by Marin Cilic, won the 2018 rendition against France under rules used since the inception of the tournament in 1900.

The old format featured several rounds of four singles and a doubles match over three days. The matches were the best of five sets.

From November 2019 at the Caja Magica in Madrid, 18 teams will gather over seven days to battle for the trophy.

Divided into six groups of three, they will play the pool stages over the first four days involving two singles matches as well as a doubles tie. The matches will be the best of three sets.

The six group winners and the two best runners-up will advance to the knockout stages.

Barcalona defender, Gerard Pique, whose Kosmos company is pouring around 3 billion euros into a 25-year deal with the Davis Cup organisers, said: "We have been working for more than a year and we have created a great team to carry out this project."

Rafael Nadal, the world number two, is likely to lead the Spanish charge for a sixth title.

However world number one Novak Djokovic has said he plans to focus on the ATP World Team Cup which will be staged in Australia in January.

Djokovic's Serbian compatriots will feature in Group A with the 2018 runners-up France and Japan.

The 2016 victors Argentina, Germany and Chile are in Group C.

Group D will pit Belgium, Colombia and the 28-time champions Australia against each other.

Britain, who have been champions on 10 occasions, will be with Kazakhstan and Netherlands in Group E.

The United States, who have a record 32 victories are in Group F with Italy and Canada.




Frances ambassador to Italy, who was recalled last week to protest a series of critical comments by Italy's Deputy Prime Ministers, is to return to Rome on Friday. "We heard from political leaders who let themselves go with words and behaviour that were frankly unfriendly and inacceptable, who showed they regret it, said Loiseau on Friday, speaking to French radio RTL.France recalled its ambassador on 7 February, after Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, met with members of the Yellow Vest protest movement and declared his support for a list of candidates to run in European parliament elections in May.France also protested critical comments made by Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who is also serving as Deputy Prime Minister, against French President Emmanuel Macron.It was first withdrawal of a French envoy to Rome since World War Two.Loiseau said that that Salvini indicated he did not want to have a war with France, and Di Maio assured France that his meeting with the Yellow vest leaders was in his capacity as the leader of his party, not as Deputy Prime Minister.She also said Macron and Italian President Sergio Mattarella spoke by phone on Tuesday and reiterated the importance of the friendship between France and Italy.Italy needs France, so lets work together, said Loiseau.

Frances ambassador to Italy, who was recalled last week to protest a series of critical comments by Italy's Deputy Prime Ministers, is to return to Rome on Friday.

"We heard from political leaders who let themselves go with words and behaviour that were frankly unfriendly and inacceptable, who showed they regret it, said Loiseau on Friday, speaking to French radio RTL.

France recalled its ambassador on 7 February, after Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, met with members of the Yellow Vest protest movement and declared his support for a list of candidates to run in European parliament elections in May.

France also protested critical comments made by Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who is also serving as Deputy Prime Minister, against French President Emmanuel Macron.

It was first withdrawal of a French envoy to Rome since World War Two.

Loiseau said that that Salvini indicated he did not want to have a war with France, and Di Maio assured France that his meeting with the Yellow vest leaders was in his capacity as the leader of his party, not as Deputy Prime Minister.

She also said Macron and Italian President Sergio Mattarella spoke by phone on Tuesday and reiterated the importance of the friendship between France and Italy.

Italy needs France, so lets work together, said Loiseau.
Exclusive - U.S. may trim over 1,000 troops from Afghanistan in belt-tightening-general

By Phil Stewart and Greg Torode

MUSCAT/KABUL (Reuters) - Even before any peace push-related drawdowns, the U.S. military is expected to trim troop levels in Afghanistan as part of an efficiency drive by the new commander, a U.S. general told Reuters on Friday, estimating the cuts may exceed 1,000 forces.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Congress this month he intended to reduce U.S. forces from Afghanistan as negotiators make progress in talks with Taliban insurgents, saying: "Great nations do not fight endless wars."

U.S. Army General Joseph Votel, the head of the U.S. military's Central Command, said the decision to reduce some of the roughly 14,000 American forces in Afghanistan was not linked to those peace efforts, however.

Instead, he said it was part of an effort by Army General Scott Miller, who took over the more than 17-year war effort in September, to make better use of U.S. resources.

"This is something that he started as he got into the position here and was looking at how we (can) be as efficient and as effective as we can be on the ground," Votel said in an interview during a trip to Oman.

Miller's decision represents a reversal of sorts after years in which the U.S. military sought to slow or halt troop drawdowns under Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, and previously lobbied for more troops under Trump.

It was unclear how far along any troop reductions might already be. The Pentagon says U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan are at around 14,000 but adds the number can fluctuate.

Other sources offered lower estimates. Diplomatic sources believe the efficiency push, which has been raising eyebrows in Kabul, was already driving down U.S. troop levels.

"We're watching this very closely," said a senior Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It is clear General Miller's desire to streamline is already having an impact on numbers."

Asked whether Miller would likely cut more than 1,000 troops from Afghanistan under the efficiency drive, Votel said: "He probably will."

Story continues

Votel added that some troops could be moved "over the horizon," still remotely supporting the war effort from overseas. That, he said, would also reduce vulnerabilities in America's longest war.

"This is his decision as commander here - how he most effectively uses the resources that he has and trying to be as efficient as he can be," Votel said, without offering a specific estimate of exactly how many troops Miller may withdraw.

Miller's spokesman, Army Colonel Dave Butler, declined to speculate on future troop levels. But Butler said Miller would still have surge capabilities into Afghanistan when needed for specific missions.

Costs have increasingly been a focus of discussions between Kabul and Washington. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani recently sent a letter to Trump offering to reduce U.S. expenses in Afghanistan.

"How to do this more cost effectively is something that we have been working towards for a long time," Roya Rahmani, Afghanistan's ambassador to Washington, told Reuters.

ENDLESS WARS

U.S. officials have held several rounds of talks with the Taliban in Qatar since last year in what is widely seen as the most serious bid for peace in the 17-year war. Taliban negotiators will meet their U.S. counterparts on Feb. 18 in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

U.S. officials have told Reuters the military is planning for what a withdrawal of about half of the 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan would look like.

That has raised concerns about whether a smaller force would be able to support the Afghan military and whether other European armies that rely on American helicopters and other support would pull out.

It also raises questions about how big of a U.S. counter-terrorism force might be able to remain in the country.

Votel declined to discuss any internal deliberations, noting he had not received orders for a withdrawal.

Acting U.S. Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan offered a similar reassurance this week, telling nervous NATO allies on Thursday that any potential U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan will be done in a coordinated fashion.

Asked about Trump's concerns about endless wars, Votel said: "We don't want to fight endless wars either. We want to accomplish the mission here."

"I think the strategy that the president has allowed to get put in place here, the South Asia strategy, focused on reconciliation, has been a good one," he said.

Beyond U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the Pentagon relies on thousands of private contractors.

A recent report by the U.S. Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction noted there were an additional 861 Defence Department civilians and 10,698 contractors who were U.S. citizens.

Diplomats familiar with NATO operations told Reuters they believed the number of contractors was not expected to be reduced along with U.S. troop withdrawals, and could actually increase.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart in Muscat, Oman and Greg Torode in Kabul; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
A Palestinian veterinarian holds down the head of the lioness Falestine after being declawed (SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)

A lion in a Palestinian zoo has been declawed so that visitors can play with the animal.

The decision by Rafah zoo in Gaza, has been criticised by animal campaigners for being cruel and subjecting the animal to horrific pain.

Handlers at the zoo put a shroud over the head of the 14-month-old lioness, called Falestine, to allow a vet to clip the animals claws with a pair of shears.

The zoo said it wants visitors to play with the animal, even though it still has a full set of teeth.

Palestinian children look through the bars of a cage at the declawed lioness Falestine (SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)

Im trying to reduce the aggression of the lioness so it can be friendly with visitors, said Mohammed Jumaa, the parks owner.

Fayez al-Haddad, the veterinarian who operated on Falestine two weeks ago, watched her closely thjis week as she was briefly taken out of her cage to be near visitors, including children.

The claws were cut so that they would not grow fast and visitors and children could play with her, Haddad said.

He denied it was cruel.

We want to bring smiles and happiness to children, while increasing the number of visitors to the park, which suffers from high expenses, he said.

(The lioness) does not lose its innate nature.

Palestinian veterinarian Fayyaz al-Haddad, reaches for the paw of the lioness Falestine, at the Rafah Zoo in the southern Gaza Strip (SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)

But one animal welfare charity, Four Paws, disagreed.

For big cats, removing the claws is a particularly vicious procedure which causes long-lasting damage.

Natural behaviour, such as grabbing food or climbing, is hardly possible without an animals claws. Since the amputation was not done in a proper vet clinic, the chance of infection is high.

It added that removing a lions claws is the equivalent to amputating the fingers of a human up to the knuckle.



Palestinian zoo workers hold up the lioness (SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)

The small zoo in Rafah was opened in 1999 and is in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, close to the border with Egypt.

From there the charity say wild animals are repeatedly smuggled through underground tunnels to and from Gaza.

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Three Rafale fighter jets manufactured by the French company Dassault have landed in Bangalore in South India and are slated to take part in the five-day 12th edition of Aero India show beginning February 20. The planes landed at Yellahanka air base close to the city and were received for the show. NDTV has reported that the Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal R.K. Singh Bhadauria has said in October last year that these are not the planes meant for the Indian air force and are only coming for demonstration purpose.

Controversy

The Rafale deal is mired in controversy with the opposition led by Rahul Gandhi accusing the Prime minister Narendra Modi of personal corruption and giving a contract for manufacture to his friend Anil Ambani who was on the verge of bankruptcy.

There is little doubt that the PM himself negotiated the deal as he bypassed the Defence Minister and others in a direct deal with President Hollande of France. News 18 has reported that two of the planes will be used for flying exercises while a third will be for static display.

Anil Ambani

The deal has generated great controversy, and a stung Anil Ambani has sued NDTV for Rs 100 crores (11 million pounds) for defamation. However, it is on record that his company which is to manufacture the components for the Rafale was launched just ten days before Modi signed the deal.

He also reportedly told the French authorities that he would be getting the contract even before it was signed and Modi had visited France to finalise the deal personally.

The CAG report on the deal has been tabled, but it does not cover the pricing issue and has provided no rebuttal or answered the question raised by Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders.

Modi in a fix

Modi will find it difficult to live down allegations that he compromised the security of India which recently opted for the S-400 missile system from Russia by pruning the previous governments deal of 126 Rafale fighters to a mere 36. The requirement of 126 was projected by the Air Staff and accepted by the previous Congress-led UPA government.

There is no evidence that the IAF agreed for only 36 fighters with China threatening the security of India and aspiring to be Number one global power.

The Modi government has been claiming a cost reduction in the Rafale deal. N Ram the editor of The Hindu has in an article pointed out that administrative costs are added up and what was meant for 126 planes is now spread over 36 planes the deal is 41 percent more costly.

Future

The first Rafale fighter is likely to be handed over to the IAF by the end of this year, nearly four years after Modi personally inked the deal and 15-years after the IAF projected its requirement.
Forty-three Indian soldiers have died in an attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. There is anger in every part of the country. Government is also seen in action.

A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Modi was held in Delhi. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had a meeting with the heads of all the security forces. Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman returned from Sweden and reached the Delhi meeting directly.

Pulwama Terror Attack

Pakistan's High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood was summoned to the Indian External Affairs Ministry.

In Islamabad, the High Commissioner of India Ajay Bisaria has called back the Foreign Ministry for talks.

At the same time, the HT quoted Congress President Rahul Gandhi as saying: "At this time the whole opposition is standing with the government."

Earlier, IB Chief and the other senior officers left Srinagar. At the same time, the minister and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu made a shocking statement in the Punjab government saying, "I condemn the cowardly attack but the permanent solution to the issue will come out through negotiations."

After the CCS meeting, Arun Jaitley said that India had withdrawn the status of the Most Favored Nation to from Pakistan. After a while, PM Modi said in two words: "Terrorist organizations have made a big mistake.

They and their guardians have to pay for the murder of each of our martyrs' blood."

It is believed that the central government will now take tough steps.

130 crore #Indians will give a befitting reply to such an attack; many nations have condemned the attack; I call upon these nations of the world to unite in the fight against terrorism: PM @narendramodi #PulwamaAttack #CRPFJawans pic.twitter.com/wLfuixjxcz  PIB India (@PIB_India) February 15, 2019

This is the largest car bomb attack on the convoy of the security forces in the state.

This is the second largest attack on the CRPF over the last nine years. Earlier, in April 2010, CRPF personnel of 76 CRPF were martyred in Chhattisgarh's Maoist attack. According to a TOI report, the conspiracy of the Pulwama attack was planned by militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pakistan two months ago.

Funeral processions have started for the CRPF men killed in the #PulwamaAttack. https://t.co/WJc9jLqQeR  Twitter Moments India (@MomentsIndia) February 15, 2019

After the martyrdom of 43 soldiers in the CRPF convoy in Pulwama, the Security forces have been given full independence.

Arun Jaitley, who has re-assumed the post of finance minister after the cabinet meeting, said that whosoever is involved in this attack, he will have to pay a heavy price.

Jaish-e-Mohammad claims responsibility

40+ Indian CRPF soldiers killed in a terrorist attack in Pulwama. Jaishe Mohammed that claimed the attack was launched in Karachi in 2000, its chief Masood Azhar roams freely in Pakistan, efforts to get UN to ban Azhar have been thwarted by China: https://t.co/74xU70BSzA  Naila Inayat   (@nailainayat) February 14, 2019

Adil Ahmad Dar, the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist behind the terror attack on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, lived just 10 km from the spot where he rammed his car full of explosives into a security convoy.
Government Reporter

Erin came to Tyler from Vermont, where she worked for VTDigger.org and previously the Rutland Herald. She received her B.A. in Economics and Spanish from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she also attended journalism school.
Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty Images

Watching Congresswoman Ilhan Omar this past week has been, shall we say, illuminating. In some ways, I find myself inspired. Finally in 2019, we have one of two Muslim women in the U.S. Congress, proudly wearing a hijab, and immediately destroying any stupid stereotypes of Muslim women as subservient or silent. We have a seemingly fearless and often charming woman of color with the temerity to interrogate the overwhelmingly white and male foreign policy blob in the heart of our political system. We have a refugee from Somalia as a young congresswoman, a hard-left analogue to the great Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

This, if you need reminding, is America in 2019. Whatever the social-justice left believes about our systemic oppression and whatever the Trump right believes about the core ethnic identity of a lost America, this is the most successful, multicultural, multiracial democratic experiment in the history of humankind. Omar is part of it. If her success doesnt make you proud of America, in this broad and nonideological sense, theres something critical you dont understand about this country, and why so many of us immigrants love it so.

There was also something completely riveting about her breaking of taboos. The money and influence of AIPAC should be very much part of any debate about foreign policy in this country  because AIPAC is a hugely influential lobby, and is extremely successful at what it does. AIPAC has been critical to ensuring U.S. support for Israels slow but sure annexation of the West Bank, and its hideous, dehumanizing treatment of Palestinians in that occupied territory.

It was also exhilarating to see a congresswoman confront a figure who has pleaded guilty to misleading Congress before, and who helped cover up and minimize the slaughter of more than 800 civilians, including children, in El Mozote, El Salvador. Elliott Abrams might argue that supporting murderous death squads, and concealing their atrocities from the American people, was part of the price for moving El Salvador to democracy. Fine, then let him argue that  as he did. But that Abrams would go before the House and not be called to account for his past record would be an outrage. Making the powerful uncomfortable is what the Congress is supposed to do.

In all of this excitement  and I could say the same about the environmental ambition of the Green New Deal  I cant help drawing parallels between what were seeing in Democratic Party and the similar far-left wave of enthusiasm in Britain, where a new tide of youthful energy has flooded the British Labour Party and transformed its ambitions almost overnight from ameliorating capitalism to full-on socialism.

There was an infectiousness to the excitement in 2015, in part because full-fledged socialism seemed to be answering a genuine and massive crisis of capitalism. It spoke to those under 40 whose futures are debt-ridden, who have little hope of property ownership, and struggle to manage with precarious, low wages. It rallied a sense of the common good against the isolation and depression of austerity. It actually took the science of climate catastrophe seriously. (Its worth noting that the original version of the Green New Deal was devised by the left-leaning British National Economic Foundation, as a means for recovery after the 2008 economic collapse.)

And after a hugely ambitious socialist platform along these lines was unveiled as Labours official program for government in the beginning of the campaign for the election of 2017, many of the same moderate leftists who now pooh-pooh the GND in the U.S. predicted electoral catastrophe in the U.K. Like the Green New Deal, Labours proposals were to be funded by simply borrowing or printing money  what Tories mockingly called a magic money tree. (Whenever I read the phrase MMT, Modern Monetary Theory, Magic Money Tree seems like a better translation). Labours anti-American foreign policy was also seen as an electoral poison pill.

But all these familiar critiques did not win the day. Once Labours full, staggeringly bold proposals were unveiled, support for the party soared. Labour climbed a full 20 points in the six weeks of the 2017 campaign, robbing the Tories of a majority in the Parliament. They came very close to becoming the most radical government  domestically but especially in foreign policy  in modern British history.

So it seems to me there is a massive opportunity for the left now across the Western world. Look at how popular a 70 percent top rate is  in America! The left is correct to sense a huge opportunity and they are right, I think, to be bold. But, in the context of the current left and the recent transformation of its intellectual roots, there is also a massive risk to this. I wrote about Jeremy Corbyns Labour last year in these pages, and that, under his leadership, it turned out to be difficult to propel a new movement of left radicalism without simultaneously tapping into a vein of left extremism, and that seems to me to be precisely the challenge in the U.S. as well. The economic case for rebalancing capitalism is more persuasive than at any moment in my lifetime, as is the profound challenge of tackling our climate catastrophe.

But the full package from the contemporary radicalized left in both the U.K. and U.S. brings with it far more troubling ideas. Hostility to the policies of the state of Israel  a perfectly legitimate position  morphs swiftly into ugly anti-Semitic tropes. A passion for social justice curdles into attacks on free speech or degenerates into broad denunciations of whiteness. Postmodern critical gender theory denies any meaningful natural differences between men and women, and casts an entire sex as inherently problematic. Social-media frenzies carelessly destroy the lives and careers of individuals who transgress orthodoxies. Important work combating sexual harassment and abuse is hurt by reckless accusations and McCarthyite campaigns. Concern about mass immigration is dismissed as nothing but racism and xenophobia. And then there are the gaffes  when Corbyn, for example, calls Hamas and Hezbollah his friends, or when the very senior Labour leader, John McDonnell, calls Winston Churchill a villain as he did last week. And so Labour, after so much promise and success, has not been able to get any sustainable polling lead over the most shambolic Tory government in memory.

Now look at Omar. She didnt just push back on AIPACs distortion of American foreign policy, she reiterated a classic anti-Semitic trope that American Jews buy influence, period. She didnt just confront Elliott Abrams, she refused to let him answer anything but loaded yes or no responses. And last week, for good measure, she demanded an investigation into the decision by USA Powerlifting to ban transgender women from competing in womens powerlifting contests, because of the unfair advantage that developing a male body for most of your life will give you in lifting weights. The organization instituted the ban after a young trans woman, JayCee Cooper, smashed the state record for womens bench press in Minnesota, beating her nearest female rival by a mile, only a year after joining the sport.

If the Democrats want to fight the next election on the need for a radical rebalancing of the economy in favor of the middle and working class, for massive investment in new green technology, for higher taxes on the superrich, and for health-care security for all Americans, they can win. If they conflate those goals with extremist rhetoric about abolishing everyones current health insurance, and starting from scratch, as the Green New Deal advises, not so much. If they insist that men and women are indistinguishable, that girls can have penises and boys can have periods, as transgender ideology now demands, theyll seem nuts to most fair-minded people.

If they echo the anti-Semitism of the far right, theyll deserve obloquy. If left ideology seems to be overruling practical good sense  like ruling out nuclear power as an option for tackling the climate crisis in the Green New Deal, theyll seem unserious purists. If they insist on calling our multicultural and multiracial democracy a manifestation of white supremacy, they will empower real white supremacists. If they call a border wall an immorality and refuse to fund a way to detain and humanely house the huge surge of migrant families and children now overwhelming the southern border (up 290 percent over the same period in 2018, with a record 1,800 apprehensions on Monday of this week alone!), they will rightly be called in favor of open borders.

Are they really capable of fucking this up once again? The answer that is emerging in the first months of the new Democratic House is: of course they can.

An Emotional Catastrophe

Id never really associated climate change with the idea of trauma until I stumbled across this intriguing paper by Zhiwa Woodbury last week, and it strikes me as insightful. Were used to seeing the challenge of marshaling political support for radical climate measures as a struggle against ignorance, denial, greed, or the inability of human beings to confront an abstract threat in the future that doesnt overwhelm them now. And Im not saying that these things dont factor in. But we may be underestimating what the constant drumbeat of news about the accelerating sixth great extinction has been doing to us psychologically.

For my own part, Im haunted all the time by the knowledge of what my lifetime will have witnessed. Humans are committing countless species to death; we are destroying the life of our oceans and skies; we are changing the planets ecosystem more quickly than at any time since the asteroids wiped out the dinosaurs. From the perspective of life itself, we are conducting a holocaust of the natural world. How is the knowledge of this not traumatizing?

A new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research notes, according to the BBC, that since 1950, the number of floods across the world has increased by 15 times, extreme temperature events by 20 times, and wildfires seven-fold. Last week, research emerged showing that the insect biomass is declining by 2.5 percent a year, which means that we may wipe out the entire insect population within a century  and lose a quarter of it in the next ten years. This amounts to what Jill Kieldash describes as the actual structural and functional collapse of the natural systems which have supported life on Earth for the last 400 million years.

This is what Steven Pinker calls progress! And in the face of this literally existential threat to life itself, we have elected a president who denies anything is happening at all, and is, in fact, determined to accelerate the collapse. I dont know how this paradigm affects you every day, but it is for me the gutting context for everything, a growing nausea laced with guilt and shame. In a century, we will have destroyed this Earth as we have known it  in absolutely full awareness of what we are doing. Its the greatest crime humanity has ever committed. It distresses and enrages me particularly that one core bloc egging on this devastation are Evangelical Christians, utterly indifferent to Gods creation, indeed, actively hostile to it. How, I wonder, can they be this way?

One answer could be that they are behaving in a classic way when a catastrophe strikes: Theyre traumatized by this knowledge, and they cope with this trauma by a classic form of disassociation. In fact, we are all living through this collective trauma. Money quote from Woodbury:

There are certain things in life that we cannot unsee, and Climate Trauma indelibly stamps our consciousness in that way, fundamentally altering the way we see the world and our place in it. Once we become aware of its true scope, depth, and accelerating pace, we then begin to view everything else through the traumatic lens of the climate crisis  from weather anomalies to political crises and polarized dysfunction, from the threat (and memory) of nuclear war to the absence of songbirds and honey bees on our nature walks, from apocalyptic developments in the Middle East to the latest superhero movie. How could anyone with a reasonably realistic, educated worldview not be haunted by the perpetual specter of Climate Trauma when considering fundamental life and identity choices? Decisions like whether to bring children into the world, what career path to follow, or when and where to settle and raise a family suddenly become weighed down by the fate of the world.



Paul Schraders extraordinary film First Reformed is the only movie Ive seen that truly reflects the depth of this collective trauma at this moment in history. I am not surprised by declining birth rates in the West. Having a child in todays era means initiating another human being into the end of the world as we have known it. It is to bring new life into a planet saturated with the mass death of all life forms. I find my own witnessing of the collapse of liberal democratic values in the West inseparable from the mass extinction of life on Earth our civilization has wrought  and the double depression this creates makes me want to escape. I dont know where exactly.

Collective trauma  think of the impact of 9/11 on our psyches  is usually a response to a single terrible event, the indelible memories it imprints, and the challenge of coping with post-traumatic stress. But this collective trauma is never-ending. Its a 9/11 all the time. Woodbury notes the similarity between our knowledge of future planetary collapse and a diagnosis of a terminal disease: You may put it out of your mind for spells, but the grief associated with prospective loss comes at you in waves. Similarly, the remembrance of Climate Trauma is like inhabiting an inhospitable, even dystopian world. There can no longer be any question that life as we know it is now ending.

The challenge is to resist disassociation  which is the human capacity to mentally escape an insufferable reality. We are disassociating from America in our current dystopian politics. But we are also, more profoundly, disassociating ourselves from our deepest ecological reality: that we are killing what created us. And we cannot seem to stop.

Remembering a Reasonable Man

Its not easy to find any heroes in Washington these days, so allow me to eulogize one. Walter Jones was a longtime Republican congressman from North Carolina, who died earlier this week at his home in Farmville, after breaking a hip. A convert to Catholicism at the age of 31, he became famous for a while for somewhat intemperate support for the Iraq War. Yes, he was one of the congressmen who renamed French fries Freedom Fries in the congressional cafeteria  arguably a comic low point in that furious debate.

But he also had a conscience and an independent streak, and when it became clear that the Iraq War had been based on phony intelligence, he actually changed his mind. More than that: He took moral responsibility for his vote for the war, and rethought a great deal of his previous views. Ashamed of what he had done  and the lives lost because of the war  he went on to write 12,000 letters to family members of service members killed. In terms of his skepticism of authority and power in Washington, I think part of his wiring changed, Congressman Mark Sanford, told the Washington Post. He started looking at leaderships claims with a skeptical eye, and thats led to the independence you now see on a regular basis.

More to the point, he tirelessly fought to bring back war-making powers to the Senate, where they belong. He took on his own party leadership in demanding votes before military adventures. In 2016, he railed against the GOP leadership for their foreign policy interventionism in the Middle East, especially the appalling war in Yemen: [Paul Ryan] is denying members of Congress their constitutional duty, that we are sworn to uphold the Constitution, and one of those duties is to vote whether we send our young men and women to die or not. In some ways, his greatest victory came just days after he died. Last Wednesday, the House actually reasserted its war-making powers in the case of Yemen, voting 248177 to defy the president, a critical moment in restoring some measure of accountability in the way this country now wages war.

He was that very rare creature: a true Republican fiscal conservative. Because of this, he voted against the Trump tax cut, which is even now adding exponentially to $22 trillion in debt. Pressured by Tom DeLay to vote for some of the appropriations bills that bankrupted the country under George W. Bush, because these are Republican bills now, as DeLay explained, Jones replied, Yes, Tom, but youre spending more than the Democrats did. For being this kind of constitutional and fiscal conservative, Jones was denied any significant committee roles during his 12 consecutive terms in the Congress as a Republican.

Of course a man of this character was a dogged defender of his own constituents, especially those in the military subjected to unfairness or injustice of any kind. (He was once rated the kindest man in Congress.) As one eulogist put it, Didnt get a government benefit you deserved? Walter B was on it. Treated unfairly by a federal agency? Walter B would make calls. I know  I worked at Headquarters Marine Corps for years, took some of those calls, and I knew that once Congressman Jones saw a problem, he would personally follow it until it was settled. This was a Republican who took on Devin Nuness obstruction of the investigation into the Trump campaigns interactions with Russian intelligence, and who voted against Obamacare repeal.

This didnt make him a liberal. It made him a conservative. And he proved that to be a conservative these days  a humane, decent, honest, principled conservative  you really have no place in the Republican Party. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

See you next Friday.

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Brookshire Grocery Co. has expanded its online ordering with curbside pickup to its stores in Athens, Canton, Chandler, Flint and Palestine.

Customers may order, pay and schedule pick-up times at the stores using the Brookshires website and mobile app.

Service hours are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, with same-day service available.

The company also offers curbside service at 35 Super 1 Foods stores and its Fresh by Brookshires store in Tyler.

To place an order for pickup, customers can visit brookshires.com or download the Brookshires mobile app, available in the App Store or Google Play.

Cavender's holds groundbreaking

Cavender's groundbreaking Officials with Cavender's take part in the groundbreaking at a new headquarters on Old Jacksonville Highway near Gresham. (Courtesy)

A groundbreaking ceremony for Cavenders home office on Old Jacksonville Highway was held on Feb. 13. The new headquarters will be just south of Three Lakes Drive. It will house marketing, merchandising and information technology departments.

We are proud to be headquartered in Tyler. We are fortunate enough to build this state-of-the-art building for our new home office," Mike Cavender said in a news release. "We opened our Tyler store in 1979 and now, by moving our office to the new building, we will be able to expand and remodel our store on Loop 323 to provide a better shopping experience for our valued guests and associates."

Cavender's is a leading western wear retailer.

McDaniel joins Christus Trinity Clinic- Longview

Erika McDaniel, a nurse, is now working at Christus Trinity Clinic Longview.

McDaniel has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Texas Tech University and a Master of Science in Nursing degree from The University of Texas at Arlington.

The clinic is located at 703 E. Marshall Ave., Longview.

Altra sets home buying mixer

Altra Federal Credit Union, 2815 WSW Loop 323, will host a free Home Buying After Hours Mixer from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Feb. 28.

Attendees can learn more about various types of loans at their own leisure. Home-buying professionals including an appraiser, inspector, builder, title company representative and insurance representative will provide information and answer questions.

Attendees will receive a home buying guide and a coupon worth $300 off closing costs, a new release said. Register online at altra.org by Thursday, Feb. 21.

City clerk completes course

Cassandra Brager, clerk for the city of Tyler, graduated from the Texas Municipal Clerks Certification Program in January.

Graduates complete approximately 200 hours of training.

The curriculum covers administration, election law, budgeting and finance, municipal law and personnel management.

Rahn heads United Way in Nevada

Former Tyler resident Kyle B. Rahn has been appointed president and CEO for the United Way of Southern Nevada.

Rahn will lead an organization that unites more than 300 workplace campaigns, 400 nonprofit organizations, 2,000 volunteers and 20,000 donors to achieve the organizations community-based agenda.

Accounting firm makes changes

The accounting firm of Prothro, Wilhelmi and Co. in Tyler announced staff changes.

AJ Evans, CPA, has joined as a senior assurance associate.

Evans graduated from Grace Community School and completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana.

His areas of practice include audits of financial statements for local governments, nonprofit organizations, employee benefit plans and businesses in diverse industries.

Jade Burks, CPA, has been promoted to senior assurance associate.

She graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and a Master of Science degree in Finance.

Her areas of practice include audits of financial statements for governments, nonprofit organizations, employee benefit plans and audits of service organization controls.

Altra promotes Brian Selph

Brian Selph of Gladewater has been promoted to assistant vice president for retail operations at Altra Federal Credit Union. He has 17 years of banking experience and has served as retail market manager for since 2017.

Altra has three offices in Tyler.

Selph attended Texas Christian University, Southwest CUNA Management School in Fort Worth and Kilgore College. He is an active member of Junior Achievement, United Way and the Chamber of Commerce.

Whitehouse to get a Domino's Pizza

A Domino's Pizza will go into the former Church's Chicken restaurant on Texas Highway 110 in Whitehouse.

The restaurant will be owned by EPSI Inc., a company based in Desoto that operates 36 Domino's restaurants, including five in Tyler, records show.

We have already begun renovating the former Churchs Chicken building and hope to be celebrating our grand opening by March 31, Mac Mekonnen, CEO of EPSI, said in a prepared statement.
Next week the Travel Guides critics are off to Taiwan  a trip that prompts laughter, tears, and in one case, fainting.

Escaping to their quirkiest destination yet, the guides begin their journey in the kooky capital, Taipei, home to seven million people.

After checking into the Chinese-style Grand Hotel they head to the citys landmark tower Taipei 101, which stands more than 500 metres high. Our guides attempt to take in the dizzying heights of its 101 storeys.

As night falls, its time for sensory overload in the citys beating neon heart, the Ximending district. The Target Boys all decide to get their first tattoo, but it ends in disaster. And newlyweds Deepesh and Sage experience a far dodgier couples massage than they ever expected.

Then its off to experience one of Taiwans strangest and most popular pastimes, our guides try their hand at urban shrimping. In their quest for a seafood bounty, one guide experiences a nasty accident.

Theres even more kookiness around the corner  a visit to (would you believe it) Taipeis Modern Toilet Restaurant. The toilet-themed menu leaves our guides absolutely gob smacked. Will it leave a bad taste in their mouth?

To flush the city out of their system, our travellers take the fast train two hours south to the magnificent Taroko National Park, where soaring mountains and deep marble gorges are the backdrop to their stay in a traditional hotel owned by the local indigenous tribe.

For their next adventure they go hiking in Taiwans greatest natural wonder, the Taroko Gorge, where they traverse the valley with glorious views but despise the confronting encounters with bats.

On the final day of their seven-day Taiwan trip, the guides visit some of Taipeis animal cafes, dining with feline friends and even alpacas, leaving them delighted and dismayed.

Taiwan provides first-time encounters, random expeditions and bizarre experiences, from the bustling city to the tranquil countryside thats a sight to behold. But what do our Travel Guides rate it out of five stars?

9pm Tuesday February 19 on Nine.

Related
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal has ruled Sonia Kruger vilified Muslim people when she advocated for Muslim immigration to be banned.

Kruger made the statement during a panel discussion on Today in July, 2016.

While discussing a newspaper article written by Andrew Bolt, Kruger said she agreed that the columnist has a point here, that there is a correlation between the number of people who, you know, are Muslim in a country and the number of terrorist attacks.

Now, I have a lot of very good friends who are Muslims, who are peace-loving, who are beautiful people, but there are fanatics.

Personally, I would like to see [Muslim immigration] stopped now for Australia.

Because I want to feel safe, as all of our citizens do, when they go out to celebrate Australia Day.

At the time Nine said the network believed in freedom of speech and the Mixed Grill segment on the Today show is a place where that happens.

The Tribunal found her comments had the capacity to encourage hatred towards, or serious contempt for, Australian Muslims by ordinary members of the Australian population. But they were not racial vilification, because Muslim people are not a race.

Apart from that issue, we would have found that both [Kruger and the Nine Network] engaged in racial vilification of the Australian Muslim community, being Muslims living in Australia, the tribunal said.

It accepted that Kruger and Nine were acting in good faith without malice and not for an improper purpose but said it cannot accept that the remarks of Ms Kruger were reasonable'.

She expressed the view that the size of Australias Muslim population meant there should be no further Muslim migration irrespective of any other matter. This appears to be unsupported by any evidence or material placed before the Tribunal, the tribunal said.

Krugers comments drew an avalanche of criticism which has arguably impacted her brand with viewers ever since. The day after her comments she addressed the issue.

I acknowledge my views yesterday may have been extreme. It is a hugely complex and sensitive issue, its an issue with no simple answer and its an issue that cannot be fully discussed in a short televised segment, she said.

Source: The Australian, MSN.com

Related
Nines recent expansion with regional news has taken a hit with confirmation it is closing newsrooms in Toowoomba and Mackay.

From Monday February 18, the Mackay audience will receive a hybrid regional bulletin featuring local weather, state and local news. Toowoomba viewers will now receive Nines South East Queensland bulletin.

Both markets were part 15 new regional bulletins announced in 2016.

Nine says it has spoken to the nine people impacted by changes, noting while nearly half have already been redeployed, we have assured the remaining employees every effort will be taken to redeploy as many as possible within our Nine Network.

Nines Director of Regional News Mike Dalton said, The changes to the Queensland regional newsrooms from seven to five is in alignment with the government broadcasting legislative requirements. Nine would like to reassure staff these changes in no way reflect upon employees efforts or professionalism over the past two years.

Source: TV Blackbox

Related
In the very first season of Offspring producers threw in a crazed ex-boyfriend of Ninas who was constantly blowing shit up, purely as a move to keep males interested in the storyline (thankfully he didnt last too long).

It nods to the research that females control the TV remote in the home, even more so when it comes to Drama.

Having given us 5 seasons of the emotive and sometimes knockabout House Husbands, Nine now offers their counterpart, of sorts, in Bad Mothers. As the title suggests this is a somewhat darker world from writers Rachel Lang & Gavin Strawhan.

There are 5 friends whose kids all attend the same primary school (it looks a lot like the one from HH) and they all reside bayside in Bedford.

Sarah Pooley (Tess Haubrich) is a doctor, married to restaurateur Anton (Daniel MacPherson). Her best friend is the icy Charlotte (Melissa George) and she is pals with Maddie (Mandy McElhinney) and Danielle (Jessica Tovey), whose husband Tom (Steve Bastoni) is Maddies brother.

Sarah has a frosty relationship with personal trainer Bindy (Shalom Brune-Franklin) and is suspicious of her flirtatious behaviour with husband Anton.

But there is trouble in this Bedford community, with a corpse discovered in the opening scenes and a friendly fundraiser between gal pals detoured by jealousy. Sarahs suspicions about what may or may not be going on behind her back see her turn stalker and uncovering truths that will implode her world.

Bonds between women are tested, ramped up and occasionally complemented by lighter touches, largely involving Maddie (Mandy McElhinney) in an inconsequential school mum storyline. The title appears to be a play on words both as murder suspects and as incomplete parents, leaving the likeability factor as a shifting challenge.

Tess Haubrich, parachuted into a role after the sudden exit of Jessica Marais, works hard at being sincere despite the very unordinary murder tale. But Im at a complete loss as to why she is friends with Melissa Georges unlikeable, self-obsessed role, nor especially convinced by a relationship with the under-written role of Anton.

Truth and tone are part of the problems of the opening episode. At one moment it is pitching itself as a domestic melodrama and the next it is a whodunnit with a murder at its core. Is it possible to have both worlds? Sure, Desperate Housewives is the master of the genre with over-the-top storylines crackling with delicious fun. Suburban Shootout from the UK was another with mayhem in suburbia. Big Little Lies does it with domestic violence and a non-linear storyline.

The most bad we see these mums in the opening chapter is smoking a little weed, kidnapping puppies and revenge pranks on car windscreens. Its far too tame and lacks the necessary escapism.

Director Geoff Bennett turns up the pop choons and photographs a glossy, affluent bayside lifestyle to contrast the crime, but there is risk these Nine dramas are all starting to look the same. And should I really care if a character I didnt know is bumped off in an opening episode anyway (take note Playing for Keeps)?

With viewers overwhelmed in Drama offerings, Bad Mothers really needs to be more heightened if it wants to be distinctive. Cue Married at First Sight.

Is it too late to throw in an ex-boyfriend blowing shit up?

Bad Mothers airs 9pm Monday on Nine.

Related
An overseas Vietnamese man was attacked with acid and sustained knife wounds in his legs in an assault by two unidentified men while celebrating the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday in the south-central province of Quang Ngai.

Vo Duy Nghiem, 26, who lives in Canada, returned to his hometown in Binh Dong Commune, Binh Son District, Quang Ngai Province on January 31 to honor the Tet holiday with family and friends.

He was accompanied by his 26-year-old girlfriend, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tram, also a Viet Kieu living in Canada.

Preliminary information showed that Nghiem and Tram were on a motorbike at around 8:00 pm on February 9, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, when two masked men approached the couple on a motorcycle.

The unidentified men splashed acid on Nghiem before severing his Achilles tendons and the tendons behind his knees with knives before fleeing the scene.

The victim suffered severe burns across his face and body.

Tram was slightly burned by the acid as she was sitting at the back of the motorbike.

Nghiem was later brought to a hospital in the central city of Da Nang.

The road where Nghiem was attacked on the evening of February 9, 2019. Photo: Tuoi Tre Contributor

Doctors at the infirmary stated that the burns on his face are the most serious and that his eyes might be permanently damaged.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper at the hospital on Thursday afternoon, Nghiem said he has lived in Canada for five years and owns a nail salon there.

Before the incident, Nghiem and his family were en route to dinner at a local restaurant.

He let his family take a car while he traveled to the venue with his girlfriend by motorbike.

It was during that trip that he was attacked on a secluded street along the Khe Hai Beach.

The attackers were prepared. It all happened so fast, Nghiem said.

A source told Tuoi Tre that Nghiem had previously had conflicts with his older brother, who also lives in Canada.

The victim believed the brother, who was also in Quang Ngai for the holiday, was behind the assault, the source added.

Police officers tried to impose an exit ban on the suspect but he had already returned to Canada.

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Read what is in the news today, February 15!

Society

-- Fire spreading from a workshop destroyed three buildings on Thursday night in Ho Chi Minh Citys neighboring province of Binh Duong. No human casualties have been reported in the three-hour incident.

-- A cleaner in Ho Chi Minh Citys Cho Ray Hospital returned a bag containing a mobile phone and VND102 million ($4,390) worth of cash she had found unattended at the infirmary to its owner on Wednesday.

-- Police in the north-central province of Thanh Hoa are hunting a man suspected of killing his wife, whose he usually had quarrels with, with a hammer on Wednesday.

-- Police are investigating the case where two masked motorcyclists attacked a man with acid and slashed his legs while he was riding a motorbike on February 9. The victim believed his blood brother was behind the rapid violent acts.

-- A man was arrested on murder charges as he allegedly doused her with petrol and burned her to death at their house in the south-central province of Binh Phuoc, police said Thursday.

-- A female teacher in the north-central province of Quang Binh was fined VND2.5 million ($107.5) for giving one of her students two cheek slaps that caused one of his ears to bleed, local police said Thursday.

-- A man in Ben Tre Province, southern Vietnam, turned himself in to police on Thursday after he was filmed impersonating a traffic police officer and pulling over motorcyclists a day earlier.

Business

-- The U.S. ambassador to Vietnam is expected to give the Vietnamese Civil Aviation Authority a certificate showing the organization meets international aviation safety standards, a requisite for nonstop flights between the countries to be launched.

-- Vietnams largest passenger catamaran started plying between the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Con Dao, the tourist island about 180 kilometers away, with each journey taking just over three hours, today, February 15.

-- The second International Hot Air Balloon Festival kicked off Thursday in the mountainous northern province of Son La, participated by five teams from Thailand, Japan and hosts Vietnam.

-- The Canadian authorities concluded at the end of a dumping probe that the Vietnamese government did not manipulate the prices of carbon steel exported to the Northern American country, Vietnams Trade Remedies Authority said Wednesday.

Sports

-- Vietnamese striker Cong Phuong on Thursday signed a contract to be an on-loan footballer at South Koreas Incheon United for $10,000 a month. He arrived at the country on the same day.

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Photo: Governatorato S.C.V., Direzione dei Musei, All Rights Reserved

We have no reliable figures on just how many priests in the Catholic Church are gay. The Vatican has conducted many studies on its own clergy but never on this subject. In the United States, however, where there are 37,000 priests, no independent study has found fewer than 15 percent to be gay, and some have found as many as 60 percent. The consensus in my own research over the past few months converged on around 30 to 40 percent among parish priests and considerably more than that  as many as 60 percent or higher  among religious orders like the Franciscans or the Jesuits.

This fact hangs in the air as a giant, unsustainable paradox. A church that, since 2005, bans priests with deep-seated homosexual tendencies and officially teaches that gay men are objectively disordered and inherently disposed toward intrinsic moral evil is actually composed, in ways very few other institutions are, of gay men.

The massive cognitive dissonance this requires is becoming harder to sustain. The collapse of the closet in public and private life in the past three decades has made the disproportionate homosexuality of the Catholic priesthood much less easy to hide, ignore, or deny. This cultural and moral shift has not only changed the consciousness of most American Catholics (67 percent of whom support civil marriage for gay couples) and gay priests (many of whom are close to quitting) but also broken the silence that long shrouded the subject.

Five years ago, Pope Francis made his watershed Who am I to judge? remark after being asked about a flawed gay priest. A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality, Francis went on. I replied with another question: Tell me, when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love or reject and condemn this person? We must always consider the person. Here we enter into the mystery of the human being. In the final draft of the 2014 Synod on the Family, Francis included explicit mention of the gifts and qualities of homosexuals, asking, Are we capable of welcoming [them]? These sentiments won 62 percent of the votes of the synod bishops  just shy of what was necessary to pass, but still evidence of a sharp shift in tone in official Catholic teaching.

They also triggered near panic on the Catholic right. Alarmed by the possibility that divorced and remarried people might be welcomed as well as gays, traditionalists launched a fierce rearguard campaign against the new papacy, with a focus on what some called a Lavender Mafia running the church, and broke new ground in connecting this directly to the horrifying revelations of sex abuse that came to light in 2002. In increasingly direct ways, they have argued that the root of the scandal was not abuse of power, or pedophilia, or clericalism, or the distortive psychological effects of celibacy and institutional homophobia, but gayness itself.

There is a homosexual culture, not only among the clergy but even within the hierarchy, which needs to be purified at the root, the American cardinal Raymond Burke declared in August. Bishop Robert Morlino of Wisconsin agreed. It is time to admit that there is a homosexual subculture within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church that is wreaking great devastation, he wrote. If youll permit me, what the church needs now is more hatred of homosexual sexual behavior, a sin so grave that it cries out to heaven for vengeance. Michael Hichborn, head of the fringe-right Lepanto Institute, called for a complete and thorough removal of all homosexual clergymen from the church  It is going to be difficult and will likely result in a very serious priest shortage, but its definitely worth the effort.

The unseemly fall this past summer of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, one of the most powerful American cardinals of his time, provided a cause celebre for this faction. It emerged that McCarrick had abused at least two children and then sexually harassed generations of adult seminarians with impunity. Here, it seemed, was a pedophile and an abusive gay man, at the very apex of the church, known to be sexually active with seminarians, protected by his peers, and tolerated for decades by many in the hierarchy, including the last three popes.

McCarrick gave the right an opening. New online media organizations  led by Breitbart-style websites such as LifeSite News and Church Militant  now routinely pounce on any incidents involving gay priests and have an influential audience in the Vatican. A wealthy group of conservative Catholics, the Better Church Governance, has even launched an investigation into the orthodoxy, conduct, and, its clear, sexual orientation of each of the 124 cardinals who will elect the next pope.

At the center of this struggle, of course, are gay priests, bishops, and cardinals themselves. They are caught in a whiplash of relative toleration embodied by Francis and hostility exemplified by his conservative predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. The 2005 ban on gay priests and seminarians is still in force and, in fact, was affirmed by Francis in 2016. As a result, almost all gay priests are closeted, for fear of being targeted or terminated, which makes them uniquely barred from entering the discussion. They listen as they are talked about and scapegoated  often in deeply offensive ways and always as if they were not one of the churchs key ramparts. Things have actually gotten worse since Francis became pope, one priest told me. They are equating all gay priests with sexual abuse. Theres a witch hunt.

A young priest in Rome, 1954. Photo: Bettman/Getty Images

Hospital chapels, like those in airports, can be strange places. Rarely anyones refuge for very long, they can feel as transient and empty as they are antiseptic. But on a recent Sunday at noon, in a sprawling hospital on the edges of a midwestern city, the congregation spilled out down the hallways for Mass. They were clearly not strangers to one another as they nodded and chatted before the service began; there were old and young, black and white and brown, families and couples and a sprinkling of those whod come alone. The Mass itself was unremarkable apart from a striking homily when the priest talked of the joys of having nothing as the Christmas gifting season loomed. Its a lesson he said hed learned from serving the sick, the traumatized, the hungry, and the homeless after a natural disaster overseas.

He told of a moment when he was returning from a field hospital along an unlit path in the early hours of the morning, surrounded by intense suffering on top of brutal poverty, yet he was buoyed by the faith and tenacity of the poorest of the poor, the sickest of the sick. He stopped and looked up into the starlit sky, he said, and felt not despair but hope.

Always a good message from that one, said the man next to me as Mass ended. I nodded: Big crowd for a hospital. Oh yeah, the man replied. Always. They come from all over. Hes a rock star, this priest. I said nothing. Father Mike, as Ill call him, had texted me earlier to review the ground rules: Per hospital and my request you are not to interview anyone or identify yourself as doing a story, journalist, etc. The full story of this mans life and service has to stay anonymous  as with almost every other priest I spoke with. Not even his most devoted congregants know hes gay.

But as a former registered nurse and skilled manager, hes a natural priest. In the few minutes I took to meet him in my hotel lobby, hed already learned from the receptionist that she was no longer celebrating Christmas after a recent near-death experience in a car crash. At one point as we spoke the next day in the hospital, he was greeted by a woman who asked for an on-the-spot confession and he shooed me aside; later I met an anguished gay man from an ultra-Catholic family he was counseling; and for a few hours on Sunday morning, he was with the wife and teenage sons of a dying man. Father Mike was the bandage on all of those open wounds. He has witnessed a couple hundred deaths in his career. One night, he told me, he sat with three patients at the hour of their deaths in quick succession.

Becoming a priest wasnt an easy decision. Mike came from a troubled family, and his abusive parents converted to Catholicism when he was entering his teens. He agreed to go to Sunday Mass because they promised him brunch at his favorite spot afterward, until, at the age of 15, he formally became a Catholic himself. At 17, he was sent to visit a priest for a one-on-one counseling retreat. The very first night I was there, he very aggressively tried to get me in bed with him, Mike told me. I was absolutely terrified. A year later, when his parents threw him out of the house, he went to live with a youth minister. For two months I was there, and it was just constant fighting off advances and innuendo. He reported the youth minister, even testified against him in court. But his own priest backed the minister, and, despite testimony from three other boys, the abuser was acquitted. At that time, people actually believed priests, Mike sighed.

Despite all this, in the mid-1990s he entered seminary after graduating from college. He found himself constantly subjected to psychological evaluations and denied the usual summer assignments. Fearing his teenage testimony against an abuser was blocking his ordination, he quit to become a critical-care nurse. But he still felt called to the church and eventually tried seminary again. He was ordained three years later.

I told him most people would find this story bizarre, masochistic even.

Why join a church that doesnt want you  indeed, one that abused you? He stumbled for a while before finally blurting out, Well, at the heart of it, its about  its about Jesus, and its about  I mean, I believe in God. His voice was raised, suddenly intense. Id found some people in campus ministry, when I was in college, who were really authentic. They loved each other, and they loved God; they loved the least of these. They werent perfect, but the overarching message was that Jesus is here, Jesus is in the Eucharist, and Jesus is in the faces of the poorest of the poor and those who are most marginalized. They told him he was obviously called to be a priest, and his time as a nurse deepened this conviction within him. As I was serving my patients, most of whom died, I prayed with them when they wanted me to, I brought Communion to them when I could, and it was through them that I felt called to serve.

It is in that context of nurse to patient, pastor to flock, that today he manages his conflicts as a gay priest. Every time I walk into that hospital, no matter how Im feeling or what Im going through or the new Pennsylvania grand-jury report on sex abuse, it all changes, he said. When you sit at the edge of the bed with someone whose transplant has failed, it becomes a heart-to-heart. Sometimes I think we forget that, in the church, its about that particular person and their humanity, their hopes and their fears, and their desire to love and be loved.

Most of the gay priests I spoke with have never experienced abuse in the church. Many had already come to terms with their sexual orientation before they entered the priesthood, but some wrestled with it in the seminary, and others later in life. There is no typical experience, Father Joe, as Ill call him, told me. At first I wondered if I were a fraud, because I thought, Well, am I just trying to escape into a life in which I dont have to deal with my sexuality? But I had people in charge of me who challenged me to ask myself if this were authentic, and I felt that this was the life and work that God was calling me to. Its an ongoing discernment. Then there was a moment of grace. I was working in a hospital at the height of the AIDS crisis. A nun said to me, What do you want to tell these people? Theyre active homosexuals, drug users. I said, I would talk about Gods mercy and be with them as they are. It helped me understand how God could use me even though the church didnt accept me.

Another, call him Father Andrew, described his choice of vocation as convenient and existential: I was 18 and sexually aware but extremely depressed, and my father cornered me one day in the kitchen and made me come out. I went to a psychologist, who told me, Youre not going to change. You need to accept yourself.  Andrews father was not happy about this recommendation and ended the therapy. In college, Andrew sought out more treatment, and then, suddenly, his father died. It threw him. I kept thinking about life and death. I had started praying again and attending Mass. I was driving in the desert from Phoenix to Tucson and saw these dust devils, and I suddenly heard in my head, Oh, be a priest. You wont need to deal with sex; you can be respected. And then my brother died  a car crash. By his junior year, Andrew was in the seminary.

It was there that Andrew had his first adult sexual experience. I was 28 years old. I came out as bisexual. I lost weight, I built muscle, I got noticed more by other seminarians, and I wanted to see what it was like being an adult, he said. It was difficult. I wasnt attracted to kissing. I had one experience and couldnt ejaculate. He then threw himself into his work until, at 40, he faced a burnout. He took a leave of absence, spent six months in prayer and therapy, and when he returned, he sent an explanatory email to his fellow priests: As one who has long suffered doubts about himself, I dedicate myself to bringing the love of God  to everyone who, like me, sometimes questions their worth and value because of voices contrary to Gods voice.

The breakthrough came suddenly. I said to my therapist, I think Im a good priest, and he said, I bet you are. And I burst out crying. Andrews voice cracked. Being lumped in with pedophiles  it has a way of taking a toll on you. The scapegoating has wounded many of the priests I spoke with. It has become a double stigma: targeted by the hierarchy for being gay and by the general public for being pedophiles. Many of the people I spoke to, Catholics and non-Catholics, about the subject of gay priests rolled their eyes and asked about the abuse of children. The news environment is saturated with stories about sex abuse  and rightly so  yet there are hardly any public examples of the overwhelming number of gay priests who would never dream of preying upon the powerless.

I sometimes ask myself, When was the last time someone touched me? And I know thats not normal. Ill get a professional massage from time to time. My lapses these days are watching porn in my bedroom.

Many good gay priests, of course, fail from time to time, breaking celibacy in consensual adult affairs or trysts. They are not saints. But this is true of straight priests as well. These men are still sexual beings, flesh and blood. In these crises, they tend to do one of two things: either fall so deeply in love that they cannot sustain a life without physical intimacy and so leave the church or, more often, recalibrate, confess, and recommit to the celibate life. The best priests are those who have missed the mark on occasion, the ones who know what its like to be a real human, Father Andrew said. Its a holy struggle. Ive never seen celibacy as a gift; it has always been a discipline.

Father Joe spoke poignantly of falling in love. I had a brief, sexually intimate relationship 16 years ago. It was my last relationship. He didnt want to be with someone who couldnt be fully out as a partner, and he wanted to get married. I asked if we could have a friendship that was also sexual, and he said no. The pain still flickers. Today I have a close friendship with him, and were not sexually intimate. But when he does have a boyfriend, I feel like, Well, whos there for me?  At this point, Joe relies on close friends for emotional support. I sometimes ask myself, When was the last time someone touched me? And I know thats not normal. Ill get a professional massage from time to time. My lapses these days are watching porn in my bedroom.

There is an extreme reluctance to acknowledge that priests live celibacy well but not perfectly, a priest Ill call Father Leo explained. But how do you come to a positive understanding of your sexuality when the church wont say you even have a sexual orientation, just same-sex attraction or deep-seated homosexual tendencies? How do you live a healthy sexuality in a context where your sexuality is stigmatized? After the 2005 ban on gay priests, Father Mike became attracted to conversion therapy and underwent a year and a half of trying to be cured of being gay. It was only later that he came to see how none of it was true; it was all a lie.

Ambrose St. John (left) and John Henry Newman. Photo: Governatorato S.C.V., Direzione dei Musei, All Rights Reserved

The preponderance of gay men in the priesthood is, in fact, nothing new in the history of the church. For well over a millennium, it was commonplace, and though there were occasional denunciations of it, these were usually followed by papal inaction or indifference. For example, as the late historian John Boswell demonstrated in his groundbreaking, controversial book Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, a fourth-century Christian writer, John Chrysostom, attacked the leaders of the church for being too accepting of same-sex love and even sex: Those very people who have been nourished by godly doctrine, who instruct others in what they ought and ought not to do  these do not consort with prostitutes as fearlessly as they do with young men  None is ashamed, no one blushes  the chaste seem to be the odd ones, and the disapproving the ones in error. There was considerable Christian concern about sex in general  following the teaching of saints Paul and Augustine  but no consensus that homosexuality, if kept to intense mutual love and celibate friendship, was specifically problematic.

Even Saint Augustine had one particularly intense love affair with another young man. For I felt that my soul and his were one soul in two bodies, he wrote, and therefore life was a horror to me, since I did not want to live as a half; and yet I was also afraid to die lest he, whom I had loved so much, would completely die. This was not merely a spiritual friendship, Augustine confessed. I contaminated the spring of friendship with the dirt of lust and darkened its brightness with the blackness of desire. Some have speculated that Augustines starkly Manichaean divide between the spirit and the body is rooted in his disgust at his own homosexual tendencies. The historical record, however, reveals that for all Augustines influence, the practice of intense homoerotic friendship among the clergy was common over the following centuries, especially in monasteries. (As was the case in convents as well. The gifts that lesbians have brought to the church are just as extraordinary, but because the priesthood is exclusively male and women are kept from positions of real power, lesbian nuns are, for better or worse, not caught up in this specific crisis.)

The masterpiece on the subject of spiritual friendship was, in fact, written by a gay man, Saint Aelred, the abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Rievaulx in England in the mid-1160s. He had had sexual relationships with men in his younger years, but, vowing chastity as a monk, he sublimated these desires into an idea of intense celibate love for another man. He took as a model the relationship between Jesus and the disciple whom Jesus loved, John, describing it at one point even as a marriage. Aelred saw Jesus intimacy with John  at the Last Supper, as they reclined, John famously rested his head on Jesus chest  as a model for attaching to another person of the same sex, to whom you can be united in the intimate embrace of the most sacred love  with whom you can rest, just the two of you, in the sleep of peace away from the noise of the world, in the embrace of love, in the kiss of unity.

By the 12th century, priests and monks were writing love poems to one another in what Boswell describes as an outburst of Christian gay literature still without parallel in the Western world. But perhaps in response to this broad acceptance of gay spirituality, some began to campaign for a crackdown. Around 1051, Saint Peter Damian published a treatise, The Book of Gomorrah, whose rhetoric is strikingly similar to the online denunciations of our time: absolutely no other vice can be reasonably compared with this one  [it] is in fact the death of the body, the destruction of the soul  it removes truth utterly from the mind. He accused the church of being run by a gay cabal who covered for each other and gave one another absolution for their sins. The pope at the time, Leo IX, nonetheless refused to ban gay clergy and argued that the problem was those who had sex as a long-standing practice or with many men. An occasional lapse could be forgiven, if confessed. Francis and Leo IX would agree across the centuries.

Damian was a leading reformer of the church in his day, far beyond the gay-priest issue, and a synod in 1059 responded to all of his many proposals  except the one against gay clergy. Pope Alexander II even asked Damian for his only manuscript of The Book of Gomorrah in order to copy it. Instead, Alexander locked it up! When confronted with this, according to Damian, the pope laughs and tries to placate me with the unctuous humor of urbanity. In 1102, in a similar moment, the Council of London decided to promulgate a decree against the newly defined sin of sodomy  only to have the publication stopped by the archbishop of Canterbury, who remarked that this sin has hitherto been so public that hardly anyone is embarrassed by it.

The tide turned decisively in the 13th century with the theological genius Thomas Aquinas denouncing homosexual acts as against nature. All sex  heterosexual and homosexual  was to be reserved only for married couples open to procreation, and any other sexual activity was a grave sin. Homosexuals, in the new theology, were part of nature  many had noticed homosexual behavior in the animal kingdom, particularly among hares and hyenas  but they were also somehow contrary to nature. Aquinas never resolved this paradox. Neither has the church.

As the taboo deepened in the succeeding centuries, there is little reason to believe that gay priests disappeared, but most went more fully underground. Still, same-sex love remained a profound part of Catholic Christianity. The friendship that grew between Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Saint Francis Xavier, for example, created the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, in the 16th century. Ignatius sent Francis to evangelize Asia, and their long separation was a source of suffering for both. Francis once replied to a letter from Ignatius, Among many other holy words and consolations of your letter, I read the concluding ones, Entirely yours, without power or possibility of ever forgetting you, Ignatio. I read them with tears, and with tears now write them  You tell me how greatly you desire to see me before this life closes. God knows the profound impression that those words of great love made on my soul. They never saw each other again.

The greatest Catholic theologian of the 19th century, Cardinal John Henry Newman, devoted his personal life to another man, Ambrose St. John. This does not mean the two had a sexual relationship (although they might have), but it does suggest that deep same-sex love was still alive in the highest echelons of the Catholic priesthood, even at the apex of Victorian repression and even in someone about to be celebrated as a saint. When St. John died, Newman wrote, I have ever thought no bereavement was equal to that of a husbands or a wifes, but I feel it difficult to believe that any can be greater, or anyones sorrow greater, than mine.

Newman famously converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism and was part of the reformist and aesthetic Oxford Movement, which was strongly influenced by homosexual men. He insisted  as my last, my imperative will  that he be buried in the same spot as St. John. On the gravestone, the words the two agreed on: Out of shadows and phantasms into Truth.

The greatest Catholic poet of the 19th century, the Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins, was gay; one of the deepest theologian-priests of the last century, Henri Nouwen, was as well. Both suffered bouts of deep depression. Again, theres no evidence that either broke his vow of celibacy, but both fell in love, both struggled with loneliness, and both produced work of enormous beauty and spirituality. Nouwens greatest was a reflection on the parable of the Prodigal Son. One of Hopkinss most famous poems, Pied Beauty, is a paean to All things counter, original, spare, strange; / Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?) /  He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change. / Praise him.

But why is the priesthood so gay? It is worth noting that the connection between homosexuality and spirituality is by no means restricted to Catholicism. Some evolutionary psychologists have found an ancient link between gay men and tribal shamanism. Carl Jung identified the archetypal gifts of the homosexual: a great capacity for friendship, which often creates ties of astonishing tenderness between men; a talent for teaching, aesthetics, and tradition (to be conservative in the best sense and cherish the values of the past); a wealth of religious feelings, which help to bring the ecclesia spiritualis into reality; and a spiritual receptivity which makes him responsive to revelation.

Among gay priests themselves, I heard a variety of explanations. Some described to me how their sense of displacement as boys and teens made them more sensitive to the needs of other marginalized people: You were an outsider, and you can help other outsiders and welcome them in. Another simply said, We understand suffering. Another spoke of the appeal of belonging to a religious community.

Others explained that they were drawn to the ritual of the church. Catholicism was different, and I was different  I had a strong sense of mystical experience, one told me. Catholicism is a faith centered on the Mass, where the body and the soul and the senses are as important as the mind. The Mass is, in some ways, a performance. And Im not sure how to say this without indulging in stereotypes, but there is something about the liturgy, ritual, music, and drama that attracts a certain kind of gay man. These types  also found in the arts and scholarship  are sticklers for detail, ruthless about rules, and attuned to tradition and beauty. In many ways, the old, elaborate High Mass, with its incense and processions, color-coded vestments, liturgical complexity, musical precision, choirs, organs, and sheer drama, is obviously, in part, a creation of the gay priesthood. Their sexuality was sublimated in a way that became integral and essential to Catholic worship.

Then there is the common experience of a gay boy or teen, brought up in the church, who turns to God in struggling with the question of his difference and displacement from the normal. He is forced to ponder deeper questions than most of his peers, acquires powerful skills of observation, and develops a precocious spirituality that never fully leaves him. This resonates for myself as a Catholic boy and teen. The first person I ever came out to was God, in a silent prayer on my way to Communion. I was an altar boy, knew well how to swing a brass thurible full of incense, could debate the nuances of transubstantiation by the age of 11, and considered the priesthood as a vocation (I concluded I wasnt good enough a person). Like many solitary gay Catholic boys, I saw in Jesus a model  single, sensitive, outside a family, marginalized and persecuted but ultimately vindicated and forever alive.

But there are other reasons for gay men to seek the priesthood that are far from healthy. The first is celibacy. If you were a young gay Catholic in centuries past, one way to avoid social ostracism, or constant questions about why you lacked an interest in girls or women, was to become a priest. (One priest also told me the most powerful force behind vocations to the priesthood had long been mothers, who, intuiting that a son was not the marrying kind, would encourage him to enter the church to save their familys social standing.) This pattern, though much less severe than in the past, endures. A profound lack of self-esteem, fueled in part by the churchs homophobia, also led to some seeking the priesthood as a means to repress or somehow cure themselves.

Before were even teenagers, we realize that this whole thing is an abomination, said a priest Ill call Father John. And so we reach out to the teaching of the church and effectively say, Fill me with what you are saying and I will become you. I will become a magisterial personality.  By magisterial, he meant embodying the Magisterium, the formal teaching of the church. In other words, Ive given up being me. And I have a feeling thats why you meet so many of these guys who are really frighteningly gray and impersonal. At some stage, theyve agreed in their lives not to be themselves. I have seen this in many priests; unable to be themselves, they become personae, symbols, and ultimately caricatures or even embodied masks.

Often, this unconscious struggle breaks down. It is simply too difficult not to be oneself. Some cope through absurd flamboyance and high camp; others sink into depression. Alcoholism and addiction take over. Oh my God, Father Andrew told me, when I came back to the church in 2010, I couldnt get over how grossly obese these priests had become. They had been such athletes when they were young. Another priest told me, I buried it so deeply. And then I had a meltdown. It was one of those moments of wanting something to happen with a friend. One evening, when I left his place, I realized I really wanted to have a relationship with this guy. Then it came flowing out of me. I didnt want to be that person. I didnt want to be me.

Other gay priests, more self-aware and cynical, find there is a career to be made in all of this falseness. From the 13th century onward, its easy to see how secretly gay men found in the church, and the church alone, a source of status and power. Marginalized outside, within they could become advisers to monarchs, forgive others sins, earn a stable living, enjoy huge privileges, and be treated instantly with respect. Everything was suppressed, no questions were asked in seminaries, and psychological counseling was absent (and even now is rare). Scarred, scared men became priests, and certain distinct patterns emerged.

One, as we have come to learn, was sexual acting out and abuse. To conflate sexual abuse with the gay priesthood, as many now reflexively do, is a grotesque libel on the vast majority who have never contemplated such crimes and are indeed appalled by them. It is classic scapegoating. At the same time, to decouple the sexual-abuse crisis entirely from the question of gay priests is a willful avoidance of an ugly truth. Pedophilia is a separate category outside the question of sexual orientation. But some abuse of male teens and young adults, as well as abuse of other priests, is clearly related to homosexuality gone horribly astray  and around a quarter of the reported cases involve 15- to 17-year-old victims.

The scale of it in the late 20th century was extraordinary  but, in retrospect, predictable. If you do not deal honestly with your sexuality, it will deal with you. If you construct an institution staffed by repressed and self-hating men and build it on secrecy and complete obedience to superiors, you have practically created a machine for dysfunction and predation. And the hideous truth is we will never know the extent of the abuse in centuries past or what is still going on, especially throughout places in the world (like Africa and Latin America) where robust scrutiny of the church is still sometimes taboo.

Another pattern was externalized homophobia: What you hate in yourself but cannot face, you police and punish in others. It remains a fact that many of the most homophobic bishops and cardinals have been  and are  gay. Take the most powerful American cardinal of the 20th century, Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York, who died in 1967. He had an active gay sex life for years while being one of the most rigid upholders of orthodoxy. Monsignor Tony Anatrella, an advocate for conversion therapy consulted by the Vatican, was recently suspended for sexual abuse of other men. One of Europes senior cardinals, Keith OBrien of Scotland, described homosexuality as a moral degradation and marriage equality as madness. Sure enough, he was eventually forced to resign and leave the country after being accused of abusive sexual relationships with four other priests.

Anti-gay archconservative Cardinal George Pell was recently found guilty of sexual abuse of boys in Australia. The founder of the once hugely influential hard-right, anti-gay cult the Legion of Christ, Marcial Maciel, was found to have sexually abused countless men, women, and children. The leader of Church Militant, which is obsessed with gay priests, is a self-described ex-gay. This is a good rule: Those in the hierarchy obsessed with the homosexual question often turn out to be gay; those who are calmer tend to be straight.

Benedict XVI has described himself as a bookish boy, averse to sports.

His soft speech is strikingly effeminate; he was seen constantly in the company of his rather dashing private secretary, Georg Ganswein; and he bedecked himself in vestments of such extravagance they included ermine and custom red slippers. He was also the theologian who demonstrated a manic desire to police the slightest deviation from orthodoxy, who described gay people as objectively disordered and inclined toward an intrinsic moral evil, and who, after he banned gay priests, called them one of the miseries of the church. Even to suggest some kind of connection between all these aspects of someone who is also holy, celibate, and sensitive is to be accused of a disgusting insinuation. But this is because so many in the hierarchy still cannot see homosexuality as being about love and identity rather than acts and lust. As we uncover layer upon layer of dysfunction at the very top of the church, it may be time to point out how naked these bejeweled emperors can appear.

And this, of course, has added another layer of complexity to the story of gay priests: Generations matter. Those in their 70s and 80s grew up in a different universe, where the closet was automatic and the notion of even discussing gay priests was scandalous. One priest described that generation to me as so closeted they might as well be in Narnia. They may not even be aware theyre gay. But their reaction to the modern reexamination of homosexual love, and the consideration of sex as distinct from procreation, was panicked retrenchment. Those in their 50s or 60s or younger, by contrast, are generally much more self-aware, and their Catholic peers and families much more accepting. This generational difference is the source of much of the conflict within the churchs highest gay ranks.

At the beginning of the churchs third millennium, the sex-abuse crisis exploded into public consciousness. Suddenly the entire system of secrecy, clerical self-protection, cover-ups, and scandal was brutally exposed. For most gay priests, this was a huge relief. They were as appalled as anyone. But they knew, too, that the system now being dismantled had concealed not only the crimes and abuses of bad priests but also the sins and consensual adult sex of good ones. They had secrets too.

Remember: Celibacy is not an easy task. It is impossible for most human beings to avoid falling in love or physically expressing their sexual being at some point in their lives. In practice, these failures have often been confronted and confessed; as long as the priests are honest and recommit to celibacy, they are allowed to go forward. Some of the gay priests I spoke with acknowledged lapses but insisted that, in consultation with their spiritual directors and superiors, they chose celibacy when the choice became impossible to ignore or avoid. The goal, they explained, was to be free of any particular attachment so they could devote their entire selves to the church as a whole.

Gay priests were as appalled as anyone by the sex-abuse crisis. But they knew, too, that the system now being dismantled had concealed not only the crimes and abuses of bad priests. They had secrets too.

But most had some kind of past incident or failing that could be used against them if made public, even if it were only their identity as a gay man. And so a poisonous kind of omerta took hold, the priesthood acting as a forum of mutually assured destruction. Since many fellow priests know about each others sexuality and/or lapses, they all have the ability to blackmail one another. Mundane failings  like a brief affair  can become easily blurred with profound evils like child abuse. If you expose a child molester to his superior, for example, he might expose your own homosexuality and destroy your career.

This dynamic has made the clerical closet  not the fact of gay priests but the way that fact has been hidden  a core mechanism for tolerating and enabling abuse. On top of all this, the vow of obedience to superiors gives gay bishops and cardinals huge sway over their priestly flock. Some, of course, realized this power could be leveraged for sex and abused it.

New procedures for the protection of minors were put in place after 2002. But so much damage from the past has yet to be confronted. The McCarrick case in particular revealed that the pattern of concealment and toleration of abuse went to the very top of the church. John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis all protected abusers or chose not to confront them. That some of the sex criminals were also responsible for directing vast sums of money to the Vatican  Maciel and McCarrick were legendary for their fund-raising  makes the toleration seem particularly cynical.

We still do not know why, exactly, the traditionalist Benedict XVI decided to be the first pope to resign the office, but some were quick to note that he had compiled an extensive dossier on sexual abuse in the church  and yet somehow felt unable to act. Was he simply overwhelmed by the task, taken aback by the scale of it, and fearful that the entire church could collapse? Francis, in one of his first press conferences as pope, struck out on a different course. He reiterated the distinction between sins and crimes and, while denouncing abuse, did not insist on sexual perfection in the priesthood, as long as failures were confessed, sins absolved, and the priest was committed to a future of celibacy. Then he went further in allowing for good gay priests in the church: The problem is not having this tendency, no; we must be brothers and sisters to one another. The problem, he said, was if gays were to form some kind of faction or lobby within the church  but this, he explained, applied to any lobby: a lobby of misers, a lobby of politicians, a lobby of Masons.

Franciss shift in tone outraged conservatives in the Vatican. (It also, perhaps, worried some powerful sex abusers, who recognized the role of the clerical closet in keeping everything quiet.) And when Francis sought the advice of McCarrick, a moderate liberal, those who knew about McCarricks abuse of seminarians erupted with anger. In one of the most dramatic acts of dissent in the history of the modern church, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former Vatican nuncio to the United States, released a letter in August claiming that McCarricks abuse had been known to both Benedict XVI and the Vatican since 2000; furthermore, Francis knew of McCarricks abuse since 2013 and was now part of a cover-up. Conservative commentators, like ex-Catholic Rod Dreher and the New York Times Ross Douthat, spoke of a potential new schism, with Dreher using slurs like Lavender Mafia to describe the threat he saw to established doctrine.

Vigano went further. He called on the pope to resign: We must tear down the conspiracy of silence with which bishops and priests have protected themselves at the expense of their faithful, a conspiracy of silence that in the eyes of the world risks making the church look like a sect, a conspiracy of silence not so dissimilar from the one that prevails in the Mafia. Vigano also named some of the more liberal cardinals who were proteges of McCarrick. No one at the Vatican was fooled for one moment, James Alison, a gay priest and theologian well sourced in church politics, told me. This was about as close to a public outing as anybody except a journalist from outside the Catholic circle would attempt. Alison believes this may have hurt Viganos case. It frightened even some of Viganos more conservative allies into realizing that they could be outed as well if this came to a major intra-closet war. So they pulled back. (The lull may be temporary. A book due out in February, In the Closet of the Vatican, by the French journalist Frederic Martel, is said to contain extraordinary evidence of gay hypocrisy in the Vatican for several decades.)

But Viganos testimony on the key question  that an actively abusive homosexual cardinal was knowingly tolerated by John Paul II and Benedict XVI and consulted by Francis  had the ring of truth. Tellingly, when confronted with the accusation, Francis made no attempt to deny the charges, refused to release any documents that could disprove Viganos claims, and instead called for silence and prayer.

In September, Francis appeared to lose his equanimity. He equated Viganos letter with the work of the Devil: In these times, it seems like the Great Accuser has been unchained and is attacking bishops. He tries to uncover the sins, so they are visible in order to scandalize the people. He convened a global summit of cardinals to take place in Rome in February to discuss the entire question of sexual abuse in the church. It may well become a moment of reckoning for his papacy  and those of his two predecessors. It may force some kind of decision about the role of gay priests, clerical celibacy, and homosexuality across the church. It is clear to everyone that the current apparatus of secrecy, hypocrisy, abuse, and homophobia needs to end if the churchs moral authority has any chance of being restored. But how?

One possible option is the preference of the Catholic right: for all those implicated in the McCarrick cover-up to resign, including, one presumes, Francis (and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI?); for a massive investigation to be launched into how gay priests, bishops, and cardinals came to be so common and powerful; and for strict enforcement of the 2005 ban on priests. But purging the priesthood of homosexual tendencies would require removing up to a third of the clergy in the U.S. and dismissing scores of bishops and cardinals, including many who have maintained celibacy, preached orthodoxy, and lived exemplary lives. Countless lay Catholics would watch their priests be outed and fired by the church. How would they react?

The mass firings would brand the church as baldly homophobic and easily lead to mass resignations and a further decline in vocations. So be it, the traditionalists say. They want a much smaller, purer church. But few potential popes would want to be the one who precipitated the implosion. More to the point: It could make the problem worse. The church would lose all those priests who are adjusted enough to be honest about their orientation and keep all of those who are the most deeply damaged, closeted, and self-loathing. The potential for sexual abuse could increase.

A second option would be a fudge, a rerun of 2005, when the church said all gay priests should be fired and no gay men be admitted to the seminary  and then did nothing much about it. This would be, in some ways, the worst choice. It was precisely the simultaneous retention and anathematization of closeted gay priests that, over the decades, helped fuel the abuse and its cover-up.

A third option would simply encourage an end to the clerical closet, which is to say, ask all priests to obey one of the Ten Commandments: not to lie about themselves. It would require gay priests to identify as such to their superiors and parishioners and, in clearing the air, make a renewed public vow of celibacy. (Whether celibacy is healthy for the church is its own question, one oddly distinct from the current crisis; a relaxation of the rules wouldnt in itself resolve the churchs position on homosexuality, and an embrace of homosexuality is compatible with a celibate priesthood.) Encouraging an end to the closet would underline the distinction the church formally makes between homosexual identity and homosexual acts. It would deter disturbed closet cases from entering the priesthood and provide priestly role models for gay Catholics who find themselves called to celibacy. Those gay priests who refused to be fully transparent could leave. Cardinals and bishops and directors of seminaries could insist on frank discourse on the matter. Double lives would become far less common. If a priest is committed to celibacy and doing a good job, why is his public gayness a problem?

The only obstacle standing in the way of this path is the homophobia formally embedded into church doctrine in 1986 by the future Benedict XVI. The church now explicitly teaches that gay people are objectively disordered because their very being leads them to an intrinsic moral evil. This evil is the orientation to have sex that cannot lead to procreation  the same reason the church opposes birth control for straight couples. The difference, of course, is that birth control is a choice, while gayness isnt.

A better analogy would perhaps be the infertile, who also, simply because of the way they are, cannot have procreative sex. But the church does not call them objectively disordered. It eagerly marries them, as well as elderly straight couples. In fact, the church embraces every other minority, person with a disability, and individual persecuted or marginalized by society because of some involuntary characteristic. No other group of human beings is described by the church as objectively disordered.

At some point you realize that this is, in the end, the bottom line. There is a deep and un-Christian cruelty at the heart of the churchs teaching, a bigotry profoundly at odds with the churchs own commitment to seeing every person as worthy of respect, deserving of protection, and made in the image of God. Its based on a lie  a lie that the hierarchy knows is untrue, and a lie proven untrue by science and history and the churchs own experience. The hierarchy is tying itself in knots in public over something it has already conceded in private, Father Leo explained to me. The task, it seems to me, is not to rid the church of homosexuality, which is an integral part of the human mystery, but of hypocrisy, dishonesty, and dysfunction. Impossible? I admit to, at times, a crushing fatalism. But I also believe, as a Catholic, that nothing is impossible with God.

On a Sunday morning in late 2017, at the conservative parish of St. Bernadette in Milwaukee, Father Gregory Greiten was extremely nervous. The next day, the National Catholic Reporter would be publishing an article he wrote in which he would come out as gay. No one in his congregation knew in advance, and now he was about to say Mass. He wanted to tell his own parish first.

Father Greg  yes, this is his real name  had gone to a high-school seminary, where some same-sex teen experimentation had gone on, and hed been exposed as one of the culprits and outed to his family. I totally had a meltdown the day my parents were called in, he told me. I was crying my eyes out  The scars that were left  they gave me PTSD for years. He suppressed his sexuality and pursued what he saw as his calling to be a priest but suffered a breakdown over his gayness when he was 24. In time, he recovered and focused on his ministry, but after 25 years of celibate priesthood, he finally decided he couldnt lie about himself anymore and retain his integrity. He found his way in 2017 to a retreat for gay priests run by New Ways Ministry, a gay-friendly Catholic group. To come to a place where you could be so open and so honest  it was so liberating to be around people who just want to talk and be honest and follow their own path of authenticity. It boosted his confidence.

He was worried about his pension and health insurance, but I thought, Well, if you want to take the priesthood from me, take it  Im not masquerading as a straight man to help the church ignore the matter anymore. I drank that poison most of the years of my life. If you need me to lie about who I am, then the priesthood is a sham.

As we spoke, there was no anger in his voice, just a midwestern folksiness. He told me that the toll of the closet was immense on many around him, including suicides that had been hushed up. He was aware that it was relatively easy for him to come out; he knew his own record of celibacy was unblemished since he was 24. Others were more compromised and could be more easily targeted. If he wasnt going to take the lead, who else would?

That Sunday morning, when he stood up to deliver his homily, he felt his mouth dry up. The church was packed, and as he started to tell his story, the silence was close to unbearable. He soldiered on. No response. Eventually, a woman stood up in the pews and he braced himself. God bless you, Father! God bless you! she yelled. And then, all at once, the congregation rose and applauded. At the end of the homily, another standing ovation.

He hasnt looked back since. The archbishop of Milwaukee offered a public statement, regretting that Father Greg had come out but pledging to treat him with understanding and compassion. Greg told me he has had no personal interaction with the archbishop since he told him hed be coming out. He did get a kind voice-mail on his birthday, though.

This year has been one of the best years of my life, Greg said. I feel much closer to Jesus. Someone asked me if I had regrets and I said to him, Do you know what freedom is? Because if you do, you wouldnt have asked the question. All that energy that went into creating a false self  the banter  all that pretending is done. I wish other priests could have some of that freedom. Then he offered something unexpected: I want to say something about my mom. My mom has done for me what the church has never done  which is to love and respect me for who I am and who God has created me to be. Maybe at some point, Mother Church will do the same.

*This article appears in the January 21, 2019, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now!
While moss can make anything they cover look old or dirty, local youngsters find a set of moss-covered rocks in a seashore area in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang a great background for their Instagram photos.

The rocks, located at the Nam O beach in the citys Lien Chieu District, have emerged as a new check-in point for locals and tourists alike, as they already began to be coated with moss after the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday came to an end last weekend.

The green rocks now make the seashore area look like a fresh meadow emerging from the beach.

The moss-covered rocks are not slippery as one may think, but they are soft to touch.

The rocks make the area look like a meadow emerging from the sea. Photo: Tan Luc / Tuoi Tre

The best time to admire the scene is early in the morning when the tide is low, and the rocks can be seen above the water.

And when the sun rises, the water drops on the moss will reflect the sunlight to create an illuminating effect for photos taken at the scene.

Taking photos amid the moss-covered rocks at the Nam O beach has become a trend among young people over the last few years.

The landscape still has its pristine beauty of unspoiled nature and the beautiful rocks look even more impressive with the moss covering them, Lam Thuy Diem, a college student who learned of this photogenic scenery through her classmates, said.

While the area is already packed with people taking photos with the moss-covered rocks, Tran Thi Thanh Tien, a local resident, said it is not the most beautiful time to visit the area yet.

In just a few weeks the whole beach will be covered in green, she said, referring to the phenomenon that not all rocks in the area are now moss-coated.

As a local, Tien expressed her hope that the place would become a well-known tourist destination and benefit the residents there.

Good news is Nam O has enjoyed increasing numbers of visitors over the years, according to Dang Thu, 76, who has been selling beverages at the beach for 13 years.

In the moss season after Tet, I often make a decent income as more and more visitors come here to admire the green rocks, she said.

A girl poses in the natural scenery. Photo: Tan Luc / Tuoi Tre

The moss-covered rocks are also soft to touch. Photo: Tan Luc / Tuoi Tre

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Vietnamese national Le Viet Quoc is quickly making a name for himself in Silicon Valley as his contributions to Googles revolutionary Artificial Intelligence (AI) projects related to Google Translate and Google Search continue to push the two platforms forward.

Quoc made the MIT Technology Reviews list of top innovators under 35 in 2014 thanks to his work developing image search and speech recognition software, and now helps employ some of that technology as one of three project leaders at Google Brain  a Google research team specializing in AI and machine learning.

His current work at Google Brain involves managing five to six projects associated with facial and speech recognition and natural language processing.

He is also working with other Google divisions to help improve Google Translate.

Quoc started studying AI and machine learning in 2004 at the Australian National University before earning a PhD from Stanford University, where he focused on developing methods to boost machine learning performance.

At the time, AI scientists were engrossed in deep learning  a machine learning method in which hundreds of computers operate within an artificial network modeled on the human nervous system in order to process speech and imagery.

Though the development of deep learning was already a massive turning point for AI researchers, Quoc became absorbed in improving the methodology behind it and found himself developing a more efficient artificial network capable of processing much greater amounts of data with much less human assistance.

He joined Google Brain in 2011 and began working with renowned computer scientist Andrew Yan-Tak Ng.

The following year, he and his colleagues revealed their projects results, triggering a deep learning arms race between Google and other tech giants such as Facebook and Microsoft.

Le Viet Quoc (first left) poses for a picture with Bill Gates and AI experts.

Quocs project uses a computer-based neural network to recognize cats using ten million digital images from YouTube and 3,000 from a large visual database called ImageNet.

He has also been involved in projects centered on recognizing speech in Android and automatically tagging people in images.

After leaving Stanford in 2013, Quoc worked for Google as a central researcher at Google Brain, where he paid much of his attention to machine translation.

In 2016, Google rolled out the AI-based Neural Machine Translation System using his research results and earlier this year the corporation launched the machine learning product Cloud AutoML, which is also based on his ideas.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) had the opportunity to sit down for an interview with Quoc during his recent visit to Vietnam to discuss his work and achievements in the technology sector.

Working at Google, AI research, and speech recognition are phrases that may suggest a very intense, stressful job?

Oh no. That is not the case. My work at Google is pretty comfortable and not very stressful. I arrive at work around nine or ten oclock on weekdays and most of my job involves programming and meeting with other group members to discuss technical matters.

I often leave work at 7:00 pm, but I sometimes work until midnight if a deadline is approaching. The weekend is my time for family, friends, and reading.

Googles laid-back, creativity-facilitating environment is widely known, but working here can really give you a deeper experience of that environment. There is neither constraint nor pressure.

My team consists of 25 members and we are able to do what we like in an environment free from restrictions and pressure from above.

Le Viet Quoc (in light blue) looks at a presentation.

Its a typical feature of Google that everything comes from individuals, even ones of the lowest rank, and no limits are imposed by the superior. So there is little worry about the working environment and salary. All of this gives us inspiration to work and the greatest contribution we are expected to make is our creativity.

Why did you choose to work for Google?

Material wealth is important. Seriously. A scientist constantly worried about money cant work creatively. Money should be taken seriously.

But to most scientists who have reached a certain point in their careers, money is no longer a concern. What those scientists care about and need for their scientific research are good partners and an appropriate working environment.

Its a global tendency now for scientific research to be done in teams, rather than individually. Thats why having a good environment and like-minded colleagues is important. That, at least, is my own personal experience.

It took me four or five years to find success at Stanford. Scientific research takes a long time and entails many more failures than successes. One should have a vision and patience after a project is started.

Most scientific studies end up in failure but investors still pour money into them. Why?? Because if only one percent of the studies are successful, then significant change will still occur.

How did you step into AI research?

I want to share my experience with young people so that they can be successful in their scientific research, as well as in their jobs and life. I think young people should not be scared to really focus on deciding what they like and dont like. I want to stress that the youth shouldnt feel hesitant about that.

Id like to tell my own relevant story. When I was studying at the Australian National University in 2004, I began learning AI. I found it very interesting and wanted to study it in depth. I decided to send an email to a leading AI expert in Australia on the off chance that he would respond. The response came just an hour later and he told me to meet him in person.

After the conversation, that professor gave me an assignment and took me to his AI research group. Thats the email that changed my life.

Therefore, my advice to the youth is not to be afraid of doing what you like. You should send emails to those whose advice you wish to solicit, without worrying about whether or not they will answer. If only one out of ten emails gets a reply, youve been successful.

If the person you ask feels your desire to learn, he or she will give you a chance. Thats the lesson I learned for myself. And when you have the chance, work diligently.

Le Viet Quoc (first right) poses for a picture with other members of a group developing technology for self-driving cars.

Could you tell us about AI and give a conjecture about its prospect in years ahead?

Although AI has a long history, its most significant leaps were made back in 2011 and 2012 thanks to deep learning. The greatest development occurred in image and speech recognition, natural language processing, and AI in game playing.

Leading AI experts have believed since 2012 that deep learning growth would slow down, but the contrary is true. One of the chief reasons is that computer processing speed has continued to increase significantly and more researchers have joined the field. I guess deep learning will keep growing over the next several years.

At present, companies that have found multiple applications for AI and deep learning are typically Internet corporations such as Google and Facebook. But I think within the next few years AI and deep learning will spread to other fields including traffic control, health care and, education.

AI technology will develop by leaps and bounds over the next five or ten years.

Some fear that once highly developed, AI will have adverse implications for human life. When it has transcended technological limits, it may become a social issue. What do you think about this scenario?

I believe AI and deep learning arent so dangerous as are perceived in movies. They are actually tools for programming to experts. In the past, programming was done by complicated laws, but now its done with handling input and output.

Look at it from this perspective: AI and deep learning are really dangerous when humans use them for dangerous purposes. The situation is no different from that created by inventions of human beings such as fire and electricity.

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WASHINGTON/HANOI - Vietnamese airlines will be able to fly to the United States and codeshare with American carriers after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration declared the Southeast Asian country complies with international safety standards.

The U.S. aviation safety agency said in a statement late on Thursday that it was awarding Vietnam a Category 1 rating, two weeks after Reuters reported the decision was expected.

Its recognition by a very developed aviation authority which requires a very high standard of safety and security, Vietnamese Deputy Transportation Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong told Reuters on Friday.

There are currently no non-stop flights between Vietnam and the United States, despite a large market catering to tourism and visits by friends and relatives. Vietnam Airlines JSC and Bamboo Airways have both expressed the desire to fly to the United States.

Bamboo Airways Chairman Trinh Van Quyet said Bamboo was considering destinations such as Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco, with the first route to open in late 2020 or early 2021. His airline has ordered 20 Boeing Co 787s for long-haul flights.

CAPA Centre for Aviation Chief Analyst Brendan Sobie said the FAA rating was important for Vietnam symbolically and politically.

But he said Vietnamese airlines could struggle to make U.S. flights profitable because of the lack of demand from high-paying business travelers.

Vietnam Airlines CEO Duong Tri Thanh told Reuters last year that airline could open routes to the United States despite such commercial limitations.

The airline did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Friday.

The FAA last year sent a team to Vietnam to conduct a safety assessment.

Vietnams rapidly growing aviation market saw traffic increase 16 percent on average each year from 2010 to 2017, government data shows.

Its airlines, which also include budget carriers VietJet Aviation JSC and Jetstar Pacific, are major customers of Boeing and Airbus SE.
Vietnams investment authorities have confirmed they were in talks with Apple on a possible investment of the iPhone maker in the Southeast Asian country, amid widespread speculation about the U.S. tech titans relocation of its production in China.

A representative of the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under Vietnams Ministry of Planning and Investment told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper earlier this week that the Vietnamese side has discussed the issue with Apple multiple times, but no conclusion has been reached yet.

Apple is still considering the possibility of running its production in Vietnam, the official said.

The FIA representative underlined that the iPhone maker has many countries under consideration, not only Vietnam.

The company may be assessing the competitive advantages of Vietnam and other countries to make the final decision.

Vietnam has emerged as an option for investors from the U.S. and the EU amid a growing trend of companies in the States relocating their production out of China, according to Nguyen Mai, chairman of Vietnams Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE).

Basically, our legal foundation is relatively good, consistent with international practices, Mai optimistically said, implying that Vietnam has a certain competitive edge in the race to attract investments from major global enterprises.

But the VAFIE chairman also warned that foreign investors may be discouraged by such issues as Vietnams lax attitude toward intellectual property law enforcement and corruption.

It was reported in December that Foxconn, the worlds biggest electronics contract manufacturer and a key Apple supplier, was considering setting up a factory in Vietnam to mitigate any possible impact of an ongoing trade war between the United States and China.

Although an industrial park in the northern Vietnamese province of Bac Giang has emerged as the chosen location for the factory, the venues management has denied the information, according to Vietnams Dau Tu (Investment) newspaper.

In a February 14 report, the newspaper, overseen by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, quoted an industrial park leader as saying that they had never been contacted by Foxconn for an US$16.5 million investment as rumored.

He added that Foxconn does have two sub-suppliers in Bac Giang.

One of them, which makes iPhone earphones for Apple, has recently increased its registered capital from $100 million to $210 million as part of the investment expansion, he told Dau Tu.

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The University of Arizona initially said there were 16 investigations into sexual assault, sexual harassment and dating violence in a six-year span. That number is actually 27, according to a court document.
The sip-and-do-anything trend has made its way into Tucson's running community. That's right. You can now turn your run time into party time.
OPINION: "I am disheartened by our current administrations pattern of blanket giveaways, as opposed to judiciously allocating the funds to where they are most needed," writes Tucsonan John Newport.
Authorities warn that mudslides are still possible Friday even after a damaging storm moved through California, trapping people in floodwaters, triggering a debris flow that destroyed homes, and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year.

The powerful system swept in from the Pacific Ocean and unleashed rain, snow and wind across the U.S. West into Wyoming, Colorado and Arizona after walloping Northern California and southern Oregon earlier.

The heavy rain mostly ended Thursday night but forecasters said scattered showers are expected in California through Saturday.

A flood warning lasting through Saturday was issued for the community of Guerneville north of San Francisco because the Russian River surpassed flood stage overnight.

The National Weather Service reported staggering rainfall amounts across California, including more than 9.4 inches (24 centimeters) over 48 hours at one location in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles.  Associated Press
The tunnels where the artisanal gold miners are trapped run as deep as 165 feet into the ground, making the rescue operation difficult, Mabweazara said.

There was a heavy downpour resulting in the flooding of shafts. All the shafts are connected underground. We suspect the trapped miners have drowned, so our efforts are now on pumping out the water to retrieve the bodies, Mabweazara said.

Mexico

Detained migrants scuffle with police

MEXICO CITY  Police briefly scuffled with some of the 1,600 Central American migrants who have been confined at an improvised shelter in the Mexican border town of Piedras Negras, across from Eagle Pass, Texas.

Video of Wednesdays incident shows some migrants tearing down a temporary awning and trying to wrestle metal barricades away from police.

The government of the border state of Coahuila said the situation was brought under control and talks were held with the migrants, who have been confined for at least 10 days in a vacant factory building that is ringed by police and soldiers.
Spain and Morocco can build a pioneering alliance within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership that can contribute to bringing closer the two shores of the Mediterranean, said King Felipe VI of Spain, who vowed that Morocco will always find in Spain a faithful and committed partner to support its progress in all areas.

Speaking at the closing session of the Morocco-Spain Economic Forum, held Thursday in Rabat, the Spanish monarch who was on an official visit to Morocco, said that in an increasingly complex world, Spain and Morocco can build a pioneering and avant-garde alliance in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership.

Such an alliance is likely to bring closer the two shores of the Mediterranean as well as the European and African continents, the Spanish king pointed out.

In Spain, we are convinced that Morocco will continue to strengthen its position as a priority partner for our country, whether as a final destination or as a gateway to Africa, he said, adding that time has come to explore new areas of cooperation, to move forward in the economic and trade partnership and to extend it to Africa.

To achieve this goal, the Spanish Sovereign has called for relying on the policy adopted in recent years by Morocco, which succeeded, under the active leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, in positioning its companies in the African continent and has become the biggest pan-African investor.

The Spanish sovereign pointed out that the reforms undertaken by Morocco will provide a new impetus to achieve higher levels of development and social cohesion, remove barriers to growth, improve the business climate and attract more investments in the region, particularly in strategic areas such as renewable energy, water and infrastructure.

In this connection, King Felipe VI welcomed the progress made by Morocco in modernizing its economy, its infrastructure and its institutions, recalling that the North African Kingdom has gained 60 places in 7 years in Doing Business ranking.

Under the leadership of King Mohammed VI and thanks to its significant political progress and democratic reforms, Morocco has strengthened its position as a real pole of political stability, socio-economic growth and modernization in the region, he said.

This economic forum, bringing together investors and businessmen from both countries, will further develop the Spanish-Moroccan ties as well as trade between the two countries, King Felipe VI said.

King Felipe VI reiterated later at a meeting with members of the Spanish community settled in Morocco that his country and Morocco are working together to consolidate their strategic partnership, which is, he said, of paramount importance to Europe and the Maghreb.

The Spanish Sovereign also lauded as valuable and effective cooperation between Rabat and Madrid in the fight against terrorism, crime and illegal immigration, while stressing the importance of strengthening cooperation in these areas with the support of the EU.

Analysts explained that the fact that King Felipe VI has visited Morocco twice in less than five years, the first visit having taken place in 2014, attests that he is keen on strengthening ties between the two countries. During his long tenure, the former Spanish monarch, Juan Carlos, visited Morocco only three times overallin 1979, 2005, and 2013.

The second royal visit was marked by talks with King Mohammed VI and by the signing of eleven cooperation agreements.
Bowers declined to comment on the latest development. But an aide to the speaker said, at this point, Bowers intends to pursue his legislation, even with the threat.

That echoes the comments Bowers made last month to Capitol Media Services when the tribe first said he has to drop his legislation.

Im not going to back down, he said at the time.

And he lashed out at the tribe for trying to link the issues.

This is just showing their mentality to everybody who gets in their way, Bowers said. Its all our way or no way.

The legislation that threatens to blow up the deal, HB 2476 concerns at what point people who had at one time had the right to divert water from the river lose those rights. As the law now reads, those rights were forfeited if the water was not used for at least five years.

Bowers wants to repeal all that. That, in turn, would affect ongoing lawsuits about who gets to claim water from the upper Gila River, water that the tribe says belongs to it because the prior users forfeited their rights.

But what would otherwise be a discrete fight over water rights has now spilled over into the larger question of whether Arizona will have the water it needs.
In order to get all those votes, Republican legislative leaders needed Democrats to vote yes. And once this was all hashed out, after long hearings, Democrats did.

Those Democratic votes would not have been there, had there been an additional $20 million in there for groundwater infrastructure, Engel said.

But now, of course, Republicans dont need Democratic votes to pass Cooks simple appropriation. They just need a majority.

It remains to be seen if Republicans have the stomach for handing over $20 million more now. It would seem natural that, if this timely spending is to happen, it would be on the condition that the state gets paid back with whatever federal grants Arizona can get for the same purpose.

Stratospheric fundraising

By my rough calculations, Mark Kelly is on track to raise about $380 million in his campaign for U.S. Senate.

Hows that? Well, Kelly raked in an astounding $604,000 in online donations during the first 24 hours of his campaign, from 6 a.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday. Multiply that by the roughly 21 months to go before the general election, and youve got an American record haul!
A local nonprofit pushing for statewide prison reform is hosting a free screening of its short documentary in Tucson on Saturday.

The documentary is based on last month's ReFraming Justice Day, which drew more than 100 formerly incarcerated people and their families to the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix to celebrate the introduction of House Bill 2270.

HB 2270 would address Arizonas 85 percent requirement, also referred to as truth in sentencing, that says convicts must serve 85 percent of their prison sentence before being eligible for release. "We Got This!" chronicles the day and features interviews with advocates, formerly incarcerated people and their families.

Piper Kerman, author of the memoir "Orange is the New Black" and Pat Nolan of the American Conservative Union held a press conference, during which several people affected by Arizona's prison system spoke about their own experiences.

After the press conference, attendees met with more than 30 lawmakers to advocate for HB 2270 and the Arizona Legislature proclaimed January 22 ReFraming Justice Day.

The film includes music from Tucson's Ojala Systems. The screening is free, but AFSC-AZ will be accepting donations.
Starting early next month, the Star will drop the daily comic Non Sequitur and run Rubes in its place.

Wiley Miller, the creator of Non Sequitur, inserted vulgar language aimed at President Trump into a strip featuring bears drawn in the style of Leonardo da Vinci. The strip, presented in black and white as a coloring exercise, ran in the Star on Feb. 10.

The offending words are tiny and barely legible, which struck me at first as a mitigating factor, but on reflection makes it all the worse. Although Miller says he meant to erase the coarse language and that he never intended it for public consumption, the end result is that he slipped in language he knew editors would never allow without giving us the chance to object.

The fact that it appeared in the section most likely to be read by kids  my 11-year-old son reads the comics each morning  makes Millers actions especially objectionable.

Non Sequitur consistently ranks as one of our most popular comics and I apologize in advance to the many readers I know will be disappointed. But had a staff member slipped this type of language into a story, photograph or cartoon, I would take action  so its only fair that I hold our contributors to the same standard.
Opinion Coordinator

Sara Brown joined the Star in 2014 after working for the San Pedro Valley New Sun in Benson. She works with letters to the editor, produces Opinion Team chats, and curates columns such as Keeping the Faith, Business Awards and Adopt A Friend.
During the peak times, Lieb said there were as many as 3,000 empty parking spaces around campus.

Lieb added the residential and faculty parking areas closest to campus were the busiest, with 99 percent and 89 percent occupancy, respectively. The data they collected while visiting campus showed the closer to campus, the more occupied the parking lot  especially in residential permits areas, since the permits were oversold this year, Lieb said.

Despite the thousands of spaces left available, results from the consultants campus-wide survey conducted in the fall  which had a 28 percent response rate  showed 61 percent of surveyed undergraduates and 30-40 percent of surveyed faculty have experienced a problem finding a parking space at least once a week or more.

This is very much a perception issue because there are between 2,000 and 3,000 open somewhere on campus, just not where people want them, Lieb said.

The biggest take away from the data, Lieb said, is 86 percent of the survey respondents are scared they will not find another parking space if they decide to leave between classes. As more people leave their cars camped in parking spaces all day, Lieb said the problem of available parking spaces becomes compounded.
Hicks, however, told committee members that the bill was written in a way that those concerns could be mitigated and that only bad actors would be impacted if the bill were passed.

The key to the bill, Hicks said, is how targeted it is, ensuring that only able-bodied individuals who are able to work and are, in essence, cheating the system, would be impacted. The bill has exemptions written into it for individuals who are pregnant, are the primary caregivers of young children or unable to work because of a disability. The bill also includes exemptions for members of the Eastern Shoshone or Northern Arapaho Tribes  for whom the federal government is already mandated to provide health care  or individuals who are part of a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program.

The bill also has a catch-all provision written in to offer the state some flexibility in determining whether or not an individual is eligible for an exemption.

Some of the early data, if you go to the analysis in Arkansas, the people who fell off, only 20 percent of those basically fell off the safety net, Hicks said. I would just be opining on something without statistical data, but thats why we have that catch-all category so we dont have those unintended consequences.
The program could drop premiums for those people by as much as 17 percent, Scott said. But he acknowledged it might not be palatable for the broader Senate.

I wont criticize anybody from either side; its a tough decision, he said.

Senate leadership was indeed skeptical Wednesday. Bebout, who was president for the past two sessions, said there was no question it would serve those who needed help. But he worried about taxing insurance providers. He noted that the bill would have ended the program in 2025  with Scott explaining that federal changes would probably end it before then. But he said once the plan was unrolled, lawmakers would have trouble pulling it away from Wyomingites.

Sen. Drew Perkins, a Casper Republican and the Senates president, wondered if increasing taxes on insurance providers would result in premiums going up across the board to offset those costs.

The plan would have been funded by the state via taxes on insurance providers, to the tune of about $9 million a year. State Insurance Commissioner Tom Glause told lawmakers in October that the federal government would likely chip in more money. He estimated that a reinsurance program would save the federal government $60 million annually, which could then be rerouted into the program.
The school board here has written letters to state Superintendent Jillian Balow  who leads the Education Department  and met with her in person. But the trustees were persistently dissatisfied; Balow maintained that the districts had to test the younger students and provide the data.

At times, the disagreement grew contentious. Board members here sarcastically questioned why Balow didnt respond to their questions (Balow said her office was busy with the rollout of WY-TOPP but had planned to respond) and quipped that it took newspaper articles to force a discussion on the issue.

Ultimately, the board chose to pursue a fix legislatively, after Balow made it clear she felt she was following state law in requiring the testing and data. The Natrona County board brought the effort to the Wyoming School Board Association, who sponsored it as a priority for the session.

From there, three Natrona County Republican lawmakers  House Speaker Steve Harshman and Sens. Charlie Scott and Bill Landen  sponsored a measure to support the districts goal. The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Eric Barlow, a Gillette Republican and member of House leadership.
The USA Thursday refuted statement by the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) that it conducted in coordination with the Tripoli-based administration a raid on some al-Qaeda fighters, in southern Libya.

The US military command headquartered in Germany, Stuttgart, in a statement said it did not take part in the operation announced on Wednesday by spokesman for GNA leader Faiez Serraj, Mohamed El Sallak.

US Africa Command was not involved in the reported raid of an al-Qaeda site in Ubari, Libya, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, the command said in the statement.

US Africa Command has not conducted any air strikes in Libya in 2019.

Spokesman Sallak had said in a statement the US military command, in coordination with the GNA, targeted some militants of the terror group near the southern city.

The denial appears as surprise and a blow to the chemistry between the GNA and the USA.

The US military command has since the GNAs establishment in capital, in March 2016, brought support to the weak government. The command backed the GNA-aligned forces to derail Islamic State group (ISIS) fighters in the city of Sirte that the terror group turned into his stronghold in the region.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded its annual funding to each state to support homeless programs, including $288,790 for Wyoming, according to a press release from the organization.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson made the announcement earlier this month while visiting a womens shelter in Akron, Ohio.

Today we make another critical investment to those persons and families living in our shelters and on our streets, he said, according to the release. These new programs will join those already on the front lines in their communities working to end homelessness.

Christine Baumann, HUDs regional public affairs specialist, said Wednesday that its crucial to get homeless citizens into stable housing as soon as possible.

There is research that says the quicker that you do that, the more likely people are to succeed, she said.

Baumann said homelessness is a critical issue that must not be ignored.

We have a lot of people  including veterans, families with children or persons with disabilities  who need help, she said. We have to make sure that we are taking into consideration that there are some people who cant obtain stable housing on their own.
BOZEMAN, Mont.  The conductor of the Bozeman Symphony, Matthew Savery, has resigned amid an investigation into allegations that he bullied and harassed musicians, staff and patrons. Savery had also been the conductor and music director of the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra in Casper until May 2018.

Matthew Savery will be voluntarily leaving his position as Music Director and Conductor with the Bozeman Symphony, the statement read. Matthew expresses his gratitude for and appreciation to the Symphony for the opportunity to serve and is grateful for his time with the exceptional musicians who have made the Symphony a success. He is thankful to the donors and community who have supported live symphonic music in Bozeman and who will continue to do so in the future. He wishes nothing but success for the Symphony in the future and encourages the community to continue in its support going forward.
Coal newcomer

While little information is available about the potential buyer of the Kemmerer mine, its financial guarantor is led by a man with a unique history in the coal business.

Clarkes business deals have been headline news from Virginia to Minnesota since he bought into coal during the recent downturn. Coal mines were going for a song in the broken market for buyers willing to pick up cleanup obligations. Clarkes nonprofit, for example, took on hundreds of millions in cleanup costs after acquiring a number of mines in West Virginia from bankrupt Patriot Coal, according to a New York Times profile on Clarke in 2016.

The unlikely new coal baron said he was inspired in his new venture by a desire to push and pull the industry in a green direction, according to the Times. Arguing that he could change the coal industry from within, he explained to the newspaper a scheme to take advantage of federal green credits during the Obama era by planting trees worldwide and attaching the green credits for that activity to every ton of coal sold to the power industry.

But the coal plus environmental credit tonnage model wasnt popular, as of the time of the New York Times profile.
Travel is for all ages. However, some enlightening destinations in India are best enjoyed before reaching the crucial age of 30 years. They are places which attract youth as the journeys involve adventure and thrill. Memories made on these adventurous trips will only grow stronger and sweeter with age.



Binsar

The forests of Binsar invite nature-loving travellers who are eager to trek through woods and up the hills. The sounds of the wild animals and birds, shade of massive trees and the cool air of the forest are enchanting.

Binsar, a popular trekking destination, is situated in Almora in Uttarakhand. Travellers attest that the peace offered by the forest would offer an experience that remain in memories for a lifetime.

The major tourist spots in Binsar include 'zero point,' Paryadeva pashan, Mary Budhan Estate, Binsar wildlife sanctuary and Bineswar Mahadeva Temple, among others.

October and November are the ideal months to visit Binsar. The nearest airport is Pant Nagar, which is 152 km away. Travellers by train can get down at Kathgodam railway station. It is 119 km from Binsar.

Kanatal

An ideal destination for adventure lovers, Kanatal offers several thrilling fun activities. Also part of Uttarakhand, the place lures visitors with its pristine rural setting and picturesque landscape.

As a high altitude place, setting up a camp and spending nights in the open provide a unique experience. Kanatal is considered among the best holiday destinations in India.

Other tourist attractions in the area include a dense forest, Tehri Lake, Surkhanda Devi Temple and New Tehri Dam.

Ideal time for a visit to Kanatal is from April to June. While the nearest railway station is Rishikesh 75 km away, Jolly Grant airport is 92 from Kanatal.

Kutch

Travellers should visit Kutch at least once in their lifetime to experience the bleak landscape totally devoid of greenery. White sand can be seen all over the place and salt-laden wind blows all the time. Kutch is located in the north-western part of Gujarat and the main celebration here is the 'Kite festival.' The sight of multi-coloured kites conquering the skies is a sight to cherish.

Due to a desert-like climate, Kutch is thinly populated. However, during the kite festival, it attracts a large number of tourists. Ideal time to visit is from November to February. Other interesting sights in Kutch include Prag Mahal, Kalo Dungar, Kutch Museum, Antique Museum, Mandvi Beach, and Aina Mhal.

The nearest airport is Bhuj, 69 km away, while the nearest railway is also Bhuj, which is 50 km from Kutch.

Assam

Blessed with amazing landscape, rich forests, and wildlife, Assam is among the most picturesque states in India. There are several attractions in Assam which challenge adventure-seeking travellers.

The highlight of Assam's forests is the unique one-horned rhinoceros. There are other interesting animal species, too, which visitors can enjoy. Jeep safari is available for trips deep into the forest. Travellers wishing to trek on foot into the woods can also do so. During the November to April period, boat rides can be enjoyed in the Brahmaputra river. The ideal time to visit Assam is from October to April.

Main tourist spots are Kaziranga National Park, Kamakhya Temple, Manas National Park, Sreemantha Sankardev Kalakshetra, and Assam museum.

Nearest airport to enjoy the sights is Mohanbari regional airport in Dibrugarh and the railway station Tinsukia.

Tirthan Valley

Everyone in the twenties, has at one point, wished to be a part of an adventure which involves trekking and hiking up a hill and camping for the night on the hilltop. Tirthan Valley offers such experiences as well as many more. An all-pervading peace and calmness prevails in the valley, which would captivate nature lovers with the trekking opportunities available.

Located in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, the ideal time for a visit to Tirthan Valley is from March to June and during October and November. Great Himalayan national park, Jalori Pass and Raghupur Fort are among the main attractions.

The nearest airport is Bhuntar, which is 48 km from Tirthan Valley. From Ambala railway station, the valley can be reached by travelling 188 km. But a road trip from Delhi via Punjab and Haryana unfurls scenic views along the route to the valley.

Dalhousie

Also known as 'Little Switzerland,' Dalhousie is a charming spot created by the British in the hills. Surrounded by mountain ranges, there is greenery all around as well as beautiful streams.

The highlight of the place is the presence of several buildings constructed in Victorian architectural style. Once Dalhousie was the summer residence of the British. Now it is among the most popular holiday destinations in the region.

The best period to visit Dalhousie is from March to June. Among the interesting sights are Khajjiar, Panch pulla, Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary, Sat Dhara waterfalls, St John's Church and Chamunda Devi Temple.

Pathankot, 85 km away, is the nearest airport. The railway station at Pathankot is also the most convenient destination for train passengers heading to Dalhousie.
The concept of jail tourism may not be familiar to Keralites yet, but they can experience it close to the state  at Gudalur in Tamil Nadu. A prison that is around 150 years old awaits visitors at this place in the Nilgiri hills.



Getting there

Gudalur, in fact, is the gateway to the Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu and can be reached via Nilambur in Kerala by taking the Nadukani ghat road. The word Gudalur translates to 'meeting place' and it is, in fact, a point where the borders of three states  Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka  meet. At T-Junction in Gudalur, a traveller can notice the sign boards which say, turn to one direction and reach Ooty, which is also in Tamil Nadu, while the opposite road heads to Mysuru in Karnataka.

Gudalur, located between the historic princely state of Mysore and Ooty, which was the summer capital of the Madras Presidency, carries a mysterious charm.

Gudalur town

One would realize that Gudalur is not a tiny town, while watching the landscape from the top of the Soochippara rock along the Ooty road. A ticket has to be purchased to reach the spot, which lies beyond a eucalyptus grove.

Chinese connection

Before Soochippara, lies the Wilson plantation, which is only around 50 years old. Nilgiri is not connected with the histories of any monarchies but it belonged to the tribal people. After the British arrived in India, they chose Nilgiris to plant eucalyptus and cinchona.

However, the work on the plantations did not progress as expected and the British brought prisoners from other countries as labourers. These men included many people from China. When their sentence was completed, the Chinese people set up a village of their own in Gudalur and started living there. A board which says, 'No entry' can be seen on the way to the village.

Refugees

The Tantea estate also has a connection with prisoners as well as refugees. Refugees from Sri Lanka were rehabilitated in the estate, owned by the Tamil Nadu government.

The work on the jail at Gudalur was completed in 1865. Finding that the prisons at Singapore and other places were overcrowded and needing workers at the estates in Gudalur, the British decided to build a jail here. Inmates from other prisons were soon brought here.

Peruvian remedies

A common problem faced by visitors to rugged destinations is muscle cramps. An ancient remedy for the condition is the bark of the cinchona tree which was resorted to by the native people of Peru and other South American countries. But the British saw cinchona as a medicine for Malaria.

The botanists of the British times found that Nilgiris had the same climate as Peru and suggested the area for cinchona cultivation. It was at Naduvattom, where the jail is located, that the first cinchona plantation came up in India and the prisoners were brought to work there.

At the Tea Museum near the jail, an exhibit reveals that 'Illustrated London News,' the world's first illustrated weekly, had carried a pictorial feature on the plantation.

Inside the jail

The interiors of the prison, which is built close to an attractive bungalow, are similar to that of a godown. A visitor would wonder if the high-roofed cells could house an animal as big as an elephant!

At present, iron gates have been fixed to the cells and it is cool inside. The prison, with corridors on both sides, housed up to 560 inmates at one time.

On the jail premises, spots where various punishment methods were carried out can be seen. Statues in full uniform  of jail officials and inmates  have been installed at many areas. A fair warning: Once inside, the feelings may vary from wonderment to cursory depression, having been reminded of a dark chapter in colonial history.

However, while leaving the place, the visitor can boost his or her spirits by stepping into the Tea Museum nearby. Exhibits here describe the benefits of drinking tea as well as the history of tea cultivation in India.

Route

Gudalur jail can be reached from Kerala via Nilambur. From there, take the NadukaniGudalurNadukaniPanthallurCherambadiErumadu route.

Food can be had from Indian Coffee House, Gudalur.

Home stay options are available at Erumadu on the way to Wayanad. For more details, contact 8903772573. An old estate bungalow at Devala also allows accommodation, but the tariff is steep.

Lucky travellers can also catch a sight of elephants along the way. Contact Murugan at 9894009892 for more details.

Things to note

Travel along the Nadukani ghat road only during daytime as elephants may use the path at night. Wild tuskers may stray on to the road at Cherambady too. In case night travel cannot be avoided, drive along the middle of the road  never move to the sides.

Nearby attractions

Ooty, Masinagudi, Mysuru, Gundalpet, Wayanad, Muthanga, Edakkal caves, and Sulthan Bathery.
Luxembourg's foreign minister met with his Ethiopian counterpart Osman Saleh Mohammed. Asselborn voiced both praise and criticism.

Leaving a decades-long conflict behind them, leaders from Ethiopia and Eritrea are finally gathering to resolve disagreements and join efforts in order to improve the situation in poverty-stricken areas.

Asselborn applauded this historical reconciliation. Both countries can only profit from the cooperation, he stressed.

On a less positive note, Asselborn also addressed Eritrea's comparatively poor human rights record after visiting a refugee camp. At the same time, he also expressed hope that the Ethio-Eritrean reconciliation could give birth to the required political and economic reforms. The discussions between the two countries could be key to improvement, Asselborn hoped.

He also underlined the EU's willingness to support the creation of new jobs and the rehabilitation of road and port networks between Eritrea and Ethiopia. In his view, a strengthening of the countries' legal systems also goes hand in hand with economic development.
On Thursday, the police published statistics concerning break-ins as part of the report on their anti-burglary campaign during the winter months.

As part of the campaign, the police strengthened its patrol presence in general as well as organising 140 regional check ups.

Despite the enforced presence, the police counted no fewer than 558 break-ins into occupied homes. In comparison with the winter period of 2017/2018, this is an increase of about 60.

34 burglars were caught in the act and police managed to arrest a further 30 through their investigations.
A patients' association's report has highlighted that patients would like to be better informed about their duties and rights.

The association representing patients met with the Ministers of Health and Social Security (Etienne and Romain Schneider) and provided a report of issues that require clarification.

A key issue, as explained to Minister of Social Security Romain Schneider, is ambulatory care. Those who have to be operated on in an ambulance have to pay for part of the medications prescribed to them. However, if they remained in hospital, the CNS (National Health Fund) would take over the entirety of those costs.

Michele Wennmacher, of the patients' association, also claimed that ambulance taxis are a significant issue due to the lack of tariffs. Some patients receive horrendous bills that are difficult to predict in advance.

One woman who contacted the association also alerted them to the fact that there is not a list of accessible practices in Luxembourg, which is required for people in wheelchairs. The association consequently proposed the idea to the minister.
A 'no deal' Brexit is looking increasingly likely as the British parliament remains in a state of limbo. In the Grand Duchy, on the contrary, there is a flurry of activity to prepare for a no-deal scenario, especially in light of its impact on the aviation industry.

The European Commission is working on a plan of the specific and concrete impact of a no-deal Brexit on the aviation industry. As we reported earlier, those plans would be the main topic of discussion for the MPs in the parliamentary commissions on foreign affairs and transport.

Luxembourg especially has a keen economic interest in aviation and an ensuing interest in relations not disintegrating. The United Kingdom remains a significant destination for the cargo airline Cargolux.

With the clock ticking, preparations are at an all-time high. There are only 45 days left until the United Kingdom officially leaves the European Union. According to Democratic Party MP Gusty Graas, a number of important questions remain to be clarified. There would be no way for Luxembourg to resolve each and every issue in the short time frame.

National Interests

As explained by the Green Party MP Stephanie Empain, the main topic is of course aviation. In light of Cargolux's significance in the sector, the issue of a no-deal Brexit is one that affects Luxembourg's national interests.

If there is no withdrawal agreement set for the transition period following 29 March, all the regulations that have applied to the United Kingdom would instantly no longer be applicable. In order to prevent air traffic between the EU and UK from coming to a complete standstill, the European Union is negotiating the rights that the British will still have despite Brexit - at least, for a short time.

The negotiations concern fundamental issues such as whether British airlines will be permitted to land in Europe or not. The hopes of these negotiations are that the UK will accord the European Union the same rights, which is of particular interest to Luxembourg: this would mean Cargolux would still be authorised to land in London.

EU Consensus

However, there is no consensus at an EU level. While member-states have worked on a communal position, it remains to be seen whether the European Parliament will pass the agreement.

Luxembourg is adamant that the so-called fifth freedom of the air, which "allows an airline to carry revenue traffic between foreign countries as a part of services connecting the airline's own country," must be maintained. The fifth freedom of the air would, for example, allow Cargolux to fly to London, and then continue to New York. It would give Cargolux the right to transport wares from London to New York.

When asked whether they believe that it will not come to a no-deal Brexit and the withdrawal agreement will pass, MPs responded that they hope so. However, it seems few truly believe in this prospect.
Europe's largest port faces "unrest and insecurity" if Britain leaves the EU without a deal, Rotterdam harbour's chief executive said Thursday.

The Dutch port is a main point of entry and between Britain and the European Union, handling some 54 million tonnes of goods yearly between the two countries, according to port figures.

But officials have raised fears that many truck drivers could arrive at its doorstep without the proper documentation in place to export to a country outside the EU should London leave the bloc without a deal in place on March 29.

"The first days after Brexit will for sure bring unrest and insecurity" if Britain leaves without a divorce agreement, Allard Castelein said as the harbour released its 2018 results.

"We have done everything to be as well-prepared as possible, but there will always be problems," he said in a transcript of a speech confirmed to AFP.

Some 600,000 trucks a year carry loads into the Rotterdam port destined for Britain, port figures added.

The harbour within the next few weeks will be preparing a large piece of land south of the port as a temporary holding space for 200 trucks, allowing drivers to sort out permits and continue as part of a contingency plan, port officials said.

"A similar terrain to the north still has to be found," port spokesman Sjaak Poppe told AFP.

The Netherlands has made major preparations to deal with the impact on its economy, which is closely linked with Britain.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in an interview published in the Financial Times on Thursday that around 250 businesses were close to a decision to move to the Netherlands from a "diminished" Britain because of Brexit.

The Dutch Institute for Transport Policy recentky concluded that Brexit will have a "significant impact on bilateral trade between the Netherlands and Britain, decreasing by 25 to 50 percent, depending on post-Brexit scenarios."
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A blog for students in my introductory classes in government, and any interested passersby. You'll find news items and random stories that illustrate any of the topics we cover in class. Special attention will be paid to the constitutional issues associated with contemporary issues and disputes. Feel free to send me stories you find important. Please note that due to spam, I'm limiting the ability of people to comment on these pages. My apologies.
Because these districts are financially unstable and shrinking quickly, the superintendent wants to provide some relief during the consolidation, Department of Education spokesman Ryan Brown said.

"If we tell them to consolidate, we can't just leave them in a mess. We want to set up some kind of parameter to help transition them into this process," Brown said.

Spearman suggested lawmakers establish an incentive fund monitored by the State Board of Education that would help dwindling and struggling districts pay off debt, standardize teacher pay, and fix existing facilities or build new regional career centers.

Democratic Sen. John Matthews said the General Assembly first needs to explain to members of the public the benefits and costs associated with consolidating districts.

"The state has to bear those costs if you're going to upgrade the school systems," the Bowman lawmaker said. "If you make sure you have clear benefits that effects teachers, teachers' salaries need to be bumped up. Look at the physical facilities improvement. So if you add all that together, I think you've got a chance to sell it to the public."

No action was taken on the bill and senators will continue hearings next week.

A separate school district consolidation proposal offered by House Speaker Jay Lucas through his 84-page education reform legislation would require rural school districts with less than 1,000 students to merge.

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"Today was a great way to kick off Black History Month as we welcomed America's more than 100 historically black colleges and universities to our nation's capital, Scott said in a statement on Feb. 6. Black history is American history and we all stand on the shoulders of great men and women who came before us paving a way forward. I am proud to introduce the HBCU Partners Act with Sen. Coons to build off of the president's 2017 HBCU executive order to ensure we are doing our best to unleash the enormous potential of our students."

Coons said of the legislation: HBCUs today continue their tradition of opening higher education to new generations of students. They educate 300,000 students across the country, 70 percent of whom receive Pell grants, and charge almost 30 percent less tuition than their peer institutions. I'm proud to make sure that federal agencies actively work to support HBCUs' critical missions."

Those missions are of major importance in Orangeburg, where S.C. State, South Carolinas only publicly supported HBCU, and Claflin, the oldest HBCU in the state, are vital across the board from educational opportunity to community quality of life. And they have major economic impact.
I was chosen to chair and direct the commissions National Security Task Force with a mission of identifying potential risks and vulnerabilities associated with flooding events as they impact the many U.S. military bases and National Guard installations statewide, primarily those located along our 187 miles of coastline, and the impact to the adjacent communities that serve them. The NSTF is to then make recommendations to prepare for and minimize those risks.

We have begun this effort in earnest through a series of teleconferences and in my briefing, last week, to both McMaster and Mullikin during the commissions first working meeting in Charleston.

Though the approach is different, this kind of work is not entirely new to me. Having served as the senior U.S. Army North representative to S.C. during the aforementioned four flooding events, I recognize that as floodwater events become more extreme and more frequent, we have a tremendous opportunity and responsibility to lead the state and the nation through this critical and evolutionary effort. Our goal is to save lives and property.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  Federal regulators have ordered a Nebraska rancher and county officials to clean up a remote stream after it was deluged with enough sand and sediment to change the shape of the waterway.
"Short term, there is no immediate change in place. Long-term we have started planning," Clark said. "We think we are still ahead of what our real needs are in terms of growth and enrollment over the next years."

He reminded trustees that the university saw enrollment drop for eight years.

"When you have been falling like that, you don't have immediate upticks," he said. "It is going to be a gradual, managed growth that we are recovering from."

Faculty Senate President Dr. David Staten said its not out of the realm of possibility to reach 4,500 students.

"When you look at the level of facilities we have, it is beyond patching these buildings up," Staten said. "If we really want to recruit the next generation of high-level, talented students, well have to do a major upgrade of facilities.

Staten noted the buildings the university has were around when he was a student.

"A lot of these buildings are not going to keep us in a competitive place in the market," he said.

In other business:
 Great Branch Rosenwald Teacherage near Orangeburg: Located at 2890 Neeses Highway, the teacherage is open on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. except holidays and by appointment by calling 803-533-1828.

 Springfield High School in Springfield: The school houses the Springfield Military Museum, which is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

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 Santee Cultural Arts and Visitors Center in Santee: Formerly the Old Parler School, the building dates back to the late 1800s.

 Branchville Railroad Junction and Museum in Branchville: A caboose, a semaphore signal and several baggage carts are on display outside. Other artifacts are also on display.

 Historic Church of the Epiphany and Parish House in Eutawville: The church was founded in 1804, the second year of Thomas Jefferson's presidency.

 I.P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium at South Carolina State University: The museum's present building was constructed in 1980 and is named for the first African-American chairman of the university's Board of Trustees, Isreal Pinkney Stanback.

 Santee Cooper Visitors Center: Open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week, the visitors center is located on I-95 southbound.
An Orangeburg County jury on Thursday convicted a 31-year-old man of kidnapping and first-degree criminal sexual conduct in a 2015 incident.

Circuit Judge Maite Murphy sentenced Tyquin Terrell Jenkins of Dutton Street to two 30-year terms in prison.

She said the Orangeburg man will serve the 30 years at the same time, not consecutively.

Jenkins is required to register as a sex offender.

The charges of kidnapping and first-degree criminal sexual conduct stem from a Jan. 6, 2015 incident that took place behind 1005 Broughton St.

A woman told Orangeburg Department of Public Safety officers that shed had an argument with her boyfriend and decided to take a walk around 1 a.m.

As she walked down Broughton Street, a man, later identified as Jenkins, approached her and asked for a cigarette lighter and to use her phone.

She told Jenkins that she needed to go because she had a daughter at home.

Jenkins pulled out a gun and forced her behind 1005 Broughton St., where he forced her to perform a sex act and then sexually assaulted her, she said.
She said officers were able to detain two of the juveniles and question them about the carjacking.

The victim said that he and a friend rented the car and were on the way to Charleston when they decided to stop at Loves to fuel up.

He said three people rode up to the Mercedes on bicycles and asked the victim for some change but took his vehicle at gunpoint instead.

Miller faced a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Larry D. Felder, 58, of 830 Bennett St., Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to neglect of a vulnerable adult back on Dec. 14, 2017.

Just one day before Felder turned 60 on Jan. 10, 2019, Dickson sentenced him to prison for two years, suspended to probation for six months.

Dickson gave him credit for time served.

According to Felders indictment, he allegedly left his father on the floor between Jan. 19 and 21, 2017 without nourishment, bathing, treatment of open sores or means to relieve himself.

The Orangeburg Department of Public Safety investigators accused Felder of leaving his 77-year-old father on the floor for several days.

They lived in the same household, investigators said.
Supporters of the graduated income tax require a supermajority in both the House and the Senate to get the measure on the 2020 ballot. If that happens, 60 percent of voters would need to approve it to change the constitution.

The Illinois General Assembly has debated this same issue in recent years but never has been able to get enough votes to get it out of both chambers. But after the midterm election in November, Democrats have more than the supermajorities they need in both the House and the Senate to get the amendment on the ballot.

And with newly inaugurated Pritzker replacing Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, Democrats and their constituencies are putting on a full-court press to try to get this done.

When the issue was being debated a few years ago, proponents of changing the constitution referred to a graduated income tax as a "millionaire tax," as if it would only affect millionaires. That wasn't the case then and it's not now.

Taxpayers saw through that spin so supporters now are calling it a "fair tax," as if it's only "fair" to charge higher wage earners a larger percentage of taxes.
The documentary was executive produced by Deborah Tudor, dean of the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts, and produced by Motyl and Mark Stoffel, a digital media specialist and instructor within the college. The idea for a documentary was first discussed by Tudor and Scott Ishman, dean of the College of Science and eclipse committee co-chair.

About 10 student-involved camera crews helped chronicle activity leading up to an event that filled Saluki Stadium and served as a focal point for national and international media. Filming started in late spring 2017 and included interviews with Mat Kaplan of Planetary Radio and David Baron, historian, author and self-professed umbraphile  or eclipse chaser. Topics ranged from a discussion on how ancient cultures viewed eclipses to eclipse-related merchandise, from soda cans and bakery goods to cookies and postal stamps.

When we started the project, we envisioned a documentary that would not only capture the wonder and awe experienced during the eclipse, but provide a chance for MCMA faculty, staff, and students to collaborate, Tudor said. We succeeded in both those aspects and the response to the film is very gratifying.

Stoffel, who poured through hundreds of hours of video while working to piece together the film, said hes thrilled with the response.
SPRINGFIELD  Thirty-one state attorneys general, including Illinois Kwame Raoul, are advocating for tougher safeguards against identity theft in the Federal Trade Commissions rulebook.

We must keep in place federal protections for consumers to guard against identity theft and protect their finances, Raoul said.

In 2017, 16.7 million U.S. consumers were victims of identity fraud and theft totaling $16.8 billion, according to a letter sent to the FTC by the attorneys general.

These numbers are so high, they write, because not only are consumers increasingly unaware of just where their information is, but because identity thieves can so easily collect consumer data from broad breaches.

These trends together make an older form of identity protection  knowledge-based authentication, when a consumer is asked personal information like the name of a spouse or a ZIP code  obsolete.

They cite a case from 2008, in which a Tennessee student reset the password for then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palins email account by Googling Palins birthdate, ZIP code and the accurate location of where she met her spouse.
In fact, the bill was referred to a constitutional law subcommittee because, in the words of Chairman Andre Thapedi, D-Chicago, it had possible constitutional ramifications either as a possible violation of equal protection guarantees or as special legislation intended to target one identifiable individual.

McDermed, however, insisted it was meant to address ethical issues about conflicts of interest, and that it would apply to any legislative leader  House Speaker or Senate President  going forward.

Im doing this because it seems to me an inherent conflict of interest and puts someone in a position where governing the state, legislating for the state, is not necessarily consistent with whats best for the political party, and thats what Im trying to get at, she said.

When asked by Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, who is in a position to say its a conflict, McDermed replied: Its a conflict by its very nature. Nobody needs to say its a conflict. Every person with common sense can see that its a conflict.

Well, I have common sense and I cant see that its a conflict, Jones replied.

On a party-line vote of 3-2, the subcommittee voted against advancing the bill to the full Judiciary Committee on civil law.
Pfister lost his left eye from his injuries and will likely never see out of his right ever again. He navigated the courthouse with the help of a cane and a family members arm.

Assistant States Attorney David Stanton wiped his eyes after Judge James Campanella read the verdict.

I think that justice was done, Pfister told reporters after leaving court. He said that he will be praying for Fishers family.

Pfister said reliving it has been everyday since, but added that having to talk about it so much during trial was especially hard.

Im just glad this chapter is over, he said.

One of the final witnesses called Thursday in the states case was local farmer Lonnie Ruppert, who told an eerily similar story to the one Pfister had described the day before.

Ruppert owns property near Fishers in Swanwick  a disputed piece of land runs between them. He said neither Fisher nor he owned it, but no one was sure to whom it actually belongs.

When working his ground one day in 2014, he noticed someone had mowed some of his clover overcrop near the disputed land.
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We want to be partners in their success, City Manager Gary Williams said, recognizing the potential for new perspectives to go along with the citys revitalization efforts for the Strip.

I think that some of the steps that the city and the university are taking are definitely moving things in the right direction, Jack said, adding that its just unfortunate that it has taken as long as it has. He said hes worked for more than a decade to enliven Illinois Avenue.

Ive been part of trying to make downtown Carbondale the type of downtown where you can wander from one end to the other and have numerous (experiences) along the way, Jack said.

+5 Pagliai's celebrates 50 years in Carbondale CARBONDALE  Pagliais Pizza celebrated its 50th anniversary Friday night from 5 to 7 p.m., and many customers, friends and former employees c

Speaking to the Southern after she announced Hangar 9 was on the market, Sally Carter said she has hope for what new ideas could mean for Carbondale.

Carter said she hopes to see the city continue down what she called the right track. She hopes to see Southern Illinois University grow and for Carbondale to continue to embrace its roots as a party town.
The city of Harrisburg has issued a boil order for all residents in the following areas: Raymond Street from Main to Mill streets, Mill Street from Sloan to Lincoln streets and Homer Street from Mill Street to East End.
Southern Illinois has a strong agricultural history. Many of our favorite farms and orchards are well over 100 years old and are still owned and operated by the original families.

The year 1854 marked a definitive change in the region when the Illinois Central Railroad came through Carbondale with a station in Makanda, beginning a new era of unprecedented growth for our agriculture industry.

By 1858, shipments of fruit from Union County to Chicago were becoming significant, and the first strawberries were shipped north in 1860. Special trains were running daily in 1866 to carry fruit north, and just one year later, the strawberry crop required quick daily delivery to get the crop to the Chicago market early the next morning.

Today, we are familiar with local strawberries, peaches and apples. These are all plentiful during late spring into the fall, and easily procured at local farmers markets and grocers.

While our region has been producing each for generations, Union County was once known as the Rhubarb Capital of the World! According to the Union County Farm Bureau, approximately 1,000 acres of rhubarb were being grown in the county around 1912. Rhubarb was being grown in and shipped from Union County long before this, however.

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In a recently published abstract, Scratch Brewing Company co-owner, Marika Josephson, described what it means to be a farmhouse brewery and produce authentic, indigenous beer in a very different way than a typical brewery:

We brewers, intent as we are to use terms that evoke the romanticism of rural life, often have little understanding of the struggle of contemporary small farmers  a struggle thats more difficult and biased against them than our struggle against industrialized beer-making. Just as the word craft has lost much of its meaning, farmhouse beer should be more than a marketing ploy slapped on the label of a beverage.

The farm-to-table movement has gained popularity in recent years, both globally and locally, and with that popularity comes an inevitable dilution of what it means to be local and traceable  where beer is concerned, a sense of place is easily lost. The wine industry has terroir, of course, but the constituent ingredients in beer are often sourced from all over the world. Josephson and her partners are making a concerted effort to change that by remaining hyper-local; a serious commitment to keeping the farm in farmhouse beer.
I could not see myself in history. Now, I see me. I can feel me, Rivero said. I wanted people to know we werent just subservient. We helped ourselves. We werent just waiting for someone to give us our liberty.

Tubman is one of the most famous abolitionists of her time. Best known for her work on the Underground Railroad, Tubman also served as spy and scout for the United States Army and was an activist for womens suffrage.

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One person can make a difference, Rivero said. One person did. Harriet Tubman did.

Stokes was an African-American nurse during the Civil War. Born a slave, Stokes made her way to Mound City after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. From there, she was recruited onto the USS Red Rover, a steamboat that traveled the Mississippi River and other interior rivers to treat sick and wounded Union soldiers.

Rivero said Stokes is buried somewhere in Southern Illinois, but no one knows exactly where.

If we lift her up, she can bring a lot of attention to Southern Illinois, she said.

Keckley was a former slave turned activist. After buying her and her sons freedom in St. Louis, she traveled to Washington D.C., and eventually became a confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln.
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Credit: EPFL

EPFL researchers have developed a compact and efficient medium-frequency transformer. Their device is poised to enhance the flexibility and efficiency of tomorrow's smart grids and DC power distribution networks. An EPFL-made prototype has been thoroughly tested and presented in several tutorials designed for experts from the academic and industrial worlds.

For more than 100 years, electricity grids around the world have worked with alternating current (AC). However, direct current (DC) is now back in fashion and  thanks to advances in power electronics  is already becoming the new norm.

Today, most of our appliances such as computers, LEDs and electric cars all run on DC. Batteries and photovoltaic panels also produce DC current. And while high-voltage DC is an efficient and proven method for transporting power over large distances, the interconnection still requires legacy AC grids. If we are to one day achieve DC grids that can facilitate the smart grid concept, further technological progress in this area is still needed. This transition will require flexible, efficient and high-performance power electronic conversion devices  commonly referred to as solid-state transformers (SSTs).

SSTs can perform any desired electrical energy conversion (i.e., AC-AC, AC-DC, DC-DC, DC-AC), depending on the needs of the application. In this way they are similar to a multi-purpose Swiss Army knife.

Credit: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

This is where EPFL's researchers from the School of Engineering's Power Electronics Laboratory(PEL)come in. They have developed a way of optimally designing and producing medium-frequency transformers (MFTs), which are one of the key enabling technologies for SSTs.

The researchers have designed, optimized and built a working MFT prototype, rated for 100kW and operated at 10kHz. Following rigorous testing, it serves as the basis for technical tutorials, some of which have already been given to various specialists from the academic and industrial worlds.

Controllability of power grids

Full controllability can be achieved. "We can be highly flexible and quickly alter the power flow  and we can do that very efficiently," explains Marko Mogorovic, one of the device's designers. "This will be very important when it comes to integrating the intermittent energy generation from renewable sources into tomorrow's smart grids."

The higher the frequency, the smaller the MFT

Credit: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

Another plus is the small size of the device: "In an AC system, the frequency at which transformers operate depends on that of the surrounding grid. In Europe, that frequency is fixed at 50Hz," explains Drazen Dujic, director of PEL. Since the frequency cannot be changed, miniaturization is impossible.

"In a DC system, however, transformers operate within converters at very high frequencies of up to several tens of kilohertz, thanks to power electronics. And the higher the frequency, the more compact the device," says Dujic.

The reduced size of these transformers will be particularly useful in traction systems, in terms of both efficiency and integration: "A lighter locomotive would consume much less energy," says Mogorovic. In traction systems, the device would transform the AC from the railway lines into DC for the traction/propulsion chain. The railway grid in Switzerland operates at 16.7Hz, which until now has translated into rather bulky transformers inside the locomotives.

Credit: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

At the same time, however, miniaturization represents a real challenge for engineers, who have to deal with many cross-disciplinary constraints, including thermal, dielectric and magnetic issues. EPFL researchers developed a set of sophisticated and very fast models that can quickly generate several million designs. It makes it possible to then select the best design, depending on the performance they want to achieve.

"The fact that we've made this type of transformer inside a lab is a major step, given the safety and function-related problems that usually arise," explains Dujic. "We managed to get it to work perfectly. That's what's important for experts in this field."

A gathering of such experts is already scheduled. The European Center for Power Electronics (ECPE) will hold a workshop called "New Technologies for Medium Frequency Solid State Transformers" on 1415 February 2019 at EPFL. The workshop, which will be chaired by Drazen Dujic (EPFL) and Johann Kolar (ETHZ), has attracted a record number of participants from industry and academia.

Explore further Smart transformer for the energy turnaround

More information: Marko Mogorovic et al. 100 kW, 10 kHz Medium-Frequency Transformer Design Optimization and Experimental Verification, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics (2018). Marko Mogorovic et al. 100 kW, 10 kHz Medium-Frequency Transformer Design Optimization and Experimental Verification,(2018). DOI: 10.1109/TPEL.2018.2835564 Marko Mogorovic et al. Sensitivity Analysis of Medium Frequency Transformer Designs for Solid State Transformers, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics (2018). DOI: 10.1109/TPEL.2018.2883390
Credit: NOAA

The pilot of the rowboat Alba had a noble goal  to raise awareness and funds for the Scottish Association for Mental Health. And he was going to row 3,400 nautical miles, from Norfolk, Va., to his home in Scotland, to do it.

But on June 15, 2018, when he faced life-threatening danger as his boat began to take on water off Nantucket, Massachusetts, he did the right thing. He set off his Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, called an EPIRB, and a NOAA satellite picked up his distress signal. First responders soon rescued him, about 39 miles off the coast.

He was among the 340 people rescued within the United States and its surrounding waters with the help of NOAA satellites last year. Of those rescues, 219 were from the water, 32 were from aviation incidents and 89 were on land, using personal locator beacons, or PLBs.

NOAA satellites are part of the global Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking System, or COSPAS-SARSAT, which uses a network of U.S. and international spacecraft to detect and locate distress signals from emergency beacons aboard aircraft, boats and from handheld PLBs.

"The same NOAA satellites, critical for our weather forecasts, also play a direct role in saving hundreds of lives each year," said retired Navy Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and acting under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere.

Sarsat rescues for 2018. Credit: NOAA

When a NOAA satellite pinpoints the location of a distress signal, the information is relayed to the SARSAT Mission Control Center at NOAA's Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland. From there, the information is sent quickly to Rescue Coordination Centers, operated either by the U.S. Air Force for land rescues, or the U.S. Coast Guard for water rescues.

Since the program's inception in 1982, COSPAS-SARSAT has been credited with supporting more than 43,000 rescues worldwide, including nearly 8,700 in the United States and its surrounding waters.

Beacon owners are required to register their devices online with NOAA. The registration information often helps provide better and faster assistance to people in distress, and can guard against false alarms. It may also provide information about the location of the emergency and what type of help may be needed.

Explore further NOAA satellites helped save 307 lives in 2016
The alarm sounded at 4 a.m. and I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed. We had a long drive ahead of us, and my husband, Led, was eager to get on the water. Before too long, our friends Chase and Courtney arrived and we were ready to hit the road. It is about two hours from our home to Lake
The visual artificial intelligence 'Deep View' developed by the research team identifies objects on CCTV's operating screen. Credit: ETRI

A visually based artificial intelligence (AI) technology developed by South Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) will be deployed on CCTV cameras for detecting and preventing crimes.

The AI technology Deep View, developed by ETRI, is applied to the precise recognition of human behavior based on analysis of joints of the human body in CCTV images. The technology precisely tracks movements of people placing down or throwing objects, as well as physical indications of such crimes as illegally throwing away garbage. Applying this technology in the future will proactively detect and prevent crimes and incidents in city areas.

So far, there has been much difficulty in recognizing actions appearing in CCTVs, as studies on action comprehension used widely accessible online data such as YouTube videos. As part of efforts to resolve such difficulties, ETRI focused on developing action comprehension technology that can operate on the actual environment by pulling together necessary requirements and data with local governments.

Using deep learning-based AI technology, ETRI developed a method to analyze the movements of human joints and moving objects. For example, it can detect patterns of garbage-dumping behaviors via machine learning methods. The research team used deep learning-based recognition technology to detect the locations of passersby, as well.

This new technology is expected to significantly reduce crime rates by applying visual-based AI technology on CCTV cameras

The visual artificial intelligence 'dipview' developed by the researchers analyzes the shape of a person's joints in the video and recognizes the scene of dumping trash. Credit: ETRI

Explore further An app for operating a self-driving car

Provided by National Research Council of Science & Technology
WASHINGTON  Billionaire Tom Barrack, Donald Trumps friend, informal adviser and chairman of the presidents inaugural committee, sounded like a man without a soul.

With a bone-chilling bloodlessness, Barrack on Tuesday defended the Saudi governments murder of Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Asked at a Milken Institute gathering in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, about the murder, Barrack replied that whatever happened in Saudi Arabia, the atrocities in America are equal or worse to the atrocities in Saudi Arabia. He added: For us to dictate what we think is the moral code there  I think is a mistake.

Incredibly, that wasnt all. The problem with whats happened with the Khashoggi incident is the same problems of the West misunderstanding the East for a century, Barrack said. The West is confused at the rule of the law, doesnt understand what the rule of law is in the kingdom.

Confused? Heres whats confused: A U.S. resident critical of the Saudi regime was ambushed, killed and dismembered with a bone saw by Saudi agents in October, apparently at the direction of the crown prince, and Trumps pal thinks its a mistake to make a fuss.
Southwest Washington Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler on Friday denounced President Trumps declaration of a national emergency in order to obtain funding for his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

And Washingtons two Democratic senators joined in a bipartisan critique of the president for what they consider an unconstitutional use of power.

Herrera Beutler, Clark County Republican, stressed her repeated history of voting for increased border security and to fund Trumps vision for a physical barrier along the border. Nonetheless, Herrera Beutler said in a written statement Friday that declaring a national emergency to redirect funds toward the wall would set a dangerous precedent.

If President Obama had ever hinted at using emergency powers in this way, I would have spoken out strongly against it, and consistency demands that I do the same now, the statement says.

While the move would please some conservatives, the statement adds, it would open the door for a liberal president to declare his or her own national emergency to implement policy, such as government-run health care, a firearms ban, or elements of the Green New Deal.
Now, only one of Merrills numerous accomplices, Jeffrey Walton, is still awaiting sentencing.

Lucky to be alive

At the conclusion of his hearing, Merrill read a statement to the court. He thanked his loved ones and lawyers and a corrections officer and acknowledged the police who busted him were doing their job, according to a press release from the prosecutors office. Merrill said he hopes he can turn his life around, and he planned to make the most of his time in prison by participating in college, job-training and volunteer programs.

Finally, Merrill said some of his closest friends died as a result of their addictions, so he felt lucky to be alive.

McClain was also relieved to see the case nearing its long-awaited conclusion.

I was thankful that the judge denied yet another continuance in this matter, as we had objected to these delays, McClain said in the press release. But in the end, having Mr. Merrill off the streets and in prison has made our community safer.

The price of justice
Photos in court showed Diaz with a gruesome series of wounds and a profuse amount of blood along the left side of his head.

Adams then said something like What did you make me do? Miosek said.

Diaz didnt make any attempt to attack Adams first, Miosek said. He just listened to what (Adams) said and moved. That was it.

Scared for her own safety, Miosek said she convinced Adams to go with her to find help for Diaz rather than run away. They went to Holts Market nearby to call 911.

According to police records, Adams told investigators that he swung at Diaz because Diaz refused to move away from him. He continued swinging and striking at Diaz until he was no longer conscious. He admitted to lying to dispatchers that someone else assaulted Diaz, police reports said.

Longview police officer Daniel Butler, who was the first to respond to the 911 call, testified that Miosek, who was trembling and crying, whispered to him that Adams was the person who attacked Diaz.

Miosek took Butler to Diaz, who had a pulse and was breathing with difficulty, Butler added. Diaz was transported by Lifeflight to Southwest Washington Medical Center but never regained consciousness. He died there two days later, on May 13.
The suspected Islamic State members were arrested following dawn raids in northwestern Bursa province reports Asharq al-Awsat.

Turkish police have detained 52 Syrian nationals over their suspected links to ISIS terrorist organization, state-run news agency Anadolu said Thursday.

The suspects were detained in the town of Osmangazi, in northwestern Bursa province, it said.

According to the private DHA agency, police conducted simultaneous dawn raids at five separate locations to apprehend them.

Turkey was hit by a wave of attacks in 2015 and 2016 blamed on ISIS and Kurdish militants that killed around 300 people.

ISIS claimed responsibility for a gunmans attack at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul during New Year celebrations in the early hours of 2017. The attack killed 39 people, most of them foreigners.

Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
The meeting in Warsaw hopes to increase pressure on Iran and prevent and restrict its actions across the region writes The Syrian National Coalition.

The President of the Syrian Coalition, Abdurrahman Mustafa, expressed his support for a tightening of the sanctions on Iran, as he stressed that, the Iranian regimes terrorist actions in the region are self-evident.

President Mustafas remarks came as Warsaw Conference began on Wednesday, bringing together foreign ministers and officials from more than 60 countries, most notably the United States of America and Saudi Arabia.

The conference aims to ratchet up pressure on Iran and bring an end to its crimes in neighboring Arab countries through the dozens of sectarian militias operating in Syria, the Hashd militias in Iraq, the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, and the Houthi militia in Yemen.

The Iranian regimes terrorist activity and its repression of the Iranian people are all self-evident, President Mustafa said as he expressed surprise at the lack of a firm stance towards these crimes.

What surprises us is the international communitys lukewarm response to the actions of the Iranian regime, as well as the insistence of some countries to tolerate the mullah regime in Iran and provide it with lifelines.

Head of the Coalitions Department of Media and Communications, Ahmed Ramadan, said that there is considerable support for the efforts aimed at increasing the pressure on Iran. He continued, Any serious step towards isolating Iran and ending its interference in the affairs of other countries and its spread of terrorism will gain Arab support, especially in Syria and Iraq, which are the biggest victims of the Iranian militia.

The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, told Fox News that the international summit would focus on, stability, peace, freedom, and security in the Middle East. He pointed out that this requires ensuring that Iran does not exercise its destabilizing influence.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Hammoudeh Sabbagh praised both India and Armenia for their support and reiterated that only those who supported Syria would participate in the reconstruction writes SANA.

The Speaker of the Peoples Assembly, Hammoudeh Sabbagh, said that Syria values India and Armenias supportive stances in its anti-terrorism war.

Sabbaghs remarks came during his meetings with the Indian Ambassador, Man Mohan Bhanot, and the Armenian Ambassador to Syria, Dikran Kevorkian, on Thursday.

He appreciated the efforts exerted by the Indian Ambassador during his mission in Syria to bolster the friendly relations between the two countries to the benefit of the two countries.

In turn, the Indian Ambassador said that his country supports Syria in its anti-terrorism war by backing it at international conferences, offering humanitarian aid to the Syrian people, in addition to the participation of the embassy in several festivals held in Syria over the recent years.

In a similar meeting with the Armenian Ambassador to Syria, Dikran Kevorkian, Sabbagh indicated that Syria is now witnessing the recovery and reconstruction of the country, and hoped that its relations with the countries that stood by them would develop.

Kevorkian said that the Armenian people have always stood by Syria, following Syrias support for the Armenians during the ordeals they had experienced throughout history.

He added that the newly-elected Armenian parliament seeks to develop relations and exchange expertise with the Syrian Peoples Assembly.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
The arrest of a former member of Assads security services in France follows two similar arrests in Germany reports Alsouria Net.

On Wednesday, the French authorities arrested a former member of the Assad regimes security services, hours after Germany arrested two other members, all of whom are accused of crimes against humanity.

A statement issued by the French public prosecutor said the authorities, arrested a 30-year-old Syrian citizen in Paris as part of an investigation that had been ongoing since January.

The statement added that the suspect was involved in crimes against humanity, committed during while working with Assads intelligence services between 2011-2013, pointing out that the detainee left Syria in 2013, without further details.

Earlier on Wednesday, German police arrested two members of the regimes intelligence services on suspicion of crimes against humanity. German prosecutors said police in Berlin and Rhineland-Pfalz arrested the suspects Anwar R., 56, and Iyad A., 42.

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.
Attacks on teachers have seen a sharp rise recently, with many blaming the militias that are active in the region writes Al-Modon.

Reports of the attacks on teachers in the Syrian coastal region have overwhelmed Syrian discussions on social media over the past few days.

On Thursday, the Directorate of Education in Tartous, on its Facebook page, reported that two young men beat up a senior teacher at the Jalal Khaddam High School in the city of Banias, Tartous province. The teacher was rushed to hospital in a critical condition. Two days previously, two other teachers were badly beaten by students in Safita in Tartous province.

Pro-regime activists circulated pictures of the teachers who were severely beaten. Loyalist news websites reported that the Banias incident occurred when two youths stormed Jalal Khaddam High School to assault one of the students. One of the teachers tried to resolve the dispute, before the two youths beat and stabbed him.

The websites did not say that any of the teachers died, but confirmed the use of weapons in the attacks, including a grenade at the incident in Safita, which sparked outrage in the comments section.

Loyalist websites tried to cover up the incidents, which only increased anger among Syrians. Many activists pointed to the control of the militia, which now has considerable influence in the areas under the regimes control. They highlighted that the Safita incident was carried out by a young man and his father, both of whom are members of the National Defense militias. They were retaliating to students temporary suspension from school.

In the past few months, the Syrian coastal areas, which are heavily populated by Alawites who support President Assad, have witnessed a number of incidents of security chaos resulting in the deaths of a number of civilians, which have been caused by the proliferation of weapons among the population. The region is considered a bastion of the regimes militias, most importantly the National Defense, which controls many of the central and coastal areas. They enjoy a very bad reputation, and are especially infamous for kidnapping, robbery and prohibited trade.

A young female activist said on her Facebook page, According to the Ministry of Education laws, hitting students is prohibited but hitting teachers and their families and threatening them is allowed.

Another critic wrote, We must put an end to this tragic farce.

In contrast, pro-government groups and Facebook pages tended to purge the militias of blame and blamed in incident on rules and regulations not being implemented. According to them, the magic solution is re-instituting military training in schools, under the pretext that, dignity has been lost from schools since the abolition of the military training class!

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.
The Iranian threat has become more ominous as Iranian officials escalate their threatening gestures. This puts Iran in an embarrassing situation because the reality is that Iran does not really have the capability to launch an effective attack on Israel. They can carry out attacks that will likely fail and undermine Iranian credibility throughout the region as well as insider Iran itself. In addition to all the Iranian bases and facilities hit with airstrikes over the last few years, the Israeli military recently revealed that in 2017 Israel had detected and thwarted a major Iranian effort to hack into the Israeli domestic warning system. In the last year, alone Israeli Cyber War defense efforts have thwarted 130 Iranian Internet-based attacks on Israel. At the same time, similar Israeli attacks on Iran are succeeding. Details of these Cyber War operations are usually kept secret by attacker and defender alike so as not to give potential Cyber War foes a better idea of what worked and what didnt. Sometimes the defender will have traps prepared (honeypots) that will deceive the attacker into believing they are succeeding when in reality they are being closely observed and their techniques noted and analyzed. When you hack what is a secret enemy facility to begin with it is especially difficult to assess your success or failure. Along those lines, the chatter coming from Iran is that their nuclear enrichment (turning uranium into weapons-grade material) facilities are again suffering massive equipment failures (the centrifuges were apparently hacked again, as they were nearly a decade ago by Stuxnet).

Iran is a much greater threat to the Arab Gulf states than anything else and Israeli leaders admit this is the main reason Arab states, after so many decades, are finally recognizing that Israel is more useful as an ally than a foe. That may not last beyond the current Iranian threat to Arab states, which is both religious and territorial. The previous Iranian government (the monarchy) coveted Arab oil but was held in check by the Western powers. Any new Iranian government will probably be secular and democratic. Before the Iranian theocracy took over Israel and Iran were on good terms. When that status returns the Arabs may see Israel differently. But that is then while Arabs and Israel as allies is now.

Iran desperately needs a win and Yemen is one area where that is still possible, despite numerous defeats there. For one thing, Iran still has a lot of support from leftist politicians in the West. This is partly resentment against the United States, which has always been the primary supporter of Saudi Arabia, and Gulf Arab oil states in general. Now the majority of legislators in the American Congress are willing to demand the U.S. halt military aid to Saudi Arabia. This is unlikely to pass into law but if it did it would be a major win for China, as well as Iran. The Saudis would be forced to seek other nations as a reliable weapons supplier and China has already proven itself capable of producing and selling (without any strings) modern weapons to Gulf Arab nations. The best example is missile equipped large (Predator size) UAVs. Despite the widespread use of American technology, Israel might be able to replace bomb and missile American suppliers in some cases.

While the Iranian Information War campaign (with the help of Russia) to demonize the Arab coalition in Yemen, continues more Western analysts are pointing out that the main cause of civilian casualties are the Shia rebels, who deliberately use civilians as human shields. Arab armies will attack anyway but the Shia rebels are setting up those civilian deaths mainly to manipulate Western media. This has been more obvious during the current ceasefire. The main cause of ceasefire violations, and dead civilians, has been Shia rebels.

The Iranian smuggling efforts are no longer able to bring in ballistic missiles (broken down and later reassembled under the supervision of Iranian technicians) into Yemen. There is still some threat from Iranian UAVs, but while these are smaller and easier to smuggle in there appears to be a limited number of them left in Yemen because of the numerous Arab air raids (in the last month) against bases they operate from. The Saudis are pleased that the ballistic missile attacks have been halted along with the reduction of armed (with explosives) UAV attacks. The Arabs will probably prevail in Yemen but it is the only one of Irans wars where Iranian prospects are good. Iraq, Syria, Gaza and Lebanon are all more expensive and less likely to provide the Iranian theocracy with a much needed victory. That means the growing domestic protests will become more of a threat.

The Egyptian Spin On ISIL In Sinai

The Egyptian campaign against ISIL in Sinai, that began in February 2018, was at the end of 2018, proclaimed a success but details were often unavailable, unclear or not credible. Egypt restricted media access to Sinai and tried to control what independent versions of Sinai events that did get out. During a year of fighting Egypt claims to have killed 464 ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) personnel and arrested over 7,000 people suspected of some involvement with ISIL (members, support or doing business with ISIL). There was a lot of collective punishment (destroying the homes of families with one or more members in ISIL or closely associated with ISIL.) The military established tight travel controls with numerous checkpoints. Despite all that ISIL continued to operate, although at a lower intensity. During 2018 ISIL carried out dozens of assassination operations in Sinai, most of them succeeding. Even the failures (usually against senior commanders or officials with better security) were unnerving because they usually implied that ISIL had intel capabilities that could obtain secret movement plans for senior officials. The army did locate and raid dozens of ISIL camps and safe houses, uncovering documents verifying ISIL was still very much in business.

At the start of 2018 ISIL in Sinai was thought to have 1,300 active members. There appear to be fewer of them now, but still nearly a thousand. All these army operations led to more than a thousand roadside bombs, landmines and other explosives being disabled or destroyed before they could be used (to kill, on average, more civilians than anyone else). Hundreds of ISIL motorbikes and other vehicles have been seized along with hundreds of rifles and machine-guns and large quantities of ammo and other military equipment.

At least once a month the military releases a summary of recent operations and the list always contains many hideouts and much equipment (and weapons) seized as well as many (often fifty or more) mines and roadside bombs disabled. Yet as the year went on these press releases became less precise and even vague (as in not specifying in which time period the events took place). By the end of 2018, the press releases were no longer mentioning the 2018 campaign against ISIL indicating that this massive operation was unofficially over.

The intense military activity in Sinai made it difficult for the local economy to operate and that led to hundreds of thousands of civilians becoming destitute and dependent on food aid provided, irregularly, by the military. All this cost the army a lot of popular support (for operations against ISIL) it had in early 2018. This has apparently become a major issue for military commanders in Sinai and now the anti-ISIL operations are being scaled back and more attention is being paid to cultivating the support of local civilians.

These counter-terror operations were also doing a lot of damage to Sinai based smuggling operations. The government told the smugglers (usually Bedouins) that if they wanted to avoid these counter-terrorism raids, dont work with the Islamic terrorists, especially ISIL. That has had some impact although by now most of the Sinai tribes have turned against ISIL, which is still the primary Islamic terror group operating in Sinai. That is largely because Egypt has greatly reduced access between Gaza and Egypt. Gaza is still a sanctuary for several Islamic terror groups but because of continued Hamas violence against Israel Gaza is difficult to get in or out of. That leaves a much diminished ISIL as the major terrorist threat in Sinai. ISIL can still attract some recruits and other support but, as happened in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere ISIL made too many enemies and is declining. ISIL has tried moving to other parts of Egypt but has not found any part of the country as hospitable as Sinai.

February 14, 2019: Mossad revealed how during 2018 it had provided key information that aborted four Islamic terrorist attacks in Europe. Meanwhile, in Venezuela, interim President Juan Guaido said he wanted to work with Israel to identify and arrest or expel Iranian backed Islamic terrorist operations in Venezuela, along with any other criminal organizations Iran created. Venezuela currently has two rival presidents. The other one is Nicolas Maduro, the head of the leftist party that ruined the economy and blatantly rigged elections. Maduro is no longer recognized by most South American nations and many in Europe and elsewhere. If Maduro is ousted, so is Iran, which the Israelis would be eager to assist with.

For over a decade Israel has warned of Iranian and Hezbollah backed companies in Venezuela benefitted from the leftist government there that is blatantly anti-Israel and tolerant of Islamic radicalism. Israel believed these commercial operations are a cover for teams of terrorists intent on kidnapping Jewish residents of, or visitors to, Venezuela. The captives would then be smuggled back to Lebanon and used to extract prisoners and other concessions from Israel. This never happened, in part because most of the 22,000 local Jews left Venezuela since the leftists came to power in 1999. When the Iranian threat became apparent, more Jews left and those still around took precautions. In neighboring Colombia, the army captured documents as early as 2008 showing that leftist rebels had close, but secret, ties with Venezuela. It is believed that similar arrangements were made with Hezbollah.

February 13, 2019: Israeli intelligence believes that Hamas is willing to risk another war with Israel in order to obtain more foreign aid from donors who have halted such aid because so much of it is stolen or diverted to military uses. Hamas is also under pressure from the more extreme Islamic terrorist groups in Gaza. These more radical groups are much more eager to trigger another war with Israel. In the past few days, Hamas has arrested dozens of Gazans who belong to these more radical groups. This is mainly to discourage these groups from attacking Hamas. These smaller groups are encouraged by the many Arabs, including officials from Gulf Arab nations who still back Hamas and Fatah and the Palestinian ambitions to destroy Israel. Yet, if Hamas brings on another war with Israel many of the dead will be Gaza civilians became, as Islamic terrorists like to put it, involuntary martyrs. That sort of thing is not popular in the Moslem world and especially among Palestinians.

February 11, 2019: In the north (Golan Heights), Israeli tank fire destroyed what turned out to be an Iranian observation post near the Israeli border. Two Iranians died in that attack. Apparently as a result of this attack and several recent airstrikes on Iranian bases in Syria Iran has pulled back its forces from the Israeli border. These forces are being moved to bases closer to the Iraq border, making it easier to move them into Iraq if necessary. If Iran sets up missile launchers in Iraq aimed at Israel the Israelis would bomb them and the Iraqis now it do not want to get involved in that sort of thing.

In the south (Gaza), Egyptian troops pumped toxic gas into a smuggling tunnel from Gaza. When Egyptian then sent troops into the tunnel, they found that two Palestinians had died. Earlier in the month, three Palestinians had died in similar incidents. Egypt has found and destroyed 37 of these tunnels in the last year. The unidentified toxic gas is meant to disable or chase away any hostile Gazans in the tunnel but like most non-lethal measures the results are better described as less lethal.

Russia once more proclaimed that Israeli airstrikes in Syria were illegal. At the same time, Russian officials agree that Israel has the right to defend themselves. Russia also refuses to open fire on Israeli aircraft or missiles. The Russians want to avoid a demonstration of Israeli countermeasures that work. This would reduce confidence in Russian weapons, which are an important export item for Russia.

February 8, 2019: In the south, on the Gaza border, Hamas continues to sponsor the weekly mass demonstrations near the border fence. These events usually result in the mob surging towards the fence to provide human shields for armed Hamas men who will try to cut through the fence, plant bombs or thrown explosives at Israeli troops. Today about 8,000 Gaza residents showed up and two of those attacking the fence were killed and 80 wounded. Since March 2018 some 220 Gazans have been killed.

February 7, 2019: In Jerusalem, an Arab man killed an Israeli woman. The next day a suspect was arrested in the West Bank.

February 6, 2019: In the south, a rocket fired from Gaza landed in Israel, doing no damage. In retaliation Israeli tank fire Hamas guard post inside Gaza.

In northwest Syria (Latakia province), Israel identified a new assembly plant for GPS guided rockers outside the port of Latakia and near the Hmeimim (or Khmeimim) Russian airbase in Syria. This is apparently a rebuilt version of a similar facility destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in 2018. The new one technically belongs to Syria and many of the components are dual-use items imported by Syrian companies.

February 4, 2019: Ukraine and Israel have become allies of sorts and Israel has been purchasing Ukrainian EW (Electronic Warfare) equipment that has been successfully used against the Russians by Ukrainian forces. A recent example of this is the Ukrainian Kolchuga passive sensor system. This system is built to passively (just by listening) detect a wide variety of Russian military equipment, including nearly all their air-defense systems that use active sensors (radars and control signals). Israel purchased a Ukrainian Kolchuga M system in 2018 and it was operational late that year. This made it easier to locate and monitor all Russian air defense systems in Syria, especially the mobile ones. That was a key element in the ability of the Israelis to destroy Syrian air defense systems which were used against Israeli attacks even after Israel warned Syria not to do so.

February 3, 2019: In the south, on the Gaza border, Israeli soldiers arrested five Gazans who had cut their way through the border fence and were heading into Israel when arrested. Some of the men were carrying knives and were taken in for questioning to determine if they were Islamic terrorists or economic migrants. Earlier in the day on the Jordanian border, a Jordanian man was arrested after he got through the security fence there. Israel is building a wall along the Gaza border which will make it more difficult for anyone to get through.

Gaza based Islamic terror group Islamic Jihad released a video of a January incident when one of their snipers shot an Israeli officer in the head, or rather in the helmet. The helmet stopped the bullet, as is usually the case with current models of combat helmets (using composite materials). In response to that sniper incident, Israeli tank fire killed one Palestinian and wounded two others. Islamic Jihad is the most pro-Iran Islamic terror group in Gaza.

February 2, 2019: Egypt offered to open the Rafah crossing to Gaza if Hamas would cease its weekly mass demonstrations on the Israeli border. Hamas did not respond to this offer right away.

Elsewhere in Egypt (the Western Desert), the air force bombed an Islamic terrorist hideout which was then seized by police. Eight of the Islamic terrorists were dead and several survivors were arrested. The camp had stockpiles of weapons and supplies as well as three four-wheel pickup trucks. There were attempts to camouflage the camp to hide it from aerial observation but the Egyptian air force has heat sensors on its recon aircraft that can detect such camps at night in the desert.

At the Israeli border, Hamas organized more mass demonstrations with 10,000 civilians operating at several locations. There were also hundreds of armed Hamas members, who comprised most of the Gazans wounded while trying to get through the fence or while throwing rocks or fire bombs at Israeli troops.

January 30, 2019: In the south (Gaza), Egypt agreed to temporarily and occasionally open the Rafah crossing. In early January Fatah withdrew its representatives from the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt. This is the only crossing on the Egyptian border and without Fatah participation in managing that crossing Egypt was unwilling to continue opening it temporarily. The Rafah crossing has been closed most of the time over the last few years because of disputes between Hamas and Egypt.

Outside Jerusalem, a Palestinian woman armed with a knife was shot dead when she attacked an Israeli policeman.
The Indian Navy has begun receiving the twelve Do 228 maritime reconnaissance aircraft ordered in 2016. These new ones cost $30 million each and include surface search radar (out to nearly 200 kilometers) and electro-optical day/night sensors with a range of 40 kilometers, ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) sensors and digital communications. Each of these Do 228 maritime recon aircraft have a crew of six and usually stay aloft about eight hours per sortie and move at a speed of about 400 kilometers an hour.

The Do (Dornier) 228 is a German passenger aircraft that India builds under license. It is a 6.2 ton, twin turboprop aircraft that the Indian Coast Guard has long used for maritime reconnaissance equipped with at least a surface search radar. Before this new order, India had 24 of these naval recon models in service and it is popular with police and border patrol organizations as well. The new navy Do 228 are also equipped to communicate with nearby navy ships and UAVs to coordinate operations. The twelve Do 228s are an addition to the current forces of manned and UAV aircraft patrolling the sea areas off southeast India.

India already has a UAV base in the Andaman Islands, so as to patrol the eastern sea approaches to the Indian Ocean. The Heron 1 and II UAVs already there (and at bases on the Indian mainland) are mainly looking for smugglers and terrorists but are also equipped to spot and identify warships and surfaced submarines. The Andamans are a string of nearly 600 islands (most uninhabited), that are closer to Thailand than they are to India (which owns them). The islands extend 500 kilometers south nearly to Indonesia and thus cover traffic coming through the Malacca Strait, which is the primary passage for shipping headed for the South China Sea and West Asian ports. China warships regularly pass through this area on their way to join the anti-piracy patrol off Somalia or to visit African, Middle Eastern and European nations that trade heavily with China. India feels more secure if it is able to track Chinese warship traffic via the Malacca Straight. The new Do 228s are uniquely equipped to do that.
Collin County Commissioner Duncan Webb, Communities Foundation of Texas President and CEO Dave Scullin and Communities Foundation of Texas Director of Charitable Giving, Collin County Sarah Beeks Higdon announced the opening of the Foundations satellite office in Collin County to a crowd of residents, community leaders, business executives and representatives from nonprofit organizations within Collin County.
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.
Amazon couldnt cut it in New York City. The company announced Thursday that it no longer plans to open a 25,000-worker office in Long Island City, Queens, one of the two winners of its HQ2 search, a continental bake-off in which cities offered generous incentives for the e-commerce titan to open a major outpost there. Even in economically bustling New York, the prospect of HQ2 was so enticing to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio that they put aside their mutual antipathy to offer Amazon $3 billion in subsidies. Many New Yorkers, however, didnt jump on the welcome wagonand their ultimately successful opposition suggests the kind of pushback tech companies might fear elsewhere.

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Why oppose HQ2? Critics in New York worried the arrival of a major outpost of one of the most valuable companies in the world could push out culturally and economically diverse communities in Long Island City. While there was no single demand that these critics unified behindAmazon leaving, Amazon staying without the subsidies, Amazon promising to work with unionsan evidently powerful cadre of local lawmakers, unions, immigrant groups, Democratic Socialists, and anti-poverty organizers all agreed that a company with a market cap in the hundreds of billions didnt need a $3 billion tax break to come to town. And on that common ground, organizers spent the past three months going door to door, holding town hall meetings, standing in the cold with signs, attending City Council hearings, circulating petitions, and meeting with elected officials. If the point was to take a stand on the issue of huge subsidies for corporate relocations, Thursday counts to those critics as a major victory.

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Long Island City is already the fastest-growing residential neighborhood in New York City. Its also home to the largest public housing development in the nation, Queensbridge Houses, just blocks from the proposed Amazon site. Opponents of the subsidies for Amazons new offices feared that they would draw an influx of well-paid workers searching for amenity-rich housing in the neighborhoodpotentially driving up the cost of living for low-income residents living in dilapidated housing and on roads badly in need of repair. We want investment into our communities that makes our communities stronger, Fahd Ahmed, a local organizer with Desis Rising Up & Moving, a group that advocates on behalf of low-income South Asian residents in Queens, told the New York Times. That means investment in housing, in transit, in education, in workforce development.

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Unions also opposed the expansion, citing Amazons steadfast resistance to unionization at its fulfillment centers and warehouses across the country. When Brian Huseman, Amazons vice president of public policy, was asked by Corey Johnson, the speaker of the City Council, at a hearing in January if the company would come to the table with a neutral stance on unionization if workers organized, he said, No. Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said that labor met with Cuomo and Amazon executives on Wednesday and that it seemed to be a very productive meeting. But clearly Amazon didnt feel the same way: It walked the next day.

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Local activists are celebrating Amazons pullout as a win. This announcement marks a landmark victory for our communities and shows the power of people, even when taking on the worlds richest man, said Deborah Axt, the coexecutive director of Make the Road, a New York immigrant advocacy group, in a statement, adding that its members opposed the plan to give away more than $3 billion in taxpayer giveaways to that Amazon could force its empire-building on our neighborhood. Of particular concern for many immigrant groups was Amazon outreach to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The company has reportedly spoken with ICE about how could use its Rekognition software, a face-identifying product that Amazon already supplies to local law enforcement around the country.

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Even some workers in the technology industry, who stood to gain most from the high-paying software and technical jobs Amazon would bring to the city, opposed Amazons designs for Queens. Tech workers on the left will continue to fight Amazonand any plan to turn New York into an unlivable Silicon Valley Eastfrom both within and without, to push for the economic and social changes we all need to live with dignity, said Will Luckman of the Tech Action organizing committee of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America, which organized a petition that collected more than 600 signatures from tech workers who pledged not to work at the new Amazon office.

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This response to the Amazon deal quickly drew in the support of some elected officialsincluding Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and, crucially, state Sen. Michael Gianaris, who repeatedly made statements opposing the subsidies and was nominated to sit on a state board that would have had veto power over Amazons development plans. That might have been the sorest point for Amazon. The other two locations where Amazon is adding big new officesnorthern Virginia (the other HQ2 winner) and Nashville (which is getting a smaller new Amazon facility)have been far more accommodating than Queens. Resistance from within the political class in New York was probably a shock to Amazon, which had just spent a year inviting mayors across America to grovel for its attention.

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Is Amazons exit what most New Yorkers wanted? According to one recent poll, perhaps not. Statewide, 56 percent of voters supported Amazon building the headquarters in Queens, and among city residents, 58 percent said they were in favor of Amazons expansion even with the subsidies, a poll from the Siena College Research Institute found. Tenant leaders from within the New York City Housing Authority were among those who supported Amazon and said their voices werent considered in the debate. The group wrote in a statement Thursday that the taxes from Amazon could have been invested in NYCHA and that the city lost the chance at bringing in thousands of well-paying jobs. But however Amazons proponents felt, they werent making as much noise as opponents of the deal.

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Tech companies have received unprecedented scrutiny in recent years, particularly as their practices around privacy and security, and their vulnerability to foreign manipulation, have come under the microscope. But theyve remained prizes for cities hoping to attract more and more high-earning workers. Some execs are probably wise to their vulnerability in city-level negotiations. Google, after all, is planning to bring about 14,000 additional jobs to New York Citybut it isnt asking for any financial incentives to do so.

Its not every day that local organizing is able to stand up to the interests of powerful corporations. Communities feeling skeptical about the companies operating in their backyards will likely take note. It is possible for them to fight backespecially when enough neighbors find common ground.
A witness video uploaded Wednesday has fanned the outrage surrounding the police killing of a 20-year-old California man who was found sleeping in his car in a Taco Bell drive-thru, prompting the mans family to call for police to release bodycam footage of the encounter.

The video, taken on a cellphone, captures audio of six officers in Vallejo firing collectively at least a dozen shots at Willie McCoy, a rapper also known as Willie Bo. Police had been called to the scene on Saturday night because an employee at Taco Bell had reported an unresponsive man. Police found him passed out in his car with a gun in his lap.

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According to a statement from police, the officers first wanted to grab the gun from his lap but couldnt because the car was locked. Then, when they noticed the car was on and in drive, they positioned a patrol car in front of it to prevent it from moving. They were moving another car to park behind McCoys car when McCoy began to suddenly move and looked at the uniformed patrol officers. When the officers told McCoy to put his hands up, he did not comply and instead he quickly moved his hands downward for the firearm.

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According to the statement, the officers then opened fire because they were afraid for their safety. After firing several rounds over the course of several seconds, and after McCabe was clearly dead, they stopped and again shouted at McCabe, Let me see your hands! Put your hands up!

His family have called McCabes killing an execution and pointed out that McCabe likely reacted with a quick motion because he was disoriented and confused by being woken up by police. They are calling for the officers to be prosecuted. According to the police statement, the officers have been placed on administrative leave.
Donald Trump has now been the president of the United States for two years, and many of the most sensational predictions for his time in office have not come to pass. The press remains rambunctious. Americans arent scared to criticize the president. Courts continue to rule against the White House with reassuring regularity. Elections are, as the Democrats big victory in the midterm elections strikingly demonstrated, still free. So perhaps those of us who have warned about the presidents authoritarian ambitions really have, as a prominent conservative told me during a recent TV debate, been suffering from a bad case of Trump Derangement Syndrome all along?

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The presidents intention to issue an executive order declaring a national emergency at the southern border suggests otherwise. In fact, it is hard to imagine a clearer piece of evidence that he really does seek unconstitutional powers: If Trumps past attacks on the legislature and the judiciary have, at times, felt like a drill, his intention to arrogate vast powers to himself under an utterly transparent pretext is the real deal.

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Americans often like to imagine that their system of checks and balances is a secure bulwark against the threat of autocracy. But in reality, no set of political institutions is, in and of itself, enough to constrain a popular and power-hungry president intent on destroying the republic. One of the reasons for this is the classic problem of the state of emergency, with which political philosophers and students of the law have grappled ever since the Roman Republic.

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As Cicero argued in De Legibus, the safety of the people is the highest law; when a polity faces some unforeseen emergency, there may thus be urgent and legitimate need to loosen some of the ordinary legal restrictions on the powers of the highest magistrate. At the same time, it is obvious that any legal recognition of the need for emergency powers creates a huge opportunity for abuse; if an aspiring autocrat declares a false emergency, he would instantly be liberated from the usual constraints on his power. The history of the 20th century demonstrates that this is no abstract concern: From Adolf Hitler in Germany to Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, some of the most brutal dictators of the past hundred years have consolidated their power by exploiting emergency legislation.

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Trumps incompetence should make us all the more concerned about the long-term threat to American democracy.

It would be tempting to think that a similar course of action would be impossible in the United States because the Constitution creates such potent limits on the power of the president. But the differences between the powers that American presidents have traditionally exercised during states of emergencies and those granted by the infamous Article 48 of the Constitution of the Weimar Republic are a matter of degree, not of kind. As a recent article in the Atlantic argues, President Trump could do all kinds of extraordinary things by declaring a national state of emergency, from seizing control of the internet to declaring martial law.

If American democracy has enjoyed astounding longevity, then, it is because two key safeguards have historically ensured that presidents have not arrogated tyrannical powers to themselves. The first is that American citizens have long had a strong commitment to democratic values, which made them very reluctant to vote for candidates who displayed authoritarian tendencies. A few presidents, like Andrew Jackson, have been elected as strongmen with a dubious commitment to the rule of law. Others, like Richard Nixon, have bristled against constraints on their power in the (imagined) privacy of the Oval Office. But the vast majority have not abused emergency powers, or played other forms of extreme constitutional hardball, because they had a deep commitment to preserving the republic.

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The second is that the presidents counterparts in Congress have, in the past, made it clear that they would stand up to him if he overstepped the constitutional boundaries of the executive in a blatant manner. Perhaps the most impressive instance of this came when Franklin Delano Roosevelt, understandably frustrated by the Supreme Courts string of rulings against the New Deal, threatened to pack the court; even though he was extremely popular, some of his closest allies in the Senate made clear that they would refuse to confirm his nominees. Though FDR might have tried to pass the same legislation under the pretext of a national emergency, this effectively demonstrated how high a political price he would have had to pay for infringing on the powers traditionally enjoyed by Congress or the Supreme Courtand he mostly desisted from further attempts to undermine other branches of government.

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These two key safeguards are now failing. For one, no successful candidate for the highest office in the land has ever attacked the very idea of legitimate political competition as openly and blatantly as Donald Trump. From his call to lock up his chief political opponent to his constant denunciation of independent judges and critical members of Congress, his desire for unconstrained power is in scary evidence.

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For another, it is hard to recall a juncture in American history in which the presidents congressional supporters have been so willing to do his bidding. Mitch McConnell is an especially striking study in the dereliction of duty. Over the past weeks, the Senate majority leader has made clear that declaring a state of national emergency over the southern border would constitute an abuse of presidential powers. When, on Thursday, Trump announced his intention to declare a national emergency overlets seethe southern border, McConnell immediately vowed his support.

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As I have argued before, the most powerfulas well as the most poorly understoodtrick in the populists toolkit is the ability to engage in salami tactics. When they set out to expand their power, populists usually do so one small slice at a time, issuing false pretexts for executive action and fake reasons for the reform of independent institutions. As a result, no single action by the executive seems like an existential threat to the rule of law. Without any clear moment of juncture, the system of checks and balances slowly decays.

What is striking about Trumps intention to declare a state of emergency for such transparently fraudulent reasons is that he isnt even bothering to engage in salami tactics. This is about as clear an attack on the constitutional order as political scientists could have dreamed up for some in-class exercise on the rise of dictatorship. If Republican senators like Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse are not willing to stand up to Trumps cheap power grab now, they never will. And if the presidents many opponents cannot take to the streets to oppose his autocratic tendencies at this juncture, it is clear that they wont do so until its far too late.

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To be sure, none of this means that Trump is likely to follow in the footsteps of Ferdinand Marcos, or even Viktor Orban. If theres one thing that the past two years have demonstrated, it is that Trump lacks the vision or the discipline of most of the authoritarian populists who have successfully bent their countries institutions to their will. If there was a populist Olympics, Donald Trump would not make medal rank.

But Trumps incompetence should make us all the more concerned about the long-term threat to American democracy. An evidently erratic and highly unpopular American president is about to declare a national emergency on grounds that everyone knows to be spurious. And yet, it is likely that he will experience only the mildest blowback from his political allies. What does that tell us about the damage that a shrewd and popular president with the capacity to follow the increasingly sophisticated playbook of authoritarian populism could inflictespecially if he could consolidate his powers under the cover of an actual emergency?
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, asked the citys police chief to investigate disturbing text messages sent between a police lieutenant and the leader of a far-right group that organized rallies attended by violent extremists.

The texts, published Thursday by the Willamette Week, show that Portlands commander for the police rapid response team, Jeff Niiya, was in communication with Joey Gibson, leader of a group called Patriot Prayer, as Gibson organized far-right demonstrations in 2017 and 2018. Their texts were described as friendly and sometimes joking.

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In one exchange from December 2017, Niiya asked Gibson about his companions arrest warrant. The man in question frequently fights antifascist protesters and has allegedly assaulted bystanders, according to the Week. Just make sure he doesnt do anything which may draw our attention, Niiya responded. If he still has the warrant in the system (I dont run you guys so I dont personally know) the officers could arrest him. I dont see a need to arrest on the warrant unless there is a reason. He also said that officers had ignored the warrant at a previous protest.

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The released text messages, which I learned about in todays Willamette Week, are disturbing, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement. It is imperative for law enforcement to remain objective and professional, and in my opinion, these text messages appear to cross several boundaries. They also raise questions about whether warrants are being enforced consistently and what information is being shared with individuals who may be subject to arrest.

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A police spokeswoman told the Week that it was not uncommon for officers to provide guidance for someone to turn themselves in on a warrant if the subject is not present. She added: In crowd management situations, it may not be safe or prudent to arrest a person right at that time, so the arrest may be delayed or followed up on later.

According to the Week, Niiya also told Gibson where unrelated leftist protests were taking place, and the two joined in complaining about a reporter from the Oregonian. The two even talked about Gibson running for office, an idea that prompted Niiya to tell Gibson, Good for you.

Gibsons group, Patriot Prayer, organized rallies in the wake of President Trumps election in which far-right protesters clashed with antifascist groups. One man who associates with Patriot Prayer, Jeremy Christian, has been accused of fatally stabbing two men who were trying to protect a pair of black women from Christians anti-Muslim rants on a Portland metro train.

A member of the city council first called for an investigation. This story, like many that have come before it, simply confirms what many in the community have already known, Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty said in a statement. There are members of the Portland police force who work in collusion with right-wing extremists.
President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on Friday in order to build a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border. If he ultimately gets the wall he wants, it will only be because Democrats who control the House of Representatives let him have it.

Fortunately, the Constitution does not give the president unfettered authority to spend federal funds on his own pet projects. Instead, we have a finely crafted system of checks and balances. Unfortunately, that system of checks and balances doesnt function when the actors who have the ability to check the president decline to use their power. By voting on Thursday to approve a budget deal without any explicit language barring the presidents end-run maneuver, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of her caucus decided not to exercise their check. Now, they cant count on the courts to do it for them.

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The White House says that Trump plans to use $3.6 billion in military construction money for his wall. He can potentially do that on account of the 1982 Military Construction Codification Act, which says that when the president declares a national emergency that requires the use of the armed forces, the defense secretary may use available military construction funds to undertake military construction projects  not otherwise authorized by law that are necessary to support such use of the armed forces. The Trump administration will argue that the wall is necessary to support the 6,000 active-duty troops now at the southern border. (The administration also plans to supplement the military construction money with smaller amounts from other sources that arent linked to the announcement of a national emergency.)

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Heres what happens next: The 1976 National Emergencies Act allows Congress to override the presidents emergency declaration, and if the House passes a resolution to that effect, the Senate would have to put it up for a vote within 18 days. Its not implausible that some Republican senatorsincluding those like Susan Collins of Maine and Cory Gardner of Colorado, who are gearing up for 2020 re-election battles in purple states, as well as Republicans whose home states are affected by the diversion of Army Corps construction moneymight join the Democratic minority to pass the resolution of disapproval in the upper chamber. (Defense hawks who object to the diversion of military construction funds might join in.) But the president could veto any congressional resolution, and its unlikely that opponents of the wall could cobble together the two-thirds majorities in both houses that they would need for a veto override.

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So that leaves us with our last best hope: the courts. Alas, the legal challenge to the presidents exercise of his emergency authority is far from a slam dunk.

First, its not clear that anybody could successfully sue to overturn the presidents emergency declaration. The typical way to challenge arbitrary and capricious actions by the federal government is to sue under the Administrative Procedure Act, but the Supreme Court held in a 1992 case that the Administrative Procedure Act doesnt apply to actions taken by the president himself.

The House of Representatives might nonetheless try to sue in its institutional capacity on the ground that Trump, by spending funds that the legislative branch didnt grant him, has trammeled on Congress power of the purse. This suit wouldnt be based on the Administrative Procedure Act or any other specific statute but instead on general separation-of-powers principles. This might work, but there are significant hurdles along the Houses path.

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The first is the doctrine of standing. The Supreme Court held in a 2015 case that legislators whose votes would have been sufficient to defeat  a specific legislative Act have standing to sue if that legislative action goes into effect  on the ground that their votes have been completely nullified. The Democratic-led House would argue that the presidents decision to fund the border wall is essentially a legislative act beyond his authority, and thereby completely nullified House members votes. But not all of the justices are on board with this legislative standing doctrine. In one of his last opinions, Justice Antonin Scalia said that [d]isputes between governmental branches  regarding the allocation of political power are not cases or controversies that the courts can resolve. Justice Clarence Thomas agreed. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, who joined the court after 2015, might well adopt the same view. If so, then the House Democrats would start out with three votes at the high court against them.

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In any event, a win on standing merely gets the House into court; it doesnt resolve the main issue. On the merits, a court might say that the National Emergencies Act provides a specific mechanism for lawmakers to override the presidents declaration and that the Houses lawsuit amounts to an illegitimate end-run around that mechanism. Or a court might defer to the presidents determination that an emergency exists, adding that if Congress didnt want the administration to have the power to redirect military construction funds, it shouldnt have ceded that authority. To be clear, I think that the House could mount a strong case, but Im not at all confident that the federal courtsand especially the current Supreme Courtwill agree.

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Even if the courts side with the president against the House, we will still likely see a raft of piecemeal challenges to different parts of the wall from private landowners, environmentalist groups, and others. Some of these efforts might succeed in temporarily or permanently blocking portions of the barrier. But there was a much more straightforward way for House Democrats to fully block the president from building his wall, and they passed up that opportunity Thursday night.

The legal challenge to the presidents exercise of his emergency authority is far from a slam dunk.

If the House had added a single sentence to the government spending billsaying, in effect, that no additional funds authorized or appropriated under any other law may be redirected to the building of a border wallthen the legal landscape would now look quite different. It is entirely within Congress power to take away any funds that the president might access under the Military Construction Codification Act, or any other statute, for his border barrier. To be sure, the Senate might not have passed such a bill, and even if it did, Trump might have vetoed it. But at least the House Democrats had leveragetheir votes were needed to avert a government shutdown. Now, they have effectively relinquished that leverage until the current spending legislation expires at the end of September.

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So why did the House pass the spending bill Thursday night with full knowledge of the presidents next move? Perhaps Democratic leaders feared blowback from voters for allowing another shutdown. Perhaps they decided thatas terrible as the border wall and usurpation of their appropriations authority might beits not a sufficiently significant issue to justify a partial halt to government operations again. Perhaps they thought that the courts would do what the House Democrats declined to do themselves: confront the presidents bald assertion of executive authority head-on.

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Any or all of those calculations might have been right. But they each entail enormous risks. If the president prevails in his bid to build a wall, the political bounce might buoy his chances for re-election in 2020. Another government shutdown would be bad, but a total breakdown in constraints on presidential power will be even worse. And while the judiciary is the last line of defense against executive overreach, that shouldnt lead lawmakers to lose sight of the fact that they are the first.

Agree or disagree with the House Democrats decision, we should all be clear about what that choice entailed. By voting to pass a spending bill that lacked any safeguard against the use of emergency powers for construction at the border, House Democrats made it much more likely that the presidents emergency gambit would succeed. Congress power of the purse is arguably the most significant barrier to an executive unbound. By letting that barrier fall, House Democrats might well have allowed Trumps wall to rise.
At the midpoint of Tamil Nadu, the sixth-largest Indian state by population, the delta formed by the Cauvery River appears like a nose in profile, jutting east into the Bay of Bengal. For centuries it was a flourishing artistic hub and the home of a powerful South Indian empire. Today, the Cauvery Delta is the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu, a land of paddy fields and beleaguered farmers, its villages linked together by bridges that span dried-up tributaries.

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Already disaster-prone (the Delta faced a devastating tsunami in 2004 and a cyclone in November that killed more than 45 people), the Cauvery Deltas challenges are only intensifying, as its once-dynamic, brackish waters slowly merge with the sea and become saltier. Without urgent action, experts predict the district closest to the bay will be submerged in less than three decades.

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Against this precarious backdrop, some of the most vulnerable inhabitants of the Cauvery Delta are Dalit women, those formerly known as untouchables who are at the bottom of Indias caste system. Excluded from resources and political power, these women are fighting for survival against the three-headed Hydra of climate change, the caste system, and patriarchy. In recent years, however, more and more have turned to collective farming to survive, pooling their resources as a financial and emotional buffer against the increasingly inhospitable environment.

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Although the term collective farming might conjure bleak Stalinist imagery, here it refers to grassroots farmer-led efforts to pool finances and labor for mutual benefit. Though the farms themselves are small, because they quietly rebel against centuries of rigidly enforced social structure, the idea has radical potential. For rural women in the Delta, collective farming is a way to capitalize on their agrarian upbringings to gain a degree of financial independence, often by organizing in cooperative pods of five to 10 and cultivating small neighborhood paddies of one to three acres. Most of the women farming in this region harvest rice one to two times per year, weather permitting, and sow gram (local legume varieties) in the offseason. They split the labor and the profits equally. While men in India are also increasingly engaged in collective farming efforts in Tamil Nadu, for them it has not been such a force for upward mobility as with Dalit and widowed women.

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I joined [the collective] to improve my status and livelihood, to come up in life, said M. Vasantha, a Dalit widow who started collective farming last year in the small town of Poonthazhai.

While she admits that the four women in her collective sometimes bicker among themselves, the solidarity has given them courage to cultivate their own land rather than continue to serve as heavily exploited farmworkers (pejoratively called coolies) who labor on upper-caste villagers property. Female farm workers say they make about 150 rupees per day (or U.S.$2.10) when work is available, while men usually earn more than double that amountstill a meager salary. By pooling their labor, they own the full value of the crops they grow, which they can use to feed their families and potentially sell for shareable profits. But, like other farmers across the Bay of Bengal, they are faced with volatile weather patterns that present growing challenges to their newfound livelihoods.

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The Bay of Bengalthe largest bay in the worldtouches eight countries that together contain 25 percent of the worlds population. Along the bay, an irregular pattern of heavy rains, punishing droughts, and increasing cyclonic activity is making generational agricultural knowledge obsolete as farmers scramble to deal with the fluctuating climate.

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Rice farmers in the Delta, including these women, have long depended on sustained northeast monsoon showers distributed from October to December to water their crops. However, nowadays, we get only the unpredictable rain, not the predictable rain, said M. Tamilarasi, who leads a collective of six Dalit women in the village of Thirukkalachery, four miles from the Bay of Bengal.

According to M.R. Ramesh Kumar, chief scientist at the National Institute of Oceanography, recent monsoons have had a significant number of days with intense rainfall, meaning more than 10 centimeters in 24 hours.

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Its like youre given one week, or one months food to eat all in one day. You cant eat all of it, right? Kumar says. Farmers are unable to store these vast quantities of excess water, and plants drown and are damaged by the accompanying winds.

For the first time, the women are also embracing the term farmer, which has traditionally been associated only with men.

Kumar also notes that despite these heavy rain bursts, there has been a drop in the overall number of monsoon depressions formed over the bay, which typically play a key role in generating the needed rainfall for much of central and northern India. Alarmingly, the northeast monsoon brought 44 percent less rain to the region than expected in 2018, only two years after Tamil Nadu withstood the driest monsoon season in 140 years. The government purchases most rice in India for redistribution, and according to its data, procurement of rice in Tamil Nadu dropped by 88 percent in 2017.

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Without steady rain, ponds and lakes dry up, and the precious groundwater supply is overly extracted by water pumps and used for irrigation across the Delta. As regional farmers become more desperate, they dig deeper into the Earth, occasionally flooding their aquifers with saline seawaterthe kiss of death for a rice paddy.

Climate change expert and professor at the Institute of Economic Growth Saudamini Das says that climate change challenges are intensified by human use and misuse of the limited groundwater supplies. Additional forms of resource mismanagement and an ongoing water dispute between Tamil Nadu and the neighboring state of Karnataka over access to the Cauvery River have seriously exacerbated these problems.

Collective farming cannot reverse global temperature increases or the rise of sea levels, nor is it intended to. Long term, the people most vulnerable to climate change can only hope for global political action to slow climate change. But collective farming does offer a valuable way for small and marginal farmers, who comprise more than 90 percent of the farmers in the state, to mitigate the short- and medium-term impacts and expand their local influence. Tamil Nadu Assistant Director of Agriculture Selvarajan says, All of the produce on these farms is sold collectively, which gives the farmers bargaining power as well as decreases the costs of cultivation. Thats particularly valuable for vulnerable groups, like women, who can finally save both money and food, enabling them to better withstand economic swings caused by volatile weather. They no longer need to rely on local landowners for employment, which is unpredictable and contingent on erratic weather patterns. Collective farming also allows the women to diversify their crops and grow produce like eggplant, tapioca, okra, and bottle gourds to bolster their food security.

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Unfortunately, while women are legally permitted to own land, securing property is very difficult (only 13 percent of agricultural landowners in India are women), and exponentially more so for Dalit women. Systemic discrimination propagated by the Hindu caste system has far-reaching effects to this day, despite being technically abolished more than 50 years ago. For hundreds of years, Dalits were prohibited from owning property, and today the majority lack the money or status to buy landin Tamil Nadu, 86 percent of Dalit farmers are landless laborers. To lease property, hundreds of landless women across the state depend on local NGOs to help negotiate for land as well as offer training in farming techniques.

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More than 50 female farmers in the Delta region work closely with Kalangarai, an NGO led by an enthusiastic local Jesuit priest named Antony Kulandaisamy. According to Kulandaisamy, 15 women who engage in collective farming in the bay-adjacent town of Karaikal have been harassed by members of the Vanniyars community in the past two years. The Vanniyarsthough historically not members of the uppermost castesin recent years have become politically influential and protective of their growing status. I. Arockiamary, a middle-aged Dalit widow, says, No one from our town was ready to lease us property, but one man lives overseas now, and he agreed to give land to our collective. This angered their Vanniyar neighbor, who now insists on blocking the flow of rainwater from his field to theirs and refuses to allow them to walk through his field to reach their own land. Frustrated that the women no longer work in his field after years of providing low-wage labor, he threatened to destroy their water pump if they placed it in their preferred location near his property. According to Arockiamary, his actions have forced the women to pay more to irrigate their fields, cutting into their already razor-thin profit margins.

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When asked if the women were fearful of what the upper-caste community members might do next, they all shook their heads no. With courage, we fought back and sowed our seeds. And with no mans help, Arockiamary says. Through collective farming, she says, its like weve been rescued from slavery.

In surrounding villages, the hard work of female farmers has turned plots of previously worthless land profitable, and members of the upper castes have sought to reap the benefits. In Thirukkalachery, Tamilarasis collective spent much of last season subleasing a plot of uncultivated, bramble-filled land from an upper-caste man, who in turn had leased the land from a local Hindu temple. After seeing the transformation of the property, temple officials demanded that the women pay a large additional sum: 18,000 rupees (U.S.$257) to collect their yield. Since the women generally hope to make a minimum of 5,000 rupees (U.S.$70) per person, per harvest, in addition to their share of the produce, the added expenses meant they lost any chance of making a profit that season.

Despite the obstacles, there have been a number of success stories across Tamil Nadu, and women in local leadership say they are actively helping more groups of collective farmers get started. In northeast Tamil Nadu in a village called Thiruvanaikoil, a group of 30mostly Dalits, widows, and abandoned womenhas been consistently turning a profit through collective farming since 2013. Thanks to a strong irrigation system, the women are able to grow several crops each year as well as a variety of vegetables. Newly empowered to cultivate the land in the way they choose, the women are focused on preserving the health of the land and the community for future generations. For the first time, the women are also embracing the term farmer, which has traditionally been associated only with men.

Explaining why the collectives are determined to succeed, Tamilarasi says, It is because we are women, because we are widows, that we will not give up.

Reporting for this story was supported by Internews Earth Journalism Network Bay of Bengal Story Grants.
Let the 2020 Republican primary begin? Bill Weld, a former GOP governor of Massachusetts and the 2016 Libertarian VP nominee, announced Friday that hes created a presidential exploratory committee, the first public step in his planned challenge to Donald Trump.

Our president is simply too unstable to carry out the duties of the highest executive office in the land, Weld said in Bedford, New Hampshire. The 73-year-old added: We have a president who openly praises and encourages despotic and authoritarian leaders abroad while going out of his way seemingly to insult and even humiliate our democratic allies.

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First things first: Welds path to the GOP nomination is nearly impossible to imagine. Yes, Trump is incredibly unpopular nationally. Yes, Robert Mueller is investigating nearly everything Trump has ever touched. And, yes, Trump just declared a legally dubious national emergency that flies in the face of pretty much everything small-government conservatives claim to care about. Still, he has a virtual lock on the GOP nomination. An incumbent president has not been denied a nomination for re-election in more than a century (shout out to Chester A. Arthur), and Trump still has broad support from Republican voters and a stranglehold on the party itself. Someone other than Trump winning the GOP nomination would be the biggest anomaly in presidential politics since, well, Trump winning the White House in 2016.

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Weld is fiscally conservative but relatively socially liberal, and his support of legal abortion and gay rights would seem to make him a particularly poor fit for todays GOP. #NeverTrump conservatives would no doubt prefer someone like John Kasich or Mitt Romney in the race. Still, Weld could make things awkward for the GOP if he manages to stick around. The alarm is more difficult to ignore when its going off inside your own home. Welds conservative criticism may fall on deaf ears within the party, but his moral case against Trumps authoritarian, kleptocratic, and racist ways will garner plenty of press. Its easy to imagine Trump responding in embarrassing ways.

If nothing else, Weld would probably make the primary interesting. Consider the twists and turns of his political career: He spent the 1980s as a federal prosecutor before winning his first term as the Republican governor of Massachusetts in 1990. Four years later, he won re-election in the liberal state in a historic rout. Then, while still in office, he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate against incumbent John Kerry in 1996. Weld then stepped down as governor the following year after President Clinton nominated him as the U.S. ambassador to Mexicoa job he never got to do because Senate Republicans refused him a confirmation hearing, claiming that his support for things like medical marijuana and needle-exchange programs were disqualifying. Weld later moved to New York, where he unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2006. He returned to the public arena again in 2016, this time as the Libertarian vice presidential nominee. Weld, however, spent as much time campaigning against Trump as he did campaigning for his own running mate, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson. Weld went as far as to go on MSNBC in final days of the race to declare, Im here vouching for Mrs. Clinton.

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Oh, and back when he was governor, he once ended a news conference touting the cleanup of Bostons polluted Charles River by jumping into the waterway fully clothed:

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Welds strategy essentially begins and ends in New Hampshire, where hell have to hope voters remember him fondly from his time as governor of Massachusetts. Weld was a lowercase libertarian even before he became an uppercase Libertarian in 2016, which could boost his appeal in the Live Free or Die state. In reality, though, Weld is staging a protest more than hes running a campaign. He seems just fine with that.

Theres reason to believe such a protest during the primary could harm Trump in the general election. The last two incumbents to face a serious primary challenge both went on to lose re-election: Gerald Ford, who had to fend off Ronald Reagan in 1976; and George H.W. Bush, who beat back Pat Buchanan in 1992. Its an open question whether those primary challenges wounded the incumbents or simply exposed weaknesses that already existed. In Trumps case, its hard to imagine there are any weaknesses left to expose.
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabes new book, which details his frustrations with Presidents Trump administration, has made it clear that his disdain for Trump is rivaled only by his contempt for [Jeff] Sessions, according to an assessment from Washington Post reporter Greg Miller.

According to Millers review of the book, McCabe saw thenAttorney General Sessions as a Trump-like idiot and racist who had trouble focusing, particularly when topics of conversation strayed from a small number of issues, failed to read intelligence reports, and jumbled classified material with publicly reported news.

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The strangest detail from the book, though, had to do with Sessions thoughts on the FBIs hiring practices. According to the Post:

The FBI was better off when you all only hired Irishmen, Sessions said in one diatribe about the bureaus workforce. They were drunks but they could be trusted. Not like all those new people with nose rings and tattoos  who knows what theyre doing?

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According to a Wall Street Journal review of the book, McCabe wrote in his book that Sessions was only interested in immigration issues. He obsessed over the connection between crime and immigration, and he believed that Islam was an inherently violent religion, according to the Post. When presented with a counterterrorism case, he would first ask where the suspect was born or where the suspects parents were from. He blamed immigrants for nearly every societal problem and uttered racist sentiments with shocking callousness, Miller concluded from McCabes book.

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McCabes assessment is surprising in only that it comes so bluntly from a man who once was acting head of the FBI but now seems intent on speaking out against the men who made his professional and personal life so difficult for 10 months (before he was fired just hours before his planned retirement, blocking him from receiving his full pension benefits). Sessions has a long, long history of making racist and anti-immigrant comments, while also implementing racist and anti-immigrant policies. A non-exhaustive list includes: allegedly warning a black lawyer to be careful how you talk to white folks; calling the NAACP un-American; reportedly joking that he used to think the KKK was OK until he discovered some smoked marijuana; praising an 1924 immigration act promoted by Nazi-style eugenics; denigrating a judge in Hawaii as sitting on an island in the Pacific; fondly remembered George Wallace, Americas most famous segregationist politician, as one of the most formidable third-party candidates in this century; and lauding the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement.

As for actions, in Alabama, Sessions punished black activists, defended voter suppression tactics, and kept black judges off the federal bench. He opposed sentencing reform over the crack-cocaine disparity. He has opposed hate crime protections and defended the official display of the Confederate flag. He has regularly attended events hosted by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups, which he maintains a close relationship with. He touted falsehoods about DACA and immigrants in general. And of course, he pushed, relentlessly, for deportations and prosecutions of undocumented immigrants and even refugees fleeing domestic and gang violence.
Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers opens her stunning new book, They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South, with a story about Martha Gibbs, a sawmill owner in Mississippi who also owned a significant number of slaves. One of them, Litt Young, described her owner as a woman in total control of her financial affairs, including the management of her enslaved workers. Young remembered, for example, how Gibbs second husband tried and failed to convince her to stop ordering her overseer to administer brutal whippings. After the Confederates surrendered, Gibbs refugeed: She took some of her enslaved workers to Texas, at gunpoint, and forced them to labor for her until 1866one year after these legally free but still enslaved people made her first crop.  Then, writes Jones-Rogers, Martha Gibbs finally let them go.

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Early books about female slaveholders, written in the 1970s and 1980s by historians of womens experiences, tended to be about elite, wealthy Southerners who fell into that role when their husbands or fathers died. The women in these histories were depicted as having had a conflicted relationship with their role as slaveowner, and some historians posited that these plantation mistresses themselves were restricted and oppressed by the patriarchal society of the Old South. In this telling of history, the women who owned people didnt directly involve themselves with the day-to-day management of enslaved workers, and certainly not with the selling and buying of the enslaved.

Its these assumptions about female slaveowning as a kind of passive, half-hearted practice that Jones-Rogers is challenging with her bookand with them, the idea that white women were innocent bystanders to the white male practice of enslavement. Her goal, she told me in a phone interview, was to paint a picture of the way white women economically benefited from their own slaveholding. For some women, slaveholding helped them attract husbands. Within their marriages, a woman like Martha Gibbs who owned enslaved people might retain a measure of independence by maintaining control of her slaves. And if those husbands died, or turned out to be failures at business, their wives figured out ways to retain the human property that would ensure their continued material security.

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Jones-Rogers began this shift in historical perspective by looking away from letters and diaries of elite white women that formed the documentary basis for earlier histories, and toward the testimony of the people who had been in bondage. Looking at life narratives of formerly enslaved people recorded during the Great Depression by the Works Progress Administration (Litt Youngs was one of these), Jones-Rogers found multiple instances of these witnesses naming the women who owned themnot simply as mistresses but as owners, with everything that entailed. She found stories of times when these women reinforced their property claims in conversations with or in the presence of their slaves and challenged their male kinfolks alleged power to control their property, human or otherwise.

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Examining other kinds of records, Jones-Rogers found female slave-owners all over the archive of American slavery: female authors of the advertisements placed in newspapers when enslaved people ran away, identifying themselves as the runaways owners; women awarded compensation for the deaths of enslaved people who had been executed or sold away after being found guilty of fomenting insurrection; women compensated by cities who hired enslaved workers for public works projects. Married women, who under the legal doctrine of coverture were not commonly allowed to hold property once they had husbands, petitioned courts to gain economic rights to the enslaved people they had owned before marriageand judges often agreed with their pleas.

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The stories from WPA narratives show that from the perspective of the enslaved, female slaveholders werent much different from their male counterparts. Many of them were just as physically cruel as men, and they didnt hesitate to make decisions to sell away enslaved people or their relatives. Stories of women who whipped enslaved people with nettleweed or fed enslaved children spoiled meat, and an entire heartbreaking chapter about the practice of separating enslaved women from their infants so that they could act as wet nurses for their mistresses offspring, make it clear that Southern women who owned people werent kind mothers making the best of a bad situation. If we look carefully at slave-owning womens management styles, we find that these differed little from those used by slaveholding menand they rarely treated enslaved people as their children, Jones-Rogers writes.

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When we find out women can be just as vicious and atrocious, its very disillusioning. Because who else is left?  Stephanie Jones-Rogers

I was thinking about the chapter about wet-nursing in relationship to Trumps policies on separating women from their children, Jones-Rogers said. I saw an interview with this white couple in Texas, a part of Texas that was close to the border. And they asked the woman, how would you feel if these were your children? And she essentially said, These wouldnt be my children.  The woman who forced WPA interviewee T.W. Cottons mother to breastfeed her own infant, leaving infant Cotton to be fed animal milk or pap from a bottle, a dangerous practice that many physicians strongly discouraged at the time, as Jones-Rogers writes, probably didnt view this rupture as emotionally or physically difficult for the mother or the son. When these women separated enslaved mothers from their children, they arent seeing themselves in that situation, Jones-Rogers said. Theyre seeing themselves as vastly different from these women, and theyre seeing their relationships to their children as starkly different from their own.

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To some (lets be honest, probably mostly white) people, the fact that white women have the capacity to inflict violence and to cruelly manipulate the lives of othersto be what Jones-Rogers, in our conversation, called evil and dastardlyis an eternal revelation. Thats why we still get curious, look at this weird phenomenon articles about white women at Unite the Right, or within the alt-right movement. Or why we need to be reminded again and again that white women gleefully attended lynchings, flocked in the thousands to form auxiliaries for the Ku Klux Klan, and avidly protested school integration in the South and the North. This history of slave-owning womens economic relationship to slavery, Jones-Rogers says, should remove the surprise. If you think about the value, the importance of whiteness in their lives, being a source of power, being a source of empowerment and emboldenment, then throughout history these little things make sense, she said. Women can hold their own when it comes to violence.

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Perhaps its a particularly American tic to want to believe in white womens innocence in the cruelty of American history. Jones-Rogers reports that when she would present her work to scholars in Europe, theyd be unsurprised at its contents. There was this kind of consensus among them that women could do these things. But when I talked to American historians, and American scholars, they were sayingWhat??? Wow! 

While writing her book, Jones-Rogers read Hitlers Furies, Wendy Lowers history about Nazi womens participation in genocide on the Eastern Front during World War II. One of the arguments Lower makes is, the reason why we may be shocked is, we hold onto this hope that at least one half of humanity still has some good in it, Jones-Rogers says. We need some part of humanity to have this inherent, natural empathy. When we find out women can be just as vicious and atrocious, its very disillusioning. Because who else is left?
Democrats have spent much of the past year piling up ambitious health care proposals, from single-payer to various riffs on the public option, that have often been criticized for being too expensive or politically unrealistic.

This week, they gave us a preview of their tepid fallback plan.

Not that they quite framed it that way. On Wednesday, Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow unveiled a bill that would let Americans ages 50 to 64 buy into Medicareessentially creating a public option for the middle-aged, in which premiums would be set just high enough for the program to roughly pay for itself. The proposal is being backed by a wide array of Democrats, including a number of current and potential presidential contenders. Some of its supporterssuch as Sens. Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, and Kirsten Gillibrandhave also endorsed Bernie Sanders Medicare for all bill. Others, such as co-sponsor Sherrod Brown, have said they prefer a more incremental approach. I have always supported universal health care, but we are not there yet, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, another co-sponsor, told reporters. Medicare at 50 is a very bold step in the right direction.

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It would definitely be a step. But bold might be an overstatement.

The idea of letting Americans purchase Medicare coverage before they turn 65 has been floating around Washington for decades now. Bill Clinton proposed a buy-in for 62-year-olds back in 1998, when he was deep into the triangulating small-ball period of his presidency. The concept surfaced again during the intense Obamacare negotiations of 2009, until Joe Lieberman snuffed it out. Hillary Clinton, ever a fan of medium-bore policy solutions, backed a buy-in for those over 50 during her 2016 presidential run. And Stabenow herself introduced a buy-in for 55-year-olds last year.

The main upside of the buy-in is that it could be cheaper than the coverage currently available on Obamacares exchanges, at least for people who currently earn too much to qualify for the health laws subsidies. Medicare pays doctors and hospitals lower rates for their services than private insurers, and the government doesnt have to worry about running a profit. So even if enrollees have to pay full-freight, it might still be more affordable than a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan.

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This year, for instance, a 60-year-old earning $50,000 will have to pay an average of $12,190 for a benchmark silver plan. By comparison, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2008 that the government would have to charge $7,600 a year if it wanted to break even on a buy-in program. The magic number is almost certainly higher today, and it wont necessarily be cheap, but it might be cheaper than the eye-popping prices some people now face on the exchanges.

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There are at least a few other perks to the idea. Because its designed to be more or less deficit-neutral, the buy-in would by definition be a cheaper way to expand coverage for older adults than simply making private insurance subsidies more generous (and make no mistakesubsidizing private coverage is probably going to get very expensive in the coming years). It would also ensure that middle-aged Americans always had at least one option to buy coverage, even if private insurers pulled out of the market (its been a while since health care observers were worried about bare counties, but you never know).

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But this all raises a question: Why limit the buy-in to 50-year-olds? If its designed to cover its costs, why not open the program up to 30-year-olds or 25-year-olds or 18-year-olds? Focusing exclusively on older Americans might have made some semblance of policy sense during the late 90s, since the insurance market was essentially unregulated at the federal level, and insurers could still reject you for looking at their paperwork funny. Giving near retirees the option to purchase a Medicare plan was a straightforward way to guarantee access to insurance when it was often nearly impossible for them to buy. But thanks to Obamacare, nobody has to worry anymore about being denied outright by insurers, and Americans of all ages face similar problems when it comes to getting covered. Middle-class households that earn too much to qualify for subsidies often cant afford to buy policies through the exchanges. And those who can afford a plan often face sky-high deductibles.

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When I asked Linda Blumberg, a health policy expert at the Urban Institute, if there was any technocratic reason why you wouldnt want to also offer a buy-in to younger Americans as well as the 5064 demographic, she was blunt. Theres no reason why you wouldnt want to make that available for any age, she said. Other experts I talked to suggested that limiting the rollout to older adults might make it marginally easier to test and design, though Blumberg suggested that wasnt really the case. The desire to peel off the 50- to 64-year-olds at this juncture seems more arbitrary and complicated than people understand, she told me.

When I asked Stabenows staff about these questions, the answer I got was fairly unsatisfying. In an email, a spokeswoman told me: Americans approaching retirement are most likely to see cost increases and lack of affordable coverage. Allowing them to buy into Medicare is supported by the public and is something we can do right now.

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It is true that older Americans see the highest prices on the exchanges. But theyre not the only people being priced out. Its also true that a buy-in for the 50-and-up set is popular (77 percent approve, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation), but not much more so than opening up a version of Medicare to everybody (73 percent approve). And the medical industry wont be any less opposed to a buy-in for 50-year-olds than it would be to a full public option for everyone. The hospital lobby, which doesnt want to see payment rates to providers cut, has already come out swinging against Stabenows bill.

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The idea that Congress could pass a buy-in now, meanwhile, is just baffling. Stabenows staff told me she believes her bill can get bipartisan support (shes said the same to Vox). And maybe she could get a friendly word from Susan Collinswho knows? But does she really think she could rally enough Republicans to overcome a filibuster? Does she believe that theres a soft, social democratic heart beating beneath Mitch McConnells stern shell? After every bruising health care battle weve seen over the past decade, were still placing our hopes on bipartisan compromises? Seriously?

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In the end, the main thing animating this bill seems to be a misplaced preoccupation with opticsan unmerited belief that taking a tentative baby step toward a full public health insurance option for all Americans will arouse less opposition than the real thing, while letting Democrats pass a bill they can technically describe as Medicare for more. Its nice that an idea once considered too edgy to pass the Senate is now regarded as the incremental half-measure for moderate squishes. But itd be a tragic missed opportunity if a future president didnt aim their ambitions higher.
As we have said before, our view of legalized fireworks in Iowa is mixed. We understand both sides of this discussion.

We acknowledge existing support for fireworks among Iowans and appreciate the economic benefits of capturing part of a business Iowa used to lose to border states (including Nebraska and South Dakota) each year, but we respect firefighters, emergency services providers and health care providers who oppose them for safety reasons and we sympathize with residents who don't want related noise, or worse, in their neighborhoods.

As a result, we weren't strong advocates for legalizing fireworks in 2017, but we weren't opponents, either. Frankly, we would have been OK with either outcome.

In the end, we believe Iowa reached a reasonable, middle-ground position in which the possession, use and sale of fireworks were made legal on and near the Fourth of July and New Year's Eve, but individual communities were allowed to limit or ban discharge.

In our view, no good reason exists for change in this approach, so we oppose a bill introduced in this year's legislative session under which cities and counties would be required to allow discharge of fireworks on Independence Day.
Kermit the Frog was wrong. It is now easy to be "green." The evidence is the "Green New Deal," which CNN describes as a "... 10-year 'economic mobilization' that would phase out fossil fuel use and overhaul the nation's infrastructure while building whole new layers into the existing social safety net." The 14-page resolution was proposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

Conservatives mock her for proposing, among other things, the complete transformation of every building in the U.S. and trains that would span the oceans as airplanes are phased out. Ocasio-Cortez doesn't appear to know how any of this will be paid for, but when one is liberal it doesn't matter. It's the thought that counts, not the outcome.

It is helpful to remember how what once seemed extreme has now become accepted. Think of abortion, which most of the country opposed in the late 19th century. Now our elected officials advocate for it. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently wrote a scathing op-ed in The New York Times supporting late-term abortions in his state.

Same-sex marriage, the outlawing of prayer and Bible reading in public schools and ending the Pledge of Allegiance in some schools was once thought extreme and fantastical.
DES MOINES -- A physician who formerly practiced in Mapleton, Iowa, has voluntarily surrendered his Iowa medical license because he sent sexually suggestive messages to a co-worker for whom he also provided medical care.

In a settlement agreement filed Feb. 8, the Iowa Medical Board issued Alan J. Schenne, D.O., 53, who practiced family medicine, a citation and warning and ordered him to pay a $5,000 civil penalty.

In the agreement, the board alleged that Schenne sent suggestive text messages to the female co-worker in Mapleton and also engaged in sexual relations with her.

Schenne also was charged with sexual harassment for sending sexually suggestive text messages to two other female co-workers in Mapleton.

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Taking away food assistance would prevent them from meeting basic needs, said MaryNelle Trefz, with the nonprofit Child and Family Policy Center. And it may make it more challenging for that person to make their child support payments.

Schultz said he considered the proposal a relatively minor ask of the taxpayer, referring to the taxpayer funding that supports the food assistance program.

During discussion on the bill to install work requirements for food assistance recipients, Schultz said he is open to a program touted by the United Way that aims to help Iowans on assistance programs get job training. Schultz approved the bill as written but said he was open to amending it to create language to include the United Way program.

If we can expand this program to every community college and nonprofits, we can specifically target the SNAP population to get the skills they need and better training to get the jobs they need, said Dave Stone, with the United Way of Central Iowa.

A third bill, which would have required Iowans enrolled in the states version of Medicaid expansion to work or volunteer 20 hours per week, was shelved after Schultz said it could not yet be determined if it would apply to any Iowans. Because Iowas Medicaid expansion applied specifically to individuals with income between 100 percent and 133 percent of the federal poverty level, those individuals presumably already have a job since they have income.

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Among the provisions in the Senate Democrats bill is one that would move long-term patients out of private management and back under state management. Democrats argue the services required for those patients are too significant to work under a program managed by for-profit, private companies.

Ive said over and over that the architecture of this was flawed from the beginning when we pushed everyone across the table into managed care, said Liz Mathis, the top Democrat on the Senates health care policy committee. The commercial insurance template doesnt fully pay for these issues or provide for the care around these issues.

Among the other provisions in the Democrats bill:

 If a patient's doctor switches the health care company with which he or she is contracted, the Medicaid recipient can do the same. Currently, Medicaid recipients must wait up to 45 days before petitioning for such a change, Democrats said.

 Require independent case management and patient assessments. Those are now performed by the management companies, which Democrats say is a conflict of interest.
MACY, Neb. -- The maintenance head of the Umonhon Nation Public School was arrested Feb. 8 after authorities discovered he had brought firearms onto school property.

According to a Thurston County Sheriff's Department criminal complaint filed Feb. 10, Gregory Edwin Schoenfelder, 52, was arrested Feb. 8 and charged with four felony counts: two counts of first-degree possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm on school grounds.

On Feb. 4, a Thurston County deputy was informed by the Omaha Tribal Police that Schoenfelder, a convicted felon, had been observed with rifles on school grounds. Schoenfelder was convicted of felony theft by embezzlement in South Dakota in 2001.

The Thurston County deputy was informed by Omaha Tribal Police that on Jan. 25, while on school grounds, Schoenfelder had shown off two AR-style hunting rifles to Omaha Tribal officers. Schoenfelder told the officers he had just returned from shooting the rifles at a gun range.

Omaha Tribal Police told the deputy that, because an Omaha Tribal Police lieutenant was friends with Schoenfelder, "they were trying to be discrete about giving the report" to the deputy.
This week's On Iowa Politics Podcast discusses President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency, changes to the Iowa caucuses and whether a shorter campaign season is coming in Iowa.

On Iowa Politics is a weekly news and analysis podcast that recreates the conversations that happen when Iowa's political reporters get together after deadlines have been met.

This week's show features James Lynch, Erin Murphy, Todd Dorman and Thomas Nelson.

This week's show was produced by Max Freund and the music heard in the podcast is courtesy of Paleo.

Chat with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @OnIowaPolitics, and subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Know an Iowa musician who should be on our show? Send their band sound files to oniowapolitics@gmail.com.

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OMAHA -- A Winnebago teenager has pleaded guilty to federal robbery and firearms charges in connection with the armed robbery of a Rosalie, Nebraska, convenience store.

Manazheega Cleveland, 19, entered his plea Friday in U.S. District Court in Omaha to single counts of interference with commerce by robbery and possession of a firearm during a violent crime. Sentencing was scheduled for May 10. Cleveland faces a minimum sentence of seven years in prison and a maximum of life in prison.

According to court documents, two masked males brandished a shotgun and stole $1,389 from the cash register at the Pony Express convenience store at 1504 U.S. Highway 77 on Oct. 24, 2017. The cashier identified Cleveland as one of the robbers because she recognized his voice from his visit to the store earlier in the day.

The gun was later determined to be inoperable.

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SIOUX CITY -- A Dakota City woman charged with fatally stabbing another woman is now scheduled to stand trial for murder in April.

District Judge Jeffrey Poulson on Thursday set Melissa Camargo-Flores' trial for April 2 in Woodbury County District Court.

Camargo-Flores' trial was previously scheduled to begin Tuesday, but it was continued earlier this month after attorneys notified the court that more time was needed to prepare for trial. It was the third time the trial was continued.

Camargo-Flores, 21, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder for the April 8 stabbing of Kenia Alvarez-Flores outside her home in the 1200 block of West 14th Street in Sioux City.

Police have said that Camargo-Flores waited for Alvarez-Flores, 24, outside her home before stabbing her multiple times. Witnesses provided police a description of Camargo-Flores' vehicle, and police spotted and arrested her soon after the incident. Officers found bloody gloves and a bloody knife inside the car.

According to court documents, Camargo-Flores admitted to stabbing Alvarez-Flores and told authorities she had been involved in a relationship with the victim's boyfriend.

If found guilty as charged, she would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

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LE MARS, Iowa -- A man who impregnated a 14-year-old girl was placed on probation Thursday and ordered to register as a sex offender.

District Judge Patrick Tott suspended a 10-year prison sentence and placed Saqueo Carreto Perez on probation for three years.

A Plymouth County jury in November found Carreto Perez, 23, guilty of third-degree sexual abuse.

Carreto Perez must register with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry, and Tott ordered him to serve a lifetime special sex offender sentence in which he will be under supervision as if on parole. If he were to violate terms of the special sentence, he could be sent to prison.

Carreto Perez was arrested in August after the girl told police that she was pregnant and Carreto Perez was the father. The girl told police she willingly had a sexual relationship with Carreto Perez for about a year, and the two had lived together during that time.

Le Mars Community School officials contacted police to check on the girl, who was registering for classes. Police learned that the couple had recently moved to Le Mars. The girl attempted to convince police she was 17, but police confirmed that she was 14 by checking with schools she had attended in the past.

Police later learned that the girl was a reported runaway from El Paso, Texas.

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SIOUX CITY -- A judge has removed himself from presiding over a Sioux City murder case because he may have personal knowledge of the defendant's psychological history, an issue that may be raised as a defense.

District Judge Zachary Hindman issued the order late Thursday, saying that while serving as Jordan Henry's defense attorney during a probation revocation case two years ago, he "may or may not have obtained personal knowledge of facts that are or may become at issue" in the murder case and that he must recuse himself.

Chief District Judge Duane Hoffmeyer will assign the case to another judge.

Henry, 29, of Sioux City, is accused of strangling Elizabeth Bockholt in a Sioux City hotel room on Jan. 24 and then setting fire to the room. Henry pleaded not guilty earlier this week in Woodbury County District Court to first-degree murder and first-degree arson.

Hindman canceled a Friday hearing in which attorneys were to discuss whether Hindman should recuse himself.

First Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Mark Campbell on Wednesday filed a memorandum in which he said that Hindman should recuse himself because it appears possible that Henry's defense team may use a psychological or intoxication defense in the case.
Dear Doctor: Last year, my best friend, who was home in bed with a bad case of the flu, died of a heart attack. He was fit, strong and relatively young -- only 42 years old -- and his death was a shock. But now research suggests having the flu actually increases the risk of a heart attack. Can we protect ourselves?

Dear Reader: We're very sorry for your loss and understand why it would be shocking. When we think of the complications that arise from the flu, it's usually something like an ear or sinus infection. When things get more serious, flu can lead to pneumonia.

However, inflammation caused by the influenza virus can affect the body in even more severe and unexpected ways. This includes developing encephalitis or myocarditis, which are inflammation of the brain and the heart respectively, or sepsis, a full-body inflammatory response that can lead to multiple-organ failure and death. Individuals with the flu can also sometimes experience a worsening of chronic medical conditions, such as asthma or heart disease.
The commission began drafting the revisions in October, and held public hearings on them in November and in January before approving them. Perry said the changes were necessary to give the city more flexibility in regulating various group homes and adult day care centers.

We definitely didnt have anything in the code before to address group homes at all, Perry said. Weve just been following state regulations, and that doesnt make it flexible for many of the group homes operating today.

The city has one other adult day care, open only during the day, but it is in a part of the city that is zoned commercial.

The United Cerebral Palsy home is in a residential zone, but its operations would be more commercial in nature, Perry said. Requiring the agency to get approval for a conditional use permit would give neighbors a chance to ask questions and weigh in, she said.

Its a wonderful service, but its a service thats going into a residential neighborhood and could have an impact on traffic and the intensity of living in that neighborhood, she said.

A neighbor of the Oak Tree home has appeared at public hearings on the zoning ordinances to raise concerns about the planned group homes impact on the neighborhood.
Lewis leads discussion using the Bible and the Book of Discipline, which is regarded as the law and doctrine of the United Methodist Church. She encourages attendees to think about how their life experiences have shaped their opinions and interpretations.

Theres a lot of lack of understanding about Scripture, and knowledge and experience, Lewis said. This study is called Living Faithfully, and my hope for our United Methodist Church is that whatever happens in February, love would be at the core.

After the 2016 General Conference, the Commission on a Way Forward was appointed to study Scripture and come up with plans addressing sexuality in United Methodist churches around the world. The commissions report notes that the church was founded in 1968 but the present-day language about human sexuality was added to the Book of Discipline in 1972. The Book of Discipline is updated and published after every general conference.

Of the three most prominent plans, the Council of Bishops recommends the One Church Plan, which would allow churches and pastors to make decisions based on their specific congregations and conferences.
Blood Drive

Grace United Methodist Church , 1735 Morningside Ave., will sponsor a blood drive from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday. First-time donors will receive a free T-shirt. The public is encouraged to help save lives. For more information and to register contact Jill Sponder at 712-204-1856.

Praise Band Fest

Calvin Christian Reformed Church, 326 Seventh St. SE, in Le Mars, Iowa, will be hosting the 15th Annual Praise Band Fest at 5 p.m. Sunday. Jill Miller and her band will be the featured performers along with People of Praise from St. John's Lutheran Church in Le Mars. Starting the evening's festivities will be Calvin's faithful All For Him. The free-will offering for this event will benefit Hope Haven's International Wheelchair Ministry. A luncheon will follow the event in the fellowship hall.
SIOUX CITY -- Discount shoe retailer Payless ShoeSource plans to close all 2,300 of its U.S. stores, including three in Siouxland, as part of a bankruptcy filing later this month, according to a published report.

Liquidation sales could start as soon as next week, the Reuters news service said Thursday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter

Payless has stores at Southern Hills Mall in Sioux City, in the Sunset Plaza Mall in Norfolk, Nebraska, and in Storm Lake, Iowa.

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Through a deal with Shopko, Payless also has stores inside the Shopko in Sioux City and in several area Shopko Hometown stores in the tri-state area.

The Reuters sources said there's still a small chance a buyer could emerge after Payless files for bankruptcy. In the meantime, the company is getting ready for going-out-of-business sales in the next week, according to one of the sources.

Payless filed bankruptcy previously in April 2017, and exited 18 months ago, with about $400 million in loans, after slashing its debt pile from over $800 million, according to the Reuters story. A group of creditors, including hedge fund Alden Global Capital LLC, took over ownership, according to court records.
Geddy Lee recently talked to Classic Rock magazine about the impact Led Zeppelin had on Rush in their earliest days. In the interview, which appears in the magazine's July 2021 issue, Geddy recalls the first time he, Alex, and John Rutsey attended a Zeppelin concert: "That wasn't the first time I saw them, that was August 18, 1969. They were doing two shows. We were at the first show. I went with John Rutsey and Alex [Lifeson). It was general admission. We lined up for hours. We got in and we sat in the second row. And I swear they didn't walk out on stage-they floated out. They literally brought the house down, because by the end of the night there was plaster falling from the ceiling. Geddy also recalled when a call from Robert Plant helped them through one of Rush's darker periods: "I remember when Page & Plant were touring Walking Into Clarksdale and they came to Toronto. Someone kept calling our office saying they were Robert Plant and they need
Startups that launch products hurt the reputation of crypto, so it is important to point out the companies that are doing right by their investors

Cryptocurrency has had a rollercoaster year and in hindsight we are starting to realise the hype may have been more than a little premature.

A study commissioned by Invest in Blockchain found that only 36 of the top 100 digital currencies by market capitalisation had a working product.

To look at it from an even scarier lens: 64 per cent of these projects are still knee-deep in product development  some of them may even have nothing more available to the public than a white paper and a community chat.

While the definition of what constitutes a working product is up for debate  the researchers used public availability, the release of a mainnet and consumer or enterprise usage as their criteria  there is no arguing that there is a serious issue afoot here.

These crypto projects are breaking a cardinal rule in the tech world: Theyve put marketing before product development, sometimes even to its exclusion.

Also Read: 3 trends that will drive Vietnams e-commerce sector in 2019

The focus on marketing would not be so problematic if the general public tended to compartmentalise crypto projects one-by-one, but they do not. A few bad actors will paint a pattern in their eyes: These initiatives are all hype, or even worse, they are all scams.

In short time, you might see a backlash against truly innovative cryptocurrencies or crypto companies, similar to how some skeptics doubted firms like Amazon or PayPal in the wake of the dot-com bubble.

The problem is rooted in the general public as much as it is in the crypto projects with no working product. Rather than celebrate any crypto project with a unique idea, we need to exercise greater discretion in choosing which initiatives, organizations, and firms to give our attention to.

We should focus on ventures that have a working product, as its their solutions that will improve the lives of users, and in the aggregate, build credibility and galvanize support for an industry in dire need of it.

Story continues

Luckily, Asia Pacific is home to some of the most notable cryptocurrency companies with working products. Here are three of the very best, each working to cut through marketing speak with solutions that help enterprises or consumers.

QTUM

QTUM, based out of Singapore, was one of the few companies in Asia that made Invest in Blockchains list of working products. It is a smart contracts platform and value transfer protocol that takes elements from both Bitcoin and Ethereum. Though its price has fallen as of late, many enterprises and organizations are already building projects atop QTUM, in fields as diverse as health care, content creation, and online search.

Most impressively, some developers are using QTUM to build niche applications far from the usual technology subsectors. One example is Halal Chain.

Halal certification is the process of certifying food, medicine, and cosmetics as meeting certain standards established by the Islamic Council. Unfortunately, many companies try to game the system, as a bid to attract the Muslim market but cut costs on the actual work it takes to produce Halal goods.

Halal Chain will better regulate the Halal certification system by tracing the movement of goods at every stage of the chain  raw material supply, inspection and quarantine, and sales  through QTUM-enabled smart contracts. There are many other noteworthy projects being built through QTUM, which just goes to show its effectiveness as a platform: It is enabling others to succeed in ways they couldnt before.

Pundi X

Pundi X was another company in Asia that met Invest in Blockchains criteria for a working product.

The term may even be an understatement for Pundi X, as the Indonesian company is in the midst of a global roll-out of their 100,000 Pundi XPOS devices, deploying so far in Singapore, Korea, Indonesia, Brazil, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and many other markets. These XPOS devices enable consumers to make in-store transactions using cryptocurrency via their Pundi XPASS card.

In July, the Pundi XPOS were launched at the eateries of the FAMA Group in Hong Kong, including Locofama, Sohofama, SUPAFOOD and the Hive Cafe. An even more impressive deployment came just last year at Ultra Taiwan 2018. In what would be a rain-soaked festival, close to 30,000 attendees would pay for their food, drinks, and merchandise using Ultra Coin  the festivals official digital currency  at the XPOS terminals.

The two partners billed the event as the worlds first blockchain-powered music festival, but the significance of its success is arguably even greater: It showed that handling thousands of crypto transactions from consumers in a real-world setting was not only feasible but practical. Pundi X, in other words, is making crypto usage as mainstream as well, music festivals and hip eateries.

Bitmain

Bitmain was not on Invest in Blockchains working products list because it is not based on a cryptocurrency  the company manufactures miners  but it is just as important to highlight here because the wider ecosystem is as full of marketing hype as the cryptocurrency projects themselves.

Just think about how many miners, hard wallets, automated teller machines, and other solutions have failed to materialise after an avalanche of early hype.

Bitmain represents a welcome contrast. Headquartered out of China, Bitmain has created a lineup of powerful Bitcoin and Litecoin miners and has since diversified into managing the largest mining pools in the world and even AI chips.

As of last month, Bitmain even completed its pre-IPO registration in a bid to attract capital to accelerate production of its hardware, and cement its market leadership in crypto technology.

Also Read: Oriente partners with Indonesias conglomerate Sinar Mas to launch lending platform

This list is by no means exhaustive. There are plenty of crypto projects and companies in Asia that are doing great work.

This is merely a call to focus on those who are already walking the walk (i.e. helping consumers or enterprises with their products) and not just talking the talk (i.e. marketing what they will one day do).

Exercising greater discipline in who we chose to celebrate will no doubt benefit the industry as a whole, attracting supporters, winning over skeptics, and ultimately legitimizing cryptocurrency as a technology here to stay.



The post Walking the walk: Three Asian crypto companies gaining real-world traction appeared first on e27.
Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan struggled Friday to convince sceptical allies in the coalition fighting the Islamic State to help secure Syria once American soldiers pull out. As US-led Arab and Kurdish forces were fighting in the last IS territorial holdout in Syria, 13 defence ministers of the anti-IS coalition met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. Shanahan, the US acting defence secretary, pledged ongoing backing for the fight -- but kept allies guessing as to how that would be achieved once US forces pull out, and won no solid pledges of support. "While the time for US troops on the ground in northeast Syria winds down, the United States remains committed to our coalition's cause: the permanent defeat of ISIS, both in the Middle East and beyond," he said. He pledged that the US would "maintain our counterterrorism capabilities in the region" and "continue to support our local partners' ability to stand up to the remnants of ISIS" -- but gave no details about how this would be done. - 'In together, out together' - IS fighters have been boxed into an area of around one square kilometre (less than half a square mile) by a US-backed Arab-Kurdish militia in a last battle over the remaining patch of territory the militants control in northeastern Syria. Once they are defeated, US troops are set to withdraw from Kurdish-controlled areas after President Donald Trump in December announced the pullout of around 2,000 US troops. The decision stunned allies including France, which contributes artillery and about 1,200 forces in the region, including soldiers who train Iraqi troops. "It is totally out of the question to have French troops on the ground without the Americans there," one French government source told AFP. "It's just no." German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, whose country has helped with surveillance flights and logistical support, stressed that the idea of the mission should be "in together, out together". "Joint decisions should be the rule for Syria and Iraq where almost all NATO members took part in the fight against the IS," she said. A senior US defence official said that none of the allies in the IS coalition had made any "specific commitment... either whether they would stay or (whether) they would leave when we have left". There was "a tremendous desire to have a security arrangement or mechanism," the official said, but conceded that no concrete solution had been found to "resolve the security vacuum". - 'Going underground' - The imminent collapse of the IS "caliphate" in Syria has increased concerns about experienced militants and foreign fighters escaping and forming new cells in Syria or beyond. Von der Leyen stressed that "the IS is now changing its face and is going underground and building networks, including with other terror groups and including global networks". Shanahan said the anti-IS coalition was evolving "to meet the global threat posed by ISIS's offshoots and its murderous ideology" as far away as Afghanistan and the Philippines. However, the key concern of US allies now is Syria, where the US pullout will leave a vacuum and where major powers -- crucially Russia, Iran and Turkey -- are jostling for influence. Russian President Vladimir Putin, a leading supporter of the Damascus regime, has called the expected US withdrawal "a positive step that would help stabilise the situation in this region, where ultimately the legitimate government should re-establish control". Once US forces leave, another complication emerges: the future of areas in northern Syria controlled by the Kurdish YPG militia, a key US ally in the fight against jihadists but branded terrorists by Turkey. Questions remain over whether Ankara will follow up on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's warnings that Turkish forces may launch operations against the Kurds to curb their influence along the frontier. - Observation force - Istanbul and Washington have called for the creation of a "security zone" to separate YPG-controlled areas from the Turkish border as the US and Turkey increasingly align their positions. Washington's suggestion of installing an observation force in a buffer zone in Syria's north has the twin objectives of avoiding a Turkish assault on Kurdish forces and halting any jihadist resurgence. British defence minister Gavin Williamson at a NATO meeting this week did not rule out a UK role, saying that "we will continue to do all that is required to ensure that Britain and our allies remain safe". However, one high-ranking European military official pointed to the massive challenge of creating such a security zone. "Securing a buffer zone of an estimated 400 kilometres (250 miles) in length and 30km in width would require around 20,000 troops," said the official.
William Barr testifies at a Senate Judiciary hearing on nomination to be U.S. attorney general on Capitol Hill in Washington William Barr testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to be attorney general of the United States on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 15, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/Files

By Sarah N. Lynch and Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate confirmed William Barr as attorney general on Thursday, installing a seasoned lawyer with decades of Washington experience to head the Justice Department and putting him in charge of overseeing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's long-running probe of whether President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Russia.

The Senate voted 54 to 45, largely along party lines. A Justice Department spokeswoman said Barr will be sworn in at 4:45 PM ET in the Oval Office of the White House by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Many Democrats opposed Barr out of concern he might not make Mueller's findings fully public. But the Senate is controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans, so Barr's confirmation was virtually assured.

Today is a great day for the Department of Justice with the confirmation of William Barr to be the next Attorney General," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham.

He is a steady hand at a time of turmoil and he will bring much-needed reform to the Department of Justice."

Previously attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush, Barr has won praise from lawmakers in both parties for his expertise and grasp of the workings of the Justice Department.

He would be the third man in barely two years to occupy that post, replacing acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who replaced Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Trump ousted Sessions last November after criticizing him repeatedly.

Mueller is investigating meddling by Russia in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and whether Moscow colluded with Trump's campaign to try to tilt the election in Trump's favour, as well as possible obstruction of justice.

Trump denies any collusion. The Kremlin denies any meddling.

Before being nominated, Barr wrote a 19-page legal memo, in which he called part of Mueller's probe into whether the president obstructed justice "fatally flawed." He shared it with Trump's legal team and Justice Department officials.

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Barr has said he will not let himself be bullied by Trump and will protect the integrity of Mueller's investigation and make public as many of its findings as he can.

Barr has not promised to release Mueller's report in its entirety. He has warned he may not be allowed to reveal the identities of people who escape prosecution. That stance troubles many Democrats, who say Barr's expansive views of executive power might lead him to suppress parts of the report.

The Justice Department needs a leader who will be independent of the White House and who is able to stand up to President Trump," said Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, in a statement.

"Bill Barr hasnt demonstrated that he would be that independent leader."

Despite Democrats' opposition, many were anxious to have Barr installed quickly so he would replace Whitaker, whose tenure has been fraught with controversy since Trump appointed him in November.

Critics have alleged Whitaker's appointment was unlawful. Democrats fear Trump installed Whitaker to undermine Mueller's probe because Whitaker had criticized it when he was a conservative pundit.

Barr is widely expected to back many of Trump's tough immigration policies. He will also be under the microscope for how he implements a new law that eases prison sentences for non-violent criminals, after he advocated for the opposite, tough-on-crime approach for decades.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, Andy Sullivan and Lisa Lambert in Washington; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Dan Grebler and James Dalgleish)
FILE PHOTO: Getty Images

Two radicalised Singaporeans were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in January for their involvement in terrorism-related activities.

Mohamed Kazali Salleh was arrested in Malaysia by Malaysia Special Branch officers in December last year, deported to Singapore and handed over to the Internal Security Department (ISD) on 7 January, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a media release on Friday (15 February). His associate, Hazim Syahmi Mahfoot, was arrested in Singapore in January.

Both were subsequently issued with the Order of Detention under the ISA.

Close associate of ISIS militant

Kazali, a 48-year-old business man based in Malaysia, is a close associate of Syria-based ISIS militant Wan Mohd Aquil Wan Zainal Abidin, otherwise known as Akel Zainal.

Akel is believed to be the most senior Malaysian ISIS fighter in Syria, and was identified by the Malaysian authorities to be responsible for two recent ISIS-linked attack plots in Malaysia. He is also reported to have instructed two Malaysian ISIS supporters to mount attacks against places of worship and police stations in Malaysia in early 2019. The plots were foiled when the two supporters were arrested in November last year.

Kazali relocated to Malaysia with his family when he was a young child, and has been working in Johor Bahru over the past decade.

He first met Akel in 2009 and became influenced by his radical views and conspiracy theories. He was convinced by Akels belief that Muslims are duty-bound to travel to Syria to fight against those who oppress Muslims.

Financial assistance for militant

When Akel decided to go to Syria to fight in late 2013, Kazali had provided him with financial assistance for his trip. This continued when Akel was in Syria, and in turn, Akel kept him updated on his exploits on the battlefield. Kazali believed that the help he gave to Akel would guarantee him a place in paradise should Akel achieve martyrdom in Syria.

As Kazali became increasingly radicalised, he saw ISIS fighters as righteous individuals defending Muslims in Syria and around the world. At Akels urging, he took a baiah (pledge of allegiance) to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, which was conveyed to Akel via social media.

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Kazali also agreed to join Akel in Syria when invited by the latter to do so on several occasions. But he did not act on it as he was not ready to leave his life in Malaysia behind.

Instead, Kazali took to sharing news of Akels terrorism-related activities in Syria on social media to inspire others to travel to Syria. He was prepared to facilitate the travel of any individual who wanted to undertake armed violence in Syria through Akel.

In December 2018, Kazali received instructions from Akel to carry out an attack against a Freemasons centre in Johor Bahru, but did not follow through as he was afraid to be caught by the authorities.

Convinced that armed violence is needed

Hazim, a 28-year-old freelance car exporter based in Singapore, met Kazali in May last year in Singapore. They had business dealings, and quickly developed a personal friendship.

Hazim was influenced by Kazalis radical outlook, and was convinced that he should undertake armed violence against the perceived enemies of his religion, specifically non-Muslims. He believed that all Muslims are duty-bound to travel to conflict zones such as Palestine, Syria and Myanmar to fight non-Muslims there. He took a baiah to remain loyal and obedient to Kazali, even if it involved carrying out attacks and killing others.

The ISD and MSB cooperated closely on investigations into Kazalis terrorism-related activities and his links with Akel, leading to his subsequent arrest.

These cases highlight the dangers of radicalisation of Singaporeans overseas and the potential impact within Singapore, said the MHA. The threat of extremism is one which does not respect national borders.

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Turkish police on Friday prevented supporters from rallying outside the home of a pro-Kurdish lawmaker on hunger strike for 100 days. The protest bid coincides with the 20th anniversary of the capture of Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is jailed in a notorious prison island near Istanbul. Leyla Guven of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), launched her action on November 8 while in jail to protest against Ocalan's prison conditions. She was freed last month under judicial supervision but continued her protest, refusing any treatment. Guven, 55, is consuming only sugared or salted water. Police on Friday blocked supporters from approaching Guven's house in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir after a rally called by the HDP, an AFP correspondent said. "The biggest task ahead of us today is to turn every aspect of life into an arena for struggle and support hunger strikes at the highest level," HDP MP Dilan Dirayet Tasdemir said. "This dark picture and severe conditions of fascism can only be broken through our organised struggle," Tasdemir said. More than 200 prisoners are on hunger strike to protest what they call Ocalan's isolation, according to the HDP. Ocalan, one of the founders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that has waged a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, has not been allowed to see his lawyers since 2011. The PKK is blacklisted as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. Ocalan was caught in Kenya outside the Greek embassy in Nairobi on February 15, 1999 by Turkish secret service agents after attempting to seek asylum in Europe. - 'Fundamental right' - Turkish authorities last month allowed Ocalan's brother Mehmet to see him, the first visit in over two years, but the jailed leader's lawyers said it was not enough. "We cannot see a family visit that came in two years as something that ends isolation. That was a meeting which came after the reaction of democracy advocates and hunger strikes," Emran Emekci, one of Ocalan's lawyers, told an Istanbul press conference. "Meeting with family members is a fundamental right. There should be no need for hunger strikes... but unfortunately we need that resistance," he added. An international peace delegation made up of unionists, human rights activists and former politicians on Friday met with Ocalan's lawyers in Istanbul. The delegation met with Guven in Diyarbakir this week but they said no government official would meet with them. "The situation of the hunger strikers is at a dangerous point and it is imperative that Turkey acts to end the isolation (of Ocalan) now before there is further violence and bloodshed," said Ogmundur Jonasson, former Iceland justice minister.
Fighting "fake" news, wrestling with social media, and deploying an intern army -- the Taliban's sprawling propaganda machine embraces modernity even as the group vows to enforce Islamist controls on journalists if it returns to power. Notorious for banning TV and radio under its iron-fisted 1996-2001 regime, the militants have proven surprisingly deft at adapting to the ever-changing nature of modern media. The Taliban's official spokesman now tweets real-time updates about battlefield operations and its media arm stays in direct contact with journalists on a range of messaging apps. "Media is considered one side of the struggle," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP via Whatsapp. "We are not against modern technology," a senior Taliban source with links to the insurgents' media wing told AFP. "This is the need of the hour and using it is not against Islamic shariah." But the source admits his team struggles at times to control their own narrative. High-profile interviews have taken place without the media wing's knowledge, sparking hurried denials along with confusion over the identity of the interviewee and whether he can really claim to speak for the Taliban. Unverified leaks to media outlets from alleged Taliban sources are frequent. Fake or unauthorised accounts sprout often on social media, while their official Facebook pages and Twitter handles are regularly banned only to be restarted under another name. Even the official spokesman, Mujahid, is widely believed to be not one man but a moniker used by the information wing to issue statements. The operation can be dizzying, admits the Taliban source. - Truth greater than fiction - The increasingly refined production has not gone unnoticed, with NATO regularly briefing top officials on Taliban content. "It gives us an idea of what the group is thinking about that day," said Colonel Knut Peters, spokesman for NATO's Resolute Support mission in Kabul. The casualty figures they release are often wildly exaggerated, but the group has been known to describe their operations more accurately, with fewer outlandish battlefield claims. "The Taliban have discovered that truth has a greater impact than fiction," said Graeme Smith, a consultant for International Crisis Group. Journalists said insurgents are also often more responsive than the government. "When a journalist was killed in Farah province, (a few) weeks back, I wrote to the Taliban spokesman, and I got the reply in minutes," said A. Mujeeb Khalvatgar, the director of an Afghan media support group, who said he is still waiting for a statement from the president's office. Information remains difficult to verify, however. Pakistani senior journalist Tahir Khan, who showed AFP a stream of messages, photos and voice notes from the Taliban on his mobile phone, said the information was "not usually correct". But in a campaign like this, the battle for the truth might not matter. "This war... one major factor is psychological propaganda," he added. Its value is demonstrated by how high the media operation goes. The Taliban leadership gives orders to a handful of high-ranking militants responsible for the group's media strategy, the militant source said. They work across five different language services -- Pashto, Dari, English, Urdu and Arabic -- with dozens of volunteers who produce multimedia content. Print magazines target rural audiences without mobile phones, while slick propaganda videos and songs reach the illiterate. The army of interns include journalism school students, along with IT experts who monitor the latest trends, the source claimed. "They are servants of God, volunteers," he said. - Code of conduct - The Islamists maintained strict control over media during their brutal rule. Most foreign journalists fled the country, while Afghan reporters often worked undercover for fear of being violently harassed or accused of spying. In the 17 years since the US invasion, Afghanistan's media has flourished. But their success has made them targets, starting in 2016, when the Taliban killed seven employees of popular TV channel Tolo -- the first major attack on Afghan media since 2001. Journalists have faced killings, attacks and abductions. In 2018 Afghanistan was ranked the most dangerous country for journalists in the world. "Now (the Taliban are) using media a lot. It doesn't mean they believe in freedom of expression," said Khalvatgar. "It means that they know how to use the media... as a propaganda tool, not as a right of the people." Meanwhile unprecedented talks between the Taliban and Washington have sparked fears of a potential US exit and a possible return to power for the insurgents. The Taliban source said the group has no wish to shutter Afghan outlets -- but journalists would have to comply with an unspecified "code of conduct" in line with Islamic shariah. Female anchors, common in Afghanistan today, would not be allowed on camera. "It's better that they stay at home or join some other respectable profession," said the Taliban source. But foreign media would be welcomed, he claimed, unlike in the past. "We sheltered Osama [bin Laden] and provided him all our respect because he was our guest," he said. "Everyone who comes from any other country will be our guest." bur-mam-np-lab-sjd-ds/st/rox
By Belen Carreno and Ingrid Melander

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called an early general election for April 28 on Friday, setting the stage for a divisive vote that could tilt the country toward the nationalist right.

Sanchez, whose minority Socialist government has relied on support from regional and smaller parties, called the election after Catalans who had previously backed him joined with opposition parties in defeating his 2019 budget bill this week.

Opinion polls show no single party would win the seats to govern on its own, pointing to lengthy negotiations between three or more parties. Those could potentially include the far-right Vox party in what would be a first for Spain in the post-Franco era.

In a televised address that bore hallmarks of a campaign speech, Sanchez said he could not govern without a budget. Laying out his government's achievements, he said he was seeking a broader majority to pursue a social reform agenda.

"Between doing nothing and continuing without the budget and calling on Spaniards to have their say, I choose the second. Spain needs to keep advancing, progressing with tolerance," he said.

Spain, the euro zone's fourth largest economy, emerged from a deep economic slump in 2013 but has seen growing political volatility, driven by deep divisions over an independence drive in Catalonia and the emergence of new, populist parties.

Sanchez's Socialist party leads opinion polls, but with only a small advantage over the others. A total of five parties spanning from the far-left to the far-right could hope to be in government, depending on the outcome of the vote.

One of the most likely scenarios, according to surveys, would be an alliance between the conservative People's Party (PP), the centre-right Ciudadanos and Vox.

Anti-immigration Vox, virtually unknown just a few months ago, is one of several emerging parties that have upended the two-party establishment that has alternated in power since the return to democracy after Francisco Franco's death in 1975.

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Twelve Vox lawmakers were elected in December to Andalusia's regional parliament, the first time that one of the hard-right parties that are increasingly popular across Europe has scored an electoral success in Spain.

With memories of the Franco dictatorship, the country was long seen as immune to such groups.

The Socialist party could stay in government if Ciudadanos decides not to stomach an alliance with the far-right nationally, and opts instead to side with the left, despite strong tensions between them.

Spanish markets were little changed after Sanchez's announcement.

Bond analysts have said any political impact on sentiment should be short lived given the country's decent macro-economic outlook.

COALITIONS?

With Catalan separatist leaders on trial in Madrid for a failed independence bid in 2017 that angered many voters in the rest of the country, that region's uneasy relationship with central government will feature high on the electoral agenda.

Sanchez's government - which had replaced a conservative minority administration removed from office last year in a no-confidence vote - had also depended on the support of other small regional parties to pass legislation.

But it was the Catalan nationalist parties, disgruntled by Sanchez's refusal to put an independence referendum on the agenda for any talks to ease Madrid-Catalonia tensions, who threw him against the ropes by rejecting the fiscal bill.

Pablo Casado, leader of the conservative's People Party (PP), welcomed what he called Sanchez "throwing in the towel" and said his party was ready to govern, adding his first move if elected would be to lower taxes.

Spain has had a succession of minority or caretaker governments over the past three years, and Sanchez's administration will have been the shortest in 40 years.

"I think that after the election, we will be in the same situation: parties on the right, parties on the left and there won't be a strong government," said a tourist guide in Madrid, who gave her name as Candi.

"There hasn't been one in years."

(Additional reporting by Blanca Rodriguez, Jose Elias Rodriguez, Isla Binnie, Jesus Aguado; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by John Stonestreet and Frances Kerry)
FILE PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore

A 33-year-old male Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) soldier was found motionless at a stairway landing of a building in Kranji Camp II on Thursday (14 February) at 5.10pm.

The Singapore Police Force and the Singapore Civil Defence Force were activated by the camps army unit. However, the army regular was pronounced dead on site at 5.30pm by an SAF medical officer.

The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said in a subsequent media statement that the death was not training-related. Based on the preliminary investigations, the police also do not suspect foul play.

The police have classified the case as unnatural death and investigations are in progress. Mindef and the SAF are assisting the family in their time of grief.

The death comes less than a month after actor Aloysius Pang died after suffering serious injuries during an SAF training exercise in New Zealand. The 28-year-old was the fourth national serviceman to die in training-related accidents since July 2018.

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Willy Paul does not believe in love because women are difficult to deal with.

The controversial music act says that he is currently not giving his heart to any woman.

Im not in love, although I know how to compose love songs, said Willy Paul, adding: Women are difficult to deal with. It is not me but life has taught me; I dont believe in love.

This contradicts earlier reports that Willy Paul is dating his supposed baby mama, Mali Queen, who recently told off other women groupies to stay the (expletive) away from her man.

Yahll ladies hes Fully taken and soon will be walking down the aisle with the Mother to his Most Adorable son #KingDamianKeep away ladies dont bring him temptations, she wrote on IG.

Willy Paul, who has been releasing love songs as he continues to deviate from gospel music, defended his new style of music saying it is not a sin.

It is part of my talent to do such songs and it is not a sin. After all, God is love. There are people who still believe in love. Before you start throwing stones, remember you are alive as a result of love, said Willy Paul.

He is currently promoting his two new songs, Harambee and Bebi Bebi.

Harambee is a song about a love life where you have a woman in life but you cannot afford to spoil her. So I am telling her, Nitafanya Harambee because I have prominent people who will support me. Then when I get money, I will spoil her, he said.

All my love songs are not about me. I do them because of the love my mum and my late dad had. It was genuine. Let love be love and I remain to be Willy Paul, but for now, I am only in love with God.

The singer adds that he spent his Valentines with his mother because she is the only true love that he knows will never play with his heart.
Recovered paraphernalia | Photo courtesy of 2ID-PAO

RIZAL, Philippines  A member of the New Peoples Army communist group said to be responsible for the burning of construction equipment in Quezon province last week was killed in an encounter with the military on Thursday (February 14) at Sitio Pinamintian, Barangay San Buenaventura, Luisiana, Laguna.

BGen. Arnulfo Burgos Jr., Commander of the 202nd Brigade directly supervising the on-going Focused Military Operation (FMO) said the arsonists were forced to withdraw towards Quezon-Laguna boundary in their attempt to escape soldiers from 80IB.

Soldiers were able to recover at the encounter site two (2) M16 magazines, two (2) Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), detonators with wires, ten (10) fixed tents, one (1) tablet, eight (8) cellular phones (two of them smart phones), one (1) Baofeng radio, one (1) NPA terrorists flag, one (1) pack medicines, three (3) bags and other training materials, according to the 2ID-PAO.

While withdrawing, the rebels encountered another group of soldiers from the 1IB who were conducting complementary operations at Brgy Kalangay, Lucban, Quezon resulting in another 15-minute firefight.

According to Lt.Col. Jonathan Manio, Battalion Commander of 1IB, an informant revealed that two female NPA terrorists were killed in the first encounter.

No one was hurt on the government side.

Manio said all available troops including K9 dogs and the local police are now conducting hot pursuit operations.

MGen. Rhoderick Parayno, the Commander of the Philippine Armys 2ID lauded the latest accomplishments of the troops against the NPA terrorists responsible for the arson in Quezon.

The official urged the rebels to return to the government side to live a better life and reform for the sake of their families.

We are not ruthless. Im offering them refuge. If they want to be with their families and live peaceful, normal and productive lives, we will welcome them to just return to the fold of the law. I guarantee their safety and Ill make sure that they receive all the benefits due them offered by the government, Parayno said.

Meanwhile, Manio assured that all available troops including K9 dogs and the local police are now conducting hot pursuit operations against the rebels.  Marje Pelayo (with reports from Jennica Cruz / 2ID-PAO)

The post NPA arsonist killed in an encounter with soldiers in Laguna appeared first on UNTV News.
Myanmar's powerful army chief has given a rare foreign media interview to insist there was no "certain proof" the military had persecuted the country's stateless Rohingya Muslim community. Around 740,000 Rohingya fled over the border into Bangladesh after a bloody military campaign in 2017. The UN condemned the crackdown as ethnic cleansing and investigators called for top military leaders, including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, to be prosecuted for genocide. But the military has maintained its operations were justified to root out Rohingya insurgents following a series of deadly attacks on police posts and has denied nearly all allegations of wrongdoing. In an interview Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper published Friday, Min Aung Hlaing doubled down on previous claims, arguing "there is no certain proof that the national army was involved in the persecution" of Rohingya. The army chief added that accusations the military committed atrocities "hurts the nation's dignity". Min Aung Hlaing rarely speaks to the press and has instead preferred to communicate over Facebook, but the social media giant kicked him off the platform last year for his role in stoking hate speech. His comments were at odds with testimony from Rohingya in the crowded, sprawling camps in Bangladesh. The refugees have recounted widespread murder, rape, torture and the burning of entire villages to the ground at the hands of Myanmar soldiers. A UN probe report released in September also outlined atrocities committed by the military in meticulous and searing detail. It said Myanmar's "clearance operations" were disproportionate to the insurgent attacks and cited prior troop deployments as evidence of premeditation. Investigators called for Myanmar to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) but any road to prosecution would be long and fraught with political difficulties at the UN. Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government remains in a fragile power-sharing agreement with the military, which holds three key ministries and a quarter of parliamentary seats. Suu Kyi's international reputation lies in tatters for refusing to stand up for the Rohingya. In Myanmar, the Rohingya are widely seen as interlopers from Bangladesh and have been denied citizenship, rights and access to services for decades under what Amnesty International calls apartheid-like conditions.
FILE PHOTO: Workers fix an election campaign billboard depicting Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, in Abuja FILE PHOTO: Workers fix an election campaign billboard depicting Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, in Abuja, Nigeria, January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo

By Paul Carsten and Alexis Akwagyiram

ABUJA (Reuters) - A militant group in Nigeria's oil-rich southern Niger Delta threatened on Thursday to cripple the economy if President Muhammadu Buhari is re-elected on Saturday.

The Niger Delta Avengers - who want their area to get a greater share of the oil revenue it produces - said they backed opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar and his promises to devolve more power to the regions.

The Niger Delta Avengers were behind a 2016 wave of violence, including attacks on pipelines and other facilities, that helped push Nigeria into recession.

The group, in a statement posted on its website, warned that if Buhari is re-elected there would be "a perpetual recession for Nigeria".

Buhari later made a televised address promising that the government would ensuring a free, fair and peaceful vote, without making any reference to the Avengers' statement. His spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Attacks in the Niger Delta in 2016 cut Nigeria's crude output from a peak of 2.2 million barrels per day (mbpd) to near 1 mbpd - the lowest level seen in Africa's biggest economy in at least 30 years.

That, combined with low oil prices, pushed the OPEC member state into its first recession in a quarter of a century - crude sales make up two-thirds of government revenue and 90 percent of its foreign exchange.

AGITATION

Atiku, a businessman and ex-vice president representing the main opposition People's Democratic Party, has proposed to devolve more power to regions in a policy dubbed "restructuring".

It would enable oil-rich states in the south to retain a greater share of the revenues generated from crude production.

"We are adopting Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as the sole candidate to be voted for by all the people of the Niger Delta as a result of his political ideology which is in tandem with our agitation for equitable and fair principles of federalism," the group said.

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The Avengers said that, if elected, Atiku should start a "restructuring of Nigeria" within six months to forestall further attacks in the Niger Delta.

"Atiku has said that restructuring will begin on the day he takes office, so he will keep his word," Paul Ibe, a spokesman for the main opposition candidate, said in a telephone interview.

Buhari's government held talks with the militants in 2016 and 2017 about their grievances over poverty and oil pollution in the Delta.

No substantial attacks have been carried out by any groups in the Delta region since January 2017.

The country is also facing separatist movements in the southeast and Islamist militants in the northeast.

(Reporting by Paul Carsten and Alexis Akwagiram; Additional reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by James Macharia and Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Toby Chopra and Andrew Heavens)
The organisers holding posters that showed most of the tickets for "Blue Live in Malaysia 2019" are sold out.

15 Feb  English boyband Blue is making their way to Kuala Lumpur next month for their concert "Blue Live in Malaysia 2019".

To be held on 3 March at Dewan Wawasan Convention & Exhibition Centre in Menara PGRM, Cheras, tickets for the concert have been selling like hot cakes and to date, three categories have already sold out.

VVIP tickets, which are priced at RM598 each and come with a Meet & Greet session (inclusive of group photograph with the boyband before the concert), are one of the sold out categories.

The other two sold out categories are Cat 3 and Cat 4 tickets, priced at RM158 and RM98, respectively.

A closer look at the sold out categories.

The info was revealed during a press conference held earlier today at Hotel Pavilion KL, where organisers KC & Friends Sdn Bhd and TerryandTheCuz Sdn Bhd also confirmed that all four members will be performing at the concert.

So for fans who want to see Antony Costa, Duncan James, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe live in person but haven't gotten their tickets yet, they're going to have to act fast.

As of this morning, Cat 1 tickets (RM258) and Cat 2 tickets (RM208) are 70% sold out while VIP tickets (RM398) are also selling fast.

Tickets can be purchased via https://myticket.asia/

Kesuvan Purusotman (CEO - KC & Friends), Terence Conrad (CEO - TerryandThe Cuz) and Karina Grewal (TerryandThe Cuz) at the press conference, where they revealed that they've been working on bringing Blue to Malaysia since last year.

Taking into consideration that most of Blue fans would likely be parents by now, children aged 7-year-old and above are also welcome to attend the concert.

Malaysia's own Jakeman will be the opening act, hyping up the crowd with his mixes before Blue takes the stage.

Since this concert is also held in celebration of the boyband's 20th anniversary, the duration will be longer than their standard concert set list as it is expected to run for 60 to 75 minutes.

It's also a very special concert for Malaysians as this is the first time in about 16 years that the boyband is holding a public concert in the country, they've only been visiting for private events after their last public show here.
Intudo Ventures explained how the upcoming General Election will affect their investment strategy in Indonesia or not

Venture capital (VC) firm Intudo Ventures today announced that it has closed a US$50 million fund for Indonesia-only early stage startups.

The new fund followed the firms debut fund of US$20 million, which it had closed in February 2018.

In a press statement, Intudo Ventures broke down the the funds limited partners (LPs) into three major geographical locations: US, Indonesia, and Taiwan, with the overwhelming majority of its existing LPs returning to back the second fund.

The LPs for the fund included the Founders Fund, Wasson Enterprise (US-based family office of former Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Greg Wasson), World Innovation Lab (a US-Japan VC fund), President (BVI) International Investment Holdings Ltd (the investment arm of Taiwan-based international F&B and retail conglomerate Uni-President Enterprises Corp.), CTBC Group (Taiwan-based global financial holding company) as well as more than twenty Indonesian conglomerate families and several tech unicorn founders and executives.

The firm has made first investment from its second fund, and is aiming to invest in 12 to 16 companies with an initial investment amount of US$500,000 to US$5 million into each company.

Also Read: Intudo Ventures invests in hospitality company ARTOTEL Group

We look for industry winners and overlooked deals, instead of trying to index the market. We aim to be Indonesias leading Series A fund, and anticipate Series A investments will make up the dominant composition of our fund, while leaving room for opportunistic seed and Series B investments in founders and companies with break-out potential, the firm explained.

While we primarily invest in Indonesian homegrown early-stage companies, we selectively invest in and bring overseas breakout companies that have a thoroughly fleshed-out Indonesia roadmap into the market, it added.

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Only in Indonesia

Following up the launch of its second fund, Intudo Ventures Founding Partners Eddy Chan and Patrick Yip spoke to e27 to explain further about their investment approach, which one of them includes being an Indonesia-only VC investment firm.

Back when the firm launched its debut fund, it started out with an Indonesia-focussed thesis. But the firm decided to take it further with its second fund by streamlining to Indonesia-only.

Chan explained to e27 that once its portfolio company has established a dominant position in the Indonesian market, Intudo Ventures will encourage them to expand to neighbouring countries to build dominant market positions.

Also Read: BeliMobilGue.co.id raises US$3.7M in Pre-Series A round from Intudo Ventures, Go-Jek co-founder

For startups, it is easier to claim the regions largest market first than to try to break in from smaller markets. As such, we work closely with companies to ensure that they capture a dominant position in Indonesia, and then help them expand outwards through our strategic network, he said.

Indonesia itself is set to have its General Election on April 17, 2019. In the previous years, general elections have always been known to possess a certain degree of uncertainty. This might lead investors to take a more careful, wait-and-see approach before investing in the market.

But Intudo Ventures generally felt optimistic about the upcoming general election, and its impact to the countrys tech industry.

The current administrations underlying policy framework will continue to support entrepreneurship and digital transformation. I dont think therell be any drastic changes whether the outcome is one way or another, Yip said.

When we are investing in the fund and in a company, we are taking a long-term view. If we were more of a public market fund  that is more susceptive to market fluctuation and volatility, of course events like this can be quite game-changing. But we tend to de-risk our investment by [giving] the values that we are giving to the companies: Being hands-on, getting the right people on board, solving [challenges in] distribution and government relations. With that approach and the support from the government, we are pretty bullish in this market regardless of the outcome of the election, he further explained.



Image Credit: Gede Suhendra on Unsplash

The post Intudo Ventures closes US$50M Indonesia-only second fund appeared first on e27.
Indonesias Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education has confirmed that it backs DANAdidik.ids student loan service

DANAdidik.id, an education-focussed fintech from Indonesia, officially announces the support from the president of the country, Joko Widodo, through his Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education.

Also Read: Go-Jek funding round aims for US$3 billion

The ministry provides its support through the program called PPBT (Perusahaan Pemula Berbasis Teknologi) or translated as Tech-based Startup program. The program is designed to back startups with funding, mentorship, and other facilities.

The program is essentially an incubator by the ministry to encourage entrepreneurship.

All DANAdidik team welcomes the ministrys program and we hope that more people, hopeful students can access DANAdidiks benefit, fulfilling our mission #SemuaBisaKuliah (translated as #EverybodyCanGotoCollege), said Nurlaila, Head of Marketing.

The ministrys program aims to have the trust of the government, investors, and students in the student loan industry while also making sure everyone can have fair access to education without worrying about tuition fee.

Also Read: These 7 startups will be early 5G adopters under the guidance of APTG Accelerator Programme

The support through the ministry reflects the Presidents mission that seeks to build student loan industry in Indonesia, announced in April last year.

DANAdidik is leveraging on crowdfunding to connect sponsor with university students under its platform. Launched in 2015, the fintech gives long term loan for four years.



Photo by MD Duran on Unsplash

The post Indonesias fintech DANAdidik.id becomes countrys first minister-approved student loan provider appeared first on e27.
To prolong the Valentine weekend and ensure that party-loving Kenyans get to celebrate the month of love resoundingly, Bclub will tonight host renowned Nigerian crooner Mr Flavour.

His meet and greet appearance at the Bclub will herald the festival of love at the Uhuru Gardes on Saturday, February 16 where he will perform alongside a cadre of Kenyan artists.

Nairobi Wire understands Sauti Sol, Steph Kapela, Alicious, Petra, DJs Creme de la Creme and Dii, MCs Pascal Tokodi and Kate the Actress are some of the celebs lined up for the concert.

But before then, the Nigerian ladies man will rub shoulders and spend time with fans and the Kilimani-based Bclub.

If you are still blue from the kicks of Valentine, we bet this is a plot that would surely interest you.

Wear your dancing shoes and lets meet there.
Former chair of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and now corporate secretary of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce Atty. Ivan John Enrile Uy on the program Get It Straight with Daniel Razon

QUEZON CITY, Philippines  The automated election systems source code goes through thorough scrutiny to ensure that not a single glitch will jeopardize the conduct of the elections.

One of the experts who conduct the review is Atty. Ivan John Enrile Uy, the former chair of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and now corporate secretary of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce.

Uy stressed that the Commission and Election (Comelec) and Smartmatic should present to them the diagram and the servers where the election results will go through during the elections process.

Walang problema sa technology. The technology works. The transmissions work. The VCM (vote counting machine) counting, its accurate. But the checks and balances, the security features, if they are activated, we will have a very good system, Uy said.

Uy recalled that during the 2013 and 2016 polls, they noticed several irregularities in the process of the automated election.

One was the use of a queue server which was not made known to them prior to the conduct of the polls.

In 2016, they were only asked to review three software programs when there were actually 10 software programs involved in the elections.

We found out na itong diagram na ito, may server pala dito, Uy said while he explained what happened during the 2016 polls.

May dinadaanan na server bago makarating dito. Hindi sinabi sa amin. Tinatanong namin: Anong ginagawa ng server dyan? Sabi nyo sa amin direkta yan', he recalled referring to the confusion created by the said queue server.

The IT expert said that fraudulent acts during elections cannot be totally eradicated even if its automated. If ballot switching can be done in manual elections, SD card switching can also happen in automated polls.

Meanwhile, transmission of election results remains in question now in the 2019 polls such as the claim of Senator Tito Sotto.

Ang layunin ng gumamit ng automated election is to minimize. It cannot eliminate itong mga dayaan. It can minimize or it can enhance depending on how you use automation, he explained.

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Manipulation of election results is still possible especially if the operators of the system, such as Comelec and Smartmatic, will conspire to do so.

Example lang itong sa 2016, since this is the most recent. May gumalaw sa server habang tumatakbo ang eleksyon. Si Marlon Garcia, siya ang head ng Smartmatic. May kinorek daw. Violation iyan ng best practices, he argued.

With this, Uy urged that the former head of Smartmatic Marlon Garcia and former Comelec chair Andy Bautista, to come out and shed light on whether election rigging that happened in the previous polls.

The former CICT chair challenged the Comelec to be transparent to gain the full trust of the public in the upcoming May 2019 elections.  Marje Pelayo (with reports from Rey Pelayo)

The post GIS EXCLUSIVE: Security features of the automated polls must be guarded  IT expert appeared first on UNTV News.
Cryptocurrency in Indonesia just got regulated with industry leaders calling it killing the market

The frowned upon policy includes a minimum of IDR 1 trillion (US$71.17 million) as a paid-up capital for a new trader offering future contracts for crypto assets

Cryptocurrency has been traded in Indonesia for a while now, but just recently got regulated by Indonesias Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, known locally as Bappebti. It just authorised digital currencies as a trading commodity, setting an IDR 1 trillion (US$71.17 million) as the minimum paid-up capital for a new trader offering future contracts for crypto assets.

The authorisation is under regulation No.5/2019, as told by KrAsia. Since October last year, the capital of Indonesia Jakarta has gone ahead and allowed the trading to protect customers from crypto fluctuations.

Also Read: 5 Indonesian state-owned enterprises merge mobile payment services

The regulation focusses on technical provisions for the implementation of cryptocurrency exchanges, which effectively treats currencies like bitcoin as commodities to be traded legally.

We want to give protection to people who want to invest in crypto assets so that they arent cheated by fraudulent sellers, said Head of Bappepti, Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana.

Cryptocurrency exchanges have been around since 2014 amid the legality uncertainty, inflamed further by Indonesias Central Bank banning it as a payment option.

One of the requirements for trading cryptocurrency in the country is that the trader must pass a risk assessment that rules out that theyre being misused in money laundering schemes or the funding of terrorism. Other requirements include the client support division that the traders must possess, the employment of at least one certified security practitioner, five-years-old of transaction data, and have a server inside the country.

Despite addressing the issues in the country, this regulation has been frowned upon, especially in the countrys crypto community. Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF), for example, has an opinion that this regulation came a bit too late, as told by INDEF economist Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara.

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Bitcoin prices in the last two years have fallen by 81% from US$ 18,269 at the end of 2017 to US$ 3,464 per coin in February 2019. The legal uncertainty surrounding bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Indonesia has caused many to miss out on opportunities during the trading heydays, said Adhinegara regarding the late policy.

More complaints from the traders also highlight the new rules that requires a high minimum capital for traders. Trading is indeed allowed, but the payment option ban from the central bank is yet to be lifted.

Regulation is needed to support a sector, help the economy and protect people but it should not kill an industry, Oscar Darmawan, Chief Executive of digital asset trader Indodax, or used to be known as bitcoin.co.id, said to Channel Asia Singapore.

Darmawan felt that the amount of minimum capital level is much higher than the IDR 2.5 billion minimum paid-up capital for a futures broker of other commodities.

Also Read: Walking the walk: Three Asian crypto companies gaining real-world traction

Currently, its believed that there is no recorded data on the size of Indonesias crypto-currency market. However, people in the industry are positive that the number of investors has nearly matched that of the countrys main stock market.



The post Cryptocurrency in Indonesia just got regulated with industry leaders calling it killing the market appeared first on e27.
Nigeria made final preparations Friday on the eve of a presidential election, with continuity pitted against reform in a battle between incumbent Muhammadu Buhari and his main rival Atiku Abubakar. Buhari, the 76-year-old leader of Africa's most populous nation, was elected in 2015 on a wave of hope he could defeat Boko Haram Islamists, tackle rampant corruption and boost the economy. But he faces a stiff challenge from former vice-president Abubakar, 72, amid fears about widening insecurity, claims of creeping authoritarianism and economic incompetence. Analysts were split over who would win Saturday's ballot, which is the sixth in the 20 years since Nigeria returned to democracy after decades of miliary rule. "It's likely to be very, very tight," said Nnamdi Obasi, senior Nigeria researcher at the International Crisis Group think-tank. "Initially the president and the ruling party were way ahead in the race but in recent times the opposition has been seen to make a more vigorous and more robust campaign. "We can't say exactly how it will go," he told BBC World Service radio. A record number of 73 candidates are on the ballot but Buhari, from the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Abubakar, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), are considered the main contenders. Over 84 million people are registered to vote -- up 18 percent on 2015 and another record, which has been taken as a sign of Nigeria's developing democracy. Also up for grabs are 360 seats in the lower House of Representatives and 109 in the Senate. Nearly 120,000 polling units are set to open at 0700 GMT and close at 1600 GMT. No date has been given for the results, but an announcement is expected from early next week. - Either/or - Electors face a choice between two elderly candidates who have both been part of the political elite for decades and do not mirror the country's increasingly young demographic. Just over half the registered voters are aged 18-35. Chief among the criticisms against Buhari is security, with signs of a resurgence of Boko Haram in Nigeria's remote northeast and new conflicts elsewhere. His anti-corruption campaign has been described as one-sided, unduly targeting political opponents. Economic growth picked up last year after a recession in 2016 but remains sluggish. The cost of living is high in a country where most of the 190 million people live in poverty despite billions earned from oil. Abubakar, 72, bills himself as a dynamic, modern, pro-business leader. But the former vice-president faces allegations about links to corruption. Buhari said in a televised address Thursday that reelection would give him the chance to fulfil his initial promises and complete vital infrastructure projects. "There is no best candidate among them," said Aliyu Jibrilla, a 70-year-old retired teacher in the Adamawa state capital, Yola, adding: "Intellectually... they're not up to it". "It's about time these old people go," added Modibbo Sadiq, a 23-year-old university graduate. In Buhari's home town of Daura, in Katsina state, Abdulaziz Abdullahi agreed. "Ideally, the young generation should be in charge of country," said the 25-year-old, who sells glasses. "But they are not ready for the job." - Security and fraud - Security is a constant threat in Nigeria, after previous outbreaks of deadly election-linked violence. As a precaution, all vehicles have been ordered off the roads from 6am to 6pm Saturday. Nigeria's police chief Mohammed Adamu said the restrictions were designed to prevent "hoodlums and criminally-minded elements from hijacking and disrupting the electoral process". With a reinforced police and military presence on the streets Friday, the interior ministry announced that land borders will shut for 48 hours from midday. Candidates have pledged to conduct peaceful elections and to accept the results, but there have been clashes in the southern state of Rivers. APC candidates have been prevented from running in the parliamentary and governorship elections in Rivers because of a dispute over their selection. Vote-rigging has marred previous Nigerian elections, and this year concerns have been raised both the APC and PDP may have sought to buy votes. Red flags also went up after voter cards were distributed late, or not at all, and three fires in 12 days Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) offices. Ahmad Ado Hasan, 21, a tailor and first-time voter in the northern city of Kano, said: "As a citizen, you should vote your choice, not sell your vote. "God has already destined the winner, we are only to confirm through our votes. So, vote buying is not the answer."
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Thailand on Friday for high-level talks likely aimed at reassuring Beijing about its investments in the Southeast Asian country ahead of a long-delayed general election, analysts said.

During his two-day trip to the northern city of Chiang Mai, Wang will meet his counterpart Don Pramudwinai, Thailands ministry of foreign affairs said on its website.

Zhang Mingliang, a Southeast Asian affairs specialist at Jinan University, said China was concerned the upcoming poll might have an impact on its interests.

The recent events regarding the sudden changes to Thailands prime ministerial candidate could affect the countrys political stability and affect its relationship with China, he said.

He was referring to the fact that on Wednesday, Thailands Election Commission asked the constitutional court to dissolve the Thai Raksa Chart, a political party allied with the powerful Shinawatra clan, for putting forward Princess Ubolratan as candidate for prime minister.

The move came just days after Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, Ubolratans younger brother, issued a royal decree denying her bid to become prime minister hours after her name was submitted.

Zhang said that only by ensuring the political stability of Thailand could Chinas interests in the country and Southeast Asia as a whole be protected.

In the past, political instability meant Thailands leaders were unable to attend foreign events such as meetings with Asean and China, he said.

If there is political stability in Thailand ... that can aid its contribution to Asean and its ties with China.

Chinas relationship with Thailand is the best among the Asean nations, with the least conflict of interests, he said.

Concerns over Chinas overseas investments are growing and there have been accusations that Beijing is using them to gain political leverage.

China and Thailand reached an agreement in 2017 for the construction of Thailands first high-speed rail line. Once completed it will run from Bangkok to Nong Khai on the Thai border with Laos.

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The line is seen as a key project under the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijings plan to connect China with countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Elections in Southeast Asia have proved troublesome for the initiative, however. Soon after being re-elected as prime minister of Malaysia last year, Mahathir Mohamads government cancelled the China-funded US$20 billion East Coast Rail Link. Officials later backtracked on the decision, leaving its future in the air.

Xu Liping, a specialist in Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that Thailand, as this years chair of Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has a crucial role to play in promoting Chinas relationship with other members of the group.

Ensuring the continuity of China-Thailand ties after the elections in March will also be on the agenda in Wangs meeting, he said.

Meanwhile, Chinas top diplomat Yang Jiechi, a member of the Communist Party Politburo, travelled to Germany on Friday to attend the Munich Security Conference, which runs until Sunday.

This article Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds talks in Thailand ahead of general election first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2019.
(From left to right) Gemma Chan, Samuel L. Jackson , Brie Larson, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck at a fan event for Captain Marvel at Marina Bay Sands. PHOTO: Getty Images

The cast and directors of upcoming blockbuster Captain Marvel came to Singapore on Thursday (14 February) as they made the first stop on their world tour to promote the latest movie from the hugely popular Marvel superheroes franchise.

Actors Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson and Gemma Chan, as well as co-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, held a press conference at Marina Bay Sands attended by reporters from around Asia, before interacting with the crowd at a fan event in the evening.



Avengers: Infinity War, the most recent instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ended on a cliffhanger with Nick Fury (Jackson) paging Captain Marvel (Larson) for help, after supervillain Thanos (Josh Brolin) kills half of all the living things in the universe with a snap of his fingers.

So the question on everyones mind was: Will Captain Marvel be key to defeating Thanos in the next Avengers film? (We wont see the purple villain in Captain Marvel, since its about the origin story of the female superhero before the Avengers existed.)

When asked, Larson teased, That is a very good question, which I absolutely cannot answer.

Brie Larson poses for a selfie with fans in Singapore at the fan event. PHOTO: Reuters

The Oscar-winning actress said she trained intensely for nine months, including judo and weightlifting, so that she could understand what female strength felt like and embody it. It meant sometimes that I ended up on the floor crying, begging for (training) to stop. But all of that is who Carol is.

Jackson, who plays a younger Fury (since the film is set in the 90s), shed his scar and eye patch for Captain Marvel, and well get to see him with hair too.

It was the same way I played older Nick Fury, but with a little less knowledge, said Jackson. Having two eyes, I had a lot less instinct than older Nick Fury. I learned a lot from (Captain Marvel) in the course of the film.

Gemma Chan, who was last seen as Astrid Young in Crazy Rich Asians, plays Kree spy Minerva this time round. She said, The characters couldnt be further apart. Astrid is gentle and kind. Minerva is kind of the opposite. It was great to play a character whos sarcastic. She has a lot of sassy one-liners.

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Captain Marvel opens in Singapore cinemas on 7 March. It tells the story of how Carol Danvers becomes one of the most powerful superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe.

Hopefully, it will also tell us where she disappeared to the whole time the Avengers were battling bad guys over the last 20 Marvel Studios films.

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A no-deal Brexit for the UK, the second-largest importer of French wines and spirits, could disrupt wine exports through long border delays, import taxes, decreased British demand and increased competition from non-EU markets

French wine makers may be "selling like crazy" to Britain as their clients stock up ahead of Brexit, but they say the country's looming departure from the European Union promises nothing but problems.

A no-deal Brexit for the UK, the second-largest importer of French wines and spirits, could disrupt wine exports through long border delays, import taxes, decreased British demand and increased competition from non-EU markets.

"Transportation of wine, in the case there's no agreement after March 29, could be very difficult," said Gavin Quinney, who runs a vineyard near Bordeaux.

Quinney bottled all of his wine six weeks early this year to ship six months' worth of stock to the UK before the Brexit deadline.

"We're trying to send as much wine as possible to England," he said.

The introduction of new taxes on imports, as well as the likelihood of an economic slowdown in the UK following a no-deal Brexit, are also concerns.

"The effect on currency is more important than England's exit," said Jeremy Cukierman, director of Kedge Wine and Spirits Academy in Bordeaux.

"If there is no agreement, the pound will certainly depreciate, and our wines will be less competitive."

Another worry is the risk the UK will negotiate more favourable trade agreements with other wine-producing nations, such as Australia, South Africa, Chile and Argentina, at the expense of European exporters.

"The British like wine and they're not going to stop drinking it overnight, but with Brexit happening, they might make substitutions regarding where they buy it," said Pau Roca, the managing director of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), to AFP.

Although the UK is supposed to leave the European Union on March 29, the terms of the historic divorce are still unclear.

The overwhelming rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May's draft withdrawal agreement on January 15 has heightened anxieties.

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"We're 43 days away from the fateful date, and we still don't know what will happen," said Philippe Casteja, CEO of Borie-Manoux, which owns more than 10 estates in the Bordeaux region, home to some of the most coveted wines in the world.

- Uncertain outcome -

The United Kingdom is the second largest importer of French wines and spirits, behind the United States, having imported 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) of alcohol from France in 2018, according to figures released Wednesday by the Federation of Wine and Spirit Exporters of France.

But pre-Brexit numbers are already disconcerting to some distributors.

The total value of imports fell by 0.6 percent in 2018 compared with 2017, and the overall volume of imports dropped 7.2 percent for wine and 23.7 percent for spirits.

There is also concern among winemakers from other European countries, such as Italy and Spain, which along with France make up the three leading producers of wine and spirits in the world.

"With 27 percent of our sales in Great Britain, it's very important for us to continue to work with this country," said Nazareno Vicenzi, head of the Consortium Delle Venezie, which promotes the export of wines from a region in northeast Italy, particularly the well-known Pinot Grigio.

- Churchill's favourite -

Despite the uncertainty, Bordeaux winemakers are hopeful Brexit won't sever a deep-rooted relationship with British importers, which dates back to the mid-12th century, when Bordeaux became an English territory following the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II.

"The English are pragmatic, unemotional and the kings of business," said Benoit Calvet, a wine merchant in Bordeaux who is optimistic but still plans to send six months of stock to warehouses in the UK to avoid shortages.

"It will be a little uncomfortable at first, but when it comes to business, England will remain an essential trading partner."

The spectre of Brexit has not upset European wine markets uniformly.

"We sold like crazy in Great Britain at the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019," said Franco Cristoforietti, president of the Verona Region Wine Consortium in Italy.

Exports of prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine, rose in 2018 and surpassed 100 million bottles for the first time, according to the Prosecco Consortium.

In a nod to its enduring relationship with British consumers, the Federation of Wine and Spirit Exporters of France served Pol Roger champagne after its annual press conference in Paris on Wednesday.

"Churchill's favourite," said Nicolas Ozanam, managing director of the federation.
The idea came to Cai Yinzhou in 2013 after he played a game of badminton with a group of foreign workers at a back alley behind his house.

One of them told Cai that he had not gone for a haircut in six months as he could not afford it. His father had an accident and he had to send money home to pay for medical bills.

The workers moving account inspired Cai to give free haircuts to those who could not afford them.

A year later, Cai and two other volunteers started running Backalley Barbers out of a small alley behind Yong He Eating House in Geylang.

The initiative was cut out for success  it has grown to a roster of 25 barbers, in their twenties to fifties, including students, a housewife, a musician, and a property agent.

To date, Cai, now 29, along with his roving team, has given close to 1,700 free haircuts over 97 sessions, not just in the back alley in Geylang but also in nursing homes and migrant worker shelters.

Founder Cai Yinzhou giving a haircut at Green Avenue Home for the Elderly on 19 January, 2019. (PHOTO: Geylang Adventures)

For their efforts, Backalley Barbers under Geylang Adventures was one of 14 ground-up movements and individuals to be inducted into the Singapore Kindness Movements Kindred Spirit Circle in May last year.

And 2019 will mark another major milestone for the initiative. A convertible barbershop-office, to open in March, will give the team a permanent space to provide free haircuts daily.

We also hope to train people from different backgrounds, including ex-convicts, those with disabilities or at-risk youthsto be barbers to volunteer with us as well as to work full-time as a barber, said Cai.

Volunteers learn basic haircut techniques

Sarah Ong, a volunteer coordinator for Backalley Barbers, has been instrumental in growing the initiative since joining the team two years ago.

The 23-year-old Singapore University of Social Sciences student was one of four volunteer barbers Yahoo News Singapore met at a session held in the back alley of Geylang in January.

Ong shared that volunteer barbers, like herself, sign up for a two-day intensive course before they join. They would pick up basic haircut techniques such as scissors over comb, straight cut and shaver over comb.

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Each volunteer typically pays $400 to attend the course.

Armed with various haircutting tools, which are powered by electricity donated by nearby hawker stores, the volunteers would get down to work for three hours. To provide a soothing ambience during each session, they would sometimes play oldies from their music list.

Volunteer coordinator and barber Sarah Ong at Transient Workers Count Too on 19 August, 2017. (PHOTO: Geylang Adventures)

Occasionally, the volunteers might encounter language barriers or awkward situations. During a session at a nursing home, an elderly woman with dementia had rejected Ong, and the encounter left her confused and helpless.

I sought help from a fellow volunteerso she assisted me and calmed the auntie down. We eventually realised she had phlegm that she wanted to spit out from her mouth, she quipped.

The sessions have been an eye-opening experience for Ong as she learns more about her beneficiaries of different backgrounds.

We try and engage them in a conversation because we definitely want to offer more than just a haircut to them, added Ong, who is pursuing a degree in social work. Besides playing the role of a barber, I also play the role of a supporter.

Ali Mamun, a 30-year-old Bangladeshi who has been working in Singapore for over a decade, was one of 25 men who got their haircuts that day. The site engineer had found out about the session by word of mouth.

I am very satisfied with the haircut. I am very happy to find good people (like them). I will definitely come again, said Ali.

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Australia said Friday a long-awaited trade deal with Indonesia will be signed in March, following months of diplomatic tension over Canberra's contentious plan to move its embassy to Jerusalem. The multi-billion-dollar deal will include improved access for Australian cattle and sheep farmers to Indonesias 260 million people, while Australian universities, health providers and miners will also benefit from easier entry to southeast Asia's biggest economy. Greater access to the Australian market is expected to spur Indonesia's automotive and textile industries, and boost exports of timber, electronic and medicinal goods. "This a strong deal for both our countries, which will increase the two-way flow of trade and investment, creating more opportunities for farmers, businesses and economic development," Australia's minister for trade Simon Birmingham told AFP. Bilateral trade was worth US$11.7 billion in 2017. The deal has been in negotiations since 2010 and was expected to be signed before the end of last year before it stalled when Prime Minister Scott Morrison proposed the relocation of Australia's embassy to Jerusalem. Morrison first floated the shift in October, ahead of a critical by-election in a Sydney suburb with a sizeable Jewish population. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, was angered by the proposal. Both Israel and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital. Most nations have avoided moving embassies there to prevent inflaming peace talks on the city's final status -- until Trump unilaterally moved the US embassy early last year. In December, Morrison formally recognised west Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but said the contentious embassy shift from Tel Aviv will not occur until a peace settlement is achieved. He stood by his decision despite outcry from neighbouring Muslim countries, while Indonesia in response simply said it had noted the decision. "Indonesia is the third largest democracy in the world with a fast-growing economy, making the strengthening of our ties both strategically and economically important," Birmingham said in a statement. "Ive continued to have very constructive discussions with a number of Indonesian Ministers in the last few months and am pleased to be finalising arrangements that we hope will achieve a March signing," he added. Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir confirmed the signing of a deal was imminent. "All the issues have been discussed and negotiations have been finalised," he told reporters in the capital, Jakarta. A March signing will come within months of an expected Australian election, where polls have Morrison's conservative coalition facing a loss. The deal also comes just ahead of national polls in which Indonesian president Joko Widodo is pushing his economic record in the battle for re-election.
The day thats dreaded by men worldwide and loved in equal measure by women  Valentines Day  finally came to pass yesterday.

One of the stand-out romantics of the lovers day was a man who splashed Sh60,000 for a newspaper advertisement celebrating his wife.

The ad appeared on Page 7 of the Star newspaper. It was poetically penned by a mysterious Casanova identifying himself as The Hubz and addressed to his wife, Double Biscuit alias Mrs M.

The Hubz starts with a smooth line, gushing: Me loving you is not news but Ill put it in a newspaper anyway.

The smooth operator goes ahead to liken his Double Biscuit to some of his favorite things.

Mr writes:

If you were an estate you would be Milimani. If you were a birthday, you would be the 13th of September. If you were my dream car you would be a Mercedes G-wagon.

If you were a TV character you would be Fallon. If you were a ridge, you would be Vipingo. If you were my favourite date you would be the 11th August. if you were a travel destination you would be Dubai.

If love is blind then I lost my eyesight seven years ago. If marriage is hard then hard is what I want for the rest of my life. If I were to choose again I would still choose you. Im not Kenyatta but you are my Ngina.

I loved you then, love you now and will love you forever Happy Valentines Mrs. M.

What did you do for your significant other yesterday?
At least 37 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed on Thursday in Indian-administered Kashmir in one the deadliest attacks on government forces there, police said. The suicide bombing outside Srinagar claimed by an Islamist group is likely to ratchet up tensions between nuclear-armed arch rivals India and Pakistan, with New Delhi long accusing Islamabad of supporting militants. "The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain," Indian Prime Minister Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, calling the attack "despicable". The attack saw explosives packed inside a van rip through buses in a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying some 2,500 members of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Two blue buses carrying around 35 people each bore the brunt of the massive blast, heard miles away, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the city of Srinagar on the main highway to Jammu. The Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported that at least 39 people were dead, while other press reports said the number could exceed 40. Some of the bodies were so badly blown up that officials feel it may take some time to identity them, PTI reported. The convoy was bringing the troopers back from leave to rejoin active service. It was unclear whether the van containing the explosives was driven into the convoy or whether it was detonated when the buses were adjacent. "It was a powerful explosion. The explosive was car-borne," CRPF spokesman Sanjay Kumar told AFP. Photos showed the blackened, mangled remains of at least one vehicle littered across the highway. Reports said that there were 350 kilos (770 pounds) of explosives used. Local media reports said the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed Islamist group claimed responsibility. A spokesman for the group told a local news agency that the "suicide attack" was carried out by Aadil Ahmad, alias Waqas Commando, a known militant from the area. After the attack, hundreds of government forces cordoned around 15 villages in the district the bomber came from and started searching house-to-house, a police officer and witnesses said. The last major car bombing, which killed 40 people including three suicide attackers, was also carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed, in 2001. The target was the local parliament building in Srinagar. - 'Not in vain' - The US condemned the attack in "the strongest terms" on Thursday, and called on "all countries...to deny safe haven and support for terrorists." State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said Washington was "resolutely committed to working with the Indian government to combat terrorism in all its forms". The attack surpasses one in 2016 that was the biggest in 14 years, claiming the lives of 19 soldiers in a brazen pre-dawn raid by militants on the Uri army camp. India blamed militants in Pakistan for that attack, and responded with strikes across the heavily-militarised Line of Control, the de-facto border dividing the nuclear-armed nations. The "surgical strikes" several kilometres (miles) inside Pakistan-controlled Kashmir remain a source of national pride for Modi's government and were the subject of a rip-roaring recent Bollywood film. India's foreign ministry, in a statement late Thursday, blamed Pakistan. "This heinous and despicable act has been perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based and supported terrorist organisation proscribed by the United Nations and other countries," the foreign office said. "India is firmly and resolutely committed to take all necessary measures to safeguard national security. We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory," it added. Islamabad, however, rejected the suggestion that it was involved and said it had "always condemned acts of violence." "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations," the Pakistan foreign ministry said. Before Thursday's violence, the biggest attack on Indian forces was in May 2002, when militants attacked an Indian army camp in Kaluchak in Jammu city, killing 34 people, including family members of soldiers. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since independence. Rebels have been fighting for an independent Kashmir, or a merger with Pakistan, for 30 years. Last year was the deadliest in a decade, with rights monitors saying almost 600 people died, most of them civilians. Thousands more have been maimed in recent years by pellet-firing shotguns used by Indian forces. Pakistan says it only provides diplomatic support to Kashmiris' right to self-determination.
Melanie Kasise is a local teen whos half-African, half-Chinese and looks like shes well on the path to a successful modeling career.

Though shes got the license to do so, Kasise hates dropping the N-word. And shes telling her fellow Singaporeans to stop doing it, too  unless theyre black.

On Monday night, the 16-year-old tweeted out to her compatriots to stop dropping N-bombs for the reason that theyre not familiar with the terms backstory, and the crushing gravity of the word.

Even as a girl that is partially African, I do not like to use that word because it is a word with ALOT of history, and even I have not been through the true weight of the word.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Kasise stops short of elaborating exactly why the word nigga should not be used, regardless of intention.

Singapore and the N-word

Much like how Singaporeans may not be that much bothered by Nazi insignia, the plausible reason why some folks here dont see anything wrong with dropping N-bombs is that were just not very familiar with it.

Singapores history is not closely intertwined with black history and black culture, and this results in a lack of knowledge about the weight of the word. While some may argue that its just a word, its really not. Its an intentionally derogatory insult that has been used to oppress African slaves in America and cut down on their basic human dignity  a word that holds centuries of blood-soaked history.

Its not unusual for a Singaporean not to ever interact with a black individual their whole life, and this isolation from the black community would mean that very rarely theyd be called out for using the N-word. Its not often that locals would be educated properly about the word, or even black culture. Thus why some folks here dont find blackface offensive, and actually include it for comedic purposes on TV programs.

Kasise may not be able to flesh out the weight of the word, but heres acclaimed African-American writer Ta-Nehisi Coates explaining why some words just dont belong to everyone.

This article, African-Chinese teen urges fellow Singaporeans not to use the N word, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!
In January, the worlds largest co-working space provider WeWork announced that it is rebranding itself as The We Company. Under this new name, the company will expand into other areas, and will comprise three business units  WeWork, which deals with coworking; WeLive, which deals with residential spaces; and WeGrow, which includes an elementary school and coding academy.

Expanding its service offerings in Singapore, WeWork has launched its eponymous start-up lab at City House at the corner of Robinson Road and Boon Tat Street in the CBD. The City House location is one of nine co-working spaces that WeWork has in Singapore to date.

Present in 425 locations around the world, WeWork has more than 400,000 members. Through its labs, the firm hopes to nurture promising start-ups by giving them access to mentors and potential investors through this platform.

The WeWork Labs concept was introduced last year in countries such as the US, South Korea, Brazil, Israel and India. Since its launch, the labs have supported more than 1,000 start-ups. We dont actually invest in these companies ourselves or take any equity, says Turochas T Fuad, WeWorks managing director for Southeast Asia. It is sort of an incubation programme to help these companies grow and remove some of the challenges that they face in the early stages as a start-up.



WeWork launched its eponymous Lab at its City House location (Credit: Samuel Issac Chua/Edgeprop Singapore)

Each lab location has a manager who takes on the role of collaborator and innovator. In Southeast Asia, Adrian Tan heads this initiative. Previously, Tan was a programme director at Vietnam Innovative Startup Accelerator (Viisa) as well as entrepreneur-in-residence and programme manager at Singapore-based start-up incubator Joyful Frog Digital Innovation (JFDI). As head of WeWork Labs, he will be organising lecture series and meetings with potential investors for start-ups.

At the end of the day, MNCs also want to work with start-ups and entrepreneurs to create something that is more specific to their industry, says Fuad. So, we become the bridge between companies. We give them a place to work, and tap into our global network or mentorship programme.

Story continues

WeWork, however, is not the only co-working operator assisting start-ups. On Feb 11, JustCo announced that it has partnered Trive Ventures, a Singapore-based venture capital firm, to launch a nine-month start-up incubation programme at JustCo in Marina Square.

For Fuad, WeWork Labs is the companys way of giving back to the start-up community. Think of this as another product or solution that we offer  in this case, targeting the start-up ecosystem. In a way, we are helping to grease the wheels in the ecosystem in the country that we participate in and contribute to, he says. Outside Singapore, the company has also launched the platform in Bangkok.

Additionally, WeWork has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ngee Ann Polytechnic in a collaboration under the schools Global Entrepreneurial Internship Programme (GEIP). Through the programme, students have a shot of getting an internship at WeWork Labs start-ups. Students can also take part in training programmes that are relevant to the needs of the community in key Southeast Asian cities such as Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta. Students will be able to use WeWorks collaborative spaces in these locations.

Addressing growing needs

Since opening its Singapore flagship space, WeWork Beach Centre, at end-2017, the company has expanded to nine locations, with almost all of them achieving close to full occupancy. Its members typically take up leases of more than 24 months. The company now has a waitlist of companies wanting to lease its spaces.

Long-time members, such as job-search engine provider Indeed, have continued to lease space even after expansion. Indeed was one of WeWorks first members at its Beach Centre location. At that time, the company was looking for an office space for 30 people, and now, they are occupying an entire floor at Beach Centre.

Weve actually got another floor at Beach Centre just to serve the needs of Indeed in terms of their growth in Singapore, says Fuad. So, now they have close to 200 members sitting in our Beach Centre location with a dedicated floor just for them.

Currently, 45% of WeWorks members in Singapore are large MNCs. The remaining are a mix of freelancers, SMEs and start-ups.

According to data from HR&A Advisors, having a WeWork co-working space can help generate as much as 29% in rent premiums for landlords.

In January, conglomerate Softbank Group announced that it is slashing its investment in WeWork from US$16 billion ($21.7 billion) to US$2 billion. Fuad states that before the reduction, Softbank had already invested more than US$10 billion in the last 12 to 18 months.

Demand for co-working space is also set to continue. He observes: We dont see demand hitting its cap just yet. If anything, we are getting a lot more people asking for similar working arrangements that WeWork provides and, at the same time, they are asking for different locations across the island as well.

For now, WeWork is focused on locations in the CBD but will soon look at locations outside the CBD where there is a hub of different segments and markets that different companies are at, he says.



For Fuad, WeWork Labs is the companys way of giving back to the start-up community. (Credit: Samuel Issac Chua/Edgeprop Singapore)

Unlocking value

Outside Singapore, WeWork will debut its first Malaysian location at Equatorial Plaza, Kuala Lumpur, in the coming weeks. The new location will have the capacity to accommodate 1,900 desks across five floors and will be the largest WeWork space in Southeast Asia.

The space is created with a local partner, Douglas Cheng, director of Daman Land, as part of WeWorks participating lease partnership. Fuad shares that the partnership will see Daman Land maintaining the lease and providing the capital for operations. Meanwhile, WeWork will design and manage the space.

This [arrangement] allows us to tap into a local partner that understands the local market a lot better than us. At the same time, it lets us apply a global playbook and localise it to fit that particular country, allowing us to expand and diversify a lot better, he adds.

Looking ahead, WeWork is banking on this strategy to expand. Our CEO is a huge proponent of regionalisation, so if you walk through our floor area, every single function that is required to run the company here is all sitting in Singapore, he says. Of course, we work closely with headquarters to ensure the branding is consistent. We are never just selling an American product. We localise it as much as we can.

See Also:






FILE PHOTO - Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks during an interview with Reuters in Putrajaya FILE PHOTO - Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks during an interview with Reuters in Putrajaya, Malaysia June 19, 2018. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin/File Photo

By Liz Lee and Anshuman Daga

KUALA LUMPUR/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional will unveil a plan this month to deliver more cash to the government by pruning its stakes in non-strategic assets and dialling back its offshore presence in spots such as London, sources told Reuters.

This underlines the urgent need for Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to raise money for government coffers, depleted by a fiscal deficit and a massive debt from a multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Under the new strategy, set to be announced at Khazanah's annual review on Feb. 28, the $39 billion fund will look to trim stakes in some companies identified as non-strategic to 15-25 percent - near the typical holding levels of pension funds, two of the sources told Reuters.

Khazanah is also looking to reduce its physical presence in overseas locations such as London, Mumbai and Silicon Valley, two other sources said. It is considering offloading some of its foreign properties and tech investments too, they added.

"They are not desperate to raise money, not in the way that erodes value. It would be very structured and gradual but it will be done, because the immediate objective is to raise money," one of the sources said.

Khazanah, traditionally more of a strategic investor, declined to comment on the Reuters story.

However, a source close to the discussions said Khazanah was "bringing the level of focus on commercial assets higher than before. Strategic assets are equally important and the fund will need to make these more efficient and profitable".

The sources, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, added that Khazanah's aim is to manage its holdings as a portfolio investor rather than as an active direct investor.

COMMERCIAL VS STRATEGIC

Following an internal review since a management revamp last year, Khazanah has earmarked its investments in over 100 firms spanning more than 20 countries under two categories, strategic and commercial, sources said.

Story continues

Companies such as state utility Tenaga Nasional, struggling Malaysia Airlines, which it took over four years ago, Malaysia Airports Holdings and Telekom Malaysia have been identified as strategic holdings and their ownership is unlikely to change, the sources said.

The rest of its portfolio could see cuts, such as 27-percent owned CIMB Group Holdings, 36-percent owned telecoms player Axiata Group and the fully-owned engineering infrastructure and services conglomerate UEM Group, they said.

In November, Khazanah announced a deal to sell a 16-percent stake in IHH Healthcare (IHH), reducing its stake in the Asian hospitals group to about 26 percent.

"For the first time, I'm seeing real gumption on the part of Khazanah," a senior Asia M&A banker at a U.S. investment bank said. "It's asking portfolio companies what's the commercial returns in their businesses?"

"Malaysia is food for M&A bankers. The country needs money and a lot of Khazanah sell-downs will have to happen," the banker added.

Sources said Khazanah's assets could attract interest from Japanese players, other Asian investors and global funds.

HITTING RESET

The fund's foreign investments, accounting for about 45 percent of its realisable asset value by geographical exposure as at December 2017, could also face the axe, the sources said.

Khazanah's 60:40 venture with Singapore's Temasek, M+S Pte Ltd, is in advanced talks with investors to sell office space, a hotel and retail components of the DUO property development located just outside the city-state's financial district, other sources added.

The deal could fetch as much as S$2 billion ($1.47 billion) and an announcement could come in the next few weeks, they said.

M+S said it has appointed JLL as an adviser on overall real estate matters regarding the DUO property and declined to give any further details.

The performance of Khazanah has been muted over the past few years, with the value of its portfolio rising 29.4 percent over 2012-2017, while Temasek's rose 43.2 percent to $227 billion in the five years to March 2018.

Prasenjit Basu, chief economist at CrossASEAN Research and a former co-head of research at Khazanah, said the changes at the fund indicate a complete re-setting of priorities.

"That IHH, a jewel in its crown, has been divested, suggests that Khazanah will move away from strategic stakes in foreign companies and focus more on paying dividends to the government," Basu said. "From being a "private equity"-type investor, Khazanah will become a portfolio investor."

($1 = 4.0650 ringgit)

($1 = 1.3549 Singapore dollars)

(Reporting by Liz Lee in KUALA LUMPUR and Anshuman Daga in SINGAPORE; Editing by A. Ananthalakshmi and Himani Sarkar)
Go-Jek is Indonesias most valuable startup. (Photo: Reuters/Beawiharta)

By Crystal Tse, Yoolim Lee and Manuel Baigorri

(Bloomberg)  Go-Jek, Indonesias most valuable startup, is choosing an adviser to help with fundraising as it expands rapidly in the competitive Southeast Asian ride-hailing industry, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The firm recently asked investment banks to pitch for a role working on its ongoing financing round, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Go-Jek could seek to bring in as much as $2 billion additional capital from new investors, the people said, which would take the total haul from the current round to around $3 billion.

Go-Jek has already raised just over $1 billion at the first close of the ongoing Series F round, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month. Mitsubishi Corp. and Provident Capital participated alongside existing investors Google, JD.com Inc. and Tencent Holdings Ltd.

The Jakarta-based startup is intensifying its push against larger rival Grab. The two most valuable startups in Southeast Asia are going head-to-head in everything from ride hailing to mobile payments and food delivery in Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Grab said last month it raised more than $3 billion in 2018 as part of its Series H financing round.

No final decisions have been made, and the eventual size of the fundraising will depend on investor demand, the people said. A representative for Go-Jek declined to comment.

 2019 Bloomberg L.P
Brazilian authorities arrested eight employees of mining giant Vale on Friday over a dam collapse at one of its mines three weeks ago that killed at least 166 people and left 147 missing, presumed dead. Those apprehended -- two executives, two managers and four members of teams that checked the stability of the collapsed dam -- were being held to determine responsibility in relation to "hundreds of crimes of aggravated homicide," the prosecutor's office in the affected southeast state of Minas Gerais said in a statement. It said they would be held in custody for 30 days. Police with warrants were also carrying out searches for evidence, including in Vale's headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. Information leading to the arrests and warrants came from statements to police by two engineers from a German firm, TUEV SUED, contracted by Vale to inspect and certify the dam. The engineers were arrested four days after the dam's collapse along with three Vale employees for questioning, and were released a week later. Four other TUEV SUED employees in Brazil were being sought by police. Vale acknowledged the arrests and warrants in a statement. "Vale is fully cooperating with the authorities and will keep contributing to the investigations to ascertain the facts, together with unconditional support for the affected families," it said. The January 25 dam collapse is Brazil's worst industrial disaster. The reservoir, holding millions of tons of tailings -- mineral-laced mining waste -- broke apart and washed over the Vale iron ore mine near the town of Brumadinho. Most of those buried under its thick mud were mine workers, though some nearby residents were also engulfed. Emergency crews continue to pick through the mud to look for bodies, but officials have said it was likely not all remains would be recovered. - 'Crown jewel' - Vale, the world's biggest iron ore miner and one of Brazil's biggest companies, lost a quarter of its market value after the disaster. It insists that it observed all safety regulations regarding the dam. It dismisses reports that potential problems were detected before the disaster, saying they were addressed. Its CEO, Fabio Schvartsman, said Thursday that Vale should not be punished over the disaster at its mine. The company, he said, "is a Brazilian crown jewel that cannot be condemned for an accident that occurred in its dam, no matter how big the tragedy," he told a Congressional committee. The disaster was the second involving Vale in three years in the same region of Brazil, after a 2015 collapse of another tailings dam at a jointly owned mine that caused what is considered the country's worst-ever environmental catastrophe.
 "Justice Scalia's Eighth Amendment Jurisprudence: The Failure of Sake-of-Argument Originalism" | Main | Sad start to what should become happier compassionate release tales after passage of FIRST STEP Act 

As reported in this New York Times piece, headlined "Trumps Tweets Do Not Bar Prosecutors From Seeking Death in Terror Case, Judge Rules," a federal judge yesterday issued a notable ruling in a high-profile capital case. Here are the details:

When President Trump said on Twitter that an Uzbek man charged with using a pickup truck to kill eight people SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY, the mans lawyers asked a judge to bar prosecutors from seeking execution, saying the decision had become too politicized. But a federal judge in Manhattan ruled on Thursday that prosecutors could seek capital punishment despite the presidents comments.

Defense lawyers had argued the presidents tweet and other statements he made on Twitter had put political pressure on the attorney general at the time, Jeff Sessions, to seek a death sentence. The lawyers pointed to public reports that Mr. Trump was considering firing the attorney general for not following his wishes, and said Mr. Sessions would not be able to make an impartial decision.

In his ruling, Judge Vernon S. Broderick wrote that Mr. Trumps statements advocating for the death penalty were perhaps ill-advised given the pendency of this case. Still, the judge said the argument that Mr. Sessions was improperly motivated to seek execution was pure speculation made without a scintilla of direct factual support. The judge said that without more evidence he could not interfere with the attorney generals presumptive authority to make charging decisions.

In September, Mr. Sessions went ahead and directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty for the defendant, Sayfullo Saipov, 31, if he is convicted at trial, even though Judge Broderick had not yet ruled on the motion concerning the presidents tweets. Six weeks later, Mr. Trump fired Mr. Sessions.

Mr. Saipov is accused of driving the truck down a crowded bike path along the Hudson River on Oct. 31, 2017, and, after smashing into a school bus, jumping out and running down the highway, shouting God is great in Arabic. He was taken into custody after being shot by a police officer. He has pleaded not guilty to eight capital counts of murder and other charges, and is scheduled for trial in October.

Judge Broderick wrote that Mr. Saipov had offered no evidence that the presidents remarks impacted the attorney generals decision-making process in any way. To the contrary, the judge said, Mr. Sessions had categorically renounced other provocative remarks made by the president and had vowed that the Justice Department would not be improperly influenced by political considerations.
Germany announced it is going to make its cyber capabilities available for the NATO alliance to help fight hacking and electronic warfare.

Germany is going to share its cyber warfare capabilities with the NATO alliance to protect members of the alliance against hacking and electronic warfare.

During the 2016 Warsaw Summit, NATO officially recognised cyberspace as a military operational domain. This means that the NATO alliance will respond with conventional weapons in case of a severe cyber attack confirming that the Internet is a new battlefield.

Each Ally is committed to improving its resilience to cyber attacks and the ability to promptly respond to cyber attacks, including in hybrid contexts. The Alliance aims to expand the scope of the NATO Cyber Range to allow allies in improving cyber capabilities and information sharing on threat and best practices.

NATO fears both nation-state hacking and attacks carried out by cyber criminals, their activities are becoming even more intense and urge a proper response from the alliance.

NATO has designated cyberspace as a conflict domain alongside land, sea and air and says electronic attacks by the likes of Russia and China  but also criminals and so-called hacktivists  are becoming more frequent and more destructive. reads a post published by AFP press.

During a meeting of defence ministers held in Brussels on Thursday, Germany told allies that it would make both its defensive and offensive cyber capabilities available.

Just as we provide army , air force and naval forces to NATO, we are now also in a position to provide NATO capabilities on the issue of cyber within the national and legal framework that we have, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said.

Germany is not alone, the US, Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Estonia have all announced the availability of their offensive cyber capabilities to the alliance.

NATO members hope that the announcement of the sharing for offensive capabilities would work as a deterrent for threat actors.

Members of the alliance that already share conventional military means, aims to share their cyber capabilities for NATO missions and operations.

Potential targets of these operations can include any connected system, ranging from computers and mobile devices, to ICS systems in critical infrastructure.

In a sign of the growing importance NATO countries attach to the cyber battlefield, this year Britain said it would spend 65 million pounds (74 million euros/$83 million) on offensive capabilities. concludes AFP.

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs  NATO alliance, Germany)

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Former Ruaraka OCS Nahashon Mutua has been sentenced to death for the murder of an inmate  Martin Koome  six years ago.

Judge Stella Mutuku handed down the sentence on Thursday, a month after the High Court found Mutua guilty of killing Mr Koome.

Stating that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, the judge said Martin Koome received inhumane treatment and there is no doubt that Mutua caused his death.

She said there is little anyone can say or do to cushion the bereaved family against the pain caused by the death of their family member and breadwinner.

Only acceptance and time will heal their pain. It is an irrefutable fact that the death of Koome has deprived his family a breadwinner, a husband, and a father. This fact has changed their lives forever, said Judge Mutuku in her ruling.

Mutua has 14 days to appeal the ruling.

The deceased Mr Koome had been arrested after a domestic brawl with his wife at his home in Baba Dogo, Nairobi on the night of October 19, 2013. He is said to have attempted to strangle their child, further chasing his wife away before neighbours alerted Ruaraka Police station officers.

Koome was then booked for attempted murder before he met his gruesome death at the hands of the former Ruaraka Police Station boss Nahashon Mutua.

The deceaseds wife, who went to the station the next day to check on him, was informed that Koome fell ill and was taken to Kenyatta National Hospital.

At KNH, Koomes wife found her husband, who could not talk, hear or move, dumped on a bench unattended.

His head was swollen, blood oozed from the ears, and his clothes were covered in blood. He died a few hours later while being attended to by doctors.

Evidence showed that Mr Koome was assaulted using a metal pipe and his head immersed in a drum of water.

KNH doctors said he had deep wounds on the head, cuts on the lower lip, eight fractured ribs, brain haemorrhage and excessive bleeding from the neck that caused his death.

Nahashon Mutua attempted to cover up the assault by framing one Kevin Odhiambo, another inmate at the station.

Odhiambo, who had initially been charged with murder, sought the help of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and confessed everything that happened.

The case was then terminated by the Director of Public Prosecutions and Mutua was charged with murdering Mr Koome. Mr Odhiambo became a witness against the OCS.

Mutuas scheme to cover up included faking a report, setting other suspects held at the station free and paying medical fees for one of them to testify against Odhiambo.

The case is the first high profile conviction of an officer accused of extrajudicial killing.
CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California's state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to Commentary.
In a practice designed to emphasize the impermanence of being, eight Tibetan monks at Hancock College's Ann Foxworthy Gallery completed an intricate sand mandala Thursday afternoon  only to destroy it within a matter of minutes. Painstakingly created from millions of grains of vibrant and colorful sand carefully placed by hand, the highly decorative and incredibly intricate Green Tara mandala was an indistinguishable pile of sand within minutes of the first paintbrush making contact. Go through this gallery to see photos from Thursday's ceremony and from the opening ceremony on Monday.

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Education Reporter

Mathew Burciaga is a Santa Maria Times reporter who covers education, agriculture and public safety. Prior to joining the Times, Mathew ran a 114-year-old community newspaper in Wyoming. He owns more than 40 pairs of crazy socks from across the globe.
After months of intoxicating build-up, Amazon has pulled the plug on plans to build an HQ2 corporate campus in New York City, after failing to face down unexpectedly strong resistance from a community that didnt think the retail-everything giant deserved the $3 billion in government incentives it would get in return.

The public had waited for what seemed like an eternity for Amazon to decide on the location of its second headquarters. And after a year of speculation and intensive lobbying by a number of cities in the running, reports emerged last November reports that Amazon would split its HQ2 into two: gracing both NYC and Northern Virginia with its presence, and bringing a prospective 25,000 new jobs to each.

But while other cities were salivating over the prospect, not so, New York. IN fact, the Long Island community has shown anything but affection for Amazon.

"After much thought and deliberation, we've decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens," Jodi Seth, an Amazon spokeswoman, said in a statement.

The decision came after Amazon noted that "a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City. Related: Why Are Bitcoin Investors Switching To Gold?

Even so, 57 percent of New York City residents did actually support Amazons arrival in the region, compared to just 26 percent who oppose the deal, according to a December Quinnipiac University poll.

New York State committed to $1.525 billion in incentives, contingent on the company creating 25,000 new jobs with an average salary of $150,000. In addition to the 25,000 jobs, Amazon would've brought $2.5 billion in Amazon investment and eventually 8 million square feet of office space to Long Island City as part of its investment announced last November.

The deal faced criticism from local officials such as Senator Michael Gianaris of Queens, as well as from progressive groups that held rallies and petitioned in Queens against the deal as soon as it was announced. Protesters took to the streets in Long Island City, criticizing the deal as being bad for taxpayers and the neighborhood.

Gianaris called the plan to award Amazon billions of dollars in tax credits and direct grants offensive to residents and taxpayers struggling with aging subways, overcrowded schools and a lack of affordable housing.

Im not declaring victory, but I do believe it demonstrates the power of the arguments that weve been making against Amazon, media quoted City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer as saying.

Related: Markets Inch Lower As Investors Remain Cautious

Its a bit of a hard loss for Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose desperate attempt to bring Amazon to New York had been the subject of criticism since day one. We get 27 [billion], they get 3 billion back. I would do that all day long, Cuomo defended the deal last Friday.

"This announcement marks a landmark victory for our communities and shows the power of the people, even when taking on the world's richest man," said Deborah Axt, co-executive director of the anti-poverty group Make the Road New York, adding that Amazon was getting "taxpayer giveaways" so that it could "force its empire-building on our neighborhoods.

Kathyrn S. Wylde, chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, an influential business group, disagreed strongly. From her perspective, this Amazon defeat could end up translating into a much wider defeat for the City of New York. Wylde said the reception Amazon had received sent a pretty bad message to the job creators of the city and the world.

By Fred Dunkley for Safehaven.com

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Contact:

Mostly, the Rude Pundit doesn't give a shit what you have to say, but, if you have to say it, you can write to Lee Papa here: rudepundit(at)yahoo(dot)com
Nasra Yusuf is a trailblazer in her own right; she is the first and only female Somali comedienne in Kenya.

She stars on the long-running Churchill Show, where she uses humor not only to entertain but to change the negative perception that some people have of Somalis.

I use jokes to kill the stereotyping that is associated with us Somalis. I just bring positive vibes to people and just tell that we are a good people, says Nasra.

According to Nasra, comedy is helping in changing the negative stereotypes associated with Somalis.

Just by telling the audience that the way they treat us and take us differently is not good, they can go home thinking that this girl talked some sense.

Nasra says that she has been a victim of stereotyping before when terrorist attacks in Kenya were rampant. She was subjected to a search before boarding a matatu and abused because she was Somali as other passengers boarded without getting frisked.

As a Muslim, sometimes I am attacked by the way I dress during the show and so on.

The comedian also opened up about some of the challenges of being a female Somali comedian.

Its very rare to find a female Somali comedian because of our strict traditions. We have been taught from a young age that were not supposed to stand before men and talk to them, were not supposed to laugh in front of men. These are the things that hinder Somali girls from coming out and presenting their talents, Nasra told BBC.

There are those who even say that am a girl, I am not supposed to be a comedian and the mentality that we are not supposed to be paid more than a male comedian just pisses me off, she added.

Nasra also recounted her worst show ever.

I was in Meru, so scared to ever perform in such a big audience. I cracked the first joke and people did not laugh, then the governor comes in and all the attention is focused on him. I just left the stage but fortunately, the MC returned me on stage and people laughed, she said.

Nasra is working on a project dubbed Girls are also funny to be hosted by fellow comedienne Teacher Wanjiku in March.
The EU

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Stevensville fishing outfitter Eddie Olwell said it would be a good change for local commercial fishing enterprises.

It would give us a little more flexibility to provide a good service to our customers and still meet the logistical challenges of the regulations, Olwell said.

Before last years implementation of the new river rules, Olwell said he would normally float between Painted Rocks Dam and the Trapper Creek Job Corps fishing access sites during the salmon fly hatch in the spring when the river was running high.

That stretch is now broken into two sections under the current rules.

As the rules are written now, Olwell would be charged for four floats if he launched two boats at the dam and took out at Job Corps because the boats traveled through two sections of the river.

The change would allow him and other guides and outfitters the flexibility of floating that longer distance in the spring and provide a float long enough to meet client expectations.

This change will make it so were not all bunched up in a smaller section, Olwell said. It will help alleviate the pressure and spread it out better.
A team of scientists, including Virgin billionaire Richard Branson, has returned from a groundbreaking mission to the bottom of Belize's Great Blue Hole with exciting findings.

The Great Blue Hole is the world's largest sinkhole, measuring an incredible 300 meters (984 feet) across and roughly 125 meters (410 feet) deep.

The team also included Fabien Cousteau, grandson of underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau, who put the Blue Hole on the map back in 1971. The group embarked on their odyssey in December 2018, determined to discover the secrets at the bottom of the Blue Hole.

Using two submarines, the expedition captured new images and footage inside the Blue Hole and created the first 3D map of its interior.

"We did our complete 360 sonar map, and that map is now almost complete. It looks really cool, it's this mesh-layered, sonar scan of the entire thousand-foot diameter hole," Erika Bergman, chief pilot, oceanographer and operations manager, told CNN Travel.

Dispatches from the deep

Bergman says one of the most exciting findings was never-before-seen stalactites  a type of mineral formations shaped like icicles  roughly 407 feet into the hole, very near the bottom.

"That was pretty exciting because they haven't been mapped there before, they haven't been discovered there before," she says.

Bergman says the whole experience of being submerged in the murky depths was pretty incredible.

"One of the crazy things about the hole is the hydrogen sulfide layer," says Bergman.

The layer descends at roughly 300 feet, cutting out all the light and plunging divers into darkness.

"You lose all of that Caribbean sunlight and it just turns completely black, and it's totally anoxic down there with absolutely no life," explains Bergman.

But thanks to their high-resolution sonar, Bergman and her team were able to see the hole's intricate features.

"You can be 20 or 30 meters away from a stalactite or a hunk of the wall and see it in every perfect detail, better than eyesight could even provide," she says.

Intriguingly, not everything the team found could be identified. They found some unidentifiable tracks at the bottom of the hole. Bergman says these remain "open to interpretation."

The team was also really pleased to see that the Blue Hole was pretty free from trash.

"There were basically two or three little pieces of plastic, and other than that, it was really, really clear," says Bergman, spotlighting the work of the Belize Audubon Society, which helps protect the hole.

Bergman says there's very little visible human impact.

"It's neat that there are spaces on our planet  and most of them in the oceans  that are exactly the way they were thousands of years ago and will remain exactly the way they are thousands of years in the future."

Live from the ocean

The Blue Hole Belize 2018 Expedition was broadcast live on the Discovery Channel on Dec. 2, 2018.

The original aim was to broadcast live from the bottom of the hole. This proved tricky, but the team still found a way to bring the experience into people's homes.

"We dove the morning before the livestream, and then livestreamed from the ship being very open and clear about the footage having been filmed a few hours before," says Bergman.

Bergman and the rest of the team are keen to find other innovative ways of transporting images from the ocean onto personal handheld devices.

She name-checks the International Space Station and the way astronauts live-message from the sky, bringing people there with them.

"Drawing people into that  the way people are fascinated with astronauts  giving them a chance to relate that to deep ocean exploration, I think that's done through the live interaction," says Bergman.

Leave no trace

Following the dive on Dec. 2, vessels monitored the site for two weeks to get all the data to make the 360-degree sonar map.

"We didn't leave any equipment. We take only pictures, leave only footprints," says Bergman.

The team is now planning an upcoming expedition to the waters of the British Virgin Islands. They're not planning to live broadcast it, but they're hoping to get equally exciting footage and findings.

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He said he expects to see "significant improvements" in 2019 due to new anti-meth initiatives put forth by Gov. Kristi Noem and Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, who are both serving their first terms in office.

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While drug arrests were up, DUI arrests declined from 1,012 in 2017 to 909 in 2018, data shows. Jegeris attributed that to enforcement efforts and more people taking advantage of the ride-sharing service Lyft instead of choosing to drink and drive.

Reports of burglaries, robberies, thefts and motor vehicle thefts also all declined in 2018, with burglaries and thefts at their lowest level since 2012. Thefts declined significantly, from 1,973 in 2017 to 1,427 last year.

Jegeris said the Street Crimes Unit has worked to catch theft suspects and deter crimes in high-need areas. He also pointed to the department's social media campaign,which asked Its 9 p.m., are your doors locked?

The police chief also said home-video surveillance systems are becoming more affordable and prevalent in Rapid City.

Gun thefts, however, increased last year when 149 were stolen compared to 110 in 2017, said Brendyn Medina, spokesman for the police department. The department warned gun owners throughout the year to keep weapons in safe and locked areas.
BISMARCK, N.D. | North Dakota's Republican-led House ignored the opinion of GOP Gov. Doug Burgum and approved legislation Thursday that would use money from the voter-approved oil tax savings account to help offset income taxes.

Representatives approved the measure 61-31 to use half the earnings from the state's Legacy Fund, beginning in 2021, to reduce individual and corporate income taxes. Burgum has said he doesn't like the bill by top GOP House members to tap some earnings from the account for income tax relief. He likened the idea to Robin Hood.

"I don't think it's good policy," the governor told reporters last week. Instead, Burgum wants to use earnings for projects he called "transformative."

House Majority Leader Chet Pollert and House Appropriations Chairman Jeff Delzer are among the measure's co-sponsors. Rep. Craig Headland, the bill's primary sponsor and chairman of the House Finance and Taxation Committee, said the income tax relief would make North Dakota more competitive with other states that don't have income tax, which would help attract workers in the state that has thousands more jobs than takers.

"This is what we need in North Dakota to bring people to North Dakota," Headland told fellow lawmakers on the House floor on Thursday.
Taking away food assistance would prevent them from meeting basic needs, said MaryNelle Trefz, with the nonprofit Child and Family Policy Center. And it may make it more challenging for that person to make their child support payments.

Schultz said he considered the proposal a relatively minor ask of the taxpayer, referring to the taxpayer funding that supports the food assistance program.

During discussion on the bill to install work requirements for food assistance recipients, Schultz said he is open to a program touted by the United Way that aims to help Iowans on assistance programs get job training. Schultz approved the bill as written but said he was open to amending it to create language to include the United Way program.

If we can expand this program to every community college and nonprofits, we can specifically target the SNAP population to get the skills they need and better training to get the jobs they need, said Dave Stone, with the United Way of Central Iowa.

A third bill, which would have required Iowans enrolled in the states version of Medicaid expansion to work or volunteer 20 hours per week, was shelved after Schultz said it could not yet be determined if it would apply to any Iowans. Because Iowas Medicaid expansion applied specifically to individuals with income between 100 percent and 133 percent of the federal poverty level, those individuals presumably already have a job since they have income.

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A man bound a dogs legs and mouth with duct tape, then threw it out the window of his vehicle in rural Jefferson County, Missouri, where a deputy found it in a ditch about 12 hours later, charges say.

Paul Garcia, of Barnhart, Mo., was charged with animal abuse and armed criminal action after a dog was found dumped in Jefferson County with its mouth and legs duct-taped. The dog survived.

Sheriff Dave Marshak said a deputy on patrol found the dog Saturday morning, near Old State Road M and Schneider Road in the Antonia area.

The black-and-brown dachshund was cold, malnourished and possibly suffering from a concussion. Temperatures the night before were in the teens, Marshak noted.

The dog, named Jimmy by workers at the animal hospital to which he was taken, is getting better, Marshak reported.

On Thursday, Paul Garcia, 39, of Barnhart was charged with felony animal abuse and armed criminal action. Authorities say Garcia wrapped electrical and duct tape around the dogs mouth and legs before dumping it. Garcia was in custody Thursday with bail set at $50,000.
Kean said the park does not have any watershed ponds. But one of the four lakes Blue Grass Lake  was originally designed as a sediment pond when the lakes were built in 1970.

Originally 12 to 15 feet deep, he estimated it is six feet deep now because of the silt. "You can walk across it," he told supervisors.

"It served its purpose for all those years," Kean said in the interview. "It was catching everything in the 1970s and 1980s, but as it has filled up it has impacted the other lakes."

Blue Grass Lake is the only lake that will be completely dug out and dredged, while the other three are being drained to be deepened and re-shaped.

Kean said the dirt work will begin next winter and go into winter of 2020. The lakes will be re-filled in early 2021. "Then hopefully we'll be back open the summer of 2021 for that recreational season."

In preparation, Kean said the DNR will relax its fishing regulations this upcoming season and allow what is known as "promiscuous fishing." "It basically means anything goes. All the regulations are abandoned because they want people to catch as many fish as they can."
A German national is facing charges in Kenya for allegedly defiling an 8-year-old girl in Malindi.

The suspected pedophile, identified as 70-year-old Karl Hein Otto, was arraigned in a Malindi Court Thursday. He denied the sexual assault charges when he appeared before Malindi Chief Magistrate Julie Oseko.

The Court heard that the suspect inserted his fingers in the minors private parts on February 2 within the Majengo area in Malindi sub-county.

On the second count, Karl Hein was accused that on the same day he inserted a plastic spoon in the girls private parts.

Prosecuting counsel Alice Mathangani opposed the release of the accused on bail arguing that he was a flight risk.

The suspects lawyer, however, told the court that his client had all the necessary documents including a passport. The lawyer requested that Hein be allowed to pick them from his residence.

But the Chief Magistrate ordered the accused to be remanded at the Malindi police station until next Monday when she will rule on his bail application.
A good Friday to all. No school closings or delays this morning. A cause to rejoice? Not so fast folks, more snow is on the horizon. Here are the weather details from the National Weather Service.

1. Negative wind chills today, snow late Saturday

Here's a Hazardous Weather Outlook from the NWS.

It states:

"A Wind Chill Advisory is in effect until 9 a.m. for the northern two tiers of Iowa counties in the outlook area for wind chills around 20 below zero. Wind chills of 5 to 15 below are expected to the south and east of the advisory.

"Saturday evening through Sunday evening: Low pressure tracking from Oklahoma to Kentucky will bring accumulating snow to much of the outlook area, with amounts generally in the 2 to 5 inch range. However, the track of the system is still uncertain so these amounts could change. East winds of around 10 mph should keep any blowing or drifting of the snow to a minimum.

"Tuesday night and Wednesday: Another storm system may bring several more inches of snow accumulation to the outlook area. However, it is too early to determine exact amounts."
The impact of immigration policies and detention on real families and ways of advocating for social justice will be the focus of a panel discussion beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, at the Rogalski Ballroom of St. Ambrose University, Davenport.

Katy Strzepek, director of the Women and Gender Studies program at St. Ambrose, invites the public to come and learn.

This panel discussion will give a face to the story, she said, adding that personalizing immigration is important. You have to learn the stories to learn how to advocate in solidarity with people.

Panelists for Justice and Immigration: Catholic Responses to Detention will be:

 Dr. Kristy Nabhan-Warren, Elizabeth Kahl Figge Fellow in Catholic Studies at the University of Iowa. She recently traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border to meet with asylum seekers, border patrol agents, and Catholic advocates with the Kino Border Institute.

 Yolanda Rivera, an attorney from Coralville, Iowa, who has spent time inside immigration detention centers. She has witnessed the living conditions and can share the perspective of immigrants and families.
Besides failing to pay him, Estep says Doucette ignored his advice to hire a construction manager as costs spiraled, brushed off budget overruns and tasked him with work not included in his contract.

In the suits most striking allegation, Estep says at least $1.5 million of the $5 million raised from community donations never went to the Urban Campus project. Further, Estep says, EICCD intentionally horded $2 million in an escrow account instead of spending it on the Urban Campus project, knowing any unspent money would go to the college at the end of construction.

Also not named as a defendant but included in the suit is the colleges chief financial officer, Suteesh Tandon. Doucette hired Tandon as a consultant for New College and paid him nearly $20,000 on top of his salary at EICCD, even though provisions in the Urban Campus financial arrangements prohibited college employees from receiving any money from New College, according to the suit.

When the campus opened last year, elected officials, college leaders and economic development advocates hailed it as a major jewel in the ongoing redevelopment of downtown Davenport. It capped $93 million in recent investments into the neighborhood.
Tumlinsons mother, Kari Tumlinson, told Alderman that her son had loved him and that you killed us all.

Them other boys, Im not even mad at, she said as she stood in the courtroom gallery. They played their part, oh, believe me, they played their part. They got responsibly in it. Theyre going to do their time too. But you, you killed me.

Grubbs told Alderman, "you ruined my life."

"You ruined Bradys family's life. You got what you deserve. I hope you have a miserable life forever."

Speaking slowly, Alderman said he decided not to testify at trial because there was no point because what I had to say had no meaning or would have had no impact on anything, because everybody had their mind made up.

Judge Mary Howes said she agreed with prosecutors that Alderman was the driving force of what happened at Tumlinsons home that night.

What disturbed the judge most, she said, is that he set it up and told the others to bring guns and that he left Tumlinson and Grubbs to bleed out there all night long.
On August 22, 2017, Bolger pleaded guilty to 18 counts of making false statements relating to health care matters.

During February through May of 2015, Bolger, who was licensed to practice in Delaware, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, New Mexico and Ohio entered into an agreement with another person who would send Bolger patient intake forms and prescription forms. Bolger would then sign the prescription forms without having talked to most of the patients. No patients or intake forms were being screened by a medical professional prior to the forms being sent to Bolger.

Bolger was paid $50 to sign a prescription form.

The prescriptions were then filled by Patient Care America Pharmacy in Florida, and Haoeyou Pharmacy or its designee in California.

The pharmacies then billed Tricare, a health insurance program of the U.S. Department of Defense serving current and retired military personnel and their dependents worldwide.

Bolger also pleaded guilty to five counts that he mis-branded at least five prescriptions for patients residing in Alabama, a state in which he was not licensed.

The prescriptions were for flurbiprofen and gabapentin in the form of topical pain cream, but contained no such substances.
QCR Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Quad-City Bank & Trust, announced a cash dividend of 6 cents per share.

The dividend will be payable on April 3 to stockholders of record on March 15. Moline-based QCR's board of directors declared the dividend at a meeting on Wednesday, according to a company news release.

In addition to the Quad-Cities, QCR has subsidiary banks that serve the Iowa communities of Cedar Rapids, Cedar Valley and Des Moines-Ankeny as well as Springfield and Rockford, Illinois.

Times staff

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CAMBRIDGE  A Downers Grove man entered a negotiated plea in Henry County Circuit Court Thursday involving 53 pounds of cannabis found in his vehicle last August.

Scott Shih-Lu Chou, 61, entered the plea to Class 1 felony possession of cannabis. Two Class X felonies  cannabis trafficking and possession with intent to deliver  were dismissed.

In exchange for his plea, he will serve 48 months conditional discharge and 120 days in the county jail with credit for 10 days served. He will also have a fine of $4,000 and court costs and a $2,000 mandatory drug assessment. A $106,000 street value fine was reduced to judgment, meaning he still owes it, but the state won't take him to court regularly seeking payment.

Chou was arrested Aug. 4 after police stopped him on Interstate 80 eastbound near Geneseo and found 53 pounds of cannabis in his vehicle.

Speaking through a Mandarin interpreter, Chou brought up the question of whether or not he knew there was cannabis in his vehicle. Shortly afterward, public defender James Cosby successfully asked for an Alford plea, meaning that Chou is only admitting that the state has enough evidence to prove his guilt in court. Judge Terry Patton accepted the plea agreement.

Chou's jail term was stayed to March 7 and he was given permission to travel to Michigan and California to see relatives.

LISA HAMMER / rlhammer15@gmail.com

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An Ohio man was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Rock Island for sex crimes against girls.

Andrew J. Stone, 33, of Rocky River, Ohio, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for transportation of a minor for unlawful sexual activity and production of child pornography. Stone appeared before U.S District Judge Sara Darrow in Rock Island who ordered Stone remain on supervised release for the remainder of his life following release from prison.

Stone has been in law enforcement custody since his arrest in Ohio in July 2017 based on charges investigated by Moline Police, Illinois State Police, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

"Thanks to the hard work of our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, this dangerous predator is off the streets, said U.S. Attorney John Milhiser. "We will continue to identify and prosecute those who prey on our children."
EAST MOLINE The former warehouse looks so nondescript from the outside that several concert-goers opened the doors and asked out loud, Is this the right place?

Their answer came just a few seconds later, when they heard the voice of Jeremy Quentin, of the band Small Houses, and when they walked around the corner to see the lit-up stage.

The first strums of Quentins guitar on Thursday marked the official opening of The Rust Belt, the newest music venue to land in the Quad-Cities.

With a capacity of 4,000 people, the 30,000-square-foot Rust Belt is the second largest music venue here; its bigger than the Adler Theatre in downtown Davenport and smaller only than the 12,000-capacity TaxSlayer Center in Moline.

As Sean Moeller, the venues booking manager, watched the first attendees arrive to this weekends Moeller Nights Fest, which continues Friday and Saturday at The Rust Belt, one descriptor of the venues magnitude came to mind: Its like a skyscraper.

Its really wild to get to this point, he said. This is a serious music venue. You dont open things like this everyday. It opens so many doors for us."

Something new for East Moline
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus A.Dapkiunas meets the UN Chief Economist and Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development

15-02-2019

On February 14, 2019 in New York the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Belarus A.Dapkiunas met with the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, Chief Economist and a focal point for cooperation of UN system with middle-income countries, Elliott Harris.

The focus of the meeting was on activities of the UN development system in middle-income countries (MICs). The interlocutors discussed outcomes of the UN General Assembly high-level meeting on MICs (New York, December 4, 2018), that had been initiated by Belarus. A.Dapkiunas, in particular, focused the interlocutors attention on dissatisfaction of MICs with the level of support from the UN development system.

The Belarusian diplomat underlined the need to develop a long-term UN strategy in support of sustainable development of MICs and a more nuanced country classification that would go beyond the narrow frame of per capita income criteria.

E.Harris reaffirmed the importance of middle-level countries for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the need to provide them with targeted support.

The interlocutors outlined joint steps to further promote interests of middle-income countries within the UN.

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About Me Scott Because prophetic scriptures are found throughout the bible, it is obvious that a comprehensive, systematic approach would be useful, if not necessary, for the understanding of prophecy. Past prophecies have been fulfilled in a literal manner, as confirmed by the dating of these writings and historical records of confirmation. These past prophecies also serve as a model of how to interpret future prophecies. A literal view of prophecy clearly indicates a certain sequence of events will occur within a single generation, concluding with the Tribulation and Second Advent and these events will be obvious. The prophetic signs appear to be present in this generation and we believe these signs are revealed in the news from around the world. View my complete profile
FORT EDWARD  The Washington County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution on Friday asking state legislators to approve an increase to the countys existing mortgage recording tax.

We are just trying to get up to par with Warren and Saratoga counties, said Board of Supervisors Chairman and Argyle Supervisor Bob Henke, explaining that Washington Countys reimbursement falls short of the surrounding counties. They havent passed it (the countys request) in the last four years.

According to Henke, the additional dollars would be used to support SUNY Adirondack, especially the new STEM initiative.

During Fridays meeting, several supervisors commented on the value of education for the countys future.

We all benefit from an educated population, said Greenwich Supervisor Sara Idleman.

And Hampton Supervisor Dave OBrien said more and more colleges will go the way of Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont, and close because people dont have enough money to pay for a four-year education.

A two-year education is more and more valuable, he said.
He briefed colleagues on the Warren County Board of Supervisors on the idea Friday, and several supported the idea.

Property owner Ruben Ellsworth, whose workers found the first remains last week, said Friday at the site that he would be willing to listen to proposals for the property.

Dr. David Starbuck, an archaeology professor at SUNY Adirondack and Plymouth State University in New Hampshire who has led many local archaeological digs, also agreed the proposal would be a good way to preserve the site.

Starbuck said the passing days have led to more and more discoveries of artifacts and remains.

The remains found so far are mostly from adult males, but there have been bones believed to have been from female and adolescents as well. It would not be unusual for teens to be in the military in that era, and women served as well.

The discovery of buttons believed to have come from a 1770s military regiment that originated in Pennsylvania has led experts to conclude at least some of the remains were those of soldiers who passed through the region and stayed at encampments in Lake George at some point.

The bones will eventually be reburied in the Lake George area.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has released a new pollution permit for large animal farms that discharge into waters of the state.

The permit had to be revised after an Albany County Supreme Court judge ordered the DEC to address concerns brought up in the case, Riverkeeper vs. (Basil) Seggos.

Justice David Weinstein found the permit violated the Clean Water Act.

One significant change that the nonprofit organization Riverkeeper had called for was to have the DEC approve any changes made to a farms nutrient management plan. A nutrient management plan details how soil and manure is used on a farm and includes water quality protections, among many other things.

Revised permits for large animal farms out for comment The public has a chance to comment on revisions to a state permit regulating large animal fa

Before, according to the first permit, the farms own hired planner could make changes without the DECs approval.

Weinstein had called this an inherent conflict of interest, since the planners are hired by the farms.

The DEC made that change to the new permit, and will review all changes to nutrient management plans.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus A.Dapkiunas meets the UN Deputy Secretary-General

14-02-2019

On February 14, 2019 during the visit to the United Nations Headquarters the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Andrei Dapkiunas, met with the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed.

The interlocutors discussed practical work at the United Nations in the context of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and outlined possible joint steps and events in this area.

A.Dapkiunas informed the interlocutor about the results of the first National Forum on Sustainable Development, held in Minsk on January 24, 2019, and asked to intensify joint efforts to create a UN database of national coordinators on SDGs.

The UN Deputy Secretary-General once again warmly spoke of her visit to Belarus in February 2018 and stressed Belarus active role and leadership in the work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the context of the UN strategy for persons with disabilities being developed by the UN Secretary-General, A. Mohammed commended efforts of Belarus to rehabilitate people with disabilities and stressed the importance of integrating this category of citizens into society.

The interlocutors agreed that the nature of the 2030 Agenda is universal: sustainable development is impossible without addressing issues of peace, security and human rights.

The sides also discussed possible practical steps to extend the work in achieving the SDGs to local level.

A.Mohammed confirmed interest in further deepening the cooperation with Belarus in priority areas of the SDGs, including in the context of a possible visit of the UN Secretary-General to Belarus.

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RUTLAND, Vt.  A North Creek man who was arrested for attacking a woman in western Vermont while he was on parole for domestic violence in New York was convicted Tuesday of five charges after a trial in Vermont.

Roy H. Kuhlmann, 51, was convicted of two counts of domestic assault and single charges of unlawful trespass, obstruction of justice and unlawful restraint after a trial in Rutland District Court that stemmed from his arrest last February.

Vermont State Attorney Rosemary Kennedy, who prosecuted the case, said the jury found that Kuhlmann injured the woman on two occasions in late 2017 and early 2018, and chased her around her home during the last attack until she was able to summon help by messaging a relative who called police. Vermont State Police arrested him despite the fact he told them he was a sovereign citizen who they could not legally arrest.

Authorities said Kuhlmann met the woman, who lived on Route 133 in the town of Ira, on an online dating website after he was released from prison in New York in 2017.
A Wilton man who was arrested last year for allegedly raping a child in North Carolina has been acquitted of the charge he faced.

Shane M. Germain, 28, was found not guilty of a charge of rape of a child in Beaufort County, North Carolina Superior Court after a trial that ended last week.

He was extradited to North Carolina last February after a warrant was issued for his arrest there.

Authorities said he was acquainted with the child, and maintained that no sexual contact occurred.

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QUEENSBURY  A Glens Falls man who police said sold crack cocaine in Glens Falls last year is headed to prison for 5 years.

Jakeem A. April, 32, pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in connection with an arrest last September. Police said he sold crack during a multi-agency investigation.

April also faces felony drug charges in Schenectady County in connection with a crack possession arrest in Niskayuna last July.

He pleaded guilty with the understanding he will receive a 5-year state prison sentence to be followed by 3 years on parole when sentenced by Warren County Judge John Hall.

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Opdivo (nivolumab) Plus Yervoy (ipilimumab) Shows Response in Pre-Treated Patients with Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Details Category: Antibodies Published on Friday, 15 February 2019 10:39 Hits: 2373

First I-O/I-O combination regimen to demonstrate response rates in this hard-to-treat patient population

PRINCETON, NJ, USA I February 14, 2019 I Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) today announced data evaluating Opdivo (nivolumab) in combination with Yervoy (ipilimumab) in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Results from an interim analysis of the Phase 2 CheckMate -650 trial showed that among 32 asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic patients whose disease had progressed after second-generation hormone therapy and who had not received chemotherapy (cohort 1), with a median follow-up of 11.9 months, the objective response rate (ORR) was 25%. Additionally, among 30 patients whose disease progressed after taxane-based chemotherapy (cohort 2), with a median follow-up of 13.5 months, the ORR was 10%.

Across both cohorts, higher response rates were seen in certain patient sub-groups, including patients with high (above median) tumor mutational burden and patients with homologous recombination deficiency.

The overall safety profile was consistent with prior studies of Opdivo in combination with Yervoy with this dosing schedule. Grade three to five treatment-related adverse events occurred in 42% of patients in cohort 1 and 53% of patients in cohort 2.

The results from CheckMate -650 provide strong rationale for the development of combination immune checkpoint therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer, which is considered a cold tumor with few tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, said Padmanee Sharma, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Immunology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The clinical results from this study are encouraging and provide the foundation to test the combination strategy in a larger cohort of patients.

The data were featured today in an oral session (Abstract #142) at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco.

Assessing the effect of biomarkers on treatment outcomes is an important part of our ongoing multidisciplinary approach to research in translational medicine, said Arvin Yang, M.D., Ph.D., development lead, melanoma and genitourinary cancers, Bristol-Myers Squibb. These interim results are exciting and reinforce our commitment to identifying the patient populations most likely to derive benefit from Immuno-Oncology-based regimens across tumor types and in hard-to-treat patient populations.

About CheckMate -650

CheckMate -650 is an ongoing Phase 2 open-label trial, evaluating the safety and efficacy of Opdivo in combination with Yervoy in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). The trial includes two cohorts: asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic patients who progressed after second-generation hormone therapy and have not received chemotherapy for mCRPC; and patients who progressed after taxane-based chemotherapy. Patients received Opdivo 1 mg/kg plus Yervoy 3 mg/kg for four doses, followed by Opdivo 480 mg every four weeks. Co-primary endpoints include objective response rate (ORR) and radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS). Safety is a secondary endpoint. Exploratory endpoints include correlation of biomarkers with efficacy and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response.

About Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer in men, with almost 1.28 million new cases diagnosed worldwide in 2018. Unlike many early-stage prostate cancers that need normal levels of testosterone to grow, castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) continues to grow even when the amount of testosterone in the body is reduced to castrate levels. CRPC patients have a very high likelihood of having or developing metastases, meaning the cancer has spread to other areas of the body. While the five-year survival rate for most stages of prostate cancer is almost 100%, the five-year survival rate for prostate cancer that has spread to distant lymph nodes, bones or other organs is approximately 29%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb: Advancing Oncology Research

At Bristol-Myers Squibb, patients are at the center of everything we do. The focus of our research is to increase quality, long-term survival for patients and make cure a possibility. Through a unique multidisciplinary approach powered by translational science, we harness our deep scientific experience in oncology and Immuno-Oncology (I-O) research to identify novel treatments tailored to individual patient needs. Our researchers are developing a diverse, purposefully built pipeline designed to target different immune system pathways and address the complex and specific interactions between the tumor, its microenvironment and the immune system. We source innovation internally, and in collaboration with academia, government, advocacy groups and biotechnology companies, to help make the promise of transformational medicines, like I-O, a reality for patients.

About Opdivo

Opdivo is a programmed death-1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor that is designed to uniquely harness the bodys own immune system to help restore anti-tumor immune response. By harnessing the bodys own immune system to fight cancer, Opdivo has become an important treatment option across multiple cancers.

Opdivos leading global development program is based on Bristol-Myers Squibbs scientific expertise in the field of Immuno-Oncology, and includes a broad range of clinical trials across all phases, including Phase 3, in a variety of tumor types. To date, the Opdivo clinical development program has enrolled more than 25,000 patients. The Opdivo trials have contributed to gaining a deeper understanding of the potential role of biomarkers in patient care, particularly regarding how patients may benefit from Opdivo across the continuum of PD-L1 expression.

In July 2014, Opdivo was the first PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor to receive regulatory approval anywhere in the world. Opdivo is currently approved in more than 65 countries, including the United States, the European Union, Japan and China. In October 2015, the Companys Opdivo and Yervoy combination regimen was the first Immuno-Oncology combination to receive regulatory approval for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and is currently approved in more than 50 countries, including the United States and the European Union.

U.S. FDA-APPROVED INDICATIONS FOR OPDIVO

OPDIVO (nivolumab) as a single agent is indicated for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) as a single agent is indicated for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 wild-type unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients with EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations should have disease progression on FDA-approved therapy for these aberrations prior to receiving OPDIVO.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic small cell lung cancer (SCLC) with progression after platinum-based chemotherapy and at least one other line of therapy. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have received prior anti-angiogenic therapy.

OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the treatment of patients with intermediate or poor risk, previously untreated advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) that has relapsed or progressed after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and brentuximab vedotin or after 3 or more lines of systemic therapy that includes autologous HSCT. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) with disease progression on or after platinum-based therapy.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab), as a single agent, is indicated for the treatment of adult and pediatric (12 years and older) patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) that has progressed following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) that has progressed following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have been previously treated with sorafenib. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and durability of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the adjuvant treatment of patients with melanoma with involvement of lymph nodes or metastatic disease who have undergone complete resection.

Checkmate Trials and Patient Populations

Checkmate 067advanced melanoma alone or in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab); Checkmate 214intermediate or poor risk advanced renal cell carcinoma in combination with YERVOY; Checkmate 142MSI-H/dMMR metastatic colorectal cancer; Checkmate 205/039classical Hodgkin lymphoma; Checkmate 040hepatocellular carcinoma; Checkmate 037/066advanced melanoma; Checkmate 017squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); Checkmate 057non-squamous NSCLC; Checkmate 025previously treated renal cell carcinoma; Checkmate 141squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck; Checkmate 275urothelial carcinoma; Checkmate 238adjuvant treatment of melanoma.

Please see U.S. Full Prescribing Information for OPDIVO and YERVOY, including Boxed WARNING regarding immune-mediated adverse reactions for YERVOY.

About the Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono Pharmaceutical Collaboration

In 2011, through a collaboration agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb expanded its territorial rights to develop and commercialize Opdivo globally, except in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, where Ono had retained all rights to the compound at the time. On July 23, 2014, Ono and Bristol-Myers Squibb further expanded the companies strategic collaboration agreement to jointly develop and commercialize multiple immunotherapies  as single agents and combination regimens  for patients with cancer in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

SOURCE: Bristol-Myers Squibb
Innovent Announces First Patient Dosed in a Phase I Clinical Trial of an Anti-OX40 Antibody

Details Category: Antibodies Published on Thursday, 14 February 2019 18:44 Hits: 1041

SUZHOU, China I February 13, 2019 I Innovent Biologics, Inc. (Innovent) (HKEX: 01801), a world-class biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and commercializes high quality innovative medicines for the treatment of oncology, autoimmune and other major diseases, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase I clinical trial of IBI101, a recombinant fully human anti-tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 4 (anti-OX40) monoclonal antibody.

In this Phase I clinical study, the tolerance, safety and primary efficacy of IBI101, either as monotherapy or in combination with Tyvyt (sintilimab injection), an anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) antibody, will be evaluated. The study comprises two parts, namely a Phase Ia study with IBI101 as monotherapy and a Phase Ib study with IBI101 in combination with Tyvyt. Patients with advanced solid tumors who have failed standard treatments will be enrolled in the study.

"The Investigational New Drug (IND) application of IBI101, indicated for patients with advanced solid tumors, was approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on 5 Dec, 2018. The mechanism of IBI101 is different from that of anti-PD-1 antibodies. IBI101 stimulates the OX40 pathway so as to activate effector T cells, thus enhancing the anti-tumor immune reaction," commented Professor XU Ruihua, Director of Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Hospital. "Worldwide clinical research on anti-OX40 antibodies is limited so far. We are looking forward to the study results of IBI101."

"Innovent, a China-based company, was established with an ambition to serve global patient needs. We are dedicated to exploring the most advanced research areas in cancer immunotherapy and providing innovative medicines that improve lives around the world. The initiation of Phase I study of IBI101 and dosing of first patient have again demonstrated our efforts and commitment. We truly anticipate further breakthroughs so that more patients will potentially benefit in the future," said Michael Yu, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman.

About IBI101

IBI101 is a recombinant fully human anti-OX40 monoclonal antibody developed by Innovent with independent intellectual property rights. Pre-clinical data confirms that IBI101 has a clear mechanism of action that enhances the activation of effector T cells and mediates the clearance of regulatory T cells, thus inhibiting the growth of tumor cells. The IND application of IBI101 was approved by the U.S. FDA on 5 Dec, 2018. Agonistic OX40 candidates are expected to be used in combination with our anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody, Tyvyt (sintilimab injection), and other immunomodulating agents in our R&D pipeline to meet the unmet medical needs of cancer patients. At present, there are no approved monoclonal antibody therapeutics against the same target across the world.

About Tyvyt (sintilimab injection)

Tyvyt (sintilimab injection) is an innovative drug jointly developed in China by Innovent and Eli Lilly and Company. Innovent is currently conducting the clinical studies of sintilimab injection in the United States. Tyvyt (sintilimab injection) is a type of immunoglobulin G4 monoclonal antibody, which binds to PD-1 molecules on the surface of T-cells, blocks the PD-1/ PD-1 Ligand-1 (PD-L1) pathway and reactivates T-cells to kill cancer cells. Tyvyt (sintilimab injection) is the only PD-1 antibody in China branded by both a local biopharmaceutical company and a global pharmaceutical company. Tyvyt (sintilimab injection) has been approved by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (r/r cHL). Currently, more than twenty clinical studies of sintilimab injection, including seven registration studies, are ongoing to evaluate the efficacy of sintilimab injection on other solid tumors.

About Innovent

Inspired by the spirit of "Start with Integrity, Succeed through Action," Innovent's mission is to develop and commercialize high quality biopharmaceutical products that are affordable to ordinary people. Established in 2011, Innovent is committed to developing, manufacturing and commercializing high quality innovative medicines for the treatment of major diseases such as cancer. On October 31, 2018, Innovent was listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited with the stock code: 01801.HK.

Since it was founded, Innovent has developed a fully-integrated platform which includes R&D, CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls), clinical development and commercialization capabilities. Leveraging the platform, the company has built up a robust pipeline of 20 innovative assets in the fields of oncology, ophthalmology, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases. Fourteen have entered into clinical development, four have entered Phase III clinical trials, two monoclonal antibodies have their New Drug Application (NDA) under review and one, Tyvyt (sintilimab injection), is now approved for relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (r/r cHL).

Innovent has built an international team of advanced talents in high-end biological drug development and commercialization, including many overseas experts. The company has also entered into strategic collaborations with Eli Lilly and Company, Adimab, Incyte, Hanmi and other international pharmaceutical companies. Innovent strives to work with all relevant parties to help advance China's biopharmaceutical industry, improve drug availability to ordinary people and enhance the quality of the patients' lives. For more information, please visit: www.innoventbio.com.

SOURCE: Innovent Biologics
It is not my intention to do away with government, Reagan said. It is rather to make it work  work with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not ride on our back.
For now, the training squadron is operating out of Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. That works as temporary home, but the Air Force doesn't see it as a long-term solution, said Craig Quigley, executive director of the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance.
After the shooting, officers swarmed the area and swept the ground, some with military-style rifles and at least one with a dog. At 3:30 p.m., people trying to leave the mall's parking garage in cars were gridlocked, blocked by police as they continued to investigate. Tidewater Community College said its Norfolk campus was locked down from about 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. The mall was locked down for about two hours, police said.
"First and foremost, I have no grounds to complain about executive pardons in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I am grateful, humbled and unendingly thankful for former Governor McAuliffe's mercy this past January," Coggeshall wrote in the letter, dated Jan. 16. "But regarding Travion Blount (and please, in no way view this communication as second guessing or anything resembling negativity), based on exhaustive research, double checking, triple checking and just doing the best I can, there may be a slight chance of an error in the DOC's calculation of the planned release date."
Tyree had gone to his mother's house that morning to confront a brother he was angry with, according to one of his other brothers. Tyree was holding a knife to his throat and threatening to kill himself when police arrived, according to police and witnesses.
About two hours later, someone reported that another car in the same area had been damaged, Pierce said. It wasn't clear Friday who owned it. Ginger Cueto, the mother of the murder victim, said a car belonging to a friend of her son's who had come to watch the trial was broken into, and there were reports Friday that a bail bondsman's vehicle also had been vandalized.
Ashley Nellis, a senior research analyst for The Sentencing Project, estimated about 200 inmates across the country are serving life without parole for a juvenile crime that did not involve a homicide. Since the U.S. Supreme Court banned the practice, several states have changed their laws or granted new sentences to juvenile offenders facing life terms, she said. "Virginia has not taken any action."
A 2008 Nissan Altima was traveling north in the 800 block of S. Military Highway "at an extreme high rate of speed" and "intentionally disregarded" multiple red lights, according to a news release from police. As the Nissan approached the intersection of S. Military Highway and Indian River Road, a 2004 Toyota Camry was stopped in the southbound turn lane. The light changed to a left green turn signal and the Toyota moved into the intersection to go east on Indian River Road.
Here is the amended policy that will be discussed Tuesday: "The policy to be discussed would allow transgender students to use the restroom consistent with the student's asserted gender identity when the following criteria have been met: (1) the student has appropriate medical documentation from a licensed, treating healthcare provider who specializes in the treatment of transgender individuals; and (2) the student has consistently asserted the student's gender identity for a period of at least six months; and (3) the student has undergone treatment recommended by the student's healthcare provider, which may include social transition or hormonal therapy for at least six months."
The Coast Guard offers a scholarship for students majoring in needed fields such as math, science and aviation. So far, 18 students have graduated from ECSU under the program which pays the final two years of school, books, housing and a monthly salary. As part of the contract, the student becomes a member of the Coast Guard, goes through boot camp and participates in military activities. Later the recruit attends officer candidate school and serves a three-year active duty tour. About 40 historically black schools participate, including Hampton University and Norfolk State University.
"Little did I know how blessed we would be when the one government leader who first stepped forward to help us just happened to have the backbone of an army and, when necessary, the stubbornness of a mule," Gruber said.
The book is set in the ream of Ea ("the world that is") and not Middle Earth. The Saga of Beren and Luthien is a love story and fantasy adventure of mortal man Beren and the elf-maiden Luthien, who embark on a doomed relationship and epic quest.
The world has become more peaceful, points out Havard Mokleiv Nygard. Credit: Yngve Vogt

Although the war in Syria is in its eighth year, statisticians have established that the world is becoming increasingly peaceful.

For a number of years, the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) has used statistics to conduct research about armed conflicts. They work closely with some of the country's foremost statisticians at the University of Oslo in Norway.

"We could not have conducted our research without extensive use of statistics," points out Havard Mokleiv Nygard, research director at PRIO.

Ever since its founding in 1959, the Institute has researched why war happens, how war develops and what steps can be taken to halt conflicts.

To do this, PRIO has systematically collected data from all possible conflicts, the countries that are at war, and how many are killed. The statistics show that fewer people than previously die in war.

"The wars after the Korean War (19501953) have killed a quarter as many people as the wars before the Korean War," says Nygard.

He calls such a change, here regarding the number of people killed in battle, viewed over time, a breaking point.

"The change after this breaking point is an indication that the world has become a more peaceful place."

Statisticians who work with Havard Mokleiv Nygard say it is nevertheless statistically uncertain when the breaking point occurred.

"Although the Korean War is the best guess, the breaking point could also have been in 1945 or at the end of the Vietnam War. However, although the exact time is uncertain, we still see a clear difference between the number of killed before and after the breaking point," points out Nils Lid Hjort, professor of statistics at the Department of Mathematics at the University of Oslo.

International disagreement

The postulate that the world has become more peaceful was put on the international agenda in 2011 by Harvard professor Steven Pinker in his book about the history of violence, "The Better Angels of Our Nature." He built a lot of his research on datasets from PRIO.

Not everyone agreed with his conclusion. One of them is Professor Aaron Clauset from the University of Colorado in Boulder. He believes that the data base is not good enough for drawing such a conclusion.

The discussion also revolves around the the statistical methods being used.

"The distribution of the number of people dying in war does not follow any normally distributed curve. There are many wars in the middle of the curve with a certain number of killed and few wars on the curve's extremes, with few or many killed. Wars can erupt that kill a great many people. An example is the Second World War. A Third World War can also occur, in principle, with 150 million killed," says Havard Mokleiv Nygard to the research magazine Apollon.

Many of the statistical tools used in social science research work well, provided the statistical distributions involved are like the classical normal or Gaussian, or from a range of not-so-extreme models. The number of persons killed in wars, however, follows more complicated patterns, often of the so-called power-law type. These have long tails, with high enough probabilities for even very large outcomes.

This is why the mathematicians from Blindern got involved. They have launched new methods for finding change points in time series where the data follow such power-law distributions.

"The statistical power-law distributions are challenging, regarding probability theory and statistical inference. Although some phenomena are very rare, such as very high death figures, we have taken this into account in our analyses," says Nils Lid Hjort.

Aaron Clauset also worked with such power-law distributions, but the mathematicians at UiO have developed the mathematics a notch further and have come to a different conclusion.

Their disagreement is not about where the breaking point is, but whether it is possible to say that the world has become more peaceful.

Clauset believes that the trend after the Korean War must continue for another 150 years before he is comfortable, purely statistically speaking, saying that the world has become more peaceful.

The mathematicians at UiO disagree with him.

"We can already now say that the world has become a more peaceful place," says Celine Cunen, postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Mathematics at UiO. The mathematical methods were part of her thesis for which she recently earned her Ph.D.

Impact on war

The mathematicians have also looked at the circumstances that affect the number of deaths in a war. Examples include the level of democracy and scope of trading measured a year before

the war erupted.

"Our idea is: The more trade a country has with other countries, the less risk of war," says Celine Cunen.

Their data are derived from a war database that contains information about all wars dating back to 1800. It shows which countries have been at war with each other and how many were killed. The last recorded war in the database is from 2003. That was when the United States invaded Iraq. In order for a war to be recorded in this particular database, at least two countries must be at war, with at least a thousand killed in one of the countries.

Their analysis does not take civil wars into account, such as the soon eight-year-long civil war in Syria.

There have been fewer and fewer interstate conflicts. There was a gradual increase in civil wars leading up to 1992. The trend turned in 2011 with the Arab Spring. Since then, the number of civil wars has flared up again.

The mathematicians now want to test their new method using data from both interstate and civil wars.

All conflicts

A natural question is whether it would have been possible to predict a big war such as the Second World War.

"The models can also be used to say whether the First or Second World War could have been foreseen, based on the conflict data we had before the wars started. It's very rare for a conflict to start overnight. There are often escalations from something very small, to something very big," says Havard Mokleiv Nygard.

A more recent example is the Falklands War in 1982, which started with sanctions and bickering and ended in full-out war.

In order to investigate how a conflict can develop into war, PRIO also uses another conflict database. This database contains information about all conflicts since 1946 where more than 25 have been killed over the course of one year.

The researchers are now developing statistical tools that can determine when crises and disputes between countries escalate into wars. In other words, they model the escalation.

"In order to handle conflicts while they are still small, we need to understand how conflicts develop. Once we understand this, we hope that it will become possible to deal with conflicts and stop them in time. Without statistical analysis, it is impossible to do so," Nygard points out.

"The world spends far too few resources today on prevention. Steps are not taken until after the fact. We still know too little about how to prevent conflicts. It is then important to understand the breaking points in order to prevent conflicts in a systematic and manageable manner."

The research project can theoretically be used to study what could have been done to prevent past conflicts.

"We have already been able to determine that a number of conflicts could have been considerably smaller if peacekeeping forces had been deployed. It is not ethically defensible to initiate an experiment where some countries receive peacekeeping forces and others do not. We must therefore use statistical tools that can simulate the experiment," explains Havard Mokleiv Nygard.

Over the next three years, Gudmund Horn Hermansen, associate professor at the Department of Mathematics, intends to find the reasons why conflicts escalate.

He will look at the interaction between non-violent and violent protests and what it means for a conflict to escalate and why some conflicts stop.

"Our ambition is to be able to say what it takes to escalate a conflict and how it is possible to prevent this from happening," says Gudmund Horn Hermansen.

Explore further A statistical look at the probability of future major wars
Isomerization is well established in small organic molecules (e.g., the cis-to-trans transformation of azobenzene), whereas bulk inorganic solids exhibit phase transformations. Although small in size, nanocrystals follow bulk-like behavior in their solid-solid transformations. At even smaller length scales, inorganic clusters isomerize with molecular- and inorganic solidlike characteristics. Red and blue indicate two different structures. Credit: Science (2019). DOI: 10.1126/science.aau9464

Three years ago, when Richard Robinson, associate professor of materials science and engineering, was on sabbatical at Hebrew University in Israel, he asked a graduate student to send him some nanoparticles of a specific size.

"When they got to me, I measured them with the spectrometer and I said, 'Wait, you sent me the smaller particles instead of the bigger ones.' And he said, 'No, I sent you the bigger ones,'" recalls Robinson, of his conversation with his advisee Curtis Williamson, a doctoral student in chemical and biomolecular engineering. "We realized they must have changed while they were in flight. And that unleashed a cascade of questions and experiments that led us to this new finding."

They deduced that the particles had transformed during their trip from Ithaca to Jerusalem. This realization led to the discovery of inorganic isomerization, in which inorganic materials are able switch between discrete states almost instantaneously  faster than the speed of sound. The finding bridges the gap between what's known about phase changes in organic molecules, such as those that make eyesight possible, and in bulk materials, like the transition of graphite into diamonds.

Their find was surprising because it implied that inorganic materials could transform like organic molecules, said Robinson, co-author of the paper, "Chemically Reversible Isomerization of Inorganic Clusters," which published Feb. 15 in Science.

"We found that if you shrink inorganic material small enough, it can easily jump back and forth between two discrete phases, initiated by small amounts of alcohol or moisture on the surface," Robinson said. "On the flight there must have been moisture in the cargo bin, and the samples switched their phase."

Williamson is the paper's first author. Senior authors are Robinson; Tobias Hanrath, associate professor at the Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; and Uri Banin, professor of chemistry at Hebrew University. Douglas Nevers, Ph.D. '18, Andrew Nelson, doctoral student in materials science and engineering, and Ido Hadar of Hebrew University also contributed.

"We bridged the two worlds between big materials that change more slowly, and small, organic materials that can flip back and forth coherently, between two states," Robinson said. "It's surprising that we saw an instantaneous transformation from one state to another in an inorganic material, and it's surprising that it is initiated with a simple surface reaction."

Isomerization  the transformation of a molecule into another molecule with the same atoms, just in a different arrangement  is common in nature. Often it's sparked by the addition of energy, as when light causes a molecule in the retina to switch, enabling vision; or how olive oil, when heated too high, isomerizes into the unhealthy form known as a trans-fat. Bulk materials such as graphite can also change phases, but they require a lot more energy than at the molecular level and the change occurs more gradually, with the change spreading across the substance rather than an instantaneous transformation.

In the past, larger nanoparticles were found to change phases in a way that was closer to how bulk materials change than to molecules. But when the Cornell team looked at even smaller clusters of atoms at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), they observed the quick change between discrete states for the first time.

"We now finally see that there's a new regime where you can coherently flip from one state to another instantaneously," Hanrath said. "If you make them small enough, the inorganic materials can flip back and forth very easily. It's a revelation."

Robinson said the researchers would not have been able to precisely determine atoms' positions without CHESS, where they performed total-scattering experiments in which they examined all the X-ray scatterings of the cluster, enabling them to pinpoint the locations of the atoms.

They were also aided by a new technique they developed to create magic-sized clusters  so-called because they have the "perfect" number of atoms and no more individual atoms can be added, making them extremely stable.

"We were able to come up with a very pure magic-sized cluster," Robinson said. "Because of that, when it reacts with the alcohol or water you see a very pure transformation" from one discrete state to another.

Though further research is needed, possible future applications include using these particles as switches in computing or as sensors, Robinson said. The discovery could also have uses relating to quantum computing or as a seed for the generation of larger nanoparticles.

Explore further Creating a roadmap for 2-D materials

More information: Curtis B. Williamson et al. Chemically reversible isomerization of inorganic clusters, Science (2019). Journal information: Science Curtis B. Williamson et al. Chemically reversible isomerization of inorganic clusters,(2019). DOI: 10.1126/science.aau9464
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A study by University of Adelaide researchers and Queensland Government scientists has revealed what south-east Queensland's rainfall was like over the last 7000 years  including several severe droughts worse and longer lasting than the 12-year Millennium Drought.

The study  published in Scientific Reportsused preserved paper-bark tea tree leaves from North Stradbroke Island's Swallow Lagoon that have been collecting in the sediment for the past 7700 years.

The leaves  analysed for chemical variationprovided a wealth of information on the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and how it was impacted by major climate changes over the millennia, including the Little Ice Age from about 1450 to 1850.

Researchers found a generally wet period about 5000 to 6000 years ago  indicating a more consistent La Nina-like climate.

"This changed to a more variable and increasingly drier climate about 3000 years ago  highlighting a strengthened El Nino phase,'' says Associate Professor John Tibby from the University of Adelaide's Geography Department.

"There were substantial droughts during this phase, drier than the Millennium Drought which south-east Australia experienced from 1997-2009. In fact, from what we can ascertain, the probability of a drought worse than the Millennium Drought is much higher than the current prediction of one in 10,000 years.

"Our rainfall reconstruction suggests that it may be as much as 10 times more likely."

Associate Professor Tibby said the Little Ice Age, which ended about the time south-east Queensland was settled, was unusually wet.

The study was possible because Swallow Lagoon contains a continuous sequence of leaves from a single species of tree. Variations in the chemistry of these leaves allowed scientists to reconstruct past rainfall.

"Finding leaves preserved in lake sediments of this age is rare, and they can tell us a lot about the environment. For instance, the carbon isotope composition  or chemistry  of the leaves can tell us about the degree of moisture stress experienced by the plants when the leaves were growing,'' says Dr. Cameron Barr from the University of Adelaide.

"So, in effect, we can use leaf carbon isotope composition to infer rainfall through time. Since North Stradbroke Island is in a part of Australia that is very sensitive to ENSO, our study is able to document ENSO history."

Explore further Ancient wetlands offer window into climate change

More information: C. Barr et al. Holocene El NinoSouthern Oscillation variability reflected in subtropical Australian precipitation, Scientific Reports (2019). Journal information: Scientific Reports C. Barr et al. Holocene El NinoSouthern Oscillation variability reflected in subtropical Australian precipitation,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-38626-3
Angolas recently launched Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) created by President Joao Lourenco, has a new chairman.

Angolas former Secretary of State for Oil, Paulino Fernando de Carvalho Jeronimo, was officially appointed as chairman of the agency on Tuesday, local media reported.

Jose Alexandre Barroso, former General Manager of Sonamet; a joint venture between state-owned Sonangol, Subsea7 and WAPO, has been appointed as the countrys new Secretary of State for Oil.

According to the decree released by the president office, Belarmino Emilio Chitangueleca, Cesar Paxi Pedro, Natacha Alexandre Tavares Ferreira Monteiro Massano and Gerson Henda Baptista Afonso dos Santos have also been appointed as administrators of the new agency.

During the next 120 days, the ANPG will take over necessary human resources and assets from Sonangol. All existing agreements with Sonangol as a concessionaire will be honored by the agency, the decree said.

Sonangols regeneration program also involves the potential sale of up to 53 of its subsidiaries.

ANPG main powers and responsibilities are contractual management of the oil and gas sector, executing the governments policies, promoting investment and specialized training for professionals in the oil and gas sector.

Angolas economy should record average growth of 2.6% in the four coming years, a report published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said.

The expected growth is way below the figures recorded between 2004 and 2014 because of the countrys strong dependency on oil revenues while the diversification strategy initiated by Joao Lourenco since his election has, for the time being, yielded just modest results.
A fossil of a conifer called Cunninghamia. Credit: Dr. David Greenwood

The iconic evergreen forests of the Pacific Northwest haven't always been here.

In a recent study published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology, scientists describe the emergence of these ecosystems about 51-53 million-years-agoa time with the highest-known global temperatures in the past 66-million-yearswhen the Pacific Northwest was a subtropical climate similar to today's southern Florida.

So how did temperate forests emerge during a hot, humid climate? The answer lies within the fossil record and is made possible by another icon of the Pacific northwestvolcanic mountain chains.

Alexander Lowe, graduate of Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada, and current graduate student at the University of Washington and Burke Museum, and co-authors analyzed 3,700 fossils from a unique paleontological site called the McAbee Fossil Beds in southern British Columbia, Canada. The site is an ancient lakebed formed by the surrounding active volcanoes. The ash from multiple eruptions and other sediment washing into the lake preserved an abundance of beautiful plant and insect fossils, and also micro-fossils like pollen and spores.

The team sampled fossils from two different geologic layers, representing two different snapshots in time that are estimated to be only 10,000  100,000 years apart. This geologic rarity allowed for the authors to look at forest dynamics operating over thousands to tens of thousands of years of time. More often, paleontologists are drawing comparisons across millions of years of time and different locations.

Lowe and co-authors found the ancient forests consisted of several plants iconic to today's Pacific Northwest region: cedars, firs, and other conifers, maples, birch and even ferns. A blooming of diversity of many species of both flowering plants and conifers were found in these layers. The most prevalent conifer found was Metasequoia occidentalis, the dawn redwood that is now native to eastern China. Of the flowering plants, Ulmus okanganensis (a species of elm), Fagus langevinii (a species of beech) and Alnus parvifolia (a species of alder) were the most abundant broadleaf species at the site.

"It is interesting that the plants we see dominating these ancient forests represent a mix of plants we find today in the Pacific Northwest, southeastern U.S., and eastern China. This mixture of plants resulted in a high diversity, probably comparable to that seen in modern tropics, despite these forests having existed then at higher elevations, and the fact there was cold hardy plants around, firs for example," Lowe said. "It is also interesting that despite volcanic eruptions that were frequent and dynamic through time, the forest didn't change much between the two layers we analyzed, so these forests were apparently quite resilient to volcanic eruptions."

The team reconstructed the ancient temperature and precipitation using the shape and size of fossil leaves, and found it to be similar to modern day Seattle, despite then existing at higher elevations. Apparently, some of the iconic temperate plants of the Pacific Northwest thrived in this cooler high elevation pocket, when the rest of the region was a subtropical Florida-like climate. Volcanic activity that was frequent (but not devastating enough to wipe out all plants with each eruption) provided fertile soil. Also, lower elevations in the foothills of the mountains created zones where the temperate, cooler plants could mingle with the warm-loving plants, providing an environment for both groups of plants to coexist in a highly diverse mix of plant species.

In addition to better understanding the ecosystem of these early temperate forests, this study provides clues to what may happen with today's concerns about climate change. By understanding how Pacific Northwest plants lived in subtropical condition of the past, we can better understand what may happen as temperatures rise in the region today.

"As we see in upland sites like McAbee, and increasingly today, cooler climate plant and animal species are pushed to higher elevations as the climate warms. But what happens when there is no higher to go? We lose those species," Dr. David Greenwood said, Lowe's previous advisor and coauthor on the McAbee study.

In the upcoming years as part of his Ph.D. research, Lowe is going to look at the fossil record during another, more recent warm period (1715 million years ago) to see how plants and regional climates responded. Along with other Burke paleontologists, he plans to analyze fossils from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

This study provides ecological context in which to understand the diversification and evolution of plant families that now dominate temperate latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, and what could potentially happen to this important ecosystem in the face of warming climates today.

Explore further Fossils highlight Canada-Russia connection 53 million years ago

More information: Alexander J. Lowe et al. Plant community ecology and climate on an upland volcanic landscape during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum: McAbee Fossil Beds, British Columbia, Canada, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (2018). Journal information: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology Alexander J. Lowe et al. Plant community ecology and climate on an upland volcanic landscape during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum: McAbee Fossil Beds, British Columbia, Canada,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.09.010

Provided by Burke Museum
A study by Indiana University social psychologists has found that faculty mindsets play a measurable role in student success in science, technology, engineering and math, especially among underrepresented minority students. Credit: Indiana University

In a major analysis of university faculty and students in science, technology, engineering and math, Indiana University social psychologists found that professors' beliefs about intelligence play a measurable role in the success of all studentswith the strongest effects for underrepresented students taking their first college-level STEM courses.

The results of the study, published in the journal Science Advances, were presented Feb. 15 during a press conference at the 2019 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C.

The principal investigator and senior author on the research is Mary Murphy, a professor in the IU Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. The first author is Elizabeth Canning, a postdoctoral researcher in Murphy's lab.

"In a universitywide sample, we found that STEM professors who believe that ability and talent are malleable have smaller racial achievement gaps in their classes," Canning said. "All studentsand black, Latino and Native American students in particularearn significantly higher grades in STEM courses when their professors believe intelligence is a malleable quality that can be developed over time, compared to when their professors believe intelligence is a fixed trait that cannot change very much."

To conduct the study, the researchers collected data on 150 faculty and 15,000 students over two years at a large public research university.

"What we found was that the racial achievement gap between underrepresented racial and ethnic minority studentscompared to white and Asian studentswas nearly twice as large in classes taught by instructors who endorsed more of a fixed mindset," Murphy said.

Black, Latino and Native American students earned 0.19 fewer GPA points in fixed-mindset classrooms compared to white or Asian students. This gap shrank nearly in halfto 0.10 fewer GPA pointsin growth-mindset classrooms.

Moreover, the researchers found that all students did better on average in classes taught by faculty who endorsed more of a growth mindset, but this relationship was much stronger for students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.

Classroom practices and behaviors that convey either a fixed or a growth mindset have been identified by Murphy and colleagues' previous research. For example, faculty who endorse fixed-mindset beliefs tend to prize flawless performance, while faculty who endorse growth-mindset beliefs tend to value and praise the process of learning, and use mistakes as learning opportunities.

"Some faculty explicitly communicate their fixed mindsetsuggesting that if students do not understand the material quickly, they may not do well and should consider dropping the course," Murphy said. "On the other hand, some faculty communicate a growth mindset by regularly providing students feedback and opportunities to self-assess and reflect on their learninginstead of offering only a few high-stakes challenges to prove their ability."

The study also found that students taught by faculty who endorse a growth mindset reported more positive experiences in class and greater motivation. However, they did not report that the classes were easier or less-time consuming than others.

"Students in growth-mindset classrooms reported being 'motivated to do their best work' and felt their instructor really cared about their learning and development in classes," Canning said. "This isn't about being friendlier or going easier on students; it's about focusing on the learning process, rather than innate fixed ability."

The study also found that faculty mindset beliefs predicted the racial achievement gaps in their classes more than any other variable, including the faculty member's gender, race, age, tenure status or teaching experience.

The researchers did not ask professors whether they believe intelligence is determined by students' race or gender, however. Instead, faculty were asked to endorse general statements about the fixedness or malleability of intelligence. (e.g., "To be honest, students have a certain amount of intelligence, and they really can't do much to change it").

"Younger and older facultyas well as male and female professors from any racial-ethnic backgroundwere equally likely to endorsed fixed ideas about intelligence," Murphy said.

The upshot? "We're not going to see fixed mindsets disappear as we turn over a new generation of professors," she said. "We've got to educate faculty about how their beliefs shape students' motivation and performance and give them tools to support students in the classroom."

Murphy's lab is working in collaboration with the IU Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning to create educational modules for first-time university instructors that review the influence of faculty mindset beliefs on student outcomes and provide evidence-based practices that convey growth-mindset beliefs to students in the classroom. She and collaborators have also developed an institute in the Seattle area that trains K-6 teachers to create growth-mindset cultures in their classrooms.

"The overall message here is quite optimistic," Murphy said. "It's clear that helping faculty understand how to employ growth-mindset practices in their teaching could help thousands of students. After all, faculty set the culture of their classroom; they are the culture creators. This work shows professors have the power to shape students' motivation, engagement and performance through the mindset culture they create."

Explore further Growth mindset found to temper impact of poverty on student achievement

More information: E.A. Canning el al., "STEM faculty who believe ability is fixed have larger racial achievement gaps and inspire less student motivation in their classes," Science Advances (2019). advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/2/eaau4734 Journal information: Science Advances E.A. Canning el al., "STEM faculty who believe ability is fixed have larger racial achievement gaps and inspire less student motivation in their classes,"(2019). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aau4734
Earth First Origins project will uncover the conditions on early Earth that gave rise to life. Credit: Rensselaer

The evolution of planet Earth and the emergence of life during its first half-billion years are inextricably linked, with a series of planetwide transformationsformation of the ocean, evolution of the atmosphere, and the growth of crust and continentsunderpinning the environmental stepping stones to life. But how, and in what order, were the ingredients for life on Earth manufactured and assembled?

NASA's Astrobiology Program has awarded a $9 million grant to tackle the question through the Earth First Origins project, led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Assistant Professor Karyn Rogers. The five-year project seeks to uncover the conditions on early Earth that gave rise to life by identifying, replicating, and exploring how prebiotic molecules and chemical pathways could have formed under realistic early Earth conditions.

"Planet Earth and the chemistry of life share the same road," said Rogers. "Because of that co-evolution, we can use our understanding of the fundamental planetary processes that set the Earth system in motion to sketch the physical, chemical, and environmental map to life."

Earth First Origins serves as the catalyst for launching the Rensselaer Astrobiology Research and Education (RARE) Center. The newly established RARE Center builds on the expertise established through more than three decades of astrobiology research at Rensselaer, and supersedes its predecessor, the New York Center for Astrobiology. In addition to conducting fundamental research into life's origins and the potential for life throughout the universe, the RARE Center will support a range of education and public engagement activities. These include a seminar series, a curricular minor in astrobiology, the upcoming Gateway to Early Earth Summer School, and a core undergraduate and graduate education program.

"Rensselaer has an extensive history of significant contributions to the field of astrobiology, and the Earth First Origins project and the Rensselaer Astrobiology Research and Education Center will be tremendous additions to our legacy of discovery," said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson. "The interdisciplinary global collaboration involved in these initiatives epitomizes the visionary work we engage in as The New Polytechnic."

Earth First Origins and the RARE Center unite a diverse team of experts in planetary evolution, early Earth geochemistry, prebiotic and experimental astrobiology, and analytical chemistry. Complemented by a team of molecular biologists, geochemical modelers, and data and visualization experts, the research team brings a wealth of experience poised to launch a new research paradigm for studying life's origins.

"Various types of environments existed on early Earth and many of them could have been the starting place of life, or life could have emerged via processes that connected several environmental niches," said Rogers. "We want to establish the range of possible conditions in different early Earth environments, replicate them in the lab, and understand the particular factors that contribute to the sequence of chemical syntheses that lead to life."

The Earth First Origins project will establish the Gateway to Early Earth, which consists of both a physical lab space and a virtual environment, the early Earth Lab (eEL) and the Virtual early Earth Portal (VeEP), both housed at Rensselaer. The Gateway will be a resource for the Earth First Origins team, as well as the larger origins of life community, to access realistic early Earth environments, both experimentally and through models, and explore their potential to give rise to life's chemistry.

The early Earth Laboratory will house a suite of experimental equipment used to replicate early Earth environments. The eEL will not only target the temperature, pressure, and geochemical conditions of the early Earth, but will also employ novel experimental techniques to represent the dynamic connections between different systems.

"Early Earth hosted a wide range of distinct environments. By accurately representing water-rock-atmosphere interactions, or the flow and mixing of fluids along thermal and chemical gradients, the eEL will provide a much better way of exploring the chemical pathways that emerged during Earth's earliest times." said Bruce Watson, co-investigator and a geochemist and Institute Professor at Rensselaer.

The VeEP provides applications and tools for integrating geochemical and geophysical models, and applying data visualization techniques to explore the range of possibilities in various early Earth environments. Additionally, the VeEP will allow researchers to record data from experiments, models, and analyses in "virtual notebooks" that are ingested into a larger structured data warehouse and accessed through the portal.

Explore further New NASA research consortium to tackle life's origins
Didi came under intense criticism after two young female passengers were murdered last year by drivers using the company's Hitch carpool service

Chinese ride-hailing leader Didi Chuxing will streamline operations and make cuts to non-core business units as it doubles down on safety after the murders of two passengers clobbered its image, a source familiar with the plans told AFP.

Chief executive Cheng Wei told staff in an internal meeting on Friday that about 2,000 employees, or 15 percent of current staff, would be laid off as part of the reorganisation, primarily in business lines outside main ride-hailing operations, the source said.

However, Cheng said Didi would make around 2,500 "new hires" this year in the areas of safety technology, product engineering, driver management and international operations.

It was not clear which business lines would be affected, but Didi also provides food delivery and online financial services.

Didi's ride-hailing services are used by hundreds of millions of customers in China.

But the company came under intense criticism after two young female passengers were murdered last year by drivers using Didi's Hitch carpool service, which links up commuters travelling in the same direction and is not part of its main ride-hailing platform.

Didi apologised, suspended Hitch and strengthened its safety features.

The firm muscled Uber out of China in 2016 after a bruising turf battle. It now claims more than 31 million drivers and 550 million users across its various services.

Didi declined comment when contacted by AFP.

Explore further China suspends carpool services following murders

 2019 AFP
Parents can assure children that anxiety is a natural feeling they can learn to manage. Credit: Shutterstock

The term "test anxiety" typically conjures up images of a high school or university student obsessing over an upcoming exam.

Certainly, older students have been the focus of more than a half a century of research examining test and assessment anxiety and its impact on grades. Researchers know that such test anxiety generally has a negative impact on academic achievement.

Yet we also know schools and parents are recognizing anxiety in younger children. Researchers have probed how, in particular, a rise in test anxiety in schools corresponds to an increase in the use of standardized testing increasingly mandated for accountability and evaluation purposes.

Coupled with growing awareness of responding to mental health challenges in schools, educators and policy-makers need to understand how to confront and minimize the effects of testing on students' anxiety.

In the big picture, current assessment methods must adapt to reflect contemporary knowledge of both children's diverse cultural contexts and a more nuanced understanding of developmental competencies.

In the day-to-day, parents and teachers can empower themselves to be better prepared to support student well-being by re-thinking their own approaches to tests, and what adults are modelling.

What is test anxiety?

Test anxiety is generally regarded as a "nervous feeling" that is excessive and interferes with student performance. Symptoms of test anxiety may fall into four broad physical, emotional, behavioural and cognitive categories.

Children could exhibit physical symptoms such as headaches, nausea, sweating and shortness of breath or feelings of fear, depression and helplessness. Behaviours might include fidgeting, pacing and avoidance. Cognitive disruptions could look like "going blank," racing thoughts and negative self-talk.

Although not all students experience each of these problems, the impact of one or more of these symptoms can be debilitating. Left unacknowledged or unaddressed, in time such symptoms may lead to personal negative outcomes or harm, and difficulties at school.

The trouble with testing policy

Our research in Canada and abroad has consistently found that when policy-makers seek school reform, there is an ensuing emphasis on testing for accountability.

In these contexts, teachers and school administrators will focus classroom and school instruction on select areas and ultimately undermine a more holistic approach to children's education. Standardized testing for accountability is also associated with heightened educator and student stress.

A narrow sense of "achievement"such as is measured via standardized tests in select subject areas is inadequate to capture key knowledge, skills and dispositions children need to be successful in contemporary schooling and life.

For these reasons, policy-makers would be wise to consider multi-dimensional approaches to holding schools accountable. For example, educational reforms are more likely to be successful when they use collective processes that incorporate perspectives of educators and communities.

What parents and teachers can do

In the context of these systemic and long-term issues, parents and teachers can intervene to reduce test anxiety for young children in the following ways:

1. Offer positive messaging

One of the simplest and most effective ways parents can combat test anxiety is through positive messaging.

For example, research demonstrates positive benefits when parents encourage positive self-talk, offer relaxation techniques and reassure children that anxiety is a natural feeling. Parents should know that psychological research suggests a certain amount of heightened arousal is necessary to perform well, a state of balance-in-tension.

2. Keep communication open

Parents also need to maintain open lines of communication with their child's teachersparticularly since students do not necessarily exhibit test anxiety in all subjects.

3. Lower the stakes

Too often parent expectations increase the perceived "stakes" of the tests for students, assigning additional consequences or judging a child's merit and ability on the outcome of a single test.

Instead, it is important for parents to understand and also convey to their child that tests are one indicator of their performance in a subject. No test is a perfect reflection of what a student knows or is able to do.

Seeing tests as one piece of information about how a child is progressing, and seeking out additional information as needed, will help parents gain perspective.

4. Take care of yoursef

Ironically, one key issue both parents and teachers need to consider when attempting to assist students with test anxiety is to first take care of themselves.

Just as parents must be aware of what messsages they send, teachers also need to attend to their own well-being and avoid inadvertently transmitting their own anxieties to students.

For example, the relationship between teachers' math anxiety and student math anxiety is well-established prompting some researchers to explore ways of breaking a mathematics anxiety cycle.

Similarly, teacher worry about large-scale test results, such as provincial or state-wide assessments, can transfer to students.

Thankfully, a positive development to emerge from some of these troubling findings is that there is a growing recognition of the relationship between teacher and student well-being.

5. Emphasize test skills, not drilling

Teachers can also help students combat test concerns by offering test-preparation skill development and reviews before important assessments.

The latter should not be confused with "teaching to the test," which both narrows curriculum and may relentlessly drill test content.

Rather, practicing strategies such as re-reading difficult questions, writing brief outlines beside short answer questions and managing time during tests will be helpful.

Preparing students to write tests effectively also includes teaching students about test structures question formats, the rationale of scoring schemes and common pitfalls with different question types.

Collectively, these skills can be applied to any curriculum or test. Students who have been prepared in both content and skills tend to have lower levels of test anxiety and are more capable of managing their time and responses.

Not surprisingly, these types of strategies are more effective when they are supported by parents and caregivers.

Optimally, parents, teachers and policymakers can work in their various roles to support children's success while learning about possibilities for more complex and intelligent forms of accountability.

Overall, we need to re-think what matters in schools and what's worth measuring.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
A cruise ship leaving the Havana Harbor at the exact time of the Cuba meteor. Credit: Rachel Cook

On February 1, 2019 a bright meteor crossed the sky over Cuba in the middle of the day. The phenomenon, which was followed by a smoke trail (a characteristic cloud left by the burn in the atmosphere of a meteoroid) and a sonic boom, was witnessed by thousands of locals and tourists in the region of Pinar del Rio (western side of the island).

Almost at the same time of the impact, a cruise ship was leaving the Havana harbor and on board, Rachel Cook, an American tourist and vlogger, was making a time lapse of the undocking process. Unaware, she accidentally recorded one of the few videos known to date of the falling meteor. Meanwhile, 400 km away, in Ft. Myers beach, Florida, a webcam of the EarthCam network was filming the midday activities in the beach. Luckily, the camera was aimed at the right direction to record the meteor from afar.

Just a couple of minutes after the event, social networks, especially Instagram and Twitter, received a flood of videos and pictures taken from the island, most of them showing the smoke trail left by the meteor. One of those videos was particularly interesting. It was recorded in one of the main streets of the city of Pinar del Rio, and showed tens of people in the street contemplating with awe the remnant cloud (see the video in this link). Although the video does not show the meteor, it was full of details about the place and time when it was recorded.

All these events recalled the incredible experience of the Chelyabinsk meteor in 2013, when a very bright super bolid hit the atmosphere over a populated area in western Russia, becoming the only event of its kind witnessed by humans in almost a century.

Just a couple of days after the Chelyabinsk impact, a team of astronomers of the Institute of Physics in the University of Antioquia led by Professor Jorge I. Zuluaga reconstructed the trajectory of the Chelyabinsk meteor exclusively using videos of the phenomenon posted on YouTube.

Credit: Universidad de Antioquia

Although many other teams in Russia, the Czech Reublic, Canada and the U.S. also reconstructed the trajectory using more sophisticated methods and data.

Today, just a week after the event and almost exactly six years after the Chelyabinsk impact, the same Colombian scientific team, again using information available on the internet, applied their methods to reconstruct the trajectory of the Cuban meteor. Their results has been included in a scientific manuscript just submitted to a peer reviewed journal. A preprint of the manuscript is available in the Cornell University arXiv lists.

"We were very lucky that at least three relatively reliable videos, including one with an incredible quality, could be available on the Internet in such a short time," explains Zuluaga. "Reconstructing the trajectory of a meteor requires at least three observers on the ground. Although several satellite images were recorded and also available online, without observations from the ground, the precise reconstruction is not feasible."

According to the reconstruction made by the Colombian astronomers, the object producing the meteor over Cuba starts its trajectory inside the atmosphere at an altitude of about 76.5 km above the caribean sea, over a point 26 km to the southwest of the San Felipe Keys (Cuba).

The speed of the rock at its contact with the atmosphere was 18 km/s (64,800 km/h). With such a velocity, the thin air of the high atmosphere was not enough to stop the object, although it was enough to heat it until the rock became bright.

Trajectory of the meteor falling over Cuba on February 1, 2019 as reconstructed by a team of Colombian astronomers. Credit: Google Earth

The rock continued its path in an almost straight line until a height of around 27.5 km. It was at about that altitude that the smoke trail, observed by thousands in Cuba and in satellite images, started to develop. Zuluaga and coauthors estimate that the cloud seen in Pinar del Rio corresponds to a small part of the trajectory of the meteor (corresponding to altitudes between 26 and 22.5 km). According to the footage on that city and the reconstruction of the Colombians, the airburst ended at about 22 km.

From there on, hundreds of small fragments that survived the atmospheric ablation fell in many direction without emitting any light (dark flight). Although most of these small rocks probably ended up in the forests of the Vinales Natural Park, some of them hit several houses in the Vinales Valley, close to a touristic landmark, "El Mural de la Prehistoria," six kilometers away from the main path of the object. If a big fragment survived the ablation, it probably landed in the ocean on the northwestern coast of the island.

After reconstructing the trajectory in the atmosphere, the Colombian astronomers played back the impact and found that the culprit, a rock with an estimated size of several meters and a weight of about 360 tons, came from an eccentric orbit around the sun with an average distance of 1.3 astronomical units (1 astronomical-unit = 150 million km). Before impacting the Earth, the rock completed a turn around the sun every 1.32 years. All that came to an end on February 1, 2019, when the rock and the Earth found themselves at the same point in space at the same time.

But reconstructing the trajectory of the meteor was not enough for the Colombian Astronomers. Several groups around the world are probably working right now on their own estimations, some of them using precise satellite data or information from infrasound networks. As the Chelyabinsk impact taught us, this event attracts the attention of many scientists, and it is probable that other works will be published about the impact on the following weeks or months.

More interestingly, the astronomers used their results to test a method that Zuluaga and Mario Sucerquia, who was also a coauthor of this work, developed recently to study asteroid impacts against the Earth and the Moon. The method, called Gravitational Ray Tracing (GRT), applies several algorithms originally devised for the computer graphics industry.

Prediction of the GRT theoretical method regarding the azimuth or direction from which the asteroids in Chelyabinsk and Cuba should come and its elevation. Credit: Universidad de Antioquia

In GRT, the Earth is not hit by asteroids but it is a source of them. Many rocks are launched (in a simulated environment) into thousands of directions in the sky and with different speeds, from a certain geographical location (a beach in the northwest of Cuba or a valley on the moon). The rocks that end up in orbits around the sun, similar to already discovered asteroids, are flagged as potential impactors. The rocks with orbits that are not typical of near-Earth objects (NEOs) are flagged as unnatural objects.

Using the rocks that are flagged as potential asteroids, the astronomers were able to create maps in the sky of the directions from which a real asteroid could arrive. Or at least this is what the theory of Zuluaga and Sucerquia states.

The Colombian astronomers found that their theoretical method predicted what Cubans saw: a rock coming from the south in a trajectory inclined around 30 degrees with respect to the horizon.

In order to check if this result was not just the product of chance, they performed a similar calculation on the Chelyabinsk event. Again, the method predicted that at the time and location of the Russian impact, the most probable region in the sky from where an asteroid could arrive was looking toward the northeast, at an elevation of 20 degrees. The actual object appeared almost in the direction of the east and at exactly 20 degrees of elevation.

But still, the coincidence between the predictions of GRT and the actual conditions of the Chelyabinsk and Cuba impact could also be random. However, it could also reveal a deeper truth, namely the fact that the researchers could predict the direction in the sky from which a meteor could arrive into the city (if that impact actually occurs).

Prediction of the GRT theoretical method regarding the azimuth or direction from which the asteroids in Chelyabinsk and Cuba should come and its elevation. Credit: Universidad de Antioquia

"Only after the recent digital boom we have realized how frequent and potentially hazardous could the impact of small meteoroids on populated areas," says Mario Sucerquia. He adds, "Sadly we are not yet able to defend our society against this threat; our work suggests that in principle, we could be prepared, at least with some knowledge, for future impacts."

Prof. Pablo Cuartas, co-author of the paper, says, "The relatively small size of meteoroids like those that fell in Chelyabinsk and Cuba made them practically undetectable before the impact. Since detection is almost impossible, the risk that damaging events like this will happen over very populated areas is high; our results suggest that we can predict in advance at least from which direction they will come."

Finally, he says, "We should be prepared for the next projectile."

Mario Sucerquia is even more direct: "We should check impact probabilities all the time at least in populated areas; doing this as part, for instance, of a public protocol, may help us to take preventive measures in the face of impact threats."

Explore further Astronomers calculate orbit and origins of Russian fireball

More information: Data and software developed for the work: Data and software developed for the work: github.com/seap-udea/MeteorTrajectories Can we predict the impact conditions of meter-sized meteoroids? arxiv.org/abs/1902.03980 Jorge I Zuluaga et al. Towards a theoretical determination of the geographical probability distribution of meteoroid impacts on Earth, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2018). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/sty702 Journal information: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Provided by Universidad de Antioquia
Sample collecting of meteorites in Antarctica. Credit: Katherine Joy / ANSMET

An international study led by researchers from the Institute of Space Sciences, from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya has discovered that carbonaceous chondrites, a class of meteorites, incorporated hydrated minerals along with organic material from the protoplanetary disk before the formation of planets. The researchers, who have published their results in the journal Space Science Reviews, note that these meteorites played "an important role in the primordial Earth's water enrichment" because they facilitated the transportation of volatile elements that were accumulated in the external regions of the so-called protoplanetary disk from which planets were formed.

Carbonaceous chondrites come from asteroidal bodies of smaller than hundred kilometres that never melted or experienced internal chemical differentiation as planets did. Thus, the study gives clues about the initial accretion phases of the first bodies that accreted to form the planets. The meteorites analysed in this work belong to the NASA's Antartic collection, meteorites that fell in Murchison (Australia) in 1969, and in Renazzo (Italy) in 1824. Representative samples of the two more-hydrated types of carbonaceous chondrites (CM and CR groups) have been studied.

"Chondrites constitute a fossil legacy of the creation of the planetesimals, which provide information about the accretion of the first building blocks of planets, and also about everything that happened inside them shortly after their formation. In this study, we want to go a step further to identify processes of water incorporation that happened in the protoplanetary disk," explains CSIC researcher Josep M. Trigo-Rodriguez, who works at the Institute of Space Sciences and has led the study.

He says, "There is a great debate about the origin of water on Earth and our study proves that carbonaceous chondrites were able to transport water in a very efficient way in their matrices. That water seems to come from two types of objects formed at different distances from the sun: hydrated asteroids and comets. Obviously, in order to know the origin of water on Earth, we must study not only the comets but also the carbonaceous chondrites that come from the transitional asteroid population. These were far more numerous 4,000 million years ago, but suffered a gravitational destabilisation during Jupiter and Saturn's migration to their current orbits. Those that did not end being swallowed by Jupiter and Saturn were ejected toward the terrestrial planets and to other regions of the solar system, transporting water and organic material inside them," explains the CSIC researcher.

Sample collecting of meteorites in Antarctica. Credit: Katherine Joy / ANSMET

The study also points at the direct implications for the origin of water in Earth. "Our calculations indicate that, coinciding with the so-called Heavy Bombardment produced by the gravitational destabilisation of the main asteroid belt, billions of tons of carbonaceous chondrites reached Earth about 3,800 million years ago. And they did it transporting in their fine matrices water and other volatile elements in form of hydrated minerals," says Trigo.

Currently, there are two ongoing missions for sample returns from primitive asteroids: NASA's OSIRIS-Rex and JAXA's Hayabusa 2. The results from the carbonaceous chondrite analysis at a micro- and nanoscale that are published in this new study reveal the importance of the sample-return missions, which will bring to Earth rocks less altered by collisions than the meteorites that land on the terrestrial surface.

Explore further The composition of ancient meteorites

More information: Josep M. Trigo-Rodriguez et al, Accretion of Water in Carbonaceous Chondrites: Current Evidence and Implications for the Delivery of Water to Early Earth, Space Science Reviews (2019). Josep M. Trigo-Rodriguez et al, Accretion of Water in Carbonaceous Chondrites: Current Evidence and Implications for the Delivery of Water to Early Earth,(2019). DOI: 10.1007/s11214-019-0583-0

Provided by Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The key to breeding disease-resistant honeybees could lie in a group of genesknown for controlling hygienic behaviourthat enable colonies to limit the spread of harmful mites and bacteria, according to genomics research conducted at York University.

Some worker honeybees detect and remove sick and dead larvae and pupae from their colonies. This hygienic behaviour, which has a strong genetic component, is known to improve the colony's chance of survival. The researchers narrowed in on the "clean" genes that influence this behaviour to understand the evolution of this unique trait.

The finding, published today in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution, could lead to a new technique for use in selective breeding programs around the world to enhance the health of honeybees.

"Social immunity is a really important trait that beekeepers try to select in order to breed healthier colonies," said Professor Amro Zayed, a bee genomics expert in the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science. "Instead of spending a lot of time in the field measuring the hygienic behaviour of colonies, we can now try breeding bees with these genetic mutations that predict hygienic behaviour."

Statistics Canada estimates that honeybee pollination contributes between $3.15 to $4.39 billion per year to the Canadian economy including some of Canada's most lucrative crops like apples, blueberries and canola. In Canada, and around the world, beekeepers have experienced higher than normal colony losses. Last winter, Canadian beekeepers lost up to 33 per cent of their colonies.

"This study opens the door to using genomics to breed healthier and disease-resistant colonies that have higher social immunity," explained Zayed. "This is of huge importance to the greater community of geneticists who are interested in understanding the genetics of this novel trait."

Zayed worked on the study with 13 bee biologists from York University, University of British Columbia, University of Manitoba, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

In the study, the biologists sequenced the genomes of three honeybee populations; two of them bred to express highly hygienic behaviour and a third population with typical hygiene. Brock Harpur, Zayed's former doctoral student who is now an assistant professor at Purdue University's Department of Entomology, examined the genomes of bees from each of these three populations and looked for areas that differ between the unhygienic and hygienic bees. Harpur pinpointed at least 73 genes that likely control this hygienic trait.

"Now that we have identified these candidate genes, we can look for the mechanisms of hygienic behavior and begin to develop tools for beekeepers to breed healthier colonies," explained Harpur.

The biologists are planning to pilot a marker-assisted breeding program for hygienic behaviour, in which bees are selected for breeding based solely on their genetic information.

"We think there is a lot of potential here of breeding disease-resistant colonies with a simple genetic test," said Zayed.

Explore further New genetic test will improve biosecurity of honey bees around the globe

More information: Brock A Harpur et al, Integrative Genomics Reveals the Genetics and Evolution of the Honey Bee's Social Immune System, Genome Biology and Evolution (2019). Brock A Harpur et al, Integrative Genomics Reveals the Genetics and Evolution of the Honey Bee's Social Immune System,(2019). DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evz018
Species like this green abalone recover faster from catastrophic events in marine protected areas. Credit: Charles Boch

A new paper in the American Naturalist discusses the significant role marine protected areas can play in preventing the extinction of commercially harvested species like abalone. MBARI Postdoctoral Fellow Charles A. Boch participated in the study, which examined abalone population models and how protected areas can ensure animals survive catastrophic events that could otherwise wipe out a population.

Many marine species such as abalone, sea urchins, and sea stars are relatively immobilethey lack the ability to move quickly over large distanceswhich makes it difficult for them to evacuate rapidly when a catastrophic event occurs. These events range from powerful storms and widespread viruses to oil spills and overharvesting.

Combining several different computer models, the authors compared the effectiveness of fisheries management with and without marine protected areas (MPAs). The models focused on a commercially harvested species of green abalone in Baja California Sur, Mexico.

The green abalone fishery at Isla Natividad provided an ideal case study to observe the effects of management techniques like MPAs. Fishermen there have established cooperatives that strictly enforce no-take zones within their fishing grounds. The Isla Natividad fishery has demonstrated that protected areas sustain larger populations after catastrophic events and promote faster species recovery in other regions when larvae "spillover" into adjacent areas.

MBARI Postdoctoral Fellow Charles Boch examines an abalone in the laboratory. Credit: Todd Walsh/MBARI

Human exploitation adds an extra layer of complexity to a species' recovery from a mass mortality event because many commercially harvested species are typically kept at lower population sizes. Species like the green abalone also tend to experience lower breeding success at low population densities. This further complicates recovery from mass mortality events, making it harder for populations to bounce back once their numbers reach critical lows. Some populations never fully recover from mass mortality events. Fisheries, like the sardines of Monterey, could be permanently lost without protection.

The Isla Natividad green abalone fishery provided the basis for the researchers' population model. The results of the models were encouraging and suggest that MPA networks offer a feasible solution to fisheries scientists and managers. As the authors noted, "We found that MPA networks dramatically reduced the risk of [population] collapse following catastrophic events (75-90 percent mortality), while populations often continued to decline in the absence of spatial protection."

With increasing ocean temperatures and acidity, growing low-oxygen areas, and large-scale extreme weather events becoming more common, this study provides further support for resource managers to establish and maintain networks of MPAs which protect the resilience of marine organisms following catastrophic events.

Piles of green abalone shells on Isla Natividad illustrate the scale of the local abalone fishery. Credit: Charles Boch

Explore further Marine reserves aid ecosystem recovery after environmental disasters: study

More information: Emilius A. Aalto et al. Catastrophic Mortality, Allee Effects, and Marine Protected Areas, The American Naturalist (2019). Journal information: American Naturalist Emilius A. Aalto et al. Catastrophic Mortality, Allee Effects, and Marine Protected Areas,(2019). DOI: 10.1086/701781
Yemen's top diplomat said a "protocol error" landed him next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a conference in the Polish capital Warsaw and that his country's stance on the Palestinian issue remained unchanged. "Protocol errors are the responsibility of the organisers, as is always the case in international conferences," Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani wrote on Twitter late Thursday. Yamani was already seated when Netanyahu took his place on Thursday at an international conference in Warsaw focused on security in the Middle East. The two nodded at each other and exchanged brief smiles as Netanyahu sat down. During a part of the session closed to the press, Yamani later lent Netanyahu his microphone when the Israeli premier's audio equipment did not work properly. US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace envoy Jason Greenblatt hailed the exchange on Twitter, calling it a "lighthearted moment" that could be the sign of "new cooperation" between the Jewish and Arab states. Yemen and Israel have never had diplomatic relations, and Yamani's friendly interaction with Netanyahu drew criticism online and from his government's opponents. "The stance of Yemen and President (Abedrabbo Mansour) Hadi on the Palestinian issue and its people and leadership is firm," Yamani insisted. He said Yemen attended the Warsaw conference not to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "but to mobilise the international community to confront the Iranian expansion in Yemen". Its participation was also "part of the battle to restore" the internationally-recognised government, which is at war with Iran-backed Huthi rebels, Yamani added. The Huthis late Thursday issued a statement "rejecting all attempts to normalise" relations with Israel "at the expense of Arab and Islamic causes, primarily the Palestinian cause". Yamani's participation alongside Netanyahu revealed the "moral bankruptcy" of Yemen's government "and its sponsors in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi", the rebels said. The war between the Huthis and pro-government troops escalated in March 2015, when President Hadi fled into exile in Riyadh and a Saudi-led military coalition that includes the United Arab Emirates intervened against the rebels. Around 10,000 people -- mostly civilians -- have been killed and more than 60,000 wounded in the conflict, according to the World Health Organization. Human rights groups say the real figure could be five times as high. Netanyahu called the Warsaw meeting a "historical turning point", saying Israel and Arab states that attended had stood united against Iran. He also said he hoped that cooperation could extend to other areas. Top officials from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain -- none of which recognise Israel -- sat down with Netanyahu for dinner Wednesday. Israel only has diplomatic relations with two Arab states, neighbouring Egypt and Jordan.
Japans second largest car maker Nissan Motor Co has announced it will launch a car assembly plant jointly with a local partner in view of meeting local demands for vehicles after the state imposed a ban on imported car.

Nissan Wednesday signed an agreement with Hasnaoui Group in Algiers for the plant that will cost $160 million and create 1,800 jobs.

The plant to be located near the western coastal city of Oran will start production in the first half of 2020 with a capacity of 63,500 vehicles per year.

Our top priority is to meet local demand but we will think about exporting our product later, said Peyman Kargar, Nissans senior vice president and chairman of operations in Africa, Middle East and India.

The North African oil-and-gas-rich country has prohibited the import of cars as part of national policy to slash public spending due to fall in oil and gas revenues which account for the majority of state earnings.

Hasnaoui groups owner Sofiane Hasnaoui told media that the partnership seeks to diversify Algerian economy.

The Algerian group will be the largest shareholder in the project.

The future plant in Algeria bolsters the Japanese firms presence in Africa where it already has assembly plants in Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa. Ghana in West Africa is expected to house the companys next factory under an agreement signed last year.
RAPPLER chief Maria Ressa should stop blaming the government for the "incompetence" of her lawyers who supposedly failed to defend her before the court, Malacanang said on Friday. February 15.Speaking

RAPPLER chief Maria Ressa should stop blaming the government for the "incompetence" of her lawyers who supposedly failed to defend her before the court, Malacanang said on Friday. February 15.

Speaking to Palace reporters, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo maintained that the executive "never" meddles in the judiciary's affairs.

Panelo made the statement after Ressa slammed the Duterte government's alleged "abuse of power" by issuing an arrest warrant that "looked rushed or on purpose" over cyber libel charge.

"She says that there has been irregularity in the filing of the case, as well as she's harassed. Let me tell you Maria that the case filed against you was in accordance with the law. This is not a case of freedom of expression as you claimed. It is a case of one man, and personally complainant, asserting his right under the law for a perceived violation of his right," he said.

"That is why he filed a case against you. Now you say, rule of law. Precisely, rule of law has observed. A case is filed against you. A preliminary investigation was accorded to you. That is in accordance with the law. That is a rule of law," he added.

Ressa on Wednesday, February 13, spent the night at the National Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Manila following the issuance of arrest warrant on her for cyber libel.

She was granted temporary liberty after posting a P100,000 bail bond.

Her arrest stemmed from Rappler's supposed "defamatory" article published against businessman Wilfredo Keng in 2012.

Ressa, whose online news outfit has persistently written stories critical of the administration, said the government seemed to be determined to put her to jail, an act she deemed as a "violation" to her rights.

"It seems the government was bent on having me spend the night in detention," the Rappler chief said in a television interview.

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"If the purpose is to make me feel the government has power, I think what they have achieved is to make me realize that the government will go to all lengths to abuse its power to violate my rights," she added.

Rappler has called Ressa's arrest as a clear case of harassment and intimidation of the Duterte government's critics in the media.

Several lawmakers and journalist groups also slammed the alleged attempts to silence and intimidate members of the media, which may have a "chilling effect" on the press freedom.

On Thursday, February 14, President Rodrigo Duterte denied hand in Ressa's arrest.

Panelo said Ressa's sympathizers were "either ignorant of the facts or misinformed of the facts."

He also turned the tables on Ressa, saying it was the latter who is abusing her power as a journalist.

"Stop blaming anyone for the unpreparedness of your lawyers. There is absolutely nothing to do with the freedom of expression. Now you say there's an abuse of power. Excuse me, Maria, abuse of power? You are the one abusing your power as a journalist," the Palace official said.

"Maria, you cannot blame the court, nor the government, nor this administration, nor the President, for the incompetence of your lawyer," he added.

Panelo likewise stressed that the government was merely observing the rule of law.

"Maria, you want to be treated differently from a class of persons subject to a warrant of arrest just because you are a high-profile journalist? Excuse me, Maria, the law is no respecter of social status. Everyone is equal under the law," he said. (SunStar Philippines)
Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of Hyundai passenger cars in the Philippines, launched an industry-first partnership with A CJ O Shopping, which shall market Hyundais newest offering, the all-new Hyundai Reina. This latest development in Hyundais formal introduction of Reina in the Philippine automotive industry marks the distributors pioneering initiative to innovate the car shopping experience and make it more convenient for the motoring public at large.

HARI President and CEO Maria Fe Perez-Agudo affirms that the move to market Reina through O Shopping is a win for the Filipino customer, as she expressed, Hyundais partnership with O Shopping ushers in a transformative new era of the car shopping lifestyle in the Philippine market, as it accords customers the convenience of two powerhouse retail channels, TV and online shopping, thereby shaping a more convenient and rewarding car shopping experience for Filipinos.

Agudo emphasized that this collaboration is one among many of the distributors strides toward making innovation accessible for Filipinos at every customer touchpoint through unique collaborations with global brands, and exploring a different approach in the way a car is traditionally marketed and sold, utilizing a home TV shopping platform with a medium close to the hearts of Filipino customers, imparting that, We are a distributorship committed to delivering industry firsts, such as our Five-Year Unlimited Mileage Warranty for all Hyundai passenger cars, our One Hyundai Club, the first-ever distributor-based motoring lifestyle rewards program in the country, the breakthrough Hyundai CRDi diesel engine, and now, marketing the all-new Reina through a trusted and world-class home TV shopping brand. This is the result of our constant efforts to understand our customerstheir needs and wantsthus, providing us valuable insights into shaping our programs and initiatives around bettering their total experience of Hyundai in mobility and beyond.

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O Shopping, a joint venture between ABS-CBN Corporation and CJ ENM Company Limited from Korea, offers quality home TV & online shopping experience through informative, entertaining, and convenient formats. Catch the Hyundai Reina on O Shopping website starting February 12, 2019; watch it aired on ABS-CBN Channel 2, Skycable Channel 11, and ABS-CBN TV Plus Channel 8 starting March 15, 2019.

Hyundai Reina

The post Hyundai PH Introduces Breakthrough in Car Retail, Markets Hyundai Reina through O Shopping appeared first on Carmudi Philippines.
Hino Motors Philippines (HMP), the official distributor of Hino trucks and buses in the country, renews its commitment to extending Total Support to more Filipinos with its newly-opened dealership in Southern Mindanao, its first for the year.

Located in Barangay Apopong right on the General Santos City national highway, Hino Motors General Santos will be a 3S dealership, offering Sales, Service and Spare parts to help the citys different industries meet their logistics and transportation needs.

Hino looks to cash in on the areas burgeoning economy. As the Tuna Capital of the Philippines, Gen San enjoys an influx of investments in tourism and infrastructure. Likewise, the citys accessibility by land, air, and sea opens up plenty of opportunities for Hino to provide local businesses with a reliable transport support system using their trucks and buses.

Hino Motors General Santos is the truck brands second dealership in Southern Mindanao, after the one in Davao. Both dealerships are managed by Motormall Davao Corporation.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony for Hino Gen San was led by HMP President Hiroshi Aoki, HMP Chairman Vicente T. Mills, Jr. and MDC executives Felipe S. Barroga (Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer), Mr. Valentino L. Dionisio (Assistant Vice President/General Manager) and Mr. Fred Velasquez (Branch Manager, Hino General Santos).

Hino Motors Philippines

The post Hino Expands to General Santos appeared first on Carmudi Philippines.
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a measure proposing amendments to the Social Security System (SSS) charter in a bid to expand the power of the the state-run pension fund.Executive Secretary

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a measure proposing amendments to the Social Security System (SSS) charter in a bid to expand the power of the the state-run pension fund.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea confirmed Duterte's signing of the measure through a text message.

Medialdea, however, did not give details.

Malacanang has yet to release a copy of the newly-signed law as of Friday night, February 15.

The newly-signed law overhauls the SSS's 21-year charter, enabling the pension fund to enhance its benefit system and condone penalties of delinquent employers without prior approval from the President.

It also allows the Social Security Commission to diversify SSS investments to generate and boost earnings of the pension fund; determine monthly salary credit and contribution tables based on actuarial studies; and further improve the benefits being disbursed to its members.

The law also seeks mandatory coverage of overseas Filipino workers in an effort to protect them in times of contingencies.

It also aims to provide unemployment insurance for SSS members who will be involuntarily displaced.

It also intends to raise the contribution of SSS members by one percentage point annually starting this year until the current rate of 11 percent increases to 15 percent by 2015.

It also aims to adjust the minimum and maximum salary credit of members. (SunStar Philippines)
THE National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has removed over 650,000 campaign materials all over Metro Manila.NCRPO Director Major General Guillermo Eleazar urged the candidates to also do their

THE shortage of skilled workers was a hindrance to the implementation of big-ticket infrastructure projects under the government's "Build, Build, Build" program, President Rodrigo Duterte admitted Thursday, February 14.

In a speech delivered in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, Duterte said the government's infrastructure projects are facing delay because of lack of skilled workers.

"Itong 'Build, Build, Build,' medyo atrasado. Walang trabahante (We lack skilled workers, causing delay in the 'Build, Build, Build' program)," he said during the proclamation and kick-off rally of his political party, Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan.

Duterte's admission came amid the influx of Chinese nationals who ended up as workers in the country, most of them ended up getting jobs from the construction industry.

Malacanang had said the growing number of Chinese migrant workers in the Philippines should not be a cause for concern, if they have undergone a "lawful" process.

Malacanang had also explained that more Chinese workers had to be hired, because Filipinos skilled to construction works opt to seek jobs overseas.

In a press conference held Friday, February 15, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the current administration, through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), was already acting on the supposed shortage of skilled construction workers.

"He (Duterte) directed the Tesda chief to do something about kasi we are lacking in experts in carpentry, welding. 'Yung mga technical. Kulang eh. Marami ho tayong mga taong hindi empleyado, whether sa gobyerno o kampanya kasi hindi naman sila qualified, lalo na 'yung mga vocational, lalo na sa construction," the Palace official said.

(Duterte directed the Tesda chief to do something about kasi we are lacking in experts in carpentry, welding. We lack people who know about technical works. There are many unemployed Filipinos, whether in government or private sector, but they are not qualified, especially when it comes to construction).

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"In other words, we're doing something about it. That is the response," he added.

On February 7, Palace also signed Memorandum Circular 57, directing all government offices, agencies, and instrumentalities to ensure "timely" completion of infrastructure projects.

The order was directed to all government offices, including government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs), government financial institutions (GFIs), state universities and colleges (SUCs), and local government units (LGUs).

MC 57 ordered all heads and concerned officials and employees of departments, bureaus, and offices, including GOCCS, GFIs, SUCs, and LGUs, to strictly observe the laws, issuances, and policies on timely completion of government infrastructure projects, including the imposition of appropriate sanctions for infractions and violations thereof. (SunStar Philippines)
FISHERMEN found 40 blocks of cocaine off the coast of Siargao in Surigao del Norte three days after 48 other blocks were found along the shore in Dinagat Island.Police Regional Office-Caraga Director Gilberto

FISHERMEN found 40 blocks of cocaine off the coast of Siargao in Surigao del Norte three days after 48 other blocks were found along the shore in Dinagat Island.

Police Regional Office-Caraga Director Gilberto Cruz said the illegal contraband was found Friday morning, February 15, off San Isidro in Surigao del Norte.

It has an estimated value of P200 million, he said.

On Tuesday, February 12, fishermen also recovered blocks of cocaine along the shore in Purok 2, Barangay Poblacion, Dinagat Island.

Cruz said the combined estimated value of the cocaine recovered in Dinagat and Siargao is over half a billion pesos.

He said authorities are investigating the source of the cocaine and whether it was connected to the block of cocaine found Sunday, February 10, along the waters off Barangay Sula, Vinzons town in Camarines Norte. (SunStar Philippines)
Venezuelas Supreme Tribunal of Justice, the countrys Supreme Court, ordered legal action against individuals that opposition leader Juan Guaido announced as the new board members for PDVSA and its U.S. unit, Citgo.

An AFP report quoted the Supreme Court as saying the 15 appointments were made by an authority whose decisions are null, adding that the individuals in question should face legal action on allegations ranging from usurpation and corruption to terrorism.

The Supreme Tribunal of Justice is pro-government. Last month, the same authority banned Juan Guaido from leaving the country and froze his bank accounts after the president of the opposition-dominated National Assembly declared he would assume the position of interim president of Venezuela until new, transparent elections are called.

Most of the board appointees, however, are not in Venezuela but in the United States. According to the AFP report, the Supreme Courts decision should start an extradition process for them, but its hard to imagine Washington agreeing to that.

The case of the two PDVSA and Citgo boards has become a focus of attention among those following Venezuelan events. In a recent analysis, Bloombergs Davide Scigliuzzo said the nightmarish legal situation with Venezuelan government agencies and more importantly PDVSA and Citgo will more likely than not soon end up in a U.S. court. This, he says, means that probably ownership of Citgo will pass into the hands of Guaido.

Control of PDVSAs still profitable refining and fuel retail business in the United States is a priority for the Guaido camp as a source of funding their regime change activities. Yet Citgo itself could find itself in a bit of pickle as PDVSA crude oil exports to its subsidiary decline under the weight of new U.S. sanctions. The refiner would have to look for alternative suppliers of crude and their prices are unlikely to be as low as PDVSAs.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Litasco, the international trading arm of Russias second-biggest oil producer Lukoil, stopped its oil swaps deals with Venezuela immediately after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuelas oil industry and state oil firm PDVSA, Lukoils chief executive Vagit Alekperov said at an investment forum in Russia.

Russia, which stands by Nicolas Maduro in the ongoing Venezuelan political crisis, has vowed to defend its interests in Venezuelaincluding oil interestswithin the international law using all mechanisms available to us.

Because of Moscows support for Maduro, the international community and market analysts are closely watching the relationship of Russian oil companies with Venezuela.

Litasco does not work with Venezuela. Before the restrictions were imposed, Litasco had operations to deliver oil products and to sell oil. There were swap operations. Today there are none, since the sanctions were imposed, Lukoils Alekperov said at the Russian Investment Forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Another Russian oil producer, Gazprom Neft, however, does not see major risks for its oil business in Venezuela, the companys chief executive officer Alexander Dyukov said at the same event.

Gazprom Neft has not supplied and does not supply oil products to Venezuela needed to dilute the thick heavy Venezuelan oil, Dyukov said, noting that the Latin American country hadnt approached Gazprom Neft for possible supply of oil products for diluents.

Under the new wide-ranging U.S. sanctions, Venezuela will not be able to import U.S. naphtha which it has typically used to dilute its heavy crude grades. Analysts expect that a shortage of diluents could accelerate beginning this month the already steadily declining Venezuelan oil production and exports.

Venezuelas crude oil production plunged by another 59,000 bpd from December 2018 to stand at just 1.106 million bpd in January 2019, OPECs secondary sources figures showed in the cartels closely watched Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) this week.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA)the militant group responsible for most of the attacks on Nigerias oil infrastructure in 2016resurfaced days before the Nigerian presidential elections this weekend, saying that they are backing the opposition candidate and would attack oil facilities if incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari is re-elected.

We are adopting Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as the sole candidate to be voted for by all the people of the Niger Delta as a result of his political ideology which is in tandem with our agitation for equitable and fair principal of federalism, NDA spokesperson Mudoch Agbinibo said.

The NDA have been demanding that a higher share of the oil revenues from the Delta be shared among the local impoverished communities.

The avengers also had a warning to their preferred candidate Abubakarif elected, to start restructuring in Nigeria within six (6) months to forestall further agitation from the Niger Delta.

Nigerias opposition presidential candidate Abubakar promises to boost Nigerian upstream oil and gas production and downstream production by attracting more investments, if he is elected president in this weekends elections.



Related: U.S. Solar Industry Gains 150,000 Jobs In Eight Years

Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is running against Buhari, under whose watch Nigerias economy suffered from the low oil prices that reduced export revenues. Nigerias oil industry also suffered from vandalism and militant attacks on oil infrastructure in most of 2016 and early 2017, for most of which the NDA claimed responsibility.

The militants have been silent for just over a year, after they threatened in January 2018 to attack oil infrastructure in Nigeria in a few days time. Those threats never materialized, and Nigeria was able to lift its production to the point of being included in the new round of OPEC cuts that began last month.

In the previous OPEC/non-OPEC production cut agreement in 2017, Nigeria was exempted due to the militant violence, most of which coming from NDA, that had crippled its production to a 30-year low in 2016to 1.1 million bpd. According to OPECs secondary sources, Nigerias crude oil production rose by 52,000 bpd from December 2018 to 1.792 million bpd in January 2019, due to the start-up of Totals ultra-deepwater oil field Egina.



By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
India will look into commercial considerations and related factors to determine the value of oil imports from any country, an Indian official said on Thursday, after a top U.S. official warned countries against buying oil from Venezuela.

Earlier this week, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton warned countries and companies against buying crude oil from Venezuela, after the Latin American countrys Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo said during a surprise visit to India that Venezuela wants to sell more oil to the fast-growing Indian market.

In a tweet with a Bloomberg article on Venezuelan-Indian oil relations attached, Bolton wrote: Nations and firms that support Maduros theft of Venezuelan resources will not be forgotten. The United States will continue to use all of its powers to preserve the Venezuelan peoples assets and we encourage all nations to work together to do the same.

Raveesh Kumar, the spokesman of Indias Ministry of External Affairs, said at a press briefing on Thursday, as carried by Sputnik:

Venezuela is the chair of OPEC and GECF. We don't have any barter system with Venezuela; commercial considerations and related factors will determine the value of trade which we have with any country.

At the start of the Venezuelan political crisis last month, Indian media reported that the Asian country continues to be one of the main buyers of Venezuelan crude oil. Indian refiners are still buying more than 400,000 bpd of oil from the troubled Latin American country, which is sitting on the worlds largest crude oil resources.



Related: Which Oil Giant Generates The Most Cash?

While the U.S. and many European nations have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela, India has only limited itself to issuing a statement that We are of the view that it is for the people of Venezuela to find political solution to resolve their differences through constructive dialogue and discussion without resorting to violence.

We believe democracy, peace and security in Venezuela are of paramount importance for the progress and prosperity of the people of Venezuela. India and Venezuela enjoy close and cordial relations, is the official position of India, which the spokesman of Indias Ministry of External Affairs, Kumar, repeated at the briefing today.



By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Finish this article for as low as $1 when you purchase a day pass. Just click the sign up button to purchase. If you are already a subscriber, just click log in to continue reading.
The OPEC/non-OPEC production cut agreement has significantly benefited Russias budget and companies, as it put a floor under oil prices, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday.

Oil prices could have dropped to US$25 a barrel if OPEC and its Russia-led non-OPEC allies hadnt started to curtail production in 2017, Novak said at the Russian Investment Forum in Sochi today.

Without the OPEC deal, oversupply would have been significant, inventories today would have been much higher than the five-year average, and the pressure on prices would have been significant, the Russian minister said.

Novaks remarks come days after reports emerged that Igor Sechin, the chief executive of Russias largest oil producer Rosneft, had written a letter to Vladimir Putin, arguing that Russia should quit the OPEC+ deal, which, according to Sechin, threatens Russias market share while it benefits the United States.

Novak, while not commenting on those reports, said that the deal has significantly benefited Russias budget revenues and companies over the past two years.

In the past two years, the OPEC/non-OPEC deal has poured in additional US$89.6 billion (6 trillion Russian rubles) into Russias budget, while companies have received US$30 billion - US$37 billion (2 trillion-2.5 trillion rubles), Novak said at the Sochi forum, noting that those estimates are very conservative and based on an oil price premium of US$10 a barrel from the production cut deal.

Referring to Russias share of the cuts, Novak said that as of February 14, the country had reduced its production by 80,000 bpd-90,000 bpd from October levels.

Russia is taking the lions share of the non-OPEC cuts and pledged to reduce production by 230,000 bpd from Octobers 11.421 million bpd level, to 11.191 million bpd.

Russia has repeatedly said that due to weather and geological conditions in the cold Russian winter, it cannot cut its oil production too quickly.

Novak said today that the companies would be trying to accelerate the cuts to reach the target by April.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The Safaniyah oil field in Saudi Arabiathe worlds largestis producing at a reduced capacity after a ships anchor cut a main power cable, Reuters reports citing a knowledgeable source. An earlier report from MarketWatch quoted information from Energy Intelligence suggesting production at the filed had completely stopped, sparking worry about global heavy oil supply.

The worry was justified: with Venezuela sliding more deeply into chaos and with new U.S. sanctions reducing the flow of Venezuelan heavy crude to refineries, another heavy crude-producing field outage is exactly what the market does not need.

Safaniyah has a production capacity of over 1 million barrels of heavy crude: reason enough for the market to get excited or worried, or both. However, now that there is more information about the possible cause of the outage and its extent, this excitement or worry might calm down.

With or without a field outage, however, Saudi Arabia has once again played the star role in helping oil prices recoup some of the losses suffered late last year. The Kingdom has been reducing its production by more barrels than it was obliged to, leading an almost 800,000-bpd OPEC-wide production decline last month.

Saudi Arabia plans to reduce its crude oil production further, to 9.8 million bpd in March, Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said in an interview for the Financial Times. This compares with more than 11 million bpd produced in November. Exports, Al-Falih said, will also fall substantially over this month and next, to an average of 6.9 million bpd from 8.2 million bpd in November.

In the more immediate term, however, Brent jumped above US$65 a barrel after beginning todays trade with a slide below this level. The credit was due the news of the partial production outage at Safaniyah, but earlier reports from this week about OPECs output cuts also helped.

At the time of writing, however, Brent crude was trading at US$64.84 a barrel, with WTI at US$54.59 a barrel.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
On The Come Up - Angie Thomas

Plot: Bri, a 16-year-old, wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least she wants to make it out of her neighborhood one day. She's the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, and Bris got big shoes to fill. When her mom unexpectedly loses her job, food banks and shutoff notices becomes part of Bris life just like the beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make itshe has to make it.

Release: 5th February 2019



















A Woman Is No Man - Etaf Rum

though her only desire is to go to college. Deya wonders if her options hadn't been different if her parents had survived the car crash. But as fate has a will of its own, and soon Deya finds herself on an unexpected path that leads her to shocking truths about her family.

Queenie - Candice Carty-Williams

Sabrina & Corina - Kali Fajardo-Anstine

Plot: Three generations of Palestinian-American women living in Brooklyn are torn between individual desire and the strict mores of Arab culture. The story starts in Palestine 1990 where Isra prefers the world of her books to the suitors her father is setting her up with. A week later, she finds herself quickly married and living in Brooklyn. Isra struggles to adapt to the expectations of her mother-in-law and husband.Fast forward to Brooklyn, 2008. Eighteen-year-old Deya, Isras oldest daughter, is forced to meet with suitors at the insistence of her grandmother,Release: 5th March 2019Plot: Queenie is a 25-year-old British- Jamaican woman straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper where she navigates a sea of white middle-class peers. After a messy break-up from her long-term white, boyfriend seeks solace in some terrible men. Which begins her quest on discovering what she aims to do with life. Queenie is a relatable exploration of what it means to be a modern woman searching for meaning in todays world.Release: 11 April 2019Plot: Sabrina & Corina is a short story collection about friendship, mothers, and daughters, and the deep-rooted truths of our homelands, it is centered on Latinas of indigenous ancestry and shines a new light on the American West.Release: 2nd April 2019
I knew the whole thing with her deleting her Twitter account was a bad sign :(

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This :(

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really hope this sticks. it's so hard. i'm really rooting for her

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she needs to break up with that creep

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mte

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That too

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Mte

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yeah twitter ain't ever gonna love her

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This

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She should stay there and once she's better, she should leave social media the fuck alone forever.

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Good. I hope she gets help and stays away from bad influences. Probably won't happen.. because there's too many yes people surrounding her and people who don't care either way if she suffers

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yeah

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If this is true i feel like this can be good for her

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Poor Demi. I hope it helps.

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this isn't surprising at all, but i'm glad she's getting help



she really need to focus on herself, lose that bf, and stay off social media for like...years

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the shade room originally reported this. they're a huge source but i'm not sure about the reliability of their exclusives...



anyway, i wouldn't be surprised if this was true. her bf is suspect as hell and the twitter thing ofc

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Who is her bf?

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a fashion designer she met in rehab.



There have been a multitude of controversies surrounding the brand and its designs. The brand has prided itself on extreme provocation, featuring Nazi insignia and obscene pornographic images. For instance, the brand created a T-shirt featuring Donald Duck emblazoned with a swastika giving a Nazi salute. They also created another shirt depicting Mickey Mouse, adorned with a swastika, engaging in aggressive sexual intercourse with a battered Minnie Mouse.

[...]



Moreover, Enfants has gained infamy through the creation of controversial accessories, including but not limited to narcotic spoons and hangman's nooses. Commenting on the noose, Alexander stated that, "I make pieces for myself, not for other people, not for the consumerIf you were going to kill yourself, wouldn't you want to do it with a $7,000 cashmere noose?

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a guy she met in rehab who owns an edgy fashion line and might be a neo-nazi

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Really hoping she did this as a prevention method instead of relapsing again!

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The fact that all this came out right after his GMA interview...

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How are the MAGAts on Twitter feeling about this? They were so vocal about how he was lying and not famous enough to be targeted by anybody.





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i was talking about this at work and one of the rednecks i work with said he thought, and i quote, "he definitely paid them off and sent them back home. they'll never be found."

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This is wild.

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The comments on his instagram are completely fucking insane. The sheer volume of absolutely idiotic and hateful people that exist is so worrying.

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Maybe they disguised their voices and wore masks?

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fuck yashar while we're at it

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it's obvious he really wants jussie to be lying

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period, he's fucking awful

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Yashar is the worst and such a fraud/try-hard. I hate follow him on twitter but this was really a low point for him.

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seriously, my opinion of him was already declining and after this I cant stand him

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i'm honestly not sure what this means for the case, the fact that they were on Empire and possibly non-white

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idk i've seen a few nigerians on twitter who support trump because he's a 'strong leader' so anything is possible.

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I dont mean to make light of this situation, but there was a Nigerian guy on 90 Day Fiance who was obsessed with Trump.

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Thats what I was thinking.

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Yeah, I'm Nigerian and there is a shocking amount of Trump support amongst Nigerians.



Unfortunately it's a side effect of this weird cultural Stockholm Syndrome present in Nigeria where people will happily support the same corrupt leaders and politicians who are responsible for ravaging the country. They know they are corrupt, thieves, liars, etc, but because they have the trappings of wealth and are powerful and "strong" many Nigerians will support them.

From my observation, the longer you've lived outside of Nigeria, the less likely you are to have that mentality/be a Trump supporter.

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It's not terribly surprising... I can't say I know any Nigerians who support Trump, but I know a fair number of Latinx people (Puerto Ricans and Mexicans) in the US who somehow support him.

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Nigerians are really conservative and capitalist. So, Trump being a "businessman" appeals to them,

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there are a lot of pro-Trump africans lol

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They could have been saying that as a way to make the crime look race based rather than maybe a personal beef? If they were extras on Empire then maybe the attack was personal but to throw off the investigation they acted like that.



Idk. Im just trying to understand these guys.

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start at 1:03







Edited at 2019-02-15 04:40 pm (UTC)

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I knew a student from India who was pro-trump and I was just like... but you want to emigrate here. You realize youre what he hates. (This is Canada but still).

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Lol at all these replies, when the easiest and most logical one is the fact that they were trying to disguise themselves,it worked a little because Jussie assumed it had to be white men.

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This shit is getting wild tbh...

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(Plz note I also support him and am not implying he is lying at all)



HYPOTHETICALLY a person who would fake something like this would probably not expect to be found out. They would gain sympathy, attention, and notoriety. Now everyone knows his name. Classic narcissistic behavior.



Im not sure what the hell is going on here, but I live in Chicago and for real do not trust the CPD. Why are they leaking so much info about an active investigation? Contradicting themselves and changing the story. Requesting his phone records like they werent about to start leaking private things. Shady af imo.

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yeah IA, it's not an unbelievably huge stretch to imagine someone seeing this as a quick way to garner attention/sympathy. I keep thinking of that McCain supporter (it may have been Romney, idk) way back when who said she was jumped by Obama supporters and while that was easily disproven, it just illustrates that, well... people do the most inexplicable shit sometimes

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i mean i have a tendency not to believe crazy shit even though life is wild, but when the whole "it was STAGED!" thing appeared it looked a lot like a typical dumb internet conspiracy theory to me. kind of like when ppl claimed to have ID'd the guy who punched richard spencer and it was this weird cuck fetish dude, like if you thought about that one critically for two seconds it was so obviously internet bs.

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Stating upfront that I believe Jussie and will until his account is unequivocally shown to be false.



That said, in a case like this it could be possible that he told a few people an exaggerated or embellished account of what happened. When that account got leaked to the public, he was kind of stuck with it.



Again, just one explanation as to how a situation like this could snowball into something never intended.

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I expect this entire thing to be found on Netflix by the end of next year, what is going on

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The complete incompetence of how this was reported was shocking. I hope people get fired from their reporting jobs.

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Wait, what?? Nigerian guys said "this is MAGA country"? This whole thing is fucked.

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I am ... so confused.

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jfc Chicago PD are fucking ridiculous, like how are this many leaks



but at least this is all playing out where everyone can fucking see it so keep showing your asses CPD

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This is showing me how r Kelly has been able to get away with his bullshit for so long.

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law enforcement incompetence and lots of horrible men protecting a predator so they can collect checks

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that mustache coming back to haunt him.



that mustache coming back to haunt him.

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Lmao

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I'd take that thing for a ride.

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When is his reboot of Me, Myself and Irene coming out?

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Lol that was my first thought, too! 

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lmao

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"there are literally hundreds of photos to choose from"



they should have picked that one where he was walking down the street like a doofus.

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Or that one with the ass out.

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Wait what lol

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haha

I think he moved up on my list of white Chris'ses and none for Crisp Rat.

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This is a warning. All Chrises are on thin ice until further notice. Keep your chris brethren in line or its moustache city until you die.

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lmao i hope

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Lol I dont think he looks that bad with the stache tbh

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nnnn fuck standards

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He looks like a young J Jonah Jameson in that pic.

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LMAO

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seriously his funniest tweet ever.



also giving me the "bella you tell me if that boy tries anything" vibes.

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LMAO he does look like ole boy

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LMAO

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LMAO

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lmao

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LOL

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Noooooo

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ffffffffuuu

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Omfg this throwback 

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omg

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ahahhahaahha

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omg at all of you getting this reference and me having to google it. i stand by my need to google thoo

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lol goin back to ONTD times of old in '08!

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lol

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lollll

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Well, it's not like he's Captain Canada. We owe him ZERO respect! Besides, all Canadians are petty bitches, we're not nearly as nice as people think.

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Faaaacts

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Facts.



I've tried to explain to people that apologies from Canadians are practically worthless, it's basically like saying hello.

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the biggest thing is that it's become The Word that people use to express surprise.

if i open a door and am startled by someone standing right there, i go "OH! sorry".

am i sorry? no. i just don't know what else to say, lol.

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I apologize to chairs ive walked into a lot

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can Cpt get rid of the 4 feet of snow outside my door???? THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT



until we get a hero with real solutions for us everyday people he gets the shit edit

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My world view is shattered .



I thought Canada is filled with these gorgeous but kind and polite hunks.

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LOL mte



People think we're being nice but we're very passive aggressively shady.

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lmfao so true. canadians are the shadiest bitches. and don't even get me started on our politics lol.

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"sorry" is like a substitute for "oops" which is a substitute for a breath

we dont give a fuck

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Secret facts

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I've been watching Storage Wars: Northern Treasures on Netflix and everyone on that show is a jerk. Definitely does its part to dispel the "Canadians are nice" thing.

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If there's ever a live action of the Wild Thornberrys...



OP being VERY accurate with that gif



What was his thought process for getting that hair and stache? Was he trying to be funny?

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he was in a play, portraying a cop.

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Tired of people using emergency funds for garbage. Reminds me of when my state's old governor decided to use the state's emergency fund to reverse Gay marriage when it was legalized federally.



Edited at 2019-02-14 11:41 pm (UTC)

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Jesus what state was this?

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I thought multiple republicans did this? Mike Pence did in Indiana. He used state funds to help other states stop gay marriage.

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Fuuuuuckkkkkkkkkkk hiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmmm

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I mean, it makes sense that on that anniversary of the Parkland shooting that the president would want to declare a national emergency on gun vio... [checks notes] oh wait. That's not it at all.

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I'm raging that he's doing this on the Parkland anniversary.

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The media has barely mentioned Parkland which is infuriating.

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Currently locked down in our offices at #Netflix, due to an active shooter.



Hopefully, this wont impact some idiots gun rights.#BoyIMissCanada  David Hayter (@DavidBHayter) February 15, 2019



Which is awful because there have been reports of an active shooter in the Netflix building.

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This was purposeful. His administration announced this wall BS to switch the conversation/media attention from the Parkland shooting so that people wouldn't be focused on the fact that NOTHING has been done since then. They also don't want the Parkland students or the March for Our Lives groups to get any attention or recognition for the work they've been doing, the movement they started, and the momentum they have. It's so transparent. ugh.

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At some point you all need to stop this "Trump is playing 4D chess" nonsense. He daily does shit based on his idiot whimsy, not because of calculated ~distractions.

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The only planning involved avoiding another government shutdown that was scheduled to begin tomorrow. If they hadn't worked out a bill they could all agree on and that he would sign, the shutdown would start at the end of the day on Friday.



It worked out that his announcement also took the focus off McCabe talking about how the had discussed invoking the 25th Amendment to have him removed, and all the other crap that comes out about how incompetent and dangerous he is every single day.



But he was going to declare an emergency anyway. It's his only way to save face with his base, and that's all he cares about.

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yupppp

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wow, and on top of everything they really couldn't wait until tomorrow to release this? ruining everyone's day, or making it worse than it already was. narcissist in chief.

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The emergency is the gop's complete lack of morals and ethics.

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Can he really do this? Wouldn't he have to prove it's an emergency?

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Yes, that's why it'll likely fail in court.

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It should be challenged in court but the court isn't in our favour.

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It might not fail because fortunately for us Roberts is very concerned about his legacy and legitimacy of the court. He knows that when we look back the Roberts Court it will be filled with terrible should have never happened decisions--( Citizens United Im looking at you) We look back on Warren Court fondly and we'll look back the Roberts Court as having robbed America blind



Edited at 2019-02-15 02:23 am (UTC)

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Itll get challenged, no doubt.

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He can do it, but it won't work. He's just doing this to appease his base. That's all this is about.



Nancy Pelosi is going to embarrass him in Congress again, and if she does, she can force the Senate to take a vote on it, and that will divide the GOP in the Senate. Because some of them know how stupid and pointless this is. So he's just going to make it worse for himself.



He's doing this so he can say he tried, and his base will buy it and blame everyone else for stopping him. It's all smoke and mirrors because that's all he knows how to do. He knows nothing about government or how to govern. Worst deal-maker ever.





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I dont think he really cares as his people have warned him. Even some republicans in Senate are not happy. Hes just trying to please his base.

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I'm.. holding my breath for 2020..



If this living embodiment of dickcheese gets reelected

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Of course he's getting reelected, are people really pretending he won't?

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MTE. Nothing will change

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Seriously. His base hasn't changed and people are going to not vote like they did in 2016 because they think he has no shot of winning again.

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can the spineless democrats pull it together to unite to defeat this limp cheeto?

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this is where I am too

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Ita

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He won't get reelected. He'll be lucky if he's still in office in Nov. 2020. Elizabeth Warren says he may be in prison by then.



You see how he lost the midterms? Democrats elected 40 new Congress people, and that was in a midterm. Voter registration is gonna be lit for 2020.



Who looked stronger after the shutdown ended?



Pelosi 43%

Trump 35%



Fox News poll

He's losing his base.



Edited at 2019-02-15 02:52 am (UTC)

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He's definitely getting reelected.

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I'm just so tired and disgusted. And not only by this fuckface, but by all the people that allowed this to get to this point. I'm just tired

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This will obviously be challenged, BUT hes stacked the fucking courts with batshit right wing bloggers that I wouldnt be surprised if it wasnt stopped.

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mte It's clearly unconstitutional and not a national emergency but those courts are not looking good for us.

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Congress can stop it though.

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Right, doesn't Congress have to approve the funds?

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I read a Mother Jones article today that stated 10 of Trumps federal court nominees refused to endorse Brown vs Board of Education. Like...

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So, Mexico wouldnt pay for the wall, Congress wouldnt pay for the wall, even a gofundme wouldnt pay for the wall. Obviously, now its a goddamn national emergency.



Basically

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dont forget ted cruz's idea of el chapo paying for it.

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oh god i forgot that happened

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Yeah, I'm sure El Chapo would be willing to pitch in a few bucks for tunnels under the wall...

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lol.. sure, and why don't we better let him build the wall too? #badideas

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I hate this orange anus so much.

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Making their way around displays of bright red begonias, military officers from North Korea's traditional allies China and Russia toured a flower festival celebrating late leader Kim Jong Il on Thursday. Pausing for selfies and laughing at times, the uniformed group ?- also including defence attaches from Iran and Cuba ?- gave every appearance of enjoying their visit to the Kimjongilia exhibition in Pyongyang. "The exhibition of Kimjongilia flowers is yet another testament to the unlimited love and devotion of the Korean people to the great leader of the entire nation, Comrade Kim Jong Il!" the Russian representative wrote in the visitors' book. It was a demonstration of the nuclear-armed country's enduring alliances, even after a year of rapid diplomatic developments on and around the peninsula, with three summits between North and South and a first-ever meeting between US President Donald Trump and leader Kim Jong Un ?- Kim Jong Il's son and successor. A second US-North Korean summit is due in Vietnam at the end of this month, but in marked contrast to the speculation circulating in Washington and elsewhere, the North's official KCNA news agency has barely mentioned the meeting. KCNA did say, however, that a delegation from Vietnam led by Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh returned home Thursday after a three-day visit. The North has yet to announce the date to its own people, and KCNA last referred to the meeting three weeks ago. Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear arms and the ballistic missiles to deliver them to the US mainland has left it isolated on the global stage, subject to multiple sets of sanctions from the UN Security Council and other bodies. Even so, it still has some backers and supporters. At past flower festivals, blooms have been sponsored by the leaders of Syria, Laos and Palestine, but this year the Nigerian president figured among them for the first time. Donors sponsored flowers to "display their reverence for General Kim Jong Il", said guide Ri Yun I. "So year after year the participants are increasing and the number of foreigners also increased." While Trump has proclaimed that he and Kim ?fell in love? through an exchange of letters there were no flowers from US authorities or American organisations. "Not yet," said Ri. "Maybe in the future." - Blooming - According to Pyongyang's orthodoxy, Kim Jong Il was born on February 16, 1942, at a secret camp on Mount Paektu, the spiritual birthplace of the Korean people, where his father, the North's founder Kim Il Sung, was fighting the Japanese. But outsiders point instead to official Soviet records showing he was born a year earlier in a Siberian village where his father was in exile. Either way, the North celebrates the anniversary every year with skating and synchronised swimming shows, fireworks and the flower festival. The Kimjongilia ?- a large tuberous begonia -- was bred by Japanese botanist Kamo Mototeru, who guides say presented it to the then North Korean leader. His father had previously been honoured in 1965 with the Kimilsungia, a purple orchid named after him by Indonesian leader Sukarno. A total of 30,229 blooms were arranged into displays, many of them featuring the Mount Paektu camp and others the flag of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. A few highlighted development -- with one showing a train and others the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital -- but the rockets and weapons that have been prominent at past shows were absent. In the centre of the main hall lay a giant map of a unified Korea, with an illuminated star identifying Pyongyang as its capital. "National reunification is the strong desire of all Korean people, so whenever I see a map of our country I want to unify our country," said Ri. "Our country is a single nation, with one blood and one culture and one language." Kim Jong Il's purported birthday is celebrated with pomp and fanfare every year in North Korea, as it was in this ceremony from 2018
EU to Ban Use of Electricity in Fishing

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union will impose a blanket ban on the use of electricity in fishing under a plan opposed by the Netherlands and championed by France and environmental groups.

Representatives of EU governments and the European Parliament agreed to prohibit all electric pulse fishing for commercial purposes as of July 2021, ending exemptions that have allowed 5 percent of Dutch trawlers to use the technique in the North Sea.

The practice, in which electrodes are used along the seabed to scoop fish into nets, may continue to be permitted for scientific research.

The deal reached on Wednesday in Strasbourg, France, highlights the political appeal of environmental initiatives in the run-up to EU Parliament elections in late May. The negotiators added the prohibition to a draft European law on technical measures for fleets.

Environmental groups say electric pulse fishing causes unacceptably high damage to marine habitats and life, depletes the oceans and undercuts small-scale operators. Most of the worlds fishing nations have banned the technique, according to an environmental organization called Bloom.

The accord in Strasbourg will go to the full EU Parliament and to the blocs national governments for final approval. Those steps are usually formalities once negotiators for both sides have struck a deal.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Stearns in Strasbourg, France at jstearns2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Nikos Chrysoloras

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
The CEO of online news organization Rappler, Maria Ressa, says that the Duterte administration is using the law as a weapon to intimidate and silence its critics. Ressa was arrested Wednesday in connection with a cyberlibel case filed against her and a former Rappler reporter by The Department of Justice. The story in question, published 2012, was about how former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona had used SUVs of prominent businessmen, which included businessman William Keng. Ressa spent the night in jail but posted bail the following day  the seventh time, she said. In all, she has posted bail of P364,000.

This is not the first legal wrinkle faced by Rappler, which has been critical of Mr. Duterte and the administrations policies. Early last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission moved to revoked Rapplers license to operate, saying it was effectively owned by a foreign entity. In March, the Bureau of Internal Revenue filed a tax evasion case against Rappler, Ressa and Rapplers treasurer for supposedly attempting to evade paying taxes and for failing to provide accurate information on its income tax and value-added tax returns for 2015. Rapplers reporter was prevented from entering Malacanang to cover its events. Despite all these, or likely because, Ressa was among the journalists hailed as Person of the Year by TIME Magazine, alongside slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, jailed Burmese journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo of Reuters and the Capital Gazette in Maryland. They were depicted as guardians of the truth.Ressas arrest has also prompted condemnation from British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and CNN Internationals Christiane Amanpour, among others. Meanwhile, the Palace slammed Ressas allegations and said she was simply blaming the government for the incompetence and unpreparedness of her lawyers. Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo, in usual fashion, spewed a mouthful as he denied Mr. Dutertes hand in Ressas predicament. Excuse me, Maria. You are the one abusing your power as a journalist, Panelo said. Sadly, the administrations personal attacks and emphatic words against Ressa all serve to negate its denial that it is out to silence its critics. Perhaps it is not aware that a consequence of what it is doing is to reinforce the perception that it is indeed oppressing those who dare speak out. The lawyers and the courts will thresh out the merits of the case. In the meantime, any more words to demonize, belittle or punish those who do not agree with the administrations policies will only reflect badly on the government.


Katelyn Detweiler and Danny Tamberelli / Via Instagram

The 37-year-old comedian, who starred in hit '90s Nickelodeon series asand, posted a photo of his wife holding her bump on Instagram , writing on Friday, Doesnt matter what day it is, my love for you is always on 11! Cant begin to explain the happiness I feel knowing that we are rolling into parenthood together, so in love and ready to continue our adventure!He then made a reference to his days on, joking, Could be a Pete or Petunia We opted for a life surprise! More to come mid June!!Tamberelli married his author wife in May last year in Pennsylvania.His formerco-star, Michael Maronna (Big Pete), attended the ceremony along with 220 guests. They honeymooned in Portugal.The couple met on Tinder in September 2014, and Tamberelli popped the question in 2017 Tamberelli broke the news a day after Nickelodeon announced that the network are reviving its '90s sketch show All That , which, executive produced by fellowalum Kenan Thompson () will feature a mix new and old cast members and skits.Speaking to Page Six , Tamberelli, who appeared on over three years of its original run, revealed that he thinks Thompsons new revival of the Nickelodeon sketch comedy classic is a great idea.I think its awesome! Tamberelli said.was a show that reached out to so many kids from all different backgrounds and brought them all together through laughter.He added, I mean, all kids agree that feet and cheese are funny punchlines.Tamberelli also loves that the original show, which ran from 1994-2005, has spanned generations of fans.Thats one of my favorite things that people say to me when I get recognized from: I have been showing my kids,' he said. Passing it down is the highest form of flattery.Nickelodeon announced on Thursday that the show  which starred Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Amanda Bynes, Josh Server and Lori Beth Denberg  will feature a whole new cast.Tamberelli, who is about to go on a live tour for his podcast, Danny and Mike, which features hisco-star Mike Maronna, said he would love to be involved with the new show if asked.It was one of the best times of my life, he said.
For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  February 15, 2019  Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Motorola Solutions, Inc. MSI, Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. UBNT, Nokia Corp. NOK, Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. ZAYO and NETGEAR, Inc. NTGR.

Here are highlights from Thursdays Analyst Blog:

Telecom Stock Roundup: MSI, UBNT, NOK and More

In the past five trading days, telecom stocks mostly traded flat for the bulk of the week owing to the continued market uncertainty triggered by trade-related headwinds and no apparent headways in the recent U.S.-China bilateral talks. However, the stocks witnessed a steep rise at the end of the week as President Trump proposed to extend the Mar 1 deadline to reach a sweeping agreement to end the trade skirmishes. A probable meeting between the leaders of both the countries is also in the cards in the near future.

The high-level trade negotiation between a team of U.S. delegates headed by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and their Chinese counterparts led by vice premier Liu He commenced from Monday and is scheduled to run through the week. Although no apparent breakthrough has been made, the Trump administration maintained that the talks were quite fruitful. Notably, President Trump offered an olive branch with proposal for a likely extension to the deadline to give negotiators more time for a long-term solution to the trade war. He also hinted that he could meet Chinese president Xi Jinping sometime later, to close the trade deal. Although specific discussions relating to restrictions for technology products remained muted, the industry cheered the positive developments.

Meanwhile, the government is moving closer to give the final touches to an executive order that could offer sweeping powers to the Commerce Department to review imported products by domestic firms and ban the outright sale of such equipment on grounds of national security interests. Industry observers feel that it could ultimately serve as a knell to some Chinese telecom firms and make it virtually impossible for them to operate in the U.S. shores if the bill is passed by President Trump. However, the proposed executive order is facing stiff opposition from rural telecom service providers that use low-cost Chinese equipment like that of Huwaei.

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Regarding company-specific news, earnings took the center stage over the past five trading days.

Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories

1. Motorola Solutions, Inc. reported strong fourth-quarter 2018 results with record revenues, earnings per share, operating cash flow and backlog, driven by strength in both segments and diligent execution of operational plans. This marked an excellent end to 2018, which represented another year of healthy demand across its portfolio.

Non-GAAP earnings per share were $2.63 compared with $2.10 in the year-ago quarter. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 14 cents. Quarterly net sales were record high at $2,254 million compared with $1,957 million in the year-ago quarter, primarily driven by growth in both the segments. The top line exceeded the consensus estimate of $2,219 million. (Read more: Motorola Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates on Record Revenues)

2. Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. reported solid second-quarter fiscal 2019 results, wherein both the bottom line and the top line surpassed the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate, and increased on a year-over-year basis.

Non-GAAP net income came in at $95.1 million or $1.33 per share compared with $59.6 million or 76 cents per share a year ago. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 39 cents. Quarterly revenues increased 22.5% year over year to $307.3 million, primarily driven by higher sales at Enterprise Technology business. The top line surpassed the consensus estimate of $253 million. (Read more: Ubiquiti Q2 Earnings Beat on Healthy Revenue Growth)

3. Nokia Corp. was recently selected by the Rakuten Group, a leading e-commerce and Internet-based services provider in Japan, to facilitate its smooth transition as a greenfield mobile operator in the country. The Finnish telecom equipment manufacturer will offer comprehensive turnkey services to enable Rakutens foray into a new cloud-native mobile network in Japan, thus evolving according to the dynamic needs of the industry.

To facilitate this transition, Nokia will provide full turnkey services to plan, manage, deploy and integrate cloud RAN, AirGile cloud-native core network technology and various software functions. Leveraging a 'zero footprint' site approach with remote radio heads connected to cloud RAN software, the company will incorporate technologies such as Nokia IP Multimedia Subsystem, Session Border Controller and Telco Application Server. This, in turn, will help in speed deployment and network scalability for the faster roll-out of services such as Voice over LTE. (Read more: Nokia to Power Rakuten's Cloud-Native Network Foray in Japan)

4. Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. reported lackluster second-quarter fiscal 2019 results, wherein both the top line and bottom line missed the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Quarterly earnings came in at $30.2 million or 13 cents per share compared with $13.2 million or 5 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter. The year-over-year increase in earnings, despite lower revenues, was primarily due to lower operating expenses. The bottom line missed the consensus estimate by a couple of cents. Revenues decreased to $639.1 million from $653.1 million and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $643 million. (Read more: Zayo Group Misses Q2 Earnings & Revenue Estimates)

5. NETGEAR, Inc. reported mixed fourth-quarter 2018 results, wherein the top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate but the bottom line missed the same. The networking equipment makers financial performance was driven by strength in its Orbi, Nighthawk Pro Gaming, cable modems and gateways as well as SMB switching portfolio, particularly PoE and ProAV switches.

Quarterly non-GAAP net income from continuing operations came in at $22.3 million or 68 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6 cents. The company generated quarterly net revenues of $288.9 million, up 5.4% year over year owing to growth for both the Connected Home and SMB segments. The top line surpassed the consensus estimate of $288 million. (Read more: NETGEAR Misses on Q4 Earnings Despite Top-Line Growth)

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New York (AFP) - The governor of New York state on Thursday signed a law extending the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sex abuse, a move that could trigger a torrent of new complaints.

The law known as the Child Victims Act -- which the Catholic Church fought against for years -- will allow alleged victims until age 55 to file civil cases and 28 for criminal suits, compared to a limit of 23 under the old rule.

The new law, which will go into effect in six months, also establishes a one-year litigation window for any victim, regardless of age, to take civil action.

"This bill brings justice to people who were abused, and rights the wrongs that went unacknowledged and unpunished for too long," the state's governor, Andrew Cuomo, said in a statement.

"By signing this bill, we are saying nobody is above the law, that the cloak of authority is not impenetrable, and that if you violate the law, we will find out and you will be punished and justice will be done."

New York state, home to more than 7 million Catholics, until now had one of the strictest statutes of limitations in the nation.

Marci Hamilton, the CEO of the Child USA organization, said the bill's ratification "represents over 15 years of work by survivors and advocates trying to get around the stiff opposition from the Catholic bishops and the insurance industry."

Since last August's publication of a shocking grand jury report detailing decades of sexual abuse in Pennsylvania, many states have opened investigations to uncover abuses in the Catholic Church.

The revelations have increased the public spotlight on the church, leaving the clergy's upper ranks facing increasing pressure from law enforcement to be more forthcoming.

On Wednesday, the state of New Jersey's five dioceses identified some 188 priests and deacons who since the 1940s were "credibly accused" of sexually abusing children. More than 100 have died.
Dubai (AFP) - Yemen's top diplomat said a "protocol error" landed him next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a conference in the Polish capital Warsaw and that his country's stance on the Palestinian issue remained unchanged.

"Protocol errors are the responsibility of the organisers, as is always the case in international conferences," Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani wrote on Twitter late Thursday.

Yamani was already seated when Netanyahu took his place on Thursday at an international conference in Warsaw focused on security in the Middle East.

The two nodded at each other and exchanged brief smiles as Netanyahu sat down.

During a part of the session closed to the press, Yamani later lent Netanyahu his microphone when the Israeli premier's audio equipment did not work properly.

US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace envoy Jason Greenblatt hailed the exchange on Twitter, calling it a "lighthearted moment" that could be the sign of "new cooperation" between the Jewish and Arab states.

Yemen and Israel have never had diplomatic relations, and Yamani's friendly interaction with Netanyahu drew criticism online and from his government's opponents.

"The stance of Yemen and President (Abedrabbo Mansour) Hadi on the Palestinian issue and its people and leadership is firm," Yamani insisted.

He said Yemen attended the Warsaw conference not to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "but to mobilise the international community to confront the Iranian expansion in Yemen".

Its participation was also "part of the battle to restore" the internationally-recognised government, which is at war with Iran-backed Huthi rebels, Yamani added.

The Huthis late Thursday issued a statement "rejecting all attempts to normalise" relations with Israel "at the expense of Arab and Islamic causes, primarily the Palestinian cause".

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Yamani's participation alongside Netanyahu revealed the "moral bankruptcy" of Yemen's government "and its sponsors in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi", the rebels said.

The war between the Huthis and pro-government troops escalated in March 2015, when President Hadi fled into exile in Riyadh and a Saudi-led military coalition that includes the United Arab Emirates intervened against the rebels.

Around 10,000 people -- mostly civilians -- have been killed and more than 60,000 wounded in the conflict, according to the World Health Organization.

Human rights groups say the real figure could be five times as high.

Netanyahu called the Warsaw meeting a "historical turning point", saying Israel and Arab states that attended had stood united against Iran.

He also said he hoped that cooperation could extend to other areas.

Top officials from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain -- none of which recognise Israel -- sat down with Netanyahu for dinner Wednesday.

Israel only has diplomatic relations with two Arab states, neighbouring Egypt and Jordan.
Three months following the ousting of Jeff Sessions, the Senate voted to confirm William Barr for his second stint as attorney general.

The Senate confirmation on Thursday will grant Mr Barr, a hardline Republican, the power to supervise the Department of Justices ongoing investigation into the Trump campaigns alleged collusion with Russia and its interference with the 2016 presidential election.

The Republican-controlled Senate voted 54-45 in favour of President Donald Trumps nominee for the post. Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Doug Jones of Alabama, and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona strayed from their political party and supported Mr Barr.

GOP Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina praised Mr Barr as an outstanding pick for attorney general. Shortly before the vote, Mr Graham argued the need for steady leadership at a time we need steady leadership to give a morale boost to the Department of Justice.

Somebody who will be fair to the president, but also be fair to the rule of law and protect the integrity of the Department of Justice, he added, after stating his support for Mr Barr.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was the lone Republican who voted against Mr Barr, citing concerns over the conservative legal hands record on privacy rights.

I have too many concerns about the record and views of this nominee. Bill Barr was a leading proponent of warrantless surveillance, and his overall record on the Fourth Amendment is troubling to me, Mr Paul said in a statement after casting an initial vote on Tuesday. I remain concerned that Bill Barr does not agree with our bipartisan efforts to reform our criminal justice system.

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, who is vying for the Democratic nomination in 2020, also echoed criticism of Mr Barrs record on criminal justice and racial inequality.

We need an attorney general that grasps the urgency of the moment, who is aware of the impact of the Department of Justice on communities across this country, and who is willing and prepared to protect our most fundamental rights, Mr Booker said in a statement.

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Mr Barr also sparked concerns last year after he sent around an unsolicited memo on special counsel Robert Muellers investigation, accusing it of being based on a fatally misconceived theory with the potential to do lasting damage to the office of the presidency.

But Mr Barr insisted that his opinions on the probe wont interfere with his duties as the head of the Justice Department during his confirmation hearing in January. He told senators that he would let Mr Mueller complete his investigation, prohibit Mr Trump from correcting the final report, and ensure that the special counsels findings would be made available to the public in accordance with the law.

Prior to his confirmation, Mr Barr served as attorney general for former President George HW Bush from 1991 to 1993. His legal experience including a decades-long career in corporate positions before joining the hicago-based law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

Mr Barr will be replacing Matthew Whitaker, who has been serving as acting attorney general since Mr Sessions resignation, as the head of the Justice Department.
US President Donald Trump tells reporters in the Roosevelt Room that he will

Donald Trump is poised to declare a national emergency in an attempt to fund his US-Mexico border wall without congressional approval.

The White House said the US President would sign a spending bill that would avert a government shutdown, but which only provides $1.375 billion for border barriers or fencing - far from the $5.7 billion Mr Trump wants.

"President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action - including a national emergency," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

The prospect of Mr Trump declaring a state of emergency to build his border wall had appeared more likely after he backed down in the shutdown standoff last month without securing funds for the barrier.

The specter of such action has produced widespread opposition in Congress, but Mr Trump is under pressure to soothe his conservative base and avoid looking like he's surrendered in his wall battle with Congress.

A construction crew installs new sections of the U.S.-Mexico border barrier replacing smaller fences Credit: Getty

Such a move has been done before by past presidents but this time it would almost certainly face legal challenges.

What is a national emergency?

Passed in 1976, the National Emergencies Act allows the president to pronounce a national emergency when he deems it appropriate.

The act offers no specific definition of emergency, but the use of it has rarely been controversial.

However, because it allows a president to declare one entirely at his or her discretion, critics are accusing Mr Trump of "fabricating" a crisis at the southern border.

Why an emergency declaration?

The administration has spent months trying to figure out how the president might be able to move forward with the wall - the central promise of his 2016 campaign - if Congress refuses to give him the money.

As early as last March, Mr Trump was publicly floating the idea of using the military for the task.

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But its Congress - not the president - that controls the countrys purse strings and must appropriate money he wants to spend.

A emergency declaration, however, bypasses Congress. The White House counsels office is reviewing the option and among the laws Mr Trump could turn to is Section 2808 of the Title 10 US Code pertaining to military construction.

According to the statute, if the president declares an emergency "that requires use of the armed forces," the Defence Secretary "may undertake military construction projects, and may authorise the Secretaries of the military departments to undertake military construction projects, not otherwise authorised by law that are necessary to support such use of the armed forces".

Pentagon budget officials are analysing the 2019 construction budget to determine how many dollars would be available to use for the wall if Mr Trump opts for that path. Under the provision, only those construction budget funds that are not already set aside for other construction projects could be used for the wall.

There are more than 100 such provisions giving the president access to special powers in emergencies. And Congress has typically afforded the president broad authority to determine what constitutes an emergency and what does not, said Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the liberty and national security programme at the Brennan Centre for Justice.

"Absolutely its an abuse of power for the president to declare a national emergency when none exists and to use it to try to get around the democratic process," she said. "But we are in a situation where our legal system for emergency powers almost invites that kind of abuse."

What would happen then?

Declaring an emergency to build the wall would likely trigger a torrent of legal challenges questioning the presidents authority as well as whether the situation at the border really constitutes an emergency. Mr Trump has been trying to press that case in recent weeks, insisting the situation qualifies as a security and humanitarian "crisis."

Hell also face other questions.

"The problem for the Trump administration is that border security is fundamentally a law enforcement issue that does not require the use of the military," said Todd Harrison, a defence budget expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. "So I think they would be on shaky legal ground trying to use emergency authorities this way, and it is almost certain that they would end up in court."

Asked if she would file a legal challenge to an emergency declaration, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: "I may, that's an option."

A migrant family, part of a caravan of thousands traveling from Central America to the United States, run away from tear gas in front of the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico in Tijuana, Mexico Credit: Reuters

Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it would be inappropriate for Mr Trump to use Section 2808.

"We are not at war with Mexico, and the proposed border wall has no core (Defence Department) function. Indeed, the Pentagons most recent National Defence Strategy doesnt mention the southern border as a national defence priority," Mr Reed said.

Adam Smith, House Armed Services Committee Chairman, said even if Mr Trump could declare an emergency, it would be a "huge mistake."

"There clearly is no national emergency. But they asked me, Can he do it? Yeah he can. It would be wrong, it would be horrible policy and Im totally and completely against it. But from a legal standpoint he can do it," Mr Smith told CNN.

He and others agreed any declaration would surely be challenged in court.

Has it been done in past?

National emergencies have been declared by a number of presidents in the past, mostly when it comes to economic sanctions against foreign actors whose activities pose a national threat.

Bill Clinton declared emergencies 17 times, one of which was announced during the Cuba embargo in 1996, when US ships or aircraft were prevented from entering Cuban territory without authorisation.

Barack Obama, meanwhile, declared one when tackling the H1N1 Swine Flu epidemic in 2009 in order to arrange proper patient treatment.

One of the 31 national emergencies still in effect is that declared by George W Bush in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

How could Congress or the courts challenge it?

While Mr Trump can declare an emergency when he wants, Congress theoretically does have the authority to cancel it - though such a move would be unprecedented.

The National Emergencies Act gives lawmakers authority to reject a declaration through legislation that would require majorities in the House and Senate.

Mr Trump would likely veto bill, after which lawmakers would have the chance to override it with a two-thirds majority vote. With Republicans in control of the Senate, that of course would be a tall order in the current climate.

The declaration would likely face a legal challenge in the courts, where presidential declarations have rarely been voided.

President Harry S. Truman declared an emergency to take control of steel factories during the Korean War Credit: AP

In 1952, President Harry Truman declared an emergency to take control of steel factories during the Korean War in response to a labour strike. By a 6-3 vote, the US Supreme Court ruled against the president. In an influential opinion, Justice Robert H. Jackson said Trumans reliance on emergency power under the Constitution would hand too much power to the president - in stark opposition to the wishes of the framers.

However, that preceded the 1976 Act, which leaves the existence of an emergency wide open to interpretation.

"If President Trump declares a national emergency at the border, it is far from clear that courts would strike it down," writes Chris Edelson, Assistant Professor of Government at American University School of Public Affairs.

Where would the money come from?

Shifting money from accounts to deliver the $5.7 billion he wants will be tricky.

The administration has been eyeing several pots of money - including disaster funds, counter-narcotic accounts and military construction dollars - to fund Mr Trump's wall, according to congressional aides and White House officials.

One possibility is shifting a portion of the $13 billion in disaster aid Congress approved last year for Puerto Rico and a dozen states, including California and Texas, hit hard by hurricanes, flooding and other disasters. The money funds Army Corps projects, and the Puerto Rico aid alone totals more than $2 billion.

A man walks past destroyed homes in Catano, Puerto Rico, which was pummelled by Hurricane Maria in 2017 Credit: AFP

But Texas lawmakers revolted over White House plans to tap Hurricane Harvey funds, and Sen. John Cornyn said on Thursday they won assurances from the White House that the money won't be used for the wall.

A more likely option is the military construction account that's used to upgrade bases and facilities.

Congressional aides said there is $21 billion available. That includes about $10 billion in funds from the current 2019 fiscal year that ends September 30, and $11 billion remaining from the previous four years, said the aides.

But tapping the military construction money also may hit resistance. The money often goes for improvements to housing, roads, hospitals and other facilities, and can be used to eliminate mold or other hazardous problems at military installations in congressional districts across the nation and around the globe.

Potentially easier to tap is the military's counter-drug account, so-called Section 284 money, as suggested by Rep. Mark Meadows, a Trump ally and leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus. But it falls short of what's needed with about $800 million available.
Munich (Germany) (AFP) - At least 100,000 babies die every year because of armed conflict and its impact, from hunger to denial of aid, Save the Children International said on Friday.

In the 10 worst-hit countries, a conservative estimate of 550,000 infants died as a result of fighting between 2013 and 2017.

They succumbed to war and its effects, among them hunger, damage to hospitals and infrastructure, a lack of access to health care and sanitation and the denial of aid.

It said children face the threat of being killed or maimed, recruited by armed groups, abducted or falling victim to sexual violence.

"Almost one in five children are living in areas impacted by conflict -- more than at any time in the past two decades," said the charity's CEO Helle Thorning-Schmidt in a statement.

"The number of children being killed or maimed has more than tripled, and we are seeing an alarming increase in the use of aid as a weapon of war," she said on releasing the report at the Munich Security Conference.

Save the Children said a study it had commissioned from the Peace Research Institute Oslo had found that 420 million children were living in conflict-affected areas in 2017.

This represents 18 percent of all children worldwide and was up by 30 million from the previous year.

The worst-hit countries were Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The total number of deaths from indirect effects over the five-year period jumped to 870,000 when all children under the age of five were included, the charity said.

It also issued a list of recommendations to help protect children, from steps such as committing to a minimum age of 18 for military recruitment to the avoidance of using explosive weapons in populated areas.

Thorning-Schmidt said the rising number of child casualties was very worrying.

"It is shocking that in the 21st century we are going backwards on principles and moral standards that are so simple -- children and civilians should never be targeted."
"I am so proud to have worked and learned from her, and to have had her as a friend." "I am so proud to have worked and learned from her, and to have had her as a friend."

Last December 14, 2018, in Geneva, Switzerland, Bernaditas de Castro Muller passed peacefully into eternal life. Ditas was a Filipino diplomat with only a few equals, a champion of developing country interests, lioness and dragon lady of the climate change negotiations, and my comrade in the fight for climate justice and my good friend. Today, Saturday, the 16th of February 2019, her family and the Filipino diplomatic and climate change community will welcome Ditas home. We are grateful to her husband and daughter for bringing her ashes here to the Philippines and giving us whom she work with and this country she served a chance to tell her: Maraming salamat, Ditas! Thank you very much for all you have done for the Philippines, for developing countries challenged by climate change and other global issues, and for our planet endangered by the foolishness and greed of men! It was not a coincidence that Ditas left the world last December as the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP 24) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was drawing to a close in Katowice, Poland. I was there when the news of her passing spread and universal grief was the response in the halls of the International Congress Centre where COP 24 was being held. Secretary Emmanuel De Guzman, Vice-Chair of the Climate Change Commission and head of delegation of the Philippines, acknowledged this in his final statement: For the work we cannot finish in our time, we shall pass on to our younger colleagues. After all, climate change is an intergenerational challenge that requires the passing of the baton of responsibility from one generation to another. It is in this context, Mr President, that the Philippines conveys its appreciation to the COP Presidency and the Parties for the thanks extended to Bernarditas de Castro Muller of the Philippines. Ditas, as colleagues fondly called her, passed on peacefully yesterday in Geneva, Switzerland. She was one of the prime movers of the Convention. For many years, she led the climate finance negotiators of the Group of 77 and China. Bernarditas was once described by the Guardian as the dragon lady of the climate negotiations. Others have called her the lioness of developing countries. She was feared by some but loved by many. But we were always awed by this magnificent woman who dressed in the colors of Asia and Europe, who pulled everywhere her roll-on luggage full of COP decisions, who would recall with unparalleled mastery every article of the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement, and who always spoke with impeccable English. Above all, we remember her passion for people and this planet, and for climate justice. We remember Bernarditas for her generosity, especially in mentoring young Filipino and developing country negotiators. Beyond her institutional legacy, she lives on in the hearts and minds of the younger colleagues she had taught and inspired. Mr President, with the passing of Ditas, the Philippines lost a dear colleague; the developing countries lost a champion of their cause; and the world lost a great citizen. May the passion and commitment we saw in Ditas inspire us and those who will come after us to carry on the work in the climate negotiation process. Let us honor her by making the Convention and the Paris Agreement work for all humanity. A few days later, in Manila, Senator Loren Legarda described very well the legacy of Ditas: Ditas rigorously served in the Philippine Foreign Service and in environment and climate negotiations, having been involved in the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in 1991 that established the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and elected as co-chair of the Standing Committee on Finance (SCF) in 2017. She led negotiations for the G77 and China negotiating bloc, where the Philippines is affiliated, championing ever so passionately the interests of the poorest countries in climate talks especially in the provision of climate finance, paving the way for the eventual creation of the green climate fund. Her fierce negotiating style had earned her the name dragon womana character feared by industrialized countries but adored by poor countries. She would however always insist that she was not working for the developing countries, rather for their childrens children and what we will leave the world.I will remember Ditas in our common advocacies in the environment and climate change, as well as in our shared aspirations for a just and fair world. As for me, Ditas was my colleague in the climate change delegation of the Philippines for nearly 25 years. We fought battles together, sometimes disagreeing on strategies and tactics, but always coming together for a common purpose - to obtain the best outcome for the Philippines, all developing countries, and for the planet. I am so proud to have worked and learned from her, and to have had her as a friend. Ditas last climate meeting was in Songdo, Republic of South Korea last July 2018 for the board meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF). In retrospect, this was appropriate because Bernaditas, among others, was one of the prime movers in the creation of the GCF. From the first conference of the Parties in Berlin, she led developing countries in advancing the idea that the climate convention needed an independent party-owned financial mechanism. That was resisted at first, certainly by most developed countries and even by a few developing countries who were content with the existing mechanisms. But she was stubborn and led a United Group of 77 and China COP after COP for 15 years until the GCF was finally created in Cancun in 2010. After that, she continued to be active in the processes that made sure the GCF would get off the ground, serving as the close-in adviser of Philippine Governor Joey Salceda, who served as founding Co-Chair of the GCF. In his tribute to Ditas, Vice Yu quotes Martin Khor of Malaysia, who had taken Ditas on as a special adviser on climate change when he was the Executive Director of the South Centre: Never have we known someone so totally deeply committed, indeed so fully in love with the Convention, with its faithful interpretation and implementation, with the rights and interests of the developing countries that she came to symbolize so much, for the climate, for Mother Earth and for the people of the world, South or North, East or West, old or young. Those are her finest legacies to us; the formidable spirit of defending the Convention and what is right, the spirit of taking part despite difficulties and pain, the generosity of sharing, the love for her friends. And in the climate change negotiations, the need for developing countries to unite positions and to put text on the table. Vice asked: What motivated Ditas to be so passionate and committed to the climate change negotiations? Quoting Vice again, Ditas once said, in an article in The Guardian nine years ago, that climate change is the most complex and satisfying of all the diplomacy she has done because there is so much at stake. Get it right, she said, and the world has the chance to both halt catastrophic climate change and find a better path to develop. Get it wrong and all the injustices and disadvantages that developing countries now face will be magnified 1,000 times in the coming years. She said that aI am not working for developing countries but for our childrenas children and what we will leave the world.a Clearly, Ditas not only loved the negotiations and regaled us with stories of negotiations past; she even more so loved her family, and would regale us with stories of the antics and affection of her grandchildren. For her, her work in the climate negotiations was all about leaving behind a better world for her grandchildren to grow up in. I last met Bernaditas de Castro Muller in Songdo during the GCF Board meeting. We spent a few hours then working on a common project for the Philippines. As we parted, we embraced and promised to see each other in Katowice In a few months. I make mine the poem of Zaheer Fakir from South Africa, with whom Ditas worked on climate finance issues and who was a Chair of the Green Climate Fund Board (thanks again to Vice Yu for quoting this). It is entitled In Loving Memory of Our Ditas: You never said you were leaving us/You never said goodbye/You were gone before we knew it/And only God knew why. A million times we needed you/A million times well cry/If love alone could save you/You would never have died. In life we all loved you dearly/In death we love you still/In our hearts you hold a place/That no one could ever fill. It breaks our heart to lose you/But you did not go alone/A part of us goes with you/The day God took you home. For us in this country, who loved the woman who has given so much to this country and our people, we exclaim with great love and affection: Welcome home, Ditas!
Washington (AFP) - Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office has interviewed White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders as part of the investigation into possible connections between President Donald Trump's team and Russia, CNN reported Friday.

"The president urged me, like he has everyone in the administration, to fully cooperate with the special counsel. I was happy to voluntarily sit down with them," Sanders told the cable news outlet.

The 36-year-old press secretary reportedly was interviewed around the same time that Mueller questioned John Kelly, who at the time was White House chief of staff. He left the post in December.

While Sanders assumed the role of press secretary in July 2017, she joined Trump's campaign in 2016 as an advisor.

Mueller has spent 20 months investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, and possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia, in a probe increasingly focused on Trump and his inner circle.
WASHINGTON  Vice President Mike Pence will be able to buy a few more suits  just not as many as he could have under a pay raise House Republicans tried to give him last year.

The spending bill Congress passed Thursday, which President Donald Trump has said he will sign, includes a 1.9 percent salary increase for Pence and other top executive branch officials.

Pence  who likes to joke that, in comparison to his wealthy boss, he comes from the "Joseph A. Bank wing of the West Wing"  is paid $230,700. That amount was frozen at 2010 levels.

The Trump administration has backed lifting the freeze in its annual budget requests to Congress.

House Republicans tried unsuccessfully for the last two years to make that happen.

Last year, the change was caught up in a dispute between Democrats and Republicans over whether to give civilian federal workers a 1.9 percent pay raise over Trumps objections.

Lifting the freeze entirely would have boosted Pence's salary up to $243,500 to account for all the forgone annual adjustments.

Instead, the deal reached this week includes a smaller 1.9 percent raise, the same amount included for all federal workers.

Vice President Mike Pence

Pay for top officials was first frozen by President Barack Obama in 2011 as part of a two-year government-wide pay freeze to respond to the recession. Congress has continued the freeze in the annual spending bill that covers salaries.

Lawmakers have kept their own pay frozen at $174,000 since 2009.

Unlike the vice president, the president does not receive a cost-of-living increase. His salary is set at $400,000.

Trump, however, promised during the campaign not to take any pay. Hes been donating his quarterly salary to various federal departments and projects, including the Small Business Administration, the Veterans Administration and the National Park Service.

While Trump brags about his wealth, Pence makes self -deprecating comments about his thriftiness. He talked at the GOP congressional retreat last year about shopping at JoS. A. Bank Clothiers, the men's clothing company that frequently offers sales.

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"Seriously, people stopped me and said, 'Is that a new suit?' And I said, 'Two for one,'" Pence said.

On his most recent financial disclosure, Pence reported between $516,000 and $1 million in retirement funds, and a bank account valued at between $1,001 and $15,000. He had revolving credit card debt valued between $15,001 and $50,000 last year.

Pence, a former governor of Indiana and a six-term House member, does not own a home.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vice President Pence's pay bump is not as big as Republicans wanted
By Corina Pons, Luc Cohen and Matt Spetalnick CARACAS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government stepped up a legal battle against efforts to oust him on Thursday, while the opposition said the international community had pledged more than $100 million in humanitarian aid for the country. Venezuela's opposition, which argues Maduro's presidency is illegitimate because he won in a sham vote, is trying to wrest control of the OPEC nation's oil sector from him and deliver aid to a population suffering food and medicine shortages. Maduro says this is part of a strategy to carry out a U.S.-backed coup and has vowed to remain in office, despite around 50 nations recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as president. Maduro retains the backing of key allies Russia and China as well as control of Venezuelan state institutions including the military. Venezuela's chief state prosecutor, Tarek Saab, said on Thursday his office had opened an investigation into new opposition-appointed directors at state-run oil firm PDVSA and its U.S. refiner Citgo, Venezuela's most valuable foreign asset. The pro-Maduro Supreme Court then ruled that the proposed board members were prohibited from leaving the country. At least some of the people are believed to already be outside Venezuela. Saab said Guaido had "grotesquely made circus-style appointments" in order to please foreign interests and destabilize the country. "The only directors legitimately appointed to the boards of PDVSA and its subsidiaries are those ... who have been appointed by the executive," Saab said, according to his office's Twitter account. As head of the National Assembly, Guaido invoked constitutional provisions last month to assume the interim presidency. The transitional government should include members of the ruling "Chavismo" movement and military leadership, in an effort to guarantee stability for new elections, a top opposition lawmaker said. That interim government would have 13 months to hold fresh presidential elections from the date Maduro officially steps down as president, Stalin Gonzalez, the second vice president of the congress, told Reuters. "We need to give space to sectors of Chavismo that are not Maduro because we need political stability," Gonzalez said in an interview. The opposition, made up of a coalition of parties, plans to hold primaries in order to put forward a sole candidate for the presidential elections, he added. Chavismo is the movement founded by former President Hugo Chavez, who Maduro succeeded following Chavez' death in 2013 from cancer. "THOUSANDS OF WINDOWS" Guaido's U.S. representative, Carlos Vecchio, spoke to an aid conference on Thursday hosted at the Organization of American States (OAS) headquarters in Washington, to urge the international community to help get assistance into Venezuela. Vecchio and his aides estimated they had received pledges of more than $100 million in humanitarian assistance from the United States and others, including previous commitments as well as new ones made at the conference. "We must open thousands of windows to bring humanitarian aid to Venezuela," Vecchio told the conference, which was attended by diplomats and representatives from dozens of countries. Elliott Abrams, Washington's special representative on Venezuela, said the United States was looking for ways to send in aid as he reiterated U.S. support for Guaido. "I can assure you that there will be more U.S. assistance coming in the future," Abrams said, without giving specifics. Guaido has said humanitarian aid will enter the country on Feb. 23, setting the stage for a showdown with Maduro, who has said it is not needed and should not be let in. Guaido's declaration was "absolutely absurd" as he had "control of nothing," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said on Thursday. "In Venezuela there's only one government  the government of President Maduro - so no one can give deadlines, especially this man," Arreaza told reporters at the United Nations. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has said it wants a peaceful resolution to the crisis but has refused to rule out military intervention. Cuba accused the United States on Thursday of moving special forces closer to Venezuela as part of a covert plan to intervene. Military aircraft from the United States had flown to strategically located Caribbean islands last week, Cuba said. "It's a new lie," Abrams said, when asked about it at the Washington event. (Reporting by Luc Cohen and Matt Spetalnick in Washington, Fabian Cambero, Corina Pons and Vivian Sequera in Caracas, Marc Frank in Havana, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing by Sarah Marsh and Rosalba O'Brien)
In this Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, file photograph, a long row of unsold 2019 Suburbans sits at a Chevrolet dealership in Littleton, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The tariff exemptions within the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will do little to mitigate the detrimental effects of the Trump administrations proposed Section 232 tariffs on autos and auto parts, according to a new study.

A Center for Automotive Research (CAR) report released Friday concluded the Trump administrations proposed Section 232 tariffs on autos and auto parts could raise vehicle prices in the United States by as much as US$2,750.

A decision to impose tariffs on U.S. imports of autos and auto parts  could far outweigh the impact of any previous trade action on the U.S. automotive industry, and on related U.S. consumer prices, sales, and employment, the study says.

Moreover, this is true even though the implementation of the new (USMCA) and other trade agreements will partially mitigate the effects of these tariffs.

The four authors of the CAR report looked at 10 different scenarios for the American auto industry involving the Trump administrations trade policy, including Section 232 tariffs on auto and auto parts as well as tariffs on steel and aluminum, Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports and the implementation of USMCA.

The most harmful scenario, according to the report, would be if the Trump administration imposes Section 232 tariffs on imports of light vehicles and car parts, with exemptions only offered to Canada, Mexico and South Korea.

Ninety-point-five per cent of the total economic harm results from this single action, the report said. In the worst-case scenario, the price of a vehicle in the U.S. would jump by US$2,750, while a best-case scenario would see a more modest increase of US$350.

Broad-based automotive tariffs threaten more than 366,000 jobs. While the trade restrictions adopted or under consideration are intended to assist U.S. workers, these policies are likely to be extremely disruptive to and negative for the U.S. economy.

The report said the increase in vehicle costs could decrease sales in the U.S. by 1.3 million units per year. It could also lead to substantial job losses. Under a worst-case scenario, the authors estimate that more than 366,000 jobs will be lost in the U.S.

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The report also found that dozens of vehicles currently produced and sold in North America would fail to meet the content requirements outlined in USMCA. Under the new trade deal, which will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, the rules of origin requirements for North American content will increase from 62.5 per cent to 75 per cent. CAR estimates that 47 vehicle models  20 of which are made in the U.S.  currently produced and sold in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico do not meet the new rules of origin requirements.

The shift from NAFTA to USMCA is incorporated as a slight increase in the U.S. consumer prices of vehicles assembled in Canada or Mexico, the report said.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
Some are dismissing it as a mere photo op, a chance to show the ideologically motivated benefactors of Donald Trumps administration that it is doing something to counter Iran.

Others, notably conservatives in Washington, say the high-profile but still murky two-day Middle East summit of foreign ministers in Warsaw beginning Wednesday is an historic event, bringing together Arab and Israeli officials in the beginnings of a regional coalition against the Islamic Republic. US officials say representatives of 60 countries including dozens of foreign ministers will attend.

We are going to gather up to talk about the future of Middle East stability and prosperity, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, one of the organisers of the summit, said Tuesday night. Well talk about the Middle East peace plan, well talk about ... Counterterrorism, well talk about how these countries can work together. This is a global coalition that is built to deliver on the important mission of reducing the risk that has emanated from the Middle East for far too long.

The conference is sure to spark controversy. On Wednesday, Mr Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani called for immediate regime change in Iran during a speech in the Eastern European city.

Within a few years a free Iran will be one of the leading nations in the world, he told a cheering crowd of supporters from the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organisation, a cult-like Iranian opposition group. We are going to have the celebration sooner rather than later in Tehran and I want to be there with you.

European officials, especially those from France and Germany, are livid about the conference, which they see not only as an attempt to ratchet up pressure on Tehran, but to hoodwink member states into appearing to lend support to a hardline White House agenda shaped by freelancers such as Mr Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who will also attend the summit.

There has been a big push by the Europeans to dilute the Iran element of the summit so it doesnt seem theyre joining up for ed from the Middle East for far too long.

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The conference is sure to spark controversy. On Wednesday, Mr Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani called for immediate regime change in Iran during a speech in the Eastern European city.

Within a few years a free Iran will be one of the leading nations in the world, he told a cheering crowd of supporters from the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organisation, a cult-like Iranian opposition group. We are going to have the celebration sooner rather than later in Tehran and I want to be there with you.

European officials, especially those from France and Germany, are livid about the conference, which they see not only as an attempt to ratchet up pressure on Tehran, but to hoodwink member states into appearing to lend support to a hardline White House agenda shaped by freelancers such as Mr Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who will also attend the summit.

There has been a big push by the Europeans to dilute the Iran element of the summit so it doesnt seem theyre joining up for this maximum pressure bandwagon, Ellie Geranmayeh, deputy head of the Middle East programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said. Theyve been pushing for adding how to deal with the Yemen ceasefire or peace-building in Syria. They push hard to make it far less about Iran and more about the Middle East.

But in addition to the various criss-crossing conflicts in the Middle East and what many describe as the Trump administrations bumbling way of handling them, the Warsaw conference intersects with at least two other festering crises on the global agenda: fears of Russian expansion into Eastern Europe, and tensions within the EU amid the rise of right-wing populism.

Poland risked alienating both its EU partners and Iran by agreeing to host the summit, in part to win support in Washington for a permanent military base in the country  in a bid to fend off any potential Kremlin advances.

This conference is a gamble, said Robert Czulda, a professor of Middle East studies at the University of Lodz. For Poland, Russia is still a threat. This is the most important dimension of our foreign policy. The main ambition of the Polish government is to have US bases like Germany has US bases.

The conference also comes at a time of deep divisions within EU over a number of major issues, including the right-wing populist drift of some member states, including Poland and Hungary. EU officials are said to be enraged that the Trump administration, which has sought to widen divisions within the bloc, is seeking to peel off some member states like Poland by getting it to downgrade its ties with Brussels.

The Americans are trying to break up Europe, fumed one European diplomat.

Mr Pompeo first promoted the conference last month as a way to curtail Irans influence in the region, but US officials later sought to water down the Iranian focus of the gathering, dropping the word Iran from the name of the confab and rebranding it a summit to promote peace.

There was talk that Trump would unveil elements of a grand Israeli-Palestinian peace deal at the summit, but Palestinian representatives are boycotting the summit and have pre-emptively rejected any decisions that emerge from it.

France and Germany will dispatch junior officials to the conference. UK Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt agreed at the last minute to attend but only to chair a meeting on pursuing peace in Yemen.

We are going to have the celebration sooner rather than later in Tehran and I want to be there with you

Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's lawyer

But while the conference may ostensibly be devoted to achieving a broader settlement of the Middle Easts issues, neither Palestinians, Yemens Houthis, or any representative of the Iranian-led axis that includes Lebanese Hezbollah will attend. Russia has rejected the conference.

Many see the summit as an attempt to put an international imprimatur on a meeting that gathers foreign ministers of the Arabian peninsulas anti-Iran alliance together with Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has assumed the mantle of his countrys top diplomat.

Iranian officials and state television have dismissed the summit, describing it as a defeat because of the absence of junior level participation of many countries. Officials in Poland, which has long historic and trade ties to Iran and supports the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by the Trump administration, have rushed to assure Tehran that nothing inflammatory would emerge from the conference.

Tight security outside the Royal Castle in the old city of Warsaw ahead of the summit (Borzou Daragahi/The Independent)

Poland was taken by surprise by the way Mr Pompeo presented the conference, said Ms Geranmayeh. Tehran threw a tantrum but was pleased to see the agenda rolled back.

Tehran summoned the Polish ambassador and cancelled a Polish film festival immediately after the conference was announced in January.

During a press appearance Tuesday night in Warsaw, Mr Pompeo and Polands foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz tiptoed around their differences: Poland is a part of the EU and hence we are of the opinion and we accept the policy of JCPOA, the nuclear treaty with Iran, said Mr Czaputowicz. The US have a different opinion, but that doesnt hinder us in looking for a common approach.

But some worry that any fiery anti-Iranian rhetoric and the sight of Israeli, US, Arab, and European officials arrayed against them may only embolden Irans hardline security establishment.

Its devoid of substance; its just pulling the wool over the eyes of a bunch of teenagers watching on Twitter, said Sanam Anderlini, founder of the International Civil Society Action Network, a peace advocacy group, and a former UN adviser. What it does in Iran is legitimise the hardline position. It undermines those who are trying to bring about reform, change, or an opening.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  The United States and Poland are kicking off an international conference on the Middle East on Wednesday amid uncertainty over its aims and questions about what it will deliver.

Initially it was billed by President Donald Trump's administration as an Iran-focused meeting, but the organizers significantly broadened its scope to include the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the fight against the Islamic State group, Syria and Yemen. The shift was designed in part to boost participation after some invitees balked at an Iran-centric event when many, particularly in Europe, are trying to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal after last year's U.S. withdrawal and re-imposition of sanctions in its self-described "maximum pressure campaign."

Yet the agenda for the discussions contains no hint of any concrete action that might result beyond creating "follow-on working groups," and many of the roughly 60 countries participating will be represented at levels lower than foreign minister.

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will attend along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his counterparts from numerous Arab nations, France and Germany are not sending cabinet-ranked officials, and E.U. foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is staying away.

Russia and China are not participating, and the Palestinians, who have called for the meeting to be boycotted, also will be absent. Iran, which is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Islamic Revolution this week, has denounced the meeting as a "circus."

Pompeo predicted that the conference will "deliver really good outcomes" and played down the impact of lower-level participation. He told reporters in Slovakia on Tuesday that this "is going to be a serious concrete discussion about a broad range of topics that range from counterterrorism to the malign influence that Iran has played in the Middle East towards its instability."

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According to the agenda, Pence will address the conference on a range of Mideast regional issues, Pompeo will talk about U.S. plans in Syria following Trump's decision to withdraw American troops and Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner will speak about his as-yet unveiled Middle East peace plan.

"We think we will make real progress," Pompeo said. "We think there'll be dozens of nations there seriously working towards a better, more stable Middle East, and I'm hoping by the time we leave on Thursday we'll have achieved that."

He did not, however, offer any details about specific outcomes.

Pompeo's co-host for the conference, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, also steered clear of describing potential results. And, he made note of differences between the United States and Europe over the Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, that also exist among Washington and Warsaw.

"Poland is a part of the E.U., and hence we are of the opinion and we accept the policy of JCPOA," Czaputowicz told a joint news conference with Pompeo on the eve of the conference. "We consider this to be a valuable element on the international arena."

In a joint opinion piece published Wednesday by CNN, Pompeo and Czaputowicz said they did not expect all participants to agree on policies or outcomes but called for an airing of unscripted and candid ideas.

"We expect each nation to express opinions that reflect its own interests," they wrote. "Disagreements in one area should not prohibit unity in others."

In fact, three of America's main European allies, Britain, France and Germany, have unveiled a new financial mechanism that the Trump administration believes may be designed to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is attending the Warsaw conference, but his main interest is in a side meeting on the conflict in Yemen, according to diplomats familiar with the planning.

Since Pompeo first announced the conference as a vehicle to combat increasing Iranian assertiveness during a Mideast tour in January, he has steadily sought to widen the program's focus with limited success. Despite his efforts, Iran is still expected to be a major, if not the primary, topic of discussion, notably its nuclear ambitions, ballistic missile program, threats to Israel and support for Shiite rebels in Yemen and Bashar Assad's government in Syria.

On his way to Warsaw, Netanyahu made clear he believed the conference is centered on Iran.

"The focus is Iran," he told reporters. "Iran threatens us on the 40th anniversary of the revolution. They threatened to destroy Tel Aviv and Haifa, and I said that they would not succeed, but if they try then I repeat that this will be the last anniversary of the revolution that they celebrate, this regime."

The Trump administration has repeatedly denied allegations that it is seeking regime change in Iran. And yet, mixed messages continue to come from Washington.

Earlier this week, Trump's national security adviser John Bolton released a short video on the anniversary of the Iranian revolution in which he called Iran "the central banker of international terrorism" and accused it of pursuing nuclear weapons and missiles to deliver them and of "tyrannizing its own people and terrorizing the world." The video ended with a not-so-veiled threat to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: "I don't think you'll have many more anniversaries to enjoy," Bolton said.

Such rhetoric has prompted criticism from Europe and elsewhere but also from Obama administration veterans who have vocally opposed Trump's attempts to wreck the nuclear deal, which was one of their signature foreign policy achievements. One group of former Obama officials, National Security Action, said the Warsaw conference was little more than an "anti-Iran pep rally" that underscored Trump's isolation.

"We expect to see again this week an American approach to Iran that will showcase our alienation," it said in a statement. "More than merely embarrassing, the administration's stated 'maximum pressure' approach is incoherent, as America lacks allies willing to support such a strategy. Not a single E.U. country has endorsed pulling out of the Iran deal, unsurprising given that the Trump administration's own intelligence chiefs testified earlier this month that Iran remains in compliance."
The House of Representatives has recommended the filing of graft and other charges against public works officials and other people allegedly involved in the more than 3-billion-peso road right-of-way scam in Central Mindanao. The House made the recommendation even as it adopted the report of the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability led by Camiguin Rep. Jesus Xavier Romualdo. The House under the leadership of Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in plenary session, approved the resolution that recommended the prosecution of several Department of Public Works and Highways Region XII officers, including former Regional Directors Subair S. Diron and Reynaldo Tamayo. Romualdos panel investigated the alleged large- scale road right-of-way scam in Central Mindanao. In its report that was adopted before Congress adjourns on Feb. 9, the committee said there is a manifest showing of a pattern employed by the syndicate led by Ms. Wilma Mamburam and Nelson Ti in submitting fabricated documents and representing fictitious claimants or landowners. The participation of several DPWH Region XII officers, including former Regional Directors Subair S. Diron and Reynaldo Tamayo, were instrumental in consummating their illegal scheme, Romualdo said in the committee report he signed. Romualdos committee found that Diron and Tamayo approved 127 ROW claims filed by members of the syndicate amounting to at least P3.3 billion and that Tamayo continued to approve the disbursement of the fourth and fifth tranches of payments for the same set of claims despite knowledge of the red flags that had already been brought to his attention by the Commission on Audit through management Letters.The Romualdo committee found that Tamayo also approved the verification, evaluation, and payment for new RROW claims amounting to more than P633 million filed by the same individuals in 2015-2016. In exchange for his approval, Tamayo, among other public officials, allegedly received 20 percent in commissions from the syndicate, witness Roberto Catapang Jr. claimed in his sworn statement. The committee endorsed the filing of criminal cases against Mamburam, Ti, Diron and Tamayo, former Assistant Regional Director Laureano Suan Jr. and all members of the Regional RROW Committee and Technical Working Groups. The Romualdo committee further recommended the conduct of lifestyle checks on the public officials involved and their immediate families, as well as for the Bureau of Internal Revenue to investigate those officials to determine whether tax-evasion cases should be filed against them. The committee likewise recommended a review of the DPWH rules and practices regarding the right-of-way claims to prevent similar illegal schemes from happening again.
President Donald Trump said Friday the trade negotiations with China were going "extremely well" and again offered the possibility of extending the March 1 deadline for a sharp rise in punitive tariffs.

Senior officials completed two days of high-stakes talks in Beijing on Friday as they try to avert the US threat to more than double tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, which would be an unwelcome shock to the world's second largest economy as it already has shown signs of slowing.

"It is going extremely well," Trump said of the talks.

"The tariffs are hurting China very badly. They don't want them and frankly if we can make the deal it would be my honor to remove them," he told reporters at the White House.

The president confirmed his comments earlier this week that he might be willing to hold off on increasing tariffs to 25 percent from the current 10 percent, if Washington and Beijing are close to finalizing an agreement to deal with US complaints about unfair trade and theft of American technology.

"There is a possibility that I will extend the date," he told reporters. "If I see we're close to a deal or the deal is going in the right direction, I would do that."

After progress in the talks in Beijing, a fourth round of negotiations is scheduled for next week in Washington.

Trump said he likes tariffs that are bringing "many billions of dollars pouring into our Treasury," but continues to state that China is paying the duties, when in fact they are paid by US companies and ultimately by American consumers in the form of higher prices.

- 'The vibe is good' -

Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed the "important step-by-step progress," and said he hoped the two delegations would continue to "work hard" for a "win-win" agreement, according to China's state news agency Xinhua.

Wall Street was cheered by the talks' optimistic tone, with the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average rising nearly 450 points or 1.7 percent, for its eighth consecutive week of gains.

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American officials accuse Beijing of seeking global industrial predominance through an array of unfair trade practices, including the "theft" of American intellectual property and massive state intervention in commodities markets.

Since a December detente, China has resumed purchases of some US soybeans and dangled massive buying of American commodities to get US trade negotiators closer to a deal.

The talks have included discussion of purchases to reduce the "large and persistent bilateral trade deficit," the White House said in a statement.

But many China experts say Beijing's Communist Party rulers are unlikely to make significant changes to industrial policies without a long and tough fight.

Still, expectations for an accord have been growing as China faces pressure from slowing economic growth.

"We all believe that China-US relations have broad common interests in safeguarding world peace and stability and promoting global economic prosperity and development," Xi told the US negotiators.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who led the American delegation, told Xi on Friday that while there was more work to do, they had made progress.

Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and met with China's top trade negotiator Liu He, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and central bank chief Yi Gang.

Bloomberg News reported that the White House was considering a 60-day deadline extension, but Trump did not offer any particulars.

Trump's economic advisor Larry Kudlow said of the talks that "the vibe is good," but there was no decision yet on extending the 90-day tariff truce.

The two sides last year exchanged tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade.

China's politically sensitive trade surplus with the US last year hit a record $323 billion as tariffs kept Chinese buyers away from American agricultural and energy exports.

Trump has said that any eventual trade deal would need to be sealed personally with Xi, though no date has been set for a meeting.

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Washington (AFP) - American manufacturing plunged in January, largely on a drop in vehicle assembly, cutting overall industrial production in its biggest decline since mid-2018, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.

Even excluding the sharp drop in vehicle output, manufacturing -- which is at the center of President Donald Trump's aggressive trade policies -- still declined, albeit by a smaller amount.

That was only partially offset by the slight rebound in utilities, while the volatile mining sector edged slightly higher.

Manufacturing fell 0.9 percent last month compared to December, although it is still 2.9 percent higher than January 2018, according to the Fed report.

That drove overall output down 0.6 percent -- in both cases the biggest declines since May of last year.

Economists had been expecting a 0.2 percent gain in production.

"In one line: Horrible, with further decline in manufacturing to come," Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said in reaction to the report.

"Manufacturing is under real pressure from the slowdown in China and the trade war and we expect output to drift down over the first half of the year, putting the sector into a mild recession."

- 'Dramatic' decline -

The auto industry, which has struggled to adapt to changing technology and consumer tastes, competition and rising steel prices due to the steep tariffs Trump imposed last year, saw production of vehicles plunge 14.4 percent, while output of parts dropped 3.6 percent.

Excluding motor vehicles and parts, manufacturing still declined 0.2 percent, the report said.

Adding to the signals of a slowing industrial sector, overall production in December was slower than originally reported, rising just 0.1 percent rather than 0.3 percent. But output in January was 3.8 percent better than a year earlier.

Economist Mickey Levy of Berenberg Capital Markets blamed the decline on the polar vortex.

"Extremely frigid weather and a fire in late January halted operations at some auto plants in the Midwest," he said in a research note.

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However, Shepherdson noted that the jump in December "always looked unsustainable" while the January decline was "more dramatic" than implied by other data.

Mining output, which includes oil and gas, edged up just 0.1 percent last month, while the return of winter weather after the unseasonably warm temperatures in December pushed utilities output up 0.4 percent, after a nearly seven percent drop off in the prior month.

With the decline in output, industrial capacity in use in January dropped six tenths to 78.2 percent -- below a consensus forecast for 78.7 percent -- with a similar drop in manufacturing to 75.8 percent, according to the data.
Washington (AFP) - A US judge issued a gag order on Friday in the case against Roger Stone, the Trump advisor who has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the investigation into whether the president's election campaign colluded with Russia.

Stone, 66, is charged with lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstruction stemming from his contacts with WikiLeaks, whose publication of Russian-hacked communications from Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign gave a boost to Donald Trump.

US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered government and defense attorneys to refrain from "making statements to the media or in public settings that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case."

Stone was told not to speak to the media or to make public statements around the courthouse or in its immediate vicinity.

The federal judge cited the "size and vociferousness of the crowds" attending Stone's court appearances and the "risk that public pronouncements by the participants may inflame those gatherings."

Stone's court appearances have been rowdy affairs featuring supporters and opponents and a large media contingent.

Stone, a veteran Republican consultant, pleaded not guilty in federal court in Washington last month to the seven charges against him.

Stone is the sixth campaign associate of Trump indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 vote.

Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion with Moscow and denounced the probe by Mueller, a former FBI director, as a "political witch hunt."

Stone, who launched his career as a campaign aide to Richard Nixon and has a tattoo on his back of the first US president to resign from office, has spent decades advising political campaigns.

His association with Trump dates back to 1979, and he was one of the first to enlist when the billionaire real estate magnate launched his run for the presidency in 2015.

Stone left the campaign months later but the indictment shows he remained in active communication with Trump's team, providing support and information.

Mueller's team has indicted a total of 34 people -- but so far, no charges of outright collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow have been filed.
Kiev (AFP) - A Ukrainian court on Friday placed a high-ranking regional official in custody after he was charged with organising a deadly acid attack on an activist.

Vladyslav Manger will be held until at least March 3, with bail of 2.5 million hryvnia (81,560 euros, $91,800,), press secretary for General Prosecutor Larysa Sargan told AFP.

Manger, the head of the regional council in the southern region of Kherson, was charged with organising the attack on prominent anti-corruption activist Kateryna Gandzyuk.

The 33-year-old was attacked in July and had a litre of acid poured on her. She died in November after months of treatment, including more than 10 operations.

Her murder sparked shock and protest, with activists accusing the authorities of failing to complete the investigation or identify the mastermind.

General Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko earlier this week said Manger "ordered and partially organised this crime by financing it".

According to the charge sheet released by Lutsenko, Manger was guided by "personal animosity" because Gandzyuk opposed "illegal logging" in the region.

Lutsenko said the prosecution had obtained enough testimony from witnesses about Manger's role, adding that the attackers had received "no less than 4,000 dollars."

If found guilty, Manger faces up to life in prison.

Manger was a member of the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a key rival of President Petro Poroshenko in the March 31 presidential election.

He was expelled from the party last week.

Gandzyuk's death has sparked condemnation of the government and drawn renewed attention to dozens of assaults on other anti-corruption campaigners in Ukraine over recent months.

Both the European Union and the United States have called the attacks on activists unacceptable and urged authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.
London (AFP) - An unrepentant British teenager who joined the Islamic State group in Syria said in an interview Thursday that she wanted to come home, highlighting the challenge for Western governments on how to deal with returning jihadist supporters.

Shamima Begum, who ran away from London with two school friends in 2015, spoke to The Times newspaper from a refugee camp in eastern Syria after fleeing the collapse of the IS group's "caliphate".

Now 19, she expressed no regrets about joining the jihadists but said that two of her children were dead and she was now about to give birth again.

"I just could not endure any more," she told the newspaper.

She added: "I was also frightened that the child I am about to give birth to would die like my other children if I stayed on.

"So I fled the caliphate. Now all I want to do is come home to Britain."

Begum made headlines around the world when, aged just 15, she left to join the jihadists with her two friends from Bethnal Green in east London. Another girl, Sharmeena Begum, from the same school had run away the year before.

Of the four girls, Kadiza Sultana who travelled to Syria with Begum, has since been reported killed.

Begum said the other two, Sharmeena Begum -- no relation -- and Amira Abase, stayed in Baghouz where IS fighters are making a final stand against US-backed forces.

"They were strong. I respect their decision," Begum said of her friends.

She added: "I'm not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago. And I don't regret coming here."

- 'Challenge for all of us' -

The British authorities estimate around 900 Britons travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the conflict, of whom around 300-400 have since returned -- and 40 have been prosecuted.

As of last month, around 200 were believed to still be alive and in the region.

Speaking to Sky News, Security Minister Ben Wallace said it was "worrying" that Begum had not expressed regret about going to Syria.

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He also noted the difficulties faced by many governments of how to deal with those returning from abroad.

"It is a challenge for all of us," he told BBC radio.

"Some of them were groomed... when they were young but are now adults and some of them are hardened fighters.

"We have successfully prosecuted a number of them in the last few years when they have come back and the others should expect the same if they return."

The United States had said it is ready to help countries repatriate IS jihadists detained in Syria but it is up to their home governments to come up with solutions.

Under new anti-terrorism legislation, British nationals spending time in Syria face arrest and up to 10 years in prison on their return.

The law toughens previous legislation that required authorities to prove returning nationals had engaged in terrorist activities while abroad.

A lawyer who represented the families of Begum and her two friends four years ago, Tasnime Akunjee, told The Times he was "thankful she's alive".

He noted that when they ran away, "there was an understanding that as long as they had committed no further offence they will not be prosecuted and be seen as victims".

Abase's father Hussen said the girls had been young when they ran away, at an age when they could be "easily tricked".

"Twisted minds can be straightened by teamwork of the government, with the parent," he told Sky News.

- 'My first severed head' -

Begum married a Dutch fighter soon after arriving in Syria.

"Mostly it was normal life in Raqqa, every now and then bombing and stuff," she told The Times.

"But when I saw my first severed head in a bin it didn't faze me at all. It was from a captured fighter seized on the battlefield, an enemy of Islam.

"I thought only of what he would have done to a Muslim woman if he had the chance."

Begum fled with her husband, but he surrendered to a group of Syrian fighters allied to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

"The caliphate is over," she said, adding that "there was so much oppression and corruption that I don't think they deserved victory".

She acknowledged her notoriety but said: "I'll do anything required just to be able to come home and live quietly with my child."
An engineer at work in robotics research facility. Photo: Monty Rakusen/Getty

British businesses could soon benefit from brand new artificial intelligence technology, the government announced on Friday.

Up to 40 artificial intelligence (AI) and data analysis projects will receive a portion of 13m in government investment, according to Innovate UK and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Innovate said the funding will support collaborative industry and research projects to develop the next generation of professional services.

About 6m of the funding will go to large collaborative projects addressing sector-wide challenges, while the other 7m has been awarded across 36 smaller projects applying AI and data techniques, Innovate said.

One project to receive funding is the development of breakthrough AI for the anti-fraud sector, which Innovate claims will enable the UK accountancy, insurance and legal services industries to transform how they operate.

READ MORE: AI industry suffers from deep gender gap, World Economic Forum says

The technology is currently being developed by software firms Intelligent Voice and Strenuus, alongside the University of East London. It will combine AI and voice recognition to detect and interpret emotion and linguistics to assess the credibility of insurance claims, according to Innovate.

Insurance fraud cost the UK 3bn in 2017, 10,400 per fraudulent claim, and costing consumers an extra 50 per policy.

Other projects include an online bot that will use AI to provide quick answers to legal questions, an analysis tool that looks at images provided by drones to assess flood damage, and AI software that will analyse accounting data and suggest ways for businesses to cut expenditure.

READ MORE: Apple reportedly bought an AI marketing start-up as it looks for opportunities beyond the iPhone

Greg Clark, business secretary, said: Artificial intelligence and data are transforming industries across the world. We are combining our unique heritage in AI with our world beating professional services to put the UK at the forefront of these cutting-edge technologies and their application.

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We want to ensure businesses and consumers benefit from the application of AI  from providing quicker access to legal advice for customers, to tackling fraudulent insurance claims, these projects illustrate our modern Industrial Strategy in action.

Were investing record levels in research and development so that every part of the UK can benefit from the industries and high-skilled jobs of the future.

READ MORE: The Oracle of AI  these four kinds of jobs will not be replaced by robots

The new projects are part of the 20m Next Generation Services Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, which is administered by UK Research and Innovation ( UKRI ), to support the development and adoption of AI and data technologies to transform the UKs services industries.

Professor Mark Walport, chief executive of UKRI, said: The service industry around the world is being transformed by information technology. The Next Generation Services Challenge offers important opportunities for transformation of the legal, insurance and accountancy sectors across the UK.

Through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund we are building on UK expertise in artificial intelligence and data science to deliver benefits that will be felt in the services sector and beyond.
Metro Bank on Tottenham Court Road, London. Photo: Nick Ansell/PA Images

Metro Bank has taken the top spot in an industry-wide survey of customer satisfaction, while the Royal Bank of Scotland has been placed at the bottom.

Despite a rough couple of months, Metro has managed to overtake First Direct to claim first place in the ratings, which are published every six months by the Competition and Markets Authority.

Over 1,000 customers from 16 banks were surveyed by the CMA for its bi-annual ranking.

READ MORE: RBS one of eight banks in EU bond cartel probe

About 83% of Metro customers said they would recommend the bank to friends and family, compared with 82% of First Direct customers. However, First Direct held the top position for customer satisfaction with overdraft services, and online and mobile banking. Metro came second and third in these categories respectively, but won in service in branches and overall quality of service.

Nationwide maintained its third place position with a 72% approval rating, and Coventry Building Society came in forth with 70%. Yorkshire Bank and Barclays drew for fifth with 64%.

On the other end of the scale, Royal Bank of Scotland came in last with less than half (47%) of its customers saying they were satisfied. The bank, however, posted a 1.6bn profit on Friday which will let Treasury reap 977m in dividends.

READ MORE: What will UK banks look like after Brexit?

RBS customers said they were particularly disappointed by the service they received in branches, for which it came last. They also ranked the bank second to last in overdraft services  ahead of only Clydesdale Bank, which came in second to last overall with just 51% approval, while the Co-op Bank and TSB received joint third worst with 52% each.

TSB suffered a major IT failure that led chief executive Paul Pester to step down in September 2018.

A Metro Bank spokesman told the BBC: Our offering is simple. We believe in providing the very best in service and convenience for both consumers and businesses, and this latest set of results speaks for itself.
By Andy Sullivan and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON/MUNICH (Reuters) - The United States ratcheted up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday by sanctioning some of his top security officials and the head of the state oil company, and unveiling plans to airlift over 200 tons of aid to the Colombian border. The U.S. Treasury said it sanctioned PDVSA chief Manuel Quevedo, three top intelligence officials and Rafael Bastardo, who U.S. officials say is the head of a national police unit responsible for dozens of extrajudicial killings carried out in nighttime raids on Maduro's behalf. Separately, a U.S. official said U.S. military aircraft are expected to deliver more than 200 tons of humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan border in Colombia, with the shipment likely to take place on Saturday. The steps are part of a wider effort by the United States to undermine Maduro, whose 2018 election it views as illegitimate and whose government it has disavowed, and to strengthen opposition leader and self-declared president Juan Guaido. U.S. military aircraft are likely to deliver the aid to the Colombian side of the border with Venezuela on Saturday, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding the State Department planned to make an announcement on Friday. Another U.S. government source who asked not to be named said the food and medicine would go to the Colombian border town of Cucuta. A State Department spokeswoman did not address whether there would be an aid delivery on Saturday but noted the United States had pre-positioned relief supplies in Colombia last week and was coordinating with Guaido to mobilize aid for Venezuelans. However, it was unclear if any of it would reach Venezuelans. Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse in the oil-rich country that has left millions struggling to buy food and medicine and fueled an unprecedented migration crisis in the region, has refused to allow supplies in. An aid convoy dispatched by the United States and Colombia arrived in Cucuta last week, where it is being held in warehouses. "This man Maduro has created a humanitarian crisis," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters in Reykjavik. "As soon as this weekend we will continue to deliver massive humanitarian assistance. Hopefully Mr. Maduro will allow that in to his country. Guaido invoked constitutional provisions to declare himself interim president last month, arguing that Maduro's 2018 re-election was a sham. Most Western countries, including the United States and many of Venezuela's neighbors, have recognized Guaido as the legitimate head of state. Maduro retains the backing of Russia and China and control of Venezuelan state institutions including the military. The U.S. Treasury took aim at some of Maduro's allies with its sanctions on Friday. "We are sanctioning officials in charge of Maduro's security and intelligence apparatus, which has systematically violated human rights and suppressed democracy, including through torture," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. Also targeted was Ivan Hernandez, commander of Maduro's Presidential Guard, which Treasury says has tortured Maduro's opponents and carried out other human rights abuses. Manuel Cristopher, director general of Venezuela's Sebin intelligence agency, and Hildemaro Rodriguez, first commissioner of the service, also were sanctioned. The Treasury's action freezes all property in the United States belonging to the five sanctioned officials as well as that of any entities in which they own 50 percent or more. In a sign that the Trump administration may be trying to split the men from Maduro, the Treasury Department noted in its statement that "U.S. sanctions need not be permanent; sanctions are intended to bring about a positive change of behavior." "The United States has made clear that we will consider lifting sanctions for persons ... who take concrete and meaningful actions to restore democratic order, refuse to take part in human rights abuses, speak out against abuses committed by the government, and combat corruption in Venezuela," it said. (Reporting by Andy Sullivan in Washington and Idrees Ali in Munich; Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Rejkjavik and by Lisa Lambert and Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Tom Brown)
David Axe

Security,

Orca could help to fill a yawning gap in the American submarine fleet. In December 2016, the U.S. Navy announced it needed 66 nuclear-powered attack subs, or SSNs, to meet regional commanders' needs.

The U.S. Navy Just Bought Four Giant, Robot Submarines from Boeing

The U.S. Navy has ordered from Boeing four huge robotic submarines, potentially signally an effort to deploy a large number of crewless undersea boats alongside traditional, manned submarines.

The Navy's $43-million purchase of four Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles, or XLUUVs, comes as the fleet struggles to build enough new manned submarines to replace older vessels that are decommissioning as their nuclear cores wear out.

"Boeing based its winning Orca XLUUV design on its Echo Voyager unmanned diesel-electric submersible," Ben Werner explained at USNI News.

"The 51-foot-long submersible is launched from a pier and can operate autonomously while sailing up to 6,500 nautical miles without being connected to a manned mother ship, according to the Navy," Werner continued.

"Eventually, the Navy could also use the Orca XLUUV for mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, electronic warfare and strike missions," according to a Navy outline of the systems capability development.

Orca features an open-architecture design. The robotic sub "will be modular in construction with the core vehicle providing guidance and control, navigation, autonomy, situational awareness, core communications, power distribution, energy and power, propulsion and maneuvering and mission sensors," Seapower quoted the Navy as stating.

"The Orca XLUUV will have well-defined interfaces for the potential of implementing cost-effective upgrades in future increments to leverage advances in technology and respond to threat changes."

Orca could help to fill a yawning gap in the American submarine fleet. In December 2016, the U.S. Navy announced it needed 66 nuclear-powered attack subs, or SSNs, to meet regional commanders' needs. But in early 2019 it had just 51 attack boats.

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The U.S. Navy in recent years has been buying new Virginia-class attack submarines at a rate of two per year, hoping to mitigate an attack-sub shortfall during the mid-2020s. But the attack-sub force still could decline to a low of 42 in 2028 as old Los Angeles-class boats leave the fleet in large numbers.

"Where we sit today is, we cant build ships and deliver them in time to fill in that dip," Vice Adm. Bill Merz, a deputy chief of naval operations, told U.S. senators.

While American submarines are more sophisticated than are most subs belonging to rival fleets, there might be too few U.S. boats to, say, quickly respond to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

As recently as 2013, the U.S. Navy could deploy on short notice no more than eight attack submarines to the western Pacific, according to Adm. Cecil Haney, then the commander of Pacific Fleet submarines.

Moreover, U.S. subs on average are around 400 feet long and displace around 6,000 tons, making them too big for operations in shallow, crowded waters such as those of the Taiwan Strait.

In early 2019 China possessed around 50 diesel-powered attack submarines, or SSKs, and six nuclear-powered attack subs and was on track to add several more boats by 2020, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency reported in February 2019.

The People's Liberation Army Navy included 17 of the latest Yuan-class boats with air-independent propulsion, or AIP. A Yuan boat is around 250 feet long and displaces around 2,500 tons of water.

"It is conceivable that an adept PLAN submarine captain ... could take advantage the Yuans shallow draft and wedge the SSK into a difficult-to-access channel or maritime feature, and thereby forcing higher-technology SSNs to fight on unfavorable terrain whose geography and acoustic signatures favor the defender," Henry Holst explained in an essay for the U.S. Naval Institute.

An Orca is even smaller than a Yuan is. Assuming the U.S. Navy can refine the robotic boat's command-and-control systems, artificial intelligence, sensors and weapons, in theory the Orca could become a capable shallow-water fighter.

Not coincidentally, the U.S. Navy also is eyeing robotic vessels to bolster the surface fleet. Cheaper to build than today ship's are and expendable, unmanned surface warships could help the Navy quickly to grow -- and could allow the fleet to develop new tactics for battling a high-tech foe.

"Part of the value of having unmanned surface vehicles is you can get capacity at a lower cost," Rear Adm. John Neagley, the Navys executive for unmanned and small warships, told Breaking Defense.

The same applies to the undersea fleet.

David Axe serves as Defense Editor of the National Interest. He is the author of the graphic novels War Fix, War Is Boring and Machete Squad.

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Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. on Friday pressed his attack on Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno as he questioned the P100 billion payables that the legislator said he found in the Public Works departments contracts in its 2018 projects. Concerned DBM and DPWH employees have intimated to me that the total amount of unpaid contracts for 2018 infrastructure projects have risen from P44 billion last November to more than P100 billion at the end of the year, Andaya said. These are the DBMs payables to government contractors that ballooned to P100 billion at the end of the year. Up to now, the DBM has not paid a substantial part of these debts. Andaya, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations and a former budget secretary, said the payables had reincarnated an old system that forced DPWH contractors to cough up kickbacks just to be paid for completed infrastructure projects. Andaya said the release of payments from the DBM to the DPWH varied per engineering district. Some districts were paid only 10 percent, others 30 percent. Notices of Cash Allocation are given in lump sum. No breakdown. Discretion is given to Regional Directors. Since its insufficient, contractors have to resort to bribery just to get paid. Whats worse, DPWH casuals were not paid their salaries for three months, Andaya said.He cited reports that 99 percent of the contractors are still not paid fully for the completed projects. DBM only released partial payments. Ten months to pay, just like paying for credit card installments. in short, the DBM has resorted to rationing of payments. If there was a rice shortage before, now there is cash shortage thanks to Secretary Diokno. This is one of the reasons why we are questioning his decision to adopt a cash-based budget system for 2019. Why insist on cash-based budgeting when you have billions of pesos in payables for 2018? These payables are incurring interest expense. Banks are already demanding payment from government contractors, who face foreclosure of their properties. Contractors are already in default of their obligations. How can we convince legitimate contractors to continue bidding for infrastructure projects if we cannot pay them on time? A contractors revolt is possible. The Build, Build, Build Program may turn out to be Stop, Stop, Stop Program, courtesy of Secretary Diokno. Given this scenario, an economic slowdown is imminent.
By Tom Miles

GENEVA (Reuters) - A locust outbreak in Sudan and Eritrea is spreading rapidly along both sides of the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday, flagging a possible threat to crops and food security.

"Good rains along the Red Sea coastal plains in Eritrea and Sudan have allowed two generations of breeding since October, leading to a substantial increase in locust populations and the formation of highly mobile swarms," the FAO said.

At least one swarm had crossed to the northern coast of Saudi Arabia in mid-January, with further swarms a week later.

Rains from two cyclones in 2018 had triggered breeding of locusts in the Empty Quarter region of Saudi Arabia, near the Yemen-Oman border, and a few swarms from two generations of breeding had reached the United Arab Emirates and southern Iran.

There was a risk of further spread towards the India-Pakistan border, the FAO statement said.

"The next three months will be critical to bring the locust situation under control before the summer breeding starts," FAO locust expert Keith Cressman said in the statement.

"The further spread of the current outbreak depends on two major factors - effective control and monitoring measures in locust breeding areas of Sudan, Eritrea and Saudi Arabia and the surrounding countries, and rainfall intensity between March and May along both sides of the Red Sea and in the interior of the Arabian Peninsula."

Control operations have treated nearly 85,000 ha (200,000 acres) since December including 30,000 ha in the past two weeks in Egypt, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, the FAO said.

Control measures are also underway in Iran after at least one swarm arrived on the southern coast at the end of January, it said.

Adult locust swarms can fly up to 150 km a day with the wind and adult insects can consume roughly their own weight in fresh food per day. A very small swarm eats as much in one day as about 35,000 people, posing a devastating threat to crops and food security.

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In an emailed comment to Reuters, Cressman said the last major desert locust upsurge was in 2003-2005 when more than 12 million hectares were treated in west and northwest Africa, incurring a cost of about $750 million including food aid.

Since then there have been numerous outbreaks along the coastal plains on both sides of the Red Sea that were mostly controlled.

The FAO will hold a meeting in Jordan next week to discuss intensifying control measures with affected countries, the statement said.

(Reporting by Tom Miles, Editing by William Maclean)
Diyarbakir (Turkey) (AFP) - Turkish police on Friday prevented supporters from rallying outside the home of a pro-Kurdish lawmaker on hunger strike for 100 days.

The protest bid coincides with the 20th anniversary of the capture of Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is jailed in a notorious prison island near Istanbul.

Leyla Guven of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), launched her action on November 8 while in jail to protest against Ocalan's prison conditions.

She was freed last month under judicial supervision but continued her protest, refusing any treatment. Guven, 55, is consuming only sugared or salted water.

Police on Friday blocked supporters from approaching Guven's house in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir after a rally called by the HDP, an AFP correspondent said.

"The biggest task ahead of us today is to turn every aspect of life into an arena for struggle and support hunger strikes at the highest level," HDP MP Dilan Dirayet Tasdemir said.

"This dark picture and severe conditions of fascism can only be broken through our organised struggle," Tasdemir said.

More than 200 prisoners are on hunger strike to protest what they call Ocalan's isolation, according to the HDP.

Ocalan, one of the founders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that has waged a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, has not been allowed to see his lawyers since 2011.

The PKK is blacklisted as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.

Ocalan was caught in Kenya outside the Greek embassy in Nairobi on February 15, 1999 by Turkish secret service agents after attempting to seek asylum in Europe.

- 'Fundamental right' -

Turkish authorities last month allowed Ocalan's brother Mehmet to see him, the first visit in over two years, but the jailed leader's lawyers said it was not enough.

"We cannot see a family visit that came in two years as something that ends isolation. That was a meeting which came after the reaction of democracy advocates and hunger strikes," Emran Emekci, one of Ocalan's lawyers, told an Istanbul press conference.

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"Meeting with family members is a fundamental right. There should be no need for hunger strikes... but unfortunately we need that resistance," he added.

An international peace delegation made up of unionists, human rights activists and former politicians on Friday met with Ocalan's lawyers in Istanbul.

The delegation met with Guven in Diyarbakir this week but they said no government official would meet with them.

"The situation of the hunger strikers is at a dangerous point and it is imperative that Turkey acts to end the isolation (of Ocalan) now before there is further violence and bloodshed," said Ogmundur Jonasson, former Iceland justice minister.
BERLIN  Proposed 25 percent import tariffs on cars by the United States could cut German car exports to the U.S. by 50 percent in the long-term and heavily affect exports to other countries, a study by the German Ifo institute showed on Friday.

"These tariffs would cut total car exports from Germany by 7.7 percent, which would amount to 18.4 billion euros," Gabriel Felbermayr, foreign trade expert at Ifo, said in a statement.

The U.S. Commerce Department is set to meet a Sunday deadline to deliver its recommendations to President Donald Trump on whether imported vehicles and parts pose a national security risk, and to outline options on how to address the issue, officials said on Thursday.



Trump would then have 90 days after Commerce's recommendation to decide whether to impose tariffs.



Trump is expected to initially keep the department's recommendation secret as he focuses on China and other pressing trade issues. He may not disclose details until he decides on whether to impose tariffs, a decision automakers believe could take weeks or months.



Last May, Trump said he was considering tariffs of up to 25 percent on imported vehicles. In June, Trump said the Commerce investigation about whether vehicle imports pose a national security risk would be done by the end of July. In November, Trump again threatened to impose tariffs after General Motors announced thousands of job cuts.



But the idea has faced strong opposition from Congress, automakers and foreign governments  including some, like Germany, who are the United States' closest allies and rankle at being designated a "national security risk. So Trump has moved slowly on the issue.



Major automakers said last year that tariffs of 25 percent on imported cars and parts would raise the price of U.S. vehicles by $83 billion annually and cost hundreds of thousands of jobs.



They argued there is no evidence auto imports pose a national security risk. Canada and Mexico each won duty-free access to 2.6 million vehicles as part of a new North American free trade deal even if the administration moves ahead with the tariffs.



Administration officials have said tariff threats were a way to win concessions from Japan and the European Union at the bargaining table. Last year, Trump agreed not to impose tariffs as long as talks were proceeding in a productive manner.



Several Republican senators oppose tariffs. Some back legislation to restrict presidential authority to impose tariffs on national security grounds.



Senator Charles Grassley, a Republican who chairs the Finance Committee, said Thursday new auto tariffs would damage the U.S. economy. "Raising tariffs on cars and parts would be a huge tax on consumers who buy or service their cars, whether they are imported or domestically produced," he said.



Trump has urged the EU to drop its 10 percent tariff on imported vehicles. The U.S. passenger car tariff is 2.5 percent, while it imposes 25 percent tariffs on pickup trucks.



The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, whose members include General Motors, Volkswagen AG, Toyota Motor Corp, has warned tariffs would boost imported car prices nearly $6,000 on average.



Related Video:
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump faced immediate blowback on Friday for his assertion that his predecessor in the Oval Office, Barack Obama, was on the brink of starting "a big war" with North Korea.

Trump made the claim during a rambling news conference on Friday, in which he declared a national emergency to free up federal money for his controversial border wall, suggested he would delay a deadline for hiking tariffs on China, and touted his success in negotiations with North Korea.

Trump said Obama told him North Korea's nuclear weapons program presented the greatest threat to the United States during a 2016 meeting in the White House just after Trump won the presidential election.

"He told me he was so close to starting a big war with North Korea," Trump recounted.

"It is absolutely ridiculous to suggest that the Obama administration was considering anything like that," said Michael Fuchs, who served as Obama's deputy assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs. He said Trump was simply "lying" about that exchange.

Other top Obama advisers also sharply refuted Trump's claim.

"We were not on the brink of war with North Korea in 2016," Ben Rhodes, a former national security adviser to Obama, tweeted on Friday. Rhodes suggested that Trump didn't understand Obama's 2016 description of the threat North Korea posed.

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John Brennan, Obama's former CIA director, said that while he was not in the room during that meeting, "President Obama was never on the verge of starting any war with North Korea, large or small." Obama viewed North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons with "deep concern, and he constantly pressed his national security team to present options to reduce the threat from North Korea," but war was not among those options, Brennan told NBC News.

Experts say any military strike against North Korea would almost certainly result in massive loss of life in South Korea and is far too risky to contemplate. Fuchs said such a move would not only result in "mass casualties" for the South Koreans, but it could "easily spiral" into a greater regional conflict involving the use of nuclear weapons.

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"The list of disasters that could be created by a conflict with North Korea are ... too unthinkable to consider," Fuchs said.

He and other experts argue that it was Trump who ratcheted up the danger of a military confrontation with North Korea when he took office in 2017, threatening Kim Jong Un's regime with "fire and fury," among other provocative statements and actions. Now, critics said, Trump is trying to claim credit for progress in negotiations aimed at pressing Kim's regime to relinquish his nuclear arsenal.

"This is again the president, when it comes to North Korea, attempting to play the role of both arsonist and firefighter  acting like there was some big emergency that he saved everyone from," Fuchs told USA TODAY.

Trump is scheduled to hold a second summit with the North Korean dictator later this month in Vietnam. The two men held a high-profile summit last year in Singapore, where they signed a vaguely worded agreement in which North Korea promised to work toward a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

On Friday, Trump argued the talks with North Korea have resulted in significant progress, noting that Kim's regime has stopped testing missiles and has returned American hostages, among other steps.

But the North Koreans have not taken any visible, concrete steps toward fulfilling that pledge, and Trump's own advisers acknowledge that North Korea is still developing a nuclear weapons program. Trump's top intelligence chief recently warned that North Korea was "unlikely" to ever give up its nuclear weapons.

Trump also addressed his administration's bitter trade negotiations with China, saying he is likely to push back a March 1 deadline for imposing new tariffs on the Asia giant as talks continue.

The president has long accused the Chinese of engaging in unfair trade practices, and he slapped steep tariffs on China last year, sparking retaliatory steps by the Chinese and spawning fears of a trade war.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a ceasefire in the tariff war last year and began negotiations for a new trade agreement. They set the deadline of March 1, after which new tariffs would go into effect if no agreement is reached.

But Trump said Friday he would "not increase the tariffs" as long as progress is being made.

Contributing: David Jackson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump: Obama was on brink of 'a big war' with North Korea. Not true, ex-Obama aides say
Donald Trump will declare a national emergency to build a wall along the southern US border after failing to secure funding for the measure through Congress.

The president plans on issuing that declaration after he signs the government funding bill that Congress is poised to approve to keep the government funded until the end of the fiscal year and avert a second damaging shutdown in two months. The plan was confirmed by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders just before the Senate voted in favour of advancing the funding package.

I just had an opportunity to speak with President Trump and hes prepared to sign the bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor on Thursday. He will also be signing a national emergency declaration at the same time.

Such a declaration from the president is likely to be met with swift legal challenges that could hobble the effort.

In response to the news, speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi said that a national emergency to build the border wall amounts to an end run around Congress, and said that Mr Trump has created the crisis he claims is seen at the border. Ms Pelosi confirmed that Democrats could challenge the president in court if he declares the national emergency, and suggested that there are other emergencies like gun violence that are more pressing than the situation at the border.

Thats an option, Ms Pelosi said of filing legal action against the president if he declares a national emergency. When the president declares this emergency, first of all, its not an emergency.

Ms Pelosi, the top Democrat in Washington, was not alone in saying that Mr Trump would set a dangerous precedent if he goes through with the state of emergency. Most, though, indicated that they would need to see the text of the declaration to know their position, according to CNN.

Clearly I have concerns about using this declaration for this set of circumstances, Senator Roy Blunt, the Republican Policy Committee Chairman, said.

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I generally dont think its a good idea, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who was defeated in 2016 by Mr Trump in the Republican primaries, said.

Its a bad idea, Kentucky Rand Paul, who also ran for the Republican nomination in 2016, said.

It is unclear how the American people would respond to Mr Trump declaring a national emergency to build his wall, but polling in recent weeks suggests that the majority of Americans do not support the idea.

A recent CBS News poll, for instance, found that 66 per cent of Americans did not approve of the president declaring a national emergency to build the wall.

The tentative government funding deal that will be voted on in Congress on Thursday would provide far less funding than the $5.7bn (4.45bn) that Mr Trump previously demanded, with just under $1.4bn (1.09bn) that will be used to fund 55 miles (89km) of new wall.

Reviewing the funding bill with my team at the [White House], Mr Trump tweeted on Thursday morning.

The bill would ensure that the 800,000 government workers who were furloughed or forced to work without pay for 35 days starting in late December will not suffer a similar fate.

During that time, federal employees were forced to find second jobs to pay the bills  often by driving Uber, or through online fundraising  and for petrol to get them to and from the jobs for which they were not receiving pay.

The new funding bill does not, however, include a mandate for backpay for the federal workers who went without pay.
Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency Friday to fund his long-sought US-Mexico border wall, after agreeing to a measure that prevents a new government shutdown but excludes the billions he demanded for the barrier.

Trump's plan, announced by the White House on a chaotic political day Thursday, alarmed US lawmakers, including those in his Republican Party who warn that the move would set a dangerous precedent, and Democrats who fumed about an abuse of presidential power.

The massive spending measure will keep federal agencies operational through September 30 -- a relief for lawmakers who had fretted about the possibility of a second crippling shutdown this year.

But it falls wells short of the $5.7 billion that Trump has been demanding for a wall on the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) southern border, and Trump's emergency declaration would help him bypass Congress and get the money that lawmakers refused to give him.

Signing the spending bill will bring an end to a rolling, two-month battle over government funding.

But by declaring an emergency, Trump opens a new confrontation -- and creates some of the riskiest legal peril of his term.

Under the National Emergencies Act, the president can declare a national emergency, providing a specific reason for it.

That allows the activation of any of hundreds of dormant emergency powers under other laws, which can permit the White House to declare martial law, suspend civil liberties, expand the military, seize property and restrict trade, communications and financial transactions.

Recent presidents -- including Trump -- have used emergency powers on such issues. But the expectation that Trump will use the authority to raid billions of dollars from government accounts for the funding of a wall is sounding alarm bells on Capitol Hill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump's Democratic nemesis in Congress, said declaring such a national emergency would be "a lawless act (and) a gross abuse of the power of the presidency."

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- Dangerous 'threshold' -

Members of her caucus were "reviewing our options" about how to respond to Trump's move, she told reporters Thursday.

"I'm not advocating for any president doing an end run around Congress," Pelosi added.

"I'm just saying that the Republicans should have some dismay about the door that they are opening, the threshold they are crossing."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he backs the president's emergency intent, but several others in the Republican camp have expressed deep reservations.

"I have concerns about the precedent that could be set with the use of emergency action to re-appropriate funds," veteran Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said in a statement.

Senator Susan Collins said it "would be a mistake" for the president to declare such an emergency, warning it would "undermine" lawmakers' all-important role as holders of federal purse strings.

Article 1 of the US Constitution states Congress gets to decide how money is appropriated. Many lawmakers have said they have no idea where Trump will draw the funding from.

Democrats in particular have signaled that the move would open the door to future presidents declaring emergencies on various topics, from gun violence to climate change to the opioid crisis.

There is broad expectation that Trump's move would be challenged in court.

And House Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler expressed support for a joint congressional resolution of disapproval to "terminate" Trump's emergency declaration.

Such a move has a chance of passing both chambers of Congress, but Trump would almost certainly veto it.

Lawmakers could try to override the veto with a two-thirds majority but that would be tough going in the Senate, where several Republicans may not wish to cross the president.

The spending measure includes only $1.375 billion for border barriers or fencing, far from the $5.7 billion that Trump has sought for his long-promised border wall -- a demand that led to the recent 35-day government shutdown, the longest in US history.
WASHINGTON  The reason President Donald Trump wants to declare a national emergency to free up funding for his border wall is obvious: The move will let him make an end-run around congressional Democrats who are opposed to his wall.

But the strategy, which the president is set to formally execute Friday, carries huge risks for his wall, his relationships with Republican lawmakers and his presidency.

The White House said Trump would declare a national emergency to help find funding for the wall at the same time aides announced he would sign bipartisan legislation approved by Congress Thursday that would set aside $1.375 billion for border barriers  far less than the $5.7 billion the president had initially sought.

Here's a look at the many challenges Trump faces in declaring a national emergency.

Trump's strategy will trigger lawsuits

Some groups were are already lining up to challenge the emergency declaration before Trump signs it. Experts say Trump probably has the ability to define a national emergency as he sees fit, but the emergency order  by itself  doesn't do much. The White House then has to go through the law to find pots of money scattered throughout the federal government that can be tapped in the case of an emergency. That process is more likely to draw legal challenges than the emergency declaration itself. And legal experts predict those cases are good candidates for the Supreme Court, and therefore a lengthy battle.

A national emergency is not popular

For the same reason conservatives balked when President Barack Obama went around Congress to protect millions of immigrants in the country illegally from deportation, Trump's critics don't like the idea of a president acting unilaterally to get around Congress. Two-thirds of Americans said they oppose Trump declaring a national emergency to help fund a border wall, according to a CBS News poll this month. A majority of Republicans in that poll  73 percent  backed the idea. The 2020 presidential election season is not that far off.

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Some Republicans don't like it

By pulling the trigger on a national emergency, Trump is going against some GOP lawmakers on principle, driving a rift within his party. Worse for them, House Democrats are in a position to force a vote on the emergency in Congress, which would put Republicans on record in a way that opponents  on either side of the controversial issue  could use against them in next year's election. And then there's the issue of where Trump pulls the money from. If he takes it away from Pentagon projects popular with military families, Defense hawks or members whose districts would benefit, the pushback quotient could soar.

Democrats may try it, too

One of the biggest concerns some Republicans have raised about the precedent Trump is setting with an emergency declaration involves future presidents. Hours after the White House announced Trump would declare the emergency, some Democrats  including some who are running for president  began suggesting they might support an emergency declaration about climate change or gun control. It's not clear whether it would be possible to address either of those concerns through an emergency, but a future president might try. Another possibility: Congress clamps down on the powers a president may exercise by declaring an emergency, potentially tying the hands of a future administration.

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WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 13: (AFP-OUT) President Donald Trump speaks at the Major County Sheriffs and Major Cities Chiefs Association Joint Conference February 13, 2019 in Washington, DC. Trump took the opportunity to deliver remarks on his border-security and immigration policy. Republican leaders are asking Trump to sign legislation that allocates about $1.375 billion for over fifty miles of physical barriers along the border. Signing the agreement would prevent another partial shutdown of the federal government that would begin February 16. (Photo by Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775298806 ORIG FILE ID: 1124726388

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's national emergency plan to build a border wall carries big risks, rewards
President Rodrigo Dutertes challenge of virility to former Senator Francisco Tatad was just hyperbole, the Palace said Friday, adding Duterte was only making fun of the columnist for proliferating false news. As usual, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo again defended Dutertes remark, saying he was only dramatizing things when he asked Tatad to lend his wife. In his speech in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, on Thursday night, Duterte slammed Tatad for allegedly spreading rumors about his deteriorating health. The former Senator recently wrote in a newspaper column that Duterte underwent a successful kidney transplant at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan. The transplant, he said, was conducted on Jan. 29. But Duterte allegedly had attended the premiere of the biopic of former Bureau of Corrections chief Ronald Bato Dela Rosa that day. Hey Tatad, you know theres a border between press freedom and disrespecting a person. If I see you, avoid me. F*** you, I will slap you. Believe it, I will slap you in front of many people, Duterte said as he led the initial campaign rally of the ruling PDP-Laban party. He said Tatad had violated press freedom by publishing a disrespectful column about his health. The 73-year-old President then dared the 79-year-old columnist to prove his manhood. You really want to try if we still have it or not? Do you have a wife? Lend it to me... Maybe lets do it here. Itll be fine. Its just 10 minutes, he said. Panelo then added Dutertes remark to his long examples of figurative speech.Well, thats just hyperbole. Thats just to dramatize that hes still virile at his age. Hes pissed off with false news, Panelo told reporters. People have been used to this President. Hyperbole. He uses certain situations and makes fun of it, makes fun of me, and makes fun of others. Its just for fun. It was not the first time that Tatad targeted the Presidents state of health in his column. In 2017 he said Duterte traveled to China to assess his health condition with the doctors of the Fuda Cancer Hospital in Guangzhou. The President then said he went to China to be circumcised. Since then, Duterte has called Tatad an idiot for using his column to redeem himself from the negative views about his role during Martial Law. In 1969, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos appointed Tatad as Minister of Public Information. He gained prominence when he went on air on Sept. 23, 1972, when he announced Proclamation 1081 in which Marcos declared martial law.
Near Baghouz (Syria) (AFP) - As destitute civilians stumble out of the Islamic State group's last enclave in east Syria, a mixed bag of unlikely characters are pitching in to help get them to safety.

They include a team of medics led by an American veteran and his children as well as a group of truckers from a remote Syrian town.

Close to 40,000 have fled IS's last Euphrates Valley bastions into territory held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, in pitiful conditions after weeks of bombardment and food shortages.

Citing security concerns, global aid agencies have kept their distance from the town of Baghouz where the jihadists are making a last stand and the SDF's limited humanitarian capacities cannot cope with the influx.

Enter the Free Burma Rangers (FBR).

Led by a US veteran and passionate Christian, David Eubank, the team of around 25 volunteers -- including his wife and three children -- is camped out on a plateau overlooking Baghouz that serves as the first stop for fleeing civilians.

"We're not qualified to be here. I asked God, what would I do here?" Eubank told AFP, dressed in military fatigues and a fishing hat, a pistol holstered on his hip.

"I felt God say: 'Give up your own way. Just come help,'" he said.

In the distance, about two dozen civilians could be seen shuffling towards the plateau from Baghouz.

Eubank and another volunteer were the first to descend the sandy bank to meet them, hoisting displaced women's overstuffed bags over their shoulders and helping children scramble up.

- 'God sent us here' -

One bearded volunteer tended to a thin boy's chest wound, shouting for antibiotics in English as the child stared at him in confusion.

Eubank established the FBR in Burma in 1997, with a slogan drawn from a Bible verse calling on people to "preach good news to the poor" and "release the oppressed".

After IS swept across the region in 2014, the FBR expanded to Iraq, where Eubank, his wife and their three children became local celebrities for rescuing a young Iraqi girl after her mother was killed in fighting in Mosul.

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What brought them to Syria? Another message from God, said Eubank's eldest daughter, Sahale.

"We feel like God sent us here, otherwise we wouldn't have wanted to come," said the 18-year-old blonde, who usually drives wounded people to the main civilian point further on but was using a quiet afternoon to study Thai in the shade of an armoured personnel carrier.

When they're not treating civilians, the rest of the team spends their spare time jogging through the Syrian plain, praying, and doing "camp stuff", said 24-year-old volunteer Tyler Sheen.

Sheen, from Colorado, said he felt he was in the right place to witness the end of IS.

"It's the scourge, the most talked about evil in the world so I think it's a great place to be right now," he told AFP.

The volunteers inevitably strike an odd figure in the Syrian plain, surrounded by gruff Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters with whom they can only communicate through translators.

When the SDF's spokesman visited their outpost recently, Eubank grabbed his hands to lead him in prayer as a translator stood between them, as if presiding over a marriage ceremony.

- Cattle trucks -

But if the Eubanks are inspired by goodwill, the truckers who form another key link in the evacuation of civilians from Baghouz are motivated by financial rewards.

Once displaced families are taken to a larger collection point further away, they are screened and guided onto the backs of cargo trucks to be driven about six hours north to the Al-Hol displacement camp.

Their 11 drivers are tribesmen from the town of Al-Shuhayl, hired by the SDF at a rate of 75,000 Syrian pounds ($150) for each round-trip, which usually takes two days.

"Wherever there's a trip we can earn from, we do it," said one driver in his forties, Farhan al-Ali.

Some truckers said they rely on pills to stay awake through the 600-kilometre (380-mile) round trip.

"Sometimes we get to Al-Hol at two or three in the morning, then we drive all the way back to Shuhayl," said Abu Hamud, a 54-year-old driver with a red-and-white scarf draped over his head.

They are used to shuttling cattle or farming equipment, so the dozens of veiled women and children are an unusual -- and fragile -- load.

The International Rescue Committee, which works in world crisis zones, said Wednesday that 51 people, mostly newborn children, had died after arriving at Al-Hol or during the "precarious journey".

The United Nations has called on authorities to provide more suitable transportation like buses.

"My heart aches for the kids. They're tiny and hungry," said Abu Hamud. "I had a 20-day-old baby die in my truck."
Four malnourished children who were discovered inside a North Texas barn on Tuesday  some covered in urine and feces, and others crammed inside a dog cage  have been placed in foster care, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services confirmed.

The children  who authorities said were between the ages of 5 and 1  were released from the hospital on Tuesday and are now safely in foster care, Marissa Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the agency, tells TIME. Gonzalez said the childrens case will go before a judge within the next two weeks to determine next steps.

According to the Dallas Morning News, authorities made the disturbing discovery while investigating a family violence incident at a Wise County home. Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin told the News that responding officers heard children in the nearby barn and officers found four children: a 4-year-old girl and three boys ages, 5, 3 and 1.

This aerial image provided by KDFW-FOX4 News shows part of the property where deputies found two young, malnourished children locked together in a dog cage near Rhome, Texas about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Fort Worth. A Texas sheriff says, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019, deputies responding to a domestic disturbance at a home discovered two young, malnourished children locked together in a dog cage while two others also were found malnourished.

Akin told the News the two eldest children were found in a 3-by-3 foot dog cage and the two other children were discovered nearby, covered in urine and feces.

Authorities arrested Paige Harkins and Andrew Fabila, both 24 years old, according to the Associated Press and other outlets. Authorities identified Harkins as the childrens mother and Fabila as father to one of the children, according to the Dallas Morning News.

The pair each faces four counts of endangering a child and are being held in the Wise County Jail, per the Associated Press. Harkins, who also faces an aggravated assault charge, has bail set for $75,000, while Fabila has bail set for $60,000, per AP.

Akin told AP this is the worst case of child abuse hes seen in his 44-year career.

This undated photo provided by the From Wise County Sheriffs Office shows Andrew Joseph Fabila. Deputies on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019, discovered two malnourished children crammed into a locked dog cage and two more smeared with feces and urine in a barn in North Texas, in what a sheriff described as the worst case of child abuse he has ever seen. Fabila and Paige Isabow Harkings, the mother of the four children, have been jailed without bond after the children were found at their rural home.

The barn the children were found in was fashioned to look like living quarters with food, but the refrigerator and cabinets were locked, Akin told the Dallas Morning News. He also told the outlet the children were taken to Cook Childrens Medical Center in Fort Worth for evaluation, but did not have any apparent injuries.

The family is believed to be new to town and have only been in Wise County for about a month, Akin also told the News.

Gonzalez says DFPS had previous contact with the family, but not at the address where they were found.
By Douglas Busvine FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The telecoms industry has called on European governments to join mobile operators in establishing a testing regime to protect network security without having to resort to the disruptive step of excluding vendors from the market. The initiative by the GSMA, which represents 800 operators worldwide, comes as the United States steps up pressure on its allies to ban China's Huawei Technologies on national security grounds. Operators warn that such a step would disrupt the supply of equipment, increase costs to them and their customers, delay the rollout of next-generation 5G services by years, and potentially hobble existing networks. "Such significant consequences, intended or not, are entirely avoidable," the GSMA said in a statement issued just over two weeks before it hosts its annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The industry fest, to be attended by more than 100,000 visitors, is also expected to feature a closed-doors discussion of telecoms CEOs of the risks to the industry that would arise if governments boycott Huawei, sources have said. The GSMA proposal marks the industry's biggest attempt to avert more bans on Huawei, such as those introduced by the U.S. and Australian governments, after Washington alleged its equipment could come with 'back doors' that could be used for cyber espionage. Huawei is the world's biggest supplier of telecoms network equipment with a market share of 28 percent. Washington has also argued that Chinese vendors are subject to a National Intelligence Law that requires the country's organizations and citizens to collaborate in espionage efforts. The European Union is considering proposals that would amount to a de facto ban on Huawei, senior officials say, adding to mounting international pressure on the Shenzhen-based company. Huawei has denied the U.S. claims, while European operators argue there is no evidence to suggest the Huawei equipment they use in their networks has ever been used for nefarious ends. TASK FORCE The GSMA said it was assembling a task force of European operators to identify ways to enhance existing testing regimes run by individual operators, by third-party laboratories or in partnership with 3GPP, the 5G standardization body. It recommended that governments and mobile operators work together to agree on an assurance and testing regime for Europe "so that it ensures confidence in network security while maintaining competition in the supply of network equipment." Responding, Huawei said: "We are committed to working globally with everyone involved in network security: partners, suppliers, regulators and governments, to find the best way to ensure the security, safety and privacy of data." Huawei, an associate member of the GSMA, is traditionally one of the biggest exhibitors in Barcelona. The Shenzhen-based company, also the number two in smartphones, is expected to offer a sneak-peek of its next handset on the eve of the event. The GSMA push parallels similar calls by Europe's largest mobile operator, Deutsche Telekom, to strengthen Germany's testing and compliance regime without having to resort to a blanket ban on Chinese vendors. Deutsche Telekom, Orange of France Spain's Telefonica and UK-based Vodafone all welcomed the initiative. Orange CEO Stephane Richard, who chairs the GSMA board, played a key role in drafting the text, a spokesman said. The European Commission declined to comment. There is a great deal at stake: The GSMA estimates that mobile operators will invest between $300 billion and $500 billion by 2025 in the rollout of 5G services in Europe that range from connected factories to super-fast broadband internet. "As European policy makers consider ways to further secure network infrastructure, we urge them not to lose focus on all relevant policy objectives  security, competition, innovation and consumer impact," the GSMA said. "This requires a fact-based and risk-based approach." (Additional reporting by Isla Binnie, Jack Stubbs, Paul Sandle and Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Mark Potter)
London (AFP) - A pregnant London schoolgirl's wish to return home after joining the Islamic State group in Syria splintered Britain on Friday as reports emerged of more UK women fleeing the war zone.

Shamima Begum's fate has prompted soul searching in Britain since she and two friends created international headlines by running away to join the terror network in 2015.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid told The Times newspaper that people like Begum "were full of hate for our country".

"My message is clear -- if you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return," he said.

However Alex Younger, the head of Britain's foreign intelligence agency, MI6, said that being a British national she had the right to return but could expect possible prosecution if she did so.

Quoted by British media at the Munich Security Conference, Younger said he was "very concerned" about returning British nationals who had fought for or supported IS.

"All experience tells us that once someone's put themselves in that sort of position they are likely to have acquired both the skills and connections that make them potentially very dangerous," he added.

Younger also warned that IS was "a resilient organisation" even though it had lost the territory it controlled in Iraq and Syria.

"It is reorganising, returning to its natural state as an asymmetric transnational terrorist organisation. We see it morphing, spreading out," he was quoted as saying.

- 'No entry' -

The girls' decision to join the IS group created initial resentment and disbelief in a country that has been a frequent target of bloody strikes linked to jihadists.

Their fate was uncertain until The Times newspaper managed to find an unrepentant Begum -- now 19 and about to give birth for the third time after seeing her first two children die -- at a refugee camp in eastern Syria.

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"I just could not endure any more," she told the paper.

"I fled the caliphate. Now all I want to do is come home to Britain."

Former MI6 chief Richard Barrett argued on Begum's behalf in an opinion piece for the left-leaning Guardian paper.

"Like it or not, these individuals were products of our society, and it would make sense to take a good, hard look at why they turned their backs on it in such dramatic fashion," Barrett wrote.

But right-leaning newspapers called on the authorities to keep Begum out.

"No regret. No remorse. No entry," The Sun tabloid declared on its front page.

The government does not have the power to ban Begum because she still has a British passport and has not been convicted of a crime.

But authorities could prosecute her or issue a special security notice that would see her detained on arrival at a UK airport.

- 'Had no choice' -

Mohammed Rahman, whose brother is married to Begum's sister, and other relatives of the surviving teens pleaded for mercy.

"I can understand why people in this country are angry and don't want her back," Rahman told The Times.

"But she was only 15 when she went to Syria. We are appealing for compassion and understanding on her behalf."

Begum fled together with two friends: Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase.

Sultana has since been reported killed. Begum said Abase stayed in a village where IS fighters are making a final stand against US-backed fighters.

Abase's father Hussen asked for forgiveness for the teens.

"They should be allowed to learn from their mistakes," he told The Daily Telegraph.

"They are no threat to us."

The Telegraph reported from eastern Syria that seven British women and 15 of their children are believed to have fled Baghouz -- the village where IS fighters are located -- for two refugee camps.

The paper spoke to two British women at the camps who wanted to return.

A mother-of-four from London named Nassima Begum -- no relation to Shamima Begum -- said she "had no choice but to follow" her husband's decision to leave.

"Some of the women here believe in (IS). I can promise you I am not one of them," she said.

But another Londoner named Reema Iqbal was more reserved.

"The security services came to speak to me and I was honest, I told them my whole story so now it's up to them to judge," Iqbal said.
By Diane Bartz and David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Executives from T-Mobile US Inc and Sprint Corp faced tough questions from lawmakers on Wednesday about how the companies' planned merger would affect prices and jobs, especially in rural America. The deal to combine the No. 3 and No. 4 U.S. wireless carriers, struck in April, was approved by both companies' shareholders in October and has received national security clearance, but still needs approval from the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. Representative Mike Doyle, who chairs the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee panel holding the hearing, raised worries about the deal because the U.S. wireless market has just four main carriers. The industry leaders are AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc. "It's hard to think of one (deal) where consolidation did not result in people losing their jobs, prices going up and innovation being stifled," Doyle said. Representative Billy Long, a Republican, expressed concern about lost jobs in his Missouri district. Representative Dave Loebsack, a Democrat, pointed to job losses in Iowa after T-Mobile's acquisition of Iowa Wireless last year and said T-Mobile's plan to buy Sprint made him "very concerned" about potential negative effects on Iowa. Representative Frank Pallone, a Democrat, said T-Mobile had sent call center jobs overseas in 2012 and asked for legally enforceable assurances that the new jobs touted by T-Mobile US Chief Executive John Legere would not be sent offshore once the deal wins approval. Legere defended the $26 billion deal, arguing that it will create jobs and help with the construction of the next generation of wireless networks. He said the merged company would have more capacity which would lead to a push to lower prices. "This is a unique merger in that there will be a significant increase in supply," Legere said. To win support for the deal, T-Mobile previously said it would not increase prices for three years. Legere was not without supporters. Representatives Anna Eshoo, a Democrat, and Steve Scalise, a Republican, asked questions that indicated support for the deal. In prepared remarks released on Tuesday, Legere pointed to the company's history of aggressive pricing, said it would need 11,000 new employees by 2024 and pledged to compete hard on building the next generation of wireless, called 5G. He also pledged to create 5G without using networking equipment from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd or ZTE Corp, two Chinese telecommunications firms distrusted by U.S. national security experts. T-Mobile has run into criticism from unions and consumer advocates, but rural operators have been the fiercest opponents. Carri Bennet, general counsel at the Rural Wireless Association, said the merger "will force rural Americans to pay more money for wireless services," especially if they contract with a mobile virtual network operator who buys wholesale access to Sprint's network and re-sells it. She said that Sprint is the only one of the four national carriers that offers anything approximating commercially reasonable roaming rates to rural carriers. "It (the merger) should be denied," she said. Communications Workers of America President Chris Shelton told the committee the deal would "kill American jobs, lower wages, and raise prices." Consumer advocates have said that the poorest wireless customers were likely to be disproportionately hurt by the deal since Sprint and T-Mobile have a big market share in prepaid plans. A group of eight Democratic U.S. senators and independent Senator Bernie Sanders urged the Justice Department and FCC on Tuesday to reject the deal, saying monthly bills could rise as much as 10 percent. Lawmakers who signed the letter include potential or confirmed presidential candidates Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Sherrod Brown, Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker. Sprint shares were up 0.2 percent in midday trade while T-Mobile shares fell 0.7 percent. (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Additional reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bill Rigby and Meredith Mazzilli)
Dana (Syria) (AFP) - Some bear visible marks -- cigarette burns on the back, broken legs and scars across the face. For others, the trauma of Syria's eight-year-long war is less obvious.

For the mentally ill, the disabled, the war-wounded and the elderly, a special needs centre in the town of Dana in the jihadist stronghold of Idlib is providing much-needed relief.

Conditions are not ideal but with limited international aid and support to Idlib's population of nearly three million, the Al Waalan centre in the province's northern countryside is one of few options.

One in five families in Idlib have to support a relative with a disability or chronic illness and an estimated 2.1 million need humanitarian assistance, according to UN figures.

The Al Waalan centre provides food, shelter and medical help to its patients, none of whom can provide for themselves.

An AFP correspondent met six men who stay in the facility.

They sleep in the same bland room, their beds lined up one next to the other. The walls are bare, except for a few sockets and a sealed window. The marble floors are covered with thick carpets.

Their ages range between 23 and 55 and they come from different parts of Syria. They do not talk much and are distant.

Some don't remember their own names or where they came from. One of them recalls growing up in a Damascus suburb.

Around half of Idlib's residents have been displaced from other parts of the war-torn country, after a series of government offensives on former opposition-held areas, including Aleppo, Eastern Ghouta and Daraya.

Nearly 275,000 of them live in informal settlements or overcrowded shelters in poor conditions.

Last month, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a Syrian group led by former Al-Qaeda fighters, cemented its control over Idlib at the expense of smaller, Turkey-backed outfits.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for a "purge of terrorists" from the rebel-held province after holding talks with his Russian and Turkish counterparts in Sochi on Thursday.

Iran and Russia both back Syria's government in the complex conflict.

The UN has warned that a regime offensive on Idlib would create the worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st century.
At least five people are dead including a gunman after a shooting at an industrial plant in Aurora, Illinois, authorities said Friday.

At least six police officers were also injured during the incident at the Henry Pratt Company plant, about 40 miles outside of Chicago.

The gunman, identified as 45-year-old Gary Martin, was shot and killed as well. Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman said he is believed to be an employee of the company. She said detectives have not determined a motive yet.

Mayor Richard Irvin said the victims were "senselessly gunned down" and praised police officers who were wounded in the shooting and halted the massacre.

"You rushed toward danger, and in doing that you saved countless lives," Gov. J.B. Pritzker also said, thanking first responders.

Here's what we know now:

How many victims are there?

At least five people, including the gunman, are dead, Ziman told reporters Friday evening.

Five police officers were shot and a sixth suffered a knee injury, Ziman said.

At least seven patients from the shooting were being treated, hospitals said, though their conditions werent released, according to The Associated Press.

More: Gunman apprehended after opening fire on co-workers at Henry Pratt plant in Chicago suburb, police say

What happened?

Police received multiple calls from people inside the plant Friday afternoon and were in a gun battle within four minutes as they arrived at the Henry Pratt plant, Ziman said.

John Probst, a worker at the company, told ABC7 that there were about 30 workers in the open storage room when the gunman opened fire with a pistol.

"He was shooting everybody ... As soon as I heard the shot, we left. As soon as I heard it, I took off," Probst said.

He said one of the victims "came running down and was bleeding pretty bad."

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What's Henry Pratt?

The Henry Pratt Company is one of North Americas largest manufacturers of valves for the potable water, wastewater, power generation and industrial markets. Its a subsidiary of Mueller Water Products, Inc., a NYSE publicly traded company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company was founded in 1901.

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The facility where the shooting occurred is a 29,000-square-foot manufacturing warehouse, according to The Associated Press.

021519-Ill-Aurora-shooting

Has Trump been briefed?

Yes. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump is monitoring the situation, and the president later tweeted, praising first responders.

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Contributing: Aamer Madhani and Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: At least five dead in Aurora, Illinois, workplace shooting: Here's what we know now
By Andrew Chung WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg returned to the court on Friday for the first time after weeks of recuperating from lung cancer surgery and missing oral arguments in January, a court official said on Friday. Ginsburg, a liberal jurist who will turn 86 in March, took part in the private conference among the nine justices on the court to discuss cases. She had previously been working from home and participating and voting in cases since her December surgery by reading argument transcripts and case briefs. Friday's conference proved highly significant, with the justices agreeing to decide the fate of a bid by President Donald Trump's administration to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, which opponents say will scare immigrant communities from participating, leading to an undercount. While Ginsburg was expected to attend the next round of oral arguments beginning next Tuesday, court officials could not confirm she would be on the bench. Ginsburg, who joined the court in 1993, underwent a surgical procedure called a pulmonary lobectomy on Dec. 21 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York to remove two cancerous nodules in her left lung. She was released from the hospital on Dec. 25. Last month, the court said Ginsburg's recovery was on track and that there was no evidence of remaining disease. Ginsburg missed oral arguments in January for the first time in her lengthy career on the court, fueling speculation about her ability to continue in the job. As the oldest justice, she is closely watched for any signs of deteriorating health. Ginsburg, appointed in 1993 by Democratic President Bill Clinton, broke three ribs in a fall in November. The nodules were found as part of the tests the justice underwent after that fall. She has had other health issues in the past. Ginsburg was treated in 1999 for colon cancer and again in 2009 for pancreatic cancer. In 2014, doctors placed a stent in her right coronary artery to improve blood flow. Though she has been working from home, Ginsburg on Feb. 4 attended a concert in Washington titled "Notorious RBG in Song." She is viewed as something of a cult figure by U.S. liberals, known by that nickname after the late rapper Notorious BIG. If Ginsburg, one of the court's four liberal justices, were unable to continue serving, Trump could replace her with a conservative, further shifting the court to the right. Trump has added two justices since becoming president in January 2017, cementing its 5-4 conservative majority. (Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Will Dunham)
Khartoum (AFP) - A Sudanese policeman died of wounds after protesters pelted rocks at a vehicle he was travelling in during anti-government demonstrations in Khartoum, a police spokesman said Friday.

General Hashim Abdelrahim said the police vehicle was returning from a training centre in the capital on Thursday when it came upon a roadblock comprised of rocks.

"When they stopped the vehicle, groups of people ambushed the vehicle and started throwing rocks," Abdelrahim told reporters.

"Two policemen were seriously wounded. One of them died yesterday night," he said.

Hundreds of protesters had taken to the streets on Thursday after campaigners called for a show of support for millions affected by conflicts in the war-wracked regions of Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

Sudan has been rocked by deadly protests since December 19 after a government decision to triple the price of bread.

The unrest quickly escalated into near-daily demonstrations against President Omar al-Bashir's iron-fisted rule.

The policeman's reported death brings to 31 the number of people killed in protest-related violence so far, according to officials.

Human Rights Watch says over 50 people have been killed in clashes with security forces during the weeks of demonstrations, including children and medical staff.

Sudan's acting Information Minister Mamun Hassan on Thursday accused the leaders of the protest movement of threatening national security and advocating violence.

Bashir, who swept to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, has remained defiant in the face of the protests, promising to promote development and peace across the country, including in conflict-hit states.
Khartoum (AFP) - Sudan on Thursday accused campaigners spearheading protests against President Omar al-Bashir's rule of threatening national security and advocating violence, as hundreds of demonstrators staged more rallies.

The country's acting Information Minister Mamun Hassan warned of taking legal action against protest leaders after campaigners vowed to push on with their "uprising" against Bashir's three-decade rule.

"It is confirmed what we always said that this... group is calling for violence," Hassan said in a statement.

Protest campaigners on Wednesday held their first news conference at the offices of the main opposition National Umma Party since demonstrations erupted in December.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which is leading the protests, and its allies called on other political groups to join their movement by signing a "Document for Freedom and Change".

The text outlines a post-Bashir plan including rebuilding Sudan's justice system and halting the African country's dire economic decline, the key reason for nationwide demonstrations.

A senior representative of the National Umma Party, which has thrown its weight behind the protests, said at the event that it would continue the "uprising until this regime is overthrown".

Party leader Sadiq al-Mahdi, a former prime minister whose government was toppled by Bashir in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, last month called for the president to step down.

- 'Systematic arrests' -

Protests first erupted in Sudan on December 19 in the farming town of Atbara after a government decision to triple the price of bread.

They quickly escalated into near-daily demonstrations across cities and towns that analysts say pose the greatest challenge to Bashir since he took power.

Officials say 30 people have died in protest-related violence so far, while Human Rights Watch says at least 51 people have been killed.

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The authorities led by the feared National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) has launched a sweeping crackdown to quell the protests.

Rights groups say hundreds of protesters, opposition leaders and activists have been arrested, while media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said Thursday that at least 79 journalists have been arrested.

"These systematic arrests have targeted not only reporters covering protests... but also journalists who themselves dared to protest against the regime's policy of censorship," the press freedom group said.

Protesters have pushed on with their rallies despite the clampdown.

Hundreds demonstrated Thursday in central Khartoum after campaigners called to show support for millions affected by conflicts in the country's three war-wracked regions of Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

Protesters chanting "freedom, peace, justice," the rallying cry of the anti-government movement, were quickly confronted by riot police with tear gas, witnesses said.

Police later broke up the rally, but demonstrators took to the streets in the northern district of Bahari, witnesses said, adding that they too were confronted with tear gas.

Late on Thursday police said that some policemen and protesters were wounded during the rallies. The police did not elaborate on the nature or cause of injuries.

Crowds of people living in a camp for the displaced in conflict-wracked Darfur in western Sudan also staged a rally, residents said.

"The residents of camp Zam Zam, mostly young men and women, are chanting anti-government slogans in the centre of the camp," resident Mohamed Issa told AFP by telephone.

- 'We are one nation' -

Over the years, tens of thousands of people have been killed in Sudan's internal conflicts and millions more displaced, with hundreds of thousands still living in sprawling camps, especially in Darfur.

The war in Darfur began in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, accusing it of marginalising the region.

"Those who are demonstrating across the country are saying that we are one nation," said Hassan Adam, a resident of Zam Zam camp.

"We want to build a new Sudan that does not differentiate between a Zurga (black African) and an Arab."

President Bashir -- indicted for war crimes in Darfur by the International Criminal Court -- has remained defiant in the face of the protests, promising to promote development and peace across the country, including in conflict-hit states.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente warned immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to stop using mobile phones while on duty or they would be meted out stiff disciplinary actions. Morente issued the warning after his office received reports that some immigration officers on duty at the NAIA were caught on camera using their mobile phones in violation of a standing directive prohibiting the practice. The BI chief stressed the use of mobile phones was disallowed to ensure that immigration officers render full and uninterrupted service to the traveling public during their tour of duty. I have thus instructed our Port Operations Division Chief, Grifton Medina, to see to it that the ban on mobile phones is implemented to the letter not only at the NAIA but in the other international airports as well, he said. For his part, Medina said he had directed BI head supervisors of NAIAs three terminals and the other airports to take Morentes warning seriously or be also held responsible for the actions of their subordinates. I am taking them to task for every violation of the Commissioners directive by any personnel under them, Medina said.Using mobile phones is disallowed as aside from being counterproductive and may promote corruption, it is also an eyesore to passengers who expect us to give them fast and efficient service. Meanwhile, Medina said the BI would soon launch an integrity management program for immigration personnel as part of the agencys anti-corruption campaign. He bared that an integrated management committee, composed of selected BI officials, would soon be formed to formulate and implement anti-corruption measures in all of the bureaus offices, including the different ports and sub-ports nationwide. Medina, who also chairs the BIs composite committee on good governance, explained that the IMP will be initiated to support the anti-corruption advocacy of the Duterte administration.
A group of students at SUNY Oswego put up a Build the Wall display on campus on Tuesday  only to be hit with violent messages, including death threats, on social media.

The threats against the members of the group, Young Americans for Freedom, included mentions of shooting them, jumping them, and greasing them, according to an article in The College Fix . Reportedly, things got so bad that the university took several steps in response to them, including launching a police investigation and reminding students about a little thing called free speech.

YAF chairman Tyler Toomey told The Fix that the group is working with police on the issue.

Threats of violence against students should not be tolerated regardless of their political view, he said. We are disgusted that our peers are threatening violence against members of our organization.

We had several great discussions with passing-by students and we were only treated to dirty looks in terms of negativity at the table, Toomey continued. After the event, social media blew up into a storm of bullying harassment and then turned to violent threats of shooting, jumping, and greasing our members.

Toomey also said that people had even targeted our direct messages with their threats of violence.

The Fix obtained screenshots of some of the posts and messages, which included fellas if yall locked in a room with these 3 ugly mfs and only got 27 bullets which one yall shootin first and Count Your Days Buddy!

The colleges president, Deborah Stanley, addressed the issue in a statement to the school.

Violent threats will not be tolerated and are not protected by freedom of speech, she said. We will pursue offenders as soon as we become aware of threats of violence or other criminal acts.

The principles of free speech and expression are fundamental to an open society, she continued. . . . While some ideas and opinions are vastly different from our own and may be anathema to what we think and believe, I strongly encourage all students, faculty and staff who wish to rebut expressions of others to use their words and voices to add their experiences and understandings to the public marketplace of ideas that is the soul of SUNY Oswego. An ill-tempered and threatening response may very well bolster those ideas you wish to debunk and make you subject to judicial proceedings.

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Stanley is absolutely correct. Not only is making threats wrong and illegal, but it is also a completely stupid way to try and compel other people to see your point of view. No one is going to be threatened by someone and then think to himself, Gee, I really respect this person and would love to consider what they have to say. No, all its going to do is further drive a wedge between the two opposing sides and make any kind of real conversation impossible.

Unfortunately, it seems as though our political climate has become a complete and total disaster. Far too many people dont see those on the other side simply as people with whom they happen to disagree, they see them as enemies to be destroyed. In other words: They dont even really see them as people at all. All too often, discourse between sides has become hostile, which is terrible  not only because its hurtful and wrong, but also because it just isnt productive. Weve become a very divided country, and if we ever hope to patch things up, we need to start engaging with opposing points of view with respect instead of hatred.

More from National Review
Donald Trump and Stacey Abrams. (Yahoo News photo Illustration; photos: AP, Getty)

WASHINGTON  Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams said Friday that voter suppression  has to be considered the crisis of our day. She made the comments in front of a Washington, D.C., audience where she cautioned Democrats to pay less attention to President Trumps emergency declaration and to focus their energy on voting rights.

Abrams, who became a national figure during her 2018 run for governor in Georgia, said that whether or not she runs for the U.S. Senate in 2020, she will use her current platform to elevate the issue of voting rights and obstacles to voting.

We have to talk more about it. We have to make this a larger conversation, Abrams said during an interview with Jelani Cobb, a staff writer at the New Yorker, held at the Brookings Institution.

Abrams, 45, spoke a few blocks from the White House at the same time that Trump was declaring a national emergency to justify the rerouting of congressionally approved government funds toward the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Her response to Trumps emergency declaration put her strategists mind on display, as she cautioned Democrats against an overreaction, and offered a mild rebuke.

He is trying to gain political clout, having failed miserably in the actual political process. And that political clout is only gained by us giving him air time and space and for there to be histrionics over once again his flouting of our basic norms, Abrams said.

Its the prerogative of the president to declare an emergency, she said. Its a question of whether he can unilaterally move funds.  That is where I believe we need immediate judicial intervention.

Abrams added: There is no emergency. It is a falsehood and it is entirely a political stunt.

On Thursday night, Abrams put it this way: There is necessary response but it doesnt have to be public and it doesnt have to be constant, she said on Late Night with Seth Meyers. We validate his behavior by treating it as serious. What we should treat it as is fraudulent and fraught with egotism, and that means sue him, let him lose and dont give him the credibility of treating this as serious.

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On the issue of voting rights and voter suppression, Abrams said that voter suppression  is baked into the DNA of America.

It has been perfected in recent years, in the last two decades, in a way that lets us forget that its real because there are so many pieces, she said.

Abrams lost the 2018 governors election last year to Republican Brian Kemp. Kemps margin of victory was 55,000 votes out of 3.9 million cast. The election was marred by multiple allegations of voter suppression against Kemp, who oversaw the election in his role as secretary of state while also running for the states top office. Abrams called Kemp an architect of voter suppression.

Kemp, now the governor of Georgia, has dismissed Abramss charges and pointed to record-high turnout in last years elections.

But a lawsuit filed by Fair Fight Action, a group Abrams founded after the election, accuses Kemp of creating an obstacle course for voters that primarily affected counties with large numbers of poor and black citizens. The barriers to voting range from Kemps exact match system, which removed 53,000 voters from the rolls for minor discrepancies between their registration card and state records, to multiple problems with voting machines, insufficient paper provisional ballots, the closure of polling places in majority-black counties and an aggressive purging of the voter rolls by Kemp for years leading up to the election.

What he did was entirely legal and wholly wrong, Abrams said.

Thats a bit at odds with what the CEO of Fair Fight Action said in a December interview with Yahoo News. Lauren Groh-Wargo, who oversaw Abramss gubernatorial campaign, said then that the lawsuit could show that Kemps purging of the voter rolls was at a scale that was illegal.

When asked about this discrepancy, an official with Fair Fight Action said, In a weird way, theyre both right.

Each individual action in Georgia was within the powers accorded [Kemp] by Georgia law. However, when they add together to an interlocking system of suppression, the sum of the parts disenfranchise voters and are therefore unconstitutional, the Fair Fight official said. We cannot say for sure he was following laws as they were meant to be followed. For example, you can technically purge voters if you believe they are not eligible voters anymore, but he wielded that power to the extreme and purged people who were eligible and just had not cast a ballot recently.

After her event at Brookings, Abrams was slated to speak to the Democratic National Committees winter meeting. She was also chosen by Democratic congressional leaders to give the partys response to President Trumps State of the Union address. And she is talked about as a potential candidate for president in 2020, though she is more likely to run for U.S. Senate against Republican Sen. David Perdue.

During her Seth Meyers interview, Abrams also explained why she thinks she has become a national figure.

Weve been practicing at democracy for a really long time. America gets it right most of the time, but when we stumble, it is really bad. And my belief is that weve got enough of us of good conscience who will fight to make it better. We just have to have someone willing to talk about it so we know we have a rallying cry and we have an opportunity, she said.

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Read more from Yahoo News:
Madrid (AFP) - Spain's prime minister is expected to call an early general election on Friday, the third in less than four years, after his draft budget was rejected in parliament over the Catalan secession crisis.

Pedro Sanchez took power just over eight months ago after he ousted his conservative rival in a dramatic parliamentary no-confidence vote.

At the head of a fragile minority government, the 46-year-old has had to rely on the support of unlikely bedfellows in parliament, including the far-left Podemos party, Basque nationalist lawmakers and -- crucially -- 17 Catalan separatist MPs.

On Wednesday, these groups joined right-wing lawmakers in rejecting his budget.

They withdrew their backing in protest at separatist leaders being put on trial for their role in a 2017 attempt to break Catalonia from Spain.

Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero told Spanish radio that Sanchez would call elections on Friday and that they would take place this year, but gave no further details.

The government later said Sanchez would make a statement at 10 am (0900 GMT) Friday after a special cabinet meeting.

Sanchez's socialists have already adopted a campaign-like tone, accusing Catalan separatists and conservatives of blocking a budget that included many social-spending measures.

"The right wing in this country is trying to put a brake on the social progress of this budget and this government," Montero said after the budget rejection.

"It's trying to stop this country from moving forward," she added.

The government has also given the media a document promoting its short track record: from a rise in the minimum wage and restoring universal health care to financing measures against gender-based violence.

- 'Turbulent term' -

"It's the end of an atypical, turbulent term," said Paloma Roman, politics professor at Madrid's Complutense University.

Sanchez has been savaged by the conservative Popular Party (PP), centre-right Ciudadanos and more recently small, far-right party Vox.

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Last Sunday, they called a big protest in Madrid to ask for early elections.

One of their biggest bugbears has been the socialist government's negotiations with Catalonia's separatist executive as Madrid tries to ease tensions with the northeastern region.

While Madrid says it initiated talks to try and find a way out of an ongoing crisis, the opposition has accused it of yielding to separatist demands merely to stay in power.

Several opinion polls see Sanchez's Socialist party winning elections but likely unable to form a majority in parliament, even with Podemos.

Polls say the PP, Ciudadanos and Vox -- which has surged recently thanks to its hard line against Catalan separatism -- could be able to form a majority.

That would lead to a coalition government with the PP and Ciudadanos, formed with the support of Vox -- which is what happened in the southern region of Andalusia after local polls there in December.

"Tensions between the central government and Catalonia are likely to increase in this scenario," said Steven Trypsteen, ING economist for Spain and Portugal.

The other scenario, he said, could be that the right-wing bloc does not get enough lawmakers to form a majority.

In that case, "political gridlock" would be possible, he said.
Madrid (AFP) - Spain's socialist prime minister on Friday called early elections for April 28, the third in less than four years, after his draft budget was rejected in parliament over the Catalan secession crisis.

"Between two options -- not doing anything and continuing without a budget, or... giving Spaniards their say -- I choose the second," Pedro Sanchez told reporters.

Opinion polls suggest one outcome of the snap election could be a rightwing majority in parliament, including a newly-emerged far-right party.

The campaign will focus on the hot-button issue of the secession crisis in Catalonia, with the right-wing furious at Sanchez's attempts to negotiate with the region's separatist executive, accusing him of yielding to their demands to stay in power.

- 'Willing to talk' -

Sanchez took power just over eight months ago after he ousted his conservative rival in a dramatic parliamentary no-confidence vote, but it has been a turbulent term.

At the head of a fragile minority government, the 46-year-old had to rely on the support of unlikely bedfellows in parliament, including the far-left Podemos party, Basque nationalist lawmakers and -- crucially -- 17 Catalan separatist MPs.

On Wednesday, Catalan MPs joined right-wing lawmakers in rejecting his budget.

They withdrew their backing in protest at separatist leaders being tried for their role in a 2017 attempt to break Catalonia from Spain, and for not being able to hold a legal independence referendum.

Even before Sanchez's announcement, the socialists had already adopted a campaign-like tone, accusing Catalan separatists and conservatives of blocking a budget that included many social-spending measures after years of austerity.

On Friday, Sanchez blasted the "blocking of a social budget after seven years of social injustice, austerity, and spending cuts".

He highlighted his government's short track record -- from a 22 percent rise in the minimum wage to fighting against energy poverty.

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He also insisted that talks were the way forward to try to ease the Catalan crisis.

"We're willing to talk and find a solution within the limits of the constitution and the law," Sanchez said.

At the end of his announcement carried live on television, he smiled and told reporters he hoped to continue seeing them "for a long time".

Opposition leader Pablo Casado, smiling broadly, appeared soon after from the headquarters of his conservative Popular Party (PP) in Madrid, in front of a large Spanish flag.

"We've toppled Sanchez's government," he said triumphantly.

The 38-year-old said the election would be about "deciding if Spain continues to be hostage of those parties that want to destroy it... or a PP leadership that can broker deals with other political groupings to stop the separatist challenge".

- 'Turbulent term' -

"It's the end of an atypical, turbulent term," said Paloma Roman, politics professor at Madrid's Complutense University.

Sanchez has been savaged by the PP, centre-right Ciudadanos and more recently the small far-right party Vox.

Last Sunday, they staged a big protest in Madrid calling for early elections.

Several opinion polls see Sanchez's Socialist party winning an election but likely unable to form a majority in parliament, even with Podemos.

But surveys also say the PP, Ciudadanos and Vox -- which has surged recently thanks to its hard line against Catalan separatism -- could be able to form a majority.

That would lead to a coalition government with the PP and Ciudadanos, formed with the support of Vox -- which is what happened in the southern region of Andalusia after local polls there in December.

"Tensions between the central government and Catalonia are likely to increase in this scenario," said Steven Trypsteen, ING economist for Spain and Portugal.

The other scenario, he said, could be that the right-wing bloc does not get enough lawmakers to form a majority.

In that case, "political gridlock" would be possible, he said.
SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It's been the better part of a year since U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stood face to face for the first time at their unprecedented summit in Singapore. As the two leaders prepare to meet in Vietnam for a second summit, there is a growing expectation that this time they need to make a more specific agreement. North Korea still has its nuclear weapons, and Washington has only increased sanctions on Pyongyang so the stakes are high for both leaders who have promised to overcome decades of tension and conflict between the two countries. Here is a breakdown of what Trump and Kim have agreed to, what has - and hasn't - happened since they last shook hands, and what may be on the negotiating table. THE SINGAPORE AGREEMENT The Singapore summit in June represented the first time a sitting American president met with a North Korean leader, but the statement that came out of the meeting was light on specifics, opting instead for four general commitments: -The two countries will establish "new relations" for peace and prosperity. -The United States and North Korea will work together to build a "lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula". -North Korea committed "to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula". -The two countries will recover and repatriate the remains of soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War. WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE SINGAPORE Just ahead of the first summit, in May, North Korea destroyed some tunnels and buildings at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site, observed by international journalists but not expert inspectors. Immediately following his meeting with Kim, Trump made a surprise announcement that the United States would suspend military drills with South Korea, which have often been criticized by North Korea as rehearsal for war. Major exercises have been halted, while smaller ones continued. North Korea moved quickly to repatriate 55 boxes containing what were believed to be the remains of American soldiers killed in the war. In July, satellite images indicated North Korea had begun to dismantle some facilities at its Sohae Satellite Launching Station, but later reports by U.S. think tanks said no further dismantling had been observed. And North and South Korea moved forward with their own reconciliation, holding three summits and taking steps to reduce military tensions along their shared border by closing some guard posts, removing landmines, and imposing a no-fly zone. Other inter-Korea plans depend heavily on Washington's willingness to support easing sanctions that block most economic engagement with North Korea. The past year was a see-saw of occasional public meetings - and canceled visits - between American and North Korean officials. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Pyongyang multiple times, first being condemned by North Korea over "gangster-like demands" for the North's complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization, then later earning Kim Jong Un's "satisfaction" with another meeting. Trump, meanwhile, hosted senior North Korean officials at the White House and declared that he and Kim "fell in love" after exchanging letters. In his New Year's speech, Kim said he was still open to meeting Trump again, but warned of a potential "new path," which could indicate an eventual return to weapons development, if he was not satisfied with the negotiations. A flurry of talks in early January led to Trump announcing the second summit would happen in Vietnam at the end of February. WHAT HASN'T HAPPENED Throughout all these talks, as well as other behind-the-scenes negotiations, neither side announced major new steps toward denuclearization, easing sanctions, or establishing a new "peace regime" for the peninsula. Statements carried by North Korean state media complained about Washington's opposition to signing a peace declaration or easing sanctions until North Korea takes more steps toward denuclearization. In the meantime, U.S. intelligence and defense officials say North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear and missile arsenals, despite a self-imposed moratorium on testing, and that the country is unlikely to ever surrender all of its nuclear weapons. After meeting with Kim in September, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the North is willing to "permanently dismantle" its Yongbyon main nuclear complex and allow international inspectors into some missile sites if the United States makes concessions of its own. But neither the American concessions nor the inspections have been forthcoming so far. WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IN VIETNAM American and North Korean officials have been tight-lipped about what agreement might come from the second Trump-Kim summit, but analysts say Washington needs to be open to taking interim steps for any deal to be possible. Stephen Biegun, the top U.S. envoy to North Korea, told South Korean lawmakers that most of the recent discussions with Pyongyang had revolved around summit logistics, and that more talks were needed to address the substantive issues. But Biegun said a "dozen" agenda items were discussed, one of the lawmakers said, and North Korea has called for easing sanctions, restarting some inter-Korean economic projects, opening a U.S. liaison office in Pyongyang, and signing a declaration formally ending the technical state of war from the 1950-53 conflict. Other moves could include easing the ban on Americans traveling to North Korea, or providing more bilateral aid. To win some of those concessions from Washington, North Korea could follow through on shutting its Yongbyon nuclear complex, as well as abolish key missile facilities in the presence of foreign experts, South Korean officials have said. North Korea's state media said in December that Pyongyang's commitment to the "denuclearization of the Korean peninsula" also includes "completely eliminating the U.S. nuclear threat to Korea," but did not spell out specific steps Washington should take. While some U.S. lawmakers and analysts have speculated Trump could agreed to reduce the American military presence in South Korea, officials in Seoul and Washington have said troop levels are not up for negotiation. (Reporting by Joyce Lee, Josh Smith, and Hyonhee Shin in SEOUL, and David Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON.; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
New international research has found evidence to suggest that despite concerns, a short period of general anesthesia in infants does not cause neurodevelopmental or behavioral problems.

Led by researchers at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Australia, the new study is the first randomized trial to investigate whether exposure to general anesthesia in infancy can negatively impact the brain by age five.

The researchers looked at 722 babies in Australia, Italy, the USA, the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, who were mostly male and of less than 60 weeks' postmenstrual age, a time of when the brain is highly vulnerable.

The babies were all undergoing surgical repair of inguinal hernia, a common operation in early childhood, with the infants randomly assigned to receive general anesthesia (363 children) or local anesthesia (359 children), which does not cause brain injury in animal models.

The average duration of general anaesthesia was 54 minutes.

At age five, a time when intelligence testing is a strong predictor of a child's future achievement, child psychologists assessed the children's IQ score, memory, attention, executive function (skills that help with memory, impulse control, and planning), and behavior.

The findings, published in The Lancet, showed that there was no significant difference in IQ scores between the children exposed to general anesthesia, who had an average IQ score of 98.87, and those who received local anesthesia, and had an average IQ score of 99.08.

Moreover, there were no significant differences in a range of other tests of neurocognitive function.

The results also held true even after the researchers had taken into account age at birth, country, and any missing data.

The researchers say that the study provides the strongest evidence yet that one brief exposure to anaesthesia is safe in young children.

However, they also add that given that 84 percent of the children were male, as well as other study limitations, more research is needed to confirm the findings in girls as well as children with longer and more than one exposure to anasthesia, and exposure to different types of anesthesia.

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"Nearly half the general anaesthetics given to infants are used for less than one hour, therefore our findings should reassure health professionals and the millions of parents whose young children undergo surgical or diagnostic procedures with anaesthetic drugs worldwide every year," says lead author Professor Andrew Davidson.

Whether anesthetic is safe for children has been the subject of many recent studies, which have provided conflicting results.

Previous animal studies have led to concern that exposure in young children might affect brain development after finding increased cell death in developing animals.

A large-scale Australian study published last year, which looked at 211,978 healthy children, found that those exposed to general anesthesia had lower literacy and numeracy school scores later in childhood than children not exposed. However, a US study published in the same month found no evidence to suggest that anesthesia before age three can affect intelligence, although the researchers did note that other aspects of brain development may be affected by repeated exposure.
The day has arrived in the Democratic party when Sherrod Brown is a kind of moderate.

The impeccably progressive Ohio senator who has occupied a spot on the left flank of the Democratic caucus for a very long time is declining to sign up for the fashionable radical causes of the hour.

Brown has not endorsed the Bernie Sanders Medicare-for-all plan that contemplates the end of private insurance in America, nor for the outlandishly expensive and eminently mockable Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Green New Deal.

This marks Brown out from other Democratic senators running for president, who arent letting practicality or future worries about a general election keep them from putting their names to legislation that will never pass and opens them up to obvious attacks.

A variety of forces tether Brown to reality more than his colleagues. Hes been in elected politics his entire adult life, and although hes been willing to go his own way  he voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in the 1990s when that wasnt popular  hes pragmatic enough not to get carried away with wild enthusiasms.

Hes managed to thrive in an increasingly red state. In 2016, Donald Trump handily won Ohio. The state is not Alabama, but its not New York or California either, where a Democrat can discount any need to appeal to culturally conservative voters.

Finally, Browns base is unions that have no patience for pie-in-the-sky environmental schemes that threaten their jobs, or radical schemes to overturn current health-care arrangements when many of them have gold-plated plans they want to protect.

All of this means that Brown has the sense to steer clear of proposals that will almost certainly diminish a Democrats chances of beating Trump.

On paper, Brown looks like a strong general-election candidate, and not just because hes avoiding ridiculous excesses.

The natural play for Democrats in 2020 would be to nominate someone, like Brown, who has a good chance of winning back the Blue Wall states and therefore putting away the election (barring some unforeseen event that opens up Hillary states to Trump).

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Theres little doubt that Brown would have won against Trump in 2016. He has a much stronger connection to working-class voters than Hillary Clinton and never would have dismissed them or the Upper Midwest. He came up in politics hanging out in union halls, and he warns against coastal condescension toward the Midwest.

Brown can claim some measure of vindication with the rise of Trump. It has moved the center of gravity of American politics in his direction. The senator was a voice in the wilderness on globalization, and now theres a Republican president who makes much the same critiques and has largely brought his party around with him.

Browns economic populism is no longer an outlier. Instead, the point of contention is whether Trump or Brown represents the best version. Brown believes Democrats shouldnt shy away from populism because Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump and Steve Bannon get called populists.

The question, at the same time, is whether the Democratic party is leaving behind Browns style of politics. The Lefts disdain for working-class whites has, if anything, grown over the first two years of the Trump presidency. And as Ron Brownstein pointed out in a recent analysis for CNN, noncollege whites are becoming a less important part of the Democratic party, while the influence of college-educated and African-American women grows.

Like Bernie Sanders, Brown will have the disadvantage of being a white male more interested in class than racial politics, at a time when the most vocal part of the partys base is obsessed with intersectionality.

Part of Browns calculation has to be that he can leave the crowded left-most lane in the primary to others. And, so, yes, it has come to this: In the inflamed, #resistance-driven contemporary Democratic party, Sherrod Brown is a voice of relative moderation.

 2019 by King Features Syndicate

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London (AFP) - Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell agreed Friday to buy German rechargeable battery maker Sonnen, as the sector eyes growing demand for cleaner energy.

Shell, which already invested in the German start-up in May 2018, revealed in a statement that it will buy 100 percent of Sonnen for an undisclosed amount.

Sonnen, which makes lithium-ion batteries for storing wind and solar power, was founded in 2010 and has since grown rapidly to become a dominant player in Europe.

"Sonnen is one of the global leaders in smart, distributed energy storage systems and has a track record of customer-focused innovation," said Mark Gainsborough, executive vice president of Shell's New Energies division.

"Full ownership of Sonnen will allow us to offer more choice to customers seeking reliable, affordable and cleaner energy.

aTogether, we can accelerate the building of a customer-focused energy system in support of Shell's strategy to offer more and cleaner energy solutions to customers," he added in the statement.

Friday's announcement shows how the traditional oil sector is seeking to diversify further into greener energy, analysts say.

The announcement is "100 percent a sign that oil majors are positioning for green energy", said Neil Wilson at Markets.com.

In June 2018, Shell's main British rival BP bought Britain's largest electric vehicle charging firm Chargemaster, in a bet on booming demand for greener transport.
House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has assured senior citizens the House of Representatives will adopt the Senate version on the creation of the National Commission of Senior Citizens to avoid delay in its implementation. Arroyo gave the assurance to the more than 800 leaders and members of the different senior citizens organizations that attended the consultative meeting at the House of Representatives to discuss the recently approved House Bill 8837. The oversight committee hearing was requested by the House Special Committee on Senior Citizens chaired by Rep. Imelda Marcos of Ilocos Norte on the request of the Speaker through the committees vice chairpersons, Reps. Milagros Aquino-Magsaysay and Francisco Datol Jr. of Senior Citizens party-list. The bill proposes the creation of the National Commission of Senior Citizens, provide for its functions, abolish the National Coordinating Council and Monitoring Board and amend for the purpose Republic Act 7432, as amended and appropriate funds therefor. Both the House and the Senate have passed the bill on the senior citizens national commission on third reading.In order to speed up the sending of the bill to the President for his signature, on May 20 after election when we convene, the House will adopt the Senate version so that there will be no more delay, after which we will send the consolidated version which is the Senate version to the Office of the President, Arroyo said. Arroyo also recommended for another oversight committee hearing after May 20 to call those who will do the implementing rules and regulations namely the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, League of Cities of the Philippines, League of Municipalities of the Philippines and other stakeholders to do the first draft of the IRR. So that as soon the President signs the bill, they can proceed to do the official draft of the IRR, Arroyo said.
Every Democratic senator currently running for president is opposed to the $26 billion merger between T-Mobile and Sprint.

Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) signed a letter from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) calling on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to reject the merger between the third- and fourth-largest mobile service provider in the United States.

The proposed merger would leave Americans with just three wireless carriers with all the incentives to squeeze consumers for more money through increased prices and unnecessary fees, the letter argues. If approved, the merger would create a country-club market in which Verizon, AT&T and the new T-Mobile/Sprint could divide the market, and collect ever-rising monthly rents from wireless subscribers with few real alternatives, according to the letter. (Verizon owns HuffPost.)

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)  who did not sign the letter  agrees with concerns expressed in the letter and hopes the Department of Justice rejects the proposed merger, according to a statement from Chris Harris, a spokesman for her Senate office.

Additionally, two potential but yet-unannounced Democratic presidential candidates, Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), also signed the Blumenthal letter.

T-Mobile U.S. CEO and President John Legere testifies before the House commerce subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill on Feb. 13, 2019. (Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

These Democratic senators have little power to stop the Trump administration from approving the T-Mobile/Sprint merger. Approval authority ultimately rests with the FCC and the Department of Justice.

Yet their stated opposition does show that the partys leading lights feel that it is important to take anti-monopoly stances in their pursuit of the presidency.

The Democratic Party has increasingly embraced anti-monopoly and antitrust policies since the 2016 election. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) labeled antitrust policy as one of the key planks in the partys new platform in a 2017 New York Times op-ed. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), the new head of the House antitrust subcommittee, has promised to tackle head-on issues of consolidation in the pharmaceutical, hospital and tech industries.

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In the recent past, Democrats have been more attentive to consolidation concerns in the telecommunications industry than in other sectors in which they allowed countless mergers during the presidency of Barack Obama. That could be due to the extreme consolidation already existing in this space. There are currently only four major mobile service providers  Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint.

The Obama administration sued to block AT&T from purchasing T-Mobile in 2011 to prevent further consolidation that could raise prices and cost jobs. Then the Obama-era FCC prevented T-Mobile and Sprint from merging in 2014.

Those same concerns exist in this second attempted merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. The Communications Workers of America argues that the merger will cost 30,000 jobs. Other telecommunications law experts argue that the merger will result in higher prices for U.S. consumers, who already pay among the highest prices for mobile service in the world. Rural mobile service advocates argued that the merger will dramatically increase costs for people living in areas with poor mobile service coverage and do little to improve that coverage.

The Democratic 2020 candidates are rightfully expressing concerns and opposition to the proposed T-Mobile/Sprint merger, but the negative effects and potential damage of the merger should not be a partisan issue, said Shane Larson, director of legislation, politics and international affairs at the Communications Workers of America.

The Democratic candidates may be opposed to the merger, but an anti-monopoly spirit has not taken over the party entirely.

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), a past critic of the telecommunications industry, declared her support for the merger at a congressional committee hearing on Wednesday. The countrys telecommunications market is already dominated by the duopoly of Verizon and AT&T, she said. So, instead of breaking up these monopolies, T-Mobile and Sprint should be allowed to merge to create a third giant to take the Big Two on, she argued.

The ultimate decision on this and other mergers rests with executive branch regulatory agencies. Thats why it will matter who wins the White House, what their positions on antitrust issues are, and who they signal they will appoint to run those agencies. The unified opposition to this merger is just one sign of many to look for during the primaries to judge how far Democrats will go in their newfound embrace of antitrust issues if they win power in the 2020 elections.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
William Barr has been approved by the Senate to be Donald Trump's new law chief - Getty Images North America

The US Senate has approved President Donald Trumps attorney general nominee William Barr, putting the veteran Republican lawyer in charge of Special Counsel Robert Muellers probe of any ties between Mr Trumps campaign and Russia.

The vote was 54-45, primarily on a party-line basis with most Republicans backing the 68-year-old and most Democrats opposed.

Democrats had expressed concern over Mr Barr's nomination out of concern he might not fully make public Mr Mueller's findings. But with the Senate controlled by the Republicans, Mr Barr's confirmation was always assured.

Previously attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under President George HW Bush, Mr Barr has won praise from lawmakers in both parties for his expertise and grasp of the workings of the Justice Department, which he will now head.

He is the third man in barely two years to occupy that post, replacing acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who replaced Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Mr Trump ousted Mr Sessions last November after criticising him repeatedly.

Mr Mueller is investigating meddling by Russia in the 2016 US presidential election and whether Moscow colluded with Mr Trump's campaign to try to tilt the election in Mr Trump's direction, as well as possible obstruction of justice.

Mr Trump denies any collusion. The Kremlin denies any meddling.

Before being nominated, Mr Barr wrote a 19-page legal memo, which he shared with Mr Trump's legal team and Justice Department officials. It called Mr Mueller's probe "fatally flawed."

Mr Barr has said he will not let himself be bullied by Mr Trump and will protect the integrity of Mr Mueller's investigation and make public as many of its findings as he can.

However, Mr Barr has not promised to release Mr Mueller's final report in its entirety. He has warned he may not be allowed to reveal the identities of people who escape prosecution. That stance troubles many Democrats, who say Mr Barr's expansive views of executive power might lead him to suppress parts of the report.

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Despite Democrats' opposition, many are still anxious to have Mr Barr installed quickly so that he can replace Mr Whitaker, whose tenure has been fraught with controversy since the president installed him in November.

Critics have alleged Mr Whitaker's appointment was unlawful. Democrats fear Trump installed him to undermine Mr Mueller's probe because Mr Whitaker had criticised it when he was a conservative pundit.

Mr Barr is widely expected to back many of Mr Trump's tough immigration policies. He will also be under the microscope for how he implements a new law that eases prison sentences for non-violent criminals, after he advocated for the opposite, tough-on-crime approach for decades.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders sat for an interview with Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigators, she revealed Friday.

The president urged me, like he has everyone in the administration, to fully cooperate with the special counsel. I was happy to voluntarily sit down with them, Sanders said.

While the details of the interview are not public, one area investigators are interested in is how Trump crafted his public statements on the investigation, a matter Sanders would have knowledge of. As a public face of the administration, Sanders has made numerous statements defending the presidents conduct as it pertains to the investigation.

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly, former White House communications director Hope Hicks, former press secretary Sean Spicer, and other White House officials have also answered questions from Muellers team.

Mueller is expected to soon wrap up his investigation into Russias efforts to influence the 2016 election. Then-acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker said in January that the investigation is close to being completed.

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The Home Secretary has taken a hard line against Shamima Begum, the teenager who fled to Syria to become as Isis bride (Getty Images)

Sajid Javid has said he will not hesitate to stop Shamima Begum, who left the UK to join Isis, from returning to the UK.

It emerged yesterday that the runaway schoolgirl, who is now 19 and heavily pregnant, wants to return to the UK after fleeing to Syria four years ago to become an Isis bride.

She told The Times she would do anything required just to be able to come home and live quietly with my child.

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The Home Secretary said he would use powers available to him to prevent Ms Begum from coming back to Britain, and warned that she faced a criminal investigation if she did manage to come back.

He said: We must remember that those who left Britain to join Daesh were full of hate for our country.

My message is clear. If you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return.

If you do manage to return you should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted.

Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, echoed Mr Javids harsh tone, saying he was deeply, deeply untrusting of Ms Begum.

He said: If she does return, she needs to be very carefully watched and perhaps prosecuted. This is not a trivial matter. She hasnt just gone for a bit of a holiday and come back. Shes done something really quite appalling and sided with a violent enemy.

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Security Minister Ben Wallace also warned that runaways who now want to come back must realise that actions have consequences.

Ms Begum was one of three schoolgirls, along with Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, from Bethnal Green Academy who left the UK in February 2015.

The teenagers family has pleaded for her to be shown mercy.

Speaking on Question Time, leading Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg said: Shamina Begum was under the age of consent when she was married in Syria. She has had two babies that have died. We must have some sympathy for someone who has been abused.

Richard Barrett, a former director of global counter-terrorism at MI6, said: Even (Ms Begum), as unrepentant as she may be, should be given a chance, if we are to stand by our values  and if we believe our society is strong enough to reabsorb a 15-year-old who went badly off the rails.

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Anthony Loyd, The Times correspondent who found her, said she was a 15-year-old schoolgirl who made a terrible mistake and we must do out best to rehabilitate her amongst our own people.

While no official operation to remove Ms Begum from Syria will be carried out, questions have been raised over whether Britain would be able to prevent her from returning to the UK.

As a British citizen, Begum has a right to live in the UK and former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Lord Carlile told the BBC that if she has not gained a second citizenship of another country she would have to be allowed back to her homeland because under international law a person cannot be made stateless.

Some have suggested that Ms Begum is unrepentant of her actions, but her brother-in-law Mohammed Rehman told Mail Online that her family want her to be allowed to return and be re-educated.

He said: I can understand why people in this country are angry and dont want her back. What shes done doesnt portray Islam in a good light.

But she was only 15 when she went to Syria. We are appealing for compassion and understanding on her behalf.

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Moscow (AFP) - Hundreds of veterans of Moscow's intervention in Afghanistan on Friday marked 30 years since the pullout of Soviet troops from the bloody conflict that remains an uncomfortable national memory.

Marching with a brass band and dressed in olive-green fatigues, veterans of the decade-long war carried portraits of fallen comrades and a banner with the sign "We have carried out the orders of the Motherland."

The Soviet Union intervened in 1979 to bolster Kabul's embattled Communist government against Islamist fighters, and lost more than 14,000 troops in a conflict that contributed to the collapse of the Soviet empire.

"People shy away from (this war). As if it is only our war, while ordinary people are not interested in it," said Andrei Gusev, who served in Afghanistan between 1984-86.

"Even my children are not interested."

Some efforts to vindicate the war have been made under President Vladimir Putin in recent years, consistent with a militarisation of Moscow's foreign policy in the Middle East and a growing rift with the West.

A poll published Friday by WCIOM agency said that 42 percent of Russians believe the intervention in Afghanistan was wrong, while 31 percent believed it was necessary.

Young people born long after the war were more likely to support the intervention, however, according to poll figures.

The Russian defense ministry on Friday published several previously classified documents about the Afghan war.

The intervention's goal was to "free contingents of the Afghan army" to enable them to fight the opposition.

However "reality turned out to be much more complicated" and the Soviet Union ended up "sucked into a real war," the ministry said.

The Soviet Union pulled its last forces from Afghanistan on February 15, 1989, a decision which Mikhail Gorbachev, at the time the Communist Party Secretary, continues to endorse to this day.

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In an interview with RIA-Novosti published Friday, Gorbachev said that the pullout decision was taken "after numerous discussions" in which Soviet leadership agreed that "the Afghan problem has no military solution."

In December 1989, Soviet deputies approved a decree that the decision to intervene in Afghanistan "deserves political and moral condemnation."

Lawmakers in the current State Duma parliament last year suggested this decree should be rejected.

Symbolically, Putin on Friday signed a decree to award Afghanistan war veteran Vladimir Kovtun the top state honour Hero of Russia.

Kovtun was a special forces commander hailed for intercepting a Stinger anti-aircraft missile launcher with a case of US documentation near Kandahar in 1987, the first proof Moscow had of US aid of the Mujahideen.

video-ma/wai
To retailers who say 'no cash,' Philadelphia's city council is saying no dice.

Philadelphia's city council voted Thursday to require most local businesses to accept cash as payment, pushing back on a growing trend in which restaurants and retailers accept credit and debit cards only.

There's a reasonable segment of people who wouldn't be able to patronize those stores because they don't have any kind of credit or debit card,'' said Councilman Bill Greenlee, who introduced the bill. "It's setting up an us and them kind of situation . . .And those people tend to be a little lower income, and also minority and immigrant. I don't think that's the kind of message we want to be sending.''

Mayor Jim Kenney is reviewing the bill, says Lauren Cox, a spokeswoman for the administration, and no decision has been made yet.

"We share the concerns of council members about the significant number of Philadelphia residents who are unbanked and underbanked,'' she said in an email. "That said, we remain concerned about how this measure impacts innovation in our retail sector. We constantly seek to strike the balance of growing our economy while ensuring our growth is inclusive ... Weve spoken to council members about a number of various options, and we anticipate further discussions before the mayor needs to act on the legislation.''

A rising number of retailers are cutting out cash to speed up transactions, reduce the chance of theft, and accommodate the increased use of credit and debit cards, as well as digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, to buy services and products.

Cash purchases were down to thirty percent of all retail transactions as of last year compared to 40 percent in 2012, according to IHL and the Federal Reserve.

Roughly 25 percent of Americans made all or a significant number of retail purchases with cash in 2016, 11 percent fewer than those who favored cash five years earlier, according to a Gallup poll. And millennials in particular are making the shift, with 21 percent of those 23 to 34 years old saying that most of their transactions were in cash, down from 39 percent five years before.

Story continues

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But while the number of Americans who prefer using cash is declining, critics counter that there are many lower income consumers who are further disadvantaged by cashless retailers because they don't have bank accounts or lack credit cards or photo identification.

In 2017, 6.5 percent of U.S. households had no members with a checking or savings account, and twenty percent had not used a credit card or mainstream credit platform such as a mortgage during the previous 12 months.

Because of that credit gap, a flurry of states and cities are trying to put safeguards in place.

New Jersey's legislature passed a law on Jan. 31 that bars retailers from prohibiting cash. It's waiting on the governor's signature. Meanwhile, Washington D.C. and New York have introduced similar bills. And Massachusetts has banned cashless merchants since 1978.

Shoppers want cash as well as cards: Not all shoppers are sold as more retailers buy into cashless society

Restaurants says "cards wanted'': More restaurants go cashless, accept only cards and other forms of payment

But the trade group, the National Retail Federation, believes that businesses should decide what payment methods are accepted.

We believe retailers should decide for themselves, based on their customers and on the attendant transaction costs, whether they should stop taking cash,'' Stephanie Martz, the NRF's senior vice president and general counsel said in an emailed statement.

Adding that "few merchants'' have stopped taking cash, Martz said "those that have have made the calculation that the costs of taking credit or debit only are outweighed by the increase in volume that will be driven by convenience. Cash continues to be a cheap and ubiquitous method of payment ... We believe that merchants and customers together will determine the appropriate market for payment methods.

Follow Charisse Jones on Twitter @charissejones

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: For retailers who say "no cash,'' Philadelphia says no dice: bill bans cards only
Washington (AFP) - Researchers this week announced they had developed an automatic text generator using artificial intelligence which is very good -- so good, it is keeping details private for now.

That software developed by OpenAI could be used to generate news stories, product reviews and other kinds of writing which may be more realistic than anything developed before by computer.

OpenAI, a research center backed by Tesla's Elon Musk, Amazon and Microsoft, said the new software "achieves state-of-the-art performance on many language modeling benchmarks," including summarization and translating.

But it will not be releasing the program to the public.

"Due to our concerns about malicious applications of the technology, we are not releasing the trained model," the OpenAI researchers said in a blog post Thursday.

The news suggested a potential breakthrough in efforts to develop computer-generated text which may be believable, but also potentially dangerous.

The researchers said there were numerous ways the program could be used for nefarious purposes, including to generate fake news articles, impersonating others online, and automating fake content on social media.

In one example, the program was fed one paragraph about "a herd of unicorns living in a remote, previously unexplored valley, in the Andes Mountains" and wrote a 300-word news story about it.

"The public at large will need to become more skeptical of text they find online, just as the 'deepfakes' phenomenon calls for more skepticism about images," the researchers wrote, referring to AI-manipulated videos, which have been on the rise.

The researchers said their model called GPT-2 "outperforms other language models" trained on tasks such as Wikipedia entries, news, or books without needing any specific training.

The OpenAI news is the latest showing how computers have gained in language ability, and follows a strong performance from IBM's Project Debater in a public competition with a professional debate champion.
Several Republican senators expressed disapproval Thursday at Congresss border funding deal as well as President Trumps plan to declare a national emergency to obtain funds for a border wall.

Im disappointed with both the massive, bloated, secretive bill that just passed and with the presidents intention to declare an emergency to build a wall, Senator Rand Paul wrote on Twitter.

I, too, want stronger border security, including a wall in some areas. But how we do things matters. Over 1,000 pages dropped in the middle of the night and extraconstitutional executive actions are wrong, no matter which party does them, the libertarian Kentucky Republican added.

President Trump announced Thursday that he plans to sign the compromise border funding bill that does not include the $5.7 billion in wall funding he requested. He will also declare a national emergency, the White House said.

President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action  including a national emergency  to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

Other Republican senators also criticized the presidents plan, including Susan Collins of Maine and Marco Rubio of Florida.

We have a crisis at our southern border, but no crisis justifies violating the Constitution, Rubio said in a statement.

Collins called declaring a national emergency a mistake on the part of the President and ofdubious constitutionality.

Such a declaration would undermine the role of Congress and the appropriations process, she continued.

Democrats predictably panned the decision, calling it an abuse of power by the president.

We will review our options, well be prepared to respond appropriately to it, Democratic House Speaker Pelosi said. If the president can declare an emergency on something that he has created as an emergency, an illusion that he wants to convey, just think of what a president with different values can present to the American people.

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Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer came out even stronger against the move, calling it a lawless act  a gross abuse of the power of the presidency and a desperate attempt to distract from the fact that President Trump broke his core promise to have Mexico pay for the wall.

More from National Review
Six government auxiliary men who were taken hostage by terrorist NPAs who raided a military patrol base were freed after 75 days of captivity even as four NPA rebels and two army soldiers were killed in a renewed fighting preceding a raid by local insurgents at a construction site of a military detachment in Bukidnon. The six Civilian Active Auxiliary were part of the 15 government troops (two soldiers and 13 CAAs) manning the Tubigon Patrol Base in Sibagat, Agusan del Sur who were kidnapped by the NPA rebels during a raid on December 1 last year. Maj. Gen. Felimon Santos Jr., commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command, said the NPA captors of the six CAAs were forced to release their captives in the midst of exhaustion and on the run from pursuing security forces in Caraga region. Santos identified the freed CAAs as Jurian Gaviola, Marson Iligan, Bienvenido Lamion, Eddie Tindoy, Sanny Malobay, and Hermito Iligan. The civilian volunteers were reportedly released at the vicinity of Barrage San Juan, Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur at about 6:07 p.m. on Valentines Day. Santos said the release was facilitated by a third partythe erstwhile hostages subsequently turned over to the 401st Brigade at Purok 12-A, Poblacion, Sibagat, Agusan del Sur. Santos said military units were continuously conducting operations to rescue the remaining troops who were still being held hostage and used as human shield and propaganda by the NPAs. Meanwhile, four New Peoples Army rebels and two army soldiers were killed during a clash preceding a raid by the terrorist group at a construction site of a patrol base at the outskirts of Malaybalay City, Bukidnon Thursday night. Capt. Rhyan Delgado Layug of the 403rd Brigade said a platoon of soldiers was constructing a patrol base in Sitio Green Valley, Dalwagan, Malaybalay City when some 30 armed NPAs struck at them. Layug reported that the team of army troopers was surprised and overwhelmed by the attacking NPA rebels resulting to the death of two soldiers. However, the soldiers managed to retaliate against the rebels forcing them to scamper and flee, dragging with them their four dead comrades.Layug said the NPA rebel band had admitted in a radio communication intercepted by the military that they indeed lost four men. After the fight, it was overheard over commercial handheld radio that the NPAs were talking they lost four of their cohorts, Layug said. He said the troops were doing community support activities upon the request of nearby residents for the construction of a patrol base to secure them from NPA terrorist extortion. We do not want the NPAs, they bring us more distress in our families here. We want a peaceful community for our families, Layug said, quoting a local resident whose identity was withheld. The terrorist left two M16 rifles, two unexploded anti-personnel mines still attached to a 200 meters electrical wire and ammunition magazine for M16. Layug said that the anti-personnel mines left by the NPA could kill and mutilate bodies. The NPAs continuing use of anti-personnel mines is a complete disregard of the Ottawa Conventions banning the use of anti-personnel mines because of its mutilating effect on the victims. The NPA terrorists are not different with the ISIS terrorists who also use Anti-Personnel Mines, Layug said. Lt Col. Sergio Macarandan, Commander of the 1st Special Forces Battalion, has ordered pursuit against the rebel band.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump signed off on declaring a national emergency on Friday to free up funding to construct a wall along the southern border.

The move has created a new fight between the White House and lawmakers but will allow up to $8.1 billion to be used to construct a barrier along the bother between the U.S. and Mexico.

Here's the full text of the proclamation released by the White House:

The current situation at the southern border presents a border security and humanitarian crisis that threatens core national security interests and constitutes a national emergency. The southern border is a major entry point for criminals, gang members, and illicit narcotics. The problem of large-scale unlawful migration through the southern border is long-standing, and despite the executive branch's exercise of existing statutory authorities, the situation has worsened in certain respects in recent years. In particular, recent years have seen sharp increases in the number of family units entering and seeking entry to the United States and an inability to provide detention space for many of these aliens while their removal proceedings are pending. If not detained, such aliens are often released into the country and are often difficult to remove from the United States because they fail to appear for hearings, do not comply with orders of removal, or are otherwise difficult to locate. In response to the directive in my April 4, 2018, memorandum and subsequent requests for support by the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense has provided support and resources to the Department of Homeland Security at the southern border. Because of the gravity of the current emergency situation, it is necessary for the Armed Forces to provide additional support to address the crisis.



NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 201 and 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), hereby declare that a national emergency exists at the southern border of the United States, and that section 12302 of title 10, United States Code, is invoked and made available, according to its terms, to the Secretaries of the military departments concerned, subject to the direction of the Secretary of Defense in the case of the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. To provide additional authority to the Department of Defense to support the Federal Government's response to the emergency at the southern border, I hereby declare that this emergency requires use of the Armed Forces and, in accordance with section 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1631), that the construction authority provided in section 2808 of title 10, United States Code, is invoked and made available, according to its terms, to the Secretary of Defense and, at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, to the Secretaries of the military departments. I hereby direct as follows:



Section 1. The Secretary of Defense, or the Secretary of each relevant military department, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, shall order as many units or members of the Ready Reserve to active duty as the Secretary concerned, in the Secretary's discretion, determines to be appropriate to assist and support the activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security at the southern border.



Sec. 2. The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and, subject to the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretaries of the military departments, shall take all appropriate actions, consistent with applicable law, to use or support the use of the authorities herein invoked, including, if necessary, the transfer and acceptance of jurisdiction over border lands.



Sec. 3. This proclamation is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.



IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Read President Trump's national emergency order to fund a border wall
(Reuters) - Pro-Brexit members of British Prime Minister Theresa May's government are willing to keep Britain tied to the European Union's customs regime for as long as five years in an attempt to break the deadlock in talks, Bloomberg on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. A number of senior pro-Brexit members of the prime minister's main team have privately said that they would be willing to accept such a long-term commitment, the report said. It is not clear if this would be acceptable to all Brexiteers. Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29. May's Brexit deal was rejected by a record majority in parliament on Jan. 15. On Thursday, she suffered another defeat on her Brexit strategy that undermined her pledge to EU leaders to get her divorce deal approved if they grant her concessions. (Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Alison Williams)
Nottingham Prison (PA)

Prisoners at a UK jail smoked pages from a Harry Potter book sprayed with drugs, it has been discovered.

A copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire found in an HMP Nottingham cell tested positive for a psychoactive substance similar to Spice.

Nottingham has been designated as one of the UKs most challenging prisons.

Last year it was claimed prisoners at Leeds were smoking clothes soaked in Spice.

Prisons minister Rory Stewart has vowed to turn round Britains prisons (PA)

Prisons Minister Rory Stewart has vowed to resign from his job if he cannot turnaround the situation with regards to assaults inside the worst affected 10 UK prisons.

However, he admitted Nottingham was causing concern.

Stewart pledged in August to step down if the number of assaults did not come down by this summer.

Mr Stewart said early indications was that violence was coming down in six or seven jails and he was now pretty confident he would keep his job.

Wormwood Scrubs is another prison causing concern, said the government (PA)

However, he admitted that two or three jails were proving difficult, including Nottingham. Wormwood Scrubs in London was another he was most worried about.

Last year, the minister was forced to apologise after claiming live on BBC radio for making up a stat about support for Brexit.

The Spice-like substance was found on samples from the book and was detected by a new drug-testing machine, installed as part of a 1.4m investment to bolster security.

It is thought the drugs had been sprayed on to the book before it entered the prison.

Four hundred pages were missing, which staff suspected had been torn into strips and smoked.

Prison officer Adam Donegani said each strip was worth about 50.

Last year, Peter Clarke, the chief inspector of prisons, said Nottingham Prison was dangerous, disrespectful and drug-ridden.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was the fourth novel written by JK Rowling in the Harry Potter series.

It was published in July 2000 and made into a film five years later.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK
London (AFP) - Prince Charles will make the first-ever official British royal visit to Cuba in March, his office announced Friday, to mark improving ties between the two nations.

The heir to the throne and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will make a four-day visit to Cuba during a wider tour of the Caribbean, his Clarence House official residence said.

The tour ends on March 29 -- the scheduled date of Britain's departure from the European Union.

There are no plans to meet Raul Castro, the brother of late former Communist ruler Fidel Castro, though the royals may meet members of the Buena Vista Social Club musical ensemble.

The March 24 to 27 Cuba trip, at the request of the British government, will "highlight the growing bilateral relationship with the UK and showcase some of the cultural links between the two countries", Clarence House said.

Britain's head of state Queen Elizabeth, now 92, has not made an overseas visit since 2015, meaning Charles and Camilla now do much of the heavy lifting work of foreign tours.

The whole tour, from March 17, will see them undertake more than 50 engagements across 10 islands, including Cuba.

The royal couple will also tour St Lucia, Barbados, St Vincent and The Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis and Grenada to celebrate the monarchy's relationship with those realms.

They are five of the 16 separate countries where Queen Elizabeth is the head of state.

The visit will finish in the British overseas territory of the Cayman Islands.

- Classic cars and Cuban rhythms -

The royals' Cuba trip will see them tour Havana and the south coast.

The visit will see the couple meet a group of owners of British classic cars and visit a music studio where a meeting with Buena Vista Social Club members is being finalised.

"The prince and the duchess' visit will highlight cultural and academic connections, links between the people of the UK and Cuba, and explore key themes, such as the arts, youth entrepreneurship, heritage restoration and sustainable agriculture," said Clarence House.

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They will be guests of honour at an official dinner hosted by President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who succeeded Raul Castro in April last year.

Earlier this month, Camilla confirmed she would be travelling to Cuba but confessed she "wasn't so sure" about the food.

Scott Furssedonn-Wood, the royal couple's deputy private secretary, said they were both "looking forward to all sorts of things in Cuba".

"The music, the dance, and food is certainly one of those things. I'm sure they're looking forward to sampling the local produce," he said.

The Cuban foreign ministry greeted the announcement on social media.

"You will be welcome to our country," it said on Twitter.

A British Foreign Office spokesman said: "This is part of our long-standing approach towards Cuba of engagement and open and frank dialogue over the issues that divide us like human rights, but also engagement towards progress on the matters that we're interested in."
Sidi Fredj (Algeria) (AFP) - For generations Algerians like the Gueldasmi family have barely eked out a living growing prickly pear fruits, but thanks to the cactus's new found virtues their lives are steadily improving.

"Now, my future is here. There is no need to go abroad" to find work, said Fethi Gueldasmi, 40, whose family's revenues have been growing thanks to what agronomists and biologists now call the "green gold".

Scientific reports indicate that the Opuntia species of prickly pears which thrives in arid regions like Algeria's northern Sidi Fredj contains a plethora of virtues.

Everything from the cactus -- once considered sacred by the ancient Aztecs -- can be transformed to yield nutritional and medical benefits except for its prickly spines.

The green spiny discs known as cladodes are used for fodder while their tender inner flesh is a star of the cuisine of Mexico, where the cactus originated and figures on its national flag.

Oil extracted from the seeds of fruit has antioxidant benefits and is used in cosmetics for its anti-ageing properties, besides being rich in vitamin C, calcium and magnesium.

The flowers of the cactus go into making herbal tea while the pulp of the red fruit is turned into juice, vinegar, jams and even sorbets.

A 2017 study by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) concluded prickly pears could be the answer to much of the world's food security woes and prevent soil erosion.

- 'Green gold' -

In Sidi Fredj, once an impoverished town in the Souk Haras province bordering Tunisia, Gueldsami, like his father and grandfather before him, farms prickly pears.

The fruit must be handled carefully to avoid being pricked by the sharp spines. And until recently it was harvested for its tasty, sweet flesh, which only fetched a pittance of 10 dinars (US 0.08 cents, 0.07 euro cents) a piece at the local market.

Since 2013 however all that has changed with the creation of a cooperative of farmers, scientists and traders in Souk Haras, with help from Mexico, to exploit and market prickly pear by-products.

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A small factory was built in 2015 and oil was produced in small quantities before reaching 300 litres in 2017 and 1,000 litres in 2018.

The cooperative is hoping to increase the output seven-fold by the end of this year thanks to a new and bigger factory which opened at the end of last year.

One tonne of grains is needed to produce one litre of oil, which can fetch more than 2,000 euros (dollars) in Europe.

Algeria's "green gold" is exported to France, Germany and Qatar and plans are being made to sell it in the United States as well, according to farmer Djamal Chaib.

Although Algeria -- where most of the fertile land is free of pesticides -- has no organic certification body, oil from Sidi Fredj obtained an "organic" label from European agencies and is sold as such abroad.

- 'Crucial food supply' -

"While most cacti are inedible, the Opuntia species has much to offer, especially if treated like a crop rather than a weed run wild," the FAO said in its 2017 report.

It highlighted the 2015 Madagascar drought in which the "cactus proved a crucial supply of food, forage and water for local people and their animals".

Around 80 percent of Algeria, Africa's largest country, is arid or semi-arid, providing an ideal terrain for farming prickly pears.

In Sidi Fredj, the Gueldsami family and others have seen their revenues increase thanks to farming and selling prickly pears.

Fathi said his family is now able to make home improvements and pay in cash for their groceries instead of signing IOUs.

His mother has also been saving money to carry out the hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. It is one of the five pillars of Islam and Muslims must undertake the hajj at least once in their lifetime.

"Now, my future and that of my (10-year-old) daughter is here. There is no need to travel abroad," he said.

Algeria is a country of 40 million where half the population is under 30, with one in three young people unemployed. Many dream of travelling to Europe to find a job and improve their standard of living.

Now "hundreds of families are making a living" from prickly pears, said Mohamed Mohamedi, who heads a farmer's cooperative in the region.

This includes women who take part in the harvest of prickly pears and young people.

- No 'humble' cactus -

The FAO said in its report that beyond its immense benefits, the "humble cactus" can help fight food insecurity, improve soil quality, promote barley plantations and may even help limit emissions of greenhouse gases.

A "cactus stores water in its pads, thus providing a botanical well that can provide up to 180 tonnes of water per hectare -- enough to sustain five adult cows, a substantial increase over typical rangeland productivity," FAO said.

"Climate change and the increasing risks of droughts are strong reasons to upgrade the humble cactus to the status of an essential crop in many areas," said Hans Dreyer, director of FAO's Plant Production and Protection Division, in the 2017 report.

In Algeria, the farming of prickly pears has helped crop diversification as well, according to Khodir Madani, head of a university research laboratory, with farmers growing cereals and other crops among them.

Fethi's father, Youcef Gueldsami, agreed pointing to a few pistachio trees he planted alongside the cactus.
photo of woman lying in bed trying to sleep

Many of us with depression know the drill  our psychiatrists prescribe us a type of antidepressant called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which, for some of us, can alleviate depressive symptoms. However, what we rarely talk about is what happens when the brain produces too much serotonin. Truthfully, I never would have given this a second thought if it wasnt something that happened to me.

I was on an antidepressant for about a year when, a month or so back, it stopped easing my depression and anxiety. I went to my psychiatrist, who decided I should switch medications. Since I had previously been prescribed another type of SSRI, a different SSRI was next on the list. The plan was to slowly taper off my current SSRI while beginning my new medication regimen. I was to take my full dose of my old antidepressant together with my new dose of my new antidepressant for two weeks. After those two weeks, I was to reduce to half a dose of my old antidepressant for one week while still taking the new medication, then down to a quarter dose of my old medication for one week while still taking the new one, and then off the old one altogether.

Related: What Anthony Bourdains Shows Mean to Me Now as a Person With Depression

After about 10 days of being on my full doses of my old and new medications, I began to experience some symptoms. I was nauseous, my arms and hands had a constant, slight shake, and I was unable to sleep at night. At first, I chalked these symptoms up to side effects of switching medications. That is until my symptoms started to worsen and new ones arose. My nausea increased, I began having diarrhea (gross, I know), my shake moved into my jaw and legs, and I continued to be unable to sleep.

How would you respond to this? Answer Sandras question below.

Has anyone ever heard the statement happy people dont get sick? My mother-in-law decided to tell my daughter that she thinks our family is depressed and unhappy all the time and that is why we have health problems. She said that her perspective must be correct because if we were happy we would not be sick so often. Has anyone else ever been told this by someone? If so what did you respond? #Fibro #CFS #EosinophilicEsophagitis #AspergersSyndrome

Related: 12 'Sexy' Things to Say to Your Partner With Depression



Join the Conversation

One day, about 12 days into taking my full doses of both old and new medications, I had a scary episode. I was in my office and my body began to violently shake. I went into my boss office so I wouldnt have to be alone. My jaw, shoulders, arms, hands, stomach, legs, and feet were violently shaking with tremors I had never experienced before. I was afraid I was about to have a seizure, though one never ensued. This episode lasted about 30 minutes and began to taper off, though the shaking and other symptoms I was experiencing never completely stopped. At this point, I called my psychiatrist and scheduled an appointment. He saw me about an hour and a half after my episode (at which time I was drained of all energy and my body felt heavy). My psychiatrist decided I was most likely having a reaction to taking both medications at the same time. So, he advised me to start taking half of my old medication together with the new one  this would speed up my tapering off. I obliged. My boss told me to take it easy the day after my episode, so I stayed home the next day. While my symptoms still remained, I trusted they would soon subside due to my cutting back on the old medication.

Story continues

Related: Sadness Is an Emotion, but Depression Is So Much More

The next day, I went into my office for a meeting and another episode ensued. Again, I had full-body tremors and was afraid of having a seizure or passing out. I waited for the length of time it took my last episode to subside (about 30 minutes or so) with no luck. My body continued shaking, my head began to hurt, I felt like I would throw up any second, I started sweating profusely despite the cold temperatures in the office and outdoors, and a fever began. One of my co-workers drove me to urgent care. There, in addition to the symptoms described above, the doctor told me that my pupils were dilated and I had a high blood pressure. The verdict: serotonin syndrome.

According to WebMD, and my doctor at urgent care (of course), serotonin syndrome is a potentially fatal collection of symptoms caused when the brain produces too much serotonin. Symptoms can start as quickly as hours after beginning a new medication and include: confusion, agitation or restlessness, dilated pupils, headache, changes in blood pressure and/or temperature, nausea and/or vomiting, diarrhea, rapid heart rate, tremor, loss of muscle coordination or twitching muscles, shivering and goosebumps, and heavy sweating.

In severe cases, serotonin syndrome can be life-threatening. Some symptoms of severe serotonin syndrome include: high fever, seizures, irregular heartbeat and unconsciousness.

My doctor told me (just as WebMD says) that serotonin syndrome can occur if you are taking medications, particularly antidepressants, that affect the bodys level of serotonin. The greatest risk of serotonin syndrome occurs if you are taking two or more drugs and/or supplements together that influence serotonin. This came as a surprise to me, though it made sense considering I was taking both my old and new medication at the same time.

Since I was experiencing a mix of moderate to severe symptoms, the doctor at urgent care ordered me to stop taking all medications. Additionally, he urged me to go to the emergency room if symptoms persisted or became more severe. Throughout the evening, my symptoms did just that. By nighttime, I was at the hospital receiving treatment for my serotonin syndrome. The emergency room doctors gave me oral pills to block serotonin production, as well as an IV with fluids and a benzodiazepine to help hydrate me and ease my tremors. For the days to come, I rested and waited impatiently for the serotonin syndrome to be cured.

My psychiatrist (who I have now since changed) told me I couldnt take any medication for 30 days after having serotonin syndrome. So far, its been about four days since Ive been off all medication. While I have still yet to completely heal, I wanted to share my story to help others be aware of some of the more severe repercussions of switching medication that produces serotonin. My advice would be to pay close attention to your bodies and to self-advocate to your doctors. From my perspective, these things are worth it to avoid what I had to go through  and I am still healing from.

In my heart, I know healing is not linear. I will have my ups and downs, my highs and lows. During this process of healing and of being unmedicated, I will be kind to myself. I will allow myself bad days as well as good days. I will give special attention to self-care, making sure I am comfortable through it all. I will pour out graciousness and thanks to all of those who helped me through this process. I will continue going to therapy.

I just hope my story can help those of you who are currently on, switching or may be prescribed SSRI antidepressants now and in the future. I hope this may help you recognize the symptoms of this potentially fatal syndrome before they escalate. I hope you never have to go through the fear and uncertainty I went through. My friends, I wish you all well.

Read more stories like this on The Mighty:

12 Tricks People With Depression Use to Get This 'Crushing' Chore Done

The 3 Different Types of 'Hidden' Depression

6 Signs I Might Be Hiding a Depressive Episode
Lisbon (AFP) - Hospitals cut services to a minimum, schools were closed and rubbish was left uncollected in Portugal on Friday as public workers went on strike over pay.

Trade unions are demanding that the Socialist government raise salaries, in the latest strike to hit the government of Prime Minister Antonio Costa.

The government promised in its 2019 budget to increase the salaries of the lowest paid workers but unions say the pay of around 600,000 public sector staff has been frozen for the last 10 years.

Striking nurses have already delayed thousands of operations since the start February and ignored a government order last week to get back to work.

"We're seeing lots of support in hospitals, schools and in waste collection," Armenio Carlos, secretary general of Portugal's biggest trade union the CGTP, told reporters.

Public transport workers in the capital Lisbon and the northwestern city of Porto were not on strike however.

Costa's Socialist Party is leading opinion polls eight months ahead of legislative elections, as the country emerges from a period of austerity triggered by the global financial crisis.

But it has come under fire from the UGT, Portugal's second biggest and traditionally pro-socialist trade union.

"We are witnessing a revolt by the public and the unions" against a government which "gave high expectations but below par results", its secretary general Carlos Silva said.
WARSAW (Reuters) - The United States aims to "get as far down the road as we can" ahead of a summit with North Korea in Vietnam this month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday. Pompeo said he was sending his team back to Asia in the coming days for further discussions around all issues discussed at a groundbreaking Singapore summit last June between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump announced last week he would hold a second summit with Kim in Hanoi on Feb. 27 and 28. Pompeo told a news conference in Warsaw that Trump and Kim would be looking at the "denuclearization pillar they agreed to" at their first summit as well as other matters. "We'll certainly talk about how we ... reduce tension, reduce military risks, take down that risk so we can get peace and security on the peninsula as well," he said after a conference on the Middle East. "We are aiming to get this as far down the road as we can in what is now a couple of weeks," Pompeo said. Asked later in a Fox News interview how important the formal end of the Korean War was in the discussions, Pompeo said: "It's something we've had a lot of talks about. In fact, my team will redeploy to Asia here in a day or two to continue conversations around all elements that were discussed back in Singapore." The United States has been demanding that North Korea give up a nuclear weapons program that threatens the United States, and Trump has been eager for a second summit even though the Singapore meeting produced only vague commitments from Kim and little concrete progress since. North Korea has been seeking a lifting of punishing U.S.-led sanctions, a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War and security guarantees. In an interview with CBS News on Wednesday, Pompeo said of Kim that "now it's time for him to deliver." U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun is expected to hold further talks with his North Korean counterpart next week to prepare for the Hanoi summit. Biegun held three days of talks in Pyongyang last week, which he said would be aimed at mapping out "a set of concrete deliverables" for Hanoi. The State Department has offered no indications of any progress in these. South Korean media said Biegun told a South Korean parliamentary delegation that in Pyongyang the two sides agreed not to negotiate, but to make clear their respective positions, and they would seek to narrow their differences in the next round of talks. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Additional reporting by Adam Charlish; writing by Justyna Pawlak and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Alistair Bell and Sandra Maler)
By Lesley Wroughton REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - The United States and Iceland have agreed to set up formal economic channels to boost trade and business investment, the countries' top diplomats said on Friday. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the NATO ally in the north Atlantic on Friday, also to discuss security relations and China and Russia's growing presence in the Arctic. "We have now established an economic dialogue between our two nations which I think will bear fruit quickly," Pompeo said at a press conference. His visit comes amid increased interest in the Arctic, which has big reserves of oil, gas, gold, diamonds, zinc and iron. With global warming melting polar ice, it may offer world powers new shipping routes - and naval interests - for trade between Asia, Europe and Americas east coast. He said it was still unclear whether boosting economic ties could be done through a formal trade agreement "which if accomplished would be a really good outcome," or whether they would come from a set of common understandings to cut costs or reduce barriers. "There is still unrealized potential in trade and our commercial relationship," Icelandic Foreign Minister Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson said at the common press meeting. "We are very excited to take this important step ... and we should try and do it as quickly as possible," he added. STRATEGIC PLACE Iceland sits in a "strategic place in the world", Pompeo said during his visit. Asked how the United States planned to counter China and Russia's increased presence in the Arctic region, he said: "You find friends and allies in the region and you work alongside them, and you show up and you have serious discussions with them about how to approach it." Pompeo said that the United States "deeply understands the geo-strategic challenges" that exist in the Arctic and the risks that are there. "We have watched America's adversaries begin to deploy assets in a way that they believe will strategically disadvantage not only the United States, but Iceland and the European countries as well," he said. "We know that when America retreats nations such as China and Russia will fill the vacuum. It's inevitable when we're not there," he said. Pompeo said he was very confident the cooperation between the United States and Iceland would achieve outcomes. "I look forward to being part of this as Iceland takes over the Arctic Council, determining how and where to best deploy assets, not just military, but all of the assets," he said. Iceland assumes the two-year rotating chairmanship of the Arctic Council in May. It comprises Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United States and Denmark, all of which have territory inside the Arctic Circle. Referring to increased competition in the Arctic region, foreign minister Thordarson said it was important that the Arctic remain a "peaceful, low tension area". The organization, which coordinates Arctic policy, is gaining clout as sea ice thaws to open up new trade routes and intensify competition for its as yet undiscovered oil and gas reserves. (Additional reporting and writing by Teis Jensen in Copenhagen; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Toby Chopra)
By Robin Emmott and Lesley Wroughton MUNICH/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence accused Iran of Nazi-like anti-Semitism on Friday, maintaining his harsh rhetoric against Tehran just a day he attacked European powers for trying to undermine U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic. After visiting the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, Pence said the Nazi death camp had made him more determined to confront Tehran, saying it was "breathing out murderous threats, with the same vile anti-Semitic hatred that animated the Nazis in Europe." Iran's ancient Jewish community has slumped to an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 from 85,000 at the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but is believed to be the biggest in the Middle East outside Israel. Pence, who said he was deeply moved by his Auschwitz visit, cited Iran's stated desire to destroy Israel as justification for singling out the country, rather than focusing on anti-Semitism across the Middle East. Iranian Brigadier General Hossein Salami, deputy head of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said in January Iran's strategy was to wipe "the Zionist regime" (Israel) off the political map, Iran's state TV reported. "For me it simply strengthens my resolve ... to stand strong against Iran," Pence told reporters on his Air Force Two plane before arriving in Munich. The United States is seeking to isolate Tehran and reimposed economic sanctions last year after pulling out of the landmark 2015 Iran accord with world powers that prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. However, the tougher stance comes as the European Union is trying to keep the nuclear deal alive and has developed a mechanism to open a channel to continue to trade with Iran, bringing sharp criticism of Brussels from Pence on Thursday. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the EU's top diplomat discussed global conflicts but largely avoided the issue of Iran on Friday. Pompeo's meeting with Federica Mogherini, the European Union's foreign policy chief, was scheduled before Pence's rebuke of European powers, during a Middle East peace conference in Warsaw on Thursday. Mogherini missed the Warsaw conference, citing a scheduling conflict at NATO. Mogherini shook off a question seeking her reaction to Pence's Thursday speech. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said the vice president's remarks were not raised during the hour-long meeting, which he said was friendly and constructive. They also did not talk about the Iran nuclear deal, although they did discuss Iran's "destabilizing activities and the need to counter them," he said. A spokeswoman for Mogherini said the talks with Pompeo had focused on Venezuela, Syria, Afghanistan, the Korean peninsula, Ukraine and the Western Balkans. Pence's unusually tough words on Thursday for allies Germany, France and Britain reflect Washington's strategy of isolating Iran, and are likely to further strain transatlantic relations. In a speech on Friday evening in Munich with European and U.S. officials, lawmakers and diplomats, Pence said: I bring you greetings from the 45th president of the United States, President Donald Trump. He paused for applause. The room was silent for a very long moment. ISOLATING IRAN Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Tehran accepted curbs on its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions. On Thursday, speaking at NATO before Pence's comments, Mogherini said upholding the deal was vital to European security because it prevented Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. European countries say they share U.S. concerns about Iran's involvement in wars in Yemen and Syria but that withdrawing from the nuclear deal was a mistake. They have promised to try to salvage the deal as long as Iran continues to abide by it. In practice, European companies have accepted new U.S. sanctions on Iran and abandoned plans to invest there. France, Germany and Britain have agreed on a new channel for non-dollar trade with Iran to avert U.S. sanctions. That will likely take months to open, however, and is expected to be used only for smaller trade such as humanitarian products or food. Mogherini and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Friday defended the nuclear accord with Iran at the Munich Security Conference despite Washington's repeated attacks against the bloc for keeping to the deal. France's Foreign Minister questioned Washington's policy in northeastern Syria saying it contradicted its tough stance on Tehran because a U.S. withdrawal would only reinforce Iran. "We hate what Iran is doing in Syria. We hate what Hezbollah is doing in Lebanon. We hate what Iran is doing with the Houthis in Yemen and militias elsewhere. We hate what they have been doing in Europe and we're extremely preoccupied with its ballistic missile program," said a European official. "We're very lucid and extremely vigilant on all that, but Iran has kept its side of the nuclear deal and isn't building a nuclear weapon and that is vital to all our security interests." (Additional reporting by John Irish in Munich and Parisa Hafezi in Dubai; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Mabalacat CityThe Supreme Court en banc threw away the petition to unseat the present chief executive here filed by the camp of ex-mayor Marino Morales. In a 21-page decision penned by Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, the High Tribunal dismissed the petitions for Certiorari filed separately by Morales and Halili. They were filed few days before Crisostomo Garbo assumed the mayorship as the Comelec en banc issued a Writ of Execution on June 8, 2017. The writ ordered for the proclamation of Garbo on June 27, 2017. The SC dismissed for lack of merit and affirmed Resolution of the Comelec First Division issued on August 3, 2016 and the subsequent Resolution of Comelec En Banc issued on May 26, 2017. Both were the subject of the petitions of Morales and Halili. I am elated with the recent Supreme Court decision as this lay to rest the issue on the legitimacy of my leadership as City Mayor of Mabalacat City. I extend my hand of conciliation to the parties and for them to help me achieve my dream of transforming Mabalacat City into a world-class City in the Philippines, said Garbo.On June 2, 2017, Halili filed with the SC a Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition with application for Temporary Restraining Order and/or Status Ante Order. Separately, Morales filed also with the SC three days later a Petition for Certiorari with Urgent Prayer for Temporary Restraining Order and/or Status Ante Order and/or Write of Preliminary Injunction. The nature of the petitions assailed the rulings of the Comelec of August 3, 2016 and May 26, 2017. The Comelecs First Division on August 3, 2016 ordered the cancellation of Certificate of Candidacy (COC) of Morales and votes cast in his favor declared astray. The same ruling ordered the City Board of Canvassers to reconvene and annul the proclamation of Morales and proclaim the qualified candidate with the next highest number of votes. Jess Malabanan The Comelec En Banc on May 26, 2017 affirmed the decision of the First Division as it denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Morales for lack of merit.




The majority of all New York voters supported the opening of an Amazon headquarters in Queens but the backing was strongest among blacks and hispanic residents, according to a recent Siena College poll.

The poll, conducted from February 4-7, asked 778 New Yorkers: Do you approve or disapprove of the recently announced deal between Amazon and New York, which grants up to $3 billion in state and city incentives to Amazon in return for Amazon locating its corporate offices in Queens, where it is projected to generate 25,000 jobs?

A significant majority (56 percent) of all New Yorkers approved of the plan while 36 percent disapproved. Among New York City residents support was slightly stronger at 58 percent.

Support was most pronounced among minorities: 70 percent of black voters approved while just 25 percent disapproved, and 81 percent of Latinos approved compared to 17 percent who disapproved.

Even as Amazon is said to be re-examining the deal to locate in Queens, by twenty points New York voters approve of the deal, said pollster Don Levy. In New York City, where some local activists have voiced opposition, voters approve of the deal by 23 points.

The plan, which would have provided Amazon roughly $3 billion in state and city tax subsidies, was scuttled this week due to a political impasse in Albany. Governor Andrew Cuomo, who had enthusiastically endorsed the proposal, blamed a small group of unnamed politicians for the setback in a statement released Thursday.

A small group politicians put their own narrow political interests above their communityThe New York State Senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity, the statement read in part.

More from National Review
By Catarina Demony LISBON (Reuters) - Authorities seized more than three tonnes of cocaine and arrested 11 people off Portugal's Atlantic coast, dismantling a drug smuggling gang that operated across international waters from a cargo vessel, police said on Friday. The seizure of the 3.3 tonnes of cocaine - thought to be worth around $148 million at European street prices - took place on the high seas when security forces boarded the smuggling ship 150 nautical miles off the country's coast. The investigation into the gang, which started in 2017, was led by Spanish authorities. "This type of drug trafficking is not confined to a specific territorial or border area," Spanish authorities said in a joint statement. "They expand their reach of operations to waters and territories that affect various countries." The seizure took place on Jan. 30 and the ship was traveling to Europe from South America. It was then transferred to the port of Setubal, 50 kilometers south of Lisbon. Of the 11 arrested, eight were from the Ukraine, one from Georgia, one from the Netherlands and one French. According to authorities the smuggling gang hoped to operate from the ship itself by transferring the cocaine into smaller, faster boats, which would then bring the drugs into Spain and elsewhere in Europe. Authorities found 80 bales of pure cocaine stored on the ship's top deck, all of them equipped with hooks to facilitate transfer to smaller boats. In December a study by the EU drugs agency revealed that new gangs are muscling into cocaine markets in Europe, setting up smuggling networks straight from producers in Latin America to consumers. Rising supplies of purer cocaine to Europe are mainly the result of growing production in Latin America, especially by the biggest producer, Colombia. Global cocaine production reached a record high of an estimated 1,410 tonnes in 2016, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Axel Bugge and Hugh Lawson)
Abuja (AFP) - Authorities in northwest Nigeria on Friday said police had discovered the bodies of 66 people, including women and children, in an area known for ethnic and religious clashes.

Kaduna state governor Nasir El-Rufai said the grim find was made in eight villages in the Kajuru area, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of the state capital, Kaduna city.

"Security agencies today reported the recovery of 66 bodies that were killed in attacks by criminal elements," he said in a statement.

"Among the victims were 22 children and 12 women. Four wounded persons rescued by the security agencies are now receiving medical attention.

"(The) government condemns the attacks and commiserates with the families of the victims."

There was no immediate comment from the police but El-Rufai, a close ally of President Muhammadu Buhari, said officers had been sent and arrests made.

He urged community, traditional and religious leaders to warn local people not to launch reprisal attacks.

"The killings are being investigated and residents are assured that indicted persons will be prosected," he said.

Kaduna has long been a centre for deadly unrest, fuelled by long-standing ethnic and religious tensions, as well as election-related violence.

But Maisamari Dio, president of the ethnic Christian Adara community, which is dominant in the Kujuru area, blamed the killings on ethnic Fulani Muslims.

He told AFP Fulanis attacked a village on Sunday, killing up to 12 people. Angry Adara people mounted reprisals in recent days.

"The people found by the Kaduna state government today were likely those killed (by the Fulani) and some Adara, a mix, but I am not sure of the extent," he added.

"The situation in the last three years has been recurring, with kidnapping, killings, people being attacked. These people will sometimes give advanced threats."

The announcement by El-Rufai, who is seeking re-election, is unusual and a possible indication of deaths from both communities.

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But his statement will also be designed to try to defuse anger before Saturday's vote.

- Calls for peace -

El-Rufai's spokesman Samuel Aruwan said Kaduna residents should "uphold peace and harmony, shun violence and allow the elections to be held in an atmosphere of calm".

Hundreds of people were killed in 2011 when then-opposition candidate Buhari, a Muslim former military ruler from the north, lost to Goodluck Jonathan, a southern Christian.

Buhari stands for re-election on Saturday. His main challenger is Atiku Abubakar, another ethnic Fulani Hausa-speaking Muslim, from northeast Nigeria.

Security is a major election issue, with no sign of an end to Boko Haram's Islamist insurgency in the northeast and renewed violence between farmers and herders in central states.

Northwest Nigeria -- and particularly Zamfara state -- is also in the grip of spiralling attacks by criminal gangs involved in cattle rustling and kidnapping for ransom.

Kaduna state borders Zamfara. Local leaders in the Birnin Gwari region of Kaduna told AFP in January they suffered deadly attacks by armed bandits on an almost daily basis.
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland summoned Israel's ambassador on Friday and threatened to scupper a summit in Jerusalem after reported comments in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to accuse the Polish nation of complicity in the Nazi Holocaust. Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the prime minister, who was in Warsaw for a U.S.-sponsored Middle East conference, had been misquoted by The Jerusalem Post, which issued a corrected story. In a later statement, Netanyahu's office said that in his remarks on the question of Polish collaboration with Nazi occupiers, he had not cast any blanket blame. Poland, where sensitivities over the issue of its actions during the Holocaust are high, called in Israeli envoy Anna Azari. The matter of Poland's conduct during the Holocaust - in which many of the six million Jewish dead were killed in Nazi camps on Polish soil - was at the center of an Israeli-Polish diplomatic dispute last year. After an outcry in Israel and the United States, Poland's conservative Law and Justice government backed out of legislation mandating jail terms for anyone suggesting the country had collaborated with the Nazis. Sensitivities were tested again late on Thursday after Netanyahu answered a question about that law posed by one of the Israeli reporters who had traveled with him to Poland. Israel's Haaretz newspaper quoted Netanyahu as saying: "The Poles collaborated with the Nazis, and I don't know anyone who was ever sued for such a statement." Yaakov Katz, the Jerusalem Post's editor, told Reuters the account in his newspaper had used the term "Polish nation", although not in a direct quote from Netanyahu, and the story was swiftly amended to reflect what he really said. But Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek said Warsaw wanted the matter "to be clarified unequivocally". Hours later, Netanyahu's office issued a second statement. "In a briefing, PM Netanyahu spoke of Poles and not the Polish people or the country of Poland," the statement said. Many Poles still refuse to accept research showing thousands participated in the Holocaust in addition to the thousands who risked their lives to help the Jews. Commenting on Netanyahu's remarks, Polish President Andrzej Duda raised a question mark over a two-day summit in Jerusalem next week of the four central European nations - Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Duda said that if Netanyahu had said what was originally reported, "Israel would not be a good place to meet in spite of the previous arrangements". Duda offered his own presidential residence as an alternative venue. Netanyahu has sought to use the so-called Visegrad group as a counterweight to western European Union criticism of Israel's policies toward the Palestinians. (Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko and Alan Charlish in Warsaw, Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; Editing by John Stonestreet, Mark Heinrich and Frances Kerry)
Jerusalem (AFP) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office insisted Friday the Israeli leader had not implicated all Poles in the Holocaust, after Warsaw demanded clarifications on his reported comments.

"Netanyahu spoke of Poles and not the Polish people or the country of Poland," a statement read.

"This was misquoted and misrepresented in press reports and was subsequently corrected by the journalist who issued the initial misstatement," it said.

Earlier Friday, Poland's deputy foreign minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek told reporters they expected the Israeli side to "clearly explain" what Netanyahu had said.

"We consider the current explanations regarding this matter unclear," he added, following talks with Israel's ambassador who had been summoned following uproar in Poland over the Israeli media reports.

Israeli Ambassador Anna Azari had earlier denied a Jerusalem Post report quoting Netanyahu as saying that "Poles cooperated with the Germans" in the Holocaust. Haaretz newspaper later also ran the story.

The controversy threatened to undermine a summit due next week in Israel between Netanyahu and four central European counterparts.

Warsaw has long been at pains to point out that Poland, which was occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II, could not have and did not collaborate in the Holocaust although individual Poles may have done so.

"I was present during the prime minister's briefing and he didn't say that the Polish nation collaborated with the Nazis, he only said that no person was sued for speaking about those Poles who did cooperate with them," Azari said in a Friday statement sent to the Polish authorities.

No official transcript of Netanyahu's remarks was published.

Prior to Azari's statement, Polish President Andrzej Duda had even suggested that the Visegrad Group summit of four central European EU members and Israel due there next week could be reconsidered.

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A Duda spokesman later confirmed that the meeting would go ahead, adding that the controversy had resulted from "harmful media manipulation".

Netanyahu was in Warsaw this week for a two-day summit on the Middle East co-hosted by Poland and the United States and focused on isolating Iran while building Arab-Israeli ties.

The fresh controversy in Polish-Israeli ties comes after last year's row over a Polish law that made it illegal to accuse the Polish nation or state of complicity in Nazi German crimes.

After protests from Israel and the US, Poland amended the law to remove the possibility of fines or a prison sentence.

Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II and lost six million citizens including three million Jews.
By Martin Petty and Neil Jerome Morales MANILA (Reuters) - The head of a Philippine news website that has locked horns with President Rodrigo Duterte was freed on bail on Thursday, a day after her widely condemned arrest on libel charges that critics say is a government effort to bully journalists. Maria Ressa, the award-winning head of news platform Rappler, was served a warrant live on television at her office on Wednesday for what media watchdogs said were trumped-up charges aimed at intimidating those who challenge Duterte's rule. "For me it's about two things - abuse of power and weaponisation of the law," Ressa said. "You have to express outrage and do it now. Press freedom is not just about journalists ... Press freedom is the foundation of every single right of every Filipino to the truth," she told reporters after posting bail of 100,000 pesos ($1,908) on Thursday afternoon. Ressa is accused of cyber libel over a 2012 Rappler article, which was updated in 2014, that linked a Filipino businessman to murder, human trafficking and drug smuggling. Rappler cited information contained in a 2002 intelligence report but did not say which agency compiled it. The businessman's lawyer says the information was wrong, the article was defamatory and that his client wants to clear his name. A spokesman for the U.S. State Department emphasized the importance of freedom of expression and called Ressa "a highly respected and experienced journalist". "We hope these charges will be resolved quickly, in a way that fully respects the freedom of the press, allows Ms. Ressa and Rappler to continue to operate freely, and is consistent with the Philippines' tradition of a free and independent press," the spokesman said. Duterte has made no secret of his annoyance at Rappler and has sparred frequently with its reporters, who are known for scrutinizing his policies and his appointments and for questioning the accuracy of his sweeping, often bellicose statements. Rappler's reporting has accused his administration of creating a social media "ecosystem" designed to defend Duterte, threaten and discredit his opponents, and discourage Filipinos from criticizing him for fear of being attacked by online trolls. The government denies the accusations. 'ABSOLUTELY UNRELATED' Duterte once suggested Rappler was American-owned and could therefore be linked to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. He called Rappler a "fake news outlet" and banned a reporter from covering his events. Duterte made no mention of the case during a televised speech late on Thursday that lasted almost two hours. Asked by a reporter for comment on Ressa's case, he appeared bemused and said he knew nothing of it. He also expressed frustration when asked about administration attacks on the media: "Far from it actually". Rappler, founded in 2010, is no stranger to legal challenges and faces ongoing cases over tax evasion and alleged ownership violations. It denies wrongdoing and says it will not be cowed into self-censorship. This was the first time Ressa was arrested, although she said her release marked the sixth time she had been charged and granted bail. Duterte's spokesman, Salvador Panelo, said the libel case was "absolutely unrelated" to the government and that Duterte had no interest in punishing journalists. Ressa spent Wednesday night in a room at the National Bureau of Investigation headquarters in the capital, Manila, and had been unable to post bail immediately because the court had closed. Her brief detention was criticized by journalists and activists at home and abroad. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said it was an "outrageous" arrest that "must be condemned by all democratic nations". London-based Amnesty International said Duterte's administration was using the law to "relentlessly intimidate and harass journalists". Dabet Panelo of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said it would backfire. (Additional reporting by Enrico dela Cruz in Manila and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Paul Tait and Matthew Lewis)
Brussels (AFP) - Washington's new acting defence chief took part in his first NATO gathering Wednesday meeting allies unsure about his interim status and wary after recent spats with his boss President Donald Trump.

Former Boeing executive Patrick Shanahan took over at the Pentagon after serving as deputy, thrust onto the world stage when his predecessor Jim Mattis quit after long-running disagreements with Trump.

His first appearance for the cameras at NATO headquarters in Brussels, a routine "grip and grin" handshake with alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, drew unusual interest, with Shanahan's every word and gesture picked over for meaning.

"It's a pleasure to be over to spend time with you and especially in a such a nice facility," said Shanahan, after a tour that has taken in Kabul and Baghdad as well as Brussels in just a few days.

"One of the other things that I am looking forward to during the time that we are together is to talk about the future of NATO, the capabilities that we can further develop."

With nerves still jangling in Europe after July's tumultuous summit, when Trump reportedly threatened to "go it alone" unless allies boosted their defence spending, Shanahan's reference to "the future of NATO" sent some journalists into a spin.

"Really? They want to start dismantling NATO?" exclaimed one.

US officials said Shanahan was simply referring to upcoming NATO initiatives to fight terrorism and emerging threats to alliance security, which will be discussed at a leaders' meeting in London in December.

At his press conference later in the day, Stoltenberg said Shanahan was "very well received by all allies".

"It was a very strong and a very clear message about the US ironclad commitment to NATO... also the very strong personal commitment he has to NATO," Stoltenberg said.

- European doubts -

Mattis was highly regarded in NATO and in the run-up to his departure there was anxious talk in Europe about what might happen if he quit.

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Former NATO secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer described Mattis as "one of the last men standing" in a Washington increasingly dominated by Trump's "America first" ideology.

A diplomat from a European country said they would be "listening carefully" to Shanahan to see if he would follow in the footsteps of Mattis or toe the president's line.

Former Marine general Mattis quit after clashing with Trump over the president's abrupt decision to pull US forces out of Syria, and referred to NATO twice in his resignation letter.

"Our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships," he wrote.

"NATO's 29 democracies demonstrated that strength in their commitment to fighting alongside us following the 9-11 attack on America."

NATO insists Washington's commitment to the alliance is not in doubt, pointing to increased US investments of troops and resources in Europe.

But European doubts linger about Trump's commitment to alliances generally and NATO in particular -- fuelled by a recent New York Times article suggesting the president has repeatedly told aides he does not see the point of NATO and thinks the US should withdraw.

"We don't know if Shanahan will become the new defence secretary or if he will follow Mattis's approach," said the European diplomat.

Another said: "I hear he is very close to Mattis and said he will follow this basic path. On the other hand, he has to look at the president."
Oswiecim (Poland) (AFP) - US Vice President Mike Pence on Friday paid homage to victims of the Holocaust at the former Nazi German Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, a day after he accused Iranian authorities of plotting a "new Holocaust".

More than a million European Jews perished at the site located in then German-occupied southern Polish town of Oswiecim during World War II.

Pence passed through the Auschwitz camp's infamous wrought-iron "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work makes you free") gate before laying a wreath at the death wall where the Nazis executed thousands of people.

Accompanied by his wife Karen and Poland's President Andrzej Duda and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda, Pence then stood, head bowed in silent homage.

The group visited the exhibit of human hair and personal effects of victims inside an adjacent barrack block prior to the wreath-laying.

US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner was also present.

Later, at the nearby twin death camp of Birkenau, Pence knelt and placed a rose on the running board of a train wagon on tracks that the Nazis used to bring prisoners to the camp from across Europe.

The American officials were in Warsaw this week for a two-day conference on the Middle East co-hosted by Poland and the United States and focused on isolating Iran while building Arab-Israeli ties.

Speaking at the event, Pence accused Tehran of planning a "new Holocaust" with its opposition to Israel and regional ambitions in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also attended as did representatives of Arab states, but Russia and Iran did not, with Tehran slamming the meeting as being "dead on arrival" and having "empty results".

Of the more than 1.3 million people held by Nazi Germany at Auschwitz, some 1.1 million mostly Jewish prisoners perished, either in the gas chambers or by starvation or disease.

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Historians estimate that up to 150,000 ethnic Poles were also held at Auschwitz. Used as slave labourers, half died at the camp.

European Roma were also targeted for annihilation. Around 23,000 were deported to Auschwitz, of whom only 2,000 survived, according to estimates.

The Nazis killed six million of pre-war Europe's 11 million Jews and more than half of its roughly one million Roma.

Black Germans, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and the mentally and physically disabled were also persecuted as "undesirables".
MUNICH (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence accused Iran on Friday of anti-Semitism akin to the Nazis following his visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland that had strengthened his resolve to act against Tehran. "We have the regime in Tehran that's breathing out murderous threats, with the same vile anti-Semitic hatred that animated the Nazis in Europe," Pence told reporters on Air Force Two before landing in Munich. He said that being in Auschwitz had made him reflect to "strengthen the resolve of the free world to oppose that kind of vile hatred and to confront authoritarian threats of our time." (Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Paul Carrel)
Villar asks coconut farmers to diversify

posted February 15, 2019 at 08:10 pm by Jess Malabanan February 15, 2019 at 08:10 pm

San Fernando, PampangaSenate Committee on Agriculture and Food chair Senator Cynthia Villar urged coconut farmers across the country to venture into other sources of income, such as planting cash crops and inter-cropping, to boost their source of livelihood. Villar issued the call in the wake of fluctuating copra prices being experienced by farmers in Leyte and Samar islands. The price of copra currently hovers around P10 per kilo. Coco farmers should think other source of income like inter-cropping, livestock raising and coffee and cacao farming, VIllar told reporters on the sideline of Hugpong Ng Pagbabago opening salvo political rally held at the Capitol grounds Tuesday (Feb. 12).Aside from copra, Villar said coco farmers should venture into coco water and coco sugar as these products are highly in-demand abroad. I attended a food fair in Germany where coco water is being processed into coco sugar, said Villar, adding that the government would provide training and processing equipment.

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Ronnie OSullivan lost to Alexander Ursenbacher in the Welsh Open

Ronnie OSullivan was many peoples pick for the Welsh Open crown, but the Rocket is leaving Cardiff early thanks to the efforts at the Alexander Ursenbacher.

The 22-year-old Swiss cue man was good value for his 4-2 third-round win over OSullivan, who had no complaints that the better player won the match on the day.

He played a fantastic match. I didnt feel like I did too much wrong, to be honest with you, said OSullivan.

He potted balls off the lampshade, put me in lots of trouble, put me under pressure.

Hes a confident lad, he plays with complete freedom like hes got nothing to lose and theyre sometimes the hardest players to play on the tour.

Watch the Welsh Open LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player, with analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.
SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP)  North Macedonian officials said Friday they have carried out a series of raids in an operation against suspected radical Islamic terrorists.

The Interior Ministry said that searches were conducted at several locations in the country targeting suspects. It said police confiscated "objects and devices related to the possible attack."

No arrests were announced.

The announcement follows a warning from the U.S. Embassy in Skopje saying that there was a "heightened risk of terrorist attacks inspired by extremist ideology in North Macedonia." The embassy also warned U.S. citizens in North Macedonia to maintain a high level of vigilance.

The ministry announcement said the searches related to "potential plans and intentions to commit a terrorist act in the territory of our country by members of radical structures supporting of ISIS."

North Macedonian officials say about 130 of the country's citizens have fought with the Islamic State, or ISIS, group in Syria. Some have returned to North Macedonia.
We know what youre thinking  Im not even 35 yet, why should I be worrying about whats going to happen when Im 40, 45.ahem, 50. Youre going to say a pair of forty-something women frustrated with their career trajectories is just normal mid-life angst  nothing new.

But is it? Maura, 47, has been an editor at some of the most well-regarded publications in New York, but these days shes feeling the existential dread of working at a print publication at a time when she's constantly reminded that print is dying. This also comes as she's trying to jump-start her career or shift gears while struggling to take care of a two-year-old. Alexandra (Lexy), 44, has published five books and established herself as an expert in the environmental health world. She has relocated to the Hudson Valley to raise her two young daughters in nature. She works from home, writing those books as well as helping people and companies translate their sustainability initiatives into content. Work is more of a hustle than she bargained for at this age. Environmental issues are her passion, but most people dont care. She wants more clients but networking in the woods is impossible.

We might be better off than most, but it feels downwardly mobile. We both feel stuck. And seeing as we had definite designs on what our 40s would be like when we were back where you are now, were here to tell you that what were experiencing is modern; this is not your moms mid-life crisis. And knowing this might make you feel better, especially if youre already tired of the rat race, or are pregnant and wondering what will happen post-maternity leave, or are waking up at night wondering how you got here. Because its not just that we and our contemporaries are feeling like we have less options than we used to when we were younger. Its that despite all the Having-It-All cultural conditioning weve endured, we actually do have less options. In fact, the whole career landscape has changed. Technology has disrupted every industry. The cost of living is higher. The economy is shakier. Some of us are earning less than we were five or even ten years ago, in our mid-thirties, and often working even more than we were then. Those of us with (young) kids have no bandwidth at the end of the day to angle for a promotion or find a new job. Its like being on a slowing treadmill with no way offand all the more painful if your self worth has been wrapped up in your career.

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Its not just us, but our friends and colleagues too, who weve been interviewing in an effort to understand where our lives derailed. We are the girls who grew up being told if we could find a meaningful career and gain financial independence, happiness would follow. Our moms and the second wave feminists paved the way for us to earn college degrees, enjoy thriving careers, and have familieswhen and if we decided to. Biological clocks were no longer ticking, thanks to egg freezing, IVF, and surrogacy. And we took advantage; according to multiple studies, women get 57 percent of the degrees in America, it doesnt matter what kind: bachelors, masters, doctorates. Our twenties and even thirties were all about finding the perfect job, climbing the proverbial career ladder. And if and when we found a partner that we wanted to have a child with, wed be set enough in our careers to start a family. Or not. As Gloria Steinem proclaimed: We have become the men we wanted to marry.

After years of thinking, We got this, well hit all the milestones: career, relationship, maybe motherhood, and by the time we hit our forties well be at the top of our game! We now realize this was an illusion. Were not living the lives we envisioned. Were not bringing home the bacon and frying it up in a pan. We are certainly not leaning in (Sheryl Sandbergs corporate feminism speak rings a little hollow these days). As Michelle Obama put it on her Becoming book tour recently: That shit doesnt work all the time. She also reminded us that you cant have it all at the same timethats a lie, she said. Leave it to an Obama to offer the balm we need as we navigate this moment, stuck in jobs we dont love and watching our options narrow.

But heres the thing: when one door narrows or even closes, others open. Trite but true. As we interviewed all these forty-something women, we started to hear similar threads. We discovered that, yes, there is very real panic and desperation out there, but there are equal doses of grace and newfound wisdom. The following voices articulate all we have been feeling in ways we havent quite been able to.

ILLUSTRATION BY VERO ROMERO

M., a Pilates instructor, explains,  I opened up my first business when I was 27. It was doing really well. I worked all the time, was partying, and traveling. Since life was moving along on the right timeline, M., now 43, had her first son at 32. It felt very special initially and then I sort of fell apart from there. My husband was working all of the time. When my son turned 2, I was being pulled in many different directions. At the very moment she could have been cultivating her brand in the exploding wellness world (shes long had a roster of fashion world clients), she downsized and started teaching from home. I had more time for my son, but that wasn't super fulfilling even though working from home gave me some flexibility. She couldnt grow her business or network and today she feels like shes playing catchup.

The freedom of a freelance career provides more time for a child, but it can also mean around-the-clock work. Lexys first daughter was born when she was 31 and the flexibility was invaluable. Looking back though, she (barely) remembers endless days at the playground, fielding work calls mainly on mute to drown out the sounds of kids shrieking as the other moms sat in judgment. She felt torn to be both with her daughter and ignoring her at the same timeworking mom purgatory. The bulk of her work was done between 8 pm and 2 am, the antithesis of work-life balance. But she had interesting projects and the alternatives were even less appealing: either an expensive full-time nanny and not getting to see her kid, or a gap on her resume in her prime professional growth years leading up to 40.

Meanwhile Maura was the apex of her career game or so she thought. She had a high-profile job at a prominent news website, making more money than ever, managed a big staff, and the optics were great. But she quickly realized she was working for a mercurial leader and she wasnt doing what she was hired to do. Four miserable months in, she decided she had had enough. On my 40th birthday, I texted my resignation from a nail salon down the street from the office. It was not a great career move but it was empoweringI couldnt work somewhere that didnt align with my beliefs or work for a boss I didnt think was a good human.

Maura returned to a job where she could work with people she liked and valued. This proved to be a gift when her father became ill with cancer and she was free to carve out a schedule where she could be at his bedside for the last year of his life. And even as she panics about feeling stuck right now, she reminds herself that life takes unexpected turns in all sorts of ways. Shes learning to feel okay about not having all the answers or solutions right now. This is one of the big gifts of mid-life, that you cant control everything and maybe you dont have to.

This realization is a relief for many of us, no matter how we come to it. It doesnt really matter what life choices you make; you end up at the same place, whether you prioritize career over kids, or kids over career. V., 42, was a total workaholic for her entire career and it paid off. A highly sought after tech guru, her personal life took a back seat. She got married, but then she also got divorcedwhen she realized she was gay. At forty she had a gut check, literally and figuratively. Her body shut down. She was unable to digest food and ended up at the Mayo Clinic. For years I conflated my work with my identity, my happiness, she says. It came easier to me to be a good worker than a good life person.

At forty, she was finally able to flip this equation around. She learned about nutrition, immersed herself in Kundalini yoga, meditated, and used her work ethic to try to restore balance to her life. She even left her job. I have been on this journey: What does it mean to live a more embodied pursuit of happiness not tied to working like a maniac? Its scary. Im still undoing so many years of bad patterning, of thinking that sending fifty emails is being productive. No, thats just me being a zombie.

For E., a writer and TV producer in Los Angeles, who spent her thirties in the top writers rooms in comedy enduring a lot of dick jokes, she finally felt empowered to make her own decisions. She said no to reality show projects, bathroom humor, and anything involving trained monkeys. In my forties, the room became more mine and I got to choose the people who'd occupy it with me, she says.

Now when she travels for work, E., makes an effort to take time to see this new place rather than stare at the four walls of a hotel room while on the phone with the office. She has also learned, as most people at this stage of life do, not to cancel a dentist appointment because of a last minute emergency meeting. You need to tend to both your physical and mental health. Turn your phone off during dinner. Have a weekend, she says.

Having an identity wrapped up in work is overrated, says a former magazine creative director. Once you let go of striving, everything flows.

The little luxuries in life have also captivated S., a former magazine creative director who has moved on to working on fulfilling and fun creative projects in another city. She put everything aside in the process of bringing that magazine to life. My family fell apart. The lack of balance was untenable. Eventually the magazine folded and she was able to regain her footing. Shes working now as a designer in a new city. Whats vastly different than the previous career peak is my commitment to free time. Ambition isnt everything it was cracked up to be. Having an identity wrapped up in work is overrated, she says. Once you let go of striving, everything flows.

Acting on this realization can be terrifying. Lexy, a native New Yorker, had a second daughter and took the leap, moving to the woods shortly before her 40th birthday. She works when her kids are at school and spends most afternoons roaming around the countryside with them. In her thirties, people who spoke earnestly about hiking or forest bathing made her cringe, but its undeniable: nature deficit disorder is real. Her work remains a hustle, but shes able to focus mostly on environmental health, her passion. Its not a bad compromiseplus there are sunsets, which are remarkably enjoyable even as she frets about healthcare, climate change, and the future.

L., a 45 year-old nutritionist, is also enjoying her children, whom she had young. Because the clock is ticking or maybe priorities are more in order, I sit with my kids and try to soak as much in as I can. I feel, when we are all together, that I dont need any more. Is my shit more together or is this because Im facing a time in a couple of years where my boys are leaving?

These are the moments when we can see that feeling stuck isnt failure. Yes, you cant have it allor at least not at the same time. But thats ok. Its fine. You will thrive in unexpected areas. Your values may shift and you will discover that the things you thought meant success (big salary, thousands of Instagram followers) you will no longer give a shit about. In your forties you will feel something along the lines of grace. And youll learn that thats not the same thing as giving up. Thats balance.

What matters now is giving ourselves the space to do what feels important and impactful. In fact, were living our lives with more intention and getting shit done. Since the presidential election, M. has been donating fees from her weekly Pilates classes to womens groups. Were knocking on doors canvassing for politicians we believe in, role modeling for our kids and our friends. Many women are taking this desire for change even fartherwere running for public office in record numbers, working to shift the gender imbalance in politics

And somewhere in all of this, were finding ourselves a little. V.s health is mainly better and now shes building a start-up focused on finding balance. The irony isnt lost on her. Our team is a very different make up of people than I was working with in the tech world. Meetings are all about emotions and sharing stuff I equated with being weak. Its probably the best thing that ever happened to me. Its forcing me to slow down.

Were saying yes to things big and small. On her last birthday, despite being on deadline, Maura, a self-confessed workaholic, took the afternoon off to take a paper flower class. I was with 5 other middle-aged ladies cutting and folding and gluing in someones basement and it felt like the most creative three hours of my entire year. S., the TV producer, got married. Had I married any of the men I dated in my thirties, I'd be divorced by now. I dated all the wrong men in my thirties to find the right man, most importantly, a kind man, now.

I spent my twenties and thirties striving, says L., the nutritionist. Striving to build a business, striving to improve my relationship/marriage, striving to raise kids well. Parts of this were grueling. I am proud to feel somewhat on the other side of struggle.

We dont obsess over the small failures as much. We become wiser. We mellow.

There actually is another side, according to sociologists. Though our research has been mainly anecdotal, we ran across actual data supporting what weve been experiencing. In his 2018 book The Happiness Curve, the writer Jonathan Rauch explains that adult happiness is U shaped. Women in their mid-forties bottom out because its the time we get maxed out with child rearing, demanding careers, and aging parents. (For men it happens a little bit later.) Were slogging through, thinking: Is this all there is? Work, kids, laundry? But then we start to find equilibrium as we edge close to fifty. Rauch explains that as we age, we become more aware that time is finite and so we start investing in things that matter like friendships and family. We dont obsess over the small failures as much. We become wiser. We mellow. We value compassion over competition. And the best part, our happiness levels increase each decade thereafter. Getting old never sounded better.

As S., the magazine creative director, puts it, Unscheduled time is the unsung hero. Ive seen the dark side of having the dream job, and I never want to go back.

.

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With tentacle-covered snouts, claw-like spines that protrude from their heads and bodies covered in armor, these newfound catfish look more mythical than real.

Scientists just discovered six species of these creepy-cute fish, called bristlenose catfish (in the genus Ancistrus), in rivers of the Amazon, the researchers reported in the journal Zootaxa Wednesday (Feb. 12). [In Photos: The World's Largest Bony Fish]

"They're warriors, they're fish superheroes," lead author Lesley de Souza, a conservation scientist and ichthyologist at Chicago's Field Museum, said in a statement.

The tentacles are actually present only in males, and they function as a sort of "pick me, I'd be a good father" sign. Males also guard the nests and make sure predators don't snatch their babies.

"The idea is that when a female fish sees a male with these tentacles, to her, they look like eggs," de Souza said in the statement. "That signifies to her that he's a good father who's able to produce offspring and protect them." One of the newfound species, in fact, is named Ancistrus patronus, meaning "protector," in recognition of the care the males provide their offspring.

De Souza and her team discovered the catfish in northeastern South America in parts of Venezuela, Colombia and Guyana, which make up a geographic region called the Guiana Shield, according to the statement. But like many other species the world over, the catfish face some threats to their survival.

Ancistrus patronus or "protector" was one of six new species of bristlenose catfish discovered in the Amazon. Jonathan Armbruster

The creatures are very sensitive to even tiny changes in their environment. So, in some of the clear-water rivers and streams where they were once plentiful, they are now scarce, according to the statement. Threats to their health and numbers include large-scale agriculture, deforestation and gold mining  the latter can both change the fishes' habitat and poison them with mercury.

The demise or reduction in population of one species, of course, can affect others. Giant river otters, for example, eat these fish all the time, according to the statement. "All the layers of the Amazon basin are interconnected, from the rivers to the forest canopy," de Souza said. "Everything begins with naming a species and determining how many species you have. Once you have done the taxonomy, then you can study the ecology [and] behavior and do conservation action."

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Some of the other newfound species include A. yutajae, named for a pair of star-crossed lovers in an Amazonian legend; A. Saudades, meaning melancholy in Portuguese; and A. leoni, named after a deceased colleague of the researchers.

Originally published on Live Science.
New York City is weighing a proposed law that could challenge Amazon and other businesses  banning cashless stores.

A hearing was held Thursday on the bill, which has won support from legislators, unions and the citys Department of Consumer Affairs. Amazon, which runs several cashless bookstores and one four-star store in the city, didnt testify and declined to comment. Some restaurants, including the vegan chain By Chloe and taqueria chain Dos Toros oppose the bill and say running a cashless business protects the safety of their employees from robbery and theft.

As consumers move to pay with their credit cards, some restaurants and retailers opt to exclude cash as a way of payment. Ritchie Torres, the New York City councilman who introduced the bill last year, aims to protect populations who dont own bank accounts or who want to use cash to protect their privacy, as well as senior consumers who are used to paying in cash.

According to a 2017 survey from the FDIC, the unbanked population in the U.S. has fallen to 6.5%. An additional 18.7% of U.S. households are underbanked, meaning they have a checking or savings account but also obtained financial products and services outside of the banking system. The rate is even higher in New York City, where one in four households are underbanked, according to a study in 2015.

Even if we're moving in the direction of an increasingly electronic economy, why can't we have options? Torres told Yahoo Finance. If I don't have the money, it's fair to discriminate against me. But if I have the money, then I should be able to purchase a good or service.

Cashless businesses say its safer

Amazon Go opens to the Public in Seattle, Washington, on January 22, 2018. (Photo by Alex Tsway/Sipa USA/Reuters)

Business owners, on the other hand, say accepting only digital payments is good for the safety of their employees. Not keep cash in our stores is an easy way for us to help our employees feel more comfortable at work, said Annamaria Ferencz, operations manager at by Chloe, a restaurant chain that went cashless in its 11 locations in New York and Los Angeles in 2017. Ferencz pledges to make reasonable accommodations for consumers with only cash.

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Businesses also say the transition to cashless has helped lines in stores move faster and eased cashiers burden. Torres acknowledged that, too. I'm willing to concede that a cashless business model could add to efficiency and productivity. The question is, at what cost? said Torres, who is confident the bill will move forward. If you want to ensure an equitable and inclusive marketplace, then cash has to remain an accepted mode of payment.

New York City is not alone in proposing a ban on cashless stores. Massachusetts is the only state with a 1978 law that requires businesses to accept cash. Last week, the New Jersey legislature passed a bill to ban cashless stores, which the governor is expected to sign into law. In Philadelphia, Amazon threatened to change plans to open an Amazon Go grocery store there if a cashless bill gets passed.

Philadelphia was on a list of potential cities. They didnt confirm how many others or which ones, but did say the legislation would impact decision making, a spokesperson for Philadelphia Department of Commerce spoke of his communications with Amazon.

Should the government ban cashless stores? Share your thoughts with Krystal Hu via krystalh@yahoofinance.com

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WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump declared a national emergency Friday to free up roughly $8 billion in funding for his proposed border wall, reopening a controversy that has its roots in the Revolution and has bedeviled many presidents since.

Though presidential emergencies often lead to bitter partisan disputes and occasionally wind up in court, they are relatively common. The United States is subject to more than 30 national emergencies, including one signed in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter days after the Iranian hostage crisis began.

"Theyre declared for all kinds of things," said Kim Lane Scheppele, a professor at Princeton University's Center for Human Values. "Theyre absolutely common, which is why nobody blinks an eye about the whole thing  and then you get a case like this."

The impasse over the border wall led to one of the longest government shutdowns in history.

President Donald Trump

Since 1976, when Congress passed the National Emergencies Act, presidents have declared at least 58 states of emergency  not counting disaster declarations for weather events, according to the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice. Dozens remain in effect, extended by subsequent presidents.

Most fall under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, which allow a president to impose economic sanctions.

The use of emergency powers is older than the country itself. From 1775 to 1781, the Continental Congress approved a series of emergency acts dealing with the Revolutionary War, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.

The Militia Acts of 1792 gave President George Washington authority to take over state militias during the Whiskey Rebellion. In perhaps the best-known use of emergency powers from history, President Abraham Lincoln established a blockade on the ports of Southern states and suspended habeas corpus without congressional approval.

In modern times, presidents have used executive powers to impose sanctions, seize property and call up the National Guard.

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In 2009, President Barack Obama declared a state of national emergency for the H1N1 swine flu pandemic. That emergency, which expired a year later, allowed for waivers of some Medicare and Medicaid regulations  for example, permitting hospitals to screen or treat an infectious illness off-site  and to waive medical privacy laws.

Former President Barack Obama appears on a reworked song by Lin-Manuel Miranda originally from the Broadway hit Hamilton.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, President George W. Bush signed an order giving him broad powers. A subsequent executive order, signed in November of that year, activated the same law the White House may be considering  a provision that allows the president to redirect military construction money.

Experts said that authority has mostly been used overseas.

Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Brennan Centers Liberty and National Security Program, said few would have disputed that a state of emergency existed after the 9/11 attacks. The president's emergency powers, she said, were conceived as a way to give the president the ability to act when Congress didn't have time to do so.

In the case of immigration or a border wall, Goitein said, Congress had plenty of time but chose not to act.

"This is a situation in which the powers are being used to get around the express will of Congress," she said. "That is particularly problematic."

Trump has signed three executive orders that relied in part on the National Emergencies Act, including an order in September that gave him power to slap sanctions on any foreign country that interferes in a U.S. election. That action was taken after criticism that Trump did not do enough to confront Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Experts said the idea of using a national emergency to build the presidents promised border wall would be novel, and some Democrats threatened to sue.

"We can call a national emergency and build it very quickly," Trump said last week. "But if we can do it through a negotiated process, we are giving that a shot."

Under the National Emergencies Act, the president must cite the specific emergency powers he is activating under statutes. According to the Congressional Research Service, there are hundreds of "provisions of federal law delegating to the executive extraordinary authority in time of national emergency."

Congress can terminate a declared emergency, but it requires a joint resolution  a high hurdle. Democrats in power at the House of Representatives would have to convince Republicans who control the Senate to join them in blocking Trump's move. Then they would have to get a signature from the president, the same person who declared the emergency in the first place, or override his veto.

The law requires Congress to meet to consider a vote on each emergency every six months. In 43 years of the National Emergencies Act, Congress has never done so.

Experts said Congress has given presidents considerable leeway by not providing a more thorough check on the use of national emergencies. Scheppele said she hopes the wall controversy refocuses the public's attention on the issue.

"I hope people say, 'Wow, what were we doing when we allowed the powers to come into effect in the first place?' "

Contributing: Gregory Korte and William Cummings

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: National emergencies: What to know about executive orders and their role in US history
Berlin (AFP) - "Narcos" star Wagner Moura premiered his new movie about a 1960s resistance hero Friday, calling it the first Brazilian blockbuster to attack state repression since far-right President Jair Bolsonaro came to power.

"Marighella" features Brazilian superstar Seu Jorge as Marxist revolutionary Carlos Marighella, who led an armed rebellion against the military dictatorship until he was gunned down in a police ambush in 1969.

Moura, 42, said the film, his directorial debut, had been in the works since 2013 but its release had dovetailed with a deeply polarised moment in his home country and around the globe.

"I shot the film under (former president Michel) Temer and Bolsonaro was kind of a joke. No one believed (he would become president)," Moura, who played drug kingpin Pablo Escobar in the Netflix series "Narcos", told a small group of reporters at the Berlin film festival.

He said he didn't want the movie, which graphically depicts the secret police hounding, beating and torturing Marighella's band of revolutionaries, to be seen as a direct "response" to Bolsanaro, even as its themes grow more topical.

"Of course it is probably one of the first cultural products that is openly against what Bolsonaro represents," Moura said of "Marighella", adding that the current president had "trash-talked" the film before taking office.

Bolsonaro, a former army general who enjoys strong support from ultra-conservative Christians, expresses open admiration for Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship.

- 'Right to resist' -

The movie covers the aftermath of the coup, which the junta attempted to portray as the result of a popular uprising.

Citing the communist threat as a justification, the new government conducted a sweeping, brutal crackdown on dissidents and critical media outlets, with strong US support.

Marighella became both public enemy number one and, like a handful of resistance leaders of the era, a pop hero for leftists around the world. Jean-Paul Sartre translated several of his works into French.

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Moura noted that Bolsonaro and his supporters have also insisted on falsely calling the 1964 military coup the outcome of a grassroots "movement".

"This is the first step, the semantic change -- to say it wasn't that bad. All the fascist governments, they always start with the semantic," he said, calling it part of a global trend of populist "fake news".

"This film is here to say the dictatorship was horrible. Citizens have the right and obligation to resist against dictatorship, against a violent state or one that doesn't respect citizens."

The director predicted "a lot of problems" for the film in Brazil, where it still does not have a release date.

"I am prepared for people going to the movies...(to be) throwing shit. I expect physical aggression," he said.

Moura also starred in "Elite Squad" about police brutality in the favelas which won the Berlin festival's Golden Bear top prize in 2008.

The director, who divides his time between Los Angeles and his native Bahia, said after playing the bloodthirsty Escobar, he had been drawn to this project about an idealistic martyr.

"I want to produce films in the US that don't reinforce stereotypes of Latin people," he said.

Last year he produced and starred in "Sergio", a Netflix film about the Brazilian UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was killed in Iraq in 2003.
Seoul (AFP) - Twelve North Korean officials -- including Kim Jong Un's de-facto chief of staff -- were en-route to Vietnam Friday ahead of a second scheduled summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

The North Koreans had arrived in Beijing and were expected to board a plane bound for the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, Yonhap said, with the high-stakes meeting now less than two weeks away.

"A group of 12 North Koreans, including Kim Chang Son, were on the boarding list," Yonhap said, citing a source in the capital.

Kim Chang Son was part of the team overseeing protocol in the run up to the first Trump-Kim summit and Yonhap said the delegation was expected to have discussions with US officials on the logistical preparations for the Hanoi meeting.

The identities of the 11 other officials were not reported.

Pyongyang has yet to provide any official confirmation of the Feb 27-28 summit, which will be the second time the two leaders come together following their June 12 Singapore meeting.

That produced a vaguely-worded document in which Kim pledged to work towards denuclearisation -- with no hard timeline agreed.

In preparation for Hanoi, US envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun was last week in Pyongyang for three days of talks with officials.

Biegun said they had been productive, but more dialogue was needed.

"We have some hard work to do with the DPRK between now and then," Biegun said, adding that he was "confident that if both sides stay committed we can make real progress here".

The US State Department said talks during Biegun's trip explored Trump and Kim's "commitments of complete denuclearization, transforming US-DPRK relations and building a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula".

Specifically, discussions on declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War could have been on the table, with Biegun last month saying Trump was "ready to end this war".

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The three-year conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas still technically at war, with the US keeping 28,500 troops in the South.

Earlier this week Vietnam's foreign minister Pham Binh Minh visited Pyongyang but no details on their discussions have been announced.

Experts say tangible progress on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons will be needed for the second summit if it is to avoid being dismissed as "reality TV".

The commander of US forces in South Korea said earlier this week that he had seen "little to no verifiable change" in North Korea's military capabilities.

General Robert Abrams, the new head of US Forces Korea, said although the Singapore summit had helped dial down tensions on the Korean peninsula, it had not led to substantive changes.

North Korea, which holds most of the peninsula's mineral resources, was once wealthier than the South, but decades of mismanagement and the demise of its former paymaster, the Soviet Union, have left it deeply impoverished.

In 2017 the UN Security Council banned the North's main exports -- coal and other mineral resources, fisheries and textile products -- to cut off its access to hard currency in response to Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

Trump has said that North Korea will become a "great Economic Powerhouse" under Kim.
Colliers International Group Inc., one of the top global real estate services and investment management companies, urged property developers to create more local hotels and other brands near airports to keep pace with the increasing demand for rooms and space. The company monitored the opening of about 1,000 new hotel rooms in the second half of 2018, including the 357-room Hilton Manila and the 390-room Sheraton Manila in the Newport Area and Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc.s 130-room Mella Hotel in Las Pinas. Colliers sees an aggressive completion of local hotel brands by well-established property companies like Ayala Land Inc., Filinvest Land Inc., Rockwell Land Corp., 8990 Holdings Inc., Eton Properties Philippines Inc. and Vista Land from 2019 to 2021. All other developments are expected to be spread among integrated townships across Metro Manila. Foreign brand owners, meanwhile, expect to wrap up new projects in one to two years. They include Okura, Movenpick, Mandarin Oriental and additional rooms in Okada Manila. About 40 percent of the 5,500 new hotel rooms due to be completed from 2019 to 2021 are classified as three-star. Colliers estimated the annual completion of about 1,800 new units each year from 2019 to 2021.Despite the growing numbers of international visitors, most of foreign branded hotels in Manila still lag behind their Asian counterparts because of the relatively lower number of tourist arrivals in the country compared with other Asian destinations. The Philippines, thus, receives one of the lowest amount of tourism receipts in Asia. Colliers said developers should consider the environs of major business hubs as possible locations for budget hotelthe fringes of Makati, Ortigas as well as northern Quezon City. It noted that the Makati fringe area had also become a viable location for hostels such as Lub D, which mainly caters to millennial travelers and staycationers.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Myanmar's army chief, who is facing international calls that he be prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority, has denied any systematic army persecution and said such accusations were an insult to his country's honor. In his first detailed interview since the Myanmar military launched a crackdown in 2017, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing cast doubt on U.N. estimates that some 730,000 Rohingya had fled to Bangladesh, and on their accounts of abuses by his forces, saying the refugees had been told what to say. "Criticism without any certain proof hurts the nation's dignity," Min Aung Hlaing told Japan's Asahi Shimbun daily in an interview published on Friday. Myanmar forces launched their offensive in Rakhine State in 2017 in response to a series of attacks by Rohingya insurgents on security posts near the Bangladesh border. A U.N. fact-finding mission last year said the military campaign, which refugees say included mass killings and rape, was orchestrated with "genocidal intent" and recommended charging Min Aung Hlaing and five other generals with the "gravest crimes under international law". U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi told reporters in Geneva that he had not seen the interview but Myanmar's government had signed an agreement with the United Nations last year recognizing that there had been violence and that people had fled across the border and that they had a right to return. "If some people among our interlocutors have different views, we stick by the letter of that memorandum of understanding, which recognizes these problems and indicates precisely what solutions need to be carried out," he said. A U.N. rights investigator said last month that Min Aung Hlaing and others should be held accountable for genocide against the Rohingya and doing so was necessary before refugees could return. Myanmar has consistently denied the accusations of murder, rape and other abuses by its forces though Min Aung Hlaing acknowledged that "a number of security men may have been involved". Min Aung Hlaing, in the interview on Thursday in the Myanmar capital, Naypyitaw, raised questions not only about the number of people who had fled, but also about their motives. "It's possible to think that the reasons they moved to Bangladesh were things like living with relatives or fleeing to a third country," he said. "All of them are saying the same thing, which I believe somebody told them to say." The Rohingya have faced discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar for generations. They are generally regarded as illegal immigrants from South Asia and few of them have Myanmar citizenship. Many have sought better lives elsewhere in Asia while occasional military crackdowns over the decades have sent waves of people fleeing to Bangladesh. The U.N. Human Rights Council in September voted to set up an "ongoing independent mechanism" for Myanmar that would collect, consolidate, and preserve evidence of crimes that could be used in any eventual court case. Myanmar has said it "absolutely rejects" that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction to rule on its actions, a point Min Aung Hlaing repeated in the interview. Myanmar is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the Hague-based court. "We will not accept any instructions that threaten Myanmar's sovereignty," he said. (Reporting by Elaine Lies, additional reporting by Tom Miles in Geneva, Editing by Robert Birsel, William Maclean)
Modi has said he will allow security forces to determine when and where to retaliate - Anuwar Ali Hazarika / Barcroft Media

India's prime minister yesterday accused Pakistan of involvement in the suicide bombing that killed 44 paramilitary police in Kashmir on Thursday, and warned of a dire response.

Narendra Modi said the neighbouring country had made a "huge mistake" for which it will pay a "huge price".

Speaking after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, Mr Modi declared that India's security forces had been given "full freedom" to respond to the attack.

"If our neighbour thinks it can destabilise India, then it is making a big mistake," he said.

Mr Modi was reacting to claims from the Pakistan-based Islamist militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), that it carried out the attack on a paramilitary convoy on the outskirts of Kashmirs summer capital, Srinagar.

Indias foreign office demanded that Islamabad take "immediate and verifiable action" against the JeM.

New Delhi has also withdrawn trade privileges extended to Pakistan under their long-standing Most Favoured Nation (MFN) agreement as part of "diplomatically isolating" Islamabad, said senior federal minister Arun Jaitley.

Pakistan, however, has dismissed all Indian charges of any involvement in the bombing, which it said was a "matter of grave concern".

Police detain a demonstrator during a protest against the attack on a bus that killed 44 CRPF personnel in south Kashmir on Thursday Credit: Reuters

Over 2,700 Central Reserve Police Force paramilitary personnel were travelling to Srinagar in a 78-vehicle convoy when a 22-year old suicide bomber, identified as Adil Ahmad Dar, rammed his car packed with over 125bs of plastic explosives into one of the stationary busses.

Police officials said Dar, a school dropout who had earlier worked in a sawmill near Srinagar, was reported missing since late last year.

The JeM has been active in Kashmir since its founding in 2000 and India holds it responsible for attacking its parliament building in New Delhi in 2001, an assault that brought the nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of war.

The JeM has been designated a terrorist organisation by the UN, UK and the US, and even, under foreign pressure, proscribed in Pakistan since 2002.

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But its founder, cleric Masood Azhar, freely roams the country, holding public meetings and fund-raising drives.

Indian efforts to have Azhar designated an international terrorist have long been been blocked by Pakistans close strategic ally China.

India claims Pakistan, which seized a third of Kashmir after independence in 1947 and lays claim to the rest, fuels the disputed provinces 30-year Muslim insurgency for an independent homeland in which over 70,000 people had died.

Students hold candles during a vigil for the dead paramilitary police Credit: Reuters

Pakistan denies Indian allegations, saying it only provided Kashmiri separatists moral and diplomatic support for their cause.

The two neighbours have fought two of their three wars since independence over Kashmir.

And in 1999, soon after both became nuclear weapon states, their two armies clashed in Kashmirs Himalayan Kargil region for 11-weeks resulting in 1,200 soldiers dying on both sides.

Meanwhile, Indias principal Opposition Congress Party, virulently opposed to Modis Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government, has offered its unequivocal support to the administration to deal with the crisis posed by the terror strike.

The authorities have also imposed curfew in Kashmirs winter capital Jammu following violent protests that erupted in the city over the terror attack.

Several cars were set alight and the authorities have suspended Internet services in Jammu to prevent rumours spreading over social media.
Omar Oil Field (Syria) (AFP) - Kurdish-led forces cleared landmines and searched for tunnels blocking their advance Friday on the final patch of an east Syria village defended by a few hundred Islamic State jihadists.

Rain and concern for civilians trapped in IS's last redoubt were delaying a push that will wipe out the last shred of the jihadists' once-sprawling "caliphate".

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he will announce the end of the jihadist proto-state within the next day.

The Syrian Democratic Forces have been closing in on the holdout jihadists since September last year and a few hundred surviving IS members are now boxed into an area of around one square kilometre (less than half a square mile).

"The large number of landmines and tunnels is hindering attempts by the SDF to secure complete control over the area," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said.

Diehard jihadists were still launching sporadic attacks on SDF positions around their last stronghold in Baghouz, near the banks of the Euphrates river.

"IS fighters are refusing to hand themselves over and they are still putting up a fight. We do not know what is the point of this resistance," SDF spokesman Adnan Afrin said.

Speaking to AFP in Al-Omar oil field, the SDF's main staging area, he said this week the jihadists had been using ambushes and explosive-laden motorbikes to inflict casualties on the SDF.

The UK-based Observatory said the corpses of 26 IS fighters had been found by SDF troops on Thursday alone as they combed the area before resuming their advance.

The "caliphate" IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed in mid-2014 once spanned territory the size of the United Kingdom and administered millions of people.

- Eating grass -

It printed its own schoolbooks, produced oil, collected taxes and minted its own currency, in a brief but unprecedented experiment in jihadist statehood.

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Successive offensives in Iraq and Syria have shattered the proto-state, which lost its key cities one after the other.

An official declaration of victory against IS is expected in the coming days, a move of mostly symbolic value that will go down as the death certificate of the "caliphate".

Estimates vary on the number of fighters and families left inside the last IS pocket but accounts from women who escaped with their children in recent days suggest some civilians are left inside.

"To avoid any harm to the wives and children of IS fighters, we are forced to be cautious," Afrin said.

Close to 40,000 people have left the jihadists' dwindling enclave in recent weeks, in the latest humanitarian emergency of an eight-year conflict that has killed 360,000 people and displaced 11 million.

Those who flee Baghouz have a perilous journey to the nearest SDF-held collection point, dodging booby traps and sniper fire.

Women veiled from head to toe carrying scant belongings and dirty children often have to spend one night or more sleeping out in the cold.

"These people haven't had any proper food in weeks... I've heard accounts of people making some kind of soup with grass," said Jean-Nicolas Paquet-Rouleau, deputy head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Syria.

- Humanitarian burden -

Adult men are among those who have left the neighbourhood where IS is making its desperate last stand. They are screened and often detained by the SDF.

Abdel Karim Omar, the top foreign affairs official in the autonomous administration the Kurds have set up in northeastern Syria, argued jihadists preferred to surrender to the SDF than risk being captured by Iraqi or Syrian government forces flanking the battlefield on either side.

"IS fighters prefer to come to us because we treat them in accordance with international law," he told AFP.

"Even if they are tried one day in this area, they know that we do not impose the death sentence," he said.

What happens next to the hundreds of suspected jihadists of all nationalities held by the SDF -- and the fate of their families -- is a complex question.

The Kurds are keen to send all foreign jihadists back to their countries of origin for trial but court systems and public opinion in Europe and elsewhere are ill-prepared.

The Kurdish official also complained that the international community is falling short in providing humanitarian assistance to the growing number of displaced.

"Unfortunately, international aid agencies, the international community and even the global coalition (against IS), are not taking responsibility for these displaced people," Omar said.

"What they are providing does not cover even five percent of their needs," he said, calling for increased support.
The US vice president called for the European states to leave the Iran deal - REUTERS

Mike Pence, the US vice president, has accused Britain, France and Germany of trying to sabotage American sanctions against Iran and called on the European states to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal.

In an unusually blunt attack on Americas traditional European allies, Mr Pence told a summit in Warsaw that the three countries were leading an effort to break American sanctions against Irans murderous revolutionary regime.

He focused his criticism on a financial mechanism created by the three states and the EU to allow European firms to continue trading with Iran in a way that skirts punishing US sanctions.

It's an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the EU, and create still more distance between Europe and the United States, Mr Pence said.

He said the British, French, and German governments had not been nearly as cooperative in backing Americas anti-Iran policy as Israel and the Gulf Arab states like Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Mr Pence said for the first time that the three countries should pull out of the nuclear agreement, which was signed in 2015 by Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, the US and Iran. The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.

Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the summit for bringing Israel together with the Arab states Credit: AP Photo/Michael Sohn

Other US officials, including Donald Trump, have harshly criticised the deal but never before called for the European states to leave it.

There was no immediate response from the Foreign Office to Mr Pences criticism.

The US-hosted conference in Poland was enthusiastically attended by Israel and the Gulf states but the European governments which continue to support the Iran deal largely stayed away.

Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, attended the opening dinner of the summit on Wednesday night but left before the main meetings on Thursday. Germany sent a junior minister and France was represented by a foreign ministry official.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, hailed the summit for bringing Israel together with its Arab neighbours against the common threat of the Iranian regime.

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Mr Netanyahu sat next to the foreign minister of Yemen at the conference, an image that would have once been unthinkable in the Middle East.

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However, there still appears to be a ceiling on how far the Arab states will go in befriending Israel without a solution to the Palestinian issue.

While the Israeli leader sat in the same room as ministers from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, none of them were prepared to hold a formal meeting with Mr Netanyahu or publicly shake his hand.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabias former spy chief, granted an unprecedented interview to Israeli television where he warned that there would not be peace between the Jewish state and Saudi Arabia until there was a deal on the Palestinians.

From the Israeli point of view, Mr. Netanyahu would like us to have a relationship, and then we can fix the Palestinian issue. From the Saudi point of view, its the other way around, he said.

Donald Trump has tasked his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, with brokering a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians.

Mr Kushner told the conference the deal would not be released until after the Israeli elections in April and said that both sides would have to make compromises. However, he declined to give even basic details of his plan.

The US said that the Palestinians had been invited to the summit and refused to come. Palestinian officials said an invitation had only been issued five days before the start of conference, long after other governments were formally invited.

This is not serious, a Palestinian official said. This is just part of the blame game of the Trump Administration in cooperation with their Polish friends.

An FCO spokesperson said: The UK Government regards the JCPoA as a crucial agreement that makes the world a safer place by neutralising the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran. We remain committed to preserving the JCPoA, which is why we are establishing a European Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with the E3 that aims to deliver the sanctions relief we committed to as part of the agreement.

The UK is not and has never been naive about Iran and its nuclear intentions and while we share US concerns about Iranian regional activities and its missile programme, we believe the best way to address these wider concerns is while the nuclear deal remains in place.
Mexico City (AFP) - The Mexican government said Friday it would bail out ailing state oil company Pemex with $5.5 billion in additional funds this year -- though that falls short of what analysts say the firm needs.

The money -- a mix of cash, tax benefits, pension fund support and expected savings -- will help Pemex pay down its massive debt and invest more in its flagging production, officials said.

The company, which owes $100 billion in debt, said it would also stop taking out new loans.

"We have made the decision to support Pemex with everything we've got," said President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a left-wing energy nationalist who has made rescuing the firm a priority.

Concerns about Pemex -- a key revenue source for Mexico -- have raised questions about the future stability of Latin America's second-largest economy.

The plan breaks down into $800 million in tax benefits, $1.3 billion in cash and $1.8 billion in assistance paying the company's massive pension bill, officials said.

The remaining chunk consists of $1.6 billion in expected savings from combatting theft from Pemex's fuel pipelines -- a massive black-market industry in Mexico that has thrived with the help of corrupt officials and company insiders.

Lopez Obrador's government is currently waging a major crackdown on fuel theft, which cost the country an estimated $3 billion in 2017.

Pemex's chief financial officer, Alberto Velazquez, told a news conference the company would use the rescue plan to increase investment by 36 percent this year, to $14.9 billion.

The "vast majority" of Pemex's debt under the previous government of President Enrique Pena Nieto "was lost to inefficiency and corruption," said Finance Minister Carlos Urzua.

Analysts said the plan would probably not be enough.

"The measures are not a long-term fix and won't be enough to stabilize oil output, which has halved since 2004," said London-based consulting firm Capital Economics.

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Ratings agency Fitch, which recently downgraded Pemex, says the firm needs an additional $9 billion to $14 billion annually to get back on its feet.

Urzua sought to downplay concerns, saying the government would back Pemex "totally."

"If more funds are needed to recapitalize Pemex, including this year, we will do that," the finance minister said.
By Ana Isabel Martinez and David Alire Garcia MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico will inject $3.9 billion into ailing state oil company Pemex, officials said on Friday, promising to strengthen its finances and prevent a further credit downgrade, although investors saw the plan as only a short-term fix. Falling oil output, corruption and high labor costs have contributed to the decline of the company that was once a symbol of national pride. It now holds roughly $106 billion in financial debt, the highest of any national oil company in Latin America. Fitch and Moody's rate its credit one notch above junk. Fitch said on Friday that the plan, which includes additional tax cuts, more government spending on the company and debt refinancing, would likely not be enough to prevent "continued deterioration" in Pemex's credit quality. The agency cited an ongoing "significant level of underinvestment" for Pemex. Pemex will receive $1.8 billion in pension liability monetization as part of the new plan and finances will be helped by a corruption clampdown, officials said in a presentation that was short on details. They vowed the Mexican government will not take on new debt in 2019. Pemex must make more than $27 billion in debt payments over the next three years. Investors said they had expected stronger measures, and while encouraged by government vows of support, they said the plan offered only short-term relief. "The measures are not a long term fix and won't be enough to stabilize oil output," said Edward Glossop, Latin America economist at Capital Economics. If oil prices and output decline further, he estimated yields on Pemex bonds could rise by around 1 percent this year. The price fell after the announcement for Pemex's most heavily traded bond on Friday, maturing in 2047, as its yield rose 14 basis points, according to MarketAxess data. The price on a Pemex bond maturing in 2024 also dropped, with its yield up 32 basis points, reflecting bondholder skepticism of the plan. The Mexican peso weakened by more than half a percent against the dollar after the announcement, before recovering later on Friday. DO WHAT IT TAKES Over time, Pemex taxes will go down and the capital injection will allow debt refinancing over the year, Finance Minister Carlos Urzua told a press conference. If Pemex requires more help, the government will do whatever it takes to keep Pemex's finances healthy, he added. Fitch downgraded debt issued by Pemex by two steps last month, making it the second agency after Moody's to put the company just barely within its investment grade category. The move stoked fears that further credit downgrades could significantly raise Pemex's financing costs and result in dire fiscal consequences for the government. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office in December and ran on a promise of strengthening Pemex, did not fully detail in his comments at the press conference how the government would finance the company's lower tax bill and capital injection. He said efforts since late December to battle rampant fuel theft would result in savings of about $1.6 billion, however, while a plan to increase production will generate more resources. "It's injecting resources, it's lowering the tax obligation," Lopez Obrador said. "But above all, it's cleaning out corruption from Pemex." Investors had expected a stronger response, said Luis Gonzali, a portfolio manager at Franklin Templeton Investments. Even so, he praised the administration's "unconditional support" to double down on relief measures if necessary. Wilbur Matthews, founder of Vaquero Global Investment, also saw the announcement as positive. "It is a good sign that the Lopez Obrador administration recognizes that Pemex needs to change profoundly," he said. The company is in talks with lenders to potentially raise up to $7 billion this year, Refinitiv IFR reported on Friday. The company has previously said it would refinance around $6.6 billion in 2019. (Mexican government corrects figure in headline and first paragraph to $3.9 billion from $3.6 billion) (Reporting by David Alire Garcia, Ana Isabel Martinez, Lizbeth Diaz, Stefanie Eschenbacher and Noe Torres in Mexico City; Rodrigo Campos in New York, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Nick Zieminski, Phil Berlowitz and Tom Brown)
By Arjun Panchadar and Debroop Roy

(Reuters) - Mattel Inc on Friday issued a disappointing 2019 forecast and said demand for its iconic Barbie doll was slowing, triggering an 18 percent drop in its shares, their worst day in nearly two decades.

The forecast comes barely a week after the company said strong holiday sales of Barbie drove a surprise fourth-quarter profit, which sent its shares up 23 percent the following morning.

On Friday, the El Segundo, California-based toymaker said gross sales for 2019 would be flat on a constant-currency basis, with weakness in Thomas & Friends and American Girl offsetting comparatively stronger sales of Barbie and Hot Wheels.

Even then, Barbie and Hot Wheels won't sell as much as they did in 2018, Chief Financial Offer Joe Euteneuer said in an investor presentation https://mattel.gcs-web.com/static-files/228b066f-34c4-4952-8ff1-a32df7f98721.

Both Mattel and rival Hasbro Inc have continued to be haunted by the collapse of Toys "R" Us as they have failed to find newer avenues to sell their toys. They also face pressure as more children shun traditional toys to play games on tablets and mobile phones.

For the first quarter, Mattel said it expects lower gross sales, blaming the liquidation of the world's biggest toy retailer and currency fluctuations.

It also expects adjusted earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)of $350 million to $400 million for 2019, below estimates of $480.18 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Gross profit margins for 2019 are expected to come in the "low 40s" range, while analysts were expecting margins of 44.2 percent.

Mattel has been aiming to cut at least $650 million in net costs by the end of 2019 through job cuts and other means.

The company said it expects to keep reducing manufacturing costs, the benefit of which will be first seen in 2020.

The company's shares closed at $13.82.

(Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
Cebu Pacific plans to mount flights out of Clark International Airport to Japan. Manila is too full so we for us to grow more, we need to have more hub point to fly in. I think another one is Clark because that is also other international point, said Cebu Pacific country manager to Japan Tomohiko Matsumoto. Matsumoto added the airline planned to add more flights to Japan from Cebu. I think Cebu is one of Japanese favorite destinations so that is also being studied. Right now, Narita to Cebu is the only one that we have direct Cebu and Japan route but we may have other points to Cebu, he added.Matsumoto said Filipino visitors to Japan had been rapidly growing in the last five years. Every year the number of Filipino visitors are increasing by almost 70,000 to 80,000 and last year it reached half a million visitors from Philippines, he said. Matsumoto vsaid Japanese visitors to the Philippines were also increasing.
Martin Lewis (Credit: ITV)

TV money guru Martin Lewis has said that he couldnt eat for a week while suffering from an agonising throat ulcer which resulted in him having to cancel his TV appearances.

The founder of MoneySavingExpert had to pull out of his scheduled appearances with the ulcer, which he said brought him to tears.

However, he was back on Good Morning Britain yesterday, telling hosts Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway: Yes today is my first day of being able to eat properly again. Throat ulcers are a particularly horrible thing.

Lewis had informed fans of the pain hed been in due to the ulcer, which knocked him for six last week.

On February 7, he tweeted: Thanks for all the well wishes. I wanted to give you an honest update as so many of you have been asking and been so kind.

Sadly, Im no better  youll have seen I couldnt do Good Morning Britain today  live TV is impossible. Last night I saw a specialist who confirmed Ive a large, vicious ulcer in my throat (I wont post a picture of it)  not a cold/flu.

Unfortunately eating and speaking are truly agonising, causing the left of my face and neck to go into spasm  leaving me close (or sometimes in) tears.

There is no treatment but to wait, though Im finding that tough as theres no sign of improvement and sleeping is hard. Im going to go and try and film the links for my Monday show today. Ive been given a special local anaesthetic to get me through it (Ive been told doing it wont make things worse).

The team are very considerate  I wont be able to do retakes  and will have to rest 20 minutes before each take.

I must admit to literally shaking with nerves about leaving the house to do it, but Im doing it as I want to, as sitting in the house in pain has made me rather low.

Lewis recently hit headlines after he dropped a lawsuit against Facebook, after it failed to prevent pictures of him appearing alongside online scam adverts.

The company agreed to donate 3 million to an anti-scam project set up with Citizens Advice.

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We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So well take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Canadian Metals Inc. (CNSX:CME).

What Is Insider Buying?

It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

We dont think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Harvard University study found that insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.

See our latest analysis for Canadian Metals

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Canadian Metals

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Founder Stephane Leblanc bought CA$180k worth of shares at a price of CA$0.12 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the companys future. Its not at all bad to see insiders buy shares at or above current prices.

In the last twelve months insiders paid CA$239k for 2.38m shares purchased. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Canadian Metals insiders. Their average price was about CA$0.10. These transactions suggest that insiders have considered the current price of CA$0.065 attractive. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Story continues

CNSX:CME Insider Trading February 15th 19

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insiders at Canadian Metals Have Bought Stock Recently

There was some insider buying at Canadian Metals over the last quarter. Insiders purchased CA$36k worth of shares in that period. Its good to see the insider buying, as well as the lack of recent sellers. But the amount invested in the last three months isnt enough for us too put much weight on it, as a single factor.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Our data indicates that Canadian Metals insiders own about CA$1.2m worth of shares (which is 15% of the company). Whilst better than nothing, were not overly impressed by these holdings.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Canadian Metals Tell Us?

Insider purchases have outweighed sales, in the last three months. But the net investment is not enough to encourage us much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Wed like to see bigger individual holdings. However, we dont see anything to make us think Canadian Metals insiders are doubting the company. Along with insider transactions, I recommend checking if Canadian Metals is growing revenue. This free chart of historic revenue and earnings should make that easy.

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.
A 31-year-old man who fended off and suffocated a mountain lion has spoken out about his horrifying ordeal.

Travis Kauffman was attacked by the predator while on a Colorado jogging trail on February 4.

He has revealed how he killed the big cat by stepping on its throat during a life-and-death struggle.

The attack left him with still-visible lacerations on his neck and face, wounds endured during a terrifying three-minute battle.

Travis Kauffman recalls his horror ordeal. Source: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Kauffman said he was running at the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, about 100km northwest of Denver, when he heard pine needles rustling and turned his head only to come face-to-face with a young cougar.

I was bummed out to see a mountain lion, he said at a news conference in Fort Collins, Colorado, where the environmental consultant lives with his girlfriend.

One of my worst fears was confirmed.

Kauffman raised his arms and shouted at the cougar, but it pounced and locked its jaw on his right wrist and clawed at his face.

His attempts to halt the attack by stabbing the predator with sticks and hitting it on the head with a rock were to no avail.

Mr Kauffman retraces his steps through the park. Source: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Mr Kauffman suffered gashes to his face and neck. Source: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Ultimately, he was able to pin the cougar down and put his foot on its neck and choke it until it stopped thrashing. He worried during the struggle that another cougar would come along and join the tussle.

My fear response turned into more of a fight response, he said.

Mountain lions, also known as pumas or panthers, are native to the Americas and their range extends from the Canadian Yukon to the tip of South America, according to the National Wildlife Federation.

Cougar attacks on humans are rare, however, with fewer than 20 reported fatalities in North America over the last 100 years, according to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website.

He also suffered cuts to his arms and legs. Source: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

There are between 4,500 and 5,500 mountain lions in Colorado, and since 1990 the state has seen 16 people injured and three killed from mountain lion attacks, the agency said.

Kauffman, who is 5-feet-10 inches tall and weighs about 155 pounds, said he had zero martial arts or wrestling training, and acted purely on adrenaline.

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The decisions were pretty instinctual, he added.

The wounds to his face, neck, wrist and legs required more than 20 stitches. Kauffman admitted that he was lucky to survive the attack without any permanent injuries.

I should go buy a bunch of lottery tickets, he said.
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Roger Ng, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker caught up in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fraud scandal, will be allowed to return to the United States to face criminal charges against him there, a Malaysian court ruled on Friday.

Ng has been detained in Kuala Lumpur since Nov. 1, shortly after the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) announced charges against him for allegedly laundering funds siphoned off from the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund. He left Goldman Sachs in 2014.

Ng had agreed to waive extradition and would be sent to the United States pending an order from the Malaysian home affairs ministry, judge Edwin Paramjothy Michael Muniandy said in a Kuala Lumpur court on Friday.

His lawyer, Tan Hock Chuan, asked for the order to be issued within 30 days. It must be issued within three months under Malaysian law.

Ng had reached an agreement with the DoJ on bail and other terms, Tan said.

"The respondent intends to defend the case on its merits in the court of the Eastern District of New York, the United States," Tan told the court.

Marc Agnifilo, Ng's New York-based lawyer, told Reuters ahead of the hearing that his client intended to plead not guilty when he appeared in a U.S. federal court.

Ng is facing separate criminal charges in Malaysia but it is unclear how they will affect his transfer. The attorney-general's office did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Tim Leissner, another Goldman Sachs official, and Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho have also been charged in the United States over the alleged theft of billions of dollars from 1MDB. Leissner has pleaded guilty.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman, asked about Ng, said: "As we have said all along, we are outraged that any employee of the firm would undertake the actions detailed in the government's charges."

Goldman Sachs is being investigated by Malaysian authorities and the DoJ for its role as underwriter and arranger of three bond sales that raised $6.5 billion for 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff in KUALA LUMPUR; Bhanu Pratap in Bengaluru, Suzanne Barlyn and Elizabeth Dilts; Editing by Bill Rigby and Paul Tait)
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian authorities said on Friday they have arrested six people, including four foreigners, suspected of planning attacks or being members of militant groups. Malaysia has been on high alert since gunmen allied with Islamic State (IS) carried out a series of attacks in Jakarta, the capital of neighboring Indonesia, in January 2016. Police said the six were arrested in five separate raids between December and January, on suspicion of planning attacks or having links to militant groups. "They include two Malaysians and four foreigners from Singapore, Bangladesh, the Philippines and a South Asian country," Fuzi Harun, police inspector general, said in a statement posted on social media. The group included a 48-year-old Singaporean accused of planning to attack a building used by Freemasons in the state of Johor. He is believed to have links with Akel Zainal, a Malaysian identified as an IS fighter in Syria, police said. Police also detained a suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in a separate raid in the eastern state of Sabah, where he worked as a laborer. The 21-year-old suspect is believed have ties with ASG leader Furuji Indama, Fuzi said. A 28-year-old man from an unidentified South Asian country was arrested during a raid in Selangor state. Interpol had issued a warrant, known as a red notice, for his suspected involvement in criminal and militant activities, Fuzi said. Malaysia has arrested hundreds of people over the past few years for suspected links to militant groups. A grenade attack on a bar on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, in June 2016 wounded eight people. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the first such strike on Malaysian soil. (Reporting by Joseph Sipalan; editing by Darren Schuettler)
Moscow (AFP) - The US head of a major investment firm appeared in a Moscow court for a detention hearing Friday after Russia opened a fraud investigation into him and several of his colleagues.

Michael Calvey, the founder of multi-billion-dollar investment fund Baring Vostok, rejected all accusations against him.

"These accusations about Baring Bostok and about myself are not true," the 51-year-old said, adding that he would cooperate fully with any probe.

Investigators asked for Calvey to be held until at least April 13, without bail, as he is a frequent traveller with "considerable resources".

The firm said in a statement that the charges related to a commercial dispute over a Russian bank.

"Baring Vostok believes that the detention of its employees and the charges that have been brought are a result of a conflict with other shareholders of Vostochniy Bank," it said.

"We have full confidence in the legality of our employees' actions and will vigorously defend their rights."

The firm earlier confirmed that four of its employees had been detained, without providing their names.

- 'I strongly object' -

Among them was French citizen Phillipe Delpal, who oversees investments in the financial industry for Baring Vostok.

"I strongly object to the request for a detention," Delpal said at a separate detention hearing.

"I have no connection with the alleged crime."

Delpal said he had lived in Moscow for the last 15 years, and has a wife and two daughters in the city.

Two people from other companies had been held in connection to the investigation, agencies reported, citing a court spokesperson.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told news agencies that the foreign investors, if found guilty, should expect to feel the full force of the law.

"If this is a fraud, what can I say: do not violate the law. If the facts are confirmed, no one can spare the perpetrators," he said on the sidelines of an investment forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

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"Be it a foreigner or a Russian, there is no difference here."

The Baring Vostok fund specialises in private equity investments in Russia and the former Soviet Union.

Since 1994 the fund has invested more than $2.8 billion in companies in the region, according to its website.

It employs more than 40 people in Moscow and has invested in major Russian companies including internet giant Yandex, media company CTC and telecommunications firm Golden Telecom.

- 'Extremely negative for investment' -

A source familiar with the investment firm told AFP that the case could be an attempt by a local competitor to damage it.

The source said it would be a "huge surprise" if the charges were founded.

"They're among the most professional investors in the Russian markets, there's never been any issues," the source said.

"It's extremely negative for investment, very damaging."

As well as founding the firm, Calvey is a senior partner.

Before moving to Moscow he worked in London and New York on oil and gas investments for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, according to a biography on the fund's site.

Calvey is also on the board of directors of the Atlantic Council think tank.

Delpal joined Baring Vostok in 2012 after founding Cetelem Russia, part of the BNP Paribas Group, according to his biography.

The pair are not the first foreign investors to fall foul of the law in Russia.

American-born Bill Browder, once the biggest foreign investor in Russia, faced a string of criminal charges in 2008 after his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky revealed a massive fraud by state officials.

Both were charged with tax fraud, but Magnitsky died in pre-trial detention of untreated health issues.

His case later inspired the US Magnitsky Act intended to blacklist Russian officials implicated in human rights abuses.

Browder meanwhile was sentenced in absentia to nine years in jail.
Caracas (AFP) - Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro hit out at the United States on Friday for "stealing" billions of dollars and offering "crumbs" in return as humanitarian aid.

Tons of US aid is piling up in Colombia close to the border with Venezuela as opposition leader Juan Guaido has vowed to defy Maduro's efforts to block the supplies from entering the country.

"It's a booby trap, they're putting on a show with rotten and contaminated food," said Maduro, speaking at an event in the southeastern town of Ciudad Bolivar.

"They've stolen $30 billion and are offering four crumbs of rotten food," added the beleaguered socialist leader, referring to the United States.

Venezuela is in the midst of an economic crisis that has left millions in poverty and facing shortages of basic necessities such as food and medicine.

Guaido, who is recognized by 50 countries as the interim president, accuses Maduro of causing economic hardship through mismanagement.

Among those countries is Costa Rica, whose foreign affairs ministry on Friday gave three Maduro-appointed diplomats "60 calendar days" to leave the country.

Maduro meanwhile blames Venezuela's woes on US sanctions, claiming they have cost the country $30 billion.

The 56-year-old, the hand-picked successor to socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez, branded it the "war of the oligarchy."

US sanctions mostly target regime individuals and state oil company PDVSA, the government's main source of income.

Humanitarian aid has become a key issue in the power struggle between Maduro and Guaido.

The opposition leader, who last month declared himself acting president, has promised to bring in the aid on February 23.

Maduro refuses to let it in. And his loyal military has barricaded a border bridge between Venezuela and Colombia.

The socialist leader insists the aid is just a cover for a planned US military invasion, while Guaido says 300,000 people could die without the desperately-needed aid.

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Speaking on Friday, Maduro said six million families had benefitted from subsidized food boxes and claimed to have bought 933 tons of medicines and medical supplies from China, Cuba and Russia, his main international allies.

"We paid for it with our own money because we're beggars to no one," he said.

Guaido accuses Maduro of being a "usurper" over his controversial reelection last year in polls widely branded fraudulent.

Maduro says the 35-year-old National Assembly speaker is a puppet to the US, which is trying to secure access to Venezuela's gold and vast oil reserves -- the largest in the world.

He said Guaido's challenge to his authority is "treason."

"The worst thing is stimulating the imperial madness of an extremist Ku Klux Klan government in the White House," said Maduro.

US national security advisor John Bolton announced on Thursday that 25 countries had "pledged $100 million in humanitarian assistance."
Shannon Grimm, a kindergarten teacher in Texas, cut off her hair in solidarity with a student who was teased for her short haircut. (Photo: Courtesy of Shannon Grimm)

The teacher of a child who was teased for her short hair chopped off her hip-length locks to be twins with her student.

Five-year-old Prisilla Perez, a student at Meador Elementary School in Willis, Texas, was unhappy with her recent haircut, which was prompted by a severe case of lice, according to Houston television station KTRK. Her kindergarten teacher, Shannon Grimm, sympathized with her unhappiness.

Prisilla started wearing a hat to school that covered her neck and ears, and she refused to take it off, Grimm, 31, a mother of three, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. I didnt push the issue, but after a few weeks, she felt comfortable saying that she wanted her long hair back.

When students started calling Prisilla a boy, she felt worse, often crying and losing focus in school. Grimm and Prisillas mom were concerned, but their ideas didnt work. We had classroom discussions about how girls have short hair and boys have long hair, and I showed them photos of movie stars with different looks, Grimm tells Yahoo Lifestyle. It wasnt sinking in.

Texas kindergarten teacher Shannon Grimm cut off her long hair to make a student with short hair feel pretty. (Photo: Willis ISD)

Grimm thought about Prisilla throughout winter break, and one morning, she had an idea: Cut off her hair  a scary thought for Grimm, who wore her hair long and took pride in it. Ive never had short hair, and I stressed about it for two weeks before making a decision, she tells Yahoo Lifestyle.

On Jan. 4, Grimm invited a hairstylist friend to her home. I didnt want to be surrounded by mirrors in a salon, she says. I told him to keep going, even if I cried.

The kindergarten class loved their teachers new do, especially Prisilla, who excitedly ran off the school bus that afternoon yelling, Mom, Ms. Grimm cut her hair! The teacher also bought matching bows for her and the girl  who call themselves Tinkerbell  so they could style their hair together.

Texas teacher Shannon Grimm is a beauty role model for her kindergarten student Prisilla Perez. (Photo: Willis ISD)

Prisilla is a different person now, and the kids love her hair, too, Grimm tells Yahoo Lifestyle. Shes promised to keep her hair short this year, or at least until Prisillas grows out.

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In February, the teacher nominated Prisilla for the school districts Student of the Month award, but during the Monday ceremony, she received a surprise hero medal from the girl. Now we have matching awards, says Grimm.

Prisillas mother, Maria Vasquez, tells Yahoo Lifestyle that Grimms thoughtfulness brought her to tears. I was shocked, I was crying, I couldnt believe it  she did something I wouldnt have the guts to do. I will never forget that.

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BEIRUT (AP)  Lebanon's parliament gave the new government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri a vote of confidence after days of heated debates and harsh verbal exchanges.

Late Friday, 111 legislators voted in favor while six voted against of the 128-member legislature. Eleven were absent.

A government policy statement focused on improving the country's economic conditions. Hariri began the meetings Tuesday by reading the statement, which calls for reforms in state finances and economy.

The statement also said that Lebanese citizens have the right to "resist Israeli occupation and repel its aggression." This was in reference to the right of the militant Hezbollah group to keep its weapons.

The new Cabinet was announced late last month, breaking a nine-month deadlock that had deepened Lebanon's economic woes.
Money sent home by Filipinos working overseas in 2018 reached a record $28.943 billion, up 3.1 percent from the $28.06 billion a year ago and surpassing slightly the revised 3-percent growth target for the entire year, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Friday. Cash remittances in 2018 remained strong amid political uncertainties across the globe. This is evident in Asia, the Americas and Europe, which grew annually by 12.3 percent, 9.7 percent, and 7.7 percent, respectively, the Bangko Sentral said. The growth in these regions made up for the 15.3-percent decrease in remittances from the Middle East, partly due to the continued repatriation program of the government, BSP said. The bulk of cash remittances for the year came from the US, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom, Qatar, Canada, Germany and Hong Kong. Cash remittances from these countries accounted for almost 79 percent of total cash remittances. Cash remittances in December rose 3.9 percent to an all-time high of $2.849 billion from $2.741 billion on year. The growth in cash remittances in December was supported by the transfers from both land-based and sea-based overseas Filipino workers, which grew 2.8 percent and 4.6 percent from last years level, respectively.The countries that contributed most to the increase during the month were the US and Canada. Personal remittances, which include non-cash items, also registered a record high of $32.2 billion in 2018, up 3 percent over the $31.288 billion a year ago. Personal remittances in December rose 3.6 percent to a record $3.2 billion from $3.046 billion on year. The growth in personal remittances during the year was driven by remittance inflows from land-based OFWs with work contracts of one year or more and remittances from both sea-based and land-based OFWs with work contracts of less than one year, which rose annually by 2.8 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively, the central bank said.
NEW YORK (AP)  The Latest on the fatal shooting of a New York Police Department detective (all times local):

7 p.m.

The man suspected of a robbery that led to the friendly fire death of a New York Police Department detective has been charged with murder, aggravated manslaughter, robbery, assault and menacing.

Christopher Ransom was charged Wednesday, a day after seven officers fired a total of 42 rounds during the chaotic scene outside a cellphone store in Queens. It's not clear if Ransom had a lawyer who could comment on the charges.

Det. Brian Simonsen was shot in the chest and died. His partner was wounded. Police say the 27-year-old suspect, who was also wounded, was brandishing an imitation firearm.

Police say Ransom has been arrested at least 11 times since 2012.

___

3:30 p.m.

Officials say seven officers fired a total of 42 rounds during the chaotic scene that resulted in the friendly fire death of a New York Police Department detective.

Chief of Department Terence Monahan and Force Investigation Division Chief Kevin Maloney gave a briefing on Wednesday, the day after the bloodshed outside a cell phone store in Queens.

Det. Brian Simonsen, who died, and his partner, who was wounded, were among those who pulled the trigger.

Five officers captured parts of the incident on body cameras.

___

12:10 p.m.

Records show the man suspected of a robbery that led to the death of a New York Police Department detective has been arrested at least 11 times since 2012.

Police say that in 2016, the 27-year-old suspect climbed over a gate and walked up to a desk at a Brooklyn police station while wearing a fake SWAT vest and police badge.

A police official identified him as Christopher Ransom of Brooklyn. The official was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and therefore spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Police Commissioner James O'Neill says Det. Brian Simonsen was shot in the chest Tuesday as multiple officers fired on the suspect at a T-Mobile store in Queens. The suspect had an imitation firearm.

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Sgt. Matthew Gorman suffered a leg wound.

__

Michael R. Sisak reported from New York.

___

8:40 a.m.

The New York Police Department is mourning a detective killed by friendly fire while responding to a robbery at a cellphone store.

Police Commissioner James O'Neill says Det. Brian Simonsen was shot in the chest Tuesday night as multiple officers fired on the suspect at a T-Mobile store in Queens.

Sgt. Matthew Gorman suffered a leg wound.

Both of the officers who were shot during the chaotic scene were in plainclothes.

O'Neill says the robbery suspect, a 27-year-old man with an extensive criminal record, had an imitation firearm. He was hospitalized in stable condition.

A police official identified him on Wednesday as Christopher Ransom of Brooklyn. The official was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and therefore spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

__

Michael R. Sisak reported from New York.
Pristina (AFP) - Kosovars are increasingly vexed by the massive amount of time, money and paperwork needed to obtain visas to enter the European Union -- a process not required of any of their Balkan neighbours.

"It is always a feeling like (you are) a criminal or like you did something wrong, like you are being investigated," said professional violinist Visar Kuci, 35, who had to cancel a concert in Germany last year after failing to get a visa in time.

While Western media tend to focus on the rocky relations between Kosovo and former war foe Serbia, it is the visa issue that weighs most heavily on the minds of many ordinary people.

For years Kosovars have clung to hope that the EU will soon abolish visas for three-month visits to the borderless Schengen Area, a privilege enjoyed by every other Western Balkan state.

But the day never seems to arrive.

In Pristina's cafes, friends trade intel on how long it takes to get an appointment, which consulates are most amenable, or any changes to the long lists of required documents.

In 2017, out of nearly 80,000 visa applications for travel in the Schengen area covering 26 European countries, 17,712 were rejected.

The applications, even if unsuccessful, cost around 100 euros ($110) -- a third of the average monthly salary in Kosovo.

For playwright Jeton Neziraj, being named "European of the Year" by the EU's delegation in Pristina in 2018 was not enough to secure the paperwork for his theatre troupe, who were unable to make it to a performance in Romania for visa reasons.

"They really want to humiliate you" to the point where "you say 'I don't want to apply anymore'," Neziraj said. It is like living in a "cage", he added.

- 'A bit of patience!' -

Kosovo, which ranks 20th from the bottom of the Henley passport index on freedom of travel, has yet to be recognised by scores of countries more than a decade after it declared independence from Serbia.

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Part of the pain of the visa rejection is the feeling that the EU has failed to reward the country of 1.8 million for hitting certain benchmarks such as the signing of an unpopular deal to adjust its border with Montenegro.

Brussels is also putting pressure on Pristina to normalise ties with Belgrade.

With a mix of irony and disillusionment, Kosovars point to a 2016 video of their former EU integration minister Bekim Collaku opening a bottle of champagne and announcing that the visa requirements would be abolished within a "few weeks".

"A bit of patience!" he says ecstatically.

Aulone Memeti, a 29-year-old education expert for a Pristina think-tank, says she sometimes opts out of European conferences because of the visa hassle.

She warns that the lack of progress is eroding trust in the European Union.

"The youth of Kosovo lost faith in our government (a long) time ago... They are losing faith even in the EU now," Memeti warned.

- 'Shame on you!' -

Last September the European Parliament advised the abolition of the visa regime, saying that Pristina met all the required conditions.

But the bloc's member states, which must lift their restrictions one by one, do not seem to be in any hurry.

In December the EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini received some 20,000 messages from angry Kosovars on her Facebook wall.

"We've been isolated for years," wrote one commentator.

"Where are the human rights for Kosovo? Shame on you!" another wrote.

Neziraj shares the pessimism.

"They see us as potential refugees, as potential emigrants," he said of EU member states.
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Dividends play a key role in compounding returns over time and can form a large part of our portfolio return. Historically, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (HKG:386) has paid a dividend to shareholders. It currently yields 8.7%. Should it have a place in your portfolio? Lets take a look at China Petroleum & Chemical in more detail.

View our latest analysis for China Petroleum & Chemical

5 checks you should use to assess a dividend stock

When researching a dividend stock, I always follow the following screening criteria:

Is its annual yield among the top 25% of dividend-paying companies?

Has its dividend been stable over the past (i.e. no missed payments or significant payout cuts)?

Has dividend per share risen in the past couple of years?

Is is able to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings?

Will the company be able to keep paying dividend based on the future earnings growth?

SEHK:386 Historical Dividend Yield February 15th 19

How well does China Petroleum & Chemical fit our criteria?

China Petroleum & Chemical has a trailing twelve-month payout ratio of 94%, which means that the dividend is not well-covered by its earnings. However, going forward, analysts expect 386s payout to fall into a more sustainable range of 83% of its earnings. Assuming a constant share price, this equates to a dividend yield of around 8.3%. EPS is also forecasted to fall to CN0.57 in the upcoming year. The lower EPS on top of a lower payout ratio will lead to a fall in dividend payment moving forward.

When assessing the forecast sustainability of a dividend it is also worth considering the cash flow of the business. A business with strong cash flow can sustain a higher divided payout ratio than a company with weak cash flow.

If dividend is a key criteria in your investment consideration, then you need to make sure the dividend stock youre eyeing out is reliable in its payments. Whilst its per-share payments have increased during the past 10 years, there has been some hiccups. Investors have seen reductions in the dividend per share in the past, although, it has picked up again.

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Relative to peers, China Petroleum & Chemical has a yield of 8.7%, which is high for Oil and Gas stocks.

Next Steps:

Keeping in mind the dividend characteristics above, China Petroleum & Chemical is definitely worth considering for investors looking to build a dedicated income portfolio. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, you should always research extensively before deciding whether or not a stock is an appropriate investment for you. I always recommend analysing the companys fundamentals and underlying business before making an investment decision. There are three fundamental aspects you should further examine:

Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for 386s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for 386s outlook. Valuation: What is 386 worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, its not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether 386 is currently mispriced by the market. Other Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.

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.
By Fayaz Bukhari SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - A suicide bomber rammed a car into a bus carrying Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir on Thursday, killing 44 of them in the deadliest attack in decades on security forces in the disputed region, raising tensions with arch foe Pakistan. The Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack. The Indian government accused Pakistan of letting militant groups operate from its soil and called on it to take action. Islamabad said it rejected the suggestion it was linked to the attack. Kashmir is a Muslim-majority region at the heart of decades of hostility between India and Pakistan. The neighbors both rule parts of the region while claiming the entire territory as theirs. The explosion targeting a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was heard from several miles away, according to witnesses. Mohammad Yunis, a journalist who reached the site minutes later, told Reuters he saw blood and body parts scattered along a 100-meter stretch of the main highway running through the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. "We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries," the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement, hours after the attack. Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the attack a matter of "grave concern". But in a brief statement early on Friday it added, "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations." Islamabad has previously denied New Delhi's accusations that it gives material help to the militants fighting Indian rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir. It says it gives only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination. The White House urged Pakistan in a statement "to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil". It said the attack strengthens U.S. resolve to step up counter-terrorism cooperation with India. Television images showed a mangled car amid rubble and snow around the site. Reuters photos showed tens of policemen surveying damaged vehicles and one policeman was seen carrying a plastic cover with guns inside. The death toll stood at 44, a senior police official said. The Central Reserve Force Police is a paramilitary organization that is working with the Indian military to quell the 30-year insurgency in Kashmir. "I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet. Indian forces have sporadically battled Islamist militants in mountainous Kashmir since an armed revolt in 1989 in which tens of thousands were killed, but car bombings are rare. A video circulating on social media on Thursday purportedly featured the suicide bomber, and showed a young man holding a gun and threatening more attacks. Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the video. The Indian foreign ministry accused the Pakistani government of giving the militant group Jaish a free run in Pakistan, saying it has allowed the group's leader, Masood Azhar, "to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity". The last major attack in Kashmir was in 2016 when militants raided an Indian army camp in Uri, killing 20 soldiers. Tension with Pakistan rose after that incident when New Delhi said the attackers had come from Pakistan to stage the assault. Pakistan denied any involvement. MODI UNDER PRESSURE The attack could put Modi, who faces a general election due by May, under political pressure to act against the militants and Pakistan. Randeep Singh Surjewala, a spokesman for the main opposition Congress party, accused Modi of compromising on security. "Zero political action & Zero policy to tackle terror has led to an alarming security situation," Surjewala said in one of a series of tweets. Kanwal Sibal, a former top diplomat, said a diplomatic response from India would not be enough. "They will have to do something otherwise I think it will be very difficult for government to absorb this blow and be seen to be doing nothing," Sibal told Reuters. The Jaish-e-Mohammad group is one of the most powerful militant groups operating in Kashmir. It was blamed for a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that led to India deploying its military on the border with Pakistan. In a statement carried by GNS news agency, a spokesman for the group said dozens of security force vehicles were destroyed in the attack. Arun Jaitley, a senior minister in Modi's cabinet, said India would retaliate, tweeting that "terrorists will be given unforgettable lesson for their heinous act". On Wednesday, an explosion at a school in Kashmir wounded a dozen students. The cause of the blast remains unclear. (Additional reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal in New Delhi; Writing by Sanjeev Miglani and Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Frances Kerry)
Kampala (AFP) - Kampala has deported the Belgian CEO of the Ugandan branch of MTN on security grounds, in the fourth such expulsion targeting the South African telecoms giant within a month.

Police spokesman Fred Enanga said MTN's Wim Vanhelleputte had been deported on Thursday evening for reasons of "national security".

MTN on Friday confirmed the deportation but said it was unclear why Vanhelleputte had been asked to leave.

"MTN has not been notified of the grounds for the deportation and is working hard to establish precise reasons" for it, said communications manager Valery Okecho.

"We are understandably concerned about these developments and are engaging with the authorities to seek understanding that would lead us to resolve this matter."

MTN operates in 22 African countries and Vanhelleputte has served as CEO of its Uganda branch since July 2016.

The company said Friday it had appointed its Ugandan chief technology officer Gordian Kyomukama as acting chief executive in order "to ensure business continuity".

Last month, Kampala expelled three other foreign nationals serving as senior executives at MTN, accusing them of using their positions to "compromise national security."

They included Olivier Prentout, a French national serving as chief marketing officer, Rwandan Annie Bilenge-Tabura, who was head of sales and distribution, and Elsa Mussolini, an Italian who headed MTN's mobile financial services.

- Espionage claim -

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior official from the Ugandan police told AFP that the intelligence services had discovered last year that "a neighbouring country had infiltrated the police and was in the process of intercepting our communication lines."

"On investigating, we discovered a link between that country and MTN, where some foreigners were recruited specifically to carry out espionage and subversion," he said, without naming the country in question.

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Last month's expulsion of the Rwandan executive had raised questions about whether the matter was linked to ongoing tensions between Uganda and Rwanda who regularly accuse each other of espionage.

"It was further discovered that the recently-deported MTN managers were behind that infiltration by a foreign country and were in the habit of allowing third parties to hack into communication channels of senior government officials including State House," he said.

- Museveni points the finger -

Days after the first three managers were expelled, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni met Rob Shuter, MTN's chief executive, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos where the pair discussed the Ugandan telecoms market.

Following the meeting, Museveni accused MTN of under-declaring call volumes to avoid tax.

He demanded shares in the company to be floated on the Ugandan stock exchange or transferred to the national social security fund "to allow for local ownership."

MTN Uganda's 20-year licence expired last year and it is currently operating under an interim licence.

In July 2018, the company said armed men claiming to be from Uganda's Internal Security Organisation "kidnapped" two of its contractors and forced them to open up the company's main data centre, where they made an unsuccessful attempt to access servers.

At the time, MTN denounced the incident as "criminal" and reported it to the authorities but said it had no reason to believe it was under investigation. evs-cyb/hmw
By Ulf Laessing DERNA, Libya (Reuters) - With artillery fire rumbling in the distance, residents of Derna gathered in a streetside cafe on Saturday to discuss the future of their city, long a jihadist hotbed in eastern Libya. Libya National Army (LNA) soldiers did not declare final victory until the following day over the Islamist militants whose rules had determined life in the city since strongman Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011. But for owner Saif and his cappucino-drinking customers, the talk was already all about what should happen next with more jobs, above all to keep youngsters out of the militants' clutches, the top priority for many. "Seventy percent of residents are unemployed," he said. "We need an economic program." In a city notorious for having sent Islamist militants to Afghanistan and Syria and where citizens were prevented from voting in the 2014 national election, public services have been deteriorating for years. "We want better state services, health and schools," said Hafez, who runs a workshop. Derna has had just one small hospital since 2011 and supplies are limited. "We only have 120 beds instead of the 520 in the old hospital," said its assistant director, Adel Adwal, during a tour of the building. Only one, old X-ray machine is still functioning, but "it can break down any moment," he said. Libya's eastern government, which oppose the internationally recognized administration in Tripoli, has allocated 100 million dinars ($72 million) to restart public services, said city mayor Abdelmoneim Gheithi. He was appointed by the LNA, which supports the eastern government. Much of Derna's old city, where the militants made their last stand and a source said the Red Crescent found 35 bodies, has been reduced to rubble. In the newer part of the city, which Reuters was able to visit, life appeared to be returning to normal. But appearances were in part deceptive. Hundreds of families have fled to western Libya, residents say, fearing persecution after being accused of having supported the Islamists. The United Nations said the humanitarian situation in Derna was of grave concern, with reports of scores of civilians cut off from access to food, water and healthcare. It was monitoring closely reports of summary executions and had also heard of arbitrary detentions, with 2,000 people said to be held in one prison alone. The eastern army's chief of staff, Abdel-Razeq Nathouri, rejected that figure, but said any soldiers who had committed crimes would face trial. Another resident said the LNA had acted to prevent abuses such as lootings blamed on auxiliary tribal forces but reconciliation would take time as some wanted revenge for having suffered under the Islamists. "There are some violations going on but state bodies such as criminal police and intelligence have arrived at the old city so hopefully things will calm down," he said, asking not to be named. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing; editing by John Stonestreet)
Munich (Germany) (AFP) - Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan struggled Friday to convince sceptical allies in the coalition fighting the Islamic State militia to help secure Syria once American soldiers pull out.

President Donald Trump said the United States will announce the end of the IS group's once-sprawling "caliphate" within 24 hours, with US-led Arab and Kurdish forces close to capturing the last IS territorial holdout in Syria.

As the end neared for the proto-state that once controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria, 13 defence ministers of the anti-IS coalition met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Shanahan, the US acting defence secretary, pledged ongoing backing for the fight -- but kept allies guessing as to how that would be achieved once US forces pull out, and won no solid pledges of support.

"While the time for US troops on the ground in northeast Syria winds down, the United States remains committed to our coalition's cause: the permanent defeat of ISIS, both in the Middle East and beyond," he said.

Shanahan pledged that the US would "maintain our counterterrorism capabilities in the region" and "continue to support our local partners' ability to stand up to the remnants of ISIS" -- but gave no details about how this would be done.

- 'In together, out together' -

IS fighters have been boxed into an area of around one square kilometre (less than half a square mile) in a last battle over the jihadists' remaining patch of territory in northeastern Syria.

Once they are defeated, US troops are set to withdraw from Kurdish-controlled areas after Trump in December announced the pullout of around 2,000 US troops.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said the US had told coalition partners its soldiers would leave in "weeks rather than months".

The decision has stunned allies including France, which contributes artillery and about 1,200 forces in the region, including soldiers who train Iraqi troops.

Story continues

"It is totally out of the question to have French troops on the ground without the Americans there," one French government source told AFP. "It's just no."

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian asked in a Munich conference panel why the US would create a vacuum in Syria that could benefit its enemy Iran, calling the approach a "mystery".

German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, whose country has helped with surveillance flights and logistical support, stressed that the idea of the anti-IS mission should be "in together, out together".

A senior US defence official said that none of the allies had made any "specific commitment... either whether they would stay or (whether) they would leave when we have left".

There was "a tremendous desire to have a security arrangement or mechanism," the official said, but conceded that no concrete solution had been found to "resolve the security vacuum".

- 'Going underground' -

The imminent collapse of the IS "caliphate" in Syria has increased concerns about experienced militants and foreign fighters escaping and forming new cells in Syria or beyond.

Von der Leyen stressed that "the IS is now changing its face and is going underground and building networks, including with other terror groups and including global networks".

Shanahan said the anti-IS coalition was evolving "to meet the global threat posed by ISIS's offshoots and its murderous ideology" as far away as Afghanistan and the Philippines.

However, the key concern of US allies now is Syria, where major powers -- crucially Russia, Iran and Turkey -- are jostling for influence.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, a leading supporter of the Damascus regime, has called the expected US withdrawal "a positive step that would help stabilise the situation in this region".

Once US forces leave, another complication emerges: the future of areas in northern Syria controlled by the Kurdish YPG militia, a key US ally in the fight against jihadists but branded terrorists by Turkey.

- Observation force -

Istanbul and Washington have called for the creation of a "security zone" to separate YPG-controlled areas from the Turkish border as the US and Turkey increasingly align their positions.

Washington's suggestion of installing an observation force in a buffer zone in Syria's north has the twin objectives of avoiding a Turkish assault on Kurdish forces and halting any jihadist resurgence.

British defence minister Gavin Williamson at a NATO meeting this week did not rule out a UK role, saying that "we will continue to do all that is required to ensure that Britain and our allies remain safe".

However, one high-ranking European military official pointed to the massive challenge of creating such a security zone.

"Securing a buffer zone of an estimated 400 kilometres (250 miles) in length and 30km in width would require around 20,000 troops," said the official.

burs-fz/pdw/har
Nir Am (Israel) (AFP) - Edward Kaprov makes a final adjustment to the oversized, traditional-style camera perched on a heavy tripod aimed at an Israeli military jeep near the Gaza border.

"Let's give it a shot," the 43-year-old says as he strides briskly to the tent that serves as his darkroom.

Kaprov, a professional photographer, says he took to the mid-19th century wet-plate collodion process as part of an artistic project to "create a dialogue between the past and future".

The method entails coating a glass plate in liquid substances, fixing it in the camera, exposing it for a few seconds and then developing it -- all within 10-15 minutes.

Technological advances are all but ignored in the process which has remained nearly unchanged since it was invented in 1851 -- though Kaprov does use his smartphone as a light meter.

Kaprov unloads a table, basins, coolers and plastic jerrycans from the back of his panel van and deftly sets up his field darkroom in the tent.

He brushes clean the plate and carefully pours the collodion mixture on it.

Then he inserts it into a silver nitrate solution, which upon exposure would turn dark, with the collodion solidifying the forms to the plate.

Kaprov returns to the camera with the black magazine containing the wet glass. He inserts it, pulls out the magazine and leaves the glass in.

Covering himself with a blanket as he stoops over the camera, he opens the lens and counts out loud to three before retrieving the glass.

Back in the tent the plate is carefully removed and treated before being taken out into the sun, still immersed in liquid -- as the images of the military vehicle and gate appear on the glass.

- Borderline disorder -

The end product, a piece of glass roughly the size of A4 paper, doesn't reveal the labour put into the process.

"And now, a cigarette," Kaprov sighs in relief as he pats his pockets for his rolling tobacco.

The outdated technique is worth its remarkable hassle to Kaprov, who began a series of Israeli border images nearly 10 years ago using a regular digital camera, and around the year 2015 had something of an epiphany.

Story continues

"I suddenly understood that I had to continue taking the pictures the same way the first images from the Holy Land were produced to create a dialogue between the past and future," he says.

He spent a year learning about the technique through books and internet tutorials, experimenting with potent chemicals and assembling the necessary equipment before he was ready to hit the road and resume work on what is now called the Borderline Personalities Disorder series.

Kaprov's interest in borders is part of his own quest to define or understand his place in Israel, the country he left his native Siberia for at 17.

"I haven't really found myself since leaving my homeland for my historic homeland. I'm still searching," he says.

With his cropped hair, short beard and trim physique, Kaprov looks every bit the outdoor man he is, spending days in the field seeking interesting frames in the company of his mixed border collie Robin.

"Even my dog is borderline," he says with a grin.

- Ancient novelty -

Israel's frontiers tend to be marked by ominous fences fending off the unknown dangers of the surrounding Arab states and entities.

The absence of hikers, tourists and industry in much of those areas afforded him not only the raw images that could correspond with the old ones, but also much-needed peace of mind to focus on his art.

"I escaped one utopia only to find myself in another," he says of his move from Communist Russia to the Jewish state.

The slow pace of the wet plate technique, used by just a few other photographers professionally in Israel, necessitates a special focus not only from the artist but also from his human subjects, who "enter a meditative state-of-mind," Kaprov says.

And while using this method deprives most the opportunity for spontaneity -- one of modern photography's key characteristics -- its ancient novelty attracts attention.

The soldiers who were in the jeep on the Gaza border approached Kaprov by the tent to see what he was doing.

A brief encounter led to the four paratroopers agreeing to pose for him on the same backdrop of their vehicle, accompanying him back to the tent again to see the outcome of the picture.

"As much as I'm result-oriented, there's no denying that the process is a very central part of the issue," Kaprov says later.

"It's like magic taking place, to me and anyone around."
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  A two-day security conference in Warsaw was supposed to be a crowning achievement for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stamping a seal on his long-held goal of pushing his behind-the-scenes ties with Arab leaders into the open. Instead, the publicity-seeking Israeli leader made one embarrassing misstep after another, distracting attention from his main mission and sending his aides into a nonstop cycle of damage control.

Political opponents at home hammered a string of Netanyahu's comments on the diplomatic journey, accusing him of politicizing the military for electoral purposes, leaking a sensitive video that embarrassed Arab Gulf states and apologizing to Poland for another dustup over its role in the Holocaust. Meanwhile, Netanyahu's spokespeople were sent scrambling to clarify he didn't mean to encourage war with Iran and that a low-level assistant had accidentally shared the sensitive video.

The missteps began even before takeoff late Tuesday, when before his flight to Poland he told reporters traveling with him that Israel was constantly acting against Iran in Syria, adding "even yesterday." It was an apparent reference to an undeclared airstrike that again chipped away at Israel's increasingly crumbling policy of ambiguity about its actions in Syria.

"There's one line that must never be crossed. Breaching military confidentiality and bragging about Israeli secret operations can pose a threat to our soldiers," said Benny Gantz, a former military chief and Netanyahu's primary challenger in the upcoming April elections. "Leveraging Israel's security, the highest and most sacred of values, for the sake of campaigning is where we draw the line  and it has to stop."

It didn't get much better for Netanyahu on Polish soil, where some 60 countries took part in the summit, including five Arab foreign ministers making a rare public appearance alongside Netanyahu in a joint show of unity against Iran.

Story continues

In an off off-the-cuff interview with reporters on a Warsaw street shortly after meeting Oman's foreign minister, Netanyahu appeared to call on other participants of the conference to unite around "the common interest of war with Iran." Although he used the Hebrew word "milchama," or war, his office later changed its official translation and said he was referring to a "common interest of combatting Iran."

Then on Thursday, his office briefly leaked a video to journalists showing Bahrain's foreign minister, Khalid Al Khalifa, and representatives of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates playing down the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and harshly criticizing Iran. All three nations are well-known critics of Iran, but sharing their addresses to a closed gathering could nonetheless prove embarrassing.

Netanyahu's office said the video's release was a "technical error" and quickly deleted it. But others didn't believe it.

"Bibi's filming and leaking of things said in a closed meeting for internal electoral needs is an act that is not done," tweeted former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname and adding that relations between nations depend on trust between their leaders. "Foreign policy is not internal politics."

Adding to his troubles, his office was forced to clarify he was not singling out his Polish hosts as a nation when he told reporters during a briefing that "Poles cooperated with the Nazis." Some media outlets reported him saying "the Poles," which set off an angry rebuke from Polish authorities, including a summoning of the Israeli ambassador.

Last year, Poland and Israel were embroiled in a bitter dispute over a Polish law that made it a crime to blame the Polish nation for complicity in the Holocaust. Israeli officials saw it as an attempt by Poland to suppress discussion of the killing of Jews by Poles during and after the wartime German occupation. Netanyahu faced criticism from historians in Israel for not opposing the law, which critics said distorted history.

In the briefing, Netanyahu rejected the suggestions. His office said he was misquoted, though, and blamed the misunderstanding that had upset the Poles on an editing error in an Israeli newspaper.

"Instead of the Poles apologizing to us for the millions who perished in Poland during the Holocaust and for their assistance to the Nazis, Netanyahu for the second time apologizes to them," responded Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition Yesh Atid party and the son of a Holocaust survivor. "This visit of his to Poland has turned into a complete disaster."

If Netanyahu was seeking a respite from the trip's various snafus with a pleasant flight home, he didn't get that either. He was forced to spend an extra night in Warsaw after his plane was damaged shortly before takeoff, marking an inauspicious ending to the turbulent visit.

The prime minister, his wife and the entire entourage were on-board an El Al-chartered Boeing 777 early Friday when a vehicle towing the aircraft on the runway crashed into it. A photo circulated to traveling journalists showed large scrapes in the underbelly of the aircraft.

Netanyahu and his wife were taken off the plane and escorted back to their hotel in the city. Other aides, including Netanyahu's national security adviser and his military secretary, spent the night on the damaged aircraft, saying they did not want to go through the hassle of pre-boarding security checks again.

A replacement plane was dispatched from Israel to urgently return the prime minister, and the observant Jews in his delegation, before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath, when travel is prohibited for Orthodox Jews.

At least that went according to plan. The plane landed back at Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport in the late afternoon, about an hour and a half before the Sabbath began at sundown.

____

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Voters in Denverdecide whether magic mushrooms will be legalized Cracker Jacks

lop guest

User ID: 489330

02-15-2019 10:34 PM











Post: #1 Voters in Denverdecide whether magic mushrooms will be legalized

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The news comes after the Denver Elections Division on Friday certified a petition from the proponents of the measure, which they said gathered enough signatures for it to be considered in Mays municipal election.



The Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Decriminalization Initiative submitted a sufficient number of valid signatures and the question will be placed on the May 7, 2019 Municipal Election ballot, said Joe Szuszwalak of the Denver Elections Division.



Szuszwalak said in a statement Friday that more than 5,500 signatures of the total 8,524 submitted were deemed valid.



The measure would not legalize the hallucinogenic drug for consumption, but rather, would make its possession a low-enforcement priority for police. It would also prohibit the City and County of Denver from spending resources on imposing criminal penalties on those 21 years of age and older in possession of the drug.



Last month, Decriminalize Denver, the group advocating for the decriminalization of mushrooms, turned in more than 9,000 signatures to the Denver County Board of Elections. Of those, at least 4,726 signatures had to valid to qualify for the ballot



This means voters could make Denver the first city in the country to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms .



Kevin Matthews, the campaign manager for Decriminalize Denver, told Denver7 last month that 'shrooms have helped him break his own cycle of depression and sees the drug as a potential treatment for various pain and mental health-related issues. He also argued decriminalization would help lower incarceration rates as it would keep people out of jail for non-violent drug offenses.



The Denver Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Denver Partnership have taken no position on the issue yet.



Decriminalize Denver's strategy mirrors what took place in the Mile High City to decriminalize marijuana before it was legalized statewide in 2012.



Psilocybin mushrooms are federally classified as an illegal drug by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.



https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/po...oms-in-may





I would say in under a decade cocaine will be legalized in at least a few states the way things are heading in American drug culture boom. DENVER  Voters in Denver will get to decide if they want to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms within city limits in May.The news comes after the Denver Elections Division on Friday certified a petition from the proponents of the measure, which they said gathered enough signatures for it to be considered in Mays municipal election.The Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Decriminalization Initiative submitted a sufficient number of valid signatures and the question will be placed on the May 7, 2019 Municipal Election ballot, said Joe Szuszwalak of the Denver Elections Division.Szuszwalak said in a statement Friday that more than 5,500 signatures of the total 8,524 submitted were deemed valid.The measure would not legalize the hallucinogenic drug for consumption, but rather, would make its possession a low-enforcement priority for police. It would also prohibit the City and County of Denver from spending resources on imposing criminal penalties on those 21 years of age and older in possession of the drug.Last month, Decriminalize Denver, the group advocating for the decriminalization of mushrooms, turned in more than 9,000 signatures to the Denver County Board of Elections. Of those, at least 4,726 signatures had to valid to qualify for the ballotThis means voters could make Denver the first city in the country to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms .Kevin Matthews, the campaign manager for Decriminalize Denver, told Denver7 last month that 'shrooms have helped him break his own cycle of depression and sees the drug as a potential treatment for various pain and mental health-related issues. He also argued decriminalization would help lower incarceration rates as it would keep people out of jail for non-violent drug offenses.The Denver Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Denver Partnership have taken no position on the issue yet.Decriminalize Denver's strategy mirrors what took place in the Mile High City to decriminalize marijuana before it was legalized statewide in 2012.Psilocybin mushrooms are federally classified as an illegal drug by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.I would say in under a decade cocaine will be legalized in at least a few states the way things are heading in American drug culture boom. Cracker Jacks

lop guest

User ID: 489330

02-15-2019 10:39 PM











Post: #2 RE: Voters in Denverdecide whether magic mushrooms will be legalized





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FaRaxonQ9g







Can't wait to legally snort that white sugar in a few years. Cracker Jacks

lop guest

User ID: 489330

02-15-2019 10:49 PM











Post: #3 RE: Voters in Denverdecide whether magic mushrooms will be legalized

In conversations about drug legalization, supporters argue that the government could regulate drugs in order to mitigate the potential risks of making the substances legal  whether its more misuse, addiction, overdoses, or drug-related crime. This was a key point against Prohibition (of alcohol) in the 1920s and 30s, and its a key point against marijuana prohibition and even against the prohibition of any drug, all the way up to heroin, today.



Now that Colorado and Washington state have nullified and defied federal law by re-legalizing marijuana, it is the time to re-legalize all drugs and kickstart the domino effect that will finally put an end to the disastrous war on drugs.



Since marijuana is a comparably safe drug to legal products like alcohol and tobacco while also providing numerous medicinal benefits to people with terminal diseases and those facing excruciating pain, it is easy to see why a growing majority of Americans think that marijuana should be legalized.



But cocaine, heroin and LSD? Surely legalizing these drugs would amount to anarchy, chaos and mass addiction, right?



Well, not exactly. Like nearly all programs, government prohibition  with the supposed goal of reducing the use and access of drugs  has achieved the exact opposite results.



Americans have been forced to cough up at least $2.5 trillion since the drug war began and have incarcerated one in every 100 Americans. Prohibition drives up the price of drugs above market rates, leaving violent cartels as the only suppliers in the same way that alcohol prohibition saw the creation of organized crime.



Despite near-universal criminalization, drug use has skyrocketed. Many current and retired law enforcement officers  who have witnessed the drug war's insanity first-hand  are calling for drug legalization.



The war on drugs is also incredibly racist, disproportionately harming minorities and the poor.



It may seem counterintuitive, but complete drug legalization would be the best possible way to achieve the goals drug prohibitionists claim to support.



For example, a decade after decriminalizing all drugs, Portugal has witnessed a significant drop in addicts and drug abuse, the number of infections from intravenous needles, and drug-related crimes. Doctors and health experts in Portugal have recently praised the decision to decriminalize drugs, an atmosphere where "the vast majority of problematic users are today supported by a system that does not treat them as delinquents but as sick people."



The war on drugs takes a private and/or family matter and turns it into a national one, where highly militarized police are given the authority to ignore constitutional restraints on their power and erect a police state. Proponents of the drug war claim that drugs will ruin your life, and there is obviously some truth to that. But their solution is to use force, fines and cages to make sure that it will ruin your life.



Image Credit: The Washington Post



However, nearly all of the problems associated with drugs would be solved or highly diminished by allowing them to be sold and regulated by the free market. Pharmacies, not heavily-armed cartels, would provide heroin and cocaine for a fraction of the price. There is a reason why you don't see gun-play between Budweiser and Coors truck drivers. Their disputes are handled in courts because alcohol, despite the addiction and damage this drug causes, is legal and sold openly.



While I would fully support Colorado and Washington (or any state) seizing the momentum from this recent marijuana legalization and ending the drug war in their respective jurisdictions, we may not have to wait for states to take the lead in order to establish some sanity in our drug policy.



Thanks to modern technology, it is becoming easier and easier to circumvent oppressive state laws. Even though the FBI shut down Silk Road, the business model of offering lower-cost illegal drugs to those who want them using the cryptocurrency Bitcoin will undoubtedly be imitated in the future and will be nearly impossible to stop as technology gets better and better. While the state's drug policy is to abolish the Fourth and Fifth amendments and build thousands of prisons to centrally plan and manage our lives, the Silk Road model offers a peaceful, free market alternative.



Jury nullification also represents a potentially fatal blow to the drug war without waiting for legislation. Through this, juries can refuse to deliver a guilty verdict because they think the law is unjust, the law is misapplied or the punishment is inappropriate.



Jury nullification is enshrined in the Sixth Amendment, and although prosecutors and judges don't want juries to know about it, it is a right that goes all the way back to the Magna Carta. In New Hampshire, jurors have already used it to dismiss cases against people who have technically violated drug laws but did not harm or aggress against anyone. It is one of the most powerful tools we have in protecting civil liberties and checking state power, and if universally adopted around the country, would essentially end the drug war completely.



Fundamentally, we should abolish the drug war because the government has no right to tell individuals what they can or can't put into their bodies in the same way that they can't tell us which books we can or can't read or which religions are legal or illegal. Think about all the damage that has been done by bad ideas, evil books and crazy religions; but does that mean that we should ban free speech?



Same goes for the war on drugs. For the sake of our liberties and public safety, the war on drugs must be abolished.

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Chief of MI6 Alex Younger - REUTERS

The British Islamic State (Isil) bride Shamima Begum has a legal right to return to the UK the Head of MI6 has said. The Director General of MI6 has said that British citizens have a right to return home from Syria, even though they may still present a threat to national security.

Alex Younger, the head of Britains Secret Intelligence Service - better known as MI6 - said he was "very concerned" about returning British nationals that had fought for or supported the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

Speaking ahead of the Munich Security Conference which started on Friday, Mr Younger said: "All experience tells us that once someone's put themselves in that sort of position they are likely to have acquired both the skills and connections that make them potentially very dangerous.

"Anyone who has put themselves in this situation can expect to be questioned and investigated and potentially prosecuted if they return to our jurisdiction."

When asked about the case of Ms Begum, the heavily pregnant 19-year-old Londoner who travelled to Syria four years ago to become an Isil bride and who now wants to return to the UK to have her baby, Mr Younger said: "British nationals have a right to come to the UK."

Kadiza Sultana, left, Shamima Begum, center, and Amira Abase going through security at Gatwick airport Credit: Metropolitan Police

Britains intelligence chief cautioned about showing triumphalism at the demise of Isil, saying such an approach led to hubris.

"The military defeat of the caliphate does not represent the end of the terrorist threat that we face," he said. "You cant use military force to kill and idea."

Mr Younger warned that Isil was already in the process of trying to grow elsewhere around the world, even as its fighters are defeated in Syria, and that the threat from al-Qaeda had not been completely extinguished.

He said: "Daesh [Isil] is a resilient organisation and it is reorganising, returning to its natural state as an asymmetric transnational terrorist organisation. We see it morphing, spreading out.

Story continues

"Al-Qaeda...has undergone a certain resurgence as a result of the degradation of Daesh and it is a force that should also be taken seriously. It is definitely not done out, and is something we should remain focused on."

Mr Younger was keen to stress the "strength and unconditional nature of the UK security offer" and said Brexit would not harm enduring partnerships.

"Britains commitment to the security of the European continent is unconditional," he said. "Our aim is to strengthen our security partnerships in Europe, alongside our other intelligence partnerships across the globe, because that is the inescapable logic of a world of increasingly international hybrid threats."

The ability to "operationalise" partnerships with other intelligence organisations was critical in preserving our way of life, he said, and was used to great effect after the nerve-agent attack in Salisbury last year.

Referring to the intelligence sharing relationships with France and Germany he said: "There are people alive in our three countries today because of terrorist attack plans that we have successfully disrupted, showing the value and importance of cooperation to all sides. This is not a one-way street."

"Even in the past year...peoples lives have been saved in all of our countries as a result of this cooperation. The counter terrorist machine is working as it should. Bombs havent gone off as a result of our capacity to exchange data with each other.

"Brexit doesnt fundamentally alter those relationships."
While some Americans are frustrated with the size of their refunds this tax season, a number of Democratic lawmakers are using the opportunity to criticize the Trump administrations tax law.

A group of about 40 Democratic senators sent a letter to the administration on Friday, calling for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to waive penalties on taxpayers that had their payments underwithheld this year as a result of the tax reform law and the adjusted withholding tables.

It looks like the Trump Treasury Department spent 2018, an election year, goosing peoples paychecks by under-withholding, and it should have been obvious that the bill would come due eventually, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., blasted the administration for the resulting refund amounts.

Many Americans depend on their tax refund to pay bills and make ends meet  but this tax season, working families will see smaller than expected returns and surprise tax bills because the Trump administration used smoke and mirrors in a shallow attempt to exaggerate the impact of their tax law on middle class families for political reasons, Schumer said.

As previously reported by FOX Business, it was projected that about 21 percent of workers were at risk of having their taxes underwithheld under the current tax structure  3 million more than estimates based on the old tax code. Taxpayers were urged to check and update their withholding amounts during the year, but as of October, most people had not done so.

The IRS announced last month it would waive the penalty on those whose total withholding and estimated tax payments are at least 85 percent of the taxes they owe.

Meanwhile, taxpayers have been airing frustrations on social media with hashtags like #TaxScam and #NeverOwedBefore as smaller refund checks come in. Some people are even stuck with a bill for the first time.

The average refund during the first 12 days of filing season was $1,949, the IRS said on Thursday. That compares with $2,135 during the same period last year  a decline of 8.7 percent.

Story continues

The administration, however, is fighting back to assure Americans that they received a financial benefit from the new tax law.

Overall, Treasury officials said they expect fewer Americans to get refunds this year when compared with last year. On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Treasury Department said smaller refunds were positive news for taxpayers because it meant they were paying the appropriate amount in taxes throughout the year.

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Individual taxes will be lower for approximately 80 percent of filers thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Meanwhile, another 15 percent of people will see no change, according to the administration. That leaves about 5 percent who will owe more.

Regardless of the tax cut, however, many people rely on their refund to pay off certain expenses, which could be a problem for those banking on bigger checks. This year, the average person expected is to receive about $3,000, according to a survey from GOBankingRates. More than one-in-four people said they were planning to use the cash to pay off debt.

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By Fayaz Bukhari and Sanjeev Miglani NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR (Reuters) - India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan on Friday to expect a strong response to a suicide attack that killed 44 paramilitary policemen in Kashmir, ratcheting up tension between the nuclear-armed neighbors. The car bomb attack on a security convoy on Thursday was the worst in decades of insurgency in the disputed region. India said it had "incontrovertible evidence" of Pakistani involvement, a statement quickly rejected by Islamabad. "We will give a befitting reply, our neighbor will not be allowed to destabilize us," Modi said in a speech, after meeting security advisers to discuss options. The attack comes months before national elections in India. The Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility soon after a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a bus carrying police personnel. (graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2TM34k8) India has for years accused Muslim Pakistan of backing separatist militants in divided Kashmir, which the neighbors both claim in full but rule in part. Pakistan denies that, saying it only offers political support to the Himalayan region's suppressed Muslim people. The White House urged Pakistan "to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil". Pakistan is due to host peace talks next week between the Afghan Taliban and the United States as part of efforts to seek a political settlement to the Afghan war, but escalating tensions with India could divert Pakistan's attention. As outrage and demands for revenge flooded Indian social media, Arun Jaitley, one of the most senior figures in the Hindu nationalist-led government, told reporters India would work to ensure the "complete isolation" of Pakistan. The first step, he said, would include removing most favored nation (MFN) trade privileges that had been accorded to Pakistan - though annual bilateral trade between the countries is barely $2 billion. The last major attack in Kashmir was in 2016 when Jaish militants raided an Indian army camp, killing 20 soldiers. Weeks later, Modi ordered a surgical strike on suspected militant camps across the border in Pakistan Kashmir. When he swept to power in 2014, Modi vowed to pursue a tough line with Pakistan. The two countries have gone to war three times since independence from Britain in 1947, twice over Kashmir. The Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Indian- and Pakistani-held Kashmir, is widely regarded as one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints, especially after the two countries became nuclear armed states in 1998. CALLS FOR REVENGE Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan's ambassador, Sohail Mahmood, and issued a demarche demanding that Islamabad take verifiable action against Jaish. India also recalled its ambassador in Pakistan for consultations, a government source said. Pakistan's foreign ministry also summoned the Indian deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad to reject New Delhi's "baseless allegations," a Pakistani official said. Crowds gathered in Jammu, the Hindu-dominated part of Jammu and Kashmir state, to demand stronger action against Pakistan. A curfew was briefly imposed in Jammu after crowds overturned and set fire to some vehicles. Protesters were also marching to the Pakistani embassy in New Delhi. The attack comes at a difficult time for Pakistan, which is struggling to attract foreign investment and avert a payments crisis, with its swiftly diminishing foreign currency reserves at less than $8 billion, equivalent to two months of import payments. The escalating tension risks overshadowing a visit to the region by the Saudi crown prince, who is due in Islamabad over the weekend and New Delhi next week, with both governments hoping to attract Saudi investment. On Friday, Islamabad said the two-day visit had been put back by a day until Sunday but the program would remain unchanged. It gave no explanation for the change. India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh flew into Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir, and joined mourners carrying the coffins of the dead policemen, before they were sent to their homes across India. Hundreds of thousands of Indian troops are deployed in Kashmir. Singh said civilian vehicles will be stopped if there is a major movement of military convoys on the main highway following Thursday's attack. The separatist insurgency has waxed and waned since the late 1980s, but began to pick up in the last five years as a fresh generation of Kashmiris was drawn to militancy. Soon after Thursday's attack, Jaish released photographs and a video of a young Kashmiri villager, Adil Ahmad Dar, who it said had carried out the suicide attack on the convoy. In the video, Dar warned of more attacks to avenge human rights violations in Kashmir. On Friday, hundreds of people gathered at his village of Lethipora to mourn his death. His parents told Reuters the 20-year-old took up the gun after he was beaten by troops in Kashmir three years ago. Jaish is one of the most deadly groups operating in Kashmir. In 2001, it mounted an attack on the parliament in New Delhi that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. Indian efforts to add Jaish leader Masood Azhar to a U.N. Security Council blacklist of al Qaeda-linked terrorists have been blocked by China. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang expressed "deep shock" at the latest attack and said Beijing hoped "relevant countries in the region" could cooperate to combat the threat. (Additional reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Robert Birsel)
India and Pakistan's troubled ties risked taking a dangerous new turn on Friday as New Delhi accused Islamabad of harbouring militants behind one of the deadliest attacks in three decades of bloodshed in Indian-administered Kashmir.

At least 41 paramilitary troops were killed on Thursday as explosives packed in a van ripped through a convoy bringing 2,500 troopers back from leave not far from the main city Srinagar, police said.

Local media reported that the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed Islamist group claimed responsibility, with the vehicle driven by a known local militant, Aadil Ahmad alias Waqas Commando.

Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947 with both nuclear-armed countries, which have fought three wars, claiming it as their own.

Jaish-e-Mohammed is largely considered to be one of the most active Pakistan-based insurgent groups fighting in Kashmir.

India's foreign ministry said that Jaish-e-Mohammed head Masood Azhar "has been given full freedom by... Pakistan to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity".

"I want to tell the terrorist groups and their masters that they have committed a big mistake. They have to pay a heavy price," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday after an emergency cabinet meeting.

"Security forces have been given a free hand to deal with terrorists," Modi said, adding that the "blood of the people is boiling".

Arun Jaitley, finance minister, promised to isolate Pakistan in the international community.

Islamabad, however, hit back at the suggestion it was involved.

"We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations," the Pakistan foreign ministry said.

- Body parts -

The United States condemned the attack in "the strongest terms", and called on "all countries...to deny safe haven and support for terrorists". China urged "relevant regional countries" to work for peace.

Story continues

Two buses of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the 78-vehicle convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu highway bore the brunt of the blast, heard miles away.

"No one from the first bus survived," a senior police official told AFP on condition of anonymity, predicting the death toll could rise.

Blackened, mangled remains of at least one vehicle littered the highway. Reports said bodies and body parts were strewn around, making victims' identification difficult.

Afterwards, hundreds of government forces cordoned off around 15 villages in the district the bomber came from and conducted house-to-house searches, a police officer and witnesses said.

Authorities suspended or slowed internet services across the Kashmir region as thousands of security men patrolled the streets.

Several parts of Jammu city, the largely Hindu majority region in the south of the Kashmir, were under curfew after protesters allegedly attacked Muslim properties.

Protesters in many cities chanted slogans against Pakistan and burnt effigies of Azhar.

The shock attack surpasses one in 2016 that was the biggest in 14 years, claiming the lives of 19 soldiers in a brazen pre-dawn raid by militants on the Uri army camp.

India responded to that with the now-famous "surgical strikes" -- an expression used in the title of a new Bollywood movie -- across the heavily-militarised Line of Control, the de-facto border, several miles into Pakistan-administered Pakistan.

- Hawks -

"The current situation has all the making of an India-Pakistan crisis," said Moeed Yusuf from the US Institute of Peace. "The next 24-48 hours are crucial. This could get bad."

"The hope was that India and Pakistan will get back to talking after the Indian elections later this year. I think the hawks on both sides are going to make it very difficult for that to happen now."

On Friday India announced it was withdrawing its Most Favoured Nation Status -- covering trade links -- on Pakistan.

India's foreign ministry summoned Pakistan's envoy to lodge a complaint. India also recalled its envoy from Islamabad for consultations, reports said.

But beyond these moves, Modi has "no easy options", Manoj Joshi from the New Delhi based Observer Research Foundation think-tank told AFP.

Military action could "escalate into something big", he said.

"Diplomatic action against Pakistan is another option. But the United States is cosying up with Islamabad to seek an exit from Afghanistan. China has also deep interests in Pakistan."

Kashmir, where an armed conflict erupted in 1989, has seen increased violence in recent years. Last year was the deadliest in a decade, with rights monitors saying almost 600 people died -- mostly civilians.
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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.  A man accused in the death a New York woman who was stuffed into a suitcase and dumped in Connecticut was in the United States illegally, officials say.

Javier Da Silva of Queens was arrested Monday and charged in the death of Valerie Reyes, federal prosecutors said. The 24-year-old Da Silva is a citizen of Portugal, though, who was in the U.S. illegally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Wednesday.

Da Silva entered the United States on May 8, 2017, through the Visa Waiver Program, but he failed to leave the country as he was required to by Aug. 5, 2017, ICE said

The Visa Waiver Program allows people to travel to the United States for tourism or business for 90 days or less without obtaining a visa, according to the Department of State's website.

Friends and family are looking for New Rochelle woman Valerie Reyes, who's been missing since Tuesday.

Da Silva appeared in White Plains federal court on Tuesday to face a charge of kidnapping resulting in death.

Once the criminal case is over, ICE will take custody of Da Silva and seek immediate removal from the country. The criminal case isn't over until after he serves any potential sentence, if he's found guilty.

Da Silva told New Rochelle police that he was with Reyes, a 24-year-old New Rochelle resident and ex-girlfriend, at her home on Jan. 29 when she fell and hit her head on the floor, after which he taped her mouth, tied up her feet and hands, and stuffed her into a suitcase that he left in the woods in Greenwich, Connecticut, according a complaint filed in White Plains federal court.

There were obvious signs of head trauma, including bruising around Reyes' face and a large hematoma on her forehead, according to the complaint. Evidence that helped identify Da Silva included a drawing that appeared to be Da Silva that was found in Reyes' home, and the use of her bank card around 5 a.m. on Jan. 29, according to the complaint.

Reyes was reported missing on Jan. 30 and found by a Greenwich highway crew on Feb. 5.

Follow Matt Spillane on Twitter: @MattSpillane

More: Valerie Reyes feared 'someone is going to murder me' the night before she went missing

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: ICE: Suspect in death of woman whose body was stuffed into suitcase was in the US illegally
In this June 2018 file photo, protesters walking along Montana Avenue outside the El Paso Processing Center, in El Paso, Texas. On Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019, the United Nations human rights office says the force-feeding of immigrant hunger strikers in a Texas detention facility could violate the U.N. Convention Against Torture.

EL PASO, Texas  The U.S. government has stopped force-feeding a group of men on a hunger strike inside a Texas detention center, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday.

Nine immigrants from India on a hunger strike were being force-fed via nasal tubes at the El Paso Processing Center.

The dramatic reversal comes as public pressure was mounting on ICE to halt the practice, which involves feeding detainees through nasal tubes against their will. Last week, the United Nations human rights office said the force-feeding of Indian hunger strikers at the facility could violate the U.N. Convention Against Torture.

There are 12 detainees  nine from India and three from Cuba  on a hunger strike in El Paso as of Thursday morning, ICE said in a statement. No hunger strikers were being force-fed on court-approved orders, ICE added.

On Wednesday, a U.S. district judge said the government had to stop force-feeding two of the detained Indian immigrants, but warned that if their health started to decline he would consider ordering force-feeding again, their attorney said.

This is a win for us, said Louis Lopez, who is representing Malkeet Singh and Jasvir Singh in the case heard Wednesday in El Paso. Both men are Punjabi Sikhs in their early 20s and were seeking political asylum. They have a First Amendment right to protest.

During President Donald Trump's campaign rally Monday inside the El Paso County Coliseum, protesters momentarily unfurled a banner in support of the "El Paso 9."

Detained immigrants have sporadically staged hunger strikes around the country for years, protesting conditions they face while seeking asylum. But force-feeding, which began under court order earlier this year, has not previously been reported, and advocates involved said they werent aware it had happened before.

More: Immigrants on hunger strike being force-fed at ICE detention center in Texas

More: They were speaking Spanish in the grocery store. So a Border Patrol agent detained them. Now they're suing

Story continues

U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama closed the first part of the hearing to the public because of a federal law regarding health privacy since it dealt with the present condition of the two detainees and the status of their force-feeding.

"The tubes are out," Lopez, the detainees' lawyer later said in open court.

"You weren't supposed to say that. That was in the closed portion of the hearing," Guaderrama responded.

Lopez, along with lawyers Lynn Coyle and Rebecca Reyes, are representing Jasvir Singh and Malkeet Singh in the forced-feeding case. The detainees have another lawyer for their immigration cases.

Guaderrama commented that he had never seen a forced-feeding case, saying it raised several questions. "What is involved in forced feeding?" he said. "What is involved in allowing someone to starve to death?"

Guaderrama explained that court documents were sealed because of health privacy concerns.

ICE reported that the hunger strike began with two detainees on Dec. 30 before others joined the fast. In January, ICE obtained court orders so detainees could be "hydrated and fed non-consensually."

Feast, fasting and force

Dr. Michelle Iglesias, the El Paso detention center's staff physician, testified in closed court about the condition of the two detainees. In open court, she said that forced-feeding is implemented because of the damage prolonged starvation does to the body.

Iglesias said that hunger strikers are monitored and repeatedly informed of the dangers of starvation and dehydration.

After 15 days, the body starts suffering significant damage, muscle loss and the heart and other organs are affected, Iglesias explained. Starvation can be very painful, including muscle cramps, back pain from kidney problems, heart palpitations, foggy vision, trouble walking and fainting.

More: 'They treated us like we are animals:' ICE drops more migrants at bus station as churches are overloaded

More: ICE tried to deport a U.S.-born Marine, and his mom wants to know why

"Food is always provided and encouraged every single day until we reached this point" of forced-feeding, Iglesias said.

The detention center even offered the strikers that "we would cater a feast for them of (Indian) foods they would find appealing," Iglesias said.

When food was refused, staff had to "use the force" and begin forced-feeding, she said.

During forced feeding, detainees are strapped down in a sitting position on a medical bed and feeding is done through a lubricated tube inserted through the nose, Iglesias said.

During questioning by Lopez, Iglesias admitted there is a risk of injury if the feeding is done against a patient's will. Patients can suffer bruising, pain, soreness and bleeding.

Lopez said the American Medical Association has condemned force-feeding hunger strikers as unethical.

Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said last week the office views force-feeding as potential ill treatment that would go against the U.N. Convention Against Torture, ratified by the United States in 1994.

The Geneva-based offices statement echoed concerns raised by 14 Democratic lawmakers who have asked ICE for more information about the nine Indian men who were force-fed through nasal tubes.

Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Daniel Borunda on Twitter: @BorundaDaniel

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: ICE halts force-feeding detainees on hunger strike at El Paso immigration detention center
Parents and children demonstrate outside the Parkfield Community School, Birmingham.(Caters)

Hundreds of parents have demonstrated outside a Birmingham school in protest at lessons on homosexuality and gender.

The parents accuse the Parkfield Community School of indoctrinating their children.

The protest was aimed at No Outsiders lessons at Parkfield  motto, Learning for Life  which aims to teach pupils about the Equality Act and British values.

The school, which is rated outstanding by Ofsted runs five lessons a year covering areas such as gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnership for pupils aged up to 11.

The protests are against a series of classes run by assistant headteacher Andrew Moffat (Caters)

Books being read as part of the programme include: Mommy, Mama and Me and King & King  stories about same-sex relationships and marriages.

However some parents claim the lessons promote sexuality.

Mums and dads, in the predominantly Muslim Saltley area of Birmingham, have been seen outside the school waving placards with messages including exploiting childrens innocence and education not indoctrination.

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One parent Fatima Shah says she has taken her 10-year-old daughter out of the school because of the lessons.

Its inappropriate, totally wrong. Children are being told its OK to be gay yet 98 per cent of children at this school are Muslim. Its a Muslim community, she told Birmingham Live.

She added that she wanted her children to learn about English, maths and science.

Demonstrating parents and children (Caters)

On Thursday, Christian evangelists joined the protests.

Assistant Headteacher Andrew Moffat says he has received nasty messages from some angry parents but says he will continue.

One leaflet handed out to parents criticised Mr Moffat for coming out.

What keeps me going is the support from the school which is absolutely brilliant, the DfE, Ofsted, the city council, he said.

There are lots of people recognising that this work is important and thats what you have to hold on to.

The incident has even gained the attention on social media of comedienne Shappi Korsandhi, who is backing the school.
When it comes to respect, sometimes little things make a big difference for travelers. For Don Brauninger, it's travel industry employees who replace the words "you're welcome" with "no problem".

Brauninger, a manager for an emergency services company in Haymarket, Virginia, has heard it from airline agents, hotel clerks and car rental employees.

"No problem"  as if his patronage and his presence might be a hardship.

"It's my customer service bugaboo," he says.

It also raises a question or two about modern-day travel: Has respect between the travel industry and the people it serves deteriorated to such a point that we, the customers, are a problem? And if so, what can we do about it?

Where's the respect?

Respect is a hot topic in travel again. First Uber and then Frontier Airlines started soliciting tips from passengers. A tip is a gesture of respect  an acknowledgment that the customer is happy with the service.

More: Travel tipping guide: Who gets what?

But for travel experts, soliciting a tip is a mile marker in the race to the bottom. Airlines and other travel companies have cut services to such an extent that customers no longer feel respected. They say it's insulting for companies to ask for a gratuity when they've reduced service to the point where it's almost unrecognizable from a few years ago.

"Will I be courteous?" asked etiquette expert Lisa Grotts. "You bet. Will I say please and thank you? Always. Will I be tipping? No."

In other words, we do have a problem.

Do travel companies respect us?

Travelers accuse travel companies of starting this tailspin, and say they no longer respect their customers.

"Airlines have continued to create new reasons to charge fees and they have begun charging for what was once free," says Kryss Shane, a frequent traveler and social worker. "It feels like a racket and the flyer is getting taken advantage of."

Story continues

Shane sees the effects whenever she travels. It's the tense moments when passengers take their frustrations out on flight attendants. Crew members have to deal with the backlash, even though they aren't directly responsible for reductions in service.

It isn't just the cuts, but also the constant upselling that bothers travelers and underscores the lack of respect.

It's all the extra charges on the plane  a fee for a carry-on bag, a fee for a seat assignment, a fee for early boarding. But it's also the prices at hotels: the $7 bottle of water and the mandatory $25-a-night "resort" fee.

"When a consumer feels nickel and dimed, when the travel experience takes a back seat to profit, then respect suffers," says Ted Scofield, an attorney and author based in New York who travels frequently. "When you are measured and promoted and possibly compensated based on your ability to drive profits, customers become cash machines."

Scofield says the incentives are all wrong. It shouldn't be about maximizing return on investment, but about maximizing the customer's travel experience.

Maybe we're the ones who have lost respect

Talk to folks on the other side of the counter, and it's clear there's another perspective.

"The lack of respect that I have seen is firmly with the customer," says Patricia Hajifotiou, who owns Olive Odysseys, which offers tours of European destinations. "People are harried, out of time and so much more often feel entitled. And that adds up to a real lack of respect towards the person on the other side of the desk."

Hajifotiou says a little patience and politeness would easily restore the lost respect. "Say 'hello' or wish them a good morning and then ask in a calm voice, clearly what it is you need. You will find so many better outcomes for yourself," she says.

It's clear that asking for a tip won't bring back the respect between flight attendants, hotel workers and car rental companies and their customers. Nor, probably, will platitudes from experts.

"Respect breeds respect," explains Beverly Randolph, founder of the Protocol School of Indianapolis. "Companies must foster a culture of respecting one another from the top down. In respectful workplaces, employees are more engaged and productive; they'll also be less stressed and genuinely happier  translating into happier travelers"

Shamila Nduriri, a frequent traveler who founded Dalasini, an African jewelry company, agrees. For her, it comes down to observing the Golden Rule. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," she says. "Unfortunately, until people view others as equals, and act accordingly, this will be extremely difficult to achieve. Nevertheless, it starts with you and a hope that your good attitude will be contagious and others pay it forward."

Then again, maybe we'll know that we respect each other when people like Brauninger stop hearing "no problem" when they're at the ticket counter  and get a "you're welcome" instead.

How to tell if a travel company respects its customers

 How do customers rate them? Check the American Customer Satisfaction Index for a list of top-rated companies . Last year's top performing airlines were Southwest , Alaska and JetBlue.

 How do employees rate the company? Happy employees offer respectful service. A Glassdoor ranking of employees found that Southwest was the top travel company, followed by Delta Air Lines and Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants.

 How does the government rate them? The Department of Transportation publishes monthly report cards for airlines. The annual Airline Quality Rating summarizes the data into a ranking. Last year's winners: Alaska, Delta and JetBlue.

Christopher Elliott is a consumer advocate. Contact him at chris@elliott.org or visit elliott.org.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: High fees and short tempers: What happened to respect in travel?
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Post: #1 IVANA TRUMP: he kept a book of Hitler's speeches by his bed

Advertisement Donald Trump's ex-wife once said Trump kept a book of

Hitler's speeches by his bed



According to a 1990 Vanity Fair interview, Ivana Trump once told her lawyer Michael

Kennedy that her husband, real-estate mogul Donald Trump, now a leading Republican

presidential candidate, kept a book of Hitler's speeches near his bed.



"Last April, perhaps in a surge of Czech nationalism, Ivana Trump told her lawyer

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speeches, My New Order, which he keeps in a cabinet by his bed ... Hitler's speeches,

from his earliest days up through the Phony War of 1939, reveal his extraordinary

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Hitler was one of history's most prolific orators, building a genocidal Nazi regime with

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"He learned how to become a charismatic speaker, and people, for whatever reason,

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Rhetoric of Hitler and Churchill for the past 46 years at Idaho State University, told

Business Insider earlier this year.





"People were most willing to follow him, because he seemed to have the right answers

in a time of enormous economic upheaval."





When Brenner asked Trump about how he came to possess Hitler's speeches,

"Trump hesitated" and then said, "Who told you that?"



"I don't remember," Brenner reportedly replied.



Trump then recalled, "Actually, it was my friend Marty Davis from Paramount

who gave me a copy of 'Mein Kampf,' and he's a Jew."





Brenner added that Davis did acknowledge that he gave Trump a book about Hitler.



"But it was 'My New Order,' Hitler's speeches, not

'Mein Kampf,'" Davis reportedly said.



"I thought he would find it interesting. I am his friend,

but I'm not Jewish."



After Trump and Brenner changed topics, Trump returned to the subject and reportedly

said, "If, I had these speeches, and I am not saying that I do, I would never read

them."





In the Vanity Fair article, Ivana Trump told a friend

that her husband's cousin, John Walter "clicks his

heels and says, 'Heil Hitler," when visiting Trump's office. According to a 1990 Vanity Fair interview, Ivana Trump once told her lawyer MichaelKennedy that her husband, real-estate mogul Donald Trump, now a leading Republicanpresidential candidate, kept a book of Hitler's speeches near his bed."Last April, perhaps in a surge of Czech nationalism, Ivana Trump told her lawyerMichael Kennedy that from time to time her husband reads a book of Hitler's collectedspeeches, My New Order, which he keeps in a cabinet by his bed ... Hitler's speeches,from his earliest days up through the Phony War of 1939, reveal his extraordinaryability as a master propagandist," Marie Brenner wrote.Hitler was one of history's most prolific orators, building a genocidal Nazi regime withspeeches that bewitched audiences."He learned how to become a charismatic speaker, and people, for whatever reason,became enamored with him," Professor Bruce Loebs, who has taught a class called theRhetoric of Hitler and Churchill for the past 46 years at Idaho State University, toldBusiness Insider earlier this year."People were most willing to follow him, because he seemed to have the right answersin a time of enormous economic upheaval."When Brenner asked Trump about how he came to possess Hitler's speeches,"Trump hesitated" and then said, "Who told you that?""I don't remember," Brenner reportedly replied.Trump then recalled, "Actually, it was my friend Marty Davis from Paramountwho gave me a copy of 'Mein Kampf,' and he's a Jew."Brenner added that Davis did acknowledge that he gave Trump a book about Hitler.Davis reportedly said."I thought he would find it interesting. I am his friend,but I'm not Jewish."After Trump and Brenner changed topics, Trump returned to the subject and reportedlysaid, "If, I had these speeches, and I am not saying that I do, I would never readthem."In the Vanity Fair article,that her husband's cousin, John Walterwhen visiting Trump's office.
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appointed George Katrougalos on Friday as foreign minister, relinquishing a post he had temporarily filled himself after the departure of Nikos Kotzias in October 2018, the government's spokesman said on Friday. The move comes after Greece and Macedonia resolved a decades-old name dispute last month by implementing the 'Prespes agreement', which changed the official name of the ex-Yugoslav republic to North Macedonia. Tsipras took over as foreign minister in October after Kotzias resigned amid reports of a cabinet split over the issue. "After the successful conclusion ... of the Prespes agreement, the prime minister no longer thinks that he should maintain the foreign ministry portfolio," government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said. Katrougalos had served as deputy foreign minister, handling European affairs. Lawmaker Sia Anagnostopoulou will replace Katrougalos. The mini-reshuffle also included another four new deputy ministers at the interior, labor, migration and infrastructure ministries. The new ministers will be sworn in on Monday, the government spokesman said. (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos and Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Sidewalk Torontos vision for urban development (Sidewalk Toronto)

Alphabets Sidewalk Labs wants a cut of Torontos revenue to build out its vision of a futuristic data-driven smart city.

The project has been controversial from the start. Critics have been calling out the Google (GOOG) sister company and its partner Waterfront Toronto for lack of clarity around data collection and intellectual property.

Sidewalk Toronto is offering to help finance transit projects through the neighbouring Portlands area to speed up the process. Sidewalk Toronto says it should get a portion of developer fees and property taxes in exchange for developing the currently rundown area which is 30 times larger than the Quayside neighbourhood where Sidewalk Toronto plans to build its smart city

Sidewalk Toronto also says it could build a new Canadian headquarters on Villiers Island and a timber factory in Ontario to build help build the smart city  creating 4,000 jobs in the process.

Toronto Mayor John Tory told Yahoo Finance Canada the city hasnt received a formal proposal but if and when it does it will be given full public scrutiny, subject to public consultation, and discussion.

I believe innovation and technology can help improve our quality of life, help our city grow and help create jobs. Developing our waterfront in the right way is vitally important to the future of Toronto, says Tory.

Collectively, our job as governments, along with the waterfront corporation, is to make sure the Quayside project is done in a transparent manner thats good for Toronto, good for the province, and good for Canada.

Sidewalk labs CEO Don Doctoroff made the plans public in a post on Medium.

We came to Toronto because we want to build great things and innovate in ways that improve urban life  and this is the only city in the world that has the mix of talent and tenacity to make this happen, says Doctoroff.

Not everyone is buying the promises though.

It still looks and sounds a lot like vaporware, Jesse Hirsh, President of Metaviews, told Yahoo Finance Canada.

Story continues

Software developers and tech companies love to promise the world, but rarely are they able to deliver.

Sidewalk Toronto says it doesnt plan to take over the Portlands.

Our proposed involvement in real estate development would be limited to Quayside and the western edge of Villiers Island  in large measure to prove out our belief that timber construction can help make a more affordable, sustainable, vibrant neighbourhood, and to deliver on our affordable housing goals, says Doctoroff.

We intend to undertake this development in tandem with local development partners, while recognizing that we will likely have to bear the primary risk for much of the innovation embedded into the plans.

Hirsh isnt buying it.

They want to distract us with shiny new things and hope we dont realize this is the privatization of urban environments one neighbourhood at a time, says Hirsh.

They promise fancy technology and innovation but the end result will be the (re)colonization of Torontos waterfront.

Ontario also has not agreed to Sidewalk Torontos conditions. Shauna Brail  a member of the Sidewalk Advisory Council, told Yahoo Finance Canada the proposal represents a clarification of their business model, including how they propose to earn revenues, in large part by building infrastructure to create land value.

That doesnt mean the province will agree to Sidewalk Torontos terms.

Its also a negotiation. We do know that our governments have not committed the required funds to build, maintain and support Canadian cities. Therefore, as an exploration of another model  it presents a starting point. Will it lead to a productive negotiation? Possibly, says Brail, associate professor of urban studies at the University of Toronto.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
Berlin (AFP) - German Health Minister Jens Spahn said Friday he will seek to ban conversion therapies that claim to change sexual orientation.

"Homosexuality is not an illness, which is why it does not need to be treated," Spahn, who is gay himself, told the Berlin daily left-leaning daily Die Tageszeitung (taz).

He hoped that a German law banning such therapies could be adopted by the middle of the year.

Conversion therapies have spread in the United States and have been used by parents of homosexual or transgender adolescents against their will.

Some techniques involve injections of large doses of testosterone, while others apply electric shocks to people as they view images of homosexual acts.

"I do not believe in these therapies, mainly owing to my own homosexuality," said Spahn, who represents the right wing of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU party.

The health minister is counting on support from his colleagues if and when a vote is taken.

"I cannot imagine there is a partisan of conversion therapies in my parliamentary group," he said.

Within the European Union, only Malta and some Spanish regions have banned the practices outright.

In March 2018, a large majority of European Parliament deputies nonetheless adopted a non-binding text that called on member states to outlaw them.
We consider ourself a fast-fashion approach to pop culture, Funko CEO Brian Mariotti told Yahoo Finance. Anything and everything that will speed up our ability to put something in the marketplace as fast as possible gives us a competitive advantage.

Yahoo Finance visited Funko HQ in Everett, Washington  located about 40 minutes north of Seattle  to check out how the addition of a top-of-the-line 3D printer is making the process even faster.

We're competing against ourself, said Mariotti. How fast can we garner more market share by making something in the pop culture zeitgeist and putting it out in the market as fast as we can? Every little part of the process that we can get better at helps us to do that better.

Hulk statue, Funko HQ Everett, Washington

Funkos business model relies heavily on securing licenses. With more than 1,100 licenses, the company currently have more than any competitor. Funko uses that advantage to create between 3,500-4,200 new products each year.

If theres ever a question on how to design something, just make it cuter

Speed to market is essential, particularly in pop culture memorabilia. The sooner the licensors can sign off on a design, the faster Funko can get their product on the shelves. The process for creating a mold to mass produce a Funko figure takes between 30 - 45 days.

For Funko, one of the key things that we need is the ability to design, develop, and create something on the spot. Mariotti told Yahoo Finance. So when New York-based CAD BLU reached out to Funko regarding the latest in 3D color printing technology, Mariotti jumped at the opportunity.

As a result, Funko is one of the first companies to use the Mimaki 3DUJ-553, capable of accurately printing 10,000,000 colors. Gone are the days where a model must be hand painted.

Pop culture moves so fast, said Mariotti. For us to have a tool like this printer that can take what's in our head and execute it in a printed format, with full color and not a lot of prep time after it prints, has been an amazing advantage.

Story continues

A full size Funko Pop! figure  standing between 3.5 and 4 inches tall  prints in about 8 hours. By comparison, the 2-inch prototype of Cliff Stucky printed in just over 3.5 hours.

Cliff Stucky 2 inch 3D printed prototype

Mariotti became Funko CEO in 2005 after he and two friends from high school acquired the company from original founder Mike Becker. Under Mariottis direction, the company has grown to become one of the largest pop culture collectible companies on the planet with Q3 2018 net sales of $176.9 million, a 24% increase year over year.

All these technological advancements are all in support of Mariottis underlying directive: If there's ever a question on how to design something, just make it cuter.

WATCH MORE: We took a ride with Lamborghini's CEO to 'perceive the different soul of this car'

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit.
By Zachary Fagenson

PARKLAND, Fla. (Reuters) - One year after the Valentine's Day massacre inside a Florida school, students and families leading a nationwide push for school and gun safety paused on Thursday to mark the anniversary of the deadliest U.S. high school shooting.

School buses brought only a handful of students to a shortened class day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where a former student with an assault gun killed 17 people on Feb. 14, 2018.

A moment of silence and community service activities took place at local schools as students honoured the victims by wrapping palm trees with their names and pictures and laying flowers at the base.

As night fell, scores of people filled a park for a prayer vigil, led by a group of about a dozen clergy members from all faiths, who focused on unity, love and compassion in the name of those who died in the shooting a year ago.

"As men and women of faith, we stand with you Parkland, painful Parkland, profound Parkland, powerful Parkland," said David Hughes, the lead pastor at Church by the Glades in Coral Springs. "In the name of a living God, we say together never, never, never, never again."

Leaders of March for Our Lives, a national student movement formed in the aftermath of the Parkland tragedy to fight gun violence, were not in the spotlight, having noted they would "go dark" or cease most communications during the anniversary.

Still, an emotional Emma Gonzalez, who helped to organise the movement, described at a news conference in New York the never-ending battle with trauma faced by survivors of mass shootings like the one in Parkland.

"Every day it feels like the shooting is happening again, or happened yesterday, or will happen tomorrow," said Gonzalez, who rose to prominence by urging her fellow students to "call B.S." on supporters of the gun lobby.

From Washington to Florida's state capital Tallahassee, elected leaders from both parties vowed to work to prevent another catastrophe. Republican President Donald Trump said on Twitter that the anniversary was a time to "recommit to ensuring the safety of all Americans, especially our nation's children."

Story continues

Democrats used the occasion to call for greater gun control, introducing legislation in states such as North Carolina and Colorado, while the party's leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives pledged to advance stronger background check requirements to buy firearms.

"Why have we not been able to stop this from happening?" asked Jared Moskowitz, a former Democratic state legislator from the Parkland area, now heading the Florida Division of Emergency Management. He spoke alongside a 35-foot (11-meter) memorial to the shooting victims erected at a public arts display in Coral Springs, near Parkland.

A former student is accused of opening fire with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle inside a freshman classroom building. He has offered to plead guilty if prosecutors do not seek the death penalty, but no such agreement has been reached.

Many families of the dead and many student activists prefer not to mention his name. Instead, they have focused attention on a gun violence epidemic that killed nearly 40,000 Americans in 2017, according to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Just over half were self-inflicted.

As he planned a cemetery visit to mark his 14-year-old daughter's death, Fred Guttenberg recalled on Twitter how a year ago he sent two children to school - and only one came home.

"I am forever haunted by my memory of that morning, rushing my kids out the door rather than getting one last minute. Did I say I love you?" he said.

(Reporting by Zachary Fagenson; Additional reporting and writing by Letitia Stein; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Tom Brown and Lisa Shumaker)
MIAMI (AP)  A Florida attorney has been sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay $19.7 million in restitution for securities fraud.

Court records show that 77-year-old James Schneider was sentenced Thursday in Miami federal court. He was convicted in December of multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. He must pay restitution to 2,156 investors, as well as forfeit $4.8 million.

Prosecutors said 11 other defendants also have been convicted in the pump-and-dump scheme: Schneider's role was to author fake legal opinion letters to create 20 shell companies; investors then spent millions for shares of the companies from 2008 to 2013.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released more than a dozen drawings made by a prolific serial killer in hopes the public may be able to identify some of his victims.

Samuel Little, 78, was arrested at a Kentucky homeless shelter in September 2012 and extradited to California, where he was wanted on a narcotics charge.

Once Little, a one-time boxer, was in custody, the Los Angeles Police Department were able to match his DNA to three unsolved homicides from 1987 and 1989 and charge him with three counts of murder.

In 2014, Little was convicted on all three counts and was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. He is reportedly in poor health and will likely remain in prison in Texas until his death.

Little had previously been charged with killing women in Mississippi and Florida in the 1980s but escaped indictment in Mississippi and conviction in Florida, according to the FBI. He had also served time for assaulting a woman in Missouri and for the assault and false imprisonment of a woman in San Diego.

He has since confessed to 90 murders, 34 of which have been officially linked to his claims.

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Little's typical victims were vulnerable women, many of whom were involved in prostitution and addicted to drugs. Their bodies sometimes went unidentified and their deaths uninvestigated.

The FBI has released drawings of the women Little made in prison, along with information about their deaths, in hopes of positively identifying the victims and providing justice and closure in their cases.

Anyone with information related to Samuel Little's victims is urged to contact the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program at 800-634-4097.
By Ginger Gibson and Jan Wolfe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will almost certainly face legal challenges over his decision to declare a national emergency to get additional funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall, circumventing the power of Congress to set spending policy. Legal scholars say it is unclear how such a step would play out, but they agree a court test would likely focus on whether an emergency actually exists on the southern border and on the limits of presidential power over taxpayer funds. Trump is unhappy with a bipartisan border security bill that is going through Congress to avert another government shutdown, because it contains only a fraction of the funds he demanded for his promised border wall. The White House said Trump would sign the bill but declare a national emergency to try to obtain funds for the wall. That will likely trigger a long legal fight possibly stretching into Trumps 2020 re-election bid, and embolden critics who already accuse him of authoritarian tendencies and unpredictable swerves in policy-making. Congressional Democrats are already vowing legal challenges. They have balked at giving Trump money for what they say is a wasteful and unnecessary wall. Trump made his promise to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it a centerpiece of his 2016 presidential campaign. The Mexican government has refused to pay. PRESIDENTIAL DISCRETION Under the Constitution, decisions about spending taxpayer funds and creating policy are typically made by Congress. But a 1976 law allows the president to bypass Congress and redirect funds in the event of a national emergency. The National Emergencies Act does not define emergency, giving the president broad discretion to declare one, legal experts said. The law empowers Congress to override an emergency declaration, but that requires action by both chambers, which would be hard to get since the Senate is run by Trumps fellow Republicans and the House of Representatives by Democrats. The United States currently has about 30 national emergency proclamations in effect, including ones related to the Iran hostage crisis of 1979 and the swine flu pandemic in 2009. Congress has made a wide range of special powers available to a president who declares a national emergency. One law allows the president to redirect U.S. Department of Defense construction funds that have not yet been allocated. Another enables the U.S. Army to halt civil projects and instead apply the funds and personnel to projects essential to the national defense. LITTLE PRECEDENT There are few court cases on the scope of the presidents emergency powers, and legal experts are split. Robert Chesney, a professor of national security law at the University of Texas, said a legal challenge on those grounds might succeed but that the courts typically showed deference to the president on national security matters. Elizabeth Goitein, a lawyer at the Brennan Center for Justice, said there were strong arguments that border wall construction is impermissible under various statutes granting the president emergency powers. While the U.S. Supreme Court has denied legal standing to individual lawmakers from the House of Representatives challenging White House actions, the entire House may have more solid legal ground to bring a lawsuit. In 2015, the federal appeals court in Washington said the House as an institution had standing to challenge a means chosen by the Obama administration to fund part of the Affordable Care Act, where Congress had not appropriated the money. Individuals or businesses with contracts canceled because of a redirection of military funds could also challenge Trump in court, as could private landowners whose property might be seized, Chesney said. A practical issue for Trump, even if he could credibly argue an emergency exists, is that he would need to get his wall money out of whatever funds are left over from a pool of about $10.4 billion in military construction projects during the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. The U.S. military has not disclosed how much funding might be left over in its military construction budget. It was unclear whether any cash still available would be enough to make significant headway in building the border wall. (Reporting by Ginger Gibson and Jan Wolfe; Editing by Peter Cooney)
By Phil Stewart MUSCAT (Reuters) - The United States should keep arming and aiding the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) following the planned U.S. withdrawal from Syria, provided the group keeps up the pressure on Islamic State, a senior U.S. general told Reuters on Friday. The recommendation by Army General Joseph Votel, who oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East as head of Central Command, is one of the strongest signs yet of U.S. military hopes for an enduring partnership with the SDF despite the concerns of NATO ally Turkey, which says Kurdish SDF fighters are terrorists. "As long as they are fighting against ISIS and continue to keep pressure on them, I think it would seem to me to be in our interest to continue to provide the means for them to do that," Votel said in an interview, using an acronym for Islamic State. Votel said he expected future U.S. assistance to the SDF to change after it seizes the final bits of Islamic State territory. The SDF will then have to contend with a more dispersed, harder-to-detect network of Islamic State fighters, who are expected to wage guerrilla-style attacks. "When they go to a kind of a wider area security mode, then that will drive a different type of requirement (for support)," he said during a trip to Oman. Asked about Votel's remarks, a White House official did not comment on future assistance to the SDF but reaffirmed the Trump administration's commitment to the broader anti-Islamic State coalition. U.S. President Donald Trump confounded his own national security team, including generals like Votel, with a surprise decision to withdraw the roughly 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, declaring that Islamic State had been defeated there. The decision ran against Pentagon recommendations and helped lead to the resignation of Trump's defense secretary, Jim Mattis. It also triggered rare public criticism from Trump's fellow Republicans in Congress. Also on Friday, Votel told CNN, of Trump's decision, "It would not have been my military advice at that particular time." Reuters has reported that Trump's decision was in part driven by an offer by Turkey to keep the pressure on Islamic State once the United States withdrew. But current and former U.S. officials warn Ankara would be unable to replicate the SDF's success across the areas of Syria that the militias captured with U.S. support including arms, air strikes and advisers. Brett McGurk, who resigned in December as Trump's special envoy to the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, warned last month that the SDF could not be replaced as the provider of stability in areas of Syria formerly held by the militant group. He also cautioned that Turkey was not a reliable partner. Asked whether he agreed that the SDF could not be replaced, by Turkey or anyone else, Votel said: "I would agree with that and I would include Americans, frankly. This is not a mission we should take on ourselves completely." "The fact that they (the SDF) own this, they represent the tribes ... is a really important aspect," Votel said. PLAYING CATCH-UP Nearly two months after Trump announced the pullout, Votel and other U.S. military leaders are hammering out the best way to carry it out while preserving as many gains as possible. Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine who sits on the Senate committee overseeing the military, voiced deep concern in an earlier interview about Trump's decision and the impact on U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in the SDF. "The military (are) going to make the best of it, but it's clear to me that what they are doing is playing catch-up in terms of determining what the strategy is," he told Reuters. U.S. arming of the SDF has infuriated Turkey, which sees the Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters that spearhead the group as indistinguishable from the Kurdish PKK movement that has waged an insurgency inside Turkey. The YPG fear a Turkish onslaught once U.S. forces withdraw. That has left Washington searching for a way to address the concerns of both partners. In Europe, the plight of the SDF has come into sharp focus. A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the issue came up at a meeting of defense ministers on the sidelines of the Munich Security conference on Friday. "Many of (them) recognize the degree to which the SDF has actually done the hard fighting and dying and they feel a sense of obligation to just not turn our backs," the official said. The SDF hold about 800 foreigners who fought with Islamic State. What will happen to those prisoners in Syria following the U.S. withdrawal is unclear. A top Kurdish official recently warned the SDF may not be able to hold them if the security situation spirals out of control. Votel, however, said there were no indications that the SDF would release them. "They recognize the importance of this ... and they have recognized what it would mean if they were (let) loose," he said. (Reporting by Phil Stewart; additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Munich; Editing by James Dalgleish)
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EU/Macron Regime Inc. Bombs Poor Africans in Chad James

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User ID: 489266

02-15-2019 10:25 AM



Posts: 8,015









Post: #1 EU/Macron Regime Inc. Bombs Poor Africans in Chad

Advertisement France bombed Chadian rebels to stop coup d'etat: Foreign minister



Quote: France's military struck rebels in Chad to prevent a coup d'etat against President Idriss Deby, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Tuesday.



On Deby's request, French warplanes bombed a heavily-armed rebel convoy that crossed last week from Libya deep into Chadian territory.



"There was an attack by a rebel group that came from southern Libya ... to take power by force in N'djamena. President Deby asked us in writing to intervene to prevent a coup d'etat and protect his country," Le Drian told lawmakers.

Quote: The incursion, which Chadian troops tried to halt, underscores how Deby's fight against Islamist militants in the region has stretched his military. The military effort has diverted finances away from public services and the economy, fuelling popular discontent in one of the world's poorest nations. http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/...at-Fo.aspx "It was only an 'opless fancy,

It passed like an Ipril dye,

But a look an' a word an' the dreams they stirred

They 'ave stolen my 'eart awye!"



- Prole Song, Eric Arthur Blair James

Registered User

User ID: 489266

02-15-2019 10:41 AM



Posts: 8,015









Post: #2 RE: EU/Macron Regime Inc. Bombs Poor Africans in Chad





Quote: Deby has faced several rebellions since seizing power in 1990 in a military coup. International observers have questioned the fairness of elections that have kept him in office, and last year Deby oversaw a reform of the constitution that would allow him to stay in power until 2033.

So Idriss Deby is basically an African Nicolas Maduro if comparisons are made from the MSM reports from Venezuala, just a 1000 times worse, yet no support for getting rid of Deby in support of Freedom and democracy. Just see this from the article.So Idriss Deby is basically an African Nicolas Maduro if comparisons are made from the MSM reports from Venezuala, just a 1000 times worse, yet no support for getting rid of Deby in support of Freedom and democracy. "It was only an 'opless fancy,

It passed like an Ipril dye,

But a look an' a word an' the dreams they stirred

They 'ave stolen my 'eart awye!"



- Prole Song, Eric Arthur Blair James

Registered User

User ID: 489266

02-15-2019 11:04 AM



Posts: 8,015









Post: #3 RE: EU/Macron Regime Inc. Bombs Poor Africans in Chad





Quote: President Emmanuel Macron has said he wants a new relationship with France's former colonies and that the era of propping up leaders in return for lucrative contracts for French companies -- a policy known as La Francafrique -- is over.

Then goes and bombs Chad Proles anyway! For?....The World/Globalist Energy Council says:



Quote: The West African republic of Chad joined the ranks of the worlds crude oil producers in July 2003, after the construction of a 1 070 km export pipeline from the oil fields in the Doba Basin of southern Chad through Cameroon to a new terminal at Kribi. The development of the Doba Basin fields (in the initial stages, Bolobo, Kome and Miandoum, followed in 2005-2007 by Nya Moundouli and Maikeri) and the pipeline is handled by a consortium consisting of ExxonMobil (40%), Petronas, the Malaysian state oil company (35%), and ChevronTexaco (25%).



Chad ranks as the tenth-largest oil reserve holder among African countries, with 1.5 billion barrels of proven reserves as of January 1, 2013, according to the Oil and Gas Journal. Crude oil production in Chad was an estimated 115,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2011 and 105,000 bbl/d in 2012. Almost all of this was exported via the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline.

https://www.worldenergy.org/data/resourc.../chad/oil/ Just an Orwellian/Corporate bit of doublespeak by Macron Inc. to try hide their Corporate crimes in the open.Then goes and bombs Chad Proles anyway! For?....The World/Globalist Energy Council says: "It was only an 'opless fancy,

It passed like an Ipril dye,

But a look an' a word an' the dreams they stirred

They 'ave stolen my 'eart awye!"



- Prole Song, Eric Arthur Blair James

Registered User

User ID: 489266

02-15-2019 11:42 AM



Posts: 8,015









Post: #4 RE: EU/Macron Regime Inc. Bombs Poor Africans in Chad

Quote: President Emmanuel Macron has said he wants a new relationship with France's former colonies and that the era of propping up leaders in return for lucrative contracts for French companies -- a policy known as La Francafrique -- is over.

Basically Macron admitting what His branch of the globalist elite have being doing to Africa but then the proviso for His Western Private Banksters handlers' current criminal actions in the region..



Quote: France, however, considers Chad's battle-hardened troops as vital in the fight against Islamist militants in West Africa and bases its 4,500-strong counter-terrorism Operation Barkhane force in the capital N'djamena



"This (intervention) was totally in line with international law," Le Drian said.

So basically where ever all the defenseless Proles find their expendable dirty feet above all the luscious oil, the Global Corporate Terror Brand() is sure to follow, followed by closely the Global Corporate Military Industrial Complex and all their top end 'Investors', and sold by the Global Corporate Propaganda Networks and political con-artist as Freedom Inc. Pretext, Casus belli...no non no non non!



Then there is this Freak and the Horror for our world down here ahead.



Quote: "This (intervention) was totally in line with international law," Le Drian said.

Just like there is a different interpretation of international/global Corporate "law" when it comes to Venezuela. We are so effed Fellow Proles! Basically Macron admitting what His branch of the globalist elite have being doing to Africa but then the proviso for His Western Private Banksters handlers' current criminal actions in the region..So basically where ever all the defenseless Proles find their expendable dirty feet above all the luscious oil, the Global Corporate Terror Brand() is sure to follow, followed by closely the Global Corporate Military Industrial Complex and all their top end 'Investors', and sold by the Global Corporate Propaganda Networks and political con-artist as Freedom Inc. Pretext, Casus belli...no non no non non!Then there is this Freak and the Horror for our world down here ahead.Just like there is a different interpretation of international/global Corporate "law" when it comes to Venezuela. We are so effed Fellow Proles! "It was only an 'opless fancy,

It passed like an Ipril dye,

But a look an' a word an' the dreams they stirred

They 'ave stolen my 'eart awye!"



- Prole Song, Eric Arthur Blair (This post was last modified: 02-15-2019 11:43 AM by James .)

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By Kane Wu and Matthias Inverardi HONG KONG/DUESSELDORF (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is in talks with Germany's Metro about taking a stake in the German wholesaler's China operations, three sources told Reuters on Thursday. Metro and Alibaba declined to comment. The talks are at an early stage and could still fall apart, the sources said. Alibaba's interest comes after rival Tencent last year signed a partnership deal with France's Carrefour. U.S.-listed Alibaba, which runs consumer-facing online shopping platforms Taobao and TMall and food delivery app Ele.me, is looking to develop a business-focused retail strategy, said one of the sources. Teaming up with a wholesaler like Metro could also bring synergy to its fresh produce units Hema and Yiguo, the source added. Any deal would add to the HK$22.4 billion ($2.87 billion) Alibaba spent in 2017 on a major stake in China's top hypermart operator, Sun Art Retail Group Ltd, as part of a push to build big-data capabilities in the offline retail market. For its part, Metro was once a sprawling retail conglomerate but has been restructuring in recent years to focus on its core cash-and-carry business, selling Kaufhof department stores and then splitting from consumer electronics group Ceconomy. It is also trying to offload its loss-making Real hypermarkets chain, saying on Tuesday that the sale is progressing. Metro shares, which have gained 16 percent this year on speculation of a possible bid for the company and news on divestments, were up 0.6 percent after the Reuters report. "Initial excitement about a bid premium will soon be replaced by worries about hollowing out the business and removing one of the few paths for sustainable growth," said Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyn. Metro has 95 stores in China and real estate assets in major centers, such as Beijing and Shanghai, one of the sources said. Apart from Alibaba, there are other parties involved in early discussions with Metro, according to the sources, with an official sale process expected to kick off soon. Metro Chief Executive Olaf Koch said on Tuesday that the German firm was reviewing potential partnerships with local players in China. Metro and Alibaba have already partnered in online retail in China. "We are growing continually and we are profitable there," Koch said when Metro presented first quarter earnings. Metro reported that same store sales in Asia rose a currency adjusted 7 percent to 1.04 billion euros ($1.17 billion) in the October to December quarter. The possible China move comes as Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky is preparing a potential bid for Metro, people close to the matter told Reuters last month. Global Commerce (EPGC), a vehicle co-owned by Kretinsky and Slovak investor Patrik Tkac, is expected to have the financing and other arrangements in place to be able to announce a tender offer for Metro as early as March, the people added. (Reporting by Kane Wu in Hong Kong and Matthias Inverardi in Duesseldorf, Germany; Additional reporting by Doug Busvine in Frankfurt; Editing by Edmund Blair and Christopher Cushing)
Johannesburg (AFP) - A former South African ambassador to Tehran was arrested and brought before a commercial crimes court on Thursday for allegedly taking a bribe linked to a major Iran mobile phone tender, police said.

Yusuf Saloojee, 75, who is now retired, stands accused of corruption and foreign bribery.

He allegedly received cash in return for helping South African telecoms giant MTN secure a contract to operate in Iran in 2005, while he was ambassador there.

"Saloojee allegedly pocketed 1.4 million rand for his role" and is said to have used the money to purchase a house in Pretoria, police spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi said in a statement. The figure is equivalent to $100,000 at current exchange rates.

According to South Africa's elite police Saloojee was allegedly involved in facilitating the cancellation of a cellphone operating licence that had been awarded to Turkish mobile company Turkcell.

The licence was later handed to South Africa's telecoms giant MTN.

Saloojee is believed to have been part of "deceitful corrupt activities with Iranian officials after Turkcell Consortium was awarded a lucrative... (GSM-licence) to operate in Iran for 15-years," Mulaudzi said.

The former ambassador was freed on $280 bail and was ordered to return to court on April 17.

Turkey's Turkcell which lost out in the competition, in 2012 filed a $4.2 billion lawsuit in Washington alleging that MTN had bribed Iranian officials and pressed Pretoria to offer weapons and diplomatic support for its nuclear programme.

It claimed it had already won the deal through an international tender, but its licence arrangement was suddenly dropped in favour of MTN.

The South African company was later cleared of wrongdoing.

MTN holds operating licences in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
BEDFORD, N.H. (AP)  Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, little-known on the national stage but well-respected among veterans in the GOP establishment, announced an exploratory committee for president on Friday, becoming the first Republican to move toward a serious primary challenge against President Donald Trump.

There are new signs he won't be the last.

Immediately after the 73-year-old Weld's announcement at a breakfast event in New Hampshire, a senior aide for former Ohio Gov. John Kasich indicated Kasich is likely to launch a primary challenge as well.

"All of our options remain on the table, and we're leaning toward a primary run," Kasich aide John Weaver told The Associated Press.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, meanwhile, met privately last week with conservative leader Bill Kristol, who's driving an effort to recruit a top-tier Trump primary challenger and operatives on the ground in key states.

"I think he deserves a lot of credit for being the first one in the pool. The water's pretty cool at this point," Kristol said of Weld. "But he won't be the last."

Hogan aides acknowledge that the two-term Republican governor is openly considering a Trump challenge. Hogan is expected to spend the next two months focused on his state legislative session to be followed by a more active exploratory phase likely to include appearances in key primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire.

Weld's move makes Trump the first incumbent president since George H.W. Bush in 1992 to face a notable primary challenge.

While Trump's overall approval ratings have been poor for much of his presidency, he remains popular with Republican voters. Yet some Republican operatives in and out of Trump's campaign have taken steps to protect the president from a serious primary challenge, which historically has foreshadowed trouble.

Bush and Jimmy Carter lost their bids for a second term after facing challenges from inside their own party.

Story continues

Speaking in New Hampshire, Weld blasted Trump for leaving the nation in "grave peril."

"We have a president whose priorities are skewed toward promotion of himself rather than for the good of the country," Weld said. "He may have great energy and considerable raw talent, but he does not use that in ways that promote democracy, truth, justice and equal opportunity for all. To compound matters, our president is simply too unstable to carry out the duties of the highest executive office in the land."

Asked to comment on Weld's campaign, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders responded: "Who?"

The Republican National Committee last month issued a nonbinding resolution to declare the party's undivided support for Trump.

"The RNC and the Republican Party are firmly behind the president," said RNC spokeswoman Cassie Smedile. "Any effort to challenge the president's nomination is bound to go absolutely nowhere."

Stephen Stepanek, chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, pointed to Weld's past support of President Barack Obama and said he didn't expect his campaign to get very far among Republican primary voters.

Weld "really needs to think about how welcome he is in the Republican Party," Stepanek said.

Fiscally conservative but socially liberal, the 73-year-old Weld ran on the Libertarian party ticket in 2016 with former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, receiving about 4.5 million votes, or a little more than 3 percent of the national popular vote.

Despite a pledge that he would remain a loyal libertarian, Weld on Jan. 17 walked into the clerk's office of the Massachusetts town where he lives and re-registered with the GOP, adding to speculation that he would challenge Trump in the primaries.

Weld has not won a political race since being re-elected governor by a landslide in his heavily Democratic state in 1994. He was first elected to the office in 1990, defeating a conservative Democratic candidate, and quickly became one of Massachusetts' most popular governors in recent history.

While holding the line on spending and taxes, Weld embraced liberal positions at odds with national Republicans on abortion and gay rights. His low-key style and sharp wit also seemed to play well with voters, as did his penchant for the unexpected: He once ended a news conference touting progress in cleaning up Boston's polluted Charles River by diving fully clothed into the waterway.

When Matt Mayberry, former vice chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, introduced himself to Weld on Friday as a veteran who is also gay, pro-abortion rights and a lifelong Republican, Weld exclaimed "You're my guy!"

But Mayberry didn't reciprocate.

"It bothers me that you left the party, ran for vice president and came back. Please talk to me and other Republicans, moderate Republicans, about how, as Republicans, we can trust you to govern as a Republican," Mayberry said.

Weld pointed to his record as governor and said that while he considers himself a "small L" libertarian, the only way to effectively challenge Trump is to run as a Republican.

"I want to not dribble around the court but go right to the hoop. If you want to go one-on-one here, it's got to be as an 'R,' that can't be helped. That's the way this race has to be run. It feels good to be back here with the 'R' on my name," Weld said.

___

Peoples reported from New York. Salsberg reported from Boston. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
By Francesco Guarascio

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union states backed on Tuesday a watered-down reform of regional supervision of money managers and other financial firms, top EU officials said, in a move that could leave open critical regulatory loopholes before Brexit.

The plan, initially proposed by the EU executive Commission in 2017, was meant to avoid a situation under which, after Britain leaves the bloc, national regulators could offer sweeteners to London-based financial firms.

Smaller EU states had tried to completely block the reform, fearing it would reduce their power to attract foreign financial firms.

But after pressure from larger states led by France and Spain, a compromise was reached by EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, an EU statement said.

The compromise, however, falls short of the initial plan proposed by the EU Commission.

Financial services commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the compromise "does not match the high level of ambition" of that proposal, but he added he could accept it as it was important to move forward with the reform.

Luxembourg was one of the EU states that most opposed the overhaul. The Grand Duchy's finance minister Pierre Gramegna argued against changing the agreed text in talks with the European Parliament.

The tiny state is home to the euro zone's largest investment fund industry, with nearly 4.5 trillion euros (3.9 trillion) of assets, twice those of Germany, European Central Bank data show. Many of Luxembourg's funds are headquartered in London.

Under the Commission's plan, the EU markets watchdog ESMA would have directly supervised investment funds, such as venture capital and European Long-Term Investment Funds (ELTIF), but states blocked this reform.

They also thwarted a planned expansion of ESMA powers on monitoring prospectuses, which are documents containing the information needed before investing in a company.

The monitoring of national supervisors would also remain largely in the hands of a board of national authorities, instead of being carried out by an independent watchdog, as the Commission wanted.

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One EU official said that, although the reform would increase transparency, some loopholes would remain. This would partly undermine the goal of preventing regulatory arbitrage after Brexit, the official said.

EU negotiators will now need to find common ground between governments and lawmakers for the reform to become law before EU Parliament elections in May.

Romania's Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici, who will conduct the talks on behalf of EU states, said negotiations with EU lawmakers would begin this week.

In January, the EU parliament adopted a much more ambitious text that would have given EU supervisors more clout.

(Writing by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by John Stonestreet and Gareth Jones)
Brussels (AFP) - The European Parliament on Friday cancelled an event that was to be attended by Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, citing "security threats".

"There is a high risk that the proposed event could pose a threat to the maintenance of public order on Parliament's premises," the speaker's office said.

Puigdemont has been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium since Spain cracked down on his efforts to lead the Catalonia region to independence via a referendum.

He had been due to meet reporters on Monday in the European Parliament in Strasbourg at an event hosted by the Belgian MEP Ralph Packet.

But his presence was furiously opposed by Spanish lawmakers, who regard his secession bid as illegal, and the assembly president ordered a security review.

This noted increased tensions surrounding the ongoing trial of several of Puigdemont's Catalan colleagues who have been charged in Spain with "rebellion".

And earlier this month, pro-independence protesters temporarily occupied EU official buildings in Barcelona.

"The analysis has concluded that the security threats linked to the event cannot be mitigated by Parliament security services," the statement said.

There was no immediate reaction from Puigdemont's camp, nor news on whether the event would take place elsewhere.

But Spanish conservative MEP Gonzalez Pons welcomed the decision.

"The European Parliament has acted responsibly by suspending the act of the escaped coup plotter, Puigdemont," he said, in a tweet.

"After the independentistas took over the headquarters of the European institutions 15 days ago in Barcelona, it was necessary to prevent them repeating the aggression."

If he ever returns to Spain, the former Catalan regional president faces prosecution for pushing an independence referendum in October 2017 in defiance of a court ban.

The referendum was followed by a declaration of independence by leaders in the wealthy northeastern region -- a dozen of whom are now on trial

The move sparked Spain's deepest political crisis since its transition to democracy in the 1970s.

tjc/dc/har
Ankara (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called French counterpart Emmanuel Macron a "political novice" over the announcement that France would hold a national day to commemorate "the Armenian genocide".

Turkey and Armenia have long been at odds over the treatment of Armenians during World War I.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were killed during the war.

But Turkey -- the Ottoman Empire's successor state -- denies that the massacres, imprisonment and forced deportation of Armenians from 1915 amounted to a genocide.

"I say to Macron -- you are still a political novice, first learn the history of your country," Erdogan said during an interview with the A-Haber television channel.

He went on to list all the countries which France had colonised and where, he said, massacres had taken place including Algeria, Indochina and Rwanda.

France was one of the first major European nations to recognise the mass killings as "genocide". More than 20 other countries have followed suit.

Armenians commemorate the massacres on April 24 -- the day in 1915 when thousands of Armenian intellectuals suspected of harbouring nationalist sentiment and being hostile to Ottoman rule were rounded up.

Earlier this month Macron announced that France, which has a substantial Armenian community, would hold a "national day of commemoration of the Armenian genocide" on the same date.

Last week Turkey hit out at that decision with Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy accusing Macron of trying to win votes from the Armenian community in France.
Electric truck start-up and potential Tesla (TSLA) rival Rivian announced a $700 million investment round led by Amazon (AMZN) on Friday.

The announcement comes less than three months after Rivian revealed its first two products, an all-electric pickup and SUV that, some analysts have said, could pose a direct challenge to both established truck manufacturers like General Motors (GM) and Ford (F), as well as upstart Tesla which is developing its own battery-electric pickup.

The Friday morning announcement comes just days after reports began circulating that GM would join Amazon in the new round of financing. But a well-placed source involved in the negotiations told CNBC that "you don't find all the presents under the Christmas tree," suggesting that another development is in the works, one that could come at or before the New York Auto Show in April where Rivian is scheduled to hold a news conference.

"This investment is an important milestone for Rivian and the shift to sustainable mobility," said RJ Scaringe, Rivian founder and CEO. "Beyond simply eliminating compromises that exist around performance, capability and efficiency, we are working to drive innovation across the entire customer experience. Delivering on this vision requires the right partners, and we are excited to have Amazon with us on our journey to create products, technology and experiences that reset expectations of what is possible."

The announcement did not detail how much Amazon specifically will invest in Rivian. For the ecommerce giant, the move follows barely a week after it joined in with venture capital firm Sequoia, as well as Lightspeed Venture Partners, Shell Ventures and others, to take a stake in Aurora . That deal put a roughly $2.5 billion valuation on Aurora, an autonomous vehicle technology start-up run by Waymo (GOOGL) and Tesla alumni.

Exactly why Amazon would want to make such moves remains hazy, though it follows steps taken by other high-tech firms, such as Alphabet and Apple to explore opportunities in electrified and autonomous mobility.

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Amazon, in particular, has been looking for ways to change up its delivery methods which currently rely on traditional partners such as the USPS and UPS. Some industry analysts have speculated that Amazon could be interested in Rivian's platform for developing vehicles for its massive global logistics needs.

"We're inspired by Rivian's vision for the future of electric transportation," said Jeff Wilke, Amazon's worldwide consumer CEO. "RJ has built an impressive organization, with a product portfolio and technology to match. We're thrilled to invest in such an innovative company."

The round included investments from Rivian's existing shareholders. The start-up will remain an independent company. Rivian currently has more than 750 employees located in several locations, including Plymouth, Michigan; San Jose and Irvine, California; Normal, Illinois; and Surrey, England.

The fact that GM was not included in Friday morning's announcement does not mean the Detroit automaker won't subsequently take a stake in Rivian. GM issued a terse release earlier this week that notably sidestepped the question, only stating that "We admire Rivian's contribution to a future of zero-emissions and an all-electric future."

Until recently, few expected to see a competitive, battery-powered electric pickup because of the hefty demands owners place on those vehicles. But views have begun to shift as Tesla prepares to bring a truck to market and as analysts and potential buyers have gotten a look at the R1T pickup that Rivian unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show last November  along with the R1S sport-utility vehicle.

Rivian plans to launch its R1T pickup truck and R1S sport utility in the U.S. in 2020, and begin introducing them overseas in 2021. The company has modeled both vehicles on what it calls a "skateboard" platform, which it says it flexible enough to accommodate several different vehicle body styles.

Both, at least initially, will feature 180 kilowatt-hour battery packs, almost twice the size of the largest pack currently offered by Tesla. That will be more than enough to deliver a range of 400 miles under optimal conditions, according to Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe.

Performance will rival a Tesla Model X SUV with Ludicrous Mode, Scaringe says, claiming the two trucks will hit 60 mph in 3 seconds and 100 mph in less than 7 seconds, with a top speed of 125 mph. They will, meanwhile, be able to tow up to 11,000 pounds.

Rivian had not hidden its search for funding. While development of the two battery trucks was moving along at a fast pace, Rivian had also acquired the old Mitsubishi assembly plant in Normal, Illinois. But it was not clear whether the company had the money  or the expertise  to actually produce the two vehicles on its own.

While a source broadly hinted that more financing news could be in the works, there is also a possibility that Rivian may be lining up help on the manufacturing side.

Trucks and SUVs are also increasingly more popular with U.S. consumers than cars, and customers seem willing to pay more for them, meaning more profits for automakers. The business case for an electric pickup or SUV could be stronger than one for a sedan, given how much money companies have had to sink into electric batteries and motors and how difficult it has been for companies to make money on electric cars.

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in a note this week that a successful electric pickup from an upstart such as Rivian or Tesla could pose a serious threat to Detroit automakers , who depend heavily on sales of truck-based vehicles.

In a significant move, Ford Motor Co. announced this month that it is developing an electric pickup of its own. Meanwhile, Duncan Aldred, the general manager of the GMC brand at General Motors, has told CNBC it is "considering" a similar move. While he declined to offer details, Aldred pointed to comments made by GM CEO Mary Barra last March that the automaker is on a "path to an all-electric future."

It currently offers a single, long-range all-electric model, the Chevrolet Bolt EV, but plans to start rolling out as many as two dozen others, starting with a Cadillac crossover, in 2021.
Kinshasa (AFP) - DR Congo's new President Felix Tshisekedi called Friday for a "better armed" UN peacekeeping force in the troubled country, in his first formal meeting with foreign diplomats after taking power.

Tshisekedi also called for "healthy cooperation" with Europe, following tensions during the latter half of his predecessor Joseph Kabila's 18-year rule.

He said the Democratic Republic of Congo wanted to work jointly with the UN to draw up a withdrawal plan for the MONUSCO peacekeeping mission, one of the biggest in the world which has been present in DRC for 20 years.

In the meantime, its troops "should be reduced and better armed and prepared" to fight the numerous rebel and militia groups which hold sway over large areas of the country, he said.

On December 27, DR Congo expelled the European Union's head of mission, Bart Ouvry, a Belgian national, after the 28-nation bloc reimposed sanctions on 14 officials over a brutal crackdown on protests during Kabila's rule.

Tshisekedi said he wanted a mutual exchange of ambassadors "as soon as possible," but underscored Kinshasa would "protect its political independence... and sovereignty."
Pro-EU Tory MP Dominic Grieve (PA)

A dozen or more Government ministers could quit by the end of February if Theresa May refuses to extend the Brexit negotiating period, a leading Tory opponent of EU withdrawal has said.

Former attorney general Dominic Grieve said that the next round of Brexit votes on February 27 would be a high noon moment when resignations on this scale  which he said could include six Cabinet members  might bring Mrs Mays Government down.

The irony of all this is that most of us in the Conservative Party we are sufficiently united to want to try to operate a coherent government, he said.

No-deal supporters in Parliament last month (PA)

But the truth is we are finding it harder and harder to do and it starts to bring into question whether the government is able to operate in the national interest at all.

We are facing a great crisis and we are not really looking at all the options.

Britain is due to leave the European Union on March 29, though there is speculation that date could be extended as the UK continues its last-minute search for a deal.

On Thursday, Theresa May suffered another defeat in the Commons for her EU strategy, in large part because of the Tory Eurosceptics.

In another example of the deep split over Europe in the Conservative Party  and across Parliament  the Tory Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom said that no deal was still on the table if nothing can be resolved before March 29.

The Government does not want no-deal, but it is there because that is the legal default position, and any competent government must prepare for all eventualities, she told BBC Radio 4.

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Andrea Leadsom (PA)

Asked about the prospect of ministers resigning to block no-deal, Ms Leadsom said: Resignations from Government do happen People have very, very strong heartfelt views about leaving the EU or remaining within it.

That is a matter for them as individuals.

Anti-Brexit campaigners this week (PA)

Ms Leadsom defended Mrs Mays decision not to remain in the Commons to hear the result of Thursdays vote: The Prime Minister just this week spent two hours and 18 minutes answering questions in the chamber.

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Since October, she has spent 39 hours in the chamber answering questions. She has shown such commitment to make herself available to the House.

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Large groups of migrants continue to illegally cross border into NM's Bootheel BLAME TRUMP

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02-15-2019 09:16 AM











Post: #1 Large groups of migrants continue to illegally cross border into NM's Bootheel

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On Tuesday night, border agents encountered a small group of women and children, including a mother and her 13-year-old daughter who made a 15-day journey from Guatemala. The group jumped the border fence in Antelope Wells in New Mexicos Bootheel and immediately turned themselves over to Border Patrol. The group announced their intent to seek asylum to escape violence in their home country.



Authorities said Tuesdays group is small compared to what border agents have been seeing lately. Since October, Border Patrol reports apprehending 28 large groups consisting of more than 100 migrants in the area.







On average its been about two large groups a week, said Border Patrol agent Fidel Baca. For a while, it was like clockwork on Tuesday and Thursdays.



Agent Baca said the groups are made up mostly of families from Central America and the groups immediately surrender themselves over to authorities.



The Antelope Wells area is the same area where a seven-year-old girl from Guatemala was picked up last December and later died in U.S. custody.



Youll see right off the bat, well ask does anybody here need medical attention and youll see the hands that go up, agent Baca said.



Last month, Border Patrol set up new permanent onsite EMTs to conduct medical screening the moments illegal crossers are taken into custody.



Agent Baca said its unclear why the area has seen a surge in large migrant groups crossing through Antelope Wells, adding that a criminal element takes advantage of the fact that it is a remote and desolate area.



These people are smuggled. Its not a coincidence that these people are out here at the same time, agent Baca said.





https://www.kob.com/investigative-news/l...?cat=12387 HIDALGO CO., N.M.- At least 28 large groups of migrants have been taken into custody along the border in southwest New Mexico since October, authorities said.On Tuesday night, border agents encountered a small group of women and children, including a mother and her 13-year-old daughter who made a 15-day journey from Guatemala. The group jumped the border fence in Antelope Wells in New Mexicos Bootheel and immediately turned themselves over to Border Patrol. The group announced their intent to seek asylum to escape violence in their home country.Authorities said Tuesdays group is small compared to what border agents have been seeing lately. Since October, Border Patrol reports apprehending 28 large groups consisting of more than 100 migrants in the area.On average its been about two large groups a week, said Border Patrol agent Fidel Baca. For a while, it was like clockwork on Tuesday and Thursdays.Agent Baca said the groups are made up mostly of families from Central America and the groups immediately surrender themselves over to authorities.The Antelope Wells area is the same area where a seven-year-old girl from Guatemala was picked up last December and later died in U.S. custody.Youll see right off the bat, well ask does anybody here need medical attention and youll see the hands that go up, agent Baca said.Last month, Border Patrol set up new permanent onsite EMTs to conduct medical screening the moments illegal crossers are taken into custody.Agent Baca said its unclear why the area has seen a surge in large migrant groups crossing through Antelope Wells, adding that a criminal element takes advantage of the fact that it is a remote and desolate area.These people are smuggled. Its not a coincidence that these people are out here at the same time, agent Baca said.

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MELBOURNE, Fla.  The family of a woman with disabilities, who investigators say was impregnated by a caregiver employed by an organization that helps people with disabilities, has filed a civil lawsuit against the nonprofit.

Also named in the lawsuit, filed Thursday, is Willie Shorter, 58, who earlier this month was arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious battery on a disabled person.

The complaint didn't list any monetary damages the plaintiffs are seeking.

Shorter worked for Rockledge-based Bridges Foundation. He was arrested on Feb. 6, the same day investigators said they received DNA evidence confirming he had fathered a child with a client under his care.

Willie Shorter, 58, was arrested after police said he fathered a child with a developmentally disabled woman he helped care for at Bridges in Rockledge.

That client, Dawn Blanchard, is listed as a plaintiff on the civil filing, as are her parents, Robert and Janet Blanchard. Dawn Blanchard, now 43, had the child in 2015 and Shorter had remained working for Bridges until recently.

Between 2015 and April 2018, Shorter continued to help care for Blanchard at the group home where she lived, Bridges CEO David Cooke told Florida Today earlier.

The USA TODAY Network does not usually name the victims of sexual assault, but in this case the family has said it wants their names to be used.

More: Father describes pain, anger after daughter's caregiver arrested in connection with her pregnancy

Shorter was suspended, per Bridges' policy, for about two months when the investigation resumed in April. He returned to work in June or July, but was moved to a different group home "for everyone's safety," Cooke said.

Until his arrest, Shorter continued to help care for about 15 clients.

Neither Bridges nor Rockledge police have had any new complaints against Shorter since his arrest.

Cooke said Thursday night he had not seen the lawsuit and had no comment.

The lawsuit was filed in Brevard County by Kevin C. Smith, a partner at the South Florida law firm of Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath, which is representing the family.

Story continues

Bob Gabordi, executive editor of FLORIDA TODAY and floridatoday.com, has been a Bridges board member beginning June 28, 2018. He has suspended his board membership until after March 1, when he retires from FLORIDA TODAY. He first attended a retreat with the Bridges Foundation in May 2018 before joining the board. His daughter is a client.

Follow Wayne T. Price on Twitter: @Fla2dayBiz.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Disabled sex assault victims family sues caregiver over pregnancy
The Democrats swept to power in Congress by campaigning in a way that has been successful for Democrats for generations. Republicans will take away your health care, they said, after having focus-grouped it. Now we are preparing for a 2020 campaign in which Donald Trump and Republicans can as easily advertise to the public: Democrats will take away cows, and your car. What happened to Democrats?

Back in November, it looked like Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic House caucus had found the perfect plan for their party in the era of Trump: Avoid talking about impeachment and stick to simple bread-and-butter issues. Dont tell swing voters that they are deplorable for having supported Donald Trump, instead, promise to protect the most popular features of Obamacare. Also, remind voters that Republicans cut taxes for the rich. Except for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who ran in a deep-blue district, most of the boundary-pushing progressive candidates lost their elections. All signs pointed to the idea that Democrats just had to be the normal party, and the upper Midwest would snap back in 2020.

But progressives have decided to push the envelope anyway. Fearing a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, blue states such as New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia set about passing expanded legal protections for various later-term abortions. This led to the governor of Virginias unforgettable discussion about providing comfort to a child born out of a botched abortion before a decision is made about whether that child should live or be made to die.

The presidential campaigns beginning has also involved a giant lurch to the left. Bernie Sanders consistently scores as the second-most popular candidate, and his competitors are trying to outbid him on the left. And so half of them have rushed to co-sponsor Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs non-binding resolution proposing a Green New Deal that promises to upgrade every building and vehicle to renewable energy and remake America as a Nordic social democracy in the bargain.

This is an absolute coup for Ocasio-Cortez and for the activists and advisers that have flocked to her. The Green New Deal was, until very very recently, talked about only in small policy groups led Democratic Socialists of America. Now leading candidates for the presidency are trying to adopt it as their own agenda.

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However, it is also very likely a misreading of the electorate and the progressive outlook. Bernie Sanders is a man of the left, but his policy program and even his persona are in many ways nostalgic. They are the realization of a mid-20th-century version of liberalism. Sanders is still willing to say that open borders is a plutocrats agenda, not the penance America must perform for its cultural sins. The Sanders agenda would increase taxes, but his primary goal is to deliver more services to Americans, not try to bully them with regulation and progressive nudges into ditching their cars, moving to cities and giving up meat.

It should be easy for Democrats to run against a president with Donald Trumps approval ratings and his mixed record of accomplishments. Nancy Pelosi seems to understand how easy it should be. If their message is Well protect and enhance the features of American life that you love, they can win. But Democrats are overreaching before theyre even in power. Theyre announcing that the lifestyle of the deplorables must be targeted for destruction. Until they recover their sense, Republicans will rally.

More from National Review
Lagos (AFP) - Nigeria made final preparations Friday on the eve of a presidential election, with continuity pitted against reform in a battle between incumbent Muhammadu Buhari and his main rival Atiku Abubakar.

Buhari, the 76-year-old leader of Africa's most populous nation, was elected in 2015 on a wave of hope he could defeat Boko Haram Islamists, tackle rampant corruption and boost the economy.

But he faces a stiff challenge from former vice-president Abubakar, 72, amid fears about widening insecurity, claims of creeping authoritarianism and economic incompetence.

Analysts were split over who would win Saturday's ballot, which is the sixth in the 20 years since Nigeria returned to democracy after decades of miliary rule.

"It's likely to be very, very tight," said Nnamdi Obasi, senior Nigeria researcher at the International Crisis Group think-tank.

"Initially the president and the ruling party were way ahead in the race but in recent times the opposition has been seen to make a more vigorous and more robust campaign.

"We can't say exactly how it will go," he told BBC World Service radio.

A record number of 73 candidates are on the ballot but Buhari, from the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Abubakar, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), are considered the main contenders.

Over 84 million people are registered to vote -- up 18 percent on 2015 and another record, which has been taken as a sign of Nigeria's developing democracy.

Also up for grabs are 360 seats in the lower House of Representatives and 109 in the Senate.

Nearly 120,000 polling units are set to open at 0700 GMT and close at 1600 GMT.

No date has been given for the results, but an announcement is expected from early next week.

- Either/or -

Electors face a choice between two elderly candidates who have both been part of the political elite for decades and do not mirror the country's increasingly young demographic.

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Just over half the registered voters are aged 18-35.

Chief among the criticisms against Buhari is security, with signs of a resurgence of Boko Haram in Nigeria's remote northeast and new conflicts elsewhere.

His anti-corruption campaign has been described as one-sided, unduly targeting political opponents.

Economic growth picked up last year after a recession in 2016 but remains sluggish. The cost of living is high in a country where most of the 190 million people live in poverty despite billions earned from oil.

Abubakar, 72, bills himself as a dynamic, modern, pro-business leader. But the former vice-president faces allegations about links to corruption.

Buhari said in a televised address Thursday that reelection would give him the chance to fulfil his initial promises and complete vital infrastructure projects.

"There is no best candidate among them," said Aliyu Jibrilla, a 70-year-old retired teacher in the Adamawa state capital, Yola, adding: "Intellectually... they're not up to it".

"It's about time these old people go," added Modibbo Sadiq, a 23-year-old university graduate.

In Buhari's home town of Daura, in Katsina state, Abdulaziz Abdullahi agreed. "Ideally, the young generation should be in charge of country," said the 25-year-old, who sells glasses.

"But they are not ready for the job."

- Security and fraud -

Security is a constant threat in Nigeria, after previous outbreaks of deadly election-linked violence.

As a precaution, all vehicles have been ordered off the roads from 6am to 6pm Saturday.

Nigeria's police chief Mohammed Adamu said the restrictions were designed to prevent "hoodlums and criminally-minded elements from hijacking and disrupting the electoral process".

With a reinforced police and military presence on the streets Friday, the interior ministry announced that land borders will shut for 48 hours from midday.

Candidates have pledged to conduct peaceful elections and to accept the results, but there have been clashes in the southern state of Rivers.

APC candidates have been prevented from running in the parliamentary and governorship elections in Rivers because of a dispute over their selection.

Vote-rigging has marred previous Nigerian elections, and this year concerns have been raised both the APC and PDP may have sought to buy votes.

Red flags also went up after voter cards were distributed late, or not at all, and three fires in 12 days Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) offices.

Ahmad Ado Hasan, 21, a tailor and first-time voter in the northern city of Kano, said: "As a citizen, you should vote your choice, not sell your vote.

"God has already destined the winner, we are only to confirm through our votes. So, vote buying is not the answer."
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.  A corporate headquarters carved out of a former department store may not be for everybody, but it's working for Danone North America.

"We wanted office spaces that are unconventional," said a Danone spokesman, Michael Neuwirth, showing off the spacious entrance hall of the company's new headquarters.

Nearby, a see-through refrigerator showcased the company's products, including a variety of Dannon yogurts, plant-based Silk beverages and Evian water.

Danone North America, the U.S. arm of the French food giant Danone, recently moved its headquarters to a newly-built 80,000-square-foot office space on the top floors of a former jewelry and home furnishings store here.

Michael Neuwirth, the company's spokesman gives a tour of Danone North America new facility at the former Fortunoff department store building in White Plains Feb. 7, 2019.

The building's other tenants include Whole Foods, the Cheesecake Factory and Dick's Sporting Goods.

The move offered a bit of synergy for Danone as Whole Foods is a major customer for its products, Neuwirth said.

But more importantly, the property's high-ceiling open-plan space with lots of natural light met the company's goal to establish a creative, engaging office environment, Neuwirth said.

Danone North America has moved its 400 employees into the new office at the former Fortunoff department store building in White Plains Feb. 7, 2019.

Atypical case

The successful conversion of the retail space into offices sounds like a great news for retail real estate owners as major retailers, from Toys R Us to Sears, have been forced to close their stores in the era of online shopping.

But Danone's case is a "unique situation" driven by a lack of good quality, urban, transit-oriented office properties in downtown White Plains, said Drew Saunders with JLL, a commercial real estate firm that assisted Danone's relocation.

"Danones vision and desire for a new collaborative workplace" drove JLL agents to find a "unique solution," leading to the former department store Fortunoff space, which is not a typical retail space by any measure, Saunders said.

Danone North America has been taking steps to be different. In April, the company became a Certified B Corp., a credential given by the nonprofit B Lab for meeting strict standards of social and environmental performance.

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Danone North America has moved its 400 employees into the new office at the former Fortunoff department store building. This is a view of the lunchroom at Danone North America in White Plains Feb. 7, 2019.

The uniqueness of Danone's office is culminated in the cafeteria called "Grand Central," overlooking a main intersection downtown. The extra-high-ceiling space with a wall of windows doubles as a large meeting room where people can use the wooden staircase for seating.

Pursuit of flexibility

Open-plan offices aren't new, but Danone brought the concept to the next level in the new headquarters by mostly eliminating assigned desks for its 400 employees, aiming to maximize flexibility as to how people work, Neuwirth said.

Equipped with laptop computers and smartphones, employees can work anywhere they want depending on their needs, he said. Lockers are available for workers to store belongings, he said.

The expansive open floor is divided into different neighborhoods to give people some directions, with each section named after the cities that have ties to the company and its history.

Danone North America has moved its 400 employees into the new office at the former Fortunoff department store building in White Plains Feb. 7, 2019.

For example, employees who handle finance gather in the section called "Barcelona," named after the city in Spain where the company was founded by Isaac Carasso in 1919.

People who work on the supply chain and packaging are based in the neighborhood called "Paris," as in the city where the French headquarters is located.

Each "neighborhood" has meeting rooms and many nooks where people can sit quietly or have impromptu meetings.

Danone North America has moved its 400 employees into the new office at the former Fortunoff department store building in White Plains Feb. 7, 2019.

"Some people want to be in a quiet place where they want to do writing," Neuwirth said. "And some people may want to sit down and have a meeting and talk to people. We wanted to have a variety of spaces."

People who aren't feeling 100 percent can use one of the "wellness rooms," in which they can sit on a zero-gravity chair.

Working hours are also flexible, and he's taking advantage of the policy, Neuwirth said.

"Im a morning person. I like to be here 7:30 or 8 in the morning when its really quiet," he said. "I need that hour and a half or so to do my own reading because I need to read all kinds of news sources. I need that focus time before my day starts."

Others may want to work later in the evening, and that's fine, too, "as long as you are fulfilling your goal and working respectfully with the people you need to collaborate," he said. "Thats the type of culture we foster."

Follow Akiko Matsuda on Twitter: @LohudAkiko on Facebook: @AkikoJournalist and on Instagram: @amatsudanyc

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Could vacant department stores be converted into open office space? It's working for Danone
LONDON (Reuters) - A pro-Brexit faction of Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party will not back her motion in parliament on Thursday that seeks renewed backing for her Brexit plan, the BBC's political editor reported without citing sources.

The government refused to alter the motion to meet the demands of the European Research Group (ERG) of pro-Brexit hardliners, the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg said.

"Brexiteer group haven't decided yet if they will abstain or vote against but they won't back govt - either way, another reminder May just can't rely on her backbenches," Kuenssberg tweeted.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; editing by Stephen Addison)
Washington (AFP) - He holds no official government position but has been called US President Donald Trump's "shadow" chief of staff.

Fox News commentator Sean Hannity is one of several conservative media personalities who exert enormous influence over the president.

Their clout has been on display as Trump fights to make good on his signature campaign promise -- building a wall on the border with Mexico.

Having failed to secure congressional funding for the barrier, Trump's declaration of a national emergency on Friday is being viewed by many political analysts as a bid to save face with right-wing pundits.

"The president could not handle being labeled a loser by conservative commentators like Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity," The New York Times said in an editorial.

"He wants to make sure that Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter and others on Fox News are happy so that they calm down, although some of them won't," said David Gergen, an advisor to four previous US presidents.

"But fundamentally this is about politics of the base, that he needs to shore up his base," Gergen said on CNN.

Hannity, 57, is perhaps the most prominent voice in Trump's ear but the president also seeks counsel -- and approval -- from several other media figures whose shows he regularly tunes into.

Coulter, a right-wing author and blogger, and Lou Dobbs, a Fox Business Network host, have been fulminating about illegal immigration for years.

Other prominent conservative media personalities pushing for tougher immigration policies include Ingraham and Tucker Carlson of Fox News and radio talk host Rush Limbaugh.

Pressure from Coulter, Dobbs, Hannity and the others has been cited as one of the driving forces behind Trump's decision to shut down the government for weeks in the fight with Congress over funding for the wall.

- 'They don't decide policy' -

Trump was directly asked by a reporter on Friday how the conservative pundits helped shape his decision to declare a national emergency.

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"Sean Hannity has been a terrific, terrific supporter of what I do," Trump said. "Rush Limbaugh, I think he is a great guy.

"Laura Ingraham has been great," Trump said. "Tucker Carlson has been great."

But, he added, "they don't decide policy."

Coulter has been particularly critical of Trump for failing to build the wall and she lashed out at the president for signing a government funding bill that does not include all of the $5 billion he wanted for the barrier.

"NATIONAL EMERGENCY WON'T HELP," Coulter tweeted. "IT'S OVER IF HE SIGNS THIS BILL!"

Last month, Coulter called Trump a "wimp."

"Good news for George Herbert Walker Bush: As of today, he is no longer the biggest wimp ever to serve as President of the United States," she tweeted.

Trump responded to Coulter's criticism on Friday by saying that he "hardly knows" her, that she was "off the reservation" and he hasn't spoken to her in "way over a year."

"If I did speak to her she may be very nice," he said. "I have nothing against her.

"I like her for one reason," Trump added. "When they asked her right at the beginning who is going to win the election, she said Donald Trump."

Hannity, the Fox News host, is seen as the most influential among the stable of conservatives cultivated by Trump.

"He's got Hannity and Coulter all these people in his head full-time -- rent-free," CNN host Chris Cuomo said.

"He's incredibly persuasive and powerful," Cuomo said of Hannity. "I would argue he is without question the most powerful person in the media because what he says the president does.

"What he says the president does," Cuomo repeated for emphasis during an interview with Matt Gaetz, a Republican congressman from Florida who is one of Trump's biggest supporters in the House of Representatives.

"Hannity is unlike anyone else in the media now," Gaetz agreed.

"They have exchanges and robust discussions," he said of Trump and Hannity.

"I think it's good that we have a president that bounces ideas off a lot of different people," Gaetz said. "He's not just stuck in the cocoon of the West Wing.

"He seeks advice from all over the country."
AURORA, Ill. (AP)  A 15-year employee being fired from a suburban Chicago manufacturing company started shooting Friday, killing five co-workers and wounding five police officers before he was killed by police, authorities said.

Aurora, Illinois, Police Chief Kristen Ziman said 45-year-old Gary Martin "was being terminated" before he started shooting at the Henry Pratt Co.  which makes valves for industrial purposes  in the city about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Chicago.

She told a news conference that in addition to the five employees killed, a sixth worker was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening. A sixth police officer suffered a knee injury while officers were searching the building.

Ziman said officers arrived within four minutes of receiving reports of the shooting and were fired upon as soon as they entered the 29,000-square-foot manufacturing warehouse.

Police said they did not know the gunman's motive.

"May God bless the brave law enforcement officers who continue to run toward danger," Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at the news conference.

John Probst, an employee at the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora, told ABC7 that he ran out of the back door as the shooting unfolded Friday afternoon. Probst says he recognized the gunman and that he works for the company.

"What I saw was the guy running down the aisle with a pistol with a laser on it," Probst said.

Probst said he wasn't hurt but that another colleague was "bleeding pretty bad."

"It's a shame that mass shootings such as this have become commonplace in our country. It's a shame that a cold and heartless offender would be so selfish as to think he has the right to take an innocent life," Aurora Mayor Richard C. Irvin said.

At Acorn Woods Condominiums where Martin lived, a mix of brick apartments and condos nestled on a quiet street just a mile and a half from the shooting, neighbors gathered on sidewalks near Martin's unit talking and wondering among themselves if they knew or had come in contact with him.

Story continues

Mary McKnight stepped out of her car with a cherry cheesecake purchased for her son's birthday, to find a flurry of police cars, officers and media trucks.

"This is a strange thing to come home to, right," she said. She had just learned that the shooter lived close by and his unit in the complex had been taped off by police.

Christy Fonseca often worries about some of the gang-related crimes and shootings around her mother's Aurora neighborhood. But she never expected the type of phone call she got from her mom on Friday, warning her to be careful with an active shooter loose in the town.

Police cars with screaming sirens revved past her as she drove to her mother's house, where the Henry Pratt building is visible from the porch stoop. it was only when they flipped on the television news that they realized Martin had killed people just a few hundred feet away.

"In Aurora, period, we'd never thought anything like this would happen," Fonseca, a lifelong resident of the Chicago suburb, said as she looked out at the factory.

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting and monitoring the situation as he prepared to depart for a weekend trip to his home in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump tweeted his thanks to law enforcement officers in Aurora and offered his condolences to the victims and their families. "America is with you," he said.

___

For The Latest on the shooting: https://bit.ly/2EcHSOO
Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument from advocates for and against the preservation of a World War Iera veterans memorial, the Peace Cross, in Bladensburg, Md. The crux of the case, American Legion v. American Humanist Association, is the question whether a two-county commission offends the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution by maintaining the cross-shaped memorial.

Advocates of letting the memorial stand at an intersection along National Defense Highway urge that its shape should not dictate its removal because it is chiefly a monument in honor of Prince Georges Countys war dead. They also stress that the commission accepted ownership of the memorial owing to traffic-safety concerns more than 30 years after private parties constructed it. At Family Research Council, we agree with the 84 percent of Americans who, according to one survey, say that the memorial should stand. Our nation has long accommodated and even facilitated religion in the public square. We argue that an unapologetic recognition of the religious nature of public monuments such as the Peace Cross is perfectly consistent with the establishment clause.

But not everyone who recognizes the Peace Crosss religious nature believes it should stand. In an amicus brief submitted in support of the secularist group that wants the memorial gone, several religious organizations claim that even though the Peace Cross is a 93-year-old war memorial in a park surrounded by other memorials dedicated to wars throughout Americas history, the commissions ownership represents government taking sides between religions. In their view, it singl[es] out only Christians for collective memorialization and represents government speech endorsing particular religious teachings.

The argument is misguided on several levels. First, these opponents use too broad a brush in painting a picture of improper religious motive. As the family members of the soldiers named on the Peace Cross argued in their own brief, the Peace Cross safeguard[s] the memory of their family members service across generations. It honors identifiable individuals named on a plaque on the memorial. And census data show that, at the time of World War I, Prince Georges Countys population was primarily if not completely Christian. This memorial is a product of a grieving community seeking to honor 49 men from the area who served with valor, endurance, courage, and devotion in World War I, and it reflects the community at that time. It is not, as its opponents argue, a national monument honoring exclusively those of the Christian faith.

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Second, the opponents ignore the commonsense reality that the memorial is, at the most basic level, a commemoration by community members who in Christian imagery found comfort, not an endorsement of specific religious teachings. To argue that the Peace Cross is such an endorsement not only ignores the history of this particular memorial (erected by private parties)  it would effectively demand the removal of all religious symbols from public property. If government maintenance of a monument with religious significance means government endorsement of a particular teaching or belief, every religious symbol on government property must come down.

The neutrality principle does not demand such an extreme outcome. Justice David Souter put forth a strong originalist defense of the neutrality principle but explained that government may take pains to accommodate religious beliefs without expressing a position on the theological merit of any given value or of religious belief in general. While Souter wrote in context of exempting individuals from generally applicable laws because of their religious beliefs, the principle should apply just as much to the commissions maintenance of the Peace Cross. Souter also acknowledged that the Establishment Clauses concept of neutrality is not self-revealing. So when groups argue that the governments obligation to religious neutrality prohibits it from maintaining a memorial like the Peace Cross, they bite off more than they can chew.

A review of how the establishment of religion was understood at the time of the founding shows that the Constitution hardly demands the Peace Crosss removal. One study on founding-era discussions of the establishment of religion indicates that government display of religious symbols was not a particular concern discussed in the context of an establishment. When concerns about religious symbols did arise, they arose in the context of government suppressing or destroying symbols of dissenting churches.

The fact of the matter is, the Peace Cross was a private endeavor. The organizations argue that the establishment clause requires the memorials removal to accommodate Americas increasing religious diversity. But they overlook that it is their proposed standard that would stifle the expression of religion in the public square  be it Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, or any faith. All of Americas increasingly diverse religious communities will lose out if the Constitution is reinterpreted to prohibit any government recognition or accommodation of religion. The Peace Cross, religious implications and all, should be allowed to stand.

More from National Review
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Didi Chuxing will lay off 15 percent of its staff or about 2,000 people this year, a source said, marking the ride-hailing firm's first major cut back as it grapples with regulatory scrutiny and public backlash over the murder of two of its users. Didi CEO Cheng Wei said at a meeting with management that the firm would focus on core mobility services and cut business units considered not critical to its main ride-hailing business in 2019, according to the source familiar with the matter. But the Chinese ride-hailing giant will aim to hire more than 2,000 employees to focus on safety technology, product engineering and international expansion with the goal of maintaining its overall employee count, the source added on condition of anonymity as the information is not public yet. A Didi spokeswoman declined to comment. Reports on possible job cuts at the company began to surface in late January. Didi has been working to address consumer and government concerns over safety after a passenger was raped and killed by one of its drivers in August last year, about three months after another Didi user was murdered. A Chinese court has sentenced a man to death for the crime committed in August. Concerns about safety have hobbled growth plans for Didi. Didi, which successfully drove U.S.-based rival Uber out of China in 2016 to becoming the top ride-hailing player at home, is now facing financial strain due to competition from new entrants and the rise of bike-sharing services like Mobike. This week, Chinese tech news website reported that Didi Chuxing lost 10.9 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in 2018. Didi's valuation exceeded $65 billion after its 2018 funding round and was considering an IPO as early as that year, sources have told Reuters. The privately held firm had been valued at $56 billion in a 2017 fundraising. (Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Feb 14 (Reuters) - Chicago police dismissed a media report on Thursday that officers were investigating whether "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett staged being physically assaulted because he was being written out of the television show.

Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said there was no evidence to support the report by Chicago ABC7 television, which cited multiple unnamed sources.

"(Police Superintendent) Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate," Guglielmi said in a tweet.

Smollett, an openly gay African-American who plays a gay character on the hip-hop drama "Empire," told police that two men shouted racist and homophobic slurs and put a rope around his neck on Jan. 29.

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In an interview with "Good Morning America" that aired on Thursday, Smollett said he was angry that some people doubted his story, and he suggested the disbelief might come from racial bias.

Twentieth Century Fox Television, the producer of "Empire" released a statement saying: "The idea that Jussie Smollett has been, or would be, written off of EMPIRE is patently ridiculous. He remains a core player on this very successful series and we continue to stand behind him."

Chicago police are questioning two individuals who surveillance cameras showed were in the area where Smollett said he was assaulted, authorities said on Thursday.

The names of the two men have not been released and police have not found any video footage of the assault, which they say is being investigated as a hate crime.

"They are not considered suspects at this time as they are currently being questioned by detectives," Guglielmi said on Twitter.

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(Reporting by Gabriella Borter in New York; Additional reporting by Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles and Andrew Hay in New Mexico; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Lisa Shumaker)
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SheKnows

Point of fact: Mom-friendly swimwear means something different for a former supermodel than it does to the rest of us. Mom of four Heidi Klum showed us just how different in a series of sexy bikini pics on Instagram, all shots taken by her manly rock star husband of two years, Tom Kaulitz. With a []
What on earth is going on?

Donald Trump has declared a state of national emergency at the US-Mexico border. The highly controversial move means he can now bypass Congress to access an estimated $8bn (6.2bn) to fund the controversial project.

Why is he doing it?

Building the wall was one of Trumps key promises during the presidential campaign but Democrats had refused to back his plans in Congress. This led to a complete Government shutdown lasting more than a month at the turn of the year. Trump has said the wall is necessary to tackle the humanitarian and security crisis on the border with Mexico. Today he cited an invasion of our country with drugs, with human traffickers, with all types of criminals and gangs coming through the southern border.

Is there an emergency at the border?

It is impossible to know for certain how many people are entering the US illegally from Mexico. The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) arrested 396,579 people on the south-western border in 2018, and 303,916 in 2017. In 2000, more than 1.5 million people were arrested trying to cross the border illegally. The number has declined steadily since then. It is believed that by far the largest number of illegal immigrants in the US are people who stay in the country after their visas have expired.

Critics say these numbers do not constitute a national emergency. Senior Democrats have called the move a gross abuse of power and pledged to challenge the action as unconstitutional.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer released a joint statement, saying: The Presidents unlawful declaration over a crisis that does not exist does great violence to our Constitution and makes America less safe, stealing from urgently needed defence funds for the security of our military and our nation. (Yahoo News US)

Read more about this story

Declaring a national emergency over the wall? This wont end well for Trump (The Guardian)

Donald Trump has declared a state of national emergency  but what does it mean? (HuffPost)

Story continues

Alesha MacPhail murder accused sent Snapchat video saying he did it

The 16-year-old boy accused of murdering six-year-old Alesha MacPhail sent a Snapchat to friends containing a video of himself with the message found the guy whos done it the afternoon after her body was found, a court heard. A teenage girl, who described herself as a good friend of the boy accused of abducting, raping and murdering the child, gave evidence about the video to the high court in Glasgow today. Alesha, from Airdrie in Lanarkshire, was found dead in the grounds of a disused hotel near her grandparents seafront home, where she had arrived a few days earlier for a three-week summer break in July 2017. Read the full story here (The Guardian)

Tens of millions of animals slaughtered without being stunned in England and Wales last year

94 million cattle, sheep and poultry were slaughtered last year in England and Wales without being stunned first, figures have revealed. Currently, the legal exemption that allows animals to be slaughtered without being stunned on religious grounds is designed for domestic consumption only. But the figures reveal nearly a quarter (24%) of sheep meat  around 750,000 sheep  from animals not stunned before slaughter was exported from the UK. The British Veterinary Association (BVA), which campaigns for non-stunned meat to be banned, said the figures revealed a lack of transparency around some exports, giving an example of 19% of sheep meat recorded as going to unknown locations. Read the full story here (Yahoo News UK)

Seven-year-old sprint sensation Rudolph Blaze Ingram is being dubbed the next Usain Bolt after a video of his remarkable speed went viral. Blaze was competing at an event in Florida recently when he produced some astonishing times. He won the 60m sprint in 8.69 seconds, before doing 13.48 seconds in the 100m.





As Home Secretary Sajid Javid insisted he would not hesitate in stopping pregnant runaway Isis schoolgirl Shamima Begum from returning to Britain, the story continues to keep Yahoo users talking. We asked how much of a threat you believe Isis still poses to the UK  and there was an overwhelming response. Read the full story here and have your say below.

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The astonishing width in miles of the Flinders River in Queensland, Australia after floods turned a trickle into a mega river in just a few weeks. The river is now so wide its created its own weather system, according to Queenslands bureau of meteorology, after the extra moisture helped form a thunderstorm. Australias prime minister called them once-in-a-century floods. Look at the amazing images and read the full story here (Yahoo Australia)
Brussels (AFP) - Both Britain's minister for Brexit Stephen Barclay and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn will visit Brussels next week for talks with EU negotiator Michel Barnier.

"Mr Barnier's door is always open," an EU spokesman said, confirming that Barclay was expected to visit EU headquarters on Monday and Corbyn on Thursday.

Prime Minister Theresa May is also expected in Brussels next week, but he visit has not been confirmed.

Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, but Prime Minister Theresa May is struggling to persuade parliament to back a divorce deal.

EU leaders fear severe economic disruption if London leaves the bloc without a follow on agreement providing for a transition period to negotiate a trade deal.

Corbyn has suggested Labour MPs would rescue the withdrawal plan if EU leaders promise to allow Britain to remain in the EU customs union.

May and many of her Conservative MPs reject that idea, but Barnier and EU Council President Donald Tusk have described it as "interesting".
By Madeleine Gandhi LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands of British children marched out of lessons on Friday to demand action on climate change, earning a mild rebuke from the prime minister's office for disrupting classes, but praise from the energy minister and activists. Youngsters marched on Parliament Square in London and gathered in other cities carrying banners marked with "Climate change is worse than homework", "Act now for our future" and other slogans. "My teacher told me kids shouldn't be going out, but we went because it's important," 11-year-old Rio told Reuters. A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said that while the government welcomed the students' engagement, the disruption to schools and lessons would be difficult for teachers. Her energy minister Claire Perry however said she was "incredibly proud" of the young people while opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn expressed his support for the "school kids of today whose futures are most on the line". Earlier this week, 224 academics from Oxford, Cambridge and other universities declared their support for the students in an open letter published in The Guardian. "(Those taking part in the strike) have every right to be angry about the future that we shall bequeath to them, if proportionate and urgent action is not taken," they wrote. The British protests were part of a global 'School Strike 4 Climate' movement, which began in August 2018 when 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg began protesting outside her parliament on school days. (Reporting by Madeleine Gandhi; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Paris (AFP) - French wine makers may be "selling like crazy" to Britain as their clients stock up ahead of Brexit, but they say the country's looming departure from the European Union promises nothing but problems.

A no-deal Brexit for the UK, the second-largest importer of French wines and spirits, could disrupt wine exports through long border delays, import taxes, decreased British demand and increased competition from non-EU markets.

"Transportation of wine, in the case there's no agreement after March 29, could be very difficult," said Gavin Quinney, who runs a vineyard near Bordeaux.

Quinney bottled all of his wine six weeks early this year to ship six months' worth of stock to the UK before the Brexit deadline.

"We're trying to send as much wine as possible to England," he said.

The introduction of new taxes on imports, as well as the likelihood of an economic slowdown in the UK following a no-deal Brexit, are also concerns.

"The effect on currency is more important than England's exit," said Jeremy Cukierman, director of Kedge Wine and Spirits Academy in Bordeaux.

"If there is no agreement, the pound will certainly depreciate, and our wines will be less competitive."

Another worry is the risk the UK will negotiate more favourable trade agreements with other wine-producing nations, such as Australia, South Africa, Chile and Argentina, at the expense of European exporters.

"The British like wine and they're not going to stop drinking it overnight, but with Brexit happening, they might make substitutions regarding where they buy it," said Pau Roca, the managing director of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), to AFP.

Although the UK is supposed to leave the European Union on March 29, the terms of the historic divorce are still unclear.

The overwhelming rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May's draft withdrawal agreement on January 15 has heightened anxieties.

Story continues

"We're 43 days away from the fateful date, and we still don't know what will happen," said Philippe Casteja, CEO of Borie-Manoux, which owns more than 10 estates in the Bordeaux region, home to some of the most coveted wines in the world.

- Uncertain Outcome -

The United Kingdom is the second largest importer of French wines and spirits, behind the United States, having imported 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) of alcohol from France in 2018, according to figures released Wednesday by the Federation of Wine and Spirit Exporters of France.

But pre-Brexit numbers are already disconcerting to some distributors.

The total value of imports fell by 0.6 percent in 2018 compared with 2017, and the overall volume of imports dropped 7.2 percent for wine and 23.7 percent for spirits.

There is also concern among winemakers from other European countries, such as Italy and Spain, which along with France make up the three leading producers of wine and spirits in the world.

"With 27 percent of our sales in Great Britain, it's very important for us to continue to work with this country," said Nazareno Vicenzi, head of the Consortium Delle Venezie, which promotes the export of wines from a region in northeast Italy, particularly the well-known Pinot Grigio.

- Churchill's favourite -

Despite the uncertainty, Bordeaux winemakers are hopeful Brexit won't sever a deep-rooted relationship with British importers, which dates back to the mid-12th century, when Bordeaux became an English territory following the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II.

"The English are pragmatic, unemotional and the kings of business," said Benoit Calvet, a wine merchant in Bordeaux who is optimistic but still plans to send six months of stock to warehouses in the UK to avoid shortages.

"It will be a little uncomfortable at first, but when it comes to business, England will remain an essential trading partner."

The spectre of Brexit has not upset European wine markets uniformly.

"We sold like crazy in Great Britain at the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019," said Franco Cristoforietti, president of the Verona Region Wine Consortium in Italy.

Exports of prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine, rose in 2018 and surpassed 100 million bottles for the first time, according to the Prosecco Consortium.

In a nod to its enduring relationship with British consumers, the Federation of Wine and Spirit Exporters of France served Pol Roger champagne after its annual press conference in Paris on Wednesday.

"Churchill's favourite," said Nicolas Ozanam, managing director of the federation.
Sao Paulo (AFP) - Brazilian authorities arrested eight employees of mining giant Vale on Friday over a dam collapse at one of its mines three weeks ago that killed at least 166 people and left 147 missing, presumed dead.

Those apprehended -- two executives, two managers and four members of teams that checked the stability of the collapsed dam -- were being held to determine responsibility in relation to "hundreds of crimes of aggravated homicide," the prosecutor's office in the affected southeast state of Minas Gerais said in a statement.

It said they would be held in custody for 30 days. Police with warrants were also carrying out searches for evidence, including in Vale's headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.

Information leading to the arrests and warrants came from statements to police by two engineers from a German firm, TUEV SUED, contracted by Vale to inspect and certify the dam.

The engineers were arrested four days after the dam's collapse along with three Vale employees for questioning, and were released a week later.

Four other TUEV SUED employees in Brazil were being sought by police.

The January 25 dam collapse is Brazil's worst industrial disaster. The reservoir, holding millions of tons of tailings -- mineral-laced mining waste -- broke apart and washed over the Vale iron ore mine near the town of Brumadinho.

Most of those buried under its thick mud were mine workers, though some nearby residents were also engulfed.

Emergency crews continue to pick through the mud to look for bodies, but officials have said it was likely not all remains would be recovered.

- 'Crown jewel' -

Vale, the world's biggest iron ore miner and one of Brazil's biggest companies, lost a quarter of its market value after the disaster.

It insists that it observed all safety regulations regarding the dam. It dismisses reports that potential problems were detected before the disaster, saying they were addressed.

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Its CEO, Fabio Schvartsman, said Thursday that Vale should not be punished over the disaster at its mine.

The company, he said, "is a Brazilian crown jewel that cannot be condemned for an accident that occurred in its dam, no matter how big the tragedy," he told a Congressional committee.

The disaster was the second involving Vale in three years in the same region of Brazil, after a 2015 collapse of another tailings dam at a jointly owned mine that caused what is considered the country's worst-ever environmental catastrophe.
Ouagadougou (AFP) - A bomb hidden on a corpse dressed in military uniform has killed two soldiers in Burkina Faso, the military said Friday.

The booby-trapped male body had been left just outside the northern town of Djibo, near the border with Mali, and a team was sent to investigate, a statement from the armed forces general staff said.

"The body, which turned out to be a trap, exploded when it was handled, killing two soldiers and wounding six, three of them seriously," it said.

A security source told AFP that the corpse exploded on Thursday when soldiers tried to turn it over, killing an army doctor on the spot, and wounding others.

Burkina Faso, in the heart of Africa's vast Sahel region, is struggling with a bloody Islamist insurgency as well as bouts of social unrest.

More than 300 people have been killed in Burkina Faso in four years of jihadist attacks, according to an AFP count.

Last week there were three attacks, one of which killed five members of the security forces on the same day President Roch Marc Christian Kabore hosted a regional summit on the fight against terrorism.

The capital Ouagadougou has been hit three times, most recently in March 2018.

On Thursday, the United Nations said 1.2 million people in the country are in need of humanitarian aid.

About 83,000 people have been forced to flee their homes because of the violence, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. More than 1,000 schools have been closed, depriving 150,000 children of an education.

About 120,000 people do not have access to medical care in areas most affected by the violence.
Mubi (Nigeria) (AFP) - A string of bombed-out bank branches are a reminder of the not-so-distance bloody past in Mubi, in northeast Nigeria's Adamawa state.

Nearly five years ago, Boko Haram fighters overran and looted the city, as they captured territory across the remote region and declared an Islamic caliphate.

The jihadists even renamed Mubi "Madinatul Islam" or "City of Islam", before they were finally driven out in a military counter-offensive in late 2014.

A twin suicide bombing in May last year that killed 86 brought bloodshed to Mubi once again. There have also been hit-and-run raids in nearby towns.

But largely, life has returned to normal .

No clearer sign of that is preparations for presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday, where residents say they're more than ready to line up and cast their votes.

Two names on the ballot paper will stand out: President Muhammadu Buhari, who pledged to defeat Boko Haram, and Atiku Abubakar, the former vice-president who hails from the state.

"God brought Buhari for us and Buhari fought the insurgency and now we're living in peace," said Mohammadu Malla, an onion trader.

Since 2009, the Islamist group has killed more than 27,000 people and left some 1.8 million others homeless in its quest to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.

- Confidence -

Buhari, a former military ruler, swept to power in 2015 on a vow to end the fighting but as he seeks re-election faces a tougher task.

Abubakar has campaigned hard on the 76-year-old head of state's inability to end the violence -- and his failure to quell insecurity elsewhere.

That could see him chip away at Buhari's traditionally strong support base in the wider north.

"I will vote for him because he's from here and therefore we will support him," Hagatu David, who sells cashew fruits, said of 72-year-old Abubakar.

"Our children have no jobs. They finish school, and then there are no jobs for them. If we cry to him, he's going to help."

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Remote, semi-arid northeast Nigeria was impoverished even before Boko Haram emerged. But Mohammadu Malla, who stayed in Mubi during the jihadist occupation, said they made it worse.

"Life was so bad back then. Now God has made things much easier," he added.

Despite recent attacks in the Madagali area, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) to the north, election officials expect the vote to be safe.

On Friday, heavily guarded convoys fanned out from the Adamawa state capital, Yola, to deliver ballots and voting materials to polling units.

Special polling units have been set up to cater for many of the internally displaced who have fled to places like Mubi to escape the fighting.

"We are confident of the security," said Deborah Luka, from the Independent National Electoral Commission in Mubi.

The mosque targeted in last year's suicide bombing has been rebuilt, with fresh concrete and tinted blue windows.

Standing outside, Baba Ahmadu, who was injured in the blast, reflected on his close call, with the endurance of many in the region who have seen so much.

"Life has continued and God has kept me here," he said.
At least 12 Indian soldiers were killed on Thursday in the deadliest attack on government forces in Indian-administered Kashmir in more than two years, police said.

They died when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off as a convoy of military vehicles drove on a highway some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the main city of Srinagar.

"An IED went off as a CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) convoy passed by," senior police officer Munir Ahmed Khan told AFP.

"We have 12 CRPF fatalities. We are evacuating the injured from the site and don't have their number at the moment."

The Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency put the death toll at 18.

Local media reports said the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed Islamist group had claimed responsibility for the attack.

A spokesman for the group said "the suicide attack" was carried out by Aadil Ahmad, alias Waqas Commando, in a statement sent to local newspapers.

Unconfirmed photos showed the charred remains of at least one vehicle littered across the highway, alongside blue military buses.

It is the deadliest attack on Indian forces in that part of Kashmir since September 2016 when 19 soldiers were killed in a pre-dawn militant raid on the Uri army camp.

India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers in Kashmir, which has been divided between India and Pakistan and riven by unrest since the end of British rule in 1947.

Rebel groups have been fighting for an independent Kashmir, or a merger with Pakistan, since 1989.

New Delhi accuses Pakistan of fuelling the insurgency that has left tens of thousands of civilians dead.

Islamabad denies the charge, saying it only provides diplomatic support to Kashmiris' right to self-determination.
We listen to local police and fire departments scanner traffic, but sometimes miss crimes, wrecks, fires or other incidents, especially if they happen overnight. If you know of something were not covering yet, please let Managing Editor Jeff Pownall know by emailing him at jpownall@lufkindailynews.com , or submit a news tip online by visiting lufkindailynews.com/tips .
Australia's centre-left Labor party has warned would-be migrants considering the boat journey from Indonesia they will be forcibly returned if it wins May's election, embracing hardline policies of the current government.

As right and left fight in Europe and the United States brawl over Mediterranean rescues and border walls, Australia's bickering political factions head to elections in lock-step on one of most contentious issues in modern politics.

The conservative government has been pilloried worldwide for its policy of intercepting boats and leaving would-be refugees to languish in remote Pacific detention camps for years in conditions that have been roundly condemned by human rights organisations.

The Labor party is ahead in opinion polls and is tipped to oust conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his government in elections due by mid-May.

But fearful of being accused by the electorate as favouring soft borders, shadow immigration minister Shayne Neumann told AFP on Friday that migrants would still be intercepted at sea and forced to return under a new administration.

"It does not matter who is the Australian Government - you will be turned back and you will never settle in Australia," Neumann said in a statement, urging people not to engage smugglers known to ply their trade in the Timor Sea.

"People smugglers are lying to you when they say they can get you to Australia," he said. "Do not waste your money or risk your life trying to get to Australia by boat - your boat will be turned back."

The election season has rekindled the debate about how to police the country's 36,000-kilometre (22,000-mile) coastline -- a distance that, if stretched out, would span from New York to Bangkok and back.

For decades, Australian governments of all political hues have backed the policy of turning the boats around and not allowing migrants to reach Australia by sea -- an idea now embraced by hard-right politicians in Italy and Spain.

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Australia has long defended the policy on the grounds it deters dangerous voyages that often result in mass drownings.

But in recent months slight differences have emerged between the parties -- particularly about keeping asylum-seekers indefinitely in offshore detention camps -- raising questions about whether the consensus would end.

Labor has argued for a more humane treatment of migrants and this week served Morrison's government a humiliating parliamentary defeat on the issue, joining with independents to change the law and allow detained asylum-seekers to receive medical treatment in Australia.

- Almost zero boat arrivals -

Morrison responded with furious accusations that Labor was inviting more people to attempt the sea crossing from Indonesia. He reopened a detention centre on Christmas Island, an Australian territory just off the coast of Java to underscore his point.

"I have to do it now because the parliament decided to make a stupid decision," Morrison said on Friday.

Political observers see Morrison's heated rhetoric as a signal to the restive right of his party and a re-run of the playbook that helped bring election wins for the party under John Howard and Tony Abbott.

Both those victories coincided with a spike in boat arrivals and made the party hugely popular. Today's policies mean the number is almost zero, prompting suggestions Morrison is manufacturing a crisis.

Public opinion polls show Australians conflicted on migration with many believing too many people are coming to the country and others that openness is essential to the character of a nation built on immigration.

Labor officials privately admit party policy on immigration is well to the right of most centre-left equivalents in Europe or North America.

But with so much electoral scarred tissue, Labor is still loath to let any more daylight emerge between it and Morrison's Liberals.

"Under a Labor Government, there will be no changes to Australia's strong border protection regime. Our border protection policies are exactly the same as a Liberal Government," said Neumann.
Arbor Realty Trust (ABR) came out with quarterly funds from operations (FFO) of $0.29 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.27 per share. This compares to FFO of $0.25 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.

This quarterly report represents an FFO surprise of 7.41%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this real estate investment trust would post FFO of $0.36 per share when it actually produced FFO of $0.37, delivering a surprise of 2.78%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus FFO estimates four times.

Arbor Realty Trust, which belongs to the Zacks REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry, posted revenues of $73.36 million for the quarter ended December 2018, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.01%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $46.05 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates three times over the last four quarters.

The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future FFO expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.

Arbor Realty Trust shares have added about 17.8% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 9.5%.

What's Next for Arbor Realty Trust?

While Arbor Realty Trust has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?

There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's FFO outlook. Not only does this include current consensus FFO expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of estimate revisions.

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Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Arbor Realty Trust was favorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to outperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus FFO estimate is $0.28 on $73.20 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $1.18 on $312.70 million in revenues for the current fiscal year.

Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, REIT and Equity Trust - Other is currently in the bottom 39% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.



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Applied Materials Inc. AMAT reported robust fiscal first-quarter 2019 results, with both the top and bottom lines surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

The companys pro-forma earnings per share (EPS) of 81 cents beat the consensus mark by a couple of cents and came in within the guided range of 75-83 cents. However, earnings were down 23.6% year over year and 16.5% sequentially.

Revenues of $3.75 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.95% and were within the guided range of $3.56-$3.86 billion.

However, revenues decreased 6.5% sequentially and 10.7% year over year.

Despite strong fiscal first-quarter results, its share price declined 1.99% due to weaker-than-expected revenue guidance provided by management. Also, shares have lost 25.9% in the past year compared with its industrys decline of 8.7%.

Management expects the industry spending on manufacturing equipment to be lower in 2019 compared with 2018, citing a pullback on memory chips spending and macroeconomic conditions. A slowing smartphone market, especially in China, and its impact on chip demand remains a concern.

Notably, the company has attained considerable success in expanding beyond semiconductors, particularly in display. Mobile OLEDs and large screen televisions are opening new market opportunities for Applied Materials.

The company sees significant opportunities from emerging trends on the semiconductor as well as display fronts such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud infrastructure, Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality and smart vehicles.

We believe that Applied Materials is in a great position to grow sustainably and profitably, based on its strong pipeline of enabling technologies, supported by expanding opportunities on the semiconductor, service and display fronts.

Lets delve deeper into the numbers.

Revenues by Segment

The Semiconductor Systems Group (SSG) contributed 60.4% to its total revenues, reflecting a decrease of 1.8% sequentially and 20.5% year over year.

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Applied Global Services (AGS) was the second-largest contributor with 25.6% revenue share. The segments revenues decreased 1.5% sequentially but increased 9.2% from the prior-year quarter.

The Display segment, which contributed14% to the total revenues,was down 27.8% sequentially but up 14.4% from the year-ago level.

Revenues by Geography

China contributed 26%, Japan and Taiwan 17% each, Korea 15%, United States 12%, Europe 8% and Southeast Asia 4% to the total revenues.

Japan and China declined on a sequential basis, while Korea and Taiwan deteriorated from the year-ago quarter. Southeast Asia declined both on a sequential as well as year-over-year basis.

Operating Results

Pro-forma gross margin was 44.6%, down 260 basis points (bps) from the year-ago quarter.

Applied Materials operating expenses of $757 million increased 4.4% from the year-ago quarter.

Operating margin of 24.6% decreased 550 bps year over year.

Balance Sheet

At the end of fiscal first quarter, inventories decreased to $3.7 billion from $3.72 billion in the last reported quarter. Accounts receivables decreased to $2.44 billion from $2.57 billion in fiscal fourth-quarter 2018. Cash and cash equivalent balance was $3.19 billion compared with $4.03 billion in the last reported quarter.

The company returned $750 million and $192 million through stock repurchases and cash dividends, respectively.

Guidance

Applied Materials provided guidance for the second quarter of fiscal 2019. Revenues are expected between $3.33 billion and $3.63 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $3.67 billion.

Non-GAAP EPS is expected in the range of 62-70 cents. The corresponding Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at 78 cents per share.

Applied Materials, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Applied Materials, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Applied Materials, Inc. Quote

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Currently, Applied Materials carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector include Expedia Group, Inc. EXPE, AMETEK, Inc. AME and Inphi Corporation IPHI, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Long-term earnings growth rate for Expedia, AMETEK and Inphi is projected to be 13.4%, 9.6% and 18.5%, respectively.

Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2019

In addition to the stocks discussed above, wouldn't you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-holds for the year?

From more than 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank, these 10 were picked by a process that consistently beats the market. Even during 2018 while the market dropped -5.2%, our Top 10s were up well into double-digits. And during bullish 2012  2017, they soared far above the market's +126.3%, reaching +181.9%.

This year, the portfolio features a player that thrives on volatility, an AI comer, and a dynamic tech company that helps doctors deliver better patient outcomes at lower costs.

See Stocks Today >>



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Nanterre (France) (AFP) - Anti-EU parties expect to win a greater share of European parliament seats in May elections as they field more candidates and look to cooperate in alliances, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Friday.

Nationalist parties have won power or gained ground in recent years in Italy, Germany, Hungary, Greece and Austria, tapping into anti-elite sentiment with an array of messages against migration and EU influence.

"Sovereigntist parties.. the patriotic parties, those who want less European Union, eurosceptic parties, will probably see much better results than five years ago," Le Pen told foreign reporters at her National Rally (RN) party office in the Nanterre suburb of Paris.

Anti-European parties may win more than a third of EU parliament seats, allowing them more influence on policies such as trade and migration inside the bloc, according to a study by the European Council on Foreign Relations.

In the study released on Thursday, the ECFR cited recent polls showing anti-EU far-right parties such as Le Pen's RN and Euro-sceptic conservative parties could rise from 23 to 28 percent of seats in the parliament.

"They could even gain more than 30 percent of seats if their popularity continues to grow or if some of the fringe members of the mainstream join them. If they cross the one-third threshold, this would signify a qualitative change in the EU," ECFR said.

Le Pen did not give forecasts for the outcome in the May vote, but she said those parties were presenting more candidates than at the last EU parliament election in 2014.

"We are campaigning for the European elections with a clear idea: the EU is killing Europe and to save Europe we have to turn our back on that political organisation," she said.

Le Pen, who triumphantly made it into the second round of France's presidential election in 2017, only to lose to Emmanuel Macron, said her National Rally party welcomed cooperation among anti-EU parties.

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While divided on ideological and personal issues, anti-European parties could align in support of a range of ideas: from abolishing sanctions on Russia to blocking the EUs foreign trade agenda, the ECFR report said.

The last two years have seen a rise in popularity for nationalist parties, including Italy's ruling coalition of anti-establishment Five Star Movement and League.

Alternative for Germany (AfD), which opposes multiculturalism and immigration policies, in 2017 became the country's third largest party. In Spain, far-right VOX party in December was part of a rightist coalition that won a regional election in Andalusia, ousting socialists after 36 years in power.
London (AFP) - Rights group Amnesty International on Friday slammed a "ban" it said Egyptian authorities have imposed on family visits to scores of detainees.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has regularly been accused by rights groups of repressing opponents.

At least 60,000 have been detained in a crackdown since Sisi took power after leading the military ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, according to another campaign group, Human Rights Watch.

Amnesty said it had obtained "an official document which confirms there is an open-ended ban on family visits in a number of sections at two major prison complexes in Cairo and Alexandria".

"These sections are known to house people being held in pre-trial detention and prisoners convicted for expressing their political opinions or otherwise exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly," Amnesty said in a statement.

The number of prisoners affected at the Tora prison in Cairo and the Borg al-Arab in Alexandria was "not clear", it added.

"The Egyptian prison authorities must urgently lift the cruel and punitive restrictions on family visits," said Najia Bounaim, Amnesty's campaign director for North Africa.

Amnesty said human rights lawyer Mohamed Ramadan, political activist Shady al-Ghazali and satirist Shady Abu Zeid are among those recently denied family visits.

Former president Morsi "has only been allowed three visits since he was first detained more than five years ago", it said.

Egyptian authorities were not immediately available for comment.

Human rights groups have regularly criticised Sisi's government for cracking down on secular and left-wing activists, as well as the Islamist supporters of Morsi's banned Muslim Brotherhood group.

Activists have been increasingly detained in Egypt in recent months.

Authorities insist that such measures are needed to maintain stability and counter jihadism in the country.

Sisi has repeatedly claimed there are no "political prisoners" in Egypt.
(Reuters) - More than a year of work to bring Amazon.com Inc's headquarters and tens of thousands of jobs to New York City ended on Thursday with a couple of phone calls. Jay Carney, the company's top policy executive, told New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that the world's biggest online retailer would not go ahead with plans to invest $2.5 billion to build a second head office in the New York City borough of Queens. Carney, a former press secretary for President Barack Obama, told New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio the same shortly after. Abruptly scuttling its Big Apple plans blindsided Amazon's allies and opponents alike. The company said the decision came together only in the last 48 hours, made by its senior leadership team and Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder, chief executive and the richest person in the world. Yet by some measures the decision was months in the making, as community opposition signaled to the company that it was not entirely welcome. The abrupt reversal has made the company a target of ire from progressives like U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who are swiftly gaining ground and influence in the U.S. Democratic party. It may also play into an intensifying battle between Republicans and Democrats as President Donald Trump and his allies accuse left-leaning rivals of embracing socialism. The decision has also generated fresh debate about the rich tax-breaks and public funding that municipalities routinely throw at companies to lure their business and the jobs they bring with them. Seattle-based Amazon captivated elected officials across North America in September 2017 when it announced it would create more than 50,000 jobs in a second headquarters dubbed HQ2. Cities and states vied desperately for the economic stimulus, with New Jersey offering $7 billion in potential credits and the mayor of an Atlanta suburb promising to make Bezos mayor for life of a new city called "Amazon." A backlash began in earnest when Amazon announced two winners to split the offices last November: Arlington, Virginia, and New York's Long Island City neighborhood, with New York offering incentives worth $1.53 billion to Amazon. The company could apply for $900 million more, too. New York State Senator Michael Gianaris and City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer said that day that it was "unfathomable that we would sign a $3 billion check" to one of the world's most valuable companies considering the city's crumbling subways and overcrowded schools. City Council meetings in December and January showed Amazon executives who showed up the stern opposition they could expect from some elected officials and labor organizers. Protesters interrupted the meetings. A television report showed people unfurling signs saying, "Amazon delivers lies," and "Amazon fuels ICE deportations" - a reference to the company's cooperation with the U.S. Department in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Amazon felt that a small number of local and state officials had no desire to collaborate on a path forward, the company later said, despite what it said was strong popular support for its project. RELATIVELY PAINLESS EXIT Tension ratcheted up earlier this month, when Gianaris was nominated to a state panel set to vote in 2020 on whether to approve the financial terms for Amazon. Days later, Amazon executives weighed the pros and cons of whether to follow through with its New York headquarters, two people briefed on talks inside the company said. Concerned that Amazon could be in limbo for more than a year ahead of the state panel's vote, the growing consensus within the company was that it did not make sense to move ahead in the face of persistent opposition with a headquarters in New York City, where it already has 5,000 employees. Amazon had no binding legal contracts to acquire or lease the land for the project. It could exit with relatively little pain, the people said. Company officials also concluded Amazon could shift the jobs that would have been created in New York to other corporate centers it has across the United States, from the San Francisco Bay Area to Boston. Reopening talks with former HQ2 contestants did not make sense, the people said. Gianaris blamed Amazon for the reversal. "Amazon never showed willingness to look seriously at the concerns that were raised," he said. Still, up to the moment of the announcement, there were signs that the parties could work together. One union leader said he and other labor organizers met on Wednesday with Cuomo and four Amazon officials, including Brian Huseman, its vice president of public policy. "We had such a productive meeting yesterday. Everyone left happy," said Stuart Appelbaum, head of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The group is trying to organize workers at an Amazon facility in Staten Island, another New York City borough, despite the company's past opposition to unionization. "It was a complete surprise that they would say they look forward to working with us, and we talked about next steps, and then they call it all off the next morning," said Appelbaum. (Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco, David Shepardson and Nandita Bose in Washington and Daniel Trotta in New York; Editing by Greg Mitchell and Bill Rigby)
Amazons (AMZN) abandonment of its proposed HQ2 location in New York City is a cautionary tale for tech companies looking to open offices in new cities, several members of the tech community told Yahoo Finance.

Blame the situation partly on Amazons 14-month search for its second headquarters: a showy, pageant-like affair involving 238 proposals from cities and towns across North America. At the time, it read like a genius PR move: the HQ2 search generated hundreds of breathless stories about the positive impact Amazon could bring to a new town or city, including the creation of thousands of new jobs.

In retrospect, had they not made such public fanfare, I suspect the backlash they faced might have been less, acknowledged Matt Nichols, a general partner at the San Francisco-based venture capital firm Commerce Ventures. They sort of created the PR storm on purpose, and I think that probably only heightened the awareness of it with the community that led to the cause of them pulling out.

Too arrogant for its own good?

Charlene Li, founder and principal analyst of the San Francisco-based Altimeter Group, contended the HQ2 search sustained the publics perception that tech companies had become too arrogant for their own good.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio shake hands during a news conference Tuesday Nov. 13, 2018, in New York. Amazon said it will split its much-anticipated second headquarters between New York and northern Virginia. Its New York location will be in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

I think its a continuing trend of how companies are running smack into the face of communities they have ignored, contended Li. The reality is when you move into a city, you have to build relationships. But Amazon basically marched in with an attitude of, Hey, you will be lucky to get us. What we are seeing is tech companies are no longer the knight in shining armor. Oh, let me bestow my benevolence upon you  25,000 jobs  but only if you do my bidding.

Of course, the benefits for Amazon of setting up shop in Long Island City also became abundantly clear. In addition to having access to some of the countrys top tech talent, the tech giant would receive nearly $1.53 billion in incentives, contingent on the company creating 25,000 new jobs with an average salary of $150,000. (Amazon, meanwhile, will receive roughly $800 million in public incentives from Virginia for bringing a campus to Crystal City.)

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Amazon, for its part, expressed disappointment in a statement issued on Thursday.

While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City, the statement read. We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion  we love New York, its incomparable dynamism, people, and culture  and particularly the community of Long Island City, where we have gotten to know so many optimistic, forward-leaning community leaders, small business owners, and residents.

Amazons problems stand in contrast with Googles and Apples recent expansion plans into New York City, which havent faced nearly the same level of opposition so far. Google (GOOG, GOOGL) in December announced plans to spend over $1 billion to build a new New York City campus, while Apple (AAPL) that same month also announced that it would add hundreds of workers to its New York City workforce.

One of the richest companies on planet earth shouldn't be asking for handouts! said Marco Zappacosta, CEO of Thumbtack, a San Francisco-based startup. The Amazon decision highlights the risky proposition of local governments courting big corporate headquarters instead of investing in small businesses, which are much more reliable local job creators.

Not enough local outreach?

Amazon may have also failed to perform enough outreach to politicians and local leaders to get them onboard. When a big oil company wants to enter a new community, it may take years, if not decades, to formulate and execute their plan, Li pointed out. But Amazon performed its entire HQ2 search in just 14 months. So maybe its not all that surprising the day after Amazon announced it was splitting up HQ2 into two campuses this November, local politicians, community groups, and other protesters rallied against HQ2 in Long Island City, several blocks away from the proposed site of Amazons campus.

The Chelsea Market building's window sign and the sign for Google's New York City headquarters, are shown in this photo, Tuesday, March 20, 2018. Google Inc. has finalized the $2.4 billion purchase of New York City's Chelsea Market building, the former Nabisco factory, on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Kurt Schrader, CEO and co-founder of the New York City-based startup Clubhouse, reiterated Amazon should have done more in the way of local outreach prior to announcing its final picks.

Everyone I know was excited about Amazon coming to town and at the same time everyone I know thought that they handled the process poorly, said Schrader, who added there were a number of unforced errors that made the entire deal easy to attack, like Amazons plans for a private helipad. Once they'd made the decision to come to Long Island they should have reached out to the politicians and local leaders there to get them onboard with the plan. I would have liked to see the initial announcement come from Bezos in-person with local leaders by his side.

But while Amazon said on Thursday it had no plans to re-open its HQ2 search, dont be surprised if that changes down the road.

This could be fake news or a negotiating tactic, suggested Dave Hendricks, CEO of the Austin, Texas-based startup Vertalo. Amazon doesnt scare easily. New York is an emerging center of tech and since its so much closer to Wall Street's deal makers, marketers on Madison Avenue, and the media business, it continues to make sense for Amazon to have a presence there. Bezos is competing globally, and Seattle isnt enough. I dont think that Jeff Bezos backs down this easily.

Bezos could prove pundits wrong, but hell have to deal with New York politicians, who have soured on Amazon since the news broke on Thursday.

You have to be tough to make it in New York City, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told Yahoo Finance in a statement. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity.

More from JP:
TORONTO (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's Sidewalk Labs unit is proposing it get a share of property taxes, development fees, and the rising value of Toronto city land as part of a deal to build a smart city, according to the company's slide presentation made public on Friday. Sidewalk Labs, which provides urban technology infrastructure, is planning a 4.9-acre smart city along Torontos harbor front, a project that has already faced opposition from locals over concerns of data privacy. Sidewalk Labs said the proposal was yet to the evaluated by Toronto city and the public and has the potential to generate around C$6 billion ($4.5 billion) to pay for the infrastructure over 30 years. The proposal suggests that a light rail transit and infrastructure be financed by a mix of development charges, incremental property taxes and increased land value. Sidewalk Labs outlined its project for a light railway transit, 2,500 homes where 40 percent would be below market price, and a tall-timber factory they project will create 4,000 jobs. These would be initially financed by Sidewalk, and the company plans to recoup its investment through the various taxes, the proposals showed. Alphabet is the parent company of Google. "We're prepared to take the risk up front of developing a model to help make that happen, and were prepared to essentially get paid back when weve demonstrated that it can be successful," Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff told Toronto Star newspaper, which first reported the proposal. On Thursday, Amazon scrapped its plans to set up its second headquarters in New York after facing public outcry. When asked if Sidewalk's proposal could face similar backlash, Micah Lasher, head of policy and communications at Sidewalk Labs, said he expected people would not pre-judge what the company is proposing, and that public discussion would be an important part of the process. "The City and Waterfront Toronto have not received any formal proposal at this time and no permissions or dispensations have been granted," Toronto Mayor John Tory said in a statement. "Any final proposal ... will be given full public scrutiny ... and, ultimately, consideration by Waterfront Toronto and City Council." Toronto City Councillor Paula Fletcher expressed concerns about the proposal. "I was terribly shocked because this was not within the scope of the project. I think its a big credibility problem for everybody." (Reporting by Tyler Choi; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Phil Berlowitz)
Photo credit: ZF Friedrichshafen AG

From Popular Mechanics

Over the past three decades, we've gotten used to things blowing up in our faces. The advent of airbags has done wonders to protect cars' fragile flesh-and-blood cargo when vehicles go smash.

Lots of people-especially those who've been protected from injury or death by an airbag deployment-must have wondered: What if we put the same technology on the outside of the car? Some of those people must work for German auto supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG, which has spent 10 years working on the external airbag.

The tech is finally ready for carmakers-that is, if ZF can convince them to buy it.

When the Worst Is Unavoidable

Photo credit: ZF Friedrichshafen AG

External airbags work just like you'd expect. They are bigger, exterior versions of the airbags that pop out of surprising places in your car's interior-those ugly balloons that fill with weird gases to cushion the human body.

With ZF's system, each side sill (the outside bodywork underneath the car doors) packs one airbag that runs the full length of the doors. Sensors on the car will watch out for any objects that look likely to slam into the side of the car. When the computers decide a crash is imminent and unavoidable, they deploy from the side sill, revealing the airbag. In no more than 100 milliseconds, inflators pump up the airbag to the height of a typical front bumper.

[pullquote align='center']What if we put the same technology on the outside of the car?[/pullquote]

One advantage of outside airbags is that they disperse the forces of impact. An oncoming car about the slam into the side of your vehicle would strike with the relatively small surface area of its front bumper-and an even smaller surface if it strikes at an angle. But when a car hits an inflated airbag, the impact force is spread through the airbag and along the length of the vehicle's side structure, which reduces energy loads. ZF says its tech reduces intrusions into the passenger cabin by 30 up to percent, and reduces injury levels by 20 to 30 percent.

Story continues

ZF would outfit vehicles with a number of kinds of sensors to identify whether and when to fill the airbags, because each type has its own specialty. Radar sensors are excellent for measuring distance and are virtually immune to being tricked by funny lighting or weather conditions, says Uwe Class, director of safe mobility systems at ZF. Cameras, meanwhile, are best at recognizing objects by differentiating between, say, a heavy motorcycle and a lightweight bicycle. They also typically have a wider field of view than the radar sensors, so they may see an incoming car sooner.

Photo credit: ZF Friedrichshafen AG

Lidar sensors are the final piece of the puzzle. They pulse light waves toward incoming objects and measure how the waves are reflected back. In this way, they create detailed three-dimensional images of everything they see. At the point where a crash becomes unavoidable, the lidar sensors' short response latencies and fast refresh rates allow the system to quickly detect and track whatever fast-moving object is about to hit the car. Even tiny changes in an incoming object's direction during these final milliseconds could drastically change how the airbags should engage, so lidar must be fast and accurate.

Engineered From the Ground Up

If you think this system sounds like a hard thing to jam into a vehicle, you're right. Because the ZF tech integrates into the vehicle's on-board sensor suite and requires space in key structural areas, it can't be retrofitted onto a car that wasn't designed with the external airbags in mind. The vehicle needs to be engineered from the beginning to make room for the airbag module, inflators, sensors, and side sill designs.

[poll id='0aed93b3-17e0-44e1-a979-dea18833368f_544ca0518e301' type='text' question='Exterior airbags?' answer1='It\'s smart.' answer2='It\'s weird.'][/poll]

That's a big ask. So rather than convince car companies to add yet another suite of sensors to their vehicles, ZF designed its sensor suite to pull double- or triple-duty. It makes sense; the industry already uses a plethora of cameras and radar sensors in computerized safety subsystems. For example, ZF's external airbag setup could use the same sensors employed in the lane departure warning or active lane correction systems found in new cars.

External airbags could also work in tandem with forward-looking systems, such as collision warning systems that alert the driver when the car is about to hit something, and automatic emergency braking systems, which automatically brake the car if the driver doesn't brake or take evasive action. Adaptive cruise control, which lets the car keep pace automatically with the car in front of it on highways, is another system that uses these types of sensors.

The first ZF external airbags could be on production cars within two years, Class says, though the company must navigate a number of unknowns. Asked about regulatory issues, the company told PM: "ZF is in the early stages of the process to clarify potential hurdles and clear the path for market introduction of this technology."

[editoriallinks id='38aa040a-c603-4cfb-a1fb-8567f4327585'][/editoriallinks]

And while several automakers have shown interest, none have placed contracts yet. Having to engineer a new car around the system is an obstacle in an era where cars typically go seven to ten years between expensive redesigns, and the industry is still feeling out the recent explosion of complex safety systems and sensor suites.

But safety sells these days. If enough automakers decide to design new cars around the external airbag, we could end up finding it quaint that we once ever thought airbags only belonged inside cars.

('You Might Also Like',)
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AURORA, Ill.  Five people were killed and six police officers injured after a gunman opened fire at a manufacturing plant Friday in the southwest Chicago suburb of Aurora, Illinois, police reported.

Officers found themselves immediately in an afternoon gun battle after arriving at the Henry Pratt Company plant only four minutes after terrified workers called police for help, said Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman.

The gunman, identified as 45-year-old Gary Martin, was shot and killed as well. Ziman said he is believed to be an employee of the company. She said detectives have not determined a motive yet.

Our hearts go out to the victims in this horrific tragedy, said Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin. We will heal, we will come together as one community and stand by those in pain from this loss. We will stand by those officers who were shot.

At least one relative of the shooter was at police headquarters Friday night, waiting to be interviewed by detectives.



Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker commended the amazing work of law enforcement officers who responded to the scene, saying that they rushed toward danger, and in doing that  saved countless lives. May God bless the brave law enforcement officers who continue to run toward danger,

John Probst, a worker at the company, told ABC7 that the shooter, armed with a pistol, was a co-worker. He said there were about 30 workers in the open storage room when the gunman opened fire shortly after 1 p.m. CT.

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"He was shooting everybody . . . As soon as i heard the shot, we left. As soon as I heard it, I took off," Probst said.

He said one of the victims "came running down and was bleeding pretty bad."

President Donald Trump, who was briefed on the incident and was monitoring the situation, said law enforcement officers did a great job. Trump sent a tweet as news of the casualties was unfolding, sending his Heartfelt condolences to all of the victims and their families, adding America is with you!

Story continues

The Henry Pratt Company, about 40 miles west of Chicago, is one of North Americas largest manufacturers of valves for the potable water, wastewater, power generation and industrial markets. Its a subsidiary of Mueller Water Products, Inc., a NYSE publicly traded company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company was founded in 1901.

During World War I, the Henry Pratt Company manufactured propellers for Liberty Ships and in the 1920s, the company made products for electric power plants and gas plants.

The company has a tradition of industry firsts. When welding came into use in the mid 1920s, Pratt was instrumental in the design and production of the first welded smoke stack, which was installed at Commonwealth Edisons Fisk Street Generating Station.

Contributing: John Fritze in Washington; Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: At least five dead, six officers injured as gunman opens fire at Aurora, Ill., plant
By Idrees Ali and John Irish MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Friday the United States was committed to defeating Islamic State in the Middle East and beyond, but officials said European allies were skeptical of Washington's pledges. U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement in December that he was withdrawing all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria surprised and rattled allies. U.S. officials have crisscrossed the Middle East in recent weeks to reassure them that Washington remains committed to the region. Trump's Syria decision was opposed by top aides, including then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who quit, leaving his deputy Shanahan in charge of the Pentagon. "While the time for U.S. troops on the ground in northeast Syria winds down, the United States remains committed to our coalition's cause, the permanent defeat of ISIS, both in the Middle East and beyond," Shanahan said after a meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. The meeting included about a dozen defense ministers from the coalition to defeat Islamic State. Kurdish-led fighters are battling to capture the militants' last major stronghold in Syria, but even without territory, the group is widely seen as a continuing threat. Shanahan said he envisioned a "bigger and stronger" coalition to fight Islamic State globally. "We will continue to support our local partners' ability to stand up to the remnants of ISIS," he added, using an acronym for Islamic State. However, European officials said they were given few details during the closed-door meeting in Munich and many questions remain. "We are still trying to understand how the Americans plan to withdraw," said one European official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Another official said Shanahan did not provide allies with a timeline of the U.S. withdrawal from Syria and allies expressed scepticism during the meeting. A senior U.S. defense official said no commitments were made during the meeting and there was little discussion about timelines. "These meetings don't tend to have specific deliverables or decisions," the U.S. official said. Trump on Friday, though, indicated that he would have solid progress to share very soon. "We have a lot of great announcements having to do with Syria and our success with the eradication of the caliphate and that will be announced over the next 24 hours," he said during a Rose Garden event at the White House. SYRIA SAFE ZONE Turkey wants to set up a safe zone with logistical support from allies and says it should be cleared of the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara considers a terrorist group. The U.S. official said the ministers talked about the need for some sort of security arrangement in northeast Syria after the United States has left. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, said the top U.S. general would ask allies to contribute forces to help stabilize areas liberated from Islamic State. France expressed scepticism at the suggestion. "Once the Americans leave well be forced to leave. We aren't going to be the patsy for the Americans," a senior French diplomat said, adding he did not see others ready to fill the void. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told lawmakers on Wednesday he had doubts about a safe zone. "Who will watch it? Who will be its guarantors? What would be its perimeters?" (Additional reporting by Sabine Siebold and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Frances Kerry, Gareth Jones and Dan Grebler)
By Idrees Ali and John Irish

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - Acting U.S. Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Friday the United States was committed to defeating Islamic State in the Middle East and beyond, but officials said European allies were sceptical of Washington's pledges.

U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement in December that he was withdrawing all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria surprised and rattled allies. U.S. officials have crisscrossed the Middle East in recent weeks to reassure them that Washington remains committed to the region.

Trump's Syria decision was opposed by top aides, including then-Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, who quit, leaving his deputy Shanahan in charge of the Pentagon.

"While the time for U.S. troops on the ground in northeast Syria winds down, the United States remains committed to our coalition's cause, the permanent defeat of ISIS, both in the Middle East and beyond," Shanahan said after a meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

The meeting included about a dozen defence ministers from the coalition to defeat Islamic State. Kurdish-led fighters are battling to capture the militants' last major stronghold in Syria, but even without territory, the group is widely seen as a continuing threat.

Shanahan said he envisioned a "bigger and stronger" coalition to fight Islamic State globally. "We will continue to support our local partners' ability to stand up to the remnants of ISIS," he added, using an acronym for Islamic State.

However, European officials said they were given few details during the closed-door meeting in Munich and many questions remain. "We are still trying to understand how the Americans plan to withdraw," said one European official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Another official said Shanahan did not provide allies with a timeline of the U.S. withdrawal from Syria and allies expressed scepticism during the meeting.

Story continues

A senior U.S. defence official said no commitments were made during the meeting and there was little discussion about timelines. "These meetings don't tend to have specific deliverables or decisions," the U.S. official said.

Trump on Friday, though, indicated that he would have solid progress to share very soon.

"We have a lot of great announcements having to do with Syria and our success with the eradication of the caliphate and that will be announced over the next 24 hours," he said during a Rose Garden event at the White House.

SYRIA SAFE ZONE

Turkey wants to set up a safe zone with logistical support from allies and says it should be cleared of the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara considers a terrorist group.

The U.S. official said the ministers talked about the need for some sort of security arrangement in northeast Syria after the United States has left.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, said the top U.S. general would ask allies to contribute forces to help stabilise areas liberated from Islamic State.

France expressed scepticism at the suggestion.

"Once the Americans leave well be forced to leave. We aren't going to be the patsy for the Americans," a senior French diplomat said, adding he did not see others ready to fill the void.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told lawmakers on Wednesday he had doubts about a safe zone. "Who will watch it? Who will be its guarantors? What would be its perimeters?"

(Additional reporting by Sabine Siebold and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Frances Kerry, Gareth Jones and Dan Grebler)
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., declares her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in Minneapolis on Sunday. (Eric Miller/Reuters)

Welcome to 2020 Vision, the new Yahoo News column covering the presidential race. Reminder: There are 362 days until the Iowa caucuses, and 633 days until the 2020 presidential election.

Just in: A primary challenge for Trump

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, who ran for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2016, has become the first Republican to announce a challenge to President Trump.

Weld, 73, announced in New Hampshire on Friday that he has created a presidential exploratory committee to take on Trump in the 2020 primaries.

We have a president whose priorities are skewed toward promotion of himself rather than toward the good of the country, Weld said at an event in Bedford, N.H. We dont need six more years of the antics we have seen.

What a week

If this week was any indication, the 2020 presidential campaign is going to be exhausting.

It began with the sixth woman, including four U.S. senators, to enter the 2020 presidential race. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., announced her candidacy at a snow-swept rally in her state that was immediately mocked by President Trump, the climate change denier in chief.

Well, it happened again. Amy Klobuchar announced that she is running for President, talking proudly of fighting global warming while standing in a virtual blizzard of snow, ice and freezing temperatures. Bad timing, Trump tweeted, again appearing to mistake weather for climate.

By the end of her speech she looked like a Snowman(woman)! the president added.

Science is on my side, Klobuchar replied in a tweet. Looking forward to debating you about climate change (and many other issues). And I wonder how your hair would fare in a blizzard?

Klobuchars wintry announcement followed by a day the formal entry into the race of Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The Massachusetts Democrat has been nicknamed Pocahontas by the president, thanks to her largely unfounded claim of Native American ethnicity, for which she has apologized. Trumps reaction to this news on Twitter included an elliptical allusion to the Trail of Tears, the brutal ethnic cleansing of Native Americans from the Southeastern states under the administration of Trumps favorite president, Andrew Jackson.

Story continues

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By the time we get to 2020, Donald Trump may not even be President, Warren said Sunday while campaigning in Cedar Rapids. In fact, he may not even be a free person.

Trump then held a Make American Great Again rally in El Paso, Texas, to highlight his demand for a wall along the U.S. southern border. On the same night, Beto ORourke, a possible Democratic presidential candidate and El Paso native, held his own competing rally at an outdoor plaza nearby.

Here is one of the safest cities in the United States of America, safe not because of walls but in spite of walls, ORourke told a crowd that Trump, holding his rally within earshot, erroneously estimated at 200 to 300 people. Musing on this purportedly pathetic turnout, Trump opined that ORourkes decision to hold a competing rally might be the end of his presidential bid (ORourke has not yet formally declared his candidacy).

The president, unsurprisingly, was off in his count, although by an unusually large margin even for him. The El Paso police said ORourkes rally actually attracted 10,000 to 15,000 people.

Still, Trump could console himself that it was a lot smaller than his own crowd, which he estimated at 35,000, including 10,000 in the arena and more than twice that number watching on screens outside. He even thanked the El Paso fire department for bending the occupancy rules for him. But the department said it had done no such thing, and that the arena was at its legal capacity of 6,500, with several thousand others gathered outside, according to the El Paso Times.

Trump also said that ORourke has got very little going for himself, except hes got a great first name. (ORourkes given name is actually Robert; Beto is a childhood nickname.)

And that just took us through Monday.

Beto ORourke addresses a rally held to counter Trumps rally in El Paso, Texas, on Monday. (Photo: Christ Chavez/Getty Images)

Thinking about 2020

At his counter-rally, people waved signs that read Beto 2020, and people could be heard shouting for ORourke to run.

Im thinking about it, the former congressman told one man  the same answer he gave to several reporters who waded through the crowd to press him on his White House aspirations.

Yahoo News Holly Bailey noted that privately, those close to ORourke are offering nothing further than that.

Hes thinking about it, one close associate said Monday, asking not to be named. ORourkes deliberations about his future have been confined to a small group of family, friends and trusted advisers, including his former congressional chief of staff, David Wysong.

The discussions have been so closely guarded that some former staffers say they feel hurt that they have been excluded, Bailey added.

He told Oprah Winfrey that he would make a decision by the end of the month, which is less than two weeks off.

Hey, you never know

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., told BuzzFeed this week that he is thinking about running for president.

Im not definitely running, but Im going to take a very hard look at it. A very serious look at it, Moulton said. Because I believe its time for a new generation of leadership, and we gotta send Donald Trump packing.

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, told CNNs Erin Burnett that he, too, is seriously considering a bid himself, adding: I dont feel any pressure to make any particular announcement anytime soon.

IN

Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Tulsi Gabbard, Julian Castro, Kirsten Gillibrand, John Delaney, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson, Bill Weld, President Trump

CONSIDERING (OR BEING CONSIDERED)

Bernie Sanders, Beto ORourke, Michael Bloomberg, Joe Biden, Eric Swalwell, Seth Moulton, Jay Inslee, Sherrod Brown, Terry McAuliffe, John Hickenlooper, Chris Murphy, Gina Raimondo, Tim Ryan, Joe Kennedy III, Luis Gutierrez, Jeff Merkley, Bill de Blasio, Steve Bullock, John Kasich, Howard Schultz

OUT (UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE)

Tom Steyer, Andrew Cuomo, Michael Avenatti, Martin OMalley, Bob Casey, Richard Ojeda, Jeff Flake, Eric Garcetti, Mitch Landrieu

A campaign volunteer in Minneapolis on Sunday grills his lunch over an open flame just before Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced she will run for president. (Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via AP)

Filling the town hall

On Monday night, a week after announcing her candidacy, Klobuchar will participate in a live CNN town hall meeting moderated by Don Lemon at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. The cable news network has already hosted a town hall with Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., also a candidate. But it drew widespread scorn for giving former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz a primetime town hall platform on Tuesday night.

Schultz, who says he is seriously considering an independent bid but has yet to declare his candidacy, offered few, if any, new policy positions at the event, despite being pressed by CNNs Poppy Harlow. Schultz, who is estimated to be worth several billion dollars, committed to releasing his tax returns if he runs for president  something Trump said he would do during the 2016 campaign but more than two years into his presidency, has yet refused to do.

Schultz laid claim to the mantle of colorblindness when it comes to race, a political trope from the 1960s that is very much out of tune with todays identity-driven politics.

As somebody who grew up in a very diverse background as a young boy, in the projects, I didnt see color as a young boy, said Schultz, who was born and raised in Brooklyn. And I honestly dont see color now.

I dont see color is the staple answer of white people who refuse to understand what racism is. When a great many people are being burned, not seeing fire is no virtue.

 Author Anand Giridharadas, reacting to Schultzs town hall comments

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Women first

In an interview with MSNBCs Rachel Maddow this week, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., was asked if he would commit to choosing a woman as his running mate.

I think that you will rarely see a Democratic ticket anymore without gender diversity, race diversity. I think its something that we should have. So, Im not going to box myself in, but, should I become [the nominee], you know Ill be looking to women first.

Details on the first Dem debates

The Democratic National Committee on Thursday announced details for the first two presidential primary debates of the 2020 cycle: The first debate, hosted by NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo, will take place in June; and the second, hosted by CNN, in July. Given what is expected to be a large field of Democratic candidates, each debate will take place over two consecutive nights.

According to the DNC, up to 20 candidates may qualify for the debate after they have managed to register support of 1 percent or more in three separate polls (either national polls or polls of the electorate in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and/or Nevada) publicly released between Jan. 1, 2019, and 14 days prior to the date of the debate. Each debate will feature randomized lineups, and the qualifying polls will come from a DNC-approved list.

A total of 12 presidential primary debates are planned.

Then-Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attend the unveiling of a portrait of retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Capitol Hill on Dec. 8, 2016. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Is Biden a weaker candidate than Hillary?

It sounds as if former Vice President Joe Biden is about to enter the 2020 presidential race. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said on Thursday that she spoke with Biden and came away convinced that he intends to run. A report from The Hill corroborated Feinsteins assessment. One source said of Biden that hes 95 percent there.

While Biden leads in nearly every early poll (presumably a factor of name recognition in the large, somewhat unknown field), some Democrats are skeptical. His long record in the Senate includes votes that could be used against him. He is a 76-year-old white man who came of age in a different political era, and would be running in a party whose newest star, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is less than half his age. McClatchy DC talked to 31 Democratic strategists and reported that many felt a Biden run was a bad, bad idea.

Theres a lot of reason to think he would wind up a significantly weaker candidate than Hillary, one strategist said.

Polls

Whos leading the Democratic primary right now?

Source: Morning Consult

Senate Judiciary Committee members Sen. Cory Booker, D.-N.J., top left, and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., wait behind Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., before voting on Brett Kavanaughs nomination for the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Trumps oppo operation

According to Politico, President Trumps political advisers are homing in on three declared Democratic candidates who they believe are the most viable at this early stage of the campaign: Sens. Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker. The Trump campaign reportedly began compiling opposition research on them this past weekend  a time-honored practice that is changing quickly in the social media age, according to Yahoo News Andrew Romano.

Meanwhile, Trump, himself reportedly believes former Vice President Joe Biden represents the most formidable threat to his reelection. Yet back in July, Trump said that Biden would be his dream opponent.

Biden has said he regrets not running for the 2016 Democratic nomination, and once expressed a desire to take Trump on  in a fistfight. I wish we were in high school, Biden said in October 2016. I could take him behind the gym. Trump responded by saying he would love that.

Dismiss it all you like. Pitting two near-octogenarians in a steel-cage match would be peak 2020.

I think the word has mostly lost its meaning. And its certainly lost its ability to be used as a kill switch on debate.

 Pete Buttigieg discussing socialism on CNNs State of the Union

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Boring but important

Former New York City mayor and billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg is preparing to spend at least $500 million from his own pocket to deny President Donald Trump a second term, Politico reported this week, citing Democratic operatives briefed on his twofold plan:

If he runs, he will use that half-billion-dollar stake  roughly $175 million more than the Trump campaign spent over the course of the entire 2016 election cycle  to fuel his campaign through the 2020 primary season, with the expectation that the sum represents a floor, not a ceiling, on his potential spending.

If Bloomberg declines to seek the presidency, his intention is to run an unprecedented, data-heavy, campaign designed to operate as a shadow political party for the eventual Democratic nominee.

At an event in in Orlando, Fla., on Friday, Bloomberg said that hell make a decision in three more weeks.

The insatiable greed of the billionaire class must end. They cannot get it all.

 Bernie Sanders in an email to supporters

Des Moines

 Feb. 15, Cloudy, 13/1

 Feb. 16, Partly cloudy, 19/16

 Feb. 17, Snow showers, 25/14

Manchester, N.H.

 Feb. 15, Rain/freezing rain, 47/28

 Feb. 16, Partly cloudy, 38/16

 Feb. 17, Partly cloudy, 33/15

Source: Weather Underground

 Democrats 2020 Choice: Do They Want a Fighter or a Healer? (New York Times)

 A Woman, Just Not That Woman: How Sexism Plays Out on the Trail (New York Times)

 Everyones Running  and That Could Be Dangerous for the Democrats (FiveThirtyEight)

 With Christopher Wilson contributing
Numerous contenders for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination came out swinging Friday against President Trumps controversial decision to declare a national emergency so he can move funds around for the construction of a wall on the southern border.

Trump officially declared a national emergency Friday morning in response to Congresss refusal to approve the $5.7 billion he requested for construction of a wall on the southern border. Though it is likely to be tied up in lawsuits, the move would free up around $8 billion in federal money, including $3.6 billion in discretionary military funds, to build barriers at the border with Mexico.

We should do something about the actual emergencies that plague our nation  like climate change or health care access  not playing politics in order to build a wasteful border wall, Senator Kamala Harris of California wrote on Twitter.

Lets be clear on this: The only emergency at our border is the humanitarian one Trump created himself, by demonizing and ripping apart families, New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand said in a tweet. This manufactured crisis is racist, wasteful, and an outrageous abuse of power from someone too reckless and hateful to hold it.

Not getting what you want to fulfill a campaign promise/chant is not a national emergency, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said on Twitter. Taking money from real needs and emergencies is what will create an actual emergency.

I may be the youngest one in the 2020 conversation, but Im old enough to remember conservatives being skeptical about executive power grabs, South Bend, Ind. mayor Pete Buttigieg wrote. What will they do today? he asked.

Senators Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren condemned the decision Thursday, before it was officially declared.

Trumps inability to follow through on a campaign promise is not a national emergency, Booker said. Lets not forget those still struggling to rebuild their lives after this administration failed to respond effectively to real emergencies in places like Puerto Rico.

Story continues

Warren agreed, saying the presidents ridiculous wall does not qualify as an emergency.

Gun violence is an emergency. Climate change is an emergency. Our countrys opioid epidemic is an emergency, the Massachusetts senator said.

Former San Antonio mayor and secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, meanwhile, accused Trump of launching a constitutional crisis.

We no longer have 3 co-equal branches of government. The President, in taking money designated by Congress for other needs to build his senseless wall, has voided the voice of the people, Castro wrote Friday on Twitter. The real national emergency is the constitutional crisis the President just instigated.

More from National Review
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When Gisela Vega began working more than a year ago to bring a first-of-its-kind LGBTQ human rights symposium to the University of Miami, she had no idea she would be participating in the event as the new director of the Universitys LGBTQ Student Center.

Now that Im here, said Vega, who is in her fourth week as a Cane, I want to find ways to engage our UM community even more because obviously this is a place where change can happenand where theres a pre-set audience for conversations about these human rights issues.

On Sunday and Monday at the Newman Alumni Center, the 4Ward Americas: LGBTI Human Rights Symposium will tackle topics such as environmental sustainability, health care, immigration, and sportsall as they intersect with the varying degrees of safety, equity, and freedom across the Americas that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people experience. Keynote speakers include Fabrice Houdart, human rights officer at the United Nations, and Sean Strub, mayor of Milford, Pennsylvania, HIV activist, and author.

This is something thats really never happened here in South Florida," Vega said of 4Ward Americas. Its an opportunity to bring leaders, community members, faculty, staff, and students together to learn about the human rights issues and the plight of LGBTQ folks in the Pan-American region.

Vega will be moderating LBT Women Organizing for LBT Women, a panel that includes a former navy sergeant and afro-trans activist from Brazil, as well as other leaders of womens groups from Bolivia, Costa Rica, and the United States. Vega says the panel will explore what we need to do to bring our sisters together and learn about the most pressing issues women face.

Jessica Osborne, LGBTQ Student Center assistant and chair of the graduate student organization GradOUT, will be moderating a session with representatives from the Miami Dolphins on the unifying power of sports.

Candelario Saldana, a UM law student and president of the student group OUTLaw, will share his experience on an immigration panel as a dreamer. Once an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, he earned a college degree in Utah through a privately funded scholarship and a state law that reduced tuition for undocumented students. Later, he attained Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, allowing him to work legally and begin his path to law school. Saldana, who graduates in May and has a job waiting at the prestigious North Carolina law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, unites his passion for immigrant rights with a calling to increase representation of LGBTQ individuals in the legal profession. Were not the only country that deals with immigration, Saldana said. Hearing about solutions and the ways other countries address the issue will allow people like me to have conversations with politicians who have the power to create change.
Armenian political party leader on double votes

Zatulin: 'Declaration of Shushi' is clearly targeted against Armenia

Iranian Supreme Leader to be vaccinated against COVID-19 with Iranian-made vaccine

Armenia Ombudsman: I sent video of Azerbaijan President-Turkey's First Lady talk to EU administration

How much coffee should one drink to reduce risk of chronic liver disease?

EWF's Turkish president and 17 Turkish weightlifters charged for doping violations

Armenia Ambassador to Poland lays wreath near plaque dedicated to Raphael Lemkin in Warsaw

Iran Ambassador on 'Zangezur corridor': We support exploitation of any corridor without change of borders

Honduras moves its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

Armenia Izmirlian Medical Center Director Armen Charchyan's attorney appeals court decision

Armenia 3rd President: Yes, he [Nikol Pashinyan] won the elections, but the victory sparks many questions

Putin, Erdogan discuss situation around Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenian general manager of Respect-SM construction firm to be detained for two months

Karabakh emergency situations service: Remains of another serviceman found in Varanda (Fizuli)

Oman hopes new Israeli government will take steps to create independent Palestinian state

Turkish and US military discuss plans to continue guarding Kabul airport by Turkish Armed Forces

Scientists describe new mechanism for cancer development

Lithuania is against direct dialogue between EU and Russian President

Francesco Totti says AS Roma have hired the 'best coach in the world'

Armenia acting PM meets with Tashir Group president Samvel Karapetyan

Artur Danielyan joins Sevan FC after leaving FC Ararat

One dollar falls below AMD 508 in Armenia

Manchester United offer Borussia Dortmund EUR 85,000,000 for Jadon Sancho

Armenia Parliament Human Resources Management Department head sacked

Merkel says EU will discuss Turkey and possible steps in development of cooperation with Russia

Prosperous Armenia Party comments on news about acting PM's initiative in regard to extra-parliamentary forces

Armenian POW Mels Ambardaryan's brother stopping sitting strike in front of govt building for now

Armenia Chamber of Advocates launching process to provide legal aid to Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan

UN Secretary General calls for wealth tax

ARF-D member: Prosecutor General's Office needs to take steps to change pre-trial measure against doctor Charchyan

Dutch MPs urge not to send delegation to Baku, COVID-19 in Armenia, Jun 24 digest

Zatulin: Azerbaijan President is demonstrating low-browed nationalism against Armenians

Corriere dello Sport: Mourinho and Mkhitaryan get reconciled

Zatulin: Results of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia spark doubts

The Kremlin on Putin-Pashinyan phone talks

Armenia acting PM holds phone talks with Russia's Putin, reminds about return of Armenian POWs

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's daughter undergoes surgery

Armenia health ministry to propose joint approach to issue of preserving fallen soldiers remains

Russian MFA: NATO's strategic concept will return situation to Cold War

Lavrov: Russia is helping Armenia, Azerbaijan build confidence along with other OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

PACE committee: Problem of political prisoners in Azerbaijan neither recognised nor adequately addressed

Acting economy minister: This year 6 times more apricots already have been exported from Armenia than in 2019

EU imposes economic sanctions against Belarus

Acting PM signs decision on EU FMs forthcoming visit to Armenia

Reporters Without Borders: Spanish journalist threatened with death by Azerbaijani forces

Karabakh emergency situations service: Searches for remains of servicemen continue in Varanda

Armenia acting minister explains why officials need to stand up when Pashinyan enters the room

Armenia acting economy minister: 90% of businessmen said they would emigrate in case of shift of power

Egypt relaxes entry rules for vaccinated tourists

Churchill's painting sold at auction in US for $ 1.8 million

Afghan government predicted to fall after American withdrawal

Britney Spears speaks about her conservatorship, asks court to end it

Lapshin: European Court decision on my appeal against Azerbaijan went down in history

Queen Sofia of Spain awards Armenian student

Acting economy minister: There is trend of emigration from Armenia

Garo Paylan sounds alarm about damage caused to 18th-century Armenian church in Turkey

What should people with chronic diseases do when it's hot?

Armenia Syunik Province governor to reporters: You're taking too long, I'm not going to answer questions

Princess Beatrice to take revenge on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for offence they caused

Netherlands parliament urges government not to send delegation to Baku for Euro 2020 quarterfinals

Acting premier: Patrol Police shall bring new word to Armenia

Armenia acting health minister: Coronavirus vaccinations on the rise in Armenia since snap election

Turkey archaeologists discover ancient fortress of Van from Urartu era

Armenia to manufacture, export drones

Five new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Armenia freedom fighter is arrested

'Armenia' bloc to hold protest in front of Prosecutor General's Office with demand to release Armen Charchyan

Emmy Awards become gender neutral

Armenias Pashinyan on recent snap parliamentary elections: We have set new standard

Fans throw bottle of Coca Cola at Ronaldo (PHOTO)

Armenia government extends ban on import of Turkey goods for another 6 months

Captured soldiers relatives hold protest outside Armenia government building

Acting premier: Average salary per person in Armenia increased by 20.2% compared to 2018

103 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia acting PM signs decision to send delegation to Moscow

Armenia International Studies expert: What is "last station" of all this?

World oil prices on the rise

Ronaldo and Mbappe exchange T-shirts (PHOTOS)

Controversial Dubai princess announces she can now travel freely

Newspaper: What is Putin's decision on Armenias Pashinyan?

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM to include defeated political forces in one body

WHO revises its position on COVID-19 vaccination of children

Newspaper: Wiretapping devices are installed in 'disobedient' Armenia judges offices

Armenia POWs relatives start sit-in outside government building

Euro 2020: Round of 16 pairings announced

Euro 2020: Portugal vs. France, Germany vs. Hungary matches end without winners

Razminfo: Azerbaijan deploys Bayraktars in Nakhchivan (PHOTOS)

Armenia doctor Armen Charchyan's attorney submits urgent motion to Prosecutor General

European Party of Armenia leader to Nikol Pashinyan: We need to think of strengthening our national potential

Political party leader to Armenia acting PM: There are opposition forces with which we cannot imagine any step

Armenia acting PM meets with Tigran Arzakantsyan

Armenia doctor Armen Charchyan transferred to hospital with cardiac distress

'Armenia' bloc issues statement strictly condemning arrest of doctor Armen Charchyan

Defense Minister: Turkey will not send additional troops to Afghanistan

Armenian judge who ruled to remand doctor Armen Charchyan is wife of top police officer

Armenian doctor Armen Charchyan's attorney says he will appeal court's decision on arrest

Armenia Central Electoral Commission: Civil Contract Party's and two opposition blocs' votes increase after recount

Armenia Izmirlian Medical Center Director Armen Charchyan to be held in custody for a month

Risk of developing depression may depend on person's sleep patterns

North Korea doesn't consider possibility of any contact with US
YEREVAN.  At Fridays Cabinet session, the Government of Armenia approved the draft on making an amendment to the law on the citizens who, in violation of the established order, have not served their compulsory military service in the country.

As a result of this amendment, the law is extended for one more year, and this will enable male Armenian citizens over 27 years old and who have not served their compulsory military service in Armenia to pay the statutory fee within the prescribed time frame, return to the country, and be relieved of criminal proceedings for not having served in the army.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted during the Cabinet meeting that 80 to 90 percent of the people who are sought in Armenia are those who are wanted for evading military service.

The PM noted that, after the change in the political situation in Armenia, the reaction to this law needs to be comprehended, and the future respective courses of action will be determined accordingly.

Pashinyan added that they had discussed this matter with the defense minister, too, and there were several ideas for resolving this issue once and for all.
Armenias Former Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan disseminated a video message, in which spoke on the armys engagement during the tragic events that occurred in capital city Yerevan, in March 2008, and top secret Order No. 0038 which was issued in connection with these events.

Order 0038 is an internal departmental order, he said, in particular. Order 0038 is an extremist approach at the core of the March 1 tragedy, and is not objective.

He stated that this order, which was given by then Defense Minister Mikayel Harutyunyan, had no action against the people. Ohanyan noted that Harutyunyan, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued along the lines of the criminal case into aforesaid tragic events, had not fled, but rather he did not believe in that case.

Ohanyan added that he does not accept the charge that has been brought against him, also along the lines of this criminal case.

I consider the treatment toward second President Robert Kocharyan [who is also charged along the lines of this criminal case], keeping him in custody, to be patently wrong, he stressed, in particular, in the video message.

In 2008, Seyran Ohanyan was the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, andtogether with several other former officialshe has been charged within the framework of the criminal case into the tragic events that transpired in Yerevan in March 2008and under Article 300.1 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code; that is, breaching Armenias constitutional order, in conspiracy with others.

On March 1 and 2, 2008 the then authorities of Armenia used force against the opposition members who were rallying in downtown Yerevan, and against the results of the presidential election on February 19, 2008. Eight demonstrators as well as two servicemen of the internal troops were killed in the clashes. But no one had been brought to account for these deaths, to this day.
Armenian political party leader on double votes

Zatulin: 'Declaration of Shushi' is clearly targeted against Armenia

Iranian Supreme Leader to be vaccinated against COVID-19 with Iranian-made vaccine

Armenia Ombudsman: I sent video of Azerbaijan President-Turkey's First Lady talk to EU administration

Armenia Ambassador to Poland lays wreath near plaque dedicated to Raphael Lemkin in Warsaw

Iran Ambassador on 'Zangezur corridor': We support exploitation of any corridor without change of borders

Honduras moves its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

Armenia Izmirlian Medical Center Director Armen Charchyan's attorney appeals court decision

Armenia 3rd President: Yes, he [Nikol Pashinyan] won the elections, but the victory sparks many questions

Putin, Erdogan discuss situation around Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenian general manager of Respect-SM construction firm to be detained for two months

Karabakh emergency situations service: Remains of another serviceman found in Varanda (Fizuli)

Oman hopes new Israeli government will take steps to create independent Palestinian state

Turkish and US military discuss plans to continue guarding Kabul airport by Turkish Armed Forces

Lithuania is against direct dialogue between EU and Russian President

Armenia acting PM meets with Tashir Group president Samvel Karapetyan

One dollar falls below AMD 508 in Armenia

Armenia Parliament Human Resources Management Department head sacked

Merkel says EU will discuss Turkey and possible steps in development of cooperation with Russia

Prosperous Armenia Party comments on news about acting PM's initiative in regard to extra-parliamentary forces

Armenian POW Mels Ambardaryan's brother stopping sitting strike in front of govt building for now

Armenia Chamber of Advocates launching process to provide legal aid to Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan

UN Secretary General calls for wealth tax

ARF-D member: Prosecutor General's Office needs to take steps to change pre-trial measure against doctor Charchyan

Dutch MPs urge not to send delegation to Baku, COVID-19 in Armenia, Jun 24 digest

Zatulin: Azerbaijan President is demonstrating low-browed nationalism against Armenians

Zatulin: Results of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia spark doubts

The Kremlin on Putin-Pashinyan phone talks

Armenia acting PM holds phone talks with Russia's Putin, reminds about return of Armenian POWs

Armenia health ministry to propose joint approach to issue of preserving fallen soldiers remains

Russian MFA: NATO's strategic concept will return situation to Cold War

Lavrov: Russia is helping Armenia, Azerbaijan build confidence along with other OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

PACE committee: Problem of political prisoners in Azerbaijan neither recognised nor adequately addressed

Acting economy minister: This year 6 times more apricots already have been exported from Armenia than in 2019

EU imposes economic sanctions against Belarus

Acting PM signs decision on EU FMs forthcoming visit to Armenia

Reporters Without Borders: Spanish journalist threatened with death by Azerbaijani forces

Karabakh emergency situations service: Searches for remains of servicemen continue in Varanda

Armenia acting minister explains why officials need to stand up when Pashinyan enters the room

Armenia acting economy minister: 90% of businessmen said they would emigrate in case of shift of power

Egypt relaxes entry rules for vaccinated tourists

Churchill's painting sold at auction in US for $ 1.8 million

Afghan government predicted to fall after American withdrawal

Lapshin: European Court decision on my appeal against Azerbaijan went down in history

Queen Sofia of Spain awards Armenian student

Acting economy minister: There is trend of emigration from Armenia

Garo Paylan sounds alarm about damage caused to 18th-century Armenian church in Turkey

Armenia Syunik Province governor to reporters: You're taking too long, I'm not going to answer questions

Netherlands parliament urges government not to send delegation to Baku for Euro 2020 quarterfinals

Acting premier: Patrol Police shall bring new word to Armenia

Turkey archaeologists discover ancient fortress of Van from Urartu era

Armenia to manufacture, export drones

Five new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Armenia freedom fighter is arrested

'Armenia' bloc to hold protest in front of Prosecutor General's Office with demand to release Armen Charchyan

Armenias Pashinyan on recent snap parliamentary elections: We have set new standard

Armenia government extends ban on import of Turkey goods for another 6 months

Captured soldiers relatives hold protest outside Armenia government building

Acting premier: Average salary per person in Armenia increased by 20.2% compared to 2018

103 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia acting PM signs decision to send delegation to Moscow

Armenia International Studies expert: What is "last station" of all this?

World oil prices on the rise

Controversial Dubai princess announces she can now travel freely

Newspaper: What is Putin's decision on Armenias Pashinyan?

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM to include defeated political forces in one body

Newspaper: Wiretapping devices are installed in 'disobedient' Armenia judges offices

Armenia POWs relatives start sit-in outside government building

Razminfo: Azerbaijan deploys Bayraktars in Nakhchivan (PHOTOS)

Armenia doctor Armen Charchyan's attorney submits urgent motion to Prosecutor General

European Party of Armenia leader to Nikol Pashinyan: We need to think of strengthening our national potential

Political party leader to Armenia acting PM: There are opposition forces with which we cannot imagine any step

Armenia acting PM meets with Tigran Arzakantsyan

Armenia doctor Armen Charchyan transferred to hospital with cardiac distress

'Armenia' bloc issues statement strictly condemning arrest of doctor Armen Charchyan

Defense Minister: Turkey will not send additional troops to Afghanistan

Armenian judge who ruled to remand doctor Armen Charchyan is wife of top police officer

Armenian doctor Armen Charchyan's attorney says he will appeal court's decision on arrest

Armenia Central Electoral Commission: Civil Contract Party's and two opposition blocs' votes increase after recount

Armenia Izmirlian Medical Center Director Armen Charchyan to be held in custody for a month

North Korea doesn't consider possibility of any contact with US

Azerbaijani army conducting command staff military exercises at level of brigade

Switzerland relaxes COVID-19 restrictions

Turkey removes over 5,500 cubic meters of sea slime from Sea of Marmara

Karabakh President convenes session of Board of Trustees of Shushi University of Technology

France, Germany propose EU summit with Russia's Putin

Armenia acting MOD, High-Tech Industry Ministry's Hayk Chobanyan discuss issues related to arms industry

Rescuers remove body of man from gorge located near St. Sargis Church in Yerevan with great difficulty

Armenia President: Constitution needs to be amended, our country understands presidential governance better

EU intends to pay Turkey EUR 3.5 billion for refugees

Putin, Aliyev discuss factors for implementation of Russia-Armenia-Azerbaijan agreements on Nagorno-Karabakh

Russia FM to discuss Karabakh situation with UN High Commissioner for Refugees

PACE affirms Azerbaijan's refusal to resolve problem of political prisoners

Votes are being recounted in Armenia, Baku is ready to 'work with Yerevan on a big peace agreement, Jun. 23 digest

Armenia acting Deputy PM on his political career in the future

Armenia President: A nation with a history of genocide with Turkey needs to be very careful and have a friend

Armenian NGO president: Elections in Armenia only satisfied Baku and Ankara

Ambassador: UAE will carry out charity program for women in Armenia's Shirak Province

Armenias Sarkissian to pay state visit to Italy

Tokayev to Sarkissian: Continuing our constructive dialogue will contribute to expansion of Armenian-Kazakh cooperation
If youre a member of the wine industry, or a wine consumer who is aware of the latest trends, I bet youve heard this: Syrah is such a cool grape, but its impossible to sell!

My favorite variation of this sentiment is from former Syrah grower and producer Richard Phoenix  Whats the difference between Syrah and syphilis? You can get rid of syphilis.

This is a story about California Syrah and why wineries grow/buy/make/sell it even though the cards are seemingly stacked against them. Self-avowed wine geeks (like me), wine merchants, sommeliers and winemakers love its intoxicating aromas, bright acidity, bridled fruit and alcohol and savory complexity. Californias Mediterranean climate welcomes Syrah, and our micro-climates encourages unique expression. In the hands of talented growers and winemakers, all arrows point to delicious, intriguing wine that costs much less than Cab or Pinot. Slam dunk, eh?

Not quite, because whos guarding the rim? The consumer, the 7-foot shot blocker. As a whole, we wine consumers love our Chards, Cabs and Pinots. In the case of Syrah, generally were just not into it. Wineries work extremely hard to sell their wine regardless of grape. Look at Syrah sales and the challenge to sell is that much greater. Why go through the trouble?
Anyone looking for value in wine, up and down the price range, should look to Argentina. The country produces wines of high quality at low prices, and the more expensive bottleseven those stretching into the triple digits as if they were grasping the Andes peaksoften perform as well as, if not better than, similarly priced trophies from more classic regions.

Anyone interested in exploring wine beyond the simple buzz of the grocery store quaff should also look to Argentina. Although winemaking there dates back to the Spanish colonial era, Argentinas modern story is still relatively young. Winegrowers are still exploring the heights of the Andean foothills in Mendoza, Patagonia to the south or Salta to the north, testing the extremes of altitude to produce the best wine possible. We consumers can, without spending a mountain of moola, use Argentina as our personal laboratory to explore the nuances of terroir and understand how two wines made from the same grape can taste subtly but distinctly different because they were grown on different soils, at different altitudes, just a few milesor even metersapart.
The same is true for Burgundian Pinot Noirs found primarily in Cote de Nuits (e.g. Clos Vougeot, Richebourg, Cambertin, Echezeaux) but also with a strong presence in Cote de Beaune (e.g. Volnay, Pommard). Each area has its own characteristics, and individual vineyards throughout Burgundy are ranked from Villages to Premier Cru and Grand Cru to further differentiate each from its neighbors by quality and style.

More wine grape varietals are grown (and designated appellations exist) in Italy than any other wine-producing country of the world. In this way, Italy differs greatly in its approach to terroir from the northeasterly regions of FriuliVenezia Giulia and Valpolicella south to Piedmont, Tuscany, Umbria, on to Puligia in the heel of the boot and its islands (e.g. Sicily and Sardinia). The various growing areas are well known for their indigenous grapes and tradition closely ties those varietals to their place of origin.

A few well known examples are Garganega in Soave, Nebbiolo and Barbera in Piedmont, Sangiovese in Tuscany, Sagrantino in Umbria, Primitivo in Pulgia, Nerello Mascalese and Nero dAvola in Sicily and Cannonau in Sardinia. Each has its own character that is reflective of the regions terroir and heritage.

Is the concept of terrior somewhat anecdotal? Perhaps so, but I believe Dr. Kees van Leewen of the Insitut de Sciences et de Vin in Bordeaux sums it up best by simply saying, Terroir is all about the interaction of the vine and the natural environment.

Share your experiences with other readers by commenting on this article with an e-mail to me at allenbalik@savorlifethroughwine.com. Allen Balik, a Napa resident, has been a wine collector, consultant, author, fundraiser and enthusiast for more than 35 years.
I was just starting to write a letter to the editor when my friend Mike Cromwell's letter was printed ("Compadres was an asset to the community," Feb. 13).

I agree with everything Mike stated and more. From Yountville to Napa, Rick Enos and his family have supported tons of great causes donating lots of tasty Mexican food.

Compadres has been a pillar of the community for so many years. As a member of the Davies Dukes Band, we along with tons of other bands have played Compadres many Sunday afternoons and also many fundraisers for DARE, fire victims, etc., and Compadres was always there.

I agree with Mike and hope that the Compadres legacy will live on. Thanks, Rick Enos, for your great generosity.

Dave Dukes

Napa
Due to an acrimonious budget battle in Washington, the federal government endured the longest shutdown in its history last month - and then spent most of this past week teetering on the brink of yet another closure. But what does the American public know about the people who carry out the day-to-day functions of their government? A number of myths persist about the federal workforce. Here are a few.

Myth No. 1: Federal employees earn more than private-sector workers.

Are the people who dedicate their professional lives to public service in it for the money? "The federal government pays its employees more than they would earn in the private sector," the Heritage Foundation contends. Last year, a group called American Transparency sought to shock observers with itsfinding that "there is a new 'minimum wage' for federal bureaucrats - at 78 departments and independent agencies, the average employee made $100,000 or more." Former congressman Dennis Ross, R-Fla., once opposed raising pay for this workforce by arguing, "Our taxpayers can no longer be asked to foot the bill for these federal employees while watching their own salaries remain flat and their benefits erode."
The Tubbs Fire ruling, however, means many lawsuits might not get far. At this point, while PG&E lines are suspected of sparking the ultra-disastrous Camp Fire in Butte County, which destroyed most of the town of Paradise and much more, there is so far no official finding of blame.

So why should PG&E be allowed to enter bankruptcy while it has cash on hand, more arriving daily and still more available, with no real idea how much it may owe in damages? Especially when the company listed far more in assets than liabilities in its filing, $71 billion in assets against $52 billion in actual and potential debt.

This company is not broke, but would like to evade whatever its wildfire liabilities might turn out to be; bankruptcy will at least delay related lawsuits. PG&E also might want to ditch expensive electricity contracts signed during the energy crunch and later on under Californias renewable energy campaign. Some of those deals see PG&E import solar and wind energy to its service area from far away.

Critics like Democratic state Sen. Bill Dodd of Napa say theyre disappointed by the bankruptcy, calling for change at PG&E in both its leadership and corporate culture.
VALLEJO  Vallejo police said Thursday that the Solano County coroner's office has confirmed Willie McCoy, 20, as the driver who was fatally shot by officers in his vehicle at a Taco Bell drive-thru Saturday night.

Police said McCoy was identified by a latent finger print examination.

McCoy, known as "Willie Bo", was a local rapper with the group FBG, according to Facebook posts.

Police, who responded to the 900 block of Admiral Callaghan Lane around 10:35 p.m. said he was asleep with a gun on his lap in his locked vehicle that was still in drive.

Police said McCoy suddenly woke up, officers told him to keep his hands visible, and McCoy was shot when he quickly reached for the handgun in his lap.

The gun, a loaded 40-caliber semi-automatic with an extended magazine, was reported stolen in Oregon, police said.
Click said Newsom was saying he wants to show the viability of the Central Valley line, so that well have a lot better shot at getting other funding sources, federal funding, private funding to complete the full rail line.

Those who support the rail project reaching the Los Angeles area said that was also their interpretation.

Darrell Clarke, the chair of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapters Transportation Committee, said he did not notice any fresh revelations or major changes to the fate of the overall rail project after hearing Newsoms speech on the radio and reading the transcript.

What Newsom talked about are really all of the things currently before the high-speed rail authority, and that includes the ongoing phase 1 studies into the environmental effects of routes going from San Francisco to Los Angeles and Anaheim.

According to Clarke, the governor seemed to be saying, Well, were doing whats on our plate. I dont think he said we wont do anything after that. Its more, We will do whats before us, and then that gives them the opportunity to decide whats next. Its not a whole lot different.
"Rising wildfire suppression costs can strain California's financial resources and threaten cuts to critical programs," Dodd said.

"As climate change continues to contribute to devastating infernos, we need a strategy to reduce the pressure on state and community coffers. This bill would do just that, allowing the state to invest in an insurance policy to ensure budget predictability and reduce taxpayers' exposure to increasing costs associated with disasters, especially wildfire," Dodd said.

Dodd said the state will secure disaster insurance on terms that are beneficial to taxpayers and keep the public safe "without breaking the bank."

"This gives us a choice. If the premiums are too high, we walk away," he said.

The state of Oregon has purchased insurance protection against changing wildfire costs for nearly 40 years. Oregon has spent $61 million in premiums and received $102 million in insurance payments.

SB 290 only authorizes the governor, insurance commissioner and treasurer to enter into an insurance policy.

"Once we have the authority, we can develop a product that works for everyone. This (bill) is a first step," Lara said.
Caltrans, the Marin County Sheriff's Office and the California Highway Patrol responded Thursday to a levee breach at state Highway 37 near Novato Creek.

They are monitoring the creek flow in case it reaches Highway 37.

The Northwest Pacific Railroad and the Novato Fire Protection District have also responded.

The CHP is monitoring Highway 37 between U.S. Highway 101 and Atherton Avenue for potential flooding.

The CHP first reported flooding in the area around 9:40 a.m. Thursday.
The idea behind growing cannabis in Napa County is very similar to Napa Valley wine grapes, Honig added. You have a small amount at the top of the pyramid, premium, high quality, and youre not adding to the glut. Its not quantity, its quality.

The Napa Valley Cannabis Association believes voters would pass its initiative, but would rather not spend all the time and money in doing it, Honig said. We really want the supervisors to act and get it done.

Honig and Sklar also encouraged supervisors to use their groups ballot initiative as a starting point, instead of starting from scratch. They can take ours and they can cross out here and add here to fix it the way they want it, Sklar said.

Board of Supervisors Chair Ryan Gregory said the board has yet to take a position on commercial cultivation. Supervisors late last year extended a moratorium on commercial cannabis activity in the countys unincorporated areas through 2019.

For now, Gregory said a clear timetable for an ordinance remains unclear. To have an ordinance done by June 30 I dont think is possible, given what were working on right now, he said.
"It comes across as such a narrowing of ambition and horizon," said Miriam Pawel, who wrote "The Browns of California," a biography of the Brown political dynasty.

"One of the things that was a signature of Brown, in all his incarnations, was the ability to look very far ahead and see that something that seems like it would be really difficult and expensive and take forever -- that in the end, we'll look back on it and wonder how we lived without it," Pawel said.

But certainly it was vastly cheaper and easier to build monumental projects in the past.

When Brown's father, Gov. Pat Brown, championed the State Water Project in the 1950s, the environmental movement did not exist and environmental laws had not been passed, making construction far quicker, cheaper and easier.

"It's a reflection that it's so much more complicated to build in California now," Pawel said. "It's a very significant difference, clearly."

Now the rail authority faces the need to secure $50 billion in additional funding to complete the project, while Newsom's priorities lay elsewhere.
19372019

Sandra Ann Jensen peacefully passed away with her sister by her side, on February 5. Sandra was born in Rockford, Illinois, September 8,1937, to Doris and Kai Jensen. She had three sisters, three half brothers and three half sisters. At two she moved to California. She graduating from Oakland High in 1955. After working and raising her sons she still managed to graduate in 1995 from SF State University with a BA in Liberal Studies.

She moved to Napa and acquired New Horizons Montessori School, retired in August of 2016. She shared a special connection with her students. Her wonderful dog Ben, would go with her to school. For eight years Sandra and Lorraine took the children to Russian River for a week.

Sandra went on several trips, caravanned with a group of friends to Baja, Paris with friends, Denmark with her sister to visit family and see where her father grew up, England to see the queen, cruised to Alaska, and cruised to Mexico.
Ed Moore will begin a series on the Bible book Song of Solomon in the 11 a.m. Bible hour on Sunday, Feb. 17. We start Sunday services by remembering the Lords death, burial and resurrection during a time of worship and thanksgiving at 9:30 a.m., followed by a fellowship and coffee time starting at 10:30 a.m. At 11 a.m., we enjoy a time of Bible teaching, and a class is available for children and youth during this service. On Wednesdays at 6 p.m., we meet for a brief Bible study and a time of prayer. A Bible study on the "key of knowledge" is being held at the chapel at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. 1559 Second St., Napa. napavalleybiblechapel.com.

NAPA VALLEY COMMUNITY CHURCH

What is a believer? Is it someone who goes to church? Is it someone who believes in Jesus? Or is it something much more? Join us this Sunday at 10 a.m. as we open Gods Word to the book of Matthew and ask the question: Truly Saved? Sunday School and child care provided. 4149 Linda Vista Ave, Napa. www. NapaValleyChurch.org. NVCC is a ministry of the Christian Reformed Church.

NAPA VALLEY LUTHERAN

Sunday worship at 10 a.m. includes Children's Time. Fellowship time follows. All are welcome. Church is located at Jefferson and Elm. 226-8166, ww.napavalleylutheran.org

NAPA VALLEY UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS
We hope to utilize our strength ...
Samsung is one of the worlds favourite smartphone brands, and its Galaxy devices are extremely popular in South Africa.

The Galaxy lineup includes everything from mid-range and budget handsets to flagship smartphones with the latest cutting-edge features on the market.

No matter which price bracket Samsungs Galaxy devices occupy however, they always offer an assurance of quality and high-value features which outstrip the competition.

Samsungs Galaxy smartphones are one of our favourite devices due to simple but important features that are critical to the experience of using a smartphone.

Beautiful Design and Features

Smartphones are ubiquitous these days, and they all look relatively similar, but Samsung includes various design features which make its Galaxy handsets stand out from the crowd.

A great example of this is the curved, high resolution displays and symmetrical rear chassis design of the Galaxy S9.

These features are also filtered down through to cheaper Galaxy models, with many of the Galaxy A and J-series smartphones including multi-camera systems, AMOLED displays, IP68 durability, and more.

OS-level support for Dual Messenger and the Bixby digital assistant are just a couple of the awesome features offered by Samsung Galaxy smartphones, but the most impressive is Samsung Pay.

Select Samsung Galaxy smartphones can use Samsung Pay to make payments at over 97% of all POS terminals in South Africa.

After becoming used to leaving your wallet at home and paying with your smartphone, it is difficult to go back to a different device.

Security and Specifications

Samsungs Galaxy smartphones may occupy a wide selection of price brackets, but they always boast powerful specifications relative to their competition, along with great specifications.

The camera and display systems on Galaxy smartphones are particularly good across the board, with high-end devices including more capable, adaptive lenses.

The epitome of Samsungs uncompromising approach to smartphone design is the Galaxy Note 9, which boasts an impressive set of specifications while retaining and improving fan-favourite features such as the S-Pen stylus.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 boasts support for 1TB of storage thanks to its 512GB* of on-board flash storage and microSD card slot.*

It also retains the advanced camera system first implemented on the Galaxy S9+ and is powered by the cutting-edge Samsung Exynos 9810 Octa chipset.

In addition to impressive hardware, Samsung also ensures that its Galaxy smartphones are completely secure, relying on powerful defenses like its Knox security solution to protect user data.

Samsung has captured the adoration of Android users with its Galaxy smartphones thanks to their powerful specifications, beautiful design, lightweight software, and uncompromising security.

To find out more about Samsungs exciting new additions to its flagship Galaxy smartphone range, sign up for the Unpacked 2019 live stream.

*Available on the *512GB Model
ICASA can and will proceed with assigning 4G and 5G spectrum in South Africa, even though the amendment bill to the Electronic Communication Act has been withdrawn.

A spokesperson for the regulator told MyBroadband that ICASA welcomes the withdrawal of the bill and the commitment by the Minister of Telecommunications, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, to further consultation on the matter.

In its presentation to Parliament on the bill, ICASA raised some concerns  particularly the impact of the bill on its independence, and the encroachment on its powers as regards control and management of radio frequency spectrum.

Ndabeni-Abrahams withdrew the bill on Tuesday during her first session with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Telecommunications.

She said that Parliament was unlikely to finalise the bill during the remainder of its term before the elections. As such, her ministry decided to withdraw it.

This will enable further consultations and allow amendments to be better aligned with the drive towards the 4th industrial revolution, Ndabeni-Abrahams said.

We need a holistic, forward-looking approach instead of ad hoc amendments to the existing legislation.

Cheaper, faster 4G networks

Among the changes the bill dealt with was the introduction of a wholesale open access network (WOAN), which was part of a larger debate on how scarce resources such as 4G and 5G spectrum should be assigned in South Africa.

The withdrawal of the bill until after the general elections in May 2019 therefore raises concerns that there will once again be delays in the allocation of high-demand spectrum to mobile network operators.

South Africas cellular networks have said that the release of spectrum will allow them to offer cheaper and faster mobile data services in the country, and must therefore happen immediately.

Siyabonga Cwele, the former Minister of Telecommunications, said in 2018 that the government will begin the process of assigning available 4G spectrum by April 2019.

This came after President Cyril Ramaphosa instructed Cwele to speed up his departments decision on the allocation of critical radio frequency spectrum.

However, ICASA told MyBroadband that it can and will proceed with the licensing of spectrum, despite the withdrawal of the bill. All it needs is a finalised policy direction from Ndabeni-Abrahams.

ICASA explained that during September 2018, Cwele issued a draft policy directive for public comment regarding the licensing of high-demand spectrum.

The final policy direction is expected to be issued soon, ICASA said.

In assigning high-demand spectrum, ICASA will consider and be guided by the said policy direction.
"It's a shame that mass shootings such as this have become commonplace in our country. It's a shame that a cold and heartless offender would be so selfish as to think he has the right to take an innocent life," Aurora Mayor Richard C. Irvin said.

At Acorn Woods Condominiums where Martin lived, a mix of brick apartments and condos nestled on a quiet street just a mile and a half from the shooting, neighbors gathered on sidewalks near Martin's unit talking and wondering among themselves if they knew or had come in contact with him.

Mary McKnight stepped out of her car with a cherry cheesecake purchased for her son's birthday, to find a flurry of police cars, officers and media trucks.

"This is a strange thing to come home to, right," she said. She had just learned that the shooter lived close by and his unit in the complex had been taped off by police.

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting and monitoring the situation as he prepared to depart for a weekend trip to his home in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump tweeted his thanks to law enforcement officers in Aurora and offered his condolences to the victims and their families. "America is with you," he said.
WEST LIBERTY  Three brothers from West Liberty were honored with a trip to the World War II Museum in New Orleans.

The three brothers, Fred, Walt, and Bob Lehman, all served during World War II. Fred and Bob both served in the United States Marine Corps and Walt was U.S. Army and a Purple Heart recipient. The brothers all spent time overseas during the War.

The three were honored with a special trip on a private jet flown from Iowa City to New Orleans to visit the World War II Museum. The trip is being hosted by Vizient Inc., and the company provided a private tour of the museum. Following the tour, the brothers were to be the guests of honor at a special reception hosted by Vizient Inc.

A welcome home celebration in West Liberty will take place upon their return today. The West Liberty Fire and Police Departments will be escorting the brothers into town on Garfield Avenue (Highway X40  Interstate 80 Exit 259) for a surprise welcome home celebration at First Church United.

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MUSCATINE  Elly Lloyd describes herself as a people person.

The owner of Ellys Tea and Coffee House in downtown Muscatine will soon move her establishment a block or so away from West 2nd Street to Iowa Avenue.

But Elly doesnt seem too worried, even if she did not like the idea at first. Shes moving at the behest of her landlord, possibly as early as March.

Everything her restaurant is known for, whether it be freshly made sandwiches, soups, desserts, coffee or tea, will be coming, too.

Of course, so will Elly, with her smile and her friendly demeanor.

She enjoys chatting with her customers. Its what got her into the place more than a decade ago when Hal and Kathleen Green decided to sell it to her.

Elly had come to work there three years earlier after retiring from the school district after 28 years, 21 as a bus driver and the last seven as the transportation director.

A friend brought her to what was then Greens Tea and Coffee on her birthday and she told the Greens, if they ever needed somebody to work the front counter, I would love to be that person.

She had known Kathleen from her time at Jefferson School.
The Democrat party is in complete disarray on many fronts. They are in panic mode, because under Trump, the countrys economy is flourishing. His policies have resulted in a continuous GDP growth of 3% , something Obama did not accomplish during a single quarter of his 8 year presidency. Democrats have always pandered to the Black and Hispanic communities but have never really helped them to flourish. Now, under Trump, unemployment in these same two communities is at an all-time low! Since the Democrats know they cant top Trumps economy, they have to figure out a way to get votes for the 2020 presidential election. So what have they come up with? Give free stuff to everybody! Free kindergarten, free college, free healthcare, etc. Of course this free giveaway is unsustainable and impossible to fund but is promised only to get votes. Most of our fathers including mine were hard working Butte Democrats who did whatever it took to earn an honest living without expecting the government to give them free stuff. So what has changed?
A university is the one place, of all places, where the free exchange of candidly-held ideas is and should be diligently protected, Weix said.

***

Powell earlier said she is accustomed to debating ideas, but the situation she encountered at the UC was different.

She said more students than usual crowded her table, and many of them asked the same boilerplate questions. She estimated at least four used vulgar and rude language and she was insulted as a North Dakota transplant.

Powell also said Weix approached her at the table and said, How did you like my students?

In her statement, Weix described her perspective of the interaction with Powell, the nature of the course, and the instructions she gave her students. Wiex has been at UM since 1992.

She said she is teaching a course called Fieldworking where students learn ethnographic research methods.

The emphasis of course is observation and conversation in different sites, typically those on a college campus, Weix said.
The letter also pointed out it was wrong, based on stereotypes, to lump all members of the Native American caucus together as pro-choice. Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, a Democrat from Box Elder, supported DeVries' bill, saying he was pro-life.

"Genocide is not a talking point to be invoked by a non-Indigenous politician when it fits their personal agenda. Especially when those comments are baseless, as demonstrated by Rep. Windy Boys remarks during the same floor debate," the letter read.

"We were being stereotyped. There are pro-life and pro-choice Indians just like anywhere else," Rep. Shane Morigeau, the Minority Whip in the House, said Friday. Morigeau is a Democrat from Missoula.

Hertz was out of town at a training for legislative leadership and did not have immediate comment on the letter.

Rep. Casey Schreiner, the minority leader in the House, said the full Democratic caucus would also ask for DeVries to apologize.

The letter said members of the Republican caucus also apologized for DeVries.

"While we appreciate the fact that these individuals recognized the ignorant display by Rep. DeVries, these comments are his own, and he should be held accountable," Morigeau wrote.
On Wednesday afternoon, Father Patrick Beretta was driving west with his two English mastiffs on his way Washington's San Juan Islands when something very strange  alarming  started happening.

"I didn't know what it was.  It was a vibrating sound, and the whole car started shaking," Beretta said. "Then, it was as if the whole mountain was falling on top of us."

Next thing he knew, an avalanche  or what he described as a "giant ocean wave of snow"  moved his Jeep from one westbound lane of Interstate 90 to the other.

His Jeep and the car behind him weren't trapped beneath this snow wave, but they were surrounded by drifts 20 to 25 feet high, he said.

"If I were 100 feet further ahead, I would have been buried," Beretta said. "I am very, very fortunate and blessed.  You stare at mortality in the eyes in those situations."

Before all of that happened, Baretta had been driving with caution, even stopping in Superior to walk around and wait for the snow plows to hit the road before he did.

"Right after we left Missoula, the weather got progressively worse," Beretta recalled Thursday afternoon. "When we got back on the highway, the roads were better, but the visibility was terrible."
WHITEHALL  Montana State Parks will celebrate the Great Backyard Bird Count at Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 17. The Caverns are located at 25 Lewis & Clark Caverns Road, Whitehall.

Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count uses public observation to reveal the big picture about what is happening to bird population numbers across the globe. It is a feat no team of scientists could hope to accomplish alone.

Join park staff for an approximate four-mile hike along the park road to see what birds call the park home this winter. Participants will meet at the Main Visitor Center near the park entrance at 10:30 a.m. The walk will last 2-3 hours; dress for variable winter conditions, wear solid walking footwear and bring your binoculars. Participants may also bring a snack, water, and a camera. Whether an avid birder or a complete novice, your participation in this event will contribute to a global effort to create of an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds!
"After you have finished your true stories sometime, why don't you make up a story and the people to go with it? Only then will you understand what happened and why. It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us.  A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, by Norman Maclean
The urgent need to make sure people have access to behavioral health care is real. Medicaid spending on substance use disorders has increased five-fold from 2015 to 2017, most of which is new federal funds, as more people are able to get the care they need. Expansion is the most cost-effective way that we can ensure Montanans have access to the help they need to manage mental health issues and to successfully recover from addiction.

Mental health and substance use disorder treatment service providers across the state have seen the life-changing impacts of Medicaid expansion. We will tell you time and time again that if Medicaid expansion were repealed or if the legislature imposed new, strict requirements on enrollees, that our states progress and ability to successfully meet the behavioral health needs of Montanans would be rolled back five to 10 years. In addition, many of the providers will be unable to keep their doors open as reimbursements has been severely reduced.

The people who work in this field every day  therapists, mental health providers, licensed addiction counselors and community service providers  will tell you the same thing: there is no viable solution to address the mental health and substance use crisis in our state without Medicaid expansion.

We call on legislators to make the right choice for Montana and the people we serve. Simply lift the sunset on a program that is working. Dont punish Montanans because they need help. Giving them health care is the ticket to helping them live full lives and take part in our communities. Its good for them, and its good for Montana.

This opinion is signed by Behavioral Health Alliance of Montana (BHAM) board members Jim Fitzgerald, Sydney Blair, Lenette Kosovich, Judith B. Herzog, Lenore Myers, Kathy Chavis, Bob Wigdorski, Julie Fleck, Dan Krause, Levi Anderson and members of BHAM.

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The education portion is based on an old Montana statute, which called for some type of firearms safety training in schools. Both McRae and Penley said they never received any gun awareness training in school.

The group emphasized that this training would not mean taking students to a shooting range and teaching them how to fire a gun. Instead, the training would simply be about gun safety. This includes information about being around firearms, gun storage and how to better educate those who don't have firearm safety training.

The bill was also revised to reduce the penalty from jail time to monetary fines. "I think it was unrealistic that anyone would ever get jail time," McRae said. "And many moderates were nervous about it."

Funk said the bill's purpose isn't to focus on punishment, but to get people thinking more about safely securing their firearms.

"It's a very weird feeling after working on this for so long. It's terrifying, but amazing. To share this and speak to the committee," Penley said.

The bill is set to be heard in early March by the House Judiciary Committee.

"Even if it doesn't pass, we are high school students who started a nonprofit, drafted a bill and are bringing it to the legislative session," McRae said.

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Hubbard buzzed to be let in, because the casino keeps doors locked at night and admits only known customers, Haney said. Hubbard seemed very agitated, Haney said, and told him a cop just pulled a gun on me, better not let them in. Hubbard told Haney not to unlock the doors for the police multiple times, he said.

Haney testified that Hubbard had told the customers they might want to get out of here before pulling a gun. Haney asked Hubbard to let him get the customers safely out of the way and into the office, he said. Hubbard said he didnt want to hurt anyone but insisted Haney not let the police in.

Haney said he tried to buzz police in, but only one door unlocks at a time, and he believed officers were trying the wrong door.

Becker, the police shift supervisor that night, testified that as more officers arrived and they could not get into the building, they decided to break the door using a window punch. Becker said officers were concerned that Hubbard was inside, armed, with casino patrons and said they were further concerned when employees did not let police in when they buzzed.

After breaking through the glass, Becker and other officers entered the main door at the southeast corner of the building, while Hubbard and some of the patrons began moving into the northeast corner of the building.
No. 2 House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was more definitive. "House Democrats will challenge this irresponsible declaration," he said in a statement.

The Senate approved the border security deal by a lopsided 83-16 tally. The House planned to vote on passage in the evening.

Trump's signature will end this stage of a raucous legislative saga that commenced before Christmas and was ending, almost fittingly, on Valentine's Day. The low point was the historically long 35-day partial federal shutdown, which Trump sparked and was in full force when Democrats took control of the House, compelling him to share power for the first time.

Trump yielded on the shutdown Jan. 25 after public opinion turned against him and congressional Republicans. He'd won not a nickel of the $5.7 billion he'd demanded for his wall but had caused missed paychecks for legions of federal workers and contractors and lost government services for countless others. It was a political fiasco for Trump and an early triumph for Pelosi.

The fight left both parties dead set against another shutdown. That sentiment weakened Trump's hand and fueled the bipartisan deal, a pact that contrasts with the parties' still-raging differences over health care, taxes and investigations of the president.
"So the spring to spring comparison of course is going to be lower," Bodnar said.

UM touted the slight uptick in persistence rate, or number of students who continue from fall to spring, and the president also highlighted it to the Faculty Senate. It went up 1.7 percent, and vice president for enrollment Cathy Cole earlier said the number means UM lost fewer students this year from one semester to the next compared to last year.

Harbor said UM is recruiting for summer and already has reached 1,000 students: "That's looking very promising."

UM also is reviewing proposals from companies to expand online education. In public comment, Ross Best said the proposals must be available to the public so people can follow along at an upcoming meeting to score them. Best is a government wonk and UM student who has pushed the campus to adhere to the Montana Constitution's protection of the public's right to observe government in action and participate fully with access to records.

Harbor said he believes the meeting will be open. UM had posted a link to the request for proposals on its Online Program Management website but did not appear to have linked to the actual proposals as of Thursday.

This story has been corrected to reflect Ross Best's comments.

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A former therapist at a private teen treatment program near Kalispell was convicted in 2018 of repeatedly raping a 16-year-old girl he was caring for in one-on-one sessions at a program in Utah.

Jason Calder pleaded guilty in Utah District Court to four felonies, including rape, object rape, forcible sexual abuse and obstructing justice. As part of the plea agreement, 12 sexual assault-related charges were dismissed, the Salt Lake Tribune reported in January 2018.

Authorities opened the case after the girl disclosed the abuses to another therapist.

Calder worked seven years as a therapist at Summit Preparatory School near Kalispell, and only worked with boys, Rick Johnson, founder and director of development at Summit told the Missoulian on Thursday. He said no complaints were ever leveled against Calder in Montana; his background check came back clean and no previous employers raised any flags in reference calls before he began working there in 2007. Calder left the school in 2014 for a job with a higher position at a program in Utah, Johnson said.

We were actually very surprised, very appalled, and I was just saddened by all the clients that he worked with that maybe he had been inappropriate with, Johnson said in a phone interview.
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By Benjamin Jumbe.

Government has deported The Chief Executive Officer of telecommunications company MTN Uganda, Wim Vanhelleputte.

This comes shortly after the arrest and deportation of three other senior employees of the company namely Olivier Prentout, Elsa Mussolini, and Annie Taburawho were marketing manager, mobile money general manager and general manager for sales and distribution respectively.

In a letter signed by Internal Affairs Minister Gen Jeje Odongo, the MTN Uganda boss is to stay outside Uganda indefinitely.

Police spokesman Fred Enanga said Vanhelleputte was deported over similar circumstances of national security
Interstate 90 reopened late Thursday afternoon after the Montana Highway Patrol, Department of Transportation and the Mineral County Sheriff's Office cleared wreckage from a semi-truck crash.

MDT said earlier Thursday in a tweet that five semis had crashed five miles east of the Idaho border. Jim Kitchin, an MHP captain, told the Missoulian later that only one semi crashed; others had merely stopped, he said. The crash caused a few "minor injuries."

"We got lucky," Kitchin said.

The Montana Department of Transportation had closed the stretch between St. Regis and Lookout Pass Tuesday afternoon. After clearing the eastbound lanes, Kitchin said crews were returning to "avalanche detail," to clear the westbound lanes.

The Montana Department of Transportation closed the highways westbound lanes from St. Regis to the Idaho border shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday when an avalanche spilled onto the road around mile marker 33.5, near St. Regis.

Kitchen said earlier on Thursday there had been two known avalanches, one there and one at mile marker 1. He said there was a good possibility of other avalanches.

"Big shout out to Mineral County Sheriff's Department and DOT, they're working their butts off," Kitchin said.

Meanwhile in Flathead County, the Department of Transportation planned to conduct avalanche mitigation on U.S. 2 near Essex for about two hours beginning at 1:30 Thursday, and close the road from Essex to Snow Slip.

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Hate speech appeared in graffiti this week in a bathroom stall at Hellgate High School, prompting an investigation and report to law enforcement.

But before administrators received reports of the vandalism, someone responded on the stall wall with anti-hate speech, said Hellgate Principal Judson Miller.

It was the very antithesis to the initial hateful message, Miller said.

The principal declined to provide specifics of the graffiti to the Missoulian, citing an ongoing investigation, although he did say the markings did not include swastikas. Alongside the hate speech, as Miller described it, were swear words and genitalia.

The schools protocol on Wednesday included assessing the markings and determining whether they rose to the level of hate speech or a direct threat, then contacting law enforcement and cleaning them up.

Miller said the markings were not determined to be a direct threat to an individual or a group of people, so parents were not notified of the incident.

While the hate speechs appearance on Wednesday was a little jarring, Miller said he was encouraged by the rebuttal on the bathroom stall.
A few howls were raised over the $25,000 price tag, which doesnt include the $2,000 set aside for installation of the sculpture. That $2,000 will cover staff time toward the installation, and up to $1,000 for materials, for a total of $27,000.

$27,000  are you kidding me!!!!! John Foley wrote in an email Tuesday to the city council. He didnt respond to an email seeking further comment.

Who is paying for the $25,000 dog is a little confusing, because its tax dollars but not general fund tax dollars. Heres how it works:

Missoula has a long-standing Percent for Public Art ordinance, which mandates that on eligible city capital projects, 1.5 percent of the construction costs must be set aside for public art. The capital projects include construction or remodeling of any public or city building, structure or park.

The Montana Rail Link Park falls under that designation, and its $1.7 million budget included $19,914 to be set aside for public art in two locations, according to Annette Marchesseault with the Missoula Redevelopment Agency. A portion of that, about $7,400, needed to be set aside for maintenance, leaving roughly $12,500 for the art.
The proposal would migrate regulation for all of the private, largely for-profit programs, which are clustered in western Montana, to DPHHS, and require the department to honor the rules established by the PAARP board until the department can develop and implement its own rules.

The Missoulians year-long investigation found that in some cases, unlicensed and untrained staff are caring for children and teens with serious emotional and physical problems, students are often isolated from their parents for months at a time and, in one case, a program allegedly failed to protect teenage girls from alleged grooming and sexual assault by an employee.

Rick Johnson, a member of the PAARP board and the founder of Summit Preparatory School, said in an interview Thursday he would support shifting oversight and licensing to the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

The PAARP board, they have done good things, but it still belongs with DPHHS, he said in a phone interview. They license group homes and foster homes, too. Thats where the licensing belongs, and it's always belonged.

The PAARP Board is now under the state Department of Labor and Industry, which has no similar oversight for educational or mental health treatment programs.
The nice thing about doing this show in Missoula first, is it will translate to how we teach it to tour managers and directors, Loehrke said.

Many of their touring shows go through two to three years of production, he said, making Johnny Appleseeds timeline relatively short.

So he challenges his cast to step up and do their very best, as well as to keep in mind how the play will read to students learning it for the first time.

Its very relatable to the students, Loehrke said. If theyre laughing and youre laughing, then you know youre doing it right.

Johnny Appleseed is also the first MCT touring show to have a national sponsor, according to Foundations/Corporations Director Naomi Lichtenberg, and its a juicy one.

A marketing agency promoting the Cosmic Crisp apple, a new variety engineered at Washington State University, will sponsor the show.

They felt that the people that we reach  families, students, kids and so on  would be a great fit, Lichtenberg said. Johnny Appleseed is of course a perfect fit, too.
@alextdaugherty

South Florida Democrats havent owned the Venezuela issue like Republicans for the past few years, but Miamis congressional delegation is introducing bills in response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Donna Shalala has a bill that would ban the U.S. government from selling items like riot-control gear to Nicolas Maduros security forces. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has a bill that would require the State Department to monitor and provide Congress with steps to curb Russian military influence in Venezuela. And Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has a bill that would compel the Trump administration to provide a long-term humanitarian aid strategy in Venezuela and allocate $150 million for the effort.

But Mucarsel-Powell, whose seat is being targeted by Republicans as a 2020 pickup opportunity, is the only one who hasnt received GOP support for her bill.

Miami Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart signed onto Shalala and Wasserman Schultzs bills the day they were introduced. He also introduced a bill, with Florida Democratic Rep. Darren Soto, to extend Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelans living in the U.S. But he hasnt signed onto Mucarsel-Powells bill despite signing onto an almost identical piece of legislation in the last Congress.

It mirrors the same bill that [Rep. Eliot Engel] filed last year, except it has the humanitarian aid funding, Mucarsel-Powell said. Our office worked closely with USAID and the State Department to get to that figure. I have met with Mario Diaz-Balart to discuss the bill. Im hoping that if he really does think that Venezuela really does need the aid, he should support that bill as well.

Read more here.
The study of natural toxins and their derivatives may help in the development of medicines to treat diseases like cancer and osteoarthritis, says Ana Marisa Chudzinski-Tavassi, coordinator of the Center of Excellence in New Target Discovery. Credit: Heitor Shimizu

Animal venoms are the subject of study at the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo. But in this case, the idea is not to find antidotes, but rather to use the properties of the venoms themselves to identify molecular targets of diseases and, armed with that knowledge, develop new compounds that can be used as medicines.

The focus of the work are immuno-inflammatory diseases like osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, explained Ana Marisa Chudzinski-Tavassi, a researcher at the Butantan Institute and coordinator of the Center of Excellence in New Target Discovery (CENTD).

"In addition to venoms, we are also studying toxins isolated from venoms and animal secretionsfrom the Brazilian biodiversity and from other countriesto identify and validate therapeutic targets that lead to the development of new medicines," said Chudzinski-Tavassi during FAPESP Week London, held February 11-12, 2019 at the Royal Society in London.

The CENTD, an Engineering Research Center (ERC) funded by Sao Paulo Research FoundationFAPESP and GSK, employs modern and complex molecular and cellular biology techniques, including phenotypic multi-parametric, interatomic, and proteomic assays, transcriptomic analysis and bioinformatics.

"We have established a biobanka bank of biological samples, a collection of venoms, isolated fractions, recombinant proteins and synthetic peptidesfor the maintenance, control and management of samples used in every study conducted at the CENTD. Cell models related to the diseases that are being studied at the CENTD were established and used to evaluate proinflammatory, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic [toxic to cells] and cytoprotective [that protect cells] activities. In addition, translational models to study signaling pathways are being used for the purpose of finding new molecular targets for the development of innovative medicines," Chudzinski-Tavassi told.

"After identification of a potential new target, subsequent validation is required. For this, the CENTD utilizes advanced molecular biology methodologies like the CRISPR/Cas9 system for gene knockout and expression activation, in knockout animals as well as in in vitro and in vivo tests. To date, 23 whole venoms have been screened for pro-inflammatory effects in the six cell models that have been established and standardized," she said.

"In this screening, three whole venoms were selected for later studies. The same cell models were standardized in order to analyze the anti-inflammatory or cytoprotective properties, and in this case, in addition to two whole venoms, eight synthetic peptides obtained based on venom protein amino acid sequences, and two recombinant proteins, were selected," said Chudzinski-Tavassi.

"In view of the anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective effects clearly shown in different cell types related to arthritic diseases, we suggest several of the peptides that the CENTD has in its library of compounds be used as tools for studying targets of degenerative diseases," she said.

According to the Center's coordinator, studies that are underway will allow discovery of the pathways through which these effects occur.

Promising antitumoral

The CENTD researchers, in collaboration with researchers from Albert Einstein Hospital, conducted transcriptomic (the study of gene expression) and proteomic (the comprehensive study of expressed proteins) analyses on tissues from healthy donors and donors with osteoarthritis. Using bioinformatics analyses, they are deciphering differentially expressed genes and proteins in these tissues.

"The next step will be to employ the peptides previously defined as cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory to seek new molecular targets related to developing osteoarthritis and contribute to its treatment," Chudzinski-Tavassi said.

With regard to cancer models, in addition to studies on tumor cell cultures, the researchers used what is known as a translational model to perform transcriptomic studies on spontaneous melanoma tumors in horses at the Butantan Institute's farm.

"Melanoma tumors were treated with a recombinant protein with antitumoral effects, already described in previous work by the group, that selectively acts on tumor cells and induces proteasome inhibition followed by cell death through the mechanism of apoptosis," Chudzinski-Tavassi said.

"Results derived from the transcriptomic analysis of the horse tumor translational model indicate that the antitumoral molecule, Amblyomin-X, besides its direct activity on tumor cells, activated the immune system of the animals to fight the tumor, causing the death of tumor cells through a mechanism of immunogenic cell death," she said.

The researcher went on to say that the findings of this translational model confirm the group's previous findings, obtained in in vitro and in vivo models, and reveal important new molecular pathways related to targets involved in immunogenic death.

PITE and ERC

Inaugurated July 21, 2017, the CENTD follows the rules of FAPESP's Research Partnership for Technological Innovation (PITE) and Engineering Research Centers (ERCs), in conducting long-term research with companies, enabling the shared generation of knowledge in areas of common interest, with great potential for application of the results generated.

"The CENTD has six main lines of research that overlap and involve nearly 35 researchers, as well as students and technical staff, for a total of 79 people involved in the project," Chudzinski-Tavassi said.

"To facilitate research, high performance equipment was purchased to enable high impact assays, revealing important cellular phenomena to identify the structures responsible by the different phenotypes," she said.

Among such equipment is High-Content Screening (HCS), which allows a rapid analysis of molecules of interest and an assessment of phenotypes. By using the equipment, it is possible to assess changes in the morphology of cells or their markers, which is extremely important information in studies of cell activity and survival due to a variety of stimuli.

"The collaborative partnership established with groups from the United Kingdom at CENTD, with support from FAPESP, GSK and the Butantan Institute, has proven to be an efficient model for developing high-impact science, discovering new drugs and training people in this important area enabling health innovation," said Chudzinski-Tavassi.

Dozens of researchers from Brazil and the United Kingdom take part in the CENTD. The Center's assistant coordinator is Isro Gloger, director of the GSK Trust in Science Project.

"We have worked in Brazil with FAPESP in funding innovative projects on initiatives involving collaborative work with academic researchers. One of them is at the CENTD. Our relationship with FAPESP is a great example of a public-private partnership that works," said Gloger, a molecular biologist born in Argentina who has spent 29 years at GSK.

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By Ruth Anderah.

The jailed Club Govnor murder, Ivan Kamyuka have been granted bail by Court of Appeal pending hearing of his appeal challenging conviction.

He is granted a cash bail of 10 million shillings and his sureties ordered to execute a non-cash bond of 10 million shillings , he was also told to report to the Courts registrar on every 22nd of the month starting this month until further notice.

Last year Justice Wilson Kwesiga of the High Court found Kamyuka guilty for the death of John Ahimbisibwe aka Jonnie, however he noted that the deceased provoked the convict by assaulting his [Kamyukas] wife, thus using excessive force to deter him.

Justice Kwesiga handed Kamyuka to a jail term of three years and eight months, however being dissatisfaction he appealed against his conviction.

While appealing for bail Kamyuka through his lawyer Julius Galisonga asked court to consider his clients bail saying there is a possibility for him to complete his sentence before his appeal is heard yet there are high chances of success.

In his ruling,Justice Cheborion Barishaki concurred with Kamyukas lawyer that the appeal raises very serious issues with high likelihood of success.

Kamyuka was accused of murdering Ahimbisibwe , however he was found guilty of manslaughter.

Jonnie was killed in the early morning hours of August 2nd 2015, at Club Guvnor in Industrial Area, Kampalas Central Division, when he had a confrontation with Kamyuka and suffered a cut in the neck inflicted by a sharp object and bled to death.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Rates of sexually transmitted diseases have risen for the past four years to record highs in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest analysis. In California, the state health department found that the number of people diagnosed with syphilis, gonorrhea or chlamydia in 2017 was 45 percent higher than five years prior.

These sorts of statistics may spark a fear that there's little we can do to protect ourselvesbut that's not the full story.

Dr. Leena Nathan, an obstetrician/gynecologist at UCLA Health-Westlake Village, consults with people daily about sexual health. Hundreds of people visit her clinic each week for infection screening, contraception, fertility consultation and various medical and surgical proceduresservices also provided at many of the more than 170 UCLA Health medical practices across the greater Los Angeles area.

"We all need to be comfortable talking about sexual health," Nathan said. "The more that we talk about it, the better equipped we are to combat the rising rates of infections transmitted through sex.

"When it comes to questions about sexual health, physicians have heard it all, so you can ask us anything. But people should feel empowered to talk about health issues with their sexual partners, too," Nathan added. "If you're willing to sleep with someone, you should also be willing to bring up the topic of protection, which can significantly decrease your risk for contracting an infection."

Nathan explains which infections sexually active people are more likely to be exposed to and to contractand the steps people can take to protect themselves against such infections.

Why are infections on the rise? How serious is the problem?

Casual online dating and hookup apps mean sexual activity can be just a tap away. But this means your risk for catching an infection can be just a tap away, too. As with nearly any issue, more public knowledge about the problem and prevention will go a long way.

In response to the HIV/AIDS crisis, public health campaigns began advocating for safer sex and condom use to inhibit the spread of the virus. Various research, including a study in the British Medical Journal, have found such campaigns effective for increasing public awareness and lowering transmission rates. In recent years, we haven't had as much funding and as many public health campaigns activated with the same urgency. The National Coalition of STD Directors points out that federal funding for sexually transmitted disease prevention has seen a 40 percent drop in purchasing power since 2003. There's a lot of room to educate the public on practices to promote safer sex.

The current situation is at a critical point. But there are certainly steps that public health entities can take and that individuals can take to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections.

What's the difference between STDs and STIs?

We tend to use the terms STD, or sexually transmitted disease, and STI, or sexually transmitted infection, interchangeably. One nuance would be that STIs include not only diseases but also infections that haven't resulted in symptoms and haven't yet developed into diseases. For example, many people carry the herpes simplex virus without developing the blisters that are characteristic of the disease.

How do you know if you have a sexually transmitted infection?

Oftentimes, you don't know. Most STIs are asymptomatic in early stages, which means regular screening is vital. Gonorrhea and chlamydia, for example, tend not to produce symptoms, but if left untreated they each can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility.

If you're sexually active, you should get screened at least once a year unless you're in a confirmed monogamous relationship. It's a mistake to think you should only worry about STIs if you're having symptoms.

Credit: University of California, Los Angeles

Which STIs should I be aware of?

There are many infections that can be transmitted by sex, but there are certain STIs that health experts pay particularly close attention to and for which clinicians routinely test.

The CDC recommends that all sexually active women under age 25 and all men who have sex with men be screened at least once a year for gonorrhea and chlamydia. Syphilis is another STI we worry about. The CDC recommends that men who have sex with men be screened at least annually as well. Syphilis can cause organ damage and a host of other issues in its later stages. Gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis can all be cured.

Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is a group of virusessome of which can lead to cervical, anal and other cancers. It's estimated that up to 80 percent of sexually active people will be infected with HPV in their lifetime.

Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is another infection that we test for and want to catch early. It is not curable, but it is treatable and can be managed with medication.

What are the best ways to protect yourself?

Condom use is so important. Many people believe condoms should only be used for birth control and don't realize how important they are for prevention of STIs as well. Condoms don't prevent everything, but proper use provides significant protection against chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and HIV.

I also recommend the HPV vaccine to all patients age 26 and younger. HPV is extremely common and can cause cancer in certain people. Some parents report being reluctant to give their children the HPV vaccine because they think it may somehow encourage their children to have sex at a younger age. Recent research suggests this isn't the case.

Whether male or female, people at higher risk for HIV can consider taking pre-exposure prophylaxis, a daily oral medication that when taken correctly nearly eliminates the chances of contracting HIV. There's also post-exposure prophylaxis, which is a medication we can administer for those who potentially came into sexual contact with an HIV-positive person. Post-exposure prophylaxis can significantly reduce your chances of contracting the virus after exposure.

If you are worried you might have a sexually transmitted infection, how long after a sexual encounter should you wait to get tested?

There's a certain period of time between which you contract an infection and the infection can show up on tests. This amount of time varies based on the infection.

Tests to screen for gonorrhea and chlamydia are generally reliable two weeks after infection. Syphilis testing requires a longer period before being reliable  from several weeks to three months after infection. For HIV we have multiple ways we can test for the virus, and three months after sexual contact all tests should be reliable.

Are certain demographics at higher risk than others?

Certain populations are at a higher risk for HIV, including men who have sex with men, transgender women who have sex with men, and certain racial and ethnic groups such as blacks and Hispanics. Medications and condom use can help reduce the risk for HIV transmission.

Syphilis is especially a concern when it comes to pregnant women. The disease can cause birth defects and death in babies. The latest CDC guidelines call for pregnant women to be screened once in the first trimester and, for high-risk women, once in the last trimestercloser to deliverybecause some women contract syphilis while pregnant.

Also, we're absolutely seeing a rise in STIs, including gonorrhea and chlamydia, among men and women in their 50s, 60s and beyond. In fact, the CDC found that among people aged 55 and older, chlamydia cases nearly doubled and gonorrhea cases nearly tripled between 2013 and 2017. Drugs like Viagra enable many older people to have an active sex life, but some of them overlook the risks of unsafe sexual activity. Some post-menopausal women, for example, see no need to use condoms because they can no longer get pregnant. But they should still be using condoms for protection against STIs.

Explore further In US, sexuallly transmitted infections hit new highs
Introduction of flat-rate payments accompanied by an increase in readmission rates. Credit: Unsplash | CC0

Seven years after the introduction of flat-rate payments at Swiss hospitals, a major study has revealed a slight increase in readmission rates. Researchers from the University of Basel and the cantonal hospital of Aarau reported the findings in the journal JAMA Network Open.

In January 2012, a flat-rate payment structure for inpatient hospital services was introduced across Switzerland in the form of the Swiss Diagnosis Related Groups (SwissDRG). Proponents of the new system hoped it would lead to a reduction in overcapacity, shorter lengths of stay, and slower cost increases. Critics, however, warned of the risks of early discharges from hospital.

Impact on healthcare

Researchers from the University of Basel and the cantonal hospital of Aarau have now conducted the first broad-based study on the impact of the new reimbursement model. Based on data from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, they analyzed over 2.4 million hospitalizations throughout Switzerland from 2009 to 2015. The study period therefore includes three years prior to and four years after the change in the system.

Specifically, the study investigated the impact of the new hospital reimbursement model on length of hospital stay as well as on in-hospital mortality and 30-day readmission ratesimportant indicators of efficiency and quality of care.

No effect on length of hospital stay

It was clear that the length of hospital stay decreased steadily, from 8 to 7.2 days, over the whole study perioda trend that has not accelerated with the introduction of the new reimbursement system. Similarly, in-hospital mortality also decreased over the study period.

More readmissions

On the other hand, the rate at which patients returned to hospital within 30 days of discharge increased from 14.4% to 15.0%. "This slight but significant increase could potentially point to early discharges," says Dr. Alexander Kutz, author of the study, although he adds that it is difficult to establish causal relationships because the study did not take account of factors such as post-discharge mortality.

Published in the journal JAMA Network Open, the study is the first to provide reliable insights into the impact of SwissDRG on the quality of care in Swiss hospitals. It highlights a need for additional and perhaps more sensitive analyses in order to investigate the effect on further quality indicators at the patient, staff, and hospital level.

Explore further Shorter length of stay tied to earlier readmission for seniors
The cityscape: This image shows 3 slices of a tumour sample. The colours represent the different chemicals that are detected on the surface, which helps the scientists identify areas of interest. Credit: Josephine Bunch, NPL

In southwest London, on the edge of Bushy Park, is a building whose occupants are responsible for measurements. Precise measurements, to be precise. The building is the gatekeeper of time, the resting place of the kilogram, and home to the scientists responsible for making sure the National Lottery balls are exactly the same.

This building is the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). It's the UK's National Measurement Institute, and for the last 18 months, a team of scientists there have begun turning their precise eyes on cancer.

As part of our Cancer Research UK Grand Challenge programme, we've funded scientists from NPL to measure molecules inside tumours. They plan to collect this information together, from thousands of samples, to produce a complete 'Google Earth' for cancer.

Professor Josephine Bunch is the faculty director at NPL's campus in Teddington, where she oversees the monumental task that's still getting up and running.

"The aim of our project is to examine what's going on within cells of tumours to understand how we can better treat them," she says.

And since our last visit to the lab, the team has been busy. They've now shared with us an early glimpse of 3 stages of the 3-D chemical map that they've started to draw out.

New layers of detail

The team plans to produce images of tumours at previously unseen levels of detail. They aim to catalogue the chemicals of thousands of tumours, moving from the surface to deep inside individual cells.

Zooming in to this level, and looking at the chemicals on the inside of single cells, means the common microscope has to make way for some more specialised equipment.

"Microscopes have really helped us understand enormous amounts about cancer and tumours," says Bunch. "But unlike our instruments, they can't produce an image in enough detail at such a small scale."

Credit: Cancer Research UK

"The instruments we've built let us see all of the molecules inside a single tumour cell at once."

Using molecular weighing scales

The instruments Bunch and her team use to image tumours rely on something called a mass spectrometer.

Mass spectrometers are like molecular weighing scales. As most molecules in our body have a specific weight, if we can weigh them, we can identify them.

NPL has a range of mass spectrometers that weigh molecules at different levels of detail, like zooming in on a map.

"We have been operational for about 18 months. We have used this time to optimise how we use these instruments and we have collected a whole range of quite precious samples," says Bunch.

With the instruments now fully operational, the team can begin taking us from the whole tumour to the inside of a single cell, much like Google Earth can navigate the globe from your phone.

Cityscape: the tumour surface

The first images cover a large area of the tumour's surface in less detail, as if you're observing a cityscape from high above. This maps out the surface of the tumour sample, giving a good overall first impression of the molecules that are there.

"The goal here is to gently pick up molecules from the tumour's surface by spraying water at it," says Bunch. "Some of the droplets bounce back with molecules from the tumour on it, and we can then measure them."

Street view: After identifying areas of interest, the researchers use a different machine to take a more detailed look. The colours in this image show areas of the tumour that are similar based on the molecules that are measured. Credit: Professor Josephine Bunch, NPL

This technique is important because it doesn't take long to capture an image of one piece of the tumour, called a section. "We can look at lots of sections of a tumour and obtain images in less than an hour," says Bunch.

The team detects and locates hundreds of chemicals at a time, helping them identify areas of interest. But this machine can't zoom in further to examine these patches at 'street view'.

Street view: a closer look

A second machine uses a laser to home in on the areas of interest and identify molecules inside the tumour cells. But with a lot more information to collect, this step takes time.

"For this technique it probably takes several hours to produce a map of one single tumour," says Bunch, adding that this machine is great for"bridging the gap" between viewing the whole tumour and mapping individual chemicals inside the single cells.

Inside houses or single cells

The final piece of the map comes from a third machine, which detects specific molecules.

"This method is quite different to the others," says Bunch. "We are not measuring hundreds of thousands of molecules in every location, like before. This time we have chosen what we are looking for using a chemical label."

Pictures from this instrument give the fine detail. The machine looks at the activity of specific chemicals inside tumour cells by sticking a radioactive flag to them. The radioactive flag doesn't disturb what's happening inside the cell, but it does make it traceable by scientists.

Bunch and her team are using this machine to peer inside cancer cells and find out how they work.

House view: In this image, the scientists are looking for a specific chemical that they have selected, based on the first 2 images. They are looking for the activity of that chemical within the cells of tumours to try and understand what its function is. Credit: Professor Josephine Bunch, NPL

"Really, we want to stop tumours receiving food and being able to use it," says Bunch. "If we can understand how they use and make energy differently compared to normal cells we can develop drugs that might stop their energy processes happening. Then we will be better at treating cancer."

Stitching the map together

"We are the only lab in the world that brings all of the different imaging techniques together," says Bunch.

Now the team intend to repeat these 3 techniques, along with four others, thousands of times, on many different types of cancer.

Molecule by molecule, pixel by pixel, these chemical maps will eventually be stitched together to produce an overall 'Google Earth' of the tumour.

Why do we need a map of cancer?

Bunch believes their cancer maps can be used in a variety of ways. "We are already working with people who develop drugs to understand the different regions in tumours and why some drugs get to the location you want them to and others don't," she says.

And since the Grand Challenge project began, they've started mapping bowel, pancreatic and breast cancers, as well as a kind of brain tumour called glioblastoma.

Bunch and her team say that it's thanks to patients who've donated their tumour tissue after surgery that these maps are starting to take shape.

"Without these kind donations, we simply wouldn't be able to produce these chemical maps or understand tumours in this level of detail."
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Renowned Harvard University geneticist David Sinclair recently made a startling assertion: Scientific data shows he has knocked more than two decades off his biological age.

What's the 49-year-old's secret? He says his daily regimen includes ingesting a molecule his own research found improved the health and lengthened the life span of mice. Sinclair now boasts online that he has the lung capacity, cholesterol and blood pressure of a "young adult" and the "heart rate of an athlete."

Despite his enthusiasm, published scientific research has not yet demonstrated the molecule works in humans as it does in mice. Sinclair, however, has a considerable financial stake in his claims being proven correct, and has lent his scientific prowess to commercializing possible life extension products such as molecules known as "NAD boosters."

His financial interests include being listed as an inventor on a patent licensed to Elysium Health, a supplement company that sells a NAD booster in pills for $60 a bottle. He's also an investor in InsideTracker, the company that he says measured his age.

Discerning hype from reality in the longevity field has become tougher than ever as reputable scientists such as Sinclair and pre-eminent institutions like Harvard align themselves with promising but unproven interventionsand at times promote and profit from them.

Fueling the excitement, investors pour billions of dollars into the field even as many of the products already on the market face fewer regulations and therefore a lower threshold of proof.

"If you say you're a terrific scientist and you have a treatment for aging, it gets a lot of attention," said Jeffrey Flier, a former Harvard Medical School dean who has been critical of the hype. "There is financial incentive and inducement to overpromise before all the research is in."

Elysium, co-founded in 2014 by a prominent MIT scientist to commercialize the molecule nicotinamide riboside, a type of NAD booster, highlights its "exclusive" licensing agreement with Harvard and the Mayo Clinic and Sinclair's role as an inventor. According to the company's press release, the agreement is aimed at supplements that slow "aging and age-related diseases."

Further adding scientific gravitas to its brand, the website lists eight Nobel laureates and 19 other prominent scientists who sit on its scientific advisory board. The company also advertises research partnerships with Harvard and U.K. universities Cambridge and Oxford.

Some scientists and institutions have grown uneasy with such ties. Cambridge's Milner Therapeutics Institute announced in 2017 it would receive funding from Elysium, cementing a research "partnership." But after hearing complaints from faculty that the institute was associating itself with an unproven supplement, it quietly decided not to renew the funding or the company's membership to its "innovation" board.

"The sale of nutritional supplements of unproven clinical benefit is commonplace," said Stephen O'Rahilly, the director of Cambridge's Metabolic Research Laboratories who applauded his university for reassessing the arrangement. "What is unusual in this case is the extent to which institutions and individuals from the highest levels of the academy have been co-opted to provide scientific credibility for a product whose benefits to human health are unproven."

A generation ago, scientists often ignored or debunked claims of a "fountain of youth" pill.

"Until about the early 1990s, it was kind of laughable that you could develop a pill that would slow aging," said Richard Miller, a biogerontologist at the University of Michigan who heads one of three labs funded by the National Institutes of Health to test such promising substances on mice. "It was sort of a science fiction trope. Recent research has shown that pessimism is wrong."

Mice given molecules such as rapamycin live as much as 20 percent longer. Other substances such as 17 alpha estradiol and the diabetes drug Acarbose have been shown to be just as effectivein mouse studies. Not only do mice live longer, but, depending on the substance, they avoid cancers, heart ailments and cognitive problems.

But human metabolism is different from that of rodents. And our existence is unlike a mouse's life in a cage. What is theoretically possible in the future remains unproven in humans and not ready for sale, experts say.

History is replete with examples of cures that worked on mice but not in people. Multiple drugs, for instance, have been effective at targeting an Alzheimer's-like disease in mice yet have failed in humans.

"None of this is ready for prime time. The bottom line is I don't try any of these things," said Felipe Sierra, the director of the division of aging biology at the National Institute on Aging at NIH. "Why don't I? Because I'm not a mouse."

Concerns about whether animal research could translate into human therapy have not stopped scientists from racing into the market, launching startups or lining up investors. Some true believers, including researchers and investors, are taking the substances themselves while promoting them as the next big thing in aging.

"While the buzz encourages investment in worthwhile research, scientists should avoid hyping specific (substances)," said S. Jay Olshansky, a professor who specializes in aging at the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Yet some scientific findings are exaggerated to help commercialize them before clinical trials in humans demonstrate both safety and efficacy, he said.

"It's a great gig if you can convince people to send money and use it to pay exorbitant salaries and do it for 20 years and make claims for 10," Olshansky said. "You've lived the high life and get investors by whipping up excitement and saying the benefits will come sooner than they really are."

Promising findings in animal studies have stirred much of this enthusiasm.

Research by Sinclair and others helped spark interest in resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine, for its potential anti-aging properties. In 2004, Sinclair co-founded a company, Sirtris, to test resveratrol's potential benefits and declared in an interview with the journal Science it was "as close to a miraculous molecule as you can find." GlaxoSmithKline bought the company in 2008 for $720 million. By the time Glaxo halted the research in 2010 because of underwhelming results with possible side effects, Sinclair had already received $8 million from the sale, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents. He also had earned $297,000 a year in consulting fees from the company, according to The Wall Street Journal.

At the height of the buzz, Sinclair accepted a paid position with Shaklee, which sold a product made out of resveratrol. But he resigned after The Wall Street Journal highlighted positive comments he made about the product that the company had posted online. He said he never gave Shaklee permission to use his statements for marketing.

Sinclair practices what he preachesor promotes. On his LinkedIn bio and in media interviews, he describes how he now regularly takes resveratrol; the diabetes drug metformin, which holds promise in slowing aging; and nicotinamide mononucleotide, a substance known as NMN that his own research showed rejuvenated mice.

Of that study, he said in a video produced by Harvard that it "sets the stage for new medicines that will be able to restore blood flow in organs that have lost it, either through a heart attack, a stroke or even in patients with dementia."

In an interview with KHN, Sinclair said he's not recommending that others take those substances.

"I'm not claiming I'm actually younger. I'm just giving people the facts," he said, adding that he's sharing the test results from InsideTracker's blood tests, which calculate biological age based on biomarkers in the blood. "They said I was 58, and then one or two blood tests later they said I was 31.4."

InsideTracker sells an online age-tracking package to consumers for up to about $600. The company's website highlights Sinclair's support for the company as a member of its scientific advisory board. It also touts a study that describes the benefits of such tracking, which Sinclair co-authored.

Sinclair is involved either as a founder, an investor, an equity holder, a consultant or a board member with 28 companies, according to a list of his financial interests. At least 18 are involved in anti-aging in some way, including studying or commercializing NAD boosters. The interests range from longevity research startups aimed at humans and even pets to developing a product for a French skin care company to advising a longevity investment fund. He's also an inventor named in the patent licensed by Harvard and the Mayo Clinic to Elysium, and one of his companies, MetroBiotech, has filed a patent related to nicotinamide mononucleotide, which he says he takes himself.

Sinclair and Harvard declined to release details on how much money heor the universityis generating from these disclosed outside financial interests. Sinclair estimated in a 2017 interview with Australia's Financial Review that he raises $3 million a year to fund his Harvard lab.

Liberty Biosecurity, a company he co-founded, estimated in Sinclair's online bio that he has been involved in ventures that "have attracted more than a billion dollars in investment." When KHN asked him to detail the characterization, he said it was inaccurate, without elaborating, and the comments later disappeared from the website.

Sinclair cited confidentiality agreements for not disclosing his earnings, but he added that "most of this income has been reinvested into companies developing breakthrough medicines, used to help my lab, or donated to nonprofits." He said he did not know how much he stood to make off the Elysium patent, saying Harvard negotiated the agreement.

Harvard declined to release Sinclair's conflict-of-interest statements, which university policy requires faculty at the medical school to file in order to "protect against any faculty bias that could heighten the risk of harm to human research participants or recipients of products resulting from such research."

"We can only be proud of our collaborations if we can represent confidently that such relationships enhance, and do not detract from, the appropriateness and reliability of our work," the policy states.

Elysium advertises both Harvard's and Sinclair's ties to its company. It was co-founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Leonard Guarente, Sinclair's former research adviser and an investor in Sinclair's Sirtris.

Echoing his earlier statements on resveratrol, Sinclair is quoted on Elysium's website as describing NAD boosters as "one of the most important molecules for life."

The Food and Drug Administration doesn't categorize aging as a disease, which means potential medicines aimed at longevity generally can't undergo traditional clinical trials aimed at testing their effects on human aging. In addition, the FDA does not require supplements to undergo the same safety or efficacy testing as pharmaceuticals.

The banner headline on Elysium's website said that "clinical trial results prove safety and efficacy" of its supplement, Basis, which contains the molecule nicotinamide riboside and pterostilbene. But the company's research did not demonstrate the supplement was effective at anti-aging in humans, as it may be in mice. It simply showed the pill increased the levels of the substance in blood cells.

"Elysium is selling pills to people online with the assertion that the pills are 'clinically proven'" said O'Rahilly. "Thus far, however the benefits and risks of this change in chemistry in humans is unknown."

"Many interventions that seem sensible on the basis of research in animals turn out to have unexpected effects in man," he added, citing a large clinical trial of beta carotene that showed it increased rather than decreased the risk of lung cancer in smokers.

Elysium's own research documented a "small but significant increase in cholesterol," but added more studies were needed to determine whether the changes were "real or due to chance." One independent study has suggested that a component of NAD may influence the growth of some cancers, but researchers involved in the study warned it was too early to know.

Guarente, Elysium's co-founder and chief scientist, told KHN he isn't worried about any side effects from Basis, and he emphasized that his company is dedicated to conducting solid research. He said his company monitors customers' safety reports and advises customers with health issues to consult with their doctors before using it.

If a substance meets the FDA's definition of a supplement and is advertised that way, then the agency can't take action unless it proves a danger, said Alta Charo, a former bioethics policy adviser to the Obama administration. Pharmaceuticals must demonstrate safety and efficacy before being marketed.

"A lot of what goes on here is really, really careful phrasing for what you say the thing is for," said Charo, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin. "If they're marketing it as a cure for a disease, then they get in trouble with the FDA. If they're marketing it as a rejuvenator, then the FDA is hamstrung until a danger to the public is proven."

"This is a recipe for some really unfortunate problems down the road," Charo added. "We may be lucky and it may turn out that a lot of this stuff turns out to be benignly useless. But for all we know, it'll be dangerous."

The debate about the risks and benefits of substances that have yet to be proven to work in humans has triggered a debate over whether research institutions are scrutinizing the financial interests and involvement of their facultyor the institution itselfclosely enough. It remains to be seen whether Cambridge's decision not to renew its partnership will prompt others to rethink such ties.

Flier, the former dean of Harvard Medical School, had earlier heard complaints and looked into the relationships between scientists and Elysium after he stepped down as dean. He said he discovered that many of the board members who allowed their names and pictures to be posted on the company website knew little about the scientific basis for use of the company's supplement.

Flier recalls that one scientist had no real role in advising the company and never attended a company meeting. Even so, Elysium was paying him for his role on the board, Flier said.

Caroline Perry, director of communications for Harvard's Office of Technology Development, said agreements such as Harvard's acceptance of research funds from Elysium comply with university policies and "protect the traditional academic independence of the researchers."

Harvard "enters into research agreements with corporate partners who express a commitment to advancing science by supporting research led by Harvard faculty," Perry added.

Like Harvard, the Mayo Clinic refused to release details on how much money it would make off the Elysium licensing agreement. Mayo and Harvard engaged in "substantial diligence and extended negotiations" before entering into the agreement, said a Mayo spokeswoman.

"The company provided convincing proof that they are committed to developing products supported by scientific evidence," said the spokeswoman, Duska Anastasijevic.

Guarente of Elysium refused to say how much he or Elysium was earning off the sale of the supplement Basis. MIT would not release his conflict-of-interest statements.

Private investment funds, meanwhile, continue to pour into longevity research despite questions about whether the substances work in people.

One key Elysium investor is the Morningside Group, a private equity firm run by Harvard's top donor, Gerald Chan, who also gave $350 million to the Harvard School of Public Health.

Billionaire and WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann has invested in Sinclair's Life Biosciences.

An investment firm led by engineer and physician Peter Diamandis gave a group of Harvard researchers $5.5 million for their startup company after their research was publicly challenged by several other scientists.

In its announcement of the seed money, the company, Elevian, said its goal was to develop "new medicines" that increase the activity levels of the hormone GDF11 "to potentially prevent and treat age-related diseases."

It described research by its founders, which include Harvard's Amy Wagers and Richard Lee, as demonstrating that "replenishing a single circulating factor, GDF11, in old animals mirrors the effects of young blood, repairing the heart, brain, muscle and other tissues."

Other respected labs in the field have either failed to replicate or contradict key elements of their observations.

Elevian's CEO, Mark Allen, said the early scientific data on GDF11 is encouraging, but "drug discovery and development is a time-intensive, risky, regulated process requiring many years of research, preclinical (animal) studies, and human clinical trials to successfully bring new drugs to market."

Flier worries research in the longevity field could be compromised, although he recognizes the importance and promise of the science. He said he's concerned that alliances between billionaires and scientists could lead to less skepticism.

"A susceptible billionaire meets a very good salesman scientist who looks him deeply in the eyes and says, 'There's no reason why we can't have a therapy that will let you live 400 or 600 years,'" Flier said. "The billionaire will look back and see someone who is at MIT or Harvard and say, 'Show me what you can do.'"

Despite concerns about the hype, scientists are hopeful of finding a way forward by relying on hard evidence. The consensus: A pill is on the horizon. It's just a matter of timeand solid research.

"If you want to make money, hiring a sales rep to push something that hasn't been tested is a really great strategy," said Miller, who is testing substances on mice. "If instead you want to find drugs that work in people, you take a very different approach. It doesn't involve sales pitches. It involves the long, laborious, slogging process of actually doing research."

2019 Kaiser Health News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Many news outlets and scholars have expressed concerns that workers have been unfairly exploited by employers in the Chinese manufacturing sector. Economic theory suggests that this exploitation, if it exists, is the result of employers in the manufacturing sector having considerable monopsony power. While there is a vast economic literature on monopsony power in the United States and other nations, little monopsony research has been conducted on the Chinese manufacturing market. This paper follows the monopsony research tradition and examines the Chinese manufacturing sector along several likely indicators of monopsony power. These include the turnover rate in the manufacturing sector, the relation between marginal factor cost and average factor cost, the relation between average real labor productivity and real wage in the manufacturing sector, and the comparison of labor costs between China and other countries. This study found that worker exploitation/monopsony in the manufacturing sector is not as severe as previously reported.
Congressional committees are central to the legislative process. Committees provide oversight of federal governmental operations and identify issues suitable for legislative review. A committee can dig into the details of issues under its jurisdiction and advance legislation to be considered by the full U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. At the beginning of each Congress, committee assignments are determined. The breadth of our committee assignments for the 116th Congress, which have now been set, will help ensure issues of importance to Idahoans are covered in Congress.

At the start of the 116th Congress, Senator Mike Crapo was reelected to serve as Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. The Banking Committee has jurisdiction over matters regarding financial services, capital markets, mortgages, urban development, transit, international sanctions and reviewing foreign investment activity. Senator Crapo also remains a member of the Finance, Judiciary and Budget Committees. The Finance Committees jurisdiction includes the federal tax code, revenue generation, foreign trade and social and health care service programs, while the nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal judgeships, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, are among the Judiciary Committees responsibilities.
In January of 1983, as I was stepping into the AG office, the Supreme Court ruled that the plan would go into effect, unless the Legislature adopted a constitutional alternative. The Legislature approved a plan that the Governor signed, but the Court found it inadequate.

I asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene but it declined. The Republican legislative leadership sought help in federal court but was rebuffed. They then drafted a revised plan, but the Governor refused to call a special session to consider it. So, the odd plan drafted by the professor went into effect.

The lawyer representing those who challenged the Legislatures plans throughout the lengthy litigation collected $145,000 from the State for his work. It would have been north of a million dollars at todays rates.

These things can produce unexpected results. The Democrats thought the professors plan would benefit them, while my fellow Republicans were scared to death of it. It turned out they were both wrong because the plan slightly favored Republicansthe law of unintended consequences. And, the majority party does not always remain in the majoritywhat comes around can often go around, as they say.
Kimberly School District will close schools Friday due to illnesses

More than 20 percent of the school districts approximately 2,000 students have been absent and we are not able to have school due to staffing, Schroeder wrote in an email to the Times-News. Predominantly, it seems to be flu like symptoms.
BOISE  A 30-year-old woman who was convicted in November of repeatedly abusing the children in her care was sentenced Thursday to up to 16 years in prison.

Esperanza Espinoza was convicted of four felony counts of injury to child and four misdemeanor counts of injury to child for the ongoing abuse of the six kids, who ranged in age from 1 to 10.

Canyon County Deputy Prosecutor Erica Kallin said it was one of the most horrific child abuse cases shes seen in her time as a prosecutor, calling it a torture case. Espinoza threw the children by their hair, stepped on them, kicked them, hit them, bit them and attempted to strangle them, Kallin said.

One child reported that Espinoza held a blade to the girls throat, causing small cuts, and the child told authorities, I thought I was going to die.

I just dont think any child should have the thought that theyre going to die, Kallin told the court. Much less, have it be over and over and over again.

The children are now in foster care, but Kallin said they report feeling numb and angry, and have difficulty trusting people.
TWIN FALLS  Northwest Twin Falls is still a hot spot for development, and residents could expect to see five new commercial buildings crop up this year west of Walmart.

Local developer Gerald Martens received a building permit last month for a nearly 11,000 square-foot medical office building at 370 North Haven Drive. Construction will begin soon and be completed by August, Martens said, and the building already has leases lined up.

And thats only the beginning. Martens also has plans to construct three additional buildings this summer in northwest Twin Falls.

Its going to be a very big year out there, he said.

Martens intends to attract more retail, food service, financial, medical and medical suppliers to those lots.
President Donald Trump likes to say that he hires only the best people and that his White House operates like a well-oiled machine.

But a steady stream of insider accounts flowing out of the West Wing suggests theres more madness than method to the president and his administration.

The most recent entries are two books that just hit best-seller lists, one by former White House aide Cliff Sims, the other by ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a onetime Trump adviser.

Sims dishes about Oval Office back-stabbing in his explicitly titled Team of Vipers. Christies Let Me Finish laments Trumps choice of amateurs, grifters, weaklings, convicted and unconvicted felons ... hustled into jobs they were never suited for.

The authors join a pantheon of disgruntled leakers or tattling ex-staffers telling tales of incompetence at the highest executive levels. Recently, someone handed Axios three months of Trumps daily schedule, revealing in mortifying detail how the president spends more than half of his workday in executive time activities such as watching TV, tweeting and making calls.
A state Assembly aide connected to a controversial social media post about African-American athlete and activist Colin Kaepernick has retired.

During Tuesday's Assembly debate on whether lawmakers should recognize Kaepernick on a ceremonial Black History Month resolution, a tweet, later taken down, from the account of Rep. Barbara Dittrich, R-Oconomowoc, stirred controversy.

"Colin Kapernick wore socks depicting police as pigs. Flags are flying at half-staff for a murdered policeman. Are you kidding me????" the tweet said.

Dittrich strongly denied authoring or approving of the tweet Tuesday, and said it does not accurately depict her views on Kaepernick. She said the only other person authorized to use her account was her aide, Keith Best, a Republican Party activist.

Kit Beyer, a spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, confirmed Best chose to retire following the incident.

"Keith Best is no longer an employee of the state Assembly," Beyer wrote in an email. "He elected to retire following the representative's concerns over his unauthorized tweet."

Best left employment Wednesday.

Best had previously been embroiled in a social media controversy. In 2018 he admitted to posting a tweet under the account of Rep. Tom Weatherston, R-Racine, who dubbed it "racist."

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According to the DNR, groundwater samples from around the ponds have shown concentrations of boron above state groundwater quality standards and elevated levels of arsenic and sulfate.

Wisconsin law does not require testing for mercury at coal ash landfills.

There are no wells within a half-mile radius that arent owned by Alliant, but Wannier said if contaminated groundwater finds its way into surface water Alliant should be subject to DNR authority.

Bill Skalitzky, Alliants manager of environmental services, said the company is in the preliminary phases of exploring dry-ash handling for Columbia. He said a dry-ash system will need to be in place by 2023, when Alliant must stop using the settling ponds to comply with a different set of federal rules.

Alliant estimates there is up to 1.1 million cubic yards of ash and wastewater stored in the main settling pond and a second inactive pond, according to the companys plans for closing the ponds.

Skalitzky said while dry ash handling systems cost more to install they also have advantages, including less down-time for boilers. Alliant has installed dry-handling systems at two of its plants.

But Wannier said without enforcement by the DNR theres no guarantee that Alliant wouldnt continue handling the ash with water and transporting it somewhere else for treatment.

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Contracts final year

This academic year is the last in a three-year contract between the district and Police Department to provide SROs, formerly referred to as educational resource officers, or EROs, at the high schools.

The district has been re-examining the duties and policies of the officers following criticism of the SRO program and has sought several changes to the contract. Late last year, the School Board, on a 4-2 vote, supported a new contract with changes that emphasize alternative disciplines over arrests and citations, require more training for SROs and lay the groundwork for a new complaint process.

But an amendment to the contract made at the boards meeting would give the School Board the ability to require an SRO be replaced if problems with the officer cannot be resolved  a condition the Madison Police Department had said was a nonstarter as it would likely run aground of the departments labor agreements.

Koval said he is not confident an agreement can be reached, calling negotiations effectively at an impasse.
Update: Shawn Jacob has been located and is safe, police said.

Sun Prairie Police Department is seeking help Thursday locating a missing veteran who may be at risk.

Shawn Jacob, 38, was last seen Wednesday afternoon in Sun Prairie, Sgt. Ray Thomson said.

Jacob is driving a 2008 white Ford F-150 truck with a black cover over the truck bed and Wisconsin truck license plate HT9619, Thomson said. One of the truck's windows might be broken, he said.

Jacob, who is 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighs about 230 pounds and has short brown hair, may be in the Madison, Milwaukee or Lake Wisconsin areas, Thomson said.

The Police Department issued a Green Alert Thursday evening, which is used to identify missing at-risk veterans.

Anyone who sees Jacob should call 911 and should not try to approach or contact him, Thomson said.

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Take your budding stars to Kiddyoke with The Gomers at 9:30 and 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday at Kids in the Rotunda in the Overture Center, 201 State St. Kids c an wear costumes and bring props to sing their favorite song on stage accompanied by the band  because the Gomers know nearly every song in the book. Admission is free!

More information go.madison.com/Kiddyoke; or phone 608-258-4141.

Glam-rock dance

Visit the dark side with Kanopy Dance Company during their Devils Night performance 7:30 p.m. Friday, 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday in Promenade Hall at Overture Center, 201 State St. Accompanied by music from a four-member Finnish cello metal band, dancers will take you into a dark land of enchantment in a glam-rock evening of supernatural horror. Recommended for ages 6 and over, tickets are $29/adult, $22/student, and $14/children.

More information kanopydance.org/devils-night; or phone 608-258-4141.

Shakespeare sequel
What has changed between the 1980s and today? Not the leagues position. All that has changed is which party is in power. The party in power got there through the current system and is often reluctant to make any changes. This is happening in both red states and blue states around the country. In Maryland and New Jersey, the league has recently fought against gerrymandering by the Democrats.

This battle really is between the party leaders, much more than the public. The latest Marquette University Law School Poll found that 72 percent of likely voters, including 63 percent of Republican leaners and 83 percent of Democratic leaners, say they would prefer to have district maps drawn by a nonpartisan commission.

It is expected that a new bill will be introduced soon in the Wisconsin Legislature to establish a redistricting system similar to that in Iowa. If enacted, this would result in fair districts for voters rather than safe districts for politicians. It would cost taxpayers well under $100,000 every 10 years, with most of that spent on public hearings held around the state to get public input. Compare that to the $3 million and counting that has already been spent or committed to have a private law firm draw the voting maps back in 2011 and then have the state defend the gerrymandered districts in the courts.
It seems to me at least where the state of the law is in Wisconsin right now, I cant pick and choose what (Jama) was innocent of and what he was guilty of, all rising out of the same situation, Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn said during oral arguments made in October 2018.

Asked to comment on the dismissal of this case, Gonzalez said in his statement it was dismissed "at the earliest possible stage," adding that "in general, the reason cases get dismissed this early on  before the defense has even filed an answer to the complaint  is because the complaint is frivolous and does not have validity."

The mayor of Fitchburg will be a one-year position in 2019, but in 2020 will transition to a three-year role. According to Fitchburg ordinances, duties of the mayor include presiding at City Council meetings, signing ordinances and making nominations to committees, boards and commissions. The mayor can veto actions of the City Council, including budget amendments. The mayor is paid $10,000 per year.

The Fitchburg mayoral election takes place April 2.

"The people of Fitchburg know me as a caring and compassionate Mayor who works hard on behalf of every resident. I am not perfect, but I am a better person  and a better public servant today  having learned from my past mistakes," Gonzalez wrote in his Friday statement to the Cap Times.

Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less.
Attorney General Josh Kaul wants more money to boost testing capacity at the State Crime Labs and modernize the state Department of Justice's ability to respond to digital crimes.

Kaul said in an interview with the Cap Times Thursday he will make funding for those programs a priority in his budget request, which will be rolled out as a part of Gov. Tony Evers' two-year spending plan later this month.

"We want to make sure we are modernizing DOJ's ability to respond to public safety issues and (make) sure the tools we have to respond reflect modern challenges to public safety," he said.

Since 2015, times for DNA testing at the state's three crime labs have increased, Kaul said. That delays how evidence can be used by prosecutors in court and limits how law enforcement can effectively catch criminals.

The state crime labs have also been working on testing and processing sexual assault kits that went untested for years across the state, a years-long effort funded, in part, by federal grants. Kaul said he is working with legislators to introduce a bill to ensure that a backlog never happens again.
He finds a new home, of sorts, when hes taken under the wing of an Ethiopian woman, Rahil (Yordanos Shiferaw), living illegally in Lebanon in an abandoned amusement park. Rahil has a cute toddler son named Yonas (Boluwatife Treasure Bankole), and Zain eagerly agrees to stay home and watch Yonas while Rahil works.

At first, it appears that Zain has found the supportive, nurturing family life he has yearned for his whole life. But then, of course, things go wrong again and Zains survival skills are tested again. The screenplay piles misery upon misery onto the lives of Zain and those closest to him, and any sense of hope feels fleeting.

All of this is presented in flashback. In the present day, Zain is in prison for stabbing someone (we dont know who until the end of the film), and has gone to court to sue his parents for the crime of giving birth to him into such hopeless circumstances. Its an awkward framing device that undercuts the drama of Zains journey, as every few minutes the film stops so the characters can explain to a judge what they were thinking at the time.

Capernaum follows in the footsteps of Francois Truffauts The 400 Blows, Steven Soderberghs King of the Hill and other films in which the hero is an abandoned boy trying to survive in a cruel world of adults. But those films kept us locked into the boys point of view. The melodramatic plot turns and maudlin courtroom scenes of Capernaum keep reminding us that, as heartbreaking as things get, were just watching a movie.
U.S. and Chinese negotiators began trade talks yesterday that President Donald Trump says will help decide whether he escalates a fight over Beijings technology ambitions by raising tariffs on USD200 billion of imports from China.

Businesspeople and economists say the two days of talks are unlikely to resolve the battle that threatens to drag on weakening global economic growth. They say Chinese negotiators are trying to persuade Trump they are making enough progress to postpone a March 2 deadline for the duty increase.

The chief American envoy, Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and his Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier Liu He, shook hands at the start of the meeting at a government guesthouse but said nothing to reporters.

There are few signs of movement on the thorniest issue: Washingtons demand that Beijing scale back plans for government-led creation of global competitors in robotics and other technologies. Chinas trading partners say those violate Beijings market-opening obligations and some American officials worry they might erode U.S. industrial leadership.

Trump agreed in December to postpone more tariff hikes while the two sides negotiate. That expires March 1. The following day, a 10 percent tariff imposed in July on $200 billion of Chinese imports would rise to 25 percent.

On Tuesday, Trump said while he is not inclined to extend the deadline, he might let it slide for a little while if talks go well. Earlier, the White House called March 2 a hard deadline.

Business groups see the decision by the top trade envoys, Lighthizer and Liu, to take part in person as a sign the negotiations are making progress. Yesterday was their second meeting following negotiations last month in Washington.

The U.S. delegation also included Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and David Malpass, a Treasury undersecretary who is Trumps nominee for World Bank president.

Companies on both sides have been battered by Washingtons tariffs and retaliatory duties imposed by Chinese President Xi Jinpings government. The stakes are rising as global economic growth cools.

Trump hiked tariffs on Chinese goods over complaints Beijing steals or pressures companies to hand over technology. The dispute has spread to include Chinese industry development, cyberspying and the countries lopsided trade balance.

Chinese leaders have offered to narrow their multibillion-dollar trade surplus with the United States. But they balk at making major changes in development plans they see as a path to prosperity and more global influence.

Chinese officials reject complaints that foreign companies are required to hand over technology. But business groups and foreign governments point to rules they say compel companies to disclose trade secrets or share technology with state- owned partners.

Chinese officials also are balking at U.S. pressure to accept an enforcement mechanism to monitor whether Beijing carries out its promises.

Beijing has tried to deflect pressure by emphasizing Chinas growth as an export market. It has announced changes over the past year to open finance and other fields, including allowing full foreign ownership in its auto industry for the first time.

Regulators have announced plans to improve protection of foreign patents and copyrights.

It is unclear whether that will satisfy Washington and other governments that complain the system is rigged to extract technology from foreign companies and to use official industrial standards to shield Chinese enterprises from competition. AP
Juliet Risdon is a Director of JML Property and a property investor.

Having been established in 1994, JML Property offers investment property & homes. It specializes in managing properties for owners and investors, and providing attractive and comfortable homes for tenants.

Whether you are leasing for the first time, or you are unhappy with your current apartment situation, there are some basic rules that you should keep in mind when renting. Renting a property may seem a minor process compared to purchasing a property, but three years is a long time to live with problems and inconveniences. Apply a little diligence, take the time to prepare your list of questions and you should avoid problems with your tenancy.

What will the lease, or rental agreement include?

Sounds silly, but often times big ticket items that are discussed verbally but not written into the lease, which more often than not ends in an unpleasant situation all round if the apartment comes with a car park, ensure this is noted (including the parking space number). Some apartments come with cable; if this is the case have it written in. Often mentioned verbally, but a bone of contention later if it does not materialize, is usage of club house facilities. If usage is included, insist on it being listed on the agreement. Apart from knowing how much the rent is, understand when the rent is due, to whom and where the rent is to be paid, and how much security deposit is payable.

What is the maintenance policy?

What fixes are included in the rent and which ones are not. Unfortunately, in Macau there are all too many landlords who are more than willing to rent out apartments but refuse to assist when something goes wrong within the apartment i.e. it is common for landlords to refuse to fix broken appliances such as clothes washing machines. It is vital that you understand who you are leasing from and what commitment they will give you to making good repairs. To whom should problems and repairs be referred  emergency contact as well as a non- emergency line. Agree a reasonable response time.

What is the term of the lease and what /if any is the get out clause?

Most of us know that the typical term of a lease in Macau is 3 years. But what happens if you want to leave the lease early? What about if your blue card isnt renewed and you must leave the country and therefore break your lease? Firstly, it is important that you know exactly what type of lease you are signing and what your commitments to it are. Most agreements are for 3 years, usually with a fixed term of 1 year, allowing 2 months notice to be given after 12 months. When the term of the lease is up and if the owner is willing to continue the lease, you can agree to a month-to-month agreement of course sign a new lease.



Can we sign a property report?

Once a possible home has been found, it is your duty to check it out completely. You should never rely on the landlord to disclose or assure you that the property is in 100% working order. Your agent should be able to assist you with a checklist to use when inspecting the property. Your checklist should include and sign off: kitchen appliances in working order, water pressure strong, plumbing without leaks, all facets working, (poor plumbing in Macau apartments is notorious), electrical outlets working, walls and ceiling painted or papered without cracks or signs of mould, air conditioning working and all remotes provided, floors and bathrooms in good repair, windows and doors operable and weather-tight (typhoons can be tough on seals!) If the property is furnished, check and write down condition of all furniture.

Can the walls be painted, fixtures changed/removed?

In most cases, owners are flexible about this, but make sure you do check in advance and ascertain what is required at the end of the lease i.e. will they insist you make good the colour of the wall again, or are they happy to leave the walls your chosen colours? Remember that taste is subjective, be warned about going out and spending dollars on things that you consider an improvement and expect your landlord to agree with you  in most cases, you are unlikely to agree!

www.JMLProperty.com

info@JMLProperty.com
THERE is a big shortage of mental consultants, according to the Advisory Council of the Islands.

The Correctional Service Bureau visited the council and introduced it to the bureaus facilities, equipment and affairs to assist the social reintegration of inmates.

Ho Chong Chun, a member of the council, said that according to the bureaus statistics, there are currently 1,479 inmates in prison.

However, despite this large number, the prison has only about 20 psychological assistants.

The government admits that the ratio [between prisoners and assistants] is very disproportionate; social workers and psychological assistants face great pressure, disclosed Ho. It was suggested to the government by members of the council that the psychological resources from within the bureau itself should not be the only solution.

Instead, they proposed to the bureau that the government search for additional psychological assistant from general the population. Associations and religious groups were nominated as two examples of organizations that could provide psychological assistance to the prisoners.

Si Nei Na, deputy coordinator of the Correctional Service Bureau, reported that they have been trying to work with both local and non-local universities in order to enhance the continuing education of inmates. Furthermore, according to Si, the bureau gives inmates a higher chance of being employed by taking them through different types of interviews.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday at a security conference in Warsaw that Iran is the top threat in the Middle East and confronting the country is key to reaching peace in the entire region.

Pompeo met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the opening session at the conference and said pushing back against Iran was central to dealing with all the regions other problems.

You cant achieve peace and stability in the Middle East without confronting Iran. Its just not possible, Pompeo said alongside Netanyahu.

The Israeli leader lauded the participation of high-profile Arab dignitaries at the conference, saying it marked a historical turning point that signaled a shift in regional priorities.

In a room of some 60 foreign ministers and representatives of dozens of governments, an Israeli prime minister and the foreign ministers of the leading Arab countries stood together and spoke with unusual force, clarity, and unity against the common threat of the Iranian regime, Netanyahu said before his meeting with Pompeo. I think this marks a change, an important understanding of what threatens our future.

The U.S. and Poland are sponsoring the conference, which they say is aimed at promoting peace and security in the Mideast but appears to be mainly focused on isolating Iran. Iran has denounced the gathering as an American anti-Iran circus aimed at demonizing it.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is attending along with representatives from numerous Arab countries. But France and Germany are not sending Cabinet- ranked officials, and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is staying away.

Russia and China arent participating, either, and the Palestinians, who have called for the meeting to be boycotted, also will be absent.

For Netanyahu, a longtime opponent of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the gathering marks a culmination of his call to unite the world against Israels arch-enemy of Iran. Hes long boasted that Israel has clandestinely developed good relations with several Arab states, despite a lack of official ties. On Wednesday, he met with Omans foreign minister, Yusuf bin Alawi, and at yesterdays opening session he was seated next to the foreign minister of Yemen, as representatives of Kuwait, Qatar and others looked on.

Israel has signed peace accords with Egypt and Jordan, but other Arab nations have refused to publicly improve relations without significant progress being made toward ending Israels half-century occupation of lands sought for a Palestinian state. That shunning, though, has begun to ease in recent years as shared concerns about Iran have overshadowed the Palestinian issue.

Netanyahu considers Iran to be Israels greatest threat, citing its frequent calls for Israels destruction, its nuclear program and support for militant groups across the region. Israel has been active in recent months attacking Iranian targets in neighboring Syria.

The Americans have tried to broaden the scope of what was initially billed as an Iran-centric meeting to include the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the fight against the Islamic State group, and the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

President Donald Trumps senior Mideast adviser, son-in-law Jared Kushner, has been working on an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan for close to two years, but has not yet released details. U.S. officials say Kushner is expected to make some comments in Warsaw about the conflict, but Netanyahu said he doesnt expect any discussion of the peace plan. The Palestinians have pre-emptively rejected it, accusing the Trump administration of being unfairly biased toward Israel.

No one country will dominate the discussion today nor will any one issue dominate our talks. Everyone should speak thoughtfully and honestly. Each country should respect the voice of all others. Our hope is that every engagement will entail true back-and-forth dialogue, not just be a chance to recite prepared statements, Pompeo said in opening the meeting. We want to bring together countries with an interest in stability to share their different views and break out of traditional thinking. AP
The Kumbh Mela, or pitcher festival, is a series of baths by Hindu sadhus and sadhvis, holy men and women, and other pilgrims who believe the ritual cleanses them of their sins and ends the process of repeated reincarnation.

For some, stripping down for a holy dip also signifies the stripping away of the material world.

At every Kumbh, including this years, thousands of devotees are initiated into the reclusive sect of the Naga Sadhus  naked, ash-smeared cannabis-smoking Hindu warriors and onetime-armed defenders of the faith who for centuries have lived as ascetics in jungles and caves.

On so-called royal bathing days, the Naga Sadhus lead the 13 monastic orders processions  on garlanded horses, elephants and tractors  through the festival grounds and into the river, armed with tridents and swords.

Performed by senior priests, the elaborate process of initiation comprises five rituals, starting with the shaving of heads and beards, ritual offering of saffron robes, wearing prayer beads, applying ash on the body and giving up their last piece of clothing.

The aspirants have to take a vow of celibacy, practice tough physical and mental conditioning and renounce worldly possessions and family ties.

After a purifying bath in the river and a prayer ceremony, the sadhus have to perform Pind Dan, a Hindu funeral ritual to pay homage to their ancestors for the salvation of their souls.

Usually this ritual is performed only after a person dies.

But the last Pind Dan ritual at the Naga initiation ceremony is for the sadhu himself, symbolizing the unity of his soul with God.

They will consider themselves dead, and only their soul will live on. They will pronounce themselves dead even while living, said Santosh Mishra, a 50-year-old priest of the Juna Akhara monastic order.

After they are ordained, the Naga Sadhus must remain partially or fully naked for the rest of their lives, sleep on the ground, limit themselves to one meal a day, obey their leaders and gurus and protect the Hindu religious traditions.

The ancient Kumbh festival, which UNESCO added to its list of intangible cultural heritage in 2017, runs through early March, in Prayagraj, northern India. About 150 million people are expected to attend. Associated Press
Thirteen gay couples filed Japans first lawsuit challenging the countrys rejection of same-sex marriage yesterday, arguing the denial violates their constitutional right to equality.

Six couples holding banners saying Marriage For All Japan walked into Tokyo District Court to file their cases against the government, with similar cases filed by three couples in Osaka, one couple in Nagoya and three couples in Sapporo.

Plaintiff Kenji Aiba, standing next to his partner Ken Kozumi, told reporters he would fight this war together with sexual minorities all around Japan.

Aiba and Kozumi have held onto a marriage certificate they signed at their wedding party in 2013, anticipating Japan would emulate other advanced nations and legalize same-sex unions.

That day has yet to come, and legally they are just friends even though theyve lived as a married couple for more than five years. So they decided to act rather than waiting.

Right now we are both in good health and able to work, but what if either of us has an accident or becomes ill? We are not allowed to be each others guarantors for medical treatment, or to be each others heir, Kozumi, a 45-year-old office worker, said in a recent interview with his partner Aiba, 40. Progress in Japan has been too slow.

Ten Japanese municipalities have enacted partnership ordinances for same-sex couples to make it easier for them to rent apartments together, among other things, but they are not legally binding. Japanese laws are currently interpreted as allowing marriage only between a man and a woman.

In a society where pressure for conformity is strong, many gay people hide their sexuality, fearing prejudice at home, school or work. The obstacles are even higher for transgender people in the highly gender-specific society. The Supreme Court last month upheld a law that effectively requires transgender people to be sterilized before they can have their gender changed on official documents.

The LGBT equal rights movement has lagged behind in Japan because people who are silently not conforming to conventional notions of sexuality have been so marginalized that the issue hasnt been considered a human rights problem, experts say. AP
The head of a Philippine online news site who was arrested by government agents in a libel case accused President Rodrigo Dutertes administration yesterday of acting like a dictatorship and using the law as a weapon to muzzle dissent.

What were seeing [] is a level of impunity that I frankly havent seen, and Ive been a journalist for more than 30 some odd years, Maria Ressa told The Associated Press yesterday after posting bail in a Manila court.

Ressa, who was selected by Time magazine as one of its Persons of the Year last year, is the head of Rappler Inc., which has aggressively covered Dutertes administration.

She was arrested Wednesday over a libel complaint from a businessman. Dutertes government has said the arrest was a normal step in response to the complaint and had nothing to do with press freedom.

Rappler said the businessman filed the complaint five years after the article appeared in 2012, and the law under which Ressa was charged by the government, the Cybercrime Prevention Act, did not go into effect until months after the articles publication.

Ressa said the complaint had previously been dismissed by the National Bureau of Investigation and then magically reappeared under Dutertes Department of Justice.

She said the case was emblematic of the governments mobilization of the legal system against its critics.

Ive called it the weaponization of the law, she said, noting that she was charged retroactively for an article that was published before the cybercrime law took effect. I can tell you as a journalist Ive worked under dictatorship, and even dictatorships have clearer rules that they follow than where we are today.

Since taking office in 2016, Duterte has openly lambasted journalists who write unfavorable stories about him. He has particularly bristled at critical coverage of his anti-drug campaign, which has left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead and drawn international condemnation.

The article that spawned the libel complaint included allegations that a businessman was linked to illegal drugs, human trafficking and a murder case, citing an unspecified intelligence report.

National Bureau of Investigation agents served the warrant against Ressa late Wednesday afternoon and escorted her from the Rappler office to NBI headquarters, where she stayed overnight.

Ressa called the timing of her arrest malicious, since she was unable to seek bail the same day.

It absolutely is part of the big picture of intimidation and harassment, she said. If the government wanted me to feel that it had power over me, it made that very clear. I couldnt leave.

Duterte previously banned a Rappler reporter from his news briefings after a government agency found that the news site violated a constitutional prohibition on foreign ownership of media when it received money from an international investment firm. Rappler has rejected the ruling.

Ressa, who has worked with CNN, also was the winner of two prestigious journalism awards last year, a Press Freedom award from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, and the International Center for Journalists Knight International Journalism Award.

In its selection of Ressa as a Person of the Year, Time magazine cited her and several other journalists as guardians in what it said was an effort to emphasize the importance of reporters work in an increasingly hostile world.

Ressa said she didnt consider herself special.

Im just one person but Im a journalist and Rappler is an organization of journalists, she said. Our power emanates from the people where we help. Well, the pillar of democracy is when you have the freedom of the press that gives every Filipino citizen the right to information, to facts. And that allows us to hold the powerful to account. Kiko Rosario, Vicente Gonzales, AP
Swedens ambassador to China is under internal investigation, the embassy said yesterday, following a claim that she set up a meeting between the daughter of a detained Swedish publisher and two businessmen that appeared to have gone awry.

Ambassador Anna Lindstedt returned to Stockholm on Wednesday to meet with officials from the foreign affairs ministry, the Swedish Embassy in Beijing said by phone. Lindstedt is not under criminal investigation.

The embassy declined to give further details, but the ambassadors departure comes after Angela Gui, the daughter of detained Swedish book publisher Gui Minhai, published an account this week detailing a strange meeting with a pair of businessmen arranged by Lindstedt.

Gui wrote on Medium, an online publishing platform, that the businessmen threatened her after initially offering to help secure her fathers release from prison in China.

Gui Minhai, a naturalized Swedish citizen, co-owned a Hong Kong store which sold gossipy books about Chinese leaders.

Gui, 53, went missing in 2015 from his seaside home in Thailand, turning up months later on Chinese television saying he had turned himself in for an alleged 2003 drunk driving accident in which a female college student was killed.

Several of Guis colleagues from his Hong Kong publishing house also went missing in quick succession, sparking suspicions that mainland security forces were seeking to snuff out independent voices in the semi- autonomous city.

Gui was released in October after completing a two-year sentence, but committed to remaining in Ningbo, where he was born, until an investigation was completed into charges of running a business illegally.

In January 2018, he was taken off a train by Chinese police while in the presence of two Swedish diplomats with whom he was traveling to Beijing. Sweden said its officials were taking him to seek medical treatment. China said Gui was being investigated for leaking state secrets.

Gui later told pro-Beijing media outlets that he never wished to leave China and that Sweden was using his case to create trouble for Chinas government. The statement from Gui, who spoke in a detention facility flanked by police, was immediately denounced by rights activists as coerced.

Guis daughter, Angela, is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Cambridge who has become a self-described accidental activist for her father. She wrote in her Wednesday post that the role has landed her in a fair number of bizarre situations, but few of the same magnitude as her encounter with Lindstedt and the businessmen.

She said Lindstedt convinced her to fly to Stockholm on Jan. 24 to explore a new approach to her fathers case. During a two-day meeting with the businessmen and Lindstedt, she said, the businessmen told her they could arrange a Chinese visa and job for her and that they had connections within Chinas ruling Communist Party.

They then told her they had already started to negotiate over her fathers case without her prior knowledge, according to Angela Gui. One businessman said it was possible that Gui Minhai would be released, but only if Angela Gui promised to stop publicizing her fathers case for a month.

Gui wrote that one of the men told her, You have to trust me, or you will never see your father again.

She later learned that no one at the Swedish foreign ministry had been informed of the meeting.

Im not going to be quiet in exchange for a visa and an arbitrary promise that my father might be released, she wrote. Threats, verbal abuse, bribes, or flattery wont change that.

Sweden announced last month  prior to the incident described by Gui  that Lindstedt was to take on a new role as ambassador to the U.N. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She was slated to assume the position in March. Yanan Wang, Beijing, AP
South Africa: Women of Fortitude set to drive MaSisulus legacy

The 100 ambassadors of the Women of Fortitude campaign have taken a step forward in driving the conversation of how women today can continue the legacy of MaSisulu.

Officially launched in November last year, the #WomenOfFortitude campaign seeks to encourage the current generation of young South Africans to continue struggle stalwart Ma Albertina Sisulus legacy of activism through 100 women ambassadors.

The initiative aims to promote social cohesion, women empowerment, recognise women across all sectors who have courageously and successfully broken barriers and contributing to building a South African envisaged in the Constitution, and to motivate the younger generation to do the same.

Marking the beginning of the work that lies ahead of them, the ambassadors participated in a sharing session held at Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) offices in Pretoria to discuss, among others, what is expected from them and how to use the platforms available to them to influence and share messages on the objectives of the campaign.

Mmabatho Ramompi, who was representing the office of Chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on the centenaries of former President Nelson Mandela and MaSisulu, said that Women Of Fortitude is all about Ubuntu.

 its [about] instilling the spirit of Ubuntu within yourself, and the more we do that, we will encourage all of us to do the same, Ramompi said.

Dr Ntsiki Manzini-Mathebula from the Department of Women said there was a need to work in partnership, and that the campaign provides an enabling environment to achieve that.

We are looking at integration and coordination. As we spoke of various projects that you are working on, I thought to myself that, as a department we are to lead in coordination and integration, because when you work on your own you dont get that platform, and we are here to create that platform, Dr Manzini-Mathebula said.

Actress and media personality Thami Ngubeni, who is one of 100 ambassadors, said she was honoured to be part of the campaign. She encouraged other ambassadors to start working, adding that we cant expect government to babysit us.

We are brave, we are gifted, we are wounded, we are brilliant and we are healers. We are innovators, change-makers, nation-builders, survivors, visionaries, diligent..we are Women Of Fortitude, Ngubeni said.

Ngubeni also argued that no matter if a person lives in another country and how awesome life is and where they go to chase opportunities, nothing beats home.

Surely we agree that as Women Of Fortitude, we shall be conscious about our South Africanness, we shall be conscious about being patriotic, we shall be conscious about actively building South Africa and be for South Africa, Ngubeni said.

Women Of Fortitude ambassadors term is expected to run until September, where they will hand over the baton to 100 new women.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-02-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
According to Vong Hin Fai, Chairman of the Third Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly (AL), the government has refused to accept the Macau Lawyers Associations (AAM) opinions, which oppose excluding non-Chinese judges in cases related to national security matters.

Earlier this week, the committee completed a review on the amendment of the aforementioned bill and signed an opinion book.

The final text submitted by the government has upheld the original proposal, which bans foreign judges from ruling on matters of national security.

As reported by Vong, both the Council of the Judicial Magistrates and the Prosecutors Committee agreed with the amendment.

However, AAM opposes the amendment, having deemed the proposal to violate the principles of judicial independence and justice. AAM also believes the amendment leads to a kind of negative discrimination which harms the judicial system, and the image of the judges.

The government representative explained to the committee that the law bears no disrespect towards the national judge principle or other provisions of the Basic Law.

According to Vong, the majority of the committee accepted the governments explanation.

Besides the above opposition, the AAM also argues that another amendment may result in distrust of the rulings of the lower courts and the intermediate court, because the Court of Final Appeals ruling would override the same decision made by the two different judicial tribunals on the same matter.
Appointed lawmaker Davis Fong forecasts that the gaming license concessions that are set to expire by 2020 will be extended to 2022 in order to be fair to all competitors and, at the same time, give enough time for the government to enact changes in gaming laws. According to Fong, who is also a scholar with expertise in the gaming sector, those changes will not just be small adjustments.

Speaking this week on the sidelines of the Legislative Assembly (AL) Spring Lunch, Fong speculated that maybe it is a good idea to [extend] the contracts that are to expire in 2020 to 2022, in order to have all the six runners onboard. [] At the same time, the government should propose the revision of the law, giving more time to the AL as well as to general public to discuss the details of such revision.

In Fongs opinion, since the changes to be enacted are likely to be major ones it would be a good idea to start working on that law from start of the second year of this legislature, that is, from October this year. I think [that] is a good time, he said.

The lawmaker observed that this is a law that needs time and proper discussion, noting that this is very important for Macau as [it reflects] on the economic pillar, and based on [previous] experience we would have a major revision rather than a minor revision [of the law].

Questioned about whether the two-year extension would provide enough time to produce and discuss such a law, Fong said, even if it is not [enough time] due to any external factor, actually the Chief Executive has the right to extend.

Regarding whether the changes to be enacted would be related to the number of concessionaires, Fong said, The industry has been performing well as it is, [and the proof of that] was last years growth by 14 percent in GGR [Gross Gaming Revenue]. Fong added that the number of visitors is also still growing and the occupancy rate of the hotel industry has been over 90 percent, figures that, in his opinion, show that the industry is running well.

Still, the current system of concessions and sub-concessions should not be the only topic addressed, Fong said, suggesting also the junket issue, which proposes to incorporate the junket law into the gaming law to make it more healthy.

Another of the major points to address would be to specify in legal terms what the concessionaires should or should not do in terms of non-gaming, as the government has urged operators to develop more non-gaming avenues. However, based on the old law, there is no such specification on non-gaming requirements.

According to Fong, the new law should also address more clearly operators corporate social responsibility, which is the most urgent need from the public and that in the old law there is no such detail.
Chinas January exports rebounded from a contraction amid a tariff battle with Washington while Chinese purchases of U.S. goods plunged.

Total exports rose 9.1 percent from a year earlier to $217.6 billion, an improvement from Decembers 3.5 percent decline, customs data showed. Imports declined 1.5 percent to USD178.4 billion.

Exports to the United States sank 2.4 percent to $36.4 billion, squeezed by Trumps tariff hikes.

Imports of American goods plunged 41.2 percent to $9.2 billion, reflecting retaliatory Chinese duty increases and orders to importers to find other suppliers.

The talks in Beijing this week may decide whether Trump allows another increase on $200 billion of imports from China to go ahead March 2.

Weakness in global demand for Chinese goods has increased pressure on the ruling Communist Party to make peace with Washington at a time when Beijing is trying to reverse an economic downturn. The government has warned Chinese exporters the global environment is complicated and severe.

The downbeat outlook for global growth means that this year is likely to be challenging for Chinese exporters, even if the ongoing U.S.-China trade negotiations culminate in a deal, said Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics in a report.

Chinese trade data early in the year are disrupted by the Lunar New Year holiday, which comes at different times in January or February each year. Factories rush to fill orders and then close for up to two weeks.

Chinas global trade surplus for January was $39.2 billion. The surplus with the United States was $27.3 billion.

Exports to the United States held up through much of 2018 despite Trumps tariff hikes, but fell 3.5 percent in December as the impact of the increases began to depress demand. Forecasters say American orders should slump this year.

Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed on Dec. 1 to postpone additional tariff hikes by 90 days while they negotiated. But penalties of up to 25 percent already imposed on billions of dollars of each others goods remain in place, raising the cost for American and Chinese buyers of soybeans, medical equipment and other goods.

Trump is pressing Beijing to roll back plans for state-led creation of Chinese global competitors in robotics and other tech fields. Washington, Europe and other trading partners complain such policies violate its market- opening obligations.

Chinese leaders are trying to reduce reliance on trade and nurture self-sustaining economic growth based on domestic consumer spending. But their plans call for keeping exports stable to avoid politically dangerous job losses.

Some companies have shifted production of goods bound for the United States out of China to avoid Trumps tariffs. Others are lining up non-Chinese suppliers of industrial components. AP
Traffic assistants are facing disrespect from pedestrians, the secretary general of Caritas Macau, Paul Pun, told the Times.

Paul Puns association won the public tender to provide these assistants, who help conduct the flow of pedestrians in the city.

Talking to the Times, Pun said it will be best if they [the public] listen to the assistants. One step after another, the public should be aware of traffic safety.

In Puns opinion, it is difficult to have every single pedestrian listen to the traffic advisor.

Traffic assistants have no authority to prosecute or take other actions against disobeyers, except by verbally warning unruly passengers.

The traffic assistants have no authority to enforce the law. They only assist the traffic situation, said Pun, adding that some passers-by not only disobey but also insult the traffic assistants.

Certainly, there are people who insult. Even police officers [can] be insulted by some people, but the police officers can prosecute, said Pun. There are people who insult them and there are certainly people who respect and obey them.

Currently, Macau has approximately 20 traffic assistants, many of which are elderly.

The traffic assistants are not fixed in terms of their working hours and working location. However, they do work at the busiest roads, especially where jaywalking occurrences are seen the most.

According to Pun, the schedule of these advisors depends on the arrangement of the transport authority.

Not everybody is willing to do this kind of job. Its not some highly-skilled job, but it is a job for public safety and the traffic, said Pun, adding that there will be traffic assistants on rainy days because people still come out on rainy days.

Last but not the least, Pun pointed out that Macau is a place that needs the help of traffic advisors.

They must have their own difficulties, and these difficulties are connected to this society, said Pun, further explaining that in some countries where I have been, the car stops for me even if it is very far away from me. But in Macau [these situations] never happen.

In 2005, the government introduced the concept of traffic assistants to provide greater awareness to the population about the importance of road safety, through directions and warnings offered by traffic advisors to passers-by who do not respect the road code.
European plane manufacturer Airbus said yesterday it will stop making its superjumbo A380 in 2021 for lack of customers, abandoning the worlds biggest passenger jet and one of the aviation industrys most ambitious and most troubled endeavors.

Barely a decade after the 500-plus-seat plane started carrying passengers, Airbus said in a statement that key client Emirates is cutting back its orders for the plane, and as a result, we have no substantial A380 backlog and hence no basis to sustain production.

The decision could hurt up to 3,500 jobs and already cost the plane maker 463 million euros (about USD523 million) in losses in 2018, Airbus said. The company, a European economic powerhouse, is also girding for serious disruption to its cross-continental manufacturing from a likely chaotic British exit from the EU next month.

The end of the young yet iconic jet is a boon for rival Boeing and an embarrassing symbolic blow for Airbus. A pall of mourning hung in the atmosphere yesterday at its headquarters in the southern French city of Toulouse  but there was also a hint of relief after years of straining to keep the A380 alive.

Its a painful decision for us, CEO Tom Enders said. Weve invested a lot of effort, a lot of resources, a lot of sweat [] but we need to be realistic.

Its also sad news for Emirates, which has the A380 as the backbone of its fleet, based out of Dubai, the worlds busiest airport for international travel.

Still, Airbus announced yesterday a 29-percent jump in overall profits last year, and analysts said global demand is high enough for Airbus to weather the loss of its superjumbo.

Among early detractors of the A380 was analyst Richard Aboulafia of Washington-based Teal Group, who said its demise was inevitable.

But thanks to the strength of the market right now, and the strength of Airbuss other products, the damage will not have a huge impact on the industry, he told The Associated Press. For Boeing, it has been a very long time since they needed to worry about the A380 as a competitive factor.

Airbus reported net profit of 3.1 billion euros over last year, up from 2.4 billion euros in 2017. In addition to the A380 loss, Airbus reported a charge of 436 million euros on the A400M, used by several European militaries.

Airbus said it forecasts similar profits in 2019, in line with growth in the world economy and air traffic.

Emirates announced yesterday that it had struck a deal valued at $21.4 billion with Airbus to replace some A380s with A350 wide-bodies and smaller A330 planes.

While we are disappointed to have to give up our order, and sad that the program could not be sustained, we accept that this is the reality of the situation, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman and CEO of Emirates, said in a statement. For us, the A380 is a wonderful aircraft loved by our customers and our crew. It is a differentiator for Emirates. We have shown how people can truly fly better on the A380.

Emirates long has been the largest operator of the A380. Before yesterdays announcement, it had 162 of the jumbo jets on order.

The A380 has been a favorite of Emirates passengers, especially those in business and first class, which encompassed the entire upper deck of the airplane and was complete with a bar in the back.

Airbus had hoped the A380 would squeeze out Boeings 747 and revolutionize air travel as more people take to the skies.

Instead, airlines have been cautious about committing to the costly plane, so huge that airports had to build new runways and modify terminals to accommodate it. The double-decker planes started flying in 2008 and seated more than 500 passengers.

The A380 had troubles from the start, including tensions between Airbus French and German management and protracted production delays and cost overruns. Those prompted a company restructuring that cost thousands of jobs.

Industry experts initially expected A380s to long outlast the 747, which is celebrating its 50th birthday this year.

When it started taking on passengers in 2008, the A380 was hailed for its roominess, large windows, high ceilings and quieter engines. Some carriers put in showers, lounges, duty free shops and bars on both decks. Angela Charlton, Jon Gambrell, AP
The commission would have seven members, including three from each of the two main political parties. The chair could not be from either of those parties.

The bill sets out principles for redrawing boundaries, such as ensuring equal populations in the districts, following county lines and ensuring that districts are compact and contiguous.

It requires the commission to ignore the political party of voters and previous election results and to avoid improperly diluting the voting rights of any group based on race or language. The commission would work with the Legislature's research director in drawing the new boundaries.

Public hearings would be held on the resulting proposals, after which they would go to the Legislature for approval. If lawmakers rejected the initial set of proposals, the commission would be required to draw up a second set of proposals. If those also were rejected, the Executive Board would draw up a third set.

>> LB 466, introduced by Howard, would be similar to the process used in Iowa since 1981. It would put the job of drawing new district boundaries in the hands of the director of legislative research.
These residents are likely to call for help in the cases of domestic violence, gun violence and assaults, she said.

Such actions by our sheriff are meant to make our communities safer communities, Jones said.

Last week, Kimbrough said he will end the contract that allows ICE to use the Forsyth County jail to detain people accused of illegally living in the country. Kimbrough said that his deputies would enforce the law and arrest people who are charged with criminal offenses, but they would not act as an extension of ICE.

The Rev. Lia Scholl, the senior pastor at Wake Forest Baptist Church, told the commissioners that ICE is detaining suspected undocumented immigrants without giving them due process under the law.

We live in a nation built on the premise of idea of due process, Scholl said. Thats how we treat those who are from here. That is how we should be treating the sojourners in our land  with due process. When we detain folks in our jails for ICE, they also have no due process.

Scholl urged the commissioners to support Kimbroughs plan to terminate the contract with ICE.


Ronald Reagan

The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.

Albert Einstein

If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack.

Winston Churchill





It isnt so much that liberals are ignorant. Its just that they know so many things that arent so.

With integrity nothing else counts; Without integrity nothing else counts.

Winston Churchill





Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself.

Harvey S. Firestone





It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office. H. L. Menken



Referenda insure all have a voice in land use decisions.

U.S. Supreme Court

Listen carefully to first criticism of your work. Note just what it is about your work the critics don't like - then cultivate it. That's the only part of your work that's individual and worth keeping.

Jean Cocteau
Nathan S. Chapman (University of Georgia School of Law) has posted Money for Missionaries: Rethinking Establishment Clause History on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

In Everson v. Board of Education (1947), the Supreme Court stated two principles that continue to animate Establishment Clause doctrine. The first is that courts should look to founding-era historyespecially the history of "religious assessments," or taxes used to fund churchesto interpret the Establishment Clause. The second is that, based on this history, the government may provide limited secular goods to religious schools, but the Establishment Clause prohibits the government from directly funding religious education.

What Everson ignored, and what subsequent legal scholarship has likewise overlooked, is that the founding-era government did directly fund religious education: from the Revolution to Reconstruction, the federal government partnered with Christian missionaries to "civilize" American Indians. Initially ad hoc, this practice was formalized with the Civilization Funds Act of 1819, which authorized the government to distribute $10,000 per year to "persons of good moral character" to educate and civilize the tribes. For over fifty years, the government funded Christian missionaries who incorporated religious instruction and worship into their curricula. Curiously, no one ever raised a constitutional objection.

This Article is the first to provide a thorough analysis of the government-missionary partnerships and to explore why no one objected to their constitutionality. The evidence strongly suggests eighteenth and nineteenth-century Americans supported them because of a shared view of social progress that merged Christianization, education, and civilization. They simply could not have imagined separating Christianity and education. This evidence reshapes the conventional narrative of the historical development of non-establishment norms in the United States, especially the centrality of the Jeffersonian taxpayer conscience objection to religious assessments.

This history also has important implications for Establishment Clause doctrine. The challenge is ascertaining a constitutional principle from a practice that itself went unquestioned. The history does, however, suggest that the government may directly fund general education, even when that education entails incidental voluntary religious instruction. This principle complements the theoretical norm of substantive neutrality and supports the Supreme Courts current doctrinal trajectory of easing restrictions on government funding of religious education.

Highly recommended.
1. Yes. Its important for students to stay focused throughout the year. Its a plus.

2. Yes. It would fill the learning gaps caused by COVID and would help cut youth crime.

3. No. Students and teachers deserve a summer break. Year-round school wont work.

4. No. It wouldnt work with the militarys summer PCS schedule. Its a bad idea.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say without knowing how the school calendar would work.

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Dear Michelle, We have a 23 year old son who was diagnosed as bipolar when he was 20. One of the symptoms of this disease is a tendency to spend recklessly, which he does when he is manic. He is in college very part time, and is totally dependent on us- he has not been able to work since becoming ill. He will be moving out in a week to a small efficiency apartment, and my question is how to give him money. In the past when he was stable, he had a credit card that he used for gas, haircuts, miscellaneous, but when his mania flared again we realized that he had charged a large amount of money on the card. He was hospitalized and is more stable now, but I am leery of giving him another card. I give him a set amount of money each week, but it really is a hassle when something comes up and I have to figure up exactly how much it will be, and he is resentful that we are "babying" him. I want to give him as much independence as I can, but I also don't want to just pour money down the rabbit hole. Do you have any suggestions for a system to set up with him that would allow him some independence as well as some safe guards for us. FYI- he's been hospitalized 8 times in the last 3 years, so working is really not an option right now, and he doesn't have enough work credits for disability. Thank you so much for any insights you can give me- love your column! Marcy
Taiwanese PC maker ECS plans to show off a bunch of new products at Mobile World Congress later this month including the companys latest mini PCs (many of which we already saw at CES), and some new devices including portable smart speakers and a new line of tablets.

The smart speaker systems include the ECS Bora portable Bluetooth speaker with Amaxon Alexa support (which apparently requires a smartphone app), and a ECS Sirocco battery-powered voice access point that lets you talk to Cortana or other voice assistants from anywhere in your home.

As for new tablets, theres the ECS Whirlwind, which is really more of a portable 10 inch smart display with Amazon Alexa support, 2.1 channel audio and a battery that lets you move it around the house. And then theres the TH10GM2 2-in-1 Windows tablet with an Intel Gemini Lake processor.

ECS says the tablet features a 10 inch, an Intel Celeron N4000 dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of eMMC storage plus a microSD card reader for removable storage.

ECS says optional features include support for WiFi, Bluetooth, 4G LTE, NFC, and a fingerprint scanner.

While thats about all the information in the ECS press release, a page on Intels website indicates that the tablet may also be available with support for up to 8GB of storage, up to an Intel Pentium N5000 processor, and with an optional stylus.

Intels website also says the tablet has a 1280 x 800 pixel display though, which contradicts the claim of a full HD screen in the press release.

Anyway, while the tablet seems like a potentially interesting device, its not really aimed at consumers. ECS is positioning it as a device for use in commercial, business or industrial environments including retail, warehouse, or hospitality and ECS says its IP54 certified, which means you should be able to splash it with water, and that the tablet can survive a fall from about 76 centimeters (2.5 feet).

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A policy change concerning national and international competitions was looked at by the board. We are revisiting this policy to prefect it, Hakonson said, Powerlifting and Journalism both want to take students out of state for competitions, we are amending the policy to add these activities to the list, but students must go through a staple level competition, we want there to be some rigor for qualification.

Hakonson made it clear to those present that the schools pay the cost of the sponsors who travel with these students, the students must raise the funds themselves, he said. He added sponsors in the future will have to put in an application six months in advance to be able to travel with the students and have their costs covered by the school.

In this vein, there were two travel requests, one from the Powerlifting team to travel to Alexandria, La., for the USAPL National Powerlifting Meet and the other for the LHS Cross Country team to travel to Fort Collins, Colo., for the Brocaw Blazers Cross Country Camp. The board approved both requests.

During the reports and comments period, Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Director Julie Meyers spoke to the board about the Family Engagement Center Grant supplied by the National Center for Families Learning.


American President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency so that he can get the money needed to build a wall along the nations border with Mexico.

The move is seen as a way to go around Congress. It is sure to face opposition from legislators.

Speaking from the White House, Trump said he is declaring the national emergency because of, in his words, an invasion of our country with drugs, with human traffickers, with all types of criminals and gangs.

Trump added that he is planning to use money from the military and other parts of the government to pay for the building of the wall.

As a presidential candidate, Trump often said that Mexico would pay for such a wall.

Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said the president will have access to roughly $8 billion worth of money that can be used to secure the southern border.

Trump had demanded $5.7 billion for the wall. But Congress, which is powered with making spending decisions, only provided $1.4 billion for barriers.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer quickly denounced the move as an unlawful declaration over a crisis that does not exist.

The two leaders released a joint statement while Trump was still giving his speech. They said, The Presidents actions clearly violate the Congresss exclusive power of the purse, which our Founders enshrined in the Constitution. The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the Courts, and in the public, using every remedy available.

Trump admitted that his declaration of a national emergency will face opposition in the courts. He said, "Sadly, we'll be sued and sadly it will go through a process and happily we'll win."

National Emergencies Act

The president defended his decision, saying other presidents have declared national emergencies in the past.

In 1976, Congress passed the National Emergencies Act, which gave presidents special powers during a crisis. Congress can end a state of emergency with a joint resolution and the presidents signature. If the president vetoes the resolution, Congress would need two-thirds of lawmakers to vote to end the declaration.

American presidents have declared national emergencies 59 times since 1976.

President Jimmy Carter made the declaration as Iran took American hostages in 1979. Ronald Reagan used the power to ban trade with Nicaragua in 1985.

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush blocked financial dealings with Iraq. In 1996, Bill Clinton used the power after two airplanes were shot down near Cuba. George W. Bush declared a national emergency after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

And President Barack Obama used the special power in 2011 to freeze the assets of Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi.

Trump has declared national emergencies three other times: in December 2017 against Myanmar generals for their part in the Rohingya refugee crisis; in September 2018 against persons related to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election; and in November 2018 after the Nicaraguan government acted against protesters.

But until Friday, no American president in history had used the power to get additional money to pay for projects without the support of Congress.

Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

_________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

secure - v. to make (something) safe by guarding or protecting it

enshrined - v. to remember and protect (someone or something that is valuable, admired, etc.)

purse - n. an amount of money that government has available to use

remedy - n. a way of solving or correcting a problem

sue - v. to bring a lawsuit against someone
More and more Americans are examining their own genetic information to find answers about health issues and family history.

And more and more are also doing the same for their dogs.

Genetic testing for dogs has increased in recent years. Several companies offer in-home DNA tests that are similar to those designed for humans.

These tests offer a deep look at an animals genetic history. The tests require just a small amount of material collected from inside a dogs mouth.

More than 1 million dogs have been tested in the last 10 years.

The growing popularity of the tests has led to debate about their abilities and limitations. But to many dog owners, DNA tests are a good way to get to know their beloved pets.

Lisa Topol of New York has two dogs: Plop and Schmutzy. Both competed in this years Westminster Kennel Club dog show. The two animals are mixed-breed, meaning their genetic history includes many different kinds of dog. Topol recently had both dogs genetically tested. She told the Associated Press that the results put some pieces of the puzzle together.

The company Embark became Westminsters first DNA-testing partner last fall. The move is likely to bring the company more attention, especially from people who raise dogs professionally.

Embarks test results showed what Topol already believed: her high-energy dogs are more Australian cattle dog than anything else. But part of Schmutzys genetic information showed some unexpected things, including large amounts of Labrador retriever and Doberman pinscher.

Topol was surprised at first. But then she noted Schmutzy does walk like a Doberman and shares Labradors love of water.

Topol said the results make me understand them better.

The testing of dog DNA goes back over 20 years. In the past, it was mostly done to test for medical conditions and other purposes. But the industry grew quickly in 2005, after scientists mapped a full set of dog genes and published the results.

Wisdom Health launched a breed-identification test in 2007. The company added a health examination a few years later and says it has now tested over 1.1 million dogs worldwide.

The tests have led to greater research possibilities. They also have helped animal rescue groups; they can use DNA results to help possible owners know more about their dogs. DNA can also be used as proof that a dogs family history only includes one breed, and help breeders end some common diseases.

The technology has even been used to identify dogs whose owners do not pick up their waste. It has helped in dog biting investigations. It proved, for example, that a Belgian Malnois dog accused of killing a Pomeranian was innocent.

Some veterinarians  or doctors for animals  feel that DNA testing improves care. Ernie Ward is a veterinarian and television performer in North Carolina. He recommends that owners test all young dogs.

I want to know as much about my patients as possible, said Ward.

But not all animal experts agree with Ward. Last year, a Boston-based veterinarian and two scientists wrote comments that appeared in the science publication Nature.

Pet genetics must be reined in, they wrote. Their comments started with a troubling story. The owner of a pug understood the results of her dogs DNA test to mean that she had a rare brain disorder that would only worsen over time. With that information, the owner decided to end the dogs life.

Lisa Moses is the veterinarian who helped write the criticism in Nature. She argued that the pugs illness could have been something more treatable.

These (tests) should be used in a limited way until we get a lot more information, Moses said.

One concern is that tests can show genetic conditions that are linked to disease in some breeds but have unknown effects in the breed being tested. This means the tests in themselves cannot necessarily tell pet owners how much they should worry. They also cannot tell professional dog breeders whether or not a dog should reproduce.

But test companies say their work offers many benefits and useful information, such as whether a dogs genes suggest bad reactions to some medicines.

For Rennie Pasquinelli, the benefit is a new way of looking at her dog, Murray. The pet adoption agency told Pasquinelli that Murray was a mix between border collie and Boston terrier. But an Embark test last month identified only a small amount of border collie mixed with six other breeds. It found no Boston terrier at all.

Obviously I dont love him more, or less, Pasquinelli said. Its like when you know something new about someone. That doesnt negatively or positively change your opinion on them, but you still look at them in a different way.

Im Susan Shand.

And Im Pete Musto.

Jennifer Peltz reported this story for the Associated Press. Pete Musto adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

We want to hear from you. How common is genetic testing of pets in your country? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)  n. a substance that carries genetic information in the cells of plants and animals

pet(s)  n. an animal, such as a dog, cat, bird, or fish, that people keep mainly for pleasure

breed  n. a particular kind of dog, cat, or horse

pieces of the puzzle together - idm. to make sense of something by analyzing multiple pieces of information and drawing a conclusion

reined in  p.v. to limit or control someone or something

benefit(s)  n. a good or helpful result or effect

adoption  n. the act or process of taking a pet or child of other parents legally as your own
Wednesday, February 13, 2019

The Minnesota Supreme Court has reinstated a suspended attorney with probationary conditions notwithstanding the concerns of the OLR

The Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility challenges a number of the panels findings and disagrees with the panels recommendation.

The court summarized the misconduct

Severson was admitted to practice law in Minnesota in 1975. On February 18, 2015, we indefinitely suspended Severson, with no right to petition for reinstatement for a minimum of 1 year, for improper business dealings with a client and misrepresentation. In re Severson, 860 N.W.2d 658, 66263, 67475 (Minn. 2015). The misconduct for which Severson was disciplined centered on his dealings with D.S., a young woman whose parents had died when she was an infant and who lived with Seversons family as a teenager. Id. at 663. D.S. was the beneficiary of insurance proceeds following her parents deaths, and her inheritance was placed in a conservatorship. Id. After her eighteenth birthday in April 1996, D.S. received approximately $500,000, the funds that had been in the conservatorship. Id.

Severson offered to invest the $500,000 that D.S. had received from the conservatorship, and in June 1996, the two entered into an investment agreement. Id. At that time, an attorney-client relationship existed between D.S. and Severson. Id. at 667.

The investment agreement created a conflict of interest, and Seversons failure to obtain the consent of D.S. was a violation of Minn. R. Prof. Conduct. 1.7(b) (1996). Severson, 860 N.W.2d at 668. Severson also violated Minn. R. Prof. Conduct. 1.8(a) (1996), when he entered into the investment agreement with D.S. Severson, 860 N.W.2d at 668. The terms of the investment agreement were unfair and unreasonable because they did not provide security for D.S.s investment, limit the types of investments Severson could make, or provide for a penalty, or the recovery of her funds if Severson did not comply with the agreement. Id. Severson also did not adequately explain the transaction to D.S. or advise her to seek independent counsel. Id. at 672.

In 2007, D.S. asked Severson to return the $500,000. Id. at 664. Severson did not repay D.S., and by 2008, Severson was in serious financial trouble. Id. In 2007, Severson acquired an equine facility that he later sold on a contract for deed. Id. The purchasers defaulted on the contract for deed and Severson then assigned his sellers interest in the facility to D.S. as security for what he owed her and had D.S. sign a $250,000 mortgage regarding their interest in the equine center. Id. Severson once again violated Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 1.7(a)(2), 1.7(b), and 1.8(a), when he assigned his sellers interest to D.S. Severson, 860 N.W.2d at 665, 666 n.5. He also acted dishonestly, in violation of Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 8.4(c) (2008), by having D.S. assign and mortgage her interest in the equine center to his creditors without telling D.S. that his financial insecurity necessitated the assignments and that her funds could be at risk. Severson, 860 N.W.2d at 669.

D.S. eventually hired an attorney to help her recover the $500,000 principal. Id. at 664. She sued Severson, and the parties reached a settlement in December 2010. Id. After paying her attorney fees, D.S. recovered just $300,000 of the original $500,000 that she had given to Severson to invest. Id.

Severson made misrepresentations to D.S. during the course of their legal dispute and to the Director during the disciplinary investigation, in violation of Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 8.1(a)(b), 8.4(c)(d). Severson, 860 N.W.2d at 66465, 669, 672. Severson gave the attorney for D.S. misleading invoices for purported past legal services he had provided to D.S., in an attempt to reduce the amount he owed her. Id. at 66465, 672. Severson also made a number of misrepresentations to the Director regarding where the funds of D.S. were invested and the legitimacy of his invoices for legal services. Id.

As Sam Cooke might sing, a change is gonna come

The requisite moral change must be such that if the petitioner were reinstated, clients could submit their most intimate and important affairs to him with complete confidence in both his competence and fidelity.  Kadrie, 602 N.W.2d at 870 (quoting In re Herman, 197 N.W.2d 241, 244 (Minn. 1972)). In general, to prove moral change a lawyer must show remorse and acceptance of responsibility for the misconduct, a change in the lawyers conduct and state of mind that corrects the underlying misconduct that led to the suspension, and a renewed commitment to the ethical practice of law. Mose, 843 N.W.2d at 575. The evidence of this moral change  must come not only from an observed record of appropriate conduct, but from the petitioners own state of mind and his values.  Id. (quoting In re Swanson, 405 N.W.2d 892, 893 (Minn. 1987)).

The court found that he had demonstrated remorse (a finding OLR challenged) and had accepted responsibility for the misconduct

With respect to this factor, the panel relied primarily on the testimony of Seversons therapist, K.A., and her notes from her therapy sessions with Severson. The panel found that while Severson continued to be defensive and to deflect responsibility in his initial sessions with K.A., after working with her regularly for several months, he began to change. Although Seversons progress has been inconsistent, K.A. believed that he was sincere in his efforts to understand what he did wrong and sincere in his desire to accept responsibility.

In sum, based on our independent review of the record, we hold that the panels findings and conclusions that Severson has proven that he has undergone the requisite moral change are not clearly erroneous. Severson met his burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence that he satisfied each of the requirements for reinstatement to the practice of law. We reinstate Severson, order him to complete payment of his annual registration fee within 30 days of the filing of this decision, and place him on probation for a period of 2 years, subject to certain conditions...

The conditions include mental health treatment, practice supervision and denial of access to entrusted funds with safeguards. (Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2019/02/the-minnesota-supreme-court-has-reinstated-a-suspended-att-orney-with-probationary-conditions-the-court-summarized-the-misc.html
Thursday, February 14, 2019

Consent discipline of a five-year suspension has been imposed by the Kentucky Supreme Court for two drug offenses

The first of the two-count KBA charge relates to a 2011 Harrison County, Indiana, criminal case. On August 15, 2011, a confidential informant working for the local Sheriffs Department conducted a controlled drug buy from Jeremy Ripperdan, Finks then-boyfriend, which took place at Finks house. After the transaction, a search warrant was executed on Finks house, and equipment used in the manufacture of methamphetamine was discovered. Both Fink and Ripperdan were arrested.

Fink was charged in Harrison County, Indiana with dealing methamphetamine, a Class B felony; possession of methamphetamine, a Class D felony; maintaining a common nuisance, a Class D felony; unlawful possession of syringe, a Class D felony; possession of two or more pre-cursors, a Class D felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana, both Class A misdemeanors.

On August 20, 2015, Fink was found guilty of all counts by a jury and was sentenced to serve eight years in the Indiana Department of corrections. Fink exhausted the appeals process and her conviction was upheld. Finks sentence was modified in December of 2016 so that the remaining balance would be served on home detention, which concluded on February 21, 2018. Fink remains on probation, which will conclude on February 21, 2020.

The second count relates to a 2014 Clark County, Indiana, criminal case in which Fink was indicted for drug-related offenses while she was awaiting trial on the Harrison County charges. In June of 2014, the Jeffersonville Police Department executed a search warrant on a house in which Ripperdan, who had recently reconnected with Fink, was temporarily living. After discovering what was believed to be an active meth lab in a detached garage, officers were informed by a neighbor that a cooler in the backyard contained additional methamphetamine making materials and that the materials had exploded in the trunk of a car located in the driveway which belonged to Fink. Officers searched the trunk and discovered numerous items used to manufacture methamphetamine.

Fink acknowledged that she should not have had contact with Ripperdan, given the conditions of her bond in the Harrison County case. She maintains, however, that she was letting Ripperdan borrow her car at the time the items were discovered and that she was unaware that Ripperdan was using her car to transport drug-related items.

On June 17, 2014, Fink was indicted on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine, a Class B felony; possession of methamphetamine precursors, a Class D felony; and Maintaining a Common Nuisance, a Class D felony. However, Fink pleaded guilty to one count of maintaining a common nuisance, and the remaining counts were dismissed by agreement. Fink was sentenced to one and one-half years incarceration, which was later modified to nine months of home incarceration, set to conclude in November of 2018.

The suspension is retroactive to the date of an interim suspension. (Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2019/02/consent-discipline-has-been-imposed-by-the-kentucky-supreme-court-for-two-drug-offenses-the-first-of-the-two-count-kba-charg.html
Thursday, February 14, 2019

The Kentucky Supreme Court publicly disclosed a private reprimand of an attorney as a means of educating the Bar

Though the reprimand is private, the parties and the Court believe other members of the bar will benefit from a published redacted opinion addressing application of SCR 3.130(1.9) and SCR 3.130(1.11) since scant precedent exists regarding the latter. Upon review of the record, we approve of the negotiated sanction.

The story

While in law school and upon graduation, Unnamed Attorney worked in various civil legal capacities for the government of a city in the Commonwealth (City). When Unnamed Attorney left the full-time employment of City for private practice he still contractually represented City in some matters. In late 2015, a client retained Unnamed Attorney to represent her in a civil claim involving City. Thereafter, Unnamed Attorney reached out to his former employer in an attempt to gain written consent to represent the woman in a dispute over a zoning permit in which City could potentially be sued. City originally consented to Unnamed Attorneys representation but withdrew its consent and filed a motion to disqualify Unnamed Attorney when he filed a lengthy complaint against City with issues extending well beyond the original zoning permit dispute.

The trial court conducted a hearing on the motion to disqualify and issued a Memorandum Order disqualifying Unnamed Attorney for violating SCR 3.130(1.1 l)(a). The trial court held that Unnamed Attorney substantially and personally participated on behalf of City in matters substantially similar to those he was now litigating for his private client. Unnamed Attorney appealed the order, which was affirmed. Subsequently, the Inquiry Commission issued charges against Unnamed Attorney for violating SCR 3.130(1.9)(c) and SCR 3.130(1.1 l)(a). Pursuant to SCR 3.480(2), the parties agreed to a negotiated sanction. This Motion for Private Reprimand With Conditions followed.

The lesson

Unnamed Attorney did not receive proper informed consent when, after his former employer consented to allow him to represent his client in a simple zoning permit dispute with the potential for a lawsuit, he filed a thirty-seven-page complaint2 alleging City violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act and several other nonzoning issues. Prior to filing his complaint, Unnamed Attorney should have contacted City and again requested informed consent, confirmed in writing, to represent his client in this new endeavor. Ultimately, City likely would have denied his request, and Unnamed Attorney would have needed to withdraw as counsel for the client. However, he would have been in compliance with the Rules in that scenario.

(Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2019/02/an-unnamed-attorney.html
The challenges of attributing malicious cyber activity  that is, identifying its authors and provenance with a sufficient degree of certainty  are well documented. This essay focuses on a phenomenon that I call attribution by indictment. Since 2014, the United States has issued more than a dozen indictments that implicate four foreign states in malicious cyber activity: China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea. Ten of these indictments were issued in 2018, suggesting that this practice is likely to continue and even intensify in the near term. Attribution by indictment uses domestic criminal law, enforced transnationally, to define and enforce certain norms of state behavior in cyberspace. This essay analyzes the U.S. practice of attribution by indictment as a response to malicious cyber activity.
Thursday, February 14, 2019

The Third Circuit ruled that the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity from a suit for monetary damages by an employee who alleged that the PLCB discriminated against him in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. The ruling ends the case.

The case, Patterson v. PLCB, arose when a PLCB employee accused the Board of discriminating against him because of his race. The employee sued for monetary damages; the PLCB moved to dismiss under Eleventh Amendment immunity; and the district court dismissed the case.

The Third Circuit affirmed. The court ruled that the PLCB, an "independent" state agency, is entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity under the circuit's three-part balancing test. The court said first that "the state is not legally responsible for adverse judgments, the PLCB can satisfy a judgment using revenue obtained from liquor sales, and the PLCB is responsible for its own debts"--weighing against immunity. Second, the court said that the state treats the Board as an arm of the state--the Board is separately incorporated, it has its own power to sue and be sued, it's immune from state taxes, and state law considers the Board an arm of the state--weighing in favor of immunity. Finally, the court said that the Board's governing structure and oversight by the state weigh in favor of immunity. On balance, the court held that the Board gets immunity.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/conlaw/2019/02/third-circuit-says-state-liquor-control-board-gets-eleventh-amendment-immunity.html
In Fairfield, Connecticut, the aura surrounding GE mirrored that currently dominating Amazon in Seattle, Washington.

Employees who worked there were golden. Vendors like myself boasted that we did business with the corporation. Its presence kept real estate values on an upward trajectory. And retirees did well enough with the stock to be able to remain in CT rather than having to pull up roots and migrate to Florida or Arizona.

That was then, of course.

The aura first became tarnished when GE announced it was pulling out of Fairfield and establishing its headquarters in Boston. One reason given was to be in proximity to the innovative tech ethos in the Boston Metro area.

And, boy, that scene was popping. I had helped ghostwrite a book on entrepreneurship for Andrew Bachman. At Babson College he had launched in the dorm Tatto Media which later sold for more than $60 million. Before he eventually took a plea for fraud through mobile cramming, he had started up several other digital enterprises.

The Boston strategy seemed brilliant to shareholders.

But it was devastating to the CT real estate market. Not only were houses not selling. Those McMansions built in more optimistic times elicited only smirks, not offers to buy. Meanwhile the property taxes on those large homes did and continue to run more than $20k annually. One joke is that the owners will wind up dying in those houses, frozen to death because they can't afford the heat.

The aura became just a memory as GE began a downward trajectory in its business. It was a perfect storm - one that blew in fast and furious. The House that Jack (Welch) built was collapsing.

The stock sunk so badly that employees couldn't afford to retire. Those who had retired, depending on the stock, had to return to work.

Meanwhile, the real estate scene in CT is ugly. Those with no other association with GE than buying property near its former headquarters are unable to retire because they can't cash out the house, at least not at the price they want. The state isn't able to attract major corporations to move in. There's even a property tax on cars. If a trailer truck jack-knives on I-95, no one gets to their job in Manhattan on time.

Although GE is making a bit of progress in turning itself around, it's not enough. As MarketWatch reports, GE has agreed to return to Massachusetts $87 million in incentives and for them to jointly sell waterfront property. Those 800 jobs GE was to create in Boston? Those have dwindled down to 250.

So, to Boston, which is featured in the TV hit "A Million Little Things," GE brings disappointment. A major indstury in the area is higher education. What placement director at an Ivy is going to encourage those who are graduating top in their class to apply for work at GE?

In the process is the Jack Welch brand also damaged? Actually, there had been a loss of brand equity before GE went into suicide mode. His vision for an online relatively low-cost MBA program, when implemented, never really took off.

His book "The Real-Life MBA" seemed, to me, to need a platitude cleanse. Unlike Peter Thiel's "Zero to One," published around the same time, Welch's book didn't have staying power. On Amazon, currently Welch's guide ranks 221,670. Thiel's ranks 2,448.

What should the GE saga teach us?

Answer: Plenty.

No employee, no home buyer, no investor, and no geographical area should have blind faith in any corporation or its supposedly iconic leadership. Only a few of the insiders really know what is going on. The possible protection against financial ruin is to observe what they do, not listen to what they say.

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That includes podcast planning and talking points. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence without paying high rates, janegenova374@gmail.com.
Report Finds Long Beach State University has a $1.53 Billion Impact on Local Economies

According to a newly released report, Long Beach State University is an economic powerhouse that has an annual $1.53 billion impact on the economies in its home city and in the greater Los Angeles and Orange County communities.

Among the other insights gained from the analysis are:

CSULBs impact on Los Angeles County, alone, is approximately $1.14 billion. The campus impact on neighboring Orange County is $388.5 million.

The campus supports a total of nearly 10,600 jobs throughout the two counties, including more than 3,700 jobs in Long Beach.

More than $523 million in employee compensation (earnings and benefits) were generated for CSULBs workers throughout the two counties, including $192 million in Long Beach.

CSULBs economic impacts help generate close to $42 million in tax revenues in Orange and Los Angeles counties, including $11.5 million in Long Beach.

As of 2017, CSULB alumni owned 245 local businesses in Long Beach. In Orange County, 674 establishments were owned by Long Beach State University alumni.

Students who graduate from Long Beach State, their median income a few years after graduation is nearly $100,000. So, think of that in terms of contributions to the economy, said President Jane Close Conoley. I am really proud to be at such an extraordinary university where we are among the top 10 in the nation in accelerating the social mobility of our graduates.

Long Beach State University is ranked the ninth best public college in the western United States by U.S. News & World Report, the fifth most applied to university in the nation and ranked high for matriculating students who graduate with the least amount of debt. Forbes ranks CSULB as one of Americas best-value colleges because of its great return on investment.

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Kams Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

For movies opening February 15, 2019:

WIDE RELEASES

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Alita: Battle Angel (PG-13 for action, violence and brief profanity) Rosa Salazar tackles the title role in this post-apocalyptic sci-fi as a cyborg with amnesia recruited by a compassionate scientist (Christoph Waltz) to break the worlds cycle of death and destruction. Cast includes Mahershala Ali, Jennifer Connelly, Jackie Earle Haley and Michelle Rodriguez.

Happy Death Day 2U (PG-13 for violence, profanity, sexuality and mature themes) Slasher sequel finds heroine Tree Gelbman (Jessica Roth) re-entering the time loop and repeatedly reliving the same day during which she is hunted and killed by a masked assassin. With Ruby Modine, Israel Broussard and Suraj Sharma.

Isnt It Romantic (PG-13 for profanity, sexuality and a drug reference) Satirical fantasy, set in NYC, about an Australian architect (Rebel Wilson) who wakes up trapped in a romantic comedy after being knocked unconscious by a mugger on a subway platform. Supporting cast includes Liam Hemsworth, Adam Devine and Priyanka Chopra.

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INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

Birds of Passage (Unrated) Colombian crime thriller, set in the Seventies, about an indigenous family that comes to regret dealing drugs. Co-starring Jose Acosta, Carmina Martinez and Natalia Reyes. (In English, Spanish and Wayuu with subtitles)

Donnybrook (R for profanity, drug use, graphic nudity, and disturbing violence and sexuality) Adaptation of Frank Bills best seller of the same name about an ex-Marine (Jamie Bell) and a meth dealer (Frank Grillo) who enter an illicit, bare-knuckle cage match with a $100,000 winner take all purse. Featuring Margaret Qualley, James Badge Gale and Chris Browning.

Fighting with My Family (PG-13 for sexuality, violence, crude humor, drug use and pervasive profanity) Fact-based comedy about a couple of retired pro wrestlers (Nick Frost and Lena Headey) whose children (Florence Pugh and Jack Lowden) dream of following in their parents footsteps. With Dwayne Johnson, Vince Vaughn and Stephen Merchant.

The Lears (Unrated) Dysfunctional family dramedy about an aging architect (Bruce Dern) who invites his four children to a weekend retreat to announce that hes marrying his personal assistant (Victoria Smurfit) that Sunday. Featuring Anthony Michael Hall, Sean Astin, Aly Michalka, Nic Bishop and James Hoare.

Ruben Brandt, Collector (R for violence and nude images) Animated suspense thriller about a psychotherapist (Ivan Kamaras) who, with help from four of his patients, steals priceless works of art from the Louvre, MOMA, the Hermitage and other museums in order to alleviate his suffering from violent nightmares. Cast includes Gabriella Hamori, Katalin Dombi and Csaba Marton. (In English and Hungarian with subtitles)

Sorry Angel (Unrated) Romance drama, set in Paris in 1993, about a renowned writer (Pierre Deladonchamps) who falls in love with a gay film student (Vincent Lacoste) from Brittany about half his age. With Denis Podalydes, Adele Wismes and Thomas Gonzalez. (In French with subtitles)

This Ones for the Ladies (R for nudity, graphic images, sexual simulations and pervasive profanity) Raunchy documentary revolving around a New Jersey karate dojo which morphs into a male strip club every Thursday night. Featuring performances by Tyga, Raw Dawg and Poundcake.
INGLEWOOD CITY COUNCIL OFFERS REWARD IN 2009 MURDER CASE

Inglewood Mayor James Butts and the City Council are offering a reward for information related to a 2009 murder. On May 31, 2009, 25-year old Crystal Crawford was fatally shot while sitting in a car with friends. The shooting took place in the 2900 block of 95th Street.

After being shot, Ms. Crawford was driven to a trauma center where she died. The Inglewood Police Department has been working tirelessly to identify and apprehend the perpetrators of the crime for almost ten years.

Crime continues to decrease in Inglewood, but we remain committed to solving every murder and every crime in Inglewood, said Mayor Butts. It is our hope that this reward will encourage someone to come forward with information leading to the identification and conviction of the perpetrator of this murder. Ms. Crawford deserves justice and her family deserves closure.

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Any person with additional information on this crime should contact Inglewood PD Homicide Unit at 310-412-5246 or CrimeStoppers at 800-222-8477 or visit crimestoppers.org and click on submit a tip.
Black Caucus Statement Condemning GOP Efforts To Remove Member From House Foreign Affairs Committee

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar

WASHINGTON  Today, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chair Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-CA), released the following statement in support of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) remaining on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The statement criticizes Republican demands for her removal while those same Republicans remain silent as members of their own party, including President Trump, have made racially insensitive, anti-Semitic and or emotionally-charged statements.

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There is no place in our society for anti-Semitism. All forms of racism and discrimination must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Representative Omar was correct to quickly apologize for her comments.

I support Rep. Omars continued membership on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. At the same time, I urge my Republican colleagues to recognize the glaring inconsistency in denouncing Representative Omar while offering only weak, inconsistent, or non-existent responses to racists comments from within their own ranks, most notably numerous remarks made by President Trump.

Condemning Representative Omar feels disingenuous at best, when Republicans stood by as Donald Trump asserted that there were good people on both sides in Charlottesville, despite the hateful rhetoric spewed against both African Americans and Jewish Americans, and a physical attack that left many injured and Heather Heyer dead. This is the same President who left out a reference to Jews while commemorating the Holocaust, and who has hired staff who openly embrace white supremacy. I do not recall much outrage from Republicans as these events unfolded.

In the aftermath of the neo-Nazi demonstrations in Charlottesville, Jewish communities across the nation have felt a sense of escalating anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitic statements that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago have now been uttered with shocking frequency from the highest levels. Those statements appear to have found expression in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the worst such attack in U.S. history, and in other attacks on Jewish institutions in recent months. Any anti-Semitic rhetoric must stop immediately.

Congress, and the country, can only make progress and address the current atmosphere of division by remaining in civil dialogue, speaking frankly about hurtful or harmful comments, but genuinely listening and learning even when it is difficult. That means that diverse voices must stay fully engaged, with a seat at the table.
AAFCA and ABA Film Society present Inaugural Learning Lab Celebrating Black Excellence in Cinema with Netflixs Tendo Nagenda and Outler Societys Alana Mayo

From the global blockbuster Black Panther and the lyrical indie If Beale Street Could Talk to the hilariously poignant comedy sensations Insecure and Atlanta and beyond, #BlackExcellence in Hollywood is on full blast. Rightfully, the movement has put an additional spotlight on Black creative executives, many of whom have long worked in the trenches to create a pipeline of opportunity for traditionally underrepresented groups. In turn, that has ignited the spark that many tag as a Black Hollywood Renaissance.

In recognition of this movement, the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) and the African Black American (ABA) Film Society at the New York Film Academy (NYFA) Los Angeles campus present the inaugural learning lab, Celebrating Black Excellence in Cinema, at 7 p.m. on Monday, February 18 at the NYFA Theater (3300 Riverside Drive) featuring Tendo Nagenda and Alana Mayo, two of the most dynamic creative executives in the industry and moderated by AAFCA founder/president Gil Robertson. Celebrating Black Excellence in Cinema promises to be a fantastic evening exploring the road and role of Black creative executives in Hollywood.

Tendo Nagenda is widely considered one of the most talented creative executives in Hollywood today. At Walt Disney Studios, Nagenda rose to Executive Vice President of Production before joining Netflix as Vice President of Original Films in August 2018. Because Nagenda was a critical ingredient to the success of Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and Saving Mr. Banks and spearheaded the big screen films Queen of Katwe, starring Lupita Nyongo and David Oyelowo and set in Uganda, and the re-imagined big screen adaption of A Wrinkle in Time directed by Ava DuVernay and starring Storm Reid, the trades largely covered his arrival at Netflix as a major coup. Nagenda also played a role in the upcoming anticipated Disney live action films, Dumbo, and Mulan. Now the question is: what does he have in store for Netflix?

Prior to becoming Head of Production and Development for Michael B. Jordans Outlier Society Productions in January 2018, Alana Mayo, who interned for Lee Daniels as a college student, served as Vice President and Head of Originals at Vimeo. Before joining Vimeo, Mayo spent most of her career at Paramount, where she rose to Vice President of Production, and worked on Fences, the big screen adaptation of star playwright August Wilsons most well-known work directed by and starring Denzel Washington that earned Viola Davis an Oscar, and Selma directed by Ava DuVernay. Mayo is an authentic millennial voice who has fresh and innovative ideas about where millennial Hollywood is going next and the role Black creatives will play in the journey.

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To participate in the inaugural learning lab, Black Excellence in Cinema, RSVP to hub.nyfa.edu.
THE ISSUE

Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed a per capita fee, with a graduated scale based on population, for municipalities that rely solely on state police coverage, LNPs Lindsey Blest reported Feb. 8. Wolfs past proposals had called for municipalities to pay $25 per person, but the newly proposed sliding scale would see the fee range from $8 per person to $166 per person, with the higher fees charged to municipalities with larger populations. In Lancaster County, there are 19 municipalities that use state police exclusively.

There are more than 2,500 municipalities in Pennsylvania. Its an absurd number that comes with absurd redundancies and inefficiencies. Those redundancies can make many services more expensive for residents.

But those costs are often not shared in an equitable way.

If a geographical area is to have the privilege of being its own municipality, with its own home rule, then we believe that municipality must take full responsibility for the costs of policing within its borders.

That responsibility can be met in several ways. A local police force. A regional police cooperative involving multiple municipalities. Contracting for services from a neighboring police force.

Or, municipalities can rely on a state law that says Pennsylvania State Police must handle local law enforcement in the absence of a local police force. Thats how 19 municipalities in Lancaster County are currently protecting their residents  solely with state police. Statewide, according to WITF, about half of Pennsylvanias municipalities (about 1,300) rely only on state police for law enforcement.

The bill for those services essentially goes to all state taxpayers. Thats unfair, because it asks those who are paying for their own police coverage to also pay for their neighbors.

Wolfs new proposal seeks to balance and rectify that. In Lancaster County, it would cost those 19 municipalities a combined $3.7 million for state police services, which works out to about $43 per capita. We support the philosophy behind his proposal, though we think it works best as a jumping-off point for debate and, ultimately, approval of some fee by the state Legislature.

Certainly, we must acknowledge there are other complexifiers (as Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos might say) in this equation. Some municipalities  Quarryville and Christiana, for example  use the state police part-time, but would not be subject to the proposed fee.

Some point out that state police spend much of their time in places that already have local coverage. Philadelphia leads in the number of calls involving state police. So is it fair to ask smaller municipalities to cover the cost of state police, if theyre doing a huge amount of work in areas that already have their own police? Mike Straub, the press secretary for House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler, of Peach Bottom, recently told KYW Newsradio.

Also, state police, as required by Wolfs Pennsylvania School Safety Task Force, are now spending more time in schools in municipalities without their own local police forces. This necessary but unfunded mandate lends more urgency to the idea of making those municipalities pay some per capita fee.

These are just a few of the factors to be considered.

Perhaps Wolfs proposal was meant to stir the pot. It appears to have worked. Brecknock Township Supervisor Jerry Long told LNPs Blest that the scaled fee would be a tough pill to swallow. And Les Houck, a supervisor in Salisbury Township, said, I think hes all wrong in his thinking.

Wolfs math may be off, but his thinking isnt.

Pennsylvania simply needs a better way fund state police, which currently gets about two-thirds of its money from the Motor License Fund. (And that fund is supposed to cover road and bridge construction and maintenance, not state police services.) Blest reports Wolfs per capita proposal wouldnt fully cover the cost of state police, but its a start. And it would reduce the annual amount taken from the Motor License Fund.

Thats a needed step.

Theres another angle at play here, too. More municipalities should take responsibility for their own policing. Enacting a fee for those municipalities that are getting a free ride might encourage some local governments to create their own local forces or sign a contract for services from a neighboring force. That would take some of the strain off the stretched-thin state police.

One example: Under Wolfs new proposal, Brecknock Township would have to pay about $417,000 in scaled fees (up from $180,000 under the $25-per-capital proposal). Long told Blest that it might be cheaper for the township to instead contract for $200,000 in part-time local policing.

Reader Aaron Martin, commenting on LancasterOnline, had this analysis: Living in a township that relies on state police coverage, I personally would not be opposed to a $25 per capita tax for that coverage. ... But I think the sliding scale is excessive. In the business world, buying in bulk usually decreases your prices, not increases. This might just be a ploy to get municipalities to accept the $25 fee once and for all.

Proposal, ploy ... whatever you want to call it. This is a funding and fairness issue that should be resolved this year.
A plan to give Lancaster and York counties exposure under the National Park Service took one step closer to reality this week  furthering a top legislative priority for Lancaster County's member of Congress.

But the Susquehanna National Heritage Area isn't a sure thing just yet.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker also announced which subcommittees he'll serve on to work on transportation and infrastructure policy.

And in Harrisburg, adding a work requirement to Medicaid is likely to come up again in the new session  and a senator from Lancaster County is positioning himself to be at the forefront of the debate.

Here are those updates and more from the political scene in Lancaster County and beyond.

National Heritage Area

Designating the Susquehanna National Heritage Area, along with five other similar National Heritage Areas across the country, was included in the Natural Resource Management Act, which passed the Senate 92-8 on Tuesday.

It's a longtime goal of local officials and the nonprofit Susquehanna Heritage, and it could mean up to $300,000 in funding to promote and preserve the area.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey has repeatedly introduced it in the Senate going back a dozen years, and Smucker has made it one of his top agenda items since taking office in 2017.

It passed the House for the first time in 2018 despite the President Donald Trump's administration opposing any new National Heritage Areas. Before this week it had never passed the Senate.

Smucker, a West Lampeter Township Republican, and Casey, a Democrat, both celebrated the passage this week.

It's great news for our community, Smucker said in a video posted on Facebook. This simply highlights the wonderful resources, the beauty of our area and the history in our area and continues to build the tourism, helps to preserve the wonderful community we have.

Casey, in a statement, said, I am pleased that we were able to work together on legislation that sets provisions for the conservation of federal lands in south central and southwestern Pennsylvania."

The bill now heads to the House, where Smucker said he hopes it will pass next week.

Smucker's subcommittees

Smucker, who previously announced some committee roles for the new session of Congress, said this week that he will focus on some specific policy areas in his second term on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

He will sit on the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials, and the Subcommittee on Aviation.

Part of that work, he said in a statement, will include looking at a long-term structural fix for the Highway Trust Fund  which supports construction, maintenance and mass transit and is expected to run out of money in the coming years.

Medicaid work requirements

Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed the idea of incorporating a work requirement into Medicaid twice in as many years.

Republicans who support the change aren't deterred.

State Sen. Scott Martin, who represents the southern half of Lancaster County, said in a joint statement this week with Sen. David Argall, R-Schuylkill County, they will soon re-introduce a bill on the topic.

The bill will require any Medicaid recipient who is able to work to do so, or to seek work, participate in job training programs or volunteer.

Medicaid is one of Pennsylvania's most expensive entitlement programs, and the cost of providing services will only continue to rise in the future, Martin said in the statement. We need to make sure our public assistance programs are encouraging able-bodied workers to find a viable pathway out of poverty and not perpetuating a cycle of dependence.
Transshipment modality, electronic cargo tracking to be implemented from today

Nepal will receive transshipment privileges and permission to use electronic tracking on Nepal-bound cargo at Kolkata port from Friday. But importers complain that limited services by shipping companies and poor infrastructure at the harbour still remain as hurdles to faster cargo movement.
UPDATE, 12:15 p.m.: The Wolf administration today released updated numbers on the first year of medical marijuana.

It said more than 116,000 patients have registered to participate, with about 83,000 of them being approved and purchasing medical marijuana from a dispensary.

Medical marijuana has been dispensed nearly 600,000 times in the past year, it said, grossing more than $132 million in total sales and allowing the state to collect more than $2 million in tax revenue from grower/processors.

More than 1,460 physicians have registered to certify patients, it said, and nearly 1,000 have completed the process and been approved.

Today is the one-year anniversary of the first medical marijuana sale under the Pennsylvania law passed in 2016.

The first Lancaster County sale came about three weeks later, on March 10, 2018.

Here's a quick look at where things stand now, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which oversees the program.

At last report, more than 98,000 patients across the state had registered to participate, and more than 66,000 had identification cards and were able to purchase medical marijuana at a dispensary. A department spokesman said it does not have information broken out by county for patients.

Approximately 1,380 physicians have registered for the program and 945 have been approved. That works out to about 70 approved patients per approved doctor. The department says many of the doctors not yet approved need to complete the required four hours of training.

The law originally required all approved doctors to be listed publicly, but regulators changed that last year; now doctors can opt out of that list, although they are still be shown as options to patients who register. Currently the public list shows 36 approved doctors in Lancaster County; the Pennsylvania Department of Health has declined to say how many, if any, have opted out of being listed publicly.

A second round of grower/processor and dispensary permits have been issued, and none went to applicants looking to operate in Lancaster County. That leaves the tally of approved permits for Lancaster and the surrounding counties as follows. Some are not open yet; additionally, each permit holder is allowed up to 3 dispensaries in different counties, and some have not yet chosen second or third locations. Lancaster : 1 dispensary. Berks : 5 dispensaries, 2 grower/processors. Chester : 2 dispensaries. Dauphin : 3 dispensaries. Lebanon : 1 dispensary, 1 grower/processor. York : 2 dispensaries.



A map of dispensaries currently operating is available here.

In the past year regulators expanded the number of qualifying medical conditions from 17 to 21, with two more under consideration, and expanded the approved forms of medical marijuana to include dry leaf for vaporization, although smoking it remains illegal.
Pennsylvania state police charged two Lancaster County men Thursday in separate child pornography cases.

James V. Feaster Jr., 29, of Lititz, was charged with felony distribution of child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility, police said.

Police began investigating Feaster's involvement in an online group chat in October, according to a news release. He was allegedly sharing images and videos of child pornography, police said.

The computer crime unit executed a search warrant at Feaster's home Thursday and seized his phone for forensic analysis. Feaster was arraigned before District Judge Edward Tobin and jailed on $450,000 bail.

Jason William Foreman, 30, of New Holland, was charged with distribution of child pornography and two counts of criminal use of a communication facility.

Police determined on Nov. 28 that Foreman was sharing images and videos of child pornography on the internet, according to a release.

Foreman admitted to downloading child pornography during a search at his New Holland home Thursday, police said.

He was arraigned before District Judge Jonathan Heisse and sent to Lancaster County Prison on $100,000 bail.
The annual debate over cyber charter school funding is already at full-speed.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group Education Voters of PA this week released a report that contends lowering annual tuition rates for Pennsylvanias publicly funded but privately run cyber charter schools could save school districts more than $8 million in Lancaster County and upwards of $250 million statewide.

The current method for funding cyber charter schools, which have historically offered mixed student results, is fundamentally flawed, the report states, and puts an undue burden on more reputable brick-and-mortar schools already struggling to make ends meet.

The relief would be greatly received by our taxpayers, Eastern Lancaster County Superintendent Bob Hollister said of the proposal, but it still isnt reflective of what our actual costs are to operate our own cyber school.

Elanco is one local school district that provides its own cyber program. Hollister said in a phone interview Thursday that it costs about $3,500 per student. Thats less than one-third of what it pays for cyber charter tuition for nonspecial education students.

This is unacceptable, Susan Spicka, executive director of Education Voters of PA, said in a statement.  The time has come for lawmakers (to) reform Pennsylvanias charter school law so that school district payments to cyber charter schools match the actual cost of educating a child at home on a computer.

The report proposes static cyber charter tuition rates of $5,000 per student and $8,865 per special education student, basing it off of the average amount school districts pay to provide their own cyber program.

It also points out how poorly cyber charter schools have performed over the years: Not one of the states cyber charters achieved a passing score in any of the five years the School Performance Profile, which was replaced by the Future Ready PA Index last year, was in effect.

Hidden costs

Charter advocates such as Ana Meyers, however, say that chipping away at cyber charter school funding is the wrong way to go.

What people fail to realize is that cyber charter schools have different expenditures than traditional brick-and-mortar schools, Meyers, executive director for the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools, said in a phone interview Thursday.

HOW ARE CYBER CHARTER SCHOOLS FUNDED? Under the states 22-year-old charter school law, the home school district must pay tuition for every student who enrolls in a cyber charter school. The amount is determined by the district's per-student expenditure and can range from $7,300 to $18,000 per student and $14,900 to more than $40,000 per special education student. In Lancaster County, it ranges from $9,045 to $12,878 per student and $18,165 to $29,957 per special education student, according to 2016-17 data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

These hidden costs, she said, include state testing, tech support, learning management systems and internet reimbursement and devices for students and families.

Meyers said shed be willing to sit down with legislators to discuss charter school law reform, which has been on the radar of many lawmakers, including those in Lancaster County, for some time.

Charter school funding commission

State Sen. Ryan Aument, of Landisville, told LNP Thursday that previous comprehensive charter school reform proposals  such as House Bill 97, sponsored by state Rep. Mike Reese in the 2017-18 session  have come up short, but perhaps a different approach could prove more successful.

Aument, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said hed like to put in place a charter school funding commission to study the issue similar to the way a bipartisan group of lawmakers did in 2014 and 2015 for basic education funding.

Broadly speaking, I do think the funding for cyber charter schools is an issue we have to take a look at, he said.

Related coverage
The five males charged in an alleged December robbery and assault of three boys in Manheim Township have been arrested, according to police.

Police announced the charges in a January news release, saying that a 17-year-old boy from Columbia had surrendered to police in December but four others were wanted.

Police identified the four males as a 17-year-old juvenile, Brandon Cesar Bencosme, Luis Berlingeri and Darrin Michael Ortiz.

The men were charged with burglary, robbery, simple assault and criminal conspiracy to each. They allegedly forced their way into a shed in the 400 block of Harverhill Road where three boys were having a sleepover Dec. 16 and physically assaulted them, police said.

Berlingeri, 18, turned himself into police Wednesday, according to a news release.

Ortiz, 20, of Columbia, and Bencosme, 19, of Lititz, were arrested in January, police said.

Ortiz and Berlingeri were both released on $25,000 unsecured bail after their arraignments. Bencosme is in Lancaster County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail, court records show.

Police did not give details about the 17 year old but said Thursday that everyone charged in the case had been arrested.

Previous reports:
Wawa is making plans for a new store in Caernarvon Township, which would be the fifth Lancaster County location for the Delaware County-based convenience store operator.

The new Wawa would take a spot in Morgantown at Routes 23 and 10, just before the Berks County line. It would be situated at the northwest corner of the intersection, where there is now a showroom and car lot for Hershey Motors. It is across the street from a Turkey Hill convenience store.

Wawa has an agreement to purchase the property from Hershey Motors, which would then move its operations to an adjoining property to the west, according a post on Hershey Motors Facebook page.

Earlier this month, Caernarvon Township supervisors granted Wawa conditional approval for the new convenience store.

A Wawa representative at the supervisors meeting where the approval was granted said the convenience store could open in late spring 2020, according to a Caernarvon Township official who was there.

The first Wawa Food Market opened in 1964 as an outgrowth of a dairy processing plant founded in 1902 in the village of Wawa, just outside Philadelphia. Today, the regional chain has more than 800 convenience stores that feature a variety of fresh foods, including built-to-order hoagies.

In Lancaster County, Wawa has stores in Ephrata, East Petersburg, East Lampeter Township, and Gap.

No one from Wawa responded to a request for more details about plans for the store in Morgantown.
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There wasn't much fuss when California's plastic straw ban kicked in on New Year's Day, probably because the state law only impacts full-service restaurants. Now, the city of Los Angeles is considering a broader disposable straw ban, one that would impact cafes, fast food franchises and other casual joints. Although the proposed regulation, which would go into effect in 2021, means upheaval for the hospitality industry, local boba shops aren't breaking a sweat.

In the San Gabriel Valley, SoCal's boba epicenter, they're not only prepared for the Strawpocalypse, they're ahead of local officials.

At Ten-Ren's Tea Time in Alhambra, a manager, who declined to be named, says that as soon as they exhaust their supply of colorful plastic straws, they'll begin using a 9-inch-long corn boba straws made by Lollicup. He also says they plan to start using biodegradable, regular-size Lollicup straws for all non-boba drinks.

At Bopomofo Cafe, recently opened in San Gabriel, co-owner Eric Wang says they are currently using paper straws but will move to Sabert's compostable straws in the future.

Elton Keung, owner of experimental San Gabriel boba shop Labobatory, which serves trend-bucking drinks like Chinese cough syrup boba green tea and Speculoos cookie butter boba milk tea, is ahead of the straw ban -- although he doesn't have to follow it.

Elton Keung (right), owner of experimental San Gabriel boba shop Labobatory, holds one of the shop's custom reusable straws. (Dakota Kim for LAist)

In November, Keung commissioned Simply Straws, an Orange County-based boracylicate (Pyrex) glass straw company to manufacture glass boba straws, branded with Labobatory's name. Simply Straws says it has seen glass boba straw sales quadruple in the past year.

Keung says the first run of 200 Labobatory-branded 8-inch glass straws, which were priced at $6 dollars and included a free drink, sold out within a week of their November arrival. The challenge, aside from keeping them in stock, is that the straws lack an angled tip. A barista must pierce a hole in the cup prior to serving it. Nonetheless, Keung has commissioned the production of a longer, 10-inch batch.

"We use boba tops that don't require straws too," Keung says. "Whatever the straw ban, we can adapt."

Some employees are still unaware that the statewide ban began January 1.

"We're not sure what we're going to do yet," an employee at Bubble Republic in San Gabriel said at the shop on January 10. "When does it go into effect?"

Within Los Angeles city limits, several shops are selling metal boba straws.

A boba tea from Labobaory, with one of the shop's custom reusable straws. (Dakota Kim for LAist)

Boba Guys, which helped craft San Francisco's strict no-PLA straw ban, debuted its new stainless steel, BPA-free metal straw at its two locations -- Culver City and Echo Park -- on February 1, although it is already available online. Customers can now purchase the metal straw, with accompanying brush, for $5 and reuse it at the shop, where it will be cleaned by the store. Engraved with "Boba Guys," the item boasts a rare feature for a reusable boba straw: it has a pointy tip to pierce drinks. Co-owner Andrew Chau says the company requested this feature from their straw producer.

Some shops are finding that the biodegradable straws they want are hard to come by. Small-batch, slow-cooked tapioca shop Percolate, with locations in Hollywood, Los Feliz and West L.A., is waiting for backordered paper boba straws from Aardvark, which jumped in popularity after California's straw ban went into effect.

In the meantime, Percolate is selling reusable metal boba straws that earn customers free add-ons each time they're used. Percolate is also looking at the larger environmental picture by using recycled plastic cups and loose leaf teas that require less packaging.

Although Boba Guys is debuting single-use, fully-biodegradable bamboo straws in its shops, Chau doesn't think it'll be a problem to get boba fans to carry reusable metal straws.

"In Asia, people have a pack that looks like a holster that carries their straws, and a few people who come to our shops already bring their own straws," Chau says. "If you can bring your own cups, you can bring your own straws."

When it comes to straws, Chau is a radical. While PLA straws, which are generally made from corn starch, cassava or sugarcane, are a step up from plastic straws, he thinks they're not good enough. They require long composting times of three to six months and these microplastics still enter the ecosystems of vulnerable animals. Chau wants L.A.'s City Council to follow San Francisco's lead and pass a ban that would include PLA straws, requiring restaurants to upgrade to disposable bamboo or reusable glass and metal straws.

"The only negative in the short term of reusable straws is getting used to the feel and taste," Chau says. "So people need to think about the big picture. Think of the plastic bag ban."

Earlier in 2018, boba shop owners including Labobatory's Keung, upon hearing about the plastic straw ban, worried that environmentally sustainable straws would be financially unsustainable.

Taiwanese immigrants were among the first boba shop owners in Southern California, and their children continue to own and manage many of these businesses. Lyn Chen, who owns Boba Shop in Santa Monica, worried last year that, at a usage rate of 2,000 straws per month, the 100% cost increase of compostable straws would hurt her bottom line. But shops across the city seem to have adapted and thanks to the popularity of boba, companies like Simply Straws, Aardvark and Lollicup innovated quickly.

"Boba will always be popular," Keung says. "We are ready to weather any storm that California brings."
For many Americans, February is tax time  or at least the time they are reminded of their need to pay taxes, now that the forms are all in. That means millions of people are starting to sift through piles of paper hoping they wont owe more than they can afford.

Meanwhile, for a certain segment of the population, this concern is greatly lessened by the strategic use of tax havens.

Freeports  special locations where the worlds richest can hoard their valuables tax free  are increasingly common. These include a high-security warehouse in Switzerlands capital city of Geneva that brims with the treasure of the global elite: gold, jewelry, diamonds, the finest French wines, priceless historical artifacts, and irreplaceable renaissance paintings (many stolen).

But freeports are just one manifestation of a larger shadow financial system built for the few on the backs of the many. Other tax havens are jurisdictions where tax rates are low and financial systems opaque. These include such well-known havens as Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, but also others closer to home, in Delaware, Nevada and Wyoming.

Corporations and the 1 percent exploit these havens, using legal loopholes and accounting sleight-of-hand to avoid paying their fair share.
If youve already had your fill of a presidential election still 21 months from fruition, heres some good news: You neednt worry about the nomination process.

It seems Californias junior senator is well on her way to her partys coronation. Thats impressive considering Kamala Harris formally announced her candidacy a little over two weeks ago. In that brief time, shes instantly merited top-tier status, according to The Los Angeles Times. Then, she advanced to front of the pack, according to CNN.

At this rate, the rest of the Democratic field should have conceded by Valentines Day. Speaking of valentines, the medias fawning coverage of Harris speaks to two failings of political journalism.

One is an unhealthy fascination with identity politics. Harris has Jamaican and Asian-Indian ancestry. Politico California described Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, no longer a presidential hopeful, as a fourth-generation Angeleno of Mexican-Italian-Jewish descent. CNN called New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who is running, an unmarried vegan.

Funny, but I dont remember the lead sentences in George H.W. Bushs obituaries describing the late president as a purebred WASP with direct ties to the Mayflower arrivals.
The agency that handles state worker benefits doesnt consistently provide enough information to insurers and its oversight board, and had $142 million more in reserves than expected at the end of 2017, according to an audit released Friday.

But most customers of the state Department of Employee Trust Funds are satisfied with its services, and the agency has taken steps to improve its running of the program, said a report by the Legislative Audit Bureau.

State worker benefits  chiefly, a $1.6 billion health insurance program with 263,000 participants, 102,000 of whom are in Dane County  were in the spotlight in recent years after former Gov. Scott Walker proposed shifting to self-insurance.

Under self-insurance, the state would accept the risk for large medical claims instead of paying premiums primarily to provider-owned regional insurance companies. The plan, common among large employers but opposed by local insurers and many state employees, was rejected by the Legislatures budget committee, which ordered the audit.
Sudurpaschim Province all set to institutionalise Ayurveda education

One year after the implementation of the federal governance system in the country, officials in Sudurpaschim Province are introducing Ayurveda and yoga studies in the regions official curricula, making it mandatory for all schools to teach classes starting from the upcoming academic calendar.
Attorney General Josh Kaul Thursday signaled the state will remain in a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the Affordable Care Act if Republicans dont allow him to drop out.

In an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal, Kaul rejected the notion he would take any action to prevent the success of the multi-state suit, such as refusing to cooperate with other involved states.

Thats not how Id approach litigation that the state of Wisconsin is involved in, Kaul said. If the state is involved, its involved in the litigation.

Kaul added that if the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee rejects his request to withdraw from the suit, the Department of Justice would litigate the case appropriately.

The comments from the newly installed Democratic attorney general come after Gov. Tony Evers in early January said he would direct Kaul to change positions in the case.

Kaul in previous interviews has said switching positions midway through the case doesnt make sense. A Kaul spokeswoman Thursday confirmed he does not plan to change positions in the case.
Their fellow council member David Marshall admitted to also having reservations, saying he was sure there will be unintended consequences, but added, In the future, theres nothing that says we cant tweak this, that we cant change it in ways that make sense.

Council member Barb Janssen, a member of the Neighborhood Revitalization Commission, as well as a member of the Grandview Emerson Neighborhood Association, spoke in favor of the ordinance, which she said would help address parking woes that have plagued neighborhoods for years.

This may work great, it may have some bugs, but at least lets provide that opportunity where if there is a group that wants to create a benefit district, they can try it, Janssen said. I think there are quite a few neighborhoods who would volunteer to be the guinea pig.

Under the proposed ordinance, any neighborhood association representative, city elected official, or resident or property owner within the proposed district could apply for the creation of a parking benefit district.
GALESVILLE  Antique phone dealers Ron and Mary Knappen are your go-to source for classic phones.

They supplied Hollywood with the brown 1956 Western Electric 554 wall phone and green 880 Automatic Electric speakerphone used in the film Dreamgirls. And the 1959 Western Electric ivory Princess phones in Catch Me If You Can. Last week, they shipped three 1960s-style Western Electric 500 set phones in blue, gray and ivory to the hit Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Mary said.

But after almost 50 years of building Phoneco Inc., their antique phone empire, the Knappens are ready to put down their receivers for good. All they need is someone to take the inventory off their hands.

The biggest problem is how do you get rid of it, Ron said. If you buy me out, Ill help you load. Therell be 65 semi-loads.

Its an understatement to say the Knappens have a lot of phones.

They own a 41,550-square-foot building converted from an old hotel in Galesville that serves as an office, showroom, workshop and warehouse. At home, they have a second workshop in a barn crammed with candlestick phones and floor-to-ceiling stacks of dusty wood wall phone frames waiting to be outfitted with receivers, transmitters, bells, magnetos and cranks. In the old grainery, payphones of all colors and finishes dating back to 1915 sit shoulder to shoulder on shelves. The expanded pole barn, which Ron refers to as the treehouse because it was built by grade school kids and looks cruder than a treehouse, is filled with aisles of modern plastic phones piled in cardboard boxes.

Then theres the 29 semi-trailers parked outside.

And theyre all quite full of telephones, too, Ron said.

How many phones do the Knappens have?

Ive been asked that before and I cant say, Ron said. Its a lot of phones.

A million. At least a hundred thousand, Mary said. Its hard to give an exact number because its been a few years since they last took inventory, she said.

However many phones the Knappens have now, when they started their phone business, it was by accident with eight wood wall phones, Mary said.

Their foray into phones began over the Christmas of 1971, during their annual trip to visit family in Peoria and Knoxville, Ill., Mary said.

At the time, Ron taught an industrial arts class in high school and they ran an antique shop out of their carriage barn.

During that trip, Ron slipped out to visit a friend and came back with eight wood wall telephones, which he bought for $50 apiece, Mary said. I said, You gotta sell these. Hed spent our savings, which was about $400.

So Ron put an ad in the Antique Trader magazine, Mary said. He got the idea from the Popular Mechanics magazines hed read in high school, which contained advertisements from a man named Bob Prosser in Turtle Lake, Wis., who bought and sold antique phones.

Not long after Rons ad ran, they started getting calls from across the country, several a night, mainly from collectors, Mary said. Ron sold the phones, then started driving across Iowa and Wisconsin, including to Turtle Lake, to buy more. Then hed make posters advertising his wares using the school copier.

He started out with a station wagon and then a station wagon with a trailer, and then a trailer, Mary said.

All the while, the phone calls from eager collectors kept coming, Ron said. It opened up the doors to a business.

In 1973, Ron quit teaching and the Knappens went all in dealing antique phones.

They learned to repair phones by taking old ones apart and poring over old instruction manuals. They joined antique phone collecting circles and had custom parts made in Taiwan. Hollywood took note and started calling them about movie phones, especially payphones.

In 1991, the Knappens bought about half of Rossers inventory when it went up for sale, Ron said. They hauled away 13 semi-loads in that acquisition.

They built a website and gave their business an online presence. At one point, they had 40 employees.

Today, the Knappens have 10 part-time employees doing everything from paperwork to taking orders, fixing and shipping phones, and selling phone accessories on eBay. The Knappens lives still revolve around phones most days of the week, though they reserve Sundays for church, lunch, errands and polka dancing.

Most of their buyers are people nostalgic for their childhood phones, Mary said. Theres still interest in payphones and colored plastic phones from the 1950s to the 1980s. People also mail in their old family phones for Phoneco to fix.

Phoneco also sells to private collectors, remodelers and sellers flipping phones on eBay. And they still supply phones to producers for TV and movies and lend phones to local theater groups and historical societies as props.

But most of their stock, which they organize by period and type, is gathering dust on shelves in boxes, barns and trailers.

Plastic and Bakelite phones from the mid-30s to the early 1950s make up the bulk of their stock, Mary said.

Theyve got 1,700 oak telephones in one trailer and at least 1,500 walnut wood ringer boxes that need finishing, Ron said. Theyre absolutely beautiful when done up, but at 83, I dont know how much more Im going to do.

And the demand for old phones isnt what it used to be, Ron said. Right now, its like prospecting for customers.

The way he sees it, his options are to auction, sell or dump.

Before, each one was like a goldmine, Ron said. Its not been like that these days. Its becoming a curse.

Jennifer Lu is the La Crosse Tribune environmental reporter. You can reach her by phone at 608-791-8217 and by email jennifer.lu@lee.net.

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In July, a Minnesota judge recommended that the Minnesota utility commission not approve the project. Minnesota Power failed to show that the natural gas plant was necessary and reasonable, the judge ruled. The commission also did not give enough consideration to alternative energy options, the judge ruled.

The Minnesota utility commission also ignored an indigenous environmental justice groups petition to require an environmental review of the project under the Minnesota Environmental Policy Act. The utilities commission said the state of Wisconsin is responsible for assessing the environmental impacts from the plant.

Burning natural gas in high efficiency power plants like Nemadji Trail produces 50 to 60 percent less carbon dioxide than coal. However, methane is a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. And leaks during production, transmission and distribution offset at least some of its benefits. Natural gas combustion also produces air pollution in the form of nitrogen oxides, a precursor to smog.
At last, squirrels have gotten the justice they deserve. After years of being held up as scapegoats for power outages, the rodents have been exonerated by the courts.

I take you to that hotbed of wisdom known as Iowa, where the state Supreme Court recently ruled that wayward electricity, not a squirrel, was to blame for $213,000 in damage to the city of West Libertys power substation.

The squirrel wasnt completely innocent. It climbed onto an electrical transformer, triggering a high-voltage spark that damaged the substation. This was bad news for West Liberty, whose insurance policy excluded damage caused by electrical arcs not related to lighting strikes. Dare I suggest West Liberty make a call to Liberty Mutual? Liberty, Liberty, Li-berty, Liii-bertyyy.

The city argued the squirrel caused the damage because it touched a 7,000-volt clamp and a grounded metal frame, causing an electrical arc and shorting out the equipment. This may seem like a risky way for a bushy-tailed pest to get its kicks, but there just isnt much else to do in Iowa.
The village of Cashton is receiving a $112,500 state grant to redevelop a vacant office building into Cashtons Cradles to Crayons, a new day care facility.

The Community Development Investment Grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) will support renovations of a 3,600-square-foot office building including updating plumbing, installing new flooring and equipping the kitchen for food preparation. The project will also include building a 2,000-square-foot addition featuring an open concept classroom.

The Cashtons Cradles to Crayons day care facility will have capacity to care for 80 children, in age groups ranging from infants to 12-year-olds. The center will be licensed by the State of Wisconsin and will participate in the YoungStar Program, Wisconsins child care quality rating and improvement system administered by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.

The new day care facility will serve to fill a child care gap in Monroe County. City officials stated that there are currently only five in-home child care centers in Cashton, of which only one is licensed.
Rough road ahead

From land acquisition to hiring of personnels-challenges abound to implement contracts under the BRI
The first of two Senate Scholars from the 32nd Senate District, Josefine Jaynes from Kickapoo High School, will be completing the 2019 Senate Scholar Program on Feb. 15.

The Senate Scholar Program is a week-long educational program offered by the Wisconsin State Senate that provides high school students with a hands-on, up-close view of the Legislatures role in our democracy. Senate Scholars gain experience in such diverse areas as policy development, constituent relations, and processing legislation by working with Senators, legislative staff, agency staff, and University of Wisconsin faculty.

As part of this program, Jaynes participated in several events in and around the State Capitol in Madison.

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Couleecap and its economic development partners have been awarded the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) Entrepreneurial Support Grant. This is the third year that Couleecap has received the award. The program supports the promotion of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial education, mentorship and training, and business and job development. The WEDC awarded $500,000 in matching grants statewide.

Funds from this grant will allow Couleecap to expand its delivery of the national CO.STARTERS entrepreneurial education program to more rural commercial districts in the Coulee Region. In partnership with La Crosse County and a local school district, Couleecap will use funds to pilot an adaptation of CO.STARTERS geared toward high school students as a way to create future entrepreneurs.

The award will also support the Viroqua Chamber Main Street award-winning Pop-Up Shop program as the program expands in Viroqua and three additional rural commercial districts. The Pop-Up Shop Program supports retail entrepreneurship and downtown development by providing entrepreneurs retail space to test their business idea rent free for three months. Couleecap will also partner with Downtown Main Street in La Crosse, La Crosse County, and the North La Crosse Business Association to use a similar model to offer Pop-Up Shop opportunities to La Crosse area entrepreneurs.
The Tomah Area School District is seeking a renewal of the current operational referendum of $1.5 million for the next four years. In 2016, residents of our school district approved a three-year non-recurring operational referendum, which allowed the district to fill a gap in revenue. The gap in funding was the result of a significant decrease in state aid. The three-year non-recurring referendum ends at the conclusion of the 2018-19 school year and, at this time, a gap in revenue still exists.

The funds from the last referendum were spent on supporting instruction, improving technology, maintaining our facilities and for the general operation of the school district. In particular, over the last three years, we have provided all students in grades 6-12 with a Chromebook and began a pilot project with iPads for our fifth-graders. We have also maintained our career-technical education classes and rigorous Advanced Placement coursework, purchasing additional online resources and materials for use. Furthermore, we have purchased thousands of books to enhance our reading curriculum at the elementary level. We have added special education teaching positions, a school counselor and a school social worker to assist us in better meeting the needs of students with disabilities, assisting high school students in career planning, and providing resources for families in need of support. Facility improvements were made as well.
Lennie and Maria Lichter have signed an agreement with the Mississippi Valley Conservancy that will permanently protect 101 acres of land in Monroe County. The agreement protects the habitat for the wild animals that live on the land near Sparta.

Some 33 species of mammals have been found there, including a rare fisher, pictured recently on a trail cam a quarter mile from the house.

Other lists kept by the couple include 10 kinds of reptiles and amphibians, 70 kinds of insects, 40 species of trees, seven species of native orchids and 10 kinds of ferns. Two threatened birds, Acadian Flycatcher and Cerulean Warblers, have both nested on the property.

In addition, more than 150 species of wildflowers have been identified.

Lennie Richter purchased the property in 1974 after a search for land in the Driftless Area.

Maria Richter came to the property in 1998. They met through Lennie Richters boss at Toro, in Tomah, where he worked for 30 years.

It was Maria Richter who first had the idea to work with MVC on the conservation agreement.
The La Crosse Area Retired Educators will meet for lunch at 11:30 a.m. March 4 at Moxies Pub, 1835 Rose St., La Crosse. Everyone who has worked in or retired from Wisconsin public schools is invited. Dr. Greg Wegner of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse History Department will be speaking on The Holocaust: The Role of Propaganda. The cost of the meal is $11. Reservations can be made through Rhonda Doely at 608-783-7101. The next LAREA meeting will be April 1.
- Fumiya Sankai is one of the Pinoy Big Brother housemates who is most favorite to win the title

- His humility, kindness, and charm attract good vibes inside the house

- Because of this, he was able to win the hearts of many Filipinos

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Fumiya Sankai seemed to have won the hearts and attention of a lot of Filipinos due to his appeal, humor, and kindness inside the Pinoy Big Brother house.

KAMI learned that even though this heartthrob is not a Pinoy by blood, he already has a huge number of supporters from the Philippines.

A lot of netizens commend the energy of this 23-year-old man and his remarkable friendship with another crowd favorite, Yamyam Gucong.

His fellow housemates seem to like this Japanese boy also as he is always saved from getting nominated for the past three weeks.

Aside from having a gentle heart and funny personality, many social media users admire Fumiya because of his look which, according to them, could make him a star someday.

Here are some of his photos:

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In a previous article by , another PBB Otso housemate Lie Reposposa finally revealed real status with Seth Fedelin.

Fumiya Sankai is one of the adult housemates in the second batch of Pinoy Big Brother Otso. He is a vlogger in the Philippines and has more than 170 thousand subscribers on Youtube.

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Social Experiment: Can I Have A Cigarette? What will Filipinos do if a 10-year-old child asks them to light his cigarette? Let us see right now.  on HumanMeter!

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- Kris Aquino turned 48 on February 14, 2019

- It turned out that Boy Abunda gave her a surprise birthday gift

- This was a surprise since Kris has posted earlier that she and Boy are no longer close like they were in the past

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Kris Aquino posted an emotional message on Instagram after receiving a birthday gift from Boy Abunda.

This was a surprise birthday gift since Kris posted earlier that she and Boy are no longer close like they were before.

For this reason, Kris penned a heartfelt message about receiving a gift from her old friend.

a video will be produced of the beautiful flowers at home, BUT this needed to be posted tonight... Thank You, Boy.

It mattered a lot that you made the effort, because REAL LOVE and TRUE FRIENDSHIP will REMEMBER the good memories and make allowances for the shortcomings, Kris wrote.

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KAMI reported earlier that Kris also got emotional after receiving a birthday surprise in Tokyo, Japan.

Kris Aquino is known as the Queen of All Media due to her success as a movie star, TV actress, talk show host, brand endorser, and social media celebrity.

Her son Bimby is her child with ex-husband James Yap. Her older son, Josh, is Kris child with former partner Philip Salvador.

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All of our actions have consequences. Find out what a father taught his son in this video regarding the reality of life. Check out our other videos  on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

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WIND POINT  A small strip of land in Wind Point is continuing to cause problems.

The village used eminent domain proceedings to acquire part of a small strip of land from SC Johnson, but Wind Meadows Corp., a condominium association, has filed a lawsuit to prevent the village from acquiring the rest of the strip.

For almost two years, Wind Point has attempted to acquire the strip. Last summer, the village said it was resorting to using eminent domain, the process in which a municipality acquires private land at fair-market value for public use.

The suit, filed Jan. 16 in Racine County Circuit Court, asserts that the villages use of eminent domain against Wind Meadows is unconstitutional.

The 2-foot-wide land strip runs the entire length of the south and west sides of Deepwood Drive surrounding 4403 N. Main St., the 5-acre village-owned property that is one of the villages last mostly undeveloped parcels. The strip is divided into four parts, one of which is owned by Wind Meadows; the other three were owned by the Johnson Wax Development Corp.

SCJ accepted a jurisdictional offer of $5,400 for the Johnson Wax Development Corp.s portions of the site, said Kelly Semrau, senior vice president of global corporate affairs for SCJ.
PM Employment Programme draws mixed reactions

The Prime Minister Employment Programme launched on Wednesday has met with mixed reactions, with experts stressing that the outcome will largely depend on how the people receive it and how the government will implement it.
Johnson, who already had three children, gave birth to a fourth child in October.

The baby was born with THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in the childs system. Probation officers were then unable to locate Johnson from Nov. 3-8 and when she did report to her probation officer, she smelled of marijuana, the judge said. Johnson was taken into custody at the Racine County Jail on Dec. 12, according to online records.

Most of what she does is based on a lot of nervousness about whats going to happen, a lot of acting out based upon that, Bates said. She does have a background that appears to be chaotic.

Johnson gave the child to a relative of the father shortly after the babys birth, but her attorney said she would like to be reunited with the infant.

Johnson spoke to the judge through tears.

Im nervous and Im scared, she repeated numerous times.

She also told Flancher that she misses her baby.

I want to do something positive with my life, Johnson said.

Flancher sentenced Johnson to nine months in jail for each misdemeanor count, to be served concurrently, with credit for 300 days served. Flancher said that should mean Johnson would be released later on Thursday.

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MADISON  Potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Beto ORourke is coming to the UW-Madison campus Friday for a meet-and-greet with students and faculty, a closely guarded event that will be the former Texas congressmans first visit to a key state in the battleground, industrial Midwest.

ORourke is scheduled to be on campus for a two-hour meeting early Friday evening. UW-Madison spokesman John Lucas said Thursday the event is not open to the press, public or anyone not affiliated with the university.

The campus Political Science Student Association organized the meeting in a room that fits about 150 people. The groups leader, Isaac Johnson, said ORourke wanted to keep the event limited to students and those affiliated with the university.

Theyre just really excited about the level of enthusiasm there has been at the university in the last election, Johnson said.

President Donald Trump carried Wisconsin in 2016 by less than a percentage point, making him the first Republican presidential candidate to win the state since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Hillary Clinton was heavily criticized for not campaigning in Wisconsin during the general election and Democrats are anxious to take it back.
As infrastructure construction moves forward in and around the Foxconn development area in Mount Pleasant, Mason said bringing smart city technology to actual cities will be similar to conversations that happened in the early 20th Century.

I really think the smart city infrastructure conversation that were going to have in the years to come will be similar to the electrification conversations that cities were having more than 100 years ago, Mason said. It really is thinking about your mobility and your connectivity and how that can work to improve lives around health care, around delivery of services, around transit and mobility and how that works.

Mason said it is important for minority and women owned businesses to be involved in constructing the infrastructure for this new technology.

I dont think this is going to be solely a publicly funded enterprise, I dont think it will work if its solely a publicly funded enterprise, Mason said. Youre going to need those partnerships.

But at its core, Mason said, smart cities need to improve how residents receive city services and how a city can respond to constituents. Otherwise, Mason said, We will have missed a real opportunity.
STURTEVANT  Frank Muto, whose family for more than 20 years operated Mutos Pizza on Durand Avenue, will be using the same building again  this time to run  The Small Hall & Catering.

From 1985 to about 2008, Muto and his parents, the late Joe and Lisa, ran Mutos Pizzeria at the building at 9225 Durand Ave. Thats when they went out of business, but the family still owns the building.

The last business in the building was Kiss the Cook Cafe, operated there for about two years  and previously for four years at 2920 Taylor Ave. in Racine  by Kookie Niemiec, with lots of help from her husband, Rob Niemiec. She opted to close Kiss the Cook last May.

We were doing OK, Niemiec said. But then Rob had a heart attack. Moreover, It was very hard to find good help, Kookie said  in fact, she said some employees were stealing from them.

Muto said the building of about 1,100 square feet is, by code, authorized to seat up to 65 people. He plans to use The Small Hall for hosting small events such as birthday parties and baby showers, and to cater from there.
STURTEVANT  Evinrude, the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) and the National Marine Distributors Association (NMDA) announced Thursday that Evinrude will donate $2 million worth of Evinrude ETec V-6 outboard engines to the ABYC Foundation to support next-generation marine technician training.

The donation, which Evinrude said is the largest of its kind in history, will support students in high schools and colleges across the U.S. and Canada. NMDA will provide funds for schools to buy related materials and to transport the engines.

The donation by Evinrude, which is based at 10101 Science Drive in Sturtevant, includes access to the entire Evinrude training curriculum including fundamentals and professional level online courses.

Upon successful completion of this curriculum and associated tests, students will have the option to make a transition to the certification-level course at Evinrudes technical training centers.

In addition to the Evinrude training curriculum, the company said highly discounted Evinrude outboard engine test tanks and Evinrude outboard educational service tool packages are available to schools.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's response to the Green New Deal idea was striking: "It will be one of several or maybe many suggestions that we receive. The green dream, or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is, but they're for it, right?"

No matter what the final result may be, the upstarts have been empowered relative to the establishment.

The true innovator in all of this, of course, is President Donald Trump. He used Twitter to help himself get elected, at the expense of the traditional view of what the Republican Party should be.

This trend will almost certainly continue and intensify. Most politicians do not have excellent social media skills, but many will try to get noticed and have an impact (or at least hire staff members who will). As more politicians up their game on social media, more of these attempts will hit home. Ocasio-Cortez will have competition. The influence and reach of political celebrities will grow stronger, and the parties will become weaker yet.

This may be a more important trend than what is sometimes called political polarization. But what does this new, more intense celebrity culture mean for actual outcomes?
No looking back

There has to be pluralism and inclusion in federalism which are its primary values
GERING  A Colorado resident is accused of sexually assaulting an underage girl when she was an art student of his.

Scotts Bluff County Court records say 45-year-old Steven J. Barraza, of Englewood, Colorado, is charged with sexual assault of a child. Records showed Friday that he remained in Scotts Bluff County Adult Detention Center, pending $150,000 bail. Barraza was arrested Jan. 30 in Colorado.

The court records say the girl reported that they had sex twice in 2014, once at Barraza's Gering home, where he gave art lessons, and once at a motel.

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The University of Nebraska celebrated its 150th anniversary Friday with several events at its Lincoln campuses.

Festivities to commemorate the day included an open house at the Wick Alumni Center, a gala at the Lied Center for Performing Arts and a celebration at the Dairy Store on East Campus.

The Dairy Store event included the unveiling of a new "Nifty 150" ice cream flavor.

"We wanted to embody the school's spirit," said Dairy Store manager LeRoy Braden. "This isn't just an ice cream flavor, it represents something much bigger."

The cold creation consists of vanilla ice cream, strawberry ice cream and chocolate chips. During the event Friday, temperatures remained in the low teens with steady snowfall, but that didn't stop many UNL students from getting their fill of free ice cream.

"Any event like this creates energy and positivity while also creating a stronger sense of community," said Catherine Jones, a student at UNL. "All of those things work together to make Nebraska great."

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Added student Matthew Morton: "Just to celebrate the 150 years and be active at this university is great. It's nice to celebrate all the work that's been done and I'm looking forward to all the work that will be done in the future."
A Seward County sheriff's deputy was arrested by the Nebraska State Patrol on Friday on suspicion of first-degree sexual assault following an investigation that began in November, according to a news release.

Investigators allege Nicholas Bridgmon, 30, of Pleasant Dale, was involved in a sexual assault that occurred in 2007 outside Cook, according to the release. The state patrol also said there may be additional victims.

Bridgmon, who has been with the sheriff's office since 2015, has been placed on administrative leave.

Seward County Sheriff Mike Vance said there is no reason to believe any misconduct occurred while Bridgmon was employed with the sheriff's office and an internal investigation is underway.

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After spending the first few weeks at 14th and P streets, they eventually moved into the space vacated by Hudl above Old Chicago at Eighth and P streets.

That open loft space meant staff attorneys needed to double- and triple-up, and they turned the kitchen there into a conference room, he said.

Meanwhile at the Terminal Building, two or three people a week showed up looking for Legal Aid as the building was renovated.

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But people needing legal consultation still found the nonprofit, Mumgaard said.

Staff exceeded or met the number of pro-se clients advised or cases they took in previous years despite a nearly two-month scramble to get the operation up and running again.

A decision was ultimately made to return to its home of 35 years, but it proved hundreds of thousands of dollars more cost-effective to move to the third floor rather than refurbish the eighth floor, Mumgaard said.

In their new space, attorneys will again be able to have their own offices, and a modern self-help center will aid walk-in clients working on their own legal matters, he said.

That fire was the only blaze in the historic building that property officials could recall, said owner Arnold Wassenberg.
It may not be the best business practice, she said. But its not discrimination."

Elliott said Khalil, who is a Lincoln police officer now, struggled on paramedic calls, but that had nothing to do with her race or sex. No one was out to get her. Thats why shes still working for the city, she said.

There is absolutely nothing that would make a reasonable person think that Ms. Khalil was being discriminated against, Elliott said.

She said Hurd just saw it as an opportunity to get back at the people he thought had wronged him.

In a radio interview about the lawsuit, when asked if the discrimination hed seen was based on a persons race or sex, Hurd said "no, nothing like that. Instead, he said it was related to performance.

Elliott said he was telling the truth then.

It wasnt until he realized that by saying it was discrimination they can put down all those zeros on that verdict form, she said, referring to his attorney's suggestion that, if the jury finds in Hurds favor, that the amount they award him "should be big."

Thats when it became about race and gender, Elliott said. Not until he could get something out of it.
A video of a black animal getting a nice scratch is spreading quickly around the internet as people take sides in yet another great debate.
Redrawing political boundaries will be a new experience for 48 of Nebraska's 49 state senators when the Legislature tackles the task in two short years.

The only lawmaker who was in the Legislature during the last redistricting process, in 2011, was Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop, who returned to the body after sitting out four years because of term limits. He'll be around in 2021, but Sen. Ernie Chambers, who has also been through the process, will be out because of term limits.

The lack of experience, as well as a tendency for Nebraska to change how it approaches redistricting each decade, has led to several attempts to codify best practices into law.

This year, a pair of Omaha lawmakers have offered plans that would create greater statutory clarity for the 2021 redistricting and beyond, providing the Legislature a divergent set of options to pursue.

The first is Sen. Sara Howard's plan (LB466), which would keep the Legislature's Redistricting Committee intact while standing up more guidelines and greater opportunities for public feedback.
Officials at the Lincoln Airport took another step Friday toward facilitating the temporary move of U.S. Air Force planes based at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue to Lincoln later this year.

During a special meeting Friday morning, the Airport Authority approved lease and construction agreements with the Air Force that cover needed improvements, facility rentals and other items needed for the airport to temporarily host aircraft from the 55th Wing during a runway replacement project at Offutt.

Overall, the contract is worth about $26 million, a tab the Air Force will pick up. The Airport Authority also will receive a 15 percent "service provider fee," because it is essentially acting as a general contractor and overseeing all the work, said Airport Executive Director David Haring.

The Air Force must still approve the deal, a process that's likely to take a couple of weeks, said Lt. Col. Vance Goodfellow, deputy commander of the 55th Wing's Mission Support Group.

Construction could start sometime in March, with all work scheduled to be done by about Thanksgiving. Goodfellow said it will then take anywhere from two weeks to a month for the 55th Wing to get set up on the ground at the airport, meaning people should start seeing Air Force planes in Lincoln "by Christmas."
Tributes, activism, safety drills mark 1 year since Parkland

By KANTELE FRANKO, Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  Some students around the country marked the anniversary of the school massacre in Parkland, Florida, with moments of silence Thursday or somber vigils while others sought to find threads of positivity in the fabric of tragedy.

Boardman High School in northeast Ohio had a "legacy lockdown" including an active-shooter drill, a chime ringing once for each of the 17 victims from Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and an opportunity to applaud local emergency responders.

It repeated an event they did weeks after the Florida shooting: Students practiced hiding during the drill, then lined the hallways to clap and cheer as dozens of police and other responders walked through the school.

Seventeen-year-old senior Jack Pendleton, who helped plan that as a non-political response to what happened, said it's a way to help students feel safer and responders feel more appreciated.

"We turn away from the dread and have to look more toward who's helping us," he said.

Near Washington, a group of students advocating for stricter gun control displayed 671 white T-shirts outside Bethesda Chevy Chase High School as a "Memorial to Our Lives," with each bearing the name and age of a teenage victim of gun violence from 2018. That, too, expands on a display they initiated last year after the Parkland shooting.

Emily Schrader, an 18-year-old senior, said the display conveys outrage and loss, but the students who hung up the shirts Thursday morning also felt hopeful about demonstrating solidarity with victims of gun violence.

"Bringing it back to our school may be a way to allude to the student activism for the past year but also to keep the focus of the day on the victims and make sure that the stories and lives of the victims are being told," Schrader said.

Students in suburban Kansas City sent kids in Parkland thousands of notes of encouragement written on labels affixed to chocolate candy bars, which were delivered to the high school earlier this week, The Kansas City Star reported .

Educators were remembering, too. In New York, the Buffalo Teachers Federation encouraged people to wear orange  as hunters do for gun safety  and join with others nationwide dedicating a moment of silence to mark the shooting.

Leaders of the nation's largest teachers' unions, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, issued statements remembering the Parkland victims, honoring survivors and urging legislation to reduce gun violence and improve school safety.

In Parkland, the 14 students and three staff members who died were being honored quietly through an interfaith service and service projects by students.

A Facebook page set up for mobilizing Stoneman Douglas alumni urged people to participate in an online vigil by posting pictures of lit candles with the hashtag #17Eagles. Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo was among the alumni tweeting in remembrance of the victims.

How to sensitively commemorate school tragedies is part of broader guidance the National Association of Secondary School Principals is working to put together this year to help principals in the aftermath of such situations, NASSP spokesman Bob Farrace said. It will be based on conversations with school leaders who have dealt with shootings over the past two decades, he said.

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Nepal governments new Information Technology bill draws battle lines against free speech

A new Information Technology bill proposed by the KP Sharma Oli administration giving sweeping powers to authorities to block social media platforms if they are not registered in Nepal has raised alarm, as rights advocates say it curtails freedom of speech online and increases surveillance of personal data.
OAKLAND -- State Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, has backed a resolution urging the U.S. Congress separates Chicago from the rest of Illinois

More a symbolic gesture than anything else, at least for the representative, the resolution filed by state Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, asks that the city of Chicago become its own state, the 51st state.

Miller said he does not expect the measure to go anywhere, but hopes it starts "a conversation" about what he said is inequity of representation in the state.

This has not been the first or even second attempt to split up Illinois at the Chicago-area border. Former Charleston state Rep. Reggie Phillips filed a nearly identical resolution last year.

Miller believes Chicago-area lawmakers are "disconnected" from the issues and beliefs of the "downstate" as mentioned in the resolution on several occasions.

"Everything they are doing affects us negatively where we live here, particularly in the 100th," Miller said. "I have come to the conclusion that we just think differently."

For Miller, House Bill 922's momentum best exemplified this division. This bill, which made it through the state education committee, provides that a school district shall make feminine hygiene products available, at no cost to students, in each bathroom of every school building. This would include men's rooms, Miller noted.

Miller thinks most residents in his district do not feel the same way as upstate lawmakers about necessitating that feminine products be made available in the men's rooms.

Miller also said these upstate lawmakers are unwavering and not interested in compromise. In his eyes, the voice of downstate voters is not heard.

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Group asks Coles County Board to change meeting prayer CHARLESTON -- A group addressed the Coles County Board on Wednesday and asked that it change its longstanding tradition of a prayer to open it

"They really didn't have any desire to get along with us, and they don't have to because it is 74, 44," he said. "When Representative Halbrook introduced that house resolution, I thought I would like to be a part of that, not because of economics."

Mattoon resident Anthony Coffey is no big fan of Chicago and its politics either, but he is not sure if separating from them is a solution.

"They pretty much seem to dictate up north a lot of what goes on down here and in the rest of the state," Coffey said. "But then again, I am sure in some situations that is not true either. Maybe we have more of a voice than what I realize."

Coffey fears this kind of resolution could further divide an already partisan state.

"If you are separating them, that just puts them farther away from each other," Coffey said.

Jessica Fishel of Mattoon sees the notion of splitting from Chicago as "ridiculous." She said she does see room for better representation downstate, but not by splitting off.

"Most of the people who have a negative view of Chicago have not really left where they were born," she said.

A group of Cumberland County-area residents in support of the move will be rallying and gathering signatures for an petition advocating the split Saturday at the American Legion in Neoga and Toledo and the Greenup Veterans of Foreign Wars post.

Miller is expected to take part the demonstrations.

Contact Jarad Jarmon at (217) 238-6839. Follow him on Twitter: @JJarmonReporter

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MATTOON -- City officials are looking into options for reducing a projected deficit of approximately $815,389 in the 2019-20 municipal budget that they are preparing.

As part of this effort, the Mattoon City Council held a budget work session with the city's department directors Thursday morning in the Lone Elm Room at the train depot. They have scheduled another session for 9 a.m. Feb. 27 at this location to help ready the budget for a vote by the council in April.

City Administrator Kyle Gill said after Thursday's work session that department directors had trimmed the budget deficit down from $926,110 to $815,389 prior to the meeting on Thursday. Gill added the city is currently operating under a 2018-19 budget that has a projected deficit of approximately $417,000.

Officials have attributed the budget deficit to rising pension, health insurance and other personnel costs, as well as minimal growth in local revenue from sales and property taxes.

Both council members Rick Hall and Preston Owen said during the work session that personnel costs now comprise nearly 80 percent of the budget's general fund. Owen said this leaves few options for cutting costs.

"The fact of the matter is, we can't afford the people," Owen said of the personnel costs. "The only thing we can cut is people."

Chief Jason Taylor said he knows that the Mattoon Police Department could face layoffs due to the deficit troubles. Taylor said he trimmed $52,537 from the department's budget in 2018 to help with city cost-cutting efforts, but now has little discretionary spending left to cut.

During his presentation, Taylor said the police department responds to approximately 2,670 calls per month, with the year-round average of 4.8 officers on duty each 12-hour shift. He said with the union contract requiring eight firefighters on duty per 24-hour shift, the fire department responds to approximately 80 calls per month.

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Taylor said the police department received $6.3 million in budget funding, of which $168,000 was utilized to provide overtime pay to officers in 2018, while the fire department received $6 million and spent $562,000 on overtime. He asked the council to re-evaluate the manner in which funding is distributed to the city's various departments.

"We can do more with less money and not have any reductions in services," Taylor said.

Council member Owen responded that the city cannot "wave a magic wand" to reallocate funding. He added that the city is limited by union contract restrictions, such as the Mattoon firefighter union's current contract requiring that 30 firefighters be on staff.

During the work session, firefighter Kenny Clatfelter had conversations back and forth with council members about their vote to eliminate the fire department's ambulance service last summer as a cost-cutting measure and about ongoing contract negotiations and grievance filings.

Clatfelter said he thinks council members have portrayed the firefighter union as being unreasonable. He said the union has been willing to make concessions, including on cutting staff.

"The definition of 'reasonable' on your end and my end is very different," Clatfelter said.

Council member Dave Cox said some residents have asked about seeking referendum approval for a sales tax for public safety funding. He said this referendum would have to originate from the community, not the council. He said the current economic environment might not be favorable to a sales tax referendum.

Gill said at the close of the meeting that the city is looking at several options for generating revenue, such as annexation and economic development projects, and for cutting expenses, such as cooperation with other communities on cost sharing and "doing more with less."

"We definitely have to look at all aspects," Gill said.

Contact Rob Stroud at (217) 238-6861. Follow him on Twitter: @TheRobStroud

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MATTOON -- Google announced Friday morning that it will award an additional $250,000 Google grant to renovate office space at the Mattoon mall for a planned Cross County Innovation Center that will provide startup space for entrepreneurs.

On Feb. 7, the Innovation Center committee announced that the project had received a $75,000 grant from the Google.org Impact Challenge program and was among 10 nonprofit projects in Illinois in the running for the $250,000 grant. The winner of the larger grant was based on which project received the most votes online.

Several members of the Innovation Center committee were in attendance at the Google corporate campus in Chicago when the announcement was made about the Google.org Impact Challenge program grant.

Committee member Ed Dowd, who is executive director of the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce, said he was pleasantly surprised to hear that Mattoon's volunteer-based project had received the most votes of the more than 50,000 cast in this competition, which includes several large projects with paid staff in the Chicago area.

"We were up against several major organizations," Dowd said. He added that, "We are small but we are mighty."

Innovation Center organizers held a Feb. 7 event at the Cross County Mall in Mattoon to announce that a statewide grant competition selected 10 Illinois nonprofits, including the Cross County project, with ideas to create economic opportunities in their communities.

The Mattoon in Motion community planning effort is behind the project. The center is one of Mattoon in Motion's economic development goals.

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The Mattoon-based Rural King company, which owns the Cross County Mall, is donating space for the Innovation Center. Rural King has reported that the center will be located in approximately 6,000 square feet of office space on the north side of the Cross County Mall, just west of the entrance to the former Carson's store.

The center will serve as a mixed-use, co-working space for small businesses, startups, and nonprofit organizations. Members of the Innovation Center will receive a variety of business support services. The space will also be the new home for the ClassE program that helps Coles County high school students learn how to become entrepreneurs.

Blake Pierce, director of real estate for Rural King, said Friday afternoon that the company will now finalize the design for the Innovation Center so that renovation work can begin there. He said the additional $250,000 in Google grant funding will enable the project to proceed quickly.

"Our goal is to have it open by August. That way when the ClassE program resumes in the fall, they will be able to utilize it," Pierce said.

Organizers have reported that the initial $75,000 grant will fund the first of three phases for the development of the Innovation Center.

The first phase will focus on retrofitting the space and updating the electrical, plumbing and communication lines. The second phase of the project will provide completed work spaces with finished interior design and is projected to cost approximately $250,000-$300,000. The third phase will include more community partnership for support services and operations.

Pierce said the Innovation Center committee wants to thank the many community members who cast their votes online for this project to be the recipient of the $250,000 grant.

"We are very appreciative of everyone who took the time to do that," Pierce said.

Contact Rob Stroud at (217) 238-6861. Follow him on Twitter: @TheRobStroud

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MATTOON -- A Mattoon woman faces charges accusing her of engaging in sex acts with a 15-year-old boy last month.

Hilary M. Rawlings was arrested on Wednesday and later posted bond, according to Coles County jail records. She pleaded not guilty to the charges against her during a hearing later that day.

Rawlings, 34, for whom records list an address of 617 Richmond Ave., is charged with criminal sexual assault. The charges accuse her of engaging in oral sex and intercourse with the boy when he was younger than 18.

She faces six counts of the offense in all. Some allege different sex acts and also that the boy couldn't consent or that she was in a position of supervision or authority over him at the time.

A conviction for criminal sexual assault requires a prison sentence with a conviction and the possible sentencing range is four to 15 years.

Coles County State's Attorney Jesse Danley said authorities believe the sex acts took place in Rawlings' home.

Since the arrest, Rawlings' employment has drawn concern from community members. Rawlings is a school nurse at Eastern Illinois Area Special Education (EIASE) Life Academy in Mattoon, which serves students with disabilities from eight area counties.

Tony Reeley, EIASE executive director, said the victim alleged in the case was not an EIASE student and that the reported crimes did not take place on EIASE time.

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Reeley noted also that students are frequently monitored by multiple staff members at one time.

Rawlings was hired in December of 2017. Reeley said Rawlings has been suspended following the arrest.

He added that background checks are conducted on incoming employees against state, federal, and other criminal registries. Rawlings did not raise criminal red flags.

She was also hired in the Mattoon school district as a substitute nurse in early 2017, but did not actually work in the district and was "dropped" later that year, said David Skocy, assistant superintendent of human resources in Mattoon.

Charleston attorney Chris Wetzel is representing Rawlings but attempts to contact him weren't successful.

Danley said Rawlings turned herself in at the county jail then posted bond. Her bond amount, $10,000, was based in part on her lack of a criminal record, he said.

During the court appearance, Rawlings' next hearing was scheduled for May 13.

County jail records indicate that Rawlings' bond was set at level that would required $10,000 to be posted for release.

Photos: 2019 mug shots from the JG-TC

Contact Jarad Jarmon at (217) 238-6839. Follow him on Twitter: @JJarmonReporter

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CHARLESTON -- A man who once faced a requirement of prison time for drug offenses received the maximum probation term at sentencing.

Christopher D. Hoelfer was once suspected of supplying drugs that led to overdoses, but the case's prosecutor said that ultimately wasn't conclusive. The prosecutor and sentencing judge also noted his progress in treatment.

Hoefler, 45, for whom records show an address in Bloomington, formerly of rural Charleston and Mattoon, received a 2 1/2-year probation term for selling a prescription muscle relaxant in September 2015.

Hoefler pleaded guilty to a charge of delivery of a controlled substance in October. There was no agreement on a sentence at that time but the prosecution agreed to dismiss a charge alleging he also sold fentanyl, which would have required prison time.

Case records indicate that the East Central Illinois Task Force drug investigation unit conducted a controlled buy of both drugs on Hoefler at the Mattoon residence where he lived at the time.

At the time of his arrest, police said they suspected him of supplying opioids to two people who overdosed.

However, Coles County Assistant State's Attorney Joy Wolf, who prosecuted the case, said there was no firm evidence of that. At sentencing, she and Circuit Judge Brien O'Brien noted the progress Hoefler made in treatment.

Probation terms included continued substance abuse treatment along with payment of fines and court fees. Jail time was stayed, meaning Hoefler won't have to serve it unless there are violations.

Reasons the case took more than three years to resolve included Hoefler's time in treatment and changes in both prosecuting and defense attorneys.

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O'Brien based the sentence on recommendations from Wolf and defense attorney Chris Wetzel.

In other drug cases in court recently, guilty pleas were entered by:

Brooke D. Brown, 22, whose address on record is 116 Fourth St., Charleston, to a methamphetamine possession charge accusing her of having the drug on Jan. 13.

Brown also pleaded guilty to an aggravated battery charge alleging she hit a police officer who arrested her.

A misdemeanor theft charge accusing her of stealing merchandise from the Mattoon Walmart was dismissed.

For both offenses, Brown was sentenced to two years of probation. Terms included an evaluation for substance abuse treatment, payment of various fines and stayed jail time.

Circuit Judge James Glenn sentenced her by accepting the terms of a plea agreement that State's Attorney Jesse Danley and Public Defender Anthony Ortega recommended.

Brandon A. Grady, 34, for whom records list an address of homeless, Mattoon, to a charge alleging he had methamphetamine on Dec. 22.

Grady was sentenced to two years of probation and received a record of unsuccessful completion of the probation he received for a conviction for a 2017 misdemeanor domestic battery offense.

Glenn accepted a plea agreement that prosecutor Jennifer Mudge and Ortega recommended.

Contact Dave Fopay at (217) 238-6858. Follow him on Twitter: @FopayDave

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According to MMM, a lack of clean drinking water and basic sanitation is responsible for the deaths of more people on an annual basis than all forms of violence, including wars. There are 663 million people who lack access to clean water, the majority of which do not have the financial means to change that. More than half of those people live in Africa. The organization installed 3,015 new wells in 2018, at the cost of $400 per well. Each well provides clean water for an average of 123 people and, just as importantly, each build includes a long-term maintenance plan to keep the wells functioning. Froeschle traveled with MMM on a mission trip to Africa to help install wells last fall.
CHS seniors Jake Wilson and Gage Gough traveled with a fourteen-person group from Home Church to Jacmel, Haiti. The trip was January 20th to 27th, 2019.

The group stayed at a school called the House of Abraham. This school serves the local community and provides around thirty children from ages three to seventeen with an opportunity to get an education and pursue their faith.

The group helped build a multi-purpose center, but the boys say the main goal was to build relationships with the children and the workers.

Gage Gough explained, Haitians are nothing short of amazing. Even though they dont understand us and we dont understand them, their love still poured out on us. Our motto for the trip was, Love needs no translation, and that couldnt have been more true. We experienced Gods love through their love and thats something I wish everyone in America could experience!

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Introduction



In just 50 years, almost a million Jews, whose communities stretch back up to 3,000 years, have been 'ethnically cleansed' from 10 Arab countries. These refugees outnumber the Palestinian refugees two to one, but their narrative has all but been ignored. Unlike Palestinian refugees, they fled not war, but systematic persecution. Seen in this light, Israel, where some 50 percent of the Jewish population descend from these refugees and are now full citizens, is the legitimate expression of the self-determination of an oppressed indigenous, Middle Eastern people.

This website is dedicated to preserving the memory of the near-extinct Jewish communities, which can never return to what and where they once were - even if they wanted to. It will attempt to pass on the stories of the Jewish refugees and their current struggle for recognition and restitution. Awareness of the injustice done to these Jews can only advance the cause of peace and reconciliation.

(Iran: once an ally of Israel, the Islamic Republic of Iran is now an implacable enemy and numbers of Iranian Jews have fallen drastically from 80,000 to 20,000 since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Their plight - and that of all other communities threatened by Islamism - does therefore fall within the scope of this blog.)
But this was no secret even at the start. In 1962, long before the Regime came to power, founder Ruhollah Khomeini wrote to the Shah about need to take the right to vote away from women, thus denying them a voice in politics. So, it was no surprise when, just two weeks after the 1979 Revolution, Khomeini began depriving women of their human rights.

By March of 1979, Khomeini had abolished the Family Protection Law, which provided women with rights in the family, abolished womens social services, and stopped female judges from participating in the judicial process.

Then, throughout the 1980s, thousands of female Iranian dissidents, including teenage girls, pregnant women and elderly mothers, were executed for exercising freedom of speech. (According to human rights groups, Iran is the only country on earth that executes or tortures women for political dissent.)

His motto was either the veil or a hit on the head, which translates to women obeying him or being punished.

Why? Because he believed, thanks to a willfully ignorant interpretation of Islam, that gender equality was a fundamental violation of the Quran. In fact, he even wrote in his book that it was not even necessary for a husband to inform his wife was divorcing her, let alone ask for consent.

And things did not improve when his successor Ali Khamenei took over. In 2010, the Regime extended its so-called morality laws and tasked 26 institutions with cracking down on women who violated them. This led to club-wielding vice patrols attacking women in the streets from being improperly veiled. In 2014, many women were stabbed or splashed with acid by these vicious gangs.

The Womens Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran released a statement in December, where they explain that the misogynistic policies continue to this day, citing that nearly 1,000 women were arrested for peaceful political activism in 2018 alone. But that is far from the most disturbing part of their report.

They write that since President Hassan Rouhani took office in 2013:

 87 women have been executed

 The Regime gutted the Elimination of Violence Against Women bill, which has still not been ratified 13 years after being proposed, removing nearly half of its 90 articles and renaming it the Provision of Security for Women

 Refused to increase the minimum age of marriage for girls to 15, describing it as unnecessary, even though child marriage is a major contributor to domestic abuse and poverty for these girls

The Womens Committee wrote: Iranian women, however, never remained silent over the past 40 years. They joined the struggle against the mullahs religious tyranny in step with men. Today, they hold the leadership of the main opposition force to the mullahs regime, the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). With such role models, we can see Iranian women in the streets, participating in most protests against the regime, speaking out for their rights, and paying the price for freedom and turn the page of history in their homeland.
Nepal condemns terrorist attack in India-administered Kashmir

Nepal has condemned the deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir of India on Thursday that claimed at least 40 lives of Indian paramilitary police personnel.
Warning Pakistan that it cannot weaken India by orchestrating attacks such as the one on CRPF jawans in Pulwama, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, 15 February said those responsible will pay "a very heavy price" and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

Making it clear that India means business, the Cabinet Committee on Security, which met on Friday morning, decided to withdraw the most favoured nation status to Pakistan.

It would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country. India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated.

Also Read: Photo of CRPF Jawan Killed in Pulwama Is of the Wrong Man

In a hard-hitting speech at the launch of Vande Bharat train 18, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished.

"Security forces have been given complete freedom, the blood of the people is boiling...Our neighbouring country, which has been isolated internationally, thinks such terror attacks can destabilise us, but their plans will not materialise," Modi said.

On 14 February, an explosives laden truck rammed into a CRPF convoy in Pulwama outside Srinagar, killing 40 soldiers in one of the biggest terror attacks in recent years.

Briefing reporters after the CCS meeting, which is unusual, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said all efforts will be made to ensure that perpetrators of the attack are brought to book.

He said those aiding and abating the perpetrators will have to "pay a heavy price".

Jaitley said the Ministry of External Affairs will launch an all out effort to isolate Pakistan and all diplomatic efforts will be launched in this regard.

Also Read: End Support, Safe Haven to Terror Groups, US Tells Pak on Pulwama

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be visiting Srinagar on Friday and would convene an all-party meeting most likely on Saturday to brief political parties on the incident so that the nation speaks in one voice on the issue.

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"My condolences to families of those martyred in Pulwama attack, those behind the terror strike will pay a very heavy price," Modi said.

"I am thankful to all nations which condemned Pulwama attack and urge them to come together to crush terrorism. The forces behind this act of terrorism and those responsible for it, will be definitely be punished," he said.

Appealing to his critics to not politicise the tragedy, Modi said the attacks have left the country emotional.

"I understand the sentiments of those criticising us but I urge them that it is an emotional time, so stay away from political one-upmanship," he said.

Also Read: A Day After Pulwama Attack, Protests & Curfew Grip Parts of Jammu

. Read more on India by The Quint.RSS & BJPs Nehru-Netaji Cosplay: Irony Dies a Thousand Deaths40 CRPF Jawans Who Were Martyred in J&Ks Pulwama Terror Attack . Read more on India by The Quint.
FILE PHOTO: Former Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas gestures ahead of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry probing state capture in Johannesburg FILE PHOTO: Former Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas gestures ahead of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry probing state capture in Johannesburg, South Africa August 24, 2018. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa has provisionally withdrawn an arrest warrant for Ajay Gupta, a businessman and friend of former president Jacob Zuma, police said on Friday, in a setback for the government's promised fight against corruption.

Former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas accused Gupta of offering him a large bribe and the position of finance minister if he would help the Gupta family with business ventures in South Africa.

Gupta denied wrongdoing and fought the accusation through his lawyers after prosecutors opened cases against him and Zuma's son Duduzane, in whose presence Gupta allegedly offered Jonas the bribe and cabinet post.

"The warrant for Ajay Gupta was provisionally withdrawn," said Hangwani Mulaudzi, a spokesman for the Hawks police unit, without elaborating on the reason for the withdrawal.

"But it can be reinstated."

South African prosecutors provisionally withdrew charges against Duduzane Zuma last month.

A lawyer for Gupta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Gupta and his family have denied there was anything untoward in their relationship with former president Zuma, but their ties are being investigated in an influence-peddling inquiry that could take months or years to be concluded.

The Gupta family's whereabouts are not publicly known.

They left South Africa last year, around the time that Jacob Zuma resigned under pressure from the ruling African National Congress. His successor President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to root out corruption in Africa's most advanced economy.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Andrew Cawthorne)
With his hands folded and head bowed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi walked around 40 coffins draped in tricolour on Friday, 15 February, as he led the nation in paying last respects to the CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama terror attack.

The bodies of the slain troopers reached Delhi's Palam air force area in a special Indian Air Force (IAF) plane in the evening. The bodies were received by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Decorated with white floral arrangements, 40 coffins wrapped in tricolour were neatly arranged in the hanger, where senior officials of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) laid wreaths one by one in a solemn ceremony, officials said.

Also Read: 40 CRPF Jawans Who Were Martyred in J&Ks Pulwama Terror Attack

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the chiefs of the three services  Army, Air Force and Navy  and senior cabinet ministers, including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, also paid their homage to the slain CRPF personnel, they added.

Gandhi, who was standing alongside Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, politely asked the general to give way to him for paying his respects.

After the dignitaries paid their homage, the prime minister, dressed in white with a dark-coloured shawl, arrived in the hanger and went straight to the podium where the coffins were kept, officials said.

He stood in silence for a few moments, before taking a round of the coffins with his hands folded and head bowed.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Also Read: Fake Picture of Rahul Gandhi Meeting Pulwama Attacker Goes Viral

. Read more on News Videos by The Quint.RSS & BJPs Nehru-Netaji Cosplay: Irony Dies a Thousand DeathsMan Apprehended in Shooting at Illinois Industrial Park in US . Read more on News Videos by The Quint.
Several CRPF men were killed in an attack in Awantipora on Thursday. (Express photo/Shuaib Masoodi)

As many as 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in a major terror attack carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammad in south Kashmirs Awantipora area Thursday. The suicide bomber, who was identified as a local militant, rammed an explosive-laden car into the CRPF bus which was going from Jammu to Srinagar. Security personnel are probing the incident. Home Minister Rajnath Singh will visit the site tomorrow.

Here's a timeline of 10 major terror attacks which took place in Jammu and Kashmir:

February 2018: Six Army personnel and one civilian was killed after a group of suspected JeM terrorists had sneaked into the Sunjwan military station in February last year. Intelligence inputs had warned an attack on the army or security establishment by the terror outfit in view of the death anniversary of Afzal Guru who was hanged on February 9, 2013.

December 2017-January 2018: Five CRPF personnel were killed and three others were injured in a 24-hour long encounter between the Border Security Forces (BSF) and suspected JeM militants in South Kashmir's Lethapora. Three militants were also neutralised during the gun battle.

December 2017: Five soldiers and two gunmen were killed when militants stormed a CPRF camp in a pre-dawn strike in South Kashmir. The attack was claimed by JeM, whose top leader was gunned down in the district days during the same month.

July 2017: Eight Amarnath pilgrims were killed and 15 were injured when militants attacked a bus carrying at least 56 passengers at Botengo village near Anantnag, on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, in south Kashmir. Abu Ismail, the operational commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the Kashmir Valley and the mastermind of the attack, was gunned down by security forces at Aribagh Nowgam on the outskirts of Srinagar later in September.

November 2016: A terror strike at an Army base in Nagrota, near Jammu, claimed the lives of seven security personnel. Three terrorists were also killed in the same attack, the biggest terror strike since the September 18 Uri attack.

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September 2016: Twenty soldiers were killed in a militant attack in Uri area of Baramulla district. Fidayeen militants stormed an Army camp in Uri near the Line of Control (LoC) in the wee hours of the day. Four militants were killed in the encounter.

June 2016: Eight CRPF personnel were killed and 20 others were injured after militants attacked their convoy at Frestbal near Pampore in Srinagar on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

January 2016: A group of heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists struck at an Air Force base in Pathankot seven security personnel were killed along with six attackers.

December 2015: Six CRPF personnel were injured when militants opened fire on their convoy near Green Tunnel at Samthan in Bijbehara in south Kashmirs Anantnag District.

November 2015: Three JeM militants and a generator operator of MES was killed when a group of militants attacked an Army camp near LoC at Tanghdar in North Kashmirs Kupwara District.

March 2015: A fidayeen squad of militants in Army fatigues stormed a police station in Kathua district killing seven persons, including three SF personnel, two civilians and two militants. Twelve persons, including eight CRPF personnel, three cops and a civilian were also injured in the incident.
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has carried out a limited Cabinet reshuffle, relinquishing the foreign minister's position he held for several months himself, following the successful completion of a deal with the country's northern neighbor which changed its name to North Macedonia.

Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos on Friday named Alternate Foreign Minister George Katrougalos as the new foreign minister.

Tzanakopoulos said that as the agreement with North Macedonia on the country's name change had now come into effect, "the prime minister ... no longer deems it necessary to retain the portfolio of the foreign ministry."

New deputy ministers were also announced for the foreign affairs, labor, infrastructure, migration and Macedonia-Thrace portfolios. A swearing-in ceremony will be held Monday after Tsipras returns from a scheduled visit to Munich.
A piece of advice for all those who are looking to upgrade their mobile phones this year  be patient! For, close on the heels of rumors from Apple insiders, comes the expected reports that Google is planning a slew of launches over the next six to eight months, the marquee among them being a cheaper version of the Pixel phones.

Published reports suggest that while the phone launch is part of a price rejig and a much sharper focus on the emerging markets, which in todays jargon is supposed to mean India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The reasons are obvious Apple priced the latest iPhone XR at $749 while the Pixel 3 cost $799. So, quickly getting a Lite version of their latest offering was quite appropriate for Google that now perceives India as a big market.

The new phone is being spoken about as Googles first non-premium model and could boast of features present in the Pixel 3, according to the report in the Nikkei Asian Review. What remains to be seen is whether the company limits the release to just one Lite version or go whole hog and also come out with a stripped-down version of the larger Pixel 3. The screen sizes being speculated about are 5.5 inch and 6-inch respectively for the two phones.

However, unlike the Apple launches that boasted of a base storage capacity of 64 GB, the two phones from Google may continue to offer 32 GB of space with additional memory slots that can be filled up as per the users requirements. The report also mentions that Google may launch its next premium version Pixel phone later this year too.

This means that the launch of the lighter versions may just happen over the next couple of months. There have been reports that both the Lite versions may hit the market in the United States on the Verizon network.

But, thats not all from the Internet giants stable. There are reports that Google is betting big on the wearables market as well as in the smart speakers and smart cams space. The company has hired a large number of hardware engineers including more than 2000 that they took on board from HTC close to two years back in 2017.

Story continues

With iPhone sales been sluggish over the past 12 months, Apple could face more problems if some of these rumors turn out to be reality. Not only is Google focusing on the Pixel phone, its recent search for a Vice President to lead the wearables team, suggest that the smartwatch market is the next in line for the company.

Though details are scarce about the new product, it is pretty obvious that the company has already got the wherewithal to tweak its operating system for launch the smart watches. And one needs to only recall Googles deal with Fossil to purchase some of the latters intellectual property by paying $ 40 million a few weeks ago, and the story appears even more likely.

The company has shied away from launching its own brand of smartwatches, preferring instead to work with LG and other partners in the past. However, the latest reports suggest a change of mindset, something that could bring more sleepless nights to the beleaguered Apple.

Because, if Tim doesnt Cook up something soon, Apple could lose considerable sheen, both with the customers and at the stock market!
Many children in Tarai districts of Province 5 are still out of school

Many children in Tarai districts of Province 5 are still out of school. Most of these children come from impoverished background, mainly from Muslim and Madhesi communities. The dropout rate among the children from these two communities is also high.




IceViking strongly condemns physical attacks and harassment directed towards them.





They are also often victims of the Islamic idea. This is true when it comes to the cruel and tragic treatment of Muslim women and children when it is in accord with the Koran, the example of Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia, which may be applied regardless of where a Muslim male may find himself in the world, whether in a Muslim or non-Muslim country.





However, in no way, shape or form should one judge all Muslim men because of what is in Islamic scripture and what constitutes the Islamic law, Sharia.





"Race", ethnicity or basically anything that you are "merely" born with should never be a basis for bigotry and discrimination.





Apostates from Islam have been executed for 1400 years in accord with the Koran and the words and actions of the Islamic prophet Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia.





They should be lovingly helped.





Furthermore, approximately as many as 11,000,000 Muslims may have been killed by other Muslims since 1948.





To quote the website The Religion of Peace (TROP), edited by Glen Roberts:





While it may be safe to say that a true Muslim would not intentionally kill another true Muslim ( 4:92-93 ), the Quran places no such value on the life of a Muslim who is not true. Consider verse 9:73 :

Strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be harsh against them, their abode is Hell.

The Arabic for strive hard uses the same root as Jihad - and the context in this sura is holy war (see v. 86 and 91). Thus, there are two distinct classes of people that a true Muslim is to target with harshness: disbelievers and hypocrites.



A disbeliever obviously refers to a non-Muslim, so a "hypocrite" must be a Muslim of some sort. In fact, hypocrites are those who say they believe, but do not act as they should. In other words, they are "Muslims", but not true Muslims. They will go to hell just as unbelievers do, and so, according to the verse, their lives matter for naught.



The same sura says that a hypocrite can be recognized not just by lack of piety (reluctance to follow Sharia), but by fear of death ( 9:56 ), reluctance to fight ( 9:44-45 ) and even friendliness toward non-believers ( 9:67 ). A true Muslim would thus be a pious person who relishes martyrdom, is eager to fight, and shuns non-believers.



Even the Quranic passage that warns against killing "believers" ( 4:88-94 ) is more complicated than it first appears. It never says that a true Muslim is incapable of killing another Muslim, just that it should not be done. In fact, it makes exceptions for the unintentional killing of "believers" in war and mandates the killing of "hypocrites."



Verse 17:33 says, "Do not kill anyone which Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause" . The greatest cause of all is that Islam be superior ( 9:33 ), which is exactly what Islamic terrorists say is their goal. Thus believing Muslims are allowed to be collateral damage in the war on unbelievers.









There is sadly a phenomena that I`ve noticed in Sweden and elsewhere of people using true facts about Islamic doctrine and history as a cover for all sorts of irrational targeting of Muslims, ranging from xenophobia and racism to verbal abuse and physical attacks.





This is strongly condemned by this website and does not in any way serve serious criticism of orthodox Islam and other important work.





It`s also important that one tries to express oneself in a civilized way. Words matter.





In this bloggers humble opinion the root cause of the problem is the ancient doctrine of orthodox Islam.













In simple terms a non-Muslim is a Kafir.





" The Koran defines the kafir and kafir is not a neutral word. A kafir is not merely someone who does not agree with Islam, but a kafir is evil, disgusting, the lowest form of life."





An exact quote, as stated in the writings of Dr. Bill Warner in the article "Kafir" at http://www.politicalislam.com/kafir .





In the perfect Koran (Allah`s direct and literal word as revealed to Mohammed through the angel Jibril), Muslims are told 89 times to emulate Mohammed in all ways (see Koran 33:21 for instance).





Mohammed`s example, the Sunna, is found in the Hadith (stories of what Mohammed said and did) and the Sira (biographies of Mohammed).





Islamic law, Sharia , is directly derived from these unchanging scriptures. It is based on the Koran`s numerous commands to obey Allah and obey the Messenger, that is Mohammed (see Koran 4:59 for instance).









Islam is Sharia. Sharia is Islam.





It is a capital crime for Muslims to deny Sharia in any way.





A Muslim is someone who submits to Islam and submitting to Islam means obeying the Sharia of Allah.





Sharia law includes pronouncements for both Muslims and non-Muslims (Kafirs).









Islam is a "complete way of life", a "complete code of life", a "complete system of life".





Islam is not just a religion but also a comprehensive ideology.





Islam is a supremacist ideology.





Islam is a totalitarian and imperialistic ideology akin to Communism and Nazism.





Islam is a civilization.

Islamic law, Sharia, is a manual for a civilization.





Islamic law, Sharia, governs every aspect of life.

It has a say about every conceivable human act .





Non-Muslims are morally and legally inferior in Islam. Women are morally and legally inferior in Islam.

























The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS by Robert Spencer is the first one-volume history of jihad in the English language and a great book on the topic.





Allah guarantees Paradise to those who "kill and are killed" for him (Koran 9:111).





A hadith depicts a Muslim asking Muhammad: "Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward)." Muhammad replied, "I do not find such a deed." (Bukhari 4.52.44)





Muhammad himself said:

I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah, and he who professed it was guaranteed the protection of his property and life on my behalf except for the right affairs rest with Allah. (Sahih Muslim 30)









Freedom of speech, human rights, democracy, science and human lives are all at stake in the fight against the Islamic Jihad.




Remarks: This came out in 1994, going gold in the US, UK and New Zealand. It is made from her mothers sayings. Desree is a one-hit wonder in the US, but ...

4 days ago
SPRINGFIELD  Illinois legislators moved quickly Thursday to deliver one of new Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker's top campaign promises, a gradual hike in the statewide minimum wage from $8.25 to $15 an hour  more than double the pay floor that most of its Midwestern neighbors require.

The state House voted 69-41 to send the Senate-approved plan to Pritzker, who watched the roll call from the House floor. He'd urged lawmakers to send him the legislation before Wednesday, when he announces his first budget plan.

Republicans lashed out at Democrats for refusing to compromise and pushing too fast, particularly because the first wage increase wouldn't occur until January. Business groups have strongly opposed the increase.

"People should not go to work 40 hours a week and still not be able to put food on their table," said Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, a Hillside Democrat. "This bill helps our entire state. The cost of living across the state for working families in Illinois is rising."

The legislation, sponsored by Chicago Democratic Rep. Will Guzzardi, would increase Illinois' minimum wage from $8.25 to $9.25 on Jan. 1; to $10 on July 1, 2020; and $1 each Jan. 1 until 2025.

Decatur's two representatives voted along party lines, with Republican Rep. Dan Caulkins voting against the plan and Democratic Rep. Sue Scherer voting for it.

Speaking after the vote, Caulkins said he was "disappointed" by Thursday's vote. Along with concerns he's heard from local business owners that they may have to close up shop because of increased costs, Caulkins said, he worried the wage increase in places like rural community colleges would lead to higher property taxes.

"... if you talk to the job creators and the people who understand how this works, there is no support for this," he said. "And its just another reason that Illinois will sink to the bottom."

Caulkins and other Republicans like House Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, also expressed dismay that the party was not included in negotiations on the bill or allowed to offer counter proposals on how a minimum wage increase could be implemented.

Business groups want a tiered minimum wage with lower base levels in parts of the state with lower costs of living.

Scherer said her yes vote was a "very difficult decision" as she said she predicted the impact the increase will have on her district, which covers parts of Springfield and Decatur. Her vote came down to what she was hearing in her district, as she says about two-thirds of constituents she heard from wanted her to vote to increase the minimum wage.

"By and large, my constituents were wanting this," she said.

California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and the District of Columbia have adopted laws to increase the base wage to $15 before Illinois reaches the mark in 2025.

But Illinois stands alone in the nation's midsection, surrounded by states with lower wages. Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa offer the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Missouri currently offers $8.60, a wage scheduled to increase to $12 by 2023.

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During more than two hours of debate Thursday, Republicans, who have long criticized high costs on business in the form of workers' compensation insurance and property taxes, complained the steep and costly wage ramp is another impediment to commerce. They argue it will cost jobs in a state where statistics show more than 60 percent of residents live within 40 miles of a state border.

"People vote with their dollars, and they vote with their feet," said Rep. Randy Frese, a Republican from Paloma in west-central Illinois. "Our region may see economic growth, but the growth will be on the other side of the border, which doesn't benefit Illinois."

Guzzardi has repeatedly cited research showing no damaging economic effects where the minimum wage has increased. He said the only way to predict what will happen with an 82 percent wage hike in six years is to look at historical data.

"Raising the minimum wage has no net effect on employment, it doesn't drive jobs out of the state ...," Guzzardi said. "All it does is put money in people's pockets who need it."

Pritzker must make room in the budget for the increase. The government will have to finance increased wages for thousands of university students who make minimum wage in on-campus jobs or workers for health care institutions funded by Medicaid.

His office released figures this month on the costs to government of the hike. In 2021, when the wage is $10.25, the state would face $269 million in additional costs for workers in human services programs. There would be $59 million more in income and sales taxes receipts from the higher wages. But small-business tax credits in the minimum-wage plan would eat up $23 million of that.

For Iashea Cross, a personal assistant and low-wage worker in the health care field who was in the gallery from Chicago, the bill means a brighter outlook in the future.

I might be able to let go of that second job in the future that I have just to make ends meet, she said. For me, the passage of this bill means that finally we are being recognized as the working people of the state that help it continue to move forward.

The bill also maintains a tip credit, which allows employers to pay tipped workers 60 percent of the minimum wage if tips make up the other 40 percent. A training wage for teen seasonal workers is also part of the bill, and that wage will top out at $13 per hour.

A tax credit for businesses with less than 50 full-time equivalent employees is also part of the final bill, starting at 25 percent of the difference between the current minimum wage and an employees wage in the final quarter of the previous calendar year. It would decrease by 4 percent each year until it hits 5 percent in the final two years.

Ryan Voyles and Capitol News Illinois contributed to this story.

Decatur-area business openings and closings

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DECATUR  A 31-year-old woman was sentenced to two years' probation Thursday for her role in a criminal scheme to buy thousands of dollars worth of appliances using stolen credit card numbers.

LaDina M. Coleman, 31, who lives in Cook County, pleaded guilty in Macon County Circuit Court to a single charge of theft, a Class A misdemeanor. She had originally faced a charge of identity theft, but the lesser charge was substituted in a plea deal negotiated by her Chicago defense attorney, Wendell D. Hayes.

A co-defendant, Lepolean N. Reasonover, 34, still faces an identity theft charge, and his case is set for a disposition hearing Feb. 28.

Assistant States Attorney Christina Mullison said Coleman was riding in a white box truck driven by Reasonover that was pulled over April 12 on Interstate 72 near Decatur by the Decatur Police Department Street Crimes Unit.

A sworn police affidavit said a police dog alerted to cannabis from Colemans purse, and a search of the vehicle found it stuffed with expensive tools and appliances that included five refrigerators, two lawnmowers and a washing machine. The collective value was pegged at more than $9,000, and they had been purchased from a Lowes store out of state using the stolen credit card numbers and information, police said.

Reasonover was quoted in the affidavit as telling police he had paid $100 for a batch of numbers, using what he called the dark Web, an area of the internet often home to criminal transactions.

Reasonover said he and Coleman were being paid $300 each to transport the goods to Chicago, where they were due to hand them over to a contact they did not know.

The affidavit quoted Coleman saying she made the actual purchases and knew the credit card information was stolen. But Mullison told Judge Thomas Griffith in the court hearing that while Coleman did buy the goods, she had been unaware she was using stolen card data.

2019 mug shots from the Herald & Review

Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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DECATUR  Some couples decided to make the proof of their love last long beyond the romantic holiday on Thursday, taking advantage of a Valentine's Day special at Decatur Body Art.

Decatur Body Art owner Arikah Peacock has been offering heart-shaped and floral tattoo specials on Valentine's Day for a couple of years. Peacock, of Decatur, said she has been in the tattoo business since 1997.

Tattoo artist Garrett Bailey came up with some designs for this year's deals.

"I like Valentine's Day, and it's fun to get people to come in and get (tattoos of) red things, roses, flowers, stuff about love," Peacock said. "I'm a peace, love and happiness kind of girl."

Alexis Edwards of Decatur got a tattoo of a rose on her inner arm, while her boyfriend Aaron Tatro was inked with a dagger through a heart on his leg.

"I liked the rose, and it was difficult to decide what I wanted just because I have so many. I never know what I truly want," Edwards said jokingly.

Matching tattoos aren't always an expression of romantic love. Eleven employees of the St. Petersburg, Florida, marketing firm Big Sea caught media attention earlier this year when they got matching tattoos of an anchor, an homage to the company's logo.

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A scientist who worked with the fallen NASA Opportunity rover got a tattoo of its final reading; the space agency announced Wednesday that the Mars-roaming robot would never communicate with Earth again. And on Thursday, superstar Lady Gaga revealed that she and her manager, Bobby Campbell, got matching ink: musical notes G A G A.

When Decatur tattoo artist Bailey was 7, he tattooed his name on his father, who had been a tattoo artist for as long as Bailey could remember.

"He wanted my handwriting. Instead of having someone else do it, he had me do it," said Bailey, who has been tattooing professionally for nearly two years.

Robin Hunter of Decatur has been with her husband for 16 years, and she got her husband's name inked inside of a heart.

"I got it today with his name just because I love him not just today, but every day," she said.

When it comes to couple tattoos, Inked Magazine offered some tips for making sure those permanent expressions of love might survive what can sometimes be the fickle nature of love. The publication suggests avoiding images that form two halves of a whole and instead choosing designs that can exist independently from each other.

" ... at the end of the day, there's no way to tell that they're two of a kind unless you're both in the same room," wrote Inked associate editor Devon Preston.

But sometimes, even that level of coordination is too much after a breakup. Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson recently covered up a tattoo that he had gotten to match former fiancee Ariana Grande's, changing the French phrase mille tendresse ("a thousand tendernesses") to the word "cursed."

Inked also acknowledged that permanence works out for many couples, too  whether they stay together or not.

"Of course any couple can go in whatever artistic direction they please," Preston wrote, "and you'll meet many people who have couple tattoos that will never regret the design after the relationship has come to an end."

Contact Kennedy Nolen at (217) 421-6985.

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Montana Farmers Union is a longtime supporter of country-of-origin labeling (COOL). MFU and National Farmers Union fought for years to label meat, both to give consumers a choice at the meat counter, and to aid U.S. producers, because when given the choice, consumers in this country will buy U.S. beef and not think twice.

The meat-packing industry has always fought against COOL, stating that consumers didnt really need to know what country their meat came from. However, we finally prevailed and a federal COOL law went into effect in 2013, but COOL was repealed for beef and pork by Congress during negotiations with the World Trade Organization.

Heres the thing: those meat-packing companies, the ones who always said COOL was an impossible, over-bearing regulation, never stopped labeling meat when the law was repealed! But the law was gone, and replaced by a rule that basically says any meat product that comes into a U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected processing facility and undergoes a change in its structure can be labeled Product of the USA.
FWS listed all grizzly bears in the Lower 48 states as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 1975. Its subsequent conservation plans listed six ecosystems where grizzlies could recover. Two of those, the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem and Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem, are entirely within Montanas borders. But the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which holds about 750 grizzlies, spreads across parts of Idaho and Wyoming as well as Montana. The Bitterroot Ecosystem, which has no resident grizzlies, straddles the Montana-Idaho border. Cuffes resolution also mentions the Selkirk Ecosystem, which doesnt touch Montana but harbors transplanted grizzlies from the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.

The service twice proposed delisting Greater Yellowstone grizzlies in 2007 and 2017, but both efforts failed in court. It was planning to release a delisting rule for the northern Continental Divide grizzlies at the end of 2018, but the latest court loss postponed that plan.

In the most recent decision, U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen ruled the service had not proved that removing federal protections from a productive ecosystem like the Greater Yellowstone would not harm struggling ecosystems like the Cabinet-Yaak.
A panel of Montana experts at the Capitol on Thursday explored how $1 million in funds appropriated in 2017 through House Bill 118 has been used in the past two years to combat the causes and effects of suicide.

Kim Spurzem, a University of Montana researcher, gave an empirical grounding to the problem of suicide in Montana. Montana has nearly double the suicide rate of the rest of the United States, with 25.9 per 100,000 Montanans dying by suicide, making it the second leading cause for death in the state. Youths are at the most risk, Spurzem said, with veterans and Native Americans also at great risk. According to her data, men are the ones most likely to commit suicide, especially when firearms are easily accessible.

HB 118 was intended to battle those numbers. The Department of Public Health and Human Services had made suicide prevention one of its top goals and funded various programs. In the past two years, $1 million was provided to multiple community groups throughout Montana, from the Flathead Valley to the Fort Peck Reservation.
U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte told the state House he wants to see Montana take a cue from the federal government and cut taxes and abolish regulations to expand the state's economy.

"Imagine if Montana took a page from our national pro-growth playbook," Gianforte said in an address to lawmakers Monday. U.S. Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester, the other members of the state's congressional delegation, had previously addressed the Legislature.

Gianforte, a Republican, called for the government to "get out of the way so all Montanans and Americans can prosper again."

"Government does not create prosperity, the private sector does," Gianforte said. "Government should and must create an environment where businesses can grow and thrive."

Much as he did during his election to Montana's lone U.S. House seat last fall, Gianforte touted the tax cuts Republicans passed at the federal level in 2017, which also doubled the child tax credit.

Gianforte said the cuts have helped families, referencing a single mother in Helena who saw an additional $400 a month in her paychecks.
International Federation of Journalists, Nepal Press Union criticise proposed law to tighten screws on social media

The International Federation of Journalists and its affiliated Nepal Press Union have strongly criticised a proposal floated by the government to impose harsh penalties for posting contents on social networking sites deemed improper.
A panel of Montana experts at the Capitol on Thursday explored how $1 million in funds appropriated in 2017 through House Bill 118 has been us
Several local legislators from Russia are in Helena to learn from city and state leaders as part of a trip facilitated by WorldMontana.

The five Russian officials, a bicultural facilitator and an interpreter were sent by the Open World Leadership Center, which is an agency of the U.S. Congress. They plan to remain in Helena from Feb. 15-23.

In Helena, the delegates will discuss best practices for local elections and local self-government. They will meet with Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins, City Manager Ana Cortez, and other local leaders.

Additional activities include a panel discussion at Carroll College, volunteering for Helena Food Share, and visiting Yellowstone National Park. The Russian delegation will stay in the homes of Montanans serving as hospitality hosts.

Prior to their arrival in Helena, the officials completed an orientation in Washington, D.C., where they participated in a policy meeting with several members of Congress, including Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana.

More than 27,000 current and future leaders from post-Soviet era countries have participated in the Open World program, which offers U.S. exchange programs to promote mutually beneficial options for depolarized engagement between future national leaders.
The Kings Community Action Organization (KCAO), based in Hanford, was honored with SCEs Community Partnership Award and recognized for helping low-income individuals and changing lives. KCAO Jeff Garner, executive director of KCAO, accepted the award on behalf of the organization.
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.
Grand Old Partisan honors John Lynch, born in Maine this day of 1825. He started his career as a merchandising clerk before editing the Portland Daily Press. In 1864, after a term in the state house, he won the first of four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Congressman Lynch voted for the GOP's 13th and 14th Amendments as well as its 1866 and 1875 Civil Rights Acts. Later years, this industrious Republican manufactured drainpipes in the nation's capital and edited the Washington Daily Union.

He is not as well known a politician as another John Lynch. That former slave served several congressional terms and chaired the 1884 Republican National Convention.

Here is a Video Version of this article on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DK1SG04_rj8

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"
University of Luxembourg Etienne Schneider and Claude Meisch present the new Master study programme in the presence of Stephane Pallage, Rector of the University of Luxembourg

This Master study program, set up in collaboration with the Luxembourg Space Agency, aims to provide students with the engineering skills required in the burgeoning space industry, along with in depth knowledge to manage space-related business activities.



In 1985, a public-private partnership effort launched Societe Europeenne des Satellites, today known as global satellite operator SES. Over the last decades, further space-related services and businesses have developed alongside SES shaping a vibrant space economy. As a leader in commercial space, Luxembourg is following a unique space strategy focused on creating an attractive ecosystem for NewSpace companies. The Grand Duchy launched SpaceResources.lu in 2016 to establish the country as a centre for the exploration and utilisation of space resources.



The Interdisciplinary Space Master is an integral part of this strategy while developing the specific skills needed to pioneer a new and sustainable space industry in Luxembourg. "With the new study programme, the University responds to the growing need for graduates who are uniquely qualified to contribute to a growing and dynamic industry," says Stephane Pallage, Rector of the University of Luxembourg.



This unique Interdisciplinary Space Master clearly differentiates from master programs offered at other universities. It aims to give participants who already possess an engineering or scientific background the additional technical expertise in areas needed to support Luxembourg's space industry along with a strong grounding in business.



To ensure the programme to meet business requirements, the Master Course was developed with input from important public and industry players in the space sector. Some of these companies endorse the programme by offering internships to students.



Etienne Schneider, Luxembourgs Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy said: "The Interdisciplinary Space Master further reinforces the dynamism of the national sector driven by the SpaceResources.lu initiative and the appeal of space and its potential. By training skilled and business-minded space experts, the Master programme blends in with the Luxembourg government's objective to become Europe's hub for NewSpace activities, in particular in the field of exploration and use of resources in space."

Press release by the Luxembourg Space Agency
The Kurds may have been able to stop the Islamic State, but they cant stop Russia, and even if they could, they dont control the geographic areas necessary to block it. Turkey does. Turkey and Russia are simply higher on Washingtons list of priorities than the Syrian Kurds are. Siding with the Kurds will necessarily cost Washington its relationship with Turkey, its most useful tool against Russia. Its not going to let that happen. Consigned to Fight Credibility, then, may not be as important as its made out to be. If it were, you would expect instances of perceived betrayal or policy reversals or failures to honor promises to discourage cooperation. But history suggests thats not the case.

For the sake of convenience, lets stick with the Kurds. In the early 1970s, Iraq appeared to be cozying up to the Soviet Union, so the U.S. attempted to supplant the government there by supporting a Kurdish rebellion  a rebellion aided by Iran, an ally of Washington at the time. Iran and Iraq came to terms in 1975, at which point the U.S. ended its support and the government in Baghdad crushed the rebellion, sending more than 100,000 Kurds fleeing to Iran and Turkey.

But then the Iraqi government, led by Saddam Hussein, cracked down on the Soviet-supported communists in the country. Around the same time, the Iranian Revolution was in full swing, eventually resulting in the ouster of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who headed Washingtons puppet regime in Tehran. And so, in 1980, when the Iran-Iraq War broke out, the U.S. and the Soviet Union both changed sides, with Washington throwing its weight behind Iraq and Moscow throwing its behind Iran. Worried that Iran would again use Iraqi Kurds as a weapon in the war, Saddam killed thousands of Kurds in a gas attack in Halabja in 1988. The Kurds received no support from the U.S. Three years later, the U.S. again called on the people of Iraq, including the Kurds, to rebel against the government during the first Gulf War.

A day after the war ended, President George H.W. Bush appealed to the people of Iraq to remove Saddam from power, inciting several uprisings throughout the country, including a Kurdish one in the north. But he didnt support them. Washington wanted to prevent Saddam from overtaking Kuwait. It didnt want the responsibility of regime change, nor did it want to destabilize the region. The Kurds were on their own, and though they achieved a degree of autonomy in the aftermath, Saddam all but nullified their gains by blockading Iraqi Kurdistan, which would subsequently break out into civil war. At no point did the U.S. intervene in the conflict because it surmised there was nothing to be gained strategically from doing so.

So if they knew the U.S. supported them only when it suited Washington, why would the Syrian Kurds agree decades later to be the vanguard against the Islamic State? Partly because the Islamic State threatened them every bit as much as it threatened the U.S., and they needed all the help they could get against such a formidable enemy. Partly because the fight, and the concurrent Syrian civil war, gave them an opportunity, however remote, to gain more autonomy. So they consigned themselves to bear the brunt of the fight, knowing that abstaining from it would go against their interests. Simply put, U.S.-Kurdish cooperation was a matter of mutual benefit. Anyone who believed the U.S. would remain steadfast, consequences be damned, wasnt paying attention to history.

This is neither a condemnation of U.S. policy nor a justification for its actions. This is just to say states pursue their security interests, and when those interests change, so too does their behavior. The Lessons of Vietnam In fact, a states failure to alter its behavior for the sake of credibility can lead to disaster. If you need proof, look no further than the Vietnam War.

Though Vietnam fit into a larger policy of Soviet containment, the U.S. had no real strategy there, and it certainly had no exit strategy. Once it became clear that the North Vietnamese would not simply give up through fear of U.S. presence, the purpose of U.S. involvement was lost . Preventing the spread of communism through the use of force turned into counterinsurgency that escalated into a war that the U.S. wasnt willing to admit was a war. The metric for success was not a definable strategic objective or a political outcome but a superior kill ratio. What was really a political conflict wrapped up in Vietnamese independence, French colonialism and Cold War policy was treated by the U.S. as a military problem. Militaries tend to be good at winning wars but bad at building viable governments that have the support of the people.

The gradual escalation of U.S. efforts in Vietnam meant the conflict was never really treated as a conventional war. Even by the late 1960s, when the U.S. had more than half a million soldiers in Vietnam, the war effort was basically a counterinsurgency effort. One way to counter insurgent attacks is to deploy a permanent occupying force, stationed indefinitely to control things on the ground as best as possible. But permanent occupation comes at a cost, material and human, that the occupying country must be willing to bear indefinitely if it is to succeed. This isnt undoable or even novel  the Romans did it, as did the British, sometimes with their own forces, sometimes by co-opting local forces. The U.S. either couldnt or wouldnt.

But then that was never the point. The reason the U.S. waged a war in Vietnam was to demonstrate to its allies its commitment to the global fight against communism. If the U.S. wouldnt come to the aid of a backwater like Vietnam, how could it be expected to defend Western Europe? In defense of its own credibility, the U.S. put itself in a position in which no desired outcome could realistically be achieved. A war to demonstrate credibility lacked credible outcomes and was therefore unwinnable. When the Need for Cooperation Disappears More than anything, the mistakes of the Vietnam War reveal what can happen when a nation sanctifies the notion of credibility, and in some ways, they validate more pragmatic approaches to foreign policy. At the height of its power, the British Empire pursued a strategy similar to the one the U.S. is currently pursuing . Powerful as it was, especially at sea, the British Empire wasnt omnipotent, so it was forced to intervene selectively to ensure that no state could dominate Europe or threaten its economic interests. (The morality of imperial foreign policy, mercantilism and captive markets is certainly debatable  insofar as it benefits the few at the expense of many. But the efficacy of the strategy, in its cold execution, isnt.)

Securing its interests meant constantly changing alliances. Consider Britains wars throughout the 19th century and early 20th century. It allied with Russia and Prussia against France during the Napoleonic Wars, save for a period when Russia signed a treaty with France to prevent an invasion. Then it allied with France and the Ottoman Empire against Russia during the Crimean War. In 1877, it seemed as though Britain would hang the Ottomans out to dry as they went to war with Russia again  after all, the Suez Canal had been built, so London didnt need the land routes through modern Turkey quite so badly  but ended up intervening when Istanbul appeared on the verge of collapse, which would have given too much territory to Russia and perhaps even threatened Britains control of India. Britain even invaded Afghanistan in 1878 to ensure that a buffer space remained between Russia and the British Raj. Then, in 1914, Britain flipped sides, allying with Russia to oppose the Ottoman Empire and its erstwhile ally Germany in World War I.

Circumstances dictated alliances. At no time did Britains history of shifting alliances prevent other states from cooperating with it, so long as that cooperation benefited both states at that moment in time.

All this is to say that credibility, as its popularly conceived in international relations, doesnt really exist. Its just a word thats used to describe relationships that have already been created by necessity. It tends to disappear when the need for cooperation disappears. Whether two states can act credibly with each other is a consequence of shared interests, not the cause.

Washingtons credibility among its allies is, therefore, beside the point, regardless of whether it withdraws from Syria as it claims it will. The real question is: Will other states (or non-state actors) find a mutually beneficial reason to seek Washingtons support? Considering the U.S. is the worlds only superpower, we suspect they will. So, too, will the U.S. find an excuse to partner with those it may consider its adversaries now. The U.S. has no shortage of enemies, so it will need the help of local allies to advance its cause. Those allies may remember how Washington abandoned the Kurds, but the more immediate risk to their own security is just as likely to outweigh the pain of their memories. Even with the knowledge that U.S. support is ephemeral, the alternative  going it alone  is usually worse.
Huawei launches pinhole display Nova 4 in Nepal

Huawei has launched the worlds first smartphone with pinhole display, the Nova 4, in Nepal. The smartphone is available at retail outlets across the country for Rs64,900.
HILLENBRAND TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

TUCSON, Ariz. Due to rain, The University of New Mexico softball teams Thursday nights game against No. 9 Arizona has been cancelled.

However, the Lobos are set to begin the Hillenbrand Invitational on Friday afternoon against No. 7 Alabama at 1:30 p.m. MT, the first of five games scheduled for the weekend.

The Hillenbrand Invitational schedule has UNM slated for two games on Friday, two on Saturday and one on Sunday morning. After their game against the Crimson Tide on Friday afternoon, the Lobos are set to play Cal State Fullerton Friday night at 8:15 p.m. MT.

UNM will have another opportunity to play Arizona on Saturday night at 6 p.m. MT and immediately following that game, will face UIC at 8:15 p.m. MT. Finishing off the tournament will be a game against South Florida at 9 a.m. MT.

All games except Saturdays Arizona game will be streamed on FloSoftball. The contest against the Wildcats will be streamed free on Arizonas Live Stream channel on the Pac-12 Network.
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MONTREAL, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HSI/Canada is on the ground in South Korea, assisting our global affiliates in the permanent shut-down of a horrendous dog meat farm, Humane Society Internationals 14th farm closure to date.



This particular dog meat farm also operates as a puppy mill, highlighting the blurring of lines between dogs sold as pets versus dogs sold for human consumption. Dogs in this facility were sold as pets or for slaughter, depending on where the greatest profits could be found at any time.

In total, 200 dogs will be rescued, with over 160 coming to Canada where HSI/Canada and Friends of HSI will provide temporary sheltering and rehabilitation before the dogs move on to partner placement organizations. Media, news outlets are invited to greet the dogs as they arrive in Toronto this evening  details below.

WHAT:

Permanent closure of a dog meat / puppy mill facility in South Korea and rescue of 200 dogs bound for shelters in Canada and the United States.

WHERE:

Farm 14 in Hongcheon, South Korea. Click here for the Google map.

for the Google map. Dogs arrive at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. Air Canada Cargo: 2580 Britannia Road East, Mississauga, Ont. L4W 2P7. Click here for the Google Map.

for the Google Map. HSI/Canada temporary shelter in Cambridge, Ontario. Call or email media contact below to schedule an appointment.

HSI/Canada temporary shelter in Montreal, Quebec: 7314 Mountain Sights Ave (south of Jean-Talon West), Montreal, Quebec H4P 2A6. Click here for the Google Map.

WHEN:

HSI/Canada representatives who have inspected Farm 14 are available for interviews at any time.

Media availability at Pearson International Airport (arrival of dogs) is February 18 (7pm EST, approximately). Please email or call media contact below to RSVP.

(7pm EST, approximately). Please email or call media contact below to RSVP. Media may visit HSI/Canadas temporary shelter in Cambridge, Ontario on February 18 th . Email or call media contact below to RSVP.

. Email or call media contact below to RSVP. Over 40 dogs will arrive in Montreal at HSI/Canadas temporary emergency shelter on February 21st at approximately 4pm. Please email or call media contact below to RSVP.

WHO: The Humane Society International animal rescue team includes English, French and Korean language spokespeople.

WHY: An estimated 2.5 million dogs are bred and confined in appalling conditions on thousands of farms across South Korea to be killed for human consumption. The dogs suffer immensely both physically and mentally, spending their entire lives in small, barren, wire cages without proper food, water, stimulation, comfort or veterinary care. Death is by electrocution.

Facts:

Dog meat consumption is declining rapidly in South Korea, particularly among younger generations, with a survey by Gallup Korea in June 2018 showing that 70 percent of South Koreans say they will not eat dog meat in the future.



in June 2018 showing that 70 percent of South Koreans say they will not eat dog meat in the future. HSIs transition program for dog meat farmers in South Korea is a proven success, with people finding new, humane income streams through water transportation, blueberry farming, and more.



To date, HSI has rescued more than 1,500 dogs and puppies from South Korean dog meat farms.



In November last year, HSI assisted Seongnam City Council in shutting down Taepyeong, the largest dog slaughterhouse in the country, which is to be replaced with a community park.

Download b-roll video and photos of the rescue by click ing here .

Media Contact: Christopher Pare, Director of Communications  Office: 514 395-2914 x 206 / cell: 438 402-0643 / email: cpare@hsi.org
Albany, New York, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global particle therapy market was valued at US$ 364.8 Mn in 2017 and is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.0% from 2018 to 2026 according to a new report published by Transparency Market Research (TMR) titled Particle Therapy Market Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 20182026. The report suggests that increase in number of cancer patients for particle therapy treatment and rise in demand for heavy ion radiotherapy due to biological advantage are expected to drive the particle therapy market in the near future (2018 to 2026). North America and Europe are projected to dominate the global market, owing to an increase in the demand for efficient and effective management of particle therapy and high rate of adoption of particle therapy for treatment planning by oncologist. The market in Asia Pacific is projected to expand at an exponential growth rate during the forecast period. This is attributed to a large base of specialty clinics and hospitals, rise in the geriatric population with brain and spine tumor diseases requiring proton therapy services, and increase in the rate of adoption of new therapies, such as carbon and proton therapy for the treatment of cancer patients. The market for particle therapy in Latin America is likely to expand at a moderate growth rate during the forecast period.

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Proton therapy features in particle therapy to fuel global market

The global particle therapy market is projected to be potentially driven by the features and characteristics of proton therapy. Proton therapy is being offered by various particle therapy producing companies in order to streamline day-to-day work flow and increase the revenue of the practices. Proton therapy provides diverse features and benefits, ranging from patient pain heeling remedies to treatment procedures. These features help physicians and nurses to streamline the tumor treatment therapy activity required for patients in order to maintain their daily workflow efficiently and effectively. The key players offering the particle therapy are introducing value added features, such as set up labs with services such as cyclotrons, synchrotrons, effective modality features, along with imaging modules, thereby reducing the overall operating cost and thus, improving the overall effectiveness and efficiency of proton therapy practices. Companies are focusing on the development of combined proton and carbon therapy facilities in their system in order to effectively integrate the therapy or treatment procedure and patient education and awareness programs on particle therapy. These value added features save the operational time of physicians and help improve its pain management performance among cancer patients.

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Cyclotrons in projected to be highly lucrative segment for services

Cyclotrons are non-reactor sources that are used to produce other radioisotopes or electrons or protons. High energy consumption and disintegration machinery produce half-life radioisotopes or protons that are utilized in the treatment of different types of cancer. Cyclotrons enable the user to practice low frequency clinical applications, thereby allowing the healing of extreme cases of tumor disintegration, which in turn is likely to propel the segment during the forecast period. The practice of nuclear medicine in Middle East & Asia has been expanding significantly in the last few years. For instance, most cyclotrons installed in India are between 12 and 18 MeV and only few of 30 MeV; comparatively most cyclotrons installed in Japan are between 12 and 18 MeV as well as 30 MeV.

Brain and spinal cord tumors (BSCT) and pediatric cancer segments lead the particle therapy market

The report offers the detailed segmentation of the applications of particle therapy in pediatric cancer, lung cancer, bladder cancer, brain and spinal cord tumors (BSCT), breast cancer, gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), head and neck cancers (HNC), and others. BSCT and pediatric cancer segments are likely to account for a leading share of the market during the forecast period. This is due to the rising incidence of cancer patient admission to clinics or hospitals, prevalence of different types of cancer among the global population, and the rise in demand for particle therapy by physicians and patients. Various reimbursement and Medicare benefits available for patients in treating diseases led BSCT and pediatric cancer segments to hold a key share of the global market.

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Hospitals segment dominates the market and the specialty clinics segment is estimated to expand significantly during the forecast period

In terms of end-user, the hospitals segment accounted for a leading share of the global particle therapy market in 2017. It is estimated to gain market share and expand at a CAGR of more than 7% during the forecast period. Expansion of specialized pain management services, increase in number of cancer patient footfall in hospitals, and adoption of reimbursement program for the marketing of proton therapy practices led the hospitals segment to account for a prominent share of the global particle therapy market. Increase in number of multinational hospital chains and high digitization budgets are likely to drive the hospitals segment during the forecast period. High prevalence and incidence rates of lung cancer and other prominent cancer diseases in the global population and introduction of new radiotherapy techniques such as particle therapy treatment programs have led to a rise in the patient flow to specialty clinics. These factors are expected to fuel the specialty clinics segment between 2018 and 2026.

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Asia Pacific offers lucrative business development opportunity.

North America and Europe accounted for a key share of global particle therapy market in 2017. They are likely to gain market share by the end of 2026. High rate of adoption of cyclotron platforms for proton therapy and cancer treatment procedures, high submission of healthcare budgets, and government initiatives to promote radiation therapy techniques to treat cancer caused these regions to hold a major share of the global particle therapy market. Asia Pacific is projected to be a highly attractive market for particle therapy, and is likely to exhibit a prominent attractiveness index. The market in the Asia Pacific is projected to expand at a high CAGR of more than 6% during the forecast period due to a large number of specialty clinics in developing countries such as India and China, well-established healthcare facilities, and high rate of adoption of carbon therapy for cancer treatment in countries such as Japan, Australia & New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore. The market in Latin America is projected to expand at a moderate growth rate during the forecast period.

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Key trend of research and development among leading players to increase geographic presence has been observed in last few years

The report also provide profiles of leading players operating in the global particle therapy market. Varian Medical Systems, Inc., Hitachi, Ltd., IBA Worldwide, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd are a few leading players operating in the global particle therapy market that account for significant market share. Companies operating in the particle therapy market are focused on increasing their geographic presence by means of strategic acquisition and collaboration with leading players in respective domains and geography. New acquisitions of humediQ, a manufacturer of IDENTIFY, an automated patient identification, positioning, and motion management system for radiation therapy, played an instrumental role in helping Varian Medical Systems, Inc. strengthen its radiation leadership and ensuring future patients get the right treatment. Other prominent players operating in the global particle therapy include Advanced Oncotherapy PLC., Mevion Medical Systems, Inc., Provision Healthcare, LLC, Optivus Proton Therapy, Inc., Protom International, Inc., and Danfysik A/S.

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ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland and Labrador, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fortis Inc. ("Fortis" or the "Corporation") (TSX/NYSE:FTS) today filed its audited Consolidated Financial Statements and related Management Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2018, as well as its 2018 Annual Information Form, with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. The Corporation has also filed its Form 40-F for the year ended December 31, 2018 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these documents are available electronically at www.sedar.com (Canadian filings), www.sec.gov (U.S. filings) and the Corporation's website, www.fortisinc.com, or by emailing investorrelations@fortisinc.com.

The Proxy and Management Information Circular for the upcoming Annual Meeting of Shareholders are expected to be made available to shareholders in late March. The Annual Meeting will be held at 10:30 a.m. (Newfoundland Daylight Time) on Thursday, May 2, 2019 at the Holiday Inn St. John's, 180 Portugal Cove Road, St. John's, NL. A live audio webcast of the Annual Meeting will be available at www.fortisinc.com.

About Fortis



Fortis is a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry with 2018 revenue of C$8.4 billion and total assets of C$53 billion. The Corporation's 8,800 employees serve utility customers in five Canadian provinces, nine U.S. states and three Caribbean countries.

Fortis shares are listed on the TSX and NYSE and trade under the symbol FTS. Additional information can be accessed at www.fortisinc.com , www.sedar.com , or www.sec.gov .

A .pdf version of this press release is available at : http://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/b4025e1f-fa9e-4520-b9b9-dad21e8af668

For more information please contact :
RAPID CITY, S.D., Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- National American University Holdings, Inc. (the Company) (OTCQB: NAUH), which through its wholly owned subsidiary operates National American University (NAU or the University), a regionally accredited, proprietary, multi-campus institution of higher learning, today announced that it has appointed Thomas Bickart as Chief Financial Officer following the resignation of David Heflin earlier this month.



Mr. Bickart has over twenty years of financial and operational experience, the majority at dynamic educational organizations. Most recently, he assisted EdisonLearning, Inc. restructure its operations and position the organization for new market growth. Mr. Bickart previously served as CFO at TCI College of Technology from 2013 to 2016, where he executed a turnaround strategy. From 2008 through 2013, he was CFO at Neumont University where he was integral in assisting the school become a highly recognized institution.

Dr. Ronald L. Sharpe, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, We welcome Tom to our executive team and look forward to working together on strategic efforts as the Company moves in 2019. He has a strong background of operational excellence and we intend to utilize his industry experience and financial acumen as we grow.

About National American University Holdings, Inc.

National American University Holdings, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary, operates National American University, a regionally accredited, proprietary, multi-campus institution of higher learning offering associate, bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree programs in technical and professional disciplines. Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, NAU has been providing technical and professional career education since 1941. NAU opened its first campus in Rapid City, South Dakota, and has since grown to multiple locations in several U.S. states. In 1998, NAU began offering online courses. Today, NAU offers degree programs in traditional, online, and hybrid formats, which provide students increased flexibility to take courses at times and places convenient to their busy lifestyles.

Contact Information:

National American University Holdings, Inc.

Dr. Ronald Shape

605-721-5220

rshape@national.edu
English French

February 15, 2019

2018: RCI BANK AND SERVICES POSTS

ITS BEST PERFORMANCE EVER WITH NEW FINANCINGS OF 20.9 BILLION

AND PRE-TAX INCOME OF 1,215 MILLION

1,798,900 new financing contracts, up 1.6% from 2017 for a total of 20.9 billion in new financings

Record penetration rate 1 of 42.9% of registrations

of 42.9% of registrations 355,274 new financing contracts for used vehicles, up 11.1% from 2017

Average performing assets (APA) 2 of 44.4 billion, up 12.0% from 2017

of 44.4 billion, up 12.0% from 2017 Net banking income of 1.93 billion, up 18.6% from 2017

Operating costs / APA ratio up 5 basis points compared to 2017, or 1.27% of APA

Cost of risk 3 at 0.33% of APA compared with 0.11% in 2017, owing to the switch to IFRS9

at 0.33% of APA compared with 0.11% in 2017, owing to the switch to IFRS9 Group pre-tax income of 1.215 billion, up 12.8% from 2017

RCI Bank and Services realized a record year thanks to a substantial improvement in sales and financial performance, reflected in a net income of 1,215 million, up 12.8% versus last year. The company also invested in enhancing and digitalizing the experience of its customers, while maintaining a high level of profitability, with a ROE4 of 19.2%, said Clotilde Delbos, Chairman of RCI Bank and Services.

Thanks to a successful integration into the strategies of the Alliance brands, 2018 registered another exceptional sales year for RCI Bank and Services, which achieved a penetration rate of over 42%. With 1.4 services per registration and more than 350,000 new financing contracts for used vehicles, RCI Bank and Services has confirmed the diversification of its business activities. I would like to thank all the groups employees for these excellent results, said Bruno Kintzinger, Chief Executive Officer of RCI Bank and Services.

ANOTHER YEAR WITH A RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE

In an automotive market that grew 1.2% in the operating scope of the subsidiaries of RCI Bank and Services5, Alliance brand registrations6 came to 3.5 million units in 2018, compared with 3.7 million in 2017. In this context, RCI Bank and Services took advantage of its strong integration into the sales policies of each brand, achieving an overall record penetration rate (excluding EAC) of 42.9% versus 42.6% in 2017.

The volume of new financing contracts for new vehicles remained at a high level, amounting to 1,443,627 new contracts in 2018 compared with 1,451,286 in 2017. Financing for used vehicles continued its sharp upward trend for a record volume of 355,274 contracts in 2018, up 11.1% compared to 2017. This growth can be attributed to the development of the range of specific used vehicle services and to the digitalization of the customer experience, with the launch of online pre-approval in Germany and Turkey.

In light of these elements, the total volume of new financing contracts rose 1.6% from 1,771,000 contracts in 2017 to 1,798,900 in 2018. New financing contracts thus rose to a record amount of 20.9 billion in 2018, up 1.5% on 2017.

As a pillar of the groups strategy, the Services activity continued to grow strongly in 2018. The volume of services sold came to 4.8 million contracts, up 11.1% from 2017. RCI Bank and Services sold 1.4 services per vehicle registered by the Alliance brands in its operating scope.

RCI Bank and Services pursued the international roll-out of its business activities in 2018 to support the sales of the Alliance brands. The dealers financing business has now been fully rolled out for the Nissan brand in Argentina. Launched in Russia in February 2018, the financing of the new vehicle stocks for Lada brand dealers already benefited one-third of the network at end-December.

RCI BANK AND SERVICES ACHIEVES ITS BEST EVER FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Average performing assets stood at 44.4 billion, up 12% compared to 2017. Of that amount, 34 billion is directly linked to customer activity, which rose 13.6%.

Net banking income came to 1.93 billion, up 18.6% compared to 2017. This growth resulted from a combined increase in financing activities (APA up 12.0%) and services activities (up 16.8% on 2017). Net banking income as a percentage of APA stands at 4.34% (compared with 4.11% in 2017).

The cost of risk, calculated consistent with IFRS 9 which applies for the first time, came to 0.33% of APA, compared with a historically low level of 0.11% at end-2017, confirming a robust underwriting and collection policy. Since the switch to IFRS 9, the cost of risk includes an allocation to provisions for performing loans outstanding and off-balance sheet commitments. Implementation of this standard in 2018 has led to an increase in the cost of risk due to portfolio growth.

At December end 2018, operating costs stood at 563 million, or 1.27% of APA, improving 5 basis point versus 2017. The operating ratio was under 30% for the first time standing at 29.2%. This demonstrates RCI Bank and Services ability to manage its operating costs while carrying out strategic projects and growing its business activity.

Pre-tax income amounted to 1,215 million. Its substantial growth (up 12.8% from 2017) illustrates RCI Bank and Services capacity to continue its profitable growth trend.

THE GROUP CONTINUES TO DIVERSIFY ITS REFINANCING POLICY

RCI Bank and Services confirmed its ability to access varied funding sources. In 2018, the group issued the equivalent of 2.9 billion in public bonds and extended its debt maturity by making an eight-year issue for the second time. It made four euro-denominated issues, alternating fixed and variable coupons, along with an issue in Swiss francs. It also made three private issues for a total of 600 million.

Additionally, RCI Bank and Services completed a public securitization operation in France backed by car loans for a total of 722.8 million.

This combination of maturities, types of coupon and issue formats is part of the strategy to diversify funding sources implemented by the group for a number of years and serves to reach out to as many investors as possible.

Outside Europe, group entities in Brazil, South Korea, Morocco and Argentina, as well as Colombia for the first time, also tapped their domestic capital markets.

The savings activity increased 0.9 billion year on year to 15.9 billion at December 31, 2018. The total represents 34% of RCI Bank and Services net assets at the end of December, consistent with the company's objective.

RCI BANK AND SERVICES FACILITATES AUTOMOBILITY FOR EVERY ALLIANCE BRAND CUSTOMER

Facilitating automobility consists in bringing Alliance brand customers a customized response to their automotive mobility needs, including both financing solutions and mobility solutions, so as to respond to their new usages.

RCI Bank and Services has therefore developed online vehicle sales. In Brazil, 20% of the Renault KWID models sold in 2018 were booked online using RCI e-payment, the payment solution implemented by RCI Bank and Services. Dacia customers in the United Kingdom have been able to finance and pay off the model of their choice entirely online since November 2018 via the Dacia Buy Online website. It is the first time that a fully digitalized customer experience has been proposed in the British market.

In order to have a deeper understanding of the corporate customers expectations, Groupe Renault and RCI Bank and Services founded Renault Fleet International. By setting up telematics and data analysis services, they now have a reporting and management system on their fleet dispatch in France and Italy that updates in real time. This service is going to be extended to new countries in the coming year.

RCI Bank and Services continued to develop its mobility service offer in 2018. In June, the group took the control of iCabbi, a dispatch management7 company for taxi and ride-hailing-service fleets, by purchasing 75% of the shares. iCabbi technology is used by 72,000 taxis and ride-hailing vehicles. In September, Marcel, a subsidiary of RCI Bank and Services, launched e.co in Paris, the first range of 100% electric, affordable and eco-friendly chauffeur-driven vehicles, with a fleet of 150 ZOE, which already accounted for nearly 20% of Marcel rides at end-December 2018.

2019 OUTLOOK

With the world automotive market expected to be stable in 20198, RCI Bank and Services aims to maintain a strong performance level at the service of the Alliance brands.

The company will continue to develop financing and services solutions to facilitate automobility access for everyone. To meet the expectations and earn the loyalty of customers, RCI Bank and Services will be stepping up the digitalization of the customer journey, notably in terms of online sales. The growing digitalization of the company's business activities is aimed not just at boosting efficiency but also at establishing RCI Bank and Services as a choice of simplicity and a source of perceived quality for its network and final customers.

In-line with its funding diversification strategy, RCI Bank and Services will launch its deposit collection business line in Brazil in the first half of 2019. The deposits collected will help finance car loans approved for customers and dealerships of the Alliance brands and will be used to support their growth in the Brazilian market.

Press contacts





RCI Bank and Services

Amandine Monteil

+ 33(0) 6 87 71 80 63 amandine.monteil@rcibanque.com



Agence CLE







+ 33 (0)1 84 16 06 22

rcibspress@agencecle.fr

About RCI Banque S.A. :

Created and wholly owned by Groupe Renault, RCI Banque S.A. is a French bank specializing in automotive financing and services for the customers and dealership networks of Groupe Renault (Renault, Dacia, Alpine, Renault Samsung Motors and Lada) worldwide, the Nissan Group (Nissan, Infiniti and Datsun) mainly in Europe, Brazil, Argentina and South Korea and through joint ventures in Russia and India, and Mitsubishi Motors in the Netherlands.

RCI Bank and Services has been the new commercial identity of RCI Banque S.A. since February 2016.

With over 3,500 employees in 36 countries, RCI Bank and Services financed over 1.8 million contracts (for new and used vehicles) in 2018 and sold more than 4.8 million services.

At end-December 2018, average performing assets stood at 44.4 billion of financing and pre-tax income at 1,215 million.

RCI Bank and Services has rolled out a deposits collection business in four countries since 2012. At end-December 2018, net collected deposits totaled 15.9 billion, or 34% of the company's assets.

Find out more about RCI Bank and Services: www.rcibs.com

Follow us on Twitter: @RCIBS







1 Overall penetration rate excluding companies accounted for under the equity method: Russia, Turkey and India.

2 Average performing assets (APA) correspond to average loans outstanding plus assets relating to operational leasing activities. For customers, APA corresponds to average performing assets at end. For the network, APA corresponds to daily average performing assets.

3 Calculated from now on according to the IFRS 9 standard.

4 Return On Equity.

5 RCI Bank and Services operates in 36 countries.

6 Alliance registrations in the scope of RCI Bank and Services in 2017, in thousands of units.

7 An automated, Cloud-based fleet management solution.

8 Excluding hard Brexit





Attachment
Press Release

Amsterdam, 15 February 2019

Key points Q4 2018

Revenue growth of 16% (yoy) to EUR 245 million over the quarter

Strong EBIT improvement, growing 69% (yoy) to EUR 10.7 million with EBIT margin up by 1.4ppt to 4.4%

All-time high number of 13,000 specialists and professionals.

Key points full year 2018

Revenue growth of 16% to EUR 915 million

Excellent results in Middle East, India and Russia in multiple verticals

Strong EBIT improvement, growing 90% (yoy) to EUR 34.1 million with EBIT margin up by 1.4ppt to 3.7%

Earnings per share (EPS) up 173% to EUR 0.41

Proposed dividend EUR 0.25 per share, versus EUR 0.15 in 2017

Jilko Andringa, CEO of Brunel: Brunels 43rd and my first year was in many aspects a very good year. Thanks to the hard work of all our professionals at our clients and the colleagues in our offices, growth returned and accelerated in many regions through the year. We ended the year with almost 13,000 professionals working on projects at our local and global clients. An all-time record for Brunel, proof that our strategy to diversify to adjacent vertical activities is starting to pay off. To follow the successful course and performance of Team Brunel during last years Volvo Ocean Race: we will continue to execute on our strategy to further improve our growth and profitability and to create a more sustainable world for professionals and future professionals. We have seen continued strong growth in January 2019, so we expect another exciting year!

Brunel International (unaudited) P&L amounts in EUR million Q4 2018 Q4 2017 % FY 2018 FY 2017 % Revenue 244.9 210.2 16 % a 914.6 790.1 16 % b Gross Profit 55.4 49.4 12 % 208.9 182.7 14 % Gross margin 22.6 % 23.5 % 22.8 % 23.1 % Operating costs 44.7 43.0 4 % c 174.8 164.8 6 % d EBIT 10.7 6.4 69 % 34.1 17.9 90 % EBIT % 4.4 % 3.0 % 3.7 % 2.3 % Average directs 12,618 10,505 20 % 11,955 9,589 25 % Average indirects 1,570 1,533 2 % 1,544 1,497 3 % Ratio direct / Indirect 8.0 6.9 7.7 6.4 Earnings per share 0.41 0.15 173 % Dividend 0.25 0.15 67 % a 17 % like-for-like b 16 % like-for-like c 4 % like-for-like d 7 % like-for-like Like-for-like is measured excluding the impact of currencies and acquisitions



Q4 2018 and FY 2018 results by division

P&L amounts in EUR million

Summary:

Revenue Q4 2018 Q4 2017 % YTD 2018 YTD 2017 % DACH region 68.1 59.7 14 % 268.6 238.5 13 % The Netherlands 57.0 53.9 6 % 220.1 195.3 13 % Australasia 27.6 31.9 -14 % 113.9 102.4 11 % Middle East & India 25.1 17.8 41 % 87.3 63.7 37 % Rest of world 67.0 46.9 43 % 224.6 190.3 18 % Total 244.9 210.2 16 % 914.6 790.1 16 %





EBIT Q4 2018 Q4 2017 % YTD 2018 YTD 2017 % DACH region 6.2 3.4 80 % 25.1 21.9 15 % The Netherlands 3.3 5.3 -37 % 11.6 11.3 3 % Australasia -0.3 0.8 -134 % -0.8 0.0 -6683 % Middle East & India 2.5 1.0 155 % 8.0 2.3 243 % Rest of world 0.6 -2.0 127 % -1.5 -7.8 81 % Unallocated -1.6 -2.1 27 % -8.4 -9.8 15 % Total 10.7 6.4 69 % 34.1 17.9 90 %



The Groups revenue in Q4 increased by 16%, which was fully organically.

DACH region (unaudited) P&L amounts in EUR million Q4 2018 Q4 2017 % YTD 2018 YTD 2017 % Revenue 68.1 59.7 14 % 268.6 238.5 13 % Gross Profit 21.8 18.5 18 % 86.3 79.6 8 % Gross margin 32.0 % 31.0 % 32.1 % 33.4 % Operating costs 15.6 15.1 3 % 61.2 57.7 6 % EBIT 6.2 3.4 80 % 25.1 21.9 15 % EBIT % 9.1 % 5.8 % 9.3 % 9.2 % Average directs 2,757 2,528 9 % 2,646 2,441 8 % Average indirects 484 457 6 % 476 449 6 % Ratio direct / Indirect 5.7 5.5 5.6 5.4

Our activities in the DACH region continued to show strong growth. Especially our organisation in Germany, the biggest contributor in this region, has proven to be able to quickly and professionally adjust to changes in the market, with the careful implementation of the equal pay regulations, whilst continuing to provide excellent services to our clients.

Revenue per working day increased by 11% in Q4. The gross margin adjusted for working days in Q4 is 30.1% (2017: 31.0%). The decrease was due to the introduction of equal pay, and has now stabilized at this level. The productivity in our competence center was on a normal level.

Working days:

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 FY 2019 63 60 66 61 250 2018 63 60 65 62 250 2017 65 59 65 60 249

Brunel Netherlands (unaudited) P&L amounts in EUR million Q4 2018 Q4 2017 % YTD 2018 YTD 2017 % Revenue 57.0 53.9 6 % 220.1 195.3 13 % Gross Profit 15.8 16.7 -6 % 62.3 57.3 9 % Gross margin 27.7 % 31.0 % 28.3 % 29.3 % Operating costs 12.5 11.4 10 % 50.7 46.0 10 % EBIT 3.3 5.3 -37 % 11.6 11.3 3 % EBIT % 5.8 % 9.8 % 5.3 % 5.8 % Average directs 2,531 2,368 7 % 2,463 2,220 11 % Average indirects 447 430 4 % 438 435 1 % Ratio direct / Indirect 5.7 5.5 5.6 5.1

In The Netherlands we continued to grow, but we were unable to match the excellent performance of Q4 2017. Productivity decreased primarily on the back of an upfront hiring campaign of talented professionals and training initiatives in all our business lines, which will enable us to service the future HR needs of our clients. Vacation and illness percentages were up compared to Q4 2017. For the full year, almost all business lines achieved significant growth, and both Engineering and IT reached new records. This growth was partly offset by a decline in our business line Insurance & Banking, due to the changes in this market. We are confident that the actions we have taken in this business line will result in a return to growth in 2019.

Revenue per working day increased by 4% in Q4. The gross margin adjusted for working days in Q4 is 26.8% (2017: 31.0%). Gross margin decreased due to the lower productivity. Operating costs increased year on year due to continuous investments in technology and digital tools. For the full year, EUR 2.5 million of costs relating to digital market initiatives are non-recurring.

Working days:

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 FY 2019 63 62 66 64 255 2018 64 61 65 64 254 2017 65 61 65 63 254

Australasia (unaudited) P&L amounts in EUR million Q4 2018 Q4 2017 % YTD 2018 YTD 2017 % Revenue 27.6 31.9 -14 % a 113.9 102.4 11 % Gross Profit 2.9 3.7 -23 % 9.9 9.0 11 % Gross margin 10.4 % 11.7 % 8.7 % 8.7 % Operating costs 3.2 2.9 10 % c 10.7 9.0 19 % EBIT -0.3 0.8 -134 % -0.8 0 EBIT % -1.0 % 2.6 % -0.7 % 0.0 % Average directs 902 856 5 % 919 601 53 % Average indirects 79 78 1 % 78 71 9 % Ratio direct / Indirect 11.4 10.9 11.8 8.5 a -10% like-for-like b -2% like-for-like c 12 % like-for-like d 13 % like-for-like Like-for-like is measured excluding the impact of currencies and acquisitions

Revenue in Australasia declined in Q4, mainly because one major client hired part of our professionals directly. Over the past 12 months, we have been actively working on new growth opportunities, which are now starting to contribute, and we expect a return to revenue growth in the course of 2019. Gross margin decreased due to a change in the mix: we have been successful in securing our positions following supplier consolidation efforts of some of our clients, but this has resulted in slightly lower margins.

Operating costs increased as a result of the preparation of our organisation for the recovery in the Oil & Gas industry that is expected in the course of 2019, as well as continued investments in new initiatives.

Middle East & India (unaudited) P&L amounts in EUR million Q4 2018 Q4 2017 % YTD 2018 YTD 2017 % Revenue 25.1 17.8 41 % a 87.3 63.7 37 % Gross Profit 4.6 2.7 67 % 15.6 9.2 70 % Gross margin 18.3 % 15.4 % 17.9 % 14.4 % Operating costs 2.1 1.7 24 % c 7.6 6.9 10 % EBIT 2.5 1.0 155 % 8.0 2.3 243 % EBIT % 10.0 % 5.6 % 9.2 % 3.7 % Average directs 3,696 1,625 127 % 3,168 1,228 158 % Average indirects 121 110 10 % 116 106 9 % Ratio direct / Indirect 30.5 14.8 27.3 11.5 a 38 % like-for-like b 43% like-for-like c 14% like-for-like d 14 % like-for-like Like-for-like is measured excluding the impact of currencies and acquisitions

Middle East & India ended a very successful 2018 with the best quarter in Q4. The excellent performance in 2018, with a growth in professionals from 1,772 to just under 4,000, and a 37% growth in revenue, is the result of the diversification strategy that started early 2017. The strong team and organisation have been able to achieve a very high operational leverage, resulting in an EBIT of 10% for Q4.

The main contributors are India, Kuwait and Qatar, and most of the activities are project related. The recently won projects, in combination with all the activities in the region, will ensure continued growth in 2019.



Rest of world (unaudited) P&L amounts in EUR million Q4 2018 Q4 2017 % YTD 2018 YTD 2017 % Revenue 67.0 46.9 43 % a 224.6 190.3 18 % Gross Profit 10.3 7.7 34 % 34.7 27.7 25 % Gross margin 15.4 % 16.4 % 15.4 % 14.5 % Operating costs 9.7 9.7 0 % c 36.2 35.5 2 % EBIT 0.6 -2.0 127 % -1.5 -7.8 81 % EBIT % 0.8 % -4.4 % -0.6 % -4.1 % Average directs 2,733 3,128 -13 % 2,759 3,098 -11 % Average indirects 390 405 -4 % 384 384 0 % Ratio direct / Indirect 7.0 7.7 7.2 8.1 a 44% like-for-like b 18 % like-for-like c 5% like-for-like d 6% like-for-like Like-for-like is measured excluding the impact of currencies and acquisitions

Rest of the World includes Americas, Russia, South East Asia and the rest of Europe. Growth continued to accelerate. Main drivers were Americas and Russia. The new project in the Permian Basin in Texas, the biggest shale oil producing region in the USA, showed strong growth since the start in October, despite adverse weather conditions. These conditions also slightly impacted our gross margin.

Russia continues to grow following the high level of project activities in that area. In South East Asia, we see an increase in headcount on yards and engineering sites as a result of the many new Oil & Gas projects.

Effective tax rate

The effective tax rate decreased from 46.2% in 2017 to 33.7% in 2018, mainly because most countries have returned to profitability, and therefore created a positive mix effect.

Cash position

The December 2018 cash balance amounted to EUR 106 million, a decrease of EUR 20 million compared to December 2017 due to higher working capital expenditures resulting from the growth of our activities.

Dividend

We propose a dividend of EUR 0.25 per share, an increase of 67% compared to the EUR 0.15 per share over 2017. This corresponds with a pay-out ratio of 61%.

Outlook

In 2018 we have continued to invest in the number of direct and indirect employees, in new activities and markets and in new technologies that will improve our operational effectiveness. On the back of these investments we are very well positioned to continue to benefit from favorable market developments. Moreover, the resulting higher starting headcount for 2019, in combination with further expected growth in our main markets will contribute to continued revenue growth, operational leverage and improved profitability.

Not for publication

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For further information:

Jilko Andringa CEO Brunel International N.V. tel.: +31(0)20 312 50 81

Peter de Laat CFO Brunel International N.V. tel.: +31(0)20 312 50 81

Brunel International N.V. is a global provider of flexible workforce solutions and expertise. We deliver tailor made solutions like Recruitment, Global Mobility, Project Management, Secondment, Consultancy or scope of work for our clients, both on a global scale and on a local level. Our ability to help our clients beyond their expectations is a testament to our people and their entrepreneurial spirit, knowledge and results-driven approach. Our people are at the heart of everything we do.

We connect the most talented professionals with leading clients in Oil & Gas, Global offshore, Operations & Maintenance, Renewable Energy, Automotive, Mining and Infrastructure.

Incorporated in 1975, Brunel has since become a global company with over 14,000 employees and annual revenue of EUR 0.9 billion (2018). The company is listed at Euronext Amsterdam N.V. For more information on Brunel International N.V. visit our website www.brunelinternational.net.

Financial Calendar

3 May 2019 Trading update for the first quarter 2019

16 May 2019 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders

20 May 2019 Ex dividend listing

7 June 2019 Dividend available for payment

2 August 2019 Half year results 2019

1 November 2019 Trading update for the third quarter 2019

Certain statements in this document concern prognoses about the future financial condition and the results of operations of Brunel International N.V. as well as plans and objectives. Obviously, such prognoses involve risks and a degree of uncertainty since they concern future events and depend on circumstances that will apply then. Many factors may contribute to the actual results and developments differing from the prognoses made in this document. These factors include general economic conditions, a shortage on the job market, changes in the demand for (flexible) personnel, changes in employment legislation, future currency and interest fluctuations, future takeovers, acquisitions and disposals and the rate of technological developments. These prognoses therefore apply only on the date on which the document was compiled.
NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Flashpoint, the global leader in Business Risk Intelligence (BRI), today announced a new partnership with emt Distribution, a value-added distributor and vendor representative with a presence in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, UAE and South Africa. This agreement significantly expands Flashpoints already aggressive growth in the Asia Pacific region.



With emt building out its portfolio of solutions that fall within Cyber Threat Management, we are adding a level of sophistication many channel partners have not had access to in the past, said Scott Hagenus, CMO of emt Distribution. This is excellent for businesses and governments who are taking their cyber strategies to new maturity levels and need partners to help them get there. And its much needed in todays threat landscape.

Flashpoint empowers organizations worldwide with meaningful intelligence and information that combats threats and adversaries. Finished intelligence provided by Flashpoint helps organizations combat cyber threats such as newly evolving malware, zero-day exploits and hacktivism, as well as understand risks to corporate and physical security, damage through fraud and even insider threats.

This access to illicit online communities is critical for teams to safely access actionable intelligence with the goal of reducing overall business risk. Key use cases that we see greatly benefiting the region are bolstering cybersecurity, combating insider threats, confronting fraud, and addressing supply chain risk, to name a few, Hagenus said.

Channel partners in OCEANIA and Southeast Asia can now offer this valuable intel to their customers, leveraging emt Distributions resources to assist with everything from discovery meetings to demonstrations, pre sales engineering and implementation assistance.



emt Distribution has long been at the leading edge of providing cyber security solutions to Australias private and public sector, said Brian Costello, SVP Global Sales & Solutions Architecture, Flashpoint. Flashpoint is excited and optimistic about this new partnership and helping emt further grow its portfolio to address the growing threat of illicit threat actor communities online.

Flashpoints Global Channel Program (GCP) has grown significantly, with value-added resellers (VARs) and value-added distributors (VADs) across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific -- all supported by dedicated channel sales managers. In 2018, Flashpoints GCP earned a 5-star rating in CRNs 2018 Partner Program Guide, and was honored when its head of global partnerships, Ayesha Prakash, was named to CRNs prestigious 2018 Women of the Channel .

Visit the emt Distribution website to learn more about Flashpoint offerings .

About emt Distribution

emt Distribution is an Adelaide-based value-added distributor and vendor representative with a presence in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, UAE and South Africa. It also works closely with like-minded distributors in the UK, Netherlands and Germany. emt offers cyber security solutions that address the top four mitigation strategies to prevent cyber security incidents, the broader strategies in the Australian Governments Information Security Manual (ISM) and solutions to address Cyber Threat Management.

emt Distribution assists channel partners, MSPs and MSSPs to deliver cyber security solutions their customers need. emt offers pre and post-sales support, channel development, engaged sales processes and marketing assistance for both vendors and channel partners. See: www.emtdist.com

About Flashpoint

Flashpoint delivers Business Risk Intelligence (BRI) to empower organizations worldwide with meaningful intelligence and information that combats threats and adversaries. The companys sophisticated technology, advanced data collections, and human-powered analysis uniquely enables large enterprises and the public sector to bolster cybersecurity, confront fraud, detect insider threats and build insider threat programs, enhance corporate and physical security, improve executive protection, and address vendor risk and supply chain integrity. For more information, visit https://www.flashpoint-intel.com/ or follow us on Twitter at @FlashpointIntel.
Brushy Creek Lake: Anglers are fishing mostly near the north boat ramp, in the northeast arm of the lake, and near the southeast boat ramp near the big island. Look out for thin ice near the beach and in the main lake. Bluegill - Fair: Try waxworms fished on a small jig in the northeast arm of the lake. Black Crappie  Fair: Use a minnow and spoon in about 20-30 feet of water near submerged structure. Try also waxworms and spikes on a small jig. Yellow Perch - Slow: Anglers are picking up a few yellow perch while fishing for crappie.

Storm Lake (including Little Storm Lake): Ice conditions are still variable. Most areas of the lake have 15-18 inches of ice. Avoid ice along pressure seams, in the middle of the lake near the big island, and any other off-colored ice. Walleye - Fair: Use minnows and jigging spoons in the dredge cuts on the east side of the lake in about 10-14 feet of water. Low light conditions are best. Yellow Perch - Slow: Use a small spoon and waxworm in the east end of the lake. White Bass - Fair: Anglers are picking up some white bass in the east end of the lake and deeper dredged areas while fishing for walleye.
ALGONA | A North Iowa man received his dying wish at Kossuth Regional Health Center  to marry his girlfriend of more than 30 years.

Greg Block, 61, of Livermore came to KRHC by ambulance, and was admitted to the hospital.

Block was managing a terminal illness, and although he was engaged to his longtime girlfriend Cynthia, they had not yet married.

He told Kossuth Regional Health Center nurse Kelly Rowlet that marrying was a regret that troubled him. Valentine's Day was the 31st anniversary of their first date.

"He told me that marrying Cynthia was the only thing he wanted to do before he died. So I said, we're going to make this happen," Rowlet said in a news release.

The couple was faced with three major challenges.

First, they didnt have a marriage license. That would require going to the courthouse for paperwork and making it through the three-day waiting period.

Second, mobility was an issue. Greg was physically unable to leave his hospital room.

And third, Greg was dying.

Rowlet knew she couldn't pull off the feat by herself, so she recruited a few local Valentine's Day cupids to help.
Hard to say

This year seems to be a critical year to test every citizen's fundamental right to express their opinions
MASON CITY | Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is visiting Mason City this Saturday as a part of her recently announced 2020 Presidential Campaign.

Klobuchar, who declared her candidacy on February 10 in Minneapolis during a snowstorm, will appear at Lorado's Restaurant in downtown Mason City at 4 p.m. for a meet and greet.

The trip would be the senior senator from Minnesota's first to Iowa since her announcement.

In recent days, Klobuchar has faced allegations of maintaining a hostile work environment with her staff.

She has had an annual staff turnover rate of 36 percent, according to LegiStorm which maintains Congressional data and there are reports about the senator throwing office supplies at staffers.

However, according to a February 7 Huffington Post article, some of her own staffers have said that the allegations against Klobuchar, who has held office since 2007, were based in "sexist stereotypes about female leaders with high standards." (Of the ten senators with the highest staff turnover, seven are women: Klobuchar, Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)).
Pete Buttigieg thinks there is a hunger in the Democratic Party for a fresh face, and the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, says his face may be the freshest.

In an ever-growing field of Democrats seeking the partys nomination for president  11 and counting  Buttigieg is making the case that he can satisfy Democrats who are looking for a new direction for the party.

"Its safe to say Im not like the others" Buttigieg said during his campaign swing through Iowa earlier this month.

In addition to being one of the youngest candidates in the field of official or potential candidates, Buttigieg is a veteran and is openly gay.

Because of his political background, Buttigieg can emphasize his experience in executive leadership while being able to distance himself from congressional politics.

"I think theres an appetite for something new and something different ... (that) people do want something different just because were at this moment of turning the page, Buttigieg told reporters after a campaign event in Ankeny. "So I think the newer you are on the scene, maybe the freer you are of some of the habits and the strings that have made it hard to be original in our politics today."
DES MOINES  Legislation to prohibit traffic enforcement cameras got a yellow light Wednesday as a House subcommittee advanced the bill, but members indicated they anticipate regulating the devices rather than banning them.

Although he has concerns about the cameras, Public Safety Committee Chairman Jarad Klein, R-Keota, conceded they may serve the public interest so hes willing to look for middle ground  something less than an outright ban, but more than the largely unregulated use of cameras to catch motorists who speed and run red lights.

There are some of these cameras that are definitely useful for safety, Klein said during a hearing on House Study Bill 125. But I also think there are a lot of them out there that are being used as a revenue-generating source.

Speakers told the subcommittee revenue is being used to hire police officers, pay for cities to upgrade equipment  such as radios that can be a part of a statewide communication system  and other public safety priorities.

While it remains to be seen how Klein will modify his bill, lobbyists for Iowa cities that have cameras and the companies that supply them encouraged legislators to establish a regulatory framework rather than a ban.
Its being exposed to another experience, Uwera said about Iowas winter temperatures and snow. It gets you used to how extremely bad it can be. If you can survive here, you can survive anywhere.

But aside from the weather, Uwera has enjoyed everything about the program, especially the people.

Patterson said he invites the exchange visitors to church, out to eat and family gatherings at the house for holidays.

Melnyk, who went to university for agricultural engineering, will leave Lynns Farm in April to spend his remaining time with really good friends he made while in the U.S. Theyre planning on visiting Chicago.

I dont know my future, he said. I know my next step is gonna see what I want more, after this program I want to go to Denmark or come back here. Its really hard to say right now. See something and just do it.

Uwera, who went to university for animal science, will leave the farm in May, so she can do some sight-seeing in Tennessee, Pittsburgh and New York before returning to Rwanda where she hopes to put into practice what we learned at Lynns Farm.

Patterson said hes working with CAEP to line up additional exchange visitors to start before Uwera and Melnyk leave.
An outbreak of an unnamed illness among students and staff forced an eastern El Paso County school district and a network of Colorado Springs charter schools to close Friday.

James Irwin Charter Schools were closed due to the level of illness among both staff and students, a message from CEO Jonathan Berg says. This will give a longer weekend which we hope will break the current cycle of illness, and give us time to deep clean and disinfect our schools.

Nearly 2,000 students attend the charter schools five campuses.

About 315 students attend Miami-Yoder School District JT-60, which was closed due to numerous staff and student illnesses, an alert says.

None of the closed schools said what type of illness was involved.

In Colorado Springs School District 11, the Pikes Peak regions largest district, some students stayed home from school this week with the what appeared to be flu, but the illness isnt widespread, spokeswoman Devra Ashby said.
DENVER  A mistrial has been declared in a second trial of truck driver accused of hitting and killing a Colorado State Patrol trooper in 2016 on Interstate 25.

Noe Gamez Ruiz had been charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of Trooper Cody Donahue.

A first trial ended in a mistrial in September. Court officials said at the time the prosecution failed to disclose information to defense lawyers.

Defense attorney Harvey Steinberg told KMGH-TV on Friday a judge made the ruling after Steinberg argued that evidence had been withheld.

Donahue was standing in the shoulder of the highway filling out a crash report when he was struck.

A 2017 Colorado law raised penalties for drivers who don't slow down and move over when approaching emergency vehicles and tow trucks.
Chandan Kumar Mandal is the environment and migration reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering labour migration and governance, as well as climate change, natural disasters, and wildlife.
A 21-year-old woman suspected of driving under the influence of drugs was arrested in the death of a pedestrian Wednesday night near America the Beautiful Park west of downtown Colorado Springs, police said.

Mitchal Holloway, 21, was killed in the crash about 10:30 p.m. near Colorado Avenue and Cimino Drive, police said. Destany Cardenas was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide and driving under the influence.

Cardenas was driving a Hyundai sedan westbound on Colorado Avenue when she hit Holloway in the roadway. Holloway was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Cardenas and a female passenger werent injured.

Holloways death is the citys sixth traffic fatality this year, the same number as at this time last year.
You may have been wondering why all those generals stayed seated during President Donald Trumps recent State of the Union address.

It turns out at least one of them was trying to avoid notice. Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau and a 38-year veteran of military service, had a wardrobe malfunction during Trumps address: The rack carrying all of his ribbons for a four-starred career was upside down on his blue Air Force tunic.

Its a detail thats difficult for even the eagle-eyed to notice and something that would fly over most civilian heads.

Lengyel wasnt called out by his commander in chief for the faux pas. Instead, he pleaded guilty to the uniform crime on Twitter. Whats wrong with this picture? Lengyel wrote. Ill give you a hint...Its why they keep putting eraser on pencils.

If the Lengyel name rings a bell, you may be thinking of the generals brother Greg, who served as the Air Force Academys commandant on a two-year-tour that ended in 2014.

Joseph Lengyel has led the Guard since 2016 and he has a ribbon rack that many would envy. It is led with the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Americas highest award for actions not tied to combat.

Hes also got a Bronze Star Medal, and several baubles tied to his skill at the controls of the F-16 fighter, including the Air Forces Aerial Achievement Medal.

Ribbons are given precedence in their wear. Put simply, the ones on top are the biggest and those that are not as big of a deal go lower.

But for Trumps speech, Lengyel got it upside down and backwards.

Instead of skulking away, the general used his mistake as a training opportunity.

Let this be a lesson and dont let it happen to you! he wrote.

Who knows, the way the military is changing its uniforms lately, Lengyel could soon be right in style.

The newest wardrobe switch was on display during the Super Bowl this month when soldiers showed off the new duds that look like they came straight from World War II. The new uniform will eventually replace the dark- blue Army Service Uniform. That uniform replaced a green uniform that was used for nearly 60 years.

The new Army uniform, modeled on the pinks and greens worn by the Greatest Generation, will be issued to new troops next year.

While the Army is proud of the new uniform, it is not fond of the World War II-era title. Pink is not in fashion.

The Army Greens will be fielded to Soldiers reporting to their first units as early as the summer of 2020, the Army said on its website. The mandatory wear date for all Soldiers will be 2028.

Contact Tom Roeder: 636-0240 Twitter: @xroederx
As Fort Carson troops have streamed home from Afghanistan in recent weeks, their leaders have said the nation where America has battled for nearly 18 years is increasingly ready to stand on its own.

But even as signs point to an end to Americas longest war, veterans worry that the finish looks a lot more like Vietnam than World War II.

We will have spent American blood and treasure for nothing, warned retired Army Lt. Col. Sprague Taveau.

But even among veterans, the Afghanistan question has no unanimous answer.

Take retired Army Maj. Russ Vanardo, who served in Afghanistan with Fort Carsons 4th Brigade Combat Team. He says the best way to honor the sacrifices of soldiers is by shedding no more blood.

I think whatever gets us out of that country morally and legally needs to be done, Vanardo said. The Taliban runs the country whether we want to admit it or not.

The arguments around the nation have gotten more heated in recent days after the Trump administration announced it had reached a deal in principle with the Taliban to end the war.

Few places in the country have as much invested in the future of Afghanistan as Colorado Springs, which still has hundreds of troops there with headquarters of the 4th Infantry Division deployed there and more on the way as Colorado National Guard troops deploy this year.

Col. Monte Rone, who commands Fort Carsons 1st Brigade Combat Team, returned home this month after leading his soldiers on a nine-month tour that saw them spread across much of eastern Afghanistan, one of the most restive regions.

The brigade had its soldiers assigned to 32 outposts and lost Sgt. Jason McClary to a roadside bomb blast.

The colonel wouldnt talk about the peace process but expressed optimism about Afghans military.

He advised an Afghan corps that had as many as four of its brigades engaged in combat against the Taliban simultaneously.

Those were Afghans out front, he said, noting that his soldiers stayed in a supporting role amid growing power and independence demonstrated by the Afghan National Army.

The Afghans, he said, were unmatched in battlefield power and undefeatable in the field.

They were able to do the things a good army does, he said.

Building a competent Afghan army has been a top priority for the Pentagon since the first U.S. troops kicked off Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001.

But the Taliban has been a tough enemy to tackle, in part because they were well-trained by forces that include the United States.

The rise of the Taliban coincided with the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Beginning in 1973, a series of coups and intrigues left the central government weak and vulnerable. A communist coup took shaky control of the nation in 1979 and kicked off a civil war. The Soviet Union sent its military and began to establish what they hoped would be a puppet state.

The U.S.-backed Islamic forces fought to rid Afghanistan of communists. Those Islamic fighters, including Taliban militants, gave Russia the boot after 10 years of fighting.

The Taliban emerged from the rubble to control most of the nation and quickly became an American foe by hosting al-Qaida training camps.

America launched cruise missile strikes in 1998 in response to al-Qaida attacks. In 2001, American troops invaded to avenge the 9/11 attacks.

Since the U.S. invasion, American troops have found themselves amid another Afghan civil war. The strength of American forces in Afghanistan has swung from a low of 7,000 troops to a high of 100,000.

Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama kept the United States at war there, fearing more terrorism and a humanitarian crisis if America pulled out.

But a new politician arrived on the scene with a different view of American involvement there.

We should leave Afghanistan immediately, Donald Trump tweeted two years before he jumped into the 2016 presidential campaign. No more wasted lives. If we have to go back in, we go in hard and quick. Rebuild the U.S. first.

Trump entered the White House with ambitions of ending the Afghanistan war. And while he has bowed to Pentagon experts and kept troops there, his Afghanistan plans havent changed much.

The announcement of a potential Taliban truce follows more than a year of work to bring the militant Sunni group to the table.

But Trump has drawn fire for his Afghanistan policy even as he has pushed for a pullout.

The loudest of those opponents might be Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

He drove a vote last week that, while mostly symbolic, shows a clear split between the president and his party over Afghanistan.

We have seen the costs of a precipitous withdrawal before in Iraq, McConnell said in a statement.

And in Afghanistan, we have seen the downsides of telling the enemy they can just wait us out.

His measure, opposing the withdrawal of U.S. forces, was approved by a rare supermajority in the Senate, unifying the GOP and Democrats even as political divides threaten another shutdown.

But Fort Carson leaders have said theres never been a better time for peace in Afghanistan. Last month, Col. David Zinn, commander of the posts 2nd Brigade Combat Team, said during his units nine-month 2018 deployment, he saw many signs of hope.

I see momentum building to negotiations that could bring an end to the conflict, Zinn said.

If theres momentum, Fort Carson soldiers deserve much of the credit. Rone repeatedly expressed admiration for his 1st Brigade troops, saying they accomplished their Afghan deployment with flawless professionalism that left the place in better shape.

I am so proud of the Raider Brigade, he said.

But as Rones troops reacquaint themselves with their families, a very American debate is raging about Afghanistans future.

Taveau said a quick deal with the Taliban is a recipe to plunge Afghanistan back into chaos.

I believe it is a strategic mistake, he said. In the end, they will refit, retake the country and we will be right back where we started.

Vanardo said that while Afghanistan could well re-enter the darkness, American troops can do no more to change that nations fate.

We didnt lose. We won militarily over and over, he said. It is not us. The taxpayers, the soldiers and the diplomats did their job.

Contact Tom Roeder: 636-0240
Nancy Benham, assistant superintendent for program services at the New York State School for the Deaf in Rome, N.Y., has been named the next superintendent of the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind.

The board of trustees voted 6-1 Thursday to hire Benham.

Board member Walter Vonfeldt, whos deaf, cast the opposing vote. He indicated afterward that he would not comment on the reason for his vote.

Several members of the deaf community have opposed Benham being named the sole finalist and have raised other issues, including the board not responding to their letters.

We feel theres a lack of transparency and little concern for the deaf community, Vance Youngs, president of the Colorado Association of the Deaf, told the board through an interpreter.

The deaf community already is very vulnerable  and we want it better. The community feels this procedure needs to be of us and by us.

Board member Teresa Raiford said she was impressed by Benham, one of four candidates interviewed by the board and two committees two weeks ago.

Her heart for the kids was amazing, and her plan moving forward to learn about the blind students and their needs was well thought-out, she said.

Benham, who earned her doctoral degree in educational administration and supervision from the University of Southern Mississippi and who can hear, has worked with deaf and hard-of-hearing students for years, according to her application. But she has no experience working with blind or visually impaired students.

Her plan includes furthering her education to learn what she needed to learn to govern a blind school as well, Raiford said. We feel she will take the time and do the due diligence to provide governance for the blind.

She will start July 1, replacing Carol Hilty, whos retiring after serving as superintendent for 15 years, plus 15 as teacher and principal.

The position pays $150,000 plus benefits.

Her current school district serves 60 students; the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind has about 210 student on campus daily, including boarders, and helps 700 statewide through outreach programs.

The process to choose the next leader of the Colorado Springs-based, state- funded school began last spring and was extensive, board member Nancy Brown said.

Its been a long journey, Brown said. We had several stakeholder meetings to be inclusive and transparent throughout the process.

After a lively discussion last year, the board nailed down what qualifications members wanted in a new superintendent, then hired a search firm, conducted an online survey and held several meetings with parents, staff and the community.

Twenty-seven completed applications were narrowed to nine and then four.

The board and two committees of staff, students, parents and community members interviewed the four candidates, whom the board did not publicly name, and chose Benham after getting feedback from the groups, Brown said.

We had 35 or 40 people participating in these interviews in some capacity, she said.

Although members of the deaf community expressed their opinions and feelings directly to the board repeatedly, they felt they were not heard, said Ida Wilding, a deaf professor from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and president of the Colorado chapter of the American Sign Language Teachers Association.

Many wanted the school to hire a deaf superintendent, saying doing so would best serve the students.

Kevin Harrer, who is deaf and a former student and teacher at the school, said hes not concerned that Benham is not deaf or hard of hearing.

For me, it matters more that she is highly qualified and provides good leadership and gets along with everyone, he said while signing.

But Harrer said he doesnt think she was the most qualified candidate, and said some issues in her background are concerning. He called on the board to launch a second search, as the board did 15 years ago when Hilty was hired as superintendent.

Board member Andy McElhaney said negative comments made about Benham were unsubstantiated and anonymous.

The report we received from the search firm was glowing, he said. They checked eight different references, and they were all supportive and complimentary.

McElhaney said when he posed the question to Benham, Why should we hire you? she replied, Because I have passion.

Clearly, she does, McElhaney said.

Contact the writer: 719-476-1656
Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Cloudy early, becoming mostly clear after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 55F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy early, becoming mostly clear after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 55F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
You met cute at an airport lounge and have been together ever since. Maybe yours isnt the most exciting relationship, but its comfortable, consistent, honest. Then something drops, and you realize it was all a lie.

That globe-trotting gent from the East, whose name means morning sun in Japanese? Real forwarding address: Canada.

The visiting aristocrat with deep roots in the German brewing pantheon? You met in St. Louis because thats where he was born.

The sand-dusted surfer dude from the Big Island? Actually from New Hampshire and cant swim.

Potential partners and politicians arent the only ones known to play a little fast and loose with origin stories and vital statistics. But if youre a beer fan whos been betrayed, and youre willing to get litigious and stick it out, recovering from a breakup could come with a few ounces of justice and (maybe) even a couple of bucks.

Longtime Kona Brewing Co. fan Simone Zimmer thought she was getting a Hawaii-brewed, rather than Hawaii-themed, beer when she picked up an Island Hopper Variety 12-pack a few years ago at a retailer near her home in San Bernardino, Calif.

The tropical beer fantasy is what Kona wanted her to see, with labels bearing colorful images of waves, erupting volcanoes and other evocative island scenes, as well as a map showing the location of the companys Kailua-Kona brewery on the Big Island.

Based on these representations, Ms. Zimmer believed that each of the Kona Brewing Co. Beers she purchased was brewed in Hawaii, according to a complaint filed in 2017 against Kona owner Craft Brew Alliance, Inc. However, unbeknownst to Ms. Zimmer, the Kona Brewing Co. Beers she purchased were not brewed in Hawaii, but instead were brewed in the continental United States.

The still-brewing Kona class-action suit isnt the only to emerge in recent years by consumers claiming false or misleading advertising (fact misdirection?) by beer brands.

Fosters faced it for being Aussie for beer in name only; Red Stripe, for faking a Jamaican accent when hanging with U.S. fans. In 2015, AB InBev agreed to pay out more than $20 million to settle such a suit, reimbursing up to $50 per household to U.S. consumers who thought the Becks they were drinking and paying import-style premiums for was brewed in Germany, rather than the Gateway to the West.

And in a more recent settlement, consumers of Asahi Super Dry or Asahi Select who bought the beers thinking they were imported from Japan, rather than made by Molson in Canada, have until May 3 to file a claim, at asahibeersettlement.com.

Qualifying households could get up to $10 back  enough to buy a six-pack of beer they trust. If they can ever trust again.
On February 14, 1979, Adolph Dubs, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was kidnapped at gunpoint, held hostage in a Kabul hotel, and killed in a botched rescue attempt.



Forty years on, the precise circumstances surrounding the death of the 58-year-old diplomat remain shrouded in mystery. Several questions remain unanswered, including who was behind Dubs' kidnapping, who fired the fatal shots, and whether the Soviet Union was involved.



The death of Dubs, a former charge d'affaires in Moscow, came at a critical time during the Cold War -- it was a year after communists seized power in Kabul and months before the Soviet Union sent in troops to prop up the Marxist government.

Author Anthony Arnold suggested that "it was obvious that only one power...would benefit from the murder -- the Soviet Union."

The incident prompted international shock and outraged the administration of U.S. President Jimmy Carter, which closed the U.S. Embassy in response, although it did keep a charge d'affaires. Months later, Washington began its covert support to the mujahedin, the Islamist guerrilla fighters who were battling the Kabul regime and would later fight the Soviet Army.



Room 117



On the morning of February 14, Dubs' car was stopped by four gunmen in Kabul as he was traveling to the U.S. Embassy. There were reports that at least one of the gunmen was dressed as a uniformed Kabul traffic policeman. Dubs' abductors took him downtown to the Hotel Kabul, now known as the Serena Hotel.



By noon, Afghan security forces had surrounded the hotel. Soon after, Afghan forces stormed Room 117, where Dubs was being held. After a brief exchange of fire, Dubs was found dead. The ambassador had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his head and chest.



Two of the four gunmen involved in Dubs' abduction were also killed in the assault.



'Suppression Of The Truth'



Washington protested to Kabul, saying that Afghan forces stormed the building despite a warning from the U.S. Embassy "in the strongest possible terms" not to attack the hotel or open fire on the kidnappers while attempts were being made to negotiate Dubs' release.

In 1980, the State Department issued a report on its yearlong investigation into Dubs' death, attributing blame to Afghan authorities and Soviet advisers assisting them.



The State Department said that at least three Soviet advisers had played an "operational role" during the storming of the hotel.



Moscow acknowledged that its advisers were present but said they had no control over the Afghan decision to storm the hotel room. Kabul said Soviet advisers were not present.

Washington said it was also not able to reach Foreign Minister Hafizullah Amin for hours, a claim denied by Amin, who would later become the leader of the country.



The State Department report said Dubs died of "at least 10 wounds inflicted by small-caliber weapons."



The report said physical evidence in the hotel room, including weapons, had disappeared.

Afghan officials produced for the Americans the body of a third kidnapper who had been detained by police. Kabul also provided the corpse of the fourth kidnapper, who U.S. officials did not see at the hotel.



It is still unknown whether Dubs was killed by his abductors, his would-be rescuers, or a combination of both.

The State Department said the Kabul government's account was "incomplete, misleading, and inaccurate," with "no mention of the Soviets involved in the incident." The U.S. report concluded: "Sufficient evidence has been obtained to establish serious misrepresentation or suppression of the truth by the government."



Cold Case



The identities of Dubs' kidnappers were never revealed, and Washington, Moscow, and Kabul all have their own take on the incident.



Carter's national-security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, blamed Dubs' death on "Soviet ineptitude or collusion," according to his memoirs. He described the Afghan handling of the incident as "inept."

In the book Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion In Perspective, author Anthony Arnold suggested that "it was obvious that only one power...would benefit from the murder -- the Soviet Union," as the death of the ambassador "irrevocably poisoned" the U.S.-Afghan relationship, "leaving the U.S.S.R. with a monopoly of great-power influence over" the Kabul government.

In the months after Dubs' death, Carter would dramatically draw down America's diplomatic presence in Afghanistan and cut off economic and humanitarian aid.



In Russia, the kidnapping was blamed on the CIA, which state media said wanted to provide an excuse for U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan.



Kabul claimed the abductors were members of a small Maoist group, while officials at the time also blamed the mujahedin.

The abductors had demanded the release of "religious figures" who they said were being held by the Kabul government.



In a newly published book, Afghanistan: A History From 1260 To The Present, author Jonathan Lee writes that U.S. officials suspected the communist government in Kabul was behind the incident "either in a naive attempt to discredit the Islamist resistance or to force the U.S.A. and NATO powers to disengage with Afghanistan."
Free distribution of disability aids hit by fund crunch

The office of National Disabled Fund in Kathmandu is visited by 10 to 15 disabled persons daily who are in need of disability aids. Only few of them get the items of their need, such as prosthetic limbs, crutches and wheelchairs.
WARSAW -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has rejected as "outrageous" Iranian claims that the United States and its regional allies are to blame for a suicide bombing in southeastern Iran that killed 27 members of the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).



A militant Sunni Muslim separatist group called Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) claimed responsibility for the February 13 attack, but a day later, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tried to link the attack to a Middle East conference in Warsaw co-hosted by Pompeo and Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz.



In an interview in Warsaw on February 14 with RFE/RL's Radio Farda, Pompeo denied that the United States had anything to do with one of the deadliest attacks on Iranian security forces in years.

The Americans had nothing to do with this at all, Pompeo said.



Zarif will attend a February 15-17 security conference in Munich, where world leaders and experts will address a variety of topics ranging from climate change to international security.



Pompeo said that since Zarif is actually headed to Munich where many European countries will meet with him, I would ask those countries when they meet with Mr. Zarif to ask him, why he would say such an outrageous thing?"



In the interview, conducted while Pompeo was attending the Warsaw conference, Washingtons top diplomat said European leaders should press Zarif on his comments that linked the timing of the attack with the meeting in the Polish capital.



Sometimes [Zarif] is posited to be a moderate. It's not moderate to accuse the Israelis and the Americans of murder. That's not moderate, Pompeo said.



Tehran, which has described the Warsaw conference as an anti-Iran circus, has repeatedly accused the United States, Israel, and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia of backing Sunni militia groups that carry out attacks against Iranian security forces. They have denied the charges.

Pompeo told Radio Farda that the historic Warsaw meeting, attended by more than 60 countries, was aimed at creating peace and stability throughout the Middle East, including Iran, Syria and Yemen.



Washington and the European Union have been at odds over U.S. President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, which calls for Iran to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

EU states have sought to keep aspects of the deal in place, while France, Britain, and Germany two weeks ago launched a new mechanism to trade with Iran while bypassing U.S. sanctions against Iran.



Though differences of opinion exist over how to attack risks in the region, Pompeo said all understood the threat that the Islamic Republic of Iran presents to their citizens.



We gathered people here today. We made our case. And I am confident that we came out of here today more collectively able to deal with all of the threats that exist throughout all of the Middle East, he said.



Russia and China are not participating in the Warsaw conference -- neither are the Palestinians -- but Russian President Vladimir Putin held a simultaneous summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi with Rohani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the future of war-ravaged Syria.



Pompeo denied the Warsaw conference was a Washington-driven effort, pointing out that even Israelis and Arabs sat together to discuss the threat that Iran poses.



But he also said the Trump administrations goal was clear -- change in Tehrans behavior -- though he stopped short of calling for actual regime change.



We ultimately want the Iranian people to have their voices heard. We want a change in the regime's behavior. We want them to act like a normal country, Pompeo said.



How these behaviors will be changed will be dealt with by the Iranian people. They'll make their voices heard. They'll assert their power.

Niusha Boghrati of RFE/RL's Radio Farda contributed to this report
BRUSSELS -- NATO is backing the full participation of the Afghan government in peace talks involving U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives to end the 17-year conflict, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg told RFE/RL on February 14 in Brussels.



The Afghan government has been absent from the U.S.-Taliban talks, prompting anger and frustration in Kabul. The militants consider the Afghan government a Western puppet and has so far refused to directly negotiate with it.



"There's no way it is possible to have a lasting peace without the full involvement of the Afghan government and, therefore, we strongly support the efforts by [U.S. special envoy] Ambassador Khalilzad in his engagement with the Taliban to create the conditions to agree on an Afghan-owned reconciliation process," Stoltenberg told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO defense ministers.



"Of course, the Afghan government has to be part of that. There's no way you can have an Afghan peace process -- lasting peace -- without totally involving the Afghans, including the government," Stoltenberg said.



During recent talks in Qatar, U.S. officials and the Taliban both expressed some optimism over prospects for a deal.



On February 8, Khalilzad said he was "hopeful" a deal could be finalized before Afghanistans presidential election in July, but he cautioned there is still a "long way to go" before a final agreement.



U.S. officials have said President Donald Trump wants to withdraw about half of the 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.



U.S. forces have been in Afghanistan since an October 2001 invasion that brought down the Taliban government after it refused to hand over Al-Qaeda terrorists, including Osama bin Laden, blamed for launching the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.



The government in Kabul has struggled to contain the resurgent Taliban after a NATO-led coalition turned over military operations to Afghan troops and took a more advisory and training role in the country.



Stoltenberg said NATO is ready to help facilitate "an Afghan reconciliation, Afghan process," since allies "invested a lot in protecting [democratic] values" in Afghanistan.



"But the only way to do that is to make sure that we have an Afghan-owned reconciliation process, because peace is extremely important for human rights," Stoltenberg said.



Taliban representatives and an Afghan delegation led by former Afghan President Hamid Karzai held two days of talks in Moscow, with the militants continuing to insist upon the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan as a first step in the peace process.



The talks were "very satisfactory," Karzai said at the end of the February 5-6 gathering, which have been described by some as part of an "intra-Afghan" peace process, despite the absence of Kabul government representatives.



The gathering was strongly criticized by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.



Stoltenberg said that efforts to create a framework for an intra-Afghan peace process and reconciliation should be backed by everyone, including Russia.



"It remains to be seen whether the meeting in Moscow contributes to that," Stoltenberg said, adding, "NATO's focus is how we can provide maximum support to the efforts by the United States and Ambassador Khalilzad by continuing to provide support to the Afghan security forces, and also by giving political support to those efforts, because that's the only way to peace."
India has demanded that Pakistan crack down on terror groups operating from its territory after a deadly suicide bombing claimed by a Pakistan-based Islamist group killed 44 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir.



Hours after the February 14 attack, the Indian Foreign Ministry called on Islamabad to "stop supporting terrorists and terror groups" who use Pakistan as a base and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries."



The Kashmir bombing, claimed by the Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e Mohammad (JeM), was the deadliest attack in decades on security forces in the disputed region.



The Indian Foreign Ministry accused the Pakistani government of providing the militant group with a safe haven and allowing its leader, Masood Azhar, "to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity."



"I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.

Arun Jaitley, a senior minister in Modi's cabinet, told a live TV broadcast on February 15 that India would retaliate, asserting that New Delhi had "incontrovertible evidence" of Pakistan's involvement in the attack.



He said India will take all possible diplomatic steps to ensure "complete isolation" of Islamabad in the international community. Those responsible will have to "pay a heavy price," he added.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry on February 15 called the attack a matter of "grave concern," but it said it strongly rejected "any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations."

Security officials said a militant rammed an explosive-filled van into a convoy of paramilitary police, targeting a bus that was carrying at least 35 personnel. At least 20 people were wounded, many critically.



Muneer Ahmed Khan, a senior police official, said the convoy was hit as it reached the southern town of Lethpora near the larger city of Srinagar. The targeted bus was destroyed and at least five other vehicles were damaged, he said.



Sanjay Sharma, a spokesman for India's paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force, said the explosion was "so powerful that one cannot recognize whether the vehicle was a bus or a truck. Just pieces of mangled steel remain of the vehicle."



The White House issued a statement also urging Pakistan "to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil."



It added that the tragedy would serve to strengthen U.S. resolve to heighten counterterrorism cooperation with India.



India has long accused Pakistan of supporting militants in Muslim-majority Kashmir, a Himalayan territory divided between the two nuclear archrivals but claimed in full by both since independence from British colonial rule in 1947. The countries have fought two wars over the region.



Pakistan denies the allegations, saying it only provides diplomatic support to the Kashmiri struggle for the right to self-determination.



The last major attack in Kashmir was in 2016, when militants that New Delhi said came from Pakistan raided an Indian Army camp in Uri, killing 20 soldiers. Islamabad denied any involvement.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP
WASHINGTON (AP)  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has missed a month of Supreme Court arguments as she recovers from lung cancer surgery. But she's not the first justice to be away for a while and her absence hardly compares with those of some of her predecessors.

The day before the Supreme Court began its term in October 1949, Justice William Douglas broke 14 ribs and suffered a punctured lung when he was thrown from his horse on a trail in the Cascade Mountains in Washington. He didn't return to the bench for nearly a half year, and his long recovery caused delays in several cases, including challenges to segregation.

Like much of what goes on away from public view at the Supreme Court, how the justices deal with a colleague's absence can be opaque. The individual justice decides whether to rule on cases even if she has missed arguments. Indeed, Chief Justice John Roberts already has announced that Ginsburg is participating in the cases she missed.

And only the justice can decide when an injury or illness is so severe that retirement is the only option. A quarter century after his riding accident, Douglas suffered a serious stroke, but refused to retire for months. His weakened state caused a backlog in the court's work and the other justices refused to issues decisions in cases where Douglas had provided the fifth, majority-making vote.

"There aren't any rules about this and so much is left to the individual justice," said Erwin Chemerinsky, who argued a case during Ginsburg's absence.

The 85-year-old Ginsburg could be back on the bench when the court next meets on Tuesday, and even as she has been away, she has not missed any votes.

In some state court systems, including California, the highest court can essentially borrow a judge from a lower court to temporarily replace an absent member, said Chemerinsky, the dean of the law school at the University of California, Berkeley.

The Supreme Court has no similar arrangement. The nine justices are there for as long as they wish, and neither a retired justice nor an appellate judge can fill a void.

The 25th Amendment to the Constitution sets out what happens if a president is incapacitated, but refuses to relinquish power. In Congress, the absence of a single lawmaker is not likely to make a lasting difference, while the absence of a single justice on the nine-member court can be significant. Also, elected officials have terms of office that last six years at most, in the case of senators.

The most recent example of a justice missing substantial time was in 2004 and 2005, when Chief Justice William Rehnquist was suffering from thyroid cancer and was not on the bench for 44 arguments over five months. Justice John Paul Stevens, the longest-serving justice at the time, presided when Rehnquist was away, except for the day in late February 2005 when Stevens' flight from Florida was canceled and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor ran the show.

Still, Rehnquist voted in most of the cases for which he did not attend the arguments. He returned to the court in late March and made it through the end of the court's term in late June before dying on Sept. 3 at the age of 80.

Douglas' accident occurred in steep terrain more than a mile above sea level, just after he stopped to adjust the girth on his horse's saddle. He fell an estimated 50 feet down a rocky hillside where his boyhood friend and riding partner, Elon Gilbert, found him lying on a ledge, according to The Associated Press' report from the time.

Douglas, then 50, was a noted outdoorsman who hiked and rode extensively. While he recuperated, he was photographed in his hospital bed and then astride a horse when he took his first ride after the accident.

There's a suggestion in news accounts that the other justices were irritated by the length of his absence. He came back to the court in time to hear Thurgood Marshall argue that Texas' refusal to accommodate a black student in its whites-only law school was unconstitutional. Marshall, then the nation's most prominent civil rights lawyer, prevailed in a unanimous decision.

Douglas already had become the court's longest-serving justice by the time of his stroke on the last day of 1974. Though unable to walk and generally weakened by the stroke, Douglas refused to retire. Because of his illness, the court ordered a new round of arguments in eight cases in the spring of 1975, an unusually large number.

"They agreed to take away his vote because they thought he was incompetent," historian David Garrow said.

When the new term began that October, Douglas was still on the court. At arguments, Douglas "had moments of lucidity and energy followed by near incoherence and sleep," authors Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong wrote in "The Brethren," their book about the court.

By November, Douglas had had enough and reluctantly submitted his resignation after more than 36 years as a justice.

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This system was never  in my mind, in my opinion  was never set up for the fire districts as much as it was set up for our sheriffs department, who are in dire need of a new radio system for safety reasons, Strand told the Tribune.

While officials say that sheriffs deputies can see gaps in radio coverage and can face difficulty in communicating with each other and with dispatch, rural entities dont necessarily have the same problems.

The Hooper fire district, for instance, mostly communicates within its department and with neighboring fire districts like Winslow, Uehling and Scribner, with whom it typically coordinates responses to incidents. According to Ron Meyer, Hooper Rural Fire District board member, Hooper typically communicates with those entities without issue.

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Were kind of marooned on an island where our radio coverage is phenomenal as far as fire and rescue, he said. Were against [upgrading] right now because of the cost factor.

Shelly Holzerland, director of the city and county dispatch center, said that the county would still be able to support the entities using the old system. On their own calls, or on calls with other entities using the old system, they would see no difference.
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Although many milestones in the foundations history are personally attributable to Welsteads work and dedication, highlights of his tenure include the successful Kiewit Community Challenge and the creation of the foundations Legacy Society, Diers said.

In 2000, the foundation was challenged by the Peter Kiewit Foundation to match a $250,000 grant in just five years, Diers said. Marv took the challenge and chaired the committee that raised $309,000 in gifts and pledges in just 89 days.

The Legacy Society, established in 1995, recognizes the decisions of those who have provided for the foundation in their estates.

Today, the Legacy Society has more than 236 members.

During its 2013 annual dinner, the foundation presented Welstead with the first-ever Fremont Area Community Foundation Founders Award in recognition of his commitment to furthering the work of the Foundation.

Welsteads commitment to community is also reflected in the many organizations hes served throughout his lifetime in Fremont.
Newton said he thought the loan would have to be paid off in 10 years.

But Eric Johnson, a committee member who attends meetings of the aeronautics commission which awards the funds, said the city could request a longer period of time to repay the loan.

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While Johnson said he thinks its a good practice to have a 10-year loan, hes seen the commission go up to a 15-year loan.

You can always request it and make a case for it, Johnson said. Sometimes, theyll approve it and sometimes they wont.

Johnson said if there is an existing hangar loan, the state will stick to the 10-year repayment, but if there isnt an existing loan, theyll consider the 15-year option.

It would be nice if we could get a 15-year loan, Newton said.

Newton also talked about having the city sending out a survey to almost 140 pilots in the surrounding communities, asking if theyd be interested in leasing a hangar at the airport.

Steenblock asked if pilots in Elkhorn were included in that list. Newton said they werent, but could be added. Thus, the list could include 160 pilots, who would be surveyed.
First Kantipur Conclave begins on Sunday

Kantipur Media Group will host the first iteration of Kantipur Conclave on Sunday, bringing together eminent speakers and participants from across the globe to hold a discussion on diverse issues facing Nepal, and the solutions to propel the country forward.
By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - XPO Logistics Inc shares sank more than 14 percent on Friday after it said its biggest customer, believed to be Amazon.com, slashed its business with the warehousing and last-mile delivery provider by two-thirds.

XPO shares fell $8.53 to $51.02 a day after the company missed fourth-quarter profit targets and warned that it could lose $600 million in revenue in 2019 due to a reduction in business from its biggest customer, which XPO did not name.

Current and former XPO employees as well as industry insiders told Reuters that the customer is Amazon.

"We believe the shipper that is paring down its parcel injection, brokerage, last mile, and logistics activity with XPO is Amazon," J.P. Morgan analyst Brian Ossenbeck said.

Amazon, which contributed about $900 million in XPO revenue last year, declined comment.

XPO is closing facilities in Aberdeen, Maryland; Edgerton, Kansas; and Rialto, California. An XPO employee told Reuters Amazon was the customer at all three of those facilities.

A former XPO employee also told Reuters that the 571,000 square-foot warehouse in Aberdeen handled Amazon work.

When XPO opened its Edgerton, Kansas facility in 2016, a broker told the Kansas City Business Journal the company's client for the 500,000 square-foot facility was Amazon.

XPO facility closures on the East Coast and in the Midwest received heavy media coverage. "That was with our largest customer," XPO Chief Executive Bradley Jacobs said on a conference call with analysts.

XPO disclosed plans to close its Rialto facility with California's Employment Development Department in late January.

Amazon is building out its shipping capabilities. That's putting pressure on last-mile delivery companies such as FedEx Corp and United Parcel Service Inc, as well as truckers who move products on highways and between distribution centres.

The e-commerce giant also is edging into the heavy and bulky warehousing and delivery category that is XPO's speciality.

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The planning board for the town of Schodack, New York, in July approved Amazon's plan to build a 1,000,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution centre "designed to handle heavy, bulky items - such as TVs, kayaks and canoes," according to WNYT.

Shares in FedEx, which is testing big and bulky deliveries that would compete with XPO, were down 2.9 percent in late-afternoon trading. UPS shares were off nearly 1.3 percent.

XPO shares closed at $59.55 on Thursday. In September, they traded at more than twice that price.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and James Dalgleish)
Investing.com - U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un plan to meet again after their historic first summit last year, with stakes still high over the fate of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons.

Trump announced during his State of the Union address on Feb. 5 that the summit would take place Feb. 27 and 28.

He later said on Twitter that Hanoi, Vietnam, would host the summit.

Singapore hosted the first Trump-Kim summit in June, which ended with a vague agreement by the two countries to continue working toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The North has since claimed it destroyed missile engine and nuclear test sites, but it hasnt let international inspectors verify that.

Trump told CBS News on Feb. 1 that there was "a good possibility" that Kim was unlikely to relinquish his nuclear weapons, but he also said that he thought there was "a very good chance that we will make a deal."

"I think he's also tired of going through what he's going through," Trump said of Kim. "He has a chance to have North Korea be a tremendous economic behemoth. It has a chance to be one of the great economic countries in the world."

To see more of Investing.coms weekly comics, visit: http://www.investing.com/analysis/comics

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FILE PHOTO: The financial district with the headquarters of Germany's largest business bank, Deutsche Bank , is photographed on early evening in Frankfurt, Germany, January 29, 2019. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo

By Arno Schuetze

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German financial watchdog Bafin has extended the mandate of its monitor at Deutsche Bank over the bank's role in a money laundering scandal involving Danske Bank.

Deutsche Bank acted as a correspondent bank for Danske Bank in Estonia, meaning it helped transfer funds on behalf of the Danish lender from Estonia to places like New York.

Bafin said on Friday it had ordered Deutsche Bank to review its group-wide risk management processes in the area of correspondent banking and to adjust them where necessary.

In order to monitor the implementation of this measure, Bafin said in a statement it had widened the mandate of the special representative appointed in September 2018.

Germany's biggest bank said that there were no indications of misconduct on its part. It has received requests for information from regulators and law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, investigating Danske Bank.

Denmark's largest bank is under investigation over suspicious payments totaling 200 billion euros ($225 billion) from 2007 until 2015 from its Estonia branch.

Deutsche Bank has scaled back its correspondent banking business by around 40 percent since 2016. In Russia it cut such activity by around 75 percent since 2016, while it has exited such business in Moldova, Estonia and Latvia.

Board member Karl von Rohr said last week that it had so far not made any provisions for possible Danske-related legal costs.

In 2017, the Fed was among regulators that fined Deutsche Bank nearly $700 million for weak controls that allowed money laundering from Russia. A U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the case is still ongoing.

($1 = 0.8870 euros)

(Writing by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Riham Alkousaa and Alexander Smith)
By David Shepardson and Mai Nguyen

WASHINGTON/HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese airlines will be able to fly to the United States and codeshare with American carriers after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration declared the Southeast Asian country complies with international safety standards.

The U.S. aviation safety agency said in a statement late on Thursday that it was awarding Vietnam a "Category 1" rating, two weeks after Reuters reported the decision was expected.

"It's recognition by a very developed aviation authority which requires a very high standard of safety and security," Vietnamese Deputy Transportation Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong told Reuters on Friday.

There are currently no non-stop flights between Vietnam and the United States, despite a large market catering to tourism and visits by friends and relatives. Vietnam Airlines JSC, Bamboo Airways and VietJet Aviation JSC desire to fly to the United States.

Bamboo Airways Chairman Trinh Van Quyet said Bamboo was considering destinations such as Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco, with the first route to open in late 2020 or early 2021. His airline has ordered 20 Boeing Co 787s for long-haul flights.

CAPA Centre for Aviation Chief Analyst Brendan Sobie said the FAA rating was important for Vietnam symbolically and politically.

But he said Vietnamese airlines could struggle to make U.S. flights profitable because of the lack of demand from high-paying business travellers.

Vietnam Airlines CEO Duong Tri Thanh told Reuters last year that airline could open routes to the United States despite such commercial limitations, due to a government mandate to help grow the economy.

The airline did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Friday.

Budget carrier VietJet said it plans to purchase wide-body jets capable of non-stop U.S. flights and believes its experience in keeping costs down will give it an effective business model.

"We plan to open routes to cities with Vietnamese communities living in the United States such as in California, serving the large travelling and commercial demand from customers," the airline said in a statement.

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The FAA last year sent a team to Vietnam to conduct a safety assessment.

Vietnam's rapidly growing aviation market saw traffic increase 16 percent on average each year from 2010 to 2017, government data shows.

Its airlines are major customers of Boeing and Airbus SE.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in WASHINGTON and Mai Nguyen in HANOI; Additional reporting by Khanh Vu in HANOI and Jamie Freed in SINGAPORE; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Stephen Coates)
Founder of the Baring Vostok investment fund Michael Calvey sits in a cage in the court room in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. A veteran U.S. investment fund manager has been detained in Moscow and faces fraud charges. A Moscow court said on Friday that Michael Calvey, founder and senior partner at Baring Vostok equity firm, was detained alongside two other fund managers. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

MOSCOW (AP) -- A veteran U.S. investment fund manager was detained in Moscow on Friday and faces fraud charges in a case that's likely to rattle the Russian business community.

Michael Calvey, founder and senior partner at Baring Vostok equity firm, was detained alongside two other fund managers in the morning.

The Basmanny court said Calvey, who has been working in Russia since 1994, and five other people, including two Baring Vostok managers, face fraud charges. The Interfax news agency cited an investigator telling the court that Calvey is suspected of embezzling 2.5 billion rubles ($37 million) from Vostochny Bank, where Baring Vostok has a controlling stake.

The court on Friday afternoon ordered that he be held in detention for another three days.

Calvey has long worked in Russia and invested heavily in the country's technology sector, including in the web search company Yandex.

The charges follow a protracted dispute between Vostochny shareholders, and come as Russia is holding a major investment conference in Sochi attended by President Vladimir Putin. Russian news agencies cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying Putin didn't know about Calvey's arrest.

"Baring Vostok believes that the detention of its employees and the charges that have been brought are a result of a conflict with shareholders of Vostochniy Bank," the fund said, using an alternative English spelling of the bank's name. "We have full confidence in the legality of our employees' actions and will vigorously defend their rights. Baring Vostok's activities in the Russian Federation are fully compliant with all applicable laws."

Baring Vostok added that the fund is continuing to work despite the arrests.

Baring Vostok, which says it has more than $3.7 billion in committed capital for its investments, began investing in Russia during the chaotic 1990s transition to capitalism after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Its best-known investment was the 2000 acquisition of a 35.7 percent stake in the then-startup Yandex, which grew to become a giant in Russian-language internet searches, advertising and commerce. By the time Baring Vostok sold its last Yandex shares in 2016, it had earned vast profits.

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Baring Vostok's investments have tended to focus on tech companies, telecoms and retail, rather than getting involved with the state-owned companies of the oil and gas sector.

That contrasts with the strategy favored by the U.S.-born British fund manager Bill Browder, whose Hermitage Capital Management was raided by Russian authorities in 2007. Browder had often invested in state-run companies where he sought to expose alleged corruption to make them more efficient and profitable.

Browder, once a major foreign investor in Russia, ran afoul of the government in the late 2000s while investigating an alleged large-scale tax fraud scheme with his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

Authorities seized Browder's company, Hermitage Capital, and denied him entry to Russia. Magnitsky was thrown into a Moscow prison, where he died in 2009.

Browder has since campaigned globally for sanctions against Russian human rights violators. Russia has placed him on the Interpol wanted list.

Calvey's arrest shows that Russia is "entirely corrupt," Browder wrote on Twitter on Friday. "Of all the people I knew in Moscow, Mike played by their rules, kept his head down and never criticized the government."
Immigration continues to be a hot-button topic, but for one venture capital firm, its a mission statement. Eveline Buchatskiy co-founded One Way Ventures with Semyon Dukach to invest solely in immigrant-run businesses.

It was just such a no-brainer, one of those eureka moments you have, Buchatskiy says of coming up with the name for the firm. We are immigrants ourselves. We went through the process of buying that one-way ticket to America, knowing that there was no coming back. There was no plan B.

Buchatskiy was born in Brazil and left to attend college in the United States, getting a degree in chemical engineering from University of California, Berkeley. An MBA program at INSEAD in France followed, then stints in Luxembourg and Ukraine, working as a managing partner for a tech accelerator and the CEO of cleantech firm APCT before she settled back in the U.S. to start One Way Ventures.

Why immigrants are a good investment

Buchatskiy explains that her firms mission statement is meant to prove a financial point: That immigrants are good for business, especially in startups. Her firm cites data that shows that while 25% of venture capital-backed startups in the U.S. are founded by immigrants, the share of unicorns  startups valued at over $1 billion - with immigrants on the founding team is more than twice that of teams without immigrants.

So what is it about immigrant founders? Buchatskiy has some theories.

It's all about the attributes of the immigrant founder  the grit, the determination, the ability to cope with change, and the fact that this founder took a big chance in coming to this country, she says.

Eveline Buchatskiy, co-founder of One Way Ventures.

Early successes

While One Way Ventures has only been in business for a year, it has already seen some impressive success.

We do have some portfolio companies that are growing like crazy, Buchatskiy says. Specifically, he mentioned Brex, which makes a credit card for startups and was founded by two Brazilian entrepreneurs who came to the U.S. when they were only 19.

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After just a couple of years of operation, the company has already reached a unicorn valuation of $1.1 billion, she says. The credit card is just the entry point, the initial product in their road map. But there's a lot more interesting stuff coming.

Changing political climate

There are drawbacks to the One Way business model, though, and shifting immigration policies in Washington have not made life easier.

Visas are one of the obstacles, she says. Its a huge distraction. Buchatskiy and her team find themselves dealing with visa issues on a weekly basis, noting that things have changed dramatically for the worse.

We are feeling the pain now, she says. The number of denials has just exploded.

Follow Ned Ehrbar on Twitter.

READ MORE WOMEN + MONEY:
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(Adds details, State Department comment, paragraphs 5, 7)

By Andy Sullivan and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON/MUNICH, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The United States ratcheted up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday by sanctioning some of his top security officials and the head of the state oil company, and unveiling plans to airlift over 200 tons of aid to the Colombian border.

The U.S. Treasury said it sanctioned PDVSA chief Manuel Quevedo, three top intelligence officials and Rafael Bastardo, who U.S. officials say is the head of a national police unit responsible for dozens of extrajudicial killings carried out in nighttime raids on Maduro's behalf.

Separately, a U.S. official said U.S. military aircraft are expected to deliver more than 200 tons of humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan border in Colombia, with the shipment likely to take place on Saturday.

The steps are part of a wider effort by the United States to undermine Maduro, whose 2018 election it views as illegitimate and whose government it has disavowed, and to strengthen opposition leader and self-declared president Juan Guaido.

U.S. military aircraft are likely to deliver the aid to the Colombian side of the border with Venezuela on Saturday, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding the State Department planned to make an announcement on Friday.

Another U.S. government source who asked not to be named said the food and medicine would go to the Colombian border town of Cucuta.

A State Department spokeswoman did not address whether there would be an aid delivery on Saturday but noted the United States had pre-positioned relief supplies in Colombia last week and was coordinating with Guaido to mobilize aid for Venezuelans.

However, it was unclear if any of it would reach Venezuelans.

Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse in the oil-rich country that has left millions struggling to buy food and medicine and fueled an unprecedented migration crisis in the region, has refused to allow supplies in.

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An aid convoy dispatched by the United States and Colombia arrived in Cucuta last week, where it is being held in warehouses.

"This man Maduro has created a humanitarian crisis," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters in Reykjavik. "As soon as this weekend we will continue to deliver massive humanitarian assistance. Hopefully Mr. Maduro will allow that in to his country.

Guaido invoked constitutional provisions to declare himself interim president last month, arguing that Maduro's 2018 re-election was a sham. Most Western countries, including the United States and many of Venezuela's neighbors, have recognized Guaido as the legitimate head of state.

Maduro retains the backing of Russia and China and control of Venezuelan state institutions including the military.

The U.S. Treasury took aim at some of Maduro's allies with its sanctions on Friday.

"We are sanctioning officials in charge of Maduro's security and intelligence apparatus, which has systematically violated human rights and suppressed democracy, including through torture," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

Also targeted was Ivan Hernandez, commander of Maduro's Presidential Guard, which Treasury says has tortured Maduro's opponents and carried out other human rights abuses.

Manuel Cristopher, director general of Venezuela's Sebin intelligence agency, and Hildemaro Rodriguez, first commissioner of the service, also were sanctioned.

The Treasury's action freezes all property in the United States belonging to the five sanctioned officials as well as that of any entities in which they own 50 percent or more.

In a sign that the Trump administration may be trying to split the men from Maduro, the Treasury Department noted in its statement that "U.S. sanctions need not be permanent; sanctions are intended to bring about a positive change of behavior."

"The United States has made clear that we will consider lifting sanctions for persons ... who take concrete and meaningful actions to restore democratic order, refuse to take part in human rights abuses, speak out against abuses committed by the government, and combat corruption in Venezuela," it said. (Reporting by Andy Sullivan in Washington and Idrees Ali in Munich; Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Rejkjavik and by Lisa Lambert and Patricia Zengerle in Washington Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Tom Brown)
(Releads, adds quotes from Pompeo and Iceland's foreign minister)

By Lesley Wroughton

REYKJAVIK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The United States and Iceland have agreed to set up formal economic channels to boost trade and business investment, the countries' top diplomats said on Friday.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the NATO ally in the north Atlantic on Friday, also to discuss security relations and China and Russia's growing presence in the Arctic.

"We have now established an economic dialogue between our two nations which I think will bear fruit quickly," Pompeo said at a press conference.

His visit comes amid increased interest in the Arctic, which has big reserves of oil, gas, gold, diamonds, zinc and iron.

With global warming melting polar ice, it may offer world powers new shipping routes - and naval interests - for trade between Asia, Europe and Americas east coast.

He said it was still unclear whether boosting economic ties could be done through a formal trade agreement "which if accomplished would be a really good outcome," or whether they would come from a set of common understandings to cut costs or reduce barriers.

"There is still unrealized potential in trade and our commercial relationship," Icelandic Foreign Minister Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson said at the common press meeting.

"We are very excited to take this important step ... and we should try and do it as quickly as possible," he added.

STRATEGIC PLACE

Iceland sits in a "strategic place in the world", Pompeo said during his visit. Asked how the United States planned to counter China and Russia's increased presence in the Arctic region, he said:

"You find friends and allies in the region and you work alongside them, and you show up and you have serious discussions with them about how to approach it."

Pompeo said that the United States "deeply understands the geo-strategic challenges" that exist in the Arctic and the risks that are there.

"We have watched America's adversaries begin to deploy assets in a way that they believe will strategically disadvantage not only the United States, but Iceland and the European countries as well," he said.

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"We know that when America retreats nations such as China and Russia will fill the vacuum. It's inevitable when we're not there," he said.

Pompeo said he was very confident the cooperation between the United States and Iceland would achieve outcomes.

"I look forward to being part of this as Iceland takes over the Arctic Council, determining how and where to best deploy assets, not just military, but all of the assets," he said.

Iceland assumes the two-year rotating chairmanship of the Arctic Council in May. It comprises Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United States and Denmark, all of which have territory inside the Arctic Circle.

Referring to increased competition in the Arctic region, foreign minister Thordarson said it was important that the Arctic remain a "peaceful, low tension area".

The organization, which coordinates Arctic policy, is gaining clout as sea ice thaws to open up new trade routes and intensify competition for its as yet undiscovered oil and gas reserves. (Additional reporting and writing by Teis Jensen in Copenhagen; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Toby Chopra)
FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., February 13, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Lewis Krauskopf and Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Optimism about a U.S.-China trade agreement has helped drive U.S. stocks to more than two-month highs, creating a make-or-break moment for Wall Street as a year-long clash between the world's two largest economies comes to a head.

Investors are increasingly hopeful about a positive resolution as a March 1 deadline for trade talks nears. And if the United States and China reach a deal, market professionals say clarity after the lengthy dispute should continue to push shares higher.

If we do get a China-U.S. solution and trade agreement, which signs are more positive on that front, that could really propel stocks higher because that would give businesses more confidence in the global economy, said Chris Gaffney, President of World Markets at TIAA Bank in St. Louis.

A few market watchers even say the benchmark S&P 500 could exceed its all-time closing high set on Sept. 20, which is about 6 percent above Friday's level.

That would build on the more than 17 percent surge in the S&P 500 since it hit a 20-month low on Dec. 24, when investors were spooked by Federal Reserve policy as their outlook for earnings and economic growth soured.

But stocks would be vulnerable should talks collapse and the United States hike tariffs to 25 percent on $200 billion of Chinese imports.

Although investors increasingly believe a more accommodative Fed now provides protection from a drop, some say a significant trade disappointment could send stocks plunging.

"If talks fail and additional tariffs are applied, I do believe stocks could fall through their December 24th lows," said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco in New York.

The drumbeat of global trade developments has convulsed markets since U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs on steel and aluminum imports a year ago, sparking concerns that a full-blown trade dispute would undermine the global economy.

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Investors had zeroed in on March 1 as a potential culmination of the U.S.-China dispute since Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping late last year shelved any new tariffs and reset discussions for 90 days.

Trump said on Friday he may extend the deadline for a deal while keeping current tariffs in place.

If its a six-month delay, thats a problem," said Michael ORourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut. "Because then you just leave this issue lingering out there for quite some time."

Trade talks resume next week in Washington, with both sides saying this week's negotiations in Beijing made progress.

(GRAPHIC: U.S.-China trade dispute vs S&P 500 - https://tmsnrt.rs/2V2TKIS)

GROWING OPTIMISM

Should the countries reach a deal, the size of the market reaction will likely rest on the details of the agreement.

In talks this week, the countries focused on technology, intellectual property rights, agriculture, services, non-tariff barriers and currency, and potential Chinese purchases of U.S. goods and services, according to the White House.

Stocks' response could also depend on how much prices already reflect the decision and if any other major market-sensitive issues such as weakening economic data have arisen.

"There is growing optimism that a deal gets done and I think that is increasingly reflected at these prices, said Walter Todd, chief investment officer at Greenwood Capital in Greenwood, South Carolina.

Anthony Saglimbene, global market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Troy, Michigan, doubted the talks would collapse, noting "the markets have pressured the U.S. and China enough to bring both countries to the bargaining table, and for various reasons, a temporary deal or ceasefire extension is the most likely path."

"Risk assets across the spectrum would see severe selling pressure if trade talks completely collapsed and tariff rates rose," Saglimbene said.

BOON FOR BIG COMPANIES

Some investors believe stocks have almost fully priced in a deal, leaving little room for further gains.

An up to 2 percent spike might occur if a deal is reached, O'Rourke said, adding: "I would be surprised if you get much further than that on the initial news.

Large multinational companies stand to see the biggest share gains from any trade deal, with big tech companies potentially heading back toward historic highs, said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Vernon, New Jersey.

(GRAPHIC: China Exposure Index - https://tmsnrt.rs/2Ed9xPA)

The market's recent climb has come even as analysts lowered estimates for 2019 U.S. corporate earnings growth, undercutting a fundamental support for stocks.

But a trade deal that avoids more severe tariffs could help, since many companies prepared investors for the worst.

A Bank of America Merrill Lynch review of earnings calls this week found many companies citing an impact from the trade dispute baked a 25 percent tariff hike in March into their outlook.

There could be an upside surprise to earnings if we get some sort clarity on trade, said Katie Nixon, chief investment officer at Northern Trust Wealth Management in Chicago.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Alden Bentley and Meredith Mazzilli)
Are share buybacks really one of Americas biggest economic problems? Youd certainly think so if you believe the astoundingly kindred attacks coming from both sides of the aisle in Congress.

On Tuesday, the Senate progressives assaulting share repurchases gained a prominent ally from the GOP ranks in whats now a bi-partisan campaign radically alter the way companies reward investors. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla), whos generally pro-business, and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), dont agree on much, but theyve locked arms in targeting share repurchases as an enemy of the American worker and a principal driver of income inequality. Though the two camps advocate different solutions, theyre aiming at a common objective: Clamping down on buybacks. In their view, no reform would do more to make the U.S. economy both fairer, and more productive.

The reality is the precise opposite: Repurchases channel corporate earnings from old-economy stalwarts lacking profitable places to reinvest the cash to the industries of the future. Shareholders get the money from companies with no compelling projects for future growth, and get to invest it in the next Apple or Amazon, says Rob Arnott, chief of Research Affiliates, a firm that oversees investment strategies for $170 billion in mutual funds and ETFs. Repurchases furnish capital that private equity deploys to reinvigorate under-performers, that the venture capital community raises to launch a Facebook or Snap, and that IPOs provide to take disruptors to the next phase of disruption. Its the cash distributed by a P&G or GM that, through this fluid ecosystem, funds expansion in fast-growers hungry for capital, in areas from cloud-based services to e-commerce distribution centers to electric cars. When those young companies hit their stride, they tend to generate the extra-robust sales and profits per worker. Put simply, shareholders freedom to direct cash to its highest and best use drives productivity, and its rising productivity that swells paychecks.

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The Rubio and Schumer-Sanders plans would disrupt that dynamic, unleashing unintended consequences that would result in the opposite of their avowed goals. Its a circulatory system of veins and arteries that pulls cash in and pumps cash out, says Bennett Stewart, senior advisor to ISS, the corporate governance and shareholder advisory firm. The proposed rules would block the system by putting tourniquets all around.

On Tuesday, the Senate Small Business Committee, chaired by Rubio, released the Senators tentative buyback proposal as part of a battle plan for countering Chinas drive for global dominance (Made in China 2025 and the Future of American Industry). Rubios target is the tax preference that favors buybacks over dividends. Companies often choose returning cash to shareholders via buybacks because their shareholders pay about half the rate on income received through repurchases that theyd owe on quarterly payouts. Shareholders owe regular federal income tax on dividends, to a maximum federal rate of 39.6%. But say a company decides that instead of paying $1 billion in dividends from this years earnings, equivalent to the value of 2% of its shares outstanding, it will repurchase 2% of its shares instead, in a transaction that also costs $1 billion. Overall, its stockholders get $1 billion in cash for selling their shares in the repurchase offer, the same amount theyd receive in dividends. But instead of paying almost 40% in federal taxes on dividends classified as ordinary income, if theyve held the shares for over a year, they benefit from the long-term capital gains levy of 20%.

In tax the policy section of the new report, the the Florida senator suggests raising Americas capital gains tax so that the treatment of dividends and buybacks is more equal. He doesnt specify the new rate, but does state that the higher levy would apply only to gains from repurchases, not to all capital gains. Its not the first time Rubio has skewered buybacks. As he tweeted in December, When a company uses profit for stock buyback, its deciding that returning capital to shareholders is better for business than investing in their products or workers. He reprises the theme in the new report, labeling repurchases as a non-productive alternative(s) to capital investment that makes possible a world of higher asset prices, lower investment in the economy, and lower worker pay. The report goes on to contend that cash spent on share repurchases are not cash spent on capital investment. Rubio stops an inch short of definitively proposing a higher cap gains rate by stating that tax policy changes to end this preference might, on their own, increase investment by shifting shareholder appetite for capital return. Despite the hedge, its clear that Rubio despises buybacks, and highly probable that his praise for curtailing them via higher taxes will soon be enshrined in new proposed legislation.

Schumer and Sanders unveiled their manifesto 10 days earlier in a New York Times editorial. The pair join Rubio in blaming an extraordinary proportion of what they perceive as an economy failing most Americans on this narrow target. They write that repurchases act to the detriment of workers and long-term strength of their companies, and are helping to create the worst levels of income inequality in decades. Their solution: Legislation that would outlaw buybacks unless corporations agree to things like raising minimum pay to at least $15 an hour, granting seven days of paid sick leave, and providing more reliable health care benefits, and decent pensions. Those policies, they contend, would incentivize productive investment of corporate capital.

To be fair, buybacks arent without drawbacks. When a CEOs compensation is tied to earnings-per-share, he or she can collect bigger bonuses and stock grants by simply orchestrating repurchases that lower the float and inflate EPS, a process that just shifts cash around without creating any new value for shareholders. Boards, however, can eliminate the problem by scuttling EPS as a metric for comp. Another downside: In recent years, companies have been borrowing heavily to fund buybacks, depleting equity and increasing their leverage, and hence raising the risk shouldered by investors.

The two plans have different shortcomings, but share one big one: The assertion that the cash from buybacks is somehow wasted, rather than invested, when its really funneled to capex that yields a lot more profit than if CEOs who generated the earnings kept the money. The Schumer-Sanders manifesto combines factual errors on the size and shareholder-enriching power of buybacks, and a misconception that forcing companies to retain far more earnings, or spend what they now pay for buybacks on extra pay and benefits, would create durable increases in employment and incomes.

The first inaccuracy is the claim that buybacks automatically result in boosting the value of the stock. In reality, repurchases simply trade cash, an asset owned by shareholders, for a reduction in the share count that increases the value of their ownership in the enterprise by exactly the amount. Ive created the following scenario based on an example used John Cochrane, an economist at Stanfords Hoover Institution. Consider a company well called Buyback Ventures that holds two assets, $100 in cash, and a $100 investment in a profitable plant, and no debt. Buyback Ventures has two shares outstanding, each worth $100. Both shares are owned by an investor well call Henry, an acronym for High Earners Not Rich Yet, that this writer coined several years ago. Buyback Ventures repurchases one of Henrys two shares for $100.

Theres no reason for Buybacks stock to jump: Its shifted the $100 in cash on its balance sheet thats effectively owned by Henry to pay Henry $100 for one of his shares. Henry used to have $200 in stock. Now he has $100 in cash and $100 in stock. Its a wash, writes Cochrane.

Of course, shares often spike on buyback announcements that arent expected, or especially, if a company unveils plans to return a much larger portion of its earnings to shareholders, via repurchases or dividends, in the future. A buyback-bump signals that investors endorse the companys view that its shareholders can invest a bigger chunk of profits on their own, at higher returns than the company can generate by keeping the money. Its not the buyback per se that lifted the stock, its the perception that the company is a good steward of capital, and will retain the right amount of cash to fund profitable growth, and no more.

Second fact-check: The editorial strongly, and wrongly, implies that Americas big companies are reinvesting, at best, a tiny fraction of their profits. Schumer and Sanders write that between 2008 and 2017, the S&P 500 companies spent $4 trillion on buybacks, equal to 53 percent of profits, and an additional 40% on dividends, meaning that More than 90% of corporate profits go to buybacks and dividends. The senators didnt give a specific number for dividends and repurchases in 2018, but theyre suggesting that the combination regularly absorbs over 90% of total profits, leaving less than 10% for retained earnings, the category where they want most profits to go. If the 90%-plus scenario were accurate, the 500which earned $1.2 trillion in 2018would have retained a piddling $120 billion or less last year.

The real number is three-times that amount, or $350 billion, amounting last year to 32% of S&P earnings. The authors wrongly assume that all buybacks are funded by profits, and whats left over after dividends is all thats reinvested. Thats fake math. The reason buybacks and dividends can add up to the 90%-plus figure is that the 500 borrows a huge portion of the cash spent on buybacks; so those purchases are funded by extra debt, not new earnings. Once again, all that borrowing is problematic since is greatly raises leverageand risk. In 2018, for example, borrowing funded 56% of the record $800 billion in repurchases, according to data compiled by Yardeni Research.

The authors arent just wrong in asserting that buybacks artificially enrich investors; theyre also incorrect in suggesting that they substantially shrink the number of shares outstanding, the process thats supposed to create tons of wealth. Last year, buybacks did lower the total float in the S&P 500 by around 3%. But thats highly unusual. Companies are constantly issuing new shares for stock grants, convertible bond offerings and secondary equity offerings, and as currency for dilutive acquisitions. Arnotts research demonstrates that over the past twenty years, S&P 500 buybacks have exceeded new stock issuance by just 1%. But add in small and mid-sized companies, and the picture changes radically. The entire U.S. stock market has seen net dilution in EPS averaging 2% a year, says Arnott. Meaning companies are typically issuing 2% more shares than theyre buying back.

So in pressing their campaign, the anti-buyback forces are really saying that investors should accept rates of dilution much higher than 2%, so that companies can keep a lot more of the cash they generate each year, cash that belongs to shareholders. In that case, theyd be paying for compensation for CEOs and other top managers by seeing their ownership diluted, and at the same time letting those CEOs keep the cash, says Arnott. He concludes that buybacks arent nearly the big deal critics claim because in most years, they dont offset dilution and decrease the total float.' Their real contribution: preventing much deeper dilution by denying shareholders the cash, and handing management a much bigger chunk of Americas earnings to use as they please.

Rubios tentative proposal isnt coercive like the Schumer-Sanders plan. But it since it would raise cap gains rates on buybacks closer to the levy on dividends, neither companies nor investors would have much incentive to pay or demand repurchases. What the change really does it raise the cost of capital by taxing it more heavily, says Stewart. So companies would buy back a lot less stock, the route that now offers investors the highest after-tax returns, and hold onto the money. The problem is theres an old expression, when cash is burning a hole in a companys pocket, they dont tend to invest it wisely. When a company keeps cash, its denying capital to another company that may be able to use it a lot better.

So how profitably does the c-suite marshal retained earnings, the category that the senators want to greatly expand? Arnott states that contrary to the Schumer-Sanders view, companies that retain big portions of their earnings grow a lot more slowly than those that return most of the profits to shareholdersmeaning they squander a lot of those retained earnings. Thats the finding of an influential study that Arnott conducted in 2003 with one of Americas leading asset managers, Cliff Asness, co-founder of hedge fund titan AQR Capital (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=390143). In other words, companies that pay out a relative high portion of profits achieve higher returns on the cash they keep than those that hold onto more of the cash.

The U.S. economy is divided between two general categories of companies: Mature players that generate lots of cash but plod along slowly, the Campbells Soups and P&Gs of this world, and the fast-growers from Tesla to Facebook that are hungry for capital. And since automakers, steel producers and other old-economy giants generate far more cash than profitable places to invest it, the best course for the growth is handing big chunks of earnings to shareholders. What do investors do with the money from buybacks? They typically dont spend it on vacations and restaurants, says Cochrane. Thats money they need to invest. The cash from buybacks generally doesnt go to shopping at the mall, but seeks the highest returns available in anything from super-computing, or drones that survey sprawling farms, pinpointing fields that need irrigation or fertilizer, and relaying the data to the owners laptops.

What would happen if companies were either forced to keep the money, the Schumer-Sanders solution, or had little incentive to buy back stock because a new tax just raised the cost of returning cash to shareholders, the Rubio prescription? Many older companies now already waste a lot of retained earnings, says Cochrane. If they got to keep more, theyd waste even more on empire building, on management glorification projects. They wont just sit on the cash, theyll try to get bigger by overpaying for acquisitions or building new factories in dying industries. The bigger a company becomes, the more its CEO usually makes. Arnott echoes his view: What do Sanders and Schumer want companies to do? Retain a lot more income and spend it on dumb ideas? Thats what buybacks are intended to stop.

Cochrane, Arnott and Stewart all agree that its todays freedoms that embolden shareholders, including large institutions, to pressure mature businesses to return a large portion of their earnings in dividends and buybacks. The 30%-plus that companies now reinvest is fully sufficient, says Arnott. They dont need more. Adds Stewart: Its the shareholder pressure to return capital that prevents companies from wasting their money.

Schumer and Sanders want to channel cash in the opposite direction, from investment that enhances productivity to consumer spending that does little to raise output per workers. Wouldnt it be better for our national economy, they ask, if instead of buying back stock, corporations paid all of their workers better wages and provided good benefits? It certainly sounds as though theyre advocating that companies take the the 30% of profits that now go to buybacks, and use those dollars to raise pay and benefits. It wont work. Companies that accept much lower profits, and profitability, would rapidly decline since investors will deny them the capital not just to grow, but even to replace existing plants, fabs and warehouses. More likely, If profits suddenly shrink, corporate America will slash jobs a record rate to recoup earnings from lower head-counts. Some workers who make the a newly mandated, $15 a hour minimum wage, might pocket higher pay. But but far fewer would be employed, and pressure to rescind the raises would be intense. The notion that ending buybacks would go to workers in the form of raises is a pipe dream, says Arnott. A vibrant jobs market determines when employees are going to get raises, as is the case right now.

Restricting buybacks would provide a case study in inviting disastrous unintended consequences. Stand by for an explosion in dealmaking as veterans flush with cash, and no place to put it in their slow-growth core businesses, expand by overpaying for for acquisitions in far-flung fields. The Schumer-Sanders solution would also pummel federal tax revenues, since the capital gains generated from shareholders who willingly sell their shares in buyback offerings would disappear. Public ownership is becoming increasingly unappealing for newly-created companies. As Arnott points out, over the past twenty years, the total number of enterprises whose shares are publicly traded has shrunk from 7000 to 3500. Thats deprived Americas investors from access to shooting stars that prefer to remain private. Do the politicians want to give businesses yet another reason to shun joining the publicly traded marketplace? asks Arnott. The senators are making a huge deal out of the alleged scourge of buybacks, when curtailing them would be the really big deal. And a raw deal for Americas workers.
Special counsel Robert Mueller asked a judge to schedule a new criminal sentencing date in Virginia federal court for former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort "as soon as practicable."

Mueller said a ruling this week by another judge in Washington, D.C., federal court that Manafort had lied multiple times to the special counsel's team while under a plea agreement means that "there are no outstanding issues warranting delay" in the related Virginia criminal case.

Manafort ran Donald Trump's presidential campaign for several months in 2016. He had agreed to cooperate with Mueller's probe of Russian interference in that election, and other issues.

Special counsel Robert Mueller asked a judge Friday to schedule a new criminal sentencing date in Virginia federal court for former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort "as soon as practicable."

Mueller said a ruling this week by another judge in Washington, D.C., federal court that Manafort had lied multiple times to the special counsel's team while under a plea agreement means that "there are no outstanding issues warranting delay" in the related Virginia criminal case.

"The government is prepared for sentencing at the Court's earliest convenience," Mueller wrote in a filing to Judge T.S. Ellis in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Virginia.

Mueller also said he expects to file a sentencing submission in the case with Ellis later Friday.

Manafort, who has been in jail without bond since June after being accused of witness tampering in his cases, already is scheduled to be sentenced March 13 in the Washington case.

He had been scheduled to be sentenced in Virginia on Feb. 8. But that was postponed due to the dispute in the Washington case over whether Manafort had breached his plea deal with Mueller.

Manafort's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

The longtime Republican operative was convicted Aug. 21 of eight felony counts  which included tax fraud, failure to file a report of a foreign bank and financial accounts, and bank fraud  after trial before Ellis in Virginia. A jury deadlocked on 10 other counts in that case.

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That case related to income Manafort made while doing consulting for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine, work that preceded his tenure as chairman of Trump's presidential campaign in 2016.

On Sept. 14, Manafort pleaded guilty in Washington federal court to conspiracy charges, just three days before he was due to go on trial there. That case also related to his work in Ukraine.

Manafort as part of his plea agreed to cooperate with Mueller's ongoing probe of Russian interference in the presidential election, and possible collusion by members of the Trump campaign in that meddling. President Donald Trump denies any wrongdoing by his campaign.

That plea agreement required Manafort to tell the truth to Mueller's team, or risk it not recommending leniency when he was ultimately sentenced.

In November, Mueller accused Manafort in Washington court of violating his plea deal by lying about his interactions with a former employee, Konstantin Kilimnik, who is alleged to be a Russian spy. Kilimnik told The New York Times in 2017 that "I vehemently deny" any ties to Russian intelligence agencies.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson, the judge in the D.C. case, said Wednesday that Mueller's team proved during sealed hearings that Manafort lied several times to the FBI, the special counsel and a grand jury about payments made to a law firm, his communications with Kilimnik and about other matters "material to another investigation conducted by the Department of Justice."

But Jackson also ruled that Mueller failed to provide enough evidence that Manafort lied in October about Kilimnik's alleged role in an obstruction of justice conspiracy, as well as about as his own contacts with the Trump administration.

Lawyers for Manafort had claimed in court filings that he did not make "intentional misstatements." The defense team also suggested that "conditions of Mr. Manafort's confinement have taken a toll on his physical and mental health" and weighed on his "state of mind and on his memory."





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Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Feb. 13, 2019.



We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges, Chief Justice John Roberts declared last fall in response to President Trumps jab at an Obama judge. In spite of my distaste for Trumps attacks on our judiciary, on this one, the facts are with Trump.



As a former U.S. attorney and state attorney general, I have spent my share of time in the courtroom before state and federal judges whose commitment to neutral principles and fairness made even losing parties respect their decisions. Today, that confidence is undermined by the Roberts Courts undeniable pattern of political allegiance. Under Roberts, justices appointed by Republican presidents have, with remarkable consistency, delivered rulings that advantage big corporate and special interests that are, in turn, the political lifeblood of the Republican Party. The Roberts Five are causing a crisis of credibility that is rippling through the entire judiciary.



Several decisions have been particularly flagrant and notorious: Citizens United v. FEC wrongly held that unlimited special-interest spending couldnt corrupt, or even appear to corrupt, American politics, unleashing torrents of corruption and public disdain. Shelby County v. Holder wrongly declared racism over, disabling key sections of the Voting Rights Act and prompting a surge of racist state voting legislation. District of Columbia v. Heller elevated as constitutional doctrine a Second Amendment argument once described by a former chief justice as a fraud. After a bald invitation from a Republican appointee, right-wing lawyers rushed to lose cases in lower courts so a friendly Supreme Court majority could deliver a blow to the labor movement in Janus v. AFSCME.



Dig a bit, and a pattern emerges far worse than just that handful of bad decisions. Since Roberts ascended to chief justice in 2006, the courts bare 5-4 majority of Republican appointees has delivered such rulings not three or four times, not even a dozen or two dozen times, but 73 times in civil cases. There are 79 5-4 decisions with no Democratic appointee joining the majority since Roberts became chief justice; and 73 of them implicate issues important to powerful Republican political interests. The score in those 73 cases for the big Republican interests is 73-0. On this Republican judicial romp, the Roberts Five have been cavalier with any doctrine, precedent or congressional finding that gets in their way.



The 73 decisions fall into four categories: First are decisions to help the Republican Party and its donors in politics, suppressing votes, buying influence, sowing fear, and gerrymandering. Second are decisions that make it harder for regulators and juries to hold corporations accountable. Powerful interests muscle their way around Congress; they hate uncaptured government regulators and courtrooms where they have to be equal before the law. Third are decisions to restrict civil rights and condone discrimination, reflecting the worldview that corporations know best, that courts have no business remedying historical discrimination and that views and experiences outside the white, male, Christian mainstream of the Republican Party merit lower legal standing. Fourth are decisions that have given straight-up political victories to the right-wing base on issues like abortion, guns and religionachieving by judicial fiat what Republicans couldnt accomplish through the legislative process.



The courts so-called conservatives often abandon conservative judicial principles to reach the desired outcome. Republican appointees routinely assure senators at their confirmation hearings that they will simply call balls and strikes, and follow the law of judicial precedent. Yet doctrines about modesty, stare decisis and respect for the judgment of elected majorities evaporate in these cases. Even the pet doctrine of originalism is ignored when inconvenient. These decisions are only conservative in that they benefit powerful conservative interests.



The courts campaign finance cases are a prime example of how the Roberts Five put results over doctrine. Four of these 13 casesFEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Davis v. FEC, Citizens United v. FEC, and McCutcheon v. FECsystemically decimated the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (also known as McCain-Feingold) and powered up corporate spending in elections. An earlier challenge to McCain-Feingold, McConnell v. FEC, had upheld the laws restrictions on soft money and issue ads, deferring largely to congressional findings. After that? A Republican rout.



What changed? Not the law or the facts, but the composition of the court: In 2006, Justice Samuel Alito replaced Justice Sandra Day OConnor (the last Supreme Court justice to have any practical experience in elective politics). Out went the ban on issue ads (Wisconsin Right to Life), disclosure requirements for self-funding candidates (Davis), corporate spending (Citizens United), and aggregate contributions (McCutcheon). Along the way, the court, by bare partisan majorities, also knocked out two sensible state-level campaign finance laws (Arizona Free Enterprise Club v. Bennett and American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock).



These decisions showed no respect for precedent, federalism, originalism or judicial restraint. Citizens United even articulated a new standard that if a precedent is hotly contested, it has less precedential valuea sweet device for activist Republicans who can hotly contest and undermine precedents they dont like.



The Roberts Court trampled its own procedures to get to its desired result. After all the oral arguments were heard, Roberts issued new questions presented, reframing the issue as a broad question about the ability of the government to regulate corporate spending on elections. This maneuver was radical, but it set up the question the conservatives wanted to answer, without a troublesome record to contend with. The five-member majority also ignored hundreds of thousands of pages of findings in the congressional record. As Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in dissent, five justices were unhappy with the limited nature of the case before us, so they changed the case to give themselves an opportunity to change the law. To change the law, the majority engaged in aberrant fact-findingaberrant both because the facts werent factual, and because appellate courts arent supposed to do fact-finding in any event.



Its not just campaign finance cases. Its arbitration; class action; racial discrimination; guns. In 73 partisan, 5-4 decisions in the Roberts era with a major Republican interest at stake, the Republican political interest has won and conservative judicial principles have lost.



This pattern explains the mad scramble by right-wing interest groups to protect their conservative court majority. Republicans no longer hide that they have outsourced the judicial vetting process to interest groups coordinated by the Federalist Society political gatekeeper. The same few players select the nominees to our highest court, spend millions to campaign for their confirmation, and then fund amicus briefs signaling desired outcomes. And then they win, 73 times.



Much of this maneuvering remains hidden in the shadow of dark money, but it is an unmistakable pattern: 73 partisan 5-4 decisions delivering key Republican victories, every time.



Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, has been a member of the U.S. Senate since 2007.
(Bloomberg) -- Germanys Scout24 AG received a $5.5 billion boost by two U.S. private equity firms as it battles Axel Springer SE and EBay Inc. for dominance of Europes online classifieds market.

The sweetened 46 euro-a-share bid from Hellman & Friedman and Blackstone Group LP -- which gives Scout24 an equity value of 4.9 billion euros -- will help the company better challenge rivals and grow across Europe, Scout24 Chief Executive Officer Tobias Hartmann said.

The offer reflects a "joint long-term vision and ambition to turn Scout24 into a leading European digital player, Hartmann said in a statement. Scout24 will look at potential acquisitions in its core markets following the deal, a spokesman said by phone.

Scout24 has in recent years successfully expanded from real estate listings in Germany into a platform for online classifieds in sectors ranging from finance to cars across Europe. A real estate boom in Germany and the acquisition of financial news site Finanzcheck also helped the company boost sales.

Yet Germanys traditional real estate market is under threat. Chancellor Angela Merkels government is trying to rein in spiraling housing costs, and is working on changes to realtor fees that could hurt Scout24s business. EBay is offering free real estate listings on its German marketplace site EBay Kleinanzeigen, and if costs for sellers increase, the U.S. giant may lure more listings away from sites like Scout24 and Immowelt, the rival owned by Axel Springer.

The changing market hasnt deterred the U.S. private equity firms, whose offer price represents the highest cash-flow multiple ever for a classifieds business, said Blake Kleinman, a partner at Hellman & Friedman.

"Things will be challenging in the short term because of the pending regulatory changes in real estate, but we have a long-term mindset and are convinced that Scout24, with its strong brand, is best positioned to adapt and help the industry and its customers manage these changes," Kleinman said by phone.

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Scout24 rose as much as 12.5 percent in early Frankfurt trading. The renewed offer is 11 percent higher than Thursdays closing price. Scout24s top executives last month rejected a previous bid of 43.50 euros a share.

The deal marks a return by Hellman & Friedman and Blackstone, who oversaw Scout24s initial public offering in 2015. Rival buyout firms including EQT Partners, Silver Lake and KKR & Co. were also interested in bidding for the company, Bloomberg has reported, citing people close to the situation.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of May and is subject to a minimum acceptance threshold of 50 percent plus one share and clearance by antitrust authorities, Scout24 said.

(Adds comments from Hellman & Friedman starting in sixth paragraph.)

--With assistance from Thomas Mulier.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stefan Nicola in Berlin at snicola2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Andrew Blackman

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Anti-graft agency official stares at impeachment over corruption

A commissioner at the countrys apex corruption watchdog is staring at an impeachment motion against him after media exposed that he had taken Rs7.8 million in bribe promising to settle a case.
Cryptocurrency, bitcoin, Russia

Russias Minister of Justice, Alexander Konovalov, has indicated that it is unnecessary to give cryptocurrencies a legal definition at this point in time, according to the countrys state-owned news agency TASS.

In a meeting with Russian legislators, Konavalov argued that it would be unwise to define cryptocurrencies in their current state. Additionally, Konavalov said it was also premature to formalize legislation touching on cryptocurrencies in Russia.

As was reported by CCN mid last month, there are legislative efforts relating to cryptocurrencies and ICOs being undertaken by the Russian parliament.

Read the full story on CCN.com.
SAUSALITO, Calif. (AP)  Waves of heavy rain pounded California on Thursday, trapping people in floodwaters, washing away a mountain highway, triggering a mudslide that destroyed homes and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year.

At least two people died as the powerful system swept in from the Pacific Ocean and unleashed damaging rain, snow and wind.

The system was moving across the U.S. West into Wyoming and Colorado after walloping Northern California and southern Oregon a day earlier.

The National Weather Service reported staggering rainfall amounts across California, including more than 9.4 inches (24 centimeters) over 48 hours at one location in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles.

A woman pulled from rising water in a low-lying area between those mountains and LA had a heart attack and died at a hospital, said Capt. Ryan Rolston with the Corona Fire Department. The unidentified woman was one of nine people and three dogs rescued in a flood control channel where homeless people camp, Rolston said.

In Escondido, northeast of San Diego, firefighters pulled the body of a man from a concrete-lined waterway. Witnesses told authorities the man had been paddle-boarding in the surging waters.

North of San Francisco, a mudslide barreled over cars, uprooted trees and sent a home sliding down a hill and smashing into another house in Sausalito.

A woman was rescued from the splintered wreckage with only cuts and bruises. Susan Gordon was buried under a tree and mud for two hours while crews dug her out, her son wrote on an online fundraising page.

Chris Parkman said it's been years since a storm so powerful has hit the hillside community, where at least 50 properties were evacuated.

"We don't see the rain most of the year, so most of the year you feel safe. But when the big storms come, your safety factor is gone," he said.

A deluge southeast of Los Angeles washed away a section of a two-lane mountain highway. Photos by the state Department of Transportation showed about 75 feet (23 meters) of pavement completely collapsed along State Route 243 near the remote community of Idyllwild.

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"We're basically stranded right now," said resident Gary Agner, adding that several other roads were closed because of flooding and debris. "I'm glad I went to the grocery store yesterday."

The risk of flooding led officials to order people out of areas burned bare by a summer wildfire in the Santa Ana Mountains, with flash flood warnings blanketing a huge swath east and south of Los Angeles.

Authorities also told parts of artsy Laguna Beach to evacuate, while the desert resort city of Palm Springs urged residents to stay where they were because of flooded streets. Flood advisories extended to Arizona.

Weather was so severe that the Hollywood Walk of Fame had to postpone the dedication of a sidewalk star honoring the band Aerosmith. Knott's Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain theme parks closed.

Trouble also persisted in saturated Northern California, where thousands of people lost power and flooding was possible. Downtown San Francisco saw more than 1.75 inches (4.4 centimeters) of rain over 24 hours.

A flooded creek led authorities to urge about 300 residents to leave a community some 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Paradise, a town destroyed last year by the nation's deadliest wildfire in a century.

The storm followed more than a week of severe weather in the Pacific Northwest and was the latest in a series of storms that has all but eliminated drought-level dryness in California this winter. It's fueled by an atmospheric river  a plume of moisture stretching across the Pacific Ocean nearly to Hawaii.

Nearly 37 percent of California had no level of drought or abnormal dryness, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported Thursday. About 10.5 percent of the state was in moderate drought, just over 1.6 percent was in severe drought. The remainder was in the abnormally dry category. The numbers reflect data gathered up to Tuesday.

Atmospheric rivers are long bands of water vapor that form over an ocean and flow through the sky. Formed by winds associated with storms, they occur globally but are especially significant on the West Coast.

Even before the height of the storm, mandatory evacuations were ordered near the wildfire area in the Santa Ana Mountains where officials said there was a high risk of debris flows.

Tim Suber chose not to leave his hillside neighborhood in Lake Elsinore. He said Thursday that he's lost count of how many times his family has been evacuated between last summer's devastating wildfire and this winter's storms.

The rain was so heavy that "it sounds like a hundred bowling balls a minute are going down the creek" behind his house, Suber said. A neighbor had mud in his pool, but so far the area hadn't lost power and culverts and washes were handling the runoff.

The storm delayed flights destined for San Francisco International Airport, closed sections of several key highways, including Highway 1 on the Central Coast, Interstate 5 north of Sacramento, and U.S. 395 in the snowy eastern Sierra Nevada.

Wintry weather closed Interstate 80 across much of Wyoming and sections of at least four other highways. Multiple avalanches disrupted highway traffic in northwestern Montana near the Idaho border.

In Colorado, high winds shattered windows and downed power poles, leaving thousands in Colorado Springs without power.

___

Associated Press writers Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco and Christopher Weber and Amanda Lee Myers in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
(Corrects to say 2015, not 2005, in paragraph three)

By Lesley Wroughton

BRUSSELS, Feb 15 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the EU's top diplomat in Brussels on Friday, a day after Vice President Mike Pence accused America's traditional European allies of trying to undermine U.S. sanctions against Iran.

The meeting with Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, was scheduled before Pence's rebuke of European powers during a Middle East peace conference in Warsaw on Thursday, which Mogherini missed, citing a scheduling conflict at NATO.

Mogherini, who helped seal the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, greeted Pompeo in front of a bank of cameras at the EU's headquarters in Brussels before they headed into a conference room for the breakfast meeting, which was scheduled to last about an hour.

Mogherini shook her head and waved off a question from the media about what she thought of Pence's speech in Warsaw on Thursday, where he accused the European Union of trying to break the impact of U.S. economic sanctions on Iran.

Pence's unusually tough words for allies Germany, France and Britain reflect Washington's strategy to try to isolate Iran, in remarks that were likely to further strain transatlantic relations.

Trump last year pulled the United States out of the 2015 Iran deal, under which Tehran agreed to curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions.

On Thursday, speaking at NATO before Pence's comments, Mogherini said the United States and the European Union had "different views" on the Iran nuclear deal and said upholding it was critical to European security because it prevented Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

European countries say they share Washington's concerns about Iran's involvement in wars in Yemen and Syria but believe withdrawing from the nuclear deal was a mistake, and have promised to try to salvage the deal as long as Iran continues to abide by it. In practice, European companies have accepted new U.S. sanctions on Iran and abandoned plans to invest there.

France, Germany and Britain agreed in January to open a new channel for non-dollar trade with Iran to avert U.S. sanctions, through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) meant to help match Iranian oil and gas exports against purchases of EU goods.

However, the trade vehicle will likely take months to become operational and diplomats said it will be used only for smaller trade, for example of humanitarian products or food . (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio; editing by Robin Emmott)
By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com - The good news is flowing in from all corners for oil bulls. Trade talks in Beijing, outage at the biggest Saudi oilfield and commodities merchant Trafigura's apparent decision to halt trading in Venezuelan crude are all combining to create the largest weekly gain for oil this year.

"Oil looks so bullish that it will probably fall again to just abuse us with irony," Scott Shelton, energy futures broker at ICAP (LON:NXGN) in Durham, N.C., said, cautioning that producer "flows," or selling, were continuing to rise, which could be a deterrent for higher prices.

The only bearish news for the day, if any, was a tick higher in the U.S. oil rig count published by Baker Hughes. The count rose by 3 after the previous week's 7-unit rise. Just two weeks ago, the rig reading was at a nine-month low of 847.

New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude and London's Brent oil were each up for a fourth-straight day on Friday, rising around 6% on the week to recoup all of the losses from the previous week, which, incidentally, was the worst week for oil since 2019 began.

WTI settled up $1.18, or 2.2%, at $55.59 per barrel, the highest closing price for U.S. since Nov. 19. The peak for the day was $55.80.

Brent, the global oil benchmark, was up $1.80, or 2.8%, at $66.37 per barrel, smashing the key $65 resistance. Its intraday peak was $66.38.

For the week, WTI was up almost 6% while Brent rose nearly 7%. Year-to-date, U.S. crude gained 22% while the U.K. benchmarks rose 23%.

Gains in oil accelerated on reports that talks between the United States and China, the world's largest economies, will continue next week in Washington. Both sides cited good progress at this week's negotiations in Beijing. The market has been on an uptrend since a Bloomberg report on Thursday that President Donald Trump was considering a 60-day extension to the March 1 deadline requiring China to reach a trade deal with the U.S. or risk having higher tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods.

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Brent prices particularly got a boost on reports that Saudi Aramco has shut part of its more than 1-million-barrels-per-day Safaniyah offshore oilfield after a main power cable was cut by a vessels anchor. Brent's premium versus WTI is at just over $10, reaching 2017 highs.

Out of Geneva, Reuters reported that global commodities firm Trafigura has decided to stop trading oil with Venezuela due to U.S. sanctions on the OPEC nation's energy sector.

The decision will come as a blow to the Nicolas Maduro administration. His government has been trying to maintain its hold on Caracas and its state oil company PDVSA despite U.S. and widespread global opposition to its rule. Swiss-based Trafigura had a long-standing arrangement with PDVSA to take Venezuelan crude and, in exchange, supply the Latin American country with refined products.

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Gold Future Price Dips as Risk Appetite Returns on Renewed Trade Deal Hopes

Oil Prices Rise on Trade Deal Hopes; API Reports Surprise Increase in Crude Stocks
By Laila Kearney

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than 2 percent to their highest this year on Friday after an outage at Saudi Arabia's offshore oilfield boosted expectations for tightening supply, while progressing U.S.-Sino trade talks strengthened demand sentiment.

The international Brent crude benchmark rose $1.68, or 2.6 percent, to settle at $66.25 a barrel, its highest since November.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled up $1.18, or 2.2 percent, at $55.59 a barrel, and hit their highest this year in post-settlement trade at $55.80.

For the week, Brent ended more than 6 percent higher and WTI gained more than 5 percent, partly on tightening supplies since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies led by Russia started voluntary production cuts last month.

The partial closure of Saudi Arabia's Safaniya, the world's largest offshore oilfield, occurred about two weeks ago, a source said on Friday. Safaniya has production capacity of more than 1 million barrels per day. It was not immediately clear when the field would return to full capacity.

"It's another factor that is raising concerns about the availability of crude," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. "All of a sudden you don't have to worry just about OPEC cuts. Now you have a problem with Saudi Arabia's ability to actually produce as much oil."

Leading OPEC producer Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it would cut an additional half a million bpd in March more than it previously pledged.

Supply has also been curbed by U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan and Iranian crude and reduced Libyan output because of civil unrest. Security threats could threaten Nigerian production after general elections this weekend.

Growing confidence that the United States and China will resolve their ongoing trade dispute also supported prices. Those talks will restart next week in Washington, with both sides saying this week's negotiations in Beijing showed progress.

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"Optimism surrounding a potential trade deal has really been the big issue here in the United States the last couple days," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.

However, prices pared gains after a report showed U.S. energy firms this week increased the number of oil rigs operating for a second week in a row due to concerns that crude supplies will swamp global demand as U.S. output keeps growing from record levels.

U.S. oil drillers added three oil rigs this week, General Electric Cos Baker Hughes energy services firm said..

(Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York, additional reporting by Noah Browning in London, Henning Gloystein in Singapore and Colin Packham in Sydney; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Matthew Lewis)
Here are the companies Yahoo Finance is watching today.

Optimism from Nvidia. The chipmaker delivered an earnings beat and better guidance than many analysts were expecting. The CEO called the results a "turbulent close" to a great year and said it expects to return to sustained growth.

A little less excitement Friday morning for PepsiCo. The food and beverage giant delivered quarterly results that met expectations, but its forecasting a weaker than expected 2019. Higher taxes and currency fluctuations are behind that downbeat forecast. PepsiCo is planning several cost-cutting moves to save upwards of a $ billion by 2023.

Facebook is in talks with with the FTC to settle privacy violations. The company has confirmed the discussions but won't say just what's on the table. The Washington Post says the fine could run into the billions and is expected to be the largest ever imposed on a technology company.

General Electric is making some cuts. GE is scaling back on its planned headquarters in Boston, selling the property, and dropping plans to add hundreds of jobs because it no longer needs the facilities. The company reached a deal with Massachusetts to return $87 million in incentives and sell the location. Still, GE is staying in Boston and says its proud to call the city home.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is making some changes. The company cut its stake in Apple and added positions in Canada's Suncor Energy and software company Red Hat. The company also shed a more than $2 billion in Oracle. That shrank Berskhire Hathaway's portfolio to about $183 billion at the end of last year.
FILE- In this Jan. 20, 2017 file photo, President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address after being sworn in as the 45th president of the United States during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. State authorities in New Jersey have subpoenaed a host of financial records from the committee that organized President Donald Trump's inauguration, Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

NEW YORK (AP)  President Donald Trump's inaugural committee received a sweeping request for financial records this week from prosecutors in New Jersey, the second subpoena the group has received in as many weeks as its fundraising and spending draws mounting scrutiny.

The committee said Friday that it is in contact with the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, which issued the request for documents on Monday as part of a civil inquiry into how the committee raised and spent $107 million on inaugural events.

The inaugural committee has told the AP its finances were independently audited and that all funds were spent in accordance with the law. Leland Moore, a spokesman for New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, declined to comment.

The inquiry marks the latest in a series of investigations into Trump's campaign and presidency. The special counsel, Robert Mueller, is investigating whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia and whether the president obstructed the investigation. In a separate case, federal prosecutors in New York have alleged that Trump directed his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to make illegal hush-money payments to two women in a bid to quash potential sex scandals during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump denies wrongdoing and has called Mueller's probe a "witch hunt." He also has said he was not involved in the operations of the inaugural committee.

The subpoena, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, resembles the wide-ranging request for documents the committee received last week from federal prosecutors in Manhattan, who are investigating, among other potential crimes, whether foreigners illegally contributed to the inaugural events. Among other materials, the New York prosecutors asked for documents related to any payments made by donors directly to contractors and vendors who worked for the committee.

The latest subpoena contains similar language but specifically asks for records relating to fundraising events and "solicitations" conducted in New Jersey. It also requests copies of ledgers, tax forms, contracts and "all documents related to any benefits provided to donors."

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The subpoena gives the inaugural committee two weeks to provide the materials to the attorney general's consumer protection division.

___

Associated Press writer Mike Catalini contributed to this report from Trenton, New Jersey.
Anti-graft agency commissioner Pathak resigns

Raj Narayan Pathak, a commissioner at the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, who was embroiled in controversy for receiving bribe, has resigned.
A man is silhouetted at a show room of Nissan Motor Co. in Tokyo, Japan, February 12, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-hoon

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Japan's second-largest automaker Nissan Motor Co has signed a joint venture agreement with an Algerian private partner to build a car assembly plant at a cost of $160 million, the company said on Wednesday.

The plant, near the western city of Oran, is due to start production in the first half of 2020 with a capacity of 63,500 vehicles per year, Peyman Kargar, Nissan's senior vice president and chairman of operations in Africa, Middle East and India, said at a signing ceremony in Algiers.

Nissan's partner, Hasnaoui Group, will hold a majority stake in the project, which is expected to create 1,800 jobs.

Algeria has banned car imports as part of an attempt to cut spending due to lower oil and gas earnings, the main source of state finances.

"We want to help diversify our economy," said Hasnaoui Group's owner Sofiane Hasnaoui.

The North African country, an OPEC member, has been trying to attract foreign investment and develop the non-energy sector, which accounts for just 6 percent of total export revenues.

"Algeria is a big country for us. Thanks to government's support, we managed to conclude this deal," said Kargar.

"Our top priority is to meet local demand but we will think about exporting our product later," he added.

The deal also includes training of the plant's employees by Nissan staff, Hasnaoui said.

(Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
By Joey Roulette

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb 15 (Reuters) - NASA said on Friday it was weighing an option to buy two additional astronaut seats aboard a Russian rocket as a contingency plan against further delays in the launch systems being developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX and Boeing Co.

A possible purchase "provides flexibility and back-up capability" as the companies build rocket-and-capsule launch systems to return astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) from U.S. soil for the first time since NASA's Space Shuttle program went dark in 2011.

The U.S. space agency has since had to rely on Russia's Roscosmos program to ferry astronauts to the orbital space station at a cost of roughly $80 million per seat, NASA has said.

After 2019 there are no seats available on the spacecraft for U.S. crew, and a NASA advisory panel recommended on Friday that the U.S. space program develop a contingency plan to guarantee access to the station in case technical problems delay Boeing and SpaceX any further.

A NASA spokesman on Friday characterized a solicitation request NASA filed on Wednesday as a contingency plan. NASA said it could buy a seat for one astronaut in the fall and another seat in the spring of 2020.

"The absence of U.S. crew members at any point would diminish ISS operations to an inoperable state," NASA wrote in its solicitation on Wednesday.

NASA awarded $6.8 billion to SpaceX, founded by Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk, and aerospace giant Boeing to develop separate launch systems to fly astronauts to space, but both companies have faced technical challenges and delays.

NASA announced another slip last week, citing concerns for both contractors such as the need to complete hardware testing and other factors. The U.S. space agency said SpaceX was now targeting March 2 instead of Feb. 23 for its un-crewed Crew Dragon test flight, with its astronaut flight coming in July.

NASA said Boeing's un-crewed CST-100 Starliner would fly no sooner than April, with Boeing's crewed mission is currently slated for August.

"Typically, problems will be discovered during these test flights," NASA wrote.

(Reporting by Joey Roulette in Orlando, Florida; editing by Eric M. Johnson and G Crosse)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warns Republicans on Thursday that a future Democratic president could declare gun violence a national emergency.

Her comments to reporters come shortly after the White House says the president would declare a national emergency in order to "build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country."

"You want to talk about a national emergency? Let's talk about today," Pelosi says, referring to the first anniversary of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead on Feb. 14, 2018.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned Republicans on Thursday that a future Democratic president could declare gun violence a national emergency.

Her comments to reporters came shortly after the White House said President Donald Trump would declare a national emergency in order to "build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country."

Pelosi said she was not advocating for Democrats to declare a national emergency but that Trump was establishing a precedent that should, at least, make Republicans nervous.

"If the president can declare an emergency on something he has created as an emergency, an illusion that he wants to convey, just think about what a president with different values can present to the American people," Pelosi said.

"You want to talk about a national emergency? Let's talk about today," Pelosi said, referring to the first anniversary of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead on Feb. 14, 2018.

She said the shooting was "another manifestation of the epidemic of gun violence in America."

"That's a national emergency. Why don't you declare that an emergency, Mr. President? I wish you would," she said. "But a Democratic president can do that. A Democratic president can declare emergencies as well."

Sen. Kamala Harris, who is running for president, echoed her fellow Californian's remarks in a post on Twitter, but stopped short of saying she would as president declare a national emergency.

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"Declaring a national emergency over this President's vanity project is ridiculous," Harris wrote. "We don't need a wall. Instead, we should address the actual emergencies facing our country  everything from gun violence to the opioid crisis."

Tweet

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, another 2020 contender, wrote on Twitter that gun violence, climate change and the country's opioid epidemic were all emergencies.

"Donald Trump's ridiculous wall is not an emergency," the Massachusetts Democrat wrote.

Tweet

A national emergency declaration makes powers available to the executive that are otherwise impermissible, such as the reallocation of certain funds that have been appropriated by Congress. Scholars continue to debate the legality of emergency powers.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders downplayed the possible ramifications of Trump's expected national emergency declaration.

"Let's hope we don't have additional national security and humanitarian crises," she said.

 CNBC's Eamon Javers contributed to this report.





More From CNBC


By John Irish

MUNICH, Feb 15 (Reuters) - France's foreign minister on Friday said he was mystified by U.S. policy on northeastern Syria after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw troops, because it would only benefit Iran, which Washington wants to be tough on.

The troop withdrawal, which Trump announced in December, rattled U.S. allies fighting Islamic State in northeastern Syria. On Friday, speaking at a security conference in Munich, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said the United States would keep its capacity in the region.

"There's one thing I don't understand on American policy in this region," Jean-Yves Le Drian told Graham. "How can one be very firm against Iran and at the same time abandon northeast Syria, when one knows that in the end it favours Iranian activities in the region?"

"It's a mystery to me."

France is one of Washington's main allies in the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, with its warplanes used to strike militant targets, its heavy-artillery backing Kurdish-led fighters and its special forces on the ground.

"You've started to clarify the mystery by saying that the U.S. will maintain its capacity. I didn't know that, that's news to me," Le Drian said, adding with a hint of irony: "That fills me with joy."

Trump has pulled the United States out of an international nuclear accord with Iran, imposed tough new economic sanctions on Tehran and told European capitals to do the same.

But his declaration that he was removing all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria stunned allies, including the Kurdish militia who control swathes on northern Syria but who Turkey perceives as an enemy.

Graham said in return for the United States keeping capacity in the region, its allies should deploy troops to monitor a safe zone in northeastern Syria.

U.S. officials have criss-crossed the Middle East in recent weeks to reassure allies that Washington remains committed to the region, though Le Drian has expressed scepticism. (Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Richard Lough)
SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (MYGN), a global leader in personalized medicine, today announced its support of the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) new guidelines that recommend all people diagnosed with breast cancer undergo genetic testing with a multi-gene panel.



We applaud the ASBrS for recognizing important advances in scientific knowledge, and for recommending genetic testing for all people with breast cancer, said Johnathan Lancaster, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer, Myriad Genetics. The valuable information provided by genetic testing enhances physicians ability to select appropriate precision treatments, personalize care for patients and their families and improve health outcomes.

These new ASBrS guidelines are based on research recently published by the Targeted Medical Education (TME) Breast Care Network in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study demonstrated patients who met existing National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) clinical testing criteria had similar rates of pathogenic/likely pathogenic hereditary mutations in breast cancer genes (9 percent) as patients who did not meet NCCN criteria (8 percent).

I am excited by our new ASBrS guidelines and look forward to the day when NCCN updates its guidelines also. The exciting new data demonstrated that about half of patients with breast cancer have clinically-actionable mutations that are being missed when genetic testing is restricted to patients meeting current NCCN guidelines. said Walton Taylor, M.D., President of ASBrS. In his letter to the membership, he cautioned that As genetic testing expands, it is important to choose the lab carefully making sure they provide quality testing with accurate results and appropriate follow-up.

Myriad Genetics has been a leader in hereditary cancer testing for over two decades and Myriads myRisk Hereditary Cancer test is the market leading test for patients trying to understand their hereditary cancer risk. According to the American Cancer Society, 330,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer annually in the United States, and an estimated 10 percent of these are caused by inherited mutations. Fewer than 10 percent of BRCA1/2 carriers have been identified, and up to 80 percent of individuals at risk have not received genetic testing because they do not meet family history criteria of current testing guidelines. The National Cancer Institute estimates that 35,000 patients with breast cancer have pathogenic BRCA1/2 mutations, but only 30 percent have been identified. Additionally, an estimated 10 to 15 percent of women who test negative for BRCA1/2 mutations have pathogenic variants in other cancer susceptibility genes including: ATM, CDH1, CHEK2, NBN, NF1, PALB2, TP53, STK11 and PTEN.

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"Knowledge is power and the new ASBrS guidelines send a strong message to the breast cancer community that genetic testing is appropriate for everyone diagnosed with breast cancer, said Stacey Tinianov, breast cancer survivor and community engagement and advocacy consultant in Santa Clara, California. I am optimistic NCCN will consider the evidence and update its breast cancer guidelines to ensure appropriate genetic testing becomes the standard of care and is made broadly accessible."

About Myriad myRisk  Hereditary Cancer

The Myriad myRisk Hereditary Cancer test uses an extensive number of sophisticated technologies and proprietary algorithms to evaluate 29 clinically significant genes associated with eight hereditary cancer sites including: breast, colon, ovarian, endometrial, pancreatic, prostate and gastric cancers and melanoma.

About Myriad Genetics

Myriad Genetics Inc., is a leading personalized medicine company dedicated to being a trusted advisor transforming patient lives worldwide with pioneering molecular diagnostics. Myriad discovers and commercializes molecular diagnostic tests that: determine the risk of developing disease, accurately diagnose disease, assess the risk of disease progression, and guide treatment decisions across six major medical specialties where molecular diagnostics can significantly improve patient care and lower healthcare costs. Myriad is focused on five strategic imperatives: build upon a solid hereditary cancer foundation, growing new product volume, expanding reimbursement coverage for new products, increasing RNA kit revenue internationally and improving profitability with Elevate 2020. For more information on how Myriad is making a difference, please visit the Company's website: www.myriad.com . Follow Myriad on Twitter via @MyriadGenetics.

Myriad, the Myriad logo, BART, BRACAnalysis, Colaris, Colaris AP, myPath, myRisk, Myriad myRisk, myRisk Hereditary Cancer, myChoice, myPlan, BRACAnalysis CDx, Tumor BRACAnalysis CDx, myChoice HRD, EndoPredict, Vectra, GeneSight, riskScore Prolaris, Foresight and Prequel are trademarks or registered trademarks of Myriad Genetics, Inc. or its wholly owned subsidiaries in the United States and foreign countries. MYGN-F, MYGN-G.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements related to the recommendation by the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) of new guidelines that all people diagnosed with breast cancer undergo genetic testing with a multi-gene panel; the value of the information provided by genetic testing in enhancing physicians ability to select precision treatments, personalize care for patients and their families and improve health outcomes; the possibility and timing of NCCN updating its guidelines consistent with the new ASBrS guidelines; and the Company's strategic directives under the caption "About Myriad Genetics." These "forward-looking statements" are based on management's current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk that sales and profit margins of our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services may decline; risks related to our ability to transition from our existing product portfolio to our new tests, including unexpected costs and delays; risks related to decisions or changes in governmental or private insurers reimbursement levels for our tests or our ability to obtain reimbursement for our new tests at comparable levels to our existing tests; risks related to increased competition and the development of new competing tests and services; the risk that we may be unable to develop or achieve commercial success for additional molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services in a timely manner, or at all; the risk that we may not successfully develop new markets for our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services, including our ability to successfully generate revenue outside the United States; the risk that licenses to the technology underlying our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services and any future tests and services are terminated or cannot be maintained on satisfactory terms; risks related to delays or other problems with operating our laboratory testing facilities and our healthcare clinic; risks related to public concern over genetic testing in general or our tests in particular; risks related to regulatory requirements or enforcement in the United States and foreign countries and changes in the structure of the healthcare system or healthcare payment systems; risks related to our ability to obtain new corporate collaborations or licenses and acquire new technologies or businesses on satisfactory terms, if at all; risks related to our ability to successfully integrate and derive benefits from any technologies or businesses that we license or acquire; risks related to our projections about our business, results of operations and financial condition; risks related to the potential market opportunity for our products and services; the risk that we or our licensors may be unable to protect or that third parties will infringe the proprietary technologies underlying our tests; the risk of patent-infringement claims or challenges to the validity of our patents or other intellectual property; risks related to changes in intellectual property laws covering our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services and patents or enforcement in the United States and foreign countries, such as the Supreme Court decision in the lawsuit brought against us by the Association for Molecular Pathology et al; risks of new, changing and competitive technologies and regulations in the United States and internationally; the risk that we may be unable to comply with financial operating covenants under our credit or lending agreements; the risk that we will be unable to pay, when due, amounts due under our credit or lending agreements; and other factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" contained in Item 1A of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Myriad undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.

Media Contact: Investor Contact: Ron Rogers Scott Gleason (801) 584-3065 (801) 584-1143 rrogers@myriad.com sgleason@myriad.com




(Bloomberg) -- Charles Munger, the longtime business partner of Warren Buffett, is skeptical of recent Democratic proposals to tax the wealthiest Americans.

A lot of civilizations work very well with low taxes on the rich, Munger, 95, said in an interview Thursday after the annual shareholder meeting in Los Angeles of the Daily Journal Corp., where he serves as chairman. So its a very complicated subject and theres a lack of evidence that one system is better than another.

Democratic policy makers including Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have advocated raising taxes on the rich. Munger, a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. vice chairman who owned more than $1.4 billion in company stock as of September, argued theres a lot of ignorance around the tax issue. He said politicians oversimplify the problem, and their infighting doesnt help the country overall.

Hatred blinds reason and both sides are blinding reason, Munger said. How can it possibly be good?

He also criticized states including Connecticut and New York for driving out all the rich people after public backlash pushed Amazon.com Inc. to cancel plans for another headquarters in New York. The wealthy are typically older and dont burden public services such as schools or prisons, while keeping hospitals busy, Munger said in a CNBC interview aired Friday.

Who wouldnt want rich people? Munger said.

Here are some of Mungers comments on other subjects in the interview with Bloomberg:

Jain and Abel

The promotion of Ajit Jain and Greg Abel to vice chairmen at Berkshire has made the board better, Munger said. Jain is a never-ending source of talent and Abel does some things better than Buffett himself, Munger said.

Sears

Sears Holdings Corp., which will exit bankruptcy after its $5.2 billion acquisition by Eddie Lamperts ESL Investments, proved that some tasks are too hard, according to Munger.

If you take on the job thats impossible to do, youre going fail at it, he said. Thats the lesson.

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Investment Environment

Berkshire loosened its share-buyback policy last year and repurchased $928 million of stock in the third quarter. Munger said the company tweaked the policy due to rising levels of cash and the lack of opportunities to deploy it.

Weve had a long drought in terms of buying a big company and we dont like it, Munger said. But if we have to go through a much longer drought, we can handle it.

He cautioned that there might not be a wonderful, quick end to the investment difficulties of the current age.

Health Care

Berkshire teamed up with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Amazon.com Inc. for a health-care venture, a task that Munger says is probably the hardest one on the agenda.

I dont know how itll work out, he said. Theres a lot of vested interests in that field who are probably from the status quo and its not going to be easy fixing anything.

(Updates with Munger comments in fifth and sixth paragraphs.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Katherine Chiglinsky in New York at kchiglinsky@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Steve Dickson

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. is turning to crypto to modernize one of its most central businesses.

The biggest U.S. bank said it developed a prototype digital coin that it plans to use to speed up payments between corporate customers, according to a statement Thursday. The token, dubbed JPM Coin, is based on blockchain technology, a decentralized public ledger of transactions that offers more speed because it doesnt rely on a central record keeper.

Many of our clients move money in different ways and theyre looking for a more real-time way to move value around, Umar Farooq, head of digital treasury services and blockchain, said in an interview.

JPMorgan moves more than $5 trillion in wholesale payments each day, so even a nascent experiment from the banking giant is poised to make waves in the cryptocurrency world. While some experts questioned the broader impact of a dollar-pegged coin available only to JPMorgan clients, others said the banks involvement lends legitimacy to an area thats been rocked by volatility and scandal.

The bank started developing JPM Coin about a year ago in response to client demand and plans to start testing out possible uses with a small number of its institutional customers in the coming months, Farooq said. He declined to name the interested companies.

Greater Efficiency

SWIFT, the air-traffic control system for sending money around the world, has been working on a plan to make overseas transfers more efficient though a campaign known as the global payments innovation initiative. But banks still sometimes run into trouble clearing cross-border payments in real time, Farooq said. JPM Coin could eliminate that problem by allowing instantaneous value transfer, he said.

Japanese lenders including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group started working on initiatives such as the MUFG Coin as early as 2016.

New York-based Signature Bank rolled out a digital coin for real-time payments earlier this year, and scores of its institutional clients have started using it to send money to each other, according to Chief Executive Officer Joseph DePaolo. The bank, which had about $46 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, has seen daily volume in the tens of millions of dollars since the coins debut, he said.

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Compared with JPM Coin, theres no difference other than were up and running and we already have regulatory approval, DePaolo said. Theyre trying to do the same thing we are.

Dollar Equivalency

JPMorgan is the first of the major U.S. banks to publicly introduce its own coin.

The coin has some differences from a traditional cryptocurrency, according to the presentation. Cryptocurrencies use public, open-access blockchain technology and their value is intrinsic to the coin. A JPM Coin always has a value equivalent to one U.S. dollar and uses JPMorgans private blockchain.

JPMorgan is taking a significant step here, said Adam Grimsley, a former BlackRock Inc. fixed-income investor who co-founded London-based crypto hedge fund Prime Factor Capital. The first bullet in any war is always the most important, and it looks like this could be the first move in a broader adoption of blockchain and digital currencies by large institutions.

Gregory Klumov, chief executive officer and founder of blockchain company Stasis in Malta, downplayed the scale of the project.

Bit Faster

Theyre just taking an existing internal process and making it a little bit faster, Klumov said. It doesnt have any of the long-term, disruptive potential of public blockchains.

JPMorgan previously developed the Interbank Information Network, which is based on the ethereum blockchain. IIN, which has about 157 banks in its network from all parts of the globe, is intended to address some of the challenges of interbank information-sharing and to help payments reach beneficiaries sooner. JPM Coin is aimed at transferring value rather than information, according to the bank.

CNBC reported the launch of JPM Coin earlier Thursday.

The most famous use of blockchain -- cryptocurrencies -- has been stumbling. Bitcoin is down more than 80 percent from its highs in December 2017, and, according to JPMorgan calculations, has recently been trading below the average cost it takes to mine.

JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon famously called Bitcoin a fraud in 2017, though hes repeatedly said he sees many ways the bank could use blockchain technology.

The bank in January revamped its treasury-services business, combining teams from the consumer and corporate bank to create a group called wholesale payments that will deal in cash management, payment solutions and merchant services. Its led by Takis Georgakopoulos.

(Updates with Signature Banks foray into digital coins in eighth, ninth paragraphs.)

To contact the reporters on this story: Michelle F. Davis in New York at mdavis194@bloomberg.net;Alastair Marsh in London at amarsh25@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Daniel Taub, Dan Reichl

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
A dolls house

When Indira Dali was living in Osaka, Japan, every other evening, she would walk around town looking for dolls, miniature figurines and tiny teacup sets.
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli networking software company DriveNets said on Thursday it raised $110 million in its first round of financing led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Israel's Pitango Growth, with the participation of several private investors.

The new financing will help the company expand its product portfolio and penetrate new markets, it said.

DriveNets said its software allows communication service providers to handle growing demand without sacrificing profitability. Bringing networking to the cloud can accelerate new service rollouts, it said.

DriveNets was founded in late 2015 by Ido Susan and Hillel Kobrinsky and has been self-funded until now.

It achieved its first major contract in 2017 with a top North American service provider and has since recorded tens of millions of dollars in revenue. The company has 150 employees and plans to expand to 200 by the end of the year.

Susan co-founded Intucell, which was acquired by Cisco for $475 million while Kobrinsky founded Interwise, which was acquired by AT&T for $121 million.

(Reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Steven Scheer)
BENSALEM, Pa., Feb. 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces an investigation on behalf of McCormick & Company investors (McCormick or the Company) (NYSE: MKC) concerning the Company and its officers possible violations of federal securities laws.



On January 24, 2019, the Company reported that trade inventory reductions resulted in significant out-of-stock situations on high-margin quality items, which negatively impacted its financial results. On this news, the Companys share price fell $14.65 per share, or over 10%, to close at $124.35 per share on January 24, 2019, on unusually heavy trading volume.

If you purchased McCormick securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com , or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com .

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
A boy walks past an oil tanker train stationed at a railway station in Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of New Delhi, February 1, 2019. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis/Files

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's oil imports from Iran fell by 45 percent in January to 270,500 barrels per day oil (bpd), ship tracking data reviewed by Reuters showed, below the estimated 300,000 bpd for the month as some cargoes were delayed.

The United States introduced sanctions aimed at crippling Iran's oil revenue-dependent economy in November but gave a six-month waiver to eight nations, including India, which allowed them to import some Iranian oil.

India is restricted to buying 1.25 million tonnes per month, some 300,000 bpd. January imports from Iran were 10.4 percent lower than December, the tanker arrival data showed.

Iran was the seventh biggest oil supplier to India in January compared with sixth in December, and slipped from third position it held a year ago. Last month Tehran's share in India's overall oil imports declined to about 6 percent from about 10 percent a year earlier, the data showed.

After abandoning the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to end Tehran's nuclear ambitions and ballistic missile programme and curb its support for militants in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East.

In the first 10 months of this fisal year that began in April, India's oil imports from Iran rose by 14.5 percent to 507,000 bpd as refiners boosted purchases ahead of the U.S. sanctions drawn by discounts offered by Tehran, the data showed.

Iran was hoping to sell more than 500,000 bpd of oil to India in 2018/19, its oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said last year, and had offered almost free shipping and an extended credit period to boost sales to the country.

Indian refiners Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petrolum Corp, Mangalore Refinery and Petroleum Corp and Indian Oil Corp would lift same volume in March as they took in February, a governemnt official said.

In February, IOC placed an order for 5 million barrels, MRPL for 2 million barrels and HPCL and BPCL for 1 million barrels each. None of the companies responded to a Reuters email seeking comments.

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In the previous fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2018 Indian refiners cut purchases from Iran due to a dispute on the award of development rights of a giant gas field.

Government sources say Reuters' calculations showing India's oil imports from Iran in this fiscal year would be higher than the 452,000 bpd, or 22.6 million tonnes, it imported in the previous year, were correct.

India's total oil imports in January were about 4.6 million bpd, a decline of about 10.4 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Mark Potter)
FILE PHOTO: The ticker and trading information for Blackstone Group is displayed at the post where it is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) April 4, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

By Arno Schuetze and Douglas Busvine

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Hellman & Friedman and Blackstone have won over Scout24 after raising their offer for the online classifieds group to 5.7 billion euros (5.02 billion) including debt, setting up the biggest takeover of a listed German company by private equity.

The investors said in a statement on Friday that Scout24's management and supervisory board supported the sweetened bid of 46 euros a share. Last month, the German company rejected an offer of 43.50 euros per share.

Scout24 shared jumped 11.8 percent in Frankfurt to 46.38 euros, above the offer price and suggesting some shareholders reckon a better alternative offer may yet emerge.

"We think this bid values Scout24 at too low a multiple and raises the possibility that industry peers may look to buy some or all of the assets," analysts at Liberum said in a note.

They speculated a rival media house, such as Germany's Axel Springer, Norway's Schibsted or South Africa's Naspers might be willing to pay a higher price for Scout24 than the private equity.

Springer, which has its own German real-estate classifieds business, might have to dispose of that part of Scout24's operations if it does do a deal to avert any possible antitrust concerns, they added.

Schibsted, which is spinning off its own digital classifieds business, would probably have to ditch Scout24's Spanish auto classifieds business for the same reason.

The Scout24 deal comes amid a broader shakeup in the European media landscape, as companies seek to realise value by carving out or merging their digital classifieds businesses that are faster growing and more profitable than their media titles.

Scout24 has the attraction of being a classifieds pure play, enabling it to command a valuation of 17 times estimated 2019 earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).

Still, that is shy of the estimated 20 times EBITDA Silver Lake paid in its $3 billion (2.3 billion) takeover of ZPG, owner of UK property sites Zoopla and PrimeLocation, last May.

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Hellman & Friedman and Blackstone said their offer was subject to a minimum acceptance threshold of 50 percent plus one share.

PRIVATE EQUITY RETURNS

Scout24, best known for its ImmobilienScout24 home listings in Germany and AutoScout24 car listings across Europe, was previously owned by Hellman & Friedman, which acquired a controlling stake from Deutsche Telekom in 2013 before listing the business in 2015.

The company's rise has coincided with a boom in the German real estate market driven by ultra-low interest rates, urbanisation and the attraction to economic migrants exerted by Europe's largest economy.

Other groups have also vied to buy all or parts of Scout24.

After receiving an approach last year, Scout24 hired investment bank Morgan Stanley to explore its options.

Among other proposals, German used-car dealing platform Auto1 suggested a deal for Scout24's car listings business, sources close to the matter had said last month.

Despite having well stocked war chests, private equity funds have found it difficult to invest without overpaying due to rich equity market valuations.

In Germany, the private equity takeover of generics maker Stada, which became significantly more expensive after arbitrage funds like Elliott came in and demanded a cut, has also deterred public-to-private deals.

A recent stock market correction, though has encouraged buyout groups to seek such deals. Separately, Bain and Carlyle are currently weighing an offer for lighting group Osram.

Blackstone said in January its dry powder - the amount it has raised from investors but yet to invest - had hit $112.9 billion, and President and Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Gray said recent market volatility had created a buying opportunity.

(Reporting by Vera Eckert and Arno Schuetze; Editing by Riham Alkousaa and Mark Potter)
* Thermal coal and LNG supply hits multi-year highs in January

* Demand outlook from power generation tepid short and longer term

* Falling coal & LNG prices: https://tmsnrt.rs/2EcWpdv

* Rising coal & LNG supply: https://tmsnrt.rs/2BAqzFL

By Henning Gloystein and Nina Chestney

SINGAPORE/LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Thermal coal and natural gas prices are tumbling, with both falling their lowest since 2017, as the outlook for the most used power generation fuels darkens due to tepid demand.

Feeding an emerging glut is a surge in exports.

Refinitiv trade data showed shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from key exporters Australia, Qatar, Malaysia and the United States rose to a record 19.5 million tonnes in January, up from 14.5 million tonnes two years ago.

Meanwhile, exports of thermal coal from prominent suppliers Australia, Colombia, Indonesia and South Africa climbed to 54.5 million tonnes in January, the highest in at least two years.

The supply surge is occurring just as heating demand is starting to taper off with the end of the Northern Hemisphere winter approaching and that is weighing on prices.

Asian spot LNG prices (LNG-AS) have fallen by more than 40 percent since June to around $6.50 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). That is the lowest since September 2017, and a three-year low for the winter season.

Spot coal cargo prices for exports from Australia's Newcastle terminal have fallen by a quarter since the middle of 2018, to below $90 per tonne for the first time since 2017.

2020 European coal futures, known as API2, have also lost almost a quarter of their value since their $100 peak in 2018, dropping below $80 per tonne for the first time in a year.

Coal and gas markets are moving in the opposite direction of oil, which usually influences the two generation fuels, with crude prices rising on Friday to their highest this year.

"With coal on course to see a sharp reduction in underlying demand from the power sector, further weakness cannot be ruled out," consultancy Energy Aspects said in a note, adding that milder spring weather and ample storage could also further pull down gas prices.

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Beyond the end of winter, commodities brokerage Marex Spectron said "a significant slowdown in manufacturing activity" also weighed in coal and gas prices.

SWELLING INVENTORIES

The high supplies and tepid demand have resulted in swelling inventories.

Vishal Thiruvedula, coal analyst at Refinitiv, said coal inventories at import terminals in China, the world's biggest consumer of the fuel, were at 15.39 million tonnes in early February, 5 million tonnes higher than this time last year.

The situation is similar in natural gas, where storage facilities hold ample supply.

"Mild weather and ample storage have led to a weaker Asian market with overflow cargoes pouring into Europe," James Taverner, energy analyst at IHS Markit, said earlier this month.

More fundamentally, demand for thermal fuels for power generation has declined because of improving energy efficiency and the rise of renewable power generation, which is eating into the market share of coal and gas.

"Our main concern remains the outright bearish energy intensity of key LNG consuming economies," said Marex Spectron, adding that "the pickup in renewable power generation ... would imply weaker coal consumption."

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said in its 2018 report that "renewable power accounted for 70 percent of net additions to global power generating capacity."

(Reporting by Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE and Nina Chestney in LONDON; additional reporting by Jessica Jaganathan in SINGAPORE; editing by Christian Schmollinger)
Police seize 18kg gold stashed inside a house in Kanchanpur

Police seized 18 kg gold from Punarbas Municipality-2 in Kanchanpur district on Thursday.
City Solicitor Marcel Pratt, left, and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. Photo: P.J. D'Annunzio



A federal appeals court has ruled that the U.S. attorney general cannot cut off federal funding to the city of Philadelphia over its policy of noncooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in rounding up undocumented immigrants within city limits.



The rulingwhich comes shortly after President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the southern border with Mexicostems from the city's 2017 lawsuit against then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, arguing the Philadelphia Police Department is not an arm of immigration enforcement, and that making it one would damage community relations.



In June, U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held in a 93-page ruling that Sessions could not impose requirements that the city assist in ICE roundups of undocumented immigrants as a condition of receiving about $1.6 million in federal money from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, earmarked for local law enforcement. The three requirementsthat a city must provide ICE access to prisons to interview suspects, notice when undocumented immigrants are to be released from prison, and that the city is restricted from withholding a persons citizenship statusformed the basis of Philadelphias lawsuit.



The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit agreed with Baylson's interpretation of the law, noting that the attorney general does not have the authority to cut off federal funding.



"After reviewing the three sources of authority offered by the attorney general, we hold that Congress has not empowered the attorney general to enact the challenged conditions. Because the attorney general exceeded his statutory authority in promulgating the challenged conditions, we neednt reach Philadelphias other arguments," Senior Judge Marjorie Rendell wrote in the Third Circuit's opinion.



Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney praised the ruling in a statement Friday morning.



Philadelphia is proud to be a city that welcomes all of those who seek safe haven, and this ruling affirms our right to do so. The conditions imposed by the DOJ were an unconscionable attempt to bully the city and its residents into changing our policies. Our residentsparticularly our immigrant communitiescan take comfort now that two federal courts have soundly rejected these strong arm tactics," Kenney said. "On the very day the president declared a bogus national emergency to build a useless wall, I say to our immigrant community: we are glad you call Philadelphia home, and we will continue to fight for you. Protecting our citys welcoming policies is not only the best thing to do for our immigrantsit is the right thing to do for our great city.



The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



In the June ruling, Baylson said the Trump administrations view that undocumented immigrants are significant contributors to an allegedly rising crime rate in the city was simply false. Further, Baylson called the conditions arbitrary and capricious.



The DOJ outlined its appeal to the Third Circuit in a brief filed in late August.



The DOJs 62-page filing says that the district court held a sprawling preliminary injunction hearing and trial on immigration policy writ large, and that it improperly limited the DOJs authority without a sufficient statutory basis.



Worse still, not only does the court improperly restrain the departments ability to impose these and other similar conditions that it has historically imposed without objection, but it did all this based on the judicial overreach of expounding on broad policy questions that were not before it and that are committed to the legislative and executive branches, the DOJ said. The courts order must be set aside.



The city was represented by a team of lawyers from Hogan Lovells including partners Neal Katyal and Virginia Gibson, and associates Jasmeet Ahuja, Alex Bowerman, Kirti Datla, and Matt Higgins.
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Roger Ng, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker caught up in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fraud scandal, will be allowed to return to the United States to face criminal charges against him there, a Malaysian court ruled on Friday.

Ng has been detained in Kuala Lumpur since Nov. 1, shortly after the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) announced charges against him for allegedly laundering funds siphoned off from the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund. He left Goldman Sachs in 2014.

Ng had agreed to waive extradition and would be sent to the United States pending an order from the Malaysian home affairs ministry, judge Edwin Paramjothy Michael Muniandy said in a Kuala Lumpur court on Friday.

His lawyer, Tan Hock Chuan, asked for the order to be issued within 30 days. It must be issued within three months under Malaysian law.

Ng had reached an agreement with the DoJ on bail and other terms, Tan said.

"The respondent intends to defend the case on its merits in the court of the Eastern District of New York, the United States," Tan told the court.

Marc Agnifilo, Ng's New York-based lawyer, told Reuters ahead of the hearing that his client intended to plead not guilty when he appeared in a U.S. federal court.

Ng is facing separate criminal charges in Malaysia but it is unclear how they will affect his transfer. The attorney-general's office did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Tim Leissner, another Goldman Sachs official, and Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho have also been charged in the United States over the alleged theft of billions of dollars from 1MDB. Leissner has pleaded guilty.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman, asked about Ng, said: "As we have said all along, we are outraged that any employee of the firm would undertake the actions detailed in the government's charges."

Goldman Sachs is being investigated by Malaysian authorities and the DoJ for its role as underwriter and arranger of three bond sales that raised $6.5 billion (5.1 billion pounds) for 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff in KUALA LUMPUR; Bhanu Pratap in Bengaluru, Suzanne Barlyn and Elizabeth Dilts; Editing by Bill Rigby and Paul Tait)
Photo credit: Michael Stillwell

From Popular Mechanics

In 1965 Frank Herbert published Dune, a science-fiction epic that would do more than just about any other novel to define the genre.

Across the book's 412 pages, Paul Atreides struggles against the villainous Baron Harkonnen for control of Arrakis, a desert planet with the galaxy's most valuable export-melange. Set in this far future on a completely different world, Herbert's Dune became a seminal text in the history of science fiction. You'll see its influence in every medium-in books, on the screen (the Bene Gesserit are basically Star Wars Jedi by another name), and as the inspiration for some of the greatest sci-fi comics ever written.

But despite this wellspring of creativity that inspired a still-young sci-fi genre in the 1960s, Dune itself has had a tough time getting off the printed page. Hollywood has struggled with adapting Herbert's magical work during the 50-plus years since its publication.

Denis Villeneuve, architect behind such recent sci-fi greats as Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival, will be the fourth director who will be handed the key to Arrakis. But with a growing cast of impressive talent, he might just deliver something fans have wanted for decades when his version of Dune arrives in 2020.

A Long History of Adaptations (and Failures)





In 1975, filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky-you may or may not recall his interplanetary religious epic The Holy Mountain-attempted a cinematic adaptation of the novel with a script that stretched some 14 hours long, a cast that included Mick Jagger, Salvador Dali, and Orson Welles, and set designs by H.R. Giger (who would go on to create the xenomorph in Alien). Despite Jodorowsky's gargantuan ambitions for the film, a lack of funding doomed the project before it could even begin shooting. The failed film would become a legendary Hollywood "what if."

When the film's rights became available again in 1982, David Lynch made the second attempt. His 1984 Dune starred Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides, as well as, memorably, Sting-The Police was one of the biggest bands in the world then-and Patrick Stewart. Although visually inventive, most people were unsure of what to make of the film, and it is generally considered a low point in Lynch's career.

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Sixteen years later Dune returned, this time as a six-part miniseries for SyFy. It won Emmy awards for cinematography and special effects, but didn't amount to a definitive realization. Now, nearly two decades after that (and more than 40 years since Jodorowsky's efforts), another attempt at a big-screen Dune looms.

Whos Involved?

Photo credit: Eamonn M. McCormack - Getty Images

While a steadily growing list of A-list actors have been connected with the film, one of the most intriguing is Timothee Chalamet, who will play Paul Atreides. Chalamet received an Oscar nomination for Call Me By Your Name, was surly and captivating in Lady Bird (a best picture nominee), and seems generally ready for something huge.

Rebecca Ferguson will play Lady Jessica, Atreides mother and Bene Gesserit who plays a central role in the Atreides' struggle against the Harkonnens. Ferguson was Ilsa Faust in Mission Impossible-Fallout and Rogue Nation, and shes signed on for the forthcoming Men in Black: International and Stephen Kings adaptation of Doctor Sleep.

But the biggest name attached to the film is Stellan Skarsgard, who will play Baron Harkonnen, Atreides main adversary and one of the most evil characters ever put to paper (including Darth Vader). Skarsgard has a lengthy list of acting credits, including Good Will Hunting, The Hunt for Red October, among many others.

More casting news says Dave Bautista (Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy) will play Glossu Beast Rabban, the ruthless-yet-dim nephew of Baron Harkonnen. Also joining as Reverend Mother Mohiam is Charlotte Rampling, known for Assassin's Creed and TV's Broadchurch. Mohiam belongs to an archaic order called the Bene Gesserit, and all-female group focusing on acquiring more power and influence to direct humanity on an enlightened path.

Three other actors are currently in talks to join the reboot: Oscar Isaac and Zendaya. Isaac, from Ex Machina, Inside Llewyn Davis, Show Me a Hero, and the new Star Wars trilogy, will possibly star as Duke Leto Atreides, father to protagonist Paul Atreides (who will be played by Chalamet). The Greatest Showman and Spiderman: Homecoming actress Zendaya is in early negotiations to play Chani, Chalamet's love interest.

In recent weeks, Javier Bardem is in talks to play Stilgar, the leader of Sietch Tabr, a Fremen community on Arrakis. Bardem won an Oscar for his role in the 2007 film No Country for Old Men, and his fellow castmate from that film Josh Brolin is rumored to be joining the Dune cast as Gurney Halleck, the fiercely loyal weapons teacher for House Atreides.

Finally, Jason Momoa, an actor more versed in plunging the oceans' depths as Aquaman that traversing unforgiving deserts, will also be joining the film as Duncan Idaho, the ultimate fighter in service to the Atreides.

What to Expect

Photo credit: Sebastian Reuter - Getty Images

Fans are expecting a lot of Villeneuve, who is writing the screenplay with Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Jon Spaihts (Prometheus, Doctor Strange). Editor Joe Walker, who worked with Villeneuve on Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, and Sicario, told IndieWire , for me, theres great synaptic pleasure working within [Villeneuves] worlds.

According to Walker, the director has been drawn to the story since childhood, telling him: Its not necessarily a super-polished piece of fiction, but it taps into two things that are fascinating: oil and religion.

Brad Riker will be joining the production as the supervising art director, having recently worked on Vice, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Suicide Squad. Also revealed to be crew members are: Greig Fraser as director of photography (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Vice); Patrice Vermette as production designer (Sicario, Arrival); Richard R. Hoover and Paul Lambert as visual effects supervisors (Blade Runner 2049); Gerd Hefzer as special effects supervisor (Blade Runner 2049); and Thomas Struthers as stunt coordinator (The Dark Knight, Dunkirk).

One of the major questions surrounding the film, aside from casting, is whether the movie will be one or two movies (or maybe more). Brain Herbert, Franks son and the curator of the Dune estate, recently took to Twitter and said the script he received from Villeneuve is for the first movie and will cover approximately half of the novel.

He also tweeted : The screenplay has improved each time weve seen it, and my fathers classic novel deserves this sort of attention to detail.

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In an interview with Variety, Denis Villeneuve called his Dune adaptation "the project of his life:"

Since I was 12 years old, there was a book I read, which is 'Dune,' which is my favorite book...the producer of Alcon asked me what I would like to do next. I said, 'Dune,' spontaneously...For me it was just a dream, and I guess I'm lucky that Mary Parent from Legendary got the rights and offered it to me. I can't say no to that. I have images that I am haunted by for 35 years. I will not say no to that. That's going to be the project of my life."

Principal photography is rumored to begin in February 2019, which means that we won't see this Dune remake until sometime in 2020. At that point, after 50 years of Dune not getting the adaptation it deserves, we'll find out if it's been worth the wait.

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(Recasts throughout, updates prices, adds market analyst's quote) By Aaron Saldanha Feb 14 (Reuters) - Most Latin American stock markets rose on Thursday, with Brazil leading the pack, while Latin American currencies broadly firmed against a soft dollar.

Brazil's pensions secretary said President Jair Bolsonaro's pension reform proposal would go to the country's congress next week, boosting risk appetite. Pension reform is considered to be key to narrowing the fiscal deficit in Latin America's top economy.

Ricardo Gomes da Silva Filho, a currency analyst with Correparti Corretora, said markets undoubtedly liked the announcement on reform, adding it showed the president's team was positioning itself more firmly.

In broader Latin America, higher commodities prices after unexpectedly strong export data from China - a key importer of the region's commodities output - lent broad support to resources stocks, while a dollar softened by a report showing weak U.S. retail sales for December set the stage for strength among Latin American currencies.

MSCI's index of Latin American stocks tacked on 1.3 percent, propped up by heavyweights Brazil and Mexico.

Sao Paulo-traded stocks rose 2.3 percent, aided by gains across the board on the index's best day since early 2019.

Common shares of Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) rose 2.1 percent on the back of higher oil prices, while Petrobras' preferred shares jumped 3.5 percent.

Brazil's real firmed 0.8 percent, while yields on local 10-year bonds slid to their lowest closing levels in more than a week on hopes of pension reform. The pension deficit has dramatically widened in recent years, as shown by the Eurasia Group chart below.

Mexican stocks gained 1 percent, riding on a 6.2 percent jump in Wal Mart de Mexico (Walmex), the country's top retailer, after cost cuts helped fourth-quarter profit top analysts' estimates.

The local peso firmed 1 percent as Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said state-owned oil giant Pemex will make all its debt payments, promising to shore up its finances. Rating agencies Fitch and Moody's have kept the firm on the last rung of investment grade.

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Yields on Pemex's dollar-denominated bonds broadly dipped following the statement. The yield on a bond due in 2027 touched its lowest in about a week during the session.

Argentina's stocks benchmark clocked a 0.9 percent rise, while the country's peso firmed a touch.

Chilean stocks were the exception to the regional trend of the day, dipping 0.2 percent on weakness in the consumer staples sector.

Chile's peso dipped 0.1 percent, as foreign currency purchases by institutional funds outweighed the tailwind provided by a rise in the price of copper, the country's top export.

Copper prices climbed towards two-month highs hit last week as import data from top consumer China suggested robust demand.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 2155 GMT Stock indexes daily % Latest change MSCI Emerging Markets 1039.19 -0.25 MSCI LatAm 2860.16 1.27 Brazil Bovespa 98015.09 2.27 Mexico IPC 42725.22 1.04 Chile IPSA 5376.39 -0.19 Argentina MerVal 37385.75 0.94 Colombia IGBC 12002.14 0.33 Currencies daily % change Latest Brazil real 3.7228 0.45 Mexico peso 19.2581 0.88 Chile peso 664 0.00 Colombia peso 3149.1 -0.32 Peru sol 3.337 0.00 Argentina peso (interbank) 38.1950 0.07 (Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru and Lais Martins in Sao Paulo, Graphic sourced by Jamie McGeever in Brasilia Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
By Agamoni Ghosh Feb 15 (Reuters) - Latin American currencies were mixed on Friday with the Mexican peso slipping against a strong dollar but Brazil's real rising, bucking a negative trend among its emerging market peers as investors cheered the government's release of details related to pension reform.

Sao Paulo's Bovespa index slid in line with its emerging market peers on broad-based declines led by financials.

The real was set to end higher for the week as traders welcomed President Jair Bolsonaro's approval of text for crucial pension reform that will be sent to Congress next week.

"The pension reform is the most important thing for the Brazilian economy right now. If we don't see anything positive there, the real is likely to go on the downside," said Christian Lawrence, senior market strategist, LatAm FX, Rabobank.

A note by rating agency Fitch on Friday also underlined risks within the Brazilian economy that include a further delay in pension reform along with limited expenditure reductions, and a weak and uneven macroeconomic recovery.

Mexico's peso fell to a two-week low against a robust dollar, which recovered after dismal U.S. retail sales data hit the greenback.

A Fitch downgrade for debt issued by Mexican state oil firm Pemex has weakened the currency for a while and stoked fears that further downgrades could significantly raise its financing costs and result in dire fiscal consequences for the government.

The Mexican government has said it will inject $3.6 billion into the ailing company but analysts fear it may not be enough.

"The injection is not going to save Pemex by any breadth. The size of the problem this company poses for the Mexican economy is still being underestimated the government," said Lawrence.

Meanwhile, stocks on the Bovespa slid over 0.4 percent with private education firm Kroton Educacional being the biggest drag on the index.

Petrobras shed 0.2 percent despite the rise in overseas oil prices, while BRF was up 1.58 percent amid reports that China will exempt 14 companies, including the company, from anti-dumping duties on imports of chicken products.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1445 GMT Stock indexes daily % Latest change MSCI Emerging Markets 1031.50 -0.74 MSCI LatAm 2879.51 0.68 Brazil Bovespa 97640.98 -0.38 Mexico IPC - - Chile IPSA 5384.49 0.15 Argentina MerVal - - Colombia IGBC - - Currencies daily % change Latest Brazil real 3.7116 0.75 Mexico peso 19.3565 -0.52 Chile peso 663.2 0.12 Colombia peso - - Peru sol - - Argentina peso (interbank) - - (Reporting by Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
Sunil Pokharel: The Guru of Theatre

This is the third of the four profiles of the winners of Kantipur Icon 2018, awarded by Kantipur Foundation, the non-profit philanthropic arm of Kantipur Media Group. Sunil Pokharel, a Kathmandu-based theatre artist, is the winner in the Arts & Literature category.
Feb 15 (Reuters) - Citgo Petroleum's unit in Aruba plans to dismiss workers following sanctions imposed last month by the United States on Venezuela's state-run PDVSA, the parent company of the U.S. refining firm, the island's prime minister said on Friday.

Evelyn Wever-Croes also said in a statement that the Caribbean nation is not involved in military action related to Venezuela amid U.S. efforts to move humanitarian aid from the nation's borders. (Reporting by Sailu Urribarri)
(Bloomberg) -- Sidewalk Labs LLCs ambitions to build a futuristic city on Torontos waterfront have gotten a whole lot bigger -- and perhaps more controversial.

The urban innovation unit of Alphabet Inc. and sister company to Google is proposing to speed up its plans to redevelop 350 derelict acres on the citys waterfront in return for a cut of property taxes, development charges and increased land values.

New York-based Sidewalk is offering to finance the infrastructure required to get the project off the ground, including a light-rail line, in return for a slice of the proceeds, which it estimates could be about C$6 billion ($4.5 billion) over the next 30 years.

The proposal, which includes a new Google campus, builds on Sidewalks 2017 plan for a 12-acre redevelopment that envisioned a mecca of green energy, self-driving technology and 3,000 housing units all connected by digital sensors.

Sidewalk Chief Executive Officer Dan Doctoroff said the project needs to be bigger for infrastructure investments like utility lines and public transit to make sense. The new financing model would allow the waterfront rail link to be built years, if not decades, sooner than it would otherwise, he said in a blog post.

Privacy Concerns

The proposal to build a city from scratch is the most wide-ranging since Sidewalk was selected to oversee the development. While greeted with enthusiasm when first unveiled, the project has become embroiled in controversy.

Privacy advocates are concerned about how data will be used by Alphabet, though the company has since committed to putting it all into public trust and not using it for advertising. Having money flow to Sidewalk that would normally go to city coffers might only inflame more controversy.

At the core of the debate is a question about whether tech giants like Google should have such a big impact on how cities are shaped. Amazon.com Inc. pulled out of a plan to build a large new campus in New York City after pressure from some residents and local politicians.

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The project has yet to be approved by Sidewalk Labs andWaterfront Toronto, the government organization overseeing the project and various levels of government, and it may be years before its realized.

Dan Doctoroff was CEO of Bloomberg LP and deputy mayor of New York City under Michael Bloomberg, Bloombergs founder.

To contact the reporters on this story: Natalie Wong in Toronto at nwong133@bloomberg.net;Gerrit De Vynck in New York at gdevynck@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jacqueline Thorpe at jthorpe23@bloomberg.net, ;Debarati Roy at droy5@bloomberg.net, Christine Maurus

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Jeff Bezos headshot, as Amazon founder and CEO, watches on stage during a news conference unveiling the new Blue Origin rocket at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, graphic element on gray. Source: Associated Press

Amazon gave up its Big Apple dreams on Thursdayeven though a poll released two days earlier showed a majority of city and state residents supported the plan for a headquarters in Long Island City, Queens.

The incongruity left many scratching their heads, but the cause is clear: a months-long opposition campaign that pressured the tech giant to make concessions or leave.

The outcome shows the strength of labor unions, which represent a greater proportion of workers in New York than any other state in the country. Even though organized labor split over the project, many of the community groups and elected officials at the heart of the anti-HQ2 campaign have close ties to the states most powerful and well-funded unions. The showdown between a bastion of organized labor and one of the nations largest companies will likely ripple through business and political circles nationwide for years to come.

Protesters carry anti-Amazon signs during a coalition rally and press conference of elected officials, community organizations and unions opposing Amazon headquarters getting subsidies to locate in the New York neighborhood of Long Island City, Queens, Wednesday Nov. 14, 2018, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

The companys unwillingness to promise neutrality toward a union drive at its Staten Island warehouse became a lightning rod for critics, with talks between the company and labor leaders on the issue reportedly continuing on Wednesday morning, a day before Amazons decision to pull out of New York.

Unions were divided over Amazon HQ2

Clearly, it was decisive, said Shaun Richman, program director of the Harry Van Arsdale Jr. Center for Labor Studies at SUNY Empire State College and a former organizing director with the American Federation of Teachers, of the role of organized labor.

There was the idea that it would be unacceptable to the labor movementand to politicians loyal to the labor movementfor Amazon to come into New York City and operate on a completely non-union basis.

But unions in New York have been divided over the HQ2 project since soon after it was announced last November, showing that some of the political players fostered and even funded by the unions were more resolutely opposed than the unions themselves.

SEIU 32BJ, an influential local that represents over 163,000 property service workers, supported the deal in part because a reported agreement with developers at the headquarters would have added members to the union. Hector Figueroa, president of SEIU 32BJ, also lauded the improvements the project could bring to New York City, saying the citys progressive politics could optimize the benefits of the deal.

Story continues

The Building and Construction Trades Council also vowed support for HQ2, celebrating the construction jobs that it would create and acknowledging the group had reached a deal with Amazon.

Union opposition to HQ2 was led by the Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union (RWDSU), which had launched a union drive at an Amazon warehouse facility in Staten Island. For months, RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum criticized the nearly $3 billion in city and state tax subsidies and Amazons labor practices, especially its unwillingness to remain neutral toward the Staten Island unionization effort.

George Miranda, vice president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, left, and Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail Wholesale Department Store Union (RWDU), speak during a protest against Amazon outside of City Hall in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019. Photographer: Sangsuk Sylvia Kang/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A tentative plan was settled between RWDSU and Amazon on Wednesday morning to address the neutrality concerns, Appelbaum told Bloomberg. Even RWDSU, it appears, was coming around to a deal, though the price may have been too great for Amazon.

We work closely with all unions

But the support of some unions for the deal was outweighed by a political environment that they themselves helped create: one replete with pro-labor allies at the grassroots level and in elected office who led the opposition to the headquarters.

Three of the citywide community groups at the forefront of the anti-HQ2 campaignALIGN, Make the Road New York, and New York Communities for Changereceive funding from the states largest unions and tout their relationships with labor.

Appelbaum, the RWDSU president, is on the board of ALIGN.

We work closely with all unions, ALIGN Executive Director Maritza Silva-Farrell said. Building trades, [SEIU]32BJ, RWDSU, public sector unions. We have longstanding relationships with many unions in the state.

This is a union town, Silva-Farrell added. You cant come to New York and say well build with union jobs and try to pin unions and community against each other.

Similarly, advocacy group Make the Road New York looked past the divide among labor unions in its opposition to HQ2.

What we saw here was first RWDSU really taking a stand, said Co-executive Director Deborah Axt, adding that [SEIU] 32BJ is a close ally of ours and stands for the same things that most do on issues. I believe their commitment is incredibly strong to transforming this country.

Axt said funding from unions makes up a tiny, tiny percentage of our budget, but were grateful for it.

The most outspoken critics of HQ2 in elected office also retain close ties with organized labor.

In 2018, labor unions made tens of thousands in donations to the campaign fund of State Senator Mike Gianaris, a vocal opponent of HQ2 who serves the Long Island City-neighborhood that was set to host Amazon. In recent months, Gianaris has repeatedly called the company anti-union.

Queens City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who has received large donations from top unions and has aggressively criticized the HQ2 project, tweeted on Thursday, Jeff Bezos clearly couldnt handle talks of unionization, in reference to the labor neutrality discussions that happened the day prior.

Mark Jaffe, president of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, lamented the loss of HQ2 and blamed the advocacy groups and elected officials for Amazons departure, calling them a very small percentage of elected officials and community advocates that feel billionaires should pay for all their programs.

But even he acknowledged the influence of unions in New York.

Labor is a strong, powerful group, he said. It knows how to organize.

Read more:

Amazons decision to ditch H2Q is a black eye for NYCs tech scene

Amazon and the brewing war on corporate America

Amazons breakup with New York sets other cities up for gains

Max Zahn worked at New York Communities for Change in 2012.

He is a reporter for Yahoo Finance.
Do you love where you work?

You do if you work at Hilton. According to the latest 100 Best Companies to Work For list, created for Fortune by our partners at Great Place To Work, the 100-year-old company has done such an outstanding job meeting the needs of the 62,000+ workforce its moved up 33 spots since last year.

Hilton is a standout at supporting line level workers  like their diverse cleaning and kitchen staff  and has developed a variety of exceptional perks, like GED-completion support, leadership and other training, more comfortable uniforms, a better (and still free) cafeteria, and updated break rooms that mirror the level of spiff that customers enjoy.

You can see all the 100 Best Companies To Work For here; click here for the methodology used to generate the list.

Hiltons rise is an interesting shift.

Salesforce was in the top spot last year  still going strong at number two  and Google was number one in 2017. (They opted out of the assessment process this year.) Perhaps its a sign that consumer-facing companies may be finding increasingly effective ways to link employee engagement with customer happiness. Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta says employee development is his obsession; when he took over in 2007, he found an organization that had lost our way a bit, he told Fortune. We forgot that we are a business of people serving people, and the corporate environment got very disconnected from the front line.

Something is working: The stock is up 274% from its IPO price in 2013, for those who keep track of those things.

And if you screen the list for diversity within employee ranks, Hilton falls at number two  followed by Four Seasons International, Marriott International, Hyatt Hotels, and the Cheesecake Factory.

The top ten are below, but take your time to explore the whole list. In fact, why dont you put on your do-not-disturb, pour a cup of tea, and spend some time thinking about the next best version of your life? If not you, then who?

Story continues

Hilton Salesforce Wegmans Food Market Workday Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants Cisco Edward Jones Ultimate Software Texas Health Resources Boston Consulting Group

On Point

Wisconsin lawmakers refuse to claim Wisconsin-born Colin Kaepernick during Black History Month Honestly, this BHM has been simply the worst. And now, the states GOP has revised a resolution honoring Black History Month that was drafted by the states black caucus, which named several prominent African Americans including Kaepernick. Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, who is white, said this week that Kaepernicks name was too controversial and had to go for obvious reasons. After much wrangling, the resolution passed without Kaepernicks name. NBC News

A new Valentines Day ad campaign for a Greek chocolate company is causing a homophobic backlash The campaign is from Lacta, a popular chocolate company, and shows 28 couples hugging and kissing. Some of them are same-sex. But the advertisement has turned into a major issue in conservative Greece, where the Orthodox Church forbids same-sex couples from marrying or adopting. Even the photographer for the campaign is being targeted. People were tweeting pictures of my face, saying, This is the photographer who did this, Chloe Kritharas Devienne told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Personally I love both men and women. I thought that nothing would make me happier than to have these pictures all over Athens so that all these homophobic people are forced to look at them. Find an interview with the Lactas marketing manager here. Reuters

Silicon Valleys latest attempt to hide its diversity numbers Trade secrets. The excuse first used by Peter Thiels Palantir has now spread to other companies: That the detailed, government-mandated report which quantifies employees of color and women cannot be made public because they will give competitors a path to poach key talent. This is almost like the extreme case of the business case for diversity, Georgetown Universitys Jamillah Bowman Williams tells Bloombergs Jordyn Holman. But the flip side is duplicity. [C]ompanies can use this tactic to hide gender and race disparities and interfere with the advancement of civil rights law and workplace equity. Bloomberg

How do you solve a problem like Ralph Northam? The Virginia governor is still refusing to step aside, but he should, argues opinion writer Melanye Price, a political scientist who specializes in black politics and political opinion. But not because of a blackface incident in his past. His failure is more contemporary. He should resign because in 2019 he seems unwilling to address how, or whether, his views on race have evolved, she says. In this way, he has become a model for how anyone who is facing a similar situation should not behave. He told us that he has black friends, which is a standard retort for most whites accused of racism. He hid away from the public, hoping that attention and emotions would dissipate, she says. He also became obstinate. This is how a person behaves when he does not understand the weight of American racial history, the role it continues to play or the racially divisive moment we are in. New York Times

On Background

A little-known race riot may be one of the most deadly in history A raceAhead reader brought this little-known race riot to my attention, letting me know that this event shaped my theology and politics before I was born. The Elaine Riot (or Elaine Massacre) happened in 1919, in the Arkansas Delta. Sharecropping black farmers had been organizing themselves via two groups, the Progressive Farmers and the Household Union of America, to get fair payment for their cotton from the Jim Crow, white-dominated planter elite. When white men infiltrated one such meeting, a fight broke out, and an angry mob became a concerted effort to find and punish black organizers. A two-day battle ensued. Estimates of black deaths range from 20 to 856. An important video from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and narrated by Ossie Davis tells the story; part one is here, part two below. YouTube

Reminder: The racial wealth gap is not going to improve unless we do something This 2017 report called The Asset Value of Whiteness: Understanding the Racial Wealth Gap shatters traditional explanations for the lack of financial progress in African American and Latinx households as compared to white ones in the U.S. It is a chilling read, and a potent reminder that the persistent wealth gap between white and black and Latinx households is getting worse and all conventional wisdom is wrong. Not even a college education, a two-parent household, working more or spending less will bridge it. Employers and corporate funders, please lobby for change accordingly. Fortune

Please dont miss this important episode of the Code Switch podcast In which host Gene Demby, sigh, breaks down after all resolutions not to talk about it, sigh, and tackles the subject that will not die: Blackface. He goes dutifully through the current state of blackface fever, and the history of the form, while making the important point that blackface is so ingrained in the culture, that its often hiding in plain sight. (Youll never look at Mickey Mouse the same way again.) Emblematic is the 1943 Warner Brothers cartoon, Coal Black And De Sebben Dwarfs. According to author and expert Nicholas Sammond, thats just one of many, many cartoons where they kind of literalize what they think jazz culture and black culture is about in kind of the nastiest caricature turns in terms of facial morphology, in terms of intelligence, in terms of behavior, he says. Its incredibly violent. Its incredibly sexual. Its incredibly crude. NPR

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"Real talk: Daniel Rubin has a great little piece up wherein he chats with The Field Negro, the Philly-based blogger who sharply ponders all things black on a daily basis. (Seriously, if youve never checked in with TFN, you should: Its author, Wayne Bennett, is a fantastic read who can cut through bullshit like a hot knife through butter, which is a far grosser analogy than I wanted to make, but there you have it.)"

~Philebrity~



"One of the most precocious and hilarious Black political minds on the net. Ive been a long-time fan!" ~Asad Malik~









"..While most of what he writes is tongue-in-cheek, his space is a safe house for candid discussions about race, especially in the comments section, where people of all colors meet."



~~Daniel Rubin, "The Philadelphia Inquirer"~~



"To white people, Bennett's musings are like kitchen-table talk from a kitchen they may otherwise never set foot in. To African Americans, he is part of a growing army of black Internet amateurs who have taken up the work once reserved for ministers and professional activists: the work of setting a black agenda, shaping black opinion and calling attention to the state of the nation's racial affairs."



~~Richard Fausset, "L.A. Times"~~~











~Erik Hare, "The Twin Cities Daily Planet"~



"That's why I love the blog " Field Negro " so much. Field, as he's known to his fans, has the sense of reality that it takes to call out the ( CowPuckey ) of blame beating by those who are in positions of power and their lackeys. Because of his handle and his unabashed way of writing about racial issues, Field is often cited as a "Black blogger." What he is, however, is a first-class detector of blame deflection and an excellent student of history. If you want to write about the past and future of repression there's really no other perspective to take - which is why everyone should read Field."~Erik Hare, "The Twin Cities Daily Planet"~

411 On The Field field negro Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Raised in the house, but field certified. Jamaica is the land of my birth, but I consider myself a citizen of the world. I currently practice law in the city of "brotherly love". View my complete profile



"Half a century after Little Rock, the Montgomery bus boycott and the tumultuous dawn of the modern civil rights era, the new face of the movement is Facebook, MySpace and some 150 black blogs united in an Internet alliance they call the

AfroSpear.



Older, familiar leaders such as Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, are under challenge by a younger generation of bloggers known by such provocative screen names as Field Negro, thefreeslave

and African American Political Pundit. And many of the newest struggles are being waged online."



~Howard Witt-The Chicago Tribune~



"I had no idea, for example, of the extent of the African-American blogging world out there and its collective powers of dissemination.But now, after reading thousands of anguished, thoughtful comments posted on these blogs reflecting on issues of persistent racial discrimination in the nation's schools and courtrooms, what's clear to me is that there's a new, "virtual" civil rights movement out there on the Internet that can reach more people in a few hours than all the protest marches, sit-ins and boycotts of the 1950s and 60s put together." ~Chicago Tribune Reporter, Howard Witt~
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have used one of the most advanced microscopes in the world to reveal the structure of a large protein complex crucial to photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert sunlight into cellular energy.

The finding, published in the journal Nature, will allow scientists to explore for the first time how the complex functions and could have implications for the production of a variety of bioproducts, including plastic alternatives and biofuels.

"This work will lead to a better understanding of how photosynthesis occurs, which could allow us to improve the efficiency of photosynthesis in plants and other green organisms - potentially boosting the amount of food, and thus biomass, they produce," said lead researcher Karen Davies, a biophysicist at Berkeley Lab. "This is particularly important if you want to produce renewable bioproducts that are cost-effective alternatives to current petroleum-based products."

Discovered decades ago, the protein complex targeted by the researchers, called NADH dehydrogenase-like complex (NDH), is known to help regulate the phase of photosynthesis where the energy of sunlight is captured and stored in two types of cellular energy molecules, which are later utilized to power the conversion of carbon dioxide into sugar. Past investigations revealed that NDH reshuffles the energized electrons moving among other protein complexes in the chloroplast in a way that ensures the correct ratio of each energy molecule is produced. Furthermore, NDH of cyanobacteria performs several additional roles including increasing the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) available for sugar production by linking CO2 uptake with electron transfer.

In order for scientists to truly comprehend how NDH executes these important functions, they needed a molecular blueprint indicating the location and connectivity of all the atoms in the complex. This is something that even highly powerful transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technology simply could not provide until very recently.

"Research on this enzyme has been difficult and experimental results confounding for the last 20 years or so because we have lacked complete information about the enzyme's structure," said Davies. "Knowing the structure is important for generating and testing out hypotheses of how the enzyme functions. The resolution we obtained for our structure of NDH has only really been achievable since the commercialization of the direct electron counting camera, developed in collaboration with Berkeley Lab."

Prior to this invention, explained Davies, a staff scientist in Berkeley Lab's Molecular Biophysics and Integrative Bioimaging Division (MBIB), determining the structure of a single molecule could take several years because cryo-TEM imaging relied on film, meaning that each exposure had to be developed and scanned before it could be analyzed. The main limitation, however, was that most images turned out blurry. When you directed a beam of electrons at a molecule, the charged, high-energy particles excited the atoms in the molecule, often making them move at the moment of exposure. This meant that researchers needed to take and process hundreds, if not thousands, of film images in order to get an accurate glimpse of an entire molecule.

The new electron counting camera solves this problem by taking digital movies with an extremely high frame rate, so individual frames can be aligned to eliminate blurring caused by beam-induced particle motion.

In the current study, first author Thomas Laughlin, a UC Berkeley graduate student with a joint appointment at MBIB, isolated NDH complexes from membranes of a photosynthetic cyanobacterium provided by the Junko Yano and Vittal Yachandra Lab in MBIB and imaged them using a state-of-the-art cryo-TEM instrument fitted with the latest direct electron detector. Located on the UC Berkeley campus, the cryo-TEM facility is managed by the Bay Area CryoEM consortium, which is partly funded by Berkeley Lab.

The resulting atom density map was then used to build a model of NDH that shows the arrangement of all the protein subunits of NDH and the most likely position of all the atoms in the complex. By examining this model, Davies' team will be able to formulate and then test hypotheses of how NDH facilitates sugar production by balancing the ratio of the two cellular energy molecules.

"While the structure of NDH alone certainly addresses many questions, I think it has raised several more that we had not even thought to consider before," said Laughlin.

Among the many Berkeley Lab scientists focused on advancing knowledge of fundamental biochemical and biophysical processes, Davies and her staff also use direct electron camera cryo-EM to investigate how variations in the organization of photosynthetic complexes, caused by changes in growth and light conditions, affect the efficiency of photosynthesis. Her project on electron flow in photosynthesis is supported by a five-year DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program grant that was awarded in 2018.

###

Researchers from the Groupe d'etude des proteines membranaires (GEPROM) at the University of Montreal and McGill University also contributed to this work.

Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest scientific challenges are best addressed by teams, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and its scientists have been recognized with 13 Nobel Prizes. Today, Berkeley Lab researchers develop sustainable energy and environmental solutions, create useful new materials, advance the frontiers of computing, and probe the mysteries of life, matter, and the universe. Scientists from around the world rely on the Lab's facilities for their own discovery science. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory, managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.
Scientific research can be a lonely pursuit. And for Pramodh Senarath Yapa, a physicist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, even the subject of his research is lonely: singleton electrons wandering through superconducting material. "Superconductivity relies on lone electrons pairing up when cooled below a certain temperature," Yapa says. "Once I began to think of electrons as unsociable people who suddenly become joyful once paired up, imagining them as dancers was a no-brainer!"

Six weeks of choreography and songwriting later, Yapa scooped the 2018 "Dance Your Ph.D." contest. The judges--a panel of world-renowned artists and scientists--chose Yapa's swinging electron dance from 50 submissions based on both artistic and scientific merits. He takes home $1000 and immortal geek fame.

"I remember hearing about Dance Your Ph.D. many years ago and being amazed at all the entries," Yapa says. "This is definitely a longtime dream come true." His research, meanwhile, has evolved from superconductivity--which he pursued at the University of Victoria in Canada, where he completed a master's degree--to the physics of superfluids, the focus of his Ph.D. research at the University of Alberta.

This is the 11th year of Dance Your Ph.D. hosted by Science and AAAS. The contest challenges scientists around the world to explain their research through the most jargon-free medium available: interpretive dance. John Bohannon, inventor of the contest, is a former contributing correspondent for Science and still runs the contest on its behalf. He is now director of science at Primer, an artificial intelligence company.

The 12 finalists were announced on 4 February in each of the four broad categories: biology, chemistry, physics, and social science. Yapa won both the physics category and the overall prize. An online audience favorite will be determined by 14 February, and some of the winning videos will be shown on 17 February at the annual AAAS meeting in Washington, D.C.

These are the four winners selected by the judging panel:

Overall winner and Physics category

Pramodh Senarath Yapa

Non-Local Electrodynamics of Superconducting Wires: Implications for Flux Noise and Inductance

University of Victoria, Canada

current affiliation: University of Alberta, Canada

contact: senarath@ualberta.ca

Winner, Biology category

Olivia Gosseries

Measuring consciousness after severe brain injury using brain stimulation

University of Liege, Belgium

contact: ogosseries@uliege.be

Winner, Chemistry category

Shari Finner

Percolation Theory - Conducting Plastics

Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands

current affiliation: Technical University of Dortmund, Germany

contact: shari.finner@tu-dortmund.de

Winner, Social Science category

Roni Zohar

Movements as a Door for Learning Physics Concepts - Integrating Embodied Pedagogy in Teaching

Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

contact: roni.zohar@weizmann.ac.il

###

The 2018 Dance Your Ph.D. judges:

Renee Jaworski, Pilobolus

Emily Kent, Pilobolus

Matt Kent, Pilobolus

Carl Flink, Black Label Movement

Alexa Meade, Alexa Meade Art

Suzanne Walsh, STEAM education

Weidong Yang, Kinetech Arts

Allan Adams, WHOI Future Ocean Lab

Rebecca Saxe, MIT SaxeLab

The Semantic Scholar team at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science, as well as Science Translational Medicine; Science Signaling; a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances; Science Immunology; and Science Robotics. Founded in 1848, the nonprofit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more.
The future that lies in artificial intelligence

There is no way around Industry 4.0. Each business and the country as a whole should prepare, plan, and build strategies for adaption. Every member of the society needs to change their mindset, strengthen links, and invest more in technology.

In the 4.0 era, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been applied in every nook and cranny of life and business, and is ready to replace humans if they do not do their utmost to improve their knowledge, skills, and confirm their position in society.

AI is no longer a strange, distant concept. There are a great number of definitions of AI, but to put it simply, AI, sometimes called machine intelligence, is intelligence demonstrated by machines, in contrast to the natural intelligence displayed by humans and other animals.

AI in all of life and business

Numerous companies use AI to draw peoples attention to their newly-launched products, as well as to demonstrate that they are leading the technology trend. Particularly, a great deal of AI has been applied in smartphones. For example, the camera now automatically recognises the face, while there are also voice control capabilities, virtual assistants, and AI built into Facebook apps.

In business, AI, which is changing all the concepts, mindset, and operations, will be able to create a new business model in relevant industries. For example, the Grab and Uber apps have integrated AI technology to manage and operate a large number of drivers, locations, and decide which driver is chosen for which journey. AI could even suggest the most favourable location for drivers to get more clients.

AI can now be found everywhere in every business sector. Currently, most people know about chatbots, a famous application of AI, like Apples Siri, and Amazons Alexa. They could answer simple questions, make appointments, and manage other smart devices. Thereby, instead of paying for any up-to-hundred-member customer care team, they need only 20-30 per cent of the staff and a chatbot (question-answering systems) to operate.

In the customer relationship management (CRM) system of Salesforce, an American cloud-based software company based in San Francisco of California, AI can detect issues with clients automatically, and then compose a well-written email to the relevant clients. Even in Gmail, when a user is typing an email in English, the system immediately suggests the next words that are likely to follow.

Human resources recruitment is also a sector that has greatly integrated AI. Only half a year ago, a Russian robot was launched to use AI to recruit and hire people for major multinational corporations. This virtual recruiter can screen over 1,500 candidates a day and send follow-up emails. Since then, 200 companies have started using this robot, which means the software conducts about 50,000 interviews a day. This robot reduced both the time and cost of recruitment by at least a third. She can connect to several job sites, where she can scour resumes and cover letters. If a match occurs, she calls the candidates and makes an interview on the phone or video call using a script provided, lasting around eight minutes.

People even said that AI is the future of the marketing sector. But not only in the future, most marketers already use AI every day. For example, Google uses an AI application named RankBrain to guess users intentions when they type into the search engine. Besides, AI also supports programmatic advertising, in-image advertising, targeting customers, lead nurturing, and dynamic pricing, which suggests the best price for goods and services based on the things that clients were ready to pay for in the past.

In every sector, AI supports human activities substantially, especially in repeated and routine activities, such as reviewing loan applications, assessing the credit score of borrowers, as well as exploring all the information related to borrowers such as job, income, relationship, and financial status. All of this information will be collected automatically, analysed, and evaluated in a few hours by AI, while human personnel used to spend days or a week on the task.

The age of AI is upon us, in many ways, it is engulfing humanity. AI has relieved people of a lot of the boring, routine, mundane tasks they do not want to do, from increasing efficiency in our personal lives, like Siri ordering a pizza for people online to rifting through mounds of data and analysing it to produce results. AI has made human lives significantly better. With the advent of advanced technologies like self-driving cars, AI systems will also relieve people of frustrating realities like being stuck in traffic, and instead provide us with more leisure time. Moreover, AI is likely ready to replace humans even in highly professional positions, like lawyers, doctors, accountants, and strategy consultants.

Melding machines and humans

There are two types of AI, including General AI (also known as Strong AI), where an (machine) entity could think and have full awareness as a human or even more than a human. General AI can successfully perform any intellectual task that a human being can. This is the sort of AI in movies like Her or other sci-fi movies in which humans interact with machines and operating systems that are conscious, sentient, and driven by emotion and self-awareness. However, it is very far for General AI to become true, and people are still arguing about whether General AI could replace humans or not.

Unlike General AI, Narrow AI (Weak AI) is not conscious, sentient, or driven by emotion the way that humans are. It operates within a pre-determined, pre-defined range, even if it appears to be much more sophisticated than that. Every sort of machine intelligence that surrounds us today, all those wonders mentioned above, is Narrow AI. Some might assume that these tools are not weak because of their ability to interact with us and process human language, but the reason that they are called Weak AI is that they are nowhere close to having human-like intelligence. They lack the self-awareness, consciousness, and genuine intelligence to match human intelligence. In other words, these machines cannot think for themselves.

While doing business, Business Intelligence (BI), a technology-driven process for analysing data and presenting actionable information, will help executives, managers, and other corporate end-users to make informed business decisions. If they do not care about AI and its application, corporations will surely fail.

That is why even the owner of the leading seafood export company in Vietnam and over the world has to pay attention to AI. In the last days of 2018, the biggest Vietnamese seafood corporation signed an agreement with AI Academy to provide technical consultancy on AI applications in its business such as the automation of several processing stages in their factories. They need 7,000 workers in every factory to provide many stages of manual work and are always short on hands. Thus, the company intends to utilise AI to reduce costs and to cope with labour shortage.

Like any other technology, AI is a double-edged sword. We should co-exist with AI in a world where machines reinforce human abilities, help people to accomplish tasks with high performance, create more added value, and become a motivation for people to improve themselves.

According to the latest Talentnet-Mercer Salary Survey, over one third of skill groups of all sectors will use skills that have never been mentioned in current job descriptions. Thereby, people need to improve knowledge and skills like coding, agility, cognitive flexibility, emotional intelligence (EQ), and logical thinking, as well as improve their international exposure and become ready for leadership.

In addition to removing a lot of jobs, AI will also create some new jobs like building and labelling massive data sets to train AI, AI engineering, robot repair and maintenance, and Big Data engineering.

There is no way around Industry 4.0. Each business and the country as a whole should prepare, plan, and build strategies for adaption. Every member of the society needs to change their mindset, strengthen links, and invest more into technology in order to enhance their competitiveness and affirm their position in this playground.

Nguyen Xuan Hoai Director, AI Academy

VIR
Banned terrorist organisation, allegedly backed by Pakistan, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack in the Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. India has called its High Commissioner in Pakistan Ajai Bisaria to Delhi for consultations,

At least 41 security personnel were martyred after Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists targeted a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy with a car bomb in Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district, in one of the worst attack on security forces in the state ever. In a stern message to isolate Pakistan globally, India announced its decision to withdraw the 'Most Favoured Nation' status granted to Pakistan.

also read India Summoned Pakistan High Commissioner on a deadly suicide attack on CRPF

The dastardly attack was strongly condemned by the Indian government, with Prime Minister on Friday pledging that perpetrators of the cowardly attack will "pay a heavy price for it." Meanwhile, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has arrived in Srinagar. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in an official statement accused Pakistan for the attack and added that the JeM founder Maulana Masood Azhar had been "given the freedom to target India." The international community, including the US, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Russia, and Bangladesh condemned the dastardly attack on Indian security personnel.

also read Jammu Bandh: violence broke out, a dozen people injured and over half a dozen vehicles torched

Notably, even as it condemned the Pulwama attack, Pakistan denied any involvement in it and said, "We strongly reject any insinuation by Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations."
Abuja: On Friday Nigeria made final preparations on the eve of presidential elections, with candidates pitting continuity against reform in a battle between incumbent Muhammadu Buhari and his main rival Atiku Abubakar. Buhari, the 76-year-old leader of Africa's most populous nation was elected in 2015 on a wave of hope he could defeat Boko Haram Islamists, tackle rampant corruption and boost the economy.

It is to be noted that he faces a stiff challenge from former vice-president Abubakar, 72, amid fears about widening insecurity, claims of creeping authoritarianism, and economic incompetence. A total of 73 candidates are on the ballot for Saturday -- the sixth election in 20 years since Nigeria returned to democracy after decades of military rule.

also read Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina indicated about her retirement terms

However, Buhari, from the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Abubakar, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), are considered the main contenders. Campaigning ended Thursday with final rallies in Buhari's home state of Katsina, in the northwest, and Abubakar's native Adamawa, in the northeast.

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A record 84,004,084 people are registered to vote. Also up for grabs are 360 seats in the lower House of Representatives and 109 in the Senate. Nearly 120,000 polling units are set to open at 0700 GMT and close at 1600 GMT. No date has been given for the results, but an announcement is expected from early next week.
ANKARA: On Thursday, Turkey`s state-run news agency said citing a police report, Turkish police believe the remains of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi may have been burned. Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a team of Saudi operatives on October 2, provoking international revulsion.

However, The consulate had two wells and a gas and wood floor furnace that could reach heat of over 1,000 degrees, destroying any DNA traces, Anadolu said on Thursday, quoting a report by the Turkish police. After making numerous contradictory statements about Khashoggi`s fate, Riyadh said he had been killed and his body dismembered when negotiations to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia failed.

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Anadolu said Police believe information obtained in the investigation indicate that the dismembered remains of Khashoggi may have been burned.Despite Turkey`s investigation looking at the kingdom`s consulate in Istanbul, the consul`s residence and several other locations, Khashoggi`s remains have not been found. Khashoggi`s killing has severely strained ties between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, although Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has good ties with the Saudi monarch, King Salman. Erdogan has said Khashoggi`s killing was ordered by the highest level of Saudi leadership and has repeatedly called on Saudi officials to identify a "local cooperator" involved in the killing. Riyadh has rejected accusations that the crown prince was involved. Turkish police also believe Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi`s fiancee, may have been a second victim in the murder if she had entered the Saudi consulate with Khashoggi, Anadolu said.

also read China response toward Pakistan based terror is totally different from the International community

Footage from the police report shown on Turkish televisions showed a man believed to be a Khashoggi impersonator walking alongside a man police say is the "local cooperator" in the case. The identity of the man was not immediately clear.
New Delhi: After the massive Pulwana terrorist attack, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, said that he and his Congress party would support the government and would

Rahul Gandhi said, I will support the government and jawans in this difficult time He firmly shut down questions on political controversies, saying it was not the time or place. He further said, "No force, no amount of hatred or anger can do even this (gesturing with his thumb and forefinger joined) to the love and affection our country is built on.

23 illegal gold miners were feared dead in Zimbabwe after water flooded

The statement of Congress chief came a day after the worst attack on forces in Kashmir, a terrorist rammed buses in a large convoy of CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) on the Jammu-Srinagar highway with a car carrying 350 kg of explosives.

Awantipura terror attack is a compromise on national security by the Modi government: Congress Spokesperson

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who addressed the press along with Rahul Gandhi, said that it was not the time to raise any contentious issue. Singh said, "Today is a day of mourning. Our country lost 40 jawans and our foremost duty is to convey to the families of those injured, we are with them in condemning this act of terrorism. Whatever the country requires, we will work as a united nation.
On Friday, China condemned the Pulwama terror attack carried out by a Jaish suicide bomber but once again declined to back India's appeal to list the Pakistan-based terror group's chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN. At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang told "China has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families,". Geng said "We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all forms of terrorism. We hope relevant regional countries will cooperate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability,".

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When asked about China's stand on the listing of Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council, he said: "As for the issue of listing, I could tell you that the 1267 Committee of Security Council has a clear stipulation on the listing and procedure of the terrorist organisations".

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He said in an apparent reference to External Affairs Ministry's appeal to all members of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as a global terrorist "JeM has been included in the Security Council terrorism sanctions list. China will continue to handle the relevant sanctions issue in a constructive and responsible manner,". China, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC and a close ally of Pakistan, has repeatedly foiled India's bid to list Azhar as a global terrorist, saying there is no consensus in the top organ of the world body on this issue.
Srinagar: In Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district, at least 44 security personnel were martyred after Jaish-e- Mohammad (JeM) militants targeted the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy with a car bomb in one of the worst attack on security forces in the state in the last few years. The dastardly attack was strongly condemned by the Indian government, with Home Minister Rajnath Singh vowing that the attack would be given a "strong reply."

Home Minister Singh is also expected to visit Srinagar today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter on Thursday to pledge that the "sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain." The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in an official statement accused Pakistan for the attack and added that the JeM founder Maulana Masood Azhar had been "given the freedom to target India."

also read Sacrifices made by the martyrs won't go in vain: PM Narendra Modi

A high alert has been issued across Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the deadly suicide attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama district in which at least 44 CRPF personnel were killed and several others critically injured. The intelligence agencies have warned that Pakistan-backed terrorist outfit may target police establishment and camps of the security forces to build up more pressure on India.

The agencies have warned that the possible attacks may be carried out in the night and early morning hours. Intelligence agencies had on February 8 issued alert urging the security forces to exercise maximum restraint and increase patrolling and vigilance in sensitive areas.

Meanwhile, mobile and internet services have also been suspended in the parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

also read Awantipora terror attack: 40 CRPF personnel martyr, human body parts littered across the highway
SRINAGAR: On Thursday, Nearly 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and many others injured when terrorists targeted a convoy with a car bomb at Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in what is the worst attack ever on security personnel in the state. Reports suggested that the vehicle used by the terrorists was a Mahindra Scorpio carrying more than 350 kg of explosives.

The injured have been moved to the army base hospital in Srinagar, 20 km from the attack site. Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement Home Ministry sources said that terrorists triggered the car bomb while 78 vehicles with over 2,500 CRPF men were on the Srinagar-Jammu highway. The stretch on which the incident occurred had been sanitized earlier in the morning, and authorities have termed it as a "serious breach" of security.

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Horrific scene in a photographs showed charred remains of vehicles and human body parts littered across the highway, alongside blue military buses. Official sources said that the attack was carried out by one Adil Ahmad Dar alias "Waqas Commando". A resident of Kakapora, he had joined the terror outfit last year. Condemning the attack, the government in a strongly-worded statement, demanded that "Pakistan stopped supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory." The centre also appealed to the "international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including Jaish-e-Mohammed Chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council."

This is the worst terror attack to take place in Kashmir since the start of the century. On October 1, 2001, three terrorists had rammed a Tata Sumo loaded with explosives into the main gate of the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislative Assembly complex in Srinagar -- killing 38 people.

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The scale of this terror strike has exceeded even that of the Uri attack on September 2016, when four heavily armed terrorists targeted an army brigade headquarters -- causing 19 deaths. The Indian army had responded with a cross-border surgical strike in which several terror launch pads were destroyed.
New Delhi: As Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists attacked the CRPF convoy in Awantipura, Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, killing almost 44 Indian security men, the world stood by India and joined hands in condemning the ghastly attack. US, Russia, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka expressed condolences over the deaths of CRPF men in the suicide attack claimed by the JeM.

The Embassy of the Russian Federation in a statement said "We denounce terrorism in all its forms&reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with a decisive and collective response without any double standards. We express condolences to families of the deceased and wish a speedy recovery to injured,".

The US envoy to India Kenneth Juster said that the US Mission in India strongly condemns todays terrorist attack in J&K. He said in a statement "We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. The United States stands alongside India in confronting terror and defeating it,".

Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said "I strongly condemn the brutal terrorist attack in Kashmir's Pulwama district  the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. I express my condolences to @narendramodi and the families of police officers who lost their lives,".

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Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid said, "Strongly condemn the suicide terrorist attack on the convoy carrying Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir today. I extend my prayers and condolences to the bereaved families of the dead and injured." Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the JeM is led by Masood Azhar, 'who has been given full freedom by Government of Pakistan to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan&to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity'.

MEA said "We reiterate our appeal to members of international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM Chief, as a designated terrorist under 1267 Sanctions Committee of UN Security Council&ban terror organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan,".

also read Awantipora terror attack: 40 CRPF personnel martyr, human body parts littered across the highway
On Thursday, at least 23 illegal gold miners were feared dead in Zimbabwe after water flooded two disused shafts in a mining town 145 kilometres (90 miles) south-west of the capital Harare. Rescuers were trying to use pumps to extract water in the search for survivors and bodies at the site near the town of Kadoma.

In a statement, Wilson Gwatiringa, spokesman for mining company RioZim, owners of one of the mines, told "We heard from their colleagues that at least 23 people are trapped in the mine shaft which was flooded by water from a dam wall which burst due to heavy rains on Tuesday night,".He further added that "One of them is our mine which was no longer in operation. We are assisting on humanitarian grounds."

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In an another statement the state-owned Herald newspaper said the other mine was privately owned. District administrator Fortunate Muzulu told the paper at least 23 people were trapped underground and that the "chances of rescuing any survivors are very slim".

Muzulu said "The illegal miners entered the shafts at night to evade the owners,". While Police would not confirm the incident, saying they were yet to receive a full report. It is to be noted that Zimbabwe has valuable platinum, diamond, gold, coal and copper deposits.

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Paris: A secret 'boys club' of journalists in France has been accused of harassing women writers and feminists during a near decade-long campaign of online bullying.



The closed Facebook group 'League of LOL' taunted women, cracked jokes about rape, and used pornographic memes to attack its victims. Men were also sometimes targeted.

The left-wing Liberation newspaper on Monday suspended two of its journalists, including Vincent Glad, who founded the group, after its own CheckNews fact-checking unit revealed the League of LOL's existence.

The affair has been dubbed the French media's #MeToo, a movement that has seen women speak out about sexual violence and revealed the prevalence of sexual harassment and attacks against women around the world.

"Shameful. The treatment inflicted on numerous young women or young men by a certain informal group known as League of LOL makes you feel sick. Harassment, insults, cruel hoaxes, a whole array of digital attacks were used by this group," Liberation's editor-in-chief Laurent Joffrin wrote in an editorial on Tuesday.

He said Liberation would review social media policy for its journalists. His paper described the group as a macho 'boys club.'

Others being disciplined include Liberation's online editor Alexandre Hervaud and David Doucet, the web editor at music and culture magazine Les Inrockuptibles.

"The idea behind the group was not to harass women. Only to have fun. But very quickly, our way of having fun became very problematic and we didn't realise," Glad wrote in a lengthy apology posted on Twitter. Glad said he had distanced himself from the group five years ago, but recognised he should have shut it down. "I created a monster that I lost control of," he said.

Sexism has for decades been rife in French political circles, though only in the past few years have women politicians, journalists, and businesswomen felt more emboldened to speak out about harassment in the upper echelons of power and beyond.

In his online apology Doucet wrote that he had been a member of the group for two years: "In the small world that was Twitter then, I saw that certain people were being regularly targeted but I had no idea of the scale and the trauma suffered.

"I was cowardly and too happy to be a part of this band that the 'Twittersphere' at the time admired to intervene."

Filmmaker Florence Procel said she had been humiliated after the group recorded a hoax call offering her a job. She responded to Doucet's apology, writing on Twitter: "Thank you, David. It's a good start. I will be able to start forgiving you." She added: "When I say ' a good start', I mean that your apologies were necessary (and appreciated for what they are) but not enough on their own."

France's junior minister for digital affairs, Mounir Mahjoubi, branded the men "losers."

Hervaud wrote in his Twitter mea culpa: "The group's constant spirit of mockery and cynicism clearly influenced the actions of some of its more borderline members, especially under anonymity, which snowballed and inspired others."

"I offer my apologies that are as sincere as they are late."
Woburn, MA (01801)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening followed by increasing clouds with showers developing after midnight. Low 58F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening followed by increasing clouds with showers developing after midnight. Low 58F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Washington/Moscow: Countries from across the globe, including the US, Russia, Australia, France, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, have condemned the brutal Pulwama terror attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and extended support to India in the fight against terrorism.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Condemning the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday said perpetrators and sponsors of the attack should be brought to book and reiterated his country's support for further strengthening counterterrorist cooperation with India.

In a message to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin said, "Please accept the most sincere condolences in connection with the loss of Indian law enforcement officers in the terrorist act in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. We strongly condemn this brutal crime. The perpetrators and sponsors of this attack, undoubtedly, should be duly punished.

"I would like to reiterate the readiness for further strengthening counterterrorist cooperation with Indian partners. In Russia, we share the grief of friendly people of India and hope for speedy recovery of the injured," he said.

The US specifically singled out Pakistan in its statement condemning the attack.

In a stern message to Pakistan, the White House has asked Islamabad to "immediately end" its "support" to all terror groups and not to provide "safe haven" to them.

"The US calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

"This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the US and India," she said in the statement issued by the White House.

Australia's political leaders also condemned the "heinous" terror attack. "We convey our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and all those injured. Our thoughts are with my friend Prime Minister @narendramodi and the Indian people," Prime Minister Scott Morrison tweeted on Friday.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten said it was an atrocious attack. "To the family and friends of the soldiers killed and injured - we send our deepest condolences, support, and hope for a timely recovery for the injured," he said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia said it stood with India's fight against terrorism and extremism and denounced as "cowardly" the suicide attack.

The strong condemnation came days ahead of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's state visit to India next week for talks with the top Indian leadership.

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said in a statement that the country "condemns this terrorist act", and reiterated the country's "principled and unequivocal position rejecting all forms of violence and terrorism".

French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affair Jean-Yves Le Drian extended support to India, saying France has always been and always will be by India's side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms.

"I most firmly condemn the heinous attack just perpetrated in India. My thoughts go out to the families of the fallen soldiers and my deepest solidarity to the Indian government and people. France has always been and always will be by India's side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms."

" I call on every State to fight effectively against terrorist networks and their financing channels and to prevent cross-border movements of terrorist groups, such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed, which has claimed responsibility for this attack," Drian said.

Nepal said its unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and believes that such heinous acts of terrorism cannot be justified on any ground.

Condemning the attack, Maldives Preseident Ibrahim Mohamed Solih tweeted that the Maldives will continue to work with India and the international community to combat terrorism in our region and the world at large.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, "Bangladesh remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and maintains a zero-tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities. We would continue to work and cooperate with international community including India to eradicate menace of terrorism," Hasina added.

Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, tweeted, "Bhutan is deeply saddened by the news of the horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir. Bhutan strongly condemns terrorist attack of any nature. Our prayers are with the grieved family and we are following the situation closely."

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and leader of the Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa condemned the terrorist attack and offered their condolences to Prime Minister Modi.

China also expressed deep "shock" over the terror attack carried out by the Jaish suicide bomber.

"China has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families," spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang told a media briefing in Beijing when asked about the incident.
Denver: A 31-year-old man who fended off and suffocated a mountain lion when it attacked him on a Colorado jogging trail last week described on Thursday how he killed the big cat by stepping on its throat during a life-and-death struggle.

Speaking for the first time publicly since the Feb. 4 incident that left him with still-visible lacerations on his neck and face, Travis Kauffman described for reporters the harrowing three-minute encounter.

Kauffman said he was running at the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, about 65 miles northwest of Denver, when he heard pine needles rustling and turned his head only to come face-to-face with a young cougar.

I was bummed out to see a mountain lion, he said at a news conference in Fort Collins, Colorado, where the environmental consultant lives with his girlfriend.

Kauffman raised his arms and shouted at the cougar, but it pounced and locked its jaw on his right wrist and clawed at his face. His attempts to halt the attack by stabbing the predator with sticks and hitting it on the head with a rock were to no avail.

Ultimately, he was able to pin the cougar down and put his foot on its neck and choke it until it stopped thrashing. He worried during the struggle that another cougar would come along and join the tussle.

My fear response turned into more of a fight response, he said.

Mountain lions, also known as pumas or panthers, are native to the Americas and their range extends from the Canadian Yukon to the tip of South America, according to the National Wildlife Federation.

Cougar attacks on humans are rare, however, with fewer than 20 reported fatalities in North America over the last 100 years, according to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website.

There are between 4,500 and 5,500 mountain lions in Colorado, and since 1990 the state has seen 16 people injured and three killed from mountain lion attacks, the agency said.

Kauffman, who is 5-feet-10 inches tall and weighs about 155 pounds, said he had zero martial arts or wrestling training, and acted purely on adrenaline.

The decisions were pretty instinctual, he added.

The wounds to his face, neck, wrist and legs required more than 20 stitches. Kauffman admitted that he was lucky to survive the attack without any permanent injuries.

I should go buy a bunch of lottery tickets, he said.
Mumbai: Veteran actor Shabana Azmi on Friday said she and her husband, lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar, have decided not to attend Kaifi Azmi's birth centenary celebrations in Karachi in the wake of Pulwama terror attack.

The couple was invited to Pakistan by the Karachi Arts Council for a two-day event.

@Javedakhtarjadu and I were invited for a 2 day event celebrating Kaifi's Centenary and were truly looking forward to it. I appreciate that our hosts the Karachi Arts Council mutually agreed to cancel the event at the nth hour in the wake of Pulwama attack, Azmi posted on Twitter.

I am filled with pain and grief and all else ..by the dastardly #Pulwama attack . For the 1st time in all these years I feel weakened in my belief that people to people contact can force the Establishment to do the right thing.We will need to call halt to cultural exchange  Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) February 15, 2019

"Karanchi art council had invited Shabana and me for a two day lit conference about Kaifi Azmi and his poetry. We have cancelled that," Akhtar added.

Azmi said after the attack, she feels weakened in her belief that people to people contact can force the establishment to do the right thing.

I have a special relation with CRPF. I have written Their anthem Before putting the pen to paper I met a number of CRPF officers n what ever I learned my respect admiration and love for these braves increased by many a fold Today I share the grief of the dear ones of the martyrs  Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) February 14, 2019

"We will need to call halt to cultural exchange... There is no way we can carry on with cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan even as our martyrs are laying down their lives for us. I stand in solidarity with the grieving families," she wrote.

Kranchi art council had invited. Shabana and me for a two day lit conference about Kaifi Azmi and his poetry . We have cancelled that . In 1965 during the indo Pak war Kaifi saheb had written a poem .  AUR PHIR KRISHAN NE ARJUN SE KAHA   Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) February 15, 2019

Azmi, however, said one should differentiate between the establishment and the people.

#Pulwama attack There is no way we can carry on with cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan even as our martyrs are laying down their lives for us. I stand in solidarity with the grieving families.  Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) February 15, 2019

"But lets not lose sight of the fact that there is a difference between the Pakistani Establishment and the people of Pakistan and vice versa. On both sides of the border stand sisters and brothers divided by circumstances with which they had nothing to do," she added.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a Jaish suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

Azmi condemned the attacks and said she stands united with the grieving families.

Will there be no let to these heinous attacks? These mindless killings. This utter disregard for human lives? Extremely shocking news coming from Pulwama. I strongly condemn the worst terror attack on CRPF convoy, she wrote.

Akhtar, who had penned the CRPF anthem which was launched in 2014, also took to Twitter to pay his condolences.

I have a special relation with CRPF. I have written their anthem before putting the pen to paper I met a number of CRPF officers and whatever I learned, my respect, admiration and love for these braves increased by many a fold. Today I share the grief of the dear ones of the martyrs, he wrote.
Srinagar: With the bugler playing the 'last post', Home Minister Rajnath Singh turned a pallbearer Friday as the bodies of 44 paramilitary personnel killed in an audacious terror strike in South Kashmir's Pulwama district were sent on their last journey home.

Singh, accompanied by a high-level team comprising officials from the CRPF, NIA and Home Ministry, arrived here Friday afternoon and drove straight to the adjacent CRPF campus where a wreath laying ceremony was held for the slain jawans.

As the bugler played the 'last post' and guard called for 'shok salami shastra' (reversing of arms in honour of fallen soldiers), a two-minute silence was observed after which the Union home minister gave a shoulder to the coffin of a jawan which was being taken to his native place in a special aircraft.

The home minister, Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath laying ceremony.

"The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans. I have paid my last respects to the martyrs of Pulwama. The sacrifice will not go in vain," Singh said.

The dignitaries stood in silence till the coffins were loaded in a truck which went to the Srinagar airport, the official said.

As many as 44 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles of the CRPF travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said those responsible for the attack will pay "a very heavy price" and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished.
New Delhi: A suicide bomber who killed 44 paramilitary policemen in Kashmir's Pulwama joined a militant group after having been beaten by troops three years ago, his parents told Reuters on Friday.

Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for Thursday's car bomb attack on a security convoy, the worst in decades of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. It comes months before a key Indian general election.

Adil Ahmad Dar, 20, from the village of Lethipora in Indian Kashmir, rammed a car full of explosives into the convoy, escalating tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours, which both claim the rugged Himalayan region.

"We are in pain in the same way the families of the soldiers are," said farmer Ghulam Hassan Dar, adding that his son had been radicalised after police stopped him and his friends on the way home from school in 2016.

Ghulam Hassan Dar, father of Adil Ahmad Dar. Reuters

"They were stopped by the troops and beaten up and harassed," Dar said, adding that the students were accused of stone-pelting. "Since then, he wanted to join the militants."

A video released by the militant group after the attack showed his son, dressed in military fatigues and carrying an automatic rifle, detailing his plan to carry out the bombing.

His mother, Fahmeeda, corroborated her husband's account.

"He was beaten by the troops a few years back when he was returning from school," she said. "This led to anger in him against the troops."

Both parents said they were unaware of their son's plan to attack the convoy.

Dar did not return home from his work as a labourer on March 19 last year, Fahmeeda added. "We searched for him for three months," she said.

Fahmeeda (L), mother of Adil Ahmad Dar. Reuters

"Finally we gave up efforts to bring him back home."

Reuters could not independently verify the two accounts. A spokesman for India's home ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Anger over the attack is growing in India, which accuses Pakistan of backing separatist militants in divided Kashmir. Pakistan denies that, saying it offers only political support to the region's suppressed Muslim people.

Jaish, one of the most deadly groups operating in Kashmir, has been designated a terror group by the United Nations since 2001.

Ghulam Hassan Dar said he blamed politicians for his son's death.

"They should have resolved the issue through dialogue," he said, referring to the conflict over Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"It is they who are responsible for driving these youth into militancy. The sons of the common man die here, whether they are Indian troops or our sons."
New Delhi: Following the Pulwama terror attack, India on Friday withdrew the 'most-favoured nation' status to Pakistan, a move which would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands revoked.

What is MFN

MFN status is helpful for developing nations. The countries enjoying this status have broader access to a market for trade goods and get competitive cost for their export items owing to highly reduced tariffs and trade barriers.

The status also reduces the bureaucratic hurdles and varied kinds of other tariffs for import. These benefits help to increase demands for goods and naturally give a boost to the economy and export sector.

When was it given to Pakistan

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated.

The MFN status was earlier accorded under WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Both India and Pakistan were signatories to this; and are now members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which replaced the GATT.

Under the MFN pact, a WTO member country is obliged to treat the other trading nation in a non-discriminatory manner, especially with regard to customs duty and other levies.

So as WTO signatories, both the South Asian neighbours have to treat each other and the other WTO member countries as favoured trading partners, especially in terms of imposing customs duties on goods.

What happens when India removes MFN status:

Removal of this status means India can now enhance customs duties to any level on goods coming from Pakistan, a trade expert said. India can also stop export of materials like cotton and chemicals, which in turn may increase production costs for industries in Pakistan.

India-Pak Trade

Total India-Pakistan trade has increased marginally to $2.41 billion in 2017-18 as against $2.27 billion in 2016-17. India imported goods worth $488.5 million in 2017-18 and exported goods worth $1.92 billion in that fiscal.

India mainly exports cotton, dyes, chemicals, vegetables and iron and steel; while it imports fruits, cement, leather, chemicals and spices from Pakistan.

The CCS meet was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack on Thursday.

At least 44 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: Pakistan cannot weaken India by orchestrating attacks and those responsible will pay a "very heavy price", Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned on Friday as echoes from the Pulwama terror strike rang across the country with families awaiting the bodies of their loved ones in coffins wrapped in the tricolour.

Security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists, the prime minister said, a day after 44 CRPF soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into their bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the attack on the convoy of 78 vehicles that was on its way from Jammu to Srinagar.

Keralite soldier Vasanthakumar was among the 37 CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama attack.

All efforts would be made to isolate Pakistan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood and lodged India's strong protest, official sources said.

Making it clear that India means business, the Cabinet Committee on Security, which met on Friday morning, decided to withdraw Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan.

It would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

India granted MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but it has not yet reciprocated.

In a hard-hitting speech at the launch of the Vande Bharat train 18 here, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will definitely be punished.

"Security forces have been given complete freedom, the blood of the people is boiling...Our neighbouring country, which has been isolated internationally, thinks such terror attacks can destabilise us, but their plans will not materialise," Modi said.

Addressing a public meeting in Jhansi later in the day, the prime minister again did not name Pakistan but said the attack was an outcome of its desperation as it is in a bad shape and has been forced to go to different countries with a "begging bowl" to meet even its daily expenses.

Asserting that the sacrifices of CRPF soldiers will "not go in vain", he said, "Security forces have been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response... This is an India of new convention and policy."

Briefing reporters after the CCS meeting, which is unusual, Jaitley said all efforts will be made to ensure that perpetrators of the attack are brought to book.

Jaitley said the Ministry of External Affairs will launch an all out effort to isolate Pakistan and all diplomatic efforts will be launched in this regard.

Describing the terror assault as an attack on India's soul, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said his party as well as the entire opposition was fully supportive of the government and the security forces.

"I want to make it very clear that the aim of terrorism is to divide this country and we are not going to be divided for even one second, no matter how hard people try," he told reporters.

As the government and politicians reacted to the attack and the families of those killed came to grips with the enormity of the tragedy, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh travelled to Srinagar and laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the troops.

The remains of the 40 CRPF personnel, many of whom were returning from leave to rejoin work in the Valley, were kept in coffins, draped in the tricolour, ready to make their final journey home.

Singh gave a shoulder to the coffin of one the jawans killed.

Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath laying ceremony.

"The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans," Singh said.

As if in echo, the younger brother of V V Vasanth Kumar, who had left his home in Kerala's Wayanad district on February 8 and was one of those killed, said his sacrifice would never be forgotten.

"My elder brother died for the country and we are proud of his sacrifice," Sajeevan told PTI.

Vasanth Kumar's mother Shanta and wife Sheena are inconsolable and his two young children have not yet been informed.

Their grief found resonance in 39 other homes across the country.

Protests against Pakistan broke out in several parts, including in Jammu city where curfew was imposed.
New Delhi: The Kashmir Police on February 8 had sent an intelligence input to the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB, Army and the Air Force warning of a possible IED attack, according to a letter written by the state police Inspector General.

It is not known why despite the early warning, the CRPF allowed its 78-vehicle convoy carrying 2,547 security personnel to go from the transit camp in Jammu to Srinagar - a 270-km stretch.

In the worst-ever attack since militancy erupted in the state, 44 CRPF personnel died and many others were injured on Thursday afternoon when a suicide bomber belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed rammed his vehicle packed with improvised explosive device (IED) into a bus carrying Central paramilitary force personnel.

The intelligence input, sent on behalf of the Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, asked all security agencies to "sanitize areas properly before occupying your place or deployment as there are inputs that IEDs could be used".

Marked "Extremely Urgent", the letter accessed by IANS, was copied to the Deputy Inspector General of Central Reserve Police Force, South Srinagar; DIG CRPF, North Srinagar; DIG CRPF North Kashmir, Baramulla; DIG CRPF South Kashmir, Awantipora; DIG CRPF South Kashmir, Anantnag; DIG Sashastra Seema Bal, South Headquarters (Special Operations) Kashmir and all Senior Superintendents of Police of Kashmir zone.

The information was also shared with Inspector General, CRPF, Kashmir operations sector, IG CRPF, Srinagar sector, IG Border Security Force Headquarter Kashmir, all range Deputy Inspector Generals of Police of Kashmir zone, Brigadier General Staff (operations) at the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, the DIG Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Air Force, , the Commandant Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and SSP, Armed Police, Control Room Srinagar.

The letter also mentioned that it should be for "all concerned".

A suicide bomber, affiliated with Pakistan-based JeM terror group, rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, killing 45 troopers and leaving the security established stunned. The incident took place around 3.15 pm, triggering a deafening explosion.

The JeM later claimed responsibility for the horror and released a video clip of the suicide bomber, a 'commander' identified as Adil Ahmad Dar, which it claimed was shot before the young man carried out the strike in Lethpora, about 30 km from here.

So devastating was the attack - one report spoke of 200 kg of explosives, including probably RDX, packed into the SUV - that the CRPF bus was left in a mangled heap, many of its occupants losing their limbs.

CRPF officials said the bus which was the main target of the militants was completely destroyed while another CRPF vehicle was partly damaged. "It is difficult to believe how anyone in that bus could have survived," said a police officer.

This is the worst single attack in Jammu and Kashmir since a nascent Pakistan-backed separatist campaign began in 1989. It is also the worst attack carried out by militants after the one on the Uri Army camp on September 18, 2016 left 19 soldiers dead - forcing New Delhi to launch 'surgical strikes' on terrorist camps in Pakistan.

Officials said the reason why so many CRPF personnel were on the move at one go was because the Srinagar-Jammu highway had been shut for the past two days due to bad weather. The convoy left Jammu before dawn.
New Delhi: India on Thursday slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The Indian government condemns in the strongest possible terms the cowardly terrorist attack on India's brave security forces in Pulwama, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

This heinous and despicable act has been perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation proscribed by the United Nations and other countries, it said.

This terror group is led by the international terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by the Pakistani government to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under Pakistan's control and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity, the MEA said.

The Indian government is firmly and resolutely committed to take all necessary measures to safeguard national security, it said.

"We are equally resolved to fight against the menace of terrorism. We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory, and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries," the statement said.

Keralite VV Vasanthakumar of Wayanad was among the martyred soldiers

"We express our sincere condolences to the family members of our fearless security personnel who have made the supreme sacrifice," the MEA said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan on Thursday said the terrorist attack in Kashmir's Pulwama district is "a matter of grave concern" even as it strongly rejected Indian media and government's allegations of the country's link to the strike "without" probe.

CCS to meet

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will meet on Friday morning to discuss the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

The CCS is headed by the prime minister, defence minister, home minister, external affairs minister and the finance minister.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday took stock of the situation in the state after the deadly attack on a CRPF convoy by terrorists. He also cancelled all his political engagements in Bihar Friday and is likely to visit Jammu and Kashmir.
Bhopal: Divya Jyoti Jagriti Santhaan's (DJJS) head Ashutosh Maharaj is known as 'Freezer Baba' in Punjab and Haryana after he was kept in a freezer following his 'clinical death' on January 29, 2014. His followers believe that he is in deep samadhi and he will come back to life one day. The wait of DJJS, headquartered at Nurmahal in Punjab's Jalandhar district, still continues.

Five years later, another case of 'samadhi' is reported from Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal. This time around the person in 'samadhi' is the father of a senior IPS officer of ADGP rank.

The story of 84-year-old Kalmuni Mishra, father of IPS officer Rajendra Kumar Mishra, began on January 13. The Additional Director General of Police took his father to Bansal Hospital at Shahpura in Bhopal in the evening with some breathing difficulties.

The doctors detected multiple lung infection and other complications. The patient slowly slipped into coma. Adding to the complications, the doctors detected kidney failure and heart ailment also.

The IPS officer stood by his father's bedside, watching the doctors and para-medical staff taking care of his ailing father.

Kalmuni Mishra's body is kept at the posh bungalow of the IPS officer at D-7 locality in Bhopal.

Kalmuni Mishra died at 3.45pm on January 14. He was kept on ventilator but died within 24 hours of being admitted, Dr Ashwini Malhotra, who treated Kalmuni Mishra, told mediapersons.

Lokesh Jha, administrator of the Bansal Hospital, said, following the patient's death on January 14, the hospital had issued a death certificate to the family.



However, the story took a bizarre turn when the IPS officer was about to take the body home. He claimed that he noticed some sensation in the body and took the body home.

For the past one month, nobody knew what happened to the body of Kalmuni Mishra taken inside the posh bungalow of the IPS officer at D-7 locality in Bhopal.

Several media reports said the IPS officer was hoping for a miracle and even called tantriks to resurrect his father.

This week, two cops posted at the officer's bungalow for security duty fell ill. The duo were asked by seniors what happened to them. They, according to sources, told their seniors that Rajendra Kumar Mishra has kept his father's body inside the house and applying some Ayurvedic medicines on it, believing that he was alive. The junior cops also claimed that they fell ill due to the presence of the decomposed body in the house.

Soon, news spread and mediapersons approached the IPS officer for details. Reacting to the queries, the ADGP released a video in which he said in Hindi, Our father is alive He is with us. This is a personal matter. My advice is that the media should concentrate on matters which are for the welfare of the general public, rather than taking interest in personal matters of others. The reports published in several newspapers, in connection with my fathers ill-health doesnt carry any substance and are false. After the hospital declared they wont be able to treat my father, we brought him back home and started Indian traditional treatment, after due consultation with Ayurvedic doctors. Our father is with us, but is under an unconscious stage. He is on oxygen support system. The vaids are applying traditional herbal medicines on him, and our father is responding to the treatment. It is difficult to predict when will he be able to recover. I am once again repeating not to indulge in false reporting and, instead, come forward and help us to revive our father.

Mediapersons camped in front of the bungalow till a group of cops requested them to vacate the spot on Thursday.

This 2.28-minute video clipping is circulating among mediapersons now.

Several media reports on Thursday said the IPS officer was hoping for a miracle and even called tantriks to resurrect his father. A few reports claimed that the IPS officer's father was in 'samadhi'.

On Thursday mediapersons camped in front of the bungalow till a group of cops requested them to vacate the spot in the evening.

Madhya Pradesh home minister Bala Bachchan, said he had asked his officials to get details of the episode. Once I get the details, I will apprise the Chief Minister of the matter and decide future course of action.

A senior IPS officer, who doesn't want to be identified, said that Mishra will never indulge in sorcery to resurrect his father.

In Freezer Baba's case, a single bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered that the body should be cremated by a committee of senior officers of the district.

However, the DJJS filed an appeal and got a verdict in favour of them in which the court said the congregation can keep the body on its premises on the condition that a medical team will inspect it every six months and send a report to the government.

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The biggest terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in recent times has come as a major setback to the Narendra Modi government at the Centre which has been claiming that its tough policy to deal with terror had brought down militancy in the valley.



The fresh terror strike, that claimed the lives of at least 44 CRPF personnel, has clearly demonstrated that such claims are far from truth. It has also come at a time when the state is under President's Rule and the law and order is directly being overseen by the Centre.

K Vijay Kumar, adviser to the state governor who is tasked with handling security related matters, said that militancy in the state has been on the wane, but it does not mean that it was wiped out.

Earlier there were sniper attacks on camps of security forces. The forces neutralised several terrorists, but there are others who are still active. It is like a vessel which keeps getting empty and filled up at the same time. We can never say its over. There have been inputs of terrorists who are active in using IEDs and this (Pulwama attack) seems to be the handiwork of some of them who are still at large, Kumar, a counter-insurgency expert and former chief of the CRPF, told THE WEEK.

He further said that it is too early to say whether there is involvement of cross-border terrorists, but it has always been a mixed group of local and foreign militants operating in the valley.

Sources, meanwhile, disclosed that troop movements have been going on in the state with forces' personnel going on and returning from leave. It was also due to the inclement climate that they have been travelling together in large numbers.

Keralite VV Vasanthakumar was also killed in the attack.

At least 44 CRPF personnel, including a Keralite, were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district on Thursday.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir.

Experts of anti-terror commando force the National Security Guard (NSG) and investigators of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) left for Jammu and Kashmir on Friday to join the probe into the terror attack.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be in Srinagar on Friday where he will meet senior security officials and review the ground situation and discuss operational actions. Meanwhile, the home ministry officials said arrangements are being made to airlift the mortal remains of the slain soldiers.

(This story originally appeared in The Week)

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Sharjah: An Indian tourist couple was killed and five others from their family, including two children, injured after their speeding vehicle flipped over multiple times during a desert safari in Sharjah.

The couple, who were on their first visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a family reunion, were being taken back after the safari when their vehicle crashed on Tuesday, the Khaleej Times said in a report on Wednesday.

Rohinibahen Vinodbhai Patel, 42, died on the spot while her husband Vinodbhai Patel, 47, suffered a cardiac arrest after the accident and died a few hours later at a hospital. The family hailed from Baroda in Gujarat.

An official from the Sharjah Police said the driver, who was from a private tour company, was speeding when he lost control over his vehicle on Al Nazawi Road in the Madam area around 10.30 p.m. He sustained injuries and had been hospitalised.

The family came to the UAE on February 8, said Rohinibahen's brother-in-law, Dipak Patel, a US citizen. He was the only member of the family who rode in another car during the desert safari.

According to the report, he had gone ahead of the other family members and got the shocking news when he asked their tour company where his family was. They were all hoping to enjoy a reunion as they had not seen each other for over 12 years, the daily said.

"Rohinibahen is my wife Vaishali's oldest sister. My wife, our kids - Charmi, 13, and Manav, 9 - and Rohinibahen's younger brother, Yogesh, and his wife, Meghna, formed the holiday group," said Dipak Patel.

"We went to Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and we were having a great time... We were supposed to enjoy this short trip in Dubai and return to India. I was going to head back to Chicago with my family on February 23," he added.

Yogesh's wife, Meghna, was in a critical condition, while Dipak Patel's wife, Vaishali, suffered a fracture on her hip and injuries on her neck and shoulders. The children suffered minor injuries.
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has attached assets worth Rs 4.62 crore of a firm linked to Robert Vadra, Congress president Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law, in connection with the Bikaner land scam case.

"The attached assets include movable assets amounting to Rs 18,59,500 pertaining to four individuals and one immovable property situated at 268, Sukhdev Vihar in New Delhi to the extent of Rs 4,43,36,550 owned by Robert Vadra's company Ms Sky Light Hospitality (P) Ltd (now LLP)," the agency said.

The ED had registered a criminal case in connection with the deal in 2015, taking cognisance of a clutch of FIRs and charge sheets filed by Rajasthan Police after the tehsildar of Bikaner complained about alleged forgery in the allotment of land in the area, considered sensitive due to its proximity to the Indo-Pak border.

On Tuesday, Vadra and his mother Maureen had appeared before the ED in Jaipur. Congress general secretary and Vadra's wife Priyanka Gandhi had accompanied them to the probe agency's office.

Last week, the ED had quizzed Vadra in Delhi for three days in connection with a money laundering probe against him for allegedly procuring assets abroad in an illegal manner.
New Delhi: Two Supreme Court officials were dismissed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi for tampering with an order passed by a bench led by Justice Rohinton Nariman in the contempt of court case against Reliance Group Anil Ambani.

Court Masters Manav Sharma and Tapan Kumar Chakraborty were dismissed after it was found that the court document they uploaded on the website created the impression that industrialist Anil Ambani had been exempted from personal appearance in the case.

The contempt of court petition was moved by telecom giant Ericsson against Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications for failing to pay a sum of Rs 550 crore that is due to it.

A bench led by Justice Nariman had issued notices on the petition and ordered Anil Ambani to appear in person in the court. However, the court order uploaded on the website said, "Personal appearance of the alleged contemnor(s) is dispensed with."

After the error was brought to notice of the bench by Ericsson lawyers a revised order was uploaded which said, "Personal appearance of the alleged contemnor(s) is not dispensed with."

The judgement in the case was reserved on Wednesday.

(This story originally appeared in The Week)

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New Delhi: High-grade RDX explosive, weighing about 80 kilogram, was used in a suicide attack on a CRPF bus that killed 44 security personnel in one of the deadliest terror strikes on security forces in the Kashmir Valley in three decades, officials said on Friday.

The attack in Pulwama has prompted the CRPF to tweak the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the movement of its convoys in the future, by providing additional security personnel in the buses that transport troops to and from the Kashmir valley.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh had also said in Srinagar that civilian traffic movement during plying of convoys will be restricted.

The officials said a post-blast investigation conducted by security agencies has found that "high-grade RDX" of about 80 kilogram was detonated in the blast that was carried out by a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist after he rammed his explosive laden SUV into the ill-fated bus - HR 49 F 0637 - from the left side.

The suicide attack took place at the 272nd milestone on National Highway near Latoomode in Pulwama at about 3:33 pm.

The officials said the scattered remains of the bus, reduced to blackened bare frames after the blast, does not reflect that an improvised explosive device (IED) was used to target it.

The fatal damage can be wreaked by a better grade of explosive like RDX, they said.

The attacked bus was the fifth in the convoy of 78 vehicles which also included as many as 16 bullet-proof protection bunker vehicles that had joined the convoy an hour back from the last halt spot of Qazigund to guard troop movement.

The suicide attack was a novel way to ambush the convoy by ramming an explosives laden vehicle, leaving little for the mobile contingent's protection units to do, the official said.

The terrorist drove the vehicle on the highway from a link road on the Kakapora-Lelhar side and was moving parallel to the bus belonging to the 76th battalion, and the investigators suspect the explosion was triggered, killing 44.

Assistant Sub Inspector Mohan Lal, deployed on the highway as part of the road opening party (ROP), also got trapped in the blast and was the 40th trooper to be killed.

The last such convoy had moved from Jammu to Kashmir on February 4 in 91 vehicles and had 2,871 personnel but all went well that day, they said.

The movement of convoys was shut for the last few days due to bad weather in the valley.

The killed personnel hailed from Uttar Pradesh (12), Rajasthan (5), Punjab (4), West Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Bihar two each and one each from Assam, Kerala, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

There were 27 constables in service profiles of combat, cook, driver and bugler, 12 head constables and an ASI.
The memorial of Kanhaiya Lal Patidar, one of the victims of the infamous Mandsaur police firing at the Chillod Pipliya village in Madhya Pradesh, stands as a poignant symbol of resistance. The other farmers who laid down their lives during a protest rally in June, 2017, were Satyanarayan Dhangar, Poonamchand, Abhishek Patidar, Chainram Patidar, and Ghanshyam Dhakad.

Though it ended in tragedy, the Mandsaur agitation gave a fresh impetus to the farmers struggles nationwide and galavanised them to come together for a common cause.

The farming sector used to be unorganised in character, but today there are coordination committees or umbrella organisations of farmers groups, NGOs, and social activists to spearhead their struggle for existence.

If rural agrarian distress is firmly at the centre of the national discourse in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, it is definitely because of these relentless campaigns seeking a permanent solution to mounting agrarian distress.

The following are some of the key organisations that were behind the farmers strikes and the wave of protests across the country in recent times.

All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee

Brothers of Kanhaiya Lal Patidar, Ganapat Lal (right) and Jagadish, at the his memorial.

The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), an umbrella organisation of 207 farmers' groups, has organised multiple struggles across the country and four major rallies to the capital over the last year. It included the gruelling six-day march of nearly 200 km from Nashik to Mumbai by thousands of farmers. The farmers wings of the CPI(M) and CPI as well as Yogendra Yadavs Jai Kisan movement are the leading organisations that are part of AIKSCC.

All India Farmers' Struggle Coordination Committee

In October, 2018, thousands of farmers affiliated to the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (All India Farmers Struggle Coordination Committee  AIFCC), formed by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) marched from Haridwar to New Delhi as part of the Kisan Kranti Padyatra to highlight the woes of farmers across the country.

Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh

The Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh (RKM) is an amalgamation of 136 farmers organisations that are not affiliated to any political party. Shiv Kumar Kakka, a farmer leader from Madhya Pradesh, is the national convener of the outfit which has presence in all major states. The RKM shot into prominence after holding a 10-day nationwide village bandh last year to draw attention to the ongoing agrarian crisis. According to Sanghs national coordinator K V Biju, the unique protest showed that villages can bring cities to a standstill and made people realise the importance of farmers.

The 20-day deadline

When veteran anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare went on a hunger strike recently, thousands of farmers expressed solidarity with him and joined the agitation. He ended the fast on the seventh day after an assurance from a government-appointed committee headed by Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh that his demands would be met. The farmers groups have warned that if the government failed to fulfil the promises in the given 20-day deadline, they would launch countrywide protests.

Might of farmer power

Farmers can uproot governments if they failed to concede their just demands, says founder-president of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti Dr. Sunilam (formerly known as Sunil Mishra). A former MLA, he was one of the main leaders of the 2008 Multai agitation, in which 24 farmers were killed in the police firing, that propelled farmer distress to national headlines. Holding him responsible for creating a situation leading to the firing, the police registered hundreds of cases against Sunilam, who was injured in the incident.

"It was an agitation that shook the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, and played a part in uprooting it in the 2003 elections. It also adversely affected the political career of the then chief minister Digvijay Singh," Sunil pointed out.

Farmers from across the country march towards the Parliament in New Delhi. File photo

Confusion over farm-loan waivers

It was on April 1, 2018, that Chandrasekhar Dighade received an SMS regarding the Maharashtra governments decision to write off farm loans.

He went to a nearby bank, and with the help of the staff there, filled up an online form to be a beneficiary of the programme. As the application form was in English, he did not understand the terms and conditions of the debt waiver scheme. Also, he did not get a clear answer from the officials regarding the amount to be written off from his loan of Rs 2 lakh. Some said 50 per cent of the total debt would be waived while the others said that it could be 80 per cent.

Some of the bank staff even told Dighade that he would have to pay an amount of Rs 50,000 to make him eligible for the scheme. He still is clueless about the conditions specified in the online application form. The bank officials also do not know when will the benefits of the debt relief reach him. A majority of farmers in states that have announced farm loan waivers are in a similar situation.

Suggestions and recommendations

Kishore Tiwari, farm activist

Loan waivers are no solution to agrarian crisis. The narrative around agriculture should be changed from subsistence to sustainability. A strong farm infrastructure laying emphasis on agri inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and pesticides as well as irrigation systems, insurance schemes, road connectivity, hassle-free market access, and modern storage and processing units etc need to be created. Greater returns to farming are possible where cropping is more diversified. The authorities also need to draw up an action plan to tackle the recurrent crop failures due to natural calamities.

LP KISHOR THIVARI

Raju Dasale, All India Kisan Sabha

The farming community in India is in distress mainly due to the poor storage facilities and low export potential of their produces. Prudent policy measures and export subsidies are the need of the hour. More wagons need to be procured to strengthen the agri export sector. The Price Stabilisation Fund recommended by the M S Swaminathan committee to protect the farmers from price fluctuations should be established at the earliest. Even if farmers resort to distress sale when the market prices are below the minimum support price, the fund would be of great help. Sales outlets should be established adjacent to farm fields and nearby urban centres to facilitate direct selling of their produce. It will reduce the cost of marketing.

K V Biju, national coordinator, RKM

International trade agreements are breaking the backbone of Indian farmers. Unrestricted import of value-added products such as onion powder and paste is the prime reason for the drastic fall in onion prices. Production costs have increased by 25 per cent due to fuel price hike. Because of this, the minimum support price fixed by the central government for major crops is woefully inadequate.

Vijay Javadhiya, farm scientist

The Union government's flagship farm insurance scheme - Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) - is a welcome development, but it has failed to deliver tangible benefits to large sections of growers due to poor implementation. Outmoded method of crop loss assessment, payout delays and flaws in execution are hampering the scheme. As insurance units are being kept at the village level, an insured individual farmer who suffers complete crop loss might not be eligible to receive any claim at all, if there is no loss in sample farms selected for crop cutting experiments. As the scheme does not take into account local weather patterns, it will only help insurance companies to optimise their profits. Therefore, PMFBY needs to be overhauled.

LP VIJAY JAWADIYA

(Concluded)
Kalpetta: Keralite V V Vasanthakumar was martyred in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. As the state paid tribute to the brave soul, his family said they were proud of Vasanthakumars martyrdom.

Vasanthakumar was killed when a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus in Pulwama district on Thursday. The attack which targeted the vehicles in the centre of the convoy claimed at least 37 lives.

Son of Vasudevan and Santha from Vaithiri near Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Pookode, Vasanthakumar is survived by wife Sheena and two children. He was to retire from service in two years.

His half-brother Sajeevan said the family was proud of Vasanthakumars martyrdom. He received the news around 5pm on Thursday from his brother-in-law.

A scene of the spot after militants attacked a CRPF convoy in Goripora area of Awantipora town in Pulwama district Thursday. PTI

Some friends in Delhi had reported about the death and Vasanthakumar's picture was circulated on social media platforms. An official confirmation came only later in the day, Sajeevan said.

It's been only a week since Vasanthakumar reported back to duty. He had returned to Srinagar office from his house in Lakkidi, Wayanad, on February 9.

Vasanthakumar was to retire from service in two years.

He came to Kerala on leave after being transferred to another battalion. It is still unclear when his mortal remains will reach Kerala. A state funeral will be held for the martyr.

The soldier, who joined the CRPF in 2001, belonged to the 82nd Battalion and was recently promoted.

The attack happened on Jammu-Srinagar Highway in Avanthipura, Pulwama district in South Kashmir. The terrorists targeted a convoy of 2,547 soldiers travelling in 78 vehicles. The CRPF Jawans, including those back from leave, were about to be deployed in different areas in the state.

Read more: Latest Kerala news
Edakkara (Malappuram): It's a rare instance of incredible coincidence. Vazhikkadav native Shajahan Kabeer (45) and Vinod A P (47) hailng from Chalakudy - one working in Saudi Arabia and the other in Dubai - had never seen each other before. However, what made them meet at MIMS Hospital in Kozhikode was sheer providence and an interplay of fate.

The two returned from the Gulf, on different occasions, after they both suffered from kidney diseases and found that kidney transplant was the only solution. The wives of the two were ready to donate their organ to their respective spouses. But, they abandoned the plan after they found their organs did not match the physical condition of their husbands. When the two couples met, cross matching their blood groups proved to be the life-saving factor.

Shajahan's struggles

Shajahan Kabeer had been working in Saudi Arabia and was suffering from high blood pressure. He used to control it by medicines he bought from Kerala during each visit. He also suffered from hypertension and eight years ago he noticed that the creatine levels kept soaring. The gradual jump in the levels from 3 to 4 and then to 5, 7 and 8 took a toll on him physically and mentally. He couldn't pass urine for a day or two and could not eat food.

When the level touched 12, Shajahan who worked in a supermarket, came back to his native place. He started medical treatment at Lourdes Hospital and was subject to dialysis. When that too didn't work much, he realised that the only option left was a kidney transplant. His wife Jamsheema was ready to donate her kidney. But it was impossible as her blood group was A+ve while Shajahan's was O+ve. Then his sister too came forward and again she too failed the tests in terms of compatibility.

Shajahan(left) and Jamsheema

What followed was the arduous task of searching for a prospective donor. For about a year, Shajahan and his wife kept visiting various hospitals in Kochi for tests meeting probable donors. Apart from the expenses for the tests, Shajahan was duped of Rs 5 lakh with a promise of kidney donation.

In the meantime, he registered with the Kidney Federation of India, a non-governmental charitable organisation in Thrissur, founded by Father Davis Chiramel, a Syro-Malabar Catholic priest. He waited for five months. One day, Shajahan got a call from the Kidney Federation and was intimated about a Chalakkudy native, Vinod, another patient with renal problems and whose wife Manjula was ready to donate her kidney to her husband. But, her blood group was O+ve and didn't match with that of Vinod whose blood group was A+ve.

Vinod's case

Vinod was working in Dubai when he started feeling abnormal fatigue. He was working as a technician with a colour coating line and used to have night shifts as well. When subjected to medical tests, he found his creatinine levels were high. Medicines made no palpable effect on his physical condition and soon he found himself weak with symptoms like nausea, body swelling and loss of appetite.

Vinod flew back to Kerala when his creatinine level touched 8. It was a doctor at Jubilee Mission Hospital in Thrissur who told him that he suffered from a rare nephrological disorder called IgA nephropathy, also known as Berger's disease. It was a kidney ailment, which hampered the kidney's ability to filter blood. It was found that 70 per cent of his kidney's functioning has been hindered and needed dialysis.

After 15 dialyses he had to go for a kidney transplant. He went to Kozhikode Medical College Hospital for the transplant surgery with his wife as the donor. But he was in for disappointment as his wife's blood group was O+ve and Vinod's was A+ve. He too then registered with the Kidney Federation of India and soon got a call from Shajahan.

The fortuitous coincidence

It was an ideal situation for cross donation. Shajan was undergoing dialysis at MIMS in Kozhikode when he called Vinod. The couple met in the hospital the next day and discussed about cross donation. The idea was mutually agreeable and the tests that followed also proved to be in their favour. On January 15, the transplant surgery was conducted successfully. Thus Vinod's wife Manjula (O+ve) donated a kidney to Shajahan (O+ve) while Shajahan's wife Jamsheema (A+ve) donated one of her kidneys to Vinod (A+ve). The two couples were advised rest for two months. They have been living in rented flats near the hospital as part of observation and further treatment.

"It could be food and lifestyle that led to the kidney failure in my case. In the fast-paced life we usually have food preserved in the refrigerator. Moreover, I used to drink a lot of aerated non-alcoholic soft-drinks," says Shajahan. Besides he also suffered from hypertension for a long time.

But for Vinod it was a rare disease that generally afflicted the victims at a later stage in their lives. "But it struck me very early," says Vinod.

Vinod(left) and Manjula

The road ahead

"It is a rare coincidence that our blood groups matched in such a way for cross donation of the organs and I am so happy that we met such a nice family like Shajahan's," says Vinod.

Shajahan too has a similar opinion about the other couple and adds, "what this ultimately proves is that it is only love that keeps us all humans alive, nothing else."

Shajahan and Jamsheema have three kids. The eldest is a girl who is class 9 student.

The other two are boys of 12 and 10 years of age respectively. Vinod and Majula have two sons who are studying in Plus Two and class 10. The two couples are doing well now and will be heading home after rest and observation for one month.
Thiruvananthapuram: Even as the Union Government is moving ahead with its move to privatize the Trivandrum International Airport, four major airlines are pulling back their services from here. These include the Saudi Airlines, Fly Dubai, Jet Airways and Spice Jet.

While Jet Airways and Spice Jet are citing financial crunch for the cutting back, Saudi Airlines and Fly Dubai are shifting their operations to Kannur and Kozhikode airports as the majority of their passengers are from these destinations.

The Saudi Airlines was operating services to Jidda and Riyad three days a week, which were started last year. Though there were enough passengers in the beginning, later the numbers dwindled, forcing the airlines to try their luck at the newly opened Kannur International Airport. Fly Dubai, which used to operate four days a week to Dubai, is also being forced to stop operations due to a declining number of passengers.

The crisis-ridden Jet Airways had already stopped many of their services including the Dubai flight. Services to Damam will also be wound up soon. Silk Air had already decided to hand over the Thiruvananthapuram operations to Scoot, their own domestic airline.

However, the Airport Authority of India officials are apparently at a loss as to why the airlines are suspending their operations from an airport which is showing a rise in passenger traffic. They also maintain that they can't intervene in the internal matters of the airlines.

Tharoor demands for more Air India services

Shashi Tharoor, MP, has demanded the airlines to revoke their decision to suspend the services as it was causing hardships to the passengers. He also demanded that Air India should start operating more services to Thiruvananthapuram in order to ward off the crisis created by the suspension of services. He also demanded that larger aircraft with more passenger capacity should be introduced. Tharoor said he has raised these issues with Air India Chief Pradeep Singh Kharola who promised to consider the requests.

Suspension of Services due to internal issues

The Trivandrum International Airport Director C V Raveendran has said that some airlines were suspending their operations from Thiruvananthapuram mainly due to their own internal issues including financial crunch. He informed that Indigo Airlines and Go Air have expressed their willingness to start operating services to Kochi and Kannur from Thiruvananthapuram.

Read more Thiruvananthapuram News
Kozhikode: Valentines Day is a time to celebrate love, so what better way to do that than marrying the love of your life?

On Wednesday as the whole world got into the lovey-dovey mood, an IAS couple entered into wedlock at the Tagore Centenary Hall here, keeping high the spirit of the most romantic day of the year.

Aswathi Seluraj, a native of Chevayur in Kozhikode married Davangere district collector Bagadi Gautham in a simple ceremony attended by their families and friends. Aswathi is currently serving as the chief executive officer of the Davangere district panchayat in Karnataka. Both are IAS officers.

Aswathi, who oversees the functioning of 29 departments under the district panchayat including health, sanitation and education, has played a key role in transforming Davangere, one of the most backward and drought-prone regions in Karnataka. The project aimed at providing 22 litres of drinking water daily to each household in the district was Aswathi's brainchild.

She grabbed headlines after former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah lauded her efforts in getting the district on the path of progress.

Gautham, who hails from Visakhapatnam in Andhra, was Aswathis senior at the Civil Services Academy. He belongs to the 2009 IAS batch while Aswathi is a 2013 batch officer. It was four years ago that the two decided to spend the rest of their lives together.

Aswathis father T B Seluraj, a lawyer by profession, has written many books chronicling Kozhikodes history and culture. His third book on the subject will be released soon. Aswathis mother Pushpa Seluraj recently retired as a deputy commissioner of the Sales Tax Department. Vaishakh is her brother.

It was Aswathis father who came up with the idea of conducting the wedding on Valentine's Day.

Read more Kozhikode News
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

A few passing clouds. Low 76F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds. Low 76F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.
Kottayam: Nurses at the Kottayam Medical College Hospital plan to protest against the 'disciplinary action' against a nurse for keeping a tray on a patient's legs. The nurses were provoked as the head of surgery Dr John S Kurien ordered an odd punishment.

An internal inquiry commission has been formed after Dr Kurien asked the nurse to lie on a vacant bed and place the tray on herself as a punishment. All nurses associations will participate in the protest on Friday.

The incident happened on Monday when Dr Kurien on his ICU rounds saw a tray used by nurses lying on the bed of a patient who had undergone a surgery. The tray which had some medicines and glucometer was seen placed near the patients legs.

The nurse was called into the ICU and told it should not happen when attending to a patient. He then ordered the nurse to lie on a vacant bed nearby and place the tray on her legs. She had joined the medical college for practice after completing studies.

The nurse left the tray on bed when she received an urgent call to attend to another ICU patient, said Kerala Government Nurses Association state committee member Hena Devadas. The tray had light items only. The nurse was made to lie on the bed until the rounds were complete even after she apologised and pleaded with the doctor, said Hena.

Meanwhile, Dr Kurien said the nurse did a serious mistake. Two trays weighing half a kilo each were placed on a patient who couldnt even move after a pancreatic surgery. One was placed on the leg, while another on thighs. The nurse was made to lie for three minutes to make her experience the patients difficulty, said Dr Kurien. He said he was ready to apologise if found wrong.

A panel led by communities medicine department head Dr A Shobha will carry out the inquiry.

Read more: Latest Kottayam news
KYODO NEWS - Feb 15, 2019 - 22:45 | All, World

Lawyers for South Koreans who won a wartime forced labor case against Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. said Friday they will "immediately" start the process of liquidating the Japanese steelmaker's seized assets in a move likely to further fuel bilateral tension over the issue.

The declaration came after the lawyers who came to Japan were rebuffed by Nippon Steel when they sought to hold talks on compensation that the company has been asked to pay in line with a South Korean top court ruling in October.

(Lawyers for South Koreans who won a wartime forced labor case against Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corp. speak to reporters on Feb. 15, 2019 in front of the company's head office in Tokyo.)

"It's regrettable that we could not even see the faces of (Nippon Steel) officials in charge of this matter even though we have made visits three times since last year" to the Japanese steelmaker's headquarters in central Tokyo, said Lim Jae Sung, one of the lawyers.

They said they will start the liquidation process as soon as they return to South Korea.

Tokyo reacted sharply to the latest development as it takes the position that the issue of claims stemming from Japan's 1910 to 1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula has already been settled under a bilateral accord signed alongside a 1965 treaty that established diplomatic ties.

"The situation is extremely serious," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in a news conference.

Some officials in Tokyo suggested earlier that Japan may take retaliatory steps, such as imposing higher tariffs on imports from South Korea, if Nippon Steel's assets are liquidated.

South Korean courts have in recent months granted compensation to plaintiffs in wartime labor cases involving Japanese companies.

Tokyo has called on Japanese companies not to agree to compensate the plaintiffs, while requesting that Seoul come up with measures to protect the business activities of Japanese companies in South Korea and agree to engage in intergovernmental consultations to resolve the issue.

In the Nippon Steel case, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that ordered the company to pay four South Koreans 100 million won ($88,600) each.

In January, the Daegu District Court's branch office in the southeastern city of Pohang approved a request from the lawyers to seize the steelmaker's shares in a joint venture with South Korean steelmaker POSCO for failing to comply with the order.

The Japanese steel producer owns a 30 percent stake, or about 2.34 million shares, in POSCO-Nippon Steel RHF Joint Venture and around 81,000 shares are subject to the seizure.

Lim said the lawyers will go ahead with procedures to seize additional stock.

The South Korean top court has also ordered Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to pay compensation for wartime forced labor.

Relatives of the former laborers visited the headquarters of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Tokyo on Friday to warn that they plan to seize the company's assets if the Japanese company does not respond to talks for compensation by the end of February.
Islamabad: Pakistan government on Thursday said the attack on a CRPF convoy in Awantipora region in Pulwama is a matter of grave concern but asked the Indian government not to link Islamabad with the attack without a probe.

We strongly reject any insinuation by Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations, Pakistan government said in a statement. It is a matter of grave concern, the statement added.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement on blamed the Pakistan government for providing full freedom to the dreaded terrorist Masood Azhar-led organisation to carry out and expand its operations in Pakistan and target India with full impunity.

The government also demanded the international community to take steps to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM Chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan. It is to be noted that China has repeatedly blocked Indias efforts in the UN to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

One of the buses in the 78-vehicle Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) convoy that was plying on the Jammu-Srinagar highway was hit by an explosive-laden Scorpio car driven by a JeM terrorist on Thursday. As many as 39 personnel were killed in the attack and 40 more are believed to be injured.
New Delhi: The most favoured nation status which was granted to Pakistan, stands withdrawn. MEA will initiate all possible diplomatic steps which are to be taken to ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan of which incontrovertible is available of having a direct hand in this act.

Briefing the media after the CCS meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, CCS expressed its condolences to families, a detailed assessment of the incident was also taken. He also said that the Most Favoured Nations status (MFN) to Pakistan stands withdrawn.

Top security officials are learnt to have made a presentation on the incident and the overall security situation in the state, news agency PTI reported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the meet. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Arun Jaitley, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj are also present at the meeting.
Brazilian police arrested eight employees of mining company Vale SA as part of a criminal investigation into the causes of the deadly dam disaster in the town of Brumadinho, state prosecutors said on Friday, Trend reports referring to Reuters.

The police were also carrying out 14 search warrants as part of the probe, prosecutors in the mining state of Minas Gerais said.

The arrests and search warrants target employees of Vale, operator of the tailings dam that collapsed last month, as well as employees of German auditing firm TUV SUD that had certified the dam as stable.

Authorities in the state of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro are involved in the operation, state prosecutors said.

All eight Vale employees arrested were responsible for the security and stability of the Brumadinho dam. They will remain in prison for 30 days, prosecutors said.

The Jan. 25 disaster killed more than 160 people. Vale said in a statement it is cooperating with authorities.

Chief Executive Officer Fabio Schvartsman said on Thursday, in response to questions from lawmakers, that the companys safety procedures had not worked.

Tailings are the mud-like byproducts, including finely groundrock particles, left over from mining and extracting resources.
One police officer has been killed in clashes between Myanmar security forces and the ethnic insurgent groups of Arakan Army (AA) and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in Maungtaw, Rakhine state, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

A section of the government's border security force, which was on security duty on Thursday at a bridge over Yebaukcha creek near Kalar Dayvad village close to a highway in Maungtaw, spotted a group of 30 AA and ARSA approaching from the west of the highway at 02:30 a.m. local time.

Fighting erupted between the two sides then, lasting until the security force reinforcement arrived at 04:00 a.m., forcing the insurgent groups to retreat to the west.

The Myanmar security force claimed that they confiscated several items left by the insurgent groups which include a blood-stained camouflage vest, three M-22 cartridges, 20 rounds of ammunition, two improvised explosive devices, a walkie talkie, a remote controller and a book printed in Arabic language.

The security force reinforcement column was continuing to pursue the retreating insurgent groups, the report said.

The AA, a non-signatory to the government's Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA), launched coordinated attacks on four border police outposts in villages in Buthidaung, Rakhine state on Jan. 4, killing 13 police officers and wounding nine others.

The ARSA was announced by the government as an extremist terrorist group following their deadly attacks on police outposts in Maungtaw in August 2017, killing five police members.
Skoda Auto delivered 102,600 vehicles to its customers worldwide in January 2019, down by 1.1 percent compared with the same period last year, according to statistics from the company released here Thursday, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

Deliveries dropped this year with all models except the Karoq SUV and the small Citigo.

In the Czech Republic, sales dropped by 19.7 percent to 6,900 cars. The best-selling model of the brand is classic Octavia but its sales dropped by 10.4 percent year-on-year.

There were 41,000 cars delivered to customers in Western Europe in January, up by 6.2 percent compared with the same month of last year. Sales on some other markets, such as Russia, also witnessed rapid growth.
Amazon.com Inc abruptly scrapped plans for a new headquarters in New York that could have created 25,000 jobs, blaming opposition from local leaders upset by the nearly $3 billion in incentives promised by state and city politicians, Trend reports with reference to Reuters.

The company said on Thursday it did not see consistently positive, collaborative relationships with state and local officials. Opponents of the project feared congestion and higher rents in Long Island City, Queens, and objected to incentives for a company run by Jeff Bezos, the worlds richest man.

Amazon said it would not conduct a new headquarters search and would focus on growing at other existing and planned offices.

The online retailer carried out a highly publicized year-long contest to pick a location for a $5 billion second headquarters, drawing bids from across the United States and Canada. It ultimately split plans to add 50,000 jobs between New York and Arlington, Virginia, near Washington.

The Long Island City deal was negotiated by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who joked he would change his name to Amazon Cuomo if might help lure the company, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. They promised it would more than pay for itself in the long term through new tax revenues.

Cuomo said in a statement on Thursday that a small group of politicians had put their own narrow political interests above those of New Yorkers.

They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity, he said.

Some New Yorkers had mounted protests after the deal was announced, angered by the $2.8 billion in incentives promised to Amazon and fearing further gentrification in a neighborhood once favored by artists looking for cheap studio space.

U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a critic of the project and a self-described democratic socialist whose district spans parts of Queens and the Bronx, cheered the reversal by the worlds third most valuable public company.

Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazons corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world, she wrote on Twitter.

People briefed on the decision said Amazon had made the decision early on Thursday after talks starting on Wednesday and amid rising concerns about the small vocal minority. The people said Amazon will not shift any of the planned jobs to Tennessee or Virginia but plans to grow its existing network of locations.

The online retailer has not yet acquired any land for the project, which would make it easy to scrap its plans, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday.

In a statement, de Blasio blamed Amazon for failing to address local criticism.

We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world, he said. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity.

U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat whose district includes the proposed site, lamented the loss of jobs and new revenues.

This is not the Valentine that NY needed, she wrote, adding that she had been ready to push for changes to the deal to address local concerns.
Three hundred American soldiers on Thursday wrapped up an week-long joint military exercise with the Israel Defense Forces, Trend reports referring to The Times of Israel.

The IDF said in a statement that US troops worked with 400 IDF soldiers as the armies rehearsed scenarios in which US troops were deployed to Israel to aid in missile defense operations, including against high trajectory fire on the State of Israel.

The military drill, dubbed Juniper Falcon, is part of the ongoing strategic cooperation between the IDF and the US Army. The IDF branches involved included the air force, logistics units and medical forces. It was last held in 2017.

The objectives of the joint exercise were to increase the coordination between the armies, to practice orders and procedures in times of emergency and to deepen the familiarity between the forces, said Brig. Gen. Ran Kochav, commander of the Israel Air Forces Air Defense Division.

The American commander of the exercise, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian of the the US Air Force, said it was a great opportunity for US forces to work once again with our Israeli partners to improve our combined missile defense capability.

It has always been a challenging exercise, but the lessons learned will help the two armies continue to strengthen relations between us and our combined capabilities in ballistic missile defense, said Harrigian.

Israel and the US also hold the five-day Juniper Cobra combined air force drill every two years. Last years drill simulated a massive ballistic missile attack and culminated with live-fire tests of two air defense systems over the skies of central Israel.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to extend his trip to Warsaw Friday after an airplane he was scheduled to fly home in was damaged just ahead of takeoff, Trend reports referring to The Times of Israel.

According to El Al, the prime ministers plane, a Boeing 777, was damaged by a pushback tractor that crashed into it as the prime minister was about to leave just after midnight.

A new plane was being sent from Israel to Warsaw to bring the prime minister and his entourage back, the airline said.

An official with Netanyahus office said the new flight was expected to leave Warsaw at around 9:30 a.m..

Netanyahu, his wife and senior staff, returned to the Warsaw Intercontinental, where they had been staying since Tuesday. Traveling press were being put up in a hotel near the military airport.

Netanyahu would likely need to take off before late Friday morning to make it back to Israel before sundown and the start of the Jewish day of rest.

While the prime minister is not religiously observant, high level public officials generally avoid public displays of transgressing the laws of Shabbat, which forbid traveling.

Netanyahu had been scheduled to leave Warsaw after arriving early Wednesday for an international conference focused on Middle East security.

Edna Halbani, an official in the Prime Ministers Office who has been arranging flights for premiers for decades, said Ehud Barak also had to contend with a damaged plane during a trip to Atlanta in 1999.

Netanyahu does not have his own plane, but charters jets from the national El-Al carrier which are then outfitted for his needs. The government is in the process of purchasing an official plane for use by the prime minister.
Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist said Friday he did not support the idea of creating a unified pan-European army, which was earlier proposed by some European politicians, Trend reports citing Sputnik.

"In-depth partnership with NATO and transatlantic ties are important to Swedish defence and security policy. Sweden supports close cooperation between the EU and NATO, but I do not see the need to create an EU army or any expansion of EU military headquarters", Hultqvist said in a statement.

The European Union and NATO share a majority of their members. Nevertheless, European countries are also seeking to strengthen their defence cooperation within the European Union.

The idea of an EU army has been floated around by a number of top EU politicians, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The latter suggested that this joint force could be a complement to NATO.

However, EU foreign policy and defence chief Federica Mogherini denied building one in November, just as NATO head Jens Stoltenberg warned that EU efforts should not compete with the alliance, which he called the bedrock for European security.
In an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya English, Prince Turki al-Faisal, Chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, dismissed the idea of Saudi Arabia cooperating with Israel saying that theres no change in the Saudi position, Trend reports referring to Al Arabiya.

Responding to a question regarding the claims that the recent intersection of interests in the Iran file could translate to normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel, prince al-Faisal dismissed the notion. There has been no change in the Saudi position and the media and other wishful thinking about the Israeli-Saudi cooperation because of the Iranian threat is only that, wishful thinking, the Prince said.

As part of a wider interview, the Prince reminded of the last Arab summit that was held in Saudi Arabia following the American administrations recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in which King Salman said the summit is the Jerusalem summit.

The statement that came out at that summit affirmed the insistence of the Arab world that Jerusalem be the capital of the Palestinian independent state, according to the Arab peace initiative, he said.

Prince al-Faisal referred to King Salmans recent statement during his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas where he reiterated that Saudi Arabia stands by the Palestinian peoples right in establishing their own state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Look at the statements that came out yesterday from King Salman about the Kingdoms commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative and to the independence of the Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem, he said. The statement of King Salman is only the recent vocalization of a long-standing policy, he added.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Matanat Nasibova  Trend:

The courses on how to change power in Russia, held by the activists who took part in the change of power in Armenia, should be regarded as an outrageous manifestation of the unfriendliness of Yerevan towards Moscow, Andrei Ivanov, head of the Strategic Analysis Center of the Russian Institute for Innovative Development, told Trend.

The well-known Russian expert was commenting on the American-funded four-day courses "How to make a revolution in Russia? in Yerevan.

The fact of holding the courses was also confirmed in a recent report aired February 12 in the program Time on Channel One Russia.

As it became known, the courses were organized by the Prague Civil Center, which is funded by the US Congress in accordance with the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.

Ivanov says these courses in Armenia can in no way affect the political situation in Russia.

"One cannot compare the small Armenia with the Russian Federation, where the system of power itself is much more sophisticated due to the size of the country. It was necessary to block only a couple of streets in the center of the capital to change the power in Armenia. This scenario is simply impossible in Russia. Nevertheless, I will note one other thing.

It turns out that on the one hand, new Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan talks about the importance of relations with Moscow, he constantly assures Russian President Vladimir Putin of his friendship, and, at the same time, Pashinyans supporters gather representatives of Russian marginal circles in Yerevan and teach them how to sow chaos in their own country, he said.

Ivanov said the victorious supporters of Pashinyan are in certain euphoria.

It seems to them that they have already made their country happy and now it is necessary to start helping other nations, he noted. They say that it is worth holding several seminars for small groups from Russia, and the experience of the Armenian revolution will immediately spread over a huge space. I dont rule out the factor of self-interest of these activists who started the courses.

The political analyst added that the seminars for the Russian opposition are paid for by the US structures that are interested in destabilizing the situation in Russia.

There are a lot of people willing to conduct such seminars and receive grants, he said. Now, Armenian political analysts decided that it is their time to make money from the US desires of coup d'etats in other countries. They gained the trust of Washington, and now there are people in Armenia who got the opportunity to earn extra money. However, it is important to understand that the stability of any power depends, above all, on the ability to perceive the needs of the society. No seminars, no foreign funding can ignite the fire of popular discontent.

Ivanov noted that he sees the holding of seminars in Armenia for Russian activists as an attempt of some particularly wily Armenian activists to earn money.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says Tehran-Moscow cooperation is getting strategic in nature, Trend reports citing IRNA.

'Trade exchanges in national currencies of both sides serves as a big step towards expansion of economic relations,' Rouhani told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of Iran-Russia-Turkey summit in Sochi, Russia, on Thursday.

He said Iran-Russia-Turkey cooperation on Syria has had good achievements and remaining steps like making endeavors to protect territorial integrity of the country and taking necessary political procedures should be taken through coordination.

Rouhani pointed to efforts of certain countries, including the US and Zionist regime of Israel, in supporting terrorist groups in Syria and said Zionist regime is the root cause of many problems and insecurity in the region. He hoped that the fourth tripartite Sochi summit will serve as one bigger step towards guaranteeing peace and security in the region.

He also said the link among the trade, transportation and banking sectors will make bilateral relations durable.

'Exchanges in national currencies of the two countries is a big step towards development of economic relations.'

Calling Iran-Russia ties 'sincere and growing,' Rouhani said Tehran-Moscow cooperation is getting towards strategic relations and the two countries have good cooperation in key regional issues like Syria.

'We welcome investment of Russian companiesn in the Iranian energy sector,' he said.

The Iranian president went on to point to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and said the Islamic Republic of Iran has been acting on its JCPOA commitments and other parties are also committed to act on their duties.

'If both sides want consolidation of the JCPOA, one-sided fulfilment of the commitments will not get us to the goal,' Rouhani stressed.

Emphasizing that Europe should compensate delays in fulfillment of commitments, he said Russia has a very important role in the JCPOA consolidation.

In the initial part of his address, President Rouhani thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for condolence and voice of sympathy over the Wednesday terrorist attack on a bus carrying the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) forces on Khash-Zahedan road in Sistan-Baluchestan Province.

'The incident has made it necessary to have exchange of views and more consolidated will to launch joint campaign against terrorism.'

Putin for his part emphasized that Russia powerfully supports maintaining the JCPOA.

'No evidence has been found to substantiate the claim that Iran has been violating its commitments. We thank Iran for cooperation within framework of commitments and we heope that the sides will act on their liabilities.'

Putin also referred to Sochi summit and said he was thankful of Iran for its part in settling problems in Syria and said he believed mutual cooperation on bilateral framework and Astana process have had very major achievements and other remaining issues too should be solved in the same way.

'Major portion of bilateral agreements are implemented and cooperation should be strengthened. We have good cooperation in the fields of transportation, energy, industry and agriculture as well as defense and Moscow seeks deepening the cooperation with Tehran,' President Putin stressed.

In the beginning part of his speech, the Russian President condoled Iranian people and bereaved families on Zahedan terrorist incident and congratulated Iranian people on the 40th victory anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of Iran and their victory and progress.

A total of 27 Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) forces were martyred and 13 wounded in the Khash-Zahedan road terror attack.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Feb. 15

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

The Turkmen-German business forum was held in Berlin, Trend reports referring to the Watan newspaper.

The event was devoted to the investment opportunities in the fuel and energy complex and the chemical industry of Turkmenistan.

Such projects as the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline and the construction of natural gas processing plants open up great opportunities for German companies producing equipment for the oil and gas industry.

Representatives of the German Foreign Ministry, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry and about 70 companies took part in the business forum.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Fakhri Vakilov  Trend:

Uzbekistan has posted for the first time in its history two tranches of Eurobonds with a combined value of $1 billion, Trend reports with reference to the Uzbek Ministry of Finance.

The yield of 5-year securities in the amount of $500 million will be 4.75 percent per annum, and the yield of 10-year securities in the amount of $500 million will be 5.375 percent.

The maturity dates of the bonds are set for 2024 and 2029.

Investor demand exceeded the placement almost four times and reached $3.8 billion from about 150 institutional investors. This made it possible to lower the yield benchmarks from 5.6255.75 percent and 6 per annum to 4.75 percent and 5.375 percent per annum, respectively.

Most of the 5-year and 10-year bonds were bought by investors from the UK - 39 and 32 percent, respectively, while American investors bought 23 and 31 percent, continental European investors bought 32 and 27 percent, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa investors bought 6 and 10 percent.

The main buyers of Eurobonds were fund managers - 75 and 78 percent, insurance companies and pension funds - 20 and 16 percent, while banks and private banks bought 5 and 6 percent.

"The success of the debut issue of Eurobonds reflects investors confidence in the solid economic foundations of Uzbekistan, the progress of reforms and the debt management strategy," the London Stock Exchange said.

Bloomberg noted that the debut placement of Eurobonds opens up the economy of Uzbekistan for foreign investments after more than two decades of isolation.

Also, the Minister of Finance Jamshid Kuchkarov said Uzbekistan is planning another Eurobond placement in 2020.

Uzbekistan held meetings with investors in New York, Boston and London on the placement of Eurobonds from February 7 to 12.

The placement was organized by J.P. Morgan, Citi and Gazprombank.

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Follow author on Twitter: @vakilovfaxri
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.15

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

First shipments of BD-260 drilling rig, purchased by Canadas Zenith Energy company for operations onshore Azerbaijan have entered the country, Trend reports citing a message from the company, which is the operator for development of Muradkhanli-Jafarli-Zardab block of oil fields.

The company said that civil works fully underway in preparation for arrival of BD-260 drilling rig to field operations in Azerbaijan.

In particular, Jafarli Field well C-30 preparation for deepening activities proceeding successfully, according to Zenith Energy.

Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR and Zenith Aran Oil Company signed a Rehabilitation, Exploration, Development and Production Sharing Agreement (REDPSA) in March 2016 for a block that includes the Muradkhanli, Jafarli and Zardab oil fields. Zenith Energy Ltd established its subsidiary company Zenith Aran Oil Company Ltd for production operations in these three fields. Production under the agreement began in August 2016.

Zenith holds an 80-percent participating interest in the three fields within the contract area, while SOCAR retains the remaining 20 percent. The agreement is for 25 years, with a potential extension by five additional years.

The total area of the Muradkhanli, Jafarli and Zardab fields is 642.2 square kilometers, and according to the contract, it is divided into rehabilitation and exploration territories.

The Muradkhanli-Jafarli-Zardab block is located in the Yevlakh-Agjabadi oil and gas region of Imishli district of Azerbaijan. The Muradkhanli field was discovered in 1971, Jafarli - in 1984, and Zardab - in 1981.

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Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

In 2018, Azerbaijan exported 591,288.85 tons of oil and oil products to Ukraine, which is 22 percent less than in 2017, Trend reports citing a statement of Azerbaijan's State Statistical Committee.

However, according to the Committee, in total, the value of exports increased from 299.9 million to 310.4 million manats. This is due to lower oil prices in 2017 compared to 2018.

At the same time, during the period, Azerbaijan increased the export of kerosene for jet engines. So, last year, 7,370.71 tons of kerosene worth 4.77 million manats were delivered to Ukraine. During the year, kerosene exports nearly doubled, but revenues declined by about 25 percent.

Azerbaijan also exported petroleum coke to Ukraine in the amount of 7,524.3 tons and totaling 451,460 manats. In 2017, these indicators amounted to 25,858.12 tons and 1.55 million manats, respectively.

In total, the oil and oil products account for over 85 percent of Azerbaijans exports to Ukraine. According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, the trade turnover with Ukraine in 2018 amounted to $828.5 million, of which the export of Azerbaijani products accounted for $358.7 million.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Hasanli_Azad
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.15

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Romania intends to propose the signing of a memorandum of understanding for linking the RO-BG (Romania-Bulgaria) Interconnector and the Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria (BRUA) pipeline to the Southern Gas Corridor, which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, Secretary of State with Romanian Ministry of Energy Iulian -Robert Tudorache said in an exclusive interview with Trend.

I want to highlight that last year, at our first participation to the meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor, we proposed to the Consortium to take into consideration, for the future stages of expansion, the infrastructure offered by the Interconnector between Bulgaria and Romania and the BRUA pipeline. Having in mind the excellent progress of the BRUA project, at this years meeting we would like to propose to the Advisory Council of the Southern Corridor the evaluation of the interest in signing a Memorandum of Understanding to explore the opportunities for using the transport infrastructure provided by the RO-BG Interconnector and the BRUA pipeline, in the forthcoming stages of expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor, he said.

Tudorache noted that this would have a positive impact for many countries in the region, in terms of increasing regional energy security, diversifying sources and routes of energy supply and reducing the energy vulnerabilities.

The link between BRUA and SGC is in line with the interests of extending the Southern Corridor infrastructure to the Balkans and Central Europe through a safe and efficient transport infrastructure, said the deputy minister.

More than that, Tudorache said that in the context of Romania`s permanent efforts to increase its energy security, the Romanian public-owned company ROMGAZ, which is the greatest producer and the main natural gas supplier in Romania, have in plan to send a Letter of Intent to the Southern Gas Corridor Consortium related to the interest in purchasing gas from the volumes that will be transported through this infrastructure.

Romania particularly appreciates the active participation of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the joint efforts to increase Europe's energy security, as well as the decisive role in the development of the Southern Gas Corridor, he added.

Talking about the BRUA project, the deputy minister said it will physically ensure the continuous bidirectional flow between Romania, on one hand, and Bulgaria and Hungary, on the other hand, at the following capacities:

transmission capacity to Hungary of 1.75 bcm/year, respectively of 1.5 bcm/year to Bulgaria, after the completion of Phase 1;

transmission capacity to Hungary of 4.4 bcm/year, respectively of 1.5 bcm/year to Bulgaria, after the completion of Phase 2.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority projects for the EU and envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.

The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor was held in Baku on May 29, 2018, while opening ceremony of TANAP was held on June 12, 2018 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir.

The gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field has already gone through the first segment of the Southern Gas Corridor - from the Sangachal terminal to the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline.

Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) have been recently connected on the Turkish-Greek border.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Sara Israfilbayova  Trend:

Presently, Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran are discussing the technical conditions of creating an energy corridor at the level of experts of energy companies, Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky said in an exclusive interview with Trend.

Following the discussions, the sides will determine the economic efficiency of the functioning of this energy bridge and make a decision on the expediency of launching the project, he said.

If a decision is made to implement the project, the creation of an energy bridge will allow providing the countries with electricity during periods of its shortage in the energy systems of the countries, Yanovsky added.

In 2018 Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran created a working group to discuss the issue of uniting the energy systems of the three countries.

The working group consists of 18 people (six people from each country). The group must prepare technical specifications for a feasibility study for uniting the electricity systems of the three countries and a draft agreement on the joint development of a feasibility study.

Earlier, Azerbaijan and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on the exchange of electricity in 2015.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @IsrafilbekovaS
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

The Canadian company Gazelle Energy has obtained a license for oil and gas exploration in Turkey, Trend reports referring to Turkey's Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.

Gazelle Energy will conduct oil and gas exploration on land in Turkey's Edirne and Tekirdag provinces, with a total area of 14,500 hectares, according to the ministry.

To obtain the license for oil and gas exploration in these areas, Gazelle Energy applied to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources on June 27, 2018.

Besides the Canadian company, two more Turkish companies, Calik Petrol and Guney yildizi Pertol, received licenses for for oil and gas exploration.

Calik Petrol and Guney yildizi Pertol were granted the license for exploration in the province of Siirt, in an area of 40,700 hectares.

The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey earlier told Trend that the country has expanded the territory for oil and gas exploration.

The law permitting oil exploration in forests and national parks came into force in Turkey in April 2014. The ministry said that a total of 56 wells have been drilled as part of exploration of new oil and gas fields in Turkey since 2014, of which 54 are onshore, and two are offshore.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Rashid Shirinov  Trend:

Kazakhstan will start exporting gasoline to neighboring countries at the end of the first quarter of this year, Trend reports via Kazakh media.

"This year we will have a gasoline surplus of 500,000-650,000 tons. This surplus has already been felt from the first month of 2019, so we have slightly reduced the processing volumes at our refineries in January-February," Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said in parliament.

The senators were proposed to consider the draft law on ratification of the Protocol amending the agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Russian Federation on trade and economic cooperation in the field of oil and petroleum products supply to the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 9, 2010.

"We hope that after the ratification of this agreement we will consider the law on regulation and turnover of certain types of petroleum products. At the end of the first quarter, we will start exporting gasoline and catch up with the refining volumes that we have planned for the year," Bozumbayev said.

He believes that the industry will be controlled by the state and that the exports will bring additional revenues to the state and additional income to oil refineries.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @ShirinovRashid
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Huseyn Veliyev  Trend:

Five more ASAN Service Centers will open in Azerbaijan by the end of the year, Ulvi Mehdiyev, head of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of Azerbaijan, told Trend.

According to him, the centers will be opened in the cities of Shamakhi, Kurdamir, Tovuz, Aghjabadi and Balakan.

"Thus, the number of centers will reach 20 and will cover most of the country. At present, construction work is being intensively carried out in the aforementioned districts. The centers are expected to be commissioned during the second half of this year," said Mehdiyev.

The services alternative to those provided by the ASAN Service have been eliminated, which, according to Mehdiyev, means that government agencies will provide those services through ASAN Service Centers.

"The coverage is quite wide. In the future, we will be ready to provide other, new types of services, if necessary," said Mehdiyev.

The ASAN Service under the State Agency for the provision of services to citizens and social innovations under the President of Azerbaijan has been operating in the country since 2012. The Service Centers provide services of government agencies, as well as a number of functional support services. ASAN also provides outbound services through its mobile service and the ASAN train.
Details added (first version posted on 14:17)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Huseyn Valiyev - Trend:

The ASAN Service and Azerbaijans State Committee for Work with Diaspora will jointly provide services to Azerbaijani citizens living abroad, Trend reports.

This is envisaged by a memorandum of cooperation signed Feb. 15 in Baku by the Head of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations Ulvi Mehdiyev and Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Diaspora Fuad Muradov.

Thus, as part of the memorandum, Azerbaijani citizens living abroad will be able to use the entire list of public services provided by the ASAN Service via the e-government website.

Mehdiyev said that a platform will be created and it will allow Azerbaijani citizens living abroad to access the ASAN Service.

"It is also envisaged to organize the ASAN outreach services together with the Committee," he noted. We believe this will be useful for our citizens living abroad."

"The second direction [of cooperation within the memorandum] is the creation of opportunities for citizens to use relevant electronic services. For example, special electronic services of state agencies will be created on the e-government website."

In turn, Muradov said that a lot of work was done in this direction and positive results were achieved.

Our citizens living abroad are closely connected with Azerbaijan, he noted. They need to get various types of documents and consular services. Large and small businesses periodically appeals to various government agencies, including the State Committee on Work with Diaspora for receiving services and regarding various issues. Of course, being an advanced structure in this area, the ASAN Service has always remained in the field of interest of our citizens living abroad, and the signed memorandum will allow coordinating our activity in this area.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Matanat Nasibova  Trend:

Azerbaijani company Gilan Textile Park has opened a new European direction for exporting yarn, Mehriban Akhundova, chairperson of the Azerbaijan Textile Products Manufacturers and Exporters Association, director of Gilan Textile Park, told Trend Feb. 15.

She said that the company will begin exporting yarn to Portugal and Italy in the near future.

We are consistently working on the Portuguese direction and we plan to send the first cargo of yarn to this country by the end of February, she noted. In parallel, in the coming months we plan to start exporting to Italy.

She added that Gilan Textile Park is also in talks with its foreign partners regarding the export of finished products.

The companys products are environmentally friendly and meet international quality standards.

In terms of the production potential, Gilan Textile Park is considered one of the biggest processing facilities not only in Azerbaijan, but also in the entire region.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Matanat Nasibova  Trend:

As part of the self-employment program, 5,800 people received materials and goods necessary for the creation of economic entities in 2019, Azerbaijani Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population, Sahil Babayev, told Trend on Feb. 14.

"In 2018, 7,000 people were involved in the program, while by the end of this year 8,000 people are planned to be attracted," he said.

"The self-employment program has a positive effect, which is testified by the analysis of the situation on the labour market, based on the results of the three-month operation of the mechanism," Babayev said.

Speaking about the complaints that are received in connection with the self-employment program, the minister said that 99 percent of the recipients are pleased with the materials they receive.

"About one percent accounts for complaints of the program participants," he said. "Their wishes were taken into account. We changed the materials with which they were displeased. Their problems were solved."

"In general, the effectiveness of the program may be assessed in about a year or two years," Babayev said.

"The program is designed for a two-year period, during which we will have to hold monitoring and determine the percentage of families who received the materials and were able not only to support but also expand the business," the minister added. "The ultimate goal of the program is to create 6,000-7,000 micro-enterprises."

"The matter does not rest in the creation of medium-sized business," the minister added. "Nevertheless, in case of a competent approach of implementing this mechanism, this will definitely have an impact on the development of the overall business sphere in Azerbaijan."

The self-employment program has been implemented in the country since 2016. As part of these measures, the Ministry of Labour provides low-income families with various assets (goods, materials, livestock) for them to be able to launch their small business.

In 2018, 7,000 citizens were attracted to participate in the program. Some 42 million manats is envisaged for financing the self-employment program in 2019 (35 million manats in 2018).

(1.7 AZN = 1 USD on Feb. 14)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Elnur Baghishov  Trend:

Iran's Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Reza Rahmani has attended the opening ceremony of Kasra Yazd paper production plant in Yazd county of the countrys Yazd province, Trend reports referring to Tasnim News Agency.

This plant may produce up to 6,000 tons of paper and cardboard, 12,000 tons of kraft paper per year.

The paper to be produced by this plant will be used for packaging.

Kasra Yazd paper production plant was built on a 72,700-square-meter-area.

After the commissioning of the plant, 339 people were employed.

The investments worth 5.13 trillion rials (about $122 million) and 99,800 euros have been made in this project.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Elnur Baghishov  Trend:

Under the sanctions imposed unilaterally by the US, regional associations create great opportunities for Iran, Iranian political analyst Masoud Sadr said in an interview with Trend.

He said that by joining the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), Iran aims to use its national currency in the trade with the EEU.

He added that the use of national currency in trade is very important considering the unilateral sanctions against Iran and the significance of financial and banking sector in world trade.

"Iran can use the potential of the EEU to avoid sanctions," he said.

He added that Iran is interested in using the national currency in trade with the members of the EEU, as well as its neighbors, for example, Turkey, Iraq and India.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Feb. 15

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

A Turkmen-German business forum was held in Berlin, Trend reports with reference to the Turkmen Foreign Ministry Feb. 14.

On the sidelines of the forum, a memorandum was signed between the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Protection of Turkmenistan and the German Umax Trade GmbH, as well as a number of agreements between the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan (UIET) and German companies.

It was earlier reported that the memorandums of mutual cooperation in the supply of agricultural equipment, the rational use of land and water resources, the training of specialists in the water sector and in other areas are planned to be signed on the sidelines of the event.

The purchase of agricultural equipment and the exchange of best practices between specialists of the Turkmen and German corresponding structures are designed to promote the further development of the domestic agro-industrial complex.

Cotton and wheat are strategic agricultural crops. The German companies make a significant contribution to the implementation of long-term projects in Turkmenistan. Among them are such companies as Siemens, Daimler, Claas, Dresser-Rand.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Samir Ali  Trend:

The Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan commented on the claim of the spouse of Taleh Baghirov, convicted for organizing the Nardaran events in Azerbaijan, Trend reports referring to the Penitentiary Service.

Baghirov's spouse claimed in interviews with several news websites that Baghirov, currently serving a prison sentence, is being put under pressure by the prison staff, saying that he is not being allowed to meet with a lawyer or have phone calls, and that, for this reason, he has been on a hunger strike for a long time.

The Penitentiary Service reports that the prison governor Aftandil Aghayev received Baghirovs father Kamil Baghirov and spouse Leyla Ismayilzade on February 12, 2019, and they were informed that there are no grounds for concern. It was noted that no illegal actions had been committed against Baghirov, and that the necessary conditions were provided for his meeting with his lawyer and relatives, and also for proper phone calls. Taleh Baghirov, however, refused meeting his lawyer, Bahruz Bayramov, and making phone calls at appointed times. Each of these cases has been documented.

Given the anxiety of the relatives, conditions were created for Baghirov's meeting with them in the office room. Upon entering the room, Baghirov expressed dissatisfaction with the arrival of his relatives and rudely told them to leave. When the prison governor, calling him to discipline, asked why he refused to meet with lawyers and relatives, as well as to make phone calls, Baghirov replied that he wanted to keep being talked about, to remain on the headlines, and that this is his chance. He then told his relatives: "Go tell everyone that I am on a hunger strike."

The Penitentiary Service once again reports that Baghirov has never filed an application about any illegal actions or a hunger strike.

His safety is ensured and all his rights are protected, said the Penitentiary Service.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Ilhama Isabalayeva  Trend:

Along with improvement of the social well-being of students, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs orders on raising scholarships are also a step taken in a very important direction for education sector - raising the academic performance of students, Azerbaijani Education Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said, Trend reports on Feb. 15.

The presidents order on additional measures to improve the scholarship system at universities creates an incentive to improve the academic performance of 16,000 students from the next month, he said.

According to the presidents recent orders, scholarships for students studying at various levels of education increased from 14 percent to 25 percent.

Saying that this concerns about 110,000 students, the minister added that from March 1, besides students who are already receiving scholarships, 16,000 more students will obtain the opportunity to receive scholarship.

"This means a 30-percent increase in the number of students receiving scholarships, Bayramov said. At the same time, the ratio of the number of students receiving scholarship to the total number of students in 2019/2020 academic year will be increased from current 31 percent to 45 percent, while beginning from 2020/2021 academic year - to the level of at least 50 percent.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed an order on additional measures to improve the scholarship system at universities.

According to the order, from March 1, 2019, the number of students receiving scholarship funded by the state on the basis of academic performance will increase by 16,000 at the universities.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

Trend:

On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with Dr. Johann Wadephul, Member of German Bundestag, Member of Bundestag Committee on Foreign Affairs and deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.

The sides exchanged views on the existing cooperation relations between Germany and Azerbaijan.

The huge transport and infrastructure projects realized in the region with the initiative and participation of Azerbaijan were discussed at the meeting. The importance of the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for providing sustainable development and prosperity in the region was underlined and Minister Elmar Mammadyarov informed the member of Bundestag on the current situation of the negotiations over the settlement of the conflict.

The sides also had an exchange on regional and international security issues, as well as other issues of mutual interest.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

Trend:

As part of the visit to the UK, Azerbaijans Minister of Culture Abulfas Garayev met with UK Prime Minister's Trade Envoy Baroness Emma Nicholson, Trend reports with reference to the Ministry of Culture Feb. 15.

During the meeting, Garayev spoke about the cultural ties between Azerbaijan and the UK, noting that they began to develop rapidly during the period of Azerbaijans independence. He stressed the great role of the British Council in the development of the cultural ties.

The minister informed about the Agreement of Intent signed with the British Council and said the document will contribute to the development of cooperation in the library and museum fields, as well as the experience exchange in the development of cultural ties.

Director of the British Council Azerbaijan Summer Xia, who was present at the meeting, noted that the cooperation of the British Council with the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan provides for the implementation of a number of projects.

In turn, Baroness Nicholson expressed readiness to support cultural cooperation between the two countries, noting that during her visits to Azerbaijan she inquires about the history and culture of the country, visits museums. She added that Azerbaijani culture has made a huge impression on her.

Baroness Nicholson stressed that she will soon come to Baku and plans to take part in a number of cultural events during the visit.

Garayev invited Nicholson to visit the Carpet Museum, the Mugham Center and other cultural institutions during her visit to Baku.

Nicholson noted that on her personal initiative, cultural and musical projects are being implemented in a number of countries, and some of them are related to Azerbaijan, adding that the experience of Azerbaijan can help her in this. Garayev expressed readiness to support the implementation of these projects.

Earlier, Carole Crofts, the ambassador of Great Britain to Azerbaijan, told Trend that Baroness Emma Nicholson will be in Baku on Feb. 20 at the meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor and will hold discussions on cooperation.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

Trend:

Azerbaijani Defense Minister, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov met with Colonel Igor Lobastov, the military attache of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, who is completing his activity in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

During the meeting, the sides expressed gratification with the level of cooperation between the two countries in the military, military-technical and military-educational spheres, exchanged views on the prospects for the development of bilateral relations, and noted the importance of resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for ensuring security in the region.

Moreover, the sides discussed the Russian-made modern, high-precision combat equipment, weapons, and other military equipment obtained by the Azerbaijani army, as well as the expansion and continuation of activities in this field based on mutual agreement and consent of both countries.

The sides also paid attention to the issues of conducting joint military exercises of the two countries, organizing mutual visits, working meetings, exchanging experience at the level of experts, training Azerbaijani cadets and specialists in Russias military education institutions.

Russian military attache expressed gratitude for the warm welcome and noted that he would continue to make every effort for deepening of military relations between the two countries.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

Trend:

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the occupation of our lands, the plight of more than a million refugees and displaced persons  these is the difficult legacy of the PFPA-Musavat duo, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview to the head of the TV channel "Real" Mirshahin Aghayev, Trend reports referring to the press service of the head of state.

"You know, I have repeatedly expressed my opinion in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. I want to say once again: I am absolutely convinced that if Heydar Aliyev had been the President of Azerbaijan in the first years of independence, our lands would never have been occupied. I am saying this with full confidence," the president noted.

"Unfortunately, the people who led Azerbaijan at the time could not realize their responsibility and protect the interests of our country. In particular, the PFPA-Musavat duo, which came to power as a result of a coup in 1992, and its treacherous policies became the main factor leading to occupation," the head of state said.

President Aliyev noted that there was a struggle for power at the time, and on the eve of the coup Shusha and Lachin were occupied.

"Less than a year after the coup, in April 1993, Kalbajar was occupied. This created a geographical connection between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. Heydar Aliyev would never have allowed this to happen because his policies, his determination and people's confidence in him would never have allowed our lands to be occupied," the head of state added.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

Trend:

Today, Azerbaijan has an advantage both at the negotiating table and on the battlefield, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview to the head of the TV channel "Real" Mirshahin Aghayev, Trend reports referring to the press service of the head of state.

"In recent years, we have created a powerful legal framework for resolving the conflict. Many leading and influential international organizations of the world have adopted decisions and resolutions in connection with the conflict, which reflect the truth and support our position  the UN General Assembly, earlier the Security Council, the OSCE, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and others. The document on partnership priorities signed between the European Union and Azerbaijan expresses support for our territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of borders," he explained.

"This creates a legal basis for resolving the conflict. It lies in the fact that Nagorno-Karabakh  as we all know very well  is an integral part of Azerbaijan," the head of state said.

President underlined that conflict resolution is possible only within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

"At that time, having created a powerful economic potential, we established a strong army. The Azerbaijani army is one of the strongest armies in the world today. Our combat capability and possibilities are growing. We are equipping our army with the most sophisticated hardware. The April fights (2016) demonstrated our strength. By launching a counteroffensive operation from the most unfavorable military positions, we took over strategic heights. We freed our lands from invaders. The flag of Azerbaijan flies in Agdara, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts today. The April battles are a glorious and historic victory for us. While visiting Lalatapa and seeing the flag of Azerbaijan there, I feel a sense of pride. Every citizen of Azerbaijan feels proud. Our soldiers and officers have displayed true heroism. The April battles are a historic event. They have dispelled the myth that Armenia had been creating for years," Ilham Aliyev said.

"The Armenians tried to form an opinion that their army was allegedly strong and invincible. Azerbaijani soldiers and officers showed whose army is really strong and invincible. This myth has been dispelled. The April battles bolstered our national spirit, raised it to heights. Therefore, this event shows once again that the Azerbaijani people and state will never put up with this occupation," said the president.

Ilham Aliyev mentioned that two years after the April battles, a successful Nakhchivan operation was carried out.

"This was a special operation from a tactical point of view, but it was very successful and enabled us to take full control over strategic heights, mountains and the enemys strategic communications. So all these are important events showing the power and professionalism of our army. All this shows that the conflict must be resolved within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan," the head of state stressed.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

Trend:

Today, the might is right principle prevails in the world, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview to the head of the TV channel "Real" Mirshahin Aghayev, Trend reports referring to the press service of the head of state.

"At the initial stage the new government of Armenia made contradictory statements that Azerbaijan should conduct talks not with Armenia but with the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic. We immediately rejected these contradictory and incomprehensible statements. The mediators, of course, could not agree with this position either. Sticking to a position of principle, we are committed to negotiations," said the president.

"Today, negotiations are under way between foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Several rounds of negotiations have already been conducted. We hope they will be productive. Therefore, the fact that the negotiations are being conducted can, of course, be regarded as a positive development," the head of state said. According to President Ilham Aliyev, it shows again that the principles stated by the new leadership of Armenia at the initial stage are absolutely unacceptable," he said.

"On the other hand, I have always said that the force factor is coming to the fore in the world. Look at how international law is flagrantly violated in various parts of the world. Whereas earlier attempts were made to somehow conceal that, today they dont even see the need for that. Today, the might is right principle prevails in the world. This is a new reality. We must be ready for it. The world is changing, and we must be prepared for these changes," Ilham Aliyev noted.

"Fortunately, we have been building up our economic and military power for many years. We were somewhat preparing ourselves for the current situation and are now ready for it. Therefore, the force factor has always been and will remain on the agenda. We see this in the example of not only our conflict but also in many other conflicts around the world," said Azerbaijan's president.

"We will use various opportunities, and the restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is our main goal. The people of Azerbaijan should know that this is the main task of every citizen and the main task of the state. We will continue our policy in this direction," the president said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

Trend:

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov may meet on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference with his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and discuss the possibility of a summit of the two countries' leaders, RIA Novosti cited Mammadyarov, Trend reports.

"I think this topic will be discussed as part of a meeting with my counterpart from Armenia and, of course, as part of the visit of the Minsk Group co-chairs," Mammadyarov said.

When answering the question whether a meeting with Mnatsakanyan will be held in Munich, the Azerbaijani minister said that they may definitely meet during the conference.

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, Feb. 15

Trend:

The Institute of History of the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences will hold a conference in Poland devoted to the Khojaly genocide, director of the Institute, academician Yaqub Mahmudov, said, Trend reports referring to the Institute.

Mahmudov made the remarks at the meeting of the Scientific Council in Baku on Feb. 15.

The academician stressed that the Institute of History is actively involved in the information war with Armenia and its aggressive policy, adding that his recent awarding with the Emek Order of the first degree is a high assessment, which was given not only to him, but also for the activity of the Institute of History and its scholars as a whole.

On Feb. 9, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree awarding Yaqub Mahmudov with the Emek Order of the first degree for many years of fruitful activity in the field of research of the Azerbaijani history.

The Scientific Council of the Institute expressed gratitude to the president for the award.

In 2012, 13 employees of the Institute received the Azerbaijani state awards for the works on the history of Karabakh, Nakhchivan and Irevan khanate upon President Aliyevs order.

The presentation of the books by historian Nazim Mammadov and journalist Latif Shamkhal (Mustafayev) was held at the scientific council.

During the ongoing Karabakh war, on February 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As a result of the genocide, 613 people were killed, including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly, 487 people became disabled, and 1275 residents were taken hostage.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 23 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Feb. 15, Trend reports.

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, Feb. 15

Trend:

The food products of 21 Azerbaijani companies will be showcased under the "Made in Azerbaijan" brand at a single stand at the "Gulfood 2019" exhibition, to be held February 17-21 in Dubai (UAE), Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy.

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy and the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) support the participation of the countrys companies in the exhibition.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

Trend:

Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) hosted a meeting with new groups of students admitted to Business education for engineers course, which is a joint project of BHOS and BP company. Welcoming the participants, BHOS rector Elmar Gasimov emphasized that the program was designed for future engineers to equip them with knowledge and skills in management and business, thus adding to the high level of technical education they receive. In his words, the course shall facilitate their integration into business environment and help them be successful in the professional career.

Project coordinator on behalf of BHOS Leman Huseynova told information about the Higher Schools main activities, procedures for participation in the project and the disciplines taught to the Business education for engineers students. Then BHOS Program Manager and trainer of the course module entitled Negotiation skills Nargiz Tarverdiyeva provided detailed information about the course curriculum which includes seven more modules namely Presentation and Communication Skills; Project Management; Time Management and Efficiency; Leadership; Risk Management; Introduction to Finance, Budget and Cost Control; and HR Management Fundamentals.

After the meeting, the groups were given a tour around the BHOS campus and were acquainted its infrastructure and facilities.

The two-month teaching program of the Business education for engineers course has been developed by professional experts from various companies. For each module, two training manuals were prepared, with one containing theoretical work material and the other for practical exercises. The course groups consist of more than 100 students from BHOS, Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University, Azerbaijani-French University (UFAZ), Baku Engineering University, Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction and Khazar University.
The U.S. State Department has condemned the continued house arrests of former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard, and former Majles Speaker Mehdi Karroubi, the leaders of Iran's reformist Green Movement.

The trio have been imprisoned at their residences for eight years now, after leading a massive protest movement in Iran following the disputed presidential election in 2009.

Mousavi and Karroubi were both candidates facing the incumbent, ultraconservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009 presidential race.

Barely two hours after the polls closed, officials abruptly announced Ahmadinejad as winner. Crowds immediately poured into the streets in protest. The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corp (IRGC) fiercely defended the re-election of the incumbent and violently suppressed the protesters, killing and jailing many of them.

The Department of State condemned the protest leaders' house arrest on Friday, February 15, saying that it was against Iranian laws and the Islamic Republic's international commitments.

"This week marks the eight-year anniversary of the detention of 2009 Iranian presidential election candidates Karroubi and Mousavi. We condemn the continued arbitrary detention of the 2009 election candidates and others being held without fair trial," State Department Deputy Spokesman Robert Palladino wrote in a tweet on February 14.

Palladino said that the continued house arrest of the protest leaders was against the detainees political and citizenship rights that call for at least fair trial.

Mousavi, Rahnavard and Karroubi were put under house arrest on February 14, 2011 without a court ruling while according to the mayor of Tehran at the time, some four million of their supporters held massive demonstrations.

President Hassan Rouhani's critics say he has not tried hard enough to secure the trio's release although this was one of his main promises in two rounds of presidential elections in 2013 and 2017.

Five months ago, the Secretary General of centrist Executives of Construction Party, lashed out at Rouhani charging that "securing the release of the protest leaders was not among Rouhani's priorities."

Nevertheless, Saham News website, which is close to Karroubi, recently said that Rouhani has written a letter to Khamenei, demanding the reformist leaders' release but Khamenei rejected the call.

In recent months, some reports said that some of the limitations imposed on the protest leaders have been lifted. However, their relatives refuted the reports.

In another recent development, a statement by a presidential adviser who had said "not much has remained of the house arrest" elicited reactions on the part of a Judiciary official. Tehran's prosecutor Jafari Dolatabadi said an indictment has been issued for the adviser who made the comment.

In his statement Palladino characterized the current year as "the year of shame" for the Islamic Republic" as hundreds of other Iranians are also in jail for political reasons and demonstrators taking part in last year's nationwide protests still remain imprisoned.

The statement added that in addition to 26 activists who were killed in the course of demonstrations or in prison, at least 7,000 other Iranians have been jailed for taking part in the protests. Elsewhere, the statement added that the regime has suppressed protest demonstrations by farmers, truckers, workers, journalists, teachers, religious minorities, students and conservationists.

"Iranians must be able to live without fear of arbitrary arrests and detention, denial of fair trial or even losing their lives for exercising their basic human rights, stressed the deputy spokesperson for the State Department.

Palladino's statement marks a clear difference between the attitudes of the Obama and the Trump administrations in terms of defending Iranian activists.

Since 2009, many Iranian reformists have criticized former President Barrack Obama for ignoring Iranian reformists' call for change and instead getting close and giving concessions to the Iranian establishment.
Irans intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi has issued a stern warning of retaliation against those responsible for the deadly attack on Iran's Revolutionary Guard personnel on February 13.

Although other Islamic Republic officials have also threatened retaliation since the attack on a bus carrying soldiers, which killed 27, Alavi directly addressed his threat to operatives of world arrogance (U.S.) and international Zionism and vowed to inflict hard revenge on the masterminds, perpetrators and their sponsors.

While Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei did not directly mention the United States in his condemnation on Thursday, other Iranian officials, including the president and the speaker of parliament, have directly blamed the U.S. and Israel.

The attack, which took place in the volatile southeastern Sistn and Baluchistan province was claimed by an Iranian Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), which has been carrying out a low-intensity armed campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The group is believed to have safe heavens in the Baluch regions of neighboring Pakistan and it is likely that an Iranian retaliation might target people on the Pakistani side of the border.
While the adoption of internationally mandated anti-terror-financing and anti-money-laundering legislation by Iran remains uncertain, an influential former supporter of the measures is now opposing the approval of the bills.

According to Fars news agency controlled by Irans Revolutionary Guards, Tavvakoli on Friday voiced his opposition to the legislation, which is a demand of the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF), backed by Western governments.

Tavvakoli insisted in a gathering of FATF opponents in Tehran that laws demanded by the international body would violate Irans independence.

Tavvakoli had said last week that Europes humiliating and flagrant statement about trade with Iran via INSTEX proved that concessions to arrogant powers will lead to more demands without an end.

After months of behind the scenes negotiations, Germany, France and the UK finally established a trading mechanism, which is meant to ease limited trade with Tehran despite U.S. sanctions.

President Hassan Rouhani had presented four bills to the Iranian parliament in 2017 to combat corruption, money laundering and financial support for terrorism. FATF has put Iran on its watchlist for lack of a legal framework, especially in relation with its banking system. Iran needs to satisfy FATFs demands this month to be able to maintain its international banking relations.

Irans conservatives close to the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have fiercely opposed the bills, eventually accepting the amended versions of two laws and still opposing two others.
On Monday, February 18, at 11.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled "The Way TV Channels, Online Media and Social Networks Cover Election Races" on the first interim results of independent monitoring of media coverage of the presidential race in Ukraine for the period from January 14 to February 3, 2019. Participants include Chairman of the NGO Commission on Journalism Ethics Andriy Kulikov; international expert of the Council of Europe (Slovak Republic) Rasto Kuzel; media expert, executive director of the Ukrainian Institute of Media and Communications Diana Dutsyk; media lawyer, executive director of the NGO Human Rights Platform Oleksandr Burmahin; media expert, co-founder of StopFake Olha Yurkova (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation.
Russia's crimes are going unpunished, but the United Kingdom will not leave without the defense of the country that Russia is attacking, said Great Britains's Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Williamson.

Russia carries out aggressive actions and attacks the West, interfering in the election process, directing trolls and committing cyberattacks. All these crimes prove unpunished, but as a nation for which the main values are democracy, tolerance, and justice, we do everything to protect our freedom and are trying to work together to expose the actions of Russia... We will not leave unprotected those countries Russia is attacking. This includes Ukraine and the western Balkans, Williamson said at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.

Williamson said Russia uses espionage, military, political, cybernetic and criminal means in order to undermine the success of its competitors.

Violating the INF Treaty, deploying more and more new missiles with nuclear warheads, Russia is increasingly pushing for an arms race, making the world less and less secure, the secretary said.
The election headquarters of presidential candidate and incumbent President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has held its first press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

"The election HQ is led by Vitaliy Kovalchuk, Oleh Medvedev, spokesman for Poroshenko's election HQ, told reporters on Friday.

Also, he presented Ihor Hryniv as chief of Poroshenko's election campaign.

Medvedev said MP Ruslan Kniazevych will be in charge of legal support of Poroshenko's election campaign.

Artur Herasymov, leader of the Bloc Petro Poroshenko faction, will be in charge of political matters in general during Poroshenko's election campaign, as well as for arranging contacts with People's Deputies.

MP Serhiy Berezenko of the Bloc Petro Poroshenko faction will be in charge of the general arrangements of the campaign.

Medvedev said starting from next week Poroshenko's HQ will be giving several press conferences each week to answer all the upcoming questions.
A bail of nearly UAH 2.5 million has been posted for the recently arrested chairman of the Kherson Region Council, Vladyslav Manher, who is suspected of arranging the murder of Kherson-based civil activist Kateryna Handziuk, Manher's lawyer Dmytro Ilchenko has said.

"If I had accepted help from everyone who wanted to help Vladyslav Manher, we would have already raised over $2 million. I'm grateful to everyone who wanted to help. But in the end it was decided for bail to be paid by myself. In this way, we'll avoid another wave of allegations from [SBU officer Danylo] Dotsenko & Co. [who is allegedly involved in the Handziuk murder as testified by Manher] about the money. I am on my way to the treasurer's office," Ilchenko wrote on Facebook and attached a photograph of a bank receipt of bail payment.

Earlier on Friday, Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky District Court remanded Manher to pretrial confinement until March 3, 2019 for arranging the murder of Handziuk. The judge set bail at UAH 2.497 million, lawyer Masi Nayyem said.

As was earlier reported, an unknown person in Kherson on July 31, 2018 doused Handziuk with sulfuric acid. Handziuk died of complications on November 4, 2018.

Manher, a former member of the Batkivschyna Party, suspended his membership in the party in January 2019. He has denied all wrongdoing.
Judge Serhiy Karakashian of Kyiv's District Administrative Court has recused himself from the case involving a lawsuit filed by MP Ihor Mosiychuk of the Radical Party of Oleh Liashko Party against Ulana Suprun, claiming that she is not qualified to serve as the acting health minister of Ukraine.

Karakashian made a respective announcement on Friday during the hearings into Mosiychuks claim on the merits, after which he retired to the deliberations room to prepare a corresponding decision, a correspondent of the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

Sources at the Ministry of Health told Interfax-Ukraine that the ministry does not expect a decision on the claim to be made on Friday.

As earlier reported, before the hearings, Suprun said at a news briefing that she and her deputies would not be attending the hearings of the claim filed by Mosiychuk on the merits, and her representatives and a lawyer would be present in court in their stead.

"They want to distract us from reforming the industry with such strange claims. We will not succumb, we will not waste out time on this, and we will be returning to the ministry and continue our work," she said.
Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko has announced that another UAH 1.478 billion was transferred to Ukraine's national budget in keeping with a ruling by Cherkasy region's Court of Appeals on special confiscation.

"Today, another UAH 1.478 billion has been sent to the budget under a ruling by Cherkasy region's Court of Appeals on special confiscation," he wrote on Facebook on Friday.

The Prosecutor General did not disclose which particular case the court made such a decision in, as well as whom the confiscated funds earlier belonged to.

Lutsenko only indicated that the funds from the special confiscation would again be spent on the development and production of new military equipment.

"This means that the army will receive new rockets, anti-tank guided missiles, armored vehicles, and fire control systems. And the border guards will complete the integrated system for border management," he said.
The Verkhovna Rada adopted 12 laws in pursuance of the "road map" on legislative ensuring of the implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Andriy Parubiy has said.

"Since the approval of the roadmap of legislative support for the implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, we adopted 12 laws," Parubiy said at a roundtable talk on the implementation of the Association Agreement in Kyiv on Friday.

According to him, these laws have already entered into force.

In addition, the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada added that nine bills were passed at the first reading, and six were sent to committees to prepare for the first reading again.

He assured that, despite the pre-election period, one of the tasks of the Verkhovna Rada at the current session is the adoption of bills envisaged by the road map.
Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky District Court has remanded Vladyslav Manher, Kherson Regional Council Chairman, to three months in pretrial confinement for the murder of Kherson activist Kateryna Handziuk. The judge set bail at a UAH 2.497 million, lawyer Masi Nayyem has said.

"The court chose a preventive measure in the form of detention until March 3, 2019 (that is, for 16 days), setting bail at UAH 2.497," Nayyem said on Facebook on Friday morning.

Manher is suspected of ordering Handziuk's murder under Part 3 of Article 27, Paragraph 4, Paragraph 6, Paragraph 11, Paragraph 12, Part 2 of Article 115 of the Ukraine's Criminal Code. If convicted, he could face a prison term from 10 years to life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

As was earlier reported, an unknown person in Kherson on July 31, 2018 doused Handziuk with sulfuric acid. Handziuk died of complications on November 4, 2018.

Manher, a former member of the Batkivschyna Party, suspended his membership in the party in January 2019. He has denied all wrongdoing.
Russia's hybrid military forces mounted 12 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas in the past 24 hours, with three Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action (WIA), the press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) has reported.

"On February 14, the Russian occupation forces violated the ceasefire regime 12 times, including eight times with the use of weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements. Three soldiers of the JFO were injured as a result of the shelling," the JFO staff said on Facebook on Friday morning.

In the action lane of the operational-tactical grouping Pivnich (North), Russian occupation forces opened fire from 120mm and 82mm mortars, weapons installed on infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and small arms, attacking the defenders of the towns of Maryinka and Avdiyivka, and the villages of Pisky, Opytne, Verkhniotoretske, Pavlopil, Novoluhanske, Krymske, Khutir Vilny, and Zaitseve.

To adjust the artillery fire on February 14, the militants actively used unmanned aerial vehicles. Ukrainian military personnel shot down four enemy quad copters in the action zone of the operational-tactical grouping Vostok (East).

According to intelligence reports, two invaders were killed and another four were injured in the past day.

"Since Friday midnight, Russian-led forces haven't attacked Ukrainian positions yet," the report said.
Ukraine at a meeting of the committee on trade facilitation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has said that Russia does not observe its liabilities regarding freedom of transit, the Economic Development and Trade Ministry has reported on its website.

"In particular, representatives of the Ukrainian delegation drew the attention of members of the committee to the introduction by the Russian Federation of ban on the imports of certain goods into their territory, which move in transit through the territory of Ukraine from third countries that are members of the WTO," the ministry said after the meeting of the committee held on February 12 and February 13, 2019 in Geneva (Switzerland).

According to the Ukrainian side, these measures contradict the provisions of Articles 5.6 of the GATT 1994 and 11.4 of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and, as a result, create additional barriers to transit, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade specified.

As reported, on December 29, 2018, the Russian Federation published a government decree that, among other things, prohibits the importation of goods, which were transited through Ukraine, into the customs territory of the Russian Federation according to the approved list.
Armenia: Statement by the Spokesperson on the early parliamentary elections

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On Monday, Feb. 18, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and Georgia Power will kick off work on their fifth major undertaking together as part of the Clear Roadside Project initiative in metro Atlanta to extend the distance between utility poles and traffic flow along portions of Peachtree and Roswell roads.

Approximately 100 existing poles will be relocated from near the curb to the back of the sidewalk along an eight-mile stretch of Peachtree Road from 14th Street continuing to Roswell Road at Windsor Parkway.

GDOT and Georgia Power will make every effort to limit lane closures related to the project, avoiding rush hour and heavy traffic-related events. Lane closures will be conducted according to GDOT standards and protocols and will conform to the GDOT-mandated timeframe outside of normal rush hours between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Work is scheduled to start Feb. 18 and continue over the next 12 months, with temporary lane closures occurring only in the areas immediately impacted.

Work to move the existing poles further back from the curb to create more space between utility poles and vehicle traffic is done to enhance roadside safety. GDOT and Georgia Power are committed to identifying stretches of roadway where the Clear Roadside Safety Project can be most effective.

Georgia Power will be communicating with customers, businesses, city and state officials, and other partners to ensure the safety of travelers, pedestrians and crews as it works to safely complete the project. Additionally, updates will be available via GDOT's 511 page.

About Georgia Department of Transportation

Georgia Department of Transportation is committed to providing a safe, seamless and sustainable transportation system that supports Georgia's economy and is sensitive to its citizens and its environment. For more information, visit www.dot.ga.gov.

About Georgia Power

Georgia Power is the largest electric subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), America's premier energy company. Value, Reliability, Customer Service and Stewardship are the cornerstones of the company's promise to 2.5 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties. Committed to delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy at rates below the national average, Georgia Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation mix that includes nuclear, coal and natural gas, as well as renewables such as solar, hydroelectric and wind. Georgia Power focuses on delivering world-class service to its customers every day and the company is consistently recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as an industry leader in customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com and connect with the company on Facebook (Facebook.com/GeorgiaPower), Twitter (Twitter.com/GeorgiaPower) and Instagram (Instagram.com/ga_power).
Ukraine will increase the share of renewables in its energy mix thanks to a new solar plant in the Mykolaiv region in the south of the country financed by the EBRD and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB). The 57.6 MW plant will be the EBRD's and the BSTDB's largest solar project in the country to date.

Both lenders are financing the construction of the solar plant with parallel loans of 19.1 million each will be provided by the EBRD and the BSTDB to a specially created project company Ingulets Energo - 2 LLC. Upon the completion the new plant will be generating at least 65,000 MWh of renewable energy per year and help reduce annual CO2 emissions by approximately 40,000 tonnes.

The investment is implemented under the EBRD's 250 million Ukraine Sustainable Energy Lending Facility III (USELF III) framework.

The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. Since the start of its operations in the country in 1993, the Bank has made a cumulative commitment of almost 13.1 billion across some 418 projects in Ukraine.

BSTDB's cumulative portfolio in the Black Sea region includes 365 approved operations in the key sectors of infrastructure, energy, transport, manufacturing, telecommunications, finance and other areas, totalling about 5 billion.

Read the full story.
Yesterday (2/13), U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette visited Vienna, Austria for the first time as Deputy Secretary to meet with leaders of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). U.S. Ambassador to International Organizations in Vienna Jackie Wolcott also participated in the meetings.

Deputy Secretary Brouillette and Ambassador Wolcott held bilateral meetings with IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, Deputy Director General for Management Mary Alice Hayward, Deputy Director General for Safeguards Massimo Aparo, and Deputy Director General for Nuclear Energy Mikhail Chudakov.

Their conversations covered nuclear nonproliferation, management practices, nuclear cooperation, and advances in civilian nuclear energy. Deputy Secretary Brouillette emphasized U.S. support for the IAEA as it carries out its critical work and thanked Ambassador Wolcott for her commitment as the U.S. representative to this important international organization.
Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE: ARCH) announced today (2/14) that it has commenced development of a new, world-class longwall mine in Barbour County, West Virginia, that will produce an estimated three million tons of premium, High-Vol A coking coal annually for sale into an undersupplied global marketplace.

The new mine, Leer South, will be similar in virtually every respect to Arch's existing Leer longwall mine, and will operate in the same 200-million-ton reserve base as the Leer operation. The Leer mine is widely regarded as one of the lowest-cost, highest-quality and highest-margin coking coal mines in the U.S. coking coal industry.

"We are excited about this new project, which we view as transformational for Arch Coal and its shareholders," said John W. Eaves, Arch's chief executive officer. "With the addition of Leer South, Arch will greatly enhance its portfolio of world-class coking coal assets, and cement our position as the premier global producer of High-Vol A coking coal. We believe there is significant, unfulfilled global demand for High-Vol A coking coal generally, and our Leer brand specifically, and are already engaged in discussions with leading steel producers around the world that are eager to secure additional volumes of our Leer-brand products."

The company plans to sell the output from the Leer South complex principally into the 300-million-metric-ton-per-year seaborne coking coal market. Steel market consultants expect solid demand growth for seaborne coking coal over the next 10 years, driven by substantial steel sector growth in India and other rapidly emerging Asian economies. At the same time, we believe that global coking coal markets remain under-supplied following years of under-investment, with few large-scale projects - particularly in high-quality coking coal reserves - contemplated in coming years. Premium High-Vol A coals, such as those produced at the Leer complex, face a particularly tight supply outlook. With average seaborne coking coal demand growth projected at 1.5 percent per year, and assuming a modest annual depletion rate of 2 percent at existing mines, seaborne coking coal markets will require the installation of 10 million tons of new mine capacity annually, or a total of more than 75 million tons between now and 2025.

"We believe that Leer South's projected position in the first quartile of the U.S. coking coal cost curve - coupled with its extremely high product quality - will enable us to achieve highly attractive margins, an excellent return on investment, and a rapid payback across a range of potential market environments," Eaves said.

With their high fluidity and superior plasticity, High-Vol A coking coals can facilitate the inclusion of a wide range of coking coals and even petcokes in a steel mill's coke blend, while reducing coking times and delivering a stronger and more homogeneous finished coke product. Leer-brand coking coal has the significant, added advantage of high coke strength after reaction, or CSR, which results in an even stronger finished coke product. Arch estimates that the global supply of High-Vol A or equivalent coals totals less than 25 million tons per annum.

Arch expects to invest approximately $360 million to $390 million over the next three years to develop the mine, with the longwall scheduled to start up in late 2021.

"Given our outlook for continued strong cash generation, along with other steps we have taken to increase liquidity, we expect to fund 2019 expenditures for the new development with internally generated cash and cash on hand," Eaves said. "Even with the projected increase in our 2019 capital spending budget, which includes approximately $90 million related to the Leer South project, we expect to have the capability to continue our share buyback program at similar levels to 2018 should we opt to do so."

Given the company's exceptionally strong balance sheet, minimal debt level and overall net cash position, and subject to then-current coal market conditions, Arch may consider a variety of alternatives after 2019, including debt financing or utilization of existing borrowing capacity should those options be deemed advantageous.

In addition to its plans for Leer South, Arch announced that it would be transitioning its Mountain Laurel operation from longwall to room-and-pillar mining at the beginning of 2020, and moving the Mountain Laurel longwall equipment to Leer South at that time.

"We view this transition as beneficial in multiple ways," said Paul A. Lang, Arch's president and chief operating officer. "First, Mountain Laurel's still-extensive reserve base is increasingly well-suited to room-and-pillar mining, which is expected to deliver greater operational flexibility, higher product quality and a modestly lower cost structure. Second, the redeployment of the longwall equipment to Leer South will lower the capital requirements for the new project by around $35 million and further enhance our expected return on investment. Third, we see great value in expanding further our high-margin High-Vol A production while maintaining a value-creating position in High-Vol B markets via a reconfigured Mountain Laurel operation."

As indicated previously, Arch expects Leer South's product quality, selling price and cost structure to be comparable to those of the existing Leer mine. Given that fact and based on current market conditions, Leer South would expect to capture a cash margin of around $90 per ton on seaborne coking coal shipments, and to fully recover its capital investment in roughly 18 months upon achieving full production rates.

Following the transition to room-and-pillar mining, Mountain Laurel expects to produce approximately 1.3 million tons of High-Vol B coking coal annually. While that is roughly 20 percent lower than the mine's 2018 output, Arch expects Mountain Laurel's per-ton costs to decline modestly and its product quality to improve following the transition. The transition will not result in the layoff of any of Mountain Laurel's outstanding workforce, as they will be repositioned in the new room-and-pillar mine plan.

In addition to the redeployment of existing longwall equipment from Mountain Laurel, Arch has further reduced Leer South's projected capital needs via plans to expand and utilize the preparation plant and select other facilities at the company's Sentinel Mine, which is also located in Barbour County. When fully operational, Leer South will employ nearly 600 highly skilled and highly trained employees.

"We view today's announcement as a tremendously positive development for Arch Coal, surrounding communities, and the state of West Virginia as a whole," Lang said. "The new Leer South operation will provide exceptional career opportunities for nearly 600 West Virginians directly, and many times that number indirectly, and be a cornerstone of the regional economy for decades to come. Just as importantly, Arch is committed to ensuring that Leer South achieves the same exemplary, industry-leading standards of mine safety and environmental stewardship for which Arch has long been known."

Arch expects to produce between 6.6 and 7.0 million tons of coking coal in 2019 - of which nearly 60 percent will be High-Vol A quality - and to maintain a similar level of production through 2021. In 2022, Arch's total coking coal production is expected to approach 9 million tons annually, with 75 percent of that total expected to be High-Vol A coal. With the start-up of the Leer South longwall, Arch expects the average, per-ton operating cost for its coking coal portfolio to decline meaningfully, which will drive higher margins in all market environments.

Concurrent with this release, Arch distributed a slide presentation on the Leer South project that can be found in the "investor" section of archcoal.com.

U.S.-based Arch Coal, Inc. is a top coal producer for the global steel and power generation industries. Arch operates a streamlined portfolio of large-scale, low-cost mining complexes that produce high-quality metallurgical coals in Appalachia and low-emitting thermal coals in the Powder River Basin and other strategic supply regions. For more information, visit www.archcoal.com.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains "forward-looking statements" - that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," or "will." Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, particular uncertainties arise from changes in the demand for our coal by the domestic electric generation and steel industries; from legislation and regulations relating to the Clean Air Act and other environmental initiatives; from operational, geological, permit, labor and weather-related factors, from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and other tax reforms; from the effects of foreign and domestic trade policies, actions or disputes; from fluctuations in the amount of cash we generate from operations, which could impact, among other things, our ability to pay dividends or repurchase shares in accordance with our announced capital allocation plan from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. For a description of some of the risks and uncertainties that may affect our future results, you should see the risk factors described from time to time in the reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), welcomed HE Omar Oumeish, Executive Director of Dubai Healthcare City Authority (DHCA) and its delegation. This is one of a series of meetings that DEWA has to enhance cooperation and coordinate with its partners from various sectors.

The delegation included Dr Ramadan Alblooshi, CEO of the regulatory sector; Dr Amer Sharif, CEO of the educational sector; Dr Amer Al Zarooni, CEO of the medical sector; and Dr Abdulla Al Khayat, CEO of Al Jalila Children's Hospital. The meeting was also attended by Khawla Al Mehairi, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Government Communications.

The meeting discussed ways to enhance cooperation between DEWA and DHCA in initiatives and programmes that rely on clean energy, design solar-powered buildings, enhance energy efficiency and rationalise water consumption. These are intended to achieve the wise leadership's vision to make Dubai a centre of clean energy and green economy so that it will have the lowest carbon footprint in the world by 2050. This will done by achieving the objectives of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to provide 75% of Dubai's total power output from clean energy by 2050.

Al Tayer discussed DEWA's efforts to establish the infrastructure for electricity and water services in Dubai in accordance with the highest standards and best global practices. DEWA's strategic priorities are energy supply security and positioning Dubai as a global role model of energy efficiency and reliability, green economy, and sustainability.

Al Tayer also talked about DEWA's efforts to provide the best government services and achieve happiness for all relevant stakeholders. Many improvements were introduced to generation and operations to raise efficiency and reduce costs. DEWA achieved superior standards in global competitiveness, including raising the fuel efficiency of generation units to about 90%. This means DEWA ranks highly internationally for improving production efficiency. It has achieved this by implementing innovative projects to increase generation capacity by 861MW, without the need to build new power plants, resulting in significant annual capital, operational and environmental savings.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is one of DEWA's major projects. When DEWA started the 13MW first phase, the main challenges were energy prices, the efficiency of photovoltaic solar panels, the strong regulatory framework, energy storage technologies and national capacity building.

DEWA addressed these challenges with an integrated plan. DEWA adopted the Independent Power Producer Model (IPP) to promote public-private partnerships. Through this model, DEWA achieved a global record in solar power prices. DEWA increased the efficiency of the solar panels from 11% to 27% through an advanced solar tracking system and robotics-cleaning system for solar cells that maintains a high-performance level to increase generation efficiency.

Al Tayer also emphasised that DEWA's research and development areas revolve around four major operational areas: producing electricity using solar power, the integration of smart grids, energy efficiency, and water. DEWA signed several agreements with prestigious international centres and universities, including the University of California, Berkeley; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Stanford University; and several authorities, institutions, and national and international companies, including National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the US Department of Energy, and The National Renewable Energy Centre of Spain (CENER) for research and development to learn about the latest global developments in energy, water, and the environment.
The board of directors of Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE: D), has elected two new directors, James A. Bennett and D. Maybank Hagood, effective Feb. 15, 2019.

During the Dominion Energy-SCANA merger process, the company committed to appoint a member of SCANA's board or executive team to Dominion Energy's board of directors. Both previously served on SCANA's board of directors.

The company also announced the resignation from the board of William P. Barr, effective Feb. 12, 2019. Barr was nominated by President Donald Trump in December to be U.S. Attorney General, and he was confirmed today. Barr joined Dominion Energy's board in 2009 and chaired the Compensation, Governance and Nominating Committee at the time of his resignation.

Thomas F. Farrell, II, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said:

"These two distinguished South Carolinians are business and banking leaders in the Palmetto State and bring to our board insights into the state and its energy needs, and hands-on familiarity with our operations there. They are terrific additions to our board, and we look forward to working with them to better serve our customers and be excellent stewards of our investors' money.

"The company will also miss Bill Barr. He served on our board with distinction and always provided wise and pragmatic counsel. We wish him well as our nation's 85th Attorney General."

Bennett has been South Carolina Mid-South Area executive for First-Citizens Bank & Trust in Columbia, S.C., since January 2015. He joined the bank in 1994 and, prior to his most recent promotion, was executive vice president, director of Public Affairs and chief diversity officer for 12 years.

Bennett served on the board of SCANA from 1997 until SCANA's merger with Dominion Energy. At the time of the merger, he served as chair of the Compensation Committee and as a member of the Audit and Executive Committees. He has been actively involved with the Columbia Urban League for more than 25 years, having previously served as League chairman, and is the former chairman of the board of Claflin University. Bennett currently serves as the vice chair of the South Carolina Bankers Association and is a member of the board of directors of Prisma Health.

Bennett earned a bachelor degree in political science from the University of South Carolina, and is a graduate of the South Carolina Bankers School.

Hagood has been chief executive officer of Charleston, S.C.-based Southern Diversified Distributors, Inc., since 2003, and has been chairman since 2012. He has also been chief executive officer of Southern Diversified subsidiary William M. Bird and Company, Inc., since 1993, having previously served as its president until June 2009.

He sat on SCANA's board from 1999 until SCANA's merger with Dominion Energy. In 2018, he served as chairman of the board, having previously served as the board's lead director and chair of the Audit Committee. Hagood has served as a board member and chair of a variety of businesses and civic and charitable organizations during the past 25 years.

Hagood received a bachelor's in English from the University of Virginia (UVA), and later earned his MBA from UVA's Darden School of Business.

The additions of Bennett and Hagood, and the resignation of Barr, will bring the board's membership to 13.

Nearly 7.5 million customers in 18 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The company is committed to sustainable, reliable, affordable and safe energy and is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy with about $100 billion of assets providing electric generation, transmission and distribution, as well as natural gas storage, transmission, distribution and import/export services. As one of the nation's leading solar operators, the company intends to reduce its carbon intensity 60 percent by 2030. Through its Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, as well as EnergyShare and other programs, Dominion Energy contributed nearly $35 million in 2018 to community causes. Please visit www.dominionenergy.com to learn more.
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.
Currency law in action: Ukrainians invest almost EUR 2 mln abroad

The law has abolished individual licenses for foreign exchange transactions.

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Failure of Russian import substitution: "Russian Railways" speaks for lifting ban on imports from Ukraine

Today, Russia's import substitution is a lame duck not only in the civilian sector, but also in defense industry.

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Court in The Hauge rules in PrivatBank's favor in case against Russia over Crimea assets

The court is set to consider the issue of compensation amount at the next arbitration stage.

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"Rotterdam Plus" case: NABU explains why it conducts raids on NEURC offices

The "Rotterdam Plus delivery" formula is determined at trading on the Rotterdam stock exchange (the Netherlands), plus the cost of coal transportation to the domestic market.

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Ukraine complains to WTO about Russia's new transit restrictions

According to the Ukrainian side, such measures are inconsistent with the provisions of the WTO's Agreement on Trade Facilitation.

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Energoatom, Turboatom sign contract worth US$18.5 mln

Other details of the contract are not disclosed.

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Singapore to Hanoi: The bumpy diplomatic road since Trump and Kim first met

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un react at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore June 12, 2018. Photo by Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

As the two leaders prepare to meet in Vietnam for a second summit, there is a growing expectation that this time they need to make a more specific agreement.

North Korea still has its nuclear weapons, and Washington has only increased sanctions on Pyongyang so the stakes are high for both leaders who have promised to overcome decades of tension and conflict between the two countries.

Here is a breakdown of what Trump and Kim have agreed to, what has - and hasnt - happened since they last shook hands, and what may be on the negotiating table.

The Singapore agreement

The Singapore summit in June represented the first time a sitting American president met with a North Korean leader, but the statement that came out of the meeting was light on specifics, opting instead for four general commitments:

What has happened since Singapore

Just ahead of the first summit, in May, North Korea destroyed some tunnels and buildings at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site, observed by international journalists but not expert inspectors.

Immediately following his meeting with Kim, Trump made a surprise announcement that the United States would suspend military drills with South Korea, which have often been criticized by North Korea as rehearsal for war. Major exercises have been halted, while smaller ones continued.

North Korea moved quickly to repatriate 55 boxes containing what were believed to be the remains of American soldiers killed in the war.

In July, satellite images indicated North Korea had begun to dismantle some facilities at its Sohae Satellite Launching Station, but later reports by U.S. think tanks said no further dismantling had been observed.

And North and South Korea moved forward with their own reconciliation, holding three summits and taking steps to reduce military tensions along their shared border by closing some guard posts, removing landmines, and imposing a no-fly zone.

Other inter-Korea plans depend heavily on Washingtons willingness to support easing sanctions that block most economic engagement with North Korea.

The past year was a see-saw of occasional public meetings - and canceled visits - between American and North Korean officials.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Pyongyang multiple times, first being condemned by North Korea over "gangster-like demands" for the Norths complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization, then later earning Kim Jong Uns "satisfaction" with another meeting.

Trump, meanwhile, hosted senior North Korean officials at the White House and declared that he and Kim "fell in love" after exchanging letters.

In his New Years speech, Kim said he was still open to meeting Trump again, but warned of a potential "new path," which could indicate an eventual return to weapons development, if he was not satisfied with the negotiations.

A flurry of talks in early January led to Trump announcing the second summit would happen in Vietnam at the end of February.

What hasn't happened

Throughout all these talks, as well as other behind-the-scenes negotiations, neither side announced major new steps toward denuclearization, easing sanctions, or establishing a new "peace regime" for the peninsula.

Statements carried by North Korean state media complained about Washingtons opposition to signing a peace declaration or easing sanctions until North Korea takes more steps toward denuclearization.

In the meantime, U.S. intelligence and defense officials say North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear and missile arsenals, despite a self-imposed moratorium on testing, and that the country is unlikely to ever surrender all of its nuclear weapons.

After meeting with Kim in September, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the North is willing to "permanently dismantle" its Yongbyon main nuclear complex and allow international inspectors into some missile sites if the United States makes concessions of its own.

But neither the American concessions nor the inspections have been forthcoming so far.

What might happen in Vietnam

American and North Korean officials have been tight-lipped about what agreement might come from the second Trump-Kim summit, but analysts say Washington needs to be open to taking interim steps for any deal to be possible.

Stephen Biegun, the top U.S. envoy to North Korea, told South Korean lawmakers that most of the recent discussions with Pyongyang had revolved around summit logistics, and that more talks were needed to address the substantive issues.

But Biegun said a "dozen" agenda items were discussed, one of the lawmakers said, and North Korea has called for easing sanctions, restarting some inter-Korean economic projects, opening a U.S. liaison office in Pyongyang, and signing a declaration formally ending the technical state of war from the 1950-53 conflict.

Other moves could include easing the ban on Americans traveling to North Korea, or providing more bilateral aid.

To win some of those concessions from Washington, North Korea could follow through on shutting its Yongbyon nuclear complex, as well as abolish key missile facilities in the presence of foreign experts, South Korean officials have said.

North Koreas state media said in December that Pyongyangs commitment to the "denuclearization of the Korean peninsula" also includes "completely eliminating the U.S. nuclear threat to Korea," but did not spell out specific steps Washington should take.

While some U.S. lawmakers and analysts have speculated Trump could agreed to reduce the American military presence in South Korea, officials in Seoul and Washington have said troop levels are not up for negotiation.

Reuters
Pompeo: US aims to 'get as far down the road as we can' with North Korea

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stands with Vice Chairman of the North Korean Workers' Party Committee Kim Yong Chol, North Korea's lead negotiator in nuclear diplomacy with the United States, for talks aimed at clearing the way for a second U.S.-North Korea summit as they meet at a hotel in Washington, U.S., January 18, 2019. Photo by Reuters/Joshua Roberts

Pompeo said he was sending his team back to Asia in the coming days for further discussions around all issues discussed at a groundbreaking Singapore summit last June between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump announced last week he would hold a second summit with Kim in Hanoi on February 27 and 28.

Pompeo told a news conference in Warsaw that Trump and Kim would be looking at the "denuclearization pillar they agreed to" at their first summit as well as other matters.

"Well certainly talk about how we ... reduce tension, reduce military risks, take down that risk so we can get peace and security on the peninsula as well," he said after a conference on the Middle East.

"We are aiming to get this as far down the road as we can in what is now a couple of weeks," Pompeo said.

Asked later in a Fox News interview how important the formal end of the Korean War was in the discussions, Pompeo said: "Its something weve had a lot of talks about. In fact, my team will redeploy to Asia here in a day or two to continue conversations around all elements that were discussed back in Singapore."

The United States has been demanding that North Korea give up a nuclear weapons program that threatens the United States, and Trump has been eager for a second summit even though the Singapore meeting produced only vague commitments from Kim and little concrete progress since.

North Korea has been seeking a lifting of punishing U.S.-led sanctions, a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War and security guarantees.

In an interview with CBS News on Wednesday, Pompeo said of Kim that "now its time for him to deliver."

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun is expected to hold further talks with his North Korean counterpart next week to prepare for the Hanoi summit.

Biegun held three days of talks in Pyongyang last week, which he said would be aimed at mapping out "a set of concrete deliverables" for Hanoi. The State Department has offered no indications of any progress in these.

South Korean media said Biegun told a South Korean parliamentary delegation that in Pyongyang the two sides agreed not to negotiate, but to make clear their respective positions, and they would seek to narrow their differences in the next round of talks.

Reuters
A group of Taiwanese is found to have defrauded over $113,000 from six Vietnamese. Photo by Shutterstock/SpeedKingz

Prosecutors in HCMC have charged a Taiwanese man and five Vietnamese with conning six people out of VND2.6 billion ($113,000) in 2017.

According to the indictment, Chen Kun Chin, 30, and two other Taiwanese, Nung Min Chun and Tu Tsan Chang, came to HCMC in 2017 at the behest of another Taiwanese man, Hong Cha.

Chin hired five local men and instructed them to open accounts at 10 different banks.

He also rented a hotel room in District 5 and stayed with the five Vietnamese there to easily control the transfer of money extracted by fraud.

On November 27, the gang put two men pretending to be police officers calling Sang, 83, a city resident, saying he had been "involved with a money laundering ring."

After learning that the old man had VND123 million in his bank account, the gang asked him to transfer the entire sum to one of the bank accounts they had opened, to "serve investigation."

Using the same tactic, they tricked five other men and women in various places in the next two days and exacted VND2.5 billion, including VND1.3 billion from Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh of Hanoi.

Following an investigation, the police arrested Chin and the five Vietnamese at the hotel on November 30.

Chin told them he had followed instructions from Chun and Chang and was promised 1 percent of the loot.

The police looking for Chun and Chang.
Kim to check out Vietnam for himself before Trump summit: report

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses for photos in Pyongyang in this January 1, 2019. Photo handed out via Reuters

The North Korean leader could visit key industrial sites and meet with Vietnamese President and Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, South Korean television network MBC reported, citing a source close to the matter.

The source said Kim could arrive as early as February 24, or 25th at the latest. The summit is on February 27-28.

He might visit Hai Phong, an industrial port city two hours east of Hanoi, and the nearby Ha Long Bay, a world-famous tourist destination.

Pham Binh Minh, Vietnams deputy prime minister and foreign minister, said during a three-day visit to the North Korean capital Pyongyang this week that Vietnam is willing to share its experience in development and international integration with North Korea.

Observers have opined that the choice of Vietnam as an economic model for North Korea to follow is rooted in historical, ideological and practical reasons.

Vietnam had a hostile past with both the U.S. and South Korea due to the Vietnam War, in which the latter was involved, but now Vietnam is an important economic and security partner of both nations, Le Hong Hiep, a fellow at Singapores ISEAS  Yusof Ishak Institute, said.

Vietnam had also suffered a certain imposed isolation like North Korea, but later successfully implemented market-based economic reforms and opened up the country to international integration, which is a path "both Washington and Seoul would like to encourage Pyongyang to take," he said.

Kim spoke recently of his vision for economic reforms.

In three meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in last year, he repeatedly cited Vietnams successes, South Korean media reported.

During a visit to Hanoi last July just after his visit to Pyongyang, the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also referred to Vietnam, which now enjoys burgeoning trade ties with former foe U.S., as a model for North Korea.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, during his trip to Vietnam last November, told the Vietnamese government that North Korea hopes to learn from Vietnams model of development.

Huyen Le
Vietnam is both a major consumer and a transit point of rhino horns. Photo by AFP/File

Hong Kong customs officers Thursday made a record seizure of 40 kg of rhino horns worth $8 million that were en route to HCMC.

Two men, aged 28 and 33, were intercepted at Hong Kong International Airport after officials spotted them acting suspiciously. The men, whose identities and nationalities have not been disclosed, had arrived from Johannesburg in South Africa.

A search of their luggage turned up the horns hidden in two cardboard boxes checked in to Ho Chi Minh City, the government website news.gov.hk said.

Hong Kong is a global hot spot for wildlife trafficking. It is a key transit point for sharks fin and rhino horn besides timber smuggling to Asia, particularly mainland China.

Vietnam is a major consumer of rhino horns for their alleged medicinal powers and a transit point for trafficking mostly to China and the U.S., where they are made into jewelry and home decoration items.

It has banned the trade in rhino horn, elephant ivory and pangolins, but weak law enforcement has allowed a black market to flourish and supply a global multi-billion-dollar industry in animal parts and exotic pets.
Two Cat Linh-Ha Dong trains leave the station in Hanoi during a trial run in September 2018. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

The Chinese company building the long-delayed Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line in Hanoi wants it to begin commercial operations in April.

China Railway Sixth Group Co., Ltd. has called for concluding the months-long testing phase by the end of the first quarter to begin operations in April, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The ministry has ordered the Railway Project Management Board and the Hanoi Metro Company to review the work before making a decision.

The state-owned Chinese firm has been carrying out trial runs along the 13-kilometer (8-mile) line since last September, and three to six months is the normal testing period. However, some 4 percent of other works such as pathways and terminals are yet to be completed.

Once the testing concludes, it will be assessed for safety by the Vietnam Register and an independent French unit before being handed over to Hanoi authorities for commercial operation.

In the early stages the metro will be free for passengers, and the Hanoi Railway Transport Company has proposed a fare subsequently of around VND10,000 ($0.43) for a five- to six-kilometer trip, and higher or lower depending on the distance.

The fare will be subsidized by the government to persuade people to use the metro instead of private vehicles, according to the company. The city is however still appraising the fare options.

Work on the Cat Linh-Ha Dong elevated railway started in October 2011 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2013. But several hurdles, including loan disbursement issues with China that were only resolved in December 2017, stalled it for years.

The original estimated cost of $552.86 million also ballooned to more than $868 million, including $670 million in loans from China.

The metro eventually entered the testing phase with all 13 cars carrying out trial runs on both lines at a speed of 35 kilometers per hour. The ministry wanted commercial operations to begin before the Lunar New Year in early February, but this deadline too was missed.

Hanoi, a city of more than 7.5 million people, has 5.2 million motorbikes and around 550,000 cars, besides some 1.2 million brought by immigrants, according to police figures.
Vietnamese designer sticks to his strengths for New York show

Cong Tri, one of the top designers in Vietnam, debuts his collection at NYFW on Monday. Photo acquired by VnExpress

Cong Tri wanted to something different, but stylist collaborator Kate Young advised him to stick to what he does best.

When Tri presented his Autumn and Winter 2019 collection at the New York Fashion Week on Monday, it was a culmination of hard work and meticulous care to details, and fruitful discussions with collaborator Kate Young.

He decided to present evening gowns, a dress he is very familiar with, on Kate Youngs advice.

"I always want every collection to have some really special content, but Kate Young convinced otherwise," Tri told VnExpress.

"Maybe the kind of designs and ideas are familiar to me, but fashion lovers in the U.S. have not seen them on the New York stage. So showcasing my strength is the key, she said."

"We selected the designs together with careful consideration of every detail so that they all fit the taste of New York fashion lovers."

Tri took 42 evening dresses to Gallery II in Spring Studios, New York, home to many grand shows of famous brands like Marc Jacob, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Versace and Tom Ford.

Four evening dresses showcased in Cong Tri's collection at NYFW. Photo acquired by VnExpress

New challenge

The Vietnamese top designer said the preparation process presented some major challenges.

The pressure of a ready-to-wear collection, instead of the haute couture style that he had presented in other international events, was a stiff challenge. He had only introduced his ready-to-wear collections on domestic stages before.

"It was tough," Tri said. "You need to approach and convince the market with your designs. You need to put a thousand times more effort into this than what you usually do within your own country."

One strategic move for the presentation was seen in casting the models.

Many were amazed to modeling superstars walking for Cong Tris show on Monday, including Victoria Secret models like Lais Ribeiro, Jasmine Tookes and Josephine Skiver. This was not an easy task.

While many global star models do take part in the NYFW, many grand shows take place at the same time or just 3-4 hours apart from each another. Renowned fashion brands have an advantage in casting famous models, since the latter are usually willing to work with the former.

With new brands and young designers, the models make their choices depending on the prestige and potential. Money is not the most essential factor, he said.

"However, the pressure from such competition made me happy," Tri noted, explaining that the new challenge was a new opportunity.

"I hope this is a new step for my own brand and becomes a valuable experience for young Vietnamese designers in general."
Hanoi Muslims keep their faith in consonance with Vietnamese traditions

Despite some basic, irreconcilable differences with Vietnamese traditions, Hanois Muslim community manages to practice its faith in harmony.

Every Friday noon, the sidewalk on Hang Luoc Street is crowded with vehicles.

It is prayer time, and around 300 faithful Muslims from Hanoi and surrounding areas gather to pray at Al-Noor, the only mosque in northern Vietnam, which has been built for over a century.

The gate to Al-Noor Mosque on Hang Luoc street, Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Anh Trung

The small mosque has typical Islamic architectural features, including a dome, curved doors and pointed towers.

The small prayer room cannot accommodate all the followers, so many woolen carpets are placed in the yard for people to kneel down in rows. A small community There are an estimated 72,000 Muslims across Vietnam, according to the Government Committee for Religious Affairs. "For Muslims who are originally from Hanoi, there are around 100 people. There are more than 300 foreign Muslims (in the capital city)," Ta Hoang Thuc, former vice-chairman of the Al-Noor mosque management board, told VnExpress International. Islam entered Vietnam at different eras in peace, mainly via traders and immigrants. The Islamic faith has been present in the country since the 10th century, during the reign of the Champa Kingdom (now part of central Vietnam).



The Muslim were praying on the yard of Al-Noor mosque on a holy Friday noon. Photo by VnExpress/Anh Trung

More recent conversions to the Islamic faith have happened mostly through marriages of Vietnamese women to Muslim men.

Phuong, 37, has been a Muslim for a year since her marriage. She entered the mosque wearing green hijab, a veil worn by many Muslim women. After four years of working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Phuong got married to citizen there before returning to Vietnam. "I come here to pray every Friday, since the custom is important," she said. Living in Hanoi, Phuong does not find many Muslims around her neighborhood, so it is only when she visits the mosque every Friday that can she meet her Muslim friends, mostly women who follow Islam after their marriage to Muslim men. "Some people simply like Islam. But many of us, when we get married, we learn about Islam and think that it is practical and good to follow," Phuong said. Lifestyle adjustments Muslims in Vietnam have to make adjustments in their lifestyle to deal with differences in Islamic regulations and Vietnamese laws. Muslim in Vietnam cannot have the right to some actions acceptable under Islamic laws. "Vietnamese followers of Islam abide by two sets of rules: Islamic rules and Vietnams laws," said Hussein, 27, an Imam (priest) who leads prayers at the Al-Noor mosque, adding that certain Islamic rules are not compatible with Vietnamese law. Citing an extreme example, Hussein noted that a married woman who cheats her husband can be stoned to death under Islamic law, something that can never happen under Vietnamese law. Muslims cannot practice polygamy in Vietnam. "In Islam, a man can have several wives," Phuong said. "But Vietnam only allows marriage between one man and one woman." Not a big problem Huong, a Hanoi resident who became a Muslim after marrying her Bangladeshi husband, said it was not too difficult to obey Islams rules in daily life. "The rules are not harsh," Huong said. "We just cannot wear tight pants, and need to cover our skin and hair. The beauty is reserved for the husband."

Several Muslims were having Halal food for lunch at a restaurant inside Al-Noor mosque's area. Photo by VnExpress/Andy Ip Thien Phuong highlighted some major differences in eating habits. "Actually Islam has some different rules; for example, we must not eat pork, but you see in Vietnam, most people eat it." Islam religion forbids the consumption of pork or dog meat, or animals that use their claws, said Hussein. The animals that can be eaten need to be butchered appropriately by a Muslim. "We only eat the meat from animals whose necks are slit by Muslim. We cant tie them or butcher them until they are dead." Thuc said. "So, one time, I went to the market, bought a chicken and slit its neck by myself before the sellers did the rest." Prayers

A sign to mark the prayer time during the day. Photo by VnExpress/Andy Ip Thien

Phuong said that Vietnamese Muslims find ways to follow as many of the Muslim traditions as possible, including praying five times a day. "My company supports me. At the praying time, I can usually go to a corner to pray," said Thanh, a 28-year-old engineer in Hanoi. Thanh converted to Islam after learning about it through family members. "My wife's sister had a husband who followed the religion, then she introduced it to my wife," Thanh said. "When I found out that Islam loved peace, and received the encouragement of my wife and people in the community, I converted to the religion last year." "It is perfectly fine for us to lead our daily life", said Phuong. "What I love about following Islam is that people really love each other. "Everyone here is very close-knit, like brothers and sisters. If someone has a problem, people can tell and help each other emotionally or financially, even."
My Village, dramatizing traditional Vietnamese village life, is being performed February 8-17 at the Perth Festival in Australia.

Lang Toi (My Village) performers rehearse at the Vietnam Tuong Theater in 2017. Photo by Linh Pham.

The first performances have been praised by local media, with The Australian saying "Nouveau Cirque du Vietnam weaves magic."

A total of 15 acrobats and four musicians portray life in a traditional Vietnamese village to the background of folk music. The West Australian newspaper described the production as "uplifting," remarking that the audience could not stop themselves from smiling and tapping their toes as they watched My Village.

The Australian Arts Review recognized the production as "a delightful acrobatic and aerial feast showcasing the gentle and playful Vietnamese culture."

"Nouveau Cirque du Vietnam" or New Circus of Vietnam troupe was invited to perform My Village at the Perth Festival after their sell out season in 2017 at the Regal Theatre. This years shows are being performed at the same theatre. Lune Production is the face behind the hit.

Founded in 1953, Perth Festival is an annual Australian cultural festival, the oldest in the Southern Hemisphere, and is usually held in February and March. It features a variety of art shows, including music, theater, cinema and performance arts.

Nouveau Cirque du Vietnam is the brainchild of Nhat Ly Nguyen, Lan Nguyen and Tuan Le. The first two are siblings who were born in France and spent their childhood there and in Vietnam, subsequently studying at the National Circus School in Hanoi, the Guardian reported.
The furniture segment for small urban houses is abuzz in Vietnam, with its main customers being young adults. Photo by VnExpress

Furniture manufacturers are striving to meet the changing tastes of young people, who have begun to value eco-friendliness and aesthetics.

Nguyen Chanh Phuong, vice president and general secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts and Wood Processing Association (HAWA), said the furniture segment for small urban houses is abuzz in Vietnam, with its main customers being young adults born between 1980 and 2000.

Unlike the previous generation, who preferred simple but durable furniture that could last 100 years, young people prefer to buy comprehensive interior packages based on their own aesthetic views, he explained.

They see furniture as things that serve their needs and not assets to be passed down, and so products only need to last about 10 years, he said, pointing out this was why furniture makers like IKEA have been so successful.

"There is a lot of opportunity arising from this group of customers alone. I estimate they only account for 15 percent in terms of number of buyers but account for 30-40 percent of spending."

Industry insiders said the market is seeing rapid growth in raw materials production, design and manufacture of furniture, and one can now find all types of international "fashionable" wood varieties from Germany, the U.S., France, Japan, Canada, and New Zealand.

Vietnams furniture market was worth $4 billion in 2018, and is expected to grow to $5-7 billion by 2025, according to the Handicraft And Wood Industry Association of HCMC.

Nguyen Quoc Khanh, HAWA chairman, said not only is the scale growing but also Vietnamese are increasingly demanding higher quality products.

"I think 'strong and durable is not the Vietnamese style; it was a need at a difficult time. Life is much better now, so people are allowed to express themselves.

"The only regret is that the market has not yet created the necessary ecosystem for the business of interior design. That is, furniture manufacturers have not been able to work with designers and real estate companies to completely meet users needs."

Foreign home interior brands and designers are present in force and dominating the increasingly affluent market.

According to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), some 80 percent of luxury woodwork and interior decoration items is imported from Europe, with local players accounting for the rest.
VPBank is one of four Vietnam's banks that have made it to top 500 most valuable banking brands in the world. Photo acquired by VnExpress

Four Vietnamese lenders, three state-owned and one private, are among the worlds top 500 most valuable brands this year.

In an annual ranking by BrandFinance, VietinBank was ranked 242, BIDV, 307, Vietcombank, 325, and VPBank, 361.

Last year, VietinBank, BIDV and Vietcombank, three major Vietnamese banks, made it to this elite list, and this year is the first time that a Vietnamese private bank, VPBank, has made it to the Brand Finance Banking 500.

In this years ranking, BIDV is one of top ten banks in the world in terms of brand strength, with growth of 22 percent; while VietinBank is one of top ten banks with biggest Brand Value Change 2018-2019 with a whopping 66 percent increase.

Chinese bank Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) continues to sit on the throne this year, followed by three others Chinese lenders in the top four.

According to the UK-based Brand Finance, a leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy, Chinese banking brands have grown "at an outstanding rate despite fears of an economic slowdown and the rise of protectionism in international trade."

It said Chinese banks grew 28 percent on average, achieving $407 billion in total brand value, over $100 billion more than American banks.

In August last year, Vietnams government approved a master plan for banking sector development until 2025 with a vision to 2030.

The plan envisages at least 2-3 banks in Asias top 100 in terms of total assets and targets to have 3-5 banks listed on foreign stock exchanges by 2025.
Huawei says it is in talks with Vietnamese partners regarding 5G trials in 2019. Photo by Reuters

Huawei Technologies says it has a good chance to be a supplier of 5G equipment to Vietnamese service providers.

Fine Fan, CEO of Huawei Vietnam, said that the Chinese company is in talks with Vietnamese partners on conducting 5G trials later this year.

"We are confident of expanding in Vietnam," Fan told the Nikkei Asian Review, adding that Vietnamese Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung "is open to every provider."

Fan said that Huawei cannot be beaten on quality or cost in Vietnam. "Huawei will provide better technology and solutions, along with financial support to local operators to deploy 5G."

Huaweis expression of confidence comes as major mobile carriers in Vietnam have previously announced plans to develop 5G networks using equipment from other suppliers, including Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung Electronics.

Viettel, the countrys largest telecommunications company, became the first firm to receive permission to trial 5G services last month.

The company has earmarked $40 million for the development of its own 5G chipset, but was also considering using technology from Ericsson and Nokia, its president and CEO Le Dang Dung had told Reuters.

Last November, Minister Hung said at a conference that Vietnam should test 5G in 2019 and ensure nationwide coverage by 2020.

"Vietnam should be one of the first to launch the network, at least in Hanoi and HCMC," Hung said. The country had been one of the last in Southeast Asia to roll out 4G services.

Huawei has been the largest provider of 2G and 3G network equipment in Vietnam, though the company lost its lead when 4G arrived, CEO Fan said.

Vietnam's telecom market was estimated at more than $16 billion in 2016, with the three state-owned providers, Viettel, MobiFone, and VNPT, accounting for 95 percent of the market, according to the Nikkei.

5G is said to offer speeds 100 times faster than 4G, primarily used for smartphones and other similar devices. 5G is also expected to support new applications like remote medical procedures and autonomous driving.
Thevideo clip above ran Monday night. It's a decent introduction to a presidential candidate for ABC News viewers. It's weird that the Democratic Party gatekeepers at MSNBC refuse to recognize Marianne Williamson as a "real" candidate. Tuesday night Rachel Maddow-- who should stick to Russian conspiracy theories (which she doers better than) and leave electoral politics to people who knowthat doesn't come from candidates' press releases and briefing books-- had Cory Booker on for an interview. It wasn't as embarrassingly slobbering as the one she did Monday night for Amy Klobuchar. But on Tuesday she ran a graphic that stayed on the screen for a really long time. It included 7 candidates, even John Delaney and Pete Buttigieg, who together haven't been heard of by as many people as Mariiane Williamson, who Maddow refuses to recognize as a candidate. Did you know, for example, that Williamson's platform is more progressive than any declared candidates'? Of course not, because the gatekeepers aren't reporting on her campaign.

In Russia and Iran they say you can vote for whomever you want, but first they tell you what your choices are. MSNBC and other corporate types are self-appointed gatekeepers for the Democratic Party establishment, declaring whos running as though its up to them. They mention people who have not even announced exploratories, while leaving Williamson off their lists completely. And polling companies follow suit.

She's just not in their club. Since she's running on a stronger racial equality platform than either declared black candidate-- including reparations, which she's been speaking about for many years-- Al Sharpton could hardly avoid interviewing her once. And CNN did an interview. You know how it is: first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win...)

Last week, Stephen Dinan, founder & CEO of the Shift Network, member of the Transformational Leadership Council and author ofand, took to Medium and wrote an essay about why this discrimination against Marianne Williamson matters . She's had four #1 best selling books and has touched the lives-- often profoundly-- of millions of people across the country. She may not have ever been in office but she's far better known than many of the approved for prime time candidates. Dinan points out that her social media presence is power-- with 770,000 followers on Facebook and 2.6 million on Twitter.

Marianne is a serious candidate with a strong, coherent policy platform outlined on her website. She has raised multiple millions for a previous Congressional campaign and has a national base that believes in her, with 2.6M Twitter fans and 770K on Facebook. Maddow's candidate, Amy Klobuchar, is well-known in her own state, but nowhere else. She has 619K twitter followers. Pete Buttigieg has 120K followers. John Delaney has 13.9K Twitter followers. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has 1.36 million followers, about half of Williamson's. Sherrod Brown has 363K. "Those who follow the major media, however," wrote Dinan, "are likely unaware that shes even in the race. Marianne is far too often not listed in the rankings of major Democratic candidates, despite having a large national base and being a powerful cultural change agent who has started nationally influential nonprofits in addition to her written and speaking work. Why the exclusion?"

He says he believes the answer is simple: "worldview."

Simply put, Marianne represents a set of values that sociologist Paul Ray calls Cultural Creative values, which are not taken seriously or respected by much of the modernist-leaning press. Proponents of these values are often subtly denigrated or marginalized, sometimes unconsciously, despite the size of the Cultural Creative population (estimated at more than 45 million people by Paul Ray and growing).





Cultural Creatives are committed to healthy, holistic lifestyles, personal growth, spirituality, and global citizenship. They are often positive cultural change agents. As one benchmark of the size and economic influence of this group, yoga has passed 20 million practitioners, and as of 2016 represented over $16 billion in spending. More analysts are now talking about the yoga vote as a result.





For several decades, Marianne has been one of the preeminent speakers, thinkers, and writers in this growing constituency of Americans. That influence and background, more than any other factor, is why I believe she is being left off the medias lists of serious contenders since they often look askance at this audience.





This is damaging for our democracy, and ultimately for the publics trust in the press. The founders of this country never wanted us to only consider professional politicians for office. Indeed, that would have been a shock to them-- there was simply no such thing at the time.





Political leadership needs to emerge from natural leadership of our people. Whose voice is resonating with others? Whose wisdom do we respect? Who is speaking to the conscience of America?





In a country of more than 325 million, it can be difficult to break through the noise, but I maintain that a 4-time #1 New York Times bestselling author, with 2.6M Twitter followers and a serious commitment to our political evolution, who has inspired at least hundreds of thousands to engage in service and civic responsibilities, has earned the title of a national leader.





Mariannes book, Healing the Soul of America, is one of the most powerful, serious, and challenging political books ever written.





Simply put, Marianne checks all the following boxes of a successful civic leader:

 Strong national fan base, larger than all but a few of the leading candidates

 History of influential civic service, ranging from founding the Peace Alliance to launching Sister Giant, a womens political empowerment initiative gathering proponents including Bernie Sanders, Dennis Kucinich, Lisa Bloom, Thom Hartmann, and the Womens Campaign School of Yale University

 Demonstrated capacity for fundraising, including over $2 million for a Congressional race

 Demonstrated ability to move people into action as a speaker including extensive major media experience ( Demonstrated ability to move people into action as a speaker including extensive major media experience ( watch a CNN interview here

 Demonstrated service to underrepresented communities, including decades of boots-on-the-ground activism for the LGBTQ community as well as communities of color

 Serious, nuanced understanding of our history and our institutions and how they need to be reformed and evolved, which shes demonstrated in numerous articles, speeches, and books

 Well-articulated, innovative, and timely policy ideas

The one box she doesnt yet check is having held elected office herself. However, that lack of elected office experience didnt prevent property-developer Donald Trump from getting wall-to-wall coverage of his early candidacy. And its not deterring coverage of Howard Schultz, another billionaire political neophyte. Indeed, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina proved to be major candidates in 2016 despite not having run for office before. Why should the Democratic primaries be different?





I think its instructive to look at the other candidates who are being touted by the media as major candidates while mainly excluding Marianne:

 Pete Buttigieg, a 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, a city of 100,000 people

 Julian Castro, 44-year old former mayor of San Antonio

 Two people who have each served in the House of Representatives for six years: Tulsi Gabbard and John Delaney

I think all of these candidates have value. Im happy to see them in the race and for us to take their positions and candidacy seriously. Its great to see some breakthrough diversity, from the first openly gay candidate to someone of Indian descent.





But Pete Buttigieg has 115K Twitter followers and Julian Castro has 175K. Tulsi Gabbard has 264K and John Delaney only has 13K. The simple fact is that Marianne is already speaking to (and for) a much larger national base than all of them combined. None of those four could likely generate a #1 New York Times bestseller or command launch events the size of Mariannes.





Diversity is not just about skin color or sexual orientation. Its also about worldviews-- and Marianne offers a credible, powerful voice for a worldview that is not normally represented in our civic process. In speaking for that hiding in plain sight group of Cultural Creatives, she helps an important part of the Democratic base become more engaged, because they feel seen, represented, and empowered to participate in our political process.





Whether shes likely to win the nomination or not isnt relevant here-- she has more than earned her place on the stage as a serious and credible candidate.





What she will definitely do as part of her candidacy is elevate the national conversation and raise important, out-of-the-box solutions. Shes already done so powerfully in her opening speech in discussing why reparations need to be part of our national dialogue about how we heal the legacy of slavery-- and offering an innovative plan for doing so.





She can speak beyond the traditional political divides to the values and history that unite us. She can speak to peoples conscience in a way that motivates them to engage as citizens.

So, every time you see a media article that excludes Marianne from the list of major declared Democratic candidates, I encourage you to write them, to share your view, and to point them to this article if you wish-- and ask the editors and writers to recognize that the act of excluding Marianne from the list of major candidates is not only a form of subtle discrimination but also a profound disservice to the diversity of Democratic worldviews that need to be honored and integrated for a successful next candidate to win the White House.





Even if Mariannes supporters do not propel her into the role of final Democratic Party nominee, her run will elevate our national conversation and ultimately contribute to the regeneration of our democracy.





Marianne is a bold truth-teller who also understands how to bridge divides. She brings important medicine for what ails our country, and she has earned her spot in the upper tier.





If major media prevent her voice and policy ideas from being given serious attention by not even including her in the list of candidates, that will be a profound loss for our country.





Lets take her seriously and, by extension, the millions of people she already represents-- and the potentially millions more that her candidacy can inspire and engage in this important election cycle.








The Nation, You may not remember Victoria Wulsin but she was one of the very first candidates ever endorsed by Blue America . Back in 2006 she decided to take on right-wing crackpot Mean Jean Schmidt in a southern Ohio district that stretched over 7 counties from the outskirts of Cincinnati into the Appalachians. One of her staffers-- fresh out of college-- was Ady Barkan, now a renowned 36 year old attorney and much-admired activist at the Center for Popular Democracy. This week, Barkan wrote a piece for What Ilhan Omar Said About AIPAC Was Right , detailing a nexus between Wulsin's campaign and the islamophobic jihad AIPAC and the political establishment are waging against Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar. "Im ashamed to admit," he began, "that endorsing AIPAC positions was all about the Benjamins for me and my candidate."





never step out of line or cross them. "Over the weekend," wrote Barkan, "Republican House minority leader Kevin McCarthy said he would seek to formally sanction the first two Muslim congresswomen, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, because their criticism of Israels occupation of Palestine was even more reprehensible than Congressman Steve Kings defense of white supremacy. What motivated McCarthys false accusations of anti-Semitism? On Twitter, Omar suggested, ' Before we get into it, please recall a post from Monday, Breaking The Mold Isn't Just A Democrat vs Republican Thing that dealt with AIPAC and it's allies were able to destroy another congressmember of color, Earl Hilliard (D-AL), for not being obsequious enough to Israel and AIPAC. How dare he bring up the humanity of Palestinians! They drove him out of Congress-- and they did to Cynthia McKinney-- twice! Mostly AIPAC doesn't have to go to such lengths. Members of Congress are terrorized by their power and virtuallystep out of line or cross them. "Over the weekend," wrote Barkan, "Republican House minority leader Kevin McCarthy said he would seek to formally sanction the first two Muslim congresswomen, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, because their criticism of Israels occupation of Palestine was even more reprehensible than Congressman Steve Kings defense of white supremacy. What motivated McCarthys false accusations of anti-Semitism? On Twitter, Omar suggested, ' Its all about the Benjamins baby ,' quoting Puff Daddys 90s paean to cash money. Omar subsequently specified that she was talking about spending from the likes of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel lobbying organization."

By Monday morning, AIPAC had mobilized its allies to condemn Omars comment for playing into centuries-old anti-Semitic tropes that wealthy Jews control the world. Even the Democratic leadership put out a statement condemning her. All because she dared to point out that the emperor has no clothes.



As a Jew, an Israeli citizen, and a professional lobbyist (ahem, activist), I speak from personal experience when I say that AIPAC is tremendously effective, and the lubricant that makes its operation hum is dollar, dollar bills.



In 2006, fresh out of college, I landed a job as the first real staffer on a long-shot Democratic congressional race in deep-red Ohio. My boss, Victoria Wulsin, was a charming hippie doctor with a lefty perspective on international affairs. She was skeptical of military force and opposed to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.



About a month after winning the Democratic primary, we were struggling to gain attention or money. Nobody gave us a chance to win. One political-action organization, however, did reach out to us. It wasnt Emilys List, although Vic was fiercely pro-choice. It wasnt a labor union or even a doctors association. It was AIPAC.



A local Democratic volunteer leader of the Cincinnati AIPAC chapter sat down in Vics living room and said that he would like to raise $5,000 for our campaign and would also like to see Vic take a public stance on two relatively obscure issues relating to Iranian sanctions, arms sales to Israel, or some other such topic that very few voters in the district cared about.



Vic and I both thought of ourselves as pro-peace, not pro-Israel. We both felt icky about doing it; it was too hawkish and too quid pro quo. But we were desperate. So I read the AIPAC position papers that the volunteer left with us, I wrote up a statement saying that Vic supported AIPACs stance on its two pet issues of the cycle, she approved it, I posted it online, and the checks promptly arrived in the mail thereafter. We didnt win, but the money helped us get close.



It was, I am ashamed to say, definitely about the Benjamins. We never would have done it otherwise. AIPACs power is about more than money, certainly. Its about great organizing (they built a local chapter, and sent a local Democratic volunteer emissary who then facilitated the contributions). Its about diligence (they paid attention to Vics campaign long before anyone else, and were happy to donate to both us and the militaristic, pro-Likud Republican incumbent). Their lobbyists on the Hill are the best in the business, and their legislator junkets to the Holy Land are masterfully orchestrated. But money is central to the whole system.



Technically, AIPAC doesnt make the political contributions. Instead, as it notes proudly on its website, individual members of its Congressional Club, like that Cincinnati resident, do the bundling and donating directly, both as individuals and through Political Action Committees that AIPAC and its members have set up.



Omar is right to point all this out. These dynamics are not unique to the Israel-Palestine issue, however, and there is no reason that Americans should be surprised or offended by what she and I are saying. The NRA and the broader gun lobby operate in the same way. Same with ExxonMobil and the fossil-fuel lobby. But since Omar and Tlaib are powerful new spokeswomen for the movement to end the Israeli occupation, delegitimizing them is a central aim of the Israel lobby.



AIPAC and its partners, which include Christian Zionists and military contractors, are a central pillar of the Israeli occupation. Without congressional support, the Likud/anti-Palestine/pro-occupation project would be radically undermined. The money that AIPAC and the rest of the lobby spend is indispensable to that work. Thats why they spend it. Pointing this out is not anti-Semitic.











We do, in fact, have a growing anti-Semitism problem in America. But Omar and Tlaib are not a part of it. They are allies of mine and of Jews across this country who are fighting for peace, racial justice, immigrants rights, and the defeat of fascism. The anti-Semites are the Nazis and white supremacists who marched and murdered in Charlottesville, whom Donald Trump called very fine people, and the MAGA supporter who massacred worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue.



The Israel lobby flexed its muscles in response to Omars tweet. Almost all of Capitol Hill, sadly including the Democratic leadership that I have supported, was up in arms. It flexed with equal potency last month in marshaling through the Senate a clearly unconstitutional law to ban speech promoting a boycott of Israel.



For 12 years, I have harbored minor private shame for advising Vic to endorse AIPACs position papers and more significant shame for not doing enough to stop the oppression of the Palestinian people.



I am speaking up now because it may be my last chance. Although I am only 35, I am dying. As I write these words, I am sitting with my wife in the waiting room of the Santa Barbara hospital emergency room, slowly bleeding from my stomach into a pile of gauze. I had a feeding tube inserted four days ago but it isnt healing properly. I am losing the ability to swallow, because I have ALS, a poorly understood neurological disease with no treatment, which seized my body 28 months ago and has basically paralyzed me since. My hands do not work and almost nobody can understand my mumbling, so I am using amazing technology that tracks the location of my eyes and allows me to slowly type out these words with my pupil-tips.



This is my chance to redeem my Jewish guilt, to speak out against the oppression that is being perpetrated in my name, and I do not intend to let a minor obstacle like ALS stop me.



The establishment found a way to discredit the left



Young Jews across America increasingly agree with Omar and me, and that is making the Israel lobby very nervous. As it should: The occupation is too immoral, illegal, and inhumane to survive an open and honest conversation in the marketplace of ideas. That is why AIPAC and its associates work to silence criticism of Israel by accusing its detractors of anti-Semitism and claiming that nobody may ever talk about how the Israel lobby uses money to build power.



The ugly truth is that the Israel lobby, like other powerful lobbies led by Jew and gentile alike, wields its money strategically and effectively. Outrage should be directed not at those who point this out (most often Muslims and people of color) but at the suffering of the Palestinian people and the simultaneous dependence of the Republican Party on genuine anti-Semites.



I do not expect to live to see the liberation of the Palestinian people. But I maintain hope that my toddler son will. If he does, it will be because young American Jews like him do the honest self-reflection taught by our forebears, take pride in our tradition of justice, and join in solidarity and struggle with fellow Semites like Omar.

Let's not let AIPAC and their congressional allies-- whether Kevin McCarthy, Eliot Engel or Nancy Pelosi-- drive Ilhan out of Congress. You're probably aware that Senor Trumpanzee has now weighed in as well, telling her to resign, which is what most Americans wish he would do himself. In any case, please consider contributing to Ilhan's reelection campaign. With AIPAC out to get her she's going to need more help than you would expect a Democrat running in as blue a seat as hers-- Trump won just 18.5% of the votes in her district and she was elected last year with 78.2% of the vote against Republican Jennifer Zielinski-- 267,703 to 74,440. Clicking on the ActBlue thermometer on the right, will take you to the Blue America page of the (very few) incumbents who have done a spectacular enough job to have earned our support for their reelection efforts. Right now there are just Ilhan and 9 others. By the way, it was nice to see the Congressional Progressive Caucus refusing to be cowed by AIPAC and it's allies. Their two co-chairs, Pramila Jayapal (D-Seattle) and Mark Pocan (D-Madison) supported Ilhan in this tweet yesterday:









DSA issued this statement today, after the foreign policy establishment went all out in their attacks following how perfectly she handled war criminal Elliott Abrams yesterday at a congressional hearing:

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is under attack by both Donald Trump and neoliberal Democrats for a tweet highlighting the financial influence of AIPAC. In the wake of the Tree of Life massacre and the increasing influence of genuinely anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in the United States, DSA finds these attacks a cynical attempt to instill fear in Representative Omar and DSA member Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, two women of color in Congress breaking new ground by vocally supporting Palestinian liberation.



That Democrats who condemned Trumps Travel Ban in prior years would lead this charge is the height of hypocrisy, demonstrates that they share Trumps fear of a left wing, grassroots movement questioning the right of the few to rule the many, and illuminates their willingness to pit working people against each other in their quest to maintain their power. Further, it is complicit with the Republican strategy of dividing the Democratic voting bloc and deflecting attention from their anti-BDS bill, which would violate Americans civil rights.

And this is the Facebook entry from the local chapter in her congressional district:




Report all errors to DonSurber@GMail.com





Oh, and if you see me driving my red 2010 Mustang GT convertible, please wave.

Hi, I am a retired newspaperman. I wrote 3 books on Trump and the media . I live in Poca, WV, with my wife of 43 years, Lou Ann. I grew up in Cleveland. Three kids. Grandfather.
LINN COUNTY SHERIFF

Missing tools  10:15 a.m. Wednesday, 40000 block Peoples Drive, Lebanon. A caller reported a break-in at a tool shed on the property that resulted in the theft of about $1,000 in gas-powered yard maintenance tools.

SWEET HOME POLICE

Assault  11 a.m. Monday, 1641 Long St. A 17-year-old juvenile was referred to the Linn County Juvenile Department after four students at Sweet Home High School were involved in a fight at the school.

Stolen bicycle  12:26 p.m. Monday, 1500 block Tamarack Street. A caller reported the theft of a bicycle valued at $500.

Pedestrian hit  3:32 p.m. Monday, 3000 block Main Street. A 33-year-old man was struck by a vehicle. He reported some arm pain but did not want medical attention. Insurance information was exchanged.

Car vs. tree accident  7:37 p.m. Monday, 1400 block 60th Avenue. Robert John Culver, 42, was charged with DUII, reckless driving and refusing to use a breathalyzer after his vehicle crashed into a tree. He reportedly fled on foot. He was booked, cited and released.

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He didn't just love horses and riding. He was something of a renaissance man. He had a significant gun collection and was very knowledgeable about weapons and hunting, which he had been doing since he was young. He loved to boat and fish, and did so all over Oregon.

He was a carpenter and continued to work on the house he built himself from the ground up as well as many other projects. He used his home mill to make and create many beautiful projects in retirement. He worked on cars, including his classic Mustang. He was a plumber, welder, carpenter, mechanic and electrician. He knew how to log and could take a tree out of the woods all the way to a beautiful piece of flooring or furniture.

He loved music, especially Janis Joplin, and was an avid reader of Western novels and mysteries. He was always willing to help his family in any way he could and was generous with his time and resources. He was loyal, stubborn, quick-witted and a very hard worker and a man of many talents and interests.

He has three children, Gynelle, Shawn and Brandy. He was a much-loved baby brother to Kay. He was a very special uncle (to Chelly, Jason, Robin and Richard), grandfather (to Dalton, Sabrina and Christopher), great-uncle (to Heath, Ashley, Noah, Avery, Zack and Penelope) and neighbors as well. His family and friends will miss him immensely.
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The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has called on Sri Lankas President, Maithripala Sirisena, to retract his recent pronouncement that executions would resume in the country notwithstanding a moratorium on capital punishment that has lasted 43 years.





The last execution was carried out in Sri Lanka in 1976.





Resuming executions would be an egregious violation of Sri Lankas obligations under international human rights law, a serious threat to human rights in the country, and it would be inconsistent with the global trend towards the abolition of the death penalty, said Frederick Rawski, ICJs Asia-Pacific Director.





Speaking in Parliament last week, President Sirisena vowed to resume executions of those convicted of drug offences as early as within the next two months.





The ICJ says it considers any resumption of executions in Sri Lanka as constituting a violation of international law and an appalling disregard for the international human rights system as a whole.





At least 150 countries have now either abolished the death penalty or instituted an official or unofficial moratorium. There is a growing understanding around the world that the death penalty is an unacceptable assault on rights and dignity, Fredrick Rawski added.





The ICJ said it opposes the death penalty in all circumstances  as it constitutes a violation of the right to life and its imposition constitutes per se cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment.





The Human Rights Committee, the Treaty Body supervising the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), by which Sri Lanka is bound, has recently made clear in its General Comment 36 on Right to life that, it is contrary to the object and purpose of Article 6 [of the ICCPR, which enshrines the right to life] for States parties to take steps to increase de facto the rate and extent in which they resort to the death penalty, and that, States parties that are not yet totally abolitionist should be on an irrevocable path towards complete eradication of the death penalty, de facto and de jure, in the foreseeable future. The death penalty cannot be reconciled with full respect for the right to life, and abolition of the death penalty is both desirable and necessary for the enhancement of human dignity and progressive development of human rights.





Moreover, the UN Human Rights Committee has made it clear that the imposition of the death penalty for drug offenses is incompatible with the Covenant, the ICJ statement said.





The UN General Assembly has adopted repeated resolutions, most recently in December 2018, by overwhelming majority in calling for all retentionist States to observe a an immediate moratorium with a view to abolition.





It must be noted that Sri Lanka voted in favor of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in the 2018 UN GA Resolution. This commitment should not be reversed, but upheld in practice instead, the ICJ says.





The ICJ called on the Government of Sri Lanka to reject the resumption of executions and to do away with the death penalty once and for all.





Instead of planning on resuming executions, the Sri Lankan authorities should focus on effective, evidence-based approaches to crime prevention in manners that conform to international human rights law and standards, such as formulating policies and legislation that address the underlying social and economic causes of criminality, which are also vital to ensuring stability and the rule of law, it said.





The ICJ also urged Sri Lanka to immediately ratify the 2nd Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which obligates State Parties to take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty.





Meanwhile the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has also condemned the Presidents resolve to resume executions in Sri Lanka.





In the latest move showing regression from democratic and human rights ideals, President Sirisena has also proposed that within 3 months, a 43-year moratorium on the death sentence will end, and those found guilty of drug related offences will be hung.





The President has been inspired by his recent visit to the Philippines, where he highly praised the manner in which social control is exercised, the AHRC said.





President Sirisenas views are quite contrary to those of the civilised world, which has largely condemned Philippines policy of extrajudicially killing drug traffickers, the statement said.

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

adaderana.lk, February 14, 2019
At least three prisoners were executed on Wednesday, February 13, in Rajai Shahr and Ardebil Prisons.





Ali Shakouri, 34, father of three, was hanged in Ardebil prison, northwest Iran.





Two other prisoners identified as Behrouz Bayat and Mohammad Hedayati were also executed on the same day in Rajai Shahr Prison. All the three inmates had been found guilty of murder.





Absence of classification of undeliberate murders in Iran lead to capital punishment for everyone committed murder, intentional or un intentional.





On January 29, a prisoner identified as Omran was executed in Maragheh Prison, also in northwest Iran.





He had been on death row since 2015 and had denied intentional murder charges saying it was a case of self defense. Omran argued that he reacted to the irate man who began beating him with an iron rod.





Iran is one of the 23 countries that have not yet abolished the death penalty.





Executions in Iran are mostly the result of grossly unfair trials which are usually held behind closed doors without the presence of a defence lawyer. Activists believe that many of those on death row were convicted on the basis of forced confessions, a method believed to be commonly used in the country at the moment. Moreover, when a death sentence is handed down, families are often not given prior notice of the execution.





At least 285 people were executed in 2018 in Iran. The officials acknowledged the execution of only 85 people last year, but it is believed that this figure grossly underestimates the true number in Iran because the regime had embarked on a campaign of secret and mass hangings of prisoners, especially in faraway provinces.





According to London-based international human rights watchdog Amnesty International, more than half (51%) of all recorded executions in 2017 were carried out in Iran.





Iran ranks second in the world after China in terms of executions and has carried out 84% of the global total number of executions with Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan.





The countrys judicial system has also been criticised for handing down death sentences against juveniles. Dozens of child offenders are on death row in Iranian prisons, waiting to go to the gallows when they reach 18.

Man Hanged at Quchan Prison

Iran Human Rights (IHR); February 5, 2019: A prisoner who was sentenced to death on murder charges, was hanged at Quchan prison last Wednesday.





According to IHR sources, on the morning of Wednesday, January 30, a man identified as Tabib Rouzmehr, was executed at Quchan prison.





A source close to Tabib told IHR, two years ago, he was working for a person called Vahid who had given him a cheque for the salary. However, there was no money in the account. Tabib could not find Vahid to ask for his money but found Vahids brother. The brother refused to give Tabib the address and the two fought.





Vahids brother fell down and bump his head to the street curb. The person died and Tabib sentenced to qisas (retribution in kind).





There is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and intent.

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
The European Union (EU) and Sri Lanka at their Joint Commission on Thursday in Brussels have agreed on the importance to continue working closely together on human rights and reconciliation while committed to work jointly during next 2 years to foster rural development, democratic governance, investments and economic growth.





The European Union and Sri Lanka held their 22nd meeting of the Joint Commission on Thursday, 14 February 2019, in Brussels. The meeting was held in an open and constructive spirit and developments in both the EU and in Sri Lanka were discussed, the EU said in a statement.





The meeting was co-chaired by Paola Pampaloni, Deputy Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service, and Ravinatha Aryasinha, Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka.





The EU also reiterated its opposition to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and encouraged Sri Lanka to maintain its moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.





The 2 sides agreed on a series of actions for follow-up before the next Joint Commission meeting in Colombo in 2020.





Following is the joint press release issued by the European Union on the joint meeting:





The European Union (EU) and Sri Lanka held their 22nd meeting of the Joint Commission on Thursday, 14 February 2019, in Brussels. The meeting was held in an open and constructive spirit. Developments in both the EU and in Sri Lanka were discussed.





Bearing in mind the resilience of the democratic institutions which had prevailed during the political events in Sri Lanka late 2018, the EU reiterated its full support for the Government's efforts to improve governance, human rights and reconciliation, fight against corruption, and strengthen economic growth. The EU and Sri Lanka agreed on the importance to continue working closely together on human rights and reconciliation, issues which figured prominently on the agenda of the meeting.





Preferential access to the EU market granted to Sri Lanka under the GSP+ scheme has clearly benefitted Sri Lanka since the reintroduction in May 2017, with over 2.2 billion of exports under GSP+ during the period June 2017/May 2018. Both sides acknowledged that there was room to make even better use of the concessions granted.





Sri Lanka reaffirmed the commitments made to implement 27 conventions on human and labour rights, environment and good governance in order to benefit from the GSP+ scheme. In this context, while acknowledging that the new draft legislation was now being considered by Parliament, the EU reiterated the need to repeal and replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in order to bring counterterrorism legislation in line with international standards.





The EU also reiterated its opposition to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and encouraged Sri Lanka to maintain its moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.





The meeting provided an opportunity to exchange views on the implementation of the UN Human Rights Council Resolution of 1 October 2015, co-sponsored by Sri Lanka. The important steps taken by Sri Lanka with regard to establishing an Office on Missing Persons and passing legislation to set up an Office for Reparations were welcomed. Sri Lanka's continued commitment to the implementation of the resolution was acknowledged and the EU stressed the need for further progress in the advancement of national reconciliation. The EU expressed its continued readiness to support Sri Lanka in these efforts.





The Joint Commission was informed about the proceedings of the third EU-Sri Lanka Working Group on Development Cooperation held in Brussels on 13 February 2019. The EU and Sri Lanka committed to work jointly during 2019-2020 on the preparation of new actions aiming at fostering integrated rural development, democratic governance, investments and economic growth.





The EU and Sri Lanka discussed the EU strategy on Connecting Europe and Asia, which aims to better connect Europe and Asia through transport links, energy networks, digital networks and people-to-people connections, and agreed to deepen their contacts in this field, including in view of the Indian Ocean Ministerial conference to be held in Colombo this year.





In this context, the Joint Commission noted that the European Investment Bank agrees to enhance its lending activities in Sri Lanka in the field of climate change mitigation and adaptation, particularly in support of renewable energy, energy efficiency, urban transport, and other investments which reduce CO2 emissions and/or strengthen resilience to climate change. The support extended to develop the SME sector was welcomed.





Discussions also focused on issues related to mobility and migration. Ways to enhance cooperation on higher education, with a particular reference to the Horizon 2020, the EU framework programme for research and innovation, were also discussed.





Ways to engage on security issues were also explored, and the EU referred to areas for deeper security engagement in and with Asia as listed in the Conclusions of the May 2018 Foreign Affairs Council, notably maritime security, cyber security, counter terrorism, hybrid threats, conflict prevention, the proliferation of Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear weapons, and the development of regional cooperative orders.





Cooperation in the framework of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) and towards the common goals of preservation of healthy oceans, conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources was discussed.





The EU and Sri Lanka agreed on a series of actions for follow-up before the next Joint Commission meeting in Colombo in 2020.





The meeting was co-chaired by Ms Paola Pampaloni, Deputy Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service, and Mr. Ravinatha Aryasinha, Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka.





The Joint Commission, which oversees the 1995 EU-Sri Lanka Cooperation Agreement on Partnership and Development, deals with a broad range of bilateral and multilateral issues of mutual interest. Its tasks are to: ensure the proper functioning and implementation of the Agreement; set priorities; and make recommendations.





All 3 Working Groups established under the terms of the Joint Commission reported back from their respective meetings held in June 2018 (the Working Group on Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights) and in July 2018 (the Working Group on Trade and Economic Cooperation Issues, and on 13 February 2019 (the Working Group on Development Cooperation).

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

colombopage.com, February 15, 2019
Sri Lanka: Illegally sailed to Reunion Island to return today

February 15,2019 | Source: Colombo Page

Seventy out of 72 Sri Lankans who illegally sailed to French Reunion Island on a fishing trawler from Chilaw, are to be returned to Sri Lanka this morning on a special French plane under the custody of French Authorities, the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said. The skipper of the boat and the crew are among the group who will be returned to the country, according to Operations Director of the Fisheries Department Kalyani Hewapathirana. The Ministry of External Affairs of Sri Lanka has officially informed the Department of Fisheries about the return of the illegal migrants.



French authorities have informed that two of the people who sailed in the boat will be detained in the Reunion Island, BBC Sinhala Service said. The police are to take the group into custody immediately after they arrive in Sri Lanka for questioning. Among the 70 people are 05 children and 08 women. They are residents from Batticaloa, Kandy, Jaffna, Puttalam, and other rural areas. The multi-day fishing trawler "Ve Prashansa", which has left the Negombo fisheries harbor, has picked up 70 people from sea off the coast of Chilaw on January 9th and sailed to the Reunion Island, a French colony in the Indian Ocean.



The authorities at the Reunion Island have informed Sri Lanka that the group has entered the island illegally. The boat had entered the island after sailing for 25 days. The owner of the multi-day trawler, Sudarshan Perera has lodged a complaint with the Negombo police and the Criminal Investigation Department that the captain and the crew are behind the human trafficking. Investigation have revealed that the skipper of the boat had charged between Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 1 million each to smuggle the group to the island.



The owner said he has not taken any interest in fishing activities for nearly three months, since his daughter is seriously ill, and has requested the government to bring his boat back to Sri Lanka. The Fisheries Department says that several fishing boats have been detained in the country and they have commenced discussions at the diplomatic level to recover them. Multi-day fishing trawler owners recently met with the State Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Dilip Wedaarachchi on Wednesday and requested the government to immediately intervene to prevent use of fishing boats for human smuggling.
Tamil Nadu: Country boat fishermen meet Minister

February 15,2019 | Source: The Hindu

Traditional and country boat fishermen, who had been urging the district administration to allow them and their family members to travel to Katchatheevu in country boats to participate in St. Antonys Church festival scheduled for March 15 and 16, took up the matter with Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar in Chennai on Thursday.



A team of seven fishermen, led by S. Chinnathambi, president of Traditional Fishermen Federation, requested the Minister that they be allowed to travel in their boats and assert their traditional rights. After meeting the Minister, the fishermen leaders met Principal Secretary, Fisheries, K. Gopal and Fisheries Commissioner G.S. Sameeran and presented their pleas. The officials suggested that they could discuss the issue and find a solution at the meeting to be convened by Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao here on February 19, Mr. Chinnathambi said. Mr. Rao has convened the meeting with all security agencies to discuss and finalise the procedures and formalities for the pilgrimage. Verkodu Parish in Rameswaram was organising the pilgrimage.



District Country Craft Fishermen Association has also urged the district administration to allow fisherfolk to travel in country boats for the festival. Stating that they had been attending the festival by travelling in country boats for several years, the association leaders alleged that they were being sidelined of late after Verkodu Parish commercialised the pilgrimage by taking pilgrims in mechanised boats for a prescribed charge. If they were denied permission on the grounds of safety, the same should apply to mechanised boats, they said. They were denied permission despite the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court having directed the authorities to allow country boat fishermen, they claimed.
West Bengal: Downsides of development

by Sudarshana Chakraborty

February 15,2019 | Source: Millennium Post

West Bengal is set to develop a deep-sea port in Tajpur in East Midnapur district independent of the Centre. But some concerns persist. The local fishing community has not been apprised about the port project or told how their lives will be affected by it. Down To Earth visited a few of the areas the port would cover and found that not one official has visited these places up till now. "I have heard of the project, but so far have not officially informed by the government about it. The fishermen there have not received any official intimation yet.



The details of the port are still unknown and also how it will affect the 6,000 registered fishermen and labourers," says Apurba Kar, an assistant at Tajpur Jaladha Matsya Khoti, one of the two matsya khotis in Tajpur where fishermen come and dry the fishes they catch before dispatching them to the market. Since the fishing community has received no guidance on what they should do to sustain themselves, they have come to believe that for the sake of development they should abandon their traditional source of livelihood.



"I have heard that a port will be built here but that will be in the deep sea and won't affect our work. In fact, our sons will get jobs," says Anil Kumar Borai, secretary of Jaladha Ma Bansholi Matsya Khoti, the other matsya khoti of the region. "We are concerned because we may have to leave our homes. Will we get the right price for that?" he adds. There are others who think the port will keep them afloat.



"If the government builds a port, it will secure us from washing away in the sea. We have seen sand dams being washed away and mechanised trawlers also affect our business. A port will affect affected fishing though, but we have to think of a better future," says Sukumar Bera, a fisherman in Tajpur. Moreover, the women of the region find the port project threatening them existentially.



"What will we do if the fishing stops? We come from different places and are very poor. We earn whatever we can to support our husbands. The men can go for other jobs on to the port, but we can't. Our families will suffer a lot," says a group of fishing women in the region. Even if the fishing community manages to keep their work going, the port could give way to a technical issue. "The port can either increase the speed of waves or decrease it. We cast nets on wooden rods. If the waves increase, it will uproot the rods and the nets will be ripped apart and if it decreases, the fish will not reach the net. Both ways we'll suffer," says Pabitra Pradhan, member of Jaladha Ma Bansholi Matsya Khoti.



Haldia: An industrialised fishing town



West Bengal already has one example of what rapid industrialisation does to ports  Haldia. The fishing community in the port city says their income has reduced by one-third since industrialisation started in the region two decades ago. Few people in the community have thought about that side of the story. Bhabani Barui, a fisherwoman in a Tajpur village, says, "I've heard that we may have to leave our homes and it can be true because Haldia villagers also had to. Near-port villages never remain intact. But, fishing is all we know. What else will we do if we are asked to leave and earn through different means? It will be very painful for us." And now that eight jetties are being planned under the ambitious Sagarmala programme, the fishing community is being threatened even more.



Angshuman Midya, president of Rupnarayan Chawk Matsya Obotaran Kendra, says, "A waterway between Haldia and Varanasi may be made under this project. This will massively impact small-scale fishing business. And, setting up jetties is definitely a threat to us." Already the youngsters there are migrating to other states and countries. The matsya kothi members say while earlier 80 per cent of fishing labourers were from the village, the number has come down to just 10 per cent now. Saibul Ali, a fisherman busy repairing a boat on the banks of Rupnarayan river, says, "We have to pay at least Rs 3 lakh to get a job. Plus, there hasn't been any development in the area at all."



Although Tajpur's port story is just about to begin, it's not much different from what's still happening to Haldia's fishing community. They, too, haven't been visited by a single official yet to inform them about the jetties. Manju Dolui, a fisherwoman in Haldia, says, "We don't know about jetties but if it affects our livelihood we don't want it.



But no higher official has ever come to visit us and heard our problems. If this continues, we will be forced to leave our profession" The fishing communities in both coastal regions are suffering from the effects of industrialisation without proper planning, pollution control methods, or the government offering them any way out to a sustainable livelihood.
In his role as an entrepreneur, Braun sought to fill the employment gaps in and around the area by founding, along with Marlene Brockmiller, Workforce Employment Solutions. Because of its success, Workforce later earned a place on Inc. 500s list of fastest-growing companies.

Following retirement, Braun turned his attention to transforming an old pant factory in downtown Farmington into a multi-use space to bring people together, as well as provide an event center for the area.

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Kevin Engler, who first served as a councilman and then later as elected mayor of Farmington, remembered the impact Brauns dream of redeveloping the downtown area and re-purposing what eventually became known as The Factory had on the city.

Besides being the president of the chamber, David was active in downtown redevelopment, Engler said. He bought that building where the Minuteman Press is and fixed it up. They had their Workforce offices upstairs. He was very active in trying to keep the downtown going and then when the factory closed and we couldnt find any use for it, David repurposed it and at least made it a very positive presence in town compared to it just being torn down  that was our other option at the time. Just tear it down and turn it into a parking lot.
A man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and dumping her body in a suitcase in Connecticut is a citizen of Portugal who has been in the US illegally for more than a year, federal authorities said as the victim's loved ones gathered for her funeral.Javier Da Silva Rojas, who had been living in New York City, was taken into custody Monday and charged with kidnapping resulting in death in the killing of 24-year-old Valerie Reyes, of New Rochelle, New York. The charge carries the possibility of the death penalty.Da Silva, also 24, entered the US on May 8, 2017, through the Visa Waiver Program and was required to leave by August 5, 2017, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement.The agency filed a detainer for Da Silva, meaning he will be deported immediately after his criminal case is complete and any sentence is served.Susanne Brody, a lawyer for Da Silva, declined to comment.'A beautiful soul'Family and friends of Reyes attended her funeral at St Gabriel's Church in New Rochelle. They cried and hugged outside, with some wearing sweatshirts with her photo and wording saying, 'In Loving Memory of our beautiful soul Valerie. You captured so many hearts.''She was just silly and just a free soul, beautiful soul. She's going to be missed,' her cousin, Desiree Rodriguez, said. 'We're devastated, but we're happy that the person was caught so she gets to go in peace. It kind of brings us a little more peace, too, to let her go.'Reyes was buried in a green casket adorned with flowers at a cemetery in nearby Rye, New York, as family and friends held white balloons.Potential death penaltyReyes worked at a bookstore and aspired to become a tattoo artist, co-workers and friends said.She was last seen on January 29 and relatives reported her missing the next day. Town workers in Greenwich, Connecticut, found her body in a suitcase in a wooded area on February 5.Investigators focused on Da Silva after police said he used Reyes' ATM card to withdraw cash multiple times after her death.In a videotaped interview at the New Rochelle Police Department, Da Silva told investigators that Reyes fell to the floor and hit her head after they had sex on January 29 at her home, federal authorities said.They said he indicated he put packing tape over her mouth, bound her legs and hands, and put her in a suitcase that he put in a forest after driving for some time.
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US Vice President Mike Pence has accused leading European countries of trying to break US sanctions against Tehran in remarks at a Middle East peace summit that are likely to further strain transatlantic relations.Pence spoke at the conference in Warsaw attended by 60 countries, including Israel and six Gulf Arab states, but not the Palestinians or Iran.European powers, who oppose the Trump administration's decision to pull out of a nuclear deal with Iran, were openly sceptical of a conference excluding Tehran.France and Germany declined to send their top diplomats, while British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt left before Thursday's main events.'Sadly, some of our leading European partners have not been nearly as co-operative,' Pence said on Thursday.'In fact, they have led the effort to create mechanisms to break up our sanctions.'Trump last year pulled the US out of the 2015 Iran deal, under which Tehran agreed to curbs on its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.European countries say the move was a mistake and have promised to try to salvage the deal as long as Iran continues to abide by it. In practice, European companies have accepted new US sanctions on Iran and abandoned plans to invest there.Pence said a European scheme to trade with Iran, known as the Special Purpose Vehicle, was 'an effort to break American sanctions against Iran's murderous revolutionary regime'.'It is an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the EU and create still more distance between Europe and the United States,' he said.The summit was notable because of the presence of Israel alongside wealthy Arab states. Washington aims to narrow differences between its Israeli and Arab allies to isolate Iran.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the conference a 'historical turning point' in combating the threat from Iran.But just as notable were the absences, not only of Iran itself, which called the meeting a 'desperate circus', but of the Palestinians, who refused to attend over what they regard as US bias against them under Trump.They have been boycotting the administration since Trump reversed decades of US policy in 2017 to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat took aim at the Arab states for attending, citing an Arab meeting last year that reaffirmed demands that Israel first withdraw from Palestinian land before it can normalise ties with Arab countries.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for an era of cooperation at opening remarks that were broadcast publicly. The rest of the meeting, including a presentation by White House adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner on plans for Israeli-Palestinian peace, was held behind closed is doors.
A chilling photo has emerged online of a woman and the ex-partner accused of murdering her.Valerie Reyes's body was found on February 5 in Greenwich, Connecticut, in the US.She had allegedly been bound and stuffed in a suitcase.Her ex-partner Javier da Silva Rojas was arrested this week after allegedly attempting to withdraw about $1400 from Ms Reyes' bank account with her ATM card.Police alleged Mr Rojas killed Ms Reyes before disposing of her body.He has reportedly admitted to hiding Ms Reyes' body, but claimed he did not kill her.Instead, he claimed she died 'accidentally' during a sexual encounter on January 29.According to US media, Ms Reyes' mother said in court papers the couple broke up a year ago.Coincidentally, that was about the time this photo of the couple together appeared online.Posted to Mr Rojas's Instagram on February 9, 2018, it shows the pair in a store in Mount Vernon, New York.Mr Rojas captioned it 'Val'.
Mazda has announced it will be building not one, but two new crossovers for the U.S.  and, presumably, the Canadian  market.The first one was teased previously, is expected to be the CX-4 and will be revealed in Geneva, while the other is still in the concept and development stages.North America CEO Masahiro Moro told Automotive Newsat the Chicago auto show that Mazda will release another crossover  besides the one to be released at Geneva  that will be built at a brand-new plant in Huntsville, Alabama.Mazda is going to share the US$1.6-billion factory with Toyota, which will build the Corolla alongside the new crossover.The other already-teased new vehicle headed to North America will likely be the CX-4, which is based on the brand-new, larger Mazda3 platform. (Both of the new crossovers, in fact, share that same platform.) It will be a more global vehicle sold in many markets, whereas the Alabama-built SUV will only be sold in North America.The current CX-3 is long overdue for a refresh, while the other vehicles in the lineup, the CX-5 and CX-9, have recently received new faces. Although the Japanese automaker only makes six cars, nearly two-thirds of the sales go to small crossovers.The new vehicle will start production at the Alabama plant around mid-2021.
Martin Keown has called on out-of-favour Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil to work his way back into Unai Emery's fist-team plans.Emery opted leave Ozil out of his squad for the Europa Leaguelast-32 clash with BATE Borisov in Belarus.This marked the 100th game Ozil has missed for Arsenal from 314, and Keown questioned the German's commitment but insisted a solution must be found.Keown said: 'Is he injured? Is he ill? One of the things as a player is that you have to be available for selection and give consistency.'He hasn't been able to give either of those so he has to work to get back in to the team.'That's what he has to do and what the manager wants him to do. But it's now becoming embarrassing, the situation and with no Ramsey too.'We don't know if he is really injured or not. To miss (100 matches) is quite remarkable. I would say that is questionable but only the player really knows.'
Huawei isn't just a top three worldwide smartphone vendor and the number one handset maker in China, but also at the forefront of 5G  the next standard in mobile telecommunications. Huawei also happens to be facing increased scrutiny in various western markets over spying concerns that were first raised by the US a few years ago.The company's smartphone and 5G businesses face risks in several markets, and while Huawei proved it can sell a massive number of smartphones without being present in the US, losing 5G contracts to rivaling networking firms has to be worrisome. The Chinese company appears to be willing to go through any security tests to stay in the race to sell 5G networking equipment to central and eastern European markets, according to its Chief Security Officer for the US, Andy Purdy.Don't Miss:The exec told Reuterson Wednesday, in response to comments made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Poland earlier this week, that Huawei is playing the long game in those markets. Pompeo cautioned alliesduring a stop in Hungary on his trip in Eastern Europe against using Huawei equipment, warning that it would make it more difficult for Washington to partner with them.Purdy said that Huawei is ready to work with governments on any security measures, including testing source codes for products. 'If the government decides to ban us from 5G we will continue to take a long view of the potential sales of our products in Poland over time  we believe that some day in the future we'll be allowed to compete for that business if we're not allowed to compete for it now,' he said.Purdy's comments may be related to Poland, a country where a Huawei exec was recently arrestedon spying allegations, and a country that's considering excluding Huawei from its 5G networks. But these remarks from Huawei are probably valid for any country in the world that's looking at deploying 5G infrastructure in the coming years. Poland also happens to be a country where Huawei is the number one smartphone vendor right now, according to recent reports, owning over 30% of the market.Huawei might be facing tougher regulation in Germany as well, where Interior Minister Horst Seehofer backed a law proposal that would toughen security requirements on foreign network vendors. However, that doesn't mean Huawei equipment will be excluded from Germany's upcoming 5G mobile networks. Germany will only start auctioning 5G spectrum in March. By then, we might see the first 5G phones selling around the world, including in Korea and the US, which should be among the first to have 5G coverage.Huawei will launch its first 5G phone at MWC next week, which also happens to be its first foldable phone. When it comes to 5G tech, Huawei announced several 5G products in the past year, including a 5G modem for smartphonesthat was unveiled a few weeks ago.
A man arrested over the alleged rape of a mentally disabled woman may have a second victim, police claim.Bernard Betts-King was charged with raping a woman through the use of her mental incapacity in Virginia in the US.At the time, Mr Betts-King was working as a behavioural specialist at the MVLE Community Centre in Springfield.Police allege the woman was raped in early 2018 and subsequently had a child.They said they believe they have now possibly identified a second potential victim and are calling for any other alleged victims to come forward.Mr Betts-King is currently being held without bond.
One day after the Pulwama terror attack on 14th February, 2019, India has taken a stern step of withdrawing the Most Favoured Nation or MFN Status of Pakistan. This move would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from Pakistan. The decision was taken in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) that took place on 15th February 2019.

What is the MFN Status?

The MFN status is given under WTOs General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It is given to an international trade partner to ensure non-discriminatory trade amongst all the members of WTO.

As per the first clause in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), a country providing MFN status to another country has to provide concessions, privileges, and immunity in trade agreements.

WTO states that if a special status is granted to one trade partner, the country is required to extend it to all members of the WTO without discrimination or any special treatment.

An MFN status helps reduce trade barriers and results in a reduction in tariffs especially in customs duty. This in turn strengthens trade-ties between the two countries.

As India and Pakistan both are members of the WTO, both are required to grant MFN status to each other and other partner countries.

What is the State of MFN Status Between India and Pakistan?

India had granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, a year after the formation of WTO. But Pakistan hasnt accorded MFN status to India till now. The reason for this is decades of conflict, mistrust and war. Now the total India-Pakistan trade has increased marginally to $2.41 billion in 2017-18 as compared to $ 2.27 billion in 2016-17. India had imported goods worth $488.5 million in 2017-18 and exported goods worth $ 1.92 billion in that fiscal. Indias exports mostly include cotton, dyes, chemicals, vegetables and iron and steel; while its imports include fruits, cement, leather, chemicals and spices. Given that Indo-Pakistan trade-ties is not very strong, this step of revoking the MFN status is only symbolic.

What is the Cabinet Committee on Security?

There are 6 Cabinet Committees in India i.e. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Cabinet Committee on Accommodation, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs and Cabinet Committee on Security. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) of the Central Government of India looks into the matters of defence expenditures and National Security. It consists of the Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of External Affairs and, Minister of Finance and Minister of Defence. It is chaired by the Prime Minister.

About the Pulwama Terror Attack

37 CRPF personnel were martyred in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district on 14th February 2019 when a terrorist attacked with an explosive-laden vehicle into one of the buses of the convoy of the security forces. Jaish-e-Mohammed has taken responsibility for the attack. There were more than 78 vehicles in the convoy in which 2500 personnels were present. This is the worst terror attack since the Uri attack in 2016.
Do you know how often you use the services and programs provided by your county government?

When you go to the courthouse for jury duty or to get a marriage license, its obvious that you are interacting with your county. But its not so obvious when you call 911. Or when you go to vote. Or when you drive over one of the 4,000 bridges owned by Pennsylvanias counties. Or how about when you call ChildLine to report a case of suspected child abuse  its the county thats responsible for investigating.

The truth is, unless you have a reason to use the service, you probably arent aware of all that counties do. And youre even less likely to be aware that counties provide these services under mandates from the state and federal government.

Unfortunately, though, this partnership has eroded over time. Too often, counties face an ongoing reality of stagnant  or even declining  state funding, even in the face of expanding demand for service. And when state funding fails to keep up with service demands or mandated requirements, the only place counties have to turn to make up the difference is the county property tax.
Under BHC, each county has the opportunity to manage their own program or to work with other counties and form collaborative partnerships. Each county has the right and the responsibility to identify what specific services their constituents need. County leaders, treatment and recovery professionals, and families in need of help all work together.

In Cumberland County, for instance, commissioners have partnered with recovery experts to develop a warm hand off program that is just now getting off the ground. Certified Recovery Specialists will be available at each of the countys three hospitals to help overdose victims find the services they need as they are being released from the emergency room.

The county has also partnered with our courts to create an Opioid Intervention Court (OIC), which helps offenders with substance abuse disorders receive treatment at the time of their first contact with the criminal justice system. BHC funds have supported the expansion of treatment options and the creation of local recovery centers so that those addicted to opioids or alcohol can find support and counseling services in their communities.
Lt. Col. Cadoria continued her legacy of firsts when she was the first black woman to attend the U.S. Army War College and became the first to graduate 40 years ago this summer in 1979. Prior to coming to Carlisle, Cadoria led the Military Police Training Battalion in Fort McClellan, Alabama, as the first woman to command an all-male battalion. Later, as a colonel, she was in charge of the First Region Criminal Investigation Division (CID) Command. In 1985, Cadoria was promoted to brigadier general and served until her retirement in 1990.

On this 40th anniversary, 1979 was also the same year that Hazel Johnson became the Armys first black woman promoted to brigadier general in the Department of Defense and she was selected to lead over 7,000 men and women as Chief of the Army Nurse Corps.

Lt. Col. Cadoria began her military career as enlistee in the Womens Army Corps; Gen. Johnson entered with a direct commission into the Army Nurse Corps.

The rest of the story is that while the U.S. military needed personnel for myriad missions and functions during World War II, the percentage of African-Americans allowed in the Army was capped at 10 percent to match their representation in the U.S. population. Undaunted, Black women joined the segregated Army (separated by race and gender) to serve a nation at war.
One did some modeling, one liked to skinny dip and one wasnt allowed to dance in the White House.
The YMCA also has the problem of selling the white elephant it now has on its hands, the board wrote. Of course, maybe the West High Street building will prove to be just what someone wants and a sale can be made before long. We sincerely hope so.

The YMCA, for construction, needs all the money it can get out of the old building to finance the new home on the site of the Franklin School, the column reads. But with this new twist of events [the inspection finding], an even larger fund may be required.

When it came to the Franklin School, the newspaper had already asked Carlisle School District in an earlier column whether the building was a fire trap and whether termites were eating away the building foundation. The answer was the building could be sold to the YMCA for far less than what it was valued. But now the state may insist on costly upgrades.

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Doubts that existed in early 1959 were cleared up by Nov. 17 when The Sentinel reported that the local YMCA board of directors awarded $623,696 in construction contracts for the new building.
One Cumberland County incident was also cited in the DEPs $12.6 million penalty assessment against Sunoco in February 2018, although that incident did not involve inadvertent returns.

On Dec. 18, 2017, county officials discovered that Sunoco was conducting directional drilling near North Locust Point Road in Silver Spring Township even though Sunoco officials were told to install pipe using open trench cuts and had not obtained permits for horizontal drilling at that site.

An investigation by Reuters, published in November 2018, found that Mariner East II construction racked up violations at a much higher rate compared to other pipeline builds, due in part to its pace.

The pipeline was built at a rate of roughly 50 miles per month, compared to an average of 17 miles per month in other builds of comparable size and cost, Reuters found.

Earlier this month, the state Department of the Environment said it was halting the issue of any new permits to Sunoco/ETP, with 27 permit applications for Mariner II outstanding.

There has been a failure by Energy Transfer and its subsidiaries to respect our laws and our communities, Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement issued shortly thereafter. This is not how we strive to do business in Pennsylvania, and it will not be tolerated.

Email Zack at zhoopes@cumberlink.com.

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Two juveniles have been charged in adult court and are being held in Cumberland County Prison after police say they committed a robbery Wednesday night.

Around 11:53 p.m. Wednesday, Carlisle Police were sent to the first block of West Ridge Street in Carlisle for a reported armed robbery.

The victim told police that two juveniles grabbed him around the neck and forced him to the ground, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Carlisle Police.

One of the robbers threatened to shoot and kill the victim if he did not empty his pockets, police said.

The two robbers then removed the victims wallet, which contained $180 in cash, and his cellphone before attempting to flee, according to police.

The victim attempted to chase but one of the robbers pointed a black handgun at him, police said.

One of the suspects was on probation at the time of the robbery and GPS information showed he was in the vicinity of the incident at the time of the robbery, according to police.

The two boys were arrested and taken to Cumberland County Prison Friday in lieu of $99,000 bail each, according to court records.
+2 Community gathers amid 'brazen' shooting at American Legion Two to three hours before Daniel Harris was shot and killed at the Haines Stackfield American Legion in Carlisle, he was having a conversation

Multiple witnesses who were present at the club the night of the shooting testified to seeing a black man walk into the bar and shoot Harris. Only one witness, Michael Evans, said he saw Anderson in the club at the time of the shooting.

Phone calls to and from Andersons phone, which were intercepted by police, were played in court. On multiple occasions Anderson said he welcomed the opportunity to go to trial because not a jury in America would convict him.

The jury will reconvene at 9 a.m. Saturday to begin the penalty phase of the trial.

The same jury that rendered the guilty verdict will decide his sentence.

The prosecution Saturday will present aggravating circumstances, arguing that the death penalty is the appropriate punishment, while the defense will present what it sees as mitigating circumstances that should spare Andersons life.

The jury will then reconvene Monday to hear closing statements and begin deliberation. It must reach a unanimous verdict to impose the death penalty.

President Judge Edward Guido told the opposing counsel if a verdict is not reached Monday the jury will be sequestered until a verdict is reached.

Harriss mother and the district attorneys office declined comment after the verdict was handed down.

Email Joshua Vaughn at jvaughn@cumberlink.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Sentinel_Vaughn.
Hampden Township resident Jake Miller has announced that he will seek the Democratic nomination for Cumberland County treasurer in the May primary.

So many folks do not know what the county treasurers office does, and I seek to not only educate them on the functions as treasurer, but to serve and empower Cumberland Countys citizens to hold all of its elected officials accountable for our limited resources. As treasurer, I will work to build a community that values our shared investment in preserving our rich history and planning our vibrant future, Miller said in a news release

A history and civics teacher at Good Hope Middle School in the Cumberland Valley School District, Miller began his career in politics, organizing students at Bloomsburg University to register to vote before electing a student as mayor. He then worked as a Democrat serving the Republican state Senate.

He took over for his government teacher at his alma mater in Carbon County before moving to Cumberland Valley to teach math.

Miller has built a variety of programs connecting Cumberland County students to the community, from welcoming veterans to his school for each of the 13 years in his career, traveling to Normandy and China on scholarship, and building the schools National History Day programs.
Dickinson in late 2017 had to deal with community outrage when a Halloween photo surfaced of a student in apparent blackface dressed as Colin Kaepernick with another student pointing a toy gun at him. The Dickinsonian published an apology letter from the student, though the student argued it hadnt been blackface and the toy gun was jokingly pointed at others in the room.

Fisher on Thursday said there isnt anything she regrets about the column she wrote.

I dont regret how I wrote the article or the tone I took, she said. If anything, backlash to how angry or dismissive I seem just reveals how limited the range of acceptable emotion for a black woman is.

I dont want my voice to drown out other students reactions, she said. I want their voices to be heard just as much as mine.

In its email last week, Dickinson said it would provide opportunities for constructive conversations to respond to the divisions we are experiencing on our campus and in society. One of those included an open forum that was moderated by George Stroud, vice president for Student Life and dean of students, in which students expressed concerns over safety and lack of safe spaces for minority students, the Dickinsonian reported from the event.
The timeline for developers looking to bring a mix of housing and retail development to the former Carlisle Tire & Wheel site may have taken a hit Thursday as Carlisle Borough Council declined to approve their plans, choosing instead to table the item until a future meeting.

In a move that seemed to take representatives from PIRHL Developers by surprise, the Carlisle Borough Council tabled an item on its agenda that would have waived the requirement for PIRHL to complete a preliminary land development plan, and approved a final land development plan subject to conditions imposed by borough staff.

Sean Crampsie, chairman of the councils community planning and smart growth committee, made a motion to table the item. That motion passed by a vote of 6-1 with councilman Sean Shultz dissenting.

Crampsie said the project will be discussed in the future at a workshop or borough council meeting.

I think we need more discussion. Its a big project so its something we need to look at, and tonight probably wasnt the best night, he said.

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Hubert Gilroy, attorney for PIRHL, asked about discussing the plan, but Mayor Tim Scott cited the rules of order in declining to discuss the matter.
The result is that many patients have limited or no access to services they want or need and are legally entitled to receive, Levy said.

The new survey plumbed the attitudes of members of ACOG, a professional society with more than 58,000 members that represents roughly 90 percent of practicing OB-GYNs in the U.S. Researchers reached out to a sample of 1,000 doctors; 655 responded.

It comes in the midst of a renewed drive by the Trump administration to rally support for measures restricting abortion procedures. With the arrival on the Supreme Court of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who is expected to swing the high court toward a narrower view of abortion rights, momentum is building for new limits.

But the survey reveals that womens health specialists have grown more willing to aid patients intent on ending an unwanted pregnancy. In 2008, the last time ACOG asked its members about abortion, 14 percent said they had performed one in the previous year. That 24 percent said they had done so this time around marks a significant uptick.

The poll also suggests that doctors attitudes may be changing as abortions shift toward earlier pregnancy and increasingly rely on pills rather than procedures that mechanically aspirate or surgically cut a fetus from the uterus.

After years of steady decline, the abortion rate among U.S. women has reached a historic low, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. In 2014, the latest year for which reliable figures are available, 926,190 abortions were performed legally in the United States. Fully 90 percent were performed in the first trimester of pregnancy, the National Academies found.

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Source: iStock/Nuthawut Somsuk

Some of Japans biggest internet companies are making big moves in the countrys cryptocurrency industry  with Yahoo Japan making a large-scale investment, and a Rakuten-fronted group pushing for the regulator to reform and clarify proposed crypto tax and initial coin offering policies.

Yahoo Japan made a bold debut on the scene last year, snapping up a 40% stake in the Financial Services Agency-approved TaoTao cryptocurrency exchange (formerly known as bitARG). And the company has now struck a funding deal with crypto tax experts Aerial Partners. The scale of Yahoos investment is undisclosed, but Aerial says it has recently received at least USD 1.6 million in funding from a range of companies, including Yahoo Japans Z Corporation crypto business arm  as well as two venture capital companies.

The deal comes days after Aerial Partners inked a deal with Tokyo-based FSA-approved exchange Quoine, which may allow the exchanges customers to conduct tax-related calculations using the formers software tools.

For its part, Yahoo Japan is also keen on launching its own crypto exchange, and the company has previously indicated that it may well do so in the coming months  with the spring of 2019 its tentative target, subject to the exchange attaining FSA approval. The company will also launch a cryptocurrency-focused media venture next month.

Meanwhile, the Japan Association of New Economy, a business group fronted by the CEO of crypto-keen e-commerce giant Rakuten, has called on the FSA to clarify its initial coin offering (ICO) stance and amend tax policies in light of a study group report issued late last year.

The association, whose other members include Japanese internet and gaming companies, issued a press release asking the FSA to consider taxing cryptocurrency transactions at the same 20% flat rate as it applies to stock- and foreign exchange-related deals. It also wants the FSA to allow traders to conduct tax-free crypto-to-crypto transactions.

The FSAs 2018 report indicated that the regulator may consider creating several different categories of ICO, and applying a different regulatory framework to each category. The association wants the FSA to clarify these categories and asked for exceptions to be made for certain cases, as well as asking that exchanges responsibilities not be made excessive when dealing with ICOs and tokens.

Rakuten is also known to be keen on launching its own exchange in Japan, last year purchased domestic exchange Everybodys Bitcoin and is looking to launch its own cryptocurrency  which it hopes to integrate and launch in Russia through its Viber chat app.
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Police detain two journalists in separate raids

Police on February 12 detained Salih Turan, a freelance journalist who formerly worked for the U.S. government-funded broadcaster Voice of America and the Kurdish service of the Russian-state-funded outlet Sputnik, on accusations of making propaganda of a [terrorist] organization on social media and being a member of a [terrorist] organization meaning the PKK, the leftist daily Evrensel reported.

Turan was apprehended at his house in Istanbul and police confiscated his electronic devices. The journalists lawyer was cited as saying that Turan was arrested for sharing his own news stories on social media, according to reports. Turan is at Silivri Prison in Istanbul, pending trial, according to the report.

Melike Ceylan, a reporter who used to work for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency, was taken into custody on February 13 after police carried out raids in Istanbul and three other cities on members of the Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), the news website Ahval reported.

An indictment was presented to a court for Cagdas Kaplan, former chief editor of the pro-Kurdish daily Yeni Yasam, his former outlet reported on February 13. The indictment accused Kaplan of making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization (PKK) via social media posts, the report said. According to the indictment, Kaplans social media posts protesting the shuttering of the pro-Kurdish daily Ozgur Gundem and referencing the daily Evrensel were evidence of criminal activity.

Court hearings including for ETHA and Meydan journalists

Atilla Tas, former columnist for the shuttered daily Meydan, was released on probation from Kandra prison, in the western province of Kocaeli on February 8, according to reports. The journalist was taken into custody on November 8 when a local appeals court upheld a prison sentence of 37 months and 15 days, according to CPJ research. An Istanbul court on March 8 convicted Tas of knowingly and willingly aiding a [terrorist] organization, referring to a group the government calls FETO, but released him pending appeal. Prior to that Tas was in custody from August 31, 2016, when he turned himself in after the failed attempted coup.

An Istanbul court on February 14 ordered Isminaz Temel, the editor for the leftist Etkin News Agency (ETHA), to be released pending the outcome of her trial, her employer reported. Temel has been behind bars since October 19, 2017, according to CPJ research. The next hearing was scheduled for April 24.

In a separate trial, an Istanbul court on February 14 ordered ETHA reporter Adil Demirci to be released pending the outcome of his trial alongside other defendants, his employer reported. Demirci was taken into custody on April 17, CPJ documented at the time. The next hearing was set for April 30.

A court in the southeaster city of Batman on February 13 convicted Veysi Altay, director of the documentary Nu Jin, (The New Woman) and Dicle Anter, son of murdered Kurdish journalist Musa Anter, of making propaganda of a [terrorist] organization (PKK) and sentenced them to two years and six months and two years and one month respectively, the news website T24 reported. Altay was found guilty for the documentary and Anter was found guilty of organizing a screening in Batman. Nu Jin is about three Kurdish women in the city of Kobane during the fights against the militant group, Islamic State. The defendants were released pending the outcome of their appeal and a foreign travel ban was imposed, according to reports.

An Istanbul court on February 11 ordered four media workers from Gun Printing House, which produces a pro-Kurdish paper, to be released pending trial, Yeni Yasam reported. Ugur Selman Kelekciler, Musa Kaya, Mehmet Emin Sumeli, and Cemal Tunc were detained in March, CPJ reported at the time. The next hearing was scheduled for March 14.

CPJ joins European Parliament call to end press crackdown

CPJ on February 14 joined 47 members of the European Parliament and other press freedom organizations to call on Turkey to end its crackdown on the press and the mass imprisonment of journalists. The full statement can be read here.
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Abidjan, February 15, 2019The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Liberian authorities to ensure that those responsible for two recent attacks on independent broadcaster Roots FM are swiftly arrested and prosecuted.

Roots FM owner Henry Costa, who is also the host of the stations popular Costa Show and an outspoken critic of President George Weah, told CPJ via WhatsApp that the stations transmitter and other broadcast equipment were stolen by armed men in the early hours of February 11. It was the second incident at the stations premises in Monrovia in as many weeks, according to Costa and local news reports.

We urge the Liberian government to send a strong message that it is committed to freedom of the press by moving speedily to arrest those behind the attacks on Roots FM, said Angela Quintal, CPJ Africa program coordinator, in New York. Ensuring that the culprits are identified, prosecuted, and convicted will signal to those who want to silence the media that they will find no ally in President Weahs administration.

Costa told CPJ that workers were doing regular maintenance on the Roots FM transmitter at about 3 a.m. on February 11 when they were overpowered by two armed men who stole the transmitter and other equipment. The station was off the air until February 13, when it was able to borrow a transmitter from another station, Costa said; Roots FM was also able to purchase a new transmitter through a GoFundMe campaign.

The theft came days after Costa criticized Weahs call for Liberians to pray daily for the countrys economic recovery, Costa told CPJ.

On January 31, Roots FM was unable to broadcast for 13 hours after armed men overpowered the stations security guards and cut its transmitter cables, according to Costa and news reports. Costa told CPJ that he was unable to do his show that morning but that the station was back on air by late afternoon.

That attack came as Roots FM was covering a controversial government fishing deal that the Liberian government was forging with Senegal, Costa said.

He told CPJ that, before the attacks, Roots FM had experienced a large number of threats on social media from supporters of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change party.

On February 11, Information Minister Lenn Nagbe said in a statement published on Facebook that the government strongly condemns this and all acts of violence which target the fundamental tenet of our democracy, the press. The statement said that an investigation has been opened into the attacks.

A letter dated February 14 from Inspector General Patrick Sudue to Roots FM station manager Fidel Saydee, seen by CPJ, confirmed that the Liberian National Police are investigating the matter. Saydee told CPJ that his statement was taken today by the police anti-robbery unit.

The only motive that could provoke such an attack would be our critical stance on national issues, Saydee told CPJ.

Sudue had not replied to several calls and messages from CPJ by the time of publication.
Bengaluru



Bengaluru-headquartered real estate firm, Brigade Enterprises, plans to invest Rs 4000 crore to develop commercial properties in South India by 2020. The firm is also looking to divest stake in the hospitality business.



Brigade Enterprises has chalked out plans to launch another 8.2 million sqft of office and retail space in cities such as Bengaluru and Chennai over the next three years. It already has a partnership with Singapore-based private equity firm, GIC Singapore.



"We have an indicative investment platform of Rs1500 crore but as and when there are opportunities that can go up too. We are targeting rental income of Rs 900 crore over the next four years from Rs 250 crore now," said Atul Goyal, CFO, Brigade Group.



The platform has concluded land deals, two in Bengaluru and one Chennai. Together, both parties invested Rs 1000 crore in buying land parcel across the Southern cities. "With GIC, we are building 5.5 mn sqft currently that is expected to be concluded by 2020," he said.

GIC has stuck at least a dozen real estate transactions since 2007 and has been very aggressive in acquiring assets across residential, commercial and retail segments in the country. The sovereign wealth fund had invested $1.4 billion for 33% in DLF Ltd's rental arm, creating one of the biggest commercial platforms in India's real estate market. It also has exposure to Godrej Properties.



Additionally, Brigade Enterprises has also moved all its hotel assets into a separate unit to raise funds to fuel future strategy. It plans to increase the number of hotel rooms to 2,000 by 2022 from 1200 now. "We are looking to divest equity minimum of 25 percent equity in the hotel business depending on investor appetite," said Goyal.



The company currently has 18 mn sqft in residential development and plans to launch an additional 9 million sqft by next financial year. The company sold residential units aggregating to 0.78 million sqft. with a total value of Rs 446 crores sold in Q3 FY19 with average price realization of Rs. 5,741 per sqft.



The net debt of the company as on 31st December 2018 stood at Rs 2833 crore.

Sobia Khan, Economic Times, Bengaluru
A Whitehall man was sentenced Thursday in the Chippewa County Court for the repeated sexual assault of a child.

Daniel Ayre Stafford, 67, was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment followed by four years of extended supervision.

Stafford pleaded no contest to one count of repeated sexual assault of a child (at least three violations of first-degree sexual assault) in mid-July. Four other counts of repeated sexual assault of a child were dismissed.

In court Thursday, the victims grandmother said that he had torn the family apart.

The prosecution had requested 15 years imprisonment with five years of supervised probation, while the defense contended that he was of low risk to commit further crimes and had been taking proactive steps.

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Chippewa County Court Judge Steven Gibbs leaned more toward the prosecutions request, agreeing that Stafford had taken his victims youth.

The victim will carry this throughout her life, Gibbs said.

According to a criminal complaint, a then-14-year-old child said in March 2017 that the child had been sexually assaulted by Stafford at a Lake Wissota residence and in a car while the child was between the ages of five and 10.
A former Wheeler police chief sentenced to 14 years in prison for sexually assaulting two teenage boys and exposing them to pornography in 2011 will not get a new trial.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled against Gary Wayerski, 63, in a decision filed Feb. 7, confirming an April 2018 ruling from the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

Wayerski argued that his trial attorney was ineffective, and that prosecutors did not alert him to evidence that could sway the jury in his favor.

While he was chief of police in the village of Wheeler, Wayerski arrested two boys, aged 16 and 17 at the time, in March 2011 for breaking into a local church. Offering to mentor the boys, he met with them numerous times between March and July 2011 in his apartment in Menomonie.

The teens told authorities that Wayerski gave them alcohol and showed them pornography multiple times. In addition to fondling them, he spanked them during workouts and had oral sex with one of them. The boys claimed he threatened them with juvenile detention if they told anyone about the incidents.
Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh. blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work.

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..JNS.org..13 February '19..This weeks Warsaw summit was supposed to be about rallying the world against the threat that Iran poses to international peace. But given the complete lack of interest on the part of either Americas Western European allies or the Russians in reconsidering the disastrous nuclear deal that empowered and enriched Tehran, that was never going to work.But the United States is also reportedly hoping to use the gathering to help set the stage for a renewed effort to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians that the administration has been preparing for the last two years. The problem with that approach is that Trump or presidential adviser/son-in-law Jared Kushner have grasped one element of the region that eluded their predecessors, though they still dont understand the intractable nature of the conflict.The conceit of the still secret Kushner plan, which will reportedly be formally rolled out after Israels April elections, is the notion that Arab nations are far more interested in resisting Iran than in any further tension with Israel. That basic assumption is correct, as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan and the rest of the Sunni world are sick to death of being dragged into a crisis by a Palestinian leadership that has no intention of ever making peace with Israel or accepting a two-state solution.It is also true that, thanks to Iran, these same nations have found themselves in a far closer embrace with Israel than anyone would have expected a decade ago. The Obama administrations policy of allowing Syria to descend into chaos, which was exploited by both Russia and Iran, threatened the security of the entire region. Even worse, Obamas appeasement of Iran made the Arab states think that the United States was abandoning them.At that point, under-the-table relations between most of the Arab world and Israel shifted to the point where most of these nations no longer even bothered to pretend that they were hostile to the Jewish state or cared much about the Palestinians.
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis: Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on

Arab-Israeli relations

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh. blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work.

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..IMRA Weekly Commentary..14 February '19..Our ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, disappointed me tonight when he asserted on Israel Radio that it was good that the release of details of the Trump "deal" was postponed until after our elections.He noted that if the details of the deal were made public today that this would be the focus of the elections.Why would it be bad for there to be a public debate of the details of the deal?Why can't I know before I cast my ballot what Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the leaders of the other lists think about the offer?These are the red lines I would like to cast my ballot in support for:#1. No sovereign Palestinian state. Please don't insult my intelligence claiming that "sovereignty" is just a label. All the guarantees in the world can be revoked or violated by a sovereign state if it has the right combination of supporters.#2. No joint management of any area in Jerusalem. I am embarrassed for the people who actually think this is a good idea. It demonstrates a profound disconnect with reality. Joint management doesn't SOLVE problems it CREATES problems.#3. Both security AND demographic considerations require Israel to maintain exclusive control of the entry and exit of people.#4. Area C is Israel's critical land reserve therefore there shall be no change in the status of portions of Area C or initiatives in Area C that would prevent the future development of Area C for Israel's rapidly growing population.Yes. There's are many Israeli brass and ex-brass who are confident that it possible to draw up adequate "security arrangements". Unfortunately these guys typically rely on best case scenarios and/or cultural hegemony.We need to respect that different societies have different time frames, priorities, etc.I appreciate that the temptation will be great for Mr. Netanyahu to be vague about our response to the deal when it is published with the idea that the Palestinians will kill it in any event.In 705 days a new president may be sworn in in Washington.A vague reply to the Trump deal when it is announced will make it considerably harder for us to hold by critical red lines in the future that were already violated by the deal that we declined to reject.________________________________________
An emergency room nurse and doctor from Woodstock and a nurse from Halifax say they are safe but have no idea when they will be able to leave Haiti as violent protests continue in that country.

"We're all safe and we're not worried about our safety, as long as we don't leave the property we're on now," said Dr. Heather Dow.

The latest demonstrations in Haiti were triggered by frustrations over the country's high unemployment rates and skyrocketing prices.

Dow, along with Cathy Davies and Rachel Blaquiere, travelled to Haiti to provide free medical aid in small villages and towns. But the protests are preventing their departure, which was scheduled for Wednesday.

"We're a bit stressed because we have obligations at home that we're probably not going to be able to meet if we don't get home soon," Dow said.

Protests and demonstrations began Feb. 7, on the anniversary of the overthrow 33 years ago of Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier's government.

Dow said that despite President Jovenel Moise's promises of improvements, things have gotten worse.

'Complete shock'

In an interview with Shift New Brunswick, Davies, from Woodstock, said they had no idea this would happen because nothing like it had happened when they were there at the same time last year.

"This came to us as a complete shock when it all began," she said.

The women, along with the medical team they travel with, were able to reach a small clinic in the mountains that day but encountered roadblocks, and someone threw a gas bomb at them.

"We had to go through a dirt path he knew of to get back to our house," she said. "And our driver had a gun too. It was something that I don't want to go through again."

Roads blocked

Submitted

The three are staying at the home of Dr. Emilio Bazile, who lives in Ottawa but returns to the country three or four times a year to deliver medical care. They have accompanied him on many of those trips.

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His home is four hours from Port-au-Prince, where the only international airport is located. Dow said entrances to the capital have been blocked and there are roadblocks throughout the city.

"There's a lot of demonstrations with rock throwing and tire burning, cement-barricade building and clashes with the police that have left many injured and several killed," Dow said.

She said they've heard people at the barricades are asking for money to let people through, and sometimes hold people for ransom to make their point to the government about how unhappy they are.

Seeking help

Submitted

The women said Bazile has been trying to use his contacts to arrange a safe way for the women to leave the country. More calls were being made to the Canadian Embassy to see if they could help.

"Right now with the roads blockaded there's no way to get to Port-au-Prince," said Dow.

Davies said another friend is working with his contacts to arrange a flight from another airport if they can there.

"Our concern right now is getting home safely," she said. "We're hoping and praying this gets resolved and we get home to our respective families soon."
A. El Albani / IC2MP / CNRS - Universite de Poitiers

Scientists think they've found evidence of extremely ancient organisms that could crawl and wriggle their way through the mud  extraordinary at a time when simple bacteria were previously thought to be the only living things on Earth.

The researchers discovered what appear to be fossilized tunnels bored by hungry blobs creeping through the mud on the floor of a shallow sea 2.1 billion years ago, about a billion years before animals evolved.

Those may have been similar to modern day slime molds  single-celled organisms that sometimes bunch together into a blob or "slug" to crawl in search of food, reports the international team led by Abderazak El Albani of the centre national de la recherche scientifique and the Universite de Poitiers in France. They published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences earlier this week.

Abderrazak El Albani/CNRS

The tunnels appear near and between thick mats of bacteria that may have made a tasty lunch, said Luis Buatois, a University of Saskatchewan researcher who co-authored the paper.

"That's consistent with the idea of searching for food," he added. He and his wife, fellow University of Saskatchewan researcher M. Gabriela Mangano, are experts in "trace" fossils. While most fossils we're familiar with come directly from the bodies of organisms, trace fossils come from other evidence such as tracks or tunnels.

El Albani contacted Mangano and Buatois a few years ago for help figuring out the origin of strange worm-like cords of the mineral pyrite in some 2.1 billion-year-old rocks. He had found them snaking among fossilized bacterial mats in a rock formation near Franceville, Gabon, in Africa. El Albani shared detailed CT scans of the structures, some of which were as long and as thick as a pencil.

"We were immediately amazed by what he had," Buatois recalled.

Earliest multicellular organisms

El Albani proposed in a 2010 study that some of the fossils found in the same rock formation belonged to the earliest multicellular organisms  suggesting such complex organisms evolved hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought.

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What was striking about the worm-like fossils was that they seemed to cross different layers of sediment and appeared to have pushed the sediment around. That's quite different from what's seen in specimens that are dead or immobile when buried  they tend to sit in a single layer.

"We have evidence of organisms that were able to move. That's significant," Buatois said.

What was tricky was trying to imagine what kind of organism could have made the tunnels. They're unusual, as they change in width along their length and sometimes fuse together from the same direction  impossible for a single organism such as a worm, but similar to the tracks left by slime molds made of blobs of cells that can join, separate and reshape themselves.

"The similarities are remarkable," Buatois said.

Watch as Princeton professor explores slime mold:

While they may have been similar to a slime molds, they were almost certainly unrelated  slime molds didn't evolve until about 1.5 billion years later.

Pyrite proof?

The idea that the fossils were made by biological organisms is supported by geochemists such as Kurt Konhauser, a University of Alberta professor who also co-authored the study.

Organisms typically ooze slime as a lubricant as they tunnel through mud, Konhauser said. When the tunnel is later filled in with new sediment, bacteria eat that slime, producing a mineral called pyrite that's otherwise only found in volcanic rock: "You don't get pyrite unless you get bacteria eating organic carbon."

And pyrite is what the worm-like features were made of.

A. El Albani & A. Mazurier / IC2MP / CNRS  Universite de Poitiers

A big question that remains is whether the organisms that made the tunnels had a lasting impact on the evolution of living things.

Konhauser suspects they didn't: "Most likely, whatever it was went extinct."

That's because it lived at a very special time in Earth's history, shortly after photosynthetic bacteria evolved and filled the atmosphere with about half the concentration of oxygen we have today  way more than there was before.

That didn't last, though. Oxygen levels soon plummeted and didn't rise again significantly until around 650 million years ago, which is when multicellular life really took off and became obvious in the fossil record.

Evolutionary biologists think that means oxygen was a requirement for complex life. But then why did complex life not evolve the first time oxygen levels peaked?

"What this shows," Konhauser said, "is that in fact, it's quite likely that you did get complex life at that time."

Controversial discovery

Not everyone is convinced that the fossils show evidence of multicellular organisms or organisms that could move.

Juergen Schieber, a geology professor at Indiana University who has studied how slime trails left by burrowing organisms get fossilized, called both claims "dubious."

In an email, he agreed that organic matter would have been needed to form the pyrite cords, but suggested they were more likely to be rolled up bacterial mats.

Buatois said that was one possibility his team considered, but it didn't seem to match up with the fossils' positions relative to the layers of sediments.

"I know that it's a controversial issue," he said. "But we've been through every possible alternative explanation, and we rejected them all."
Most Canadians in the workforce have had to take some kind of safety training, but it rarely takes into consideration employees' psychological health and safety.

Meanwhile, about 500,000 people per week in Canada don't make it into work because of mental health issues.

"It's having an impact on our country financially to the tune of $51 billion a year," said Ed Mantler, VP of programs and policies at the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

MHCC championed the creation of the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace, a voluntary standard coupled with an implementation document.

Assessing health and safety

Several national organizations are now offering training for mental health professionals to evaluate the psychological safety of offices.

Cara Taylor is a Saskatoon-based mental health educator who finds solutions for workplaces looking to improve employee health and prevent deterioration.

"I can do an assessment, implementation, and evaluation, and look at changing some of the things that could improve employee mental health," she said.

She said it's also important to celebrate what employers are doing already day-to-day.

Bridget Yard/CBC

There are 13 psycho-social factors Taylor is trained to assess in organizations.

"We'd probably just focus on a few because it's overwhelming to improve all 13 at once. So we're looking at things that will get the most reward for the least amount of work," Taylor said.

She's able to evaluate the organization's progress by taking initial benchmarks and revisiting the plan. For example, employee absenteeism is an easy number to track and is a good indicator of employee health.

Workload is a common contributor to stress and psychological decline. Taylor describes a scenario where a standard of health and safety might help.

"Say an employee has 25 reports to get done in a day but most people can only get 15 done. If there's been no communication about what is realistic and the standards of that it's going to cause a lot of employee distress."

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A business case for psychological health

Taylor focuses on a few psycho-social factors to improve, as it can be costly and time-consuming to ensure psychological health in the workplace, even at companies where it's a focus.

She stressed that there is a business case for improved mental health in the workplace. Taylor identifies four benefits:

Risk mitigation.

Cost effectiveness.

Organizational sustainability and excellence.

Retention of employees.

MHCC's standard, which guided Taylor and other educators, is the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

The document can be intimidating, according to MHCC's Ed Mantler. So the organization has worked to make it more accessible.

"We like to say it's tools, not rules," he said "There's an implication guide that goes with it which is a much easier, friendlier read."

The Standard, as it's known in mental health advocacy circles, is by no means a legally binding document. Rather, it is a guide with tips and tricks.

Mantler says there could be political will one day to create legislation that would make the Standard a legal standard, though for the time being, it is voluntary.
(Reuters) - General Motors Co announced on Thursday that its brand of electric bicycles would be called "Ariv" and begin selling in Europe in the second quarter of 2019. Two such bicycles, a compact bike and a foldable one, will launch first in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, markets where cycles powered by lithium-ion batteries are already popular, the No. 1 U.S. automaker said http://bit.ly/2E9KBsl in a statement. Riders can charge their Ariv bike batteries in about three and a half hours and get up to 64 kilometers or nearly 40 miles of ride time with a single charge. In Belgium and the Netherlands the compact e-bike would cost 2,800 euros ($3,165), while the folding one would cost 3,400 euros. In Germany, the prices would be 2,750 euros and 3,350 euros, respectively. GM first announced its e-bike plans in early November. It already has a presence in the electric car market through its Chevrolet Bolt vehicles, which start at roughly $36,000. The Detroit-based automaker has not announced any plans in the e-scooter market. Meanwhile, its U.S. rival Ford Motor Co made a reported $200 million investment in November to acquire Spin, an electric scooter rental firm based in San Francisco. (The story corrects the last sentence changed to say Ford made a REPORTED $200 million investment in Spin.) (Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)
Chris Dodd watches stages performances without the benefit of sound. A deaf actor and playwright based in Edmonton, he's passionate about the arts but often leaves the theatre feeling disconnected.

"It can be boring to sit there and to watch an actor on the stage going on for minutes at a time and not being able to hear what they're saying," Dodd said in an interview Wednesday with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.

Interpretation services aren't always available. Even when they are, something is often lost in translation, he said.

"You have to choose between if you want to pay attention to the actors on stage or you want to pay attention to their interpreter," Dodd said.

"Your focus is kind of split. It's not perfect."

Dodd was born with normal hearing but gradually lost it through childhood as the result of a meningitis infection when he was three years old.

That didn't deter him from studying drama at the University of Alberta, where he became the first deaf student to complete the program in 1998.

Marc J Chalifoux

But despite some initial success in the field, he soon faced a serious lack of professional opportunities.

That lack of accessibility and representation inspired him to found SOUND OFF, Canada's first national festival dedicated to the deaf performing arts.

SOUND OFF is intended for both deaf and hearing audiences. American Sign Language and live interpretation is incorporated into each performance. Deaf performers perform alongside their hearing counterparts.

The festival is back for its third year, bringing deaf artists from across the country to share their stories and talent on the Edmonton stage.

This year's festival started Wednesday and closes Sunday.

The line-up is the largest yet, with five mainstage shows, an improv night, staged readings and workshops running from Feb. 13 to Feb. 17 at the ATB Financial Arts Barns in Old Strathcona.

The festival includes several performances of Songs My Mother Never Sung Me, about a deaf mom and her hearing son. The bilingual piece is performed and sung in English and American Sign Language.

Story continues

"We've been able to bring in actors [from] across the country," Dodd said.

Chinook Series

"We're a showcase of deaf performers and deaf talent and it's really wonderful for the audience to be able to participate in this unique theatre experience."

Dodd said Canada lags behind other countries in developing and supporting deaf theatre. Deaf performers remain under-represented but there has been a recent shift, he said.

More deaf performers are finding the limelight and American Sign Language is being incorporated into an increasing number of productions.

"It's a very beautiful language," he said. "When the interpreters themselves are part of the action, they're on stage, they're part of the performance, it's just not for people who are deaf but for all audiences."

'The time is right'

Dodd points to upcoming Citadel Theatre production of The Tempest. Instead of having a traditional sign translator on the side of the stage, this version of the Shakespeare play will have sign language and spoken English interpreted to the audience by the cast.

Josette Bushell-Mingo, of Sweden's National Deaf Theatre, will direct the production a re-imagined version in which Prospero's daughter Miranda is deaf and the two aren't able to communicate clearly.

Dodd said he's proud to advance deaf arts in Canada.

"We're having a lot of good theatre involving deaf actors across the country right now. I feel there is good reasons for that," Dodd said.

"I feel that for SOUND OFF, the time is right."
The Challenge's Abram Boise Is Engaged to Rachel Missie: 'Sheer Joy'

The Challenges Abram Boise popped the question to his girlfriend  and she said yes!

The longtime MTV star is engaged to Rachel Missie, the couple announced Thursday on Instagram.

I could not be more honored that @rachelmissie has agreed to be my wife in this life. Joy. Sheer joy, Boise, 36, captioned a serious of shots of the lovebirds standing in front of a snowy landscape after he proposed. Much love, be well.

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RELATED: Love Is in the Air: All of the Celebrity Engagements of 2019

The bride-to-be also shared multiple photos from the joyous moment, which she tagged as having taken place in Emigrant, Montana.

Today the most amazing human asked me to be his wife, she captioned the photos. Officially engaged to my everything!!!!

The proposal comes after the couples trip to Iceland at the end of January, when Missie wished Boise a happy birthday with a kissing photo of the pair taken at ingvellir National Park.

Happy birthday to my Montana Mountain Man! ]]>
By John Benny and Allison Lampert (Reuters) - Canada's Bombardier Inc topped analysts' forecasts for quarterly earnings on Thursday, helped by its business jet unit, which benefited from demand for aftermarket services and higher-priced, large-cabin corporate planes, sending shares up 9.8 percent in early trading. The results come as the Montreal-based plane and train manufacturer nears the end of a five-year turnaround which followed a series of heavy investments aimed at launching two planes that drove the company to the brink of bankruptcy in 2015. The company is counting on its recently-launched Global 7500 business jet, which is sold-out through 2021, to help lift annual revenue by 10 percent this year and to over $20 billion by 2020. Still, quarterly revenue from Bombardiers dominant transportation unit that makes rail cars and equipment, fell nearly 11 percent to $2.16 billion as it faced delays in fulfilling a handful of contracts. Bombardier replaced the head of its Berlin-based transportation unit earlier this month. Chief executive Alain Bellemare said the company was making "significant improvements" toward resolving the contracts, which he said would mostly be completed this year. He told analysts that there was no "systemic issue" in the division. "BT is a very strong franchise and our ability to win is solid," Bellemare said. Bombardier reaffirmed its 2019 and 2020 guidance, reassuring investors fearful about the rail unit's performance. "We had some concern there could be delays in 2019 cash recoveries from the unit," said AltaCorp analyst Chris Murray. Bombardier also said that a Quebec pension fund's minority stake in its transportation unit would increase by 2.5 percent to 30 percent. Chief Financial Officer John Di Bert stressed that there was no "urgency" to buy back the stake acquired by the fund for $1.5 billion in 2015, although Bombardier now has the option to do so. Revenue from sales of business jets rose more than 3 percent to $1.5 billion in the final quarter of 2018, Bombardier said. The company's quarterly net profit overall reached $55 million, compared with a $188 million net loss a year earlier when it made heavy investments in its jet programs. Earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT), a closely watched measure of Bombardier's profitability, also beat analysts' estimates, rising to $342 million from $73 million a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the company earned 5 cents per share, above analysts' estimates of 2 cents, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Bombardier shares rose 9.8 percent to C$2.24 at the market open in Toronto. (Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar and Nick Zieminski)
Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar speaking earlier this week. Photo: Reuters

Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar on Friday firmly quashed suggestions that the European Union could insist on a border on the island of Ireland to protect the single market in a no-deal Brexit scenario.

We cant allow a decision made in Britain to leave the European Union, Varadkar said, to undermine our membership of the single market and customs union.

News agency Reuters on Thursday quoted an unnamed EU diplomat as saying that, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, there would either have to be a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland or a border between Ireland and the rest of the EU.

If a hard border in Northern Ireland is to be avoided, the idea that controls or checks could be placed between the island of Ireland and the rest of the EU has been floated to protect the integrity of the single market.

I dont see how [this] would avoid a hard border, Varadkar said. It would create a hard border between Ireland and the European Union and thats not something we can accept.

Whatever happens, Ireland is going to stay in the heart of the European Union. Its the common European home we helped to build, were founder members of the eurozone, founder members of the single market, he said.

Ireland has continually said that it is making no preparations for physical infrastructure on its border with Northern Ireland, even in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Both the EU and Ireland routinely insist that the backstop in its agreement with prime minister Theresa May is the only way to avoid a post-Brexit hard border.

Varadkar was speaking ahead of an all-island Brexit dialogue event on Friday in Dublin Castle  the fifth such event to be held since the UK voted to leave the EU.
Police Arrest 2 Suspects in Attack on Empire Star Jussie Smollett

Trending News: Police Arrest 2 Suspects in Connection to Attack on Jussie Smollett

Police have arrested two men in connection with the alleged attack against Empire star Jussie Smollett on January 29. The two suspects, said to be Nigerian brothers, have not yet been charged with a crime, CNN reports.

Smollett, an openly gay and African-American man, told police he was assaulted by two attackers who berated him with racial and homophobic slurs. The 36-year-old said he was left with a noose around his neck, covered in bleach on the street. At the time, police called the attack a possible hate crime.

Immediately following the attack, allegations were made that stated Smolletts story was untrue, but police have since put out there that theres no evidence the actor was lying.

"While we haven't found any video documenting the alleged attack, there is also no evidence to say that this is a hoax, said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, according to the Chicago Tribune. "The alleged victim is being cooperative at this time and continues to be treated as a victim, not a suspect.

Guglielmi added that police are "working to corroborate the allegations and investigative timeline as our investigation continues."

RELATED: 13 Inspirational Guys Worth Following on Instagram

The names of the alleged attackers have not been released, but police say at least one of them already knew Smollett from the set of Empire, reports CNN. The brothers are also said to have police records, with one sentenced to two years probation after an aggravated battery charge in 2012. The other is said to have a DUI from 2015, according to the Chicago Tribune.

On February 14, Smollett appeared on Good Morning America to clear up what had happened to him, expressing his frustration about not being believed.

"It feels like if I had said it was a Muslim or a Mexican or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me a lot much more," Smollett said on the show. "And that says a lot about the place where we are as a country right now."

Smollett also said that while the attackers screamed, This is MAGA country, they werent wearing the red and white hats characteristic of Donald Trumps supporters.

"I never said that," he said. "I didn't need to add anything like that. They called me a f****t, they called me a n****r. There's no which way you cut it. I don't need some MAGA hat as the cherry on some racist sundae."

This story is ongoing and will be updated accordingly.

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Opinion / Columnist

POLICY efficacy doubts - both fiscal and monetary - in supporting a liberalised foreign currency market, effectively discarding the 1:1 US dollar-bond note/RTGS dollar peg, have arguably been the main reason behind the undue delay in announcing the 2019 Monetary Policy Statement (MPS).The tension between the monetary authority and the political head of finance was apparent when the rumour mill had it late last year that Professor Mthuli Ncube would be appointed as the Finance minister. A few weeks prior to this appointment, Ncube had been churning out pointed articles speaking his mind on the need for currency reforms. He was emphatic that the bond note should be discarded and replaced by either the rand or the greenback, but his preference at the time was the adoption of the rand, arguing that the US dollar took the edge out of the competitiveness of our exports.Barely a few days after his appointment, Ncube did not hide his dislike for the bond note, making a public pronouncement that the bond note would be gone by the end of last year. The market did not move at the announcement  possibly due to his well-known position that he preferred the rand, a currency solution that many influential industrialists preferred. Then October 1 2018 happened, with the MPS released on that very day making a shocking announcement to the effect that bank accounts would be separated into foreign currency and bond. The market immediately discounted the bond note-RTGS, with the discount climbing to around 350%.Days later, Ncube was in London presenting a paper at a colloquium organised by Chatham House. In the question-and-answer segment, a participant asked Ncube to comment on the discounting of the bond note-RTGS dollar that was happening back home. Ncube famously quipped that he would not be arguing with the market and that the market was doing the job for him. The market reacted furiously, accelerating the fall of the value of the bond note-RTGS dollar to a dizzying 600%.Within a few hours of Ncube's unscripted Chatham House response, the state media carried a press statement diplomatically rebuffing Ncube's position, citing that the 1:1 peg was going nowhere. The markets calmed. Days later, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) chief John Mangudya made a remark, basically buttressing the position published in the public media, adding that the bond note would remain.Soon after, President Emmerson Mnangagwa reiterated the position enunciated by the RBZ head honcho. It is hardly surprising that there has been an unusual delay in the announcement of the 2019 MPS  it is simply a resurfacing of the currency policy preference differences between the monetary authority and the open market leanings of the Finance minister.If one needed to understand how firmly riveted to the liberalised markets view the Finance minister is, they do not have to look further than the shocking 150% fuel price hike that effectively played to the whims of the free retail market for fuel. So we have two key economic policy kingpins digging into their entrenched positions. In the last episode, the RBZ chief came tops, mainly because the President was sympathetic to his position. This time, it appears the political powers that be are pitching their tents with the minister's for-markets view. This comes from two pro-market policy decisions.First, the daring fuel price has seemingly stabilised the fuel supply situation. Second, the flooding of urban areas with commuter buses, charging a $1 fare, has forced the commuter taxis to take this as the market clearing price. These two quick, overnight apparent victories seem to have lent weight to the argument of the uncontested efficacy of free markets freely setting prices.The thesis now is: if free markets have worked for the fuel and transport sectors, they should work for the forex market too. In formal research terms, we are confronted with a question of external validity  in simple terms, trying to extend a theory to a new area.The RBZ could be questioning the external validity of the free markets theory in the forex market. The argument could be that the causal mechanism that is driving the fuel and transport sector markets is different from the one driving the forex market. The RBZ is most likely arguing that it is premature to let the RTGS dollar and the bond note float against the US dollar.It could be argued that the reason we have the bond note-RTGS dollars is a direct result of fiscal indiscipline. Indeed, this is what birthed these wanna-be currencies. The bone of contention then between Mangudya and Ncube would most likely be the degree of confidence in the efficacy of austerity measures and revenue-generating measures spelt out in the 2019 National Budget to reduce the budget deficit to single digits as a ratio of GDP. Mangudya would first want the proof that indeed the budget deficit is being contained and that requires a trend to ascertain an indisputable track record. Ncube should supply convincing evidence on this point.Indeed, it would be disastrous to let the RTGS dollar-Bond to float while government is not yet fully disciplined to spend within the budget. Ncube could be pointing out that he has scientific proof based on two facts. The 2% intermediated tax is generating US$80 million a month, on average, translating to almost US$1 billion in a new revenue line.Second, chance smiled on Ncube when the wager to hike the fuel price by 150% paid off and an additional US$2,4 billion could be generated from excise duty on fuel. The excise duty on petrol rose from 45 US cents litre to US$2,31 (RTGS dollar to be precise) per litre while paraffin and diesel it climbed to US$2,05 a litre from 40 cents a litre. We have a total of almost US$3,4 billion additional revenue to the fiscus, US$600 million than last year's total budget deficit. This a very strong case for Ncube to lend credence to his claim that the budget deficit will be brought down drastically this year.In addition, Mangudya could be raising the point that there is no acceptable plan to deal with the US$2,2 billion Treasury Bills maturing this year. Ncube's one-liner proffered in the National Budget government, considering the option of rescheduling the Treasury Bills (TBs), has just been that: a suggestion. It is still not clear how government will pay back TB holders their dues.If lenders are to be paid back their loans, it could force government to resort to more money creation, causing a massive discount of the RTGS dollar-bond note. Ncube does not want money supply to increase, but without a credible plan to deal with this 800-pound gorilla in the room, Mangudya could be arguing that letting the RTGS dollar-bond note to float against the greenback will cause mayhem as broad money supply inordinately increases.In my opinion, this is not about two alpha males sizing each other upthey are valid arguments from both ends for and against floating the bond note-RTGS dollar. I am a firm supporter of liberalising forex markets. However, I also believe that we should let the bond-RTGS dollar float against the US dollar under conditions of strict fiscal discipline. Ncube has to be thoroughly convincing on this. Short of this, his Transitional Stabilisation Programme will become a permanent instability plan.Chulu is a management consultant and a classic grounded theory researcher who has published research in an academic peer-reviewed international journal.  brettchuluconsultant@gmail.com
Opinion / Columnist

There is a new land invasion in Matabeleland, this time by the government of Mnangagwa and Zanu PF. This program is spearheaded by the district Lands office in Filabusi. On the 8th of February 2019, Mthwakazi Republic Party President and his leadership, in the company of local headmen, went to the Lands office in Filabusi to deliver a letter from the lawyers, seeking clarity on the eviction of villagers from Hilton Farm. The team was confronted by the worst arrogance by a visibly drunk Mr Ronald Ncube who refused to accept the correspondence from the lawyers. The officer, who introduced himself as a land technician, referred the villagers to Gwanda, although the eviction letter was from Filabusi. The eviction letters had no government stamp to confirm authenticity.The rude officer eventually accepted the letter but refused to sign a confirmation of receipt. He also refused to provide the delegation, with the telephone numbers for the Provincial office in Gwanda. He even tried to have members of the President's office to intimidate the delegation.The MRP delegation also met with the local Chief, Vezi Maduna who gave assurance that no one would be evicted in his area of jurisdiction and gave us the latitude to assist the affected villagers, by whatever means possible. The villagers complained bitterly about the untouchable sitting MP, Farai Taruvinga, who has brought misery upon them after making false promises before his election. When the villagers approached him on the issue of evictions he simply told them to vacate their places.As MRP we reiterate that the custodians of OUR LAND are chiefs and headmen, not this Gukurahundi government of Zanu PF. Any eviction notice in Matabeleland is expected to carry the signature of our traditional leadership. The said eviction letters we signed by a Musengi, hence we remind this government of ZANU, that confrontation to Smith government was aggravated by the issue of land, and we are not going to watch our land being transferred from the whites to the Shona people.It is clear that Matabeleland is under serious attack from Perence Shiri and his gang. We believe that he was given leadership of the ministry of Lands owing to his experience in dealing with the people of Matabeleland during the Gukurahundi. Our people are being removed from their land to pave way for land thieves from Mashonaland.It is so hurting that most of the people who are being evicted from their land are former Zipra freedom fighters. They fought for this land under ZAPU, not to surrender it to ZANU PF, but to enjoy its fruits, but today they are at the mercy of ZANU and Mashonaland leaders.We gather that more of the villagers in Nsiza have been served with eviction notices. We believe that these evictions are fake and we encourage the people of Matabeleland to unite and refuse to be bullied on their own land. We invite Chiefs and headmen to resist the tribal intentions of this murderous and genocidal regime.During our visit to the Lands office in Filabusi we discovered a template form that is already signed for photocopying by R .J Chitsiko, the Secretary for Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. This form proved to us that these evictions are not from the national office, but districts have been given authority to haphazardly evict whoever they target for any reason.The most interesting character of these evictions is that they only happen in Matabeleland. People are farming peacefully in Mashonaland. We warn this Mashonaland government to halt its Gukurahundism now or we will fight until death.Hands of our people. This is our land, for which our fathers and forefathers died for.SISONKE Sibambene Singu Mthwakazi SizokulungisaFor Peace and Justice in Our LifetimeN NgwenyaMRP Information and Publicity Department
News / National

by Staff reporter

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is attending the 12th Zimbabwe International Research Symposium which has been running for the last two days.It is being attended by various schools across the country, universities representatives and research institutions, diplomats and CEOs of private and public enterprises.Guests from abroad have also been invited from Austria, UK, Austria and South Africa to share research findings for innovation targeted at modernising and economic growth as Zimbabwe works towards Vision 2030.President Mnangagwa started his participation at the symposium by touring various stands exhibiting various successful innovations by primary and secondary schools and universities and research institutions.The exhibitions are showing off their innovations aimed at import substitution, the use of indigenous resources to treat livestock diseases, simple affordable gadgets that can be used to support land reform and indigenous new farmers and others.
News / National

by ZimLive

Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries founder Prophet Walter Magaya is paid $40,000 per month, a court heard on Friday.Between January 2013 and December 2017, Magaya netted $2,4 million, while his wife Tendai collected $950,000 or about $15,500 monthly.This was revealed as PHD board member for finance Nelson Tawanda Marimo appeared before a Harare magistrate charged with four counts of Income Tax Act violations.Peter Kachirika, for the prosecution, told the court that Marimo had an obligation to "withhold employees' tax from the remuneration but without just or reasonable cause" neglected to do so in the case of Magaya and his wife.On the third count, the church represented by Marimo is accused of failing to maintain a sales record between January 1, 2013, and October 2018 in violation of the Value Added Tax Act.PHD raises revenue from selling church regalia, "anointing oil" and "holy water" and it also operates a guest house, Yadah Hotel.Magistrate Learnmore Mapiye heard that on the fourth count, PHD falsified tax returns on exports totalling $2,3 million between January 1, 2015, and October 2018.Matimo, who was represented by Everspon Chatambudza, was remanded to February 28 for trial.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Government has started preparing performance contracts for senior officials such as permanent secretaries and directorates and parastatals to measure the extent to which they would have implemented their objectives in line with strategic plans for their entities and Government's new thrust aimed at improving efficiency.The Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services held a four-day strategic plan that ended last night with the setting out of a 2019 Draft Strategic Plan, the Ministry Integrated Performance Agreement and the draft Performance contract for the Permanent Secretary and other senior officials.In her closing remarks, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said it was incumbent upon all stakeholders to reminisce on the strategic plan in preparation for the documentation's adoption."Once this document is adopted it will trigger the formulation and signing of the Permanent Secretary's contract," she said."Once the Permanent Secretary has signed the performance contract, directorates and parastatals in the Ministry will commence the process of coming up with the Departments' Integrated Performance Agreements, the Director's or Chief Executive Officers Performance contract, departmental work and Performance Monitoring Plans from which individuals will draw their own work plans."Minister Mutsvangwa said two major Ministry outcomes had been agreed during the workshop which were an "Improved Media Environment" and "Increased Publicity.""Now, what this means is that all the Ministry operations, programmes and actions should lead to these two outcomes," she said."In order for these outcomes to be realised, the ministry and our parastatals are expected to come up with structures that can effectively discharge their mandates." Government, she said, was in the process of reforming media laws so that they were aligned with the new Constitution."Our Ministry's mandate is to promote a two-way communication between Government and its people through publicity of programmes, all in the name of telling the Zimbabwean story in a manner that builds a good national image for domestic and international competitiveness."Minister Mutsvangwa said Zimbabwe was on the cusp of a major information revolution where technology was poised to deliver all types of data at "literally mind boggling speeds."This, she said, entailed massive investment in information structure to enable the country to keep abreast with global competitiveness. She said her Ministry was committed to ensuring that the digitalisation project was concluded.
News / National

by Staff reporter

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has extended his condolences to the Ndlovu family following the death of former Cabinet Minister and Bulawayo provincial chairman, Professor Callistus Dingiswayo Ndlovu.Prof Ndlovu, 83, also a Zanu-PF Central Committee, member collapsed and died on Wednesday in South Africa, where he was being treated for pancreatic cancer.The Zanu-PF Bulawayo province has requested that he be declared a national hero. President Mnangagwa described Prof Ndlovu as a dedicated and humble cadre, who worked with unwavering commitment during and after the liberation struggle."I received the news of the death of our Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial chairman and former Cabinet Minister, Prof Ndlovu on Wednesday afternoon, with disbelief and complete shock. While we knew he had been unwell for some time, his passing on in South Africa yesterday came as a surprise."A veteran politician of our national liberation struggle, the late Prof Ndlovu served his country with distinction and unwavering commitment to its freedom and independence," said President Mnangagwa.He said Prof Ndlovu was a humble and approachable person who abhorred tribalism and regionalism, while championing peace and unity."With his death, both the ruling party and the country at large, have lost a principled and disciplined cadre who was always prepared to sacrifice for the greater good of our people," said President Mnangagwa.He added: "On behalf of Zanu-PF, Government, family and indeed on my behalf, I extend my sincere and heartfelt condolences to Professor Ndlovu's wife and children. May they derive comfort from the knowledge that we share in their deep grief and great loss."Zanu-PF national spokesperson Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo described the late Prof Ndlovu as a distinguished diplomat, who played a crucial role during and after the liberation struggle both in Government and the party."The unfortunate demise of Prof Ndlovu has been received with utter dismay by the party he loved so much. Zanu-PF ably led by his Excellency President Mnangagwa, its entire leadership and membership is bewildered by this sad development."The late Prof Ndlovu was an accomplished educationist, a mentor of impressive intellectual skills, a distinguished diplomat during the days of our liberation struggle, a personality of conviction and purpose," said Khaya Moyo.He said Prof Ndlovu's accolades were not misplaced, adding that those who knew him well could testify."He has left a legacy of service to his party and country. We'll miss him greatly. In wishing his family strength, may his soul anchor and rest in eternal peace," said Khaya Moyo.Bulawayo Zanu-PF provincial secretary for administration and Central Committee member Elifasi Mashaba yesterday said details on the repatriation of Prof Ndlovu's body and funeral arrangements would be availed today.Prof Ndlovu was born on February 9 in 1936 in Plumtree, where he did his primary and secondary education before training as a teacher and enrolling for a Bachelor of Arts degree at Pius XII University College in Lesotho. He joined the National Democratic Party in 1960. He became involved with Zapu in 1963 when he was a student in Lesotho, where he was chairman of the Zapu branch of students and residents in Lesotho.At the university, Prof Ndlovu was also president of the Student Representative Council (SRC) from 1963 to 1964. He was also publicity secretary of the National Union of Basutoland Students (NUBS) from 1964 to 1965.On completing his degree he came to Bulawayo and taught from 1959 to 1961 at Empandeni High School before moving to Mafakela Government School in 1962. From 1966 to 1967, he taught at Mpopoma High School. As a teacher, he was detained in 1966 by the Rhodesian regime which felt that his influence among African teachers was not good for the regime.He was detained at Khami Prison in 1966 for promoting the objectives of the Zapu guerrillas and was released after 90 days. He left the country in 1967 for New York University where he did his Masters and PhD studies.During the course of his studies at New York University, Prof Ndlovu became very much involved with Zapu, and became the party's chairman in North America from 1967 to 1971. He set up an office near the United Nations.This was quite an important office for Zapu because the party co-ordinated most of its external relations outside Africa and the office in London, United Kingdom depended on information from his office.From 1971 to 1980 he was a member of the Revolutionary Council and represented the party at the United Nations and North America. Prof Ndlovu also attended the Geneva talks as a political advisor in the Zapu delegation in 1976 as well as the Lancaster House Talks on Zimbabwe for the Zapu delegation.In 2000, Prof Ndlovu was a member of the Constitutional Commission of Zimbabwe. After independence, Prof Ndlovu was a Central Committee member from 1980 to 1983 and the Bulawayo provincial chairman of the Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu) from 1984 to 1987. He was a Member of Parliament from 1980 to 1985 and a Member of the Senate from 1985 to 1990. He worked as a director at Carbin Finance and the Group industrial relations manager at Union Carbide Corporation in the early 80s.In 1990 he was an executive consultant with the Treger Group of Companies and a member of the Joint Private Sector Standing Committee to promote trade between Zimbabwe and Botswana and also worked as the chief executive officer at Calding Consultants (Pvt) Limited in 1991. He was appointed the Minister of Construction between 1982 and 1983 before he was appointed the Minister of Mines from 1983 to 1984.Between 1984 and 1989 he was the Minister of Industry and Commerce. He studied at the University of South Africa, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1965 majoring in History, Economics and Political Science. Four years later, he completed his MA and PhD after another four years at the New York University in the United States. He once lectured at the Hofstra University in Long Islands in New York.Prof Ndlovu also worked for the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration and Management (Zipam) for several years. He was once chairman of the Board of Directors at NetOne and chairman of the Foundation Task Force of the Gwanda State University.Prof Ndlovu received a number of honours, which include an award for distinguished teaching in America 1973 and fellow of the Aggrey Fellowship of the Edward Hazen Foundation at New York Foundation. He was also granted Freedom of the City of Minneapolis in 1972.At the time of his death, Prof Ndlovu was a member of the Zanu-PF Central Committee and Bulawayo provincial chairman. Prof Ndlovu is survived by wife Angeline, five children and seven grandchildren. Mourners are gathered at 3 Fletcher Road, Kumalo in Bulawayo.
News / National

by ZimLive

Prosecutor General Kumbirai Hodzi has initiated a process that could get Chief Law Officer Chris Mutangadura sacked after the lawyer challenged his transfer to Guruve, a rural outpost in Mashonaland Central.Hodzi, recently confirmed in the job by President Emmerson Mnangagwa despite flunking public interviews conducted by the Judicial Service Commission, told Mutangadura he was transferring him to Guruve with immediate effect on February 7, offering no reasons.Mutangadura went to court challenging the transfer, accusing Hodzi of usurping the powers of the National Prosecuting Authority Board in violation of the National Prosecuting Authority Act."District stations like the one in Guruve are manned by law officers and at times senior law officers. They can never be manned by chief law officers. In that respect, the unilateral decision by the first defendant (Hodzi) to reassign me to Guruve is ultra vires section 6(1)(b) of the NPA Act," Mutangadura argues in a court filing.But before that is determined, Hodzi has initiated a new process which could result in Mutangadura being sacked.In a letter to Colonel Solomon Siziba, the NPA administrator seconded by the military, Hodzi implores Siziba to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Mutangadura in the matter of a compliant filed by RAM Petroleum."I am of the view that the allegations made against our officer are serious and have potential to put the NPA into disrepute. Additionally, and worringly so, the allegations made against our Mutangadura border on criminality," Hodzi says in the letter, dated February 12.He called on Siziba to suspend Mutangadura "immediately" to pave way for an investigation into his conduct.It is not clear when RAM Petroleum made the complaint, which is believed to relate to how the NPA handled the matter of their former employee Kudakwashe Unity Mhike, who was arrested for stealing US$8,000 from the company.Mutangadura, it was alleged, declined prosecution and said the NPA would proceed by way of summons. Mhike subsequently skipped the border to South Africa and is yet to be tried.Hodzi suffered his first setback on February 13 when Justice Happious Zhou of the Harare High Court ruled that Mutangadura's application for the suspension of the transfer would be dealt with on an urgent basis.The judge ruled that "if the relief for the suspension of the decision is to be dealt with as an ordinary court application after the applicant has already relocated to Guruve, the relief sought would become academic, there would be nothing to suspend if the decision has already taken effect."
News / National

by Staff reporter

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to officiate at the 6th Africa Round Table, which ends here this afternoon.According to the programme, the President is expected to give a keynote address and an update on the country's Vision 2030 as well as economic opportunities in the country.Delegates who are mostly chief executives of private sector companies will have an opportunity to interact with the Head of State in a plenary session where they are also expected to hand over a position paper dubbed "Call for Action" on the views of the business sector pertaining to the prevailing economic situation.The day's proceedings will kick-off with breakaway sessions where topics such as "Health economy-finding a place for business, education and human capital-attracting, developing and retaining the most valuable asset as well as finance-harnessing local capital to finance Africa", will be discussed.Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Professor Amon Murwira, Finance and Economic Development Minister Prof Mthuli Ncube, Energy and Power Development Minister Joram Gumbo and Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrence Shiri will be among the key speakers.A majority of other speakers are drawn from the corporate world locally and abroad.The conference, which started on Wednesday and ends today, is fully packed with topics for discussion around achieving a prosperous and integrated Zimbabwe and Africa based on the theme: "From talk to united action towards a more responsible and inclusive national economy'.Meanwhile, Speaker of Parliament Advocate Jacob Mudenda has implored chief executives on the continent to be visionary and emulate their counterparts at international organisations for a prosperous Zimbabwe and Africa.Adv Mudenda said the continent, which is saddled by poverty and underdevelopment, requires a crop of CEOs who can see beyond the ambiguity and challenges of today to an empowering picture of tomorrow. He said local CEOs can pull a leaf from Econet Wireless owner Mr Strive Masiyiwa's vision as he has grown to be one of the billionaires in the continent.Adv Mudenda said tech giants like Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Google, Zappos, Skype, Alibaba and Facebook are few examples of companies that have prospered as a result of innovation of their leaders."Africa needs CEOs who are innovative and creative if the continent has to prosper and attain middle income status, which is the proxy for prosperity. It is rather disheartening to note that approximately 47 percent of the African population is living on $1.90 or less hence we need to visualise a continent where all the 54 nations are in the upper income bracket," he said.Adv Mudenda challenged leaders to be able to make difficult decisions decisively to take Africa to prosperity. He encouraged business leaders to embrace technology as such advancements have a bearing on the future of economies.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Elizabeth Zimunda, the woman identified as a veteran journalist who was allegedly killed by security forces in Chitungwiza during last month's violent protests organised by MDC-Alliance and its associates, was not a journalist, the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) has said.The publication which she purportedly worked for, the Zimbabwean Leadership Magazine, also does not exist on the list of accredited publishing companies, giving indications that her purported death was false and part of the anti-Zimbabwe narrative peddled by the opposition and non-governmental organisations.This comes barely a week after The Herald exposed that one Tinashe Kaitano, who was being reported by NGOs, the opposition and its media appendages as having died in Kadoma, was actually alive and appeared in court this week in Kadoma. The Herald understands that Zimunda is the one named "EZ" (Number 9) on the list of victims supplied by Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum.Zimunda's story, claiming she was shot in the head and buried on January 20, went viral. Some individuals went to the extent of publishing an EcoCash number with a view to raising funds to assist the family left behind by the "journalist". Donations, according to a tweet posted by Zimbabwe Leadership Magazine, were to supposed to be sent via EcoCash number 0782 467 663. The phone number used was registered under the name of Maxwell Musanga.However, investigations by The Herald revealed that Zimunda was not on the ZMC register of journalists. ZMC chief executive Dr Tafataona Mahoso said: "We have checked with our register and the name Elizabeth Zimunda does not exist. We do not have a journalist by that name."The Herald claims that it is aware of investigations by journalist bodies in the country that have since drawn blanks. And investigations pointed to a possible fraud under the pretext of fundraising to assist a five-year-old child purported to have been left behind by the woman. When The Herald tried the EcoCash number, the person who answered the phone refused to comment on the issue before hanging up. The number then went unanswered after further attempts.Police chief spokesperson Commissioner Charity Charamba warned the public against being conned by EcoCash fraudsters. She urged the people to first verify the genuineness of the EcoCash numbers and the purpose for the funds before making payment."We urge people to make the necessary verifications before making payments through EcoCash because a number of people are losing money to fraudsters," said Comm Charamba.Meanwhile, five people who were part of violent demonstrators who torched Southlea Park Police Station in Harare, two police vehicles and the Skyline tollgate during the MDC-Alliance-instigated violence that rocked the country last month were each sentenced to an effective three years in jail after being found guilty of public violence, reports our correspondent Prosper Dembedza.Tawanda Sibanda (22), Tafadzwa Murape (20), Lorencia Kachidza (47), Vincent Jonasi (26) and Ronald Garananga (21) were initially jailed for five years by Mbare magistrate Mr Marwehwanazvo Gofa before he suspended two years from each sentence on condition of good behaviour.Brighton Sabawo (22) was sentenced to perform 400 hours of community service at Southlea Park Primary School after the court ruled that he only bought looted goods. In passing sentence, Mr Gofa said the five were facing a serious offence which resulted in large-scale destruction of property. He said it was not wrong to demonstrate, but people should learn to do so in a peaceful manner.Mr Gofa said a custodial sentence was appropriate to send a stern warning to would-be offenders. Sabawo and Garananga were later seen carrying solar panels stolen from the tollgate. The other convicts were arrested following a tip-off.
News / National

by Staff reporter

A GOVERNMENT minister last Saturday revealed that the late Chief Chirumhanzu, born Gerald Mudzengi, was a "staunch" Zanu PF supporter, an affirmation that traditional leaders were dabbling in partisan politics.Midlands Provincial Affairs minister, Larry Mavima told mourners at the burial of Chief Chirumhanzu that the traditional leader was a close ally of President Emmerson Mnangagwa."Today [Saturday] we are gathered here to celebrate the life of a selfless man, who was a close and a trusted ally of President Emmerson Mnangagwa," Mavima told mourners at Chief Chirumhanzu's homestead in Chirumanzu, Midlands."He was a dedicated Zanu PF member and the party is saddened by his untimely death."Chief Chirumhanzu died on Tuesday last week at Parirenyatwa Hospital after a short illness.Over the years, traditional leaders have been at pains to deny claims that they supported the ruling party, saying they were apolitical.Zanu PF leaders from the former President Robert Mugabe have over the years pampered chiefs with all kinds of luxuries, including brand new vehicles, ahead of polls.Opposition parties have always accused chiefs of dabbling in Zanu PF politics in violation of the national Constitution.Chapter 15 section 281 (2) of the Constitution reads: "Traditional leaders must not(a) be members of any political party or in any way participate in partisan politics; (b) act in a partisan manner; (c) further the interests of any political party or cause; or (d) violate the fundamental rights and freedoms of any person."Last year, High Court judge Justice Clement Phiri ordered Chiefs' Council president Fortune Charumbira to publicly retract his statements stating that traditional leaders were going to support Zanu PF in harmonised elections held on July 30.Chief Charumbira was dragged to the High Court by Election Resource Centre chairperson, Trust Maanda, who wanted him to publicly withdraw statements urging other chiefs to support Zanu PF in last year's general elections.The traditional leader, however, refused to comply with the High Court order.Prior to the July 30, 2018 polls, traditional leaders were accused of demanding biometric voter registration slips from villagers and politicising food handouts.Voter educators in Gutu, Zaka, and Chiredzi districts observed that registered voters were being intimidated and forced by Zanu PF activists to surrender their voter registration slips to Zanu PF officials or village heads for party recording and those who did not comply were told that they would not be receive government-sourced food handouts.
News / National

by Staff reporter

THE Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) has banned visitors from bringing cooked food to inmates at Kwekwe Remand Prison at a time the institution is failing to provide standard meals.The Southern Eye confirmed the development during an impromptu visit to the prison over the weekend, following reports that inmates at the institution were living in sub-human conditions.Relatives and spouses of the inmates said they were shocked by the tough conditions set by the authorities."My husband is inside the prison and on remand over stocktheft allegations. However, since September last year, the officers have not allowed us to bring foodstuffs like sadza and rice or any other hot meals, fearing a cholera outbreak in the prison. It is disheartening because my husband always tells me that they are not well-fed and sometimes they are even forced to skip meals," Letwin Mudlonga said.Contacted for comment, Midlands/Masvingo ZPCS spokesperson Jere Ruzive confirmed that cooked food at the prison had been banned, but said reasons go beyond cholera fears."Cooked food is highly sensitive to our inmates' well-being. They can be poisoned by relatives and co-accused persons. Genuine relatives with no ulterior motives know that and are fine with that. We are doing that as a preventive measure to their loved relatives in our custody. Even during the family week where more time was allocated to visitors, we did not allow cooked food," he said.However, Mbizo legislator Settlement Chikwinya (MDC Alliance), who recently spent two weeks at the remand prison, immediately shot back at the ZPCS spokesperson saying he was insincere, and drew comparisons with Kwekwe and Gokwe prisons, where cooked food was allowed.
News / National

by Staff reporter

How did they come up with these figures?

Human rights watch dog, Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (HRForum), in conjunction with the Zimbabwe Peace Project, have released a dodgy report revealing that 55,6% of perpetrators of violence in last month's protests were uniformed forces.The report released on Friday came at a time the ruling Zanu PF government and President Emmerson Mnangagwa have repeatedly blamed the main opposition party, the MDC, for instigating the violent protests.Mnangagwa at the weekend told France 24 that MDC politicians had even before the July 30, 2018 polls threatened that they would not accept any results that did not point to their victory.The HRForum report shows that armed forces constituted the highest number of perpetrators of the 688 human rights violations committed during the three-day shutdown period."55,6% of the perpetrators of violence were uniformed forces; the remaining 44,4% represents the looters and protesters, who had gone on rampage. Other perpetrators documented included Zanu PF members 5,4%, municipal police 3,4%, Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) officers 2,2%, war veterans at 0,4% and MDC Alliance members 0,3%," the report read."The victims recorded, present a different picture. 97,2% of the victims were of unknown affiliation, 1,8% were MDC Alliance members and 0,8% Zanu PF."The human rights group said the highest violations were recorded for harassment and intimidation with 318 cases, followed by 145 assaults, 88 cases of malicious damage to property and 56 theft/looting cases."We recorded 12 cases of extra-judicial killings during the month. Most of the killings were a result of gunshot wounds and took place on Monday 14 January, while others were a result of beatings or other forms of torture such as being thrown out of vehicles in motion," the human rights group reported.Members of the armed forces ruthlessly crushed the January demonstrations against fuel price hikes. Seventeen civilians were reportedly killed, thousands tortured and arbitrarily arrested, while several women were raped during the crackdown.
News / National

by Staff reporter

A SUSPECTED protestor who initially told prosecutors during vetting for initial appearance at the Harare Magistrates' Courts that he was given army uniform at the Zanu PF headquarters, yesterday changed his defence and accused the police officers who arrested him of forcing him to wear a friend's military gear.Shepard Magorimbo, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, appeared before magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa, who remanded him in custody to February 25.While applying for his bail, Magorimbo told the court that he was arrested in the city centre and was taken to his place of residence by police officers who forced him to wear Fungai Makoni's army fatigue that was in his room.Magorimbo said the only link to the robbery charge he was facing was the mobile number used to transfer money from the complainant.Magorimbo's lawyer Blessing Mupwanyiwa told the court that the State must have brought the arresting officer to testify if it was opposing bail.But prosecutor Sebastian Mutizirwa opposed bail, saying Magorimbo was arrested by members of the public while wearing army uniform. The prosecutor further said there was overwhelming evidence against Magorimbo and that he was a flight risk.Mutizirwa said if Magorimbo was released, he would link up with his accomplices, who are still at large.Magorimbo is facing two counts of robbery.Meanwhile, Mugwagwa also denied bail to a 29-year-old serving soldier accused of robbing foreign currency dealers in Chitungwiza last week.Norest Nyasoro of Manyame Airbase was charged together with Tichaona Sosera (27) and Mafeking Tagara (24).In denying them bail, Mugwagwa ruled that the suspects were positively identified by the witnesses and that might influence them to flee the jurisdiction of court.Mugwagwa remanded the trio in custody to February 25.In another matter, MDC Alliance councillor for Epworth, Elias Sithole (45) was yesterday sentenced to five years imprisonment by Harare magistrate Edwin Marecha for participating in public violence. One year was, however, conditionally suspended.In convicting him, Marecha said Sithole was positively identified by the complainants while leading a group of supporters to attack Epworth Police Station.
News / National

by Staff reporter

The MDC-Alliance sponsored so-called shutdown that left a trail of destruction of property and loss of life last month was part of the regime change agenda wrought against the country for the past 18 years, President Mnangagwa has said.Further, the Head of State and Government and Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces said the shutdown which degenerated into violent protests was pre-planned and well organised by MDC Alliance with the support of some non-governmental organisations.In an interview with a French television station France24 on the sidelines of the 32th Ordinary Session of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia over the weekend, President Mnangagwa challenged anyone with evidence of the alleged rape victims to come forward with it."Regime change is the better word. It is a regime change agenda which is not new, which has been a phenomenon visiting Zimbabwe throughout the past 18 years," said President Mnangagwa."We are now so satisfied that this thing was pre-determined, pre-planned and well-oiled by both local NGOs who are well funded, but also the opposition MDC-Alliance whose theme even throughout the campaign for our general elections last year said that as long as they do not win this election, in Shona they said, 'We will put jecha musadza'; meaning that they will put sand into the food. So this is consistent with that they have been saying throughout."Asked on the allegations of rape and the death of 17 people that was awash on the social media, President Mnangagwa said: "With regards to the allegations of rape, we have through the print media, radio and TV appealed to those victims to come forward and report to the nearest police station. If you are not comfortable with reporting to the police station, you can go to the nearest church and report the abuse you underwent. We have only one single case that has come up in Chitungwiza."We now know that the women who were paraded were just a make up by some organisations and some of the women have now left the country. They have been shipped to the UK. The few who are still there are being moved from house to house and we are trying to track them down."It's all stage-managed. We are challenging anybody local or foreign to produce the women so that the world can see them and say this is what happened. We would want to see those. With regards to the other issue you mentioned about the beatings, you said judicial killings, this is where the army is directly and purposefully killing people. We would want to see the evidence."We see all this on social media but we would want to see the 17 people killed, where they were buried? Let us have relatives who will say I lost a son, I lost a daughter, I lost a cousin at the hands of the army. I am not saying the army did not over step their powers. It is possible individually."President Mnangagwa said although he was not aware of the involvement of foreign powers in the so-called shutdown, he was aware of money that had come from outside to fund workshops and train members of the opposition."I am not aware of the involvement of foreign powers," said President Mnangagwa."I have never accused any foreign power. We are fully aware of funds that have come to NGOs operating in our country. I am also now aware of people who came to do workshops and training of our people in the opposition."President Mnangagwa said Government had already submitted the names of the foreign nationals who came to conduct the workshops and training of opposition supporters to their respective embassies.
News / National

by Staff reporter

A HIGH Court judge has ruled that the application by a Bulawayo family seeking a court order blocking the cremation of the remains of their relative was not urgent.Mr Amos Nkomo died on December 31 and his body has been stuck at Farley Funeral Services parlour in Bulawayo due to family squabbles. His surviving spouse and daughter are demanding cremation while other members are opposed saying it is alien to their culture.The surviving spouse, Mrs Margaret Nkomo and her daughter Melisa, both of Newton West suburb, wanted the remains of the deceased to be cremated while other family members led by the deceased's sister Mrs Eva Zulu were opposed to cremation, arguing that the practice was foreign to their culture.The ruling by Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Nokuthula Moyo follows an urgent chamber application filed by Mrs Zulu (nee Nkomo), through her lawyers Coghlan and Welsh Legal Practitioners, citing Mrs Nkomo, her daughter Melisa and Farley Funeral Services as respondents.In dismissing the application, Justice Moyo ruled that there was no justification for the matter to jump the queue. She said the applicants failed to show any risk of irreparable harm."I decline to hear this matter on the basis of urgency for the reasons that it is not. The deceased died on December 31, 2018 and it's more than a month now and that is not the urgency envisaged in the rules because the applicants did nothing. There is no justification for this matter to jump the queue," she said.Justice Moyo also queried the irreparable harm likely to be suffered by the applicants as a result of cremation of the deceased. She blasted the applicants for meddling into the affairs of their brother's family."It appears applicants just want to meddle into the affairs of their brother's household and they can therefore not suggest any prejudice or harm that is irreparable. They keep on saying there will be prejudice if deceased is cremated if it turns out that those were not his wishes. How will it turn out? How will deceased's other wishes ever be known since he is dead?" asked the judge.In her application, Mrs Zulu wanted an interim order interdicting the respondents from cremating her brother's remains pending the finalisation of the matter. In her founding affidavit, she said the broader family was opposed to the cremation of Mr Nkomo's remains, arguing that it is against their cultural beliefs."I am a blood sister of the late Amos Nkomo who died intestate at Bulawayo on December 31, 2018. I have locus standi and a clear right to approach this Honourable Court on behalf of our broader family as we are equally grieving the death of our brother. The first and second respondents (Mrs Nkomo and Melisa) intend to cremate the deceased, an act we as a family consider wrong and alien to our cultural beliefs," she said.Since the death of Mr Nkomo, the family has been locked in a protracted dispute for burial rights resulting in accumulation of mortuary storage fees. Mrs Zulu said efforts to reach a compromise failed to yield positive results."The family has also lost a brother and no one stands to suffer any prejudice if the remains are buried," she said.
News / National

by Staff reporter

SADC has pledged unwavering support to President Mnangagwa's Government in its efforts to address the prevailing socio-economic challenges and called for the unconditional removal of sanctions.Sadc chairperson who is the President of Namibia, Dr Hage Geingob also condemned the recent opposition-led protests that rocked Harare, Bulawayo and other parts of the country leading to mass looting of shops and arson. He said the regional bloc's Consultative Meeting of Heads of State and Government held Saturday received a briefing from President Mnangagwa on the current political and socio-economic developments in the country."The Sadc Heads of State and Government noted that since coming to power, the new Government of Zimbabwe has continued with concerted efforts to address socio-economic challenges and transform the economy, particularly through the Zimbabwe Transitional Stabilisation Programme (2018-2020), and to consolidate unity and peace in the country. This, notwithstanding, some internal groups, in particular NGOs, supported by external forces, have continued with efforts to destabilise the country," said Dr Geingob."The Sadc Heads of State and Government further noted that the Government's efforts to transform the economy and bring about prosperity to the people of Zimbabwe are negatively affected by the illegal sanctions that were imposed on the country since the early 2000."Sadc expresses its solidarity with the Government and the people of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and calls upon the international community to unconditionally lift all sanctions imposed on the country."He said the Government recently increased fuel prices but unfortunately, violent demonstrators rode on the back of the increases to destabilise the country."The demonstrations resulted in the destruction of property and loss of life. Sadc condemns, in the strongest terms, the violence that ensued, and expresses sympathy with the affected families for the loss of their loved ones and their properties," he said.Sadc said it was aware that Zimbabwe has commenced dialogue with all stakeholders in the country with a view to strengthening economic transformation, and called upon all stakeholders to support the process.Last week, President Mnangagwa invited all political parties that fielded presidential candidates in the July 30, 2018 harmonised elections to a national dialogue in fulfilment of his pledge during his inauguration that he would engage and consult fellow presidential aspirants on ways to move the country forward.MDC Alliance president, Mr Nelson Chamisa, boycotted the meeting. He, however, turned up at a national leadership breakfast prayer meeting that was convened by the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC).Mr Chamisa said his party was committed to dialogue, but appeared to narrow the scope of the exercise to talks between him and President Mnangagwa, against the spirit of inclusiveness. In a speech read on his behalf by Zanu-PF chairwoman, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, who is also Defence and War Veterans' Affairs Minister, the President reiterated his call for national dialogue."My doors will remain open for dialogue and updates as we pursue programmes that will bring about prosperity, development and a better quality of life to our people," said President Mnangagwa.
News / National

by Mandla Ndlovu

The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) has slammed their counterparts the Zimbabwe Teachers Union (ZIMTA) and the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) for calling for the immediate end to the nationwide industrial action."The wheels of inevitability have finally delivered the dreaded but expected reality, Sister Unions have jumped ship. Our battle for a living wage which we began in earnest with a 275 km Salary Caravan from Mutare to Harare followed up with a salary Camp at Minister Mthuli's office and capped with a historic job action have been compromised." ARTUZ said in a statement.ARTUZ said the fellow Unions had an agenda of adulterating the teachers' fight for better wages."The so called big Unions stepped in and gave false hope to the teachers yet the intention was to rock the ship which was gathering momentum."The fight for a living wage cannot be suspended neither can it be shelved by non-teachers who claim to represent the suffering teachers. We have to fight on but we don't want to be suicidal. The premature withdraw from the job action by the bureaucrats of other Unions will expose the rank and file teachers to gross victimization by the employer."Commenting on the decisions to call off the Industrial action PTUZ Secretary General Raymond Majongwe said," Truth is teachers will start work tomorrow (Tuesday). Government conceded there was a strike. We will now dialogue as a sector outside the Apex Council. We live to fight another day. Teachers' lives were risk out there. We never sold out."ARTUZ has issued a four point way forward that teachers must use in light of the new development.Find the four point plan below:Amalgamated Rural Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe, ARTUZ calls upon genuine teachers to take this opportunity to sustain a genuine teachers' lead struggle for a living wage. ARTUZ leadership has resolved on the following way forward in light of the betrayal from other Unions,1) Teachers embark on a sit in preparing for a full blown strike whose dates will be announced soon.2) Teachers who are incapacitated to report to a School near you. Ask the School Head to inform Public Service that they have received an incapacitated teacher. Perform all duties assigned to you at this school.3) Teachers to sign a notice of job action. We are targeting a total of 50 000 teachers to sign the notice. The signing will be done both online and physically. The signed notice will be handed over to the employer and a teachers' driven job action will commence 14 days after handing over notice as prescribed by the law.4) Teachers to continue hosting the Teachers' Unionism Renaissance Forums, TURFs to build awareness of labor rights among the teacher community.The struggle for a living wage cannot be driven by those who are insulated from the harsh economic realities confronting us. Let's work hand in hand and secure the 50 000 signatures from teachers for our teacher driven job action. An online link for signing the notice will be shared by midday and hard copies will be delivered to schools.Let's build towards a teacher driven job action.
News / National

by Mandla Ndlovu

The Ministry of Information has announced that it is framing new strategies of disseminating information and dumping the usual method of churning out propaganda.This was announced by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Nick Mangwana on Monday at Strategic Planning for the Ministry which is running until the 14th."We will come out with strategies on how we are going to disseminate information, set & drive the agenda of government in a credible and believable way." Mangwana said. "Not mere propaganda. Not the spreading of misinformation and disinformation, not hateful smear which divides our people."Mangwana further said the Ministry is committed to churning oput information that promotes President Emmerson Mnangagwa's vision of transformation."Let us come up with strategies of sharing information in a way that helps promote President Mnangagwa'S Reform Agenda and mobilise the critical mass into playing it's riles towards Vision 2030 ."The workshop is aimed at coming up with the Ministry's Strategic Plan, the Ministry's Integrated Performance Agreement and the Permanent Secretary's Performance Contract.Minister Monica Mutsvangwa revealed that Chinese Embassy has donated 10 computers and 3 laptops to the Ministry.Presenting the donation, Acting Chinese Ambassador, Zhao Baogang said that the media needs to report on positive developments in Zimbabwe.Meanwhile Mutsvangwa is expected to present cabinet principles that will guide the enactment of the Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill in Parliament to the workshop on Tuesday.
News / National

by Staff reporter

THE 32nd Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly kicked off yesterday with President Mnangagwa challenging member states to equally share the burden of funding the continental body and wean it off the donor dependency syndrome.The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces also bemoaned reports of mismanagement of resources at the continental body, suggesting stiff punishment for offenders.President Mnangagwa made a strong case for the reform of organs of the organisation to make them relevant to the tasks they were established for, while he also urged the rationalisation of the work among Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and other continental bodies with the AU. He was addressing the AU Assembly on institutional reforms of the Union during the closed door session."Funding remains a major constraint that we face as a Union, which must be a priority in the reform process. It is imperative that member states share the financial burden of our Union through the timeous payment of dues. Let us wean ourselves from the donor dependency syndrome and strive to fund our own agenda, programmes and activities in line with the decision taken in June in Johannesburg, South Africa," said President Mnangagwa. He said Zimbabwe was committed to play its part by timeously meeting its financial obligations to the Union."I wish to encourage others to do the same. Our commitment and sacrifices for the sustenance of the Union should be matched by the effective and efficient management of resources by the African Union Commission (AUC) and other organs of the Union," added President Mnangagwa. He said reports on abuse of the Union's resources were worrying."We are therefore gravely concerned by reports of gross mismanagement of the resources of the Union by some of our organs. It is my fervent hope that all the necessary measures will be put in place to end this unfortunate situation," said President Mnangagwa.He urged transparency and accountability."To that end, we expect that the financial administration and human resources reforms currently underway will be expedited. Accountability, transparency and financial prudence within our organs is a must and not an option. As we agreed at the 11th Extraordinary Summit last November, there should be dire consequences for those who violate existing rules and regulations," said President Mnangagwa.He urged the reform of other AU organs to make them fit for the purpose there were established."As we vigorously pursue the reform of the AUC, we should not forget the reforms of other organs of the Union, to make them fit for the purpose. To this end, the reform of the Pan African Parliament; the African Commission on Human and People's Rights; the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption; the African Committee of Experts on Rights and Welfare of the Child, among others, should be completed without delay," said President Mnangagwa."The discussion regarding the division of labour between the AU, the Regional Economic Communities and other continental bodies should be finalised. This will help harmonise the agenda of the AU and that of other associate organisations, in line with the principle of subsidiarity, complementarity and comparative advantage."The 32nd Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government was officially opened by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who later handed over the chairmanship of the African Union to Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The summit ends today.
News / National

by Staff reporter

RWANDAN President Paul Kagame has challenged African leaders to invest, rather than fear advanced technologies saying they are critical in building digital economies and developing the continent.Kagame told the 32nd gathering of Heads of States of the African Union underway in Ethiopia that the troubled continent would not be able to solve its problems without state-of-the-art technologies and participation of their people."The future of the global economy is digital . . . This is only the first step, of what must be a consistent and comprehensive effort by the African Union, and all memberStates, to prepare for the technologies that are remaking global commerce, especially artificial intelligence, robotics, data mining and cyber security," said Kagame."We should not fear these changes or attempt to delay them. That would be futile and counter-productive. They are the future engines of productivity and prosperity for our youth."The remarks came immediately after several African governments including Zimbabwe have been switching off internet on their citizens protesting against economic mismanagement.
News / National

by Staff reporter

THE European Union (EU) has told President Emmerson Mnangagwa that the bloc would only consider extending aid to his government if the Harare administration met certain conditions that include respect for human rights and holding of credible elections.This followed Mnangagwa's meeting with the EU commissioner for international co-operation and development, Neven Mimica on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Saturday where the two discussed developments in Zimbabwe, including the recent military crackdown on fuel protests, which left 17 dead.Zimbabwe has held disputed elections since 2000 when the ruling Zanu-PF party started facing strong opposition from the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC. The July 30 polls last year were no different.The disputed elections deepened the economic malaise, while a security crackdown on post-election protests on August 1 last year and another ruthless suppression of demonstrations against fuel price increases of 150% drew comparisons with the dark days of former President Robert Mugabe's regime.Mimica, who was in Zimbabwe last year, using his official Twitter account on Saturday, announced the meeting with Mnangagwa who is under pressure over his administration's reaction to the protests."In the margins of the AU summit, I met with the President of Zimbabwe ED Mnangagwa, a few months after my visit to Harare. We took stock of what has been achieved and agreed that more needs to be done, EU is ready to step up its support if conditions are met," Mimica wrote.The EU, which had been pressured by Britain to back Mnangagwa, has been pressing for a raft of changes, which include electoral law and security sector reforms. Britain last month said it regretted taking a soft stance on Mnangagwa, and vowed to pressure the African Union to independently probe human rights violations in its former colony.In the EU's electoral observer mission report, the bloc noted serious gaps that ranged from a poor legal framework to the role of the electoral commission.The bloc did not endorse the elections as free and fair and pointed out that the results could not be verified or traced, adding that more needed to be done to create aconducive environment for undisputed polls.It also condemned the State's heavy-handedness in dealing with the January demonstrations, and called on Mnangagwa to investigate the violations and bring the culprits to book.Foreign Affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo confirmed the meeting with Mimica, saying re-engagement efforts by the government were still on track."Zimbabwe's re-engagement efforts are still on track despite politically-motivated violence and the African Union (AU) is fully apprised of recent developments in thecountry," Moyo said on Twitter.Mnangagwa upped his diplomatic engagements ahead of the AU summit, dispatching emissaries to African countries to lobby for support after seemingly being ditched by Britain.The President dispatched long-time diplomat and ally Christopher Mutsvangwa, with a special message to Zambia, while Agriculture minister Perrance Shiri met Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta ahead of the summit.Mnangagwa last week missed a Zanu-PF "thank you" rally in Mt Darwin and instead reportedly spent the day in office calling African leaders to apprise them about the situation in Harare, according to presidential spokesperson George Charamba.Zimbabwe churches last Thursday sought to broker talks between the government and its opponents hoping to help the country to shake off its divided past over the political and economic crisis. MDC's Nelson Chamisa attended, while Mnangagwa skipped the meeting.Chamisa had the previous day declined to attend a meeting of presidential election candidates in last year's poll called by Mnangagwa to agree on an agenda for talks. The opposition leader maintained that he won the July 30, 2018 poll and called Mnangagwa an illegitimate President.
News / National

by Staff reporter

THE Presidential Scholarships and National Scholarships Department has warned prospective applicants for 2019/ 2020 scholarships that it has not hired any agents to collect and facilitate submission of documents and application fees from the members of the public.In a statement, the Department also said it does not charge for its services. Some unscrupulous people have gone around posturing as agents of the department in a bid to cheat prospective students of their money."The Presidential and National Scholarships Department would like to advise members of the public, especially prospective applicants for 2019/2020 scholarships, that no agents or third parties have been hired on its behalf to collect and facilitate submission of documents and application fees from members of the public who may be seeking its services," reads the statement."The Department charges no fees for its services."The Department said charges for finger prints, medicals and visa processing fees are paid directly to respective service providers by applicants who would have been selected and qualified, neither to any third party nor the department."All prospective applicants are hereby advised to submit or mail their documents directly to the office of the Executive Director for Presidential and National Scholarship housed at Compensation House, 10th floor, Corner 4th Street and 25 Central Avenue in Harare," read part of the statement.The Department urged applicants to report anyone who purports to be an agent or employee of the Department to the Executive Director of the Presidential and National Scholarships.Late last year, President Mnangagwa said he was restructuring the Department of scholarships as his administration sought to give top priority to areas of critical skills in line with the Government's vision premised on a broad national skills strategy. Government said the country seeks scholarships that build national capabilities in areas of greatest need.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Government is weighing the option of purchasing vehicles for ministers and parliamentarians from local vehicle assemblers to promote the domestic industry and reduce foreign currency expenditure in line with austerity measures being undertaken.Local vehicle assemblers say such a move will create thousands of jobs and revive the vehicle assembling sector.Quest Motors and Willowvale Motor Industries (WMI), which are country's foremost vehicle assemblers say they have capacity to produce quality vehicles which match imported Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs).The vehicle assemblers argue that Government is obliged to implement a directive issued by the Office of the President and Cabinet that compels them to purchase vehicles from local assemblers.Many developed countries reserve locally produced vehicles for their Government officials; with the case in point being Britain which exclusively produces locally made Jaguars and Range Rovers for its Cabinet Ministers.Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said in an interview that Government was considering buying the next batch of ministerial vehicles from local assemblers after suspending vehicle imports for the current crop."That is a very interesting proposition that we definitely have to consider," he said."What is of importance to note right now is that Government has not bought or ordered cars for ministers. "Most of the ministers and permanent secretaries are driving vehicles that they had in the past or which are pool cars in their respective ministries or parastatals."Quest Motors operations manager Mr Tom Sarimani said the company had to scale down its operations owing to a low uptake from its biggest customer, the Government."Current manning levels are down to 120 people due to low take up from our previous biggest customer which was the Government and associated departments," he said."Production per eight hour shift is 35 units, maximum output is 100 per day which is 22 000 units per year using current installed capacity. Max employment per shift is 1 500 workers, and 5 000 at full installed capacity."Downstream industry jobs that can be created is over 40 000. These facts can be verified by NEC records from that time." Mr Sarimani said his company had capacity to supply vehicles suitable for ministers and parliamentarians."We have quality vehicles for line ministries and MPs," he said. "We are not new to this line of business as we used to supply the army, CMED, National Railways, police, etc, in the past."We have partnered with some of the biggest brands in China and in some cases the world and the quality of our product has not changed since we began production."This is evidenced by the number of units over 30 years old still in service today. In fact, quality has gone up due to investments in new equipment and better training."Mr Sarimani implored Government to go back to the drawing board and implement the standing directive from the OPC that encourages local purchase of vehicles. WMI managing director, Engineer Dawson Mareya, said Government had expressed interest in purchasing locally assembled vehicles from his company and the matter was under deliberation."The matter you are referring to is currently under discussion with the relevant stakeholders," he said."Any developments will be communicated. Willowvale Motor Industries has the capacity to meet the country's automotive requirements given the necessary support."Deven Engineering managing director Mr Patrick Munyaradzi implored Government to support local industry in its drive to provide buses for the urban and rural mass transit system."The buses being imported must come in kit form for local assembly," he said."Assembly fees will be paid in local currency, which means that we can save on foreign currency imports, while at the same time creating more people in our factories." Last month, Zanu-PF Members of Parliament resolved to forgo luxury vehicles and other privileges to allow Government to direct resources towards more pressing national needs.
News / National

by Staff reporter

THE University of Zimbabwe (UZ) has announced that their tuition and accommodation fees remain unchanged from the August-December 2018 semester.In a statement yesterday, the institution said the tuition and accommodation fees remain unchanged after consideration of the ongoing economic challenges in the country."The University of Zimbabwe wishes to advise the following to all students regarding tuition and accommodation fees for the February-June 2019 semester. The tuition and accommodation fees remain unchanged with the same structure as in the August-December 2018 semester," reads part of the statement."In this decision, the university is conscious of challenges that our students, parents, guardians and sponsors, including Government, are facing under the current economic environment. We remain grateful for the support our various sponsors continue to render to students and the institution."The university said it would continue monitoring trends in the pricing and cost structures of food and related commodities.The institution said it would advise stakeholders of any changes. Meanwhile, following various social media messages that Midlands State University (MSU) and the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) had increased their tuition and accommodation fees, both universities denied the allegations maintaining that their fees remained unchanged.Two months ago Nust started demanding forex as fees from its foreign students following the introduction of Foreign Currency Accounts Nostro Accounts. The Nust Finance Committee recommended that international students pay fees into the Nostro Account as a way of creating foreign currency reserves for the institution.Government said all State tertiary education institutions should not increase school fees and should accept payment in local currency for Zimbabweans and foreign currency for foreigners.
News / National

by Staff reporter

A ZIMBABWE Prisons and Correctional Services officer stationed at Khami Maximum Prison in Bulawayo is battling for life in hospital after he shot himself on the chest in an attempted suicide.Ngonidzashe Mutoti (36), who is admitted at Mpilo Central Hospital, shot himself once in the chest while he was on duty, manning the prison premises from the tower.Reasons for the alleged suicide attempt could not be immediately obtained. The incident occurred at around 1PM last Wednesday.ZPCS Bulawayo spokesperson Principal Correctional Officer Garainashe Moyo confirmed the incident. He said they were conducting investigations into the matter."I can confirm an officer stationed at Khami Maximum Prison shot himself once in the chest on Wednesday afternoon while he was on duty. He is admitted to hospital where he is being treated. "Circumstances as to how that happened are yet to be established."It is not yet clear whether it was a suicide attempt or if the officer shot himself by mistake. We are still investigating the matter," said PCO Moyo.
News / National

by newzimbabwe

THE government has vowed more arrests in connection with the deadly January protests which were sparked by fuel price increases announced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.Human rights organisations say more than 1,000 people have already been arrested and charged with various offences linked to the protests.However, speaking during an inter-ministerial meeting in Bulawayo last Friday, Home Affairs Minister Cain Mathema warned that more arrests were imminent."The job of actually arresting those responsible, those cowards and rioters is still on," he said."We are still working on that one because the space given to every Zimbabwean belongs to all of us."The minister also warned that government would not tolerate unsanctioned demonstrations."We have to share the space, starting with those who want to go and demonstrate," he said. "They must do it legally because the space does not belong to one person; it belongs to all of us and this is why it has to be regulated."We do not want this anarchy that was displayed on the 14th of January. The space belongs to all of us and, therefore, all of us have to be protected."Mathema said urged business owners to install CCTV cameras on their properties and streets so that those who commit similar crimes can be easily identified."This is why even in future all these businesses and streets should have CCTV cameras. We have to know who is doing what all the time. We cannot avoid that," he said."All of us let us think seriously about the security of our businesses, including the private security companies."What is Bulawayo and the whole country doing in order to make sure that our economy is secure?"The government has blamed the opposition MDC party and supportive civil society organisations for last month's violence which left 12 people dead and several others injured, many with gunshot wounds.The protest was called by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and the first couple of days was characterised by violence and rampant looting across the country.Government responded with lethal force, unleashing armed soldiers and police in a crackdown which was condemned locally and internationally.Politicians in countries such as former colonial power Britain went so far as to call for a suspension of re-engagement efforts with the Harare government over its "disproportionate" response to the protests.
News / National

by Mandla Ndlovu

Commander of the Zimbabwe Defense Forces General Philip Valerio Sibanda is reported to have instructed a prosecutor handling the cases of protestors handling the cases relating to #ShutdownZimbabwe to oppose bail for persons accused of committing crime wearing army regalia.The revelations came out during the court appearance of Shepherd Magorimbo, who was last week arrested for a string of robberies committed during the protest period.When applying for bail prosecutor Makonde opposed it saying they received a call from army commander general Valerio Sibanda ordering them not to release civilian suspects who commit offences in army uniform saying doing so would tarnish the image of the army.The incidence confirms the reports by the Law Society of Zimbabwe that they have obvesed a similar trend throughout the country where the courts are abusing court procedures and denying arrested persons their constitutional rights.Last month the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) met with the Chief Justice, Luke Malaba, to raise concerns about the way that judicial officers are handling cases relating to the crackdown. They told him it appeared the courts were biased and that justice was not being meted out."Pre-trial processes and court processes appear to be collusively used to deny accused persons access to justice," the LSZ told Justice Malaba. "Among other instances of how accused persons are being treated, the LSZ had received reports of mass trials, fast-tracked trials, the routine denial of bail, the routine dismissal of preliminary applications, refusal of access to medical treatment and the trial and detention of juveniles."The LSZ said the Justice Malaba had admitted that there could be an emerging pattern to the decisions and actions by judicial officers, but said this could be the result of the similarity of facts and circumstances surrounding most of the cases. He also denied that either he or the JSC had issued any directive to judicial officers to deny bail or to rule in a particular way when hearing matters relating to the violent crackdown."


A bill to repeal Wyoming's death penalty law has failed in the state senate, thanks, in part, to the vote of Sen. Lynn Hutchings [R-Cheyenne, contact details], who said, "The greatest man who ever lived died via the death penalty for you and me. I'm grateful to him for our future hope because of this. Governments were instituted to execute justice. If it wasn't for Jesus dying via the death penalty, we would all have no hope."
During Trump's address this morning where he declared a National Emergency in order to get funding for the wall that Mexico didn't pay for, he also mentioned how excited he was about the idea of a death penalty for people who traffic drugs.

He talked about a meeting he had with China's President Xi Jinping, in which Xi attributed China's low drug crimes to the punishment of death. "That's frankly one of the things I'm most excited about in our trade deal," Trump said, referring to the death penalty given to drug dealers.

"If we want to get smartyou can end the drug problem, a lot faster than people think."
Trump admitted this morning that his "National Emergency" is not actually an emergency  "I didn't need to do this," he said about it. But the National Emergency would allow him to build his wall "faster."

"I want to do it faster," he said. "I can do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn't need to do this. I would rather do it much faster. I don't have to do it for the election. I have already done a lot of wall for the election 2020."

Via Buzzfeed:

George Conway, a conservative lawyer  and the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway  who has been critical of the president, tweeted that Trump's comment "should be the first sentence of the first paragraph of every complaint filed this afternoon." Former US attorney Joyce Alene tweeted that Trump's comments were a "gift to all the lawyers preparing to sue him." Elizabeth Goitein of the Brennan Center for Justice tweeted that they were "plaintiffs' Exhibit A." Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe tweeted, "Some emergency!" Adi Kamdar, a fellow at the Knight First Amendment Institute, tweeted, "The brief practically writes itself."

This quote should be the first sentence of the first paragraph of every complaint filed this afternoon. https://t.co/ClHQhpTaEe  George Conway (@gtconway3d) February 15, 2019

Trump, questioned by @PeterAlexander, concedes there's no national emergency to justify building his wall. "I didn't need to do this." "I just want to do it faster." A gift to all the lawyers preparing to sue him.  Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) February 15, 2019

POTUS just now, on declaring a national emergency: "I could do the wall over a much longer period of time I didn't need to do this." That's plaintiffs' Exhibit A.  Elizabeth Goitein (@LizaGoitein) February 15, 2019

Trump just said "I didn't need to do this." Some emergency!  Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) February 15, 2019

The brief practically writes itself. https://t.co/4SNijGYdEk  Adi Kamdar (@adikamdar) February 15, 2019

Image: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
5 are dead and five more police officers shot after a gunman opened fire in Aurora, Ill. CBS:

The suspect, identified as Gary Martin, opened fired at Henry Pratt Company Friday afternoon in Aurora and was shot dead, police said.

Martin, 45, is believed to have been employed by the company.

Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman said police were notified about the shooting at 1:24 p.m. They arrived on the scene at 1:28 p.m. and were immediately fired upon.

Five officers were shot. A sixth suffered a knee injury.

Five civilians were killed. The names of the victims have not been released.
Many "conspiracy" sites were calling BS on Assad gassing his own people. We see the Syrian conflict is settling down that no-name is no longer making trips behind Pres Trump's back mingling with ISIS. Remember obama and hillary funded them. Do a search online for photos of him with terrorists.

BBC Producer's Syria Bombshell: Douma "Gas Attack" Footage "Was Staged"

...a BBC reporter who investigated the incident on the ground has issued public statements saying the "Assad sarin attack" on Douma was indeed "staged". ...

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-14/bbc-shocks-douma-gas-attack-scene-staged-producer-says-after-6-month-syria
A young journalist who has has studied geology, worked as a tourist guide on the Alaska Railroad, comes from a family of teachers, and now wants to report on the challenges of rural education is the recipient of the 2019 Education Week Gregory M. Chronister Journalism Fellowship.

Victoria Petersen, a 24-year-old native of Anchorage, Alaska, who now writes for the Peninsula Clarion, a newspaper covering the Kenai Peninsula on the Gulf of Alaska, was chosen as the second winner of the fellowship named for Chronister, the longtime executive editor of Education Week, who retired in 2017 after nearly 32 years with the news organization. Chronister also held jobs such as managing editor, associate editor, and commentary editor.

The fellowship program, announced in 2017, is open to early-career, mid-career, and veteran journalists. The recipient is expected to continue his or her regular employment, but receives financial support of as much as $10,000 for a deeply reported investigative or enterprise package or series of stories spotlighting a pre-K-12 topic, according to Editorial Projects in Education Inc., the publisher of Education Week.

The first fellowship recipient, Alex Granados of the North Carolina outlet EducationNC, published his report on migrant education, Education, Unsettled , in Education Week last November.

I hope to report on issues like teacher retention in rural Alaska, said Petersen in an interview.

In her application, Petersen wrote that Alaska is home to the nations top three most-diverse schools, has one of the lowest graduation rates in the nation, has one of the nations highest rates of depression and suicide, and 75 percent of the state is off the road system. The state faces local problems, but also national issues that Alaskans have learned to deal with a little differently.

Scott Montgomery, the editor-in-chief and chief content officer of Education Week and of EPE, said, Victoria is the kind of journalist we created the Chronister Fellowship to support. Shes energetic, creative, and passionate about the importance of telling real stories about whats working and not working in education. Were excited to work with her in the year ahead.

Petersen had applied for the first year of the fellowship, and though she was not chosen last year, she wrote a freelance article for Education Week last June about how rural districts in Alaska and elsewhere were struggling to serve the needs of gifted students.

Petersen says that Alaska attracts many teachers from out of state to serve in its rural villages, but many leave early because of feelings of isolation, a lack of belonging, or dissatisfaction within their community.

She also intends to explore issues such as cultural education. Many Alaska villages highlight Alaska Native food, culture, and art in their programs. That can include courses such as dog mushing and ulu, or knife, carving in many rural districts. And some offer fresh wild Alaska salmon for student lunches.

Petersen brings a deep understanding of Alaska to her current job as a reporter for the Peninsula Clarion, where she covers city government, education, and general news. She began working for the newspaper last June, even before she finished her degree in journalism and public communications from the University of Alaska, Anchorage, in December.

After initially studying geology in college, Petersen switched to journalism and worked various positions with the Northern Light student newspaper and interned with Alaska Public Media, the states public television and public radio affiliate.

But Petersen has also worked in a job that exposed her to some of the states traditions and natural beauty. Her high school had a program that encouraged students to become tour guides for the Alaska Railroad, whose main line runs from Seward north to Anchorage and then to Fairbanks.

The railroad is super scenic, said Petersen. Its an historic railroad, and tourists come from all over to see glaciers and Mount Denali.

Petersen worked for the nearly 100-year-old railroad for six years. But it was her own love of writing and a family of teachers who sparked her interest in education journalism. (Two of Petersens grandparents and some of her cousins were or are teachers, and her father studied to be a teacher before being attracted to work in Alaskas North Slope oil fields.)

Petersen now will train her focus on helping the nation gain a greater understanding of the challenges and possibilities of teaching and learning in Alaskas vast rural landscape.
Today is the 199th anniversary of the birth of Susan B. Anthony. In honor of her legacy, here are five facts you should know about the great American social reformer:

1. Anthony was born in Massachusetts in 1820 to a family of devout, radical Quakers. Her parents raised her and her siblings to have a passion for social reform, and stressed the importance of issues such as prison reform and the abolishment of slavery. Although she continued to describe herself as a Quaker, as an adult Anthony was a member of the Unitarian Church. When asked if she prayed, she once answered: I pray every single moment of my life; not on my knees but with my work. My prayer is to lift women to equality with men. Work and worship are one with me. I can not imagine a God of the universe made happy by my getting down on my knees and calling him great.

2. In 1853 Anthony lobbied the state of New York State to extend property rights to married women. At the time a woman could not own and inherit property in her own name, keep her own wages, or even enter into a contract. In her diary she wrote, Woman must have a purse [i.e., money] of her own, & how can this be, so long as the wife is denied the right to her individual and joint earnings. Reflections like these, caused me to see and really feel that there was no true freedom for woman without the possession of all her property rights. . . It wasnt until 1860 that a law passed giving women the right to own separate property, enter into contracts, and be joint guardians of their children.

3. In 1863 Antony joined with her friend and fellow activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton in organizing the Womens Loyal National League, the first national womens political organization in the U.S. The League campaigned for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would abolish slavery, and collected nearly 400,000 signaturesthe largest number of signatures ever introduced on a congressional petition up to that time. The petition drive aided the introduction and subsequent passage of the Thirteenth Amendment.

4. Anthony, again with Stanton, co-founded the National Womens Suffrage Association (NWSA) in 1869. In 1871 the NWSA adopted a strategy of having women attempt to vote and then file a federal lawsuit when they were turned away. Anthony herself was arrested for attempting to vote in the presidential election of 1872. At the trial of her case, United States v. Susan B. Anthony, she castigated the process as a high-handed outrage upon my citizens rights, and said to the judge you have trampled under foot every vital principle of our government. My natural rights, my civil rights, my political rights, my judicial rights, are all alike ignored. She was convicted and sentenced to pay a fine of $100which she refused to do.

5. In 1878 Senator Aaron A. Sargent of California introduced the Anthony Amendment, an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that stated, The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. His bill was rejected but was introduced every year for the next 41 years. In 1919 the exact text of his bill was approved by Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1920, becoming the Nineteenth Amendment. Anthony died in 1906, though, and never saw womans suffrage become the law of the land.
CW Nordics February 2019

According to a report, traditional businesses that are transforming how they operate are fuelling digitisation more than the tech disruptors. The Nordic region is known for its rich tech startup ecosystems, but also has a strong heritage in traditional industries, such as heavy engineering, logistics and manufacturing.

This is the perfect environment for digital transformation, with startups and traditional businesses able to learn from each other. But despite this, there is work to do. A report by IDC said Nordic companies are lagging behind their global peers, especially the US, when it comes to digital transformation.

One area where Nordic countries could not be accused of lagging behind is the digitisation of money. A recent study by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco found that the use of cash continues to increase in the worlds economies apart from in the Nordic countries Norway and Sweden.

Read in this issue how Swedens central bank is testing out digital currency. Riksbank has rolled out plans to test the e-krona, and politicians in Sweden have presented a plan to make the country the worlds first cashless society by 2030.
The North Dakota Senate voted 44-1 on Thursday to add cyberbullying to the states anti-bullying law.

Senate Bill 2181 acknowledges that cyberbullying can interfere with students ability to succeed in school, even if the conduct occurs away from school. The states current anti-bullying law only covers bullying that takes place at school or on school grounds.
The North Dakota Senate passed an amended bill Friday on the state's cottage foods law.

Backers of Senate Bill 2269 say it would make North Dakota the second least restrictive state for cottage foods  behind Wyoming  while adding definitions for "clarity and conformity."

Opponents criticized the original bill for being too onerous, as well as for its labeling and transport requirements. Sen. Jerry Klein, R-Fessenden, introduced the bill, which left the Senate Agriculture Committee on a 5-1 "do pass" recommendation.

North Dakota's cottage foods law is rooted in 2017 legislation that expanded direct-to-consumer sales of mostly home baked and canned goods.

Cottage food proponents clashed with the state health department over a rule making process to address intent and definitions in the law. No rules came forth in 2018.

Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, carried the bill Friday, which included amendments requiring freezing for time- and temperature-controlled cottage foods  such as pies and kuchen  that are transported for sale, but exempting washed eggs which must, instead, be refrigerated.
North Dakota has filed an appeal seeking to overturn a federal court decision that struck down parts of a law aimed at protecting consumers from astronomical bills for air ambulance services by providers outside their health insurance networks.

The announcement was made Thursday by Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread.

The North Dakota Legislature passed a law in 2017 after state insurance regulators received complaints from North Dakota consumers who received "balanced bills"  the remaining balance owed after insurance payments  from air ambulance companies averaging more than $35,000.

The bill aimed to protect consumers with health insurance from receiving balance bills from air ambulances, prohibit air ambulance subscription agreements from being sold and require hospitals to inform patients in non-emergencies about which air ambulances have agreements with the patient's health insurance company.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland rejected the part of the law protecting North Dakotans from receiving the "balance bills," which can leave patients with huge debts.

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Proposed legislation to give North Dakota lawmakers the authority to set state higher education tuition rates failed in the House Friday.

Rep. Kim Koppelman, R-West Fargo, introduced House Bill 1536 on the matter. His similar legislation failed in 2015.

Rep. Pat Heinert, R-Bismarck, carried the bill on its 11-3 "do not pass" recommendation from the House Education Committee. He said the committee wrestled with questions such as how to set tuition in two-year budget cycles and for each of the 11 schools, as well as myriad fees.

Koppelman urged yes votes as he pointed to the Legislature historically setting tuition rates, before delegating to the State Board of Higher Education.

"All this does is return the state, not only to what we did for most of our state's history, but what our Constitution says is a legislative responsibility," Koppelman said.

The bill failed 27-62.

Reach Jack Dura at 701-223-8482 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com.

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The Burleigh County Sheriff's Department has completed its internal investigation into Lt. Casey Kapp.

According to the investigation report, on Feb. 5, a deputy and sergeant with the sheriff's department responded to Kapp's residence after a woman requested a welfare check on Kapp, fearing for his safety.

The following day, Kapp showed up for work at the Burleigh-Morton County Detention Center and had alcohol on his breath, the report says. Kapp was given a breath alcohol test, which revealed he had a blood alcohol concentration of .051 percent. The legal BAC limit in North Dakota is .08 percent.

Kapp was taken to a clinic for an "official BAC test," according to the report. He was later taken home and placed on administrative leave.

Sheriff Kelly Leben said the internal investigation was completed on Thursday. Kapp is still on administrative leave and has been demoted to a detention officer.

Kapp also received a five-day suspension and must complete "fit for duty" evaluations before returning to work, Leben said.

(Reach Blair Emerson at 701-250-8251 or Blair.Emerson@bismarcktribune.com)

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As a caregiver, I feel honored to be welcomed into a clients home and help care for them. Montanas Medicaid expansion has ensured that even more of our loved ones can receive the care they need to stay at home and live and age with dignity.

I work very hard at my job, and unfortunately do not make enough to afford health care on my own. Ive been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. It feels like I have the flu all the time and every muscle aches, and it never goes away. It makes it incredibly hard to do my job. I take a pill three times a day, and if I didnt have Medicaid, I would have to pay $90 a month that I dont have. I was in the ICU with hypokalemia, severe low potassium, three times last month. I was on an IV drip, for five days at a time. Thankfully, because I have Medicaid, I was able to get the treatment I needed and can continue to work.
As a long-time public trail user, Im particularly excited about the trail funding piece. Ive been doing this work for decades and I can tell you that it is not often the motorized and nonmotorized communities come together to support a common vision. SB24 has been a uniting issue, whether you ride a dirt bike or lace up hiking boots.

Trails funding has been a growing concern for years as more trails and community groups have sought ways to strengthen community amenities and outdoor opportunities. The Montana Trails Coalition recently published a report on the Recreational Trails Program, the primary pot of federal money used by trail organizations to do this work. That report showed while the program is well-used, it has not been able to meet Montanas needs. Over 100 community-supported trail projects had been left unfunded in the past five years.

But support for SB24 goes well beyond the trail user community. The bill has bipartisan support and is sponsored by Sen. Terry Gauthier, a Republican from Helena. At a Senate Fish and Game Committee hearing held last month there was simply no opposition to the bill. Instead, it was supported by a long line of Montana citizens and groups that included the Montana Association of Realtors, several major municipalities, and Montanas largest insurance company, Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

The bottom line is that outdoor recreation is a growing industry in Montana. We need to find common-sense solutions and tool to sustain it. Montana needs more funding for trails maintenance and construction and for state parks. The Senate should vote to provide it.

Russ Ehnes is vice president of the Montana Trails Vehicle Riders Association and is based in Great Falls.

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Interstate 90 reopened late Thursday afternoon after the Montana Highway Patrol, Department of Transportation and the Mineral County Sheriff's Office cleared wreckage from a semi-truck crash.

MDT said earlier Thursday in a tweet that five semis had crashed five miles east of the Idaho border. Jim Kitchin, an MHP captain, told the Missoulian later that only one semi crashed; others had merely stopped, he said. The crash caused a few "minor injuries."

"We got lucky," Kitchin said.

The Montana Department of Transportation had closed the stretch between St. Regis and Lookout Pass Tuesday afternoon. After clearing the eastbound lanes, Kitchin said crews were returning to "avalanche detail," to clear the westbound lanes.

The Montana Department of Transportation closed the highways westbound lanes from St. Regis to the Idaho border shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday when an avalanche spilled onto the road around mile marker 33.5, near St. Regis.

Kitchen said earlier on Thursday there had been two known avalanches, one there and one at mile marker 1. He said there was a good possibility of other avalanches.

"Big shout out to Mineral County Sheriff's Department and DOT, they're working their butts off," Kitchin said.

Meanwhile in Flathead County, the Department of Transportation planned to conduct avalanche mitigation on U.S. 2 near Essex for about two hours beginning at 1:30 Thursday, and close the road from Essex to Snow Slip.

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The president said Thursday he would sign the bill to keep the government open without the wall money.

Daines, a Republican, said immigration had become a crisis. In the days leading up to the Thursdays vote, he toured a portion of the southern border, spending time with agents working the night shift.

In talking to these men and women who bravely serve every night, it is a crisis, and whats happening is you have these Mexican cartels, and El Chapo is an example of that, he was convicted in New York and hopefully gets life in prison, Daines said. But these cartels divide up the territory across our southern border and each are running multibillion-dollar businesses, and they get their revenues by trafficking men and women and children across the border and through drugs. This is a national crisis. Look no further than what is going on right now in Montana with methamphetamine and whats coming across the southern border is methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

Daines said the $1.37 billion for border security was a down payment, a phrased used by several Republicans after the vote. He said the border security debate would continue throughout the year.

Gianforte's statement read:
Broadwater County Commissioner Laura Obert, whose county prosecutors are pursuing the conviction of a man charged with killing Deputy Mason Moore in 2017, said the proposal would detract from the public safety efforts to which Moore has committed in his county of approximately 5,600 people.

Mason Moore was also a firefighter, she said. Right now Im standing in front of you, asking for you not to cut Masons department  and not to cut his champion, our county attorney.

Both the Montana Association of Counties and League of Cities and Towns, as they did last week in initial discussions, contended that local governments were not at the table in the last 12 years when state lawmakers made peripheral changes that affected how the cost share and the OPD budget would play out.

Initial language in the bill that moved OPD to the state level had included readjusting the cost share every few years to retain the 75/25 split, but it was deliberately taken out.
The House had another debate later in the week over a bill that would have said life starts at conception and outlawed all abortion in the state.

Jefferson City Republican Rep. Greg DeVries' personhood bill would need approval from two-thirds of the full Legislature, or 100 votes, to go on the ballot in 2020. But Thursday it received only 56 votes in the House.

While the bill will move to the Senate, it's unlikely to pick up the needed 44 votes there, where Republicans hold 32 seats and Democrats have 18.

Lawmakers shared personal stories in support and opposition to the bill. DeVries was also stopped on the House floor from singling out the Native American caucus.

My friends in the Indian caucus, abortion is a plague on Indian culture and the genocide against your own children. One cannot value and celebrate a culture if that culture is murdering a future generation, DeVries said.

At that, Democrat Rep. Casey Schreiner of Great Falls, the minority leader in the House, along with other Democrats, stood up in opposition to DeVries words.
District Court Judge Jessica Fehr set bond at $500,000, but noted it was not a significant issue due to the fact that ONeill remains in custody on other charges. She also ordered no contact with the victim.

O'Neill spoke only briefly in a low voice to answer the judge's questions.

ONeill was brought to Montana from Washington, where he had been serving a prison sentence on other charges. That sentence expires in 2024.

He was booked Wednesday into the Yellowstone County Detention Facility.

ONeills criminal history in Yellowstone County includes convictions for criminal mischief in 2015, misdemeanor assault in 2006 and burglary and theft in 1997.

In the 2006 case, ONeill punched a woman in the eye as she was exiting her vehicle after parking on Montana Avenue one afternoon, according to charges.

The woman said shed been reaching for something on her passenger side when she noticed ONeill standing between her and her car door and was staring at her in a creepy way. She said she asked him to leave but instead he punched her. She then kicked him in the chest to knock him backward so she could shut her door.
During the question-and-answer session afterwards, an audience member asked what the barriers were to shifting some of the state's education dollars towards the precious first five years of a child's development.

I think in part it is a lack of awareness and understanding, he said. There's some concern that the big hand of government is trying to take a child from the time he or she is born and swoop in and do what the parents ought to be doing, [that] it's government overreach.

Everything that we do in this area is completely voluntary he said.

While progress on this front had been slow during his time as governor, Bullock noted strong support for expanded preschool among Montanas business community, and the policys success in deeply conservative Alabama, and declared himself cautiously optimistic that we're going to get somewhere now.

Bullock also touted his initiatives for higher education.
 Mid-Morning Open Thread | Main | The Morning Rant  Trump About to Sign Bill That Drastically Limits His Ability to Build a Wall and Deport Illegals He'll also declare a national emergency, but this bill itself restricts his ability to move money around to build the wall. Fox live viewer here.

You know, a long time ago, I knew a guy who was a senior legislative staffer for a Republican congressman. He told me that Democrats routinely build traps and poison pills into bills. Sometimes, for example, they'll pretend to concede a legal point to Republicans, but then they'll deliberately write the law in such an aggressive way that they know a liberal interest group will challenge it as unconstitutional and easily win, because it was written to be unconstitutional. And thus, the "concession" granted by the Democrats disappears like morning mist, but the concessions granted by Republicans -- usually about money -- remain. The Democrats win it all. But you probably knew that. And that's not the point I'm making. Here's the point I'm making: I asked him why Republicans don't take this crap out of bills -- are they incompetent? "No," he told me. "They know they're in there. They want them there. They want the credit for having gotten what appears to be a conservative victory, but they're actually liberal-leaning (or at least they fear a liberal backlash at home) and they want Democrats to 'steal' their victory away." So anyway, this guy was always trying to take this garbage out of bills, and his Republican colleagues were fighting to keep this shit in. He told me this like 12, 13 years ago. He is who he says he is (his resume is genuine) and he never gave me reason to think he wasn't generally honest. Failure Theater. And now I fear that Trump has been enlisted as a Lead in this latest performance of Failure Theater, scripted by "Republicans" who pretend to be conservative but ho are actually very much aligned with the urban cosmopolitan liberals. Krikorian points out the Democrat traps, which were almost certainly agreed to by McConnell and Co. [T]he news that the Dems agreed to $1.375 billion for the construction of "primary pedestrian fencing" (i.e., high barriers, not the low ones intended simply to stop vehicles, in places where theres none now) seemed like a win. It's not. Thats because the bill allows the fencing to be built only in the Rio Grande Valley Sector in South Texas. It's surely needed there, but real barriers are also needed elsewhere, such as the parts of the Arizona or New Mexico borders where theres only vehicle fencing. But the Democrats had a reason for this limitation. The bill states: [paraphrase: Fencing can only be built with the permission of local mayors] In other words, local governments would have an effective veto over whether barriers would be constructed. And which party controls all local government in South Texas? Go ahead, look it up, I'll wait. Rio Grande City is the least Democratic community in the area, and even there voters supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 by more than three to one. So the border itself is in Democrat hands, and you need the support of Democrat local leaders to build the wall. This means, of course, that no walls may be built. Furthermore, this scotches Trump's (claimed) plan to do this by Emergency order, because legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by the President would supersede the vague general powers the President would claim under the various statutes concerning national emergencies. The specific trumps the general. The general powers conferred by statute for emergency authorization would be limited by the quite-specific limitations in the very spending bill Trump is signing. Trump would sign a piece of paper forbidding him to do that which he claims he will next do on his own authority. Krikorian continues... and it gets even worse. Basically, Trump would give up any ability to deport most illegal aliens. The second poison pill is even worse. Section 224 states: None of the funds provided by this act...may be used by the Secretary of Homeland Security to place in detention, remove, refer for a decision whether to initiate removal proceedings, or initiate removal proceedings against a sponsor, potential sponsor, or member of a household of a sponsor or potential sponsor of an unaccompanied alien child. In other words, this would mean that ICE cannot detain or remove anyone who has effectively any relationship with an "unaccompanied" minor -- either because theyre sponsors, in the same household as sponsors, or even just "potential sponsors" (or in the household of potential sponsors!) of such a child. There are already a huge number of Unaccompanied Alien Children in the US. Each is now a human shield protecting anyone in who could even potentially be a sponsor in the future from deportation. And of course this makes UACs, who have already been Golden Tickets into the US, that much more valuable, and they will therefore become Standard Traveling Gear for all illegal aliens. Trump must refuse to sign this bill, demand Congress pass a one-week funding CR, demand Congress strip this bullshit out of the bill and then resubmit it. Or else he's selling us out. And he can't pretend he doesn't know -- he knows. We've seen Failure Theater performed enough times. We don't need to see it again. And let me say this about that cocksucker McConnell: this rat bastard and saboteur is many things, but he is not stupid and he is not uninformed about legislation. He knows this stuff is in the bill. He helped put it there, and he's a key part of the sales effort to lie to the rubes once again and tell them it's not in there. Until we pass it, and then, oops! Tricked again! Those darned Democrats got us, but if you send us money and vote extra hard for us, we promise, next time we'll get 'em....

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Montana State University Billings is touting its highest retention rate from fall to spring semester in five years, while still seeing an overall decline in full-time enrollment.

The university released the newest spring 2019 enrollment data Thursday. The student headcount saw a decrease of less than 1 percent from fall 2018 to spring 2019, dropping 27 students. The press release compared the headcount drop to an average drop of 270 students between spring and fall semesters in the past five years. From fall 2017 to spring 2018, the headcount decreased by 102 students.

MSUB had 4,288 students enrolled for spring 2019 semester at its 15th class-day count, according to a press release from the university. Of those 4,288 students, 2,566 are at the main campus and 1,722 are at City College.

While overall headcount remained steady, enrollment in full time-equivalent students, or FTE, decreased by 4.16 percent since spring 2018. FTE, which dictates much of the actual revenue and budgeting for the university, equalizes both full-time and part-time students enrolled on campus to create a more accurate equivalent.

From fall 2018 to spring 2019, MSUB lost 215 FTE students.
The annual Mardi Gras Montana celebration is set for Tuesday, March 5. The event benefits the Billings Food Bank and will be at Red Lion Hotel, 5500 Midland Road. Festivities will include a gourmet meal, and silent and live auctions.

Doors open at 5 p.m. After a champagne greeting, guests will be treated to oysters, crawfish and shrimp served on ice, as they view and bid on silent auction items and enjoy live music by the Second Avenue Stompers.

Revelers may dress in costume or casually. Mardi Gras masks will be provided for everyone.

Admission is $75 per person. Tables for 10 are available for $750. For tickets, call 406-259-2856, or go to billingsfoodbank.com/donate-event-tickets. Tickets will be available through Feb. 28.

The Billings Food Bank provides millions of pounds of food to the community's less fortunate every year. The organization also runs a culinary training program in the Fortin Culinary Center, serves breakfast and lunch in the Fortin Cafe and operates a gift shop.

For more information, go to billingsfoodbank.com.

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Mention the phraseand you're likely to elicit chuckles from fans of a classic 1984 movie.That famous punchline also comes to mind as this fan considers debate over state-funded public school construction in North Carolina. Yes, I'm linking one of North Carolina's most pressing policy discussions toRob Reiner's fake documentary - "If you will, rockumentary" - chronicles the exploits of a quartet of English knuckleheads who embody every cliche of a heavy metal rock band.Lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel, portrayed by Christopher Guest, exudes an amusing cluelessness throughout the proceedings. In one scene, Tufnel explains how he turns up the volume of his performance - figuratively and literally.His specially designed amplifier has knobs that turn from a low of zero to a maximum of 11. Tufnel compares the amp to others that max out at 10. "It's one louder, isn't it?"An interviewer asks,Tufnel ponders the question for a couple of seconds before responding:So committed to the notion that 11 must be louder than 10, the guitarist fails to comprehend an alternative that might accomplish the same goal.No one is arguing that top N.C. government leaders would struggle in a war of wits with Nigel Tufnel. But it's possible that some might be so committed to one particular policy option that they fail to contemplate an alternative.In the debate over state funding of local school construction, the most highly visible option is a proposed statewide school bond referendum. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has endorsed the idea . He launched a statewide tour last summer touting a $1.9 billion bond package.Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, and other leading N.C. House Republicans also have signaled support for a statewide bond. They organized a January forum on the topic in Harnett County. Local leaders trumpeted potential benefits for addressing their school systems' building needs.Meanwhile, leading state senators have put forward a different proposal. Rather than take on new debt with a bond package, senators would tweak the State Capital and Infrastructure Fund created in 2017.Outlining the plan for reporters, Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown, R-Onslow, argued that his chamber's pay-as-you-go alternative would devote more money to schools ($2.03 billion versus $1.9 billion), start construction projects two years earlier than a bond package would allow, and save North Carolina $1.2 billion in interest payments over the next 30 years.The Associated Press asked Brown whether the Senate plan reflects that chamber's stronger aversion to taking on new state debt. "I think that's fair to say," he responded. "But also you can see with the other plan - with a bond plan - you're talking about over $1 billion in interest payments. With this plan, you don't have any of that. So it just allows you to spend more money on where you want it to be spent."Plenty of questions remain about both plans. Can North Carolina afford to take on new debt linked to a bond? How would a change in the SCIF formula affect funding for other government construction priorities?What kinds of projects would be funded under either proposal? Would they be concentrated in areas with the highest rates of student growth? Dispersed in ways that tilt more toward urban or rural interests?How have changes in enrollment patterns affected the need for new district school buildings? Does it make sense to give state government a larger role in traditionally local school building decisions? Should the fast-growing public charter school sector share in any state construction funds?Those questions need answers before policymakers proceed with any plan. If they reach agreement that the state should take some action, then they'll have to choose among a bond, a pay-as-you-go plan, or some combination of the two.The bond proposal has been circulating longer. Plus it's more familiar to taxpayers and voters. When counties decide they need to build or upgrade school buildings, they often turn to local bond referendums.But that shouldn't stop policymakers from considering alternatives. When senators propose more money for school construction, available more quickly, and at lower overall costs, it won't be a great idea to respond: "But we support a bond."Unless, of course, bond advocates want to come across in the same way as the Spinal Tap guitarist who cranks his amplifier up to 11.
New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is very much opposed to President Donald Trump's border wall. And despite being the governor of a border state, has taken a far-left approach to illegal immigration, petitioning against the White House's plan to stiffen control at the United States' southern border.Grisham decided early on to offer her ownto Trump's State of the Union speech, specifically addressing Trump's call for greater border security and an extended border wall between the United States and Mexico that would stretch across the lower border of her state.It was a tough call given the competitors - Sen. Kamala Harris' (D-CA) awkward pre-buttal, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams' speech in front of the motionless mannequins from Pink Floyd's "The Wall," and Bernie Sanders' stuttering Facebook live - but Grisham may have released the most bizarre "rebuttal" of the night.That's right. Grisham is certainlybut less in a policy sense and more in asense. Herad is a solid 30 seconds of Grisham literally running through walls.On Wednesday, Grisham took a more concrete approach to the president's plan, signaling that she no longer intends to allow New Mexico's National Guard troops to protect the southern border, and that she will recall the National Guard immediately.NPR reports thatGrisham's order not only covers troops from her own state, but any troops from National Guard companies in other states who were deployed to serve at the New Mexico border, including troops from "Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Wisconsin."Grisham said.President Donald Trump noted in his State of the Union speech last night that he believes immigration issues at the border do constitute a national emergency, and that he will declare one if Democrats do not approve around $5 billion in border wall funding when they reconvene with Congressional Republicans to discuss a long-term federal budget. On Wednesday, the U.S. government also announced that the number of U.S. military personnel at the border would increase by several hundred.
As it was written, bonding authority could be given to a hate group because those groups are considered cultural entities, Howard said.

"We want to be very clear about our expectations, and the only clarity that we can provide them with is what we put into law," she said.

Howard offered a compromise and Hunt withdrew an amendment she proposed to make the changes. The compromise was to leave out the list of specified protected classes and define "cultural institution" as one that "does not violate any state or federal law against discrimination."

Hunt agreed the change would keep the bill updated for any future additions to Nebraska's nondiscrimination laws.

Lincoln Sen. Adam Morfeld broadened the discussion, saying a workplace discrimination bill could be the next anti-discrimination bill to be debated. That bill was advanced from the Judiciary Committee to the full Legislature on Thursday.

"LGBT discrimination happens every single day in Nebraska. I have friends everywhere, from fast-food workers all the way up to accomplished attorneys, that have been fired and discriminated against for being gay in this state," he said. "Then we sit around and we wonder why we can't keep young Nebraskans here. We wonder why we can't recruit young Nebraskans here."
How Cannon Beach's Haystack Rock Was Created: Fiery Oregon Coast Tale

Updated Periodically

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Cannon Beach, Oregon)  Every now and then, if you hang out at Cannon Beach bars long enough and late into the night, you may catch one of the locals trying to pull the leg of an unsuspected visitor to the north Oregon coast. Haystack Rock is manmade, they will tell you, and insistently too. It was built by humans, so the occasional local prank goes, a tale often fueled by a glass or two of the harder stuff.

As guffaw-inducing as that is, truth is far stranger than comedic fiction. How the famed Haystack Rock of Cannon Beach was made is a story of fire and lava flows with strength beyond imagining, and a story so old its equally hard to fathom.

The gargantuan, looming legend of Haystack Rock begins some 15 million to 18 million years ago, when a nasty and gnarly massive hole in the Earth was spewing lava that crawled across hundreds of miles. Back then, according to geologists, there was a weak point in the Earths crust about where the Idaho border is now.



What would later be the Oregon coast was about 15 to 20 miles east still: all of this area was underwater. Continental plates have been slowly moving everything westward for at least 100 million years, plus this section of land has been rising and falling on and off for millions of years as well. The plates would arrive at their current spot about ten million years ago, according to Seaside geologist Tom Horning.





Those lava flows sizzled and seared their way about 300 miles to the shoreline  then beyond it. Sometimes it was a wall of burning lava 30 feet high. Theyre the same lava flows that created most major landmarks we know along the Oregon coast, like Neahkahnie Mountain, Tillamook Head, Yaquina Head by Newport and more. Its even responsible for the Columbia Gorge, and thus theyre known as the Columbia Basalts. Such lava flows happened hundreds if not thousands of times over millions of years, if not more.

With this area underwater, and being of softer sediment, the lavas of the Columbia basalts sometimes plunged deep into the sea floor. They tunneled underneath for awhile and then re-erupted elsewhere. This is what Cannon Beachs beloved Haystack Rock is.

The technical term is intrusives, meaning they burrowed underground then came up again. Horning and other geologists believe while under the sediment it eventually met a harder substance, then was forced to come back up.

Other intrusives in the area include Rockaway Beachs Twin Rocks and likely the other Haystack Rock at Pacific City.

Scientists know this because of radiometric carbon dating and other tests, which show the basalts to be the same composition and age as others like those in the Gorge, at Tillamook Rock and the rest.

Eventually, over those 15-plus million years, those rock structures got whittled down by time and tide, eroded into the shapes we now see. Sometimes this erosion gouges out arches, like Three Arch Rocks at Oceanside or Rockaway Beachs Twin Rocks. Eventually, the arches will break, leaving two separated halves. Its quite possible Haystack Rock will break up in such a way, essentially. The Needles  the smaller, pointy rocks around it  were all part of a larger structure once that included Haystack Rock. Lodging in Cannon Beach - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

See Oregon Coast Geology. More of Haystack Rock below:

Inn at Haystack Rock. 3 blocks from downtown, only a block from beach. Garden courtyard with a Spanish-style fountain. Private patios, barbecue area, free wi-fi, flatscreen TV with DVD player, large, complimentary DVD library. Some host sleep two or three, one hosts six. 487 S. Hemlock. Cannon Beach . 800-559-0893. Inn at Haystack Rock website here

Beachcomber Vacation Homes . Numerous vacation rentals in the Cannon Beach area, including Falcon Cove and Arch Cape. Depending on the home, you may find amenities and luxuries such as a barbecue, claw foot tub, a ship's ladder. 115 Sunset Blvd. Cannon Beach, Oregon. 855-219-4758. 503-436-4500. Website

Cannon Beach Vacation Rentals. About 60 vacation homes to choose from: ocean view, oceanfront and very close to the beach, all in Cannon Beach or in Arch Cape. All are either oceanfront or very close. Homes sleep as many as 12. 164 Sunset. Cannon Beach, Oregon. 503-436-0940. 866-436-0940. www.visitcb.com











LIttle-known fact: part of Haystack was blasted away in 1968.







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Four London outlets of former Patisserie Holdings business Baker & Spice have been acquired by coffee chain Department of Coffee and Social Affairs (DOCASA).

The outlets in Belgravia, Chelsea, Maida Vale and in Selfridges on Oxford Street have changed hands, along with 68 employees.

A fifth Baker & Spice outlet, in Oxford, is not part of the deal and has been closed with the loss of 10 jobs.

The 2.5m acquisition comes a day after the sale of two other parts of Patisserie Holdings, which collapsed into administration last month.

Dublin-based private equity firm Causeway Capital, which also has investments in Bakers + Baristas, is taking on 96 Patisserie Valerie stores, while West Midlands-based wholesaler and distributor AF Blakemore has acquired all 21 Philpotts food-to-go stores across the UK. The combined value of the two deals was 13m.

Following the earlier sales of Patisserie Valerie and Philpotts, we are pleased to conclude this deal which sees the highly-regarded London Baker & Spice stores transfer to Department of Coffee and Social Affairs, said KPMG partner and joint administrator Dave Costley-Wood.

DOCASA currently has 14 sites in London and one each in Bristol and Manchester, and is planning new stores in all three cities. The business also operates Internal Affairs coffee bars in a number of city businesses.

Its stores are supplied from the companys kitchen and bakery in South London, where it bakes and produces cakes, pastries, bread, salads and sandwiches.

Were very excited to now own Baker & Spice, its a tremendous brand and the team are looking to build upon its success, said DOCASA deputy chairman Matthew Gill.

Patisserie Holdings had narrowly avoided collapse last year after a black hole was discovered in its finances, but entered administration on 22 January after failing to renew banking facilities. More than 70 loss-making sites were shuttered immediately, including all Druckers stores and the companys Spitalfields bakery, resulting in 920 redundancies.
Egypt Today

FILE: British Ambassador to Egypt Sir Geoffrey Adams

CAIRO  15 February 2019: British Ambassador to Egypt Sir Geoffrey Adams said on Thursday that Egypt is on its way to becoming an energy hub for the region.



Commenting on a $325 million agreement between the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and Britains Lekela Power to build a 250 MW wind farm in the Gulf of Suez, Adams added that several leading British companies will be supporting Egypt to help it achieve its goal.



I am proud that this week alone, BP, Shell and Actis made new investment announcements in Egypt, creating job opportunities and pushing the Egyptian economy forward, Adams said.



Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr, and the British Ambassador attended the signing ceremony.



In a Thursday statement issued by the British Embassy in Cairo, it was stated that the wind farm will help Egypt achieve its plan to produce 20 percent of its energy from new and renewable sources by 2022.



UK investment in the renewable energy sector in Egypt has been witnessing consecutive boosts; Recently, the UK Export Finance announced its support to the Tahrir Petrochemical Complex, which aims at doubling Egypts total exports, with around $1.6 billion fund.



This week, 33 leading British companies are showcasing their expertise in the oil and gas sector in this years edition of the Egyptian Petroleum Show (EGYPS.) Out of these exhibiting companies, 20 are exploring potential opportunities for the first time.



The British Ambassador visited the exhibition and met with leading business figures who expressed keenness to invest in the Egyptian market.



Sir Adams also met with the CEO of BP Group, Bob Dudley; and Stuart Jones, regional president for Europe and Middle East at Bechtel, and discussed running British investments in the energy sector, and their plans for future growth.



This energy delegation coincides with a high-ranking visit of British experts in the fields of healthcare and energy as they explored new opportunities for investment in a broad range of fields.
Bart Graves, a spokesperson for DPS, stated they are only in the first phase of the closure, with no solid timeline set for the final closure date.

Graves said the first part of the plan is to move all Flagstaff dispatchers to the day shift and handle the graveyard shift out of Phoenix. After that, they plan to move the swing and day shifts to Phoenix as staffing levels dictate.

Graves explained that the decision was made by Milstead at the end of January.

The AZDPS Northern Communications Center (NCC) was unable to maintain adequate staffing, stemming from attrition and recruitment challenges that placed a great burden on available staff at the NCC, Graves said through email. There are 29 allocated positions for the NCC of which only 15 are filled.

Dispatchers blamed the recruitment challenges on the length of time it took to fill those positions, citing wait times of more than the suggested three to five months to be hired before training.
HILLSBOROUGH, NCAdam & Eve and AdamEve.com, one of Americas most trusted sources for adult products, holds an annual sex survey, and this time, they asked more than 1,000 adults about their condom useand the responses were a bit surprising.

When asked if condoms were a regular part of their sexual activity, 37% of the respondents (40% of the men and 35% of the women) said yes, while 63% of those polled (60% of the men and 64% of the women) said no.

Of those who make it a practice to use condoms during sexual activity, 34% of the women said they requested them for their personal protection while only 23% of the men said they requested condoms. Twenty-six percent of the males (compared to 15% of the women) who used condoms said they only did so because their partners asked them to. However, 50% of both genders admitted they used condoms for both themselves and their partners.

Dr. Jenni Skyler, resident sexologist at Adam & Eve, finds these numbers alarmingly low.

While there are many people involved in long-term, monogamous relationships who can safely opt not to use condoms, condoms are still the best way to protect your partner and yourself from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease," she said. "Condom designs have improved dramatically over the years, and more people need to take personal responsibility for their sexual health."

Adam & Eve started as a condoms-by-mail company in 1971, noted Chad Davis, Director of Marketing for Adam & Eve. Condoms still remain a strong seller for us, and we encourage using condoms as part of safe sex practices.

The web-based survey, conducted by an independent third party survey company, of more than 1,000 American adults age 18 and up, was sponsored by Adam & Eve to study sexual preferences and practices.

For more information about Adam & Eve, visit its website, AdamEve.com. For even more information on Adam & Eve, contact Adam & Eve Director of Public Relations Katy Zvolerin at 919-644-8100 x 3121 or [email protected].
WASHINGTON, D.C.Last night, the Woodhull Freedom Foundation and its co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit seeking to strike down the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017, better known as "FOSTA," filed their appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The appeal seeks to overturn the ruling last September by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon which dismissed the action, making the ludicrous assertion that none of the plaintiffs in the suit had legal standing to bring the claim because, as the government claimed, "none of the Appellants were injured by FOSTA."

Those plaintiffs/appellants include, besides Woodhull, Human Rights Watch, individual plaintiffs Eric Koszyk and Jesse Maley (aka Alex Andrews), and The Internet Archive. The plaintiffs also expect at least a dozen other human rights and sex worker advocacy groups, including Free Speech Coalition, to file amicus briefs in support of Woodhull's position.

Describing FOSTA as "the furthest-reaching attempt to censor online speech since Congress first attempted to regulate the Internet through anti-indecency provisions in the Communications Decency Act," plaintiff/appellant attorneys Lawrence G. Walters, Robert Corn-Revere and Ronald G. London, as well as several other attorneys, note in their introduction to the appeal that, "FOSTA makes it easier for federal prosecutors, state law enforcement officials, and civil litigants to impose crushing liability on Internet speech using expansive but undefined terms regarding the 'promotion' or 'facilitation' of prostitution and/or the 'reckless disregard' of conduct that 'contributes to sex trafficking.' FOSTAs new, content-based criminal penalties and heavy civil liability for online publishers have already led to substantial diminution of online speech on these subjects, and on issues peripheral to them."

It is the very vagueness and overbreadth of the statute's wording that gives the plaintiffs/appellants their standing to bring the case in the first place, plus the fact that it allows the federal government and state and local law enforcement the ability to target speech that's already been published, in violation of the U.S. Constitution's prohibition of ex post facto ("after the fact") laws.

According to the Woodhull attorneys, Judge Leon used an improper standard in deciding whether any of the plaintiffs had been or were likely to be harmed by enforcement of FOSTA.

"Under the proper standard, when addressing pre-enforcement challenges to recently enacted statutes that facially restrict expressive activity, courts must assume a credible threat of prosecution in the absence of compelling contrary evidence," they argued. "Appellants need not await prosecution or face imminent civil liability before they may challenge a law regulating speech. Moreover, standing should have been adjudged according to the plaintiffs interpretation of the statute, not that of the Government."

Indeed; it was this exact standard that allowed Free Speech Coalition to proceed with its lawsuit against the federal record-keeping and labeling law, 18 U.S.C. 2257, at a time when no one had yet been charged with violating it.

The appellate brief, which runs to 83 pages including exhibits, first notes that several terms used in the FOSTA statute"promotes," "facilitates," "prostitution" or "contribute to sex trafficking"are not anywhere defined, leaving such terms wide open to interpretation by law enforcement to the detriment of speakers like Woodhull, whose philosophy is pro-consensual sexual freedom; Human Rights Watch, which works internationally to challenge government abuses of its citizens' rights, including sexual rights; Alex Andrews, a long-time advocate for sex worker rights and founder of advocacy groups for sex worker health and safety; Eric Koszyk, a massage therapist; and The Internet Archive, an organization that "intentionally stores and displays a vast amount of both historical website data and third-party content, including content related to prostitution and trafficking, and has 'no practical ability to evaluate the legality of' such third-party material." Clearly, any of those entities could easily run afoul of FOSTA.

Worse, the law is so vague that one could easily unwittingly violate it.

"The law not only prohibits specific acts of traffickers, but reaches anyone who 'participates in a venture,' which requires only 'reckless disregard' to make out a violation, and which is broadly defined as including anyone who 'benefits' either financially, or by receiving 'anything of value' from their participation," the appellate brief states. "FOSTA further muddies the waters by newly defining 'participation in a venture' to mean 'knowingly assisting, supporting, or facilitating a violation of' Section 1591 (which incorporates the 'reckless disregard' standard). The House Report explained that under Section 1591 prior to its amendment by FOSTA, the 'knowledge standard [was] difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt,' and that the law needed to more broadly target promotion and facilitation. FOSTA thus broadens what acts are covered by the law through use of the verbs 'assisting or supporting, or facilitating' trafficking, and confusingly ties back into the 'reckless disregard'standard of mens rea... The result is that FOSTA appears to create liability whether or not the platform realized or suspected that a crime occurred or might occur, and online intermediaries must anticipate how law enforcement officials in every state might interpret these standards." [Citations removed here and below]

In sum, all of the above acts to chill internet speech by putting fear in the minds of webmasters and others that they may unwittingly violate FOSTA without meaning to do so, and suffer grave criminal penalties if found guilty of their "crime." Among the types of businesses already chilled are "websites that hosted personals ads, community forums devoted to discussions of sexuality and lawful adult sexual relationships, speech about non- sexual massage therapy and other non-sexual services, as well as dating sites."

The brief goes on to cite dozens of cases where pre-enforcement facial challenges have been allowed, with many eventually given the U.S. Supreme Court's stamp of approval. Or as the brief notes, "The District Courts standing analysis bypassed decades of First Amendment precedent."

The brief also takes Judge Leon to task for accepting the government's interpretation of the effects of FOSTA rather than the plaintiffs', as he was by law required to do. One of these flaws was the judge's acceptance of FOSTA as being analagous to the Travel Act, which prohibits outright pandering and prostitution, whereas FOSTA targets only speech rather than conduct.

Simply put, the appellate brief in this case is exhaustive in setting forth the errors in both the government's agruments in favor of maintaining FOSTA among the federal statutes and Judge Leon's errors in striking down the lawsuit. The brief also asks the appellate court to issue a preliminary injunction against FOSTA's enforcement, and anyone knowledgeable about the workings of the First Amendment can easily see the merits of the plaintiffs/appellants' case.

No date for oral argument has yet been scheduled in the case. Those interested in reading the appellants' brief may do so here.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.In brief proceedings Thursday morning, the Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino rescheduled today's planned pre-preliminary hearing to April 4 in the multiple-felony case against adult performer Mercedes Carrera and husband Daemon Cins.

The prelimary hearing originally scheduled for next Wednesday, February 20, has been vacated and continued, with time waived for that hearing until June 4.

A pre-preliminary hearing, according to the San Bernardino County District Attorney website, is intended to determine "if both sides are ready to proceed on the Preliminary Hearing Date." At a preliminary hearing, the site says, "the prosecution presents evidence and testimony in an attempt to persuade a judge that there is sufficient evidence against the defendant for the case to be set for trial." It adds, "The defense has the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses and to challenge prosecution evidence at the Preliminary Hearing. ... If, at the conclusion of the Preliminary Hearing, the Judge determines there is sufficient cause for the defendant's case to be set for trial, the defendant is ordered 'held to answer' on some or all of the charges."
 Mia S. Loiacono, 21, of 2491 Bentley School Road, Brutus, was charged Jan. 26 with first-degree robbery and second-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury with a weapon.

 Dijon C. Starling-Harvey, 19, of 9 Spring St., Auburn, was charged Jan. 26 with first-degree robbery and second-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury with a weapon.

 William A. Vest, 28, of 2404 Burnett Ave., Syracuse, was charged Jan. 26 with first-degree robbery and second-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury with a weapon.

 Jakob M. Mueller, 21, of 22 Warren St., Apt. 2, Tully, was charged Jan. 26 with second-degree menacing, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree unlawfully fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle.

 Brendan K. Snyder, 31, of 14 Evergreen St., Union Springs, was charged Jan. 27 with third-degree menacing and acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17.
AUBURN  A Cayuga County legislative committee Thursday tentatively approved a plan for a contractor to assist in the development of a state-required health plan in the county.

The Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee approved a resolution to enter into a one year contract with Research & Marketing Strategies, of Baldwinsville, to assist in the development of a Community Health Assessment Plan, Community Health Improvement Plan, and community outreach for those plans.

The resolution states that the contract is not to exceed $15,000. County Public Health Director Kathleen Cuddy said the contract fee would be paid through incentive funding the department received from the state for positive performance.

According to the state Department of Health, Community Health Assessments collects, assembles, analyzes and distributes health information on a county level, including statistics on health status, needs or gaps, and assets.

The state requires counties to perform the assessments and the accompanying improvement plan every three years. According to Cuddy, Cayuga County's most recent plans had received positive reviews from the state, but the DOH requested more community input.
U.S. Rep. John Katko is reviewing President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration to build a border wall and blamed posturing by members of both parties for the action.

A day after Congress passed a spending bill that included nearly $1.4 billion to construct barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump declared a national emergency to use additional federal funds to build a border wall.

The Trump administration said it could use up to $8.1 billion from various sources, including the Department of Defense and the Treasury Forfeiture Fund.

Trump's decision is expected to draw legal challenges. Democratic leaders have called the action unlawful.

Katko, R-Camillus, said in a statement that he wants a bipartisan compromise on immigration and border security. He expressed frustration that Democrats have been "reluctant to negotiate."

While he criticized Democrats, he also reiterated his opposition to executive overreach. He did not support executive actions by then-President Barack Obama and doesn't believe presidents should act unilaterally.

"Doing so sets a dangerous precedent," Katko said. "It is always preferable that Congress act."
With bipartisan support, Congress on Thursday passed a spending bill to fund several federal government agencies through Sept. 30 and provide nearly $1.4 billion for new barriers along the southern border.

President Donald Trump indicated that he would sign the measure. However, he also plans to declare a national emergency and redirect billions of defense funds for the construction of a border wall.

The Senate passed the bipartisan agreement, which was negotiated by appropriators from both houses, by an 83 to 16 vote. New York's senators split on the vote, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer supporting the legislation and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democratic presidential candidate, voting against it.

There was some opposition to the spending bill from a handful of New York House members, but 22 of the delegation's 27 representatives supported the compromise. The final roll call vote in the House was 300 to 128.

U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, hailed the agreement and noted that it rejects many of the budget cuts proposed by President Trump.
In his executive budget, Cuomo renewed calls for collecting sales taxes on transactions between buyers in New York and third-party sellers, even if the sellers aren't located in the state.

The Division of Budget reported that $280 million in local sales taxes is owed on purchases made through internet marketplaces, such as Amazon and other retailers.

The state projects eliminating what it describes as the "internet tax advantage" would generate $119 million in the 2019-20 fiscal year. Expanding the internet sales tax will require approval from the state Legislature.

Stephen Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties, criticized Cuomo's proposal. Under the original proposal, counties would receive a portion of the internet sales tax revenue. But the governor's plan would redirect some of the funding intended for counties to towns and villages.

"This is a horrible precedent and unnecessarily shifts the state's burden to local taxpayers who already pay some of the highest taxes in the nation," Acquario said. "The state could have used its share of internet sales tax revenue to make municipalities whole."

State lawmakers from both parties have criticized the proposal to eliminate aid for many towns and villages.
President Donald Trump on Friday said the United States would be announcing the end of the Islamic State group's once-sprawling "caliphate" within the next day. "We have a lot of great announcements having to do with Syria and our success with the eradication of the caliphate and that will be announced over the next 24 hours," Trump told reporters at the White House. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have been closing in on holdout jihadists since September last year and a few hundred surviving IS members are now boxed into an area of around one square kilometer (less than half a square mile). IS still has thousands of fighters and sleeper cells scattered across several countries, but that speck of terrain is all that's left of the group's self-declared "caliphate" that in 2014 spanned an area the size of Britain and administered millions of people. Successive offensives in Iraq and Syria have shattered the proto-state, which lost its key cities one after the other and has since late 2017 been confined to its traditional power base in the Euphrates valley. The expected announcement comes after Trump shocked allies and senior figures in his own administration by announcing in December the US was carrying out a full troop withdrawal from Syria because IS had been "beaten." The plan, which prompted the resignation of then defense secretary Jim Mattis, could be sped up following the declaration of victory. Trump also claimed he had "stopped the slaughter of perhaps three million people" in Idlib, the northwestern region of Syria that is held by anti-regime rebels and is also home to thousands of al-Qaeda aligned jihadists. The area was being threatened last year by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian troops, but they did not go in because "I put out a statement that you better not do it," Trump said. "We do a lot of good work. This administration does a tremendous job and we don't get credit for it," he added. Idlib, the last major part of Syria still outside the control of Assad's regime, has been hit by sporadic government shelling for weeks despite a deal between Russia and rebel backer Turkey to create a "demilitarized zone." Mattis' successor, Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, pledged Friday that the US would "maintain our counterterrorism capabilities in the region" and "continue to support our local partners' ability to stand up to the remnants of ISIS" -- but he gave no details about how this would be done. US President Donald Trump shocked allies and senior figures in his own administration by announcing in December the US was carrying out a full troop withdrawal from Syria
Rapper 21 Savage on Friday said he was "definitely targeted" by US immigration agents who detained him earlier this month on the grounds he had been living stateside illegally. "I was just driving. And I just seen guns and blue lights. And, then, I was in the back of a car. And I was gone," the artist born in Britain said in his first interview since he was released on $100,000 bond this week. "They didn't say nothing. They just said, 'We Got Savage,'" the 26-year-old told ABC's Good Morning America program. "I don't think the policy is broken," he said. "I think the way that they enforce the policy is broken." 21 Savage, whose real name is She'yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested February 3 in the southern city of Atlanta by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who said he had been living in the United States illegally since overstaying a visa that expired in 2006, when he was a minor. "I didn't even know what a visa was," said the Grammy-nominated rapper, who arrived legally in the US at age 7 and has stayed for nearly two decades, save for a brief trip to Britain in 2005 for his uncle's funeral. "I knew I wasn't born here but I didn't know, like, what that meant as far as when I transitioned into adult," the rapper said. "I wasn't hiding it but I didn't want to get deported, so I wouldn't say 'I wasn't born here.'" Charles Kuck, one of 21 Savage's lawyers, told AFP his team is seeking to stay the rapper's immigration court proceedings while his application for a U-visa -- for victims of crimes who have faced mental or physical abuse -- is pending, and also seek "cancellation of removal." That procedure allows someone with children -- the rapper has three American kids -- who has lived in the United States more than 10 years to obtain a residency and work permit. "He clearly is in deportation proceedings and to say that he's not at risk would be crazy, because he is, but we remain confident in our defense strategy," Kuck said. The rapper's shock arrest has also brought to the fore once more the plight of "Dreamers" -- 1.8 million immigrants brought to the US illegally as children through no fault of their own. 21 Savage -- long considered a local act from Atlanta, the hip hop capital -- said he has limited memories of Britain and doesn't consider it home. "I'm from Atlanta, in my eyes," he said. 21 Savage was arrested February 3 in the southern city of Atlanta by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who said he had been living in the United States illegally since overstaying a visa that expired in 2006, when he was a minor
US Vice President Mike Pence on Friday paid homage to victims of the Holocaust at the former Nazi German Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, a day after he accused Iranian authorities of plotting a "new Holocaust". More than a million European Jews perished at the site located in then German-occupied southern Polish town of Oswiecim during World War II. Pence passed through the Auschwitz camp's infamous wrought-iron "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work makes you free") gate before laying a wreath at the death wall where the Nazis executed thousands of people. Accompanied by his wife Karen and Poland's President Andrzej Duda and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda, Pence then stood, head bowed in silent homage. The group visited the exhibit of human hair and personal effects of victims inside an adjacent barrack block prior to the wreath-laying. US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner was also present. Later, at the nearby twin death camp of Birkenau, Pence knelt and placed a rose on the running board of a train wagon on tracks that the Nazis used to bring prisoners to the camp from across Europe. The American officials were in Warsaw this week for a two-day conference on the Middle East co-hosted by Poland and the United States and focused on isolating Iran while building Arab-Israeli ties. Speaking at the event, Pence accused Tehran of planning a "new Holocaust" with its opposition to Israel and regional ambitions in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also attended as did representatives of Arab states, but Russia and Iran did not, with Tehran slamming the meeting as being "dead on arrival" and having "empty results". Of the more than 1.3 million people held by Nazi Germany at Auschwitz, some 1.1 million mostly Jewish prisoners perished, either in the gas chambers or by starvation or disease. Historians estimate that up to 150,000 ethnic Poles were also held at Auschwitz. Used as slave labourers, half died at the camp. European Roma were also targeted for annihilation. Around 23,000 were deported to Auschwitz, of whom only 2,000 survived, according to estimates. The Nazis killed six million of pre-war Europe's 11 million Jews and more than half of its roughly one million Roma. Black Germans, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and the mentally and physically disabled were also persecuted as "undesirables". US Vice President Mike Pence (2nd L) passed through the Auschwitz camp's infamous "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work makes you free") gate before laying a wreath at the death wall where the Nazis executed thousands of people US Vice President Mike Pence kneels to put a rose on a train wagon on tracks that the Nazis used to bring prisoners to the Birkenau camp from across Europe
Twelve North Korean officials -- including Kim Jong Un's de-facto chief of staff -- were en-route to Vietnam Friday ahead of a second scheduled summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said. The North Koreans had arrived in Beijing and were expected to board a plane bound for the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, Yonhap said, with the high-stakes meeting now less than two weeks away. "A group of 12 North Koreans, including Kim Chang Son, were on the boarding list," Yonhap said, citing a source in the capital. Kim Chang Son was part of the team overseeing protocol in the run up to the first Trump-Kim summit and Yonhap said the delegation was expected to have discussions with US officials on the logistical preparations for the Hanoi meeting. The identities of the 11 other officials were not reported. Pyongyang has yet to provide any official confirmation of the Feb 27-28 summit, which will be the second time the two leaders come together following their June 12 Singapore meeting. That produced a vaguely-worded document in which Kim pledged to work towards denuclearisation -- with no hard timeline agreed. In preparation for Hanoi, US envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun was last week in Pyongyang for three days of talks with officials. Biegun said they had been productive, but more dialogue was needed. "We have some hard work to do with the DPRK between now and then," Biegun said, adding that he was "confident that if both sides stay committed we can make real progress here". The US State Department said talks during Biegun's trip explored Trump and Kim's "commitments of complete denuclearization, transforming US-DPRK relations and building a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula". Specifically, discussions on declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War could have been on the table, with Biegun last month saying Trump was "ready to end this war". The three-year conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas still technically at war, with the US keeping 28,500 troops in the South. Earlier this week Vietnam's foreign minister Pham Binh Minh visited Pyongyang but no details on their discussions have been announced. Experts say tangible progress on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons will be needed for the second summit if it is to avoid being dismissed as "reality TV". The commander of US forces in South Korea said earlier this week that he had seen "little to no verifiable change" in North Korea's military capabilities. General Robert Abrams, the new head of US Forces Korea, said although the Singapore summit had helped dial down tensions on the Korean peninsula, it had not led to substantive changes. North Korea, which holds most of the peninsula's mineral resources, was once wealthier than the South, but decades of mismanagement and the demise of its former paymaster, the Soviet Union, have left it deeply impoverished. In 2017 the UN Security Council banned the North's main exports -- coal and other mineral resources, fisheries and textile products -- to cut off its access to hard currency in response to Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Trump has said that North Korea will become a "great Economic Powerhouse" under Kim. The Hanoi summit will be the second time Trump meets with Kim
Two people were sentenced to death by a Myanmar court Friday for the murder of a Muslim lawyer and Aung San Suu Kyi advisor, after a drawn-out trial backlit by allegations of impunity with a main suspect still at large. Ko Ni, whose work and faith made him a target of hate speech online by Buddhist nationalists, was shot in the head at point blank range outside Yangon airport in January 2017, while holding his infant grandson. The brazen daytime murder shocked the country and came about eight months after civilian leader Suu Kyi's administration entered office. Ko Ni was a legal advisor to her National League for Democracy and had been working on plans to amend the 2008 military-drafted constitution, which gifts the armed forces control of defence and a quarter of parliamentary seats. Critics have said the slow trial fell short of establishing a complete picture of what led to the murder, pointing to the military backgrounds of two suspects on trial and an elusive fugitive thought to be the mastermind. Judge Khin Maung Maung sentenced gunman Kyi Lin, who also shot and killed a taxi driver while fleeing, "to death until he dies by hanging." Though Myanmar has the death penalty it has not been carried out in at least 10 years, according to Amnesty International. The shooter also received an extra 23 years and hard labour for weapons charges and the death of cab driver Nay Win, who chased him after Ko Ni was gunned down. Accomplice Aung Win Zaw, who was at the airport, was also sentenced to death. Two other defendants Zeya Phyo and Aung Win Tun, who assisted at different stages of the plot, received five years and three years imprisonment with hard labour respectively. Both sides can appeal. The prosecutor said he would seek a higher sentence for Zeya Phyo. Armed police, journalists and diplomats crowded the dilapidated courthouse on the outskirts of Yangon, awaiting the verdict. Sean Bain, legal adviser for the International Commission of Jurists, said in a statement afterwards that several details about the murder plot were still unknown. He added that lines of inquiry related to political motivations "don't appear to have been satisfactorily pursued in the investigation and prosecution". Myanmar was ruled by military-backed regimes for almost five decades. The 2008 charter enshrines the military's political power by giving it an effective veto over constitutional change. It also bars presidential candidates with foreign spouses. The clause was believed to be aimed at Suu Kyi, who had a family with a British academic. Instead she serves as state counsellor, a position Ko Ni is said to have devised. The NLD formed a committee this month to discuss changes to the constitution, a move opposed by military MPs. Ko Ni had been one of the few high-profile Muslims still involved in politics in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, after the NLD failed to enlist any Muslim candidates in its historic 2015 election run. The case is one of many that have marred the international legacy of former dissident hero Suu Kyi, who was criticised for not going to his funeral. Suu Kyi's global image lays in tatters for her handling of the Rohingya crisis and the jailing of two Reuters journalists. Gunman Kyi Lin, who also shot and killed a taxi driver while fleeing, was sentenced to death Ko Ni had been one of the few high-profile Muslims still involved in politics in Buddhist-majority Myanmar
Kurdish-led forces cleared landmines and searched for tunnels blocking their advance Friday on the final patch of an east Syria village defended by a few hundred Islamic State jihadists. Rain and concern for civilians trapped in IS's last redoubt were delaying a push that will wipe out the last shred of the jihadists' once-sprawling "caliphate". US President Donald Trump said Friday that he will announce the end of the jihadist proto-state within the next day. The Syrian Democratic Forces have been closing in on the holdout jihadists since September last year and a few hundred surviving IS members are now boxed into an area of around one square kilometre (less than half a square mile). "The large number of landmines and tunnels is hindering attempts by the SDF to secure complete control over the area," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said. Diehard jihadists were still launching sporadic attacks on SDF positions around their last stronghold in Baghouz, near the banks of the Euphrates river. "IS fighters are refusing to hand themselves over and they are still putting up a fight. We do not know what is the point of this resistance," SDF spokesman Adnan Afrin said. Speaking to AFP in Al-Omar oil field, the SDF's main staging area, he said this week the jihadists had been using ambushes and explosive-laden motorbikes to inflict casualties on the SDF. The UK-based Observatory said the corpses of 26 IS fighters had been found by SDF troops on Thursday alone as they combed the area before resuming their advance. The "caliphate" IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed in mid-2014 once spanned territory the size of the United Kingdom and administered millions of people. - Eating grass - It printed its own schoolbooks, produced oil, collected taxes and minted its own currency, in a brief but unprecedented experiment in jihadist statehood. Successive offensives in Iraq and Syria have shattered the proto-state, which lost its key cities one after the other. An official declaration of victory against IS is expected in the coming days, a move of mostly symbolic value that will go down as the death certificate of the "caliphate". Estimates vary on the number of fighters and families left inside the last IS pocket but accounts from women who escaped with their children in recent days suggest some civilians are left inside. "To avoid any harm to the wives and children of IS fighters, we are forced to be cautious," Afrin said. Close to 40,000 people have left the jihadists' dwindling enclave in recent weeks, in the latest humanitarian emergency of an eight-year conflict that has killed 360,000 people and displaced 11 million. Those who flee Baghouz have a perilous journey to the nearest SDF-held collection point, dodging booby traps and sniper fire. Women veiled from head to toe carrying scant belongings and dirty children often have to spend one night or more sleeping out in the cold. "These people haven't had any proper food in weeks... I've heard accounts of people making some kind of soup with grass," said Jean-Nicolas Paquet-Rouleau, deputy head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Syria. - Humanitarian burden - Adult men are among those who have left the neighbourhood where IS is making its desperate last stand. They are screened and often detained by the SDF. Abdel Karim Omar, the top foreign affairs official in the autonomous administration the Kurds have set up in northeastern Syria, argued jihadists preferred to surrender to the SDF than risk being captured by Iraqi or Syrian government forces flanking the battlefield on either side. "IS fighters prefer to come to us because we treat them in accordance with international law," he told AFP. "Even if they are tried one day in this area, they know that we do not impose the death sentence," he said. What happens next to the hundreds of suspected jihadists of all nationalities held by the SDF -- and the fate of their families -- is a complex question. The Kurds are keen to send all foreign jihadists back to their countries of origin for trial but court systems and public opinion in Europe and elsewhere are ill-prepared. The Kurdish official also complained that the international community is falling short in providing humanitarian assistance to the growing number of displaced. "Unfortunately, international aid agencies, the international community and even the global coalition (against IS), are not taking responsibility for these displaced people," Omar said. "What they are providing does not cover even five percent of their needs," he said, calling for increased support. Kurdish-led forces say that concern for the truckloads of civilians who are pouring out of the Islamic State group's last redoubt is slowing their advance on the final square kilometre still held by jihadist diehards in Syria Close-up map showing movements of civilians fleeing the last pocket of IS group and advance of the Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria. Close to 40,000 people have fled the jihadists' dwindling enclave in recent weeks, enduring a perilous journey to the nearest collection point held by Kurdish-led forces, dodging boody traps and sniper fire The zones controlled by Islamic State (IS) group from January 2015 to January 2019 in Syria and Iraq. Adult men who have fled the jihadists' desperate last stand are screened and often detained by Kurdish-led forces Kurdish officials say the international community is not doing enough to help them care for the thousands of civilians, many of them children, fleeing the Islamic State group's last stand


Four teenagers have been rushed to hospital after a drug overdose at school.

Queensland Ambulance were called to Southport State High School on the Gold Coast three separate times after the teenage girls overdosed on what is believed to be prescription medication.

Students told 7 News they overdosed on Xanax and its not known if the girls took the drug together or at different times throughout the day.

The first call to Queensland Ambulance Service was made at 8.30am when one girl fell ill.

Queensland Ambulance paramedics were called to Southport State High School after drug overdoses. Source: Google Maps/file

By 12.15pm paramedics had returned to the school after two other girls became sick.

The final call came at 1.30pm when the fourth girl fell ill, a Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman said.

The four girls were taken to Gold Coast University hospital and are all in a stable condition. The hospital told Yahoo7 News two of the girls have since been released earlier today while two remain in hospital.

While the hospital were unable to give the girls ages, a spokesperson said the girls involved were young teens.

An ambulance arrives at the hospital on Friday. Source: 7News

The Queensland Department of Education confirmed the incident in a statement.

Due to student privacy issues, no further details can be provided, it said.

The health and wellbeing of students is the departments highest priority and the school will continue to work with authorities as the incident is investigated.

The incident has been reported to police.

The school says it will continue to work with authorities while the investigation continues.

Queensland Police told Yahoo News the Gold Coast Child Protection and Investigation Unit are investigating the incident.

With AAP
He holds no official government position but has been called US President Donald Trump's "shadow" chief of staff. Fox News commentator Sean Hannity is one of several conservative media personalities who exert enormous influence over the president. Their clout has been on display as Trump fights to make good on his signature campaign promise -- building a wall on the border with Mexico. Having failed to secure congressional funding for the barrier, Trump's declaration of a national emergency on Friday is being viewed by many political analysts as a bid to save face with right-wing pundits. "The president could not handle being labeled a loser by conservative commentators like Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity," The New York Times said in an editorial. "He wants to make sure that Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter and others on Fox News are happy so that they calm down, although some of them won't," said David Gergen, an advisor to four previous US presidents. "But fundamentally this is about politics of the base, that he needs to shore up his base," Gergen said on CNN. Hannity, 57, is perhaps the most prominent voice in Trump's ear but the president also seeks counsel -- and approval -- from several other media figures whose shows he regularly tunes into. Coulter, a right-wing author and blogger, and Lou Dobbs, a Fox Business Network host, have been fulminating about illegal immigration for years. Other prominent conservative media personalities pushing for tougher immigration policies include Ingraham and Tucker Carlson of Fox News and radio talk host Rush Limbaugh. Pressure from Coulter, Dobbs, Hannity and the others has been cited as one of the driving forces behind Trump's decision to shut down the government for weeks in the fight with Congress over funding for the wall. - 'They don't decide policy' - Trump was directly asked by a reporter on Friday how the conservative pundits helped shape his decision to declare a national emergency. "Sean Hannity has been a terrific, terrific supporter of what I do," Trump said. "Rush Limbaugh, I think he is a great guy. "Laura Ingraham has been great," Trump said. "Tucker Carlson has been great." But, he added, "they don't decide policy." Coulter has been particularly critical of Trump for failing to build the wall and she lashed out at the president for signing a government funding bill that does not include all of the $5 billion he wanted for the barrier. "NATIONAL EMERGENCY WON'T HELP," Coulter tweeted. "IT'S OVER IF HE SIGNS THIS BILL!" Last month, Coulter called Trump a "wimp." "Good news for George Herbert Walker Bush: As of today, he is no longer the biggest wimp ever to serve as President of the United States," she tweeted. Trump responded to Coulter's criticism on Friday by saying that he "hardly knows" her, that she was "off the reservation" and he hasn't spoken to her in "way over a year." "If I did speak to her she may be very nice," he said. "I have nothing against her. "I like her for one reason," Trump added. "When they asked her right at the beginning who is going to win the election, she said Donald Trump." Hannity, the Fox News host, is seen as the most influential among the stable of conservatives cultivated by Trump. "He's got Hannity and Coulter all these people in his head full-time -- rent-free," CNN host Chris Cuomo said. "He's incredibly persuasive and powerful," Cuomo said of Hannity. "I would argue he is without question the most powerful person in the media because what he says the president does. "What he says the president does," Cuomo repeated for emphasis during an interview with Matt Gaetz, a Republican congressman from Florida who is one of Trump's biggest supporters in the House of Representatives. "Hannity is unlike anyone else in the media now," Gaetz agreed. "They have exchanges and robust discussions," he said of Trump and Hannity. "I think it's good that we have a president that bounces ideas off a lot of different people," Gaetz said. "He's not just stuck in the cocoon of the West Wing. "He seeks advice from all over the country." Fox News commentator Sean Hannity (L) has been described as President Donald Trump's 'shadow' chief of staff Right-wing author Ann Coulter displaying a copy of her book, 'In Trump We Trust' Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh before introducing President Donald Trump at a 'Make America Great Again' rally Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham at the 2016 Republican National Convention
Downtown Shanghai, China. (Photo: Getty)

Chinas annual GDP growth has dropped from 10 per cent a decade ago to 6.6 per cent last year.

And while the slowdown may not be all doom and gloom like headlines would suggest, it will nonetheless have major implications for Australias economy given China is our largest trading partner.

Australia is more exposed to a downturn in Chinese economic growth than most nations, IBISWorld senior industry analyst Jason Aravanis said.

IBISWorld predicts these four Australian industries will be hit hardest by an economic slowdown in China:

Mining

Within the mining sector, IBISWorld forecasts iron ore mining and black coal mining to be most at risk if theres a downturn in Chinese demand.

In this sector, 80 per cent of the estimated $64.1 billion in revenue in 2018-19 will be generated through exports to China.

The black coal mining industry is expected to generate $52.1 billion in revenue, around a third of which comes from exports to China.

Chinese demand for black coal is projected to decline over the next five years as steel production contracts in line with slowing economic growth, Aravanis said.

A downturn also means that new projects under consideration by major miners like Rio Tinto and BHP will also come under threat.

Education

Its no secret that Australias university education industry enjoys high demand from international students, particularly from China.

In fact, Chinese enrolments at Australian universities have increased by at least a staggering 12 per cent each year since 2002, and in 2017-18 contributed $32.4 billion to the education sector, according to Aravanis.

A downturn in Chinas economic growth could lead to a sharp decline in household incomes and stricter capital controls to curb the flow of money out of the country, he said.

These trends could cause Chinese students to opt for domestic education rather than studying abroad.

Tourism and Retail

Chinese visitors make up the biggest slice of the international visitor pie, representing 1.43 million visits among 9.2 million international visitors.

Story continues

They like to spend, too, much to the delight of several luxury retailers in the clothing, footwear and watch and jewellery retailing industries; Chinese tourists spent $11.5 billion on Australian goods and services in the year up to September 2018.

So if the Chinese economy slows down, well likely see less Chinese tourists bringing their business to Australia.

This trend will likely threaten a range of industries linked to the tourism sector, such as the international airlines industry, Aravanis said.

Opportunities for Australia

Although Australia might see less business from Chinese students, tourists or businessmen due to the slowdown, there are other initiatives China is working on that may soften the blow.

Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Deloitte Access Economics senior partner Pradeep Phillip earmarked infrastructure, climate change and tech/AI as areas to watch in 2019.

The Chinese government is investing heavily in infrastructure both within China and globally  through its Belt and Road Initiative. This is good news for Australian miners and services sector, if sustained, he said.

But he added that how China deals with its slowing economy will be key.

China is also in the midst of transitioning to a lower-carbon economy  and this will mean greater demand for alternative energy.

This is great news for the Australian resources sector over the medium term, especially our [liquefied natural gas] exporters, Phillip said.

Innovation on adapting to climate change in China can also be beneficial for Australians in their appropriate adoption in our homes and industries.

Lastly, while Chinas treatment of intellectual property and innovation is a current source of contention (and, indeed, at the heart of the US-China trade war), there are opportunities for the Australian tech sector amidst this.

The reality is that China is racing hard to build its tech sector and use of AI which can present enormous opportunities for Australian entrepreneurs and industry, Phillip said.

As an example, Chinas ambitions for its space industry can present opportunities for collaboration and business with Australia.

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Now read: How worried do we need to be about Chinas slowdown?

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Recent attacks on Paladin, including the arrest of one of its PNG directors and the banning of executives and workers from PNG, bear the hallmarks of corporate machinations by PNG prime minister Peter ONeill, head of the most corrupt government in the region and one of the most corrupt in the world.

The $423 million (K1 billion) contract looks like a special Australian government favour to the infamous ONeill regime in PNG, with Paladin now reaping the whirlwind sown by others.

CAIRNS - More details are emerging of the involvement of the corrupt Papua New Guinea government in the secret deal between the Paladin Group and Peter Duttons Home Affairs Ministry to provide security for the Manus detention centre.

The PNG governments actions follow Paladins rejection of a request from ONeill crony Isaac Lupari, PNGs chief secretary, for a donation of K20 million to the ruling Peoples National Congress party.

This is not an unusual type of request in PNG, where many fearful businesses, including foreign investors, like to keep PNC happy through donations, sponsorships, attendance at PNC functions, and so on.

The donation request was made earlier this year while ONeill was amassing a war chest to fight a looming vote of no confidence.

There is every reason to believe that the Australian government would support ONeill in such a vote  it interfered in the rigged 2017 elections to ensure an ONeill victory, largely through the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby.

Sources let it be known prior to the election that Australia would stand by ONeill. Official support came in the form of a flood of VIP visits, project funding announcements, project openings and other blatantly political activities in the lead-up to the election.

The appointment of Paladin fits this pattern. PM ONeill was formally re-elected on 2 August, and the fast-tracked contract was awarded in September, with a $10 million upfront payment because Paladin did not have the wherewithal to start work.

Other extraordinary measures taken by Dutton indicate the sensitivity of the Manus contract, including to hand-pick Paladin as his contractor, run a secret invitation-only tender with only one invitee, provide the $10 million start-up funding, try to block freedom of information access from the contract, eliminate procurement rules and refuse to answer legitimate questions.

Perhaps the most important question is who put Dutton and Paladin together: the PNG government, the Australian High Commission or someone else?

Paladin, which in various iterations has been in PNG since 2009, is certainly no novice when it comes to playing the PNG game, having developed strong connections to ONeills PNC party.

A director and shareholder in associated company Pomwan Paladin Security Ltd is Rodney Pokapin, a Manusian cousin-brother and confidant of PNG speaker and PNC member Job Pomat, the member for Manus Open.

Another link to PNC is through Job Pomats brother Kepou, who is said to be receiving as much as K500,000 a month to make sure Paladins operations run smoothly.

Now those connections appear to be bearing fruit.

Following Paladins refusal to make the required K20 million donation, police arrested Paladins senior local representative, Kisokau Poweseu, a Manusian, and charged him with fraud. At the same time Paladin executives and employees were prevented from entering PNG.

Now Paladin has bought PNGs Black Swan security company, which has long been associated with ONeill.

No details are available about the Paladin purchase of Black Swan, but what is publicly known has all the hallmarks of ONeills modus operandi and is seen as a clever solution to some of Paladins problems given that the company has strong PNG executive management and workforce.

The Paladin contract is not the only dubious Manus deal done by Dutton. He has also contracted the much-criticised Pacific International Hospital in Port Moresby to provide health services to the detention centre.

The $13.5 million contract was also on the basis of a limited tender.

ONeill is also said to be involved behind the scenes in PIH through a secretive and shadowy Malaysian businessman, Mohammad Sultan. PIHs Manus services and facilities have been criticised as sub-standard and subject to inappropriate non-medical interference by Australia.

The hospital this week allowed PNG immigration officials to forcibly remove Manus patients, irrespective of their medical condition, in preparation for transport to Christmas Island.
In a Loop PNG report, APEC minister Justin Tkatchenko distanced himself from the issue saying it was up to the police commissioner Gary Baki to make sure members of the security forces were paid their allowances.

This additional allowance was a commitment made by political leaders (names not released) to members of the security forces following their 30 November storming of national parliament.

The recent demand by joint members of the armed forces for payment of outstanding APEC security operations allowance is in relation to an additional K300 allowances which they, members of the armed forces, claimed the government has not paid them.

KUNDIAWA  A hasty and imprudent decision by political leaders to pay members of the APEC joint security task forces an additional unbudgeted allowance of K300 will cost Papua New Guinean taxpayers nearly K31.5 million.

Following the Tkatchenkos statement, Baki stated that, as far as he was concerned, all allowances for members of the security forces engaged for APEC 2018 security operations have been paid.

Baki explained he had requested K21 million for members of the security forces at a K200 daily allowance for each member for 18 days.

He claimed K10.8 million of this was paid on 21 November 2018 which was one day after the armed forces stormed the national parliament. He said the second and final payment was made a week later.

Baki further stated that what the members of the disciplinary forces were now claiming was the additional K300 which the political leaders had promised them after they stormed the national parliament.

The attack on parliament house was in relation to the non-payment of the K200 allowance. Those officers who had flown from outside Port Moresby had to travel back to their work locations and they wanted their payments before departing.

So, out of frustration, they invaded parliament house to force the government to pay them their K200 allowances immediately.

But to agree to pay rogue elements of the armed forces K300 extra after they had caused extensive damage worth millions of kina to the peoples house is totally absurdity. It is costing taxpayers an unbudgeted APEC expense of K31.5 million.

Was the additional K300 commitment done in the best interests of the country? Or was it more in the interests of the political leaders in question?

In my mind, the additional K300 allowance was a hasty, reckless and politically motivated appeasement freebee committed by prime minster Peter ONeill to win favour from the armed forces.

But, in doing so, he has foolishly rendered the nation to ransom setting a very bad precedent for the future.

Now he has to find the money and fulfil his promise immediately or else another attack against parliament house or another government office by the armed forces might be in the offing.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian met with Roland Busch, member of Managing Board of Siemens, in Munich on February 15 in the sidelines of his working visit to Germany.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Armenian Presidents Office, during the meeting the sides discussed cooperation issues. President Sarkissian and Roland Busch particularly referred to the prospects of cooperation in the sphere of development of artificial intelligence, outlining the possible directions for the cooperation.

There are great potentials in the spheres of the development of artificial intelligence and mathematical knowhow. These are the spheres where we can think of doing more. The world has great demand for specialists in artificial intelligence and this is a good opportunity, Roland Busch said, who will visit Armenia in the near future at the invitation of the Armenian President.

At the end of the meeting Armen Sarkissian said, We had a great meeting and are optimistic over the future of the possible cooperation.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The Special Investigation Service (SIS) of Armenia has finished the preliminary investigation into the criminal cases connected with the incidents of March 1-2, 2008. The SIS assessed that there are sufficient evidences to file indictments against former President Robert Kocharyan, former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan (later Defense Minister), former Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Khachaturov (later CSTO Secretary-General), and former Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration Armen Gevorgyan.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the SIS, Robert Kocharyan is charged under Part 1 of Article 300.1 and Point 2 of Part 4 of Article 311 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, which are overthrowing the Constitutional Order and taking bribes of particularly large amount.

Seyran Ohanyan is charged under is charged under Part 1 of Article 300.1, which is overthrowing the Constitutional Order.

Yuri Khachaturov is charged under Part 1 of Article 300.1, which is overthrowing the Constitutional Order.

Armen Gevorgyan is charged under Part 1 of Article 38-300.1, Point 2 of Part 4 of Article 311 and Point 1 of Part 3 of Article 190, which are complicity in overthrowing Constitutional Order, taking bribes of particularly large amount and legalization of property gained through criminal measures.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received on February 15 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Swiss Confederation to the Republic of Armenia Stefano Lazzarotto, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime MIniste rof Armenia.

Noting that Armenia is keen to promote political, economic and humanitarian ties with Switzerland, Prime Minister Pashinyan expressed the hope that the Ambassador would contribute to the development of cooperation between the two countries.

Ambassador Lazzarotto assured that he will make every effort to strengthen and expand the Armenian-Swiss friendly relations during his tenure.

The meeting focused on issues related to the Armenian-Swiss cooperation agenda. Reaffirming their willingness to continue with the ongoing joint programs, the parties looked at the opportunities for cooperation in different areas. Agriculture, water management, resort tourism, nature protection, pharmaceuticals and a number of other areas were considered to be the most promising areas for interaction.

The parties agreed to put in touch the relevant agencies on either side and discuss the details of future activities at the interagency level.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian and Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis have held a meeting today in Germany on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Sarkissian's Office said.

Sarkissian spoke highly about the traditional friendly relations between Armenia and Latvia, noting that great potential for deepening cooperation exists.

Cooperation between the two countries was especially highlighted in the context of the Armenia-EU relations. Sarkissian found the EU member countries' ratification of the Armenia-EU CEPA to be a priority.

Sarkissian also noted that the Latvian practice in certain sectors is useful for Armenia.

In turn, the Latvian president said they are ready to share their experience and knowledge with Armenian counterparts.

Noting that Armenia and Latvia can successfully cooperate in education, science, high technologies and telecommunications, Sarkissian said: "We can help one another and learn from one another".

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan has held a meeting today with Ambassador of France Jonathan Lacote, Mirzoyan's Office said.

Highlighting the existing level of the Armenian-French ties, the Speaker noted that the foundation of these relations also include the many century-old historic-cultural relations and the existence of the Armenian community of France.

Noting that France is the first country to have recognized the Armenian Genocide by law, the Speaker attached importance to French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement on declaring April 24th a National Day of Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

He also praised the efforts of France as a OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing country in the peaceful settlement of the NK conflict.

The Speaker of Parliament also highlighted the enhancement of commercial and cultural ties.

The French ambassador expressed readiness to make efforts for elevating bilateral ties to a new qualitative level, given the fact that Armenia is already a country with parliamentary system of administration.

He noted that there are many ethnic Armenian lawmakers at the French parliament who are actively cooperating with the Armenian community. He said that in addition to the ethnic Armenian MPs, French lawmakers in general consider themselves friends of Armenia.

The sides also discussed the ratification process of CEPA signed between Armenia and the European Union.

Issues related to launching dialogue over visa liberalization for Armenian citizens to the EU were also discussed.

According to the ambassador, the ratification issue is already on the agenda of the French parliament. He emphasied that the ratification won't be delayed.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan attended the opening ceremony of the Holiday Inn Express hotel of the InterContinental Hotels Group hotel chain in Yerevan, the PMs Office told Armenpress.

The investment program has been implemented by the Harmony International LLC founder/chair Ghukas Grigoryan. The hotel construction works lasted three years, nearly a dozen million dollars have been invested, 50 jobs have been created.

The PM toured the hotel, got acquainted with the carried out works and conditions. Pashinyan welcomed the implementation of the investment program and the initiatives on constructing new hotels in Armenia in general which will provide highest services and comfortable conditions to tourists.

Minister of economic development and investments Tigran Khachatryan informed that the number of tourists who visited Armenia in 2018 comprised 1.6 million, and the government aims at ensuring 7-10% annual growth in this sector.

After the ceremony, PM Pashinyan, accompanied by Mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan, toured the park of the Main Avenue of Yerevan, got acquainted with the reconstruction works carried out in the park.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Yerevan city will have 70 new passenger buses in its bus network, Mayor Hayk Marutyan said today.

He said that the citys bus operator, Yerevan Autobus CJSC, in addition to its active fleet, has 70 buses that are not commissioned. We are planning to soon commission these buses into the fleet, he said. The routes where transportation is minimal will have more buses, he said.

Marutyan said the buses are brand new.

The Mayor of Yerevan said he doesnt know why these new buses were left unused for many years.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. A cooperation agreement must be signed between Armenia and Artsakh so that the political statements made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are enshrined by law, Giro Manoyan - Director of the International Secretariat of the ARF Bureau, told reporters.

We are raising the necessity for signing the agreement for already 10-15 years, and now its signing is much more important because the statements of the Armenian PM according to which Armenia cannot replace Artsakh in the negotiations, should not be just political statements, they must be enshrined by law. Its obvious that this can create Azerbaijans complaint, but the peaceful settlement doesnt mean that Azerbaijans consent is definitely needed, he said, adding that since the launch of negotiations Azerbaijan has always demonstrated arbitrary stances, and in fact, this conflict settlement has not recorded any progress.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of the Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan on February 15 received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Armenia Bernhard Matthias Kiesler, the Parliament told Armenpress.

At the meeting the Speaker stated that the relations between the two countries are dynamically developing. He noted that Armenia attaches importance to the deepening of the mutual partnership with Germany at different directions.

Speaker Mirzoyan thanked the German government for assisting the Armenian Parliament for years and implementing numerous effective programs in Armenia.

In his turn the German Ambassador congratulated the Speaker on assuming office and conveyed the invitation of the Bundestag President to visit Germany which was approved by Ararat Mirzoyan. He highlighted the cooperation with the Armenian Parliament, the joint work with the German International Cooperation company (GIZ), the Parliament staff and the budget office.

Both sides highlighted further boosting the inter-parliamentary ties, the mutual visits of parliamentary friendship groups and exchange of experience.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The State Oversight Service of Armenia has recovered 827,000,000 drams in misused funds from 2018 until 2019.

State Oversight Service chief Davit Sanasaryan told reporters that 350,000,000 alone was recovered as a result of a probe at the Agrarian University of Armenia.

Sanasaryan says agents of the service are currently investigating suspected abuses in various bodies, namely at the Yerevan State Medical University.

There are different results, but it would be inappropriate for me to speak about it now. We will disclose it when we finish. I suppose we will finish in late March, he said.

Acording to Sanasaryan, studies at the Armenian Youth Foundation have also been concluded. As you know, there was a criminal case concerning this foundation, we have found out how the funds were spent. However, I cannot speak about the results of the studies at this moment, he said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Numerous events ranging from seminars, lectures and conferences will be held on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of birth of renowned Armenian poet Hovhannes Tumanyan (1869-1923) in Armenia, Artsakh, Lebanon, Iran and Georgia, Armenian Union of Writers President Edward Militonyan told a news conference February 15.

Our people know by heart everything about Hovhannes Tumanyan. From children to seniors, everyone can present Tumanyans poems, quote his aphorisms, he said.

According to Militonyan, Tumanyan was creating literature with powerful flames, reflecting human relations, inter-ethnic relations, was contributing to distribution of Armenian literature, culture and national spirit.

Tumanyan was a state in our stateless times," he said.

Events marking Tumanyans 150th anniversary of birth on February 19 will include a seminar at the G. Narekatsi University in Stepanakert, Artsakh.

The event in Tbilisi is interesting. A meeting with scholars will take place on February 19th at the Tumanyan House Museum in Tbilisi with the support of various cultural union of Armenia, he said.

An exhibition of painter Tengiz Mikoyants will be opened at the national library of the Georgian parliament dedicated to Tumanyan.

According to Militonyan, a gala evening will take place with participation of government officials and representatives of the Georgian Union of Writers.

On February 19th, the birthday of Tumanyan, writers will gift books to passersby outside the Union of Writers building in Yerevan.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian visited the Heidelberg University on the sidelines of his working visit in Germany, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

The President met with the Universitys leadership, in particular, rector, Doctor, Professor Bernhard Eitel, got acquainted with the carried out educational programs and discussed the cooperation opportunities with the Armenian educational institutions.

Getting introduced on the books, their preservation works in the Universitys Library, the Armenian President presented the rich activity and experience of Yerevans Matenadaran, the scientific-research institute of ancient manuscripts, and stated that the two structures can implement important joint projects.

At the end of the day the President delivered remarks at the meeting with the teaching staff and students of the University. He talked about the current world trends, the importance of new technological development and innovation in the world.

We are a small, but a truly global nation, a very closely related nation who for centuries has attached importance to education. We are the people who have lived in the crossroads of various civilization, cultures and religions and managed to survive. This is one more feature that is important in the 21st century.

In our country, with less natural resources, we have a very good school of science and technologies which has developed more than 100 years ago. We have a great cultural heritage, a Christian heritage.

We are a young nation and state which has a wonderful opportunity to build a new country in a new world based on the power of science, discoveries, innovations and the quality of education, the President said in his remarks.

The full text of the Presidents speech will be available later.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. 100,000,000 dollars in humanitarian assistance has been promised to Venezuela amid the ongoing crisis.

Today, 25 countries, united at the OAS-hosted Conference on Humanitarian Assistance in Support of Venezuela pledged $100 million in humanitarian assistance. We call on all nations to recognize and support the government of Interim President Guaido, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said on Twitter.

During the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, Guaido took a public oath to serve as interim President of Venezuela, contesting the leadership of Nicolas Maduro. A number of governments worldwide, including the Trump administration, recognized Guaido as the legitimate president, but others have not.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The government has proposals for numerous investment programs, some of which can be implemented, some are not so serious, and works needed to be done for the rest, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said during todays Cabinet meeting, reports Armenpress.

Moreover, the potential investors prefer various means of communicating with the state. Some of them prefer to work with the ministries, some with the deputy PM or the PM, as well as governors. This is normal, but the investment talks should concentrate in the ministry of economic development and investments, the PM said.

According to him, the persons banking history is very important for understanding the investment potential.

If a person has not had 5000 USD on his bank account, and now he comes and says I want to make an investment worth 80 million, its clear that something is wrong here, Pashinyan noted.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The Embassy of France in Armenia doesnt yet disclose the timeframes of an upcoming visit of President Emmanuel Macron.

There are still no specifications regarding the timeframe of French President Emmanuel Macrons visit to Armenia. Emmanuel Macron announced about this visit during the annual dinner of the Armenian community in Paris in February, the French Embassy told ARMENPRESS.

During the very same dinner Macron had announced that France will make April 24 a national day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

The foreign ministry of Armenia also did not reveal specific timeframes of the visit, adding that in the event of agreeing the timeframes of such visits the two sides issue relevant information.

On February 14, Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan had held a meeting with French Ambassador Jonathan Lacote. During the meeting, the ambassador said that France is willing to develop bilateral and multilateral relations with Armenia. Noting that Macron had earlier expressed intention to pay a state visit to Armenia, the ambassador said that this visit will contribute to specifying bilateral programs and further enhancement.

Macron was in Armenia as recently as in October of 2018 for the La Francophonie Summit.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The traffic department of the Georgian ministry of infrastructures told Armenias ministry of transport, communication and information technologies that on February 15, as of 10:00, the Stepantsminda-Lars highway is open for all types of vehicles, the ministry told Armenpress.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The future of the European security architecture and the situation over the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty will dominate the agenda of the 55th Munich Security Conference to begin on February 15, TASS reports.

The Conference is going to host a record number of participants, including nearly 600 politicians, representatives of business and scientific circles, as well as human rights organizations.

The Conference will launch at 17:00 Yerevan time by German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen and her UK counterpart Gavin Williamson.

During the three-day Conference the participants will discuss a series of topics, including the future of the European defense policy, the relations of the West and Russia, the Ukrainian crisis, the conflicts in the Middle East and Venezuela, the role of China in the world and numerous other topics.

Over 35 heads of states and governments, about 50 foreign ministers and 30 defense ministers are expected to attend the Conference.



Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has arrived in Germany on February 14th ahead of the Munich Security Conference.

The first stop of the visit was Heidelberg, a town in Baden-Wurttemberg in south-west of the country. Here, the president had a meeting with Mayor Prof. Eckart Wurzner.

During the meeting the sides talked about the great potential for cooperation in the academic field.

Mayor Wurzner noted that Heidelberg is one of Germanys fastest growing towns. He emphasized that the town has huge potential in science, especially in medicine. We hope well be able to cooperate in this and other sectors in the future, the mayor told the Armenian president.

President Sarkissian thanked the mayor for the warm reception. The development of this town is wonderful, it is a combination of science, academics and new technologies. Therefore I am glad to be here, Sarkissian said. He also talked about a desire of transforming the town of Dilijan in Armenia into a leading center of IT and artificial intelligence. Sarkissian also invited the Mayor of Heidelberg to visit Armenia to share his experience in city governance.

Later, the Armenian president will visit the Heidelberg University, Germanys oldest higher education institution.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Who would dare stop Amazon from creating 25,000 to 40,000 high-paying jobs in Long Island City? Who would be stupid enough to chase away billions of dollars in tax revenue for transportation and education and affordable housing? Listening to the chorus of journalists, editorial boards, and pro-Amazon politicians, this is everyones fault but Amazons.

NY1 political anchor Errol Louis described it as another case where so-called progressive politicians allowed middle-class jobs, and dreams, and hopes, to die.

The New York State Senate has done tremendous damage, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity.

The New York Times editorial board, after calling the deal a bad bargain in November, now scolded the opposition for returning 25,000 jobs. The job-killers won, shrieked the Daily News.

So who is to blame for Amazons departure? Who had power, and how did they wield it?

"Worst day for nyc since 9-11, except this time the terrorists were elected." David Lichtenstein of @LightstoneGroup on #AmazonHQ2  Amir Korangy (@mrkorangy) February 15, 2019

Blame Senator Michael Gianaris And Those Loose Cannon Senate Democrats

This is the man who delivered the death blow to Amazon deal, the New York Post blared above a photo of Gianaris, who represents Long Island City in the State Senate, and had led the political opposition to the companys campus.

The Post reports that Gianaris rejected three invitations from Amazon to meet one-on-one, and that his appointment by Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to the Public Authorities Control Board, which would need to unanimously approve the current deal for it to move forward, put the deal over the cliff.

But Gianaris hadnt even taken his seat on the PACB, because Stewart-Cousins's recommendation still faced one more obstacle: Governor Cuomos approval. If Cuomo wanted to send a signal to Amazon that he was still in control, why not state that he would veto Gianaris and ask Stewart-Cousins for another name? (Gianaris's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The governors office declined to comment on the record for this article.)

Perhaps Cuomo didnt want to offend the powerful senator who is largely credited with the organizing strategy that swept the Senate Republicans out of office in 2018, and who he will need to pass his ambitious 2019 legislative agenda. But Gianaris was just one noisy speedbump. At some point, the Amazon plan was going to have to pass the state legislature, either in a vote to raise the monetary cap and the duration of the Excelsior Jobs Program to meet Amazon's targets, or to approve the $505 million capital grant from the state, or both.

Gianaris did use his bully pulpit stridently and frequently, riling up those damned...

Progressive Activists Killed The Amazon Deal

They rallied, they canvassed, they tweeted, they got AOC to tweet, they dropped banners during raucous City Council meetings, egged on by City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (who never officially opposed the deal) and Queens Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer (who did oppose it but apparently also took private meetings with the company). They pointed to Amazons anti-labor stance, its relationship with ICE, its track record in Seattle, where it crushed the citys effort to tax large employers in order to address its homelessness epidemic.

How much of a dent did all this activism make in the court of public opinion? Polls showed consistent, overwhelming support for Amazon coming to Queens.

Or maybe it was the makeup of these activists that made people in power pay attentionsome have suggested that Amazons departure was a victory for white hipsters over NYCHA residents and longtime members of the community. After all, Amazon told the city that half of those 25,000 jobs wouldnt be tech related.

("This fight was led by working-class women of color from the very beginning, Maritza Silva-Farrell, the executive director of ALIGN told Gothamist last night. People will look for any reason to undermine the work of communities of color.)

In truth, the Memorandum of Understanding between Amazon, the state, and the city was short on specifics: the company pledged to chip in $5 million, along with another $10 million from the city and the state, to fund workforce development initiatives over a ten year period, targeting students and non-traditional demographics including NYCHA residents. Amazon agreed to fund semi-annual job fairs at the Queensbridge Houses for three years. The rest was still up for negotiation.

No matter what, Amazon was still on track to get as much as $3 billion in tax incentives and grants from the city and state, which for a trillion-dollar company run by a man who makes $11.5 million an hour, looks somewhat unseemly. So maybe...

It Was Those $3 Billion In Subsidies!

Despite the sticker shock, the Amazon deal itself featured few discretionary incentives aside from the $505 million the state planned on giving the company in a capital grant. Amazon was poised to get as much as $1.7 billion from the city for two tax benefits that any company could have applied for (the Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program (ICAP) property tax breaks for new development and per-employee tax rebates under the Relocation and Employment Assistance Program [REAP]).

The states Excelsior Jobs Program tax breaks are tied to actual job creation, but any corporate applicant can receive them. Assuming the Amazon deal would have spurred an equal number of jobs from other companies and retailers in their orbit, the total subsidy amount per job worked out to around $55,000, which is par for the course across the country.

In their editorial, the Times warns of the consequences of spurning Amazon if New York gets a reputation for the smugness of its politicians and their hostility to business.

Hostility to business? A 2015 study by the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research showed that New York was second in the nation to New Mexico (and above Louisiana) in corporate incentives. Just last week, the Citizens Budget Commission reported that New York gave corporations roughly $10 billion in economic incentives in 2018 alone, with very little real oversight.

Andrew Rein, the CBCs president, told Gothamist that it was incredibly unfortunate that New York was losing out on Amazons jobs, but that he hoped it would spur a conversation about how to make sure that economic incentives go to companies that truly need them.

ICAP and REAP in the city... we should really revisit and modify those, it would be good to do, Rein said. That doesn't mean we don't need some performance-based economic development programs, but they need to keep pace with changing geography and changing industries and changing jobs over time.

"It just dispels the notion that these big corporations are willing to be good citizens and good neighbors," says @NYCMayor, who spent the last few months trying to convince people of exactly that.  Jillian Jorgensen (@Jill_Jorgensen) February 15, 2019

Maybe Amazons Decision Was Amazons Decision?

Of course, Amazon could have avoided much of the state legislative intrigue, and silenced critiques of backroom dealing if they had gone through the citys public land use review process to build their new campus, like any other developer.

But Mayor Bill de Blasio, who pushed for the deal, albeit tepidly, told Brian Lehrer on Friday morning that the company refused to consider it.

If I had said, Hey Amazon, youre going to have to wait a year-and-a-half for the full land use process, I guaranteeguaranteethey would have said, Sorry, were going to Virginia, were going to Dallas, were going somewhere else, and then all of you Brian, respectfully, would have said, How on Earth did you lose 25,000 to 40,000 jobs, so, theres a lack of integrity in this debate, people should come to grips with it."

The mayor added that he was blindsided by Amazons about-face.

To get a call after, you know, months of attempting to build a productive partnership on behalf of this city, to get a call out of the blue saying see you, you know, we're taking our ball and were going home, de Blasio said. Its absolutely inappropriate.

Greg LeRoy, the executive director of Good Jobs First, a government watchdog group that tracks state and local job subsidies, says that this kind of negotiating tactic is a hallmark of corporations plying the tax break industrial complex.

An essential working part of it is to degrade and demean public officials. Its to get them to internalize, you Hartford, you New York, you Chicago, are not worth very much. We have lots of other choices. Youve got lots of problems. If you dont pay us a lot of money to offset the things we don't like about you, youre disposable.

LeRoy added that Amazon initially had a very strong business case for them to come to New York, and I think they really wanted to come, and then I think they really ran into a buzzsaw.

Their arrogance about the way they approached the deal made it much harder for them than it had to be," LeRoy said. "If they had not preempted the City Council, if they had not expected those huge as-of-right incentives from the city, if they had not wired the thing for Cuomo to just run over the City Council, and actually talked to people in the neighborhoods, things might have played out very differently."
Renowned Senegalese chef and culinary ambassador Pierre Thiam, last seen in these parts at Le Grand Dakar in Clinton Hill, has opened his first NYC restaurant since 2011, a vibrant fast-casual spot in East Harlem called Teranga. Located across Fifth Avenue from the Harlem Meer, Terangaa Wolof word from Senegal meaning "hospitality"has taken over the food and welcoming duties at the new Africa Center, a multi-disciplinary, nonprofit cultural center within the Robert A.M. Stern-designed building.

The space, right inside the main entrance on Fifth Avenue, is bright and alive with art and artifacts; the short menu filled with healthy West African treasures like baobab, moringa, and fonio, the supergrain championed by Thiam. Teranga sources its ingredients from organic, indigenous, and, when possible, climate change-resilient smallholder farms in AfricaThiam believes these will play a large role in shaping the worlds future food supply chain. At the grand opening earlier this month the neighborhood turned out in force, and it seems likely Teranga will become a family-friendly staple in the area.

Teranga works like most of these build-a-bowl places: you select a base, a protein, a couple of sides, and a sauce. For the multiple-choice-averse among you, there are also three composed plates, anchored by either Roasted Salmon with Moroccan Spices, or Sweet and Tangy Grilled Chicken, or Red Palm Plantain Fufu. The latter is vegan, as is most everything here, and the entire menu is also gluten-free. Other options include Ndambe, a sweet potato and black-eyed pea stew; Liberian Ruby Red Rice; the peanut sauce Mafe; Kelewele, or spicy fried plantains; and Attieke, a fermented cassava couscous.

There are also a few snacks, which function more like desserts, such as Thiakry, a millet and yogurt mix topped with candied hibiscus, and Sombi, a coconut rice pudding with honey roasted mango. Coffees, available hot and iced, are all from Africa and, when the licensing comes through, Thiam hopes to do the same for Teranga's beers and wines. Juices like Bissap, Bouye, and Tamarind round out the beverage selections.

Seating at Teranga is plentiful and varied, from communal tables to cozy nooks. And, of course, Central Park across the street will beckon come spring. The bold, playful art that covers the restaurant's walls is by Nigerian-American Victor Ekpuk, the first of a series of African artists that will receive commissions for the space. Thiam also plans on actively partnering with Africa Center programming in the near future.

Teranga is located at 1280 Fifth Avenue, at the corner of 110th Street, and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Food service begins at 11:00 a.m. Closed Mondays. (itsteranga.com)
[SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE]

A 27-year-old woman was fatally struck by a delivery truck driver in Manhattan this morning.

The NYPD says officers responded to a 911 call that came in around 5:45 a.m. about a pedestrian who was struck at East 37th Street and 3rd Avenue. First responders found the unnamed woman in the street with trauma to her body, and EMS pronounced her dead at the scene.

The unnamed driver of the vehicle, described by the NYPD as a delivery truck, remained at the scene. According to multiple reports, the truck belonged to Approved Oil, which is based in Brooklyn.

An NYPD spokesperson said the NYPD's Collision Investigation Squad believes the victim was walking north at the intersection of 3rd Avenue and East 37th Street when the truck driver turned left onto 37th and hit her. The Post reports she was "pulling a small suitcase."

"Unfortunately, it was one of our trucks that was involved in the accident," Chris Fazio, a spokesperson at Approved Oil, confirmed to Gothamist this morning.

"From what I understand the driver did have the right of the way... We're cooperating with authorities," Fazio said, noting the driver did stay at the scene. "Our thoughts and prayers go out the family.

The driver has not been charged. The NYPD says the investigation is still ongoing.

UPDATE 1:00 p.m. The victim has been identified as Sarah Foster, a 27-year-old Manhattan resident. On Friday afternoon, police arrested the truck driver, 51-year-old Steven McDermott, and arrested him on charges of failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care. Both charges are misdemeanors, and carry a penalty of up to $500 in fines and a maximum 30 days in jail, under New York's Right-of-Way law.

In a statement, Transportation Alternatives Interim Executive Director Ellen McDermott called Foster's death a "shocking, preventable tragedy" that highlighted the need for better protections for pedestrians on Third Avenue.

"Third Avenue is a six-lane highway running through a pedestrian-dense and largely residential part of Manhattan, with no visible traffic-calming measures in place," she said. "If the New York City Department of Transportation had installed simple, commonsense, low-cost improvements to this dangerous street, this woman would be alive today. Pedestrian refuges, protected intersections, and daylightingremoving parking spaces at intersections to improve turn visibilitycost next to nothing and protect every New Yorker as they cross the street."

She continued, "Drivers of large vehicles and professional working drivers, like the truck driver who killed this 27 year-old, bear a great responsibility to travel with caution in crowded urban environments. But the best way to force every driver to travel with care is to design streets that mandate safe behavior. As a nearby resident, this crash is a terrifying wake-up call. It's long past time for Mayor de Blasio to make Third Avenue safe, before another New Yorker is killed or injured."


Anson_iStock/iStock(NEW YORK) -- Shannon You, a Chinese-born scientist, has been accused by the Department of Justice of stealing almost $120 million worth of trade secrets last year from The Coca-Cola Company.

A grand jury in the Eastern District of Tennessee on Tuesday charged Yoo with stealing bisphenoal-A-free (BPA) cans and chemical secrets from the beverage maker.

The company is listed as "Employer #1" in the indictment but ABC News confirmed through a spokesman that Coca-Cola was You's employer.

"We are aware of Ms. Yous arrest, and we can confirm that she previously worked at The Coca-Cola Company. Because this is a pending legal matter, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further," the spokesman said in a statement.

Coca-Cola began "searching for alternatives" to BPA due to its harmful effects, according to the indictment.

You likely would have access to the proprietary research and development given her status as "principal engineer" at the company, the indictment said.

You and her alleged co-conspirator, Liu Xiangchen, reportedly agreed to be sponsored by an unnamed Chinese company and apply for a program called Thousand Talents, the indictment said.

The program "was designed to induce individuals with advanced technical education, training, and experience residing in Western countries to return or move to China and use their expertise to promote China's economic and technological development," according to the indictment.

You allegedly lied to Coca-Cola about whether she had any access to trade secrets, the indictment said.

"In exchange for payment from Employer #1 of approximately $33,912, You signed a written agreement in which she falsely represented to Employer #1 that she had not retained, and no longer had access to, any top secret information or confidential information," the indictment said.

She also took photos of the trade secrets on her computer in an effort to skirt security measures at Coca-Cola and transferred them to her hard drive, the indictment said.

You then got a job at a second unnamed company in the U.S. with the intention to steal additional trade secrets, the Justice Department alleged.

Efforts to reach Yous and Lius lawyers were unsuccessful.

Last month the Department of Justice indicted a former Apple engineer for stealing trade secrets related to Apple's self-driving car program. U.S. and China are locked in an ongoing trade war.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
On Wednesday, the NY Times released a major report on musician Ryan Adams and how he allegedly used his influence in music to psychologically manipulate and emotionally torment multiple women, including ex-wife Mandy Moore, musician Phoebe Bridgers and more. Now, the Times reports the FBI is investigating one particular allegation in the report: that Adams engaged in sexually explicit communications with an underage fan.

In the original report, the Times wrote that when Adams was around 40, he started corresponding online with a fan, whom they refer to as Ava, when she was a 14-year-old bass player. They reviewed the extensive communication between the two (including 3,217 texts) which they exchanged over a nine-month period when Ava was 15 and 16conversations about music turned into graphic texting, Skype conversations, and phone sex.

Adams seemed acutely aware ofand nervous aboutAva's age at the time:

In the texts, Adams questioned Ava repeatedly about her age, and sometimes she said she was older than she was. Though he did not seem convinced, their sexual conversations continued. i would get in trouble if someone knew we talked like this, Adams wrote to her in November 2014. ... Their conversations were on and off, but a constant theme was Adams fretting about Avas age  and asking to keep their exchanges secret  while also indulging in sexual scenarios. I never see pics of you anymore, Adams wrote in November 2014, when he had just turned 40 and Ava was newly 16. You were blowing my mind. He had pet names for her body parts. Days later, Adams expressed anxiety: If people knew they would say I was like R Kelley lol, he wrote. Yet within 10 minutes, the conversation again turned explicit. I just want you to touch your nipple, he texted, before again asking about her age. And tell me that your mom is not gonna kill me if she finds out we even text.

Through his attorney, Adams denied any wrongdoing: "Mr. Adams unequivocally denies that he ever engaged in inappropriate online sexual communications with someone he knew was underage," said attorney Andrew B. Brettler. He also got more specific about the Ava accusations:

Adams, through his lawyer, said that while he has communications online with various fans and aspiring musicians, he does not recall having online communications with anyone related to anything outside of music. The lawyer added that if, in fact, this woman was underage, Mr. Adams was unaware. He pointed to her performances in clubs and provided photos of Ava from that time, saying she looked approximately 20.

Shortly after the article went up, Adams put a statement on Twitter denying most of the accusations, saying: "Some of its details are misrepresented; some are exaggerated; some are outright false. I would never have inappropriate interactions with someone I thought was underage. Period."

But the picture that this article paints is upsettingly inaccurate. Some of its details are misrepresented; some are exaggerated; some are outright false. I would never have inappropriate interactions with someone I thought was underage. Period.  Ryan Adams (@TheRyanAdams) February 13, 2019

As someone who has always tried to spread joy through my music and my life, hearing that some people believe I caused them pain saddens me greatly. I am resolved to work to be the best man I can be. And I wish everyone compassion, understanding and healing.  Ryan Adams (@TheRyanAdams) February 13, 2019

Earlier that day, Adams tweeted then deleted another statement threatening the Times with legal action: "I'm fucking taking you down."

Worth noting that Ryan Adams sent this deranged (and now deleted) tweet earlier today ahead of the New York Times expose being published. pic.twitter.com/rd8mVkSEQk   amy o'connor  (@amyohconnor) February 13, 2019

The FBI agents, from the Crimes Against Children Squad in the bureaus New York office, will seek to interview Ava, who is no longer a minor, and try to "obtain the text messages and any other evidence she may have in her possession."

Please note, the Ryan Adams "Big Colors" release has been completely cancelled! Any orders will be cancelled and if you used Paypal - refunded. #ryanadams  srcvinyl (@srcvinyl) February 15, 2019

Musician/model Karen Elson and musician Liz Phair have also made statements about the story and their past relationships with Adams. "I also had a traumatizing experience with Ryan Adams," Elson wrote on Instagram. "Im not quite brave enough yet to speak about my specifics."

And here's what Phair, who previously worked with Adams on music, had to say:

If I do, Ill write about it. But I think you can extrapolate. My experience was nowhere near as personally involving, but yes the record ended and the similarities are upsetting  Liz Phair (@PhizLair) February 14, 2019

Other musicians commented on the report as well:

Thank you to Mandy, Phoebe, Courtney and others for speaking out. This is an important article. This also cracks the door on more like him in our industry. There are more. Thank you to the @nytimes for continuing these important reveals. We're all fed up. https://t.co/xlU6ibjubX  V a n e s s a C a r l t o n (@VanessaCarlton) February 14, 2019

The saddest part about the NYT article on Ryan Adams is that it could literally be written about so many dudes in music. Also my favorite type of male apology is the kind where they literally dont apologize at all lol  Best Coast (@BestCoast) February 13, 2019
East Village residents and preservation groups are rallying against a developer's plan to enlarge an office building planned for Third Avenue and St. Marks Place, saying the project represents an increasing commercial assault on a strip that was once the epicenter of New York City counterculture.

You dont need more. This neighborhood doesnt need to give you more, said Ann Eriksson, one of several visibly angry and emotional East Village residents who spoke out against the plan during a public meeting on Wednesday.

On Wednesday a developer went before CB3 to ask for a transfer of air rights to build an office tower on St. Marks that would be 20% bigger. This E. Village resident said, You dont need more. This neighborhood doesnt need to give you more. pic.twitter.com/Y9RJYK7oMY  Elizabeth Kim (@lizkimtweets) February 15, 2019

In a bid to make the office building 20 percent bigger, Real Estate Equities, a family-owned development firm, is seeking permission from the city to transfer air rights from 4 St. Marks Place, a landmarked early 19th century house whose ground floor had been occupied by Trash and Vaudeville for 40 years until it moved out in 2016. The developers site at 3 St. Marks Place sits across the street, and the company has already filed building permits for an as-of-right plan to build a five-story, 29,030-square-foot building.

Should the city grant the transfer, the building would increase by 8,386 square feet and rise to 10 stories.

On Wednesday, Community Board 3s landmarks committee voted 2-1 against the application, saying it did not believe an air rights deal, which is intended to preserve a landmarked building, was a fair trade-off for the additional office density. The decision was only a preliminary step to a longer and more complex public review process. Under city zoning rules, landmark air rights transfers are subject to the citys Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, also known as ULURP.

Requests for landmark air rights in New York City are not often made by developers, given the lengthy approval process.

Real Estate Equities is prepared to pay $4 million for the air rights to Castellan Real Estate Partners, the owner of the landmarked building, if the deal is approved. Brandon Miller, a managing partner at Real Estate Equities, said the company also contributed $500,000 toward the restoration, which is still ongoing. Five percent of the air rights sale proceeds, or $200,000, is to be put into a dedicated account for future maintenance.

Known as the Hamilton-Holly House, 4 St. Marks Place was formerly home to Alexander Hamiltons son.



Hamilton-Holly House in 2010 (Wikipedia Commons)

Following the Community Boards full vote on February 26th at 166 Essex Street, the plan will go to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which must decide whether to issue a report in support of the application. If it does, the application will then return back to CB3 for ULURP.

Were gratified that at the first step our concerns were heard, said Andrew Berman, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Preservation, who also spoke out against the plan. He added: Were going to keep at this process until its end point.

Berman has called on the city to rezone the area south of Union Square to protect an area replete with historic buildings from oversized commercial development. In August, the City Council unanimously voted to approve a rezoning to pave the way for a 21-story, 240,000-square-foot tech hub on East 14th Street.

Critics of the plan, including Berman, warned that rezoning would increase development pressure on areas south of Union Square.

Staff members from Council member Carlina Rivera, who represents the district and supported the tech hub's rezoning, were present at Wednesday's meeting. Rivera has yet to say whether she supports the 3 St. Marks Place air rights transfer.

Like other parts of the city, St. Marks has buckled to gentrification over the years, with the closings of small independent mainstays, such as St. Mark's Comics and the emergence of chains. But the community is still fiercely protective of the three-block strip, which has retained some of its charm with an eclectic jumble of street vendors, tattoo and piercing parlors, and souvenir shops.

This is one of the most historic streets in the East Village, said Richard Moses, the president of the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, during the meeting. Moses said he was disheartened that the developer was planning to tear down a pre-existing 19th century building 3 St. Marks Place, most recently home to the restaurant Korilla BBQ. But he also objected to the design of the office building.

It doesnt have that spirit, that soul that we would hope to have here, he said.
From the moment Amazon announced that it had chosen Long Island City, Queens for one half of their new corporate campus, Maritza Silva-Farrell says she knew the company was underestimating its grassroots opponents. She'd seen the same miscalculation just months earlier, when a nimble coalition of Western Queens progressive activists had propelled Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez into Congress. As executive director of ALIGN, she believed that a similar alliance of labor, community and immigrant groups could be galvanized to put pressure on Amazon and elected officials to challenge the closed-doors deal.

Few expected Amazon to back out after just three months. But Silva-Farrell was sure that a wave of community outcry  occasionally confrontational, but sustained through door-knocking and traditional collective organizing  would eventually come crashing down on Amazon, and on the deal negotiated by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo to provide the company with roughly $3 billion in tax breaks and other incentives. "That old model is done," she told Gothamist. "It's ground up now."

On Thursday night, hours after Amazon's stunning announcement that it was cancelling their move, Silva-Farrell and around 100 other activists gathered for their victory partyan elated celebration that brought a mariachi band, chants of "Bye Bezos," and a pinata depicting the Amazon CEO's face to Jackson Heights' Diversity Plaza.

"We just beat the richest man in the world to keep him out of our city," declared Fahd Ahmed of Desis Rising Up & Moving, standing in front of a hand-painted banner featuring illustrations of affordable housing, free college, and Medicare for All. "This is the start of an economic development plan that benefits us and our neighborhoods. It's a new day and the tide is turningthe city needs to watch out."

The banner reads: Neighbors Beyond Amazon pic.twitter.com/lboyz26zxg  Jake Offenhartz (@jangelooff) February 14, 2019

Angeles Solis, director of workplace organizing with the Jackson Heights-based immigrant advocacy organization Make the Road New York, said she was eating soup with dozens of other activists in the group's office when she heard the news. "It's absolutely surreal and a massive relief," she told Gothamist. "But at the same time we know there's more work to be done."

Referencing Amazon's ongoing collaboration with ICE and vehemently anti-union ethos, she noted: "This is a pattern we're seeing across the country, where a corporation cuts all corners, refuses to invest in communities, and has predatory practices that hurt small businesses and the immigrant community."

Some in attendance were similarly forward-looking in their moment of victory. David Lee, an Elmhurst resident and field organizer with the Queens chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, said he was eager to focus the group's energy on universal rent control, and supporting public defender Tiffany Caban, also at the party, in her race for Queens District Attorney later this year.

Others said they were hopeful that the momentum in Western Queens could be exported elsewhere in the city. "I'm looking to Queens in terms of an organizing model that we can apply to the Bronx," said Samelys Lopez, a co-coordinator with Bronx Progressives. "Seeing how they've been able to fight and organize has been incredibly inspiring to me."

Toward the edge of the crowd was State Senator Michael Gianaris, an outspoken critic of the Amazon proposal whose pending appointment to a state public authorities board with veto power over the deal is said to have helped Amazon change its mind. The governor had called him out directly earlier in the day, and his face was hours away from being splashed derisively across both of the city's tabloids.

Before leaving, he told Gothamist, "There's a lot of finger-pointing right now. It's something. It's really something."

Not everyone in Queens is happy to see #Amazon pull out of #LIC. Lets just say this is the clean version. Local business owner Josh Bowen just shouted city officials right away from their own victory speech. Stay tuned. Such a bitter debate, on both sides. #LongIslandCity pic.twitter.com/lJKgBh2Uvu  Stacey Sager (@staceysager7) February 14, 2019

It wasn't lost on advocates that outside of Diversity Plaza, disappointed New Yorkers were blaming them for a missed economic opportunity and the promise of 25,000 jobs. Real estate developers, many of whom had already bet big on Long Island City, are devastated, as are some business owners and nearby public housing residents.

"There was a lot that could've been brought to the neighborhood," April Andrews, an IT specialist and Queensbridge Houses tenant, told Gothamist/WNYC earlier in the day. "It's walking distance from here. There's jobs that could've been offered, education that could've been offered, a whole lot."

But activists said they heard a different refrain while canvassing the Queensbridge Houses this weekend, collecting nearly 500 signatures from tenants for a petition decrying Amazon's corporate greed.

Asked about the suggestion that scaring off the company was the work of out-of-touch progressives, some of them the same gentrifiers that Amazon's opponents railed against, Silva-Farrell stressed that "this fight was led by working-class women of color from the very beginning."

"People will look for any reason to undermine the work of communities of color," she added. "Those people are wrong." Indeed, the Times editorial board, which deemed the deal a "bad bargain" for the city just a few months ago, now blames the "anti-corporate activists" and their "bumper sticker slogans."

If there's anyone who should be worried about backlash, says Silva-Farrell, it's the architects of the deal, Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio, for failing to read the growing antagonism toward both corporate tax breaks in general and Amazon specifically. While the governor has directed most of his anger at the newly-Democratic State Senate, the mayor has abandoned any defense of the deal he helped orchestrate, releasing a statement yesterday noting that "you have to be tough to make it in New York City" and blaming Amazon for their greed.

"Those statements are a joke," said Silva-Farrell. "They're trying to cover their tracks because they got checked by the communities. They should take this very seriously because we're united right now, and people are realizing what we're capable of doing."

Additional reporting by Shumita Basu.

Listen to WNYC's Arun Venugopal explain how a diverse coalition of Queens residents came together to oppose the Amazon deal.
There might have been a moment on Thursday afternoon when Governor Andrew Cuomo wondered why he wanted this third term.

For the first time in his eight years and one month as governor of one of the largest states in America, Andrew Cuomo did not get what he wanted. After a grassroots opposition that pressured key Democrats to oppose the deal, Amazon has announced it is walking away from building a headquarters in New York City. No HQ2. No gleaming Long Island City campus and 25,000 to 40,000 jobs. No $3 billion in city and state tax subsidies to make it all happen.

There is an old expression: if you come for the king, you best not miss. And for once, those activists and politicians fueled by their furor did not. They bested Cuomo at his own game.

Some will try to portray this as a failure for both Cuomo and his erstwhile pal, Mayor Bill de Blasio. Certainly, the 2020 wannabe cajoled Amazon and helped close a deal that was never really closed. But dont make that mistake: this was Cuomos show all the way. He controls the Empire State Development Corporation, which circumvented local zoning laws and a democratic, locally-controlled land use review process to try to hand off land in Queens to Amazon. He threatened the state lawmakers he is used to treating as submissives. He offered to rename himself Amazon Cuomo.

What now? Amazon said they werent going to reopen the HQ2 search, and that they would proceed as planned with their sites in Northern Virginia and Nashville. Perhaps Amazon will eventually hunt for a more pliant locality, or one that just didnt elect a democratic socialist icon like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It was just outside of her district, but that hardly mattered: her upset over Joe Crowley, the Queens Democratic Party boss and Cuomo pal, unleashed a new level of energy and excitement around politics in Western Queens, ground zero for the Amazon campus that never was.

Just as importantly, Ocasio-Cortez's success put the fear of Godor just political defeatin the hearts of State Senator Michael Gianaris and Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, the two Queens pols who in a prior life beseeched Amazon to land its trillion dollar heft in New York City and later realized that wasnt a very good idea, at least not in the way it was proposed.

Gianaris in particular, who was recommended to be the Senate representative to the obscure Public Authorities Control Board, an entity that at least had the power to kill the $500 million state grant, emerged as a linchpin. His opposition to Amazon only intensified as Cuomo grew angrier. He never backed down.

This is not an Emperor-has-no-clothes moment, but it might be the closest thing Albany ever gets. For two terms, Cuomo was the most dominant governor since a literal Rockefeller, spearheading whatever legislation he wanted, dreaming up and killing transit projects, and, most importantly for him, pulling every last economic development string. The state was unquestionably his. All who stood in his way learned this, whether it was de Blasio, who lost the war over charter school rent, or Stephanie Miner, the former Syracuse mayor, who said a Cuomo associate anonymously threatened to take me out at the knees after she was critical of the governor. Public criticism of Cuomono matter the transportation crisis or galling corruption scandalwas rare in New Yorks typically spineless political class.

Ocasio-Cortez changed history. So did the six insurgents who defeated members of the Independent Democratic Conference, the rogue band of Democrats who, with Cuomos urging and blessing, broke ranks with the Senate Democrats to form a Cuomo-friendly majority with the Senate Republicans. There is no doubt Cuomo gets his Amazon campus if the Republicans werent washed out of power last year.

In the end, despite the noise the Republicans made, they did whatever the governor wanted.

Now Democrats know they can challenge Cuomo and win. The Senate is firmly in Democratic control and the Assembly Speaker, Carl Heastie, is forming an alliance with the Senate Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins. Both represent legislative bodies that are ready, finally, to get out from Cuomos thumb.

Of course, the power games wont relent. Cuomo has tried to turn the suburban Democrats against their more liberal city counterparts, hoping this would somehow save the Amazon deal. No one is better at dividing and conquering. No one is better at amassing power and wielding it for his preferred ends. In that sense, there will be no great change.

Cuomos temper, however, could unwittingly unite the suburban and urban lawmakers. After State Senator Todd Kaminsky, a Nassau County Democrat, suggested Amazon could come to Long Island still, a Cuomo spokesperson accused Kaminsky of having cowered when he should have shown courage, blasting him and his colleagues for catering to local socialists and kicking Amazon out of the state. (Sen. Kaminsky has always been for an Amazon dealand the Governor should embrace his attempt to save it, Alexandra Farbenblum, a spokeswoman for Kaminsky, told Gothamist.)

There are ways a wrathful governor can seek revenge, since he controls the purse strings. He steers the budget negotiating process. He could pull state economic development money for certain projects, slash State and Municipal Facilities Program grants for recalcitrant lawmakers, or try to block certain bills.

But can he do this to the entire Democratic legislature? If they can unite, he loses serious power over them. He can no longer say he dislikes a bill and deem it dead on arrival, as he did for eight years, just as he can no longer declare support for corporate welfare for Amazon and manifest it into reality.

In a few months, New Yorks tenant laws expire, and progressive Democrats have been talking about bills that will make Cuomos real estate donors blanch, like preventing landlords from evicting tenants after a rent hike deemed, by law, as unconscionable. Cuomo has never voiced support for an ambitious bill to combat climate change in New York; the business community doesnt like it very much. Do Democrats jam it down his throat and dare him to veto?

On transit, Cuomo still wields near absolute control, scuttling the L train shutdown for a dubious alternative. The State Senate must confirm the next MTA chair when Cuomo decides to name one. Will the Senate rediscover its oversight role and only confirm a chair that proves her or she wont be a puppet of the governor? Its very possible.

Congestion pricing, suddenly a Cuomo priority, has divided Democrats in the Assembly as well as the Senate, where it has drawn some support among newer members. Its fate remains uncertain. Here, Cuomo needs the legislature as much as they need him, and they will be forced to bargain as equals. A decade ago, it was the Democrat-controlled Assembly that killed plans to toll cars entering Manhattan, not the executive branch.

For the progressive legislative agenda writ large, whether its passing single-payer healthcare or achieving more equitable funding for education, some would argue the legislature should have given ground on Amazon as a way to horse-trade with Cuomo for other bills. But Cuomo only respects strength, not weakness. De Blasio, who spent years attempting to forge a working relationship with the governorcampaigning enthusiastically for his ticket in 2014 and repeatedly praising him in publiclearned this the hard way.

The great aims of the progressive movement will only be achieved through confrontation with Cuomo, because he will instinctively resist any policies that will cost more money up front or imperil his more generous donors. In Cuomos two terms, the legislature lacked leverage because it was divided. Democrats need to be ready to override Cuomo vetoes and meet him on his own level.

Third terms are never easy, as Michael Bloomberg and Mario Cuomo and Ed Koch found out. For executives like Cuomo who so successfully instilled fear in others to drive an agenda, they can be particularly bewildering. Power in politics is often built on illusion: threats are so severe they take on the weight of reality, even if they go unrealized. Machiavelli taught Cuomo the younger well. We will soon find out what happens to a governor who is neither feared nor loved.

Ross Barkan is a political journalist who recently tried his hand at politics: last year he lost the Democratic primary for State Senate in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Read more about his run here.
Police have released a video showing the moments leading up to a fatal shooting that took place on a Queens street early Tuesday morning, right as the victim was getting into an Uber.

Around 2:35 a.m. on February 12th, 2019, authorities say officers responded to a 911 call about a man shot outside 131-01 Fowler Avenue in Flushing. There they found a 31-year-old man "with multiple gunshot wounds to the head and body." The victim, Xin Gu, a Hunters Point resident, was pronounced dead at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Queens.

Gu had just left the Shangri-La Karaoke bar and was getting into an Uber when a man wearing a mask, dark clothing, and "blue surgical gloves" fired at him.

According to the NY Post, "Gu fell to the ground and the shooter stood over him and shot him several more times in the body, the sources said." The Uber driver apparently fled after the first shots.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
Police are searching for the driver of a yellow school bus who fatally struck a 68-year-old woman in the Bronx on Thursday morning, then fled the scene.

The victim was hit near Havemeyer and Story avenues just before 10 a.m., according to authorities. Security camera footage obtained by the Post shows the bus stopped at a stop sign as the woman crosses the street in the crosswalk. Just as the woman is passing the front of the bus, the driver accelerates and speeds away.

The woman was rushed to Jacobi Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

A resident who spoke with NBC New York said the neighborhood has been overrun with commercial vehicles in recent years. "This street here used to be a nice quiet residential block and now all we got is buses, trucks and buses," he told the outlet.

Police are unsure whether children were on the bus at the time of the incident. The search for the driver remains ongoing.

We'll update as more information becomes available.


Surveillance cameras, alarm systems, doormen, multiple locks that require many keys, that one neighbor who is always always watching: all of these are fairly standard-issue security measures that any thief worth their weight in stolen electronics will likely anticipate and prepare for. The crutch knife, however, adds an element of deadly surprise that next to no one sees cominguntil it's too late.

Allow me to explain: A band of real estate investors was touring an abandoned home in South Philadelphia on January 2nd, apparently appraising it for renovation. Ekrem Uysaler, of Real Estate Management Advisors LLC, had the presence of mind to turn on his phone camera, recording a strange finding the group made on the dilapidated staircase. (Which, by the way, was strewn with broken glass, an addition I can only assume someone intended as an extra layer of protection.) They later posted it to Facebook, for posterity.

As they approach the stairs, one of the team members spots a trip wire along one of the steps. "Dude, that'll fucking kill somebody, bro," one voice says as the camera pans up, revealing the jerry-rigged murder trap above.

"It's on a fucking crutch, a knife," another voice says. "This is homicide!"

Curious, of course, the guys grab a long piece of spare wood, jab the trip wire, and down comes the death contraption: A chef's knife duct-taped to a metal crutch, positioned to stab an unsuspecting interloper squarely between the eyes.

Uysaler told NBC Philadelphia that he's walked into a number of dangerous situations while inspecting the city's abandoned homes, but the crutch knife beats them all. "People kind of were in shock," he told the outlet. "We're gonna finish out the project, but we just stopped right there." Their initial surprise has since melted to amusement, he said, comparing the booby trap to "'Home Alone' ... Philly style."

"A lot of these houses you go in, they're all shells and vacant," Uysaler told NBC. "Especially with the gentrification in Philadelphia, with the housing market growing at a rapid pace, people wanna keep on investing, you're going to come across these things."

You will also come across these things in New York: a brief search of the Gothamist archives suggests that the crutch knife is an established entry in the booby trapper's handbook. In 2008, for example, a Long Island man set up at least one crutch knife to keep intruders out of his apartment. Upon his arrest, he reportedly asked investigators, "Did anyone get hurt with my knives?" When they answered no, he added a disappointed, "I wish they did."

While we cannot vouch for the crutch knife's efficacy, we urge you to keep in mind that it has only one apparent purpose and that is to maim, even to kill. Please do not badger your landlord to install one, and please do not undertake construction yourself. Thank you and good night. I'll be taking the elevator. Nothing to fear there.
News of Amazons decision to not build an office campus in Long Island City shocked and frustrated the citys real estate industry, where some of the biggest developers, including Tishman Speyer and the Durst Organization, have already made big bets on the Queens neighborhood.

This is devastating, said Eric Benaim, CEO of Modern Spaces, the leading brokerage in Long Island City. We just sent a message that New York City is closed for business.

Although some experts said it was still too early to tell, for Benaim, at least, the so-called Amazon effect had been real. In December his company had sold 300 units, all in new Long Island City developments, he said. In a typical month, he racks up about 40 condo sales.

Benaim, who both works and lives in Long Island City, had recently started an online petition to show the communitys support in the face of protests from local Democrats and progressive activists. The latter argued that the $3 billion in government subsidies and tax incentives that in part lured Amazon to New York City amounted to corporate welfare. They also objected to the company's refusal to commit to hiring union workers.

Its a sad day for New York when some people put socialist ideas and policies in front of a neighborhood that we're worked for 10 years trying to build, he said.

Nancy Wu, a StreetEasy economic data analyst, predicted that Long Island Citys housing market was in for "a bit of whiplash."

Since Amazon made its announcement in November, she said sellers in the area had increased their asking prices, and interest from buyers and investors had "spiked to new highs." The latest turn of events means that prices and interest should now fall back to pre-announcement levels.

For investors, the drop in property values should serve as a warning. She said, "The Amazon reversal highlights the risk inherent in speculative investment in real estate in the city. While the city has enjoyed swift economic growth, turning a quick profit remains difficult, particularly in areas dense with new development.

But even long before the tech giant said it had selected the Queens neighborhood for a new campus that would bring 25,000 new jobs, development in Long Island City was already churning at a rapid clip. Thousands of apartments and condos were set to come online.

Its already overbuilt, said Jonathan Miller, a real estate appraiser.

Miller said the arrival of Amazon would have been a much-needed bailout for rental developers.

In a report released this week, Miller found that rental concessions, which is an indicator of demand, in northwestern Queens had gone up while those in Brooklyn and Manhattan have gone down. Specifically, 58 percent of apartments rented in Long Island City involved some kind of give back for renters, an increase from 50.8 percent last year.

In other words, despite the flurry of activity in the home buying market, Amazon had not yet dramatically changed the rental market, Miller said. Amazons change of heart will likely push rents down further, representing a win for renters in search of deals. In January, the median monthly rental price with concession was $2,694, according to Millers report.

In the short run it is more favorable for renters, Miller said. In the long term, it hurts everybody.

Frank Wu, the president of Court Square Civic Association, a group in Long Island City that tries to encourage smart development, agreed. "The real estate market is not as healthy as it is portrayed," Wu said. "The condo market is very shallow compared to Brooklyn."

"There's going to be a lot of inventory," Wu added. "Winter is coming. Budget cuts are coming. Long Island City is not in a good place."

On Thursday, the Real Estate Board of New York, the industry's biggest lobbying group, issued the following statement:

New Yorks renaissance over the past forty years has been due in part to our ability to work through difficult issues that have led to record population and job growth and the emergence of our city as a true global capital. Its unfortunate that we have lost out on an opportunity to create tens of thousands of jobs for city residents and generate billions of dollars in tax revenue to fund vital services including infrastructure improvements for transportation, schools, and open space. Nevertheless, New York City is still open for business and will retain its status as a world class center for tech and innovation.

Among property owners, Plaxall, a third-generation plastic company which had over the years diversified into real estate, might have been one of the biggest real estate losers from Amazons reversal. Prior to Amazon's pending arrival, the company had plans to build a massive mixed-use development on a 15-acre waterfront site known as Anable Basin. The project would have included 5,000 units of housing, manufacturing space and a school. That changed, however, when Amazon eyed Plaxall's development site for its office campus.

On Thursday, Plaxall issued the following statement: "We're extremely disappointed by this decision. Since our grandfather opened Plaxall's doors on the waterfront seven decades ago, our family has believed in the overwhelming promise of Anable Basin and Long Island City as centers of productivity and innovation. We continue to believe that today."

While apartment renters may be the first segment of the real estate market that comes to mind given the area's busy skyline of residential buildings, Long Island City's still existent though waning group of manufacturers will also likely see some relief from rising rents.

Ernie Smith, the owner of Penn & Fletcher, a custom embroidery company that has been in Long Island City for 19 years, had been resigned to eventually having to say goodbye to his 8,000 square-foot workshop space. He said that while landlords, in search of higher rent-paying tenants, have in recent years been pressuring manufacturing to leave, the Amazon news injected a "shot of adrenaline" into the process.

While he has four years left on his lease, he said he saw the writing on the wall. Other tenants in the building had already told him of rent hikes.

Im stunned, he said upon learning the news from a Gothamist reporter. I thought these were the powers that be. That it was an immutable decision." As he informed one of his employees, a shout of "Hurray!" could be heard.

He then added: The city will be no worse for it. Had they come, the city would have been worse for it. Its a sad thing for some people. But not for the rest of us.


College Station, Texas, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

COLLEGE STATION  Coming off its busiest year ever, Texas A&M Task Force 1 (TX-TF1) will hold a full-scale Operational Readiness Exercise (ORE) on Feb. 23-24 at Disaster City in College Station to prepare and train for what could be another active response season.

Over 160 members of TX-TF1 and Dallas/Fort Worth-based Texas Task Force 2 search and rescue teams, along with the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team (VET) and others, will face the realistic challenges of responding to a large-scale disaster, the details of which wont be known to responders until the exercise begins.

With a total of over 200 participants and 24-hour operations over 2 days, this exercise will involve personnel from all search and rescue disciplines, including structural collapse, medical, logistics, canine teams and more. The teams will be searching for victims  volunteers from the community  who will be walking wounded or hidden inside rubble piles, destroyed buildings, a collapsed house or a derailed passenger train, as well as other full-scale props at the 52-acre Disaster City.

Our team members train all the time to be able to respond and save lives not only in the communities where we live but across the United States, said TX-TF1 Director Jeff Saunders. Last year, team members  750 in all  completed nearly 30,000 hours of training, and it was all voluntary, unpaid time, Saunders added. Training events are scheduled throughout the year, including this annual Operational Readiness Exercise.

Their training was put to the test in 2018, when the teams deployed 18 times, including 12 deployments in September and October, during one of the wettest years ever recorded in Texas. Members were deployed all but five days during the two-month period, and a total of 571 TX-TF1 members were deployed throughout the entire year. September through November was the second wettest autumn on record for the contiguous United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The team went on both state and federal deployments in response to severe weather, flash flooding, wild fires, and Hurricanes to include Michael, Florence and Olivia. In Texas alone, TX-TF1 members deployed in support of 73 Texas counties, after the state experienced two 500-year flooding events.

It is a misconception to think that the team only deploys during hurricane season, Saunders says. We have responded to events during every month of the year, including tornadoes in December and flooding in April. Eighty percent of our deployments are water-related, and at least a third of our deployments have been outside hurricane season. For this reason, we train year-round so we can respond at a moments notice, regardless of the season. When we respond, our goal is to do the most good for the most people in the least amount of time.

Over its 22-year history, TX-TF1 has deployed 160 times, to some of the largest events on record, including the World Trade Center terrorist attack; the Columbia Shuttle explosion; Hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Harvey and Michael; the Moore, OK tornado; Wimberley, TX flooding; the West, TX fertilizer plant explosion; the Bastrop wildfires; the Camp Fire in California; and many more.

When TX-TF1 shows up, people are having the worst day in their lives, and we are there to help. But this is not a situation any of us want to be in, Saunders says. He encourages citizens to monitor local weather reports, follow evacuation orders issued by government officials and never drive across flooded roadways. Its always best to Turn Around, Dont Drown, he cautions.



About Disaster City

This 52-acre training facility is situated adjacent to the TEEX Brayton Fire Training Field in College Station, Texas, and delivers the full array of skills and techniques needed by today's emergency response professionals. The mock community features full-scale, collapsible structures designed to simulate various levels of disaster and wreckage which can be customized for the specific training needs of any group. Emergency responders from across the globe venture to Disaster City for search and rescue training and exercises.

About Texas A&M Task Force 1

TX-TF1 is sponsored by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) and has deployed 160 times since 1997. The team can be activated by the Texas Division of Emergency Management or as one of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's 28 sanctioned urban search and rescue teams.

Learn more about Texas A&M Task Force 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WZUfiWwMoo





MEDIA OPPORTUNITY :

Sunday, Feb. 24, 2018, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Get an up-close look at an active search and rescue operation during this realistic exercise. Call or email to reserve your time slot. No unscheduled media will be permitted in Disaster City.

Attachment
NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Levi & Korsinsky announces it has commenced an investigation of Avon Products, Inc. (Avon or the Company) (NYSE: AVP) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws.



On November 3, 2016, Avon filed its Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2016 and disclosed that its operating expenses and margins had been negatively impacted by higher bad debt expense.

On May 4, 2017, Avon issued a press release announcing its first quarter 2017 results and held a conference call to discuss the results, reporting a net loss of $0.10 per share and a 3% decline in active representatives. On the call, Avon disclosed thatdespite earlier assurances that the Brazil bad debt problem had been fully accounted for in 2016the Company was recording another significant charge for bad debt tied to Avons decision to loosen its credit terms to recruit new representatives in Brazil. As a result of this news, the price of Avon stock dropped $1.03 per share to close at $3.62 per share on May 4, 2017, a decline of 22%.

Then on August 3, 2017, Avon issued a press release announcing its second quarter 2017 financial results and held a conference call to discuss the results. The Company reported a net loss of $0.12 per share and a 3% decline in active representatives. To obtain additional information, go to:

https://www.zlk.com/pslra-1/avon-products-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.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump announced his decision Friday to declare a national emergency over what he called an "invasion" at the southern border. The declaration will allow his administration to use additional funding for a border wall, which Congress refused to fund in full in the bill passed Thursday to keep the government open.

Here are some of the statements the president made to justify going around Congress to fund the border wall to the tune of about $8 billion, a plan that is likely, by the president's own admission, to face immediate legal challenges.

Crisis at the border?

Trump: "I get my numbers from a lot of sources like Homeland Security primarily, and the numbers that I have from Homeland Security are a disaster."

The numbers that come out of his own Department of Homeland Security, instead of supporting his claim of an "invasion," show that illegal border crossings are at historic lows.

According to Customs and Border Protection data, illegal migration is down dramatically over the last two decades.

For example, in 2001 there were 1,643,679 apprehensions at the border, compared with 396,579 in 2018 -- a more than 75 percent drop.

Crime rates for undocumented immigrants

Trump: Take a look at our federal prison population, see how many of them, percentage-wise, are illegal aliens, just see. Go ahead and see.

The president said this in response to a question about the disconnect between the presidents description of an invasion at the southern border and the numbers from his own administration.

In reality, undocumented immigrants are about half as likely to be incarcerated as native-born Americans, according to a report from the Cato Institute on nationwide prison incarceration rates.

Trump, however, specifically said to look at numbers in federal prisons  which is where someone is confined when they commit an immigration offense.

That means the rate for undocumented immigrants in federal prison is higher: One in five prisoners in federal prisons was known or suspected to be undocumented immigrants, according to a 2018 Justice Department report.

Also in the report: Approximately 90 percent of the countrys inmate population is in state prisons and local jails  not federal prisons.

How drugs get into the country along the southern border

Trump: The big drug loads don't go through ports of entry, they can't go through ports of entry, you can't take big loads cause you have people we have some very capable people, the border patrol, law enforcement, looking.

The biggest fentanyl bust in history was made just a few weeks before the president made this claim. According to an announcement from the federal government, 254 pounds of the lethal drug heroin were seized by Customs and Border Protection. But the smugglers weren't trying to sneak across the border with the drugs in backpacks, or through an underground tunnel. The drugs were loaded into a trailer filled with cucumbers and shuttled to a U.S. port of entry in Nogales, Arizona.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration's 2018 Drug Threat Assessment, the majority of drugs enter the U.S. through ports of entry at the southwest border.

The majority of the flow is through POVs (privately owned vehicles) entering the United States at legal ports of entry, followed by tractor-trailers, where the heroin is co-mingled with legal goods, according to the DEA assessment. Are there other ways of getting drugs in the country from Mexico? Yes. By water, and by air and through other borders, but those methods account for only a small percentage of the heroin seized by the U.S.

A "small percentage" of all heroin seized along the border was between ports of entry, according to the DEA assessment.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
OKLAHOMA CITY, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chaparral Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CHAP) (the Company) announced today that Joseph O. Evans, its Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, has elected to retire from the Company effective March 15, 2019, following 14 years of service as Chief Financial Officer. Scott Pittman will be joining Chaparral effective February 28, 2019, and will be appointed Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of the Company effective March 16, 2019.



Joe has been an integral part of Chaparrals leadership team since joining the Company as Chief Financial Officer in 2005, said Chaparrals Chief Executive Officer Earl Reynolds. On behalf of the Board and our entire Company, I would like to thank Joe for his dedication, commitment and the many contributions he has made over these past 14 years. We wish him well in the future.

Scott Pittman has over 14 years of senior financial management, commercial and investment banking experience. Most recently, Mr. Pittman served as the Chief Financial Officer of Ursa Resources, an exploration and production company focused on unconventional resource development, and the Chief Financial Officer of Aethon Energy Management, a private investment firm focused on North American onshore upstream oil and gas assets. He has also served as Vice President-Finance at Cobalt International Energy, and as a Vice President in commercial and investment banking at J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. for nine years. Mr. Pittman holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas.

We would like to welcome Scott to Chaparral and believe that his extensive experience at J.P. Morgan and as Chief Financial Officer and VP of Finance for several E&P companies will be a good fit to help Chaparral grow profitably and create value for our shareholders, concluded Reynolds.

About Chaparral

Chaparral Energy (NYSE: CHAP) is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Oklahoma City. Founded in 1988, Chaparral is a pure-play operator focused in Oklahomas highly economic STACK Play, where it has approximately 127,000 net acres primarily in Kingfisher, Canadian and Garfield counties. The company has approximately 265,000 net surface acres in the Mid-Continent region. For more information, visit chaparralenergy.com .
CALGARY, Alberta, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Peyto Exploration & Development Corp. (TSX: PEY) ("Peyto") confirms that the monthly dividend with respect to February 2019 of $0.02 per common share is to be paid on March 15, 2019, for shareholders of record on February 28, 2019. The ex-dividend date is February 27, 2019.



Dividends paid by Peyto to Canadian residents are eligible dividends for Canadian income tax purposes.

Shareholders and interested investors are encouraged to visit the Peyto website at www.peyto.com to learn more about what makes Peyto one of North Americas most exciting energy companies. The website also includes the Presidents monthly report, which discusses various topics chosen by the President and includes estimates of monthly capital expenditures and production. For further information please contact:

Darren Gee

President and Chief Executive Officer

Phone: (403) 237-8911

Fax: (403) 451-4100

Certain information set forth in this document, including management's assessment of Peyto's future plans and operations, contains forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond these parties' control, including the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, imprecision of reserve estimates, environmental risks, competition from other industry participants, the lack of availability of qualified personnel or management, stock market volatility and ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. 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. Peyto's actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits that Peyto will derive therefrom. The Toronto Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein.
HOUSTON, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Targa Resources Partners LP (Targa Resources Partners or the Partnership) (NYSE: NGLS PR A) announced its monthly distribution on the Partnerships 9.00% Series A Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Units ("Series A Preferred Units") for February 2019.



Targa Resources Partners LP announced today that the board of directors of its general partner has declared a monthly cash distribution of 18.75 per Series A Preferred Unit, or $2.25 per Series A Preferred Unit on an annualized basis, for February 2019. This cash distribution will be paid March 15, 2019 on all outstanding Series A Preferred Units to holders of record as of the close of business on February 28, 2019.

About Targa Resources Partners LP

Targa Resources Partners LP is a Delaware limited partnership formed in October 2006 by its parent, Targa Resources Corp. (TRC or the Company), to own, operate, acquire and develop a diversified portfolio of complementary midstream energy assets. On February 17, 2016 TRC completed the acquisition of all outstanding common units of the Partnership. Targa Resources Corp. is a leading provider of midstream services and is one of the largest independent midstream energy companies in North America. TRC owns, operates, acquires, and develops a diversified portfolio of complementary midstream energy assets. The Company is primarily engaged in the business of: gathering, compressing, treating, processing, and selling natural gas; storing, fractionating, treating, transporting, and selling NGLs and NGL products, including services to LPG exporters; gathering, storing, and terminaling crude oil; storing, terminaling, and selling refined petroleum products.

The principal executive offices of Targa Resources Partners LP are located at 811 Louisiana, Suite 2100, Houston, TX 77002 and their telephone number is 713-584-1000.

For more information, please visit our website at www.targaresources.com.



Forward-Looking Statements



Certain statements in this release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this release that address activities, events or developments that the Partnership expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future events and are subject to a number of uncertainties, factors and risks, many of which are outside the Partnerships control, which could cause results to differ materially from those expected by management of the Partnership. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, weather, political, economic and market conditions, including a decline in the price and market demand for natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil, the timing and success of business development efforts; and other uncertainties. These and other applicable uncertainties, factors and risks are described more fully in the Partnership's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. The Partnership does not undertake an obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.



This release is intended to be a qualified notice under Treasury Regulation Section 1.1446-4(b). Brokers and nominees should treat one hundred percent (100.0%) of Targa Resources Partners LPs distributions to foreign investors as being attributable to income that is effectively connected with a United States trade or business. Accordingly, Targa Resources Partners LPs distributions to foreign investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate.



Contact the Company's investor relations department by email at InvestorRelations@targaresources.com or by phone at (713) 584-1133.

Sanjay Lad

Director - Investor Relations

Jennifer Kneale

Chief Financial Officer
NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Levi & Korsinsky announces it has commenced an investigation of Bristow Group Inc. (Bristow or the Company) (NYSE: BRS) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws.



On February 11, 2019, Bristow disclosed that it did not have adequate monitoring control processes in place related to non-financial covenants within certain of its secured financing and lease agreements. The same day, the Company announced that it had terminated its agreement to purchase Columbia Helicopters, Inc. To obtain additional information, go to:

https://www.zlk.com/pslra-1/bristow-group-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.
Burlington, Ontario, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries (OCNI) is proud to congratulate Laveer Engineering on their recent office expansion. A member of OCNI, Laveer supplies engineering services to support the Canadian and US nuclear power generation market. Over the last few years, Laveer has established a growing demand for its niche services resulting in an increase in staff, client partnerships and expansion of office space. Laveer continues to partner with various post-secondary institutions in Ontario to bring in top young engineering talent and collaboratively engage in becoming a better vendor to its customers. This local event will celebrate these significant milestones as well as the growth in partnerships and job opportunities for the local economies of Burlington and Ontario.

Quotes:

Laveer Engineering is excited to continue expanding our business in the nuclear industry. We have established a niche capability that is in demand with our customers. The demand for our services has seen us increase our staff drastically over the last few years. Our model for growth relies heavily on bringing in top young engineering talent including new graduates and interns from post-secondary institutions in Ontario, to work with our experienced engineering staff in a collaborative environment. Having fresh faces with fresh ideas makes Laveer a better vendor to our customers. This generates a cohesive team capable of executing complex projects in a nimble and cost-effective manner. Organizations such as NRC-IRAP, McMaster University, and partners like Promation have all played a pivotal role in Laveers excellence and ability to become the company we are today.

Peter Gowthorpe, Director, Laveer Engineering

We are proud to have a company like Laveer Engineering as a member of the Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries. Laveer exemplifies the dynamic and evolving Canadian nuclear supply chain as the company continues to develop new technologies to support the safe, reliable and cost-effective operation of Ontario's nuclear generating stations  while creating exciting career opportunities in the nuclear sector for graduates of Ontarios world-class colleges and universities.

Dr. Ron Oberth, President and CEO of the Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries

Strong partners like Laveer Engineering help to advance Bruce Powers operations in delivering clean, reliable, low-cost electricity to Ontario businesses and families, said Ian Rowley, Vice President for Outages at Bruce Power. Our Life-Extension Program, which remains on time and on budget, is creating and sustaining 22,000 jobs across the province annually and injecting $4 billion into Ontarios economy each year.

Ian Rowley, VP Outage & Maintenance Services, Bruce Power

Engineers play a vital role, not only for the nuclear industry as a whole, but across OPGs Hydro, Thermal and Nuclear fleet and specifically as we move forward with our Darlington Nuclear Refurbishment Project, said Chris Fralick, Chief Operating Officer for OPG. I congratulate Laveer on your recent expansion and look forward to our continued partnership in helping to deliver innovative, reliable and low-cost nuclear power for Ontario.

Chris Fralick, Chief Operating Officer for OPG

The expansion of Laveer Engineering is of special importance to the City of Burlington, its citizens, the Mayor, Marianne Meed Ward, my colleagues on Council and of course to me as Ward 5 Councillor where the company is located. It is important because we are keen to retain growing organizations that place significant emphasis on developing intellectual property, high caliber management and increasing the number of talented employees, as Laveer clearly does. I wish to congratulate the company on its success and look forward to working with them on future opportunities.

Paul Sharman, Councillor for Ward 5 Burlington

I am delighted to participate in this Roundtable with Laveer Engineering and to have a chance to recognize the phenomenal contribution of Ontarios nuclear advantage in delivering clean energy to our province. By partnering with post secondary institutions as well expanding employment opportunities Laveer is making a significant impact on Burlingtons local economy.

Jane McKenna, MPP for Burlington

Laveer Engineering Ltd. provides custom equipment solutions to industry. With a focus on welding, machining, and inspection technologies, Laveer delivers unique constraint and harsh environment applications. Laveer is a full-service company supporting your project from technical specification through project execution.

Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries (OCNI) is an association of more than 200 Canadian suppliers to the nuclear industry that employ more than 14,000 highly skilled and specialized engineers, technologists, and trades people. OCNI companies design reactors, manufacture major equipment and components, and provide engineering services and support to CANDU nuclear power plants in Canada as well as to CANDU and Light Water Reactor (LWR) plants in offshore markets.

Attachments
Not for distribution in the United States or through United States wire services



TORONTO, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gravitas Financial Inc. (CSE: GFI) (Gravitas or the Company), is pleased to announce that Rebecca Ong has been named Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Rebecca is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and has over 30 years of experience in finance. Rebecca will replace Carmelo Marrelli, who has acted as interim Chief Financial Officer of Gravitas since September 2018.

I would like to thank Carmelo for helping us during this period, said Vikas Ranjan, President of Gravitas. We wish him all the best in the future.

ABOUT GRAVITAS FINANCIAL INC.

Gravitas Financial Inc. is a platform company that creates businesses in key traditional and emerging sectors with strong industry partners. Our industry focus includes financial services, fintech, and Sino-Canadian mining. We leverage our unique platform to develop a continuous pipeline of new ventures with significant blue-sky potential. Our platform is complimented by strong investment research and digital investment media groups.

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.

For further information, please contact:

Vikas Ranjan, President, Gravitas Financial Inc.

Tel: 647-252-1674
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Gendel Girls, the family behind Breezies, QVCs largest intimate apparel brand, announced today the release of their newest item, the Breezies Lace Overlay Bra. Inspired by The Gendel Girls yearly trips to Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, this new bra features European-inspired lace, returning to the brands origin of classic, comfortable elegance. This new silhouette comes on the heels of The Gendel Girls most successful launch to date. On February 2, the 24-year old company broke its own sales record and sold over 200,000 bras in a 24-hour period - their single largest bra silhouette sold in that time period  when they debuted the Breezies Seamless Comfort Contour Wirefree Bra. The company is looking to build on that momentum with this launch.



The Breezies Lace Overlay Bra is scheduled to debut on QVC on Saturday, February 16, 2019 at 7AM ET during AM Style with Leah Williams. Modeled after classic European silhouettes, the lace creates a sheer window detail along the neckline to provide a beautiful cross-dyed look that doesnt sacrifice fit, feel, or modesty. An elegant keyhole detail with a signature metallic charm and jacquard bow add to the high-design feel.

Exploring different trends from around the world refreshes our creativity. My girls and I return to our favorite European cities each year to soak up inspiration from our favorite designers  from unique silhouettes and materials to color and fit. Were always thinking about how we can use that inspiration to fuel new designs of our own, and it was time to bring our customers something thats just as chic as it is comfortable, said Kathy Gendel, CEO of The Gendel Girls.

Constructed to lie flat under clothing, thanks to its seamless molding, the Lace Overlay Bra features light modesty pads which provide shaping without adding a cup size. It also features fully adjustable shoulder straps and soft, microfiber fold over trim at both the neckline and underarm for added support and smoothness without the need for traditional elastics. Adding to the comfort factor, this bra also features a UltimAir sling for quick drying and Fortitube wire, specifically engineered to not poke through, rub, or irritate.

The Breezies Lace Overlay Bra will be sold in four colors: Champagne, Orchid Bouquet, Aqua Tide and Black, in sizes 34B through 48DDD. Available with underwire (QVC #A346540) and wire free (QVC #A346545) beginning February 16, while supplies last, through QVC.com, the QVC apps or by calling 800.345.1515.

About The Gendel Girls:

Kathy Gendel and her husband Craig left corporate jobs to start a lingerie business in 1994. After a lot of perseverance and a lucky encounter on Madison Avenue, they found a home at QVC, where The Gendel Girls patented performance fabric, UltimAir has made Breezies the largest intimate apparel brand on the network. Based outside Philadelphia and operating on their family farm, The Gendel Girls are first and foremost a family business with Kathy, the CEO, at the helm and her three daughters: Kalina Gendel, Chief Operating Officer, and Laurissa Gendel, President, in tandem leadership, and Catherine Gendel, VP of Creative Marketing. One of only a handful of on-air family personalities in the entire home-shopping genre, The Gendel Girls have been a mainstay on QVC for 24 years with an average annual growth increase of 22.5%. During that time, they have sold millions of bras and panties worldwide. Most recently hitting a milestone of selling over 200,000 bras in a 24-hour period, their single largest bra silhouette sold in that time period. For more information, please visit Gendel-Girls.com

Press Contact:

Christine Perez

DiGennaro Communications

christine@digennaro-usa.com

212.966.9525

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b1bb669f-247c-4991-a797-8fdf6548c251
Theaters are closed until further notice

But if you would like a snapshot to help you remember how things used to be

Film Capsules

Young Lakota (2012) This sociopolitical documentary heads to the Pine Ridge Reservation where Sunny Clifford, her twin sister Serena and their neighbor Brandon Ferguson, dream of making a difference for themselves and the community around them. When South Dakota passes a law criminalizing all forms of abortion, the first female president of the Oglala Lakota, takes a stand by proposing building a women's health clinic on sovereign reservation land. Our three young subjects are soon drawn into this political storm, forcing them to make choices that will define who they are and what kind of adults they will become. Proceeds from this special screening will go toward the Indigenous Women Rising Abortion Fund. 83 minutes Unrated.

See our Calendar page for special film events and screenings

Film Times
PLEASE NOTE!

Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate!

All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited!

(One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!)
Open source

The U.S. Congress proposes to increase financial aid for Ukraine by $75 million provided by the 2019 budget, as the Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. reported on Facebook.

The draft law "On fund allocation of the State Department, foreign transactions and a related program for 2019 financial year provides $445,7 million financial aid for Ukraine, which exceeds the allocation by $25 million for 2018, the message says.

Besides, a legislative capacity for allocation of funds to loan guarantees for Ukraine is provided.

Therefore, the combined balance of the means for Ukraine in 2019 will make $695,7 million. It is by $75 million more than provided in 2018, the message says.
The Prosecutor Generals Office insists on the compulsory arrest of Vladyslav Manger

Vladyslav Manger, the Chairman of Kherson Regional Council Kherson Visti

The Prosecutor Generals Office of Ukraine intends to appeal the arrest with bail of Vladyslav Manger, the Head of Kherson Regional Council suspected in the organization of murder of Kherson official Kateryna Handziuk as Ukrainian News reported citing spokeswoman of Prosecutor General Larysa Sargan.

We prepare the appeal, Sargan said.

According to her, the Prosecutor Generals Office does not agree with the restrictive measure chosen for Manger and it insists on the compulsory arrest.

She did not report other details.

As we reported Shevchenkivsky district court in Kyiv has arrested Vladyslav Manger, the head of Kherson regional council with the possibility of the bail in the sum of $ 92,000.

On February 11, Vladyslav Manger was served with charge papers in Handziuks murder. In his turn, Manger said that he would not escape from the country due to suspicion of organizing the murder of Handziuk.

On November 4, 2018, it became known that Kateryna Handziuk died at the age of 34. She was doused with sulphuric acid in July this year. According to preliminary information, her death was caused by blood clot's detachment.

Besides, the doctors specified the cause for the death of Handziuk was specified. It was due to multiple organ failure and chemical burns.

Handziuk case evoked a huge public outrage, with people demanding to find the orderer of the murder of the activist.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, attorneys with First Liberty Institute filed a brief with the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of two Catholic schools responding in support of a petition filed last month by the Archdiocese of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Archdiocese has asked the Justices to reverse a decision by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico that overrides the long-standing structure of Catholic churches and schools.



A copy of the brief can be found here .

If a court can tell a church or school how to operate, its only a matter of time until government is telling churches what to believe, said Kelly Shackelford, President, Chief Counsel, and CEO of First Liberty. We are asking for the U.S. Supreme Court to simply apply the clear purpose of the First Amendment and more than 100 years of its own precedent. The Justices should restore the freedom of churches in Puerto Rico to operate free of government interference.

First Liberty represents two parochial schools in Puerto Rico. In 2016, former employees of various Catholic schools brought suit against a number of parties, including the two schools. On appeal, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court upheld a lower courts decision finding that individual Catholic churches and schools dont exist as independent, legal entities, despite one of the schools, Academia del Perpetuo Socorro, holding its own corporate certificate since 1968. Instead, the court deemed all Catholic entities in Puerto Rico jointly liable for claims against the Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church in Puerto Rico, an entity that doesnt exist.

In its brief, First Liberty argues, [T]he Supreme Court has applied the First Amendment to protect religious congregations ability to maintain their governing structures free from state interference. The Puerto Rico Supreme Courts finding that Catholic churches and affiliated entities lack legal personalities of their own  devastates the Catholic faiths ability to determine its ecclesiastical government. Adding, By assigning legal personality to an entity that does not exist within the Catholic Churchs polity while dissolving the legal personalities of entities that do exist within that structure, the decision below destroys the hierarchical polity governing Catholic churches and other Catholic entities throughout Puerto Rico.

The case is Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan, Puerto Rico, et al. v. Yali Acevedo Feliciano, Sonia Arroyo Velazquez, Elsie Alvarado Rivera, et al. (Supreme Court docket number 18-921).

About First Liberty Institute

First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.

To arrange an interview, contact Lacey McNiel at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453.

Contact: Lacey McNiel, media@firstliberty.org

Direct: 972-941-4453
Earlier the court arrested Vladyslav Manger with a possibility to post the bail in the sum of $92,000

Vladyslav Manger, the Chairman of Kherson Regional Council Kherson Visti

Lawyer Dmitry Ilchenko has posted a bail for his client Kherson Regional Council Head Vladyslav Manger suspected in the organization of murder of Kherson official Kateryna Handziuk as he reported on Facebook.

If I was able to accept help from everyone, who decided to help Vladyslav Manger, I would gather more than $92,000. I am grateful to everyone, who wanted to help. However, finally, we made a decision that I will post the bail personally. We will avoid another wave of speculations from Dotsenko and company about money in such a way. Now I go to the treasury, Ilchenko wrote.

On February 11, Vladyslav Manger was served with charge papers in Handziuks murder. In his turn, Manger said that he would not escape from the country due to suspicion of organizing the murder of Handziuk.

On November 4, 2018, it became known that Kateryna Handziuk died at the age of 34. She was doused with sulphuric acid in July this year. According to preliminary information, her death was caused by blood clot's detachment.

Related: Handziuks case: Ukraines Security Service commented on key suspect's accusations

Besides, the doctors specified the cause for the death of Handziuk was specified. It was due to multiple organ failure and chemical burns.

Handziuk case evoked a huge public outrage, with people demanding to find the orderer of the murder of the activist.
Lyudmyla Voloshyna, Ukrainian human rights activist detained in Astana for violation of migration legislation Social media

Two Ukrainians detained in Astana were deported from Kazakhstan, as an expert on the security of the journalists of Mass Media Institute Iryna Zenlyana stated, Hromadske reports.

Trials of the Ukrainians who were the observers of official human rights mission of the Italian Federation for Human Rights (Comitato Italiano Helsinki) were held today at night.

Trials were held at night, without witnesses and lawyers. And now they are flying to Kyiv. They received their phones while boarding. Deportation, Zemlyana said.

On February 14, it was reported that unknown who introduced themselves as officers of migration police kidnapped Ukrainian human rights activist Lyudmyla Voloshyna. She was in Kazakhstan with an International Monitoring Mission from the Italian Federation for Human Rights. The representatives of the mission link her detention with the case of Kazak judge Malik Kendzaliyev, who told her that he was fired, that he undertook pressure for the verdict which Kazak authorities did not like.

Later, Astana police reported that Lyudmyla Voloshyna and her colleague Valeriy Yavtushenko were detained for violation of the migration legislation.
The Christians of the Eastern Orthodoxy celebrate Candlemas (also the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus) - a great feast (one of twelve most important) holy day which symbolizes not only the meeting of Simeon and Anna the Prophetess with baby Jesus, but also the meeting of humanity with God.

The history of the holiday

Candlemas was mentioned for the first time in a liturgical calendar of the IV century. It was not a separate holiday, it was a final day of a 40-day cycle after Epiphany.

Christians began celebrating Candlemas as a separate holiday in the IV century during the reign of Emperor Justinian.

It is related to the day when little Jesus met with Simeon and Anna the Prophetess.

Open source

Under the custom of the Old Testament, Joseph and Mary took their baby to the Jerusalem temple on the 40th day after his birth to devote him to God.

A 360-year old man Simeon met them there. He received a prediction that he would not die until he meets the Savior of the humankind. Simeon said that Jesus was this very savior. Therefore, Candlemas is considered a significant meeting of the Old and New Testament, and humanitys meeting with the messiah.

Features of the worship

Candlemas belongs to those holidays directly dedicated to Christ. Yet, for its liturgical content it is close to Marian feast days. The image of Christ and Virgin Mary are depicted on the icon of the holiday, being equal in their significance: Simeon holds baby Savior, who symbolizes the Old Testament, and Virgin Mary, starting her Way of the Cross  letting her son save the world.

Open source

There is a tradition of sanctifying candles and giving them to the people.

Transitions and customs

Ancient Slavs has also celebrated this day, when winter meets spring. People believed that February 15 is the only time over winter when one can hear thunder.

On this day, people were singing pagan songs-charms for warmth and good summer, lighting huge bonfires near roads and telling fortunes.

The tradition to light bonfire transformed into sanctifying candles. People were keeping these candles in the corners, and believed that sanctifying candles had special power, protected the house from thunder, heavy rain and waterspouts.

There is also another tradition  people are also sanctifying water. People believe that this water is healing.

Open source

Superstitious beliefs

Lots of beliefs are connected with Candlemas. For instance, our ancestors believed that if water runs out of the roofs, winter will be long. If this day is sunny, the weather will be freezing. Snowstorm meant rainy spring, fair whether  good harvest.

Besides, there were some bans as well on Candlemas. For instance, people should not argue on this holiday, because it is a joyful day, when people are supposed to have a good time. In addition, people were not allowed to work, so that worldly affairs did not distract from spiritual ones.

The most positive thing one could do on Candlemas was going to the church. One should have at least come in the church, set one candle and pray.
The statement does not specify the name of the MP; however, the surname is declined as feminine

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office (SAPO) filed the statement about illicit enrichment and declaration of false information by MP Tymoshenko as the Prosecutors Office of Ukraine reported.

The statement does not specify the name of the MP; however, the surname is declined as feminine (there are two MPs with such surname Yury Tymoshenko and Yulia Tymoshenko in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine).

It is noted that on February 14, Prosecutor General Yury Lutsenko got the statement on the commitment of the criminal offenses by MP Y. Tymoshenko provided by Part 2, Articles 368-2, 366-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Part 2, Article 368-2 states about illicit enrichment of the official, who occupies a particularly responsible position.

Part 2, Article 366-1 is dedicated to the declaration of the knowingly false information by a person authorized to act as the state.

These offenses belong to the investigative jurisdiction of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau so the statement was passed to the SAPO for the supervision of the observance of the law during the pretrial investigation.

As we reported the court commissioned the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) to initiate an investigation of possible illegal enrichment of Dmytro Golovin, head of General Directorate of the National Police in Odesa region.

Moreover, Prosecutor Generals Office of Ukraine (GPU) notified ex-Defense Minister Dmytro Salamatin about suspicion in the participation in the criminal organization of former president Viktor Yanukovych,embezzlement in the especially large scale, and state treason.
According to the President, the EU and UK are reliable partners of Ukraine for now

The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko discussed with Chief Negotiator and Head of the Taskforce of the EC for the Preparation and Conduct of the Negotiations with the United Kingdom Michel Barnier the development of cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union, in particular in the context of the UK's withdrawal from the EU. The press-service of the President reports this.

The President outlined that the EU and UK were reliable partners of Ukraine and cooperation between the parties would be continued and develop on mutually beneficial terms, - the report said.

The President of Ukraine has informed Barnier on the developments in Donbas and the failure of Russia to comply with the Minsk agreements. The President urged him to support the introduction of a new "Azov package" of EU sanctions against Moscow.

Michel Barnier commended the remarkable decision of Ukraine and expressed willingness to support Ukraine.
Another three contestants will compete in the second semifinal on February 16; the winner will be named on February 23

Eurovision 2019 in Israel Open source

Ukrainian bands Yuko, Maruv and Brunettes Shoot Blondes became the finalists of this country's national selection for Eurovision 2019. This became known after the joint voting of the jury and the TV audience in the first semifinal.

Yuko won the sympathies of the judges, getting 8 points, while the viewers gave them 5 (13 in total). Brunettes Shoot Blondes received 7 points from the jury and the audience alike (14 in total); Maruv, on the other hand, came third by the votes of the jury but won the hearts of the viewers, getting 8 points (14 in total).

Another three contestants will compete in the second semifinal on February 16; thus, there will be six finalists running for victory on February 23. The winner will be named the same day.

The bright victory of Netta Barzilai, the Israeli performer on Eurovision 2018 brought this year's European Song Contest to Israel. The semifinals are scheduled for May 14 and May 16. The final will take place on May 18.

Ukraine will be performing in the first semifinal of Eurovision 2019, in the second half of the show.
Theres no time for political games, according to the press-secretary of Prosecutor General

The Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko Open source

The Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko is not intended to go on vacation during the presidential election campaign. Larysa Sarhan, the press-secretary of the Prosecutor General reported this on Facebook.

Theres no time for political games. Theres no time for showing off with criminal proceedings. Theres no time for going on vacation upon request of other politicians. Theres only time for work and result!, - Sarhan wrote.

As we reported earlier, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office (SAPO) and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) will not open the criminal proceeding against the leader of Batkivshchyna party, MP and candidate for presidency Yulia Tymoshenko

The court commissioned the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) to initiate an investigation of possible illegal enrichment of Dmytro Golovin, head of General Directorate of the National Police in Odesa region.

Moreover, Prosecutor Generals Office of Ukraine (GPU) notified ex-Defense Minister Dmytro Salamatin about suspicion in the participation in the criminal organization of former president Viktor Yanukovych, embezzlement in the, especially large scale, and state treason.
According to the Prosecutor General, they will spend this money on new missiles, anti-tank guided missile launchers, armored vehicles, and fire control systems

The Court of Appeal of the Cherkasy region transferred almost $55 million to the state budget within the framework of the special confiscation process. The Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko reported this on Facebook.

Today the Court of Appeal of the Cherkasy region ruled to transfer to the state budget $54 267,000 within the framework of the special confiscation process, - Lutsenko wrote.

According to the Prosecutor General, they will spend this money on new missiles, anti-tank guided missile launchers, armored vehicles, fire control systems; and border guards will be able to complete the complex arrangement of the state border.



It was reported, that with the reference to the sources in the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's office (SAP), that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and SAP had passed about 50 cases against Yanukovych.

Related: Anti-corruption bodies not to open criminal proceeding against Yulia Tymoshenko

In particular, materials on seizing the Mezhyhirya Residence (Novi Petrivtsi, Kyiv region) were passed along with the files on seizing hunting grounds in Sukholuchhya, Kyiv region.



The court seized all the immovable property, which is located on the territory of Mezhyhirya, the former residence of Ukrainian ex-president Viktor Yanukovych.
Open source

Parliamentary elections will be held in Moldova on 24 February 2019. Campaigning began in November 2018. The ruling parties of the pro-European coalition led by the Democratic Party of Moldova, the oppositional Socialist Party of the Republic of Moldova, the extra-parliamentary parties Party of Action and Solidarity, the Dignity and Truth Platform Party, which formed the ACUM election bloc, Sor Party ("Republican Socio-Political Movement Equality").

The intrigue of the upcoming elections is that the political participants have significant differences in their foreign policy priorities. Socialists, including President Dodon, are in favor of rapprochement with Russia, the ruling parties and political projects Sandu and Nastase are supporters of integration into the EU and NATO.

Moldovan society is split in its political preferences. For Ukraine, the election results in Moldova are not of the least importance, since the position of our neighbor on the issue of Russia's aggression might depend on them.

Prospects of the Moldavian oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc

The upcoming parliamentary elections in Moldova would be a difficult test for the ruling coalition led by the Democratic Party of Moldova. This party belongs to oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, who used to be a business partner of Ukraines President Poroshenko.

According to an IMAS poll, 18.4% of Moldovan citizens support the Democrats. According to the socialist MP Vlad Batrincea, 80% of Moldovans are not satisfied with the activities of the government of Pavel Filip from the Democratic Party of Moldova and believe that their country is moving in the wrong direction.

In 2015-2016, anti-government rallies were held in the country against the backdrop of the theft of the century - the disappearance of $ 1 billion from Moldovan banks Banca de Economii, Banca Sociala, and Unibank in 2014. Former Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat, involved in the theft, was sentenced to nine years in prison. This theft amounted to 12% -15% of Moldova's GDP and was a blow to the image of the current government.

In 2018, discontent in Moldovan society and in the West caused a new law on tax amnesty, which was adopted in the interests of business.

The increase in prices for gasoline and diesel fuel, electricity, the depreciation of the national currency leu are not in favor of the ruling coalition. The country suffers from rampant corruption, as the prime minister himself admits. According to the survey of the International Republican Institute (IRI), 49% of Moldovan citizens believe that the problem of corruption is a decisive issue that will affect their choice.

In August 2018, anti-government meetings of opposition Dignity and Truth Platform Party and Party of Action and Solidarity were held in Chisinau, demanding the resignation of the government, the continuation of the investigation theft of the century and the abolition of the law on tax amnesty.

For Ukraines current government, Moldovan democrats are political partners. Poroshenko and Plakhotniuk are tied by a common business. As of 2014, both oligarchs were co-owners of the Gemenii shopping center in Chisinau.

Open source

There is some information that in the 2000s, Vlad Plahotniuc helped Poroshenko to acquire the Chisinau glass factory and Bucuria Confectionery-pasta factory. The current Moldovan authorities support Ukraines territorial integrity.

In 2016, Moldova voted in the UN General Assembly for a resolution on Crimea, which condemned the annexation of the peninsula and the violation of the rights of the Crimean Tatars by Russia. In November 2018, Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip supported Ukraine in the Azov incident and called it the most serious violation by Russia after the annexation of the Crimea.

In 2016, Ukraine extradited former Moldovan MP Veaceslav Platon, whom Moldovan law enforcers suspected of stealing $ 40 million from Banca de Economii. According to Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov, in 2017, the Ukrainian and Moldovan secret services were able to prevent the attack of Plahotniuc by the FSB agents during a joint special operation.

Kremlin's revenge

The leader of the pre-election race is the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova, supported by 28.5% of Moldovans. Despite the fact that the socialist faction is in opposition, the majority of Moldovan voters voted for their candidate Igor Dodon at the first general presidential election in December 2016, not for Sandu, the candidate of the parliamentary coalition.

Moldavian socialists turn out ratings on criticizing the activities of the government of Filip, prove the senselessness of Moldovas European integration and support the country's accession to the Eurasian Economic Union. Dodon opposes Moldova joining NATO and believes that Russia remains a strategic partner. In 2018, Moldova received an observer status in the Eurasian Economic Union and increased imports of Russian natural gas by 8.6%.

Open source

Dodon claims that the markets of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union represent great potential for Moldovan producers of agricultural products, foodstuffs, and alcoholic beverages, and an increase in export volumes in this direction will lead to the creation of "hundreds of thousands of jobs" in Moldova.

According to the results of 11 months of 2018, the share of Moldovas exports to the EU amounted to almost 70% and increased by 65.6% over the last year, while the share of supplies to the CIS countries, on the contrary, decreased from 19.5% to 15.5%.

From 2014 to 2018, the number of labor migrants from Moldova in Russia decreased from half a million to 357,000 people, since some of them shifted to the labor markets of other countries, including the European Union, using the visa-free regime.

In January 2019, on the eve of the elections, Dodon visited Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which is a signal for pro-European parties that Moscow took the side of the socialists in Moldovas power struggle. The Kremlin is trying in every way to influence the outcome of voting in parliamentary elections in favor of the Dodon party.

The Moldovan president believes that his party will not join the coalition with the right-wing parties and expects to form a one-party government, or at the very least, a coalition with independent deputies.

Transnistrian context and Ukraine

The results of the parliamentary elections might affect the position of Chisinau in resolving the problem of the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan Republic since the position of key players is different on this issue.

Transnistrian separatists separated from Moldova with the support of the Russian armed forces stationed there during the armed conflict in the early 1990s.

Parliament Speaker from the Democratic Party of Moldova, Andrian Candu, said that the reintegration of Transnistria into Moldova is necessary, but not at any cost. If this issue becomes an obstacle for Moldova on its way to the EU and NATO, then it is necessary to abandon the region.

President Igor Dodon opposes the independence of Transnistria or the entry into Russia. In his opinion, Transnistrians should self-determine between returning to the structure of Moldova or joining the structure of neighboring Ukraine. Sandu believes that Transnistria should be granted autonomy within Moldova.

President of Transnistria, Vadim Krasnoselsky, refused to discuss with Dodon the return of the region to Moldova and stressed they are interested in gaining independence with the subsequent entry into Russia.

All spheres of life in Transnistria are controlled by the "Sheriff" holding, which belongs to the former Soviet police officers Viktor Gushan and Nikita Yegorov. Transnistrian separatists earn decent money by smuggling, making counterfeit products, selling free Russian gas to the population. If returned to Moldova, they will lose their sources of income.

It is beneficial for Tiraspol that Chisinau retains any attempts to bring Transnistria under control. In January 2019, it was reported that a representative office of Transnistria would be opened in Moscow, which would be headed by the former so-called former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Donetsk Peoples Republic Alexander Karaman.

By his careless statement, the Moldovan Speaker Candu has created a precedent for the states possible refusal to restore its territorial integrity.

Russia is trying to strike a balance, it wants the authorities of Ukraine to abandon any attempts to defend the return of annexed Crimea and certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The same applies to Georgia, which is also trying to return Abkhazia and South Ossetia from the separatists.

Read the original text at 112.ua
Longview, Texas, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Friedman Industries, Incorporated (NYSEAmerican: FRD) (the Company), a steel manufacturing, processing, and distribution company, announced today that Robert Sparkman has elected to retire from his position as President, Chief Executive Officer, and as a director of the Company to spend more time with his family, effective March 31, 2019.



Mr. Sparkman, age 63, has been Chief Executive Officer since April 2017 and has been associated with the Company in various capacities for over 39 years. The Company expresses its deep appreciation for Mr. Sparkmans many years of dedicated service.

Michael J. Taylor, the Companys current Chairman of the Board of Directors, will serve as interim President and interim Chief Executive Officer until a successor is appointed. Mr. Taylor, age 60, has been a director of the Company since December 2016 and Chairman of the Board of Directors since June 2017. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Taylor served as President of Cargill Metals Supply Chain, a steel processing distribution company, from 2003 to 2014. The Company believes that Mr. Taylors extensive knowledge of the steel industry will be a vital asset in his interim leadership role. Mr. Taylor will retain his role as Chairman of the Board.

For further information regarding this press release, please contact Alex LaRue, Chief Financial OfficerSecretary and Treasurer at (903)758-3431.

About the Company
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- As many as 50 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Romania were recorded in the last 24 hours following 12,076 tests nationwide, the Strategic Communication Group (GCS), the official novel coronavirus communication task force, reported on Monday. These are cases of patients that

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- The cities of today were built for automobiles, but they need to be given back to the citizens, and in this sense, we need an effort from the authorities, president Klaus Iohannis declared on Thursday, during a debate for sustainable transport in Romania, organized by the Green Revolution Association,

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- Prime Minister Florin Citu said on Thursday evening that the bars, cafes, clubs and discos will remain closed until June 1, showing that there is a proposal to open at a capacity of 50% from this date, but with vaccinated people, agerpres reports. "We have bars, cafes, clubs, discos and so on, which

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Elevii, dupa evaluarea la matematica: A fost mult de lucru si subiecte mai dificile

Absolventii de clasa a VIII-a au sustinut, ieri, ultima proba scrisa a evaluarii nationale. Spre desoebire de proba la limba si literatura romana, candidatii au spus ca la acest examen au avut subiecte mai dificile dar si mai mult [citeste mai departe]
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 05:25:33|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Friday hailed the successful delivery of aid to a remote makeshift settlement in Rukban on the Syria-Jordan border.

The United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent on Thursday completed a nine-day mission to Rukban, delivering much-needed humanitarian assistance to more than 40,000 displaced people, said OCHA in a press release.

This is only the second time that the United Nations has been able to reach the remote site from within Syria, where the cold winter months have exacerbated an already dire situation, it said.

"This UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent inter-agency convoy has provided life-saving assistance to people at Rukban, many of whom are women and children who have been stranded in the desert in extremely harsh conditions for years, and allowed us to listen to their needs and wishes for the future," the press release quoted Sajjad Malik, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Syria, as saying.

"People have been telling our teams how desperate their situation is; they are cold, hungry and lack access to the most basic services. Even water is scarce. What limited commodities are available are too expensive for most to afford. Women and girls face serious protection risks such as early marriage and sexual abuse."

The convoy distributed a one-month food ration to over 8,300 families, along with shelter materials and core relief items, including blankets, sleeping mats and water containers. Some 10,000 dignity kits were distributed to women and girls, while critical nutritional supplies were provided to young children, said OCHA.

Essential medicine and equipment were provided, and thousands of children were vaccinated. The United Nations also ensured that education supplies covering the needs of 8,000 children as well as recreational materials to children were part of the convoy, it said.

"While the completion of this convoy is an important achievement ... it is clear that much more is needed. The people at Rukban need a long-term solution, allowing them to return to their homes or a place of their choosing in safety and dignity. In the meantime, we need sustained access to provide ongoing assistance, and immediate steps need to be taken to improve people's access to medical treatment, including reproductive health care," said Malik.

The complex, large-scale aid operation is the biggest ever carried out by the United Nations in Syria. The mission lasted nine days, consisting of 133 trucks -- 118 loaded with relief supplies and 15 carrying logistics supplies -- with more than 300 staff, volunteers and commercial suppliers taking part. It took more than two months of advocacy and negotiations with all parties to ensure safe access to the site, said OCHA.

The United Nations continues to call on all parties to ensure safe and sustained access to people in need in Rukban and to people in need elsewhere in the country, it said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 05:20:30|Editor: WX

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by Stefania Fumo

ROME, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- French ambassador Christian Masset returned to Rome on Friday after being recalled for consultations last week, local media reported.

The ambassador, Christian Masset, landed in the afternoon and was welcomed "discretely and on a private basis" by French embassy personnel, ANSA news agency reported.

Masset had been recalled on Feb. 7, two days after Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, leader of the populist Five Star Movement, traveled to France to meet with Christophe Chalencon, chief of the Yellow Vests violent protest movement.

Chalencon was later recorded by La7 private broadcaster as saying that "we have members of the paramilitary ready to intervene, because they also want to topple the (French) government ... we are on the verge of a civil war."

The ambassador's return was announced on Twitter earlier on Friday by French European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau.

"Our ambassador to Italy departs for Rome today. The president of the Italian Republic (Sergio Mattarella) has called President (Emmanuel) Macron to reiterate the degree to which France and Italy need one another," Loiseau said.

That phone call took place on Feb. 12, when Mattarella's office said in a statement that he and Macron "spoke on the phone today (and) reiterated the importance for each of their countries, of the French-Italian relationship".

This was followed up on Feb. 14 by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who told leading Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in an interview that "for several months, Paris has been subjected to repeated attacks and exaggerated accusations", however "France is ready to work with Italy in a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation."

"We consider the friendship between France and Italy as an asset to be protected. Presidents Mattarella and Macron spoke on Tuesday night, they are the custodians of this relationship between our two countries," Le Drian told Corriere.

In an interview with RTL French broadcaster on Friday, Loiseau explained that not only was Mattarella's phone call decisive, but also the fact that "we heard certain (Italian) political leaders who had engaged in frankly unfriendly and unacceptable words and behaviors, express their regrets."

In televised comments at the launch of the Five Star Movement platform ahead of European Parliament elections in May, Di Maio on Friday appeared to backtrack on his outspoken support for the Yellow Vest protests in France.

"We do not intend to talk to those who uphold armed struggle or civil war", but only to "those who believe in democracy in order to change things", Di Maio said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 05:15:29|Editor: yan

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ABUJA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian authorities said on Friday that 66 people were killed by unidentified gunmen in Kajuru area of the northern state of Kaduna on the eve of the country's presidential election.

State government spokesman Samuel Aruwan said in a statement that eight settlements were attacked early Friday, with 22 children and 12 women among the victims.

Aruwan said the cause of the violence was unclear, and some security operatives had been deployed to the affected localities.

Some suspects have been arrested in connection to the violence, he said.

The spokesman urged community, traditional and religious leaders in the area to encourage residents to avoid any reprisal attacks and to leave the matter in the hands of the security and law enforcement agencies.

"The killings are being investigated and residents are assured that indicted persons will be prosecuted," he said.

On Jan. 22, the Nigerian government alleged there were security threats to the upcoming general elections in the country, alerting citizens of the west African country to be wary of pending attacks before, during, and after the polls.

Kaduna, located in the north part of the country, was among states earlier listed by the government as one of the flashpoint areas.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 05:10:25|Editor: yan

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HOUSTON, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The latest U.S. manufacturing and trade statistics released by the U.S. Department of Commerce on Friday showed that business inventories for November 2018 hit 1.98 trillion U.S. dollars, down 0.1 percent from the previous month.

The data showed that manufacturers' and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of 1,980.5 billion U.S. dollars, down 0.1 percent from October 2018, but were up 4.6 percent from November 2017.

The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers' shipments for November, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at 1,462.5 billion dollars, down 0.3 percent from October 2018, but was up 4.2 percent from November 2017.

The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of November 2018 was 1.35, the same level as in November 2017.
RADNOR, Pa., Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kaskela Law LLC announces that a shareholder class action lawsuit has been filed against Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE: TAP) (Molson Coors or the Company) on behalf of investors who purchased shares of the Companys common stock between February 14, 2017 and February 12, 2019, inclusive (the Class Period).



Molson Coors investors are encouraged to contact Kaskela Law LLC (D. Seamus Kaskela, Esq.) at (888) 715  1740, or online at http://kaskelalaw.com/case/molson-coors/ , to discuss their legal rights and options with respect to this action.

The shareholder class action complaint alleges, among other things, that Molson Coors and certain of the Companys executive officers made materially false and misleading statements to investors during the Class Period about the Companys financial results.

On February 12, 2019, Molson Coors disclosed that its Audit Committee concluded that the Companys previously issued consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 should be restated and no longer be relied upon. Additionally, Molson Coors disclosed that management of the Company has determined that a material weakness existed in the Companys internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2018 relating to the design and maintenance of effective controls over the completeness and accuracy of the accounting for and disclosure of the income tax effects of acquired partnership interests. Following this news, shares of the Companys common stock fell $6.17 per share, or 9.5% in value, to close on February 12, 2019 at $59.19, on heavy trading volume.

IMPORTANT DEADLINE: Investors who purchased Molson Coors common stock during the Class Period may, no later than April 16, 2019 , seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the investor class.

For additional information about this action please contact Kaskela Law LLC or visit http://kaskelalaw.com/case/molson-coors/ . Kaskela Law LLC exclusively represents investors in state and federal actions throughout the country. For additional information about Kaskela Law LLC please visit www.kaskelalaw.com .

CONTACT:
3000ad/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- In a surprise development Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on the Senate floor that President Donald Trump told him he would sign a border security funding bill that would avert a government shutdown, but also would declare a national emergency in order to get more funding for his proposed border wall.



McConnell's announcement caught Capitol Hill off guard. The Senate then voted to overwhelmingly approve the measure 83-16, sending it to the House for a vote late Thursday. The House approved the measure 300-128.



Many Republicans, including McConnell, had advised the president against declaring a national emergency, which is a challenge to Congress' "power of the purse" -- the power to decide how and where taxpayer money is spent. However, McConnell, in announcing the president's decision Thursday, said he now supported the move.



I will fully support the enactment of a joint resolution to terminate the Presidents emergency declaration, in accordance with the process described in the National Emergencies Act, and intend to pursue all other available legal options," Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-New York, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. "The Judiciary Committee will also use its authority to hold the Administration to account and determine the supposed legal basis for the Presidents actions.



Democrats and some Republicans came out against the presidents plans.



House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a joint statement, said the declaration would be a lawless act and a gross abuse of the power of the presidency.



"It is yet another demonstration of President Trumps naked contempt for the rule of law," their statement said, calling it "a desperate attempt to put taxpayers on the hook" for his border wall, adding that Congress "will defend our constitutional authorities.



"This approach does set a very bad precedent for future presidents, whether it's a Democrat or a Republican, to feel that they can get around Congress's constitutional role to allocate funding, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Thursday afternoon. It's very serious and troubling to me."



Senior House Democrats and aides were waiting for Trumps emergency declaration Thursday before deciding on how to best respond, but one aide said the House could take up and pass a joint resolution disapproving of any national emergency declaration  a move that would force Republican senators to go on the record on Trumps controversial move.



Were going to fight him, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the chairman of the House Rules Committee, said of Trumps plans. I think hes going well beyond his constitutional powers, and hes in for a hell of a fight.



The spending deal crafted by top appropriators funding for the Department of Homeland Security and a handful of other federal agencies impacted by the 35-day government shutdown last month.



It includes $1.375 billion to build a physical barrier on the southern border  enough to construct about 55 miles of new fencing in new geographic areas, but less than the proposal rejected by the president late last year ahead of the shutdown.



It also includes hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for new border security and inspection technology at points of entry, and humanitarian relief, along with additional funding to increase the number of immigrant detention beds.



The increase in funding for the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was enough for a handful of prominent progressive House Democrats to oppose the deal.



We want to be abundantly clear: this is not a rebuke of federal workers or those who depend on the services they provide, but a rejection of the hateful policies, priorities, and rhetoric of the Trump Administration, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., said in a statement.



Hours later, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, also said she would vote against the deal.



Congress must pass a strong DHS appropriations bill to bring accountability and humanity to our detention system. Unfortunately, this bill did not accomplish this and that is why I will vote no, she wrote.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 04:50:19|Editor: yan

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by Alessandra Cardone

ROME, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Second generations of Chinese immigrants in Italy were quite highly educated, relatively wealthy, and overall better integrated than their parents, a fresh publication by Italy-China Foundation revealed on Friday.

The profile of the newest Chinese immigrants was drawn by the 163rd issue of Mondo Cinese (Chinese World), a scientific fourth-month magazine focused on contemporary China studies.

Presented at a conference in Milan, the current issue was titled "The New Chinese in Italy" and provided a comprehensive analysis of the most recent evolution occurring in one of the country's largest foreign communities.

In the presentation, Italy-China Foundation director general Vincenzo Petrone praised Chinese immigrants for their dynamism, describing them as "a microcosm that mirrors the same features and ingredients that have been boosting China's economic growth for 40 years".

"They have strong inter-personal bonds, and an extraordinary ability to integrate and to adjust in order to produce income and root themselves in the Italian society," Petrone said.

At the same time, the former Italian ambassador to Brazil and Japan added, the latest generations would not forget their roots, and were not giving up their original Chinese traditions and way of life.

"Today, the Chinese New Year celebrations are a regular event in many of our large and medium Italian cities, and an enrichment for our country," Petrone noted.

DRIVERS OF SOCIAL CHANGE

According to the authors -- both Chinese and Italians analysts -- second-generation Chinese have been "among the first to carve out a new space for participation in the public debate, in the composite mosaic of foreign immigration in Italy".

Second generations included both Chinese children born here, and those who entered the country at an early age.

Their average profile was that of people between the ages of 25 and 35, bilingual, educated, and "quite wealthy, robustly integrated in a small-middle entrepreneurial class".

"These people have grown up studying and working at the same time, within families that were ready to support them in any of their individual projects," the authors wrote.

"Being able to connect to a much wider range of people compared to parents, these generations are pioneers of a new kind of relationship between the Chinese minority and the Italian society," they explained.

WELL-ROOTED COMMUNITY

Overall, the Chinese immigration to Italy was among the oldest inflows, settling here since the late 1970s.

Today, the Foundation's magazine claimed, "the Chinese community provides an example of unique socio-economic integration in the (Italian) national landscape."

According to data provided by the most recent annual report on migrants issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies (updated to Jan. 1, 2017), Chinese legal residents here were 318,975, representing the third largest population among non-EU residents, and the fourth if counting EU citizens.

Since long time, the Sino-Italian magazine argued, the community has been "permanently integrated in Italy's socio-economic fabric".

"The share of long-term resident permits showed a consistent upward trend, growing from some 39 percent in 2012 to 51 percent in 2017," authors highlighted.

Furthermore, some 26 percent of the Chinese residents in Italy were minors, testifying "the historical magnitude of the change that has been brought about by the second generations".

According to the magazine, the current demographic trends of Chinese residents here could make the community "the largest foreign minority of non-European origins in Italy by 2025".

STRONG BUSINESS ATTITUDE

Since they first settled in the Italian society, Chinese immigrants have also showed a strong entrepreneurial attitude, with a high rate of female participation.

Still according to the Ministry's data up to January 2017, in fact, they could boast the second highest number of foreign-run individual companies among foreign residing communities in Italy, with total 50,737 businesses (one for every six Chinese residents) and an annual growth rate at 3.4 percent.

Some 46 percent of these companies (23,437) were run by Chinese female entrepreneurs, "a percentage that has no comparison at national level," according to the authors.

"Chinese business women make up about one third of all foreign female entrepreneurs in Italy," they stressed.

Besides, Chinese women were well present across various sectors of the job market, making up to 47 percent of self-employed, 45 percent of employees, and 44 percent of independent workers (within the community).

Data by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies further showed employment among Chinese immigrants was at about 72.5 percent, and unemployment was at 4 percent, four times lower than the average among non-EU citizens in the country.
File Photo: A Palestinian protester uses a slingshot to hurl stones at Israeli troops during clashes on the Gaza-Israel border during clashes on the Gaza-Israel border, east of Gaza City, on Jan. 25, 2019. (Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday deplored the humanitarian situation in Gaza and praised the UN agency for Palestinian refugees "critical work" last year.

In his remarks to a meeting on the rights of the Palestinian people, Guterres said that approximately two million Palestinians remain mired in increasing poverty and unemployment, with limited access to adequate health, education, water and electricity.

He urged Israel to lift restrictions on the movement of people and goods, which also hamper the efforts of the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies.

On humanitarian relief, Guterres commended the UN agency for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA for its "critical work" in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and across the region, despite an unprecedented financial crisis in 2018.

The United States, once the agency's largest and most generous donor, cut its support for the agency by 300 million U.S. dollars in 2018. But the organization was able to narrow the funding gap with aid pledges from other countries.

"I thank those donors who have increased their commitments and enabled Palestinian refugees to continue to receive the essential services provided by UNRWA," Guterres said, asking them to maintain their support in the future.

Last month, UNRWA appealed for 1.2 billion dollars to fund their services this year, aiming to maintain the same amount of money the agency received from donors in 2018.

The U.N. agency assists 5.4 million registered Palestinian refugees across the Middle East.

Turning to the settlement issue, Guterres reaffirmed settlements are illegal under international law. "They deepen the sense of mistrust and undermine the two-State solution."

The construction and planning of settlements by Israel have expanded deeper into Area C in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, he warned, referring to the West Bank area where most Israeli settlements are located.

The UN chief also expressed regret at the decision by Israel not to renew the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron.

The international monitoring mission was initially established after a 1994 mosque shooting in the flashpoint city of Hebron in West Bank, and began operating in its latest form after a 1997 deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

"I hope an agreement can be found by the parties to preserve this long-standing and valuable arrangement," Guterres said.

Moreover, the secretary-general pledged the United Nations' firm support of Palestinian reconciliation and the return of the "legitimate Palestinian government" to Gaza.

"Gaza is an integral part of a future Palestinian state and Palestinian unity is needed for a politically stable, economically viable, sovereign and independent State of Palestine," he said.

Also, he appealed to Hamas authorities in Gaza to prevent provocations and Israel to exercise maximum restraint and to not use lethal force, except as a last resort against imminent threat of death or serious injury.

"Israelis and Palestinians continue to suffer from deadly cycles of violence," he said. "Leaders have a responsibility to their populations, not least the youth, to reverse this negative trajectory and pave the way toward peace, stability and reconciliation."
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 03:09:58|Editor: WX

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BAGHDAD, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Islamic State (IS) militants Friday kidnapped a total of eight civilians in two incidents in Iraq's western province of Anbar, a provincial police source said.

In one incident, five civilians went in the early morning to the desert near the town of Rawa, some 280 km northwest of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, to collect truffles, but they did not return home, Major Ali al-Dulaimi, from Anbar Operation Command, told Xinhua.

The security forces investigated the incident and announced that the five were kidnapped by a group of IS militants, al-Dulaimi said.

In a separate incident, the extremist IS militants kidnapped three villagers as they went to collect truffles at a desert near the town of Haditha, some 200 km northwest of Baghdad, al-Dulaimi said.

Al-Dulaimi said that IS militants are still active in the vast Anbar desert that stretches to the border with Syria, warning the residents from going into desert areas far from the presence of security forces.

"The incidents are not the first of its kind, Deash (IS group) militants had kidnapped and executed three civilians from Haditha two weeks ago, as they also went to collect truffles," al-Dulaimi said.

The security situation in Iraq has been dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.

However, small groups and individuals of extremist militants melted or regrouped in urban or fled to desert and rugged areas, and are carrying out attacks against the security forces and civilians despite operations from time to time to hunt them down.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 02:09:49|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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A disabled Palestinian uses a slingshot to hurl stones at Israeli troops on the Gaza-Israel border, east of Gaza City, on Feb. 15, 2019. At least 20 Palestinians were injured on Friday during clashes between hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, medics said. (Xinhua)

GAZA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- At least 20 Palestinians were injured on Friday during clashes between hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, medics said.

At least 20 Palestinians, who were peacefully demonstrating in eastern Gaza Strip, were shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers' gunfire, said Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Health Ministry in Gaza, adding that two were seriously wounded.

Fierce clashes broke out on Friday afternoon between hundreds of Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers close to the border between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel.

The clashes were expected to flare for several hours, until it got dark at the end of the day, according to the rallies' organizers.

Palestinian protesters joined the weekly anti-Israel protests, known as the "Great March of Return," on Friday since late March last year.

The highest commission of the event said in a statement that the Gaza Strip people are urged to join the weekly protests, saying that "Gaza is unbreakable."

"Marches of return will go on until it achieves all its goals, including lifting the Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for 12 years and toppling the U.S. peace plan," said the statement.

In central Gaza Strip, east of al-Bureij refugee camp, close to the border with Israel, Palestinian protesters built up barriers of sand bags near the border and brought dozens of car tires for burning it during the protests.

However, the commission stressed that it is the right of the Palestinians to demonstrate against the tight measures practiced by Israel against Gaza, and called on the protesters to respect the peacefulness of the marches.

Meanwhile, several Israeli media outlets said on Thursday night that the Israeli army leadership instructed its soldiers on the border with Gaza to be on alert for a possible tension.

Since the start of the event on March 30 last year, Israeli soldiers killed more than 250 demonstrators and wounded around 26,000 others, most of whom were wounded by Israeli soldiers' gunfire, according to figures by the Gaza Health Ministry.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 01:59:47|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday deplored the humanitarian situation in Gaza and praised the UN agency for Palestinian refugees "critical work" last year.

In his remarks to a meeting on the rights of the Palestinian people, Guterres said that approximately two million Palestinians remain mired in increasing poverty and unemployment, with limited access to adequate health, education, water and electricity.

He urged Israel to lift restrictions on the movement of people and goods, which also hamper the efforts of the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies.

On humanitarian relief, Guterres commended the UN agency for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA for its "critical work" in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and across the region, despite an unprecedented financial crisis in 2018.

The United States, once the agency's largest and most generous donor, cut its support for the agency by 300 million U.S. dollars in 2018. But the organization was able to narrow the funding gap with aid pledges from other countries.

"I thank those donors who have increased their commitments and enabled Palestinian refugees to continue to receive the essential services provided by UNRWA," Guterres said, asking them to maintain their support in the future.

Last month, UNRWA appealed for 1.2 billion dollars to fund their services this year, aiming to maintain the same amount of money the agency received from donors in 2018.

The U.N. agency assists 5.4 million registered Palestinian refugees across the Middle East.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 01:34:42|Editor: yan

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MUNICH, Germany, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen called here on Friday for partnership in times of major changes.

"We live in a world, where partners matter. We are witnessing major changes in terms of technological progress, climate changes, distribution of wealth prosperity... All those changes bear certain challenges and opportunities," von der Leyen said during the 55th Munich Security Conference.

She noted during her opening speech that all nations are currently striving to find partners, in order to help harness those opportunities and to protect their citizens from risks at the same time.

"No nation can successfully do this solely on a national level. We need cooperation," von der Leyen continued.

She noted that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and European Union should seek true partnership, which should not be built on dominance and should not create political or economic dependence. Meanwhile, the principles of fairness should be upheld in the transatlantic friendship.

The conference, scheduled from Friday to Sunday, has attracted heads of state and government and other prestigious figures in world politics and security. The event will cover issues including competition and cooperation between the great powers, the EU's future, and the already tainted transatlantic relations.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 01:29:41|Editor: yan

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OTTAWA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- An 11-year-old girl, who was allegedly abducted by her father on Thursday, was found dead at a home west of Toronto on Friday, according to CTV.

The girl's father, identified as Roopesh Rajkumar, was arrested shortly after the discovery of her body. He had made threats to harm his daughter and himself to the girl's mother, his former girlfriend.

Police issued an Amber Alert after 11 p.m. Thursday, several hours after Rajkumar failed to return his daughter named Riya to her mother, who alerted police at around 7 p.m. Thursday, triggering an investigation to locate the girl and her father.

An Amber Alert is a child abduction alert system in Canada. It is distributed via commercial radio stations, Internet radio, satellite radio, television stations, text messages, and cable TV.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 01:24:40|Editor: yan

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RAMALLAH, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- A senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official unveiled on Friday that the PA rejected an Israeli offer to be part of a regional railway network that links the West Bank with Israel and other Arab capitals.

Hussein al-Sheikh, minister of civil affairs in the PA, tweeted on his Twitter page that the Israeli offer includes establishing a railway line that connects the northern West Bank city of Jenin with Haifa in Israel and then goes to several Arab capitals.

"We totally rejected the Israeli offer and we said we are against normalization with Israel before the end of the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank," said al-Sheikh, adding "We also said no for economic solutions that empower the occupation."

He went on saying that "a piece of bread can never be an alternative to the freedom of homelands," referring to the Palestinian rejection to any economic solutions to the Palestinian cause.

The Palestinian leadership, which signed a series of peace accords with Israel since 1993, insists that any peace process should guarantee an end of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967.

In April 2017, Israeli Minister of Transportation Yesrael Katz announced that Israel has been working on a plan of establishing a railway in Israel that connects with railways in Arab states, through Jordan.

According to the Israeli plan, the railway connects Israel with Arab countries and connects the Palestinians with the Israeli seaport of Haifa to boost the PA trade movement in the West Bank.

Katz had stated that his plan aims at establishing a regional railway network "for achieving a real regional peace that would lead to economic prosperity that serves the people in the Middle East, including Israel and the Palestinians."
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 01:24:39|Editor: yan

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A man walks past the security checking area for the 55th Munich Security Conference, in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 15, 2019. The 55th Munich Security Conference kicked off here Friday in Munich. (Xinhua/Lu Yang)

MUNICH, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The 55th Munich Security Conference (MSC) kicked off on Friday, focusing on global order reshuffle.

"The world now is not only experiencing a series of smaller and bigger crises. We are experiencing an epochal shift ... an era is ending, and the rough outlines of a new political age are only beginning to emerge," MSC Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger said.

The annual Munich Security Report, which provides guidelines for the talks, said that a new era of great power competition might be unfolding.

"It's not enough to just sit and watch while institutions built over decades are eroding," Ischinger said. He called on participants to build trust in each other during the conference, encouraging people to "talk to each other" rather than "talk about each other."

In his opening speech, Ischinger, dressed in a hoodie with the EU logo, said that the EU's self-assertion will be one of the most important issues to address.

Echoing Ischinger's remark, British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said the UK will remain committed to Europe's security after Brexit.

"Our commitment to European security remains steadfast," he said. "We will continue to deliver it long after we leave the EU."

The conference, scheduled from Friday to Sunday, has attracted heads of state and government and other prestigious figures in world politics and security. The event will cover issues including competition and cooperation between the great powers, the EU's future, and the already tainted transatlantic relations.

The Munich Security Conference was first held in 1963. Its original aim was to shore up commitments and help coordinate western defense policies. It has since grown to involve representatives from around the world and has served as a platform for debates on global security issues.

Host country Germany sees the conference as an opportunity to demonstrate its own commitment to international cooperation.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that "national self-determination is only possible against the backdrop of international coordination."

"I will therefore campaign for doubling down on our commitment to the international order," Maas said.

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said that we live in a time when "partners matter", and no nation can successfully face the complicated threats alone.

"We need and search for cooperation; we are all doing this," von der Leyen said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 01:09:36|Editor: yan

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CHICAGO, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean futures edged higher on Friday morning over the progress in the latest round of U.S.-China trade talks in Beijing.

CBOT soybeans had suffered double-digit losses during the previous session amid massive fund selling, which also sent corn and wheat prices significantly lower.

As of 1621 GMT, soybeans for March delivery was up 1.5 cents to 9.05 dollars per bushel. March corn was down 1 cent to 3.7375 U.S. dollars per bushel. March wheat was down 7.5 cents to 4.995 dollars per bushel.

China and the United States held the sixth round of high-level economic and trade consultations in Beijing from Thursday to Friday.

The two sides reached consensus in principle on major issues and had specific discussions about a memorandum of understanding on bilateral economic and trade issues.

They agreed that consultations will be continued in Washington next week.
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Schall Law Firm , a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces the filing of a class action lawsuit against The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (Goldman Sachs or the Company) (NYSE: GS ) for violations of 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.



Investors who purchased the Company's shares between February 28, 2014 and December 17, 2018, inclusive (the ''Class Period''), are encouraged to contact the firm before February 19, 2019.

If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate .

We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall, or Sherin Mahdavian, of the Schall Law Firm, 1880 Century Park East, Suite 404, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 424-303-1964, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com , or by email at brian@schallfirm.com .

The class, in this case, has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.

According to the Complaint, the Company made false and misleading statements to the market. Goldman Sachs conspired with 1Malaysia Development Bhd., an investment fund owned by the government of Malaysia, to commit money laundering and fraud. These schemes would expose Goldman Sachs to legal and regulatory scrutiny, a fact the company could have reasonably foreseen. Based on these facts, the Companys public statements were false and materially misleading throughout the class period. When the market learned the truth about Goldman Sachs, investors suffered damages.

Join the case to recover your losses.

The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.

CONTACT:

The Schall Law Firm

Brian Schall, Esq.,

Sherin Mahdavian, Esq.,

www.schallfirm.com

Office: 310-301-3335

Cell: 424-303-1964

info@schallfirm.com

SOURCE:

The Schall Law Firm
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 00:39:33|Editor: yan

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ROME, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- In the span of three decades, Italy has gone from a country with one of the highest per-capita smoking rates in Europe, to the first to outlaw smoking in public places and to one mulling a ban on smoking even in private automobiles.

Analysts are divided over the feasibility of a proposed reform to the traffic codes designed to prevent people from smoking in their own cars. Advocates say banning smoking in private vehicles would help avoid health problems related to smoking, while also decreasing traffic risks associated with drivers getting distracted while smoking.

"This idea presents a new take on a very old problem, which is how to balance the rights of an individual's freedom to make personal choices and the desire to make changes that benefit the public at large," Fabio Galli, an analyst on road and traffic issues with consumer organization Codacons, told Xinhua.

Galli said the proposal is in the "earliest stages" of passage, and that it has several apparent flaws.

"The first question I have is how it would be enforced," Galli said. "There's also the question of whether this is the kind of issue where the government should be involved."

Oliviero Fiorini, a political affairs with ABS Securities, said a low limiting smoking in vehicles would probably be treated as government overreach if questioned by courts.

"We see a few examples of the government trying to incentivize a kind of moral code," Fiorini said in an interview.

"There is the idea of forcing stores to close on Sundays so workers can spend time with their families, or closing the country's borders to reduce the impact of foreign cultures," Fiorini went on. "But a ban on smoking in cars seems to go a little further."

Fiorini said that if the goal is to reduce smoking, it would be more efficient to further raise taxes on cigarettes or to outlaw them all together. If the goal is to remove distractions for drivers, then rules should also be created against mobile phone use in cars.

Italy first started to regulate cigarette use in the early 1960s with a law against advertisements for smoking products and laws against smoking on public transport. In the 1970s, the government sponsored a series of public awareness campaigns, including in schools. Starting in 1990, cigarette packing was required to carry explicit health warnings.

Despite all that, Italy was among the European states with the highest percentage of cigarette smokers in 1990, when around 36 percent of adults smoked regularly, according to data monitoring company ResearchGate. That number has been reduced by more than half today, with only around 16 percent of adults reporting they smoke regularly.

"Reforms are having an effect, even if people were against them at the time," Giordano Bisemi, president of ASAPS, an entity promoting road safety, told Xinhua. "Almost 20 years ago, Italy was the first European Union country to outlaw smoking in restaurants and cinemas, for example."

But Bisemi said a ban on smoking in private cars may be too much.

"We already have rules against smoking in cars serving the public, like taxis and limousines," Bisemi said. "Drivers can't smoke in their car if they are driving a pregnant woman, or if children under the age of 12 are present. I'm not sure there's a value to going far beyond the laws that exist today."
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 00:29:30|Editor: yan

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VILNIUS, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite had a phone call with British Prime Minister Theresa May to discuss Brexit situations, announced the President's Office on Friday.

According to the announcement, the Lithuanian president told May "that Lithuania understood the challenges faced by the United Kingdom and was ready to help find creative solutions to the situation".

"It is very important for the British political forces to reach a consensus and decide on the model of relationship with the European Union," Grybauskaite said during the phone call with May, according to the President's Office.

With the Brexit deadline March 29 approaching, Grybauskaite emphasized that clarity is necessary for both sides -- the European Union and the UK.

The phone call was initiated by the UK Prime Minister to congratulate Grybauskaite and the people of Lithuania on Feb. 16 the Independence Day, and conveyed her wholehearted congratulations, informed the President's Office.

The Lithuanian officials are concerned about the future of Lithuanian expats living in the UK following Brexit.

Since Lithuania's accession to the EU in 2004, the UK has been among top destinations to Lithuanians looking for better pay and jobs abroad. According to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, around 200,000 Lithuanian expats live in the UK.

Lithuania is a small Baltic country with a population of less than 3 million.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 00:19:25|Editor: yan

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) Commission on Friday urged its member countries and partners to join hands to eradicate child labor.

Despite a global decline in child labor, the pan-African bloc said, "it is unfortunate to witness that most of the countries with worst child labor practices are still in Africa."

"The Africa region has also been among those most affected by situations of state fragility and crisis, which in turn heighten the risk of child labor," the AU commission said in a statement on Friday.

According to the 2016 Global Estimates of Child Labor, one-fifth of all African children are involved in child labor.

According to the report, 72.1 million African children are estimated to be in child labor and 31.5 million in hazardous work, with high prevalence in agriculture and mining.

Some 9 percent of African children are in hazardous work, which is also the highest of all the world's regions, according to the report.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 00:14:23|Editor: yan

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on Friday revealed that the African continent has made considerable progress in improving health outcomes over the past few decades.

Executive Secretary of the ECA Vera Songwe, while addressing a high-level health-themed meeting in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa which was organized by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), said that considerable health-sector achievements were registered in Africa over the past years.

From 1990 to 2015 life expectancy increased from 54 to 63 years, according to Songwe.

The ECA chief also indicated that the number of women dying in childbirth and the number of children dying before the age of five nearly halved during the same period.

Songwe, however, stressed that despite the progresses made in the healthcare sector, efforts should be strengthened so as to achieve global and continental targets.

"Although this progress is commendable, it is not rapid enough to achieve the health-related sustainable development goals by 2030," Songwe said.

"Ethiopia too has been a witness to progress on health outcomes," Songwe said, adding that "The maternal mortality ratio declined from 871 deaths to 412 maternal deaths per 100,000 in the period 2000 to 2016." she said.

According to Songwe, the under-5 mortality rate had declined in Ethiopia from 166 deaths to 67 deaths per thousand live births from 2000 to 2016.

The high-level meeting was part of the "Africa Health Week" that has been underway in line with the African Union (AU) heads of state and government summit that was held last week at the headquarters of the pan African bloc in Addis Ababa.

The African Health Week brought together Africa's public health decision makers, health stakeholders, regional and global private sector, to harness the continent's potential and opportunities to financing its health sector.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 00:14:23|Editor: yan

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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday visited restive Indian-controlled Kashmir to pay tributes to the paramilitary troopers killed in a suicide bomber attack, officials said.

Singh, along with home ministry officials, reached Srinagar on Friday afternoon and went to a paramilitary camp in Budgam to lay floral wreaths at the coffins of paramilitary troopers, besides paying tributes to them.

"The home minister attended a solemn function where the remains of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were kept in coffins, draped with tricolour," an official said.

On Thursday at least 40 paramilitary troopers belonging to CRPF were killed and many others wounded after a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into their convoy on national highway near Lethpora village in Pulwama district, about 27 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Though officials haven't issued any statement on casualties, local media put the death toll much beyond 40.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad group had subsequently claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

Militant groups opposing New Delhi's rule are engaged in a guerilla war with Indian troops in the region since 1989. Gunfight between the two sides takes place intermittently.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 00:09:21|Editor: yan

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GAZA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Fierce clashes broke out on Friday between hundreds of Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers close to the border between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel, eyewitnesses and field paramedics said.

They added that several demonstrators were injured by Israeli gunfire, rubber bullets and tear gas. The clashes are expected to last for several hours, according to the rallies' organizers.

The Palestinian demonstrators joined on Friday the 47th rallies, part of a weekly anti-Israel protests, better known as the "Great March of Return," which started late last March.

Representatives of the Hamas-led commission called on the Gaza Strip populations via mosques loudspeakers to join the weekly protests.

In central Gaza Strip, east of al-Bureij refugee camp, close to the border with Israel, Palestinian protesters built up barriers of sand bags near the border and brought dozens of car tires for burning during the protests.

However, the commission stressed that it is the right of the Palestinians to demonstrate against the tight measures practiced by Israel against Gaza, and called on the protesters to respect the peacefulness of the marches.

Several Israeli media outlets said on Thursday night that the Israeli army leadership warned its soldiers on the border with Gaza a possible tension with the Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave.

Since the start of the rallies, Israeli soldiers shot to death more than 250 demonstrators and wounded around 26,000 others. Most of them were wounded by Israeli gunfire, according to officials of Gaza Health Ministry.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 00:09:21|Editor: WX

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NEW DELHI, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- India on Friday withdrew the most favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan in the aftermath of Thursday's suicide attack on a convoy of paramilitary force in India-controlled Kashmir.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Home Minister (Internal Security) Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval.

The attack, which killed more than 40 Indian paramilitary personnel and injured an equal number of officers belonging to the Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), is being described as the worst-ever terror attack on Indian security forces in Kashmir in recent years.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad group had subsequently claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

The MFN status is an economic position in which a country enjoys the best trade terms given by its trading partner, which means it receives the lowest tariffs, the fewest trade barriers, and the highest import quotas.

Jaitley was quoted as saying, "The 'most favoured nation' status which was granted to Pakistan, stands withdrawn."
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-16 00:09:21|Editor: yan

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) said Friday its Electoral Observation Mission (AU-EOM) to Nigeria's upcoming general elections comprises 50 members.

The observer mission, led by former Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn, held its final round of meetings on Friday with stakeholders in the Nigerian general elections, which is scheduled to take place the next day.

"Since the mission's deployment, Desalegn has been receiving updates from various stakeholders including political parties, the electoral commission, civil society, government officials and other observer groups," an AU statement reads.

The 50-member AU delegation includes AU Commissioner for Political Affairs Minata Samate Cessouma and other high-profile personalities.

The deployment of the delegation followed an invitation by the Nigerian government and the west African country's electoral commission, and as part of the AU's mandate and commitment to supporting credible, transparent and inclusive electoral processes across the continent, the AU said.

The Nigeria Independent National Electoral Commission said last month that more than 84 million Nigerians have registered to vote in the general elections, representing about 42 percent of the country's population.

A total of 73 presidential candidates are vying to take Nigeria's top job.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 23:59:20|Editor: yan

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BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Senior diplomats from permanent missions of eight countries to the United Nations Office at Geneva arrived in Beijing Friday and will pay a visit to northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from Saturday to Tuesday.

Those diplomats, from Pakistan, Venezuela, Cuba, Egypt, Cambodia, Russia, Senegal and Belarus, are visiting at the invitation of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During talks with the delegation, Jiang Jianguo, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that since the 1990s, the "three evil forces" -- terrorism, extremism and separatism -- have organized and conducted thousands of violent terrorist attacks in Xinjiang, causing massive casualties and injuries of people and substantial property damage.

Based on international anti-terrorism experience and its own reality, Xinjiang has made obvious progress in recent years by means including setting up vocational education and training centers, Jiang said, adding that people's sense of gain, happiness and security have been greatly lifted.

Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said when holding talks with the delegation that the world is faced with rising instability, uncertainty and insecurity, thus multilateralism should be insisted on.

All parties should respect other countries' own human rights development paths, jointly oppose supremacy of human rights and promote the healthy development of the human rights causes in the world, Le said.

Members of the visiting delegation spoke highly of China's development paths, concepts and achievements. They also expressed willingness to make joint efforts with China to promote all parties to treat various kinds of human rights issues equally and prevent the issue from being politicized.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 23:59:18|Editor: yan

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CAPE TOWN, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The South African cabinet on Friday threw its weight behind a proposal to split embattled power utility Eskom which is blamed for a worsening power crisis.

"The strategic unbundling of Eskom into three separate wholly state-owned entities -- generation, transmission and distribution -- is required for the long-term sustainability of the power utility and the country," the cabinet said in a statement after a fortnightly meeting in Cape Town.

In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) earlier this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa proposed to split Eskom which he said has been termed too big to fail, placing the government in a position "where all its eggs are in one basket."

His proposal has received the most attention from various sectors, particularly after a series of attempts have failed to salvage cash-strapped Eskom.

A unitary Eskom has proven to be difficult to lead, Ramaphosa said on Thursday during a debate on his SONA in Parliament.

High levels of debt and default risk have left Eskom in dire straits as the power utility battles to meet demand.

The state-run parastatal is facing debts amounting to 420 billion rand (about 30 billion U.S. dollars). The Department of Public Enterprises said on Wednesday that Eskom would cease to exist at the current trajectory by April this year.

In its Friday statement, the cabinet said South Africa's energy supply remains an absolute imperative and the current situation at Eskom poses significant risks to the country, its financial stability and the economy.

To address the recent situation, Ramaphosa has appointed a special cabinet committee on Eskom led by Deputy President David Mabuza and comprising the ministers of public enterprises, energy, finance, transport, intelligence and police.

This committee will deal with matters of Eskom daily and deliver daily reports to the president on what actions need to be taken to secure energy supply, according to acting cabinet spokesperson Phumla Williams.

The team is expected to meet with all stakeholders to help restore stability to the grid and chart a way forward whilst ensuring that there is minimal economic cost to the consumer and taxpayers, said Williams.
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TORONTO, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Media are invited to attend the launch of a provincial campaign to improve access to post-secondary education and strengthen students rights.



The campaign launch will begin with a media conference at the Queens Park Press Gallery, kicking off a week of action in the province, including a march and rally in Toronto. The events on Tuesday, February 19 are supported by a wide coalition of labour unions representing campus, public and private sector workers.

Media Conference: CFS-Ontario Campaign Launch

When: 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, February 19 Where: Queens Park Press Gallery Who: Nour Alideeb, Chairperson, Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario RM Kennedy, College Faculty Division Chair, Ontario Public Sector Employees Union Rahul Sapra, Vice President, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations Sam Hammond, President, Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario

We the Students March and Rally

What: Students, and allies in public and private sector labour unions to march from Yonge and Dundas Square to Queens Park, then hold a rally. When: Tuesday, February 19 Gather at 10:30 a.m. March to begin at 11:00 a.m. Rally at Queens Park at 12:00 p.m. Where: March from Yonge-Dundas Square to Queens Park, 111 Wellesley St Y, Toronto, ON Who: Nour Alideeb, Chairperson, Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario Kim Vaz, Campaign Lead, Feed Students, Support Survivors Campaign Jacky Tuinstra Harrison, National Campus and Community Radio Association Ahmad Gaied, Vice President, Ontario Federation of Labour JP Hornick, Ontario Public Sector Employees Union Harvey Bischof, President, Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation

For information on events organized throughout the week, visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/252997205592024/



The rally is organized in partnership with the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Ontario Federation of Labour, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, and Unifor.

The Canadian Federation of Students is the largest post-secondary student organization in the country, representing more than 500,000 students nationally and more than 350,000 provincially. The Federation advocates for universal, tuition-free, public post-secondary education.

For more information contact:

Ian McRae, Government Relations and Policy Coordinator: 416-925-3825 or 306-852-0128

Nour Alideeb, Chairperson: 416-925-3825
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 23:49:15|Editor: yan

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by Xinhua writers Liu Xi, Zhang Xu

CAIRO, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Warsaw conference on the Middle East ended up without setting up the anti-Iran coalition, an overt goal of the United States that remains unrealized.

The two-day conference, co-organized from Feb. 13 to 14 by Poland and the United States, appeared to be a blatant attempt to build the coalition of hardliners.

The world's No. 1 power invited some of its allies and Iran's rivals to set the stage for the coalition. However, the European Union (EU) and Arab countries differed on the Iranian issue, leading to no specific agreements.

With the absence of major powers, the conference only resulted in a joint statement, saying that the United States and Poland will create the Middle East Strategic Study Group, a forum of experts, away from what the United States desired.

PERSISTENCE OF U.S. AND ALLIES

The conference, attended by the representatives of more than 60 countries, invited Israel and Arab states, but not Iran.

The main topics included the political situation and the role of Iran in regional developments, the situations in Yemen and Syria as well as the security and stability in the region.

During Thursday's session, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence accused Iran of being the "greatest state sponsor of terrorism in the world."

Nathan Tek, U.S. State Department spokesman in the Middle East, told Arab News that the broad agenda of the conference, will reinvigorate efforts to address the region's challenges by "revitalizing our alliances and partnerships."

According to Iran's official IRNA news agency, among the regional countries, Saudi Arabia is eager to make a coalition against Iran during the meeting.

The report said that Saudi Arabia is also following two more objectives from the conference: maximum pressure against Iran and struggle to ease international pressures on Riyadh.

Khalid bin Salman, Saudi ambassador to the United States, said that Saudi Arabia joined the conference "to take a firm stand against forces that threaten the future of peace and security in the region."

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was one of the few leaders with resolve against Iran. He considers Iran as Israel's greatest enemy.

In recent years, Israel has carried out hundreds of deadly airstrikes in Syria, claiming that the attacks targeted Iranian sites in order to prevent Iranian forces from achieving a permanent military foothold in Syria.

ABSENCE OF WORLD POWERS

The absence of other world and regional major players turned the Warsaw conference into somehow a one-man show for the United States.

Russia announced its discontent over holding the conference. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini didn't attend the conference, neither did foreign ministers of France and Germany, which sent lower-ranking staff instead.

Turkey attended at the ambassador's level. In the region, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine were also absent.

IRNA said that only some Eastern European states contributed to the meeting to ally with the United States.

During the conference, Pence called for his country's European allies to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.

Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal negotiated with Iran, and re-imposed full sanctions on the Islamic republic.

Iran's Kayhan newspaper said that the absence of higher officials from major European powers, key players in the Iran nuclear deal, in the Warsaw conference highlights "festering tensions within the EU over Trump's decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal."

Ellie Geranmayeh, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that the rejection of the conference by some European countries reflects that "although EU countries have problems with Iran's regional behaviors," they don't believe the way in which the U.S. addresses the problem is "constructive for security and stability in the region."

"ANTI-IRAN CIRCUS"

Iran, alongside with Lebanon, has condemned Warsaw conference as an "anti-Iran circus."

Warsaw meeting's final statement is "a proof of the anti-Iran summit's failure," Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

"Despite Washington's efforts to forge a new alliance against the Islamic republic, the small number and low level of the participants in the conference turned the final statement of the summit into a useless document," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.

The final document was developed only by the two organizers of the meeting, and "lacked any credibility," Qasemi added.

The Iranian spokesman also dismissed the allegations raised against Iran during the Warsaw meeting.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that Iran will stand firm in the face of U.S. sanction pressures.

"There won't be a tangible outcome with a statement that isolates Iran," Geranmayeh said.

"European countries are going to be very cautious on what statement they will sign or join any conclusion that points the finger at Iran," the expert added.

Professor Abdel-Mohdy Motawe, a Cairo-based Palestinian political analyst, said that the administration of Trump failed to push the Europeans to adopt a serious position against Iran through increasing sanctions and escalation against Iran.

Therefore, Trump tries to create another bloc by the establishment of "an Arab NATO" supported by Israel to confront Iran, Motawe added.

According to the analyst, the idea of establishing an Arab NATO will fail, as U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo failed to market this idea during his recent visit to Cairo and the Middle East region.

The conference is an opportunity that Netanyahu massively uses in his electoral publicity, because he sees that hostility to Iran is the way to build relations with Arab states without having to go through a settlement for the Palestinian issue, Motawe said.

In Motawe's view, the conference will not do any good for the Palestinians, especially that key Arab states have expressed their positions towards the Palestinian cause.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 23:49:15|Editor: yan

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ANKARA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Only Turkish forces should be present in the planned safe zone in northeast Syria, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday, mentioning the idea to set up a safe zone after U.S. troops pull out of Syria.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Hulusi Akar reiterated that clearing the People's Protection Unit (YPG) from Syria is of utmost importance for Turkey's security, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Despite using different labels, the terrorist PKK, PYD, and YPG are in fact the same group, Akar added.

Turkey regards YPG militia, who are allied with the United States in the fight against the Islamic State group, as offshoot of outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels inside Turkey.

Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey will establish a safe zone in northern Syria along the length of its border with the assistance of the U.S.-led coalition forces.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 23:39:13|Editor: yan

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WARSAW, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- By organizing a Middle East conference in Warsaw zeroing in on Iran, the United States has widened divisions among European Union countries, while securing its interests instead of promoting peace and security in the Middle East, a Polish scholar said on Friday.

The Warsaw conference, co-organized by Poland and the U.S., was billed by the U.S. Department of State as a "Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East." However, this was not the real intention of the U.S., according to Robert Czulda, an assistant professor of Middle East studies at the University of Lodz.

The ministerial meeting came as the EU member states hold different opinions on Iran. Last year, the U.S. withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions. Other countries involved in the deal, including major European powers such as Germany, France and Britain, have since tried to keep the deal alive.

"One of the U.S.' goals was to widen divisions among EU member states. The UK, Germany and France still support the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and in fact Poland does support it too," Czulda told Xinhua in an interview.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini didn't attend the conference, and neither did the foreign ministers of France and Germany, who sent lower ranking officials instead. Russia also stayed away, while British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who came to warsaw to chair a meeting on peace in Yemen, left early.

"The absence of high-ranking officials of the EU shows that the EU's policy towards Iran differs" from that of the U.S., Czulda said.

The Polish academic noted that "the U.S.' intention was not to promote peace and security but to secure its own interests -- and this is not an accusation."

"Each power thinks first of all about its own national interests. The U.S. wants to secure Pax Americana in the Middle East, which Tehran said openly that it would destroy," said Czulda, a former visiting professor at Islamic Azad University in Iran.

He said that the U.S. appears to have no clear and coherent policies today. Vice President Mike Pence said in Warsaw that America wanted to "roll back" Iran's influence in the region, while at the same time President Donald Trump was planning to withdraw the U.S. troops from Syria.

"This means that there is a logical hole in the U.S.' strategy -- you cannot contain your enemy and then withdraw your resources that are crucial for achieving this goal," he said.

Another important goal for the U.S. is to bring Israel and the Arab monarchies to the same table.

"The White House is keen to see Arab-Israeli (mainly Saudi-Israeli) cooperation become a reality, " he said.

Czulda pointed out that conference co-host Poland had two considerations: one is its own reputation, and the other is enhanced U.S. military presence in the country.

"By hosting a multinational diplomatic event of this scale, Poland could boost its international reputation and prestige. Meanwhile, Poland expects a larger deployment of permanent U.S. troops because of security concerns," he said.

However, the Polish government doesn't want to defy the EU for supporting America.

Addressing a joint press conference in Warsaw with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said Poland is part of the EU and hence it accepts the policy of JCPOA.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 23:39:13|Editor: yan

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JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Two labor unions called on South African government to intervene and come up with options that might avert the possible retrenchments of 6,000 workers in the gold mining sector.

The Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Solidarity's call come after Sibanye-Stillwater on Thursday announced that the restructuring of its mines would lead to over 6,000 retrenchments.

NUM's media officer Luphert Chilwane told Xinhua on Friday that they are pinning their hopes on upcoming consultations with Sibanye-Stillwater. "We hope that the consultations will avert retrenchments. There should be an alternative." Chilwane said.

Chilwane said labor unions are aware of problems confronting the gold sector. "Gold prices have been down. Some mines are old, but we call on Minerals Resources Department to intervene and come up with plans to revive these mines."

Gideon du Plessis, General Secretary at Solidarity union, also said loss making shafts must be revived.

"The Minerals Council of South Africa says 80 percent of gold mines are marginal, only 10 percent are making profits. The gold sector is under tremendous pressure," he told Xinhua. "We must do everything in our power to delay this ship from sinking."

Minerals Resources Department said the department will engage with all stakeholders and to explore all possible options to ensure many jobs are saved.

Sibanye-Stillwater, the largest gold producer in South Africa, blamed its financial losses for the looming job cuts. It is believed that the prolonged strike by members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union since November last year has also exacerbated problems in the company.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 23:34:12|Editor: yan

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DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania's forest watchdog said on Friday 17 local companies have won tenders for logging in an area earmarked for the Stiegler's Gorge hydropower project in the Selous Game Reserve, the world's renowned wildlife area.

Dos Santos Silayo, Chief Executive of the Tanzania Forest Services (TFS) Agency, said the firms started logging in the area in December last year.

"We expect that the logging process will take one and a half years beginning December last year," said Silayo in an interview with Xinhua.

He said since the forest agency announced the logging tenders in May last year, no international company applied until the tenders were closed.

TFS said last year its intention was to clear the project area before implementation of the project started.

"We opened the tenders for cutting down the trees so that they can be used for various purposes rather than destroying them," Silayo said.

However, Silayo said the successful tenderers will not be allowed to export the logs, according to the Forest Regulations of 2004 unless otherwise permitted by the minister responsible for natural resources and tourism.

Clearance of the area will pave way for the commencement of the grand hydropower generation project at the Stiegler's Gorge in the Selous Game Reserve.

Medard Kalemani, the Minister for Energy, said in April last year the hydropower project will see the construction of the largest dam in Tanzania along the Rufiji River.

Kalemani said currently the government was building relevant infrastructure that will simplify the implementation of the project.

Kalemani said the Stiegler's Gorge power generation project was expected to completely end the country's power woes and sustain local industries with electricity and sell the surplus outside the country.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 23:29:11|Editor: yan

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DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian authorities said on Friday there was no outbreak of the deadly Tilapia Lake Virus in Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake shared by Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

"There is no reason for alarm," Rashid Tamatama, Tanzania's permanent secretary in the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, told Xinhua.

The official was reacting to reports last week of an outbreak of the Tilapia Lake Virus, a deadly disease that threatens fish stocks, both farmed and wild.

A research on the genetic make-up of the Tilapia Lake Virus conducted in Lake Victoria last year showed no signs of the prevalence of the virus, Tamatama said.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries are compiling findings on the reported virus, he said, adding that the findings will be released in two weeks.

Last week, the FAO in Uganda set up a committee to investigate the reported outbreak of the Tilapia Lake Virus in Lake Victoria.

Jacob Olwo, program officer of fisheries and aquaculture at FAO Uganda, said the committee comprised experts from Uganda, Kenya, Angola, Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana.

The team would find out whether there was an outbreak in Lake Victoria and also draw plans on how the disease would be tackled if an outbreak is confirmed, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 23:24:09|Editor: yan

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CHONGQING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) announced the launch a special campaign to inspect the sewage outlets to the Yangtze River Friday.

To inspect and manage the contamination from the sewer drains is fundamentally important in improving the ecological environment of the Yangtze River, said Zhai Qing, vice minister of the MEE.

The campaign will last for two years, aiming to grasp a general picture of the number of the sewage outlets to the Yangtze River, monitor the sewer drains, detect the source of pollution and control and curb the pollution.

The inspection will cover 11 provinces and cities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, including Sichuan province and the municipalities of Chongqing and Shanghai.

The trunk stream, major tributaries and Taihu Lake will be the focus of the inspection, the MEE said.

"Not a single sewage outlet to the Yangtze River could be left out," said Zhai, adding that this round of inspection will be based on the previous work but go further and deeper.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 23:19:08|Editor: yan

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YANGON, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's Hong Kong film series Line Walker will shoot some scenes in Myanmar's Yangon starting from Feb. 17, according to a press conference here on Friday.

The Line Walker (Operation Midnight Shadow), a sequel to the previous film of Line Walker series, is produced by China's Hong Kong-based Shaw Brother Pictures International Ltd. and J.Q. Pictures.

Stunt Director Chin Ka Lok said that he has never made movies in Myanmar before and would like to shed light on the culture of Myanmar in the film.

The shooting will be conducted at some major places in downtown Yangon city from Feb. 17 to Feb. 26.

The Myanmar government agreed upon permission of shooting such a foreign movie in Myanmar in order to introduce the Myanmar culture to the international market, to promote the development of the country's motion picture and tourism sector, U Aye Kywe, deputy director-general of the Information and Public Relations Department said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 23:19:06|Editor: WX

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- At least nine Afghan border force members and 16 militants were killed after Taliban attacked border security checkpoints in southern Kandahar province on Friday, provincial police chief said.

Gen. Taddin Khan told Xinhua that two border force personnel and nine militants were also wounded after clashes erupted in bordering Shorabak district early Friday.

The Taliban militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack in the province, 450 km south of Kabul.

Meanwhile, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, told local reporters that the outfit's insurgents killed more than 20 border security forces while several Taliban fighters also died in the gun fight.

Security situation has been improving in Kandahar, the former stronghold of Taliban, over the past a few months as security forces have conducted search and cordon operations across the province. But Taliban militants attack government interests in the province from time to time.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 23:14:03|Editor: yan

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by Frank Kanyesigye

KIGALI, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- African coffee products could dominate the global market in the next five years as some countries have expanded coffee growing acreage and raised quality of coffee produce, experts told Xinhua on Friday.

Production of coffee in Africa could rise by more than 2 million bags in each of the next five years, as farming improves in most coffee-growing countries like Ethiopia, Cote d'Ivoire, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania, said Peter Kettler, global product manager for coffee at Fairtrade International.

Africa has huge opportunity to dominate global coffee market in the near future as coffee consumption surges around the world, Kettler told Xinhua on the sidelines of the 17th African Fine Coffees Conference and Exhibition in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

Major coffee producers like Brazil and other Latin American countries have been exposed to various environmental challenges and coffee diseases that lowered output of coffee, which offers a good opportunity for African coffee producing countries to raise output and exports, he said.

Ria Stout, chief regional officer of Rainforest Alliance, a U.S.-based certification program for coffee companies, concurred, saying Africa's finest quality beans are attracting global attention.

Ishak Lukenge, chairman of African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA), said demand for African coffee is trending upward due to growing popularity of specialty coffee, which now accounts for one of every two cups in America and Europe.

African coffee-producing countries have streamlined the entire value chain from land preparation to export, raising the continent's capacity to cope up with the ever increasing demand of coffee, he said.

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), Africa accounts for about 12 percent of the world's coffee production, but its beans are much prized by coffee connoisseurs.

Global coffee consumption will rise by a third to 200 million bags by 2030, as population increases and disposable incomes rise, according to the WEF.

Members of the African Fine Coffees Conference and Exhibition include Cameroon, Burundi, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Rwanda.

The three-day conference, which runs through Friday, brought together more than 600 delegates, including 65 exhibitors, from across Africa and beyond, to discuss ways to raise the quality and competitiveness of coffee produced in Africa.
Toronto, Canada, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For the first time ever a Canadian Indigenous integrated cannabis company, namely Wiisag, has joined forces with an international Indigenous community to grow and develop high quality medical cannabis products for the Canadian and world markets.

The Westmoreland Hemp and Ganja Farmers Association (WHGFA) has invited Wiisag to provide funding, services and management for their 10-acre Pilot Project to grow medical cannabis. The project is expected to commence in the 2nd quarter of 2019 and yield two crops of medical marijuana on the allocated land this year.

Jamaican cannabis is globally recognized as almost mythical because of its incredible 300-year history of cultural impact and usage, said Jake Linklater, Executive Chairman of Wiisag. All of the secrets and wisdom that have been buried in the shadows because cannabis is technically illegal in Jamaica and can now come out into the open because this pilot project is legal. Its only natural that we would partner with Jamaicans first as we expand Wiisags indigenous community globally. We are honoured to have been selected by WHGFA and are committed to execute this important opportunity.

The agreement was signed last week in Negril, Jamaica and picked up by local Jamaican press. Wiisag executives traveled to Kingston, Jamaica the following day to discuss the pilot project with Jamaican Ministry of Agriculture and hear their support for the Pilot Project.

Both parties seek to forge a strategic partnership to grow and develop medical marijuana products, said WHGFA Chairman, Delroy Johnson, who chaired the meetings and signing. Our commitment is to work with Wiisag and benefit from their vision to create a competitive global company with branded products grown and developed by indigenous farmers and entrepreneurs. We have so much talent and know-how here. Weve looked at many proposals over the past two years from all sorts of companies but Wiisags approach, team, and dedication to indigenous values and principles won the day.

The agreement is endorsed by Jamaican ganja activist Ras Iyah V, who is also a Board member of the Jamaican Cannabis Licensing Authority. Iyah V is one of the worlds most-sought-after speakers on the science of growing herb and the rights of indigenous peoples, especially Rastafarians.

We want to see agreements like these because we believe the small farmers must have a stake in this emerging new industry, said Iyah V, who is the driving force behind the annual Rastafari Roots Fest and Ganjamaica Cup in Negril.

Jake Linklater concluded, As an indigenous Canadian, I felt right at home with the wonderful people we met in Jamaica. The issues, struggles, and new optimism for cannabis as a means that we can create an economic engine for indigenous people were all very familiar. Wiisag is ready to work with all First Nations and indigenous groups who share our vision.

Mr. Iyah V will be attending the National Indigenous Cannabis and Hemp Conference, February 19-21, in Ottawa, Canada. For more information, please visit www.wiisag.ca and www.nichc.ca
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 22:58:59|Editor: yan

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TIANJIN, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's CRRC, the world's largest supplier of rail transit equipment, has recently opened its financial leasing subsidiary in a bid to expand its business overseas.

The financial leasing firm in Dongjiang Free Trade Port Zone in the northern Chinese municipality of Tianjin has a registered capital of 3 billion yuan (443 million U.S. dollars).

As the first financial leasing firm established after the unveiling of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission last April, it was jointly founded by CRRC Corp. Ltd., its parent company CRRC Group, and Tianjin Trust Co., Ltd.

The CRRC Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. will move quickly into the global high-speed rail locomotive sales system to increase exports of China-made rail equipment through financial leasing, a company official told Xinhua.

The company will help facilitate global business through capital and technology exports to realize in-depth cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road, the official said.

As a new and major financial services platform for the rolling stock industry, it focuses on world-leading rail transit equipment, including high-speed trains, high-powered locomotives, freight trains and urban rail transit vehicles.

Dongjiang Free Trade Port Zone is a major home for financial leasing companies that contribute to 80 percent of the financial leasing businesses for aircraft, ships for international shipping and offshore engineering equipment in China.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 22:33:56|Editor: yan

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MOGADISHU, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- East Africa grouping on Friday welcomed the African Union's call for cancelling Somalia's debt towards the pan African body's member states.

Mahboub Maalim, executive secretary of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, said debt cancellation would go a long way to improve lives of Somalis who have been adversely affected by three decades of unfavorable conditions in all aspects of their day-to-day life.

"The Executive Secretary views debt cancellation as a means towards enhancing peace, security, development and durable solutions for displaced Somalis," Maalim said in a statement.

"Somalia's efforts at peace consolidation are constrained by the debt burden that prevents it from accessing concessionary financing and normalizing relations with International Financial Institutions (IFIs)," he added.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in early 2018 pledged to prioritize Somalia's debt relief, saying every effort is being made to speed up the process.

According to the IMF, Somalia's external debt is about 5 billion U.S. dollars, but Mogadishu has not made a service or amortization payment since the onset of the civil war two decades ago, making it impossible to access loans from the IMF.

Maalim expressed his unwavering support to the AU call in regards to the "IFIs that have pledged financial support, to step up their good faith efforts and accelerate the normalization of financial relations with Somalia."

He reiterated the regional bloc's support to Somalia's journey to peace and lasting development, and recalled that Somali people deserve a peaceful and prosperous Somalia.

He concluded that a normalized Horn of African nation will be a major player towards regional integration in the sub-region.

To qualify for the debt cancellation, Somalia needs to convince the IMF, which would possibly convene its board of directors to review the country's progress.

Should the IMF board give approval for the debt cancellation, Somalia would be required to hold bilateral talks with private donors on the terms of debt forgiveness.

Somalia started lobbying for debt cancellation during the 32nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union which ended in Ethiopia on Monday.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 22:33:55|Editor: Liangyu

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Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with the new Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Vladimir Norov in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 15, 2019. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday met with Vladimir Norov, the newly appointed secretary general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Wang congratulated Norov on assuming his new post, saying that the Chinese side is willing to continue to keep close communication with SCO secretariat to carry forward the "Shanghai Spirit" and implement the outcomes of the SCO Qingdao Summit.

He called on the two sides to continue to strengthen anti-terrorism cooperation, launch the feasibility studies on establishing an SCO free trade area, carry out more people-to-people exchanges and align the Belt and Road Initiative with development strategies of SCO countries.

Norov pledged to fulfill his duties, implementing the consensus reached by leaders of SCO countries and outcomes of the SCO Qingdao Summit, so as to contribute more to the development of the SCO.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 22:23:54|Editor: Xiaoxia

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NAIROBI, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Friday received a certificate from the World Health Organization (WHO) for eliminating maternal and Neonatal Tetanus.

The country made the achievement following a recommendation for validation that was made in 2018 by a WHO-led process.

"I applaud Kenya for having attained elimination status of maternal and neonatal tetanus," Rudi Eggers, WHO Representative to Kenya said in Nairobi during a national immunization forum.

Eggers said that Kenya now needs to maintain the elimination status by vaccinating women of reproductive age with tetanus toxoid and implement hygienic practices during delivery.

"Let us now step up effort to identify the unreached children and then design specific innovative approaches to reach them," said Eggers.

He said that Kenya is now officially out of the list of 14 countries that had not yet eliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus in 2018.

Rashid Amana, chief administrative secretary in the ministry of health commended the ministry of health personnel for ensuring that Kenya joins countries that had already been certified tetanus free.

Amana urged health personnel to strive and reach the target for routine immunization as had been outlined in the ministry's program.

"We have to continue the planned immunization program to help save lives of children in the country," said Amana.

The official said that Kenya plans to attain 90 percent immunization nationally while all the 47 counties are expected to reach 80 percent by 2020.

Neonatal tetanus is a fatal disease particularly in difficult-to-reach and rural areas where deliveries take place at home without adequate sterile producers and in unclean environment.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C) talks to acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan (R) and British Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Williamson before the NATO defense ministers meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 14, 2019.(Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

BRUSSELS, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Thursday wrapped up this year's first ministerial meeting over arms control, burden-sharing and European defence etc, as tensions resulting from Washington and Moscow's disputes over who violated a Cold War era arms-control treaty loom large.

INF TREATY TENSIONS

In his wrapping-up press conference, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called again on Russia to use the remaining six months to return to full and verifiable compliance to preserve the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

Moscow and Washington have been accusing each other of violating the agreement in recent years amid increasing tensions. On Feb. 1, the U.S. administration announced that it is withdrawing from the INF Treaty with Russia within six months, starting from Feb. 2. Following the U.S. decision, Russia announced on Feb. 2 that it will also suspend its participation in the treaty.

For Moscow, the dismantling of an arms control system by the United States might result in unpredictable consequences.

"Look what is going on in the disarmament field. The Americans tend to totally dismantle the arms control system which will evolve into an absolutely unpredictable scenario," Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said Saturday.

"All Allies stand ready to engage further with Russia. But we are also preparing for a world without the INF Treaty," the Secretary General said.

To that end, a number of NATO members offered contributions to the "Four Thirties" Readiness Initiative, which will ensure 30 combat ships, 30 land battalions, and 30 air squadrons, are ready to deploy within 30 days or less.

"This will increase NATO's ability to respond quickly and decisively to any future crisis," he said during the two-day meeting.

EXTRA SPENDING ON DEFENCE

On the bitter issue of burden sharing, Stoltenberg told reporters that NATO's European members and Canada will spend an extra 100 billion U.S. dollars on defence by the end of 2020.

Since just prior to his inauguration in January 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump has made repeated criticism about unfair burden-sharing in NATO and bandwagon of other ally members, as the United States has for a long time been pulling the heaviest weight of NATO military budget.

In addition to referring to NATO as "obsolete" at the time, he blasted allies for not meeting 2 percent defense spending commitments.

Since his inauguration, Trump has argued that fellow NATO allies have been leaving the United States to foot the bill for their joint defense. According to NATO figures, only five of the 29 members have met defense spending targets last year: Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Britain and the United States.

COOPERATION WITH EU

As to its cooperation with the European Union, NATO said in a statement that it welcomes the Union's increased focused on defence as a means to strengthen NATO.

However, the security cooperation between the two sides is not as smooth and rosy as the statement suggested. In November, Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron stuck in a bitter spat over a "real European army".

Upon his arrival in Paris for the 100 anniversary of the ending of WWI, Trump slammed Macron's suggestion of "a real European army" as "very insulting".

"Perhaps Europe should first pay its fair share of NATO, which the U.S. subsidizes greatly!" he tweeted.

Trying to defuse the episode, Macron recalled "the tremendous solidarity" linking the "oldest allies" in his opening remarks.

For Trump, security cooperation between his country and Europe should be more fairness-oriented and the United States wants a secure Europe and wants to help, "but it should be fair."
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 22:18:53|Editor: Lu Hui

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Photo provided by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows the image of Mons Tai, a hill near "Statio Tianhe", the landing site of China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe. The landing site of China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe has been named "Statio Tianhe" after the spacecraft made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon last month. Together with three nearby impact craters and one hill, the name was approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), Liu Jizhong, director of the China Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said at a joint press conference held in Beijing Friday. "Tianhe" is the Chinese word for Milky Way and "Statio" is Latin for base. Three craters were given the names Zhinyu, Hegu and Tianjin, three constellations of the twenty-eight mansions in traditional Chinese astrology. The hill used to locate the three craters is named Mons Tai after Mount Tai, a Chinese mountain of historical and cultural significance. The press conference was jointly held by the CNSA, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the IAU. According to the CNSA, the Chang'e-4 lunar probe made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon on Jan. 3. (Xinhua/CNSA)

BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The landing site of China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe has been named "Statio Tianhe" after the spacecraft made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon last month.

Together with three nearby impact craters and one hill, the name was approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), Liu Jizhong, director of the China Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said at a joint press conference.

The CNSA held the joint press conference with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the IAU.

"Tianhe" is the Chinese word for Milky Way and "Statio" is Latin for base. Before "Statio Tianhe," only one place is listed on lunar maps as "Statio," namely "Statio Tranquilitatis" (Tranquility Base), the site the Apollo 11 crew members of the United States landed and walked on in 1969.

According to the CNSA, the Chang'e-4 probe landed at the preselected landing area at 177.6 degrees east longitude and 45.5 degrees south latitude on the far side of the moon at 10:26 a.m. Jan. 3 Beijing Time. The landing area is the Von Karman Crater within the Aitken Basin.

The three nearby impact craters located in the Von Karman Crater form the shape of a triangle with Statio Tianhe at the center, looking like the celestial Summer Triangle prominent in evening skies from June through December in the northern hemisphere.

The defining vertices of the Summer Triangle are at Vega, Altair and Deneb, each of which is the brightest star of its constellation. The three craters were therefore named after the three stars with names in traditional Chinese astrology. Zhinyu is for Vega, Hegu (also called Niulang) for Altair and Tianjin for Deneb.

In Chinese folk tales, lovers Niulang and Zhinyu, one a cowherder and the other a weaver fairy, were separated by the Tianhe (Heavenly River, or the Milky Way), as their love was not allowed by the gods. They could only reunite once a year when a flock of magpies formed a bridge across the river.

In Chinese, Tianjin means galaxy's ferry and bridge across the Milky Way.

Along with relay satellite Queqiao (Magpie Bridge), the naming of Statio Tianhe and the three craters are integrated with rich cultural connotations, said Li Chunlai, deputy director of the National Astronomical Observatories of China and commander-in-chief of the ground application system of Chang'e-4, at the press conference.

At the center of Von Karman Crater, around 46 km northwest to Statio Tianhe, a hill that was used to locate the landing site was named Mons Tai. Regarded as the foremost of the Five Great Mountains of China, Mount Tai is of historical and cultural significance. Mons is Latin for mountain.

It is the IAU's first time approving lunar place names with "Mons" since 1985.

The IAU is the officially recognized authority in astronomy for assigning designations to celestial bodies such as stars, planets and minor planets, including any surface features on them.

So far, a total of 12 lunar features have been named by China.

Liu said naming lunar surface features provides scientists in China and abroad with original data and location standards and will open a new chapter in lunar exploration in the world.

In January 2016, the landing site of Chang'e-3 was named "Guang Han Gong" or "Moon Palace," more than two years after the probe made China's first successful soft-landing on the moon in December 2013.

The Chang'e-4 probe, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China on Dec. 8, 2018, touched down on the far side of the moon after orbiting the moon for more than 20 days.

With the communication assistance of the relay satellite Queqiao (Magpie Bridge), the probe sent back the first-ever close-up photograph of the moon's far side.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 21:53:48|Editor: ZX

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SHANGHAI, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- For people in Shanghai, sunshine is something many are missing as over the past two months or so it has been rainy for 38 days.

Local meteorological authorities said Friday the number of rainy days is the second highest in Shanghai's 145-year meteorological history, only days behind the record of 45 days that occurred about a century ago between 1918 and 1919.

The trend is not about to come to an end though, with meteorologists forecasting more rainfall in the days to come.

Yang Yawei, an expert with Shanghai Meteorological Service, said the main reason for the phenomenon is that a fully fledged El Nino -- the periodic warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean, often bringing rainfall changes -- moved to the middle of the Pacific Ocean instead of more eastern regions.

The warmer conditions of China's adjacent sea and weak activity of cold air have also contributed to the weather, Yang said.

In the next 10 days, rainfall will continue to play a major role in Shanghai. The rainy days are forecast to stay until Sunday when it could turn cloudy and continue to hit the municipality in next week.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 21:38:43|Editor: Yurou

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BEIRUT, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's Tripoli Port Director Ahmad Tamer called upon customs authorities on Friday to refrain from sending containers from Tripoli to Beirut port for inspection, local media reported.

"We are not against inspecting all containers in Tripoli port but their transport to Beirut port for inspection every time will reduce the attractiveness of this port for businessmen who will incur heavy losses from this operation," Tamer was quoted as saying by the National News Agency.

Tamer told Xinhua that he does not know yet why customs authorities have ordered to do the required inspection work in Beirut port and there may be political motives behind this move.

"We are trying to get in touch with officials in Tripoli and the customs authorities in a bid to solve this issue," he said.

Attention is turning to the Tripoli port nowadays for the role that it can play in the reconstruction of Syria which has been torn by years of civil war.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 21:33:42|Editor: Xiaoxia

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KIGALI, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan authorities have seized skin bleaching products and other illegal products in a joint operation conducted in different parts of the country, the Rwanda Investigation Bureau said Friday.

The operation seeks to enforce the law against skin bleaching products which are illegal under the ministerial order determining the list of cosmetics prohibited in Rwanda, said Jean Marie Twagirayezu, head of investigations department of the investigation bureau, in Kigali, capital city of Rwanda.

Other impounded products include expired foodstuffs, Twagirayezu told a media briefing. The seized products valued at over 46,000 U.S. dollars in total, he said.

Rwandan Ministry of Health last year blacklisted 1,343 skin bleaching products, mostly imported containing high levels of hydroquinone which it said puts users at the risk of suffering skin cancer.

A joint operation by Rwandan authorities last November has led to the seizure of more than 5,000 assorted substandard bleaching products from beauty shops in different parts of the country, such as body oils, lotions, and toilet soaps.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 21:23:38|Editor: xuxin

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A medical worker prepares a free measles vaccine during the Philippine Red Cross Measles Outbreak Vaccination Response at a slum area in Manila, the Philippines, Feb. 16, 2019. The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) reported this week that over 4,300 measles cases were confirmed from Jan. 1 to Feb. 13, 2019, with the number expected to increase in the coming days. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

MANILA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte urged parents on Friday to get the measles vaccine for their children, saying vaccination is the only way to prevent infection from the highly contagious viral disease.

In a short message aired on state-run television, Duterte voiced alarm over the rising measles cases in the Philippines.

"Countrymen, measles cases are rising, and its complications are fatal. Vaccination is the only way we can prevent our children from getting the disease," Duterte said.

Duterte's appeal came amidst rising measles cases and deaths in the Philippines in seven regions, including in Metro Manila.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported this week that over 4,300 measles cases were confirmed from Jan. 1 to Feb. 13, 2019, with the number expected to increase in the coming days.

Severe complications from measles have also claimed the lives of 87 people as of Monday, one in three of whom were children younger than nine months old.

The DOH on Feb. 6 declared a major measles outbreak in Metro Manila, which has now expanded to other areas of the Philippine main Luzon island and Central and Eastern Visayas in the central Philippines.

Following the declaration of the outbreak, the DOH is ramping up public information and supplemental vaccination activities in Metro Manila, and many parts of the country.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is working closely with the DOH in advancing the call for parents to have their children vaccinated and avoid close contact with those identified as measles patients.

According to the DOH surveillance data, more than 80 percent of 2.6 million unvaccinated children are in the seven regions which have declared outbreaks.

In San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, three wards have been opened to accommodate the influx of patients from Metro Manila and neighbouring regions.

On Thursday, the DOH ordered all of its hospitals to open fast lanes for measles.

The DOH is looking at April or May as the possible period when it can control the spread of measles.

"We don't want to unduly raise expectations, then we cannot deliver, so I think the most prudent estimation would be about April or May -- probably last week of April to about first few weeks of May," Health Secretary Francisco Duque said.

Duque noted that as of now, there is still a "rising trend" of measles so the outbreaks may not be contained earlier than this period.

"We are looking for parameters that it is now under control, but for now, we are still seeing (an) uptrend... We cannot say that the trend is starting to reverse because it hasn't," Duque said.

Measles is a very contagious disease caused by a virus. It spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Measles starts with fever. Soon after, it causes a cough, running nose, and red eyes. Then a rash of tiny, red spots breaks out. It starts at the head and spreads to the rest of the body.

On Feb. 13, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) requested its regional disaster offices to convene their respective response clusters to monitor possible outbreaks in their respective areas.

Government agencies continue to respond by assisting with distributing vaccine, deploying medical personnel to promote awareness and provide immunization.

The Department of Education is gathering data on measles cases and conducting evaluations in schools.

The DOH met with international health partners on Feb. 15 to provide updates on the response to the outbreak.

Already, the DOH activated its Incident Command System to implement the nationwide vaccination campaign which will target 95 percent of the estimated 2.6 million unvaccinated children under five.

Children 0 to 59 months old will also be provided with the polio vaccine as the Philippines is on the watch list for possible disease outbreak.

The DOH reported that it has in-country stockpiles of five million doses of measles vaccines.

With the declaration of an outbreak, the agency was able to use its emergency response funds which allows it to procure, through the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), one million vaccines which are expected to arrive in March.

The DOH has further requested UNICEF to facilitate the purchase of another five million vaccines which are expected to be delivered in four to eight weeks.

The WHO and UNICEF are working closely with the DOH to contain the outbreak. Both agencies are providing technical and some funding support to the national programme in the planning, implementation and monitoring of response activities.

UNICEF is responding to a request of the DOH to provide tents which will be used for the vaccination programme and will also mobilize its non-governmental organizations network for support.
English French

TORONTO, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) today announced that Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited has joined the organization as a member.



On behalf of our Board and membership, I am pleased to welcome Baillie Gifford to IFIC, said Paul C. Bourque, president and CEO, IFIC. The firms focus on delivering positive investor outcomes through an approach that emphasizes imaginative thinking, working constructively to meet its clients needs and investing responsibly for the long term, will bring an important perspective to our industry discussions.

Founded in Edinburgh in 1908, Ballie Gifford is an independent private partnership and operates globally. In Canada, it currently operates seven pooled funds with assets under management of approximately C$3.5 billion.

For more information about Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited, please visit bailliegifford.com .

About IFIC

The Investment Funds Institute of Canada is the voice of Canadas investment funds industry. IFIC brings together 150 organizations, including fund managers, distributors and industry service organizations, to foster a strong, stable investment sector where investors can realize their financial goals. By connecting Canadas savers to Canadas economy, our industry contributes significantly to Canadian economic growth and job creation. To learn more about IFIC, please visit ific.ca.

For more information, please contact:

Lisa Hall

Senior Manager, Communications and Public Affairs

lhall@ific.ca

416-309-2317
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 21:18:33|Editor: Xiaoxia

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MOGADISHU, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has trained 198 Somali police officers to help step up security for the HirShabelle state.

The AU mission said on Friday the police officers are the first batch of 800 new police recruits being absorbed in the state's police force, to maintain law and order in Somalia's youngest federal state.

"It's your responsibility as police officers to ensure that you exercise professionalism, observe fundamental issues of human rights, issues of rule of law and constitutionalism when carrying out your duties as police officers," Simon Mulongo, deputy special representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia, told the new recruits, according to a statement issued on Friday.

The three-month comprehensive training focused on different aspects of policing, including crime prevention and public order management.

The police recruits were also taught international humanitarian law and international human rights law, which are critical in their day-to-day duties.

The AU mission has developed conditions-based transition plan, to transfer the national security responsibility from the AU troops to the Somali security forces guided by the rule of law and respect for human rights.

The move comes after the UN Security Council authorized a gradual troop reduction amid transition of security responsibility to Somali National Security Forces.

The AU mission says it has already withdrawn 1,000 troops and more withdrawals are expected in 2019.

"I am confident that you will perform your duties with selfless devotion as the constitution mandates you to do - protect and secure the country," said Christine Alalo, acting AMISOM police commissioner.

She expressed gratitude at partners who had supported the vetting, recruitment and training of the police officers.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 21:08:30|Editor: ZX

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BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- China rolled out a host of measures to nurture teaching staff in rural areas in 2018, said an official with the Ministry of Education (MOE) at a press conference Friday.

The central government allocated 4.5 billion yuan (660 million U.S. dollars) to benefit 1.27 million rural teachers in 2018, said Ren Youqun, head of the Department of Teacher Education under the MOE.

In 2018, China recruited over 85,000 college graduates in a program sending graduates to teach in rural areas for three years, and attracted 45,000 other college graduates to teach in rural areas by providing government-financed education.

China also carried out schemes to recruit 24,000 teachers and 1,800 outstanding retired teachers to teach as volunteers in the countryside.

Via an education support program, China sent 4,000 volunteer teachers to Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 2018, said the official.

More than 1.2 million rural teachers and principals received trainings in 2018. Meanwhile, a program to train and award outstanding young teachers in rural areas was implemented, with a reward of 10,000 yuan for each person.

In 2019, China will further improve the treatment of rural teachers, enhance their social status and improve their professional abilities, said the ministry.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 20:53:28|Editor: Xiaoxia

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MADRID, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday announced an early general election for the country on April 28.

The Socialist Party (PSOE) leader made the announcement in a statement to the press from the Palace of Moncloa in Madrid less than 48 hours after his government's proposals for the 2019 budget were defeated in parliament.

"After talking with my ministers in a cabinet meeting, I propose dissolving parliament" in early March, read the statement, adding that King Felipe VI has been informed of the decision.

Early reports said another choice was May 26, when the country will hold local, regional and European elections.

Sanchez took office on June 1, 2018 after ousting the People's Party government of Mariano Rajoy in a surprise no-confidence vote in parliament.

Despite the PSOE having just 85 members in the 350-seat Congress, Sanchez had previously depended on the support of other small regional parties to pass legislation and vowed to see out his mandate until 2020.

However, Sanchez failed to convince Catalan parties to support the PSOE's budget proposal this week.

"After almost nine months of progress which has been good for the Spanish, this week we saw the budget blocked," explained the prime minister, adding the budget defeat left him with a choice to "do nothing and work with a budget that isn't ours" or call for a new mandate.

"I choose the latter," he said.

Latest opinion polls imply that although Sanchez's party will win the most votes in a forthcoming election, the right-wing People's Party, Ciudadanos, and the extreme right-wing Vox will win enough votes and seats to be able to form a coalition government.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 20:33:23|Editor: ZX

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BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- A senior military official on Friday called on the military to make new advances in the work of political and legal affairs and ensure strict governance over the military.

Zhang Youxia, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at a meeting of the military on political and legal affairs in Beijing.

Military officers responsible for political and legal affairs should work to safeguard political security, support the troops in war preparedness and enhance the building of a strong military in the new era, Zhang said, urging them to be absolutely loyal, pure and reliable.

They were also ordered to vigorously fight against all kinds of infiltration and sabotage activities, eradicate graft and corruption in accordance with the law and forestall major military security risks.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 20:28:21|Editor: Xiaoxia

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DAMASCUS, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The latest round of the Sochi meeting on Syria among Russia, Turkey, and Iran concluded without solid changes, analysts say.

Ahead of the Thursday meeting, it was expected that the leaders of Turkey, Iran, and Russia would reach a concrete agreement on the formation of a long-awaited constitutional committee.

The committee would be charged with studying amendment to the current Syrian constitution.

However, during the past months, the Syrian government side has protested the shape of the formation as the UN wanted to name a third of the names in the committee.

The meeting in Sochi was also expected to find a solution to the recent development in Idlib province in northwestern Syria, where the al-Qaida-linked rebels of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took control of the entire area instead of withdrawing in accordance with a previous agreement between Russia and Turkey.

Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected the presence of terror groups in Idlib while the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged for clearing Idlib of terrorism quickly.

It's worth noting that Idlib is the last major rebel stronghold in Syria and in accordance with previous deals among Iran, Turkey, and Russia, the ultra-radical rebels should withdraw from Idlib and the province is included in a demilitarized zone deal.

But that didn't happen and the HTS ended up controlling the entire Idlib area.

In their meeting Thursday, Putin said that the demilitarized zones' deal is temporary, noting that Idlib should be restored under the Syrian government control.

It was expected that the Russian side would push for a green light to launch an offensive on Idlib with the Syrian Army to fight the HTS and retake Idlib.

The three sides agreed to meet again in Turkey in April.

Mahmoud Muri, a Syrian political expert, told Xinhua that the result of the meeting was "modest."

He said that the final communique of the meeting didn't specify the agreement among the three sides.

He said that Iran and Russia stressed the need to clear Idlib of terrorist groups, but didn't say how.

On the constitutional committee, Muri said there was no agreement on the formation of it.

For his side, Hussam Shuaib, another analyst, said that the Russians seemed to have become fed up with the presence of the terror groups in Idlib.

He noted that the remarks of the Russian and Iranian side regarding Idlib indicate that they are running out of patience in terms of entering Idlib and defeating the HTS.

However, the analyst continued, the Turkish side, which is the backer of the rebels in northern Syria, is not yet on the same page regarding launching a Russian-backed operation in Idlib.

Shuaib noted that the Turkish side is still working and negotiating within the circle of the U.S. and that it's maneuvering in terms of the Syrian file and the situation in Idlib.

Sharif Shehadeh, a former parliamentarian, told Xinhua that the three sides stressed on the unity of Syria and any U.S. withdrawal from Syria should be replaced with the presence of the Syrian Army.

He noted that this declaration is important in terms of addressing the need for foreign powers to withdraw from Syria.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 20:23:20|Editor: Xiaoxia

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JUBA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- At least 134 women and girls were raped and 41 others suffered other forms of sexual and physical violence in South Sudan's northern Unity region in three months, a joint UN report released on Friday reveals.

The report by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) highlights steadily high levels of sexual violence in the region between September and December 2018.

Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the volatility of the situation combined with the lack of accountability for violations and abuses committed throughout Unity, likely leads armed actors to believe that they can get away with rape and other horrific forms of sexual violence.

"Sadly, we have continued to receive reports of rape and gang rape in northern Unity since the beginning of this year," Bachelet said in a joint statement.

She called on the authorities to ensure that humanitarian organizations can conduct their work without fear of reprisals and with unobstructed access to victims.

The report warns that although attacks against civilians have decreased significantly since the peace agreement was signed on September 12, 2018, endemic conflict-related sexual violence continues in northern Unity.

The UN said the sexual violence was committed in a context of "pervasive impunity, which contributed to the normalization of violence against women and girls," the report notes.

UNMISS said it immediately engaged with political leaders and security services after receiving initial reports of the increase in reported cases of sexual violence.

The Mission said it also increased peacekeeping patrols and cleared foliage from roads to make it more difficult for attackers to conceal their presence.

According to the UN, almost 90 percent of the women and girls were raped by more than one perpetrator and often over several hours.

Pregnant women and nursing mothers were also victims of sexual violence. In one incident alone on Dec. 17, in the village of Lang in Koch county, five women were gang-raped, four of whom were pregnant, including one who was nearly nine months pregnant.

According to the report, survivors of sexual violence described being brutally beaten by perpetrators with rifle butts, sticks, small firearms and cable wires, if they attempted to resist their assailants or after they were raped.
File photo shows children carry a bag of rice in Dordabis farm, Khomas Region, central Namibia, on Jan. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Wu Changwei)

WINDHOEK, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's flagship Kalimbeza Green Scheme Irrigation Project's research department has identified four top Chinese rice varieties that have performed well and are able to produce between 5.5 to 6.4 tons per hectare (ha), according to an official.

The Kalimbeza project located in the northeastern part of the country last year ran trials of 15 Chinese rice varieties to test adaptability, of which the top four varieties were deemed suitable, Kalimbeza project manager Patrick Kompeli told Xinhua Thursday.

Since the varieties are hybrid, the seeds have to be sourced from China every year for planting, he added.

"The target for this year cropping season was to plant 150 ha but due to other technical issues they were only able to plant 90 ha," Kompeli said.

In terms of cultivation and training, through South-South Cooperation, some rice experts from China were deployed at Kalimbeza to exchange knowledge and for Namibians to acquire experience. The last deployed group left in December 2017.

Kompeli said impact of a predicted drought on the project will be limited since it draws water for irrigation from the permanent river source.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 20:08:17|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Dimitris Tzanakopoulos, the Greek government spokesperson, is seen announcing the reshuffle of the cabinet in Athens, Greece, on Feb. 15, 2019. Greek cabinet was reshuffled on Friday, the spokesperson announced in a televised statement on state broadcaster ERT. Most key portfolios remained unchanged. (Xinhua/Marios Lolo)

ATHENS, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Greek cabinet was reshuffled on Friday, Greek government spokesperson Dimitris Tzanakopoulos announced in a televised statement on state broadcaster ERT.

Most key portfolios remained unchanged.

George Katrougalos, who was serving as Alternate Foreign Affairs Minister, was appointed new Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 20:08:16|Editor: Yamei

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PARIS, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- France called on Britain to decide on a deal of its divorce from the European Union as soon as possible after British Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a further defeat to pass a Brexit motion, a French official said here on Friday.

"Last night's vote in the British Parliament has further heightened the uncertainties rather than dispelling them. It's about time to decide if they want to leave the European Union on friendly terms via an agreement, or if they want to come out abruptly," European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau told RTL radio.

"It is a purely British choice. What we are saying is: hurry up!" she said.

On Thursday, the British House of Commons voted against a motion tabled by May, undermining chances to forge an amicable deal preserving close ties with the EU after the exit next month.

"Faced with this uncertainty, it is everyone's responsibility to prepare for a Brexit without agreement," the French minister said.

Last week, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe triggered a plan to mitigate difficulties linked with a hard Brexit following May's parliamentary defeat to pass an amicable divorce from the EU.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 19:53:14|Editor: ZX

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BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Three more urban rail sections will be put into service in Beijing this year, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport announced Friday.

With commissioning of the subway line link to the city's new airport, the eastern extension of the existing Line 7 and Batong Line, the total length of metro rails in operation in the Chinese national capital will reach 699.3 km by the end of the year, comparing to 636.9 km at the present, according to the commission.

This year, Beijing will also work on the construction of 14 other metro lines or sections, with the length totaling 252.3 kilometers.

Beijing has 22 metro lines now, with three newly opened in 2018.
Toronto, ON, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) today announced it will present the 2019 Indigenous Women in Leadership Award (IWIL) to Nicole Bourque-Bouchier, CEO, Bouchier Group, on April 16 at the Design Exchange in Toronto.



The Founder and Exclusive Award Sponsor is TD Bank Group. The Lead Event Sponsor is the Barry and Laurie Green Family Charitable Trust.

CCAB and TD Bank Group established the IWIL award in 2017 to recognize leadership by Indigenous women in improving lives, strengthening their communities and nurturing Aboriginal traditions and culture. The IWIL award celebrates successful, accomplished and committed women and sends an inspiring message to young Indigenous women.

Nicole Bourque-Bouchier is a member of the Mikisew Cree First Nation with an extraordinary history of accomplishment in business expansion, job creation for her people and community service.

As CEO of Bouchier Group, a provider of integrated site services to the Athabasca Oil Sands region, Nicoles resolute, thoughtful and principled approach to business management and community service has transformed her company and advanced quality of life for Indigenous people.

CCAB is proud to recognize Nicole Bourque-Bouchier as a visionary Indigenous business and community leader, says JP Gladu, president and CEO, CCAB. Nicole is a powerful and fearless Cree woman with an unstoppable resolve to achieve excellence and advance Indigenous culture. Nicoles journey is a source of pride and inspiration for all Indigenous women and men.

When Nicole joined Bouchier Group in 2004, the company had 10 employees. Today, the company ranks among the largest Indigenous-owned businesses operating in the Oil Sands with 850 employees, the majority of whom are Indigenous.

The source of this dynamic growth is Nicoles willingness to think outside the box to find new and better ways to succeed; her aptitude for anticipating customer needs and skill at developing talent and inspiring employees.

Among her many management accomplishments is her companys comprehensive Social Economic plan outlining a detailed commitment to an Indigenous workforce, retaining Aboriginal culture and procuring goods and services from local Indigenous suppliers.

Giving back is at the core of Nicoles life philosophy. She has served on the boards of numerous non-profits such as the Keyano College Foundation, the Athabasca University Board of Governors and the Apple Schools Foundation. Nicole is also the first women president of the Northeastern Alberta Aboriginal Business Association and a former member of the Alberta First Nation Womens Economic Security Council. She is also a long-time supporter of Girls Inc. in Fort McMurray.

In 2016, Nicole and her husband David Bouchier, personally and through their company, donated two gifts of $250,000 to the Northern Lights Health Foundation, which provides vital medical equipment, programs and services for Wood Buffalo region residents.

Its an honour to be acknowledged as an Indigenous female leader by an organization that has done so much to pave the path for Aboriginal business across Canada, says Nicole Bourque-Bouchier. I believe leadership is a privilege that is earned through hard work, commitment and courage. It should never be taken for granted. I continually look for ways to be a positive inspiration who encourages others to find their unique value.

Nicole has earned numerous awards and accolades, including an Esquao Award for Business from the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Business; the 2013 Fort McMurray Cultural and Community Enrichment Award, and the 2014 Fort McKay Business of the Year Award. Most recently, Nicole received the Rotary Club of Fort McMurray Oils Sands Integrity Award; the Ernst & Young Oil and Gas Entrepreneur Award and the 2018 Indspire Business and Commerce Award.

"TD Bank congratulates Nicole Bourque-Bouchier on her many accomplishments and on receipt of this special award. A role model and successful business leader, Nicole inspires us in her work to elevate Indigenous women in various fields and focus on Indigenous women's economic stability. Her success is a signal to young Indigenous women, and all of us, that with hard work and dedication, you can achieve anything." Jennifer Page, VP Treasury and Balance Sheet Management & Leader, Indigenous Employee Circle.

About CCAB

CCAB is committed to the full participation of Indigenous peoples in Canadas economy. A national, non-partisan association, CCAB offers knowledge, resources and programs to both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal owned companies that foster economic opportunities for Indigenous peoples and businesses across Canada.

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Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 19:53:13|Editor: Xiaoxia

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Indian army and paramilitary troopers stand guard as security and forensic teams inspect the wreckage of vehicles at the site of a suicide attack on a national highway near Lethpora village in Pulwama district, about 27 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, Feb. 15, 2019. The death toll of a suicide attack targeting paramilitary troopers belonging to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir on Thursday has risen to 40, officials said. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Authorities Friday imposed curfew in Jammu city, the winter capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir following massive violence, officials said.

The violence broke out during a shutdown call to the protest against the attack on paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in the restive region on Thursday that killed at least 40 people.

Reports said at least 12 people were injured in the violence and several vehicles were damaged, some of them torched by mobsters.

The authorities ordered the imposition of curfew "to maintain law and order, public tranquillity and to protect life and property of general public," a government spokesman said.

Authorities have suspended mobile internet services in Jammu as a precautionary measure to prevent deterioration of the situation.

On Thursday a suicide bomber rammed a heavily laden explosive car into CRPF convoy on national highway near Lethpora village in region's Pulwama district, blowing himself and killing 40 paramilitary troopers besides wounding several others.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 19:53:12|Editor: Xiaoxia

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MALE, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has announced his government will offer a free education scheme for students pursuing bachelors degree in the country in order to boost the higher education system, local media reported Friday.

Students at the state-run Maldives National University and Islamic University of Maldives will no longer have to pay their tuition fees, while a very high percentage will be paid by the state for students pursuing degrees in private colleges, Solih said at the launch of the free education system held in Male.

The president urged students to make use of the "golden opportunity."

Solih's government has allocated 220 million U.S. dollars for the education sector in 2019, the highest in the country's history.

Solih stressed the importance of creating a generation of educated youth to ensure national development.

While 8,000 students are presently enrolled at the two state-run universities and private colleges, the government estimates the number will grow to 10,000 due to the free education scheme.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 19:53:11|Editor: ZX

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BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Lai Xiaomin, former board chairman of China Huarong Asset Management Co., Ltd., has been indicted on charges of taking bribes, embezzlement and bigamy, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Friday.

Lai's case had been investigated by the National Supervisory Commission and handed over to the SPP. Upon the designation of the SPP, the second branch of the Tianjin People's Procuratorate reviewed the case and filed it in the Tianjin Municipal No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, the SPP said.

Prosecutors accused Lai of taking advantage of his posts to seek benefits for others or using his power and status to seek illegitimate interests for others through other officials' work, asking for and accepting "huge amounts of money and gifts."

The indictment said Lai, in collusion with others, had used his posts to illegally embezzle vast sums from public property. It also accused Lai of bigamous violations.

The SPP said the prosecutors had informed the defendant of his litigation rights, interrogated him and listened to the defense counsel's opinions.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 19:43:06|Editor: WX

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The photo taken on Feb. 15, 2019 shows a view of the Long Island City along the East River, in Queens, New York, the United States. U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon canceled its plans to build a new headquarters in New York City, though most New Yorkers support it. Some local politicians as well as trade unions and community activists were blamed for Amazon pulling out. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon canceled its plans to build a new headquarters in New York City, though most New Yorkers support it. Some local politicians as well as trade unions and community activists were blamed for Amazon pulling out.

Amazon said on Thursday it would not build a new headquarters due to opposition from "some state and local politicians."

"After much thought and deliberation, we've decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens," Amazon said.

Amazon's decision to scrap its second national headquarters in the Queens borough was a result of resistance from some local officials, unions and community activists, Stanley Kwong, a professor of International Marketing at University of San Francisco, told Xinhua Thursday.

He called the Amazon decision "a stunning reversal" for one of the world's most valuable companies, which had promised to put half of the 50,000 jobs in the Long Island City neighborhood.

Amazon said polls show 70 percent of New Yorkers support its plans and investments in the city, but Kwong pointed out that some grassroots communities feared that the influx of usually high-paid Amazon employees would push up housing prices.

"A lot of communities are now weary of tech booms because of what has happened in the Bay Area," he said.

"The Bay Area's tech boom famously created an influx of tech companies, workers and jobs, but in 2012, it ignited a housing crisis that's made it difficult for many people, especially those in minimum wage or entry-level jobs, to live nearby," explained Kwong, who is also a strategic advisor to the Bay Area Council in San Francisco.

He said many low-income earners are worried about a prospect where they could not afford a home if housing costs skyrocket, and even lose their jobs when Amazon settles in.

Amazon employees at the new headquarters would likely be paid an average salary of at least 150,000 a year, which dwarfs the earnings of many locals in New York.

"The skyrocketing costs in San Francisco show no signs of slowing. Affordable housing remains even more scarce as new tech businesses crop up and exacerbate the issue," Kwong said.

Amazon had planned to split its new headquarters between Long Island City and Crystal City, in Arlington, Virginia.

The U.S. online retail powerhouse disclosed Thursday that it does not intend to search for an alternative site for the second headquarters at this time, but it will continue its plans for Northern Virginia and Nashville.

Kwong said Virginia has already passed a law granting Amazon up to 750 million U.S. dollars in state incentives over the next 15 years, on condition that it create 37,850 new jobs over that period.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio expressed disappointment at Amazon's decision to drop its plan of building the second headquarters in the city.

"You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity," the mayor tweeted after Amazon announced its drop-out plan.

"If Amazon can't recognize what that's worth, its competitors will," the mayor tweeted.

Meanwhile, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo denounced the New York State Senate in a statement, saying that they should be "held accountable for this lost economic opportunity."

"A small group politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community ... the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state," he said, without identifying any specific parties.

Amazon currently employs over 5,000 workers in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island.

In 2017, Amazon announced it was looking for a second headquarters, and pitted more than 200 cities against each other to woo its huge investment.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 19:33:02|Editor: ZX

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CHENGDU, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The State Grid Sichuan Electric Power Company will invest nearly 5.4 billion yuan (around 800 million U.S. dollars) to update the power grid in ethnic regions of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The investment will flow into power grid projects in the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, and Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, the company announced Friday.

Tan Yongxiang, general manager of the company, said the sustained investment had improved the quality and stability of power transmission in the poverty-stricken areas.

"A power grid is the basic public infrastructure and key to the social and economic development," said Sugarbu, head of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture government.

The power transmission capacity in the prefecture has increased from two million kW in 2011 to the current 14.2 million kW.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 19:28:01|Editor: ZX

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Photo provided by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows the image of Mons Tai, a hill near "Statio Tianhe", the landing site of China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe. The landing site of China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe has been named "Statio Tianhe" after the spacecraft made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon last month. Together with three nearby impact craters and one hill, the name was approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), Liu Jizhong, director of the China Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said at a joint press conference held in Beijing Friday. "Tianhe" is the Chinese word for Milky Way and "Statio" is Latin for base. Three craters were given the names Zhinyu, Hegu and Tianjin, three constellations of the twenty-eight mansions in traditional Chinese astrology. The hill used to locate the three craters is named Mons Tai after Mount Tai, a Chinese mountain of historical and cultural significance. The press conference was jointly held by the CNSA, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the IAU. According to the CNSA, the Chang'e-4 lunar probe made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon on Jan. 3. (Xinhua/CNSA)

BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The landing site of China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe has been named "Statio Tianhe" after the spacecraft made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon last month.

Together with three nearby impact craters and one hill, the name was approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), Liu Jizhong, director of the China Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said at a joint press conference.

The CNSA held the joint press conference with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the IAU.

"Tianhe" is the Chinese word for Milky Way and "Statio" is Latin for base. Before "Statio Tianhe", only one place is listed on lunar maps as "Statio", namely "Statio Tranquilitatis" (Tranquility Base), the site Apollo 11 crew members of the United States landed and walked on in 1969.

According to the CNSA, the Chang'e-4 probe landed at the preselected landing area at 177.6 degrees east longitude and 45.5 degrees south latitude on the far side of the moon at 10:26 a.m. Jan. 3 Beijing Time. The landing area is the Von Karman Crater within the Aitken Basin.

The three nearby impact craters located in the Von Karman Crater form the shape of a triangle with Statio Tianhe at the center, looking like the celestial Summer Triangle prominent in evening skies from June through December on the northern hemisphere.

The defining vertices of the Summer Triangle are at Vega, Altair and Deneb, each of which is the brightest star of its constellation. The three craters were therefore named after the three stars with names in traditional Chinese astrology. Zhinyu is for Vega, Hegu (also called Niulang) for Altair and Tianjin for Deneb.

In Chinese folk tales, lovers Niulang and Zhinyu, one a cowherd and the other a weaver fairy, were separated by the Tianhe (Heavenly River, or the Milky Way), as their love was not allowed by the gods. They could only reunite once a year when a flock of magpies formed a bridge across the river.

In Chinese, Tianjin means galaxy's ferry and bridge across Milky Way.

Along with relay satellite Queqiao (Magpie Bridge), the naming of Statio Tianhe and the three craters are integrated with rich cultural connotations, said Li Chunlai, deputy director of the National Astronomical Observatories of China and commander-in-chief of the ground application system of Chang'e-4, at the press conference.

At the center of Von Karman Crater, around 46 km northwest to Statio Tianhe, a hill that was used to locate the landing site was named Mons Tai. Regarded as the foremost of the Five Great Mountains of China, Mount Tai is of historical and cultural significance. Mons is Latin for mountain.

It's the IAU's first time to approve lunar place names with "Mons" since 1985.

The IAU is the officially recognized authority in astronomy for assigning designations to celestial bodies such as stars, planets, and minor planets, including any surface features on them.

So far, a total of 12 lunar features have been named by China.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 19:22:57|Editor: ZX

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BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The top legislature of China will convene its bi-monthly session from Feb. 26 to 27, according to a statement issued after a chairpersons' meeting Friday.

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presided over the meeting.

A key task of the bi-monthly session is to make preparations for the upcoming annual session of the national legislature, the statement read.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 19:17:56|Editor: Xiaoxia

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PARIS, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The French ambassador to Italy, recalled this month in response to a verbal attack by Italian politicians, will return to Rome on Friday, said a French minister.

"He returns to Rome today," the European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau said, adding that "Italy needs France, so let's work together."

"The President of the Italian Republic (Segio Mattarella) called President Macron, they talked to each other and expressed the extent to which the friendship between France and Italy was important and how the two countries needed one another," Loiseau told RTL radio.

On Feb. 7, France recalled its ambassador, the first withdrawal of a French envoy to Rome since World War II, after what it described as "repeated accusations, baseless attacks, outrageous statements" from Italian officials.

Weeks ago, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio expressed his support for the "Yellow Vest" protesters in France and claimed that France is fuelling Europe's migrant crisis through its "neocolonialist" policies in Africa. Another Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who leads the right-wing League party, said he wants France to extradite Italian terrorist fugitives and to stop pushing migrants back across its border into Italy.

Traditionally close allies, Paris and Rome saw their relations worsen after the far-right League party and the anti-establishment Five-Star Movement came to power and formed a coalition government in Italy last June.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 19:07:53|Editor: Xiaoxia

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KABUL, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Afghan people marked the 30th withdrawal anniversary of former Soviet Union troops from the war-ravaged country on Friday.

In a gathering held at the Presidential Palace, participants including former resistance leaders paid tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for jihad, or holy war, against the invading forces to defend their country's freedom.

Government Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said that the current achievements in the past decades were the results of the struggle of the people of Afghanistan.

"We feel humbled by the enormity of sacrifices our nation made to win freedom from former Soviet Union occupation. The world is indebted to Afghan Mujahedeen's feat of struggle for inspiring and spreading freedom far and wide beyond our borders." Abdullah said at the event.

Afghan Second Vice President Sarwar Danish called the day a golden page in the country's history. "Actually all the people have taken part in jihad against the Soviet Union invaders," he said.

The former Soviet Union troops that invaded Afghanistan in 1979 faced strong opposition from both Afghans and the international community, which eventually forced the invading troops to leave the country in 1989.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 19:02:52|Editor: ZX

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BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Supreme People's Court (SPC) in the past year made sound progress in the effort to tackle difficulties enforcing court rulings.

Chen Yifang, deputy director of the SPC general office, said Friday that the SPC handled 271 suggestions from 743 deputies of the National People's Congress (NPC) in 2018, with topics ranging from deepening judicial reforms, improving the enforcement of court judgments, to pushing forward breakthroughs in various areas.

Following a suggestion raised by deputies, an experimental mechanism developed by a county court in east China's Shandong Province on third-party supervision and evaluation in judgment enforcement has been expanded across the country, under guidance of the SPC.

The SPC also invited NPC deputies to attend symposiums during its judgment enforcement inspections in 31 provincial regions since June 2018.

The moves contributed to the efforts aimed at solving the difficulties enforcing court rulings, said Chen.

Between 2016 and 2018, courts across the country have handled 20.42 million judgment enforcement cases, with 19.39 million completed and 4.4 trillion yuan (about 650 billion U.S. dollars) repaid. And 3.51 million credit defaulters had fulfilled their obligations after receiving punishment by the end of 2018.

In response to other suggestions, the SPC made progress in introducing measures on the selection and appointment of people's jurors, establishing an appellate court for intellectual property right cases, and pushing forward the digitalization of court archives.

Efforts were also made to improve the transparency of handling suggestions from lawmakers and enhancing the follow-up tracking of the issues to keep the lawmakers informed.

Under Chinese law, the SPC is responsible to the NPC and its standing committee and is required to report its work to the NPC.
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LOS ANGELES, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global oncology information systems market is expected to reach the market value of around $4 billion by 2026 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 8% in terms of revenue during the period 2018 - 2026.

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Oncology information systems (OIS), also known as oncology information management systems (OIMS), which are mainly designed to help organize healthcare among providers. The factor that drives the growth of the market includes the availability of oncology information systems with improved features such as security improvements throughout the complete software solutions, improving operational efficiency, automates data exchange and maximizes system interoperability through the use of industry-standard protocols. In addition, an increase in the dominance of cancer cases is one of the major factor fuelling the growth of the oncology information systems market. Also, there are some advantages of oncology information systems over conventional record maintenance practices which are likely to boost the market growth. Furthermore, the growing opportunities for expanding the market are the use of artificial intelligence in oncology information systems and the available potential of emerging markets. However, the factor that is hampering market growth is a high cost associated with oncology information systems.

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Patient Information Systems Software Improving the healthcare sector

The global oncology information system market is envisaged to earn revenue from the sale of products in research centers, hospitals and oncology clinics. Adoption of oncology information system may be higher in hospitals. There are wide range of products and services offered in the global oncology information system market, such as maintenance services and post sale, implementation services, treatment planning systems software, consulting services, and patient information services. Among these, patient information systems accounted to be the larger demand in the global oncology information system market in recent years. Furthermore, this system has numerous benefits in health care sector such as

Reducing costs through decreased paperwork, enhanced safety, reduced replica of testing, and better health.

Enabling rapid access to patient records for more synchronized, efficient care

Enabling safer, more consistent prescribing

Helping providers more efficiently diagnose patients, reduce medical errors, and provide safer care

Helping providers improve efficiency and work-life balance

Helping promote comprehensible, complete documentation and accurate, streamlined coding and billing

Improving patient and provider interface and communication, as well as health care convenience

Securely sharing electronic information with patients and other clinicians

Enhancing privacy and security of patient data

Providing accurate, up-to-date, and complete information about patients at the point of care

Enabling providers to improve effectiveness and meet their business goals

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Regional Outlook

On the basis of region, North America is anticipated to dominate the oncology information systems market owing to numerous major market participants domiciles, the existences of developed healthcare infrastructure, a surge in the number of cancer cases, and high prevalence of technologically advanced devices or services. North America is followed by Europe in terms of revenue during upcoming years accounted to rising cancer incidence and increasing adoption and use of healthcare IT in European countries such as UK, Germany, Spain, France, and Italy. In Asia-Pacific market is likely to showcase higher CAGR during the forecast period owing to the frequency of geriatric population base, rising mortality burden of cancer and growing awareness about oncology information systems in China, Japan, India, and Australia. The Middle East & Africa has the least share of the global oncology information systems market due to improving quality healthcare. Moreover, in the Middle East, rapidly changing in the health sector and many opportunities were seen by the industry over the past few years. The quickly progressing technological landscape would maintain to shape healthcare in the near future.

Key Players

There are many players attracted by rising oncology information systems market and crucial existing demand, and are intensifying their business through advanced development in product. Some of the key players operating in the global oncology information systems market, profiled in the report include Elekta AB, Varian Medical Systems, Accuray Incorporated, Cerner Corporation, RaySearch Laboratories, Flatiron and among others.

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Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 18:57:52|Editor: Yamei

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MOSCOW, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Russian officers have detained a woman suspected of raising funds for the Islamic State (IS), the Russian Investigative Committee and the Federal Security Service (FSB) said Friday.

The 32-year-old woman, a resident of the southern Russian Astrakhan Region, is accused of being one of the organizers of a secret IS cell, the committee said in a statement.

The detainee had managed to collect at least 1 million rubles (about 15,000 U.S. dollars) since 2016, which she placed on bank cards and sent the details via a Telegram channel to a founder of an Islamic fund banned in Russia.

The committee said it had opened a criminal case against the suspect on the grounds of assisting terrorist activities in the form of financing.

The FSB said in a separate statement that the detainee had also distributed extremist audio and video materials in her Telegram channel and planned to go to Syria to commit a terrorist attack.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 18:47:50|Editor: Yurou

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YANGON, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- A district court of Myanmar's Yangon on Friday sentenced two men to death in connection with the assassination of U Ko Ni, prominent legal advisor of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) in 2017.

The gunman Kyi Lin was sentenced to death plus a 20-year-imprisonment for killing legal advisor U Ko Ni and taxi driver U Nay Win, while Aung Win Zaw, who was charged with conspiring to assassinate U Ko Ni, was also given the death penalty.

Zeya Phyo, who was also accused of involvement in the conspiracy, was sentenced to five years in prison, while Aung Win Tun was sentenced to a three-year imprisonment for harboring the criminal Aung Win Zaw.

Appeal can be made to the supreme court by both the plaintiff and the defendants, according to an information official of the district court.

In June last year, the Yangon regional high court dismissed appeals by the suspects, maintaining most of the original charges against them.

U Ko Ni, who was also an advocate, was gunned down at the Yangon international Airport on Jan. 29, 2017 upon his arrival back from a senior leadership program in Indonesia's Jakarta. He was shot in the head by a pistol at a close distance at the airport's taxi stand near arrival terminal-1.

The police force arrested and charged the gunman Kyi Lin, 52. He was further identified as an ex-prisoner from Mandalay prison and was once sentenced to 27 years' jail term for stealing a Buddha statue, but was later released in 2014 under amnesty order after serving for 11 years' term.

The gunman also killed a taxi driver who had tried to capture him before he was arrested by the police and bystanders.

Through initial investigation, the police arrested a second suspect Aung Win Zaw, 46, who was captured 12 hours after the incident.

The two suspects confessed the involvement of a third suspect, Aung Win Khaing, who offered them 100 million kyats (over 76,000 U.S. dollars) in cash in 2016 to plot the assassination.

The police force has been cooperating with Interpol and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Police to capture Aung Win Khaing, who is still at large.

Gunman Kyi Lin was charged by Yangon district court with principal murderer for shooting U Ko Ni to death, while Aung Win Zaw and Zeya Phyo were accused of plotting the assassination with the gunman as co-conspirators.

The court also charged Kyi Lin and Aung Win Zaw with allegedly carrying illegal arms.

The gunman's assassination plot was believed to be aimed at destabilizing the nation, according to initial investigation.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 18:42:49|Editor: Yamei

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MADRID, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday announced an early general election for April 28.

The Socialist Party leader Sanchez made the announcement in a statement to the press from his official residence in the Palacio de la Moncloa in Madrid, less than 48 hours after his government's proposals for the 2019 budget were defeated in parliament.

"After talking with my ministers in a cabinet meeting, I propose dissolving parliament" in early March, read the statement, adding that King Felipe VI has been informed of the decision.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 18:02:38|Editor: Yamei

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SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Attorney General (AG) Bob Ferguson of the U.S. state of Washington Thursday threatened to take legal action against a federal government's declaration of a national emergency to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Ferguson said he will take steps to block the intended action announced by President Donald Trump earlier in the day to declare a national emergency to obtain funds for his long-promised border wall.

President Trump is ready to take executive action -- including a national emergency -- to "ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Thursday.

However, Ferguson accused the president of exceeding his authority in violation of the Constitution.

"Declaring a state of 'emergency' to build his wall is unlawful. We are working with members of our congressional delegation to determine if this action depletes federal funds flowing to Washington," Ferguson said.

"If Washington is harmed, my office will take appropriate steps to block this unlawful action," he added.

The Washington AG has sued the Trump administration 33 times in the past over various legal disputes.

Also on Thursday, Washington state governor Jay Inslee called Trump's declaration "an alarming and legally dubious attempt" to sidestep the constitutional authority granted to Congress.

He said he felt outraged by Trump's "abuse of power."

"This declaration doesn't do a single thing to make our nation safer. All it does is further divide Americans, erode our system of checks and balances, and advance the president's agenda of fear and misinformation," Inslee said.

The fight over the funding for the U.S.-Mexican border wall between the White House and congressional Democrats led to a record-breaking 35-day federal government shutdown last month, which ended late January.

A national emergency declaration, which would allow Trump to bypass Congress and use the military to build the wall, is widely expected to spark lawsuits challenging the president's authority.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 18:02:35|Editor: Yamei

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- As e-commerce giant Amazon on Thursday canceled its plan to build a corporate campus in New York City after mounting opposition, the U.S. state of Virginia said the company's expansion plans in Arlington County remain.

"After speaking with an Amazon representative earlier today, we have confirmed that we are moving forward as planned with Amazon's upcoming headquarters in Arlington -- nothing has changed," Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said in a statement.

In an unexpected announcement, the Seattle-based company said it would not build a new headquarters in New York City due to opposition from "some state and local politicians."

The U.S. online retail powerhouse currently employs over 5,000 workers in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island in New York.

After a 14-month search for a second home, Amazon in November announced its plan to split its new headquarters between Long Island City in the New York City borough of Queens and Crystal City, Arlington.

Amazon's new headquarters plan has drawn backlash. Some worry about the rising cost of living and added traffic congestion, while others question the incentive packages the two states offered, especially the New York one, which was more generous.

Amazon said it does not intend to search for an alternative site for its second headquarters, but it will continue its plan in Northern Virginia and Nashville, where a new operation center is expected to be built.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 17:52:33|Editor: Yamei

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BUCHAREST, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- A concert was staged by Romania and China here on Thursday in the Athenaeum concert hall to celebrate 70 years of friendship and loyalty, performed by the Romanian national George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Chinese musician Wang Jin.

"On Oct. 5, 1949, Romania was the third country that established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China," said Tu Jiang, an official with the Chinese Embassy in Romania. "Our relations developed constantly in those 70 years and this reflects a true sense of loyalty."

Wang has collaborated with Bucharest's most prestigious orchestras in the past 25 years, said Aurelian-Octav Popa, one of the Romanian musicians. "He is a magician, a great conductor, a magnificent violinist, and a perfect model of the friendship between our countries."

The audience was enchanted with the Butterfly Lovers violin concerto, the famous work of classical music written by Chinese composers He Zhanhao and Chen Gang, with acclaimed Romanian violinist Gabriel Croitoru.

"The cultural collaboration between Romania and China is a model of relationship between states," said Andrei Dimitriu, general director of the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 17:42:32|Editor: Yamei

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CARACAS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek William Saab on Thursday said his office is investigating the opposition-appointed board of directors of Citgo, a U.S.-based affiliate of Venezuela's state-run oil firm PDVSA.

The board designations lack "legal validity," Saab said, as the board members were appointed by Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido.

Only Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has the authority to designate the members of the board, Saab added.

Guaido on Wednesday named a "new board of directors" for Citgo, PDVSA's largest affiliate outside the country. The company, headquartered in Houston, Texas, markets fuel and petrochemicals in the United States.

Last month, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions against PDVSA via Citgo, a move designed to block the Venezuelan government's access to 7 billion U.S. dollars in assets and up to 11 billion dollars in potential oil exports next year.

Also Thursday, Venezuela's Constitutional Court of the Supreme Court of Justice announced that it was barring the board members from leaving the country or transferring any assets abroad, and was also freezing their bank accounts.

The court also instructed Citgo and PDVSA to "take the necessary measures to protect the oil operation," citing constitutional articles that demand protection of national heritage at home and abroad.

Saab also announced investigations into Guaido's recent appointments of ambassadors to other countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 17:12:19|Editor: Yamei

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MANILA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Two army soldiers and four New People's Army (NPA) fighters have been killed in a clash in southern Philippines' Malaybalay City, the military said on Friday.

A military report said the clash took place around 9:40 p.m. on Thursday night in a village while an 11-man army team constructing an army base was attacked by about 30 NPA rebels.

Initial fighting lasted about 15 minutes, the military said, adding that more troops were sent to the encounter site triggering another five-minute clash.

"After the firefight, civilians overheard over commercial handheld radios the conversation of NPA rebels that they lost four of their cohorts," a military statement said.

Clearing operations led to the recovery of two M16 assault rifles, two unexploded anti-personnel mines connected to a 200-meter long electrical wire, and two ammunition magazines for M16.

Military pursuit operations are ongoing against the fleeing rebels.

Thursday's clash was the latest in sporadic attacks launched by the rebels in recent weeks.

A similar clash took place on Jan. 30 in Camarines Sur province, south of Manila, killing at least six.

Fresh attempt to talk peace with the NPA rebels failed anew after the Duterte government decided to suspend the negotiations after the insurgents continued their attacks on government security forces and civilians.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 14:31:40|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. State Department said Thursday that U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo has held talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha in Warsaw to discuss their ongoing efforts to achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

During a meeting on the sidelines of the Middle East security conference in Warsaw, Pompeo and Kang discussed the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, updated each other's engagements with Pyongyang, reaffirmed the alliance of the two countries, and expressed their commitment to the U.S.-South Korea-Japan trilateral cooperation, according to the State Department.

In an interview with the CBS News the same day, Pompeo revealed that the United States would send a work team to Asia this weekend to prepare for the upcoming summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un in Vietnam's capital Hanoi at the end of February.

"Now it's time for us to begin the effort to take the step on denuclearization, and I'm hopeful that this summit will deliver that," Pompeo said.

Stephen Biegun, U.S. special representative for DPRK affairs, last week had a three-day visit to Pyongyang, where he and his DPRK counterpart Kim Hyok Chol had a discussion on advancing the commitments that Trump and Kim Jong Un made in their Singapore summit last June.

On Jan. 31, Biegun said that the U.S. side expects to hold working-level negotiations with DPRK in advance of the summit with the intention of achieving a set of concrete deliverables, reiterating that sanctions against the DPRK would not be removed until denuclearization is complete.

According to the U.S. State Department, Biegun and Kim Hyok Chol agreed to meet again before the second Trump-Kim summit.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the second DPRK-U.S. summit would go a step forward to be a critical turning point that would more concretely and visibly advance the peninsula's complete denuclearization, new DPRK-U.S. relations, and a peace regime on the peninsula, which were agreed to at the first DPRK-U.S. summit in principle.

A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh traveled to Pyongyang on Tuesday for a three-day visit at the invitation of DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho. The meeting was believed to focus on the upcoming summit between Kim and Trump.

Trump announced on Feb. 8 that his second meeting with Kim would take place in Hanoi on Feb. 27-28. He met with Kim for the first time in Singapore on June 12, 2018, reaching several consensuses, at least in principle, and that have led to the improvement of the U.S.-DPRK relations.

However, differences between the two sides on such key issues as the roadmap of denuclearization, U.S. lifting sanctions and whether to issue a war-ending declaration, still haunt the two sides and hinder negotiations.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 14:31:40|Editor: Li Xia

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HOHHOT, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Before the winter is gone, Liu Peixin has started preparing for the upcoming spring plowing, by frequently visiting the agricultural technology promotion center tens of miles away.

He has consulted issues like market demand this year, water irrigation and fertilizer control.

Liu, 56, is from a village in the city of Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Growing 6.7 hectares of corn, sunflowers and vegetables, Liu brought home 120,000 yuan (17,745 U.S. dollars) in 2018, twice the annual income of previous years.

The rising yield and income were attributed to the guidance of agronomists, who examined local farmland soil and optimized fertilization.

"Farmers like me used to believe that the more fertilizer we used, the more yield we could secure. Obviously, we were wrong," he said. "Farming is a science."

Based on experts' advice, Liu shredded crop straws to nourish the farmland and adopted organic and slow-release fertilizers. Having reduced fertilizer use by 7,000 kg in total, he saved 10,000 yuan in farming cost last year.

"To my surprise, it worked," he said, adding that he harvested more corn and sunflower seeds on the same plot of field.

The farmland of Bayannur is part of Hetao Plain, the floodplain of the Yellow River and near the desert. Annual precipitation is less than 200 mm, one-tenth of the evaporation amount in the area. Farmland kept deteriorating because of salinization, and farmers were forced to lean heavily on fertilization in pursuit of higher yield.

"Overfertilization leads to hardening soil, which will lower the crop production and pollute nearby soil and water," said Li Jie, director of the agricultural technology promotion center in Bayannur's county-level Hanggin Rear Banner.

To curb the situation, Bayannur city government sent agronomists to test the soil, optimize the proportion of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in fertilizers and encourage farmers to replace regular chemical fertilizers with organic manure or slow-release fertilizers.

Demonstration fields are set up to prove the effects of agroscience, so as to convince farmers to follow the advice of the agronomists.

"I asked experts to write down the fertilizing details, like a doctor's prescription, which will bring a better income and improve soil quality year after year," said Zhang Yongkai, another farmer who often learned from a demonstration field.

According to the city's agricultural and animal husbandry bureau, optimized fertilizers have been adopted in one-third of the city's total farmland, benefiting more than 300,000 farmers.

Reduced fertilization has also reduced pollution.

Guo Yuhua, the chief engineer of Bayannur city's environmental protection bureau, said Ulan Suhai Lake, the largest freshwater lake along the Yellow River, had seen better water quality in recent years.

Tests show the lake's density of chemical oxygen demand (COD), an important parameter to measure organic pollutants, dropped from 69 mg/L in 2012 to 36 mg/L in 2017.

"Fertilizers used on Hetao Plain farmland are a major source for the lake's pollution, and the significant drop of COD density has shown improved water quality of not only the lake but also the area nearby," Guo said.
ATLANTA, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CRUZANI, Inc. (OTC PINK: CZNI), www.CRUZANI.com, a global business development company in the food service sector, announced today that it will be adjusting its subsidiary holdings to refocus on its original corporate mission - the implementation of Quick Service Restaurant operations (QSR).



Cruzanis recently announced financing plans, and its declared intention to advance as soon as possible to the OTCQB trading tier, are consistent with this sharpened focus. The contemplated adjustments will be accomplished by unwinding the earlier acquisitions of Oventa Foods and Recipe Food Co, as these projects may require too much time and additional capital to make a net contribution to Cruzanis bottom line profitability, soon enough. The new focus will utilize Cruzanis agreement with Burdell partner, in which Burdell will provide a $3mm equity investment into the company. The investment will be made in multiple tranches in exchange for preferred shares in the company. Cruzani plans to use the funds to, retire debt, expand operations and acquire additional business units.

Cruzani CEO, Everett Dickson, explains: Our earlier acquisitions held promise for accretive sales growth. However, the implementation is not materializing fast enough to keep up with our ambitious business plan, compared with alternative uses for our capital in the QSR field. Acquisition candidates that are already established, and have attractive QSR sales & profit ratios, are emerging as better suited to Cruzanis mandate for rapid growth. We cant ignore alternative productive candidates any longer. Early course corrections in business are often best. Were still early enough in these initiatives to be able to unwind effectively, for the benefit of all.

Agreements that govern Cruzani acquisitions have provisions for Cruzani to recover its investments in those initiatives. This enables Cruzani to recover its investments from those initiatives and re-deploy resources and to apply upcoming financing productively.

Mr. Dickson concludes: Cruzani has proven that it has the capacity to act decisively. We can carry out professional acquisitions as opportunities emerge. We can also carry out effective divestiture if an acquisition is not positive enough for our shareholder interests after all. Refocusing now is positive because it improves our cost/reward equation as we deploy future financing. Well be announcing more specifics regarding ramped-up QSR plans as soon as we can.

Cruzani divestiture details will be reported through the normal channels in due course.

About CRUZANI, Inc.

CRUZANI Inc, formerly US Highland, Inc., is a franchise development company that builds and acquires popular franchise concepts, and other food-related businesses, throughout the United States and International markets. Our management team selects up and coming concepts with substantial growth potential. We bring fresh innovative brands to consumers that have great potential. All of our brands are unique in nature by focusing on niche markets with untapped potential for development. CRUZANI maintains social media accounts for the purposes of SEC Fair Disclosure at www.CRUZANI.com/Cruzani-CEO-Blog , https://twitter.com/CruzaniCEO , and https://www.facebook.com/Cruzani-2216678448562308

Safe Harbor Statement

This communication contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of US Highland, Inc and members of its management as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based.

Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Important factors currently known to management that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-statements include fluctuation of operating results, the ability to compete successfully, and the ability to complete before-mentioned transactions.

The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results.

For More Information

Everett M. Dickson, CEO

Info@cruzani.com

Lennox Road, Suite 1500

Atlanta, GA 30309

(404) 419-2253
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 14:31:39|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korea posted a current account surplus for 21 straight years through 2018 thanks to an increased export of semiconductors, central bank data showed Friday.

Current account surplus, the broadest measure of cross-border trade, amounted to 76.41 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, up from 75.23 billion dollars in the previous year, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The country's current account balance stayed in the black since 1998 when the foreign exchange crisis hit the Asian economy.

Trade surplus in goods reached 111.87 billion dollars in 2018 as export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, expanded 7.8 percent to reach a record high of 625.44 billion dollars.

The export expansion was attributable to strong demand for locally-made chips. Import gained 10 percent to 513.57 billion dollars on the increased global trade.

Services account balance, which measures the flow of travel, transport costs and royalties, posted a deficit of 29.74 billion dollars last year, the second-biggest yearly deficit in the services sector.

The services trade deficit reached a second-biggest figure of 16.65 billion dollars amid a lower growth in the number of the Chinese tourists to South Korea.

Primary income account, which includes monthly salary and investment income, saw a surplus of 2.78 billion dollars in 2018. The dividend payment reached a new high of 22.36 billion dollars on a rise in corporate earnings.

Financial account, which gauges cross-border capital flow without transactions in goods and services, logged a net outflow of 70.49 billion dollars in 2018.

Overseas direct investment by local residents hit a new yearly high of 38.92 billion dollars, while direct investment in South Korea by foreigners recorded the second-biggest reading of 14.48 billion dollars.

For the portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond transactions, overseas investment by residents climbed 64.99 billion dollars. Foreign investment in local stocks and bonds grew 21.11 billion dollars.

In December alone, the current account surplus was 4.82 billion dollars. It was the lowest surplus in eight months, but the current account balance stayed in the black for the longest period of 80 months.

Trade surplus for goods came in at 6.53 billion dollars in December, marking the lowest in 10 months as export fell for the first time in three months.

Services account balance logged a deficit of 1.95 billion dollars in December, but it was the lowest deficit in about two years.

The financial account posted a net outflow of 5.44 billion dollars in December on rises in overseas direct investment and portfolio investment by local residents. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 14:21:37|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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HAVANA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Cuban government on Thursday criticized the recent U.S. troop movements in the Caribbean, saying that Washington is preparing for a military intervention in crisis-hit Venezuela.

In a statement, Havana said that between Feb. 6 and 10, there were flights of military transport aircraft to the airport in Puerto Rico, the San Isidro Air Base in the Dominican Republic, and to "strategically located" Caribbean islands.

It said the flights originated from U.S. military installations where its Special Forces units and Marines operate and these forces are often used in "covert actions, including against leaders of other countries."

The statement also described possible U.S. military actions in Venezuela as "a military adventure disguised as humanitarian intervention."

Venezuela is currently troubled by a political crisis. Opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president on Jan. 23 and was recognized by the United States and some other countries. Guaido's declaration came about two weeks after President Nicolas Maduro, who won the 2018 presidential vote, was inaugurated for a second term on Jan. 10.

Havana in its statement also accused Washington of seeking a "coup d'etat in Venezuela through the illegal self-proclamation of a president."

In addition, it said U.S.-led humanitarian aid to Venezuela, if any really, is far from making up for the damage made by Washington's economic blockade against Caracas.

In the statement, the Cuban government called on people and governments around the world to "defend peace and unite, over political or ideological differences," to prevent a new military intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 14:06:31|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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MUNICH, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Munich Security Conference to be held from Friday to Sunday has attracted an unprecedented number of key policymakers from around the world seeking solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing the global.

Around 500 participants, some of them heads of state and government, or political and security heavyweights, are expected to meet to discuss a wide range of issues from competition and cooperation between major countries, the European Union (EU)'s future, to transatlantic relations.

As multilateralism is being threatened, the conference foresees a world that returns to competition between powers.

Its annual security report released ahead of the conference, "The Great Puzzle, Who Will Pick Up the Pieces," notices the changing roles of the United States, China and Russia in world politics and security -- topics of the conference.

To be discussed are also the roles of other major countries such as Britain, Germany, France, Japan and Canada.

Global systems have been troubled with turbulence in recent years, notably with trade disputes increasing, Britain stumbling toward Brexit, and the United States increasingly estranging itself from its Western and NATO allies.

In early February, Washington, followed by Moscow, suspended their obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), a move towards a possible withdrawal from the document, to which Europe will fall victim. Tensions between Russia and the West have remained high.

Under the threats posed by unilateralism, protectionism and isolationism, multilateralism is widely believed to be a focus for many speakers from countries or international organizations.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday that she will promote multilateralism at the conference, adding the foremost issue for her is how countries should work together.

For the EU, being more self-assertive has appeared to be an option, but that has been hotly argued within the bloc, especially by Germany and France in recent years. Chairman of Munich Security Conference Wolfgang Ischinger had tried to make Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron jointly appear at the conference, but Macron called off the trip to Munich due to domestic issues.

The past year witnessed a better coordination between Germany and France. Merkel and Macron met frequently. Macron received the pro-European unification Charlemagne Prize of Aachen in May 2018. And in late January, the two countries signed the Treaty of Aachen on their cooperation and integration, an updated version of the 1963 Elysee Treaty.

The Munich Security Report said that, however, despite favorable public opinions on both sides, a Franco-German consensus is often hard to reach, and the bilateral agreement is no longer sufficient in an enlarged 27-member EU.

Moreover, the Franco-German initiative is facing a rise of both right- and left-wing politics that advocate Euroscepticism and undermine cohesion.

For the EU, an increasingly unilateral United States is another source of concern. Washington decided to quit the INF Treaty without consulting its European allies, and it downgraded the EU's diplomatic status, not to mention its attacks against European allies concerning defense budget, trade deficit, and the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.

Transatlantic relations will surely be a hot topic for the security conference expected to be attended by a large U.S. delegation led by Vice President Mike Pence.

And don't forget Russia. The Helsinki summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump in July has resulted in little detente between Russia and the West. Instead, the relations between the two sides deteriorated due to the INF Treaty withdrawal. Meanwhile, the deadlock over the eastern Ukraine issue remains, even worsening after the Kerch Strait incident.

Uncertainties in the Middle East have mounted following the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Washington's decision to withdraw troops from Syria, in particular.

In the Sahel region of Africa, local population is exposed to anti-government violence and terrorism, drugs and human trafficking, which prompt an migrant exodus to Europe and beyond.

At the security conference mainly deals with European and transatlantic issues, China's presence, which is becoming increasingly important, is expected, as ever, to inspire and encourage further international efforts to safeguard multilateralism and enhance cooperation between countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 13:56:28|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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SYDNEY, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited the country's flood affected northeast on Friday where hundreds of thousands of livestock have perished after two weeks of record rainfall.

While the waters have now mostly receded, an estimated 500,000 cows have been killed and their carcasses are now posing a high risk of spreading botulism and Q fever to local water supplies.

Landowners have begun an extensive cleanup effort to dispose of the dead animals, at the same time as trying feed surviving livestock which in some cases are inaccessible other than by air.

Speaking to reporters in the state of Queensland, Morrison provided words of encouragement to the communities there whom he said may take up to a decade to recover.

"This will be again one of the most prosperous regions of the country - we are going to rebuild the cattle industry here," he said.

"We've been knocked off our feet here a bit, right across the region, but we all get back up together."

Michael Guerin, chief executive of farming advocacy group AgForce Queensland, said that it was devastating to see a region which has suffered so much from drought now so deeply affected by flooding.

"The speed and intensity of the unfolding tragedy makes it hard to believe that it's just a week since farmers' elation at receiving the first decent rains in five years turned to horror at the devastating and unprecedented flood that quickly followed," Guerin said.

The Queensland government has announced a range of relief efforts including 100 million U.S. dollars in aid as well as ongoing support for farmers and their families as they recover from this once in a lifetime event.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 13:06:16|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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MOSCOW, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. lawmakers' attempt to impose sanctions on Russian energy projects and banks was "racketeering," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.

"This policy sometimes borders on racketeering. I mean various provisions of the draft law aimed at disrupting various energy projects of Russian companies, undermining the activities of Russian banks with state participation," Peskov was quoted by Russian news agency TASS as saying.

U.S. legislators on Wednesday proposed a new bill to introduce tougher sanctions on Russia, due to its alledged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and recent moves against Ukraine.

"There is an absolutely concrete, pragmatic and aggressive trading approach behind such proposals, having nothing to do with international trade rules," added Peskov.

The Russian government has already taken measures to protect the country against various "racketeering attacks" of the United States, he said.

When asked about the impact of possible new U.S. sanctions on the Russian economy, the Kremlin spokesman said the government has already developed and adopted a number of effective measures to hedge against such possible racketeering attacks.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 11:46:00|Editor: Li Xia

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CANBERRA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- One of Australia's leading youth mental health experts warned Friday that smartphones are responsible for a crisis costing the nation 60 billion Australian dollars (42.5 billion U.S. dollars) every year.

Speaking ahead of a Mental Health and Wellbeing forum in Adelaide on Friday, Patrick McGorry said that the rate of anxiety and depression has surged with the introduction and spread of smartphones.

McGorry was named Australian of the Year in 2010 for his work establishing headspace, Australia's National Youth Mental Health Foundation.

"There's a paradox - (young people) have never been physically healthier but their mental health has never been worse," he told News Corp Australia in Adelaide.

With a general election looming in May, McGorry called on both major parties to commit to real solutions to the mental health crisis rather than simple "awareness" campaigns.

The government's National Mental Health Commission found in 2016 that the annual cost of mental ill-health was approximately 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) or 60 billion Australian dollars.

McGorry cited a study that found that, despite widespread national awareness campaigns, only 16 percent of Australians suffering from depression accessed evidence-based care.

"If 16 percent of women with breast cancer got access to evidence-based care, it would not be tolerated," he said.

"We are currently failing to fix," he said. "If this continues, we will be falling further behind in our obligation to improve mental health services for all"

"In a federal election year, I want to see a commitment for more funding to ensure better outcomes," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 11:45:58|Editor: Li Xia

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CANBERRA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Leading scientists have expressed concern after polluted floodwaters hit an "extraordinarily large area" of the iconic Great Barrier Reef.

Researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), the government's peak tropical marine research agency, have begun assessing the impact that Queensland's devastating floods had on the world's largest coral reef.

They have found that the flood run-off, which likely includes nitrogen and pesticide chemicals that could devastate life on the reef, has spread as far as 60 kilometers from the coastline, exacerbating recent unprecedented coral bleaching events.

Friederieke Kroon, leader of the water quality team at the AIMS, said that the flood plumes could kill coral and seagrass if it lingered long enough by blocking sunlight.

"The two things we're mostly concerned about is sediment from erosion in the catchment that gets transported with rainwater into the rivers out onto the reef and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus," Kroon told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Friday.

"One of the main effects of getting that transported out to the reef is that ... less light can travel through the water and reach down to corals and seagrass ecosystems.

"If you look at the remote sensing images, the one that's standing out at the moment is the Burdekin, which is the biggest river in that area.

"But over the last two weeks, other rivers have produced large flood plumes as well, which have dissipated since then, but are definitely still affecting large areas of the Great Barrier Reef."

The reef has experienced mass coral bleaching events, a phenomenon whereby warm waters cause corals to expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues and turn completely white, in each of the last two summers.

However, Kroon said that the unexpected influx of cooler water from the mainland could mitigate the risk of an underwater heatwave that was expected to hit the reef in March.

"If you want to have a flipside to the story that would be one, yes, but it's still a huge disturbance to the reef (after) the bleaching and the cyclones that we've had over the last couple of years," he said.

"The reef doesn't even really get time to recover from any of these disturbances because it gets hit with something pretty much every year."
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 11:30:52|Editor: Li Xia

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YANGON, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- An ethnic armed group of Myanmar, the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), has returned the robbed items to the military in eastern Shan state, Myanmar News Agency reported Friday.

The seized objects were given back to the military in Mongpyin on Wednesday evening, a day after the armed group, also known as the Shan State Army (SSA), robbed a vehicle of the military carrying two commanding officers, taking away properties on the car.

The robbery took place between the location of Mongyin and Kengtung.

The RCSS is an ethnic armed organization which signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA) with the government on Oct. 15, 2015.

The Myanmar military announced suspension of all its military actions against armed groups in operation areas in five military command regions for over four months starting from Dec. 21, 2018 to April 30, 2019 to pave way for political talks with the non-ceasefire signatory armed groups.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 11:15:49|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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YANGON, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- One police officer has been killed in clashes between Myanmar security forces and the ethnic insurgent groups of Arakan Army (AA) and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in Maungtaw, Rakhine state, Myanmar News Agency reported Friday.

A section of the government's border security force, which was on security duty on Thursday at a bridge over Yebaukcha creek near Kalar Dayvad village close to a highway in Maungtaw, spotted a group of 30 AA and ARSA approaching from the west of the highway at 02:30 a.m. local time.

Fighting erupted between the two sides then, lasting until the security force reinforcement arrived at 04:00 a.m., forcing the insurgent groups to retreat to the west.

The Myanmar security force claimed that they confiscated several items left by the insurgent groups which include a blood-stained camouflage vest, three M-22 cartridges, 20 rounds of ammunition, two improvised explosive devices, a walkie talkie, a remote controller and a book printed in Arabic language.

The security force reinforcement column was continuing to pursue the retreating insurgent groups, the report said.

The AA, a non-signatory to the government's Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA), launched coordinated attacks on four border police outposts in villages in Buthidaung, Rakhine state on Jan. 4, killing 13 police officers and wounding nine others.

The ARSA was announced by the government as an extremist terrorist group following their deadly attacks on police outposts in Maungtaw in August 2017, killing five police members.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 10:40:41|Editor: Li Xia

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by Victoria Arguello

BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- A month since China's TV series "Nirvana in Fire" debuted in Argentina, the viewers here have been hooked on the romantic period drama.

Based on a historical novel of the same name, the series has ignited enthusiasm to learn more about China's history and culture.

Argentina's America TV network, which began broadcasting the series on Jan. 7 during the midnight slot, soon had a hit on its hands. Viewers were gripped by the tale of a young man who sets out to vindicate his family's honor amid warring rival dynasties in sixth-century China.

"We are surprised it has done so well and that people are amazed by the material," said Liliana Parodi, who is in charge of programming for America TV, adding that the series bridges "the distance between one country and the other," offering Argentinians "a very positive look at China."

The program marks the first time America TV has aired a show that is "so distinct" from the ordinary contents of the network, and it has been so well-received by the public, she explained.

"From the time we were young, we have always been captivated by that millenary country, with its history, its politics, its number of people, its output. Each of us has a very direct tie to that country," she added.

"Nirvana in Fire" has generated hundreds of comments on social networks, "not just from members of the Chinese community, but from many Argentinians," said Mercedes Demasi, a representative of Argentine production agency Integra Industrias Culturales, which helped to bring the series to Latin America.

The series has something for everyone, from court intrigue to romance, from lush landscapes to elaborate royal costumes, all offering a window into Chinese customs, lifestyles and ways of thinking, she added.

Angie Behrmann, an Argentine painter who specializes in Chinese calligraphy, said she watched the series to practice her Chinese, but was fascinated by the story and the way it was told.

"The production level had me gripped. Everything is really well done. The plot is exceptional, it is really well written. Everything that takes place is so exciting," she said.

The painter said she has learned more about Chinese culture and gotten to know different places in China thanks to the series. "The country was opened up to me. It's as if I were to show you Argentina through a series."

"I liked it a lot because I learned a ton about the culture, the right way to address people, how to speak, what to do, what not to do, how they think differently. It was very enriching to see the series," she added.

Claudia Brumec, another fan of the show, said: "I am watching it because it is an oriental culture very different from our own, because it has that matter of wisdom, of learning from experience, of calm, of patience, of going beyond the obvious."

"The first episode really caught my attention: the landscapes they showed, the messenger pigeon, the costumes, the staging, the palaces... All these things that we are not accustomed to are very interesting," said Brumec, adding that "you can tell a lot of work went into it."

"Nirvana in Fire" was a resounding success in China, where it was viewed by millions and won some 50 awards of different categories.
HARTFORD, Conn., Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The 22nd Northeast Fishing & Hunting Show is coming Friday, March 29 through Sunday, March 31, 2019 to the Connecticut Convention Center, 100 Columbus Blvd. in Hartford. Connecticuts largest fishing and hunting show is for the entire family and for longtime enthusiasts as well as anyone who wants to learn more about outdoor adventure.



Hundreds of booths feature the latest gear and merchandise, explains organizer Kristie Gonsalves of North East Expos. Cabelas, Bass Pro Shops and others showcase the hottest new fishing boats. Attendees can attend 50 hours of seminars by national and regional experts, speak with charter boat captains, watch fly-fishing casting shows and fly-tyers and wooden plug/lure makers demonstrate skills, and enjoy hands-on activities.

Fishing experts include: Alberto Knie (a/k/a Crazy Alberto), world-class extreme trophy game fish hunter and product designer; fisherman and master lure designer Bobby Uhrig; Ralph Wilkins of National Geographic Channels Wicked Tuna, Surf fisherman Ron Arra; Greg Myerson, who holds four world records for stripers; Bassmaster Mike DelVisco; custom lure designer Al Gag; and Mike Laptew the Diving Fisherman. Captains include: Joe Diorio; Greg Dubrule; TJ Karbowski; Mike Roy; Mel True; Leo Croisetiere; and Andrew Mazzitelli. Hunting experts include: international bow hunter Del DelMastro; archer Tom Nelson, and Bully Breed trainers on firearms safety and education.

Favorites include: hunting and pointing dog training sessions by Dusty W German Shorthaired Pointers; 4,000-gallon Hawg Traugh Fish Tank for fishing and casting demonstrations; Catch & Release Trout Pond for prizes; Black Hawk interactive virtual fishing fighting simulator; Tactical Airsofts shooting sports; NRA laser range; Sportsmens Outposts archery; and Connecticut Bass Nations Kids Bass Casting Competition.

Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) features mounted animals and consumer education. Saturday at 12 noon, DEEP recognizes top anglers at its Trophy Fish Awards Ceremony. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Mobile VetCenter Bus will be staffed by outreach representatives.

Hours : Friday, 12 noon to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission  cash only : $12 adults; $4 Children ages 5 to 12; Free under age 5. Saturday, first 200 veterans get in free with military/veterans ID. Saturday, first 200 children get Kids Cane Pole and Texas Roadhouse meal.

www.fishinghuntingshow.com , or 860-844-8461.

MEDIA CONTACT: Laura Soll, 860-688-4499, Cell 860-833-4466 Laura@sollpr.com




Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 09:30:19|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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MEXICO CITY, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday unveiled a plan to spur job growth and improve infrastructure in Badiraguato, Sinaloa, best known as the birthplace of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

The government will implement specific measures to generate 20,000 new jobs in Badiraguato.

"Badiraguato is a town with history, and many people who deserve respect live there," said Lopez Obrador, a proponent of social programs to help young people stay away from crime.

Lopez Obrador said he will travel to Badiraguato on Friday, which would make him the first head of state to visit the town.

Under the development scheme, 50,000 hectares of trees will be planted in urban centers to encourage people to move to cities. A public university specializing in forestry will also be built to take advantage of the area's natural resources.

Earlier this week, Guzman was convicted in a U.S. court of multiple counts of drug trafficking and money laundering. He is expected to serve a mandatory life sentence to be determined at a June hearing.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 08:20:08|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Participants pose for the group photo at the National Stadium during the Warsaw conference on the Middle East in Warsaw, Poland, on Feb. 14, 2019. Poland hosted a two-day international conference sponsored by the United States over peace and security in the Middle East region. (Xinhua/Jaap Arriens)

WARSAW, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The European nations showed little interest in the Middle East peace and security plans that the United States has touted at the international conference which ended here on Thursday.

The conference, which started on Wednesday, was co-organized by Poland and the U.S. The main topics included the political situation and the role of Iran in regional development, the situation in Yemen and Syria, the security and stability in the Middle East.

It came as the EU holds different opinions on the Iran issue. Last year, the U.S. withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions. Other countries of the deal, including major European powers such as Germany, France and Britain, have since tried to keep the deal alive.

"This conference is a gamble (for Poland)," Robert Czulda, an assistant professor of Middle East studies at the University of Lodz, was quoted by U.S. media as saying. Although the simple ambition of the Polish government is to have U.S. military protection, convening a meeting which would highlight the discrepancies between the U.S. and its allies in Europe over Iran was obviously "not a smart idea", said the assistant professor.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini didn't attend the conference, and neither did foreign ministers of France and Germany, which sent lower ranking staff instead. Russia said no to it while British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt who came to chair a meeting for peace in Yemen left early.

The conference on the Middle East was attended by the representatives of more than 60 countries. The U.S. invited Israel and Arab states, but not Iran.

Noticing little interest shown by its allies, the U.S. had broaden the schedule of the conference hastily prior to its commencement, denying the conference was aimed to bash Iran.

Addressing a joint press conference in Warsaw with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz also said "Poland is a part of the EU and hence we are of the opinion and we accept the policy of JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action)...."

From the perspective of the Guardian's diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour, the Warsaw conference reflected the "growing anger over unilateral U.S. policymaking on Iran and Syria".
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 07:45:01|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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CHICAGO, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- New diagnostic tools such as machine learning and precision medicine could help identify tuberculosis (TB) patients with the highest risk of reactivation of the disease, according to a study posted on the website of the University of Michigan (UM) on Thursday.

The researchers used a precision normalization approach to correct for differences in individual basal immune function that revealed a high- and low-reactivation risk.

They showed that identifying multiple biomarkers can provide a more accurate diagnosis for patients. And by introducing multiple biomarker assays in blood tests with powerful analysis tools, the chances for correctly diagnosing TB increase dramatically.

"A multi-array test can provide a more detailed, disease specific glimpse into patient's infection and likely outcome," said study co-author Ryan Bailey, UM professor of chemistry. "Using a precision medicine approach reveals previously obscured diagnostic signatures and reactivation risk potential."

Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) affects nearly 2 billion individuals around the world and about 10 percent of those cases result in active tuberculosis.

Currently, LTBI is tested through a skin scratch test or a blood test that can identify one biomarker but cannot distinguish between memory immune response, vaccine-initiated response, and non-tuberculous mycobacteria exposure. The possibility of correctly identifying the disease through these tests is less than 5 percent.

Tuberculosis is treated with an antibiotic regimen, but it also increases the potential side effects of antibiotic resistance.

The study has been published in Integrative Biology.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 07:40:01|Editor: Li Xia

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Chinese Ambassador to Burundi Li Changlin (2nd L) and Burundian Foreign Affairs Minister Ezechiel Nibigira (2nd R) sign a handover document on the China-aided Burundian state house at the signing ceremony in Mutimbuzi district, north of Bujumbura, Burundi, on Feb. 14, 2019. The handover is a sign of sincere friendship and cooperation between China and Burundi, Li said at the signing ceremony on Thursday. (Xinhua/Chinese Embassy in Burundi)

BUJUMBURA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Burundi Li Changlin and Burundian Foreign Affairs Minister Ezechiel Nibigira on Thursday signed a handover document on the China-aided Burundian state house.

The handover is a sign of sincere friendship and cooperation between China and Burundi, Li said at the signing ceremony in the new state house in Mutimbuzi district, north of Burundi's commercial capital Bujumbura,

The Chinese embassy has mobilized translators to render Burundi's National Development Plan into the Chinese language, which will help identify priority areas for cooperation between the two sides, said the envoy, adding that the Sino-Burundian cooperation will focus on improving the well-being of Burundian citizens and working conditions of Burundian civil servants.

Nibigira thanked China for offering a state house that Burundi had never owned since the country's independence on July 1, 1962.

"This is the first time in Burundi's history to get such a nice infrastructure. It proves the strongest political and diplomatic relations existing between Burundi and China," said Nibigira.

The Burundian government will do its best to continue boosting Sino-Burundian relations, he added.

Burundian Second Vice-President Joseph Butore also attended the ceremony. Before signing the document, officials of Burundi and China had a tour of the state house.

The complex, with the total construction area of over 9,900 square meters, consists of the president's office building, rooms for guards and equipment, and watchtowers.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 07:19:57|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (C) speaks to media in Washington D.C., the United States, on Feb. 14, 2019. U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to sign a bipartisan funding bill to avert another government shutdown, but also declare a national emergency to obtain funds for his long-promised border wall, Mitch McConnell said Thursday. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump is prepared to sign a bipartisan bill on spending and border security to avert another government shutdown, but also declare a national emergency to obtain funds for his long-promised border wall, the White House said Thursday.

"President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action - including a national emergency - to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

"The President is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country," she said.

Minutes earlier, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell broke the news of Trump's plan. He made the announcement on the Senate floor and said the Senate will soon vote on the bill that's needed to avoid a partial federal shutdown Friday.

Shortly after the announcement, the Senate voted 82-16 to pass the spending and border security bill, which was expected to be voted on Thursday night by the House of Representatives.

The bill, once approved by the Congress and Trump, will keep the government open past a midnight Friday deadline. It would include 1.375 billion U.S. dollars for physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump had previously demanded 5.7 billion dollars in funding for the border wall, his signature campaign promise. The fight over the funding of the border wall between the White House and congressional Democrats led to the record-breaking 35-day federal government shutdown which ended late January.

A national emergency declaration, which would allow the president to bypass Congress and use the military to build the wall, is widely expected to spark lawsuits challenging the president's authority.

In opting to declare a national emergency, Trump would seek to access funds for the wall that Congress had not explicitly authorized for the purpose, said a New York Times report, calling it a provocative move that would test the bounds of U.S. presidential authority in a time of divided government.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House, said her party is "reviewing our options" in responding to the anticipated emergency declaration.

"The president is doing an end run around Congress," she said.

"You want to talk about a national emergency, let's talk about today," Pelosi said, referring to the first anniversary of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Just before Wednesday midnight, House and Senate negotiators unveiled the 1,159-page bill allowing the federal government to open through the end of September, leaving little time for lawmakers to actually digest its contents.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 07:09:54|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Participants pose for the group photo at the National Stadium during the Warsaw conference on the Middle East in Warsaw, Poland, on Feb. 14, 2019. Poland hosted a two-day international conference sponsored by the United States over peace and security in the Middle East region. (Xinhua/Jaap Arriens)

WARSAW, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The international conference on the Middle East ended here on Thursday. During the two-day discussion, the United States and the EU have held different views on Iran issue, and didn't reach any agreements specifically.

The conference, which started on Wednesday, was co-organized by Poland and the U.S. The main topics included the political situation and the role of Iran in regional development, the situation in Yemen and Syria, the security and stability in the Middle East.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed the unstable situation in the region on Iran's "destabilizing influence". He said earlier on Thursday that peace and stability in the Middle East cannot be achieved "without confronting Iran".

In his closing remarks at the end of the conference, Pompeo said that "more sanctions and pressure on Iran is needed". He also urged other countries "oppose giving money to (Iranian President) Hassan Rouhani".

But the EU has different positions on Iran issue. "The European Union believes that maintaining the peaceful character of the Iranian nuclear program, calls for keeping the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, in place. The United States abandoned this agreement and imposed sanctions," said Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz.

"The nuclear deal with Iran plays a positive role in the long term," Czaputowicz said at the end of the conference.

Last year, the U.S. withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions. Other countries of the deal, including major European powers such as Germany, France and Britain, have since tried to keep the deal alive.

The conference on the Middle East was attended by the representatives of more than 60 countries. The U.S. invited Israel and Arab states, but not Iran.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini didn't attend the conference, and neither did foreign ministers of France and Germany, which sent lower ranking staff instead.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that Iran will stand firm in the face of U.S. sanction pressures.

Washington is targeting the Iranian nation with an "economic, propaganda and psychological war," Rouhani was quoted as saying by Press TV.

However, the Iranians will defend their dignity and independence, and will not "surrender to the enemy," he said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday that the anti-Iran meeting in the Polish capital Warsaw is "doomed to fail," semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

"This is another attempt by the United States to pursue its policies vis-a-vis Iran, which has not been forged properly," Zarif was quoted as saying.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 07:09:53|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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ABUJA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government on Thursday ordered the closure of all land borders to ensure a smooth process of the country's coming presidential election.

The most populous country in Africa will hold general elections on Saturday to elect the president and national assembly members.

In a terse statement, Minister of Interior Abdulrahman Dambazau said the land borders will be closed from Friday to Sunday.

In a separate statement, Muhammad Babandede, comptroller-general of the Nigeria Immigration Service, said there would be a restriction of movements across the Nigerian borders during the election and on the days announced.

Likewise, the police said there would be a restriction of vehicular movement on Saturday, from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. local time. According to a statement by the national police spokesman, Frank Mba, the measure was taken to ensure hitch-free polls.

"The restriction will assist the security agencies in effectively policing the electoral process, thereby preventing hoodlums and criminally-minded elements from hijacking and disrupting the electoral process," Mba said.

Security is often a major concern at Nigerian elections. Apart from politically-linked violence among supporters of rival political parties, the country's armed forces are in a battle with terror group Boko Haram which is seeking to establish an Islamic state in the northeast region.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 07:09:53|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Thursday condemned the "heinous and cowardly terrorist attack" in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province that killed 27 and wounded 13 others.

In a statement, the members of the council expressed their sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the Iranian government and wished a speedy and full recovery to the injured.

The council members reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.

They underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of terrorism acts accountable and bring them to justice, and urged all states to cooperate with the Iranian government and all other relevant authorities in this regard.

"Any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed," they said, reaffirming the need for all states to combat threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

A suicide terrorist attack targeted the personnel of the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Sistan and Baluchestan Province on Wednesday.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Thursday the perpetrators of the attack should await the revenge.

The Jaish al-Adl Sunni rebel group, which is based in Pakistan, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 08:55:31|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli speaks during his address to nation at Singhadurbar in Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 14, 2019. Oli addressed the nation marking the completion of one year in office as the Prime Minister of the country. He shared about the major achievements on development of various sectors and about the future plans and strategies in his address. (Xinhua)
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza (Front) speaks to reporters at the United Nations headquarters in New York, on Feb. 14, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

MOSCOW, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Russia is ready to join mediation efforts to help end the Venezuelan crisis, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

"We have paid great attention to the mediation formula proposed by Mexico, Uruguay and Caribbean countries. It calls for a comprehensive all-inclusive dialogue without ultimatums and preconditions," Zakharova said at a news briefing.

"We believe that this initiative, as it was announced, deserves broad international support," she said.

Russia supports the broadest contacts on the Venezuelan issue and has consistently explained its position, Zakharova said.

She said that any attempt by the United States to make Russia change its position is hardly feasible as it is "not built on some short-term opportunistic considerations."

Russia respects international law and state sovereignty in line with the principles of the United Nations Charter and it therefore is ready for a dialogue with everyone, including the United States, on this basis, Zakharova said.

"We're not tired of saying: the task of the international community is to contribute to finding an understanding between different political forces in Venezuela," Zakharova said.

Venezuela has been experiencing political tensions since Jan. 23 when National Assembly President Juan Guaido declared himself interim president and was recognized by the United States and some other countries.

The Venezuelan government led by President Nicolas Maduro has expressed readiness to sit down with the opposition with no preconditions and seek a solution to the political crisis.
ATHENS, Greece, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE: DSX), (the Company), a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, today announced that it has signed, through two separate wholly-owned subsidiaries, two Memoranda of Agreement to sell to two affiliated parties, the m/v Danae and m/v Dione, each a 2001-built dry bulk vessel (the Vessels), for US$7.2 million each. The sale of the Vessels was approved by disinterested directors of the Company and were sold at a price equal to the higher of two independent broker valuations. The Company expects the m/v Danae to be delivered to her buyers at the latest by June 28, 2019 and the m/v Dione to her buyers at the latest by April 15, 2019.



The Company also announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Glencore Agriculture B.V., Rotterdam, for one of its Ice Class Panamax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Crystalia. The gross charter rate is US$10,500 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum fourteen (14) months to maximum seventeen (17) months. The charter is expected to commence on February 23, 2019.

The Crystalia is a 77,525 dwt Ice Class Panamax dry bulk vessel built in 2014.

Additionally, the Company announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Glencore Agriculture B.V., Rotterdam, for one of its Panamax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Maera, for a period of minimum fourteen (14) months to maximum seventeen (17) months. The gross charter rate is US$7,000 per day for the first forty-five (45) days of the charter period and US$9,450 per day for the balance period of the time charter, in each case minus a 5% commission paid to third parties. The charter commenced on February 10, 2019.

The Maera is a 75,403 dwt Panamax dry bulk vessel built in 2013.

The employments of Crystalia and Maera are anticipated to generate approximately US$8.27 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charters.

Upon completion of the aforementioned sales, Diana Shipping Inc.s fleet will consist of 46 dry bulk vessels (4 Newcastlemax, 14 Capesize, 5 Post-Panamax, 5 Kamsarmax and 18 Panamax). As of today, the combined carrying capacity of the Companys fleet, including the m/v Danae and m/v Dione, is approximately 5.7 million dwt with a weighted average age of 9.26 years. A table describing the current Diana Shipping Inc. fleet can be found on the Companys website, www.dianashippinginc.com. Information contained on the Companys website does not constitute a part of this press release.

About the Company

Diana Shipping Inc. is a global provider of shipping transportation services through its ownership of dry bulk vessels. The Companys vessels are employed primarily on medium to long-term time charters and transport a range of dry bulk cargoes, including such commodities as iron ore, coal, grain and other materials along worldwide shipping routes.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.

The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words believe, anticipate, intends, estimate, forecast, project, plan, potential, may, should, expect, pending and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, Company managements examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the Companys records and other data available from third parties. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies that are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond the Companys control, the Company cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.

In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in the Companys view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for dry bulk shipping capacity, changes in the Companys operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for the Companys vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other factors. Please see the Companys filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Corporate Contact:

Ioannis Zafirakis

Director, Chief Strategy Officer and Secretary

Telephone: + 30-210-9470-100

Email: izafirakis@dianashippinginc.com

Website: www.dianashippinginc.com

Investor and Media Relations:

Edward Nebb

Comm-Counsellors, LLC

Telephone: + 1-203-972-8350

Email: enebb@optonline.net
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 05:09:28|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita (R) and his Spanish counterpart Josep Borrell attend a joint press conference in Rabat, Morocco, on Feb. 14, 2019. Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his visiting Spanish counterpart Josep Borrell pledged on Thursday to further strengthen bilateral partnership. (Xinhua)

RABAT, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his visiting Spanish counterpart Josep Borrell pledged on Thursday to further strengthen bilateral partnership.

Bourita said at a joint press conference with Borrell that the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on establishing multidimensional strategic partnership between the two countries on Wednesday reflected the shared willingness to move bilateral ties to a higher and more ambitious level.

He stressed that the Moroccan-Spanish partnership is based on "trust, ambition, mutual respect and serenity in dealing with all matters as part of a win-win cooperation."

Morocco and Spain contributed actively to peace and stability and have become "key players" in stability in the western Mediterranean, Bourita said.

For his part, Borrell deemed cooperation between the two countries as "exemplary", adding that it "stands out as a model in a troubled world where cooperation ties are not prioritized."

He underlined that the two countries are determined to address all challenges, including migration flows, fight against crimes and economic growth, through dialogue and cooperation.

"Certainly, we are united by geography, but also by a common desire to expand our partnership on the basis of respect, dialogue and mutual trust," Borrell said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 04:24:18|Editor: yan

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by Wang Zichen

BRUSSELS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's tech company Huawei has received a reply from the Czech Republic's cyber watchdog, a spokeswoman for Huawei said on Thursday.

"We have received the reply from National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NUKIB). We are carefully analyzing it and preparing the next steps," Magda Teresa Partyka, Huawei's public relations manager in the country, told Xinhua on Thursday evening, without elaborating on its content.

Huawei is an employee-owned private company, which has evolved into the world's leading telecoms equipment vendor and a market leader in Europe, helping mobile carriers build the information and communication infrastructure.

In December 2018, the NUKIB sent a warning over Huawei's products, saying that Huawei represented a potential national security threat to the country's critical infrastructure. Huawei has categorically rejected the allegations.

On Feb. 8, media outlets including The New York Times reported that Huawei had sent a letter to the head of NUKIB asking for the warning to be rescinded.

The New York Times report, which included no comment from Huawei, described the letter as a "threat", but Partyka described it as a way of communication.

"Huawei has sent a letter to NUKIB as we were trying to contact (them) to arrange a meeting to discuss the issue of the warning. Instead of a meeting, they prefer written communication, therefore we are communicating via letters," Partyka wrote in an email on Thursday morning after being contacted by Xinhua, without elaborating on the content of Huawei's letter to NUKIB.

"As we have expressed already, our goal is to have fair conditions to do business in the Czech Republic. We don't want our company to be discriminated against with no evidence. We are a reliable partner and we do not wish to escalate the situation further. We want to conduct our business here, deliver our products and services to our customers," Partyka wrote, before receiving the reply.

Huawei, which also has a consumer business, producing smartphones and tablets, maintains that it does not pose a security threat, despite accusations by some Western countries and politicians without any supporting evidence.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 04:24:18|Editor: mmm

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The World Food Programme (WFP) Yemen Representative and Country Director Stephen Anderson speaks during an interview in Sanaa, Yemen, on Feb. 14, 2019. The World Food Programme (WFP) expects Yemeni warring parties to reach an agreement soon to facilitate access by humanitarian workers to the Red Sea Mills in the key port city of Hodeidah, Anderson told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Thursday. (Xinhua/Mohamed al-Azaki)

SANAA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The World Food Programme (WFP) expects Yemeni warring parties to reach an agreement soon to facilitate access by humanitarian workers to the Red Sea Mills in the key port city of Hodeidah, a WFP official told Xinhua on Thursday.

"The WFP expects all parties to facilitate our access to the mills," Stephen Anderson, WFP representative and country director in the capital Sanaa, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

"It is a complex area because it is very close to the front line so it's not easy to gain access ... but we need to have a sustained access," he said.

"There are 20 million people in Yemen who are considered hungry now, which is 70 percent of the population ... Among them we are trying to assist the most needy people," Anderson added.

The WFP official said he expected an international donor conference to be held within weeks in Geneva that would focus on support to war-devastated Yemen.

On Monday, UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths warned that up to 51,000 metric tons of WFP's wheat grain aid stored in the besieged city of Hodeidah is "at risk of rotting."

"The WFP's grain stored in the mills, which was enough to feed 3.7 million people for a month, has been inaccessible for over five months and is at risk of rotting," Griffiths said in a statement.

Hodeidah is the lifeline of Yemen's most commercial imports and humanitarian aid. The four-year civil war has pushed millions of people to the verge of starvation and created what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The warring parties reached a peace deal in Stockholm in December last year. They have largely held the cease-fire deal in Hodeidah but failed to withdraw their forces.

The Houthi rebels continue to fortify themselves inside the city while the government troops have been massing on the southern and eastern outskirts.

Last week's negotiations led by Michael Anker Lollesgaard, head of the UN cease-fire monitor team in Hodeidah, resulted in what the UN called a "preliminary deal," but the warring parties hotly disputed the deal.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 02:18:52|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza (C, Front) speaks to reporters at the United Nations headquarters in New York, on Feb. 14, 2019. Venezuela is trying to gather support at the United Nations amid a political crisis at home. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, flanked by representatives from 16 other countries, read a statement on Thursday to reporters at the UN headquarters. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela is trying to gather support at the United Nations amid a political crisis at home.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, flanked by representatives from 16 other countries, read a statement on Thursday to reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York.

"Today, we are announcing that an important group of members of the United Nations states, concerned over the need to maintain respect for the principles of the founding charter (of the United Nations) that governs the behavior of the international community, have decided to organize ourselves to coordinate actions to defend the charter and the right of all the member states," said the statement.

"We are an important group of countries who are sure that the majority of the members of this organization share the same interest, and as such, we are working to defend the following principles," it said.

The statement called for respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of the peoples, respect for the sovereign equality of UN members, non-intervention in the domestic affairs of the states.

It also called on states to settle international disputes through peaceful means, to refrain from the threat of use of force against any state, and to respect the territorial integrity and political independence of all states.

"We believe these principles are being violated, putting at risk the right to peace and security of our peoples, the right to development, and full enjoyment of human rights," said the statement. "We all have the right to live without the threat of use of force, and without the application of illegal, coercive, unilateral measures."

"In the next few days, we will begin a series of actions to raise awareness around the dangers that our peoples currently face, particularly the case of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. We call upon all the member states of the United Nations to join us in defending international law as the only guarantor for humanity's peaceful coexistence."

Venezuela has been in political tension since Jan. 23 when National Assembly President Juan Guaido declared himself interim president and was recognized by the United States and some other countries. Arreaza said Thursday that Nicolas Maduro remains the only legitimate president of Venezuela.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 01:58:48|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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A Palestinian vendor prepares flower bouquets in his shop on Valentine's Day in Gaza City, on Feb. 14, 2019. Fronts of gift and flower shops in the Palestinian Gaza Strip were ornamented with rows of red roses and heart-shaped gadgets in celebration of Valentine's Day, which falls on Feb. 14 every year. However, the sales remained limited throughout the day, which were reflected in the complaints of merchants. (Xinhua/Stringer)

GAZA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Fronts of gift and flower shops in the Palestinian Gaza Strip were ornamented with rows of red roses and heart-shaped gadgets in celebration of Valentine's Day, which falls on Feb. 14 every year.

However, the sales remained limited throughout the day, which were reflected in the complaints of merchants.

This year, Valentine's Day came amid very difficult conditions as the Gaza Strip has been placed for the 12th year under a tight Israeli blockade.

For Waseem Abdo, who has been in the business of selling flowers and gifts for 18 years, the festivity has never been worse in the terms of people's reluctance to buy flowers and gifts to celebrate the day.

"The deteriorating economic conditions have forced many to rethink their spending habits, which negatively affected traders who spent much in preparation for the festivity," Abdo told Xinhua.

Local merchants said the difficult economic conditions in Gaza made the population focus more on providing basic needs rather than social events such as Valentine's Day.

Gaza has been placed under a tight Israeli blockade since Islamic Hamas movement seized the territory after routing forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.

A report released by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed that the unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip reached 52 percent in 2018 compared with 44 percent in 2017.

According to the same report, female participation in the labor force in the Gaza Strip does not exceed 26 percent.

A local Gaza-based committee resisting the Israeli blockade warned in January that Israel's embargo has led to a severe humanitarian deterioration in all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip.

The committee said 90 percent of factories in the impoverished densely-populated enclave have been badly damaged because of Israel's blockade and the growing unemployment.

In Gaza, 85 percent of the population are living under the poverty line, with per-day income just hitting two U.S. dollars, the committee added.

Valentine's Day, also known as the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated in many countries around the world.

Gazans started to mark Valentine's Day when Palestinians in exile returned from countries like Egypt, Lebanon and Syria after the peace accords between the Palestinian National Authority and Israel were signed in 1994.

Internet and satellite channels have also helped spread the idea among educated secular young people.

However, the event is not largely celebrated in Gaza as the majority of people there are conservative Muslims who only mark Muslim holidays.

Still, Cupid is a welcomed guest in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

Some Gazans use the occasion to escape the dire conditions of the Israeli blockade, the repeated clashes with Israel that left thousands dead, as well as the internal division since 2007.

"Celebrating Valentine's Day is getting popular in Gaza, but the economic situation is an obstacle that does not help people widely observe it," said Fidaa Abu Hadayd, a customer who was inspecting gifts displayed in a shop.

The 37-year-old woman pointed out that almost everyone wants to celebrate the day, "but the economic and even psychological situations have overshadowed the commercial movement."

Abdullah Siyam, a 19-year-old student at the Faculty of Engineering, bought a small bouquet of red flowers and put several bars of chocolate inside.

"I'm single and not in a relationship, but I bought this gift to mother who deserves celebration on such an occasion," Siyam said, flashing a shy smile.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 01:03:34|Editor: yan

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BAGHDAD, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- A total of six Islamic State (IS) militants and a police officer were killed on Thursday in separate incidents in Iraq's north-central province of Salahudin, a provincial police source said.

"A joint force of Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) and provincial police commandos conducted an operation against IS hideouts in Mteibijah, a rugged area in the eastern part of the province, killing six of the extremist militants and confiscating a cache of weapons and ammunition," Mohammed Khalil al-Bazi from the provincial police command told Xinhua.

Iraqi security forces repeatedly tried to retake the control of Mteibijah, but the vast rugged land and nearby Himreen mountainous area have made it difficult for them to completely clear the area of the extremist militants.

Earlier, hundreds of IS militants fled their former bases in the key cities in Salahudin, including the provincial capital Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, after the Iraqi forces cleared these areas during major anti-IS offensives.

In another incident, a roadside bomb explosion near Makhoul Mountain, some 50 km north of Tikrit, killed Ghalib Khattab, head of explosives directorate of the provincial police, and wounded his driver.

In December 2017, Iraq declared full liberation from the IS after the security forces and the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units, backed by the anti-IS international coalition, recaptured all areas once seized by the extremist group.

However, IS remnants have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out guerilla attacks from time to time against the security forces and civilians.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 00:23:24|Editor: yan

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia is to send a high level government delegation to attend the 2nd Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation that will be held in Beijing in April, an Ethiopian official said on Thursday.

Speaking to Xinhua, Nebiat Getachew, Spokesperson at Ethiopia Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), said Ethiopia and China already enjoy multifaceted ties, expected to be further strengthened at the meeting in April.

"In January, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed held talks with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi," he said.

"Earlier this month, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu held talks with visiting Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong. Both meetings show the high regard Ethiopia and China have to their bilateral relationship," Getachew told Xinhua.

"Ethiopia is a strong partner of China in the African continent. Ethiopia's expected attendance at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation is a further testament to the strong bilateral ties," said Getachew.

Launched in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which seek to serve as a platform for international cooperation, and create new drivers for shared development to benefit more countries and peoples globally.

On May 14-15, 2017, the first ever Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held in Beijing, attended by state and government leaders of 29 countries. The more than 1,600 participants came from over 140 countries and 80 international organizations.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-14 22:50:04|Editor: yan

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DAMASCUS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- During the Middle East security conference in Warsaw, the United States aims to further isolate Iran internationally by urging Western allies to follow its lead in tightening the noose on Tehran, analysts say.

During the Thursday session of the U.S.-backed conference in Poland, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called for his country's European allies to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.

He also urged the Western allies to stop efforts, which he said are designed to evade U.S. sanctions.

Pence also accused Iran of being the greatest state sponsor of terrorism in the World.

The remarks are the latest escalation by the administration of President Donald Trump against Iran.

Maher Ihsan, a Syrian journalist and a political expert, told Xinhua that the United States is saving no effort to practice more pressure on Iran.

"Washington is not pleased with the influence of Iran in the Middle East and a big part of the pressure is what the Israelis have been asking for," he said.

The expert added that in terms of Syria, the United States said it will withdraw its forces from the country.

He noted, however, that the United States wants to see the withdrawal of Iranian-backed forces from Syria first.

"We see repeated Israeli strikes in Syria over the pretext of targeting Iranian forces, which explains the U.S. and Israeli tension over the presence of Iran in Syria," he said.

Ihsan said the priority of the United States in the time being is to see Iran suffocated economically so that it could be no danger on the Israeli and U.S. interests in the region.

The United States further linked peace of the world with Iran.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the world "can't achieve peace and security in the Middle East without confronting Iran."

Meanwhile, Ahmad al-Ashqar, another expert, said that the economic weapon of the United States is aimed at Iran because Washington cannot engage in a direct war with Tehran.

Al-Ashqar said that while the declared goal behind the conference is to promote peace and security in the Middle East, the remarks of the U.S. officials reflect one desire only, which is isolating Iran.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-14 22:40:03|Editor: yan

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government on Thursday disclosed that more than 45,800 prisoners have been pardoned during the past nine-month period.

The 45,875 prisoners were granted amnesty following the ratification of an amnesty bill by the Ethiopian House of Peoples' Representatives (HoPR), the Ethiopian parliament's lower house, in June last year, state affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) reported.

According to the Ethiopian Federal Attorney General, among the large number of prisoners that have benefited from the amnesty law include political prisoners, journalists, as well as various other former Ethiopian government officials.

In addition to the large-sacle release of prisoners, the law also granted an amnesty to exiled Ethiopians, who were for decades considered as terrorists with arrest warrant on their name, to return to the East African country and pursue political life in a peaceful manner.

Among the released terrorism-related convicts include the former prominent rebel leader, Andargachew Tsige, a British citizen of Ethiopian origin, who had served a prison sentence since June 2014, for leading and directing an outlawed rebel group Patriotic Ginbot 7 (PG7), based mainly in Ethiopia's former archrival Eritrea.

Tsige's release, which the attorney general said was on a "special amnesty rationale", followed the Ethiopian government's announcement to release former high-profile Ethiopian government officials as well as other political prisoners.

Among the former Ethiopian government officials whose cases dropped over the past year also include Melaku Fanta, the former Director General of the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority with the rank of a Minister, and his deputy, Gebrewahed Woldegiorgis, who was arrested in 2013 together with 11 other individuals suspected of involving in large-scale corruption.

The amnesty program, which the Ethiopian government said is a means towards national reconciliation and unity, has seen the release of thousands of prisoners and others under investigation since Abiy Ahmed's election as Prime Minister of Ethiopia in April last year.

The Ethiopian government characterized the mass prisoner release programs as part of its efforts to widen political space by creating national consensus and reconciliation, in which regional states across the East African country also conducted similar large scale prisoners release over the past year.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-14 19:29:05|Editor: xuxin

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ULAN BATOR, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Mongolia-China-Russia economic corridor is beneficial for all three parties, a senior Mongolian official has said.

"The trilateral economic corridor is an important part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)," Tuvshintugs Battsetseg, deputy director of the Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Battsetseg said more efforts are needed to "intensify the establishment of the Mongolia-China-Russia economic corridor," expressing confidence that the economic corridor adopted by the three countries in 2016 will make significant contributions to the development of trilateral cooperation not only in the economic sector but also in fields including transportation and tourism.

The three countries have agreed to implement 32 projects under the framework of establishing the economic corridor, she said.

The official said joint feasibility study is underway for reforming the central railway corridor, which is one of the three major projects under the construction of the tripartite economic corridor.

Mongolia has been supporting the BRI from the onset and actively participated in it, said Battsetseg, adding that her country has been focusing on "integrating its Development Road Initiative with the BRI."

China has been one of the biggest trading partners and key investors of Mongolia for many years, she said, noting that Mongolia is interested in attracting foreign investment to its non-mining sectors.
Dublin, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Europe Online Payment Methods 2019" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



A new report highlights the trends in the European online payments market. The report, entitled Europe Online Payment Methods 2019, reveals that payments to European E-Commerce platforms are still dominated by digital wallets and credit cards.

Credit or debit cards and PayPal were the top two payment methods accounting for nearly three-quarters of E-Commerce sales in Europe in 2018, according to recent data cited in the report. However, there was also a significant variance in online shoppers' preference for payment methods by country. In the Netherlands, for example, online banking method iDEAL beat both digital wallets and cards in terms of usage in E-Commerce and in Poland, local fast transfer services such as PayU and Prezelewy24 were in the lead.



Although Europe lags behind other global regions, such as Asia-Pacific, in terms of mobile payment adoption, the use of payments on smartphones, tablets and wearables is rising, as the report shows. Scandinavian nations and the UK are among the leaders of this trend, especially when it comes to making mobile payments in-store. Also, consumers in emerging economies across Europe show interest in mobile wallets. In Russia, the use of Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay by connected consumers is already in the double-digits.



Overall, surveys cited in the report indicate that digital buyers across Europe want online sellers to offer a variety of payment methods at the checkout. More than one in five online shoppers in France are more likely to visit an online store that supports alternative payment methods to credit cards. Additionally, three-quarters of UK buyers prefer E-Commerce websites with a range of payment options. At the same time, shoppers are wary of the safety of their payment details on the Internet. A double-digit share of online buyers in Spain value security over both the speed and comfort of the payment process, and more than 50% of shoppers in Sweden try to avoid entering card details on E-Commerce sites.

European shoppers' preferred method of online payment varies



The two most popular payment methods in Europe were PayPal and credit or debit cards, according to a statistic cited in the report, making up a vast majority of 2018 E-Commerce sales in Europe. Country-specific alternative payment methods act against this trend in both the Netherlands and Poland among others.



The growth of mobile payments



Smartphones, wearables, and tablets are rising form of mobile payment in Europe, notwithstanding that the region falls behind Asia-Pacific, as quoted in the report. The leaders in this trend include the UK and the Scandinavian countries, particularly in the case of in-store mobile payments.



Security and variety are valued among online shoppers



Surveys referenced in the report deduce that across Europe, online shoppers want E-Commerce platforms' checkout to have an assortment of payment methods. Alternative payment methods mark especial significance in France, with nearly a quarter of online shoppers listing it as a reason to visit a specific online shop.



Questions Answered in this Report

Which payment methods are preferred by online shoppers in Europe?

What are the acceptance rates of different payment methods in European online stores?

What are the key trends in digital payments in this region and worldwide?

How is the use of mobile wallets evolving in Europe?

What features do European shoppers value the most in online payment methods?

Companies Mentioned



Adyen B.V.

Alipay.com Co Ltd

Amazon.com Inc

American Express International

Apple Inc

Blik Inc

Currence iDeal B.V.

Google LLC Inc.

MasterCard Inc.

PayPal Holdings Inc

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Sberbank of Russia

Swish Inc

Vipps AS

Visa Inc.

Wirecard AG

Worldpay Inc.

Yandex LLC

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/6ps6rx/europe_online?w=12

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
Matt Anderson/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- A pair of presidential hopefuls joined forces on Thursday as a part of a rejuvenated effort to make lynching a federal hate crime.



Senate lawmakers passed an anti-lynching bill introduced by Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker and South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott.



The chamber first approved the bill in December, but the House never took up the measure. The Senate once again passed the bill unanimously on Thursday. The House is expected to pick up the bill this time.



The Justice for Victims of Lynching Act, introduced in June 2018, would make lynching a hate crime punishable by up to life in prison, according to the bill.



Lynching is not a relic of a painful past -- it is a present and pernicious evil that we still have yet to confront, Booker, who launched a bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination this year, said in a statement Thursday. "I urge the House of Representatives to take up this bill so that after over 100 years and 200 attempts, we can finally make lynching a federal crime."



Booker and Harris, who is also vying for the 2020 Democratic nomination, have both referred to the alleged attack against Empire star Jussie Smollett as a "modern-day lynching" and evidence of why the bill should become law.



Smollett said he was attacked in Chicago last month by two men who hit him, yelled racial and homophobic slurs at him and placed a rope around his neck. The incident is still under investigation.



"Lynchings were acts of violence -- they were horrendous acts of violence, and they were motivated by racism, Harris said. With this bill, we finally have a chance to speak the truth about our past and make clear that these hateful acts should never happen again. We can finally offer some long overdue justice and recognition to the victims of lynching and their families.



Congressional lawmakers introduced more than 200 anti-lynching bills during the first half of the 20th century, but none were successful, according to the bill's authors.



"This has been a long arc, a painful history and a shameful history in this body," Booker said in a speech from the Senate floor in December. "At the height of lynchings across this country affecting thousands of people, this body did not act to make that a federal crime."



"At least now, the United States Senate has now acted," he added. "One hundred senators, no objections. I just want to give gratitude to this body for what we have just done."



If it passes the Democrat-led House, the bill would head to President Donald Trump's desk for his signature.



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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - For many singles who feel like true love eludes them, they may ask the question, especially on this Valentine's Day, where is love hiding?

We took a look at where and how to find love in Tallahassee and the results may surprise you.

Experts say if you are serious about finding a relationship, lay off the dating apps and get out and about. That's because 39 percent of singles met their significant others through friends or face-to-face.

If you are single and unemployed, you may want to polish up that resume because the second most popular way to meet a partner is through work. 15 percent of singles met their partner on the job.

Dr. Linda Miles is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Tallahassee. She says real life options seem to be the preferred way of meeting people.

"When you meet someone in real life you also have a better chance of meeting someone who has commonalities," said Dr. Miles.

Only eight percent of people surveyed met their significant other through online dating or apps.

The bottom line is no matter what dating method you choose, have faith when it comes to true love. What is meant to be will always find a way.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A man who's been federally indicted for working with the ringleader of a Tallahassee-based meth and cocaine trafficking ring has been arrested.

James William Shutes Jr., 58, was booked into jail Tuesday. He's the tenth person to be indicted as part of the large-scale drug ring.

According to court documents, investigators say Shutes was part of a Tallahassee-based drug ring led by Barney Earl Crutchfield that distributed large quantities of cocaine and meth within Leon and surrounding counties.

He's also accused of purchased multiple kilogram shipments of cocaine and meth from suppliers in south Florida and southern Georgia.

In January 2017, members of the FDLE and DEA along with assistance from the Leon and Wakulla county sheriff's offices, began an investigation into Crutchfield's drug trafficking organization.

Investigating agents learned that Crutchfield's organization was responsible for distributing large amounts of cocaine and meth within Leon and the surrounding counties.

On April 20, 2018, Crutchfield, the owner of a Tallahassee construction business called BEC & Company, plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

He faces up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Crutchfield is set to be sentenced on April 11, 2019.

Investigators say Shutes was one of 10 indicted individuals who helped Crutchfield traffic cocaine between Sept. 14, 2017, and Dec. 28, 2017, in Leon County. Court documents say he regularly bought cocaine from Crutchfield and other members of the ring.

The majority of the transactions occurred between Shutes and Crutchfield occurred at Crutchfield's Leon County residence, court documents said.

On Sept. 14, 2017, law enforcement agencies intercepted voice communications in which Shutes and Crutchfield discussed an impending narcotics transaction set to take place the next morning.

Shutes expressed his worries about the current methods of obtaining cocaine from Crutchfield, but Crutchfield reassured Shutes that their methods were sound by noting Crutchfield's rural location.

On Sept. 15, 2017, law enforcement intercepted text messages between Shutes and Crutchfield about their upcoming cocaine transaction. The messages ended with Shutes texting Crutchfield "Picked up and delivered thank you," referring to his having retrieved the cocaine and dropped off the payment.

Law enforcement intercepted a number of other voice communications in which Shutes and Crutchfield discussed cocaine transactions.

In one such communication, on Oct. 4, 2017, law enforcement confirmed that Crutchfield placed cocaine in his mailbox for Shutes to pick up, court documents said. Agents arrived at Crutchfield's home and retrieved a white envelope from Crutchfield's mailbox.

The package was the only white envelope in the mailbox at the time and was similar to the envelope Crutchfield was seen placing in the mailbox earlier in the afternoon. An opening in the envelope revealed what law enforcement believed to be powdered cocaine.

The agent field tested the power, which proved to be positive for cocaine, and returned the Ziploc baggie and contents back in the envelope and resealed the package.

That night Shutes drove his pickup truck to the front gate of Crutchfield's residence and retrieved the package and sent Crutchfield a text message stating "Got it thanks."

On Jan. 17, 2018, a person who was arrested and later indicted by a federal grand jury for participating in Crutchfield's drug ring positively, James David Case, identified Shutes from a driver's license photo as a person who regularly bought cocaine from Crutchfield.

Case told investigators that he personally sold Shutes cocaine several times.

On April 12, 2018, during an interview with agents, Shutes admitted that he purchased a half ounce to one ounce of cocaine from Crutchfield every week to two weeks, typically paying $800 per ounce.

In a complaint, law enforcement wrote that they listed a minimum of 17 possible transactions between Shutes, Crutchfield and Case yielding a minimum of 17 ounces of cocaine.

Based on the evidence, investigators found probable cause to charge Shutes with trafficking in cocaine, purchasing cocaine and conspiring to traffic in cocaine. A warrant was issued for his arrest on Monday.

On Tuesday, Shutes was arrested and jailed on a bond of $25,000. He has since bonded out of jail.

Shutes is one of 10 other people who were indicted on April 3, 2018 as a part of Crutchfield's drug ring. Adam King, James Case, Shelly Baity, William Edwards, Tony Nevels, Fabien Teal, Phillip Tyre, James Atkins and James Martin Brackin have all been indicted in connection to the drug ring.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - On Florida State University's campus, the community is gathering to honor the lives lost during the Parkland shooting.

The student led vigil started at 5:00 p.m. Many people who are apart of Florida State have been affected by the tragedy. The school has about 240 current students who graduated from Stoneman Douglas.

Speeches were given to honor those who died. John Thrasher, President of FSU, says he knows this is a tough time, but that the school will get through it together.

"Its a special thing about Florida State, we are a family. We over use that word but truthfully at times like these everybody gathers together. Its like a family. We lift everybody up," said Thrasher.

In addition, Thrasher says the school admitted 178 new students from Stoneman Douglas for this upcoming fall semester.

47 current first year students at FSU are from the Parkland area.
PALMETTO, Fla.  A Florida school is taking a heavy handed approach to school security.

School guardian officers for Manatee School for the Arts are equipped with body armor and a semi-automatic rifle.

"We arent trying to be big and bad, we just want to make sure if in the unlikely event, that something goes down, we have the right people with the right tools to get that job done, said Principal Dr. Bill Jones.

Jones said the sprawling campus needs to have adequate security. He said a handgun would not be effective against an active shooter.

"If youve got one hundred-fifty feet thats not an effective distance for a handgun, its a simple distance for something like the rifle our guardian uses, said Jones.

The decision to show military style force is drawing some criticism. Jones said the school is the only one in the state to equip its guardians with rifles.

Palmetto Police Chief Scott Tyler said he was skeptical of the decision when he first heard about it, but changed his mind when he realized how much ground the guardian had to cover.

Its not a bad approach, but there may other schools were its not really a good approach, said Tyler.

The Manatee County Public School District is not following the charter schools approach. Guardians in the Manatee County School district carry handguns.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A Florida Congressman is highlighting Panama City and Tallahassee as prime locations for Amazons HQ2.

On Friday, Congressman Neal Dunn highlighted Panama City and Tallahassee, Florida as prime locations for Amazons HQ2.

This week, Amazon announced it will not be moving forward with plans to locate half of its second headquarters (HQ2) in Long Island City, Queens.

In a letter to Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, Dunn stated:

I believe that you would find competitively priced real estate located in close proximity to major airports, railroad lines, interstates, or deep water ports like the Port of Panama City an excellent choice for HQ2. Furthermore, Verizon has recently announced a $25 million investment to make Panama City one of two 5G capable cities east of the Mississippi, and the only 5G mobile city in the country. I am sure you will agree the people that I represent are among the most hard working and resilient in the United States.

To read the full letter, click here.
Senedd agrees police funding settlement of nearly 144m for 2019-20

This article is old - Published: Friday, Feb 15th, 2019

Welsh Governments contribution to police finance was approved by the Senedd this week.

It was approved by 38 votes to 8 with one abstention.

While policing is non-devolved, local authorities and the Welsh Government provide a sizable proportion of the money given to Wales four police forces.

In 2019-20, the Welsh Governments contribution will be 143.4million of the total 357million given to the police.





The Welsh Government will also continue to finance 500 police & community support officers:

The Welsh Government is committed to working with Police & Crime Commissioners and chief constables to ensure funding challenges are managed in ways that minimise the impact on community safety in Wales. As part of this, the Welsh Government in its 2019-20 budget has made provision for a further year of funding for the 500 additional community support officers recruited under the previous programme for government commitment.

 Minister for Local Government & Housing, Julie James AM (Lab, Swansea West)

Plaid Cymru voted against the budget motion.

Leanne Wood AM (Plaid, Rhondda) said, It has to be said that it cannot either be acceptable or sustainable for the funding for policing and community safety in its broadest sense to be split between two Parliaments and two Governments in this way. It makes absolutely no sense.

The Senedd has consistently voted in favour of devolution of policing.

Keep up to date with what is going on in the Senedd via SeneddHome.com


Police warning over BelugaXL departure tomorrow

This article is old - Published: Friday, Feb 15th, 2019

Police are asking those people heading to Hawarden Airport tomorrow to watch BelugaXL depart to be considerate of where they park.

Yesterday saw hundreds of people turn out for the much-anticipated UK debut of Airbus BelugaXL super-transporter aircraft.

South Flintshire Police said it had to deal with a road traffic collision which occurred due to inconsiderate road users.





The transporter landed at Broughton, the first time it has been in the UK, on Thursday afternoon, the plane has been undergoing ground testing within the Beluga Line Station today.

BelugaXL is expected to depart Hawarden Aerodrome on Saturday around lunchtime, though times have not been confirmed  but we will update as and when we know via our usual channels.

Airbus has advised sightseers to head to Chocks Away Diner on the aviation park as a vantage point which will help prevent problems on the public highways.

A spokesperson for South Flintshire Police said: Additional limited parking will be provided at the front entrance of Airbus. Parking access will also be made easier/quicker at CHOCS AWAY off of the B5129. Finally, there are limited parking options on MANOR LANE, with the MOUND offering a great vantage point. This is NOT a police event, however, police will be at the scene to try and assist with traffic flow.

You can see our coverage from yesterday here, with a surprise star of the show being this clip we published of a dancing Beluga mascot which for some reason has been viewed 35,000 times on twitter alone as well as 10,000 times on Facebook overnight.
First Ministers Questions: Natural Resources Wales defended despite awful forestry creation figures

This article is old - Published: Friday, Feb 15th, 2019

The below is the another in a new quick weekly summary of this weeks First Minister Questions session from Cardiff Bay. First Minister Questions takes place every Tuesday when the Assembly is sitting and can be watched live via Senedd.tv.

For those who have never ventured onto the Senedd site, you can view the session the below was taken from here, that allows a video player (along with creation of your own clips!) plus by clicking the meeting information and papers link you are able to view all the supporting documentation, along with a link to the full transcript.

Incidentally Wrexham did not get a mention this week!

NRW not up to the task





Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price AM (Plaid, Carms. E & Dinefwr) turned attention to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) ahead of a debate on a Public Accounts Committee report later this week.

The evidence was clear; the merger of three organisations to create NRW was flawed.

.as we heard yesterday from the chief executive of NRW, no-one on the current board has either knowledge or experience in timber or forestry. Grant Thornton referred to a merged entity without a single organisational culture and an isolated forestry function beset by serious failings including poor governance, poor people management, poor budgeting and an audit culture that was not so much dilatory as entirely non-existent.do you also accept your share of the blame in creating a board that

was simply not up to the task?

 Adam Price AM

The First Minister accepted the NRW board needed strengthening and those changes are being made.

Adam Price AM asked It does beg the question why its taken six years and four separate reports for these deep failings to be uncovered in this way also noting various changing new woodland targets.

The First Minister again accepted forest creation targets hadnt been met, though he was personally committed to addressing that; one of his Labour leadership pledges was to create a national forest. A statement from the Minister on forestry is due on 12th March.

Funding crisis in Welsh schools?

Leader of the Opposition, Paul Davies AM (Con, Preseli Pembs.) asked whether the First Minister agreed with the Association of College and School Lecturers that there was a funding crisis in Welsh schools?

The First Minister said any cuts were the result of austerity forced on the Welsh Government by the UK Government stating Wales would have had an additional 880million to spend if it wasnt for the Conservatives.

Paul wasnt having any of it:

First Minister, you need to stop giving excuses and start taking responsibility. You are responsible for education here in Wales and.according to the NASUWT, we know that pupils in Wales receive 645 less per head than pupils in England, and schools in Wales are facing a collective shortfall of 291 million in their budgets, and 450 million of education funding never reaches the classroom.

 Leader of the Opposition, Paul Davies AM

The First Minister reminded AMs that the Welsh Conservatives said they would find money to fund their manifesto pledges from the education budget, adding the Institute for Fiscal Studies concluded the schools funding gap between Wales and England has narrowed to a point where it scarcely exists.

Improving young peoples mental health

David Melding AM (Con, South Wales Central) highlighted a trial involving 370 English schools to test different approaches to mental health. England will also be introducing mental health education from 2020  something the Samaritans have called for in Wales.

The First Minister was keen to learn lessons:

11,558 children benefited from school counselling in the last year for which we have figures. And anything that we are able to share with others, from our experience, we are very keen to do. But, equally, its always seemed to me that the sensible approach to devolution is to regard it.as a form of living laboratory in which experiments that are carried out elsewhere are available to us all, to draw any learning.

 First Minister, Mark Drakeford (Lab, Cardiff West)

Helen Mary Jones AM (Plaid, Mid & West Wales) reminded the chamber that the Welsh Youth Parliament picked mental health as their top priority, while Huw Irranca-Davies AM (Lab, Ogmore) spoke of the virtues of community-based mental health projects which could be rolled out across Wales.

The First Minister accepted the voice of young people with mental health problems isnt being listened to as it should and therell be something to learn from the Youth Parliament on this. In response to Huw, the First Minister said different levels of mental health need will require different levels of response, drawing comparisons with physical illness  a cold might only need over-the-counter medicines while pneumonia will put you in hospital.



Keep up to date with what is going on in the Senedd via SeneddHome.com


50p minimum unit price for alcohol in Wales likely to be approved later this year

This article is old - Published: Friday, Feb 15th, 2019

The Welsh Government have said they will be looking to formally go for approval of a 50p minimum unit for alcohol in Wales later this year.

Alcohol is a major cause of death and illness in Wales leading to a number of health and social harms, particularly for what is described as a significant minority of people who drink to excess.

In 2017, there were 540 alcohol-related deaths in Wales and in 2017-18, there were nearly 55,000 alcohol-related hospital admissions. Welsh Government say all alcohol-related deaths and alcohol-related hospital admissions are preventable.

Ministers have long been clear that a pricing intervention must be a key component of the Welsh Governments comprehensive strategy to tackle alcohol misuse, not least because the affordability of alcohol has increased significantly over the past two decades.





The National Assembly supported minimum pricing when the Public Health (Minimum Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Bill was passed last year.

The 2018 Act provides a formula for calculating the applicable minimum price for alcohol by multiplying the percentage strength of the alcohol, its volume and the minimum unit price. This mechanism is designed to allow the Welsh Government to target the sale and supply of low-cost and high-strength alcohol.

Ministers have consulted on a preferred minimum unit price of 50p with a summary of the responses to that consultation being published today.

Of the 148 responses, 58 (61%) of the respondents who commented on the proposed price of 50p per unit were supportive of the Welsh Governments preferred level. 55 stated that there should be no minimum unit price introduced for alcohol.

The Welsh Government say they now intend to lay regulations to the National Assembly for Wales, specifying this level, for its consideration later this year.

Health Minister, Vaughan Gething said: The Welsh Government has always said that minimum pricing forms part of a wider strategy and approach to reducing substance misuse.

Following a public consultation, Im pleased to confirm we will now ask the National Assembly for Wales to approve a 50p minimum unit price. We believe a 50p minimum unit price strikes a reasonable balance between the anticipated public health and social benefits and intervention in the market.

We will continue to use all available levers to reduce the harms caused by the excessive consumption of alcohol, as we develop and take forward a new delivery plan for substance misuse.

Many responses to the consultation supported the principle of minimum pricing, but also raised issues regarding the potential unintended consequences of introducing a minimum unit price for alcohol.

The Minister added: The consultation process raised a number of issues, such as the potential impacts on vulnerable groups, household budgets, the risk of switching to other substances and the potential increase in the number of people seeking support from services. We will continue to consider these potential impacts.

We have commissioned specific research to look at the risk of switching, which will report ahead of implementation. In December 2018, we announced an extra 2.4m in funding for Area Planning Boards for local frontline substance misuse services so that we can ensure services are widely available. We have worked closely with Area Planning Boards throughout the development of this legislation and we will continue to do so ahead of implementation.

After the green light is given later this year plans for implementation will continue.

Ahead of implementation, the Welsh Government will continue to work with retailers and other stakeholders  to finalise guidance, supporting documentation and communications to help people prepare. We will also continue to work closely with local authorities and the Welsh Heads of Trading Standards on plans for inspection and enforcement of the legislation. As highlighted in the Regulatory Impact Assessment for the draft regulations, a budget of 300k has been allocated for these purposes over three years.

Welsh Government will also implement plans to evaluate the legislation, which is currently being commissioned. As highlighted in the Regulatory Impact Assessment for the draft regulations, a budget of 350k has been allocated for this purpose over five years.

Welsh Government also recognise the importance of continuing to share and publicise the public health aims of the legislation  and intend to develop further communications on the policy rationale underpinning MUP and its aims to reduce hazardous and harmful drinking. As highlighted in the Regulatory Impact Assessment for the draft regulations, a budget of 100k has been allocated for this purpose.
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Foothills Exploration, Inc. (OTC.QB: FTXP) (the Company, or Foothills), an independent oil and gas exploration company engaged in the acquisition and development of oil and natural gas properties in the Rockies today announced that the Company will further its contrarian investment thesis by focusing on natural gas weighted properties at attractive valuations. While the Company will focus on undervalued natural gas properties, oil assets, which also fit the Companys acquisition criteria, will continue to be evaluated as well.



Unlocking Value in the Rockies

In 2019, the Company plans to continue executing its Rockies-based roll-up strategy, focused on undervalued and underdeveloped properties. Geographically, we believe there is tremendous value in the Rockies, with real potential to unlock serious value in the coming years, said the Companys Executive Chairman, Kevin Sylla. and thats why Foothills is planning to acquire between 2 to 4 Rockies-based properties during 2019, continued Sylla. It is our position that while many energy producers shift their focus away from natural gas to target the hotter shale plays in the Permian basin, now is the time to acquire select properties with stable predictable production, long lived reserves, and substantial development potential, persisted Sylla.

Target Acquisitions

The Company is currently evaluating target acquisition sizes ranging from $1 to $10 million, which in our opinion, are underserved and yield higher inefficiencies for price discovery relative to larger deals and therefore typically result in more attractive acquisition entry points, said Chris Jarvis, the Companys EVP of Finance. In addition, since properties in this price range often tend to be neglected going into the sales process, in our experience, this also tends to yield low-hanging fruit with modest capital deployment, post-acquisition, continued Jarvis.

The Company recently made a non-refundable deposit on its latest target acquisition, which involves 22-natural gas stripper-wells situated on approximately 18,000 acres in Wyoming. This acquisition is pivotal to the Companys roll-up strategy in the Rockies and provides the catalyst for making future bolt-on acquisitions in the Greater Green River Basin, as well as possible strategic joint-ventures, stated B.P. Allaire, the Companys CEO.

Natural Gas Market Growth Indicators

From a macroeconomic viewpoint, we believe global demand for natural gas will only continue to ramp up for the foreseeable future, said Jarvis. The Company sees two secular growth trends in the global market place, which we believe will transform the natural gas markets, continued Jarvis.

U.S. LNG export capacity is expected to more than double by the end of 2019 according the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). LNG infrastructure in Asia and Europe are also growing at a similar pace. As a result, the natural gas market is becoming a globalized market, whereas before it was distributed regionally. Couple this with the phasing out of coal-fired power plants in the U.S. as well as in Europe over the next decade, and natural gas is expected to play an even larger part of the global energy mix.

Next Steps

The Company is currently evaluating all strategic options to strength its balance sheet, while minimizing shareholder dilution. The Companys goal is to retire all short-term debt and reducing or refinancing a significant portion of its long-term debt in 2019. The lack of access to capital, which has plagued other publicly-traded junior E&P and mining companies has certainly affected us as well. We successfully negotiated several key agreements to acquire some great assets, at deep discounts, that much to our chagrin, we were unable to perform on, continued Sylla.

Nevertheless, we have retooled and realigned ourselves on the right pathway to mitigate these financing risks moving forward, said Sylla. and we intend to become an active acquirer of quality assets at right prices in the near future, ended Sylla.

About the Company

Foothills Exploration, Inc. is a growth stage oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) company with a focus in the acquisition and development of undervalued and underdeveloped properties in the Rockies. The Companys principal assets are located across well-established plays in the U.S. Rocky Mountain region. For additional information please visit the Companys website at www.foothillspetro.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this release that address activities, events or developments that we expect, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on certain assumptions we made based on management's experience, perception of historical trends and technical analyses, current conditions, capital plans, drilling plans, production expectations, our ability to raise adequate additional capital, or enter into other financing arrangements to support our acquisition, development and drilling activities, anticipated future developments, and other factors believed to be appropriate and reasonable by management. When used in this release, words such as "will," possible, "potential," "believe," "estimate," "intend," "expect," "may," "should," "anticipate," "could," "plan," "predict," "project," "profile," "model," "strategy," "future" or their negatives or the statements that include these words or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes, are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. In particular, statements, express or implied, concerning our future operating results and returns or our ability to acquire or develop proven or probable reserves, our ability to replace or increase reserves, increase production, or generate income or cash flows are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. While forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by us that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, whether actual results and developments will meet our expectations and predictions depend on a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause our actual results, performance, and financial condition to differ materially from our expectations. As a result, no assurance can be given that these assumptions are accurate or that any of these expectations will be achieved (in full or at all) or will prove to have been correct. We have had sporadic and limited revenue and our securities are subject to considerable risk. Investors are cautioned to review FTXPs filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of risk and other factors that affect our business. No assurances can made on financings given the Companys current balance sheet. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this news release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future development or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Source: Foothills Exploration, Inc.

Investor Contact
On the heels of Amazon's surprise announcement yesterday to cancel moving forward with its plan to build a new headquarters facility in New York's Long Island City due to some Democratic political opposition, both the local real estate market and the Governor's office were stunned.In a prepared statement, New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo released the following comments this week:"Amazon chose to come to New York because we are the capital of the world and the best place to do business. We competed in and won the most hotly contested national economic development competition in the United States, resulting in at least 25,000-40,000 good paying jobs for our state and nearly $30 billion dollars in new revenue to fund transit improvements, new housing, schools and countless other quality of life improvements. Bringing Amazon to New York diversified our economy away from real estate and Wall Street, further cementing our status as an emerging center for tech and was an extraordinary economic win not just for Queens and New York City, but for the entire region, from Long Island to Albany's nanotech center."However, a small group politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community -- which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City -- the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state. The New York State Senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity."The fundamentals of New York's business climate and community that attracted amazon to be here - our talent pool, world-class education system, commitment to diversity and progressivism - remain and we won't be deterred as we continue to attract world class business to communities across New York State," concluded Governor Cuomo.After over a year and a half of politically courting Amazon's HQ2 to New York, in a deal that promised over 25,000 new high wage jobs for New York, along with creating another 82,000 indirect jobs with an economic impact topping over $35 billion dollars, the State's Governor was understandably disappointed at yesterday's news.The Real Estate Board of New York's president John H. Banks also released a prepared statement."New York's renaissance over the past forty years has been due in part to our ability to work through difficult issues that have led to record population and job growth and the emergence of our city as a true global capital. It's unfortunate that we have lost out on an opportunity to create tens of thousands of jobs for city residents and generate billions of dollars in tax revenue to fund vital services including infrastructure improvements for transportation, schools, and open space. Nevertheless, New York City is still open for business and will retain its status as a world class center for tech and innovation," says Banks.A number of local real estate brokers, developers and property speculators also had their dreams dashed this week with Amazon's decision not to come to New York.Hundreds of local properties have either gone under contract or have already traded hands since announcing Amazons move to Long Island City last November 13, 2018. Some local experts estimate the blow to the local real estate market will be into the hundreds of millions of dollars of lost property values in the next 12 months.Regardless of New York, Amazon's other two other HQ2 locations in Virginia and Tennessee are still slated to move forward as planned.
Xiong Qian in the hematopoietic stem cell collection room

A female medical worker in Shanghai has become the first hematopoietic stem cell donator this year to help an overseas patient. The recipient is a US resident suffering from leukemia.

Xiong Qian, director of Shanghai Gonghui Hospital's endocrinology department, donated the hematopoietic stem cells  found in the bone marrow of adults and used to treat blood diseases such as leukemia  at Shanghai General Hospital in late January.

A total of 414 milliliters of her hematopoietic stem cells was collected and transported to the United States.

Xiong is the city's 423rd hematopoietic stem cell donator and the 19th to help an overseas patient since Shanghai launched the donation program.

She registered in China's marrow donor database in December 2017 and was told at the end of 2018 that a matching patient was found.

Across China, the number of donations of hematopoietic stem cells reached a record annual high of 913 in 2018, up 13.7 percent year-on-year, according to the China Marrow Donor Program.

As of December, 2.65 million people have registered with the program as potential hematopoietic stem cells donors and a total of 7,915 donations were made, including 317 for patients outside the Chinese mainland.

(Source: chinadaily.com.cn)
Workers assemble engines at a factory in Weifang, Shandong province. [China Daily]

More resources will be channeled into improving the vocational skills of young migrant workers, an official of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said on Wednesday.

A report by the National Bureau of Statistics last year said the number of migrant workers in 2017 in China was about 286.5 million, up 1.7 percent year-on-year, with those born since the 1980s accounting for more than half the total. But only about 30.6 percent of them had received nonagricultural training.

"Migrant workers are a major social segment, especially the younger generation," said Zhang Lixin, director of the ministry's vocational capacity-building department. "But problems still remain with their skills training."

The ministry released a skills improvement plan in early January focusing on workers from rural areas born since 1980 who are engaged in nonagricultural industries.

"The younger migrant workers are different from the older generations," Zhang said. "The younger ones are better educated and have higher career and salary expectations. They are also more willing to improve their skills and start their own businesses. But they have fewer practical skills."

Skilled workers are in great demand in areas of manufacturing industry and the service sector.

"We have four new measures to help train the young workers," Zhang said. "For example, for those ready to work and who register for skills training courses, it's required that the courses be available to them in one month."

Migrant workers from poor families will be given priority in receiving the vocational skills training, he added.

"E-commerce courses will be taught to those who want to start their own businesses," he said.

Zhang said skills training courses are expected to be made available to average migrant workers and bring them benefits by the end of 2022. Training centers and companies are also being encouraged to get involved.

The ministry launched a plan in 2014 focusing on improving migrant workers' vocational skills. By the end of 2017, attendance at State-supported training programs totaled about 39 million.

(Source: China Daily)
New ways of thinking on health, arts and humanities are emerging in Africa

Medical and Health Humanities bring together academics, researchers, practitioners, creative artists, health care seekers and providers.

Imagine bringing the best of all academic disciplines, artistic creations, activist experience and health care knowledge to bear on understanding and addressing current health care concerns. Rather than silos of people working in their specific areas of interest, imagine collaborations committed to listening and learning from all participants.

This is the vision of Medical and Health Humanities in Africa. Its a field that grew out of the medical humanities in the US and UK. It brings together academics, researchers, practitioners, creative artists, health care seekers and providers.

Essentially, it straddles disciplines and practices in an effort to address health concerns. Artists compose music to open up understandings of health care and specific conditions, such as delirium. Some academics open up new conversations about existing health concerns like AIDS or use everything from yoga to photography to observation and drawing to help educate health sciences students. Others pair academics and artists to help young people talk about sex and sexuality or tuberculosis.

At its core, Medical and Health Humanities is about conversations and collaborations between people who are interested in health. This encourages new understanding, practice and knowledge. It also seeks to provide translators who can make often complex ideas in science and humanities accessible. They can also use creative arts to change perceptions, frame new questions and direct new discussions that result in more nuanced answers to health issues.

While still a relatively new field on the African continent, it is growing and gaining momentum. The latest milestone is the first English-language special issue of the globally respected BMJ Medical Humanities Journal to deal exclusively with work on and about medical and health humanities in Africa.

The special issue came out in December 2018. It showcases work from various countries in Africa, among them Nigeria, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.

The projects profiled in this special issue, and others elsewhere on the continent, reveal the vital role Medical and Health Humanities can play across Africa in bridging the gaps between disciplines to improve peoples experiences of health care.

Beyond disciplinary boundaries

One of the Medical and Health Humanities projects highlighted in the BMJs special edition deals with digital storytelling and antiretroviral adherence in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Another article shows how opium, thalidomide and contraceptives contributed to the making of modern South Africa.

The projects and articles themselves are, of course, important. But another critical element that must not be overlooked is how the field exemplifies inter-, trans- and multidisciplinary research and practice. It removes people from their disciplinary silos.

Participants in a WellSexuality workshop get to grips with their subject matter. Ed Young

This is becoming increasingly important across academia. In the worlds of medicine and health, people often work on similar concerns in familiar ways; in doing so, they miss out on new perspectives. Working across disciplines and practices is a way to learn from each other and reflect on how things could be changed for the better.

And, crucially, it creates conversations about how we might improve our collective understanding of health and wellness.

Different forms

On the African continent, the Medical and Health Humanities community is also trying to do things differently when it comes to how research is conducted and presented.

If a field is genuinely committed to collaboration, collective engagement, building networks and relationships, it must do more than work quickly to produce measurable outcomes limited to academic articles. It must spend time building connections that extend beyond one event or outcome.

We attempted to do this during the writing of the special issue of the BMJ Medical Humanities journal. We were among a group of practitioners in South Africa who pooled resources from two universities to bring as many people who were working on the special issue together as possible. We wanted to ensure that experienced and emerging writers from multiple disciplines and practices had a chance to benefit from each others knowledge and experiences.

A workshop was held in 2017 at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WiSER). Participants came from Zimbabwe, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Swaziland, South Africa, the UK and Canada and presented and discussed their work.

From this, people put together a range of material for the journal and the blog linked to the special edition. Some of this material took the form of academic articles; there are also podcasts, photographs, pieces of music, images and poetry.

This allowed us to present creative and academic work in a format that was more accessible to those with digital access and moved beyond academic journals. After all, part of what the field is concerned with is maintaining critical, intellectual rigour while making information available to people in a number of ways. In doing this the field tries to break down some of the barriers that prevent people from sharing work or ideas.

New networks

There is more to come for the Medical and Health Humanities field in Africa. A group called the Medical and Health Humanities Africa network has been established. CODESRIA, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, among others, has been drawn into discussions about growing the fields networks on the continent. The second conference organised by the Malawi Medical Humanities Network will be held in Zomba, Malawi in August and a workshop in Johannesburg in March called State of Dis-ease will continue these exciting new conversations.

Carla Tsampiras, Senior Lecturer in Medical Humanities, University of Cape Town and Nolwazi Mkhwanazi, Senior researcher, Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of the Witwatersrand. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
HONG KONG, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dragon Jade International Limited (Dragon Jade or the Company) (OTCQX: DGJI), today announced that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to acquire up to 30% of the total outstanding shares of Connaissance Holdings Limited (Connaissance).



Connaissance owns and operates KPM Health Limited and Dr. Renata Limited (Dr. Renata). Dr. Renata is a medical aesthetic center providing a comprehensive range of regulated medical aesthetic treatments that are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, European CE and Koreas Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). Medical professionals and qualified aesthetic consultants offer skin assessments and treatment services with the assistance of top-of-the-class medical aesthetic machines such as Ultherapy, PicoWay, GentleMax Pro, UltraShape V3, and injectable cosmetic dermatology treatments. KPM Health Limited operates KPM Health Centre (KPM), one of the largest health centers in Hong Kong. It is the only health center in Hong Kong that offers equipment with advanced technologies including a PET-CT scanner, MRI scanner, and 640-Slice CT scanner, all in one location. Dragon Jade announced its business collaboration with KPM in January 2019. Dr. Renata operates out of the same location as KPM.

Connaissances companies share our vision and mission of providing the most professional health and wellness services to our customers, and our existing relationship with KPM has already begun to gain traction, commented Dr. Steve Lai, CEO of Dragon Jade. With this stake in Connaissance, we will be able to expand our partnership by extending Dragon Jades extensive marketing and sales capabilities to Dr. Renatas operations. We will also be able to further benefit from our partners success.

This win-win business collaboration will not only capture the opportunities of the local Hong Kong market, but also the significant and growing cross-border health and beauty care medical tourist market. Our partners unique ability to provide comprehensive benefits for medical tourists, including world class facilities, premier services, Mandarin-speaking staff, and a convenient location, provides a strong competitive foundation for future growth. We are optimistic about the opportunities ahead and look forward to working through the next steps in finalizing the transaction, Dr. Lai concluded.

The transaction will be funded by cash on hand. Management expects that top-line benefits from the KPM and Dr. Renata collaborations could be reflected in Dragon Jades financials within the next 12 months.

About Dragon Jade

Dragon Jade International Limited (OTCQX: DGJI) is a provider of premier products and services serving high net worth and affluent middle class consumers in Greater China. Through its significant international experience and regional network, Dragon Jade is focused on identifying, developing, and marketing products from other countries in order to meet the increasing demand for better health and quality of life in Asia. For more information, please visit www.dragonjade.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as the Company "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "foresees," "estimates," or other words or phrases of similar import. Similarly, statements herein that describe the Company's business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions, or goals also are forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.

Contacts:

Investor Relations:

Rose Zu

ICR Inc

(+1) 646-405-4796

Rose.Zu@icrinc.com

Media:

Corporate Relations Department

Dragon Jade International

(+852) 2695-6999

info@dgjigroup.com
Lots to See at Discovery Park This Weekend

By West Kentucky Star Staff

UNION CITY - Discovery Park of America will be open for the entire President's Day weekend from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and will be hosting their first Wedding, Meeting and Event EXPO in Dinosaur Hall on Sunday and Monday.STEM Saturday will feature learning stations, a family eductation program a Kids Create art activity, and a chance to learn cool science experiments.Here is STEM Saturday's schedule:9:30 a.m. - Saturday Morning Science (Life Enrichment Center)  Science of Sound!11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. - Family Education Program (Dinosaur Hall)  UT Martin Percussion presents The Roots of Rhythm (crowd-favorite!)1:30 p.m. - Kids Create Art Activity (Tennessee Room)  Make your very own tambourine and join in with the UT Martin percussion performance!3:30 p.m. - KEVA Plank Build Off in the Tennessee RoomAll other program times and locations will be available at the front ticket counter.*All programs are subject to change or cancellation without notice.EXPO:Over 30 outside vendors will have booths at the EXPO, and tickets are $10.00 for this special event on Saturday and Sunday..MONDAY:Mon., Feb. 18 is also Presidents Day. The park is normally closed on Mondays, but will be open for holiday and for the EXPO. The Simmons Bank Childrens Gallery will be open, Towers of Tomorrow with LEGO Bricks will be open as well as the other galleries and grounds. Admission to the park will also be $10, and tickets for special Towers of Tomorrow with LEGO Bricks exhibit are $4.95.The Earthquake Simulator and the Starship Theater will not be available on Monday, but everyone can visit the Tower for free.For more information, visit the parks website at www.discoveryparkofamerica.com.On the Net:
Paducah Man Faces 26 Counts of Sexual Assault

By West Kentucky Star Staff

GRAVES COUNTY - A Paducah man is facing more than 25 counts of sexual abuse.

According to the Graves County Sheriff's Office, deputies received information last week of a possible sexual assault that occurred in Graves County approximately six years ago. Upon investigation, deputies learned that the accused was 77-year-old Donald Wyatt, who currently lives in Paducah.

Deputies said Wyatt lived in Graves County during the time the alleged sexual assault occurred. Further investigation led deputies to learn that Wyatt had sexually abused two juveniles over a period of five years. A joint effort with the McCracken County Sheriff's Office led to Wyatt's arrest in Paducah on February 8.

Deputies say one victim was abused by Wyatt between the ages of 10 until the age of 15. The other juvenile was six years of age during the time of the alleged assaults. Wyatt was charged with 1st degree sexual abuse, victim under the age of 12, 1st degree sodomy and 1st degree rape.

After further investigation, Wyatt was additionally charged with 25 counts of 1st degree sexual abuse, victim under the age of 12. He is currently lodged in the Graves County Jail.
'Drug Deal Gone Bad' Leads to Multiple Charges

By West Kentucky Star Staff

BARDWELL - A Bardwell man was arrested on multiple charges after an incident on Wednesday.According to the Carlisle County Sheriff's Department, they were dispatched to the intersection of US Highway 51 and County Road 1229, about 3 miles south of Bardwell. They determined that 29-year-old Timothy Hunter King had allegedly rammed another vehicle with his vehicle, and then pointed a handgun at the other driver.The investigation led to the execution of a search warrant at a home on County Road 1229, where a strong chemical odor was detected as deputies went inside. A second search warrant was then obtained because there was suspected methamphetamine in the home.Bardwell Firefighters were called to the scene to help ventilate the property, and the subsequent search led to discovery of several jars that reportedly contained the by-products of meth production. A State Police disposal team was called to help remove the hazardous materials.Along with the alleged meth lab, deputies say they found marijuana, methamphetamine, pills, twelve guns, a ballistic vest and a military grenade. The Paducah Bomb Squad was called to remove and dispose of the grenade.The Sheriff's Department says the man admitted to making and selling meth, and using illegal drugs. He also indicated the incident involving the vehicles resulted from a "drug deal gone bad."King faces charges of manufacturing methamphetamine, wanton endangerment 1st degree, possession of a meth precursor, trafficking in a controlled substance 1st degree, possession of a controlled substance 1st degree (opiates), possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, leaving the scene of an accident and menacing. All drug charges are firearm-enhanced, which can raise the possible penalty.King was taken to Ballard County Jail on a $15,000 cash bond.
Student's Cellphone Causes Small Fire at Tilghman

By Tim Brockwell

PADUCAH - A student's cellphone was the cause of a small fire Thursday morning at Paducah Tilghman High School that set off the school's fire alarm.Paducah Public Schools Superintendent Donald Shively said a student was in class when her iPhone 6 started making noise. After that the student left class and went to an administrative office to attempt to fix the problem. Shively said that's when the girl's phone began to emit smoke."What we had was a student's cellphone start smoking and a small flame came out of it," Shively said. "As it started sparking it looked sort of like like fireworks, and she dropped it."Classes were evacuated briefly after the fire set off the school's alarm system. Shively said the only significant damage was to the girl's phone, which was destroyed. He said there was also a small burned spot on the carpet in the office where the fire occurred.
Paducah Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing $50,000

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - A Paducah woman pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing more than $50,000 from a family member.Court records show 28-year-old Erica English entered a guilty plea in McCracken County Circuit Court to felony theft charges. The charges stem from an investigation that revealed she had stolen more than $50,000 from an elderly relative who she was caring for.English was arrested in Nashville on Sept. 5. She faces a sentence of 30 months in prison and $25,000 in restitution as part of her plea deal.On the Net:
Chamber of Commerce Brings Agenda to State Capitol

By Bill Hughes





PADUCAH - A large group of local business and community leaders spent Wednesday in Frankfort promoting the area during the 2019 General Assembly.Each year the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce organizes a trip, and President Sandra Wilson said this year they had about 60 people participate, including Mayor Brandi Harless, County Judge-Executive Craig Clymer, members of the Paducah City Commission and McCracken Fiscal Court, and people representing local businesses and educational interests."While we have different folks going throughout the session, it's a concentrated effort on one day to talk about western Kentucky, to talk about our needs and to hear from them about how things are progressing through the legislative session," Wilson said.The group was joined at a luncheon by chambers of commerce from Christian County, Mayfield-Graves County, and Murray-Calloway County. Since all of them have identified infrastructure needs and transportation funding as a top priority for their communities and the state, they invited Secretary of Transportation Greg Thomas to be the keynote speaker at the event.Wilson said, "He did a great job talking about the need for funding and how it's determined, and all of the road construction projects that need to be done, bridges and all of that. So, even though we had about 125 people in the room, it felt like a very intimate conversation with him about the need for infrastructure in our state."After that, groups split up and there were two options for meetings, but Wilson said most participated in one led by Dr. Anton Reese of WKCTC that involved two people from the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet. Another meeting discussed the RISE Program for business start-ups at Murray State University with a representative of the Office of Entrepreneurship in the Cabinet for Economic Development.Another session included talks with representatives from the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, the Office of Film and Tourism Development, and the Arts Council.Governor Bevin's Chief of Staff Blake Brickman met in another session and discussed economic development, while Deputy Secretary Bruce Scott from the Energy and Environmental Cabinet participated in a meeting was important for several groups who traveled to the state capitol."We wanted to have our DOE contractors give them an update on some of the things they have going on with the clean-up at the site. We had representatives from Phoenix Paper with us to talk about an update there. So that was a really informative meeting for exchange about the new company that's come in here and an update on DOE," Wilson said.Later in the day, all of the western Kentucky groups came together again for a meeting with Richard Drennan, Director of Administration of GenCanna Global, to get an update on their developments in downtown Paducah and Graves County. GenCanna's headquarters is in Winchester, which is less than an hour away from the capitol.Wilson said, "They were willing to come over and meet with our group and the Mayfield group, just to show us the pictures - the renderings - of the new building and what it will look like, and talked about their plans here in Paducah."She said legislators from local districts joined the groups at the larger sessions to discuss varying topics, and the chamber made sure to pass along their 2019 legislative agenda to those who are participating in the General Assembly.You can see a copy of the chamber's agenda by clicking the link below.On the Net:
Local poets Amelia Martens (left) and Pamela Parker will share their works during a poetry reading at PSAD February 21. Both are among recipients of the Kentucky Arts Council's 2019 Al Smith Fellowship. PHOTO:WKCTC

Local Poets Share Work at Paducah School of Art in Bill Ford Gallery

Two local poets, recently recognized by the Kentucky Arts Council, will share their works during a poetry reading at West Kentucky Community and Technical College Paducah School of Art and Design (PSAD) February 21 at 7 pm.

The poetry reading featuring Amelia Martens of McCracken County and Pamela Johnson Parker of Graves County will be held in the Bill Ford Gallery located in PSAD's 2D and Graphic Design Building at 905 Harrison St. in Lower Town Paducah. The event is free and open to the public.





Martens and Parker are among 16 Kentucky artists awarded a $7,500 Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council (KAC) for 2019. The prestigious award, named in honor of former arts council board chair and Kentucky journalist Al Smith, recognizes professional artists who have reached a high level of achievement in their careers.





A WKCTC instructor, Martens is the author of The Spoons in the Grass are There To Dig a Moat (Sarabande Books, 2016), and four poetry chapbooks: including, most recently, Ursa Minor (elsewhere magazine, 2018). Her work has also been supported by the Kentucky Foundation for Women and a SAF fellowship to Rivendell Writers' Colony. She met her husband in the Indiana University Master of Fine Arts program; together they have created the Rivertown Reading Series and WKCTC's Exit 7: A Journal of Literature and Art. She received both a master in fine arts degree in creative writing and a master in science degree in literacy, culture, and language education from Indiana University.





"Amelia Martens' works embody thought provoking reading and outstanding standards of literature. West Kentucky Community and Technical College is proud of Amelia and her recent recognitions by the Kentucky Foundation for Women as well as her fellowship to Rivendell Writers' Colony," said Dr. David Heflin, vice president of academic affairs at WKCTC. "Being named as a recipient of the 2019 Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council, is yet another example of Amelia's dedication to her craft and exemplifies the incredible skills of our faculty."





Parker is the author of a collection of poetry, Cleave, which won the 2017 Trio Award from Trio House Press and was published in 2018. She is also the author of two chapbooks, Other Four-Letter Words (Finishing Line Press, 2009); and A Walk through the Memory Palace (Phoenicia Press, 2009), which won the Qaartsiluni Chapbook Prize. Parker has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Science and Nature Writing 2019. In addition to the 2019 Al Smith Fellowship, Parker was named outstanding teacher by Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority. She received a master of fine arts degree from Murray State University, where she taught humanities, creative writing, contemporary poetry, and forms of fiction before transferring to the university's department of art & design where works as an administrative assistant. She serves as the prose editor of the literary magazine, Alligator Juniper.





"I have enjoyed the poetry of Pamela Parker for a while now and am thrilled to have her read at the Paducah School of Art and Design, showcasing our region's two most recent Al Smith Fellows," said Britton Shurley, dean of humanities, fine arts, business, and social science at WKCTC. "These fellowships, from the Kentucky Arts Council, highlight the amazing literary talent we have in western Kentucky, and this reading is another fantastic way to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the PSAD."





For more information about the poetry reading, contact Shurley at britton.shurley@kctcs.edu or 270-534-3243.

PADUCAH -
San Francisco, CA, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Eventbrite, a global ticketing and event technology platform, reinforces its presence in Spain with a 24,000 ft development center in Madrid

The San Francisco company acquired Spanish ticketer Ticketea in 2018 to strengthen its footprint in Europe

Eventbrite employs over 80 staff in Spain and hopes to triple the number of Spanish engineers and product developers over the next few years

Eventbrite (NYSE: EB), a global ticketing and event technology platform, will establish its first European development center  the companys fourth worldwide  in Madrid. The move further strengthens Eventbrites presence in Spain after having acquired Ticketea in 2018, one of the best known online ticketing companies in the country.



Eventbrite employs over 80 staff between the companys offices in Madrid and Alicante. With the new office, scheduled to open in May this year, the company hopes to triple the team  mainly in engineering and product development  who will work in coordination with Eventbrites other international offices to serve event creators and attendees around the world.



Eventbrites new engineering center for Spain will be located in a 24,000 ft, four-floor building at number 101 in Paseo de la Habana. Apart from office space, the building will feature a cafeteria, relaxation areas, flexible work spaces, mothers rooms for nursing mothers, a library, outdoor recreational spaces, as well as a dedicated events space, which the company hopes to open up to the local community of event creators for meetups, networking events, or tech, music, and entrepreneurial events in Madrid.



A slice of Silicon Valley work culture in Madrid



Eventbrite has been recognized by Great Place to Work as one of the 20 best companies to work for in the San Francisco Bay Area. This recognition highlights the companys vibrant work culture, and while every Eventbrite office around the world has its own truly local flavor, they all share a common culture that is unique to Eventbrite.



Eventbrite employees have continuous access to training and language courses, sessions with experts to improve technical and management skills, and full corporate medical insurance. Eventbrite is especially committed to the health and well-being of its employees, offering various health and wellness benefits, free lunches, and dedicated family-planning support.



Javier Andres, Eventbrites Country Director for Spain and Portugal, comments: This new office isnt just a new physical space for us. It will be the embodiment of Eventbrites thriving global culture, and we aim to make being here the closest thing to working in San Francisco  with a uniquely Spanish twist. Needless to say, this includes the employee benefits that Silicon Valley tech companies are famous for, and which are designed to increase the happiness, health and satisfaction of our employees."



As a global company, we have invested heavily in a distributed model when it comes to our technical teams. As a result, we have thriving development centers across North America, South America and Europe that are fueling critical innovation for the business, said Pat Poels, Senior Vice President of Platform at Eventbrite. Im excited for our future technical growth in Spain  our new hires will join a world-class team and will work on some of Eventbrites most important projects, making a real impact on the platform and product as we build the future of live experiences together.



The new development center wont just focus on Spain, either, adds Giuseppe Ciotta, the Engineering Director for Eventbrite in Spain. The engineers in Madrid and Alicante will collaborate with colleagues all over the world to develop vital aspects of Eventbrites global platform, which is critical to the future success of the company.



In 2017, Eventbrite issued more than 200 million tickets for more than three million events in 170 countries. In Spain, Eventbrite issued around five million tickets for tens of thousands of events last year (including Ticketea figures).



About Eventbrite

Eventbrite is a global ticketing and event technology platform that provides creators of events of all shapes and sizes with tools and resources to seamlessly plan, promote, and produce live experiences around the world. Eventbrites powerful platform, which can be accessed online or via mobile apps, scales from basic registration and ticketing to a fully featured event management platform. Customers include Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals, Pitchfork Music Festival, elrow, and Low Festival. Eventbrite was founded by Julia Hartz, Kevin Hartz, and Renaud Visage and launched operations in 2006. The company has more than 1,000 employees in 14 offices around the world. In 2018 Eventbrite acquired Ticketea, one of the leading Spanish platforms for ticketing and event management.
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Dublin, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market Outlook to 2022 - By Sea, Air and Road Freight Movement; By International and Domestic Freight; By Express and Normal Delivery; By Flow Corridors and By End Users (Oil and Gas, FMCG, Construction and Others)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The growth of freight forwarding in Kuwait was supported by development in major industries such as oil and gas, manufacturing, retail, wholesale, construction, agriculture and mining. Expanding FMCG sector, retail sector, food and E-commerce industry in the country has attributed to the growth of the freight forwarding industry in the country. The Kuwait market witnessed the entry of many foreign players as flexible policies were introduced by the government to boost the economic growth of the country. Entry of new players has further aided the demand in the freight forwarding market.



Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market Segmentation

By Freight Movement

Sea (Inland Waterway and maritime) dominated in freight movement in freight forwarding market in 2017 due to major cargo transportation taking place through ocean such as oil and gas. The port of Shuwaikh is the major port used for sea freight and generates highest cargo volume.



Sea is favorable for shipments which have heavy items involving a longer transit time and is a safe means of transporting goods at a reasonable cost. The majority of the industries have been majorly operating near to Shuwaikh port which further drives the demand for industrial freight cargo in the country.



Air contributed second highest revenue share to the freight forwarding market majorly driven by the express shipments in the country. The international shipments also attributed to the freight movement through air. E-commerce market has driven the air freight market in the country. On the other hand, road contributed the least share and is generally used for the domestic shipments.



By Mode of Freight

International freight forwarding dominated the freight forwarding industry in Kuwait owing to the free trade agreements of GCC with European Free Trade Association and Trade and Agreement Framework Agreement with the US. Moreover, Kuwait has signed bilateral investment agreements with nations including Austria, Belarus, China, Croatia, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India and others which further boosted international freight forwarding sector. The freight movements prevalent in the international freight forwarding include air and sea for the products and services to be transferred internationally.



By Type of Delivery

Express delivery shipments are time sensitive and the cost is generally higher than the normal delivery. Commercial documents, transport documents, financial documents and government documents involved in international trade such as quotations, sales contract, shipping order, doc receipt and other bills of exchange were observed to be generally traded through express delivery shipment in Kuwait.



By Flow Corridors

Asia flow corridor is the largest contributor in terms of revenue in the freight forwarding market. This growth has been attributed on the account of strategic location and trade strategy of various companies trying to expand their operations in other Asia Pacific countries. It was followed by Europe, North America, GCC and other flow corridors.



By End-User

Oil and Gas industry dominated the end user segment in Kuwait freight forwarding market. Kuwait has been a major supplier and member in the OPEC group. Oil comprises approximately half of Kuwait's GDP. This positively increases the revenue contribution of oil and gas industry in Kuwait freight forwarding market, due to rise in export of crude oil has significantly drive the demand for sea freight and domestic freight in Kuwait. On the other hand, FMCG sector is the second largest end user segment in Kuwait freight forwarding market as Kuwait largely relies on importing goods from other countries rather than manufacturing which automatically increases the use of air and sea freight to import majority of the products from other countries.



Competitive Landscape

The freight forwarding industry in the country is moderately fragmented with the presence of both domestic and international players in the industry. Companies in the Kuwait have been focusing towards providing data oriented solutions and other services for operational excellence, timely customer support and the effective adherence of the consumers' expectations, thus providing customer satisfaction and retain customers.



Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market Future Outlook and Projections

Kuwait will witness construction of many new roads and bridges which will aid against the traffic congestion problem in the country and positively affect the trucking industry, hence aiding the domestic logistics. The freight forwarding industry in the Kuwait will continue to dominate the overall logistics market in the coming years. The government of Kuwait has allocated USD 80 billion budget in the year 2015 for construction and transportation project in the country which will in future aid the cargo transportation industry.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market Executive Summary



2. Research Methodology

Market Definitions

Abbreviations

Consolidated Research Approach

Variables (Dependent and Independent)

Correlation Matrix

Regression Matrix

Limitations and Conclusion

3. Kuwait Freight Forwarding Ecosystem

Kuwait Freight Forwarding Ecosystem - Supplier Side

Kuwait Freight Forwarding Ecosystem - Demand Side

4. Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market Timeline and Overview



5. Kuwait Freight Forwarding Volume Handled

Kuwait Freight Forwarding Volume Handled - Sea

Kuwait Freight Forwarding Volume Handled - Air

6. Market Size

Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market Size, 2012-2017

Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market Segmentation by Freight Movement, 2017

Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market Segmentation by International and Domestic Freight Forwarding, 2017

Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market Segmentation by Type of Delivery, 2017

Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market Segmentation by Flow Corridor, 2017

Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market Segmentation by International and Domestic Companies, 2017

Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market Segmentation by End Users, 2017

7. Trends and Developments in Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market

Kuwait Freight Forwarding Industry Activities

8. Issues and Challenges in Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market



9. SWOT Analysis for Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market



10. Government Role in Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market

Government Role in Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market - Customs Clearance Process

Government Role in Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market - Documentary Requirements for Customs

Government Role in Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market - For Vehicles

Government Regulations in Freight Forwarding Market for Food Items

11. Competitive Scenario of Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market

Freight Forwarding Companies Operation in Kuwait

12. Directory of Major Players in Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market



13. Profiles of Major Freight Forwarding Companies

DHL Kuwait

ARAMEX Kuwait

Dolphin Shipping & Logistics

Leaders International Shipping

Enkay Express

Agility Kuwait

KGL Logistics Kuwait

CEVA Logistics

GAC Logistics

Hellmann Kuwait

UAGSCO Shipping & Logistics

Other Company Profiles

14. Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market - Future Outlook and Projections, 2017-2022

Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market - Future Segmentation by End User and Type of Delivery, 2022

Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market- Future Segmentation by Freight Movement and International and Domestic Freight, 2022

15. Kuwait Freight Forwarding Market - Analyst Recommendations

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4f4tdd/kuwait_freight?w=12

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
A pair of upcoming demolitions will help pave the way for more downtown development in the city of New Baltimore.

The New Baltimore City Council voted 4-1 at its Feb. 11 meeting to move forward with the demolition of the citys old police station at Washington and Front streets, along with an adjacent house. The demolitions and asbestos removal at both sites will be completed by Roseville-based Universal Consolidated Engineering at a cost of about $21,650.

Its time for us to move forward and do this, council member Carl Weinreich said.

The decision follows a pair of proposals made to the city to purchase six parcels along Washington Street between Main and Front streets. Officials have since decided to retain the property where the citys former recreation building currently sits and plan to build a new recreation facility on the site in the future.

The city is now requesting revised proposals with cash offers from the two developers who are looking to construct multi-story, mixed-use buildings on the downtown waterfront property.

Its easier to sell a piece of property thats vacant than it is a property with two abandoned buildings on it, council member David Duffy said.

Peak3 Development LLC and Synergy Construction Management LLC partnered to initially propose a multimillion-dollar investment including first-floor retail, commercial and restaurant space with luxury residential living on the second and third floors, along with rooftop patios.

Kasco Construction Services and DevMar Development also collaborated to initially propose a roughly 65,000-square-foot building area with 16,000 square feet of local retail, restaurant and recreational space.

Revised proposals must be submitted to the city in time for councils March 11 meeting. If neither submits a new proposal, the city will go back out to bid, officials said.

Mayor Pro-Tem Flo Hayman cast the lone dissenting vote. She said believes taxpayers should not have to bear the cost of the demolitions and emphasized that she will not support spending any additional funds that are not designated for emergency services including water, wastewater, police and fire.

I believe the windows can be temporarily boarded up for safety as the property is up for sale, Hayman said. The bids received were woefully under the value based on other land sold in our downtown. Because of these facts, I believe it is unlikely that the cost  over $23,000 for demolition  will be recouped by the city.

Council member Carl Weinreich argued it would not cost taxpayers any additional money, as the funds could be taken out of the roughly $60,000 the city received as part of a recent property sale.

How can we cite anyone for blight if we cant take care of our own? He asked at the meeting. How can we do that?

I am just as concerned about blight as the rest of my fellow council people, Hayman said. But Im also more concerned about public safety.

The citys police department moved out of the old station and into its Green Street facility in 2011. Duffy said he recently noticed a broken window on the old police station building, adding that it could potentially become a public safety issue, especially with its location across from the beach.

Any abandoned building of course is a public safety concern. The building is secure, but its got that fenced in area there; you cant see whats going on behind that, Police Chief Michael Mertens said at the recent council meeting. As far as I know  no one has entered that building illegally.

Bids for demolition and asbestos removal at the properties, located at 50910 Washington St. and 36445 Front St., were solicited through the MITN bid system, which is used by local government agencies throughout the state. The city received eight bids. Universal Consolidated Enterprises submitted the lowest bid.

Council member Ken Butler was absent from the Feb. 11 meeting.

Katelyn Larese is the local news editor at The Voice. She can be contacted at 586-273-6196 or klarese@digitalfirstmedia.com.
U.S. bookings to Cuba expected to rise, but Americans still confused about travel rules
Kelsey Grammer, right, and Rachelle Lefevre star in the new legal drama, Proven Innocent, tonight at 10 on Fox.
OTTAWA, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UrbanGold Minerals Inc. ("UrbanGold" or the "Company | TSXV: UGM) is pleased to announce, subject to regulatory approval, the appointment of its Vice President of Exploration, Mathieu Stephens to the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective immediately. Former Interim CEO Sabino Di Paola will continue to serve in his role as Chief Financial Officer for UrbanGold, while Mr. Stephens assumes the position of CEO and maintains his current position of Vice President of Exploration.



Mr. Stephens is a professional geologist with over 15 years of exploration and management experience in both mining exploration and the securities industries. Mr. Stephens is a graduate of the University of Quebec in Montreal and is a registered professional geologist with the Ordre des geologues du Quebec. He is also fluent in both English and French and is an existing shareholder of the Company.

Prior to joining UrbanGold, Mr. Stephens led the exploration team at Beaufield Resources Inc. until its successful acquisition by Osisko Mining and previous to that held middle management positions at Canaccord Genuity.

Mr. Stephens commented, "I am very pleased to be taking on the position of CEO and look forward to working with its knowledgeable team in advancing the Company and its portfolio of prospective properties. I will make a priority of providing regular updates to our shareholders and I am confident we can make the Company a successful one with our well financed exploration budget."

Sabino Di Paola, Chief Financial Officer and Director added, "We are very pleased to have Mr. Stephens as the new CEO and look forward to leveraging his expertise in moving UrbanGold forward."

About UrbanGold

UrbanGold is incorporated under the federal laws of Canada and has its principal office in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The Company is engaged in the evaluation, acquisition and exploration of mineral properties in Canada, and its current focus is Quebec. The Company plans to ultimately develop the properties, bring them into production, option or lease the properties to third parties, or sell the properties outright. The Company has not determined whether these properties contain mineral reserves that are economically recoverable, and the Company is considered to be in the exploration stage.

Forward Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws that is intended to be covered by the safe harbours created by those laws. Forward-looking information includes statements that use forward-looking terminology such as may, will, expect, intend, anticipate, believe, continue, potential or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology.

Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management at the date the statements are made. Furthermore, such forward-looking information involves a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking information. See Risk Factors in the Companys Final Prospectus dated December 13, 2018 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com for a discussion of these risks.



The Company cautions that there can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.



Except as required by law, the Company does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking information contained in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.

For further information

Jens E. Hansen, P Eng.

Chairman

Phone (613) 721-2919

www.urbangoldminerals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV, accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For the most part, the hundreds of thousands of illegal refugees crossing our southern border do not speak English and have low job skills. When they get here, they find themselves standing on street corners hoping an employer will come by and give them a job for the day, a job with low wages, no benefits and poor working conditions. If they complain, then there are always others to take the job. If they complain too much, then a discreet call to ICE and theyre deported.
Hes always been someone thats intrigued me, but there hasnt been that much about him, Vinson said. I got a really close look at how he thought about things and why he did what he did in terms of his politics, but also as a person.
Weve been wanting to find a way to bring this to the public for years, Seals said. Its an auction of property and slaves. They auction off the slaves almost exactly the same way they auction off the property. Thats what makes it so powerful, the banality of it.
"The life stories and accomplishments of the men and women honored this year are powerful and inspirational, and it is wonderful to have this opportunity to share their contributions with a wide audience," Librarian of Virginia Sandra G. Treadway said in the release.
When I joined CDR's board, I did so because I recognized it as an organization that had a purpose  CDR cared for children who were disadvantaged through no fault of their own, whether a diagnosed disability, a developmental delay, or a challenging family circumstance, Robinson said in the release. I joined the board because of what the staff did, but stayed  like so many others  because of the way they did it.
Jackson left open the possibility that she could amend the order in the future and reminded Stone that he is not permitted to contact any witnesses in the case. She also said if Stone complained about pretrial publicity at a later date, she would consider whether he had brought it on himself.
TORONTO, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited (BlackRock Canada), an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK), today announced the February 2019 cash distributions for the iShares ETFs listed on the TSX which pay on a monthly basis as well as XIU. Unitholders of record of a fund on February 25, 2019 will receive cash distributions payable in respect of that fund on February 28, 2019

Details regarding the per unit distribution amounts are as follows:

Fund Name Fund

Ticker Cash

Distribution

Per Unit ($) iShares 1-10 Year Laddered Corporate Bond Index ETF CBH 0.053 iShares 1-5 Year Laddered Corporate Bond Index ETF CBO 0.041 iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index ETF CDZ 0.094 iShares Equal Weight Banc & Lifeco ETF CEW 0.029 iShares U.S. High Yield Fixed Income Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) CHB 0.091 iShares 1-5 Year Laddered Government Bond Index ETF CLF 0.038 iShares 1-10 Year Laddered Government Bond Index ETF CLG 0.044 iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Preferred Share Index ETF CPD 0.052 iShares Short Duration High Income ETF (CAD-Hedged) CSD 0.079 iShares US Dividend Growers Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) CUD 0.066 iShares Convertible Bond Index ETF CVD 0.070 iShares Global Monthly Dividend Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) CYH 0.063 Dynamic iShares Active Tactical Bond ETF DXB 0.042 Dynamic iShares Active Canadian Dividend ETF DXC 0.040 Dynamic iShares Active Crossover Bond ETF DXO 0.057 Dynamic iShares Active Preferred Shares ETF DXP 0.072 Dynamic iShares Active Investment Grade Floating Rate ETF DXV 0.041 iShares Canadian Financial Monthly Income ETF FIE 0.040 iShares Core Canadian Universe Bond Index ETF XBB 0.074 iShares Canadian Corporate Bond Index ETF XCB 0.053 iShares Core MSCI Global Quality Dividend Index ETF XDG 0.043 iShares Core MSCI Global Quality Dividend Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XDGH 0.046 iShares Core MSCI Canadian Quality Dividend Index ETF XDIV 0.083 iShares Core MSCI US Quality Dividend Index ETF XDU 0.045 iShares Core MSCI US Quality Dividend Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XDUH 0.042 iShares Canadian Select Dividend Index ETF XDV 0.091 iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XEB 0.063 iShares S&P/TSX Composite High Dividend Index ETF XEI 0.087 iShares S&P/TSX Capped Financials Index ETF XFN 0.097 iShares Floating Rate Index ETF XFR 0.036 iShares Canadian Government Bond Index ETF XGB 0.043 iShares Canadian HYBrid Corporate Bond Index ETF XHB 0.066 iShares U.S. High Dividend Equity Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XHD 0.066 iShares U.S. High Dividend Equity Index ETF XHU 0.056 iShares U.S. High Yield Bond Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XHY 0.090 iShares U.S. IG Corporate Bond Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XIG 0.065 iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF XIU 0.179 iShares Core Canadian Long Term Bond Index ETF XLB 0.069 iShares S&P/TSX North American Preferred Stock Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XPF 0.069 iShares High Quality Canadian Bond Index ETF XQB 0.044 iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index ETF XRE 0.071 iShares Core Canadian Short Term Bond Index ETF XSB 0.054 iShares Conservative Short Term Strategic Fixed Income ETF XSC 0.048 iShares Conservative Strategic Fixed Income ETF XSE 0.048 iShares Core Canadian Short Term Corporate + Maple Bond Index ETF XSH 0.044 iShares Short Term Strategic Fixed Income ETF XSI 0.058 iShares Short Term High Quality Canadian Bond Index ETF XSQ 0.034 iShares Diversified Monthly Income ETF XTR 0.050 iShares S&P/TSX Capped Utilities Index ETF XUT 0.082

Estimated February Cash Distributions for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF

The February cash distributions per unit for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF are estimated to be as follows:

Fund Name Fund

Ticker Estimated

Cash

Distribution

Per Unit ($) iShares Premium Money Market ETF CMR 0.067

BlackRock Canada expects to issue a press release on or about February 22, 2019, which will provide the final amounts for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF.

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 investors and a leading provider of financial technology, our clients turn to us for the solutions they need when planning for their most important goals. As of December 31, 2018, the firm managed approximately US$5.98 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 | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/blackrock .

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$1.7 trillion in assets under management as of December 31, 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$5.98 trillion in AUM as of 12/31/18

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:

Maeve Hannigan

T  416-643-4058

Email: Maeve.Hannigan@blackrock.com
Though Virginia already has reached the goal of 70% of adults vaccinated with at least one dose by July 4, Hampton Roads lags far behind. And when Virginias state of emergency expires June 30, public health officials say getting the masses vaccinated will become that much more complicated.
Published: February 14, 2019

Juniors Research Vulnerabilities for Cyber Attacks on Critical Infrastructures like Power Plants

There is a trend for the worlds critical infrastructures, such as power plants, nuclear facilities, dams and water treatment facilities, to become part of the internet of things (IoT). However, when these supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems were originally created, there was no internet and no threat of hackers, which leaves them vulnerable for malicious attackers to exploit the outdated facilities and cause serious damage.

This trend caught the attention of student research assistants, juniors and cybersecurity majors Ashley Newsome and Jenny Khanal.



They were made without security in mind, said Khanal, of Nepal. Physical security yes, but they werent considering cyberattacks.



Since last fall, Success Scholars Newsome and Khanal have been investigating the myriad of vulnerabilities, possible threats, and the risks of connecting these devices to the internet or integrating them into corporate networks, and are developing a taxonomy to organize the weaknesses of SCADA systems, the repercussions of attack and possible mitigation efforts within the foundational frame of information security.



By categorizing them, we will be able to provide more adequate measures to protect SCADA systems from the growing cyber threats, they wrote in their abstract. Newsome, who has a business analytics minor and is from Fort Lauderdale, explained that they used case studies such as the Stuxnet virus against the Iranian nuclear facility and the attack against the Ukrainian power grid to evaluate their taxonomy.



Out of all the topics we came up with, this one we thought had the greatest impact on society and the world, said Khanal. Something we could do research on and make a change.



Newsome and Khanals work on cybersecurity threats against critical infrastructure was accepted for presentation at the National Council on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), which will be hosted at Kennesaw State University in Georgia on April 1113. They also plan to submit their work, A Taxonomy of Critical Infrastructure Vulnerabilities: Case Study Approach on SCADA Systems, to a peer-reviewed journal by the end of the semester.



Miloslava Plachkinova, assistant professor of cybersecurity, said the point of doing any research is to advance knowledge, to help others and to inspire students to think beyond the problems discussed in class.



I push them to think big and show them that everything is possible if they work hard and are passionate about doing research and solving problems that seem impossible to solve, Plachkinova said. Ashley and Jenny have picked a very serious topic to work on, and I am confident that they can make a difference in the future. We need people with fresh eyes like them to help us find innovative solutions and protect these critical infrastructures that are of national significance.



The topic was of such interest to Plachkinova, who is enrolled in UTs masters in criminology and criminal justice program, that she wrote a paper for class on policy analysis and evaluation related to such attacks and how we lack adequate legislation on cyber crimes and cyber terrorism. She presented it at an information technology security conference, BSides Tampa, and will expand upon it for her masters thesis.



In addition to NCUR, Newsome and Khanal, and more than 35 other UT students, will be headed to the statewide version of NCUR, the Florida Undergraduate Research Conference (FURC). Its hosted by the University of North Florida in Jacksonville on Feb. 2223, 2019.



A variety of UT majors and research themes will be represented at FURC, including Julia Jester 19, a sociology major with a minor in sustainability, will present on her work with geographic information systems examining superfund sites and racial minority populations. Alysha Assaf 19, a double major in elementary education and Spanish with a minor in applied linguistics, will explore how using mobile learning impacts Spanish vocabulary instruction. Psychology major Adam Barrett-Clarke 19 will present on how Facebook usage affects mental health of college students. Alexandra Sullivan 19, a biology major, takes a look at Florida red tide and the organisms that are able to sustain life in such conditions.



Often when students present at a conference for the first time, they come away from the experience feeling exhilarated by having been active contributors to their fields. Presenting is a great way to evaluate whether or not they want to pursue graduate study, allows students to connect with and receive feedback from experts in their fields and also helps students learn how to effectively communicate their findings to a broad audience, said Eric Freundt, director of UTs Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry. It is amazing how preparing a presentation forces one to delve more deeply, anticipating the questions that might arise and leads the student to learn more about their research.





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For information only - not an official document

UNIS/OS/508

15 February 2019

PRESS RELEASE

UNOOSA and Space Generation Advisory Council sign Memorandum of Understanding

VIENNA, 15 February 2019 (UN Information Service) - The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) committed today to work jointly in supporting young people in line with the Secretary-General's 'Youth 2030 strategy', launched in September 2018. On 15 February, UNOOSA Director Simonetta Di Pippo and SGAC Executive Director Clementine Decoopman signed a Memorandum of Understanding for this new partnership.

Under the MoU, UNOOSA and SGAC have agreed to deliver a global 'Space for Youth' Competition aimed at engaging youth in the discussion of how space science and technology can be used to power the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The competition will invite participants to submit examples of space supporting SDGs in their communities and to amplify the voice of the youth in space policy-making by issuing the winning entries to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).

"The Office for Outer Space Affairs, as the UN's gateway to space, provides space solutions to global challenges which can only be addressed by a collective effort of all countries. The youth is the future of this planet and through the competition, we ensure that their voices are heard through one of the biggest committees of the United Nations General Assembly. Furthermore, through our collaboration with SGAC this is also a great example of Sustainable Development Goal 17 "Partnerships for the Goals" in action said Ms. Di Pippo, Director of UNOOSA.

"SGAC is thrilled to strengthen our relationship with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. We share a common mission towards the involvement of the next generation in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Both SGAC and UNOOSA are committed to providing capacity building opportunities to bridge the gap between spare faring and emerging space nations and contribute to the progress of humanity through the peaceful uses of space. This partnership will pave the way towards closer collaboration between our two organisations for the engagement and participation of the youth in UN initiatives", said Clementine Decoopman, Executive Director, Space Generation Advisory Council.

The MOU was signed on the side-lines of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (STSC) of COPUOS which is taking place from 11 to 22 February in the Vienna International Centre (VIC). COPUOS brings together 92 Member States and 41 Permanent Observers and serves as a unique platform at the global level to debate contemporary developments and challenges to outer space activities.

The MOU between UNOOSA and SGAC entered into effect on 15 February 2019 and will remain in force until 15 February 2020.

* *** *

For more information, please contact:

Ottavia Pesce

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)

Telephone: (+43 699) 1459 8718

Email: pesce[at]un.org
Kol Dock System of KoPT flagged off first train of containers to Nepal

Kolkata, Feb 15 (UNI) Kolkata Dock System of Port Trust today flagged off the first train of containers from Netaji Subhas Dock under the new simplified tran-shipment process to Nepal.

The facility, which was first adopted at Visakhapatnam Port is being extended to Kolkata Port on request from Kathmandu, officials here revealed during flag off ceremony conducted by Kolkata Port Trust chairman Vinit Kumar at a simple function this afternoon.

Under this system, the Indian Customs have waived the requirement for a Nepals importer of filing a Customs Transit Declaration (CTD) at Kolkata Customs. The entire documentation for transit of container is provided by the shipping line and the Nepal Traders are not required to interface with Indian Customs and the import for Nepals traders becomes a seamless process.
EU parliament approves stronger climate law 25 Jun 2021 | 12:07 AM Brussels, Jun 24 (UNI) The European Parliament on Thursday approved a new, stronger climate law, which commits the bloc to reach climate neutrality by 2050 and binds it to a higher 2030 target for greenhouse gas emissions reduction. see more..

Gen Shafiuddin Ahmed takes charge as new army chief of Bangladesh 24 Jun 2021 | 11:52 PM Dhaka, Jun 24 (UNI) Gen Shafiuddin Ahmed on Thursday took charge as the Chief of Army Staff and received the rank badge at Ganobhaban in the presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. see more..

Russia not considering granting electronic visas for vaccination tourism: Foreign Ministry 24 Jun 2021 | 9:00 AM Moscow, Jun 24 (UNI) Russia is not considering granting electronic visas for those who want to visit the country for getting vaccinated against COVID-19, Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Ivanov told Sputnik. see more..

Brazil reports record 115,228 new nCoV cases, 2,392 deaths 24 Jun 2021 | 7:46 AM Rio DE Janeiro, Jun 24 (UNI) Brazil recorded 115,228 new cases of the noble coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the highest single-day spike since the onset of the pandemic, taking the total number of infections to 18,169,881, the national Health Ministry said on Wednesday. see more..
Company announcement 2/2019 -  AX IV EG Holding III ApS

EG A/S divests its service business

Copenhagen, 15 February 2019  EG (OMX: AX IV EG Holding III ApS) announced today that the divestment of EG A/S service business has been completed.

On 25 January 2019, EG A/S announced that an agreement had been entered into in order to divest EG A/S service business to DXC Technology. The transaction has now been approved by the relevant competition authorities, and the divestment has today been completed.

The divestment is part of a strategic review of EG A/S that was initiated in August.

The transferred business units are Microsoft Dynamics 365, Business Central (NAV), Digital

Solutions, M3 and SAP. All the employees working in these business units, including part of Managed Services, the Hardware business, supporting group functions and Sales, are part of the transfer. The business units are in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Within the next 12 months, proceeds from the divestment will be either reinvested in the EG Groups business or used to pay outstanding loans in accordance with the terms of the bonds issued by AX IV EG Holding III ApS.
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Taiwan Tourism Bureau in the UAE is inviting residents to attend the Lantern Festival, taking place from February 19 to March 03 in the Pingtung County in Taiwan.



Celebrated on the first lunar month of the Chinese New Year, the annual festival marks its 30th anniversary under the theme of Pingan Penglai. Light-up 30. Visitors will experience musical and cultural performances, the famous rice-flour dumplings, street shopping, firework display, all underneath a sky full of colourful lanterns.



Speaking about the famous Lantern Festival, Dr Trust Lin, director - Taiwan Tourism Bureau in UAE, said: Taiwan Lantern Festival represents our culture. It is a window for other countries to come see our traditions and join in our festivities. You will witness kids holding beautifully crafted lanterns walking around everywhere. The sight when the lanterns are released in the sky is breathtaking. The animal representing the lunar year in the Chinese zodiac this year plays an important role in the festival and will be appearing in all corners of the festival to unexpectedly greet tourists.



Taiwan has built a strong reputation as a major tourism hub, recognised for its quality infrastructure, safety, stability and connectedness. Fast becoming a preferred halal-friendly destination, Taiwan has noticed a hike in tourism from the GGC countries, and UAE in specific. Taiwan Tourism Bureau reported an increase of over 6 per cent in tourism from UAE in 2018. Over 22,000 annual tourists, comprising of both business and leisure travellers, visited Taiwan. Spring is a popular season for incoming tourists with April  June being one of the busiest months. In addition, GCC residents often make travel plans to Taiwan around the long Eid holiday break.



Escaping the heat, travellers flock to the Love River or Ai River that flows 12 kilometres across to Kaohsiung Harbor. Tourists are mesmerized by the A-li shan forest which is home to the famous 2,000 years old giant tree. Another scenic beauty is the renowned Ali Mountains which boosts the rare sight of sunrise and sea of clouds. Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Lungshan Temple and Taroko National Park are some of the most visited places for cultural exploration.



Taiwan is also aiming to appeal its visitors seeking to immerse themselves in cultures and build deeper connections with the country by hosting multiple programs throughout the year. Similar to the lantern festival, tourists visit Taiwan around Taichung World Flora Exposition, Biennial Butterfly Beauty Festival or the Yanshuei Beehive Fireworks Festival.



The Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications recently completed the selection process for hosting the next Taiwan Lantern Festivals in 2020 and 2021. Famous for its tourist attractions like Fengjia Night Market, Chang-Liao Family Shrine and Baxianshan National Forest, the next years Lantern festival will be held in the Taichung City. Going with a new location, for the first time the Taiwan Lantern Festival in 2021 will be held in the city of Hsinchu. - TradeArabia News Service
The International Energy Agency recently took over as the Facilitator of the Biofuture Platform, a group of 20 countries seeking to accelerate development and scale up deployment of modern sustainable low carbon alternatives.



The International Energy Agency recently took over as the Facilitator of the Biofuture Platform, a group of 20 countries seeking to accelerate development and scale up deployment of modern sustainable low carbon alternatives to fossil based solutions in transport, chemicals, plastics and other sectors.



Since its launch in November 2016, the Biofuture Platform has worked closely with the IEA on a range of efforts, including analysis and promotion of innovative bioenergy technology, effective policies, sustainability governance and multilateral collaboration. Last year, the IEAs Renewables 2018 identified modern bioenergy as the overlooked giant among renewables, noting that it corresponds to 50% of the total consumption of renewable energy.



The transition of the Facilitator role to the IEA reinforces the Biofuture Platforms commitment to shared leadership and international dialogue and collaboration on sustainable bioenergy. The IEA will work closely under the guidance of the Biofuture Platforms 20 member countries to design and implement a plan of work in pursuit of the Platforms mission.



In particular, the IEA will work very closely with the Platforms Core Group, which is led by Brazil and also includes India, the United Kingdom, Canada, and The Netherlands.



In addition, the IEA will seek to further deepen its engagement and strengthen collaboration with bioenergy frontrunners from governments, industry and academia, as well as other partnerships, including the IEA Bioenergy Technology Collaboration Programme.



The 20 members of the Biofuture Platform are: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Morocco, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Paraguay, the Philippines, Sweden, the UK, the US and Uruguay.  TradeArabia News Service
The UAE has been ranked as the first in the Middle East and North Africa and fifth worldwide in the Global Connectedness Index (GCI) 2018 released by DHL.



The UAE rose five places on the index to rank fifth in the world after The Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland and Belgium.



The countrys rank stood at 18th in 2004. It entered the top 10 in 2012 (ranking ninth) and continued rising all the way to its present position.



The UAE has proactively supported connectedness by, for example, fostering vibrant activity in free trade zones such as the Abu Dhabi Airports Free Zone (ADAFZ) that focus on non-oil products as part of the governments economic diversification strategy. Israel, Bahrain, Mauritius, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles and Lebanon all made it into the Indexs Top 50, while Sub-Saharan African countries like Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Guinea on the West African coastline showed remarkable improvements in connectivity.



The 2018 index measures the current state of globalisation, as well as individual rankings for each country, based on the depth (intensity of international flows) and breadth (geographical distribution of flows) of countries international connections. The worlds top five most globally connected countries in 2017 were the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, Belgium and the UAE. Middle East and North Africa is the worlds third-most connected region, behind Europe and North America.



While oil exports continue to underpin the Emirates connectedness to the global economy, the establishment of free trade zones like the ADAFZ has attracted businesses worldwide, serving as a strategic hub and gateway to Abu Dhabi, the UAE and the wider region, said Nour Suliman, CEO Middle East and North Africa, DHL Express. Increased trade from companies based in these zones have directly contributed to the rise in the UAEs non-oil foreign trade in sectors like aviation, pharmaceuticals, technology and e-commerce, accounting for 62 per cent of total trade. Over the past few years, deals with key partners like Saudi Arabia have reached $10 billion, while UAE-India trade partnerships are expected to cross $100 billion by 2020.



The region continues to face geopolitical headwinds as well as issues around quality and reliability of infrastructure, but things are changing thanks to new policies and investments from government and industry alike. DHL Express recently opened a $5.8 million logistics facility in Jordan as part of the companys commitment to invest $170 million in infrastructure developments across Middle East and Africa as we continue to drive greater regional and global connectedness with innovative, high-quality end-to-end logistics services.



The new GCI report represents the first comprehensive assessment of developments in globalisation across 169 countries and territories since the Brexit referendum in the UK and the 2016 presidential election in the US. In spite of growing anti-globalisation tensions in many countries, connectedness reached an all-time high in 2017, as the flows of trade, capital, information and people across national borders all intensified significantly for the first time since 2007. Strong economic growth boosted international flows while key policy changes such as US tariff increases had not yet been implemented.



A central theme of research by GCI co-authors Steven A. Altman and Pankaj Ghemawat is that at the global level, the world is still less connected than most people think it is, even after globalisations recent gains. For example, just about 20 per cent of economic output around the world is exported, roughly 7 per cent of phone call minutes (including calls over the internet) are international, and only 3 per cent of people live outside the countries where they were born. The report also debunks the belief that distance is becoming irrelevant. Most countries are much more connected to their neighbours than to distant nations.



Emerging economies remain less connected than advanced economies

The GCI continues to reveal vast differences between levels of globalisation in advanced versus emerging economies. Emerging economies trade almost as intensively as advanced economies, but advanced economies are more than three times as deeply integrated into international capital flows, five times for people flows, and almost nine times with respect to information flows. Additionally, while leaders from large emerging markets have become major supporters of globalisation on the world stage, emerging economies progress in terms of global connectedness has stalled. - TradeArabia News Service
Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan on Friday to expect a strong response to a suicide attack that killed 44 paramilitary policemen in Kashmir, ratcheting up tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

The car bomb attack on a security convoy on Thursday was the worst in decades of insurgency in the disputed region, reported Reuters.

The Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility soon after a suicide bomber rammed a explosives-laden car into a bus carrying police personnel.

India said it had incontrovertible evidence of Pakistani involvement - though that was quickly denied by Islamabad.

Promising a "crushing response" to the suicide bombing, Modi said: We will give a befitting reply, our neighbour will not be allowed to de-stabilise us.

"Our neighboring country thinks such terror attacks can weaken us, but their plans will not materialize," the PM said in a speech, after meeting security advisers to discuss options.

He also added that government forces have been "given total freedom" to deal with the militants.

Later in the evening, PM Modi led the nation in paying last respects to the CRPF personnel martyred in the Pulwama terror attack. With his hands folded and head bowed, he walked around 40 coffins draped in tricolour, reported PTI.

The mortal remains of the troopers reached Delhi's Palam air force area in a special Indian Air Force (IAF) plane in the evening. The bodies were received by Union home minister Rajnath Singh.

Decorated with white floral arrangements, 40 coffins wrapped in tricolour were neatly arranged in the hanger, where senior officials of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) laid wreaths one by one in a solemn ceremony, officials said.

The attack is ratcheting up already hostile tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors, who both administer parts of the disputed territory but each claim it entirely.

Pakistan has denied any involvement and warned India against linking it to the attack, but that hasn't stopped India from taking action.

India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced Friday that New Delhi was withdrawing the most favored nation trade status given to Pakistan and would take all possible diplomatic steps "to ensure the complete isolation from international community of Pakistan of which incontrovertible evidence is available of having a direct hand in this gruesome terrorist incident."

The US also specifically singled out Pakistan in its statement condemning the attack.

The attack comes months before national elections in India, reported AP.

India has for years accused Pakistan of backing separatist militants in divided Kashmir, which the neighbours both claim in full but rule in part.

They have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947 and regularly exchange fire along their highly militarized border in Kashmir, reported Associated Press..

In a strongly-worded statement the White House urged Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil.

Pakistan is due to host peace talks next week between the Afghan Taliban and the US as part of efforts to seek a political settlement to the Afghan war, but escalating tensions with India could divert Pakistans attention.

As outrage and demands for revenge flooded Indian social media, Jaitley, one of the most senior figures in the government, told reporters India would work to ensure the complete isolation of Pakistan.

The last major attack in Kashmir was in 2016 when Jaish militants raided an Indian army camp, killing 20 soldiers. Weeks later, Modi ordered a surgical strike on suspected militant camps across the border in Pakistan Kashmir.
Bosch, a leading home appliances brand in Europe, has opened its flagship store in Saudi Arabia.



The store is located in the heart of Jeddah, and the event took place in the presence of Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Jeddah, Holger G Ziegeler.



Spread out exactly on 300 sq m of built-up area, the new Bosch Home Appliances store makes room for a product display ranging over 100 different appliances and models, all designed by German engineers.



The showroom follows a two-storey structure, with the ground floor dedicated to product showcases according to themes and categories. It hosts a welcome area, Brand Heritage and Innovation wall along with areas dedicated to kitchen inspiration, cooling, laundry, cooking and baking. The floor above makes room for a live cooking area and a Perfect Kitchen concept.



Tomas Alonso, chief executive officer, BSH Home Appliances, said: Our new flagship store strengthens our brand presence in the Saudi market, and complements our existing network of outlets  which are currenly in Shop-In-Shop forms.



This purpose-built space will help us deliver the quality, innovation, design intelligence and efficiency that our company stands for, he said.



We prioritises innovation in the service of a healthy balanced life, and I look forward to people exploring the concept themselves in this beautiful new space, he added.



The showroom will also showcase the strides Bosch is making towards intelligent eco-friendliness, where appliances reduce their energy and water footprints. Consumers not only give back to the environment but also save back the cost of their appliances through reduced utility bills.



The showroom, operated by Bosch Home Appliances Saudi Arabia distributor and partner Abdul Latif Jameel Electronics, also serves as a logistics hub for Bosch products Saudi Arabia-wide.



Hisham Hamza, chief executive officer, Abul Latif Jameel Electronics, said: Bosch products have proved very popular with Saudi households thanks to brands association with quality, trust and excellent design.



Bosch products are invented for life, with the goal of making life noticeably easier, healthier and more balanced. We are proud to be exclusive partners and distributors of Bosch in the kingdom, and are delighted to be able to welcome customers to a new, easily accessible location, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amerigo Resources Ltd. ("Amerigo" or the "Company") (TSX: ARG) announced today that the call-in number announced in the January 16, 2019 news release has been revised due to an error beyond the Companys control.



To join the call, please dial 1-800-273-9672 (Toll-Free North America) and let the operator know you wish to participate in the Amerigo Resources conference call.

The analyst and investment community are welcome to ask questions to management. Media can attend on a listen-only basis.

Release of annual 2018 financial results on February 21, 2019

The Company will release annual 2018 financial results at market open on Thursday February 21, 2018.

About Amerigo and MVC

Amerigo Resources Ltd. is an innovative copper producer with a long-term relationship with Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco), the worlds largest copper producer.

Amerigo produces copper concentrate at the MVC operation in Chile by processing fresh and historic tailings from Codelcos El Teniente mine, the world's largest underground copper mine. Tel: (604) 681-2802; Fax: (604) 682-2802; Web: www.amerigoresources.com; Listing: ARG:TSX.

For further information, please contact:

 Rob Henderson, President and CEO (604) 697-6203  Aurora Davidson, Executive Vice-President and CFO (604) 697-6207

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
MBABANE - Judge Titus Mlangeni has filed an application to stop an alleged noisy church from disturbing his peace.



Dunamis Church is situated about 20 metres from his residence at Mkhuzweni along Hhelehhele - Siphofaneni Road, in the Lubombo Region.

Through his attorney, the judge has since filed an urgent application at the High Court.



In his application, he narrated how he was almost manhandled by one of the congregants when he had gone to the pastor of the church to complain that they were having sleepless nights due to the level of noise.

He now wants the court to restrain Pastor Sabelo Tsabedze and the church from conducting prayer services at night, specifically between 6pm to 7am.

Decisive steps



Judge Mlangeni is also praying for an order directing the pastor and the church to jointly take all reasonable and decisive steps to abate the level of noise during prayer services that were conducted in the daytime.



Such steps, according to the judge, should include the use of electronic address systems, keyboards and drums in a responsible manner.

He averred that the High Court had jurisdiction to hear and determine the matter.



The veracity of these allegations is yet to be determined and the respondents are yet to file their papers.

Giving a background of the matter, Judge Mlangeni narrated that he was a resident of Mkhuzweni, having set up a home in the area in the 2009. He said he started living there in 2010 and since then he had enjoyed very good neighbourly relations with all residents of the area.



He mentioned that since he built his a home in the area, three different churches had set up in the immediate vicinity, one 150 metres away, one about 400 metres and the other one about 600 metres away. Judge Mlangeni highlighted that the Dunamis Church was the latest church to set up in the area. Its structure of worship, according to the judge, was presently under construction.



He said the respondents (Dunamis Church) worship and prayer services were normally conducted twice per week, one on Thursday nights and the other one on Sundays during the day.



Night prayer



Judge Mlangeni alleged that once in a while there was an all night prayer, but these were few and far apart.

According to Mlangeni, the prayer and worship session of the respondent relied heavily on electronic sound instruments.

The service itself is so loud such that I and my family follow the sermons from our home, from inside our bedrooms, the testimonies of the congregants, the verses that are read, the preaching and the prophecies that are made by the congregants, submitted the applicant.



He went on to state that the electronic instruments were unbearably loud and became deafening euphoria.

He said as the pastor preached, the keyboard roared in approval and as prophecies were declared upon anticipating worshippers, the keyboard would growl in approval.



The matter, which has been filed under a certificate of urgency, is still pending at the High Court.

The applicant is represented by senior lawyer Sidumo Mdladla of SV Mdladla and Associates.
SITEKI- Soldiers stationed at an army checkpoint detained a teacher for about three hours, accusing her of disrespect.



Sitile Dube, a teacher at Sitsatsaweni High School, endured the nightmarish experience while returning from work on Wednesday afternoon.

Dube is a member of the executive committee of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT). She is the representative for Lubombo teachers in the unions Resolutions Committee.



Narrating her ordeal, Dube said the quarrel between her and the soldiers began in the morning when she was on her way to school.

I usually board a bus at a bus stop situated near the army checkpoint. But since it was raining yesterday (Wednesday), I decided to drive to the bus stop, she narrated.



When she arrived at the bus stop, Dube parked her car by the roadside near the army checkpoint.

However, this did not go down well with the soldiers, who ordered that she removes the vehicle.



They ordered that I should remove the vehicle and park it on the other side of the road. I did not have a problem with that but the challenge I had was that the bus had arrived, so I could not delay it while I parked the vehicle as per their orders, said Dube.

She said the soldiers, who were armed with automatic rifles, blocked her from boarding the bus, insisting that she would not leave until she had parked the vehicle as per their instructions.



They then ordered the bus driver to leave and he complied and drove away, leaving me behind at the checkpoint, said Dube.

She then exchanged heated words with the soldiers before she boarded her vehicle and drove off, following the bus, which was moving towards the Sitsatsaweni direction.

The soldiers ordered me to stop but I continued driving since I was rushing to work. I overheard one of them rhetorically asking where I was going to pass in the afternoon after knocking off from work, she recalled.



Army checkpoint

After knocking off from work, Dube drove towards Siteki town with two other male teachers inside the vehicle. She was to pass by the army checkpoint since there were no alternative routes.

When she arrived at the army checkpoint, she said armed soldiers surrounded her vehicle and ordered the two male teachers to get out of the car.

They then placed cones in front and at the rear of the vehicle. They told me that I was not going to leave that place until the arrival of their bosses, Dube said.

She said the two male teachers who had been forced out of the vehicle by the soldiers did not immediately leave but waited at a distance, fearing that something bad would happen to her.

However, their presence infuriated the soldiers and they ordered the two male teachers to leave, said Dube. They told me that the presence of the two male teachers was making things worse, she said.

While inside the vehicle, Dube got a chance to send an SOS to the SNAT Siteki branch executive committee through a phone call.

She also received a call from SNAT Secretary General, Sikelela Dlamini, who had been informed of Dubes plight by the two male teachers.

Dlamini asked to speak to the soldiers but they refused, telling me that they would only speak to their superiors, Dube stated.

Eventually, SNAT Siteki branch committee members arrived at the scene to negotiate for Dube.

But by the time they arrived, the army boss whom the soldiers had been waiting for had also arrived.

Dube said the army boss told her that her sin was the manner in which she had responded to the soldiers, when they confronted her in the morning.

Dube was eventually released after almost three hours seated inside her vehicle while surrounded by armed soldiers.

I was embarrassed, humiliated and I was also traumatised by the whole experience, she said.

Dlamini, the SNAT Secretary General said they were awaiting a report from the local branch of SNAT before taking the matter forward.

We will analyse the report and it will tell us if we have to take the matter forward, he said.

Lot Vilakati, the local SNAT branch Secretary, confirmed that he personally rushed to the army checkpoint to negotiate the release of Dube.
MATSAPHA  The Kingdom of Eswatini is in high risk of finding itself in even worse economic challenges, where it will be unlikely for it to get back on its feet.



This is according to the Arab Muslim community from Matsapha, who claim that this could be a result of Matsapha Town Councils alleged xenophobic attitude.



They made this claim during the ongoing commission of inquiry into the affairs of Matsapha Town Council.

They labelled the council as having a xenophobic attitude after it threw out their application to build a mosque in the town.



Rejected







They alleged that the council rejected their application because Eswatini was a Christian country.

This is totally not Christianity but xenophobic attitude, the Arabs alleged.



They claimed that all along, they had been trying to convince Arabian investors to come to invest in the country and everything was going well, until Matsapha Town Council rejected their application to build a small mosque in the town.

The submissions made during the inquiry remain allegations whose veracity is yet to be tested.



Their argument was that every Friday at 2pm, they left everything and went to pray.

They said the closest mosque was in Manzini and this meant that they had to close their businesses an hour before 2pm in order to be on time for their weekly prayer.



They alleged that after seeing that their businesses were suffering, they applied to council to sub-divide one of their plots in the town and convert it into a mosque.

We took this move after we looked at the numbers of our community who operate businesses across the town, they argued.



They alleged that their application was thrown out of the window by council, despite the fact that the town was an industrial hub of the country, which meant that there were a number of foreign investors. They alleged that they had seen xenophobic attacks taking place in South Africa but the republic survived the effects of the xenophobia due to its strong economy.



Eswatinis economy is not that strong and it cannot recover if it can receive the beating of xenophobic effects, they alleged.

Furthermore, they expressed their disappointment on council that it was against the countrys Constitution, which allowed freedom of religion.



Effects



This can be a start of xenophobia and Eswatini is not ready to experience its effects. Why is the council leading the country to a wrong direction, of developing a xenophobic attitude? they alleged.

The members of the Arab community said they were concerned as to why Matsapha Town Council rejected their application as there were beautiful mosques in Manzini and Ezulwini.

It is worth noting that when council rejected the application for the construction of a mosque in the town, it said the area was designated to industries which would bring mass employment.
MANZINI  Some employees of Pick n Pay Matsapha were left in the lurch when a saving scheme they had created sank with their savings, amounting to over E95 000.



The 32 employees have since reported one of their own to the police, while alleging that she was the custodian of the money that disappeared.

Amidst the cloud of controversy, the implicated employee has subsequently stopped working for the company.



Members of the saving scheme said their stokvel was so popular that other employees had even included their relatives in it, with the high hopes of getting returns.



I was saving E500, but I know of people who were saving as much as E1 000 per month, said one employees.

Another employee said members were due to get varying amounts depending on how active they were in lending the money to people and creating interest.

She said things came to a head in December when it was time to cash in on the savings.



Three people were entrusted to be signatories of the account, and they went to the EswatiniBank (a stones throw from the supermarket), to withdraw the money. They all appended their signatures to the withdrawal slip and signed necessary documentation, until one of them realised she had forgotten her ID card at home. Since this was a requirement, the process was halted and she went home to fetch the ID card. However, since all other formalities had been done, she produced her ID and was given the money, alleged the source.



It was then said that the former employee took the money home, instead of the arranged meeting with the members for sharing the money.

When she later returned, after a week, she apologised and said she had deposited it in another saving scheme which was to give her quick yields. She promised to give us the money the following week. She then paid just a few members and kept the rest of us in the dark, another employee alleged.



struggling



The former employee is said to have later reported to members of the scheme that she was struggling to get the money back.

We asked for the contact details of the people running the new scheme, but she said she had none. She said she had been introduced to the scheme by a certain woman she had met while on a trip to Mozambique. We asked for the phone numbers of that woman, but she also said she had none, the employees alleged.



The sources said enraged members of the cooperative then reported the matter to the Matsapha Police.



statements



The police recorded statements from only two employees and later said they would require all members of the scheme to go to the police headquarters for further statements. That was done, the source said.

The sources said the police later started advising the workers to get a lawyer for the case, something that baffled them, because they were of the view that this was a criminal case.



The former employee, when called by the Times yesterday, said the matter was with the police, which was why she preferred not to comment.

No amount of persuasion that she talks, given that the matter was not yet in court, could convince her.

I know that the police are dealing with it and I choose not to comment at this stage, she said.



Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati advised that the aggrieved employees should go to the police and state their case because when records were checked, there was no active investigation on the matter.

A Pick n Pay manager vehemently refused to be interviewed and also declined to give direction to the Times on who was eligible to respond to questions from the media.



However, it was gathered that management of the retailer had nothing to do with the saving scheme as it was done by the employees on their own.
MBABANE  The daily transportation of millions of Emalangeni to and from banks and supermarkets, among other establishments, stands to be affected as cash-in-transit employees of Fidelity Security Services want to strike on Monday.



The employees are demanding a monthly bonus of E2 000 while their colleagues referred to as bankers want E1 000 per month as a bonus.

On February 6, 2019, the Swaziland Amalgamated Trade Unions (SATU), issued a notice to strike by the cash-in-transit employees.



This serves to notify you that the CIT (cash-in-transit) workers have resolved to embark on a strike action commencing from February 18, 2019. The intended strike action is pursuant to the dispute that was certified unresolved by the commission (CMAC) on June 28, 2018, reads part of the notice which was signed by SATU Secretary General Frank Mncina.



This prompted Fidelity Security Service Swaziland (Pty) Ltd to run to the Industrial Court to stop the intended strike. Judge Abande Dlamini issued an interim order stopping the strike. SATU or its representatives were not present in court when the matter was heard yesterday.

The matter was postponed to February 25, 2019 when SATU is expected to inform the court why the interim order should not be made final. Sabela Dlamini of Magagula and Hlophe Attorneys represents the company.



The manager of Fidelity Security Service, Connie Shabangu told the court that the employees could not pursue the dispute over the bonuses before the end of August 2019 which will be the expiration date of the operation of the existing and enforceable agreement between the parties.

In terms of the obtaining agreement, Shabangu said the bonuses were increased by E600 for CIT workers and E300 for the bankers. She alleged that the agreement was concluded in 2016 and it would expire in August 2019. She submitted that in the meantime, SATU could not pursue another dispute. Shabangu described the pursuance of the dispute in the present matter as a duplication of disputes.

strike

Shabangu stated that the intended strike action was illegal in terms of the Industrial Relations Act of 2000.

The strike will affect the business of the applicant especially the transportation of its customers money which runs into millions of Emalangeni every day. As would be expected, the CIT crew carry firearms which they are obviously trained to handle and the task they undertake cannot therefore be given to anyone. This makes the transportation of the customers cash susceptible to robbery, said Shabangu.

Giving a background of the matter, the manager narrated that SATU reported a dispute at CMAC in respect of collective bargaining proposals which were E2 000 bonus for the CIT crew and E1 000 for the bankers. The dispute remained unresolved even after conciliation.

Shabangu told the court that after the certificate of unresolved dispute, SATU issued a strike notice which was scheduled for November 7, 2016. The veracity of these allegations is still to be tested and SATU is yet to file responding papers.

However, after a meeting held on November 3, 2016 in which the parties sought a negotiated settlement, Shabangu submitted that the CIT workers would receive an additional amount of E600 monthly while the bankers got E300. The payments were backdated September 1, 2016.

Shabangu alleged that the parties agreed that any review of the benefits would be considered after three years and this period ends at the end of August 2019. Before this agreement, and as reflected in October 2016 pay slips, the bonus at the time was E550 for the CIT staff. After the normalisation of agreement in December 2016, according to Shabangu, their payslips showed an increase of E600 to E1 150 for the CIT crew and E300 for the bankers.

The manager said the employees were not entitled to enjoy the benefits of the agreement unless they fulfilled their end of the bargain, which is performance-based. She highlighted that the expiration of the existing agreement between the parties is in August 2019.

Shabangu submitted that it was an afterthought that after allegedly enjoying the benefits of the agreement, SATU sought to alter the terms of the agreement by trying to procure the signature of the companys management in a draft agreement. The management declined to sign it.

The manager said the company refused to sign and maintained the agreement because a review of the existing agreement would be considered after the lapse of three years from 2016. The matter is pending in court.
White to Lead Integration of Canabo Medical Clinics and GrowWise Health Post-closing of Emblem Acquisition

Previously the COO of Canadas Largest Multidisciplinary Clinic Network

TORONTO, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aleafia Health Inc. (TSXV: ALEF, OTC: ALEAF, FRA: ARAH) (Aleafia Health or the Company), has named private healthcare executive Keith White as the Companys new President of Clinic Operations. Most recently, White was The Oshawa Clinics (Oshawa) Chief Operating Officer. Oshawa, the largest of its kind in Canada, is a Greater Toronto Area multidisciplinary medical clinic network with over 500,000 unique patients. White also serves as the Chairman of the Lakeridge Health Foundation, a healthcare not-for-profit.



During his Oshawa tenure, White facilitated its exponential growth, including expanding from 45 physicians to over 130. Additionally, White streamlined patient care by scaling the institution of a new Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system that enabled physicians to access digital patient records while working within the public hospital system.

In his new leadership role, White will integrate Aleafia Healths wholly owned Canabo Medical Clinics and Emblems (Emblem)(TSXV: EMC, OTCQX: EMMBF) GrowWise Health, following the closing of the Companys previously announced Emblem acquisition.

Whites hiring will accelerate Aleafia Healths global initiative to build an integrated, scalable cannabis consumer experience, leveraging the Companys in-house, executive leadership background at multi-billion-dollar eCommerce and IT companies. Over the next three months, the Company will launch unique, highly differentiated cannabis education and ecommerce platforms, utilizing its proprietary 10-million-point medical cannabis dataset, and Emblems robust product portfolio of high-margin capsules, oils and sprays.

Aleafia Health will enable patients to navigate seamlessly through cannabis education, illness specific questionnaires, medical cannabis script product purchasing, order subscription management and treatment/titration monitoring within an integrated, globally scalable platform, said Aleafia Health CEO Geoffrey Benic. White will, in conjunction with our marketing and technology team, oversee Aleafia Health applying the best practices of global ecommerce and healthcare companies for the benefit of our patients and shareholders.

Dr. Gary Goodyear, previously President, Clinic Operations will continue to serve on Aleafia Healths board of directors.

I thank Gary Goodyear for his outstanding service to Aleafia Health. Gary has expanded our research and development division, while modernizing our clinics with the introduction of Nurse Practitioners and telemedicine, added Benic.

I am thrilled to join Aleafia Health as we build a globally scalable, integrated cannabis health and wellness experience where patient and customer needs come first, said White. Much like the global cannabis industry, scaling Canadas largest multidisciplinary clinic network is only possible with modern, innovative tech solutions. These will be needed to manage the needs of patients and medical professionals while ensuring compliance with an increasingly complex web of multi-jurisdiction regulations. Aleafia Healths experienced team will do just that.

Additionally, Aleafia Health has entered into a Public Markets Investor advisory agreement (the Agreement), with Emerging Growth, LLC (Emerging Growth), owners of CFN Media subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. Emerging Growth provides the Company with investor relations services including capital markets awareness services, and will be paid a sum of $30,000, paid in three monthly installments. The agreement expires on March 19, 2019. The Company has no prior relationship with Emerging Growth, and to the Companys knowledge, Emerging Growth does not own or control any securities of the Company.

LEARN MORE: https://www.AleafiaHealth.com/Invest

For Investor & Media Relations, please contact:

Nicholas Bergamini, VP, Public Affairs

416-860-5665

IR@AleafiaInc.com

About Aleafia Health:

Aleafia Heath, a vertically integrated, global cannabis company, operates major medical clinic, cannabis cultivation and R&D divisions. A federally licensed producer and vendor of cannabis, the company has a planned and fully-funded annual production capacity of 98,000 kg of dried cannabis flower.

The Company operates medical cannabis clinics staffed by physicians and nurse practitioners, with over 50,000 patients. The company is highly differentiated, maintaining the largest medical cannabis dataset in the world, which it used to develop unique, proprietary cannabis products and treatment methods.

Neither the TSX Venture 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 release.

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION

This press release contains forward-looking statements and information that are based on the beliefs of management and reflect the Company's current expectations. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information.

The forward-looking statements and information in this press release includes information relating to the implementation of Aleafia Health's business plan. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company with respect to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information.

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: risks associated with the implementation of Aleafia Health's business plan and matters relating thereto, risks associated with the cannabis industry, competition, regulatory change, the need for additional financing, reliance on key personnel, the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers or directors, and the volatility of the Company's common share price and volume. 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. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/786b27ab-c36d-49b2-9334-bc549780efab
THERE were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them; Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things?

I tell you, Nay; but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish, Luke 13:1-3.

Reader, about a week ago I read three stories in newspapers that touched the innermost part of my heart. One was of a primary school child who went to the toilet at school before lessons started, and fell next to the door in the toilet, and died.

The other was of a young boy who climbed a mango tree to eat some mangos, who fell down headlong, and died. And the last was of a family man I knew so well, who was allegedly waylaid and hacked at the gate to his home, and subsequently died.



A Bible dictionary defines compassion as suffering with another or a desire to relieve anothers distress. Reader, through this short article, I do wish to express my compassion towards these and other victims of tragic deaths, their relatives and loved ones, and other grieving people of goodwill everywhere. Some of us are suffering with you and wish we could find a way of relieving you of the distress you must be going through at such a time as this.



One day Jesus Christ had occasion to guide and warn people in times of calamities such as these. Jesus was told by some people about some Galileans who had been heinously murdered in the temple by Pilate who then mingled their blood with the blood of the animals they had come to the temple to sacrifice.

They also told him about 18 people who had died when a tower in Siloam fell on them. Jesus must have read their thoughts because He answered them with these words; Do you think that these Galileans were worst sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no. He answered them with the same words regarding those victims of the fallen tower in Saloam.



Reader that is what the human mind does when tragedy strikes. We look around, searching for answers and explanations. We speculate too much about the probable causes of these disasters. We even go as far as blaming the victims. We think they are paying for their wrongs. But Jesus says; I tell you, no. The reasons for such things are known only to God; for secret things belong unto the Lord our God, and who hath known the mind of the Lord? Yes dear reader, such things are in the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, whose ways are past finding out.



But Jesus concludes with a warning, saying: But, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. The Lord was warning them to stop accusing the victims, but start considering their own sinfulness; start repenting of their own sins.

For if they did not repent, although they might not be murdered in the temple or have a wall falling over them, their death would be equally tragic. For the death of an unrepentant sinner is always tragic. When you die you perish. But God is a good God; For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.



Reader, it is a tragic thing to die unprepared; so be prepared. Believe in Jesus Christ and repent of your sins today, and you will be saved. Leave the victims of tragedies and calamities alone. Turn your eyes towards yourself and repent; you will be saved. I am Reverend David Jabulani Mathse of The Family of God Church, Matsapha.




MBABANE  Sibusiso Mngadi and his company have been taken to court. This, according to Feedmaster Swaziland, which is a subsidiary of Ngwane Mills (PTY) Limited, is for monies due and owed to the former in respect of goods sold and delivered to Blinky Investments (PTY) Limited trading as Kalulu Animal and Farm Supplies.



The veracity of the allegations submitted by Ngwane Mills (Pty) Limited trading as Feedmaster Swaziland are yet to be tested in court and Kalulu Animal and Farm Supplies is yet to file responding papers in the event it disputes the claim. According to the summons, the goods were sold and delivered to Kalulu Animal and Farm Supplies in 2018 at the latters special instance request, which monies were now due and owing.



According to the summons filed by Ngwane Mills (Pty) Limited, Kalulu Animal and Farm Supplies is the first defendant while Sibusiso Godfrey Mngadi is the second defendant.

Anette Mngadi is the third defendant.



The plaintiffs claims against the second and third defendants for payment of the sum of E190 489.93; that being the amount for which they bound themselves jointly and severally as sureties and co-principal debtors to the plaintiff for any and all debts owing and owed by the first defendant to the plaintiff, any one or two paying the other or others to be absolved, reads in part the summons.



Interest



Further, Feedmaster Swaziland demands an interest on the outstanding amount at three per cent per annum from date of issue of summons to the final payment.



The company also seeks that Mngadi and his company pay the cost of suit at scale between attorney and client including collection commission.

Feedmaster Swaziland also informed the Kalulu Animal and Farm Supplies that, if they disputed the claim and wished to defend the action, should do so within 10 days of being served by the summons.



Failure by the defendants to respond to the allegations shall result in judgment as claimed may be given against them without further notice to Kalulu Animal and Farm Supplies.

Feedmaster Swaziland is represented by attorneys from Robinson Bertram. The matter is pending at the High Court.
By Abraham Teuber

teuberab@grinnell.edu

On Feb. 8  9, Grinnell Colleges very own Infinite Coincidence braved the icy roads to venture to Kansas City for the Heartland Regional round of the 12th Annual College Improv Tournament.

Approximately 12 collegiate improv teams from the Heartland region of the Midwest competed at the event, which took the form of three preliminary rounds throughout the day and a final at night. In each round, teams had 20 minutes on stage to improvise whatever they wanted.

Each team was judged by a panel of local Kansas City improvisers, who assessed the teams based on the categories of Supporting Moves, Characters, Clear and Strong Relationships, Objective/POV, Environment and Stage Technique/Presence.

How did Grinnells team fare against their competitors? Infinite Coincidence senior member Nolan Boggess 19 told the S&B about the outcome of the teams trip.

This past weekend, Grinnell Colleges fiercest and most fiery competitors made the intense, long journey to Kansas City to bring a trophy home for the Pioneers to make JB proud. Thats right. Long-form improv troupe Infinite Coincidence competed in the regional round of the College Improv Tournament.

I know what youre thinking: how do those beautiful beings DO it? And I am here to tell you how.

After a long week of classes, we packed up two cars (shout out Tommy Hexter 21) to begin the journey to victory. We immediately hit traffic in Des Moines but listened to podcasts to keep our brains sharp as that bad alto in choir who sits next to you. Five college improvers jammed in a car listening to podcasts? Proof that heaven exists!

As the sun went down and our tummies began to rumble, my car pulled a fast one on the other car and secretly stopped at a Wendys about an hour outside of Kansas City (even though Joseph Knopke 19 told us he had a bounty of food at his house, where he was letting us all stay).

As we ordered our Frostys, I had the peculiar and brief realization that everyone in that gas station Wendys was birthed at one point and has so many problems of their own. What a world we live in!

Trying to shrug off the shock, we finally arrived at Josephs house with no thanks to Samuel Dahlke 19s TERRIBLE navigation. We then went to bed and dreamt of the Gatorade shower we would feel tomorrow when we clenched the trophy (which we found out was only a  plaque).

After glorious breakfast, we headed to the local library to rehearse. Yes, improv troupes DO rehearse. We usually do scenes that are about 45 minutes in length, but we only had 20 minutes at the competition. Therefore, we had to make up a whole new form to present  a metaphor of the struggles of LIFE.

We rolled up to the competition ready to GO. We head into the venue in a dark basement and immediately heard the shrill anxiety, energy and odor of fifty college improv performers. You usually arent doing too well if you decide to do improv competitively! After nodding at the other teams (never get to know them, otherwise they might use the information you give against you) and watching them belt the warm-up song the DJ chose (Party in the USA), we were ready to go.

In the first part of the competition, there were three rounds of three teams competing. The team that scored the best according to the judges (surprisingly, not just your mom in a disguise) in each round advanced to the finals. I will not go into the gritty details, but we scored second place in our first round. OUR CHANCES WERE GONE! WE SCREAMED AND CRIED! PLEASE MAKE IT NOT SO! Well, we werent actually that dramatic, but we were bummed  until we learned that we were the wild card pick to go to the finals!

We fueled up on BBQ and prepared for another round of competition. The final round was the best part of the competition! It was so much fun performing in front of a lot of strangers and just having fun with my buds on stage. After some great performances, we found out we got third place. Although we would not be going on to the finals in Chicago, we knew that it was all about the friends we made along the way and since we all knew each other before competing, we learned nothing.
By Ingrid Meulemans

meuleman@grinnell.edu

Unlike many of the Colleges other academic buildings and study spaces, the recently opened Humanities and Social Sciences Complex, or HSSC, remains starkly bare. There is, however, an anomaly among the construction noise and often overwhelming new building smell. Tucked into a wall on the north side of the building, the newly installed Abolition and Freedom art piece brings color and history to the buildings empty walls.

Abolition and Freedom is the mural-like multimedia art piece conceptualized by Miami-based Haitian artist Edouard Duval-Carrie and created by a team Grinnellians under his direction and guidance.

The installation, consisting of 35 bright green tiles of hardened resin, takes up almost a full wall. Over the almost two year-long project, students, staff and the participants in a short course entitled Visualizing Freedom and Abolition in the New World  A Mixed Media Installation all contributed to the work.

Drawing inspiration from many cultures and countries, Duval-Carrie wanted to use the project for which he had been commissioned to tell a story. Specifically, the story of abolition, freedom, discrimination and all of the gray areas that lie in-between these constructs in both the United States and Haiti.

Im from the Caribbean, said Duval-Carrie, and I wanted to know if plantation history had reached the north and the Midwest, but I had to change that and find a theme that would be interesting for both students and the school. The Midwest sometimes appears to be a nondescript area of the United States. I realized very quickly, though, that its not just farmland  So, the students started to research the history of the region, the history of Grinnell.

Of the connection between the Haitian Revolution of 1791 and Grinnell, contributor and a student leader of the project Amelia Geser 19 admitted that she was initially confused but discovered that Grinnell has a really interesting abolitionist history  you can draw connections between events that happened in Grinnell and events that happened in Haiti.

Abolition and Freedom also embodies cultural inclusion, and the need for cultural inclusion, both in the arts at Grinnell College and at the College itself.

Something that weve been hearing a lot from students is that they would like more representations of people of color on campus, said Director of Faulconer Gallery Lesley Wright. I think its fantastic that the first thing we put into the HSSC is not only about the history of abolition and freedom in both the United States and in Haiti, but also about how intersected those two truly are.

In an effort to convey 35 separate yet thematically connected stories, Duval-Carrie, Geser and other student leaders and studio assistants worked to create a massive pool of collage material for the participating tutorials. The collage material included room keys, office supplies, buttons, historical and scientific photos.

Geser said, We would lay the objects on the table, then participants would come and sort through them. Once they had their idea in mind, they would design their composition based on the objects they were drawn to in that pile.

The collage process also helped students who did not necessarily consider themselves artists participate actively. Studio assistant Leinaala Voss 19 said that the medium helped contributors connect their work to the bigger visual theme.

The materiality of the piece itself also relates to the meaning of the work. Resembling amber in its uncolored form, Duval-Carrie was drawn to resin because it would preserve these stories and artifacts the same way amber preserves nature. Resin is also semi-transparent and, when backlit, the piece has an undeniable life and energy despite its static components.

Wright credits the ingenious lighting and mounting of Abolition and Freedom to Grinnells Facility Management team and EYP Architects, the architecture company responsible for designing and building the HSSC.

The most immediately arresting aspect of Abolition and Freedom is its color. A vivid mix between green and yellow, the piece has a scientific or futuristic quality that appears even from afar. Duval-Carrie credits this color choice to his first impression of the Midwest.

I went to Grinnell for the first time in the summer, Duval Carrie said. It was miles and miles of corn. It had this very peculiar color. It is very green, a yellowish green. So, I decided this was the color of the Midwest. The color of cornfields at their ripest.

The fluorescent green unifies the composition and grounds the piece in Grinnell, Iowa.

Its definitely not the traditional outlook on prairie colors, said Voss. But I think it works in a very surreal and beautiful way.
By Shabana Gupta

guptasha@grinnell.edu

This weekend, students are invited to join Hack GCs social justice challenge. The challenge, a hackathon, is a student-run event sponsored by the Wilson Center that asks participants to brainstorm social justice issues and figure out ways to improve them using technology, as part of I Love Data week.

Hack GC will be taking place this week from Friday, Feb. 15 to Sunday, Feb. 17 in JRC 101. There will be speakers throughout the weekend to help students inspire and shape ideas. Its the idea that we can use our technology and our ideas to [create] tools to better their goals said Robert Ludwig, program coordinator for the Wilson Center.

Hack GC is looking to bring in interested students outside of the computer science areas. Theres still the computer science aspect to it, Ludwig said, but they can team up with someone who knows how to code, they can get help build it though too if they need to.

For Anushka Kulshreshtha 21, one of the student coordinators for Hack GC this year, the hope is that having non-tech judges will encourage students who generally wouldnt participate in a hackathon to reconsider.

Were trying to market it more towards the humanities and people who generally wouldnt be represented.

She wants the focus for the event to stay on social justice. Because were Grinnell we like ideas about social innovation and giving back to the community, she said.

Elise Bargman 21 is a GWSS major who participated in Hack GC last year, on a team that earned third place. They designed an app called Soap Box that was meant to increase civil engagement within Grinnellians. This app gave students information about different campus initiatives, students who are running for SGA positions, and who the senators are.

I think that commitment to social justice is necessary in tech spaces and Im really glad that the Grinnell community and the Grinnell tech community has decided to take that on as part of their mission, she said.

Devansh Chandgothia 21 participated last year in a group that designed the app Food Share, which connected Grinnell students who had extra meal plan credit for the week to those who needed food. Their goal was to reduce food waste and make sure students dont go hungry. At dining hall, they create food based on a certain number of people irrespective if that many people eat it or not, said Chandgothia.

He feels participating in Hack GC left a lasting effect on him. Its just a different setting where youre under different pressures that you dont see a lot. Its sort of like a real-world example, like youre learning things in class and here you can apply them.
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

THUNDER BAY, Ontario, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MEXICAN GOLD CORP. (TSX-V: MEX; OTCQB:MEXGF; FRA:4QW1) ("Mexican Gold", MEX or the Company") announces that it has made an application to the TSX Venture Exchange to extend the expiry date of outstanding warrants exercisable to purchase an aggregate of 8,423,068 common shares of Mexican Gold. The warrants were originally issued in connection with a non-brokered private placement (the Private Placement) of 12,333,333 units (the Units), with each Unit being comprised of one common share of the Company and one transferable common share purchase warrant. The Private Placement was first announced on February 13, 2017.



The warrants have an exercise price of $0.25 per common share and an expiry date of March 3, 2019.

The Company has requested that the TSX Venture Exchange extend the expiry date of the warrants for a term of six months, to September 3, 2019. All other terms and conditions of the warrants, including the acceleration clause, remain the same.

No warrants issued to agents as compensation for their services in respect of the Private Placement will be amended.

The proposed amendment to the extension of the expiry date of the warrants is subject to the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Mexican Gold Corp.

Mexican Gold Corp. is a Canadian based mineral exploration company committed to building long-term value through ongoing discoveries and strategic acquisitions of prospective precious metals and copper deposits in North America. Mexican Gold is exploring the Las Minas Project, which is located in the core of the Las Minas mining district in Veracruz State, Mexico, and is host to one of the newest, under-explored skarn systems known in Mexico.

For more information, please contact:

Carl Hering, PhD Geology, CEO

Brian E. Robertson, P. Eng., President

Phone: 303-895-5241 or 807-251-1816

Fax: 807-474-4272

E-mail: info@mexicangold.ca

Website at www.mexicangold.ca

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain information that may constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information can often, but not always, be identified by the use of words such as believes, anticipates, expects, estimates, may, could, would, will, or plan. These statements are based on information currently available to the Company, and the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet managements expectations. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements about the closing of the Private Placement, the future exploration results relating to the Las Minas project, and exploration plans for the Las Minas project and the exploration potential of the Las Minas project. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including the risks identified in the Company's disclosure documents. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained in this press release is given as of the date hereof and is based upon the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.




JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg returned to the Supreme Court Friday for the first time since undergoing cancer surgery in December, a court official tells ABC News.



The 85-year-old Ginsburg, who had two cancerous nodules removed from her left lung in an invasive pulmonary lobectomy, had been recovering from home and absent from court proceedings for the first time in her 25-year career on the bench.



Officials have said she has remained engaged in the casework.



Earlier this month, Ginsburg made her first public appearance in weeks but kept a low profile, attending a production of "Notorious RBG in Song" at the National Museum of Women in the Arts and sitting in the back of the auditorium. Her return to the bench is expected to be a relief to liberals and her legions of fans, who had feared her retirement or death would give President Donald Trump another opportunity to solidify the court's conservative majority in the highest court in the land.



It will also dispel rumors and conspiracies that have swirled in recent weeks -- fanned by right-wing bloggers -- that her demise is imminent. The court said last month that Ginsburg's doctors confirmed in an exam following the surgery that she had "no evidence of any remaining disease" and that no further treatments were planned.



The justices are meeting behind closed doors in conference Friday to discuss cases and vote on petitions for review. The court will reconvene for oral arguments on Tuesday. Ginsburg is expected to be back in her seat beside Chief Justice John Roberts, but court officials could not confirm her attendance. ABC News' Wil Cruz contributed to this report.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
South Africa: Parly steps up efforts to buoy sugar industry

The struggling sugar industry has come under scrutiny in Parliament, with the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry now engaging the industry to alleviate the plight of local sugarcane farmers.

In a statement issued on Thursday by committee chairperson Joanmariae Fubbs, the committee said challenges range from a lack of transformation and drought, to concerns around pricing, imports and the implications of the recent tax on sugary beverages.

Many of these matters came to the fore when they were highlighted to the committee by the South African Development Farmers Association (Safda) in late 2017. The committee immediately prioritised the matter and went on an oversight visit to KwaZulu-Natal in January last year, said Fubbs.

The committee in the statement lambasted the Democratic Alliance (DA) for issuing a media statement stating that it wrote to Fubbs requesting an urgent joint meeting with the committees of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and of Land Reform and Rural Development to discuss the imminent threat facing the sugar industry.

Fubbs said the committee has been engaging all industry role players since 2017 to understand the challenges this sector faces.

All members of the committee were invited to attend, which provided valuable insight into the industry. However, both DA members that serve on the committee unfortunately did not attend.

If they had, they would appreciate that this is a complex industry, which needs a long-term solution. Diversification might be a possible solution  bio-fuels and co-generation, as well. Some of these matters require legislative changes and the committee recognises this.

The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) has commenced the legislative process to amend the Sugar Act, 1978 and its regulations.

The office of the Speaker took cognisance of the committees oversight report and has received a response from the Minister indicating that engagements are ongoing with the relevant ministers about infrastructure requirements for roads and water, as well as on increased support for emerging black sugarcane farmers, the statement read.

Access to water is especially important in light of the prolonged drought in KwaZulu-Natal. The committee has requested a status report on these inter-departmental aspects to ensure a holistic approach, said the committee.

The committee has been fortunate that the Director-General of DTI has been closely involved in this process, but it required the political decision of the committee to expedite the process.

As a result of the committees engagement and intervention, major initiatives have been implemented relating to transformation, which have led to the reconfiguration of the industry body, and to measures that have adjusted the Sugar Tariff upwards. This has brought significant relief to all farmers, and alleviated the plight of small-scale farmers. Consequently, the tariff adjustments saved at least 30 000 jobs.

The committee should be commended for this progressive intervention within a very short space of time. Our continued engagements and monitoring of all stakeholders in the sector led to this milestone, said Fubbs.

She assured the sector that the plight of poor farmers has not been ignored. At a recent imbizo hosted by Safda, various government departments pledged support for these farmers and if the DA had been in attendance, they would be better informed of the progress made thus far, Fubbs said.

We are well aware that much more needs to be done by the committee and the department and we urge Mr Dean Macpherson, who serves on the committee, to appreciate the work that has already been done as well as the time constraints we face and assure him that we will highlight this as a priority to our next Parliament.

The committee will be dealing with issues relating to the sugar industry in its legacy report so that the next Parliament can continue to deal with the issues that were highlighted.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-02-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By Elizabeth Wong

wongeliz@grinnell.edu

With 17 members, the Grinnell Police Department looks after a population of 9,027 people. As part of its obligation to the community, the police puts out an annual report on crime statistics in the Grinnell community.

According to the departments 2018 Annual Report, there has been an overall decrease in calls for service, arrest, sexual abuse investigations, and traffic warnings and citations in Grinnell. There has, however, been an increase in cases investigated including controlled substances, assault and burglary cases, as well as police training and time spent in schools.

In general, the increase in calls for service and cases investigated since 2015 is directly related to the robust records management system that the police department switched to in 2015, according to the 2018 report. This system automatically creates a case based on certain call for service types, in particular allegations of crimes against persons and property crimes.

Each case has to be reviewed by an officer, so in 2017 the department started using a case screening process, following up on prioritized cases first. These cases have a higher frequency of occurrence, witnesses, and suspect-identifying forensic evidence, which makes cases easier to solve.

We had 1,300 investigations last year, with nine or 10 officers responsible for not only investigations but also covering the daily requirements of service. We need to focus on offenses that are serious in nature or ones that are a trend, like thefts, said Dennis Reilly, Chief of the Grinnell Police Department. And in Grinnell, one of the biggest criminal activities is petty or retail theft. The police department actively works to prevent and gain more information on crime density, to efficiently map out patrols and prevention strategies.

In 2018, the police spent almost double the hours in schools as the years before. Reilly said officers want to make sure that the youth and public of Grinnell feel safe and comfortable talking to them, especially after the increase in recent years of school shootings and distrust of law enforcement.

If theres something going on, when an officer comes in, the [faculty, staff and students] feel comfortable speaking to the officer, Reilly said. Furthermore, the increased police presence at schools ensures that anyone planning questionable activity is aware of the police, and while the police are there, they assess the building and point out weak spots in security in the schools and help to implement plans to rectify those spots.

Another trend in 2018 was the increase of hours of police training. The officers are constantly updated on the state and federal law changes and the best practices via their Daily Training Bulletins.

In 2018, a peer support program that supplies 24/7 advice to officers that want to process an adverse event on the job or troubles at home started.

Reilly said, Weve got officers that are trained in individual and group therapy. Generally speaking, law enforcement across the country are facing an increase of suicide, and the divorce rate is always high.

In 2019, the GPD would like to expand this peer support program as part of a statewide effort. They also hope to make a chaplain program available for officers to perform religious services or sensitive tasks, such as delivering a death notification to a family with a clergyman. It is an opportunity for those uncomfortable speaking to police officers but comfortable speaking to the clergy to inform the police of what is happening in the community.

Another focus is accountability, a response to rising distrust of police in recent years. Hopefully within the next couple weeks, we will be installing a new in-car body-worn camera system. We have video [inside and outside] patrol cars. Our officers wear body cameras, but theyre not integrated. This system will provide us with an integrated system.

Another 2019 objective of the department is communication. The police is looking for volunteers to monitor the department Facebook pages comments, in case there are inappropriate remarks on the posts.

The police want to communicate better with Grinnell students as well. If Grinnell College students, or others, are interested in learning more about the police department, they can apply for the Citizens Police Academy through the Grinnell Police Department Facebook page or call the department and ask for Officer Doane. It runs from March to May, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, each week tackling a different simulated scenario the police might encounter. As of now, students can sign up for notifications when the City declares snow emergencies.

The police is constantly trying to keep up to date with training, new techniques, and outreach to the community. According to Reilly, the department wants to do the best job it can, whether thats through operational efficiency, using data such as the case screening process and records management system to make decisions, or increased trust between the citizens of Grinnell and the police. Im not ready to sit back and say, Weve reached a plateau. I dont believe in plateaus, Reilly said.
Posted Friday, February 15, 2019 12:26 am

A proposed bill would require public schools to provide comprehensive sexual health education as a part of their curriculum.

Senate Bill 5395 is co-sponsored by 17 Democratic representatives and introduced by Sen. Claire Wilson, D-Federal Way. The bill was requested by Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal.

The legislation, as the bill reads, aims to use curriculum that is evidence-informed, medically and scientifically accurate, age-appropriate and inclusive of all students.

SB 5395 also seeks to educate students on abstinence as well as other methods of preventing unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

As a career educator, I have seen first-hand the importance and the effectiveness of comprehensive sexual health education on teens personal health and their ability to navigate life successfully, Wilson said at a public hearing on Wednesday.

Wilson emphasized that many young people engage in sexual activity regardless of what they are told. They need to understand the ramifications of the choices they make, she said.

Often when people hear the term sex ed, their minds get wrapped around the idea of sex and they forget about the health aspects and the fuller education necessary if we want teens to be able to make informed choices, explained Wilson.

Rep. Vicki Kraft, R-Vancouver, opposed the bill at the hearing, saying that the curriculum would create confusion for children regarding gender identities. The house representative explained her hope for parents to deal with sexual education decisions in their home.

Lets just be real about this curriculum, its teaching young children how to have sex, she said.

SB 5395 requires instruction and materials to be inclusive and use language and strategies that recognize all members of a protected class under the state civil rights act.

Aren Wright, sophomore at Olympia High School, testified in support of the bill, explaining the importance of sex education to be inclusive of all gender identities, gender expression and sexual orientations. Blatant misinformation about sexual education is dangerous and ignores the needs of queer youth, she said.

Our consent curriculum explains nothing about how to report sexual harassment and assault, Wright said. This needs to change now.

Comprehensive sexual health education includes information and skills-based instruction that encourages healthy relationships free from violence, teaches how to identify behaviors that contribute to sexual violence, and emphasizes the importance of consent, the bill states.

Tamaso Johnson, Public Policy Director at the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, testified in support of the bill, saying that domestic violence is absolutely preventable. Students need to learn how to resolve conflict in a healthy, non-violent manner at a young age, he said.

The first time students come to our campus should not be the first time that they are hearing about affirmative consent, especially with the issues that campuses across the country are having with sexual assault right now, said Henry Pollet, legislative liaison for the Associated Students of Western Washington University.

Tamaso Johnson, Public Policy Director at the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, testified in support of the bill, saying that domestic violence is absolutely preventable. Students need to learn how to resolve conflict in a healthy, non-violent manner at a young age, he said.

The first time students come to our campus should not be the first time that they are hearing about affirmative consent, especially with the issues that campuses across the country are having with sexual assault right now, said Henry Pollet, legislative liaison for the Associated Students of Western Washington University.
Posted Friday, February 15, 2019 1:43 am

Media organization representatives from across Washington lambasted proposed legislation that exempts the legislature from portions of the Public Records Act.

As the proposed bill moves through the legislative process, a related court case also moves through the judicial process.

The Senate State Government and Tribal Relations and Elections Committee took public testimony Wednesday on Senate Bill 5784 proposed by Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle. Pedersen was the only person to speak in support of his bill.

A proposed substitute bill discussed at the hearing would exempt the legislature from disclosing a variety of documents, including records dealing with harassment, sexual assault or misconduct allegations, whistleblower protections, and constituent communications.

Pederson noted that Thurston County Superior Court ruled that the legislature is only obligated to disclose things that are currently considered public records and final sexual assault investigation reports are not included.

A year ago, we went through a very painful experience with 6617 that flew through, Pederson said. The things that I heard from my constituents told me that we needed to go in a very different direction.

In 2018, a bill was passed in two days without public testimony after a Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled in January 2018 that the legislature was subject to the Public Records Act and had not been in compliance for years.

The lawmakers and the media outlets that sued them both appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

Rowland Thompson of Allied Daily Newspapers and also representing the Washington State Newspaper Publishers Association testified in opposition to Pedersens bill. The WNPA, along with the Associated Press and other news outlets, are plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the lawmakers.

We would rather lose the case than have this bill, Thompson said. If we accept this bill its an acquiescence on our part that your positions in the lawsuit are correct because most of them are carried forward in this bill.

Thompson spoke at length on objections to the proposed bill, saying this changes how the Public Records Act would apply to the legislative body as a whole. The act applies to the individual elected officials on governing bodies throughout the state, such as city councils and county commissions.

Last year a Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled that the law also applies to state legislators.

David Zeeck, who recently retired after decades as publisher of the Tacoma News Tribune, stated that with the proposed law, it appears that the the legislature is trying to legislate itself out of a problem in the courts.

Frank Blethen, publisher of the Seattle Times, also a plaintiff in the lawsuit against the legislature, testified in opposition to the bill. Asking the media to compromise here is asking them to bet against themselves in the court case, Blethen said.

This not a battle youre going to win in the court of public opinion, Blethen added.

Cecilia Rexus, a member of the Tri City Herald editorial board, called in to give testimony in opposition of the bill.

I find it troubling that we are having this conversation at all, Rexus said. This bill is going down the same road as last year. It was going the wrong direction then, and its going the wrong direction now.

Laurie Williams, editor of the Tri City Herald, added: This change that youre proposing sends the wrong message, I think, in an era that is rife with conspiracy theories, paranoia, distrust and so-called fake news. This is not the time to give the public the sense that you have something to hide.

Chairman Sam Hunt, D- Olympia, concluded the hearing saying: We are not trying to hide things. We are trying to seek a better solution to clarify things without having to go to court.

Read the full bill and follow its progress here: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5784&Year=2019&Initiative=false

Watch hearing here:: https://www.tvw.org/watch/?eventID=2019021202
Posted Thursday, February 14, 2019 6:17 am

Now through April 6 an AARP team will be available every Friday and Saturday at Battle Ground Community Library to assist community members with filing their taxes. According to the library, the team will provide special attention to those aged 60 or older. This service is free.

The AARP Tax-Aide program is administered by the AARP Foundation in cooperation with the IRS. The tax returns are electronically filed for free.

Along with personal tax returns, the library said the volunteers can assist with most everyday tax problems including Affordable Care Act forms, Health Savings Account forms and filing for Earned Income Tax Credit Assistance. However, they may run into some situations that are beyond their scope.

{{tncms-inline content="<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Now through April 6<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Fridays: 1 &ndash; 5 p.m.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Saturday: 10 a.m. &ndash; 2 p.m.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Location: 1207 SE 8th Way</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Battle Ground, WA 98604</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Contact: (360) 906-5000</span></p>" id="b33d23db-78a1-46da-aa1f-013bcdfce3d4" style-type="fact" title="If You Go" type="relcontent"}}
Posted Thursday, February 14, 2019 6:13 am

{{tncms-inline content="<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Visit rocksolid-teen.com (click the &ldquo;news&rdquo; link then &ldquo;auction info&rdquo;).<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span></p>" id="eddd3f23-3ca4-45c5-b623-ad16e1e18dca" style-type="bio" title="Tickets" type="relcontent"}}

Rocksolid Community Teen Center is hosting its annual Lucky Shamrock Auction Friday, March 1. This year the event will be located at Warehouse 23 in downtown Vancouver, due to selling out for the past two years and meeting maximum capacity at The Battle Ground Community Center.

The auction will begin at 5 p.m. and will last until 9:30 p.m. It will include a live and silent auction, games, raffles, a photo booth, and more. This is the largest fundraiser of the year for Rocksolid.

Rocksolid Community Teen Center offers a safe place after school for students grades 5-12 in the Battle Ground and Hockinson school districts. The teen center provides mentors which, among other things, help with homework, play games, make crafts, teach life skills, offer free healthy snacks and contribute to community service projects. Enrollment is $20 a year, per student; they currently have 95 students enrolled and serves 35 to 45 students daily.

{{tncms-inline content="<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Rocksolid is accepting goods and services for this event. If you or your business would like to contribute to the auction contact the teen center at 360-885-2181 or email the Executive Director at Marcy@rocksolid-teen.com<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span></p>" id="1a55d8f9-0d72-40cd-bc19-d167c05aec0c" style-type="bio" title="Donate to the auction" type="relcontent"}}
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RavenQuest BioMed Inc. (the Company or RavenQuest)  (CSE: RQB, OTCQB: RVVQF, Frankfurt: 1IT) is pleased to announce it has entered into a Letter of Intent to be the exclusive distributor of seeds from award winning, Amsterdam-based, cannabis seed producer Dutch Passion.



Having won 50+ Cannabis Cups awarded for high-THC and high-CBD varieties of cannabis which are particularly easy to grow, Dutch Passion invented feminized cannabis seeds in the 1990s and helped pioneer the success of high-THC Autoflower cannabis in more recent years. Dutch Passion is one of the worlds oldest cannabis seedbanks and one of the few remaining original seed companies, offering a variety of original classic cannabis varieties as well as some of the very best new varieties, available in Regular, Feminized as well as Autoflower seeds. Dutch Passion was founded in the 1970s and formally established as a seedbank in 1987.

RavenQuest believes that its arrangement with Dutch Passion will address two distinct market segments in Canada for home-growers and micro-cultivators: Premium market Dutch Passion and value-market SeedStockers, which will also be sold under RavenQuests private label.

Dutch Passion seeds will give Canadian home-growers and (micro) Licensed Producers access to a wide selection from over 60 premium seeds including Cannabis Cup award winning Orange BudO, Power PlantO, Glueberry O.G.O, MazarO, CBD Skunk HazeO and EuforiaO.

We are thrilled to partner with Dutch Passion to sell these high-quality seeds across Canada. Working with Eric Siereveld, CEO of Dutch Passion, has been a pleasure, stated George Robinson, CEO of RavenQuest. Canadians are now permitted to grow up to four plants at home. This is a significant, high margin business segment and a new revenue stream with excellent near-term growth potential. As part of RavenQuests ongoing commitment to deliver the best of the cannabis plant to Canadians, we look forward to partnering with such a respected name in the seed business, Robinson continued.

Dutch Passion CEO, Eric Siereveld, commented that, We are excited to make some of the worlds best seeds available to grow-enthusiasts and (micro) LPs in the Canadian marketplace. Canada has shown a healthy and progressive acceptance of cannabis, which is reflected most recently in adult-use legalization allowing home cultivation. Working with RavenQuest as our exclusive distributor is a perfect fit for Dutch Passion, given both companies passion for the cannabis plant in all its forms. RavenQuest believes all great cannabis products begin with the plant itself. We couldnt agree more.

About Dutch Passion

Dutch Passion is a Dutch company with over 30 years experience in the development and distribution of cannabis seeds. Dutch Passion is focused on producing high-quality, high-THC cannabis genetics and on providing attentive customer service through its experienced customer service team. Dutch Passions diverse seed collection of international cannabis genetics dates back to the 1970s, with all varieties having passed strict tests designed to ensure ease of growth, heavy yields and high-quality results. In the 1990s, Dutch Passion invented feminized cannabis seeds and, more recently, helped to pioneer the success of high-THC auto-flowering cannabis seeds plus new genetics high in other cannabinoids. Further information about Dutch Passion can be found on their website at www.dutch-passion.com .

About RavenQuest BioMed Inc.

RavenQuest BioMed Inc. is a diversified publicly traded cannabis company with divisions focused upon cannabis production, management services & consulting and specialized research & development. RavenQuest is a licensed producer with facilities located in Markham, Ontario and Edmonton, Alberta.

RavenQuest maintains a research partnership with Montreals McGill University focused upon cultivar (strain) recognition, plant stabilization and yield maximization of the cannabis plant. The Company focuses on partnerships with Indigenous communities.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

RAVENQUEST BIOMED INC.

George Robinson

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Mathieu McDonald, Corporate Communications  1-877-282-1568

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 press release, which has been prepared by management.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Elizabethtown, KY (42701)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Humberside police have released photos of replica clothing Libby Squire was last seen wearing as they continue to search for the missing University of Hull student.

Libby was last seen exactly two weeks ago today.

Photo: Humberside Police Handout

As the search continues, her mum and her friends have been able to help officers identify the shops where some of the clothes she wore on that Thursday night out came from.

Libbys last outfit includes a black leather jacket with buckles on the back, a black denim skirt with lace up detail and a pair of canvas style black trainers with white stripes on each side and white laces.

Photo: Humberside Police Handout

Topshop have donated some of the items that Libby was wearing to help police in their investigation.

Being able to see replica clothing will assist officers identifying Libbys movements with CCTV footage but it is also hoped these photos may help the public come forward with fresh information.

Today police held a press conference where Detective Superintendent Martin Smalley said: "Over the last two weeks, our enquiries into Libby's disappearance have continued around the clock with detectives and officers working night and day to find her and to understand what happened that night.

"While we do continue to be hopeful and we will always keep an open mind, Libby has been missing for 14 days now and we sadly have to consider she may have come to some harm."

Detective Smalley reassured people the investigation was still very much active and ongoing but said "more work is now taking place behind the scenes rather than in public view

Pawel Relowicz, of Raglan Street, Hull, was arrested in connection with her disappearance last week and remains under investigation.

He was charged with unrelated previous offences, which he denies, including masturbating on Wellesley Avenue, the street Libby lives on, and stealing vibrators, knickers and photographs from peoples homes.

Mr Relowicz will appear at Hull Crown Court on 11 March.

If you have any information about Libby Squire's disappearance contact police on 101.
Chuchotage, a film about two Hungarian interpreters, misses the mark with their attempt at a funny and romantic short film about finding love in the most boring of places.

Image Credit: Fauve

Chuchotage begins simply by taking a moment to define the very title of the film: a noun that defines itself as "the most difficult form of interpreting, where the interpreter does the simultaneous interpreting without the help of an interpreting system or equipment."

The film then takes us on the adventure and lets us follow the story of two simultaneous interpreters from Hungary. This is a film whose subject matter is exactly that - all about the translation taking place at an international conference, where speakers are discussing electronic waste, washing machines, refrigerators and dishwashers. It's an industry that nobody who even paid to attend the conference seems to care that much about.

At first glance, we think the film will be about the odd couple that truly are these two interpreters, both of whom appear to suffer from a slight inferiority complex when confronted with the massive size and supposed talents and audience outreach of all the other countries also attending this conference.

These two men do not seem to be friendly with one another, or even really very willing to work together, and to make matters worse the organiser of the event informs them that they have only one Hungarian listener. One interpreter is very laid back, easy going and loves to joke around and have fun on the job. His partner the other interpreter is a little more tightly wound and straight-laced, unwilling to bend the rules until something, or rather someone, comes along to change his mind.

Image Credit: Fauve

Bored out of their minds after translating what has to perhaps be the most boring topic in the entire world over the airways, the two men begin to play a game amongst themselves. They attempt to guess based off of the audience's reactions to their broadcast, which person is their single Hungarian listener. At the sight of this beautiful woman within the audience, all coherent thought about actually completing their jobs fly right out of both of these men's brains, because of course, it does. They are convinced she must be their lone Hungarian listener, despite no evidence to actually prove this.

Because they are quite literally talking about the most boring topic in the world and it their job to correctly interpret it, a lot of the quality content within this film belongs in the nonverbals, the things that they dont say. The way their faces change when they see her. Their body language in posture, how they suddenly sit up straighter and puff out their chest. The tasteful score, comprised of dreamy music, only adds to the sense of love at first sight, and we are reminded of all those classic rom-com scenes when our protagonist falls in love for the first time.

Yet all of the scenic panning love scenes abruptly ends when the two interpreters look at each other in silent determination and a contest and ultimatum are thrown out, an agreement being reached simply being whoever makes her laugh can have her. They both desire her, wives at home be damned, and it appears that only one can have her. No amount of thought is devoted to wondering what this woman may want, or if she is even interested in being pursued by these two strangers. It is at this moment in the film that she stops being seen simply as an object of lust, but now rather a prize to be won.

Image Credit: Fauve

All sense of responsibility is thrown out the window; nobody even pretends to be doing their job - one interpreter even gives a beautifully impassioned declaration of love to the girl of his dreams, seeming to delight her, thus apparently winning the contest.

All seems to be ready to wrap up with a fairytale ending, until we realise are mistaken. The woman they have fallen for through the windowpane of the glass booth is not the one their lone Hungarian listener. It turns out that the only person listening is a small overweight man, who is very upset at the sensual things he heard on that translator, as any paying customer would be. The humour this film attempts at the very end, when it appears we have all been hoodwinked into believing this woman was their single listener, simply falls flat, missing the mark in a pitiful attempt to be funny.

The one bright spot of this film can be claimed by the camera work, and credit must go to the cameraman for a job well done despite the perhaps purposefully dull subject matter. The film does an excellent job with camera movement, doing its best to make us as the audience fall in love with this woman the same way the men do, slowly and piece by piece. Overall, the film is perhaps just as noteworthy as the convention it takes place in.
By Mikayla Iacovelli Lucie Wolfman

Janina Gavanker, a musician with an Indian-Dutch heritage, a producer, a proudly self-proclaimed tech geek and one of the stars of new film Blindspotting, talks to us about #MeToo in Bollywood, her upcoming project with Ben Affleck, and why her most recent film is so important.

Blindspotting is a story about a man trying to stay out of trouble for just three days, says Carlos Lopez Estrada on his directorial debut. The film presents a test of friendship in the backdrop of a tense and rapidly gentrifying Oakland, California, that sees Collin and Miles, two childhood friends, witness a police shooting.

Image Credit: Care of Lionsgate UK

Blindspotting is a film written, produced by and starring Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal and focuses on all of the socially relevant issues of todays criminal justice system, racial tensions and police brutality being chief among them. The film follows Collin (Diggs) and his reckless friend Miles (Rafael Casal) as Collin tries to follow the letter of the law with three days left on his probation sentence. But after witnessing a police officer shoot an unarmed man, tension erupts between the two friends and relationships begin to fracture.

Ahead of the film's DVD release, Janina shared her thoughts on her experience of playing a female immigrant and love interest to Collin, explained why the discussion on race and class is as urgent as ever, and discussed the cultural impact that the film may have on future audiences.

In the film Janina plays Val, the ex-girlfriend/love interest of writer Daveed Diggs character. What first drew her to the project itself was the script, a story created by  intense multidisciplinary artists that was "one of the best" she'd ever read. Whilst discussing her enthusiasm for the film and the story itself, she told us that It was one of those rare projects where I wouldve been happy being an extra of being an assistant in the props department... 100%. I knew when I read it, that this one was special.

Janina also shared some more insight on to the community that was established on set during the tight shooting schedule. She says that whilst everyone on set took the story and purpose of the film seriously, they didn't take themselves seriously - and that when it came to off-camera they were quick to poke fun at ourselves and each other. Jokes, bits, gags, songs, improvisation - its all up for grabs.

Her enthusiasm for the project was noticed by her co-star and one of the creative minds behind the film itself, Daveed Diggs. Diggs has credited Janina for creating a deeper story for her character, Val, than what was on the written page. On her character, she tells us:  He (Diggs) has told me that I made a different choice about who Val is than Rafael and he had made. I saw her as more staunch in her resolve to choose herself. That meant communicating with Collin in more hard-nosed ways, even though she clearly is still in love with him.

She says that she leans "towards interesting characters. It doesnt matter if theyre in TV, film, or video games."

Image Credit: Lionsgate UK

The film collaborative environment was clearly effective, as the end result is a film that maturely handles hot button topics like racial tension, the criminal justice system and police brutality in an experienced manner, and the film has received a strong critical buzz. It's Janina's character that coins the titular term Blindspotting within the film, breaking it down as the act of missing a viewpoint because of social bias - something that she says reflects the overriding theme of the film.

Janina says that her experience working within a collaborative community means that this will be the bar she sets for all future projects.If its not a collaborative space," she says, "then you probably dont want me around.

Of the growing #MeToo movement in Bollywood, where she made her film debut aged 17, Janina's response is swift and simple: "It is," she says, "about time."

Looking forward into future roles, Jainia confirmed rumors that she has partnered with Ben Affleck for his next project and that in fact, the film has already wrapped. It's an intense film," she says, "and I cant wait for people to be able to see it.

Blindspotting is out now on digital and DVD/Blu-ray.
Salida, CO (81201)

Today

Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to mainly clear skies after midnight. Low 52F. W winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to mainly clear skies after midnight. Low 52F. W winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
LONDON, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- From sweeping panoramic views atop Table Mountain, to the hustle and bustle of Singapores thriving financial district, Business Destinations seeks to inspire with its top 10 destination picks for Spring 2019.

Tbilisis burgeoning cool credentials as a fashion hub has earned it a spot in our exclusive list. Georgias capital city has undergone a stylish transformation in recent years, with a host of chic new hotels now springing up to cater for trendy visitors. We particularly rate the Stamba Hotel; the former publishing house has been reimagined as an art-deco retreat, complete with its own gallery.

Further east, Singapores Fullerton Hotel is a historic haven in the midst of the fast-paced, technology-driven city-state. The neoclassical building was once home to Singapores Post Office and Reference Library; today, it represents the epitome of glossy luxury, and is ideally located to explore everything the Asian city-state has to offer.

Across the Pacific Ocean lies the picturesque South Carolinian town of Charleston. From the traditional horse-drawn carriages that traverse the cobbled streets, to the grandiose, colonial-era mansions, a visit to this Southern belle is like taking a step back in time. Travellers searching for F Scott Fitzgeralds elusive American Dream may just be able to reach out and touch it in Charleston.

Also on Business Destinations list is the serene Swedish coastal town of Malmo. Founded in the 13th century, this former fishing community has reinvented itself as a thriving cultural hub, complete with a buzzing biotechnology sector. Malmos market squares are the perfect spot to practice the Swedish art of Fika, which roughly translates as taking a moment to slow down and appreciate lifes little pleasures.

Finally, with a plethora of stunning views, an unrivalled floral kingdom and thought-provoking history, Cape Town is a must-visit destination for any traveller. Not only is the City Bowl filled with a diverse range of art galleries, artisan markets and restaurants, but Cape Towns surrounding area is awash with adventures, from swimming with penguins at Simons Town, to wine tasting in the Stellenbosch valley.

To discover more awe-inspiring destinations, visit: https://www.businessdestinations.com/10-top-destinations

World News Media is a leading publisher of quality financial and business magazines, which enjoys a global distribution network that includes subscriber lists of prominent decision-makers around the world.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Welcome back pirates! As you make your return to campus The East Carolinian has created a forum that centers around topics within the community where readers can express their experiences and concerns. With the new guidelines set in place by East Carolina University do you feel as these precautions will keep you safe?

Survey
President Joe Biden had a three-hour talk with Russian Premier Vladimir Putin in Geneva on June 16, said he laid down some red lines Russia had darned well not cross and that it was his hope this guy he once called a killer does not want another Cold War.
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Dublin, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Money 20/20 USA: Key Takeaways" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



"Money 20/20 USA: Key Takeaways", provides a comprehensive analysis of how recent trends discussed at Money 20/20 USA and the ongoing fintech revolution are shaping the wider financial services industry.



Technology is likely to be the biggest disruptor when it comes to banking. It is changing the way customers interact with their financial services providers, the makeup of the wider industry, and how providers compete with each other. There are a number of major effects that technologies such as AI, biometrics, and blockchain will have on the banking sector.



Over October 21-24, 2018 industry leaders from across the world gathered in Las Vegas for Money 20/20 USA to discuss the latest trends in payments, fintech, and financial services in general. The event drew more than 10,000 attendees, 3,000 companies, and 400 start-ups from across the globe. Being the largest event of its kind, companies used it as a platform to announce new products, strategies, and financials.



Key Highlights

Consumers have started to expect a 360-degree view of their financial life across all banks and providers.

The notion of a single provider is breaking down as banks or other providers move forward as platforms.

Smaller challengers with a better product will reach incumbent status in terms of size (i.e. Alipay), or will be swallowed up by incumbents (i.e. Nomura buying a majority stake in 8 Securities).

Everyday processes will be automated, such as paying bills, topping up emergency funds, and routing money to various investments that meet clients' goals once a paycheque has been deposited.

Machine learning and algorithms on top of big data allow providers to service segments that were not economically viable previously. They can even do so with an enhanced layer of personalization (i.e. conversational chatbots such as Bank of America's Erica).

Scope

Provides an overview of the trends discussed at Money 20/20 USA and how these are shaping the wider financial services industry.

Analyzes the latest technologies and how they impact all layers of financial institutions, from back office to front office.

Examines how advances in artificial intelligence affect channel preferences and how customers want to interact with their providers.

Investigates how biometrics can address rising levels of fraud, while analyzing utilization and adoption rates from a customer perspective.

Explains the current state of blockchain adoption and how the technology can be leveraged to achieve cost efficiencies.

Identifies the use cases of the latest technological releases and how they can be adopted in the wider industry to service customers more effectively.

Reasons to Buy

Understand the latest developments in the financial services industry and how fintechs are revolutionizing the status quo.

Understand the effects of technology on consumers' channel preferences, and whether there are segmental differences.

Discover what today's incumbents can learn from new entrants at a time when customer engagement levels are low.

Learn how artificial intelligence is disrupting the industry, and how different parts of the bank can leverage advances in machine learning.

Key Topics Covered:



Blockchain Channel Integration Customer Engagement Artificial Intelligence Biometrics and Fraud Appendix

Companies Mentioned



FIS Payments

Ant Financial

Pega

Wealthfront

Bank of America

Merrill Lynch

Grove

Wells Fargo

Google Assistant

MoneyLion

Dave

Longgame

Kasisto

Crossbridge

Feedzai

Socure

Averon

FacePhi

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/mlqcgz/money_2020_usa?w=12





Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
Under the terms of the agreement, HRS will provide merchants in the hospitality industry with Westpays state-of-the-art payment solutions for cashless, so-called card present, on-site transactions. In particular, HRS and Westpay are focusing on the delivery of integrated payment solutions for customers in the hotel and restaurant sectors, as well as supporting automated self-service applications. HRS will benefit from Westpays status as a Gold Level member and strategic partner for payment solutions within the Oracle Partner Network (OPN), providing validated and approved payment solutions designed specifically for hotels and restaurants.

Westpay, a leading provider of payment solutions, and HRS have signed an agreement to form a long-term partnership that will bring world-class digital payment services and solutions to hospitality customers throughout Europe. HRS is a global company and market leader in IT for the Hospitality Industry and is Oracles largest Platinum Partner worldwide.

Together with Westpay we will deliver innovative digital payment services and solutions which will empower our customers on their digital transformation journeys. It is an important addition to our portfolio of innovative products and services for the hospitality industry, stated Slava Ovchinnikov, Global Managing Director of HRS.

We are very excited and honoured to partner with HRS, the market leader in IT for the hospitality and retail industries. The partnership allows us to reach new markets, and will enable Oracle merchant customers to benefit from unified and improved payment processes, independently of country borders and markets, said Sten Karlsson, CEO of Westpay.

HRS is an international company and market leader in IT for the hospitality and retail industries, and the largest Oracle Hospitality Platinum Partner worldwide. HRS provides innovative management solutions for the Hospitality Industry, including hotels, restaurants, retail outlets, stadiums, spas and fitness clubs. HRS provides customers with premier professional services, these include: pre-project analysis, hardware and software supply, platform implementation & integration, staff training & consultation, round the clock technical support and service. HRS impressive client list is made up of more than 3000 hotels, restaurant enterprises and trading companies located across the globe.

For additional information, please contact:

Sten Karlsson, CEO Westpay AB

Mobile: +46 70-555 6065

Email: sten.karlsson@westpay.se

Westpays Certified Adviser is Erik Penser Bank, phone: +46 8-463 80 00, email: certifiedadviser@penser.se

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BOSTON, Feb. 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Block & Leviton LLP ( www.blockesq.com ), a securities litigation firm representing investors nationwide, is investigating whether Venator Materials PLC (Venator or the Company) (NYSE: VNTR) and certain of its officers and directors violated federal securities laws.



In January 2017, a fire ravaged one of Venator's most important plants for manufacturing titanium dioxide in Pori, Finland. Unbeknownst to investors, Venator's registration statements filed in connection with its August 2017 IPO and its December 2017 SPO failed to disclose the true extent of the fire damage to the company's facility and the cost to rehabilitate it. The Pori facility was virtually beyond repair, and any attempt to restore it would cost over $1 billion. Further, Venator had lost 80% of production capacity and 15% of the company's total nameplate capacity as a result of the fire.

By December 17, 2018, Venator's share price had plummeted to only $3.65 per share  81% below Venator's share price in the IPO and 83% below its SPO price.

If you have purchased or otherwise acquired Venator securities and have questions about your legal rights, or possess information relevant to this investigation, you are encouraged to contact Attorney Dan DeMaria at (888) 868-2385, by email at dan@blockesq.com , or by visiting http://shareholder.law/cases/?case=venator .

Block & Leviton LLP was recently ranked 4th among securities litigation firms by ISS for recoveries in 2017. The firm represents many of the nation's largest institutional investors and numerous individual investors in securities litigation throughout the country. Indeed, its lawyers have recovered billions of dollars for its clients.

This notice may constitute attorney advertising.

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Schulte Group acquires TecHullClean stake

Hamburg-based Schulte Group has acquired a majority share in TecHullClean Limited (THC), a Singapore registered underwater inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM).

THC is headquartered in Singapore and Algeciras, Spain with subsidiaries in Spain, Gibraltar and Ghana. The company specialises in underwater hull cleaning, inspection and propeller polishing services that are compliant with local regulations. It is prepares for the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committees (MEPC) Guidelines for the control and management of vessels biofouling to minimise the transfer of invasive aquatic species. THCs founder, Paw Rene Jakobsen, who has been a key player in the commercial diving industry for 35 years, will assume the role of THC CEO following the transaction. Jakobsen said; The team at THC is proud that the Schulte Group has become our partner and we look forward to benefit from their global presence. We have already concluded licence agreements in Qatar, Brazil, Algeciras, Gibraltar and Ghana and look forward to further expanding our innovative cleaning technology to other ports. Shaun Harbinson, the new CCO of THC, who has been in the shipping industry for over 20 years in various executive roles in Germany, added; The underwater cleaning industry has historically been very fragmented, with small players offering inconsistent services. With the Schulte Group and the THC team combining their forces, we are able to expand our technology quickly into other regions. Tobias Pinker, Schulte Group CFO, who oversees the Schulte Group maritime service division (Schulte Maritime Services) from Singapore, concluded; Cost effective biofouling removal and debris collection has been an issue for the shipping industry for a long time. The authorities have been focusing more and more on the environmental aspects of the biodiversity, due to invasive species, so we are glad this joint venture with Paw and Shaun has been established. We started investing in hull cleaning and underwater repair technology three years ago; this joint venture marks another important milestone, offering shipping companies a suite of different systems on a global scale, he said.




BENSALEM, Pa., Feb. 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Law Offices of Howard G. Smith reminds investors of the March 12, 2019 deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the class action filed on behalf of investors that purchased Markel Corporation (Markel or the Company) (NYSE: MKL ) securities between July 26, 2017 and December 6, 2018, inclusive (the Class Period).



Investors suffering losses on their Markel investments are encouraged to contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss their legal rights in this class action at 888-638-4847 or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com .

On December 6, 2018, the Company disclosed that after having been contacted on November 30, 2018, it is fully cooperating with inquiries by US and Bermuda authorities into loss reserves recorded in late 2017 and early 2018 at Markel CATCo Investment Management Ltd and its subsidiaries. On this news, the Companys share price fell $99.70 per share, more than 8%, to close at $1048.23 per share on December 7, 2018, on unusually high trading volume, thereby injuring investors.

The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Companys business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that the Companys subsidiaries did not appropriately record loss reserves; (2) that, as a result, the loss reserves would need to be adjusted and/or restated; (3) that these misleading accounting practices would lead to regulatory scrutiny and financial loss to investors; and (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants positive statements about the Companys business, operations, and prospects, were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

If you purchased shares of Markel during the Class Period you may move the Court no later than March 12, 2019 to ask the Court to appoint you as lead plaintiff if you meet certain legal requirements. To be a member of the Class you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the Class. If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com , or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com .

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
More on Venezuela

On 26th January, Washington imposed tough sanctions against Venezuelas state-owned oil company PDVSA.

This move was designed to halt US imports of Venezuelan crude in an attempt to oust President Maduro. The Trump administration stopped short of placing an outright ban; instead, refiners will be able to continue to receive Venezuelas crude until the 28th April, as long as payments are placed into a blocked account, Poten & Partners explained in an industry note. Sanctions have already caused chaos and confusion. Reuters reported last week that over a dozen tankers involved in oil trade with Venezuela were anchored in the US Gulf, as shippers sought clarity and payment instructions. According to AIS data, US imports of Venezuelan crude averaged under 0.5 mill barrels per day last year. The biggest buyer was PDVs subsidiary Citgo, followed by Valero, Chevron and PBF. The sanctions come at a time of restricted supply of heavy sour crude and so it may be challenging to replace Venezuelas barrels but not impossible. Similar quality crudes could be sourced from different areas, most likely from Latin America and Canada. There is also a possibility of higher shipments from the Middle East, but that will be subject to OPECs willingness to increase production. The loss of Venezuela/US crude trade is negative for regional Aframax and Suezmax demand, although this in part will be mitigated if trade from other Latin American countries rises as a result. Venezuelas long haul crude exports to the East are expected to continue, as most of this trade is backed by oil for loans deals with China and Russia. Furthermore, PDVSA plans to divert the volumes effected by the sanctions to China, Russia and India, where Rosneft has an equity stake in refining assets. Although this suggests an increase in long haul volumes, there are many uncertainties. For example, importing countries will need to find a way to bypass the US financial system. More importantly, it is unclear whether Venezuela will be able to maintain production at current levels, if government access to revenues from US sales is curtailed. Venezuela will also need to source naphtha, which is used to dilute extra heavy grades to make synthetic crude for exports. According to ClipperData, Venezuela imported about 80,000 barrels per day of naphtha from the US last year but these shipments are now also prohibited. Several cargoes which were en route from the US to Venezuela when sanctions were announced have been rerouted elsewhere. If Venezuela is unable to find alternative suppliers of diluent, about 250,000300,000 barrels per day of the countrys output could be at risk. The latest sanctions are also expected to halt Venezuelas imports of clean US products, of which shipments averaged around 80,000 barrels per day in 2018. Here also, much depends on whether Venezuela will be able to source barrels from elsewhere. Europe is a good alternative, but most of European countries have voiced their support for Juan Guaido. As a result, products are likely to be imported from further afield. Regional/local politics developments over the past few weeks suggest that Maduros government is in an increasingly challenging position. Venezuela will also find it difficult to secure tanker tonnage for crude and product shipments. Guidance provided by the US Treasury with the regards to the latest round of sanctions lacks clarity. Shipping is not mentioned; however, owners were considering whether it is worth continuing to trade with Venezuela. The risks are evident and those willing to trade are likely to demand a significant premium, Poten concluded.




Bahri clarifies misinformation

Bahri has confirmed that the VLCC Abqaiq is sailing in ballast from the Red Sea to pick up a cargo from Jose Terminal in Venezuela for one of its regular Indian charterers.

This cargo was contracted on 9th January, 2019, well before the US sanctions were imposed against Venezuela on 28th January, 2019, the company claimed. Her voyage was expected to be completed before the end of the exemption period allowed to wind-down agreements, Bahri explained. Venezuela is a frequent loading destination for Bahris tankers, which deliver cargoes to Indian and Chinese ports. As a result, the recent voyage to Venezuela was not exceptional or peculiar one, as stated by some sources, the company explained. Bahri strictly adheres to and ensures full compliance with the applicable laws and regulations in every market where it operates, it stressed in a statement.




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The junior Norwegian orchestra Barratt Due will perform in concert on Tuesday 19 February at 8pm in the Sala Unicaja de Conciertos Maria Cristina in Calle Marques de Valdecanas, Malaga.

Founded in 1927, Barratt Due is dedicated to the musical education of young people in Norway, with their motto 'Learning by doing'.

Performing throughout Europe, the junior ensemble, with ages ranging from 12 to 16, have a lot of experience playing with distinguished soloists and groups. In 2012, the group played alongside the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and have also provided musical accompaniment for the Norwegian Opera performances of Brundibar, Cinderella and the Astrid Lindgren show.

The group have toured both London and Berlin and have proudly performed with notable soloists such as Walter Reiter and Guro Kleven Hagen.

In this concert the orchestra will be accompanying Anna M. Nilson, a well-known Norwegian violinist, who is also the director at the Galamian Music Academy in Malaga - alongside her husband Jesus Reina.

For the young orchestra, to be playing with such a distinguished Norwegian musician "is the most important part" of the concert, explained organiser Daniel Lamenza. He added that "it is also very special that these young musicians dedicate all their time to classical music".

The high level of the orchestra allows them to share the stage with acclaimed soloists, as well as other promising music students, like those from the Galamian Academy.

With the help and support of Lamenza Nielsen and Advokaterispania from Fuengirola, Clue Digital Ordebok and Unof, who are the sponsors of the orchestra on this occasion, two free concerts will also be held.

One will take place in the Norwegian Church of Calahonda and the other in the Swedish Church of Fuengirola.
When Spaniards hear expats refer to 'Project Fear' ('Proyecto Miedo') they have little idea what they are talking about, even if their knowledge of English is above average.

WINE OF THE WEEK Ochoa de Lagrimas It used to be said that rose wines were for the ladies, but these days a decent host will take trouble to find a sensibly-priced example for everyone. The best Spanish rosados come from Navarra and are made by leaving the skin of the red grapes in contact with the must after pressing. In this case Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Priced at around 6 euros.

Trying to explain that the half of the population of Britain that prefers to leave the European Union is having the frighteners put on them by those who wished to remain, produces looks of incredulity.

The news that the Queen may go into hiding and that supplies of imported medicines may dry up, are pretty serious matters.

What is also taken very seriously is the continuance of wine imports to the UK. Yes, there is some very good English wine, but it is almost all red, and, not surprisingly because it is taxed at the same rate as all imported wine, quite expensive. Certainly it could never take the place of that cheap and cheerful Rioja we all drink.

So sombreros off to a few enterprising wineries, namely Bodegas Riojanas in the first instance, that have thoughtfully sent to the UK in January the equivalent quantity of wine they send in half a year.

Other wineries have of course followed suit. Post-Brexit UK may be short of critical drug supplies, but sufficient tinto will not be a problem.

Project Fear really gets up a head of steam when it comes to adequate food supplies. Rumours are rife, and when news that London restaurant Native, in Borough Market, was serving grey squirrel cooked in various ways, it was too good a story not to exaggerate.

There was even the myth, initially given wide credence, that an apprehensive French hunter had organised a shoot, the outcome of which enabled him to deliver a thousand squirrels to the British Embassy in Paris with the message, 'A present to our dear British cousins, so they need not go hungry'.

There is no record of what the Embassy staff did with all those poor little grey-furred carcases. They doubtless respected previous form and put them through a shredder.

What is evident is that whatever happens, wine aficionados of post-Brexit Britain will not go short of Rioja, nor of organic wild meat, ergo grey squirrels.
After the failure of Pedro Sanchez's proposed 2019 budget this week, Spain is heading for an early general election. It will be the third such vote in five years, a period that has been marked by political uncertainty and the increasingly toxic issue of Catalonia. But despite its necessity - Sanchez's government's minority status in congress has become untenable - this election is another reminder of how the Catalan independence movement is impacting negatively on the rest of Spain.

Sanchez's draft spending plan was expensive and would have depended on raised income and corporation taxes, but it contained some progressive ideas. Flagship proposals included a 22% hike in the country's minimum wage and an ambitious reform plan called the "Agenda for Change". This comprised a raft of policies designed to increase the Spanish economy's productivity and reduce unemployment and public debt. More controversially, the PSOE leader's blueprint budget also increased the amount of public funds destined for Catalonia throughout this year.

Although that costly olive branch was offered to the north-easterly region, Catalan pro-independence parties still voted against the 2019 budget. They thus deprived the country of a spending plan that made a real attempt to improve the lot of the average Spanish household - something that could not be said of economic policy under former Conservative prime minister Mariano Rajoy. Catalan secessionists' refusal to back the budget hasn't done them any favours, either: they remain as far as ever from realising their dream of a Catalan Republic.

By contrast, Sanchez comes out of all this fairly well. He tried to steer a path between the two extremes of the Catalonia debate - Spanish nationalists (as represented by the Popular Party, Vox and Ciudadanos) on the one hand, and the Catalan pro-independence movement itself on the other. Facing criticism from both sides, he at least attempted to start a dialogue between Barcelona and Madrid, albeit always with "the Constitution in hand", as he said last summer. Sanchez went as far as he possibly could in offering compromise to the secessionists - which was way too far for many in his own party as well as for the Spanish right. But because he stopped short of offering Catalonia independence, or at least a legal referendum on self-determination, his efforts have come to nothing.

The early election this spring comes at a difficult time for Spain's embattled prime minister. Although Sanchez's Socialists are still riding high in opinion polls, their recent loss of Andalucia (a region they have controlled for decades) revealed a groundswell of support for the Spanish right - a surge that's largely fuelled by opposition to Catalan separatists. The latter group also stand to lose out if right wing parties take power after an early election, but it would be a loss entirely of their own making.
Television sets across Spain were this week tuned to live coverage of the first days of a historic trial that is set to cast its shadow over the country's political life for several months.

In the dock at the national Supreme Court in Madrid are the 12 former senior Catalan politicians and civic leaders who are accused of various charges ranging from rebellion, citing rebellion and corruption in the Catalan regional government's failed plan to unilaterally declare independence in September and October 2017.

The plan, or 'proces' as it is known, was halted when an illegal independence referendum was disrupted and the national government imposed direct rule under the Spanish constitution. The majority of the 12 have been in jail since then awaiting trial.

As seventeen months ago, there was widespread international media interest in the Catalan independence issue this week. In the public area to watch proceedings at the opening on Tuesday was current regional president and pro-separatist Quim Torra.

Torra called for the trial to be halted and for Catalonia to have its right of self-determination recognised. Divisions on policy within the multiparty Catalan independence movement showed up in some strained body language between some in the court.

Human rights defence

The defence case of the 12's lawyers, as revealed in the court on Tuesday, will focus on an abuse of human rights and the alleged political motives of the Spanish government. The accused are hoping the case will be eventually heard by the European Court of Human Rights.

There was no shortage of opinion from outside the courtroom. Former Catalan leader, Carles Puigdemont, who led the ''proces'' and is in self-imposed exile in Brussels, commented, "For us, putting out ballot boxes isn't rebellion, neither is it considered to be the Spanish legal system."

In contrast, respected veteran former prime minister, Felipe Gonzalez, supporting the trial, said, " The democratic rules of play must be respected, even if you want to change them."

On Wednesday, the prosecution laid out the basis of its case, saying that the trial was aimed at supporting "the constitutional order" and denying that they were being accused just for their political ideas. In addition to the government, far-right party Vox is present at the trial in a private prosecution, permitted under Spanish law.

Key players questioned

With Puigdemont out of the country, the questioning of his former number two in Catalonia and leader of the republican ERC party, Oriol Junqueras, was eagerly awaited on Thursday.

In comments in court he said, "We've never backed behaviour that isn't peaceful and civilised," adding, "No public money was used in the referendum."

Junqueras was followed by the former regional Interior minister, Joaquim Forn, who was responsible for the regional police that had been criticised. "I ordered the Mossos [the regional police] to comply with all the court orders," said Forn on Thursday, denying use for political ends.

The historic trial will continue to run throughout a likely general election this spring, influencing voting decisions in Catalonia and across Spain.
Called for by right-of-centre opposition parties, there was disagreement over how many took part in last Sunday's rally and turnout was probably not as large as expected.

But the impact of the gathering in Madrid to defend "the unity of Spain", amid fears of concessions to separatists in Catalonia, succeeded in toughening the government's rhetoric on the region, said commentators.

This then helped push separatist parties away from their crucial support for the national budgets of Pedro Sanchez.
PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Puppet, the standard for automating the delivery and operation of the software that powers everything around us, today announced the winners of its Channel Partner of the Year Awards. The awards honor Puppets channel ecosystem for the contributions they have made to drive customer success with automation.



Our partners have demonstrated exemplary performance and are proven advisors for customers who need to securely and efficiently manage today's hybrid environments with Puppet technology, said John Schwan, vice president of global partner sales, Puppet. We thank our partners for their dedication to delivering customer excellence and innovative solutions. With the DevOps movement and cloud-native technologies on the rise, there is a huge market opportunity for our partners, and we depend on them to help us deliver on our promise of pervasive automation.



The program recognized thirteen partners globally in seven categories. The categories and winners are:

Partner MVP  top performing partner in revenue, solutions, and field engagement

Americas  Sirius

APJ  Fujitsu Asia

EMEA  CDW

Rising Star  demonstrated growth and strength in revenue, solutions, and field engagement

APJ  Revolution IT

EMEA  copebit

Service Delivery Partner of the Year  delivery excellence and positive customer feedback, driving additional services, regular availability, and bench growth

Americas  Autostructure

APJ  Katana1

EMEA  Example42

Partner Solution of the Year  for excellence in custom architected solutions using Puppet

AHEAD

Government Partner of the Year  for being a top performing partner in revenue, solutions, and field engagement

Kinney Group

Government Solution of the Year  for excellence in custom architected solutions for Government using Puppet

Norseman

Engineer of the Year  for exemplifying excellence in engineering and solving customer challenges using Puppet products

Alessandro Franceschi, Example42

If you are curious to learn more about Puppets partner program or become a partner of Puppet, please head to our partner website here.

Additional resources

Learn more about Puppet.

Subscribe to the Puppet blog.

Follow Puppet on Twitter @puppetize.

About Puppet

Puppet is driving the movement to a world of unconstrained software change. Its revolutionary platform is the industry standard for automating the delivery and operation of the software that powers everything around us. More than 40,000 companies  including 75 percent of the Fortune 100  use Puppets open source and commercial solutions to adopt DevOps practices, achieve situational awareness and drive software change with confidence. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Puppet is a privately held company with more than 500 employees around the world. Learn more at puppet.com.

Media contact

pr@puppet.com
Elias Bendodo, the new Junta de Andalucia regional government spokesman, has confirmed that the planned Malaga metro link to the Hospital Civil has been scrapped in favour of a new link to the Parque Tecnologico.

Bendodo, after meeting with the city's mayor, Francisco de la Torre, and regional president, Juanma Moreno, last week said that the new administration at the Junta would open talks over altering the existing plans with the concession holders, as well as the European Investment Bank which is financing the project and would have to approve any changes.

The spokesman said that the Junta was working towards a solution that solves "the real needs of the city" and accepted that the change in direction would result in consequences of a financial nature, believed to be in excess of 11 million euros a year.
Sixteen years ago it is estimated that around 10 million people took to the streets, all over the world, to protest against the Iraqi war. It was the largest anti-war protest and remains to be the biggest one-day global demonstration the world has ever seen. While figures are not exact, it is estimated that 700 cities worldwide hosted demonstrations against Bush's invasion of Iraq.

Some of the biggest protests took place in Europe. In Rome it is estimated that 2.5 million people were involved, with London reaching 1.5 million. In Madrid also around 1.5 million were seen taking to the streets with banners that read 'Not in our name' and 'No blood for oil', in the biggest mass demonstration Spain had seen since the death of Franco. More locally, in Malaga, around 50,000 people (according to SUR, although other sources quote 150,000) marched through the city protesting against the impending conflict.

Throughout 2002, anti-war protests around the world were gathering momentum. The USA, Britain and Spain were all pushing for a second resolution from the United Nations Security Council. This, if approved, would have legitimised the invasion of Iraq.

On 5 February 2003, Colin Powell, then the US secretary of state, made his notorious speech outlining the evidence that the then Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, had weapons of mass destruction. Powell's evidence would later turn out to be entirely false. This speech sparked outrage among anti-war protesters, leading to the world demonstration of 15 February.

At the time of the protest citizens were of the opinion that a demonstration of this size could stop the invasion of Iraq. Years on, it became obvious that this would have been highly unlikely, but the impact the protests had cannot be underestimated.

Being the largest anti-war protest ever recorded, the 2003 demonstrations showed the overwhelming sense of unity throughout the world. Despite the fact that George Bush barely addressed them, the protests showed a huge amount of strength. Some journalists at the time even described them as "defining a generation".

Perhaps the most significant quote came from Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu, who spoke at the New York protest, addressing Bush personally. "Listen to the voice of the people saying, 'Give peace a chance'."
"A doctor's work should be vocational above all else. That's my understanding of my profession," says Cesar Ramirez Plaza, a surgeon from Malaga who, for the third time in less than a year, has led a humanitarian mission in Africa to operate on patients there without resources.

Dr Ramirez, who is the head of the general and digestive surgery department at the Quironsalud hospitals in Malaga and Marbella, has just returned from Liberia, where from 28 January to 2 February more than 250 patients underwent surgery.

If it had not been for the humanitarian team led by Ramirez, they would not have been able to have the operations they needed. The mission was organised by the Cirujanos en Accion and Bisturi Solidario associations.

Impact of first trip

Nine months ago, Cesar Ramirez travelled to Liberia for the first time and performed a series of operations. What he saw and experienced during that trip left a mark on him, and strengthened his resolve to help people in need.

During that first stay in Liberia, he promised a woman with a huge goiter that he would go back and operate on her, and he kept his word, performing the surgery in the town of Ganta, in the north of the country. That was the first operation he carried out on his second trip to Liberia; a further 27 patients underwent surgery in that operating theatre on the same day.

In total, more than 250 patients had operations during those six days, made possible thanks to anaesthiologists Sonia Trabanco and Javier Mora, general and digestive surgeons Oscar Cano, Marta Jimenez and Cesar Ramirez, pediatric surgeon Jose Miguel Moran and also Francisco Gomez, nurse and instrumentalist.

Training given

In Liberia, which is the sixth-poorest country in the world, health care is neither free nor good quality. For that reason Cesar Ramirez, through his foundation Bisturi Solidario, offers training and expert hands to treat thyroid problems which are very common in Africa because of the lack of iodine.

"I don't see this as an option; I see it as a vocation. This, for me, is what medical vocation is about. Trying to raise awareness of the need for help that exists in this world, especially in developing countries," he says.

Although thyroid problems are very common in Liberia, thyroidectomies are not an option.

"Removing the thyroid gland means taking medication for life afterwards and it is extremely difficult to access that medication in Liberia," says Dr Ramirez.

"So, instead, we remove most of the gland but we leave a tiny part, so there is not a total lack of thyroid hormones."

However, on this occasion the patients will have extra help thanks to the generosity of members of Bisturi Solidario, such as the director and president of Grupo Piscis, Jose Gomez, who has paid for all the drugs needed by 50 patients for a year. That amounts to 18,000 thyroid hormone tablets.
Changes to the SunCommercial's back end processing means the e-edition is getting a facelift. The biggest change is the e-edition, by default, is now presented in Text view.
Searchers look for woman seen swimming in Wabash

TERRE HAUTE (AP)  Authorities say a woman is believed to be missing in the Wabash River.

Crews searched unsuccessfully Wednesday for the woman after witnesses reported seeking her enter the frigid waters of the river near Fairbanks Park in Terre Haute.

Efforts to find her were to continue on Thursday.

Karanam Rao told the Tribune-Star he was sitting in his van when he saw a woman stop near the water, take off her jacket and jump in. Rao said the woman appeared to be swimming just fine and then "drifted along" in the river. Two other people also reported seeing her swimming.

After boats were pulled from the water Wednesday night, authorities said the search had transitioned from a rescue effort to a recovery operation.

Ohio River flooding closes casino complex

ELIZABETH (AP)  Rising floodwaters along the Ohio River have forced the temporary closure of the Horseshoe Casino in Harrison County

The casino and hotel closed Tuesday evening after floodwaters following recent heavy rains encroached on its property about 10 miles west of Louisville, Kentucky.

Casino spokeswoman Lizzet Verdi says casino staffers are monitoring the river and the casino complex will "reopen as soon as we have favorable river levels."

The flooding also closed Indiana 111 South in adjacent Floyd County, creating a nuisance for casino workers and patrons.

Kent Barrow is director of the Floyd County Emergency Management Agency. He tells the Jeffersonville & New Albany News and Tribune that the flooding has also affected 15 to 20 homes along the highway near the casino.

Mayor convicted of bribery, tax charge

HAMMOND (AP)  A jury has convicted the mayor of Portage on one count each of bribery and tax obstruction while acquitting him of a second bribery count.

The jury returned the verdicts Thursday against 38-year-old James Snyder during its second day of deliberations, ending a trial that lasted 19 days.

Snyder, a Republican, was found guilty of accepting $13,000 from a Portage company after it received contracts worth more than $1.25 million for garbage trucks. He also was found guilty of collecting but not paying federal employee payroll taxes at a mortgage company he once managed and obstructing the Internal Revenue Service from collecting about $30,000 in back personal income taxes.

He was acquitted of a charge alleging he solicited $12,000 from towing operators.

Snyder has maintained his innocence.

Newspaper: Lawmaker may have violated lobbying laws

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  A former state lawmaker's contract with the state's Department of Veterans Affairs may have violated state lobbying laws, according to a newspaper investigation.

Allen Paul received more than $150,000 from July 2015 to December 2018 after signing a lobbying contract with the department, The Indianapolis Star reported. This happened nine months after the former Republican senator retired in 2014.

Lawmakers have to wait a year after leaving office before they can become lobbyists, according to state law. Paul also failed to register as a lobbyist, the newspaper said.

Paul said he hasn't done anything wrong and that he acted as a consultant, not a lobbyist.

"I wanted to be a consultant," he said. "I feel much freer as a consultant to be in that building. I'm not shackled by lobbyist situations, being called one."

Paul Helmke, an Indiana University civics professor and former Republican mayor of Fort Wayne, reviewed the details of Paul's job description and contract, and said he believes the position qualifies as lobbying.

"I can't see how you can argue that he's not lobbying," Helmke said.

Individuals or organizations must register as lobbyists if they spend or receive at least $500 to interact with a legislative authority to influence legislative action. State government employees are exempt, but records show that the veteran affairs department hired Paul through a temporary firm.

The department ended Paul's contract on Monday, Deputy Director Matt Vincent said in an email.

Longtime veterans affairs director James Brown resigned in December following reports that he awarded money to veterans who worked under him at the agency that was intended to go to veterans struggling to make ends meet. He was replaced by Dennis Wimer in August.

24 people facing charges after Indianapolis drug busts

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler says federal, state and local officers have arrested at least 20 people on drug and weapons charges in a series of raids across Indianapolis.

Minkler says the raids carried out Wednesday brought down a methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine trafficking conspiracy centered in the Haughville neighborhood on the city's near west side.

Minkler said in a news release Thursday that four other people facing charges remained at large.

The raids resulted in the capture of about 40 guns and $155,000 in currency, and quantities of heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana were seized.

3 dead in multi-vehicle crash along I-65 in southern Indiana

SEYMOUR (AP)  Authorities say three people have died in a southern Indiana crash involving five vehicles that left two semitrailers fully engulfed in flames.

The crash happened Wednesday along southbound Interstate 65 in Jackson County near the 54 mile marker north of Seymour.

Indiana State Police said in statement that a semi-truck slowed in the left lane and a pickup driven by 67-year-old John W. Mumma of Philo, Illinois, slowed behind it. A recreational vehicle driven by 57-year-old Glenn E. Cardelli of Minocqua, Wisconsin, that also was carrying his wife, 57-year-old wife Kathryn L. Cardelli, slowed behind them.

A semi-truck failed to slow and hit the recreational vehicle, causing a chain-reaction crash. Police say Mumma and the Cardellis died in the crash.

No one else was injured. The crash is under investigation.
A bill that would put in place more protections for abuse victims and potential victims is on track for passage in Indiana.

And the originsof the bill came from a Jasper mothers concern about her underaged daughter being groomed by a grown man for sex.

The state Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 551 on Tuesday. It is now in the Indiana House of Representatives for consideration.

Sen. Mark Messmer, R-Jasper, started working on the multi-part bill after receiving a call from the local mother. Her 14-year-old daughter had received Valentines Day flowers last year that were sent to her school from the father of one of her friends. Hes also sent flowers to some other girls at the school.

On her set of flowers, there was a very inappropriate note for a 40-year-old man to send to a 14-year-old girl, Messmer said, talking about (how) he loved her and looked forward to their relationship continuing to grow.

The mother found out that the man had been sending text messages to her daughter  more than 1,000 of them over the span of about four months.

When you know anything about sex predators, this was classic grooming behavior of an adult to a potential victim, Messmer said. This happened on Valentines Day, and in March she was supposed to go with that family on their spring break trip to Florida.

"And the progression of the text messages was pretty clear that that was when he was going to make his move.

The mother went to the authorities and they agreed the man was grooming her daughter for a sexual activity. But they looked through the criminal statutes on sexual misconduct and there was nothing listed to deal with this type of offense.

They couldnt do anything because there hadnt been a crime committed yet, Messmer said. There was nothing that was chargeable.

The mother called Messmer about the situation, and he went to the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council. They worked last summer on wording for a bill that could be submitted to the Legislature. They tried writing definitions to clearly define all parts of the grooming behavior, but there was no way to do that to make if foolproof, Messmer said.

What they did instead was update the protective order statutes and add to the list what a person could get a protective order for against someone, to include situations in which an adult is conditioning a minor for sexual activity.

So if a protective order is put in place and [an] adult does one thing [that violates the order], Messmer said, then we have a felony that we can charge him with, and all the other information becomes relevant.

The state prosecution organization told Messmer about other abuse crime situations when better protection is needed for the victim.

We worked on this (bill) through November, December, he said, and got together all the pieces of code that deal with protecting victims of crime.

Senate Bill 551 would:

 Expand the rights of domestic violence and child abuse victims.

 Protect the community from sex offenders and violent abusers.

 Prohibit Indiana Department of Child Services from releasing information on a minor fatality if there is an ongoing investigation.

 Allow a child victim to bring a comfort item, such as a stuffed animal or a specially trained dog, to court during testimony.

 Restrict the disclosure of sensitive information about a child victim and defendant during a criminal investigation or prosecution.

The Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council and Dubois County Prosecutor Anthony Quinn, who is a member of the council, have expressed support of the legislation.

Now that the bill has been sent to the Indiana House, it will go to the Houses Court and Criminal Code Committee for a hearing. Messmer said he has already talked about the bill to the committee head, state Rep. Wendy McNamara, R-Evansville, and has given her a copy. McNamara is the House sponsor for the legislation, which indicates support of a bill.

A bill must pass through a committee in each chamber, be approved by each chamber and be signed by the governor to become law. If Senate Bill 551 becomes law, it would go into effect immediately.
The city officials are considering a variety of technology upgrades.

Tim Trotter with The AME Group, 6001 E. Old U.S. 50, went before city council members this week with a plan to upgrade not only the city's technology footprint but, with it, provide a more user-friendly website and email addresses for elected officials as well.

Currently, City Hall's server and some of its work stations  as well as their various software programs  are seriously outdated, Trotter said. His plan would to update all of it and, instead of purchasing a new server, move it all to the cloud, or a data center available via the internet.

Some of the advantages in doing that, Trotter explained, are that there is less hardware to maintain and it offloads some liability in terms of security.

And making those in-house upgrades, Trotter said, would also allow for significant improvements to the city's website.

Currently, he said, the website needs work, and that's probably putting it mildly. It hasn't been updated, he said, since 2012.

Among the potential improvements would be an area where residents could easily type in comments or concerns or messages that would then be sent to the proper department, council member or the mayor himself.

Messages could also be directly sent to council members from the website as a better, easier way of communicating with constituents, Trotter said.

City officials also once uploaded recordings of the city council meetings to the website, but the city's technology no longer supports such a large file, Trotter said. And in a world where most everyone uses a mobile device, the city's website can't be accessed by one at all.

It's just been superseded by newer technologies, Trotter said.

Trotter has approached a local company that could handle a redesign of the city's website as well as handle ongoing maintenance.

All of it, Trotter explained to the council, would likely cost upwards of $11,000 up front and then $3,000 to $4,000 annually thereafter for maintenance and licensure.

Mayor Joe Yochum said while there is still much to consider, he thought much of Trotter's plan intriguing. The city is running out of space, he said, and many of the software programs used by various departments can't communicate with one another.

The fire department doesn't communicate with what City Hall uses, just things like that, he said.

Councilman Tim Salters said he, too, is in favor of investing in improved technology, especially if it better connects the public with its government.

Having a website where people could go, type in a question or concern and have it automatically sent to the council members, he called a slam dunk.

Trotter's plan also comes with upwards of 30 email addresses that could be assigned to departments, council members, etc. They would be easy for constituents to use, such as an individual's last name and the same suffix for all.

Currently, city council members don't have city-owned email accounts and, instead, use their own personal email addresses.

Such a practice has long been frowned upon by the state's Public Access Counselor, Luke Britt.

And having council members use similar, city-owned email accounts would be preferable, said Steve Key, director of the Hoosier State Press Association, because it leaves no question as to whether they are subject to the state's Access to Public Records Act.

Britt has taken the position that private email accounts used for city business are still subject to ARPA, but it's generally preferable for elected officials to use public accounts, Key said.

Trotter, too, pointed out that when a resident looks to contact a council member via email, they're often looking for that government address for a sense of security.

Salters has long been pushing for the switch, believing it in both the council and the public's best interest.

But council member Shirley Rose said she wants more time to think it over. She believes some of the updates likely necessary, but isn't sure just how much.

We're just now hearing of this, she said. So I don't know how much of it we want to do.

Do we need all of that? I don't know. I think we need more time to look at the cost and compare.

Council president Duane Chattin, however, said if the funds are there, he wants to move forward sooner rather than later.

It sounds like a lot of these upgrades are ones we're going to have to make anyway, he said, adding that he worries the city is putting itself at a security risk by using out-of-date and unsupported technology.

He also said bringing The AME Group on board as an IT consultant  which is part of the deal  would be a perk for a city our size.

So let's have the mayor look over this and see if we can pull the funds together to do it, he said. I hope we can move forward fairly quickly so as not to continue experiencing these problems.
INDIANAPOLIS  Legislation that would have eliminated the positions of nearly 3,000 locasl elected officials was overwhelmingly rejected Tuesday by the Indiana House.

The House voted 72-18 against House Bill 1650, which would have dissolved township boards and removed 2,988 posts.

The bill, authored by Rep. Cindy Ziemke, R-Batesville, also contained a provision added Monday for a legislative study of township boards, but that, too, was rejected in the vote.

"Every time I look we're trying to be on the cutting edge of all the states and that's what this does. This is one major area that we just can't seem to get past," Ziemke said. "We have more elected officials per capita than any state in the United States."

Under the bill, township trustees would have been left in place with their budgets facing review by county councils.

Opponents of the bill questioned whether county councils would provide necessary oversight.

"They (township boards) provide more scrutiny than you're going to get if you get a county council overlooking the budget," Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, said.

The Indiana Township Association was most vocal in opposing the bill. Among the association's concerns were the lack of checks and balances over a trustee's budget which typically includes costs for firefighting, poor relief and cemetery maintenance.

ITA President Deb Driskell also said that eliminating officeholders whose salary is often $500 and whose median salary is $1,800 was meager justification for removing the boards. County councils, the association said, might have to expend time and money to review township budgets.

Opponents also suggested that the General Assembly should "hit the pause button" on dissolving township boards although township reform, even to the point of eliminating that form of government, has been debated since 2007.

"This is my 11th year here and all we've done since I've been here is hit the pause button," Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany, said in response. "It's time to take a step in the right direction."

There are still bills in the Legislature aimed at reforming township government.

Receiving favor from most groups is House Bill 1177, also authored by Ziemke, which requires townships to prepare a capital improvement plan if the balance in certain funds exceeds 150 percent of the township's annual budget estimate. Without a plan, the township could not collect property taxes.

House Bill 1177 is supported by the Indiana Township Association.
CHICAGO, Feb. 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) and iManage are proud to announce their selection as co-hosts for the Chicago site for the 2019 Global Legal Hackathon , February 22-24. The Global Legal Hackathon is the largest legal technology innovation event in the world. In 2018, more than 40 cities and 22 countries participated, and this year it is likely to be even bigger.



iManages downtown Chicago headquarters will serve as the incubator for this years teams of thought leaders developing technologies, software and tools to advance the business of law. The solutions that emerge aim to improve the business and practice of law and support good government initiatives, legal systems or access to justice. The event is open to students, lawyers, entrepreneurs, developers, IT professionals and others looking to make a difference.

We are thrilled to partner with iManage in hosting this years event, said Oliver Yandle, JD, CAE, Executive Director, ALA. During the hackathon, we plan to focus our efforts on developing practical applications, tools and resources leveraging the Uniform Process Based Management System (UPBMS), ALAs comprehensive system of codes  a taxonomy  that encompasses the wide variety of processes needed to support the practice of law.

iManage is a big proponent of innovation in the legal community, said Dean Leung, Chief Customer Success Officer, iManage. The Global Legal Hackathon is a great way to spur innovation in legal technology by bringing people together to brainstorm solutions that could revolutionize how legal professionals work for years to come.

The Global Legal Hackathon will engage law schools, law firms and in-house legal departments, legal technology companies, governments and legal industry service providers from across the globe to collaborate in the rapid development of solutions to improve the legal industry.

To register and get further details, please visit https://glh.hivebrite.com

About the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA)

ALA is focused on the delivery of cutting-edge management and leadership products and services to the global legal community. It identifies and provides solutions to the most critical strategic and operational challenges its members and customers face today and prepares them for the opportunities and challenges of tomorrow. For more information on ALA, visit alanet.org .

About iManage

iManage transforms how professionals in legal, accounting and financial services get work done by combining artificial intelligence, security and risk mitigation with market leading document and email management. iManage automates routine cognitive tasks, provides powerful insights and streamlines how professionals work, while maintaining the highest level of security and governance over critical client and corporate data. Over one million professionals at over 3,000 organizations in over 65 countries  including more than 2,000 law firms and 500 corporate legal departments  rely on iManage to deliver great client work  securely.

Press Contact Information:

Theresa Wojtalewicz

Senior Manager, Content Strategy

Association of Legal Administrators

Phone: +1-847-267-1393

twojtalewicz@alanet.org
As a screenwriter hes compelled by how one buried secret or hidden source of shame can provoke an action, then a reaction, then another, and suddenly the past is the present and the future doesnt look so good. His nearly perfect drama A Separation, which won the foreign-language Oscar, may be his best known film internationally, but the ones of his Ive seen including and since Fireworks Wednesday (2006) have been remarkably consistent in tone, theme and quality.
Shortly after the new Congress was sworn in, I invited some freshman members to meet the young leaders from Parkland. As we gathered that evening in a room just off the House floor, I noticed something: This was not an introduction, it was a reunion. All through the summer and fall last year, Parkland students visited swing districts around the country to do everything they could to elect candidates who would make saving lives one of their top priorities in Washington. They succeeded.
Our perception of safety changed on February 14, 2018. On that morning, we took our children to school, confident they were safe. Just 24 hours and a tragedy later, I walked my son into school asking myself, Is he safe? I knew instinctively he was safe, but I admit it was difficult to shake the images of students running out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School while parents and family members looked anxiously for their loved ones, 17 of whom did not return home.
All bark, no bite, a Sun Sentinel columnist said of the last grand jury report, a 2011 rant that seriously suggested abolishing the School Board, and short of that, a reduction in the boards size from nine to five members. It was one of many grand jury recommendations that never came to pass.
In testimony before the International Trade Commissions last year, executives from the fruit and vegetable association pleaded for help under the new deal, arguing that Mexican gains since NAFTA were not the result of market conditions, but a systematic flow of Mexican government subsidies. Those subsidies, the association said, have supported virtually every dimension of Mexicos skyrocketing fruit and vegetable production. They would likewise not have occurred had the Mexican industry not engaged in chronic unfair pricing, which has been fundamental to its growth strategy.
In 2017, Ernies in Fort Lauderdale closed, as did Maguires Hill 16, the latter a particular kick in the gut. The year before that saw the passing of Mac Klein, the 101-year-old owner of Macs Club Deuce in Miami Beach, though that dive still stands in proud defiance of the surrounding South Beach glitz. Across MacArthur Causeway, Miamis then-oldest bar, Tobacco Road, was demolished in 2014.
Officials offered few details, but a source with knowledge of the investigation said the case involves an allegation that Slosberg tried to change the locks at a home she had recently sold.
As states are moving forward, they are realizing its not going to be one single silver bullet that solves this but its really going to be all-of-the-above solutions that are needed, she said. And out of all the solutions that are on the table, rightsizing licensure laws is the only solution that is at no added cost to the state, no delay in the benefit to the consumer and the state, and it is the only solution that has a track record of 40 years of success in other states around the country.
That late afternoon crime was obvious and police were even able to get a slight description of the thief and the car he used to get away. Police think the same man grabbed a purse from another shopper in the same Publix parking lot a week earlier.
Tikkitress Johnson was being kind when she let two brothers into the closed Taco Bell store in August 2009. They returned her kindness by robbing her and, according to prosecutors, stabbing her to death and leaving her to die. One of those brothers pleaded guilty last year. The other is headed for trial in a few months.
Ibar never admitted to participating in the Miami robbery  he pleaded no contest in 2000, after he had already been convicted and sentenced to death. He was sentenced in the Miami case to the time he had already served awaiting trial in Broward.
Markens Theophile, 18, of Coral Springs, was a passenger in the Mazda. Police found him sitting on a .38 handgun. They also found a fanny pack on the floorboard with another gun, which had been reported stolen, reports said.
Besides giving the kids extra flash cubes, Willey was famous for this Coca-Cola machine that was in the back of his store, Curley remembered. Hed let all the kids go back, and they had those tiny bottles of Coke.
The warehouse at 8300 NE Second Ave. will be home to a ground-floor food hall with 15 restaurant vendors and a small bar. Theres also Vue, the Citadels swanky 5,000-square-foot rooftop bar and lounge, and the Finery, a 9,000-square-foot retail and maker space for arts-and-crafts vendors. The 33,000-square-foot top floor, meanwhile, will serve as the regional headquarters for radio broadcaster Entercom Communications.
The question is do we take that option away from them? said Antone, D-Orlando. I doubt theyll do that but maybe therell be a safer technology that comes out that deals with nuclear fission and power plants.
Hundreds of pupils walked out of school today to protest against a lack of action to tackle climate change.The Youth Strike for Climate event saw pupils from a number of local schools gather on Henley Street waving placards demanding action on climate change.

The Youth Strike movement started last year when teenager Greta Thunberg began protesting outside the Swedish Parliament.

The students marched into Stratford along the Alcester Road

Since then thousands of young people have taken part in similar protests, with Stratford joining towns and cities across the UK today in hosting one such strike.

Annie Harper Bradley, 17, who attends Stratford Girls Grammar School said: We striking because climate change is a massive issue and the government are not doing enough, there is a lot more that can be done.

Protesters Annie Harper Bradley and Milly Lomas from Stratford Girls Grammar School

All they seem to be focused on now is Brexit, which is a massive issue for young people, but we feel climate change is being ignored.
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.
DGAP-News: Mogo Finance S.A. / Key word(s): Conference/Preliminary Results

Mogo Finance: Invitation to conference call - Presentation for Earnings Call to Unaudited FY 2018 results published



15.02.2019 / 09:26

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Mogo Finance: Invitation to conference call - Presentation for Earnings Call to Unaudited FY 2018 results published

Today at 15:00 CET: Conference call in English with Management Team.



Riga, Latvia, 15 February 2019. Mogo Finance S.A. and its group companies (the "Group"), specialized in used car financing, published the presentation for the earnings call to the unaudited FY 2018 results.



The presentation for the conference call and the unaudited FY 2018 results are available at https://mogo.finance/investment/results-and-reports/.



Conference Call:

The conference call in English with the Group's management team to discuss these results is scheduled for today, 15 February 2019, at 15:00 CET.



Please register here: http://emea.directeventreg.com/registration/5997802.



Contact:

Mogo Finance (CFO), Email: maris.kreics@mogofinance.com

Maris Kreics +371 66 900 900

Aalto Capital, Email: sven.pauly@aaltocapital.com

Sven Pauly +49 89 8986777 0





About Mogo Finance:

Mogo Finance is one of the largest and fastest growing secured used car financing companies in Europe. Recognizing the niche in used car financing underserved by traditional lenders, Mogo Finance has expanded its operations to 13 countries issuing over EUR 358 million up to date and running a net loan portfolio over EUR 140 million. Mogo offers secured loans up to EUR 15,000 with maximum tenor of 84 months making used car financing process convenient, both for its customers and partners. Wide geographical presence makes Mogo unique over its rivals and diversifies revenue streams.



Mogo Finance operates through its own branch network, more than 1,500 partner locations and strong online presence. Physical footprint makes Mogo Finance top of mind brand in used car financing. Established in 2012, headquartered in Riga, Latvia Mogo Finance operates in: Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Georgia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Albania, Belarus, Armenia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.



www.mogofinance.com





IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The information contained herein is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa or any other countries or otherwise in such circumstances in which the release, publication or distribution would be unlawful. The information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, the bonds in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. Persons into whose possession this announcement may come are required to inform themselves of and observe all such restrictions.

This announcement does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The bonds have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or under the applicable securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons except pursuant to an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act.

This announcement does not constitute a prospectus for the purposes of Directive 2003/71/EC, as amended (the "Prospectus Directive") and does not constitute a public offer of securities in any member state of the European Economic Area (the "EEA").

This announcement does not constitute an offer of bonds to the public in the United Kingdom. No prospectus has been or will be approved in the United Kingdom in respect of the bonds. Accordingly, this announcement is not being distributed to, and must not be passed on to, the general public in the United Kingdom. The communication of this announcement as a financial promotion may only be distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons in (i), (ii) and (iii) above together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). Any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, Relevant Persons. Any person who is not a Relevant Person should not act or rely on this announcement or any of its contents.

PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS ONLY - Manufacturer target market (MIFID II product governance) is eligible counterparties and professional clients only (all distribution channels). No PRIIPs key information document (KID) has been prepared as the bonds do not constitute packaged products and will be offered to eligible counterparties and professional clients only.
Four Billion More What to Do About Massive Population Growth

The populations in the poorest countries on earth are doubling every few decades. That necessarily leads to conflict over scarce resources such as land, food and work -- and to more migration to Europe. But there are solutions.
EU, Germany reject US call to leave Iran nuclear deal



Munich, Germany, Feb 15 (AFP) Feb 15, 2019



Germany and the EU on Friday rejected an appeal by US Vice President Mike Pence for Europeans to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal and isolate Tehran.

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas defended the 2015 agreement under which Iran drastically scaled back its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said the bloc was determined to preserve the "full implementation" of the deal, saying it was vital to European security.

"Together with the Brits, French and the entire EU we have found ways to keep Iran in the nuclear agreement until today," Maas told the Munich Security Conference.

A day earlier, Pence accused Tehran of planning a "new Holocaust" with its opposition to Israel and regional ambitions in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

Maas said that "our goal remains an Iran without nuclear weapons, precisely because we see clearly how Iran is destabilising the region".

Without this agreement, "the region will not be safer and would actually be one step closer to an open confrontation," he added.

Speaking at the same conference, Mogherini said the deal must be preserved, insisting that for Europe "it's a matter of security".

"So you can count on the fact the European Union and its member states will continue to serve the interests of security and non-proliferation... preserving the full implementation" of the deal, Mogherini said.

Pence at a conference on the Middle East in Warsaw on Thursday denounced the retention by the Europeans of the nuclear agreement.

He also criticised the initiative of France, Germany and Britain to allow European companies to continue operating in Iran despite US sanctions.
Germany rejects US call to leave Iran nuclear deal



Munich, Germany, Feb 15 (AFP) Feb 15, 2019



Germany on Friday rejected an appeal by US Vice President Mike Pence for Europeans to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal and isolate Tehran.

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas defended the 2015 agreement under which Iran drastically scaled back its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

"Together with the Brits, French and the entire EU we have found ways to keep Iran in the nuclear agreement until today," Maas told the Munich Security Conference.

A day earlier, Pence accused Tehran of planning a "new Holocaust" with its opposition to Israel and regional ambitions in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

Maas said that "our goal remains an Iran without nuclear weapons, precisely because we see clearly how Iran is destabilising the region".

Without this agreement, "the region will not be safer and would actually be one step closer to an open confrontation," he added.

Pence at a conference on the Middle East in Warsaw on Thursday denounced the retention by the Europeans of the nuclear agreement.

He also criticised the initiative of France, Germany and Britain to allow European companies to continue operating in Iran despite US sanctions.
Glowing results for nuclear power at France's EDF



Paris, Feb 15 (AFP) Feb 15, 2019



A rebound in nuclear and hydroelectric production helped French power company EDF push operating profits higher last year, it said Friday while remaining cautious about the outlook for 2019.

Operating profit climbed by 11 percent to 15.3 billion euros ($17.2 billion), slightly higher than the consensus of analyst forecasts compiled by data firm FactSet.

Net profit plunged by nearly 63 percent to 1.2 million euros, but the company had booked exceptional gains in 2017.

"We promised a rebound, we have delivered that rebound," chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy told journalists.

The improvement was driven by a 3.7 percent increase in nuclear production to 393.2 terawatt-hours, coming off a difficult 2017 marked by numerous shutdowns for security issues.

Hydroelectric output climbed by a quarter as ample snow and rain swelled reservoirs.

The 46.5 terawatt-hours produced was a 15-year high.

For 2019, EDF is being cautious, forecasting operating profits remaining stable at 15.3 billion or increasing as far as 16 billion euros. That outlook is based on a slight increase in nuclear output.

Levy, whom the state endorsed on Thursday for another term as chief executive, said he would make by the end of the year proposals to reorganise the company.

The French state, which owns nearly 84 percent of EDF, last year told the firm it would have to shut down 14 reactors by 2035 to meet the government's goal to reduce nuclear's share of electricity output to 50 percent, and encouraged EDF to consider reorganising its operations in order to meet that objective.

jmi/rl/nla
Thousands of UK kids skip school for climate protests



London, Feb 15 (AFP) Feb 15, 2019



Thousands of schoolchildren went on "strike" across Britain on Friday in a protest against climate change, with hundreds rallying in London's Parliament Square.

Children of all ages chanted "save our planet", cheered as flares were lit and clambered onto statues in the shadow of Big Ben to call for action, and to raise awareness.

"As humans, we got ourselves into this predicament, it's our responsiblity to get out of it," said Hal, a 15-year-old from London.

"As well as being a message to the politicians, it's a way to spread awareness to everyone," added the teenager, who was wearing his school uniform "to accentuate the fact that I should be at school".

The protesters waved makeshift placards reading "Make Earth Cool Again", "Don't Mess With My Mother", "We Stand For What We Stand On" and "I'm Getting Detention For This".

There were similar protests in dozens of British towns and cities, including Brighton, Leeds, Manchester and Oxford.

Many of the children said their schools had shown them leniency in attending the "Youth Strike 4 Climate" event, part of a Europe-wide movement that has seen walkouts in Belgium, France, Germany, and Sweden.

Young protesters have been gathering in Brussels and other Belgian cities on Thursdays for around six weeks, with approximately 11,000 turning out in the capital this week.

Demonstrators also took to the streets of European cities like Paris, Potsdam and Munich on Friday, according to organisers.

"I'm originally from Germany so my friends already did it, then I saw people talk about it, and I said 'Oh my god, I've got to come," art student Emily El-Harake, 17, told AFP in London.

The teenager called on politicians to get Brexit sorted quickly in order to focus on "more important issues" like the environment.

"Young people are a lot more conscious of it, most people I know, we buy our clothes second hand," added friend Erin Mantle, 16, who said their school was supportive of their strike.

"It's the little things that we are doing but it's the government that needs to do the big things."



- 'Stop being selfish' -



Prime Minister Theresa May's office said it was good that young people were "engaged in the issues that affect them", but that the protest "wastes lesson time that teachers have carefully prepared for."

The movement was inspired by the actions of Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old girl who held a solitary protest outside the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm last year.

She responded Friday to Downing Street's criticism of the demonstrations.

"Political leaders have wasted 30 (years) of inaction. And that is slightly worse," she wrote on Twitter.

Geography student Paige Reardon, 16, said her teacher was "happy that I was going" to the protest, and urged politicians to take action.

"They need to consider it's their children and grand children who are going to suffer. Stop being selfish."

Some parents were also in attendance, including Minnesota native Sally Hodgkinson, 42, and her 11-year-old daughter Isis.

"She expressed an interest, as did some kids from her school, and I thought it was a good way for them to get engaged," said mother Sally.

"It has to be put to the top of the agenda."

Student Hal said that social media was helping young people to coordinate action worldwide.

"It would've been a much smaller cause without it. It's a really good thing social media brought all these people together."
Thousands of UK kids skip school for climate protests



London, Feb 15 (AFP) Feb 15, 2019



Thousands of schoolchildren went on "strike" across Britain on Friday in a protest against climate change, with hundreds rallying in London's Parliament Square.

Children of all ages chanted "save our planet", cheered as flares were lit and clambered onto statues in the shadow of Big Ben to call for action, and to raise awareness.

"As humans, we got ourselves into this predicament, it's our responsiblity to get out of it," said 15-year-old Hal, who normally attends a shool in Hammersmith, west London.

"As well as being a message to the politicians, it's a way to spread awareness to everyone," added the teenager, who was wearing his school uniform "to accentuate the fact that I should be at school".

The protesters waved makeshift placards reading "Make Earth Cool Again," "Don't Mess With My Mother", "We Stand For What We Stand On" and "I'm Getting Detention For This."

There were similar protests in dozens of towns and cities, including Brighton, Leeds, Manchester and Oxford.

Many of the children said their schools had shown them leniency in attending the "Youth Strike 4 Climate" event, part of a Europe-wide movement that has seen walkouts in Belgium, France, Germany, and Sweden.

"I'm originally from Germany so my friends already did it, then I saw people talk about it, and I said 'Oh my god, I've got to come," art student Emily El-Harake, 17, told AFP.

The teenager called on politicians to get Brexit sorted quickly in order to focus on "more important issues" like the environment.

"Young people are a lot more conscious of it, most people I know, we buy our clothes second hand," added friend Erin Mantle, 16, who said their school was supportive of their strike.

"It's the little things that we are doing but it's the government that needs to do the big things."



- 'Stop being selfish' -



Prime Minister Theresa May's office said it was good that young people were "engaged in the issues that affect them", but that the protest "wastes lesson time that teachers have carefully prepared for."

The movement was inspired by the actions of Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old girl who held a solitary protest outside the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm last year.

Geography student Paige Reardon, 16, said her teacher was "happy that I was going" to the protest, and urged politicians to take action.

"They need to consider it's their children and grand children who are going to suffer. Stop being selfish."

Some parents were also in attendance, including Minnesota native Sally Hodgkinson, 42, and her 11-year-old daughter Isis.

"She expressed an interest, as did some kids from her school, and I thought it was a good way for them to get engaged," said mother Sally.

"It has to be put to the top of the agenda."

Student Hal said that social media was helping young people to coordinate action worldwide.

"It would've been a much smaller cause without it. It's a really good thing social media brought all these people together."
Amazon drops New York headquarters plan amid protests



New York, Feb 14 (AFP) Feb 14, 2019



Amazon abandoned plans for a new headquarters in New York City on Thursday, blaming opposition from community leaders angry at the huge subsidies being offered to one of the world's most successful companies.

The New York neighborhood of Long Island City was one of two locations Amazon selected last year after a long search for a second headquarters or "HQ2."

The online retail giant had promised the sprawling complex in the borough of Queens would create 25,000 jobs in exchange for nearly $3 billion in state and city incentives -- which had riled some New Yorkers.

"While polls show that 70 percent of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project," Amazon said in a statement.

"We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion -- we love New York, its incomparable dynamism, people, and culture -- and particularly the community of Long Island City, where we have gotten to know so many optimistic, forward-leaning community leaders, small business owners, and residents."

Amazon, which is also in cloud computing, streaming media and artificial intelligence, chose the site after a lengthy search, saying it was outgrowing its home in Seattle, Washington.

The company said it would "continue growing" its 5,000-strong workforce in New York.



- No new bidding -



It added that it would not reopen the bidding process but would "proceed as planned" with a site in northern Virginia and a logistics center in Nashville, Tennessee.

The New York plan had been endorsed by Mayor Bill De Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo, but ran into fierce opposition from some local politicians and community activists, including newly elected Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose district borders the New York site.

"Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazon's corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world," she tweeted.

De Blasio sounded bitter about the reversal of a deal clinched after months of negotiations.

"We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity," the mayor said in a statement.

"If Amazon can't recognize what that's worth, its competitors will."

Cuomo meanwhile lamented that "at a small group politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community" to pressure Amazon to withdraw.

He said the state Senate, which appointed an Amazon opponent to a key board, "has done tremendous damage" and "should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity."

Conservative and liberal opponents have argued that the company led by Jeff Bezos, who tops the Forbes rich list with a personal wealth of $134 billion, does not need what some describe as "corporate welfare."

Critics also voiced concerns that the promised jobs could inflate an already overpriced housing market and strain infrastructure.

Initial reactions to Amazon's decision from the local community appeared mixed.

"I'm relieved because I'm a renter here," said one female resident of the Queens neighborhood who declined to give her name. "I'm not sure these jobs would have been what the people living in this community need."



- Bitter pill -



But others like David Katzen, who owns a construction company in the neighborhood but does not live there, were disappointed.

"It was a horrible decision by the local legislators to oppose it," he told AFP. "It was short-sighted and ultimately what's going to happen here? Nothing. There's no good that came of this."

George Miranda, who leads the local branch of the blue-collar Teamsters union, said after the announcement: "New Yorkers made it clear that Amazon wasn't welcome in our city if it would not respect our workers and our communities. Apparently, the company decided that was too much to ask."

Scott Galloway, a New York University professor and author, said on Twitter after the announcement: "Immunities kick in and NYC finds its testicles. This is good for NYC, and America. Billionaires should not have their hand(s) out."

bur-rl/ft
Apple eyes starpower for launch of new streaming service



San Francisco, Feb 14 (AFP) Feb 14, 2019



Is it Hollywood time for Apple?

The iPhone maker appeared set to launch its streaming television service next month, calling on celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and "Star Wars" director J.J. Abrams to join an event at its Silicon Valley headquarters.

Apple remained customarily tight-lipped about its plans amid reports of a March 25 event at its Cupertino headquarters focusing on services, including video and a likely subscription news service aimed at shaking up the world of journalism.

The news comes with Apple under pressure to emphasize subscription-based services to diversify its revenues amid sluggish growth in smartphones, which have delivered the bulk of Apple's profits for the past decade.

With news and streaming video, Apple could potentially disrupt two sectors and move toward reinventing itself once again.

Apple transformed the digital music scene with deals to sell songs through its iTunes store launched in 2003.

An Apple streaming music service launched in mid-2015 now boasts more than 50 million subscribers.

Apple is believed to be investing at least $1 billion in content and has acquired the rights to a new series starring and co-produced by American actresses Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.

The two actresses were expected to join chief executive Tim Cook in Cupertino, with Jennifer Garner also present, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The potential for an Apple service streaming movies or television shows has been a question since the company added the Apple TV set-top device to its lineup 12 years ago.

Bloomberg News reported the video service would compete with rivals like Netflix and Amazon Prime, although details of the service had not been finalized.



- Apple for news? -



The Wall Street Journal reported this week that some news organizations were balking at Apple's plan to take a 50 percent cut of revenues as it beefs up its mobile app to offer newspaper as well as magazine subscriptions.

The disclosure appears to be "attempts to negotiate through the media," according to tech analyst Ben Thompson on his Stratechery blog, who added that if Apple succeeds, "having one place to get all of the best journalism would be amazing."

Some analysts remained skeptical about Apple's plans to disrupt journalism.

"It's hard to justify a 50 percent cut," Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi said in a tweet on the subject.

Apple, known for having music stars perform at its media events, is looking to build momentum for its Apple TV service, with deals to have it installed on television models coming out this year.

During a recent earnings call, Cook confirmed that Apple plans to produce its own shows in a move that could challenge streaming television giants Netflix and Amazon Prime, which have invested heavily in original content.

"We will participate in the original content world," Cook said while discussing Apple's plans for video content including a partnership with Oprah Winfrey.

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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(0x7fbff8cd4400)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff8c891c8)', '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(0x7fbff8cd4400)') 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(0x7fbff8c891c8)') 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(0x7fbff8ca55b8)') 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(0x7fbff8c891c8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff8c891c8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff83d0710)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff8cd8550)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff8cd8550)') 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(0x7fbff8c85088)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff8e0c7e8)', '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(0x7fbff8c85088)') 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(0x7fbff8e0c7e8)') 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(0x7fbff8c991e8)') 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(0x7fbff8e0c7e8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff8e0c7e8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff83d4bd0)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff8e714c0)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff8e714c0)') 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(0x7fbff8cf7d38)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff8cf3348)', '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(0x7fbff8cf7d38)') 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(0x7fbff8cf3348)') 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(0x7fbff8ce19f8)') 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(0x7fbff8cf3348)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff8cf3348)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff83d4120)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff8e323a0)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff8e323a0)') 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(0x7fbff8d18dd8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff8de9ee0)', '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(0x7fbff8d18dd8)') 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(0x7fbff8de9ee0)') 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(0x7fbff8ca75f0)') 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(0x7fbff8de9ee0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff8de9ee0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff83d3f48)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff8de9c28)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff8de9c28)') 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(0x7fbff8c45000)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff8d2ace0)', '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(0x7fbff8c45000)') 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(0x7fbff8d2ace0)') 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(0x7fbff8d5f928)') 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(0x7fbff8d2ace0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff8d2ace0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff83d5180)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff7ef8f88)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff7ef8f88)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
The country has reacted predictably  the Government has warned of stern action and it is to the credit of this Government that it had the courage and conviction to take stern action after Uri attack. So, one is hopeful that at least this Government will not stop at mere words. unlike the earlier ones. One shudders to think of how many more such incidents would have happened and Indian lives lost, had the Government not shown its willingness to take punitive action (which hopefully acted as a deterrent for a while).

The irony is striking  as the country was rejoicing over the #UriSurgicalStrikes (back in public memory due to the extremely well-made film of the same name), came another equally dastardly act of terrorism. A suicide bomber rammed an explosive laden SUV into a bus carrying CRPF personnel on the Srinagar Jammu highway on 14 th Feb 2019. Dar was supported by more terrorists who opened fire on other CRPF buses. As of last count, martyrdom of at least 42 security personnel was confirmed.

The media is eulogizing the sacrifice and the martyrdom of the security personnel. Heart wrenching stories of the soldiers are being covered and they make for a very emotional read. Exactly 2 weeks earlier, Squadron Leader Samir Abrol and Squadron Leader Sidharth Negi achieved martyrdom while test flying Mirage 2000 at HAL airport, Bengaluru. This too was dutifully covered by the media. Prior to this, an Army major and a soldier were killed in an attack on the LOC on Jan 11 and the media covered this also.

However, let us remember that this is the same media that had also reported that 7 civilians, 3 militants, 1 jawan killed in Pulwama gunfight  without realizing that while militants get killed, jawans get martyred! There is a difference between the two, but our popular English media possibly does not understand the same. The role of the media is to be objective, but when that objectivity reaches a stage that it is unable to distinguish between the life of a terrorist and a soldier, then it needs to be questioned.

Media frames and influences popular perception and when this responsibility is not handled with maturity, it harms the nation. A case in point has been the biased coverage of the much discussed Rafale deal. It is a known fact that our Armed Forces are using outdated equipment and there is an urgent need for modernization. Instead of appreciating the Government for taking bold steps towards the same, the media has played directly into the hands of anti-national elements by either not bothering to understand the nuances of the deal or willfully choosing to misrepresent facts. A recent article by Maj. Gen. Mrinal Suman (Indias leading expert on Defence Procurements) explains the same in detail. Quoting the article, Headlines of a newspaper dated 11 Feb 2019 screamed thatprovisions of the Defence Procurement Procedure 2013 were violated by not adhering to the mandatory Standard Contract Document, given at Chapter V of the procedureThe paper has most dishonestly omitted to inform the readers that the Standard Contract Document is not applicable to IGA (Inter Government Agreements).

If the Rafale deal (or any modernization attempt) gets cancelled/deferred due to selfish opposition interests and self-righteous media, and more pilots lose their lives flying obsolete machines  who will be held responsible?

Squadron Leader Abrol and Squadron Leader Negi may not have lost their lives if they were not flying these outdated machines. There have been numerous cases of test pilots dying because of old aircrafts. As a Facebook Post shared by Squadron Leader Abrols family asks, How many more of these pilots have to give up their life to shake you up and make you realise there is something really wrong in the system?

Most of us Indians are also feeling the pain of the families that have lost their loved ones in Pulwama attack. Social media profile pictures are being changed to reflect the somber mood of the nation. Messages of revenge and rage are doing the rounds. People are angry and rightfully so. It is heartening to see that at least we have not become so callous that these untimely deaths have stopped evoking a primal response.

But a primal response is just that  a primal responsea temporary reaction. Today, we all are upset and baying for blood. But a fortnight later  our minds will be occupied with 31 st March deadlines, school exams, upcoming vacation plans and the ilk  our lives will go on. It is the bereaved families who have had a full stop in their lives.

Wars and battles are not won just based on a primal response. Even the best of generals needs men who are trained, men who are well fed and well equipped. An early 20 th century saying An army marches on its stomach clearly illustrates the same. A country like India is complex and diverse. Its military and para military forces fight multiple threats along the borders/ LOC and within disturbed areas. They do so with equipment way past its shelf life this often leads to loss of life and limb. Yet, we question why the Defence Expenditure has been increased? We theorize that as a peace-loving nation, we should reduce the size of our security forces, we should spend the money saved for development activities. We forget that development happens only when there is peace. Ensuring peace is never a one-sided jobif we have hawks outside and within, we must be prepared.

The peace lovers who criticized the Army Chief for taking a tough stance against stone-pelters are quiet today. As per reports, the Pulwama suicide bomber was trained initially as a stone pelter. Had he been caught and put behind bars then, had our intelligentsia not supported stone pelters as misguided youths, had they supported the military and para military forces in doing a thankless, risky jobmaybe today the 42 CRPF men would have been alive. Their kids would have grown up with fathers.

Systemic change (and not knee-jerk reactions) is the need of the hour. But systemic change is difficult and does not win elections. It is far easier for Rahul Gandhi to blame Modi, obfuscate Rafale and derail the much needed Defence modernization than for him and the rest to put aside partisan politics and look at the larger picture in national interest. We have and will keep losing young lives due to the selfish and greedy nature of our politicians  simply because defeating Modi in Elections 2019 is a far bigger and unifying agenda for them than ensuring safety of our nation and its warriors.

Blaming Jaish-e-Mohammed, ISI and Pakistan for Pulwama is taking the easy way out. Blaming them helps us deal with our own guilt. But we are as culpable, if not more, as the external enemy. Today we are eulogizing our dead, but tomorrow they will be forgotten. Till the time, we  as a one nation, one people- redress the flaws inherent in the system, we will continue to see such incidents. Till the time, we do not put aside our narrow views and embrace a larger collective view in the national interest, our soldiers are doomed to die.

Uri happened, Pulwama happened. more such incidents will continue to happen. It is a matter of shame for all of us that a nation of 1.2 billion lets its young, its brave and its best die.

Here Dead We Lie (A E Housman)

Here dead we lie

Because we did not choose

To live and shame the land

From which we have sprung.

Life, to be sure,

Is nothing much to lose,

But young men think it is,

And we were young.

Aditi Kumaria Hingu is a marketing graduate from IIM Calcutta. Currently she works in the corporate sector. She comes from an army background.

Note: The views expressed in the article are of the author's and not of Sify.com.



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India: A schizophrenic nation that worships the dead and kills the living



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Let's blame Narendra Modi for all of India's ills!



India and OROP: The hypocrisy of 15th August



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Siachen: 31 years later, the agony continues



Dear India, soldiers are human beings too


Volusia County Sheriff's Office(DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.) -- A Florida woman suspected of driving under the influence was heard on camera making racist threats toward a black police officer, according to body camera footage.



Police said the woman, identified as 53-year-old Julie Edwards, levied the threats last Friday night while being investigated for a DUI in Volusia County, Florida, about 50 miles northeast of Orlando, according to charging documents released this week.



Edwards allegedly threatened a Volusia County sheriff's deputy "with a visit from the KKK, a cross burning in his yard and harm to him and his family," the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Tuesday. The woman is not seen in the footage, but can be heard making the threats.



While the arresting officer was completing paperwork, Edwards said she hoped to find the deputy, who is black, in a corner alone, according to body camera audio released by the sheriff's office.



"Keep it up boy," she said, according to the footage. "I will find you one day in a corner."



When the deputy asked her if she was "making a threat to a law enforcement officer," she responded, "I won't find you. My KKK people will."



"You f------ with the wrong white people," she said. "KKK's got your a-- boy."



She said the Ku Klux Klan would be burning crosses on his property and said black people should've never been let out of slavery, according to the body camera footage.



"My KKK friends will burn your family. Should never be here in the first place," she said.



She was charged with DUI, prior refusal to submit to testing, resisting an officer without violence and threats against a law enforcement officer, according to an arrest affidavit.



"Deputy King is of African-American descent and knows the history behind the KKK and the pain and torture they have caused and still cause to African-Americans today," the affidavit said. "Deputy King does not know Edwards and does not know her capabilities and takes the threat to be serious. Edwards was additionally charged with threats against a law enforcement officer, 1st offense."

Edwards was arrested on Feb. 8, and taken to the Volusia County Jail, but she was no longer in custody as of Thursday evening, court records show.



She is scheduled to appear in court on March 6. It's unclear if she has retained an attorney.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Lal Dungri, South Gujarat: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday established a connect with the crowds here in Gujarat, scoffing at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development claims in his home state and alleging that GST had killed the state's small and medium scale businessmen who were its true pillars.

"Sardar ney humko rasta dikhaya tha, Mahatma Gandhi ney rasta dikhaya tha, ab Gujarat ke log firse dikhayenge kaise logon ko ek karte hain, sahi vikas kya hain (Sardar showed us the way, Gandhi showed us the way, now people of Gujarat will once again show how to unite the country, what is real development)," he declared to loud applause.

As the crowds listened in rapt attention, Gandhi made an sentimental appeal: "Gujarat has given immense love and respect to me, I will never forget this. There is nothing bigger for me. I love to come here as many as times as possible. I love the people of Gujarat, I love the food here."

As the crowds cheered and whistled, he said: "Whenever Gujarat calls me, I will be there. Wherever I am, I promise, whenever you call me I will come."

Taunting Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' radio programme, the Congress chief added, addressing the crowd: "You are our masters. The farmers, the tribals, the downtrodden are our masters. Not Anil Ambani, not Nirav Modi, not Vijay Mallya."

There was loud applause when he referred to Jay Shah, son of BJP President Amit Shah.

"He converted Rs 700 crore black money into white through a cooperative bank (Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank of which Amit Shah is a director). But Narendra Modi will not speak about this," he asserted.

Just as Gandhi exhorted the crowds to shout after him "chowkidar chor hai" he said: "Delhi mein kehte hain chor hai, Gujarati mein bolte hain Chor Chhey." The people broke into huge laughter and some shouted back "mahachor chhey" and "paako chor chhey".

Gandhi said "Modi's Gabbar Singh Tax (Goods and Services Tax)" had sounded the death knell of the small and medium scale businessmen who were the true pillars of Gujarat's economic prowess. And GST came as an insult to injury to the common men after demonetization, he added.

"The UPA government in 2019 will bring real GST, where it will be a truly simple tax and truly one tax, not the present version."

Gandhi said the Congress brought National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Food Security Act and a progressive and people-oriented land acquisition law. "And now we are coming with a concept of guaranteed income.

"Under this, money will be directly transferred in your bank account... We have been planning for this for over three to four months."

Referring to the Bharatmala project, Gandhi said it was "bharat-maara not Bharatmala" through which lands of farmers and poor were being snatched.

He challenged the BJP government to implement the Land Acquisition Act which the UPA government had brought in 2013. "We implemented it in Chhattisgarh immediately after our party came to power. Our government got the Tatas to return thousands of acres of unused land according to the law," Gandhi added.
This decision was taken during the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting held a day after the worst-ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday announced that the "Most Favoured Nation" status which was granted to Pakistan stands withdrawn.

A suicide bomber on Thursday rammed an SUV packed with explosives into a Central Reserve Police Force bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, killing at least 45 troopers, injuring 38 and leaving the security establishment stunned.

The CRPF convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Jaitley said that the government would ensure all diplomatic steps towards isolating Pakistan in the diplomatic community.

"The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will initiate all possible diplomatic steps that have to be taken to ensure complete isolation of Pakistan, of which incontrovertible evidence is available, for having a direct hand in this gruesome incident," Jaitley said.

"As far as the security forces are concerned, they will be taking all possible steps to ensure that full security is maintained and that those who have committed and actively supported this heinous act are made to pay a heavy cost," he added.

India & Pakistan MFN status:

According to India's commerce ministry, trade between the two countries was $2.28 billion in 2016-17.

Although India has accorded Pakistan the MFN status in accordance with WTO principles and rules, Pakistan is yet to accord similar policies. In fact, Pakistan initiated the Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) agreement citing political mistrust and border conflicts.

According to a PTI story dated November 2018, Pakistan's commerce minister said there were no plans to grant India the trade status. This, in spite of Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan sharing his keenness for furthering peace between the two countries.

Ironically, Pakistan at that time was in talks with China over FTA (Foreign trade agreements) but was yet to even consider a review of the MFN status.

What is the concept of Most Favoured Nation?

A country is accorded this status to ensure non-discriminatory trade in line with the provisions of the WTO. According to the WTO, a member cannot discriminate between its trade partners and hence a special status granted to a trade partner must be extended to all members of the WTO.

Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs, MJ Akbar in a written reply to a question during a Rajya Sabha proceeding had clarified on the MFN status to Pakistan. The question sought to know if there was a review of MFN status granted to Pakistan. This, post the Uri attack. And also details for the inaction.

Akbar in his reply said that the MFN status accorded to Pakistan was not in review. "Presently, no proposal to review Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan is under consideration. India has accorded Most Favoured Nation Status to all WTO members, including Pakistan, in accordance with provisions of the Article 1 of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 1994. It is unfortunate that Pakistan has not fulfilled its international obligations in this regard, so far," his reply added.
Its net profit for the third quarter of the current fiscal was Rs 221.06 crore against Rs 163.66 crore reported for the year-ago period, GSK Consumer Healthcare said in a regulatory filing to the BSE.

Mumbai: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare on Thursday reported a 35.07 per cent rise in net profit for the October-December quarter.

The company's total income for Q3FY19 was Rs 1,241.07 crore, 12.82 per cent higher than Rs 1,100.02 crore earned during Q3FY18, it said.

On the amalgamation of the company with Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), it said "presently, the company is in the process of seeking other requisite approvals" after the Competition Commission of India approved the proposed amalgamation on January 23.

On December 3, 2018, the GSK Consumer Healthcare board of directors had approved the plan of amalgamation with HUL.
SHEPHERDSTOWN  Braving Saturdays gloomy weather, community residents stepped into the Town Run Tap House and Community Pub to buy handmade Valentines Day gifts.

The Fourth Annual Shepherdstown Valentines Market featured 22 vendors, selling everything from steampunk jewelry, to beer steins, to oil paintings, during the one-day event.

I always find stuff to decorate my room with at events like these  this stuff is beautiful and I love supporting local vendors, said Tiffany Miller, of Charles Town, as she took a break from offering free 15-minute massages at the event to shop.

People here are so creative. I have no creative talent whatsoever, so its great to see everything they make! Miller said, after purchasing a glass dish from DraKiln Glass.

For DraKiln Glass owner Michael Powers, the market is an event he has enjoyed selling at for three years.

I like working with other artists, the venue is great and the people who come by are nice, Powers said, mentioning he usually sells between 12-24 items in a typical day at the market. People have gotten to know when they come to events here, that the quality is high. People who sell at this event put a lot of art into the things that they make, whether its bowls or ceramics or other stuff.

According to Powers, his glassware is different from that of other local glass artisans, because it isnt blown to create its shape.

I have a big kiln that you just make it in, Powers said. Ill fire it one time to put the glass together to make it one piece. And then Ill fire it again to put a shape or other element into it. And then Ill fire it a third time, to make it into its specific shape. I like working with different colors, just to see what comes out.

On the opposite end of the room from Powers table of colorful glassware, For the Birds owner Berkley Simmons was arranging her display of birdseed wreaths and bird houses in-between customers.

People like to feed birds in the winter, to get them fat and ready for the winter weather, Berkley, of Boonsboro, Maryland, said. I was thinking it would be a nice gift for teachers, because its small and useful. And its a good gift to give to people you need to give a gift to, but dont know very well.

For Berkley, running the business during festivals throughout the year helps fund a longtime hobby of hers, volleyball.

About three years ago, my mom said I needed to start raising money for club volleyball, and so I have been doing this every year since, Berkley said, mentioning she has played club volleyball for four years, is Potomac Elite Volleyball Clubs full-time setter and hopes to play college volleyball.

According to Kathy Simmons, of Keedysville, Maryland, attending the market is an opportunity for her and her husband, to stock up on a variety of handmade products, including Berkleys birdseed wreaths.

I hang them in the trees near my other bird feeders, and the birds just love them, Kathy said. Weve come to this event for years  this is about our third time.
SHEPHERDSTOWN  For Shannon Combs-Bennett, family history isnt just a matter of curiosity. Its a way of life.

On Feb. 5, Combs-Bennett, of Manassas, Virginia, spoke about What Your Chromosomes Can Tell You, during the First Tuesday Speaker Series at Christ Reformed United Church of Christ.

Combs-Bennett is currently writing the dissertation for her masters degree in genealogical, genetic and heraldic studies. She practices her ancestry and genetic researching abilities with her business, Trials and Tribulations Family History, helping people find the missing links in their family trees.

I grew up in a family as the youngest grandchild on one side and the only grandchild on the other, and grew up hearing family stories. I just assumed that was the same for everyone, Combs-Bennett said, mentioning she began developing her genealogy research skills after finding out her husband knew little about his familys past.

Unfortunately, my husband said he knew nothing about his grandparents, Combs-Bennett said about a conversation she heard her husband having with their daughter. The next morning, I started looking up his family history. And that passion hasnt stopped.

Since I have a DNA background, I like talking about genetics, Combs-Bennett said, before explaining the difference between X and Y chromosomes, and how genetic tests are based upon interpreting information within these chromosomes.

While ancestry can be discovered through searching historic records, Combs-Bennett said genetic testing helps people find others who may be distant or lost relatives.

To me, while I can identify genealogy family, I wanted to know about genetics  who else out there is related to me? Combs-Bennett said, explaining lost relatives are often the result of secret adoptions in the past. DNA can help you to learn about genealogy, to focus on finding out more information about one particular family line.

According to Combs-Bennett, while she has used genetic testing agencies, like 23andMe and AncestryDNA, to learn more about her familys origins, the test results can be a little misleading.

Some people get confused by the testing, but you have hundreds of thousands of DNA in each of your cells, Combs-Bennett said. Unfortunately, we lose DNA in each generation. So when you take a DNA test, you should be testing the oldest generations, because they are closest to your ancestors.

If you dont have any living older generations, you should test each living member of your generation, because while most of your family members will have the same DNA, each will have a unique combination of DNA. Half the DNA from your ancestors is lost between you and your siblings, Combs-Bennett said, mentioning many full-siblings have come to her, concerned because their DNA was different from their siblings or didnt show their connection to a people group they believed they were descended from.

Another factor people should be aware of, when taking popular DNA tests, is that the technology identifying people groups in DNA is constantly developing. The popular tests cost about $100 per test, which is far below the cost of a more accurate test, like the multi-thousand dollar one taken by Elizabeth Warren, proving her distant Cherokee ancestry.

According to Combs-Bennett, popular DNA test result interpretations are updated every few months, so people should check their test accounts at least once a year, to see what changes may have been made. But, regardless of what the test results say, Combs-Bennett emphasized its important for people to not dwell on their test results.

You can look at it and say, Oh, this is interesting! Combs-Bennett cautioned, but then put it away.

To learn more, visit Combs-Bennetts Twitter account @tntfamhist, or email her at tntfamhist@kandsbennett.net.
SHEPHERDSTOWN Shepherdstown Poet Laureat Hope Maxwell Snyder and writer Michael Collier presented their work at the Marinoff Theater on Friday, for the inaugural event of Shepherd Universitys Society for Creative Writing.

A tray of desert hors doeuvre and a twelve-bar blues jam greeted those in attendance at the Marinoff on Friday for the inaugural event. President Mary Hendrix opened the event with an introduction to the main presenters, while reminding the audience the impact of what writers can do, Good writing will always be important. Period.

The Society for Creative Writing, per their homepage, aims to bring national and international poets, fiction and non-fiction writers to Shepherd University in order to encourage literary dialogue in the community and to expose students to professionals in the writing field.

Snyder followed Hendrix, introducing the society and Collier to the audience. Colliers introduction was met with applause, as Collier took the stage to read from his new book, My Bishop and Other Poems. He presented The Storm, a long-form poem relating parts of his life to the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 in 1982.

Following Colliers reading, Snyder read from her published book of poetry, Esperanza and Hope, including works such as Blue Nights and Photograph of a Man Standing by a Waterfall. Books from both authors were available for purchase and signing after the event, where Four Seasons Books was selling them and donating 15 percent of the proceeds to the society.

According to Snyder, the society will not only increase opportunities for community members, but also for students.

I believe that students will benefit from listening to writers read their work and from engaging in conversations about craft and creativity, Snyder said, mentioning the society will bring in notable authors to host writing workshops throughout the year. Even though writing is done in solitude, we learn from others and we benefit from spending time with like-minded people. It gives us a sense of community, which is very important.

When asked about what students can expect from becoming a part of the society, Snyder described a contest held during the previous weekend where Lilli Sutton, a student at Shepherd, won a scholarship. The society is also offering internship opportunities, and experience opportunities, relating to writing as a profession and art.

Younger writers can learn from established writers and vice versa. Its a dialogue. A crucial dialogue, Snyder said.

Snyder has published multiple books and is currently the assistant director of the Bread Loaf Writers conference in Sicily.

The Society for Creative Writing is offering differing levels of memberships through donations, and Shepherd students can join for free. To learn more, visit www.shepherd.edu/societyforcreativewriting.
The New Zealand dollar fell slightly on the day but is headed for a 1.2 percent weekly gain after the Reserve Bank surprised the market last Wednesday with a less dovish than expected monetary policy statement.

The New Zealand dollar was trading at 68.26 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 68.39 at 8am. The traded-weighted index eased to 74.21 points from 74.31.

Were up on the week simply because of the market response to an aggressively neutral central bank, says Peter Cavanaugh, the senior client advisor at Bancorp Treasury Services.

Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr left his official cash rate unchanged at the record low of 1.75 percent where it has sat since November 2016 and said the next move could be either up or down.

However, the Reserve Banks forecasts predict a rate hike occurring in the March or June quarters of 2021, months later than it was forecasting last November.

After ending in New York last week at 67.44 US cents, the currency rallied to a high of 68.56 cents after the MPS where it met resistance.

It didnt want to go up any more so the market said, 'lets see if we can push it down a bit,' Cavanaugh said.

As for other reasons for the slight weakness today, he said the worlds just a little bit more worried. The usual suspects are to blame, including Britains Brexit from Europe, politics in the United States and the trade tensions between the US and China.

Asked where to from here, to repeat the themes from central banks, the shock risk is to the downside, Cavanaugh says.

A White House official said President Donald Trump will sign a spending bill that doesnt include the funding he sought to build a wall on the border with Mexico but which passed with overwhelming support from both the house of representatives and the Senate.

Trump will then declare a state of emergency so he can take money already allocated to deal with disasters to fund the wall, the official said.

That is sure to spark a constitutional crisis over whether the president is exceeding his powers by seizing the power of the purse from Congress.

With six weeks to go before the official Brexit deadline, Britains Prime Minister Theresa May has lost yet another key vote in parliament aimed at staving off a hard Brexit with no agreement with the rest of Europe.

As for the US/China trade talks, the latest news from the US side is that Beijing is offering only cosmetic, non-impactful offers and is stonewalling on substantive issues.

The kiwi was trading at 96.22 Australian cents from 96.24, at 53.33 British pence from 53.42, at 60.46 euro cents from 60.51, at 74.21 yen from 75.63, and at 4.6245 Chinese yuan from 4.6314.

The two-year swap rate is at 1.8880 percent from 1.9030 yesterday; the 10-year swap rate is at 2.4724 percent from 2.4850.

(BusinessDesk)

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Duterte endorses Villar as senator

Sen. Cynthia Villar's bid for reelection was endorsed by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte during the campaign kickoff of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino- Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-LABAN) in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

Villar was endorsed as a guest candidate of PDP-LABAN along with fellow Nacionalista Party members Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, and former senator now Taguig Rep. Pia Cayetano.

"I am both humbled and honored to have the endorsement of a very popular president," Villar said.

Duterte cited Villar's long years in public service and her character as a dedicated public servant.

"I look forward to continue working with him in instituting reforms, especially in making the agriculture sector profitable and competitive for our farmers and fisherfolks," Villar said.

Villar, chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture and Food and Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, is seeking her second term as senator on a platform of providing sustainable livelihood opportunities to Filipinos as Misis HanepBuhay and helping farmers and fisherfolks to produce enough food at cheaper cost for Filipinos.
Reelectionist Sen. JV Ejercito bats for the creation of 'Luzon growth triangle'

REELECTIONIST Senator JV "Mr. Healthcare" Ejercito on Friday batted for the development of a "Luzon growth triangle" which would stimulate rapid economic boom as well as sustain growth in the region.

"I have been very vocal in pushing for the creation of a 'Luzon growth triangle' composed mainly of Subic, Manila, and Batangas. This will not only bring economic growth in the region, which will benefit the whole country also, but also create jobs for our workers," he said in a statement.

He said the growth triangle should also include the full development of Clark International Airport, a modern railway system, and vital road networks "to ensure seamless delivery of goods, services, and people."

Ejercito said Luzon should evolve into an "investment magnet" that would attract both foreign and local investors.

"I am really for massive infrastructure program and modern railway system. I am running now for my reelection because I really want to push for these," he said.

He added: "One of the reasons why I would want to run (again) kasi gusto ko talagang tutukan ito. I am the only one that is really passionately talking about the railway system, the modernization plan of airports at kapag nanalo ako, talagang tututukan natin 'yan."
Issue Media Groups 12 publications in Michigan  including Second Wave Michigan  have become members of the Michigan Press Association, more than doubling the number of online-only news organizations accepted into the 150-year-old organization.



We are happy to welcome Issue Media and all of their publications as news media members of the Michigan Press Association. They are a good example of the diversity of our membership, said James Tarrant, MPA executive director.



The MPA board approved Issue Media Group publications membership last month.



Issue Media Group launched in 2005 with its flagship Detroit publication, Model D, with a focus on filling the gaps in community journalism and local storytelling being left as traditional news outlets reduced their reporting staffs.



We are happy to earn this recognition from our peers at the Michigan Press Association, said Paul Schutt, co-owner of Issue Media Group. Our journalists report on the very fabric of our communities. This is wonderful validation of the work we have done, and continue to do every day, throughout Michigan.



Schutt, a tech business developer, and co-owner Brian Boyle, digital content strategist, developed the company into a media organization with 12 publications in Michigan and six others nationwide. Each operates its own news website and produces a weekly email magazine.



Issue Media Group launched Second Wave Michigan in 2015. Second Wave Michigan focuses its solutions-based journalism on issues affecting Michigan.



Issue Media Group has launched four new markets in the last two years--Flintside, Route Bay City, Epicenter Mt. Pleasant, and Catalyst Midland.



We see a growing need in communities large and small throughout the country to ensure important community stories continue to be told. We believe storytelling is foundational to a community's identity and to increasing resident voice and community attachment to place, Boyle said.



Issue Media Group publications focus on solutions journalism with an eye specifically toward community growth, development and innovation. Issue Media Group employs more than 120 journalists nationwide and accumulated nearly 3.8 million page views in 2018.



Issue Media Group publications include Ann Arbor Concentrate, Bay City Route, suburban Detroit Metromode, Flintside, Grand Rapids Rapid Growth, Lansing Capital Gains, Midland Catalyst, Mt. Pleasant Epicenter, Port Huron The Keel, Southwest Michigans Second Wave, Second Wave Michigan, as well as Flintside and Model D.



With more than 330 members statewide, the addition of Issue Media Groups 12 Michigan-based magazines brings the total number of online-only news members to 21, according to MPA.



Like all Issue Media Group publications, Flintside is funded through a combination of underwriting contracts and grants. It is wholly editorially independent.



Underwriters are aligned with content focus areas  such as health care, higher education, children and neighborhoods  but are explicitly denied the ability to assign, review, and approve content.



Supporters of Flintside include Bishop Airport, Community Foundation of Greater Flint, Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce, Flint Downtown Development Authority, Genesee County Parks, Hagerman Foundation, Hurley Medical Center, Kettering University, Ruth Mott Foundation, Shaltz Automation, United Way of Genesee County, and the University of Michigan-Flint. The Flint & Genesee Chamber Foundation serves as Flintsides fiscal sponsor.



Other online-only news organizations with membership in the MPA include Bridge Magazine, Michigan Advance, Michigan Capitol Confidential, Chalkbeat, Flint Beat, Great Lakes Beacon, The Livingston Post, Michigan Information and Research Services Inc. (MIRS), and Oakland County 115, according to MPA.
Speaking at its recent agm UGS president, Theodore Veniamis warned the polarisation of attitudes towards scrubbers is having a divisive effect on the shipping community, although he praised IMO for political courage in looking at safety concerns raised by the industry over the introduction of new 2020-compliant fuels.

Not the first time the UGS criticised the legislation allowing exhaust gas scrubbers as an alternative to using low-sulphur fuel saying insufficient study has gone into allowing scrubbers.

Read more: Union of Greek Shipowners critical of IMO allowing scrubbers for 2020 sulphur cap compliance

No way the environmental footprint [of scrubber use] has been evaluated as it should have been, he said. The UGS has long backed the principle desulphurisation of fuels should be carried out ashore rather than on ships. Though a significant number of prominent Greek owners are among those opting for scrubbers Veniamis said his role as UGS president required him to defend the interests of the majority.

Read more: EGCSA urges authorities not to make hasty decisions banning open-loop scrubbers

He said that the EC in view of its long-standing high environmental objectives should have been quicker to face the safety issue and related implications for the protection of the marine environment.
The shipping industry in and around Limassol is experiencing fast growth, and the Cyprus government plans to take further steps to boost business, Deputy Minister of Shipping, Natasa Pilides, said on 14 February.

Speaking at an event in Limassol, where she recapped developments in the year since the standalone junior Ministry for shipping was established, Pilides said more and more shipping companies are choosing Cyprus as their base of operations as the country can offer a stable business environment and clear tax and legal frameworks.

Since the Ministrys creation the number of companies that are tax-resident in Cyprus has risen from 168 to 203, while many other corporations are not tax-resident but are doing business on the island. She revealed the number of companies setting up headquarters in Cyprus has nearly doubled since 2013.

Shipping accounts for around 7% of the Cypriot economy, and the Minister said 3% of the labour force, approximately 9,000 people, are currently employed in the shipping sector and the ministry is operating according to a strategic plan developed by a major consultancy firm.

Addressing shipowners, Pilides said: We would like to assure you we are doing all we can to upgrade Cyprus as a shipping destination, facilitating entrepreneurship and encouraging current businesses to bring more and more partners to set up shop here.

Read more: Cyprus Deputy Shipping Minister stresses quality and sophistication in growing maritime cluster

On the idea of a shipping link with Greece, Pilides said it has been given the green-light by the ministry. The terms of reference have been drafted, and soon the ministry would be assessing interested companies.

Brexit forced P&O Ferries to reflag its Channel ferry fleet to Cyprus from the UK, and Pilides said two UK-based insurers are moving to the island as the UK exits the EU.

Indeed, Michael Kyprianou & Co. LLC, one of the largest law firms in Cyprus, with international presence in nine cities worldwide has just launched Michael Kyprianou & Co LLC (London) with the goal of selling Cyprus as an ideal EU destination.

Early March the firm plans a seminar with the focus on Brexit and the impact on UK citizens living in Cyprus; Global Mobility relating to Cyprus; Cyprus as a corporate destination; and Cyprus Shipping  International trade beyond barriers.
Instead, the Capesize market remained dull and looked to the latest updates on Vale, the world largest iron ore supplier for any changes to seaborne iron ore supply.

Vale reaches agreement to reopen four pellet plants

So far, the Brazilian miner had reached an agreement with Brazilian authority in resuming operation of four previously halted pellet plants in Tubarao, Brazil.

The reopening of the four pellet plants along with the restart of the raw materials yard and coal port service ended the tight pellet supply scare, which was estimated at a loss output of 18.1m mt per year.

Previously, the city authority of Vitoria issued a shutdown of Vales wastewater treatment on the ground of wastewater were released to coastal waters without the knowledge of city council.

Still a flat physical market for Capesize

Despite the positive updates, Vale is still expected to suffer shortfall of 40m mt per year in its iron ore output from the decommission of its ten dams.

Thus, the Capesize paper market failed to pick up and remained rangebound for most of the week due to sluggish Brazilian iron ore movement at the aftermath of Vales dam collapse.

On Thursday, the Capesize time spreads barely moved and making hard for trade participants to see how the paper can break out of this range until the physical market sparks into life.

Nevertheless, the Capesize 5 time charter average booked a gain on Thursday to the spot price of $7,342, up $58 day-on-day.

Panamaxes still going strong

The Panamax paper market found support throughout the week, unaffected by weak Capesize market.

Despite the firm support, some aggressive selling occurred on Tuesday at the afternoon session before finding stability later with some bid supports.

Later, the Panamax paper market faced a turblulent day on St Valentine day, Thursday with another selloff in the early session before a push back session seen later in the day. As such, Panamax time charter average scored a small gain of $69 day-on-day to $4,988 on Thursday.

Stronger rates for smaller vessels

Supramax paper opened the week on a stronger note, following the positive momentum from past week. Throughout the week, the Supramax rates continued to improve as selling interest remained cautious.

Thus, the Supramax time charter recorded $5,634 on Thursday, up $289 day-on-day, while the Handysize paper saw a quiet week and booked $4,372, up $87 day-on-day
A team of scientists from the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health and Sciences University has found that a gene called the G-protein coupled receptor 39 (GPR39) had lower expression in the brains of nonhuman primates that voluntarily consumed heavy amounts of alcohol compared with those that drank less. Furthermore, the researchers unraveled a link between alcohol and how it modulates the levels of GPR39 activity. They discovered that when they increased the levels of the gene encoded protein in mice, they reduced alcohol consumption by almost 50% without affecting the total amount of fluid consumed or their overall well-being.

Our study highlights the importance of using cross-species approaches to identify and test relevant drugs for the treatment of alcohol use disorder, said Dr. Rita Cervera-Juanes, senior author of the study.

Dr. Cervera-Juanes and colleagues modified the levels of the protein encoded by GPR39, which is a zinc-binding receptor previously associated with depression.

The prevalence rates of co-occurring mood and alcohol use disorders are high, with individuals with alcohol use disorder being 3.7 times more likely to have major depression than those who do not abuse alcohol.

Using a commercially available substance that mimics the activity of the GPR39 protein, the team found that targeting this gene dramatically reduced alcohol consumption in mice.

To determine whether the same mechanism affects people, the scientists are now examining tissue samples from the brains of people who suffered from alcoholism.

Currently, there are only a handful of treatments for alcoholism approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

By testing the effect of the substance in reducing ethanol consumption in mice  in addition to its previously reported link in reducing depression-like symptoms  the findings may point the way toward developing a drug that both prevents and treats chronic alcoholism and mood disorders in people.

We are finding novel targets for which there are drugs already available, and they can be repurposed to treat other ailments, Dr. Cervera-Juanes said.

For alcoholism, this is huge because there are currently only a handful of FDA-approved drugs.

The study was published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

_____

Verginia C. Cuzon Carlson et al. Modulation of Gpr39, a G-protein coupled receptor associated with alcohol use in non-human primates, curbs ethanol intake in mice. Neuropsychopharmacology, published online January 5, 2019; doi: 10.1038/s41386-018-0308-1
New Jersey, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- HTF MI recently introduced Global System Infrastructure Revenue Market study with in-depth overview, describing about the Product / Industry Scope and elaborates market outlook and status to 2023. The market Study is segmented by key regions which is accelerating the marketization. At present, the market is developing its presence and some of the key players from the complete study are AWS, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Apprenda, Bungee Labs, CA, Engine Yard, Qlik, RACKSPACE, Red Hat, Salesforce.com, SAP, Telefonica, VMware, Wipro etc.



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About System Infrastructure Revenue

The global system infrastructure revenue market includes cloud software solutions that help in increasing the efficiency of IT systems used by an organization. These solutions help an organization in performing the basic tasks and support the workflow of its business. These software packages do not perform activities directly related to the business but are crucial for the smooth functioning of the business operations.



The global system infrastructure revenue market includes cloud software solutions that help in increasing the efficiency of IT systems used by an organization. These solutions help an organization in performing the basic tasks and support the workflow of its business. These software packages do not perform activities directly related to the business but are crucial for the smooth functioning of the business operations. HTF's analysts forecast the global system infrastructure revenue market to grow at a CAGR of 5.57% during the period 2017-2021.



Market driver

- Increasing shift toward service-oriented architecture (SOA)

- For a full, detailed list, view our report



Market challenge

- Cloud-based solutions leading to system integration issues

- For a full, detailed list, view our report



Market trend

- Emergence of database as a service (DBaaS)

- For a full, detailed list, view our report



This report studies the Global System Infrastructure Revenue market size, industry status and forecast, competition landscape and growth opportunity. This research report categorizes the Global System Infrastructure Revenue market by companies, region, type and end-use industry.



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Competitive Analysis:

The key players are highly focusing innovation in production technologies to improve efficiency and shelf life. The best long-term growth opportunities for this sector can be captured by ensuring ongoing process improvements and financial flexibility to invest in the optimal strategies. Company profile section of players such as AWS, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Apprenda, Bungee Labs, CA, Engine Yard, Qlik, RACKSPACE, Red Hat, Salesforce.com, SAP, Telefonica, VMware, Wipro includes its basic information like legal name, website, headquarters, its market position, historical background and top 5 closest competitors by Market capitalization / revenue along with contact information. Each player/ manufacturer revenue figures, growth rate and gross profit margin is provided in easy to understand tabular format for past 5 years and a separate section on recent development like mergers, acquisition or any new product/service launch etc.



Market Segments:

The Global System Infrastructure Revenue Market has been divided into type, application, and region.

On The Basis Of Type: Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS).

On The Basis Of Application: BFSI,Telecom, Healthcare, Retail

On The Basis Of Region, this report is segmented into following key geographies, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), and market share, growth rate of System Infrastructure Revenue in these regions, from 2013 to 2023 (forecast), covering

- North America (U.S. & Canada) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Opportunity Analysis}

- Latin America (Brazil, Mexico & Rest of Latin America) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Share (%) and Opportunity Analysis}

- Europe (The U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden & RoE) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Share (%) and Opportunity Analysis}

- Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Rest of Asia) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Share (%) and Opportunity Analysis}

- Middle East & Africa (GCC, South Africa, North Africa, RoMEA) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Share (%) and Opportunity Analysis}

- Rest of World {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Opportunity Analysis}



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Have a look at some extracts from Table of Content



Introduction about Global System Infrastructure Revenue



Global System Infrastructure Revenue Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2017

System Infrastructure Revenue Market by Application/End Users

Global System Infrastructure Revenue Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Applications

(2013-2023) table defined for each application/end-users like [BFSI,Telecom, Healthcare, Retail]

Global System Infrastructure Revenue Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2023)

System Infrastructure Revenue Competition by Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and Application

System Infrastructure Revenue (Volume, Value and Sales Price) table defined for each geographic region defined.

Global System Infrastructure Revenue Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data



Additionally Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors list is being provided for each listed manufacturers



Market Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018) table for each product type which include Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS)

System Infrastructure Revenue Manufacturing Cost Analysis

System Infrastructure Revenue Key Raw Materials Analysis

System Infrastructure Revenue Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers, Industrial Chain Analysis

Market Forecast (2018-2023)

........and more in complete table of Contents



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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 HTF Market Report

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".
Pennsauken, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- Sadly, each year hundreds of Americans die from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning, more than 20,000 visit the emergency room, and thousands of other individuals are hospitalized. The Law Offices of Vincent J. Ciecka, P.C. takes CO poisoning very seriously, as anyone from infants to the elderly are at risk. In fact, their personal injury lawyers in South Jersey want homeowners to know how to prevent CO poisoning and what to do in case someone is exposed long-term.



One of the first things the law office recommends is for homeowners to be aware of the common symptoms of CO poisoning, which are headaches, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. CO symptoms are frequently described as "flu-like." At home, stoves, furnaces, gas lanterns, barbecues, lawn mowers, and vehicles can leave elevated levels of carbon monoxide, which is why it's essential to have a technician come out annually to inspect all appliances to make sure there are no malfunctions to potentially cause leaks. The firm also recommends having rooms well ventilated and making sure there is nothing blocking vents in each room, and having CO detectors throughout the home.



The team at The Law Offices of Vincent J. Ciecka, P.C. is committed to being there when their clients need them and to assist them through a traumatic time of need. Most importantly for CO poisoning cases, their experience with the medical community allows them to focus on assisting them in getting the best medical care possible. This experience has helped them successfully maximize over 11,000 clients claims, settlements, and verdicts since their founding in 1976.



If an individual has suffered from the long-term complications of carbon monoxide poisoning, don't hesitate and contact The Law Offices of Vincent J. Ciecka, P.C., the top personal injury lawyers in Camden County, at 856-283-0589. Individuals may be able to obtain compensation to cover medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, or other expenses related to the exposure.



About The Law Offices of Vincent J. Ciecka, P.C.

The Law Offices of Vincent J. Ciecka was established in 1976 as a people focused personal injury law firm. The firm treats its clients with the utmost care and respect, and works with their clients to get the best results possible. The firm provides legal representation throughout Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and surrounding counties, and all areas of Central and Southern New Jersey. The Law Offices of Vincent J. Ciecka focus only on handling injury cases in the practice areas of personal injury and workers compensation. Vincent J. Ciecka, P.C., has over four decades of experience providing the highest level of strategic legal representation for all facets of personal injury and workers compensation cases, having taken part in extensive past cases dealing with insurance companies and courts alike.



Individuals that have been hurt and need help, call 856-283-0589 or reach them at https://www.ciecka.comand they will fight for them so they can get back to their lifestyle without having to deal with the insurance companies.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- Pyrogen Testing Market - Snapshot: The global pyrogen testing market is expanding due to increasing implementation of stringent regulations for manufacturing of pharmaceutical and medical device products, rising number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and shifting focus of population toward treatment of chronic and lifestyle diseases. The global pyrogen testing market was valued more than US$ 650.0 Mn in 2017. It is projected to surpass a value of US$ 1,700.0 Mn by 2026, expanding at a cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 11.0% from 2018 to 2026. The pyrogen testing market in Asia pacific is expanding at a significant pace due to adoption of LAL test in emerging economies, such as China and India, continuous development of innovative products on pyrogen testing by major and emerging players, and rise in importance of conventional research for protection of vital biomolecules and therapeutics.



Pyrogen are substances that cause fever, post administration of an injection. Occurrence of body ache and increase in body temperature are prominent reactions caused due to injection of harmful pyrogen into the body. Pyrogen testing determines the presence of endotoxin substances.



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Key factors that are projected to drive the market during the forecast period include an increase in public and regulatory concerns about product safety, introduction of pyrogen test in different applications, and surge in new innovative drugs and launch of biological products. Increasing focus of key companies on expanding their presence in countries in Asia, in order to cater to the rising demand, is a trend observed in the market. Furthermore, regulations by different regulatory authorities, such as the USFDA, are making it compulsory for every parenteral formulation to perform pyrogen test as a safety measurement and rising government awareness initiatives for healthcare treatment in the region are also boosting the pyrogen testing market.



The global pyrogen testing market has been segmented based on test type, component, end-user, and region. In terms of test type, the global market has been categorized into monocyte activation test (MAT), limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) test, rabbit pyrogen test (RPT), and others. The LAL test segment accounted for a key share (in terms of revenue) of the global market in 2017. The MAT test segment is estimated to expand at a rapid pace during the forecast period. It is estimated to gain market share, significantly, by the end of 2026. MAT test offers advantages such as reduced usage of animals for drug testing, which is a major concern raised by PETA. However, MAT test detects pyrogens that cannot be detected by LAL test, making it a more efficient and comprehensive test, which is likely to maintain its high growth rate and gain marginal market share during the forecast period. In terms of component, the global market has been categorized into instruments, kits, and reagents. The reagents segment is estimated to hold a major share of the market due to regular usage of reagents for pyrogen testing. In terms of end-user, the global market has been categorized into pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, medical device companies, and others. In terms of end-user, the pharmaceutical companies segment held a prominent share of the market. The pharmaceutical industry is expanding at a rapid pace, owing to rising importance of these companies not only in the field of conventional research, but also in the development and production of vital biomolecules and therapeutics. Moreover, the biotechnology companies segment is expected to expand at a rapid pace owing to expansion of the biotechnology industry and increasing approval of biological products. Discovery and launch of new products is fueling pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies segments. This, in turn, is projected to boost the global pyrogen testing market during the forecast period. The food industry segment is expected to expand at a moderate pace during the forecast period, due to an increased demand for nutrient-added food products in developed countries of Europe and North America. These factors are expected to boost the pyrogen testing market during the forecast period.



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Based on region, the global pyrogen testing market has been divided into major five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe accounted for a notable share of the global pyrogen testing market, followed by Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. The U.S. dominated the pyrogen testing market in North America. The factor that drives the pyrogen testing market in the region includes well-established rules and regulations for pharmaceutical manufacturing processes in the U.S. and rapidly increasing penetration of monocyte activation tests in the country. Europe follows North America in terms of share of the global pyrogen testing market. Germany held a major share of the pyrogen testing market, in terms of revenue, in Europe. The pyrogen testing market in Asia Pacific is expanding rapidly, driven primarily by expansion of the market in developing countries in the region. Increase in focus of key players to expand their presence in the region, large untapped population, and rise in awareness regarding health care are projected to propel the pyrogen testing market in Asia Pacific. However, low penetration of healthcare facilities and lack of availability for advanced pyrogen testing products are key factors restraining the pyrogen testing market in developing and undeveloped regions, such as Latin America and Middle East & Africa.



Companies such as Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Merck KGaA, Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., GenScript, Lonza Group, Sanquin, and WuXi AppTec, were major players operating in the global pyrogen testing market in 2017. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. emphasizes on acquisition of related companies in the industry in order to strengthen customer offerings and strategic position in the highly competitive environment. For instance, in 2017, the company invested around US$ 7.8 Bn for acquisitions. In April 2016, the company entered into a partnership with Siemens in order to offer a new type of molecular testing. The new product is likely to be integrated with Thermo Fisher Scientific's real-time PCR system and Siemens' VERSANT kPCR molecular solution. Other global players operating in the market include Associates of Cape Cod, Inc., Hyglos GmbH - a bioMerieux Company, and Wako Chemicals USA, Inc. Market players are adopting the strategy of acquisitions and collaborations with parallel companies in order to improve and strengthen their geographic presence in the global market.



About Transparency Market Research

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.



Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMR's syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.



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Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- Prostate biopsy is a procedure to collect sample tissue from prostate to identify cancer. Prostate biopsy is performed after digital rectal exam and blood test (screening tests).



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Prostate cancer is a common type of cancer in men. According to American Cancer Society estimates, around 164,690 new prostate cancer cases are likely to be registered and around 29,430 deaths in 2018. Moreover, around 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. Prostate cancer develops primarily in older men of the U.S. and Africa. Around 6 out of 10 cases diagnosed with prostate cancer are in men aged 65 or above. Prostate cancer is quite rare in men below the age of 40. Average age at the time of diagnosis is around 66.



Prostate biopsy involves usage of a needle to accumulate tissue sample from prostate gland. The procedure is performed by doctors specialized in the male sex organs and urinary system. After the analysis of digital rectal exam or prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test, an urologist recommends prostate biopsy to confirm cancer. Collected sample of tissue from prostate gland is examined by doctors under microscope to check for abnormalities in cells which are symptoms of prostate cancer.



Collection of tissue sample for prostate biopsy is performed through two different methods. The first method involves passing a needle through the rectum walls. This method is known as transrectal biopsy. The second method involves inserting a needle into the skin potion present between the scrotum and anus. This method is known as transperineal biopsy.



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Rise in incidence rate of prostate cancer, increase in geriatric male population globally, and availability of advanced diagnostic devices are the major factors driving the global prostate biopsy devices market. Moreover, advancement in molecular diagnosis for prostate cancer augments the global prostate biopsy devices market. However, high cost of biopsy procedures and shortage of skilled professionals are the major restraints of the market.



The global prostate biopsy devices market can be segmented based on prostate biopsy type, end-user, and region. In terms of prostate biopsy type, the global market can be bifurcated into prostate needle biopsy and prostate liquid biopsy. Based on end-user, the global prostate biopsy devices market can be divided into hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and others.



The global prostate biopsy devices market can be segmented into five major regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to dominate the global prostate biopsy devices market due to availability of advanced biopsy devices. Awareness among the people about the disease is a major factor propelling the market in this region. The prostate biopsy devices market in Asia Pacific is anticipated to expand at a rapid pace due to increase in prevalence of prostate cancer. Lack of awareness about the disease and unavailability of advanced biopsy procedures and treatment in underdeveloped countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, Turkey, and Iraq are likely to augment the prostate biopsy devices market in Middle East & Africa.



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Major players in the global prostate biopsy devices market include C. R. Bard, Inc., Cook Medical, SOMATEX Medical Technologies GmbH, Boston Scientific Corporation, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., BD, and Roche Diagnostics.



About Transparency Market Research

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.



Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMR's syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.



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Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- Paraquat is a highly toxic pesticide that is widely used as an herbicide (plant killer), primarily for weed and grass control. It is a toxic chemical which repeatedly causes damage to health and deaths among workers and farmers. So it is banned in Switzerland and the European Union, as well as some African and Asian countries. Paraquat is banned in Switzerland and the European Union, as well as some African and Asian countries. It is restricted for use only by licensed technicians in the United States.



In July, 2016, the production and use of paraquat in China is unavoidably banned from market. So the production of paraquat in recent years is decreasing. In the past few years, the biggest export destinations for Chinese paraquat were Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil, Malaysia and Australia. In the future, global market is expected to witness significant decrease of production, so in the next few years, paraquat production will show a trend of steady decrease. In 2022 the production of paraquat is estimated to be paraquat 39.4 K MT. On product prices, the slow downward trend in recent years will maintain in the future.



The global Paraquat market is valued at 130 million US$ in 2018 is expected to reach 60 million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of -9.5% during 2019-2025. At company level, this report focuses on the production capacity, ex-factory price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer covered in this report.



This report focuses on Paraquat volume and value at global level, regional level and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents overall Paraquat market size by analyzing historical data and future prospect. Regionally, this report focuses on several key regions: North America, Europe, China and Japan.



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The following manufacturers are covered:



Nanjing Redsun



Syngenta



Shandong Luba Chemical



Hubei Sanonda



Willowood USA



Solera



Sinon Corporation



Shandong Lufeng



Kexin Biochemical



Zhejiang Yongnong



Segment by Regions



North America



Europe



China



Japan



Segment by Type



Paraquat Aqueous Solution



Paraquat Soluble Granule



Paraquat Water Soluble Gel



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Segment by Application



Farms



Plantations and Estates



Non-agricultural Weed Control



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QYResearch always pursuits high product quality with the belief that quality is the soul of business. Through years of effort and supports from huge number of customer supports, QYResearch consulting group has accumulated creative design methods on many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in consulting industry.
Rockville, MD -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/14/2019 -- Milking Machine Market: Overview



Milking machine is an automatic milk garnering machine, which uses vacuum for catering milk from animal teats. The milking machine has added advantage of a systematic herd management that can be operated as a milk collecting machine. These milking machines can fellate 3 times in a day with an average of up 7.5 cows per hour. In addition milk machines are built on various features including a vacuum pump, vacuum regulators, fully insulated vacuum vessel, teats cups and a pulse recorder for pulsation. These milking machines are easy to operate and simple to maintain. Moreover, milking machines are widely used for efficient milk collection and for maintaining herd management across the globe. The milking machine market is estimated to increase in the future owing to the increasing milk demand.



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Milking Machine Market: Dynamics



Significantly, growing animal husbandry and dairy farm industry, is one the key driving factors stimulating the growth of the global milking machine market over the forecast period, owing to the increasing demand for milk and milk products among consumers. The macroeconomic factors, such as rapidly growing gross value added (GVA) of crucial countries and increasing import/export among key countries will lead the global milking machine market towards considerable growth over the forecast period. Also, the rapid growth in the dairy animal husbandry along with the growing milk processing industry will increase the demand for milk machines in the upcoming years. The key restraining factors such as high price, high shipment cost and stringent government regulations & standards for the manufacture of milk machines may hinder the global milk machine market over the forecast period. With the increase in animal husbandry in developing countries, such as India and China, will create a high opportunity for milking machine across these countries over the forecast period.



Milking Machine Market: Segmentations



Global milking machine market is segmented on the basis of product type, by end-use application, by buyers and by region. Based on product type, milk machine market is segmented as automatic and semi-automatic. Based on end-use application, milking machine market is segmented as cow milk machines and sheep milk machines. Based on buyer's type, milking machine market is segmented as individual buyers and institutional buyers. Based on region, milking machine market is segmented as North America, Latin America, Europe, APEJ, Japan and MEA. With the rapid growth in the dairy farming industry, automatic milk machines segment is estimated to witness high growth over the forecast period. On the other hand, high adoption of milk machines in the global dairy farming industry will aid in the expansion of the global milk machine market over the forecast period.



Milking Machine Market: Regional Overview



Europe is the most dominating market for milking machine followed by Asia Pacific & North America. Europe has the highest number of manufactures for milking machine, while in the Asia Pacific, countries including China, Japan and India have a high number of manufacturing units of milking machine. The number of manufacturers has been increasing day-by-day in these regions, which are leading the market for milking machine during the forecast period. Increasing industrial development of Latin America is also increasing the demand for milking machine. Europe, Asia Pacific & North America market is contributing to the global milking machine market while countries of Latin America and MEA are also showing considerable growth in the milking machine market.



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Milking Machine Market: Prominent Players



Prominent players of the global milking machine market are LELY (Netherlands), DeLaval (Sweden), Fullwood (United Kingdom), AMS-Galaxy (U.S.A), GEA Farm Technology (Germany), SA Christensen (Denmark), BouMatic Robotics (Netherlands), Prompt Softech (India), ADF Milking (United Kingdom) and other prominent players. Besides, key market players are focusing to target developing countries to supply the milking machine that will help to capture significant revenue share in the global milking machine market.



Milking Machine Market: Competitive Analysis



The global market for milking machine is fragmented in nature with the presence of many large and small market players. The competition among the existing market players is very high. Therefore, to survive & succeed in such a competitive environment, manufacturers must distinguish their product offering through innovative & unique products. This competitive environment also leads to a cut in the prices of their product to retain their market position, which can also negatively affect the profit margin of the manufacturers.



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Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- Kitchen Hood is a kitchen appliance to purify the kitchen environment containing a mechanical fan that hangs above the stove or cooktop in the kitchen. It removes airborne grease, combustion products, fumes, smoke, odors, heat, and steam from the air by evacuation of the air and filtration.



First, the concentration degree of Kitchen Hood industry is not high. There are more than one hundreds manufacturers in the world, and high-end products mainly from Germany, America, Italy, and China.



Italy has a long history and unshakable status in this industry, like Elica and Faber (though it is a part of FRANKE now), both have perfect design.



As to Germany, the Bosch Group has become a global leader, who has two main brands (Bosch and Siemens), and several special brands, such as Thermador.



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The import and export percent of this industry is high. Chinese products mainly export to Oceania, European, Middle East and Africa, and take a big market share of underdevelopment regions market, like Vietnam, Brazil and Pakistan. Hong Kong is the biggest export market of China, more than 80% of kitchen hoods are from China mainland. On the developed market, like America, Canada, Germany and France, Italy is the empire. Mexico also has a large amount of exports due to its geographic advantage.



We tend to believe this industry now is very mature, and the Consumption increasing degree will show a smooth curve. On product prices, the slow upward trend in recent years will maintain in the future, as competition intensifies, prices gap between different brands will go narrowing. Similarly, there will be small increase in gross margin.



The global Kitchen Hood market is valued at 7840 million US$ in 2018 is expected to reach 10100 million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 3.2% during 2019-2025.



This report focuses on Kitchen Hood volume and value at global level, regional level and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents overall Kitchen Hood market size by analyzing historical data and future prospect. Regionally, this report focuses on several key regions: North America, Europe, China and Japan.



At company level, this report focuses on the production capacity, ex-factory price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer covered in this report.



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The following manufacturers are covered:



FABER



Haier



ROBAM



FOTILE



BSH Group



Whirlpool



Electrolux



VATTI



Nortek



DE&E



Miele



ELICA



Midea



Macro



CATA



Sub-Zero



Viking



Kenmmore



Vent-A-Hood



Segment by Regions



North America



Europe



China



Japan



Segment by Type



Under Cabinet Mount



Wall Mount



Ceiling (Island) Mount



Downdraft Ventilation



Segment by Application



Commercial Use



Home Use



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Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- Global IP Cameras Market 2019 report provides comprehensive coverage on major industry drivers, restraints, and their impact on market growth during the forecast period. Furthermore, the study encompasses various market-specific growth opportunities in IP Cameras market.



The IP Cameras market report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out.



The global IP Cameras market was valued at million US$ in 2018 and is expected to reach million US$ by 2025 end, expanding at a CAGR of between 2019 and 2025.

The report also provides estimated market share, CAGR, production, consumption, price, revenue, and other crucial factors that indicate the growth of regional markets studied in the report.



Ask for PDF Document of the IP Cameras Market report here: https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/964702/global-ip-cameras-depth-analysis-report



Major Key Manufacturers of IP Cameras Market are:



Hikvision, Dahua, Axis Communications, Panasonic, NetGear, Bosch Security Systems, Pelco by Schneider Electric, Honeywell, Vivotek, Sony, Avigilon, Mobotix, Arecont Vision, Belkin, GeoVision, Toshiba, Juanvision, D-Link, Wanscam, Apexis



IP Cameras market includes market size, segmentation data and geographical analysis of market growth trends, leading companies and microeconomic information. Readers are also provided with a deep segmental analysis of the global IP Cameras market on the basis of the type of product and application.



Major Classification as follows:



Centralized IP Cameras, Decentralized IP Cameras



Major Application as follows:



Residential Use, Commercial Use, Manufacturing/Factory Use, Public & Government Infrastructure



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Regions Covered in the Global IP Cameras Market:

In terms of geography, Global IP Cameras Market report is segmented into various regions, revenue (US$ Mn), sales (K Units), revenue share and growth rate of global IP Cameras market for these geographies from 2019 to 2025 (Forecast period).

-North America (the United States, Canada and Mexico), South America (Brazil etc.), Europe (Germany, France, Russia UK, Italy, Turkey, etc.), Asia-Pacific (China, India, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Australia), The Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries and Egypt)



The report provides an in-depth analysis of the following 



Detailed Overview of Global IP Cameras market helps deliver clients and businesses making strategies.

- It covers IP Cameras industry outlines, upstream and downstream IP Cameras market segments, cost analysis, and market utilizing power, market overview, product scope, product definition of IP Cameras market driving forces.

- To provide detailed analysis, Market size and drivers from 2018 to 2025 including various segments and sub-segments of the Global IP Cameras Market

- Analysis of the key markets in each region, providing an analysis of the key segments of the market that are expected to be in demand

- The analysis of the competitive landscape of the global IP Cameras market. It provides an overview of key players, together with information regarding key alliances, strategic initiatives, and financial analysis

- To provide Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers, Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders and Market Effect Factors Analysis of IP Cameras market

- The IP Cameras market report covers Volume, Revenue and Price Forecast 2019 to 2025



Click to view Tables, Charts, Figures, TOC, and Companies Mentioned in the global IP Cameras market Report: https://www.qyresearch.com/index/detail/964702/global-ip-cameras-depth-analysis-report



Following are the years considered to forecast market size of the global IP Cameras market:



Base Years- 2018

History year- 2014-2018

Projected Year- 2019-2025

In conclusion, the report makes some important proposals for a new project of IP Cameras Industry before evaluating its feasibility. Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2018-2025 global IP Cameras Market covering all important parameters.



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Edison , NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- A new business intelligence report released by AMA with title "Global Investment Management Software Market Insights by Application, Product Type, Competitive Landscape & Regional Forecast 2025" has abilities to raise as the most significant market worldwide as it has remained playing a remarkable role in establishing progressive impacts on the universal economy. The Global Investment Management Software Market Report offers energetic visions to conclude and study market size, market hopes, and competitive surroundings. The research is derived through primary and secondary statistics sources and it comprises both qualitative and quantitative detailing. Some of the key players profiled in the study are EFront Financial Solutions (France) , Quant IX Software (United States) , Broadridge Investment Accounting (United States) , Portfolio Shop (United States) , Beiley Software Inc. (United States) , Quicken Inc. (United States) , OneStream Software (United States) , Finartis Group SA (Switzerland) , QED Financial Systems (United States) , Instream Solutions (United States) , Miles Software Solutions Private Limited (India) , ProTrak International (United States) , OWL Software (Canada) , Macroaxis LLC (United States).



Free Sample Report + All Related Graphs & Charts @ : https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/sample-report/14441-global-investment-management-software-market



Advance Market Analytics, a global market research and consulting organization, have released a new study titled "Investment Management Software market - Global outlook to 2023". Industries constant focus on reducing the operational cost and increased attention on core business, and need to improve scalability are expected to shape the Global Investment Management Software market to grow at a CAGR of 10.95%.



Furthermore, the years considered for the study are as follows:

Historical year  2013-2017

Base year  2018

Forecast period**  2018 to 2023 [** unless otherwise stated]



**Moreover, it will also include the opportunities available in micro markets for stakeholders to invest, detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product services of key players.



Top Players in the Market are: EFront Financial Solutions (France) , Quant IX Software (United States) , Broadridge Investment Accounting (United States) , Portfolio Shop (United States) , Beiley Software Inc. (United States) , Quicken Inc. (United States) , OneStream Software (United States) , Finartis Group SA (Switzerland) , QED Financial Systems (United States) , Instream Solutions (United States) , Miles Software Solutions Private Limited (India) , ProTrak International (United States) , OWL Software (Canada) , Macroaxis LLC (United States).



Region Included are: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific etc



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Important Features that are under offering & key highlights of the report:

 Detailed overview of Investment Management Software market

 Changing market dynamics of the industry

 In-depth market segmentation by Type, Application etc

 Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value

 Recent industry trends and developments

 Competitive landscape of Investment Management Software market

 Strategies of key players and product offerings

 Potential and niche segments/regions exhibiting promising growth

 A neutral perspective towards Investment Management Software market performance

 Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprint



Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/reports/14441-global-investment-management-software-market



Major Highlights of TOC:

Chapter One: Market Overview

1.1. Introduction

1.2. Scope/Objective of the Study

Chapter Two: Executive Summary

2.1. Introduction

Chapter Three: Market Dynamics

3.1. Introduction

3.2. Market Drivers

Chapter Four: Market Factor Analysis

4.1. Porters Five Forces

4.2. Supply/Value Chain

4.3. PESTEL analysis

4.4. Market Entropy

4.5. Patent/Trademark Analysis



Chapter Nine: Methodology and Data Source

9.1. Methodology/Research Approach

9.2. Data Source

9.3. Disclaimer



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Key questions answered

- Who are the Leading key players and what are their Key Business plans in the Global Investment Management Software market?

- What are the key concerns of the five forces analysis of the Global Investment Management Software market?

- What are different prospects and threats faced by the dealers in the Global Investment Management Software market?

- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?



Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.
Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- Hydrogen Generation Market share is driven by growing investment towards the expansion and upgradation of refinery to meet the sulfur emission regulations. In 2017, Exxon Mobil announced to invest USD 20 billion to expansion of refining and chemical plants on the U.S. gulf coast by 2020. Increasing petroleum product consumption demand will further complement the business growth. In 2017, the gasoline demand increased from 210,000 bpd to 9,312,000 bpd.



Global Hydrogen Generation Market is expected to grow at over 5% CAGR to surpass USD 186 billion by 2024. Increasing residual processing demand along with stringent specification for cleaner fuel will stimulate the industry growth. Government has introduced several regulations including Tier 3 under the Gasoline Sulfur Fuel program to curb sulfur emission. The aim of the program is to ensure that gasoline sulfur content should not be more than 10 ppm. Ability to crack long chain hydrocarbon into shorter chains to form value added products during refinery process including hydrodesulphurization and hydrocracking will make its adoption favorable.



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Positive outlook towards metal and chemical industry including ammonia and methanol will propel the hydrogen generation market. Increasing demand for metal ore reduction product from metal industry will favor the industry landscape.



Low price and ease availability of natural gas will positively impact the Steam reformer hydrogen generation market. Ability to produce H2 more efficiently i.e. 75% over other alternate will further complement industry growth. Electrolysis hydrogen generation market is predicted to witness grow over 6% by 2024. Ability to split H2O into oxygen and H2 will fuel the industry growth. The process is suitable for small scale distributed hydrogen production.



Metal application for 2015 was valued over USD 5 billion. Growing demand for steel from automobile and construction sector will propel the business growth.



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U.S. hydrogen generation Market is predicted to witness growth over 4% by 2024. Rapid fossil fuel depletion along with increasing focus towards adoption of renewable resource to curb greenhouse gas emission will positively impact the industry growth. Escalating demand for ammonia from fertilizer industry will further complement the industry growth.



Renovation and expansion of refinery existing facility will favor the Venezuela hydrogen generation market share. In 2017, Venezuela and Jamaica signed an agreement of worth USD 1 billion for Petrojam Refinery Expansion Project. The expansion will increase refinery capacity from 30,000bpd to 50,000 bpd.



Growing demand for nitrogen rich fertilizers including urea, DAP, MAP will positively impact the China Hydrogen generation market over the forecast period.



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Germany accounted for over 15% of Europe hydrogen generation market share in 2015. Growing chemical demand from food and construction industry will augment industry. In 2015, the chemical consumption was reached from USD 158.25 billion in 2014 to USD 170.13 billion.



Key participants in hydrogen generation market are Taiyo Nippon Sanso, Xebec Adsorption, Hydrogenics, Air Products and Chemicals, Nuvera Fuel Cells, Caloric Anlagenbau, Praxair Technology, Air Liquide, Messer Group, Iwatani Corporation, Linde and Showa Denko.



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.
Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- The Laser Direct Imaging (LDI) System offers auto focus capabilities so that the system can handle different thicknesses of material and rapid job change-overs without expensive tooling.



Laser Direct Imaging (LDI) System is defined as a system that is employed for imaging electric circuits promptly on printed circuit board (PCB) with no usage of any mask. It can also be abbreviated as LDI. In the world of PCB Manufacturing, it is important to stay as up-to-date as possible with industry trends. This is because, printed circuit boards are constantly evolving and getting more complex, due to miniaturization trends in the electronics industry. These changes have caused the traditional imaging process for HDI PCBs to provide inadequate results. In response to new electronics tendencies, the PCB manufacturing industry has come up with a new imaging technique known as Laser Direct Imaging.



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As for the global Laser Direct Imaging (LDI) System industry, the top 11 manufacturers accounted for more than 90 per cent of sales market share in 2017. The Israel giant Orbotech, which accounted for 59% in the previous year, is the global leader in the Laser Direct Imaging (LDI) System industry. The manufacturers following are ORC Manufacturing, SCREEN Holdings, Via Mechanics, Manz and Limata, which respectively accounted for 13.06%, 3.83%, 4.73%, 6.98% and 1.80% of market share globally. The Han's CNC is the national leader of China Laser Direct Imaging (LDI) System industry. It sells a total of 9.92 million dollar Laser Direct Imaging (LDI) System products in the year of 2017.



The global Laser Direct Imaging (LDI) System market is valued at 610 million US$ in 2018 is expected to reach 770 million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 3.0% during 2019-2025.



This report focuses on Laser Direct Imaging (LDI) System volume and value at global level, regional level and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents overall Laser Direct Imaging (LDI) System market size by analyzing historical data and future prospect. Regionally, this report focuses on several key regions: North America, Europe, China and Japan.



At company level, this report focuses on the production capacity, ex-factory price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer covered in this report.



Click to view Tables, Charts, Figures, TOC, and Companies Mentioned in the global Laser Direct Imaging (LDI) System market Report at- https://www.qyresearch.com/index/detail/964526/global-laser-direct-imaging-ldi-system-depth-research-report



The following manufacturers are covered:



Orbotech



ORC Manufacturing



Fuji Film



SCREEN



Via Mechanics



Manz



Limata



Delphi Laser



Han's CNC



Aiscent



AdvanTools



Segment by Regions



North America



Europe



China



Japan



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Segment by Type



Polygon Mirror 365nm



DMD 405nm



Segment by Application



On the basis on the end users/applications, this report covers



Standard and HDI PCB



Solder Mask



Thick-Copper and Ceramic PCB



Oversized PCB
Rockville, MD -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/14/2019 -- The automation plays pivotal role in the marine industry. The incorporation of the automation process is critical for expansion of port operations and to sustain growth. The automated mooring system reduces manhandling of any equipment and, thereby minimizing the need of total manpower. Additionally, these automated mooring system can be controlled via radio remote control from shore or on-board the ship. Moreover, the automated mooring system also eliminates the non-productive berth areas at the end of quay and in-between ships.



The Global Automated Mooring System Market is largely driven by demand from oil & gas industry. Additionally, increasing investments in emerging economies with proven oil & gas reserves is anticipated to escalate the automated mooring system demand in the near future.



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Automated Mooring System Market - Dynamics



The demand for automated mooring system market is highly augmented with increasing demand of efficient and safe operations. The shifting preference towards using technologically advanced systems in order to enhance the drilling capability in both deep, as well as ultra-deep water, is likely to fuel the demand of automated mooring system. The Automated Mooring System offers improved cargo handling operations, reduced waiting time (thereby, resulting into shorter port stays) and efficient terminal utilization. Additionally, the installation of automated mooring system also require deployment of less personnel (max. 2) for smooth operation. Moreover, increasing subsea exploration and production activities in Latin America and Middle East and Africa region is further likely to contribute towards the growing demand for Automated Mooring System.



One of the major factor hampering the sale of automate mooring system market is high initial installation cost and maintenance cost.



Automated Mooring System Market - Segmentation



The global automated mooring system market can be segmented on the basis of system type, application, anchorage and depth. Based on system type, automated mooring system market can be segmented into catenary, taut leg, semi taut, dynamic positioning, single point and spread.



To know more about the Automated Mooring System Market Visit the link- https://www.factmr.com/report/2625/automated-mooring-system-market



Based on application, the automated mooring system market can be segmented into floating production storage and offloading (FPSO), floating LNG (FLNG), tension leg platform (TLP), spar, semi-submersibles and other applications. On the basis of anchorage type, the global automated mooring system market can be further segmented into drag embedment anchors, vertical loaded anchors and suction. On the basis of depth, the global automated mooring system market can be further segmented into ultra-deep/ deep and shallow.



The catenary automated mooring system is largely used in shallow waters. The single point automated mooring system is widely used for floating production storage and offloading application. The FPSO is estimated to hold lion's share in the global automated mooring system market. However, the tension leg platform is likely to witness significant growth during the forecast period. The dynamic positioning automated mooring system are in its introduction phase and are used in semi-submersibles and FPSO application.



Automated Mooring System Market  Regional Outlook



Geographically, the global automated mooring system market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Asia Pacific region, spearheaded by India and China, is anticipated to witness significant growth in global automated mooring system market throughout the forecast period. The discoveries of oil & gas in offshore of Australia, South China Sea etc. is anticipated to escalate the demand for these automated mooring system. Moreover, North America is anticipated to hold the lion's share in the global automated mooring system market. The rising demand for energy is likely to escalate the drilling activities and subsea exploration in near future. Europe region is expected to witness considerable growth owing to entry of new market players in this region coupled with growing water exploration investments. Additionally, owing to liberal regulatory policies in Africa, this region is likely attract more investment in near future



Automated Mooring System Market  Key Participants



Some of the prominent players engaged in Automated Mooring System market are as mentioned below: Cavotec SA, Trelleborg Marine Systems FZE, TTS Group ASA, MacGregor (Cargotec Corporation), C-Quip Limited, ZAD Marine



The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the Automated Mooring System 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 Automated Mooring System market report provides analysis and information, according to market segments such as geographies, system type, application, anchorage and depth.



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New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- The market for Flexible PVC Films has been witnessing a transitional phase in the recent past. The research study examines the Flexible PVC Films on various segments. The complete supply chain of this market has been clarified with statistical details circling various downstream and upstream components. The ongoing trends affecting to the demand, and sales of Flexible PVC Films accompanied with recent developments have been provided in this report to cater a complete picture of this market.



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The report caters a thorough calculation of the competitive landscape of the Flexible PVC Films market by checking company profiles of the major players active in the market. The market hierarchy has also been recognized in this report by examining the future prospects as well as the current developments claimed by these players.



This report researches the worldwide Flexible PVC Films market size (value, capacity, production and consumption) in key regions like North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (China, Japan) and other regions.

This study categorizes the global Flexible PVC Films breakdown data by manufacturers, region, type and application, 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.



Global Flexible PVC Films market size will increase to Million US$ by 2025, from Million US$ in 2017, at a CAGR of 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 Flexible PVC Films.



This report focuses on the top manufacturers' Flexible PVC Films capacity, production, value, price and market share of Flexible PVC Films in global market. The following manufacturers are covered in this report:

NanYa Plastics

Grafix Plastics

Adams Plastics

Marvel

Caprihans India Limited

TMI LLC

Plastic Film Corporation

Raj Incorporated

ZK Plastic Ltd.

Win Plastic Extrusions

Riflex Film



Flexible PVC Films Breakdown Data by Type

Clear PVC Film

Opaque PVC Film

Flexible PVC Films Breakdown Data by Application

Sationary and Office Products

Construction

Packaging

Graphic Films

Decorative Films

Other



To Browse a Full Report with TOC: https://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-flexible-pvc-films-market-insights-forecast-to-2025.htm



Flexible PVC Films Production Breakdown Data by Region

United States

Europe

China

Japan

Other Regions



The study objectives are:

To analyze and research the global Flexible PVC Films capacity, production, value, consumption, status and forecast;

To focus on the key Flexible PVC Films manufacturers and study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in next few years.

To focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.

To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.

To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.

To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.

To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.

To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the market.

To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market.

To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.



In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Flexible PVC Films :

History Year: 2013-2017

Base Year: 2017

Estimated Year: 2018

Forecast Year 2018 to 2025



For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2017 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.



Key Stakeholders



Flexible PVC Films Manufacturers

Flexible PVC Films Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers

Flexible PVC Films Subcomponent Manufacturers

Industry Association

Downstream Vendors



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New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- Furniture is a movable object intended to support various human activity such as sleeping, seating, fencing and protection. Furniture is also used to keep or hold the object at proper height for working. Furniture can also be designed and used as decorative object. Furniture is made of various materials such as metal, plastic and wood. Furniture has become part of human life since non-nomadic culture. The Chinese use uncarved wood and bamboo to manufacture their furniture. Japanese furniture is well known for its minimalist style, extensive use of wood and high-quality craftsmanship on the furniture. Different qualities of woods are used to manufacture different sets of furniture such as hardwoods and softwoods.



Furniture is kept in house or other commercial buildings to make the living and working environment comfortable. There are different types of furniture the people use on daily bases such as tables, chairs, beds, desks, dressers and cupboards. On the bases of material used to manufacture furniture, the global furniture market can be bifurcated into metal, plastic and wood. Major application includes residential and commercial building hotels, motels, hospitals and other similar institution.



North America has the largest market share for furniture products, followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific region is expected to overtake North American furniture market in the forecasted period in terms of market share. Asian market for furniture is expected to witness double digit growth in the coming years. Emerging markets of India and China are expected to boost the Asia Pacific furniture market in future.



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Booming real estate industry in the current scenario is driving the global furniture market. Increasing urban population in the developing countries is also driving the global furniture market. Additionally, increasing disposable income has influenced the individual to spend more on comfortable life style, this is expected to provide growth opportunity for the global furniture market to some extent. Low cost furniture producers like China, Vietnam is also driving the furniture market. However, scarcity of skilled labor, better transportation facilities and infrastructure facilities may act as hindrance for the global furniture market.



Booming real estate industry have influence many multinationals to invest in the emerging markets. Some of the major companies operating at the global furniture market are IKEA International Group, Knoll Inc., Steelcase Inc., Masco Corp., Kimball International, Sears Holdings Corp., KOKUYO Furniture Co. Ltd., HNI Corp., Herman Miller Inc., Haworth Inc. and Ashley Furniture Industries Ltd.



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Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- Global Cross-linked Polyethylene Pipes Market: Introduction



Cross-linked polyethylene pipe is also termed as PEX pipe. Polyethylene material starts to flow above its melting point and loses its valuable mechanical properties, which limit its working at high temperatures. The nature of the polyethylene material can be changed from thermoplastic to thermoset to form a more temperature-resistant plastic with superior mechanical strength by cross-linked formulation packaging, medical, consumer goods, and insulation are variety of applications of polyethylene. Chains merge through covalent bonds to form a three-dimensional cross-linked insoluble and infusible product in cross-linked polyethylene. Cross-linking of polyethylene results in a polymer that has high molecular weight, which improves impact strength, corrosion resistance, scaling resistance, freeze damage resistance. Installation of cross-lined polyethylene pipe is easier than that of the rigid pipe. Cross-lined polyethylene pipe are available in long coils that eliminate the need for coupling joints. Rising demand for cross-lined polyethylene pipe from end-use industry such as residential and commercial plumbing in emerging economies is projected to drive the cross-linked polyethylene pipes market during the forecast period.



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Global Cross-linked Polyethylene Pipes Market: Segmentation



The global cross-linked polyethylene pipes market can be segmented based on type, method, application, and region. In terms of type, the global cross-linked polyethylene pipes market can be divided into S3.2, S4, S5, and S6.3. Based on method, the cross-linked polyethylene pipes market can be segregated into Engel or peroxide method (PEX-A), silane method (PEX-B), and e-beam method (PEX-C).The PEX-A segment of the cross-linked polyethylene pipes market is projected to expand at a considerable pace due to rising demand for the pipes owing to superior material properties such as high resistance to crack propagation.



In terms of application, the global cross-linked polyethylene pipes market can be categorized into plumbing, radiant heating, snow-melting, solar/swimming pool heating, agricultural & turf applications, and others. Plumbing is presently a major application segment of the cross-linked polyethylene pipes market, as these pipes are primarily applied in the construction of sewer systems and water transmission systems. Expenditure on the construction to manage water supply and sewage is increasing in emerging economies. This, in turn, is projected to drive the cross-linked polyethylene pipes market during the forecast period.



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Global Cross-linked Polyethylene pipes market: Regional Outlook



Based on region, the global cross-linked polyethylene pipes market can be classified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Demand for the cross-linked polyethylene pipe in North America is mainly from well-developed sewerage and water transmission systems. There are several opportunities for further widespread use of cross-linked polyethylene pipes in the U.S. residential market. Development of manifolds and parallel plumbing systems for flexible piping is estimated to propel the demand for cross-linked polyethylene pipes market. These pipes are approved for potable hot and cold water supply systems and heating systems in all model plumbing and mechanical codes across the U.S. and Canada.
New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- Based on the Bio Based Lubricants industrial chain, this report mainly elaborates the definition, types, applications and major players of Bio Based Lubricants market in details. Deep analysis about market status (2014-2019), enterprise competition pattern, advantages and disadvantages of enterprise products, industry development trends (2019-2026), regional industrial layout characteristics and macroeconomic policies, industrial policy has also be included. From raw materials to downstream buyers of this industry will be analyzed scientifically, the feature of product circulation and sales channel will be presented as well. In a word, this report will help you to establish a panorama of industrial development and characteristics of the Bio Based Lubricants market.



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Major Players in Bio Based Lubricants market are:



- United Bio Lube

- Revolution Bio-based Lubricants

- Renewable Lubricants

- Soyatech



Apart from this, the valuable document weighs upon the performance of the industry on the basis of a product service, end-use, geography and end customer



The latest market intelligence study on the BIO BASED LUBRICANTS market brings in the best of both qualitative and quantitative assessment techniques to explore the market size, share, and status of the BIO BASED LUBRICANTS market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026. The extensive examination of the global business environment provides a detailed analysis of the key driving forces and challenges with the aim to give the stakeholders, business owners, and filed marketing executives a competitive advantage over others. The study further probes into prominent challenges, technology advancements, current trends and lucrative avenues often considered as the boosting elements for the BIO BASED LUBRICANTS market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026.



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Market segment by Region/Country including:



- North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)

- Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Spain etc.)

- Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Southeast Asia etc.)

- South America Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile etc.)

- Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia etc.)



Region wise performance of the Bio Based Lubricants industry

The research takes a closer look at prominent factors driving the growth rate of the prominent product categories across major geography. Furthermore, the study covers a lot of the sales, gross margin, consumption capacity, spending power and customer preference across various countries. The report offers clear indications how the BIO BASED LUBRICANTS market is expected to witness numerous exciting opportunities in the years to come. Critical aspects including the growing requirement, demand and supply status, customer preference, distribution channels and others are presented through resources such as charts, tables, and info graphics.



Market Share:

Next, the market assessment report also takes into account the top performers and the new entrants when weighing upon the competitive landscape of the Bio Based Lubricants market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026. Relevant and hard to find facts pertaining to the import and export status, supply chain management, product price, profit and gross margin are clearly explained through resources such as charts, tables, and graphic images. A comprehensive coverage of various segments and the breakdown of their sale figures according to the regions form an important part of the scope of this study.



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The research provides answers to the following key questions:



- What is the estimated size of the Bio Based Lubricants market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026? What will be the growth rate of the industry during the estimated period?

- What are the prominent driving forces likely to impact the progress of the industry across different regions?

- Who are the major market players occupying a strong foothold in the Bio Based Lubricants market? What are the winning strategies adopted by them to stay ahead in the competition?

- What are the potential opportunities for the Bio Based Lubricants market for the forecast period, 2019- 2026?

- What are the key trends expected to shape the development of the industry over the coming years?

- What are the key restraints and challenges likely to hinder the growth of the Bio Based Lubricants market worldwide?



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There are 13 Chapters to thoroughly display the Bio Based Lubricants market. This report included the analysis of market overview, market characteristics, industry chain, competition landscape, historical and future data by types, applications and regions.



Chapter 1: Bio Based Lubricants Market Overview, Product Overview, Market Segmentation, Market Overview of Regions, Market Dynamics, Limitations, Opportunities and Industry News and Policies.

Chapter 2: Bio Based Lubricants Industry Chain Analysis, Upstream Raw Material Suppliers, Major Players, Production Process Analysis, Cost Analysis, Market Channels and Major Downstream Buyers.

Chapter 3: Value Analysis, Production, Growth Rate and Price Analysis by Type of Bio Based Lubricants.

Chapter 4: Downstream Characteristics, Consumption and Market Share by Application of Bio Based Lubricants.

Chapter 5: Production Volume, Price, Gross Margin, and Revenue of Bio Based Lubricants by Regions (2014-2019).

Chapter 6: Bio Based Lubricants Production, Consumption, Export and Import by Regions (2014-2019).

Chapter 7: Bio Based Lubricants Market Status and SWOT Analysis by Regions.

Chapter 8: Competitive Landscape, Product Introduction, Company Profiles, Market Distribution Status by Players of Bio Based Lubricants.

Chapter 9: Bio Based Lubricants Market Analysis and Forecast by Type and Application (2019-2026).

Chapter 10: Market Analysis and Forecast by Regions (2019-2026).

Chapter 11: Industry Characteristics, Key Factors, New Entrants SWOT Analysis, Investment Feasibility Analysis.

Chapter 12: Market Conclusion of the Whole Report.

Chapter 13: Appendix Such as Methodology and Data Resources of This Research.



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Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- Barley, a versatile, cereal grain that has a rich, nutlike flavor. The chewy consistency of the grain lends it a pasta-like appeal. The appearance of barley is akin to wheat berries, only a little lighter in color. When sprouted, barley is naturally very high in maltose. This sugar acts as the base for malt as well as syrup sweetener. When barley is fermented, it makes for a suitable ingredient in beer and numerous other alcoholic beverages. Over the years, several scientific studies have established that barley can help mitigate the risk of diseases and lend other health benefits.



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Barley provides many of the healthy vitamins and minerals that other whole grains do. It is also an important source of carbohydrates, vitamin C, fatty oils, and proteins. This makes it an ingredient with several uses in the food industry. Traditionally, was primarily used as a food grain but its other uses as a natural sweetener and a brewing ingredient became known. Today, barley malt is extensively used for producing alcoholic beverages.



An uptick in the demand for barley malt for the manufacture of alcoholic beverages is acting as a high-impact driver for the global barley market. This market is also propelled by the heightened demand for different kinds of convenience food products, emerging applications in the F&B industry, clean label trends, and an escalating demand for natural ingredients.



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With consumers becoming more health conscious, they are cutting back on the consumption of alcohol and spirits, which is causing an adverse impact on the demand for barley malt. This has hampered the overall demand for barley, tugging the market in the downward direction. Moreover, there are other negative factors at play in the global barley market. These include: declining soil fertility, pest and disease infestation, and drastic changes in the climate. All of these have affected barley yields.



Geographically, the market for barley can be segmented into seven regions: Latin America, North America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA).



As of crop year 2014-15, Australia stood as the leading producer of barley in the world. Its key trading partner was identified as China. The former supplied a major share of its barley produce to China. Besides China, Australia exported appreciable volume of barley in 2014 to Saudi Arabia, Japan, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. France and Ukraine were also ranked among the leading suppliers of barley worldwide in 2014.



Among the key players that operate across the barley market value chain are: Cargill, Incorporated, Axereal Group, Malteurop Group, Grain crop Limited, Crisp Malting Group, Soufflet Group, Ireks Gmbh, Global Malt Gmbh & Co. Kg, and Muntons Plc.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- Restoring the younger looks and thereby finding solutions against signs of aging has been a mission for cosmetologists and health care professionals for centuries. As a result, market for anti-aging products is experiencing continuous growth since decades. Various products and services are perpetually entering into the market to serve the agenda of restoring younger looks.



Presently, various anti-aging products such as UV absorbers, dermal fillers, Botox, anti-stretchmark products, hair color, and anti-wrinkle products are widely used.



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The anti-wrinkle products segment was valued at USD 8,088.3 million in 2013 in Asia. The dominance of this segment was primarily due to increasing adoption of anti-wrinkle products among the population. The anti-aging products market in Japan is growing swiftly owing to reasonable costs and rising awareness about the availability of aesthetic products. According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ISAPS), a total of 146,150 Botox injection procedures were registered in Japan in 2010. The number further increased to 208,313 in 2011.



Considering all the above mentioned factors, Japan was leading the overall anti-aging products market in Asia in terms of revenue in 2013. While on the other hand, China is expected to show significant growth in the anti-aging products market during the forecast period. Factors such as anticipated rise in the aging population coupled with rising awareness about commercially available anti-aging products are primarily driving the growth of the market in China.



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The anti-aging services market is growing rapidly in Europe owing to steady recovery from the economic crisis, and consequently, rising disposable income and increasing demand. Italy was a leader in the anti-aging services market in the overall Europe in 2013 due to higher demand for breast augmentation and hair restoration treatments. While on the other hand, Spain anti-aging services market is expected to record highest growth during the forecast period.



Adoption of sclerotherapy is anticipated to primarily boost the growth of the Spain anti-aging treatment services market owing to the increasing prevalence of varicose vein due to aging and obesity. The growth of the geriatric population coupled with rise in obesity are some of the other factors driving the growth of sclerotherapy services segment in the country.



Brazil dominates the aesthetic procedures industry among South American countries. Brazil registered 1,447,213 aesthetic procedures in 2011. Affordable rates, availability of advanced techniques and a well-defined regulatory infrastructure are the prime drivers for the growth of the aesthetic industry in Brazil. As a result, people around the world travel to Brazil for aesthetic treatment.



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Thus, increasing demand for aesthetic procedures in the country is observed that would boost the growth of aesthetic devices in Brazil. Similarly, adoption of laser treatment and radiofrequency treatments is observed to be higher in Brazil owing to the safety and efficacy of these treatments. Therefore, in 2013, the laser aesthetic and radiofrequency devices segments accounted for the largest market of USD 59.0 million and USD 19.2 million, respectively.



Some of the key players operating in the anti-aging market include Allergan, Inc., Alma Laser Ltd., Beiersdorf AG, Coty, Inc., Cynosure, Inc., L'Oreal SA, Solta Medical, Inc. (Valeant Pharmaceutical International, Inc.), and PhotoMedex, Inc.
Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- Europe asbestos gloves market holds a significant share in the global industry share. Globally, Russia is the largest producer of asbestos material accounting for 53% of the overall production in 2016. However, European Union will witness sluggish industry growth due to restrictive standards on product usage particularly in Denmark, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.



Asia Pacific asbestos gloves market is expected to witness substantial growth in forecast period. Abundant presence of mining reserves particularly in China and Kazakhstan will support business growth. Rapid industrialization has enhanced safety gears demand particularly in China, India, Japan and Taiwan. Increasing number of manufacturing facilities with furnace and incidences of high temperature material handling will further propel industry demand.



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MEA asbestos gloves market will witness notable gains in forecast period. Rapid urbanization and industrial development are key factors supporting industry demand. Increasing disposable income along with awareness regarding fire safety measures will boost the industry size. High application scope in petrochemical industry to ensure safety from explosive and highly flammable compounds will support product penetration.



Asbestos Gloves Market will witness substantial growth from industrial applications due to superior heat resistance capability and excellent flexibility. Shifting focus towards labor safety & security across construction, mining, manufacturing and chemical industry will propel the industry growth. As per analysis, gloves reduce the risk of hand injury by about 60%, making it one of the most efficient industrial personal protective equipment.



Rapid industrialization particularly in China, Russia, India, Mexico, Brazil, and South Africa has enhanced the product demand. Increasing manufacturer focus towards their employee safety & security to maintain company standards and values will propel asbestos gloves market growth. Rising product demand for metalworkers, welders and glassblowers owing to superior heat resistance, up to 350O C will boost product penetration.



Stringent occupational safety regulations enacted by government and regulatory institutions to ensure safety from fire and heat will support asbestos gloves demand. Under Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA is accountable for sustaining healthier and safe working conditions for workers primarily in areas that are surrounded by contaminated, hazardous and extreme heat conditions. American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) also formulated standards to ensure labor safety and health.



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Strong outlook in firefighting industry due to high temperature surroundings and flame encounters will propel the asbestos gloves market size. Increasing awareness to ensure safety of firefighters during fire accident will drive product demand. Increasing product usage in aviation industry as safety equipment during firefighting will further augment product scope. Strict safety standards in aviation industry to enhance complete security will fuel asbestos gloves market.



Rising product demand from potters particularly during pot extraction from blazing hot kilns will drive asbestos gloves market size. Growing number of steel plants globally will create positive outlook for product demand owing to resilient resistance against extreme temperatures and corrosion. Increasing need for abrasion resistance material during several operations including grinding, drilling and welding has enhanced product scope. Necessity for safety gears during handling of high temperature equipment accompanied by abundance raw material availability will support industry demand. Increasing product adoption in food processing industry due to its high temperature resistance property will drive asbestos gloves market size.



Stringent regulations on asbestos usage due to its toxicity may restrain industry growth. As per analysis, increased product usage may result in release of loose fibers into atmosphere causing environment pollution. Increasing incidences of diseases including mesothelioma and cancer caused due to product usage may negatively impact the industry expansion. However, heavy R&D activities and technological advancements to reduce health hazards will provide positive outlook for asbestos gloves market growth.



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Global asbestos gloves market share is highly fragmented due to presence of large number of regional manufacturers operating in domestic market. Supreme in Safety, Acme Safety, JOMAC Canada, Unarco, Steel Grip, Ansell and Towa Corporation are among major industry players. Other notable participants include Fisher Scientific Company, Guard-Line, Top Glove, Rubberex, National Safety Solution, Protector Fire & Safety, Core Safety Group and Oriental Enterprises. Heavy R&D investments and product innovations are prime strategies adopted by major players to reduce the harmful effects of product.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- Anti-reflective coatings are applied on a wide variety of commonly used products such as eyeglasses, touch screens in electronic devices, flat panel displays, and smartphone displays. Ripe demands from these mature application areas are the chief factors why the global anti-reflective coatings market is progressing at a steady pace. However, the market is expected to benefit mostly from rising demands from solar power generation and telecommunications industries.



Anti-reflective coatings are optical thin film coatings that help reduce reflections from a variety of surfaces. These coatings increase transmission by reducing loss of light through reflectance. At the point where glass meets air, nearly 4% of light falling upon the glass at perpendicular angle is lost due to reflection. The percentage of light lost in such cases keeps increasing with increase in light's angle of incidence. For solar panels, especially, light reflected is light wasted. Application of anti-reflective coatings on solar panel glasses helps in minimizing reflection of light, and thus in delivering better light transmission.



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According to TMR, he global anti-reflective coatings will exhibit an impressive CAGR of 8.2% over the period between 2014 and 2020, rising to a revenue opportunity of over US$4.9 billion by 2020.



Eyewear Industry to Remain Leading Consumer of Anti-reflective Coatings



The report covers the key end use industries for anti-reflective coatings, including eyewear, solar, automobile, and electronics. Of these, the eyewear industry is presently the leading consumer of anti-reflective coatings market and is likely to remain one of the most promising end use sectors for the market in the next few years as well. The industry presents demand for anti-reflective coatings for use in high light transmitting products and comfortable lenses and eyeglasses. In 2013, the industry contributed nearly 40% of the overall revenue of the global market.



Other than eyewear and solar power generation, the electronics industry is another leading consumer of anti-reflective coatings. In 2013, second-largest share in the market was held by the electronics industry. The robust smartphone industry, rising global demand for flat panel displays, and the use of anti-reflective films during photolithography during fabrication of semiconductors make the electronics industry an important end user of the market. Owing to rising use in applications such as dashboards and high transmitting windows in a variety of vehicles, the automotive industry has also emerged as an important end use sector of the anti-reflective coatings market.



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From a geographical standpoint, the regional anti-reflective coatings market in North America accounted for nearly 35% of the overall market in 2013. Dominance of this regional market is likely to remain unhindered in the near future as well due to rising demands for anti-reflective coatings from eyeglasses and flat panel displays. The market for anti-reflective coatings in Europe has also witnessed steady expansion in the past years and likely to embark upon a strong growth path in the near future owing to the well-established eyewear, solar power, and automotive industries.



The Asia-Pacific anti-reflective coatings market is expected to present the most promising growth prospects over the report's forecast period. High demand from the electronics industry and steady expansion of industries such as automotive and solar power in the region are expected to remain the leading factors driving the market for anti-reflective coatings in the near future.



Some of the leading vendors in the market are Carl Zeiss AG, Hoya Corporation, Royal DSM, Optical Coatings Japan, PPG Industries Inc., JDS Uniphase Corporation, Honeywell International Inc., and Essilor International S.A.
Kent, WA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- American Retail Supply singular objective has been to provide retail store owners with a platform where they can find all essentials required for their day to day operations. The wholesaler has, in turn, left no stone unturned in their endeavors to provide all their clients with an extensive range of product categories to cater to all their business requirements. American Retail Supply has over time grown to be a nationally renowned supplier as they attend to an extensive range of clients from all states including Alaska and Hawaii.



Talking about the inclination of their solutions, the Company Spokesperson said, "We abide by the old rule that it is only satisfied and happy customers who will keep coming back. As such, everything about our operations right from the kind of products we stock to our amazing customer service team works towards this goal. You can always rest assured knowing that with American Retail Supply, we are in business to ensure that your business never lacks and while at it, we will give you the best services."



The first selling point for any jewelry store is in the image portrayed to a walk-in client who knows nothing about the business. All it takes is less than 15 seconds for the customer to make a mental evaluation of the value they can receive from the store before they can shop for any item. American Retail Supply is ensuring that this first impression becomes one of the strengths of any business by availing stylish jewelry displays which will instantly transform any showroom. The displays come in a wide range of models and sizes which makes it simpler for customizing any space.



Speaking about the advantages of their pegboard accessories, the Company Spokesperson said, "Retail owners today have to find the most suitable ways of maximizing on the limited space they have for running their businesses. What this means is that every little space can never be ignored as it could make the much-needed difference to the final outlook. A stylish way to ensure that there is an easy transformation of unused spaces is making use of our pegboard accessories. The special accessories come in different shapes and lengths each intended for holding different merchandise depending on the needs at hand."



An industry standard that is not fading away any time soon is the use of t shirt bags for retail store packaging. American Retail Supply is adding to the beauty of these packaging solutions which are a must-have across all kinds of retail stores by giving their clients heavy density varieties. Primarily, this means that retail store owners do not have to worry about light t-shirt bags which easily tear and in turn eroding their brand image.



About American Retail Supply

American Retail Supply is in the business of ensuring that retail store owners across the United States never run out of essentials as they have in them a trusted partner that gives them instant access to the most extensive variety of products.



Contact Details

Company Name: American Retail Supply

Address: 6205 South 231st Street Kent, WA 98032, United States

Email: info@americanretailsupply.com

Telephone Number: 253-850-2247

Website: https://www.americanretailsupply.com/
Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- The global aerospace coating market size is anticipated to around USD 3.0 billion by 2026, this market is anticipated to grow with 6.1% CAGR during the forecast time period. Growing air passenger traffic is single of the main factors driving the aviation sector, which deciphers into greater need for aerospace coatings.



Aviation coatings offer stylish intrigue and opposition towards consumption, substance, electrical and disintegration. They are planned and defined to acquire expanded aircraft life. The development of the flying business because of expanding per capita pay and rising air payload transports is required to fuel the needs for the product. The need for polyurethane resin is foreseen to be high all through the forthcoming years as they hold low VOC content and are sans chromate in nature.



North America was the biggest market for aviation coatings in 2017. It is ready to hold its situation through 2025. The area is probably going to enroll a solid development rate amid the gauge time frame, inferable from significant interest from the U.S. Nations in Europe have been putting resources into assembling of business air ships, planning to decrease imports of flying machine from the U.S. This, thus, has brought about extensive need for these coatings in nations, for example, Germany, France, U.K., and Italy.



Increasing need for air travel from nations, for example, China and Japan is evaluated to drive the market in Asia Pacific over the figure years. Nearness of different long carrier courses in Asia Pacific is boosting the interest for aviation coatings. A few government activities in nations, for example, empowering private interests in the airplane business to permit household aviation organizations to contend universally are relied upon to encourage the need for aviation coatings in Asia Pacific.



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Government regulations for the aerospace coating market is represented by different administrative bodies including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP). The system determines compound threats of crude materials utilized in assembling process. The covering, relieving, and general security of coatings and its crude materials, for example, epoxy pitches, aluminum, and chromium, which are utilized in the creation of the item, are allowed when wellbeing directions are stringently pursued.



The global aerospace coating market is segmented into resin, product, end-user, industry, application, and region. On the basis of resin, the global aerospace coating market is segmented into Polyurethane, Epoxy, and Others. On the basis of product, the global aerospace coating market is segmented into Liquid and Powder. The liquid is further bifurcated into Solvent-based and Water-based. On the basis of end-user, the global aerospace coating market is segmented into Commercial, Military, and Others. On the basis of industry, the global aerospace coating market is segmented into OEM and MRO. On the basis of application, the global aerospace coating market is segmented into Exterior and Interior. On the basis of region the global Aerospace coating market is bifurcated into Europe, Latin America, North America, Middle East & Africa, and Asia Pacific.



North America represented 35.7% of the general market income in 2018. The area is foreseen to rule the market through 2025, on account of blasting aeronautic trade in the U.S. alongside development of real aviation organizations in Mexico. Items with lower VOC and hydroxyapatite (HAp), for example, polyurethane aviation coatings are basically utilized in this locale because of stringent controls by government bodies.



Post-BREXIT, aircraft organizations in the U.K. have been extending the limit and recurrence of air traverse the nation so as to take care of quickly developing demand. This, thus, is anticipated to push the market in the nation amid the figure time frame. Besides, nearness of different whole deal carrier courses in Asia Pacific is advancing MRO exercises, which is converting into more noteworthy interest for aviation coatings in the area.



The key players catering to the global Aerospace coating market are NV Specialty Coatings, AkzoNobel N.V, BryCoat Inc., PPG Industries, Inc., AHC Oberflachentechnik, Sherwin-Williams, LORD Corporation, Hentzen Coatings, Inc., Zircotec Ltd, Mankiewicz Gebr. & Co includes Axalta Coating Systems Ltd, IHI Ionbond AG, Henkel Corporation, and Saint-Gobain S.A.



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TABLE OF CONTENT



CHAPTER 1. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW



1.1. Definition and Scope

1.1.1. Definition of Aerospace Coating

1.1.2. Market Segmentation

1.1.3. List of Abbreviations

1.2. Summary

1.2.1. Market Snapshot

1.2.2. Aerospace Coating Market By Product

1.2.2.1. Global Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate Comparison By Product (2015-2026)

1.2.2.2. Global Aerospace Coating Market Revenue Share By Product in 2017

1.2.2.3. Liquid

1.2.2.4. Solvent-based

1.2.2.5. Water-based

1.2.2.6. Powder

1.2.2.7. Others

1.2.3. Aerospace Coating Market By Resin

1.2.3.1. Global Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate Comparison By Resin (2015-2026)

1.2.3.2. Global Aerospace Coating Market Revenue Share By Resin in 2017

1.2.3.3. Polyurethane

1.2.3.4. Epoxy

1.2.3.5. Others

1.2.4. Aerospace Coating Market By Industry

1.2.4.1. Global Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate Comparison By Industry (2015-2026)

1.2.4.2. Global Aerospace Coating Market Revenue Share By Industry in 2017

1.2.4.3. OEM

1.2.4.4. MRO

1.2.4.5. Others

1.2.5. Aerospace Coating Market By End Users

1.2.5.1. Global Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate Comparison By End Users (2015-2026)

1.2.5.2. Global Aerospace Coating Market Revenue Share By End Users in 2017

1.2.5.3. Commercial

1.2.5.4. Military

1.2.5.5. Others

1.2.6. Aerospace Coating Market By Application

1.2.6.1. Global Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate Comparison By Application (2015-2026)

1.2.6.2. Global Aerospace Coating Market Revenue Share By Application in 2017

1.2.6.3. Exterior

1.2.6.4. Interior

1.2.6.5. Others

1.2.7. Aerospace Coating Market by Geography

1.2.7.1. Global Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate Comparison by Geography (2015-2026)

1.2.7.2. North America Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate (2015-2026)

1.2.7.3. Europe Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate (2015-2026)

1.2.7.4. Asia-Pacific Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate (2015-2026)

1.2.7.5. Latin America Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate (2015-2026)

1.2.7.6. Middle East and Africa (MEA) Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate (2015-2026)



CHAPTER 2. MARKET DYNAMICS AND COMPETITION ANALYSIS



2.1. Market Drivers

2.2. Restraints and Challenges

2.3. Growth Opportunities

2.4. Porter's Five Forces Analysis

2.4.1. Bargaining Power of Suppliers

2.4.2. Bargaining Power of Buyers

2.4.3. Threat of Substitute

2.4.4. Threat of New Entrants

2.4.5. Degree of Competition

2.5. Value Chain Analysis

2.6. Cost Structure Analysis

2.6.1. Raw Material and Suppliers

2.6.2. Manufacturing Process Analysis

2.7. Regulatory Compliance

2.8. Competitive Landscape, 2017

2.8.1. Player Positioning Analysis

2.8.2. Key Strategies Adopted By Leading Players



CHAPTER 3. MANUFACTURING PLANTS ANALYSIS



3.1. Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Aerospace Coating Major Manufacturers in 2017

3.2. Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Aerospace Coating Major Manufacturers in 2017

3.3. R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Aerospace Coating Major Manufacturers in 2017

3.4. Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Aerospace Coating Major Manufacturers in 2017



CHAPTER 4. Aerospace Coating MARKET BY PRODUCT



4.1. Global Aerospace Coating Revenue By Product

4.2. Liquid

4.2.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

4.2.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

4.3. Solvent-based

4.3.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

4.3.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

4.4. Water-based

4.4.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

4.4.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

4.5. Powder

4.5.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

4.5.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

4.6. Others

4.6.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

4.6.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)



CHAPTER 5. Aerospace Coating MARKET By Resin



5.1. Global Aerospace Coating Revenue By Resin

5.2. Polyurethane

5.2.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

5.2.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

5.3. Epoxy

5.3.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

5.3.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

5.4. Others

5.4.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

5.4.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)



CHAPTER 6. Aerospace Coating MARKET By Industry



6.1. Global Aerospace Coating Revenue By Industry

6.2. OEM

6.2.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

6.2.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

6.3. MRO

6.3.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

6.3.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

6.4. Others

6.4.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

6.4.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)



CHAPTER 7. Aerospace Coating MARKET By End Users



7.1. Global Aerospace Coating Revenue By End Users

7.2. Commercial

7.2.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

7.2.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

7.3. Military

7.3.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

7.3.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

7.4. Others

7.4.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

7.4.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)



CHAPTER 8. Aerospace Coating MARKET By Application



8.1. Global Aerospace Coating Revenue By Application

8.2. Exterior

8.2.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

8.2.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

8.3. Interior

8.3.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

8.3.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

8.4. Others

8.4.1. Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

8.4.2. Market Revenue and Forecast, By Region, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)



CHAPTER 9. NORTH AMERICA Aerospace Coating MARKET BY COUNTRY



9.1. North America Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

9.2. North America Aerospace Coating Market Revenue Share Comparison, 2015 & 2026 (%)

9.3. U.S.

9.3.1. U.S. Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

9.3.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

9.4. Canada

9.4.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

9.4.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

9.5. Mexico

9.5.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

9.5.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)



CHAPTER 10. EUROPE Aerospace Coating MARKET BY COUNTRY



10.1. Europe Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

10.2. Europe Aerospace Coating Market Revenue Share Comparison, 2015 & 2026 (%)

10.3. UK

10.3.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

10.3.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

10.4. Germany

10.4.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

10.4.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

10.5. France

10.5.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

10.5.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

10.6. Spain

10.6.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

10.6.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

10.7. Rest of Europe

10.7.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

10.7.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)



CHAPTER 11. ASIA-PACIFIC Aerospace Coating MARKET BY COUNTRY



11.1. Asia-Pacific Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

11.2. Asia-Pacific Aerospace Coating Market Revenue Share Comparison, 2015 & 2026 (%)

11.3. China

11.3.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

11.3.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

11.4. Japan

11.4.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

11.4.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

11.5. India

11.5.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

11.5.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

11.6. Australia

11.6.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

11.6.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

11.7. South Korea

11.7.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

11.7.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

11.8. Rest of Asia-Pacific

11.8.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

11.8.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)



CHAPTER 12. LATIN AMERICA Aerospace Coating MARKET BY COUNTRY



12.1. Latin America Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

12.2. Latin America Aerospace Coating Market Revenue Share Comparison, 2015 & 2026 (%)

12.3. Brazil

12.3.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

12.3.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

12.4. Argentina

12.4.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

12.4.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

12.5. Rest of Latin America

12.5.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

12.5.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)



CHAPTER 13. MIDDLE EAST Aerospace Coating MARKET BY COUNTRY



13.1. Middle East Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

13.2. Middle East Aerospace Coating Market Revenue Share Comparison, 2015 & 2026 (%)

13.3. Saudi Arabia

13.3.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

13.3.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

13.4. UAE

13.4.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

13.4.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

13.5. Rest of Middle East

13.5.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

13.5.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)



CHAPTER 14. AFRICA Aerospace Coating MARKET BY COUNTRY



14.1. Africa Aerospace Coating Market Revenue and Growth Rate, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

14.2. Africa Aerospace Coating Market Revenue Share Comparison, 2015 & 2026 (%)

14.3. South Africa

14.3.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

14.3.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

14.4. Egypt

14.4.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

14.4.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

14.5. Rest of Africa

14.5.1. Market Revenue and Forecast By Product, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)

14.5.2. Market Revenue and Forecast By Resin, 2015 - 2026 ($Million)



CHAPTER 15. COMPANY PROFILE



15.1. Mondi plc

15.1.1. Company Snapshot

15.1.2. Overview

15.1.3. Financial Overview

15.1.4. Product Portfolio

15.1.5. Key Developments

15.1.6. Strategies

15.2. Amcor Limited

15.2.1. Company Snapshot

15.2.2. Overview

15.2.3. Financial Overview

15.2.4. Product Portfolio

15.2.5. Key Developments

15.2.6. Strategies

15.3. Coveris Holding S.A.

15.3.1. Company Snapshot

15.3.2. Overview

15.3.3. Financial Overview

15.3.4. Product Portfolio

15.3.5. Key Developments

15.3.6. Strategies

15.4. Sealed Air Corporation

15.4.1. Company Snapshot

15.4.2. Overview

15.4.3. Financial Overview

15.4.4. Product Portfolio

15.4.5. Key Developments

15.4.6. Strategies

15.5. Constantia Flexibles Group

15.5.1. Company Snapshot

15.5.2. Overview

15.5.3. Financial Overview

15.5.4. Product Portfolio

15.5.5. Key Developments

15.5.6. Strategies

15.6. ProAmpac

15.6.1. Company Snapshot

15.6.2. Overview

15.6.3. Financial Overview

15.6.4. Product Portfolio

15.6.5. Key Developments

15.6.6. Strategies

15.7. Sigma Plastics Group

15.7.1. Company Snapshot

15.7.2. Overview

15.7.3. Financial Overview

15.7.4. Product Portfolio

15.7.5. Key Developments

15.7.6. Strategies

15.8. Others

15.8.1. Company Snapshot

15.8.2. Overview

15.8.3. Financial Overview

15.8.4. Product Portfolio

15.8.5. Key Developments

15.8.6. Strategies



CHAPTER 16. RESEARCH APPROACH



16.1. Research Methodology

16.1.1. Initial Data Search

16.1.2. Secondary Research

16.1.3. Primary Research

16.2. Assumptions and Scope



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Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/15/2019 -- The medical superabsorbent polymers market has been envisaged to depict an impressive rise in the period of forecast, 2018 to 2027. Roughly US$ 8,300 Mn worth of medical superabsorbent polymers will be sold to the medical industry worldwide by 2027-end.



Superabsorbent Spacer Fabrics Development for Exuding Wound Dressing Application



Exuding wound care entails the need for dressing that quickly absorb exudates, and exert effective moisture management during the healing of wounds. Currently available commercial wound dressings are linked with a slew of limitations such as low-absorbency and high evaporation. In addition, non-occlusive nature of these wound dressings, and the requirement for secondary dressing for retaining a moist environment on the surface of wound, have further confined their performance and effectiveness.



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Recognizing the concern, manufacturers have been inclining their preference toward spacer fabrics for use as absorbent medical products. Recent research efforts have given birth to superabsorbent spacer fabrics for application in exuding wound care. The three-layered structure of these fabrics deliver faster wetting speed and twice the absorbency compared to foam dressings. Additionally, air permeability of superabsorbent spacer fabrics is relatively higher, making them suitable for applications in exuding wound dressings.



Medical Superabsorbent Polymers Market: Emphasis on Sustainability to Create New Avenues for Manufacturers



Superabsorbent polymers have gained immense popularity owing to their pivotal role in the daily care products industry, such as diapers. Superabsorbent materials based on petroleum have sought significant use in the development of these products, however the upward trend of sustainability and green products are now driving efforts for re-invention. Scientists across the globe are therefore working on the production of new eco-friendly alternatives.



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Past researches have depicted the ability of bio-based materials, mainly proteins, in absorbing aqueous solutions with effectiveness similar or even relatively higher than that of synthetic superabsorbent polymers. Additionally, advancements in the agricultural sector have been enabling the provision of essential protein-concentrated feedstock procured from side-streams apropos of the bio-refinery field.



Scientists have recognized the transmutation procedures of protein structures and interactions that are necessary to promote water-uptake in the protein-based superabsorbent polymers. The insights aggregated are being leveraged for developing suitable alternatives to their unsustainable petroleum-based counterparts, which in turn is likely to create new avenues for manufacturers in the upcoming years.



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Table of Contents Covered in the report are:



1. Executive Summary

1.1. Summarizing Key Findings

1.2. Trends and Developments

1.3. Strategic Themes

1.4. Highlighting Action Area  Wheel of Fortune



2. Global Medical Superabsorbent Polymers Market Overview

2.1. Introduction

2.2. Market Definition and Scope

2.3. Market Taxonomy and Segments Captured



3. Global Medical Superabsorbent Polymers Market Outlook

3.1. Market Size (US$ Mn) and Forecast, 2013-2027

3.2. Market Y-o-Y Growth

3.3. Forecast Factors and Relevance of Impact



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4. Global Medical Superabsorbent Polymers Market Dynamics

4.1. Drivers

4.2. Restraints

4.3. Opportunities

4.4. Trends



5. Supply Chain and Value Chain Assessment



6. Actionable Insights and Analysis

6.1. Competition Footprint Matrix

6.2. Scenario Forecast

6.3. PEST Analysis

6.4. Porter's Five Forces Analysis

6.5. Product Life Cycle

6.6. Investment Feasibility Matrix

6.7. List of Distributors

6.8. Key Participants Market Presence (Intensity Map) By Region



7. Global Medical Superabsorbent Polymers Market Analysis and Forecast By Type, 2013-2027

7.1. Analysis and Forecast by Product Type

7.1.1. Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Region

7.1.2. Market Share Comparison, By Region

7.1.3. Y-o-Y growth Comparison, By Region

7.2. Analysis and Forecast By End User

7.2.1. Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Region

7.2.2. Market Share Comparison, By Region

7.2.3. Y-o-Y growth Comparison, By Region

7.3. Analysis and Forecast By Application

7.3.1. Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Region

7.3.2. Market Share Comparison, By Region

7.3.3. Y-o-Y growth Comparison, By Region

7.4. Analysis and Forecast By Technology

7.4.1. Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Region

7.4.2. Market Share Comparison, By Region

7.4.3. Y-o-Y growth Comparison, By Region



8. North America Medical Superabsorbent Polymers Market Analysis, 2013-2027

8.1. Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Country

8.1.1. US Market Size & Forecast Value (US$ Mn)

8.1.2. Canada Market Size & Forecast Value (US$ Mn)

8.2. Revenue (US$ Mn), By Product Type

8.3. Revenue (US$ Mn), By End User

8.4. Revenue (US$ Mn), By Application

8.5. Revenue (US$ Mn), By Technology



9. Latin America Medical Superabsorbent Polymers Market Analysis, 2013-2027

9.1. Revenue (US$ Mn), By Country

9.1.1. Brazil Market Size & Forecast Value (US$ Mn)

9.1.2. Mexico Market Size & Forecast Value (US$ Mn)

9.1.3. Rest of Latin America Market Size & Forecast Value (US$ Mn)

9.2. Revenue (US$ Mn), By Product Type

9.3. Revenue (US$ Mn), By End User

9.4. Revenue (US$ Mn), By Application

9.5. Revenue (US$ Mn), By Technology



10. Europe Medical Superabsorbent Polymers Market Size and Forecast, 2013-2027

10.1. Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Country

10.1.1. Germany Market Size and Forecast Value (US$ Mn)

10.1.2. UK Market Size and Forecast Value (US$ Mn)

10.1.3. France Market Size and Forecast Value (US$ Mn)

10.1.4. Spain Market Size and Forecast Value (US$ Mn)

10.1.5. Italy Market Size and Forecast Value (US$ Mn)

10.1.6. Rest of Europe Market Size and Forecast Value (US$ Mn)

10.2. Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Product Type

10.3. Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By End User

10.4. Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Application

10.5. Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Technology



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A Pacific storm supercharged by moisture from the subtropics slammed San Diego County on Thursday, flooding streets, snapping trees, closing schools, causing rock slides and delaying commercial airline traffic.

The atmospheric river streamed ashore from east of Hawaii and dropped more than 10 inches of rain on Palomar Mountain, more than 6 inches in Julian and close to 3.5 inches in Oceanside.

The system produced one of wettest winter days in decades, breaking daily rainfall records in seven communities, including Palomar. The mountain received 10.10 inches, snapping the record of 9.58 inches, set on Feb. 14, 1991. Ramona got 4.05 inches, nearly 2 inches higher than a record set in 1995.

The winds were just as daunting, gusting to nearly 80 mph south of Julian and more than 40 mph at San Diego International Airport, where controllers had pilots take off to the east to take advantage of the lift.

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The storm  which will be followed by more precipitation this weekend  also contributed to a fire engine accident near Bonsall, the rescue of horses in Fallbrook, and to the gritting of teeth as commuters navigated big pools of water on local freeways.

Several schools let students out early because of the storm, while Vallecitos Elementary School in Bonsall canceled classes entirely.

The county Office of Education said schools in the Bonsall Unified School District, Fallbrook Union Elementary School District, Mountain Empire Unified School District, Julian Union School District, Julian Union High School District and Fallbrook Union High School District would be closed on Friday.

Thursdays closures led to power outages, flooding, road closures, and dangerous travel conditions, county Office of Education spokeswoman Music Watson said in a statement.

The storm also had deep impact statewide, snarling air traffic in the Bay area, melting snow at ski resorts near Los Angeles, and forcing the evacuation of a group of residents in Laguna Beach, where it appeared mudslides might occur.

By late Thursday afternoon, the lower San Diego River had risen to more than 12 feet, causing minor flooding that slowed traffic in and around the Fashion Valley Mall. Floodwaters also were rushing down the Santa Margarita River on Camp Pendleton.

The storm also nearly caused tragedy.

Shortly after 10 a.m., a woman was swept into Chollas Creek near Home Avenue near Euclid.

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Witness Brenda Walker told reporters, including OnScene TV, that the water had a strong current, and that the woman was scared.

She was hollering for help and trying to grab things, Walker said. It was scary.

The woman was able to get to the riverbank on the other side. A crew from San Diego Fire-Rescue put in a raft and brought her back to the other side of the creek. She was taken to a hospital to be checked out.

Later in the day, at about 4 p.m., a person with a paddle board was found dead Thursday afternoon in a flood channel in Escondido after being swept up in the current.

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The deep, wide plume of moisture from the subtropics was pulled into California by a low pressure system in the North Pacific. Weather forecasters marveled at its impact.

A weather balloon released from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station at 4 a.m. Thursday showed the highest level of precipitable water in the atmosphere, for winter, since 1948, said Matt Moreland, meteorologist-in-charge of the National Weather Service office in Rancho Bernardo.

He said the balloon measured the equivalent of 1.68 inches of rain in the column of air it traveled though. By comparison, the atmosphere typically has about 1.2 inches of water during a humid day in the summer.

The storm was expected to move off to the east by early Friday. However, forecasters said another round of wet weather will move in during the long Presidents Day weekend. Moreland said that 1 to 3 inches of snow could fall in the San Diego mountains on Sunday night and early Monday, and that the snow level could drop as low as 3,500 feet.

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Thursdays wild rains drenched local freeways and roads, making travel hazardous at times.

A Cal Fire/Deer Springs Fire Protection fire engine went off the side of Old Highway 395 south of Camino Del Rey near Bonsall as it was raining. The vehicle went into a ditch, where it ended up on its side around 6:15 a.m.

The three Cal Fire firefighters on the engine were evaluated at a hospital and later released uninjured, Cal Fire spokesman Issac Sanchez said.

A car flipped over on westbound Interstate 8 shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday, one of several incidents on area roads and freeways during the storm.

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A number of incidents slowed or shut area roads and freeways, particularly between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m, including a rollover crash on westbound Interstate 8 near Waring Road. Authorities initially shut down two lanes to address the crash.

By early afternoon, the deluge of rain was creating problems around the county. In Fallbrook, Hoof Haven Equestrian Center was flooded and its horses were being moved to safety, News 8 reported.

Video posted on Twitter by the TV station showed deep water cutting through the middle of the center, which offers day camps and riding lessons.

Shortly after 11 a.m., Caltrans reported all lanes of westbound state Route 78 were closed at Bandy Canyon Road due to a downed telephone pole.

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Around 12:30 p.m., all lanes of State Route 94 were closed between Jamul Indian Village and Honey Springs Road due to flooding.

In the early afternoon, a large boulder unearthed by the rain blocked Highway 78 between Haverford and Indian Oaks roads in Ramona, prompting a closure that was expected to last four to six hours.

Winds brought a light pole down onto a car in Point Loma around 11:30 a.m. while a palm tree fell onto vehicles and a home in Ocean Beach around 7:30 a.m. Police said other downed trees blocked roads in Mission Hills and near Balboa Park.

Rain hit hard at Camp Pendleton, and officials at the North County base closed several roads. A posting on the base website at 2:45 p.m. noted that the Las Pulgas entrance gate had been closed because of flooding, and a stretch of Las Pulgas Road was closed due to a mudslide.

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By the middle of the afternoon, in nearby Oceanside, at the citys border with Carlsbad, police shut down South Coast Highway/Carlsbad Boulevard where the road crosses Buena Vista Lagoon, because the water had risen high enough to reach the road.

UPDATES:

11:35 p.m.: This story was updated with Julian Union High School District and Julian Union School District joining the list of districts where schools would be closed Friday.
Padres General Manager A.J. Preller flew to Miami to meet with Manny Machado and his wife at some point in the past week, a step that indicates the sides continue to work toward a possible agreement.

The 26-year-old free agent is the teams first choice to fill its immediate vacancy at third base.

It is not believed Machado is close to settling on his next team, with the Padres being among the contenders along with the Phillies and White Sox and possibly others.

Neither the Padres nor Machados agent, Dan Lozano, would comment on the meeting. The Padres have been exceedingly tight-lipped regarding their pursuit of both Machado and right fielder Bryce Harper.

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Preller, along with General Partner Peter Seidler and manager Andy Green, flew to Las Vegas two weeks ago to meet with Harper, the other marquee free agent on the market.

Neither the numbers that have been exchanged nor the formality of any offers are known, but sources said this week that both free agents are aware of the Padres level of interest.

It is believed both players are seeking an average of around $30 million a year.

Machado, a four-time All-Star who is one of four players to have had a WAR of 5.9 or higher in three of the past four seasons, is the more natural fit for the Padres given their lack of a proven third baseman and depth in the outfield.

Harper, an All-Star six times in seven seasons, is also being courted by the Giants, Phillies and White Sox and possibly others.
Rancho Bernardo Republican Women Federated (RBRWF) is reeling from state Assemblyman Brian Maienscheins abrupt announcement that he switched parties from Republican to Democrat. Our 100-member club is taking this news as a personal slap in the face.

Maienschein, a local high school graduate whose mother and wife were members of RBRWF, has betrayed his community. In 2000, at the beginning of his political career, RBRWF wholeheartedly supported him and did the hard work of campaigning and donating money to help win his election to San Diego City Council.

When he successfully organized recovery centers for the victims of the 2003 Cedar and 2007 Witch Creek fires, Maienschein was regarded as the hometown hero who wanted to take care of his community, seeding the support he would need to win future elections.

Since then, Maienschein has depended on our clubs loyalty and dedication for his electoral efforts that later propelled him to become the 77th District Republican state assemblyman.

Following his recent change of allegiance, RBRWF members reacted to his shift to the left with extreme passion.

One member, who kept articles and pictures of his Republican achievements, immediately shredded her mementos after hearing the news.

But clearly any loyalty was one-sided. It appears Maienschein deliberately conned his base into believing he still championed conservative values such as individual freedom, limited government, fewer taxes and national security.

How else to explain the knife in our back as he cowardly waited to change parties until weeks after winning his close 2018 re-election bid for state Assembly?

This, after our members had once again worked and donated money to help bolster his campaign.

We are left to construe reasons for his actions. The most plausible explanation for abandoning his conservative roots is that it was a strategic move to help further his ambitions as a career politician in a district showing signs of changing demographics.

When Maienschein declared that the party no longer reflects my values, one only needs to look at his voting record to see that this statement is a dishonest deflection from the truth.

Maienschein generally voted with the Republicans in Sacramento.

As a Democrat, he now will be effectively working against the welfare of hard-working, tax-paying Californians and be expected to support policies and positions antithetical to his long-held public beliefs:

 Statewide sanctuary policies (he voted no on Senate Bill 54).

 Medicare benefits to undocumented children (he voted no on Assembly Bill on AB 2965).

 Extending cap-and-trade policies that sell pollution credits (he voted no on Assembly Bill 398).

 Funds for the high-speed rail project (he voted no on Assembly Bill 1889).

 Increasing car and gas taxes, a huge burden on the working class (he voted no on Senate Bill 1).

We wonder how Maienschein will respond when asked by Democratic leaders, public labor unions and special environmental interest groups to consistently vote for their unsustainable progressive agenda. He better be prepared to take a hard left.

Maienschein also misleads the public when he says: As the Republican Party has drifted further right, I and my votes have shifted to the left.

The Republican Party platform in California has not moved further to the right; in fact the next generation of Republicans are more socially moderate, expecting the party to maintain fiscal prudence while embracing greater diversity and acceptance on social issues.

The following stats reveal why he would switch party affiliation.

 In 2012, Maienschein won the 77th District Assembly seat by 20 percent.

 In 2014, after establishing a strong conservative voting record, he won by 31.6 percent.

 The 2016 election stats begin to show a change in the districts support for Brian, in which he won his seat by 15 percent; then in 2018, he beat his Democratic opponent by only 0.5 percent.

Waning support may have driven him to shift left and abandon his conservative roots in order to keep a job.

Deceiving supporters, donors and campaigners to gratify personal ambition is not only bad form, it is the true definition of deplorable. Rancho Bernardo Republican Women Federated members are devastated by his betrayal, shocked by his new disdain for Republicans and angered by his fraudulent campaign.

But our Republican women are resilient and resolute. We embrace the conservative platform of individual freedom, limited government, fewer taxes and national security which offers the best opportunity for all.

Just as we worked tirelessly to build up Brian Maienschein, we will find and support a steadfast Republican candidate who will represent and uphold our conservative values.

Thats something we all need desperately in Sacramento, where a supermajority currently breeds dysfunction.

Winship is president of Rancho Bernardo Republican Women, Federated, which was established in 1964. Baker is past president of the group. The groups website is at rbrwf.org.
Whats the best way to celebrate Presidents Day?

Visiting a presidential library is one option, and if you want to pick the most popular one, its easily the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

He served from 1981 to 1989 and is one of two presidents with a their presidential libraries in the state of California, where he also served as governor.

Sitting high on a hilltop with views of the Pacific Ocean, the 300-acre site was the most visited presidential library over the last four years, and most of the years of the last decade, according to numbers from The National Archives and Records Administration.

There you can walk through the Air Force One airplane that served seven U.S. presidents, see a replica of the Oval Office and learn all about the life of the 40th president. We talked to Melissa Giller, who has worked there for 17 years, about what makes it so popular and learned some things about Reagan that you might not have heard before.

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Here are just a few.

1. The librarys dedication was the first time five living U.S. presidents gathered in one place.

Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush gathered on Nov. 4, 1991, to help dedicated the library. They were joined by six first ladies, too: Lady Bird Johnson, Rosalynn Carter, Betty Ford, Pat Nixon, Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush.

Rosalynn Carter, Jimmy Carter, Lady Bird Johnson, Gerald Ford, Betty Ford, Richard Nixon, Pat Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Barbara Bush (Ralph C. Bledsoe, Ronald Reagan Library.)

2. When Reagan was shot in 1981, he didnt know it.

There was an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan at the Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. on March 30, 1981. At first, Reagan didnt know he was shot, Giller explained.

He thought he couldnt breathe because his Secret Service agent had thrown him into the limousine to make sure that he wasnt shot and the president thought that the Secret Service agent had broken his rib, Giller said. He had no idea he was shot. The limo was returning to the White House [when] the Secret Service agent and Ronald Reagan realized [he] was coughing up blood.

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The library has a whole gallery about the assassination attempt including footage, the suit that was cut off the presidents body and his x-rays.

3. He used his mothers Bible when he was sworn in as president.

His mothers Bible is on display at the library.

His mother was very religious, Giller said. It sort of shaped Ronald Reagan and his religious beliefs and we have his mothers Bible on display, which is the Bible that Ronald Reagan used for both swearings in as president of the United States.

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4. When Reagan saw the land for the library, he also decided he wanted to be buried there.

President Reagan came up to look at the land and, at the time, Simi Valley was undeveloped and it was just rolling hills and mountains and horse trails as far as the eye can see and when you stand out on our hilltop, you can actually see the Pacific Ocean, Giller said. The president fell in love with the land just immediately and he even said, When I die, I want to be buried right here. In the way in which hes buried, he looks out over the ocean and the sunset every day.

Flowers lie on grave marker of US President Ronald Reagan on the one-year anniversary of his death at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum on June 5, 2005 in Simi Valley, California. (David McNew/Getty Images)

To learn more about the Reagan Presidential Library, go here.

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This file photo taken on August 15, 1988 shows US First Lady Nancy Reagan and her husband, US President Ronald Reagan, at a luncheon in New Orleans honoring her for her work to combat drug abuse. (MIKE SARGENT/AFP/Getty Images)

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Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin
Re International enrollment soaring at UC San Diego, creating a global culture (Feb. 10): This article is very disturbing for all taxpayers. To be clear, international students should be a part of the fabric of every university. However, the story notes In the past decade, the number of international students has soared by almost 7,200 and now accounts for almost 25 percent of the schools enrollment. The figure was 6 percent in 2008.

This means that UC San Diego, which has the highest percentage of international students of all UCs, is filling seats with international students (1 in 4 seats) and doing this on the backs of California students, and more importantly, at the expense of our San Diego County local students.

This is completely unacceptable. San Diego parents may now understand why their child, although eligible, cant get into their local UC San Diego. So, how do the other UCs maintain a diverse student population and still manage to pay their bills with a substantially lower percentage of international students?

Norma A. Cazares

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Chula Vista

The original Master Plan for Higher Education was written by Clark Kerr, Chancellor of the University of California and implemented by Governor Edmund G. (Pat) Brown in 1960.

This insightful and strategic plan guaranteed the top 12.5% of California high school seniors a place in the UC system. The top 33.3% would be able to enter the California State University (state colleges at the time).

Graduates of the California Community Colleges meeting transfer requirements would be guaranteed a place in the UC/CSU to complete a bachelors degree.The master plan staked out the territory for higher education in California. It gave the state of California an educated populace and helped make California a rival in the world economy.The University of California San Diego has sold out local California students for foreign and out of state tuition and in so doing undercuts a well educated California populace in favor of other countries, other states and their students.

Mary Helen Ish

La Jolla

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President Trump was brushed off by Mexico, outfoxed by Democrats and feeling abandoned by Republicans.

So on Friday, he declared the national immigration emergency he had been threatening for months, casting the fate of his signature campaign promise  a wall along the southern border  into the hands of a court system he acknowledged would be unpredictable.

Its a risky strategy, one that drew strong rebukes from fellow Republicans. But Trump is betting that the potential payoff with his political base is worth the long-term risks to the institution of the presidency and the short-term divisions within his party.

Yet Trump, explaining that he was a little new to the job when he came to office in 2017, said he felt he had no choice now that his other efforts had failed over the last two years.

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Were going to confront the national security crisis on our southern border, Trump said in an event at the White House Rose Garden in which he delivered a long, rambling defense of his policies, touching on trade, drug control, the economy and the border.

Its all a big lie, a big con game, he said of his opponents arguments against border barriers. Walls work 100%, he said.

Once he puts the emergency order into place, we will then be sued  we will possibly get another bad ruling, he said, reciting a litany of courts in a singsong voice. Well end up in the Supreme Court, where, he said, he hopes to get a fair shake.

The declaration is intended to circumvent Congress, which has refused to spend the billions needed to deliver a wall he had long insisted would be paid for by Mexico.

Administration officials say Trump will try to use emergency powers to divert money from other projects, mostly military construction efforts, to build or rebuild as much as 234 miles of border fences.

The emergency order would free an additional $6.6 billion for barrier construction, Mick Mulvaney, Trumps acting chief of staff, told reporters.

That potentially would bring total spending on construction to $8 billion, including the $1.375 billion authorized by Congress in the spending bill, which passed Congress on Thursday and which Trump signed Friday afternoon.

Of the total, about $3.6 billion would come from the military construction projects. Most of the rest would come from an account for projects to combat drug trafficking.

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With the expanded military budget that hes pursued, the Pentagon can afford to divert some funds to the border, Trump said. This is a very, very small amount of the military budget, he added.

The administration decided not to try the more politically controversial step of tapping disaster relief money intended to help Texas and Puerto Rico, Mulvaney said. Officials also abandoned plans that had been considered earlier to try to take money away from California water projects.

Officials declined to specify which projects would lose money or suffer delays as a result of the decision to shift funds, though they insisted the militarys readiness would not be diminished.

Aides for key lawmakers also said they had yet to receive any information on which specific military construction projects would be targeted under the national emergency declaration.

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Claude Chafin, a spokesman for the Republican minority on the House Armed Services Committee, said by their assessment about $21 billion in military construction funding  $11 billion from prior years and $10 billion from last year  had yet to be assigned to particular projects and could, in theory, be available for transfer.

Administration officials also declined to say where new barriers would be erected or rebuilt or how many new miles of barriers would actually be added to the fences that currently exist.

Building or repairing 234 miles was our goal, officials said, but made no promises.

Its going to be a little mix-and-match because instead of Congress just providing the money, the different pots have different authorizations for how and where we can use that money, said a senior administration official who declined to be named under White House rules.

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Trump has relaxed his demand for a solid structure that would cover the length of the border, yet still insists that hundreds of miles of steel bollard fencing are essential to the nations security.

So far, no additional miles of border fence have been built under his presidency  a contrast with each of his last three predecessors. Trump has tried to convince supporters that hes making progress, in part by adopting a new slogan that implicitly takes credit for work previous presidents have done: Finish the wall.

Despite Republican control of both houses of Congress in his first two years in office, Trump was unable to strike a deal, in part because Democrats thwarted him, but also because fellow Republicans declined to make his wall their priority and he spurned deals that would have required him to accept compromises. Once Democrats took control of the House, his negotiating position worsened.

Congress could seek to overturn Trumps emergency declaration, forcing him to use his veto power to defend his effort. The House likely will do so; in the Senate, such a measure would pass if four Republicans joined all the Democrats.

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Already, several Republican senators have sharply criticized the declaration. Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, issued an unusually strong repudiation, calling the order unconstitutional.

After the American Revolution against a king, our founders chose not to create a chief executive with the power to tax the people and spend their money any way he chooses, Alexander said. The Constitution gives that authority exclusively to a Congress elected by the people.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee, another Republican, tweeted that although he believed Trumps actions were legal, Congress has been ceding far too much power to the exec. branch for decades. We should use this moment as an opportunity to start taking that power back.

As Trump predicted, other opponents, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have already said they would challenge him in court. Trump may have given ammunition to critics who say the emergency is manufactured by saying Friday that his declaration is a matter of preference rather than urgency.

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I could do the wall over a longer period of time, Trump said. I didnt need to do this, but Id rather do it much faster.

In addition to a likely court fight over whether his emergency declaration is a valid use of presidential power, aggressive building plans could open Trump to confrontations with landowners along the border who have argued that building a barrier through their property violates their rights.

Fences already line nearly all the border from the Pacific Ocean through California, Arizona and New Mexico  just short of 700 miles, mostly through publicly owned land. But the more than 1,000 miles of borderland in Texas mostly lies in private hands and is mostly unfenced.

Trump, who is eager to show supporters he is keeping his promises, could opt to spend less money and build fewer miles if he believes his supporters will give him credit for the sheer act of boldness in declaring an emergency.

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Even that support is far from a slam dunk, however.

Ann Coulter, the conservative commentator, called the declaration a ruse that was always just a way to fool the rubes in his base in a Thursday night tweet and speculated Friday that Trump could be constitutionally removed from office. She faulted Trump for accepting the spending bill.

Fox host Sean Hannity, another conservative media advisor, has been encouraging the national emergency move, writing on Thursday that Trump keeps his promises. I predict hell find a way to get the money to build the wall.

Trump made clear Friday that he saw support from such media allies as critical yet also fragile.

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Sean Hannity has been a terrific, terrific supporter of what I do, he said. Not of me. If I changed my views, he wouldnt be with me.

The decision epitomizes Trumps tenure in the White House. While other presidents have wielded emergency authority, they have generally done so to sanction foreign adversaries or combat domestic crises, such as epidemics. Trump is pushing beyond what others have tried in pursuing an emergency declaration to fund projects that were explicitly rejected by Congress, which has the constitutional power of the purse.

Administration officials said Friday that presidents have used national emergency powers 58 times since 1976. Only two of those instances involved spending money, they said, pointing to orders signed by George H.W. Bush during the Iraq war in 1990 and by George W. Bush following the 2001 terrorist attacks. Officials said the authority was used in those instances to spend a combined $1.4 billion not authorized by Congress.

Some Republicans have cautioned Trump against seeking to use emergency powers to spend additional money, fearing future Democratic presidents would seek to declare emergencies to battle climate change, enact gun control measures or tackle other ideologically polarizing initiatives.

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Mulvaney sought to rebut that argument.

Trumps move actually creates zero precedent, he said. This is authority given to the president under law already.

Trump was among the vocal group of Republicans who accused President Obama of overstepping his authority when he issued executive actions to preserve public lands and protect millions of immigrants from deportations.

Polls show overwhelming opposition to Trumps decision. Yet Trump sees keeping his core supporters placated as essential to his reelection prospects.

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Only one-third of the public supports using an emergency declaration to build a border wall. The question is whether Trump has plans to explain this decision to try to broaden that support or if this is simply a move to satisfy his base, said Patrick Murray, director of the nonpartisan Monmouth Poll.

Monmouth released a survey in late January showing just 34% of Americans favor using an emergency declaration that would allow the use of military funds for the wall.

Times staff writer Molly OToole in Washington contributed to this report.

Follow the latest news of the Trump administration on Essential Washington 
Text of the proclamation signed by President Donald Trump declaring a national emergency on the US-Mexico border:

Declaring a National Emergency concerning the southern border of the United States by the president of the United States of America.

A Proclamation:

The current situation at the southern border presents a border security and humanitarian crisis that threatens core national security interests and constitutes a national emergency. The southern border is a major entry point for criminals, gang members, and illicit narcotics. The problem of large-scale unlawful migration through the southern border is long-standing, and despite the executive branchs exercise of existing statutory authorities, the situation has worsened in certain respects in recent years.

In particular, recent years have seen sharp increases in the number of family units entering and seeking entry to the United States and an inability to provide detention space for many of these aliens while their removal proceedings are pending. If not detained, such aliens are often released into the country and are often difficult to remove from the United States because they fail to appear for hearings, do not comply with orders of removal, or are otherwise difficult to locate.

In response to the directive in my April 4, 2018, memorandum and subsequent requests for support by the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense has provided support and resources to the Department of Homeland Security at the southern border. Because of the gravity of the current emergency situation, it is necessary for the Armed Forces to provide additional support to address the crisis.

Now, therefore, I, Donald J. Trump, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 201 and 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), hereby declare that a national emergency exists at the southern border of the United States, and that section 12302 of title 10, United States Code, is invoked and made available, according to its terms, to the Secretaries of the military departments concerned, subject to the direction of the Secretary of Defense in the case of the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

To provide additional authority to the Department of Defense to support the Federal Governments response to the emergency at the southern border, I hereby declare that this emergency requires use of the Armed Forces and, in accordance with section 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1631), that the construction authority provided in section 2808 of title 10, United States Code, is invoked and made available, according to its terms, to the Secretary of Defense and, at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, to the Secretaries of the military departments. I hereby direct as follows:

Section 1. The Secretary of Defense, or the Secretary of each relevant military department, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, shall order as many units or members of the Ready Reserve to active duty as the Secretary concerned, in the Secretarys discretion, determines to be appropriate to assist and support the activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security at the southern border.

Sec. 2. The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and, subject to the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretaries of the military departments, shall take all appropriate actions, consistent with applicable law, to use or support the use of the authorities herein invoked, including, if necessary, the transfer and acceptance of jurisdiction over border lands.

Sec. 3. This proclamation is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third.

Donald J. Trump
A federal judge on Friday placed some limits on what President Donald Trumps longtime confidant Roger Stone and his lawyers can say publicly about his criminal case in the special counsels Russia probe.

But U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson stopped short of imposing a broad ban on public comments by the outspoken political operative, issuing a limited gag order she said was necessary to ensure Stones right to a fair trial and to maintain the dignity and seriousness of the courthouse and these proceedings.

The order bars Stone from commenting about his pending case near the courthouse, but it does not constrain him from making other public statements about the prosecution. It does generally bar his lawyers, prosecutors and witnesses from making public comments that could pose a substantial likelihood of prejudicing potential jurors.

Jacksons order comes after a string of media appearances by the attention-seeking political consultant since his indictment and arrest last month. In several of those interviews, Stone had blasted special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian election interference as politically motivated and criticized his case as involving only process crimes.

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Jackson had cited those media appearances in raising the prospect of a gag order, warning Stone at a hearing not to treat his case like a book tour.

Stones lawyers had argued that any limits on his public comments would infringe on his First Amendment right to free speech. They wrote in a filing last week that Stones comments wouldnt merit a clear and present danger to a fair trial. Muellers prosecutors didnt oppose a gag order.

In her order, Jackson said she considered not only the potential impact of public comments on jurors but also the need to maintain order at the federal courthouse in Washington.

Citing the size and vociferousness of crowds already attracted to Stones court proceedings, Jackson barred Stone, lawyers and witnesses from making any statements to the news media while entering and exiting the courthouse.

Jackson left open the possibility that she could amend the order in the future and reminded Stone that he is not permitted to contact any witnesses in the case. She also said if Stone complained about pretrial publicity at a later date, she would consider whether he had brought it on himself.

The 66-year-old Stone was arrested in an FBI raid at his Fort Lauderdale, Florida, home last month. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering. The charges stem from conversations he had during the 2016 election about WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy group that released material stolen from Democratic groups, including Hillary Clintons campaign.

U.S. intelligence agencies have said that Russia was the source of the hacked material, and last year Mueller charged 12 Russian intelligence officers in the hacking.

Stone is not accused of directly coordinating with WikiLeaks. But Muellers team did confirm in a court filing Friday that investigators have evidence of communication between Stone and WikiLeaks and between Stone and Guccifer 2.0, who purported to be a Romanian hacker responsible for the intrusions but who authorities say was actually a front for Russian intelligence.

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Mueller did not provide details of the communications, though The Atlantic last year published what it said were Twitter direct messages between Stone and WikiLeaks, including one in which WikiLeaks appeared to scold Stone for suggesting in his public comments an association with the organization.

The messages that have been made public were exchanged after WikiLeaks had begun releasing the hacked material, and they dont show Stone coordinating with the anti-secrecy group.

Stone has been outspoken since his arrest, declaring his innocence in a news conference following his first court appearance in Florida and accusing Mueller of heavy-handed tactics by having him arrested in a pre-dawn raid.

Hes been more muted outside the courthouse in Washington, though he did hold a hotel news conference  accompanied by a host from the conspiracy theory website InfoWars  in which he said he would respect any gag order from the judge but also expected to appeal it.

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He maintained he had no negative information about the president to share with Mueller and insisted he hadnt done anything wrong.

I am not accused of Russian collusion, I am not accused of collaboration with WikiLeaks, I am not accused of conspiracy, Stone said. There is no evidence or accusation that I knew in advance about the source or content of the WikiLeaks material.
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said Thursday that he would be willing to abandon his presidential ambitions midstream if Democrats nominate a centrist who makes it too difficult for him to win as an independent candidate.

Schultz, who made the comments while visiting The Washington Post, has premised his exploration of a presidential campaign on the assumption that Democrats are likely to nominate a candidate that embraces what he calls far-left ideas that will turn off enough moderate voters to open space for an independent candidate.

He has paid for internal polling that he says suggest he would be competitive in a three-way race against President Donald Trump and a liberal Democratic candidate such as Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., or Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

A more moderate Democratic nominee, such as former vice president Joe Biden or former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, could complicate Schultzs perceived path to victory.

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I would reassess the situation if the numbers change as a result of a centrist Democrat winning the nomination, Schultz said.

Those comments could influence the internal Democratic debate over the best nominee to take on Trump, giving moderates an opportunity to argue that their nomination would minimize the threat of a Schultz bid.

The comments also shed more light on Schultzs stated goal of avoiding any actions that help Trump win a second term in office, a grave concern for Democratic strategists who have attacked Schultz as a potential spoiler.

Trump must not serve a second term, Schultz said in a Feb. 7 speech at Purdue University. As I explore whether to run for office, I will do so with the conviction that my final decision must not make his reelection a possibility. I can assure you no one wants Donald Trump fired more than I.

As it stands, Schultz has said he plans to spend the next three to four months exploring a campaign, with an aggressive schedule of book events and media appearances designed to raise his profile. His campaign team has maintained that early internal polling numbers on his potential bid, including a dial-test poll of his performance at a CNN town hall Tuesday, have been promising.

Schultz on Thursday also sought to clarify his views on race following criticism over his comments during the CNN town hall.

As somebody who grew up in a very diverse background as a young boy in the projects, I didnt see color as a young boy, and I honestly dont see color now, Schultz said Tuesday during the town hall.

On Thursday, he told The Post he meant that he did not see color as a child growing up in public housing, because everyone got along and his parents had raised him to be open-minded.

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Of course I see color as an adult, Schultz said. Of course I understand the issues of racial justice.

He pointed to his record at Starbucks, including the short-lived 2015 campaign that tried to encourage customers to have candid conversations about race by instructing baristas to scrawl the words Race Together on millions of tall-, grande- and venti-sized drinks. Backlash ensued within two hours of its launch, and he pulled the plug to ensure his employees safety.

He said that despite that efforts failure, the attempt to respond to the national division over police killings of African-Americans remains one of the companys proudest moments. He said he was inspired by the protests around the killings to hold companywide meetings for employees to speak openly about race and unconscious bias.

Last spring, following the wrongful arrest of two African-American men waiting for a business associate at a downtown Philadelphia Starbucks, the company shut down 8,000 stores for an afternoon to train baristas on how to recognize their racial biases.

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If Schultz decides to get in the race, he would have to spend between $37 million and $55 million to gain access to the ballot in all 50 states, according to his adviser Steve Schmidt, a former Republican who managed John McCains 2008 presidential campaign. The process would begin later this year.

Democrats are not likely to select a nominee until spring 2020, meaning that under the timeline Schultz has laid out, he could decide to walk away from a multimillion-dollar campaign investment months after declaring his intention to run for president.

Schultz has been critical of Democratic proposals to expand Medicare to replace private insurance, offer government jobs for the unemployed and impose a wealth tax on the assets of the richest Americans. (He also has cast the policies as representing Democratic orthodoxy, when all of the policies are being debated within the party.) He has argued that the far left and the far right have corrupted political parties to the point that the only solution is disrupting the entire system with an independent candidacy.

Schultz has said he is undecided on whether he would self-fund his entire effort or seek out political donors, but his aides have made clear that the undertaking would be expensive.

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I think a winning presidential campaign, if you were just to throw a dart on the wall and look at the cost of it, I would stipulate around $1.2 billion, Schmidt said on a recent episode of the Words Matter podcast.

Schultz, who built Starbucks into a global brand over a 40-year career at the company, has a net worth that is estimated by Forbes at $3.5 billion and by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index at $3.85 billion.
San Diego took its time developing rules governing the dockless bikes and scooters that appeared early last year on street corners around the city, from Little Italy to La Jolla.

The city has been inundated with complaints from concerned citizens about the hazards of the vehicles, which in recent months have become almost entirely motorized.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer on Thursday released draft regulations for the start-up industry, which has been financed by millions of dollars of investor cash. The industry leaders Bird Rides and Lime are valued at around $2 billion each.

We welcome more mobility options, and these new regulations take a common-sense approach that will allow this emerging market to grow in a responsible way, he said in a press statement.

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The mayors office didnt immediately respond to questions about the timing of the newly proposed rules.

Heres a breakdown of the mayors draft regulations for dockless bikes and scooters:

Speed: Companies would be required to restrict vehicle speeds using geofencing technology in designated zones to 8 miles an hour, down from the current 15 miles an hour. Such areas would include the boardwalks in Mission Beach, Pacific Beach and La Jolla, as well as Spanish Landing and Petco, Balboa, Mission Bay and NTC parks.

In the North Embarcadero and Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade, dockless bikes and scooters would be slowed to just 2 miles an hour, with riders receiving alerts that those areas are no-ride zones.

Parking: Riders will also be prevented from ending rides in certain high-traffic areas, including on the boardwalks, around Petco Park and the Embarcadero in downtown.

Those working for dockless bike and scooter companies will also be restricted in where they can set up the vehicles. The devices must be staged in groups of no more than four and at least 40 feet apart.

The devices cannot be parked within 500 feet of K-12 public schools or hospitals, or within six feet of bus and trolley stops.

Residents would be encouraged to report improperly parked or abandoned vehicles using the citys Get it Done app. Dockless scooter and bike companies will be notified as a result and given three hours to move a device or face impound and other fees.

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Fees: Companies would be required to obtain operating permits every six months in January and June, which declare and fix the size of each vehicle fleet. Companies would have to pay associated fees to be established by the City Council. The mayor has proposed $253 a permit and up to $150 per device annually.

Education: Motorized scooters must be labeled in 40-point font that Riding on Sidewalks is Prohibited, as well as any age requirements adopted by the operator.

Data: Operators would be required to share data on fleet sizes, how often devices are used, trips and parking locations, accidents and maintenance.

The proposed rules will be discussed on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at the City Councils Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

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Lime scooters for rent on the corner of F Street and Front Street in Downtown San Diego. (Eduardo Contreras / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The announcement was met with general approval by transportation advocates in the region, as well as dockless vehicle operators.

The safety of all riders and pedestrians should be our highest priority, and these measures should be effective, said Andy Hanshaw, executive director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. My only concern is for the potential to overregulate.

Circulate San Diego Executive Director Colin Parent said: The city of San Diego is striking the right balance for dockless mobility. People should have access to new transportation options, while ensuring that pedestrians and the disabled can fairly use sidewalks and paths.

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Lime issued this statement: We want to thank the mayor for his leadership in ensuring all micro-mobility operators in the city are operating responsibly and creating a healthy, clean and safe transportation option for all San Diego residents and visitors.

The move comes more than six months after cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Santa Monica started putting similar rules in place. Last summer, Faulconers team said the mayor would let the market dictate how dockless mobility companies operated.

That was before public health officials from San Diego to San Francisco started speaking out about injuries related specifically to motorized dockless scooters.

San Diego continues hands-off approach as electric scooter injuries mount 

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Beyond those injured seemingly everyone in the city had a story about nearly being hit by someone illegally whizzing down the sidewalk.

At the same time, Councilwoman Barbara Bry blasted the city for allowing the companies to profit off the public right-of-way without contributing to city coffers

The new rules seems to address many of these issues, including concerns that the devices have clogged boardwalks, parks on other crowded areas. The rules would also require operators to indemnify the city from liability claims and carry insurance policies.

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Twitter: @jemersmith

Phone: (619) 293-2234

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Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com
A man who was reportedly firing a rifle outside his ex-girlfriends Paradise Hills home was shot by SWAT officers during a Thursday afternoon standoff when he pointed a weapon at officers San Diego police said.

Martin Girdner, 54, was struck at least once in the upper torso and was taken to a hospital with life-threatening wounds, police said.

Authorities reported that he was in stable condition later in the night.

It wasnt clear if he ever fired his weapons directly at officers, homicide unit Capt. Tom Underwood said

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The events leading to the standoff began around 1 p.m., when the mans ex-girlfriend called police to say hed shown up and was acting strangely at her house on Altamont Court near Plumas Street, Underwood said.

The woman told police shed left the house, but as officers were responding to her call, several neighbors called 911 and reported a man was outside firing the rifle and pointing the rifle at people, Underwood said.

The rifle may have been fired at one motorist who was driving down the street, police said. No one was injured.

Arriving officers briefly made verbal contact with the gunman in the backyard of his ex-girlfriends home, but he fired a round from the rifle, prompting the patrol officers to call in a SWAT team, Underwood said.

Officers evacuated neighbors and nearby Paradise Hills Elementary School was locked down, according to police and San Diego Unified School District spokeswoman Maureen Magee.

Some time around 3:30 p.m., the suspect briefly emerged from the home and pointed a rifle at two SWAT officers, homicide unit Lt. Matt Dobbs said in a statement released early Friday.

The two officers, fearing for their safety, fired multiple rounds at the suspect, Dobbs said.

He said the gunman went down but then retreated inside the home.

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About 15 minutes later, around 3:45 p.m., Underwood said the man came outside again, from the back of the home. He was carrying a handgun this time and pointed it toward an officer, the captain said.

Three SWAT officers fired at the man and he was hit at least once, Dobbs said.

Underwood said the man fell to the ground and was taken into custody.

Police did not release the names of the five officers who shot at Girdner, but said they have been on the San Diego Police Department for a range from five to 11 years.

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Detectives were investigating whether he lived at the home and why he brought at least two firearms to the home.

Staff writer Pauline Repard contributed to this report.

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Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com

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UPDATES:

7:40 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details.

3:50 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details.

This article was originally published at 3:15 p.m.
A former San Diego County sheriffs deputy who was convicted and sentenced to a year in jail for groping a 14-year-old girl in a Vista restaurant was questioned if he had committed two other gropings in Carlsbad a year before, newly released records show.

The former deputy, Timothy Wilson Jr., denied any involvement in the Carlsbad incidents when questioned by sheriffs investigators May 18. At that time he had been arrested for an incident March 21, when a 14-year-old girl had her buttocks groped inside a Panda Express by a man who ran off and sped away in a black car.

In the Carlsbad incidents two women said they were grabbed and groped while they were running by a black man who drove away in a black sedan. Wilson, who is black, drives a black car, but he told detectives he was not involved.

The report quoted him saying to detective, Thats not me  This Panda Express thing, that was me.

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The records were provided in response to a request by The San Diego Union-Tribune under a new state law that makes records of some police officer conduct, which were previously secret, now open to public release. The records include incidents of sexual assault, dishonesty, shootings and use of force that caused significant bodily injury.

Unions representing peace officers have gone to court around the state to block release of records from before Jan. 1 of this year. Eight departments in San Diego have done so and a judge earlier this month ordered a temporary halt to producing the records until a full challenge can be heard.

The unions representing San Diego sheriffs deputies is not a party to that suit and the county is not subject to the halt in turning over records.

Wilson was a 10-year-veteran of the department and worked at the Vista jail. He pleaded guilty in October to touching the teen. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawfully taking computer data. Authorities said he accessed the investigative file of the case 44 times.

The March 21 incident occurred when the teen was standing in line at a Panda Express near downtown Vista when a stranger grabbed her buttocks. The girl reported the incident, and three weeks later, San Diego Crime Stoppers issued a request for the publics help to identify the man seen in security video.

A co-worker recognized Wilson and reported him.

Authorities said Wilson began checking the file on the case starting the day after the groping incident, before he had been identified as a suspect. By the time of his arrest, he had checked the file dozens of times. He downloaded investigative photos of the girl, as well as her home address.

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Twitter: @gregmoran

greg.moran@sduniontribune.com
A couple whod pitched a tent atop a Carlsbad beach bluff found themselves tumbling down the hill when the ground gave way beneath them on Valentines night, a Carlsbad fire official said.

About 11:20 p.m., Carlsbad firefighters were called to cliff top overlooking the ocean along Carlsbad Boulevard near Palomar Airport Road, Battalion Chief Jeff Chumbley said.

They were met by a man who said he and a woman were in a tent that fell down the roughly 30-foot cliff. He had been able to crawl out and up the hill, while the woman was able to crawl out but was stuck on a ledge.

Rising tide ruled out rescue from the beach at the bottom of the cliff, so firefighters had to go from the top down. They placed the woman in a basket and brought her topside, he said.

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Chumbley said the extent of her injuries was unknown. Television outlets reported that she had back injuries.

Firefighters did not assess the stability of the cliff after the night-time rescue. A state park ranger was called to the scene.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

(760) 529-4945

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
San Diego county is aiming to make a dent in its affordable housing struggle with a big assist from the state.

Earlier this week the County Board of Supervisors unanimously supported the Health and Human Services Agencys application for an estimated $125 million in state aid that could be used to develop permanent supportive housing under the states No Place Like Home program  a request that is likely to be granted.

When approved by the state, county staff estimate the funds could be used to develop 500 to 600 units in dozens of affordable housing developments across the region over the next three to five years. They estimate those units will serve about 1,100 people.

This is a real opportunity to impact homelessness and add to our affordable housing inventory so that members of our community can be successful and move forward with their lives, said David Estrella, director of the countys Housing & Community Development Services.

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The county already has received $12.7 million of the funding.

The countys request is intended to capitalize on the relatively new No Place Like Home program. Originally created in 2016, it had been tied up in a legal challenge for several years until November, when California voters approved it and voted to fund it, to help communities create permanent housing for those who require mental health services and are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless.

The statewide program is expected to have about $2 billion at its disposal in coming years, and it has drawn interest everywhere from Sacramento County to Tulare County.

For San Diego County, the program factors into a larger effort to address an affordable housing shortage. County supervisors and staff here were so eager to make the program a reality, that supervisors authorized Health and Human Services to hire 15 additional staff to administer it.

Supervisors also committed to making mental health services available for at least 20 years to support the new units.

The NLPH program operates in rounds of funding, so the $125 million in funds the county is applying for are expected be arrive in several disbursements through the end of fiscal 2023-2024, the year the program is expected to end.

Estrella said that, although the estimated timeframe for developing units is three to five years, the county is exploring options to speed up the process. The county already has received proposals from developers, he added.
A woman who suffered three gunshot wounds last spring that left her a quadriplegic is suing San Diego for gross negligence, contending that police dispatchers failed to take seriously multiple 9-1-1 calls from her mother.

Mya Hendrix, who was shot during a kidnapping by gang members in April, says in the lawsuit that city dispatchers are partly responsible for her injuries because they deemed the situation a non-emergency and a scam, despite multiple calls from the then 19-year-olds mother.

Three suspected gang members  Cesar Alvarado, Michael Pedraza and Britney Canal  have since been charged in the case, which was part of an alleged crime spree that also left a Chula Vista businessman dead.

The lawsuit comes three years after public outcry over slow responses to emergency calls in San Diego, including an April 2016 case when two 9-1-1 calls went unanswered as a dog fatally attacked an infant in Mira Mesa.

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Since then, the city has given 25 percent pay raises to police and fire dispatchers which, officials say, has boosted employee morale, reduced dispatcher absences and shortened emergency response times.

Hendrixs lawsuit says the first dispatcher her mother reached on April 11 was skeptical when told of Myas prior phone call to her mom that morning saying kidnappers had her and wanted $2,500 ransom.

The dispatcher concluded it was a scam concocted by Mya and fellow drug users, the suit says.

Despite the mom, Misti Hendrix, insisting her daughter would never do such a thing, the dispatcher told Misti Hendrix that such kidnapping scams were common in San Diego and that she should take no further action.

Because of this advice, the lawsuit says, the mother did not go to a police station and did not try to come up with the $2,500 ransom, actions which could have helped her daughter avoid getting shot.

The lawsuit says the dispatchers actions constitute gross negligence and bad faith, noting that the dispatcher failed to follow several protocols in place for missing persons under 21.

Those include prioritizing such calls over property crimes, immediately assessing the appropriate next steps, posting a be on the lookout bulletin for other law enforcement agencies, and alerting the state Department of Justice.

When Mya called her mom a second time, early that afternoon, Mya was crying and the mother heard Mya being attacked with something that sounded like a taser, the suit says.

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In addition, a man and a woman said to Misti that they would kill Mya if they didnt get the $2,500, and the man finished the call by saying you dont know how serious this is, the suits says.

Misti immediately made a second 9-1-1 call, during which a second dispatcher looked up the incident number from that morning and told her the case had been deemed a scam, according to the suit.

I have to keep calls open for emergencies, the dispatcher allegedly told Misti before directing her to call the police non-emergency line.

Misti then called the non-emergency line, where a third dispatcher offered to trace Myas cell phone and get back to the mom, the suit says. But he never called the mom back, and there is no evidence he called the cell phone provider, according to the suit.

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The next day, April 12, Mya was found by a passerby in the ocean off Sunset Cliffs with three gunshot wounds.

The suit, which was filed last month, calls the actions by the dispatchers an extreme departure from ordinary conduct.

The suit did not name any of the dispatchers involved.

Hendrix is seeking compensation for medical care and lost earnings since the incident and in the future.

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Superior Court Judge Kenneth Medel has not yet scheduled a trial date.

A spokeswoman for City Attorney Mara Elliott said by email on Thursday that Elliot would seek direction from city officials and respond through the courts.

A gofundme.com page created for Mya has raised $3,100 since the incident.

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david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick
Two people who had been arrested in connection with the attack on Empire actor Jussie Smollett have been released without charges, Chicago police confirmed late Friday.

The men, who police identified as Nigerian brothers, had been in custody after being picked up at OHare Airport Wednesday.

Due to new evidence as a result of (Fridays) interrogations, the individuals questioned by police in the Empire case have now been released without charging and detectives have additional investigative work to complete, said Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

Police had said earlier Friday that the two people being questioned were being classified as potential suspects after initially being described as persons of interest.

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Police have said that Smollett  an actor on the Fox series Empire  was allegedly attacked in Chicago on Jan. 29 by two people who put a rope around his neck, poured an unidentified substance on him and hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him.

Officials said they were investigating the case as a possible hate crime.

The new developments come a day after a media report sparked speculation that Smollett was potentially involved in staging the attack because his character on Empire was being written off.

Authorities refuted that report and said they have no reason to believe Smolletts story is a hoax.

Police have not seen footage of the confrontation itself but have obtained security video showing Smollett with a rope draped around his neck.

A rep for 20th Century Fox, the studio behind Empire, denied that Smollett might be written off the show, calling him a core player on this very successful series.

Smollett said in an interview that aired Thursday on ABCs Good Morning America that one of the attackers told him it was MAGA country before punching him in the face. (MAGA refers to President Trumps campaign slogan, Make American Great Again.)

So I punched his ass back, Smollett told Robin Roberts in the interview. And then we started tussling. It was very icy, and we ended up tussling by the stairs, fighting, fighting, fighting. There was a second person involved who was kicking me in my back, and then it just stopped and they ran off.
In a choreographed show of rare unity, officials from the United States, Arab states and Israel joined together at a Middle East peace conference Thursday to pledge tough action against Iran, calling that nation a threat to all.

The focus on Iran, however, overshadowed discussion of the still-secret Israeli-Palestinian peace plan that President Trump has long promised  and that may be just how his senior representatives at the forum wanted it, given nettlesome issues that remain.

You cant achieve peace and stability in the Middle East without confronting Iran; its just not possible, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side.

U.S. officials and Netanyahu took pains to highlight the willingness of Arab countries including Saudi Arabia to work alongside Israel at the two-day conference in Warsaw. Most of the Arab nations do not officially recognize Israel.

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The U.S.-sponsored conference, Netanyahu said, was a historical turning point.

An Israeli prime minister and the foreign ministers of the leading Arab countries stood together and spoke with unusual force, clarity and unity against the common threat of the Iranian regime, he said.

Leaders of the Arab nations were less effusive. Yet they had agreed to attend a meeting that the Palestinian leadership boycotted, a break that many in the past probably would not have taken.

The Trump administration is hoping it can use the shared enmity toward Iran to unite major Arab states and Israel and sideline the Palestinians.

U.S. officials, accusing the Palestinians of being unwilling to compromise, have punished them in recent months by cutting aid and closing their de facto embassy in Washington. The administration also ignored Palestinians outrage over Trumps 2017 decision moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem, which both Palestinians and Israelis claim.

The strategy, officials say, is to push the Palestinians to feel excluded and enable Arab states to pressure Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to accept a U.S. peace plan, one that Trump once vowed would be the ultimate deal, ending the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The PA [Palestinian Authority] may not like it, but Arab states will pursue their interests even when the Palestinian leadership opposes, Dennis Ross, a former U.S. envoy to the Middle East, tweeted from Warsaw. Case in point: the Warsaw Conference. Arab states had more of an interest in arguing for unity of effort against Iran than boycotting a conference the PA opposed.

Jason Greenblatt, Trumps envoy for the Middle East, also used Twitter to gush over the events in Warsaw. This historic conference is a testament to the truth that a new era has begun, he wrote.

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The United States will never fail to stand with our ally Israel, Greenblatt added. And the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael are coming together in common cause as never before.

Netanyahu, running in a tough race for reelection April 9, barely mentioned the Palestinians, instead using footage of his participation in the conference to flood Israeli airwaves and social media.

Such enthusiasm was not universally endorsed.

In a remarkable rebuttal, Saudi Prince Turki al Faisal, a former intelligence chief, told an interviewer for an Israeli television broadcast that Netanyahu is deceiving his people by attempting to diminish the Palestinian issue.

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From the Israeli point of view, Mr. Netanyahu would like us to have a relationship [first], and then we can fix the Palestinian issue, Faisal told Channel 13. From the Saudi point of view, its the other way around.

It was thought to be the first time a Saudi royal had appeared in an interview on Israeli television.

For their part, Palestinian Authority officials maintain the United States will not succeed in driving a wedge between the Palestinian people and major Arab states.

More dissent to the U.S.-promoted front against Iran came from Europe. Many leaders there still favor the 2015 multinational Iran nuclear deal that Trump abandoned and oppose the belligerent U.S. stance toward the Islamic Republic. Some European countries sent low-level delegations to Warsaw to reflect that discordance.

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Vice President Mike Pence, leading the high-level U.S. delegation in Warsaw, probably deepened those tensions on Thursday when he accused allies Britain, France and Germany of undermining the administrations efforts to isolate Iran and of attempting to break American sanctions against Irans murderous revolutionary regime.

The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and join with us, he said.

The Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, which Greenblatt is drafting with Trumps son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, and the U.S. ambassador to Israel, former Trump lawyer David Friedman, has been kept largely under wraps, its unveiling repeatedly delayed as the authors were forced to rewrite sections condemned by Arab leaders.

Kushner on Thursday briefed delegates at the conference, behind closed doors, on the broad outlines of the plan. He did not disclose details. Kushner and the other authors said they preferred to present the plan to higher-level officials, and will travel soon to the Persian Gulf region for consultations, according to a person familiar with their thinking, who spoke on condition on anonymity.

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The document is not expected to be released until after Israels April election. Pence would say only later this year. Israeli news media quoted Kushner as saying in a closed meeting that Israelis and Palestinians will have to compromise.

Netanyahu, accompanying Pence on a visit to the Warsaw Ghetto memorial to Polish Jews who were victims of Nazi rule, said: I look forward to seeing the plan once it is presented. I know that the Trump administration seeks to ensure the security of Israel for generations.

Saeb Erekat, a veteran Palestinian Authority official and former peace negotiator, wrote in a column published by several Arab newspapers Thursday that the Trump administration and Israel suffer a lack of vision. Waiting for a Trump deal,  he said, will foreclose any chance of a political solution in the foreseeable future.

Special correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

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For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter
President Donald Trump has gained some wieght  and is now officially considered obese.

The White House on Thursday released results of his most recent physical, revealing that his Body Mass Index is now 30.4. Thats based on the fact that hes now carrying 243 pounds on his 6-foot, 3-inch frame. People with an index rating above 30 are considered obese.

However, Dr. Sean Conley, the presidents physician, said the 72-year-old president remains in very good health overall.

He gained four pounds from last year. His resting heart rate is 70 beats a minute and his blood pressure reading was 118 over 80, well within the normal range.

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Conley said routine lab tests were performed and Trumps liver, kidney and thyroid functions are all normal as were his electrolytes and blood counts. An electrocardiogram, a test that measures electrical activity generated by the heart as it beats, remained unchanged from last year.

Trump went to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last week for his second periodic physical, which lasted about four hours. During his exam, he received a flu shot and an inoculation to help prevent shingles, a viral infection that causes a painful rash.

I performed and supervised the evaluation with a panel of 11 different board-certified specialists, Conley wrote in a memorandum to the White House. He did not undergo any procedures requiring sedation or anesthesia.
Nearly four and a half years after Matthew Scott Sullivans wife went missing, a prosecutor appeared in court Thursday to present evidence that the former Navy man had murdered Elizabeth Sullivan.

Witnesses testified in a San Diego Superior Court preliminary hearing that the wife was never seen after Oct. 13, 2014 until her body washed up in San Diego Bay on Oct. 4, 2016.

Her decomposed remains showed evidence of stab wounds into her sides as well as a fractured jaw and nose, doctors testified.

Elizabeth Sullivan (Courtesey San Diego Police Department)

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A friend of the wife testified that she had told him her marriage was troubled with abuse, that she had been seeing a boyfriend for some time until her husband found out, and that she was going to see a divorce lawyer.

Under questioning by defense attorney Marcus DeBose, a San Diego police detective said Matthew Sullivan cooperated in the early investigation of his wifes disappearance, while the boyfriend lawyered up when asked to take a polygraph exam.

After Elizabeth Sullivans body was found, investigators searched the couples former home and found a knife with her blood hidden in the attic and blood under the carpeting. By that time, Matthew Sullivan had left the Navy and moved to Delaware.

Detectives arrested him on Jan. 31 last year. He was arraigned on a murder charge a few weeks later, on Valentines Day.

The preliminary hearing, begun exactly one year later, was held for Judge Frederick Link to determine whether there is enough evidence against Matthew Sullivan to hold him for trial.

The hearing is expected to conclude on Friday.

Authorities have never divulged a theory on where Elizabeth Sullivans body may have been during the two years she was missing.

Her remains were too intact to have lain in the water for that period, Dr. Othon Mena, formerly with the San Diego County Medical Examiners Office, testified.

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However, Deputy District Attorney Jill Lindberg asked another witness, a friend of the victim, whether he had ever seen a refrigerator in the garage of the couples Point Loma home.

There was not one, but two, Nathan Caracter testified.

They were pretty big, with the freezer at the bottom, Caracter said. He said he had visited their home soon after they moved into the Truxton Road residence at Liberty Station around 2013.

Caracter said he first met Elizabeth Sullivan, whom he called Liz, in 2012 when she and her two young daughters came into the Fashion Valley mall store where he was working.

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They hit it off and talked for hours, he said. Their friendship grew and continued over the next two years as they visited each others homes and went out drinking, he said.

On two occasions in 2014, Caracter said, he and Elizabeth Sullivan took crystal meth. One was the last weekend she spent at his home, on Oct. 10 and 11. She planned to see a divorce lawyer on Monday, Oct. 13, he said.

But when he texted and phoned her later that day to see what happened, she didnt answer. She never answered his repeated attempts to reach her, Caracter said.

By Oct. 14, he was worried and reported her missing to San Diego police.

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Detective James Hunter, who was working the missing persons unit at that time, testified that he got the Sullivan case two days later.

He talked to Matthew Sullivan, his wifes boyfriend, her father in Virginia, and made two cursory searches of the house. He found nothing suspicious at that time, he said.

Dr. Mena, who supervised the autopsy, said the body was clothed in a sweater, bra, blue jeans, underpants and one boot. Some bones were exposed, and the body showed signs it had lain on one side for a long time.

He concluded that Elizabeth Sullivan  identified by dental records  died of homicidal violence including sharp force injuries.

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pauline.repard@sduniontribune.com

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Twitter: @pdrepard
A standoff has ended with authorities killing a gunman they say hijacked a UPS truck with the driver inside.

The Santa Clara County Sheriffs Office says the chase began Thursday in South San Jose after the box truck was hijacked. The office says the gunman shot at pursuers.

The truck crossed town and stopped on First Street after a spike strip blew one tire while more than two dozen police cars blocked it in from behind.

After a standoff, a woman deputies initially described as a suspect left the truck and was taken into custody. The UPS driver was freed shortly before 7 p.m.

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The gunman was shot a short time later after he ran out of the truck, apparently holding a shotgun.

Video of UPS suspect running from truck with a shotgun and being shot by police (graphic content) pic.twitter.com/fWWNQbqJLe  SacKat (@sachibub10) February 15, 2019
A 27-year-old man was charged with murder Friday in the slayings of three people whose bodies were found in a Newport Beach home this week.

Orange County prosecutors allege that Camden Nicholson killed Richard Nicholson, 64, and Kim Nicholson, 61, both of Newport Beach, and Maria Morse, 57, of Anaheim.

Police did not confirm Camden Nicholsons relationship with the three. However, neighbors told KTLA-TV that Richard and Kim Nicholson were Camden Nicholsons parents and Morse was their housekeeper.

The circumstances surrounding their deaths remain unclear. Newport Beach police discovered their bodies in the home in the Bonita Canyon neighborhood late Wednesday. But investigators have not said how they died.

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Richard Nicholson is identified on LinkedIn as chief executive officer of West Pacific Medical Laboratory, which maintains an office in Newport Center. Citing interviews with colleagues, the Orange County Register confirmed his employment with the lab.

Camden Nicholsons online profile identifies him as a devout Mormon missionary who attended the University of Utah. He graduated from Corona del Mar High School and lives in Costa Mesa, according to his Facebook profile.

Camden Nicholson was arrested Wednesday night at Irvine Medical Center and was being held without bail at the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana. He is expected to return to court on March 8 for an arraignment.

If found guilty, he would face a sentencing enhancement for committing multiple murders, authorities said.

Times staff writer Hannah Fry contributed to this report.

Langhorne writes for Times Community News.
A lockdown at KTLA studios and Netflix was lifted Thursday afternoon after police detained a former Netflix employee who called a current worker and said that he had a gun, authorities said.

Police responded to the 5800 block of Sunset Boulevard shortly before 4 p.m. after they received the second hand report of the person with a gun, Los Angeles Police Officer Tony Im said.

The suspect was located and taken into custody somewhere off-site, Im said. He did not have a gun.

Live television footage showed police swarming the area around Sunset Bronson Studios, near Sunset Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue, as people filed out.

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Station management at KTLA were advising employees to move to interior spaces and away from windows, the station reported.

On lockdown inside KTLA studios. Reports of a man with a deadly weapon. Choppers and police everywhere. #hollywood  Kimberly Cheng (@KimberlyChengTV) February 15, 2019

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AleneTchek
A 47-year-old Los Angeles gang member was charged Friday with killing three men at a Torrance bowling alley last month, the Los Angeles County district attorneys office announced.

Reginald Leander Wallace of Los Angeles faces three counts of murder, four counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, according to the district attorneys office.

The charges include special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and killing to further the activities of a criminal street gang as well as allegations of using a handgun.

If convicted, Wallace faces death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. A decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made at a later date, according to the district attorneys office.

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Wallace was convicted of first degree murder as a juvenile in June 1989 and later convicted of possessing a gun within a school zone in 1997 and assault with a firearm in 1998, authorities said.

Three Los Angeles residents died in the Jan. 4 shooting: Michael DiShawn Radford, 20; Astin Kyle Edwards, 28; and Robert Earl Meekins Jr., 28. Two injured men were taken to a hospital, and two others opted to seek medical attention on their own.

Meekins went to the bowling alley that night to meet Astin Edwards, the godfather of his 5-year-old son.

Astin Edwards, left, and Robert Meekins, both 28, were fatally shot at Gable House Bowl in Torrance. (Edwards and Meekins families)

Torrance police arrested Wallace last month. He previously served 17 years in prison and was released in 2017.

The shooting at Gable House Bowl, a popular night spot in the city since it opened in 1960, began with a fight between customers, Torrance Police Chief Eve Irvine said last month.

The confrontation escalated to involve as many as 15 people, Irvine said.

During the argument, Wallace pulled a gun from his pocket and began firing into the crowd, Irvine said. It appeared that he was the only shooter inside the building, she added, describing the weapon as a handgun but declining to specify its caliber.

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Wallace did not reload the gun, Irvine said.

javier.panzar@latimes.com

@jpanzar
County Supervisor Greg Cox wants to double the number of water quality tests the county conducts along Imperial Beach and Coronado  the two areas most affected by sewage spills from the Tijuana River.

To help pay for this expansion  which aims to increase from four to nine the number of testing sites between Border Field State Park to the Coronado Shores  Cox is asking his colleagues on the county Board of Supervisors to set aside $289,000 during upcoming budget deliberations, Cox announced Wednesday.

I am confident that we will get the support we need in order to further enhance this program, Cox said during a press conference in Imperial Beach.

The county uses water quality test results to close beaches and inform the public about current conditions.

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Local officials welcomed the proposed expansion as a useful tool that will keep the public better informed about water quality but stressed the importance of continuing to stop the sewage spills by asking the Mexican and U.S. governments to invest in infrastructure along the border.

Sewage spills from Tijuana, which flow into the Tijuana River Valley through six canyons that lead into the Tijuana River and flow out to the Pacific Ocean, regularly lead to beach closures in Imperial Beach and sometimes Coronado.

The fact of the matter is these issues have gone back to as early as the 1930s, Cox said. Its an issue that unfortunately residents in Imperial Beach, Coronado and South County have had to deal with.

In 2017, more than 143 million gallons of raw sewage flowed from the Tijuana River into the Pacific Ocean.

Lifeguards in Imperial Beach got the City Councils backing to write citations to people who go into the ocean after theyve been told not to during closures, said Capt. Robert Stabenow.

This has made a drastic impact in the amount of people going in the water when its polluted, Stabenow said.

Previously, lifeguards would go into the polluted water to rescue swimmers who had ignored the beach closure signs, he added.

Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina said doubling the number of test sites in the South County will help us greatly.

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Specifically, the testing proposal could keep the public better informed about their beachs water quality and it could help the city and lifeguards better manage beach closures.

The mayor also stressed the importance of working on a long-term solution to stop the sewage spills from polluting the Pacific Ocean.

We need to fix the problem, thats why we filed a lawsuit with the city of San Diego, the city of Chula Vista, the Port of San Diego, the state of California as well as the Surfrider Foundation to get infrastructure in the U.S. side of the border to capture the sewage flows, he said.

Additionally, the city is working with San Diegos congressional delegation to get money in the federal budget for infrastructure along the border through the EPAs border program. Imperial Beach officials have also hired the former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico to lobby the Mexican government to upgrade and fix Tijuanas sewage system, Dedina added.

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The county has not joined the federal lawsuit. Instead, it has opted to engage the federal government in a more diplomatic approach.

Regardless of how it gets done, Supervisor Cox said stopping the sewage spills is the real goal.

The real solution obviously is going to be coming through either litigation or negotiation, working with our federal partners, trying to see if we can come up with projects that will address the sewage flows, he said.

Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter
Music educators, industry leaders and school administrators from the Imperial Valley and San Diego County were recently honored with the Fortissimo awards for exceptional work in music education.

The awards, from the California Music Educators Association, Southern Border Section, were presented at a gala at the Bernardo Winery in Rancho Bernardo.

The association supports and promotes all music education in San Diego and Imperial counties. One of the largest state sections in California, it is also an active advocate for music education nationally through its affiliated membership with NAfME: The National Association for Music Education.

The Fortissimo Awards are selected through an open nomination process, followed by a vote from the associations executive board.

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Fortissimo Awards are an amazing way to celebrate all the incredible people who are working tirelessly, daily, to make music education incredible in our community, said section president Laura Smith in a statement. We need to celebrate these daily heroes that make such a difference in childrens lives!

Honorees were:

Outstanding Administrator: Sharon Rubalcava, Mira Mesa High School

Outstanding Administrator: Michael McQuary, San Diego Unified School District

Outstanding Administrator: Peggy Lewis, Toler Elementary, San Diego

Middle School Music Specialist Award: Cameron Brown, Thurgood Marshall Middle School, San Diego

John Swain College/University Music Educator Award: Jack Erb, San Diego State University

Byron Hoyt/Don Schmeer Band Educator Award: Patrick Doerr, Chula Vista High School

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Pearson-Silver Burdett Choral Educator Award: Emilie Amrein, University of San Diego

Hall of Fame: Jeri Webb, San Diego Street Choir & Retired San Diego Street Choir

Music Industry Leadership Award: La Jolla Music Society

Peripole General Music Educator Award: Kim Read-Smith, San Pasqual Union School District

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Elementary Music Specialist Award: Mark Nadeau, San Diego Unified School District

Jazz Educator Award: Charlie McGhee, Double Peak School, San Marcos

Aubrey Penman Retired Music Educator Award: James Trepasso, San Diego Unified School District

Richard Levin Orchestra Educator Award: Ted Foster, Challenger Middle School, San Diego

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CMEA-SBS Section Award: Pauline Crooks, San Diego County Office of Education

Visit www.cmeasbs.com.

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laura.groch@sduniontribune.com
PHOTO: In celebration of Valentines Day, attendees at a recent meeting of the Oceanside Newcomers & Friends wore red to show support of love and friendship to fellow members. The nonprofit group meets at 10 a.m. the first Tuesday of every month at the Veterans Association of North County resource center, 1617 Mission Ave. Visitors are encouraged to attend. The next meeting is set for March 5. Visit oceansidenewcomers.org. Photo by Pat Castello

North county community events, news

CARLSBAD

Genetic genealogist

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to speak at meeting

The DNA Interest Group, sponsored by the North San Diego County Genealogical Society, will meet from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Georgina Cole Library, 1250 Carlsbad Village Drive, to hear genetic genealogist Kitty Cooper present GEDmatch Basics, followed by a workshop. Admission is free; reservation not required. For questions, call (951) 567-3322.

Book club to discuss As Bright as Heaven

The Carlsbad Senior Centers monthly book club meets from 1 to 2:30 p.m. March 11 at the center, 799 Pine Ave. Marchs book selection is As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner. Attendees can get a head start reading. Aprils book selection is A Place We Knew Well by Susan Carol McCarthy. Call (760) 602-4650.

DEL MAR

Grey whales topic of talk, followed by hike

The San Diego/Del Mar Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve hosts a hike and lecture at 11 a.m. Saturday as part of its Nature Discovery series. Meet at the new pavilion, next to the Lodge Museum. Februarys topic will be The Incredible Journey of the Grey Whales by Jane Barger. A short hike will follow the lecture. Bring binoculars. The event is free with entrance into the reserve. Visit torreypine.org.

ENCINITAS

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Concert features

Romantic Pairings

A concert, Music By The Sea: Romantic Pairings, is at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Drive. The concert features Anastasia Malliaras, soprano; Aaron Haas, guitar; Laurel Irene, soprano; and Jaxon Williams, guitar. Malliaras and Haas will perform music by Franz Schubert and a song cycle by Spanish composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Irene and Williams will offer a contrasting program of American music from the 20th century by Domenico Argento. Tickets are $14. Call (760) 633-2746.

Bach to Rock concert set for Friday

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The Hutchins Consort presents Bach to Rock at 8 p.m. Friday at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, 890 Balour Drive. Pianist Maksim Velichkin joins the consort for a new installment of the popular Bach and Rock series, this time performing Bachs Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, juxtaposed with rock classics by the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Yes. Tickets are $15-$35. Call (760) 753-7376.

ESCONDIDO

Best of Motown Saturday at arts center

In honor of Black History Month, the California Center for the Arts, Escondido and The Barn Stage Company present The Best of Motown at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the Center Theater. The concert will include hit songs such as My Girl, Midnight Train and I Heard It Through The Grapevine. Tickets are $25-$45. Visit artcenter.org.

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Spouse caregiver support group meets

The San Diego Well Spouse Support Group will meet from 10 a.m to noon Saturday at the Forgotten Barrel Winery, 1120 W 15th Ave. The nonprofit Well Spouse Association supports current and former spouses and partners of chronically ill or disabled community members. The group meets the third Saturday of each month. Visit wellspouse.org.

Ship in the Woods hosts art exhibit

The nonprofit Ship in the Woods presents a group art exhibition, Wax/Wane, with an open reception and music from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday at 3007 Felicita Road. The event features artist in residence Kyle Ranson with guest artists Christine Shields and Walter Sutin and music performance by The Color Forty Nine. The exhibit continues through the end of February. Admission is $10; parkins is $3. Visit shipinthewoods.com.

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NORTH COUNTY

Widows, widowers group plans outings

The Catholic Widows and Widowers of North County, a support group fostering friendships through social activities, hosts get-togethers throughout the month. Here are some upcoming activities:

Feb. 17, Coastal Community Concert Band concert followed by dinner at KoKo Beach restaurant, Carlsbad.

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Feb. 19, happy hour and dinner at Black Angus Steakhouse, Escondido.

Feb. 20, dance classes at Ed Brown Senior Center; Rancho Bernardo

Feb. 21, Bowling at Surf Bowl and dinner at Hunter Steakhouse, Oceanside.

Feb. 24, attend Mass at St. Margaret Catholic Church and lunch at Jolly Roger Restaurant, Oceanside.

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Feb. 26, docent tour at Oceanside Museum of Art and lunch at Honeys Bistro, Oceanside.

Feb. 27, dance classes at Ed Brown Senior Center, Rancho Bernardo.

Feb. 28, lunch and bocce ball at the Vista Elks Lodge, Vista.

Reserve at (858) 674-4324.

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Get discount museum passes at libraries

As part of San Diego Museum Month, county library branches are giving out discount museum passes during February that will be accepted at more than 40 local museums, including the Birch Aquarium at Scripps, the California Center for the Arts, Escondido museum, San Diego Natural History Museum and the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Visit your local branch of the county library.

OCEANSIDE

Arts foundation seeks scholarship applicants

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Oceanside Cultural Arts Foundation is accepting applications for its scholarships to be awarded to local graduating high school seniors continuing their education in the performing arts, visual arts and filmmaking. Submit the scholarship package to OCAF, PO Box 3054, Oceanside, CA 92051. Application deadline is April 30. For questions, email ocaf@ocaf.info. Visit ocaf.info/ocaf-scholarships.

Books sale set for Saturday at library

The Friends of the Oceanside Public Library will hold a Books and Media (BAM!) Sale fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday behind the Civic Center Library, 602 Civic Center Drive. The sale includes literature, fiction, nonfiction, foreign language, biographies, history, law, paperbacks, childrens books and textbooks. Friends members can shop early from 9 to 10 a.m. Membership applications will be on-site. Proceeds support library programs and services along with books and materials. Call (760) 435-5560 or visit oplfriends.org.

Group art exhibition

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set for Saturday night

The Hill Street Country Club and Linksoul Lab present Te Lo Explico Federico, a group exhibition featuring new artworks by JT Rhoades, Kevin Ortega and Miguel Figueroa from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday at 530 S. Coast Highway. The exhibition includes large-scale photographs of working people and hand-painted lowrider bike installations. The event features a live DJ, classic cars and ice cream. Admission is free. Visit thehillstreetcountryclub.org or bit.ly/2N1KlhL.

RANCHO BERNARDO

Church hosts blood drive Sunday

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Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church will host a Mobile Blood Drive with the San Diego Blood Bank from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday at 17010 Pomerado Road in the parking lot. Anyone 17 or older, who weighs at least 114 pounds and is in good health may be eligible to donate blood. Photo identification is required. Walk in or make an appointment at (800) 469-7322 or visit sandiegobloodbank.org.

VISTA

Free movie screening Friday at senior center

The Gloria McClellan Senior Center will screen a new movie release at 1 p.m. Friday in the center, 1400 Vale Terrace Drive. Admission is free; refreshments will be served. The movie will be shown with closed captioning for the hearing impaired. Call (760) 643-5282 or visit gmacvista.com.

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Spots left to tour Moonlight next month

The Culture Caravan offers a trip to see Canines, Casting Calls and Local Cuisine on March 7 at the Moonlight Amphitheatre. Attendees go behind the scenes to see where the magic of the Moonlight happens and eat at the country diner at Bobbys Hideaway Cafe. Participants can also meet the dogs who provide assistance for disabled community members. The caravan departs at 9:45 a.m. March 7 from the Gloria McClellan Senior Center, 1400 Vale Terrace Drive, and returns at 3:45 p.m. Cost is $57, including lunch. Reserve at (760) 643-2828.
Plans to build a small skate park in Escondidos Washington Park, something that has been discussed for years, are finally taking shape.

The City Council on Wednesday authorized a company to proceed with design plans for a 5,000-square-foot skate spot, a project that will also include the expansion of the existing parking lot in Washington Park.

The park is located in a high-density residential neighborhood in east-central Escondido where kids have complained for many years there are few recreational opportunities. Two years ago the city held a skate rally in the park to gather community input. It was probably the most successful community outreach event ever, some said, as hundreds of kids and their families from all over the city showed up.

Its been a long road to tow to get here, said Councilman John Masson, who has been championing skate parks for some time as has Councilwoman Olga Diaz.

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I grew up skating in downtown Escondido, Masson said. Having more of these spots for kids to hang out and get their aggressions out is a beautiful thing.

The park will be designed by New Line Skateparks, which came in with the lowest responsible bid at $143,574 to do the planning work. During the design phase, New Line will gather comments from the pubic during community meetings and via the citys website. People will be encouraged to submit written comments, sketches, pictures, etc. through a custom web portal for immediate online feedback from the consultants team.

Funding for the project was authorized in 2017 by the council, which allocated $300,000 in Park Development Funds for the design and construction of the skate spot, and $385,000 for the parking lot expansion.

The city will also continue to pursue various grant opportunities because the goal is to build several more skate spots in other parks.

I look forward to you finding a way to do more skate parks throughout the city, even just grind spots, Diaz told city staffers. These give kids the opportunity to get out that energy and exercise their sport in safe ways .. . Im happy to have one (skate spot) but would like them all over the place.

The skate spot will be made out of concrete and be designed for all types of users  skateboarders, in-line skaters, regular roller skaters, people on Razor scooters and BMX bikes.

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jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones
Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Chancellor Cindy L. Miles is stepping down after 10 years.

Miles, 64, announced Thursday that she will be retiring at the end of the year, long enough to allow time for a successor to be selected. Miles said her primary goal has been to clear the way for the college and district communities to make amazing things happen for students.

As chancellor, Miles has been chief executive officer of the two-college district, reporting to a five-member elected board and two student trustees. In 2017, her annual salary, including benefits, was nearly $310,000.

Im a believer in listening to the rhythm of ones soul and, after 30 years of teaching and leading in community colleges, theres a calling impossible to ignore thats pulling me in a new direction, Miles said.

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During her tenure leading Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges, the district passed a $398 million bond measure to modernize facilities.

More than 5,500 degrees and certificates were awarded at Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges in 2018, a 140 percent increase from 10 years ago.

The district has been nationally recognized in recent years for removing barriers to student success and ending equity gaps that have impeded students of color in their college pursuits.

Governing Board trustee Bill Garrett praised Miles for innovations such as the East County Education Alliance, a partnership since 2014 with the Grossmont Union High School District that creates smoother paths for students between high school, college and career.

During Miles tenure, Grossmont was recognized as a Champion of Higher Education in 2018 for its work to significantly increase the number of students earning an Associate Degree for Transfer, an associate degree that guarantees transfer to the California State University institution.

Miles joined Grossmont-Cuyamaca in March 2009. Before arriving at the district, she was the founding president of the Hialeah campus at Miami Dade College.

Miles received her doctorate in educational administration from the University of Texas at Austin; a masters degree in secondary and higher education from Texas A&M University-Commerce; and a bachelors degree in biology from the University of Texas at Austin.

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karen.pearlman@sduniontribune.com
For decades, the stately Hotel del Coronado, with its imposing red-roofed turret, chandelier-bedecked Victorian lobby and its storied ties to Hollywood nobility, has been instantly recognizable well beyond San Diego County.

Yet what has long been lacking is an equally recognizable entryway befitting the grandeur of the more than century-old icon.

That omission will be no more after the Coronado resort undergoes over the next few years a $200 million redevelopment and expansion, which is easily the most costly upgrade since the hotel opened in 1888. As a comparison, its almost triple the cost of the 78 luxury beachside cottages and villas that opened in 2007, and it far exceeds the addition of more than 300 hotel rooms in the 1970s.

The milestone project also marks the final build-out of the 28-acre resort, which will not only be getting a new palm tree-lined entry, but also a 25,000-square-foot conference center and great lawn, two parking garages, 142 more guestrooms, a new signature restaurant, a major transformation of 97 California Cabana rooms, and a redo of the popular ocean-view sun deck.

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By the time the project is fully done by late 2021, the 757-room resort will have grown to nearly 900 rooms.

Walking the grounds, its hard not to notice that parts of the resort have turned into a construction zone, with the roar of jackhammers and bulldozers piercing the quiet of the coastal retreat.

The Del is 130 years old and its gone through upgrades over that period as every hotel does but what this master plan will do is keep the Del alive for another 130 years, says hotel general manager Harold Rapoza Jr.

He is especially excited about plans for the new entryway, acknowledging that the current route for accessing the hotels main entrance  a nondescript roadway off Orange Avenue  is not only somewhat confusing to visitors but also underwhelming.

We are going to close that area off and instead youll continue down to Avenida del Sol, make a right turn and come up a much more grand entrance with the money shot of the Del in front of you, Rapoza added.

As much as successive renovations of the resort have always incorporated the kind of creature comforts one would expect of any contemporary hotel, this latest project is also a nod to the hotels rich history.

For instance, the original front porch, gradually covered over in decades past, will be entirely recreated, down to the separate set of stairs that years ago were reserved exclusively for lady visitors.

The hotel porch of yesteryear is not hard to miss in the 1959 film Some Like it Hot, which in one scene features several gentlemen sitting on the veranda quietly reading their papers. They suddenly come to life and quickly turn their heads as Marilyn Monroes character walks up the steps to the hotel.

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Many of the coming changes to the Hotel Del shouldnt come as a complete surprise because most of the improvements have long been envisioned in the resorts master plan, first approved by the city of Coronado in 2003 and later amended in 2010. Memories may be short, though, given the considerable time that has passed since the California Coastal Commissions approval nearly a decade ago.

An earlier slowdown in the tourism economy was in part responsible for the delay, and changes in the ownership structure over the past years also affected the timing of the project. Although the current owner, the Blackstone Group, has had an ownership interest since 2005, it hasnt always been in a majority position.

In 2011, Blackstone came to the rescue when the Coronado hotel was at risk of going into default on more than $600 million in loans and invested $100 million in the property. Five years later, it was prepared to sell the hotel to a Beijing-based firm as part of a larger portfolio transaction but the Hotel Del was pulled from the portfolio after a Treasury Department committee was said to have had concerns about its proximity to the Coronado Naval Base.

The main reason were doing this now is because its time to do it, Rapoza said. In general, we should see a big lift in our room rates when we get done with our guestrooms. Outside of Beach Village, the cabanas will be the premier rooms in the resort after theyre renovated, giving us a 20 percent to 30 percent lift in our room rates.

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The Hotel Del is also in the enviable position of being a coastal property that still has enough land left to add a sizable number of rooms and meeting space, even at a time when the pace of growth in the hotel industry is expected to slow.

This is in Coronado, where its extremely difficult to get approvals for anything so the value of being able to add more rooms to that is incredible, said Alan Reay, president of the Orange County-based Atlas Hospitality Group. I dont know of any other hotel on the California coast with that amount of rooms and meeting facilities so its very difficult to go wrong with adding the rooms theyre adding.

Its like its own little demand generator, which makes it very, very unique.

Here is a preview of the changes coming to the Hotel Del Coronado:

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North parking garage: Now under construction, the nearly 800-space structure will consist of two levels of underground parking, plus surface parking. Located near the intersection of Orange Avenue and R.H. Dana Place, the garage will occupy what had been a 236-space lot. Once all the development is completed, the number of parking spaces will grow from 943 to 1,179.

Construction site of north parking garage (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Vista Walk: Also currently under construction, this is a revamp of the existing outdoor event space. It replaces what had been a two-level event area that Rapoza describes as more of a hodgepodge. The new space, located near the ballroom, will be larger, all on one level and will offer views to the ocean and the hotels historic turret. It should be finished by May.

Rendering of Vista Walk (Courtesy of Hotel Del Coronado)

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Serea replaces 1500 Ocean: Now in demolition mode, the former 1500 Ocean was the hotels fine dining venue for the last 13 years. The hotel ownership brought in Las Vegas-based Clique Hospitality  responsible for creating Lionfish at the Pendry hotel in downtown San Diego  to develop the Hotel Dels new anchor restaurant.

There was nothing intrinsically wrong with 1500 Ocean, says Clique founder Andy Masi, but the hotel needed a new dining venue that is more in keeping with San Diegos evolving food scene.

I really looked at what is the direction restaurants are moving in, and what can we deliver to the tourists and how do you get locals to drive over the bridge to visit a great restaurant, said Masi, whose firm has helped develop a number of nightlife venues in Vegas.

For Serea, the menu will be Mediterranean-inspired and will capitalize on locally caught seafood. Masi describes the look of the 180-seat indoor-outdoor restaurantas reminiscent of a really great beach house where you feel like youre dining at someones home or on their patio. It is expected to open by early summer.

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While Serea will be the biggest dining change, food and beverage revamps are planned throughout the hotel, says Rapoza. The management team is still weighing changes for Sheerwater, the hotels three-meal-a-day restaurant. One possible idea is converting it to a steakhouse. It will also get a name change. Work on that venue, though, wouldnt start until next year.

Another planned change is to relocate the hotels grab-and-go outlet next to its Eno Pizzeria and Wine Bar and create more of an Italian marketplace offering upscale to-go prepared foods, Rapoza said.

This all goes back to the master plan development, he explained. We didnt want to have this new development, and then the food and beverage hasnt been touched. We wanted to bring excitement to all parts of the resort.

Main entry/porch: Starting next year, work will begin on the new entryway, creating a clear sense of arrival for guests. It will be lined with palm trees, and the surface will be composed of decorative pavers. As vehicles approach the main entrance, they will go around a landscaped circle that will be used for both entering and exiting the property. A signal will be installed at Avenida del Sol that will help made left-hand turns onto Orange Avenue easier and safer.

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Once completed, the entryway will mark a return to its original location where hotel guests in the early years would arrive by train. The hotel believes that the earlier alignment was relocated to its current location sometime in the 1960s. Also next year, the original veranda that ran across the front facade, from the ballroom to the Crown Room, will be recreated.

Rendering of main entryway (Courtesy of Hotel Del Coronado)

New conference center and condo hotel rooms: This project, expected to get under way next year, will deliver nearly 40,000 square feet of additional indoor and outdoor meeting space, plus 142 more rooms contained in 75 one-, two- and three-bedroom units located largely in two wings off of the conference center. One level of underground parking with 280 spaces is planned below the center.

Like the Beach Village cottages and villas, the new lodging will be sold as condos with limited-use restrictions for the owners. While sales prices have not yet been determined, current listings for some Beach Village cottages offer perspective on potential prices. They range from $3.9 million to $4.3 million, and a Beach Village villa sold last year for more than $2.8 million or $2,306 per square foot.

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Render of conference center (Courtesy of Hotel Del Coronado)

Cabanas remodel: The 1970s-era building will get a complete overhaul, with special attention to creating more of an indoor-outdoor feel, particularly along the beachfront. The lower level cabanas will have large patios with chaise lounges and fire pits. The bathrooms will also be entirely renovated. Completion is expected by next summer.

Rendering of remodeled cabana room (Courtesy of Hotel Del Coronado)

Sun Deck with stadium-style seating: Targeted for completion by next summer, this planned upgrade will for the first time connect the beachfront Sun Deck Grill to the pool below via what Rapoza describes as stadium or tiered seating. The project will also incorporate a larger, two-level kitchen capable of serving guests seated around the pool, as well as the Sun Deck restaurant. The result will be a 600-seat dining venue that includes both levels.

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Historic preservation: Some of the resorts historic structures dating to the late 1800s and early 1900s, like the Ice House, Laundry Building and Power Plant, are undergoing various degrees of restoration or renovation. The Ice House will be re-purposed as a history gallery that will showcase all the hotels historic images curated over the years. It is possible that the revamped Ice House could be open to the public as early as the end of this year.

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lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-2251

Twitter: @loriweisberg
In most of our pockets, we have a device that links us to the rest of the world. We can share our opinions in an instant, and social media companies collect those preferences for profit. Yet most elected leaders rely on town halls and city council meetings to find out what their voters are thinking.

Is there a better way?

Yes, says ex-Sempra Energy executive Michael Allman, who ran for Congress in 2017. During his campaign, Allman decided to build a tech platform that would help him survey locals, hoping he could glean insights about voters in his area. If he knew what people cared about, Allman would know how to campaign. He ended up losing that race to incumbent Scott Peters but decided to pursue the tech idea further. Now, Allman leads a Solana Beach tech startup that connects voters with their leaders. His companys technology, he says, could give the majority a fighting chance at letting politicians know what they want.

The company is called Voterfied, and it employs about seven people  including Allmans wife Lee Ann  at its small headquarters by the beach. Although in early stages of development, the companys tech was already put to work during Mayor Matt Halls recent campaign in Carlsbad. Hall said the technology helped him get a clearer picture of what residents care about  data he leaned on during his 2018 campaign, in which Hall was the incumbent.

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During campaigns, you normally have interest groups giving you messages about what they think is important, Hall said. The same people always show up at council meetings, and they obviously have legitimate concerns. But with any issue, theres always more than one side. Its important to know what the greater populace is thinking.

Lee Ann Allman, who runs operations for Voterfied, said the technology has the potential to boost transparency between officials and the masses.

If an elected official is voting against the desires of the population, then they have to explain why theyre voting that way, Lee Ann said. Theyre being held more accountable to the people who live in their district.

How does it work?

In its most basic form, Voterfied is a secure way to survey locals. The company verifies that users are registered voters in the pertinent region to the poll, and then asks residents questions about local issues. Users create a profile once  get verified through the platform  and then can anonymously respond to polling questions.

In Halls campaign, he asked residents how they felt about short-term vacation rentals, if they wanted a dog beach in South Carlsbad and how they felt about license plate readers within city limits, among other questions. About 1,000 residents logged onto Voterfied to cast their vote on these topics. That might not seem like much participation, but its a lot more than the general attendance of a city council meeting. And Hall said it was a quick way to get access to the general publics opinions.

Allman said another way residents share opinions is by calling or emailing the staff of campaigning politicians or elected officials. He sees the technology as a way to automate and streamline those communications, allowing politicians to keep leaner staffs.

Voterfied isnt a doing all the legwork, though. The customer (a campaigning politician or elected official, for example) has to get the companys app into their voters hands. Hall used social media and speaking events to encourage people to sign up for Voterfied.

Voterfied is a little more sophisticated than your standard survey or polling software. The company uses blockchain technology built by their business partner, a Boston startup called Voatz. Blockchain  a technology pioneered by the cryptocurrency craze, and now maturing into new industries  allows Voterfied to build an unchangeable and secure way to vote.

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Kyle Connolly, a co-founder at Voterfied, said the startup also uses cryptography to encode and disguise the data, meaning votes are both unhackable and completely anonymous.

Its a way to keep this information private, completely secure, and hold everyone to one person, one vote, Connolly said.

Will other politicians jump on board?

Voterfied just launched a seed round, sending out investor packs last week. The company hopes to raise $500,000 to $1.5 million to hire more software developers, along with sales and marketing teams.

Outside campaigns, the company has big plans to put the technology to work at local, regional and state governments  an idea Mayor Hall enthusiastically supports.

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The tool is so adaptable that every city could use it to poll their community, Hall said. Its a quick and honest way to test a topic.

Voterfied will charge politicians, officials and governments by the month to use the tool, with the cost rising based on the size of their constituency. Small constituencies cost about $850 per month, and large ones can cost as much as $2,250.

For now, Hall is Voterfieds only customer. But the company said it has received interest from many politicians, local governments, and other regional organizations.

Adoptions the hardest thing, Allman said. But success breeds success. Matt extended his margin of victory in what was otherwise a blue wave. If we can get a hundred customers who win in 2020, people will pay attention.

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And hopefully, Voterfieds team mused, citizens will call for it.

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brittany.meiling@sduniontribune.com 619-293-1286 Twitter: @BrittanyMeiling
The annual showcasing of Ie Samoa, known as the National Faalelega Pepe/Fuataga will be held on May 9 this year.

This was confirmed by the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development.

For over 15 years the Ministry has coordinated the Ie Samoa weaving programme. It strives to revive the art of weaving, the use of authentic traditional Ie Samoa (Samoan fine mats), and the production of Siapo  in recognising womens participation in economic development.

The programme also focuses on preserving culture, which was in danger of dying out, due to the commercialisation of Samoan culture.

Each village involved in this project has a master weaver, who makes sure that the mats are up to the standard that the Government has set.

The mats are priced between $3500-$5000 which enables these families to uplift themselves, and through their collective industry, contribute to keep this fine tradition alive.

On average, it takes about seven months to complete a fine mat (Ie Samoa), which is used for traditional exchanges and gift giving as part of important ceremonies such as weddings, funerals and bestowment of chiefly titles.

The Ministry also stated that when they first started the project, most of the women involved were older, but recently there has been an increase in women under 30-years participating and many who are unable to find a jobs.

There were signs of great commitment from the younger generation and some men, to keep this fine tradition alive.

The highlight was one of the youngest weavers of the age of 11 from Nofoalii was seen weaving an Ie Samoa.
A senior American Samoa government official has rejected claims from Samoa that most of the hard drugs found in Samoa are brought in from the territory.

American Samoas Chief of Customs, Keith Gebauer, told the Weekend Observer, that by Samoa pointing the finger to them, this is not productive or effective.

He said the two Samoas need to work as a team to tackle the issue of drugs.

He was responding to comments by the Minister of Revenue, Tialavea Tionisio Hunt, who was quoted by the local media that drug smugglers were sailing on fishing boats to American Samoa and bringing back the drugs such as methamphetamine.

"Anyone can jump on a fishing alia, shoot off to American Samoa, collect the stuff and land back here as if they've been out fishing," Tialavea was quoted as saying.

The Minister said Samoan border control was working to the best of its abilities but more sniffer dogs were required for it to be successful.

But Mr. Gebauer told the Samoa Observer the flow and exchange of drugs and cash between the two Samoas is an ever-growing threat to both countries and the Pacific region at large.

We would all be better served working collaboratively towards this common threat to our communities by sharing critical information and leveraging our limited resources collectively when possible, he said.

Asked what the American Samoa government is doing to combat the flow of drugs from their territory to Samoa, he said:

It would be inappropriate to discuss any specifics of our current operations, in terms of, methods and procedures for safety and investigation purposes.

We are constantly, evaluating our operation and making adjustments as needed.

Our areas of focus vary based on intelligence gathered, patterns of concealment and other factors, said Gebauer.

Furthermore the Customs Chief Executive said the Customs Division of the Department of Treasury would welcome the opportunity to work with the Samoa Customs on ways to combat the illegal drug trade.

Perhaps, the annual Pacific Island Chiefs of Police conference hosted by the American Samoa Department of Public Safety and Commissioner Lei Thompson will provide a platform to share and discuss solutions between law enforcement, border security professionals and other stakeholders on the challenges we all currently face today.

The Customs Division of the Department of Treasury stands ready to assist the Samoa Customs Ministry in any way possible.
A 74-year-old woman from Falefa has expressed her disappointment with the US Embassys visa section in Apia.

According to Malia Kalala Laufasa, she believes that it is unfair to pay $430 tala for a US visa application, only for the application to be unsuccessful.

I had an interview on February the seventh this year with the US immigration, they asked me four questions and after that I was told that my application was denied.

To me, it felt like it cost $100 a question  the reason why I was declined was because they thought that if I go to the US, I was going to stay there for good  but that is not the case for me.

I wanted to see my children and they will look after me, but then I will come back to Samoa, and I also have a green card which has expired and I wanted to renew it when I get back to the US, Mrs. Laufasa said.

She also stated that she did not mind being turned down, but it was unfair paying a large amount of money only for their application to be turned down.

It is also unfair for some Samoan families who cannot afford these prices, not everyone has the same situation in affording to pay this amount.

I feel sorry for people that do not have the financial support but still pay this amount because of reasons like family emergencies.

I think that at least if they decline, people should get a refund of any amount which would be nice, she added.

According to the US Embassy, section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) prohibits them from discussing individual visa cases.

Every applicant for a nonimmigrant visa worldwide must pay a $160 USD application fee - it covers the cost of processing the application.

It is non-refundable regardless of whether an applicant is issued a visa or not, since the application was processed to conclusion.

As one example, if an application was refused under Section 214(b) and an applicant chose to reapply for a visa, whether applying at the same embassy or elsewhere, they will be required to pay the visa application processing fee, said the embassy.

The Embassy also stated that they cannot speculate on whether someone may or may not be eligible for a visa, nor on any possible limitations.

It is because when an individual applies for a U.S. visa, a consular officer reviews the facts of the case and determines whether the applicant is eligible, for a U.S. visa based on U.S. laws.

Applications are refused if an applicant is found ineligible under the Immigration and Nationality Act or other provisions of U.S. law.
The elderly woman who died on an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Apia on Tuesday was a nun returning from a Christmas holiday in New Zealand.

Sister Filomena Akenese Potogi of Sapapalii, Savaii died on flight NZ296, prior to the aircraft landing at the Faleolo International Airport.

Sr. Filomena of the Sisters of Nazareth Community in Lepea was 67-years-old. She was ill with high blood pressure, diabetes and had a heart condition.

Her younger sister, Sosefina Lafaele Utoaluga, said she is still grieving from the sudden death of her sister.

She went to New Zealand with my daughter to spend Christmas holiday with our family there, Mrs. Utoaluga told the Weekend Observer.

Before they left New Zealand she was looking forward to see us because they have been away for more than a month. We waited at the airport for so long for them to come out, until we received a call that they wanted to speak to the family of Sr. Filomena. We were taken inside a room, where we were told that there was an incident on the plane, and she did not make it.

According to Mrs. Utoalugas daughter, who was accompanying her aunty Sr. Filomena, it all happened so fast.

Less than 10 minutes before the plane landed, Sr. Filomena felt uneasy. She asked to go to the restroom, with her niece accompanying her, despite a warning from the crew that the plane was about to land. On their way back to their seat, Sr. Filomena fell on her knees and collapsed.

Mrs. Utoaluga said her daughter  who was very close to her sister  is still trying to come to terms with the sudden death of Sr. Filomena.

My daughter was like Sr. Filomenas own daughter, she explained.

She took her everywhere and my daughter knows what medication her aunty should take, and what time she needs to take them.

An email from Air New Zealands external communications manager, Anna Cross, said for privacy reasons the airline is unable to provide further information on the incident.

Reminiscing on the personality of her sister, Mrs. Utualuga said Sr. Filomena was someone who got upset at times but is quick to love.

She recalled how her sister loved her children like her own, and had always been there for them and raised them.

When she knows the kids have done wrong she would scold them and tell them off, said Mrs. Utualuga.

But after that she would always baby them and buy them things they want. That was the kind of person she was. She loved my children like her own, and always came to visit us when she comes out and spend time with us.

Sr. Filomena being older than her, Mrs. Utoaluga said they had a very close relationship.

Even though Im younger than her she had not once said any harsh words to me or laid a hand to me when we were growing up, she said.

She calls me when she wants to talk about something and I do the same when I need someone to talk to. When I needed her she was there for meshe always calls to check on the kids and how we are.

Sr. Filomenas family service will be held at the Sefo Funeral parlour today. Her final service is scheduled for next Tuesday at the Mulivai Cathedral.
The Governments decision to sack the Nofoalii village mayor over his comments against the Governments land law reforms has raised a rather interesting question. Can the Government sack village mayors who are appointed by the villages? Whats more, where does this leave Government employees when it comes to the question of freedom and rights? Talaia Mika and Misiona Simo discussed the issue with members of the public and these are their views:





Valma Tonuu, 34, Fugalei

The Government is our government. But we also have the right to say what we think is right even if it means its against them. We voted for them to be our leaders and again, we have every right to say whatever we think is right. I think the Government should listen to the people sometimes.

Anesone Elama, 43, Saleimoa

I dont take sides in these kinds of cases. I think, however, that whatever the Government thinks is best for the country, people should listen. People who disagree have their own rights but we should all try and agree with the Government so we can avoid these things.

Toalua Tauavae, 42, Siusega

The government does not have the right to anyones rights because thats their right. I dont care so much about their rules but I care more about peoples freedom. I dont support the idea they can just sack anyone they dont like. I think people should have the freedom to say what they want. This is a free country.

Easter Nun Yan, 20, Vaoala

This is a matter of right versus policy. I dont think its fair for the Government to have such a policy. I mean its our rights as citizens to go against them for something we think is not right. They are not perfect themselves. Whether people work for the Government or not, they have a right as individual and they should be encouraged to use that right.

Iulio Ioane, 46, Salepouae

Personally, its our government and we own the government. When it comes to the Prime Minister, we also voted for him to be up there. Its not just his country its everyones country. The Government has to take the advice and listen to the people. A lot of people nowadays are afraid to share their opinions which is sad. The Government should encourage a free and fair discussion of issues.

Faaae Faletaoga, 35, Saina

With regards to the Nofoalii case, I take my hat off to the village mayor. He cannot support the Government when he sees that a government law is hurting his people. Is it right to agree with the Governments policies and leave their lands that they see as treasures to him and his village people? I think the Government should encourage people to be free and speak their minds. There should not be a law that allows the Government to fire people when they dont toe the line.

Meatuai Sefo, 35, Vaitele

Samoa is an independent country; our people should be free. Its not like I want people to criticize the government or what because I also dont want people to go against our government because theyre our representatives. But my concern is that people should have the freedom of choice and opinion. I also think the Government should consult the villages about the decision to sack a village mayor.

Queenmary Maiai, 21, Moamoa

If I were to work for the Government as the Mayor for my village, I wont ever hide anything that I think is right just because Im not allowed to go against the Government. If something needs improvement, I will go ahead and tell the Government. Its more like hiding the truth in criminal cases and not revealing them.
Gordon and Yvette Cabral, a couple in their 50s from Melbourne, Australia, are not your average tourists.

Its not that they dont love Samoa, but their liking of the destination is deep. They want to make a difference.

The other thing that we did do apart from the tourist experience is we bought some gifts for children and we went and donated that to victims of crime so we did that too, which was beautiful, Yvette said.

The children  we couldnt take photos but they were just beautiful, they sang to us and they were just beautiful.

The first time visitors spoke to the Dear Tourist team about their adventures in Samoa, from hotel-hopping to enjoying a Sunday lunch from the umu in the villages.

We went visiting resorts on the other end of the island  were staying here at Taumeasina and then we were also on the other side of the island enjoying Saletoga Beach Resorts; it was just magic over there, said Gordon.

It was nice; the people there were lovely and the service and the views, greenery and everything amazing about the country, but even everywhere its always beautiful, including just driving through the country side and the market which was a beautiful experience.

We also stayed at Samoana Hotel and everyone is just so friendly with the smiles and the welcoming is beautiful.

Yvette also overcame her fear of the water by climbing down the To Sua Ocean trench ladder.

We went to the trench and Im actually scared of the water but I did it so that was really exciting and beautiful.

We also visited and stayed there while they had lunch with the families, so we experienced family life coming in from church and culture and everyone has been beautiful with smiling faces and language, told Yvette.

She also spoke about witnessing the way of traditional cooking in the outside open kitchen.

We definitely got the experience, with the animals running around. We love the food; the taro leaves with coconut cream as well as the fish in coconut dish  I love coconut in anything, said Yvette.

The Australian couple claimed they wanted to try as much as they can before they return.

Yvette said they enjoyed the fire knife dancing shows within the hotel and the Ladies Night at Taumeasina held on Wednesday night.

Weve been to The Edge Marina and I enjoyed all the cocktails, giggled Yvette.

She tried so many, different ones every time, laughed Gordon.

We also tried the niu and so she also had a massage in the hotel and took a heck of a lot of photos.

The Australian couple said although it has been hot, they enjoyed every single bit of it, including the rain.

We also enjoy the rain, that just comes down and cools you down especially when were sweating, told Yvette. We will definitely be back and wed definitely recommend it to anybody.
It did not take long for Robert Angler, a German backpacker, to like Samoa.

I arrived on Saturday and I already love it, he said.

Its Roberts first time in Samoa, let alone the Pacific region.

Im from Germany and I think that Samoa is one of those places which are the [furthest] distance from Germany and so Ive always been interested in Polynesian culture and how it works, he said.

Being so remote from everything, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and so this is why I am here.

He will be on the island for a month and has noticed that the most striking feature of the Samoan people is their smile.

The people you know, their smiles they have  its really lovely.

Staying at Olivias Accommodation at Apia Park, he highly recommends the place.

In my accommodation there are a lot of people staying there and the people are lovely and the place is really laid back, he said.

Robert does not recommend seeing Samoa all in one go but rather take your time to explore the country and immerse yourself into the Samoan lifestyle.

Should just enjoy the spirits and enjoy the weather and going to Savaii at a beach or so which I have not yet done and definitely will do it, he said.

The food in Samoa has also really amazed the German tourist  from the umu-cooked food to pastries to fresh fruits.

The food is amazing  taro with coconut, fish with coconut, some samosa and of course the fresh fruit which is really special, having avocado for breakfast and special papaya, its lovely.

You know we dont have this in Germany, when we have our avocados they come through Israel or New Zealand and I dont buy it because its not local and fresh.

He found our tropical weather very interesting but he made sure to come prepared.

I know its the cyclone season here and Im kind of prepared for this because I had a lot of time, because if you dont have much time then it may be a problem, but I have lots of time so Im very flexible about this, he said.

The slow pace of life in Samoa also sparked Roberts interest.

You dont have to hurry around to see things, you just calm down and have a coffee somewhere and read the paper; its nice, he said. You see it in the way people walk around here; because where Im from, people walk fast and are always so busy, but here its a good way to live  its a healthy way of living.

The German tourist wishes to get a moderately small leg tattoo with traditional tattooing tools before he leaves the country. He also wants to spend more time with the locals.

Whats beneficial for me is the way people behave, the way people are, because people are friendly, kind (plus) the smiles and everything, I think this is really nice.

And Im very fascinated about the strengths of the tribes (villages) and families because in Germany we have lost this a bit and everybody is an individual.

And we lose social contacts, like this is a healthy way to live  to stay connected. Connected also to nature, to the sea, to the food and how you use things here like you use everything from the coconut and stuff, so its a really good thing to do, its a sustainable way of living, he explained.

Robert reckons he could actually live in Samoa.

If I find a nice girl, he laughed.
Palalaua College was the recipient of a donation of furniture and books from the Latter Day Saints (L.D.S) Charity on Wednesday.

Principal, Leoloa Tuuu Mautofiga, expressed her gratitude towards the L.D.S. Charities for answering their call. Leoloa described the L.D.S. Charities as angels sent by God to help the school.

The furniture could not have arrived at a better time. The school was only recently re-opened after it was demolished by fire last year.

Elder Cameron and his wife, Sister Cameron, represented L.D.S. Charities.

We just feel so blessed to be able to help and do this kind of work and everyone donates. So 100 percent of those donations go for opportunities like these and so we feel very lucky, Sister Cameron said.

Elder Cameron added that they are delighted to help anyone and everyone, regardless of whether they are church members or not.

He explained that the donations come from all over the world not just from L.D.S. Church but also from people and other churches all over the world.

All other churches from around the world, they donate into the humanitarian fund and 100 percent of the humanitarian dollars get distributed to those who are most in need like Palalaua.

The students welcomed the gesture. Blessing Tautalagia and Melenavet Taula were particularly interested in the books.

I really love reading and Im just so excited to have these many new books in our library, Ms. Tautalagia said.

As a token of appreciation for their generosity, the school presented Elder and Sister Cameron a small gift to encourage them to continue doing what they are doing.
The international community has strongly condemned the terror attack by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 45 CRPF personnel, with US President Donald Trump asking Pakistan to "end immediately" the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil.

"The US calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence and terror in the region. This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counter-terrorism cooperation and coordination between the US and India," Trump's Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.



"We express our deep condolences to the victims' families, the Indian government and the Indian people for the loss of life in this brutal attack," the statement added.



China's Foreign Ministry on Friday also denounced the attack, hoping that "relevant regional countries will cooperate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability".



It added that the "JeM has been included in the UN Security Council terrorism sanctions list and that China will continue to handle the relevant sanctions issue in a constructive and responsible manner".



An operative of the JeM group crashed a car bomb into a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway on Thursday, making it the worst ever attack on security forces on any single day since a separatist campaign broke out in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989.



Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah stressed the "need for solidarity and closer cooperation of countries in the fight against this common enemy".



"Terrorism is a cancer in the region and it requires collective efforts to root it out," Ghani said.



Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned the "brutal crime" and said that "the perpetrators and sponsors of the attack, undoubtedly, should be duly punished".



Putin reiterated Moscow's "readiness for further strengthening counter-terrorist cooperation with Indian partners".



The European Union in a statement said that "as a strategic partner of India, the EU reaffirms its full solidarity at such a difficult moment".



Saudi Arabia also denounced the "cowardly" attack and said it stands with India against terrorism and extremism.



Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said her country "remains steadfast in its support of the global fight against terrorism," reaffirming a resolve "to prevent radicalization and defeat terrorism in all its forms".





Indonesia and Australia also slammed the strike.



The attack further damaged the already tense India-Pakistan diplomatic relations, with New Delhi saying it had evidence of Islamabad's involvement in the carnage. It also withdrew the Most Favoured Nation trade status it had granted to Pakistan in 1996 under the World Trade Organization rules.



However, Pakistan dismissed accusations that it has links with the militants who carried out the attack. "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations," said the country's Foreign Ministry in a statement.
Am September soll e stoen: De Master Interdisciplinary Space Master, dee vun der nachster Rentree un op der Uni Letzebuerg proposeiert gett.

Mam Master, deen iwwert 2 Joer geet, sollen 20 Studenten ausgebilt ginn a fir de Space Secteur zu Letzebuerg prett gemaach ginn.

Et weilt een namlech net nemmen op Experten am Ausland zereckgraifen, fir am Beraich vun der Weltraumrecherche virunzekommen, et weilt ee seng eegen Experten formeieren, esou de Wirtschaftsminister Etienne Schneider bei der offizieller Presentatioun vum neie Studiegaang. Entweder fir dei Leit dann an Entreprisen ennerzekreien, dei se brauchen, oder awer fir datt se hir eege Start Up lanceieren.

De Moment gett et schonn ee Master, dee mam Beraich vum Space ze dinn huet, deen ass awer an der Haaptsaach op den Droit axeiert. Beim neie Studium solle verschidden Disziplinne mat integreiert ginn, et soll den technesche Volet ofgedeckt ginn, zum Beispill mat der Robotik. Donieft gett am Master dcommerciale Gestioun geleiert, och de legale Kader fennt hei seng Plaz.

Iwwer 3 Joer kascht dese Master 4 Milliounen Euro. DStudiegebuhre leie bei 2.000 Euro pro Semester.

AUDIO: Space-Master: Reportage Nadine Gautier

Hei d'Schreiwes

The University of Luxembourg launches a unique Interdisciplinary Space Master in line with the Government's SpaceResources.lu initiative (15.02.2019)



Communique par: Luxembourg Space Agency

In fall 2019, the University of Luxembourg launches a two-year Interdisciplinary Space Master program. This Master study program, set up in collaboration with the Luxembourg Space Agency, aims to provide students with the engineering skills required in the burgeoning space industry, along with in depth knowledge to manage space-related business activities.

In 1985, a public-private partnership effort launched Societe Europeenne des Satellites, today known as global satellite operator SES. Over the last decades, further space-related services and businesses have developed alongside SES shaping a vibrant space economy. As a leader in commercial space, Luxembourg is following a unique space strategy focused on creating an attractive ecosystem for NewSpace companies. The Grand Duchy launched SpaceResources.lu in 2016 to establish the country as a centre for the exploration and utilisation of space resources.

The Interdisciplinary Space Master is an integral part of this strategy while developing the specific skills needed to pioneer a new and sustainable space industry in Luxembourg. "With the new study programme, the University responds to the growing need for graduates who are uniquely qualified to contribute to a growing and dynamic industry," says Stephane Pallage, Rector of the University of Luxembourg.

This unique Interdisciplinary Space Master clearly differentiates from master programs offered at other universities. It aims to give participants who already possess an engineering or scientific background the additional technical expertise in areas needed to support Luxembourg's space industry along with a strong grounding in business.

To ensure the programme to meet business requirements, the Master Course was developed with input from important public and industry players in the space sector. Some of these companies endorse the programme by offering internships to students.

Etienne Schneider, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy said: "The Interdisciplinary Space Master further reinforces the dynamism of the national sector driven by the SpaceResources.lu initiative and the appeal of space and its potential. By training skilled and business-minded space experts, the Master programme blends in with the Luxembourg government's objective to become Europe's hub for NewSpace activities, in particular in the field of exploration and use of resources in space."
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Greenville, NC (27833)

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Starkville, MS (39762)

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A few clouds with an isolated thunderstorm possible after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

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Russias Communist MPs propose to punish officials for insulting citizens

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

12:32 15/02/2019

MOSCOW, February 15 (RAPSI)  Lawmakers representing Russias Communist Party (KPRF) Sergey Kazankov and Nikolay Kolomeitsev have submitted a bill on fines for officials insulting citizens to the lower house of parliament. The document has been published on the State Duma database.

The bills authors have proposed to amend the Code of Administrative Offences by an article stipulating punishment for officials disrespect to Russian nationals or public denial of the state duty to create conditions guaranteeing peoples good living standards and development.

Under the draft law, officials would face fines ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 rubles ($450 - 750) from for insulting the voting public, while state and municipal officials would also face disqualification for up to 3 years.

Cases over such offenses would be launched by prosecutors and considered by courts.

However, the proposed provisions would not be applied to citizens including journalists publishing abusive comments made by officials.
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Certainly, one race or sex is not superior to another. To ignore systemic oppression and its impact on the past and present policies, however, is to put ones head into the sand. I was struck by the fact that even recently, most white Americans were unaware of the Tulsa Race Massacre of June 1, 1921 when mobs of white residents attacked black residents and destroyed homes and businesses in the Greenwood district in Tulsa. Thirty-five plus square blocks of the neighborhood  at the time the wealthiest black community in the United States, known as Black Wall Street  was decimated, with up to 300 people dead. Ten thousand black people were left homeless and property damage of black businesses and homes was an estimated at $1.5 million in 1921 dollars. It is precisely the omission of this kind of event in local, state, and national histories that establishes the need to examine systemic problems.

Arlene Violet on critical race theory. She is a Republican who served as RI Attorney General
Trade unions reject wage hike offer by Hungary's Mol

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Trade unions have said no to the wage hike proposal of Hungarian fuel group Mol for 2019 and 2020, about which they have informed the company at the start of this week, Laszlo Kovacs, President of the Oil Industry Trade Union, told local news portal index.hu on Friday.

The parties agreed that Mol will provide information about the resumption of wage talks by Monday. If the negotiations are put on hold, or the wage hike recommendation is turned down, a strike committee will be formed on the first day of the week, said Kovacs.



When asked about the demands and the companys offer, he replied that in consideration of the ongoing talks he does not wish to disclose details. Four trade unions take part in the wage negotiations, the Mol Mining Trade Union, the Mol Chemist Trade Union, the Oil Industry Trade Union, and the Oil Branch Trade Union. (Interesting fact: the name of the latter trade union in Hungarian is Olajag
There were a pair of Saxony Lutheran baseball players whos numbers were off the charts this season. Both of them received one of the states highest awards.Crusader seniors Eli Brown and 

Even though the St. Vincent girls soccer program moved up to Class 3 this last spring, the individual success has continued. Mary Schwartz earned a spot on the Missouri Soccer Coaches Association 

Perryville High School girls soccer team had one of its best seasons in program history, so it only makes sense that the team should receive state recognition. Three players were named to the 

Roth ready to take charge of Perryville football The excitement for Brent Roth is off the charts as he acclimates himself to his new position. Roth will enter into his dream job next fall when he takes over as the new head coach of 

Indians basketball continues improvement If a person were to ask St. Vincent boys basketball coach Bruce Valleroy how exactly his teams summer has been going, he couldnt have asked for a better start. St. Vincent participated 

Adams grateful to play soccer at Illinois College Saxony Lutheran senior Paul Adams has been playing soccer for quite a while, for much of his entire life. He developed a passion for the sport and will continue to grow and hopefully prosper at the 

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As a fine gentleman with wads of cash, houses and flashy cars, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party has confessed he objected a proposal from a lady because of her association with former President John Mahama.



According to Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, when he first came into contact with the lady, she referred to former President Mahama as her father and this description he explained, caused a breakdown in their new relationship.



I didnt want to associate with someone whose father was corrupt. This lady told me John Mahama was her daddy and that was enough grounds to terminate the relationship. I told her the former President is corrupt and until she denounced him as her father, there was no way she could come closer to me, Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako popularly known as Chairman Wontumi said.



In a related development, the General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress Johnson Asiedu Nketia once appealed to the womens wing of the party to encourage their members to marry among themselves.



This, Mr. Asiedu Nketia popularly known as General Mosquito said will produce children who will grow to support NDC like some members of the New Patriotic Party did in the past.



We shouldnt allow NPP men to come and marry NDC women because if that happens the men will force the children to become NPP supporters, he said.

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.

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The Deputy Ashanti Regional Youth Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kobby Onasis has descended heavily on Ghanas former Consul to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) under former President John Dramani Mahama, Ambassador Daniel Osei, for attacking the former President.



On Onasis's facebook page he described the action of the former ambassador as 'ungrateful and sinful being'.



When you paraded your noisy sound system to follow JM in Ashanti Region for his regional tour, you added zero votes to his course because you were busily complaining of one thing or the other and seeking for "threesome" from innocent party girls who willingly followed the campaign team. You must be ashamed of how low and senseless you carried out such acts. I don't think being a chain wee smoker makes you lose your brains, a part of the post read.



Ambassador Osei in his latest interview on Kasapa FM, revealed that his greatest mistake in his political life is the fact that he took an appointment from the ex-President, a comment that has not gone down well with supporters of the former President.



Read his full post below;



You are ungrateful and sinful being.



1 . I was present in one of the mediation efforts to broker peace between you and the former chairman who failed to secure the mandate of the Assemblymen to be the DCE because you paid heavily for him to be voted against.



In the meeting at Konongo (MCE's apartment ) you were profusely begging to have failed DCE support your reign as DCE and even offered to buy him out with 20,000 cedis which he rejected. You continuously lamented and sought for interventions which were considerably activated but due to your bad manners you lost it.



2. During your tenure as the DCE you were pathetically incompetent but sought after money and fame with the view of becoming the Ashanti Regional Minister which never was hence your growing bitterness against JM . For you, being a Burger and former Parliamentary candidate was enough qualification to be a minister in the Ashanti Region.



3. When you paraded your noisy sound system to follow JM in Ashanti Region for his regional tour, you added zero votes to his course because you were busily complaining of one thing or the other and seeking for "threesome" from innocent party girls who willingly followed the campaign team. You must be ashamed of how low and senseless you carried out such acts . I don't think being a chain wee smoker makes you lose your brains.



Kindly retire all earned salaries and acquired benefits as a result of you being JM's appointee into the state's coffers. The Auditor General shall be glad to retrieve them from misfit like you.



Thanks.



Deputy Ashanti Regional Youth Organiser.



#Man_make_wild













Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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FORMER GHANA Consul General to Dubai, Daniel Osei is back at it again With his strong attacks on ex-president John Dramani Mahama.



In his latest article, he kicked against the likely choice of ex-president Mahama as National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate for the 2020 general election.



Ambassador Osei said Mr. Mahama lacks the capacity to put together the right coalition for victory.



According to him, it was not surprising that Mr. Mahama lost the 2016 elections miserably.



I was surprised he got 44% because the data suggested a much less number and the recent 33% from the UG polls should be a warning to us all. Its a true reflection of his support and the fact that many of those contesting him for the primaries worked with him, is indicative of the fact that he lacks wholesome support within the party and thats a dangerous place to be, he said.



Ambassador Osei has reiterated that Mr. Mahama cannot win the 2020 elections for the NDC, warning the party to be mindful not to settle on Mahama as its presidential candidate.



He said I knew his strategy for 2016, and concluded he couldnt win. I warned against it. Indeed, I was concerned he will employ same tactics for the 2020 primaries and tried to stop them quietly and with reason, but I realized he will do what he wants to do, so we had to engage to help save the party.



Ambassador Osei was an appointee of former President Mahama but it is unclear why they fell apart, leading the former to incessantly launch attacks against the latter.



He recounted that Mahama is the first and only sitting president who lost significant votes across all ten regions. That should alarm us all. We cant dismiss these facts as easy to overcome.



Not A Unifier



Ambassador Osei argues that Mr. Mahama is a divisive character who may cause the party doom in 2020, asking rhetorically that if he cannot unite the party, how can he win?



According to him, We (NDC) need a strong coalition of civil society, labor unions, business, industry, teachers, youth groups including nurse and teacher trainees and much more. These are all groups he offended and they all voted against him in the general elections and they will still vote in 2020!

Source: Daily Guide









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Audio Attachment: Listen to Johnson Asiedu Nketia On Okay FM

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), David Asante-Apeatu has been described by the General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia as a concert man who does not know his professional job.



In Ghanaian lingua, "concert" is a slang or twi parlance for a comedian or a short theatre performance on stage which was very popular in the 1950s and the 1960s, and was later revived in the 90s.



The Inspector General of Police (IGP), David Asante-Apeatu, on Thursday, asked political parties in the country to denounce their vigilante groups to 'embolden' the Ghana Police Service.



Calls for the disbandment of various vigilante groups in the country increased after violence emerged during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election.



So far, the two major political parties: the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) are known to have vigilante groups.



The IGP, who was speaking at a press conference, urged the parties to immediately denounce their own vigilante groups to create the necessary awareness that will embolden the police. The truth is that if we prescribe a security solution to a politically motivated problem, you may only be reducing the pain but not curing the disease.



"The police are poised to arrest and profile any group of people claiming to be vigilante groups irrespective of their political affiliation . . . death in the name of politics will no longer be tolerated in our security setting. We are declaring zero tolerance against political violence and vigilantism, he added.



But his call rather seemed to have incurred the wrath of the NDC Chief Scribe.



In an interview on Okay FMs "Ade Akye Abia" Morning Show, General Mosquito as he is affectionately called, said the Inspector General of Police needs to cease his unproductive press conferences and be seen to be proactive.



He indicted the IGP for dereliction of duty; an action that he believes has contributed largely to influencing electoral violence and other criminal activities in the country.



All videos shown in the media are so clear and then you come out to say the gunshots were fired by the NDC. So the NDC boys decided to direct their guns at their legs and fire shots? Do they think we are fools in this country? So the IGP should stop his concert.



If he wants to stage a concert, he should form a band and stop the police service and take off his uniform and form a band and perform concert so that we can pay money to go and watch him perform with his band . . . he is staging a concert because whatever he is doing, we are all aware of, he fumed.



If he is after the truth . . . I boldly let him know; the situation is there, go and deal with them. Who asked him to come and organize a press conference? The problem is that he is talking without any action; it is part of the problem, it is deceptive..., he chided.



He added that the IGP cannot pretend not to know what he must do to end vigilante groups in the country after he [Asiedu Nketia] has personally told him per an incident at Sankore to stamp his feet on the ground to solve these creeping issues before they escalate as the issue has travelled beyond party volunteers who protect ballot boxes to criminals in police uniforms.



IGP openly told me and I have witnesses to this that it didnt start today. Is it today that you are coming to the media to say that you deal with them and that politicians are the causative agent?. You have been given a job as an IGP, are you not ashamed for saying this? he jabbed.



The car that every Ghanaians saw driven by police officer and carrying criminals in the trunk, have you heard the GPRTU or a private person driving such vehicle before without being arrested for offense?, he quizzed.







Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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'NPP Loyal Ladies', a vibrant female group in the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) took to the principal streets of Accra to celebrate this year's Valentine's Day in a grand style on Thursday the 14th of February, 2019.



They shared chocolate to drivers and students of the various university campuses which included the University of Ghana (Legon), GIMPA, Accra Technical University, Ghana Institute of Journalism, UPSA, UENR and Ghana Technology University.



Speaking to one of the Organizers, General Martha Kodua, she explained that the beautiful event was organized to show love to Ghanaians on Valentine's day, but celebrated as 'Chocolate Day' in Ghana to promote made in Ghana Chocolates.



They were in the company of Lydia Syram Alhassan, MP for Ayawaso West Wuogon; Francis Adomako, Ashanti Regional Organizer; Lydia Atiamo, Deputy Director YEA; Nana Yaw Preko, Deputy Communications Director NPP; Kofi Tonto Director of Communications NPP USA, Kennedy Agyapong and many others.



Some celebrities like Kwame A Plus and John Dumelo graced the occasion to make it more colourful.



Some of the beneficiaries showered blessings to show their admiration for the best attempt from the Loyal Ladies and also encouraged others to follow suit.











Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Audio Attachment: Rev Prof Paul Yaw Frimpong-Manso

The General Superintendent of Assemblies of God and also President of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC), Rev Prof Paul Yaw Frimpong-Manso has that the Christian Groups in Ghana will soon hit the street to demonstrate against vigilante groups if the appropriate political leaders do not disband them immediately.



According to him both the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress ( NDC) are equally guilty of vigilantism and for that matter have given them 3 months ultimatum to disband them.



Speaking on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he explained that vigilantism is one of the things that has really dent the image of Ghana hence must be disbanded.



"Vigilantism is causing confusion, threatening lives of Ghanaians and creating a lot of discomfort where ever they go and with consultation with our members we will soon hit the street against it," he said.



He therefore urged every Ghanaian to reject any party that engages in vigilantism and called on media houses to also help fight against vigilantism.



The Inspector General of Police (IGP), David Asante-Apeatu, has asked political parties in the country to denounce their vigilante groups to 'embolden' the Ghana Police Service.



Calls for the disbandment of various vigilante groups in the country increased after violence emerged during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election.



So far, the two major political parties: the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) are known to have vigilante groups.



The IGP, who was speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, urged the parties to immediately denounce their own vigilante groups to create the necessary awareness that will embolden the police. The truth is that if we prescribe a security solution to a politically motivated problem, you may only be reducing the pain but not curing the disease.

Source: Josephine Acheampomaa / [email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Mr Kennedy Agyapong, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central should have been punished by the house for describing the lawmaking arm of government as cheap, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, MP for Juaboso, has said.



Parliaments Privileges Committee pronounced Mr Agyapong guilty of contempt for making disparaging remarks against the house last year.



The Committee, Chaired by the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Joe Osei-Owusu, stated in the recommendations of its report that having concluded the matter in the light of the totality of the evidence gathered, and, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, the Standing Orders and other relevant enactments, concluded that the Hon. Member for Assin Central Constituency, Mr Ken Ohene Agyapong is, indeed, in contempt of Parliament for the remarks he made that Parliament is cheap and Parliament is useless.



The Committee further recommended that the house adopt the report and sanction Hon. Ken Ohene Agyapong by suspending him for the rest of this Session or reprimand him.



Mr Agyapong, on Thursday, 14 February 2019 apologised to parliament for making the cheap comment.



He, however, denied ever describing parliament as 'useless'.



I want to state clearly that I respect parliament and I will never insult parliament. I dont feel shy apologising because the first day of the Privileges Committee hearing, I did apologise and today I maintain that as for calling parliament useless, I never said that," he said.



"I sincerely apologise to the house if they find it offensive. Whether I said cheap or cheapened I apologise, he added.



He was subsequently asked by the Speaker of Parliament to Go and Sin no more.



But speaking in an interview with Accra100.5FMs parliamentary correspondent Richard Appiah Sarpong, Mr Akandoh said: Today is the saddest day in our democracy. We in the Minority stand to benefit nothing if Kennedy Agyapong is punished. This is about the democracy of Ghana, it is about the seriousness of parliament, it is about what the people are saying, it is about how Ghanaians take parliament.



Everybody in Ghana is fed up with Kennedy Agyapongs behaviour, so, it is only proper and fair that we, as MPs, would have done something about him if we want dignity.







Source: classfmonline.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.

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"The minister of state for national security at the presidency has owned up that he was responsible for deploying them. The minister of state for national security works for the presidentseveral of the people who were deployed were wearing shirts of the national security council inscribed on it and we all know that the national security council is chaired by the president, vice president asserts ex-President John Mahama.



The former President made this comment while briefing some members of the diplomatic corps, Wednesday on the violence that ensued at Ayawaso West Wuogon.



Mr Mahama believes violent acts being perpetrated by vigilantes of the NPP is as a result of pronouncement and actions of President Akufo-Addo.



"This particular president, as a candidate, has always promoted violence and it is on record; about his pronouncements and actions that show that this has just been accumulative approach that has finally ended up where we arethe all die-be-die mantra, and all other pronouncement that was made. He took the ordinary localised macho men and began to train them and bring people from outside to come and train themwhat they call Invisible forces and Delta forcesonce the NPP came into powerthey gave these guys national security cards and took them to a military training facility owned by the state at Asutuaretheyve trained them for other sinister motives and now we know they disguise them as the SWAT of the police and used them to do things; like they did at Ayawaso, he intimated.



According to him, "as president you get security briefings once a week" and so "there is no way he (Akufo Addo) wouldnt have been briefed about security preparations for the Ayawaso West Wuogon by election"



"It is obvious that this was a partisan deployment this is just a bunch of hoodlums deployed for a purposethe NPP candidate, Lydia; they were escorting her from polling station to polling station providing security for the parliamentary candidate. If they were neutral participants what will they be doing protecting one candidateit just shows that this was a partisan deployment and as they themselves said; a dress rehearsal for 2020," he added.



A statement from the former President's office indicated that Mr Mahama was joined by the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Samuel Ofosu Ampofo; General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketiah; the Deputy Minority Leader James Avedzi; a former Minister for National Security Kofi Totobi Quakyi; and senior members of the opposition party.

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.

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Cabinet has approved for implementation, a new single window trade facilitation tool which is expected to boost port operations and enhance the paperless system including raking in more revenue for the county.



The 10-year UNIPASS Trade Facilitation and customs Management System contract is being spearheaded by Ghana Link Service Ltd, in conjunction with Customs UNIPASS International Agency (CUPIA), of the Korean Customs Service (KCS).



The transition process of the UNIPASS system, which was originally scheduled to start on January 2019, was suspended by the economic management team (EMT) due to challenges in phasing out the old system for the UNIPASS technology.



Already, officials from the government technical transition team (including officials from the MOF and GRA-Customs Division) have visited CUPIA in South Korea, the owners of the UNIPASS system to see at the first hand the UNIPASS system as it operates in Korea and how it has impacted on the economic growth of Korea.



It was gathered that before the contract was approved, a six-month feasibility study was conducted by CUPIA in 2015 with a report on the Modernization of Ghana Customs using the UNIPASS system being produced and presented to the government.



In the process, however, training was provided to some senior customs officials in Korea on the UNIPASS system before a green light was given for the project.



Ghana link with its overseas partners, CUPIA Korea Customs Service will provide the trade facilitation and Customs Management System at a 0.75 per cent fee (FOB) per their contract with the Ministry of Trade.



The figure, according to industry experts I way cheaper than what the existing three vendors, external verification, west blue GCNet are currently receiving as a fee.



Currently, West Blue consulting earns 0.28 CIF which is equal to 0.32 FOB, external verification earns 0.1 CIF-equivalent of 0.16 FoB, whilst GCNet earns 0.40 FoB providing single window operations in Ghana together and they are taking 0.84 FoB which is way above government 0.9FoB.



On August 4, 2015, West Blue entered into an agreement with the government to provide a single window government as part of efforts to integrate the systems of service providers at the countrys ports and facilitate the clearing of goods without voluminous paperwork and reduce transactional time.



The contract was to expire on December 31, 2018, after which WestBlue would hand over the system to the government of Ghana which they reportedly have done.



In March 2018, however, the government of Ghana through the MOTI signed a 10-year sole-sourced contract with Ghana link Network Services Ltd For the implementation system for Ghana.



Ghana link network series ltd with its overseas partner, CUPIA Korea customs service would oversee the implementation of the UNIPASS trade facilitation and customs management system.



The UNIPASS trade facilitation & Customs Management System.



The UNIPASS system is currently being used in several other countries including South Korea. It is well acknowledged by the WTO, WCO, WORLD Bank, amongst others; as one of the best Customs Systems in the world.







Source: The Insight Newspaper









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Russia, Turkey, Iran Poised to Map Syria's Future

02/15/19

By Pete Cobus, VOA

MOSCOW - The leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey are meeting in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi Thursday to discuss the conflict in Syria for the first time since the United States announced its troop withdrawal.

Although the Kremlin hasn't divulged details, a number of observers say questions about the strategic implications of a U.S. pullout and differences between Moscow and Ankara on a political settlement in northern Syria are likely to predominate.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday made an unexpected visit to Ankara, where he met with Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar to resolve several issues ahead of the so-called Astana trio gathering - particularly recent developments in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, which borders southern Turkey.

Russia and Turkey cut a deal in September to establish an Idlib demilitarized zone to avert a Syrian government offensive, but the agreement was imperiled last month when al-Qaida-linked Hay'et Tahrir al-Sham militants took control there from Turkish-backed rebels.

While Russia and Iran are close allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Turkey, like the United States, supports differing Syrian rebel factions.

Earlier this week Turkey and Russia jointly called for "decisive measures" to retake control of Idlib, though the statement contained no specifics.

Turkey's foreign minister recently said Ankara might agree to a limited Russian-backed Syrian offensive to seize Idlib, but that would prove a strategic setback for Ankara, which seeks to capitalize on the U.S. troop withdrawal by retaking oil-rich northeastern provinces held by Kurdish fighters, whom Ankara considers terrorists.

Turkey's long-term plan to create a buffer zone on the Syria-Turkey border, which has long been bolstered by the U.S. forces, would now require Russian support to enforce.

In the Idlib region where Hay'et Tahrir al-Sham has expanded its reach, any kind of massive military assault would likely mean large-scale civilian casualties and a refugee exodus into Turkey.

Reconstruction investments

On the premise that an unstable Syria will only increase migrant flows to northern Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin began soliciting postwar reconstruction investment from European counterparts in late 2018.

Rebuffed by European leaders who are unwavering in their conviction that Syria's estimated $250 billion postwar reconstruction bill belongs solely to Assad, Putin, according to Oxford University analyst Samuel Ramani, has been looking to Saudi Arabia and China as potential investment partners, a move that would put Moscow at financial odds with Tehran, with whom it is militarily partnered in Syria.

"Concerns about competition between Russian and Iranian businesses involved in the reconstruction of Syria came to a head in February 2018, when Moscow beat out Tehran for a major 50-year deal in Syria's phosphate industry," he recently wrote in a think piece for the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for Peace.

Although their mutual interest in safeguarding Assad's rule may allow Tehran and Moscow to see past financial differences throughout the Sochi talks, he wrote, "tensions could flare up between Russia and Iran once their joint military operations in Syria come to a close."

Senior Iranian figures last week called Syria a top foreign policy priority and a situation where American troops should have no role whatsoever.

On Sunday, Tehran's Deputy Defense Minister Reza Talai-Nik warned that "all U.S. bases there are within the range of our cross-border weapons, and if these fail, we'll strike them from within Iran," according to a report by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

Moscow as sole broker

As the Astana trio impatiently awaits a full U.S. withdrawal from Syria, some observers say the absence of American boots on the ground may prove a complicating factor for Moscow, which has long sought to assert itself as a broker of global affairs.

"The first question in Sochi is likely to be, who replaces the American presence?" said Alexey Malashenko of the Moscow-based Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute. "And here, there is a misunderstanding between Russia and Turkey, because Turkey has repeated several times that this American place must come to be occupied by Turks, and Russia is against this. So, from that point of view, I think the meeting in Sochi will be very, very difficult for both of those countries."

Asked if the Astana leadership is even confident in White House plans for withdrawal - President Donald Trump's statements on the U.S. pullout, which contained no timetable, have been contradicted by members of his own Cabinet - Malashenko said it doesn't matter.

"Regardless of the specifics, just the possibility of an American withdrawal creates additional problems for Russia," he said. "In the Kremlin they constantly speak about America as an adversary that creates problems in the Middle East. But if Americans withdraw, what will Russia do? Because for Putin and the Kremlin, the situation with the American presence was at least more or less clear. Now this situation is becoming more and more unclear by the day."

In his assessment, a sustained U.S. presence would only benefit the Kremlin.

"Maybe it's a paradox, yes, but I think that's the case," he said, adding that a U.S. pullout also leaves Moscow to act as an on-the-ground arbiter between Iran, Syria and Israel.

"Before last year we spoke a lot about the multipolar situation of Tehran, Ankara and Moscow," he said. "But now it seems that triangle is becoming more and more fragile."

Putin approval ratings in the balance

Russia's ability to stabilize Syria in the wake of a U.S. withdrawal also has potential consequences for Putin's domestic approval ratings, which have been at a low point since late 2018.

Thursday's summit will start just three days after a survey released by Moscow's independent Levada Center polling organization showed that more than 50 percent of Russians say top officials are lying to them about the true state of affairs in the country.

Less than a week ago, Reuters published an investigation alleging that the Kremlin covered up mass casualties on the ground in Syria at a time when it is expanding its military activities in the Middle East and Africa.

The Higher School of Economics in Moscow recently published data showing that disposable income has decreased since 2014 and is predicted to drop further this year, which marks the fifth anniversary of U.S. and European Union sanctions resulting from Moscow's annexation of Crimea.

Several rounds of negotiations over recent years have failed to end the fighting, which has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people, displaced millions, and devastated many historic sites across the country.

President Trump has received criticism from Republicans, Democrats, and some foreign officials for what they have called a hastily planned withdrawal of the 2,000 U.S. troops, with many saying it leaves Kurdish allies at the mercy of the Turks and hands a victory to Russia and Iran.

Turkey has threatened to attack the United States' Kurdish allies fighting Islamic State militants in Syria. In January, Trump threatened to "devastate Turkey economically" if Ankara attacks the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces.

Thursday's talks will be 12th conference organized by Moscow, Ankara and Tehran, including nine held in Astana. The trio last met in November.
IRAN: Sugar Mill Workers Call for International Action to Free Detained Colleagues Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan

02/15/19

Source: Center for Human Rights in Iran

Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan Pressured to Retract Torture Allegations

A union representing workers of the Haft Tappeh sugar mill in the Iranian city of Shush, Khuzestan Province, has called on individuals and international organizations to demand the release of union representative Esmail Bakshi and freelance reporter Sepideh Qoliyan from the Intelligence Ministry's detention center in Ahvaz.

"We are aware that in the past few days, and at the time of their arrest, they were asked to lie and confess against their will in front of a camera that torture was never carried out and that the whole story was dictated to them by so-called adversaries and anti-revolutionary media outlets," said the union in a post on its Telegram app channel on February 11, 2019.

"We are aware that they are under intense pressure to express remorse and write statements against themselves," it added.

In its statement, the union called on "all labor activists, human rights advocates and journalists to translate this [statement] and file complaints with relevant organizations and ask them to do whatever is necessary."

"We want a case opened against the Iranian government for its violation of the rights of these two individuals and strongly urge an end to the pressures on Bakhshi and Qoliyan (also spelled Gholian) to make forced confessions and sign pledges against their will," the union added.

Bakshi and Qoliyan, both peaceful advocates of worker's rights in Iran, were initially arrested on November 18, 2018, and detained for roughly a month in an Intelligence Ministry-run detention center in Ahvaz.

After they were released on bail, they both stated that they had been tortured and posted statements online that were later confirmed by eyewitnesses.

On January 20, two weeks after the publication of their social media statements, Bakhshi and Qoliyan were rearrested by agents of the Intelligence Ministry.

Ten days after Bakhshi stated that he'd been repeatedly beaten during his 25 days in detention and left in his cell in the Intelligence Ministry's detention center in the city of Ahvaz without medical care, the judiciary launched a "two-day" sham investigation that excluded eyewitnesses and exonerated the Intelligence Ministry.

Bakhshi was re-arrested on January 20 along with Qoliyan. Both individuals are at grave risk of suffering further harm while government officials remain focused on preventing statements like theirs from becoming public again via social media.

Throughout the past two years, workers of the Haft Tappeh sugar mill have launched several strikes demanding months of unpaid wages.

Labor activism in Iran is treated as a national security offense, strikers are often fired and risk arrest, and labor leaders are prosecuted under catchall national security charges and sentenced to long prison terms.

"We want them [Bakhshi and Qoliyan] to be freed unconditionally and the cases against them, as well as against Ali Nejati, Mohammad Khoneyfar and [Sepideh's brother] Mehdi Qoliyan, to be closed," the union said in its statement.

Hossein Raeesi, a formerly Iran-based lawyer now living in Canada, told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) that activists could petition the United Nations and the International Labor Organization on behalf of the detainees.

"There are human rights NGOs that have an advisory role in the UN," he said. "They have more experience and are in a better position to file a petition and follow it up."

"Also the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran [Javaid Rehman] can also take necessary steps," he said.

On January 22, CHRI called on the Iranian authorities to release Bakhshi and Qoliyan, ensure their protection, and re-open an independent and impartial investigation into their alleged torture.

CHRI has also called on all relevant UN human rights bodies as well as EU countries with which Iran maintains relations to take coordinated action to call for the activists' immediate release and demand a full and impartial investigation into their alleged torture.
Ten Detained Political Activists and Environmentalists Denied Counsel in Iran's Kurdistan Province

02/15/19

Source: Center for Human Rights in Iran

Ten political activists and environmentalists arrested in Iran's Kurdistan Province between December 31, 2018, and January 6, 2019, are being held at the Intelligence Ministry's detention center in the city of Sanandaj while being denied access to legal counsel and contact with family members.

Eight of the detainees are members of the Kurdish branch of the Iran National Unity Party (INUP) and two others had allegedly engaged in peaceful environmental activism, a party source with knowledge about their cases told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) February 5.

As of February 5, they had only been allowed to make one phone call to their families, said the source who asked not to be identified for security reasons.

"It started on January 31 with the arrest of three people and by January 6 a total of ten people had been taken into custody in Sanandaj and Kamyaran," said the source.

Added the source: "We heard nothing for a week until they made a short call to their families to say they had been arrested and were okay. Since then, they have not met with their lawyers or family members and it's not clear what they have been accused of. The authorities are not responding to family inquiries."

News about the arrests was first published by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network website. Those taken into custody include Farhad Mohammadi, the secretary of the INUP's Kurdish branch in Sanandaj; Zanyar Zamiran, the party's former deputy secretary in Sanandaj; Hadi Kamangar, the party's senior official in Kamyaran; Fazel Gheytasi, a party member in Kamyaran; Reza Asadi, a party member in Kamyaran; Amanj Ghorbani, the chairman of the party's regional environmental committee and an official in the Department of the Environment in Kamyaran; Issa Feyzi, a member of the party's environmental committee in Kamyaran; and Rashed Montazeri, a former party member in Kamyaran.

In addition, Hossein Kamangar and Bakhtiar Kamangar, two political activists mainly concerned with environmental issues, were arrested during the same period in Kamyaran and taken to the Intelligence Ministry's detention center in Sanandaj, according to CHRI's source.

The INUP's Kurdish branch was launched in 2015 with a license from the Interior Ministry. Its mission statement states: "The country of Iran... is in the process of transforming from a traditional society to a modern one. As part of our national duty as the children of this land, we have decided to create a civil institution called the Iran National Unity Party in order to protect our precious heritage and bring about a happy, dynamic and prosperous society capable of meeting the material and spiritual needs of our compatriots."

CHRI's source said the party had organized public education classes on issues such as civil society, the environment, social upheavals and natural disasters.

Party members were among first responders after an earthquake hit the region in November 2018, the source added.

Hossein Khosheghbal, the deputy governor of Kurdistan in charge of security, alleged that under the cover of environmental activities the detainees had engaged in criminal activities, specifically playing a role in the murder of an ambulance driver in July 2018.

"Following our investigations and security leads from intelligence agencies, a number of contacts and agents for anti-revolutionary groups who were working under the guise of environmental activities have been identified and arrested for being responsible for the martyrdom of a Red Crescent ambulance driver and will be treated in accordance with the law," Khosheghbal said in an interview with the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on January 8.

On January 27th, the INUP denied the claims in a statement.

"Officials and members of the INUP's Kurdish branch have been arrested without a true understanding of the party's activities and without considering society's guaranteed rights," it said. "The INUP strongly condemns the arrests and the way the state views the party as a security threat."

On January 25, a group of 59 attorneys in Iran issued a statement calling for the immediate release of the detainees, especially Farhad Mohammadi, a prominent lawyer in the province.

"It is unlawful to summon and arrest a person without sufficient cause," the statement said. "We call upon bar association members and legal advisers not to remain silent and carry out their duty to defend detained lawyers.

"Secondly, we urge the judicial authorities who issued the arrest warrants to suspend their decision by taking into consideration all aspects of a fair legal process ... and take steps to free detained lawyers."

Security forces in Iran including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Intelligence Ministry launched several crackdowns on lawyers, environmental activists and dissidents in 2018.

At least eight lawyers who have worked on human rights issues in Iran, including prominent attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh, were jailed that year as well as nine members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation.

Many of them are facing years of imprisonment for their peaceful activities.
PARLAMENTUL REPUBLICII MOLDOVA

 2010

The Moldovan Parliaments website design was supported by the Democracy Support Programme in Moldova"  an initiative financed by the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe
Transmissions, a trans activist group that advocates for greater and more widespread inclusion of trans people in the fashion industry, held a protest today to send a strong message as the city launches its fall 2019 Fashion Week.

Members of the group and supporters in gender nonconforming looks gathered on the Strand bearing signs reading "get us off the moodboards and put us on the covers," which, tea, highlights one of the primary aims of Transmissions: to end the stain of trans inclusivity for mere tokenism.



While spring 2019 was fashion's most inclusive season yet, in terms of age, racial, and gender diversity, trans casting still reportedly made up just over one percent of all models in shows and presentations, so clearly there is much work remaining to be done. And it should go without saying that there is a clear bias in terms of what fashion feels is acceptable for trans representation, relying on bodies who "pass," or fit more neatly into binaries than others.

Only just this season did a trans woman designer, Pierre Davis, show at New York's official fashion week for the first time, with her LA-based line, NO SESSO. Other designers, like Gogo Graham, have had to make space for themselves independently.

And in terms of models' representation, as brands like Gypsy Sport, Chromat, Charles Jeffrey, Art School, and only a smaller selection of still smaller brands show, it is definitely possible (and should become the mandatory norm, not the exception) to represent all types of bodies on runways, in editorials, and in advertisements. And it should be done, in droves, not in "safe," compact numbers that, again, only serve to tokenize the trans people who get rare placements in fashion and marginalize those who don't. Some of our biggest names in fashion  from Andreja Pejic to Munroe Bergdorf  are trans, so the time is ripe for greater representation.

Related | Is Diversity Still Just a Buzzword In Fashion?

As Transmissions' founder Lucia Blake tells Dazed, "the fashion industry decides what bodies are normal and which ones are not," which, of course, makes the group a perfect vehicle to help transform society's attitudes towards trans bodies. Non-passing trans models with stubble, walking runways in Paris, leading major (and not only niche) editorial campaigns, starring in luxe perfume ads on the subway and on TV, looking how they look and expressing what they express, all deserve a place in fashion, and in the world. But first, we have to see as many of them as possible.
Meghan Trainor has a new music video out today, promoting the song "All the Ways" from her new EP The Love Train. This morning the editorial team here at PAPER was poised to write a brief news story about said clip, in which a teenage girl falls in love with a human-sized teddy bear and spends a romantic day with him or her in New York City. But first, some research! One inbox trawl later, we'd located the official press release for The Love Train, which went out last week. Quite honestly, none of us have been okay since.

This astonishingly horny piece of copywriting has it all: vivid references to Meghan Trainor's sex life (she recently got married to "the ginger from Spy Kids"), the phrase "smashing bae's junk to smithereens," and an oddly specific reveal that Trainor wrote her song "Marry Me" exactly 30 days after meeting her future husband. It also declares that Trainor's music gets Billboard "wet."

Says it better, and thirstier, than we ever could. Presenting Meghan Trainor's The Love Train press release to you in full, without further commentary, below.

(February 8, 2019 - Los Angeles, CA) -- Valentine's Day is around the corner, and whether you're planning on smashing bae's junk to smithereens or making out with a pint of Phish Food, you need some fresh Valentine's Day bops to get you in the mood for LVE. And MEGHAN TRAINOR has got you covered with her new EP, THE LOVE TRAIN [Epic Records.]

You know you want it. And you can freakin' get it b*tch. On all digital platforms right HERE.

Meghan's seducing your ears this V-Day, and you know she knows a thing or two about romance. Unless your phone's been broken for a hot minute, you know that Meghan just got married to the ginger from Spy Kids, and trust when we say, girl is feeling the love. She took a break from her busy schedule to record some fire tracks in Los Angeles alongside frequent collaborators and producers Andrew Wells [5SOS, Fall Out Boy, Jason Mraz], J KASH (Maroon 5, Charlie Puth, Kesha) and Tyler Johnson [Harry Styles, CAM].

We know you want to hear songs about all the hot newlywed sex Meghan and Daryl Sa-BAE-ra are having (did you see what we did there?). Which is why you'll love the banging' single "All The Ways." Billboard was wet for "All The Ways," calling it "another fun, danceable track to fall in love with." And would Billboard lie to you, girl?

But perhaps the piece de resistance (that's French for "Wig Snatch") is "Marry Me," a romantic acoustic guitar and ukulele-tinged Awww Fest which delivers all the feels (and then more feels). Meghan wrote the song thirty days after meeting Daryl, and it was so good that she walked down the aisle to it. We know, it's a little bit #Vomworthy, but also, am I chopping onions right now or are those tears rolling down my face? I'm not crying, you're crying.

And as always, our Grammy-Winning, Diamond Single-having QUEEN didn't just come to play -- she came to slay. She's serving vocals on the passionate, Celine Dion-esque power ballad "After You." Plus, Meghan's serving your insatiable thirst for dance-ready bops with the upbeat banger that is "Foolish." It slaps so hard you'll be stanning for days. "As if all the PDA, including foot massages, butterfly kisses and piggy back rides aren't cringe worthy enough," says her brother and videographer Ryan... "I've got to film it all!"

Choo choo betch! The Love Train is leaving the station and you better get on board.

Be on the lookout for more surprises very soon as she prepares for a landmark 2019.

Image via Instagram
Hollyweird, in collaboration with @velvetcoke, takes stock of once-known but obscure or forgotten stories about popular celebrities and cult figures.

At the apex of public interest in Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow's relationship  Branyth? Palpitt?  Hollywood's golden couple took a vacation to the Caribbean island of St. Barts. As the lookalike couple soaked up the rays over a period of 10 days in May 1995, a paparazzi lurked around their private property taking pics with a telephoto lens. In one instance, they were snapped completely naked.

To add insult to injury, Pitt was photographed with his man parts tucked between his legs. He was reportedly reenacting the Buffalo Bill dance from Silence of the Lambs, "where he tucks his package between his legs and says how he'd like to copulate with himself," Pitt is quoted as saying in author Valerie Milano's biography on Gwyneth Paltrow.

The resulting photos were published in a British tabloid and then circulated online. Pitt was furious about them being publicized, saying, "Some things have to remain sacred. I mean, come on. They're special moments. And they're private moments. And again, you know, common decency." Pitt was compelled to tell Gwyneth's father, Bruce, about the incident since he felt none of this would have happened if "[Gwyneth] wasn't dating me."

Pitt sued Playgirl magazine in 1997, which published the nudes years later under the clever headline "Pitt Happens!", effectively blocking distribution of the issue. (Some subscribers were lucky enough to get their hands on the only surviving copies in an early mailout). The entire saga was dramatized ad nauseam in the media. The upshot? A mention in country superstar Shania Twain's smash hit "That Don't Impress Me Much."

"Okay, so you're Brad Pitt/ That don't impress me much," Twain deadpans in her playful 1997 song. She recalled writing the lyrics in an August 2017 interview with Billboard, saying, "I was writing this album and there was a scandal of [Pitt] and Gwyneth [Paltrow] where there was naked photos of him. And this was like all the rage. I just thought, 'I don't know what all the fuss is about.'"

She wasn't commenting on Pitt's package, Twain clarified, but on the absurdity of the situation. "We see people naked every day," she continued. "That's really what I thought. I wasn't picking on Brad Pitt. But that was just the association in that moment and things we make fusses about and whatever. Of course, it could have been any gorgeous guy."

Palpitt ended in 1997, likely due to the pressure from the vice-like grip of Pitt's worldwide fame on their engagement. Though they may n'existe plus, surviving copies of August '97 Playgirl can be found on eBay for pretty cheap.
Does Pakistan Need a `Sin Tax` on the Tobacco and Sugar Industries?

It is reported that the Government will hold a series of meetings to discuss whether to tax tobacco products as well as food and drink with high sugar levels.

Commonly labelled as a sin tax, this would see a figure that has yet to be specified added onto the price of these products. Does the country need a tax like this, and what effect could it have overall?

The Financial Situation Pakistan has been spending an average of 0.5% to 0.8% of its GDP on the national health budget over the last ten years. This puts it well below the benchmark from the World Health Organisation. The recommendation from the WHO is that a minimum of 6% of the GDP should be used for health purposes.

The proposed sin tax could help to divert a substantial sum of extra money to the health services. This would be extremely good news for hard-pressed hospitals that urgently need more funds to meet the levels of demand. In particular, this may help to address the severe shortages of staff and equipment that have been reported. This tax may affect the profits of certain companies, the national economy and the Pakistani rupee, which performed poorly in 2018 and lost over 25% of its value. Government policy, employment figures and imports vs exports are factors that influence national currencies, as explained by the IG group on their forex trading site. More volatility will encourage forex traders from all over the world to keep a close eye on the rupee.

The Health Situation

Dr Asad Hafeez is the director general of the NHS Ministry. He is quoted as saying that this tax could help to reduce the number of young people who start smoking in the country. Many current reports covering the sin tax idea suggest that some 1,500 people take up this damaging habit in Pakistan every day, although this number seems to come from a study by the Aga Khan University Hospital back in 2004.

In a similar vein, there are also concerns about the high level of sugary foods and drinks in the country. Worrying figures revealed by Professor Dr AH Amir of the Hayatabad Medical Complex suggest that 51% of the population of the country is currently obese, which is 19% higher than the overall global rate.

The Overall Impact

There are already close to 50 countries around the world that have introduced a tax on tobacco. Numerous academic studies have been carried out to work out the overall effect of bringing in higher taxes on tobacco in countries as diverse as South Africa, China and Vietnam. The World Bank cites Moldova as an example of a country where tobacco taxation has been successfully introduced.

The WHO has produced a document called The Economic and Health Benefits of Tobacco Taxation. In this study, they called tobacco taxation a win-win policy. This is because it can be an important source of Government funding as well as help to reduce the number of new smokers.

In the same way, it has been claimed that taxing products with high sugar levels will bring both economic and health benefits. It has even been suggested that this could increase productivity levels, as healthier workers will be fitter and more focussed.

Of course, it is impossible to fully predict the ongoing economic and social impact of any new tax. However, there are numerous reasons for believing that a well-planned, sensible sin tax in Pakistan could be beneficial to the country as a whole.
The Best, Most Harrowing Valentine's Day Miracle Story You Will Ever Read (2020 Update)

By Dustin Rowles | Think Pieces | February 14, 2020 |

Publishers Note: Some of you may have already read this piece; others may have not. Im re-posting it today (with an updated photo), as I do every year, for a few reasons. 1) Because I do it every year now, I am afraid to stop because I am a superstitious person, and 2) because what happened to my family is so rare that literally the only thing most people who endure it have are the infrequent stories they find online, which often provide a lot of comfort (I know, because I spent the better part of 7 months reading and re-reading other peoples accounts). What was most often missing from those accounts, however, were updates from two, three, or four years later, and thats often what I craved to see the most  did everything turn out OK? So, Ill include a short update after the original story for the others who go through this process and invariably stumble across this post. If that is you, hang in there. Its a truly harrowing ordeal, and I hope you have a positive outcome. Conversely, do not think that because we were one of the lucky few to have a positive outcome that you should feel obligated to see your situation through to the end. This is your decision  it is not your parents decision, or your friends decision, or even Gods decision. Its risky, and you have to make the decision that is best for you and your family. Good luck.



In September 2011, from the moment my wife and I found out that she was pregnant with monoamniotic twins, I made the decision not to talk about it online until  unless  we came out at the end of it with two healthy babies. The idea that I could one day share this story with this community  whether you guys wanted to hear it or not  actually motivated me during much of what would be the most harrowing 22 weeks of our lives. It was an experience thats more important for me to tell than for you guys to read, but since this particular occurrence is so rare, it may also be an important story to put out on the Internet, where I hope it may provide at least some comfort to others going through the same ordeal.

We found out during a 12-week ultrasound. The sonographer waved her jelly-covered wand around on my wifes stomach for a few seconds and said, You havent had an ultrasound yet? We said no, and she said, Ok, well I have some news that will be a surprise. Youre having twins! The news sent me into a panic. Two kids! How the hell were we supposed to take care of and provide for two more kids? My wifes morning sickness had been unusually intense and lingering, so wed joked that perhaps she was pregnant with twins, but twins didnt run in our families and neither one of us ever expected it to be true.

While I was trying to process the news, the sonographer poked around for a few more minutes as though she was looking for something. She got quiet, and I didnt think much of it until she said she needed to talk to the obstetrician. She left, and for 45 minutes in the darkened ultrasound room, we laughed and cried a bit, and I freaked out trying to figure out how badly twins would screw up our routine, how to afford them, how to deal with preschool and college and the million little things you dont think about until theyre confronting you head-on. But then the doctor returned, and grimly told us that our twins were monoamniotic, and those concerns immediately dissipated. Before we even knew what he meant, our hearts fell into our stomachs.

What are monoamniotic twins? As many of you probably know, fraternal (dizygotic) twins are the result of two separate eggs being fertilized, while identical twins are the result of one egg splitting (monozygotic). Our twins were monozygotic. Identical twinning is totally random, and typically, an egg splits by the 8th day after fertilization. Sometimes there are two placentas (dichorionic), but most identical twins share a placenta (monochorionic). Regardless of chorionicity, almost always in identical twinning, two amniotic sacs are formed. In rare cases, the eggs split after the 12th day, which is how you end up with conjoined twins. In our case though, the egg split sometime after the 9th day of fertilization, so there were two fetuses, with one placenta, and they were together in only one amniotic sac.

This is bad news. The doctor didnt mince words, either. He told us that the twins might each be fine, but that it was also possible that one or both of them had a defect that would make them incompatible with life, because the late splitting can be consistent with very serious, profound genetic problems (like lacking organs or body parts). He told us that they would probably die, and that even if they were both genetically and structurally sound, they had about a 50/50 chance. He said that if we lost one, we would probably lose both, or the surviving baby would be severely brain damaged, because of the shared placenta. When there is nothing separating the fetuses, there is nothing preventing the babies umbilical cords from getting tangled up. Tangles can lead to compression, which cuts of oxygen and nutrients, and the cords can also wrap around a limb  or a neck  with disastrous results.

So we sat there, shocked and tired, overwhelmed by this transition from elation to stupid, petty concerns and then gruesome, terrible images of the worst obstetrical outcomes. We were advised to have biweekly ultrasounds  since there is no intervention that can help make the pregnancy safer, we needed to wait for several weeks for genetic and physical tests, and then continue to wait until my wife would be admitted to the hospital as soon as the babies would be able to be born. The idea that the babies could kill each other inside my wifes womb was a lot to carry emotionally. My wife asked if she would know if they had died, and the doctor said no. So she asked if she could come for the ultrasounds weekly, to check on them. To see if they were still living. He said okay.

Can you imagine?

We were told that it was out of our control, to go home, not worry about it, and no matter what, dont go on the Internet. I got into my car delirious with worry and fear, proceeded to back into another car, and after exchanging insurance information with the owner of the (parked) vehicle, drove home and immediately went to the Internet.

I shouldve listened to the doctor.

Monoamniotic twins are rare  they affect around 1 in 60,000 pregnancies (about 1 percent of all twin pregnancies). We tried to read every study we could find, but there arent many, and they are all retrospective. Rates of morbidity ranged from 40 to 70 percent or even higher, depending upon which study you read. There have been just a few quality studies done on monoamniotic twins over the past decade and in all cases, the sample sizes were small (the largest study was done in the Netherlands involving 100 pregnancies over a ten-year period).

The gist of it confirmed what the doctor said  that they would probably die  but the internet also suggested even more terrible outcomes than he had outlined. One twin dying in utero and the pregnancy continuing for weeks or months, ending with one stillborn and one live child, profoundly disabled. Photos of headless fetuses. It was worse than the worst horror movies.

Misdiagnoses of monoamniotic twins are common, so we crossed our fingers and hoped that subsequent ultrasounds would reveal two amniotic sacs. We did transfer my wifes care from our midwives practice to the high-risk OBs at the hospital, and laughed ruefully about how much time we had spent on our birth plan when our son was born. On week 16, we drove to Boston for a specialist ultrasound and to talk to an expert on the subject. My wife brought a bucket to throw up in on the way. There was no separating membrane. And the expert told us he saw monoamnoitic twins maybe once a year. But he was amazing, and British, and was really honest and kind and clear with us. There was a 50 percent chance we would lose both babies. There was a greater chance that wed lose at least one, and there was an incredibly high chance  something like 70 or 80 percent  that even if both babies made it to delivery, one or both would have really serious lifelong problems: Mental disability, cerebral palsy, blindness, respiratory illness, or death shortly after delivery.

We also knew that, because of the nature of monoamniotic twins, at 25-28 weeks  if the babies survived that long  my wife would be admitted into the hospital for monitoring, and if there was any sign of distress, the babies would be delivered immediately, and wed have to deal with the consequences of severe prematurity. Best-case scenario: The twins would be delivered six weeks early and live in a box with gadgets and doohickeys connected to their bodies for the first few weeks or months of their lives. The best case scenario was the most medicalized kind of birth, and a guarantee of weeks in the NICU. Keep in mind, we had our firstborn in the hospital, but we managed to end up with the natural childbirth my wife was hoping for, with no medications or interventions and with a midwife attending, on the exact due date.

The doctor in Boston was also willing to explain our option to terminate. Even though we were just getting the information we needed to figure out whether the fetuses were even viable, it was already too late to end the pregnancy in our home state of Maine and we only had a couple of weeks to do so in Massachusetts. There was the possibility of selective reduction  ending one babys life to improve the odds of the other  but because they shared a sack, this wouldnt avoid any complications, so it was clearly not an option for us.

The doctor told us that if we went forward with the pregnancy, if one fetus died in utero it would probably leave the other baby severely brain-damaged. He said if that happened, we could make a plan to go to one of two states in the country  Florida or Colorado  that still have individual doctors providing late-term abortions. Kansas used to be an option, we were told, but the doctor who conducted procedures to terminate the pregnancies of severely brain-damaged and deformed babies with no chance of a decent quality of life had been shot and killed. Aint that America.

We decided to terminate. It was the most difficult, most agonizing decision either my wife or I had ever made. We both are pro-choice, but when it comes to abortion, in the typical scenario, you decide to terminate a pregnancy you dont want. We had made a decision to terminate the potential lives of two babies that we did want. That we wanted very badly. However, we felt that the risks were too high and that it would be irresponsible to risk not only our future but that of our son, who was four. We didnt want him to have to grow up in a home with parents who had to devote all their emotional and financial resources to profoundly disabled siblings. More than that, we didnt want to bring beings into the world that would have to spend a lifetime suffering, who might have a severely low quality of life.

The thing is, there was no one from whom we could solicit advice. Theres not even a lot of anecdotal information with which to work when youre pregnant with monoamniotic twins. There is one major support page online, but there is a lot of self-selection in posters, and most of the people who write have had a positive outcome that has either confirmed or bolstered their religious convictions. Many of the posts make clear that termination was never an option  and/or should not be an option  for others in this situation, which we totally disagreed with. What we were aiming to do was make the right choice for us  a rational, logical decision that an objective couple in our situation would make. We were relatively young. We could still have more children. We could wait a few months or a couple of years and try again. The more we thought about it, the more sense it made to end the pregnancy. We felt  and we still feel  that this is a fundamentally personal decision, and we were shocked at the politicization of this medical issue, when of course nobody else can tell you what is right for your family. It is a decision that has the potential to fundamentally alter the entire course of your life, and until you are personally faced with something like this, there is no way to know how you are going to react or what the right course of action will be.

We made the appointment.

We felt immediately miserable about our decision. Thats the thing, isnt it? When youre pregnant, youre in a heightened state of emotion. Its too difficult to think objectively. Wed been going on weekly ultrasound visits for a month and a half, so wed seen the two little gals floating around. Wed seen them touch heads in some ultrasounds and touch hands in others. Theres a real mortal danger in monoamniotic twins, but their ultrasounds  because of their proximity  are super fucking cute. Plus, there is something hugely romantic about telling the odds and the statistics to go screw, and just going for it.

The next day, my wife called and canceled the appointment. It felt like it made no sense, but somehow it made sense for us.

But we replaced one weight with another: The perpetual fear that any day, any minute, any second wed lose one or both of the babies. What we absolutely did not want was a baby that had to be delivered at 22 or 23 weeks, because the risk of complications when you have babies that early is too high, and the interventions required to save them are so invasive and painful. We reasoned that it would be better if we lost the babies than to deliver them too early, where theyd likely face great pain and either a painful death or a lifetime of complications. Each week, wed look at the statistics, figure the odds, and try to determine what would happen to our family and what sort of quality of life we could expect if the babies had to be delivered that week. The whole thing was a Saw-like game of psychological torture.

But we made it to 28 weeks. The day after New Years Day 2011, my wife was admitted into the hospital. She had an ultrasound once a day and fetal monitoring every six hours. If it appeared that something was amiss, the doctors would have to deliver then. But even still, with monitoring every six or four or even two hours, you dont know. You dont know what could happen when no one is looking. The babies moved around a lot. Their umbilical cords were already tangled. What we hoped for was that the cords wouldnt wrap so tightly around one another that circulation would be impeded or cut off.

Six weeks passed like molasses in a glacier. We fell into a decent, though miserable routine. My mother-in-law moved in with us. Id wake up, get the kid ready for school, spend the day writing about Anne Hathaway or Jennifer Lawrence or whatever dumb movie was playing at the multiplex, and at the end of the day wed drive over to the hospital and hang out there for a few hours. Its not the best thing in the world for a four-year-old to spend every day in a hospital, but it kept the family together, and the three of us even managed to have a couple sleepovers. Wed bring food so my wife wouldnt have to eat hospital food for all three meals (its amazing how unhealthy and disgusting hospital food is, particularly given that its supposed to be for sick people or people growing babies). I wrote many posts for Pajiba and UPROXX while sitting in that hospital room, wanting so badly to share the experience with our readers.

The people around us were amazing. The nurses were sweet and kind, and the doctor who delivered the babies was a former artist who swore like a sailor and borrowed our documentary on Phil Ochs. She visited us daily, and we loved her profoundly. My wife barely had a chance to read a book during six weeks of bed rest because she had so many visits from friends, from family, from her amazing co-workers, visits that took up most of the day. The Pajiba staff were likewise terrific, picking up extra posts, sending along amazing care packages. You really never know how kind and generous people can be until youre put in a position like this.

But, incredibly, we made it, and the babies were delivered by (mandatory) Cesarean section, at 34 weeks and 1 day, on Valentines Day 2012. As we had seen via ultrasound, the umbilical cords had tangled  when we saw them at delivery, they looked like blood-soaked ponytails with a big knot tying them together. The girls each weighed around four and a half pounds, and they were immediately put on ventilators. Despite two courses of steroids, their lungs werent quite ready for air. In a way, it was a nightmare scenario for a couple of pinko-hippy commies: A medicalized birth, ventilators, ultraviolet lights, tubes, and sensors. But in another way, given what we had come to understand was possible, it was the ideal scenario: They were both alive, and as more and more tests came back, it became apparent that there was nothing wrong with them besides simple prematurity. There would be no brain bleeds. No cerebral palsy. There would be no surgeries.

Then, magically, after three incredibly long weeks in the intensive care unit, our daughters came home, putting an end to one terrifying experience, and beginning a new, far more hopeful (and very exhausting) experience.

Today, those Valentines Day miracle babies turn eight. But the hero of this story, of course, is my wife, Mrs. Pajiba-hyphenate, who carried the babies for 34 weeks, the first 28 weeks of which she spent throwing up, and that last six weeks of which she spent in a hospital bed, fretting and worrying in a panic-driven state of terror, who endured the emotional, physical, and psychological weight of carrying babies who were always one wrong flip away from sudden and unexpected death. Kubrick could not have designed a more twisted ordeal, but she came out of it, managed to maintain her sanity, and be the brilliant, loving, and nurturing mother to my children and the wife no one could deserve.

Happy Valentines Day.

In the Intensive Care Unit

On Their Eighth Birthday



One of the other interesting things about our girls is that they are mirror twins. One is right-handed, and the other is left-handed, and they lose teeth in the same spots on the opposite sides of their mouth. Most people still cant tell them apart based on how they look, and that might get annoying when theyre older, but they mostly find it amusing, and they often try and convince us that theyre the other twin (with no luck whatsoever). It was a big year for them, too. They officially converted last April; L has gotten very good at gymnastics; H is deeply into basketball; L is taking piano lessons; H is taking guitar lessons. Theyre in Girl Scouts, and theres Hebrew school. Theyre very busy. Around a month before their birthday, they start to vibrate, because they really love their birthday. It always comes before winter break, so we always have their birthday party in early March after everyone has returned from break, which they prefer because they basically think of the three weeks between Valentines Day and their birthday party as their birthday.

Eight years in, and they have never suffered from any complications from the pregnancy. There was the occasional worry early on. One twin would develop faster in certain ways than the other, and we thought, Oh no. But each time, they caught up with each other in only a matter of days. They have both had their tonsils removed now

Otherwise, theyre perfectly normal, fighting, brilliant, loving, bossy, amazing, beautiful twin girls.

 The 'Stranger Things' Season 4 Teaser Answers THAT Question | 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Reveals Daisy Ridley, Jeff Goldblum, Rachel Bloom, And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez As Guest Judges 

Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.

Header Image Source: Dustin Rowles
ABC/Image Group LAKeith Urban hadn't toured his home country in nearly two years, so it's no wonder the Australian leg of the Graffiti U World Tour was a big success.

Keith played sold-out shows to over 100,000 fans in cities like Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, as well as a club show that benefited Rural Aid, which provides relief for victims of Australia's droughts. You can watch a YouTube video of Keith's adventures Down Under now.

Next up for Keith -- who debuted a brand-new song called "We Were" Thursday at Nashville's Country Radio Seminar -- is a run of shows in Europe. Starting March 2, he'll play four shows as part of the Country 2 Country festival in Berlin, Germany, along with Lindsay Ell, Brett Eldredge, Hunter Hayes, Cam and others.

After those dates, Keith plays a pre-tour club show in London, as well as a show at London's O2 Arena with Lady Antebellum and Chris Stapleton. Shows in Scotland are also on the agenda.

Keith's latest single "Never Coming Down" just broke into country's Top 20.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
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Florida is in the midst of noteworthy and meaningful changes. Following our recent elections, we have new public officials who emphasized many important issues while on the campaign trail last year, from the environment to education to jobs. Such issues are important not just to our state, but to Central Florida. Fortunately, our region has lately enjoyed positive economic indicators. Much of this is due to those last two issues. Through the efforts being made in our colleges and universities, both at individual institutions and systemwide, we are focused on providing students with a solid, local training ground for jobs throughout our private sector.
The Orlando Sentinel does not own the two blocks that include our offices  we havent since Tribune Publishing, our owner, was split in 2014 from Tribune Media, which held onto this property and others in the group. (I suspect their interest in the newspaper property had a little more to do with the Tribune Tower in Chicago or the LA Times building than our humble place.)
Here is Olivas full quote: Miami Beach is suffering more from it [flooding] than Key Biscayne is, and that has a lot to do with the infrastructure on Miami Beach, what was built there and the fact that Fisher put a lot of sand on Miami Beach and they had a lot of fill and they built there. And maybe its also settling throughout time as things tend to do.
Right now, we spend that money on things like continually expanding our convention center. What do we need more? Another 500,000 square feet of floor space at convention complex that is already 7 million square feet? Or more buses to help keep the convention and hotel industry running?
Basically, he posted pictures of him drinking various beverages with plastic straws, and we tried to call him out with facts about straws, Gill said. None of us were doing anything bad. But he doesnt go as far as to respond, he just blocks us. He deletes all comments and responses and just blocks us.
Under state law, voters whose mail-in ballots are received by 5 p.m. the day before the election have an opportunity to cure rejected ballots by providing documentation to elections supervisors to show that they are who they claim to be. But people whose mail-in ballots are received after that, or voters who cast provisional ballots on Election Day, do not.
Theres no doubts, there are no speed bumps, and nobodys personal opinion is trumping the will of the voters as expressed in the constitutional amendment. That is where we are aiming, Renner, R-Palm Coast, said during a joint meeting Thursday of his committee and the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee.
Rubio, in a statement issued before Trumps planned declaration, said its possible he might end up supporting the move, but said its unlikely. I will wait to see what statutory or constitutional power the president relies on to justify such a declaration before making any definitive statement. But I am skeptical it will be something I can support.
We know that lower-income individuals are more likely to ride public transportation and theyre less likely to turn out to vote, Smith said. If they wanted to assure passage of this, theyd wait until the presidential primary in 2020.
Its also important for local residents to prepare themselves when planning trips to areas with mosquito-borne diseases to prevent spreading the disease when they return. That includes, for example, getting vaccinated for yellow fever if traveling to Africa or South America, areas which are seeing an uptick in the number of cases of the disease, according to the World Health Organization. It also means covering yourself where there are mosquitoes.
This is where the darkest day in our citys history, the lives of 49 angels were taken, but in the days, weeks and months, and now years since, this is where our community has come together to honor the lives taken and to support the families and the victims, Dyer said.
According to the agencys website, Federal funds, grants and support to states, counties and communities are based on population totals and breakdowns by sex, age, race and other factors. Your community benefits the most when the census counts everyone. When you respond to the census, you help your community gets its fair share of the more than $675 billion per year in federal funds spent on schools, hospitals, roads, public works and other vital programs.
Question No. 1: How would any employer even know that a person who works for them is not attracted to the opposite sex? The question never arose for this columnist during more than a decade in management at the Orlando Sentinel. Does it come up in casual conversation when extreme right-wingers are assuring each other where they stand, sexually speaking?
She was suspended for eight hours, as were Officers Don Gierke, Corrine Gribble, Douglas Cote and Jeffery Gissendaner, who also used the system to search their own names, records show. School Resource Officer Alex Faberlle and Officers Stephen Goree and Keith Hernandez were also suspended eight hours for using the system to look up family members, records show.
Deputies arrived at the school at 3:51 p.m. where they found the claims to be false. At 4:02 p.m., one deputy unintentionally fired his gun at the sidewalk, WJAX reported.
Students and staff members are returning inside Timber Springs Middle School after Orange County deputies gave the all clear for a bomb threat on Friday morning, according to the Orange County Sheriffs Office.
Reynolds said when he was told of the test results, he was dumbfounded as to what drug he tested positive for. He also argued the department failed to notify him in a timely manner an investigation was being initiated, and he never received a written notice of the test results, records show.
Three workers were injured on Interstate 4 in downtown Orlando Friday morning three days after construction on the interstate resumed after a worker was killed earlier this month. (File photo)
Myers son, Kaden, was diagnosed with type 2 SMA five years ago when he was 7 months old. There were no approved medications for the disease then and he was too old to enroll in a clinical trial involving Spinraza, which has become a miracle-worker for the patients. The couple had to visit several neurologists before Kaden was diagnosed with SMA.
The Florida Education Association, which unsuccessfully sued to have the tax credit program declared unconstitutional, released a critical statement soon after the governors announcement. The statewide teachers union said voucher schemes help private schools, not students, and funnel state money to schools that may discriminate based on disability, language skills or sexual orientation, among other factors. The union also noted that nearly 60 percent of the students who use a tax credit scholarship return to public school within one or two years and claimed those who returned did worse on state tests than those who remained.
Tim Brown, an associate professor of media at University of Central Florida, said he was thinking about WFTV staffers. Theres always tension and uncertainty when a station is sold, he said. That this company [Apollo] doesnt have a lot of media properties, from what I can see, could add to that uncertainty. You dont know what that companys going to do. What kind of control will Cox maintain? Will they have something to do with the running of it? Its not entirely clear.
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Alpha Delta Pi was granted permission to add a 12-foot cupola to the top of their proposed new house.
This idea of breaking the silence that Alexander proposes is odd given that the Palestinian plight receives disproportionately more focus than any other such story in the world. Since the 1990s, the Palestinians have received more developmental assistance than any other disadvantaged group. There are hundreds of NGOs operating on behalf of the Palestinian people within the territories and Israel proper. Palestinians are the only group who have a permanent standing agenda item on the UN Human Rights Council and the only refugee group with its own UN agency devoted solely to them, despite the fact that the number of Palestinians who fled the 1948 war number no more than 20,000-30,000 today, according to the UNHCR definition of a refugee.
As Jackson put it 67 years ago, When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate. In these circumstances, and in these only, may he be said (for what it may be worth) to personify the federal sovereignty. If his act is held unconstitutional under these circumstances, it usually means that the Federal Government, as an undivided whole, lacks power.
We regularly see clients advised by a defense attorney to plead guilty to serious charges, with serious prison sentences, without anyone ever seeing the evidence for themselves. Im no constitutional scholar, but how are defense attorneys expected to meet the requirement of effective assistance of counsel when they have absolutely no way to ascertain whether there is sufficient, credible evidence to support a conviction? Imagine a defense attorney telling their client to take five years in prison without ever seeing the CCTV. It might be true that Its better than 15 years, but that doesnt account for the possibility of acquittal or, frankly, innocence.
In the end, everything will be fine. Amazon will be fine, except for the wasted opportunity to invest in cities that needed their money. New York City will be fine, except for the citys increasingly tenuous revenues and a lot of unlucky speculators in LIC. Nashville and D.C. will be more than fine  they are the real winners, in fact! And this country will be fine, except for all of the cities suckered into showing off for Amazon.
Little Egg Harbor, N.J.: I just dont understand why some small-time politician was able to prevent Amazon from benefiting the people of Long Island City. The area where they wanted to build is a smelly swamp that nobody in their right mind would want to be around. After Breyers Ice Cream and Silvercup Bread were chased out of the area by the unions, who was brave enough to take their place? I had a small store in Sunnyside just blocks away from these factories and their employees were my customers. When they left, I lost half my clients. The way politicians made up for the loss was to place a methadone clinic close enough so that I began to be held up every month. My storefront was broken and things were stolen as well. These are the solutions that politicians who want to make a name for themselves at the expense of the working class do to remove anybody offering good jobs and tax revenue to a depressed area. New York is dying for the middle class and so I gave up. Rose Wilson
I know what everyone at home thinks of me, as I have read all that was written about me online, she said. But I just want to come home to have my child. I'll do anything required just to be able to come home and live quietly with my child.
This is plainly a power grab by a disappointed President, who has gone outside the bounds of the law to try to get what he failed to achieve in the constitutional legislative process, Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a joint statement. The President is not above the law. The Congress cannot let the President shred the Constitution.
The death of the billion-dollar deal to bring the ecommerce giant to the Big Apple, ushered into existence by the unlikely bedfellows of Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio, is a decisive blow to a party that only last month gained full control of the state capitol for the first time in a decade.
I have a lot of frustration with the opponents, because I do not think they represented what their constituents fully needed. I think they did a disservice. But I have much more frustration with Amazon for just puling out in the dead of night and not even attempting a dialogue, and not being willing to give back more when that obviously would have solved the problem, he said.
A trio of correctional facilities will be shuttered, possible in part because of the states declining prison population, the governor said. For the first time in 30 years, the number of inmates in the state has dipped below 47,000, the governor said, claiming that no jobs will be affected.
This ruling is a victory for the more humane treatment of carriage horses, said Edita Birnkrant, director of NYCLASS. By shifting the hackline locations into the shaded entrances of Central Park, carriage horses will be subject to less heat and humidity throughout the summer and will no longer have to contend with cars and their exhaust traveling right next to them.
The Archdiocese of New York deceived victims of clergy child sexual abuse and exploited their vulnerabilities arising from that abuse, causing their re-victimization, attorney Jeff Herman said. Since the New York legislature passed the Child Victims Act, I have heard from numerous victims of clergy child sexual abuse in New York who feel they were tricked into giving up their rights.
In 2017, Rushdie made a cameo on the HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm to advise the shows creator and star, Larry David after a fatwa is declared against him. David was also a writer on Seinfeld, which in 1993  at the height of the Rushdies dangers  aired an episode where one of the shows characters was convinced the exiled writer was an active member at a Manhattan gym he frequented.
Every religious order and every bishop is run by a superior, and they know who their offenders are  but they keep that secret, Anderson said. And because they have never released the names of those offenders, this suit is dedicated to getting a court order requiring them to come clean and disclose publicly the names that they know of the offenders.
Ginsburg made her first public appearance since her surgery when she attended a Feb. 4 production of Notorious RGB in Song, a musical celebration of her life at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, according to The Washington Post.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said Tuesday that evidence found buried in the yard of a Hesperia residence where one of the brothers lives led investigators to believe Briones was a victim of homicide.
Scientists say that transmission to humans would almost certainly be through the consumption of infected deer or elk, but also warned hunters to avoid shooting, handling or eating any meat from animals that look sick or are acting strangely.
I was headed for Phoenix one day and there was four feet of snow on the mountain south of Panguitch and the highway patrolman told me I couldnt go, and I said, This is a mail truck and you cant stop me unless its impossible, and I fooled him, I guess, because he let me go, Lund, of Richfield, said.
Attorney Keith Altman, who is representing Retana, previously filed a similar suits against social networks over other attacks, including the 2015 Paris attack, the Pulse nightclub shooting and the Bastille Day attack in France, according to the Star-Telegram. And a lawsuit filed in 2017 also took aim at the social media giants, alleging they should be held liable for the police shooting in Dallas.
The industry association, Airlines for America (A4A), recently approved a new international standard that will allow for unspecified and undisclosed as options in addition to male or female,  The Daily Beast reported on Thursday. Members of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which is comprised of carriers elsewhere in the world, was also involved in the decision.
Sunset Bronson Studios employees were not allowed to leave or enter the area, KTLA reported. It was later determined that the person was never on the lot, and no gun was found. Police did not release the suspects name.
A video taken by Uysaler on Jan. 2 and posted online last week shows the discovery of the booby trap, rigged by a wire that ran across one of the stairs and up the wall, and how the team handled the situation.
Stackhouse claims Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark Delacruz, the Army Criminal Investigation Command agent assigned to Golsteyns case, has been charged with four counts of intent to deceive for claiming to have earned a Purple Heart and falsely wearing a Combat Action Badge and other awards. The charges state such conduct (is) of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.
Sun Trust smelled fraud and froze the accounts, sending Blanchett a check. He opened a new account elsewhere, falsely representing that the funds were from the estate of his deceased father, the IRS states in a forfeiture complaint it filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, and reported on by the Tampa Bay Times.
Ana Suda and Martha Mimi Hernandez were waiting to pay for their groceries at the local Town Pump in May 2018 when they when they were approached by Customs and Border Patrol agent Paul ONeal, who demanded to know where they were born. The women, both U.S. citizens, told him they were born in Texas and California, but the information was not enough to placate him.
Welcome to Daily News Weekly, where we highlight stories from the past week that you may have missed.
Jaselskis arrest came Monday after he was confronted by U.S. Park Police at the Washington Monument, BuzzFeed News reported. Two officers were alerted of the Sherman Oaks man after a bystander allegedly saw him jump a fence meant to keep visitors at a distance from the monument during construction.
Simonsen, 42, was a beloved figure in the 102nd Precinct in Queens, where he spent his nearly 19-year NYPD career. His neighbors in Suffolk County also recalled him as a local hero  a generous, sports-loving figure who the children on his block called Uncle Brian.
Irigoyen sold luxury homes on the Upper East and West Sides of Manhattan and in Queens, according to the Crosstown Apartments website. She was also a dance and fitness instructor, the website said.
As far as I know he was an OK kid, he goes to school and everything, said Trevor Walker, whose 17-year-old nephew Pernell Pompey was murdered the day before.
Arrested with Smith and Martin, 26, were Carr, a parolee with seven criminal convictions; Jamal (Vook) Aldridge, the target of a dozen bench warrants since 2012; and thrice-convicted Shawn Taylor  a father of four. Authorities busted two female conspirators as well, identified as Tiffany Lanier and Shakayna Wheeler.
It is chilling to know that for families that lost loved ones from 9/11 illnesses within the last two years, while they have been patiently waiting for an award, they will now be subject to at least a 50% reduction, McCauley said. There were many FDNY and NYPD retirees that went back to Ground Zero to look for their friends and even kids that perished in the attack, many of whom were never recovered. Some of those retirees have now joined their children and friends after succumbing to 9/11 illnesses.
"Eight drivers have now died by suicide because of the crisis Uber created, Bhairavi Desai, director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, a drivers group that organized support for the cap. That's why Uber drivers and yellow cab drivers from across the city united to win the historic cap on for-hire-vehicles  to put an end to the financial despair, debt, and poverty that is literally killing our brothers."
But Manhattan Federal Judge Vernon Broderick wrote that Saipov had no evidence that Trumps comments affected the Department of Justices procedures for deciding whether to seek the death penalty. The judge did note, however, that Trumps statements were perhaps ill-advised given the pendency of this case.
Photos of the bust showed the federal agents tore apart dozens of boxes looking for the hidden packets of cocaine. A Dumpster was overflowing with all of the chili peppers the feds threw away.
Last week she came in here to fight with my worker  she takes the magazines and she threw (them) outside, Idris Kaid said. She came back to fight with him again and you see the video, she takes her pants down.
And then we started tussling. It was very icy, and we ended up tussling by the stairs, fighting, fighting, fighting. There was a second person involved who was kicking me in my back, and then it just stopped and they ran off, Smollett said on Good Morning America in an interview that aired Thursday.
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50 Cent and Floyd Mayweather have come to exchanging verbal blows once again. This time the former business partners are clashing over the ongoing Gucci boycott over the company's "blackface" sweater.

After the boxer received backlash from the Internet and some prominent players in hip-hop for his continued support of the fashion retailer, on Thursday, Mayweather issued a lengthy statement via Instagram addressing the "hypocrisy" he sees in backing the premature denouncing of luxury brands.

"Why would we (as a people) agree to a temporary boycott of Gucci for merely 3 months if what was done caused so much strife?," the post read.

Mayweather continued, "Why wouldn't we agree to a permanent boycott of Gucci as well as all other merchandise that fall under the Kering ownership, such as YSL, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and more."

The heavyweight champ didn't stop there, as he fired off shots at 50 and fellow rapper T.I., who have both publicly criticized Mayweather's choice to continue supporting Gucci. Most recently, T.I. released a diss record aimed at the fighter titled "F*** N****."

In response, Mayweather blasted the "No Mediocre" rapper's bout with infidelity and Fif's checkered relationship with his son.

"These same celebrities are proud deadbeat fathers and unfaithful husbands using their platform to rally the troops against luxury brands, yet have been the prime contributors of influencing the destruction of our people by way of their musical content and imagery," Mayweather wrote.

Soon after catching wind of the TMT founder's insults, 50 trolled the boxer by making light of his rumored illiteracy by posting a handwritten note filled with grammatical errors with Mayweather's signature attached.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
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Michael Pompeo, the United States secretary of state placed a call to Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Demo...

Michael Pompeo, the United States secretary of state placed a call to Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Friday.





Atiku disclosed this via his official Twitter handle but did not give details of his conversation with Pompeo.





He, however, said Pompeo affirmed the international communitys commitment to free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria.





The presidential and national assembly polls will hold on Saturday, while that of the governorship and state house of assembly will hold on March 2.

Earlier today I received a call from US Secretary of State, @SecPompeo, who reaffirmed the international communitys commitment to free and fair elections in Nigeria, he wrote.





Wishing you all a peaceful elections, wherever you are. God bless Nigeria.





Wishing you all a peaceful elections, wherever you are. God bless Nigeria. Earlier today I received a call from US Secretary of State, @SecPompeo , who reaffirmed the international communitys commitment to free and fair elections in Nigeria.Wishing you all a peaceful elections, wherever you are. God bless Nigeria. pic.twitter.com/cDoIN9g7jY February 15, 2019

There have been speculations that the US is in support of the candidature of Atiku, especially after he visited the country in January, 12 years after being denied visa.





Festus Keyamo, spokesman of President Muhammadu Buhari reelection campaign, had accused the US of protecting and seemingly supporting Abubakar.





Keyamo said Stuart Symington, the US ambassador to Nigeria, seems to be saying that only a PDP victory will be evidence of a fair election.





The US has denied the allegation, saying it is not in support of any candidate.





The United States Embassy in Nigeria wishes to reiterate unequivocally that we are not taking sides in Nigerias election. We do not support any party or candidate, Symington had said in response to Keyamos claim.
President Muhammadu Buhari says those who said he does not have the stamina to run for a second term can find something else to say, n...





President Muhammadu Buhari says those who said he does not have the stamina to run for a second term can find something else to say, now that he has gone around the country to seek votes.





Many of Buharis critics and some of his supporters had called on the president not to run for a second term, following his health challenges.





In 2017, the president was away from Nigeria for a medical leave in the United Kingdom, which lasted over 100 days. Before the long trip, Buhari had initially gone on a medical vacation that lasted 57 days.





Upon his return to Nigeria, Buhari spent at least 50 days away from the public eye, after confirming that he had a blood transfusion, and had never been this sick in his life.





A security source had revealed at the time that his disappearance from office due to rat infestation of his presidential office was a decoy to keep him under medical care.





The president has since recovered and resumed his duties as the commander in chief of the armed forces and the leader of the nation.





In a brief interview with CNN, Buhari suggested that he has shown his detractors that he has the stamina to run Nigeria for a second democratic term.





When asked about those who say he does not have the stamina to go round all the states for the campaign, Buhari said: Well, I have done it, so they can give you another answer.





Buhari visited every geopolitical zone in Nigeria in the build-up to the February 16 election, kicking off his campaign in enemy territory of Akwa Ibom, and ending the same in his home state of Katsina.




Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says there is no public officer that has not been ac...





Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says there is no public officer that has not been accused of corruption.





Speaking in a brief interview with CNN, Atiku said the allegations of corruption against him have not stood the test of time.





They have not stood the test of time, there is no public officer that is not accused of corruption, Atiku said.





Atiku, who had been accused of corruption on numerous occasion, has continually denied any wrongdoing.





The former vice-president also suggested that his success is one reason why corruption is always tied to his name, challenging anyone who has anything on him to come forward to charge him, prosecute him, and possibly indict him.





I have been successful, I have never been charged, I have never been indicted, they are all allegations. I have asked anybody, I have dared people publicly, that if anybody has any evidence of corruption against me, let him come out, he said in another CNN interview.





When asked point blank if he was corrupt, Atiku said: Im not, certainly not, because if I am corrupt, I would have been either charged or indicted.





Speaking on gender equality, Atiku said the PDP, in its ideology, is gender sensitive, and has appointed more women as party executives, members of parliament, and ministers in its government.





He promised to review the condition of service for the lower cadre of the military, who sacrifice their lives for all Nigerians to live.




Whatever has a beginning has an end! For President Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic...

Whatever has a beginning has an end! For President Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the journey which started in November ended on Thursday.





Both men are now ready to go head to head in the election of Saturday.





Buhari, who is contesting under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), ended his campaign in his home state of Katsina while Atiku rounded off his presidential campaign in Yola, Adamawa.





Below are photos from both rallies:





FROM KATSINA




Walter Onnoghen, suspended chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), has pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against him at the Code of Co...





Walter Onnoghen, suspended chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), has pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).





Onnoghen is being arraigned for a six-count charge bordering on false declaration of assets.

On several occasions, he had failed to appear before the tribunal. His lawyers had challenged the jurisdiction of the tribunal to entertain the matter.





The appeal court also refused to stay proceedings at the CCT.





At the tribunal on Friday, Danladi Umar, CCT chairman, set aside the order for the arrest of Onnoghen before he took his plea.





Umar said the warrant of arrest has been set aside because Onnoghen appeared at the tribunal.





He must henceforth make himself available throughout the proceedings, the CCT chairman said.





After the plea was read, Uche Chris, counsel to the suspended CJN, applied for bail.





The counsel to the federal government did not oppose the application.





Onnoghen was then granted bail based on self-recognition.





Umar adjourned the matter till February 21 to hear all pending applications before the tribunal.




Rochas Okorocha, governor of Imo state, says Igbos may not get a chance at presidency if they fail to vote for President Muhammadu Buhar...

Rochas Okorocha, governor of Imo state, says Igbos may not get a chance at presidency if they fail to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday.





The governor spoke at zonal rallies in Okigwe area of the state and Owerri, the state capital.





Okorocha expressed regret that some Igbo politicians are campaigning to deceive the Igbo again as they did in 2015.





He accused the Igbos of playing politics like a trader who only thinks of immediate benefits.





He advised them to heed his counsel as what he tells them would be to their advantage.





Some people especially our brothers are campaigning now against President Buhari saying he is Boko Haram that he is a herdsman and so on, he said.





You can remember in 2015, I was telling the Igbos to cast their vote for Buhari because he will win with or without the votes of the Igbo.





I was called all sorts of derogatory names. Some said I was going to Islamise the whole Igbo. Is Igboland Islamised today?





Igbo today are playing politics with the mindset of a trader, thinking only of the immediate benefits unlike other tribes that are playing real politics.





My people listen to me and listen real good, whatever I tell you to do, do it as it will profit us. I am telling you today that Buhari will win.





On Saturday, if Igbo supports Buhari and Buhari wins, in 2023 Ndigbo will have the right to demand for Igbo Presidency.





Those who love Igbo nation must vote for President Buhari because if we miss this chance we may not get the presidency even by 2023 or 2027 or 2031.





The time is right for the Igbo nation to play the right politics so as to have a clear chance by 2023.




Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has called off the election boycott in the south-east region of the count...

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has called off the election boycott in the south-east region of the country.





In an audio message, Kanu also asked the Igbo to come out in their numbers and vote during Saturdays presidential election.





Kanu had been calling on the Igbo to boycott any election held in Nigeria until the government agrees to a referendum regarding IPOBs quest for a sovereign state of Biafra.





On Wednesday, just two days ago, he told BBC Igbo that IPOB will shut down the south-east and ensure voting does not take place in the area.

WHAT CHANGED NOW?

In the broadcast obtained Thursday night, Kanu said unnamed individuals have met the demands given by the group before any election could be held in the south-east.





He said: Earlier today, February 14, 2019, I received confirmation from our team that all of our pre-conditions played before those kicking off to call off the elections have been met. And in view of that, I hereby lift the boycott of elections.





IPOB was very steadfast, we have fought a very good battle; we have made it very clear to all and sundry that we are very determined and this is victory for IPOB and for the emancipation of Biafra.





Kanu expressed hope that those who agreed to the groups demands will implement them.





He asked the Igbo to spread the good news but added the groups resolve remains the same: a sovereign state of Biafra.





We said it from the beginning, nobody should expect us to participate in any form of elections unless our demands are met. And I am glad to tell you that they have acceded to our demands and it will be fully implemented, he said.





I therefore ask each and everyone of you to take this good news to all our towns and villages that the boycott has been lifted. And we will all go about on the 16th of February to discharge whatever duties we have or whatever beliefs  for groups and individuals.





Never again will they take IPOB for granted, and never again will people underrate our resolve. We have showed it to them and we shall continue to demonstrate it until Biafra republic is restored. I thank you very much and may God be with you.





It is not clear who the IPOB leader is rooting for in Saturdays presidential election.





But it is obvious neither of the two front line candidates  President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  has his support.





While he claims Buhari is dead and being replaced by a clone in Aso Rock, he says Abubakar is a Cameroonian by birth and does not have the constitutional right to run for president.




The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received another batch of 160 stranded Nigerians from Libya. Alhaji Idris Muha...

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received another batch of 160 stranded Nigerians from Libya.









Alhaji Idris Muhammed, Coordinator, Lagos Territorial Office of NEMA, confirmed the development to newsmen on Friday in Lagos.









Muhammed said the Nigerians arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at 7.50pm on Thursday aboard a chartered Nouvel Air aircraft and were received by NEMA and other government agencies.









According to him, they were brought back by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and European Union under the Assisted Voluntary Returnees (AVR) Programme.









He said: The returnees are made up of 68 female adults, one female child and five female infants.









Also, there are 79 male adults, two male children and five male infants making up 74 females and 86 males, including a psychologically traumatised adult male.









Muhammed advised young Nigerians to desist from embarking on irregular migration which removes the fundamental rights that such migrants could have enjoyed.









He noted that it was unfortunate that they had to expose themselves to danger in the quest for greener pastures outside the shores of the country.









One of the returnees, Ms Adebisi Komolafe, from Osogbo in Osun, while narrating her experience to newsmen, urged Nigerians to continue praying for their leaders, especially the president.









Komolafe said: Despite the bad situation in Libya, the people believe in their leaders and are praying fervently for them. They still see hope in their country.









If Nigerians can avoid blaming the government for everything, with faith and sincerity, our prayers will be accepted by God.









God will guide our leaders right if we direct our supplications to Almighty God to guide our leaders right.









She also advised those still planning to travel to the volatile North African country to jettison the idea because it would be an exercise in futility.









I dont wish any Nigerian should think of traveling to Libya. I never knew the situation in Libya before I left; if I had known, I wouldnt have traveled there.









Nigeria is far better than that country. We need prayers and sincerity in Nigeria.









I worked as a housemaid and had opportunity to make some money but not having a government in place is a serious problem there. I could not send money back home since I left Nigeria in 2016.









The only thing I did was to buy goods that I can sell when I get back to Nigeria and I brought everything back now, Komolafe said.









Another returnee, Miss Aisha Ibrahim from Oyo State, said she thought traveling to Libya would give her opportunity to have a better life.









She said My sister paid for my transportation and after a week on arrival in Libya, I got a housemaid work.









You must work and carryout any instructions given by those people. Failure to obey them will attract punishment or arrest.









Ibrahim said she decided to return home after she was unjustly arrested and her sister had to pay N400, 000 to secure her release.








A coalition of Muslim Women in Remo, Ogun State has called on the Federal Government to urgently legalise the use of hijab across the co...

A coalition of Muslim Women in Remo, Ogun State has called on the Federal Government to urgently legalise the use of hijab across the country.









The group said it would not be deterred from its advocacy at legalising hijab in public places, offices and ensure that those wearing it are not harassed or victimised.









The National Daawah Officer, Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), Hajia Tawakaltu Oderinde, said the group is already working harmoniously with Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN) with the aim of winning hijab battle.









We want government at all levels to look into the fundamental human rights of hijab, Oderinde said in a statement.









The statement quoted Hajia Aminat Salaudeen, a member of the group, as calling on the Federal Government and relevant stakeholders to ensure the protection of human rights of hijabis.









We have had issues where Muslim sisters were asked to remove their hijabs during data capturing in banks, sim and voters card registration exercises and immigration office. But when affected sisters refused, it created controversy, she said.








An Ado-Ekiti magistrates court yesterday remanded a 45-year-old man in prison over the alleged rape of a seven-year-old girl. The...

An Ado-Ekiti magistrates court yesterday remanded a 45-year-old man in prison over the alleged rape of a seven-year-old girl.









The defendant, Daniel Alamo, whose address was not provided, is facing a charge of rape.









The prosecutor, Insp. Oriyomi Akinwale told the court that the defendant committed the offence on Feb. 10 in Aramoko, Ekiti.









He said the accused enticed the girl with money and defiled her.









Akinwale said the offence contravened Section 31 (2) of the Child Right Law Cap C7 Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.









The prosecutor urged the court to remand the accused in prison pending legal advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).









The plea of the accused was not taken.









In her ruling, the magistrate, Mrs Modupe Afeniforo, ordered that the defendant be remanded and adjourned the case until March 13 for mention.












Mr Ahmed Ogembe, the Senator representing Kogi State Central on Friday survived an auto crash along the Abuja-Lokoja road on his way to ...

Mr Ahmed Ogembe, the Senator representing Kogi State Central on Friday survived an auto crash along the Abuja-Lokoja road on his way to Okene for elections.









Mr Duke Opeyemi, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Senator, disclosed this to newsmen on Friday in Lokoja.









He said that the accident occurred at 9 a.m on Friday, at Gegu community in Kotonkarfe LGA of Kogi state.









It was gathered that Ogembe is seeking re-election under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 National Assembly election in Kogi State central.









According to Opeyemi, his bulletproof car somersaulted several times, but the senator and other occupants of the vehicle came out alive and unhurt.









The senator expressed gratitude to God for saving his life and that of the people with him.









He prayed for more of Gods protection over his life, his family and the entire people of his constituents and Kogi state at large.
















President Muhammadu Buhari has assured the diplomatic community and foreign election observers in Nigeria of their safety during the e...





President Muhammadu Buhari has assured the diplomatic community and foreign election observers in Nigeria of their safety during the elections





Many will interpret this as an indirect rebuttal of threats by Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, who recently said we are waiting for the person that would come and intervene, they would go back in body bags.





He later said he was defending Nigerias integrity while Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, said what the governor said was in the national interest.





But Buhari, in a state broadcast on Thursday evening, said the foreign community has nothing to fear.





I want to assure all Nigerians, the diplomatic community and all foreign election observers of their safety and full protection. Any comments or threats of intimidation from any source do not represent the position of the Federal Government of Nigeria, Buhari said.




Two persons have been arrested in Ebonyi state while planting improvised explosive devices, IEDs, on Idembia bridge Ezza South Local gov...

Two persons have been arrested in Ebonyi state while planting improvised explosive devices, IEDs, on Idembia bridge Ezza South Local government Area of Ebonyi state.





Governor David Umahi stated this in a special security situation broadcast on Friday.





He said the arrest followed intelligence reports that some members of a political party were planning to bomb Bridges and other installations in the state.





He said the two suspects were arrested by villagers living close to the bridge which links Ezza South to Ohaozara local government area.

The governor also said that a National Assembly Candidate of a political party a few days ago went to a quarry site in the state to purchase explosives but was turned down by the operators who also reported to the state government.




Less than 24 hours to the presidential and national assembly elections, police have surrounded the Lokoja residence of Ibrahim Idris, ...

Less than 24 hours to the presidential and national assembly elections, police have surrounded the Lokoja residence of Ibrahim Idris, former governor of Kogi state, where Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders in the state are meeting.





The road to the residence, which is behind the government house, has also been cordoned off, making it impossible for other PDP leaders to join the meeting.





A source at the meeting said the PDP stakeholders were perfecting their plans for the elections when security operatives stormed the residence.





As I speak to you, about 50 armed mobile policemen are mounting strategic position on the street and in front of the house, the source said.

They just retreated but their trucks are parked within 100-meter radius.





It is unclear why the police took action but opposition leaders have raised the alarm that there are plots to deploy security operatives in their stronghold to destabilise the PDP during the elections.





When contacted, William Aya, spokesman of the Kogi police command, said he was unaware of the blockade.





I am not aware of that. I dont know anything about it, he said via telephone.





On Thursday, Kola Ojo, chairman of the PDP in Kogi west senatorial district, said the party had uncovered plans by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to arrest its members, intimidate and cause mayhem all in their attempt to rig the presidential and national assembly elections.




The Nigerian Army has withdrawn its personnel from the Akwa Ibom State Government House. The commissioner for information, Charles...





The Nigerian Army has withdrawn its personnel from the Akwa Ibom State Government House.





The commissioner for information, Charles Udoh, who confirmed the incident in a statement on Friday, said the Akwa Ibom government house was singled out for such in the entire Niger Delta region.





According to him, the directive which has already been enforced signals an all-time low in the history of the democracy in Nigeria.





Udoh, however, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to restore all security apparatus deserving of Governor Udom Emmanuel.





It is inconceivable that Akwa Ibom Government House has been singled out in the Niger Delta region, as a focal point for such an ill-advised action at a crucial time like this.





The Government and people of Akwa Ibom State therefore implore the President and commander in Chief of the Nigerian Armed forces to restore all security apparatus deserving of a sitting Governor to the Akwa Ibom State Government House




For Nigerian governors who have spent two terms in office, its becoming fashionable to find a soothing nest in the senate. Since the ...





For Nigerian governors who have spent two terms in office, its becoming fashionable to find a soothing nest in the senate. Since the constitution doesnt allow third term, the red chamber is for them the right place to wield influence and maintain political relevance. The senate is already seen as a retirement home for a litany of former governors, their ranks might swell up in a few months.





Currently, the former governors in the red chamber are Jonah Jang (Plateau), Bukola Saraki (Kwara), Joshua Dariye (Plateau), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe), George Akume (Benue) and Theodore Orji (Abia).





In this piece, we look at the governors who, like President Muhammadu Buhari, will slug it out at the polls on Saturday.





ABIOLA AJIMOBI

Ajimobi was elected governor of Oyo state in 2011 under the Action Congress of Nigeria which metamorphosed to All Progressives Congress (APC). He broke the second term jinx in the state in 2015, becoming the first governor to be re-elected for a second term. At the expiration of the second term on May 29, he is set to return to the upper legislative chamber he was a member from 2003 to 2007, serving as the deputy minority leader.





The 69-year-old Ibadan-born politician is the APC candidate for Oyo south, having displaced the initial occupant, Adesoji Akanbi, to clinch the partys ticket. Akanbi later decamped to African Democratic Congress (ADC) where he hopes to give the governor a run for his money.





At a stakeholders forum in Ibadan, the state capital, Lamidi Adeyemi, the alaafin of Oyo, tipped Ajimobi as the next senate president if he succeeds in his bid.





ROCHAS OKOROCHA

Okorocha has maintained a strong presence in the political scene and become a force to be reckoned with even before he was elected governor of Imo state. The 56-year-old astute businessman had contested for governor in 1999 and lost, contested for presidency and was special adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.





He has also enjoyed unfettered movement across parties, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), APC and also formed the Action Alliance (AA), under which his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu is contesting as a governor.





He was elected governor of the state in 2011 and was re-elected in 2015. With the end of the second term in the offing, Okorocha won the APC primary election to represent Imo west senatorial district. According to him, it would be a disservice to the nation if he failed to contest considering his wealth of experience as a governor for eight years.





I have decided to run for the Imo west senatorial zone because if I dont, bad people will take the position, the governor said.





IBIKUNLE AMOSUN

Amosun, the senator for Ogun central district from 2003 to 2007, lost in his bid to become governor in 2007. But fortune smiled on him in 2011 and he was re-elected for a second term in 2015. With just a few months to the end of his tenure, the 61-year-old politician is set to go back to the senate to represent Ogun central.





However, the governors ambition has pitched him against Lanre Tejuosho, who is the present senator for the district. Tejuosho had announced his defection alongside 14 senators on the floor of the senate in July but he made a detour 24 hours later when he joined 43 APC senators for a meeting with Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja.





Even with the tense political atmosphere in the state as a result of the crisis that ensued during the presidential rally on Monday, Amosun might face less hurdle in achieving his ambition.





IBRAHIM DANKWAMBO

Dankwambo rose through the ranks in his professional and political careers. He worked at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from 1988 to 1999 when he was appointed accountant-general of Gombe state. He held that position till 2005 when he became accountant-general of the federation. Two years later, he was appointed governor of Gombe under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), serving out his second term.





He had joined the presidential race but lost the partys ticket to Atiku Abubakar. While he picked the presidential form, Mohammed Ribadu, one of his commissioners, obtained the senatorial form for Gombe central district. After losing the presidential primary, securing marginal 111 votes far behind the 1,532 votes of Atiku, Ribadu held a rally to welcome Dankwambo back to the state. There and then, he announced that he had stepped down for the governor.





Ribadu said Dankwambo deserves to contest the senatorial election because of his achievements in the last eight years. While he could have picked the ticket easily, he has a tough race ahead. Danjuma Goje, whom he succeeded as governor, is currently representing the district in the upper legislative chamber. Goje is running on the platform of APC. Having also ruled the state for eight years, he is not in anyway a pushover.





Dankwambo is the only PDP governor contesting the senatorial election.





ABDULAZIZ YARI

With the governors declaration to run for the Zamfara west senatorial district, Yari is ready to unseat his godfather Ahmad Yerima, a former governor of the state serving a third term in the red chamber. Yari was a member of the house of representatives from 2007 to 2011 after which he was elected the governor under the platform of ANPP. He was re-elected in 2015 under APC. Yari is the chairman of Nigerias Governors Forum (NGF).





You know, I was from the national assembly before I became a governor. In fact, my colleagues from the national assembly used to say I am here on sabbatical. So, my going to the senate is like I am going back home, the 51-year-old governor said in an interview.

But Yari has a hurdle to cross before the day of the election. Except the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lifts the ban on APC candidates in the state, his senatorial dream will end on the day he was supposed to seal it. The internal crisis in the state chapter of the APC led to the fiasco. Yaris fate as far as the senate is concerned, is still hanging in the balance.





IBRAHIM GAIDAM

With the end of his tenure in May, Geidam has his eyes on the Yobe east senatorial seat having displaced Bukar Ibrahim, the present occupant who is a three-term senator and three-time former governor of the state.





Geidam was deputy governor until the death of Mamman Ali, the state governor, in 2009. He was sworn in as governor and re-elected for a second term in 2011.





With the APC having a strong base in the crisis-ridden state as the ruling party, the 62-year-old politician is a man to look out for at the polls.





IBRAHIM SHETTIMA

Shettima had declared his intention of running for the Borno central senatorial district without mincing words and he has been on a campaign trail to achieve his ambition. The senator representing the district, Baba Kaka Garbai, stood down for him, making the coast clearer for the governor on Saturday.





The 52-year-old former banker and commissioner of finance will complete his second term as governor of the state in May. He escaped a Boko Haram attack just four days to the senatorial poll but at least three people in his convoy were not that lucky.





TANKO Al-MAKURA

AL-Makura, governor of Nassarawa state, is also going to the polls hoping to win the seat for the southern senatorial district of the state under the APC. With the end of his second term tenure in a few months, he is battling to unseat Suleimam Adokwe, who has been representing the district under the PDP since 2007.





I am more prepared for the senate than the incumbent to be frank with you, because if you look at what we have done in the past seven and a half years compared to the twelve years of the current occupant of the seat, you would have every reason to support us than vote for what is best described as wasted years, the governor told his supporters at a campaign rally.




Bauchi State police command has deployed over 6000 personnel to provide security during Saturdays presidential and National Assembly el...

Bauchi State police command has deployed over 6000 personnel to provide security during Saturdays presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.









The state Commissioner of Police, Ali Aji Janga disclosed this at a Press Conference in Bauchi on Friday.









The Bauchi state police command wishes to assure the general public that it has put in place adequate security measures for the peaceful conduct of the coming Presidential/National Assembly and Gubernatorial /State House of Assembly elections slated for Saturday 16/02/2019 and 02/03/2019 respectively across the 20 local government areas in the state, he said.









According to the police commissioner, additional senior police officers, including an Assistant Inspector General (AIG) and DIGs, have been deployed to the state as part of measures to ensure hitch-free elections in the state.









He said there will be a total restriction on movements of people and vehicles from 12 midnight on Friday, February 15th to 5 pm on Saturday, February 16th.









According to him, the same restrictions will be places 12:00 midnight on Friday, March 1st, 2019 to 5:00 pm on Saturday, March 2nd, 2019.








The Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, has redeployed three Commissioners of Police (CPs) to Ekiti State to monitor...

The Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, has redeployed three Commissioners of Police (CPs) to Ekiti State to monitor Saturdays presidential election.









The three newly redeployed police commissioners are to join the Ekiti Commissioner of Police, Mr. Asuquo Amba, to ensure that the exercise is hitch-free across the state.









The Police Public Relations Officer in the state command, DSP Caleb Ikechukwu, who made the disclosure in Ado Ekiti on Friday, however, did not disclose the names of the new CPs.









He said each of the CPs would monitor each of the senatorial districts of the state.









To curb vote buying during the election, Ikechukwu said the Force would deploy 2,195 plain clothed operatives to all the polling units to arrest the perpetrators.









The operatives will mingle with voters and from there, have the knowledge of those engaging in this electoral offence, he said.








Ahead of Saturdays general election, the Kwara State Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said there were still 257, 431 un...

Ahead of Saturdays general election, the Kwara State Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said there were still 257, 431 uncollected Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, in the state.









The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mal Garba Madami, said this during a press briefing at INEC office in Ilorin.









He said, for this elections, a total of 1,407,400 voters registered out of which 1,149,969 permanent voters cards have been collected which represent 82 percent and we are left with the balance of 257,431 PVC uncollected and same has been forwarded to the central bank for safekeeping until after the election, Madami said.









Speaking on the election materials, he explained that there were 1,872 polling units and 1,015 voting points which will be used wherever there were more than 750 voters in a unit.









All logistic arrangements have been made. All sensitive and non-sensitive materials have been dispatched to all local governments while this last consignment of sensitive materials are already on their way to the local governments.









Electoral staff needed for the exercise have been sourced as directed by INEC headquarters, trained and deployed. On the whole, a total of 11,992 is to be deployed for the elections.








Myxomatosis caused widespread death among European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) populations in Australia, France and the UK. But some of the animals soon developed immunity to the virus.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the CIBIO (Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources) in Porto, Portugal, wanted to see if they could find any genetic under pinning to the resistance. They looked at the DNA of rabbits from both before and after the release of the disease, including one owned by Darwin and still held at the Museum.

Dr Joel Alves, now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford and lead author of the study, says, 'We compared rabbits collected before the virus outbreak in the 1950s with modern populations that evolved resistance, and found that the same genes had changed in all three countries.

'Many of these genes play a key role in the rabbit immune system.'

The results have been published in a paper in Science.

Biological control

Myxomatosis is caused by the myxoma virus. Although it is thought to have originated in Europe, it was first identified to be infecting laboratory rabbits in Uruguay in 1896.

The disease is spread either by direct contact with infected animals or after being bitten by a flea or mosquito that has recently fed on an infected rabbit. It was found to be widespread but sublethal in American rabbit species.
Cincinnati, OH (45221)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low near 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low near 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.


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Few musicians in St. Joseph get the chance to tour the world. Two guitar teachers in St. Joseph are some of those exceptions.

Touring under the name The Nova Project, Anthony Glise and Jason Riley will head overseas to perform in countries including France and Belgium in March.

Before they do that, they will perform at Magoons, 632 S. Eighth St., at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18.

Originally formed in 2012 with several other members, The Nova Project was the darling of Glise, an internationally acclaimed classical guitarist and a former professor at the University of Missouri School of Music, and Riley, a guitarist in bands like Soca Jukebox and the owner of the St. Joseph Arts Academy.

The project allowed them to stretch their musical muscles and explore more progressive rock and classical influences.

Its simply fun, Glise said laughing.

Because both were so busy, it was increasingly tough to book consistent shows.

I think its been five or six years at this point (since we performed), Glise said.

Back when the musicians did perform, they were prolific. They headlined the JoeStock music festival, released albums such as Holy Sonnets and The Viennese Sketches and gained steam overseas. They stopped because they had to tend to their home and professional lives.

Despite the long absence, Glise said the project has been on his mind for some time. All he and Riley needed was some free time. They will be joined by violinist Ken Sugita in Europe.

When Glise talked with the other members about bringing the project back, they were excited. That was followed up by what its sound would be like with a shift in members.

We (originally) shifted into something more electric and we just decided, at this stage at least, to go back to the smaller ensemble ... Essentially, were just kind of resurrecting the thing in sort of an unplugged format, Glise said.

The groups sound is something Glise, who lives part time in France, said Europeans dig into in a big way.

Northern Europe and Italy are extremely into prog music. Northern France, Belgium, Holland and clear up to the Scandinavian countries, theres a tremendous amount of activity in prog music, he said.

Taking the Magoons stage with Riley again, Glise said hes anticipating the time when the two can mix styles in front of a crowd.

To actually get back to work with both these guys is going to be a real joy, Glise said.

The show is open to everyone 21 and older.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 58-year-old woman who while nude portrayed an elderly woman on a pay-to-view site, reports TV Asahi (Feb. 14).

Police have accused Naomi Doi, 58, and Yasushi Nitta, 40, of working together from a residence in the capital in December to broadcast a live program on the site in which Nitta appeared nude.

During the show, which included Niita chatting with viewers through an interface supplied by the site, she claimed to be a "100-year-old" woman, police said.

The suspects, who have been accused of indecent exposure, admit to the allegations, telling police they did it to cover living expenses. As a part of the investigation, police seized computer equipment, mobile telephones and a Santa Claus costume for a woman.

Over a four-year period the suspects are believed to have accumulated 14 million yen in revenue, police said. - tokyoreporter.com
Indonesia will host Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a state visit next week, Jakarta said yesterday, part of an Asian tour that includes stops in Pakistan, India and Malaysia. His two-day visit to the worlds biggest Muslim majority country kicks off Monday, the princes second official visit to the archipelago.

He will arrive in Indonesia on February 18, and meet the president on February 19, presidential spokesman Johan Budi said. The crown prince is scheduled to visit Pakistan and Malaysia before arriving in Indonesia and then he heads to India. Salman last visited Indonesia with King Salman in 2017 as part of an Asian tour seeking investment opportunities.

At that time, Jakarta and Riyadh signed a range of agreements from trade and aviation to boosting cooperation in science, health and fighting crime. They also inked an agreement involving Aramco and Indonesias Pertamina to expand a multi-billion-dollar oil refinery in the Southeast Asian nation.
European aerospace giant Airbus said yesterday it would end production of the A380 superjumbo, the double-decker jet which earned plaudits from passengers but failed to win over enough airlines to justify its massive costs. The firm said it would stop deliveries of the A380 in 2021 after Dubai-based airline Emirates reduced its order of the model by 39 planes.

It was an ignominious end to a bold bet on how millions of people would travel in the future, as airlines struggled to fill a plane capable of carrying anywhere from 500 to 850 people. Following a review of its operations, and in light of developments in aircraft and engine technologies, Emirates is reducing its A380 orderbook from 162 to 123 aircraft, Airbus said in a statement. As a consequence and given the lack of order backlog with other airlines, Airbus will cease deliveries of the A380 in 2021.

Airbus had been forced to slow production in recent years, before warning in January 2018 that the programme could be scrapped if no new ord e r s came in. In its statement Airbus said it would deliver the last 14 A380s to Emirates over the next two years, adding that the airline had ordered 70 smaller planes from the manufacturer.

Emirates decision to reduce its A380 orders means Airbus has no substantial A380 backlog and hence no basis to sustain production, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years, Airbus Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders was quoted in a statement.
Ebdaa Bank Bahrain for micro-financing said the Chief Executive of Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) has become a member of the Edbaa Bank board of directors. BDB Chief Executive, Sanjeev Paul, is the successor of Dalal Ismail, who was a BDB representative in the board for over five years.

Ebdaa Bank Bahrain Chairwoman, Mona Yousif Almoayyed, welcomed Paul, who has over 30 years of experience in the banking sector. The membership will contribute to enhancing co-operation between the banks, both of which work to provide affordable loans for start-up projects and to support the national economy, said Almoayyed.

Pauls presence in the board will allow him the opportunity of being closely introduced to the best practices in micro-financing while associating them with the 17 sustainable development goals that are adopted by the Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND) through its banks existing in nine Arab and African countries.

It will also help him adopt concepts of development in banking during his service as BDB chief executive, she said. Almoayyed said Ebdaa Bank is keen to coordinate with BDB through Paul. This is especially to transfer Ebdaa Banks clients who expand their projects, and require loans that are higher than the bank loans ceiling of BD5000, to BDB, she stated.
US Vice-President, Mike Pence yesterday paid tribute to the tangible efforts of Bahrain in confronting Irans terrorism, especially Tehrans threats to international navigation. Bahrain was represented at the Summit on Peace and Security in the Middle East in Poland by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa.

Shaikh Khalid said Bahrains participation in the conference stems from its keenness to promote international joint action and support efforts aimed at establishing security and peace in the region. The Minister stressed the need for such efforts to continue in order to reach solutions, safeguard the sovereignty of States and prevent all forms of external interference as well as to eliminate all forms of violence, extremism and terrorism.

Shaikh Khalid met the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Jacek Czaputowicz and expressed his appreciation for hosting this important conference. The Polish Minister praised the role of Bahrain and its tireless efforts to promote peace and security in the region.
Saraya al Ashtar, one of the main Iranian proxy groups, has threatened to target American and British intelligence operations in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The threat, the groups first-ever-video statement, promises more attacks on the island denouncing American and British intelligence plots against the group. However, no specific details were given for this allegation. Addressing the US and UK agencies directly, the spokesman in the video message, identified as a commander within Saraya al Ashtar says, so we say to the conspirators against our people that your support for the occupying Khalifa regime will carry a high price for you and will make you a legitimate target for our strikes.

Like the US and the UK, the commander also stated: Zionist presence is a legitimate target on the island. The group was added to a list of designated terrorist organisations by the US government noting it is yet another in a long line of Iranian sponsored terrorists who kill on behalf of a corrupt regime. It also said that the United States sees plainly what Iran is trying to do to Bahrain through its proxy. As reported by the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, Saraya al Ashtar, also known as the Al Ashtar Brigades, is one of Irans main proxy forces in Bahrain. Several of its leaders are based in Iran, including US-designated terrorists Qassim Abdullah Ali Ahmed and Hasan Yusuf.

The group, which claimed responsibility for over 20 attacks in Bahrain, were also added to a designated terror list by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt in 2017. Last year, the Unite d States designated two members of Saraya al Ashtar as global terrorists. It noted that one of the individuals, Hasan Yusuf, is an Iran-based senior member of the group. In Jan. 2016, a cell linked to a militant group was arrested by Bahraini authorities. According to officials, the two-person cell was planning to execute a series of dangerous bombings in Bahrain.

The group, which has strong links to Iran also do not conceals its affinity to the regime. Following a re-branding to include flags resembling those of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in its logo, the group in a statement affirmed loyalty to Iran saying, We believe that the commander and ruler of the Islamic religion is the line of the two imams, Khomeini and Khamenei. Saraya Al-Ashtar, according to the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, has not claimed any attacks since 2017.

This, the report said, is meant to show that the group, despite Bahraini security operations against it, is still alive. And while Saraya al-Ashtar has yet to claim any attacks on American or British personnel or institutions in Bahrain since its inception in 2013, the video reaffirms that it, and Iran, see these countries as legitimate targets, the report added.
Congratulations poured in from all quarters of Bahrain yesterday to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on the occasion of the 18th anniversary of the National Action Charter. The charter put forward in 2001, with 98.4 per cent of the voters voting in favour of the document, represents an advanced step in the course of the modernising the political structure of the state including the systems and institutions, in such a way that meet the aspiration of the progressing of the people of Bahrain towards further civilised progress and rising.

The charter promoted womens rights and empowerment giving them a chance to be well represented in top positions and professions both nationally and internationally. The latest being the naming of Fawzia Zainal as the first woman Speaker of Bahrains parliament in 2018. In a statement hailing the anniversary, the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) welcomed HM the King s comprehensive reforms and advanced initiatives in human rights.

Congratulating the leadership, Capital Governor Shaikh Hisham bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa affirmed that this is an opportunity to remember the day on which the Bahraini citizens have confirmed their love of the nation and loyalty to His Majesty the King.
His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister, yesterday affirmed that the people of Bahrain, with their noble positions, embody the highest values of dedication and devotion in the love of the country and cohesion for its development and prosperity.

Such positions, HRH the PM said, constituted a central element in the foundations of the firm civilisational structure on which the development of Bahrain was founded.

They strengthen our resolve to exert more efforts to promote national responsibility for the sake of the nations prosperity and progress under the wise leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Premier said as he expressed his pride in the strong feelings of love displayed by all.

The goal of every work we are doing and every effort we are exerting is for the benefit of the homeland and the citizens. Achieving the aspirations of the people of Bahrain at all levels is at the top of my priorities and responsibilities. We are all optimistic and confident that the people of Bahrain, thanks to their determination and fortitude, can accomplish further achievements, HRH the Premier said.

HRH reiterated his thanks and appreciation to all those who participated in organising celebrations in his honour and expressed his gratitude for the expressions and manifestation of strong feelings during the events.
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Kemp Lankford, owner of Aurora Apothecary, said he was disappointed the borough pulled his ads off public buses. He said he thinks his products, derived from industrial hemp, are misunderstood. Photo courtesy Kemp Lankford
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 56F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 56F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
(Newser)  A gay French writer has lifted the lid on what he calls one of the world's largest gay communities, the Vatican, estimating that most of its prelates are homosexually inclined and attributing much of the current crisis in the Catholic Church to an internecine war among them. In the explosive book, In the Closet of the Vatican, author Frederic Martel describes a gay subculture at the Vatican and calls out the hypocrisy of Catholic bishops and cardinals who in public denounce homosexuality but in private lead double lives, per the AP. Martel says he conducted nearly 1,500 in-person interviews with 41 cardinals, 52 bishops or monsignors, and 45 Vatican and foreign ambassadors, many of whom are quoted at length and in on-the-record interviews. Martel said he was assisted by 80 researchers, translators, fixers, and local journalists, as well as a team of 15 lawyers.

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The 555-page book is being published simultaneously in eight languages in 20 countries, many bearing the title Sodom. The Vatican didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Martel appears to want to bolster Pope Francis' efforts at reforming the Vatican by discrediting his biggest critics and removing the secrecy and scandal that surrounds homosexuality in the church. Church doctrine holds that gays are to be treated with respect and dignity, but that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered." "Francis knows that he has to move on the church's stance, and that he will only be able to do this at the cost of a ruthless battle against all those who use sexual morality and homophobia to conceal their own hypocrisies and double lives," Martel writes.

(Read more Vatican stories.)
(Newser)  The "strange turn" that the Jussie Smollett case took this week now has another development. On Thursday, there was pushback from the Chicago Police Department on an ABC7 report, which cited unnamed CPD sources as suggesting the Empire actor had somehow been in on staging his own alleged assault. Meanwhile, a lawyer for two Nigerian brothers who were questioned in the case (and who police believed may have been seen in surveillance video on the night of the alleged attack) said Thursday that her clients had been extras on Empire and had been on "cordial" terms with Smollett. TMZ now reports that those two brothers, Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo, were arrested Friday and are now considered "potential suspects," not simply "persons of interest."

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"Detectives have probable cause that they may have been involved in an alleged crime," police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says in an email. It's believed it was the home of these two men that police raided Wednesday, finding bleach, laptops, a red hat, and other items, per TMZ. Chicago police say the suspects haven't been charged yet, and that they're still being questioned by investigators, the Wall Street Journal reports. Police say Smollett is continuing to cooperate with investigators. (Read more Jussie Smollett stories.)
(Newser)  With cases of the measles spreading in Washington state, Facebook says it will try to reduce the spread of misinformation about health, especially vaccinations, on its platform. Facebook tells USA Today it is looking into making anti-vaccination content less visible and has "taken steps" to reduce false health news but added, "we know we have more to do." Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, had just written CEO Mark Zuckerberg to ask what Facebook is doing about fake information and "to encourage you to consider additional steps." Facebook says it is working with outside experts and will reveal more changes soon. At least 58 people have contracted the measles in Clark County, Washington, CNN reports.

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"The thing that keeps me up at night is having a death, you know, a child die from this," said Dr. Alan Melnick, director of the county health department. Elsewhere, one mother recently took to Facebook to vent her anger about people deciding not to vaccinate, per CBS. Jennifer Hibben-White posted after being told that her son Griffin, who was 15 days old at the time, might have been exposed at her doctor's office near Toronto. In her widely shared post, Hibben-White addressed the person at the doctor's office who had the measles. "If you have chosen to not vaccinate yourself or your child, I blame you," she wrote. "I blame you." (Read more Facebook stories.)
(Newser)  Police in Canada have expressed disappointment with the public after receiving complaints about an Amber Alert issued late Thursday night in the search for a missing 11-year-old girl. Riya Rajkumar later was found dead, CTV reports. Police said the girls father, Roopesh Rajkumar, abducted her that afternoon during an outing to celebrate her birthday. The alert was issued after 11:30pm, Global News reports, and callers to the Peel Regional Police complained that it woke them. A police spokesman, Danny Marttini, said the alert led to the arrest, because someone spotted the fathers license plate, which led to his capture. Police then found the girl's body at a home in Brampton, Ontario.

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"I cant even begin to describe how disappointing and upsetting it is to read the comments, emails and calls to our communications bureau complaining about receiving an Amber Alert late at night," Constable Akhil Mooken tweeted, adding, "The system works." Global News found complaints on social media that the alert went out as far east as Ottawa and west as Winnipeg. Some people said the alert arrived repeatedly and even after it was canceled. Doug Ford, Ontario's premier, said Friday that the alert was necessary. "Its heartbreaking," Ford said. "But I think it was critical, that Amber Alert." Mooken tweeted early Friday that "the child outweighed the momentary inconvenience that some people encountered." Authorities said Friday that Roopesh Rajkumar will face first-degree murder charges, per the Toronto Sun. (Read more Amber Alert stories.)
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This Man May Try to Take the GOP Nomination From Trump

Former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld is exploring a run for president
(Newser)  "Whoever did it, they knew what they were doing." So says the CEO of a Canadian vodka company who claims to have a bizarre theft on his hands. David Meyers alleges nearly 8,000 gallons of what the CBC calls "ancient water" was stolen over the weekend. Meyers says one of 10 "secure" tanks holding iceberg water at a warehouse in Port Union, Newfoundland, was found emptied on Monday. Employees oversee the tanks on weekdays only, and there was no evidence in the building to suggest a spill or leak. Whoever facilitated the heist would have had to plot carefully: A tanker truck would have been required, both the outside gate and building are padlocked, and a tool is required to open the taps, reports the Telegram. Police say in a news release that the stolen water is valued at as much as $9,000.

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The water, which could have made 150,000 bottles of vodka and was insured, can't be immediately replaced. Harvesting iceberg water is something that happens once a year, around June, when the 15,000-year-old icebergs come close to the province's coast. Meyers says he's not too concerned, as they have enough water on hand to get them to harvest time, and they only need to be able to access two icebergs to replenish their stocks for the year, though he tells the Canadian Press that accessing the water is a "dangerous and costly endeavor." The CBC asks whether the thief may have mistaken the water for vodka. "I'd be surprised, but who knows," says Meyers. (Read about another weird heist.)
(Newser)  China is making a move to help with the trash problem on Mount Everest. Bejing is closing the base camp on the Tibet side of the peak to everyone except those with climbing permits, reports the BBC. And China hands out only 300 of those permits a year. The Tibetan base camp is typically a popular one for thousands tourists because it is accessible by car. The move means permit-less visitors can ascend no higher than a monastery at nearly 16,400 feet on the Tibet side. By contrast, the base camp on the Nepalese side of the mountain requires a two-week hike to reach.

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Though the move isn't permanent, the Tibetan base camp and other areas above 17,000 feet "will be closed for tourism for an indefinite period, mainly for ecological conservation," an official tells the South China Morning Post. It's just one effort to cut down on trash, at least 9 tons of which was collected last year. The 300 climbers allowed to set out from Tibet's base camp in 2019 must carry all waste out with them. Per the Post, 200 people will also form a task force charged with clearing any remaining waste from the mountain. (Nepal has the same problem with Everest trash.)
(Newser)  The death toll from a car bombing on a paramilitary convoy in Indian-controlled Kashmir has climbed to 41, becoming the single deadliest attack in the divided region's volatile history, security officials said Friday. A local Kashmiri militant rammed an explosive-laden van into the convoy along a key highway Thursday. In addition to the dead, the attack wounded nearly two dozen other soldiers, India's paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force spokesman Sanjay Sharma said. The attack is ratcheting up already hostile tensions between India and Pakistan, who both administer parts of the disputed territory but each claim it entirely. India has blamed Pakistan for supporting the bombing, while Islamabad cautioned India not to link it to the attack, the AP reports.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised a "crushing response" Friday, and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that New Delhi will take all possible diplomatic steps "to ensure the complete isolation from international community of Pakistan of which incontrovertible evidence is available of having a direct hand in this gruesome terrorist incident." Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the country condemns acts of violence anywhere in the world, and denied any involvement. The US, however, specifically singled out Pakistan in its statement condemning the attack, calling for the country to "end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil."

(Read more Kashmir stories.)
(Newser)  Chicago police say they have no information to suggest the reported attack on Empire's Jussie Smollett was staged, as ABC7 reported Thursday. "We have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate," spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says in a tweet. Already circulating, the hoax theory spread as the lawyer representing two Nigerian brothers seen in the area of the attack on Jan. 29 said they knew Smollett from their time working on Empire as extras. "They're all very cordial," Gloria Schmidt tells CBS Chicago. Per CBS and CNN, the men left for Nigeria on the day of the attack and were questioned after returning to O'Hare International Airport on Wednesday, but "are not considered suspects at this time."

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While CBS reported that bleach and other items were taken from the brothers' apartment Wednesday, ABC7 reported police were investigating the possibility that the men staged the attack with Smollett, who feared he was being written off Empire. The show's writing staff says that was never discussed. Fox, which airs the show, referred to the notion as "patently ridiculous." Smollett "remains a core player on this very successful series and we continue to stand behind him," the company says, per the Chicago Tribune. Smollett denied inventing the attack in an interview with ABC, saying he was "pissed off" by the suggestion. In reference to a threatening letter sent to him at the studio where Empire is filmed, Smollett added, "Did I make that up too?" (Much more on the case here.)
(Newser)  Just how windy has it been in Ohio this week? The National Weather Service in Cleveland issued an "unofficial 'Small Dog Warning' Wind Advisory" because of 50mph gusts, reports People. "Hold on tight to your small dog so it doesn't fly away," the NWS advised. Which may sound like a joke, but not to a Chihuahua: Just ask Tinker Bell. For the record, the NWS also warned people to brace for downed trees and power outages, but the good news for Ohioans and their small dogs is that the advisory is now lifted. (Bad weather caused a plane to nosedive twice before landing in Reno.)
(Newser)  School officials say 21 students from a middle school south of Atlanta have been taken to hospitals after eating candy and snacks on Valentine's Day, the AP reports. Authorities with the city of South Fulton say it appeared that the Sandtown Middle School students became ill after eating some type of candy Thursday. They say the children experienced shortness of breath and other reactions.

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City spokeswoman Ashley Minter-Osanyinbi says the students were taken to two local hospitals. Fulton County Schools spokeswoman Susan Romanick says the students were first evaluated by paramedics, and then taken to two Children's Healthcare of Atlanta campuses. Romanick said she didn't know what type of candy and snacks were eaten. She said that question is part of an investigation being done by the school system's police department. (In another recent candy incident, THC turned out to be the culprit.)
(Newser)  A team of Antarctic researchers at the start of the week began its search for one of the most famous lost ships in historyand lost a sub in the process. The search for the shipwreck of Ernest Shackleton's Endurance in the Weddell Sea was called off on Thursday, with the British team looking for it forced to leave the area due to worsening conditions and amid fears they could get trapped, reports Live Science. "Like Shackleton before us, who described the graveyard of Endurance as 'the worst portion of the worst sea in the world,' our well laid plans were overcome by the rapidly moving ice, and what Shackleton called 'the evil conditions of The Weddell Sea,'" says expedition leader Mensun Bound.

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The team's SA Agulhas II icebreaker lost all communication with the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, which the Guardian reports was equipped with cameras capable of taking color photos and sent into waters than can reach nearly 2 miles in depth. The BBC reports it's unclear why: the rough sea-ice conditions (a rep for the US company that facilitated the AUV dive called it "the harshest environment on the planet"), a sub failure, or an undersea collision are all possibilities. The bummer is that it's conceivable the AUV discovered the remnants of the Endurance, which went down in 1915, as the link was lost near the end of its 30-hour dive; but the only way to access its scan data is to physically remove it from the AUV. But the expedition wasn't for naught: The team's primary mission, to study the Larsen C Ice Shelf and the huge iceberg A68, was completed. (Shackleton's survival story is legendary.)
Renters Get What Is Likely

Their Last Reprieve
GOVERNMENT should urgently engage the private sector to resolve the currency problem bedevilling the economy with business executives gathered in Vic Falls suggesting a model that allows the market to determine the direction.



The subject dominated discussion at the 6th CEO Africa Round Table conference on Wednesday as business leaders felt delays in resolving the currency question were weighing down progress on the production front and thereby hampering economic growth.



Although Zimbabwe adopted the multi-currency regime in 2009 with the United States dollar as the main medium of exchange, in the last three years the country has experienced acute cash shortages amid concerns over externalisation of hard currency among other illicit financial deals.



In 2016 Government introduced bond notes and intensified use of electronic transactions such as Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and mobile money as stop gap measures.







Delegates to the conference noted how the scenario gave birth to rent-seeking tendencies, which ushered in the scourge of parallel market activities and associated exchange rate distortions and unwarranted price increases.





Contributing during the debate, business leaders implored Government to undertake concrete policy measures to restore currency stability and restore public and business confidence on the countrys financial system.





Among the options proffered was re-dollarisation through abolishing the bond note.

Some suggested the country joins the Rand Monetary Union and use the neighbouring countrys currency to stabilise business.





Most businesses view the rand as a favourable currency in terms of export competitiveness when compared to the greenback.





The rand is also favoured on the basis of the fact that South Africa is Zimbabwes largest trading partner and has more of its investments in the country.





Delegates could not rule out the idea of re-introducing a local currency, which Treasury has indicated could be done within 12 months of 2019, but stressed the need to first have supporting fundamentals in place. They warned Government against imposing a currency on citizens stressing the need to seriously consider market forces.





There were, however, mixed feelings on the best approach to take going forward with some advocating for a referendum while others said consultations should be done silently. Some further noted that the problem facing the country was not about the currency alone but management of the currency.





CEO Africa Round Table chairman Mr Oswell Binha said insistence on a 1:1 rate between US$ and RTGS has failed the economy.





Chairperson of Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts Mr Tendai Biti, who was one of the panelists, called for the adoption of the rand and said a referendum was needed to gather peoples views on which currency they want.





Delegates insisted that a roundtable for all stakeholders was ideal as they concurred that the market should decide on the currency.





However, Mr David Farley, who is CEO of ANGU Gold, was sceptical saying a referendum would be tricky as it is difficult to determine who is fit to vote while some people will be driven by different backgrounds such as politics.





Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Economic Development, Mr Felix Mhona, defended the 1:1 exchange rate saying it was Government policy and should be supported for the good of the economy.





RTGS is not a currency but its money because its a medium of exchange and I cant be seen criticising Government policy. As CEOs you should be innovative and proffer solutions and petition Parliament . . . We represent people so bring suggestions and we table them, he said.





The Speaker of Parliament, Advocate Jacob Mudenda, called for self introspection as he challenged business to interrogate management of foreign currency by some companies that have benefited from the Central Bank.





As CEOs you should interrogate those who received foreign currency from RBZ if they created the multiplier factor because nothing is coming to Treasury.





I get the impression that the RBZ is pumping money to the private sector yet the private sector isnt reciprocating. Are they producing to export or for consumption? he said.

Adv Mudenda also called for an all stakeholder engagement through Parliament. Chronicle
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Hong Kong and Hangzhou sign an agreement to enhance collaboration in education.

The Education Bureau today signed an agreement with the Hangzhou Municipal Education Bureau to strengthen collaboration in education between Hong Kong and Hangzhou.

Under Secretary for Education Choi Yuk-lin and Deputy Secretary of the Hangzhou Municipal Education Bureau Zheng Limin signed the agreement.

Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Hangzhou Municipal Committee Zhang Zhongcan and Director-General of the Department of Educational, Scientific & Technological Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Prof Li Lu witnessed the signing ceremony.

The agreement provides a framework for exchanges and co-operation in education between the two places.

It covers initiatives including organising seminars and experience-sharing sessions on school management for teachers and school personnel.

It also promotes student exchanges through visits, competitions and activities amongst sister schools, and boosts co-operation in talent nurturing, scientific research and social services.

Mr Yeung said Hangzhou has always been a hot spot for exchanges for Hong Kong teachers and students.

At present, the number of sister schools in the two places exceeds 70 pairs and there are more than 50 ongoing collaborative research projects jointly conducted by University Grants Committee-funded universities and Zhejiang academies, he added.

He said: "Both Hangzhou and Hong Kong have long attached great importance to education and the nurturing of talents. This shared vision has paved the way for the signing of the agreement today."

Mr Yeung believes the agreement will help boost professional collaboration, promote the development of education, and deepen co-operation between higher education institutions of the two places.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam today met more than 80 Hong Kong members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

They discussed Hong Kong's integration with the overall development of the nation and its active participation in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Mrs Lam said with the concern and support of the leaders of the Central Government, Hong Kong has made good progress in various areas in the past year.

The areas include Hong Kong's active participation in and contribution to the development of the bay area and the Belt & Road Initiative, strengthening of co-operation with the Mainland in innovation and technology, seeking of measures to assist Hong Kong residents in studying, working and living in the Mainland, and enhancement and implementation of the Mainland & Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement.

Mrs Lam added the long-anticipated Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, to be promulgated within days, will make 2019 the opening year of the bay areas development.

She also said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will organise a series of celebration activities to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China this year.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. A few storms may be severe. Low near 70F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. A few storms may be severe. Low near 70F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.
By PTI

BEIJING: China on Friday expressed deep "shock" over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by a Jaish suicide bomber but did not give an assurance to India that it will back New Delhi's appeal to list the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based terror group's chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

"China has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families," spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang told a media briefing here.

"We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all forms of terrorism. We hope relevant regional countries will cooperate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability," Geng said.

When asked about China's stand on the listing of Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council, he said: "As for the issue of listing, I could tell you that the 1267 Committee of Security Council has a clear stipulation on the listing and procedure of the terrorist organisations".

"JeM has been included in the Security Council terrorism sanctions list. China will continue to handle the relevant sanctions issue in a constructive and responsible manner," Geng said in an apparent reference to External Affairs Ministry's appeal to all members of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

China, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC and a close ally of Pakistan, has consistently blocked moves first by India and later by the US, the UK and France to designate Azhar as a global terrorist by the 1267 Committee by putting technical holds.

Asked whether China would be re-looking at the issue in view of the positive momentum in bilateral relations generated by last year's Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Geng said: "JeM as an organisation has been included in the sanctions list of the Security Council.

"As to the listing of an individual, we have always upheld an earnest, responsible and professional manner. We always acted in accordance with the requirement of the situation. We will continue to maintain close communication with India and relevant parties on this issue".

Replying to a question on India not permitting UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), Geng said: "Both India and Pakistan are important countries in this region.

We hope the two countries can properly resolve (differences) through consultations.

We also hope the regional countries can cooperate to uphold stability and peace in this region to curb terrorism".

India on Thursday slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by JeM and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: TRS working president KT Rama Rao had a special guest on Thursday. The ice gola seller, from whom the TRS leader used to buy his favourite varieties at his alma mater St Georges Grammar School in Hyderabad, came with a request, which predictably was granted, but the meeting also took Rama Rao down the memory lane.

A fortnight ago, one Mohammed Mahboob Ali tweeted to KTR, requesting the latter to give an appointment for Chaush alias Syed Ali, who even today sells ice gola outside St Georges Grammar School.

Mohammed Mahboob Ali in his tweet said: Dear @KTRTRS Saab, Chaush (ice gola) of St Georges Grammar School wants to meet you, Please make his wish a reality. In a reply, Rama Rao tweeted: Absolutely would love to meet him. Have some wonderful memories of Chaush.

And on Thursday, 70-year-old Syed Ali met KTR, who recollected how 30 years ago he used to buy ice gola from Syed Ali outside St Georges Grammar School.

During the interaction, Rama Rao also enquired about Syeds health and on learning about his poor financial condition, the TRS leader assured him that he will be provided a house and monthly old-age pension.

Sirpur paper presented

Sirpur MLA Koneru Konappa, Sirpur Paper Mills vice-president Mayank Jindal and JK Paper Mills chief general manager called on Rama Rao at latters camp office on Thursday and presented the first papers produced at Sirpur Paper Mills, which was reopened on February 8.
By Express News Service

THOOTHUKUDI: The nondescript village of Sevalaperi was filled with sorrow over the loss of 28-year-old CRPF man G Subramanian in the suicide attack carried out by terrorists in Pulwama on Thursday.

ALSO READ: List of missing security personnel after the Pulwama terror attack

According to sources, Subramanian of Sevalaperi near Kovilpatti was in the ill-fated bus that was blown up by the suicide bomber on Thursday, claiming the lives of 42 CRPF personnel on their way to Srinagar in a convoy. The attack took place just an hour after Subramanian spoke to his wife Krishnaveni who is in Thoothukudi. Subramanian was attached to Battalion 82.

Subramanian had completed a course in the ITI before joining the Indian Army at the age of 23. He was married to Krishnaveni a year ago.

ALSO READ: Protesters burn Pakistan flag in Maharashtra's Aurangabad

Ganapathy, father of the CRPF man and a farmer, said that Subramanian had come home for one month for the Pongal festival and returned to Kashmir last Sunday.

"As soon as news of the suicide bomb attack spread on social media, we tried calling him, but he was not reachable," he added.

Subramanian has one elder brother working abroad and two sisters. He aspired to become a policeman, but in the meantime, he got selected in the CRPF, he added.

ALSO READ: India withdraws 'Most Favoured Nation' status to Pakistan

Tahsildar Lingaraj visited the house of Subramanian and expressed his condolences.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakh for the bereaved family of Subramanian.
By Express News Service

Nineteen-year-old Roni last spoke to her father Havildar Prasanna Kumar Sahoo on Monday night. A student of Plus Three, she needed money for her studies and Sahoo wired Rs 2000 to her uncles bank account.

Little did I know that it would be the last time I would speak to him. It is a great loss for me and my family but my fathers soul will rest in peace only if the government takes stern action against terrorists, she added.

Havildar Prasanna Kumar Sahoo, a native of Shikhar village under Jagatsinghpurs Naugaon tehsil, was one of the 43 CRPF jawans who was killed in the terrorist attack at Pulwama on Thursday.

Last night, the family received a telephone call from Sahoos relative Khirod Biswal from Jammu and Kashmir where he is working as a nursing assistant with the Indian Army. His death was confirmed by Naugaon Police and ever since the family has been numbed by the tragedy.

His wife Minarani is inconsolable. On Monday last, he spoke to me and asked about the marriage of Roni. Little did we know that this will be our last conversation, she said before breaking down again and again.

Sahoo had completed his Class X at Karualpatana near Konark and Plus Two in Kakatpur College in Puri district. After that, he joined as Havildar in Central Reserve Police Forces in 1992.

The Sahoo family was very poor because they had no agricultural land to maintain their livelihood. He was the only bread-earner for the family.

He is survived by wife Minarani, daughter Roni and son Jagan Sahu who studies at Nimapada College. The havildars father Kasinath Sahu had passed away in 2013 while his mother Laita died a year later.

Sahoos colleague Sudhir Charan Biswal describe him as a go-getter who always wore a smile. He had visited Shikhar in November to make a monetary donation for the establishment of a village temple and attend the 16th birthday of his son. He had promised to return on New Year but non-availability of leave did not allow him the opportunity.

Biswal remembers Sahoo, the actor, who played the role of a hero in plays hosted in his village. Now he has shown his heroism by sacrificing his life for the nation, Biswal added.

While a pall of gloom has descended on Shikhar, they remember the genial CRPF jawan as a helpful person who would always come forward to help anyone who approached him. On many occasions, he gave away monetary help to the poor and also to families who needed financial support for the wedding of their sisters and daughters, said a villager.

Jagatsinghpur Superintendent of Police Prakash R informed that Havildar Sahus mortal remains would reach Bhubaneswar airport late on Friday night. Police is in touch with the martyrs family to perform the last rites in his native village with military honours, he added.

About 90 kilometres away in Cuttacks Niali, the mood is similar. The ancestral place of CRPF constable Manoj Behera, the small town is mourning its hero. Behera, who attained martyrdom at Pulwama, had returned to J&K a week back after spending a long vacation with his family.

He had celebrated his one-year-old daughters birthday on January 16 and left on February 6. He had spoken to his wife Itilata over the phone on Thursday before starting his journey to Srinagar.

Itilata is yet to come to the terms with the tragedy that her husband is no more. She had married Behera in January 2017. Behera is a native of Niali area in Cuttack district and was inducted in the services in 2006.

He told me he would be leaving for Srinagar and call again after reaching there. As the road was not clear he said they would be late. He also told me to take care of our daughter. But little did I know that it would be his last call, said an inconsolable Itilata.

His mother Sabitri said he was very happy when he left home after the vacation. He was very brave. His only aim in life was to fight for the country. I can not believe that he is no more, she said

while wiping away her tears.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik spoke to the family members of the two jawans over the phone and expressed his deep condolences. Naveen, who described the Pulwama attack as a cowardly act, said he stands by the family members of the martyrs. He also asked Finance Minister Sashi Bhushan Behera and Health Minister Pratap Jena to personally visit the families.

The Odisha government has also announced ex gratia compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the kin of the martyrs.
By PTI

WAYANAD: Having spent five days with his family at his home in remote Lakkidi in Wayanad district just a week ago, V V Vasanth Kumar-- one of the CRPF personnel killed in the terror attack in Pulwama-- had just returned to join his new posting in Kashmir when tragedy struck.

The 44-year old jawan's family is finding it difficult to believe that he is no more.

This is the second blow to the family as Vasanth's father Vasudevan had passed away only six months ago.

Vasanth's cousin Sajeevan said following his promotion and battalion change, his brother had been posted to Kashmir after his stint in Punjab and had come home to be with his family for a five-day holiday.

He had left for Kashmir on February 8, after spending time with his family.

"My elder brother died for the country and we are proud of his sacrifice", Sajeevan said. Vasanth Kumar's mother Shanta and wife Sheena were inconsolable while his two children--son Amandeep (5) and daughter Anamika (8)-- have not been informed, he said.

READ HERE | Covert op, terrorist bounties, water card: Experts mull options to hit back against Pakistan

"Everyone was so happy when he was here. The family had gone to watch a circus. The children were also extremely happy to have their father with them. The children have not yet been informed about the tragedy. They are too young to realise the loss," Sajeevan said.

The family had watched the news on television.

"But we never expected one of our own would be among those who lost their lives," he said.

The family is awaiting the mortal remains of the jawan.

"My brother served the force for 17 years and had only two years for retirement. He had got promotion and had gone to Kashmir to take up a new assignment", he said.

WATCH | Pulwama terror attack: Rajnath Singh helps carry coffin of slain CRPF jawan

After reaching Kashmir, he had informed his family that he had reached and within two hours, the blast had taken place, Sajeevan said.

The Additional District Magistrate visited the jawan's family this morning and said a state funeral will be held.

Vasanth built his house at Lakkidi, a picturesque spot which is known as the "Cherrapunjee of Kerala".

But his final resting place is likely to be Tharvad at Vazhakkandi.

Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan has condoled the death of Vasanth Kumar.

ALSO READ: List of missing security personnel after the Pulwama terror attack

"We join his family in their hour of grief", Vijayan said in a condolence message.

At least 40 CRPF personnel had been killed in the terror attack on CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

A Jaish suicide bomber Thursday rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into a bus carrying CRPF personnel.
By PTI

BENGALURU: Terming the terror attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama district "heinous", Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy Friday consoled the family of a braveheart from Mandya, H Guru, who was killed in the incident.

The chief minister instructed officials to speed up the process of compensation and directed them to verify the educational qualifications of Guru's wife so that she can be provided a job by the government.

"I spoke to martyred #CRPF soldier H Guru's family over the phone and consoled them. Their grief is heart-wrenching. We are with them. I have instructed officials to speed up the process of compensation. #Pulwama," Kumaraswamy tweeted.

Describing the massacre in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama as "heinous act of mindless cowardice", the chief minister said he was deeply disturbed and pained at the loss of lives of the brave CRPF personnel.

READ HERE | Covert op, terrorist bounties, water card: Experts mull options to hit back against Pakistan

"The government should act immediately and take steps to end the menace of terrorism from our soil forever," he said in another tweet.

Guru (33), who hailed from Gudigere village near K M Doddi in Mandya district, was attached with the 82 Battalion posted in Kashmir.

He was initially posted in Jharkhand after joining the paramilitary force in 2011.

I spoke to martyred #CRPF soldier H Guru's family over the phone and consoled them. Their grief is heartwrenching. We are with them.

I have instructed officials to speed up the process of compensation.#Pulwama  H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) February 15, 2019

The brave-heart married about six months ago and had constructed a new house at his native about a year back.

He was at his home till last week on a vacation.

"I should have spoken to him over phone. He had called me in the morning, but I couldn't speak to him. I'm really feeling devastated. It has not even been four days since he had gone from here," an inconsolable Kalavathi, Guru's wife, told reporters in Mandya.

"We were speaking daily. I couldn't speak to him today (Thursday). I tried contacting him, but couldn't reach him. He had called me in the morning (Thursday), but I had some work, so couldn't speak to him," Kalavathi said as she broke down.

Guru is survived by his wife, his aged parents, two brothers and other family members.
Mudita Girotra By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: A group of people, belonging from Indian Youth Congress, gathered outside the Pakistan High Commission here on Friday to protest against the killing of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in a terror attack were detained by the police.

According to the police, about 15 to 20 people who gathered outside the establishment were detained for taking out a protest at the high-security area in the morning. He added that a few people were also detained on Thursday night, immediately after the reports about the attack came out in the media. "Thousands of people, who kept visiting India Gate throughout the day to pay tributes were facilitated but outside the embassy area, we didn't allow these groups to protest," said Madhur Verma, DCP (New Delhi).

A group of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers gathered at Teen Murthi Chauraha and marched towards High Commission but were stopped midway at Chanakyapuri police station by the police. "The Indian Youth Congress stands in solidarity with the family of the martyrs and demands that the Indian Government takes stringent actions against forces spreading terrorism on Indian soil," IYC said in a statement. "We stand united with our people in these tough times and will support every legitimate action taken against terrorism," it added.
Anuradha Shukla By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: In the wake of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama that claimed the life of 44 CRPF jawans, the government on Friday announced to revoke Pakistan's Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status on security grounds.

The decision was taken after a meeting of cabinet committee on securities on Friday morning and the commerce ministry would soon notify to the World Trade Organization (WTO) its decision to revoke the most-favoured-nation (MFN) status to Pakistan.

What is MFN?

The MFN status is governed by the World Trade Organizations (WTO) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Countries signatory to the agreement commit against discriminating each other and the rest of the WTO member countries.

Most Favoured Nation (MFN) is a status granted by a trading partner to the other country giving an equal treatment in terms of trading prices or tariffs, market access without discrimination in imports and exports. India has given MFN Status Pakistan in 1996 and is now extended to 200 countries so far, that means after entering India tariff on the product is the same as on the domestic product.

India had also threatened to revoke MFN in 2016, however it did not proceed then. As per the commerce ministry officials "It hardly means much in terms of trade than a strong political statement. India can cite non-reciprocation of MFN by Pakistan and terror funding and security invoking article 21(b)(iii) of GATT.

Nothing in this agreement shall be construed to prevent any contracting party from taking action it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests Such measures can be taken under the UN charter for maintenance of peace and security, says Article 21(b)(iii) of GATT.

Interestingly Pakistan had denied India MFN status based on this very security clause only.

What does it mean for Pakistan

This means now the government can take punitive actions under the Customs Act and the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act and can restrict trade of certain goods, significantly increase customs duties and impose port-related restrictions on Pakistani goods.

How it is going to impact trade

In the case of Pakistan, the MFN status was one-sided. Pakistan refused to grant most favoured nation to India. In fact, Pakistan maintained a negative list comprising 1,209 items that could not be imported from India. Pakistan allows only 138 items to be imported from India over the Attari-Wagah land route.

Withdrawal of MFN status is more rhetoric and is unlikely to impact Pakistans trade unless India stop bilateral trade, which is difficult under WTO rules but it can, however, impose customs duties on it and restrict certain items. Also, the import of Pakistan is too less in comparison to the imports and experts claim that this will impact Indian traders more. However huge trade takes place via indirect routes such as Dubai and gulf markets which will continue despite the ban.

According to Professor Biswajit Dhar of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said that Pakistan mainly exports to India through Dubai and Singapore, so we need to target that also.

The Bilateral trade

Indo-Pak direct trade stands at slightly higher than $2 billion as of now. As per the latest data, bilateral trade between the two nations stood at $ 2.4 billion, which is just 0.3 per cent of Indias overall merchandise trade in 2017-18.

While exports to the neighbouring country worked out to $ 1.9 billion, or 0.63 per cent, of the total Indian outward shipments, imports from Pakistan were $488 million, or 0.10 per cent, of the total inward shipments.

Item imports and exports

Major export items of India include cotton, organic chemicals, dyes and plastics, among others while mineral fuels, edible nuts and plastering materials account for top imports. While Indian exports covering textile, auto and agro products are restricted into the country, Pakistan exports to India including fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products, bulk minerals and ores and finished leather will cease.
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: The father of suicide bomber, who rammed explosive ridden SUV into CRPF convoy killing 49 paramilitary personnel and injuring three dozen others, regretted the loss of lives in the bombing but warned that more dangerous militant attacks can take place if Kashmir issue is not addressed.

"I regret the loss of lives caused by the suicide bombing of my son. Precious lives have been lost. Whether a militant, a civilian or force personnel is killed, ultimately a precious life is lost. Last year, over 250 militants were killed by forces," said Ghulam Hassan Dar, father of 19-year-old Jaish suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar.

The elder Dar spoke to the New Indian Express at his home in Gandibagh village of Kakapora in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, some 5 kms from the spot, where the suicide bombing took place. Adil rammed his explosive ridden SUV into 59-seater CRPF vehicle, which was part of a 70 vehicle CRPF convoy coming from Jammu to Srinagar, at Lehpora area, some 20 kms south of Srinagar on Thursday afternoon.

Ghulam said that the CRPF men, who were killed in his son's suicide bombing had families and his son too has a family. "I am pained over the killing of my son. My dreams were attached with him. Similarly families of the CRPF men, who were killed in the blast, also have families and they too would be pained over the killing of their family members," he said.

Dar asked the Indian government to give up rigidity on Kashmir and take measures in addressing and resolving the Kashmir issue. "It would be better if the Kashmir issue is resolved so that no youth is pushed to the wall and forced to take up the gun to fight for freedom," he said.

Adil had joined militancy in March last year. "After he went missing and joined militant ranks last year, he did not contact us," said Ghulam. "He did not tell us when he left home to join the militancy," he said. Dar said the family had no information about his son and infact was sleeping at his home yesterday afternoon when police called him to inform him that his son had carried out the suicide bombing on CRPF convoy. Dar said although he does not support violence but warned that there can be more dangerous militant attacks than his son's suicide bombing if Kashmir issue is not addressed and resolved.

Asked whether other youth who have gone into militancy can follow the path of his son, Dar said, "I am illiterate. I think they should not think on these lines. The government should think over it. It should take necessary measures including holding talks to resolve the Kashmir issue. The government should take measures to prevent loss of precious lives in Valley," he said. Asked why his son joined militancy, he said, "The situation is pushing youth to the wall. My son was less educated but why did PhD scholar like Mannan Wani join militancy. The non-resolution of the Kashmir issue and excesses committed by security forces is acting as a trigger for youth to join militancy," he said. People in large numbers from the Gandibagh village and its adjoining hamlets were visiting the Dar's house to express condolences with his family.

A large tent had been set up in a compound of the house, where young and old men were visiting. The chants of pro-freedom slogans were renting the area. People also offered funeral prayers in absentia for deceased Jaish suicide bomber after Friday prayers amidst chanting of pro-freedom and anti-India slogans. Earlier, the funeral prayers in absentia for the deceased Jaish bomber was held last night and a large number of people attended the funeral prayers.
By PTI

MUMBAI: Social activist Anna Hazare, who is currently hospitalised following his fast, said Friday that he still had enough strength to drive a military truck.

Hazare, who was once an Army driver, was reacting to the terrorist attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir in which at least 40 jawans were killed.

"I can not pick up the gun because of my old age, but if the need be, I can surely hold the steering wheel to ferry supplies to our armymen fighting for the country," a close aide of Hazare quoted him as saying from the hospital bed.

ALSO READ: Experts mull options to hit back at Pakistan

Hazare, an octogenarian, ended his six-day fast over the demand of appointment of anti-corruption watchdog Lokpal on February 5.

Suffering from certain health issues, he is now admitted to a hospital in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.

Before he attained national fame as anti-corruption crusader, Kisan Baburao Hazare, fondly known as Anna, joined the Army in 1960 as a truck driver.

He served in the Khem Karan sector during the Indo-Pak war of 1965.
On 13 and 14 February, a third coordination meeting was held at Eurojust regarding investigations into alleged criminal activity connected to the law firm 'MF'.

On the invitation of German and Italian Desks at Eurojust, the Panamanian delegation met with representatives of Andorra, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, the UK and the USA. Europol also attended the meeting.

The 'MF papers' investigation represents an unprecedented case of large-scale international money laundering in which international judicial cooperation has been crucial.

Eurojust is playing a pivotal role in bringing together all the competent authorities of EU Member States and third States, facilitating the exchange of information and ensuring the coordination of investigations.

During the meeting, the Panamanian authorities informed the participants of the state of play of their national proceedings and their new legislation on tax evasion, which will enter into force at the beginning of March and will simplify judicial cooperation with foreign jurisdictions.

Prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General of Panama made the following statement: 'Panama is a country on its way to overcoming some obstacles identified by international observers, and is now making unprecedented efforts in the fight against organised crime. For these reasons, one of the main priorities of the Attorney General of Panama is to strengthen international cooperation, as we are doing with Eurojust and with the Ibero-American Association of Public Prosecutors, over which we preside.'

The two Eurojust Vice Presidents, Messrs Klaus Meyer-Cabri and Filippo Spiezia, made the following statement: 'We recognise the spirit of great international cooperation showed by the Panamanian authorities since the first meeting in this Mossack-Fonseca case. The new legislation on tax fraud recently adopted by Panama can be considered as a milestone in the fight against organised crime, because it leads to greater worldwide judicial cooperation. We congratulate the Office of the Attorney General of Panama for the excellent results achieved so far in their investigations and we are grateful for the comprehensive cooperation provided to EU authorities.'

Photo  Shutterstock
ABC News(NEW YORK) -- If you have not yet heard of Marie Kondo, you may be living under a pile of clutter.



The home organization guru who sparked a phenomenon with her KonMari method of tidying based on joy is back in the spotlight again.



Kondo is the star of a new Netflix series in which she travels across the U.S. to teach American families the Japanese art of decluttering.



My mission is to spark joy in the world through tidying, Kondo says in the opening of her show, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.



Joy is at the heart of Kondos organizing process. The first thing she says to ask yourself when cleaning and getting rid of items is, Does the item spark joy?



If the answer is no, then it should be donated or given to a friend, according to Kondo, the author of the bestselling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.



Being able to determine what items spark joy is a skill that has to be developed, Kondo told ABC News' Good Morning America.



If you have an item, such as a piece of clothing, that doesn't spark joy but is well used, you can change the way you think about the item, according to Kondo. Those items can stay.



"When you wear it, if it gives you, you know, at the most important moment, it really helps you to have this or wear this then hold onto it and say, 'Thank you for helping me in those moments,'" Kondo said.



Closets for most people include a section of clothes they used to fit into at a different size. When it comes to those items, Kondo has one question to ask.



"The determination point is by looking at it, does it make you want to go exercise so you can fit into it? Or does it make you dread that you have to exercise because you want to fit into it?" Kondo explained.



Kondo's practice also includes thanking the clothes you decide to part with before putting them in the donation pile.



"It's difficult for us to let go of things because of, for one, the memories associated to it, but also, a lot of people kind of associate their identity with their possession," she said. "So that makes it much more difficult for people to throw things away."



Kondo suggests tackling clutter by category, not location. For example, instead of taking on an entire bedroom, first start with clothes, then books, then paper, then miscellaneous items and then sentimental items. De-cluttering by category is one of Kondo's six rules of tidying. The six rules are, in order:



1. Commit yourself to tidying up.



2. Imagine your ideal lifestyle.



3. Finish discarding first.



4. Tidy by category, not by location.



5. Follow the right order (clothes, books, paper, miscellaneous items, sentimental items).



6. Ask yourself, "Does it spark joy?"



Viewers of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo can see that Kondo's method is truly life-changing for the families she visits.



"There's nothing ... happier than hearing them, that their life changed," Kondo told GMA.



Viewers have also been quick to take to social media to show off their tidying, including Kondo's most famous organizing trick, the KonMari folding method.



Kondo recommends folding clothes in halfs or thirds so you end up with a rectangle that stands up by itself. The clothes can then be placed in drawers or on shelves upright so you can easily see what you have.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
By PTI

MADRAS: The Madras High Court here has asked the National Highways Authority of India why toll collection licence should not be cancelled if stretches of roads, coming under the jurisdiction of a toll gate, were not maintained properly.

Justices N Kirubakaran and S S Sundar of the Madurai bench were hearing a PIL Thursday seeking to cancel the licence of a toll plaza at Eliapathy because the highway stretch between Aruppukottai and Madurai in the Madurai-Tuticorin sector had not been maintained and the road was full of potholes leading to accidents since 2011.

The responsibility for the maintenance of the road had been given to a private contractor, who did not maintain the road, the petitioner submitted. In his plea, Mahalingam wanted the licence of the toll plaza to be suspended first and then cancelled.

Though several complaints were sent to the concessionaire, Madhucon, no action was taken, he submitted and sought the court's intervention to cancel the licence.

The petitioner also alleged that goondas were engaged in toll collection and said the highways authority was sleeping over his complaint. The High Court had in December last year ordered a 30 per cent exemption from toll till the roads were repaired, he submitted.

The petitioner contended that even after the court order no action had been taken to repair the road. The bench pointed out the lapse on the part of the concessionaire and asked why toll collection licence should not be cancelled.

The bench further said several similar cases were pending before the court and posted the petition for hearing on March 28.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Piyush Goyal Friday said going ahead with the inauguration of the Vande Bharat Express was a befitting reply to the terrorists who perpetrated the Pulwama attacks in which 40 CRPF jawans lost their lives.

He said the decision to continue with the flagging off programme was inspired by the way Mumbai reacted by showing their resilience in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying nearly 300 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

"The way Mumbai answered them, with everybody going to their work discharging their responsibilities, similarly the Vande Bharat Express today was dedicated to the nation on time in the service of its people.

"This is the biggest answer to the terrorists.

Neither our jawans nor our people would ever bow before them," he said on board the train which is on its inaugural run between Delhi and Varanasi on Firday.

Goyal said the country and its soldiers are capable of answering the terrorists in a befitting manner.

India's first semi-high speed train, the Vande Bharat Express, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday from the New Delhi Railway Station amid sombre mood in the backdrop of the terror attack in Pulwama.

Goyal and members of the Railway Board were present on the occasion and will be on board the train on its inaugural journey "I am grateful to designers and engineers behind the Vande Bharat Express which will take its first trip from Delhi to Varanasi today.

With our sincerity and hardwork in the last four-and-half years we have tried to improve railways," the prime minister said at the flagging off event.

The train will travel from Delhi to Varanasi in nine hours and forty-five minutes.

This includes stoppage time of 40 minutes each at Kanpur and Allahabad where there will be special programmes.
By Online Desk

SRINAGAR: Security of all those who are getting money from Pakistan and ISI for causing disturbance in Jammu and Kashmir will be reviewed, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday evening.

Singh was indirectly referring to separatists and other leaders who have been provided security cover in Kashmir valley. He said some elements in Kashmir on the direction of ISI are playing with the youths in Kashmir.

He was speaking to reporters here this evening at Technical Airport in the Budgam, where he earlier became pallbearer of CRPF martyrs.

The moral of security forces is very high and are ready to give a befitting reply to any eventuality, he said.

However, he said they will not succeed in their designs. "I have directed the local administration to review the security of these persons who are taking money from Pakistan".

Singh said there are elements who are trying to break the communal harmony in the country. "But, we all should stand united to deal with these elements and foil their designs."

About the fidayeen attack on CRPF convoy, the minister said it has now been decided that there will be no civilian movement when security force convoy is on the move.

"The civilians will get disturbed by this restriction, for which we are sorry," he said.

(With UNI inputs)
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday decided to hear a fresh plea challenging the constitutional validity of a 1993 central law by which the government acquired 67.703 acres of land, including the disputed premises of Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid, in Ayodhya.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi tagged the matter with the main petition on title dispute pending before a constitution bench.

"List the matter before the bench already seized with the issue," the bench of Chief Justice Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said.

The plea, challenging legislative competence of Parliament to acquire religious land, was filed a week after the Centre had moved the apex court seeking modification in its 2003 order and allow it to return to original owners the 67 acres "non-disputed" land around the disputed structure in Ayodhya.

The petition, filed by seven individuals, including two Lucknow-based lawyers claiming to be devotees of Ram Lalla, has contended that Parliament had no legislative competence to acquire land belonging to the state.

Moreover, it said, the state legislature has the exclusive power to make provisions relating to the management of affairs of religious institutions inside its territory.

The petitioners, including lawyers Shishir Chaturvedi and Sanjay Mishra, has submitted that the Acquisition of Certain Areas of Ayodhya Act, 1993 infringes upon the right to religion of Hindus guaranteed and protected under Article 25 (freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion) of the Constitution.

The plea has sought the court's direction restraining the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government from interfering in "Puja, Darshan and performance of rituals at the places of worship situated within the land admeasuring 67.703 acres acquired under the Act particularly at the land belonging to Shri Ram Janam Bhoomi Nyas, Manas Bhavan, Sankat Mochan Mandir, Ram Janmasthan Temple, Janki Mahal and Katha Mandap".

It also said that the law, by which the entire disputed and adjoining undisputed land was acquired, violated the freedom of the Hindus to practise their fundamental religious rights under Article 25 of the Constitution.

The central government had on January 29 moved the apex court seeking its nod to return the 67-acre undisputed acquired land around the disputed site to original owners.

The 0.313 acre plot, on which the disputed structure stood before it was demolished by 'kar sevaks' on December 6, 1992, was within the 2.77-acre disputed premises, the plea filed by the BJP-led NDA government had said.

The government had then acquired 67.703 acres, including the 2.77-acre plot, through a legislation in 1993.

The Ram Janambhoomi Nyas (RJN) is the owner of as much as 42 acres of the acquired non-disputed land.

The Centre's plea has said that the RJN (a trust to promote construction of Ram Temple) had also sought return of excess land acquired to original owners.

The Centre has claimed that only 0.313 acre of land was disputed on which the structure stood before it was demolished by 'kar sevaks' on December 6, 1992.


By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: In an unprecedented development, the Supreme Court sacked two of its assistant registrars who were allegedly found tampering with a court order that wrongly stated that industrialist Anil Ambani was exempt from personally appearing in court in a contempt case.

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who is also the administrative head of the top court, reportedly sacked assistant registrars Manav Sharma and Tapan Kumar Chakraborty, who were responsible for taking down the judges orders and getting them uploaded on the website.

Court masters are officials in charge of taking down orders that are dictated in open court or in judges chambers.

The CJI invoked Section 11(13) of the Supreme Court, which empowers him to dismiss an employee under extraordinary circumstances without normal disciplinary proceedings.

The action from the CJI was followed by a complaint by Justice Rohinton F Nariman, who has been hearing the contempt case against Anil Ambani.

The CJI took note of an instance of tampering with Justice Narimans order in January when a show-cause notice of contempt was issued to Anil Ambani over alleged failure to clear outstanding dues to Ericsson India despite categorical undertakings to the top court. The order uploaded on the SC website on January 7 said the personal appearance of the alleged contemnor(s) is dispensed with.

This means that Ambanis presence was not required on the next date of hearing although the rule is that anybody who is issued a contempt notice must show up once and request for exemption of his personal appearance on future dates.

The order was uploaded on the website even though Justice Nariman had hours before made it clear that Ambanis personal appearance was not dispensed with.
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: UP CM Yogi Adityanath has announced ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh rupees to the next kin of all those CRPF jawans who belonged to UP and made the supreme sacrifice during a terror attack in Pulwama. Kashmir on Thursday. The state government also announced to give job to at least one member of the families of the martyred soldiers.

ALSO READ: List of missing security personnel after the Pulwama terror attack

Moreover, the state government has decided to rename the roads leading to their respective villages of the martyrs after them of 44 CRPF soldiers who laid their life in line of duty in Pulwama, 12 belonged to Uttar Pradesh. Ajit Kumar from Unnao, Pradeep Singh Yadav from Kannauj, Kaushal Kumar Rawat from Agra, Pradeep from Shamli, Vijay Maurya from Deoria, Sainik Ram Vakil from Mainpuri, Ramesh Yadav from Varanasi, Shyam Babu from Kanpur Dehat, Awdesh Yadav from Chandauli and Pankaj Tripathi from Maharajganj.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath has decided to attend the funeral of the martyrs himself . He has also issued directives to ministers, SPs and DMs to be present at the last rites of the martyred soldiers in their respective districts.

Directives have also been issued to ensure that the last rites of the jawans are performed with full state honours. Reacting to the dastardly act of extremism, BSP chief Mayawati condemned the attack by saying; Our party strongly condemns this terrorist attack and offers deepest condolences to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives.

ALSO READ: PM Modi warns Pakistan, says security forces will be given complete freedom to crack down on terrorism

The BSP chief made an appeal to the Central government to find a lasting solution to this problem.

Former Chief Minister of the state and Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav also condemned the attack on soldiers in Pulwama.

He tweeted: I pay homage to the soldiers martyred in the Pulwama attack. The entire country is getting restless by the situation which is going out of control in Jammu and Kashmir. BJP should stop politics and start working in the interest of the nation.

Earlier on Thursday evening, newly appointed General Secretaries of Congress-- Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia -- called off their press conference after the news of Pulwama attack on soldiers expressing the solidarity with the bereaved families.

ALSO READ: India withdraws 'Most Favoured Nation' status to Pakistan

I can well understand the pain and grief of losing a loved one in the family. I want to convey that not only the Congress party but the entire country is standing shoulder to shoulder with the families of our brave soldiers who laid their life in line of duty, said Priyanka Gandhi while calling for a silence of two minutes as a tribute to the brave hearts.

Five-time MLA from Kunda constituency in Pratapgarh and Chief of newly found Jansatt Dal (Loktantrik) Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya also expressed his sentiments by taking to twitter and called upon the government of India to take a historic action on the terrorists.

Will everyone just pay homage by words and sit quiet like always? The country wants a historic reaction. The entire country wants strict and straight action, this will be the real tribute to the soldiers martyred in Pulwama, tweeted Raja Bhaiyya.
By PTI

SRINAGAR: Home Minister Rajnath Singh Friday helped carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan after he laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the troops, who were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Shortly after arriving from Delhi, the home minister attended a solemn function here where the remains of 40 CRPF personnel were kept in coffins, draped with tricolour.

Singh helped carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan before it was flown out of Jammu and Kashmir in a special aircraft, an official present at the function said.

READ HERE | Covert op, terrorist bounties, water card: Experts mull options to hit back against Pakistan

The home minister, Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath-laying ceremony.

"The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans. I have paid my last respects to the martyrs of Pulwama. The sacrifice will not go in vain," Singh said.

#WATCH: Home Minister Rajnath Singh and J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh lend a shoulder to mortal remains of a CRPF soldier in Budgam. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/CN4pfBsoVr  ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

The dignitaries stood in silence till the coffins were loaded in a truck which went to the Srinagar airport, the official said.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles CRPF travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

ALSO READ: List of missing security personnel after the Pulwama terror attack

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said those responsible for the attack will pay "a very heavy price" and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished.
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: Militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed raised its evil head yet again in the Valley with a dastardly attack on a convoy ferrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel from Jammu to Srinagar. The attack took place in the Lethpora area in south Kashmirs Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu highway on Thursday afternoon. The attacker deployed an SUV that was loaded with nearly 300 kg of explosives.

The impact of the explosion destroyed the CRPF bus killing scores on the spot, 22 km south of Srinagar. The convoy consisted of 78 vehicles that were ferrying 2,547 CRPF personnel.

Security forces comprising of local police, CRPF and army personnel rushed to the spot after the attack. The remains of the victims were splattered all over the highway. Some remains of the deceased personnel were recovered from a residential area a few kilometres away from the spot. The personnel injured in the attack were rushed to hospitals in Srinagar. Some of the injured CRPF men succumbed to injuries in different hospitals, sources said.

Shortly after the attack, militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to the claim, the attacker identified as Adil Ahmad Dar alias Waqas Commando was a resident of Gandhibagh, Kakapora area of south Kashmirs Pulwama district.

The suicide bombing is seen as a major security lapse as Road Opening Parties (ROPs) of CRPF and army sensitise the highway before the convoy movement. As part of SOP, the ROPs sensitise the area before the movement of security forces convoys. The police and security agencies will be investigating whether there was a security lapse on part of the ROPs, who failed to prevent car-borne militant from attacking the convoy, a police official said.

IGP Kashmir said the police and other security agencies are probing the blast. The nature of the explosion, how it happened and what led to the explosion is being investigated, he said.

Security forces were conducting house- to-house searches to track down militants, who may have facilitated the attack.

Macabre scenes

The remains of the victims were splattered all over the highway. Some remains of the deceased personnel were recovered from a residential area a few kilometres away from the spot. The personnel injured in the attack were rushed to hospitals in Srinagar. Some of them later succumbed to their injuries.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: India lodged a strong protest against Pakistan as its High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood was summoned by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale to South Block at 2 pm on Friday in connection with the Pulwama terror attack.

According to sources, Gokhale issued a very strong demarche in connection with the terrorist attack in Pulwama and conveyed that Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

READ | US experts suspect Pakistan spy agency ISI role in Pulwama terrorist attack

He also conveyed to Mahmood that Pakistan must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism from operating from its territories, the source added.

The Foreign Secretary also rejected the statement made by the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan yesterday with regards to the attack, the source said.

Sohail Mahmood had earlier been summoned late at night on January 30 and was given a strong warning over Pakistans foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's telephone conversation with separatist Kashmiri Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Days later, Qureshi called up yet another Hurriyat leader in Srinagar, Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

READ: Jammu and Kashmir Governor failed in his primary responsibility: Omar Abdullah

As many as 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber attacked a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district with a vehicle laden with explosives.

The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar - the slain personnel were in a bus which had 42 CRPF men on board.

READ | PM Modi warns Pakistan, says security forces will be given complete freedom to crack down on terrorism

JeM, a Pakistan-based terrorist group, claimed responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged in the blast and ensuing gunfire on the vehicle.

India has, on Friday, revoked Pakistan's status as the Most Favoured Nation as investigations are underway.

(With inputs from Ramananda Sengupta)
Ramananda Sengupta By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: India on Friday hit out at Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack and reiterated the demand that Jaish-e-Mohammad chief, Masood Azhar, be proscribed by the UN, a move that has been consistently blocked by China.

In a late night response, however, Islamabad expressed concern over the attack and rejected any attempt to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations.

This heinous and despicable act has been perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based and supported terrorist organisation proscribed by the United Nations and other countries, said a MEA

statement.  This terror group is led by the international terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by Government of Pakistan to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity.

TIMELINE: Major terror attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir since 1999

Expressing its resolve to safeguard national security and fight terror, it said: "We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries. We strongly reiterate our

appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM Chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan."

ALSO READ: Sacrifices of our security personnel won't go in vain, says PM Modi on Pulwama terror attack

In response, a late night release by Pakistans foreign ministry said the attack in Pulwama in the Indian Occupied Kashmir is a matter of grave concern. We have always condemned acts of violence anywhere in the world. We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations.
"First Lady" conductor, Marin Alsop, debuts in Shanghai

By:Wang Jiaye | From:english.eastday.com | 2019-02-15 13:12

American conductor Marin Alsop, known as the "First Lady" in classical music circles, led the Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra to present a South-American-style concert in the Shanghai Grand Theatre on Feb. 14, 2019.

It was her debut in Asia and also the orchestra's first visit to China, according to a report from Xinmin Evening News.

Marin Alsop in Shanghai (Photo by Xinmin Evening News)

As one of the few female conductors in the classical world, Alsop has always avoided allowing this gendered identity to be emphasized.

Instead, she expects to witness more female conductors standing out through their creative repertoire arrangements and contributions to music.

Saluting her teacher Bernstein with "Candide Overture"

Alsop is a student of legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein, and the most authoritative interpreter of his works as well.

Bernstein planned to perform in China during his lifetime but never managed to make it. So the Shanghai show was a trip that allowed Alsop to help realize her teacher's dream.

Alsop and her teacher Leonard Bernstein (File photo)

Alsop saluted Bernstein by starting with his "Candide Overture", which was an interpretation of the best attitude to love - candid.

Fostering female conductors

In Alsop's views, there is no easy path to becoming a female conductor. Most of the time, there are more challenges than advantages.

Alsop regards creating more opportunities for younger female generation as her responsibility, such as providing them with scholarships and encouraging some of the best to go upon the world's stages.

Marin Alsop in Shanghai (Photo by Xinmin Evening News)

In addition to making contributions to the diversified development of global classical music, Alsop is also concerned with helping the bottom of society.

When she served at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, she cast her eyes to impoverished young people in the city and launched a training program giving adult amateur musicians access to study in the orchestra's school of arts.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The mortal remains of the CRPF jawans killed in the audacious attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir were brought here Friday evening in an Indian Air Force plane, officials said.

The bodies remains were received by Home Minister Rajnath Singh at the Palam technical area of Indira Gandhi International Airport.

ALSO READ: List of missing security personnel after the Pulwama terror attack

Coffins wrapped in tricolour were neatly arranged in the hanger where senior officials of the force laid wreath in a solemn ceremony one by one, they said.

Those present included the tri-services chiefs, senior ministers of the Cabinet, NSA Ajit Doval and Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal are among those likely to pay their last respects to the CRPF personnel at the airport.

ALSO READ: PM Modi warns Pakistan, says security forces will be given complete freedom to crack down on terrorism

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

A Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: India today withdrew the 'Most-Favoured Nation' status to Pakistan following the deadly Pulwama terror attack and said it will take all steps to isolate the neighbouring country globally.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said all efforts will be made to ensure that perpetrators of the attack are brought to book.

READ : US experts suspect Pakistan spy agency ISI role in Pulwama terrorist attack

"The most favoured nation status to Pakistan stands revoked," he said after the CCS meeting at the Prime Minister's residence.

Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status is given to a trade partner to ensure non-discriminatory trade between two countries.

India granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996. Talking tough, Jaitley said those aiding and abating the perpetrators will have to pay a heavy price.

He said the Ministry of External Affairs will launch an all out effort to isolate Pakistan and all diplomatic efforts will be launched in this regard.

"MEA will initiate all possible diplomatic steps which are to be taken to ensure complete isolation of Pakistan in the international community, he said, adding "incontrovertible evidence" is available of Pakistan's direct hand in this gruesome terrorist attack.

Sounding a warning to perpetrators, Jaitley said that those behind the attacks will "pay a heavy price" for it.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be visiting Srinagar on Friday and would convene an all-party meeting most likely on Saturday to brief political parties on the incident so that the nation speaks in one voice on the issue.

The Cabinet Committee on Security meet was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.

It was attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sithraman, Finance Miniser Arun Jaitley, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.
By IANS

KOLKATA: India can stop exporting tea to Pakistan in the wake of escalating tensions between the two neighbours following the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of 45 paramilitary troopers, said the exporters body, which is ready to back the Centre in case of any retaliatory measures, even at the cost of incurring losses.

Asked whether the Indian Tea Exporters' Association (ITEA) was ready to stop shipments across the border to Pakistan if the government shuts the door on bilateral trade, ITEA chairman Anshuman Kanoria asserted: "Of course, we are ready. The nation and the security of our forces and fellow countrymen comes first and commerce is secondary."

READ HERE | Covert op, terrorist bounties, water card: Experts mull options to hit back against Pakistan

Kanoria said the tea exporters would support any decision by the central government in retaliation for the attack that was the worst-ever in Jammu and Kashmir against the forces since militancy erupted in the state in 1989.

A suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a Central Reserve Police Force bus on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Pulwama district, killing at least 45 troopers and injuring 38.

"Following the horrific terror attack, we have not even bothered to think about commercial implications. The nation comes first and when there is an incident like this, you are actually waiting for guidance from the government. What will happen to the market is completely secondary," Kanoria told IANS.

"Even if the tea exports to Pakistan are affected as a result of any decision the government takes in retaliation for the attack, we will stand by the government's decision irrespective of the possible adverse impact on our commerce," he elaborated.

WATCH | Pulwama terror attack: Rajnath Singh helps carry coffin of slain CRPF jawan

Echoing Kanoria, India Tea Association Chairman Vivek Goenka told IANS: "Whenever there are tensions between the two countries, exports get impacted. We have seen that in the past also. However, we fully support the central government for its decisions. The country's security is much more important."

However, Kanoria said that at the moment it was "too premature" to comment whether there would be any adverse impact.

According to Tea Board data, exports to Pakistan during 2018 stood at 15.83 million kg, up by about 7.5 per cent from 14.73 million kg shipped out during the previous year. The exports were valued at Rs 154.71 crore during the calendar year 2018 against 142.44 crore in the previous year.

The attack took place around 3.15 p.m. on Thursday when a 'Fidayeen' bomber belonging to the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) rammed his explosive-packed SUV into a bus carrying CRPF troopers in Lethpora area of Pulwama.

The CRPF convoy of 78 vehicles was coming from Jammu to Srinagar. The convoy carried 2,547 CRPF personnel.

The attack happened even as an intelligence input had warned of its possibility 48 hours earlier.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman returned to India from Sweden on Friday and will attend a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack in Kashmir.

Union Minister Arun Jaitley, who will assume charge as the Finance Minister today, is also likely to attend the meeting, sources said.

Besides the Prime Minister, the CCS comprises the ministers for Home, Finance, Defence and External Affairs.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed when their convoy was targeted on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway on Thursday.

The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was caused by a suicide bomber, according to a local news agency.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be visiting Srinagar after the CCS meeting to take stock of the situation in the wake of the attack. He will hold review meetings with senior security and police officials to make a ground-level assessment and review operational actions.

Meanwhile, arrangements are also being made to airlift the mortal remains of the soldiers who lost their lives in the ghastly attack.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Aadhaar cards, ID cards, leave applications and certain other articles were the only things left of most of the 40 CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama terror attack that helped their colleagues identify them, officials said Friday.

Five CRPF personnel were also injured in Thursday's attack, one of the deadliest in Jammu and Kashmir in three decades, when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Officials said as the bodies of the troops were badly mutilated and charred due on the impact of the RDX-triggered blast, it became very difficult to ascertain their identities.

ALSO READ: Experts mull options to hit back at Pakistan

Most of the slain jawans were either identified by their Aadhaar cards, force IDs, PAN cards or leave applications kept in their pockets and bags.

Some of them were identified by their colleagues by the watches or wallets they had on, a senior official said.

A good number of men, another official said, escaped death by sheer luck as they aborted their journey last moment.

ALSO READ: PM Modi warns Pakistan, says security forces will be given complete freedom to crack down on terrorism

The officials at the Srinagar and Jammu bases of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) undertook the daunting task of making hundreds of calls to the families of the jawans who were part of the convoy to establish that none was missing and the identities of the dead were correct.

One jawan was found to be in Delhi while another had aborted the journey last moment due to some urgent work in Jammu, the second official said.

ALSO READ: India withdraws 'Most Favoured Nation' status to Pakistan

As the bodies were badly mutilated, they said, it took a long time for the doctors and the force brass in Srinagar to declare the number of casualties.

The CRPF headquarters in Delhi released a list of the 40 killed personnel only late Friday evening after their identities were firmly established with the help of forensic profiling and matching them with their belongings that were recovered from the blast spot, they said.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday warned Pakistan that the attack such as the one on CRPF soldiers in Pulwama will not weaken India and those responsible will have to pay a "very heavy price".

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said security forces will be given complete freedom to crack down on terrorism, and the "blood of the people is boiling".

"Our neighbouring country thinks such terror attacks can weaken us, but their plans will not materialise," he said at a function to flag off a new semi-high speed train from Delhi to Varanasi.

On Thursday, an explosives-laden truck rammed into a CRPF convoy in Pulwama outside Srinagar killing at least 37 soldiers in one of the biggest terror attacks in recent years.

"My condolences to families of those martyred in the Pulwama attack, those behind the terror strike will pay a very heavy price," Modi said.

"I am thankful to all nations which condemned the Pulwama attack and urge them to come together to crush terrorism," the prime minister said.

ALSO READ: Leaders across party lines express grief, condemn Jaish attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama

India slams Pakistan, Islamabad demands probe first

India on Friday hit out at Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack and reiterated the demand that Jaish-e-Mohammad chief, Masood Azhar, be proscribed by the UN, a move that has been consistently blocked by China.

In a late night response, however, Islamabad expressed concern over the attack and rejected any attempt to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations. (Read)

World condemns terror attack

The major suicide attack on a CRPF convoy by Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed, often described as a lapdog of the ISI, sparked outrage and condemnation from across the world.

ALSO READ: List of missing security personnel after the Pulwama terror attack

The US Mission in India strongly condemns todays terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. The United States stands alongside India in confronting terror and defeating it, tweeted US ambassador to India Kenneth Juster.

We denounce terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with decisive and collective response without any double standards, said a statement issued by the Russian Embassy in Delhi. (Read more)
By PTI

AMRITSAR: Condemning the "cowardly" Pulwama terror attack in which at least 40 CRPF men died, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday accused Pakistan of unleashing a proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir. "We express our grief with the families of the CRPF jawans who were martyred following the dastardly and cowardice act of terror in Pulwama yesterday," Puri said here.

Orchestrated by Pakistan based terror group Jaish e Mohammad (JeM), Thursday's attack in which a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into a CRPF bus in south Kashmir was one of the deadliest in the Valley.

Addressing a press conference here, Puri said Pakistan was unleashing a proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir and alleged that the country had not taken concrete steps to stop terror attacks on India.

On the Kartarpur corridor issue, Puri said the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre was committed towards letting devotees to pay obeisance at the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan. However, he warned, "On one hand, Pakistan responded to (setting up) the corridor but on the other hand, it is supporting terror groups on its soil against India. How long will this go (on)?" Without taking any name, the union minister said political leaders went to Pakistan and hugged Pakistan army chief without realising that such people engineered terror attacks against India. "As per my opinion, trade activities cannot take place with Pakistan in the light of prevailing circumstances particularly after a terror attack in Pulwama," he said.

ALSO READ| Sidhu condemns Pulwama attack but asks if the entire nation can be blamed for handful of people

Asked about his will to contest Lok Sabha elections from Amritsar as he has been visiting the city frequently, Puri said, "I do not intend to contest elections from the Amritsar Parliament seat. I have come here for a meeting -'Bharat Ke Man Ki Baat' organised here by Punjab BJP," said the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs.

The meeting brought together representatives of all sections of the society including academicians, intellectuals, and NGOs among others to seek suggestions for the 'Sankalp Patra' - the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he said. Puri said the meeting was part of a nationwide exercise to seek and review the suggestions of all segments of the society and forward them to the manifesto committee.
Express News Service

RINAGAR/NEW DELHI: In a first-of-its-kind attack in Kashmir, an SUV packed with explosives targeted a convoy ferrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans of the 76 Battalion from Jammu to Srinagar, killing at least 43 soldiers on Thursday. Thirty-six other jawans are battling for their lives in hospital. The Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack points to a serious lapse in security, as intelligence inputs on a big car bomb attack in Kashmir were picked up via phone intercepts between cadre of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and JeM. Intelligence inputs about fidayeen attacks had also increased recently, said a security official on condition of anonymity.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik agreed there had been security lapse. Defnitely, there was a lapse. Security forces would now have to sit together, analyse and take measures to plug such loopholes, he said, while promising India would give specific and strong response to the terror attack.

The blast at Lethpora, 22 km from Srinagar, blew the bus to smithereens spewing human remains all over the four-lane highway. Shortly after the explosion, unidentified gunmen opened fire at the convoy injuring more security personnel.

In a video of the suicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar, uploaded on social media hours after the blast, the attacker appears calm and is heard issuing warnings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack on the convoy. Sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs. May the injured recover quickly, he said.

TIMELINE: Major terror attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir since 1999

The external affairs ministry hit out at Pakistan for exporting terrorism to India. Home Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Srinagar on Friday to take stock of the situation. Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, who reached Thimpu, Bhutan earlier in the day for the annual Secretary-level talks, decided to rush back. A 10-member NIA team is on the way to Srinagar and the Cabinet Committee on Security will meet on Friday morning, sources said.

ALSO READ: Sacrifices of our security personnel won't go in vain, says PM Modi on Pulwama terror attack
CRRC cars meet global standards

From:ChinaDaily | 2019-02-15 07:46

The president of the North American division of the China Railway Rolling Stock Corp (CRRC) dismissed talk emanating from Washington that the company's rail cars could be used to spy in the United States.

"To condemn CRRC is unfounded," Jia Bo, president of CRRC MA, told China Daily in a recent interview. "The rail car components we make are all in line with the global standard, which has no difference with those made by other suppliers."

The State-owned manufacturer is considered a strong contender for a Washington DC Metro contract, which is likely to exceed $1 billion for between 256 and 800 of the agency's newest series of rail cars, according to The Washington Post.

However, US senators representing the Washington area are wondering if the procurement could add cybersecurity risks to the region's transit system.

Four Democratic senatorsMark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen of Marylandwrote to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) on Jan 18, expressing their "serious concerns" about possible foreign bidding on the rail transportation project in the US capital.

The letter said there was concern "particularly when it could involve foreign governments that have explicitly sought to undermine our country's economic competitiveness and national security" and called for the agency to "take the necessary steps to mitigate growing cyber risks to these cars".

In the letter, the senators mention technology in the transit system, including video surveillance cameras and the automated aspects of rail cars, which could be a target of spies or hackers.

WMATA said any hardware and software components would be tested by a Defense Department-approved firm for cybersecurity risks, The Washington Post reported.

"I think it's some senators who are trying to impose restrictions on us for political purposes," Jia said. "And our competitors might offer some lobbying as well, trying to limit our continued search for orders or expansion.

"Agencies like MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) and WMATA that we worked with manage their projects and vehicle operations based on certain industry standards in line with the requirements of relevant safety management committees," he said.

Jia told China Daily that because cybersecurity has become a hot topic in the rail industry, CRRC has made a concerted effort to address the issue.

"We have developed comprehensive network security management systems and regulations within the company," Jia said.

In 2014, CRRC won a $566 million contract from the MBTA to manufacture 152 Orange Line cars and 132 Red Line cars. Later, the MBTA added a $277 million contract for an additional 120 Red Line cars.

To implement the contract, CRRC built an assembly facility in Springfield, Massachusetts. The factory began operating in April 2018 and has employed approximately 130 people locally.

Jia said the MBTA project is wholly under the supervision of the safety management committee, "from product development, design and audit certification".

"We call for discussion in the industry to establish cybersecurity standards, including management systems," Jia said. "However, such technical problems should not be treated as a political topic for speculation, also not a suspicion or accusation against CRRC."

CRRC already has won major contracts from metropolitan transit authorities across the US.

In December 2016, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority awarded a contract to CRRC MA to design and manufacture 64 new subway cars for the Red and Purple Lines at a cost of $178.4 million, with a consideration for an additional 218 subway cars.

Committed to manufacturing major components locally in Los Angeles County, CRRC MA secured an assembly facility in City of Industry, California, investing nearly $40 million, with approximately 50 jobs created.

The Washington Post recently reported that "CRRC has used bargain prices to win four of five large US transit railcar contracts awarded since 2014". It said CRRC had the most competitive bidssometimes besting competitors by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Jia said that in the early stages of entering a new market, strategic expansion is necessary.

And CRRC has great cost advantages in product development and production, based on its rich experience in China's large domestic market.

"Also, we have advantages in localization," said Jia. "The production model we adopt, which is separating the production in China and assembly here in the US, guarantees the low cost."

Jia said the so called "bargain price" is relative. "For the MBTA project, the price gap between us and the competitor is not too big," he said.

"And for the LA project we got later, the gap (between us and competitor) is only 3 to 5 percent," he said. "And if we compare with the bidding price of other competitors in the same period, our price is just average."

"So for the concerns about our price, I believe it just proved the advantages of cooperation between home and abroad," he said.

Jia said, though, that CRRC's operation in the US is facing some obstacles.

A 25 percent tariff on Chinese-made rail car components went into effect last year, imposed by the Trump administration as part of its trade dispute with China.

Jia said its business in the US has been affected somewhat, but extra funds were invested to maintain operations.

The company is still looking for a tariff exemption, and Jia said he hoped "the tariff thing could be removed if current trade talks are successful".
Anuraag Singh By

Express News Service

BHOPAL: The Khudawal village of Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district has lost its third brave-heart son in terror or Naxal attack over the last one decade. Situated 50 km from Jabalpur district headquarter and more than 330 kms from state capital Bhopal, the Khudawal village is inseparably associated with serving the cause of national security.

More than 50 men from the village have so far served the country's defence and para-military forces, including the BSF and CRPF. "Serving the cause of national security is our prideful possession which has been passed from one generation to another by families in our village. More than 50 men have so far served the country's defence forces as well as paramilitary forces. My neighbour Ashwini is the third brave-heart who has sacrificed life for the nation's security. Three years back in 2016, another brave-heart son Rameshwar Lodhi lost life battling the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. Prior to that around a decade back another brave son from our village Rajendra Upadhyaya lost life in a blast during a Naxal attack in Balaghat district in the state," said Ravikant Yadav, the neighbour of the Kachhi family, which lost their youngest child in the Avantipura terror attack.

Young Ashwini, who was selected in the CRPF in 2014-15 and posted with the 35th CRPF Battalion after training in the trouble-torn J&K in 2017, was the youngest among four brothers and one sister. He was the lone member from the family in government service."Two years ago, when posted with the CRPF after training, the first thing he did was to ensure that his mother Kaushalya had to no longer roll beedis to contribute to the family's income, which was also generated by his brothers by working as labourers," recounted Yadav.

READ | Pulwama terror attack: Martyrs' families devastated, say India should give befitting reply

Ashwini's tearful school time friend Dilip Patel while recounting his old school days with his best buddy said, "Had the terror attack not happened, Ashwini could soon have been married as his family was looking for a suitable girl for the wedlock, but all is over now." The brave-heart's septuagenarian father Sukaru Kachhi, trying hard to put up a brave face, despite losing his youngest and most loved child, harboured only one demand like parents of the other brave-hearts killed in the Thursday afternoon attack. "Khoon ke badle khoon aur kuch nahi, agar unhone aapke char mare toh aap unke dus maaro, tabhi koi baat hai, nahi toh kuch nahi (We want blood for blood as revenge. If they've killed their four soldiers, kill their 10, which will the befitting reply)," said the bespectacled old man. "Hum hi ne unhe paala hai aur doodh pilaya hai, tabhi toh ye ghatnaye ho rahi hain (It's we only who have tolerated such elements for long, resulting in such incidents)," said the brave-heart's father.

Demanding a much more vigorous reply than what was given to the 2016 Uri terror attack, Ashwini's father said, "We have faith in PM Narendra Modi as he has done that in the past, but we want much more than what was the response to the Uri terror attack."

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath will visit the brave-heart's village and meet the bereaved family after chairing the state cabinet meeting in Jabalpur on Saturday evening. Earlier, the state government announced Rs one crore compensation to the martyr's family, besides announcing a house and government job for one member of the bereaved family.
Sumi Sukanya dutta By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government, which claims that monetary resource is never a problem for health programmes, has asked for Rs 100 crore loan from an international organisation for procuring polio vaccines.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare admitted to this in response to a query in Parliament, saying the government had asked the Global Vaccine Alliance, an international organisation that helps in immunisation programmes in poor countries, for support for the next three years.

The loan has been sought due to revision of prices of injectible polio vaccine in the international market, the House was informed last week. The price of Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) had seen a 80 per cent increase since 2016, Minister of State for Health, Aswhini Choubey, told Parliament.

The government has sought support from GAVI for IPV to the extent of 50% of annual requirement for next three years, the reply said.

India introduced IPV in its immunisation programme in 2015, in addition to the oral polio vaccine that was started in 1995. The Indian government buys IPV only from Sanofi, a French pharma major.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti MP Vinod Kumar Boianapalli, who had wanted to know whether the government has sought funds to the tune of `100 crore from an international donor to bear the cost hike, said the move was a national embarrassment.

Why cant the government invest in strengthening health machineries so that public sector manufacturers are allowed to produce the vaccine in the country itself? he asked. In that case, the embarrassment of begging for money for buying life-saving vaccine for our children can be avoided.
Sana Shakil By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Thursdays attack which claimed at least 40 lives is the first of its kind attack in India, of the sort that has so far been reported only from war-torn regions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Though there have been fidayeen attacks in the past also, but a car full of explosives hitting a moving security convoy is not what India has seen before, said security experts.

On Thursday, the strike--the biggest on security forces in the decades-long conflict in the Valley--was caused by a suicide attack in which an SUV, claimed to be laden with 350 kg of explosives by Jaish-e-Mohammed, was driven into the convoy of 78 vehicles of CRPF.

Former Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Durga Prasad said, This attack is new in India. We have heard of such attacks taking place in Afghanistan. Security agencies will have to start looking at new solutions to deal with these sorts of attacks. In the past incidents of fidayeen attacks, they have rammed into stationery objects like gates but never a moving vehicle. This is a new type of attack that they have tried.

Prasad, however, termed the attack an act of desperation to create sensationalism because a large number of terrorists, have been neutralized. Their recruitment has also been cut down drastically, he added.

Last year, 223 terrorists were killed in Kashmir, the figure being highest in eight years.
By PTI

The father of a CRPF jawan who was killed in the terror attack at Pulwama said that he is ready to send to his other son to fight for India.

Talking to ANI in Bihar's Bhagalpur, CRPF Personnel Ratan Thakur's father said, "I have sacrificed a son in Mother India's service, I will send my other son as well to fight, ready to give him up for Mother India, but Pakistan must be given a befitting reply."

In a first-of-its-kind attack in Kashmir, an SUV packed with explosives targeted a convoy ferrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans of the 76 Battalion from Jammu to Srinagar, killing at least 43 soldiers on Thursday. Thirty-six other jawans are battling for their lives in hospital. The Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack on the convoy. Sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs. May the injured recover quickly, he said.
Ramananda Sengupta and Sana Shakil By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Thursdays attack on a CRPF convoy at Pulwama, in which over 40 troopers were martyred and many more injured, has led to growing pressure on the government to act against Pakistan. Unfortunately on television the impression being created is that we have no further options, that we have carried out the surgical strike and nothing happened, said Tilak Devasher, former special secretary, Cabinet Secretariat and author of two books on Pakistan.

ALSO READ: List of missing security personnel after the Pulwama terror attack

"I dont think we have exercised the full range of options that we have. Diplomatic options like recalling our High Commissioner, or downgrading diplomatic relations could be a strong message. If you want to further escalate it, you could have a small presence which just receives and delivers messages, just a first secretary or something, and expel the Pakistani mission here, he said.

While I leave the military option to the Army, the Prime Minister has already said the Armed Forces have been given full independence to do what they want. Then Pakistan has gone to the IMF for funds, we have certain voting powers there. We can also work with other members of the Financial Action Task Force, particularly the US, to convince them to put Pakistan on the blacklist, he argued.

ALSO READ: PM Modi warns Pakistan, says security forces will be given complete freedom to crack down on terrorism

He added, We can certainly revive discussions at the UN to define terrorism, which have been stuck for a while. Or actually, we can define it ourselves, and while I am not sure what the legal implications are, it is worth considering declaring Pakistan a terrorist state. There was a private member bill that didnt see the light of day, but it is certainly worth discussing, at least, he felt.

As for Pakistan pointing out that the bomber was a local Kashmiri and not someone who had come across the border, the point is that there is no Jaish-e-Mohammed in India, so they cant hide behind that cover. So Pakistan is involved, they can keep saying what they want, he concluded.

VIEW GALLERY: Thousands of people across nation pay homage to CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama terror attack

Concurring that Pakistans connection with this terror act is unambiguous, former Northern Army Commander General DS Hooda, who led the surgical strike in 2016 after the attack on the Uri Brigade Headquarters, said no terror organisation had claimed responsibility for the Uri attack. However, this time the Jaish-e-Mohammad had immediately taken responsibility.

"There is a clear Pakistani hand in this attack. The whole leadership of JeM is based out of Pakistan and with the number of casualties that have taken place, the government will have to retaliate and show some action. What will be the form and shape of the retaliation will be the prerogative of the government but I feel a covert operation is an option that needs to be exercised," He said. While conceding that conducting a cross-border strike may be a bigger challenge for India this time as Pakistan would be better prepared, he said the possibility of such a strike could not be ruled out.

ALSO READ: Uttar Pradesh government announces Rs 25 lakh ex-gratia to families of 12 jawans

"Last time, there was a fair element of surprise when we carried out the surgical strike. There will be greater preparations on their side this time. But I think some of these options to retaliate are going to be exercised. We could see a cross-border operation like a surgical strike." Hooda further said that India must target the terrorist leadership in Pakistan."We must try and take out the leadership of terror organisations from Pakistan, like Hafeez Saeed and Masood Azhar. They can't be sitting there comfortably. Terrorist leadership in foreign countries have been taken out. India must make attempts in this direction," he said.

Other experts proposed a whole range of measures to put pressure on Pakistan on the diplomatic front, through the UN security council and the US government, and isolate it. "Merely saying we are not going to talk to Pakistan as has happened in the past will not be the case this time. Similarly, there is likely to be an increase of pressure on Pakistani soldiers across the Line of Control," said one.

ALSO READ: Curfew in Jammu city after protests over Pulwama attack, Army asked to help

Enough is enough. We should actually consider paying Pakistan back in its own coin, fumed a former intelligence officer who has served in both Pakistan and China. To start with, why cant we put out an international mercenary contract on the terrorist leadership there? And also announce a substantial bounty on their heads, including not just money, but a pledge to give any Pakistani who kills any of the these scumbags a new life in India under our new witness protection programme? he said. I know that the US bounty on Hafeez Saeed hasnt worked, but at least this will add to the security constraints on these lowlifes who are walking around freely in Pakistan at the moment, he said.

"And then of course we must play the water card," he said, adding, "I am not saying we should revoke the Indus Water Treaty, though we can always threaten to do so, but even if we were to aggressively divert water from the rivers allowed to us under the treaty, which we have not done so far, it would cause enough pain downstream."

ALSO READ: India withdraws 'Most Favoured Nation' status to Pakistan

And if even that doesn't work, he said, "We must get actively involved in the secessionist and separatist movements in Balochistan and the NWFP, which are already seething against the government. The former will also force Pakistan's best friend China to sit up and take notice, because their prized economic corridor to Gwadar runs through that region, and any unrest there raises the security costs of the project."
Anand ST Das By

Express News Service

PATNA: When Rajnandini was told by her husband, CRPF constable Ratan Kumar Thakur, that he was on his way to Srinagar and would call again in the evening, she was happy. Little did the five-month pregnant woman know that it was the last time she would be speaking to her husband, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Pulwama along with 41 other CRPF personnel on Thursday.

Thakur was scheduled to visit his family at their home at Ratanpur village in Bihars Bhagalpur district during Holi. The news of his death brought about a wave of sadness and anger in the village. Two CRPF personnel from Bihar  Thakur and havildar Sanjay Kumar Sinha of Patna district  were among those killed in Pulwama.

God will never forgive the terrorists who killed my brave son and his colleagues in this cowardly attack, sobbed Ram Niranjan Thakur, holding his four-year-old grandson Krishna, on Friday. The boy has not been told about his fathers death yet. We told his mother (Rajnandini) only this morning. I do not know what to tell this little boy when his fathers body arrives, he said.

Nitu Kumari, the slain constables younger sister, said the Pulwama attack should be retaliated as hard as possible and immediately. The Lok Sabha polls could be taken care of later. The government should now prepare to teach Pakistan a final lesson, she said.

READ HERE | Covert op, terrorist bounties, water card: Experts mull options to hit back against Pakistan

In Taregana Math village in Kashid police station of Patna district, hundreds of people gathered at the house of slain CRPF havildar Sanjay Kumar Sinha. The family had been making arrangements for the wedding of his elder daughter, Ruhi Kumari, for the past one month. Now there is shock and uncertainty.

Sinha had left for J&K to rejoin his duties on February 8 after a two-month leave that he spent in preparing for Ruhis wedding. He was set to come home 15 days later so that he and his younger brother Shankar Sinha, who also works with CRPF and is currently posted in nearby Nalanda, could select the best groom for Ruhi out of five short-listed proposals.

I am proud of my son as he died for the nation. Now I and my fellow villagers want that home minister Rajnath Singh should come here and say when the indiscriminate killings of soldiers would stop in J&K, said Sinhas father Mahendra Prasad.

While Sinhas two daughters  Ruhi Kumari, 22, and Tunni Kumari, 19, both graduates  his son Sonu Kumar, 17, is preparing for medical entrance examinations.

My fathers sacrifice will not go in vain. This loss has left us broken, but I will fulfill his desire that I become a doctor. I will serve the nation by joining CRPF as a doctor, said Sonu Kumar.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: High-grade RDX explosive, weighing about 80 kilogram, was used in a suicide attack on a CRPF bus that killed 40 security personnel in one of the deadliest terror strikes on security forces in the Kashmir Valley in three decades, officials said Friday.

The attack in Pulwama has prompted the CRPF to tweak the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the movement of its convoys in the future, by providing additional security personnel in the buses that transport troops to and from the Kashmir valley.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh had also said in Srinagar that civilian traffic movement during plying of convoys will be restricted.

ALSO READ: Experts mull options to hit back at Pakistan

The officials said a post-blast investigation conducted by security agencies has found that "high-grade RDX" of about 80 kilogram was detonated in the blast that was carried out by a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist after he rammed his explosive laden SUV into the ill-fated bus--HR 49 F 0637--from the left side.

The suicide attack took place at the 272nd milestone on National Highway near Latoomode in Pulwama at about 3:33 pm.

The officials said the scattered remains of the bus, reduced to blackened bare frames after the blast, does not reflect that an improvised explosive device (IED) was used to target it.

ALSO READ: PM Modi warns Pakistan, says security forces will be given complete freedom to crack down on terrorism

The fatal damage can be wreaked by a better grade of explosive like RDX, they said.

The attacked bus was the fifth in the convoy of 78 vehicles which also included as many as 16 bullet-proof protection bunker vehicles that had joined the convoy an hour back from the last halt spot of Qazigund to guard troop movement.

The suicide attack was a novel way to ambush the convoy by ramming an explosives laden vehicle, leaving little for the mobile contingent's protection units to do, the official said.

The terrorist drove the vehicle on the highway from a link road on the Kakapora-Lelhar side and was moving parallel to the bus belonging to the 76th battalion, and the investigators suspect the explosion was triggered, killing all 39 occupants.

Assistant Sub Inspector Mohan Lal, deployed on the highway as part of the road opening party (ROP), also got trapped in the blast and was the 40th trooper to be killed.

ALSO READ: India withdraws 'Most Favoured Nation' status to Pakistan

The last such convoy had moved from Jammu to Kashmir on February 4 in 91 vehicles and had 2,871 personnel but all went well that day, they said.

The movement of convoys was shut for the last few days due to bad weather in the valley.

The killed personnel hailed from Uttar Pradesh (12), Rajasthan (5), Punjab (4), West Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Bihar two each and one each from Assam, Kerala, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

There were 27 constables in service profiles of combat, cook, driver and bugler, 12 head constables and an ASI.
By PTI

PATNA: Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi Thursday reiterated his demand for a respectable share of seats within grand alliance in the upcoming Lok Sabha poll and said his Hindustani Awam Morcha would contest 20 out of a total 40 parliamentary seats in the state on its own if denied its due.

Manjhi, who had earlier this week stated that he would not agree to a seat-sharing formula that gave a less number to HAM compared with former union minister Upendra Kushwahas RLSP, also cryptically said that he personally saw the Congress as a major player but the prevailing sentiment in my party is that we have a support base in Bihar that is greater than that of the national party.

A meeting of HAM district unit presidents was held here and it was unanimously decided that we would not agree to any formula wherein we were given a number that was less than what any of the late entrants might get, Manjhi told reporters here.

ALSO READ: Not joining NDA, will stay with grand alliance even if no seat offered, says Jitan Ram Manjhi

Manjhi had left the BJP-led NDA in February last year and joined the Congress-RJD combine, known as the Mahagathbandhan a term coined by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar while he was in the coalition and which continues to be in use for describing the opposition formation.

After Manjhis HAM, Sharad Yadavs LJD, RLSP and Bollywood set designer-turned-politician Mukesh Sahnis VIP have joined the mahagathbandhan.

Replying to a query, Manjhi said of course,a seat-sharing formula is yet to be finalized in the mahagathbandhan.

But my party workers expressed their outrage over media reports which suggested that we may end up getting only one seat.

ALSO READ: Won't agree to a number that is less than what Upendra Kushwahas gets, says Ex-Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi

It would be humiliating, if true. Notably, HAM has only one MLA Manjhi himself in the 243-strong state assembly. The former cms son Santosh became an MLC last year with the help of the RJD.

The party came into existence in 2015 when Manjhi quit the JD(U) in protest against having been made to step down for paving the way for the return of Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister.

We have said that we are in a position to contest 20 seats. We would end up fighting as many on our own if things do not work out in our favor. We are a recognized political party with the telephone assigned to us as the symbol by the Election Commission, Manjhi claimed.

As I have said, I would soon be meeting RJD supremo Lalu Prasad so that things are finalized by next week.

I did speak to Tejashwi but nothing came of that.

In any case, as long as Lalu is there, it is he who will be having the last word, the HAM founding president said.

Manjhi has sought to assume an aggressive posture ever since the HAM suffered a setback recently with its state unit chief Vrishan Patel and national spokesman Danish Rizwan quitting the party, though both are critical of each other.
By PTI

SRINAGAR: Chronological list of all major terror attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir in the last two decades:

* 26 August 2017 -- Three Jaish terrorists storm District Police Lines Pulwama, killing eight security force personnel, before the assailants were shot dead.

* 29 November 2016 -- Three terrorists storm Army artillery camp at Nagrota in Jammu, killing seven soldiers, before the assailants were eliminated.

* 18 September 2016 -- Four Pakistani terrorists storm an Army camp at Uri in Baramulla district, killing 18 soldiers, most of them were in sleep.

The assailants were also killed.

The incident led to reprisal surgical strikes inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir by the Indian Army.

ALSO READ | 'CRPF convoy explosion in Pulwama was heard 10 km away'

* 25 June 2016 -- Terrorists open indiscriminate firing on a CRPF bus, killing eight jawans at Pampore on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

* 3 June 2016 -- Terrorists target a CRPF bus at Pampore, killing two personnel before taking refuge in a government building.

Two-day encounter ends with the killing of three soldiers including two officers and the two assailants.

One civilian was also killed.

* 5 December 2014 -- Six heavily-armed terrorists storm an Army camp at Mohra in Uri.

Ten soldiers were killed in the gun battle with the intruders, who were all shot dead.

* 24 June 2013 -- Terrorists ambush a bus carrying unarmed Army personnel at Hyderpora in Srinagar.

Eight soldiers were killed in the attack.

* 19 July 2008 -- Ten soldiers were killed when terrorists triggered an IED planted by the roadside at Narbal on Srinagar-Baramulla highway on the outskirts of the city.

* 2 November 2005 -- A suicide bomber blew up his car at Nowgam, near the private residence of then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, killing three cops and six civilians.

* 20 July 2005 -- A suicide car bomber blew his vehicle by ramming it into a vehicle of security forces.

Three security force personnel and two civilians were killed.

* 24 June 2005 -- Nine army soldiers were killed in a car bomb triggered by terrorists on the outskirts of Srinagar.

* 4 August 2004 -- Nine CRPF jawans were killed in a terrorist attack on their camp at Rajbagh in Srinagar.

One terrorist was also killed in retaliatory action.

* 8 April 2004 -- 11 persons were killed in a grenade attack by terrorists on a PDP rally at Uri in Baramulla district.

The PDP was demanding the opening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Road.

* 22 July 2003 -- Eight soldiers, including a Brigadier, were killed in a terrorists attack on their camp at Akhnoor.

Several other senior Army officers sustained injuries in the attack.

* 28 June 2003 -- 12 soldiers, including an officer, were killed in a suicide attack by terrorists on Sunjwan Army camp.

Two terrorists were neutralised.

* 14 May 2002 -- In one of the biggest strikes on an Army installation, 36 persons were killed by three terrorists who stormed the Kaluchak Army Cantonment in Jammu.

The assailants were also killed.

* 17 November 2001 -- Terrorists storm a security forces base in Ramban (then part of Doda district), killing 10 security forces.

Four terrorists were also killed.

* 1 October 2001 -- Terrorists trigger a car bomb outside the old Legislative Assembly Complex in Srinagar.

38 persons were killed while three assailants were also eliminated.

* 10 August 2000 -- Terrorists hurl a grenade at Residency Road in Srinagar.

As the security officials assembled at the spot, they triggered a car bomb, killing 11 persons and a photojournalist.

* 19 April 2000 -- The "human bomb" was used for the first time in Kashmir insurgency.

Two soldiers were killed in the suicide car bomb at the Army headquarters at Badamibagh area in Srinagar.

* 3 November 1999 -- Terrorists storm the Badamibagh Army headquarters, killing 10 soldiers including Defence Public Relations Officer Major Purshottam.
By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) and Amaravati Planning Design Research Institute (APDRI) entered into nine Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with seven global urban innovation organisations to collaborate in the development of long-term urban developmental strategies to make Amaravati a happy city.

The APCRDA also launched a new initiative called Happy Cities Forum to take forward the deliberations held at the summit.

On Thursday, the second day of the Happy Cities Summit-2019, the APCRDA officials signed pacts with organisations such as 100 Resilience Cities (100 RC), National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), New Cities Foundation, Women in Cities International (WICI), Civic Lab, and Charles Montgomerys Happy City Institute. The MoUs will facilitate the development of a happiness framework for the residential spaces in Amaravati, knowledge partnership with the organisations to prepare resilience strategy, gender inclusivity plans and ecomobility solutions in Amaravati.

Speaking on the occasion, APCRDA Commissioner Cherukuri Sreedhar said that the draft framework for developing happy and greenfield cities would most likely be ready by the next edition of the summit. The officials also announced the launch of a new initiative called Happy Cities Forum, with a mission to create a global network of cities, institutions, industry partners and investors to work on a common goal of happy cities.

Delegates from about 30 countries participated in the workshops and panel discussions held on happiness index, nudging private sector development, scaling enterprise-led innovation, physical and mental wellbeing, gender inclusivity and other themes. One of the learnings is that technology alone wont help us conceptualise happy cities. Technology is an enabler and civic innovation through data and technology, people empowerment, and most importantly, a vision would help us design a human-centered greenfield, livable and happy city, the APCRDA officials said.

The officials distributed prizes to winners of Amaravati Design Challenge-2019. The theme of the competition was designing small-scale residential development scenarios. While students from Bangalore-based Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering won the first prize of Rs 1 lakh, students from Ahmedabad-based CEPT University and Gwalior-based Madhav Institute of Technology and Science won second (Rs 50,000) and third prize (Rs 25,000), respectively.
Ant Financial acquires UK payments firm

From:ChinaDaily | 2019-02-15 03:11

Deal for WorldFirst thought to be worth more than$700 million

Ant Financial, the fintech company owned by Chinese internet giant Alibaba, has taken a major step into Europe through the acquisition of United Kingdom payments companyWorldFirst.

Neither party has disclosed an amount for the deal, however when negotiations first came to light in December multiple reports valued the takeover at 550 million pounds ($704 million).

The acquisition was confirmed by WorldFirst Chief Executive Jonathan Quin in a letter to customers on Thursday.

We believe that becoming a part of the Ant Financial group and of the wider Alibaba ecosystem will create opportunities for us to grow our existing relationship with you, said Quin, who will stay on as chief executive after the acquisition is complete.

In time we will be able to offer even better products and services to you as we maximize the benefits that will come from being a part of a larger group, he added.

The takeover follows Ant Financials attempted acquisition of the United States-based transfer company MoneyGram, which was blocked by the US government last year.

Earlier this month WorldFirst announced the closure of its US operations. Sources told The Financial Times the decision was made to avoid the Ant Financial deal being derailed by US regulators.

The deal marks a major milestone in Ant Financials European expansion.

Ant Financial is the parent company of Alipay, which is one of Chinas largest e-payment platforms. Alipay has more than 700 million users in China and more than 200 million users abroad.

Over the last few years, Ant Financial has pursued partnerships with numerous merchants in Europe which now accept payment from Chinese tourists and online shoppers through Alipay.

Alipay opened offices in London and Milan in 2015, and in 2016 signed partnership deals with Barclays in the UK, BNP Paribas in France, UniCredit in Italy and SIX Group in Switzerland.

In 2017, Alipay expanded its partnership with Adyen, a Dutch company which provides online or in-store payment platforms for more than 4,500 businesses worldwide.

WorldFirst has overseen 70 billion pounds in transfers since the company was founded in 2004. The company offers a number of international payment services and hasworked with Ant Financial on several of its European partnerships.

The takeover will also provide overseas merchants improved access to Chinas e-commercemarket, according to Ant Financial.

The tie-up will add WorldFirsts international online payments and virtual account products to Alipays broad range of technology solutions, enabling us to reach a greater number of customers, especially in the fast-growing area of cross border e-commerce, an Ant Financial spokeswoman said.

Alipay and WorldFirsts capabilities and international footprints are highly complementary, and together, we will be able to better serve small businesses and promote financial inclusion around the world.

China has the highest proportion of digital wallet users in the world, according to analysis from UK payment company Merchant Machine. Alipay and its rivals --TencentsWeChat Pay and UnionPaysQuickPass --are all vying to provide the go-to mobile payment platform for Chinese travelers.

Alipay and WeChat are both now accepted in 40 countries and regions, while QuickPass is available in 20.

WeChat Pay launched in Europe in 2017. That year Tencent worked with SafeCharge, a British payment technology company, to make WeChat Pay available at point-of-sale locations in the UK for the first time.
Abhijit Mulye By

Express News Service

MUMBAI: A ticket collector from Central Railway was arrested on Friday in Lonavala near Mumbai for shouting slogans in favour of Pakistan. While the railway administration has suspended the offender, Upendrakumar Shrivir Bahadur Singh, the court has sent him to police custody under charges of 'imputations and assertions prejudicial to national integration'.

A group of citizens had gathered at the Shivaji Chowk to pay their respects to CRPF jawans who died during the terrorist attack at Pulwama and to condemn the attack when 39-year-old Singh, who was passing by, started shouting slogans of 'Pakistan Zindabad'. The police on duty immediately caught hold of the person and brought him to the police station. After statements from one of the citizens, the person was booked under relevant sections and produced before the court. "The court sent him to police custody till February 18," said Police inspector BR Patil from the Lonavala police station.

He also added that when it was revealed that the offender, who hails from Patna, works as a TC at Lonavala railway station, the railway authorities were told about the incident following which they said that Singh has been put under suspension with immediate effect. "Upendrakumar and investigations are underway to check whether he has links with any of the radical groups," he added.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: Calicut Notebook restaurant, which has six outlets in the Gulf region, on Friday opened its first outlet in India in Kochi, providing the foodies in the city an experience in authentic Malabari food and south Indian fusion food.

Driven by three Malayalees - Satheesh Kumar, Gopin Poovamullathil and N P Vijayan - with about 20-25 years experience in the food industry, the restaurant chain has over the years developed its own unique starters, salads and juices.

Our objective is to provide 5-star-level fine-dining experience to our diners, said Satheesh.Calicult Notebook is located on the ground floor of the Express House building in Kaloor. We strive to give top quality food and services to our customers. Likewise, all our staff are required to follow the rules and regulations regarding personal hygiene and the hygiene at the restaurant and kitchen, he said. The group launched its first restaurant in Deira, Dubai in September 2012. Since then the hotel chain has added five more outlets in the Gulf - Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and three in Dubai - in three years, said Satheesh.

On the groups expansion plans, Gopi, executive director of Calicut Notebook, said the restaurant plans to open five more outlets in three years in Kozhikode, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai, apart from new ones in Qatar and Kuwait.

Our expansion plans are supported by Arabia Holdings Pvt Ltd in Dubai. They have been supporting us financially all along, added Satheesh.

Vijayan said the hotel is the one and only south Indian fusion food restaurant chain in the Gulf, and the diners can experience a similar experience at its Kochi outlet. We will be innovative, incorporating all the latest changes in the food sector, he said.

The Calicut Notebook will also provide catering services in the city, Vijayan added.
Mudita Girotra By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Teachers and students of central universities in the capital on Friday paid tributes to the 40 CRPF soldiers, who were killed in a terror attack. The universities have expressed solidarity with their families. More than 200 students joined the march at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus took out a candle march, called by the varsity's students' union.

They walked together in silence to remember "those who have lost their lives to this mindless violence and to collectively assert that the vicious cycle of violence engulfing J&K". JNU Teachers' Association extended support to the call for the peace march.

Many students joined a candle march organised by the RSS' student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at India Gate, demanding action against terrorism from the central government. The ABVP said that tributes were paid to the martyrs at PGDV, Aditi College, Motilal Nehru College, Dayal Singh College and Arts Faculty at events organised by them.

In a statement, ABVP welcomed the move to snatch the status of the Most Favoured Nation from Pakistan. "Every citizen of the country has anticipated the decisive answer against the accused. That the government should take prompt action against them," it said.

Jamia Millia Islamia's teachers' association condemned the "act of violence and cowardice in the strongest possible words" and called an emergency meeting of Executive Council to condemn the attack on security forces of India, and to observe the silence in memory of deceased CRPF jawans. "The JTA sends a strong message of solidarity and condolences to the families of deceased martyrs who were serving of the nation. Jamia Teachers Association condemns and denounces the attack on our security forces, the fellow citizens, in Pulwama," the JTA said in a press statement.

It added, "the history of Jamia is full of struggle in the path of nation development since 1920, and we will not leave any stone unturned this time too in helping the families who suffered an unbearable loss, said the Secretary of the association. "
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Coming down heavily on the lax regulatory framework for Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs), the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, headed by M Veerappa Moily, favoured a unique investor pays or regulator pays model for rating firms. Besides, it also suggested mandatory rotation of CRAs and considering ratings carried by dual or multiple firms.

The move comes in the backdrop of IL&FS debt default fiasco; its securities were backed by CRAs until the crisis unfolded. Currently, there are seven registered CRAs, of which three are listed.

In line with global practices, currently credit ratings are initiated by the borrower under the issuer pays model. Here, the entity issuing the financial instrument pays CRAs upfront to rate the underlying securities, potentially leading to a conflict of interest and compromise the quality of analysis or the objectivity of the ratings. The Committee would therefore suggest that the Ministry/Regulator may consider other options as well, such as investor pays model or regulator pays model after weighing the relevant pros and cons, it noted. Alternately, it suggested regulators SEBI and RBI to determine in consultation with CRAs an appropriate rating fee structure, payable by the issuer.

This is a departure from the previous committee recommendations, most notably by the Krishnan Committee on Comprehensive Regulation for Credit Rating Agencies (2009), which favoured the issuer pays model saying other alternatives arent desirable or feasible as they lead to greater problems. However, it recommended transparency regarding disclosure of conflict of interest and the fees received.

Incidentally, the role of CRAs in advance economies too was questioned following the collapse of Lehman Bros and other institutions of repute, raising concerns about the level of due diligence by CRAs.

Meanwhile, the committee suggested exploring the mandatory rotation of rating agencies along the lines of statutory auditors to avoid the pitfalls of long association between the issuer and the CRA and particularly considering the recent instances of failure of CRAs in sensing simmering trouble in their client-entities and eliminate complacency. It also suggested making rating compulsorily carried out by more than one agency (dual or multiple), particularly for debt instruments/bank credit involving large amounts, say more than `100 crore.

This will help the investors to access different positions/viewpoints for an informed decision. On the same premise, the committee would also suggest that the existing threshold for registration of CRAs may also be suitably lowered/ modified with a view to encouraging more entities, particularly start-ups with the requisite capability and expertise to become part of the industry, the committee noted.
The government pressured appraisers to hike their valuation of prime property for tax purposes, sources said Thursday.

A look at the latest assessment of the 10 most expensive pieces of land in Seoul unveiled by the Korea Appraisal Board recently shows seven of them rising at almost the same rate.

The valuation of the land on which sits the Nature Republic cosmetics shop in Seoul's Myeong-dong shopping district rose 100.4 percent from W91.3 million to W183 million per sq.m. The valuation of the Woori Bank site nearby increased 100.3 percent and of the Uniqlo store site 100.1 percent (US$1=W1,128).

Appraisers agree that the huge increase must have been motivated by government pressure.

Sources said an official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport told around 20 appraisers during a recent meeting in Seoul that the ministry wants to boost the average valuation of land across the country to 70 percent of market rates over the next four to five years. But the valuation of pieces of land worth more than W30 million per sq. m was to be raised at once.


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Genres : Comedy and Fantasy



: Comedy and Fantasy Running Time : 130 min.



: 130 min. Directed by : Rob Marshall



: Rob Marshall Starring : Emily Blunt, Ben Whishaw

Synopsis : Decades after her original visit, the magical nanny returns to help the Banks siblings and Michael's children through a difficult time in their lives.
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Hatfield Chamber of Commerce is becoming part of Indian Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The European Commission added Saudi Arabia, Panama, Nigeria and other jurisdictions to a blacklist of nations seen as posing a threat because of lax controls on terrorism financing and money laundering, the EU executive said Wednesday.

The move is part of a crackdown on money laundering after several scandals at EU banks but has been criticized by several EU countries including Britain worried about their economic relations with the listed states, notably Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi government said it regretted the decision in a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency, adding: "Saudi Arabia's commitment to combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism is a strategic priority."

Panama said it should be removed from the list because it recently adopted stronger rules against money laundering. Despite pressure to exclude Riyadh from the list, the commission decided to list the kingdom, confirming a Reuters report in January.

 Financial Relations Complicated

Apart from damage to their reputations, inclusion on the list complicates financial relations with the EU. The blocs banks will have to carry out additional checks on payments involving entities from listed jurisdictions.

The list now includes 23 jurisdictions, up from 16. The commission said it added jurisdictions with "strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing regimes."

Other newcomers to the list are Libya, Botswana, Ghana, Samoa, the Bahamas and the four United States territories of American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam.

The other listed states are Afghanistan, North Korea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Yemen. Bosnia, Guyana, Laos, Uganda and Vanuatu were removed.
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WHO ARE THE MIDNIGHT FREEMASONS?



RWB Robert H. Johnson RWB Johnson is a Co-Managing Editor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Freemason out of the 2nd N.E. District of Illinois. He currently serves as the Secretary of Spes Novum Lodge No. 1183. He is a Past Master of Waukegan Lodge 78 and a Past District Deputy Grand Master for the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. Brother Johnson currently produces and hosts weekly Podcasts (internet radio programs) Whence Came You? & Masonic Radio Theatre which focuses on topics relating to Freemasonry. He is also a co-host of The Masonic Roundtable, a Masonic talk show. He is a husband and father of four, works full time in the executive medical industry. He is the co-author of "It's Business Time - Adapting a Corporate Path for Freemasonry", The Masters Word: A Short Treatise on the Word, the Light, and the Self  Annotated Edition and author of "How to Charter a Lodge: A No-Nonsense, Unsanctioned Guide. More books are on the way.

Todd E. Creason, 33 Todd E. Creason, 33 is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog, and an award-winning author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. Todd started the Midnight Freemason blog in 2006, and in 2012 he opened it up as a contributor blog The Midnight Freemasons (plural). Todd has written more than 1,000 pieces for the blog since it began. He is a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL) where he currently serves as Secretary. He is a Past Sovereign Master of the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. He is a Fellow at the Missouri Lodge of Research (FMLR). He is a charter member of Admiration Chapter No. 282 and is a Past EHP. He currently serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois A.F. & A.M. as Chairman of the Masonic Education Committee and State Education Officer. You can contact him at webmaster@toddcreason.org

WB Gregory J. Knott WB Gregory J. Knott is a founding member and Senior Contributor of the Midnight Freemasons. He is a Past Master of St. Joseph Lodge No. 970 in St. Joseph (IL) and a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL) and Naval Lodge No. 4 in Washington, DC. Hes a member of the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, Eastern Star and is the Charter Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign-Urbana. He is also a member of ANSAR Shrine (IL) and the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. Greg serves on the Board of Directors of The Masonic Society and is a member of the Scottish Rite Research Society and The Philathes Society. Greg is very involved in Boy Scoutsan Eagle Scout himself, he is a member of the National Association of Masonic Scouters. You can contact him at gknott63@gmail.com

Bro. Steve Harrison, 33 Bro. Steve Harrison, 33, is Past Master of Liberty Lodge #31, Liberty, Missouri. He is also a Fellow and Past Master of the Missouri Lodge of Research. Among his other Masonic memberships is the St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite bodies, and Moila Shrine. He is also a member and Past Dean of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. Brother Harrison is a regular contributor to the Midnight Freemasons blog as well as several other Masonic publications. Brother Steve was Editor of the Missouri Freemason magazine for a decade and is a regular contributor to the Whence Came You podcast. Born in Indiana, he has a Master's Degree from Indiana University and is retired from a 35-year career in information technology. Steve and his wife Carolyn reside in northwest Missouri. He is the author of dozens of magazine articles and three books: Freemasonry Crosses the Mississippi, Freemasons  Tales From the Craft and Freemasons at Oak Island.

WB Bill Hosler WB Bill Hosler was made a Master Mason in 2002 in Three Rivers Lodge #733 in Indiana. He served as Worshipful Master in 2007 and became a member of the internet committee for Indiana's Grand Lodge. Bill is currently a member of Roff Lodge No. 169 in Roff Oklahoma and Lebanon Lodge No. 837 in Frisco, Texas. Bill is also a member of the Valley of Fort Wayne Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite in Indiana. A typical active Freemason, Bill also served as the High Priest of Fort Wayne's Chapter of the York Rite No. 19 and was commander of the Fort Wayne Commandery No. 4 of the Knight Templar. During all this, he also served as the webmaster and magazine editor for the Mizpah Shrine in Fort Wayne Indiana.

WB Darin A. Lahners WB Darin A. Lahners is our Co-Managing Editor. He is a host and producer of the "Meet, Act and Part" podcast. He is currently serving the Grand Lodge of Illinois Ancient Free and Accepted Masons as the Area Education Officer for the Eastern Masonic Area. He is a Past Master of St. Joseph Lodge No.970 in St. Joseph. He is also a plural member of Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL), where he is also a Past Master. Hes a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, a charter member of Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter No. 282 and is the current Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign  Urbana (IL). You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com.

Robert Edward Jackson, PM Robert Edward Jackson is a Past Master and recovering Secretary of Montgomery Lodge located in Milford, MA. His Masonic lineage includes his Father (Robert Maitland), Grandfather (Maitland Garrecht), and Great Grandfather (Edward Henry Jackson), a founding member of Scarsdale Lodge #1094 in Scarsdale, NY. When not studying ritual, he's busy being a father to his three kids, a husband, Boy Scout Leader, and a solutions engineer to pay for it all. He can be reached at info@montgomerylodge.org

RWB Spencer Haman RWB Spencer Hamann is a luthier and musicologist working in northern Illinois. He is an avid woodworker and artificer, and enjoys antique restorations and custom commissions.Curatorship and adding value are core to his personal philosophies. Spencer was Raised in 2013, and served Libertyville Lodge No. 492 as Worshipful Master from 2017-2018. He is the Senior Warden of Spes Novum Lodge No. 1183, and serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois as their Grand Representative to Wisconsin, District Education officer for the 1st NE District, and is a Certified Lodge Instructor (CLI). He can be contacted at spencer@sahamann.com

WB Chris Hathaway WB Christopher J. Hathaway was raised in Catlin Masonic Lodge #285 and is a plural member of Normal Masonic Lodge #673 as well as Bloomington Lodge #43, where he is a Past Master. He belongs to the Valley of Danville, AASR where he is the Most Wise Master of the George E. Burow Chapter of Rose Croix and Membership Chairman. He is the Oriental Guide in the Divan for the Mohammed Shiners, and the 1st Vice President of the Bloomington Shrine Club. Other appendant bodies include the Gao Grotto and the Illinois Lodge of Research. Outside of the lodge, he enjoys spending time with his wife Taylor and cheering on the Fighting Illini and Chicago Cubs.

Bro. Randy Sanders Bro. Randy and his wife Elyana live in O'Fallon, MO just outside of St. Louis. Randy earned a

Bachelors in Chemistry with an emphasis in Biochemistry, and he works in telecom IT. He volunteers his time as a professional and personal mentor, is an NRA certified Chief Range Safety Officer, and enjoys competitive tactical pistol. He has a 30+ year background teaching Wing Chun Kung Fu, Chi Kung, and healing arts. Randy's Masonic bio includes lodge education officer of two blue lodges, running the Wentzville Lodge Book Club, active in York Rite AMD, Scottish Rite Valley of St. Louis co-librarian, Clerk of the Academy Of Reflection through the Valley of Guthrie, a trained facilitator for the Masonic Legacy Society. As a pre-COVID-19 pioneer in Masonic virtual education, Randy is an administrator of Refracted Light and an international presenter on esoteric topics. Randy enjoys facilitating and presenting Masonic esoteric education, and he hosts an open, weekly Masonic virtual Friday Happy Hour. Randy is an accomplished home chef, a certified barbecue judge, raises Great Pyrenees dogs, and enjoys travel and philosophy.

Ken JP Stuczynski Bro. Ken JP Stuczynski is a member of West Seneca Lodge No.1111 and recently served as Master of Ken-Ton Lodge No.1186. As webmaster for NYMasons.Org he is on the Communications and Technology Committees for the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. He is also a Royal Arch Mason and 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, serving his second term as Sovereign Prince of Palmoni Council in the Valley of Buffalo, NMJ. He also coordinates a Downtown Square Club monthly lunch in Buffalo, NY. He and his wife served as Patron and Matron of Pond Chapter No.853 Order of the Eastern Star and considered himself a Masonic Feminist.

Blog Archive
Ma Huateng (R), Wang Yaping (C) and Xu Liyi, deputies to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), receive an interview before the opening meeting of the first session of the 13th NPC in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2018. Photo: Xinhua

China is considering including a proposal to amendments to the country's Criminal Law to curb military-related rumors online to better protect the image of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), PLA Daily reported on Friday.

A review on the proposal was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) in December 2018. And it will be presented to NPC deputies during the second session of the 13th NPC, which is expected to take place in March.

The proposal is under consideration to the amendment to China's Criminal Law.

The development came after 37 deputies to the NPC, China's top legislative body, made proposals during the 2018 annual two sessions - the 13th NPC and the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the report said.

The proposal calls for amending and improving laws and regulations, including the county's Criminal Law, to create a better litigation system for clearer, more authoritative and powerful legal tools against online military-related rumors, the PLA Daily report said.

Jiang Yong, one of the 37 deputies and also political commissar of the PLA Beijing Garrison Command, was quoted by the report as saying that "in recent years, more than 10,000 military-related slanderous comments have surfaced online annually," citing major false rumors such as "China offering soft loans of 20 billion yuan ($2.95 billion) to India in exchange for their retreat" as an example.

"Also, some online celebrities deliberately hype military-related hotspot issues, smearing the army's image and creating bad blood between the military and civilians, which has created extremely bad political and social influence," Jiang said.
Olga Dudoglo and her colleagues discussing with the voters from Comrat

Olga Dudoglo is 27 years old and she is from Comrat. She graduated the local university and is now a lawyer. Last year she joined other volunteers with whom she visited each village and town in the region of Gagauzia to inform the voters about the upcoming parliamentary elections in February 2019. "There were villages where I, personally, have never been to, but the campaign brought me there. People were surprised to see us as we came from to inform them about the elections and the new electoral system, says Olga.

The electoral education campaign in Gagauzia was conducted by two non-governmental organizations, Comrat Legal Clinic and Media Birlii - Union Media, in partnership with the Central Electoral Commission and the Election Commission in Gagauzia. The NGOs were selected according by competition and benefited from a grant offered by a United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP) project funded the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the British Embassy in Chisinau through the Good Governance Fund and the Embassy of Netherlands through the Matra Program.

So, from May to the end of last summer, Olga, together with other volunteers, answered to the questions of the people from Gagauzia, informed them about the new electoral system based on which the parliamentary elections take place. Guides and posters were distributed, available in all three languages spoken in the region: Romanian, Russian and, of course, Gagauz.

Many people were surprised to see that the brochures were also available in Gagauz language

"People had different levels of familiarity with the subject, some did not even know what kind of elections are coming. So, I knocked at the gates and doors and talked to them, I explained them what a mixed electoral system means, says the volunteer.

Some voters addressed additional questions and wanted to know more information, says Olga: "Many were glad and surprised that the brochures were also available in Gagauz. I liked this campaign because the information we have provided, the information materials were all accessible and easy to read for all the citizens of the Gagauzia region."
The killing of Bradford shines a light on two issues. The first is the fallacy of the NRA policy of arming citizens  because when a good guy with a gun attempts to stop a bad guy, the good guy can be shot by the police. The second, as the attorney general made clear in his report, the law does not hold police culpable for being wrong in killing an innocent person; the law only requires that the officer act reasonably in taking the action that results in the killing.
Several changes were made in 2003, through legislation and through court rules. One of them restricted lawsuits to being filed in the county where the harm allegedly happened. Before that, a suit could be brought in any county where the doctor or hospital did business. Many cases ended up in Philadelphia, which had a reputation for juries siding with patients and being extremely generous with damage awards.
Taking the knowledge of what to do, and what not to do in the weather business that I picked up from past roles has made the transition a lot easier. As I continued to grow my firm last year, the need for a larger team was apparent, and having known my now partners at Empire Weather for nearly 10 years, it was a win-win for everyone involved. They are incredibly passionate, genuine, and very good at what they do, and it gave me the confidence to determine that the decision was the right one.
The transit study is sorting through the applications now and figuring out which projects are eligible for funding. It should have a clear idea in March, and a new long-range plan will be completed before the end of the year. I plan to keep an eye on what comes up for consideration in March since it gives us an insight into what our local leaders consider to be priority needs.
Leeson noted that the school wasnt involved on the day Esterly and Amy Yu flew to Mexico last March, sparking an international manhunt. Luus suit alleges Esterly met her daughter at her bus stop before school that day, although he had previously signed her out of classes at least 10 times. Papers on file at the school had been altered to list Esterly as the girls stepfather and allow him to take her home, the suit states.
A search of the home revealed a Ruger P85 9mm pistol, an AMT .380 pistol and a Smith & Wesson .22-caliber revolver had been stolen, prosecutors said. U.S. Marshals found the AMT in Christys possession when he was arrested, and authorities recovered a note in which Christy detailed where he had left the revolver in Kentucky, according to prosecutors.
At the hearing, Mark Zolfaghari, chief counsel for the St. Lukes University Health Network, threatened to end St. Lukes partnership with Grand View Hospitals high-risk pregnancy specialists if the justices overturn the rule. Grand Views Bucks County location is too close to Philadelphia for St. Lukes to take the chance that a malpractice lawsuit against Grand View could be filed in the city, he said.
SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of a suicide attack targeting paramilitary troopers belonging to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir on Thursday has risen to 40, officials said.

Many others are reported to be wounded in the attack.

The car bomb attack was carried out at 3:15 p.m. local time on a national highway near Lethpora village in Pulwama district, about 27 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"We are being told a total of 40 CRPF men were killed in today's car bomb attack that occurred at Lethpora," a local government official said. "Many other personnel who were wounded have been hospitalised."

According to police officials, a vehicle laden with around 350 kg of explosives hit a CRPF convoy by ramming into a bus and blowing itself up.

Images from the spot showed blood spilled on road, body parts strewn, glass shreds from wind shields scattered along with baggage on road.

Officials said the Srinagar bound convoy was coming from Jammu and had over 65 vehicles in it.

Security analysts said the attack is the deadliest in the history of Kashmir militancy since 1989.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying a fidayeen (suicide bomber) carried out a car bomb blast to target the convoy.

"A JeM spokesperson Muhammad Hassan in a statement said many forces vehicles were destroyed in the attack," local newsgathering agency GNS said. "The spokesperson identified the fidayeen as Aadil Ahmad alias Waqas Commando of Gundi Bagh, Pulwama."

Eyewitnesses said smoke was billowing from the mangled vehicle and people ran for cover following the blast.

Immediately after the attack contingents of police, paramilitary and fire tenders reached to the spot to carry out rescue work.

"The wounded are undergoing treatment at an army hospital in Srinagar," Inspector General of CRPF Zulfiqar Hassan told the media. "We are carrying out post-blast analysis at the spot."

Officials said the death toll was likely to rise.

"There is apprehension that the death toll may go up because of the critical condition of many among the wounded," a police official said.

Officials said Indian home minister Rajnath Singh has cancelled his visit to Bihar and is scheduled to visit the region on Friday.

Reports said a team of India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) would arrive at the blast site on Friday to help investigate the blast.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned the attack on paramilitary.

"Attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs. May the injured recover quickly," Modi tweeted.

Militant groups opposing New Delhi's rule are engaged in a guerrilla war with Indian troops in the region since 1989. Gunfight between the two sides takes place intermittently.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.
DS Containers, a subsidiary of Japans Daiwa Can, makes aerosol and liquid pour cans at factories in Illinois using laminated tin-free steel that U.S. suppliers have shown no interest in manufacturing, CEO Bill Smith told the Commerce Department. Smith received the go-ahead to import up to 390,000 tons of the material from Japan, the Netherlands and United Kingdom. If the waivers had not been granted, Smith warned, DS Containers might have been forced to shut down production lines or lay off employees.
Among those in support of Trumps decision is Rep. Dan Meuser, a Republican whose district includes Schuylkill and Carbon counties. The $1.4 billion in border funding doesnt go far enough in addressing security concerns, and forced the president to take his own action, Meuser said in a statement Thursday evening after the House voted on the spending bill.
Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School is eyeing 31 acres of Jaindl-owned land in Northampton County for its proposed 200,000-square-foot school.

The charter school would pay $10.9 million for the land at 5300 Jaindl Blvd. in Hanover Township, according to the sellers agreement between the charter school and the estate of Frederick J. Jaindl. The land is near Route 512.

The Morning Call viewed a copy of the sellers agreement. It is signed by Martin Smith, president of the charter schools board of trustees, and David and Mark Jaindl.

Shea Ace, the charter schools community relations coordinator, confirmed Friday morning that the charter school is looking at 5300 Jaindl Blvd., but said its not a done deal.

She said the charter school could possibly look at other locations as well.

On Thursday, Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School said it is looking to build a new $45 million school for the 2023-24 year. LVA currently rents, and its lease expires in August 2023.

Smith, the charter schools board of trustees president, said LVA wants to own its own building because its more fiscally responsible than renting.

The charter school pays more than $3 million annually in rent, he said. LVA plans to take out a loan for the new school, Smith said.

Were looking to change that rent line in our budget to a mortgage line, he said.

In a news release, the charter school said it will have to work its way through a number of large obstacles before moving forward with closing on the property sometime next spring.

Hanover Township Manager Jay Finnigan Jr. said the township hasnt received any plans for 5300 Jaindl Blvd.

"To the best of my knowledge, that area is not zoned for any schools, Finnigan said. I doubt that the board of supervisors is interested in any rezoning of that property.

The charter school needs the permission of both the Bethlehem Area and Saucon Valley school boards to change locations because it is a regional charter school. It serves grades kindergarten through 12th.

LVA has not yet filed a formal request with Bethlehem Area for a move. Saucon Valley Superintendent Craig Butler declined to comment.

If either school district does not approve the location change, the charter school can appeal to the state Charter School Appeal Board.

Most of LVAs 1,700 students come from Bethlehem Area. The district is paying more than $12 million this year for 1,035 of its students to attend LVA.

A news release put out by LVA says the new building would be for 1,950 students.

Eight architectural firms have responded to LVAs request for proposal.

Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School leases a total of 154,800 square feet in four facilities at 1550, 1560, 1640 and 1650 Valley Center Parkway, according to Lisa Pektor, president of PennCap Properties, which owns the buildings.

If the charter school does build a new facility, it will follow an on-growing trend among charter schools looking to stop renting.

Circle of Seasons Charter School purchased its building in Weisenberg Township in 2017. Before that, the charter school had been renting from Penn State Lehigh Valley.

Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts had its foundation construct a new facility in South Side Bethlehem that the school moved into in 2015.

Executive Education Academy Charter School in Allentown had its foundation purchase its building when the charter school wanted to build a 1,600-seat gym.

Unlike Executive Education and the charter arts high school, Smith said LVAs foundation will not own the building.

The charter school opened in 2002 and follows the International Baccalaureate curriculum, a globally focused program that requires students to take a series of demanding tests to receive an optional IB diploma.

jpalochko@mcall.com

Twitter @Jpalochko

610-820-6613
Sahagian said these changes would significantly impact agriculture, including dairy farmers as cows produce less milk in the heat. It could also spell trouble for Pennsylvanias lucrative export: electricity. The state is so good at generating power because its rich in rivers, but water levels in these new, drier summers would likely be insufficient for power plants  and at a time when hotter summers will increase demand.
The arbitrators ruling does not say that LCA is wrong in our assessment, but simply confirms it is difficult to prove, Gross said. That being said, we are evaluating the ruling in the context of the ongoing discussions with the city about how to ensure the operation of the citys water and sewer system is operationally and financially viable.
The K-12 charter school is interviewing architectural firms this week for a new school that officials would like to open for the 2023-24 year, according to a news release from the school. LVAs lease in Hanover Township, Northampton County, expires August 2023.
As we know, sexual abuse is a shameful and destructive problem that is found in all aspects of society, yet it is especially egregious when it occurs within the church, and such abuse cannot be tolerated, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said in a letter accompanying the release.
So I punched his ass back, Smollett told Robin Roberts in the interview. And then we started tussling. It was very icy, and we ended up tussling by the stairs, fighting, fighting, fighting. There was a second person involved who was kicking me in my back, and then it just stopped and they ran off.
A 66-year-old woman was killed after she fell in the driveway of her Palmer Township home and was accidentally run over by her husband, police said.

Debra Mitchell was getting out of the passenger seat of her husband's SUV around 3 p.m. Thursday in the 1200 block of Anna Marie Street, and fell near the rear of the vehicle, possibly because of a medical issue, township Detective Jim Alercia said.

Because Debra Mitchell was on the ground and out of sight, her husband, Terry Mitchell, didn't see her as he backed out of the driveway , Alercia said.

Police initially were dispatched to a report of a woman who fell in the driveway and suffered a head injury, he said. Police later learned that Terry Mitchell had pulled into the driveway so that Debra Mitchell could get out of the vehicle, Alercia said. And not knowing that his wife had fallen behind the vehicle, Terry Mitchell continued in reverse, he said.

Thursday afternoon, the victim was covered in a pink blanket in the driveway of the home, which is in a cul-de-sac. Palmer Township police and the Northampton County coroner were at the scene investigating.

Alercia said investigators have ruled it an accident.

mgamiz@mcall.com

Twitter @mannypantalones

610-820-6595
Harris was taken into custody during the raid on unrelated drug charges. During the search of the home, police located five bags containing blue pills and two guns, one with the serial number scratched off, court records show. Police also found paraphernalia used for packaging drugs.
By Wang Jun

QINGDAO, Feb. 15 (ChinaMil) -- According to the local media report, a warship of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Navy named after Lhasa, capital of Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region in southwest China, was recently unveiled in Qingdao, east Chinas Shandong Province.

A 10,000-tonne guided-missile destroyer of the PLA Navy has been named Lhasa said the Civil Affairs Bureau of Lhasa in late 2018 in responding to a letter asking about the naming progress.

The letter said, Regarding the naming of destroyers, presently Lhasa has lagged behind the other provincial capitals. As far as I know, warships Urumqi, Hohhot and Xining have been named and put into service... As a citizen of Lhasa, I hope that the civil affairs department can speed up the work of naming a destroyer with Lhasa, which will be of great importance to promoting Lhasa, a world-famous tourist destination. Therefore, submitting a naming application to the PLA Navy as soon as possible is a surefire way. Neither the citizens of Lhasa nor the Tibetans can afford to wait.

The Civil Affairs Bureau of Lhasa published its reply to the letter on December 19, 2018 on the Municipal Government of Lhasas website under The Mayors Mailbox column: A 10,000-tonne Type 055 guided-missile destroyer has been named Lhasa after negotiation with the PLA Navy.

The above-mentioned 10,000-tonne warship is PLA Navys new-generation destroyer, the Type 055 guided-missile destroyer. On June 28, 2017, the first of Chinas Type 055 guided-missile destroyer held its launching ceremony at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai.

Equipped with new air defense, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons, the home-built warship has made a series of breakthroughs in key technologies such as overall design, information integration and assembly construction for large-size warships. The warship is characterized by strong information perception, air defense and anti-missile as well as maritime strike capabilities. It serves as a landmark for the strategic transformation and development of the PLA Navy.

Apart from Shanghai Jiangnan Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd., Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd. which is under China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) is also undertaking the construction of Type 055 guided-missile destroyers, two of which were launched simultaneously in July 2018.
During his teen years, the couple that had intended to adopt him relinquished their custody, and by the time he graduated from high school, he was in the custody of Bucks County Children and Youth Services, the lawsuit said. The couple, whom Parker said never formalized their adoption of him or two other children, did not obtain an ID card for him confirming his legal status, the lawsuit said.
I am deeply disturbed by the senseless gun violence that struck the Aurora community today. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. While we wait for more details, its clear we owe a debt of gratitude to law enforcement and the first-responders who rushed into harms way to protect innocent people. Our country needs to take immediate action to stop what has become an epidemic of gun violence in our nation. I, along with the majority of Americans, refuse to accept this fact as a normal part of our way of life at work, schools, and in our communities. Every person deserves the right to go to work or school without the threat of violence.
The first thing everyone seems to think about when they remember him is the way that he died, Kabler said. But he had 30 years of hysterical comedy and brilliant acting and I think thats what he wants to be remembered forhow much fun he had with people. I personally enjoy playing him because I love him. Maybe Im doing this for him, but Im doing it for myself, too. Im working now more than I ever did because of Robin.
Its an amazing show ... people are coming back time and time again because everywhere you turn, theres more stuff to do and discover. We have the entire show thats touring the U.S. Weve got the rocket ship, the vomit comet G-force simulator and weve got the whole International Space Station, Smith explained.
Its the best time of the year for movie lovers: awards season. With the 91st Academy Awards just a few weeks away, now is the perfect time to plan an Oscars party your friends will be talking about for the next few months.

If youve never been to an Oscars party, youll love how easily this party can be dressed up (or down) depending on your preferences. Heres our guide to planning the perfect Oscars soiree this year.

Invitations

You can be as creative as youd like with the theme of your invitations, whether you want to highlight your favorite movie up for an Oscar or keep it more classic Hollywood. Either way, sending them digitally (either via Facebook, evite, email-thread or group text) are a great way to go because its eco-friendly and effective.

Red carpet or Hollywood grunge?

Its your party, so decide early on what type of event youd like to host. If its a more casual get-together, youll want to skip the black tie and opt for more comfortable clothing. However, if youre searching for an excuse to dress up, announce red carpet attire as the official theme of your event, and encourage all your friends to dress to the nines.

For a slightly more adventurous twist, suggest your friends dress like a nominated actors character or one of their most iconic roles, and turn your party into a costume party to remember.

Set the scene

Decorating your home is easy since Oscars night falls right after Valentines Day. You can stock up on red plates, napkins, and decor for a fraction of the price once Valentines merchandise goes on sale.

If youre wanting to add a classier touch, opt for old-fashioned Hollywood glam styling with gold, black, and cream colored decorations. The most important part is your seating arrangements. Be sure you have a place for everyone to sit while watching the main event.

Award-winning cuisine

One snack youll want to have on hand at all times is popcorn...and plenty of it! Invest in a popcorn maker or stock up on bags of your favorite brand in advance. Champagne or wine is another popular option for keeping your party red carpet-worthy.

If youre hosting a dinner party, ask your guests to each bring a dish to help cut down on cost, or cook something thats easy to serve, like lasagna or pasta. If your party is more casual, ordering a few pizzas is the perfect way for everyone to get what they want.

Lastly, be sure you have the ingredients to serve the official drink of the Academy Awards: the Oscartini. The Oscartini consists of 1.5 oz. of Bacardi Limon, 1 oz. of Cointreau, 1.5 oz. of cranberry or pomegranate juice, a splash of Sprite, and a rim of edible gold flakes.

Celebrity games

Keep guests excited during the red carpet coverage by casting votes on who they think will win in each category. You can award prizes to anyone who wins in a category, or award the first, second, and third place winners. You can find all the nominees here.

You can also add an extra level of fun by creating your own celebrity trivia game to play by searching for interesting facts about the nominees online. Award prizes to the winners and find out how much your friends really know about their favorite actors.

A costume contest or best dressed contest is also appropriate during an Oscars party. Let everyone in attendance vote on the winner  they not only win a prize but score bragging rights for the next year.

The official Oscars shopping list

Ready to start planning? Heres everything youll need:

Hollywood-themed party supplies: Make sure theres no doubt about where your guests are with these Oscar worthy party supplies, including plates, cups, napkins, and movie-themed photobooth props.

Classic Hollywood decor: With fancy straws, shiny tassels and poms, and old Hollywood styled garland and balloons, this party kit is the perfect way to turn your home into a fancy get-together.

Red carpet and paparazzi props: Your guests can arrive your party in style with a snazzy red carpet and paparazzi entryway.

Hollywood Walk of Fame stars: Write all of your guests names on these Hollywood-themed stars to show them theyre the celebrities in your life.

Party perfect Oscartini glasses: Serve Academy Award drinks in these stylish, modern martini glasses that your guests wont worry about breaking or knocking over.

A nostalgic popcorn maker: You can rent a machine or use your microwave, but this nostalgic popcorn maker is a pop of nostalgia for your Oscars-themed party.

Oscars trophies: Award winners of your Oscars games with their very own Oscar statuettes.

Courtney Johnston is a writer for BestReviews. BestReviews is a product review company with a singular mission: to help simplify your purchasing decisions and save you time and money. BestReviews never accepts free products from manufacturers and purchases every product it reviews with its own funds.

BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. BestReviews and its newspaper partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
With more than 800 participants in 30 countries, AASHEs program is the most widely recognized framework in the world for publicly reporting information related to a college or universitys sustainability performance. Participants report achievements in five overall areas: academics, engagement, operations, planning and administration, and innovation and leadership.
Just Borns version of Edison, working with plant engineer Joe Truse, completed the task in 1954, setting the stage for what would become the iconic Peeps brand. Born is no longer a young guy, but the 94-year-old former Just Born president was honored for his accomplishments during an hour-long surprise event Friday at the companys Bethlehem headquarters. Bethlehem Mayor Robert Donchez read a proclamation and declared Friday Bob Born Day, an appropriate time to honor the father of Peeps with Valentines Day now behind us and Easter approaching. Aside from his contributions to Peeps, Born also created the recipe for Hot Tamales in 1950 and came up with a way to increase the production rate for the cinnamon-flavored candies and Mike and Ike.
KCR announced the location of a second dispensary on Hamilton Boulevard in the Dorneyville section of South Whitehall Township. Its set to open in May, and the Guadagninos say theyre going to try to open a third location this year, too.
Industry analysts believe Rivian has the potential to become the Tesla of trucks, creating a niche in a highly profitable sector of the auto industry coveted by consumers and automakers alike. The company, which had previously raised nearly $700 million in funding, gains both additional capital and legitimacy through the partnership, even though it has yet to begin production.
Since 1867, Cedar Crest College has taken a bold approach to education by creating a college and a curriculum designed for women who want to achieve at the highest levels. Recognizing the multi-dimensional nature of students, Cedar Crest is dedicated to educating the next generation of leaders by preparing the whole student for life in the global community.
Winners of inaugural Johnson & Johnson Innovation Champions of Science Africa Storytelling Challenge

February 15, 2019 (Washington, D.C.) - Johnson & Johnson Innovation today announced five winners of the first Champions of Science - Africa Storytelling Challenge. The Challenge aimed to highlight the journeys of scientists and innovators working in Africa, and celebrate the impact of their work on families, communities and the world.

"The stories of scientists working on the African continent are often hidden, yet the work they do is vitally important, and their stories are often remarkable and inspiring," said Seema Kumar, Vice President, Innovation, Global Health and Policy Communication, Johnson & Johnson. "By showcasing the contributions of the talented scientists and innovators in Africa, we hope to build public engagement and inspire Africa's youth to pursue careers in science to help change the trajectory of health for humanity."

The Challenge received more than 100 entries from scientists and innovators in 22 African nations, including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, among others. An independent committee of scientists, science journalists and policymakers selected the winners, who will receive a $5,000 cash prize, publication of their stories, and international publicity.

Later today, during a special session at the AAAS Annual Meeting, Johnson & Johnson will host an Award celebration and panel discussion to spotlight the winners, hear from esteemed African leaders about the exciting science and technology developments taking place across the continent, and facilitate a discussion about the importance of engaging more champions of science across the world.

"I congratulate the winners of the Champions of Science - Africa Storytelling Challenge, whose stories showcase the diversity and depth of scientific innovation taking place across the African continent," said H.E. Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, Minister of Science & Technology, South Africa, who was represented by senior officials at the celebration. "I firmly believe that we need to create broader public awareness of the outstanding work being done by African innovators across diverse scientific disciplines. I am pleased that we have the opportunity to celebrate the stories of these outstanding champions of science."

The Africa Storytelling Challenge is part of Johnson & Johnson's ongoing commitment to convene and catalyze champions of science and to engage people of all generations and backgrounds to see the unlimited opportunities that science brings.

Champions of Science - Africa Storytelling Challenge Winners

Askwar Hilonga, Ph.D., Tanzania, whose story profiles his invention of a low-cost water filter to clean contaminated water in rural areas

Elizabeth Kperrun, Nigeria, whose story describes her work to develop award-winning language learning tools for children.

Philippa Ngaju Makobore, Uganda, who described how she and a team of engineers prototyped an automated non-invasive infusion controller to safely and accurately regulate life-saving intravenous fluids and drugs in resource-constrained settings including hospitals and treatment spaces with unreliable power supply.

Maame Ekua Manful, Ghana, who described her journey to form a start-up to create fortified foods to address the issue of vitamin A deficiency syndrome prevalent in developing countries.

Levit Nudi, Kenya, whose story profiles his development of an innovative mobile app to prevent use of counterfeit or substandard medicines.

Earlier this year, Johnson & Johnson Innovation announced Dr. Mahmoud Bukar Maina as the winner of the Africa Storytelling Challenge - YASE Edition, which was open to the participants of the Young African Scientists in Europe gathering in July 2018.

Champions of Science - Africa Storytelling Challenge Judges

An independent panel of judges selected the winners and included:

Luc Allemand, Ph.D., science journalist and Editor-in-Chief, Afriscitech

Rebekah Corlew, Ph.D., Project Director, Mass Media Fellowship, American Association for the Advancement of Science

Carly Cox, Ph.D., Civic Engagement Project Manager, Research!America

Francois Davel, Director, Science Forum South Africa, South Africa Department of Science and Technology

Aidan Gilligan, CEO, SciCom - Making Sense of Science

Mark Henderson, Director of Communications, Wellcome Trust

Nathalie Munyampenda, Managing Director, Next Einstein Forum

Tolu Oni, M.B.B.S., M.D. (Res), Clinical Senior Research Associate, Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge

Ron Winslow, freelance science journalist, former Deputy Bureau Chief, Health and Science, The Wall Street Journal; past president of the National Association of Science Writers

###

About Champions of Science

Science touches our lives in every imaginable way. From antibiotics and telecommunications, to genomics, precision medicine and 3D printing, science has improved the human condition, leading to longer, healthier, happier lives for people all over the world. To continue to advance, science needs champions!

As a global healthcare company, Johnson & Johnson Innovation is uniquely positioned to champion the role of science in society. We have launched Champions of Science - a multi-faceted public engagement initiative - to convene and catalyze champions of science and engage people of all generations and backgrounds to see the unlimited opportunities that science brings.

About Champions of Science Storytelling Challenge

The Champions of Science Storytelling Challenge series aim to spotlight the achievements and personal journeys of scientists and champions of science in all regions of the world. In addition to the Africa Storytelling Challenge, the company launched the Champions of Science Storytelling Challenge: Latin America & Caribbean edition, as well as other editions to highlight stories across multiple generations and geographies.

About Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC

Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC focuses on accelerating all stages of innovation worldwide and forming collaborations between entrepreneurs and Johnson & Johnson's global healthcare businesses. Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC provides scientists, entrepreneurs and emerging companies with one-stop access to science and technology experts who can facilitate collaborations across the pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer companies of Johnson & Johnson. Under the Johnson & Johnson Innovation umbrella of businesses, we connect with innovators through our regional Innovation Centers, JLABS, Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, Inc. and our Business Development teams to create customized deals and novel collaborations that speed development of innovations to solve unmet needs for patients. For more information please visit: http://www. jnjinnovation. com .

Press Contacts:

Seema Kumar

908-405-1144

skumar10@its.jnj.com

Diane Pressman

908-295-0857

dpressm1@its.jnj.com

This story has been published on: 2019-02-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Les membres du Cabinet ont pris de la ratification du Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) Economic Partnership Agreement, des actions prises pour Rodrigues touchee par le passage du cyclone Gelena entre autres.

1. Cabinet has agreed to the ratification of the United Kingdom (UK)  Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) Economic Partnership Agreement. The UK-ESA Economic Partnership Agreement provides the legal framework to safeguard the preferential access of Mauritius on the UK Market once the UK leaves the European Union. The Agreement contains three main chapters namely, trade in goods, fisheries and development cooperation. The UK-ESA Economic Partnership Agreement was signed on 31 January 2019 in London. Mauritius would now deposit the instrument of ratification as provided for in the Agreement with the COMESA Secretariat.

2. Cabinet has taken note of the measures taken by Government in the context of the recent passage of cyclone Gelena in Rodrigues. The following decisions have been taken with a view to assisting Rodrigues in redressing the situation, namely :

(a) the transfer of an amount of Rs35 million from the Prime Ministers Relief Fund to the Chief Commissioners Relief Fund for support specially with respect to the cleaning operations and urgent repairs required for roads, fishing boats, houses and other infrastructure. It would also cover provision of foodstuff and seeds;

(b) the urgent resumption of flights in the evening of Sunday 10 February 2019 from Mauritius to enable a team of 26 SMF personnel and 15 technical CEB employees to proceed to Rodrigues. The SMF officers are supporting the existing team in Rodrigues for road clearance, tree cutting operations and removal of debris in schools and other institutions. The CEB and SMF teams are providing assistance to the technical team in Rodrigues for reinstatement works. As at date, around 95% of the electricity network has already been restored;

(c) the conveyance of Dornier Aircraft M1 to Rodrigues on 11 February 2019 for the transport of various medicines, veterinary drugs and vegetables. A second consignment of vegetables, animal feed and bio fertilizers was sent to Rodrigues on 14 February 2019 by the Black Rhino Vessel;

(d) the Development Bank of Mauritius is providing loan facilities under the Gelena Rehabilitation Scheme to planters whose plantations have been affected by the cyclone; and

(e) staff of Mauritius Telecom proceeded to Rodrigues on 11 February 2019 to provide additional support for a faster network infrastructure repair. As at date, around 88% of the network has been restored.

Cabinet has also taken note that the Prime Minister would proceed to Rodrigues on 15 February 2019 to take stock of the situation after the passage of the cyclone and to have budgetary consultations.

3. Cabinet has taken note that the Open University of Mauritius would, in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning, deliver as from August 2019 a Degree in Youth Work and related courses, as part of the professionalisation of Youth Work in the Commonwealth. The main objective of this course is to constitute a pool of professional Commonwealth youth workers equipped with the relevant professional competencies, knowledge, attitudes and fieldwork experience required for effective youth development work at senior management levels within their region.

4. Cabinet has taken note that the annual meeting of the Conseil International des Jeux Des Iles de LOcean Indien (CIJ) would be held in Mauritius on 18 and 19 February 2019. The Agenda of the meeting would include, among others, 

(a) the readmission of Sri Lanka to CIJ and its participation in the 10th edition of the Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG); and

(b) a status report on the organisation of the IOIG 2019.

5. Cabinet has agreed to amendments being made to the Food Regulations 1999 to allow for the production, sale and import of flavoured milk manufactured from semi-skimmed (reduced fat) milk and skimmed milk.

6. Cabinet has taken note that according to the last monthly report published by the Statistics Unit of the Ministry of Tourism, 122,273 tourists visited Mauritius in the month of January 2019 as compared to 120,974 in the month of January 2018, i.e., an increase of 1.1%. Growth has been registered in arrivals from Germany (+18.8%), Italy (+9.3%), India (+3.1%), South Africa (+6.6%), Czech Republic (+69.2%), Romania (+62.4%), Poland (+21.1%), Sweden (+8.2%), Russia (+8.0%) and Saudi Arabia (+6.3%).

7. Cabinet has taken note that a national gathering would be held at the Swami Vivekananda International Convention Centre, Pailles to mark the International Womens Day 2019 on 8 March 2019. The theme retained by the United Nations for the celebration of International Womens Day 2019 is Think equal, build smart and innovate for change. In line with Sustainable Development Goal 5 which relates to Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare has retained the slogan Egalite zom-fam koumans par mwa. Members of womens associations, the private sector, government institutions, students and the civil society are expected to pledge for a gender inclusive society.

8. Cabinet has taken note of the Stamp Issue Programme for the year 2019. Postage Stamps would be issued depicting the following 

(a) officers working for rescue and lifesaving;

(b) the International Day of Families;

(c) the Day of the African Child;

(d) the International Day Against Violence Against Women;

(e) the forthcoming Jeux des iles de locean Indien 2019 ;

(f) the Metro Express project;

(g) the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi;

(h) the 75th Anniversary of the Mauritius Civil Aviation;

(i) the 300th Birth Anniversary of Pierre Poivre;

(j) the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Mauritius; and

(k) building of the First Cube Satellite in Mauritius.

9. Cabinet has taken note of the status of implementation of the social housing projects. Government is committed to construct some 12,000 social housing units for low income households. Out of the 12,000 new social housing units, a total of 3,901 units is expected to be completed by December 2019 and an additional 1,054 units by June 2020. Contract for works for the remaining 7,045 new social housing units is expected to be awarded by 31 August 2019.

10. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the recent mission of the Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation to Malaysia where he participated in the Euro-Asia Blockchain Summit 2019. The Summit was a platform for participants to meet the leaders of the Europe Blockchain Hub and the Asian Blockchain Hub, representatives of participating universities, the local community, as well as governmental and regulatory agencies for an in-depth understanding of the current trends and events in the Blockchain sphere. An African Blockchain Hub would be set up as a non-governmental organisation regrouping representatives from public, private sector and academia from Africa. Mauritius was selected to host the African Blockchain Hub which intends to facilitate :

(a) high-level advocacy for creation and development of Blockchain and emerging technologies;

(b) generate and distribute knowledge about Blockchain and emerging technologies;

(c) create new concepts throughout open research and innovation;

(d) design curriculums and organise events with the aim to generate and share knowledge and initiatives; and

(e) co-ordinate and run Blockchain and emerging technologies projects of common interest to the Hub stakeholders, members and partners.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the European Blockchain Hub, Asian Blockchain Hub and the African Blockchain Hub for the setting up of the World Blockchain Hub.

11. Cabinet has taken note that a Consultative Workshop was held on the recommendations submitted by the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group following the third cycle UPR of Mauritius in November 2018 in Geneva. The main objective of the Workshop was to engage consultative discussions with Ministries, Departments and the civil society on the recommendations prior to providing feedback to the Human Rights Council of the Plenary Session scheduled in mid-March 2019. The Workshop was facilitated by Mr Jean B. Fokwa Tsafack, Human Rights Officer at the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Regional Office for Southern Africa, Pretoria.

12. Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of the Board of the Bus Industry Employees Welfare Fund with Mr Vivekanand Narotamsing Auchoybur as Chairperson.

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Phillip Henry Bachman passed away on March 17, 2020. We will "fulPhil" Phil's desire of a music filled funeral and celebration of his life on July 1, 2021 at Zion Lutheran Church in Lake Crystal, MN. Visitation at 10:00 a.m., funeral at 11:00 a.m. and a celebration luncheon after at the church.
Sringar : In a worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir sice 1989, a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his packed with explosive into a CRPF bus on the Sringar -Jammu highway in Pulwama killing 44 jawans.

Keralalite VV Vasanthakumar of Wayanad was among the martyred soldiers. The Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammad ( JeM) claimed responsibility for the horror and released video clip of the suicide bomber.

In a statement to a local news agency GNS, a caller claiming to be a spokesman of JeM said it was fidayeen attack.

 !
1. What are the main laws regulating IP in Korea?

The laws regulating IP in Korea include Patent Act, Utility Model Act, Design Act, Trademark Act, Copyright Act and Unfair-Competition Prevention Act.

2. Which international IP agreements is Korea a party to? Are there any notable omissions?

The international IP agreements or treaties that Korea is a party to include: Paris Convention, Patent Cooperation Convention, WTO, Madrid Protocol, Budapest Treaty, Berne Convention, Hague Agreement, Strasbourg Agreement, Trade Mark Treaty and UPOV. Korea is not a member of Patent Law Treaty, Madrid Agreement: Indications of Source and Madrid Agreement: Marks.

3. What is the body responsible for granting IP rights and how is it structured?

It is Korean Intellectual Property Office ("KIPO") that administers the examination, registration and maintenance of patents, utility models, trademarks, and designs.

The KIPO has several bureaus for conducting or supporting the examination of such IP applications, and the total number of examiners in the KIPO is around 1,000.

Appeals against final rejection of patent applications issued by the Examiner may be brought only before the Board of Trials ("BOT") established within the KIPO. Each case is heard by a panel of 3 or 5 trial examiners. There are 11 divisions in the BOT, and each division has 7 to 12 trial examiners.

4. Are there inter partes or ex parte proceedings either pre- or post-grant for patents? If so, how do these work?

Since March 1, 2017, the KPA provides both post-grant patent revocation (ex parte proceeding) and invalidation trial (inter partes proceeding) to challenge a patent.

Patent revocation

For a patent registered on or after March 1, 2017, anyone may file a petition seeking for cancellation of a patent claim(s) within 6 months from the issuance of the patent. The grounds for such petition are limited to (i) lack of novelty/inventiveness only, based on printed publications that have not been cited by the Examiner during the prosecution of the patent; and (ii) violation of the first-to-file rule.

The ex parte procedure for patent cancellation is conducted through written arguments only. Before the BOT renders a decision to revoke the challenged claim(s), the patentee shall be notified of the reason(s) for revocation and given an opportunity to submit a response thereto (possibly together with a correction or amendment to the specification, claims and/or drawings) within a designated period.

The final decision rendered by the BOT to cancel any of the challenged claims may be appealed to the Patent Court, and, then, to the Supreme Court, while an appeal against the final decision to maintain the challenged claims is not allowed.

Patent invalidation trial

Effective as of March 1, 2017, only an interested party may initiate a patent invalidation trial anytime during or even after the life term of a patent, while the old KPA allowed any person, even anonymously, to request a trial to invalidate a patent as long as the request is made within 3 months from the issuance of the patent.

The grounds for nullification are broader than those for patent revocation, including most of the reasons for rejecting a patent application except for violation of the unity of invention requirement. In response to an invalidation petition, the patentee may file a request for correction of the specification/claims within the designated time period for submitting an answer to the petition.

5. Are there inter partes or ex parte proceedings either pre- or post-grant for trademarks? If so, how do they work?

Trademark opposition (pre-grant inter partes proceeding)

When a trademark application is published, anyone can file an opposition seeking for rejection of the application within 2 months from the date of publication. The grounds for such opposition are same as those for rejecting a trademark application in examination. The opposer cannot appeal against the decision to dismiss the opposition but may later file an invalidation action with the BOT after the opposed trademark has finally matured to registration.

Trademark invalidation trial (post-grant inter partes proceeding)

Only interested party may lodge a trademark invalidation trial with the BOT. The grounds for invalidation are broader than those for rejecting a trademark application. When invalidation is sought on the basis of similarity to a prior filed or registered mark, the invalidation trial should be filed within 5 years from the registration date of the mark against which invalidation is sought.

Trademark cancellation trial (post-grant inter partes proceeding)

Anybody can file a non-use cancellation trial against a registered trademark which has not been used for 3 consecutive years. The effect of a decision to cancel is retroactive to the date when the cancellation action was instituted.

6. Are there any other IP rights that are available in Korea? And what do international rights owners need to know about these?

In addition to patents and trademarks, utility models, designs, plant varieties, computer programs, copyrights, trade secrets, semiconductor integrated circuit layout designs can be protected under each relevant law in Korea. Salient features of the utility models and designs, inter alia, are as follows.

Utility model

An invention relating to a shape or structure of an article or a combination of articles may be protected as a registered utility model. The protection term is 10 years from the filing date. Under the old utility model system, a utility model was registered without any substantive examination to alleviate the burden of patent examination and to encourage the development and working of the so-called petty inventions. However, since the average waiting period of substantive examination of a patent application was reduced to less than 1 year, allowing the registration of a utility model without substantive examination became less advantageous.

In addition, the lack of substantive examination was likely to produce unstable rights as well as wasteful disputes to nullify such rights. Accordingly, the Korean Utility Model Act (KUMA) has abolished the registration with no substantive examination, and revived the substantive examination system.

Design

Design right is protected in Korea as an independent IP regime rather than as a type of patent. With respect to certain pre-designated articles such as clothing, fashion accessories, textiles or stationary goods, design protection is allowed after conducting a partial examination only. In conducting a partial examination, novelty and creativity on the basis of prior art is not reviewed. Upon filing, applicants are entitled to enjoy a six-month grace period of being exempted from loss of novelty. The term of protection is 20 years from the filing date.

GUI can be registered as a design in Korea, provided that GUI is depicted in an article and the title is not identified as GUI per se. Other notable systems of design protection in Korea include, among others, protection of partial design and related design system. It is possible to claim only a certain part of an article by depicting the claimed portion in solid lines and leaving the unclaimed portion in broken lines. A design that is similar only to the same applicant's prior design ("basic design") can be registered only as a "related design" of the basic design. A related design has to be filed within 1 year from the filing date of its basic design and the term of protection is limited to the life of the basic design. However, a related design is recognized of its own independent scope of right and, therefore, is not affected by the invalidation or abandonment of the basic design.

7. Which courts have jurisdiction in IP cases in Korea, at first instance and appeal? How are they structured?

Among the 18 District Courts in Korea, first instance infringement cases involving IP rights (patents, utility models, trademarks, designs, and plant variety rights) can be brought to only one of the 5 designated District Courts that has personal jurisdiction over the defendant. Regardless of the personal jurisdiction, theplaintiff may also choose to bring their cases before Seoul Central District Court which has been the most frequently used court for litigating IP matters than any other district courts in Korea. All the District Courts should follow the same substantive and procedural laws.

The number of judges of a court varies: in case of Seoul Central District Court, the court's Civil Division includes 105 divisions each comprising a single judge, 36 panels each comprising 3 judges, 9 appellate boards each comprising three judges. The court also has Criminal Division and Bankruptcy Division.

For the district court decisions on IP rendered after January 1, 2016, all appeals are exclusively heard by the Patent Court. An appeal before the Patent Court will be reviewed by a panel of 3 appellate court judges. The Patent Court has 17 appellate court judges and 22 technical advisors for assisting the patent court judges.

8. How common is IP litigation? How many patent/trademark cases in a typical year?

According to the statistics published by the Ministry of Court Administration, during the period of 5 years from 2013 to 2017, 796 patent infringement injunctive actions (inclusive of permanent and preliminary injunction) were newly brought, and 489 trademark infringement injunctive actions were filed. Meanwhile, 1,755 main actions for damages were filed in 2017, for infringement of intellectual property rights including patents, trademarks, design rights and copyrights, etc.

The material on this site is for law firms, companies and other IP specialists. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws.  2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQs.

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Mostly clear. Low 59F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph, becoming E and decreasing to less than 5 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low 59F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph, becoming E and decreasing to less than 5 mph.
Magnolia, AR (71754)

Today

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 76F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 76F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Magnolia, AR (71754)

Today

A few passing clouds. Low 76F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds. Low 76F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
The importance of wetlands

Mornington Peninsula Shire, Victoria, is celebrating its unique wetland areas under the World Wetlands Day 2019 international theme of wetlands and climate change.

World Wetlands Day is celebrated internationally each year on 2 February marking the anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) in Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971.

The Ramsar Conventions broad aims are to halt the worldwide loss of wetlands and to conserve, through wise use and management, those that remain.

Mayor David Gill said the Mornington Peninsula had two of Australias most significant wetlands.

The Western Port Ramsar wetlands near Hastings is part of the United Nations (UNESCO) declared special biosphere reserve of the Western Port catchment and one of only nine biospheres in Australia.

The Tootgarook wetlands provide habitat for a range of plants and animals, help reduce the impacts of flooding, maintain good water quality in rivers and recharge groundwater.

Both these wetlands also play an important role in our approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation, through capturing and storing carbon to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases, and providing resilience to hazards such as flooding, storm surge and sea level rise  yet these important and fragile ecosystems are susceptible to climate change and insensitive development.

Its up to all of us to work together as a community to proactively address climate change in our own backyard to secure these wetland areas for future generations.

Last year Council took action to protect Tootgarook Wetland by acquiring an adjoining seventy-acre parcel of land forming part of the largest groundwater-dependent ecosystem and freshwater marsh in the region.

The 590 hectare wetland area holds significant environmental and cultural value and is home to more than 240 indigenous plant species and a variety of fauna, including internationally significant birdlife.

Council recently adopted a new Climate Change Community Engagement Strategy designed to help the community reduce greenhouse gas emissions and be better prepared for the impacts of climate change.

As part of the Strategy, the Shire has committed to assist the community to achieve a minimum community greenhouse gas emission reduction of 2.9 percent annually.
Powering up

Temperatures across the country soared in January breaking all time records, while in Victoria businesses and residents were once again subjected to rolling blackouts as the Australian Energy Market Operator ordered load shedding across the grid, leaving thousands sweltering without air conditioning or refrigeration.

Load shedding occurs when demand for power outstrips supply, and the aging coal-fired supply again showed it was not up to the task.

Energy Minister Lily DAmbrosio admitted at the time the state had a 20th century energy system for a 21st century climate.

Seven Tasmanian mayors believe that they have the answer and are calling on the Federal Government to support the development of an additional power interconnector across Bass Strait as the most cost effective and secure solution to Victorias energy woes.

A new interconnector could also unlock the potential of Tasmanian hydropower as a player in the transformation of the Australian energy market, according to a report by Hydro Tasmania, Battery of the Nation: Analysis of the future National Electricity Market.

The group of Tasmanian mayors propose that the states natural resources could sustainably support Australias energy needs of the future if the Federal Government was willing to commit to Battery of the Nation and invest in another interconnector cable across Bass Strait.

Kentish, Central Highlands, Northern Midlands, Burnie City, Circular Head, Latrobe and West Coast councils welcomed the Tasmanian Governments commitment to the Battery of the Nation and are asking the Federal Government to commit funding to the project, which would see the expansion of Tasmanias existing hydropower system through development of pumped hydro to support solar and wind energy generation when the sun doesnt shine and the wind doesnt blow.

Hydro power uses the gravitational energy of water to generate power. Pumped hydro recaptures the water at the bottom of the mountain and, using power from the grid when it is cheap and in low demand, pumps the water back up the slope; where it is stored to be released again as needed in periods of high demand.

The mayors, while receiving the nod on the scheme from all major political parties in the run up to this years federal election, are seeking a commitment from the Federal Government as it transitions the countrys major energy sources from coal plant to solar and wind.

A $20 million feasibility study known as Project Marinus, co-funded by state owned electricity supplier, TasNetworks, and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), is exploring the viability of building the second, and possibly even a third, underwater interconnector across Bass Straight to transport clean energy to the mainland.

The final report and business case assessment are expected in December 2019.

Circular Head Mayor, Daryl Quilliam, said a second Bass Strait interconnector cable was vital for the state and the nation.

The interconnector cable will support the investments in pumped hydro and wind farms.

But more importantly, it will provide the cheap and reliable power our nation will need in the future.

Hydro Tasmania has shown it could supply an additional 400 megawatts of electricity without any new investment.

Tasmania plans to be self-sufficient by 2022 using a combination of pumped hydro, wind and solar power.

It is pointless generating additional power in Tasmania if we have no way of supplying it to the mainland, the Mayors said.

That is why the Bass Strait Interconnector is such a vital project, not only for Tasmania, but for the rest of Australia.

The excess energy produced would travel through interconnectors to the mainland, to shore up the national grid.

The Mayors said it was important that the Battery of the Nation project proceed as quickly as possible as the project was critical to meeting the energy needs of the nation and could not wait for the Federal and State Governments to develop a new energy policy.

With the projected shutting down of generation assets on the mainland, time is of the essence in providing new sources of cheap and reliable power.

We therefore call on the Federal Minister to work closely with the State Government and provide the necessary financial support to progress Bass Strait Interconnection, as the first step in developing Tasmania as the nations renewable battery.

West Coast Council Mayor, Phil Vickers, said, We understand that there are still a number of critical technical and economic studies to be completed before the Project will be investment ready, and this will require an investment of almost $100 million.

Without this work being completed it will be impossible for the necessary financing to be gained for the interconnector cable.

Central Highlands Mayor, Loueen Triffitt, said a federal government investment made sense.

The Bass Strait interconnector cable meets the investment priorities of Federal Government, in helping deliver secure and reliable energy to the nation, and improving the productivity of current energy infrastructure.

The interconnector cable will also meet the governments priorities in supporting new renewables technologies that will deliver cheap and reliable power.

We urge the Federal Government to demonstrate its commitment to Battery of the Nation by providing funding for the necessary technical and feasibility studies to support interconnection.

The Mayors said that with the country looking to the Federal Government for direction on energy policy, support for the Bass Strait Interconnector would clearly show its commitment to cheap, reliable and clean power.
Old jetty lives on as public artworks

Port Augusta City Council, South Australia, has begun demolition of the historic Eastside jetty but plans are afoot for the timbers to live on in artworks and furniture that will decorate the foreshore redevelopment.

The jetty, which has been out of service since 2014, was found to have a range of structural issues that rendered it unsafe.

Further investigation in 2017 revealed the jetty pylons had deteriorated to the point the structure could not be easily repaired and would instead require full replacement.

Unfortunately the cost of replacement of the jetty was well beyond the financial capability of Council.

Instead the unsafe structure will be demolished and Council will focus on redeveloping the foreshore.

Recognising the significant history of the jetty, several of the timbers will be kept for future artworks or furniture pieces as part of the Eastside foreshore redevelopment, or used as artwork pieces within Port Augusta.

A small section of the jetty will be retained (approx. 3.5 metres) which will provide a viewing deck and signage, which will highlight the significance of the Jetty to Port Augusta.

Council will be preparing a design for the foreshore upgrade area over coming months and community input will be sought, including ideas on re-purposing the jetty timber into artworks or furniture.
New mayors step up

South Australian tri-city alliance, Spencer Gulf Cities, received an injection of new blood with new mayors elected in each of the three representative cities in the South Australian council election in November.

Mayor Leon Stephens, from Port Pirie, was appointed chair and Mayor of Whyalla City Council, Clare McLaughlin, was appointed deputy chair at the first meeting of the association since the recent elections.

Mayor Stephens said the importance of the tri-city alliance remained as strong as ever.

The alliance between Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Whyalla has been going for over 20 years and remains as relevant today as it ever has.

As three industrial cities we share many common issues and understanding of how these can impact on our communities, through the good times and the bad.

Mayor McLaughlin said she was looking forward to contributing towards Spencer Gulf Cities and working with all stakeholders.

The Upper Spencer Gulf has some incredible investments that will completely change the face of the region and the state into the future.

This association is so important. As a co-ordinated region and one voice, we have more chance of obtaining funding and assistance from the State and Federal governments.

It is such an exciting time for the Upper Spencer Gulf  we have an amazing future ahead of us.

Port Augusta Mayor, Brett Benbow, another newly-elected mayor, said the sheer scale of the regions economic transition over the next few years will need strong coordination across the three cities.

We need to work together to make sure we maximise these opportunities and can plan ahead for the significant increase in workforce and associated services and infrastructure that will be required.
Local government gets a Minister

The Northern Territory (NT) Government has announced the inclusion of local government in the Ministerial title of the now Minster for Local Government, Housing and Community Development.

Local Government Association Northern Territory (LGANT) President, Damien Ryan, who welcomed the announcement, said, Under the previous Administrative Arrangements, local government was subsumed within the Housing and Community Development portfolio.

We have been calling for the reinstatement of a Minister for Local Government since Labor came to power.

This shows due recognition of local government in the NT and acknowledges the importance of it being a sphere of government in the Australian Federation.

Local government is a key service provider and the largest employer in the Northern Territory outside the NT Government with approximately 3500 employees and revenues exceeding $425 million a year. This makes the sector bigger than some government departments.
Letter to the editor

Dear Editor,

Sometimes its not just about the numbers

A couple of years ago our Council asked the community what they thought about replacing a busy round-a-bout in the centre of Horsham with a set of traffic lights.

A large, loud group of the community voiced their concerns. Issues of traffic flow, impact on the shops, and a chorus of we dont need more traffic lights led the public debate.

However, there was a small, quiet group of the community who requested the lights to make it easier and safer for elderly people, people in gophers and wheelchairs and parents with young children, to cross this busy intersection.

The traffic lights have been a success.

Sometimes its not just about the numbers, but what is fair and reasonable for our community.

In your January LG Focus, Rod Brown referenced some recent commentary from experts in relation to supporting Australias Regions; Mr John Daley, CEO of the Grattan Institute and Mr Terry Rawnsley, a principal at SGS Economics and Planning.

Some people, who simply look at the numbers when making statements of how and where services should exist and funds spent, often (not all of the time) dont understand life in rural and regional Australia.

Where people choose to work and live in 2019 is governed by many factors. Technology with good NBN service is creating opportunities for small businesses with young families to migrate from the concrete jungle to live and experience a better life.

You know, the Wimmera Region is characterised by farmland. Our farming families grow a variety of crops including wheat, canola, barley, oats and chickpeas, and also raise livestock including sheep, cattle, dairy cows, goats and pigs. Ducks, turkeys and chickens are farmed; we have native flower farms, olive groves, vineyards and orchards. Horsham has a well-earned reputation in crops research.

Our produce feeds Australia and the world.

Why should the Australians who live and work in rural Australia be made to feel like second class citizens by some writers and commentators based on the fact that, put simply, there are not many of them. Is the business conducted somehow less important when the office space is a kitchen table instead of an air conditioned multi-story building with a view?

Our Wimmera councils work together well, petitioning governments for investment into the services that attract residents, particularly professionals. Our Wimmera Development Association, with Regional Development Victoria, works to attract new private business and investment to our region.

I grew up in Melbourne. Shifted to the Wimmera 29 years ago. It has been a wonderful location to run a small business and bring up our family.

Been a local Councillor for 10 years.

This is not a numbers game. This is about realising we are a big, wide brown land, with hard-working people dispersed throughout.

Our needs are similar but different to the city dwellers. I would encourage those who write off the Wimmera, with such insulting language as palliative care in provocative sentences, to  come and pay us a visit.

Councillor Mark Radford

Mayor Horsham Regional City Council

Its all happening in Horsham
Festival celebrates the best of the west

Set in the stunning Jimbour Plains of Queenslands Western Downs, just three hours west of Brisbane, Big Skies is a nine-day festival celebrating the sights, sounds, tastes and unique experiences of the region from Saturday 27 April to Sunday 5 May 2019.

Kicking off with the iconic Dalby Picnic Races  a Western Downs tradition since 1902  the Big Skies festival boasts a fantastic calendar of events.

Tour the majestic Jimbour House, experience the sale day action at the Dalby Saleyards Tour, feast with friends and food lovers alike at a Long Lunch in Dalby or Miles, and experience what makes the Western Downs so special on a self-drive regional tour.

When the sun sets over the Jimbour Plains, the excitement continues. Gather around the crackling Camp Bonfire and experience the famous country hospitality and secret recipes at the Camp Oven Experience.

Witness the amazing starscapes as you enjoy the Outdoor Cinema, where youll experience stars on the big screen and even bigger stars in the Jimbour night sky.

For the best of Aussie rock west of the Great Divide, look no further than Day on the Plain  the Big Skies festivals show stopping rock concert on Saturday 4 May. Join Jon Stevens, John Paul Young, Ross Wilson, Pseudo Echo, Deni Hines and thousands of other music lovers in the shadow of Jimbour House, one of Australias grandest colonial mansions.

The party continues back at the campsite with the Day on the Plain Late Show, headlined by our own talented local musicians.

Complete your ultimate Big Skies adventure by camping out at the grounds of Jimbour House and take the time to explore where we call home.

Tickets for all Big Skies events, including Day on the Plain, are available now at bigskiesevents.com.au.
Editorial

The last couple of weeks have tested many of us.

Anyone who saw and heard the image on social media of Independent MP Jeremy Buckingham, vomiting off screen as he described the masses of dead fish at Menindee on the Darling River, will agree that it will be impossible to forget that sound for a long, long time, or in fact the sight of all of those dead fish and imagining a smell to match the image.

It was with feelings of guilt that I looked on those images of hundreds and hundreds of stinking dead fish floating, bloated in the sun, asking how could we let this happen?

The Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) review of the plans administration in 2017, handed down a scathing assessment. It found poor levels of compliance, striking variation in enforcement activity, and a lack of transparency around the management reflecting a closed culture.

The Murray Darling Basin Royal Commission set up by the former South Australian Government in response to the MDBA review findings, handed down its report on 31 January.

Blaming Commonwealth officials for maladministration, it accused the original architects of the plan of being driven by politics rather than science.

It found the original plan ignored the potentially catastrophic risks of climate change.

It made 44 recommendations.

The Murray Darling Association (MDA) met early this month in an historic display of unity. It was the first time in the associations 75 year history that all 12 regions were represented.

This was taken as a demonstration of unity and commitment to ensure local government is directly involved in the Basin plan.

Meanwhile, Townsville has had another once in a 100 year flood, its second in 21 years. As most of the floodwaters recede back to the ocean we ask how could it be harnessed, put to use where its needed.

If Gough Whitlams Minerals and Energy Minister, Rex Connor, a true visionary, had been savvier wed be piping the monsoonal rains from the north down through the centre, to the south where it is needed. Instead its still just a pipedream.
Council loans boardroom table

The Roma Town Councils boardroom table has received a new lease on life, with Maranoa Council, Queensland, handing over the table (on loan) to the Australian Campdraft Association (ACA) until 2023.

Councillor Cameron ONeil was in attendance at the ACA management meeting last weekend, where the table was officially handed over.

Council is committed to supporting our community and sporting groups where and when we can.

Previously housed in the Roma Cultural Centres Ernest Brock Room, Council thought it would be fantastic to see it being purposefully used once again.

When the request come through to repurpose, rehome and reuse the former Roma Town Council board table on a temporary basis, Council jumped at the chance.
Children learn about local government

When Councillor Anita Grace from Shire of East Pilbara, Western Australia, visited students in the 5-6 class at South Newman Primary school late last year to speak about local government, she was struck by their enthusiasm for their community and their interest in council.

The Shire of East Pilbara wants our young people to know that we value them as members of our community and want to support them as they prepare to become future leaders here, said Cr Grace.

It was encouraging to hear that our young people care deeply about the future of their town.

They were excited to learn that as they grow older, they are eligible to serve or represent their community in so many varied and interesting ways through the avenue of local government.

As we prepare for another school year, wed like all the students in Newman to be encouraged that the Shire of East Pilbara supports and cares for them.

We would be pleased to answer questions they have about local government and welcome their correspondence at any time.

Following Cr. Graces visit, the students penned letters of gratitude, sharing their hope and vision for the Newmans future.



Some of the comments include:

I learnt that we can talk to you any time we want! - Nate

I would like to see an indoor skate park because it gets hot  Connor

I found it interesting that you can call the Shire for potentially dangerous trees Aled

I would like to see a KFC in Newman as we only have one fast food restaurant  Zaiyaan

I leant that the Shire really cares about Newman 

Shaeleigh

I would like to see a lazzer (sic) tag centre  Nevaeh

I found it interesting that only half the council is elected at once  Olivia

I would like to have a gymnastics stadium  Mia

I would like to have a water park in Newman because we live in the dezert (sic)  Jenna.
Checking website fit for purpose

Hobsons Bay City Council, Victoria, will soon launch a new website and is calling on the community to help check its accessibility, structure, menu and usability to ensure it meets their needs.

Co chair of the Smart Cities Portfolio Advisory Committee, Councillor Angela Altair, said Council officers had done extensive research and usability testing with local people to capture their needs for the new website.

The websites structure has been built on what our residents have told us, as well as best practice customer first principles. Now its time for the Hobsons Bay community to tell us if we got it right.

Co chair of the Smart Cities Portfolio Advisory Committee, Councillor Peter Hemphill, said, Through our Digital Strategy consultation, our community clearly told us they want Council to use digital technology to provide more information and services online that are simple, easy to use, fast and automatic.

They also want their interactions with Council to be convenient and accessible, with higher levels of self-service.

Gone are the days of only transacting with government and businesses at the customer service counter during business hours  people want to use their laptops and smart phones at times that are

convenient to them.

Our new website has been structured with all this in mind, to meet our communitys need for greater choices and the expectation that their council is available 24/7.

Cr Hemphill said the new website will be launched just weeks after Council started live streaming its Ordinary Council Meetings on its website.

Both these steps forward are examples of Council striving to meet community expectations to provide more information and services online to improve our access, efficiency and delivery to our community.
Calling all councils to put one on for the kids*

Get involved in One Day Fun Day a national day of free fun for disadvantaged kids.

FunSearch.com.au is calling for all councils across the country to put their hand up to help facilitate a national day of free fun for disadvantaged, at risk, sick and challenged kids and their carers.

One Day Fun Day is the first major event by Melbourne based start-up FunSearch, a unique photo and video search engine designed to assist the growth of Visitor economy, leisure and recreation businesses and organisations across Australia.

CEO of FunSearch, Chris Gillard, said that a key reason the company existed was to use the idea of fun as a gateway to create positive change in lots of ways.

One Day Fun Day demonstrates our companys intent as an Impact Business with goals that transcend solely commercial objectives.

One Day Fun Day is our first major event, leveraging our national reach and our connections to media, not for profit organisations and thousands of businesses in the sector.

Were hoping many councils will come on board, either to participate in the event or if not, to help spread the word to local businesses who may wish to take part.

We aim to provide fun for 10,000 kids and carers.

The day, proposed for mid May 2019, while billed as a national event, will in practice be more akin to thousands of concurrent events across the country as a huge and diverse range of businesses and councils all over Australia open their doors without charge for a day, or create local events to emotionally uplift kids and carers who often miss out on fun activities or experiences due to cost or other obstacles that stand in the way.

Gillard said FunSearch wants to help communicate to kids all across Australia that people are thinking of them, that they are important and that the wider community cares for their emotional wellbeing.

The creation of positive memories, even from a single day in a lifetime has the potential to be transformative for a person. We hope first for thousands of smiles, then thousands of great memories that can inspire a life, propel a person forward, ease some pain or assist recovery in sickness.

This FunSearch event was inspired by the experience of Mr Gillard as a young boy around the age of eight when he met a runaway child of a similar age named Lawrence. The boys spent a day of fun together trampolining, BMXing and skateboarding.

Any councils interested participating in One Day Fun Day are urged to contact Chris Gillard though the FunSearch.com.au website, or call direct on 0419584348.

*Copy supplied by FunSearch
Building a bridge

Toowoomba Regional Council, Queensland, formally appointed the first community representatives of the newly established Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee on 22 January.

As Chair of the newly established committee, Councillor Geoff McDonald, said this significant event would help bridge the gap with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

This is the first time Council has had a committee such as this.

We received a number of worthy applicants and Im pleased with the nine community members who were endorsed by Council.

The members of the Committee will provide a platform for timely and direct information sharing between local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and Council.

This is an important step for the entire community and I look forward to seeing the positive outcomes that will come from this new group.



Some of the core functions of the Committee will include:
Brisbane River protection plan

South East Queensland (SEQ) councils will join together in a $2 million long term strategic plan to improve and protect the Lower Brisbane-Redlands Coastal Catchment, as part of the Resilient Rivers Initiative.

As South East Queensland continues to grow, the regions waterways are coming under increasing pressure.

The Lower Brisbane-Redlands Coastal Catchment Action Plan will primarily target the impacts of stormwater runoff from urbanised areas on the catchments creeks, Brisbane River and Moreton Bay.

Council of Mayors (SEQ) Chair and Brisbane Lord Mayor, Graham Quirk, said protecting the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay for future generations was critical to the economic, environmental and social prosperity of South East Queensland.

As one of the fastest growing regions in Australia, we need to take a proactive and coordinated approach to ensure our regions anticipated growth doesnt come at the cost of our creeks, rivers and iconic Moreton Bay.

The Lower Brisbane-Redlands Coastal Catchment Action Plan will provide a roadmap to not only protect and enhance the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay but ensure our local creeks and waterways remain safe, clean and accessible.

Redland City Mayor, Karen Williams, said the Lower Brisbane-Redlands Coastal Catchment Action Plan was a key component of the Resilient Rivers Initiative, a partnership bringing together the Council of Mayors (SEQ), Seqwater, Queensland Government, Healthy Land and Water, Unitywater and Queensland Urban Utilities.

The Resilient Rivers Initiative is an important regional partnership that recognises our creeks, rivers and waterways dont stop at land boundaries - they stretch across multiple tenures and need to be managed holistically.

In addition to our existing waterways recovery programs, Council has been working with other regional experts to identify priority actions needed to protect our waterways.

The Lower Brisbane-Redlands Coastal Catchment Action Plan incorporates three distinct catchment areas: The Lower Brisbane Catchment, the Redlands Coastal Catchment, and the

Moreton Bay Islands.

The combined area covered by the plan is nearly 2,000 square km.

The Lower Brisbane-Redlands Coastal Catchment spans five council areas: Brisbane City, Redland City, Logan, Ipswich City and Moreton Bay.

All waterways within the catchment flow into Moreton Bay, a designated Ramsar site and Queensland Government Marine Park.
A breakthrough in eco-friendly weed control*

With current media attention and the health concerns about the use of non-sustainable chemical herbicides local government and the general public are looking for alternative weed control options.

Contact Organics is pleased to fill the breach with LocalSafe Weed Terminator herbicide, recently approved by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA).

Contact Organics Managing Director, Dr Frank Glat, was delighted to receive Australian regulatory approval for LocalSafe Weed Terminator.

This independently validates our product offering, he said.

We are now in a position to market our high performance, environmentally preferred LocalSafe

We are looking forward to working together with our Australian Local Governments towards implementing effective non-toxic weed control in playgrounds, sporting fields, schools and other public amenity areas.

LocalSafe Weed Terminator is a non-selective contact herbicide made from a proprietary mixture of acetic acid as active ingredient and synergistic natural adjuvants that deliver the acetic acid into the plant.

Contact Organics Founding Director and Inventor, William Briggs, stated, In todays era of toxicity and with the liberal use of herbicides and pesticides, Contact Organics has now confirmed the value of being sustainable in all industries including farming.

With our background in human health the need to prevent contamination from chemical pesticides and herbicides became a priority over designing a cure for the many diseases it caused.

Our aim is to increase the benefits of our soil and produce grown here in Australia and to spread the benefits of our knowledge contained in our products world-wide.

Weed Terminator works by dehydrating the weed that has been sprayed.

It strips the waxy protective film of the weed leaf and seeds allowing plant moisture to escape.

As Weed Terminator enters the plant, it quickly breaks down the weed cells creating total dehydration and thereby termination of the weed.

Already used by a number of councils nationally, some have trialled LocalSafe Weed Terminator against many of its competitors, both natural and chemical, to find that it kept up with the chemical herbicides and out performed the other natural herbicides.

Tough on weeds yet safe for people and animals, it is used for all kinds of local and public parks weed control as well as main streets and other sensitive areas, this powerful alternative to glyphosate-based products doesnt pass toxins into the food chain or human body.

You can get in contact with Contact Organics on 1300 856 540 or through their website contactorganics.com.au.

*Copy supplied by Contact Organics
The Cape Coral Animal Shelters Decade Party is its largest signature event of the year.

And this year marks the shelters fifth fundraiser, which will pay homage to the 1970s.

The Decade Party has been a major fundraising event for the Cape Coral Animal Shelter and each year we work hard to offer a fun and enjoyable evening, said shelter President, JoAnn Elardo. The community support for this event has been wonderful and we are grateful. The goal is to raise funds for the animal shelter in order to save more lives and give the city a service that is desperately needed. This past year we have been able to break ground and the building is going up so every dollar raised is going into this effort.

Past events celebrated the Roaring Twenties prohibition, 1940s war effort and Hollywood glamour, 1950s America and last year represented the groovy 1960s.

Last year, the shelter netted just under $40,000 after some expenses, shelter board member Pamela Aubuchon said.

This year, shelter President JoAnn Elardo, hopes to raise 20 percent more than that.

On March 9, from 7 to 11 p.m., guests can don their finest polyester and platform shoes.

Aubuchon says the guest list averages around 250 to 350 people.

This year the event is located at Wicked Dolphin Distillery and will be presented by Markham Norton Mosteller Wright & Company, P.A.

Were going to tent the whole location and change it into Studio 54, Elardo said.

Boston Red Sox announcer, Ted Fitzgeorge, ABC-7 News Anchor, Krista Fogelsong, and CCCIA Executive Director/CEO Bill Johnson, Jr. will be the master of ceremonies.

Tickets are $100 and that includes all food and an open bar. The theme this year is polyester and platforms. There will be fun costumes, cocktails, food, music, dancing, contests and a silent auction. Keep your eyes peeled for look-a-likes of your favorite 70s personalities.

There will be great music with a DJ, Aubuchon said. Its going to be professionally decorated, adding that costumes are not required, but are strongly recommended. Think Studio 54 and Saturday Night Fever.

Aubuchon says the proceeds from the event will go toward operational costs including hiring an executive director, clinic staff, kennel staff, and some administrative staff.

Were blessed that weve received some grants, but we havent received that many because for many of them you need to be a standing building, she said, and the shelter is not yet completed. Its slated to open its doors next fall.

Aubuchon says the shelter has received a lot of help from the community, too. For example, the SWFL Community Foundation gave them a grant for a van to transport the animals to the shelter.

Every dollar helps. Every bit of volunteering counts, she said. Thats what makes this a great project. Everyone is involved.
Despite the numerous public service announcements throughout the county and in all schools encompassing the District of Lee County, students continue to make fake threats against peers and institutions-and now, parents could be feeling more than disappointment when it comes to their childs action.

Police agencies throughout Lee County, including the Cape Coral Police Department, are arresting students  most on a felony charge  and say they will seek restitution for investigative costs.

These children that will be arrested are being charged with a second degree felony. We will also seek cost recovery for the investigation  law enforcement expenses through these investigations. But this has to stop, said CCPD Chief David Newlan at a press conference held Tuesday.

A Florida statute under the Criminal Procedure and Corrections, Chapter 938 reads: In all criminal and violation-of-probation or community-control cases, convicted persons are liable for payment of the costs of prosecution, including investigative costs incurred by law enforcement agencies, by fire departments for arson investigations, and by investigations of the Department of Financial Services or the Office of Financial Regulation of the Financial Services Commission, if requested by such agencies.

(Chief Newlan) alluded to it in the press conference today (Tuesday) about cost recovery. Its actually in the statute where the parents can be held financially responsible for the outlay, said CCPD Deputy Chief Anthony Sizemore.

The ever-growing number of school threats  leading up to the one-year anniversary of the tragic Parkland shooting  are harming the community and disrupting the educational process of thousands of students in Lee County Schools, officials said.

Since the Fake ThreatReal Consequences campaign was initiated in mid-January, there have been at least eight arrests across the county, including five in Cape Coral.

Earlier in the week, a 15-year-old student at Island Coast High School was arrested after he reportedly sent a Snapchat video at the end of January depicting himself with a BB gun, with the orange tip colored over in black, threatening to kill another student. The video was accompanied by a written message as well.

On Tuesday evening, following the CCPDs second press conference concerning school threats, the department responded to a threat report concerning Oasis Middle and Oasis High School, resulting in nearly 900 absent students on Wednesday.

That threat, reported to a parent who notified authorities, turned out to be made up by the student, who was subsequently arrested on a misdemeanor.

The School District of Lee County and law enforcement agencies are asking for parental help.

We think that this campaign is a positive thing if we can get the word out to parents  we need to really crack down on this issue because its become very, very disruptive, said Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Greg Adkins, Tuesday.

Sizemore provided some insight on what goes into these investigations of school threats.

Its not just a school resource office running down leads, he said. The SRO takes the initial report and then a major crimes detective is assigned and goes to the school.

We had three in one day yesterday, Sizemore said Tuesday. Thats a very taxing effort.

And when you tabulate that on a fiscal sheet, thats a big number for a parent that may be an eye-opener. So, were grasping at every different angle to try and reach somebody. When youre falling down a mountain youll grab for anything, and this may be the branch that they grab on to and say, Whoa, I better talk to my kids. We hope that people are talking to their kids in general. You know those that are scared-that are worried about going to school, those that are contemplating doing threats, those that know information but dont know how to process that or where to go with it. We hope that just any type of dinner table conversation will occur.

For more information on the Fake ThreatReal Consequences campaign, visit www.leeschools.net.

-Connect with this reporter on Twitter: @haddad_cj
Elk Point, SD (57025)

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Clear to partly cloudy. Low 64F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
Talks between China and the U.S. will resume in Washington next week after both sides declared Friday that progress had been made in two days of high-level discussions in Beijing by negotiators seeking a breakthrough to end a bruising trade war.

With the conflict threatening to undermine global growth and even to decouple the worlds two biggest economies, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin at a government guesthouse on Friday.

Afterward, Mnuchin tweeted that the talks were productive, and Lighthizer said, We feel we have made headway on very, very important and difficult issues. Xi agreed that important progress was made.

And later in Washington, President Trump said there was a possibility he would extend a March 1 deadline for the trade talks if the two sides are close to a deal. He said it would happen if I see that were close to a deal or the deal is going in the right direction.

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Without a deal, the Trump administration says that tariffs already being imposed on $200 billion in Chinese goods would increase from 10% to 25%.

No details emerged of the progress to overcome the remaining thorny issues, with a meeting between Trump and Xi in future weeks seen as the best hope for an agreement, depending on the outcome of the Washington meeting next week.

Xi said the U.S and China were inseparable and warned that a continuing trade war would only hurt both nations.

Maintaining the healthy and stable development of China-U.S. relations is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples and is widely expected by the international community, Xi said, according to the New China news agency.

The Trump administration slapped tariffs on Chinese goods just over seven months ago, accusing China of stealing intellectual property, forcing American firms in China to surrender their technology to local partners and providing industrial subsidies to Chinese firms that make it impossible for foreign firms to compete. China responded with its own tariffs, which have hit U.S. soybean growers and other farmers hard.

Trump and Xi met in Argentina in December and agreed to delay tariff hikes for 90 days to allow for the current talks. The time frame appears relatively short, given the complexity and long-standing nature of the dispute.

Xi said that Trump and he had reached an important consensus in Argentina to work together to jointly promote Sino-U.S. relations based on coordination, cooperation and stability.

Since then, however, tensions have deepened as the U.S. ramped up pressure on Chinese technology firm Huawei, the worlds largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, which it sees as a threat to national security. Xi said Friday that the trade talks since Dec. 1 had been intensive and beneficial and called for continued work next week to reach a deal.

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I hope that the two sides will strengthen communication, focus on cooperation, manage and control disparities on both sides and promote Sino-U.S. economic and trade cooperation and the health and stable development of bilateral relations in accordance with the principles and directions set by me and President Trump, he said.

Hu Xijin, the editor of the state-owned Global Times newspaper, cited sources saying the sides were discussing how to draft an agreement, adding there was a great possibility of a deal. While positive, the comment suggested the two sides still do not have the draft framework of a deal with less than two weeks before the deadline.

One reason the talks have been so difficult is the breadth of U.S. demands: It not only wants China to buy more American goods, but is also calling for sweeping changes to Chinas industrial policies.

China, which is aiming to transform from a low-wage economy based on the manufacture of cheap goods to a higher-wage, high-tech economy, sees support for top Chinese industries as a means to that end.

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One of the main challenges for negotiating teams in coming days is how to meet American demands for enforcement mechanisms.

Trump said Tuesday he might be willing to allow a short-term extension on the deadline for a deal. White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Thursday that no decision had been made on an extension but added that the vibe in Beijing was good.

Washington had expected China to open up its economy to foreign competition after it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, but the intervening period showed limited progress. With its economy slowing and factories closing or shedding low-skilled jobs, China may now be keen for a deal.

But American skepticism over whether China will deliver on any agreement has been a background concern as the talks have proceeded, with Washington attempting to extract a better deal for foreign companies in China and better protections for those firms technologies. Since joining the WTO, China has piggy-backed on foreign technology  and, according to Washington, stolen it outright in some cases  to emerge as a rising power that is increasingly producing its own cutting-edge technology. China has repeatedly denied the accusations of intellectual property theft.

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Tensions have been magnified by a series of arrests of alleged Chinese spies and by Chinese anger over U.S. warships sailing through the South China Sea. China has expanded its claim to the region by building military installations on disputed islands in the sea.

Another source of tension has been U.S. efforts to dissuade allies from allowing Huawei to participate in building 5G communications networks. Washington has warned it may downgrade partnerships with European allies that use Huawei technology in their 5G networks. In addition, Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada in December on a U.S. request and faces an extradition hearing in coming months, a case that has infuriated China. And this week, the White House was preparing an executive order that could bar Chinese companies from selling equipment for use in future American telecommunications networks.

Beijing argues that U.S. actions on Huawei amount to harassment of an innocent company and abuse of Mengs rights.

As the trade war has dragged on, Chinas economy has slowed and some companies have shifted production to other Asian countries. Much of the economic slowdown in China, however, has come from actions taken by the government to reduce debt prior to the trade war.

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In a sign of the depth of official concern, Chinese banks sharply increased lending in January, offering $477 million in loans designed to spur economic growth. The government has been pressing banks to lend more money to small, private companies, many of which are more severely stressed by the economic slowdown than state-owned companies.

During the talks, China has offered to buy more U.S. products such as soybeans and natural gas to narrow the trade gap, fast-tracked a law that it says will offer great protection for intellectual property and promised to create greater access for foreign firms.

On Friday it announced that six private companies had bought a 15% share in the state-owned rail cargo network as part of reforms to create more modern, competitive mixed-ownership corporations.

robyn.dixon@latimes.com

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Twitter: @RobynDixon_LAT
A prominent American investor with business ties in Russia since the early 1990s has been detained on suspicion of fraud in a case that is likely to shake a Moscow business community already reeling from the countrys uncertain investment climate.

Michael Calvey, the founder and senior partner of the private equity firm Baring Vostok Capital Partners, was detained Thursday evening. Russian media reported that five other employees from the firm were detained on Friday.

An investigator with the Basmanny court in Moscow said Calvey is suspected of embezzling 2.5 billion rubles, or about $37 million, from the Vostochny Bank, of which Baring Vostok has a controlling stake, the Russian Interfax news agency reported.

Baring Vostok said in a statement released to Russian news agencies that the charges were related to a dispute among Vostochny Bank shareholders and would not affect its investment activities. According to its website, Baring Vostok has managed $3.7 billion in investments in the former Soviet Union since 1994.

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Calvey, 51, has been a central figure among foreign investors in Russia since then, starting the investment firm in the early days of Russias transition to capitalism after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

While other investors sank large sums into Russias lucrative oil and gas sectors, which were dominated by government ownership, Baring Vostok focused on technology, retail and telecoms. Calvey invested heavily in Yandex, the Russian search engine giant that has spun off into various other applications under the same brand. Baring Vostok sold its remaining shares in Yandex three years ago, bringing huge profits to the investment fund.

Calveys detainment sent shock waves through Moscows business community Friday, with immediate comparisons drawn to U.S.-born British fund manager Bill Browder, who was also a prominent name among foreign investors in the chaotic early days of Russias capitalism. Browder tweeted that Calveys arrest should be the final straw for investors in Russia.

The arrest of Mike Calvey in Moscow should be the final straw that Russia is an entirely corrupt and univestable country. Of all the people I knew in Moscow, Mike played by their rules, kept his head down and never criticized the government. #raiderstvo https://t.co/kEYzPAXOUj  Bill Browder (@Billbrowder) February 15, 2019

Browder supported Russian President Vladimir Putin when the former KGB officer took office in 2000, promising to clean up corruption and bring oligarchs in line with the law. Browder invested in state-run companies, including gas giant Gazprom, and advocated for exposing corruption.

He ran afoul of the Kremlin in the late 2000s, when he and his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, began investigating a tax fraud scheme involving state-owned companies. Russian security agents raided Browders Hermitage Capital Management. The state seized the investment company and banned Browder from the country. Magnitsky was arrested and thrown in jail, where he later died after being beaten and denied medical care.

Browder, who left Russia and is now a fierce Putin critic, championed passage of the Magnitsky Act, a U.S. law that sanctions Russian human rights violators. Russia has placed Browder on the Interpol wanted list.

In a meeting with President Trump in Helsinki last July, Putin suggested that he would allow special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs team access in Russia to investigate allegations of interference in the 2016 presidential elections if there was a reciprocal agreement to allow Russian intelligence permission to conduct an investigation in the U.S.

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For instance, we can bring up Mr. Browder, Putin said.

Calvey is a former Salomon Bros. banker and also worked for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He holds a seat on the board of the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington that has been critical of Putins authoritative governance and annexation of Crimea.

The detentions come at a time when foreign investors have sought to sell off their Russian holdings amid market uncertainty around sanctions and worsening relations between Moscow and the West. Another American, Paul Whelan, was arrested in late December on espionage charges. His attorney said Whelan was carrying documents that contained state secrets. Whelans family said he was in Moscow to attend a wedding.

After hearing of Calveys arrest, Kirill Dmitriev, the chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a government investment fund, told a Russian news agency that he would personally vouch for the American investor.

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I am ready to provide personal guarantees for Michael Calvey and believe that he did a lot for attracting foreign investment in Russia and helped many Russian companies to grow and mature, he told the Tass news agency in Germany, where he was attending the Munich Security Conference. Dmitriev said he knew Calvey and the team of Baring Vostok as highly professional investors, committed to the highest ethical standards accepted in the investment community.

Ayres is a special correspondent.

sabra.ayres@latimes.com

Twitter: @sabraayres
In January, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared: Chinese people dont fight Chinese people. A thousand miles away in Taiwan, Mei You-nian nodded in agreement.

Xis words resonated even though Mei is a veteran of the Kuomintang army, whose Chinese Nationalist soldiers fought Chinese Communists, and even though he hadnt lived in mainland China since 1949, when he fled his village in Anhui province and sailed to Taiwan as a teenager.

That was the year that Mao Tse-tungs Communists won the civil war, established the Peoples Republic of China and chased Chiang Kai-sheks Nationalists to Taiwan, which became the new home of the Republic of China. Both sides insisted that they were the legitimate rulers of all China  both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Peoples Republic or Republic of China  arent they all China in the end? Were one family. Were all Chinese, said Mei, now 87.

Yet when his son, Mei Heng-han, heard Xis sentence, he laughed.

Chinese people dont fight Chinese people, OK, the 55-year-old businessman said. But Im Taiwanese.

Years of watching China pressure the world to deny Taiwans legitimacy had made him cynical about Chinese bullying. It comes down to power, he said.

And there was the younger Meis 23-year-old son, Shayne. To him, Xis sentence was a blatant threat.

Very smart rhetoric. Sounds all positive and peaceful, Shayne said. But its just another way of saying, If you keep saying youre not Chinese, we will bomb the hell out of you.

Sources: Election Study Center, National Chengchi University Kyle Kim / Los Angeles Times Graphics

Relatively few people in Taiwan trace their roots to the 1949 exodus from the mainland. But even native-born Taiwanese once viewed themselves as part of greater China.

While Chinese state rhetoric refers to Taiwan and China as one family, the percentage of Taiwanese who identify as Chinese has steadily decreased among younger generations. Some older citizens still call themselves Chinese. But their descendants identities have evolved alongside Taiwans social shifts: the lifting of martial law, political liberalization, educational reform and fluctuating relations with China.

Public opinion polls conducted since 1992 by National Chengchi University show a steady increase, from 17.6% to 54.5%, of Taiwanese people who identify as only Taiwanese. Those who say they are both Taiwanese and Chinese have hovered around 40%. Those who identify as only Chinese have dropped from 25% to less than 4%.

The result is a widening gap between Taiwanese of different generations, who often hold opposite visions of what it means to be Taiwanese  even among members of one family.

Mei You-nian, 87, shown at his home in Taipei, Taiwan, says: Peoples Republic or Republic of China  arent they all China in the end? Were one family. Were all Chinese." An Rong Xu / For The Times

Mei You-nian looks through old photos of his children at his home in Taipei. An Rong Xu / For The Times

Mei You-nian was 17 when he left Anhui, but he remembers his roots: carrying lunchboxes to the fields for his parents, herding cows on foot, his mother stanching his bloody noses in a straw-roofed home. Hed never left the village until 1949, when his grandfather called a family meeting and told the military-aged men to go. You-nian was too young to fight, but he joined the Nationalist army as a military nurse.

You-nian followed an uncle to Shanghai, then took a boat to Taiwan. The journey took one week. You-nian threw up every day. They landed in the port city of Keelung right before the Dragon Boat Festival, where they bought bananas and zongzi, glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves, from Taiwanese people.

I couldnt have known that we wouldnt come back. We were just living one day at a time, You-nian recalled, sitting in a wrinkled green armchair in his Taipei apartment. On the wall, a world map with a Republic of China flag hung next to a collage of family photos. He opened a leather album of black-and-white snapshots. The first page contained small photos of a younger You-nian surrounding a larger portrait of Chiang Kai-shek in full military regalia.

I adore him, You-nian said. He said he has voted for Chiangs Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, his entire life, and he served in the army until he was 70. By then, he was a lieutenant colonel.

An old photograph of Mei You-nian with his wife, Tsai-hui, hangs in their Taipei home. An Rong Xu / For The Times

Mei You-nian met his wife, Tsai-hui, while stationed in Penghu, a smaller island in the Taiwan Strait, and married at age 30. An Rong Xu / For The Times

You-nian met his wife while stationed in Penghu, a smaller island in the Taiwan Strait, and married at age 30. She was benshengren, a native Taiwanese descended from ethnic Chinese who had inhabited Taiwan since before Japan took over the island in 1895. Her family resisted their marriage initially, seeing You-nian as an outsider, but relented in the end. Their son Heng-han was born in 1964, between an older and a younger sister.

Growing up, Mei Heng-han said he took for granted that he was Chinese. We were brainwashed to be Chinese. We called ourselves Taiwan province, he said.

Taiwan was then under martial law, with harsh restrictions on press, speech, assembly and formation of new political parties. The ruling Kuomintang continued to claim sovereignty over all of China, including the mainland, while the Communist Party in Beijing claimed the same.

In Taiwans schools, class workbooks were printed with the imperative to Be a happy, lively student; be a proper, upright Chinese person.

Heng-hans wife, who is also a benshengren, wasnt allowed to speak Hokkien, a dialect of Chinese spoken by descendants of Fujianese immigrants whod come to Taiwan during the Qing Dynasty. Their history wasnt taught in schools.

Mei Heng-han, the son of Mei You-nian, poses for a photo in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Growing up, Heng-han said he took for granted that he was Chinese. We were brainwashed to be Chinese. We called ourselves Taiwan province, he said. An Rong Xu / For The Times

In 1989, after finishing university and army service, Heng-han went to study computer science in New Jersey. There, Americans asked him where he was from. Hed say, Taiwan, and theyd reply, Oh, China. Hed repeat, Im Taiwanese, and theyd say, Oh, Chinese. For the first time, Heng-han felt indignant that the rest of the world didnt seem to know Taiwan was different.

Meanwhile, Taiwan was changing. In 1987, martial law was lifted. Suddenly, it was safe to speak Taiwanese dialects such as Hokkien, to criticize the Kuomintang, to have opposition parties and to mobilize civil society.

In the 90s, society changed. People started to discuss national identity, Taiwanese independence, democratic transition, said Chang Tieh-chih, deputy secretary-general of Taiwans General Assn. of Chinese Culture. You had social movements at every level, in communities, among aboriginal people, with labor unions  the original values were really challenged.

One of the major reforms took place in education. Taiwanese schools added a Taiwan-centric history curriculum, starting with 400 years of Taiwans history, before and after 1949. Previous textbooks had focused on Chinese history, tracing a line from Chinas imperial dynasties to the 1911 Xinhai Revolution to the Kuomintang loss in 1949. Taiwan had been a postscript. Now it was the main subject.

Its a paradigm change, Chang said.

Shayne Mei, son of Mei Heng-han, walks with his girlfriend, Daphne Chiu, at National Taiwan University in Taipei. An Rong Xu / For The Times

In 1995, Mei Heng-hans son Shayne was born. He grew up in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, but then went to Taipei, the capital, to study foreign languages and literature at National Taiwan University. Shayne met his girlfriend, Daphne Chiu, on campus. They wear rainbow bracelets to support marriage equality and speak English with perfect accents, his British, hers American. For them, Taiwanese independence is a given, along with social values such as LGBTQ and womens rights.

We think about China all the time. Its a threat, a bully, something well have to avoid, Shayne said.

Isolation-wary, Chinese-speaking Taiwan moves to make English an official language 

Shayne and Daphne were both too young to vote in 2016 (the voting age is 20 in Taiwan), when pro-independence President Tsai Ing-wen was elected. But they participated in Novembers midterm election and referendum. Referendum topics included whether to recognize same-sex marriage and whether Taiwan should compete as Taiwan instead of Chinese Taipei in the Olympics. Both were rejected.

Shayne was shocked. Hed thought he knew exactly how people would vote.

I feel confused. Im losing this sense of self-identity and belonging. All these people, they dont even agree on what country we are, he said.

Taiwanese had been convinced by media claims that their athletes would get shut out of the Olympics if they angered China by changing their competition name, Shayne said, which just showed how emotional and easily manipulated his compatriots were.

I think were just cowards, he said. I feel really powerless.

Daphne didnt understand how people could fail to empathize with the gay community. To her, it was a moral imperative to support equal rights; she couldnt fathom how other voters could see same-sex marriage as a matter of opinion.

Im really depressed and disappointed about Taiwanese people. Thats why I want to leave here, she said. Both are applying for graduate school in the United States.

Shayne Mei and his girlfriend, Daphne Chiu, wear rainbow bracelets to support marriage equality and speak English with perfect accents, his British, hers American. For them, Taiwanese independence is a given, along with social values such as LGBT and womens rights. An Rong Xu / For The Times

Chang Mau-kuei, a sociologist at Taiwans national academy, Academia Sinica, pointed out that identity is a product of lived experience, which can vary so widely between different generations that they exist in disparate worlds. One factor influencing Taiwanese identity has been the experience of meeting mainland Chinese people, which was only possible after 1987, the year Taiwan and China began permitting cross-strait visits.

Until 1987, Taiwanese couldnt see any mainland Chinese. In propaganda, they were Communist, bad Chinese, Chang said. Then, they met! Suddenly you see real Chinese, good and bad, relatives or not, employees, bosses, marriages  a separate identity emerged from interaction. The more you interact, the more you find you are different.

In 1991, Mei You-nian went back to Anhui, only to find that his parents and siblings had starved to death during Chinas 1960s famine. He knelt at his familys grave, weeping, when he found out. The Chinese relatives called You-nian uncle, and he felt at home. He filled a bottle with Anhui soil and brought it back to Taipei.

In 2001, Mei Heng-han went to Anhui with his father. He added some of his distant relatives on WeChat, and ordered a gift from Taobao, an online shopping site, when one of their sons got married. Otherwise, they rarely talked.

Hes also been to China on state-sponsored business tours encouraging Taiwanese investment in Fujian, the closest mainland province to Taiwan. His main impression was that China develops quickly, but is rife with scams. Heng-han has stopped calling himself Chinese, except when doing business with Chinese people.

Shayne has never been to Anhui. His grandfather gave him a red packet of money when he graduated in 2018, saying he wanted him to get a doctorate, and then hed bring his grandson to the village and show him off. Shayne cringed at the idea. Im getting a masters, not a PhD, and then Im going to work in tech, he said.

Hed visit Anhui if his grandfather really wanted, though.

alice.su@latimes.com

Twitter: @aliceysu
It took nearly two years, more than 100 witnesses, and often bizarre legal maneuvering by the defense. But on Friday a court in Myanmar handed down guilty verdicts, including two death sentences, to four men involved in the murder of U Ko Ni, a prominent constitutional lawyer credited for bringing pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi to power.

Ko Nis murder in broad daylight outside the airport in Yangon, Myanmars largest city, remains a blow to the countrys fragile democracy after emerging from decades under a junta. The 2017 shooting was plotted by three former military officers at a time when Ko Ni was advocating to amend Myanmars constitution to grant the government more civilian power.

A panel of three judges at Yangon Northern District Court issued the death penalty to Kyi Lin, a former petty criminal who gunned down Ko Ni as he was carrying his 3-year-old grandson, and Aung Win Zaw, a former military lieutenant who hired Kyi Lin.

Zeyar Phyo, a former military intelligence officer accused of financing the assassination, was given a five-year prison term, and Aung Win Tun received three years for harboring Aung Win Zaw.

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Kyi Lin and Aung Win Zaw have seven days to appeal their sentences, and Zeyar Phyo and Aung Win Tun have 60 days, said Kyaw Kyaw Htike, a lawyer representing Kyi Lin.

Its unlikely Kyi Lin and Aung Win Zaw will ever be executed in a country where death sentences havent been carried out in decades.

The verdicts will do little to satisfy democracy and reform advocates. The prison terms were shorter than the seven-year terms handed to two Reuters journalists accused of violating a state-secrets law by exposing a government-sanctioned massacre of Rohingya Muslims.

Meanwhile, the whereabouts of the chief mastermind of Ko Nis murder, a former lieutenant colonel named Aung Win Khaing, remain unknown.

The murder trial had been closely watched by human rights and rule-of-law advocates at the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists, which assailed the proceedings in remarks last month.

The investigation into U Ko Nis killing has been beset by obstacles, including the unknown whereabouts of a primary suspect, the incorrect identification of a deceased individual as a suspect and the arrest of a person with the same name, and reported military involvement in the police investigation, the group said.

Lines of inquiry related to the political motivations for the killing, particularly considering the military links of many suspects, do not appear to have been pursued satisfactorily, nor impartially, given military involvement in the investigation, they added.

The country of 53 million also known as Burma continues to grapple with tension between its civilian members of government and its former military rulers, who dissolved the junta in 2011.

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The countrys resurgence since then has been highlighted by Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party winning a parliamentary majority in 2015 and the lifting of economic sanctions by the Obama administration the following year.

But the military and nationalist extremists within the majority Buddhist population have resisted the pace of change. Their influence could be seen in the way Suu Kyi sullied her international reputation by not condemning the slaughter and mass displacement of Rohingya Muslims.

Ko Ni spoke against the violence against the ethnic group. Though not a Rohingya, he was a Muslim who defended people of his faith in a country where nearly 9 in 10 people are Buddhist.

Ko Ni, a skilled lawyer, orchestrated Suu Kyis rise to power by creating a position for her called state counselor. That put her above the president, a position she was forbidden to hold under the constitution because her late husband was a foreigner.

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If that wasnt provocative enough, Ko Ni then began devising a way to get rid of the army-written constitution by proposing a simple majority vote in parliament. That got the attention of the military, which began following him to public events.

Ko Ni was killed Jan. 29, 2017, standing curbside at Yangon International Airport, in the city also known as Rangoon.

Experts say the verdict Friday wont be enough to prevent similar attacks from happening again.

A credible and just outcome necessitates public disclosure of the motivations behind U Ko Nis killing, said Sean Bain, a Myanmar-based legal advisor for the International Commission of Jurists. Further lines of inquiry should be investigated rigorously and prosecuted if necessary. Any less may embolden the repetition of attacks against lawyers in Myanmar.

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Times staff writer Pierson reported from Singapore and special correspondent Diamond from Yangon.

david.pierson@latimes.com | Follow me @dhpierson
Salamatu Jibril takes one look at month-old Sufiyan, drowsy under a heavy blanket on a sweaty day in northern Nigeria, and knows theres a problem.

The child is 2.7 kilograms [5.9 pounds] and is wasted, Jibril says, using a term that specialists commonly ascribe to children who dont weigh enough for their height. You can see it.

Sufiyan doesnt stir, his long fingers resting limply on the blanket. The woman who runs the orphanage where he lives has rushed him to the pediatric unit of Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital in the city of Kaduna.

When a member of the hospital staff lifts him onto a wooden board to be measured, Sufiyan offers a halfhearted stretch, the skin loose around his thighs, and his toes and feet looking too big for his tiny body.

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Sufiyan, a 1-month-old from an orphanage in Kaduna, Nigeria, was examined in the pediatric unit at the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital. (Krista Mahr / For The Times)

The hospital is the last stop in Kaduna states public healthcare system for children who are gravely malnourished. By the time most of the young patients get to nutritionist Jibril and her colleagues, who specialize in stabilizing critically malnourished children, they are dangerously ill.

If we have 10 patients, we lose four or five, she says. We manage [to save] some, and some are gone within hours of coming.

Nigeria is one of Africas economic powerhouses, a crowded, ambitious and oil-rich nation that will go to the polls Feb. 23 in a race that pits former military leader and incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari against opposition leader and businessman Atiku Abubakar. The vote had been set for Saturday, but hours before polls were to open the election commission postponed it a week, citing challenges in getting election materials to all parts of the country.

The country vies with South Africa for having the continents largest gross domestic product, but, like other resource-rich nations, Africas largest oil producer has not managed to spread its wealth around.

Nigeria recently surpassed India as having the most people living in extreme poverty, a worrying development given the fact that its young population of about 200 million is set to double by 2050, making it the third-most populous country in the world.

Those numbers are a source of particular anxiety for people like Jibril who spend their days watching a preventable problem like malnutrition stalk the generation that will shape the future of the country.

About 2.5 million children in Nigeria are acutely malnourished, according to the United Nations, and only 2 out of 10 of those children receive treatment.

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Overall, only 64% of children in Nigeria are growing healthily without being stunted or wasted, according to the countrys 2018 National Nutrition and Health Survey.

The problem is most severe in the countrys north, far from the flashy cars of Lagos and the oil fields of the southern Niger Delta.

In the troubled northeast, where the Boko Haram insurgency rages on, humanitarian agencies have been steadily ramping up food aid for years to help people displaced and cut off by the conflict.

But poverty cuts across more stable parts of the north as well, affecting families ability to make sure their children are getting the food they need.

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In Kaduna state, which is north of the capital, Abuja, and is Nigerias third-most populous state, more than a third of children are acutely malnourished, the state government says. Even more, 42%, are stunted, showing low height for their age and impaired overall development, according to the health survey.

The gravity of the problem caught the government by surprise when new malnutrition statistics came out three years ago, the states permanent secretary for health, Shehu Usman Muhammad, admits.

It is very alarming, and its unacceptable, he says.

Back then, he says, there were only sporadic efforts by the government to track child malnutrition and intervene where problems were observed.

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There was no deliberate plan, so not only did the malnutrition rate grow, but stunting got worse, he says. That will have a big impact on the economy and future of the state.

In 2017, the Kaduna state government, partnering with international donors like UNICEF and Save the Children, rolled out an emergency plan to tackle the complicated problem of why hundreds of thousands of children in the state arent eating well enough.

Part of the governments strategy has been to try to reduce poverty and improve its medical response to malnutrition, such as starting supplementary feeding programs for malnourished children in more clinics.

But a lot of the effort has been about educating families and changing their mindsets, by encouraging exclusive breastfeeding, or dispelling cultural beliefs that sick children have been bewitched and are beyond doctors care, or getting families to buy less processed food.

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You see people selling their milk, eggs and chickens to buy instant noodles, Muhammad says. We need to change food habits.

Aisha Usman, in charge of the high-calorie food supplement stock at the Badarawa Primary Health Care Center in Kaduna, Nigeria, with 8-month-old Hassan Shuaibu Yusuf, son of Amina Adamu. (Krista Mahr / For The Times)

In some places, the plan seems to be working. At the Badarawa primary healthcare center in the city of Kaduna, Amina Adamu, a 27-year-old mother of six, expertly wrestles her youngest son out of his clothes and sets the startled 8-month-old onto a hard plastic scale.

Adamu has been bringing her son here for four weeks, since noticing he wasnt gaining weight. I thought it was because he was sucking his thumb, she says.

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This is one of the clinics where the government has trained specialized staffers to work on malnutrition cases. They explained to Adamu how to use better hygiene at home with her children, and they have been giving her son packets of high-calorie supplementary food to eat every day.

Now hes doing better, Adamu says. They put me on the right path.

A packet of high-calorie supplementary food for malnourished children at the Badarawa Primary Health Care Center in Kaduna, Nigeria. Mothers are required to bring in the empty packets to show the medical staff theyve been giving their children the food. (Krista Mahr / For The Times)

As the country heads into its national election, both leading presidential candidates have pledged to do more to ease Nigerians daily struggles with poverty.

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Abubakar has not missed the chance to point out that President Buhari has presided over Nigerias rise to being the nation with the most extremely impoverished people, and the opposition leader has said his economic reforms would lift 50 million Nigerians out of poverty in two years.

Buhari, for his part, has used his stump speeches to mention some of the food security programs hes developed since coming to power in 2015, including a school feeding program that the government says reaches more than 9 million children.

But tackling complex public health problems like malnutrition has not been at the heart of the battle for votes. And critics say the existing local and national efforts to address malnutrition are too patchy to have broad impact.

(Los Angeles Times)

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Having policies is different from implementing them, says Andy Bako Byeing, executive director of the Bako Youth Development Foundation, which helps families struggling with child malnutrition in Kaduna.

We have the resources to make life better for everybody in this country, he says. Now we are the poverty headquarters of the world. Who knows where well be if things dont change?

At the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, the staff worries it does not have what it needs to deal with the scale of the problem.

In the pediatric intensive care unit, several babies lie on a padded communal table, IV drips hanging above their heads on a metal rack. Most of the children in this room are sick in part because theyre malnourished, the staff says.

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One child lies on a blanket, wrapped in a light-blue cardigan with his arms splayed out on either side. He appears to be barely conscious, and now and then shudders with the effort to breathe, despite the help of an oxygen tube.

This hospital is the final hope for these patients and their families. But, says Abdulkadir Musa Tabari, the hospitals chief medical director, given the number of children we see, its certainly inadequate.

Jibril, the nutritionist, says her ward needs more staff and training and a real kitchen to cook meals. Right now, she says, she cant even afford to call parents after theyve left to make sure they continue to give the right care to their recovering children.

After long, expensive stays in the hospital, many families dont want to go back to see more doctors at home, fearing more draining medical bills.

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The moment they will be discharged, she says, they run away.

For now, Sufiyan appears to have a chance of getting better.

He doesnt have to be admitted, at least. Cecilia Tambaya, who is in charge of him and 30 more babies at a nearby orphanage, nods as Jibril suggests different types of formula she can try to give him.

And she promises to bring him back in two weeks.

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Mahr is a special correspondent.
A fierce winter storm packed with subtropical moisture continued its destructive path across California, triggering widespread flooding that prompted evacuations and unleashing a mudslide that sent one home sliding into another in Marin County.

Southern Marin fire officials said the mudslide dislodged the home from its foundation and pushed it down a hill before it slammed into another residence.

Northern California

Southern Marin Fire Protection District members search a crushed house after a mudslide destroyed three homes in Sausalito. (Michael Short / Associated Press) A house rests at an angle after the mudslide. (Michael Short / Associated Press) Water cascades down stairs near the Sausalito mudslide. (Michael Short / Associated Press) Pacific Gas & Electric crews survey the area where a duplex slid down a Sausalito hillside. (Peter DaSilva / EPA / Rex / Shutterstock) Clockwise from top left; Southern Marin Fire Protection District members search a crushed house in the aftermath of a mudslide that destroyed three homes in Sausalito; a house rests at an angle after the mudslide; Pacific Gas and Electric crews survey the damage in Sausalito; muddy water cascades down stairs near the slide. (Michael Short / Associated Press / Peter DaSilva / EPA / Rex / Shutterstock)

Rescuers pulled a woman from the wreckage after they saw her hand sticking out of the debris. Caked in mud, she was wheeled on a stretcher into an ambulance. Officials evacuated 50 homes in the area after the hillside gave way.

Surprisingly, she was in great condition, Southern Marin Fire Protection District Capt. Doug Paterson said of the woman. She was talking to us. She was alert. She was able to tell us exactly what had happened.

A Pacific Gas and Electric worker checks out the mudflow near where a home slid down a hillside in Sausalito. Peter DaSilva / EPA / Rex / Shutterstock

Other Bay Area cities also got a solid soaking. San Francisco received more than 3 inches of rain in the same time frame and faced wind gusts of up to 50 mph. The conditions prompted the National Weather Service to issue a flash-flood watch and high-wind warning for the region.

The massive storm has already broken daily precipitation records after 1.94 inches of rain fell in downtown Sacramento on Wednesday. That shattered the record of 1.61 inches set in 1926, according to the weather service.

Aerial view of a levee that was breached during the rain storm in Novato. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) A tree was downed by the storm near Golden Gate Bridge. (Michael Short / Associated Press) Residents in the Sycamore Court area of Guerneville paddle through floodwaters. . (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat ) At top, an aerial view shows a levee breached during the rainstorm in Novato. A tree, at left, was downed by the storm near the Golden Gate Bridge. At right, residents in the Sycamore Court area of Guerneville paddle through floodwaters. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images; Michael Short / Associated Press; Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)

Southern California

Flooding undermined the foundation of a home near the Holy fire burn scar in Lake Elsinore. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Robert McDonough keeps an eye on erosion of riverbanks along his Lake Elsinore property. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Areas of Leach Canyon in Lake Elsinore experienced heavy flooding. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) At top, flooding undermined the foundation of a Leach Canyon home near the Holy fire burn scar in Lake Elsinore. Bottom right, Robert McDonough sizes up the erosion to riverbanks along his Lake Elsinore property. The Leach Canyon area, at left, experienced heavy flooding. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Forecasters said San Diego, Orange and Riverside counties were hit hard during the storm. Some areas saw more than 3 inches of rain along the coast and more than 10 inches at higher elevations, said Casey Oswant, a meteorologist with the weather service in San Diego. 

Usually these storms are stronger up north, but this one is hitting our area much harder, said James Brotherton, a meteorologist with the weather service in San Diego. Its definitely stronger than others weve experienced, and its likely the strongest weve seen this winter.

Some residents whose communities were affected by last years Holy fire in Riverside and Orange counties were told to leave their homes before the brunt of the storm hit Thursday.

In Orange County, Modjeska Canyon resident Tanya Morgan and daughter Jaden walk through their backyard as Santiago Creek rises during a morning downpour. (Mark Boster / For The Times) Floodwaters spill over the top of the Trabuco Canyon Road bridge. (Mark Boster / For The Times) In Orange County, Modjeska Canyon resident Tanya Morgan and daughter Jaden walk through their backyard as Santiago Creek rises during a morning downpour. At right, floodwaters spill over the top of the Trabuco Canyon Road bridge. (Mark Boster / For The Times)

Laguna Beach in Orange County faced a similar concern hours later, prompting officials to evacuate a cluster of homes and businesses along Laguna Canyon Road. Officials warned residents on social media and made announcements over a loudspeaker at the citys beaches that Laguna Canyon Creek had reached levels that could trigger flooding in the citys downtown.

Storm water pours into the ocean at the Laguna Beach boardwalk. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times

Downtown Los Angeles saw more than 2 inches of rain. That means the area has seen 15.5 inches of precipitation this rainy season, which began Oct. 1, surpassing the annual average of 14.93 inches.
Uncover the traditional culture of Japan on a 10-day excursion offered by Boundless Journeys. The tour begins in Kyoto with a visit to the shrine complex of Fushimi Inari, known for its red torii gates.

Highlights include easy-to-moderate hikes along sections of the Nakasendo Trail, a network of ancient roadways that connected Kyoto and Tokyo, and overnight stays in the small towns of Tsumago and Kiso-Fukushima.

The tour concludes with a day of sightseeing in Tokyo.

The village of Magome is a stop on the Nakasendo Trail. (Charles Fleming)

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Dates: April 15-24, May 20-29, Oct. 14-23, Nov. 12-21

Price: From $6,695 per person, double occupancy. Includes all accommodations, including traditional inns; meals per the itinerary, including sake and beer; activities and in-country transportation. International airfare not included.

Info: Boundless Journeys, (800) 941-8010

travel@latimes.com

@latimestravel
The Angels agreed on Friday to sign left-handed reliever Dan Jennings to a minor-league contract and invite him to spring training.

Jennings, 31, would make $1 million and an additional $500,000 in incentives if he makes the 25-man roster, according to a person with knowledge of the situation but not authorized to speak publicly.

He spent last season with the Milwaukee Brewers after being released by the Tampa Bay Rays and had a 3.22 ERA in 72 games. He also had a 4.09 fielding independent pitching number while striking out fewer batters per nine innings (6.3) than he did in any of his previous full major league seasons.

The Rays acquired Jennings at the 2017 non-waiver trade deadline, then released him before opening day last year.

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Jennings will join an stacked bullpen competition that features two other left-handers in Williams Jerez and Dillon Peters, both of whom are on the Angels 40-man roster.

Jennings has made at least 50 major league appearances each season since 2015, which was his first of 2 1/2 seasons with the Chicago White Sox. He pitched in a career-best 77 games in 2017.

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Jennings reliability would bolster an Angels bullpen that last year ranked fourth in the majors in innings pitched (632) and had five pitchers appear in more than 60 games. Of those five, only Noe Ramirez (69) and Cam Bedrosian (71) remain on the roster.

Ohtanis progress

Shohei Ohtani, who told Japanese media earlier this week his effort level on dry swings is between 70% and 80%, watched fellow right-handers Jaime Barria, Taylor Cole and Bedrosian throw their first official bullpen sessions of the spring on Friday. Ohtani wont return to the field as a pitcher until 2020 at the earliest, but he reported to camp early to continue his rehab from offseason elbow ligament replacement surgery.

Ohtanis routine will not change when position players report for the teams first full-squad workout on Monday, manager Brad Ausmus said. He will continue to work out indoors and take swings without a ball until hes cleared to begin hitting off a tee.

maria.torres@latimes.com

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@maria_torres3
This week, Hoover High School celebrated the grand opening of our Student Art Gallery with INSIGHT, an exhibition of student artwork, performances and hands-on activities that explore and celebrate identity, respect and unity.

As a Hoover teacher and director of the Hoover Media Arts Academy (MAAc), I have the pleasure of working with an incredibly talented group of student artists. Many of my students were upset by the negative attention given to our school back in October. They did not feel the reports, which focused on the actions of a relatively small group of students in a population of 1,600, were an accurate depiction of the Hoover community at large. So they decided to do something about it. This year, our school built a Student Art Gallery and our first exhibition, INSIGHT, just opened.

INSIGHT was created and curated by three senior MAAc students: Jamie Calica, Julia Loughlin and Amanda Martinez. Campus clubs and organizations hosted interactive events during the exhibition to encourage conversation and insight into who we are as a community.

Since October, our community has been holding a series of restorative meetings which are giving us the opportunity to look deeply into the issues we face in regards to race, culture and identity. We do not shy away from difficult conversations and believe that all issues can be solved with the empathy and understanding that comes from open and honest communication.

I hope that you will join us at Hoover and witness for yourself the good work these students have done.

Visit INSIGHT at the Hoover High School Open House on Thursday, Feb. 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. Open to the community.

Allison Stewart

Hoover High School teacher
Yes, a superintendent is very important.

Thats my response to the question posed in Brian Crosbys most recent Whiteboard Jungle column, where he shared his views on the school boards release of Glendale Supt. Winfred Roberson Jr. (GNP February 9, 2019, Despite high GUSD turnover, students succeed).

Please understand. I appreciate Crosbys long tenure as a teacher at Hoover High School and the dedication he shows to his students and teaching.

I love how he tries to connect his students to issues outside their classrooms, to history and arts and current events.

I share Crosbys wish for stability in district leadership, and Im sorry that the latest superintendent-school board partnership didnt work out as the parties and the community had hoped.

In the nearly six years since former News-Press editor Dan Evans invited Crosby and me to write weekly alternating education columns, Ive rarely felt compelled to take issue with his opinions. But I must offer a counterpoint to his recent question about the value of a superintendent.

For starters, Crosbys description of the news of Robersons release generating more of a ripple than a tsunami reminds me how differently various audiences can react to news.

Many people in the civic and nonprofit worlds where I spend much of my time  who may be outside of schools but they are very much concerned with them  the news of the release came not as a ripple but as a crashing wave, a worrisome sign of stormy seas. Community members  along with many of the educators I know in the district  know that the contractual release of a superintendent is a big deal.

I also take issue with the comment that Roberson now joins the ranks of recent Glendale Unified superintendents who seem intent on not staying very long.

No superintendent Ive known (excluding the interims whom Crosby counts in his calculation of average tenures) aspired to a short term.

But heres the statement that prompted this response.

New superintendents tend to establish their authority via some new cockamamie education program that is mandated for implementation in all classrooms without teacher input. Veteran teachers know how to ride out such fads and dont get too riled up about it because it will last as long as the superintendent remains in office.

For some calm perspective, I reached out to a few former school board colleagues, and I got this response from Chuck Sambar, who was a teacher, Glendale Teachers Assn. leader, and administrator in the district before his election to the board. He is now enjoying retirement in Pacific Grove, Calif.

In Sambars words, Glendale superintendents. Burtis Taylor, Jim Brown, and Mike Escalante had a profound impact on building a school district and a culture that served students and community. Their impact was not fad based. They were leaders whose decisions and actions were based on common sense, respect for teachers and staff, financial stability, managed growth in time of challenge or prosperity, inclusion, consultation, and above all, honesty and integrity.

With thanks to my friend Chuck, Ill add a few examples I recall of the impacts of superintendents.

Robert Sanchis led the district in a time of enormous population growth, from 1982 to 1996, when, as an example, one elementary school grew from 615 to 1,400 students, many of them English-language learners. Sanchis assembled a team that led our district to become a model for English-language instruction and for welcoming new parents to public education in the United States. He managed the shift of half the district to year-round education to accommodate school growth, and he engaged parents and teachers in the development of the districts first strategic plan.

Jim Brown arrived in 1996, just as California instituted class-size reduction in the primary grades. With class-size reduction, came a wave (another tsunami) of brand-new teachers and a parade of portable classrooms.

In quick response, Brown tapped local leaders to spearhead the successful Measure K school-bond campaign, and he orchestrated the conversations that resulted in the opening of Clark Magnet High School. In fulfillment of one of a superintendents many responsibilities, he selected Doug Dall as Clarks founding principal, a decision that has made an enormous difference for students in Glendale.

In 2000, when a student died in an altercation in front of one of our schools, Brown worked with school and community representatives  including parents, students and teachers  to address the issues that surfaced by that tragedy.

Michael Escalante, facing significant funding cuts when he arrived in the district, accomplished the unpopular task of cutting district positions without laying off teachers. And in a determined effort to avert the closure of an elementary school due to shrinking enrollment, he proposed the formation of the Foreign Language Academies of Glendale, one of the districts signature reforms.

We also have Escalante to thank for the existence of Hoover High Schools award-winning marching band, and it was he who paved the way for the rebirth of the Glendale Educational Foundation, which has been augmenting district programs for nearly 15 years.

I could say more, about Dick Sheehan, about Don Empey stepping out of retirement to serve as interim superintendent, and of the difficult challenges handed to Roberson.

But Ill close with the words from a 1996 California School Boards Assn. publication  maybe old but not outdated: The employment of a superintendent is the opportunity to create a climate of teamwork that will enable the districts schools to successfully educate students far into the future.

Superintendents make a difference. So do the school boards who hire them.

JOYLENE WAGNER is a past member of the Glendale Unified school board, from 2005 to 2013, and currently serves on the boards of Glendale Educational Foundation and other nonprofit organizations. Email her at jkate4400@aol.com.
It was a celebration of family. A super-dedicated group of volunteers gathered in support of the Adoption Guild of Southern California in the ballroom of the Balboa Bay Resort, Newport Beach. They came to celebrate the 58th annual patroness event, which raises funds and rallies support for Holy Family Services Adoption and Foster Care in Orange County.

Two hundred ladies and gentlemen came together to send a message that children are created in the image of God, and that their care is the responsibility of any and every adult  especially those children in need of a family.

The tone of the Adoption Guild Patroness event focused on the positive aspects of counseling pregnant women in a variety of situations on their choices concerning the best possible outcome for mother and unborn child. Holy Family Services Adoption and Foster Care Agency in Orange County is dedicated to providing extensive one-on-one counseling to all seeking assistance.

Clearly, the agencys goal is to avoid the option of abortion, as many patients come forward unsure of what choice is best for them. Through extensive counseling, options are fully laid out and, in the course, therapy is provided to those who need support during a period of emotional stress. Many women often change their minds multiple times until they decide.

Cathy ONeil, Sherry Hunter, Julie Reynolds and Ryann Carissimo gather in support of the Adoption Guild. (Photo courtesy of Ann Chatillon)

In keeping with the spirit of the HFS mission, Susan Chakmakian, HFS board chairwoman, introduced a family who recently adopted a now 3-month-old infant. The adoptive mother and father shared their personal journey with Holy Family Services while holding their new son in their arms.

Adoption Guild President Chris Garber joined mistress of ceremonies Patrice Werschmidt in welcoming guests for the luncheon, silent auction and fashion presentation. The elegant affair was co-chaired by Christine Johnson and Michelle Swift working with a committee that included Julie Reynolds, Pam Selber, Tina Retrosi, Pam Fossler, Angela Grasso, Marcy Sargenti, Nancy Collins, Sheila Forsum and Ryann Carissimo.

Donors were seated at round tables covered in winter white linen centered with tower displays of fanciful petit fours and assorted delicacies topped with a bouquet of winter blooms and hearts representing the symbolic logo of the Adoption Guild. Major benefactors included Jackie Glass, Bob and Britt Meyer, Pam Selber, Stephen and Pam Fossler, Jeannie Hidey, Christine Johnson, and Ed and Angela Grasso. Generous corporate benefactors included William Harold & Sons Jewelers, OC Breakers, Landsea Homes, Grayse fashions, among others.

Marie Gray and daughter Kelly Gray of Grayse presented a twist on the traditional fashion show element of the charity luncheon. Rather than the obligatory models walking the runway, they joined fashion arbiter Susan Stein addressing the crowd on the evolution of fashion. Joining professional models on the runway were volunteers representing the patroness membership program. William Squire, stylist and former model, presented a program on makeup, posture and runway etiquette.

Major event contributors included Charles Durnial, Karen Knoche, Judy Guerra, Sunny Park, Patricia Houston and Ruth Fitzgerald. A significant portion of the financial success of the event came from generous silent auction donors and vendor boutiques set up as pop-up stores in the foyer of the Balboa Bay Resort. Grayse joined Joyfit, G2G Designs and BellaFit in donating a portion of sale proceeds to the Adoption Guild.

Spotted in the crowd and shopping at vendor boutiques was classy local real estate agent Carol Lee and Heidi Miller, owner of Tight Assets in Laguna Beach, and Jeannie Lawrence, owner of the Rancho Las Lomas event center. Janie Merkle, Sue Podnay, Harriett Selna, Joyce White, Suzanne Wyrick, Mia Zucht and Shan Vincent also made appearances. Another local real estate star (and always best dressed) Adrienne Brandes attended as well.

For information on the Adoption Guild in support of Holy Family Services Adoption and Foster Care, visit adoptionguild.org or email adoptionguildoc@gmail.com.

B.W. COOK is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.
Jerry Harrington is among the worlds most traveled people.

The longtime Newport Beach resident, retired investment broker and former U.S. Navy officer has visited 275 of the worlds 327 nations and territories, and his wife, Maralou, has traveled with him to more than 200 of them.

Both Harringtons have been admitted to the prestigious Travelers Century Club, a nonprofit international organization that requires its 1,400 members to have visited a minimum of 100 foreign lands.

Raised in the San Marino-Arcadia area, Jerry majored in business at UCLA, where he joined the Naval ROTC program. Upon graduation and his commissioning as a Naval Reserve ensign, he was assigned to the heavy cruiser USS Bremerton as a junior division officer. Attached to the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the Bremerton made port calls at Singapore, Melbourne, Australia  where Jerry attended several events at the 1956 summer Olympic Games  the Philippines, Okinawa, Guam, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan.

When I was in Taiwan, I took a photo of Chiang Kai-Shek, the countrys president and former president of mainland China, who was appearing in a parade in Taipei, the nations capital, said Jerry, who was on active Navy duty for two years and cites his Pacific travels aboard the USS Bremerton as whetting his appetite for a lifetime of foreign travel and adventure.

The Harringtons have traveled to all seven continents, the North and South poles and everything in between, said Maralou, who was raised in Pasadena and, like her husband, is a UCLA graduate.

When we reached the North Pole via a Russian ship and helicopter, I slipped into my bathing suit and jumped into the 27-degree water, she said. I didnt stay there very long.

Traveling to their international destinations by car, train, ship and, on occasion, bicycle, the Harringtons relish visiting remote, hard-to-reach, exotic and unspoiled lands.

Take, for example, their excursion to the island of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia, an independent nation in the Western Pacific.

Our hotel there had just a handful of rooms and was attached to the local general store, said Maralou. The people on Yap use stones called rai for money, and the worth of the stones is determined by their size and age. Some of the stones are 5 and 6 feet high and are never moved. To get to Yap, we had to fly to Guam and then catch a plane that flies to Yap twice a week.

The Harringtons also have traveled to the Republic of Srpska, an autonomous region within Bosnia and Herzegovina; the Republic of Transnistria, a breakaway province of Moldova in Eastern Europe; the Kingdom of Swat, a semi-independent, feudal province within Pakistan; Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia; Guyana, the country in northern South America where 918 Americans, members of the Jonestown cult, committed suicide or were murdered in 1978 on the orders of cult leader Jim Jones; Bhutan, a tiny feudal kingdom high in the Himalayas; and Timbucktu, a city in Mali, West Africa, where its desperately poor inhabitants live in mud houses and camel caravans conduct trade while crossing the Sahara Desert en route to Algeria and Morocco.

The Newport Beach pair has also traveled to the Western Pacific island nation of New Guinea, where many rural women in this primitive society bare their breasts in public, the men go about naked but wear cod pieces, and foreign visitors are warned to be wary of so-called rascals cruising the streets and shopping centers bent on stealing their money, cameras and passports; the poor, blighted nation of Haiti, where overseas travelers also must be on guard for roving muggers and thieves; and Yemen, the war-torn country on the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula that the Bible says was the home of the Queen of Sheba and where the men wear wicked-looking curved knives in their belts.

Still other destinations include North Korea, where they spent nearly a week and toured the USS Pueblo, the U.S. Navy ship that North Korean naval forces boarded and captured at sea in 1968; and South Africa, where Maralou descended into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off the Cape of Good Hope in a large cage to view up-close great white sharks she describes as the size of a school bus and right out of the movie Jaws.

Another highlight of the Harringtons travels was Pitcairn Island, population 55, Great Britains sole remaining colony in the Pacific. Maralou said the island has no airport, and the only way to access this isolated dot in the ocean was by small boats, which ferried her, Jerry and their fellow cruise ship passengers to the islands tiny port in heavy seas.

Pitcairn was settled in 1789 by several crew members of the Royal Navys warship HMS Bounty who had mutinied against its captain, William Bligh. The mutineers, after taking control of the ship, forced Bligh and some of his officers and men into one of the ships boats, which eventually reached the island of Timor.

Nearly all of Pitcairns residents are direct descendants of the Bountys mutineers, and they bear the mutineers last names. One of these surnames is Christian, as Bounty sailor Fletcher Christian was one of the mutineers, as well as a leader of the mutiny and the small Pitcairn community once it was established, said Jerry.

Where are the Harringtons off to next?

Were still deciding, said Maralou. We may make a return trip to South America.

The two wanderers agree that much of the world is still awaiting them.

David C. Henley, a Newport Beach resident, is a contributor to Times Community News.
Estancia students who aspire to be in a medical career can practice lifesaving skills in a classroom resembling a hospital at the Costa Mesa high school.

Half of teacher Hayato Yuukis classroom is formatted as a traditional learning setting, with desks, textbooks and a whiteboard. The other half looks like a hospital, with gurneys, stethoscopes, a blood pressure monitor, manikins and Nursing Kelly, a full-body manikin that mimics medical symptoms.

The way Yuuki sees it, students interested in a career in the medical field will benefit from hands-on experience. He serves as coordinator for the Estancia Medical Academy, which is in its ninth year of offering students a series of classes from their sophomore through senior years.

Yuuki said its amazing to see his students growth through the years. Some have gotten jobs in the field.

Now theyre paramedics and [emergency medical technicians], and they said they wouldnt have done it otherwise, said Yuuki, who also is an EMT in the trauma center at UC Irvine Medical Center on weekends.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School Districts partnership with the Coastline Regional Occupational Program helps fund the academy, also known as the Patient Care Pathway. A similar program is underway at Costa Mesa High School.

On Thursday, Yuuki taught his students how to help a patient experiencing heat cramps.

Patients in such cases should be placed in a cool place and offered water if theyre conscious and not vomiting, he said.

Its like when youre running the track and get a side cramp, Yuuki told his class. You feel better after you drink water.

But if a patient describes excruciating pain, he or she should be taken to a hospital, he said.

Yuuki later assigned groups of students to practice their skills on medical equipment. The class, he said, is meant to prepare the students for how to react in 911 situations.

Miriam Arriage, 16, kneeled on the floor as she performed 15 chest compressions on a manikin infant. Classmate Stephanie Arellano, 17, stepped in by placing a valve mask over the infants face to provide ventilation. They repeated that for 10 cycles.

In another corner of the room, Gisselle Suarez, 17, focused on taking Nursing Kellys blood pressure.

Yuuki can control Nursing Kellys oxygen level and blood pressure to see if his students respond appropriately. The blood pressure monitor helps students familiarize themselves with reading heart rates.

Whats the blood pressure? Yuuki asked Gisselle.

120 over 80, she said  a good spot.

Yuuki walked through the room offering criticism and suggestions.

Several students credited the academy and their teacher for inspiring them to pursue careers as EMTs or paramedics.

Issa Juarez, 17, said she enjoyed learning how simple actions can be dangerous and risky, such as strapping a patient with a spine injury onto a backboard. Theres a risk that the patient could be paralyzed, but Issa said she can handle the pressure.

Stephanie agreed.

I know Ill be ready for it, she said.
A 27-year-old man was charged Friday in the killings of his parents and their housekeeper in a Newport Beach home.

Richard Nicholson, 64, and Kim Nicholson, 61, both of Newport Beach, and Maria Morse, 57, of Anaheim were found dead Wednesday night in a home at 36 Palazzo, according to the Orange County Sheriffs Department.

The suspect, Camden Burton Nicholson, is charged with three counts of murder with a sentencing enhancement allegation of multiple slayings. During a court appearance Friday, he delayed entering a plea until March 8 and is being held without bail.

Newport Beach police said Friday that he is the son of Richard and Kim Nicholson and that Morse was the couples housekeeper.

Newport police received a call from Irvine police shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday requesting a welfare check at the couples home on Palazzo. The call came after Irvine police spoke with a man, later identified as Camden Nicholson, in the emergency room of a medical facility.

When Newport officers arrived at the house, they found the bodies of two women and a man. Authorities did not release details about the circumstances or manner of the deaths.

Richard Nicholson was chief executive of West Pacific Medical Laboratory until it was purchased two years ago by Sonic Healthcare USA. He stayed on as a consultant through its rebranding as WestPac Labs last month, according to Staton Shed, interim president of WestPac Labs.

He was a really good man who was looking to help people. Its truly a loss, Shed said. I was just amazed someone at his level looked out for everyone he worked with, including staff and clients.

The Orange County Business Journal honored Richard Nicholson in 2001 as one of eight Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs of the Year.

Richard and Kim Nicholson were longtime supporters of Orange County Coastkeeper, a Costa Mesa-based environmental group for which Richard was a board member for 15 years. The nonprofit was shocked by their deaths, said Executive Director Garry Brown. Richard had planned to attend a strategic planning meeting for the board the night his body was found, Brown said.

Hes been an integral part of our board, Brown said. Very supportive and very giving of himself and his time. Its just such a tragic loss.

Outside of his business and philanthropic work, Richard Nicholson enjoyed backcountry skiing and chartered helicopters to drop him off at remote peaks that he would ski down.

Camden Nicholsons online profile identifies him as a devout Mormon missionary who attended the University of Utah. He graduated from Corona del Mar High School and lives in Costa Mesa, according to his Facebook profile.

Morses family could not be reached for comment Friday.

Daniel Langhorne is a contributor to Times Community News.

UPDATES:

This article was originally published at 10:35 a.m. and was later updated with additional information.
In Uganda, Johnson Niwagaba faced prosecution and life in prison for being gay. Ostracized by his family, and fearing for his safety, Niwagaba fled to the United States seeking asylum.

He ended up in an Orange County jail.

Niwagabas journey was one of five shared at Asylum Anguish: Stories from the Border  A Staged Reading Feb. 10 at the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange.

Five UC Irvine theater majors read aloud the narratives of five immigration detainees jailed countywide. The readings were meant to raise awareness of the often-perilous plight of asylum seekers, while also serving as a fundraiser for Friends of Orange County Detainees.

Im hoping this show will bring up the real picture on what is happening with immigration detention. Johnson Niwagaba

Since its founding in 2012, the nonprofits volunteers have visited thousands of immigration detainees in jail and helped hundreds of released asylum seekers navigate their way.

The narratives in Asylum Anguish were drawn from the exact words of current or former detainees helped by the Friends group. Through interviews, they explain why their lives are in danger and why asylum in the U.S. is their only path to safety.

Each one gave permission to share their stories. Most wish to remain anonymous.

If their story is released and their identity is disclosed, they risk significant harm, said an event organizer, the Rev. Kent Doss of Tapestry, a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Lake Forest. Their country of origin may complicate the legal asylum process or they may become vulnerable to attack from those who tried to harm them previously.

Doss said that for the event, the nonprofit gravitated toward stories told by LGBTQ asylum seekers because that piece of seeking asylum is generally not well understood.

There are many, many stories to tell, the minister said. The few presented in Asylum Anguish come from people we know well, who had the courage to share.

Group lends an ear and a helping hand to detainees 

Chris Mansa, a graduate student at UC Irvine, shared the story of visiting an inmate from Togo, a country in West Africa.

The man says that because a high-ranking official in the country didnt like his family, authorities seized his familys estate and locked him in jail for eight years.

When he was released, he sought asylum in the U.S.

I have an opportunity to stand on stage and tell his story to a group of people who may have the opportunity to do something about it, Mansa said. If one person or a group of people who hear his story  [are] inspired to do something and fight for him, its a huge victory in a broken system that we have for people who come to the U.S. seeking asylum.

Actor Fox Worth read aloud the experiences of a gay man from Ghana.

If you are gay, you are not safe in Ghana, Worth said.

UCI student Anica Garcia-DeGraff shared the story of a transgender Honduran who fled for her life after being beaten and raped by gang members.

I was warned that I should do whatever the gangs told me to do, Garcia-DeGraff read in the womans own words. I knew I had to leave Honduras.

The performance was directed and written by UCI theater directors Jane Page and Gavin Cameron-Web, who are married and volunteer with the nonprofit.

We feel like we needed to make something that was a performance-based expression of what the heck was going on, Page said.

National debate about immigrant detainees leads to a swell of OC volunteerism 

Niwagaba, the Ugandan, entered the U.S. on a flight to Los Angeles International Airport  a legal port of entry. He had told the U.S. embassy in Uganda that he was coming for a conference, fearing he wouldnt receive a visa otherwise.

When he arrived at LAX with visa in hand, he told immigration officials that his true purpose for coming to the U.S. was to seek asylum, but authorities, citing the discrepancy, took him into custody.

With no legal representation, Niwagaba stated his case to a judge in immigration court.

He was denied asylum at two separate hearings.

Niwagaba appealed the rulings but still spent nine months incarcerated in Orange County.

He is now free on bond, awaiting his case to be heard in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Im scared because my case is not yet closed, Niwagaba, 27, said. In my first hearings, I was not represented, so I lost my case. Now I have a pro bono attorney.

While Niwagaba awaits his fate, he is grateful that his journey  and the journeys of other asylum seekers  are being made public.

Its good because the world will know what we asylum seekers go through and how the whole process is really hard, Niwagaba said. Im hoping this show will bring up the real picture on what is happening with immigration detention.

Lou Ponsi is a contributor to Times Community News.
Matt Helgeson knew it was time to pull the plug.

For weeks, the UC Santa Barbara professor of chemical engineering had held out hope that politicians in Washington would find a way to end the government shutdown. If they did, his graduate students could still make their long-planned trip to Maryland to conduct experiments at the National Institute of Standards and Technologys Center for Neutron Research in mid-January.

A slot at the NCNR is a precious commodity, and Helgesons students had spent six months meticulously preparing for theirs. But every day the shutdown limped on, their prospects grew dimmer and their nerves more frayed.

The final blow came when President Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office and doubled down on his demand for a border wall  which Democrats refused to fund.

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Helgeson called the two students into his office the next day. They skimmed the latest headlines to convince themselves that they had lost their shot. Nobody at the NCNR could give them any guidance; most employees were furloughed.

They bailed.

(Los Angeles Times)

This is apparently the reality now, Helgeson told his students. Its really unfortunate that all of your work and resources are lost because of what is more or less political infighting.

More than a month later, the researchers are still coping with the fallout. Helgesons students finally left for the NCNR on Monday and will work through the weekend, now that lawmakers have averted a second shutdown.

They are just a few of the scientists who were hobbled by the 35-day lapse in federal funding that began just before Christmas. The government reopened on Jan. 26, but the shutdowns effects continue to ripple through the global scientific community.

The closure of the NCNR alone affected hundreds of researchers, and will complicate the centers operations for at least six months, according to the NISTs own assessment.

Set in the Washington suburb of Gaithersburg, Md., the NCNR is one of just three neutron-scattering facilities in the country. It houses a nuclear reactor that produces streams of particles, which scientists use to study superconductors, plastics, drug compounds and a variety of other materials.

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Neutrons dont carry an electrical charge, so they can pass right through substances and reveal their structure and magnetic properties on an atomic level, said UC Berkeley physicist Bob Birgeneau.

They are a unique and important probe, he said  which is why the NCNRs instruments are booked up months in advance.

When the shutdown began, the NCNRs reactor had been powered down for routine maintenance over the holidays. It didnt come back on in early January as planned. Instead, the reactor sat quiet while dozens of staff scientists were forced to stayed home.

The NIST hasnt released a detailed account of the full impact on federal researchers. But in a recent meeting with a committee of the NCNRs users, agency representatives shared a few figures that hint at the broader effect on U.S. research: Taking the facilitys 29 instruments down for 25 days of planned operations cost scientists 725 days  nearly two years  of work and represented $3.5 million in lost value.

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More than 100 experiments were canceled, according to Michael Hore, a materials scientist at Case Western Reserve University who sits on the user committee. And 200 to 300 government, university and industry researchers were directly affected, Hore estimated, because most experiments involve a minimum of two or three scientists.

The disruption has created a range of problems, from the personal to the professional, the economic to the intellectual.

Many researchers had to absorb hundreds of dollars in travel expenses for trips that never happened. Jodie Lutkenhaus, a chemical engineer at Texas A&M who studies thin films like those used in anti-reflective coatings, had to pay more than $300 for a canceled plane ticket and rental car when her student had to miss an experiment at the NCNR scheduled for Jan. 23.

Lutkenhaus covered the costs with funds she normally uses for conference travel and lab repairs. Now that money isnt going toward the pursuit of academic research, she said.

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One graduate student at the University of Tennessee had arranged for her in-laws to visit and care for her young child while she traveled to the NCNR. Shell have to make new plans when her experiment is rescheduled for this spring.

A view of the guide hall at the National Institute of Standards and Technologys Center for Neutron Research. (NIST)

In addition to eating nearly $1,000 worth of travel costs, Helgesons students scrapped the samples they had planned to analyze. They study the behavior of tiny particles suspended in fluids and emulsions, like those used in injection molding and to make certain kinds of drugs, but the solids can settle out of solution over time.

The actual raw materials werent all that expensive, Helgeson said. But it is quite a bit of time for the students to prepare those materials.

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Yumi Ijiri, a physicist at Oberlin College in Ohio, had the opposite problem: The shutdown meant that NCNRs staff could not prepare for her experiment, which was originally scheduled for this week. It will be the first time the NCNR uses polarized neutrons in a new instrument, a technique that allows researchers to better distinguish the magnetic qualities of a material from its structural properties. NIST scientists had to make custom parts and tweak their software before Ijiris team arrived.

And that all didnt happen, she said.

Yumi Ijiris plans to use the Center for Neutron Researchs new machine, the very small angle neutron scattering instrument, were delayed by the government shutdown. (Fran Webber / National Institute of Standards and Technology)

The consequences of the shutdown will spread over months, and maybe years, as the facility clears its backlog.

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Hore had an experiment planned for this spring, which will likely be bumped to accommodate rebookings. From what Im told, Hore said, the soonest we can make measurements will be sometime in the fall.

One of his graduate students needs those data to finish his PhD; without it, hell likely have to stay on for another semester or two. This is holding him back, said Hore, who has to find a way to pay him for the extra time. (One option: Holding off on having a new student join his lab.)

Indeed, delays could be particularly devastating for scientists who are just starting out, said Birgeneau, who studies high-temperature superconductors like those used in MRI machines and satellites.

Two post-doctoral researchers in his lab had their NCNR experiments postponed for several months. That may not seem like a long time, he said, but post-docs only have a few years to crank out high-impact work to help launch their careers.

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They are going to be competing for jobs with other people who werent reliant on federal government facilities that were shut down, he said.

The closure will hamper many researchers abilities to apply for new grants and additional time at the NCNR, which is only awarded twice a year, and to publish scientific papers. Already, the NIST estimates that the shutdown has held up about 35 research articles.

Mark Dadmun, a polymer scientist at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, studies materials used in 3-D printing and ways to make them stronger. His January experiment has been rescheduled for April, and an upcoming measurement has been pushed even later. The delay affects not just him but also his partners on a multimillion-dollar research project.

Ive got about three other collaborators that are waiting for our results, he said.

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Stephen Wilson, a materials scientist at UC Santa Barbara, said the shutdown puts all U.S. scientists at a disadvantage. Science, to a large degree, is a race, he said.

UC Santa Barbara scientist Stephen Wilson with research assistants Eli Zoghlin, right, and Zach Porter, left. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Wilson studies materials for quantum computing, and hes one of many researchers jockeying to produce technology that will underpin the next generation of electronics. The shutdown thwarted his plans to wrap up a yearlong project with some final measurements at the NCNR last month.

It certainly slows down our research, he said. Internationally, people dont care the reason.

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The NCNR also serves companies such as Toyota, Dow Chemical, Pfizer, and LOreal. The shutdowns direct effect on them remains unclear, but it certainly undermined a primary goal of the centers industrial consortium: to provide industry with predictable and timely access to neutron facilities, according to the NISTs website.

Right now, NCNR staffers are scrambling to make new plans. Theyve been working very hard to reschedule everyone, Wilson said.

Complicating matters was the looming threat of a second shutdown. Some researchers feared they would make it to the NCNR, only to be stymied again when the governments temporary funding ran out.

On Thursday, the White House said Trump would sign a deal hashed out by lawmakers to keep the government open. But that announcement came too late for some.

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Anine Border, a doctoral student from Denmark who studies polystyrene, had an experiment slated to begin Feb. 22, but she postponed her trip until mid-April, just in case.

The experience has been eye-opening for her. The political situation in a completely different country across the Atlantic can actually affect the course of my PhD, she said. I definitely did not expect that.
In the early moments of Gavin Newsoms first State of the State address, Californias new governor promised to talk frankly and directly on tough calls, including the future of the states rail system.

Then he triggered mass confusion over the fate of the states $77-billion high-speed rail project.

In the hours that followed Tuesdays speech, President Trump demanded California return $3.5 billion in federal stimulus funds, and headlines proclaimed the Democratic governor was abandoning the ambitious project championed by his predecessors  a story line that Newsom asserted is completely made up and one that his team has scrambled to walk back.

Im baffled by it, said Rob Stutzman, former communications director to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Its very perplexing as to how something so important would be so dramatically miscommunicated.

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Standing in an elementary school library Thursday in Magalia, a Butte County town heavily damaged in the Camp fire last year, Newsom told The Times that he too was a bit perplexed  but by reporters misconstruing his words.

I just think people in the media should pause before they run headlines and actually consider the facts and maybe even ask the person thats stating things before they run with things, Newsom said. Thats the deep lesson I learned in this.

In his speech, Newsom began by paying respect to the vision of Schwarzenegger and former Gov. Jerry Brown, who both supported a plan  now $44 billion over budget and 13 years behind schedule  to build a bullet train capable of hitting 200 miles per hour from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

The 51-year-old governor said that he shares that vision and that the economy and quality of life in California hinge on improving transportation.

But lets be real, Newsom said to lawmakers gathered for Tuesdays speech. The current project, as planned, would cost too much and respectfully take too long. Theres been too little oversight and not enough transparency.

Right now, there simply isnt a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to L.A., Newsom said. I wish there were. However, we do have the capacity to complete a high-speed rail link between Merced and Bakersfield.

He guessed that critics would label it a train to nowhere, which he called wrong and offensive.

High-speed rail is more than a train project, Newsom said. Its about economic transformation, and its about unlocking the enormous potential of the [Central] Valley.

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Within minutes, the first headlines appeared.

An Associated Press story led with this: California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday hes abandoning a plan to build a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, a project with an estimated cost that has ballooned to $77 billion.

Another headline from the Fresno Bee editorial board read: Three words change the fate of high-speed rail, and with it, the Valleys future.

Dozens of publications offered varying interpretations.

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a staunch opponent of the project, seized on the moment.

The train to nowhere is finally stopped. This is the right move by @GavinNewsom. #CAHSR  Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) February 12, 2019

The train to nowhere is finally stopped, the Republican from Bakersfield tweeted. I look forward to working w/ Governor Newsom and federal officials in the coming weeks to best mitigate what has already been wasted on high-speed rail due to the previous administration.

Newsoms communications office began calling reporters to clarify the governors statements.

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What he said is we are refocusing to get a finished product from Bakersfield to Merced, the governors spokesman, Nathan Click, said as the narrative spread.

Governor Newsom fully committed to high-speed rail as part of All in California economic transformation, and clean energy future, tweeted Ann OLeary, his chief-of-staff.

Lawmakers and outside groups friendly to Newsom attempted to stomp down assertions that he would finish anything less than the existing plan.

He said we must focus on completing Central Valley segment & then move forward from there, state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) wrote on Twitter. Bay Area & LA must be - & will be - part of CAs high speed rail network.

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Newsom did not specifically say he was killing the project entirely or ending efforts to secure more funding. Rather, he said that the state would complete the Merced-to-Bakersfield line, the first phase of environmental work and continue to support our regional projects north and south. Days later, the governor clarified that he meant regional work that has already been funded, including but not limited to the electrification of a commuter rail line from San Jose to San Francisco called the Caltrain and improvements at Union Station in Los Angeles.

The governor said Thursday that he publicly expressed thoughts in his speech that others have said in private, in an effort to be more honest and accountable about the reality of the project.

The money that exists will allow us that 171-mile system, he said. Beyond that theres no identifiable money. I also made that point. Everyone knows that. I said it. But that doesnt mean we give up.

Trump entered the fray more than 24 hours after Newsoms speech  much later than expected.

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California has been forced to cancel the massive bullet train project after having spent and wasted many billions of dollars, Trump tweeted. They owe the Federal Government three and a half billion dollars. We want that money back now. Whole project is a green disaster!

Newsom tweeted back and called Trumps words fake news. He asked if the president was desperately searching for money for his border wall with Mexico.

Were building high-speed rail, connecting the Central Valley and beyond, Newsom tweeted. This is CAs money, allocated by Congress for this project. Were not giving it back. The train is leaving the station  better get on board!

Then, on Thursday, the governor blamed the Associated Press.

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There was an AP headline that really confounded us that I think created this firestorm, respectfully, Newsom said in an interview with The Times. Im not impugning anyone, but that, I think, led to a lot of  they just heard the first line and didnt listen to anything else in the speech.

The AP said it stands by its story.

The Associated Press reported what the governor said during his State of the State address, Lauren Easton, director of media relations at the AP, said in a statement. When AP later received additional comment from the governors office, we updated the story.

Stutzman, the former aide to Schwarzenegger, said the pushback from the governors office was more confusing than the speech itself.

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You cant put this one on the press, Stutzman said. Mean what you say and say what you mean. To me, it was very clear that he was going to resize the scope of [the bullet train], finish what they started and then get out of it.

Stutzman said major speeches are typically vetted repeatedly and aides are tasked with understanding how words would be interpreted by different groups.

Newsoms office selectively shared information about his plans before the speech.

Reporters received the text of the address minutes before Newsom walked into the Assembly chamber. The governors office briefed the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California before the speech, but only by saying the governor planned to discuss the rail project, said Cesar Diaz, the councils legislative and political director.

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Afterward, Diaz said, the council urged the governors office to clarify his plans.

The project itself is an integral part of moving us from an economy that depends on freeways and so forth, Diaz said. We know that rail works. We believe in tightening up and more accountability. The governors changes could be a shot of energy to get this project up and running.

Carl Guardino, chief executive of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, said he received a clear explanation of the governors support for a valley to valley bullet train in private briefings, both before and after the speech.

Why did I walk away with a much more positive view? Guardino said. That is why.

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Times staff writer Liam Dillon contributed to this report.

taryn.luna@latimes.com

Follow @TarynLuna on Twitter and sign up for our Essential Politics newsletter.
Californias campaign watchdog agency is sounding an alarm that local prosecutors have failed to file charges in dozens of cases where officials have allegedly used public funds for political purposes.

The state Fair Political Practices Commission says they currently lack the authority to prosecute misuse of public funds because that power is reserved for city and county prosecutors and the state attorney general.

Now members, including Chairwoman Alice T. Germond, are proposing to expand their powers so they can act when district attorneys fail to do so.

We want the opportunity to take action when public money is misused, Germond said. Californians expect our tax dollars to be used appropriately and when that is not the case, I want to be able send a strong message on behalf of our citizens. And I want to set a clear precedent that such behavior is unacceptable.

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An FPPC study this week said that since 2015, the agency has received 34 allegations of public agencies misusing taxpayer funds for campaign purposes, including mass mailings.

The Enforcement Division is not aware of any actions brought by state or local prosecutors related to those cases, said the report by the agencys staff.

Commissioner Brian Hatch said the illegal activity is widespread.

There has been plenty of it, but they choose not to bring charges, he said of county prosecutors.

The panel is scheduled to act Feb. 21 on sending a letter arguing for new power to seek administrative or civil penalties in cases of illegal use of public funds. Currently, the FPPC can only approve limited administrative fines for failing to disclose campaign spending, not the misuse of funds itself.

Public agencies spending taxpayer dollars on campaign activity is a serious misuse of public funds, says a draft of the letter to be considered by the panel. While the commissions resources are limited, we believe action must be taken to prevent misuse of taxpayer dollars.

Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., said he has been complaining about the issue for three decades.

It is so epidemic, we do not have the resources to track and respond to every one, Coupal said, adding that district attorneys and the state attorney general are busy with violent crimes that are a higher priority for them. If the FPPC steps up, that would be a good thing for taxpayers and, quite frankly, good for transparent government.

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The taxpayer group filed a complaint that resulted in the FPPC conducting an investigation and issuing a finding of probable cause in 2018 that Los Angeles County failed to properly report paying to run television ads in support of a homeless services tax ballot measure the year before.

Although the FPPC lacks jurisdiction to prosecute for misuse of public funds, it found probable cause exists that members of the Board of Supervisors violated a separate law by not reporting political expenditures for advertising supporting Measure H, a quarter-cent increase in the sales tax.

The ads and social media posts touted the measure as providing real help and lasting change.

The finding sets the stage for a hearing before an administrative law judge and possible administrative fines.

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But the California State Assn. of Counties, which includes L.A. County, has sued to challenge the FPPCs authority to pursue an enforcement action.

The Los Angeles County district attorneys office has not announced any action on the allegations, and declined to comment on whether it is investigating.

Coupal is not surprised that no charges have been filed.

The district attorney gets their budget from the county and the county was the defendant, he said.

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Hatch said it is unrealistic to expect county prosecutors to take on political leaders in their county, he said.

Its kind of like committing political suicide, Hatch said.

Other critics of the lack of enforcement include Carl DeMaio, who headed the campaign for Proposition 6, the unsuccessful initiative on the November ballot that would have repealed increases in the gas tax and vehicle fees being used to fix roads.

DeMaios campaign filed a complaint in August with the San Diego County district attorneys office and the FPPC, alleging that taxpayer resources were used improperly to campaign against the initiative. He alleged that state-hired contractors working on a California Department of Transportation road project in San Diego County, with a state supervisor onsite, improperly stopped traffic and gave motorists fliers opposing Proposition 6.

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A flier submitted as evidence urged voters to Stop the attack on bridge and road safety.

A representative of the district attorneys office defended its handling of DeMaios allegations.

No charges were issued in that case, spokeswoman Tanya Sierra said. We can only file charges when we believe we can prove them beyond a reasonable doubt.

The FPPC is still investigating the complaint.

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With no action by the FPPC on such an obvious violation of election rules, the pattern of undermining the citizens right of ballot initiatives continues, DeMaio said.

Caltrans officials said in a statement that they interviewed agency employees and reminded our contractors that we do not condone political advocacy or distribution of campaign information on work project sites. Due to the ongoing review by FPPC, we will refrain from discussing further until those results are released.

Based on the FPPCs interpretation of state law, the most it could do is find that Caltrans did not properly disclose campaign spending.

That is what the panel ended up doing in December, when it imposed a $7,500 fine against the Bay Area Rapid Transit District for failing to disclose spending on YouTube videos, social media posts and text messages to promote Measure RR, which authorized $3.5 billion in general obligation bonds.

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The commission sent a letter to the state attorney generals office and the Alameda County district attorney urging them to pursue action against the Oakland-based transit district.

State and local prosecutors have not announced any action in the case.

We dont comment on actual or potential investigations  even to confirm their existence  in order to protect the integrity of any action we might take, said Jennifer Molina, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice.

It is uncertain whether legislators could muster the two-thirds vote needed to expand the FPPCs powers, but the idea received a positive response from Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda), who was critical of the lack of stiff penalties in the BART case.

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Public agencies that break the law need to be held accountable, Glazer said. Thats not the case today. There are allegations of campaign abuse up and down the state every election cycle. And we need an empowered FPPC or a more active attorney general to protect the public trust.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

Twitter: @mcgreevy99
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday that California was planning to sue the Trump administration over its declaration of a national emergency on the southern border with Mexico, delivering on a promise state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra made last week to reject this foolish proposal in court the moment it touches the ground.

Newsom and Becerra announced they were developing plans for the legal action at a Capitol news conference just hours after President Trump declared a national emergency in an attempt to divert up to $6.6 billion from other projects, including military construction jobs, to build or reinforce as many as 234 miles of border barriers.

Fortunately, Donald Trump is not the last word, Newsom said. The courts will be the last word.

Newsom called the wall a vanity project, a monument to stupidity, and said the real emergency was the wildfire disaster that needed federal funds.

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No other state is going to be impacted by this declaration of emergency more than the state of California, the governor said.

Becerra said attorneys were reviewing the declaration and would develop the legal argument to take to court in the near future.

No one in America is above the law, not even the president of the United States, Becerra said. He cant do this because the U.S. Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the powers to direct dollars, the powers of the purse.

Becerra said he was talking to other states about joining in a legal challenge.

Asked about the timing of a federal lawsuit, Becerra said: Well be ready soon.

Trump said the action was needed after Congress blocked his efforts to get significant funds for the wall.

Were going to confront the national security crisis on our southern border, the president said Friday at the White House.

California faces a challenge in showing it has standing to sue over the declaration, said Adam Winkler, a professor at UCLA School of Law.

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Its not clear how California or any of its agencies is injured by Trumps declaration of a national emergency, Winkler said. It may come down to which programs he uses to finance the wall.

Newsom said he is concerned that Trump may seek to divert money from existing programs in California, including efforts to fight drug trafficking.

Even if it is determined that the state has standing, Trump may prevail at the highest court, Winkler said.

The Supreme Court was deferential to Donald Trumps claims of national security in the travel ban case and the justices may be inclined to defer to the president on this kind of case too, he said.

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In his Spanish-language response to the presidents State of the Union address last week, Becerra said he was prepared to go to court. Newsom and Becerra repeated their warning of legal action on Thursday, saying in a joint statement that the Presidents national emergency is nothing more than a fabrication while real emergencies are awaiting his action. If the President tries to use a made up emergency to pay for his border wall, then California will see him in court.

The lawsuit announced Friday would be the 46th legal challenge filed by Becerra against the Trump administration, and California has had a mixed record of success.

On Monday, a federal appeals court rejected a legal challenge by California that attempted to stop rebuilding of some sections of the existing U.S.-Mexico border wall, ruling that the Trump administration did not exceed its authority when it waived environmental regulations for projects near San Diego.

Becerra defended his record of suing the Trump administration, saying his successes have included a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court this week to hear a challenge to the Trump administration plan to add a citizenship question to the U.S. Census.

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In most cases we have been proven to be correct, Becerra said.

Newsom said the declaration Friday could take the rug out from under law enforcement efforts in California against drug trafficking.

Trump predicted Friday that his action would draw legal challenges, saying, We will then be sued.  We will possibly get another bad ruling, but adding that he thought he would win in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Newsom lashed out at Trump and the Senate for failing to approve a $12-billion disaster relief package that the Democratic-controlled House passed in January. The funding would have helped rebuild areas of California devastated by the 2018 wildfires, as well as provide assistance to Florida and other states ravaged by hurricanes.

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The governor accused Trump of playing politics with that disaster money and diverting the nations attention to the sideshow over the border wall.

Theres $12 billion of appropriation that the president of the United States didnt even pay lip service to, Newsom said. There are millions of Americans right now waiting for those dollars  emergency money to change their lives. These people are under enormous stress and anxiety.

The attorney general said it appeared Trump was hoping, through an expected court battle over the declaration, to use the U.S. Supreme Court as a tool to fulfill a campaign promise.

What is happening at the border is not the same as other previous national emergencies, he said.

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This is not 9/11. This is not the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, Becerra said. This is a president showing his disdain for the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

Follow @mcgreevy99 on Twitter and sign up for our Essential Politics newsletter.
President Trump and Republicans hope to make Democratic socialists Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders the face of the Democratic Party. (Getty Images; Rex/Shutterstock)

When Democrats unveiled their Green New Deal to fight climate change, the Republican response was swift and strikingly uniform.

A socialist wish list, said a spokesman for the national party.

The socialist Democrats are off to a great start! exclaimed a spokesman for the GOPs congressional campaign committee.

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Socialism may begin with the best of intentions, but it always ends with the Gestapo, chimed in Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, invoking Winston Churchill.

The echo was no accident. Rather, it marked a purposeful shift in rhetoric and political strategy as President Trump and his party increasingly focus on his reelection and wield the S-word, socialism, as their preferred weapon.

The president faces an uphill battle  his poll numbers are some of the worst in history and he just faced a drubbing in Novembers midterm election. One way to boost Trumps prospects is to shift the focus from his turbulent tenure to his eventual opponent and his frightful portrayal of that alternative.

The effort began with his State of the Union speech. We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country, he said, in what has quickly become a campaign staple.

It is both an old and new tactic.

The presidents political rise has been replete with dark and scary imagery and perceived threats of his own making. Marauding street gangs. Rapists, drug dealers, murderers spilling across the countrys border with Mexico. By invoking a socialist threat, he summons  at least for those of a certain age  the whiff of Red Menace, bread lines and an assault on democracy and the countrys foundational free-enterprise system.

Its the sense of something foreign, something un-American, said Stephanie Mudge, a UC Davis sociologist and author of a book on left-of-center politics in the U.S. and abroad.

It also divides Democrats in a way emotional issues such as immigration, abortion and gun control generally do not.

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For many younger Americans  saddled with college debt, struggling to find an affordable place to live  socialism has a more benign connotation, promising a fairer distribution of wealth and greater economic opportunity. A Gallup Poll in August found that 51% of Americans between the ages of 19 and 29 had a positive view of socialism, compared with 45% in that age group who viewed capitalism in a favorable light.

They dont have the legacy of the Cold War and that narrative about the West, freedom and capitalism versus the Soviet Union and authoritarian communism, said Maria Svart, national director of the Democratic Socialists of America and, at age 38, a millennial voter.

She welcomes a debate over socialism as a chance to discuss social justice and economic inequality and ways to achieve both. Its absolutely the moment to shine, Svart said. The more people that hear our message, the better.

That is not, however, a view that is widely shared, even among Democrats.

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Peter Hart cited a September NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll he conducted that overall found strongly positive sentiments toward capitalism and negative views of socialism  attitudes, he said, that could undermine support for popular Democratic positions like expanding healthcare coverage and fighting climate change if Trump manages to define the terms of the debate.

Simply put, no one wants to run on labels, said Hart, a veteran Democratic Party strategist. What they want to run on are programs, ideas and directions for the country. If the label is capitalism vs socialism, capitalism wins and socialism loses.

Its the sense of something foreign, something un-American. Stephanie Mudge, a UC Davis sociologist, on the historical connotations of the word socialist

The center of gravity within the Democratic Party has unarguably shifted leftward in recent years; polls show that Democrats have a much more favorable view of socialism than the rest of the electorate. Support for universal healthcare, higher hourly wages, increased taxes on billionaires and greater government oversight of the economy have all become standard orthodoxy among the partys leading White House contenders.

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But the consensus quickly breaks down when the question is how best to achieve those goals.

Beyond the slogan, Medicare for all vexes Democratic presidential candidates 

Republicans would like to make the democratic socialists Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez avatars of the Democratic Party. But not every Democrat echoes the Vermont senator, whose 2016 economic populist campaign helped push the party left, or embraces the environmentalist Green New Deal unveiled to great fanfare by the freshman New York representative.

I know that the easy thing to do is say, Yes, yes, yes, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who is weighing a White House bid, said of the expansive and costly blueprint to fight global warming. But, he said, I dont need to cosponsor every bill that others think they need to cosponsor to show my progressive politics.

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Mindful of the divide within their party, Democratic presidential hopefuls have tread a careful path.

Look, I believe in capitalism, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said on Bloomberg TV when asked whether socialism  an economic system in which the production and distribution of goods are substantially controlled by the government  is the best path to follow.

But lets be really clear, she continued. Capitalism without rules is theft. What I believe is capitalism with serious rules and that means everybody gets a chance to play.

Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind., kept himself at arms length even as he suggested the S-word has lost its political punch.

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You can no longer simply kill off a line of discussion about a policy by saying its socialist, he said on CNN. If someone my age or younger is weighing a policy idea and somebody comes along and says, You cant do that; its socialist, I think our answer is going to be, OK, is it a good idea or is it not?

The fact, though, that the question is even being asked of candidates speaks to one of the great advantages Trump enjoys as president: the power to shape the 2020 campaign agenda and frame the debate.

Though he lost the popular vote, Trump has made precious little effort since 2016 to win converts. Some advisors believe the presidents style is so polarizing that he stands little chance of success, even if he tried. So they say his best chance of winning reelection is to repeat what he did last time: demonizing his opponent  whoever he or she turns out to be  to rally support and frighten off any voters who may be uncertain or leaning the other way.

Elections, at the end of the day, are choices, said Raj Shah, a former White House spokesman working for Trumps reelection campaign. He rejected the notion that the president is trying to distract from his performance by using scare tactics.

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He can run on his accomplishments, Shah said, and also contrast that with the vision and positions of his opponents.

Which, Trump hopes to convince voters, reside just this side of Karl Marx and Maos Little Red Book.

mark.barabak@latimes.com

@markzbarabak

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melanie.mason@latimes.com

@melmason
Forty-five minutes into a 49-minute news conference on Friday that was disjointed, defensive and yet unusually subdued, President Trump looked into the sun at the throng of journalists and television cameras and offered a window into his bruised psyche.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had shown him a beautiful five-page letter, nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize, he said.

Many other people feel that way too, Trump added. Ill probably never get it, but thats OK,

They gave it to Obama. He didnt even know what he got it for, Trump added. He was there for about 15 seconds and he got the Nobel Prize. He said, Oh, what did I get it for? With me, I probably will never get it.

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Follow the latest news of the Trump administration on Essential Washington 

The monologue continued, reminiscent of nothing so much as Rodney Dangerfield, with Trump even spreading his arms and shaking his head as if to mimic the late comedians catch phrase  I dont get no respect!

The riff combined the pathos of a president long frustrated by his lack of affirmation with the resentment Trump directs at his predecessor and the world at large, along with some false boasting about his role in fixing the planets greatest woes.

It began with Trump defending his diplomacy with North Korea, which has yet to yield concrete progress toward dismantling the countrys nuclear program. Trump touted his accomplishments and repeated his claim that President Obama was on the verge of going to war with North Korea. (Obamas former national security spokesman called the war claim absolutely false.)

We do a lot of good work. This administration does a tremendous job, and we dont get credit for it, Trump said.

The complaint that he is unfairly overlooked lies at the center of Trumps political message  the self-proclaimed billionaire businessman who is nonetheless the embodiment of the forgotten man and the forgotten woman he conjures at his political rallies. It echoes the anger Trump has felt for decades at the elites in Palm Beach and Manhattan who, despite his wealth and fame, often treated him as a garish tabloid figure.

Even Trumps closest media allies, he said on Friday, could not be depended on.

Sean Hannity has been a terrific, terrific supporter of what I do, Trump said. Not of me. If I change my views, he wouldnt be with me.

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Trump said he had not only saved the country from a costly and bloody war with North Korea, but had stopped the slaughter of perhaps 3 million people in Syria.

They dont talk about that, Trump said, returning to his frustration with the media.

Russia and Iran and Syria were going to go in and perhaps destroy 3 million people in order to get 45,000 terrorists, he said.

Trump said he heard about the imminent bloodshed from a certain paper and an unnamed woman who had parents and brothers living in Syria.

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She said Please, please, Trump said.

I put out a statement that You better not do it, Trump said, explaining the sum of his action. And in all fairness to Russia and Iran and Syria, they didnt attack or they are doing it surgically, at least. Saved a lot of people.

Trump seemed to be referring to  and taking credit for  a shaky ceasefire arrangement around Idlib province in Syria, an area of about 3 million people and the last remaining rebel stronghold.

The government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and its Russian backers claim that Idlib is a hotbed of terrorists and have threatened to retake the area. But while the Trump administration did warn in September against such a move, the demilitarized zone is enforced by Russia and Turkey, not the United States, which has largely been left out of the negotiations.

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Trump has long resented the fact-checking of the mainstream media on claims he makes about things such as events in Syria, viewing the scrutiny as part of the wider assault on his legitimacy.

After calling CNN fake news, denigrating NBC and ABC in one swipe and telling a reporter to get on with his fake question on Friday, Trump insisted to reporters who said he was overstating the crime and immigration problem at the border that he gets his numbers from a lot of sources, including the Department of Homeland Security and that they affirm his belief that the border is a disaster.

Yet he also offered a rare moment of introspection as he explained why he had failed to win funding for his border wall through the first two years of his presidency.

I was a little new to the job, a little new to the profession, Trump said.

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He went on to blame others who let him down, later settling on Im learning.

Staff writer Molly OToole contributed to this report.
Over the last week, Marianna Trevino Wright has watched work crews drive through her butterfly sanctuary in Texas to a nearby site where brush is being cleared for a planned six-mile stretch of border wall.

Homeland Security has planned to build an 18-foot-tall steel and concrete barrier across the National Butterfly Center, cutting it in half. Those plans were blocked, at least for now, in the spending bill that Congress passed and President Trump signed Friday, which specifically bars construction at the 100-acre site.

It wasnt immediately clear if Trumps declaration of a national emergency on the border would upend that ban.

Federal authorities have provided no environmental impact study for erecting a barrier in the middle of a wildlife refuge. Nor has the government analyzed how much damage the spotlights, heavy machinery and foot traffic would do to endangered species in the area.

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Under Trump, the secretary of Homeland Security has repeatedly invoked a little-known waiver to cast aside federal environmental and public notice laws that could block or slow border barrier construction  more than under any other administration.

Citing national security, the Trump administration has issued six such waivers for replacement fencing and barrier projects in the last two years, bypassing the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and other regulations that the department would be forced to consider for any other public works project.

Sources: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, ESRI, Nextzen, OpenStreetMap, Department of Homeland Security (Los Angeles Times)

That compares to five such waivers issued during President George W. Bushs eight years in office, and none under Presidents Obama and Clinton. Congress created the waiver authority in 1996.

It is breathtaking just how easy it is for them to waive these laws, said Laiken Jordahl, an environmental advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. As environmental litigators, thats our entire toolkit, and we cant use any of them here.

At a time when federal courts have delayed or struck down many of the administrations efforts to roll back environmental regulations, the waiver has become a reliable way to ensure the presidents long-promised border wall is not derailed by environmental lawsuits.

Boys look through an older section of border barrier from Mexicali, Mexico, alongside a taller, newly constructed, section in Calexico, Calif. (Gregory Bull / Associated Press)

Waivers almost certainly will be used after Trump declared a national emergency from the White House Rose Garden on Friday, then signed a bill to keep the government open.

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The bill includes $1.375 billion for about 55 miles of fencing in the Rio Grande Valley, as well as specific protections for the butterfly refuge and several other areas.

Mick Mulvaney, Trumps acting chief of staff, told reporters Trump would use the national emergency declaration to tap $6.6 billion in other federal accounts to build his border wall, likely setting up a court battle over the proposed new construction.

On Thursday, House Democrats introduced several other measures that would remove the governments ability to unilaterally waive environmental laws for border wall construction.

Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of Homeland Security, most recently issued a waiver on Feb. 8 to speed construction of 14 miles of replacement fence in San Diego, bypassing 36 separate federal environmental and historic preservation laws.

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In a statement accompanying the waiver, Nielsen said she had authority to waive all legal requirements that I, in my sole discretion, determine necessary to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads to prevent unlawful entries.

In October, Nielsen waived 28 environmental laws and authorized construction  which has yet to begin  of a steel and concrete barrier across 18 miles of Hidalgo County, Texas.

The waiver has survived multiple legal challenges from environmental advocates since Congress included it in the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act and in subsequent border security laws.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals  the California-based federal appellate court that has blocked the presidents asylum policies and latest travel ban  has backed the administration in its use of waivers.

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In a ruling this month, the court upheld the governments broad authority to construct border wall prototypes and replace fencing in San Diego and Calexico, Calif., without studying the environmental impacts.

People work on the U.S./ Mexican border wall in El Paso, Texas. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who helped draft the 1996 law, said in an interview that the president was abusing the waivers to build a border wall.

No, he shouldnt be doing this, Feinstein said, adding that she and other lawmakers will reexamine the legislation. Its a different day and a different age.

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Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), another drafter of the 1996 legislation, said he hadnt thought about it since then but said national security was the governments primary responsibility. Still, he added, any bill or any law, its legitimate to say, yeah, there ought to be an update or a review.

The first modern border barriers were built outside San Diego in the 1990s, and fencing on the border extends 654 miles today.

Michael Chertoff, then secretary of Homeland Security, began using the waivers in 2005 in a push to extend the wall before Bush left office. From 119 miles in 2007 it grew to more than 330 miles by the time the Supreme Court upheld the Bush administrations power to use the waivers in June 2008.

Obama ultimately built roughly twice as many miles of border barrier as Bush, without using any waivers.

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The Trump administration has yet to add a single mile. The brush clearing in the Rio Grande Valley is in preparation for the first new barrier construction, set to begin this month.

David Lapan, who was Homeland Security spokesman when it issued its first waivers under Trump, said the administration had manufactured a crisis on the border and was using the waivers to achieve its political aims.

I would argue theres not a national security incentive here, said Lapan, now vice president of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank. It is a way to expedite action and be able to move more quickly on fulfilling the presidents campaign promise.

Last year, nearly 3,000 scientists signed an article in the journal BioScience that said the Trump administrations border plans threatened some of the continents most biologically diverse regions by pushing endangered species and other wildlife into shrinking pockets of land.

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Species that follow migration routes would find themselves blocked, as would other animals that could not get over or around an 18-foot-high barrier.

The threat in the Rio Grande Valley is that Homeland Security contractors could cut down trees to make way for the wall, wreaking havoc on butterflies and other wildlife, Trevino Wright said.

Every nesting baby bird, every snake, everything along the ground, any tortoises, she said, anything in its path is going to be put in a Cuisinart.

The latest from Washington 

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More stories from Anna M. Phillips 
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been interviewed as part of special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs Russia investigation.

Sanders said in a statement released Friday that she was happy to voluntarily sit for the interview.

It was unclear when Sanders was interviewed but she said President Trump urged her to fully cooperate.

CNN was first to report on Sanders interview.

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Mueller is believed to be close to wrapping up his investigation into possible collusion between Trumps presidential campaign and the Russian government.

Trump has denied collusion and has denounced the investigation as a political witch hunt. Sanders has also used the witch hunt language to describe Muellers inquiry.
A federal judge has ordered Roger Stone, President Trumps longtime political advisor, to limit his public comments about his upcoming trial on charges stemming from the special counsels Russia investigation.

The gag order could be a challenge for Stone, an outspoken provocateur who has held news conferences, granted interviews, taunted prosecutors and publicly criticized the Russia probe since he was arrested on Jan. 25 at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Gag orders are generally intended to stop lawyers and defendants from trying the case in public and saying anything that could prejudice a jury and undermine a fair trial.

The order, by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, appeared aimed more at Stones lawyers than at him.

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In order to safeguard the defendants right to a fair trial, she wrote, counsel for the parties and the witnesses must refrain from making statements to the media or in public settings that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case.

The judge also warned that she could consider further restricting Stones comments if his media tour continues.

Saying it was not up to the court to advise the defendant as to whether a succession of public statements were in his best interest, Jackson cautioned that those statements would be considered in any future request for relief based on pretrial publicity.

Although the order also applies to prosecutors, they have already been tight-lipped about the case.

Jackson placed an extra emphasis on barring comments from all participants, including Stone, while entering or exiting the courthouse, where reporters and protestors have staked out the proceedings.

Stone hasnt spoken to reporters outside the Washington courthouse where his trial will take place, but he staged a raucous news conference on the steps of the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale where he made his first appearance before a judge after his arrest.

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III accused Stone of lying about his conversations involving WikiLeaks, which posted thousands of hacked Democratic Party emails during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Stone has pleaded not guilty to seven charges of making false statements and witness tampering. A trial date has not been set.

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Jackson imposed a similar gag order on Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, the former chairman and deputy chairman, respectively, of Trumps presidential campaign during their prosecution by Muellers office.

The judge diligently policed the issue, chiding Manafort when he ghost-wrote a column for an English-language newspaper in Ukraine. She also scolded Gates when he recorded a video message for a fundraiser for his legal defense fund.

Manafort ultimately was convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion related to his work as a political consultant in Ukraine, then he pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy. He is awaiting sentencing.

Gates pleaded guilty to one charge of false statements and one charge of conspiracy. He is cooperating with prosecutors and has not been sentenced.

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Unlike those defendants, Stone has spent decades embracing a colorful image as a dirty trickster.

After his arrest, he tried to counter Muellers indictment with a scorched-earth media tour, including sharing security camera footage showing armed FBI agents arriving at his house.

Stone accused them of a Gestapo-style raid and has sold T-shirts that say Roger Stone Did Nothing Wrong to raise money to pay his lawyers.

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During Stones first court hearing before Jackson on Feb. 1, she warned him, saying, This is a criminal case, not a public relations campaign.

But Stone reveled in the attention. The day after the hearing, he was trading cheek kisses and shaking hands with supporters at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, where he pledged to put up a vigorous defense at trial.

The special counsels office supported a gag order because, it argued, Stone was trying to garner sympathetic media coverage that could prejudice a jury.

A considerable amount of that media attention has been devoted to extrajudicial statements of the defendant himself, prosecutors wrote in a proposed order. These statements create the risk that the defendant will seek to use media coverage of this case to gain favorable attention.

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Stones statements create a substantial risk of tainting the jury pool.

Stones lawyers argued that his colorful comments were unlikely to hamper the ability to find impartial jurors amid the widespread coverage of the Russia investigation.

No evidence exists that would provide a clear and convincing basis for concluding that any of Mr. Stones free speech exercise presents a clear and present danger to a fair trial, the lawyers wrote.

While Kim Kardashian has 126 million followers on Instagram, they wrote, Stone has only 39,000 people who track his daily missives.

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One post after his arrest shows Stone with a piece of duct tape across his mouth and a caption that blames the Mueller hit squad.

While Roger Stone may be familiar to those who closely follow American politics, he is hardly ubiquitous in the larger landscape of popular consciousness, the lawyers wrote.
The Trump administration is quietly moving to replace BioWatch, the nations problem-plagued system for detecting an airborne attack of anthrax spores or other infectious agents, with technology that also has severe shortcomings, a Times investigation has found.

The first new device was installed without public notice in December and others are being emplaced at 11 other U.S. locations with a goal of supplanting BioWatch within the next couple of years, James F. McDonnell, an assistant secretary of Homeland Security, said in an interview.

McDonnell, who heads Homeland Securitys office of countering weapons of mass destruction, said the new system, called BioDetection 21, will be faster and more reliable than BioWatch. He said he hopes to put as many as 9,000 new detection devices in place by 2025.

But testing at an Army facility last year and use of the sensing devices in previous military operations identified critical problems with their ability to detect the bacteria, viruses or toxins that might be wielded in an attack, according to scientific experts and official documents.

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BioWatch was hurriedly installed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001 in an effort to provide a quick, dependable warning system in the event, however unlikely, of the deliberate spread of anthrax, smallpox or other deadly pathogens. Authorities could then respond with antibiotics, vaccines, quarantines or other emergency measures to minimize casualties.

However, BioWatch generated scores of disruptive false alarms, including in Los Angeles, Pasadena and San Diego, and scientists have warned that the system  which has cost $1.6 billion so far  is not reliable.

The new system will depend on so-called trigger devices that use fluorescent light to identify potentially dangerous biological material in the air. Once the devices trigger a warning, officials would seek confirmation with handheld equipment.

But a lengthy report last fall, commissioned by Homeland Securitys scientific staff, warned that the trigger devices frequently cant distinguish between deadly pathogens and airborne pollen or paper dust, increasing the likelihood of false alarms.

The report also showed that four trigger devices failed in testing last year to detect tiny, unclumped anthrax spores  the type that experts say a skilled terrorist or state-sponsored biowarfare program might produce.

Moreover, the triggers correctly detected small particles of viral material  simulating smallpox or other deadly viruses that could be weaponized  in just eight of 168 attempts, a success rate of less than 5%.

Trigger devices have clear limitations  for detection of smaller particles and some biological threat categories, the report said.

The Times obtained a copy of the report, which was produced by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The findings were consistent with Homeland Securitys earlier evaluations of triggers, according to current and former federal scientists.

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The new report also recommended against using the handheld devices, called biological identifiers, that would be used to confirm or dispel a trigger alert under BioDetection 21.

It cited the cost and utility of the devices, saying civilian officials would not order an evacuation or other major emergency response without taking additional time to verify an attack through genetic testing at a laboratory.

Given the drawbacks of the triggers and handheld identifiers, Homeland Security risks replacing BioWatch with a system that would be even less useful, according to several current and former government scientists who have led federal efforts to improve biodetection.

The technology hasnt evolved to the point where it would be an effective replacement for BioWatch, said Stephen A. Morse, a microbiologist who worked for 32 years at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Trigger devices, he said in an interview, dont detect small particle sizes. They dont detect low concentrations of particles.

Morse and other experts said the triggers would struggle with fine-powdered anthrax and would not reliably detect low volumes of the bacterium that causes tularemia, another potential biowarfare agent. Known as rabbit fever, tularemia can set in after inhaling just 10 to 50 particles of the bacteria, compared with 8,000 to 50,000 anthrax spores needed to cause that disease.

McDonnell said the test results in the Johns Hopkins report raise concerns, but he believes problems will be resolved as BioDetection 21 is rolled out.

Part of what Im sort of reining in the scientists a little bit on is, Dont let perfection be the enemy of good enough, he said.

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McDonnell said he is certainly concerned that too many false alarms could undermine public confidence.

But he said he probably would seek to close a major public facility, such as Pennsylvania Station in New York, the busiest passenger rail hub in America, if one of the new devices triggered a warning and the handheld equipment confirmed a dangerous pathogen.

Additional verification through genetic testing at a lab would be necessary to administer medicines, he said.

McDonnell estimated the new system could detect and confirm infectious agents in less than three hours. BioWatch was designed to produce such results in 12 to 36 hours.

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He also is seeking better computing capability that might help the new system distinguish between benign and dangerous material, he said.

The first trigger device was installed Dec. 22 and another will be added this month, McDonnell said, adding that he has funds set aside to pay for all 12 sites. He declined to identify them.

McDonnell said he aims to keep the new systems operating cost to $80 million a year, the same as BioWatch now costs.

The triggers intended for the new system were tested last May and June at the Armys Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Maryland, according to the Johns Hopkins report.

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The military has used trigger devices for years in the Middle East and South Korea to detect possible biological attacks  and false alarms have been common.

When those triggers signal an attack, troops put on masks and protective suits to block ingestion or skin contact with airborne bio-agents. If its a false alarm, the troops remove the gear and resume their duties.

The military accepts the false alarms as the price for using a portable, if imperfect, detection system. In a busy city or crowded stadium, a false alarm  and the sight of emergency responders in moon suits  could create panic.

In the military, you can always live with an occasional false alarm, said Stephen Reeves, a retired Army major general whose staff developed the air-sampling technique used for BioWatch. You cant deal with that with the public.

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The threat of an intentional biological release has loomed for decades. The United States renounced its offensive biowarfare program in 1969, but officials suspect some adversaries and terrorist groups have continued efforts to weaponize pathogens.

Fears soared several weeks after the 9/11 attacks, when letters laced with anthrax spores killed five people, infected 17 others and forced the closure of numerous government buildings and U.S. mail facilities.

The FBI ultimately concluded that the culprit was Bruce E. Ivins, an Army microbiologist who was an anthrax specialist at Ft. Detrick, Md. Ivins killed himself in July 2008 after he learned he was about to be indicted for the anthrax deaths.

Soon after the letter attacks, BioWatch was being installed around the country. Placed at street level or atop buildings, the systems compact sensors suck air through filter cartridges intended to trap any suspect material.

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Once a day, the used filter is replaced by a technician and taken to a local laboratory that uses genetic testing to search for BioWatch-targeted pathogens.

Although the George W. Bush administration assured Congress that BioWatch was working smoothly, it proved problematic from the start.

In July 2012, The Times disclosed that BioWatch had falsely warned of scores of attacks through 2008, including at high-profile public events.

On Aug. 28, 2008, for example, Barack Obamas acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver was jeopardized by BioWatchs false warning of tularemia at the site.

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After six hours of tense deliberations, including conference calls between the White House, Homeland Security headquarters and state health officials in Denver, Colorado authorities concluded that no attack had occurred.

What we had in Denver was a false positive, Chris Lindley, who headed the states emergency response, recalled recently. Hundreds of people sat around rooms and debated and talked about how we would respond, how we would quarantine, how we would administer [antibiotics]. All that was just wasted time.

In 2015, a report by the Government Accountability Office, which conducts investigations and audits for Congress, identified 149 false alarms by BioWatch. In each case, officials at the scene ultimately decided the system was at fault.

At an industry-sponsored biodefense conference in Washington last Nov. 14, three former top U.S. officials publicly repudiated the system they had helped launch.

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None of us really believe in BioWatch, said Tom Ridge, who oversaw its installation in 2003 as the first secretary of Homeland Security.

I had such high expectations for BioWatch, said Tom Daschle, who was Senate majority leader when an anthrax-laced letter was opened at his office in October 2001. And I must say, Im very disappointed with what has happened since.

After 2001, we really rushed to get things in place, including BioWatch, said Joe Lieberman, the former senator from Connecticut who chaired the Senate Homeland Security Committee. The system never fully delivered on our hopes for it.

Lieberman asked McDonnell whether switching to BioDetection 21 will really bring us as close to up to date as we can  and have a much more effective system than BioWatch?

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McDonnell replied, Yes, sir.

david.willman@latimes.com
Africa has been called the continent of the future and the cursed continent and both phrases reflect a facet of the truth. The continent possesses a cornucopia of riches that have long lured great powers.

Their rivalries sowed tensions and strife that wrought misery for the peoples of the continent.

Comprising an area larger than Russia, the US and China together, Africa sits atop 12 per cent of the worlds oil reserves, 10 per cent of its natural gas and 10 per cent of its renewable fresh water.

It produces 80 per cent of the worlds platinum, 40 per cent of its diamonds, 25 per cent of its gold and 27 per cent of its cobalt. It has the largest expanse of agricultural land in the world and inestimable animal wealth.

European powers fought for control of Africa from the dawn of the colonial era to the age of national independence which reached its peak in the 1960s.

Since then Africa has been torn by conflict, fuelled by the polarisation engendered by the Cold War the activities of multinational companies. A major change would come with the end of the Cold War when Africa began to turn to China for economic assistance.

There were several reasons African countries preferred China over former colonial powers and the US. The most important was that, unlike Western countries, Beijing is not interested in linking assistance to issues such as human rights and the fight against corruption.

Chinese projects are, in addition, often less costly, and banks in Beijing and Shanghai offer start-up capital and loans on easier terms than their counterparts in London and Paris.

There is a mutually beneficial relationship between China and Africa. The Chinese get the raw materials they need for their factories at reasonable prices while African countries get the infrastructure projects they need for their emergent middle classes which, in turn, work to secure African governments.

China has contributed to building a large number of African dams, most of them small. Many countries are not interested in dams for irrigation purposes because they are costly and it takes decades to recover their costs.

While the main purpose of most of the Chinese-constructed dams is to generate electricity they also serve as reservoirs and help control flooding.

Beyond dams, China is heavily involved in infrastructure in Africa: roads, railroads, electricity stations, wastewater projects, government buildings, etc.

The first Chinese railway in Africa was built in 1974. It connects copper mines in Zambia to the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Today there are plans to extend the line westward to Lobito, Angola, on the Atlantic coast, passing through the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

China is also developing the old British colonial railway line between Kenya and Uganda which it plans to extend to Juba, South Sudan, and Kigali, Rwanda.

Of the billions of dollars that China has invested in Africa Nigeria has obtained the largest share: $32 billion. It is followed by Algeria ($19 billion), Ethiopia ($17 billion), Angola ($16.5 billion), Egypt ($12 billion) and South Africa ($9.5 billion), according to the Mercator Institute for China Studies.

But China is not the only foreign power investing in Africa. Russia and the US are primary sources of weapons and the US is the largest investor in oil and gas in Africa.

Though most African countries are unwilling to host US military bases nearly all of them obtain military assistance from Washington in the form of training, intelligence or arms.

Neither Washington nor Moscow has become involved in major development projects in Africa in the 21st century. This contrasts sharply the height of the Soviet Union when Moscow contributed heavily to the development of countries in its socialist orbit.

For some African countries, former colonising powers still hold appeal. France has intervened with large forces of its own to help Francophone countries fight terrorism, especially in the Sahel (Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania).

The French also maintain a military presence. Two of Frances largest military bases abroad are in Chad and Mali.

France is keen to retain a cultural and political presence on the continent through the Francophone Organisation or French cultural organisations.

Rwanda is one country that rejects the connections France seeks to promote. It amended its constitution to replace French with English as the official language on the grounds that French forces were complicit in the 1994 massacres that claimed the lives of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Elsewhere on the continent French firms are completing a railway line linking Benin, Togo, Niger, Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast, all five countries former French colonies. The UK, on the other hand, is conspicuously absent given its colonial past.

India, for its part, has yet to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the relatively well-to-do and educated Indian communities in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.

The Portuguese and Brazilian presence in Africa is restricted to Portugals former colonies, particularly oil-rich Angola and Mozambique. Lisbon is primarily involved in agricultural and mining projects in these countries.

A couple of relative newcomers south of the Sahara are South Korea and Turkey. Both are involved in construction activities though neither country has an extensive presence.

Nor does Israel have a particularly significant presence on the continent. Its arms sales of $400 million are dwarfed by the billions of dollars of military hardware exported to India and China. Israeli agricultural projects in Africa are rarely larger than small enterprises or experimental labs.

The primary reason for the relatively limited Israeli presence in Africa is economic. Tel Aviv may have developed into something of an IT hub but Chinese computer parts and programmes are cheaper.

Russian weapons are more abundant than Israeli ones, and Chinese, Indian and Brazilian agricultural enterprises are less costly to get off the ground than their Israeli counterparts.

Still, Tel Aviv is making a go of it, primarily because it wants to break the majority support that the Palestinian cause has in the UN thanks to the African bloc.

African votes were instrumental in Ramallahs admission to the UN. Yet, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus visits to Africa, the most important being during the Great Lakes summit which brought together the leaders of Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi, and his recent visit to Chad, he has not managed to alter Africas voting pattern in the UN.

Ultimately, in the 21st century race for Africa, China is in the lead though the US remains the number one investor in the petroleum sector while London and Paris retain their cultural appeal for African elites despite competition from Chinese universities which offer generous grants.

As for smaller players such as Turkey, Brazil, India, Portugal, Norway, Egypt and South Africa, their overall impact is to dilute the Western presence and augment Africas independence from former colonial powers.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 14 February, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: The race for Africa

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A century ago, on Feb. 17, 1919, the U.S. Armys 369th Infantry Regiment, nearly 3,000 African American soldiers and known as the Harlem Hellfighters, returned from World War I and marched up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan before hundreds of thousands of cheering New Yorkers. The Harlem Hellfighters werent supposed to be heroes, but they were among the hyphenated troops whose accomplishments demonstrate that the United States asymmetric advantage, in war as well as in peace, is diversity.

The 369th Infantry Regiment was part of the Armys Rainbow Division, 27,000 troops from across the country quickly mustered after the U.S. entered World War I in April 1917. Most of the division shipped out to Europe in August of that year; the Hellfighters didnt arrive in France until late December. They had not been allowed to march off to war with the rest of their Rainbow Division because black is not a color of the rainbow.

American military leaders expected the troops of the 369th to be terrible soldiers. Like most black recruits in World War I, they werent intended to fight but to be manual laborers at the front. They were issued inferior uniforms and weapons, and then, in an emergency, they were transferred to the French army, whose officers were explicitly told to treat them as second-class soldiers.

Despite the discrimination and the disadvantages, the men of the 369th became one of the wars most decorated and celebrated units. They fought for 191 days, longer than any other U.S. unit. In that time, they never lost a trench to the enemy or a man to capture. They earned the respect of both allies and enemies. The Germans they defeated were responsible for their signature nickname.

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Despite the discrimination and the disadvantages, the men of the 369th became one of the wars most decorated and celebrated units.

At 11 a.m. on Feb. 17, three months after the armistice, the Hellfighters began their 7-mile homecoming march  the first such parade for any American troops in New York. The New York World newspaper recorded that, despite weather that hovered in the 30s, no more joyful, cheerful, enthusiastic reception was ever recorded anywhere and noted that white folks mingled with their colored brethren in the lower part of the avenue, but there the crowd was mostly white. At 60th Street, the official reviewing party included New York Gov. Alfred E. Smith, senior military officers and city luminaries including New York Journal publisher William Randolph Hearst.

Leading the Hellfighters was the regiments commander, Col. William Hayward, a forward-thinking white officer, but according to the New York Times, it was the parades big man, Sgt. Henry Black Death Johnson, who pushed the crowd to hysterics.

Johnson had earned his fame on May 15, 1918, when his two-man outpost in Frances Argonne Forest was attacked by two dozen German raiders. With ammunition gone, and his partner, Pvt. Needham Roberts, wounded, Johnson fought off the attackers with little more than a bolo knife and prevented Roberts capture. Black Death was just 5-foot-4 and weighed 130 pounds.

When Johnson was asked about his heroic exploits, the former Albany, N.Y., train porter responded: There wasnt anything so fine about it. Just fought for my life. A rabbit would have done that.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

But bravery like that cannot be ignored. The commander of the American Expeditionary Force, Gen. John J. Pershing, explicitly mentioned Johnsons heroism in a dispatch just a few days after the fight. The French army in the sector stood at attention while Johnson and Roberts were awarded the Croix de Guerre, Frances highest military honor, and Johnsons medal included the Gold Palm for extraordinary valor. Former President Theodore Roosevelt would call Johnson one of the five bravest Americans of World War I, but it would take until 2015 for Johnson to receive the Medal of Honor, decades after his death.

Twenty-five percent of the Americans fighting in France were hyphenated Americans. Native Americans, like the Choctaw code talkers, wielded their language as an unbreakable military code during the war (and inspired the Navajo code talkers of World War II). Chinese American Sgt. Sing Lau Kee, from San Jose, held his post through gas and shrapnel attacks, earning a Distinguished Service Cross and praise from a fellow soldier who called him the best American in the unit. And Pvt. Marcelino Serna, a Mexican American who migrated to El Paso before the war, took out an enemy machine gun, a sniper, and an entire German platoon on his own, becoming the most decorated Texan of World War I.

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The Hellfighters, Kee and Serna of 100 years ago remind us that what matters most isnt race, ethnicity or national origin  they are century-old proof that while American society might not be color-blind, heroism is.

Max Brooks and Lt. Col. ML Cavanaugh are non-resident fellows with the Modern War Institute at West Point. Brooks wrote The Harlem Hellfighters, and they co-edited Winning Westeros: How Game of Thrones Explains Modern Military Conflict.

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President Trump pushed the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a challenge to his administrations decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. On Friday morning, the court agreed to do just that, setting the stage for oral arguments in April and a decision by the end of June.

Good. Now lets hope the court sees through the governments pretext of needing the information to enforce voting rights  the specious claim pushed by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross  and tosses the question for good.

Oh, how do we know its a specious claim? Because, among other things, a census advisory panel told us so.

The Constitution requires the federal government take a national census every 10 years, which it has done since 1790, when the U.S. capital was in New York City, George Washington was president, and the country barely extended west from the Atlantic into the Appalachians. California? Mostly native tribes and a smattering of Spanish settlers.

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Yeah, it was a different nation then.

But the important aspect of that constitutional census requirement, and Supreme Court decisions related to it, is that the federal government is required to count everyone living in the U.S. at the time of the census, regardless of legal status. So the citizenship question is irrelevant to the governments constitutional mandate.

It was really Steve Bannons idea.

Ross, who concocted a ruse about the Justice Department seeking the citizenship question, said it is necessary for the government to collect citizenship data to help it enforce voting rights. But voting-rights activists say they dont need any more data to pursue allegations of voting-rights violations.

And Ross assertion was refuted by internal memos and his own staff recommendations. Oh, and it was really Steve Bannons idea  you remember him, Trumps former economic nationalist policy advisor? A federal judge in New York blocked the addition of the question, ruling that Ross decision was arbitrary and capricious and failed to follow the Administrative Procedures Act.

Yes, the government has asked the question in past censuses, but not since 1950, and in a radically different political environment from today  back then the government feared real and suspected communists and leftists more than immigrants.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

Whats really going on here is an attempt by Republicans to scare folks who live here illegally, and those who may live with them, into avoiding census takers. When the government makes a major political issue out of ejecting people living here illegally, and occasionally tries to deport a citizen in the process, theres an understandable reticence among immigrants to answer questions from federal bureaucrats.

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Oh, and those immigrant communities tend to be in urban areas that support Democrats. So by depressing the immigrant count in the census, the congressional and legislative district lines that are drawn on the basis of the new census count get warped, leading to unequal distribution  the undercount results in more people living in Democratic districts than in Republican districts, tilting the advantage to conservative, more rural areas.

Crafty, eh?
Congress is properly pushing back against U.S. support for the savage war Saudi Arabia and its allies have waged in Yemen, which has killed tens of thousands of civilians. On Wednesday, the House voted 248 to 177 to invoke authority under the 1973 War Powers Resolution to withdraw U.S. forces from any involvement in the Yemen conflict.

Even if the Senate follows suit, President Trump probably would veto the resolution. The White House argues that the War Powers Resolution doesnt apply because U.S. forces arent involved in hostilities in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and its allies are fighting on behalf of an internationally recognized government against Houthi insurgents supported by Iran. The U.S. role is limited to providing intelligence and supplying weapons. (In the past, the U.S. also refueled Saudi fighter planes.)

Still, opposition in Congress could put additional pressure on the Saudis to honor a shaky cease-fire and support negotiations on a political settlement. Unfortunately, Saudi Arabia under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has good reason to think that this administration will continue to give it the benefit of the doubt  and not just on Yemen.

A free ride for Saudi Arabia may be the most conspicuous consequence of the administrations obsession with Iran, but its not the only one.

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Part of the problem is that Trump, that most transactional of presidents, sees the economic relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia as a good deal  so good that he has all but said that spending by the Saudis on U.S. weapons and other goods and services is a reason to overlook the likely complicity of the crown prince in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey last October.

Trump isnt alone in being reluctant to confront the question of the crown princes culpability. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo became annoyed when a reporter asked him if he agreed with the CIAs assessment that the crown prince probably played a role in Khashoggis killing. Calling it a ridiculous question, Pompeo claimed that as the facts are developed, as we learn more, we will hold everyone responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi accountable.

Thats hard to believe. The administration failed to act on a demand issued by Congress under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act for a report on whether the crown prince is personally responsible for Khashoggis death.

The indulgence the administration shows to Saudi Arabia isnt totally a matter of dollars-and-cents calculation. It also reflects the administrations fear and loathing of the Islamic Republic of Iran. (In fact, the statement Trump released after Khashoggis killing criticized Irans bloody proxy war against Saudi Arabia in Yemen before it got around to mentioning the journalists death.) If Iran must be opposed as uniquely evil, the administration seems to think, then Saudi Arabia, its regional competitor, must be embraced, regardless of its misdeeds.

Of course, the U.S. must deal with the real threats Iran poses to regional stability, including its support for militant movements, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, that the U.S. regards as terrorist groups. The administration is also right to chastise Iran (and Saudi Arabia, for that matter) for repressing dissent.

But the Trump administration has become monomaniacally focused on Iran. In a speech Thursday in Warsaw, Vice President Mike Pence claimed that Iran openly advocates another Holocaust and seeks the means to achieve it. In a line that seemed tailor-made to appeal to Arab nations, he added that Iran seeks to re-create the ancient Persian Empire under the modern dictatorship of the ayatollahs.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

One doesnt have to ignore Irans provocations to see this as a dangerously one-sided view that limits U.S. influence in the region. For example, although Pence cited Iraq as a place where Iran was exercising malign influence through militias outside the Iraqi governments control, many Shiite Muslims in Iraq will be alienated by the U.S. demonization of Iran.

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The administrations Iran obsession has also strained relations with Americas European allies. After Trump withdrew the U.S. from the international agreement that placed limitations on Irans nuclear program, European nations took steps to remain faithful to the agreement, for the good reason that Iran has complied with its requirements. Their reward from the U.S. for that fidelity to an international agreement was a tongue-lashing from Pence for trying to break American sanctions against Irans murderous revolutionary regime.

A free ride for Saudi Arabia may be the most conspicuous consequence of the administrations obsession with Iran, but its not the only one.

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Like many critics of President Trump, we expected that he would someday abuse the power of the office to such a degree that it would trigger a confrontation with Congress or the courts. And now hes doing it, in pursuit of a wall along the southern border that Mexico isnt financing.

On Friday, Trump declared a national emergency over a nonexistent national security crisis at the border, then invoked that emergency to shift billions of dollars from previously approved military construction projects to his wall. The move contravenes weeks of negotiations by lawmakers and an explicit decision, backed by large majorities in both chambers, to reject Trumps request for $5.7 billion in wall funding and instead provide less than $1.4 billion for steel fencing  the same amount as last year.

Congress gave the president broad authority in the 1976 National Emergencies Act to declare a state of emergency, and lawmakers have passed dozens of other laws laying out the specific powers the president can use when an emergency has been declared. But Trump is stretching that authority to the breaking point by using it not to address something unexpected or an actual national security crisis, but to reverse the will of Congress and erase a political defeat.

Thats unconscionable. Trumps imperious use of emergency powers will soon be challenged in both Congress and the courts, and rightly so.

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Lawmakers cannot abide this abuse of executive power, or else theyll be conceding their control of the federal purse to the president

Trump won election in part by playing to the fears of some Americans about immigrants, particularly those in the country illegally. Ignoring the sharp decline in the number of arrests at the border and the estimated number of people in the country illegally, and eliding the fact that in recent years more new undocumented residents are people who overstay visas rather than sneaking across the border, Trump has continued to portray the Mexican border as a sieve, and illegal immigration as an urgent threat to the economy and public safety. The wall, in Trumps telling, is a cure-all that could drastically reduce drug smuggling, human trafficking and crime in general.

We want to stop drugs from coming into our country. We want to stop criminals, we want to stop gangs, he said Friday.

But the notion of a violent horde threatening to invade from the south is xenophobic fiction, as unrealistic as the idea that a wall can magically stop the flow of drugs into the United States. And though there are manifest problems with U.S. immigration laws and policies, they do not translate into a threat to the security of our nation.

Thats not to say there are no urgent problems at the border. The accumulation of migrants in Mexico fleeing violence and poverty in Central America is a large-scale human tragedy thats been exacerbated by this administrations inability to handle the surge in asylum applications from families and unaccompanied minors. On Thursday, human rights groups sued the administration over its cruel and legally shaky policy of forcing asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico while their applications proceed.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

Over weeks of negotiations stretching back into 2018, the Trump administration and its Republican allies in Congress grappled with congressional Democrats over how to address the growth in asylum arrivals and other border concerns. The spending bill that Trump is due to sign into law raises spending on border security to $22.54 billion  more than the budgets for disaster relief, the federal courts or the Environmental Protection Agency, to cite just a few examples.

The measure is a compromise that reflects bipartisan support for improved border security, as well as the two parties different priorities. In addition to providing money for fencing, it increases in the number of detention beds for deportable immigrants, expands immigration courts, adds hundreds of Border Patrol agents, supplies more money for drones and other border-surveillance technology, ramps up drug interdiction efforts at ports of entry, overhauls how Immigration and Customs Enforcement manages the cases under its purview, and addresses a number of complaints from Democrats about the treatment of detainees.

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Under the Constitution, its up to Congress to decide how federal dollars are spent. Its telling that Trump couldnt persuade lawmakers to give him more money for his wall, even by shutting much of the federal government down for a record 35 days. He simply doesnt have the votes for the project, which isnt surprising, given that polls show most Americans dont support it.

Instead of taking his lumps and trying to make a better case for funding the wall next year, however, Trump is trying to circumvent Congress through a spurious emergency declaration. His supporters note how previous presidents have used executive orders to take steps Congress did not take; for example, President Truman ordered the armed forces to desegregate in 1948 after Congress failed to do so, and President Obama created a program allowing Dreamers to seek temporary legal status after a comprehensive immigration reform bill stalled (a move that Trump has derided as unlawful). But theres a world of difference between using executive orders to accomplish things Congress could not, and declaring an emergency to overturn a decision Congress made. Administration officials have noted that Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush both used emergency declarations to shift military construction funds, but that was in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001  not caravans of migrants.

Trumps declaration will soon be challenged on two fronts. One or more federal judges will be asked to halt the shift of funds, possibly by landowners in Texas whose property could be seized for the wall. And the Democrats who control the House will advance a resolution ending the state of emergency  a resolution that, once it passes the House, must come up for a vote in the GOP-controlled Senate.

That resolution will pass if enough Senate Republicans discover the necessary spine. In fact, half a dozen have already said they oppose an emergency declaration because of the horrible precedent it would set. (As several members of Congress have noted, the next Democratic president could follow Trumps footsteps to declare an emergency over climate change or gun violence.) But Trump could veto any such resolution, forcing congressional Republicans to make the awkward choice between supporting their out-of-control president or defending the legislative branch and the Constitution.

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Trump cares little about the long-term implications of the steps he takes. Its all about his need to win now, consequences be damned. But lawmakers cannot abide this abuse of executive power, or else theyll be conceding their control of the federal purse to the president  and praying the courts hand it back.

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California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra is setting a bad example for this states guardians of public safety. Hes got some 500 law enforcement officers working for him in several state Department of Justice agencies, and they are covered by a new law that lifts the veil of secrecy on police behavior by requiring the release of certain personnel records. He ought to quickly comply with requests for those documents, and he ought to make it clear that he believes the hundreds of police and sheriffs departments around the state ought to be doing the same thing.

Instead, he has failed to respond to records requests. He explains that hes waiting for courts to decide whether the new law  SB 1421  really means what it says, or if it instead applies only to records of police misconduct or shootings that occurred after the law took effect this year.

Of course the law means what it says. There is nothing in the language that limits its application. When police secrecy laws were adopted in the 1970s, they covered up records past and present. Likewise, the bill to once again grant public access to records related to officer use of force, sexual assault or dishonesty applies to all law enforcement files.

Los Angeles officials have been hot and cold on police disclosure.

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After losing in the Legislature last year, police unions are making a last-ditch attempt to thwart the law by arguing that it somehow doesnt apply to records of previous years incidents. They have gotten a few judges in Los Angeles and other places around the state to halt disclosure while they consider the question. Meanwhile, other judges in other parts of the state have properly rejected the argument. That means the law applies or doesnt apply depending on where in the state the records are being held. Thats an untenable situation that requires some leadership from the states top lawyer.

Keep in mind that none of those lawsuits seeking to block release apply directly to Becerras department. But he isnt releasing anything anyway, until the other lawsuits are resolved.

Thats absurd. Lawsuits are filed all the time over the proper interpretation of the Public Records Act and other disclosure laws. If state and local agencies didnt comply with any request while litigation was pending, police unions and others who want to block disclosure would have an easy time of it. They wouldnt have to win their lawsuits; they would just have to file them over and over again.

In addition to conducting its own law enforcement operations, Becerras office also investigates local police agencies, and in so doing it obtains records from city police officers and county sheriffs deputies that are subject to the disclosure law. Becerra isnt releasing those either. He is being challenged in court on that point by the First Amendment Coalition, just as The Times and other news organizations are pressing for disclosure from other law enforcement agencies.

Californians should expect better from their attorney general. He is the states lawyer and the publics advocate, and should put his position and his offices legal acumen to work on behalf of transparency, as required by the law, and not secrecy, as preferred by police unions.

Its the unions, of course, that make things complicated. They are big players in state and local politics, and they expect elected officials to toe their line on issues of importance to them.

Los Angeles officials have been hot and cold on police disclosure. More than a decade ago, when a more expansive bill came before the Legislature, then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief William Bratton spoke out in favor of it.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

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This time around, LAPD Chief Michel Moore argued that the law ought to apply only to new incidents and new records because doing otherwise would create a bureaucratic headache. It may or may not, but inconvenience is no excuse for noncompliance.

Now, however, Moore finds himself a defendant in a suit by the Los Angeles Police Protective League to block disclosure. City Atty. Mike Feuer has filed papers on behalf of the city arguing for disclosure.

The Assn. of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs filed a suit blocking release of sheriffs records from before Jan. 1. Its time for the Board of Supervisors to weigh in on behalf of the public, and of disclosure.

And its time for Becerra, the states preeminent law officer, to show some leadership on the issue.

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Robert Winter, the architectural historian who spent much of his life examining and explaining Los Angeles sprawling and complex cityscape to a generation of residents, students and tourists, has died. He was 94.

Winter, a longtime professor at Occidental College who delighted in taking students, guests and friends on bus tours of his adopted city, died Saturday, according to Angel City Press, his publisher.

Winters gift to the city was An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles, a field guide of sorts that identified, cheered and occasionally mocked L.A.s diverse architecture. The book, now in its sixth edition, was embraced as a bible by many, stowed in glove compartments for quick access, jammed in backpacks by people who wandered through the different architectural periods and moods that somehow cobbled the city together.

He found the airy atrium of the Bradbury Building on South Broadway to be one of the most beautiful interior spaces in L.A., thought Disney Hall was perhaps the citys most interesting structure and appreciated the endless whimsy of L.A., where a tire factory would look like an Assyrian fortress or a gas station like a space ship.

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The the Atrium area of The Bradbury Building ikn downtown Los Angeles (Grant Mudford / Handout)

He could be biting, too. In a 2017 interview with Curbed LA, he dismissed the design for the expansion of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as Trumpitecture, a billionaires take on what the average person might enjoy. He didnt particularly think much of the Broad museums exterior but marveled at what was inside. And he equated Orange County to a set of dentures  orderly, identical and uniformly white.

Former Los Angeles Times architectural critic Christopher Hawthorne found Winters guidebook to be indispensable, and Patt Morrison, a longtime writer at The Times who was one of Winters students, recalled paging through the book, struck by the number of times the word razed appeared underneath photos. It was as if, she wrote, one was looking at eager, unique faces and finding the word murdered under each one.

Winter was not an immediate fan of the way L.A. looked. It was summertime, 1956, hot and miserable when he arrived to teach social history at UCLA. His first impression was that the city seemed a sprawl of mismatched buildings. But with time, he came to see the far-flung architectural styles  from civic buildings to hamburger stands  as a complex and innovative tapestry. Around every corner, another surprise.

Theres more freedom here than you encounter anywhere in the United States or Europe, he told The Times in a 2006 interview.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall with the L.A. skyline in the background (NICK UT / AP)

Winter was born in Elkhart, Ind., in 1924. His father was a journalist; his mother a teacher. He attended Dartmouth University, but his studies were interrupted by World War II when he served a stint in the Air Force, stationed in Italy. He later graduated from John Hopkins University and earned a doctorate in cultural history.

His tenure at UCLA ended after six years when he failed to publish a paper, a requirement. In a 2009 interview with the Lotusland Chronicles, Winter explained that he had simply tidied up his doctoral dissertation and submitted it for publication to meet the requirement, but that it was quickly rejected. I must stop here, one reviewer wrote on the returned manuscript, before I have a heart attack.

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But he didnt go far to find work. Occidental immediately offered him a teaching post, and he remained a fixture on campus for 31 years.

Winter found a kindred spirit in David Gebhard, an architectural historian at UC Santa Barbara, and together they wrote the first edition of An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles, which was published in 1965. Like Winter, Gebhard found the L.A. cityscape to be endlessly surprising. By contrast, he said, New York was architecturally dull and San Francisco stodgy.

Robert Winter, here at an art auction, was known as lively instructor at Occidental College (Courtesy Angel City Press)

The guidebook was initially pocket-size. But it grew in size and length, eventually weighing in at 700 pages. It was revised nearly every decade, ever denser with new or rediscovered buildings added and those that had been knocked down  or those now obscured from view by other structures  subtracted. Gebhard died in 1996, and Bob Inman, a city explorer who had written such books as Finding Los Angeles by Foot and A Guide to the Public Stairways of Los Angeles, collaborated with Winter on the most recent edition of the guidebook.

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Winter served on historic-preservation commissions in Pasadena and L.A. and was appointed to the State Historical Resources Commission in 1998. And it was during his watch that the Cultural Heritage Commission declared the Hollywood sign to be a monument. He was also active in the Coleman Chamber Music Assn., the Union Rescue Mission and the Pasadena Historical Society.

Winter is credited by some with sparking the California Arts and Crafts revival because he wrote about it so frequently and with such passion. He also lived it.

In 1972, he moved into a distinctive 1909 Craftsman-style home on the eastern rim of the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena that had belonged to Ernest Batchelder, a note tile maker. Winter said he always felt as if he were more of a guardian than a homeowner.

I feel as if I really dont own this place, but that Im the caretaker.

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Winter, who was never married, is survived by a brother, Jim; niece Ellen Winter; and nephews Robert and David Winter.
An off-duty 20-year veteran Los Angeles police officer was in critical condition Friday after a fight with another man in downtowns skid row ended with the officer shooting the suspected assailant, police said.

The narcotics detective, whose name was not released, was severely injured during the incident that occurred near the intersection of 6th and San Julian streets about 3:30 a.m. Thursday, police said. The officer was placed in an induced coma on Thursday night.

The officer suffered significant injuries but he is on the road to recovery, said Deputy Chief Dennis Kato, who oversees LAPDs South Bureau, where the detective works. It will be a long road.but he will get better.

Kato said he visited the officer in the hospital Friday morning. He said he was conscious and was able to communicate with his family.

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During the fight, the officer fired his handgun at the suspect in self defense, officials said. The suspected assailant was wounded and also listed in critical condition.

The department did not explain what led up to the clash. An LAPD spokesman also could not immediately say whether the alleged assailant had been accused of a crime.

The attack happened near the rear entrance of the Midnight Mission, where sidewalks are lined with tents and hundreds of homeless people often congregate. The confrontation was initially described as an attempted robbery but officials said its not clear what happened.

Several law enforcement officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case, said the officer had been out drinking in the hours before he was attacked in an attempted robbery. Investigators believe the officer was on his way to his downtown apartment, which he had rented because of a week-long training session, the officials said.

A weapon, likely a blunt object, was used to repeatedly strike the officer in the head, the sources said. The officer fired at least two shots in self-defense, according to the officials, who said the suspect fled to the LAPDs nearby Central Division station, where he sought medical attention.

Some of the officers belongings, including his badge, were taken during the incident, according to two officials. Emergency personnel did not realize the victim was an officer until they were treating him at a hospital, one of the sources said.

The officer is assigned to the 77th Street Division, sources said.

Josh Rubenstein, the LAPDs chief spokesman, said investigators are having a difficult time ascertaining what led to the incident because neither the officer or the person who was shot have been able to speak since the clash. Rubenstein described the officer as a detective, but declined to identify him.

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He described the person who was shot as an adult male. It remains unclear if the person who was shot is homeless. The case is being investigated by the Robbery-Homicide and Force Investigation divisions.

The LAPD had not had an officer-involved shooting in 2019 until Thursday morning, but the skid row incident was the first of two in a matter of hours.

Around 7 a.m. Thursday, an officer shot and killed an armed man on a train platform at the 7th Street/Metro Center station downtown. It was not immediately clear what led to the shooting.

james.queally@latimes.com

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A Temecula man was sentenced to 12 years and four months in state prison this week for intentionally starting the Cranston fire, which chewed through thousands of acres and destroyed homes near Idyllwild last summer.

Brandon McGlover, 33, pleaded guilty on Thursday to two felony counts of burning a structure or forest land. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Kelly Hansen immediately sentenced him to the maximum prison sentence for the two charges and ordered him to pay restitution to the victims of the fire.

Brandon McGlover was sentenced this week to 12 years and four months in state prison. (Riverside County Sheriffs Department)

Prosecutors originally charged McGlover with 15 felony counts based on allegations that he had started eight other fires two days before he ignited the Cranston blaze. Those charges carried a maximum sentence of life in prison.

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However, prosecutors dropped several charges against him after his November preliminary hearing where authorities outlined evidence in the criminal case before a judge.

The original charges filed against McGlover required proving to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that he had a specific intent to burn structures, which the evidence in the case does not support, the Riverside County district attorneys office said in a statement.

The D.S.s office this week dropped the seven remaining felony counts against McGlover as part of a plea deal in the case.

The Cranston fire began on July 25, 2018, and consumed more than 13,000 acres in the San Bernardino National Forest area near Idyllwild. The blaze destroyed at least five homes and forced 7,000 people to evacuate.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @Hannahnfry
 YouTube personality Furry Potato was shot outside a Los Angeles synagogue Thursday, according to police and footage posted to social media. (Video by Genaro Molina)

For more than 40 minutes, Zhoie Perez filmed the outside of a Los Angeles synagogue, as a security guard whose ire she had drawn trained his own camera on her.

The passive-aggressive standoff that played out Thursday afternoon in the Fairfax district seemed in line with other videos posted to one of Perezs YouTube channels, where the self-described 1st Amendment auditor often pushes the bounds of her rights in public spaces.

Recent videos show Perez having polite, but pointed, conversations with police in Los Angeles and El Segundo. But as Perez hovered near the gates of the Etz Jacob Congregation/Ohel Chana High School building, the guard she was filming was far less understanding of her political experiment.

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Get away from the door, the guard said in one of two videos Perez posted to her Furry Potato Live YouTube channel. You try one more time and I shoot you.

Moments later, a gunshot was heard, evolving a bizarre situation into a suddenly dangerous one.

Perez was treated for injuries to her leg, and detectives detained the security guard, while a Jewish community that was victimized by violence only a few months ago found itself slightly on edge again Thursday evening.

When we start getting calls that theres been a shooting at a synagogue, everyone goes into a high-alert state, said Amanda Susskind, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Los Angeles. I think there is a general level of awareness and concern in the community that these things can happen.

Los Angeles police officers head to the entrance of Etz Jacob Congregation/Ohel Chana High School to interview possible witnesses to a shooting by the synagogues security officer. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

The guard, identified as Edduin Zelayagrunfeld, 44, was detained and questioned by detectives with LAPDs Wilshire Division. Late Thursday, the LAPD said he had been arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

Perez, who limped out of the back of an LAPD cruiser and held a brief news conference hours after the shooting, has not been accused of any wrongdoing, police said.

The 45-year-old internet personality and activist said she was not conducting one of her so-called audits when she crossed paths with the guard.

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I was just filming the exterior of the synagogue here, and getting a lot of, like, the architecture and all that, and the guard came out and just started freaking out, started putting his hand on his gun, Perez said.

LAPD received a call about a disturbance at the synagogue in the 7600 block of Beverly Boulevard about 12:20 p.m., said Sgt. Barry Montgomery, a department spokesman. The call was upgraded to a report of a shooting a short time later, he said.

Perez posted two videos to her Furry Potato Live YouTube channel Thursday  one of which has since been removed  that depict a back-and-forth with the guard that lasted more than half an hour. The guard repeatedly tells Perez to go away, and an unidentified passerby also cautions Perez that she might be unnerving people because it could appear she was filming children.

As the minutes wore on, the guard, outfitted in a rain slicker, repeatedly moved one hand toward his firearm. In a second video posted by Perez, the guards weapon appears to be pointed at the ground before a gunshot is heard.

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Perez begins cursing and screaming, and eventually passersby come to her aid as the guard continues to follow her. He repeatedly referred to her injury as a warning shot, according to the video.

Montgomery said the guard was standing on the synagogues property when he fired, while Perez was on a public sidewalk. Perez described her leg injury as a deep graze.

On YouTube, the Furry Potato account has nearly 18,000 subscribers, while Furry Potato Live has 4,100. Perez, who said she lives in Orange County, has posted a number of other videos that appear to show her prodding sensitive properties, including a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement site and an Islamic center where she also came into conflict with a security guard.

I create internet content that will hopefully educate people about their rights while holding police and government officials accountable to us. I strive to do this in a fun and entertaining fashion, she wrote on her Patreon fundraising page. The goal is to help sustain our rights that were given to us by our founding fathers!

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Last summer, Perez was accused of disturbing the peace and causing a nuisance outside a Marine Corps recruitment office in Valenica, said Paul Eakins, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorneys office. She pleaded no contest to one count of disturbing the peace in December and was ordered to pay a fine, Eakins said.

Thursdays shooting came several months after a violent incident at a Hancock Park synagogue. On Nov. 23, police said, Mohamed Abdi Mohamed, 32, shouted anti-Semitic slurs at people exiting Congregation Bais Yehuda before driving his vehicle toward them. No one was injured, but Mohamed has since been charged with attempted murder.
A Los Angeles police commander assigned to home duty after his unmarked car was found crashed and abandoned enrolled days later in a controversial retirement program that allows him to collect essentially twice his usual pay.

By joining the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, the commander will begin receiving early pension checks in addition to his regular salary while at home during the investigation into the crash.

Officials with Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions estimate Cmdr. Jeff Noltes monthly pension checks will be $13,872  or about $166,000 a year. Los Angeles Police Department officials would not divulge Noltes current salary, but public records show he was paid $200,000 in 2017, the last year for which complete data are available.

LAPD Chief Michel Moore had previously confirmed that Nolte is the subject of the investigation and was assigned to home. Nolte oversees a team that investigates officer-involved shootings. His Dodge Charger was discovered wrecked near the intersection of 213th Street and Avalon Boulevard in Carson after a crash the night of Jan. 24.

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Josh Rubenstein, the LAPDs communications director, confirmed that after the crash, Nolte joined DROP, which pays city police officers and firefighters their salaries and early pension payments simultaneously for the last five years of their careers.

When contacted, Nolte declined to comment on the crash. He did not respond to questions about the pension plan.

Moore said he could not address the situation of a specific individual. Speaking generally about DROP, he said: The original intent of the program was to forestall retirements of well-qualified seasoned professionals. Circumstances that counter that are inconsistent with that intent. I remain supportive of making incremental adjustments to ensure the program continues to achieve its desired results.

DROP participants are required to be on active duty the day they apply for the plan, but they can continue receiving the extra money even if they take extended leaves soon after joining.

The City Council recently altered the program after The Times revealed that nearly half of the police and firefighters who joined DROP subsequently took injury leaves, typically for bad backs, sore knees and other cumulative ailments. Under the revised rules, new participants must work 112 hours in a month to get their early pension check.

But the move by the City Council did not close another loophole: Officers on paid leave are considered on active duty and eligible for DROP. Officers are often put on paid leave and instructed to stay home pending the outcome of an internal investigation, which may take months to conclude. Police officers remains on the payroll until they are legally separated, Rubenstein said.

Rubenstein said he could not disclose specifically when Nolte joined the plan. Those details are not subject to public information, Rubenstein wrote in a message.

But Raymond Ciranna, general manager of Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions, said Nolte joined the plan Jan. 28. That was three days after he was assigned to home following the crash. Nolte has served 31 years with the department.

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The crash itself remains under investigation by the LAPD. In an earlier statement, officials said that there were no injuries and that no one else was believed to have been involved.

The exact circumstances of the crash are still murky. Several motorists in the area reported in 911 calls to the California Highway Patrol that a severely damaged car was being driven at fairly high speed on the southbound 405 Freeway.

The recordings, first obtained by ABC7, suggest motorists feared for their safety.

I was trying to honk and get them to pull over, and they kept on driving and they just had sparks flying. They dont have no tire. I mean literally no tire, one caller reported.

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Another motorist told a 911 operator that the driver of the car appeared to be really drunk and was driving a damaged vehicle, just driving on the front axle. The front wheel is completely gone.

Simeon Yarbrough, a CHP spokesman for the area, said the car had been in a crash near the 110 and 405 freeways.

Although the mangled vehicle was found about 4:40 a.m. the next morning by Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies, the LAPD assumed jurisdiction over the investigation, Sheriffs Department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said. LAPD officials have refused to say where Noltes vehicle crashed or exactly when the collision occurred.

Nolte previously was the subject of a civil lawsuit in connection with a shooting during a narcotics investigation.

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According to LAPD records, Nolte told supervisors that during a 1997 raid at a Gardena motel he came face-to-face with a shotgun-wielding suspect who pointed the gun at him. Nolte shot the suspect in the hands. Authorities determined his actions were not against policy.

But years later, in a civil trial, evidence showed the suspect had his hands in the air when Nolte fired. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said Noltes claim of self-defense was not credible, according to a 2004 Times investigation.

The city later awarded the suspect $2 million in a settlement.
Brazilian police arrested eight employees of mining firm Vale SA on Friday, accused by state prosecutors of covering up weaknesses at a dam that collapsed and likely killed more than 300 people.

Police also executed 14 search warrants as part of the probe of the countrys deadliest mining disaster, prosecutors in the mining state of Minas Gerais said.

The arrests and search warrants targeted employees of Vale as well as German auditing firm TUV SUD, which had certified the dam as stable.

The arrests deepened a festering crisis for Vale, the worlds largest iron ore mining company, whose share price has tumbled 18 percent since the disaster and subsequent civil and criminal probes.

The dam in the town of Brumadinho, which contained tailings, the mud-like byproducts of mining, burst on Jan. 25, killing at least 166 people. Almost 200 more are still missing.

The eight Vale employees .. had full knowledge of the situation of instability in the dam and each one of them, as part of their job, also had the power and ability to adopt measures for either stabilizing the structure or evacuating areas at risk, a judge in Minas Gerais wrote in an arrest warrant, issued in response to a petition from the state prosecutors office.

Vale said in a securities filing it was cooperating with the investigation.

The latest warrants followed the arrest last month of five Vale and TUV SUD employees, who were released by a higher court ruling on Feb. 5.

The most senior Vale employees arrested on Friday were Joaquim Toledo, Vale executive director of geotechnical operations, who led the team given the task of monitoring the dams stability, and Alexandre Campanha, Vale executive corporate director of geotechnicals.

No top Vale executives have been arrested.

Prosecutors alleged that Campanha pressured Makoto Namba, a TUV SUD engineer who was arrested and later released, to sign a declaration that the dam was stable, or risk losing the contract.

Minas Gerais prosecutors also sought the arrests of four TUV SUD employees, but the judge denied the request.

The prosecutors alleged the four employees of TUV SUD participated in a scheme, sponsored by Vale, to make up technical numbers, and falsely pledge the stability of the dam, which allowed for the situation of risk to be perpetuated.

Neither Campanha nor Toledo could be reached immediately for comment. TUV SUD declined to comment.

Chief Executive Officer Fabio Schvartsman said on Thursday, in response to questions from lawmakers, that the companys safety procedures had not worked.

Reuters reported earlier this week that Vale had seen an internal report last year that the dam had a heightened risk of rupturing. Chief Financial Officer Luciano Siani said on Tuesday that Vale senior management were never shown the documents.

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Alex Villanuevas upset victory in last falls L.A. County sheriffs race hinged on the overwhelming support he got from immigrant rights advocates and Latino voters.

By vowing to strictly limit his departments cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and keep the county jails from becoming a pipeline for deportation, Villanueva aimed to draw a sharp contrast with incumbent Sheriff Jim McDonnell, who initially refused to back Californias so-called sanctuary state law.

Now Villanueva aims to make good on those pledges.

Friday he will unveil a comprehensive plan that he says will mark a deliberate shift on immigration policy from that of his predecessor. Among the provisions hes considering are trimming the list of misdemeanors that could be cause for deportation and reviewing whether the Sheriffs Departments website should continue publishing release dates  information that ICE uses to stake out inmates and take them into federal custody.

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I want local law enforcement, and obviously my department, to be viewed as part of the community, working hand in hand with the community and not as agents of immigration enforcement, Villanueva said in an interview with The Times this week. We have to balance the needs of the immigrant community and the community at large.

The political stakes are high. Immigrant rights groups that supported Villanuevas campaign have been advising him on policy and are closely watching his next moves. From the other side of the debate, one local ICE official already has criticized the new sheriff for favoring policies that the agency thinks could enable immigrants with criminal records to evade justice.

Villanuevas most significant and controversial step so far has been his directive banning ICE agents from entering Sheriffs Department facilities, which took effect Feb. 1. Under previous sheriffs, federal officers were granted easy access in order to detain people they believed to be in the country illegally.

ICE agents for years were allowed to use space inside the downtown Twin Towers Correctional Facility, where all inmates are processed in and out of L.A. County Jail. During last years campaign, Villanueva said he would not let ICE agents step inside the jails. Instead, he said, released immigrants who were known to have committed crimes would be handed over to ICE in a secure courtyard next to the jail.

After some activists criticized the move, Villanueva reversed course and barred immigration agents from the Sheriffs Departments jails and stations, as well as the courthouses where sheriffs deputies provide security.

Angelica Salas, executive director of the nonprofit Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), said Villanuevas directive makes the Sheriffs Departments immigration policy one of the most progressive in the country and sets a precedent for other agencies looking to disentangle themselves from ICE.

This department is doing everything in their power to diminish confusion that theyre working with ICE, she said. The reality has finally caught up to the rhetoric.

Other immigrant rights advocates say these actions alone wont satisfy their expectations.

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The L.A. County Sheriffs Department suffers from a deficit of trust that Sheriff Villanueva inherited from his predecessor. He has to work to mend that gap, said Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. If we see that as a result of these changes the number of deportations decreases  and its a significant decrease  then we know these changes are going to be meaningful to people. Its about alleviating the suffering for families facing deportations. That comes down to numbers.

Villanueva told The Times that hes in the process of pruning a lengthy list of misdemeanors that are reclassified as felonies under immigration law and used as grounds to deport immigrants in the country illegally and permanent residents alike. He also said only misdemeanors that have occurred within the last three years could be considered for transfer to ICE custody; previously the period was five years.

Alvarado said immigrant rights leaders and Villanueva are still working out how to accommodate those transfers. Some alternatives, such as hiring a private company to deal with the transfers, have been floated.

Thomas Giles, acting field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Los Angeles, said the sheriffs new restrictions on federal agents will shield immigrants in the country illegally and encourage criminal alien activity within Los Angeles county borders.

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That Sheriff Villanueva would provide sanctuary to criminal aliens evading justice in his jurisdiction mere weeks after a criminal alien was charged in the murder of Northern California police officer Ronil Singh displays a troubling set of priorities, Giles said in a prepared statement to The Times.

The man suspected in Singhs death is a Mexican citizen living in the country illegally, authorities have said. Singh, a Newman police officer and an immigrant himself, was fatally shot in December.

The sheriffs new immigration plan arrives at a time when Villanueva faces intensifying public scrutiny and criticism. Last month, in an extraordinary public rebuke, the five-member Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors criticized the sheriff for rehiring a deputy who was fired over domestic abuse allegations and later served as a volunteer on Villanuevas election campaign.

This week, The Times reported that several watchdog groups contend Villanueva has used unreliable statistics and inconclusive data to support his claim that inmate violence in county jails is rising. The new sheriff also has raised eyebrows for arguing that McDonnells attempts to reform a department marred by years of corruption went too far and harmed deputies.

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But immigrant rights activists so far have stood by Villanueva.

Among the most prominent groups that backed his candidacy was the CHIRLA Action Fund, the nonprofits political arm. The group pumped more than $50,000 into Villanuevas election campaign. CHIRLA members and volunteers knocked on doors and made calls in neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles County, focusing on Latinos, who historically have had low turnout rates.

Villanueva won an estimated 80% of the Latino vote, said Matt Barreto, a political science and Chicano studies professor at UCLA who runs the research and polling firm Latino Decisions.

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In four years when he runs again, hell have to account for his record, Barreto said. But he has approximately 3 years to work on that. My sense is hes moving in the right direction given what he campaigned on and what the communities that supported him believe.

Mike Madrid, a veteran Republican consultant who studies Latino voting trends, argued that policy distinctions, including immigration issues, had little to do with Villanuevas win. Immigration already was a highly charged national political issue, he said; plus, McDonnell didnt campaign as aggressively as he should have because he didnt view the election as competitive. People viewed the race as a Latino Democrat versus a white Republican.

Advocates frequently clashed with McDonnell, who had argued that not allowing county jail inmates to be handed over to immigration authorities would require more arrests to be made in public, sowing disruption in immigrant communities and distrust in law enforcement.

McDonnell eventually agreed to the final version of Senate Bill 54, the sanctuary state law, which allows ICE to use office space in one of the countys jails. SB 54 prohibits local agencies from holding potentially deportable immigrants for ICE under most circumstances unless those detainees have been convicted of serious or violent felonies, or certain misdemeanors.

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Immigrant rights leaders and Villanueva are in the middle of conversations about how to make it harder for ICE to access certain information. For instance, booking slips for decades have asked for place of birth. Villanueva said hes reexamining whether its legal or necessary to do so.

I think he has realized its not just his direct contact with ICE authorities but that all the information they collect can be utilized indirectly to detain an individual, said Salas, of CHIRLA.

Another sticking point is the Sheriffs Departments website, where the release dates of those arrested are publicly available. ICE can easily mine this database to see when an immigrant is being released, wait for the inmate and take him or her into custody.

Villanueva is reviewing whether to maintain this information as public, which he acknowledged can tip off ICE agents. The flip side, he said, is that the database also keeps the public informed of when their loved ones, as well as potentially dangerous criminals, are being released into the community.

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Madrid said it could become politically and legally problematic for Villanueva to remove that information from public view. Theres a difference between not cooperating with ICE and obstructing their work, he said.

But of equal significance to whichever policies the new sheriff adopts, Madrid said, is that Villanueva has an opportunity to convey community policing techniques in a way that McDonnell might not have been able to. In politics, he said, the messenger is often just as important as the message.

People need to believe that theres somebody like them who believes in them and shares their values, Madrid said. Even if there were no policy changes, the perception of the communities will be different.
If youve driven Highway 1 near San Simeon in the past few years, chances are youve noticed the extraordinary northern elephant seal colony at Piedras Blancas Beach.

Last spring, when I stopped in after a reporting trip to disaster-prone Big Sur, a docent told me that the very best time to see the seals is mid-January. This, she said, is when the beach is most crowded with the prehistoric looking pinnipeds, birthing and mating and generally carrying on.

I couldnt get away last month, but on Wednesday I made a dash for it. I needed some nature. I was kind of burned out on politics, partisanship and made-up national emergencies. I needed to remind myself that there is more to California than high real estate prices, homelessness and weather-driven catastrophes.

(When the wildflower bloom comes in the spring, I will be making the same kind of escape to the Antelope Valley, or the Carrizo Plain.)

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Four hours after leaving Los Angeles, I arrived in San Simeon, where I picked up my guide, Tim Bridwell, a semi-retired hotel executive who is president of Friends of the Elephant Seal. The group, a nonprofit dedicated to educating people about the great beasts, trains docents, sells memberships and operates a small gift shop in its office.

We drove north a few miles to Piedras Blancas, then parked in a nearly empty lot. In summer, the lot is jammed with cars and buses. When Highway 1 is open, it draws close to a million visitors a year, most of them foreigners. But today was wet, windy and cold.

Pulling our hoods around our faces, we strolled along a wooden walkway that skirts the eastern edge of the beach.

From afar, the seals looked like rocks. Until they started to move.

The females and pups look like really big seals. But how to describe the males?

In their guidebook, Elephant Seals, Piedras Blancas docents Carole and Phil Adams offer up a few suggestions. Moving mountains of blubber is one.

Im partial to a lurching waterbed with the face of an elephant.

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The elephant seals at Piedras Blancas are a relatively new phenomenon.

The first ones showed up in 1990. Before that, the biggest rookeries were on Californias offshore islands and in Ano Nuevo State Park, about 20 miles north of Santa Cruz.

By 2018, an estimated 5,800 pups were born here. The rookery has grown larger each year, and now covers about six miles of coast, and 11 beaches. As they have expanded their territory, the seals have forced a certain accommodation with human beings, who are asked to stay off the beach and steer clear of the seals, a protected species.

A few miles south of Piedras Blancas, a state beach called Arroyo Laguna is popular with windsurfers and kiteboarders. In recent years, though, the elephant seals have moved in.

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Surfers still use the beach, but are supposed to steer clear of the animals.

Occasionally, a seal will stray.

Last month, a young male made it across Highway 1, and into a cow field on the east side of the road. San Luis Obispo County sheriffs deputies coaxed it back across the highway, through a fence and onto the beach, and posted a video on their Facebook page.

Why did the elephant seal cross the road? joked the local paper.

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Heather Liwanag, an assistant professor of biology at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, has recently begun studying the Piedras Blancas seal colony with a handful of grad students. She is fascinated not just by their physiology, but by their survival skills.

They are the deepest-diving pinnipeds, and spend more than 80% of their lives underwater. In the ocean, they live completely solitary lives, gathering in groups only when they are on shore twice a year.

In the 19th century, the seals were prized for their blubber after whales became scarce, and were hunted to the brink of extinction. By 1910, the entire population had dwindled to about 100 seals, who lived off the coast of Baja California on Guadalupe Island. All of todays estimated 150,000 seals  about 10,000 of which are based at Piedras Blancas  are believed to be descended from those survivors.

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At the edge of the beach, Bridwell and I stood, soaking wet, watching one of Californias great natural spectacles.

A few feet below us, along a quarter mile stretch of beach, thousands of the huge creatures carpeted the sand.

Various shades of brown, black and gray, they lay against each other. They slept, raised their heads to trumpet or squawk, slithered around each other, and tossed sand with their flippers.

Weeks-old elephant seal pups, called weaners, hang together on the beach, away from the adult males that can crush them. Soon, they will figure out that they can swim and feed themselves. (Robin Abcarian/Los Angeles Times)

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Something about the rain, Bridwell said, made the seals even livelier than usual.

And all I can say is, if you think people get frisky around Valentines Day, you should see the elephant seals of Piedras Blancas. Up close, it was like watching a slo-mo Roman orgy, minus the arms and legs.

Giant males, with trunk-like noses that get longer with age, sidled up to the sleeker females of their harems and mounted them. The larger the nose, as they say, the more powerful the male.

Loud grunts filled the air. When they fight, the males can sound like souped-up trucks without mufflers. One researcher compared the sound to Jurassic Park.

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Females hollered and squealed. Older males chased away curious younger males hoping in vain for a little action. Chubby pups, only a month old, huddled together away from the scrum, emitting high pitched screeches. (The recorded cries of elephant seal pups were used for the voices of small orcs by the sound designer for Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.)

The pups lives are precarious; before they even make it to the water, they can easily be crushed by beachmasters, the largest males, who can weigh up to 5,000 pounds and grow to a length of 14 to 16 feet.

Tim Bridwell, president of Friends of the Elephant Seal, on the wooden walkway at Piedras Blancas beach north of San Simeon that allows visitors to get close to the largest northern elephant seal colony on any mainland. (Robin Abcarian/Los Angeles Times)

We call the little ones weaners, said Bridwell, as we looked down at a clump of them. Their mothers, having nursed the pups for about a month, have already departed on their months-long ocean journeys which will take them thousands of miles into the northern Pacific Ocean before they return to Piedras Blancas to give birth.

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Some of the pups are enormous  super weaners or milk stealers who have figured out how to suckle other mothers. The babies are hungry and very noisy about it. At this point, they have no idea that they can swim, and will not eat until they do. Its incredible, said Liwanag, whose researchers spend five days a week with the seals. They figure it all out by themselves.

The pups are so big and fat, they look like beach balls, Bridwell said. Their moms arent here anymore. You can just picture them saying, I dont know what to do. So they gravitate to each other. Most will be at sea by April, and will spend five or six months there before returning to land for the first time.

On the sand, a seagull pecked at a dead pup  a mortality, as Bridwell gently called it. Of course, death is very common here. Most of the seals wont live past their first experience in the ocean. If they do, they will return to Piedras Blancas twice a year for the rest of their lives  14 years for males, 20 years for females.

The chill had finally gotten to me. I began to shiver, but it was hard to pull away. As with any great show, I didnt want this one to end.

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robin.abcarian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AbcarianLAT
After spending nine days in ICE custody, rapper 21 Savage told his side of the story Friday on ABCs Good Morning America.

The Atlanta musician who was born in England aimed to clear up misinformation about his case following his Feb. 3 arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. He was apprehended because he allegedly overstayed a visa that expired in July 2006.

I was just driving. And I just seen guns and blue lights. And, then, I was in the back of a car. And I was gone, he said on Good Morning America. They didnt say nothing. They just said, We got Savage. 

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Savage, 26, whose real name is Sheyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, told ABC News he arrived in the U.S. when he was 7 years old and attended first grade in Atlanta, so he has limited memories of his native country. He left briefly in 2005 to attend his uncles funeral, then returned that same year.

I didnt know what a visa was, he said. I was 7 when I first came here. I knew I wasnt born here, but I didnt know what that meant as far as when I transitioned into an adult, how that was going to affect my life.

I wasnt hiding it, he added, but its like, I didnt want to be deported, so I wasnt going to come out and be like, By the way I wasnt born here, to the world.

The rapper now considers himself a Dreamer, a person who has lived in the U.S. without official authorization since coming to the country as a minor.

I dont think the policy is broken, he said. I feel like the way that they enforce the policy is broken.

The rapper has gained high-profile support from the music industry, namely that of rapper Jay-Z, who provided additional legal assistance to 21 Savage, much like he did with embattled rapper Meek Mill.

Savage was supposed to attend the Grammy Awards on Sunday, where he was nominated for two awards and was set to perform the hit Rockstar with Post Malone.

A demonstration was staged near the red carpet to show support for the musician, whose ordeal went largely unacknowledged during the Grammys telecast. (Malone wore a 21 Savage T-shirt during the show and, upon accepting his award for This Is America, Swedish composer Ludwig Goransson said the rapper should be here tonight.)

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Ive been here 20 years, 19 years, this is all I know, Savage said Friday. I dont feel like you should be arrested and put in a place where a murderer would be just for being in the country too long.

Lawyers for 21 Savage said he was targeted because of a lyric critical of immigration in his song A Lot.

We believe, honestly, that he was targeted, of course, like they said, lawyer Alex Spiro said in an interview on Good Morning America. And part of the reason, we think, is both because hes a celebrity, and they can use this as a way to send a message, and also, perhaps, because of his music.

The musician said that while he was in custody he was put in a room by himself. 21 Savage was released on bond Tuesday and reunited with his kids.

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On Friday, Savage attempted to give hope to those experiencing a similar situation.

I feel your pain, he said, and Im gonna do everything in my power to try and bring awareness to your pain.

After the interview aired, the rapper faced another long-brewing legal issue on Friday. According to TMZ, 21 Savage turned himself over to Georgias Liberty County Sheriffs Dept. in connection to a separate offense.

The case relates to a 2016 money dispute with a club promoter accusing 21 Savage of taking $17,000 but failing to appear at a gig she booked him for.

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The website reported that a felony warrant for his arrest was issued, but sat for two years until the promoter pursued it following the rappers arrest on Super Bowl Sunday.

Follow me: @NardineSaad
Alfonso Ribeiros Carlton dance, made famous on the 1990s sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, wont be issued a copyright registration. The ownership claim was put forth by Ribeiro, who became known for the exaggerated way he swung his hips in a 1991 episode of the show.

In a document from California federal courts released this week, Saskia Florence, a supervisory registration specialist with the U.S. Copyright Office, told David Hecht, Ribeiros lawyer, that the goofy moves are a simple dance routine.

The dancer sways their hips as they step from side to side, while swinging their arms in an exaggerated manner, Florence wrote to Ribeiros attorney. She goes on to describe more of the dance moves, concluding that the combination of these three dance steps is a simple routine that is not registrable as a choreographic work.

Florence added that it didnt matter that Ribeiro brought his own flair to his dance. The fact that a dance or movement may contain more than a trivial amount of original authorship is irrelevant to this determination. Social dances, simple routines and other uncopyrightable movements are not choreographic works.

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In December, Ribeiro filed several copyright infringement lawsuits against Take-Two Interactive, publisher of NBA 2K and Epic Games, publisher of Fortnite, claiming they unfairly copied his Carlton dance in games.

Though the actor didnt win this battle of the waltz, his silly dance moves helped him and pro dance partner Witney Carson win 2014s Dancing With the Stars.
UPDATE: The motion picture academy has reversed its planned changes and will present all Oscars in the traditional fashion this year.

The Oscars conflict that has gripped Hollywoods attention since Monday, drawing battle lines between the motion picture academys leadership and many of the groups most illustrious members, may soon come to a head.

On Thursday evening, the academys chief executive, Dawn Hudson, and president, John Bailey, met with a handful of prominent members of the cinematography community  American Society of Cinematographers President Kees van Oostrum and cinematographers Hoyte van Hoytema (Dunkirk), Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant) and Rachel Morrison (Black Panther)  to discuss the academys controversial plan to move the presentation of four awards to commercial breaks in a bid to shave time off the often bloated broadcast.

In a letter addressed to members of the American Society of Cinematographers on Friday, Van Oostrum  who has become the de facto leader of a grassroots effort to get the four impacted categories (cinematography, editing, live-action short, and hairstyling and makeup) reinstated into the live broadcast  said the meeting had been very productive and positive.

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Today they will let us know if the Academy will (hopefully) reverse its decision in regards to the Awards program, Van Oostrum wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Times. We feel that that would not only be great for the upcoming event but also a major step in the direction of the ASC working closely with the Academy to deal with the larger issues ahead of us.

Representatives for the academy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As recently as Wednesday, academy insiders were saying that, with the Feb. 24 show rapidly approaching, a reversal of the decision was unlikely. But since then, the blowback against the idea has only grown more intense.

An open letter protesting the move on the ASCs website has gathered hundreds of signatures, including numerous Oscar winners from across the industry along with current nominees such as Emma Stone, Alfonso Cuaron, Spike Lee and Glenn Close.

As we speak the list is still growing and this morning also Meryl Streep signed, Van Oostrum wrote.

Though many have noted the irony that Bailey is himself a cinematographer and thus may have been expected to shield the branch from any perceived slight, Van Oostrum singled out the academy president for praise in his letter.

Let me first state that everyone involved with this movement has nothing but the greatest respect for John Bailey, he wrote. Not only is he one of us, but he also has an impeccable reputation of being an ethical and conscientious leader. Our open letter effort is directed at the Academy executives and is rooted in a concern that they are contemplating shortsighted changes and risking a potential PR fallout that could endanger the future of the entire organization.

Should the academy decide to go back on its plan, it wouldnt be the first major whiplash-inducing reversal involving this years Oscars. In September, the academys leadership scrapped a much-criticized plan to create a new best popular film category for this years Oscars just weeks after it had been announced. In December, Kevin Hart stepped down as the announced host of the show amid an uproar over past homophobic tweets and jokes, leaving the Oscars without a formal host for the first time in 30 years.

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Should the academy now reverse itself on the plan to shift the four awards to commercial breaks, which was announced in August, the group would likely run the risk of going over the three-hour limit it has imposed on itself for this years show.

We are committed to a three-hour show, Bailey told The Times last September. Its necessary. I feel we have a responsibility to the people who watch that show in the Eastern time zone, which is a huge market, to have that show ended by 11. Nobody that I know of has protested about that.

josh.rottenberg@latimes.com

Twitter: @joshrottenberg
Fabled Italian film star Claudia Cardinale has been the muse of such filmmakers as Luchino Visconti. Over the past six decades, shes worked with such master directors as Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone and Werner Herzog.

But when she began her career as a teenager, Cardinale voice was considered too husky, so it was dubbed for her early films. There were other problems as well.

Though her parents were Italian, she was born and grew up in Tunisia, then a protectorate of France. My first language was French, Cardinale said. So when she tried to speak Italian, her strong French accent proved to be a distraction.

In fact, it wasnt until she made Federico Fellinis Oscar-winning 1963 masterpiece 8  that international audiences heard her unique throaty voice.

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And that husky voice is still very strong, and even youthful, as is the 80-year-old actress. Cardinale is still stunning and effusive, laughing easily during an interview in Beverly Hills accompanied by her lookalike daughter, also named Claudia.

She was in town recently  her home is in Paris  for the recent Filming Italy Festival where she was presented with a career achievement award by the festivals artistic director Tiziana Rocca. The festival screened the 1964 Blake Edwards comedy classic The Pink Panther, which also starred Peter Sellers, David Niven and Robert Wagner.

She has fond memories of that film: David Niven, when he saw me, said, Claudia, [besides] spaghetti, youre the best invention of Italy, she said, laughing.

Cardinale has won numerous awards including the Career Golden Lion at the 1993 Venice Film Festival. Ive been very lucky because I have been working with fantastic directors, she said.

She became an international sex symbol in such films as 1958s Big Deal on Madonna Street. But as her career progressed, Cardinale transformed into a serious actress under the guidance of Visconti in 1960s Rocco and His Brothers, 1963s The Leopard, 1965s Sandra and 1974s Conversation Piece. (All of these films will screen next month at the American Cinematheques Visconti retrospective at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood and the Aero Theater in Santa Monica).

Cardinale noted that Fellini and Visconti were total opposites as directors. Visconti was incredible, she said. I was always eating in his house with him.

He rehearsed the film The Leopard as if it was a play. The lengthy ball sequence took two weeks to put together. We thought it was like doing theater, she said. With Federico, it was all improvisation.

Claudia Cardinale in the 1963 movie The Leopard. (Times File Photo)

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Cardinales daughter recalled: You used to always tell me that Fellini would pick you up in the morning to bring you to the set. They spoke in the car, and he kind of put her in the mood of what he wanted to be said in a scene.

Cardinale made The Leopard and 8  at the same time, which made life complicated for the actress.

I had very long dark hair, Cardinale said. Federico Fellini wanted me to be blonde and Luchino Visconti, dark, like I am. Then, I had to change the color every two or three weeks.

Despite her success as an actress, her personal life has had a share of heartache. Initially wanting to become a teacher, Cardinales life changed after winning the competition for Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia in 1957. Just as she started to get some minor roles, Cardinale discovered she was pregnant by a man who had no interest in the child.

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Cardinale had signed a contract with Vides Cinematografica, a production company that was run by the powerful Italian producer Franco Cristaldi. He sent her to London to keep her son, Patrick, out of the eye of the Italian press.

Cristaldi, who adopted Patrick, planned to marry Cardinale but never told her of his intentions until they got to Las Vegas in 1966.

I never got married, she said.

They were married in Las Vegas, clarified her daughter. But she didnt have it recognized in Italy.

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During their time together, Cardinale never received any pay for her film work. Instead, the money went to Cristaldi.

I was doing four movies a year, she said. I was paid almost nothing. When I met the father of Claudia, he saw that I had nothing in the bank. (Her daughters father is director Pasquale Squitieri, whom Cardinale was with for more than 40 years until his death in 2017.)

Like Sophia Loren and other international actresses who came to fame in the 1950s and 60s, Cardinale was in demand in Hollywood, making such films as Richard Brooks 1966 western The Professionals; 1966s Blindfold, with Rock Hudson, who became a good friend; and 1966s Dont Make Waves.

Then, she left because they wanted her to stay in Hollywood. Im European, she said. I cannot stay here.

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The Professionals reunited her with her Leopard costar Burt Lancaster. She ended up a close friend of his, but it didnt start out that way when he arrived on the set of The Leopard.

He was a very American star, she said. Visconti was the only master on the set.

One day, Lancaster wanted to flex his muscles. He was making everybody wait and doing his big star thing, said Cardinale. Visconti wasnt happy and made a remark to the actors and crew that filming would start after Lancaster finished his bidet.

But when Lancaster arrived on the set and began the scene, the actors and crew were transfixed by this incredibly beautiful actor and Visconti fell completely under his aura.

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She described her relationship with Sergio Leone on his influential 1968 Western epic Once Upon a Time in the West as fantastic. But she noted with a laugh that there were some problems with her rather sexy love scene with Henry Fonda, who was playing a rare villain role in the spaghetti western.

You know when I did the scene with him in [the bed]?, Cardinale asked. His wife was looking. It was [the] first love scene we did together, and his wife was furious.

Cardinale loved working with Herzog on his 1982 acclaimed Fitzcarraldo, which starred Klaus Kinski. The actor, she said, lived up to his reputation of being totally crazy. When we started [a scene], he took the mirror to see if the light was better on him or me.

These days, Cardinales career is still going strong.  I like to work with young directors in their first movie. Its very important.

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She works a lot in France, said her daughter. Shes shooting a telefilm now in Switzerland called Bulle. She has a wonderful project in theater with contemporary theater writer Pierre Notte, who wrote a play for my mother.

Its about a man who wants to become a woman, Cardinale said. He thinks that Im Sophia Loren and he kidnaps her. Its a very fun story.

calendar@latimes.com
Chicago police have released the two men who were arrested in connection with the attack on Empire star Jussie Smollett.

Late Friday, the departments chief communications officer, Anthony Guglielmi, announced on Twitter that the individuals had been released without charges because of new evidence that arose from the days interrogations.

Detectives have additional investigative work to complete, Guglielmi tweeted.

Case Update: Due to new evidence as a result of today's interrogations, the individuals questioned by police in the Empire case have now been released without charging and detectives have additional investigative work to complete. pic.twitter.com/Hswn1Qjgcy  Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 16, 2019

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The two men had been arrested earlier in the day in connection with the possible hate crime involving Smollett that occurred on Jan. 29.

The men  who were identified only as two Nigerian brothers  were initially being questioned as persons of interest in the attack before being considered potential suspects, Guglielmi said.

At that time, Guglielmi said detectives had probable cause that [the men] may have been involved in an alleged crime and that the police were working to corroborate the allegations and investigative timeline of the continuing investigation.

Guglielmi had also denied reports alleging that the attack was a hoax and reiterated that Smollett is being treated as a victim.

While we havent found any video documenting the alleged attack, there is no evidence to say that this is a hoax, Guglielmi said. The alleged victim is being cooperative at this time and continues to be treated as a victim, not a suspect.

Police had been questioning the men since they were picked up by officers at Chicagos OHare International Airport on Wednesday after returning to the city from Nigeria, the Associated Press reported. Police served a search warrant at their home on Thursday.

At least one of the men worked on Empire, but Guglielmi did not know in what capacity, the AP said.

Smollett recounted his ordeal on Good Morning America on Thursday and again said that his attackers yelled racial and homophobic slurs at him, put a rope around his neck and poured a chemical on him.

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He also said that an image Chicago police released showing persons of interest did indeed show his attackers.

I dont have any doubt in my mind that thats them, Smollett said. Never did.

The musician, a gay LGBTQ advocate who plays an openly gay musician on the Fox musical drama, said he spoke up because people need to hear the truth.

Everybody has their own idea. Some are healing and some are hurtful, but I just want young people, young members of the LGBTQ community, young, black children, to know how strong that they are, he said.

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Representatives for Smollett did not respond to The Times request for comment Friday.

Follow me: @NardineSaad
Learning that his film Never Look Away was nominated for the foreign-language film Oscar was a big moment for Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, but it wasnt a shock. The German-born filmmaker has already won an Academy Award in this category for The Lives of Others in 2007 and Never Look Away had also cleared the shortlist, so its nomination was certainly a possibility. What turned out to be a complete surprise was the fact his director of photography, Caleb Deschanel, earned a cinematography nomination for the film.

Im told you have to have a certain percentage of the entire branch putting that film as first position. And, so, I was very happy, because it meant that more people had actually seen the film than I thought, Von Donnersmarck says. I think of all the nominated films we were the only one not yet to be out in theaters, so it really just meant that people were interested enough to go to those screenings. And Caleb, I mean, he has [worked on] so many great films. He really made it possible for me already as a child to understand that cinematography is art. But still, I feel that in some way he outdid himself here on this movie.

Premiering at the 2018 Venice Film Festival, Never Look Away is very loosely inspired by the life of Gerhard Richter, a noted German painter who experienced the horrors of WWII as a young child. Von Donnersmarck says he always wanted to make a film about how an artist can use terrible things that happened in their life to create great art. He found his muse in Richter.

Id been looking for a story about that for a long time, and then I heard one element from the life of this German painter that kind of inspired me to create this fictionalized story, Von Donnersmarck says. It was more inspired by it than exact telling of his life, and he was in a way just one of the sources that allowed me to give it some very concrete reality.

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The now Los Angeles-based Von Donnersmarck knew, along with many in the art world, that Richter had created an iconic painting of a young woman holding a child and that it was based on a family photograph. Eventually, though, it was revealed that the woman in the painting was actually Richters aunt and he was the child.

In the German drama Never Look Away, Tom Schilling stars as the fictional Kurt Barnert, a painter based on the real-life painter Gerhard Richter. (Caleb Deschanel / Sony Pictures Classics)

Moreover, shortly after the photo was taken, his aunt was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was killed by the Nazis. She was a victim of a program in which citizens the Nazis felt could not genetically contribute to their goal of a master race were eliminated. Making the story even more melodramatic was what a journalist discovered in the early 2000s.

What he uncovered was that the woman that Richter ended up marrying, her father was a high-ranking SS doctor responsible for part of the Nazis eugenics program and [oversaw] 900 of these forced sterilizations, Von Donnersmarck says. I thought this was a really, really interesting connection, because it allowed for a really powerful duel between a young artist whos developing his intuition and at the same time is living under the same roof with a person who is also his greatest enemy.

Despite the films critical acclaim, that subject matter has been tough for some Germans to see on the big screen. Never Look Away has been something of a disappointment theatrically, but Von Donnersmarck saw a slow start for another tough watch, The Lives of Others, and knows the attention a major award or nomination can bring can truly turn things around.

I remember when last year, a German director [Fatih Akin] won the Golden Globe, the first thing he said was, Oh, great, this will mean 100,000 more admissions in Germany. And I thought it was so interesting that he thought of it that way, but he knew that in Germany, this kind of international attention is very, very important, Von Donnersmarck notes.

And if you talk to Werner Herzog, or Wolfgang Petersen, for that matter, their reputation in Germany was strangely made abroad, and their success in Germany came through their success abroad. Its a weird mechanism; of course, it would be nicer if Germany were more confident maybe in their own assessment of things.

FULL COVERAGE: Get the latest on awards season from The Envelope 
When Yalitza Aparicio earned a lead actress Oscar nomination for her turn as Cleo, the nanny who tirelessly cares for a middle-class Mexico City family in Roma, much was made of her becoming the first indigenous woman to earn such recognition.

Somewhat lost in this historic first was the work itself. Alfonso Cuaron, who wrote and directed Roma, basing the film on his memories of growing up with his own nanny, Liboria Rodriguez, says that Aparicio crafted the character from beginning to end.

And on top of that, she was faced with a new universe, Cuaron says of the newcomer, who had no acting experience prior to Roma. By the second day of the shoot, she had an amazing understanding of what she needed to do and how to access her emotions.

Welcome to the Gold Standard, the newsletter from the Los Angeles Times that helps guide you through the ins and outs of the awards season leading up to the Oscars.

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Im Glenn Whipp, The Times awards columnist and your newsletter host.

Yalitza Aparicio talks about her journey to the Oscars

I spoke with Aparicio recently, asking her to break down three key scenes in Roma. She shared the bare-bones direction that Cuaron gave and how she then reacted in the moment. (The story contains spoilers, so if you havent seen the movie thats likely to win the Oscar for best picture  well  what are you waiting for?)

My colleague, Times culture writer Carolina Miranda, wrote a beautiful profile of Aparicio, honing in on her determination, acuity and awareness that she has come to be seen as a symbol for Mexicos indigenous people.

Perhaps I havent fully absorbed the Oscar nomination, Aparicio says, but I know that everything that I am doing  if I do something wrong, they might think we are all that way. So I have to take good care of that image, our image.

Final voting for the 91st Oscars is underway. (Robyn Beck / AFP)

Academy members share their ballots  and I make my own predictions

Were in the final days of voting for the 91st Oscars. I asked four academy members  a writer, producer, director and actor  to share their ballots and the reasons behind their picks. (I loved our writers reasoning behind her vote for Olivia Colman for The Favourite: I feel like best actress nominees never get to be funny, and, my God, was she funny. Amen.)

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Elsewhere, I made my own predictions for picture, director and the four acting races. I also mused whether Bohemian Rhapsody would be the worst movie featuring a lead actor Oscar winner in the history of the Academy Awards. (If youve been reading the last few months, you probably already know the answer.)

Roger Deakins backstage after winning the cinematography Oscar at the 2018 Academy Awards with presenter Sandra Bullock. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

More controversy for the Oscars telecast

Back in August, the motion picture academy announced it would be moving a few categories off the live telecast for the 2019 Oscars. The reality of that decision became apparent this week when the academy spelled out the awards  cinematography, film editing, makeup and hair, and live-action short  that would be presented during commercial breaks at the upcoming ceremony. (The winners speeches will be seen later in the telecast in edited form.)

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Criticism within the industry came fast and fierce. The academy responded with a letter defending and defining the changes  which was followed by a letter signed by nearly 400 Hollywood luminaries, protesting the decision. On Thursday, several prominent members of the cinematography community requested an immediate meeting with the academys chief executive, Dawn Hudson, to try to get the decision reversed.

Stay tuned.

Feedback?

Id love to hear from you. Email me at glenn.whipp@latimes.com.

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Cant get enough about awards season? Follow me at @glennwhipp on Twitter.

glenn.whipp@latimes.com

Twitter: @glennwhipp
August Wilson wrote some of our eras most extraordinary plays, namely his Pittsburgh Cycle, alternately known as the Century Cycle  plays that dramatize the African American experience decade by decade, throughout the 20th century.

The seventh play in that cycle, Two Trains Running, from 1992, can be seen in a remarkable revival  a visiting production at the Matrix Theatre that does full honor to the late Wilsons timeless genius.



For the record: An earlier version of this article misstated the title of an August Wilson play. Seven Guitars, not Guitar Lessons.

As is the case with most of Wilsons plays, Two Trains Running transpires in Pittsburghs Hill District. Its 1969, and a once-vibrant community has become a blighted wasteland undergoing a massive (and historically catastrophic) urban renewal project.

As the neighborhoods murder rate skyrockets, funeral parlor owner West (Alex Morris) enjoys a corresponding rise in business. Thats not the case for his neighbor Memphis (Montae Russell), whose diner once did a turn-away business but is now on the skids. The city wants to take over Memphis place, but Memphis isnt selling unless hes offered what seems like an impossibly inflated price.

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Memphis few regulars include home-spun philosophizer Holloway (Adolphus Ward), an anchor of calm amidst roiling change; numbers runner Wolf (Terrell Tilford), a dapper womanizer with a lonely heart; waitress Risa (Nija Okoro), who has mutilated her own legs to escape unwanted male attention; and Sterling (Dorian Missick), an irrepressible schemer, just out of prison, jockeying for his place in an inimical society.

Then theres Hambone (Ellis E. Williams), a poor soul who, for almost 10 years, has been demanding a ham he is owed from a white store owner, obsessively reiterating, He gonna give me my ham.

The deceptively slight action primarily deals with Memphis efforts to bow the city to his will, Sterlings attempts to woo the man-shy Risa, and Hambones never-ending quest for his ham. Talk is the order of this evening, and what wondrous talk it is  funny, crisp dialogue worthy of classic comedy and monologues of dreams deferred that will break your heart.

The design elements  John Iacovellis beautifully detailed set, Brian Gales mood-setting lighting, Jeff Gardners evocative sound and Mylette Noras witty period costumes  authentically evoke Memphis down-at-heels establishment.

However, the heart of this production is the superb performances under the direction of Michele Shay, a veteran Wilson performer and director who was nominated for a Tony for her 1996 performance in Wilsons Seven Guitars. The actors give such towering performances that to single one out for praise would be a fools errand. They are an ensemble in the truest sense of the word  a family of equals who support one another generously and magnificently.

Sophina Brown, who produced last years celebrated King Hedley II, is on record as intending to produce every play in Wilsons cycle. Judging by this offering, I cant wait to see whats next.

         

Two Trains Running

Where: Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles

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When: 8 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; ends March 3

Tickets: $35

Info: (855) 326-9945, augustwilsonstwotrainsrunning.eventbrite.com

Support our coverage of local artists and the local arts scene by becoming a digital subscriber.

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See all of our latest arts news and reviews at latimes.com/arts.
Even before any peace push-related drawdowns, the U.S. military is expected to trim troop levels in Afghanistan as part of an efficiency drive by the new commander, a U.S. general told Reuters on Friday, estimating the cuts may exceed 1,000 forces.

U.S. Army General Joseph Votel, the head of the U.S. militarys Central Command, said the decision to reduce some of the roughly 14,000 American forces in Afghanistan was not linked to those peace efforts, however.

Instead, he said it was part of an effort by Army General Scott Miller, who took over the more than 17-year war effort in September, to make better use of U.S. resources.

This is something that he started as he got into the position here and was looking at how we (can) be as efficient and as effective as we can be on the ground, Votel said in an interview during a trip to Oman.

Millers decision represents a reversal of sorts after years in which the U.S. military sought to slow or halt troop drawdowns under Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama, and previously lobbied for more troops under Trump.

It was unclear how far along any troop reductions might already be. The Pentagon says U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan are at around 14,000 but adds the number can fluctuate.

Other sources offered lower estimates. Diplomatic sources believe the efficiency push, which has been raising eyebrows in Kabul, was already driving down U.S. troop levels.

Were watching this very closely, said a senior Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. It is clear General Millers desire to streamline is already having an impact on numbers.

Asked whether Miller would likely cut more than 1,000 troops from Afghanistan under the efficiency drive, Votel said: He probably will.

Votel added that some troops could be moved over the horizon, still remotely supporting the war effort from overseas. That, he said, would also reduce vulnerabilities in Americas longest war.

This is his decision as commander here - how he most effectively uses the resources that he has and trying to be as efficient as he can be, Votel said, without offering a specific estimate of exactly how many troops Miller may withdraw.

Millers spokesman, Army Colonel Dave Butler, declined to speculate on future troop levels. But Butler said Miller would still have surge capabilities into Afghanistan when needed for specific missions.

Costs have increasingly been a focus of discussions between Kabul and Washington. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani recently sent a letter to Trump offering to reduce U.S. expenses in Afghanistan.

How to do this more cost effectively is something that we have been working towards for a long time, Roya Rahmani, Afghanistans ambassador to Washington, told Reuters.

ENDLESS WARS

U.S. officials have held several rounds of talks with the Taliban in Qatar since last year in what is widely seen as the most serious bid for peace in the 17-year war. Taliban negotiators will meet their U.S. counterparts on Feb. 18 in Pakistans capital, Islamabad.

U.S. officials have told Reuters the military is planning for what a withdrawal of about half of the 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan would look like.

That has raised concerns about whether a smaller force would be able to support the Afghan military and whether other European armies that rely on American helicopters and other support would pull out.

It also raises questions about how big of a U.S. counter-terrorism force might be able to remain in the country.

Votel declined to discuss any internal deliberations, noting he had not received orders for a withdrawal.

Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan offered a similar reassurance this week, telling nervous NATO allies on Thursday that any potential U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan will be done in a coordinated fashion.

Asked about Trumps concerns about endless wars, Votel said: We dont want to fight endless wars either. We want to accomplish the mission here.

I think the strategy that the president has allowed to get put in place here, the South Asia strategy, focused on reconciliation, has been a good one, he said.

Beyond U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the Pentagon relies on thousands of private contractors.

A recent report by the U.S. Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction noted there were an additional 861 Defense Department civilians and 10,698 contractors who were U.S. citizens.

Diplomats familiar with NATO operations told Reuters they believed the number of contractors was not expected to be reduced along with U.S. troop withdrawals, and could actually increase.

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The Frieze art fair is arguing with Mother Nature  again.

Last year Frieze New York wrestled with a troublesome heat wave. On Thursday morning the inaugural Frieze Los Angeles faced off with an onslaught of rain.

Pink Frieze umbrellas peppered the fairs VIP preview as gallerists, artists, museum directors and collectors flowed onto the Paramount Studios lot, seemingly unfazed by the weather. Even a portion of the show staged on the faux streets of New York on the studios backlot seemed camera-ready, appearing that much more authentic beneath a sky that was more East Coast gray than L.A. blue  save for the spindly palm trees buffeted by the wind.

Brad Pitt makes the rounds Thursday at Frieze Los Angeles. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

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THE CRITIC: Christopher Knights verdict on Frieze Los Angeles 

Brad Pitt, heading out of a VIP breakfast with a gray cap shielding him from the elements, declared: Im excited. Its about time the city got something like this.

This is an exhibition of 70 international galleries forming the first L.A. iteration of an art fair that started in London in 2003, followed by New York editions in 2012.

The city has, for a long time, been a creative center, a hotbed for creativity, Mayor Eric Garcetti told The Times at the breakfast, which drew the likes of Marc Maron, Sylvester Stallone, new MOCA director Klaus Biesenbach and Broad museum director Joanne Heyler. But now its that for visual art specifically.

The storm added a wrinkle to the usual pre-show race to uncrate and install works in booths. Fair workers set up additional tents on the grounds for visitors to take cover, if needed. But Frieze Fairs director Victoria Siddall said the New York and London fairs, which take place in May and October and include outdoor areas, often deal with rain. We plan for it, she said.

Weve been building up to this over the past year with a huge amount of planning and preparation, and the galleries will be housed in a tent indoors, Siddall said, adding: It hasnt been an issue for us in the past. Our experience has been the weather doesnt stop people from enjoying the fair, and we hope thats the case in L.A.

Los Angeles Country Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, left, philanthropist Eli Broad, the Broad museum founding director Joanne Heyler and gallerist Jeffrey Deitch at Frieze Los Angeles. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

The L.A. architecture firm wHY served as designers for the fair, a job that included laying out the gallery booths inside the tent as well as the pedestrian flow elsewhere on the Paramount lot. The 62,000-square-foot tent, a prefabricated structure provided by Frieze and tweaked by wHY, is made of double-layered vinyl. Its waterproof and raised off the ground, with a 3,800-square-foot entry pavilion that serves as a buffer zone between the outdoors and the gallery floor inside.

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Its completely protected from the elements, said wHY creative director Kulapat Yantrasast. The rain makes it more difficult to move around from A to B, but we planned a lot and have covered and indoor places for people to hang out. Some of the restaurants, lounges and stores are indoors. Itll be like a real city.

Specifically: Manhattan.

The fair includes the outdoor backlot, lined with faux New York brownstones and storefronts. It will house the Frieze Projects series, site-specific art commissions by 16 artists organized by L.A. curator Ali Subotnick.

The works in Frieze Projects were made with the intent of being outdoors and are waterproof, Siddall said. It feels very much like New York, except you can see the Hollywood sign in the background.

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Hannah Greelys installation High and Dry is on view on the Paramount back lot as part of Frieze Los Angeles. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Among those under cover of the tent will be Gagosian Beverly Hills, which will show the drawing practices of L.A. artists including Thomas Houseago, Shio Kusaka and the late Chris Burden. Director Deb McLeod called the weather disappointing but wasnt worried. Im sure Frieze planned for it, she said. And well be in a nice dry tent. Its been a quite smooth installation so far, even in the rain. We havent seen any hint of problems.

Jessica Kreps, partner at New York-based Lehmann Maupin gallery, whos showing Iranian British artist Shirazeh Houshiary and Korean artist Do Ho Suh, said the number of people coming from out of town will outweigh weather concerns.

Its blown us away how many collectors are coming in internationally, Kreps said. Theyve traveled to L.A. for the fair and are using it as a platform to explore everything else going on in the art world here. Theyre not going to be deterred.

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Weather-related drama marked Frieze New York, which last May featured more than 190 galleries in a 250,000-square-foot pavilion on Randalls Island. A heat wave affected temperatures inside the exhibitors tent and reportedly deterred some collectors, prompting Frieze to offer 10% compensation to all participating dealers.

Still, a record 44,000 visitors attended in five days.

Sylvester Stallone stands in front of art by Tatsuo Miyajima at Frieze Los Angeles on Thursday. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

The day before the L.A. opening, the downtown gallery Hauser & Wirth wasnt concerned about weather, even though the gallery is debuting a high-profile work, senior director Stacen Berg said. Its devoting its entire booth to a Mike Kelly installation, Unisex Love Nest, that the artist made in L.A. in 1999 but which has never been shown here before.

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We need rain; its great for L.A., Berg said. Anyone will come out if theres a good reason  and Frieze is a great reason. The city is really rallied behind it.

The region has proved it isnt always rattled by rain. Photo L.A., the fair that ran Feb. 1-3 during heavy rainstorms, said more than 10,000 people attended compared with fewer than 7,000 in 2017. The only thing that hurt attendance, a representative said: the Super Bowl.

Weve been around 27 years and have a following, and being on the Westside helped, Photo L.A. owner Claudia Bartlett James said, referring to the turnout at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. But there are more people interested in art, in a general sense, and in photography. The larger institutions, like the Getty and LACMA, have pushed the agenda, and thats helped.

Artist Lisa Anne Auerbachs installation piece at Frieze L.A., called Psychic Art Advisor, has performers providing counseling sessions for fair attendees unsure about what to buy. Her weather prediction  and how it will affect Frieze?

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Itll be fine. People do seem a little freaked out, but its great to have rain in California, Auerbach said. Therell probably be less people partying outside  but theyll just be inside. Theres enough VIP rooms where people can hole up. If youre coming from Europe or New York, you just wear your galoshes.

deborah.vankin@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter: @debvankin
Critics are required by temperament, if not law, to dislike art fairs.

Strike one is the given emphasis on commerce. Strike two is the inhospitable context of makeshift booths with bad lighting. Strike three (youre out) is the crush of special-event mongers, who mostly ignore the regular rounds of hundreds of free gallery shows that go on all over town during the rest of the year but are happy to jam a three-day fair.

So, in order to keep my Assn. of International Art Critics membership in good standing, let me begin by saying that I dislike the glossy new Frieze Los Angeles Art Fair, which is on view this weekend on the backlot of Paramount Pictures Studio in Hollywood. Frieze emphasizes commerce in an inhospitable context for people whose highest priority is social  a party, preferably with paparazzi in attendance.

And let me follow the harrumph by saying that, in general, the quality of whats on view in the fairs 70-plus gallery booths is quite good. (Almost half the galleries are from L.A., the rest from New York, Europe, Asia and Mexico.) Once upon a time, New York and European galleries would send second- or third-tier art by famous names to an L.A. show, because who would know the difference? Those days passed with the 20th century.

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The vast exhibitors tent, designed by architect Kulapat Yantrasast of the firm wHY, is well organized  nice wide thoroughfares and generous spaces. Weather intruded on the fairs outdoor section, where several artists  Paul McCarthy, Karon Davis, Sarah Cain, Kori Newkirk and a dozen more  were invited to install works around the rain-drenched Paramount set of New York City streets. Indoors, the crush of visitors often made looking at people (Hi, Mayor Garcetti! Hey, isnt that Jodie Foster and Alexandra Hedison?) at least as engaging as trying to look at art.

Hannah Greely hung paintings like laundry over a rain-drenched New York City movie set at Paramount Pictures Studio. (Christopher Knight / Los Angeles Times)

If you dont already have tickets, though, you may be out of luck. Tickets for Frieze Los Angeles were largely sold out and available only for limited timed entry. (Check here.) But if you got in, you could have snapped up some good stuff had you been on the ball with plenty of disposable cash.

Or at least you could have seen one sure-fire, museum-quality work not shown in L.A. before  an elaborate 1999 installation, Unisex Love Nest, which re-creates in creepy detail (plus video) a real magazine design-spread about a young girls bedroom, complete with birdhouse bedposts. (Talk about Psycho.) Its by L.A. artist Mike Kelley (1954-2012), whose career trajectory from the 1980s until his death tracked the citys emergence as an international powerhouse for new art.

Mike Kelley, Unisex Love Nest (detail), 1999, mixed media (Christopher Knight / Los Angeles Times)

REVIEW: Pontormos Visitation, a Renaissance masterpiece of extreme imagination, visits the Getty 

Not all art has a market, of course. And not having a market is zero indication of arts merit.

The classic high-ticket example is painter Vincent van Gogh, who sold almost nothing during his lifetime. But there are other works of art, like some types of performance or mural or land art, that never intended to enter the marketplace churn at all. They might get sucked in somehow  the marketplace is powerful in a capitalist society  but their makers are indifferent or even hostile to it.

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Likewise, having a market is also zero indication of arts merit. Todays high-ticket classic is probably Jeff Koons. Some of his sculpture is terrific; all of his paintings Ive ever seen are awful. (I didnt spot either at Frieze.) This is art that operates as an asset class, like cash, securities and bonds.

When a big, brash art fair comes to town, market irrelevance is easy to forget. Frieze, expanding from established, high-profile runs in New York and London to check out Southern California, is an art market on steroids. A fissile glow is cast on at least four more fairs, old and new, all smaller and running simultaneously around the city this weekend: Art Los Angeles Contemporary at Santa Monicas Barker Hangar, stARTup at the Kinney Venice Beach hotel, Felix at Hollywoods Roosevelt Hotel and Superfine! at the Magic Box event space downtown.

THE CRITIC: Hollywood takes a Velvet Buzzsaw to the art critic. This art critic responds 

Los Angeles has been a major production center for new art for more than half a century. In the 1990s, regional cachet evolved into an international reputation. Now, Frieze hopes to transform an art production center into a consumption center too.

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L.A. does love retail. But speaking of art as an asset class: New York and London are international banking centers, while this city is not. That, more than fantasies of cultural deficiency, is what generates hand-wringing over whether or not an art fair here will be a commercial success. The hurdle is high.

With big money comes the potential for big headaches. Endeavor, the Hollywood talent agency that acquired a stake in Frieze in 2016, last fall scrambled after the shocking murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi to unwind a $400 million deal to give Saudi Arabia a chunk of the agency. Weeks later, German authorities raided the Frankfurt headquarters of Deutsche Bank AG, principal sponsor of the Frieze fair, in connection with suspected international money-laundering.

Mud-splashed art is unappealing. But if art, money and celebrity have all converged, as many folks maintain, then an L.A. art fair is essential. Hosting it at a movie studio that languishes at the bottom of the domestic box-office pile could hardly be more precise.

UPDATES:

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The language on ticket availability was updated early Saturday morning.
Joseph Pero, 37, was in a bad way. Hed recently divorced from his wife. He was facing financial issues. He was, as he put it, in a dark place.

Pero loaded his Glock 17 handgun. He aimed at his heart.

He pulled the trigger.

And missed.

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The bullet punctured Peros lungs and fractured six ribs.

Call it providence. Call it a stroke of luck. Call it whatever you like, the bottom line was that Pero realized then and there that he wanted to live.

Now he had a new obstacle to overcome: An insurance company that deemed the procedure required to mend his ribs experimental and investigational, and refused to pay for treatment.

After having his initial claim and a subsequent appeal denied, Pero, who resides in Colorado Springs, reached out to me.

Im in incredible pain, he said. At this point, Im looking at taking out a loan and paying for the surgery in cash.

Even with a steep discount offered by the hospital, Pero, a software consultant, was still looking at an out-of-pocket cost of about $30,000.

Lets cut to the chase: Shortly after I reached out to Peros insurer, Aetna, a spokeswoman for the company said it just so happened that theyd had a change of heart and had decided to cover the procedure.

This was two days before you contacted me about Mr. Pero, so it appears that hes not aware of the approval, said Anjie Coplin. One of our customer service representatives left him a voicemail earlier today.

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Now theres a strange coincidence. Ill get back to that.

First, lets take a closer look at a dynamic that will be familiar to millions of Americans  the hoops that often have to be jumped through to get a health insurer to uphold its end of the bargain after receiving years of policyholder premiums.

Incredibly, its very difficult to determine how many health insurance claims are denied. The federal government doesnt track such data on a regular basis.

A 2011 study by the California Nurses Assn. estimated that the states top insurers rejected about 26% of all claims. A separate study that year by the federal Government Accountability Office found that denials were reversed in about half of all appeals, suggesting that many claims were denied for questionable reasons.

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Peros injury occurred in 2017. His doctor waited a year before determining that two of his six fractured ribs were failing to heal correctly, causing Pero intense pain.

The doctor recommended surgical rib fixation, also known as rib plating, which involves using plates and screws to fuse broken ribs back together.

Denver Health, where Pero was being treated, is one of the countrys leading providers of the procedure, performing about 3,000 such operations annually. The Mayo Clinic says that surgical stabilization of fractured ribs is becoming more widely accepted, especially for patients with two or more fractured ribs.

In a letter dated Dec. 6, 2018, Aetna informed Pero and his doctor that it wouldnt cover the procedure.

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The insurer said it considers rib fixation medically necessary only when a patient is unable to come off a ventilator used to help him or her breathe, or when the patients chest must be opened for other reasons, such as to operate on the heart or lungs.

Aetna considers internal fixation of rib fractures experimental and investigational for all other indications, the company ruled.

Note that it didnt cite the injury being self-inflicted as grounds for denial, which Pero said he might have understood. Aetna made its ruling based solely on the medical criteria.

Pero appealed the decision, arguing that the procedure is necessary to alleviate chronic pain and breathing trouble. His doctor submitted a letter of medical necessity along with clinical documentation attesting to the legitimacy of rib plating in such circumstances.

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In a letter dated Jan. 9, which Pero said he received on Jan. 25, Aetna stood by its initial call. We have found our previous decision to be correct based on your medical plan provisions, it said.

Which is to say, nothing about Peros situation had changed and the insurer wouldnt cover the claim, regardless of his doctors insistence, with supporting documents, that the procedure was warranted.

On Jan. 27, Pero was admitted to an emergency room with breathing difficulties. He was medicated and told that he could expect more such episodes for the foreseeable future. A day later, he informed Denver Health that he would pay for the surgery himself.

Pero told me the hospital lowered its list price by 75% to about $30,000, and agreed that if Pero paid $8,000 up front, he could pay off the remainder in monthly installments. The operation was scheduled for March 6.

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Still, Pero said the experience left him feeling livid, and thats why he got in touch with me last week, to vent if for no other reason. I contacted Aetna on Feb. 6.

Im getting microscopic about the timing because of Aetnas unusual assertion that it made this decision on its own, independent of my asking questions.

As noted above, Aetna responded to my call and email a day later by saying it had reversed not one but two claim denials on its own after receiving additional clinical information from Peros doctor.

Coplin declined to say how the new information differed from previous materials submitted as part of the appeal.

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She said that when the new information arrived, it triggered a fresh review of Peros case and, this time, Aetnas medical director decided to green-light coverage.

A letter from the insurer received by Pero on Wednesday said that coverage for this service has been approved and made no mention of the two previous denials.

Im thrilled that theyre going to cover it, Pero told me, but I cant believe what I had to go through to get there.

He added that when he spoke the other day with an Aetna rep, the first words out of her mouth was that she understood Id spoken with a reporter.

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All this leads me to a point Ive made all too often in the past and probably will make again in the future: It shouldnt be this hard.

Private insurers are businesses, and as businesses they have a responsibility to make money. The obvious problem is that insurers only make money when they take in more cash in premiums than they pay out in claims.

In Peros case, he was in such medical distress, he was prepared to go thousands of dollars into debt to pay for treatment on his own, despite having steadily contributed to his insurers profits.

If he hadnt persisted in the face of repeated claim denials, thats likely how it would have played out.

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Then theres the seeming arbitrariness of Aetnas decision-making process. Pero would have been out of luck if his doctor hadnt tried again to persuade the insurer that rib plating was medically necessary.

And for some reason, Aetnas medical director made a completely different decision upon reviewing what would seem to be largely the same clinical documentation.

Maybe Peros trip to the ER was a factor, although Coplin didnt mention it to me and Aetna didnt indicate in its confirmation letter to Pero that its even aware of the incident.

Maybe the insurer is rethinking its stance on broken ribs. Maybe the medical director was just in a better mood the third time around.

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The fact that so little transparency exists for such important decisions should be a wake-up call for everyone.

Go ahead and tell me this is a healthcare system we can be proud of.

Tell me this is how youd want to be treated.

David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.

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David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.
Social Finance Inc. plans to expand the types of loans it offers and broaden its products allowing customers to trade stocks and exchange-traded funds on its platform this year, according to a letter sent to investors.

The move would generate more competition for other financial technology start-ups including Robinhood Financial, Betterment and Wealthfront Inc., which have been offering low-cost investing options to digital customers for years.

Although SoFi didnt disclose revenue figures for the quarter or the full year, its volume of loans  the companys most lucrative offering  continued to decline, falling to $2.24 billion from $2.5 billion in the prior quarter and $3 billion in the quarter before that.

As part of our SoFi Invest plans, we released an alpha version of our new brokerage platform, inviting employees and select members to buy and sell individual stocks and ETFs with the tap of a button, Chief Executive Anthony Noto wrote in the letter, obtained by Bloomberg. We are iterating quickly to grow and scale our invest offerings meaningfully throughout the year. SoFi Invest is now available to everyone in the app, he added.

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A SoFi spokeswoman declined to comment on the letter but said that the company has already begun gradually rolling out these offerings and will continue to develop them.

The San Francisco start-up, founded in 2011, first made a name for itself by offering student loan refinancing for college graduates at prestigious universities. It has since signed up more than 1 million people for its variety of products, including bank accounts, mortgages and personal loans.

We focused on quality over quantity and optimized the loan business for per-unit economics, Noto wrote in the letter, adding that the firm is also looking at growth over profitability as it continues to expand its offerings and member base.
A coalition of Northern California cities and counties is calling for state officials to remove Pacific Gas & Electric from the business of buying and selling electricity, which they say would allow the troubled company to focus on the safety of its poles and wires and reduce the risk of deadly fires.

The local governments pushing that concept have already formed their own energy providers, called community choice aggregators, or CCAs. There are a dozen CCAs serving customers in PG&Es service territory, collectively filling nearly half the electricity demand on the investor-owned utilitys power grid.

PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection last month, saying it would be unable to withstand tens of billions of dollars in potential liabilities from fires sparked by the utilitys electrical infrastructure. The companys future is a giant question mark as state officials and a bankruptcy court judge  and another judge overseeing PG&Es criminal probation for a deadly gas explosion  scramble to find ways to stop more fires from breaking out, while continuing to provide reliable electricity to the 5.4 million homes and businesses served by PG&E.

Now CCAs are wading into the debate.

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In a filing to the California Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday, the city of San Jose and six other local energy providers said regulators should focus the entirety of PG&Es attention and resources on planning, operating and improving its electric transmission and distribution systems through investments that serve the mission to deliver electricity safely and reliably. Relieving the company of its responsibility to buy and sell electricity, the CCAs wrote, would remove any distractions as PG&E ... works to make its facilities safer.

Officials at the San Francisco-based power company are open to the idea.

In its own filing to the Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday, PG&E said it supports consideration of the idea of becoming a wires-only company, which was floated by the commission as part of an investigation into PG&Es safety culture. Implementing that plan would enable PG&E to offload power plants that carry their own risks, the company said, including the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, which is slated to close in 2025.

The potential benefit of a wires-only company would be that, by reducing the total number of risks managed by PG&E, it could lead to better management of the remaining risks, the company wrote in its filing.

From a business perspective, the idea of a monopoly utility company giving up its role as a power broker isnt as crazy as it might sound. Californias investor-owned utilities dont actually profit from energy sales  theyre allowed to charge customers only what they paid for electricity on the market. Instead, they earn a regulated profit when they invest in infrastructure, including the poles and wires of the electric grid.

In fact, San Diego Gas & Electric  the states third-largest private utility, after PG&E and Southern California Edison  has been asking state lawmakers for a bill that would allow it to become a poles-and-wires company exclusively, after the city of San Diegos announcement last year that it would seek to form a CCA.

Areas served by community choice aggregators (Los Angeles Times)

PG&E and Edison havent endorsed SDG&Es proposal.

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But for PG&E especially, the companys days as the main energy provider for Northern and Central California may soon be over. Twelve community choice agencies already serve more than 2.4 million of the 5.4 million customers in PG&Es service territory, with more growth by the CCAs planned in 2019.

State lawmakers would probably need to pass a bill to get PG&E out of the energy sales business entirely. But the Public Utilities Commission could make it easier for local governments to form community choice agencies or join existing CCAs by slashing regulatory red tape, the coalition of Northern California CCAs said in its filing Wednesday.

The commission could also support cities that want to form municipal utilities by taking ownership of PG&Es poles and wires, an option San Francisco officials are exploring, the CCAs said.

If PG&E were to stop buying and selling energy, a key question is who would provide electricity in cities and counties that dont want to join a CCA or form a municipal utility. San Diego Gas & Electric has floated the idea of a centralized, statewide entity to serve customers who might otherwise fall through the cracks.

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Community choice advocates generally oppose that concept. In their filing to the Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday, the seven Northern California CCAs said a publicly owned and governed successor to PG&E might be needed for cities and counties that dont immediately go the CCA route, but only as a short-term solution while CCAs or city-run utilities are formed.

My expectation would be that the vast, vast, vast majority would join an existing CCA or form their own, or join a co-op or a municipal utility, said Nick Chaset, chief executive of East Bay Community Energy in Alameda County. I think practically, yes, everyone or close to everyone will transition. But there needs to be a process in place to make sure that those who choose not to have the same level of service as everyone else.

Californias biggest utilities are losing their monopolies. Is that a good thing? 

The CCAs that submitted the filing were East Bay Community Energy, Peninsula Clean Energy, Pioneer Community Energy, Silicon Valley Clean Energy, Sonoma Clean Power, Valley Clean Energy and the city of San Jose. In separate filings, Marin Clean Energy and Monterey Bay Community Power also said PG&E should become a wires-only company.

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Its unclear whether the five members of the Public Utilities Commission will support the idea of PG&E getting out of the energy sales business. Commission President Michael Picker has been a leading skeptic of community choice agencies, raising questions about what would happen if one or more of the CCAs fail.

Although PG&E is open to the idea of exiting the energy sales business, the company said in its own filing that the proposal would pose several challenges and take considerable time to implement. For instance, PG&E said, state officials may need to designate a provider of last resort to serve homes and businesses should CCAs or other energy providers fail, a key element of SDG&Es proposal for a central statewide entity.

Most important, PG&E wrote, state regulators would need confidence that the entity or entities assuming operations would manage risk as well or better, or overall public safety risk would not improve.

sammy.roth@latimes.com

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@Sammy_Roth
An investor activist said Wednesday it is targeting 11 additional financial and tech firms  including Facebook, Google parent Alphabet, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America  urging them in new shareholder proposals to disclose an unfiltered and likely unflattering global gender pay gap statistic that few companies want to reveal.

The filings by Arjuna Capital, which could end up on investors proxy ballots this year, follow Citigroups surprise move to publish its figure after a proposal from Arjuna. The financial services giant said in January that its unadjusted global median pay for women is 29% less than it is for men, setting a bar that could pressure other companies to follow suit.

It also builds on a requirement now mandated in Britain that requires companies with more than 250 British workers to disclose data on median gender wage gaps in that country. Among the companies targeted, double-digit gaps are common. In addition to the firms listed above, the campaign is also asking Adobe, Amazon, Intel, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Mastercard and American Express to provide the figure.

These firms have been urged by Arjuna in the past to reveal whats often called their pay equity gap, which compares what women make to men who work in the same jobs  and is often adjusted for things like seniority or geography. Sharing that figure, which companies often report at 99% or even 100% of mens earnings, was an easier pill for companies to swallow.

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The median gender pay gap, meanwhile, shines a harsher spotlight on a whats known as the position gap, revealing how many women, compared to men, are in a companys top-ranking, highest paying jobs. It can lead to awkward headlines about double-digit pay gaps  even if men and women with similar experience are paid the same in equal jobs.

Having companies report both figures tells a more complete story, Lamb said Wednesday. The median pay gap is a very clean way of looking to see whether men or women are holding the bulk of higher paying jobs, she said.

Investors want a baseline from which to measure progress. They want to know how the money falls in the organization, she said. If more attention is drawn to the issue, she hopes, there will be more women in leadership, and more women in higher-paying positions that will ultimately bring better balance, better performance and better decision making.

The median gender pay gap also accounts for powerful employees in industries like financial services or tech, where highly paid engineers with specialized skills or successful traders may not sit on the typical leadership organizational chart, and could get missed if companies only reported gender representation, or the percentage of women in executive management jobs.

Lamb said that only Citi had yet followed through on her request, and that she is in active dialogues with other companies. Three of the companies, which she would not disclose, have filed challenges trying to block the proposals at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In response to emails from the Washington Post, many of the targeted companies declined to comment, did not respond or pointed to past pay equity or diversity figures. A spokeswoman for American Express said it had received the proposal and will be getting back to Arjuna directly. Intels director of compensation and benefits, Julie Ann Overcash, said in an emailed statement that we are ensuring pay equity for all our employees in the same or similar jobs while at the same time working toward increased representation of women and underrepresented minorities at all levels.

Asking companies to disclose the median pay gap figure is somewhat controversial, however, in an environment where the pay gap is often misunderstood and the difference between pay equity and the pay gap are easily muddled. The median figure has been criticized as a blunt instrument thats hard to compare between firms and one that could lead to misleading figures.

Brian Levine, a partner at the human resources consulting firm Mercer who works with Citi and other financial services firms, called Arjunas effort positive in the sense that its expanding what companies are going to put out, ultimately, and said it was sparking more dialogue about the issue that could result in more information for shareholders.

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But he didnt think all the companies targeted would report the figure. I think theyll put out more than what theyve put out in the past, he said. But that one statistic has a lot of bias.

He used the hypothetical example of a bank where half the highest paying jobs were held by women and half by men, but a majority of lower-paying positions like tellers were held by women. At the median, there could still be a pay gap, but its not the case that the organization is treating women unfairly.

Some research indicates that disclosure can prompt the pay gap to shrink. A study in the Harvard Business Review in January, for instance, looked at companies in Denmark that were subject to gender pay gap reporting mandates. It found that disclosing those disparities not only narrowed the gap, but increased the number of women being hired and promoted  while also lowering companies overall compensation costs, largely by slowing down the growth of male wages.

Lamb said that while the median pay gap may not be perfect, calling for disclosure of the data isnt meant to create a shock factor. One of the reasons we want the data is not so much as a gotcha  your gap isnt closed completely, but so that we know what it is and we know how it changes over time, she said. What people are paid is a reflection of their value to the company, and who the company values.

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Two nonprofit groups focused on women and the pay gap, Equal Rights Advocates and the Closing the Womens Wealth Gap initiative, said Wednesday they support Arjunas proposals.

The test of whether women are equally valued in the workplace cant end with whether theyre paid equally for the same work, said Noreen Farrell, ERAs executive director. They need to be equally represented among their highest paid leaders. Thats why the median pay gap is so important.
With seating for up to 800 passengers between two decks, Airbus A380 super-jumbo jet was envisioned in 2000 as a flagship aircraft for the European company, offering a luxurious experience for long-distance flights.

But over time, smaller twin-engine planes became more fuel efficient and started handling longer, transoceanic routes.

On Thursday, Airbus said it would wind down production of the double-decked A380  the largest commercial passenger jet ever  with a final delivery set for 2021. The decision comes about a year after the last Boeing 747 jumbo jet operated by a U.S. airline made its final flight.

Once competitors, the A380 and the 747 are now giants in a market no longer dominated by big planes.

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These things were born to die, Richard Aboulafia, aviation analyst at market research firm Teal Group, said of the A380. By the time this thing got going, the days of the big planes were clearly the past, fading in the rearview mirror.

Airbus launched the A380 program in 2000 in an attempt to unseat Boeing Co.s decades-long domination of the large commercial aircraft market. At the time, the 420-seat 747 was the worlds largest airliner and had been on the market for more than 30 years.

Boeings 747: Queen of the skies 

The two companies were betting on two different visions of air travel. Airbus said airlines would want to ferry more passengers at a time through major hub airports  with connections, or spokes, to smaller markets  as a way to deal with increased congestion. In contrast, Boeing favored moving to more direct, point-to-point routes using smaller planes and smaller airports.

Boeing, in essence, was proven right.

Soon after the A380s launch, Boeing in 2003 announced it would develop what became the 787 Dreamliner. The mid-sized, twin-engine plane used new engines and carbon materials to offer more fuel efficiency. That was followed by Airbus own entrant, the A350, as well as the smaller A330neo and Boeing 737 Max, among others, Scott Hamilton, founder of aviation consulting firm Leeham Co., said on his company blog.

Right after it, all of the other long-range, twin-aisle airplanes launched and totally fragmented the market, he said in an interview. It was death by a thousand cuts.

Airlines gravitated toward point-to-point travel, which takes smaller planes, Aboulafia said. Twin-engine planes were also later certified to fly over the ocean.

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When the A380 made its public debut in 2005, Boeing also tried to counter by announcing plans for an updated version of the 747, though airlines were uninterested in what they saw as an outdated plane.

By 2017, Airbus was working through a dwindling backlog of A380 orders. Boeing eventually chose to market the 747 as a cargo plane, emphasizing its carrying capacity and the aircrafts hinged nose door that could accommodate larger loads.

The decisive blow for the A380 was a decision by Emirates, the Dubai-based carrier that described itself in August as the worlds largest operator of A380s. The airline said at the time that it had operated A380s for 10 years and used them to carry more than 105 million passengers.

Emirates interest in the giant jets was knit into its growth plans. Whenever the airline was able to get a slot at a hub, it wanted to put the largest possible plane there to ferry higher numbers of passengers, Aboulafia said. They had an opportunity to turn Dubai into the center of the airline universe, he said.

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But on Thursday, Emirates said it would reduce its order book of A380 aircraft from 162 planes to 123. In a press release from Airbus, the airline cited a review of its operations and developments in aircraft and engine technologies as the reasoning behind its decision.

Instead, Emirates said it would order 40 A330-900 and 30 A350-900 aircraft. The A330-900 seats about 287 passengers, while the A350-900 has room for 325.

As a result of this decision we have no substantial A380 backlog and hence no basis to sustain production, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years, Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders said in the statement. Todays announcement is painful for us and the A380 communities worldwide.

Airbus builds portions of the A380 in a number of locations, including Germany for major component assembly and France for final assembly. The company said up to 3,500 jobs could be affected over the next three years.

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samantha.masunaga@latimes.com

Twitter: @smasunaga
ELKHORN  A jury trial is scheduled June 3 in the case of a Walworth County Fair carnival worker accused of brutally attacking a woman the night before the fair opened.

Walworth County Circuit Judge Phillip Koss and attorneys in the Terrence Leflore case agreed to a schedule for the jury trial at the county courthouse in Elkhorn.

The trial is expected to take about a week.

Leflore, 24, of Jackson, Mississippi, was working as a traveling carnival worker for the county fair when he was arrested for allegedly attacking a woman in downtown Elkhorn as she was leaving work on Aug. 28.

Prosecutors say the woman, who was 21 at the time, was sexually assaulted and then struck in the head with a hammer. She survived, but doctors had to remove part of her skull to relieve pressure on her brain.

If the jury returns a guilty verdict against Leflore, the defendant could be sentenced to more than 200 years in prison combined for attempted homicide and other felony charges in the case.

Leflore remains at the county jail on $1 million bond.
As scooters continue to colonize San Diegos streets  blocking parking garages, walkways and encroaching onto private property  locals are beginning to fight back.

While some residents have resorted to vandalism (tossing scooters into dumpsters and lakes), two businessmen in Pacific Beach are offering an alternative way to get rid of errant scooters. They pick them up for free and charge scooter companies  Bird, Lime, Jump and Lyft  to get their property back.

The two entrepreneurs  Dan Borelli and John Heinkel  launched a business called Scooter Removal LLC in January, responding to the constant complaints of their neighbors that electric scooters and e-bikes were crowding into privately owned spaces.

We dont want them gone, Heinkel said. We just want a check and balance.

Borelli has had a front row seat to the scooter invasion. Hes a co-owner of Boardwalk Electric Rides, which sells and rents electric skateboards, scooters and other items on the Pacific Beach promenade. Its here that Bay Area scooter companies have deployed their products en masse, targeting tourists and locals alike. Borelli says it didnt hurt his business  in fact his sales number have gone up since the dockless trend took hold  but his neighbors were frustrated by the clutter.

Then one day, Heinkel walked into his shop and asked Borelli a question: How do you deal with this junk in front of your shop every day? Heinkel, who owns a local tow truck company, ended up negotiating a deal with Borelli and other property owners in the same complex to patrol the business area regularly, impounding scooters and e-bikes that were parked illegally on private property. Within weeks, Heinkel had impounded thousands of dockless bikes and scooters, and the duo realized the demand for scooter removal was bigger than they thought.

John Heinkel and Dan Borelli co-founded Scooter Removal LLC, a new San Diego company that impounds dockless e-scooters from private properties and businesses for free. ( Luis Gomez )

When innovation meets the impound lot

Since incorporating, they have collected an additional 1,000 bikes and scooters. Theyre even developing a mobile app called Scoot Scoop, which lets users report illegally parked scooters and bikes, and book a free removal service. Scoot Scoop isnt live yet, but Heinkel said theyll have it up as soon as possible. Until then, people can call to request pickup, sign a tow authorization on the spot, and the company will remove the items for free.

Borelli said theyve recovered scooters in some pretty odd places, including the rooftops of privately owned homes, garbage cans and even underneath parked cars.

People run over them while parking, and then just leave them under their cars, Borelli said.

Their biggest hauls are from business plazas downtown and in beach communities, where business owners have asked Scooter Removal to clear their property regularly.

Borelli said the response from the community has been overwhelming. Theyre getting calls from frustrated residents daily, including residents of other cities. He even received a call from a public official working at the city of Atlanta, who said the city is in need of a removal service, too.

Scooter Removal is hiring more developers to build out their software, so they can license out the technology to other tow truck companies, Borelli said.

Scooter companies respond  or dont

Borelli said most of the dockless companies have been slow to react to their property being impounded. Jump, which is owned by Uber, has been the most responsive, he said.

They sent a whole team of people down here to meet with us, including their lawyer, Borelli said. But they respect private property and they want to do things right. They pay their bill and retrieve their property every day.

The other dockless companies? Not so much. Borelli said impounded scooters and bikes are piling up in their Pacific Beach warehouse. If the companies dont retrieve their property, Scooter Removal will likely auction off the items. Borelli said hes working with his attorney on that, and plans to have their first auction in a couple of weeks.

The San Diego Union-Tribune requested comment from Bird, Lyft, Uber, and Lime. Only Lime responded, warning residents to be careful.

Whether its a bike or scooter, micromobility has long been part of San Diegos commitment to reducing traffic and clean air, the statement reads. The community should be careful when engaging with pop-up companies claiming to provide city services like impounding or towing. Impounding bikes or scooters requires compliance with the law, and Lime is in the process of reviewing whether these pop-ups are committing violations which may subject them to liability. Interfering with consumer access to transportation services or disrupting a ride in progress impacts all San Diegans.

The better option? Lime says contact them directly at sd@li.me

The dockless companies all have ways for residents to report illegally parked scooters and e-bikes, by the way. But that requires residents to contact each company individually, which can sometimes be a hassle.

Heinkel said he believes the dockless companies are littering by allowing their bikes and scooters to end up on private property. But right now, its kind of a gray area, as the city is still developing new rules around dockless mobility options.

Theyre operating where no law exists  they built their whole business in this gray area, Heinkel said. Theres no clear definition of whether the scooter falls under the vehicle code. Were trying to hammer out the process moving forward.

All parties are consulting their attorneys.

What does it cost?

While the service is free for those who request it, Scooter Removal makes its money from the dockless companies themselves. Just like with impounded vehicles, the companies have to pay a fee to get their property back. Borelli wouldnt disclose exactly how much theyre charging, but said they modeled their rates after the City of Coronado s system, as the city also impounds bikes and scooters. Under Coronados rules, the companies have to pay a $45 impound fee and a $1-per-day storage fee to pick up their bicycles.

Borelli stressed that the company will not remove scooters and bikes unless they are parked on private property, are blocking storefronts or driveways, or are laying against or on private property. The company can be reached at (858) 262-1912.

 This story was originally published in The San Diego-Union Tribune, Jan. 30.
Russia has detained the US founder of the Baring Vostok private equity group in Moscow on suspicion of fraud, a Moscow court said on Friday, a move likely to concern foreign investors.

Michael Calvey, a U.S. national and senior partner at the fund, was detained on Thursday, a spokeswoman for Moscows Basmanny court said.

Calvey was not available for immediate comment. The court ordered one of the executives, Phillipe Delpal, a French national, to be held in custody.

The detentions come at the same time that Russia is hosting a major investment forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi intended to attract foreign investors, many of whom stopped pumping in new money when the West imposed sanctions on Moscow for its actions in Ukraine.

In the past few years, Russian law enforcement has mounted cases involving the businesses of billionaire entrepreneur Mikhail Prokhorov, Vladimir Yevtushenkov and Ziyavudin Magomedov. Officials have denied the cases are politically-motivated, but some people in business circles say they have had a chilling effect on the business climate.

Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russias sovereign wealth fund said he knew Calvey and his team as professional investors and would personally vouch for Calvey. Dmitriev is an influential member of President Vladimir Putins ruling circle.

Putin was not aware of Calveys detention, the Interfax news agency cited the Kremlin as saying.

Bill Browder, chief executive of Hermitage Capital and an outspoken Kremlin critic, said that Calveys arrest showed that Russia was an uninvestable country.

Of all the people I knew in Moscow, Mike played by their rules, kept his head down and never criticized the government.

If found guilty, Calvey and the other suspects face up to 10 years in jail. Before starting Baring Vostok, Calvey worked for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Salomon Brothers.

Baring Vostok is a major equity fund group in Russia and its website says it has over $3.7 billion of committed capital.

A state prosecutor said Calvey and other executives at his fund were suspected of embezzling 2.5 billion rubles ($37.48 million) by persuading shareholders in a Russian bank to accept a stake in another firm at an inflated price.

The alleged share scam occurred in 2017 and involved Vostochny Bank, a small lender in which Baring Vostok has a controlling stake. It concerned the transfer of equity in Luxembourg-based Financial Technology Group, the Moscow court heard.

Baring Vostok, which described the case as a commercial dispute, said it was not directly linked to its activities or its funds and that it was continuing to operate as normal.

Vostochny Bank said it was cooperating with the authorities and was hoping that the losses it had incurred as part of the share deal would be reimbursed.

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At last! UC Span Diego

The Gilman Bridge, which joins UC San Diegos main campus with Medical Center Drive to the east, opened across Interstate 5 on Friday, Feb. 8. The day before, UCSD held a ribbon-cutting and community celebration for 500 attendees gathered on the bridge.

The Gilman Bridge has been one of the highlights of my career, and Im proud to have led this project from concept to completion, said Tony Sanchez of Moffatt & Nickel, who began thinking about the 406-foot-long bridge 18 years before he landed the contract  while getting his doctoral degree in the UCSD structural engineering department.

UCSD chancellor Pradeep Khosla called the bridge a stunning architectural structure that will help us meet our goal of creating a more interconnected campus  both literally and figuratively.

To facilitate smooth traffic flow, the bridge and intersections on both sides have a three-lane configuration: one lane of traffic each way with a protected left-hand turn lane. Sidewalks and bicycle lanes are included. In addition, a new pedestrian bridge connects graduate housing in the Mesa Neighborhood to Gilman Bridge at Medical Center Drive.

Sea lions tangle with death

SeaWorld reports that about five sea lions off La Jolla Cove tangled in plastic  including fishing lines, nets and garbage  could die of their predicaments.

Staff members are tracking the animals, but rescue efforts have been hampered by rough seas and the recent rains, which made cliffs more slippery than usual. These efforts do not include luring the animals into shore with food, since teaching them to associate humans with food will only worsen troubles for La Jollas sea-lion colonies.

Its tax (award) season

Nominations are sought by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association for its 24th annual Golden Awards, which recognize the best and worst of local government efficiency, spending and decision-making over the past year.

Categories include Golden Watchdog (good government practices and efficient use of public money), Golden Fleece (calling out wasteful inefficiency), Media Watchdog (print and broadcast) and the Public-Private Partnership Award (for stretching taxpayer dollars through public and private cooperation).

Self-nominations in all categories are highly encouraged, according to the association. The deadline is Feb. 20. Submit via bit.ly/2GlVcCI

Kids illustrator visits Childrens School

On Feb. 5, bestselling childrens-book illustrator Christian Robinson appeared at The Childrens School to read some of the books he illustrated and answer questions posed by students.

For the pre-K through second-grade, Robinson read Kelly DiPucchios Gaston (2014). For fourth- and fifth-graders, he chose Leo: A Ghost Story. Robinson also drew animals for the students upon request and signed copies of the books.

The students had been preparing for Robinsons visit for several weeks by reading the books and discussing common themes in the illustrations.

They were very excited to finally meet Christian, and to ask the many questions that have arisen as they have read his books and studied his work, said Emily Williamson, communications director for the school at 2225 Torrey Pines Lane.

Heart-lung surgery No. 4K at UCSD

UC San Diego Health has performed its 4,000th pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE)  more than any other institution in the world, according to directors. This life-saving surgery clears the lungs arteries of scar-like tissue resulting from the blood clots that define chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) and rob sufferers of their ability to breathe.

In order to remove the clots, the surgeon must be able to see clearly into the lungs tiny arteries. This requires operating without any blood present. To achieve this environment, the patients body is cooled and the blood almost completely drained while the patient is on a heart-lung machine and the surgeon races against the clock to remove the blockages.

During the 8- to 10-hour procedure, the patient is put into a kind of suspended animation in which heart function and blood circulation are stopped and the brain ceases activity while surgeons clear the pulmonary arteries of disease.

To do 4,000 of these surgeries, the most in the world with the best outcomes, requires a true team effort, said Michael Madani, chief of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery and executive director of the Cardiovascular Institute  Surgery at UC San Diego Health. I just could not be prouder of the multi-disciplinary team I work with.

UCSD may get a mini-Target

Lease negotiations are underway to replace the UC San Diego bookstore in the student center with a miniature-sized Target drugstore. The university is currently in confidential talks with multiple restaurant and retail operators, as it endeavors to implement plans to double its current resident-student population.



Have a local news tip?

E-mail the details (and include a related photo, if possible) to La Jolla Light editor Susan DeMaggio at editor@lajollalight.com or call (858) 875-5950.
1. Comedian Amanda Seales (of HBOs Insecure) is about to take you to school. Sick of the stereotypes about African Americans in media and the overall lack of knowledge of black history, Seales mixes humor and her doctorate in African American studies with her love of games and music to cr
By Jun Ji-hye



Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn is speculated to return to management as soon as his suspended sentence ordered by a court ends on Monday.





Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn
Civic group members and citizens of Gumi in North Gyeongsang Province gather in front of SK headquarters in central Seoul on Dec. 28, calling for new semiconductor fabrication facilities of SK hynix to be built in their city. / Korea Times file



By Jun Ji-hye



Municipalities have engaged in heated competition to host a planned SK hynix-led semiconductor cluster as the government-backed 120 trillion won ($106 billion) project will create thousands of new jobs and generate hundreds of billions of won in new tax revenues.



According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Friday, the government plans to make a final decision on the location for the semiconductor cluster by the end of next month.



Those participating in the race include Yongin and Icheon in Gyeonggi Province, Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province, Cheonan in South Chungcheong Province and Gumi in North Gyeongsang Province.



In December, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced a plan for the project to create a semiconductor cluster in an effort to create synergy in the semiconductor industry that has been hit by weaker global demand and a drop in sales prices.



Since then, competition has heated up among politicians and civic groups as well as citizens in the regions.



Under the plan, a total of 120 trillion won will be invested for the next 10 years beginning this year to build new semiconductor fabrication facilities for SK hynix and those of subcontractors.





Yongin Mayor Baek Kun-ki speaks during a meeting with reporters at Yongin City Hall in Gyeonggi Province on Jan. 17. / Courtesy of Yongin City Government




South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. will release its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S10, on March 8 in the United States, its website said Friday.





Samsung's U.S. website opened a preorder page for the much-hyped premium phone ahead of an Unpacked event slated for Feb. 20 in San Francisco.





In the U.S., Samsung offered buyers up to US$550 off a Galaxy S10 in a trade-in program for previously released devices.





The Galaxy S10 will hit the Korean market on March 8, while those who ordered in advance can get the smartphone four days before the official launch, according to the nation's mobile carriers.





The South Korean tech giant is expected to launch the regular Galaxy S10, S10+ with a bigger screen and S10 Lite, a budget model.





Preorders for the Galaxy S10 and S10+ are expected to come with Galaxy Buds, Samsung's wireless earphones that can be wirelessly charged by placing the case on the back of the new smartphone, industry officials said. (Yonhap)


North Korea should make real progress in denuclearization



The success of the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will depend on how to get Pyongyang to take concrete steps toward denuclearization. However, the two sides have yet to narrow their differences over how to dismantle the North's nuclear arsenal, with less than two weeks left before the summit, scheduled for Feb. 27 and 28 in Hanoi, Vietnam.



This is why skepticism is resurfacing, with concern that the North may drag its feet on its commitments to give up its nuclear program. In fact, both countries are in tough negotiations for the Trump-Kim meeting. Stephen Biegun, U.S. special representative for North Korea, returned from Pyongyang empty-handed last week without ironing out the differences with his North Korean counterpart Kim Hyock-chol.



Against this backdrop, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hinted at easing U.S.-led international sanctions against the North, but not without conditions. The semi-official Yonhap News Agency in Seoul quoted Pompeo as telling CBS News that Washington wanted good results from the North in return for sanctions relief.



If the report is accurate, it could be the first time any U.S. official has floated the idea of softening, if not lifting, the sanctions imposed on the North for conducting nuclear and long-range missile tests. This may signal a change in the Trump administration's hard-line position that the sanctions remain until the North carries out complete and verifiable denuclearization.



Therefore, Pompeo's remark could be interpreted as taking a flexible attitude toward the sanctions in a bid to revive momentum for the stalled nuclear talks with the North and make a real breakthrough at the second summit. The Kim regime has so far called for sanctions relief in exchange for its phased steps for nuclear disarmament. It has also demanded the declaration of a formal end to the Korean War as well as security guarantees.



In this regard, we positively assess a potential U.S. move to relax the sanctions, which could help break the deadlock and pave the way for the North to take a denuclearization path. Of course, Washington should be careful in backpedaling on the sanctions because it may risk losing its leverage in getting Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear program. It would also be hard to reactivate the sanctions once they have been eased or lifted.



Therefore, the U.S. must ensure that the North takes meaningful and substantive steps such as dismantling its Yongbyon nuclear complex and other plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities before sanctions relief. The U.S. should also make sure the North presents a detailed timetable for denuclearization as well as allowing international inspections and verifications.



As for sanctions relief, the Trump government could consider allowing South Korea to resume operating the now-closed inter-Korean industrial complex in the North Korean border town of Gaeseong, and restart the Mount Geumgang tourism project. These steps could be taken by exempting inter-Korean economic cooperation from U.N. sanctions. This could minimize the risk of weakening the international sanctions regime against the North.



But whatever the circumstances, any sanctions relief should serve only as the catalyst to achieving final and fully verifiable denuclearization of the North. Pyongyang should not seek to reduce sanctions without abandoning its nuclear ambitions.


Bolder steps needed to stimulate domestic demand



In a rare meeting with about 160 owner-operators and small business owners at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday, President Moon Jae-in promised to reflect their opinions in deciding the minimum wage. His promise came in response to growing complaints about soaring labor costs.



The President also vowed to issue 18 trillion won ($16 billion) worth of gift certificates that can be used only at small stores, and introduce an unemployment relief system to strengthen the social safety net for the self-employed.



It was the fourth time in less than two months that President Moon met with representatives of the business community. The chief executive's frequent meetings with businesspeople are desirable by itself because sympathy and communication are the first steps toward finding a solution.



Particularly welcome was Moon's pledge to take into account small business owners' views in deciding the minimum wage. The steep hikes in the minimum wage  16.4 percent last year and 10.9 percent this year  have posed considerable burdens on small business owners. Moon's promise is seen as an intention to slow down the pace of wage increases.



Finding answers to other problems is never easy, however. There are about 5.6 million self-employed in Korea, almost one in every four employed people. Most of them are retired wage earners who failed to prepare for their later years and jumped into the already saturated market of convenience stores, coffee shops and restaurants. A downward business cycle and cutthroat competition usually drive almost 80 percent of novice entrepreneurs out of business within a year.



All this shows why the government's countermeasures have hit a wall. A more fundamental solution is to bolster economic growth and revitalize domestic demand, drawing retired workers back to the job market and helping increase the incomes of those already working.



Worse yet, the global economy is also likely to slow down this year, hit by China's expected economic slowdown, the U.S.-China trade war and an increasingly uncertain outlook for Brexit. A perfect storm may hit the Korean economy. Policymakers, lawmakers, politicians and businesspeople should join forces to get Korea out of adversity as soon as possible.








By Trudy Rubin





On the 40th anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution, the rhetoric between team Trump and the ayatollahs has risen to fever pitch.



In his State of the Union address, President Trump labeled Iran the "world's leading state sponsor of terror" and "a radical regime" that does "bad, bad things." The United States has withdrawn from a 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran and reimposed harsh economic sanctions.



Pushing back, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that the Iranian slogan "'Death to America' means death to Trump and (national security adviser John) Bolton and (secretary of state Mike) Pompeo." Khamenei's website said the slogan would remain alive until the United States changed its "evil and mean" ways.



Yet squeezing the Tehran regime has become the centerpiece of what passes for Trump's Mideast strategy. The president and his top officials have made pretty clear their real goal is regime change. Bolton even publicly predicted to a fringe Iranian opposition group in 2017 that the Tehran regime would fall by 2019.



This kind of magical thinking about Iran infuses Trump policy (although Pompeo, at least, should know better). Rather than check Tehran's Mideast misbehavior, it sets the United States up to fail.



Before I get to why, let me emphasize that Iran does indeed meddle dangerously in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and the Arab Gulf. Some prime examples: Shipping tens of thousands of missiles to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia to point at Israel, vastly expanding the wretched Syrian civil war, and heating up the Syrian border with Israel.



But the U.S. response has been confused and contradictory. Rather than work with European and key Arab allies, such as Iraq, to check Iran, the White House has tried to bludgeon them into confronting Tehran directly. And it has made maximalist demands on the ayatollahs that they cannot meet without committing suicide. This approach will not work.



Let's start with the Europeans.



Our key allies, Britain, Germany and France, wanted to keep the nuclear deal in place, while squeezing Iran toward a second pact that addressed the deal's loopholes (such as missile production). The allies also stood ready to join Trump in pressuring Iran on its Mideast mischief. Instead, Trump junked the deal, asserting that he was countering Iran's nuclear threat. He called his own intel chiefs "naive" and "wrong" when they said Iran was adhering to the deal.



The result: Trump has split the key alliance against Tehran. The Europeans are seeking ways to work around new U.S. sanctions vs. Iran, with Russia and China ready to help. The allies want to prevent Iran from leaving the deal, which could set them back on the path to a bomb.



Next, let's look at Trump's efforts to rally the Sunni Arab world against Tehran.



The president is relying heavily on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as his point man  yes, the same MBS who appears to have ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The crown prince has also made a military mess in Yemen, effectively increasing Iranian influence there.



Meantime, Trump's sudden decision to swiftly pull all U.S. troops out of Syria (by April, says the Wall Street Journal) will increase Iranian influence in that country. Yet, even as the troop withdrawal removes U.S. leverage in Syria, Pompeo claims, magically, that the U.S. aims to get all Iranian-backed forces out of that country.



As for Iraq, Trump and Pompeo again display magical thinking. The president's public proclamation that U.S. troops there will "watch Iran" was rejected even by America's closest Iraqi allies. "Don't overburden Iraq with your own issues," President Barham Salih, a Kurd, said.



What Salih meant is that Iraq shares a 905-mile border with Iran, along with historic and religious ties, and can't afford to be a pawn in Trump's anti-Iran crusade. On the other hand, a quiet U.S. policy to continue training Iraq's army in order to balance Tehran's immense influence  would be welcome in Baghdad. But a Trump bludgeon won't work.



Indeed it is Trump's public Iran-bashing, and his demands that allies join in, that guarantees his policy's failure.



"Given the highly public nature of Trump's position on Iran, it is hard to see where his Iran policy goes," says Ryan Crocker, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, who has had many difficult dealings with Tehran. "You need a broad global policy into which Iran fits."



Instead, we have tweets and a flawed assumption that the Iranian regime will collapse under the pressure of sanctions. Instead, by alienating useful allies and relying on magical thinking, Trump enables the ayatollahs to keep destabilizing the Middle East.





Trudy Rubin (trubin@phillynews.com) is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her commentary was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.






A young couple with matching expressions stare nervously into the camera with deep brown eyes. He, a Vietnamese student, has just met the love of his life. She, a North Korean, is forbidden to love him back.

He was from Vietnam. She was from North Korea.

Their story of forbidden love is a bit like Romeo and Juliet, but with a much happier ending. Pham Ngoc Canh was 22 when he first saw Ri Yong Hui.

He said he knew instantly that she was the love of his life.

PHAM NGOC CANH, 69, SAYING:

"I thought immediately to myself that I must marry that girl."

In 1967, as Vietnam and the United States were locked in war, 200 Vietnamese students were sent to North Korea.

Their mission: gain the skills needed to rebuild the state once the war was over.



Canh was one of them.

He was apprenticing at a fertilizer factory when he spotted Ri, working in a laboratory.

He plucked up the courage to ask for her address.

Her friends called him 'Viet Cong.'





Vietnamese man Pham Ngoc Canh, (L), and his North Korean wife Ri Yong Hui pose together holding their wedding photograph outside their house in Hanoi on February 13, 2019. - A handkerchief, illicit letters and secret visits -- the first three decades of love between a Vietnamese man and his North Korean sweetheart were counted out in stolen moments and small tokens of devotion. AFP

Former North Korean factory worker, Ri Yong Hui, 70,SAYING

"I felt sad when we first met - because I knew from the beginning that this would be a love that couldn't come true."

Relationships with foreigners were strictly forbidden, by both - North Korea and Vietnam - at the time.

It remains banned in the North to this day.



Canh took monthly secret trips to visit Ri at her home during his stay but left in 1973.

The couple stayed in touch and waited - for over 20 years.

Then in the 90s- North Korea was wracked by famine.

Canh raised seven tonnes of rice in donations to send to the North... worried that Ri and her people would starve.

His efforts touched North Korean officials who agreed the two could marry... and live in either country.

In 2002, decades after their first meeting, the two finally wed in the Vietnamese embassy in Pyongyang.

And settled in their new life together in Hanoi, where they still live today.

Vietnamese man Pham Ngoc Canh, (L), and his North Korean wife Ri Yong Hui walk holding hands in an alley outside their house in Hanoi on February 13, 2019. AFP



Now, enjoying freedoms that would be impossible in North Korea, Canh and Ri have high hopes for the upcoming summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, which is set to be in Hanoi.

They hope it will be a step towards peace.

PHAM NGOC CANH, 69,SAYING:

"I think that we have to live to love. There's nothing bad in loving."

And, the happy couple say theirs is a love that beat socialism. (Reuters)
The fight for environmental justice isn't over yet. EPA



By Jung Min-ho






Myanmars army chief, who is facing international calls that he be prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority, has denied any systematic army persecution and said such accusations were an insult to his countrys honor.

In his first detailed interview since the Myanmar military launched a crackdown in 2017, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing cast doubt on U.N. estimates that some 730,000 Rohingya had fled to Bangladesh, and on their accounts of abuses by his forces, saying the refugees had been told what to say.

Criticism without any certain proof hurts the nations dignity, Min Aung Hlaing told Japans Asahi Shimbun daily in an interview published on Friday.

Myanmar forces launched their offensive in Rakhine State in 2017 in response to a series of attacks by Rohingya insurgents on security posts near the Bangladesh border.

A U.N. fact-finding mission last year said the military campaign, which refugees say included mass killings and rape, was orchestrated with genocidal intent and recommended charging Min Aung Hlaing and five other generals with the gravest crimes under international law.

A U.N. rights investigator said last month that Min Aung Hlaing and others should be held accountable for genocide against the Rohingya and doing so was necessary before refugees could return.

Myanmar has consistently denied the accusations of murder, rape and other abuses by its forces though Min Aung Hlaing acknowledged that a number of security men may have been involved.

Min Aung Hlaing, in the interview on Thursday in the Myanmar capital, Naypyitaw, raised questions not only about the number of people who had fled, but also about their motives.

Its possible to think that the reasons they moved to Bangladesh were things like living with relatives or fleeing to a third country, he said.

All of them are saying the same thing, which I believe somebody told them to say.

The Rohingya have faced discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar for generations.

They are generally regarded as illegal immigrants from South Asia and few of them have Myanmar citizenship.

Many have sought better lives elsewhere in Asia while occasional military crackdowns over the decades have sent waves of people fleeing to Bangladesh.

The U.N. Human Rights Council in September voted to set up an ongoing independent mechanism for Myanmar that would collect, consolidate, and preserve evidence of crimes that could be used in any eventual court case.

Myanmar has said it absolutely rejects that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction to rule on its actions, a point Min Aung Hlaing repeated in the interview.

Myanmar is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the Hague-based court.

We will not accept any instructions that threaten Myanmars sovereignty, he said.

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RTHK: 66 murdered in attack ahead of Nigeria poll

Authorities in northwest Nigeria on Friday said police had discovered the bodies of 66 people, including women and children, in an area known for ethnic and religious clashes.

It comes on the eve of a presidential election, with candidates pitting continuity against reform in a battle between incumbent Muhammadu Buhari and his main rival Atiku Abubakar.

Kaduna state governor Nasir El-Rufai said the grim find was made in eight villages in the Kajuru area, some 40 kilometres southeast of the state capital, Kaduna city.

"Security agencies today reported the recovery of 66 bodies that were killed in attacks by criminal elements," he said in a statement.

"Among the victims were 22 children and 12 women. Four wounded persons rescued by the security agencies are now receiving medical attention. (The) government condemns the attacks and commiserates with the families of the victims."

There was no immediate comment from the police but El-Rufai, a close ally of Buhari, said officers had been sent and arrests made.

He urged community, traditional and religious leaders to warn local people not to launch reprisal attacks.

"The killings are being investigated and residents are assured that indicted persons will be prosected," he said.

Kaduna has long been a centre for deadly unrest, fuelled by long-standing ethnic and religious tensions, as well as election-related violence.

But Maisamari Dio, president of the ethnic Christian Adara community, which is dominant in the Kujuru area, blamed the killings on ethnic Fulani Muslims.

The announcement by El-Rufai, who is seeking re-election, is unusual and a possible indication of deaths from both communities.

But his statement will also be designed to try to defuse anger before Saturday's vote. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2019-02-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A survey found that among Hong Kong teenagers, 3.2 percent said they had their first relationship when they were nine years old or younger, 23 percent when they were 10 to 12 years old and 53 percent when they were aged 13 to 15. gettyimagesbank



By Phila Siu





One in four Hong Kong teenagers had their first relationship before the age of 13, and some were as young as nine, a new study has found.



Ahead of Valentine's Day, the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups has released a survey of 3,068 students from secondary schools and tertiary education institutions, which found 30.1 per cent of children and young adults have had, or are in, a relationship.



Of those, 3.2 per cent said they had their first relationship when they were nine years old or younger; 22.9 per cent when they were 10 to 12 years old; 53 per cent when they were aged 13 to 15; 13.2 per cent when they were between 16 and 18; and the rest 19 or older. Some did not answer the question.



After a break-up, 50.6 per cent said they hid their emotions, while 15.5 per cent admitted self-harming as a result. One in 10 said they bad-mouthed their ex online.



"Parents told us that they really wanted to know if their children were in a relationship. But the children said they definitely would not tell their parents, because the parents would have forbidden that," the youth group's social worker Lam Ah-kuen said.





Fung Ip-ki, from De La Salle Secondary School, alongside Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups workers Lam Ah-huen, and Ngai Mei-wah, with students Ivy Tam Wing-sze and Alex.



"Some parents have made it clear their children can only get into a relationship when they are at university."



Lam said she knew of a case where a mother had followed her daughter after school to check if she had a boyfriend. Though the daughter left the school with a male classmate, he was not her boyfriend.



Fung Ip-ki, a teacher from De La Salle Secondary School in Sheung Shui, said nine-year-olds may not be able to distinguish between love and liking a person.



Fung said that because children need guidance from their parents, adults should not be shy about talking to them about relationships.



The survey also found that when teenagers go through a break-up, 15.1 per cent jump into another relationship as soon as possible, while only 36 per cent seek help from someone else.





The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups released the results of its survey of the romantic relationships of the city's children and young adults. Photo from the South China Morning Post
Korea will push for a trilateral treaty with China and Japan to fight fine dust pollution in the Northern Asia. Korea Times file



South Korea will push for the signing of a trilateral treaty with China and Japan to fight fine dust pollution in Northeast Asia during their environment ministers' meeting slated for November this year, government officials said Friday.



The decision to propose a trilateral treaty on fine dust reduction was reached during the first meeting of the Special Committee on Tackling Fine Dust, a government-civilian policy deliberation committee established under the Special Act on Particulate Matter Reduction and Management that took effect on the day.



The special law on fighting fine dust pollution has established the legal grounds for local governments to impose mandatory restrictions on coal power plants and other heavy emitters of dust particles.



At the special committee meeting, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, representatives of local governments and private experts also discussed comprehensive measures to reduce ultrafine dust particles, which are known as a class one carcinogen.



They decided to put policy priorities on intensive management of domestic emitters of fine dust and closer cooperation with China, officials said, explaining the proposed treaty is aimed at inducing China's responsible measures to reduce fine dust in the region.



Seoul will also push for various joint research projects through a South Korea-China environment cooperation center set up in Beijing last year.



The National Institute of Environmental Research, a think tank under the Ministry of Environment, has recently said that external sources, mostly from China, accounted for 75 percent of South Korea's ultrafine dust air pollution in January.



The National Information Resources Service, an affiliate of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, also said last month that China is largely responsible for fine dust particles over the Korean Peninsula after analyzing fine dust flows over the area of Incheon, west of Seoul, from January 2015 to March 2018.



The Beijing government, on the other hand, has persistently denied any responsibility for fine dust concentrations over South Korea.



Prime Minister Lee called for China's cooperation in Seoul's efforts to fight fine dust pollution.



"For the sake of China, we need to demand Beijing's cooperation in tackling this problem," Lee said at the committee meeting.



"It has already been proven that fine dust mainly originates from China. Fine particles cause Chinese people much greater pain. We repeat our call for China's responsible cooperation," he stressed.



Domestically, the government will seek to reduce the number of diesel vehicles, which are said to be responsible for about 22.1 percent of fine dust pollution in the capital area.



Under the special law, local governments are obliged to take emergency dust reduction measures if the daily average level of ultrafine particles, smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, exceeds 50 micrograms per cubic meter, and the figure is forecast to top that level again the following day.



If the emergency measures are enforced, heads of local governments have to strictly regulate the operation hours and utilization rates of coal power plants and other large-scale dust emission facilities. Construction sites will also be ordered to reduce the length of their operations.



Violators will be subject to a fine of up to 2 million won (US$1,780).



In this regard, the special committee agreed to increase the number of power plants to be regulated by the special law from 36 to 47.



With the implementation of the special law, South Korea aims to reduce its fine dust emissions by 35.8 percent in terms of the 2014 level by 2022. (Yonhap)


National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang answers reporters' questions after giving a keynote speech at the Korea Society in New York, Thursday. / Yonhap



By Park Ji-won



A South Korean parliamentary delegation led by National Speaker Moon Hee-sang may leave the U.S. empty-handed, failing to spur cooperation from its counterpart that could help mediate between North Korea and the U.S. before the planned summit between the North's Kim Jong-un and U.S.' Donald Trump in Hanoi.



According to press releases, in his speech made at the end of the U.S. tour, Moon said Thursday (local time) that he saw positive reactions from his U.S. counterparts after they met with the South's parliamentary delegation. "I felt that the U.S. officials, who were pessimistic (of the fate of the North-U.S. summit), became more hopeful," he said.



"I hope we will have more opportunities to boost communication with each other like this time as I believe it will lead to strengthening the alliance between Seoul and Washington."



He also said Thursday during a speech at the Korea Society that the North and the U.S. should set a goal of final, fully verified denuclearization (FFVD) during the second summit. "They should build trust by each taking denuclearization steps and corresponding measures respectively through step-by step agreements and their implementation," he said.



His remarks came after the South's delegation met with U.S. legislative and government officials, including U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun and U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, during their visit to the U.S. in a possible move to boost ties with its ally before the North-U.S. summit slated for Feb. 27 and 28 in Hanoi.



The delegation includes ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Rep. Lee Hae-chan, main opposition Liberty Korea Party floor leader Na Kyung-won, minor opposition Party for Democracy and Peace Chairman Chung Dong-young and progressive Justice Party Chairwoman Lee Jeong-mi.



Stressing that while he is also skeptical of the North's promise of denuclearization, Moon said, "The North's sincerity can be backed by the fact that there are no missile and nuclear tests in North Korea."



"If you think about the fact that the North are desperate, you can see the sincerity in it. As far as there are international and U.S. sanctions, which are consistent and strong, imposed on the North, Pyongyang cannot boost their economy."



However, doubts are growing among opposition politicians that the delegation didn't accomplish much, and only confirmed the differences between the two countries.



Unlike what Moon stresses, in a closed-door meeting with South Korean lawmakers, including Moon and floor leaders of ruling and opposition parties on Tuesday, Pelosi reportedly said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's intention is to demilitarize the South, not denuclearize the North.



She was also quoted as saying that the first U.S.-North Korea summit held in Singapore last year brought no real results.



Na told local media that Pelosi referred to the summit as a "gift" to Kim, and that North Korea needs to provide more evidence to back up its claims.



Moon and LKP members were not on the same page throughout the trip, showing mixed reactions in front of U.S. officials.



LKP lawmakers on the delegation set up some separate appointments, reportedly meeting with Wallace Gregson, former assistant secretary of defense on Asian Pacific security affairs, and Colin Powell, former Secretary of State, and expressed worries over the present situation that a declaration ending the Korean War could lead to the withdrawal of U.S. troops and the United Nations Command and thus risk the security of the Korean Peninsula.



During the meeting with Pelosi, Na echoed her views on North Korea's intention to demilitarize the South, saying it is not okay to discuss the suspension of South-U.S. joint military drills and downsizing the U.S. troops in Seoul.



Some point out that there was not enough preparation for the trip to meet with Pelosi and U.S. officials to provide them with enough materials to prepare for the second summit.



"The schedule hadn't been fixed until right before the trip to Washington, meaning that there was no time for preparation for specific business meetings." a political source said.



"As it was part of diplomacy, Moon should have produced some political performances as they represent the country."


President Moon Jae-in speaks at the start of a meeting with the chiefs of the country's leading law enforcement agencies at Cheong Wa Dae, Friday. Yonhap



By Kim Yoo-chul



President Moon Jae-in has ordered a wide-scale overhaul of the country's powerful law enforcement agencies such as the police, prosecution and intelligence agencies as the country is asked to recover "democratic values."



"My request is simple. This year should become the first year after the hidden shadows of rampant power abuse by powerful law enforcement agencies during and after the Japanese rule on the Korean Peninsula," Moon said in a meeting with the chiefs of leading law enforcement agencies including the National Intelligence Service (NIS) at Cheong Wa Dae, Friday.



The President claimed that the prosecution and police were "partners" that supported and helped Japan's occupation of Korea, citing their apparent wrongdoings to prosecute and suppress independence activists.



"We have to make checks and balances happen between top law enforcement agencies as they have to exercise their given power, properly and wisely. The principle could also be applied to the presidential office and government agencies, if needed," the President said.



Moon also urged the National Assembly to pass pending bills, most of which are related to the reformation of such law enforcement agencies, as quickly as possible to move forward with the initiative.



During his presidential election campaign, Moon committed to guaranteeing greater independence and transparency of the police, NIS and prosecutors' offices including a plan to separate the role the police and prosecution to prevent conflict during investigation processes.



The efforts, however, have been deadlocked, hit by heavy opposition from major opposition parties which claim that the separation, if realized, will lift the role of Cheong Wa Dae's civil rights affairs division.



"Citizens hope to see a nation with fair competition guaranteed, a country that doesn't allow even the smallest injustice in everyday life," the President said at the meeting.



Those who attended the meeting were Justice Minister Park Sang-ki, who oversees prosecutors' offices, and Interior and Safety Minister Kim Boo-kyum, who is in charge of the national police.



Friday's meeting involved several officials from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, including its floor leader, Hong Young-pyo, and Rep. In Jae-keun, chairperson of the National Assembly committee on public administration and security.






U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday. Yonhap



By Kim Bo-eun



The U.S. is pressuring North Korea over verification steps for its denuclearization measures ahead of a second summit between leaders. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo emphasized "Chairman Kim Jong-un vowed to work toward complete denuclearization," and stressed the role of verification in the process, in an interview with CBS in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday.



"We're going to have to see that he does this," he said. "We're going to have to be able to verify that he does it."



"Verification is what the U.S. regards as most important in North Korea's denuclearization process," Handong Global University professor Park Won-gon said.



Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University, agreed. On whether North Korea would be willing to do this, he said "North Korea needs the incentives the U.S. is set to provide, so it will likely agree to verification."



On the extent of verification the two countries are likely to agree to ahead of their summit, Koh said this would likely concern "the facilities the North stated it dismantled last year, and possibly the Yongbyon nuclear site."



This is a shift from the stance the U.S. maintained last year  that North Korea should submit a full list of its nuclear inventory as the first step toward verifiable denuclearization. Denuclearization talks between the countries reached an impasse as Pyongyang refused to follow through.



It is likely that Washington will call for this at a later point in the denuclearization process. U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun said a declaration of missile programs should be made "at some point," in a speech at Stanford University last month.



North Korea claimed to have dismantled facilities at its Punggye-ri nuclear and Tongchang-ri missile testing sites, but these have yet to be verified. At the third inter-Korean summit last year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un offered to invite international experts to observe the permanent shutdown of Tongchang-ri. It stated it would dismantle Yongbyon permanently if the U.S. took "corresponding measures."



The U.S. understanding of verification entails inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency entering the North Korean sites, a move which a source told The Korea Times could be accepted by North Korea.



Working-level talks between Biegun and his North Korean counterpart Kim Hyok-chol are set to resume this weekend. Pompeo said a team will leave this weekend "to travel to Asia to continue to prepare for the summit." Two separate preparations for drawing up a joint statement for the summit and logistics are set to take place.



In a news conference in Warsaw, Pompeo said leaders of the U.S. and North Korea would be discussing the "denuclearization pillar they agreed to" at their first summit as well as other matters at the upcoming summit.



"We'll certainly talk about how we reduce tension, reduce military risks, take down that risk so that we can get peace and security on the peninsula as well," he said.



"We are aiming to get this as far down the road as we can in what is now a couple of weeks."



In an interview with Fox News, Pompeo said the two countries have had extensive discussions on ending the 1950-53 Korean War and that this will continue to be discussed in upcoming working-level negotiations.



Pompeo, meanwhile, affirmed that sanctions relief will be a measure awaiting Pyongyang.



"It's our full intention of getting a good outcome in exchange for relieving those sanctions; I'm very hopeful that we can do that," he said.


President Moon Jae-in talks about a possible reassessment of the country's new southeastern airport at a ceremony in Busan, Wednesday. Yonhap



By Kim Hyun-bin



The scrapped project to build a new airport in the southeastern part of the country is once again emerging as a hot-button issue after President Moon Jae-in's remarks suggested the government's reassessment of the plan.



In June 2016, the Park Geun-hye administration ditched the long-running plan to build a new gateway airport either at Gadeok Island in the southern port city of Busan or the inland town of Miryang in South Gyeongsang Province. Instead, it decided to expand Gimhae International Airport by adding another runway by 2026.



However, the President opened the door for the issue to re-emerge.



"If the five autonomous communities in the southeast agree on the plan, the decision will be smooth, but if they have different opinions we might have to give the authority to the prime minister's office to oversee the process. We hope to make a swift decision in the near future," Moon said.



Some experts say Moon's mentioning of a swift decision could mean the government will continue to pursue the Gimhae airport expansion plan.



However, others point out that Moon wanting to give the prime minister's office authority to oversee the process could mean the government wants to look at other locations for the airport.



The Busan Metropolitan Government did not squander Moon's remarks to reignite the issue.



"It is significant as it could be perceived that the President accepted our requests to build a new airport on Gadeok Island," the local government said.



However, other local governments in favor of the Gimhae airport say it's too late to overturn the decision.



"The issue regarding the new southeastern airport is already agreed upon, to expand the Gimhae airport, so there is no need for further discussion," Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin and North Gyeongsang Governor Lee Cheol-woo said in a joint statement released Thursday.



The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is taking a cautious stance, sticking to the expansion scheme.



"There are no changes to the expansion of the Gimhae airport plans. However, we will cooperate and gather the opinions of the local governments when establishing our general plan," a senior official from the transport ministry said.



Experts say in the past, many regional politicians took advantage of building a local airport as one of their key campaign pledges without thorough analysis of the market.



"For an airport to be successful they need at least three things: a populated city nearby, transfers to other airports and tourist attractions in the area," said Heo Hee-young, a professor at Hankuk Aviation University.



Among the nation's 14 local airports, only four  Gimpo, Gimhae, Jeju and Daegu  operate in the black and the rest of them are facing a deficit each year. Their accumulated losses in the last five years accounted for 353.4 billion won ($313.2 million).








A Seoul appellate court on Friday sentenced former Taekwang Group Chairman Lee Ho-jin to three years in prison for embezzlement.





Chances are high that Lee's sentence will be confirmed by the top court later. In October last year, the Supreme Court ordered the case to be reviewed citing procedural errors regarding some of the tax evasion charges.





Lee was accused of siphoning off 20.6 billion won (US$18.2 million) of company funds by doctoring output figures in Taekwang's textile business. He was also charged for allegedly evading 560 million won in taxes.





Regarding the tax evasion charges, the Seoul High Court sentenced him to six months in prison, suspended for two years.





He was originally sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison. But he was freed in May 2011 after only serving two months in jail as the court approved his bail request on grounds of health problems and suspended his confinement.





But speculation mounted last year that he might have lied to the court about his health to be released from detention. Lee was spotted by some local media eating snacks outside. In December, the court withdrew bail, and Lee was taken into custody.





Taekwang, a textile-to-media conglomerate with 8 trillion won in assets, is South Korea's 36th largest firm as of 2018. (Yonhap)


William Speakman. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk



The remains of a British hero of the Korean War will arrive in South Korea next week for burial at a United Nations cemetery in Busan, a southern port city, the government here said Friday.



The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said that the remains of the late William Speakman will arrive at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, Monday afternoon ahead of burial at the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan the following day.



Speakman, dubbed a Korean War hero for his brave hand-to-hand combat against advancing Chinese troops, died in Britain last year at age 90.



The ministry said the remains of Speakman will be transferred to Busan in accordance with his wish to be buried in Korean soil. Four members of his family will travel to South Korea carrying his remains, it noted.



Speakman will be the seventh Korean War veteran from the U.N. allied forces to be buried at Busan's UN cemetery after dying in their home country.



Soon after his remains arrive at the Incheon airport around 4 p.m. Monday, the government is to hold a ceremony marking the return of the British hero, with the attendance of Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Pi Woo-jin, Britain's ambassador to Seoul and Speakman's relatives.



Speakman's remains will be moved to Busan's UN Memorial Cemetery Tuesday after spending one night at the Seoul National Cemetery.





William Speakman. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
By Kang Seung-woo







A total of 258 international students on a government scholarship program will graduate later this month, the education ministry said, Friday.







The Global Korea Scholarship (GKS), launched in 1967, is designed to provide international students with opportunities to study at graduate and undergraduate schools in Korea, which in turn will contribute to promoting international exchanges in education and to deepening the mutual friendship among countries.







Those who will receive degrees this time are from 86 countries  107 from Asia, 60 from Africa, 46 from Europe and 45 from the Americas  and 115 will earn bachelor's degrees, with 108 to be awarded master's degrees and 31 receiving doctorates. Four will receive degrees in research.







So far, the scholarship program has produced more than 5,000 graduates, who now work in a variety of fields in each country. They include a former president of China's Harbin Normal University and a Korean professor of Thailand's Srinakharinwirot University, among others.







"The education ministry plans to further boost the GKS program through enhancing supports such as appointing promotional envoys and inviting graduates," a ministry official said.










Korean immigration specialist Jang Man-ik operates a one-person consulting agency, VISA in KOREA, in Seocho-gu, Seoul. It is dedicated to migrant workers in the country. Courtesy of VISA in KOREA



'Immigration specialist' from VISA in KOREA criticizes Korean visa policies



By Ko Dong-hwan



Korean visa policies change too often and confuse migrant workers, Korean "licensed immigration specialist" Jang Man-ik said.



He operates a one-person consulting agency, VISA in KOREA, in Seoul's southern Seocho district. He regularly chats with workers and foreigners interested in the matter on the firm's Facebook page or texts them.



Jang outlines a problem with the rule change. Workers do not get a proper grace period before revised conditions to acquire certain visas kick in. It particularly affects those who have been preparing to switch visas, mostly to a better type with fewer legal restrictions and more security, he said. But in the worst cases, the problem derails applicants whose eligibility for the visa switch was based on previous standards.



Many of the workers, mostly from the Southeast Asian region or other developing nations, try to stay in Korea and even bring their families here from their home countries. But their working visas, including the E-7 "specially designated activities" visa and others under E-classifications, don't guarantee this due to stringent restrictions on family invitations or even revalidation of their present visas.



"In Korea, migrants are constantly pressured to prepare for safer visas, like the F-2-7," Jang told The Korea Times, referring to the points-based long-term residency visa that allows employment as well as starting a business. "But some of those preparing to switch their visas the following year to upgrade their status get confused if the relevant visa or immigration policies changed only a short time ago."





Foreigners visited Jang Man-ik's office in Seocho-dong, in Seoul's Seocho District, on Oct. 3, 2017, to attend his lecture on Korean visas. Courtesy of VISA in KOREA



Before September 2018, marriage migrants with F-6 visas (those married to Korean citizens) were eligible to switch to permanent-resident F-5 visas with at least the second level of the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK). But a revision that month of the Immigration Control Law and Relevant Rules under the Ministry of Justice required the applicants to complete all five levels of the Korea Immigration and Integration Program (KIIP)  a weekly class run by the Ministry of Justice about Korean language, culture and society that needs some 465 hours to complete. The other option replacing the TOPIC condition was getting at least 60 out of 100 points from the KIIP.



The problem was that the revision applied even to those who had put applications in that followed the previous requirements.



"The policy update didn't even employ the retroactive application process for them," Jang said.



The Ministry of Justice told The Korea Times the new condition applied to pre-revision applicants because the authority was concerned about the risk of marital problems from "difficulty in communication."



"We have beliefs that erratic communications endanger marital relationships and cause disputes in child upbringing and even psychological, social isolations," the ministry said. "And it is essential that marriage migrants prep themselves with basic language skills since they are fusing into Korean families and citizens."



The ministry said, however, applicants could be exempt from the new condition it they had "humanitarian disadvantages" linked to children, illnesses or senility.







The controversial policy enforcement also involves the E-7-4 visa, a points-based skilled worker visa and one of the most popular. One of the conditions had been that they worked four years or longer in Korea. In December 2017, however, another immigration control law revision effective the following year changed that to five years. It affected eligibility for those who had previously qualified for the switch.



"I have witnessed so many victims of the sudden change of policies, who were hoping to get better visas," Jang said. "When the E-7-4 visa was introduced in August 2017, it was advertised only 10 days prior. It needed at least a three-month notice period. These all show that Korean visa policies are enforced rather surreptitiously behind workers' backs."



The ministry said the new E-7-4 visa condition followed "the test period between August 2017 and January 2018, which proved the legitimacy in strengthening the eligibility by taking into account the applicants' work proficiency, adaptability in Korea and the risk of illegal stay."



Inundated with emails and texts from workers inquiring and complaining about various visa issues, Jang realized another critical loophole in Korean visa policies  a drastic incoherence in information provided by the state-run immigration call center and regional immigration offices.



A man with an F-2-7 visa, who withheld his nationality, sought Jang's help after first calling the 1345 Immigration Contact Center to check if changing jobs would automatically cancel his F-5 application process because workplace continuity ceased. The call center said it was OK to change because he had applied more than a year ago. But an immigration office governing his residential area told him otherwise, pointing to the changed workplace, and disqualified his application.



"The Ministry of Justice acknowledges the F-5 eligibility as long as one's total working time was a year or more but regional immigration offices don't evaluate so," Jang said. "It is a clear loophole in policies. It even beats me which of them to trust."





Jang Man-ik in a video clip from his lecture on YouTube. He shares information about Korean visas in English and Korean on social networks like Facebook, YouTube and Korean portal Naver. Screen capture from YouTube



The ministry said what 1345 told inquirers could be changed by regional immigration offices because the latter are "entitled to require additional documents based on applicants' native backgrounds." The authority called the process "an additional screening rather than an erroneous mix-up."



Lack of English support on state websites and in national guidebooks about Korean visas and immigration services are more proof of poor Korean policies, according to Jang.



The justice ministry's Korean visa guidebook in English disappeared after 2015. KIIP's official website, the Immigration and Social Integration Network , also left major menu sections in Korean. The same problem is visible on the TOPIK website .



"In such environments, it is hard for migrants not familiar with Korean even to sign up for a membership," Jang said. "This is why I started on Facebook and YouTube sharing information with them."



Frequent changes in Korean immigration policies made it hard for government print manuals that need up-to-date translations to keep up, so information regarding proof of documents and visa application procedures has been left to 1345 to handle, the ministry said. Keeping the websites translated in English and other foreign languages also faced a financial obstacle, the authority said.



"We are planning to advance our website system after we secure budgets," the ministry said. "The plan includes introducing electronic manuals to improve accessibility for foreigners."





Migrant workers feel the chill in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on International Migrants Day on Dec. 18, 2018, as they protest in Gwanghwamun Square against the Korean government's "brutal" crackdown on illegal migrants. Korea Times file



Efforts to help



Jang started using Facebook in 2016 to run VISA in KOREA and has been sharing information about Korean working visas in English since. He invests time to answer inquiries and congratulates those who are approved for E-7-4 visas. The page now has over 35,000 followers.



"I was surprised to see that the ways for migrants to access the state policies about immigration or visas were extremely limited and opaque," said Jang. "Even the existing Korean resources on state-run immigration service website Hi Korea are hard to digest for Koreans."



He opened the Facebook site to show the changing Korean immigration policies. He understands that foreigners want to make sure if any new immigration policies will affect their visa extensions or the switching process.



The Facebook page got so many inquiries that he created a separate YouTube page where he uploads content  from PowerPoint slides to self-shot videos lecturing in Korean or English  that answer those questions.



His social network efforts do not usually make money. He earns fees providing in-person consultations. He decided to do this alone when he left a joint consulting agency in 2014. It suited him better as it allowed him to plan and travel more easily to meet his foreign clients across the country. He not only provides information but goes to immigration offices to walk clients through the procedures. Working alone also saves him money on office rental and wages.



"Sharing information online about Korean visas was considered taboo among immigration specialists because they could take advantage of the foreigners' ignorance for financial benefit," Jang said, admitting that many migrant workers are reluctant to discuss fees. "I too need to get around the means of living but I began to share the information anyway."



Jang, an authorized administrative translation licensee, has been in the Seocho district for the past five years  the home of the Supreme Court, prosecutors' offices and the hub for civil lawyers and judicial scriveners  doing translation jobs for companies.



"If I focused more on helping the migrants with affairs in immigration offices and spent less time social networking, I would have been richer," Jang said. "But I like meeting foreigners and traveling. As long as I bring food to the table for me and my wife, I should get by."





Katabilla Ketiye Ge-Dara Nimal Siri from Sri Lanka received F-5 permanent resident status from the Daegu Immigration Office on Dec. 18, 2018. Nimal, who came to Korea on an E-9 non-professional employment visa in 2013, saved a 90-year-old woman from a burning house in Gunwi-gun County in North Gyeongsang Province in February 2017. The Ministry of Justice recognized his act in granting the status. Yonhap
Malaysian authorities said on Friday they have arrested six people, including four foreigners, suspected of planning attacks or being members of militant groups.

Malaysia has been on high alert since gunmen allied with Islamic State (IS) carried out a series of attacks in Jakarta, the capital of neighboring Indonesia, in January 2016.

Police said the six were arrested in five separate raids between December and January, on suspicion of planning attacks or having links to militant groups.

They include two Malaysians and four foreigners from Singapore, Bangladesh, the Philippines and a South Asian country, Fuzi Harun, police inspector general, said in a statement posted on social media.

The group included a 48-year-old Singaporean accused of planning to attack a building used by Freemasons in the state of Johor. He is believed to have links with Akel Zainal, a Malaysian identified as an IS fighter in Syria, police said.

Police also detained a suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in a separate raid in the eastern state of Sabah, where he worked as a laborer. The 21-year-old suspect is believed have ties with ASG leader Furuji Indama, Fuzi said.

A 28-year-old man from an unidentified South Asian country was arrested during a raid in Selangor state. Interpol had issued a warrant, known as a red notice, for his suspected involvement in criminal and militant activities, Fuzi said.

Malaysia has arrested hundreds of people over the past few years for suspected links to militant groups.

A grenade attack on a bar on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, in June 2016 wounded eight people. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the first such strike on Malaysian soil.

Short link:






Two France-based international assistance organizations have received sanctions exemptions from the United Nations for items they will send to North Korea, a U.N. website showed Friday.





Premiere Urgence Internationale (PUI) and Handicap International were granted the sanctions waivers on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, respectively, for six months, according to the website.





Handicap International secured a sanctions waiver for its projects on "inclusion and social protection of people with vulnerabilities" and "achieving inclusion into communities for people with disabilities through improved access to services."





It plans to ship a total of 73 items, including wheelchairs, auxiliary crutches, toilet chairs and walking frames estimated to be worth around 233,363 euros (US$263,000), the website showed.





PUI was exempted from global sanctions for its projects "on improving children's nutritional status and households' resilience." It, however, did not provide details on what items would be brought into the North.





The latest sanctions exemptions have brought the total number of humanitarian assistance projects for North Korea posted on the U.N. website to 12. (Yonhap)


U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a news conference at Lazienki Palace in Warsaw, Feb. 12. Reuters



U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that he expects President Donald Trump to discuss the possibility of formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War at his next summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Trump and Kim are scheduled to meet in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 27-28 to discuss the dismantling of North Korea's nuclear weapons program in exchange for U.S. security guarantees.

An end-of-war declaration is a key concession North Korea has demanded in return for the denuclearization it committed to at the first Trump-Kim summit in Singapore in June.

"It's something we've had a lot of talks about," the top U.S. diplomat said in an interview with Fox News held in Warsaw, Poland. "In fact, my team will redeploy to Asia here in a day or two to continue conversations around all elements that were discussed back in Singapore. Remember we not only discussed denuclearization, but we talked about creating security mechanisms, peace mechanisms on the Korean Peninsula. I hope the two leaders have a chance to talk about that as well. I fully expect that they will."

The peace declaration under discussion is likely a political statement that is different from a peace treaty. A treaty would be legally binding and involve all the signatories to the armistice that ended the three-year conflict.












'Republic of Babel Tower' warns of consequences of greed



By Kang Hyun-kyung



Kang Jun-man, a liberal critic and professor of journalism at Chun Buk National University, has released another acerbic book warning that Korean society is heading in the wrong direction and will face the consequences unless its "insanity" is stopped. The sharp-tongued critic claims Koreans are becoming increasingly materialistic and pretentious.



"Republic of Babel Tower: How Koreans Became the Poor Living in a Luxury House" addresses a host of problems Korea is grappling with  from crammed flats that are forcing dwellers to endure inhumane living conditions, to property speculation that polarizes society even further.



Kang is a prolific writer who has released dozens of books since he became famous for his 1995 book "Killing Kim Dae-jung" in which he described Kim, who was later elected president in the 1997 presidential election, as a political martyr and a target of conservative scheming. He is very critical of the conservative camp, which left right-wingers hardly convinced.





"Republic of Babel Tower: How Koreans Became the Poor Living in a Luxury House" by Kang Jun-man


By Jhoo Dong-chan



A growing number of companies have decided to increase dividends for their shareholders, despite their lackluster financial performances, as the National Pension Service (NPS) and other institutional investors seek greater influence in management, according to industry analysts Friday.



Major investors started engaging more actively in firms' decision-making processes since the NPS, the nation's largest institutional investor, adopted a stewardship code last July to be more proactively involved in corporate governance in nearly 300 local companies the agency has invested in.



The stewardship code, pledged by President Moon Jae-in during his election campaign, is a set of guidelines that encourage major shareholders to push for better corporate governance and higher dividends from the companies they invest in.



Thanks to such shareholder activism, more firms have announced their plans to pay their shareholders more dividend this year.



Mobile carrier KT said in its recent regulatory filing that it posted a disappointing operating profit of 1.26 trillion ($1.17 billion) last year, down 110 billion won from the year before.



Despite its disappointing earnings last year, the firm said Feb. 12 that it paid out 269.6 billion won in dividends, up 24.6 billion won from the previous year's figure.



It was also the largest dividend payment ever made to the firm's shareholders since 2012. KT's largest shareholder is the NPS.



Steelmaker POSCO also suffered over a 1 trillion won decline in net profit last year, but decided to pay 400 billion won in dividends this year. The figure is up 120 billion won, or 43 percent, from a year earlier.



Owning a 10.72 percent stake, the NPS is also the largest shareholder of POSCO.



Hyundai Green Food, a de facto holding company of Hyundai Department Store, gained market attention for its decision to raise its dividends by 160 percent to 18.3 billion won this year.



The NPS is the firm's second-largest shareholder with a 12.82 percent stake, and included it in the list of low-dividend companies last year.



Not only the NPS but also other institutional shareholders actively exercised their right to receive more dividends.



KB Asset Management, an asset management unit of the financial group, also sent a letter to Gwangju Shinsegae several times last year to receive more dividends.



Responding to the asset management firm's demands, the local department store unit of Shinsegae announced its decision to raise its dividends by 140 percent to 3,000 won per share this year.



According to the Korea Exchange, 80 KOSPI-listed firms have announced their decisions to pay more dividends this year.



"Korean firms have been stingy in paying dividends compared to firms in other countries," Yonsei University professor Sun Tae-yoon said.



"However, raising dividends does not always guarantee strengthening a firm's value. Firms should consider their financial soundness before paying dividends."



Sungkyunkwan University law professor Choi June-sun said such shareholder activism could be used as a tool to "tame" Korean businesses.



"The stewardship code itself is a self-regulating norm. It will be okay if it operates as it was intended," he said.



"However, it is highly likely the agency's stewardship code could be used as a tool of the government and ruling party to change firms' governance structures."


getty imagesbank



By Jhoo Dong-chan



Credit card firms had offered various benefits to attract more customers for years, but now such benefits are no more after they suffered deteriorating earnings last year and decided to get rid of the card benefits.



Card firms said they are discontinuing old credit card products, but market observers say their move aims to cut marketing costs to maintain profitability. A reduction in marketing costs means fewer card benefits such as interest-free installment payments and loyalty point service.



According to industry sources, KB Kookmin Card discontinued its 20 credit card products as of Jan. 31. Also, existing cardholders of the 20 products are not allowed to renew their cards on expiration.



The decision includes the firm's popular card products that offered customer benefits in phone bill, education and gas charge.



Following KB Kookmin Card's lead, Shinhan Card discontinued its three popular card products while Hyundai Card got rid of the Hi-Mart Mobile M Edition credit card as of Feb. 12.



Credit card firms claim their moves are nothing to do with their deteriorating profitability.



"Credit card firms discontinue unpopular card products every year. The move is just part of our business routine," a Hyundai Card official said.



Market observers say, however, discontinued products weren't unpopular and it's unprecedented for domestic card firms to have discontinued so many of their products simultaneously.



"It's because of the government's move to cut credit card transaction fees," an industry observer said.



"Due to the nation's sluggish economy, consumption is being discouraged rapidly. And the government's pressure to cut the transaction fees is dealing a blow to their profitability."



In November, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea announced their decision to cut credit card transaction fees. They claimed this would save the self-employed and small businesses around 1 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in costs every year.



Under the cut, which started taking effect in January 2019, small business owners with annual earnings of 500 million won to 1 billion won will have their transaction fees reduced to 1.4 percent from 2.05 percent. Those that earn between 1 billion won and 3 billion won will be charged 1.6 percent, down from 2.21 percent.



"Under the card fee transaction fee structure, card firms have no option but to downsize customer benefits," said a credit card firm official who asked not to be named.



"Big players can survive, but small firms will have no option but to restructure themselves. This will include massive layoffs. The government should look at things from a long-term perspective."



Customers display their complaints claiming the tug-of-war between card firms and government burdens them.



"I do not understand why customers need to bear the burden of the reduced card transaction fees. It will greatly reduce my purchasing power," said a 36-year-old computer programmer surnamed Ahn who lives in Songpa-gu, Seoul. "I often use the credit card interest-free installment service. It has really helped me buy expensive things. It's so regrettable."






By Ko Dong-hwan







K-pop solo act and actress IU reduced students at a Gimje high school to a frenzy on Thursday with a surprise visit and mini-concert.







The star visited Gimje Girls' High School in North Jeolla Province for the graduation ceremony.







As she stepped up on to the stage in the auditorium, the students screamed in excitement. In a

, a stunned student can be heard saying, "I cannot believe she is actually here!"







The Kakao M star's visit came after a promise she made to one of the graduates at a fan meeting last year. The fan had asked her to come to the ceremony.






U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the EUs top diplomat in Brussels on Friday, a day after Vice President Mike Pence accused Americas traditional European allies of trying to undermine U.S. sanctions against Iran.

The meeting with Federica Mogherini, the EUs foreign policy chief, was scheduled before Pences rebuke of European powers during a Middle East peace conference in Warsaw on Thursday, which Mogherini missed, citing a scheduling conflict at NATO.

Mogherini, who helped seal the 2005 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, greeted Pompeo in front of a bank of cameras at the EUs headquarters in Brussels before they headed into a conference room for the breakfast meeting, which was scheduled to last about an hour.

Mogherini shook her head and waved off a question from the media about what she thought of Pences speech in Warsaw on Thursday, where he accused the European Union of trying to break the impact of U.S. economic sanctions on Iran.

Pences unusually tough words for allies Germany, France and Britain reflect Washingtons strategy to try to isolate Iran, in remarks that were likely to further strain transatlantic relations.

Trump last year pulled the United States out of the 2015 Iran deal, under which Tehran agreed to curbs on its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.

On Thursday, speaking at NATO before Pences comments, Mogherini said the United States and the European Union had different views on the Iran nuclear deal and said upholding it was critical to European security because it prevented Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

European countries say they share Washingtons concerns about Irans involvement in wars in Yemen and Syria but believe withdrawing from the nuclear deal was a mistake, and have promised to try to salvage the deal as long as Iran continues to abide by it. In practice, European companies have accepted new U.S. sanctions on Iran and abandoned plans to invest there.

France, Germany and Britain agreed in January to open a new channel for non-dollar trade with Iran to avert U.S. sanctions, through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) meant to help match Iranian oil and gas exports against purchases of EU goods.

However, the trade vehicle will likely take months to become operational and diplomats said it will be used only for smaller trade, for example of humanitarian products or food.

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Kokomo, IN (46901)

Today

Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Thunder possible. Low 68F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Thunder possible. Low 68F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
MOUNT VERNON  Mount Vernon Municipal Court Judge John Thatcher found seven guilty after arraignments and hearings were held at the Mount Vernon Municipal Court this week.

Feb. 11

Seven people were found guilty during the Monday, Feb. 11 session.

Troy E. Martin, 39, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Driving Under a 12-point Suspension. The Court sentenced him to serve 5 days in jail with credit for time served.

David G. Maggert, 44, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. The Court sentenced him to pay a $150 fine.

Toby G. Holt, 37, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Criminal Trespassing. The Court sentenced him to serve 30 days in jail, with 30 days suspended, and placed him on two years of probation.

Caleb B. Warren, 25, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Violation of a Protection Order. The Court sentenced him to pay a $150 fine, serve 180 days in jail, with 180 days suspended, and placed him on two years of probation with the following condition: attend and complete the Mount Vernon Municipal Court Hands Down Program.

Parker N. Gregg, 19, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Domestic Violence. The Court sentenced him to pay a $250 fine plus court costs, serve 180 days in jail, with 180 days suspended, and placed him on two years of probation with the following condition: attend and complete the Mount Vernon Municipal Court Hands Down Program.

Ronald E. Hoeflich Jr., 40, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Assault. The Court sentenced him to serve 56 days in jail, with credit for time served.

Ashton S. Hershberger, 25, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Physical Control of a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence. The Court sentenced him to pay a $1,000 fine, serve 180 days in jail, with 177 days suspended, and placed him on two years of community control with the following conditions: attend a 72-hour drivers intervention program, and suspended his operators license for 90 days.

Director of Law Rob Broeren represented the City of Mount Vernon in the Martin Case.

Assistant Director of Law Brittany Whitney represented the State of Ohio and the City of Mount Vernon in the remaining cases.

Feb. 12

Twenty people were found guilty during the Tuesday, Feb. 12 session.

Tracey A. Davis, 43, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Possessing Drug Paraphernalia. The Court sentenced her to serve seven days in jail.

Brandon R. Mason, 34, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence, and Failing To Stay Within Marked Lanes. The Court sentenced him to pay a $500 fine, serve 180 days in jail, with 177 days suspended, and placed him on two years of community control with the following conditions: attend and complete a 72-hour driver intervention program, and suspended his operators license for one year, and to pay a $25 fine for Failing To Stay Within Marked Lanes.

Wayne Kirk, 58, of Centerburg, was found guilty of two counts of Driving Under Suspension, Speeding, and Failing To Wear a Seatbelt. The Court sentenced him to pay a $250 fine for each Driving Under Suspension charge, and a $30 fine for Failing To Wear a Seatbelt.

Kevin Woosley, 55, of Newark, was found guilty of Driving Under Suspension, Failing To Yield, and Failure To Display Valid Registration. The Court sentenced him to pay a $250 fine, serve three days in jail for the Driving Under Suspension charge, pay a $35 fine for Failure To Yield, and to pay a $25 fine for Failing To Display Valid Registration.

Adrian T. Johnson, 32, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Driving Without an Operators License. The Court sentenced him to pay a $25 fine plus Court costs.

Justin J. Livingston, 31, of Newark, was found guilty of Speeding in a School zone. The Court sentenced him to pay a $150 fine.

John R. Cooper, 40, of Marengo, was found guilty of Driving Under Suspension. The Court sentenced him to pay a $200 fine.

Tyler J. Schlairet, 29, of Delaware, was found guilty of Driving Under Suspension. The Court sentenced him to pay a $200 fine and serve seven days in jail.

Sharon A. Scott, 72, of Brinkhaven, was found guilty of Failing To Use Reasonable Control. The Court sentenced her to pay a $25 fine.

Kyle A. Day, 33, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of two counts of Theft. The Court sentenced him to serve 120 days in jail.

Charles M. Posey Jr., 39, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Possession of Drug Abuse Instruments. The Court sentenced him to serve 90 days in jail, with 90 days suspended, and placed him on two years of probation.

Lisa M. Mondillo, 48, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Theft. The Court sentenced her to serve 180 days in jail, with 179 days suspended, and placed her on two years of probation with the following conditions: complete drug and alcohol assessment within 60 days, completed 15 hours of community service, and attend the social responsibility clinic.

Tara Huff, 28, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Possession of Drug Abuse Instruments. The Court sentenced her to serve 90 days in jail, with 90 days suspended, and placed her on two years of probation with the following condition: attend and complete a drug and alcohol assessment within 60 days.

Fany J. Munguia, 35, of Millersburg, was found guilty of Failing To Use Reasonable Control. The Court sentenced her to pay a $25 fine.

Rosalie B. Shaw, 66, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of Alcohol or Illegal Drugs. The Court sentenced her to pay a $500 fine, serve 180 days jail, with 177 days suspended, and placed her on two years of community control with the following conditions: attend and complete a 72-hour drivers intervention program within seven days, and suspended her operators license for one year.

David L. McCoy Jr., 33, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Driving Under Suspension. The Court sentenced him to pay a $250 fine.

Stanley E. Fry, 58, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Driving Under Suspension. The Court sentenced him to pay a $250 fine and to serve three days in jail.

Tara Huff, 28 of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Driving Without a Valid Operators License. The Court sentenced her to pay a $100 fine.

Justin L. Bean, 33, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Failure To Reinstate Operators License. The Court sentenced him to serve five days in jail.

Scott C. Cosner, 34, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Possessing Drug Abuse Instruments and Driving Under Suspension. The Court sentenced him to serve 90 days in jail, with 85 days suspended, and placed him on two years of probation.

Director of Law Rob Broeren represented the State of Ohio and the City of Mount Vernon in the cases.

Feb. 13

Two people were found guilty during the Wednesday, Feb. 13 session.

Ariel D. Kell, 23, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Failure To Dim Lights. The Court sentenced her to pay a $35 fine.

Paul Gebhardt, 52, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty Driving Under the Influence and Obstructing Official Business. The Court sentenced him to pay a $700 fine for Driving Under the Influence, and a $250 fine for the Obstructing Official Business charge, serve 180 days in jail, with 160 days suspended, and placed him on two years of community control with the following conditions: complete and attend a drug and alcohol assessment within 60 days, and suspended his operators license for two years.

Assistant Director of Law Brittany A. Whitney represented the State of Ohio in the cases.
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 68F. NE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 68F. NE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Empty Bowls fundraiser is another huge success for the community: Talk of the Towns - cleveland.com

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio -- Another incredible Empty Bowls fundraiser was put on by the Brecksville Kiwanis and Broadview Heights Lions Club on Feb. 5. Being that my husband and I are now

veterans of this event (we went last year), we thought we would beat the crowd and get there right when it started at 5 p.m.

Wrong! As soon as we drove into the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center parking lot, we knew that this was not the best strategy. It looked like most of the over 500 people who bought tickets were already there.

Last year, there was a long line down a hallway when we got there at 6 p.m. This year, the entire lobby of the Career Center was filled, plus the hallway. This was a much longer wait, but I didn't hear one person complaining.

We were all there for the same reason -- to help feed the hungry folks right here in our communities. Friendly chatter, laughter and good will filled the entire place.

Bill Rittman, team leader of the Kiwanis, and Kevin Krcmar, team leader of the Lions, stated that the proceeds of Empty Bowls will go to the Brecksville Food Bank and South Hills Lend-a-Hand in Broadview Heights. (The lion is really Grace Dachtler). Shirley MacFarland

The food this year was even better because of the wider selection of soups from local restaurants. These, combined with bread and salad, made for a tasty meal.

The food was graciously donated by 24 Karrot Kitchen, Burntwood Tavern, Courtyard Cafe, Creekside Restaurant & Bar, Danny Boys, Demetrios Restaurant, Frankie's Wok, Good Olde Daze, Gianpiero's at Dante's County Line Saloon, Simon's Restaurant & Deli, Sokololowski's University Inn, Tom & Chee, Zoup, Reinecker's Bakery, East of Chicago Pizza, Michael Angelo's Bakery, London Pickle Works, Augie's Pizza Independence, Augie's Pizza North Royalton, Austin's, Brecksville Human Services, Sirna's, Wild Eagle Steak & Saloon and Mastro's The 3 Spot.

The bowls were just as beautiful as last year -- hundreds of bowls handcrafted and donated by the Brecksville Center for the Arts, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School Arts Club and the NorthCoast Woodturners. These lovely pieces of art were for the guests to take home as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world. This was part of The Empty Bowls Project -- an international grassroots effort to fight hunger, created by The Imagine Render Group.

This is a combined effort between the Brecksville Kiwanis and the Broadview Heights Lions Club. Bill Rittman, team leader of the Kiwanis, and Kevin Krcmar, team leader of the Lions, stated that the proceeds will to the Brecksville Food Bank and South Hills Lend-a-Hand in Broadview Heights.

Besides the food being donated, many area businesses were major sponsors, including Metro Health, Northcoast Litho, Wild Eagle Steak & Saloon and Mastro's The 3 Spot.

The largest hunger relief organization in the United States, Feeding America, reports that the nation's food banks could soon be overwhelmed by demand. Millions of people are in need, and the number of food recipients has increased dramatically over the last several years. So, the efforts of organizations like the Kiwanis and Lions are needed more than ever.

A big thank you to all the volunteers who stepped up and made this event such a huge success!

Scholarship applications: The Broadview Heights Lions Club, the largest service club in Broadview Heights, announces the availability of its scholarship applications. The Broadview Heights Lions Club has awarded over $175,000 in direct scholarship grants since its inception over 35 years ago, through money raised in community activities, most notably through the operations of the Bloodview Haunted House.

Up to six scholarships, worth $1000 each, are open to students who are pursuing post-high school education or training and are either Broadview Heights residents or recommended by a Broadview Heights Lions member. Applications are available at area high schools or through Broadview Heights Lions members. Deadline for submittal of scholarship applications is April 12.

For additional information, visit https://e-clubhouse.org/sites/broadviewheights/ or contact Lion Kathy Sopko at 440-821-5203.

Seniors of the Year: It's time for nominations for the Brecksville Senior Volunteer Man and Woman of the Year, sponsored by the Department of Human Services and the Brecksville Kiwanis Club. Pick up a nomination form at the Human Services Center. Deadline for nominations is March 15. The annual Volunteer of the Year luncheon is at noon Tuesday, May 21, at the Human Services Center.

Coffee with Dan: If you are a constituent living in North Royalton's Ward 3, you are invited to attend Ward 3 Councilman Dan Langshaw's next monthly constituent coffee from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, at the Subway located at 5660 Wallings Road in North Royalton. Dan holds these coffees in order to stay in touch with fellow residents and listen to their feedback one on one. No appointment is necessary. Simply stop by and talk to Dan. You may also contact Dan Langshaw via e-mail if you wish, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call 440-785-4240.

Let the Brecksville, Broadview Heights and North Royalton communities know what is going on with your organization, church, school, business or family. Email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
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Egypts interior ministry said the police foiled a bomb attack in a busy area in Giza on Friday.

Explosives experts defused a home-made bomb that aimed to target a security checkpoint near El-Istiqama mosque in Giza on the outskirts of Greater Cairo, the ministry said in a statement.

A security official told Ahram Online that two improvised bombs were thrown from a bridge at members of a security checpoint in the area. One civilian was injured by shrapnel, he added.

A video circulating online showed a blast in a cordoned-off area under a bridge, with security officials, police vehicles and an ambulance in the vicinity.

Al-Ahram Arabic news website published photos from the site showing smashed glass on the street, a shattered car window and a damaged apartment building door.

The ministry blamed members of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood group for the attack.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Egypt designated the Brotherhood a terrorist organisation in late 2013, months following the ouster of its Islamist president Mohamed Morsi after mass protests against his rule.

Military and police forces have been pressing ahead with an extensive campaign to eradicate Islamist militants over the past year, which is mainly focused in the border Sinai region.

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The life of a college freshman is overwhelming, terrifying, and exciting all at once. Many bright-eyed students arrive on campus prepared for the next four years to be absolutely life-changing. They have so much to look forward to: getting to know new people, learning the layout of campus, finally having all of the freedom they desire, and, who could forget: mandatory sexual assault training.

While the college experience has been somewhat synonymous with drinking, partying, and having a good time, it has only recently been associated with sexual assault, and for good reason. 23.1 percent of undergraduate women and 5.4 percent of undergraduate men experience some form of sexual assault or rape in their time on campus.

Recently, many colleges have tried to curtail this epidemic by instituting one form or another of sexual assault training for students. These programs, aimed at teaching students about consent and how to protect themselves or others from unsafe situations, can come in many forms. At the University, this means taking an online course within the first few weeks of your freshman year. Other schools, like Southern University in Baton Rouge, Alabama, opt for an in-person training course.

The enactment of such programs, whatever they may look like, is certainly a step in the right direction. Where in the past many colleges swept sexual assault cases under the rug, many now take a more head-on approach. They want to provide their students with vital information, and start a dialogue about how everyone within the community can work to solve the problem. They don't, however, give students all of the information they need to accurately look at this issue.

The programs don't tell students that the National Institute of Justice lists being a sorority member as a factor that increases sexual assault risk, or that men in fraternities are more likely to engage in sexually aggressive behavior, or that one third of rapes that are reported on college campuses happen in fraternity houses.

There are a variety of factors that result in Greek life being a hub for sexual assault on campus. One could argue that sexual assaults are more likely to happen in situations involving alcohol, and that fraternity houses are simply better places to hold parties involving alcohol, as opposed to other on-campus housing options.

A study from the University of Arkansas argues the the culture surrounding Greek life is what contributes the most to its problem with sexual assault. They state that fraternity parties, which are run by men, put women in a subordinate position. This power difference could result in more sexual assaults.

Letter to the Editor: KU father urges assault victims to know their options Letter to the Editor from University of Kansas alumnus David Steen about resources available to those who are victims of sexual assault.

Others claim that it has more to do with the fact that Greek life, being closed off to people of lower socioeconomic status by requiring members to pay hefty dues, puts together groups of mostly wealthy people. A study from Florida State University found that this wealth can help to build the assumption within individuals that they stand outside of the law. This assumption could lead to a young fraternity member believing they could assault someone and get away with it.

All of these factors play a role in creating one end result, that is, that Greek life creates an easy place for sexual assault to run rampant. Greek organizations at KU have taken some steps to curb this epidemic. Some fraternity organizations have partnered with the Sexual Assault Prevention and Education Center (SAPEC), which has resulted in many fraternity members undergoing extra sexual assault training. Greek organizations have also partnered with the Student Senate to create a fund for sexual assault survivors.

This work is appreciated, and encouraged. Its heartening to see people who are rising above their personal interests and trying to make campus a safer place for all students. However, its not enough.

Students should feel empowered with enough information to truly make safe and smart decisions while on campus. They should be able to hold institutions that create environments that foster sexual assault accountable.

The conversation about sexual assault on campus needs to continue, but it cant be a completely honest conversation when we leave out the role that Greek life plays in the problem. Every student should have this information readily available to them, whether theyre considering joining a fraternity or sorority, never plan on joining one, or are currently in one.

Brianna Wessling is a sophomore from Omaha, Nebraska, studying English and journalism.
For Prestige Hair Studio, celebrating one year in business means silencing doubters and creating more opportunities.

It means success, said Isaiah Bell, the salons co-founder and barber. Its like a marriage anniversary. In business, the more years you stay open means the more success that youve been able to experience.

Siblings Breanna and Isaiah Bell started their business, located on Sixth Street, on Feb. 21 of last year. Its the only black-owned combination barbershop and hair salon in Lawrence. Breanna Bell said the journey didnt come without people who didnt believe they would make it this far.

I know that when we first started talking about opening this place, a lot of people were like, Don't be surprised if that first year doesnt go well because thats when a lot of people struggle, Breanna said. But thinking about how our first year went and how successful we were to keep our books filled, I dont have any doubts that we cant go into second year or third year.

Having their own shop came naturally to the Bells, considering theyve both been doing hair since they were pre-teens. Isaiah, 24, has been doing hair for about 11 years, and Breanna, a 21-years-old junior studying business at the University, has been doing hair since she was 12.

The Lawrence natives have seen first-hand the lack of shops catered to servicing black hair.

Growing up in Lawrence, Kansas, there wasnt too many shops, Breanna said. Our parents had six girls and five boys, so when it came to getting our hair done, my mom took care of that because there werent a lot of options. Thinking about that when I was a child and growing up to 21, stuff hasnt really changed because there arent a lot of options.

The demand for more black-owned hair shops coupled with the history of entrepreneurship in their family is what motivated the Bells to open the salon. Their parents moved from Mississippi to Lawrence in the 1970s, which was the tail end of the Great Migration in which black families in the south migrated to the north in search of better opportunities. Their dad opened a construction business in the 1980s, which is currently combined with Isaiahs landscaping business, Bell's Turf.

Breanna said watching her father pay attention to detail for his clients inspired her to do the same with hers.

Watching him take peoples words and descriptions and create what they want, I guess thats a way that really just drove me to talk to people and understand, Breanna said.

+4 Local entrepreneur launches magazine celebrating women in business Local entrepreneur Crystal Swearingen has began a new magazine, The Spot, after not seeing ample presentation of women in business in other local magazines.

Isaiah said that the salon being black-owned is not the only aspect that makes their business different. Instead, its their dedication to having quality services for their clients.

When we first opened, it was about creating, not only for clients but for people who work here, a professional atmosphere thats comfortable and relaxing, Isaiah said. Being able to make money in that atmosphere that doesnt discriminate and create a welcoming atmosphere, so we wanted to make sure we bring those things out.

For Breanna, although managing school and having a business is often hard, she said the salons scheduling system helps her balance everything. She took a year off from school after her sophomore year to get her cosmetology license. Breanna also mentioned that doing what she loves also helps her manage things better.

I was doing YouTube videos for a little bit, and I really loved that, and from my high school years up until my sophomore year of college, I just braided, and Ive traveled to [clients], Breanna said.

Mona Ahmed, a journalism and political science major at the University, attended Lawrence High School with Breanna Bell and was a regular client of Breanna's. She is now a client of Prestige.

I was actually at their grand opening, so that was really cool to go there to see and support her as a friend and customer, Ahmed said. I was really proud to see how her and her family were able to have this dream and put it all together.

Ahmed also said she liked Breannas attention to detail when she did her hair at the salon last year.

I was just getting my hair straightened and cut, and I really enjoyed it, Ahmed said. Breanna is so friendly and not judgmental about how bad your hair can be if its not kept up. Shes really good about helping people grow their hair and keep it healthy.

Ahmed, who identifies as black and Pakistani, grew up in Lawrence. She said its been hard for her and her sisters to find a salon in town that could care for her hair.

Growing up, when I would get my hair done, I dont think I ever really went to a salon in Lawrence, Ahmed said. Even if I wanted to get my hair done, sometimes Id go elsewhere like to Kansas City, or Id have my mom do it, so its awesome that Prestige is here and visible and has that visibility as a black-owned hair salon.

Hearing clients appreciate the salon for their services and impact in the community is something that the Bells say theyre thankful for.

We take pride in our work, Isaiah said. We get a gratification out of seeing someone excited and their gratification of what we just did.

Another aspect that the Bells say makes Prestige Hair Studio different from others in the area is their interaction with the community. Since its grand opening, Prestige has hosted events, including a food drive and a barbershop talk affiliated with the Universitys chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, in which participants were able to get free haircuts and talk about social issues

Even though we are a hair studio, we try to host events, Breanna said. It was just nice to see people, who we dont see as regular clients, just come and talk to one another.

+3 Business in focus: Beauty bar &blowdry strives to offer 'bigger city vibe' Originally based in Chicago, &blowdry beauty bar and medical spa opened a Lawrence franchise in November and offers a range of services including blowouts, manicures, Botox and facials.

The salon had two other stylists in the past, but its currently just Isaiah and Breanna who run the shop. Although working with family is commonly perceived as a bad business decision, Isaiah said its something he takes pride in because they both have the same vision.

A lot of people believe that family is some of the worst people to work with, but I dont believe that at all, Isaiah said. Family should be somewhat easy to work with because I know what you dont like and you should be able to get along.

For the future of Prestige Hair Studio, the Bells plan to continue to provide their clients with quality service while also getting more involved in the community by hosting more events.

I think its the ambience of the place that we try to give, Isaiah said. We try to give that experience for everybody and what we believe is quality over quantity. Everyone who sits in our chair, we want to take care of them and educate them on how to take care of their hair.

Edited by Nolan Brey
Daily Jang Newspaper Classified Teaching Jobs 2019 in Quetta

Latest Educational Institution Teaching Posts Quetta 2021 Qualified and well educated individuals for the positions of English Teacher, Math Teacher, Chemistry Teacher, Pakistan Studies Teacher, Bio Teacher, Physics Teacher, Principal required for educational institutions in Quetta Balochistan 2019.

How to Apply on Educational Institution 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 the employer asks you to pay money for any purpose including processing to shortlisting, do not pay at all and report us using our contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs cannot be applied online here. Error & omissions excepted.
A new rumor claims that Apple will be launching a red variant of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max in China by the end of this month. Apple is hoping to boost iPhone sales in the region with the launch of this new color.

The leaker claims to have gotten this information from Apples supply chain sources. He claims that Apple will call this color China Red, though the company usually launches products in red color with the (PRODUCT)RED branding and donates a part of their sales proceeds towards HIV research. In China, Apple does not launch red color variants of its product under the (PRODUCT)RED brand in China so the China Red naming is plausible.

Apple is expected to hold a media event on March 25 where it could unveil the (PRODUCT)RED iPhone. However, the rumor claims a launch in China by the end of February itself. The pricing for the handsets is expected to start at 10,000 yuan.

Apple already sells a (PRODUCT)RED variant of the iPhone XR.

Apple has previously launched new (PRODUCT)RED colors for iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 as a part of its mid-cycle refresh. These new colors were launched in March 2017 and April 2018, respectively.

It is possible that Apple will follow a similar strategy here and launch a red variant of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max to boost sales and rekindle consumer interest. This will be particularly important in China where most Chinese OEMs are going to launch their 2019 flagship phone over the next month or so which will further have a negative impact on iPhone sales in the region.

Are you looking forward to Apple launching a red color variant of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max?

[Via Weibo
A woman was killed and five others injured when an apartment building collapsed on Friday, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported.

The two-storey building in Qalioubiya governorate, just north of the capital, was old and in bad condition.

Two of those injured are in critical condition and are in intensive care at hospital.

Building collapses are not uncommon in Egypt and are usually attributed to violations of building regulations, illegal building extensions, and lax government oversight.

Two weeks ago, five workers were killed and one injured when a wall collapsed at an under-construction fibreglass factory in El-Adabiya, in the governorate of Suez.

Short link:


"I think having these events definitely brings people out and kind of brings awareness to all of those diversity issues and kind of breaks people out of their shell," said Reed Blanchard, Multicultural and Awareness co-director. Blanchard took over as co-director this semester.
Suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, who was docked today for his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, was granted bail, on self recognition.

The suspended CJN, who pleaded not guilty to the six-count charge, was also discharged of the bench warrant issued against him.

Danaldi Umar, Chairman of the CCT, said the Onnoghen was discharged of the bench warrant issued against him, because he voluntarily submitted himself for trial.

More details shortly
Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kano has called off the proposed election boycott.

Kanu, who had ordered his people to boycott the 2019 presidential election holding on Saturday, 16th February has now ordered them to participate.

According to him, he called off the election boycott in all Eastern part of Nigeria, because all their preconditions have been met, signed, sealed and delivered.

He said;

Having confirmed this evening that all our preconditions and terms have been met, signed, sealed and delivered; I hereby call-off the election boycott across Biafraland on Feb. 16, 2019. I dedicate this historic victory to the formidable #IPOB family worldwide.
Ahead of the forthcoming coming election, Senate president and Peoples Democratic party (PDP) senatorial candidate for Kwara Central, Bukola Saraki, was at his constituency to solicit for votes  He is seeking to return back to the upper chamber of the federal legislation.

Saraki who was a former Governor of the state, Kwara, during the political rally promised to make the youths the core of his cabinet if elected to return back to Senate.

Nigerian are however of the view that they have had enough of him having been in power since 2007.

Their reactions:

https://twitter.com/DOlusegun/status/1095985527134801920

From my SAUCES who was on ground "Bukola saraki donated 1m each to all the 52 wards in kwara central at metropolitan square today" Mayb he hasn't heard the latest. He is a goner Insha Allah!  Ambr Torla  Sidiq (@AmbrTorla) February 14, 2019
Nollywood actress, Adusa Etomi, has been a largely supportive figure for her husband, Banky w, as he seek election into the lower chambers of the Federal legislation (Eti Osa constituency) under Modern Democratic Party (MDP).

The beautiful actress took to her Instagram page on Friday 15th of February, to share with her fans that she is the only one that understands how the journey has been.

Well, we wish the duo success in the election scheduled for February 16th.

What she wrote:
The African-American Coalition of Indianapolis and members of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus said at a Feb. 15 press conference the current hate crimes bills in the Indiana General Assembly dont go far enough to protect some classes of Hoosiers, and theyre worried about the possibility of yet another setback in this legislative session.

The AACI  a collaboration of local businesses and organizations  called for a hate crimes bill that would protect individuals based on perceived or actual color, age, disability, national origin, ethnicity, race, religion, gender identity, sex and sexual orientation. The Recorder and sister publication Indiana Minority Business Magazine are among the organizations calling for hate crimes legislation.

We need to do it this year, said state Rep. Gregory Porter, an IBLC member. I dont think we can wait any longer. If we do, well never get back to this point.

Indiana is one of five states without a hate crimes law. The debate is a perpetual one, with some arguing proposals arent strong enough, while others say a hate crimes law isnt needed at all.

Senate Bill 12, a bias-motivated crimes bill authored by Sens. Mike Bohacek and Ron Atling, is getting the most attention right now. Its protections included race, gender and sexual orientation, but the Senate amended the bill Feb. 19 to take out classes of protected people and replaced it with language that says judges can consider bias more generally. It was the latest example of legislators struggling to pass a hate crimes bill. In 2017, a hate crimes bill was pulled from consideration after lawmakers presented amendments that would have essentially made the measure useless.

Marshawn Wolley, AACIs policy director and an occasional Recorder columnist, said he has some concerns with current hate crimes legislation, but that he and others will remain persistent.

Were not trying to implement a law thats going to change anybodys heart because thats not really the purpose of hate crimes legislation, Wolley said. What it does is it says you cant attack a community with impunity, that you cant just violate peoples sense of safety and peoples sense of security without having the full weight of the state government or local government come after you.

Indiana does seem feasibly close to passing hate crimes legislation, especially since a Carmel synagogue had swastikas painted on it last year. In his State of the State speech in January, Gov. Eric Holcomb showed his support for a hate crimes law, saying its time for us to move off that list of states without such a law. An Indy Chamber poll of 600 registered voters in December found 84 percent of Democrats, 75 percent of independents and 63 percent of Republicans support a hate crimes law.

Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.

State Rep. Gregory Porter, a member of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus, told reporters Feb. 15 what he and other local Black leaders want to see in a hate crimes bill. (Photo/Tyler Fenwick)
In the spirit of both transparency and communal input, Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) will be seeking feedback from the community in its search for a new superintendent. At a Feb. 15 press conference, board president Michael OConnor said IPS will have three public sessions in which the community can give its thoughts on what it wants to see in the next superintendent before IPS starts taking applications.

OConnor acknowledged that lack of community input is a common critique of IPS, so this process will allow the board to gain an understanding of what IPS families want in a superintendent before they make a list of potential hires. In addition, the meetings will allow the district to gauge the communitys feelings about IPS in general.

The state of Indiana five years ago allowed schools to adopt the innovation network process, OConnor said. Only one school system in the state has done so, and thats us. So as we look for the next superintendent, its perfect for us to take input on that path we have chosen.

There will be three meetings  Feb. 27, March 7 and March 13  where the public can voice its opinion. While these are the only the dates scheduled, OConnor noted the possibility of a fourth if the board feels like it is necessary.

Those who cannot make the meetings but still wish to follow the search for a new superintendent can do so online at www.myips.org. IPS is dedicating part of its website to updating the public to the endeavor, calling it the IPS super search. There will be an easy-to-spot link to the IPS super search page on the homepage.

OConnor provided a few other small updates regarding the search for a new superintendent. He reasserted that the search will span the entire country, despite IPS not working with an outside firm to find candidates.

We have a lot of connections with which we can make this a national search without paying that likely $100,000 fee, OConnor said.

Due to how early in the process it is, OConnor could not comment on the likelihood of interim superintendent Aleesia Johnson becoming the permanent superintendent. However, OConnor did say he would like to see an application from Johnson when the time comes.

I would certainly count her as somebody that I hope applies, but since we havent opened up the application processes yet I cant tell you is and who isnt [likely to apply], OConnor said.

Contact staff writer Ben Lashar at 317-762-7848. Follow him on Twitter @BenjaminLashar.

IPS SUPERINTENDENT MEETINGS

1-3 p.m. Feb 27 at Hawthorne Community Center, 2440 W Ohio St.

6-8 p.m. March 7 at Arsenal Technical High School, 1500 E Michigan St.

6-8 p.m. March 13 at George Washington Carver Montessori No. 87, 2411 Indianapolis Ave.
Dhaka, Feb 15 (IBNS): Citing that 'Jamaat did not seek apology to the countrymen for its activities against the independence of Bangladesh in 1971', key leader of the party-Barrister Abdur Razzaq- on Friday resigned from the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Jamaats failure to reform its political ideologies in light of the 21st century like other Muslim majority countries is another reason for his resignation, Abdur Razzaq, assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, said in his resignation letter sent from London over e-mail,as reported by The Daily Star.

While talking to The Daily Star in the morning, he said, I have stated in my resignation letter all the reasons behind my registration. I have not received any response from the Jamaat leaders in this regard yet.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, or Jamaat for short, is the largest group of swines in Bangladesh.

On Aug 1, 2013, the Bangladesh Supreme Court declared the registration of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami illegal, ruling that the party is unfit to contest national elections.
Chinese students sometimes have a hard time understanding love, and they feel embarrassed to talk about this topic with their parents. Regarding this case, universities are offering students a lesson on the subject of love.

In 2013, East China Normal University opened an elective course regarding marriage and love. The class was designed for 84 students but in the end, nearly 500 people registered. Zhengzhou Normal University and Tianjin University and Nanjing University have also opened similar courses, teaching students how to love.

University students usually spend less time learning about the psychology of love, which is a part of the course on their physical and mental health, said Xia Cuicui, an associate professor teaching about psychological counseling and services with Beijing Normal University.

The purpose of the love classes, said teachers interviewed, is not to train students to become love gurus, but help them understand more about love, human feelings, and relationships so that they are capable of dealing with issues in their own love life.

The courses help students build a positive attitude toward love and marriage, so that they behave better in a relationship, become better prepared for marriage life, and are more capable of running a happy family and living a higher-quality life.

Senior psychology teachers suggest parents calm down after finding that their children are about to start a relationship, communicate with them, give them advice and correct their unhealthy cognition about love and marriage.
Kabul, Feb 15 (IBNS): Afghanistan police have detained 10 gunmen who were involved in beating a civilian in Kabul city, media reports said on Friday.

Basir Mujahid, spokesman for the 101st Asmaee Police Zone, told Pajhwok Afghan News beating an innocent man in front of Gul Bahar Centre late on Wednesday night.

Mujahid told the Afghanistan-based news agency that the detainees were accused of insulting, beating and harassing Kabul residents.

According to reports, ten weapons and two vehicles were recovered from the arrested people.
Source: @PMOIndia on Twitter

New Delhi, Feb 15 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi this evening paid his respects to the 40 fallen CRPF jawans in Thursday's Pulwama terrorist attack after the bodies reached Delhi.

Also present at the solemn ceremony in Palam Airport were home minister Rajnath Singh, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Shri @narendramodi paid tributes to the brave CRPF personnel martyred in Pulwama.



India salutes their courage. pic.twitter.com/vmFIscj7Uu  PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 15, 2019

After the salute the minute of silence, the Prime Minister went around the coffins with folded hands.

The bodies will be sent to their respective homes on Saturday, reports said.

Bravehearts of CRPF who made the supreme sacrifice and attained martyrdom in the Pulwama attack on 14/02/2019. pic.twitter.com/eHrPnYaSGV  YYCRPFYY (@crpfindia) February 15, 2019

Will isolate Pakistan internationally: India

India has said it will do everything in its power to ensure Pakistan is isolated by the international community. This comes in the wake of 40 paramilitary personnel being killed in a terror attack in Kashmir's Pulwama area.

Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack.

India's foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale is currently briefing envoys of key countries on Pakistans involvement in supporting terrorism, media reports said.

Reports citing sources said Gokhale has met envoys of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (P5)  US, China, Russia, the UK and France  apart from important nations in Asia and Europe on the matter.

Referring to the attack as "a matter of grave concern", Pakistan has, however, denied any link with the attack.

"We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in the Valley. We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations," Pakistan said.

Responding to the incident, India this morning withdrew the "Most Favoured Nation" status to Pakistan.

After the cabinet panel meeting, finance minister Arun Jaitley said: "We will isolate Pakistan."

On Thursday evening, India had appealed to the international community to "support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan". The hint was primarily to China, which had blocked India's efforts of listing Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council.

Though China has condemned the attack in Pulwama, it has not changed its stand on the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief.

Several other countries, including the US has backed India and stressed on the need to act against the perpetrators of such terrorism.

The US State Department said the government was committed to working with the Indian government to combat terrorism in all its forms.

"Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed responsibility for this heinous act. We call on all countries to uphold their responsibilities pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions to deny safe haven and support for terrorists," read the statement issued by the US government.




Srinagar, Feb 15 (IBNS): New investigation has revealed details of Thursday's Pulwama attack that are different from those in initial reports.

The suicide car bomber was driving a sedan that carried 60kg of power RDX, NDTV said investigations have revealed. Earlier, investigators had said Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar had rammed his SUV into a CRPF bus while carrying 350kg explosives.

According to the latest findings, the 22-year-old school dropout Dar had not rammed into a bus, but triggered the explosion right next to the bus after overtaking the convoy of 78 buses, the report said.

A body was flung 80 metres away in the impact and the bus reduced to a mound of mangled steel. Body parts were strewn over a 100 metre radius.

Will isolate Pakistan internationally: India

India has said it will do everything in its power to ensure Pakistan is isolated by the international community. This comes in the wake of 40 paramilitary personnel being killed in a terror attack in Kashmir's Pulwama area.

Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack.

India's foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale is currently briefing envoys of key countries on Pakistans involvement in supporting terrorism, media reports said.

Reports citing sources said Gokhale has met envoys of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (P5)  US, China, Russia, the UK and France  apart from important nations in Asia and Europe on the matter.

India has also called to Delhi its high commissioner in Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria, for consultations.

Referring to the attack as "a matter of grave concern", Pakistan has, however, denied any link with the attack.

"We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in the Valley. We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations," Pakistan said.

Responding to the incident, India this morning withdrew the "Most Favoured Nation" status to Pakistan.

After the cabinet panel meeting, finance minister Arun Jaitley said: "We will isolate Pakistan."

On Thursday evening, India had appealed to the international community to "support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan". The hint was primarily to China, which had blocked India's efforts of listing Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council.

Though China has condemned the attack in Pulwama, it has not changed its stand on the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief.

Several other countries, including the US has backed India and stressed on the need to act against the perpetrators of such terrorism.

The US State Department said the government was committed to working with the Indian government to combat terrorism in all its forms.

"Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed responsibility for this heinous act. We call on all countries to uphold their responsibilities pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions to deny safe haven and support for terrorists," read the statement issued by the US government.




Jerusalem, Feb 15 (IBNS): Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said he will stand by the people of India, security forces and his 'dear friend' Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the time when the country was left shocked over the death of 40 jawans in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

"To my dear friend, Prime Minister of India @narendramodi, we stand with you, the security forces and the people of India following this heinous terrorist attack. We send our condolences to the families of the victims," Netanyahu tweeted.

To my dear friend, Prime Minister of India @narendramodi, we stand with you, the security forces and the people of India following this heinous terrorist attack. We send our condolences to the families of the victims.  Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) February 15, 2019

Several nations, including the US and France, have condemned the incident.

Militants rammed an IED-laden vehicle into a vehicle carrying CRPF at Goripora, Awantipora on Thursday afternoon.

According to reports, the vehicle used by the terrorists was a Mahindra Scorpio and it carried more than 350 kg of explosives.

The attack left 14 CRPF jawans injured.
Beijing/Islamabad/New Delhi, Feb 15 (IBNS): As India mourned and fumed over the martyrdom of 40 paramilitary personnel in a terror attack in Kashmir a day ago, Pakistan shrugged off its responsibility denying its link with the suicide bombing on Thursday while its close ally China condemned the incident but kept its stand unchanged on Pakistan-sheltered terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed and its chief Masood Azhar.

Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish has claimed the Pulwama attack, in which at least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were martyred and several others injured on Thursday.

China is the only nation which had blocked India's efforts to list Azhar as the UN designated terrorist.

Denying any link with the deadly terrorist attack in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, Pakistan said the incident is a "matter of grave concern".

Rejecting any of its links to the attack, Pakistan said: "We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in the Valley. We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations."

Pakistan's response came after India slammed its neighbouring country following the attack, which was claimed by Pak-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

"This terror group is led by the international terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by Government of Pakistan to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity," said India in a statement.

India takes bold steps against Pakistan:

India announced some bold steps against Pakistan within 24 hours since the attack on the north Indian state left the nation shocked.

India on Friday scrapped Pakistan's Most Favoured Nation Status and also said it will initiate steps to isolate Pakistan.

After concluding the Cabinet Panel meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: "We will isolate Pakistan."

Warning the neighbouring country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: "Pakistan has done a big blunder. They will have to pay a huge price. Whoever is guilty will get punishment."

He also urged all political parties to be united by shedding their differences.

"India is one and lets fight it together," the Prime Minister said.

On Friday, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood over the Pulwama attack incident. He was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs at 1400 hrs and issued a "very strong demarche" in connection with the terrorist attack.

"He (Foreign Secretary) conveyed that Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against the JeM and that it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories," sources told UNI news agnecy.

Other countries condemn attack:

Different countries, including US and France, condemned the suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama city on Thursday.

The US State Department said the government is committed to working with the Indian government to combat terrorism in all its forms.

"Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed responsibility for this heinous act. We call on all countries to uphold their responsibilities pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions to deny safe haven and support for terrorists," read the statement issued by the US government.

Alexandre Ziegler, the French ambassador in Delhi, tweeted: "France most firmly condemns the heinous attack perpetrated in Jammu & Kashmir. Our thoughts go out to the families of the fallen soldiers. France has always been and always will be by Indias side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms.#Pulwama #KashmirTerrorAttack."

Kashmir: Horrifying Thursday leaves nation shocked

Militants rammed an IED-laden vehicle into a vehicle carrying CRPF at Goripora, Awantipora on Thursday afternoon.

According to reports, the vehicle used by the terrorists was a Mahindra Scorpio and it carried more than 350 kg of explosives.

The attack left 14 CRPF jawans injured.




Riyadh, Feb 15 (IBNS): Saudi Arabia on Friday condemned the terrorist attack in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday which left at least 40 CRPF jawans killed.

An official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's strong condemnation and denunciation over the explosion that targeted a military convoy in the Indian part of Kashmir, claiming dozens of deaths and injuries, reported Saudi Press Agency.

The source was quoted as saying by the agency that the Kingdom's rejection of these cowardly terrorist acts and its stand with the friendly Republic of India against terrorism and extremism, offering condolences to the families of the victims , Indian government and people and wishing the injuries a speedy recovery.

Militants rammed an IED-laden vehicle into a vehicle carrying CRPF at Goripora, Awantipora on Thursday afternoon.

According to reports, the vehicle used by the terrorists was a Mahindra Scorpio and it carried more than 350 kg of explosives.

Indian PM warns Pakistan:

Acting tough on Pakistan over the Pulwama terrorist attack which killed at least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent out a warning to the neighbour stating the South Asian country will have to pay a huge price.

Concluding a Cabinet Panel meeting, Modi said: "Pakistan has done a big blunder. We have given full freedom to the security forces. Pakistan will have to pay a huge price. Whoever is guilty will be punished."

India has also scrapped Pakistan's Most Favoured Nation Status and said it will initiate steps to isolate Pakistan globally.
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As the countrys political chess match reaches its sixth week, emerging market investors tell IFLR they are looking closely at their options in the hopes that sanctions are soon lifted
Photo courtesy of Confucius Institute at National University of Mongolia

When Chimedtseye Menerel, Mongolian director of Confucius Institute at National University of Mongolia, firstly arrived in China for Chinese studies at Beijing Language and Culture University in 1986, he could probably have envisioned his future closely bonded with the Chinese language, culture and literature.

Chimedtseye, also secretary-general of China-Mongolia Friendship Association, has spent nearly three decades on the translation of the Chinese classics collection Four Books into Mongolian. Now, he is about to complete his works.

The translation is my gift for the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Mongolia and China, he said in a recent interview with Peoples Daily.

Chimedtseye started studying Confucianism, the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius, in the 1990s, and was soon attracted by the charm of the philosophy, he introduced. This experience later inspired him to translate the Four Books into Mongolian.

He firstly started from the Analects, a collection of sayings and ideas attributed to Confucius and his contemporaries in the Four Books. Taking him seven years to finish, the Mongolian version of the Analects has been reprinted for five times after its initial publication in 2004.

I need to understand the Chinese classics myself if I want Mongolians to understand. Upholding such a principle, he started translating the Chinese military treatise the Art of War. In order to be precise enough, he referred to 12 Chinese versions of the Art of War published by different publishing houses, as well as English-Chinese bilingual editions.

So far, Chimedtseyes works have been collected by the Mongolian national library and adopted by multiple colleges and universities as a compulsory course.

Except for translating the Chinese classics, Chimedtseye has been running between China and Mongolia for academic conferences and social activities to push forward bilateral cultural exchanges.

He believes that the Confucius Institute at the National University of Mongolia, serving as an important platform for language teaching, has played a significant role in deepening Mongolia-China cultural exchanges and has become a bridge between the two peoples.

Chinas development has brought significant opportunities for all other countries in the world, especially its neighboring countries. I wish for a new chapter of Mongolia-China friendly cooperation, he added.
Memories and tributes have been pouring in from around the globe from the countless people whose lives were touched by Rabbi Eckstein. One recent article in the Jerusalem Post offers a firsthand memory of one of the Rabbis last public appearances on behalf of The Fellowship.

Ecksteins contribution to our world goes beyond the money, although the 1.6 billion dollars that IFCJ has donated have impacted so many lives for the better. In a world in which antisemitism is metastasizing across the tissues of extremes to the centers of democracies, our ties with pro-Israel Christians are more important than ever. Fundraisers have understood from the time of the Bible that being a part of an idealistic endeavor goes beyond lip service and requires contribution. By providing the opportunity to Christians to join in helping and building, Eckstein strengthened invaluable ties of mutual respect and friendship. Where would we be without the decades of his pioneering work?

The last time I saw Eckstein was a month ago when he came to Hadassah University Medical Center on Jerusalems Mount Scopus, one of the many hospitals that IFCJ supports. He dedicated a robotic walking machine called Lokomat, donated by IFCJ. Demonstrating the machine was 21-year old Dvir Teitelbaum, who lost his ability to walk while serving in the IDF. . . . Eckstein cheered Teitelbaum, who is, thanks to the machine, beginning to walk again. In his rich baritone, the rabbi reached for his guitar and serenaded the staff of therapists and visitors with On the Summit of Mount Scopus.

Later, Eckstein went down to a new construction site in the parking lot of the hospital, bent over and shoveled dirt to help lay the cornerstone of the new rehabilitation center that will serve soldiers and civilians in Jerusalem. With his usual good humor, he pointed out that his last name, Eckstein, means cornerstone. Then he began singing again, this time a beloved line from Hallel, the song of praise.

Even maasu habonim The stone the builders rejected has become the main cornerstone.

May his memory be for a blessing and inspiration.
@theMarket: Markets Gain on Hope & a Prayer

Investors remain cautiously optimistic that the wall of worry that has been plaguing us for months may now be crumbling. That's no sure thing, but at least we did have some good news this week.

While most investors were not expecting a repeat of last month's partial government shut-down, it was still a relief to see that issue put to bed on Friday. The president reluctantly signed the budget bill that Congress passed over his objections.

Granted, the president did not get his wall, although now he is threatening to get the funding by declaring a national emergency on our southern border. Whether there is or is not such an emergency, by declaring one, he bypasses Congress. That will establish a dangerous precedent for future presidents who may be frustrated with the constitution's checks and balances among the three bodies of government.

Another president could use that same tactic to circumvent Congress in order to secure his or her own objectives. Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat speaker of the House, has already indicated that, for example, that same tactic could be used in the future to restrict or even outlaw guns in this country. It could be used to balance the budget, or set term limits in Congress, or any number of things that a frustrated president might wish for.

But enough politics. As I have written many times in the past few months, the markets remain China-dependent. Earlier in the week, markets swooned when reports surfaced that some of the structural issues within the Chinese economy that we want changed have become a sticking point in negotiations. A few days later, the president said he "may consider" postponing the March 1 deadline, if there was progress on the trade talks.

Almost every other day, some administration official or another makes a positive (or negative) comment that sets the markets in a tizzy. Words such as "reluctant" or "constructive" can send the Dow up or down 200 points in the blink of an eye. From my point of view, it's all-day trading and won't impact the longer-term outcome of the markets.

I have been predicting from the outset of Trump's trade war, that there will be a resolution and a compromise on these issues between the U.S. and China. No, it won't be on the market's time table or terms. I believe it will be a series of incremental agreements on one or two issues at a time.

It also happens that it is a fortuitous period of time for the United States to address these decades-old issues. Not only is the Chinese economy faltering on several fronts, but China is also in the midst of a multi-year program of becoming a consumer-driven, rather than an export-driven, economy. As such, reducing exports and increasing imports dovetails with their own economic objectives through 2025. However, altering trade deficits and surpluses is the relatively easy part of the trade discussions.

The intellectual property debate is something that will require a substantial change within China and can't be done with a brush of the pen (or keyboard). Clearly, one of China's major objectives is to become the world's leader in technology advancements. If that means stealing our secrets in any way they can, then they will do it. Not only is this a clear and present danger to our own economy, but also has enormous ramifications for our military and national defense.

Next week, the trade talks move back to Washington. As such, we can expect a series of "leaks" as the days go by, which should guarantee more volatility on a daily basis. As for the supposedly "important" stuff like earnings, economic growth, employment, etc., all of it remains relegated to second or third place as the talks progress.

As the markets climb, there are more and more calls by strategists for another one of those 6-7 percent pull-backs (that could easily turn into a 14-15 percent decline on the back of all this computer trading). I have an interesting notion. What if the news is really good on the China front and, after a brief spike up, markets use the occasion to "sell on the news"? That would be the most inconvenient thing that could occur to the greatest number of people. That's what the markets usually do.
China resolutely opposes the claims made by Turkeys foreign ministry on the situation in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the nations policy toward the region.

In a statement released earlier, Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy alleged that Uyghur poet and musician Abdurehim Heyit had died in custody. He also called the vocational training centers in Xinjiang a great shame for humanity.

The accusations are contrary to the facts and were created out of thin air. China has lodged serious representations to Turkey over its extremely wrong and irresponsible remarks.

The vocational education and training centers in Xinjiang are a big nationwide effort to unite and educate the people who have committed crimes there. It is an effective way to save these people from becoming victims of terrorism and extremism.

Multiple UN reports on global anti-terrorism have pointed out that education and employment are vital to preventing and eliminating terrorism. The vocational education and training centers are a way to realize the UN concept.

Terrorism and extremism are common enemies of human civilization and the international community. Since the 1990s, terrorists, separatists, and extremists at home and abroad have plotted and committed thousands of violent terrorist attacks in Xinjiang.

Such criminal activities severely jeopardize regional peace and stability, harm the atmosphere for progress and solidarity, and sabotage the basic human rights of all people in Xinjiang.

Since the vocational education and training centers were launched some 25 months ago, no violent terrorist attacks have been reported in Xinjiang.

Mohammed Hosnie Shahiran Ismail, counselor of the Malaysian embassy in China, visited some of the schools in January 2019. He said the trip refreshed his understanding of Xinjiang, adding that the situation is different from what the Western media has portrayed.

A Turkish reporter said the vocational education and training center he visited was a place for people to receive treatment and education to improve themselves and become better persons.

Facts speak louder than words and a just cause enjoys abundant understanding. Chinas efforts and achievements in its Xinjiang policy is adding value to the global fight against terrorism and extremism.

Samia Fakhry Mansour, editor with Egypts weekly publication, said that de-extremization is a challenge for the whole world and that Chinas vocational education and training centers are a good way to save more people who are affected by extremism, adding that the Chinese experience is worth learning from for other countries.

It is an undeniable fact that the social situation in Xinjiang is stable, that the economy is developing fast, that the livelihoods of the people living there are improving, and that all ethnic groups in Xinjiang live in harmony. As a country with various ethnic groups, Turkey is also threatened by terrorism. Adopting double standards on anti-terrorism would lead to lose-lose results.

China hopes to see the Turkish side reflect on its behavior, correctly understand Chinas policies and efforts, and take concrete actions to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between our two countries.
Mahmooda Sultana won funding to advance a potentially revolutionary, nanomaterial-based detector platform. The technology is capable of sensing everything from minute concentrations of gases and vapor, atmospheric pressure and temperature, and then transmitting that data via a wireless antenna -- all from the same self-contained platform that measures just two-by-three-inches in size.

Under a $2 million technology development award, Sultana and her team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will spend the next two years advancing the autonomous multifunctional sensor platform. If successful the technology could benefit NASA's major science disciplines and efforts to send humans to the Moon and Mars. These tiny platforms could be deployed on planetary rovers to detect small quantities of water and methane, for example, or be used as monitoring or biological sensors to maintain astronaut health and safety.

Central to the effort, funded by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate's (STMD) Early Career Initiative (ECI) is a 3D printing system developed by Ahmed Busnina and his group at Northeastern University in Boston. The 3D printing system is like printers used to produce money or newspapers. However, instead of ink, the printer applies nanomaterials, layer-by-layer, onto a substrate to create tiny sensors. Ultimately, each is capable of detecting a different gas, pressure level or temperature.

Nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, molybdenum disulfide and others, exhibit interesting physical properties. They are highly sensitive and stable at extreme conditions. They are also lightweight, hardened against radiation and require less power, making them ideal for space applications, Sultana said.

Under her partnership with Northeastern University, Sultana and her group will design the sensor platform, determining which combination of materials are best for measuring minute, parts-per-billion concentrations of water, ammonia, methane and hydrogen -- all important in the search for life throughout the solar system. Using her design, Northeastern University will then use its Nanoscale Offset Printing System to apply the nanomaterials. Once printed, Sultana's group will functionalize the individual sensors by depositing additional layers of nanoparticles to enhance their sensitivity, integrate the sensors with readout electronics, and package the entire platform.

The approach differs dramatically from how technologists currently fabricate multifunctional sensor platforms. Instead of building one sensor at a time and then integrating it to other components, 3D printing allows technicians to print a suite of sensors on one platform, dramatically simplifying the integration and packaging process.

Also innovative is Sultana's plan to print on the same silicon wafer partial circuitry for a wireless communications system that would communicate with ground controllers, further simplifying instrument design and construction. Once printed, the sensors and wireless antenna will be packaged onto a printed circuit board that holds the electronics, a power source, and the rest of the communications circuitry.

"The beauty of our concept is that we're able to print all sensors and partial circuity on the same substrate, which could be rigid or flexible. We eliminate a lot of the packaging and integration challenges," Sultana said. "This is truly a multifunctional sensor platform. All my sensors are on same chip, printed one after another in layers."

Wide-Ranging Uses

The research picks up where other NASA-funded efforts ended. Under several previous efforts funded by Goddard's Internal Research and Development Program and STMD's Center Innovation Fund, Sultana and her team used the same technique to manufacture and demonstrate individual sensors made of carbon nanotubes and molybdenum disulfide, among other materials. "The sensors were found to be quite sensitive, down to low parts per million. With our ECI funding, we are targeting the instrument's sensitivity to parts per billion by improving sensor design and structure," Sultana said.

According to her, the project addresses NASA's need for low-power, small, lightweight, and highly sensitive sensors that can distinguish important molecules other than by measuring the masses of a molecule's fragments, which is how many missions currently detect molecules today using mass spectrometers.

In fact, the agency has acknowledged that future sensors need to detect minute concentrations of gases and vapors in the parts per billion level. Although mass spectrometers can detect a wide spectrum of molecules -- particularly useful for unknown samples -- they have difficulty distinguishing between some of the important species, such as water, methane and ammonia. "It's also difficult to reach the parts per billion or beyond level with them," she said.

"We're really excited about the possibilities of this technology," Sultana said. "With our funding, we can take this technology to the next level and potentially offer NASA a new way to create customized, multifunctional sensor platforms, which I believe could open the door to all types of mission concepts and uses. The same approach we use to identify gases on a planetary body also could be used to create biological sensors that monitor astronaut health and the levels of contaminants inside spacecraft and living quarters."

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The landing site of China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe has been named "Statio Tianhe" after the spacecraft made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon last month.

Together with three nearby impact craters and one hill, the name was approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), Liu Jizhong, director of the China Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said at a joint press conference held in Beijing Friday.

"Tianhe" is the Chinese word for Milky Way and "Statio" is Latin for base. Three craters were given the names Zhinyu, Hegu and Tianjin, three constellations of the twenty-eight mansions in traditional Chinese astrology.

The hill used to locate the three craters is named Mons Tai after Mount Tai, a Chinese mountain of historical and cultural significance.

The press conference was jointly held by the CNSA, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the IAU.

According to the CNSA, the Chang'e-4 lunar probe made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon on Jan. 3.
The underwater fiber-optic cable between the city of Suva, the capital of the Republic of Fiji; and Nukualofa, the capital of Tonga, was suddenly cut Jan. 20. Tongas 10-gigabits-per-second high-speed internet, along with its international telecommunication services, are delivered from Fiji over the submarine cable called the Tonga Cable. Tonga is located 2,038 miles east of Brisbane, Australia, and 1,500 miles northeast of New Zealand. With the submarine cable severed, the residents of Tonga suddenly found themselves disconnected from the rest of the online world. According to Tongas news website, Matangi, Tonga was put into digital isolation. Mantangi reported the submarine cables disruption fault was located 50 miles from Tonga. Tonga is made up of a group of islands, of which 36 are inhabited. The people there are heavily-dependent on the submarine cable which links them to the rest of the world. The severed submarine cable disrupted the internet and international telecommunications services, causing some 100,000 people, to be thrown into online digital darkness. The 514-mile Tonga submarine cable was placed into service in August 2013, is managed by Tonga Cable, and owned by Tonga Communications Corporation, Government of Tonga, and telecommunications service provider, Digicel Tonga. The cable connects Tonga to the Southern Cross Cable submarine cable that links Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and includes landing points in Kahe Point and Spencer beach in Hawaii; Hillsboro, OR; and Morro Bay, CA. While the submarine cable underwent restoration by a submarine cable maintenance ship named Reliance, the isolated island in the South Pacific needed to rely on short-term internet connectivity. A locally-owned-and-operated satellite service was able to provide minimal internet service; however, the data speed was comparable to the early days of online dial-up telephone service. Mantangi described the efforts to swing some extra satellite capacity to Tonga as being performed by smart, young, and adventurous Tongans. Most Tonga residents needed to wait  sometimes for hours  to use the satellite facilities, and they could use them for only a brief time. Tongas Health Ministry Chief Siale Akauola reported they lost contact with government stations on Tongas outer islands because of the communication disruption. There are areas that are critical, and most of them need confirmation of supplies and when goods and supplies are arriving, Akauola said. Tongas tourism business is also heavily-dependent on internet access. In addition to losing internet service, international telephone calls and processing credit card payments were also inoperative. To help, the local telephone company in Nukualofa set up internet hotspot locations for residents to use. Bandwidth was limited; essential services were placed on a high priority. Local officials blocked social media sites, such as YouTube and Facebook, which used too much bandwidth. Local business owners were lined up at these hotspots and were able to place orders, process payments, and respond to their online customers, albeit at extremely slow data speeds. Not only were businesses losing money, individuals needing to process money transfers and deposit payments into banks from abroad were also affected. Many suppliers were unable to get their orders out on time; as there were many disruptions. The business houses were in serious trouble, especially in the first few days. The banks, as well as the airlines, the government ministries that are responsible, for example, for issuing certificates and licenses, etcetera, had a difficult time, said Mr. Senituilia, a Tonga government spokesperson. Since access to the internet was limited; many people reverted to a time before there were internet and web access. They began talking with each other face-to-face, they were going outside without a smartphone, and people were verbally socializing (instead of texting) at the local food and drink establishments. If you have ever lost your internet connection for an extended period, you understand the frustration of not being able to access the online content and websites on the internet. Being online has become part of our daily lives: texting, emails, social media, online banking, and booking hotels, car rentals, and airfare. We Google, watch videos, and check online news sources using the internet and web. Ive become so dependent on my smartphone, I would feel uncomfortable without it. However, I digress. What caused the severed submarine cable? Tonga officials believe a large ship dragging its anchor along the bottom of the South Pacific Ocean cut the submarine cable, causing the communications disruption. The repairs to the Tonga fiber-optic submarine cable were completed Feb. 2, and internet and communications services were fully restored to the residents. There are a lot of people trying to catch up today. Its good to be back, said Paula Taumoepeau, president of Tongas Chamber of Commerce. TeleGeography provides a regularly updated and interactive global submarine cable map, free to the public, at https://www.submarinecablemap.com. Be sure to visit my weblog at https://bitscolumn.blogspot.com.
The Parliaments Administration Committee and Constitutional Law Committee will re-examine the bills to determine if they and the statements issued on them are in compliance with the constitution.

PAULA RISIKKO (NCP), the Speaker of the Parliament, has confirmed that the bills for new civilian and military intelligence laws will be submitted for further review to two parliamentary committees.

The bills were to be discussed during a plenary session in the Finnish Parliament on Wednesday. The Parliaments Administration Committee, however, withdrew the bills from the agenda only hours before the session in response to the emergence of concerns that it had failed to take into account observations made by the Constitutional Law Committee.

Related posts: Finnish Parliament calls unexpected timeout on civilian and military intelligence laws (14 February, 2019)

Risikko on Thursday said the issue would have been considerably easier to resolve had the statement not been added to the agenda of the session.

If the statement hadnt been put on the table, the committee couldve fixed it itself by sending it to the Constitutional Law Committee. This is a difficult situation for us in the sense that the statement had been put on the table, she lamented.

The debate was apparently kindled by Juha Lavapuro, a professor of public law at the University of Turku, and Martin Scheinin, a professor of international law and human rights at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Lavapuro and Scheinin tweeted last week that the proposal on civilian network traffic intelligence violates the constitutional provisions on mass surveillance, discrimination and search terms.

Timo Tuovinen, a deputy secretary general at the Finnish Parliament, said the Constitutional Law Committee had specifically stipulated that the bills had to be amended in regards to the prohibition of discrimination and mass surveillance.

Both Tuovinen and Risikko also conceded that the observations made by the legal experts may also apply to the bill for military intelligence.

The definitions and prohibitions for military and civilian intelligence are identical, and if youre now calling into question [the bill for] civilian intelligence, its logical that we also examine the legislative preconditions for military intelligence, explained Tuovinen.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Source: Uusi Suomi
The Finnish government adopted an ambitious strategy for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in December 2012, stating that the main objective of the strategy is to halt biodiversity loss in Finland by 2020.

FINLAND will be unable to fulfil its commitment to stop biodiversity loss by 2020, concedes Kimmo Tiilikainen (Centre), the Minister of the Environment.

The strategy lays out a variety of measures to implement commitments made two years earlier at a meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Emma Kari (Greens) asked Tiilikainen in the Parliament on Thursday whether it is time to admit that the country will be unable to halt the degradation of biodiversity by the end of the year, despite its promises to do so.

Kari drew attention to a recent report on the vulnerability of natural habitats in Finland.

The report is a bleak read. Almost half of habitat types in the entire country are vulnerable; all traditional habitat types were deemed vulnerable, while forest habitat types were the second worst off, she highlighted. Yet, Finland has committed to stopping the degradation of biodiversity by 2020, meaning by the end of this year.

Would it be time to admit that, as a consequence of the policies introduced, Finland wont be able to meet the objective this year?

Tiilikainen admitted that that is indeed the case.

Finland, just like other countries, definitely wont be able to meet the global objective of halting biodiversity loss by 2020, he conceded. We must admit that.

Finland, he also pointed out, is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of its knowledge about natural habitat types. Ignorance is bliss: were exceptionally knowledgeable when it comes to the development of species and living habitats, and those results are definitely alarming, said Tiilikainen.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Source: Uusi Suomi
(Bloomberg) Activist hedge fund managers are too passive when it comes to gender equality. Of the 143 board members who were nominated by activist hedge funds in 2018, just 19, or 13 percent, were women, according to a new study from Activist Insight. That compares with about a third of all board members who were nominated last year. The 13 percent does appear to be a bit of an improvement. In early 2016, Bloomberg reported that just 5 percent of all activist nominees had been women during the previous five years. Still, in a year when there was a heightened awareness about the long-standing inequality of women in the workplace, activist investors could have been expected to make a bigger push for board equality.

To read this article:
DEMONSTRATING THE SAFE WAY to swaddle a baby with the new Sleep Sack, are nurses Laura Strainer, left, and Marina Hoffman at the "pregnancy celebration" at Peterson Regional Medical Center.
Hastings, NE (68901)

Today

Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
ODYSSEY IMPACT is launching a national faith-based social impact campaign for the award-winning documentary THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR. This initiative aligns with Black History Month (February), Women's History Month (March), and Sexual Assault Awareness Month (April).

Committed to sharing compelling true stories that expose social justice issues in our society, Odyssey Impact is steadfast in creating materials and facilitating film screenings that will empower the faith community to open dialogue and build a culture of positive change that will impact generations to follow.

THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR received critical acclaim during a run at film festivals around the world, including a nomination for Best Documentary at the 2018 NAACP Image Awards and the Special Prize for Human Rights at the 2017 Venice Film Festival. The story of Recy Taylor also earned unexpected media interest after being included in Oprah Winfrey's historic speech at the 2018 Golden Globes Awards.

"A true Civil Rights pioneer, Recy Taylor's life is a powerful glimpse into some of the horrific truths of our past, as well as a call to continue the fight against abuse and injustice that continues today," shares Nick Stuart, President and CEO of Odyssey Impact and Transform Films. "We believe that bringing her story of bravery to a new audience will motivate a commitment to continuing the fight for social justice in our communities."

THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR shines a spotlight on the culture of physical abuse that was a common reality to women in 1944 Alabama. When Recy Taylor was just 24 years old, she was gang-raped by six teenage white boys as she was walking home from church. While the vast majority of women stayed silent after their attacks, fearing for both their lives and the lives of their families, Recy, a black wife, mother, and sharecropper chose to not stay silent. She bravely stood up for her rights, reported the crime, and publicly identified her rapists. The NAACP sent their chief rape investigator, Rosa Parks, to investigate. Parks had also been the victim of an attempted rape, and she fought tirelessly to rally support, raise awareness, and establish a nationwide community that demanded justice.

Stuart continues, "At Odyssey Impact, we are passionate about sharing powerful stories of social justice through compelling documentaries. We know that social change is possible when we can raise awareness, change attitudes, and begin meaningful conversations. The faith community is uniquely poised to use these stories to bring a spirit of healing, support, understanding, and lasting change in their individual communities."

The national social impact initiative around THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR is designed to engage and inform the public about sexual violence against women, underscore the historical trauma faced by Black women during the Jim Crow South era, and examine the structural racism still affecting women today. Focused on encouraging a new dialogue and sparking positive change, Odyssey Impact has developed numerous resources and discussion guides to accompany the film, which will be available for download to help facilitate events by local grassroots organizations. A community toolkit, surveys, and local organizing tools are additional components provided to assist with educational and community outreach. For information, go to www.odyssey-impact.org.

"By taking a tactical approach to connect faith leaders, congregations, students and other key audiences with tools to participate in candid conversations about rape culture and race, Odyssey Impact hopes to reframe the dialogue, promote healing for victims and spur real change," said Melissa Potter, Head of Social Impact and Communication, Odyssey Impact.

THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR is dedicated to the countless women whose voices have not been heard. It is in memory of Recy Taylor, who is featured in the documentary but who passed away on December 28, 2017, just days before her 98th birthday.

THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR was produced by AUGUSTA FILMS and TRANSFORM FILMS, an affiliated production company of Odyssey Networks. For more information about the film and to view a trailer, visit www.therapeofrecytaylor.com.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH: To host a screening or download resources and discussion guides to engage in community and educational outreach, go to www.odyssey-impact.org/the-rape-of-recy-taylor.

About ODYSSEY IMPACTTM ODYSSEY IMPACTTM, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, believes that powerful documentaries with messages of social justice can motivate meaningful social change by raising awareness, changing attitudes and inspiring people of all faiths and good will to engage their communities on issues important in their lives and in society as a whole. The organization is dedicated to strategically building and executing social impact campaigns around documentaries, including those created by its affiliated production company TRANSFORM FILMS INC., via mobilizing faith leaders, individuals, and communities around issues such as poverty, mass incarceration, gun violence, intolerance, racial justice, hate crimes, and gender violence. More info at www.Odyssey-Impact.org.

About TRANSFORM FILMSTRANSFORM FILMS INC. is a wholly-owned subsidiary and affiliated production company of Odyssey Networks, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that believes powerful documentaries with messages of social justice can motivate meaningful social change by raising awareness, changing attitudes and inspiring people of all faiths and good will to engage their communities on issues important in their lives and in society as a whole. Transform Films, Inc. have produced films such as NEWTOWN; MILWAUKEE 53206; THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR, and LESSONS FROM A SCHOOL SHOOTING: NOTES FROM DUNBLANE that have garnered critical acclaim at film festivals and have aired on broadcast outlets such as PBS' Independent Lens, America Reframed, STARZ Channel and Netflix. Recent accolades include the 2018 Peabody Award, the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival's Best Documentary Short, the 2018 UNAFF Grand Jury Award for Best Short Documentary, and the 2017 Venice International Film Festival Human Rights Award. More info at www.TransformFilmsInc.com.

Tags : THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR movie THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR film
Over 1,000 academically-qualified, reputable scientists have publicly signed a statement dissenting from Darwinism. The growing list available for download at includes respected scientists from the US National Academy of Sciences, Russian, Hungarian and Czech National Academies, as well as from universities such as Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and others.

The statement being signed, "A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism," is simple and straightforward:

"We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged.There is scientific dissent from Darwinism. It deserves to be heard."

Dr. F. LaGard Smith, author of the new book, "Darwin's Secret Sex Problem: Exposing Evolution's Fatal Flaw-The Origin of Sex," says one insoluble problem in particular is reason alone for serious scientific dissent.

"The most crucial problem with evolution that Darwin never acknowledged was natural selection's inability to bridge the gap between non-gendered asexual replication (mitosis) and fully-gendered sexual reproduction (requiring meiosis)," says Dr. Smith. "Natural selection could not have provided simultaneous, on-time delivery of the first compatible male/female pair of millions of sexually-unique species-in the absence of which evolution's bedrock assumption of common origin from lower to higher life forms could not possibly have happened. This is quietly acknowledged in the scientific community as the 'Queen of evolutionary problems'-the origin of sex-which, after countless studies, stubbornly defies evolutionary explanation."

Smith's research for "Darwin's Secret Sex Problem" led him to conclude that "evolution's bedrock thesis of microbe-to-man common descent is not science, but science fiction."

"Given the unique nature of gendered, sexual meiosis compared with non-gendered, asexual mitosis," Dr. Smith explains, "the first-ever generation of sexual reproduction would have required 1) a never-before-seen male organism and a novel female organism, 2) magically having compatible chromosomes, and 3) a death-defying process of precisely halving their chromosomes, mixing them together in a revolutionary way, and then recombining to produce, not a clone (as in asexual replication), but a unique offspring unlike any on the planet. Not to mention the minor details of geographic proximity and an evolved instinct to mate-all absolutely required in Round One of sex to start the sexual ball rolling."

An author of over 30 books, Smith is best known as the compiler and narrator of "The Daily Bible", which has sold over two million copies. But Smith says it was not his faith that was the catalyst for the book's thesis.

"As a believer, I'm naturally concerned about the moral and spiritual implications of any explanation for the existence of life that does not need God or heed God. The theory of microbe-to-man evolution is inherently godless, providing no foundation for either morality, social justice, or an afterlife for the soul. But it was not those concerns that ultimately prompted the writing of this particular book. Rather, it was what I sensed to be a fundamental problem with evolution science that led me into deeply researching its fatal flaw-namely, evolution's inability to explain the origin of sex."

About F. LaGard Smith:

After graduating from Willamette University School of Law in 1968 and serving for three years as District Attorney for Malheur County, Oregon, F. LaGard Smith has spent a career as a professor of law, principally at Pepperdine University School of Law. Smith is the author of over 30 books on a wide variety of legal, social and religious topics. He is most widely known as the compiler and narrator of the best-selling The Daily Bible. For five years, Smith was Scholar in Residence for Christian Studies at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. After serving as Visiting Professor of Law at Faulkner University's Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Alabama, Smith has now retired to write full time. Smith and his wife, Ruth, reside in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, but also spend time at their cottage in the rural Cotswolds, northwest of London, England. For more information, visit .

Tags : Dr. F. LaGard Smith Darwin's Secret Sex Problem: Exposing Evolution's Fatal Flaw-The Origin of Sex
BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- A Ministry of Education spokesperson on Friday said no academic misconduct would be tolerated, vowing firm actions in identifying and investigating such acts.

Xu Mei made the remarks while commenting on the suspected academic misconduct by Zhai Tianlin, a 32-year-old Chinese actor, who has a Ph.D. from the Beijing Film Academy and is a postdoctoral candidate at the Guanghua School of Management, Peking University. He has been accused of plagiarism over his doctoral research papers.

"The education ministry's stand on academic misconduct remains consistent, which is zero tolerance," Xu said, stressing that there is no place for actions of defying academic rules and undermining educational equity.

"I believe that the authorities concerned will continue investigations into the issue seriously, handle it in accordance with the law and rules, and make public progress in a timely manner," she added.

Both the Beijing Film Academy and the Peking University's Guanghua School of Management have launched investigations into the issue while Beijing municipal education authorities, as well as disciplinary inspection and supervision agencies, have also started supervision procedures.

In an apology letter posted online, Zhai said he was deeply sorry to the schools, teachers and the public for being dishonest.
Men's porn habits could fuel partners' eating disorders, study suggests

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A woman whose boyfriend or husband regularly watches pornography is more likely to report symptoms of an eating disorder, new research suggests.

The study is one of the first to look at how a romantic partner's behavior might be linked to the likelihood of a woman experiencing or engaging in such things as extreme guilt about eating, preoccupation with body fat, binging or purging.

In addition to finding an association between a partner's porn habits and eating disorder symptoms, the research also found a higher incidence of those symptoms in women who said they feel pressure from their boyfriends or husbands to be thin.

The study, led by researchers at The Ohio State University, appears in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

"We often talk about the influences of media, family and friends on eating disorders, but little has been done to determine how a partner's influence might contribute to a woman's disordered eating," said Tracy Tylka, a professor of psychology at Ohio State's Columbus and Marion campuses. "It's a gap in the research and if certain partner variables are risk factors we should be giving them more attention."

The study is also the first research of its kind to address these partner influences in women who are older and more likely to be in long-term relationships.

"The women who were part of this study had an average age of almost 34, and were from a broader demographic than the stereotypical white adolescent girl with anorexia," Tylka said.

"Disordered eating affects many people who do not fit this description - as many as 20 to 25 percent of women - and this study helps us better understand the influences on these women."

The participants, 409 U.S. women in relationships with men, answered a questionnaire designed to identify symptoms of eating disorders and answered questions about perceived pressure from the media and others (partners, friends and family) in their lives to lose weight and have a thin body. They also reported how many hours of pornography their current partner viewed per week, ranging from none to more than eight hours, and estimated how often their previous partners had viewed pornography on a scale ranging from never to almost always.

The researchers then analyzed the relationships between those responses and found a clear association between eating disorder symptoms and both perceived partner pressure to be thin and pornography use.

"In many categories of eating disorder symptoms, perceived pressure from a romantic partner to be thin appeared to be more detrimental than pressure from friends or family, or even the media," Tylka said.

And both partner pornography viewing and pressure to be thin appeared to be associated with a woman's disordered eating behavior even if she didn't idealize thinness, according to the study.

That's important to note, Tylka said, because women may be responding solely to what they think their partner values, even if they don't value that "thin body ideal" for themselves.

Tylka said she was interested in the potential relationship between partner pornography use and eating disorders because it could prompt women to feel pressured to aspire to unrealistic body types, or to "feel sexless because their partners are spending time with porn instead of connecting with them."

"The relationship between partner pornography use and disordered eating was stronger for this group of women than for college women we've previously studied. That could be because these women have had more relationship experiences, and these experiences have shaped their relationships with food and their perceptions of their bodies," Tylka said.

The study did not examine potential differences between women who watch pornography with their partners and those whose partners view pornography alone.

Tylka said further study is warranted in the area of partner influences on disordered eating among older women. Understanding these factors could help improve eating disorder prevention and treatment, she said.

"Some professionals are already advocating for integrating partners in eating disorder prevention and treatment, and these findings support this argument."

###

Rachel Calogero of Western University in Canada also worked on the study.

CONTACT: Tracy Tylka, 740-725-6384; Tylka.2@osu.edu

Written by Misti Crane, 614-292-5220; Crane.11@osu.edu

This story has been published on: 2019-02-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
News

Harmony key attribute of UAEs society

Even prior to becoming a part of the United Arab Emirates in 1971, Dubai always attracted expatriates from the Indian subcontinent. Not just skilled people but also non-skilled persons or businessmen from different parts of the sub-continent came here. The father of Praful P Dhakan, a 53-year-old Indian, was among those who reached Dubai on a ship after spending 5 days in the sea. Praful P Dhakan was born in 1969 in Dubai.


F1 is not about to scrap Friday practice.

That is the claim of Francois Dumontier, boss of the Canadian grand prix in Montreal.

This year, negotiations over the 2021 Concorde Agreement will be front and centre. There have been rumours the race weekend format, the points system, and restrictions on engineers' working times will be subject to change.

Dumontier tried to play down media reports of a 'war' between the race promoters and Liberty Media.

"It has been highlighted by the media, but what we did was more suggestions rather than any desire to make a revolution," he insisted.

On the potential changes, though, Dumontier said the least likely is the scrapping of Friday practice.

"The idea is there, we talk about it, but the deadlines are too short for that to happen," he told La Presse Canadienne.

"I can say that, two weeks ago in London, it was not even discussed," he said of a recent race promoters' meeting with Liberty Media.

A more likely change is to the current points system.

Lance Stroll, the Canadian driver for Racing Point, said he likes the idea of extending the points-getting positions all the way down to 15th.

"Every driver gives everything he has on the track, so I think every driver should be rewarded for his efforts on the track," he said.

(GMM)
Chris DeRusha, Michigan's new chief security officer, comes to the job with a strong resume.A Boston-area native, DeRusha (pronounced De-Russia), 38, toldhe spent most of his adult life in Washington, D.C., before relocating to Michigan with his wife, a native Michigander. According to his LinkedIn profile , DeRusha has a bachelors degree in international business and a masters in national security policy studies. After a five-year stint as the associate of a business consulting firm in China, DeRusha was hired in 2009 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, first as a special assistant to the deputy secretary, then as a cybersecurity strategist and then advisor to the deputy under secretary for cybersecurity.After nearly six years at DHS, he served as a senior cybersecurity advisor to the White House from 2015 to 2017. Then he went to Ford Motor Co. as an application security manager before joining the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget in 2018.The state's CIO, David DeVries, stepped down Jan. 1, and DTMB spokesman Caleb Buhs said the state is conducting a nationwide search for his replacement.DeRusha called Michigans cybersecurity outlook pretty good, commending the states centralized IT department as the best way to implement standard practices across other agencies. He also said Michigan is a state-level leader in the way it has organized specific teams in its security operations center, as well as in its security accreditation process which documents security requirements for every new project, a federal idea ported over by DeVries.DeRusha said most states have robust security for their central agencies by now, but many are still working out the best ways to collaborate with local governments and private companies, and he believes Michigan has been forward-thinking on that front, too. Since about 2013, DeRusha said, he has been conducting monthly CISO kitchen cabinet meetings, involving a brain trust of about 40 CISOs or similar titles from Michigan companies and local governments who convene a few times a year to share best practices and information.Between that, the Michigan State Police and the National Guards local resources, DeRusha said his task will be building around the strong core of cybersecurity already in place.Its really about strengthening the whole ecosystem, he said.He pointed to one of DTMBs leading initiatives in 2017, the Michigan Cyber Civilian Corps of about 100 volunteer experts, as evidence this is already underway.The concept there is, in a time of emergency, you can deploy these resources to the under-resourced to ensure that, if a local municipality is delivering an essential service or has a public utility, and they dont have the resources or knowledge to get back up  these are some professionals who can do that, he said.
Chris Cruz, a longtime IT leader in California state government, is resigning from his position as deputy CIO and chief deputy director of the Department of Technology.Cruz, 54, toldsister publication, on Feb. 14 that he's taking the position of CIO and IT director for San Joaquin County. He'll leave the state at the end of March.Reaction to the news of Cruz's resignation came quickly Thursday afternoon."Chris Cruzs leadership as deputy CIO has been beneficial and significant to the state and to me personally," said Secretary Marybel Batjer of the Government Operations Agency, which encompasses CDT. "His knowledge and sound counsel will be sorely missed. I wish him all the best in his new position, as he continues building upon his tremendous experience.Cruz's immediate boss, state CIO and CDT Director Amy Tong, echoed Batjer's sentiment: "Chris Cruz has been a valuable asset to CDT during his four-year tenure as chief deputy director and deputy state CIO. I am sure he will bring that same value and dedication to his new position as IT director and CIO for the county of San Joaquin. We thank him for his past service and wish him the very best.In his 27-year career in government and business IT, Cruz has won numerous awards and accolades for leadership. The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) in October named him one of three recipients of a NASCIO State Technology Innovator Award, which honors outstanding individuals who have made contributions to advance state technology policy through the promotion of best practices, adoption of new technologies and advancements in service delivery."As deputy CIO for the state of California, Chris Cruz is a visionary leader in digital technology for the department, the state and the nation," NASCIO said in bestowing the award. "From driving SaaS [Software-as-a-Service] solutions and a single statewide email solution to serving as an ambassador both at home and across the country, Chris has been instrumental to Californias continued success."Cruz has been a leading advocate within state government for several principles of IT governance: organizational change management, agile development, recruiting and retention of personnel and aligning state agencies' IT needs with their business missions.While with CDT, Cruz and Tong oversaw nearly 1,000 staff and more than 130 CIOs within the executive branch; they also managed an operating budget of $300 million and had co-statutory responsibility for Californias $3 billion IT project portfolio.Before his appointment to his current CDT position in June 2015, Cruz held top IT leadership positions with the state Department of Public Health, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Health Care Services.Cruz received the 2015 Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers award from; the 2013 Best of California Demonstrated Leadership in Management of IT Award; the 2011 Outstanding CIO Leader Award; the 2010 Innovation and Vision Award; and the Center for Digital Governments* 2009 Outstanding CIO Leader of the Year Award.But the San Joaquin County opportunity "was just too good a job to pass up," Cruz said."The people and environment in San Joaquin County impressed me," he said in an interview Thursday. "I'm looking forward to working with my new team. I'm excited to be joining the family and continuing their success in innovation, technology and security."The San Joaquin County CIO position had been held by Jerry Becker for 12 years until he was promoted in October to assistant county administrator. Becker and his team in San Joaquin County have won numerous accolades for achievement in the public sector, includingmagazines CIO 100 Award, Computerworld Laureate, Top Ten County  Digital Counties Survey by the Center for Digital Government, and the Center for Digital Governments Best of California  Project Excellence Award.San Joaquin County in December made public its recruitment for an "innovative and dynamic" successor to Becker  himself an award-winning CIO before he was promoted last year.Successful candidates will have experience leading the business of information technology in a large complex organization, and be a transformative leader and business partner with exceptional interpersonal, customer service, and verbal communication skills, said the countys job posting.Because the state and San Joaquin County have reciprocity, Cruz's retirement benefits will follow him, and he needn't return to state service in the future in order to maintain his health care and other benefits. The Folsom resident said he'll commute to the new job, which is about an hour's drive each way.Cruz has a bachelor's degree in business management from California State University, Sacramento and a master's in leadership management from the University of California, Davis.The CIO and deputy CIO positions are gubernatorial appointees, and no decision has been announced about Cruz's successor.Government Technology's
(TNS)  The drone industry is growing, and local schools are getting on board by providing training on what the Federal Aviation Administration calls UAS  Unmanned Aircraft Systems.The demand for drone pilots is skyrocketing, with predictions of a $250 billion industry worldwide this year, according to a news release from Grossmont College.For the second straight year, Grossmont will offer free training in drone piloting to qualified students because of a $6 million federal Americas Promise grant through the U.S. Department of Labor.Grossmonts free noncredit program starts in March and ends in June and drones are provided during the training.It will be open to U.S. citizens who are at least 18 years of age. According to the release, the schools program is geared to veterans, Native Americans, military spouses, ex-offenders, women, high school students and the unemployed and underemployed.Grossmont notes that drone training can cost as much as $3,000 in the private sector.The comprehensive instruction through Grossmonts Career Technical Education division is designed to train novices to become FAA-certified commercial drone pilots with skills to pursue jobs or to become self-employed.We place great importance on recognizing hot new careers and ensuring that our students have the tools they need to forge ahead, Grossmont College President Nabil Abu-Ghazaleh said in the release.Drones are becoming more prevalent, from package deliveries to aerial photography to defense applications  with more potential career opportunities coming in the new industry.Javier Ayala, dean of career and technical education and workforce development at Grossmont, said that contract work for one-time jobs such as industrial inspections can pay from $30,000-$60,000 for a six- to nine-month period, depending on experience and the nature of the mission.Starting wages for in-house drone operators range from $25-$35 an hour to $60-$100 an hour for fully trained pilots with three or more years of experience. Grossmonts program prepares graduates for both contract and salaried jobs.According to a 2013 report by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, by 2025, more than 100,000 jobs will be created in the field. In California, the number of drone-related jobs is expected to climb to 18,000, about a 400 percent increase since 2012.Grossmonts drone technology program is comprised of two separate tracks. Interested applicants should register by Feb. 18 for the Surveying and Mapping track and register by Feb. 26 for the Cinematography track.
San Jose, Calif., Looks to Approve Initial Funding for Broad Digital Equity Work

Indianas Management Performance Hub Releases Its Annual Report

Code for America Continues to Launch New Brigades Across the Country

Incubator Launches in Dallas to Support Urban Transformation Through Technologies

Little Rock, Ark., Hosts Second Annual Open Data Day

Wayne County, Mich., which is home to Detroit, has deployed a new kiosk-based system for property tax payment that allows its residents to pay their bills over time, rather than in one lump sum.Local media reported on the kiosk system this week, which is relatively simple. The kiosks, of which there are more than 50 located throughout the city in places like Rite Aid stores, allow residents to pay their taxes with cash, thereby avoiding having to pay through a mortgage company. These kiosks have been active in Detroit since 2016, when the program launched with kiosks in 24 places.That number has now increased, and a map of kiosk locations can be found here. Also, Wayne County residents can now put away money toward their property taxes throughout the summer and winter seasons, chipping away at large property tax bills if they so choose, rather than having to pay all of their taxes in one lump sum. This program was first created to make it easier for residents who dont have bank accounts or credit cards to pay their taxes with actual cash without having to make a trip in person to downtown city hall.This is not the first deployment of bill-paying kiosks in Wayne County. The county has also made it so that residents can pay their water bills and sewage costs to the county in cash without incurring an inconvenient trip or an extra fee. The kiosks are spread throughout the city, located in governmental offices as well as in grocery and drug stores too.San Jose, Calif. is looking to step up its digital equity efforts.The city is doing so, local media reports, by emphasizing efforts to support the Digital Inclusion Fund, informed as it was by feedback from students who were struggling to get the access to technology needed in order to thrive in school. Now, the city council in San Jose is looking to partner with the California Emerging Technologies Fund in order to raise money for an initial round of grants that would total $1 million.In addition to grant-making, this digital equity effort is likely to include support for computer lab classes for local students as well as for their parents, wherein participants will learn about Internet safety and other increasingly vital subject matter for the modern world. In addition, San Joses digital equity efforts seek to expand access to the Internet for residents. An estimated 95,000 households in the city do not currently have it.Other digital inclusion efforts that could be bolstered by the fund include expanded Wi-Fi hot spots in public gathering spaces, increased hardware checkouts at the public library and even potential private-sector partnerships with local tech companies.The fund is supported in part by broadband companies that have paid small cell usage fees in order to update city infrastructure. The aforementioned California Emerging Technologies fund that the city is also partnering with was created as a public benefit in 2005 out of corporate mergers that involved industry giants AT&T and Verizon.Indianas Management Performance Hub (MPH) has released its 2018 annual report , wherein Indiana Chief Data Officer Darshan Shah and other internal agency stakeholders present info about the successes of data-driven work in the state.This report is the culmination of an 18-month effort that saw the performance hub team building culture change, internal relationships and a data-driven framework. The goal in Indiana has been  as it is for many other state governments  to create lasting ways to leverage governmental data as an asset, be it through driving governmental decision-making or through fostering trust with the public. As Shah notes in the reports introduction, the MPH nationally stands alone as a sole independent state agency aimed at creating a data-driven culture throughout its 70 internal partner agencies.MPH first become codified as an independent agency in July 2017 via the Indiana Open Data Act. The hub, according to the report, has yielded a return on investment of more than $4.50 for every $1 from taxpayers, which totals an $18 million overall savings benefit for the state. The work done by MPH has been related to combating the nations ongoing opioid epidemic with data, Medicaid optimization and the creation of a transparency portal in partnership with the state auditors office, among other things.Looking ahead, the report notes that anticipated priorities for 2019 will include education/workforce needs for the Governors Workforce Cabinet, continuing to combat the opioid epidemic and streamlining access to government services via technology.Code for America has continued to launch new brigades across the country in recent months, with chapters now located in diverse places ranging from southern Indiana to Fresno, Calif.Code for America, for the uninitiated, is a nonprofit and nonpartisan group aimed at helping government find ways to use technology to better serve its constituents. The brigade program is essentially a satellite network of local groups that seek to do the same thing in their individual communities. With the most recent additions, there are now 71 total brigades spread throughout the U.S.The first new addition to Code for Americas brigade network is called Code for Kentuckiana , and its located in Louisville, Ky., with a wider reach throughout southern Indiana as well. That chapters first meeting is tentatively scheduled for March 9, and interested parties can sign up here . On the other side of the country, another new brigade has sprung up in Californias Central Valley, specifically in Fresno. Dubbed Code for Fresno , that groups first meeting is slated for Feb. 28.This expansion comes after a $2 million investment from the Knight Foundation in August to support the next phase of brigade development. A blog from Code for America at the time noted that the support from the Knight Foundation for the brigade network would go toward expanding its capacity and establishing advisory councils to amplify its impact within communities.In addition, the money would enable the group to create a redesigned fellowship model with a deeply local focus.The Dallas Entrepreneur Center (The DEC), a nonprofit group aimed at driving innovation by helping businesses grow and get started, has announced a new smart cities incubator to be housed in its flagship West End location.The project, dubbed the Innov8te Smart Cities Incubator, involves a wide range of collaborators from many sectors, including AT&T, Cisco, Microsoft, the University of Texas at Dallas and the Dallas Innovation Alliance. In a statement, Alyce Alston, CEO of the DEC, said her group is thrilled to support the great work that the Dallas Innovation Alliance has done in partnership with the City of Dallas and its collaborators through the Smart Cities Living Lab and the Dallas Innovation District.The incubator is essentially taking a regional approach to bolstering the tech ecosystem within the city, with its stated mission of supporting and highlighting companies focused on building tech products related to data analytics and visualization, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, machine learning and augmented or virtual reality.Startups participating in the incubator will get exclusive access to educational programs, mentoring, networking events, programming, services and connections to larger corporations. There will also be new programs and events that are open to the broader Dallas community offered through the incubator.Interested parties can find more information, as well as applications to participate, here. Little Rock, Ark., is preparing for its second annual open data day, which gives members of the community a chance to learn more about the citys open data efforts.The event is slated for 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., March 2 at the Willie L. Hinton Neighborhood Resource Center in Little Rock, and it will include info about how to better access data sets such as the number of potholes in a certain area, how frequent certain code violations are in certain parts of the city, planning permits that have been issued, and the always popular police activity data.The event is open to anyone who is interested, including residents, students and members of the media. Participants will learn more about Little Rocks open data portal, its Citizen Connect program and its mapping applications sites, all through a series of hands-on activities such as data scavenger hunts.All you need to bring is your tablet or laptop and your curiosity and join us for our Second Annual Open Data Day event in Little Rock, Melissa Bridges, the citys performance and innovation coordinator, told local media. It is an opportunity to reach more of our community and teach them about the information resources they have available and potentially build new, innovative solutions to issues in our city using open data.Interested parties can register for the event here
Description

 GIS  15 Feb 2019: The adoption of a new list of 23 countries with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing frameworks was announced by the European Commission, in a Press Release issued on 13th February 2019. Mauritius is not in the European Commissions blacklist.

According to a communique published by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development yesterday, the European Commissions new list not only confirms that Mauritius has in place the necessary legal framework and controls to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing risks but also underscore the effectiveness of their implementation.

Mauritius has recently adopted a development strategy for its financial services sector which is based on continuous improvement, transparency and compliance with international norms and standards. It will continue to do so to ensure the sound repute and credibility of our jurisdiction.

It is recalled that the list has been established on the basis of an analysis of 54 priority jurisdictions, which was prepared by the European Commission in consultation with the Member States and made public on 13 November 2018. The countries assessed meet at least one of the following criteria: they have systemic impact on the integrity of the EU financial system; they are reviewed by the International Monetary Fund as international offshore financial centres; and they have economic relevance and strong economic ties with the EU.

For each country, the European Commission assessed the level of existing threat, the legal framework and controls put in place to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing risks and their effective implementation. It concluded that 23 countries have strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering/ counter terrorist financing regimes.

The 23 jurisdictions are: Afghanistan, American Samoa, The Bahamas, Botswana, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guam, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, US Virgin Islands, and Yemen.





Government Information Service, Prime Ministers Office, Level 6, New Government Centre, Port Louis, Mauritius. Email: gis@govmu.org Website:http://gis.govmu.org


Description

 GIS  15 Feb 2019: The Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Manohar Lal, met the Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, External Communications and National Development Unit and Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, yesterday, at the New Treasury Building in Port Louis. Discussions focused on several avenues of cooperation in various sectors of the economy, including tourism, manufacturing and education.

Chief Minister Lal is currently on a three-day visit in Mauritius in the context of the International Gita Mahotsav, hosted for the first time outside India.

In a statement, Mr Lal highlighted that the meeting with the Prime Minister was cordial and fruitful. He further underlined that discussions cut across several spheres of the economy including collaboration in the sugar industry, adding that India can take advantage of the Mauritian technology and expertise in this sector, which according to him, are very advanced.

He reiterated Prime Minister Jugnauths appreciation for the holding of the International Gita Mahotsav in Mauritius and that both countries will continue to assist each other in the cultural field.



Government Information Service, Prime Ministers Office, Level 6, New Government Centre, Port Louis, Mauritius. Email: gis@govmu.org Website: http ://gis.govmu.org




Didi Chuxing, China's largest ride-hailing company, said Friday that it will slash 15 percent of its total staff, or about 2,000 employees, this year, as part of a broader push to focus on its most important ride-hailing business while shutting down or transferring peripheral business.

At the same time, the Beijing-based company will recruit about 2,500 new employees to boost its capabilities in safety technology, products, driver management, globalization and other areas.

Overall, its total number of employees will stand at 13,000 by the end of 2019, maintaining the level of 2018, the company said.

Cheng Wei, Didi's CEO, said the company will step up investment into safety and compliance as well as boosting efficiency while getting ready for a "winter".

Didi said the layoffs will involve staff with overlapping positions or underperforming employees.
The Tipping Point

'Put a Face on Affordable Housing'

Charlotte has a housing problem.The largest city in North Carolina, home to a growing financial sector, is short 34,000 affordable housing units to meet demand, according to a city report released in late 2016.With those challenges in mind, Charlotte has embarked on a comprehensive approach to create more affordable housing. Last fall, the city more than tripled the amount of money it asked residents to approve in bond funding for the citys housing trust fund.Typically, Charlotte has gone to residents every two years and asked for support in the form of $15 million in bond funding. But in 2018, Charlotte asked for and received voter approval for $50 million in bond funding.The city will use some of its additional bond money to acquire property adjacent to transit and commercial centers, pair the housing trust fund dollars with federal Community Development Block Grant funds to create mixed-income housing, expand the development of rental housing through Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and ensure that publicly funded developments set aside at least 20 percent of units for families earning less than 30 percent of the areas median income.Since the housing fund was created in 2001, the city has pumped more than $136 million into the construction of low-income housing through grants offered to developers to build the units. Across the city, more than 7,000 units have been built and rehabilitated since the fund was launched. More than 3,000 of those units are affordable to families earning less than 30 percent of the areas median household income, or $22,250 per year.Two events in recent years added a sense of urgency to the city's housing crisis.The first was the 2014 release of a national report that ranked Charlotte dead last among the nations 50 largest cities in terms of economic mobility. According to the report, which was released jointly by Harvard University and the University of California, children who were born poor in Charlotte had less of a chance to escape their economic conditions than did children in cities such as Detroit, Milwaukee and New Orleans, where the poverty rates are more than twice as high.Then in 2016, Charlotte police officers shot and killed an African-American man named Keith Lamont Scott; video footage of the shooting sparked days of protests across the city.Pamela Wideman, director of housing and neighborhood services for the city of Charlotte, says the shooting and the economic mobility report were a tipping point. Together, the two events prompted officials to look at how poor residents, especially poor black residents, could be better integrated into Charlotte's economic growth.The city and its surrounding county formed the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Opportunity Task Force. The work of the task force culminated with a report released last summer , which called for a new, more multipronged approach to increasing affordable housing.The city has attracted more than 100,000 new households since 2000, notes the report, titled "Housing Charlotte." That's led to a housing crunch, and the increase in housing costs has outpaced increases in wages."While significant progress has been made over the past decade to increase the supply of affordable housing in Charlotte, the reality is that housing is becoming less affordable," the report concluded.We never want to concentrate the affordable housing in one area, Wideman says. What we should always do is create mixed-income neighborhoods.That's not always a welcome proposition. Cities can encounter pushback when they try to diversify the mix of housing options. That's why Charlotte has focused on humanizing the need for affordable housing."We are trying to serve people that come to work every day, our hospitality workers, our teachers, our firefighters, our police officers," Mayor Vi Lyles said last month in announcing a partnership between the city and Bank of America and other financial institutions to provide low-interest loans for approved people to rent or buy a home. "We're growing, and what we are trying to grow are neighborhoods, good families, good housing -- whether you choose to rent or to buy," said Lyles.City planning documents have also consistently focused on the need for housing options for teachers, firefighters and other lower-income residents.I think there will always be NIMBYism" from residents who don't want affordable housing options in their neighborhood, says Wideman. "One of the strategies is to put a face on affordable housing and change the way people talk about it. This is housing for the entry-level teacher or the entry-level public employee.
A year after the worst high school shooting in U.S. history, Gov. Ron DeSantis wants a grand jury to investigate possible wrongdoing on the part of Broward County schools.He announced the move Wednesday at the Broward County Courthouse, with bereaved families of Parkland victims standing shoulder to shoulder behind him. It came on the eve of the one-year mark of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, which killed 17 people and wounded 17 more last Valentine's Day.If the Florida Supreme Court accepts the petition by DeSantis, this would be the fourth time a grand jury has investigated the school district. The other grand juries were in 1997, 2003 and 2011 and focused largely on mismanagement and corruption related to school construction and facilities.The governor can only petition for a statewide grand jury, so the panel would review the actions of school districts across Florida. But the governor made it clear Wednesday this was about Broward schools."We know Broward has to be looked at. I don't know if Hamilton County needs to be," he said. "There's more evidence in Broward than other districts."The 18-member grand jury -- which could be impaneled for a year -- will have subpoena power. It will look specifically at:-- Whether refusal or failure to follow the mandates of school-related safety laws results in unnecessary and avoidable risk to students across the state.-- Whether public entities committed fraud by accepting state funds for safety measures while failing to act.-- Whether school officials mismanaged, failed to use or diverted funds from multimillion-dollar bonds specifically solicited for school safety initiatives.-- Whether school officials violated state law by systematically underreporting incidents of criminal activity to the Florida Department of Education.Reporting by the South Florida Sun Sentinel uncovered many of those problems. In December, the Sun Sentinel reported that Florida's school districts are hiding countless crimes that take place on campus, defying state laws and leaving parents with the false impression that children are safer than they are.This week, the newspaper reported that Broward schools turned down a proposal in 2013 to levy $55 million in tax dollars for school safety and promised a series of school safety improvements that never took place.The district also has been criticized repeatedly for its handling of the Parkland shooter's education, its withholding information from the public and its failure to deliver on promises for security upgrades and school renovations from a 2014 voter-approved $800 million bond referendum.DeSantis sees the grand jury as a sequel to the work of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission, which was appointed by former Gov. Rick Scott to investigate the tragedy and issued its findings nearly a year later. The grand jury will have a broader scope and broader subpoena power, DeSantis said.Many of the Parkland families have demanded that schools Superintendent Robert Runcie be removed from office, but DeSantis stopped short of suspending Runcie or school board members.DeSantis said that he didn't have the authority to suspend Runcie, an appointed official, and that removing board members could overstep his authority. Four incumbents -- three of whom support Runcie -- were re-elected recently following campaigns in which school safety and the superintendent's performance were major issues, he said.In a statement Wednesday, Runcie emphasized that the grand jury would look at districts beyond Broward."I agree with Gov. DeSantis for wanting to know how all school districts in Florida manage money and security issues that impact school safety," Runcie said. "Broward County Public Schools welcomes any review or investigation that could result in improved safety and security in our own district and school districts across the state. What we learn individually and from each other will make us all better and will benefit our students and teachers."Several School Board members also voiced support for the investigation.Lori Alhadeff, who won a seat on the School Board after her daughter Alyssa was killed at Stoneman Douglas, was among the families standing next to DeSantis on Wednesday."The district is spiraling out of control," she said. "There has been a long history of incompetence of Superintendent Runcie. All I ever wanted was the truth, justice and change."Board member Robin Bartleman, who has also been critical of Runcie, said: "I welcome the investigation. We need to do everything we can to make sure we're keeping our children safe and executing the bond correctly."Donna Korn, who is part of the five-member majority that regularly supports Runcie, said she is open to making changes based on what the grand jury finds, but she believes the report will recognize the School Board has taken steps to improve safety. These include hiring a safety consultant, upgrading cameras and intercom systems and updating safety policies."I think a grand jury report will help to identify and delineate the full scope of the work we've been doing and continue to do," she said. "There's certainly a great deal more for us to do, but a good deal has been done."Korn said the grand jury also may uncover how the Legislature has diverted dollars that could have been used for safety upgrades.None of the six other School Board members could be reached Wednesday.Families of Stoneman Douglas victims praised the governor's action."Today is the beginning of the end of the possible corruption in the Broward County School Board," said Hunter Pollack, whose 18-year-old sister, Meadow, was killed. "It is clear there is a hornet's nest of failures that led to my sister's death. Gov. DeSantis has made a bold move, one that will ensure any wrongdoing will be brought to light."Ryan Petty, whose daughter Alaina was 14 when she was killed at the high school, called the grand jury "another facet of the search for the truth.""This is Ground Zero -- so why aren't we acting with all deliberate measures to make sure it doesn't happen again?""I wouldn't be surprised to see indictments," Petty said later.Royer Borges, father of shooting survivor Anthony Borges, said he was satisfied the governor was doing all within his power, but he wishes DeSantis could take quicker action. "Out with Runcie. Nobody wants him."Earlier in the day, at a news conference in Brevard County, DeSantis ordered an audit of school discipline programs. He instructed statewide law enforcement to develop a threat-assessment strategy for potential mass shooters, and he demanded that efforts be sped up to develop social media monitoring for threats. He also extended a deadline to allow sheriffs to tap into more than $50 million in unused funds for armed school guards.School officials and law enforcement ignored repeated clues and social media threats that the Stoneman Douglas gunman planned to shoot up a school."We are not where we need to be ... so we want to make sure that we are doing all we can so folks have safe schools," DeSantis said.He said the Legislature will need to act on other recommendations from the statewide commission investigating the shooting. The investigative panel wants classroom teachers to be allowed to carry guns if they voluntarily go through training.During his remarks in Brevard County, DeSantis said the state needs to develop best practices for discipline programs that have been created to divert students from the criminal justice system who are accused of minor offenses."When you don't have accountability in the schools, you are in effect teaching people there is not going to be accountability when you get out of the schools," DeSantis said.The programs are intended to divert children accused of minor offenses from the criminal justice system, but Broward County's Promise program came under scrutiny after the Parkland massacre.Critics say programs such as the one in Broward allow troubled students to slip through the cracks. The Sun Sentinel in May documented a culture of tolerance in Broward schools that allowed troublesome students to slide by for years without strict punishment for conduct that could be criminal.DeSantis said the deadline to apply for funds to station armed guards at schools was too short. The initial deadline of Aug. 1, 2018, has been extended to April 1.Twenty-five school districts and school systems have collaborated to implement guardian programs, DeSantis said.The governor criticized the Florida Department of Education and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for not creating a centralized system for monitoring social media threats. It was supposed to be done by Dec. 1, but it has not been done, DeSantis said. The agencies received $3 million for that program."I am not going to stand for bureaucratic ineptitude," DeSantis said.
Tennessee has become the first state in the South with a hate crime statute protecting transgender individuals.State Attorney General Herbert Slatery issued an opinion Feb. 8 in response to a question posed by Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville."A defendant who targets a person for a crime because that person is transgender has targeted the person because of his or her gender within the meaning" of the current state law that outlines sentence enhancements for hate crimes, Slatery wrote.Tennessee does not have an explicit hate crime charge, though the General Assembly in 2000 added a hate crime factor to judges' sentencing rules for crimes targeting a person based on race, religion, color, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry or gender.Slatery's decision affirms that transgender individuals should be covered under the existing law, but must still be tested in court in a case involving bias against a transgender victim.
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello on Thursday threatened legal action against President Trump if American citizens foot the bill for his long-desired border wall shortly after the White House said the president would issue an emergency declaration to secure funding for the structure."Is it now Puerto Rico and California (American Citizens) that will pay for the wall?" Rossello tweeted. "If this is the case, well see you in court."The governor's comments came in response to a September 2016 tweet in which Trump declared "Mexico will pay for the wall!" Trump had made that same pledge throughout the 2016 presidential campaign.
Prepared and Ready

Impact on Cities

President Donald Trump and Congress took the federal government to the brink of another shutdown this week. And yet again, states and cities had to prepare for the worst.Still reeling from the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, state and local officials once again had to grapple with how they might provide aid to their poorest residents, keep open national parks and deliver a host of other services without federal dollars.Already during Trumps tenure, there have been three government shutdowns, and the Democratic takeover of the U.S. House might make such impasses even more likely. The looming threat of future shutdowns has prompted some cities and states to create permanent safeguards, from emergency funds to keep national parks open to measures that would extend unemployment insurance and interest-free loans to help furloughed federal workers.Oregon, for example, is considering legislation that would provide unemployment benefits for essential federal employees, such as members of the Coast Guard, who are compelled to work without pay during shutdowns.During the last shutdown, Oregon state Rep. Tiffiny Mitchell, the author of the bill, saw a group of Coast Guard wives create a food pantry for struggling families of service members. If another shutdown hits, she wants to make sure those families are protected.Its incredibly frustrating for me, said the first-term Democrat. If the federal government isnt willing to provide stability to people, its then the responsibility of the state.Lawmakers in Maine are moving ahead with similar legislation that would apply to all federal workers. Those affected by any future shutdown in 2019 lasting longer than 14 days would be able to apply for up to $15,000 in interest-free loans through participating credit unions and banks.Maine state Sen. Heather Sanborn, who helped pass the legislation out of committee, said she expects the full Senate to pass the bill quickly. Lawmakers didnt want to wait for another government shutdown to have this debate, worried the wheels of state government move relatively slowly and federal workers would be hurt waiting for legislation to get through, the Democrat said.During the shutdown in January, states including Delaware and Rhode Island also considered aid packages that would have allowed federal workers to either apply for unemployment benefits, receive low- or no-interest loans through public-private partnerships or petition a court to have their rent or mortgage payments suspended during the shutdown. While most of these conversations ceased when the shutdown ended, Connecticut did pass a no-interest loan measure.Shutdowns have changed the way Minnesota budget officials oversee the states finances.Over the past six years, Minnesota Management and Budget has had to plan for a dozen potential federal government shutdowns  four of which took place. When Congress appears to be at an impasse and the state is at risk of losing federal dollars, the office puts together a statewide contingency and response team, to assess how long agencies can run with their current coffers and how soon they may have to begin layoffs.We treat shutdowns like we would any natural disaster, said Commissioner Myron Frans. We have to find out pretty quickly if were going to be able to provide all the services to Minnesotans.The damage to Joshua Tree National Park during this last government shutdown will be felt for at least 200 years, officials in Southern California said in late January. Left unprotected by a mostly furloughed staff, the trees were vandalized by some visitors.Many states, determined to prevent such damage and to avoid the loss of critical tourism dollars, dipped into their own pockets to keep their national parks open.At least one, Arizona, created a special fund in 2018 to ensure that its crown jewel, the Grand Canyon, will remain staffed and open no matter what the federal government does.During the most recent shutdown, Arizona spent more than $193,000 to keep the park open, for which the state was prepared and ready, said Patrick Ptak, communications director for Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. I dont think its any surprise that Washington is operating this way, Ptak said, and thats why we have plans like this in place.Cities are incredulous that the federal government repeatedly shutters, said Mike Wallace, National League of Cities program director for community and economic development.Many cities already are struggling because of stagnant federal funding, the result of automatic spending cuts enacted during the Obama administration. And cities now have less leeway to raise local taxes because residents can no longer deduct all of those payments on their federal returns, thanks to Trumps new tax law.Its out of their control, Wallace said. Cities rely on certainty from the federal government.Without that certainty, some cities are enacting ordinances designed to protect federal workers and temporarily prop up federally funded programs.During the last shutdown, Lancaster, California, implemented a series of assistance programs for federal workers, including deferring payments for various municipal fees like business licensing, parking citation and recreational programs. The city is prepared to trigger those programs once again should another shutdown hit.Salt Lake City just approved a new program that would draw money from the city's general fund to provide federal employees with up to $1,500 in a one-time, no-interest loan in the case of a future shutdownBut even the most extensive preparations cant protect states and localities from all the damage a shutdown causes. The most recent one drained tax revenue from regions across the country. Just around the nations capital, where 400,000 federal and contract employees work, D.C., Virginia and Maryland lost nearly $200 million in tax revenue.The 35-day shutdown pushed many cities and states to a financial breaking point. If there is ever another one that lasts longer, it will be nearly impossible for them to shield residents from the effects.When negotiations between congressional Democrats and Republicans werent going well late last week, the Michigan State Budget Office sent an email to department heads asking how long they could fund vital programs without a renewal of federal funds.The office did the same thing in December, at the outset of a shutdown that ended Jan. 25. Generally, the response from departments was that they could hold out for about 45 days.Unfortunately, its become so commonplace now, said Kurt Weiss, a spokesman for the Michigan office. Its a constant feeling of, Will we have another shutdown? Its just one of those looming things over your head that adds to the stress of the job.Kristen Cox, executive director of the Utah Governors Office of Management and Budget, used a harsher tone.Its so pathetic, Cox said. If theres another shutdown, we have to go into worst-case-scenario mode. We cant float these federal programs. Its not our job. I dont care what side of the aisle youre on  do your job.No federal shutdown, not even the recent record-breaker, has lasted so long that states have had to stop a federal aid program or use state dollars to keep it going, said John Hicks, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of State Budget Officers.But the threat of prolonged or repeated shutdowns risks states financial health, Hicks said. States must prepare for the possibility that a future shutdown might force them to furlough or temporarily lay off some of their own workers and use state money to pay for federal programs.Its a cloud, he said.And then there are the less tangible, but no less profound, effects of repeated shutdowns.Frans, at Minnesota Management and Budget, said shutdowns have had a corrosive effect on public confidence, damaging the brand of good government.People lose faith when you have these shutdowns, he said. People roll their eyes and dont differentiate between state and federal government.  They think all government doesnt work.
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Redfund Capital Corp (CSE: LOAN) (Frankfurt: O3X4) (OTC: PNNRF) (Redfund or the Company) provides corporate update plus first quarter client financing rundown.



Redfund Capital is pleased to announce Warren D. Cudney, CEO of Wahupta Ventures Inc. to our advisory team. He is recognized as a leader in corporate start-ups and is a speaker in the field of health and wellness, most recently specializing in the emerging hemp and CBD oil and isolate industry throughout North America and the world. As a top C level strategist in this field, Warren is intimately involved with strategic planning and implementation, as well as acting as a key team player in managing this highly specialized field from genetics to finished product development. He is devoted to industry-leading quality control, ensuring that the team vision and corporate goals are continuously met, and creating an environment that ensures excellence in the industry.

Wahupta has been creating a hemp buzz in the western Canadian prairie fields for almost 2 years. As released by Wahupta on January 11th 2019, in its first year in operation, Wahupta harvested an unparalleled 975 acres of hemp and amassed 2.5 million pounds of hemp biomass. Redfund has been advising Wahupta for the past year.

In our First Quarter, Redfund Capital has extended funds to three cannabis companies. The amounts Redfund has advanced to date under the loan facilities, which are specifically designed to be issued in tranches as the investee company advances and reports on its business plan. They are as follows:

RxMM Health, entered into a USD $500,000 promissory note on October 1, 2018 and were extended a first tranche of CDN $220,740.

Marys Wellness Ltd., entered into a CDN $1,000,000 promissory note on October 15, 2018 and were extended a first tranche of CDN $100,000.

Winterlife Inc., entered into a USD $1,000,000 promissory note on November 1, 2018 and were extended a first tranche of CDN $100,080.

Redfund Capital is in the process of converting portfolio client loans into equity positions and building our global brand. As an incubator, it is our role to help our clients increase their current valuations and grow organically to the next cycle in their lifespan. In prior press releases we indicated the intent of some portfolio companies to go public. Such disclosure indicates only their stated intentions to us, and each is responsible for making their way onto the public exchanges. We believe Wahupta may be the next breakout leader in the hemp sector, and with their vertical operations and farm to field to consumer vision we are very proud to have them as a client in our portfolio and welcome Warren to our advisory team, said Meris Kott, CEO.

About Wahupta Ventures Inc.

Wahupta Ventures Inc. is a privately held corporation owned and operated in Canada. Wahupta is headquartered in Canada and the US, with offices located in Winnipeg Manitoba, Burnaby British Columbia, Orange County California and Las Vegas Nevada. Wahupta is focused on the cultivation, production, processing, and extraction of hemp and cannabidiol (CBD), while simultaneously creating key collaboration with sovereign Indigenous communities throughout North America. It is Wahupta's core value to work with its partners to develop opportunities in communities that do not currently exist, and honor traditional values to addressing current conditions in their individual communities.

About Redfund Capital

Redfund intends to provide debt and equity funding in the mid-to-late stages of a target companys development, or in technologies that are developed and validated by revenues. The present focus of the merchant bank is on medical cannabis, hemp and CBD-related, healthcare-related target companies.

For further information please visit www.redfundcapital.com For more information on Redfund Capital contact Meris Kott CEO 604.484.8989 0r info@redfundcapital.comFurther information about the Company is available on www.SEDAR.com under the Companys profile.

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. Certain statements contained in this release may constitute forwardlooking statements or forward-looking information (collectively forward-looking information) as those terms are used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and similar Canadian laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words could, intend, expect, believe, will, projected, estimated, anticipates and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Companys current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to the business of the Company, the Property, financing and certain corporate changes. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.
File photo: Medical personnel from the medical detachment of the Chinese peacekeeping force to Lebanon were conducting a helicopter medical evacuation for a peacekeeper from Finland who suffered from cervical dislocation on November 27, 2018.

BEIRUT, LEBANON, Feb. 14 (ChinaMil) -- The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) carried out an emergency medical rescue drill codenamed Sector East Angels 2019-1 on Wednesday along the Blue Line that separates Lebanon and Israel. Peacekeepers from seven countries, including China, Spain, Indonesia and Nepal, participated in the drill. The medical detachment of the 17th Chinese peacekeeping force to Lebanon was responsible for reception, rescue, and medical evacuation during the drill.

On receiving the wounded, the Chinese medical staff classified the injuries according to their seriousness, and provided hemostasis, dressing and fixed treatment to the lightly wounded, while providing supervision, oxygen and venous access to the seriously injured. If the seriousness of the injured person exceeded the scope of the medical treatment available at this level, the Chinese medical staff would call for emergency airlift medical evacuation in accordance with the UNIFIL standard operating procedures, and transfer the injured to higher-level hospitals.

An officer from UNIFILs Sector East said, The Chinese military doctors have clear procedures for emergencies in the drill. Their treatment methods are professional and experienced, labor division is reasonable and orderly. It's worth learning.

The Sector East Angels drill is conducted on a quarterly basis, and is directly supervised by the Joint Command Center of UNIFIL's Sector East. The drill mainly relies on the medical teams from troop-contributing countries to provide emergency medical treatment and medical evacuation. The drills objective is to test the emergency rescue and coordinated support capabilities of the medical units of UNIFIL.

The Chinese medical detachment consists of 30 officers and soldiers, is responsible for medical treatment, emergency medical rescue and medical evacuation for more than 4,000 people in UNIFILs Sector East. At the same time, they often provide humanitarian medical assistance to local people.
TOKYO, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Foreign Minister Taro Kono will hold meetings with his South Korean and Russian counterparts on the sidelines of a security forum in Germany this week.

Kono is scheduled to have talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Friday amid worsening bilateral relations. A meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will likely take place on Saturday in Munich.

The latest tensions stem from remarks made by South Korean National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang insisting that Japan's Emperor Akihito apologize for the "comfort women," or wartime sex slaves issue.

At the scheduled meeting, Kono is expected to express Tokyo's protest again over the remarks by the speaker, who also said that Emperor Akihito is "the son of the main culprit of war crimes," and to demand the speaker retract the remarks and apologize.

The meeting between Kono and Lavrov was also arranged during their stay in Germany, according to Japanese government officials.

The two ministers are likely to try to propel talks toward concluding a postwar peace treaty in their imminent meeting.

However, huge differences between Tokyo and Moscow over the disputed islands off Hokkaido, known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, have clouded the outlook for an immediate breakthrough.
BRUSSELS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- A spokesperson for Huawei in the Czech Republic confirmed on Thursday that the company has sent a letter to the country's cyber regulator over the latter's warning over the products of the Chinese technology giant.

"We don't wish to escalate the situation further," said Magda Teresa Partyka, Huawei's spokesperson in the country.

Huawei is an employee-owned private company, which has evolved into the world's leading telecommunications equipment vendor and a market leader in Europe, helping mobile carriers build the information and communication infrastructure.

In December 2018, the Czech Republic's National Cyber and Information Security Agency, known as the NUKIB, sent a warning over Huawei's products, saying that Huawei represented a potential national security threat to the country's critical infrastructure.

Huawei has categorically rejected NUKIB's allegations.

On Feb. 8, media outlets including The New York Times reported that Huawei had sent a letter to the head of NUKIB asking for the warning to be rescinded, "adding that if they did not receive a reply by Feb. 14, they would take the matter to court."

While The New York Times report, which included no comment from Huawei, portrayed the letter as a "threat", Partyka, the spokesperson, described the letter as a way of communication.

"Yes, Huawei has sent a letter to NUKIB as we were trying to contact (them) to arrange a meeting to discuss the issue of the warning. Instead of a meeting, they prefer written communication, therefore we are communicating via letters," Partyka wrote in an email after being contacted by Xinhua, without elaborating on the content of the letter.

Asked whether Huawei has received a response from NUKIB, Partyka wrote "No, we haven't yet received NUKIB's reply to our letter. We expect to receive the reply."

"As we have expressed already, our goal is to have fair conditions to do business in the Czech Republic. We don't want our company to be discriminated against with no evidence. We are a reliable partner and we do not wish to escalate the situation further. We want to conduct our business here, deliver our products and services to our customers," she wrote.

The China-based company which also has a consumer business, producing smartphones and tablets, has maintained it does not pose a security threat, despite accusations by some western countries and politicians without any supporting evidence.
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MOSCOW, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Russia is ready to join mediation efforts to help end the Venezuelan crisis, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

"We have paid great attention to the mediation formula proposed by Mexico, Uruguay and Caribbean countries. It calls for a comprehensive all-inclusive dialogue without ultimatums and preconditions," Zakharova said at a news briefing.

"We believe that this initiative, as it was announced, deserves broad international support," she said.

Russia supports the broadest contacts on the Venezuelan issue and has consistently explained its position, Zakharova said.

She said that any attempt by the United States to make Russia change its position is hardly feasible as it is "not built on some short-term opportunistic considerations."

Russia respects international law and state sovereignty in line with the principles of the United Nations Charter and it therefore is ready for a dialogue with everyone, including the United States, on this basis, Zakharova said.

"We're not tired of saying: the task of the international community is to contribute to finding an understanding between different political forces in Venezuela," Zakharova said.

Venezuela has been experiencing political tensions since Jan. 23 when National Assembly President Juan Guaido declared himself interim president and was recognized by the United States and some other countries.

The Venezuelan government led by President Nicolas Maduro has expressed readiness to sit down with the opposition with no preconditions and seek a solution to the political crisis.
New Delhi: In the wake of the dastardly attack on Pulwama, which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawans, television actor Mohit Raina has supported the ban on the Pakistani artists.

Supporting Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar's stance on the ban on cultural exchange, Mohit told Pinkvilla, "I am happy they have said it, such statement coming from seniors and pioneers of the industry will be taken very seriously. We as a nation have to stand together right now and do our best to make the families of the departed soldiers feel we are with them at this moment of grief and sorrow. The government and the defense forces will do the needful for sure and give a befitting reply to the perpetrators."

Earlier, in a series of tweet Shabana had condemned the Pulwama attack. She wrote, "I am filled with pain and grief and all else ..by the dastardly #Pulwama Attack . For the 1st time in all these years, I feel weakened in my belief that people to people contact can force the Establishment to do the right thing. We will need to call halt to cultural exchange. There is no way we can carry on with cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan even as our martyrs are laying down their lives for us. I stand in solidarity with the grieving families. But let's not lose sight of d fact dat there is a difference between d Pakistani Establishment and people of Pakistan n vice versa. On both sides of d border stand sisters n brothers divided by circumstances with which they had nothing 2 do. (sic)."

Mohit Raina, who became a household name after essaying the role of Lord Shiva in Devo Ke Dev Mahadev, made his Bollywood debut with Vicky Kaushal starrer Uri: The Surgical Strike. The film became one of the highest grossers of 2019.
New Delhi: Actor Shahid Kapoor seems to can't get enough of his dearest wifey Mira Rajput, who is a mother to their two adorable kids. Mira, who few months back delivered her second child Zain Kapoor, has been regularly working out at a gym to shed all those extra kilos she gained during her pregnancy.

And guess what! She is getting a company from no one else but her dearest hubby Shahid Kapoor.

On Friday, both Shahid and Mira were clicked together post their gymming session. While Shahid made an appearance in an all-black casuals, Mira made for a pretty picture in a stylish white top, which she paired with purple jeggings.

Take a look:

(Photo courtesy: Yogen Shah)

Shahid and Mira often shared pictures from their outings on their respective Instagrams which leave their followers spellbound every time.

Recently, Shahid, along with his stepbrother Ishaan Khattar, appeared on Karan Johar's 'Koffee With Karan' where he had revealed that he has no social life ever since he got married to Mira. The actor also spoke about his equation with Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Sanjay Leela Bhansali post-Padmaavat and he said that his relationship with most of the industry people is 'zilch'.

"Ever since I got married, I have literally not had a social life. I dont know if thats a good thing I probably think thats a really bad thing because I was a bit of recluse anyways and now Im so into my kids that every time I finish shooting Im only with them. Im not in touch with most people," the actor said on the show.

A few days back, Mira was spotted with her brother-in-law Ishaan Khattar's rumoured girlfriend Janhvi Kapoor after her gym session.
New Delhi: Actor Sanjay Dutt went for a drastic transformation for Ashutosh Gowarikar's period-drama 'Panipat'. The 59-year-old actor, who will be sporting a bald look in the film, has often got clicked donning his new look. And the actor has made no effort to hide it from the lenses.

As per reports, Sanjay will essay the role of Ahmad Shah Durrani, who led the Afghans to victory. On the other hand, his co-star Arjun too has partially shaved his head for the film. Arjun will play the role of Maratha armys leader Sadashivrao Bhau in 'Panipat'.

Coming to Sanjay, the actor was on Friday snapped by the paparazzi at the airport with his look from 'Panipat'. The actor was dressed up in all-black casuals and was snapped solo at the runway. The actor was apparently returning from Jaipur, where he had been shooting for the film.

Take a look at his photos:

(Photo courtesy: Yogen Shah)

On the work front, Sanjay has a number of interesting projects in his pocket. Only recently, the actor shot for a song along with Ranbir Kapoor for Karan Malhotra's 'Shamshera'. He also has films like ' Torbaaz', 'Prasthanam' remake, 'Kalank', 'Sadak 2' with him.


New Delhi: Actor Salman Khan has been shooting extensively for the last leg of Ali Abbas Zafar's upcoming film 'Bharat'. The period drama is a multi-starrer project and will release during Eid this year. The teaser of the film was dropped only recently and it left everyone in awe.

Salman recently took to social media and shared a monochrome bare chest picture of himself where he is seen working out in a gym. And his picture has left his fans excited. The actor is seen sporting a serious, tough look as she sweats out to maintain that suave built.

Take a look:

Speaking about the film, the shooting of 'Bharat' is currently being held in Goregaon Film City. Earlier, it was reported that the superstar got the makers to set up a 10,000 square feet foot gym on the sets. As per Mid-Day, Salman's brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri, who is co-producing the film with Nikhil Namit, came up with the idea so that the actor doesn't skip his exercise while he is shooting for the film.

The tabloid also quoted a source saying that since Salman did not want to travel to Goregaon from Bandra for gymming, he asked the makers to get a gym for him on the sets. Notably, the makers happily agreed to his demand and set up the gym with equipment from his own line - 'Being Human'.

And now, we hear that Salman has been staying in film city itself for the film's shoot. Reports say that Salman has decided to stay at the film city until the shoot gets wrapped up. In the meantime, to maintain his lean look, the actor has also been working out twice a day.

The story of 'Bharat' spans over a period of 70 years and Salman will be seen sporting five different looks in the film, from the age of 18 to 70. The actor recently shot for a character from his younger days, and hence, making sure to maintain a lean-suave look.

The film also features Katrina Kaif, Disha Patani, Nora Fatehi, Tabu, Jackie Shroff, Asif Sheikh, Sunil Grover in pivotal roles. Actor Varun Dhawan will have a cameo in the film.
New Delhi: Bollywood's 'Desi Girl' Priyanka Chopra and international singing sensation Nick Jonas's whirlwind romance took the internet by storm in December 2018. The couple got married at Jodhpur's Umaid Palace Bhavan in presence of close family and friends. Pee Cee and Nick's wedding was a grand affair and the pictures speak for themselves how happy the bride and groom are after tying the knot.

The two continue giving us major couple goals each time they are spotted together or indulge in Instagram PDA. Fans lovingly call them 'Nickyanka' and can't wait to know more about the newlyweds.

Reports are that the couple is expecting their first child. Well, hold your horses because the news has not been confirmed, yet.

Pinkvilla quoted a friend of the couple as saying, If she had a dream wedding in 2018, motherhood is what she is most excited about in 2019,"

However, when Pinkvilla got in touch with Pee Cee's representatives in India, they refuted the rumours.

Meanwhile, during the premiere of her Hollywood film 'Isn't it Romantic', Pee Cee was quoted as saying that motherhood will happen ''in an organic way''.

We both know that thats something that needs to happen, but its not something I think about very much. Were both very driven, we love our work, were married to our work, and were both very supportive of each others work. So Im sure it will happen in an organic way, Pinkvilla quotes Priyanka.
New Delhi: Moroccan beauty and actress Nora Fatehi managed to steal our hearts in a short span of time and jived into our lives with hottest dance numbers - 'Naah' and 'Dilbar' this season. The lovely looking actress, who was recently shooting for John Abraham starrer 'Batla House' injured herself while performing for a sequence.

On Friday, the actress was snapped by the shutterbugs outside a salon in Bandra with a band-aid on her knee. The actress was dressed up in a white tee and denim shorts and made a pretty picture.

Take a look:

Interestingly, actor Angad Bedi was clicked by the shutterbugs at the salon on Thursday. Angad and Nora were once rumoured to be in a relationship. In fact, the duo made no secret of their fondness for each other and was frequently seen making joint appearances at events and parties.

(Photo courtesy: Yogen Shah)

However, that was all past, as Angad is now married to his 'Best Friend' Neha Dhupia and they recently became parents to a baby girl, Mehr Dhupia Bedi. Nora, on the other hand, has been focussing completely on her work.

Nora ruled the internet with her killer dance moves in the song 'Dilbar' from the film 'Satyameva Jayate' last year. The film stars John Abraham and Manoj Bajpayee and had sent cash registers ringing the day it hit theatres.

After making our jaws drop in 'Dilbar', the actress is ready to set the silver screen ablaze by playing a role in Salman Khan- Katrina Kaif starrer 'Bharat'.

Looks like Nora is on a roll professionally and we just can't wait to see more of her on screen!
New Delhi: On Thursday afternoon, a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a car loaded with explosives into a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Awantipora. At least 44 soldiers were killed in the attack which is believed to be the worst attack on security personnel in the last two decades. Many Bollywood celebs including Aamir Khan, Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, Sonam Kapoor, Farhan Akhtar and others took to Twitter and expressed their angst over the death of soldiers.

Here's what they wrote,

Aamir Khan: I am heartbroken to read about the terrorist attack on our CRPF Jawans in Pulwama. It's so tragic. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the Jawans who have lost their lives.

I am heartbroken to read about the terrorist attack on our CRPF Jawans in Pulwama. It's so tragic. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the Jawans who have lost their lives.  Aamir Khan (@aamir_khan) February 15, 2019

Ranveer Singh: Disgusted at the cowardly terror attack on the #CRPF soldiers in #Pulwama - my sincere condolences to the families of our brave jawans. Saddened. Angry.

Disgusted at the cowardly terror attack on the #CRPF soldiers in #Pulwama - my sincere condolences to the families of our brave jawans. Saddened. Angry.  Ranveer Singh (@RanveerOfficial) February 14, 2019

Alia Bhatt: The Pulwama attack is despicable. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the martyrs. I pray for the recovery of the injured.

The Pulwama attack is despicable. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the martyrs. I pray for the recovery of the injured.  Alia Bhatt (@aliaa08) February 14, 2019

Sonam Kapoor: #PulawamaTerrorAttack this is just an act by the worst kind of disgusting cowards. All my compassion and prayers for the souls lost and the loved ones affected. No words .

#PulawamaTerrorAttack this is just an act by the worst kind of disgusting cowards. All my compassion and prayers for the souls lost and the loved ones affected. No words .  Zoya Singh Solanki (@sonamakapoor) February 14, 2019

Anushka: It is extremely painful to read about the attack on our brave #CRPF jawans in #Pulwama. My deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of our martyred soldiers.

It is extremely painful to read about the attack on our brave #CRPF jawans in #Pulwama. My deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of our martyred soldiers.  Anushka Sharma (@AnushkaSharma) February 14, 2019

Tiger: Deeply saddened and appalled on the cowardly attack on our brave heroes. Prayers and condolences to their families. May their souls RIP

Deeply saddened and appalled on the cowardly attack on our brave heroes. Prayers and condolences to their families. May their souls RIP  Tiger Shroff (@iTIGERSHROFF) February 15, 2019

Farhan Akhtar: Just learnt of the horrific and cowardly terror attack in Pulwama. Disgusted and saddened.

United in grief with families of the CRPF jawans who lost their lives. My deepest condolences to them.

Just learnt of the horrific and cowardly terror attack in Pulwama. Disgusted and saddened.

United in grief with families of the CRPF jawans who lost their lives. My deepest condolences to them.  Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) February 14, 2019

Shahid Kapoor: Just heard about the horrific cowardly attack on our jawans. Thoughts and prayers with their families. Deeply saddened and shocked.
Kolkata: In the backdrop of the killing of ruling TMC MLA Satyajit Biswas, the party leadership has sought reports from all district presidents about the threat perception of its MLAs and important leaders, Trinamool Congress functionaries said.

Apart from enhancing the security of MLAs, TMC district leaders also want official security for key people in the party organization ahead of the elections. "We are preparing a report on the security status of MLAs in the district. We are preparing a separate report on our key organizational leaders who may not be MLAs or elected representatives but need to be provided security cover," a senior minister and district president of TMC told PTI, wishing not to be named.

The party leadership will finally submit a report to the state administration and police, and they will take a call on it. TMC chief whip in the state assembly Nirmal Ghosh said most party MLAs have voiced concern about their security and either appealed for enhanced cover or made their own arrangements.

"I am more cautious now and have taken steps to strengthen my security. I have also asked MLAs to be more careful," Ghosh said. Biswas, the TMC MLA of Krishnaganj, was shot dead by unidentified assailants inside a Saraswati puja marquee in Nadia district on Saturday evening. Biswas was gunned down in the presence of a host of party workers when he was climbing down the dais at a puja pandal at Phoolbari within Hanskhali police station limits in the district that borders Bangladesh.

There were allegations of complete lack of security at the scene of the crime despite the presence of the MLA and a minister. A TMC MLA of South 24 Paraganas district was attacked by unidentified gunmen last year. The MLA escaped unhurt but two of his associates were killed. Nadia district TMC president and MLA Gouri Shankar Dutta said he was in discussion with local leaders for preparing the report.

Senior TMC leader and state food and civil supplies minister Jyotipriyo Mullick said enhancing security of elected representatives and party leaders is a must as they apprehend more such attacks in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.

"The way the BJP is making provocative statements, there are apprehensions that there will be more such attacks on our leaders. The BJP can't defeat us politically, so they have taken this route of physical attacks. But we will foil these attempts," Mullick told PTI.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, however, said instead of blaming his party for the violent attacks, the TMC should take steps to check infighting in West Bengal's ruling party. "The BJP doesn't believe in politics of violence. In Bengal, it is the BJP which is at the receiving end of the TMC's reign of terror. Instead of blaming us they should take steps to control infighting," Ghosh said.

The TMC currently has 213 MLAs. The government also has the support of 18 other MLAs from the Congress and the Left Front who switched over to the TMC but are yet to resign as lawmakers.

Apart from the chief minister and ministers who are allotted Y+, Z and Z+ security cover depending on the threat perception, MLAs of the ruling and opposition parties are allotted 1-2 personal security officers (PSO) by the state government.

The TMC follows the practice of dividing each assembly constituency into 6-7 organizational areas, with a local leader being appointed in-charge. "I need security cover for some of these leaders as they are valuable assets of the party," Mullick said.
SRINAGAR: The alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber, who rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans, killing at least 44 of them, in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday afternoon, has been identified as Adil Ahmad Dar.

It has now come to light that the 22-year-old Dar was a school dropout. He lived nearly 10 km away from the site of the attack.

Dar, who dropped out of class 12 in a local school in Gundibagh in March 2017, went missing in 2018. Soon after, there were reports of him being spotted with terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen.

Dar reportedly went ahead on the path of violence after his cousin was killed in an encounter.

As per local villagers, his cousin was also a terrorist. In 2018, Dar went missing and reportedly joined JeM - a Pakistan-based terror outfit, under the name of Waqas commando.

He was resident of Gundibagh, a village which is around 10 km away from the spot of Pulwama terror attack in which at least 44 CRPF jawans have been killed.

As per police record, Dar was a category C terrorist and besides JeM, he was also spotted with the members of Hizbul and Lashkar.

Dar first joined Zakir Musa's Gazwat-ul-Hind.

Before joining terrorism, Dar worked at a local joinery mill.

His father, Riyaz Ahmad Dar, runs a small shop in Gundibagh.

Adil Ahmad Dar is the third local fidayeen recruited by the JeM for a suicide attack.

The JeM had on Thursday released a video clip of Adil Ahmad Dar, which it claimed was shot before the audacious attack was carried out in Lethpora of Pulwama district.

My name is Adil, I joined the Jaish e Mohammed a year ago. After a years wait, I have got the chance to do what I joined the Jaish for By the time this video reaches you, I will be in heaven this is my last message for the people of Kashmir, Dar said in the video in which he can be seen standing in front of JeM banners, surrounded with rifles and lethal explosives.
WASHINGTON: Several countries from across the globe stood in support of India in the wake of a deadly suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir`s Pulwama district that killed 44 security personnel on Thursday.

The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

From Bangladesh, Israel to the US, all expressed their condolences over the deaths of the CRPF personnel in the suicide attack claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

US

The United States on Friday strongly condemned the suicide attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Kashmir's Pulwama district and called on all countries to deny safe haven and support for terrorists.

Condemning the terror strike, the US State Department said in a statement that it was resolutely committed to working with the Indian government to combat terrorism in all its forms.

"The US condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack today on an Indian Central Reserve Police Force convoy in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir,'' State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino said and extend his deepest condolences to the deceased paramilitary personnel and their families.

The UN designated, Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed responsibility for this heinous act. We call on all countries to uphold their responsibilities pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions to deny safe haven and support for terrorists,'' Palladino said.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her condolences over the Pulwama attack, adding that Dhaka remained committed to fighting terrorism and continue to maintain a zero-tolerance policy against terrorist activities.

"At this sad moment, we stand by the people and government of India. We offer was condolences to the members of the families who lost their dear ones. Our thoughts and prayers are for the speedy recovery of those who got injured," Hasina said.

"Bangladesh remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and maintains a zero-tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities. We would continue to work and cooperate with the international community including India to eradicate the menace of terrorism," she added.

Afghanistan

The spokesperson for Afghanistan`s interior ministry Sediq Seddiqi condemned the heinous attack in Pulwama.

"While strongly condemning the heinous #KashmirTerrorAttack on CRPF personnel, we stand united with India to combat terrorism in any form as we have done it as a nation in the past 18 years," he wrote on his Twitter handle.

Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences over the death of the security personnel and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

"Please accept my most sincere condolences in connection with the death of Indian law enforcement officers as a result of the terrorist act in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. We strongly condemn this brutal crime. Perpetrators and sponsors of this attack should be punished," Putin said in a statement.

"I would like to confirm the readiness for the further strengthening of counter-terrorism cooperation with our Indian partners. Russia shares the grief of the friendly people of India and hopes for the speedy recovery of the injured," he added.

France

Echoing similar sentiments, France`s ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler also condemned the heinous attack and reiterated that France would collaborate with India in its fight against terrorism.

"France most firmly condemns the heinous attack perpetrated in Jammu and Kashmir. Our thoughts go out to the families of the fallen soldiers. France has always been and always will be by Indias side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms," he tweeted.

Maldives

Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih expressed his condolences and condemned the terror attack."I strongly condemn the deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir today killing at least 40 people. We send our thoughts and prayers to those affected. The Maldives will continue to work with India and the international community to combat terrorism in our region and the world at large," he tweeted.

Thailand

Thailand`s ambassador to India Sam Chutintorn Gongsakdi too condemned the attack."The Royal Thai Embassy in New Delhi condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir on Central Reserve Police Force personnel and express our condolences to the families & loved ones of those affected by this act of violence & cowardice. We stand by India," he wrote on the micro-blogging site.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka`s Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the attack and wished for a speedy recovery to those injured."We in #SriLanka strongly condemn the attack against Indian security forces in Pulwama, Jammu & Kashmir today. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the fallen soldiers, and we wish a speedy recovery to those who are injured. @MEAIndia @SLinIndia @IndiainSL #lka," the ministry tweeted.

Israel

Israel`s ambassador to India Ron Malka condemned the terror attack and said that Israel stood by India during the difficult hour."Israel strongly condemns the terror attack in #Pulwama and stands by our Indian friends during this difficult hour. We send our deepest condolences to the CPRF and their families, the people of India and the Indian government following the terrible," he tweeted.
JAMMU: Highly explosive substance  RDX  may not have been used in Thursday's deadly suicide attack on the CRPF convoy in South Kashmir's Pulwama district which left around 40 troopers martyred, suggested reports.

Initial investigation into the incident has suggested that instead of RDX, ordinary chemicals, which are used in making fertilisers, were used to make explosives in the Pulwama attack.

The info regarding the nature of the explosives used in attack emerged after forensic experts from the central probe agencies like NIA and the NSG collected samples from the attack site in Pulwama on Friday.

According to the forensic experts, prime facie it appears that chemicals used in making fertilizers were mixed with shrapnel, lead balls, sharp-edged iron nails etc to maximise the impact of the blast.

Experts also opined that the raw material, which can be easily procured from the local market without being detected by the security forces, were used in making a highly powerful explosive device.

The central forensic experts made these observations after critically examining the dead body of the lone suicide bomber Adil Ahmed Dar  a school dropout and a JeM operative.

The officials claimed that ingredients used in making the explosives could have been procured from local dealers in Punjab or Haryana.

Any confirmation regarding the use of RDX in the attack by the forensic experts in the later stage of investigation would surely be a matter of serious concern for the security agencies.

Importantly, RDX  the Research Department Explosive - has not been used in any terrorist attack in Kashmir in over a decade and the terror outfits have largely relied on Ammonium Nitrate based explosives in Kashmir in recent years.

Another reason why it is a matter of grave concern is that RDX is not easy to make when compared to Ammonium Nitrate.

If it is established that RDX was used, then the agencies would need to explain how it entered Kashmir. Whether it was smuggled across the border or was it made locally? If made locally, then how were the raw materials procured? These are few of the questions that the probing agencies will have to ponder over.

RDX is an organic compound, a white solid without smell or taste, widely used as an explosive.

A more powerful explosive than TNT, it was used widely in World War II and remains common in military applications.

It is considered as a military grade explosive. RDX was widely used during World War II, often in explosive mixtures with TNT such as Torpex, Composition B, Cyclotols, and H6. RDX, when exploded in air, has about 1.5 times the explosive energy of TNT per unit weight and about 2.0 times per unit volume.

The JeM, a Pakistan-based outfit, claimed responsibility for the attack in which a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a Central Reserve Police Force bus that was part of a large convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway around 3.15 PM, killing several troopers and leaving the security establishment stunned.

The Government of India (GoI) on Friday called back its High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria for consultations in the wake of the dastardly terror attack on CRPF convoy which left at least 40 troopers dead and several critically injured.

Prior to that, the government summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood and lodged a strong protest over the Pulwama terror attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF troopers in Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, sending out a tough message to Pakistan, the government on Friday withdrew the 'most-favoured nation' status to Pakistan, a move which would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured-nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands revoked.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated.

The MFN status was accorded under WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this; and are members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which means they have to treat each other and the other WTO member countries as favoured trading partners in terms of imposing customs duties on goods.

Meanwhile, coming down heavily on Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that those behind the Pulwama terror attack have committed a grave mistake and they will punished.
New Delhi: A day after the deadliest terror attack on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has on Friday cancelled all prior commitments scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

The Defence Minister will visit Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to pay last respects to the martyred CRPF jawans of the two states, who lost their lives in the attack.

Sitharaman, along with other leaders, paid homage to the slain CRPF personnel after their mortal remains were brought to the national capital earlier in the day.

As many as 40 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

(With inputs from ANI)
New Delhi: With demands for making Pakistan pay dearly for harbouring a terrorist organisation responsible for Thursday's dastardly attack on a CRPF convoy, India sent out a strong message to its nefarious neighbour. Soldiers have been given full freedom to retaliate. The status of 'Most Favoured Nation' revoked and the international community updated with ground realities.

India's three-pronged retaliation - military, economic and diplomatic - is underway.

(Also read: Rajnath Singh lends his shoulder to CRPF soldier's mortal remains)

Friday was a sombre day with the mortal remains of the 40 martyred CRPF personnel brought to Delhi's Palam Airport where PM Narendra Modi - hands folded and head bowed - paid his final respects. Others present were Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and the three defence chiefs. The mortal remains were then sent to their respective native places.

The mood at Palam may have been sombre but elsewhere in the country, anger reached a crescendo.

Protests against Pakistan were carried out in several cities with the call for affirmative action against a country which has a proven track record of using terrorist organisations to wage proxy wars on India. Jaish-e-Mohammad, the group which has claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack, has long been known for getting support from Pakistan's ISI. Rajanth, who was in Srinagar earlier in the day, minced no words to slam 'elements' which worked with ISI to bleed Jammu and Kashmir. "There are some elements that work with the ISI and play with the future of Jammu and Kashmir. Others take money from Pakistan and the ISI. I have sought that a security review of such persons be done," he said in what was a warning to Kashmiri separatists as well.

This was followed by a message from PM Modi who said that India will reply to the Pulwama attack in the strongest possible manner. "I want to tell the terrorists and their backers, they have made a big mistake. You will have to pay a very heavy price. I assure everyone that the forces behind the attack will be brought to justice. Security forces have been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response," he said.

Meanwhile, India revoked the 'Most Favoured Nation' status given to Pakistan and called back its envoy to Pakistan - Ajay Bisaria - for consultations. Pakistan High Commissioner to India - Sohail Mahmood - was also summoned and a strong protest was lodged.

It was just the start of diplomatic positionings.

India briefed P5 countries - permanent members of the Security Council, including China - of the situation. This was followed by MEA holding meetings with representatives from 25 diplomatic missions in India. It was in line with what union minister Arun Jaitley said earlier in the day. "Every possible diplomatic measure would be taken to ensure that Pakistan is isolated in the world community," he had told reporters in the presence of Sitharaman.

At a time when the entire country - including the political fraternity - has united to not just condemn the Pulwama attack but in backing the government to take retaliatory steps, an all-party meeting has been called for Saturday at 1100hrs in the Parliament library.

Saturday could also see more concrete steps being taken to ensure Pakistan realises its follies even as on-ground investigations are expected to be taken forward. An NIA team with forensic equipment reached Awantipora - where the attack occured - to assist with the investigations. Civilian vehicles near security convoys have been banned while mobile internet services have been shut in south Kashmir. It is recognised as an inconvenience to locals but such measures are stated to be the need of the hour considering the situation at hand.
New Delhi: In a major diplomatic offensive against Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack, the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday met the Heads of Missions from nearly 25 countries and highlighted the neighbouring country's role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

The MEA said it would continue to take all steps to expose the complicity of Pakistan in the dastardly attack on the security forces and also demand immediate and verifiable action against the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and its leader Masood Azhar.

Before the briefing, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood to his South Block office and issued a very strong demarche over the attack in which at least 40 CRPF personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Representatives from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Nepal, South Korea, Sweden, Slovakia, France, Spain, Bhutan, Germany, Hungary, Italy, European Union, Canada, Britain, Russia, Israel, Australia and Japan were present at the meeting.

All Heads of Missions were left in no doubt about the role played by the Pakistan based and supported JeM in the Pulwama tragedy, one of the deadliest attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. The countries demanded that Pakistan must immeediately cease all support including financing help to the terror groups operating from areas under their control.

According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack.

Hours after vowing to isolate Pakistan diplomatically in the wake of the attack, the government undertook the exercise of reaching out to the international community, most of which has univocally condemned the attack by the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based JeM terror outfit.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
NEW DELHI: BJP president Amit Shah on Friday condemned the Pulwama terror attack that left 40 CRPF personnel dead and called upon to all political parties to rise above politics and come together on the issue of national security.

"These are times when we all must come together and strengthen our resolve to make India stronger and safer. I appeal to the political class - let us rise above politics and show that we are together when it comes to matters of national security. Nothing matters above India!" he said in a series of tweets.

Shah`s remarks came a day after Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala targeted the Modi government for its failure to counter "Pakistan-sponsored terrorism" and called it to be the "weakest government" in the history of independent India.

The BJP president said that 130 crore Indians stand in complete solidarity with the families of the courageous heroes who devoted their lives in service of the nation.

"Generations to come will remember their valour. We pray the injured get well soon. The horrific attack in Pulwama has saddened the entire nation. We strongly condemn the barbaric mentality that speeds such kind of hate and violence. The Prime Minister has assured the nation that the sacrifices of our martyrs shall not go in vain," he said.

Sending out a tough message to Pakistan, the government on Friday withdrew the 'most-favoured nation' status to Pakistan, a move which would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured-nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands revoked.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated.

The MFN status was accorded under WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this; and are members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which means they have to treat each other and the other WTO member countries as favoured trading partners in terms of imposing customs duties on goods.
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off India's first semi-high speed train - Vande Bharat Express - on Friday from the New Delhi Railway Station.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had confirmed this on Thursday.

Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and members of the Railway Board will be onboard the train on its inaugural journey, it said.

The train will travel from Delhi to Varanasi in nine hours and forty-five minutes.

This includes stoppage time of 40 minutes each at Kanpur and Allahabad where there will be special programmes.

At the New Delhi railway station, PM Modi will inspect the facilities in the train and address a gathering on the occasion.

The semi-high speed Train 18, which has been recently rechristened as Vande Bharat Express, can run up to a maximum speed of 160 kmph and has travel classes like the Shatabdi trains but with better facilities.

It aims to provide a totally new travel experience to passengers.
Islamabad: Pakistan has said that the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district is "a matter of grave concern" even as it strongly rejected Indian media and government's allegations of the country's link to the strike "without" probe.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of terrorism, a suicide bomber from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district on Thursday, killing at least 44 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

The attack in Pulwama in Kashmir is "a matter of grave concern", the Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement.

Asserting that Pakistan has "always condemned acts of violence" anywhere in the world, it said, "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations."

In a tweet, FO spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said, "We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in Valley."

Meanwhile, India slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.



''The Indian government condemns in the strongest possible terms the cowardly terrorist attack on India's brave security forces in Pulwama,'' the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

This heinous and despicable act has been perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation proscribed by the UN and other countries, it said.

This terror group is led by the international terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by the Pakistani government to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under Pakistan's control and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity, the MEA said.



Countries from across the globe also condemned the terror attack in Pulwama, with global leaders like the US, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India in combating the menace of terrorism.

"The US Mission in India strongly condemns today's terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims," US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster tweeted.

Russia, while condemning the terror attack, stressed the need to combat such "inhuman acts" with a decisive and collective response without any double standards.

"We denounce terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with a decisive and collective response without any double standards," a Russian Embassy statement said.

French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said France most firmly condemns the heinous attack perpetrated in Jammu and Kashmir.

"France has always been and always will be by India's side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms," he said.

Germany strongly condemned the heinous terrorist attack, saying stands by its strategic partner India.

Australia, Turkey, Canada and the Czech Republic also condemned the horrific terror attack.

India's neighbours Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives also expressed solidarity and vowed to combat the menace of terrorism jointly.

"I strongly condemn the deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir today killing at least 40 people. We send our thoughts and prayers to those affected. The Maldives will continue to work with India and the international community to combat terrorism in our region and the world at large," Maldivian President Ibrahim Solih said.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a message through the country's High Commission in New Delhi, said her country remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and manifestations and maintains a zero-tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities.

"Deeply saddened by the news of the horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir. Bhutan strongly condemns the terrorist attack of any nature. Our prayers are with the grieved family and we are following the situation closely," Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena expressed sadness over the dastardly terror attack, saying the world must condemn such brutal terrorist attacks and take effective action to prevent such incidents in future.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also "strongly" condemned the terror attack, calling for those behind the attack to be brought to justice.

(With PTI inputs)
NEW DELHI: Nation-wide protest ensued in different parts on the country against the merciless killing of as many as 44 CRPF personnel on Thursday in one of the worst suicide attacks on the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir`s Pulwama district.

A large number of youths protested in Jammu and Kashmir over the incident. "We are protesting against the killing of our 44 CRPF jawans. This is shameful. There should be stern actions now, there should be another surgical strike," some protesters said.

Another protest took place in Bhopal by the workers of BJP, who also expressed their grief over the loss of lives.

One of the workers said, "Very painful and shameful incident. The terrorists are bred by Pakistan. We want Prime Minister Modi to attack Pakistan and teach it a lesson."

Similar protests were reported from states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and other states where protesters condemned the Pulwama suicide attack in the strongest terms and demanded justice for the martyred CRPF troopers and their families.

In the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir, around 44 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when their convoy was targeted by a suspected suicide bomber of Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

The convoy of 78 buses, in which around 2500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar, came under attack at around 3.15 PM at Ladhu Modi Lethpora.

This is the deadliest attack on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir so far.

Earlier in September 2016, an Army camp was stormed by terrorists in Uri, killing 19 soldiers.

Prior to that, 28 BSF personnel were killed in an attack on a convoy of the paramilitary force in 2004.

Strongly condemning the attack, the Prime Minister termed it as despicable and asserted, The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs.

Several countries from across the globe stood in support of India in the wake of a deadly suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir`s Pulwama district that killed 44 security personnel on Thursday.

The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

From Bangladesh, Israel to the US, all expressed their condolences over the deaths of the CRPF personnel in the suicide attack claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
NEW DELHI: The Government of India (GoI) on Friday called back its High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria for consultations in the wake of the dastardly terror attack on CRPF convoy which left at least 40 troopers dead and several critically injured.

News agency ANI quoted sources as saying that Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of Thursday's attack.

Bisaria will leave tonight for Delhi for the consultations with the government ob Saturday, ANI reported.

However, there has been no official regarding the same as yet.

Prior to that, the government summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood and lodged a strong protest over the Pulwama terror attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF troopers in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Foreign Secretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale summoned Mahmood to the MEA at 2 PM and issued a "very strong demarche" in connection with the terror attack on Thursday that also left 38 troopers injured.

Gokhale conveyed that Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), which claimed responsibility immediately after the attack, and that it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism and operating from Pakistani territory.

He also rejected the statement made by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry denying any involvement in the suicide attack, that has been called the worst-ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since terrorism began there in 1989.

Earlier, sending out a tough message to Pakistan, the government on Friday withdrew the 'most-favoured nation' status to Pakistan, a move which would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured-nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands revoked.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated.

The MFN status was accorded under WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this; and are members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which means they have to treat each other and the other WTO member countries as favoured trading partners in terms of imposing customs duties on goods.

Meanwhile, coming down heavily on Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that those behind the Pulwama terror attack have committed a grave mistake and they will punished.

"If our neighbour, which is totally isolated in the world, thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a big mistake," the Prime Minister said.

"I want to tell terrorist organisations and their guardians that they have done a grave mistake. Those behind the attack will be punished for their actions, PM Modi said here while flagging off the Delhi-Varanasi high-speed Vande Bharat Express train.

Paying tributes to the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in the Pulwama attack, he said, Our security forces have been given full freedom (to carry out anti-terror operations). We have full faith in their bravery."

PM Modi also thanked the countries which have supported India and condemned this incident in the strongest of terms.

After the dastardly act, India demanded that the UN ban JeM and its chief Masood Azhar who roams freely in Pakistan.

In a statement, India`s External Affairs Ministry said all UN member countries should support a proposal for proscribing Azhar as an international terrorist.

The JeM, a Pakistan-based outfit, claimed responsibility for the attack in which a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a Central Reserve Police Force bus that was part of a large convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway around 3.15 PM, killing several troopers and leaving the security establishment stunned.
India has warned Pakistan in no uncertain terms to stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from its territory following the suicide bombing carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) against a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus in Jammu and Kashmir resulting in the tragic death of 44 soldiers and several others injured.

In a statement released on Thursday evening, a few hours after the full scale of the suicide attack became clear, the Ministry of External Affairs also designate JeM chief Masood Azhar as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the United Nations Security Council. The dastardly attack resulted in a surge of anger across the country as mutilated bodies of scores of security personnel lay scattered on the Jammu-Srinagar highway.

"We strongly reiterate our appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM Chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan," read the statement.

Blaming Pakistan for the suicide attack, the government said, "The Government of India condemns in the strongest possible terms the cowardly terrorist attack on our brave security forces in Pulwama, Jammu & Kashmir earlier today (14 February 2019). This heinous and despicable act has been perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based and supported terrorist organisation proscribed by the United Nations and other countries. This terror group is led by the international terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by Government of Pakistan to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity."

"The Government of India is firmly and resolutely committed to take all necessary measures to safeguard national security. We are equally resolved to fight against the menace of terrorism. We demand that Pakistan stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries," it added.

However, Pakistan, as usual, denied any hand in the terror attack. "The attack in Pulwama in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir is a matter of grave concern. We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in the Valley. We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations, the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The 78-bus long convoy carrying 2547 CRPF troopers from the transit camp in Jammu to Srinagar on Thursday was attacked a JeM suicide bomber who rammed a car full of explosives into one of the buses. Maulana Masood Azhar had formed JeM Launched in 2000 in Karachi after he was was released along with two other terrorists - Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, on December 31, 1999, in exchange for the release of 155 passengers of Indian Airlines flight IC-184 in Taliban-controlled Kandahar in Afghanistan.
NEW DELHI: The Government of India (GoI) on Friday summoned the Pakistan High Commissioner and lodged a strong protest in connection with Thursday's deadly suicide attack on CRPF troopers in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama which left 40 dead and several critically injured.

According to news agency ANI, Foreign Secretary summoned the Pakistan High Commissioner to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday and issued a very strong demarche in connection with the terrorist attack in J&K's Pulwama.

Sources: Foreign Secretary summoned the Pakistan High Commissioner to the Ministry of External Affairs today and issued a very strong demarche in connection with the terrorist attack in Pulwama https://t.co/aQnu5zIHNL  ANI (@ANI) 15 February 2019

Foreign Secretary conveyed that Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against JeM and that it must immediately stop groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories.

He also rejected the statement issued by Pakistan's Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

Earlier, sending out a tough message to Pakistan, the government on Friday withdrew the 'most-favoured nation' status to Pakistan, a move which would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured-nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands revoked.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated.

The MFN status was accorded under WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this; and are members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which means they have to treat each other and the other WTO member countries as favoured trading partners in terms of imposing customs duties on goods.

Meanwhile, coming down heavily on Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that those behind the Pulwama terror attack have committed a grave mistake and they will punished.

"If our neighbour, which is totally isolated in the world, thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a big mistake," the Prime Minister said.

"I want to tell terrorist organisations and their guardians that they have done a grave mistake. Those behind the attack will be punished for their actions, PM Modi said here while flagging off the Delhi-Varanasi high-speed Vande Bharat Express train.

Paying tributes to the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in the Pulwama attack, he said, Our security forces have been given full freedom (to carry out anti-terror operations). We have full faith in their bravery."

PM Modi also thanked the countries which have supported India and condemned this incident in the strongest of terms.

A strong reply will be given to this attack, he said.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into a bus carrying them on Thursday.

The bus was extensively damaged in the blast, which was followed by firing on the vehicle. Soon after, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which is based in Pakistan and backed by the Pakistani administration, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was carried out by its suicide bomber.

After the dastardly act, India demanded that the UN ban JeM and its chief Masood Azhar who roams freely in Pakistan.

In a statement, India`s External Affairs Ministry said all UN member countries should support a proposal for proscribing Azhar as an international terrorist.
NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force's (IAF) C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft arrived in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar to bring back the mortal remains of 40 CRPF personnel who were killed in one of the worst suicide attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on Thursday.

According to reports, IAF's C-17 transporter aircraft took off from the Hindon Air Force base for Srinagar a short while ago.

Indian Air Force C-17 to go to J&K's Srinagar from Hindon to get the mortal remains of CRPF personnel killed in #PulwamaAttack.  ANI (@ANI) 15 February 2019

According to reports, the mortal remains of CRPF personnel who lost their lives in the Pulwama attack were brought to the CRPF camp in Budgam.

Jammu & Kashmir: Mortal remains of CRPF personnel who lost their lives in #PulwamaAttack yesterday, at CRPF camp in Budgam. pic.twitter.com/h4XoD5tC7o  ANI (@ANI) 15 February 2019

The mortal remains of the martyrs will be brought to the national capital from where they will be flown to their respective native places for their last rites.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Union Ministers and top political leaders will pay tribute to the martyrs after their mortal remains arrive in the national capital later today.

PM Modi and all three services chiefs will also observe a 2-minute silence and place a wreath as a mark of respect to the fallen CRPF toopers.

While a majority of the 37 bodies have been identified, some of them have been mangled beyond recognition.

A Home Ministry official said arrangements have been made to hand over the bodies to the families.

The ruling BJP has, meanwhile, cancelled all political programmes of its top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Amit Shah, scheduled for Friday following the terror attack on CRPF personnel in Kashmir.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who spoke to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and top officials after the attack, termed it despicable and asserted that the sacrifices of security personnel will not go in vain.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) also met on Friday to discuss the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir against the backdrop of the attack.

Nation-wide protest ensued in different parts on the country against the merciless killing of as many as 44 CRPF personnel on Thursday in one of the worst suicide attacks on the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir`s Pulwama district.

A large number of youths protested in Jammu and Kashmir over the incident. "We are protesting against the killing of our 40 CRPF jawans. This is shameful. There should be stern actions now, there should be another surgical strike," some protesters said.

Another protest took place in Bhopal by the workers of BJP, who also expressed their grief over the loss of lives.

Similar protests were reported from states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh where protesters condemned the Pulwama suicide attack in the strongest terms and demanded justice for the martyred CRPF troopers and their families.
At least 44 CRPF personnel were martyred and several others were injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district. The martyr of the CRPF personnel has created a ripple of anger and shock across the world.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack and the police identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmed, who officials said joined the Jaish in 2018. He was driving a vehicle packed with over 100 kg of explosives on the wrong side of the road and hit the bus, in which estimated 39-44 personnel were travelling, head-on.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm.

JeM claimed the terrorist drove the SUV carrying 350 kg of explosives. However, the army and other security agencies disputed the claim and said it was mere propaganda. The powerful explosion, which reduced the bus to a mangled heap of iron, was heard many kilometres away, including in some parts of Srinagar adjoining Pulwama district.

Here is look at how world media covered the Awantipora attack on CRPF:

Guardian: The Guardian described the attack as one of the deadliest outsides of a war zone in the countrys history. It said that Thursdays attack is the first using a car bomb in 19 years. It follows the deadliest year for terrorism in a decade. The last car bomb attack in Kashmir was carried out in 2000 by a Birmingham-born man who was using the name, Mohammad Bilal. Jaish-e-Mohammed is designated by the UN and Britain as a terrorist group and is alleged to have links to elements within the Pakistani government said The Guardian. China has repeatedly blocked attempts by the Indian government to have the UN security council declare the groups leader, Masood Azhar, a terrorist, added The Guardian.

The group carried out the most recent major attack in Kashmir in September 2016, when its fighters stormed an army camp in Uri, a garrison town near the ceasefire line with Pakistan, and killed more than a dozen soldiers. The Pakistanis are wanting to up the ante again ahead of the election, Guardian quoted Khalid Shah, an associate fellow at the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.

The fact the alleged perpetrator was Kashmiri reflects a growing radicalisation of local youths in terrorism that was once dominated by Pakistani or Afghan fighters crossing the border. Guardian said that PM Narendra Modi is likely to face pressure from "his Hindu nationalist supporters to respond strongly to this latest attack".

Washington Post: The Washington Post called the attack as the worst attack on security personnel "since the start of the insurgency in the region three decades ago". The media said the killings will inflame tensions between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan. It also said that PM Modi has taken a tough line on matters of national security.

Since the insurgency in Kashmir began three decades ago, the level of violence has varied. Terrorists are thought to number only a few hundred, far fewer than at the insurgencys peak in the 1990s and early 2000s. Indias renewed effort to crush the insurgency has provoked a backlash among a large swath of Kashmiris, it added. Thursdays attack was highly unusual, it concluded.

CNN: Reporting the attack, CNN said that PM Modi has taken a stronger stance towards terrorism in the state since he came to power almost five years ago. Taking to the history of both the nations, CNN said that after India gained independence in 1947, Kashmir has been bitterly contested by both India and Pakistan, resulting in three wars between the two countries and numerous other skirmishes. Violence in the region has killed more than 47,000 people since 1989, it said.

The Sydney Morning Herald: The media outlet reported that Indian forces have sporadically battled Islamist terrorists in Kashmir since an armed revolt in 1989 in which tens of thousands were killed. It also said car bombings are rare. The last major attack in Kashmir was in 2016 when terrorists raided an army camp in Uri, killing more than a dozen soldiers. It added that the tension with Pakistan rose after that incident when New Delhi said the attackers had come from Pakistan to stage the assault. Pakistan denied any involvement.

It added that Thursday's attack could put PM Modi under political pressure to act against the terrorists and Pakistan. The SMH called the Jaish-e-Mohammad group as one of the most powerful terrorist groups operating in Kashmir.

South China Morning Post: The media outlet described the incident as the worst attack on security personnel since the start of the insurgency in the region three decades ago. It also said, "immediate suspicion fell against Pakistan". Kashmir experienced many car bombings from 2000 through 2005 which inflicted high casualties on Indian troops. The attacks forced Indian authorities to procure bombproof armoured vehicles for soldiers operating in Kashmir, it added.

The South China Morning Post said the Indian soldiers are "ubiquitous in Kashmir and local residents make little secret of their fury toward their presence in the Himalayan region".
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who reached Srinagar on Friday morning to take stock of the situation following the Awantipora suicide attack, lent his shoulder to the mortal remains of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldier in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam.

Apart from Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh and other senior CRPF officials also lent their shoulders to the CRPF soldier's mortal remains.

The Home Minister is accompanied by CRPF Director General Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar, top officials from his ministry as well and senior officials of the force. Singh will meet Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik and other senior civil, police and security officials.

CRPF lost 40 soldiers in a suicide attack by a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist on Thursday afternoon in Awantipora's Lethpora area while several others have been critically injured. The force has already launched a full Court of Inquiry (CoI) into the attack and also asked all its personnel and formations stationed in Jammu and Kashmir to maintain high vigil alert and be fully prepared.

The force has also vowed to take revenge for the dastardly attack on its 78-bus convoy which was carrying 2,547 soldiers. "We will not forget, we will not forgive. We salute our martyrs of Pulwama attack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged," CRPF tweeted.

The suicide bomber has been identified as 22-year-old Adil Ahmad Dar, a resident of Gundibagh village which is around 10 km away from the area where the attack took place. Dar had dropped out of class 12 in a local school in Gundibagh in March 2017 and gone missing in 2018.

He came into contact with several Pakistani terror groups including Lashkar-e-Toiba, JeM and Hizbul Mujahideen. He finally joined JeM in 2018 and had released a video a few days before the Thursday attack hinting at a major terror strike.
NEW DELHI: The Congress party on Friday strongly condemned the Awantipora suicide attack on the CRPF convoy on Thursday in which at least 40 troopers were killed and extended its full support to the Narendra Modi in dealing with Pakistan.

Addressing a brief press conference in the national capital on Friday, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said, ''This is a time of mourning, sadness and respect. We are fully supporting the Government of India and our security forces. We are not going to get into any other conversation apart from this.''

Congress President Rahul Gandhi: This is a time of mourning, sadness, & respect. We are fully supporting the govt of India and our security forces. We are not going to get into any other conversation apart from this. #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/Dkfn5yh3KH  ANI (@ANI) 15 February 2019

The Congress president also expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the 40 CRPF martyrs who made their supreme sacrifice for the nation.

''This is a terrible tragedy. This type of violence done against our soldiers is absolutely disgusting. We are all standing together with our jawans. No force can divide or break this country,'' he added.

''No amount of anger can harm the love and affection our country is built on, '' Rahul Gandhi said.

The press conference was also addressed by former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.

''Today is the day of mourning. Our country has lost close to 40 armed forces jawans and our foremost duty is to convey to their families that we are with them. We shall never compromise with the terrorist forces,'' Dr Singh said.

Earlier, PM Narendra Modi paid tribute to 40 CRPF personnel, who were killed in a terror attack in Pulwama on Thursday.

The PM observed a two-minute silence before flagging-off semi-high speed train Vande Bharat Express on Friday.

"I pay tribute to soldiers who lost their lives in Pulwama Attack. Our security forces have been given full freedom. We have full faith in their bravery," the Prime Minister said.

"The forces behind this act of terrorism and those responsible for it will be definitely punished," PM Modi added.

Sending out a tough message to Pakistan, the government on Friday withdrew the 'most-favoured nation' status to Pakistan, a move which would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands revoked.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated.

The MFN status was accorded under WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this; and are members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which means they have to treat each other and the other WTO member countries as favoured trading partners in terms of imposing customs duties on goods.
NEW DELHI: Even as it condemned Thursday's terror attack on the CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, China on Friday flatly refused to back India's request to list terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the United Nations.

We are deeply shocked by this attack. We offer our condolences and sympathies to the injured and families of the bereaved. We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all form of terrorism, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said.

We hope all relevant regional countries will cooperate to deal with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold the regional peace and stability, he said.

However, when asked to comment if China will rethink its decision on Masood Azhar this year, Geng said, As to the issue of the listing, I can tell you that 1267 committee of the Security Council has clear stipulations on the listing and the procedure of terrorist organization and individuals and the JeM which has taken the responsibility of the attack has been included on the Security Council counter-terrorism list.

"As to the listing of the individual, we have always dealt with the issue in an earnest, professional and responsible manner," he added.

China, however, condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that left 44 CRPF troopers dead, saying it was deeply shocked over the incident and firmly opposed to terrorism.

The JeM - a Pakistan-based outfit  had claimed responsibility for the attack in Pulwama district.

It was one of the worst attacks on the security forces ever since a separatist campaign broke out in Jammu and Kashmir way back in 1989.

Sending out a tough message to Pakistan, the government on Friday withdrew the 'most-favoured nation' status to Pakistan, a move which would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured-nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands revoked.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated.

The MFN status was accorded under WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this; and are members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which means they have to treat each other and the other WTO member countries as favoured trading partners in terms of imposing customs duties on goods.
New Delhi: In a dastardly terror attack on security forces, at least 40 CRPF personnel were martyred on Thursday after a suicide bomber from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a bus carrying the jawans in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. Several critically injured jawans are still battling for lives.

Even as the CRPF has vowed to take revenge for the dastardly attack on its 78-bus convoy which was carrying 2,547 soldiers, you can also do your bit by donating money for the families of these bravehearts. To donate to the families of the martyrs, visit the website or download the app - Bharat Ke Veer - at bharatkeveer.gov.in.

The 'Bharat Ke Veer' initiative was launched in April 2017 by the Ministry of Home Affairs with a purpose to enable citizens to help the families of soldiers by donating money online. The donated money will either directly reach to the individual braveheart's account or it can also be transferred to the Bharat Ke Veer corpus fund.

With the help of the portal, you can provide financial support to the families of martyrs from Assam Rifles (AR), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), National Security Guard (NSG), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

Individuals who are willing to donate are advised to read the guidelines mentioned in the website thoroughly.
JAMMU: Even as the Government blames Pakistan over its continuous covert support to terror operators, the investigation so far has pointed to a major intelligence failure in averting the deadly suicide attack on the CRPF convoy on Thursday in which at least 40 troopers were killed and many critically injured.

Though terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack on the CRPF troopers, it has raised suspicion over Pakistan's spy agency ISI's back-door involvement in the gruesome attack.

The JeM claiming responsibility has raised questions over the role of the Pakistan spy agency, ISI, in the gruesome strike, a former CIA analyst and South Asian expert claimed.

According to experts, the attack has direct footprints inside Pakistan as it has now emerged that ISI had provided training, logistic support and explosives to the mastermind of the Pulwama attack on the CRPF troopers.

The security experts also see this as a major intelligence failure on the part of Indian intelligence agencies in averting the incident.

Though they were credible actionable intelligence inputs regarding possible terror attacks in J&K, there was a clear lack of coordination among various intelligence agencies which clearly failed to detect that a suicide attack of such a magnitude can take place.

The failure to sensitise the Srinagar-Jammu national highway - a favoured route for terrorists to target security forces  is also questionable.

Usually, about 1,000 personnel are part of a convoy but this time it was a total of 2,547 personnel. Hence, questions are also being asked as to why security personnel were permitted to travel in such large numbers on the route.Many see this as a possible violation of the Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) followed by the security forces in sensitive zones.

Security experts also see this attack as a well-thoughtout attack which would have required the terrorists to conduct a major recce of the area and concealing the explosive-laden truck from the eyes of the security agencies.

Further, the involvement of a local Kashmiri youth - Adil Ahmed - in the attack also points to a change in the strategy by the Pakistan-backed terror outfits and the unabated tactical support they had been receiving from the local Kashmiri residents.

Though has come out officially, experts of the National Security Guard (NSG) and investigators of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will arrive in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday to join the probe into the suicide terror attack in Pulwama suicide attack.

An NIA team with forensic experts is being sent to Srinagar to assist Jammu and Kashmir Police in forensic evaluation of the scene of the crime, a Home Ministry official said.

Explosive specialists of the Black Cat commando force NSG will also join in the investigation into the attack, another official said.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in JK's three decades of terrorism, a suicide bomber from Pakistan-based JeM terror group rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 44 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

"The self-proclaimed involvement of JeM in the attack raises serious questions about the role of the ISI in supporting the masterminds of this operation," Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst, was quoted as saying by PTI.

The J&K Police had identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmed, who is believed to have joined the Jaish-e-Mohammed in 2018.

He was driving a vehicle packed with over 100 kg of explosives on the wrong side of the road and hit the bus in which several CRPF personnel were travelling, head-on.

JeM later claimed the terrorist drove the SUV carrying 350 kg of explosives. However, the army and other security agencies disputed the claim and said it was mere propaganda.

The powerful explosion, which reduced the bus to a mangled heap of iron, was heard many kilometres away, including in some parts of Srinagar adjoining Pulwama district.

The bus that was the focus of the attack belongs to the 76th battalion of the force. The convoy had started from Jammu around 3.30 AM and was supposed to reach Srinagar before sunset, officials said.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will meet on Friday morning to discuss the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir against the backdrop of the attack, sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who spoke to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and top officials after the attack, termed it despicable and asserted that the sacrifices of security personnel will not go in vain.
NEW DELHI: Experts of the anti-terror commando force National Security Guard (NSG) and investigators of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will arrive in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday to join the probe into the suicide terror attack in Pulwama in which at least 44 CRPF personnel were killed.

The decision was taken in view of the high number of casualties in the worst terror strike in the state since the Uri attack in 2016.

An NIA team with forensic experts is being sent to Srinagar to assist Jammu and Kashmir Police in forensic evaluation of the scene of the crime, a Home Ministry official said.

Explosive specialists of the Black Cat commando force NSG will also join in the investigation into the attack, another official said.

At least 44 CRPF personnel were killed in Pulwama district when a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into their bus.

In the worst-ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since terrorism erupted in 1989, a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, killing at least 44 troopers.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the horror and released a video clip of the suicide bomber, a `commander` identified as Adil Ahmad Dar, which it claimed was shot before the young man carried out the strike in Lethpora, about 30 km from Srinagar.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will meet on Friday to discuss the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the deadliest terror attack on the CRPF convoy which killed at least 44 troopers and left the security establishment stunned.

According to reports, the CCS meeting is likely to take place at 9:15 AM, the sources said.

The CCS is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Defence Minister, Home Minister, External Affairs Minister and Finance Minister are its members.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will also arrive in Srinagar to take stock of the security situation in the wake of the deadliest terrorist attack in J&K.

Singh on Thursday assured the people of the country that the terror attack on a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir, carried out by Pakistan-sponsored Jaish-e-Mohammed, will be avenged.

In a statement, he said the central government is determined to foil the designs of those who want to disrupt peace through such a terror attack "sponsored and sheltered by Pakistan".

"Jaish-e-Mohammed has carried out this terror attack. We assure the country that we will undertake whatever it takes to avenge this," he said.

Several countries from across the globe stood in support of India in the wake of a deadly suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir`s Pulwama district that killed 44 security personnel on Thursday.

The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

From Bangladesh, Israel to the US, all expressed their condolences over the deaths of the CRPF personnel in the suicide attack claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
JAMMU: A high alert has been issued across Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the deadly suicide attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama district in which at least 44 CRPF personnel were killed and several others critically injured.

The intelligence agencies have warned that Pakistan-backed terrorist outfit may target police establishment and camps of the security forces to build up more pressure on India.

The agencies have warned that the possible attacks may be carried out in the night and early morning hours.

Intelligence agencies had on February 8 issued alert urging the security forces to exercise maximum restraint and increase patrolling and vigilance in sensitive areas.

Meanwhile, mobile and internet services have also been suspended in the parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Jammu & Kashmir: Mobile internet services have been suspended in Jammu #PulwanaAttack  ANI (@ANI) 15 February 2019

Nation-wide protest ensued in different parts on the country against the merciless killing of as many as 44 CRPF personnel on Thursday in one of the worst suicide attacks on the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir`s Pulwama district.

A large number of youths protested in Jammu and Kashmir over the incident. "We are protesting against the killing of our 44 CRPF jawans. This is shameful. There should be stern actions now, there should be another surgical strike," some protesters said.

Another protest took place in Bhopal by the workers of BJP, who also expressed their grief over the loss of lives.

One of the workers said, "Very painful and shameful incident. The terrorists are bred by Pakistan. We want Prime Minister Modi to attack Pakistan and teach it a lesson."

Similar protests were reported from states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh where protesters condemned the Pulwama suicide attack in the strongest terms and demanded justice for the martyred CRPF troopers and their families.

In the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir, around 44 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when their convoy was targeted by a suspected suicide bomber of Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

The convoy of 78 buses, in which around 2500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar, came under attack at around 3.15 PM at Ladhu Modi Lethpora.

This is the deadliest attack on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir so far.

Earlier in September 2016, an Army camp was stormed by terrorists in Uri, killing 19 soldiers.

Prior to that, 28 BSF personnel were killed in an attack on a convoy of the paramilitary force in 2004.

Strongly condemning the attack, the Prime Minister termed it as despicable and asserted, The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs.

Several countries from across the globe stood in support of India in the wake of a deadly suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir`s Pulwama district that killed 44 security personnel on Thursday.

The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.
NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will meet on Friday to discuss the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of one of the worst suicide attacks on the CRPF convoy which killed at least 44 troopers and left the security establishment stunned.

According to reports, the CCS meeting is likely to take place at 9:15 AM, the sources said.

The CCS is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister, Home Minister, External Affairs Minister and Finance Minister are its members.

In the worst-ever suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir since terrorism erupted in 1989, a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, killing at least 44 troopers.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the horror and released a video clip of the suicide bomber, a `commander` identified as Adil Ahmad Dar, which it claimed was shot before the young man carried out the strike in Lethpora, about 30 km from Srinagar.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will also arrive in Srinagar to take stock of the security situation in the wake of the deadliest terrorist attack in J&K.

Singh on Thursday assured the people of the country that the terror attack on a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir, carried out by Pakistan-sponsored Jaish-e-Mohammed, will be avenged.

In a statement, he said the central government is determined to foil the designs of those who want to disrupt peace through such a terror attack "sponsored and sheltered by Pakistan".

"Jaish-e-Mohammed has carried out this terror attack. We assure the country that we will undertake whatever it takes to avenge this," he said.

He will also hold review meetings with senior security and police officials to make the ground-level assessment and review further operational actions.

Singh has cancelled all his political engagements in Bihar for Friday.

He called up Governor Satya Pal Malik, who apprised him about the prevailing situation in the state.

Singh also spoke to National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Director of Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain and Director General of CRPF R R Bhatnagar and gave them necessary instructions, a Home Ministry official said.

In a tweet, Singh said, "Today's dastardly attack on CRPF in Pulwama (J&K) is extremely painful and disturbing. I bow to each and every CRPF jawan who has sacrificed his life in service to the nation. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured."

The Home Ministry is also closely monitoring the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, which is currently under the President's rule.
NEW DELHI: While the entire nation on Friday paid its heartfelt tribute to the families of 40 CRPF troopers, who were killed in a suicide attack in J&K's Pulwama on Thursday, their bereaved families demanded a befitting reply to Pakistan for its covert support to terrorism.

A pall of gloom descended at the homes of the CRPF personnel who were killed in the Pulwama terror attack, even as the bereaved await the arrival of the mortal remains of the bravehearts.

''I have sacrificed a son in Mother India's service, I will send my other son as well to fight,'' Bihar-based CRPF trooper Ratan Thakur's (who lost his life in Pulwama attack) father said in Bhagalpur. ''We are ready to give him up for Mother India, but Pakistan must be given a befitting reply,'' the teary-eyed father said.

CRPF Personnel Ratan Thakur's (who lost his life in #PulwamaTerrorAttack ) father in Bhagalpur: I have sacrificed a son in Mother India's service, I will send my other son as well to fight, ready to give him up for Mother India, but Pakistan must be given a befitting reply.#Bihar pic.twitter.com/rI6cM38Agh  ANI (@ANI) 15 February 2019

Meanwhile, father of Ramesh Yadav, a soldier who lost his life in the terror attack, urged the government to initiate a probe into the matter and give a befitting reply to Pakistan.

"My son came home 25 days back. We received a call from Srinagar yesterday evening. The officer on the line told us that a terror attack has taken place and they have not yet recovered the body of my son. Each year, many soldiers are dying in India. He was the only breadwinner of the family. Now, we will face trouble in educating his child. I request the government to give a befitting reply (muh-tod jawab) to Pakistan and also start an investigation at the earliest," he told ANI.

Father of slain CRPF constable Pankaj Yadav also said no information has been received regarding his son`s mortal remains.

"Till now, we do not have any information about my son`s body. The officials present at the incident spot have recovered his licence, identity card and other documents. We are trying our best to get more information."

Meanwhile, nationwide protest erupted across the country against the Pulwama attack. Effigies of Masood Azhar, the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed (who claimed responsibility for the attack), were burnt in Varanasi as a sign of protests against the killing of the security personnel on Thursday.

A large number of youths protested in Jammu and Kashmir over the incident. "We are protesting against the killing of our 44 CRPF jawans. This is shameful. There should be stern actions now, there should be another surgical strike," some protesters said.

Protests were also held in Kathua against Pakistan.

Jammu and Kashmir: Locals protest in Kathua against Pakistan. #PulawamaTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/o48ZcPo4QA  ANI (@ANI) 15 February 2019

Protesters thronged the streets with placards that read ''Aakhir Shahadat kab tak?" (how long will this martyrdom continue) and festoons displaying various demands and needs of the Indian soldiers.

Another protest took place in Bhopal by the workers of BJP, who also expressed their grief over the loss of lives.

One of the workers said, "Very painful and shameful incident. The terrorists are bred by Pakistan. We want Prime Minister Modi to attack Pakistan and teach it a lesson."

Similar protests were reported from states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and other states where protesters condemned the Pulwama suicide attack in the strongest terms and demanded justice for the martyred CRPF troopers and their families.

Varanasi: Locals hold protest against Pakistan and terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar over the #PulwamaAttack. pic.twitter.com/fXqXuRue0F  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) 15 February 2019

Several school students in Moradabad paid tribute to the 40 CRPF personnel who lost their lives in Pulwama terror attack on Thursday.

Moradabad: School students pay tribute to the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in #PulwamaTerrorAttack yesterday. pic.twitter.com/oBYqVRYlE7  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) 15 February 2019

In the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir, around 44 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when their convoy was targeted by a suspected suicide bomber of Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

The convoy of 78 buses, in which around 2500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar, came under attack at around 3.15 PM at Ladhu Modi Lethpora.

This is the deadliest attack on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir so far.

Earlier in September 2016, an Army camp was stormed by terrorists in Uri, killing 19 soldiers.

Prior to that, 28 BSF personnel were killed in an attack on a convoy of the paramilitary force in 2004.

Strongly condemning the attack, the Prime Minister termed it as despicable and asserted, The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs.

Several countries from across the globe stood in support of India in the wake of a deadly suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir`s Pulwama district that killed 40 security personnel on Thursday.

The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

From Bangladesh, Israel to the US, all expressed their condolences over the deaths of the CRPF personnel in the suicide attack claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
Singapore: It's been over one decade and 20 films since Marvel superheros hit the big screen, but fans are yet to find out how Nick Fury came to wear the iconic eyepatch. Samuel L Jackson says he has no idea if his character loses his left eye in the upcoming "Captain Marvel".

The 70-year-old actor says he doesn't know if the Brie Larson-fronted film shows how the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director got his famous scar.

"I have only seen the trailer. I haven't seen the film. I don't know how he loses the eye," Jackson told PTI in a group interview here.

The actor reprises his role as the inimitable Fury but will be seen 30 years younger to suit the timeline of the film.

Asked what makes Fury such a rage among Marvel fanatics, he says it would be hard to believe but the beloved character is "a lot more personable".

"Amazingly enough, he's a lot more personable that you would believe. He has this knack for convincing people to join and see his point of view, becoming a part of what he is. He's pretty amazing at pulling people in and creating trust," he said.

Jackson says he missed being part of last year's Marvel blockbuster "Avengers: Infinity War". The actor, however, appeared in a crucial post-credits scene linked to "Captain Marvel".

"I missed me in 'Infinity War'. And in 'Civil War'. Even I wondered where I was. 'Where am I?'. I was like 'Where am I when my kids are fighting?'" Jackson says.

The actor, who shares a natural chemistry with co-star Larson both on and off screen, fondly calls "Captain Marvel" his "first alien".

Jackson says appearing as young Fury was a regular day at work.

"I just had my negotiator face on. I had dots on my face. It was more up to them that I did not have dots on my face. I'd often forget that I had dots on my face.

"But think about it, it was just like going to work, do stuff. Nick wasn't as worldly and smart and cynical that he is as an older person. This is a brand new Nick Fury meeting his first extraterrestrial."

The Oscar-nominated actor says an artiste needs to be "unique" in a specific kind of way to be able to become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

He has been part of the MCU since the first film in the franchise "Iron Man" released in 2008.

"You also need to be very honest about the other characters that you're around in terms of who you are and what you can pull off, what you may or may not need from them, what you bring to the party, you show up.

"People help you and they will do everything they can to make sure you are received by the audience in a specific and crowded way. Bad guys, good guys alike, everybody has their place and everybody's got their favourites," he adds.

Also featuring Gemma Chan, Jude Law, Annette Bening and Ben Mendelsohn, the film releases in India on March 8. PTI RDS

SHD
New Delhi: India on Friday withdrew the 'Most-Favoured Nation' status to Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack that left nearly 40 CRPF Personnel dead.

What is Most Favoured Nation status and who is eligible for it?

As per a World Trade Organisation rule, every member of WTO is required to accord this status to other member countries under WTOs General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Under the MFN status, a WTO member country is obliged to treat other trading nations in a non-discriminatory manner, especially with regard to customs duty and other levies.

India had accorded the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) to Pakistan in 1996. Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this, which means they have to treat each other and the other WTO member countries as favoured trading partners.

However, the Pakistani government has not yet granted MFN status to India and it maintains a negative list of 1,209 items which are not permitted to be imported from India. Pakistan allows only 137 products to be exported from India through the Wagah border land route.

What is Pakistan's view on granting MFN status to India?

Last year, when Pakistan government was asked whether the it was considering granting MFN status to India, adviser to the prime minister for Commerce, Textile, Industry and Investments, Abdul Razak Dawood said, No such plans at the moment.

At present we have no immediate plans to grant MFN status to India, he said.

India-Pakistan trade

Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at USD 2.28 billion in 2016-17. India mainly exports cotton, dyes, chemicals, vegetables and iron and steel to Pakistan while it imports fruits, cement, leather, chemicals and spices.

Impact of withdrawing Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan

Experts believe that MFN makes no difference since the level of bilateral trade between both countries are abysmally low, accounting for less than half a per cent of India`s total global trade involving both exports and imports.
London: Embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya, wanted in India on alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crores, has filed his application in the UK High Court, seeking permission to appeal against an extradition order signed by the British Home Secretary.

The 63-year-old businessman, who remains on bail on an extradition warrant in the UK, made the application in the Administrative Court division of the High Court on Thursday, 10 days after Home Secretary Sajid Javid signed off on the order triggering a 14-day window for his appeal application.

"The application has been sent for a judge on papers decision, which is expected any time between two to four weeks," a UK court representative said.

A 'judge on papers' decision will involve a High Court judge determining the merits of the application and if it is accepted, the case will proceed to a 'substantive hearing' in the next few months' time.

In the event that Mallya's application is rejected at this stage, he will have the option to submit a ?renewal form?.

The renewal process will lead to a 30-minute oral hearing during which Mallya's legal team and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) - on behalf of the Indian government - will renew their respective claims for and against an appeal for a judge to determine if it can proceed to a full hearing.

The process, to be heard in the Royal Courts of Justice in London, could take months as the listing of a hearing will depend on the availability of judges and other factors.

Following the outcome at the High Court level, both sides could apply for the right to appeal to the Supreme Court, which would involve at least another six weeks. However, that process is more complex as the UK High Court must certify that the appeal involves a point of law of general public importance, and either the High Court or the Supreme Court gives leave for the appeal to be made.

Mallya and his legal team have not made a renewed comment in relation to the appeal but soon after the UK home secretary had signed off on the Westminster Magistrates' Court order in favour of extradition on February 4, the businessman had taken to social media to confirm his plans to seek an appeal.

"After the decision was handed down on December 10, 2018 by the Westminster Magistrates Court, I stated my intention to appeal. I could not initiate the appeal process before a decision by the Home Secretary. Now I will initiate the appeal process," he said in a Twitter statement earlier this month.

The former boss of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines took to Twitter again this week to call on Prime Minister Modi to accept his settlement offer in relation to the airline's loan default.

"I respectfully ask why the Prime Minister is not instructing his Banks to take the money I have put on the table so he can at least claim credit for full recovery of public funds lent to Kingfisher," he said, adding that his offer to the Karnataka High Court should not be dismissed as 'frivolous' because it is a 'perfectly tangible, sincere, honest and readily achievable offer.'

Mallya has been based in the UK since March 2016 and remains on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017.

In her verdict at the end of a year-long extradition trial in December last year, Judge Emma Arbuthnot had ruled that the ?flashy? billionaire had a 'case to answer' in the Indian courts.

The court had also dismissed any bars to extradition on the grounds of the prison conditions under which the businessman would be held, as the judge accepted the Indian government's assurances that he would receive all necessary medical care at Barrack 12 in Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail.

India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty signed in 1992 and in force since November 1993. So far only one successful extradition has taken place from the UK to India under the treaty - that of Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India in 2016 to face trial in connection with his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.
Mumbai: After bagging several accolades and a national award for his debut "Filmistaan", director Nitin Kakkar is ready with his next "Notebook", a love story set in Kashmir, which he says is not a "run-of-the-mill" romantic saga.

Nitin says even though it is a love story, it doesn't follow the cliche Romeo-Juliet template.

"There is nothing cliched about 'Notebook'. As a director I was able to go beyond cliches. There is a conflict in the film but of a different type. It is not run-of-the-mill story. It is not in the classic romeo-juliet format.

"I thought Salman bhai (Salman Khan) might be sceptical because it is not conventional. The film has a world of its own, which is cinematic and real," Nitin told PTI.

One of the producers of the film, Ashwin Varde of Cine1 Studios, discussed the story with Nitin, who felt this project would be an apt vehicle to launch Salman's childhood friend's son Zaheer Iqbal.

The film also marks the debut of Pratunan, daughter of actor Mohnish Bahl and granddaughter of yesteryear actor Nutan.

"Everybody would be looking forward to her performance. She is an amazing performer, she has shown maturity and I think she is here to stay. Zaheer is an honest and sensible actor.

"They both are brave to chose a film like 'Notebook' because it is not a conventional film, they are playing characters and not a hero and heroine," Nitin says.

According to Nitin, the film required a picturesque cinematic backdrop and there is no better place than Kashmir.

"We shot in Kashmir because it is an integral part of the story. Kashmir is not just about terrorism and it does affect people's life. I felt it would be great to show Kashmir where there is fun and life is beautiful.

"I wanted to look at Kashmir in a different sense, in a real perspective of the daily mundane life also. People have been warm and loving towards us. Now I want to shoot every film there, I want more of it."

The entire film begins and ends in Kashmir and the makers shot for 43 days in the valley.

"Notebook" hits cinemas on March 29.
New Delhi: The nation stands in angst over the Awantipora terror attack that resulted in death of at least 44 jawans. On Thursday afternoon, a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a car loaded with explosives into a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Awantipora. Many celebs from the film industry have expressed their anger over the 'cowardly attack'.

There are a number of Bollywood films that touched upon the theme of terror attacks and Indo-Pak war.

The bravery of the Indian Army, the patriotic fervor and the overall atmosphere of war, a mix of courage and tragedy, violence and love, has been captured aptly in some films.

Have a look at the below-mentioned movies:

Uri: The Surgical Strike

Vicky Kaushal and Yami Gautam's 'Uri: The Surgical Strike' is the latest film to touch upon the subject of terror attacks. The film is based on the surgical strike carried out by Indian armed forces on terrorist launch pads at the Pok. Indian soldiers' bravery is beautifully captured in the film. It released on January 11, 2019.

Baby

Released in the year 2015, 'Baby' is an action spy-thriller film and is based on the last mission of 'Baby', which was a temporary task force with the agenda of finding and killing terrorists planning attacks on India. Akshay Kumar plays the lead in the film while Taapsee Pannu, Rana Daggubati, Danny Denzongpa, Anupam Kher and Kay Kay Menon play supporting roles.

Phantom

Based on the aftermath of Mumbai 26/11 attacks, the film stars Katrina Kaif and Saif Ali Khan in lead roles. Kabir Khan directed the film and it released on August 26, 2015.

Lakshya:

War transforms people, it makes the weakest of them stronger and the most careless, responsible. This film is based on the theme of how a person is transformed from a careless boy, to a responsible, brave man once he enters the Army. Actor Hrithik Roshan plays the lead role with actress Preity Zinta as the war correspondent. Farhan Akhtar directed the movie.

LOC Kargil:

This is perhaps the most detailed film on the Kargil War of 1999 and also has a massive running time of four hours and fifteen minutes. As can be inferred from the duration of the movie, it is the most accurate, heart- touching and thrilling depiction of the struggles of Indian soldiers at Kargil and their efforts to bring down the Pakistani intruders.

The film was directed by JP Dutta and has Sanjay Dutt, Ayyub Khan, Suniel Shetty, Abhishek Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan in pivotal roles. It is largely based on the 'Operation Vijay'carried out by the Indian Army.

Border

Based on the Battle of Longewala during the Indo-Pak war of 1971, JP Dutta's 'Border' will forever evoke the spirit of nationalism. The film starred Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty, Akshaye Khanna and Jackie Shroff in important roles. It released in on August 13, 1997.

Gadar

One of the most iconic films based on India-Pakistan partition, 'Gadar' told the tale of Tara Singh, a bus driver who falls in love with Sakina (a Muslim girl). The film starred Sunny Deol and Amisha Patel in lead roles. Actor Amrish Puri played the role of Sakina's father.
My heart bleeds for the brave CRPF jawans who made the supreme their motherland. I have seen them work in the most challenging conditions. My life was saved by a CRPF jawan in 2010. I do not want to recall the unfortunate incident when a jawan took a hand grenade on his body 100 meters from my vehicle. It is out of gratitude that I always hold them in highest respect. To confess, my hands are shivering in grief as I write this piece.

Ensure immediate relief to families

The dastardly attack has taken the life of 44 of our brave jawans. My heartfelt condolences goes to the family of these bravehearts, with the promise that the nation stands with them in this hour of grief. My only concern is that this promise is not betrayed in the long bureaucratic cobweb of procedures and political mongering and manipulation. The dues under the latest pension scheme and other reliefs should reach the families of brave hearts without any delay.

Condemning the attack as cowardly or dastardly is one thing, my refrain once again is that utmost priority should be accorded to sending the relief to the kin of the bravehearts. In this context, I have seen in many cases the after initial condemnation I have seen families running around in North Block chasing their dues and brokers entering in the entire process promising expeditious processing and pocketing their fees or commissions. It happened in my time as a government servant. I am sure it won't happen now.

Diagnosis

Besides, there is a need to conduct a diagnosis of what went wrong. How did the perpetrators succeed? Jaish-e-Mohammad, which as per reports has claimed responsibility, has certainly triggered their sleeper cell.

But the question arises is if it a case of intelligence failure. I do not think so. It has been reported that intelligence was shared about three days back with the Jammu and Kashmir government. Further, a car being fitted with IED to be blasted by remote control would have surely come to the notice of our intelligence agencies. Our intelligence officers are smart enough to have noticed. Then where did the lapse occur?

Another vital factor which agitates me is that information on the movement of such convoys are not publicly known. The Jammu and Kashmir Police is informed for operational and coordination reasons. There is no other source with which such movements are shared. Then why did local police not sanitise the route?

Another vital factor is the resurgence of the Jaish-e-Mohammad in Jammu and Kashmir. Surely, this would have caught the eye of the intelligence agencies. As per laid down procedure, this would have been shared with the Jammu and Kashmir Police, especially with IG (CID). How then was this group permitted to resurge?

Jammu & Kashmir Police - past record

In this connection, my experience with Jammu and Kashmir Police is not very pleasant. In 2010, as an official in the Home Ministry, I had shared a list of properties of prominent separatist leaders of Jammu and Kashmir. But nothing came of it. However, this was acted upon only by NIA in 2017 by raiding these properties.

Apart from this prominent example, we have repeatedly shared intelligence with Jammu and Kashmir Police, with their headquarters, their IG (CID), but they were generally found to be not very fleet-footed in their countermeasures to pre-empt or prevent such evil designs - on several instances I have said about money being routed and such other vital instances.

Even the fidayeens travelling with Javed Shiekh and Ishrat Jahan, namely Amjad and Zeeshan, had reportedly been let off by Jammu and Kashmir Police. We had even shared the input on possible public outrage being fostered by ISI with Jammu and Kashmir Police on 3/6/2010, and the stone pelting by the public which is evidently funded from the other side of the LoC.

Vindictive on security personnel

Other recent instances may also be recalled. Take the case of Major Leetul Gogoi. He had tied a stone-pelter to save his team members from being injured. The whole human rights lobby went gaga over it.

Later on, he was framed in a case in which he was allegedly found with a local girl in a hotel. I do not want to go into details, but people may corroborate that at the very instance I had said that he was being framed by the Inspector General of Srinagar, who had come out to the media on this story is the same person named in my book of having engineered the false narrative of 'Hindu terror'.

Later, Major Aditya's case an FIR was registered. Hence the Jammu and Kashmir police requires to be vetted about many of its officers not toeing the Central government line. Politicians playing their own agenda may be acceptable, although I subscribe to the view that any proposal which challenges the idea of India is not acceptable.

Disturbingly abnormal growth in population

How about the local population? I am always intrigued by one paradoxical factor. The population in the Valley between 1991 to 2001 showed a growth. This is as per Planning Commission document. During this period, there was mass migration and also lot many killings which occurred. Hence, is it a case that some of the infiltrators are being accommodated and given residency documents. This question needs an answer.

Kashmiri replaced by Urdu as spoken language

Further, if you go to any kasba in the Valley, in the central market place you can find youth assembling in the evening. Try listening to their general talk. There is more Urdu than Kashmiri in their talk. Does it mean that the Valley has been taken over by Pakistani jihadis? I do not know. But the nation needs an answer?

Question to UN Human Rights Commission

The last answer needs to come from UN Human Rights Commission. The report has highlighted Burhan Wani's killing, thanks reliance on reports of civil society groups, and tarnished the J&K Public Safety Act and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) as structures obstructing the normal course of law. The report had further highlighted the reluctance of grant of prosecution sanction against security personnel under the Act. In case it had happened the other way round, if security forces had killed 26 terrorists, the author of the report would have repeated the charge of AFSPA being draconian and sanction not being granted. Will the author of the return to life the 44 martyred men? Else, let the author confess the he was either professionally wrong or his integrity was compromised by organisation like JeM which is an ancillary of Lashkar, a designated terror organisation under UNSCR 1267 list.

Saviour means God in Sanskrit

Actually, I again confess I am seeking answers for the above questions with a heavy heart. One among these jawans had saved my life. In our Hindu belief, we call saviours as 'nath' or 'bhagwan'. With heavy heart I say today we lost 44 of our bhagwans.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)
New Delhi: A string of actors and celebrities have condemned the ghastly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, which killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers. The actors have described the act as 'barbaric', 'tragic' and a 'heinous crime against humanity'.

On Friday, popular Bhojpuri actress and 'Nazar' actress Monalisa took to social media to express her condolence on the attack. Sharing a completely black screen, Monalisa wrote, "Sad , Disheartened, Angry.... Salute to Bravos .... RIP .... #pulwamaterrorattack #kashmir #blackday."

Take a look at her Instagram post below:

In a major terror attack, a suicide bomber of Jaish-e-Mohammed rammed an explosive-laden car into a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Lethpora area of Pulwama district's Awantipora on Thursday afternoon, killing at least 40 soldiers and injuring several others.

The attack on the CRPF convoy in Pulwama is considered as one of the worst militant attacks in the last two decades.

Pakistan based terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed the responsibility of the attack.

Sending out a tough message to Pakistan, the Indian government on Friday withdrew the 'most-favoured nation' status to Pakistan, a move which would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured-nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands revoked. India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated.
New Delhi: Ford launched the CNG variant of New Ford Aspire in India on Friday at starting price of Rs 6.27 Lakh.

The New Ford Aspire CNG will be available in two variants  Ambiente and Trend Plus. The CNG kit for New Aspire will come fitted to the 1.2L petrol variants at the company dealerships across India. New Ford Aspire Ambiente is priced at Rs 627,414 and the New Ford Aspire Trend Plus will come at Rs 712,314.

The compact sedan offers two front airbags as standard and a host of convenience features including embedded satellite navigation, an infotainment system with 7-inch touchscreen and Bluetooth connectivity, rear-view camera, remote central locking, automatic air-conditioner and power windows among others.

The CNG kit in the New Aspire CNG will be integrated with the engine control unit (ECU) to ensure optimized gas flow in each cylinder. Special engineering elements such as front stabilizer bar have been added to accommodate extra CNG cylinder weight and ensure the best handling and ride comfort, Ford said in a statement.

The New Ford Aspire is produced at Ford Indias Sanand Factory in Gujarat. The Sedan comes equipped with a standard two-year or 100,000km standard warranty.
A Junior High School (JHS) graduate of the Sra Presbyterian Basic School at Trom in the Yilo Krobo District of Somanya in the Eastern Region has made giant strides through mango farming.

Maxwell Kofi Lee is a mango farmer and the Chief Executive officer (CEO) of MKL Worth Farms in Somanya.

23-year-old Maxwell, owns a 10-acre mango farm inherited from his father after his passing.

Maxwell Kofi Lee Source: Getty Images

Source: Getty Images

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According to Maxwell, his father passed away when he (Maxwell) was very young and he has since been in the mango producing business for over ten years.

I always knew I would invest in agriculture someday because that is our only source of livelihood in my community," he noted.

Maxwell has however given a different meaning to farming by proving wrong those who think farming is for illiterates.

Maxwell Kofi Lee Source: Getty Images

Source: Getty Images

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Maxwell said although the farming activities was mostly dominated by old folks, the youth have equally developed an interest in agriculture and he was more than glad to be a part of it.

Nowadays, young Ghanaian men and women are more interested in professional jobs like medical doctor, banker, engineer among others and they see farming to be the only job reserved for illiterates, he said.

Maxwell, who is the first of two children added that nobody wants to do the conventional standing in the hot sun and sweating and labour that comes with it.

Touching on some of the challenges he faces in his line of work, he said farmers find it difficult to bring their produce due to poor roads.

Maxwell Kofi Lee Source: Getty Images

Source: Getty Images

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He also lamented the collapse of the rail network. He said this has forced his mangoes to sold mostly to ready-to-buy bulk buyers.

The biggest problem we have is we dont have enough storage sheds; those that exist are mostly not refrigerated and there are few processing plants, he disclosed.

Maxwell identified Ghanas agricultural sector as one of the most formidable economic ventures and urged the government to pay more attention to the farmers and equally help address their challenges.

Ghana News Today: EOCO secures order to freeze assets of Menzgold and related companies| #Yencomgh:

Click here to get the latest exciting English Premier League news. Get match highlights, reports, photos & videos all' in one place.

Source: Yen Ghana
Hola!

In this new series, we hope to cover different regions of the world and track current trends from across growing industries. With data as our guide, try to provide partners with context and inspire action.

From the borders of Mexico to the tip of Chile, Latin America consists of a diverse range of countries. Together, these nations are home to 8% of the worlds population and are abundant in natural resources. Having a rich history, Latin America or LATAM is known globally as an export hub of agricultural products and natural resources.

Growth studies over the past 15 years have revealed a trend: the gross domestic product (GDP) of Latin America and the Caribbean have grown faster than those of developed nations of the world. Looking at GDP is a good place to start, as its an accepted indicator of economic growth.

Time for a quick lesson:

The output of a region can be analyzed using population, capital, and resources.

Intensive growth is due to optimum use of input conditions, and extensive growth is attained from the expansion of these conditions, like an increase in population or over-utilization of resources. Extensive growth leads to exhaustion of resources and hence is not sustainable.

Prior years

Lets come back to the GDP of LATAMwhile theres much to celebrate, its also important to note that this growth is particularly underwhelming when compared to other developing nations.

In 2018, the GDP of Latin America grew only 1.2%, a percentage point less than 2017.

The reasons for this constrained growth are many, and vary from region to region. The downturn can be attributed to the shocks created by severe drought in Argentina and multiple trade strikes in Brazil, the two major economies in the region. While there are instances like in Mexico which have bucked the trend to show growth.

Almost 80% of the GDP growth in this region has come from the expansion of input conditions like population and the rise in consumptionextensive growth. And economic agencies have agreed that the following focus areas will take LATAM towards consistent long-term growth.

optimum use of resources

increase in labor productivity

However, other factors such as falling fertility rates, uncertain political futures, and over-reliance on commodities and an ever growing middle class whose expectations are sky-rocketing are all in the mix too. These are sure to impact long-term growth adversely if not addressed adequately.

For now, technology might be the regions only hope.

Looking ahead to 2019

Digital transformation

Digital transformation has many definitions, but none so concise and precise as the integration of digital technology in every aspect of business. The internet opened the floodgates and in the coming years, digital transformation will affect every industry.

The way consumers have welcomed the internet is something that caught businesses off guard. Dont believe us?

In 2008, only 22% of Latin Americans had access to the internet; in 2018 it has leapfrogged to 56% and is projected to reach 60.9% and higher!

Fintech has already taken the lead in this space. Brazils PagSeguro, a mobile payments company, became the largest online portal in the country and NuBank, a company that provides credit cards as a mobile app, are just beginning to scratch the surface.

Digital transformation is inevitable, and it results in more efficient use of labor and increased participation of the workforce. This leads to increased productivity thats essential for sustained growth.

Natural resources

Mining of natural resources, of which LATAM countries are richly endowed, has been a primary driver of growth for decades, and the industry has been instrumental in reducing poverty and in job creation. Although boasting a great past, the industry has been plagued with issues since exports started to fall in 2011.

However, things are making a turn for the better, albeit slowly. Countries like Ecuador, Chile, and Peru are attracting investments in copper and gold mining. A moderate growth is expected in the business, owing to reduced productivity in other regions such as Brazil. Foreign direct investment picked up in 2017 and is gradually aiding the recovery.

Travel and tourism

The travel and tourism industry took a beating during the 2008-09 recession, but has recovered considerably. In 2018 alone, the industry contributed over 9% of Latin Americas GDP.

While the contribution varies across nations, in general the steady increase of international tourists9% over 2017has led to job opportunities. The industry looks encouraging, with about 1.8 billion tourists expected to visit in the next decade. Most of this tourist traffic will be driven by millennials, as per a recent UNWTO report. These millennials are technologically literate and expect seamless digital-to-real-life experiences.

Infrastructure

This has been an industry where its been difficult to ascertain development metrics for the region, but there is little or no doubt that there has been poor investment in infrastructure. Only sub-Saharan Africa invests less than LATAMand recent corruption scandals have not helped in attracting foreign investment.

However, in the years to come, were sure that this tide is changing for the better. Economists have stressed that Latin America is in need of roads, railways, and urban infrastructure more than ever, if it wants to grow on par with other emerging economies.

Testimony to this is countries like Panama which has pledged over 55% of its spending in social infrastructure and Chinas growing interest in the region.

Technology needs to be at the forefront of this change, as it can ease some of the major issues plaguing infrastructure, such as cumbersome procedures in procurement and staffing.

Retail

A Euromonitor report from 2018 says that, across Latin America, only around 4% of sales take place through an online channel, but there is enough evidence coupled with internet adoption to state that online is a channel that will only grow as an influence in the retail space.

While most of retail depends on domestic consumption, its now clear that even brick and mortar stores need to adopt an omnichannel approach. For businesses to successfully to take this two-way approach calls for consultants who are well-versed in the business of retail and emerging cloud technologies.

Afterword

For long, organizations such as FocusEconomics, have placed the Latin American countries as a region of high potential marred by weak economic conditions. This is even reflective in the GDP growth forecast, but 2019 could really be the turn-around year and as we can see technology is at the core of such a transformation.

Infusion of emerging technologies like the cloud into traditional businesses such as retail, travel, manufacturing and natural resource extraction can go a long way in breaking the barriers to growth.

Mega trends are powerful guides not just for governments but also for businesseswhen coupled with macro-economic context help you make strategic bets as the year progresses. Additionally, they let you focus on what is crucial for growing your business and aid finding new opportunities.

Sources

The Economist, Latin America needs an infrastructure upgrade

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

McKinsey Insights, Threats To Growth in Latin America

Focus Economics, Latin America reports

World Economic Forum, How Latin America can unlock its digital potential

For more information write to us at partner-team@zohocorp.com

Find Zoho Partners in your region here


While the city is making progress in recycling organic waste, it seems unlikely that Long Beach will be able to fully comply with SB 1383, which requires every jurisdiction in the state to provide organic waste collection services to all...
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Hello Neighbor and Punch Club publisher TinyBuild has secured $15 million in Series A funding from an unnamed investor.

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, the cash will be used to bring in some new hires and expand the company's franchises and publishing efforts.

TinyBuild is currently looking to bolster its internal development, production, and porting teams, and is expected to use the funds to make hires in those areas.

It's also focused on creating new multi-media franchises that can exist across a variety of mediums, including books and television.

Beyond that, the publisher wants to invest in new projects with innovative features, and is particularly keen to unearth games based on popular mods -- with the company viewing mods as the foundation on which the now uber-popular battle royale genre was built.
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I have received a few third-party, unofficial complaints of unfriendly notes being left on vehicles parked in those spaces -- indicating that someone was upset that non-customers were utilizing the spaces.

Chief Tjaden said the initial signs provided by the city began as a courtesy effort by the city, but when it evolved into more of a negative circumstance, Mitch Doht (public works director) and I decided the best thing to do was remove the customer only signs.

As far as the overall progress with the downtown construction and parking/traffic issues, I want to offer some sincere appreciation, Chief Tjaden said. The public at large has been very patient and understanding, and we have noted no serious upticks in any traffic issues downtown. The vast majority of downtown businesses and the Chamber have shown the same patience, offering information about shopping and parking during the project.

Also, I want to thank the York water and street departments, particularly Brandon Osentowski, along with Van Kirk Brothers Construction for the work they are doing on the project. The project is progressing ahead of schedule, in spite of our recent weather, and I have noted that (street) barricades and signage have been appropriate, and safety is a consistent priority, the chief continued.
YORK  The results from the special election have declared official by the countys canvassing board and York Mayor Orval Stahr has been recalled from office.

York County Clerk Kelly Turner said Thursday morning that the canvassing process was completed shortly after 9 a.m., Thursday, and all the numbers matched with what had been declared Tuesday night.

This was the first all-mail election to be held in York County and the clerks office/canvassing board worked closely with the Nebraska Secretary of States office through the process.

Turner said the official and final results of the mayoral recall election remain 1,358 voting in favor of the recall and 915 voting against the recall.

Because the results are now declared official, Stahr is no longer mayor of York.

Next week, York City Council President Barry Redfern will be sworn in as mayor, according to York City Attorney Charles Campbell as he explained the legal process.

Turner said the voter turn-out in this special election was 41 percent.
Border Police arrested Friday a Palestinian man armed with a knife near Jerusalem.

A preliminary investigation revealed the suspect intended to carry out a terror attack.
An Israeli officer was lightly wounded after an explosive device had been hurled at him during violent clashes that erupted along the Gaza border as some 11,000 Palestinians took part in a weekly demonstration on Friday evening.

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The officer, from the Border Police undercover unit, was taken to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. At least 20 Palestinians are reported to have also been wounded by IDF fire, according to the medical sources in Gaza.





Friday clashes along the Gaza border (Photo: Reuters)

The IDF Spokespersons Unit said the demonstrators hurled stones, explosive devices and grenades at the troops operating near the fence. The spokesperson added that soldiers used riot dispersal equipment and opened fired in accordance with standard operating procedures.

Disabled protester takes part in border riots (Photo: Reuters)

The Palestinians also set alight tires and launched incendiary balloons in several locations along the frontier with Israel. The IDF troops also arrested an unarmed Palestinian man who breached the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip. He was taken by Israeli security forces for further questioning.

Palestinians carry away one of the wounded protesters (Photo: Reuters)

Earlier on Friday, a cluster of balloons with a suspicious device attached to it was located in the southern city of Netivot. Police sappers were called to the scene. There were no reports of casualties or damage. The police called on the public to remain vigilant and immediately report any suspicious devices they come across and leave the area at once.

Clashes along the Gaza border (Photo: Reuters)

On Wednesday, a joint statement by all of Gazas militant groups was released, warning that clashes at the Gaza border, which take place every Friday, could this week lead to an escalation in violence.

The organizations will not allow Israel to keep harming protesters during the March of Return peaceful rallies, they said in a statement. The Zionist enemy is responsible for any kind of harm to the rights of the Palestinian people, the statement added. All signs point to a nearing clash, we wont accept the fact that our people are starving and thirsty.
A Palestinian was seriously wounded on Friday by IDF fire during clashes that erupted in a village near Nablus in the West Bank.
Following Israel's expulsion of an international observer force from the volatile West Bank city of Hebron, Palestinian activists are trying to fill the void by launching their own patrols to document alleged Israeli settler violence.

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Armed with video cameras and donning blue vests, the activists say they will replace the Temporary International Presence in Hebron. The group has enlisted 18 volunteers and began its work this week.

"By expelling the international monitors, the Israeli government wanted to hide the Israeli settlers' and soldiers' violations, but we will not let them get away with that," Issa Amro, an activist leader, told The Associated Press. "We will document any attack by photos and words, and we will circulate it all over the world."





Palestinian observers, right, watch as children walk past Israeli soldiers on their way to school in the West Bank city of Hebron

Hebron, the West Bank's largest city, is a frequent flashpoint between settlers and Palestinians. Over 200,000 Palestinians live in the city, along with several hundred ultranationalist Israeli settlers who live in the down town area in heavily fortified enclaves protected by the military.

Palestinians frequently must pass through Israeli checkpoints in the area of the settler enclaves, restrictions that have hit the once-thriving city center and forced many businesses to close.

Adding to this combustible mix, Hebron is home to a holy site revered by Jews and Muslims as the burial site of religious patriarchs. Jews revere the site as the Tomb of the Patriarchs, while Muslims call it the Ibrahimi Mosque, after the patriarch Abraham.

The site has been divided into Jewish and Muslim prayer areas since shortly after a settler opened fire on Muslim worshippers at the shrine in 1994, killing 29 people and wounding over 100 others.

TIPH observers in Hebron (Photo: AP)

The international mission, known as TIPH, was initially established after the mosque shooting, and began operating in its latest form after a 1997 agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Until recently, the mission stationed unarmed civilian observers from Norway, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey to report on alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws in the divided city.

But last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the mission would be halted, saying Israel "will not allow the continuation of an international force that acts against us."

The development, seen as a gesture to his hard-line base as Netanyahu seeks re-election, drew declarations of concern from the United Nations, European Union, and contributing countries.

In a joint statement, TIPH member countries said the suspension "undermines one of the few established mechanisms for conflict resolution between Israelis and Palestinians." The EU said it "risks further deteriorating the already fragile situation on the ground."

The mission has long had a strained relationship with the settlers.

A Palestinian observers, right, watches as children walk past Israeli soldiers on their way to school in the West Bank city of Hebron

TIPH had drawn negative press in Israel in recent years after one of its observers was deported by Israel after slapping an Israeli child and another was filmed puncturing the tires of a settler's vehicle. In December, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that TIPH had produced an internal report criticizing "several and regular" Israeli violations of international law.

Amro, the activist leader, is well-known in Hebron. Saying he promotes non-violent opposition to discriminatory Israeli policies, he has run afoul of both Israeli and Palestinian authorities.

He is on trial before an Israeli military on accusations of inciting violence. In 2017, he was arrested by Palestinian authorities for a Facebook post critical of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Amro and other volunteer activists began their work on Sunday as a "human rights monitoring and protection team" by escorting Palestinian students to school in Hebron's Israeli-controlled downtown area.

Tensions started right away, Amro said.

An AP cameraman filmed a settler cursing the activists in front of the Israeli soldiers as "dogs and sons of dogs." An activist cursed the settler back.

Israeli settler, left, takes a picture of a Palestinian observer as he watches over children walking to school in the West Bank city of Hebron

Amro said he was "slapped and punched by the settlers" and vowed to file a complaint with Israeli police.

Yishai Fleisher, a settler spokesman, said the Hebron Jewish community is "fully against violence and vigilantism" and doesn't condone its members' altercation with Amro and the other volunteers. At the same time, he accused Amro of being an "instigator," and the main source of tension between Jews and Arabs in Hebron.

"This is the ultimate fake observer, fake peace monitor," Fleischer said. "He's interested in demolishing any sense of normality that has been built up between Jews and Arabs in Hebron."

TIPH observers in Hebron (Photo; AFP)

Hundreds of Palestinian students study in schools in Hebron's Old City. Altercations between Palestinians and Israelis are not uncommon, but Fleisher insisted that day-to-day affairs between the two communities function normally.

The students' families expressed relief at having the volunteers in the street.

"These groups are very good; we need them after the departure of the TIPH and the foreign researchers," said Sameh al-Muhtasib, a father.

In response to the arrival of the activists, the Israeli military declared the area of the Old City a military closed zone on Tuesday and banned the activists from remaining there.

Izzat Karaki, another activist, vowed to continue the work. "We will stay here and support our students and people," he said.
Israel's ambassador to Poland, Anna Azari, was summoned Friday to the Foreign Ministry in Warsaw following remarks made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, suggesting Polish people had cooperated with the Nazis during the Holocaust.
The government says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was misquoted by a newspaper on the extremely sensitive issue of Polish behavior during the Holocaust.

Netanyahu's office issued a statement Friday saying: "The Prime Minister's comments concerning Poland were misquoted by the Jerusalem Post, which quickly issued a correction clarifying that an error had been made in the editing of the article."

Netanyahu said Thursday in Warsaw that "Poles cooperated with the Nazis," wording suggesting that some Poles during the German occupation took part in killing Jews. However, the Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying "the Poles," which could be taken as blaming the entire Polish nation.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the EU's top diplomat in Brussels on Friday, a day after Vice President Mike Pence accused America's traditional European allies of trying to undermine US sanctions against Iran.

The meeting with Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, was scheduled before Pence's rebuke of European powers during a Middle East peace conference in Warsaw on Thursday, which Mogherini missed, citing a scheduling conflict at NATO.
The legal skirmish between Epic Games and those who claim to own the dance moves used as emotes in Fortnite is heating up.

As highlighted by The Hollywood Reporter, the U.S. copyright office has refused to register Fresh Prince star Alfonso Ribeiro's well-known Carlton dance, which was popularized in the hit '90s sitcom.

The actor (along with a number of other celebrities) is currently suing Epic Games for allegedly misappropriating and profiting from the move, which he claims makes an appearance in Fortnite as the 'Fresh' emote.

In a bid to bolster his case against Epic, Ribeiro is attempting to secure the copyright to the dance move, but the U.S. Copyright Office isn't playing ball, and in correspondence from last December claims three dance steps aren't registrable as a choreographic work.

"The dancer sways their hips as they step from side to side, while swinging their arms in an exaggerated manner," wrote Saskia Florence, a member of the Copyright Office's Performing Arts division.

"In the second dance step, the dancer takes two steps to each side while opening and closing their legs and their arms in unison. In the final step, the dancer's feet are still and they lower one hand from above their head to the middle of their chest while fluttering their fingers.

"The combination of these three dance steps is a simple routine that is not registrable as a choreographic work."

Yesterday, Epic urged courts to dismiss a similar case brought against the studio by rapper 2 Milly. Like Ribeiro, 2 Milly (a.k.a. Terrance Ferguson) claims the Fortnite dev stole his 'Milly Rock' dance move and recreated it in-game.

In response, Epic claimed that "no one can own a dance step," and that lawsuits like Ribeiro and 2 Milly's are "fundamentally at odds with free speech."

"Plaintiff's lawsuit is fundamentally at odds with free speech principles as it attempts to impose liability, and thereby chill creative expression, by claiming rights that do not exist under the law," wrote Epic's attorney Dale Cendali.

"No one can own a dance step. Copyright law is clear that individual dance steps and simple dance routines are not protected by copyright, but rather are building blocks of free expression, which are in the public domain for choreographers, dancers, and the general public to use, perform, and enjoy."

Although the U.S. Copyright Office has refused to register Ribeiro's dance, the actor's lawsuit against Epic is still ongoing.
Polands President Andrzej Duda said Friday that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had indeed suggested that Poles had collaborated with the Nazis during the Holocaust, the summit of leaders of the Weisgrad, due to be held in Israel next week, should be canceled. The leaders of Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are also expected to attend the summit.

Netanyahu was asked Thursday in Warsaw about the issue by a reporter and replied: "Here I am saying Poles cooperated with the Nazis. I know the history and I don't whitewash it. I bring it up."
The United States aims to "get as far down the road as we can" ahead of a summit with North Korea in Vietnam this month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday.

Pompeo said he was sending his team back to Asia in the coming days for further discussions around all issues discussed at a groundbreaking Singapore summit last June between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump announced last week he would hold a second summit with Kim in Hanoi on February 27 and 28.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Thursday released a video of a closed meeting in which senior Gulf Arab officials play down the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, defend Israel's right to defend itself, and describe Iran as the greatest threat to regional peace.

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The video, bearing the insignia of Netanyahu's office, gave a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes contacts the Israeli leader frequently boasts of, but which are rarely seen in public. The video was recorded on a mobile device and it was not clear who took it.

Bahrain FM in Warsaw

It was unclear whether Netanyahu, who is running for re-election, intended to leak the information or distributed it mistakenly. But the decision to take the video down indicated the Gulf officials, whose governments do not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel, had not consented to its release.

The edited, 25-minute video shows a series of comments made by officials from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on a panel discussion at a U.S.-sponsored security conference in Warsaw. Some 60 nations participated in the gathering, which was focused heavily on countering Iran's growing influence in the region.

Bahrain's foreign minister, Khalid Al Khalifa, made some of the toughest comments, saying that Iran is a far bigger threat to regional security than the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Warsaw summit (Photo: AP)

"We grew up talking about the Palestine-Israel dispute as the most important issue," he says. "But then at a later stage, we saw a bigger challenge. We saw a more toxic one, in fact the most toxic in our modern history, which came from the Islamic Republic, from Iran."

He went on to denounce the "neo-fascist regime" in Tehran, accusing it of plotting attacks in his country and destabilizing Yemen, Syria and Iraq. He also said that "toxic money, guns and foot soldiers of the Islamic Republic" have hindered progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

Bahrain, an island nation off Saudi Arabia that's home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, long has had tense relations with Iran.

Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi for years pushed for control of the Shiite-majority island. After Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iranian-backed militants launched a failed coup attempt on the island. Even today, Bahrain accuses Iran of arming Shiite militants amid a years-long crackdown on all dissent by the island's Sunni rulers.

While the Gulf Arab countries' animosity toward Iran is well known, it is generally taboo for Arab leaders to make such comments about the Palestinians in high-profile public settings. There was no immediate reaction from Palestinian officials in the West Bank.

Israel has identified Iran as its greatest threat. It has vowed to prevent Iran from establishing a permanent military presence in Syria and has carried out scores of airstrikes on Iranian targets in the neighboring country.

Asked about Israel's military activity in Syria, the UAE's Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said: "Every nation has the right to defend itself when it's challenged by another nation."

Saudi Arabia's minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, also accused Iran of hurting the Palestinian cause by supporting militant groups battling Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"Who is supporting Hamas and Islamic Jihad and undercutting the Palestinian Authority?" he says. "Iran."

Netanyahu did not participate on the panel, but is seen sitting in the audience. Speaking to reporters early Thursday, Netanyahu cryptically hinted at what he called the "unfathomable" friendly atmosphere at the conference. But he did not disclose any details or say whom he had met.

Tzipi Livni, a political rival, accused Netanyahu of violating standard protocol and leaking the video of a discreet meeting to boost his campaign ahead of April 9 elections.

Removing the video was the second time on the trip that Netanyahu has appeared to backtrack on the trip.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu said he hoped the conference would rally support for "war with Iran." His office later said his comments had been mistranslated from Hebrew, and that he was calling for everyone to "combat" Iranian influence.
In 1984, Meir Kahane managed to get elected to the Knesset with his Kach Party. But then he hit the iron wall of Israeli democracy. In October 1985, he spoke in front of a near empty Knesset plenum and raised a no-confidence proposal. Almost none of the Knesset's members showed up, apart from two Shas members. A month later, Shas joined the rest of the parliament's parties in boycotting Kahane.

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The Knesset speaker tried to stop Kahane from proposing racist bills. One of them called to revoke the citizenship of anyone who isn't Jewish, prevent non-Jews from being elected to any official position, banish them from Jerusalem, and finally make slaves out of Arabs and the rest of the gentiles. Another bill proposal barred contact between Jews and Arabs, including forbidding sexual relations between Jews and Arabs, setting up separate beaches, not allowing Arabs to live next to Jews, and forcibly breaking off mixed marriages.

Likud MK Michael Eitan compared these bills to the Nazi Nuremberg Laws, while the Israel Broadcast Authority (IBA) decided to reduce media coverage of Kahane due to his racist positions.





Rabbi Meir Kahane speaking in front of an empty Knesset (Photo: David Rubinger)

Kahane petitioned the High Court of Justice against the IBA's decision, and Justice Aharon Barak ruled in his favor. Despite the High Court's defense of the freedom of speech, Kahane was loathed by the political system because of his positions, but also because he was a successful demagogue. His ideology of hatred received broad support, to the point that a poll from 1985 showed his party could win 11 Knesset seats in the next elections, mostly at the expense of Likud.

Kahane presented a fundamental and political threat to the Israeli establishment: primarily, he tried to present Zionism itself as racism and turn Israel into an official apartheid state. As far as Israel's image is concerned, he essentially served Israel's bitterest haters. Politically, Kahane's party threatened to eliminate Likud's established, liberal right wing.

But then Basic Law: The Knesset was amended, so anyone who acts to destroy Israeli democracy, reject Israel's existence as the national home of the Jewish people, or incite to racism, would not be able to run for Knesset. This is how Kach was disqualified before the 1988 elections.

But Kahanism did not die with Kahane. His disciples and admirers walk among us. We have yet to read an interview in which they denounce and regret the positions of their master, a grotesque version of Lord Voldemort preaching about pure-bloods.

Rabbi Meir Kahane at the Knesset (Photo: David Rubinger)

Michael Ben-Ari, a former MK from the National Union Party, defined himself in 2009 as "Kahane's successor." There's a video of him from a 2012 protest shouting that "all of the leftists are traitors" and saying that "there are no innocents in the Gaza Strip."

To the credit of the Israeli political system, it's important to note that such comments are indeed considered to be out of bounds by the great majority in the Knesset, including the right wing. But this is changing; the delegitimization of the left is coming straight from the Prime Minister's Residence these days, and the dehumanization of Arabs is done by ministers as well, not just former MKs.

In recent weeks, the prime minister has been working to bring about unity between the small parties on the right. Specifically, he has been pushing to have the party of Kahane's disciples be part of such a union, to the chagrin of the politicians in these parties. Traditionally, the religious-Zionist sector and Gush Emunim have rejected the Kahanist rhetoric, but it doesn't matter to Netanyahu anymore. He's worried about the Knesset seats that will be lost.

Prominent figures in the radical right are all of a sudden praised for their bravery and the fact they are no longer "ashamed" of Kahane; they've "matured" and now "no one will scare them" with talk of racism. And really, what's so bad about Kahane?

This is akin to Labor Party members suddenly announcing they are no longer afraid of declaring an alliance with the anti-Semitic Hamas or Azmi Bishara the traitor, and then go on to brag that this was "maturity."

In both cases (the real one and the made-up one), this isn't maturity, but ideological degeneration, a moral mark of shame. Democracy allows Kahane's disciples to run for office, under certain conditions, but it doesn't require the disgrace of the prime minister of the Jewish state lobbying for them.

Nadav Eyal is the foreign news editor for Channel 13 News.
On a Jerusalem plaza looking up at the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock, a crowd gathers in front of two guides, listening attentively, a common sight in a city packed with pilgrims and tourists visiting its religious landmarks.

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What is unusual is that one of the guides is Palestinian, one is Israeli, and they are taking turns to give their perspectives on the city known to Jews as Yerushalayim and to Arabs as al-Quds.

Awad and Lieberman led tour

"We are in Jerusalem, which is the capital of the Jewish state. We are in one of the holiest places in the world for Christianity. And the keys are held by Muslim families," said Israeli guide Lana Zilberman Soloway, who spoke first as the group reached the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where Jesus is believed to be buried. "And all three coexist at the same time."

Dual tour Jerusaem

Her counterpart, Noor Awad, from Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank just a few km (miles) away, took a different view of the status quo, noting that Muslims and Christians from the West Bank or Gaza need Israeli travel permits to worship here.

"For Palestinians, this is the capital of Palestine and the capital of their country," said Awad, 28. "If you don't get that permission, you can't come actually here to pray. So the place is being used, and plays a lot into the two narratives and the conflict we have today."

Noor Awad leads tour in Old City Souq

The two guides heard each other out politely, with the occasional quip or raised eyebrow. Two dozen tourists, mainly foreigners living in the city, peppered them with questions.

The company, MEJDI Tours, says its "Dual Narrative" tour was "created in partnership by Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs, and Jews". The weekly tours have been under way since last October.

Awad and Zilberman, dual narrative tour

Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital. The Old City and holy sites lie in the mainly Arab eastern half, captured by Israel in a 1967 war and annexed in a move not recognized internationally. Palestinians say the eastern half is occupied land and must become the capital of a future Palestinian state.

At the heart of Old City, the tour came to the hill known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

Dual tour Jerusaem at the Western Wall

"Where the Dome of the Rock today is standing, the Prophet Muhammad ascended to Heaven to talk to God," Awad told the tour party, describing what Muslims consider the holiest spot on earth outside of the two Arabian cities Muhammad called home.

"That's a very central event, somehow similar to the story of Moses talking to God from Mount Sinai."

For Jews, it is the site of the biblical temple, destroyed by Babylonian conquerors, rebuilt and razed again under the Romans. The Western Wall, a restraint for the foundations built by Herod the Great 2000 years ago, is a sacred place of prayer.

Dual tour Jerusaem, dome of the Rock

"All the way down deep underground, underneath the golden dome, 5779 years ago, God created the world. 4,000 years ago we believe Abraham came to bind Isaac on that exact spot," Zilberman Soloway said.

Dave Yedid, 26, a Jewish seminary student from Long Island, New York who came on the tour, said "exactly what differs in the sort of Jewish Zionist narrative versus the Palestinian narrative is something Ill take home with me."

"I wanted to see those two side by side."
After T.'s remand extension hearing ended, attorney Adi Keidar went out on the street outside the Rishon LeZion Magistrate's Court and was immediately surrounded by dozens of teens. T., the minor from Pri Haaretz yeshiva, which is in the settlement of Rehelim in the West Bank, has been charged with manslaughter as an act of terror over the death of Aisha al-Rawbi.

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The Palestinian mother of eight was killed four months ago when her car was pelted with rocks while she was traveling near the settlement with her husband and daughter. Almost all of the students at the yeshiva were questioned by the Shin Bet, and eventually an indictment was filed against T., whose DNA was found on the rock that hit al-Rawbi's car.

The teens gathering around Keidar, all wearing the religious-Zionist sector's knitted kippahs, came down the hills of the West Bank to show their support for T. Some of them went to the same yeshiva as the suspected minor and were questioned themselves. They bombarded Keidar with legal questions, asked for his assessment on their friend's chances of avoiding conviction, and even demanded a selfie. Another youth, himself under investigation on suspicion of committing "price tag" vandalism (targeting Palestinians or Arabs following government activity deemed unfavorable) at a Palestinian village, was hounding Keidar for answers.

Attorney Adi Keidar with the parents of the suspect in the al-Rawbi case (Photo: Yariv Katz)

The admiration Keidar enjoys among those who are called the "Hilltop Youth"many of whom are intimately familiar with the Shin Bet's interrogation roomsis a testament to his status. If rabbis at yeshivas are the top religious authority for these youths, Keidar is the legal authority. He is the one that when the time comes will help them survive the Shin Bet and police and later save them from indictments filed against them.

Keidar is the legal advisor of the NGO Honenu. Even his opponents will admit he is a brilliant lawyer who gives prosecutors and the Shin Bet quite a headache. The NGO, which was founded in Hebron in 2002, provides free legal aid to suspects in Jewish terrorism and "price tag" cases, among other things. As such, the NGO has becomeat least in the mediathe mother base of the Hilltop Youth, so named for young settlers who live in unauthorized outposts in the West Bank.

In the past, Honenu also supported the families of Jewish prisoners who were convicted of murder, including Yigal Amir, who murdered prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Ami Popper, who was convicted in the murder of seven Palestinians.

All of this doesn't stop the NGO from defining itself as an organization that "advocates for human rights, ensuring suspects and prisoners' rights are not violated, and aids them in facing the aggressive system of law enforcement."

Keidar posing for a photo with one of the Hilltop Youth

And indeed, Honenu has had many legal victories, helping to release suspects from police and Shin Bet custody. Only recently, Keidar, who along with Zion Amir represents the defendants in the Dawabshe family murder in the Palestinian village of Duma, reaped a significant achievement in the case: the court threw out a confession by one of the defendants on the grounds that it was extracted by unlawful means and under duress, or as Keidar calls ittorture.

But Honenu, which makes NIS 5 million a year in profits and employs only 10 people, has far-reaching influence, which extends beyond the legal field. Its members, who have ties to politicians on the right side of the political map, have been serving in recent years as the loudest mouthpiece for the most extreme settlers.

Meanwhile, the NGO has become one of the biggest headaches for the Shin Bet, which three weeks ago even released an unusually scathing statement condemning it.

So how did Honenu go from a modest legal NGO to an engine of settlement in the West Bank?

Honenu's business cards are all over the different Israeli communities and outposts in the West Bank. The cards read: "Have you been arrested? Call our organization's legal center." The cards, which are distributed, inter alia, during protests against the evacuation of settlements, are at the ready in the pockets of many settlers. In many cases, the first phone call a Jewish suspect in the West Bank makes is to the number at the bottom of those cards.

Since its establishment, Honenu has been de facto taking the same side of every legal dispute. The organization supports terror suspects (like in the Duma and the al-Rawbi cases), helps teenagers arrested after committing "price tag" vandalism, and defends every soldier or Border Policeman who committed an offense while on duty in the territories.

Honenu CEO Shmuel Meidad, center, handing out the NGO's calling cards to Border Policemen

Among other things, Honenu helps detainees who protested against pride parades, and volunteers to aid Jewish officials in struggles waged in mixed Jewish-Arab cities. As such, the NGO is constantly accused of being a racist and homophobic organization that has no qualms about supporting even murderers to promote its agenda at the expense of human rights and the rule of law.

"I identify with the motives of those we support, even if I don't agree with their actions," says Shmuel Meidad, the CEO. "Honenu helps because it understands there is an insane reality here."

We meet with Meidad, 58, and Keidar in the latter's Ramat Gan office, which is filled to the rafters with thick binders with materials about the Duma trial.

Meidad's personal story is to a large extent the story of Jewish settlement in the West Bank. He comes from a religious family, a native of Moshav Tkuma in the Negev desert, who studied with Rabbi Haim Drukman as a youth and was captivated by the charm of the settlements.

"The settler zeal stuck to me," he says. "As a teenager, I was in Sebastia (a Palestinian village in the Nablus area), an activist in (the settler movement) Gush Emunim."

After his discharge from the IDF's Armored Corps, Meidad started studying at a Hesder yeshiva (which combines advanced Talmudic studies with IDF service) in Kiryat Arba, and over the past 36 years he has been living in the Jewish settlement, on the outskirts of Hebron.

Honenu CEO Shmuel Meidad, center, with two other lawyers that work for the NGO (Photo: Amit Shabi)

Meidad used to run a transportation service, but his life took a different direction in 1984. At the time, members of the Jewish Underground were arrested after a long investigation by the Shin Bet. Three of the suspectsMenachem Livni, considered the leader, Shaul Nir and Uzi Sharbafwere Meidad's neighbors in Hebron. "These are my closest friends," he now says.

During the trial, Meidad took care of the families of the suspects and showed up to court hearings to support them. The fact they were charged with the murder of three students at the Islamic College in Hebron, the attempted assassinations of Palestinian mayors, and planning terror attacks on Arab buses in East Jerusalemdidn't bother him.

After they were convicted, Meidad joined Rabbi Yehuda Hazani who led the campaign to pardon them. The campaign succeeded, and Meidad's three good friends, who were all jailed for life, were released after serving only a few years in prison.

Shaul Nir and Menachem Livni, members of the Jewish Underground (Photo: Shaul Golan)

Therein the realization that a public campaign could help settlers with legal woesis where the seed for the Honenu NGO was planted.

For years, Meidad continued working hard to assist Jewish suspects in the territories, privately and on a voluntary basis. But in 1998, his friend Dov Dribben was killed during a clash with Palestinian shepherds on his Maon farm. The Palestinians, who snatched the weapon of Dribben's friend Yehoshafat Tor, shot Dribben dead and seriously wounded Tor.

"In those years, all kinds of hostile organizations started coming to our area and harassing settlers and soldiers," Meidad says. When he talks about "hostile organizations," Meidad means groups like Rabbis for Human Rights and B'Tselem. "Their activity led to legal moves against settlers, which resulted in people thinking twice before acting. In Dov Dribben and Yehoshafat Tor's case, the fraction of a second in which they hesitated to shoot ended up being critical. After this incident, I realized war was no longer something done with swords and rifles, it entails a lot of psychological, media and legal measures."

In 2002, Meidad founded an NGO that would later go on to become Honenu. The organization's founders were mostly residents of the Jewish settlement in Hebron, and some of its meetings are still held in the contentious Beit Hadassah in the city. Its founding document lists the NGO's objectives as: "help, support and the economic, spiritual and mental rehabilitation of prisoners, detainees and their families," as well as "legal counsel for soldiers and civilians who encountered hardships or fallen captive due to the security situation." Meidad was appointed the NGO's CEO and remains in the role to this day.

Economically, Honenu is a roaring success. In its first years, the NGO only raised NIS 190,000 in donations, but in 2005 it raised NIS 2 million. In 2015, Honenu's fund-raising went through the roof, and over the past four years the NGO has been raking in at least NIS 4 million in donations every year.

According to Meidad, Honenu's donors are "the people of Israel." These days, the NGO has a call center to raise money in Israel and a crowdfunding campaign online. In the past, it raised money through telemarketing as well.

Early on, however, about half of the NGO's budget came from donations from the United States. According to Meidad, nowadays only a small portion of the donations the NGO receives come from abroad.

Do you have a fundraising apparatus in the US?

"We don't have an apparatus, but we do offer the option of donating there. There's a volunteer who takes in the donations and passes it on to us, but it's relatively small change. Tens of thousands of dollars, maybe."

But that is inaccurate. A review of the NGO's financing records shows that in its early years, about half of Honenu's donations came from the United States, including through its American branch Honenu USA. Starting in 2010, the NGO has been receiving hundreds of thousands of shekels in donations from the Jewish-American Marcus family, the founders of the Central Fund of Israel, which also donates to the right-wing NGO Im Tirtzu and settlements like Itamar and Beit El.

In 2015 alone, Honenu received NIS 1.135 million from the American fund. The same year, the NGO received NIS 126,000 from Access Credit, a Jerusalem-based company that specializes in wire transfers and check cashing. Not exactly "the people of Israel."

In 2016, the donations from the US dropped after Haaretz published a story revealing that some of the NGO's funds go to aid the families of Jews convicted of murder. A review of Honenu's records reveals a surprising list of beneficiaries who received thousands of shekels from the NGO in 2015: the family of Ami Popper, convicted of killing seven Palestinians, received NIS 3,500; Shahar Butbika, a Border Policeman convicted of killing an Arab teenager by throwing him off his jeep in 2002, received NIS 3,500 as well; the family of Yaakov "Jack" Teitel, who was convicted of killing two Palestinians in 2009, received NIS 6,000; the family of former MK Orit Strook, whose son Zvi was convicted of abusing a Palestinian boy, received NIS 14,000; Matityahu Shabo, who was arrested in 2003 and convicted of possession of explosives, received NIS 17,000; families of members of the Bat Ayin Underground, who were suspected of numerous acts of terrorism against Arabs, received NIS 20,000. In the past, the NGO also transferred funds to the family of Rabin's assassin Yigal Amir.

Ami Popper, who murdered seven Palestinians (Photo: Shaul Golan)

"There was something like that happening in the past," Meidad admits, "today, in general, not anymore."

It is important to note, however, that the organization's biggest grant in 2015NIS 35,000was given to the Zelinger family from Elon Moreh, whose three-year-old daughter was diagnosed with cancer.

While it is unclear from the NGO's records whether these financial grants have indeed stopped, the NGO's heads claim these grants ended five years ago. Either way, Honenu's cash flow was unaffected, on the contrary. In 2016 the NGO raised almost NIS 5 million, with over half a million shekels coming from the US. Their main donor remains the American Marcus family, which donated over NIS 400,000 to the NGO that year. Another main donor was Libby Kahane, Rabbi Meir Kahane's widow, who donated NIS 100,000.

Conversely, Meidad makes a decent living from the NGO. In 2004, the NGO only had three people on the payroll, with Meidad himself making NIS 63,000 a year ($17,285 in today's exchange). Today, the NGO employs ten people, and in 2016 Meidad was already making an annual pay of NIS 262,000 ($71,880).

Most of Honenu's expensesmore than NIS 2 million a yeargo toward legal aid. Keidar is in charge of this aspect of the organization. The 47-year-old Netanya native opened a criminal law firm 15 years ago. Keidar, who wears a small kippah and comes from a Revisionist Zionist home, first heard of Honenu in 2004. Up until that time, the NGO was operating under the radar. In 2005, Honenu made the national stage during the Gaza Disengagement.

"At the time, police arrested hundreds of people who were protesting against the disengagement and blocking roads," says Keidar.

Honenu's calling cards spread throughout the protests, with the NGO offering free legal counsel to detainees. Within a few days, the small NGO was fielding hundreds of calls from people seeking its help. Honenu's personnel worked diligently to pair up detainees with lawyers from across the courty to represent them in court hearings.

"From a handful of employees, we became an operation providing assistance to hundreds of people," says an official in the organization.

Honenu CEO Shmuel Meidad handing out the NGO's calling cards to Border Policemen

The service Honenu was offering filled a big hole in the market. After the 2005 Gaza disengagement, a rift was created between the settlers and the Israeli government. At the same time, more and more youthsincluding teenagers who dropped out of yeshivasbegan erecting outposts on the hills of the West Bank.

"We see this as a national mission, but the government doesn't see it as important," Keidar says. "What happened in those years were clashes between the settlers and Arabs and security forces. It became the daily routine, while the government looked on. The result was that at the end of each of these clashes, the teens were the ones who found themselves under arrest or taken in for questioning."

These teens remain Honenu's main clientele to this day, as the NGO aides them in sabotaging the Israeli government's efforts to fight against the "price tag" vandalism and implement a freeze on settlement construction.

The NGO's busiest department is the one handling arrests, which operates a 24/7 hotline that takes in calls from detainees and their families and provides them with immediate legal assistance, free of charge, during the investigation and remand extension hearings.

"We have dozens of lawyers of all types of expertise," says Keidar, whose job also includes coordinating between the relevant lawyers and the detainees.

Another department follows up on cases after an indictment has been filed. While Honenu normally doesn't finance the legal counsel at this stage, its personnel do closely accompany the suspects. "At the moment, there are hundreds of cases we're accompanying," says Keidar, who himself is representing the suspects in the Duma case.

Keidar surrounded by Hilltop Youth outside the courtroom

Among other things, the NGO also represents soldiers and Border Policemen under investigation by the Military Police's Criminal Investigation Division (CID) over incidents that happened while they were on duty. According to Honenu officials, high-ranked officers also turned to them for discreet legal counsel.

These days, Honenu's lawyers are defending several soldiers and Border Policemen in court. One such case is that of Border Policeman Ben Deri, who was convicted of causing death by negligence of a Palestinian rioter during Nakba Day clashes near the Beitunia checkpoint in Ramallah.

Another department of Honenu provides legal counsel to prisoners, ensures the Israel Prison Service doesn't violate their rights, and even provides financial aid to their families.

Honenu is particularly proud of a department that provides legal counsel to families who lost loved ones in terror attacks, helping them realize their rights. This department often works alongside the State Prosecutor's Office during trials of terrorists. It also represents non-Jewish Israeli citizens, such as a resident of Abu Ghosh who was wounded in an attack at Har Adar.

"Those who help the people of Israel, we help them," Meidad says. "We have the privilege of always being on the good guys' side."

Recently, Honenu helped the family of Yanai Weissman, who was murdered in a stabbing attack in the Shaar Binyamin industrial zone. Attorney Haim Bleicher represented the Weissman family as the victims of the crime during the trials of the terrorists who murdered Yanai.

Attorney Haim Bleicher (Photo: Amit Shabi)

Bleicher helps dozens of bereaved families. "The families turn to us, and we contact the military prosecution, arrange a joint meeting and get information about the cases that have to do with the attack," he says. "We think the most important thing is the presence at court. We physically accompany the victims to the courtroom. In some one the cases, I go alone because the families can't bear the grief. We make sure there are no lenient plea deals and provide counsel to families on how to fight such deals."

But Honenu's massive outreach goes far beyond the courtroom and penetrates deep into the political sphere. In addition to the legal counsel the organization provides its clients, it also wages, with their help, an orchestrated public relations campaign meant to make it hard on law enforcement authorities to solve cases of Jewish terrorism and "price tag" vandalism, or prosecute those involved. This PR campaign leans heavily on aggressive attacks against the Shin Bet.

Honenu was one of the architects of the campaign against the "torture" of Jewish suspects at the hands of the Shin Bet, which included quite a few mass protests. This campaign recently noted a victory when the court threw out some of the confessions in the Duma trial, thus legitimizing the Honenu lawyers' claims.

This is also the course of action the NGO took in the al-Rawbi murder case. When the investigation came to light and five suspects were arrested, Honenu organized demonstrations against the arrest outside the Shin Bet facility where they were being held. This campaign was accompanied by posts on social media reporting Honenu's recent legal success, and the NGO also helped the families of the detainees get a meeting with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, during which they detailed their grievances against the Shin Bet.

The Shin Bet hit back three weeks ago, releasing a statement criticizing the "deliberate and ongoing effort by many interest parties to slander the Shin Bet and its employees and delegitimize its activities."

Attorney Adi Keidar in court representing suspects in Jewish terrorism (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Honenu may have not been mentioned by name in the Shin Bet statement, but they were certainly the main catalyst behind it. "Honenu is definitely causing damage to national security," says Dvir Kriv, a former handler in the Shin Bet's Non-Arab Affairs Department. "They don't understand that there is only one Shin Bet: the same one that interrogates a Hamas terrorist today could interrogate a Hilltop Youth tomorrow. This is the same organization with the same objectivepreventing terrorism. Terrorism is terrorism, and it doesn't matter if the person who committed it is Jewish or Arab. Honenu's claim is that there is a unit in the Shin Bet that operates against the people of Israelthey call it the 'Jewish Department,' even though that's not its namebut this unit's agenda is the exact opposite."

According to Kriv, Honenu is waging a PR campaign against the Shin Bet, at the expense of some of the youths it represents in court, who did not commit the offenses. "They're doing this so it could help them with the problematic detainees, the ones who did commit terror acts," Kriv says. "A lawyer who knows his client is not guilty should tell him 'Give your version, provide an alibi, and go home.' In reality, they brief everyone to keep silent."

"I have no doubt they are inventing and spreading disinformation," Kriv says. "All of the stories about torturemaking it seem like we are using inquisition methodsare an exaggeration. It's true that the court found a few irregularities and threw out some testimonies, but it just proves that the court is not a rubber stamp for the agency, like they're trying to claim."

"Our dispute with the Shin Bet is a judicial one," Keidar says in response. "We claim they are operating unlawfully. They investigate where there is no need to investigate, they operate where they shouldn't be, they turn every child who sprayed some graffiti into a terrorist. A few years ago, they changed direction and decided that if they started talking about 'price tag' as a terror attack and a Jewish defendant as a terrorist, it'll do something for the public. But while they're at it, they're trampling on human rights. The fact is that most of the cases were not solved, but they still arrested a ton of people and tortured people, some of whom were released without charges."

Aren't you shooting yourself in the foot? The Shin Bet is entrusted with protecting the settlers in the territories.

"So I am supposed to allow it to torture my client because in its essence it's supposed to thwart terror attacks? In the long term, we're working to educate the Shin Bet."

Addressing the claim Honenu is advising all of its clients to remain silent during questioning, Keidar says that "The right to remain silent is a legal right, mostly because when the Shin Bet interrogates you, there is no documentation of the interrogation (unlike police interrogation)."

Does the Shin Bet distort confessions?

"No, but the moment the law allows the Shin Bet interrogator not to document the detainee's own words, I as a lawyer find this unacceptable."

Even if the detainee has a great alibi?

"Yes."

The Shin Bet is not the only one in Honenu's crosshairs. Under a legal cover, Honenu is attacking the Netanyahu government, which the NGO says operates in an illegal and irresponsible manner. At the height of the campaign against the Shin Bet over the al-Rawbi case, Honenu was involved in a rally outside the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem under the banner of "Mr. Prime Minister, settlers also have basic rights!" The rally ended in clashes with the police.

Honenu's efforts to influence the public agenda is led by its Public Relations Department, which is run by Eran Schwartz, who is on the NGO's payroll as its spokesman. Schwartz also owns a PR firm that has campaigned against the High Court of Justice's judicial activism, among other things. In recent years, and particularly after the Duma and al-Rawbi cases, the organization has been constantly making headlines, with Schwartz acting as spokesman and presenting Honenu's positions against the Shin Bet.

Keidar, far right, with other Honenu lawyers, including Itamar Ben Gvir, second from the left (Photo: Yariv Katz)

But officials in Honenu claim the PR that the NGO does is meant strictly to protect the legal rights of their clients. "We understand that daylight is purifying," a Honenu official says. "There are a lot of wrongs and illegal acts, which we don't see done to other sectors of the population or done in similar offenses; when it comes to us, there is over-eagerness to solve (the crime) and over-enforcement. They use tools that are not used anywhere else, and not speaking out about it allows it to happen. Just as the left wing organizations influenced law enforcement authorities against the settlers ... we learned to do the opposite."

Is there someone you wouldn't represent? For example, a Jew accused of a nationalistically motivated murder?

Keidar: "There is no such thing. Even a man who did something and confessed to itour understanding is that he didn't wake up in the morning deciding he's going to kill Arabs. As a lawyer, even if I don't agree with someone, I understand he's not acting in a vaccum."

What do you think about "price tag" incidents?

"These are not violent incidents, but property offenses. At worst, this is an aggressive initiative that comes from a place of distress or helplessness, and at best it's the actions of an unruly child."

Attorney Adi Keidar (Photo: Ido Erez)

Don't you feel that you are justifying and encouraging violence?

"No, because we're a human rights organization, and everyone deserves representation."

On your crowdfunding page, which raises money for the fight against "judicial terrorism," you wrote: "We're here to have their back against the rule of law." Is the rule of law something bad?

"The state is conducting itself in a grave manner. My clients have been experiencing selective enforcement for 20 years; it is a form of abuse. It happens in the police, in the prosecution, in the State Prosecutor's Officeall the way up to State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan. If you don't have a body that could fight against these systems professionally, you will lose. This is what's behind this statement."

Are the courts also being selective?

"The courts also have a hard time dealing with our cases. They fear that decisions in favor of our clients will be used against them. After throwing out the confessions in the Duma trial and in the Acre detention facility story (where the court threw out the confession of a teen suspected of Jewish terrorism after his confession was collected by Shin Bet interrogators posing as prisoners), it's the first time you feel that the court is starting to understand, after 20 years, what we're talking about."
Thousands of people buy purebred dogs in Israel every year. They read up about the different breeds and look at pretty pictures of puppies running in the open fields. They'll do everything to make sure this is the right dog for the family. But the photos in this article shatter the idyllic image the dogs industry is trying to sell us: in reality, the dogs are crammed into crowded kennels; housed at construction sites across the country with no supervision, food or water; many are wounded, neglected and unvaccinated.

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While thousands of dogs are abandoned and locked up for months or even years at animal shelters and NGOs that are struggling under the sheer number of dogs without a home, and while every year over 60,000 dogs are put to death just because there is no one to adopt themthe purebred dogs industry continues to prosper and grow, mostly illegally. The only ones to truly profit from this are the sellers.

In other countries, governments are fighting the problem with legislation. Just a few weeks ago, the British Parliament passed a law that bars the sale of pets. This precedent kicked up a storm around the world; and with this Britain joined the US state of California, which also barred the sale of dogs a few years ago.

(Photo: Let The Animals Live)

An investigation we conducted found how easy it is to sell pets in Israel without a license or papers. The customers, mostly families, are unaware of the wide-scale industry behind the dog they lovingly adopted; or the suffering it went through before finding a home with them.

"So many dogs are put to sleep every year because there is no one to adopt them. So why do people sell animals like objects?" says Yael Arkin, the CEO of the organization Let The Animals Live. "These dogs are going through hell just so someone could make a profit at their expense. We need to put an end to this."

Purebred without papers

Only ten percent of all dogs sold in Israel are purebredsthe rest are marketed as purebred but are not. One of the most popular places to buy dogs in Israel is the market in Kafr Qasim. The sellers keep the dogs in extremely poor conditions at abandoned yards or construction sites far from residential areas, so the puppies' barking won't alert the neighbors to the illegal activity.

We contacted one of the known sellers in the north, M., who breeds dogs in Daliyat al-Karmel and sells them at the market in Kafr Qasim. He told us of the kinds of dogs he has for sale.

"I have Maltese and Shih Tzu dogs, but you can only have them in two weeks, because they are still small," he says. "They're not for sale yet. I put them on sale only at two months old. The Shih Tzu is NIS 2,500 ($686), Maltese is NIS 3,300 ($905). They're purebred without papers."

What do you mean "purebred without papers"?

"I don't want to go into too much details. You can come and see them. Come to Daliyat al-Karmel, to my house. I just had two whelpings, you can even come in a week."

A visit to M.'s puppy mill in Daliyat al-Karmel uncovered a sad and abysmal situation: dozens of tiny puppies running around a construction site, without shelter from the cold and rainand mostly without anyone taking care of them.

(Photo: Let The Animals Live)

The Central Investigation and Enforcement Unit at the Ministry of Agriculture, which is in charge of enforcing the law against animal abuse, already knows M.'s puppy mill and has even visited it before, but its officials determined this was a suitable place for puppies to live in.

"Even after we told the police what is going on in Daliyat al-Karmel, nothing has changed," Arkin says. "Some of the dogs go from there to be sold at stores, under the guise of an organized place. They are sold without papers or permits. In 90 percent of the cases, no one will show you where he breeds the dogs, because of the awful conditions. They meet with you elsewhere, but you won't see the conditions in which the dogs live. They have something to hide."

Can't the neighbors hear the barking?

"In cases of small puppy mills, we receive complaints from neighbors who get pissed off by the barking, because a lot of the time it's at someone's back yard in some moshav. We had one case in which dogs were kept in a warehouse in an industrial area, and people heard barking coming out of there. We went there, but we don't have the authority to seize animals; we can't just come and take them. We reported it to the Agriculture Ministry. In many other cases, (the puppy mills are) in abandoned areas, construction sites or industrial areas that no one visits normally. The dogs live in a structure that is still under construction, in the terrible cold, and when market day arrives they are taken there to be put up for sale."

(Photo: Let The Animals Live)

According to data from Let The Animals Live, there are 61 animal shelters in Israel, each housing an average of 30 dogs. Meaning there is an average of 1,800 dogs waiting to be adopted every dayand this is without counting the tens of thousands of abandoned dogs who are placed at foster homes and alternative adoption centers around the country. There are some 300,000 stray dogs in Israel, 60 percent of which are in the southern part of the country.

When you adopt from an NGO, "you save two dogs," Arkin says. "The dog you adopted and another stray dog, or one who might have been otherwise put to sleep, which take the place of the dog you adopted."

Can you take in new dogs?

"Let The Animals Live has 300 dogs, almost 200 of which are in Kfar Ruth and some are hospitalized. We're the only NGO that takes in dogs that require some form of investmenttraining, medical care, special treatment. If people don't adopt, I can't take in new dogs. We're not alone in this; all of the NGOs in Israel have more dogs than they can take."

What about spaying and neutering?

"There is a NIS 4.5 million budget to spay and neuter cats, but the Agriculture Ministry is against spaying and neutering, so we go to the High Court of Justice every year to get that budget."

A prosperous industry

Puppy mills are not the only places that sell dogs; there are also private people make some extra money on the side from selling dogs, with some even selling made-to-order puppies to celebrities and promoting themselves on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Facebook allows groups such as "Purebred dogs for sale" to exist, and those groups only grow bigger over time.

Several weeks ago, a post made the rounds on social media about Beagle puppiesrare and expensive dogswho would be put to death unless someone adopts them. The post, which got tens of thousands of shares and comments, led many people to call the phone number written at the bottom. However, it later transpired that the dogs were not up for adoption, but for sale for thousands of shekels. Many people slammed down the phone. But there were also those who fell in love with the photos of the puppies and were willing to pay for them.

(Photo: Let The Animals Live)

Shani Levin, 28, an animal rights volunteer, was among the thousands of people who saw the adoption post on Facebook. But unlike many others, she immediately knew this was a sham.

"For two days, I was bombarded with messages on Facebook about the Beagle puppies that were put up for adoption a moment before they are to be put down," she says. "It didn't appear credible at all, because Beagle is a very expensive breed, which is raised at home and not picked up off the street. There's no chance they were going to be quarantined and put down."

"What angered me the most about this story was the fact everyone rushed to help just because they are purebred," Levin says. "So many people called the guy who published the post, so he couldn't be reached. People paid money to save these dogs, while there are thousands of other dogs waiting for a home. When an NGO posts on Facebook about a dog under quarantine, it gets maybe a few dozens of likes."

The purebred dogs industry "is massively commercialized. They tell people there are papers, that the dog is purebred, and they don't even ask to see the dog's papers," she says.

(Photo: Let The Animals Live)

The breeding industry makes its way to private pet shops as well. There might not be crowded kennels there, but in many cases the dogs and cats are kept in conditions that are in violation of regulationsthe cages are too small, the puppies are not taken out for walks, and they are left sitting in their own filth. The store owners illegally buy the dogs from private individuals, without asking for papers or vaccination records.

One of the most well-known stores in the breeding industry is in central Israel, where the dogs are held in glass cages. When we called the store to ask where they're getting the dogs and in what conditions they are being kept, the store owner told us: "We get the puppies from the homes of private people."

Can you give us some details about these people? Who are they? Where are the puppies coming from?

"Dream on, I'm not giving you details about the people who sell me the dogs. You can only come and see them at the store. My dogs are not purebred, but I can assure you they are of high stock. I've been selling dogs for over 60 years. If I had to get them approved by the Israeli Kennel Club as purebred, it would have taken years, I'd have to have them get a lot of vaccinations, and I'd have to take them to shows around the country. Do you think I'd do this? If I did, you would've had to pay twice as much than what I charge, which is NIS 2,500 ($686) per puppythe starting price."

"I was exposed to this phenomenon of selling dogs when I wanted to buy a Pekingese at a pet shop," says Irma Tzidon, an independent activist working against the breeding of pets. "At the time, I didn't know what it meant to buy dogs. I started asking where the dogs at the stores come from. I followed the trail back and realized they are all part of a big industry. I was shocked by what they're going through. All of a sudden, you see the dog you were buying wandering around some warehouse and realize he's part of the breeding industry. They get the sperm out of the male and forcefully implant it into the female. Bitches' lives revolve entirely around the pregnancy and whelping. Their pups are taken away, and the process is repeated. It's outrageous."

(Photo: Let The Animals Live)

"There is also the question of the profits and tax evasion," Tzidon says. "Where is the Israel Tax Authority? This is an industry that's making millions of shekels. They have around 30 dogs, with each dog sold for thousands of shekels, and there's a whelping at least twice a year. You do the math how much they earn. Many of the sellers are convicts who don't work, only breed dogs."

The law allows the private sale of dogs.

"That's true, you can sell dogs, but you have to report it to the Tax Authority. Today, with social media opening new avenues to trading pets, it has become very popular. Most of the sales are done with no supervision at all."

'Tortured to death'

One of the most terrible examples of what the lack of supervision on the breeding industry leads to is the story of Raphael, a poor puppy who was found at an illegal puppy mill in the north in critical condition following abuse by the breeder.

"We heard about an illegal puppy mill run by a man who decided to independently breed his bitch, and then just sell the puppies to the highest bidder," according to Lior Yandel and Nofar Kahlon from DOGS R US. "The puppy mill wasn't under supervision. The message we got was about a four-weeks-old Cane Corso puppy who was in critical condition; it couldn't stand or eat on its own, it was entirely disabled. We wanted to get it out of there, but they wouldn't let us."

Were you able to get the puppy out in the end?

"Yes, we took it to the vet in the north, and he said Raphael was very sick and that treating the dog would cost thousands of shekels. When we called the puppy mill, they decided they didn't want it. At the vet's clinic, we were told it was suffering from a fracture to its skull, its blood tests showed it had been starved for a long time, and that it was suffering from meningitis. I have the dog now as a foster, because it must be under 24/7 supervision. It makes involuntary movements, and it can't hold up its own head. The dog is on four types of antibiotics."

After Raphael's story spread through Facebook, a couple who bought a dog from the same puppy mill came forwardthe dog was diagnosed with a serious liver infection. The small puppy looks a lot like Raphaelmight be from the same litterand the couple told Lior and Nofar they cannot afford the expenses of caring for the dog, asking to give it away.

"We didn't know what else to do, so we simply took that dog too, and we're trying to get funding to pay for their treatments. If they don't get the medical care they need, they will both die," according to Lior and Nofar.

"People are unaware of the crazy situation in the dog trading industry," says Roee Shpernik of the organization Glass Walls. "People think that if they are buying a dog, that it is properly taken care of, and that they can rest easy. But they don't know that those 'purebred' dogs they are buying could in a few weeks turn out to be very sick, because of the grave treatment they receive. Animals born with defects are eliminated in the worst possible manner: they are either thrown away like trash while they're still alive, or their heads are slammeed against the wall, and they are abused and tortured to death. We have countless reports about poor bitches at breeding mills and warehouses. After they are used for dozens of litters, they either die on their own or they are thrown away."

(Photo: Let The Animals Live)

The only breeder approved by law is the Israeli Kennel Club. This official organization, which is under supervision, has several puppy mills where only purebred dogs with papers are sold.

There is no record or accurate data on the sale of dogs in Israel, but an estimated 2,000 purebred dogs are bought from the Israeli Kennel Club every year, out of some 20,000 supposedly purebred dogs that are sold in total in Israel every year.

"Our war is not against the Israeli Kennel Club," says Arkin. "They are supervised, and the number of puppies they sell is very low. Our war is against the supposedly-purebred dogs, which don't have any papers, are sold cheap and go through a lot of suffering in an unsupervised industry."

The Agriculture Ministry offered the following response: "Concerning the activity in Daliyat al-Karmel, upon receiving the report from the police, inspectors from the Agriculture Ministry's Central Investigation and Enforcement Unit and a ministry veterinarian visited the place. They found some 30 healthy dogs there, who did not suffer any abuse. While examining the place, it was found to be unsuitable to hold the animals for a long duration of time. The veterinarian instructed the man in charge of the dogs to fix some of the issues immediately, and others within 24 hours. The issues have been fixed. For the time being, the inspectors transferred several dogs who required special care (such as: a bitch after whelping with its litter, a bitch before whelping, and more) to an organized animal shelter for further treatment."

The Health Ministry offered the following response: "There are close to half a million registered dogs in Israel. During 2018, the Agriculture Ministry's Central Investigation and Enforcement Unit handled over 600 cases of animal abuse, with a third of the cases involving dogs. While handling these cases, the unit seized some 70 dogs. In general, cases in which animals are seized due to animal abuse offenses end in fines or indictments. The legal proceedings are still ongoing. We would like to state that the authority to imprison or bar a person from owning an animal belongs to the court, and in many cases the Agriculture Ministry requests that of the court.

"The laws and regulations in Israel are stricter than the existing laws in European countries. Regarding the British law, it mostly deals with the sale by from breeding mills of dogs and cats under the age of three months, and there are now plans to lower the minimum age to two months. As mentioned, Israel also has regulations that determine dogs which are less than 60 days old must not be sold or given up for adoption.

"Concerning rabies shots, the State of Israel is the first country in the world that has a law requiring owners to chip their dog and report rabies vaccinations to a national registry. According to data from the Agriculture Ministry, some 78 percent of dogs have been vaccinated. This is one of the highest rates in the world."
For years, Yuval Mendelovitz has rescued and rehabilitated hundreds of dogs from a life of brutal fights and neglect, but his benevolence has landed him in heavy debt, and he now is battling to keep his farm with its 100 canine residents from destitution.

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Mendelovitz has been rehabilitating dangerous dogs that would otherwise be put down for the past 16 years. He finds them in regional quarantine facilities, veterinarian clinics and in households; hurt, neglected and severely abused and theres no one else to try to give these dogs a second chance.

The farm's tenants (Photo: Zemer Shemesh)

The majority of dogs at the farm are pit bulls and Rottweilers, considered dangerous under the Dangerous Dogs Act. "But we also have some Canaans, and one tiny, half-blind Chihuahua, that Yuval found wandering at the beach," says one of the volunteers who helps out at the farm, who asked not to be identified. "He plays with the pit bulls, he's a super cool oldie!"

Calls come in regularly, sometimes on a daily basis, revealing information about abused dogs in immediate danger. They are rescued from far and wide, and from difficult and criminal circumstances. Mendelovitz declines to reveal specific details of how they get these dogs out, fearing it might hamper future rescues.

After more than a decade of moving from place to place with the dogs he had saved, Mendelovitz was recently able to establish the farm, which relies solely on donations and volunteers. But now, he is struggling to make ends. He usually asks for public support on Facebook, but its never enough.

The farm's tenants (Photo: Yuval Mendelovitz Dog Rescue Farm)

Im dying here, Mendelovitz says. I spend NIS 35,000 (approx. $10,000) every month, I took loans and got into trouble. Things are bad now, I owe NIS 150,000 to dog food suppliers, veterinarians and surgeons, and it is all for the dogs."

Mendelovitz has set up a Paypal account, which he hopes will provide a lifeline for the rescued dogs.

One of the farm's recent success stories is Noam, a brown pit bull found in a landfill site. The security guard at the site called Mendelovitz, and the two saved Noam from being attacked by the other dogs in the grounds. Noam was tied up with a leash, covered in infected cuts and bruises, with a leg injury that required expensive surgery.

Today, Noam has a loving forever-home, but it isn't simple rehabilitating these rescued dogs. "It varies from dog to dog," says the volunteer, "but it mostly takes lots and lots of love, petting and hugging them all the time, and then slowly incorporating them into the dog pack and socializing them."

Rehabilitation of dogs has its price, and Mendelovitz does get bitten sometimes during the process. But eventually, most dogs become a part of the happy pack.

The farm's tenants (Photo: Yuval Mendelovitz Dog Rescue Farm)

"Some dogs need five or six years of rehabilitation, and some will never be able to fit in a home and will stay with us for the rest of their lives," the volunteer says. "No dog will leave for adoption if it isnt ready for it."

And what type of person takes in a dog deemed dangerous by law, after it's been through abuse and dog fights? "There's no fixed type," the volunteer says. "They're just good people with a lot of compassion."

I live among them like a traveller, with no electricity or even a shower, says the man widely known among animal rights activists as the angel of dangerous dogs, all to give them a chance to fit in again. But now he is facing a terrible truth: I might finally have to give up and let them be put down, he says.

The farm's tenants (Photo: Yuval Mendelovitz Dog Rescue Farm)

The Environmental Protection Ministry said in response that the farm was never registered as an NGO and thus never received funding.

The ministry supports some 30 animal rights NGOs every year, to the tune of NIS 3.7 million. We see the NGOs as important partners in the promotion of animal welfare in Israel, the ministry said.
The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutras community.

The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

This is a modified version of a post that first appeared on Meeple Like Us.

You can read more of my writing over at the Meeple Like Us blog. You can some information about my research interests over at my personal homepage.

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Introduction

One of the things I really like to do with Meeple Like Us is write the stuff that I wished had existed before I made certain decisions and agreed to certain things. Its something I do a fair amount in academia too  when I cant find a paper that makes an argument I want to cite, sometimes I just go ahead and research/write the paper. Its kind of like an adult colouring book but for pompous self-aggrandising. Its nice sometimes just to fill in the blanks.

Its in that spirit I want to put this post in front of you  the post about Patreon that I would have valued at the time I was preparing to launch our own. Ive already written some honest reflections about Patreon  particularly the anxieties and incentives behind ours. That post is more about the psychology of opening yourself up to the process and what Itll take from you in return. Today I want to look at the nuts and bolts of the financials and the rise and fall of patron growth. Our third anniversary is coming up and weve been running a Patreon campaign for about ten months now. Thats long enough to draw some conclusions, as well as show you where the money goes.

As with the last Patreon post we did, I feel a little uncomfortable opening up in this way. It always feels a little like stripping in public, and trust me  nobody wants to see me do that. Nonetheless, if someone had done me the favour of flashing a little of their Patreon skin it would have gone a long way to contextualising what would follow for myself. Hopefully someone finds this useful.

Why Ask for Money?

Ive been primarily responsible for spearheading many projects over the years  free textbooks, multiplayer text games, and various software tools for education. Ive never asked for a penny for any of them because first and foremost they were about me. Things I wanted to do and other people were mostly just invited along for the ride. In the end if nobody appreciated the end product they were still fun to work on. That was how it worked with Meeple Like Us for the first two years  I had a question about board game accessibility, I answered it to the best of my ability, and I made the results and observations available to anyone that wanted them. Every teardown we publish is under a CC BY 4.0 licence which means, provided you attribute, youre free to do pretty much anything you like with our findings. As long as my curiosity was being sated, everything else was irrelevant.

The thing is, the accessibility figures have stabilized . We have a pretty accurate snapshot of the hobby  or at least the part that is most heavily emphasized in the BGG Top 500. Or rather, we have a snapshot as best we, through heuristic analysis alone, could assess the situation. Our averages and stats are available on the site, as is our masterlist. The average recommendation for each category we cover hasnt changed in any significant way for about 18 months. I dont expect it to change at any point in the future. Sure, different games occasionally offer different insights, but basically my question has been answered and published accordingly. As far as my initial incentives went, the project is done. Nothing majorly different is likely to emerge with continued investigation. All that remains is corroboration of already pretty robust data. Robust, of course, within the margin of error that come from a single person doing the majority of the work.

At this point what I normally do with an investigation is put a line under it and move on to something else. The thing is  the feedback I have received from hundreds of people has been they find the site valuable. They are finding great games that they can play with the people they love and often they did not realise accessible games existed at all. Theyre benefiting from this build up of annotated recommendations, not for the grades themselves but for the discussion around each grade. They see As and Bs in the masterlist and dig deeper, then make their own decisions. They use our recommender to short-list games and then see which they fancy. The tools weve written are used by schools, libraries, universities, advocate groups, charities, gaming stores and gaming clubs. In that respect, the investigation cant ever be done. The more data points we add, the more effectively we link people up with great games that they can play.

The thing is that Im not getting research data out of Meeple Like Us anymore. Or, perhaps more accurately, Im not getting the amount of research data Id need to justify the time that goes into it. I could swap gears and do something different and get a much richer, more publishable stream of information  either something new or within the topic of board game accessibility. There are much better ways available to me now to create publishable units of work for journals and conferences. Research output is no longer a driving incentive for the site. It just doesnt serve that purpose any more. It did, and well, but no longer.

I still enjoy doing the site though, and people seem to think the work is valuable. The obvious question that emerges then is Do people find it valuable enough for me to justify the time I sink into it, when that time could profitably be spent elsewhere? In basic Capitalist terms  can this site survive as a (heavily subsidised) funded endeavour?

Thus, Patreon  Im looking to see if the financials of this project can ever reach the point where it merits the operation and opportunity costs of the work. So far, the answer is no but theres time for that to change.

Operational Costs

We dont operate a tight ship on Meeple Like Us. We can function with a smaller percentage of what we spend on almost everything. We pay for ads every post, for example. We have a web hosting package considerably more sophisticated than we need for this specific site. We could very easily tighten our belts, but given this is a labour of love theres a point where you need to ask yourself why the belt-tightening is even necessary.

Our monthly expenses break down into following core expenses, averaged out:

Facebook Ads  60 p.m

WordPress  Jetpack  3 p.m

Content Delivery Network  7 p.m

Web hosting  15 p.m

Instantly 85 a month goes towards regular activities. Of these the advertising figure is perhaps the most eye-opening but the simple fact is Facebook is an awful company and they charge you for access to the audience you have built. Of our 1250ish Facebook subscribers, if we dont serve an ad for those that have liked the page only 100-200 of them will see any new post we publish. Assume around 5 a post to make sure that the people who have chosen to see our updates can actually see our updates. If I sound ridiculously bitter about that, its just because Im ridiculously bitter about it. This is why I keep telling people that if they cant support us on Patreon they will genuinely be worth their weight in gold if they boost our signal on social media and Reddit. A single Reddit post that doesnt get aggressively downvoted will send more traffic our way than any six Facebook ads we run.

We also spend some of the Patreon money on games for review. We can probably request review copies of most things at this point but I always feel somewhat beholden there. If I request a review copy, Im obligating myself to a review. I also try to operate on a policy where I wont request a review copy of a game Id otherwise buy myself. I try to ensure a clear break between review copies and games I want for my library. When the overlap comes in, its after the fact. If my primary interest in a game is that I want to play it, it seems only appropriate that I actually buy it.

In terms of game and supporting component purchasing, it breaks down to another 30 a month. Thats both physical games and apps. I sometimes use apps to explore games at inconvenient player-counts or just to work out whether the physical game might be worth attention.

On top of that we have convention costs  Over the past ten months weve been to two  the Glasgow Games Festival and Tabletop Scotland. We also went to UKGE last year but that was paid for by my employer because we were giving the equivalent of a research seminar. Convention costs, averaged out over the ten months, is another 30.

There are other things that need to be taken into account  banking fees, registering with Companies House, branded T-shirts, occasionally foreign currency fees and so on. They add on a bit but theyre also erratic and irregular so well discount them for now.

With these were at 145 a month, although if we needed to pare operations to the bone we could probably get away with considerably less. If we were happy with nobody reading anything we do, and relying on publishers for new games, we could probably get ongoing monthly expenses down to maybe 40 or so a month. We could cut down web hosting, and remove the software that we have written that takes advantage of the hosting capabilities that we have. We could let the site lag or crash rather than pay for a content delivery network. We dont though. the expenses we pay are what we think is needed to operate the site at a convenient level of impact and flexibility.

Total in American Silver Dollars  $188 p.m at time of writing.

Even this is lower than it might otherwise be because of our ongoing Depth Year and a question mark over whether were attending UKGE this year. The figure would be closer to 195 ($250) otherwise. Im also going to discount the money that we are pledging to other creators, which I aim to be approximately 10% of what we are receiving. Thats not really a business expense. Its a pay it forward expense.

Notice here that not one penny is spent on actually funding someone to do the work, because at the moment thats just not paid for at all. The best I can say is that these expenses sort of pay for my hobby, except I dont ever need to spend another penny to continue enjoying gaming for the rest of my days. I have hundreds of games. Im over forty years old now. How many more days can I realistically have anyway?

Income

The income we get is broken down into a few categories:

Patreon Personal funding from myself Consultancy (I wont disclose the figure but not very much) Amazon Affiliate funding

By far the largest chunk of this money is Patreon. For most of our time operating a Patreon its been under the privacy system  you could see how many patrons we had but not how much money we were bringing in. Graphtreon comically estimated that we might be making as much as $800 a month from the site, which just goes to show how much you should trust averages. Before I get into figures, I want to show you the graph of our Patreon income from when we started and when we opened up the info. All Graphtreon can do with that is say This is how much it was then and this is how much it is now and then draw a line between them. Ideally, that line would skew upwards.

See that long line where nothing changes? Thats because we went eight months without improving from our position early on in the year. Or rather, by improving in some measures and degrading in others. We were very, very fortunate to receive an extremely generous pledge of $100 p.m. early on from Totalbiscuit, but he then sadly passed away. As such, our early performance was an aberration and the rest of 2018 was spent ever so slowly making up lost ground.

The spike at January 2019 was when we opened up our pledge information and also redesigned our tiers. Thats been successful, sort of, but I dont really want it to ever feel like were trying to bilk ever increasing pledges out of our already generous patrons. Ive said many times that Id prefer 75 patrons that pledged a dollar to 10 patrons that pledged $10. It feels more proportionate, it shows greater public support, and its also considerably more robust. Every large pledge is an anxiety because of the impact it has on the bottom line of a small site like ours- a dropped $10 pledge has percentage points of ramifications. Pledges go away all the time  we have many more patrons now than when we began but comparatively few that have been with from the start. New pledges are the life-blood of a project because theyre helping deal with the attrition rate of a subscription model. In retrospect, I probably would prefer to do year on year pledge drives via Kickstarter. If Patreon never gets to the point it justifies the existence of the site I will cancel all pledges and try one last ditch effort with crowdfunding. At least that way a failed campaign gives me a definite point where I can say Fine, were done.

Anyway, over the past ten months our average Patreon monthly income has been 178. In 2018 we pulled in $2138.89 from Patreon, which seems like a lot until you compare it against the expenses. Basically with Patreon alone we have about 30 a month that we havent already spent on site activities.

Thats not the only source of income we have though, but the others are pretty small in comparison. I directly transfer approximately 20 a month of my own money into Meeple Like Us  basically Im one of our more generous patrons myself, although I dont do it through Patreon. We also occasionally get some affiliate money from Amazon, but that only comes to perhaps 10 a month if were lucky. Consultancy brings in even less than either of those income streams but Im hoping that will change as time goes on.

The total of our income then is around 215 ($277.58) a month although at the moment Im actually paying money to work on Meeple Like Us so realistically its 195. Occasionally we get little bonuses like free Facebook credits and so on but it doesnt really make a difference to the bottom line.

Monthly Surplus

All that means that every month we have a profit of 70 ($90), but the actual figure is a little bleaker. Take away my personal support and its down to 50. If we were to go to UKGE this year it would go down to well, judging by last years expenses it would go down to about -10. Remove the Depth Year that is forever pushing our expenditure lower and its probably closer to -25 or more.

In other words, the difference between being in surplus and losing money is whether or not we go to UKGE and thats an incredibly precarious position to be in. Currently we have a balance of 363 in the Meeple Like Us account and thats already pretty much been spent on future expenses. It doesnt take into account UKGE at all.

Now, this isnt a sob story  after all, all of this money used to come directly out of my own pocket so its not like I havent personally benefited from running a Patreon. But the thing is  if I stopped running Meeple Like Us Id personally be better off and would have more time to play games. I wouldnt lose access to an important research project because its already accomplished what I wanted. From this point on, the value of Meeple Like Us becomes whatever the community assigns it.

The Rise and Fall of Patreon Patrons

Weve done very well in increasing the number of Patrons backing us, and honestly while that hasnt been mirrored by an increase in income it has come with a decrease in anxiety. By one important metric, simple number of patrons is a very valuable sign of visible support. I definitely dont underestimate the value that comes from knowing a certain number of people think the site is worth money when theyve got no real reason to give it. Im not convinced of the 1000 True Fans idea, but its always good to know that you have people out there that value your efforts.

The problem though is that you always need to bear in mind that any patron is temporary. No matter how much they might like your work and support your efforts, everyone has their own life situation they need to manage. Sometimes financial circumstances change. Sometimes people think Thats enough after pledging for a while. Sometimes its always intended to be a short-term thing. Patreon reports the number and value of pledges but it doesnt do anything to reflect the intensity of support. Nobody pledges you their sword or axe here and you need to make space in your mind for losing people as time goes by. The trajectory of a Patreon account is not always upwards.

The chart above shows our pledge growth from day one until the time of writing. You can see we started off very well, but every month theres always a decay in pledges. Sometimes that decay outstrips the growth, and thats where the real problems arise for sustainability. You cant just look at the total pledges  you need to look at the direction of momentum. Some months have been very good for us in terms of pledge growth. Some have been terrible in terms of pledge decay. Too many of those in a row can knock the wind out of your sails and thats certainly how I was feeling towards the end of December. October had been a bad month, November hadnt been great, and then December came with its own problems. Remember, each pledge thats there isnt a guarantee  you cant ever be satisfied with where you are in Patreon, you always need to be thinking about the growth needed to offset the future losses. We had a good January, but so far February has been a story, once again, of losing ground.

The table above puts that graph into specifics. Notice how in October we only lost one patron overall, but still dropped $14 a month. Thats because some of the larger pledges we had were decreased. We got new patrons, but not at the rate needed to maintain equilibrium. December left us with the same number of pledges with which we started, but again  the new pledges we got didnt offset the ones that left. That more than anything else is why our private Patreon gave a misleading impression  patron numbers trended generally upwards but Patreon income was still erratic. We hit a high back in September 2018 but we havent yet made up the lost ground. If every month was like June or July of 2018 Id have absolutely no worries about the long term funding profile of the site  all that would be required would be patience. Even if every month was November 2018 it would argue for slow and steady. Unfortunately its more often a case of one step forward, two steps back in a weird foxtrot where sometimes were ahead and sometimes were behind.

Patreon tells creators when a pledge is reduced, but it never tells us when a pledge is deleted. That is a bizarre design choice. It basically means you can never be sure where you are  you could have had a massive waterfall of deleted pledges in the night and be none the wiser until you check. Its not like Twitter where it never tells you who unfollowed you. You can see pretty easily from your creator dashboard which pledges are deleted. You just dont get told when it happens. I never contact anyone who drops a pledge  it feels a bit too manipulative. I appreciate every penny as long as people can spare it and I certainly dont want anyone to feel guilted into giving anything more than they already have. Generally what I rely on instead are responses to the exit survey, and they tell a reasonable and predictable story  people have their own financial worries and they absolutely should focus on themselves first. Heres how my exit survey looks over the course of the last ten months  parts that are blacked out are just to hide personal comments people left.

The problem for me as a creator is that I cant do much about anyone elses financial situation and that means My financial situation changed comes with a sense of helplessness. Theres nothing that I can do to fix whatever issue is at the root of it  its not related to the site (although I assume occasionally that reason is chosen mostly out of politeness). Similarly with those unhappy at Patreon  theres not much I can do about that and I suspect that particular reason is going to become more popular as time goes by. For a few of the some other reason ones I can make an educated guess. Pledge decay is outside your control and pledge growth is difficult to sustain. All of that needs to be factored in to your decisions when it comes to what youre hoping to get out of the service. A lot of the time youre going to see yourself falling backwards, at least in my personal experience. You need to be prepared for some months to hit you hard.

The Tipping Point(s)

I have two specific things in mind for the continuation of Meeple Like Us. The first is a funding goal  $500 p.m. The second is a date  6th of April, 2020. If I hit that funding goal by that date (our fourth birthday) then Ill be happy to commit to the site indefinitely. As long as people think its worth that level of funding, I think its worth my investment of time. Mentally I carve off $250 p.m. as expenses  thats the point where money stops disappearing into simply sustaining what we already have. Past $250 p.m. it starts to become payment for work done  to me, sure, but also potentially to other people.

A conservative estimation of how time I spend on Meeple Like Us would be around 15-20 hours a week. That includes writing posts, site administration, backend sysadmin stuff, handling social media, and playing games for the purposes of the site. Our monthly output is at least the following:

Four reviews per month

Four teardowns per month

Two editorials or special features per month (of which this is one)

One depth year diary per month

One Patreon roundup per month

One media roundup per month

Often there is more  software and special features and the like. A month will have at least that in terms of posts for the blog. Thats thirteen posts, each of which is going to be a good 2000 words or so. Word count is not a great way of determining value (even I know that) but its a good metric for working out how much people are rewarded for effort. $250 for 26000 words would be less than a penny per word. Thats considerably less than any freelancer should expect. It would be $20 per article, which is a rate nobody should ever accept for paid work. Im absolutely not doing this to make a profit from the site. I say this occasionally but for some freelance work I have done I was paid upwards of 150 an hour. If it was about the money, Id give up the site and just spend a couple of hours a month doing more stuff like that.

The tipping point here is mainly  do I believe this community values the work, with reference to how much they value other creators seeking community funding. Are we willing, as a community, to ensure that people are minimally rewarded for work that is of a communal good? Not rewarded to the levels they may think the work warrants, but simply enough to fund someone at a bargain basement rate to produce unique content? I understand that Patreon is not a great benchmark for that  the monthly subscription model is psychologically pungent. However, its the one Im using and the penny per word rate Im seeking seems suitably modest a goal under the circumstances.

If the answer is no for Meeple Like Us I can make my peace with that. I can move on knowing that Ive done the best job I can do with the resources available. This is a personal project that has given me considerable joy but that doesnt mean Im shackled to it forever. I hope the answer will be yes but Ive already pretty much resigned myself to the fact it wont be. I hope to be proven wrong, but Im not expecting it.

Conclusion

Were actually doing relatively well for a written blog, but numbers by themselves can be deceptive. Weve spoken in the past about the psychological costs of opening a Patreon but what would have been worth its weight in gold would be a realistic view on what you actually get out of starting one up. As a working-class middle-aged man from Britain, talking about money is often considered somewhat gauche. Attaching monetary value to pro-social projects is often considered tasteless. Opening up your wallet to show the moths flying from it is considered undignified.

All I can say is, I wish this post had existed when I started our Patreon, and Im hoping someone will find their plans improved and their expectations refined by the fact the post exists now. Let me know either way!

Maybe youre not a creator yourself. Maybe though you find value in the work that others, not necessarily Meeple Like Us, are doing in and around the hobby. Perhaps you might consider whether you can reasonably offer some support so that people can keep on doing the work of exploring, and critiquing, and analysing the world of tabletop gaming. Nobody should feel compelled to support a creator at the expense of their own quality of life, God no. Look though at the number of pledges even a mediocre Kickstarter gets within minutes, from people that likely will never even play the thing when it arrives. Our hobbyist media on the other hand is mostly funded by creator enthusiasm  not by choice, but because its sometimes the only currency thats available. Love can only go so far though. Kissing dont last, as George Meredith said. At some point you need something more tangible to keep you going. If thats not forthcoming, you need to consider whether what you do had the value you hope it does and thus whether its worth your own time and effort to sustain.
Yankton, SD (57078)

Today

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Anyone who set foot in the Beachland Ballroom last Saturday, February 9, might have thought the rumors of print media's demise have been greatly exaggerated.



At the sold-out Concert for Truth, more than 450 people gathered to show their support for local journalism and those in the field who bring us the news every day. The event featured 11 local musicians who volunteered their time and talents to raise about $5,000 for the 24 Plain Dealer employees and members of the Plain Dealer unit of The Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild who are being laid off after March.



New York-based Advance Publications (which owns The Plain Dealer, Cleveland.com, and Sun News) made the announcement in December that they will lay off 24 copy editors, curators, designers, and illustratorsnearly one-third of the Guild membersand switch to a centralized production system outside of Ohio. Additional Plain Dealer employees fear they may be in danger of losing their jobs when a no-layoff clause in the Guilds contract expires at the end of this month.

Ginger Christ, chair of the PD News Guild - Concert for Truth at the Beachland Ballroom

What the newspaper is doing is union busting, says Ginger Christ, chair of the Guild and Plain Dealer healthcare reporter. Nationwide, were seeing newsrooms unionize, and weve seen journalists stand up for the quality of their newspapers. It allows us to speak freely and cover what needs to be covered.



In response to the layoffs, Plain Dealer music critic Chuck Yarborough decided to organize a benefit concert to not only help his fellow employees but also raise awareness of the peril local journalism facesnot just in Cleveland, but around the countryas readers desires to receive their news via print-on-paper declines and daily newspapers begin to centralize publications.

It was just amazing to see the community show up for local journalism and for our Guild, says Christ of the concert. It was reaffirming to hear firsthand from readers that they want more, not less, from the Plain Dealer, and that they don't support union busting by the Plain Dealer and Advance. The energy in the room was infectious and proof that Cleveland cares about its local paper.

The Guild is also running a GoFundMe campaign to further raise funds to save local journalism, and help the journalists losing their jobs.

But even as the community rallies around the PD, the future of local reporting remains unclear.

Chuck Yarborough

I dont know what the answer is, says Brian Tucker, vice president and director of corporate affairs for Dollar Bank in Cleveland. He is the former editor and publisher of Crains Cleveland Business from 1985 to 2013, and also served as the Los Angeles assistant bureau chief for the Associated Press for five years. The future is going to be very hard to figure out.



FreshWater turned to a variety of veteran journalistsand recovering journalists, as Tucker calls himselfto get their takes on the current state of print media in Cleveland and whats in store for the next era.



The ripple effect of downsizing

Having served as the PD living editor from 1988 to 1997, Michael Bennett remembers the days when the PD had a 400-person staff producing a 50- to 60-page newspaper each day.

I happened to be at the Plain Dealer when it was resource-ripped and there was very little we couldnt do, he recalls, adding that the staff was able to start three new special interest sectionsEveryWoman, NEXT for teenagers, and a family sectionbased on demographic studies to find what the readers wanted. We were able to create solid quality journalism products. It was a great opportunity when journalists could both educate and inform readers, but also enlighten and inspire them.



Aside from the lost days of specialty sections, 60-page newspapers, and even daily print newspapers, anyone in the industry today will point to the muckrakers of the early 1900s and the continued need for local on-the-ground journalists who have their ears open and keyboards ready. The world needs journalists as necessary gatekeepers and watchdogsmaybe more than ever.



Inarguably, no matter what side of the political fence you sit, [in the absence of] a decent robust newspaper, politicians are going to do bad things, says Tucker. Nobody is going to be watching, no one is holding your feet to the fire.



As Bennett sees it, the loss of key newsroom staff also means sacrificing the on-the-ground complete level of reporting that occurs by having the staff operate as a team. He says more factual errors occur when copy editors work remotely and arent familiar with the city, and the natural camaraderie that occurs in a noisy newsroom is gone.



If you geographically separate reporters, copy editors, headline writers, and illustratorsas many newspaper companies are doingyou lose those personal and spontaneous interactions that inevitably create a better product for readers, says Bennett, who was also editor and publisher of the Cleveland Jewish News from 2007 to 2009. Remote copy editors may be able to fix grammar, but they wont have the local context and historical knowledge thats so valuable when reporters and editors work together. They wont be there in the newsroom to spark conversations that get everyone thinking about how news is covered.



The need for shoe-leather reporting



Former PD staffer Afi-Odelia Scruggs remembers the chaos of the newsroom at press time. There was camaraderie in the newsroom, says Scruggs, who worked as a general assignment reporter, suburban reporter, and minority affairs reporter from 1993 to 2001. We were all nutty. It was a bare knuckles paper. We fought with editors for space. You went toe-to-toe with everyone, but you loved them.



Scruggs, who played a keyboard set at Saturday's concert, stresses the need for shoe-leather reportinghitting the pavement and reporting on the news witnessed firsthand.



Part of a journalists [job] is to cover the local community and really embed in it, Scruggs says. The challenge is local reporting, because at the end of the day, you have to get people where they live.



Afi ScruggsInstead, Scruggs says she sees multiple media outlets pulling stories from wire reports and press releases. She fears that local reporting will soon get lost altogether. Ive always been committed to local journalism, she says. The national people pull from the local. If there is no local, theres no neutrality. I just dont know. It leaves me scratching my head.



Scruggs remembers covering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opening in 1995. A team of reporters were sent out into the field to cover the vibe in Cleveland that night. Everybody went to different clubs and talked to people, she recalls. I went to Sunny Spot on Noble Road. When I came in, copy chief Bill Lammers was playing all the great music, organized by theme. It was a festive atmosphere at the PD.



That kind of reporting is lost today, Christ says, and with it, we lose the voice of the community. If youre not out there every day, covering that beat, a lot of things are going to be lost, she explains, adding that newsroom staffs have been cut by 75 percent in recent years.



Were still trying to cover community, but you cant cover the community with the same vigor and zest because the staff keeps dwindling, Christ argues. You need to have a strong staff to hold accountable people in power. There are things we just cant cover, and the community deserves more.



The loss of balance and curation in news

Thomas Fladungwhose 33-year career in daily newspapers has included stints as managing editor of the Plain Dealer from 2011 to 2015 and immediate past president of the Press Club of Clevelandpoints to a December 2018 Pew Research Center report that says only 16 percent of the readers the organization surveyed get their news from print newspapers, whereas one in five respondents said they got their news from social media.



Those numbers were about equal in 2017, the report shows, in part because of the decline in print newspaper circulation. In contrast, a 1996 Pew study reported that 72 percent of people surveyed read a newspaper daily, and only 12 percent were going online for their news.



The worrisome part of these numbers, says Tucker, is the loss of curated news done by daily print papers. We subscribe to daily news to curate the things you should know, he explains. [Whereas on] things like your Facebook feed, you read what fits your implicit bias. You read what you want to read, instead of what you should be reading.



And a good daily paper provides multiple viewpoints. One of the beauties of a daily newspaper [is that] they continually run one conservative and one liberal syndicated [column] every day, so you have different opinions, says Tucker.



The evolution of daily publishing



No one denies that ink-on-paper daily publishing is costly, and subscriptions to newspapers dont come close to covering the costs anymore. Local news reporting is expensive, no matter what the format, says Fladung. Fifty cents doesnt cover the ink and paper. The circulation model drove advertising.



But the old model is now a bust, says Fladung. Theres increasing acknowledgement that knowledge isnt free. What are you going to pay for, what are you going to support? We better find a model that does work. [Without] the day-to-day coverage, whos watching City Hall? The cops? Local businesses?



The crowd at Beachland BallroomBennett argues that Cleveland.com is a good digital version of the Plain Dealer, but he doesnt want the print versionand the local reportingto go by the wayside.



For some reason, its just not the same as holding the information in your hands, he says. When you hold something on the printed page, you retain more information. The best way to stay informed about state and county and community is to read a daily newspaper every day.



On a nationwide level, all hope isn't lost. A number of newspaper owners around the country have invested heavily in their print editions; Fladung points to the Minneapolis Star Tribune as a key example. Bought by billionaire businessman Glen Taylor in 2014, the paper continues to hire local journalists and relaunched a print edition of a Sunday magazine.



Christ points to other newspapers that are also investing. Weve seen the Los Angeles Times, since theyve had the new owner, expand staff and cover new beats, she says. Its encouraging to see them put money into the newspaper and send profits back into the news. With the Washington Post and New York Times, subscription numbers are up because they are doubling down on journalism and people are turning to them as resources.



While newsroom staffs have been cutleaving little room for in-depth reportingScruggs says she see outlets like the Washington Post replacing the daily in-depth coverage with specialty newsletters for subscribers. She subscribes to the Posts religion newsletter.



The future of media

While even the most seasoned journalists say they dont know what the future holds for print media, most of them say it will always have some place in the market.



Tucker subscribes to the print editions of both the Plain Dealer and Crain's, but he also enjoys the digital format. With the printed version, I can flip through it and read the things I didnt click on, he explains. [The way we digest media] will continue to evolve. I think [media] will be primarily on devices. I think its going to be some sort of mix of things.



Bennett stresses the need to keep journalism local. If we dont continue to have local reporters reporting on local issues with local copy editors and designers to put it all together, then were in troubleas a community and as a society, he says.



Though Scruggs relished her time at the PD, she is glad she got out of the newsroom when she did. I count myself as one of the lucky ones because I had a great career, I got to be a columnist, and I then I left, she says. It gave me a much richer understanding of what journalism should be and can be.



As for Christ, she says the battle to preserve daily journalism in Cleveland is far from over. Were not giving up. Were not done fighting, were not letting the company do this, she says. Were definitely worried about whats going to happen next. We do not know how much value [is put on the newsroom] at this point, either. Were bracing for the worst, but hoping for the best.



Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Cleveland.com employees could be subject to layoffs later this monthwe apologize for the error. The Plain Dealer and Advance Ohio, which operates Cleveland.com, are separate and distinct entities. Advance Ohio employees are not subject to the collective bargaining agreement between The Plain Dealer and the Guild and Advance Ohio has no role whatsoever in negotiations between those parties.

Brent Kirby and Alex Bevan perform at Concert for Truth at the Beachland Ballroom



Dancing in the aisles at Beachland Ballroom
Paris (AFP) - French prosecutors said Friday they were investigating a sexual assault complaint made against the Vatican's envoy to Paris in more unwelcome news for the Catholic church as it looks to turn the page on years of scandal.

Pope Francis has vowed that the church will no longer ignore abuse allegations, and he removed two prominent cardinals from his inner circle late last year after they were tainted by paedophile scandals.

The latest alleged sex scandal involves 74-year-old Luigi Ventura, Pope Francis' envoy to France, who is accused of molesting an official at the Paris mayor's office, a judicial source told AFP.

Ventura, an archbishop, has served as apostolic nuncio to France since 2009 and is covered by diplomatic immunity.

His Paris office did not respond to a request for comment.

Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said for his part that the Holy See was "awaiting the outcome of the investigation".

In the past, the Vatican -- in line with diplomatic custom -- has recalled any representatives implicated in scandal.

In 2012, for example, Polish archbishop Jozef Wesolowski was secretly recalled as papal nuncio from the Dominican Republic following reports he paid for sexual encounters with children.

The Vatican refused to extradite him to Poland for trial, but an ecclesiastical court found him guilty and he was defrocked in June 2014.

The Church decided to further try him on criminal charges, but he died following a cardiac arrest in August 2015 before the trial opened. He was 67.

In another case however Australian Cardinal George Pell, a close aide to the pope, last year returned from the Vatican to Australia to face child sex charges.

Pell was not covered by diplomatic immunity in that case.

- 'Groped on backside' -

Italian-born Ventura has been accused of molesting a man at the town hall in Paris on January 17 when Mayor Anne Hidalgo gave a New Year's address to diplomats, religious leaders and civil society figures.

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"During the ceremony, a city employee was repeatedly groped on the backside, in three instances, once in front of a witness," a town hall source told AFP.

"It was quickly decided to report the matter to the public prosecutor," said Patrick Klugman, deputy mayor responsible for international relations.

The town hall filed a complaint on January 24 and an investigation was opened the next day, the judicial source said.

The case involves a man in his 30s who works in the town hall's international relations' department.

The Catholic La Croix newspaper Friday said it had gathered further witness accounts from other young men close to the church alleging they too were fondled by the prelate.

They speak of "similar gestures -- hands on buttocks or thighs", the paper said, adding that the incidents all took place within the past year and that none of the young men involved had filed a complaint "for a variety of reasons".

The homosexual magazine Tetu for its part quoted another young man as saying he met the nuncio touched his bottom at another reception in January.

Ventura previously served in Brazil, Bolivia and Britain before being appointed papal nuncio to Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Niger, Chile and then Canada.

Catholic clerics have been denounced in countries as far afield as Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ireland and the United States, prompting pledges from Francis to rid the church of a scourge that has done enormous damage to its standing.

- Vatican meeting -

The pope has summoned a Church-wide meeting next week at the Vatican to notably discuss abuse of minors by clerics.

France's Catholic Church has seen its share of scandals in recent years.

On March 7, a court in Lyon is due to give its verdict in the case of Philippe Barbarin, the southeastern city's 68-year-old archbishop, and five former aides, all of whom are accused of covering up the sexual abuse of former boy scouts by a priest.

That priest, 73-year-old Bernard Preynat, was charged in 2016 with assault cases going back more than 20 years. He is expected to be tried later this year.

French filmmaker Francois Ozon made a film related to the case, and a court will decide on Monday whether it can go on public release ahead of Preynat's trial.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visited the memorial site of Auschwitz on Friday along with the Polish president and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, viewing a train car, crematoriums and the hair of victims that make it such a powerful testament to the evil that befell Europe in the last century.

It was the first visit for Pence, a conservative Christian, to the site where German forces murdered 1.1 million people, most of them Jews but also Poles, Roma and others, during the Nazis' occupation of Eastern Europe during World War II.

Pence and his wife Karen were joined by Polish President Andrzej Duda and first lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda.

"It seems to me to be a scene of unspeakable tragedy, reminding us what tyranny is capable of," Pence said hours later during an event Friday evening on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany. "But it seems to me also to be a scene of freedom's victory."

"I traveled in our delegation with people who had family members who had been at Auschwitz  some had survived, some not. But to walk with them and think that two generations ago their forebears came there in box carts and that we would arrive in a motorcade in a free Poland and a Europe restored to freedom from tyranny is an extraordinary experience for us, and I'll carry it with me the rest of our lives," Pence said.

They began their visit by walking under the notorious gate with the German words "Arbeit Macht Frei," the Nazi slogan meaning "Work sets you free."

There, they paused and turned toward reporters, who took their photos.

Pence toured an exhibition hall that includes human hair and personal belongings of the victims before a wreath-laying at the Death Wall in a courtyard where prisoners were executed. Many of those shot there were Poles who were part of the underground resistance against the German occupation.

Story continues

The two couples walked side-by-side to the wall for the wreath laying. The Pences held hands and the vice president adjusted a banner reading "From The People of the United States of America."

Kushner was among a second group that then approached the wall and wreaths.

The second part of the visit took them to the nearby satellite camp of Birkenau, the site of the murder of Jews from across Europe. Pence knelt and bowed his head, placing his hand on a historic red boxcar on the train tracks used to bring Jews to their deaths there.

The couples also placed candles at a memorial to the Holocaust victims, with Pence wearing a Jewish skullcap. Poland's chief rabbi recited a prayer to the dead and a Christian prayer was also recited.

The visit came a day after Pence accused Britain, France, Germany and the European Union as a whole of trying to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran and called on the EU to join the Trump administration in withdrawing from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

He made those comments during a conference on the Mideast in Warsaw focused largely on Iran and which Tehran denounced as a hostile act.

Several times during his visit Pence compared the evil of the Nazis to that of Iran today.

He accused the regime in Tehran of "breathing out murderous threats with the same vile anti-Semitic hatred that animated the Nazis in Europe."

He added that "to be there to see the end result of that and understand all that happened there, I think will better prepare us and strengthen the resolve of the free world to oppose that kind of vile hatred and to confront authoritarian threats of our time."

Pence was on a four-day visit to Europe that also included meeting with Polish soldiers and American troops in Poland.

___

Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
By Laila Kearney NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than 2 percent to their highest this year on Friday after an outage at Saudi Arabia's offshore oilfield boosted expectations for tightening supply, while progressing U.S.-Sino trade talks strengthened demand sentiment. The international Brent crude benchmark rose $1.68, or 2.6 percent, to settle at $66.25 a barrel, its highest since November. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled up $1.18, or 2.2 percent, at $55.59 a barrel, and hit their highest this year in post-settlement trade at $55.80. For the week, Brent ended more than 6 percent higher and WTI gained more than 5 percent, partly on tightening supplies since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies led by Russia started voluntary production cuts last month. The partial closure of Saudi Arabia's Safaniya, the world's largest offshore oilfield, occurred about two weeks ago, a source said on Friday. Safaniya has production capacity of more than 1 million barrels per day. It was not immediately clear when the field would return to full capacity. "It's another factor that is raising concerns about the availability of crude," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. "All of a sudden you don't have to worry just about OPEC cuts. Now you have a problem with Saudi Arabia's ability to actually produce as much oil." Leading OPEC producer Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it would cut an additional half a million bpd in March more than it previously pledged. Supply has also been curbed by U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan and Iranian crude and reduced Libyan output because of civil unrest. Security threats could threaten Nigerian production after general elections this weekend. Growing confidence that the United States and China will resolve their ongoing trade dispute also supported prices. Those talks will restart next week in Washington, with both sides saying this week's negotiations in Beijing showed progress. "Optimism surrounding a potential trade deal has really been the big issue here in the United States the last couple days," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho. However, prices pared gains after a report showed U.S. energy firms this week increased the number of oil rigs operating for a second week in a row due to concerns that crude supplies will swamp global demand as U.S. output keeps growing from record levels. U.S. oil drillers added three oil rigs this week, General Electric Cos Baker Hughes energy services firm said.. (Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York, additional reporting by Noah Browning in London, Henning Gloystein in Singapore and Colin Packham in Sydney; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Matthew Lewis)
CAIRO (Reuters) - The U.S. military denied on Thursday taking part in a raid on an al Qaeda site in the Libyan city of Ubari, contradicting a statement by a Libyan official. The spokesperson for Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the Presidency Council of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord of Libya, said in a statement late on Wednesday that a site with a number of al Qaeda members in Ubari was "raided" by joint U.S.-Libyan forces. "This joint work between the Presidency Council of the Government of National Accord and the US Government coincided with the meeting of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Foreign Minister Mohamed Sayala at the Global Coalition To Defeat Islamic State meeting last week", spokesperson Mohamed El Sallak said in the statement. But U.S. Africa Command, which is responsible for American troops in the area, said that although the United States supports what is describes as counterterrorism efforts of the U.N.-recognized Libyan government, U.S. forces were not involved in the raid. "U.S. Africa Command was not involved in the reported raid of an al-Qaeda site in Ubari, Libya, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019," it said in a statement. "U.S. Africa Command has not conducted any air strikes in Libya in 2019." (Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Brussles; Writing by Mohamed Elsherif; Editing by Sandra Maler)
By Lesley Wroughton and Justyna Pawlak WARSAW (Reuters) - A U.S.-sponsored Middle East conference aimed at building a coalition against what Washington sees as the threat posed by Iran also produced signs of a warming of ties between Israel and some Arab countries on Wednesday. Foreign ministers and other officials from more than 60 countries were gathering for the conference in Warsaw, which was starting on Wednesday evening and whose agenda included Iran, conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Israeli-Palestinian peace. On the sidelines, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Oman's foreign minister. "Many are following this (Omani) lead, and may I say, including at this conference," a video released by Netanyahu's office showed him telling Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, whose Gulf state hosted the Israeli leader in October. Oman does not formally recognize Israel. Nor do Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, which also sent envoys to Warsaw and which share Israel's concerns about Iran's nuclear program and involvement in several regional flashpoints. Speaking to Netanyahu, bin Alawi said: "People in the Middle East have suffered a lot because they have stuck to the past. Now we say, this is a new era, for the future." Netanyahu - who has been trying to play up his diplomatic gains ahead of Israel's April election - has frequently hinted at warmer ties with Gulf Arab states. A photo-op with Netanyahu and senior figures from Arab countries in Warsaw would be a win for Washington as it seeks to ratchet up pressure against Tehran. The Iranians say it is U.S.-aligned forces in the region, and not they, who are belligerent. Leading European countries Germany and France opted not to send their foreign ministers over concerns the meeting could highlight big-power tensions over Washington's decision last year to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions against Tehran. Vice President Mike Pence is leading the U.S. delegation, accompanied by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House advisor Jared Kushner. "We're trying to expand the number of nations who are engaged and have a stake in the future of a peaceful and prosperous Middle East," Brian Hook, the State Department's special representative for Iran, told Reuters. Arab nations and Israel faced a common threat of Iranian regional aggression and Washington was working closely with these nations to counter this, he said. "Iran isn't behaving like a normal country. They have a very expansionist foreign policy and that destabilizes other countries," said Hook when asked whether the absence of Germany and France's top diplomats at the meeting mattered. EU policy chief Federica Mogherini, a key player in the Iran nuclear deal, will also not attend the two-day conference due to scheduling issues, an EU official said, although Pompeo will travel to Brussels on Friday to meet with her. ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PLAN Kushner, who is President Donald Trump's son-in-law, will brief delegates behind closed doors on Thursday on U.S. plans for peace between Palestinians and Israelis. Palestinian officials, viewing the current U.S. administration as having a pro-Israel bias, declined to attend the conference. Hosting the meeting is a chance for Poland's conservative government to bolster ties with Washington at a time when it is increasingly isolated within the EU amid a dispute over its adherence to rule-of-law standards. Transatlantic cooperation was necessary to resolve problems in the Middle East, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said. "The European Union alone does not, in my opinion, carry sufficient political weight to try to really influence the situation in the Middle East," he told reporters. (Additional reporting by Alan Charlish and Joanna Plucinska in Warsaw, Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Frances Kerry)
By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States scoffed on Friday at Venezuela's accusation that it was poisoning humanitarian aid, and urged allies to stop the "decrepit, dictatorial regime" of President Nicolas Maduro from chairing U.N. arms talks. U.S. envoy Robert Wood was speaking to the Conference on Disarmament hosted by the United Nations in Geneva that Maduro's now widely-rejected government is due to chair from May 27. "I'm taking the floor to put on the record my government's strong opposition to a representative of the former Maduro regime occupying the seat reserved for Venezuela," he said. Washington is among some 50 governments, including major Latin American and European nations, who have disavowed Maduro and recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido. Last month, Guaido invoked the constitution to assume the interim presidency on promises to end a humanitarian crisis. Wood said a Venezuelan chairmanship would further undercut the forum's credibility after the "disastrous" Syrian presidency in 2018 which the United States boycotted. "In order to preserve the integrity, dignity and respect for this chamber, Maduro representatives must vacate the chair reserved for the government of Venezuela," he said. "Let us not give one iota of legitimacy to this decrepit, dictatorial regime." A Venezuelan representative said Wood was showing how little the United States cared about disarmament. "To come here and talk about how to overthrow the government of my country - this is really not a priority for discussion," the diplomat said. Maduro, who is backed by China, Russia and Venezuela's top military brass, accuses Washington of seeking a coup to take over the OPEC nation's oil wealth. On Tuesday, his Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said the United States was trying to send contaminated and carcinogenic aid into Venezuela, where the economy is in collapse and millions are facing hunger and shortages. "Various scientific studies have shown that this so-called food from the United States aims to poison our population with chemicals. We could say that this humanitarian aid is a biological weapon," she told a news conference. Wood said Maduro's government would go to any length to lie and deny reality. "It even made one of the most outrageous charges the international community has heard in decades: that the United States is sending in biological weapons as part of humanitarian assistance we have provided. Biological weapons? Really?" Diplomats from Syria, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Russia criticized the U.S. stance, while Australia's representative said it was good to respectfully air views. Syria's representative said the forum had no business shedding "crocodile tears" over humanitarian suffering and rights, while the United States was violating international law by sending troops to its country. (Reporting by Tom Miles, additional reporting by Angus Berwick in Caracas; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan urged the United States on Friday to put its weight behind the investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and not to set the matter aside because of its ties with Riyadh. Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a team of Saudi operatives on Oct. 2, provoking international revulsion. "The CIA has not yet put its full weight behind this issue ... The United States needs to put its presence, its weight here," Erdogan told broadcaster A Haber in an interview. He added that Khashoggi should not be "cast aside" due to Washington's bilateral ties with the kingdom. The CIA has assessed it was likely the crown prince ordered the killing. Riyadh denies the prince had any involvement. President Donald Trump has cited weapons sales to Saudi Arabia as an important source of U.S. jobs and has stood by the crown prince. He is also reluctant to disturb the strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia. U.S. lawmakers have pushed for more. Republican and Democratic members of the U.S. Senate asked the Trump administration on Thursday to tell them more about Khashoggi's death, days after a missed deadline for a detailed report on the killing prompted an angry bipartisan backlash.[nL1N20927W] Erdogan also said that Turkey was determined to take the investigation to an international court, adding that Ankara would deliver all documents and information regarding the case to the authorities that would carry out the trial. A U.N.-led inquiry into Khashoggi's murder said earlier this month that evidence pointed to a brutal crime "planned and perpetrated" by Saudi officials. [nL5N20281H] After making numerous contradictory statements about Khashoggi's fate, Riyadh said he had been killed and his body dismembered when negotiations to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia failed. (Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Alison Williams and Frances Kerry)
Qamishli (Syria) (AFP) - Thousands took to the streets in Syria's northeastern city of Qamishli on Friday to mark 20 years since the arrest of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is jailed in Turkey.

Under a grey sky, men and women of all ages marched through the Kurdish-majority city waving yellow flags bearing a picture of Ocalan.

Donning puffer jackets and coats, they flashed victory signs as onlookers watched from their balconies.

Labelled the "nemesis" of the Turkish state, Ocalan remains a revered figure for Kurds not just in Turkey but across the region, despite being cut off from the outside world.

Ocalan is the only detainee at Turkey's prison island of Imrali, nearly 60 kilometres (35 miles) southwest of Istanbul.

"They put our leader in prison for no reason, and no country raised its voice against it," said Turkiya, a 60-year-old Kurdish protester in Qamishli.

Ocalan is one of the founders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

He was caught in Kenya outside the Greek embassy on February 15, 1999 by Turkish secret service agents after attempting to seek asylum in Europe.

The Kurdish leader was sentenced to death on charges of treason, separatism and murder that same year, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison when Turkey dropped the death penalty in 2002.

The rally aimed to show "once again that our leader has humanist ideas and that we support him", said Chahouz Hassan, who co-heads the Democratic Union Party, a Syrian offshoot of the PKK.

In the chaos of Syria's brutal eight-year war, the long-oppressed Kurdish minority has carved out a semi-autonomous region in the north of the country.

That has prompted a backlash in Ankara, which fears an entrenched Kurdish presence across the border will stoke separatist ambitions at home.

Turkey sees Syrian Kurdish fighters as "terrorists" and has repeatedly threatened to attack Kurdish-held areas along its southern border.
BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday reiterated its normal state-to-state relations with Venezuela.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the comments at a news briefing when asked about recent remarks by the U.S. special envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams that China may stop supplying loans to Venezuela considering its repayment ability.

"The pragmatic cooperation between China and Venezuela is based on principles of equality, mutual benefit, common development and commercial rules, and is legitimate and beneficial to both peoples," Hua said.

"China will continue to adhere to such principles in carrying out exchanges and cooperation with Venezuela in various areas," Hua added.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Justin Thomas was playing well enough to want to keep going, with six birdies in a seven-hole stretch before it was too dark to continue Friday at the Genesis Open.

It also was raining.

It was cold.

And he already had been slogging through Riviera for nine hours.

"It's hard playing 30 holes, but it's really hard when it's raining and it's soft," Thomas said after making 14 birdies on a long day that sent him home tied for the lead with Adam Scott at 10-under par. "My legs are tired, so I just need to go home and rest and get some food and try to go to sleep early as I can."

Thomas, who opened with a 5-under 66 in the morning, was 5 under for his second round through 12 holes. He had an eight-hole stretch when he didn't make a par (six birdies , two bogeys), ending with a two-putt par on No. 3.

Scott was in the group right behind him and just as efficient, also opening with a 66 and reaching 5 under. His only blemish was a long three-putt for bogey on the par-5 17th on a course he loves. Scott won at Riviera in the rain 14 years ago, a tournament that was cut short to 36 holes and decided in a playoff.

"I just got the momentum going and I kept it going," Scott said.

Tiger Woods had a few big moments that didn't last long. He had four straight birdies around the turn in the morning, a streak that ended with a three-putt bogey at No. 12. He had four three-putts in the first round for a 70.

His highlight in the afternoon, as the temperatures and rain became steady, was a 45-foot eagle putt on the par-5 first to start his back nine. It really was an Instagram moment , for a fan screamed out, "Make this! It's going on Instagram!" Woods delivered, only to bogey the next two holes to end his day at even par for the second round, 1 under for the tournament.

"I'm stiff right now," Woods said after playing the most number of holes in one day since his return from a fourth back surgery. "It got pretty chilly toward the end. The ball wasn't going very far."

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No need telling that to Thomas. He was in the right rough after hitting driver 260 yards, leaving him 222 yards to a back pin on an elevated green. He pounded 5-wood to 10 feet and made his last birdie of the day.

J.B. Holmes was another shot behind at the turn. Holmes was the 18-hole leader thanks to a hole-in-one on the par-3 sixth hole, followed by a birdie that led to an 8-under 63. At the time, he was one shot ahead of Jordan Spieth, who played all of six holes on Friday to complete his bogey-free 64 in calm conditions.

Spieth figured it would be like that all day. He was wrong. Light rain fell as Woods, Thomas and Rory McIlroy (3 under through 12) were finishing the first round. It never really stopped the rest of the day.

The start of the tournament was delayed seven hours Thursday, so just about everyone who makes the cut will face long days at some point. The second round resumes at 7 a.m., and the other half of the field starts their second round at 7:40 a.m. The cut figures to be made Saturday afternoon, leaving no more than about two hours of play the rest of the day.

Those in or around the lead after 36 holes can expect to go 36 more on Sunday. Dustin Johnson played 36 holes on Sunday when he won the Genesis Open two years ago.

Long before it was getting dark, Holmes could see just fine when he hit 8-iron to the back pin at No. 6, located just to the left of the bunker in the middle of the green.

"Hit it exactly how I wanted it and it went in," Holmes said. "It looked good the whole time."

Spieth took advantage of the restart on Thursday. His opening shot on the par-4 10th hit the cart path twice and went into shin-high grass so thick that it would have been hard work just to get it out. The round was scrapped and he returned for a routine par.

He made the rest look easy except for the 13th hole, where he hooked his tee shot into a eucalyptus tree, played a slice on the outer side of the trees and got up-and-down for par.

"It was probably better than any of the birdies," he said.

He holed two chips for birdie, one of them on the toughest hole at Riviera on No. 12, birdied all three of the par 5s and made a pair of birdie putts from about 10 feet when he returned Friday morning.

He said those six holes were the best the putter has felt in some time.

"I was able to kind of figure out a way to feel some freedom in the stroke and I was able to roll a couple of those in," he said.

Woods is the tournament host with his foundation running the event he first played in 1992 as a 16-year-old amateur. Next year, the tournament gets elevated status on par with the Memorial (Jack Nicklaus) and Arnold Palmer Invitational by offering a three-year exemption to the winners, getting a 120-man field and offering $9.3 million in prize money.

But the course has never been kind to him. Riviera is where Woods has played the most times as a pro (9) without ever winning.

___

More AP golf: https://apnews.com/apf-Golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
The Senate voted Thursday to confirm William Barr as attorney general.

Barr, who previously served as attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, was confirmed 5145 largely along party lines, with Republicans backing the presidents nominee and Democrats opposing.

Democratic senators Doug Jones of Alabama, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona defected, backing Barrs nomination, while Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was the lone Republican who voted against him.

Barr will be sworn in Thursday afternoon at the White House, the Department of Justice announced shortly after his confirmation. Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath of office.

Acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker, who was appointed by the president in November to assume ousted AG Jeff Sessions post, will now be relieved of his duties, which include overseeing Special Counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Democrats opposed to Barrs confirmation cited his prior criticisms of the investigation, articulated in an unsolicited 20-page memo he sent to DOJ officials in June, to make the case that he would inhibit Muellers progress or force a premature conclusion to the probe.

In the memo, Barr argued that Muellers reported interest in whether Trump obstructed justice by firing former FBI director James Comey was misguided.

As I understand it, his theory is premised on a novel and legally insupportable reading of the law, Barr wrote. Moreover, in my view, if credited by the Justice Department, it would have grave consequences far beyond the immediate confines of this case and would do lasting damage to the Presidency and to the administration of law within the Executive branch.

During his confirmation hearing, Barr told lawmakers that DOJ ethics officials found that his prior commentary on Muellers investigation did not constitute a justification for his recusal from overseeing the probe.

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Asked during the hearing to commit to making the entirety of Muellers findings public when his investigation eventually concluded, Barr told lawmakers he would make public as much as possible but did not make any specific commitments.

I am not going to do anything that I think is wrong, and I will not be bullied into doing anything I think is wrong, Barr said. By anybody  whether it be editorial boards, or Congress, or the President. Im going to do what I think is right.

More from National Review
Paris (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron invited his Italian counterpart to Paris, his office said Friday, in a conciliatory gesture as France's ambassador returned to Rome after he was recalled for a week in a diplomatic spat between the neighbours.

Macron, who spoke by telephone to Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Tuesday to "reaffirm the importance" of bilateral ties, asked the French ambassador to deliver the invitation at a meeting Friday evening, the Elysee Palace said.

Mattarella, a centre-left politician, is an elder statesman whose job as president carries limited political powers.

France had announced on February 7 that it was recalling its ambassador, Christian Masset, to protest "unfounded attacks and outlandish claims" by Italy's populist coalition government -- led by deputy prime ministers Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini.

"I am very happy that the ambassador is on his way back to Italy," Luigi Di Maio, who is deputy prime minister, told reporters in Rome.

"I shall meet him, I want to ask him for a meeting," Di Maio added.

Relations between the two countries have fractured due to repeated clashes between Di Maio and Salvini's populist coalition government and France's centrist Macron.

Paris was incensed when Di Maio made a surprise visit to France on February 5 to meet a group of radical "yellow vest" protesters who have led demonstrations against Macron.

"The wind of change has crossed the Alps," Di Maio wrote afterwards of the three months of protests against Macron, adding that he was preparing a common front ahead of European Parliament elections in May.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said a "line was crossed" with the visit, which was organised without French authorities being informed.

The last time Paris recalled its ambassador to Rome was during the World War II when Italy under leader Benito Mussolini invaded France in 1940.

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- Tunnel tensions -

The current icy ties between two founding members of the European Union has many analysts wondering about the consequences for the bloc, given that French-Italian ties have been a generally stable axis.

It risks complicating a major infrastructure project between the countries that would result in a tunnel being bored under the Alps to link the important regional cities of Lyon and Turin.

Work on the 57.5-kilometre (36-mile) tunnel, set to cost an estimated 8.6 billion euros (9.7 billion dollars), is suspended pending a green light from the Italian government.

Di Maio's party, the Five Star Movement, is opposed to the project, while its coalition partner the far-right League party, headed by Salvini, who is also interior minister, is in favour.

"France clearly respects the time that our Italian partners wanted to take. But today we are saying clearly to the Italians that this decision needs to come," French Transport Minister Elizabeth Borne told the Public Senat channel on Friday.

- Election pressure -

Analysts and diplomats say that relations have been affected by the fundamentally different outlooks of Macron, a pro-European centrist, and the eurosceptic government in Rome.

There are also deep-running economic tensions, competition for influence in Libya, and a sense in Italy that France has done little to help its neighbour cope with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants in recent years.

Posturing ahead of the elections for the European parliament have exacerbated these tensions, observers say.

A French diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Di Maio and Salvini's recent criticism of Macron and France was driven by competition between the two men.

"Di Maio and Salvini are in competition against each other. Their vision is that at some point there will be only one of them," the diplomat said, adding that the European elections in May would be vital.
Dave Majumdar

Security,

Or simply impossible?

Quantum Radars: China's New Weapon to Take Out U.S. Stealth Fighters (Like the F-22)?

As the paper describes, quantum radar uses a novel concept in physics, which scientist are only just starting to understand. Quantum physics says that if you create a pair of entangled photons by splitting the original photon with a crystal, a change to one entangled photon will immediately affect its twin, regardless of the distance between them, the paper states

Could Beijings quantum radar technology render stealth aircraft obsolete?

(This first appeared back in 2017.)

While theoretically, if such a radar existed, it would be able to detect and track stealth aircraft with impunity, but it is unclear if China truly mastered such technology. The Chinese defense industry has claimed a breakthrough in mastering quantum radar technology, but Western defense industry officials said that such a system is not likely to exist outside a laboratory. Even then, the quantum radars would be difficult to build and test reliably even in a lab environment. Indeed, it is likely that networked low-frequency radarswhich can also detect and track fighter-sized stealth aircraftare more likely to be a more pragmatic development.Last year, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) announced it had tested such a radar at ranges of roughly 60 miles. While 60 miles is not particularly huge feat, the fact that such a radar would be able to provide a weapons quality track on a stealth aircraft at those distances is impressive.

Most radars operating in the fire-control bands such X or Ku are only able to paint a low observable aircraft at much shorter ranges. And indeed, Chinese sources claim that the range for an operational version of the quantum radar is likely to be much greater. The figure in declassified documents is usually a tuned-down version of the real [performance], a Chinese military researcher told the South China Morning Post last year.

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As the paper describes, quantum radar uses a novel concept in physics, which scientist are only just starting to understand. Quantum physics says that if you create a pair of entangled photons by splitting the original photon with a crystal, a change to one entangled photon will immediately affect its twin, regardless of the distance between them, the paper states. A quantum radar, generating a large number of entangled photon pairs and shooting one twin into the air, would be capable of receiving critical information about a target, including its shape, location, speed, temperature and even the chemical composition of its paint, from returning photons.

However, even Chinese researchers are skeptical about the CETC development. Nanjing University physicist Ma Xiaosong told the South China Morning Post that in a quantum radar, photons have to certain quantum statessuch as upward or downward spin to remain entangled. However, the quantum states could be disruptedresulting in decoherence. Decoherence is a potential limiting factor to the maximum effective range of an operational quantum radar.

According to the South China Morning Post, CETC has made a breakthrough in single-photon detectors. Indeed, once the technology matures, the Chinese believe that it could have a wide range of applications for quantum radar technology.

The fact that Beijing is working hard to counter stealth technology should not come as a surprise.

Dave Majumdar is the former defense editor for The National Interest.

Read full article
AL-OMAR OIL FIELD BASE, Syria (AP)  The offensive on the last enclave held by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria has been blunted by the discovery of hundreds of civilians still living there, a commander with the Kurdish-led force fighting the extremists said Friday.

The U.S.-backed force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, launched the offensive to liberate the IS-held village of Baghouz a week ago, after more than 20,000 civilians, many of them foreign wives of IS militants, were evacuated through a corridor from the area in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.

In Washington, President Donald Trump said the White House will make an announcement about Syria and the fight against IS by Saturday. His did not give details but his comments contrasted with the picture painted by SDF commanders, who said the battle has been progressing slowly.

"We have a lot of great announcements having to do with Syria and our success with the eradication of the caliphate and that will be announced over the next 24 hours," Trump told journalists at the White House.

Adnan Afrin, the Kurdish commander, told The Associated Press that in the last three days IS militants brought up hundreds of civilians from underground tunnels to make the SDF and U.S.-led coalition aware of their presence.

He estimated that around 1,000 civilians, including women and children, are still in the area. He added that militants were hiding among them and using them as human shields.

"This was a surprise. We did not imagine there would be this number of civilians left," Afrin said.

He said they were likely to be families of IS militants, but their discovery nonetheless has blunted the offensive. "We do not want to cause a massacre against civilians in the last (IS) pocket," he said.

A blitz of airstrikes and shelling last week was believed to signal the end of the campaign against IS in its last toehold in Syria. Thousands of people, including many foreign fighters and their families, emerged from the area amid ferocious fighting as the SDF closed in from three sides under the cover of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition.

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IS militants are now clinging to their last square kilometer (mile) of land in Baghouz. The anticipated declaration of victory against the group, however, has been delayed by this discovery of a large number of civilians in the area.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, reported late Friday that a convoy of seven trucks, three ambulances and other vehicles including Humvees for the U.S.-led coalition headed toward the IS-held area. The group said it believes that the aim is to draw out the remaining IS gunmen and their families.

"The convoy is likely to come back with at least 200 Islamic State group members of different nationalities," the Observatory said, adding that it was not clear if they would agree to surrender. Hundreds of IS fighters have surrendered over the past weeks and were apprehended by members of the U.S.-led coalition and SDF fighters.

Organized access to the front line has been restricted for journalists amid security concerns, particularly after the injury of an Italian photographer earlier this week.

U.S.-backed forces are now conducting precision operations targeting the militants' outposts in and around the village of Baghouz and working to clear surrounding villages of remaining fighters, SDF officials said.

The capture of Baghouz and nearby areas would mark the conclusion of a devastating four-year global campaign to end the extremist group's hold on territory in Syria and Iraq, their so-called "caliphate," which at the height of the extremists group's power in 2014 covered nearly a third of both Iraq and Syria.

President Donald Trump has said the group is all but defeated. He announced in December that he would withdraw the 2,000 American troops in Syria.

It is not clear whether the Islamic State group is holding any civilian prisoners in the enclave, beyond their own families.

"We aim to save any prisoners, but we have no information about them. They can be among the civilians, or in underground prisons, we have no information," said Afrin, the SDF commander.

The Observatory said SDF fighters discovered late Thursday the bodies of 26 IS gunmen who were killed in recent clashes near Baghouz.

The group added that some families of IS members tried to flee Thursday night into areas held by the SDF but did not succeed.

The DeirEzzor 24, an activist collective that covers events in eastern Syria, reported that U.S.-led coalition warplanes struck several suspected IS positions outside Baghouz on Friday. It added that SDF fighters sporadically shelled the IS-held area.

The Kurdish Hawar news agency, meanwhile, reported that SDF fighters advanced slowly on the northern parts of Baghouz village because of the large number of mines and explosives planted by the extremists, who it said were also using civilians as human shields.

Hawar added that SDF fighters discovered an arms depot and a clinic used for treating IS gunmen.

Syrian opposition activists also reported that SDF spokeswoman Lilwa Abdullah escaped an assassination attempt Thursday when gunmen opened fire at her car as she drove between Deir el-Zour and the northeastern province of Hassakeh.
Umuahia (Nigeria) (AFP) - A pro-Biafran separatist group said Friday it had lifted its call for a boycott of Nigeria's presidential and parliamentary elections this weekend.

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) wants independence for the Igbo people who are the majority in southeast Nigeria, and had urged its supporters not to vote on Saturday.

IPOB's self-styled "supreme leader" -- former London estate agent Nnamdi Kanu -- has said the action was part of a wider call for a referendum on sovereignty.

But he tweeted late Thursday that the boycott was lifted as all the group's "preconditions and terms have been met, signed, sealed and delivered".

Kanu, who is in his 40s, disappeared after an army raid on his home in the southeastern city of Umuahia in September 2017. He re-emerged in Israel in October and is now in Britain.

The IPOB high command confirmed the decision in a statement on Friday, but neither it nor Kanu gave further details, which it undertook to publish later.

This will likely fuel speculation of a deal between the group and the main opposition People's Democratic Party, which stood to lose out if Igbo voters -- who tend to support the PDP -- stayed at home.

The five states in southeast Nigeria have just over 10 million registered voters and have long been a stronghold for the PDP.

The party's presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has chosen an Igbo politician, Peter Obi, as his running mate.

Abubakar, a former vice-president, has said he is in favour of restructuring Nigeria's federal system by devolving more power from the centre.

The southeast has long complained it has been marginalised by successive governments and military regimes since the end of the civil war in 1970.

The conflict, which killed more than a million people, started after a unilateral declaration of an independent republic of Biafra in 1967.

No Igbo politician has held high office since 1983, when Alex Ekwueme was Shehu Shagari's vice-president.

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Shagari and Ekwueme were ousted in a coup led by army general Muhammadu Buhari, who has been a civilian president since 2015.

- Divided opinion -

On the streets of Umuahia, the capital of Abia state, opinion was divided between those who wanted to boycott the election and those keen to vote.

Emmanuel Odiwonma, a market trader in Aba, said people in the region had been treated as "second-class citizens" and was happy to stay at home.

But pensioner Edmond Okoli, said: "If you boycott the election, you're encouraging the person you don't want to win, it is stupid"

The arrest of Nnamdi Kanu on treason charges in October 2015 sparked a wave of street protests across the southeast, leading to clashes with the security forces.

The region has been largely calm in the run-up to the election, but there has been a noticeable increase in military and police checkpoints, AFP correspondents said.

In recent days, hundreds of young IPOB supporters marched in several towns, calling on local people to stand up against the federal government.

Two electoral commission offices in Abia and neighbouring Anambra state caught fire this month, destroying election materials. But there has been no claim of responsibility.

Security analyst Don Okereke said President Muhammadu Buhari was unpopular in the southeast partly because it is a mainly Christian area and many Igbos are businesspeople.

Nigeria is emerging slowly from recession caused in part by a slump in global oil prices.

"People want business to pick up again, they attribute the economic slowdown and the high level of unemployment to Buhari's administration," he added, predicting a high turnout.

But one trader in Aba, Leonard Munachimso, expressed doubts: "Many of us, as Biafrans, didn't even get our PVCs (permanent voter cards), so we can't go out and vote.

"I don't think many of us will go out to the poll."
By Lesley Wroughton and Alicja Ptak WARSAW (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence accused European powers on Thursday of undermining Washington's crack down on Iran by trying to break U.S. sanctions against Tehran, in remarks that were likely to further strain transatlantic relations. Pence spoke at a Middle East peace conference in Warsaw attended by 60 countries, notably including both Gulf Arab states and Israel, in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a "historical turning point" for an alliance against Tehran. Iran, Russia and the Palestinians were absent. European powers, who oppose the Trump administration's decision to pull out of a nuclear deal with Iran, were openly skeptical of a conference excluding Tehran. France and Germany declined to send their top diplomats, while British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt left before Thursday's main events. "Sadly, some of our leading European partners have not been nearly as cooperative," Pence said. "In fact, they have led the effort to create mechanisms to break up our sanctions." Trump pulled the United States last year out of the 2015 Iran deal, under which Tehran agreed to curbs on its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions. European countries say they share Washington's concerns about Iran's regional behavior but believe withdrawing from the nuclear deal was a mistake, and have promised to try to salvage the deal as long as Iran continues to abide by it. In practice, European companies have accepted new U.S. sanctions on Iran and abandoned plans to invest there. Pence called on the Europeans to follow Washington and exit the agreement: "The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and join with us." He said a new European scheme to trade with Iran, known as the Special Purpose Vehicle, was "an effort to break American sanctions against Iran's murderous revolutionary regime". "It is an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the EU and create still more distance between Europe and the United States," he said. The mechanism was conceived as a way to help match Iranian oil and gas exports against purchases of EU goods. However, those ambitions have been scaled back, with diplomats saying that, realistically, it will be used only for trade, for example of humanitarian products or food, allowed by Washington. European diplomats at the conference rejected Pence's accusations: "We strongly disagree," a diplomat from a major European power said. "We want to push Iran to good results and dont want to push Iran outside of its nuclear commitment." The summit venue in Poland could itself be seen as a rebuke to Washington's traditional Western European allies, who are at odds with a nationalist government in Warsaw over moves the EU says curb judicial independence and free speech. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to travel to Brussels on Friday for talks with Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief. Pompeo told a news conference there were differences during the summit meeting over how to get Iran to change its ways, but there was unanimity, including from Europeans, that Tehran posed a global threat. "We make no bones about it, we need more sanctions, more pressure on Iran," Pompeo said in closing remarks. "There was not a defender of Iran in the room. No country. No country spoke out and denied any of the basic facts that we have all laid out about Iran, the threat it poses, the nature of regime." The summit was notable because of the presence of Israel alongside wealthy Arab states Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Washington aims to narrow differences between its Israeli and Arab allies to isolate Iran. "DESPERATE CIRCUS" But just as notable were the absences, not only of Iran itself -- which called the meeting a "desperate circus" -- but of the Palestinians, who refused to attend over what they regard as U.S. bias against them under Trump. They have been boycotting the administration since Trump reversed decades of U.S. policy in 2017 to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat took aim at the Arab states for attending, citing an Arab meeting last year that reaffirmed demands that Israel first withdraw from Palestinian land before it can normalize ties with Arab countries. "Reward the occupation, the decision to abolish the Arab Peace Initiative and the decisions of the Dhahran Summit. For what? Mediation between America and Israel on the one hand and Iran on the other," Erekat tweeted. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the only path to peace was by negotiating with the Palestinian leadership represented by Abbas. Niels Annen, Germany's minister of state, was skeptical that the conference would deliver results on Iran. "I am hoping for constructive signals but nobody here has the expectation that this conference will solve problems," he told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting. "That would be unrealistic because we need a political agreement with all participants at the end of the day." Earlier, Pompeo called for an era of cooperation during opening remarks that were broadcast publicly. The rest of the meeting, including a presentation by White House advisor and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner on plans for Israeli-Palestinian peace, was held behind closed is doors. Kushner told the audience that the United States would not unveil the plan until after an Israeli election on April 9. Kushner and Trumps Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt are trying to broker a peace plan to cover all core issues of the decades-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, U.S. official say. Release of the plan has been delayed by Palestinian anger at Trump's change of U.S. policy on Jerusalem. (Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, Joanna Plucinska, Alan Charlish, Marcin Goclowski and Marcel Kolling; Editing by Justyna Pawlak, Mark Heinrich and Peter Graff)
WARSAW (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence accused Washington's European allies on Thursday of trying to break U.S. sanctions against Tehran and called on them to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. "Sadly, some of our leading European partners have not been nearly as cooperative. In fact, they have led the effort to create mechanisms to break up our sanctions," Pence said during a conference on the Middle East organized by the United States in Warsaw. Pence said a scheme set up by the EU to facilitate trade with Iran was "an effort to break American sanctions against Iran's murderous revolutionary regime". "It is an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the EU and create still more distance between Europe and the United States," he said. The Warsaw meeting was attended by more than 60 nations but major European powers such as Germany and France, part to the 2015 nuclear accord, refused to send their top diplomats. (Reporting by Justyna Pawlak, Lesley Wroughton, Agnieszka Barteczko and Alan Charlish)
Members of the Parkland community gathered around a memorial at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, one year after 17 students and school staff were killed in a shooting.

The commemoration was one of many planned across Florida and the United States, according to local news reports.

The first anniversary of the Parkland shooting attracted nationwide attention as students continue to navigate the fallout, which sparked a year of political advocacy, backlash, and debate over gun control. Credit: GlennaWPLG via Storyful
Notch another victory for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The freshman Democratic representative celebrated online retailer Amazons decision Thursday to scrap its plans to build a new headquarters in her New York City district.

I think its incredible, Ocasio-Cortez responded when asked to comment on Amazons about-face. It shows that everyday Americans still have the power to organize and fight for their communities and they can have more say in this country than richest man in the world.

Earlier Thursday, the company announced it was reversing the plan, announced in November, to build new East Coast headquarters buildings in New York City and in Arlington, Va. The Virginia part of the plan will go ahead. The company said it would not look for a new location to replace the cancelled $2.5 billion project.

"After much thought and deliberation, weve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens, Amazon spokeswoman Jodi Seth said in a statement.

Ocasio-Cortez was one of the leaders of the fight against the proposed deal, largely over the $3 billion in tax breaks the city and state promised the company.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is thrilled that Amazon will not be opening offices in Long Island City, NY, (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: AP, Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

New Yorks chronic shortage of housing and the overburdened mass transit system were also cited by opponents.

The deal would have meant an estimated 25,000 new jobs for the city.

We were subsidizing those jobs, Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday. The city was paying for those jobs. Frankly, if we were willing to give away $3 billion dollars for this deal, we could invest those $3 billion in our district, ourselves, if we wanted to. We could hire out more teachers. We can fix our subways. We can put a lot of people to work for that amount of money if we wanted to.

But as New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin pointed out after the company walked away from the city, Amazons gain wasnt necessarily going to come out of New Yorks coffers.

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Mayor Bill de Blasio, who partnered with Gov. Andrew Cuomo in hammering out the deal, issued a stinging statement over the companys latest decision.

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You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity, de Blasio said in a statement. We have the best talent in the world and every day we are growing a stronger and fairer economy for everyone. If Amazon cant recognize what thats worth, its competitors will.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who represents New Yorks 12th District, where the Amazon headquarters was slated for construction, expressed her disappointment.

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Cuomo was also disappointed, but he took out his anger on the legislators who worked to torpedo the deal.

[A] small group [of] politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community  which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City  the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state. The New York state Senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
By Padraic Halpin

DUBLIN (Reuters) - A "small number" of Irish firms are likely to see their credit ratings cut if Britain leaves the European Union without a transition deal but there could be a no deal silver lining for the country's services sectors, S&P Global said on Thursday.

With close trading links to Britain, Ireland's export-focused economy is considered the most vulnerable of the remaining 27 EU members to a disruptive exit by its nearest neighbour

S&P said in a new report that the agricultural sector would be hardest hit by a no-deal Brexit but banks were unlikely to see many "near-term" rating moves and it did not expect to downgrade the country's sovereign rating.

"What's clear today is that the Irish economy is booming," S&P credit analyst Frank Gill told reporters, citing the highest level of net immigration in a decade and a recent return to a government budget surplus as key positives for the EU's fastest growing economy.

"Certainly our base case is that a no deal does not move the needle on the sovereign given all the other credit strengths," he added, while acknowledging that sectors such as agriculture and food processing faced enormous uncertainties.

S&P, which rates more than 50 firms in Ireland, has rated Irish sovereign debt as A+ with a stable outlook since June 2015.

It said it still expected the UK to reach a deal with the EU but that the risks that it doesn't were rising. A no-deal Brexit would increase pressure on Irish issuers with rating actions envisaged for a small number whose rating performance is already "somewhat challenged."

While some larger agricultural firms have the flexibility, scale and contingency plans to withstand any disruption, smaller companies without the ability to diversify away from the UK market will struggle, S&P's Patrick Drury Byrne added.

However, S&P said that by focusing primarily on vulnerable indigenous exporters, most economists sidestepped the question of what Brexit means for the current boom in Ireland's dominant services sector.

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S&P, which was itself officially opening its new European headquarters in Dublin, said the pace of services employment growth was likely to survive a no-deal Brexit and even accelerate in some of Ireland's largest sectors, including financial services, in the event of a no-deal outcome.

"We believe that the silver lining for Ireland - in the medium term - could be its ultimately positive effect on the labour-intensive services sectors," the report said.

(Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London; editing by Helen Reid and Kirsten Donovan)
Daura (Nigeria) (AFP) - Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari joined fellow worshippers Friday to pray for peaceful elections, amid claims of possible vote-rigging and fears of violence.

The 76-year-old leader waved at hundreds of jubilant supporters in his home town of Daura, in the northwestern Katsina state, where he will vote on Saturday.

Buhari, from the All Progressives Congress (APC), is expected to face a stiff challenge from former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, 72, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Abubakar is a fellow Muslim from Adamawa state, in northeast Nigeria.

Buhari arrived at the Daura mosque in a festival atmosphere, with crowds cheering his convoy and security detail.

Inside, the Emir of Daura, a traditional ruler, told the congregation: "I call on all people of Daura to come out en masse tomorrow and vote."

Buhari enjoys fanatical support in his home town and across the wider north, where he is seen as a humble man of the people, unlike Abubakar who is viewed as an elite businessman.

Security was tight in Daura and in the northwest, with armed personnel present at several new checkpoints after a spate of attack by bandits on local communities.

As election officials transported ballot boxes and voting equipment to polling stations around the country, millions prayed for a peaceful vote.

In Lagos, some 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from Daura in the southwest, the imam at the city's Central Mosque said: "We are pleading for God's protection for all of us at this important moment."

He called on the hundreds listening to show "peace of mind", adding: "When you see them snatching ballot boxes, stealing or scattering, I'm saying now... don't be a part of them."

Fatu Aluko, a market trader near the mosque on Lagos Island, said she felt the result was in "God's hands".

Religion plays a key role in Nigerian life, including its politics. The country is almost evenly split between a mainly Muslim north and a largely Christian south.

Buhari's Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is a church pastor while Abubakar's running mate, Peter Obi, is a devout Roman Catholic, whose sister is a nun and brother is a priest.
Washington (AFP) - NASA is accelerating plans to return Americans to the Moon, and this time, the US space agency says it will be there to stay.

Jim Bridenstine, NASA's administrator, told reporters Thursday that the agency plans to speed up plans backed by President Donald Trump to return to the moon, using private companies.

"It's important that we get back to the moon as fast as possible," said Bridenstine in a meeting at NASA's Washington headquarters, adding he hoped to have astronauts back there by 2028.

"This time, when we go to the Moon, we're actually going to stay. We're not going to leave flags and footprints and then come home to not go back for another 50 years" he said.

"We're doing it entirely different than every other country in the world. What we're doing is, we're making it sustainable so you can go back and forth regularly with humans."

The last person to walk on the Moon was Eugene Cernan in December 1972, during the Apollo 17 mission.

Before humans set foot on the lunar surface again, NASA aims to land an unmanned vehicle on the Moon by 2024, and is already inviting bids from the burgeoning private sector to build the probe.

The deadline for bids is March 25, with a first selection due in May, a tight timeline for an agency whose past projects have run years behind schedule and billions over budget.

"For us, if we had any wish, I would like to fly this calendar year. We want to go fast," said Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

However, he admitted that "we may not be able to."

NASA's accelerated plans flesh out the Space Policy Directive that Trump signed in December 2017, envisaging a return to the Moon before a manned mission to Mars, possibly in the 2030s.

NASA plans to build a small space station, dubbed Gateway, in the Moon's orbit by 2026. It will serve as a way-station for trips to and from the lunar surface, but will not be permanently crewed like the International Space Station (ISS), currently in Earth's orbit.

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As with the ISS, NASA would seek the participation of other countries, who could provide some of the necessary needed, such as modules for the Moon station or vehicles to allow landings on the surface.

"We want numerous providers competing on cost and innovation," Bridenstine said.

Before this manned program, NASA is also pushing to send scientific instruments and other technological tools to the Moon in 2020 or even before the end of this year.

The agency is also calling for quick-turnaround bids to manufacture and launch such instruments, offering financial incentives to make it happen fast.

"We care about speed," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "We do not expect that every one of those launches or every one of those landings will be successful. We are taking risks."
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The set of Morning Joe was not happy about the decision by Amazon to pull out of their new planned headquarters in New York City yesterday, laying the blame for the decision at the feet of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and fellow recalcitrant progressive lawmakers.

On set there was near unanimity that Ocasio-Cortez did not understand the broader situation and was unfamiliar with basic economics.

The protests that we saw were to get on AOCs bandwagon. And whats shocking to me is yet once again she shows how little she understands, about not just economics, but even unemployment, show mainstay Susan Del Percio said. Just because she has a progressive agenda, which some people like, does not mean she has the citys best interests. What she showed me today, or yesterday, is that she only cares about herself.

Also Read:Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Joins Sundance After All, by Webcast

On set, there was also much discussion about how public polling generally showed that ordinary New Yorkers had supported Amazons plan, including large majorities of black and Latino voters.

End of the line, the people who wanted the jobs the least to come to the area were white elites in Manhattan, according to all of the polls, Joe Scarborough added.

Even Mika Brzezinski, typically sympathetic to Ocasio-Cortez, said the whole situation made her cringe.

She needs to follow some of the more successful more mature members. I would suggest Nancy Pelosi would be a great example, she said. But you dont know what you dont know and youre going to step in it if youre not careful. And they have a few times. I watch AOC with a lot of hope, but Im also cringing because Id love to give her some advice.

Also Read:Amazon Cancels Plans for New York City Campus

Reps for Ocasio-Cortez did not immediately respond to request for comment.

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On Thursday, Amazon officially made the momentous decision, with the company citing New York Citys hostile political climate as a cause.

While polls show that 70 percent of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City, Amazon said in a statement.

Though she took heat from the political class, AOC was celebrated by her base after the pullout and exulted on Twitter when the decision was announced.

Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazons corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world, she said.

Read original story Morning Joe Rips Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Over Amazon Pull-Out: She Only Cares About Herself At TheWrap
Kyle Mizokami

Security,

And they aren't all in the air.

Meet the 5 Deadliest Stealth Weapons of All Time (And the F-22 Made the List)

Why nothing is more deadly than a "stealth" weapon.

Stealth, or the idea of reducing the ability of the enemy to detect a weapon, has been around since the first caveman sewed a pocket into his clothing and hid a rock in it.

(This first appeared in 2015.)

Thousands of years later, with the ability to detect objects on the ground, in the air and at sea using electromagnetic radiation, hiding weapons in plain sight has become much harder. The idea of making an aircraft invisible to radar waves was not pursued as the properties of radar with regards to object shape were not fully understood.

Pyotr Ufimtsev, a Russian physicist, published a number of papers on predicting the reflection of electromagnetic wavesradar waves. The Soviet Union, not understanding the gravity of his work, translated many of them into English.

But aerospace engineers at Lockheed did, and extrapolated from it a correct theory on reducing the radar cross section of aircraft. The result was the Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter. Since then, stealth has been an integral part of every tactical aircraft deployed by the United States. Here are five of the most lethal stealth weapons of war.

SR-71 Blackbird:

Famous for being the fastest plane ever built, the SR-71 is less well known for being a stealthy aircraft. The SR-71, which cruised at Mach 3.2, was one of the first aircraft to incorporate multiple stealth features into its design.

First flown in 1962, the SR-71 incorporated four stealthy features into its design. First, surfaces were designed to avoid reflecting radar waves. Second, the aircrafts wings, tail and fuselage made use of composites, alternating with titanium, on the idea that composites were radar-absorbing. Third, the massive J-58 afterburning engines, with their large air-gulping inlets were positioned close to the fuselage of the airplane.

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The fourth feature incorporated into the SR-71 was a black paint infused with tiny iron ferrite spheres. The paint, which gave the SR-71 its distinctive blackbird look and helped reduced the planes radar cross section, cost $400 a gallon. Altogether, the SR-71s stealthy design gave it a radar cross section of less than 10 square meters . By comparison, the radar cross section of an early F-15 Eagle is 100 square meters.

F-117 Nighthawk:

The first operational stealth aircraft, the F-117 is often mistakenly referred to as a stealth fighter. Contrary to popular belief, the F-117 is actually a tactical bomber, with no air to air capability.

The F-117 was developed from the top secret Have Blue project, which produced two stealth technology demonstrating aircraft. The Have Blue aircraft emphasized a low radar signature over aerodynamic performance, and indeed needed fly-by-wire technology just developed for the F-16 to prevent the aircraft from losing control in flight. Fifty nine F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighters were eventually built.

The existence of the stealth fighter was speculated for much of the 1980s, reaching a frenzy after a July 1986 crash of a F-117 outside Bakersfield, California. The attempted cover-up only served to heighten public interest, and the Air Force confirmed the existence of the plane in 1988.

The F-117 first flew in combat in 1989, when it bombed targets during the invasion of Panama. The F-117 next flew in Operation Desert Storm, flying nighttime missions over Baghdad, and participated in no-fly zone operations against Iraq in the 1990s. F-117s flew missions over Kosovo in 1999, and Iraq during 2003s Operation Iraqi Freedom. The F-117 was retired in 2008.

B-2 Spirit:

First revealed in 1988 by the Northrop Corporation, the B-2 Spirit was to be Americas first truly stealthy strategic bomber. The tailless design was meant to minimize the aircrafts radar signature, allowing it to penetrate Soviet air defenses during a nuclear war.

The end of the Cold War ended justification for a full scale order of 132 planes, and only 21 were built. The success of the F-117 Nighthawk during the 1991 Gulf War showed the utility of stealthy aircraft capable of conventional precision strike, and the B-2 fleet was modified to conduct conventional missions. The B-2 is capable of carrying everything from B61 nuclear gravity bombs to conventional Joint Directed Attack Munition (JDAM) bombs, to the enormous, 30,000 pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).

The B-2 first flew in combat over Kosovo in 1999. The aircraft has also flown in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2011, three B-2s flying from the continental United States struck a Libyan airfield during Operation Odyssey Dawn.

F-22 Raptor:

The first operational stealth fighter, the F-22 Raptor was designed to replace the F-15 Eagle. Unlike previous American stealth aircraft, including the F-117 and B-2, the F-22 was to be a fighter, using stealth to give it decisive advantage in air-to-air combat. Declared operational in December 2005, the F-22 is the worlds best fighter, outclassing all current and projected fighters, and the only operational so-called fifth generation fighter.

The F-22 began life in the late 1980s as the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF). ATF would be the first aircraft to incorporate stealth in a highly maneuverable, fighter-type platform. The F-22 is designed to provide minimal radar and infrared signatures, the two primary homing mechanisms for air-to-air missiles. The radar cross section of the F-22 is estimated by manufacturer Lockheed Martin as, from some angles, approximate to a steel marble.

The U.S. Air Force originally planned to order 750 F-22s to replace the F-15A and F-15C, but orders were slashed to 183 aircraft.

Ohio-class nuclear missile submarine:

Stealth doesnt just apply to aircraftsubmarines have been incorporating stealthy features for decades. Among submarines, the most powerful combination of lethality and stealth is almost certainly the Ohio-class nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines.

A popularpossibly apocryphallegend about the Ohio class holds that they were never detected by rival Soviet submarines and submarine detection systems.

The Ohio submarines, at 18,450 tons submerged are the largest submarines ever built by the United States. Stealthy features include a cylindrical, fish-shaped hull for fast movement with minimal noise. Noise-generating equipment is placed on sound-isolating mounts. The nuclear missile silos, laid out in two rows behind the sail, are flush with the hull to decrease flow noise. The subs also mount two steam turbines, one for quiet operation.

Eighteen Ohio-class submarines were builtfourteen serve on as ballistic missile submarines while four were rearmed with conventional Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Kyle Mizokami is a writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and The Daily Beast. In 2009 he co-founded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch.

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Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Manchester United will be without Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard for Monday's FA Cup clash at Chelsea with both sidelined for up to three weeks after picking up injuries during Tuesday's Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.

The in-form duo will also miss Liverpool's visit to Old Trafford in the Premier League on February 24 and face a race against time to make the second leg of the last 16 tie against PSG in the French capital on March 6.

"I think they'll be out for two-to three weeks," United caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Friday.

Martial sustained a groin problem in the early stages of Solskjaer's first defeat in charge, but was able to carry on until half-time before being substituted.

England international Lingard pulled up with a hamstring injury towards the end of the first half.

United sorely missed both players after the break as PSG struck twice in quick succession through Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe to leave Solskjaer's side with a mountain to climb if they are to reach the last eight of the Champions League.

Alexis Sanchez again struggled to make an impact off the bench with Solskjaer insisting it is up to the Chilean to show he is worth the highly lucrative four-and-a-half year contract he signed when joining from Arsenal just over 12 months ago.

Sanchez has scored just five goals in 37 appearances for United, but did find the net for just the second time this season in the last round of the FA Cup in a 3-1 win at Arsenal when he linked up well with Romelu Lukaku.

The Belgian and Sanchez are expected to start at Stamford Bridge on Monday, but Solskjaer did not rule out the prospect of instead showing faith in youngsters Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong, who have been training with the first team after impressing in Uniteds junior sides.

"We've got still forward options but Angel and Chongy have been training with us all week so there's a big chance they'll be involved," said Solskjaer.

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"It's a chance for anyone who plays  Alexis, Romelu, Chongy or Angel. Anthony and Jesse have done really well for us. They're vital in the attacking part for us, of course, with their vital attributes, their pace.

"But then again with Rom and Alexis, they've got different skill sets and will be able to show what they can do."

Defeat to PSG in midweek was a reality check for United and Solskjaer's chances of landing the job on a permanent basis after a run of 10 wins and one draw in his first 11 games in charge.

Solskjaer made a short trip home to Norway to visit his family and take stock in the past few days, but is confident his players can recover quickly to inflict more damage on a Chelsea side still reeling for last weekend's 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City.

"It's a different feel of course. I hate losing games, and it seems like the boys hate losing games," he added.

"They've been down but theres no point dwelling on it because there are big games against good teams coming up and we need to dust ourselves down and get going again on Monday.

"You've got to bounce back at this club. You will always have challenges and away against Chelsea is one of the tougher challenges."
Caracas (AFP) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has admitted one of his top officials held two meetings with a prominent US diplomat.

Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, a harsh critic of the United States, traveled recently to New York to meet with the US special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams.

The first meeting lasted "two hours and the second three hours, a day later," Maduro told news agency Associated Press in a video released on Thursday.

"I invited Elliott Abrams to come to Venezuela -- in private, in public, in secret. All he has to do is say where, when and how, and I'll be there," added Maduro.

Washington is one of the driving forces behind Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido's bid to drive Maduro from power.

The United States was also one of the first countries to recognize Guaido as interim president after his self-declaration last month.

Maduro has repeatedly accused Washington of wanting to launch a military invasion of Venezuela to gain access to its vast oil reserves.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo played down the significance of Maduro's offer for talks.

"The fact that he has publicly said he wants to talk with the United States is not new, but I think it demonstrates his increasing understanding that the Venezuelan people are rejecting him and his model of governance," said Pompeo during a visit to Iceland.
Emma M. Hetherington, assistant clinical professor and the director of the Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation (CEASE) Clinic with University of Georgia School of Law. (Courtesy photo)

Emma M. Hetherington, assistant clinical professor and director of the Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation Clinic, University of Georgia School of Law. (Courtesy photo)



The Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation (CEASE) Clinic at the University of Georgia School of Law is hosting a lecture next month by Pennsylvania Senior Deputy Attorney General Daniel Dye, the lead prosecutor in an investigation that led to the release of an explosive grand jury report last August outlining decades of sex abuse at dioceses across Pennsylvania.



Dye spearheaded the investigation into child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic church that identified hundreds of priests accused of abusing children. Dye is set to speak at 3 p.m. March 25 in the Hatton Lovejoy Courtroom of the UGA law schools Hirsch Hall. Dyes topic is Child Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church: The Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, according to the flyer for the event posted on social media.



The clinic opened in 2015 to help lawyers and survivors file lawsuits within the statute of limitations period created by Georgias Hidden Predator Act. It was the first such program of its kind in the country and has since become a contact point for those seeking to provide the same kind of help, according to Emma Hetherington, the clinics director and an assistant clinical professor at the law school.



We want to be a place where attorneys and survivors from all over the country can come for advice, Hetherington said.



The clinic now has a staff attorney, former prosecutor Jean Mangan. Part of the mission is to teach lawyers to be trauma-informed so that they can take a more holistic approach to helping their clients.



The clinics founder is Marlan Wilbanks of Wilbanks & Gouinlock in Atlanta. Wilbanks is a longtime advocate for preventing child sexual abuse and helping survivors, because his mother is a survivor, he told Legal affiliate the Daily Report. He said she was able to disclose her abuse only when she was well into adulthood, in her late 40s, which is the typical pattern.



Since the groundbreaking Pennsylvania investigationwhich was followed by more like it in other statesDye has continued to prosecute sex crimes, child abuse, homicide and cases of public interest, according to the law schools flyer for the March lecture. Previously, he worked as an assistant district attorney in the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office. He prosecuted sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence as a member of the special victims unit.



Dye also is the director of the AGs Medical and Legal Advisory Board on Child Abuse, which provides advisory expert analysis to local investigators in difficult-to-solve child abuse or child homicide investigations.



The event is free and open to the public. Registration is requested on the UGA website.
NEW YORK (AP)  The Latest on the decision by Amazon to dump New York City as a location for a new headquarters (all times local):

3:20 p.m.

Arlington, Virginia, doesn't expect its plans to build a new Amazon headquarters to change, even though Amazon has scuttled a plan to build a headquarters in New York.

After a yearlong search for second headquarters, Amazon announced in November that it would split its new headquarters between New York and Arlington, with both getting 25,000 jobs.

Arlington County Board Chairman Christian Dorsey said county officials spoke with Amazon earlier Thursday.

He said nothing has changed from Arlington's perspective, noting that the company's deal with Virginia always included a provision that would allow Amazon to bring up to 37,850 jobs over the next 20 years. Amazon said Thursday that it wasn't looking to replace New York at this time, but planned to continue hiring in other offices around the country and Canada.

Dorsey said the county would be able to accommodate that many Amazon jobs in its Crystal City neighborhood, and that county planners had long anticipated that kind of influx, whether from a single company like Amazon or a host of companies. The neighborhood, which is adjacent to the Pentagon, lost tens of thousands of government jobs a decade ago under a realignment of military facilities.

"We are moving forward as we had planned," Dorsey said. "Nothing has changed."

___

2:15 p.m.

On the streets of Queens, reaction to Amazon's decision to cancel its headquarters differed among the residents and local businesses.

Andrew Ousley, a resident of one of the new rental high-rises near the site Amazon had considered, applauded Thursday's news.

"I was afraid that having Amazon in our backyard was going to lead to rent hikes and increased prices in stores and restaurants," he said. "Given I both live and operate my business out of LIC, my plan was to move out before they arrived. But now that they're not coming, I'm more likely to stay and see how the neighborhood continues to grow and evolve in a more organic fashion."

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But Tom Grech, president and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, struggled to express his "sadness and dismay."

"An entire generation will look back at these last few months and ask us why," he said in a statement. "I hope those that opposed this Amazon deal have the answers to what we lost today. Queens is one of the best places for a tech firm  for any forward-looking business  to expand into, with our diverse talent pool, entrepreneurial spirit, thriving arts scene and boundless energy. It is a shame to lose the opportunity, investment and jobs that Amazon offered, but there are many more ways for businesses in Queens to thrive, and we will be welcoming them with open arms."

___

1:50 p.m.

Amazon's stunning announcement to abandon its proposed campus in Long Island City came just two days after the Cuomo administration's economic development czar repeatedly praised the deal during his three hours of testimony before a joint legislative hearing in Albany on the governor's $175 billion state budget proposal.

Several members of the Senate and Assembly voiced skepticism about the state and city incentives that initially convinced Amazon to choose Long Island City, questioning economic development Commissioner Howard Zemsky about its cost for taxpayers. He responded by focusing on the number jobs and the billions in tax revenues the project was expected to generate over the next two decades.

"There's nothing we can equate this to in the history of the state," Zemsky said Tuesday. "It's the largest economic development prize we've ever had."

___

1:40 p.m.

Amazon's decision to cancel its planned headquarters in Long Island City reflects poor planning by both the company and state leaders, a leading business location consultant said.

Tom Stringer, managing director at BDO Consulting, said that neither the company nor the state reached out sufficiently to neighborhood leaders to win them over.

"Both of them really did an awful job," Stringer said. Not having local officials "in the process early on is really mind-boggling to me."

The collapse of the deal won't hurt the city's economy, Stringer said, because it is already doing well and the project hadn't moved forward yet. But it damages New York City's reputation for getting deals done, he added.

___

1:30 p.m.

Mayor Bill de Blasio issued an upbeat statement on Amazon's decision, noting that New York City will thrive no matter what.

"You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity," the mayor said. "We have the best talent in the world and every day we are growing a stronger and fairer economy for everyone. If Amazon can't recognize what that's worth, its competitors will."

Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Cuomo, who had championed Amazon's plan, had yet to comment on the decision.

An indication that Cuomo was growing concerned over opposition to the Amazon deal and reports of the company having second thoughts was evident in comments he made during an interview Tuesday with a New York City radio station.

"I don't think they're bluffing. I think this is very serious," he then said.

___

1:15 p.m.

Jimmy Van Bramer and other members of the City Council had tried unsuccessfully to get Amazon officials to agree to remain neutral in the face of any potential union drive. Van Bramer said on NY1 that he believes Amazon feared the possibility of a successful union drive in New York: "They knew that their anti-union, their virulently anti-union position here was not tenable here and if they caved here then they would face rising pressures all across the country and the world to allow their workers to organize."

George Miranda, president of Teamsters Joint Council 16, said, "We are committed to fighting for the rights of workers throughout the Amazon supply chain and supporting their demand for a voice on the job."

___

1:00 p.m.

City Council member Jimmy Van Bramer criticized the secretive process by which the deal was negotiated in an interview on NY1. The council man represents Long Island City, where Amazon was to have located one of its headquarters.

"When you talk to everybody involved, when you consult with everybody involved, and when you respect local elected officials and local communities, you are far more likely to have a different outcome than when you intentionally and purposefully exclude everyone from knowing any details of the deal and then leak it to the press so that myself and Sen. (Michael) Gianaris and everyone else had to read about it in news reports  when you do that, if you start off like that, you're behind the eight ball already."

___

12:43 p.m.

The billions of dollars in tax incentives that Amazon was awarded stirred backlash from a number of activists.

Deborah Axt, the co-executive director of anti-poverty group Make the Road New York, called Amazon's withdrawal a "landmark victory."

"This announcement ... shows the power of the people, even when taking on the world's richest man," Axt said. "Our members and allies stood firm against Governor Cuomo's plan to give away more than $3 billion in taxpayer giveaways so that Amazon could force its empire-building on our neighborhoods.

___

12 p.m.

Amazon says it will not be building a new headquarters in New York, a stunning reversal after a yearlong search.

The online retailer has faced opposition from some New York politicians, who were unhappy with the tax incentives Amazon was promised.

Amazon said Thursday it does not plan to look for another location, and will continue to build out offices in Arlington, Virginia, and Nashville, Tennessee.
William Barr appears for his confirmation hearing. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/NLJ



William Barr, a former U.S. Attorney General and a conservative Kirkland & Ellis lawyer, will return to head the Justice Department, stepping in to oversee the special counsel probe into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election as it appears to near its end.



Barr was confirmed Thursday afternoon by a 54-45 vote in the U.S. Senate. Three Democratic senatorsJoe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and Doug Jones of Alabamajoined the Republican majority to approve Barrs nomination. Only one RepublicanSen. Rand Paul of Kentuckybroke from GOP ranks to oppose Barrs bid.



Barr was nominated to head the Justice Department by President Donald Trump in December following the forced resignation of then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Since then, Matthew Whitaker has served as acting attorney generaleven as his own installation atop the Justice Department became mired in controversy and drew challenges in federal courts.



Barr is expected to bring a new team with him to the Justice Department. CNN reported Wednesday that the top contender to be Barrs deputy is Jeffrey Rosen, a former Kirkland & Ellis senior partner who currently serves as deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation. If Rosen were selected and confirmed by the Senate, he would replace Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is expected to leave the Justice Department once special counsel Robert Mueller IIIs investigation ends.



Barr is expected to take the helm of the special counsel probe, overseeing an investigation he has been accused of criticizing. During his January confirmation hearing, Barr vowed to consult the departments career ethics officials on whether he would need to recuse from the probe. But, he told senators, the final decision on recusal would be his to make.



During his nomination, there was little question about Barrs qualifications for the post. Before he was the attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, Barr previously served as a deputy attorney general and headed the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel.



Still, most Democrats have opposed his nomination, largely pointing a memo Barr sent to Justice Department officials and members of Trumps personal legal team last June. In the memo, Barr described a possible obstruction of justice inquiry into the president as fatally misconceived. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has described Barrs letter as disqualifying.



Democrats have also expressed dissatisfaction over Barrs refusal to commit to the full release of Muellers findings to the public, once the special counsels work has concluded.



Pressed at his hearing about the fate of a final Mueller report, Barr vowed to provide as much transparency as possible in sharing the special counsel's findings with lawmakers and the public. But the nominees responses also left open the possibility that he would only release his summary of Muellers findings to the public, rather than releasing the special counsels own prepared report.



I am going to make as much information available as I can consistent with the rules and regulations that are part of the special counsel regulations, Barr said during his hearing.



Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, who voted for Barrs confirmation 28 years ago, but voted against his nomination Thursday, said this week that Barrs responses could lay the groundwork for potentially no transparency at all.



At the same time, some of Barrs defenders have observed that the nominee could not commit to full disclosure of Muellers findings. Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University's law school, told senators last month that the nominee could not commit in advance to releasing information he had not yet reviewed, in part because some of those findings could include grand jury or privileged information he would be precluded from disclosing.



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Tehran (AFP) - A suicide attack that killed 27 troops in Iran's restive southeast on Wednesday was claimed by Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni Muslim extremist group that only emerged seven years ago.

Jaish al-Adl -- Army of Justice in Arabic -- is seen as the incarnation of Jundallah, or Soldiers of God, which began a bloody rebellion against the Islamic republic in 2000.

For a decade, Jundallah waged a deadly insurgency on civilians and officials in the restive southeast.

Jundallah has been weakened since Iran executed its leader Abdolmalek Rigi in 2010 after capturing him in a dramatic operation.

Rigi had been on a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan that year when Iranian fighter jets intercepted the airliner he was travelling on and forced it to land before arresting him.

Like its predecessor, Jaish al-Adl operates from bases in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan and neighbouring Pakistan, where it gets support from ethnic Baluch tribes.

Sistan-Baluchestan province is home to a large community of minority Sunni Muslims who complain of discrimination in Shiite-dominated Iran.

Jaish al-Adl was founded in 2012 by Salahuddin Farooqui, a militant known for his opposition to Iran's support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war.

Since then it has claimed responsibility for dozens of deadly bombings, ambushes and other attacks on Iranian security forces in the restive region, as well as abductions.

Iran considers the organisation -- which it calls Jaish al-Zolm (Army of Injustice in Arabic) -- a terrorist group supported by the United States and Israel as well as regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Jaish al-Adl abducted 12 Iranian security personnel in October near the border with Pakistan, five of whom were later released and handed back to Iran by Islamabad.

In October 2013, 14 Iranian guards were killed in an ambush near the border with Pakistan that Jaish al-Adl said it carried out in response "to the crimes of the Revolutionary Guards in Syria".

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Iran in retaliation said it executed 16 "rebels" and that its forces later killed four Jaish al-Adl militants near the frontier town of Mirjaveh.

The following month, the public prosecutor for the city of Zabol, which lies near the Afghan border in Sistan-Baluchestan province, was gunned down in an assassination claimed by Jaish al-Adl.

In February 2014, five Iranian soldiers were abducted and taken across the border from Iran into Pakistan, straining tensions between the two neighbouring countries.

At the time, Tehran warned it could send troops on a cross-border raid to free them.

It also summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires to demand Islamabad "act firmly against the leaders and members of the terrorist group who have fled into Pakistan".

Jaish al-Adl executed one of the troops in March, before the releasing the other four and handing them over to Iran, along with the body of the fifth soldier.
By Anna Koper and Janis Laizans

WARSAW (Reuters) - Chinese tech giant Huawei is ready to face any extra security measures required to remain in the race to develop next-generation 5G networks in central and eastern Europe, Andy Purdy, chief security officer at Huawei Technologies USA, said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cautioned allies against using Huawei equipment this week during a trip to the region, saying it would make it more difficult for Washington to "partner alongside them".

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence joined Pompeo on Wednesday on a trip to Poland, whose government is considering excluding Huawei from its future 5G network over concerns raised by the United States that the Chinese firm's technology could be used for spying, sources told Reuters in January.

"The U.S. government is very persistent, very determined and very forceful in communicating the messages about Huawei," Purdy told Reuters on Wednesday.

Huawei was ready to work with governments on any additional measures, such as testing the source codes for products, which could be applied to all suppliers, Purdy said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying hit back at Pompeo's remarks on Wednesday, saying the United States was using its state power to suppress Chinese companies' legitimate development rights and interests, according to a report by Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Meanwhile in Germany, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has backed a proposal to reform the country's telecommunications law to toughen security requirements on foreign network vendors, the RND group of newspapers reported on Tuesday.

Seehofer's intervention increases the likelihood that Germany will tighten oversight over Huawei, sidestepping pressure from the United States to exclude it.

Government and industry leaders want clarity on the ground rules before Germany embarks on the build out of 5G mobile networks by auctioning spectrum in late March.

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Purdy said Huawei would play the long game in Poland.

"If the government decides to ban us from 5G we will continue to take a long view of the potential sales of our products in Poland over time ... we believe that some day in the future we'll be allowed to compete for that business if we're not allowed to compete for it now," he added.

Poland arrested a Chinese employee of Huawei and a former Polish security official in January on spying allegations. Huawei said the next day that the employee had been fired.

(Reporting by Anna Koper and Janis Laizans; Additional Reporting by Supriya Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Smith and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
BERLIN (Reuters) - Britain's departure from the European Union without a deal would doom the prospects for a Franco-German next-generation fighter jet with a rival project in Britain, the head of Airbus Defence and Space told the Handelsblatt German newspaper.

Dirk Hoke told the newspaper he considered it "absolutely imperative" that the EU reach an agreement with Britain on security, defence and space given the closely interwoven ties between Europe and Britain.

"I consider it extremely dangerous to develop a system like FCAS (the Franco-German fighter programme) without the British," he said, noting that potential order quantities would rise if Britain participated, making future aircraft more competitive.

France and Germany this month awarded a 65 million euro (57 million pounds), two-year contract financed equally by both countries to Dassault Aviation and Airbus to start designing a next-generation combat air system for use from 2040.

Hoke said there were discussions about Spain joining the Franco-German programme, but the Brexit negotiations would be decisive in determining any cooperation with Britain.

"In Britain's case, we have to wait to see if there will be a hard Brexit," he told the newspaper. "That would be fatal for the cooperation."

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Paul Tait)
ROME (AP)  France's ambassador returned to Italy on Friday, professing confidence that the two neighbors could deal with disagreements and work through their most serious diplomatic dispute since World War II.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella received the returning ambassador, the presidential Quirinal Palace in Rome said.

Ambassador Christian Masset gave him a letter from French President Emmanuel Macron inviting Mattarella to France.

"President Mattarella, in expressing thanks, has cordially accepted the invitation," the palace said in a statement.

France recalled Masset last week to protest perceived Italian meddling in French domestic politics, after Italian Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio met with French yellow vest activists seeking to run for the European Parliament.

"I was very happy to turn the lights back on in Palazzo Farnese," home of the French embassy in Rome, Masset told reporters Friday evening in a frescoed salon of the 16th-century Renaissance palace. "And I want them always to be on."

In response to France's decision, Di Maio, who heads the populist 5-Star Movement, said he was glad France sent the ambassador back to Rome.

"I'll ask him for a meeting," Di Maio told reporters.

Masset for his part welcomed what he perceived as openness by Di Maio to dialogue and the Italian leader's distancing, in remarks on Friday, from any violent elements in the French opposition movement to Macron.

As for relations between Italy and France, which share a border and are major trading partners, Masset said: "We don't deny that there are differences or disagreements on themes, but all can be faced through dialogue and in reciprocal respect" in the interest of both countries.

In remarks in Rome earlier on Friday, Di Maio appeared to want to tamp down speculation the 5-Stars were making alliances with violent elements in the French movement.

"We don't have any intention of dialoguing with that mind-set (of the movement) that speaks of armed struggle or civil war," Di Maio said.

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Di Maio has been courting support from fellow populists elsewhere in the European Union with the aim of creating a like-minded faction in the European Parliament after elections this spring.

Adding to the French-Italian tensions, Di Maio's fellow deputy premier, Matteo Salvini, has sharply attacked France lately on migrant policies. Salvini has also demanded France extradite to Italy several Italians who were convicted of domestic terrorism decades ago but who took refuge in France.

Earlier this week, Macron called Mattarella to discuss the removal of Masset. At the time, Mattarella's office said the two presidents "re-affirmed the importance, for each of the two countries, of the French-Italian relationship, which nourishes itself with historic, economic, cultural and exceptional human ties."

Both men further noted that the two countries "have a special responsibility to work in concert for the defense and relaunching of the European Union," the Italian presidential office said.

__

Corbet reported from Paris.
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - An ex-Goldman Sachs banker accused of involvement in the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal has agreed to be extradited from Malaysia to the United States to face charges, his lawyers said Friday.

Huge sums of public money were purportedly stolen from Malaysian state fund 1MDB and used to buy everything from yachts to art in a scheme that allegedly involved former premier Najib Razak and contributed to his government's election defeat.

Goldman's role is under scrutiny as the Wall Street titan helped arrange $6.5 billion in bonds for 1MDB. Authorities in Malaysia and the US accuse former employees of charges ranging from bribery to stealing billions of dollars, and investigators believe cash was laundered through the US financial system.

Malaysian Ng Chong Hwa, a former managing director at the bank, was indicted in November when US authorities also lodged an extradition request. He has been in custody in Malaysia since the US indictment.

Malaysia also filed charges against Ng, as well as Goldman Sachs and another of its former employees, Tim Leissner.

At a court hearing in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, Ng's lawyers said he would stop fighting the extradition request and wanted to be sent to the US within 30 days.

"He intends to defend the case on its merits in the court for the Eastern District of New York," his lawyer Tan Hock Chuan told reporters after the hearing.

"The respondent has reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice for bail," he added, without giving further details.

The Malaysian interior ministry must first issue an order allowing Ng, commonly known as Roger Ng, to be extradited to the US, the judge told the court. Under local law, Malaysia has up to 90 days to send him to the US, according to Tan.

It was not immediately clear what will happen with the Malaysian charges.

Ng faces charges in the US of conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit money laundering in relation to the bank's work with 1MDB, which was set up with the ostensible aim of helping to develop Malaysia's economy.

Former Goldman partner Leissner has already pleaded guilty in the US to 1MDB-linked charges.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has picked Danish economist and environmentalist Inger Andersen to be the new UN environment chief, turning the page on a scandal over expenses that rocked the UN agency, according to a letter seen by AFP on Friday.

Andersen, who heads the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is set to succeed Erik Solheim of Norway, who resigned in November amid an outcry over his huge travel expenses.

UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed told a meeting of ambassadors on Thursday that Guterres had chosen Andersen as his nominee.

Her nomination as head of the Nairobi-based UN Environment Programme (UNEP) will be submitted to the General Assembly for approval.

Andersen, 60, has also served as World Bank vice president for the Middle East and North Africa and worked at the United Nations for 15 years on water and environment issues.

If confirmed as expected, Andersen will take up helm of UNEP following Solheim's scandal-wracked tenure.

A UN audit last year found that Solheim had spent nearly $500,000 on travel over 22 months at a time when the world body is struggling with shrinking budgets.

His globe-trotting raised accusations that he showed little regard for the environment and efforts to reduce carbon emissions generated by air travel.

The audit found that UNEP had a "culture of scant regard for internal controls and existing rules," with Solheim taking too many trips to Paris and Oslo and spending little time at the agency's Nairobi headquarters.

The audit findings had prompted some donors to withhold funding to UNEP.

Andersen's nomination comes amid a push by Guterres to appoint more women to senior UN posts.

The UN chief is also preparing a major climate summit in September to push for international action to confront global warming.
Once again, The Daily Show has struck comedy gold.

Meet Bricky, a border wall mascot that the show sent to El Paso to talk to fans of President Trump ahead of his Monday night rally in El Paso, Texas. (That's the one where a Trump backer attacked a BBC cameraman.)

The Trump fans didn't disappoint  exposing a lack of humanity and a deep ignorance while parroting Trump's talking points. From pointing out the flaws in plans to make Mexico pay for the border wall to fear-mongering stories about ISIS fighters being part of the caravan, Bricky let the pro-wall folks do the hard work for him.

In the end, the video winds up being almost as sad as it is funny, revealing just how easily some are manipulated by Trump's agenda. Especially at the moment when Bricky is escorted from the rally, shouting, "You're separating me from my family!"

Thank god for the joke because if we didn't laugh, we'd cry.
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao said on Thursday that the president will have to rein in his sons after one of them called a minister a liar on social media, exacerbating tensions in a new government dealing with its first big cabinet scandal. In an interview with Reuters, Mourao also said far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has yet to decide whether his Secretary General Gustavo Bebianno should quit over accusations of misuse of campaign funds in the October election. Bolsonaro resumed his duties on Thursday after more than two weeks in hospital and was confronted immediately with his first cabinet crisis since taking office Jan. 1. The scandal surrounding one of his closest aides, who denies the allegations, stole the thunder from the first news of the government's proposed pension overhaul - a cornerstone of an ambitious economic reform agenda. After days of damaging headlines, Bolsonaro had endorsed an attack on Bebianno by his son Carlos, a Rio de Janeiro city councilman who along with two brothers have become high-profile figures in national politics since their father's election. Carlos Bolsonaro has been the most combative family member on social media. The president's son Flavio, a newly elected senator, has been caught up in a money laundering investigation. He denies any wrongdoing. Younger brother Eduardo Bolsonaro, the most-voted federal lawmaker in the country, has become a foreign envoy for his father, courting allies such as American nationalist firebrand Steve Bannon, who told Brazilian press last week that Mourao was unhelpful and unimportant for Bolsonaro's foreign policy. Mourao told Reuters it was time for Bolsonaro to "give a unified order to the kids." "It falls to the president to call his sons and say, 'Look, you work in the Senate, you in the lower house and you in the city council. Go work there to support the government's ideas'," he said. FOREIGN AFFAIRS The vice president, a retired general who embraced his role running the government in Bolsonaro's absence and fills his agenda with meetings with diplomats and foreign executives, played down differences with his boss on international affairs. He said Bolsonaro's plan to move the Brazilian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem was a bad idea because it would hurt Brazilian exports to Arab nations, but he said he would support the president's decision if he did go ahead with the move. During the campaign, Bolsonaro criticized major investments in Brazil by the Chinese, the country's largest trading partner. By contrast, Mourao said he plans to visit China in late May to restart meetings of a high-level bilateral commission to spur trade and investment. "China has a great hunger for commodities that Brazil produces and for investment to control some phases of the logistics, and so we must make the best of it," he told Reuters. Mourao said he was unsure how Brazil would be able to provide humanitarian aid to Venezuela, at the request of the opposition to leftist President Nicolas Maduro. He said it would require an airlift by the military to the Venezuelan border. He said the Brazilian government has lost its contacts with the Venezuelan military commanders backing Maduro, but its intelligence reports show that the lower ranks of the armed forces in Venezuela are "very unhappy." Mourao estimated that Maduro will last another three to six months in power and then his government could collapse suddenly "like a house of cards" when high-ranking military officers turn against him, he said. (Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu, Ricardo Brito and Anthony Boadle; Editing by Brad Haynes and James Dalgleish)
VIENNA (Reuters) - Europe should agree a joint position on whether or not Chinese firm Huawei is allowed to equip 5G networks for next-generation mobile networks to ensure fair competition, Austria's technology ministry said on Wednesday.

The European Commission is considering a de facto ban on Huawei's 5G network equipment due to security concerns. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence have been lobbying European politicians this week to ditch the Chinese firm's network products.

The Austrian ministry said in a statement that it "considers it useful to address the issue at a European level and to define a common approach".

"However, it must also be ensured that competition in Europe and Austria is not restricted," it added.

Huawei, the global networks market leader with annual sales exceeding $100 billion, is the subject of U.S. security concerns over its ties with the Chinese government and suspicion Beijing could use its technology for spying.

It denies the allegations and said on Wednesday it was ready to work with governments and tackle extra security measures to address the issues.

A1 Telekom Austria, controlled by Mexico's America Movil and the Austrian state, said that it does use Huawei parts and Nokia is its main network supplier, although its Chief Executive Thomas Arnoldner said a decision regarding 5G equipment has not been made yet.

Local rival T-Mobile Austria, Deutsche Telekom's Austrian unit, has said it is working with Huawei, Nokia and Cisco and is re-evaluating its procurement strategy.

Deutsche Telekom has proposed a series of technical and compliance measures to safeguard security, including setting up an independent laboratory to scrutinize all equipment used in critical infrastructure before it is deployed.

Hutchison Whampoa's Drei Austria has said that Huawei played a minor role as a network supplier at Drei.

"Without Chinese hardware, without American software, we can't perform in the world of the global players. One could discuss certification and security measures, but raising walls is certainly the wrong way," it said.

(Reporting by Kirsti Knolle; Editing by Alexander Smith)
By Suzannah Gonzales

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A gunman opened fire in an industrial warehouse in Aurora, Illinois, on Friday, killing five people and wounding five police officers before he was slain, law enforcement officials said.

Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman said the gunman, identified as Gary Martin, 45, was an employee at the industrial complex.

"We have an active shooter incident at 641 Archer Av. This is an active scene. Please avoid the area," the Aurora Police Department said in a tweet shortly after 2 p.m. CST, adding that additional details would be forthcoming.

The city of Aurora, which is roughly 50 miles (80.5 km) west of Chicago, tweeted about an hour later that a suspect had been arrested.

"EMERGENCY UPDATE | 3 p.m. THE SHOOTER HAS BEEN APPREHENDED! The area is still on lock down! More information will be provided soon," the city said.

At least one person was killed in the attack, a spokesman for the Kane County Coroner said.

Four police officers and several civilians were wounded in the attack, Illinois Fraternal Order of Police State Lodge President Chris Southwood said in a written statement.

Two of the people injured in the shooting were taken to Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora where they are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, hospital spokeswoman Courtney Satlak said in an email to Reuters.

The wounded police officers were in stable condition at a local hospital, Clayton Muhammad, spokesman for the City of Aurora, told the local ABC affiliate.

Video on local media showed numerous police cars surrounding a large commercial building in Aurora, the ground covered in snow.

Witness John Probst told CNN in an interview that he saw the gunman, a co-worker, running down an aisle of the manufacturing facility with a pistol equipped with a laser sight. Probst told the network that he saw people bleeding.

West Aurora School District 129 said on Twitter that all students in the district were being held in a "soft lockdown" on direction of the county sheriff.

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A spokeswoman for U.S. President Donald Trump said that he was aware of the incident.

"The President has been briefed and is monitoring the ongoing situation in Aurora, IL," Sarah Sanders said in a written statement.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago, Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and Steve Gorman and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by James Dalgleish and Matthew Lewis)
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinian medical officials said that 20 Gazans were wounded Friday by Israeli fire during weekly clashes on the border, while Israeli police said one officer was hurt by an explosive device.

"Twenty injuries by the Israeli occupation forces with live ammunition," the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry said in a statement.

The Israeli army said that 11,000 "rioters and demonstrators" gathered at several points along the border barrier, with people throwing rocks at soldiers and the fence, as well as "several explosive devices and grenades" aimed at the troops.

"Troops responded with riot dispersal means and fired in accordance with standard operating procedures," a military spokeswoman told AFP.

Israeli police said an officer operating at the border was lightly wounded by shrapnel in his leg.

Palestinians in Gaza have for nearly a year gathered at least weekly along the border for often-violent protests, calling on Israel to end its decade-long blockade of the enclave.

At least 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since then, the majority shot during clashes, though others have been hit by tank fire or air strikes.

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed over the same period.

Israel says its actions are necessary to defend the border and stop infiltrations and attacks, which it accuses Hamas of seeking to orchestrate.

Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008.
Photo credit: Seventeen

From Seventeen

February 14th is most commonly known as a day for eating chocolate, binging rom-coms, and hanging out with your squad. But it took on a different meaning when 17 students and staff members were gunned down last Valentine's Day in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting.

Today marks the one year anniversary of that day, and a lot has transpired since the tragedy. Parkland students organized the March for Our Lives, a series of events in support of stronger gun violence prevention measures. The initial march took place in Washington, D.C. on March 24, 2018, and hundreds of thousands of activists showed up in support. Students staged walkouts at their respective schools to prove their allegiance to the cause, and many more brushed up on their knowledge of gun laws and statistics, hoping to use their voices to make a difference. They committed some stats to memory, like:

Every day, 100 Americans are killed with guns and hundreds more are shot and injured.

Black males are 15 times more likely than white males to be shot and injured in assaults involving guns.

Firearms are the second leading cause of death for American children and teens and the first leading cause of death for Black children and teens.

There was a total of 24 school shootings with injuries or deaths in 2018.

That's why we asked 10 gun violence survivors and activists about why gun reform is still so important...

Photo credit: SARI KAUFMAN

"A year ago, February 14, 2018 started off as a normal day. My mom dropped me off at school and I was stressed about a Spanish test. I never could have imagined on that day, 17 of my fellow students and teachers would be killed, 17 others wounded, and all our lives changed forever. In the days and weeks that followed, many of us turned to activism. We refused to let our classmates and teachers die in vain. America's gun homicide rate is 25 times the average of other developed nations. We have a gun violence crisis, but my generation refuses to throw up our hands and do nothing. We know stronger gun laws can save lives. I call on every student to join the movement to end gun violence. It's our turn to fix this crisis." -Sari Kaufman, Parkland, Florida, 16, Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting survivor

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Photo credit: NEUTEYSHE FELIZOR

"Growing up in a less affluent area in Miami, many people I knew either lost someone to gun violence or had survived it themselves. I first experienced gun violence as a 10-year-old when my father was robbed at gunpoint in our apartment complex. While my sister and I were helping my father with groceries from his car, two men dressed in black approached my father and demanded that he give them all of his cash. After a tiresome 12 hour day of driving a taxi that barely rewarded minimum wage, my father gave his entire earnings for that week by handing over his wallet in order to escape with his life. My father survived, but most aren't so lucky. Every day, 100 Americans are shot and killed." -Neuteyshe Felizor, Fairfax, Virginia, 20, student at George Mason University

Photo credit: JAI PATEL

"When the Parkland shooting happened, I had never been personally affected by gun violence, but knew I had to get involved. We shouldn't have to live in fear of a gunman storming into our classrooms or communities. Almost a year later, I survived gun violence myself. On a Friday night in January, I was at the Newport Centre mall with friends when a fight broke out at the Taco Bell. Soon, there was gunfire, and my friends and I were sprinting to find a safe place to hide. It was a terrifying experience, and while gun violence is unusual in an upscale Jersey City mall, it is a tragically common American experience. Gun violence is preventable, and all of us - including teens - can have a role in ending this crisis." -Jai Patel, Jersey City, NJ, 19, student at Rutgers University

Photo credit: Juliana Simone Carrasco

"I became part of the gun violence prevention movement right after the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida. I knew that I had to take matters into my own hands because the people in office werent keeping us safe. I knew that it was important to educate myself on the gun laws in my state and to engage in this conversation. To me, gun safety means being able to live without the daily fear of a shooting happening in my community. Gun safety means that I dont have to see people my age die due to a senseless act." -Juliana Simone Carrasco, Miami, FL, 16, founder of the Students Demand Action chapter in Miami

Photo credit: Alanna Miller

"As a junior in high school debate, I spent hours researching universal background checks and their effect on curbing gun violence for one of our monthly topics. At the time, healthy discourse surrounding gun violence prevention seemed almost impossible, and I felt powerless as a 17-year-old living in a very gun-friendly state. The Parkland tragedy just a few short months later changed that completely. Instead of asking for thoughts and prayers, the students impacted demanded for tangible legislative and cultural change. The Parkland shooting opened my eyes to the sheer number of gun violence survivors that were in my community and even my own family. Gun violence shatters lives, but its something that can be prevented with common sense reform." -Alanna Miller, Southlake, TX, 18, gun reform activist

Photo credit: Marco Vargas

"My friend endured various gun shot wounds at the hands of her stepfather. The wounds punctured her back as she attempted to run away with her 5 and 8 year old siblings. This event increased awareness about the normalization of gun violence in South Central LA. Parkland made my community realize that gun violences destroys families and endangers the lives of youth. I'm now a proud member of Students Demand Action. I'm devoted to organizing rallies, hosting gun sense meetings, and empowering students from low income neighborhoods to voice their pain with gun violence." -Marco Vargas, Los Angeles, California, 19, gun reform activist

Photo credit: Molly Jimmerson

"Almost two years ago, I was working my after school job at a restaurant as a hostess. One early Sunday night, I opened the restaurant door and on the other side was a man whose face was covered with a mask, and who had a shotgun slung over his shoulder. It took me a minute to realize what was happening. So he fired his weapon, less than 5 feet in front of me, to help me figure it out. He wanted the keys to the register, but I didn't have them. I was 17-years-old when I was forced to lay on the floor face down with a gun to my head. Almost two years later, even after all of the therapy and support Ive been given, I am still trying to pick myself up off that floor.

In the months after I became a survivor, I started attending Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America meetings. I had to start taking action, and advocacy became part of how I started to make myself feel safe again. Moms Demand Action gave me the power to speak up when the tragedy of Parkland occurred. I spoke at Phoenix March for Our Lives about being a survivor, in support of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas students, and even just this week, I joined Moms Demand Action volunteers to talk to our lawmakers about new legislation to keep guns out of the wrong hands in Arizona. No one should have to go through what I experienced. I'm determined to make a difference to make sure that it wont hurt anyone else the way it did me. We have to force change ourselves; I think its been made pretty clear that nothing is going to change on its own. Its up to us to make it happen." -Molly Jimmerson, Phoenix, AZ, 18, activist

Photo credit: RONI WEISSMAN

"After the Pulse nightclub shooting, it became all the more clear to me that gun violence was an issue that needed to be addressed urgently and powerfully. More specifically, students and young people have such a unique perspective on the issue that is often overlooked, and I felt that it needed to be amplified. Because of this, my friend and I decided to found the country's first Students Demand Action chapter in 2016. I have been working ever since to bolster student involvement in this important issue." -Roni Weissman, Berkeley, California, 17, activist

Photo credit: JENNA SWETLAND

"Prior to the Parkland shooting, I was passively aware of the gun violence crisis in our country; I could recall vague statistics that seemed too big to be real. When the Parkland massacre occurred, I realized that I could no longer ignore the legitimate threat gun violence poses to the safety of every American. Regardless of his or her age, every person can contribute to ending the scourge of gun violence." -Jenna Swetland, Chesapeake, VA, 18, activist

Photo credit: Ryan Pascal

"As an African American, I always knew that I was statistically at a higher risk of being a victim of gun violence in America, but personally, I always felt safe in my school and community. But then Parkland happened, and I realized that no one was immune from gun violence. I also saw that I'd been turning my back on a gun violence crisis that is the number one killer of Black children and teens.

After the shooting, I organized my school's walkout and lobbied the California Department of Education for school policy that helps to prevent gun violence. I used my voice to educate others on how they too can become activists. One should not have to lose a loved one to stand up for gun violence prevention, and my generation is committed to leading on this issue." -Ryan Pascal, Los Angeles, California, 16, activist



Photo credit: Julia Spoor

"Ten days before I turned 8, my dad shot and killed himself. For years, I missed him and wondered if I'd ever feel whole again. When I began to process his death at the age of 13, my mom and I started volunteering with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. We learned together that two-thirds of gun deaths in this country were gun suicides, like the one that took my dad. And we learned that states with stronger gun laws experience fewer gun deaths, including suicides. We both became determined to take action in honor of my dad, and every other family who has had to cope with the loss of a loved one." -Julia Spoor, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, 17, activist



If you want to become more involved with gun reform advocacy in your area, visit Everytown.



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Photo credit: Getty Images

From Oprah Magazine

Three years ago, Halima Aden went viral when she became the first woman to sport a burkini at the 2016 Miss Minnesota USA pageant. For many, it was a groundbreaking moment that challenged stereotypes. Since then, the 21-year-old Somali-American model and activist has starred in global ad campaigns and walked the catwalk for major brands like Max Mara and Christian Cowan-all while rocking her hijab with pride. Below, she opens up about her journey from a refugee camp to the runway.

You first made headlines for wearing a burkini in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant. How did you feel in that moment?

Like Beyonce, honestly! There was a huge roar of applause. It was such a confidence booster and made me feel like I could do anything. Even though most of the people in the audience were there to support other girls, they still cheered for me. I thought, Wow, this is my Minnesota!

Photo credit: Getty Images

When you were living in a Kenyan refugee camp as a child, could you ever have imagined signing with IMG Models, one of the worlds biggest modeling agencies? Growing up, I never saw anyone like me on a billboard. Its not that girls who look like me dont want to be in pageants or modeling; they just never thought they could do these things. My career now is so much bigger than I am. I want to show girls of all backgrounds that they can participate and dont have to sit at home wondering, What would it be like to be onstage?

Does that put you under a lot of pressure?

Not anymore. I would never want to present myself as this perfect Muslim girl. No ones perfect. The people who follow me like to see me being me, not trying to be someone Im not.

In an industry that sometimes tries to force women to conform, how do you stay true to yourself?

I have to give the industry a lot of credit. As the first hijab-wearing model, I was entering unknown territory-and so were my agency and the clients we work with-but everyone has handled it with such grace. Ive had photographers come to me during shoots and say, Does this shot work? Is there any conflict? Are you comfortable? Experiences like that make being yourself much easier.

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Your career is on the rise, which must be exciting but also grueling. How do you keep your skin looking fresh?

My Somali mom says, If you cant put it in your body, why put it on your face? I buy aloe vera and apply the gel to my skin. Its hydrating and absorbs really well. Shes also obsessed with turmeric. I like to mix it with organic honey as a mask. It leaves a yellow tint, so when I go overboard, I look like I have jaundice. After its gone, though, you have beautiful skin.

What are some of your hair concerns?

A lot of hijabis struggle with their edges-its so hard to get them into your hijab, and sometimes it looks like a hot mess. Edge control is a must to lay down those baby hairs. Thats why even when youre wearing a hijab, a good moisturizing shampoo and conditioner are important. And hairspray-I like one by TRESemme.

You were recently named a UNICEF ambassador. Why is it important for you to give back?

I was born in a UN refugee camp, so my relationship with UNICEF goes back to my birth. The work they did made such an impact on my life that I have to pay it forward and do something for the kids who may not ever be able to experience what I have.

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After she returned from maternity leave, NYPD officer Simone Teagle says she faced backlash from coworkers every time she took a break to pump breast milk. To avoid criticism and unsanitary pumping conditions  Teagle says she was forced to pump in the bathroom or a dirty womens locker room  she only pumped when her breasts became unbearably full. After developing a painful breast infection, Teagle sued the city for failing to provide a private, sanitary lactation space, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Its common knowledge that breastfeeding, when possible, is often the healthiest way to feed a baby. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breast milk as the sole source of nutrition for a childs first six months. Breastfeeding also benefits moms: Studies show that women who breastfeed are less likely to develop postpartum depression.

But lack of lactation support, both in the workplace and in general, can create obstacles in the feeding process, leading to potentially negative health outcomes for both moms and babies. Paige Johnson, MD, an OB/GYN at The University of Tennessee Medical Center, says that women who experience higher stress levels tend to struggle more with breastfeeding, and without proper social support from employers, family, and care providers, theyre much more likely to quit altogether.

Teagle says other women at the NYPD have faced similar problems. I know there are other women who have dealt with the breast pump issue, she told New York Post. Most of them just totally stopped breastfeeding. They just stopped breastfeeding because they didnt want to deal with it.

For moms who choose to continue breastfeeding, negative attitudes about lactation and lack of appropriate accommodations can affect their ability to generate enough milk to feed their babies.

Stress affects a womans milk supply, so when mothers do not have sanitary places to pump, its going to affect her ability to produce milk, says Jennifer Jordan of Aeroflow Breastpumps. If she is stretching her normal feeding cycle because she doesnt have a place where she feels comfortable, thats going to prevent her from reaching her breastfeeding goals.

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In addition to empowering women to feel confident pumping or nursing in public, Johnson says normalizing breastfeeding starts with educating employers. If we want a healthy society, we need to provide the absolute best for our children, she says. It starts with educating people. If more care providers, employers, and governmental agencies focus on this, I think people will come around.

For example, while negative perceptions about breastfeeding at work are often based on employer perceptions that pumping mothers are less productive, Jordan says moms with appropriate pumping accommodations actually miss less work because their babies get sick less.

Accommodating doesnt mean losing productivity. It actually increases employee retention, says Jordan. That breastfeeding mother is going to be out of work less because her baby is healthier. How do we build value to employers and help them understand how they accommodate that mother?

In the meantime, companies like Mamava, seek to make it easier for employers and public spaces to encourage breastfeeding by furnishing private lactation pods. Since babies often struggle to latch on to a mothers breast in a chaotic, loud environment, and some women might not feel comfortable being exposed in public, Mamava aims to provide a discreet, convenient solution. Currently, Mamava has 700 pods in public places like businesses, airports, and train stations.

Pumping feels a lot less natural than breastfeeding, as you need a place to set up and plug in your pump, and you are attaching flanges to your breasts. Its pretty hard to get into the mind-space for let-down if you are feeling exposed, Sascha Mayer, Mamavas CEO, tells Brit + Co.

While many criticize the implication that women should only pump or nurse in private, Mayer believes empowering women with bodily autonomy means giving them a choice about where and how to feed their babies.

I think what is demeaning to women is to take away their agency for choice, she says. There are as many different ways to breastfeed and pump as there are moms and babies. A mom might be fine breastfeeding in public, but her baby might be easily distracted, or she might be out and about with other children and might need a space to contain the family unit.

Progress may be slow, but Dr. Johnson believes that with a breadth of options for nursing or pumping, women and their families can continue to reap the many emotional, physical, and financial benefits of breastfeeding.

I would love to see a mom standing right outside a pod breastfeeding waiting on her friend inside the pod breastfeeding, says Dr. Johnson. The more that people see that this is what women do  the more you see breastfeeding anywhere  the more it will be normalized.

What are your thoughts on normalizing breastfeeding? Tell us @BritandCo!

(Photo via Getty Images)
This article first appeared in the Winter 2019 issue of NewBeauty. Click here to subscribe.

There is a fine line between a subtle improvement and a Bravo Housewifelevel of overindulgence. Pillow face and chipmunk cheeks are terms used when someone is overfilled, says Windermere, FL oculoplastic surgeon Keshini Parbhu, MD. Not every overfilled look is caused by a heavy hand, says Dr. Parbhu, noting that it might be the result of how the filler was placed. An unskilled injector can make the mistake of thinking more filler is needed if its placed too superficially. You can avoid this look by going to a doctor who employs a good technique and uses the appropriate depth placement to reach the desired result. Another way to avoid the extra puff is by not trying to erase everything. Its OK to still have nasolabial folds if you get fillers, says New York dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, MD. Eliminating them altogether will give an unnatural look to the face. Also, overfilling the under-eye area can make the cheeks look unnaturally puffy and even make the eyes look smaller.

You May Also Like: 7 Signs Youre About to Get a Bad Injection



Serious complications associated with fillers are generally vascular, such as occlusions, which can lead to necrosis (tissue death), scarring, and even more consequentially, blindness. Although its an exceedingly rare complication, there is a very real risk of blindness if filler is accidentally injected into an artery, or from compression of the artery from surrounding filler. There is a vast network of arteries and veins in the face, and it is possible for filler to enter a blood vessel and travel into one of the small vessels that feeds the eye, which can result in vision loss, says Dr. Parbhu. Recently, a woman in Australia lost sight in one eye after receiving injections in her face at a beauty parlor. If filler gets inside of a blood vessel and shoots off like a blood clot, it acts like a small stroke to that area. Blood cant get to the eye because the filler is occluding the blood vessel, says Largo, FL oculoplastic surgeon Jasmine Mohadjer, MD.

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While globally, there have been less than 100 reported cases of filler- induced blindness, there are still many injectors who avoid injecting in the nasal or glabella area altogether, as these are the riskiest areas, but veins in the forehead and nasolabial folds can also lead to those vessels. I dont inject in the glabella area for deep number 11s, says Dr. Parbhu. For me its too dangerous the risk of intravascular occlusion and vision loss is far too great.

Fresno, CA dermatologist Kathleen Behr, MD knows her anatomy and uses a device called the AccuVein to help make sure shes not injecting into a vein. When pointed at the patient, it reveals the veins underneath the skin.

Dr. Behr says she also keeps hyaluronidase close by. Theoretically, vision loss caused by filler in the orbital artery can be corrected by injecting two or more ccs of hyaluronidase with a one- and-a-half-inch cannula behind the eyeball. The hyaluronidase may diffuse into the blood vessel and dissolve the filler, giving the patient a chance at restored sight, says Dr. Behr. My first choice would be an immediate appointment with a retinal specialist and I would take the patient there myself. The window of time you have is very short, about a couple of hours. Hyaluronidase can also reverse potential tissue death caused by occlusion, and the window to reverse it is also very small. If you occlude a blood vessel and dont recognize the signs of complication, it can lead to necrosis, says Fort Lauderdale, FL dermatologist Matthew Elias, MD. It can happen anywhere filler is injected, but the areas with the highest risk are typically in the central face, like the nose and nasolabial folds. One filler safety measure that cannot be stressed enough is to ensure the injector is a board-certified dermatologist, plastic or facial plastic surgeon who is properly trained to navigate around facial anatomy.
LGBTQ representation in 2019 Oscar nominees praised by rights organization originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com

The 91st Academy Awards will mark a historic time for LGBTQ storylines in film.

GLAAD, an organization that combats discrimination and fights for LGBTQ equality, released a report last month stating that this year's nominees are more inclusive than ever before.

From Mahershala Ali's gay character in "Green Book" to the lesbian love triangle that "The Favourite" centers on, some of the Oscars' most buzzworthy nominees include LGBTQ representation.

(MORE: No female directors were nominated for a 2019 Oscar; here's what groups like Time's Up and Women In Film are doing about it)

This is a step in the right direction, in an industry that has historically underrepresented the community. Directors, writers, actors and others who have worked on the Oscar-nominated films have spoken about the significance of different sexualities in the films.

"When Moonlight won best picture two years ago, it sent a message to LGBTQ people around the world that our stories and identities matter, and now, there are more LGBTQ-inclusive films nominated for best picture than ever before," said Rich Ferraro, chief communications officer at GLAAD, in a statement to ABC News.

"Its clear that audiences and critics everywhere are growing to accept LGBTQ people and want to hear more about the issues that matter to our community," he added.

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant earned Oscar nominations for their performances in the Marielle Heller-directed film about author Lee Israel's forgery scheme and the ramifications of her ploy. The biographical film is based on Israel's famous 2008 memoir.

The film's main character, Israel (McCarthy), is a lesbian, and Jack Hock (Richard E. Grant), her friend and counterpart in the schemes, is an openly gay man. Hock's life is significantly impacted by the AIDS crisis in the 90s.

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(MORE: Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant open up about 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?')

The film's co-screenwriter, Tony award-winning playwright Jeffrey Whitty, spoke to ABC News about his thoughts on sexuality when creating the script.

"What I wanted to avoid from the very beginning was that this would be a niche film that would play at gay and lesbian film festivals and then sort of disappear," he said.

"That was never my goal to make a statement about gay and lesbian life or anything. For me, the statement was that it is not an issue really at all for either of these characters," he continued. "That their being gay is just simply part of who they are."

PHOTO: Richard Grant and Melissa McCarthy appear in a scene from the 2018 film, 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' (Mary Cybulski/Twentieth Century Fox)

"It's part of the package," he added. "It's one of their less interesting qualities when you look at them. It's not anything that's in their way. Or they never have to make a declaration like, 'I'm a lesbian' or 'I'm a gay man,' but they simply can be together."

Whitty said that his life in New York during the 90s heavily influenced his development of Jack.

"I moved to New York in 1993. The events of the movie took place in 1991, so I wasn't far off when I landed there," he said. "It's very much the landscape, what Richard's wearing at the end, the bandanna on his head, all of that. It's very, very true to what I remember."

(MORE: 2019 Oscar nominations: 'Roma,' 'The Favourite' lead, 'Black Panther' also scores big)

The co-screenwriter says the fact that the movie is about a lesbian and gay character doesn't need to be the most important point of the narrative.

"No one thinks of it as a gay and lesbian movie," he said. "It makes me really happy because it is so quintessentially a gay and lesbian movie, but our culture is such a gay and lesbian culture  we just don't know it. The movie is the happiest of ending really, of what happens when people can just be themselves."

"So often we have, it's either 'Queer As Folk' or 'The L word,' it's one or the other, and I love that it is a story of, you know, a lesbian and a gay man together because they're such wonderful counterparts, Lee and Jack," he added.

The Favourite

Another Oscar-nominee with an LGBTQ-inclusive storyline? Yorgos Lanthimos' "The Favourite," which stars Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz.

The director had a similar perspective to Whitty when considering sexuality in the film.

"My instinct from the beginning was that I didnt want this to become an issue in the film, for us, like were trying to make a point out of it, Lanthimos told IndieWire in September 2018.

PHOTO: Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman in the film, 'The Favourite.' (Twentieth Century Fox)

I didnt even want the characters in the film to be making an issue of it," he continued. "I just wanted to deal with these three women as human beings. It didnt matter that there were relationships of the same gender. I stopped thinking about that very early on in the process.

(MORE: Is Olivia Colman the new queen of queen roles?)

Bohemian Rhapsody

Much of "Bohemian Rhapsody," which earned five Oscar nominations, contained LGBTQ elements in portraying the late Freddie Mercury's sexuality.

"Theres a guy whos questioning his sexual identity," Rami Malek, who played Mercury, told Film4. "Theres a confused kid in there, a very complicated kid  and inside him is somewhat of a tempest, just volatile, about to explode."

The movie documents Mercury's gay relationships and his relationship with his ex-partner Mary Austin.

PHOTO: Rami Malek stars as Freddie Mercury in 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' (Alex Bailey/20th Century Fox)

(MORE: Oscars 2019: Rami Malek, other stars react to nominations: 'Its an emotional moment')

However, the portrayal of Mercury's sexuality in the film has been controversial.

Critics have accused the movie of everything from portraying Mercury's bisexuality in a damaging light to not focusing on his sexuality enough.

Green Book

Mahershala Ali stars as Dr. Donald Shirley, a gay pianist traveling the country on a concert tour, in "Green Book." However, his sexuality isn't focused on heavily throughout the film.

PHOTO: Mahershala Ali as Dr. Donald Shirley in 'Green Book,' 2018. (Universal Pictures)

At one point, there's a brief mention that he previously had a failed marriage with a woman. But in one scene, he is arrested for having relations with a man at the YMCA. This is when his driver, Tony (Viggo Mortensen), tries to salvage the situation and help him out of trouble.

During the movie, however, Shirley doesn't speak at length about his sexual orientation.

The push for LGBTQ inclusivity

Movies like "Vice" and "Marguerite," among others, also contain LGBTQ elements in the plot lines, GLAAD points out in the report.

The number of LGBTQ-inclusive nominees has risen this year, and advocates, actors and screenwriters will continue to push for more inclusion in Hollywood.

"Film is Americas largest cultural export and when films include LGBTQ characters and storylines, it can reach LGBTQ people around the world with relatable and inspiring stories, including in countries where being LGBTQ is still not widely accepted," Ferraro said in a statement.

Whitty said that filmmakers who want to effectively include inclusive storylines will have to "keep putting them in unexpected places."

"We're everywhere," he shared. "You just sort of allow room for people to be in whatever relationship they're going to be in."

"So the way that I do that in life, I think that Hollywood could do that, too. Just allow for lots of possibilities," he continued. "Whatever the character is, so what if he's gay? That can just be a sort of secondary characteristic now. It's not the forefront of everything."

Queer roles for queer actors and actresses

Another point that Hollywood must continue to push for is representation in LGBTQ storylines from actors who are part of the community. Often, roles for gay men will go to straight actors and the same has happened with lesbian roles for female actresses.

Straight actors and actresses have earned nominations and wins for playing queer roles. In 2016 Sir Ian McKellen spoke with The Guardian about how no openly gay man has won an Oscar for best actor.

"No openly gay man has ever won the Oscar; I wonder if that is prejudice or chance, he told the Guardian.

"What about giving me one for playing a straight man," he continued. "My speech has been in two jackets 'Im proud to be the first openly gay man to win the Oscar.' Ive had to put it back in my pocket twice."
We hope Meghan's ready to get the kettle on, because when Prince Harry gets home from work, he's going to need warming up. The prince spent Valentine's Day in freezing temperatures, as he paid a visit 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle in northern Norway. Harry's visit was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Exercise Clockwork, an elite training exercise that teaches military personnel how to operate, fight, and survive in extreme cold weather. Harry - who took over the role of Captain General of the Royal Marines in 2017 - arrived at the base in uniform, fitting right in as he met troops, and received a briefing on the operation.

During his visit, Harry also checked out Quincey Shelter, a version of an igloo that is dug out and used in emergencies; the troops surprised Harry by decorating the inside of the igloo with candles, romantic music, and framed photos of him and Meghan on their wedding day. "You weirdos! Nice," Harry remarked with a laugh. He also called it "homey" and "romantic," adding, "It's very kind of you to invite me into your private, err, shrine." See all the photos from his trip ahead.

Related:

Oops, They Did It Again! Harry and Meghan Make Yet Another Glamorous Appearance
Photo credit: Pool - Getty Images

From Esquire

Washington is outside its mind. Again.

The precipitating incident this time is an interview that Andrew McCabe gave to 60 Minutes in connection with the imminent publication of his new book. In that interview-and, apparently, in the book as well-McCabe says that within the FBI there was serious discussion of whether the president* was a sublet of the Volga Bagmen and, if so, whether he could be extracted from the White House. From NBC News:

McCabe, who was ousted from the bureau after becoming acting director last March following Comey's firing in May 2017, told CBS's Scott Pelley that he was concerned Trump would try to make the overall investigation into Russian election meddling go away. "I was speaking to the man who had just run for the presidency and won the election for the presidency, and who might have done so with the aid of the government of Russia, our most formidable adversary on the world stage," McCabe said. "And that was something that troubled me greatly. "

One day after that conversation, McCabe said he "met with the team investigating the Russia cases." "And I asked the team to go back and conduct an assessment to determine where are we with these efforts and what steps do we need to take going forward," he said. "I was very concerned that I was able to put the Russia case on absolutely solid ground in an indelible fashion, that were I removed quickly and reassigned or fired, that the case could not be closed or vanish in the night without a trace."

Photo credit: Bill Clark - Getty Images

On "CBS This Morning," Pelley provided more details about the interview, including McCabe's description of the aftermath of Comey's firing, saying there were "meetings at the Justice Department at which it was discussed whether the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet could be brought together to remove the president of the United States under the 25th Amendment." "These were the eight days from Comey's firing to the point that Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel," he continued. "And the highest levels of American law enforcement were trying to figure out what do with the president."

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This strikes me as odd. As far as I know, the common interpretation of the 25th amendment is that it should be used only in cases of presidential disability so severe that it impairs the president's ability to conduct the duties of his office. It seems to me that the remedy for possible presidential crimes is not the 25th amendment, but impeachment. In any event, to locate the chances of Mike Pence and a majority of the department heads down in Camp Runamuck striking the presidency from the hands of El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago, you'd need an electron microscope. Nevertheless, the revelation is a clear window into the panic within the government at the prospects of this person as president*.

The reaction to McCabe's comments has been quick, harsh, and comically paranoid. The president* leaped to the electric Twitter machine to declare himself the victim of sinister forces, and also to demonstrate (again) that he is, at heart, a seventh-grader.

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White House spokesblatherskite Sarah Huckabee Sanders hit her mark right on schedule.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, meanwhile, said in a statement that McCabe "was fired in total disgrace from the FBI because he lied to investigators on multiple occasions, including under oath." "His selfish and destructive agenda drove him to open a completely baseless investigation into the President," she continued. "His actions were so shameful that he was referred to federal prosecutors. Andrew McCabe has no credibility and is an embarrassment to the men and women of the FBI and our great country."

Over in the Senate, dependable administration draghound Lindsey Graham wants answers to all the questions rattling around the back corners of his lizard brain.

After Mr. McCabes 60 Minutes interview, it is imperative that he, and others, come before the Senate Judiciary Committee to fully explain how and why a FISA warrant was issued against Carter Page and answer questions about what appears to be, now more than ever, bias against President Trump.

Photo credit: Zach Gibson - Getty Images

But nobody went as far off the end of the diving board as the president*'s oldest spalpeen, who went through the looking glass here, people.

Wait, so is McCabe admitting that he attempted to lead a deep state coup against the President? #WitchHunt.



Yes, this deep state coup began in Philadelphia in the year 1787, when some guys in plus-fours and powdered-wigs created a secret plan called the United States Constitution, which contained within it a secret Article V, in which was laid out a secret plan to change the secret plan through a process called "amendment," an occult ritual known only to the true initiates and middle-school civics teachers. Buckle up, because this is going to be the primary counterattack. Secret cabals, probably traveling in caravans from Central America, and now approaching the wall that is being built, even though it's not.

I don't know who the Chief Justice of Fantasyland is, but the poor bastard better clear the calendar for the next year.

Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page here.

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Missouri Teacher Allegedly Admitted She Had Sex with Student

A 23-year-old Missouri teacher resigned earlier this week following her arrest for allegedly having sex with a student.

Police allege an unlawful encounter occurred between Jan. 14 and Jan. 21, according to the Joplin Globe.

Baylee Turner, the former English teacher at Sarcoxie High School, allegedly confessed to the sexual contact, reports KSNF.

Turner was released after posting $10,000 bond. She was formally charged with sexual contact with a student by a school district employee, volunteer or elected or appointed school official  a felony punishable by up to four years in prison.

Turner, who has yet to plead to the sole count, could not be reached for comment Friday, and it was unclear who her attorney is.

The charge follows an investigation conducted by the Jasper County Sheriffs Department.

Turner was arrested Wednesday night, KOLR reports.

District officials accepted her resignation  submitted Sunday evening  at an emergency school board meeting held Monday night.

The Globe reports that the alleged encounter happened off school grounds, in an unspecified residence.

 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

Neither the age or sex of the student was revealed in court affidavits, according to the paper.

A judge imposed a restriction on Turner, ordering she have no contact with anyone who isnt at least 16.

District officials told the Globe they intend to notify the state, so that Turners teaching license can potentially be revoked.
Meg Ryan used to be super famous and now shes not. For her, thats a win.

I like the famous I am now, the actress, recently engaged to John Mellencamp, told the New York Times in a new interview. I walk into other peoples paparazzi photos, but I can also get a restaurant reservation.

Meg Ryan talks about leaving her post as a Hollywood superstar for personal happiness and a level of fame shes more comfortable with. (Photo: KENA BETANCUR / AFP)

Once the queen of romantic comedies (When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and Youve Got Mail)  and, at times, the tabloids  she said her separation from Hollywood was a mutual one. I felt done when they felt done, probably, she said.

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Dubbed Americas sweetheart, Ryan had done dozens of films, but when she tried to branch out to other roles  specifically ones where she wasnt the lovable good girl  there was backlash. For instance, In the Cut, which had  gasp  sex scenes. While she had done nudity before, including in The Doors movie, it was viewed as a departure and people were vicious.

Ryan admitted she was surprised by the negative reaction, and while doing press, was even more shocked when English talk show host Michael Parkinson asked her questions like, How could you be naked? I dont think I handled it well. Since then, Ive had publicists say to me, You shouldve prepared your audience for your doing something different. In the Cut was a sexual thing, and sex throws people. Id never presented myself like that before; it was so different from my assigned archetype, she said. Probably I had a very neutered image. Carrie Fisher was the one who said: No, no, no. When you betray your archetype by doing a movie like that and by getting divorced  you cant. Yeah, In the Cut felt like a real turning point.

She added, When I look back now, it was definitely easier to be the funny person rather than the pretty person, the sexy person. Not that I ever could be sexy, but I felt like that got into such a funky land. I didnt want the problems.

Nor did she want the problems that went along with fame. In 1999, as her marriage to Dennis Quaid floundered, she hooked up with her Proof of Life co-star Russell Crowe. The tabloids were brutal, she was painted as a cheater and the romance was brief. She and Quaid, who struggled with alcoholism when they were together, divorced in 2001.

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That was another big turning point in my evolution, Ryan said. Id never felt like I was all that concerned with what people thought of me, but then that story  of how she got divorced or the problems she had with Quaid  never got told right Its a real gift when you know you cant ever really manage an image or a story and you stop caring. Ryan said she felt like I was the bad guy or whatever the story was, but it also meant she learned to let go of needing to correct anybody. Divorce is hard. Love is hard. All those things were so personal. They werent for mass consumption. The complexity of a life or a marriage is never going to exist in a headline or a tabloid. That was a freeing thing to know, she said.

Meg Ryan was slammed for her brief romance with Russell Crowe, which started when she was still married to Dennis Quaid. (Photo: Arnaldo Magnani/Liaison)

Fame was always hard though, she said. There a blankness required to be a movie star. And while she liked acting and thought it was fun, acting was a situation I was navigating. And being a movie star made her feel like I was behind a window looking at my life. She explained, That had a lot to do with working so much. The only people you meet are on the set, and youre waiting in your trailer, and youre memorizing lines  I remember thinking, I want to have my own thoughts.

This was her life circa 1999. (Image: People magazine)

After deciding, I wanted to live more, she moved back to New York from L.A. when her son, Hunger Games actor Jack Quaid, finished high school. I was burned out. I didnt feel like I knew enough anymore about myself or the world to reflect it as an actor. I felt isolated both in work and fame.

So she adopted daughter Daisy True in 2006. And she pursued her passions. Im lucky because I can go places like a TED conference, she said. I can go to Cambodia and travel around. Im writing. Im hoping to direct. I have a passion for design. I take pictures.

And shes fallen in love. After an on-again, off-again romance, she and Mellencamp became engaged late last year. Whats great about now is that John and I are so free to have fun, she said about their romance. Maybe that freedom is about being a million years old. But I sometimes think relationships are for aliens. Who does it? Who can do it? I dont know how any of us ever do.

John Mellencamp and Meg Ryan in NYC in December. (Photo: James Devaney/GC Images)

While she still gets offers for acting work, they are not things I want to do. So shes writing her own romantic comedy, which she didnt want to talk too much about for fear of jinxing it, and is working on a murder mystery/comedy with Saturday Night Lives Lorne Michaels. I cant believe NBC might do it, because its so odd. Right now Id be producing. Maybe Ill act in it. I dont know.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
An investigation commissioned by a Kentucky Catholic school of the much-publicized face-off last month between the schools students and Native Americans in Washington, D.C., found no evidence the students made offensive or racist statements to a tribal elder or members of his group, according to a report released Wednesday.

The report also concluded the students did not instigate the incident.

Video of the Jan. 18 encounter that initially went viral on social media showed Covington Catholic High School junior Nick Sandmann staring down at Nathan Phillips, 63, a member of the Omaha tribe, as he played a drum and sang.

Phillips told PEOPLE he walked into the group of students after they began chanting back at a handful of Black Hebrew Israelites who were insulting the students and others.

Sandmann and other boys surrounding Phillips were wearing Make America Great Again hats in support of President Donald Trump. Clips of the incident also showed students laughing in response to Phillips song and doing the tomahawk chop.

After the schools investigation concluded, Phillips said in a statement through the Lakota Peoples Law Project: I stand by my original observation that the situation seemed potentially dangerous and that I felt a spiritual call to sing between the two groups as a peacemaker.

The Lakota Peoples Law Project vigorously disputed the reports conclusions and said in its own statement that the significance of the Covington teens tomahawk chops would naturally be taken by a Native person as a mockery of his culture.

The investigative report, conducted at the behest of the Diocese of Covington, states that students performed the tomahawk chop to the beat of Mr. Phillips drumming.

The Lakota Peoples Law Project dismissed this as a total ignorance of  or, more likely, a willful refusal to acknowledge  the racist connotations of this action on the part of the Kentucky hometown investigative firm.

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The group further noted what it called a failure of the investigators to grapple with the political implications of wearing pro-Trump attire, given the presidents history of racially inflammatory comments.

Following initial widespread condemnation of the students, including by the Diocese of Covington, both the diocese and Covington Catholic High hired Greater Cincinnati Investigation Inc., of Taylor Mill, Kentucky, to conduct the probe.

Four licensed investigators spent 240 hours interviewing 43 students and chaperones on the trip and reviewed about 50 hours of internet activity on YouTube, Vimeo, major news networks, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

While the Washington Post reported that an eyewitness heard some Covington students chant build the wall, investigators said they found no evidence of that.

The report also states that investigators found no evidence of offensive or racist statements by students to Mr. Phillips or members of his group.

Investigators said that none of the students felt threatened by Mr. Phillips and many stated they were confused  by his behavior.

Rev. Roger Foys, the bishop of Covington, said in a letter to parents that his hope and expectation that the inquiry would exonerate our students so that they can move forward with their lives has been realized.

Investigators did not interview Phillips, whom they said they could not contact.

The Lakota Peoples Law Project contended that investigators made a half-hearted attempt to reach Phillips  with whom the group has a relationship and could have facilitated contact  and that they did not interview other participants in the Indigenous Peoples March in January who had knowledge of the run-in with students.

Investigators said they traveled to Phillips home but he was not there. They also emailed his family.

While Sandmann was not interviewed in person, investigators said the teens written statement of what happened after the incident accurately reflect the facts.

Sandmanns attorney, L. Lin Wood, who has raised the specter of legal action, is pleased with, but not surprised by, the conclusions of the investigation, he said in an email to PEOPLE.

Those videos provide incontrovertible evidence that Nick did nothing wrong and did not instigate the incident with Nathan Phillips, he wrote, continuing:

Nick did not approach Nathan Phillips  Phillips made no attempt to get around or avoid Nick. Nick did not verbally assault, taunt, mock, harass, disparage or threaten Phillips in any way.

The report, Wood continued, advances one of our goals for Nick  to correct the public record and firmly establish the truth that Nick was innocent of any wrongdoing. Nick was the victim of agenda-driven and biased adults who used him to further their own agendas both at the time of the incident and in the widespread false coverage concerning it.

The investigators report addressed some of the students wearing red MAGA hats and noted most were bought after arriving in D.C. for an anti-abortion March for Life.

We found no evidence of a school policy prohibiting political apparel on school-sponsored trips, the report said.

The Lakota Peoples Law Project blasted the investigators for completely missing the significance wearing MAGA hats has for Native Americans.

Trump regularly makes racist comments about Native Americans, even going so far as to joke about genocidal acts against First Nations people, the group said. The wearing of MAGA hats has taken on a whole new meaning, especially for Native Americans.
For his third feature film, filmmaker and photographer Khalik Allah turned his attention to a place very close to his heart: Jamaica, the birthplace of his mother. While Allahs lauded Field Niggas served as a visual exploration of the various people who move in around the Harlem street corner of 125th Street and Lexington Ave. (an area he also explored in his 2017 book, Souls Against the Concrete), Black Mother takes his talents to a very different location, finding many connections between the two in the process.

In an official statement, the filmmaker billed the film as an audio-visual love letter to Jamaica. Allah added, I shot my last film in the streets. I shot this one on a river. Everything in the film is connected through water; from the fruit to the land to the people, with a specific emphasis on the woman who carries life for nine months. Theres no container for this film, it overflows with intimate portraiture and prayers that are intended to hit you in the chest more than the head.

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Per its official synopsis, the film is: Part film, part baptism, in Black Mother director Khalik Allah brings us on a spiritual journey through Jamaica. Soaking up its bustling metropolises and tranquil countryside, Allah introduces us to a succession of vividly rendered souls who call this island home. Their candid testimonies create a polyphonic symphony, set against a visual prayer of indelible portraiture. Thoroughly immersed between the sacred and profane, Black Mother channels rebellion and reverence into a deeply personal ode informed by Jamaicas turbulent history but existing in the urgent present.

Story continues

Read More: Black Mother Review: A Brilliant Meditation on Jamaican Identity From the Director of Field Niggas

When the film screened at last years New Directors/New Films, IndieWires Eric Kohn wrote that it is a challenging and profound deep-dive into Jamaican identity that rewards repeat viewings and confirms the aesthetic of a visionary filmmaker.  Allahs approach has the immersive qualities of installation art, even as he stuffs a preponderance of evocative visuals into some semblance of narrative structure.  Allah careens through an 87-minute collage of Jamaican faces from multiple generations, as voiceovers share tidbits of history, racial struggles, and personal philosophies, fusing them together with spiritual fervor. Theres almost no music on the soundtrack, but the meandering testimonies take on a rhythm of their own  its oral history as art.

The film was shot on 16mm, Super 8, Hi-8 Tape, Mini DV, and HD Video and is, in Allahs own words, an exercise in style and aesthetic to showcase my range as a photographer.

Black Mother will open at NYCs Metrograph on Friday, March 8. Check out IndieWires exclusive trailer and poster for the film below.
Rapper 21 Savage is speaking out.

Just days after he was released on bond and granted an expedited hearing, the 26-year-old emcee sat down with Good Morning America to discuss his immigration case. The interview came after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested the British national -- whose real name is She'yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph -- on Feb. 3, because his non-immigrant visa expired back in 2006 when he was a minor.

On Super Bowl Sunday, ahead of the GRAMMY Awards where he was nominated and slated to perform, 21 Savage said he "was just driving" in Atlanta, Georgia, when he started seeing "guns and blue lights."

"And then, I was in the back of a car. And I was gone," he recalled. "...They didn't say nothing. They just said, 'We got Savage.'"

"It was definitely targeted," he added.

As for why he was targeted, Alex Spiro -- one of 21 Savage's lawyers, who JAY-Z hired on his behalf -- thinks it has do with both his celebrity status and the content of his music, some of which calls out the immigration system.

"There's a lot of things about this case that are curious and troubling. Even if you start at the beginning. He's somebody who comes here as a young man -- he's one of the 'dreamers' as they're called -- and he comes over here and he has a singular offence for marijuana when he's a college-aged person that's vacated [and] sealed," Spiro said. "There's no issue. He's getting a visa. He's operating in good faith. He's performing. He's giving back to his community. He's a son. He's a father. And yet, they take this step, this unusual step, to arrest him the week before the GRAMMYs and not give him bond. We find the whole thing curious and troubling."

"We believe, honestly, that he was targeted, of course, like they said and part of the reason, we think, is because he's both a celebrity and they can use this as a way to send a message and also, perhaps, because of his music," Spiro added.

Story continues

The rapper, however, was unsure if his music had anything to do with his arrest. "My lawyers think that. I don't really know. I can't really say," he said. "I think I would see why people would think that, but I really can't say."

ICE confirmed to GMA that 21 Savage was "apprehended during a targeted operation with federal and local law enforcement partners."

21 Savage said he entered the country when he was seven years old and "didn't even know what a visa was."

"I knew I wasn't born here, but I didn't know, like, what that meant as far as when I transitioned into an adult how it was going to affect my life," he said. "I wasn't hiding it, but it's, like, I didn't want to get deported so I'm not gonna just come out and be like, 'Hey, by the way, I wasn't born here.'"

"I've been here 20 years, 19 years, this is all I know. You know what I'm saying?" he added. "I don't feel like you should be arrested and put in a place where a murderer would be for just being in the country for too long."

21 Savage also revealed that he was alone "in one room all day," but used advice from his mom to get through.

"My mama told me to picture where I wanna be," he said. "She said, 'Visualize yourself, whatever you wanna do, just close your eyes and visualize yourself doing that. And as long as you do that, you will never be in jail.'"

Deportation is something that concerns him, but he knows he'll be OK if it does come to that. "I feel like I done been through so much in my life, like, I learned to embrace the times when I'm down 'cause they always build me up," he said.

While Spiro said that 21 Savage is "vulnerable" to deportation, he remains "confident that he'll be able to remain here."

Despite his experience, 21 Savage doesn't "feel like the policy is broken. I feel like the way they enforce the policy is broken."

In addition to working to become a citizen -- something he was already actively attempting before his arrest by submitting a U Visa application -- 21 Savage is focused on the people that are still detained without bond.

"I feel your pain and I'm going to do everything in my power to try and bring awareness to your pain," he said.

"I think the message is that we can't forget about the people that don't have the resources, that don't have the fame, to fight for their freedom, both in the criminal system and in the immigration system," Spiro said. "There's people that are just totally forgotten that exist in these detention centers. And people like JAY-Z and he stepped in for Meek Mill and he stepped in here. And now I'm hoping people like 21 Savage will bring light to these issues and help the people that are forgotten."

Dina LaPolt, another lawyer on 21 Savage's legal team, said that they're actively working to make him a system, "but it's very, very complicated and there's a lot of steps that we have to go through."

"He wakes up every day thinking, 'How can I help people?' I mean, he's set up national financial literacy programs, he does things with the solicitor general attorney in Atlanta, you know, talking to the youth of Atlanta," LaPolt said. "... He helps young mothers. I mean, he's an amazing individual."

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We believe that he was targeted because hes a celebrity and also, perhaps, because of his music, one of 21s lawyers says

21 Savage was granted release on bond this week after being arrested on February 3 by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The rapper appeared on Good Morning America today (February 15) for his first interview since the arrest. Watch the full interview below.

21 Savage tells ABC News Linsey Davis he was definitely targeted by officials. When Davis asked Savage what happened the day of the arrest, he said: I dont even know, I was just driving and I just seen guns and blue lights. And then I was in the back of a car and I was gone. When she asked if authorities told him he was under arrest, Savage replied Nah, they didnt say nothing. They just said, We got Savage.

Davis later references 21 Savages Fallon performance of a lot, in which he rapped about immigration (Been through some things so I cant imagine my kids stuck at the border). Do you feel like you were targeted as a result of that, basically being critical of the immigration system here? Davis asks. My lawyers think that, 21 replies. Adding his own opinion, 21 says, I dont really know. I cant really say. I would see why people would think that, but I really cant say.

21s attorney Dina LaPolt also appeared on Good Morning America, explaining, We are in the middle of securing his immigration status, so where hes a citizen, but its very, very complicated, and theres a lot of steps that we have to go through. Alex Spirothe lawyer that JAY-Z hired for 21added, We believe, honestly, that he was targetedof course, like they saidand part of the reason, we think, is both because hes a celebrity, and they can use this as a way to send a message, and also, perhaps, because of his music.

Story continues

21 Savages legal team released a statement on his behalf this week. He will not forget this ordeal or any of the other fathers, sons, family members, and faceless people, he was locked up with or that remain unjustly incarcerated across the country, the statement reads. And he asks for your hearts and minds to be with them.

ICE claimed that 21 was a United Kingdom national who is unlawfully present in the U.S. After the arrest, the rapper confirmed via representatives that he was born in the United Kingdom. Contrary to ICEs claim that he first came to the United States in 2005, 21 Savage said he arrived when he was 7 under an H-4 visa, departed in 2005 to visit the United Kingdom, and returned that same year. His representatives claimed 21 lost legal status in 2006 through no fault of his own and was attempting to obtain another visa when he was arrested by ICE.

This article was originally published on Thursday, February 14 at 5:25 p.m. Eastern. It was last updated on Friday, February 15 at 9:26 a.m. Eastern.
Left-wing analysts suggest the Prime Ministers 7 point family protection plan is aimed at taking back the political initiative, while a pro-government pundit thinks it opens a new paradigm  and not just in Hungary.

In Nepszava, Akos Zoltai writes that the measures announced by PM Viktor Orban in his State of the Nation address on Sunday will be his main propaganda theme until the next parliamentary elections scheduled for 2022.

Quoting opinions by three political analysts, he writes that the government has launched the project to react to the loss of support it suffered because of the law authorizing up to 400 hours of overtime work.

One of the experts recalls that during its first term, the government chose cuts in utility tariffs as its main PR theme, then, during its second term, migration was the topic its messages were built around, while family and the birth rate will be the issue Mr. Orban will use to enhance his chances at the European parliamentary election first, and then for the rest of his current term in office.

In Magyar Nemzet, political scientist Tamas Fricz interprets the Prime Ministers scheme as a message to the globalists of the world and to Brussels that their project is not the only one on offer.

The globalists, he explains, want the world to be governed by themselves and therefore intend to build supranational political structures. Hungary, on the other hand is interested in a European integration based on sovereign nations.

The globalist approach needs populations which are deprived of their national character and therefore favours mass immigration from other cultures. Hungary, Fricz argues, intends to boost fertility rates in order to preserve her national character.

This opinion does not necessarily represent the views of XpatLoop.com or the publisher. Your opinions are welcome too - for editorial review before possible publication online.

Click here to Share Your Story
Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, speaks against repealing the death penalty during a committee hearing on House Bill 145 on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, at the Jonah Business Center in Cheyenne. The bill was defeated on its first reading in the Senate on an 18-12 vote Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Jacob Byk/Wyoming Tribune Eagle


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Jake Jarvis can be reached by phone at 304-935-0144, on Twitter at @JakeJarvisWV or by email at jjarvis@statejournal.com.
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Patti Lawson is an award-winning author and attorney. She has written for the Huffington Post, AOL Paw Nation, The Charleston Gazette and other publications. She lives in West Virginia with her two beloved dogs, Sadie and Rusty, and one amazing husband. Visit her website: www.pattilawson.com. Her recent book, What Happens to Rover When the Marriage is Over? And Other Doggone Legal Dilemmas! is available locally at book stores or on line at Amazon.com and other locations.
(CNN) -- Five victims of the mass shooting at an Illinois manufacturing business have died, Aurora Chief of Police Kristen Ziman told reporters Friday evening.

The shooter also was killed. He died in a gun battle with officers, the chief said.

Five officers who were wounded by gunfire, Ziman said, and a sixth officer suffered a knee injury.

The shooter was identified by Ziman as Gary Martin, 45, and authorities believe he was an employee at the company where the shooting occurred. Police said there was no obvious motive.

The shooting took place Friday afternoon at Henry Pratt Company, which says it is one of the United States' largest manufacturers of industrial valves.

An employee at the Henry Pratt company, John Probst, told CNN affiliate WLS the shooter was a co-worker and had a pistol.

"He was shooting everybody," Probst said.

Some patients from the shooting were sent to Mercy Medical Center and Rush Copley Medical Center, according to Mercy spokeswoman Olga Solares.

It was unclear how many patients there were and their conditions, she said.

"My heart goes out to the victims and their families who simply went to work today like any other day," police chief Ziman said.

A spokesman for the city, Clayton Muhammad, said the four officers' conditions were stable.

Aerial video from the scene showed scores of police vehicles outside the neighboring companies. The response included at least six ambulances and six firetrucks.

After the incident, police also put up crime scene tape near the Alro Steel Company.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI are responding to the scene, the agencies tweeted.

Aurora, a city of about 200,000 people, is about 40 miles west of Chicago. It is the second-largest city in Illinois, according to the city's website. Locals refer to Aurora as "City of Lights," a nod to it being one of the first American cities to implement a fully electric street lighting system.

Aurora has a strong music and arts scene, and is even the setting of the popular buddy-film Wayne's World. Although a suburb of Chicago, Aurora has a long tradition of manufacturing.
Vantage Data Centers, a Santa Clara, CA-based provider of wholesale data centers in support of business and mission-critical applications, raised additional $675M in debt and equity financing.

This included:

 more than $180m in equity capital from existing investors and

 approximately $495m in debt financing.

The company intends to use the funds to finance various growth initiatives, including the 4Degrees Colocation acquisition that closed in January and the build-out of the first data center on its second campus in Santa Clara.

Vantage Data Centers is a North American wholesale data center provider in six strategic markets: Silicon Valley; Northern Virginia; Phoenix; Quincy, Washington; Montreal and Quebec City, Canada. The company has nine operational facilities totaling 92MW of capacity and five additional facilities currently under development totaling 103MW. It provides data center solutions to hyperscale, cloud and enterprise customers.

The acquisition of 4Degrees Colocation expanded Vantages presence into Montreal and Quebec City, Canada, while the purchase of 50 acres of land in metro Phoenix will be home to a 160MW data center campus.

FinSMEs

14/02/2019
The latest research on wealth inequality by University of California economics professor Gabriel Zucman underscores one of the key social and economic trends since the global financial crisis of 2008. Those at the very top of society, who benefited directly from the orgy of speculation that led to the crash, have seen their wealth accumulate at an even faster rate, while the mass of the population has suffered a major decline.

This trend is most apparent in the United States but is revealed in the data for other countries included in research published by Zucman last month. According to his analysis, the top 1 percent in the US now owns about 40 percent of total household wealth, increasing its share by at least 10 percentage points since 1989. Over the same period the share of wealth owned by the bottom 90 percent has collapsed in similar proportions.

The acceleration is even more marked in the highest income levels. The share of wealth owned by the top 0.00025 percent (roughly the 400 richest Americans, according to Forbes Magazine data), rose from 1 percent in the early 1980s to over 3 percent in recent years. A similar tripling of wealth is seen in the top 0.01 percent.

The trend is reflected globally. The proportion of wealth held by the top 1 percent in China, Europe and the US combined has increased from 28 percent in 1980 to around 33 percent today.

As documented in previous studies by Zucman, Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez, wealth concentration in the US has followed a U-shape during the past century. The share of the top 0.1 percent peaked at close to 25 percent in 1929, fell sharply with the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s and continued to decline into the late 1940s, then stabilised in the 1950s and 1960s. It reached its lowest point in the 1970s, before rising to close to 20 percent in recent years to levels last seen in the Roaring Twenties.

This pattern follows the broad curve of economic developments and the class struggle. The 1930s fall in wealth concentration was the outcome of both the financial crisis and the impact of the New Deal measures introduced by President Franklin Roosevelt in order, as he acknowledged, to avert social revolution in the US.

During the 1950s and 1960s and the development of the post-war economic boom, when it was said that a rising tide lifts all boats, wealth concentration remained relatively stable. The ongoing increase in wealth concentration since the 1980s is the outcome of two interconnected factors: the rise of financialisation in the US economy, and consequent changes in the accumulation of profit, coupled with the decades-long organised suppression of the class struggle by the trade union bureaucracy.

One of the indicators of the role of finance in boosting the wealth of the ultra-wealthy is that in 1980 the top 0.01 of interest earners had 2.6 percent of all taxable interest, whereas by 2012 this had increased ten-fold to 27.3 percent.

Zucmans paper details the increase in global wealth inequality. In the US, China and Europe combined, the top 10 percent owns more than 70 percent of the total wealth, the bottom 50 percent less than 2 percent and the middle 40 percent less than 30 percent.

The higher up the income scale, the faster the rate of wealth accumulation. In the US, Europe and China, from 1987 to 2017 the average wealth of the top 1 percent rose by 3.5 percent per year, the top 0.1 percent by 4.4 percent per year, and the top 0.01 percent by 5.6 percent per year.

The trend has been most marked in Russia, following the privatisation of state assets as a result of the dissolution of the Soviet Union by the Stalinist regime. In Russia, wealth concentration boomed after the transition to capitalism, and inequality appears to be extremely high, on a par or even higher than in the United States, the report notes.

A parallel development can be seen in the restoration of capitalism in China. In both countries the available evidence suggests a high increase in wealth inequality over the last two decades. The top 1 percent wealth share has almost doubled, rising in China from just over 15 percent in 1995 to 30 percent in 2015 and in Russia from below 22 percent to around 43 percent.

Zucman notes that as wealth inequality increases, it is becoming more difficult to measure, because of the development of a large offshore wealth management industry that makes some forms of wealth, particularly financial portfolios, harder to track.

The problem is revealed in the widely varying estimates of how much wealth is held offshore. Zucman has calculated that 8 percent of the worlds individual wealththe equivalent of 10 percent of global gross domestic product or $5.6 trillionwas held offshore on the eve of the global financial crisis in 2007. He cites other analyses that put the figure much higher. According to one study, the global rich held around $12 trillion of the wealth in tax havens in 2007, with another putting the figure at between $21 and $32 trillion.

This means that the existing studies on wealth concentration, which Zucman and others have carried out using self-reported survey and tax return data, are inadequate to grasp its real extent.

Because the wealthy have access to many opportunities for tax avoidance and tax evasion and because the available evidence suggests that the tax planning industry has grown since the 1980s as it became globalizedtraditional data sources may underestimate inequality, Zucman states.

Zucman is well aware of the political consequences of the rise in social inequality that he and others have documented. He notes that for the rich, wealth begets power and wealth concentration may help explain the lack of redistributive responses to the rise of inequality observed since the 1980s.

Zucmans latest findings will no doubt be used by Democratic presidential hopefuls such as Elizabeth Warren and the newly-elected Democratic Socialists of America Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as they seek to give the Democratic Party a left face by calling for increased taxes on the wealthy.

But the data produced by Zucman and others refute the assertion that social inequality can or will be rectified by legislative changes. This is because the concentration of wealththough aided and abetted by successive administrations, both Democrat and Republicanin the final analysis is rooted in vast changes in the very structure of American and global capitalism, arising from its deepening historical crisis.

In other words, it is the outcome of a process of capital accumulation, based on financialisation, that has institutionalised the siphoning of wealth up the income scale.

This cannot be overcome through appeals to the financial oligarchy to change course but only by a frontal assault against its rule, that is, the development of a mass struggle for socialism by the American and international working class. The conditions for this fight are emerging as a result of the resurgence of the class struggle being driven forward by the consequences of deepening social inequality. The aim of Warren, Ocasio-Cortez et al, is try to divert this movement and bring it under the wing of the Democratic Party.
The results of an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) into the deaths this past June of two XPO Logistics workers in Lockport, New York, near Buffalo, have led to token fines for the multi-billion-dollar corporation.

Christopher Klosin, 38, and Roger Mangine, 62, were killed when several slabs of DuPont Corian fell on them. The company is under contract to transport and warehouse the countertop material for the chemical giant DuPont Corporation. The two workers had been attempting to unload 11 slabs of Duponts Corian brand countertop weighing over 800 pounds each when the slabs toppled over on top of them.

The results of the OSHA investigation found, The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees. It was a first time serious offense with an initial fine of only $12,934 that was further reduced to $10,347 as part of an informal settlement. XPO respectfully disagreed with the OSHA findings.

OSHA also found that The container was opened up two days before the incident and management was aware there was a problem with the load. The OSHA fines were issued for the infraction of the 5-foot by 8-foot countertops not being secured, and that the employer did not fully document the training that it provided to employees who were involved in unloading overseas shipping containers containing slabs of synthetic granite.

The wives of the deceased workers were forced to file lawsuits against DuPont, the maker of the countertops, because lawsuits against employers are not allowed under New York states restrictive employment laws. In comments to the local media, Nancy Mangines attorney Christopher OBrien said, Under New York law, your sole remedy is workers compensation.

The legal proceedings will probably encounter years of delay as the multi-billion-dollar corporations utilize every legal delaying tactic in the book with the help of bought and paid for judges.

The token OSHA fines and New Yorks ban on lawsuits amount to a blank check to corporations to kill and maim workers. It points to the urgent necessity for workers to take oversight of safety into their own hands through the formation of independent workplace committees.

New York State Workers Compensation law provides death benefits to workers based on their rate of pay, not for the pain and suffering experienced by surviving family members. The Salary.com website reports that warehouse workers in New York state average $14.37 per hour, which is $574.80 per week.

The New York Workers Compensation Board will pay a surviving spouse of a warehouse worker only 66.66 percent of that workers weekly pay, or, in the above cited example, $383.16 per week. It should be noted that New York State has the second largest number of billionaires in the US, 94 by one count, second only to California.

XPO is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, and is one of the worlds 10 largest logistics companies, with 98,000 employees and revenue of $15.4 billion in 2017. In 2011, Bradley Jacobs, of Jacobs Private Equity, LLC, whose estimated fortune is $2.7 billion, bought up 71 percent of XPO shares for $150 million. Cheap credit and ruthless cost cutting aided Jacobs strategy of expansion through acquisitions. The company is active around the world with major operations in the US and Europe.

OSHAs wrist slap fines are no deterrent for multi-billion dollar corporations like XPO who extract profit at any cost, including imperiling workers lives and limbs. The $10,347 OSHA fine is the equivalent of about 15 minutes worth of profit based on the companys reported $320.2 million net earnings in 2017.

The claim put forward on the US Department of Labor (DOL) website that you have a voice in the workplace is belied by the annual DOL statistics that reveal the reality of thousands of deaths each year due to workplace hazards.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) there were 5,147 workers killed in 2017, or 14 deaths each day. The BLS noted that The transportation and material moving occupational group and the construction and extraction occupational group accounted for 47 percent of worker deaths in 2017, or a total of 2,419 fatalities.

The author also recommends:

Two XPO Logistics workers killed near Buffalo, New York

[4 July 2018]
The 55th Munich Security Conference, which begins today, has been overshadowed by rising great power conflicts. The conference will be dominated by the preparations of the United States and its allies for war with Russia and China, but it will also be impacted by escalating tensions between the Western allies.

The Munich Security Report 2019, published by the conferences organisers at the beginning of the week, is a terrifying document. It assumes that a clash between the major nuclear-armed powers is all but inevitable. It is less concerned with the question of how to avoid this catastrophe, focussing instead on how best to prepare for such a clash and who will pick up the pieces.

In the debates over the origins of World War I, it has been repeatedly claimed that the great powers were sleepwalkers who stumbled into the catastrophe. This is an incredible trivialisation of the imperialist powers responsibility for the war. However, if one compares the prelude to the First World War to the current conflicts between the major powers, they are not stumbling, but running with eyes wide open towards the abyss.

The Munich Security Report 2019 conveys the impression of a ruling elite that has lost control of political events, and is responding by rearming and preparing for criminal wars that will call into question the survival of humanity.

Already in the foreword to the report, Wolfgang Ischinger, the head of the Munich Security Conference, writes, A new era of great power competition is unfolding between the United States, China, and Russia, accompanied by a certain leadership vacuum in what has become known as the liberal international order. While no one can tell what the future order will look like, it is becoming obvious that new management tools are needed to prevent a situation in which not much may be left to pick up.

As the document goes on to show, these management tools are chiefly weaponry and military firepower to intimidate and destroy rival states.

The first chapter, The Great Puzzle: Who Will Pick Up the Pieces? cites from the new National Security Strategy of the United States, which declares: we are heading into an era of sustained big power competition for which the West, collectively, is underprepared. Washington views China and Russia as its main rivals: US strategic documents have singled out China and Russia as the two most important challengers, and many key administration officials have emphasized this threat perception in public speeches.

The sense that China has become the most dynamic and formidable competitor in modern history is now widely shared in Washington, continues the Munich Security Report. As evidence, the report cites US Vice President Mike Pence, who accused China of attempting to erode Americas military advantage on land, at sea, in the air, and in space, and warned: We will not be intimidated, and we will not stand down. The Munich Security Report 2019 concluded, Many read Pences speech as the announcement of a new cold war.

Under the subheading From Pax to Crux Americana, the report goes on to discuss in detail what Europe must do to enforce its own interests in a conflict involving the major powers. The European Union is particularly ill-prepared for a new era of great power competition, states the report. Nonetheless, increasing uncertainty about the future role of the United States has led to a renewed discussion of Europes strategic autonomy.

Five years ago, the German government used the Munich Security Conference to announce an end to military restraint. Germany must be ready to engage in foreign and security policy earlier, more decisively and more substantially, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at the time. Germany is too big just to comment on world politics from the sidelines.

Since then, Germany and other European countries have rearmed and significantly increased their military spending. But this, according to the Munich Security Conference report, is nowhere near enough to achieve strategic autonomy and pursue global great power interests independently of the United States.

There is still a long way to go to reach what Jean-Claude Juncker called Weltpolitikfahigkeit at last years Munich Security Conference, states the report. And Weltpolitikfahigkeit, or the ability to play a meaningful role in world politics, is badly needed. Although most strategic thinkers in Europe agree that a strong transatlantic partnership will remain the best security guarantee for Europe, this preferred option may not be available in the future.

The report makes an urgent appeal for the European powers to massively increase their military spending once again: Given the rapid pace of change, European policymakers need to come up with long-term strategic approaches and make available the necessary resources if Europe is to be more than just a theater of serious strategic competition for other actors.

The Middle East Conference, which took place in Warsaw a day prior to the beginning of the Munich Security Conference, underscored how sharp the conflict between the United States and Europe, and Germany in particular, has already become. The German media denounced the conference as a deliberate attempt to divide Europe. [US Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo exploited the deep-seated hostility of Poland and Hungary towards Brussels, as well as the frictions between these countries and Germany, to drive a wedge into the EU, complained the Suddeutsche Zeitung.

Conflicts within the EU are intensifying. After months of sniping between Paris and Rome, France recalled its ambassador for the first time since World War II from Italy, a founding member of the EU and NATO. French President Emmanuel Macron also called off a joint appearance with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Munich Security Conference. Although he justified his decision with reference to domestic political obligations, the relationship between Berlin and Paris has cooled markedly over recent months.

The European powers are responding to these mounting conflicts by accelerating their rearmament drive. British Defence Minister Gavin Williamson, who will open the conference with his German counterpart Ursula Von der Leyen, delivered a bloodthirsty speech on Monday in which he called for a major intensification of British militarism following Brexit. Britain must be ready to employ military force to defend our global interests, he said.

The Munich Security Conference is the largest meeting of politicians, military personnel, arms industry representatives, and military experts in the world. This year, more than 500 international guests are expected to attend, including 35 heads of state and government, 50 foreign ministers, and 30 defence ministers.

The US is represented by the largest delegation, which alongside Vice President Pence also includes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President Trumps daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner. Chancellor Merkel and six other ministers are participating from Germany.

Other registered guests include Ukrainian President Petro Poroschenko, Egyptian dictator Abd al-Fattah as-Sisi, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina Wajed and the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, IMF head Christine Lagarde, and interim World Bank chief Kristalina Georgieva are also in Munich.

This high-ranking meeting will spend three days discussing how to prepare future wars that will mean misery and death for millions of people. This is sufficient evidence to confirm that it is impossible to prevent such conflicts with appeals to the reason and conscience of the ruling class.

The Munich Security Report 2019 contains the result of an interesting poll. Asked which countrys power and influence they thought represented the greatest danger to their country, 49 percent of Germans said the United States, compared to 30 percent who said Russia and 33 percent who chose China. The result was similar in France. Asked who they thought would do the right thing in world affairs, 10 percent of Germans named Trump, compared to 35 percent who said Putin, and 30 percent who chose Xi Jinping. Even in the United States, only 48 percent of respondents named Trump, compared to 39 percent for Xi and 21 percent for Putin, who is incessantly demonised by the media.

These results hardly indicate sympathy for the Russian and Chinese presidents, but express the vehement opposition among the population in Germany, France, and the US to the war-mongering policies of their own governments. This widespread opposition to war requires an orientation and a political perspective. It can only be successful if it bases itself on the international working class, and advocates a socialist programme to overthrow the capitalist system, the origin of militarism and war.
Professor Stuart Rees is a highly respected retired academic, author and defender of human rights and civil liberties. He founded the Sydney Peace Foundation at the University of Sydney in 1998. In 2011, the Foundation bestowed its highest honour, its Gold Medal for Peace and Justice, to WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange.

On November 29, 2018, Professor Rees was awarded the inaugural Jerusalem (Al Quds) Peace Prize in recognition of his persistent and courageous advocacy for the human rights of all Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, the refugee camps and the Palestinian diaspora generally.

Professor Rees publicly endorsed the rally held by the SEP on June 17, 2018 at Sydney Town Hall Square in defence of Assange . He has issued the following statement, urging support for the demonstrations called for March 3 in Sydney and March 10 in Melbourne to demand the Australian government intervene to secure Assanges freedom.

***

Rallies to call for the release and freedom of Julian Assange are timely and long overdue.

Julian is an Australian citizen who has committed no offence and not been charged with one. He should no longer be in fear of his life because a revengeful White House, an arrogant British government and a cowardly Australian one wish to make an example of someone who has championed freedom of speech and of the press.

Julian Assange follows in the footsteps of a long tradition of journalists and whistleblowers who have made significant contributions to civil societies, who have made other citizens aware of the, usually invisible, abuses of power by governments who have scant regard for the consistent application of universal human rights.

I applaud the organisers and speakers of the rallies on March 3 in Sydney and March 10 in Melbourne to advocate the freedom of Julian Assange.

Stuart Rees, OAM, Professor Emeritus, University of Sydney, winner of the Jerusalem (Al Quds) Peace Prize

February 14, 2019
Addressing parliament on February 6, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena reiterated his commitment to ending the countrys 43-year moratorium on the death penalty. He warned the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and other human rights groups not to hinder his efforts.

Sirisena told parliament that although death row prisoners had filed appeals against their convictions since he began calling for the reinstatement of executions, we would be able to implement the death penalty in one to two months. Whatever opposition would be raised against it, I have taken a firm decision to implement it.

Citing the death penalty in India, the US and Singapore, he cynically declared: We need stringent laws to make a law abiding and spiritual society.

During his visit last month to the Philippines, Sirisena hailed President Rodrigo Dutertes war on drugsthe extrajudicial killing of thousands of alleged drug dealersas an example to the whole world and vowed to reinstitute the death penalty in Sri Lanka.

Sirisenas campaign for executions and his praise of Duterte drew immediate criticism from human rights groups in Sri Lanka and internationally.

Sirisena responded by telling parliament that any invocation of human rights in relationship to the drug trafficking underworld was wrong and demanded human rights organisations not object to his death penalty campaign.

Sirisena singled out the toothless, government-appointed HRCSL for attack and referred to the brutal beating of prisoners in Angunakolapelessa jail last November by Special Task Force (STF) officers and prison staff. A secretly recorded video of the incident drew wide criticism of the government.

Sirisena criticised the HRCSL chief for daring to ask the STF commandant who had given the order to send in the STF.

The human rights commission, which was appointed by us, should have defended us, the president told parliament. Instead, it is questioning the STF chief. He also condemned the HRCSL for vetting Sri Lankan military officers for human rights violations before they were sent abroad on so-called UN peace keeping assignments.

HRCSL chairperson Dr. Deepika Udagama responded in writing to Sirisenas allegations, saying these actions were in accordance with human rights law and not an attempt by the Commission to protect criminals.

Sirisenas broadside in parliament has only one meaning. He will not tolerate any opposition to the reinstitution of the death penalty or any government violation of basic democratic rights. Sirisena is sending a clear message to the police, and its notorious STF, and the military, that he will back them in all circumstances.

Sirisenas defence of the military is indicative. Between 1983 and 2009, it conducted a vicious communal war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The bloody conflict was a culmination of the communalist policies pursued by the ruling elite since 1948 to suppress and divide the working class along ethnic and religious lines.

Sirisena, like his predecessors, is committed to shielding the political leaders of successive governments and the military hierarchy responsible for all the war crimes committed since 1983.

While officially there have been no official executions since 1976, the Sri Lankan state has a horrifying record of eliminating its political opponents, workers and young people through extra-judicial killings.

Military and associated paramilitary death squads abducted and executed, without trial, tens of thousands of people during the war against the LTTE and in crushing the youth insurgencies of 198789 in Sri Lankas south.

The Constitutional Council (CC) was another target of Sirisenas speech to parliament.

Established by the 19th amendment to the constitution in 2015 under the Sirisena presidency, the CC is supposed to ensure the independence of the judiciary and the government service. Consisting of representatives of the president and the parliamentary parties, and headed by the parliamentary speaker, it is not independent in any sense.

Sirisena complained that the CC had not approved his nominees for judges and the chief justice. They are yet to inform me the reasons for turning down those names, he declared.

The president is not alone in his provocative and authoritarian outbursts. His views are endorsed by the entire political establishment, including Prime Minister Wickremesinghes ruling United National Party (UNP), which is working hand in glove to tighten up the instruments of state repression. Last week, Justice Minister Thalatha Athukorala announced that the administrative procedures for the execution of five drug convicts had been completed.

Every faction of the ruling elite is turning toward police-state forms of rule. For about two months last year, these factions were engaged in open political warfare. Sirisena unconstitutionally sacked Wickremesinghe, replacing him with his arch-rival, former President Mahinda Rajapakse, and then dissolved the parliament after Rajapakse was unable to gain a parliamentary majority.

The plot failed because the US was hostile to Rajapakse, whom Washington considers sympathetic to Beijing, and the Supreme Court overruled Sirisena, compelling him to reinstate Wickremesinghe.

Behind the ongoing infighting within the political elite is the eruption of plantation and other workers struggles as part of an international working-class upsurge.

Two days before Sirisenas death penalty address to parliament, he made an unprecedented Independence Day speech in which he hailed the military and declared that governments had failed to resolve the countrys democratic and social questions.

The death penalty is a cruel and inhumane punishment, with most of its victims around world coming from the most oppressed layers of society. Sirisenas call for the speedy restoration of this barbaric practice, endorsed by all the major parliamentary parties, is a clear indication that the capitalist class is lurching toward dictatorial forms of rule.

In a signal that the Sirisena government is pushing ahead with its reactionary agenda, the government-owned Daily News newspaper ran a grotesque advertisement on February 11 for people to apply to become the official hangmen. The two people who will be employed to carry out state killings must be males aged between 18 and 45 and possess mental strength. They will reportedly be paid 36,410 rupees, or $203, a month to hang other human beings.
The conference jointly hosted by the US and Polish governments in Warsaw this week under the phony banner of working to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East has laid bare the immense and imminent threat that US imperialism is preparing to drag humanity into another and potentially world catastrophic war.

On the eve of the conference, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the only prominent head of government to fly to Poland for the event, gave an interview in Warsaw in which he declared the importance of the conference was that it involved an open meeting with representatives of leading Arab countries that are sitting down together with Israel in order to advance the common interest of war with Iran.

The text of this bellicose statement was then posted on the Israeli prime ministers twitter account. Subsequently, apparently as a result of political pressure from the events US and Polish sponsors, the tweet was changed to read in order to advance the common interest of combating Iran.

Much of the media treated Netanyahus original statement as a gaffe. It was nothing of the kind. The Israeli prime minister was describing the real aims of the conference in Warsaw in blunt terms because it suited his own political interests as he confronts an election in two months amid mounting corruption scandals and is anxious to rally his right-wing base.

Israel and the reactionary monarchical dictatorships of the Persian Gulf, which were well represented at the Warsaw gathering, constitute the two pillars of the anti-Iranian axis being forged by the Trump administration.

The attempts by US and Polish officials to mask the genuine purpose of the conference with talk about peace and security were farcical. Polish officials insisted that the meeting did not concern any one country, but rather horizontal issues confronting the region, such as weapons proliferation, terrorism, war, etc. As it turned out, however, Iran was found to be at the root of each and every one of these problems.

US Vice President Mike Pence delivered a sanctimonious sermon in which he denounced Tehran for threatening another Holocaust and attempting to recreate the Persian Empire by opening up a corridor of influence through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

Pence, who peppered his speech with Biblical references and claimed that faith and God would deliver peace to the Middle East, described Iran as the leading state sponsor of terrorism, and that state which sows the greatest harm and greatest discord across the region about which we gather here today.

This phrase leading state sponsor of terrorism has been repeated ad nauseum by US officials, with no attempt to substantiate the allegation with facts or evidence. This from a government that poured billions of dollars into funding terrorist wars by Al Qaeda-linked militias in the quest for regime-change in both Libya and Syria.

Even as the Warsaw conference was taking place, a terrorist suicide bombing in Iran claimed the lives of at least 27 members of the countrys Revolutionary Guard coming home from deployment on the countrys border with Pakistan. A shadowy Al Qaeda-connected group with ties to Washingtons main ally in the Arab world, Saudi Arabia, claimed responsibility for the attack.

As for the state which sows the greatest harm and greatest discord, can anyone claim with a straight face that Washington, which has waged a quarter-century of unending and ruinous wars in the region, razing entire societies to the ground and leaving millions dead, maimed and displaced, has any close competition for this title?

The most jarring element of Pences speech, however, was directed against Washingtons erstwhile NATO allies for failing to toe the US line in relation to Iran. The US vice president demanded that Germany, France and the UK, all signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear accord, follow Washingtons lead in tearing up the agreement and imposing an economic blockade that is tantamount to an act of war.

Outside of the UK, none of the European powers sent so much as a foreign minister to the Warsaw gathering, which was seen accurately as a US-sponsored rally for war against Iran. The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, who participated in the negotiation of the Iran nuclear accord, also declined to attend.

Pence accused some of our leading European partners of trying to break American sanctions against Irans murderous revolutionary regime. He was referring to a financial mechanism introduced by the UK, Germany and France to allow the barter of goods between European companies and Iran without direct financial transactions or the use of the US dollar in order to evade sweeping US extraterritorial sanctions. The measure was taken in an attempt to prop up the Iran nuclear deal and prevent Tehran from renouncing it in the face of the wiping out of all of the sanctions relief that it was supposed to entail.

The US vice president demanded that the European powers stand with us by killing the nuclear accord and, presumably, preparing for war with Iran. Acknowledging that Iran was in compliance with the nuclear accord, Pence declared that the issue was not compliance, but the undesirability of the deal itself.

US imperialism has never forgiven the masses of Iranian workers and poor for their 1979 revolution that overthrew the US-backed dictatorship of the Shah, the linchpin of US domination of the region. While that revolution was usurped by the bourgeois-theocratic regime established under Ayatollah Khomeini, Washington has refused to settle for anything less than regime-change and the re-imposition of a US puppet dictatorship.

Pence warned in his Warsaw speech that any attempt to evade the US sanctions regime would create still more distance between Europe and the US.

In the run-up in 2003 to the US invasion of Iraq, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ridiculed the opposition of Germany and France to the criminal war of aggression by referring to these countries as old Europe and extolling the support for US imperialism from a new Europe, consisting of the Eastern European regimes and, principally, Poland.

The sponsorship of the Iran war conference by Poland, which has not played a particularly decisive role in the affairs of the Middle East, resurrects this earlier bid to pit new against old Europe.

Warsaws support for the anti-Iranian crusade is bound up with its right-wing governments own bid to secure a permanent US military presence in Poland as a supposed bulwark against any threat from Russia. In September of last year, Polish President Andrzej Duda proclaimed at a White House press conference his governments desire for the erection of a Fort Trump on Polish soil.

The virulent anti-Iranian rhetoric spouted at the Warsaw conference for peace and security was matched by a diatribe against Russia delivered by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who combined his attendance at the conference with an appearance with troops on maneuvers in Poland.

Pompeo invoked his military career as a tank officer in Germany during the Cold War. He declared that while at that time Germanys Fulda Gap was seen as the point of confrontation with a hypothetical Soviet invasion of Western Europe, Poland now occupied a similar position because of Russian aggression.

Today, Washingtons bid to play off the right-wing regimes of new Europe against its erstwhile allies in old Europe is bound up not only with a potential bloodbath in Iran, but with the preparations for a new world war. US imperialism is determined to assert its hegemony over Iran, the Middle East, Central Asia and Venezuela in order to establish its unchallenged control over all of the worlds energy reserves, giving it the ability to deny access to its principal global rival, China.

The Warsaw conference, for all of its farcical aspects and overheated rhetoric, has a deadly serious content. It constitutes a nodal point in the drive towards a third world war between the worlds major nuclear powers.
Fifteen months into the New Zealand Labour Party-led governments term in office, the countrys housing crisis is worsening, affecting wide sections of the population.

Last month Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was forced to admit that initial targets for her governments flagship KiwiBuild housing program could not be met, with just 47 of 1,000 homes promised by July built so far.

Housing minister Phil Twyford said there would be a recalibration of the policy, but he expects to have 300 new homes built under the scheme by July.

After four decades of market liberalisation under successive Labour and National Party-led governments, and a deepening assault on jobs and living standards, tens of thousands of people are being denied the basic social right to decent, affordable housing.

According to the latest Demographia International housing affordability survey, New Zealand house prices rank among the most unaffordable in the world. Auckland, the countrys main city, has the worlds seventh most expensive houses and all other NZ cities are defined as severely unaffordable. Property is priced out of reach for a greater percentage of the population than in the United States, Britain and Australia, with only Hong Kong less affordable than New Zealand.

The problem has worsened under Labour. The annual report, which compared median house prices with median incomes across cities in seven wealthy countries and Hong Kong, found that New Zealands median house price last year was 6.5 times the median income, up from 5.8 a year earlier.

Auckland house prices have almost doubled since 2009 amid the global frenzy of property speculation following the 2008 international financial crisis. In December 2015, Auckland, a city of just 1.6 million people, had 62 suburbs, a third of the total, where houses cost more than $NZ1 million on average, including the $2 million suburb of Herne Bay.

Meanwhile, according to figures based on the 2013 census, around 40,000 people, or nearly 1 percent of the population, live without adequate housing. A 2017 Yale University study found this was the highest level of homelessness in the OECD.

Private sector investors have driven housing costs to grotesquely unaffordable levels for the vast majority of workers, as wages have fallen and living standards deteriorated. Home ownership has become impossible for many workers and rents have skyrocketed, fuelling widespread social distress. Young couples are unable to purchase homes and many families live in garages, vehicles and unhealthy overcrowded conditions.

The crisis of unaffordable housing has become a factor in driving workers struggles, including a wave of strikes over the past 12 months.

According to a housing stocktake commissioned by the government last year, rents for a three-bedroom house rose 25 percent between 2012 and 2017, while wages rose just 14 percent. In the capital city, Wellington, property values in working-class suburbs leapt more than 50 percent in the past three years.

Students needing accommodation have been hard hit in Wellington, where 30,000 students are competing with young professionals and families priced out of the property market. The median asking rent for a Wellington house increased 8.2 percent in the past year, reaching $565 a week in January 2019. Labours increase in student allowances and the amount students can borrow for living costsamounting to just $50 extra per weekprompted many landlords to immediately hike rents by the same amount.

Labours 2017 election manifesto heavily promoted KiwiBuild as a policy that would tackle the housing crisis by working with private developers to build 100,000 affordable homes in 10 years. The houses were purportedly designed for first-time home buyers who earn below $120,000 for singles and $180,000 for couples. Workers earn nothing close to those incomes.

The promise was always a hollow fraud. Far from being a public housing program backed and organised by government, KiwiBuild is based on the assumption that the market will provide the solution. There is no state subsidy for families to buy KiwiBuild houses. The government simply acts as a guarantor to facilitate properties built by the private sector. Local governments have been pressured to open up new tracts of land while regulatory measures have been eased.

Even the governments latest much-reduced goal remains doubtful. The country is half a million housing units short of demand. The gap between housing demand and completed new builds has grown every year since 2013. Shamubeel Eaqub, a housing economist, said the scale of the problem is such that it would take decades to fix, regardless of whether the government could accelerate KiwiBuild.

Many of the KiwiBuild homes are already languishing on the market, with working class people finding $525,000 for a two-bedroom home unaffordable. The Demographia survey classes a house as affordable if the median price is up to three times the median wagemaking KiwiBuild houses severely unaffordable for most.

Housing Minister Twyford told reporters: No government in the last 40 years has seriously tried what we are trying to do, and thats change a failed market. In fact, Labour has no intention of changing the market. As Shamubeel Equab explained: It is not profitable to build houses for poor people The government is telling builders to use exactly the same processes we have in place now, but build cheaper houses. This is why very few builders have participated in the scheme.

Twyford claims that the government has built 1,000 new public housing units, separate from the KiwiBuild initiative, to cater for poor people. These have, however, housed only 1,800 low income tenants, while more than 11,600 people and families still languish on public housing waiting lists.

Like governments in the US, Europe, Australia and throughout the world, the Labour-led coalition meanwhile is seeking to divert working class anger over social inequality, including the lack of affordable housing, into the most reactionary channels.

Last August, in a policy aimed particularly at Chinese investors, the government, which includes the Green Party and NZ First, banned purchases of houses by non-citizens and non-residents. Finance Minister David Parker declared that New Zealanders should not be tenants in our own land. House prices should be set by local buyers, not by the wealthy 1 percent from international markets. Foreign buyers in fact account for only around 4 percent of house sales.

The KiwiBuild fraud is a further demonstration that the working class cannot give any credence to Labours rhetoric of transformation and kindness. There is an urgent need to spend billions of dollars to create genuinely affordable housing. The fight must be taken up, in opposition to the Labour Party and its allies, for high-quality housing for all as a fundamental social right. This requires the reorganisation of society along socialist lines, including the nationalisation of the banks and investment giants that have profited from the housing boom.

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Social crisis worsens under New Zealand Labour Party-led government

[28 December 2018]

New Zealand government offers false promises to reduce poverty

[30 December 2017]
Socialism in Our Time, a public event organized by the journal Historical Materialism and produced in conjunction with Jacobin Magazine and the Socialism Conference, has rejected a proposed panel submitted by the Socialist Equality Party on The fight against fascism and the lessons of history. Jacobin Magazine is produced by supporters of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The Socialism Conference is directed by the International Socialist Organization (ISO).

The decision to exclude the panel is a blatant act of censorship, motivated by the political differences of the DSA and ISO with the Trotskyist politics advanced by the Socialist Equality Party, the World Socialist Web Site and the International Committee of the Fourth International.

The SEP panel was to feature as its main speaker Christoph Vandreier, deputy national secretary of the Sozialistiche Gleichheitspartei (SGP) in Germany. Vandreier is the author of Why are they back? Historical Falsification, Political Conspiracy and the Return of Fascism in Germany, which will soon be published in English. The title of his presentation was to have been, Back to the 1930s: Trotskyist policy in the fight against war and neo-fascism.

The other speakers on the panel were to include WSWS Latin American affairs editor Bill Van Auken, who has been active in the socialist movement for nearly a half-century. The topic of his presentation was to have been Bolsonaros victory and the debacle of Brazils Workers Party. The panel also included Socialist Equality Party member Fred Mazelis, whose activity in revolutionary socialist politics spans 60 years. The title of his presentation was to have been: It cant happen hereThe Trump administration and the rise of the far-right in America.

According to its organizers, the conference, which will be held on April 13-14 in New York City, is being organized around the themes of Capitalism in Crisis, History and Resistance Today; Mapping the Future. The conference webpage states, To prepare for the fights ahead, we have to study the struggles that came before us. It goes on to state that the organizers welcome contributions that address History of Social Struggles and Movements; History of the Labor Movement; History of Organizations and Parties; Legacies of Particular Thinkers and Activists.

The deadline for submissions was January 21, with responses from the organizers due by February 11. The Socialist Equality Party submitted its panel proposal on January 5. An unidentified conference organizer sent the following email to the SEP on February 13: I regret to inform you that your proposal: The fight against fascism and the lessons of history was not selected for presentation at this years Socialism in Our Time Conference.

No explanation for the rejection was provided in the email, but it is obvious that the rejection is based on nothing other than factional interests, rooted in the political alignment of the DSA and ISO with the Democratic Party and the pro-corporate AFL-CIO trade union bureaucracy.

The unprincipled and essentially anti-communist action of the ISO and DSA has objective political significance and consequences.

Christoph Vandreier and the SGP have played, as is well known throughout Germany, a leading role in opposing the growth of far-right and fascistic movements. The SEP panel proposal explained that Vandreier would speak on the significance of the revival of fascism throughout Europe, including the rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and efforts within Germany to relativize the crimes of the Nazis and rehabilitate Hitler. He will review Trotskys analysis of the origins of fascism in the 1930s and its relevance for today.

Vandreier is the author of Why are They Back? Historical Falsification, Political Conspiracy, and the Revival of Fascism in Germany. Published in 2018, Vandreiers book analyzes the interaction of the relativization of the crimes of the Third Reich with efforts of high-level state officials to legitimize and promote the neo-fascist Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), which now functions as the official principal opposition party in Germany.

Vandreiers book will soon be presented at the Leipzig Book Fair. The English-language edition of his book will be presented at next months London Book Fair.

In addition to his writing, Vandreier has been active in mobilizing university students in Berlin and throughout Germany in opposition to the neo-Nazis. The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), affiliated with the SGP, scored a major victory last month in the student parliamentary elections held at Berlins Humboldt University. In a campaign centered on opposition to German militarism and the universitys defense of Hitler apologists on its faculty, the IYSSE outpolled the youth organization of the state-affiliated Left Party and received only a few votes less than the candidates sponsored by the Green Party.

In response to its campaign against the pro-Nazi forces, Vandreier and the SGP have been the target of right-wing attacks and denunciations in the capitalist media. In July, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germanys domestic intelligence agency, added the SGP to its official list of left-wing extremist organizations subject to state monitoring.

The decision of the ISO-DSA conference organizers to reject the SEP panel and prevent Vandreier from presenting his report denies those attending the New York conference the opportunity to learn from the political struggle that is being conducted by Vandreier and the German Trotskyist movement.

The political activities of the AfD and its network of pro-Nazi academics are reported on in the United States by Breitbart and even more openly neo-Nazi publications. They will welcome the decision taken by the Historical Materialism conference organizers. A major opportunity to alert, inform and mobilize the left in the United States against the resurgence of German fascism has been blocked by the DSA and ISO. This is the objective consequence of their unprincipled anti-communist factionalism.

The action taken by the DSA and ISO exposes their politically deceitful claims to be defenders of democratic rights, let alone fighters for socialism.

Protests against the censoring of the SEP panel should be sent to: socialisminourtime@gmail.com. [Forward a copy to: sep@socialistequality.com]
Student.com, a Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based marketplace for student accommodation, received an additional $10m funding as part of its Series C+ round.

The funding, provided by CITIC Capital, brought total funding raised to date to $80m.

The company intends to use the funds to upgrade the platforms technology solutions including the systemisation of the native app experience, and work to improve the intelligent service level through application of Artificial Intelligence.

Established in 2011 by Luke Nolan, CEO, Student.com provides international students with a platform to find home abroad. Now listing accommodation for over 1,000 universities in more than 400 cities worldwide, Student.com provides over 1.25 million student beds.

The company has raised a total of $80m from investors including VY Capital, Li Ka-Shings Horizons Ventures, Expa, Spotify founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, Facebook VRs Hugo Barra, Breyer Capitals Jim Breyer and other investors.

It has completed over $600m in gross booking value to date.

FinSMEs

15/02/2019
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. and China are the two biggest economies in the world, and they should engage with each other to solve their problems via dialogue and negotiations, Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council in San Francisco said Wednesday.

"There was a real history of cooperation between the two countries, especially going back to World War II where we fought jointly to preserve two societies," Wunderman told Xinhua at the end of the council's ninth annual Chinese New Year reception held Wednesday night to celebrate the Year of the Pig in China's lunar calendar.

"We have such a strong community from China here in San Francisco, the oldest Chinatown in America. It's such a pervasive relationship that we should not treat China as an adversary," he said.

Wunderman stressed that the relationship between the United States and China "should be one of cooperation."

He admitted that in the hi-tech field, competition exists between China and the United States, and it is natural that new problems or even disputes would emerge.

"The best way to deal with that is through conversation, discussion, engagement, expression," Wunderman added. "There's much more in common than there is that separates us. The best way to solve problems is by taking each problem head-on."

"We should stop engaging in creating tariffs, blocking trade, pointing fingers and all of that. It doesn't do any good, and it's not helping," he noted.

Del Christensen, chief of Global Business Development of the Bay Area Council, said despite the current difficult period in the U.S.-China relations, the Bay Area Council has decided to grow its China program and stay in China.

The council opened its Beijing office in 2018, in addition to offices in three other Chinese cities of Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou.

"Where there's a problem, there is also an opportunity. The United States and China are two markets that are so big and so intertwined that ... (they) are going to do business for a long, long time," Christensen said.

He said there is a large Chinese population in San Francisco and a lot of Chinese students are studying in the United States, while many American students are also being educated in China.

"The more we get to know each other, the better off we're gonna be," Christensen added.

Founded in 1945, the Bay Area Council is a business association in San Francisco that is dedicated to economic development in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been pushing for close economic and trade ties between China and the United States, with greater focus on California and San Francisco in particular.
The strike by thousands of school students across the UK, protesting government inaction over climate change, is a powerful indication of the growing concern among the young generation over the future of the planet.

Organized by the UK Youth Climate Coalition in more than 50 cities and towns, it is part of an international series of protests, building towards a worldwide day of action on March 15.

Last November, at least 15,000 school students protested throughout Australia, followed by 4,000 students in Switzerland in December. In Belgium and Germany tens of thousands have rallied, while protests in France coinciding with the Yellow Vest demonstrations have seen upward of 70,000 students take part nationally. Students are planning similar action in the United States, Thailand and Uganda to join the March 15 global day of action.

These student strikes express the politicization of a generation that has come of age in a world of brutal austerity, social inequality, imperialist war, persecution of refugees and the tearing up of democratic rights.

The school strikes in Britain have provoked a vicious right-wing backlash, with Conservative politicians and newspapers insisting pupils stay in school. But the students fight has galvanized support among teachers and academics. More than 200, including 100 professors, signed a letter to the Guardian professing solidarity with the children going on school climate strike on 15 February, and with all those taking a stand for the future of the planet and the many other striking students all around the world making their voices heard.

That climate change threatens the future of humanity is beyond doubt. According to the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in which 91 scientists from 41 countries cooperated, global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels will have catastrophic consequences. It would lead to food shortages, melt the ice cap of the Arctic Ocean, increase the number of weather catastrophes and cause economic damage anywhere between $54 and $69 trillion worldwide.

A recent report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) warns, ...environmental breakdown could trigger catastrophic breakdown of human systems, driving a rapid process of runaway collapse in which economic, social and political shocks cascade through the globally linked systemin much the same way as occurred in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2007-08.

One tragic consequence of climate change is the forced displacement of hundreds of millions of people. According to the United Nations, approximately 210 million people globally have been forced to flee their homes as a result of extreme weather or droughts since 2008.

The destructive effects of climate changefrom floods to forest fires and droughtsare exacerbated by social inequality and the underfunding of vital infrastructure. Instead of helping vulnerable communities, societys resources are handed to the super rich or squandered on vast militaries and weapons stockpiles that threaten an even graver global catastrophethe nuclear annihilation of human civilization.

Popular slogans such as, There is no planet B, This is OUR future and Respect Existence or Expect Resistance speak to a widespread understanding of the existential threat to humanity and a belief that society must change.

The global character of the student strikes and protests has fundamental significance. Young people are organising across national boundaries in recognition that climate change has global causes and global consequences. In doing so, they are meeting up with an international resurgence of the class struggle.

Millions of workers across the planet are joining strikes and protests to defend their wages, living standards and basic rights. Mass teacher walkouts have erupted in the US, UK, Zimbabwe and India. Ryanair pilots and cabin crew have struck across five European countries and Amazon workers across six, in a direct rebellion against the nationalist, pro-company trade unions. The yellow vest, the symbol of mass protests in France against President Emmanuel Macrons pro-business austerity, has been adopted by protesters in Belgium, Sudan and many other countries.

It is to this international social force, the working class, that students must turn in their fight against climate change. The destruction of the planet by corporate polluters, including the fossil fuel industry, cannot be stopped through appeals to governments or their parliamentary opponents.

The UK Student Climate Network calls on the Conservative government to lead a fight to protect life on Earth, taking active steps to achieve climate justice. But all the major partiesfrom the Conservatives and Labour in the UK, to the Republicans and Democrats in the USare committed to defending the capitalist system of production.

In this context, Labours plans for a Green Transformation, like the US Democrats Green New Deal, can only end as footnotes to the hundreds of other broken promises on the environment made by parties and governments beholden to the rich.

The top 100 companies that produce 71 percent of the planets carbon emissions have infinitely more say on government policy than the worlds working class and youth. Governments across the world have failed to meet even the minimal emissions targets set by the Paris Agreement in 2015. According to the IPCC, catastrophic climate change can now be averted only by transforming the world economy in a way that has no documented historic precedent.

The urgent measures needed to combat climate change come into conflict with two basic contradictions of the world capitalist system: the contradiction between a global economy and its division into rival nation-states, and between socialized production and the subordination of economic life to the accumulation of private profit.

As long as a handful of billionaires dominate society, with every aspect of economic life geared to their personal enrichment, not a single social problem, including climate change, can be solved. What is a required is a political struggle for socialism, making possible the organisation of production on a global scale, democratically and scientifically planned to meet the essential needs of this and future generations.

The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) fights for this programme on an international scale. As the youth organization of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), the British section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, we fight to unify workers and youth against capitalism, militarism, exploitation and oppression.

We urge young people attending todays demonstrations to join the IYSSE and fight to build a socialist movement in the youth and working class, the only social force capable of overthrowing capitalism and building a socialist society worldwide.
As Congress voted Thursday to approve spending $1.375 billion for border fencing, wall repairs and other barriers on the US-Mexico border, as part of a much larger bill funding one quarter of the federal government through September 30, the White House announced that President Donald Trump would sign the funding bill into law, but would accompany this by declaring a national emergency on the US-Mexico border.

President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive actionincluding a national emergencyto ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border, said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary.

Under the emergency declaration, the White House claims, Trump would have the authority to direct the US military to build the full-scale wall he has demanded along the border, but which Congress, under both Republican and Democratic control, has refused to support. Trump would reportedly use the assumed emergency powers to redirect funds appropriated by Congress for other purposes to pay for the wall instead.

Under Article I of the Constitution, Congress has the power to appropriate funds. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law, the text reads.

Given the clear constitutional reservation to Congress of the power of the purse, Trumps emergency decree has the character of an authoritarian, dictatorial move. It would represent a new assertion of executive authority, and, together with the very limited resistance expected from the legislative branch, a significant erosion of the constitutional system of checks and balances devised after the American Revolution to prevent the growth of a monarchical type of unrestrained executive power.

The responses of the two top congressional leaders are revealing. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Republican, had publicly opposed the declaration of a national emergency to evade congressional authority over spendinguntil Thursday afternoon, when he told the Senate, just before the vote on the federal funding bill, that Trump had agreed to sign the bill only if he combined it with an emergency declaration. McConnell said he now supported such a decree.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top congressional Democrat, criticized Trumps expected declaration, saying, The president is doing an end run around Congress. She said that Democrats were reviewing our options, which could include a congressional resolution of disapproval or a legal challenge.

At the same time, she was visibly ambivalent about the right of a president to assert emergency powers, suggesting that a Democratic president could make use of the same power on an issue like gun control. Noting the first anniversary of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, she continued, Thats a national emergency. Why dont you declare that emergency, Mr. President? I wish you would.

The implications of this political collaboration (from the Republicans) and complacency (from the Democrats) are quite ominous. Neither bourgeois party is waging a fight to defend the constitutional separation of powers or oppose what is, in effect, the declaration of unlimited presidential power.

Neither Pelosi or any other Democrat has suggested that such a declaration is a violation of the constitution, let alone an impeachable offense. Similarly, the media discusses the action entirely from the standpoint of its immediate impact on the border issue, or on Trumps political fortunes in 2020, but not as an attack on democratic rights. Public opinion is being desensitized to this threat.

It is worth recalling that the congressional Authorization for the Use of Military Force, passed in 2001, initially adopted as an urgent necessity to respond to the 9/11 attacks, has been interpreted by successive administrations, Democratic and Republican, as a blanket declaration of war on any organization or government targeted by the US president.

In similar fashion, the declaration of a national emergency to resolve a domestic political dispute in favor of the president could be repeated and extended. The first time it is done, it may be controversial; the second time, there will already be a precedent; the third time, it will become routine.

The assumption of emergency powers makes the president the arbiter of Washington, able to draw on huge and effectively unlimited resources, such as the $800 billion budget for the Pentagon, the main focus of the Trump White House in its search for funding for the border wall. In using Pentagon funds and ordering military personnel to build the walleither directly, through the Army Corps of Engineers, or by using Pentagon subcontractorsTrump would effectively settle this domestic political issue through the exercise of his powers as commander-in-chief.

According to a study by the Brennan Center for Justice, there have been 58 national emergency declarations since the National Emergencies Law was adopted, codifying the procedure, in 1976. Of these, 31 declarations are still active. Nearly all the emergency declarations have been directly linked to the foreign policy of the US government and to the presidents authority as commander-in-chief. The vast majority involve presidential directives blocking US trade or financial dealings with designated foreign individuals, organizations or governments, or entire countries.

The list of countries subject to such emergency declarations is a roster of those once or currently targeted for aggression and subversion by Washington. Among the declarations on the Brennan list are those currently directed against individuals, parties or governments in Iran, Venezuela, Sudan, Nicaragua, Russia, Cuba, North Korea, Congo, Belarus, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Central African Republic, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. There are also blanket orders dealing with terrorist groups, narcotics traffickers, and trade in chemical, biological and nuclear weapons or their components. There are orders, now expired, against targets in Serbia, Bosnia, Liberia, the Ivory Coast, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan under the Taliban, Panama, Haiti, Angola, and South Africa under apartheid.

Only one emergency declaration concerns a US domestic crisis, the outbreak of the H1N1 flu epidemic in 2009, which was allowed to expire after the epidemic subsided.

No president in modern history has ever used the declaration of a national emergency to bypass Congress or decide a dispute over domestic policy.

One declaration of national emergency, so-called Proclamation 7463, was issued by President George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks. This is the measure under which the president orders National Guard units to serve overseas, a key component of the US military effort in the invasions and subsequent occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. It has been renewed year after year, first by Bush, then Obama, and in 2017 and 2018 by Trump.

Meanwhile, Congress has never exercised its right to review the actions taken under these emergency declarations. In fact, according to one report, no president has ever carried out the requirement to report to Congress every six months on what funds have been expended in furtherance of these emergency decrees.

None of these democratic and constitutional issues were raised in the desultory and limited debates held before the Senate and House votes Thursday on the funding legislation. The bill, providing more than $300 billion to eight federal departments and many lesser agencies, passed the Senate 8316 and the House 300106.

Only five Senate Democrats opposed the bill, including four announced presidential candidatesCory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren. Independent former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, widely expected to run again in 2020, voted for the bill, as did Amy Klobuchar, Sherrod Brown and Jeff Merkley, declared or undeclared presidential hopefuls.

In the House of Representatives only 19 Democrats opposed the bill to provide $49 billion in funding to the Department of Homeland Security, including $1.375 billion in wall funding. They were joined by 87 ultra-right Republicans who wanted the full $5.7 billion in wall funding initially demanded by Trump.
A week ago, a part of a Murfreesboro Pike bridge fell off, nearly striking a woman in her car.

Concrete falls from an overpass onto a car, again Kim Clark was driving under an overpass on Murfreesboro Pike near I-24 when concrete hit her car.

The last report said it passed inspection, but crews took a closer look on Thursday.

This bridge is not safe. The next person may not be as lucky," Kim Clark said.

TDOT said the bridge is safe. Clark said her near-death experience speaks differently.

It was probably six inches from the windshield, which means I probably wouldnt be here today," Clark said.

She went straight to TDOT and CSX for answers. On Thursday, they went to see the damage themselves.

You can see the rebar hanging out," Clark said.

TDOT said minor repairs were made with the help of CSX along with cleanup.

They do get out and inspect the bridge is structurally sound for railroad.

But what about for drivers and people walking? TDOT said its up to code but Clark wants more to be done.

I would like to see signs that say caution, falling concrete, caution falling rock," Clark said.

Nashville isnt the only place with this problem.

Nationwide, the Federal Highway Administration report for 2017 said there are 54,259 bridges in the U.S. in desperate need of repair. A lot of the holdup is money and having to close major roads.

The American Society of Civil Engineers gave Tennessee a C rating on their last report, saying Tennessee "made improvements to many bridges, but still has a long way to go to keep our infrastructure from aging because it cant handle all of the new growth."

As for the future of the bridge on Murfreesboro Pike, TDOT said no further repairs are scheduled, but theyre keeping a close eye on it.
What Tennessee lawmakers said about Thursday's vote on the spending bill and border security.

(CNN) -- President Donald Trump plans to sign a compromise border security measure in conjunction with declaring a national emergency to secure funding for a border wall, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, McConnell sought to reassure lawmakers unsure of the President's position before taking a vote on the plan, which falls short of providing the $5 billion in border wall funding the President had demanded.

"He has indicated he is prepared to sign the bill. He will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time," McConnell said. "I've indicated to him that I'm going to support the national emergency declaration. So for all of my colleagues, the President will sign the bill, we will be voting on it shortly."

It provided reassurance amid questions about the President's support for the deal, which was struck by a bipartisan panel of negotiators. Aides had said earlier Thursday they were concerned Trump would reject the spending compromise -- a major shift from earlier this week when officials indicated privately that he would.

Advisers said Trump had grown increasingly concerned about what is contained in the 1,100-page legislation that was released late Wednesday evening.

As more details about the package emerged, conservative figures in Trump's orbit voiced new displeasure at the bill. That included Fox host Laura Ingraham, who tweeted earlier Thursday that Trump should not sign it. The White House had attempted earlier this week to bolster support among Trump's media allies.

White House officials have been digesting the text since early morning and have briefed the President as they go along. The President tweeted midday he was "reviewing the funding bill with my team."

"1,000 pages filed in the in middle of the night take a little time to go through," one White House official told CNN's Jim Acosta.

Prayers?

Lawmakers were set to begin voting on Thursday afternoon. Many expressed hope -- even prayers -- the President would ultimately approve it.

"I pray" Trump signs the bill, said Sen. Richard Shelby, the Republican chairman of the Appropriations Committee. He said he spoke with Trump Wednesday night and the President was in "good spirits."

Other Republicans said they were hoping for assurances Trump will sign the bill if it gets to his desk, possibly later on Thursday.

"We'd like to know it's a bill the President is going to sign. Hopefully they will let us know," said Sen. John Thune, the second-ranking GOP leader as he left a Republican conference lunch where the issue was discussed at length.

Others Republicans said they were still parsing the legislative text before committing to supporting the plan.

Earlier this week, Trump had signaled to advisers and allies he was inclined to sign the bipartisan deal to avoid another government shutdown, and would use executive action to attempt securing additional border wall dollars.

"I think the President's evaluating what's in the bill. He's also evaluating the authority he has and I know he'll be making a decision before the deadline," Vice President Mike Pence, who is traveling in Warsaw, told reporters Thursday.

Private griping

In conversations with allies over the past days, Trump has griped that Republican negotiators were outplayed by their Democratic counterparts, securing a border funding number far smaller than Trump has spent the last two months demanding.

Privately, Trump has cast GOP's dealmaking efforts as inadequate and wondered why he, an experienced dealmaker, wasn't consulted at more regular intervals as the two sides haggled over an agreement. The White House acted largely on the sidelines while congressional negotiators struck a deal.

That was intentional, according to people familiar with the process, who noted Trump's attempts at brokering an agreement between lawmakers proved futile during the record-length government shutdown that ushered in the new year.

To appease the President, aides and some Republican lawmakers have cast the smaller figure, around $1.375 billion, as a down payment that will eventually lead to new wall construction.

Initially, Trump was distressed when he watched Sean Hannity and other Fox News hosts deride the plan, including as he watched recorded versions of prime-time programming during a late-night flight home on Monday from Texas, where he'd held a campaign rally.

After phone calls from the White House, some of Trump's allies took a softer approach, saying the deal was palatable as long as Trump went ahead with unilateral action to secure some funding for the border wall.

On Thursday, however, some of those voices returned to their initial skepticism.

"So the president has his hand forced to sign a 1,159 page bill that we KNOW is filled with amnesty, PORK and wiggle room? Total SCAM! @realDonaldTrump wasn't elected for this," Laura Ingraham wrote on Twitter. "This bill must NOT be signed by @realDonaldTrump."
Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
NASHVILLE (WSMV) - The Metro Nashville Police Department is warning drivers that they are out in full force cracking down on speeding along Interstate 440.

Due to the major construction along I-440, speed limits have been reduced to 45 mph to protect construction workers and drivers.

The police department said they issued 27 citations on just Tuesday.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol is also assisting with the enforcement of the reduced speed limit.

With major construction now underway on I-440, we, @THPNashville & @myTDOT are SERIOUS about the lowered speed limit, which many drivers are ignoring. 27 citations were issued on Tue of this week alone. The 45 mph speed limit protects both motorists & construction workers. pic.twitter.com/Gk1Wawgf0e  Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) February 15, 2019

Road work begins on I-440 overhaul Lighting relocation, noise wall construction, shoulder paving and ramp work all start this week. However, traffic won't be impacted too much just yet.

Noise wall construction brings daytime work zones to 440 project Right now, crews are in the middle of replacing a much needed noise wall as part of 440's reconstruction project.

TDOT releases new details about I-440 reconstruction project The I-440 project will be affecting traffic in the west Nashville area for several months. Here's everything you need to know.
Heart disease and stroke remain the number one cause of death in our country. According to the American Heart Association, youre even more likely to die of heart disease if youre black.

February is Black History Month, but its also Heart Health Month, which is why we met with Dr. Andre Churchwell, Vanderbilt cardiologist and chief diversity officer. He says Nashville still has a long way to go when it comes to addressing health disparities that exist when comparing white and black residents in the city.

"Youre less likely to be brought to the emergency room. And the time to get to you is much longer than if it happened in a white population, in a white part of town. Its kind of striking isnt it?" said Churchwell, seated in his office at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, with his walls covered in articles and tributes to prominent African-Americans like Dr. Levi Watkins and Vivien Thomas, who made incredible contributions in the heart health industry.

Churchwell says Nashville, and our country as a whole, will never reach their full economic potential if health benefits are not perceived to be available to all Americans.

"Health disparities have to be addressed on a moral basis, but if you really need to think of it as a business investment, I really dont mind, all I want is to see is health disparities diminished and treated and eradicated," he said.

According to the American Heart Association, black Americans are more likely to be have high blood pressure and diabetes and are more likely to be obese than white Americans. Each of these factors contributes to heart disease, the leading cause of death in America.

Churchwell said theres a few reasons the black community is more likely to suffer.

"Were staying at home with our heart disease and letting it get to a severe stage before we are finally brought by our family to the emergency room because we dont trust the medical system," he said.

He says many people who suffer are skipping the doctor because they dont have the money, choosing to feed their family instead of treating their high blood pressure and heart disease. Theres also the suggestion that theres limited access to healthy foods in low-income communities and a lack of safe parks to exercise or the inability to afford transportation to access these things.

So what can be done about it?

Churchwell said theyve seen great success in treating heart disease by bringing health clinics into low-income areas. The American Heart Association is working with other community organizations to improve messaging, hoping to build trust between the healthcare industry and the African-American community.
btov Partners, a European venture capital firm, held the second closing its new Industrial Technologies Fund, at 80m.

This sum has been raised from the firms private investor network, which includes many successful entrepreneurs and executives from industry, from strategic investors, family offices, foundations, a number of banks, LfA Forderbank Bayern, NRW.BANK, the European Investment Fund  and the management team itself. Conversations with additional investors are already underway to further increase the fund volume over the coming months.

Led by Benedikt Kronberger, Dr. Christian Reitberger, Dr. Christian Schutz, and Robert Gallenberger, the fund will invest in European startups that develop innovative software and hardware for industrial applications.

In details, the fund invests in:

 robotics and autonomous agents,

 AI for industrial process optimisation,

 industry 4.0, and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things),

 cyberphysical security,

 electronics and photonics,

 disruptive and resource-efficient production technologies such as additive manufacturing, power generation and storage, as well as

 medical and quantum technologies.

The team has complementary academic backgrounds covering engineering and science as well as business administration. Professional experiences range from automotive production, management consulting, M&A advisory to founding & managing businesses. The four partners have personal connections to many leading European technology centers and research institutions and have invested in spinouts out of CERN, TU Eindhoven, TU Munich, KU Leuven/imec and many other centers of excellence.

The firm is based in St.Gallen, Switzerland, Berlin and Munich, Germany and Luxemburg.

FinSMEs

15/02/2019
Bright River, a Haarlem, the Netherlands-based provider of visual content solutions for e-commerce brands, received an investment from Pride Capital Partners.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

The company intends to use the funds to invest in three main areas:

 3D product visualization;

 automation of image editing using machine learning; and

 advanced visual content optimization (VCO).

Established in 2006 by David Jonkers, CEO, Bright River provides data-driven visual content optimization (VCO) solutions to online retailers optimize their visual product content mix, enabling them to create engaging online shopping experiences that result in higher conversions and lower return rates. The company, which applies machine learning and advanced technologies to increase efficiency in image editing, video editing, and 3D modeling, also has a second head office in New York, NY.

It has 750 people employees in five offices across three continents.

FinSMEs

15/02/2019
Alabama is an American state situated in the country's southeastern part where it covers an area of roughly 52,419 square miles. Alabama is the countrys 24th most populous state and the 30th largest regarding the land area. The state also has the largest inland waterways than any other state having a total of 1,500 miles long inland waterways, and it has the nickname of Yellowhammer, which is derived from the name of the state bird. Other nicknames of Alabama include the Cotton state and the Heart of Dixie. The oldest city in Alabama is Mobile, which was founded in 1702 by a French colonialist and it served as the capital of French Louisiana. Human societies have lived within Alabama's borders for a long time with archaeological evidence showing that Native American communities moved into the area at least 12,000 years ago. Despite the long history of human settlement in the region, the modern day boundaries of the state were mainly influenced by events that took place from the 17th century to the 19th century. Alabama shares its borders with the states of Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida.

The Alabama-Mississippi Border

The boundary between Alabama and Mississippi is situated in Alabama's western region. The boundary between the two states came about as a result of several factors such as Native American traditions, inaccurate maps, and a treaty between the Choctaw Native Americans and the British that was signed in 1765. George Johnstone who at the time was the governor of West Florida negotiated the treaty with the leaders of the Choctaw tribe. The treaty defines the boundary between the Native American settlements and British settlements. The boundary between the settlements was later used as one of the primary reference points in establishing the border between Alabama and Mississippi. Washington County's northwestern corner was identified as a point where the Choctaw border crossed an ancient trail that was used by Native American tribes as they moved out of Mobile. In 1817, after Congress established the Mississippi state and the territory of Alabama, the northwest corner was used as a significant reference point for creating the border. Some residents of Mississippi heavily contested the initial border as it alienated them from their families and business interests on the other side of Pascagoula Bay. Congress rectified the issue in 1819 after Alabama was recognized as a state.

The Alabama-Georgia Border

Alabama and Georgia are separated by a border located on Alabama's eastern edge. A large section of the border between Alabama and Georgia traces the path of the Chattahoochee River. The boundary traces its history to the colonial era after the British gained control of all the land in the region. George Johnstone was also influential in determining the location of the boundary between Alabama and Georgia. During the mid-19th century, Alabama and Georgia were embroiled in a dispute over the border. Alabaman leaders wanted clarification on the exact position of the border because they claimed that the high-water mark's position in the land west of the Chattahoochee was affected by the region's geography. The Alabaman leaders claimed that the disputed territory should be handed over to Alabama. On the other hand, Georgian leaders claimed that the disputed territory should be under their control. In 1855, Alabaman leaders presented their case to the Supreme Court, and three years later, Georgian leaders submitted their response. In 1860, the Supreme Court decided that the border between the two states would be marked by the average high-water mark on the Chattahoochee's western bank. The Supreme Court also gave both Georgia and Alabama the right to navigate the Chattahoochee River.

The Alabama-Tennessee Border

The border that separates Alabama and Tennessee is located on the northern edge of Alabama. Several Alabaman counties are located along the boundary with Tennessee such as Lauderdale, Madison, and Jackson. The Tennessean counties which are located along the border include Shelby, Fayette, and Lawrence. One of the unique towns located on the border of the two states is Ardmore. The town is situated within four counties, two in Tennessee and two in Alabama. Ardmore is essential because it was used for initial testing of the Apollo Spacecraft. The town was also the home of the Saturn IB Rocket.

The Alabama-Florida Border

Florida and Alabama are separated by a boundary which is situated in the southern edge of Alabama. The history of the border between Alabama and Florida dates back to the late 18th century after the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Several Alabaman counties are located along the boundary with Florida such as Geneva, Covington, and Houston. Floridian counties which are located along the border with Alabama include Holmes, Jackson, and Okaloosa. There are several significant towns along the border such as Dothan and Pensacola. Dothan is one of Alabama's most important towns as it is the seat of Houston County. In 2010, it was estimated that the town was home to roughly 65,496 people. Dothan is one of the most historic towns in the region as it was the site of civil unrest during the late 19th century. A new tax had caused the unrest levied on the city's wagons. Pensacola is one of Florida's most important cities as it is the most westerly town within the Florida Panhandle. Pensacola is also one of the major seaports in the region. In 2010, it was estimated that the city was home to roughly 56,255 people. The town is named after the Pensacola community, one of the Native American communities that lived in the area before the arrival of the Europeans.

The Economy of Alabama

The state of Alabama has a diversified economy, and some of its economic drivers include education, aerospace, banking, health care, and industries such as the production of steel, manufacturing of automobile, extraction of minerals, and fabrication. Animal and crop production also play a significant part in the state and 2006, they were valued at $1.5 billion. In 2008, the gross state product was $170billion or per capita GDP of $29,411. The state of Alabamas GDP in 2012 increased by 1.2% compared to the previous year.
Sebatik Island is an island in Southeast Asia, located in the Celebes Sea, approximately 0.62 miles east of Borneo. Referred to locally as Pulau Sebatik, the island is situated south of Tawau Bay and north of Sibuku Bay. Sebatik Island occupies a land area of approximately 174.6 square miles and has an estimated population of 105,000. The island is shared between two nations: Malaysia and Indonesia. The northern part of the island is administered by Malaysia, as the state of Sabah and the Tawau Division, and has a population of 25,000. The southern part of the island is administered by Indonesia, as the North Kalimantan province and the Nunukan Regency. The division of the island occurred through the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, during the occupation and colonization of Indonesia and North Borneo. Political ownership of the island was later transferred to Malaysia and Indonesia upon independence.

Border Disputes

The island's international border is patrolled by border guards but has no customs, immigration offices, walls, or fences. Instead, it is denoted by concrete markers placed every 0.62 miles along the border. Despite the relatively open border between the two nations, the island has experienced conflict. The Indonesian-Malaysian confrontation was a violent episode that occurred between 1963 and 1966. The conflict was linked to Indonesia's opposition to the formation of Malaysia, which was the result of the amalgamation of Singapore, North Borneo, Sarawak, and the Federation of Malaya. The boundary between the two nations has also resulted in disputes due to its ambiguity. For example, the eastern terminus of the boundary does not clearly define which nation has rightful ownership of Unarang Rock. The partitioning of the maritime area east of the island is also unclear. Uncertainty over ownership of this area, which has petroleum deposits claimed by both countries, led to a dispute in March 2005. The border's ambiguity has caused disagreement over the islands of Ligitan and Sipadan, which are seemingly located to the south but are governed by Malaysia. A ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2002 ruled in favor of Malaysia as the rightful owner of the two islands.

Smuggling and Trafficking Along the Border

The island has gained notoriety as an entry point for smuggled goods from Malaysia, such as sugar, as well as gas, oil, and fuel for cooking because they are relatively cheaper due to Malaysian government subsidies. The island has also been identified as a key drug and human trafficking point. The Malaysian government has attempted to address these concerns through tighter enforcement by customs and marine police, as well as the removal of certain subsidies.

Border Wall Proposal

The Malaysian government has considered the construction of a border wall to separate the two nations in order to ensure stricter border control, as well as to address claims within the Malaysian government that Indonesia is slowly encroaching on Malaysian territory. However, plans to build a border wall have been criticized by various stakeholders as being insensitive to local dynamics, such as the high rate of intermarriage between the two nations. The proposed wall would create a barrier between families and certain villages that have grown accustomed to the open boundaries.
A family is trying to get their heirlooms back after they were stolen right out of their driveway. Now theyre asking people across the state to help them track down a trailer full of irreplaceable items.
Adam Parascandola, Director of Animal Protection and Crisis Response of HSI, cuddles a dog at a dog meat farm in Hongseong-gun, South Korea, on Thursday, January 10, 2019. The operation is part of HSIs efforts to fight the dog meat trade throughout Asia. In South Korea, the campaign includes working to raise awareness among Koreans about the plight of meat dogs being no different from the animals more and more of them are keeping as pets.
Earlier this month, the Brazilian Minister of Justice Sergio Moro presented a bill proposing an anticrime package, establishing measures against corruption, organized crime and crimes committed with serious violence.

The bill proposes modifications in fourteen laws, ensuring the enforcement of the conviction after an appellate court judgment, increasing the effectiveness of the jury, guaranteeing the serving of the sentences, increasing the penalties for crimes related to firearms, reforming the crime of resistance, and criminalizing slush funds.

Among all the measures, the introduction of two new legal practices should be highlighted  negotiated solutions and whistleblower incentives.

The bill proposes to introduce two articles in the Code of Criminal Procedure (Decree-Law No. 3,689/1941), regulating conditions and rules for non-prosecution agreements between the Brazilian Public Prosecution Service and offenders, and one article in the Administrative Improbity Act (Law No. 8,429/1992), allowing settlements, agreements and conciliations (with rules similar to the Leniency Agreements and Plea Bargaining) for the offenses provided in that act, which are forbidden today.

Regarding whistleblowing, the bill proposes amendments to the Law No. 13.608/2018, obliging all public entities to establish reporting channels for crimes and administrative misconduct. It also establishes rules for protecting whistleblowers against retaliation and ensuring their anonymity and proposes an award of up to 5 percent of the amount recovered by the public administration.

It also changes the rules on motions for rehearing (embargos infringentes), on self-defense, on the form of confiscation of proceeds of the crime (authorizing them to be used), on videoconference interrogations, on the legal concept of criminal organizations, on the legal regime of federal prisons, and other measures that seek to avoid the statute of limitation, to facilitate the prosecution of complex crimes with electoral reflexes, to hinder the release of habitual criminals, and to improve investigations.

____

Lucas Zanoni , pictured above, is a Compliance Analyst at Zanoni Equipment. He studied history and law at the University of Sao Paulo and was a researcher in the fields of Fiscal History and Anti-corruption. He interned at ID Global, an institute of research and experimental development in social and human sciences. He can be contacted here.
Dakota Livesay is the editor of the Chronicle of the Old West. For more information about the Old West, visit www.ChronicleoftheOldWest.com You can hear Dakota 10 a.m. each day on KZUZ 93.5 in Show Low and KZUA 92.1 in Holbrook.
DELPHI, Ind. (WLFI)  It's been two years since the bodies of Abby Wiliiams and Libby German were found on the trail near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi, but even after all of this time community members continue to celebrate their memories.

On Thursday night, Libby German's family hosted light the night to remember her memories.

"Justice will be served in this courthouse I believe one day," said German's mother Carrie Timmons.

Outside the Carroll County Courthouse, community and family members gathered to celebrate the life of Libby German and Abby Williams.

Glow in the dark necklaces, bracelets and glow sticks lit up the gazebo on the courthouse square to signify the girls' never ending impact in Delphi.

"Everyone just kind of rallies around in support to keep us upbeat and not to let us get too discouraged," said Timmons.

Community members say it's discouraging that there aren't answers, but remain vigilant and resilient.

"If there's any information out there please remember the voice," said community member Randy Gravitt

The audio message of the alleged killer says ,"Down the hill. Down the hill. Down the hill."

Down the hill...three words that still ring in ears of those affected by the deaths of Abby and Libby. None more so than Timmons who wanted to use light the night to honor and celebrate the girls.

Libby's mom said that ever since the death of her daughter she has kept an orange light on at home to celebrate her memory just like at light the night she used orange glow sticks, which was her favorite color.

Timmons says she would do anything to turn that orange light off at home.

"Well I want to shut it off like as soon as we have him I will shut that light off," said Timmons.

This was the second year in a row for light the night. Timmons says if you know anything please speak up.

There are multiple places where you can share a tip:

Email abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com.

Contact the FBI at 844-459-5786.

Contact the Carroll County Sheriff at 765-564-2413.
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Heavy rain causes major problems for Lafayette businesses near the intersection of 11th and Main Streets. The Main Street Streetscape project that recently wrapped up is causing water to get into buildings.

"The water has nowhere to go," said One Earth Gallery owner David Kurtz. He said flooding in the intersection has been a problem for years.

"When it rains hard the water jumps that corner and comes up on the sidewalk, then it comes under the door and floods this entire area, he said, gesturing to the floor of his business.

Lafayette City Engineer Jeromy Grenard said the last time the intersection was modified was when the train tracks were relocated in 1994. The sidewalks were lower than the storefront windows and there were no curb ramps.

Kurtz said there used to be about a six inch step to get into his business, which has been open for more than 30 years.

The Streetscape renovation brought curb ramps to the intersection, and raised the sidewalks to be level with storefront doors in order to make the area compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"There were some accessibility issues at some of the buildings, said Grenard. There was a lip so somebody in a wheelchair wouldn't be able to get into those businesses."

But now, the businesses have to prepare themselves every time there is a chance of rain in the forecast. They keep sandbags outside their doors to barricade their buildings against the water. The city said a solution is coming.

"We're going to put in some storm water inlets that they use typically in Florida, said Grenard. If you've been down in Florida, you see the really large inlets so that we can capture the majority of that water."

These new inlets will be placed ahead of the intersection with the hope of catching most of the water before it gets near the businesses. The inlets arent the only fixes coming.

"What we're also going to do is lower the intersection and relocate the curb ramp, said Grenard. Any water that does get past those inlets won't be able to go up on the ramp and run down the sidewalk."

He said there are already drainage wells located under the street that have largely been left unused and they plan to use those for the new inlets. Because that infrastructure is already there, Grenard said it will cut down on costs of the fix. He also said the new inlets will help with other downtown flooding problem areas, like around 7th and Main Street.

Kurtz said he sees some irony in the situation.

"We have an ADA compliant corner but then we can't get anyone in here with a disability over the sandbags," he said.

He said he wishes that the city would have better communication with business owners about what is going to be done. He said he has concrete floors underneath the carpeting of his business, so hes not worried about water damage, but he is worried about the possibility of mold.

Weve seen survey crews out here before but this has been going on for a long time, he said.

Grenard said they expect to start fixing the intersection in spring or early summer and that it should take two to three months to complete.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler says federal, state and local officers have arrested at least 20 people on drug and weapons charges in a series of raids across Indianapolis.

Minkler says the raids carried out Wednesday brought down a methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine trafficking conspiracy centered in the Haughville neighborhood on the city's near west side.

Minkler said in a news release Thursday that four other people facing charges remained at large.

The raids resulted in the capture of about 40 guns and $155,000 in currency, and quantities of heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana were seized.
The following companies are subsidiares of AMETEK: AEM Limited, AIP/MPM Funding Inc., AIP/MPM Holdings Inc., AMETEK (Barbados) SRL, AMETEK (Bermuda) Ltd., AMETEK (GB) Limited, AMETEK Aerospace & Defense Grp UK Ltd, AMETEK Aerospace & Power Holdings Inc., AMETEK Aircraft Parts & Accessories Inc., AMETEK Airtechnology Group Ltd., AMETEK Ameron LLC, AMETEK B.V., AMETEK CTS Germany GmbH, AMETEK CTS US Inc., AMETEK Canada 1 ULC, AMETEK Canada 2 ULC., AMETEK Canada 3 ULC, AMETEK Canada LLC, AMETEK Canada Limited Partnership, AMETEK Ceramics Inc., AMETEK Commercial Enterprise Shanghai, AMETEK Creaform Financing L.P., AMETEK Creaform Inc., AMETEK Denmark A/S, AMETEK Do Brasil Ltda., AMETEK EMG Holdings Inc., AMETEK Elektromotory s.r.o, AMETEK Engineered Materials Sdn. Bhd., AMETEK Europe L.L.C., AMETEK European Holdings GmbH, AMETEK European Holdings Limited, AMETEK Financing Canada Limited Partnership, AMETEK Germany GmbH, AMETEK Global Tubes LLC, AMETEK GmbH, AMETEK Grundbesitz GmbH, AMETEK HSA Inc., AMETEK Haydon Kerk Inc., AMETEK Holdings B.V., AMETEK Holdings SARL, AMETEK Holdings de Mexico S. de R.L., AMETEK Industrial Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., AMETEK Instruments Group UK Limited, AMETEK Instruments India Private Ltd., AMETEK International C.V., AMETEK Italia S.r.l., AMETEK Kabushiki Kaisha, AMETEK Korea Co. Ltd., AMETEK Lamb Motores de Mexico S.deR.L. de C.V., AMETEK Land Inc., AMETEK Latin America Holding Company S.a r.l., AMETEK MRO Florida Inc., AMETEK Material Analysis Holdings GmbH, AMETEK Mexico Holding Company LLC, AMETEK Motors Asia Pte. Ltd., AMETEK Nordic AB, AMETEK PIP Holdings Inc., AMETEK Precision Instruments (UK) Ltd., AMETEK Precitech Inc., AMETEK Programmable Power Inc., AMETEK Receivables Corp., AMETEK Russia (UK) Ltd., AMETEK S.A.S., AMETEK S.r.l., AMETEK SCP, AMETEK SCP (Barrow) Limited, AMETEK Singapore Private Ltd., AMETEK Taiwan Co. Ltd., AMETEK Technical & Industrial Products Inc., AMETEK Thermal Systems Inc., AMETEK UK Limited Partnership, AMETEK VIS-K Inc., Advanced Measurement Technology Inc., Aero Components International Corp., Airtechnology Pension Trustees Ltd., Akron Standard Bestry (Guangzhou) Measurement Equipment Co. Ltd., Amekai (BVI) Ltd., Amekai Meter (Xiamen) Co. Ltd., Amekai Singapore Private Ltd., Amekai Taiwan Co. Ltd., Ametek Advanced Industries Inc., Ametek-Reading Alloys Inc., Amptek Inc., Antavia SAS, Atlas Material Holdings Corporation, Atlas Material Testing Technology (India) Private Limited, Atlas Material Testing Technology BV, Atlas Material Testing Technology GmbH, Atlas Material Testing Technology L.L.C., Atlas Material Testing Technology LLC, Atlas Material Testing Technology Ltd., Atlas Netherlands AcquisitionCo Cooperatief U.A., Avicenna Technology Inc., Avtech Avionics & Instruments LLC, B&S Aircraft, Barben Analyzer Technology LLC, Brookfield Engineering, CAMECA Instruments Inc., CAMECA SAS, CARDINALUHP LLC, CS Holdings Co. Inc., CS Intermediate Holdings Co. Inc., Cameca, Chandler Instruments Company LLC, Cognex - Surface Inspection Systems Division, Coining Holding Company, Coining Inc., Controls Southeast Inc., Creaform, Creaform France S.A.S., Creaform Inc., Creaform Japan K.K., Creaform Shanghai Ltd., Creaform USA Inc., Crystal Engineering Corp, Crystal Engineering Corporation, Direl GmbH, Direl Holding GmbH, Drake Air, Drake Air Inc., Drexelbrook Engineering Company, Dunkermotoren GmbH, Dunkermotoren Linear Systems Ltd., Dunkermotoren Subotica d.o.o., Dunkermotoren Taicang Co. Ltd., Dunkermotoren USA Inc., EDAX Inc., EM Test (Switzerland) GmbH, EMA Corp., EMA Finance 1 LLC, EMA Finance 2 LLC, EMA Holdings Inc., EMA Holdings UK Limited, EMA MX LLC, EMtest, ESP Holdco Inc., ESP/SurgeX, Electronic Systems Protection Inc., Elgar Holdings Inc., Fine Tubes Limited, Frameflair Limited, GS Electric, Glasseal Products Inc., Global Tubes, Grabner Instruments Messtechnik GmbH, HCC Aegis Inc., HCC Industries Inc., HCC Industries International, HCC Machining Company Inc., HDR Power Systems LLC, HS Foils Oy, Hamilton Precision Metals Inc., Hamilton Precision Metals of Delaware Inc., Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions Inc., Haydon Linear Motors (Changzhou) Co. Ltd., Hermetic Seal Corporation, High Standard Aviation, Imago Scientific Instruments, KBA Enterprises Inc., Land Instruments International Ltd., Laserage Technology Corp, Luphos GmbH, MCG Acquisition Corporation, Micro-Poise Industrial Equipment (Beijing) Ltd., Micro-Poise Measurement Systems Europe GmbH, Micro-Poise Measurement Systems LLC, Milmega Limited, Mocon, Motec GmbH, Motion Control Group, Muirhead Aerospace Limited, Muirhead Aerospace Ltd., NewAge Testing Instruments Inc., Newage Testing Instruments Inc., Nu Instruments (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Nu Instruments Asia Ltd., Nu Instruments Japan KK, Nu Instruments Limited, Nu Instruments Ltd, O'Brien Corp, OBCORP International LLC, OBCORP LLC, OOO AMETEK, OBrien BVBA, OBrien Holding Co. Inc., OBrien Superior Holding Co. Inc., Patriot Sensors & Controls Corporation, PennEngineering Motion Technologies, Petrolab L.L.C., Powervar, Powervar Canada Inc., Powervar Deutschland GmbH, Powervar Inc, Powervar Limited, Powervar Mexico S.A. de C.V., Precitech, QM China Holding Inc., Quizix Inc., RAI Enterprises Inc., RETE Holding GmbH, Rauland-Borg, Reading Alloys Inc., Reichert Inc, Reichert Technologies, Rotron Inc., Rotron Incorporated, SCPH Holdings Inc., SPECTRO Analytical Instruments (Asia-Pacific) Ltd., SPECTRO Analytical Instruments (Pty). Ltd., SPECTRO Analytical Instruments GmbH, SPECTRO Analytical Instruments Inc., SPECTRO Analytical UK Limited, SSH Non-Destructive Testing Inc., Sealtron Inc., Seiko EG&G Co. Ltd., Six Brookside Drive Corporation., Solartron Group Ltd., Solartron Metrology Ltd., Solidstate Controls Inc. de Argentina S.R.L., Solidstate Controls LLC, Solidstate Controls LLC, Solidstate Controls Mexico S.A. de C.V., Southern Aero Partners Inc., Southern Aeroparts Inc, Spectro Analytical Instruments Inc., Spectro Scientific, Sterling Ultra Precision Inc., SunPower Inc., Sunpower Inc., Superior Tube Company Inc., TPM Russia Inc., Taylor Hobson Holdings Limited, Taylor Hobson Inc., Taylor Hobson Ltd., Taylor Hobson Trustees Limited, Technical Manufacturing Corp, Technical Manufacturing Corporation, Technical Services for Electronics Inc., Telular Corporation, Teseq AG, Teseq Company Ltd., Teseq GmbH, Teseq Holding AG, Teseq Limited, Thelsha Technical Services, Tritex Corporation, Tubes Holdco Limited, Unispec Marketing Pvt. Ltd., Universal Analyzers Inc., VTI Holdings Inc., VTI Instruments Corporation, VTI Instruments Private Limited, VTI Integrated Systems Private Limited, VXI Acquisition Inc., Vision Research Europe B.V., Vision Research Inc., Vision Research Limited, Vision Research srl, Zemetrics Inc., Zygo, Zygo Canada ULC., Zygo Germany GmbH, Zygo Pte Ltd., Zygo Richmond Corporation, and ZygoLamda Metrology Instrument (Shanghai) Co. Ltd..
The following companies are subsidiares of Tesco: Adminstore Limited, Adsega Limited, Alfred Preedy & Sons (Trustees) Limited, Alfred Preedy & Sons Limited, Anthony Heagney Limited, Arena (Jersey) Management Limited, Armitage Finance Unlimited, Armitage Luxembourg s.? r.l., BLT Holdings 2010 Limited, Bath Upper Bristol Road Management, Bedminster Estates Limited, Beehythe Estates limited, Berry Lane Management Company Limited, Blinkbox Books Limited, BlinxBox, Booker Group, Brian Fords Discount Store Limited, Broadfields Management Limited, Brookmaker (GP) Limited, Broughton Retail Park Nominee 1 Limited, Broughton Retail Park Nominee 2 Limited, Broughton Retail Park Nominee 3 Limited, Broughton Retail Park Nominee 4 Limited, Buckingham Road (Bletchley) Management Company Limited, Bugden Ltd, Buttoncable Limited, Buttoncase Limited, Canterbury Road Management Limited, Cardiff Cathays Terrace Management Company Limited, Careneed News Limited, Cheshunt Finance Unlimited, Cheshunt Holdings Guernsey Limited, Cheshunt Hungary Servicing Limited Liability Company, Cheshunt Luxembourg S.? r.l., Cheshunt Overseas LLP, China Property Holdings (HK) Limited, Chirac Limited, Cirrus Finance (2009) Limited, Cirrus Finance Limited, Cirrus Luxembourg s.? r.l., Clarepharm Limited, Clondalkin Properties Limited, Comar Limited, Commercial Investments Limited, Crazy Prices, Crest Ostrava a.s, Cullens Holdings Limited, Cullens Stores Limited, Daily Wrap Produce Limited, Day And Nite Stores Limited, Delamare Cards Holdco Limited, Delamare Cards MTN Issuer plc, Delamare Finance PLC, Delamare Group Holdings Limited, Delamare Holdings BV Netherlands, Delamare Luxembourg s.? r.l. Luxembourg, Delamare One Limited, Dunnhumby Ventures LLC, ELH Insurance Limited, Edinburgh Butterfly Farm Limited, Edson Investments Limited, Edson Properties Limited, Ek-Chai Distribution System Co. Ltd., Euphorium (London) Limited, Euphorium (North London) Limited, Euphorium Group Limited, Euphorium IP Limited, Europa Foods Limited, Faraday Properties Limited, Flitwick Pharmacies Limited, Food & Wine Lovers Limited, Forum Liberec s.r.o, Freds Food Construction Limited, Freehold and Leasehold Property Fund, Gain Land Limited, Genesis sp. z o.o., Gibbs News Limited, Gibbs Newsagents Limited, Gida Sanayi A.S., Giraffe, Giraffe Cafe Limited, Giraffe Concepts Limited, Golden Island Management Services Limited, HIT hypermarket Sp. z o. o., Halesworth SPV Limited, Harris and Hoole Holdings Limited, Harris and Hoole Limited, Harris and Hoole Nominees Limited, Homeplus, Hymall Co. Ltd., J E Properties Holdings Limited, Jasper Sp. z o. o. Poland, KSS Retail Limited, Kabaty Investments Tesco (Polska) Sp. z o. o. Sp.k, Kingsway Fresh Foods Ltd, Koxka Hungary Refrigeration LLC, Launchgrain Limited, Launchtable Limited, Laws Stores Limited, Lazada Group S.A., Lee (Southern) Limited, Lek?ren? Tesco Bansk? Bystrica k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Dunajsk? Streda k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Ko?ice k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Lama k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Nitra k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Petr?alka k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Pie?tany k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Pre?ov Vukov k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Senec k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Spi?sk? Nov? Ves k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Trenc??n s.r.o. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Zlat? Piesky k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Zvolen k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Linebush III Holdings Limited, Linebush III Limited, Linebush IV Limited, Linebush Limited, Linebush V Limited, London and Home Counties Superstores Limited, Lowfoods Limited, M & W Limited, Merrion Shopping Centre Ltd, Mills (East Midlands) Limited, Mills (West Midlands) Limited, Mills Group Holdings Limited, Mills Group Limited, Mobcast Services, Monread Developments Limited, Morgam Holdings Limited, Morgam News Limited, Motorcause Limited, NPL (Hardgate) Limited, Nabola Development Limited, NutriCentre Limited, OC FORUM Liberec Ltd., Oakwood Distribution Limited, Obchodn? dom Bratislava s.ro, Obchodn? dom Ko?ice s.ro., Obchodn? dom Nitra s.ro., Obchodn? dom Pre?ov s.ro., Old FEHC Inc., Old FEPC LLC, One Stop Community Stores Ltd, One Stop Convenience Stores Limited, One Stop Stores Limited, One Stop Stores Trustee Services Limited, Orpingford, Orpington (Station Road) Limited, Oxford Fox and Hounds Management Company Limited, PEJ Property Developments Limited, Paper Chain (East Anglia) Limited, Pharaway Properties Limited, Power Supermarkets Limited, Premier Garage (Worthing) Limited, Pulford Foods Limited, R.J.D. Holdings, Retail Property Co. Ltd, S Bottomley & Bros Limited, Sanders Supermarkets Limited, Sandtable Limited, Sarcon (No. 239) Limited, Seacroft Green Nominee 1 Limited, Seacroft Green Nominee 2 Limited, Shire Park Limited, Shuke Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Snowman Retail 1 Limited, Snowman Retail 2 Limited, Sociomantic AB, Sociomantic Labs B.V, Sociomantic Labs Inc, Sociomantic Labs Internet Hizmetleri Limited ?ireketi, Sociomantic Labs LLC, Sociomantic Labs Limited, Sociomantic Labs Private Limited, Sociomantic Labs Pte Ltd, Sociomantic Labs S.r.l, Sociomantic Labs SARL, Sociomantic Labs Servicos Web Ltda, Sociomantic Labs Sp.z.o.o., Sociomantic Labs s.r.o., Sociomantic S.L.U., Sociomantic labs GmbH, Spen Hill Developments (Holdings) Ltd, Spen Hill Developments (Portishead) Ltd, Spen Hill Developments (Tonbridge) Limited, Spen Hill Developments Limited, Spen Hill Management Limited, Spen Hill Properties (Holdings) plc, Spen Hill Properties (Southend) Limited, Spen Hill Regeneration Limited, Spen Hill Residential No 1 Limited, Spen Hill Residential No 2 Limited, Station House Welling Management Limited, Statusfloat Limited, Stewarts Supermarkets Limited, Streatham Management Company Limited, T & S Management Services Limited, T & S Properties Limited, T & S Stores Limited, TESCO (POLSKA) sp. z o.o., TESCO Akad?mia K?pz?si ?s Fejleszt?si Kor?tolt Felelss?g T?rsas?g, TESCO MOBILE POLSKA SP. Z O.O., TESCO STORES SR a.s., Tapesilver Limited, Teesport (GP) Limited, Teesport (Nominee) Limited, Telegraph Properties (Kirkby) Limited, Tesco (Foxtrot 1) Limited, Tesco (Foxtrot 2) Limited, Tesco (Fujian) Industry Limited, Tesco (Jersey) Limited, Tesco (Overseas) Ltd, Tesco (Yorkshire) Limited, Tesco Aqua (1LP) Limited, Tesco Aqua (3LP) Limited, Tesco Aqua (FinCo1) Limited, Tesco Aqua (FinCo2) Limited, Tesco Aqua (GP) Limited, Tesco Aqua (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Aqua (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Aqua (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Atrato (1LP) Limited, Tesco Atrato (GP) Limited, Tesco Barbers Wood Limited, Tesco Bengaluru Private Limited, Tesco Blue (1LP) Limited, Tesco Blue (FinCo2) Limited, Tesco Blue (GP) Limited, Tesco Blue (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Blue (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Blue (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Capital No. 1 Limited, Tesco Capital No. 2 Limited, Tesco Card Services Limited, Tesco Card Services Limited, Tesco Card Services Ltd., Tesco Chile Sourcing Limitada, Tesco Coral (GP) Limited, Tesco Corporate Treasury Services PLC, Tesco Depot Propco Limited, Tesco Distribution Holdings Limited, Tesco Distribution Limited, Tesco Dorney (1LP) Limited, Tesco Dorney (GP) Limited, Tesco Dystrybucja Sp. z.o.o., Tesco EU IT Services s.r.o., Tesco Employees Share Scheme Trustees Limited, Tesco Estates Limited, Tesco Europe B.V. Netherlands, Tesco Family Dining Limited, Tesco Food Sourcing Brazil Representa??o De Servi?os Ltda., Tesco Food Sourcing Limited, Tesco Foundation (Nadacia Tesco), Tesco Freetime Limited, Tesco Fuchsia (1LP) Limited, Tesco Fuel Limited, Tesco Global Employment Company Limited, Tesco Guangdong (HK) Co. Limited, Tesco High Beech Limited, Tesco Holdings BV, Tesco Holdings Limited, Tesco Home Shopping Limited, Tesco Hungary (Holdings) Limited, Tesco International Franchising s.r.o., Tesco International Internet Retailing Limited, Tesco International Services Limited, Tesco International Sourcing Limited, Tesco Ireland Holdings Limited, Tesco Ireland Limited, Tesco Ireland Pension Trustees Limited, Tesco Jade (GP) Limited, Tesco Joint Buying Service (Shanghai) Co Limited, Tesco Kipa Kitle Pazarlama Ticaret Lojistik ve, Tesco Kirkby (General Partner) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (LP) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Unitholder 1) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Unitholder2) Limited, Tesco Lagoon GP Limited, Tesco Licences Limited, Tesco Lotus Retail Growth, Tesco Lotus Retail Growth Freehold and Leasehold Property Fund, Tesco Maintenance Limited, Tesco Mauritius Holdings Limited, Tesco Mobile (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Tesco Mobile CR s.r.o., Tesco Mobile Communications Limited, Tesco Mobile Ireland Limited, Tesco Mobile Ireland Limited, Tesco Mobile Limited, Tesco Mobile Services Limited, Tesco Mobile Slovakia s.r.o, Tesco Mobile Slovakia s.r.o., Tesco Mobile CR, Tesco Nanjing Zhongshan, Tesco Nanjing Zhongshan (HK) Co. Limited, Tesco Navona (1LP) Limited, Tesco Navona (GP) Limited, Tesco Navona (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Navona (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Navona (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Navona PL Propco Limited, Tesco Opticians Limited, Tesco Overseas (Holdings) Limited, Tesco Overseas Investments Limited, Tesco Overseas ULC, Tesco Passaic (1LP) Limited, Tesco Passaic (GP) Limited, Tesco Passaic (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Passaic (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Passaic (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Passaic PL Propco Limited, Tesco Pension (Jade) Limited, Tesco Pension Investment Limited, Tesco Pension Trustees Limited, Tesco Personal Finance, Tesco Personal Finance Compare Limited, Tesco Personal Finance Group Limited, Tesco Property (No.1) Limited, Tesco Property (Nominees) (No.1) Limited, Tesco Property (Nominees) (No.2) Limited, Tesco Property (Nominees) Limited, Tesco Property A.S., Tesco Property Finance 1 Holdco Limited, Tesco Property Finance 1 PLC, Tesco Property Holdings (No. 2) Limited, Tesco Property Holdings Limited, Tesco Property Limited, Tesco Property Nominees (No.5) Limited, Tesco Property Nominees (No.6) Limited, Tesco Property Partner (GP No.2) Limited, Tesco Property Partner (GP) Limited, Tesco Property Partner (No.1) Limited, Tesco Property Partner (No.2) Limited, Tesco Red (1LP) Limited, Tesco Red (GP) Limited, Tesco Red (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Red (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Sarum (1LP) Limited, Tesco Sarum (GP) Limited, Tesco Seacroft Limited, Tesco Secretaries Limited, Tesco Services Limited, Tesco Sourcing India Private Limited, Tesco Stores (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Tesco Stores (Thailand) Ltd, Tesco Stores CR a.s., Tesco Stores Limited, Tesco Technology Services HK Limited, Tesco Treasury Services PLC, Tesco Trustee Company of Ireland Limited, Tesco Underwriting Limited, Tesco Vin Plus SA, Tesco Worldwide Limited, Tesco for Thais Foundation, Tesco-Global Stores Privately Held Co. Ltd, Tesco.Com Limited, The Brookmaker Limited Partnership, The Teesport Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Aqua Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Atrato Limited Partnership, The Tesco Blue Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Coral Limited Partnership, The Tesco Dorney Limited Partnership, The Tesco Kirkby Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Navona Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Passaic Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Property (No.2) Limited Partnership, The Tesco Red Limited Partnership, The Tesco Sarum Limited Partnership, Trent Hypermarket Private Limited, Trigger Retail Ltd, Valiant Insurance Company DAC, Value House Properties Limited, Variable Preference, Ventnor High Street Management Company Limited, Verulam Properties (2001) Limited, Verulam Properties Limited, Victoria BB Sp z.o.o., WE7, WSC Properties Limited, Wanze Properties (Dundalk) Limited, Weymouth Avenue (Dorchester) Limited, Whitecastle Properties Limited, Wm. Low Supermarkets Limited, Woolwich Central Residents Management Company Limited, Worple Road Plc, Xiamen Firste Property Limited, Xiamen Firste Property Limited, aAcklam Management Company Limited, dunnhumby (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, dunnhumby (Thailand) Limited, dunnhumby Canada Limited, dunnhumby Consulting Services India Private Limited, dunnhumby Czech s.r.o., dunnhumby Employment Company Limited, dunnhumby Holding Limited, dunnhumby Hungary Kft, dunnhumby IT Services India Private Limited, dunnhumby Inc, dunnhumby International Limited, dunnhumby Ireland Limited, dunnhumby Italia Srl., dunnhumby Limited, dunnhumby Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., dunnhumby Netherlands B.V., dunnhumby Norge A.S., dunnhumby Overseas Limited, dunnhumby Poland Sp z.o.o, dunnhumby Slovakia s.r.o., dunnhumby South Africa (Pty) Ltd, dunnhumby Trustees Limited, and dunnuhumby.
Penske Automotive Group, Inc., a diversified transportation services company, operates automotive and commercial truck dealerships. The company operates through four segments: Retail Automotive, Retail Commercial Truck, Other, and Non-Automotive Investments. It operates dealerships under franchise agreements with various automotive manufacturers and distributors. The company engages in the sale of new and used motor vehicles, and related products and services comprise vehicle and collision repair services, as well as placement of finance and lease contracts, third-party insurance products, and other aftermarket products; and wholesale of parts. It also operates a heavy and medium duty truck dealership, which offers Freightliner and Western Star branded trucks, as well as a range of used trucks, and maintenance and repair services. In addition, it imports and distributes Western Star heavy-duty trucks, MAN heavy and medium duty trucks, buses, and Dennis Eagle refuse collection vehicles with associated parts in Australia, New Zealand, and portions of the Pacific. Further, the company distributes diesel and gas engines, and power systems. The company operates 304 retail automotive franchises, including 142 franchises located in the United States and 162 franchises located outside of the United States; 17 used vehicle supercenters in the United States and the United Kingdom; and 25 commercial truck dealerships in Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, Utah, and Idaho, the United States, as well as Canada. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

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MEDNAX, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides newborn, maternal-fetal, pediatric cardiology, and other pediatric subspecialty care services in the United States and Puerto Rico. It offers neonatal care services, such as clinical care to babies born prematurely or with complications within specific units at hospitals through neonatal physician subspecialists, neonatal nurse practitioners, and other pediatric clinicians. The company also provides maternal-fetal care services, including inpatient and office-based clinical care to expectant mothers and unborn babies through affiliated maternal-fetal medicine subspecialists, as well as obstetricians and other clinicians, including maternal-fetal nurse practitioners, certified nurse mid-wives, ultrasonographers, and genetic counselors. In addition, it offers pediatric cardiology care services comprising inpatient and office-based pediatric cardiology care of the fetus, infant, child, and adolescent patient with congenital heart defects and acquired heart disease, as well as adults with congenital heart defects through affiliated pediatric cardiologist subspecialists and other related clinical professionals; and specialized cardiac care to the fetus, neonatal and pediatric patients. Further, the company provides other pediatric subspecialty care services through pediatric subspecialists, such as pediatric intensivists, pediatric hospitalists, pediatric surgeons, and pediatric ophthalmologists, as well as pediatric ear, nose, and throat physicians; and support services in the areas of hospitals, primarily in the pediatric emergency rooms, labor and delivery areas, and nursery and pediatric departments. As of March 16, 2021, it operated a network of approximately 2,300 physicians. The company was founded in 1979 and is based in Sunrise, Florida.

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George Mason University is hosting Ukrainian economics researcher Dr. Ararat Osipian as its first endangered scholar as a participant in the New University in Exile Consortium.
Intrepid Potash, Inc. produces and sells potash and langbeinite products in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Potash, Trio, and Oilfield Solutions. The Potash segment offers muriate of potash or potassium chloride for use as a fertilizer input in the agricultural market; as a component in drilling and fracturing fluids for oil and gas wells, as well as an input to other industrial processes in the industrial market; and as a nutrient supplement in the animal feed market. The Trio segment provides Trio, a specialty fertilizer that delivers potassium, sulfate, and magnesium in a single particle. The Oilfield Solutions segment sells water for use in the oil and gas services industry; and offers potassium chloride real-time mixing services on location for hydraulic fracturing operations and trucking services. The company offers salt for use in animal feeds, industrial applications, pool salts, and treatment of roads and walkways; magnesium chloride for use in the deicing and dedusting of roads; brines for well development and completion activities in the oil and gas industry; and metal recovery salt, a combination of potash and salt to enhance the recovery of aluminum in the aluminum recycling processing facilities. Intrepid Potash, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

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NEW YORK, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday expressed disappointment at U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon's decision to drop its plan of building a new headquarters in the Long Island City neighborhood of New York City's Queens borough.

"You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity," the mayor tweeted after Amazon made the announcement in a statement.

"We have the best talent in the world and every day we are growing a stronger and fairer economy for everyone. If Amazon can't recognize what that's worth, its competitors will," the mayor said in a following tweet.

Meanwhile, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo denounced the New York State Senate in a statement, saying that they should be "held accountable for this lost economic opportunity."

"A small group politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community...the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state," he said, without naming those vocal political figures in opposition of the Amazon deal.

In November last year, Amazon announced its plan to split its new headquarters between Long Island City in New York's borough of Queens and Crystal city, a neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia, and promised to create a total of 50,000 jobs in two sites.

Both de Blasio and Cuomo welcomed the deal and promised to offer the company a total of some 3 billion U.S. dollars in tax breaks if it realized the employment goal. But the plan incurred fierce opposition from a large number of local residents and some politicians, saying the deal would not directly benefit New Yorkers and the incentives should be instead invested on enhancing local infrastructure.

Following mounting pressure, Amazon announced the drop-out plan on Thursday, saying the decision was made "after much thought and deliberation."

According to the statement, while polls showed that 70 percent of New York residents supported the project, a number of state and local politicians opposed Amazon's presence and would not work with the company to build the type of relationships that were required in order to go forward with the project.

The company also said it does not plan to look for another headquarters location at this time.
First BanCorp. operates as the bank holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico that provides a range of financial products and services to retail, commercial, and institutional clients. The company operates in six segments: Commercial and Corporate Banking, Mortgage Banking, Consumer (Retail) Banking, Treasury and Investments, United States Operations, and Virgin Islands Operations. The Commercial and Corporate Banking segment offers commercial real estate and construction loans, floor plan financing, and cash and business management services. The Mortgage Banking segment engages in the origination, sale, and servicing of various residential mortgage loan products and related hedging activities; and acquisition and sale of mortgages in the secondary markets. The Consumer (Retail) Banking segment provides auto, boat, and personal loans; credit cards; lines of credit; deposit products comprising interest bearing and non-interest bearing checking and savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, and retail certificates of deposit (CDs); finance leasing and insurance services. The Treasury and Investments segment engages in the treasury and investment management activities, such as funding and liquidity management. The United States Operations segment offers savings, checking, and money market accounts, as well as retail CDs; and residential mortgages, home equity loans, lines of credit, and term loans, as well as Internet banking, cash management, remote data capture, and automated clearing house transaction services. The Virgin Islands Operations segment is involved in the consumer, commercial lending, and deposit-taking activities. As of December 31, 2020, the company operated 73 branches in Puerto Rico, 11 branches in the U.S. Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands, and 10 branches in the state of Florida. First BanCorp. was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Santurce, Puerto Rico.

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The following companies are subsidiares of ENI: Adriaplin Podjetje za distribucijo, Agenzia Giornalistica Italia SpA, Agip Caspian Sea BV, Agip Energy and Natural, Agip Karachaganak BV, Agip Petroli, Aldro Energy, Banque Eni SA, Burren Energy (Bermuda) Ltd(1), Burren Energy (Egypt) Ltd, Burren Energy Congo Ltd, Burren Energy India Ltd, Burren Energy Plc, Burren Shakti Ltd, D-Service Media Srl, D-Share SpA, D-Share USA Corp., Dunastyr Polisztirolgyarto Zartkoruen, Ecofuel SpA, Eni AEP Ltd, Eni Abu Dhabi BV, Eni Abu Dhabi Refining & Trading BV, Eni Abu Dhabi Refining & Trading Services BV, Eni Albania BV, Eni Algeria Exploration BV, Eni Algeria Ltd Sarl, Eni Algeria Production BV, Eni Ambalat Ltd, Eni America Ltd, Eni Angola Exploration BV, Eni Angola Production BV, Eni Angola SpA, Eni Argentina Exploracion, Eni Arguni I Ltd, Eni Australia BV, Eni Australia Ltd, Eni Austria GmbH, Eni BB Petroleum Inc, Eni BTC Ltd, Eni Bahrain BV, Eni Benelux BV, Eni Bukat Ltd, Eni CBM Ltd, Eni Canada Holding Ltd, Eni China BV, Eni Congo SA, Eni Corporate University SpA, Eni Cyprus Ltd, Eni Cote dIvoire Ltd, Eni Denmark BV, Eni Deutschland GmbH, Eni East Ganal Ltd, Eni East Sepinggan Ltd, Eni Ecuador SA, Eni Elgin/Franklin Ltd, Eni Energy Russia BV, Eni Exploration & Production Holding BV, Eni Finance International SA, Eni Finance USA Inc, Eni France Sarl, Eni Fuel SpA, Eni G&P Trading BV, Eni Gabon SA, Eni Ganal Ltd, Eni Gas & Power France SA, Eni Gas & Power LNG Australia BV, Eni Gas Transport Services Srl, Eni Ghana Exploration and Production Ltd, Eni Hewett Ltd, Eni Hydrocarbons Venezuela Ltd, Eni Iberia SLU, Eni India Ltd, Eni Indonesia Ltd, Eni Indonesia Ots 1 Ltd, Eni Insurance DAC, Eni International BV, Eni International NA NV Sarl, Eni International Resources Ltd, Eni Investments Plc, Eni Iran BV, Eni Iraq BV, Eni Ireland BV, Eni Isatay BV, Eni JPDA 03-13 Ltd, Eni JPDA 06-105 Pty Ltd, Eni JPDA 11-106 BV, Eni Kenya BV, Eni Krueng Mane Ltd, Eni LNS Ltd, Eni Lasmo Plc, Eni Lebanon BV, Eni Liberia BV, Eni Liverpool Bay Operating Co Ltd, Eni Lubricants Trading (Shangai) Co Ltd, Eni Marketing Austria GmbH, Eni Marketing Inc, Eni Maroc BV, Eni Mediterranea Idrocarburi SpA, Eni Middle East Ltd, Eni Mineralolhandel GmbH, Eni Montenegro BV, Eni Mozambico SpA, Eni Mozambique Engineering Ltd, Eni Mozambique LNG Holding BV, Eni Muara Bakau BV, Eni Myanmar BV, Eni Mexico S. de RL de CV, Eni Next Llc, Eni North Africa BV, Eni North Ganal Ltd, Eni Oil & Gas Inc, Eni Oil Algeria Ltd, Eni Oil Holdings BV, Eni Oman BV, Eni Pakistan (M) Ltd Sarl, Eni Pakistan Ltd, Eni Petroleum Co Inc, Eni Petroleum US Llc, Eni Portugal BV, Eni RAK BV, Eni RD Congo SA, Eni Rapak Ltd, Eni Rovuma Basin BV, Eni Schmiertechnik GmbH, Eni Sharjah BV, Eni South Africa BV, Eni South China Sea Ltd Sarl, Eni Suisse SA, Eni TNS Ltd, Eni Timor Leste SpA, Eni Trading & Shipping Inc, Eni Trading & Shipping SpA, Eni Transporte y Suministro Mexico , Eni Tunisia BV, Eni Turkmenistan Ltd, Eni UHL Ltd, Eni UK Holding Plc, Eni UK Ltd, Eni UKCS Ltd, Eni ULT Ltd, Eni ULX Ltd, Eni US Operating Co Inc, Eni USA Gas Marketing Llc, Eni USA Inc, Eni USA R&M Co Inc, Eni Ukraine Holdings BV, Eni Ukraine Llc, Eni Ukraine Shallow Waters BV, Eni Venezuela BV, Eni Venezuela E&P Holding SA, Eni Vietnam BV, Eni West Africa SpA, Eni West Ganal Ltd, Eni West Timor Ltd, Eni Yemen Ltd, Eni do Brasil Investimentos em Exploracao e Producao de Petroleo Ltda, Eni gas e luce SpA, EniPower Mantova SpA, EniProgetti Egypt Ltd, EniProgetti SpA, EniServizi SpA, Esacontrol SA, Esain SA, Eurl Eni Algerie, FRI-EL Group, First Calgary Petroleums LP, First Calgary Petroleums Partner Co ULC, First Calgary Petroliums, Floaters SpA, Gas Supply Company Thessaloniki - Thessalia SA, Gazoduc Transtunisien SA - Scogat SA, Ieoc Exploration BV, Ieoc Production BV, Ieoc SpA, LNG Shipping SpA, Lasmo Sanga Sanga Ltd, Liverpool Bay Ltd, Mizamtec Operating Company, Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag, Nigerian Agip CPFA Ltd, Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd, Nigerian Agip Oil Co Ltd, OOO Eni Energhia, OOO Eni-Nefto, Oleoduc du Rhone SA, Petroven Srl, Raffineria di Gela SpA, Resources (Nigeria) Ltd, S. de RL de CV, SEA SpA, SeaPad SpA, Serfactoring SpA, Servizi Aerei SpA, Servizi Fondo Bombole Metano SpA, Societa Petrolifera Italiana SpA, Societe de Service du Gazoduc, Societe pour la Construction du, Tecnoesa SA, Trans Tunisian Pipeline Co SpA, Transtunisien SA - Sergaz SA, Versalis Americas Inc, Versalis Congo Sarlu, Versalis Deutschland GmbH, Versalis France SAS, Versalis International SA, Versalis Kimya Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Versalis Mexico S. de R.L. de CV, Versalis Pacific (India) Private Ltd, Versalis Pacific Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, Versalis Singapore Pte Ltd, Versalis SpA, Versalis UK Ltd, Zetah Congo Ltd, Zetah Kouilou Ltd, and zemeljskega plina doo Ljubljana.
The following companies are subsidiares of Danaher: AB SCIEX, AB Sciex Germany GmbH, AB Sciex LLC, AB Sciex LP, AB Sciex Pte Ltd., Accu-Sort Systems, Acme Cleveland Corporation, Advanced Vision Technology, American Precision Industries, Applied Biosystems, Applitek NV, Aquatic Infomatics ULC, Aquatic Informatics, Armstrong Tools, BC Distribution BV, Beckman Coulter, Beckman Coulter Australia Pty Ltd, Beckman Coulter Biotechnology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Beckman Coulter Biyomedikal Urunler Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited [irketi], Beckman Coulter Canada LP, Beckman Coulter Commercial Enterprise (China) Co. Ltd., Beckman Coulter France S.A.S., Beckman Coulter G.m.b.H., Beckman Coulter Genomics Inc., Beckman Coulter Hong Kong Limited, Beckman Coulter Inc., Beckman Coulter India Private Limited, Beckman Coulter International SA, Beckman Coulter International Shanghai Trading Co., Beckman Coulter Ireland Inc., Beckman Coulter K.K., Beckman Coulter Korea Ltd., Beckman Coulter Laboratory Systems (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Beckman Coulter Limited Liability Company, Beckman Coulter Mishima KK, Beckman Coulter Nederland B.V., Beckman Coulter Nippon GK, Beckman Coulter S.L.U., Beckman Coulter Saudi Arabia Co.Ltd., Beckman Coulter Srl, Beckman Coulter Taiwan Inc., Beckman Coulter United Kingdom Limited, Beckman Coulter de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Beckman Coulter do Brasil Ltda., Beckman Finance ApS, Beckman Holdings Ltd., BioTector Analytical Systems Ltd, Biosafe S.A., Blue Software LLC, Cepheid, Cepheid AB, Cepheid Europe SAS, Cepheid GmbH, Cepheid HBDC SAS, Cepheid UK Ltd., ChemTreat, ChemTreat Inc., ChemTreat International Inc., Cispus Hong Kong Holding Limited, Cytiva, Cytiva BioProcess R&D AB, Cytiva Biotechnology (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Cytiva Biotechnology (Hang Zhou) Co. Ltd., Cytiva Europe GmbH, Cytiva Sweden AB, Cytiva Sweden Holding AB, DH Europe Finance II Sarl, DH Europe Finance Sarl, DH Holding Italia SRL, DH Japan Finance Sarl, DH Life Sciences LLC, DH Netherlands BV, DH Technologies Development Pte Ltd., DHKAB Company AB, DTIL Ireland Holdings Ltd., Danaher (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Danaher Hong Kong Limited, Danaher Medical ApS, Delta Consolidated Industries, Devicore Medical Products Inc., Easco Hand Tools, Esko, Esko BV, Esko Finance BV, Esko Graphics BV, Esko Software BV, FHAB Company AB, Fluke, G. Lufft Mess- und Regeltechnik GmbH, GE Biopharma, Gelman Sciences Inc., Gendex, Genetix Group, Gilbarco Veeder Root, Gilzoni Ltd., Global Life Sciences Solutions Austria GmbH & Co. KG, Global Life Sciences Solutions Germany GmbH, Global Life Sciences Solutions Korea Ltd., Global Life Sciences Solutions Manufacturing UK Ltd, Global Life Sciences Solutions New Zealand, Global Life Sciences Solutions Operations UK Ltd, Global Life Sciences Solutions Singapore Pte Ltd, Global Life Sciences Solutions USA LLC, Global Life Sciences Technologies (Shanghai) Co Ltd., Global Life Sciences Technologies Japan KK, Hach Company, Hach Lange Finance GmbH, Hach Lange GmbH, Hach Lange Sarl, Hach Sales & Services Canada LP, Hach Ultra Japan KK, Hach Water Quality Analytical Instru. (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., HemoCue AB, HyClone Laboratories LLC, Hybritech Incorporated, Hyclone Life Sciences Solutions India Private Limited, IDBS Group, IRIS International, Imaging Sciences International, Immunotech SAS, Immunotech Sro, Intabio LLC, Integrated DNA Technologies, Integrated DNA Technologies BVBA, Integrated DNA Technologies Inc., Integrated DNA Technologies Pte. Ltd., Iris International Inc., Joslyn Holding Company LLC, KVHG GmbH, KaVo, KaVo Kerr, Kaltenbach & Voigt, Keithley Instruments, Kipp & Zonen BV, Kollmorgen, Labcyte Inc., Laetus, Leica Biosystems Imaging Inc., Leica Biosystems Melbourne Pty Ltd, Leica Biosystems Newcastle Limited, Leica Biosystems Nussloch GmbH, Leica Biosystems Richmond Inc., Leica Instruments (Singapore) Pte Limited, Leica Microsystems, Leica Microsystems (UK) Limited, Leica Microsystems CMS GmbH, Leica Microsystems Cambridge Limited, Leica Microsystems IR GmbH, Leica Microsystems Inc., Leica Microsystems Limited, Leica Microsystems Ltd. Shanghai, Leica Mikrosysteme Vertrieb GmbH, Life Sciences Holdings France SAS*, Lifschultz Industries, Linx Printing Technologies, Linx Printing Technologies Limited, MDS Analytical Technologies, Marconi Data Systems, McCrometer Inc., Microtest, Molecular Devices, Molecular Devices (Austria) GmbH, Molecular Devices LLC, Navman Wireless, Navman Wireless OEM Solutions, Nihon Pall Ltd., Nihon Pall Manufacturing Limited, Nobel Biocare, OTT Hydromet Corp, Pall, Pall (Canada) ULC, Pall (China) Co. Ltd., Pall (Schweiz) GmbH, Pall Aeropower Corporation, Pall Artelis BVBA, Pall Asia Holdings Inc., Pall Australia Pty. Ltd., Pall Austria Filter Ges.m.b.h, Pall Corporation, Pall Europe Limited, Pall Filtersystems GmbH, Pall Filtration Pte. Ltd., Pall Filtration and Separations Group Inc., Pall France SAS, Pall GmbH, Pall India Pvt. Ltd., Pall International Sarl, Pall Italia Srl, Pall Korea Ltd., Pall Life Sciences Belgium BV, Pall Life Sciences Puerto Rico LLC, Pall Manufacturing UK Limited, Pall Medistad BV, Pall Netherlands BV Irish Branch, Pall Technology UK Limited, PaloDEX, Pantone LLC, Pelton & Crane, Phenomenex, Phenomenex Inc., QHC Ireland Finance Limited, Radiometer, Radiometer Basel AG, Radiometer K.K., Radiometer Medical ApS, Radiometer Medical Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Radiometer Turku Oy, Raytek, Reytek Corporation, SH Switzerland Finance Sarl, Sea-Bird Electronics Inc., SenDx Medical Inc., Shanghai AB Sciex Analytical Instrument Trading Co. Ltd., Sutron, Sybron Dental Specialties, TCIL Ireland Finance Ltd., Tektronix, Thomson Industries, Tianjin Bonna-Agela Technologies Co. Ltd., Trojan Technologies, Trojan Technologies Group ULC, VSS Monitoring, Videojet Do Brasil Comercio de Equipamentos Para Codificacao Industrial Ltda., Videojet Technologies (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Videojet Technologies Europe B.V., Videojet Technologies Inc., Viridor Waste Management Limited, Vision Systems Limited, Willett International, X-Ray Optical Systems Inc., X-Rite, X-Rite Europe GmbH, X-Rite Incorporated, X-Rite Switzerland GmbH, XOS, Yukon Hong Kong Holding Limited, and Zhuhai S.E.Z. Videojet Electronics Ltd..
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, and markets biopharmaceutical products worldwide. The company offers products in hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, and immunology therapeutic classes. Its products include Revlimid, an oral immunomodulatory drug for the treatment of multiple myeloma; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Eliquis, an oral inhibitor indicated for the reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; and Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis, as well as reducing signs and symptoms in pediatric patients with active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis. The company also provides Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia; Yervoy for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma; Abraxane, a solvent-free protein-bound chemotherapy product; mpliciti for the treatment of multiple myeloma; and Reblozyl for the treatment of anemia in adult patients with beta thalassemia. In addition, it offers Onureg for the continued treatment of adult patients with AML; Zeposia to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis; Vidaza for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome subtypes; Baraclude, an oral antiviral agent for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B; and Breyanzi, a CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T cell immunotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma. The company sells products to wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies, retailers, hospitals, clinics, and government agencies. It has collaboration agreements with Pfizer, Inc.; Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; Nektar Therapeutics; AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Huyabio; and DarwinHealth, Inc. The company was formerly known as Bristol-Myers Company. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

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1+ days ago

| June 22nd, 6:10 AM

Gold is Dead? Should You Opt for Gold (Over Crypto) in Your Portfolio?

When meme coins surged earlier this year (remember Dogecoin mania?) it might've been easy to dump everything you owned  stocks, bonds, gold  for crypto. Then digital currencies took a nosedive again. Young retail investors might deem actual coins  including precious metals  all but dead. But you might not want to
Ad Investing Trends

Scientists Now Saying the Secret to America's Happiness Is THIS

It's hard to believe But the psychedelic drugs we've demonized for decades are quickly becoming the foundation for a new mental health revolution. By 'micro dosing' scientists have worked what some are calling miracles and now is the time to invest in this burgeoning industry before Wall Street catches on.
Progressive groups and leaders are lambasting Republican Supreme Court nominee Brian Hagedorn as unqualified following revelations that he penned homophobic, misogynistic, racist and extremely partisan blog posts.

Hagedorn, who served as a legal counsel for Scott Walkers administration, faces Democrat-backed nominee Lisa Neubauer on April 2 for a vacant seat on the states high court. Its an open seat made vacant by the retirement of liberal former chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson.

A win by Hagedorn would move the conservative-dominated court farther to the right  from a 4-3 majority to a 5-2 advantage.

Neubauer was appointed to the 2nd District Court of Appeals in 2007 by ex-Gov. Jim Doyle. Running as an incumbent, she went on to win races at the ballot box both in 2008 and 2014.

Neubauer currently serves as chief judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, a position to which she was appointed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Neubauer currently serves as chief judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, a position to which she was appointed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Walker appointed Hagerdon to the same appeals court in 2016, setting up his former lawyer for election to a six-year term in 2017.

Republicans hope that Walkers stamp of approval, along with Hagedorns anti-LGBTQ and anti-choice writings, will spur diehard Republicans, especially fundamentalist Christians, to the polls in what is likely to be a very low turnout election.

Radical, partisan agenda

For years, Hagedorn wrote blogs strongly supporting Republicans and GOP policy, calling into question his ability to make impartial decisions  although few Wisconsinites are naive enough to believe that any of the justices are politically neutral.

But Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigative journalist Dan Bice reported that before joining the Walker administration Hagedorn also regularly wrote blog posts dehumanizing members of the LGBTQ community.

The idea that homosexual behavior is different than bestiality as a constitutional matter is unjustifiable, Hagedorn wrote on a blog responding to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Texas anti-sodomy law in 2003.

Hagedorn wrote equally bilious posts concerning pro-choice activists and liberals. He upbraided the NAACP as a partisan hack and a disgrace to America.

Hateful statements like these are wholly disqualifying, said Martha Laning, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Wisconsinites expect their judicial system to be fair and independent, but Hagedorns extreme beliefs and radical, partisan agenda put him out-of-step with these values. Hatred like this goes against everything we in Wisconsin believe in, and it has no place on our states highest bench.

Hagedorn's spokesperson offered no apology for his boss past remarks in a statement released to Bice, and he declined to acknowledge whether Hagedorn still held those beliefs.

Acting on homophobia

But its evident that Hagedorn not only continues to hold homophobic views, but even acts on them in his personal life.

FAIR Wisconsin Executive Director Megin McDonell noted that Hagedorn put his homophobia into action when, as Walkers lawyer, he was part of a legal effort by the Walker administration to overturn a Wisconsin law providing basic rights for LGBTQ couples, including rights as basic as hospital visitation and inheritance for same-sex partners.

There is no reason to trust he wont do it again given the opportunity on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, said Fair Wisconsin executive director Megin McDonnell.

In 2016, after Walker appointed him to the judiciary, Hagedorn helped found the Augustine Academy, a private school whose official policy bans members of the LGBTQ community from working there. The school also bans LGBTQ students and students whose parents are LGBTQ.

Hagedorn continues to serve on the schools board of directors, according to One Wisconsin Now.

Lisa Neubauer Neubauer currently serves as chief judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

Judges are tasked with a sacred duty to uphold equal treatment for all people under the law. As someone who has publicly and unabashedly voiced contempt for LGBTQ equality, Brian Hagedorns record is disqualifying, said Wendy Strout, Wisconsin state director for the Human Rights Campaign.

Referendum on controversial rulings?

Off year Supreme Court elections, especially those held in the spring, draw very few voters to the polls. But this year, informed voters might be motivated more than usual.

Democrats, Independents and Republicans have all been paying more attention to the court in response to what most people consider to be the egregious decisions it has made in recent years.

One such decision drew ridicule and condemnation from leading legal experts worldwide. Conservatives on the court voted to adopt a law allowing justices to hear cases involving their major campaign contributors rather than forcing them to recuse themselves, as they do in other states.

Even worse, the Republican-affiliated justices approved verbatim a non-recusal law written by the Realtors Association, which strongly supported them financially in their bids for office.

That decision virtually proved that the Realtors Association, like other large donors, had stacked the Wisconsin Supreme court with justices beholden to their corporate interests. And, indeed, the court has ruled repeatedly in favor of the associations business interests, as well as those of other major corporate donors.

The Center for American Progress and other legal groups and scholars say that strong recusal rules are crucial to avoid the situation in which the Wisconsin Supreme Court now finds itself. Every ruling of the court that involves the interests of high-stakes donors comes with the suspicion that it was bought. Thus, such decisions lack legitimacy in the minds of a large swath of citizens.

Judge Brian Hagedorn Republicans hope Walkers stamp of approval and Hagedorns anti-LGBTQ and anti-choice writings, will drive fundamentalist Christians to the polls.

Hagedorn compromised by donors

Hagedorn once clerked for controversial former Justice Michael Gableman, who was heartily supported by the Wisconsin Realtors Association. And Gableman ruled continually in its favor.

The association is now lining up behind Hagedorn. The group already has loaded his campaign with an $18,000 contribution, according to the liberal group One Wisconsin Now.

But Hagedorn has an even more embarrassing major donor.

Michael White, the owner Rite-Hite Co., donated $20,000 to Hagedorn on Nov. 20, 2018, according to state campaign finance records. Thats the maximum individual contribution allowed by law to a campaign.

White is still free to contribute unlimited donations to dark money political action committees working on behalf of Hagedorns campaign. Such groups do not have to identify their donors, but they can run ads promoting any message they want, so long as the ads dont overtly urge voting for Hagedorn. (In an extraordinary ruling, the conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court defied federal law by ruling that campaign coordination between PACs and campaigns is legal. Wisconsin is one of only two states that allow such a universally scorned policy.)

White is controversial because hes shown that hes willing to do more than just write checks to influence elections. Hes also virtually blackmailed his workers to vote according to his wishes.

According to news reports, employees of White received an email from him at work in late October 2012 warning of personal consequences if President Barack Obama were to be re-elected.

According to state campaign finance records, on Nov. 20, 2018.

Brian Hagedorns largest individual donor literally threatened the livelihoods of the employees of his company if an election did not go his way, said One Wisconsin Now executive director Scot Ross in a press release. How in good conscience can someone who wants to sit on the state high court take $20,000 from someone willing to use these kinds of tactics to get their way?

Among the specific threats White made to the companys employees were the elimination of their retirement savings plans and the loss of their employer provided health care, if Obama was re-elected.

Every opportunity to make up for lost profits to taxes will have to be evaluated, White wrote.

In addition to crossing the line into bad taste, Whites electioneering may also have been illegal. Wisconsin state law prohibits threats against employees over the outcomes of elections by their employers, said One Wisconsin Now.

Republicans willing to spend

Last year, when Democrat-backed state Supreme Court candidate Rebecca Dallet defeated Michael Screnock, Walkers hand-picked candidate for the seat, prognosticators  including Walker  correctly saw it as a troubling sign of trouble ahead for the state GOP in the mid-term elections.

Before the election, Republicans appeared confident, failing to arm Screnock with strong enough funding for political ads in what was clearly a backlash year against the GOP.

But Republicans appear determined to avoid underspending this year.

The conservative blog Right Wisconsin reported that Hagedorn is already showing more organizational strength than Screnock's campaign.

RW reported that Hagedorns campaign already has raised $310,629.58, almost three times as much as Screnock and almost $100,000 more than Justice Rebecca Dallet raised at this point in the campaign.

Ultimately, of course, the race depends on whether the coalition of women, students, Millennials, and people of color that defeated Walker at the polls last year holds together and turns out to vote on April 2.
Tip #4 comes from male sage grouse who use their chests as inflatable display pieces. The male making the biggest impression gets the girl. A gym membership, anyone?

Working out might also help with tip #5 which involves guarding territory. Jealous hum-mingbirds, alpha wolves, and wild stallions will chase off rivals. Oftentimes simply looking ag-gressive will deter other pursuers. Male gorillas only have to pound their chests and thump the ground with their huge hands to scare off competition. Hopefully we humans are more civilized and an engagement or wedding ring will take the place of chest thumping.

The male frigate bird would approve of buying a heart-shaped box of chocolates, tip #6. The frigate attracts females by inflating his throat into a gigantic, red, heart-shaped balloon. Fe-males are attracted to the largest throat sac, so Id recommend picking up the biggest box availa-ble. If your valentine isnt into sweets, how about flowers, a card, or reservations at a fancy res-taurant?

Tip #7, to pitch in with chores, is sure to win your valentine over. Male European house wrens build up to 12 nests to attract females. They keep building until a female is happy with the job. Nothing can make the heart pound faster than the surprise of coming home to a clean house or a home-cooked meal.
A 48-year-old Waupun woman pleaded guilty last week to income tax fraud in federal court and is scheduled to be sentenced June 13.

According to a press release from Matthew Krueger, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Kimberly Bagneski was part of a scheme to submit false claims for income tax refunds to the IRS.

According to a written plea agreement, from approximately January 2011 through February 2016, assisted by a family member she had recruited, Bagneski prepared and filed false tax returns for third parties. Bagneski assisted in the preparation and filing of at least 20 false federal income tax returns that sought more than $90,000 in fraudulent tax refunds.

Bagneski also assisted in the preparation and filing of at least 19 false state income tax returns. All of the returns fraudulently reported business income or losses, and many claimed inflated or completely fabricated deductions and tax credits.

To obtain the fraudulent tax refunds, Bagneski instructed the IRS to send the refunds to a bank account she controlled or to split the refund between her account and an account controlled by the family member.

Bagneski faces up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. She is scheduled to be sentenced on June 13.
The rail passengers association  which claims nearly 700 members  encourages Wisconsin residents to contact their representatives in support of the second train as the state nears its next budget cycle. The completion of feasibility studies in Wisconsin and Minnesota regarding TCMC is the most important item right now, Brown said, because the studies almost are completed but need more funding. He estimated Wisconsins total share of the studies at less than $10 million.

Because the TCMC route is less than 750 miles, its operating costs would be shouldered by the states, not Amtrak, Brown said. Once the studies are completed, TCMC would need more than $50 million in federal and state funding for infrastructure, said Brown, whose optimistic view for when the TCMC could be launched is 2022.

Amtrak says the Empire Builder gets about 100,000 passengers annually traveling on routes between Chicago and St. Paul. Amtrak estimates the TCMC would very quickly exceed that amount with 155,000 riders, Brown said, and the Portage station could see 11,000 users in the first year.
A Dec. 27 Wall Street Journal article states many large health care networks are pushing primary-care doctors to refrain from making referrals outside their networks reach of companies. This keeps health care spending within the group.

Vanderkooi said this scenario played out at his office Jan. 16 when a patient said they could not see him for physical therapy because they werent given a choice on rehab providers and their doctor could not make any referrals outside of their internal network.

Vanderkooi said he chooses to write referrals to other providers outside of his offices because he wants patients to get the best care possible.

Were going to refer wherever the best value is for the patient, Vanderkooi said.

Vanderkooi said he has had positive meetings with some larger networks administrators, and he hopes to keep the momentum going so patients can see him and be covered by their insurers.

I am hopeful that going forward our market can be more focused on patients best interests, which is patient choice based on their needs, and buck national trends that are favoring big business at the expense of the patients, Vanderkooi said.

Insurance networks
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I think everybody likes their personal space to be special, and even if theyre not the most visual person, they have particular interests and they should know how to put some colors together or how to give a space more energy, more calm, Harvey said. Theyll go to their dorm rooms and apartments and theyll have that knowledge of how to make their space more special.

Careers in interior design range from residential and commercial designers, to visual merchandisers, store planners, graphic designers and project managers, among many others.

Interior design is currently one of the best fields for creative individuals in terms of job stability and salary potential as residential and commercial clients look to improve their physical spaces, Ziehen said. She noted the Bureau of Labor and Statistics calculates the fields median salary at $51,500. There are 11 colleges in Wisconsin that offer interior design programs, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison, UW-Stevens Point and Madison College.

I want to teach kids about making their living environments a comfortable place to be, said Ziehen, who has taught art at the high school for seven years and taught art at Bartels Middle School for 23 years.
A new notice states that the Fairfax County Sheriffs Office provides ICE with advance notice when a possibly undocumented immigrant inmate is released from the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
A Dalton woman was arrested on suspicion of seventh-offense drunken driving after a witness took her keys and called the cops.

Margaret Rose Schwersinske, 59, also faces two felony charges of bail jumping in violation of a 2018 cash bond condition stating she must maintain absolute sobriety.

According to the criminal complaint, Columbia County Sheriffs Office Sgt. Mike Schultz responded to a Feb. 10 report of a possible impaired driver on Highway 16 in the town of Wyocena.

Prosecutors say a man followed Schwersinskes truck and reported her to authorities.

Schultz said when he spoke with the woman, she told him she had consumed three beers.

In the complaint, Schultz said he decided to perform a field sobriety test after she tried to light a cigarette that Schultz said was already lit. She reportedly told him it was not lit at the time.

A breathalyzer test indicated Schwersinske had a blood alcohol content of 0.115, above the legal limit to drive in Wisconsin of 0.08. Schwersinske previously was convicted of drunken driving six times in charges that date back to 1995. The most recent was in 2010.
The schools teacher application asks candidates whether they will abide by the code of personal conduct. It also asks them whether they are in complete agreement with Augustines statement of faith, which dictates that Adam and Eve were made to complement each other in a one-flesh union that establishes the only normative pattern of sexual relations for men and women.

The statement further proclaims men and women are not simply interchangeable, nor is gender subject to ones personal preferences.

Students could be dismissed if their parents have gay sex or otherwise violate the code of conduct, such as drinking excessively, viewing pornography, making lewd comments or consuming illegal drugs.

On the campaign trail, Brian Hagedorn has asked voters to trust he will set aside his strongly held homophobic beliefs, One Wisconsin Now executive director Analiese Eicher said in a statement. His actions tell a different story.

In a statement, Hagedorn spokesman Stephen Thompson described OWNs criticism as an attack on Hagedorns faith, smearing him for bettering the lives of children.
Using feedback from the survey sent to families and compiling minutes from professional development time in the calendar (along with minutes originally built into the calendar), students will be able to finish the school year by June 3, pending no more weather cancellations and school board consent on Feb. 25. This is one day longer than originally planned. A detailed list in the changes is below. A brief summary of the proposed changes: we will add minutes to the end of school day for high school students only (where the number of required minutes is the highest), remove professional learning days for staff for the remainder of the year and some early release time for our students and use April 22 as a make-up day. If the weather does not cooperate from this point forward, each minute cancelled will be made up starting June 4.
We are big-time grateful for all the time you put in, OBrien said. We had a slow start to winter but have been just barreled since then and were not done yet. We have many students who live in a rural population and we have many extra-curricular activities, so were very lucky for our drivers.

Last week was School Counselor Week in Wisconsin. OBrien read a proclamation from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. OBrien said counselors deal with many student issues, including mental health.

We also have to honor the role they play with high school students in shaping their futures, OBrien said.

More student support

Student Services Director Lisa Blochwitz said the district is working on improving its Multi-Level System of Support program for students.

Blochwitz said an academic handbook has been developed for staff, but more work needs to be done.

Its about providing the best instruction for all students, she said. Some students need more support than others.
For many children, the internet and social media can be a fun way to learn and connect with friends. However, danger can be just one click or swipe away.

The Columbus Police Department will host a special child safety presentation Feb. 19, 6:30  8 p.m. at Zion Fellowship Hall in Columbus. Along with Columbus PD, the event will be sponsored by Parents and Teachers at Zion, the Wisconsin Department of Justice and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Special Agent Ryan Klavekoske will discuss the ICAC Task Force and bring parents up to date on the latest online threats to children. Lt. Dennis Weiner, acting Columbus police chief, said the presentation can be an eye-opener for parents.

Its important for them to understand what their children are doing that may put them at risk, Weiner said. There are a lot of great things with tablets, laptops and smart phones, but there is also a dark side to these forms of technology.

Klavekoske last hosted a presentation in Columbus a couple years ago and Weiner is excited to have him return.
Neither Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam nor Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, each embroiled in scandal, gives any indication they are considering leaving office despite the broad consensus of the states political establishment that they do so. That doesnt absolve the two Democrats of the obligation to address unanswered questions. To the contrary, the need is all the more urgent given that they have shaken the trust of even many ardent supporters.

For Mr. Northam, who spun heads by denying hed appeared in a racist yearbook photograph less than 24 hours after admitting it, the questions mainly concern his credibility. How does he intend to repair it?

In the days after the damning photo surfaced, and following the disastrous news conference in which he made a hash of trying to explain it, the governors aides let it be known that he planned to hire a private investigator to get to the bottom of the images provenance. Fine, but there has been no further word from Mr. Northam on that  although he did hire a D.C. crisis-management agency. Eastern Virginia Medical School, in whose 1984 yearbook the photo appeared, has undertaken its own inquiry, led by a former Virginia attorney general, Richard Cullen.
JUNEAU  A 24-year-old Beaver Dam man will spend the next eight years in prison for physically abusing an 8-month-old girl, causing her to have permanent brain damage.

Raymond Donald Keyser was sentenced by Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Steven Bauer and also will serve five years on extended supervision.

The child in this case was totally helpless, an infant, Bauer said during the sentencing, according to a press release from the Dodge County District Attorneys Office. We are dealing with brain injuries that are permanent, debilitating and life changing.

Keyser was found guilty Nov. 16 following a three-day jury trial.

During the trial, the childs mother recounted how the child has continuing physical and cognitive problems.

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Keyser was watching the girl at a home on Highway 33 on the night of Feb. 15, 2015, when he called 911 saying that the baby had hit her head on the carpet after falling about 2 feet. The baby was having trouble breathing and was in and out of consciousness. The baby also had vomited.
Too many children, especially in rural Wisconsin, are going without proper dental care.

Part of the problem is money. Dentists dont get paid enough to work on Medicaid patients, so some refuse to accept or limit how many subsidized patients they will treat. According to the Wisconsin Dental Association, dentists here are reimbursed just 27 cents for every dollar of Medicaid work.

Thats why Gov. Tony Evers wants to include more state and federal money in the next state budget to raise Medicaid reimbursement rates. We support that, and the Legislature should, too.

The Democratic governor also wants to help fill Wisconsins estimated shortage of 200 dental providers by licensing mid-level dental therapists. Under the supervision of dentists, dental therapists would perform basic procedures such as fillings and extractions, freeing up dentists to do more advanced work.

The Wisconsin Dental Association is skeptical. State law now allows only dentists to perform such work.

But neighboring Minnesota has improved its dental care for the poor by licensing and training dental therapists. The position is similar to a physician assistant, who helps a physician with more routine medical care.
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said, It should be announced, probably sometime next week, that we will have 100 per cent of the (Islamic State) caliphate. Well, it is next week now, and by the weekend, Trump will probably have made exactly that announcement. He will be right, too: Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or IS, as a major threat has been defeated for good.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/2/2019 (860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said, "It should be announced, probably sometime next week, that we will have 100 per cent of the (Islamic State) caliphate." Well, it is next week now, and by the weekend, Trump will probably have made exactly that announcement. He will be right, too: Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or IS, as a major threat has been defeated for good.

A number of other claims will then be made in short order. Trump, of course, will claim that it is his victory and only his, although he was actually only carrying through with the strategy laid down by Barack Obama. On the other hand, give him credit for having the wit to stick to that strategy, even though he missed no opportunity to trash Obamas achievements.

Various other people, mostly in Washington, will hasten to point out that IS is far from defunct as an organization. It is losing the last of the territory it once held, but it carried out lots of terrorist attacks before it controlled any territory. It will continue to do so after it has lost it all again. You cant "defeat" terrorism; you can only contain it.

IS was a group that broke away from Osama bin Ladens original fundamentalist jihadi organization, al-Qaida, and the main reason for the rupture was that some members thought the time was ripe to create an actual Islamic caliphate. Bin Laden disagreed, so they defied him and created an "Islamic State" anyway.

At its peak, in mid-2015, IS controlled around half the territory of both Syria and Iraq and ruled over more than seven million people. It looked impressive, but it was only possible because the Syrian government was fighting (and, at that point, losing) a civil war, while Iraq was greatly weakened after the withdrawal of American troops.

Later in 2015, Russia intervened on the side of the Syrian regime, which has now won its civil war, and the return of American troops to Iraq enabled that government to recover all its territory by mid-2017. The last villages in Syria that were once part of IS territory will have been recaptured this week, whereupon Trump will bring the U.S. troops in Syria home  and the surviving IS fighters will revert to simple terrorism.

Bin Laden was right: ISs great mistake was to create a target that could be successfully attacked by an army. Various armies duly did just that, and now IS is gone  while al-Qaida, the parent organization, carries on. But it no longer uses that name in Syria, as it attracts unwelcome western attention.

For years, al-Qaidas Syrian branch called itself al-Nusra, and now it trades as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (Organization for the Liberation of the Levant), but it is still al-Qaida in all but name. And there is one place in Syria where al-Qaida does control territory despite the late bin Ladens views: Idlib province in the northwest, hard up against the Turkish border.

The Idlib enclave came into being more or less by default, because that was where Syrian rebel groups were sent when they surrendered to the Assad government elsewhere in Syria. As a result, the provinces population has doubled to three million people, and over the past year, al-Qaida has fought a series of small wars that brought all the other rebel groups there under its control.

So al-Qaida in Idlib controls a border, has significant resources and commands around 50,000 fighting men. It is a state for all practical purposes, although for doctrinal reasons, al-Qaida avoids using the term  and as a state, it is an appropriate target for an army to destroy. When will that happen?

It depends on when Russia and Turkey decide to do something about it. The Turkish government used to support various rebel Islamist militias against Syrian President Bashar Assad, but all its local allies have now been subjugated by al-Qaida, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is much less enthusiastic about.

Russia has never supported any Islamist forces and would happily help Assad to take back all of Idlib tomorrow. However, Moscow currently hopes to detach Turkey from NATO and turn it into an ally, and therefore probably wont move against al-Qaida until Erdogan gives it a green light. That may take some time.

There is also the question of what happens to the Syrian Kurds, who allied themselves to the United States and carried the main military burden of destroying IS in Syria. They hoped to get independence from Syria, or at least autonomy within Syria, as a reward for their efforts, but Turkey will not allow that and in the end the U.S. will betray them. Again, however, this may take some time.

So it could be a year yet before the wars that have ravaged the greater Middle East since the American invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 finally die down, but it will come. And as the floodwaters recede, the political landscape will re-emerge almost unchanged, apart from a little more democracy in Iraq and quite a lot less in Turkey.

Gwynne Dyers latest book is Growing Pains: The Future of Democracy (and Work).
Former Fairfax County Planning Commissioner Walter Alcorn announced his candidacy for the Board of Supervisors Hunter Mill District seat on Monday.
The provincial government has chosen a private company, which has a board chaired by a former Tory premier, to provide some government air services.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 14/2/2019 (861 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial government has chosen a private company, which has a board chaired by a former Tory premier, to provide some government air services.

The move will save taxpayers $6.5 million over five years, Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler said Thursday.

Winnipeg-based aviation company Exchange Income Corp. (EIC) was chosen as the new sole provider of transportation for justice officials and people accused of crimes, flying them to courts in rural Manitoba.

EIC already operates in the north, through Bearskin Lake Air Service, Calm Air, Custom Helicopters, Keewatin Air, and Perimeter Aviation.

Former premier Gary Filmon is chair of the EIC's board of directors, which comprises at least six past PC party donors.

Schuler said there was "no political interference" during the request for proposals (RFP) process, which started in July, 2018.

Deliberations happened at the independent Treasury Board Secretariat, with no elected officials or political staff present, the minister said. The secretariat later provided its recommendation to the provincial cabinet for approval.

"There is no pressure of any kind put on. It is an independent body. The Treasury Board does this very straight up. It goes on Merx (a public tender website). The entire world can bid on it and then they have a process whereby they decide whos going to get it," Schuler said.

"(The province) would not have known who was in the running. We dont know whos applied. We dont know whos being interviewed and whos being negotiated with."

Schuler also said no one from EIC was in talks with the government about possible privatization of air services before the RFP went out.

Still, Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew critiqued the optics of the situation.

"Theres a ton of overlap between the PC party of Manitoba and the corporation that just got this contract," Kinew said.

"So everyone else in the public sector right now  teachers, nurses, everyone else in the province  is getting cuts and wage freezes except of course this well-connected corporation who apparently is getting millions of dollars from Pallister."

"From my vantage point, this sort of deal is the reason why people say the system is rigged," he said.

Messages left for Filmon at EIC were not returned before deadline Thursday.

Before choosing EIC as its provider, Schuler said government transport services were provided by a slew of "one-off" flights from private carriers 97 per cent of the time.

He noted the new contract will be more cost-effective, ringing in at $4.2 million over five years. He also touted new safety requirements, which include mandatory daily, weekly and monthly reports from the company.

There will be nine aircraft available, which should help avoid flight delays, the minister said. In the past, justice officials had complained about getting stuck in remote communities "several times," Schuler said, though he couldnt specify exactly how many such incidents occurred.

"A single court delay in northern Manitoba would be an average cost of $10,000 and extended delays could lead to cases being thrown out of court," he said. "Thus, this is going to be a proactive move on our part because as we all know, justice delayed is justice denied."

The minister said sheriffs previously werent allowed to be armed with pepper-spray or firearms while transporting accused criminals either; a rule that will change under the new contract.

The province issued a three-pronged RFP last summer and with Thursday's announcement has struck two of three items off its list.

It has contracted out wildfire suppression services to Babcock Canada in December, but still needs to make a decision on air ambulances, including Lifeflight, which provides support for critically-ill patients in rural and northern communities.

Michelle Gawronsky, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union, said some Lifeflight staff, who the union represents, found out Thursday morning the RFP decision affecting their jobs may be pushed back until summer, causing them more stress.

"The government ran this service into the ground by not fully staffing it, and by putting it under a cloud of uncertainty with this RFP process," Gawronsky said by email.

"This governments own mismanagement of air services created the problems that it is now using to justify privatizing the service."

Schuler said the province has hired two new pilots to show its commitment to Lifeflight and will be upgrading one of its aircraft within days.

A spokesperson for Manitoba Health said two more Lifeflight nursing positions were also recently posted. Applications close Feb. 25.

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @_jessbu
OTTAWA  Conservation groups are asking Canadians to be part of a new effort to pinpoint the source of Lake Winnipegs algae blooms, and to make that data public.

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This article was published 15/2/2019 (860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  Conservation groups are asking Canadians to be part of a new effort to pinpoint the source of Lake Winnipegs algae blooms, and to make that data public.

"Each of us as individuals can be part of a larger, collective solution," said Alexis Kanu, executive director of the Lake Winnipeg Foundation.

Kanu's group has partnered with Toronto-based Gordon Foundation to assemble and publish data about phosphorus that flows into the lake north of Winnipeg.

"There really is a cultural shift taking place," said Carolyn DuBois, program director of the Gordon Foundation. "Theres this opportunity for every data point that ever gets collected to have a much bigger impact."

Lake Winnipeg is at the bottom of a basin spanning the Rockies to near the Great Lakes, meaning it receives phosphorus from wetlands, rivers and lakes across a huge swath of the continent; only about half comes from Manitoba.

Kanu's group in Winnipeg will test samples collected from multiple provinces and possibly the U.S., and share an updated map of their results through the foundations website.

"Its designed to help us target funding, and target action, in the areas where those resources will have the most impact," said Kanu.

The Lake Winnipeg Foundations community-based monitoring network ballooned to close to 100 sites last year from 12 sites in 2016.

The group received federal funding as part the Liberals reboot of programs aimed at tackling algae in Lake Winnipeg. The Harper government had partnered with groups, but an analysis found that $18 million in spending over five years had only dropped the amount of phosphorus entering the lake by less than one per cent.

DuBois said governments, corporations and advocates have gathered data that sometimes overlap.

"It can be very difficult to even know whos out monitoring," she said. "We manage water sometimes in jurisdictional silos, and we do have to understand what is happening upstream."

Both foundations will unveil their project to the groups involved next Tuesday, before a public launch on March 20.

DuBois hopes that the project might spur action to help reduce pollutants, by being the ones who go out and collect the samples needed to form the dataset.

"Its really important that local groups get together and play an active role in stewarding their water," she said.

The data will be collected using blockchain technology to verify the source and reliability of the information, and published under an open-licence agreement so that participants keep their right to the data.

The project does not yet include points in the U.S., despite the basin dipping down the Red River into Minnesota and North Dakota.

Last spring, the Manitoba government ended a 16-year court dispute over a North Dakota water-diversion project that connects the Missouri River to the Hudson Bay drainage basin, possibly introducing invasive species and nutrients to Manitobas watershed.

The PC government settled with a memorandum that allows Manitoba bureaucrats to keep tabs on the quality of incoming water.

Kanu said Manitobans whod like to be part of data-collection efforts should reach out to the Lake Winnipeg Foundation, which offers training and equipment and matches them with nearby sites that require sampling.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 14/2/2019 (861 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There was no love lost on Valentine's Day for Manitoba's best-known Brians.

Neither Premier Brian Pallister nor Mayor Brian Bowman showed up for the Festival du Voyageur's 50th anniversary media launch, which both were scheduled to attend. They were replaced by Rochelle Squires, minister of francophone affairs, and St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard, respectively.

Pallister's office said he had a "scheduling conflict" and was in meetings during the event. His staff confirmed Wednesday he was back in Winnipeg after a trip to Costa Rica, but said he wasn't available for media interviews.

Meanwhile, Bowman was at a last-minute news conference to announce the retirement of the city's chief administrative officer, Doug McNeil, in April.

A week ago, the mayor requested a meeting with the premier to discuss what the city perceives as a funding shortfall from the provincial government. Pallister has so far declined to meet face to face.

"Were still hopeful the premiers office will make time available. Obviously, weve got some pretty difficult challenges with the recent communications from the province," Bowman said Thursday, citing the Manitoba government's refusal to pay for $40 million worth of road repairs carried out in 2018.

City hall is also concerned about the provinces proposal to switch $34.7 million from the north end sewage treatment plant to cover its share of the Waverley underpass and other projects.

Bowman also said the province continues to withhold $2 million from the second phase of the southwest transit corridor that was due in 2018.

The finance committee this week directed the public service to get clarification from the province as to whether the funding changes are merely proposals open for discussion or directives, "which seems to be more consistent with their recent communications," Bowman said.

Pallister and Bowman last met for more than two hours in December, a rendez-vous the mayor said occurred weeks before the latest funding proposal from the province.

"Since that time however weve received numerous correspondence and had meetings with their provincial ministers on matters that are incredibly serious for taxpayers and will affect every citizen in the city of Winnipeg. Our public service is seeking clarity from their public service but these are pretty significant dollars that the province is throwing around," Bowman said, adding: "Were having this discussion in 2019 on a budget that was passed in 2017."

He wanted the meeting with Pallister to get "clarity" on their position, noting: "The hope is Ill be able to meet with him as soon as possible, but to date theyve simply declined."

"There are times when the leadership of either the province or the city just need to sit down and go over things. It can help," Bowman added.

While Pallister kept quiet, Manitoba's Finance Minister Scott Fielding waded into a debate Wednesday night on Twitter.

Fielding, a former two-term Winnipeg city councillor and senior member of ex-mayor Sam Katz's inner circle, noted his disappointment about Winnipeg's new impact fees, which are taxes on new residential developments that were brought in under Bowman's watch.

"Disappointed all decisions seem to start and end with raising or creating new taxes on residents of Winnipeg," Fielding tweeted, tagging Bowman and the City of Winnipeg.

The mayor accused Fielding of trolling online.

"This is a government that promised during the campaign to be more collaborative. Their motto was 'better together' and I dont think they demonstrate that when they troll municipal leaders," Bowman told reporters Thursday.

Fielding told media gathered at his office Thursday: "First of all, I think it was the mayor that trolled us to be quite frank with you, in terms of his approach. We were trying to work collectively with the City of Winnipeg."

"We as a province have been trying to do everything we can to get our house in order and to keep taxes low. Were going to continue to do that. What we see from the city is their first option tends to be to jack up taxes on residents and also to create new taxes. We dont think thats the right approach. We think they should really roll up their sleeves and address these issues. Quit taxing residents to the max."

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca
As Festival du Voyageur kicked off Friday, Franco-Manitobans had one more thing to celebrate with the announcement of $6.1 million for the first daycare at the Universite de Saint-Boniface.

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This article was published 15/2/2019 (860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As Festival du Voyageur kicked off Friday, Franco-Manitobans had one more thing to celebrate with the announcement of $6.1 million for the first daycare at the Universite de Saint-Boniface.

"We want to make sure we have a strong Franco-Manitoban community and our two official languages are key to our identity as a country," said Melanie Joly, federal minister of La Francophonie, at a news conference at the university. She was joined by Rochelle Squires, Manitobas minister of francophone affairs, area Liberal MP Dan Vandal, university officials, and children and staff from an off-campus daycare.

CAROL SANDERS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS From left, MAlanie Joly, Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, MP Dan Vandal (Lib St. Boniface-St. Vital) and Manitoba Min. for Francophone Affairs Rochelle Squires with children and staff from a day care off at the announcement that the UniversitA de Saint-Boniface was getting its own francophone day care with 80 spaces . February 15, 2019

The new centre will provide services in French for children whose parents study or work at the university or who live in the neighbouring francophone community.

"An institution offering early childhood education programs to the francophone community, Universite de Saint-Boniface is an important partner in our goal towards achieving accessible and affordable child-care spaces to meet the diverse needs of all Manitoba families," Squires said.

The 7,800-square-foot daycare will have 80 spaces for 16 infants and 64 preschoolers, said Louis St-Cyr, Universite de Saint-Boniface director of development and communications.

The federal government is spending about $2 million on construction of the learning and child-care centre.

The provincial government is pledging $900,000, the university students union is pitching in $750,000, with the university picking up the rest.

CAROL SANDERS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS From left, Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie Melanie Joly, MP Dan Vandal (St. Boniface-St. Vital) and Manitoba Minister for Francophone Affairs Rochelle Squires with children and daycare workers during an annoucement of a new daycare at the Universite de Saint-Boniface.

The announcement is great news, said Lise Pinkos, a Universite de Saint-Boniface grad who was at the announcement with her 10-month-old son, Theodore. There are an estimated 800 children on the wait-list for francophone daycare spaces.

She said she was at the announcement Friday to show her support for francophone early childhood education.

The push to establish a daycare at the university began many years ago, said Brigitte LHeureux, executive director of Federation des parents du Manitoba.

Construction of the daycare on the south side of the campus will begin next spring, St-Cyr said. Its expected to open in June 2021.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
OTTAWA  The Supreme Court has granted an appeal to prosecutors who argue a Winnipeg mans sentence for attempting to rape a four-year-old girl shouldnt be reduced.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/2/2019 (860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  The Supreme Court has granted an appeal to prosecutors who argue a Winnipeg mans sentence for attempting to rape a four-year-old girl shouldnt be reduced.

A Manitoba judge convicted Justyn Kyle Napoleon Friesen of sexual interference and attempted extortion in March 2017, following a July 2016 incident. The woman met Friesen on a dating site and three weeks later, took Friesen home and they had sex.

Court heard Friesen instructed the mother to bring her daughter into the bedroom, at which point she turned on an audio-recording device. In the transcript, Friesen orders the mother to have her daughter perform various sex acts, but her screams woke up the mothers friend, who had been sleeping in another room. She pulled the girl away from the couple and threw Friesen out.

Police charged him and the mother.

Judge Brent Stewart sentenced Friesen to six years. In June 2018, the Manitoba Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to 4 years.
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it was former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould who asked him in the fall if he planned to tell her what to do in the prosecution of Quebec engineering giant SNC-Lavalin  a conversation, he says, that ended with him telling her any decision was hers alone.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/2/2019 (860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits a construction site in Sudbury, Ont., on Wednesday, Feb 13, 2019. CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it was former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould who asked him in the fall if he planned to tell her what to do in the prosecution of Quebec engineering giant SNC-Lavalin  a conversation, he says, that ended with him telling her any decision was hers alone.

The meeting has become a key incident in the controversy over allegations that Wilson-Raybould was subjected to political arm-twisting to help the company avoid criminal prosecution.

SNC-Lavalin faces the possibility of being banned from federal contracts  a key portion of its work  for a decade if the company is convicted of bribery and fraud linked to the company's efforts to secure business in Libya.

During an event in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata Friday morning, Trudeau talked about the discussions inside his government around the company, including questions asked of him by two different Quebec premiers, representatives of the company and unions and MPs.

Trudeau said the conversations were appropriate given the economic effects of a conviction for a company that employs thousands of people at home and abroad.

He said all those talks led to the fall conversation where Wilson-Raybould asked whether Trudeau would be directing her to take a particular decision, particularly whether to strike a remediation deal to let the company pay a fine and bypass criminal charges.

"We take very seriously our responsibility of standing up for jobs, of protecting jobs, of growing the economy, of making sure there are good jobs right across the country as there are with SNC-Lavalin. But as we do that, we always need to make sure we're standing up for the rule of law and protecting the independence of our justice system," Trudeau said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the media in Kanata, Ont. on Friday, February 15, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

"There were many discussions going on. Which is why Jody Wilson-Raybould asked me if I was directing her, or going to direct her, to take a particular decision and I, of course, said no, that it was her decision to make and I expected her to make it. I had full confidence in her role as attorney general to make the decision."

In October, federal prosecutors rejected the company's request for the remediation deal.

In January, Wilson-Raybould was moved to the veterans-affairs portfolio as part of a shuffle precipitated by former Treasury Board president Scott Brison's decision to leave politics.

Trudeau said Brison's sudden resignation from cabinet resulted in having to "move things around" on the team, including shuffling Wilson-Raybould  a decision based on what the prime minister vaguely described as "a wide range of factors."

"If Scott Brison had not stepped down from cabinet, Jody Wilson-Raybould would still be minister of justice and attorney general," Trudeau said.

The opposition parties quickly rejected Trudeau's explanation.

"Every day we're hearing the prime minister come up with a new excuse, a new explanation, and none of them add up," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in Burnaby, B.C.

"What we're seeing is an attorney general who was pressured, allegedly, by the prime minister to drop a criminal charge against a corporation that has deep ties with the Liberal party. All of this strikes Canadians as very troubling."

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel tweeted that she wasn't sure "what is worse: the inanity of the statement itself, or the arrogance of thinking we're all stupid enough to buy that pile of garbage."

Even Brison's husband seemed to catch on to the comment. Max St-Pierre tweeted: "Its ok, I usually blame my husband for everything too."

Last week, the Globe and Mail reported that Wilson-Raybould felt pressured to instruct the director of public prosecutions to negotiate a remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin.

Monday, Trudeau suggested her continued presence in the cabinet meant nothing untoward had happened.

Wilson-Raybould proceeded to quit the cabinet on Tuesday.

Trudeau didn't say what reasons she gave for her resignation, only that he accepted her decision, even if he didn't totally understand it.

For her part, Wilson-Raybould has cited solicitor-client privilege when asked to speak publicly on the matter. She has hired former Supreme Court justice Thomas Cromwell to advise her on what she can and cannot say publicly.

Trudeau also slammed anonymous Liberals who made unflattering remarks about Wilson-Raybould by suggesting she was difficult to work with and didn't seem to be a team player. He called the comments, some of which were made to The Canadian Press, "absolutely unacceptable."

"The sexist comments, the racist comments that have been made by anonymous sources are unacceptable and I condemn them in the strongest possible terms," he said.

 With files from Hina Alam in Burnaby

 Follow @jpress and @kkirkup on Twitter.
LOS ANGELES - When California voters legalized marijuana, they were promised that part of the tax revenue from pot sales and cultivation would be devoted to programs to teach youth how to avoid substance abuse.

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LOS ANGELES - When California voters legalized marijuana, they were promised that part of the tax revenue from pot sales and cultivation would be devoted to programs to teach youth how to avoid substance abuse.

But more than a year after the start of sales, there's no money for those programs and questions are looming about how they might operate in the future.

The absence of funding is "really sad and disappointing," said Robert Harris, a policy adviser and lobbyist for the California Society of Addiction Medicine.

Equally troubling, he added, is the lack of clear guidelines for how that funding would be divvied up, and how programs would be run and evaluated.

A report this week from the state Legislative Analyst's Office suggested that the Legislature might have to address gaps in the law, even pointing out that the term "youth" isn't defined.

More needs to be done "so we don't roll it out and throw it away," Harris said.

Proposition 64, which voters approved in November 2016 and legalized pot sales for adults 21 and over, included a section requiring a slice of the tax revenue go toward youth education to prevent "substance use disorders" and "harm from substance use."

The absence of dollars so far can be explained by two factors: The effect of rigid rules that came with Proposition 64 and the slow start to sales that have brought in far less tax money than initially expected.

The law established a long list of requirements for how to spend cannabis tax money  basically, who gets it, in what order and how much.

Under those rules, most of the $150 million in tax money that has come in so far has been devoted to startup costs and operations for state regulation.

A second tier of funding, about $25 million of the total, is slated for university research, the California Highway Patrol and local grants that could include such things such as mental health treatment and legal services.

Funding for youth-education programs would be included in a third tier of spending, and so far there hasn't been enough tax money to provide that share, officials say.

It's possible that by the end of the state's fiscal year in June, enough pot sales will take place to pump money into those programs. And by the following year, state analysts expect sales to increase and funding for those programs to soar to $160 million.

Meanwhile, the state analyst's report outlined a series of gaps in the law that it said left broad questions about how those programs would work.

Among them: The law is silent on an oversight process to ensure money is being spent properly and delivering results.

"Numerous issues still need resolution," the report said.

At a state legislative hearing Wednesday, Clint Kellum of the state Finance Department warned that it remains difficult to predict with confidence how much tax money will come in from pot sales and cultivation.

"Given that it's a newly created market, these revenue projections are subject to considerable uncertainty," he said.
SAINT-MARTIN-LA-PORTE, France - A strategic European Union project to build a high-speed rail tunnel through the Alps, meant to speed journeys between France and Italy, could dead-end as Italy's populists squabble.

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A view of the Italian entrance of the 1871 Frejus tunnel on the conventional railway between Italy and France in Bardonecchia, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019. A TurinAiLyon high-speed railway project is part of a European wide network to improve high-speed rail connections. On the Italian side, the construction site long targeted by sabotaging protesters is guarded by four law enforcement agencies and has been reduced to maintenance work only. The survival of Italy's increasingly uneasy populist government could very well depend on whether Italy restarts construction on the TAV link, which it halted in June.(AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

SAINT-MARTIN-LA-PORTE, France - A strategic European Union project to build a high-speed rail tunnel through the Alps, meant to speed journeys between France and Italy, could dead-end as Italy's populists squabble.

On the French side, a 140-meter (460-foot) long rock-eating machine tunnels through the mountainside toward Italy at an average rate of nearly 20 metres (66 feet) a day. But on the Italian side, all is quiet: the construction site, long targeted by sabotaging protesters, is guarded by four law enforcement agencies, and work is limited to maintenance.

The survival of Italy's increasingly shaky populist government could well depend on whether Italy restarts construction on the Turin-Lyon High Speed Train link, which it halted last summer. One party in the ruling government coalition is fiercely against the project, while the other is for it.

Italy's internal standoff  pitting the 5-Star Movement, which has taken a stand against big infrastructure, against its pro-business League coalition partner  means France could wind up with a tunnel to nowhere. The uncertainties are also increasing tensions with the European Union, which is paying for 40 per cent of the 8.6-billion-euro ($9.72 billion) project.

The 35.7-mile (57.5-kilometre) long Turin-Lyon High-Speed Train tunnel link, known in Italy as TAV, is a key part of an EU project linking southern Spain with eastern Europe. It's envisioned as one of six tunnels crossing the Alps, including the Gottard Tunnel in Switzerland, which opened in 2016, and the Brenner Tunnel between Italy and Austria, scheduled to open in the next decade.

The Turin-Lyon link replaces a tunnel built in 1871, which officials say is outdated in terms of technology and safety. High-speed trains must slow down to about 60 kph (37 mph) an hour  making the journey from Milan to Paris seven hours. With the TAV high-speed train tunnel, the journey will be cut down to 4 1/2 hours.

The Italian government's commissioner for the Turin-Lyon line said the arguments within the coalition over the tunnel have gotten "surreal."

A flag flutters at the entrance of the No-TAV movement headquarters in Venaus, northern Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019. The TAV project is part of a European wide network to improve high-speed rail connections. On the Italian side, the construction site long targeted by sabotaging protesters is guarded by four law enforcement agencies and has been reduced to maintenance work only. The survival of Italy's increasingly uneasy populist government could very well depend on whether Italy restarts construction on the TAV link, which it halted in June. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

"The 5-Star ministers have all refused to come see the construction site, simply so they can deny that it exists," said Paolo Foietta.

At the heart of the issue is that the 5-Star Movement's identity as a protest movement is tied to the No-TAV campaign, and the 5-Stars' credibility has been shaken by its approval for several other major infrastructure projects that it previously opposed.

The movement's founder, comic Beppe Grillo, joined the front line of the No-TAV protests back in 2010. And when the 5-Stars first won seats in Parliament in 2013, newly minted lawmakers made a pilgrimage to the Val di Susa, near the border with France, birthplace of the No-TAV movement.

"If they betray this battle, they betray themselves," said Mario Cavagna, a 73-year-old environmental engineer and activist. "We taught them something (about developing a movement.) We don't know yet if they learned well what we taught. ... We have a lot of hope but a healthy distrust."

The No-TAV movement, founded by activists now mostly in their 70s, can claim some victories for forcing considerable delays on the Italian side of the tunnels  where construction only started in 2013 compared to 2002 in France  as well as changes in the tunnel's opening. But they aren't counting on the 5-Star Movement to win the war for them.

"No government is our friend," Cavagna said.

The 5-Star Movement frequently asserts that the tunnels don't exist in Italy. On the French side, three access tunnels have been built plus 7 kilometres (over 4 miles) of main tunnel. On the Italian side, just one access tunnel 7 kilometres long has been completed, bringing the total length of tunnels completed so far at nearly 30 kilometres, or about 15 per cent of the total, with the project slated for completion by 2030.

Italy risks losing 813 million euros ($917 million) in EU funding if it doesn't launch the next phase  1.9 billion euros ($2.14 billion) worth of contracts  by the end of 2019, Foietta said. And both the EU and France could seek damages from Italy if the project is blocked entirely.

Foietta, whose five-year-term expires Friday, says he expects the office that plays an important liaison role to be left unoccupied, another sign of the government's "playing ostrich," he said.

European Commissioner Violetta Bulc says the TAV is an important project not only for Italy and France, but for Europe as a whole.

An EU official said that the project needs clarity by early summer, as money would have to be reallocated if the TAV does not move forward.

The 5-Stars insist the costs of the project outweigh the benefits  though its analysis released this week has been criticized for methodology, for example counting such figures as lost taxes on gas for road trips substituted by the rail, and for over-estimating technological advancements in cars and trucks.

The analysis was greeted coldly in France, where the transport minister says Paris remains in favour of the project.

Officially, the European Union has no Plan B. But if the Turin-Lyon line is not built, a possible alternative would be a link running along the German-Swiss border, cutting off Italy and its exporters, Foietta said.

"Above all, Italy will be penalized," Foietta said. "This project is tied to a revolution that is coming in the transport system," which foresees moving commercial traffic to the rail roads, reducing highway traffic and carbon emissions, as well as transport costs.

League leader Matteo Salvini, who is also Italy's interior minister, relies on the support of northern Italian entrepreneurs, who want the TAV. His support for the project puts him at odds with his 5-Star allies, as tensions ramp up head of the European Parliament election in May, when both parties will be jockeying to realign the power balance within the coalition.

"The only thing not imaginable is that the work of these workers for these 7 kilometres of tunnel is in vain, and if Italians' money is spent to go deep down inside, only to turn back," Salvini said during a recent visit to the tunnel construction site.
Just as they did more than a century ago, newcomer women are finding work in Winnipeg's garment industry.

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Just as they did more than a century ago, newcomer women are finding work in Winnipeg's garment industry.

After globalization nearly killed it with manufacturers moving abroad to find cheaper labour, a revival of textile product manufacturing in Winnipeg is once again giving immigrant women with sewing skills a job and a shot at the Canadian dream.

Workers like Gnouma Kourouma from Ivory Coast who came to Canada in 2015 has a job sewing cushions for Winnipeg furniture maker EQ3. Others are getting hired at places like Canada Goose sewing parkas, and Fia making automotive seat covers.

"I like sewing and I want to be professional," said Kourouma, 35, who'd never touched a sewing machine or spoke English before resettling in Winnipeg.

They're getting the skills and experience at The Cutting Edge, a social enterprise run by the Canadian Muslim Women's Institute above Peerless Garments on Notre Dame Avenue. With funding from the province, they're providing industrial sewing machine training with practical English classes that are tailored to the job, said Humaira Jaleel, the institute's chief operating officer.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Mary Alpha gets training from Anne-Lydia Bolay, the operations director at The Cutting Edge.

The Cutting Edge is open to Winnipeg women regardless of faith who are permanent residents or Canadian born, said Jaleel. The plan is to make the training program totally self-sustaining and not reliant on any government funding, she said.

The students learn by filling orders for textile lunch bags from companies like Colibri and sewing leggings and tunics for Style & Sass by Amanda, said Rubab Fatima, marketing and sales specialist. The Cutting Edge is on the lookout for new orders from customers with a social conscience looking for Canadian-made quality, said Jaleel. Their main competition is from China, said Fatima.

A January labour market report by the federal government says there are approximately 1,000 sewing machine operators in Manitoba  mostly in Winnipeg  with "fair" job growth predicted through 2020 thanks to new positions being created and retirements. In late 2018, Canada Goose announced it is opening a third manufacturing plant in Winnipeg expected to create 700 more jobs over the next three years. Already, signs advertising for experienced sewing machine operators pop up outside factories. The pay isn't great  ranging from minimum wage ($11.35) to $16 an hour, the report says.

But for 61-year-old Marie-Catherine Lemoto-Ounda who came to Canada from Cameroon five years ago, it's a skill worth having that goes nicely with the jewellery and girls' dresses that she designs and sells at craft sales. She's one of up to eight women starting the next session of The Cutting Edge's 26-week program next week after making the cut.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Anne-Lydia Bolay, operations Director at The Cutting Edge.

"I am happy to come here and apply my experience," said Lemoto-Ounda. The youthful-looking woman has the manual dexterity, hand-eye co-ordination and ability to follow instructions that operations director and sewing instructor Anne-Lydie Bolay looks for. Running an industrial sewing machine is not for everyone, said the multilingual Swiss-trained instructor. Some students learn very quickly, find a job and their training space gets filled right away by the next woman on the wait list, which now stands at 20, said Bolay.

The Cutting Edge women  many who are part of the recent wave of immigrants from African and Middle Eastern countries  are helping to revive the city's garment sector that's more than a century old.

It began in the 1880s in response to farmers and labourers demand for work clothes suitable for the harsh prairie climate, Jodi Giesbrecht wrote in the Fall 2010 edition of the Urban History Review. It started out with family-run businesses and grew to larger mechanized factories. By 1937 they were employing 1,223 workers  1,000 of whom were women, the vast majority being newcomers from Eastern Europe, Giesbrecht wrote in Accommodating Resistance: Unionization, Gender, Ethnicity in Winnipeg's Garment Industry 1929-45.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Marie Catherine Lemoto-Ounda, in training at The Cutting Edge.

"The garment industry was one of the few spheres in which female immigrants could obtain employment in Winnipeg's discriminatory and paternalistic economy."

Half a century ago, a recruitment drive was launched by the federal Commerce and Industry Department on behalf of the Manitoba Textiles Association to bring Filipino garment workers to Winnipeg. They were given free airfare and about $125 spending money.

By the time the recruiting drive ended in 1972, a total of 1,211 Filipino garment workers had arrived in Winnipeg.

In the decades that followed, globalization resulted in most of the garment industry jobs in Winnipeg moving overseas to places like Bangladesh.

Now it's seeing a resurgence in Winnipeg, one of the least-expensive places in Canada to live. And when its third factory is up and running, Canada Goose said it plans to be exporting its high-end winterwear to 38 countries.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
AURORA, Ill. - A 15-year employee being fired from a suburban Chicago manufacturing company started shooting Friday, killing five co-workers and wounding five police officers before he was killed by police, authorities said.

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Law enforcement personnel gather near the scene of a shooting at an industrial park in Aurora, Ill., on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. (Bev Horne/Daily Herald via AP)

AURORA, Ill. - A 15-year employee being fired from a suburban Chicago manufacturing company started shooting Friday, killing five co-workers and wounding five police officers before he was killed by police, authorities said.

Aurora, Illinois, Police Chief Kristen Ziman said 45-year-old Gary Martin "was being terminated" before he started shooting at the Henry Pratt Co.  which makes valves for industrial purposes  in the city about 40 miles (65 kilometres) west of Chicago.

She told a news conference that in addition to the five employees killed, a sixth worker was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening. A sixth police officer suffered a knee injury while officers were searching the building.

Ziman said officers arrived within four minutes of receiving reports of the shooting and were fired upon as soon as they entered the 29,000-square-foot manufacturing warehouse.

Police said they did not know the gunman's motive.

First responders and emergency vehicles are gathered near the scene of a shooting at an industrial park in Aurora, Ill., on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. (Bev Horne/Daily Herald via AP)

"May God bless the brave law enforcement officers who continue to run toward danger," Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at the news conference.

John Probst, an employee at the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora, told ABC7 that he ran out of the back door as the shooting unfolded Friday afternoon.Probst says he recognized the gunman and that he works for the company.

"What I saw was the guy running down the aisle with a pistol with a laser on it," Probst said.

Law enforcement personnel gather near the scene of a shooting at an industrial park in Aurora, Ill., on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. (Bev Horne/Daily Herald via AP)

Probst said he wasn't hurt but that another colleague was "bleeding pretty bad."

"It's a shame that mass shootings such as this have become commonplace in our country. It's a shame that a cold and heartless offender would be so selfish as to think he has the right to take an innocent life," Aurora Mayor Richard C. Irvin said.

At Acorn Woods Condominiums where Martin lived, a mix of brick apartments and condos nestled on a quiet street just a mile and a half from the shooting, neighbours gathered on sidewalks near Martin's unit talking and wondering among themselves if they knew or had come in contact with him.

A law enforcement officer works at the scene of a shooting at the Henry Pratt Co. on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, in Aurora, Ill. Officials say several people were killed and at least five police officers were wounded after a gunman opened fire in an industrial park. (AP Photo/Matt Marton)

Mary McKnight stepped out of her car with a cherry cheesecake purchased for her son's birthday, to find a flurry of police cars, officers and media trucks.

"This is a strange thing to come home to, right," she said. She had just learned that the shooter lived close by and his unit in the complex had been taped off by police.

Christy Fonseca often worries about some of the gang-related crimes and shootings around her mother's Aurora neighbourhood. But she never expected the type of phone call she got from her mom on Friday, warning her to be careful with an active shooter loose in the town.

Police cars with screaming sirens revved past her as she drove to her mother's house, where the Henry Pratt building is visible from the porch stoop. it was only when they flipped on the television news that they realized Martin had killed people just a few hundred feet away.

"In Aurora, period, we'd never thought anything like this would happen," Fonseca, a lifelong resident of the Chicago suburb, said as she looked out at the factory.

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting and monitoring the situation as he prepared to depart for a weekend trip to his home in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump tweeted his thanks to law enforcement officers in Aurora and offered his condolences to the victims and their families. "America is with you," he said.

For The Latest on the shooting:https://bit.ly/2EcHSOO
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California should get insurance to help cover taxpayers' costs in bad wildfire seasons, a solution that could help stem losses as climate change contributes to more destructive blazes, two state officials said Thursday.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California should get insurance to help cover taxpayers' costs in bad wildfire seasons, a solution that could help stem losses as climate change contributes to more destructive blazes, two state officials said Thursday.

The most populous state should follow the lead of Oregon, the World Bank and the Federal Emergency Management Agency after outspending its emergency fund in seven of the last 10 years, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and Treasurer Fiona Ma said.

California spent nearly $950 million two years ago, about $450 million more than was budgeted and by far the highest annual amount. It spent about $677 million last year, as wildfires again swept through cities, suburbs and more rural areas.

California has experienced 11 of the top 20 most destructive fires in its history since 2007.

The two statewide officeholders teamed with Democratic state Sen. Bill Dodd of Napa to propose that California lawmakers allow the governor, treasurer and insurance commissioner to negotiate insurance coverage with private providers, instead of self-insuring.

"It works just like your home insurance, but for our actual state," Lara told reporters. If the premiums, terms and coverage aren't favourable, he said the state can walk away.

The gamble paid off for Oregon, he said, where the state paid $61 million in premiums over nearly 40 years but recouped $102 million in insurance payments.

FEMA began buying $1 billion in flood insurance in 2017, Lara said, with a payout triggered by $4 billion in losses. The government received the full benefits in 2018.

Buying insurance is part of an urgent larger discussion on how California can better respond to wildfires worsening with climate change, Lara said. The state also is considering taking out bonds to pay for wildfire costs to lessen the growing effect on the budget, he said.

The state's private insurance potentially could be used for other disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis, depending how it's written, Dodd said. He represents the wine country area hit hard by wildfires two years ago.

A fire last year became the nation's deadliest in a century and levelled the town of Paradise, where Gov. Gavin Newsom spent Thursday touting two new laws providing emergency funding to fire-hit local governments.

State officials also are seeking ways to encourage private insurance coverage for residents of fire-prone areas who may be uninsurable now, Lara said. That could include unspecified new insurance products, "something that's unique to California," the insurance commissioner said.

Premiums could drop as the state does more to thin tangled forests and utilities work to keep their equipment from sparking wildfires , Dodd said.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association said taxpayers should not be put in the position of subsidizing insurance costs for residents who choose to live in dangerous areas.

"If it's not putting taxpayers at risk and it's a way to spread the risk, it might make sense, but we'd have to see the details," group president Jon Coupal said.

Ma, the treasurer, said in a statement that insurance would make wildfire costs more predictable, help stabilize the budget and protect other spending needs. She missed the news conference while flying back from Washington, D.C., where she had been testifying about allowing banks to service the legal marijuana industry.
WASHINGTON - Despite President Donald Trump's tough talk on trade, his administration has granted hundreds of companies permission to import millions of tons of steel made in China, Japan and other countries without paying the hefty tariff he put in place to protect U.S. manufacturers and jobs, according to an Associated Press analysis.

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WASHINGTON - Despite President Donald Trump's tough talk on trade, his administration has granted hundreds of companies permission to import millions of tons of steel made in China, Japan and other countries without paying the hefty tariff he put in place to protect U.S. manufacturers and jobs, according to an Associated Press analysis.

The waivers from the import tax show how pliable his protectionist policies can be. Trump has positioned himself as an "America First" trade warrior, using tariffs as a club against countries he's accused of playing unfairly. Although China has been the principal target of Trump's ire, he also has criticized Japan and American allies in Europe.

HFR 3:00 A.M. FRIDAY, FEB. 15 Graphic shows waivers granted to U.S. companies to avoid Trump administration steel tariffs; 2c x 6 inches; 96.3 mm x 152 mm;

"I love tariffs, but I also love them to negotiate," Trump said Friday during a Rose Garden news conference.

Behind the scenes, however, his Commerce Department approved tariff exemption requests from 370 companies for up to 4.1 million tons of foreign steel, with roughly 8 per cent of the total coming from China and close to 30 per cent from Japan, according to AP's review of thousands of applications for relief from the import tax on steel. Many recipients of the waivers are subsidiaries of foreign-owned businesses.

Although Trump has sought to rebuild America's steel industry by curbing imports, tariffs are fraught with economic risk  a message that came through loud and clear in many of the waiver applications. Companies that use steel in their products warned the Commerce Department that the 25 per cent tariff could do serious damage to their businesses.

The numbers also provide a window into a steel tariff exemption program that has vexed many applicants as well as lawmakers who've questioned the pace, transparency and fairness of the process. The flood of applications overwhelmed the system the department set up nearly a year ago to review them, and more than 38,000 requests still await rulings.

The Commerce Department has received waiver applications from 45 states and Puerto Rico, evidence of the geographic range of companies angling for exemptions.

Tioga Pipe in Philadelphia, which supplies a variety of industrial customers with pipe, fittings and flanges, received approval to import as much as 86,500 tons of Chinese steel duty free; that was the most of any company with approved waivers. Tioga did not return calls and emails seeking comment, but its applications indicate the material isn't available from domestic suppliers in the sizes and shapes it needs.

DS Containers, a subsidiary of Japan's Daiwa Can, makes aerosol and liquid pour cans at factories in Illinois using laminated tin-free steel that U.S. suppliers have shown no interest in manufacturing, CEO Bill Smith told the Commerce Department. Smith received the go-ahead to import up to 390,000 tons of the material from Japan, the Netherlands and United Kingdom. If the waivers had not been granted, Smith warned, DS Containers might have been forced to shut down production lines or lay off employees.

A 25 per cent tariff "is a very heavy burden on any company," Smith told AP last year.

The department declined interview requests. A spokesman said in an emailed statement that exemptions can be approved if the department determines the metal "is not produced in the United States in a sufficient and reasonably available amount or of a satisfactory quality or should be excluded based upon specific national security considerations."

Overall, the department has so far approved nearly 14,000 requests for exemption from the steel duty, with 59 per cent of the total going to firms with a foreign corporate parent. Most of the waivers last for a year. More than 4,400 applications were denied.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who this month declared herself a Democratic candidate for president in 2020, told Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in late October that giving exemptions to foreign-owned businesses "appears to be massive loophole." The purpose of tariffs, she said, is to benefit U.S. manufacturing, not undermine it.

Warren said in a statement to AP that Trump "claims to be implementing trade policies that put America first, but here's what the data show: this administration is handing out special tariff exemptions to foreign-owned companies at the expense of American companies."

But Scott Paul, the president of the pro-tariff Alliance for American Manufacturing, said a company's lineage shouldn't be a factor in whether it receives waivers. Paul said the volume of steel exempted from the duty is small compared with the U.S. market for steel.

"You'd be hard pressed to find a bigger China trade hawk than me," Paul said, "but I'm not overly concerned with the number of exemptions granted so far."

Two subsidiaries of Japanese companies, both in the suburbs of Indianapolis, had vastly different experiences as each tried to avoid the steel tariff.

Nachi America, in Greenwood, Indiana, received close to 530 waivers for metal that included a heat-treated steel bar made in Japan with a "precision straightness" that U.S. suppliers can't match, according to one of the company's applications. Nachi America declined to comment.

Indiana Automotive Fasteners in Greenfield, about 40 miles away, made a similar argument: only Japanese-made steel meets the exacting requirements for the bolts, nuts and screws it produces for the country's largest automakers. Yet only 43 of its requests were approved while more than 100 were rejected on the grounds they weren't completed properly. Nearly 150 requests are pending.

The denials perplexed Mark Vance, vice-president for sales at Indiana Automotive Fasteners. Although the company is permitted to refile the rejected requests, Vance said Commerce Department officials couldn't tell him what should be modified the second time around, leaving him to conclude the denials were due to the "subjectivity on the part of the person reviewing" the applications.

To put the tariffs into effect, Trump employed a rarely used 1962 law that empowers him to put a levy on a particular product if the Commerce Department determines it threatens national security. The department posts the requests online to allow third parties to file objections  even from competitors who have an interest in seeing a rival's bid rejected.

The two most prolific protesters are also two of the country's largest steel producers and key beneficiaries of the tariff. Nucor and U.S. Steel have filed more than 5,800 objections between them, according to numbers compiled by the office of Rep. Jackie Walorski, an Indiana Republican opposed to the steel tariff. Her data also shows requests that trigger objections are rarely approved.

U.S. Steel announced Monday that due to Trump's "strong trade actions" the company would be resuming construction of a new steelmaking plant in Alabama that had been suspended in late 2015 "due to unfavourable market conditions." Nucor also is expanding and late last month reported record annual earnings for 2018.

Among the thousands of requests hanging in the balance are the dozens submitted by NLMK USA, the U.S. subsidiary of the Russian steel company Novolipetsk Steel. NLMK imports huge slabs of steel from Russia and has paid nearly $150 million in tariffs so far as it awaits rulings, said Robert Miller, the company's president and CEO.

Miller told the Commerce Department that a domestic shortage of steel slab means he has no choice but to go overseas for the metal his facilities in Pennsylvania and Indiana need. But Nucor and U.S. Steel objected, contending there's plenty of slab available in the U.S. Nucor said NLMK wants to rely on "cheap steel slab from Russia" to support a business model that is "classic outsourcing."

Fenn reported from New York.

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NEW YORK  Following months of community pushback, Amazon announced Thursday it was cancelling its plan to open a headquarters in New York City  irking Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had been a vocal booster of the bid.

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NEW YORK  Following months of community pushback, Amazon announced Thursday it was cancelling its plan to open a headquarters in New York City  irking Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had been a vocal booster of the bid.

"You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbour and do business in the greatest city in the world. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity," de Blasio said Thursday afternoon.

"We have the best talent in the world, and every day we are growing a stronger and fairer economy for everyone. If Amazon cant recognize what thats worth, its competitors will," he said.

The internet giant released a statement announcing the company decided not to move forward with its plans to open a facility in Long Island City, which would have brought an estimated 25,000 new jobs to the area.

"After much thought and deliberation, weve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens," the statement said. "While polls show that 70 per cent of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City."

Amazon launched a public search in 2017 for a location for its second headquarters.

In November, the company announced it would split the headquarters, dubbed HQ2, between two locations: New York City and Arlington, Va.

The decision to come to Long Island City drew outrage from community groups and politicians citing concerns about gentrification, rising housing costs and a US$3-billion tax subsidy package associated with the plan.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo supported Amazons presence in Long Island City  and his state economic development arm put up some of the incentives for it to do so. But in recent weeks, the deal faced increasing heat over the companys anti-union stance.

A source told the Daily News that the governor, a contingent of labour unions and Amazon met on Monday in a last-ditch effort to save the deal.

A top Amazon official had testified before the city council that it would not remain neutral in any union bids by New York staff  putting pro-union politicians like Cuomo and de Blasio in a tricky spot. That spot was even worse for the two unions who were supporting Amazon, the Building and Construction Trades and the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ.

"They buckled because we held firm on the values of New Yorkers  we told them that you cannot come to New York City and declare that you will crush the rights of workers to organize," said Coun. Jimmy Van Bramer, who represents the area where the headquarters would have been located. "Amazon insisted and refused to change their ways, and we said, no deal. And they would rather leave and go elsewhere than allow workers who make US$18 an hour to organize a union," Van Bramer said.

While there had been outrage surrounding the US$3-billion in subsidies the company was getting, Van Bramer said he thought the union issue was what made the deal "untenable" in the end.

"Rather than addressing the legitimate concerns that have been raised by many New Yorkers, Amazon says you do it our way or not at all, we will not even consider the concerns of New Yorkers," said Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union spokeswoman Chelsea Connor. "Thats not what a responsible business would do."

But the construction trades union, led by Gary LaBarbera, decried the deals death at the hand of what he called "politics and pandering."

"We are stunned by todays unfortunate news. Politics and pandering have won out over a once-in-a-generation investment in New York Citys economy, bringing with it tens of thousands of solid, middle-class jobs. This sends the wrong message to businesses all over the world looking to call New York home. Who will want to come now?" he said.

Amazon said in its statement that it currently employs more than 5,000 people in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island, and that it plans to "continue growing these teams."

"We do not intend to reopen the HQ2 search at this time," Amazons statement said.

Kathy Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, said it was a "very sad day" for the Big Apple.

"Amazon was going to invest billions of dollars here, hire 25,000 people, and yet we treated them like they were doing something wrong," Wylde said.

She thought anti-business rhetoric among elected officials was to blame for the collapse  noting she has difficulty getting business people to testify before the city council because of how they are treated there. That anger, she said, is driven not necessarily by Amazons reputation but by peoples own fears and frustrations with the citys crumbling housing, failing transit system and other woes.

"I think the anti-corporate, anti-big employers, anti-capitalism, Im not sure what all the antis are.

"But anti-development, anti-growth, all grows out of a fear  and if we let fear drive our decisions in this city and our country, were going to be in real trouble," she said.

Democratic State Sen. Brad Hoylman, whose own district is home to Google, blasted the companys decision to pull out.

"I think Amazon is making a huge mistake. New York City is the talent pool for the entire world. I dont think tech workers are going to want to move to suburban backwaters. We have the energy and excitement of the biggest and best city in the world."

The reaction to the news was mixed among those living and working in Long Island City.

"Im very glad the community pushed back on the, like, US$2 billion giveaway," said Gabriel Morales, 40, who works for a non-profit in the neighbourhood.

"I think, generally, people supported Amazon coming as an idea. But when you throw in the details, then that support dwindles."

Morales said he supported Amazon coming to town theoretically. "But to give the richest man in the world US$2 billion in tax breaks, Im against that."

"I feel bad for the local merchants," said Brian Otey, 53, who works in Long Island City. "I really am surprised. I know there was opposition. Some people were against changing the dynamic of Long Island City. Economically, it would have been nice for the area with all the jobs. Im very shocked to hear they pulled out."

Kiera Byrd, 50, called the situation a "travesty."

"To pull out because people are complaining just doesnt seem like its a good move on their part," she said.

"If theyre not going to bring anything that will really work for the working class of this neighbourhood, then Im glad theyre not coming at all," said Thelma Herrera, 60, who works at a Long Island City High School. "Theyre going to bring a lot of tech and corporate people, but it wasnt going to help the neighbourhood."

Others were relieved that their rents were less likely to climb.

"All my concern was my rent, so maybe its better because the rent is not going to increase that much," said Sarah Lee, who was walking her dog in the neighbourhood. Shes lived in Long Island City for five months. "For me, its good news. My rent was already going up before, so hopefully now it goes down."

 New York Daily News


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Greg Alyn Carlson, a fugitive accused of multiple violent sexual assaults in Los Angeles, was shot and killed by FBI agents Wednesday in North Carolina, the agency said.
At stop lights or freeway on and off ramps, youve probably seen people holding signs and asking for money. It can be tempting to hand over your spare change, but next time you may want to think twice.
WESTPORT  The battle over the proposed construction of a McMansion-style home on a historic Greens Farms property last year has resurrected with a vengeance, and a new plan to build 19 condos on the land.

Morningside Drives Homes LLC submitted an application in October to Westports Planning and Zoning Department to demolish the farmhouse on 26 Morningside, and in its place, construct 19 three-bedroom townhouse dwelling units in five buildings, the application reads.

Six of the units are proposed to be income restricted, which allows the application to qualify under the 8-30g statute of the Connecticut General Statutes.

The properties at 20 and 26 Morningside Drive South, which sit across the street from Greens Farms Elementary School, garnered significant attention in January 2018 when the towns Historic District Commission unanimously denied Morningsides application to build a mansion at 20 Morningside.

Greens Farms residents and historic preservation activists at the time appeared at several historic district meetings to advocate against development on the property, which was previously owned by the now deceased artist couple Walter and Naiad Einsel.

Walter and Naiad, both prominent artist well-known for their commercial design work and kinetic sculptures, moved to the mid-19th-century farmhouse at 26 Morningside in 1965. The couple also bought the adjoining lot at 20 Morningside, which housed Walters artist studio.

They were the face of the Westport artist colony. These people were it. They were the first couple in the Westport arts community and their house was a wonder, Morley Boyd, a historic preservation activist in town, said in 2017.

A decade after Walter died, in 1998, Naiad requested Local Historic Property Status for both properties from the town of Westport, to protect the character of the buildings and property.

In 2007, her wish was granted, and the 20 and 26 Morningside Drive South Local Historic District was born.

Shortly after Naiad died in 2016, the lots were sold to Emil Fish, each for $1.5 million, and transferred to Morningside Drive Homes LLC.

Morningside Drive Homes proposed in 2017 to build a home on the 20 Morningside lot. However, its historic status required the company to obtain a Certificate of Appropriateness for any proposed building changes.

The historic district denied the application, saying the proposed house was too large and eliminated the rural nature of the property.

Now, Morningside has submitted an application that calls for 19 townhouse-style units in five buildings across both properties.

In towns like Westport that dont have enough affordable housing in the eyes of the state, any 8-30g application brought before the towns zoning board can skirt local building regulations and only be denied on traffic, safety or environmental grounds.

The application will appear before the Conservation Commission on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

svaughan@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2638; @SophieCVaughan1
UPDATE: February 16, 12:00 p.m.

STAMFORD  Police Capt. Diedrich Hohn identified the man who engaged police in pursuit as Jorge Duche, 29. Duche was booked on a number of charges, including second-degree robbery, assaulting a police officer and engaging police in pursuit, Hohn wrote in an email.

Duche could also be charged for Operating Under the Influence, Hohn added, due to evidence of PCP use found in the car he was driving. Bond was set at $250,000.

ORIGINAL STORY: February 15, 5:52 p.m.

STAMFORD  Five city police officers were injured in a high-speed car chase Friday started by a suspected shoplifter turned fleeing combatant and ended in a head-on collision on a downtown street.

Police have a 29-year-old Westchester County, New York man in custody who will be charged with multiple counts of assault on a police officer, reckless driving, engaging police in pursuit, robbery and a sixth-degree larceny for the pair of slippers he was trying to walk out of the store with, Capt. Diedrich Hohn said.

Police are not releasing the mans name until they verify who he is after he is booked and fingerprinted at police headquarters. The suspect is being treated at Stamford Hospital for a broken hand and finger, Hohn said.

The chase began just before 12:35 p.m. at Lord & Taylor on High Ridge Road when security flagged down a passing police sergeant to help them stop who they thought was a repeat shoplifter at the department store.

While the man was trying to exit the store in the upper parking lot, recently promoted Sgt. Ryan McAllister tried to stop the man, who began to fight. During the struggle McAllister and the man fell to the ground, snapping McAllisters ankle.

McAllister tried to use a Taser on the man, but for some reason the stun gun would not fire, Hohn said. The man got up from the ground and ran to his black Infiniti with New York license plates. Unable to follow with his injured ankle, McAllister called in the description of the vehicle and officer Joseph Rainone, who was on an extra job, heard the call and gave chase in his personal car.

Another cruiser quickly met up with Rainone and the suspect and tried to pull the vehicle over, but the Infiniti would not stop, leading police east on Oaklawn Avenue to Belltown. With police ready to throw down spike strips, the man turned south on Strawberry Hill Avenue before heading west onto Summer Street.

The man turned onto Second Street and jumped the curb, putting him into a grassy area. Then Hohn said he rammed a department SUV occupied by two officers head-on. After bouncing off that police vehicle, he struck another before coming to a stop.

Though his car was all but immobilized by heavy front-end damage, the man refused to get out of the car. Police sent a police dog in after him. The man fought with the K-9 before officers were able to get him out of the car where he continued to fight.

Police then took the man into custody.

Hohn said three officers were injured in the two crashes and a fourth officer was injured taking the man into custody after getting him out of the car. The officers suffered back, neck and shoulder injuries, Hohn said.

I want to commend Sgt. McAllister. He was up at the store on a programmed patrol to give us high visibility in the downtown area and he got flagged down without knowing he would be rolling around the ground seconds after he got out of his car. That is the danger of police work, Hohn said.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com
Last week, Parks & Rec board members Joan Heckard and Laurel Hash, and city administrator Penny Clayton met with Regional Wellness Center director Bob Grems about an agreement for use of the RWC pool for municipal swimmers in 2019.

In 2018, the city opened its swim season June 19, vowing to have an operational pool schedule in order to keep its lifeguard staff employed. With staffing costs, that endeavor cost $20,000.

The pool census indicated some swimming activity at the RWC on summer weekends in 2018.

In June, the census showed an average of 23 swimmers on Saturdays and 47 on Sundays. In July there were 26 swimmers on average both Saturday and Sunday. IN August, there were 17 on Saturday and 15 on Sunday, not counting the free swim for Sweet Corn Days, to which 48 swimmers showed up.

This is compared to an average of 50 weekday swimmers in June, 44 in July, and 37 in August.

The current proposal from the city would include a subsidy paid to the RWC of $7,500 for the summer. The RWC pool would be open for its regular hours, and the RWC would take care of staffing.

Grems would calculate whether the $7,500 would work for the RWC to expand its lifeguard coverage and pay its expenses for increased use of its pool.

Hash said the Fairmont, Armstrong and Graettinger pools benefited more than the RWC for the closure last year of the Estherville municipal pool.

Board member Bob Jensen said, This proves we need an outdoor pool.

The RWC has begun a fundraising campaign for a new splash pad on its property. The splash pad would be located adjacent to the new municipal outdoor pool.

The board also addressed the pool project, reviewing version 34 of the pool. The latest configuration utilizes the pool vessel design that was previously presented by the now-dissolved pool committee, which worked for a year on designing a pool that was engaging and cost-effective, and evaluating sites for the pool.

Dave Burbach of Burbach Aquatics, Inc., said 34 is near the top number of iterations of all the pools his company has built.

It is a quality design, allowing for compartmentalizing and multiple uses, Burbach said.

The city must make a decision about the placement and accoutrements of the bathhouse, Clayton said.

Heckard, who served on the pool committee, said individual bath stalls are a very important element to pool users.

Burbach said the current bathhouse specs call for an individual stall that meets Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and the rest of the showerheads in each of the mens and womens sides to be open.

The board then addressed the setback of the pool gate from the planned location for the splash pad, and ultimately moved the pool back from 26 feet to 50 feet behind the splash pad to allow for green space to gather between the two sites.

Clayton presented a timeline for approving the new outdoor municipal pool.

The Parks & Rec board will approve the concept at its March meeting, scheduled for March 25 at 5:30 p.m.. In April, the board will roll out the concept for approval by the Estherville City Council. In May, the bond referendum language must be ready and published in order to hold an August city referendum.

In other business, Clayton said Mimi Wagner from Iowa State University is planning to bring 27 students Monday, Feb. 18 to Estherville to visit about water quality, storm runoff, and natural resources. The activities will start at 1:30 p.m.

The board also reviewed its annual report and rules of procedure.
SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating inched down this week on mixed news about the economy, a weekly poll showed on Thursday.

According to the Realmeter survey, support for Moon was 49.6 percent this week, down 0.8 percentage points from the previous week.

The negative assessment on Moon's management of state affairs also shed 0.7 percentage points to 44.7 percent.

It came as mixed news were reported about the economy, including a higher jobless rate and a lower housing price that were offset by positive news such as the government's effort to boost the regional economy.

Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party gained 2 percentage points to 40.9 percent this week.

The approval score for the main opposition Liberty Korea Party retreated 3.2 percentage points to 25.7 percent as some of the party members disparaged the May 18 democratic movement in 1980 against the military dictatorship.

The minor progressive Justice Party won 6.5 percent of support, followed by the minor conservative Bareun Future Party and the center-left Party for Democracy and Peace that took supports of 5.6 percent and 2.5 percent each.

The results were based on a poll of 1,507 voters conducted from Monday to Wednesday. It had plus and minus 2.5 percentage points in margin of error with a 95 percent confidence level.
GREENWICH  He traveled regularly and took photos of his excursions around New York City, Washington, D.C., and Latin America. He wore his hair long, with a cropped beard, giving him the look of an urban hipster. He came from Venezuela and overstayed his visa, got a job in New York City and made it clear he did not want to return to the country where he came of age.

Now, Javier Da Silva Rojas  Javi to his friends and numerous followers on social media  is facing the possibility of life in prison or even death in the case of an ex-girlfriend, Valerie Reyes, who was found stuffed in a suitcase off a road in Greenwich. Friends and relatives of the victim, as well as investigators, are seeking clues about how a young man who loved travel and nature photography allegedly turned into a brutal killer.

Da Silva, 24, was working in a coffee shop in New York City at the time of his arrest, according to a friend. His social acquaintances from Latin America said this week they were surprised he was arrested in connection with a murder.

According to his social media profile, Da Silva grew up in Venezuela and also holds Portuguese citizenship. He appears to come from comfortable circumstances in a suburban community near Caracas, with ample opportunity to travel regularly to the United States, and attend college. In 2017, he came to New York and overstayed his visa, according to immigration authorities.

News of his arrest came as a surprise to Oriana Mangenelli, a friend and college classmate of Da Silva at the Universidad Catolica Santa Rosa in Caracas, where he studied

journalism.

But  that cannot be possible, she said over Facebook messenger. Javi is such a kind soul. Da Silva left Venezuela to escape dictatorship, Mangenelli said, as the country deteriorated under the rule of an autocratic socialist regime.

He even tried to help me get out of here, Mangenelli said.

Mangenelli said Da Silva attempted to help her with cancer treatment in the U.S. in 2017. He wanted to buy me a plane ticket so I could have better medical attention with my lumps, she said. Thats why Im in shock. He couldnt be capable of doing such things like killing someone.

The two hadnt kept in touch as much since last year, Mangenelli said, but the last she heard Da Silva was working in a coffee shop in New York. The last time she spoke to Da Silva, his dad and brother were visiting him in the U.S., she said.

But recently, another portrait of Da Silva has emerged  a far more sinister one.

Da Silva was charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with kidnapping resulting in death this week. Federal authorities said he was responsible for the death of Valerie Reyes and the transportation of her body to a quiet residential street in Greenwich. Reyes was found Feb. 5 stuffed in a suitcase in a wooded area beside Glenville Road. Her hands and feet were constrained with tape and twine, and she had suffered a severe injury to her head, according to federal court documents. When confronted by law enforcement, the court papers state, Da Silva gave them an account that the victim fell to the floor and hit her head.

They had dated for several months in 2017, after apparently meeting through a dating website, but broke up about a year ago, according to her mother. He took photos of New Rochelle, Larchmont and Pelham in Westchester County in 2018, indicating a familiarity with the northern suburbs outside New York City.

Da Silva appeared capable of manipulation, said Reyes mother, Norma Sanchez. She said Reyes took pity on Da Silva when he claimed his mother in Venezuela was dying of cancer.

She said, Mami, his mother has cancer and I just want to be there for him a little more. She was an angel. She just wanted to support him more, Sanchez told Channel 2 News this week. It was unclear whether Da Silvas mother was actually ill.

Sanchez told Greenwich Time that Da Silva was controlling and would not take no for an answer.

Da Silvas social media accounts have been filling up in recent days with insults and derogatory comments. The Reyes murder has drawn widespread interest from the public, along with Reyes supporters and friends, and outrage has followed the news of her death and his arrest.

Your new home (behind bars) is where you belong. Away from society where you can no longer victimize the innocent, wrote one commenter on Instagram. Cage this monster and throw away the key, wrote another.

According to the criminal complaint filed by federal agents, Da Silva may have taken steps to cover his tracks after killing Reyes.

On the afternoon of Jan. 28, Da Silva was seen on video leaving his Queens apartment wearing dark clothing. When he returned to his residence on the morning of Jan. 29, he was wearing a different outfit  a tan overcoat  and carrying a duffel bag, the criminal complaint states.

Meanwhile, the death of Reyes, 24, described by family and friends as a creative and kind woman who worked at Barnes & Noble, was causing anguish among her family and friends.

A former boyfriend went to her grave Thursday to place flowers, and pay Valentines Day respects.

Couldnt believe it when you told me no one ever gifted you flowers. I went to shower you with flowers and love when you told me. You were looking forward to Valentines Day, and so I stand here, still giving you the endless love you deserve. Happy Valentines Day, Val, the friend, Justin Orda, said on social media.
SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- An oxygen tank explosion has led to a mans death in Springfield. Fire and police officials said the tank exploded Tuesday morning on Knox Street in the city after it was tampered with.
By Amy H. Peterson

Staff Writer

Palo Alto County supervisor Linus Solberg said the county jail in Emmetsburg is very old and outdated. Built in 1904, the Palo Alto county jail has undergone repairs to plumbing and electricity, but state inspectors have told the county these are bandaid solutions.

Like Palo Alto County, the Emmet County jail is connected to its courthouse. Emmet County supervisor Tim Schumacher said, Were not going to pay a million dollars to build a new jail.

The Emmet County jail was built in 1982 and Emmet County supervisor John Pluth said it fits 12 individuals easily in five cells, but a census of 16 is an overflow situation. Jailers bring in cots to handle the overflow and there have been 20 individuals crowded into the jail. Emmet County also transports overflow offenders to other counties, including Palo Alto and Dickinson counties.

Emmet County supervisor Jeff Quastad said a regional correctional center for juvenile detention has cut Emmet Countys costs in half for housing juvenile offenders.

It made more of a difference several years ago when we had a lot of kids in detention. Lately our kids have improved and we dont have very many going to court, Quastad said.

Iowa has 99 counties. Ninety-six of those counties have a jail.

According to Iowas chief jail inspector, Delbert Longley, A jail can house prisoners for more than 24 hours, and typically less than one year. Two counties, Lucas and Franklin, have temporary holding facilities. This means they are allowed to house for 24 hours or less until the prisoner can be seen by a judge. If they are to be held for more than 24 hours, they are required to be transferred to a county jail.

Longley said Calhoun County is the only Iowa county without any jail or holding facility.

Iowa currently does not have any regional jails or multiple counties jointly operating a single facility, but there is nothing in Iowa Code that would prohibit it.

In other business, Palo Alto County supervisor Craig Merrill discussed a job vacancy created when Joe Neary retired.

Merrill said Neary handled sanitary issues, the master matrix, and tile repair in the county among other duties.

We are looking to replace this position or change things up as far as the responsibilities. Is there something we can learn from Emmet County on this? Merrill asked.

Kathy Preston from Emmet County Public Health joined the meeting to discuss the duties of an employee who deals with public health environmental and sanitation issues. Her duties include well permits and closures, environmental issues, septic systems, and other tasks. The employee, Amy Devereaux, is working on her masters degree in public health, Preston said.

The joint board also discussed tiling. Schumacher said, We have tile maps we use to differentiate private from public tile.

Quastad said, The biggest problem is everyone is so busy, its hard to get any contractors to come out and work on the tile.

The supervisors also discussed issues with Iowas mental health regions. Emmet County is in County Social Services (CSS) and Palo Alto County is in Northwest Iowa Care (NWIC). Kossuth County has applied to join NWIC, and if accepted, it would cut Emmet County off from CSS as regions are required to be made of contiguous states, and CSS is composed chiefly of counties to the east.

Pluth said the settlement for Kossuth County to get out of the CSS region is ongoing with a dispute about the debt.

No one wants to let a county in who has debt for services, but Kossuth County added a levy to pay the difference between what theyve paid and what they owe, Pluth said.

Merrill discussed the work of county engineer Walter Davis-Oeth, who works for both counties.

Sharing Walter has worked very well for us, Merrill said.
As told to Amy H. Peterson by Diane Nauss Bierne

The story began at Mokes a popular high school hangout in Estherville back in the 50s. Jerry was an unsuspecting 11th grader knocked into a tizzy when Sherry, just an eighth grader, walked in with some of her friends.

I kind of like her. Shes pretty sharp, Jerry thought.

Soon, Jerry was rolling up in his little, black Studebaker to take Sherry skating at the rink that was located where the bowling alley is now.

Spoiler alert: it worked out. Jerry and Sherrys daughter, Diane said, Dad still has his skates with the pom-poms on them, and they were still in the aluminum skating case from back in the day. Across the top of the case, you can see where Dad painted, Sherry.

The two continued to date for a couple of years, but it didnt take long to see that they were meant for each other, that this relationship was something special.

Diane said, Knowing full well that this was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, Dad took Mom over to Mason city and they picked out wedding rings together.

They were engaged Christmas Day, a fact they kept secret to avoid someone trying to stop them or telling them they were too young. Only Sherrys sister, Vernice, and Jerrys cousin, Weldon, knew Sherry and Jerry intended to marry on New Years Eve.

Vernice was in a bit of a predicament. If she didnt tell their mother of Sherrys upcoming marriage, mom would be mad. If she tattled on Sherry to their mother, Sherry would be mad.

Diane said, In the end, her loyalty stayed true to her sister.

Jerry and Sherry eloped at the tender ages of 16 and 19, two young hearts in love and certain their intense feelings for each other would last. They pretended they were going to a New Years Eve dance and dressed in their finest.

Diane said, In fact, David Clemenson commented to them, You look like youre going to a wedding!'

Because of their ages, both Spirit Lake and Worthington denied them a marriage license. However, a drive to Blue Earth was the ticket and at 7 p.m. on New Years Eve, 1954, Sherry and Jerry became Mr. and Mrs. Nauss at the Methodist Church in Blue Earth as Jerrys cousin, Weldon and his wife, Marlys stood up as witnesses.

The newlyweds motored out of Blue Earth and took a honeymoon to Mason City, Cedar Rapids, and Chicago, where they stayed with an aunt and uncle of Sherrys, Bob and Joyce. While they were on their honeymoon, Weldon and Marlys returned to Estherville to tell Jerrys father, Fred, about the elopement.

Diane said, Even though he didnt drink, that night Fred made an exception as he broke out the Mogen David Wine and made a toastthis, certainly, was a cause worthy of celebration!

Some people said it wouldnt last.

Those people were wrong.

As with many young couples, they came home, living with Sherrys parents for the first 14-and-one-half months of their marriage. When Sherrys dad bought them a lot upon which they built their home, Jerry helped to build a brand new house that was ready on St. Patricks Day, 1956. This was the home they would live in the rest of their years together.

Jerry was a cabinet maker and Sherry didnt work outside the home until their children were all grown.

Diane said, For her, there was no greater calling in life than raising the four children that God had entrusted to her care.

Diane said the true fruition of Jerry and Sherrys love wouldnt show itself until decades later.

In 2002, Sherry was diagnosed with Alzheimers.

Diane said, Despite adversities and hardships, Dads love for mom was unwavering, and the challenges brought great strength and renewal. He never left her side, and he was bound and determined to be her primary caregiver until the very end.

As Sherrys memory continued to slip away, Diane said Sherry held on to Jerry the longest.

Even in the midst of confusion and forgetfulness, she still remembered Dad and would often ask for him and call him by name. Jerry. Wheres Jerry? she would ask, Diane said.

Sherry once wrote a tribute with loving words for Jerry. My mind hurtled back through time and space to those young, glorious days with Jerry, days that had been the happiest of my life. Wed been so in love, Jerry and I; so madly, crazily, terribly in love. It was a love that can come only once a lifetime, a miracle that is granted only to some, and only once.

Diane said one thing Alzheimers couldnt take from her parents was their love and devotion for one another. Diane said it was Jerrys determination to be Sherrys primary caregiver that surely gave Sherry longevity despite her grim health outlook.

On January 20, 2019, at 10:45 a.m., after 17 years of battling Alzheimers, Mom finally went to her forever home, Diane said.

Jerry is left alone to, as Diane said, pick up the broken pieces of an empty, devastated, and heavy heart.

Diane adds, Dad would, without a doubt, go back and do it all over again while proudly proclaiming along the way, If you want to see how true love should be, then just look at us.'

See Dianes full account on our website EsthervilleNews.net.
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I cover a range of stories for WDRB, but really enjoy tracking what's going on at our State Capitol. I grew up on military bases all over the world, but am a Kentuckian at heart. I'm an EKU alum, and have lived in Louisville for 30 years.
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"Today, we welcome 280 participants. We've received 80 posters and we have 26 oral presentations from our users. That's quite a feat given the exceptional circumstances in which the meeting is held this year," said Michela Brunelli on opening the plenary session of the 29th ESRF User Meeting, held from 4-6 February in Grenoble.

In front of a full auditorium, Michela recalled the very high number of experiments conducted at the ESRF in 2018, a total of 2544, with users right up until the beam was switched off, for the very last time in the original storage ring, on 10th December 2018.

She gave a brief overview of this year's programme, which has been tailored to reflect the main concepts of EBS: higher energy, brilliance and coherence of the X-rays, plus lower emittance.

Day 2 of the User Meeting. The plenary session opens for keynote talks, directors' report, poster clips and the Young Scientist Award. ESRF/P. Jayet

Paul Shearing from University College London (UCL), opened the keynote talks with a lively presentation on "The use of synchrotron radiation for operando studies of performance and failure of advanced batteries". With more than 4 billion lithium ion batteries produced worldwide every year, and the increasing presence of batteries in our everyday lives from smartphones to cars, the question of robustness of design, plus the ability to safely store and convert energy over extended periods of time, is of major importance.

"The ESRF is an unparalleled toolbox for the evaluation of batteries and new materials. We have a huge opportunity to embed these techniques inside the materials optimisation process and to ultimately accelerate the commercialisation of new batteries." - Paul Shearing.

The morning session continued with second keynote speaker, Helena Kack from AstraZeneca, Sweden, with a talk on "Synchrotron Radiation in drug discovery". She discussed the use of structural information in drug discovery projects and the importance of access to synchrotron radiation sources to determine high resolution protein structures.

Poster authors wait in line to promote their work during the poster clips. ESRF/P. Jayet

The morning was punctuated with poster clips as an invitation to visit the posters displayed during the evening's poster session.

In the Director's report, ESRF Director General, Francesco Sette underlined the two very exceptional years - 2018 and 2019 - for the ESRF, with the final moments of the world's first third generation synchrotron in December, and EBS, which is ready to be installed inside the new storage ring, with first beam scheduled in December 2019. Harald Reichert, ESRF director of Research presented an update of the EBS experimental programme, that will offer new opportunities for Users, for new Science: 4 new flagship beamlines, a high power laser facility, many refurbishments, an instrumentation programme and a strong "data analysis as a service" strategy.

The afternoon session was dedicated to two further keynote talks by Pierre Thibault of the University of Southampton, on "Phase retrieval with Ptychography and X-ray speckles" and Liu Hao Tjeng from the Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Germany, on "Core-level non-resonant inelastic x-ray scattering: an extremely powerful method to determine the local ground state wave function".

Best Poster Prize

Later in the evening, Mark A.Levenstein, from the University of Leeds, School of Mechanical Engineering and School of chemistry, was awarded the prize for best poster at the User Meeting dinner. His poster presents research on "Evaluation of Nucleating agents with a microfluidic serial powder diffraction technique". According to Mark Levenstein and his colleagues (Clara Anduix-Canto, Yi-Yeoun Kim, Carlos Gonzalez Nino, Manfred Burghammer, Nikil Kapur and Fiona C.Meldrum), "there is a tremendous interest in understanding and controlling crystallization processes, where the ability to trigger nucleation on-demand with a nucleating agent or "nucleant" could be a huge advantage".

They show that Droplet Microfluidics-coupled x-ray diffraction (DMC-XRD) is better for studying crystallization than previous continuous-flow microfluidic-systems and is analogous to recent injection-based serial crystallography techniques.

Their findings suggest that bioactive glasses and NX illite clays are efficient nucleants for calcite and that surface chemistry and topography are both important to a nucleant's effectiveness. They carried out experiments at ESRF ID13 beamline, and benefited from the support of the partnership for Soft Condensed Matter (PSCM) during ESRF beamtimes.

Mark A.Levenstein during the poster session. ESRF/C. Argoud.

What else has been happening at the User Meeting?

Monday, 4th February: The first day of the ESRF User Meeting was dedicated to tutorials, with nine different topics open to the 131 participants who had signed up for the workshops (see the full list).

In the session dedicated to X-ray spectroscopy simulations using Crispy and Quanty, the goal was to familiarize the participants with the simulation of core-level spectra using semi-empirical multiplet approaches. This new method was developed by ESRF scientist, Marius Retegan, who led the tutorial. After a short introduction of the theoretical aspects, the participants focused on hands-on training, which included examples of simulating X-ray absorption (XAS) and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra for transition metals and rare earths.

This tool is fundamental for me to understand the spectra that I take at a synchrotron, says Lucia Amidani, an ESRF user since 2011 and post-doctoral fellow on the ROSSENDORF CRG beamline (ROBL).

ESRF's Marius Retegan leads the tutorial on Crispy and Quanty, and participants train with hands-on exercises during the session. ESRF/C. Argoud.

For Anna Volkova, from the Moscow State University and a first-time participant at the ESRF User Meeting, the tutorial is a step towards the work she will be doing at the ESRF this summer. I will be working in Kristina Kvashninas group on the ROBL beamline this summer and she suggested that I follow this tutorial. Its useful and totally new to me. The lecturer is friendly and helpful and because the participants have varied backgrounds, the questions they raise make it easier to understand how to use the software.

Discussions during the tutorial on "Coherent X-rays: a unique tool for structural and dynamic studies." Photos: ESRF/C. Argoud. ESRF's Sakura Pascarelli introduces participants to XAS and EXAFS during the tutorial "EXAFS data analysis."

Later in the morning, the roundtable on Gender Parity in Science gathered a wide audience. Giovanna Fragneto, Large Scale Structures Group Leader at the ILL and Nedjma Bendiab, lecturer at Universite Grenoble Alpes and scientist at Institut NEEL, animated the roundtable which aimed to debate on questions such as: "Do women and men have equal opportunities in scientific research and academia? How traditional gender roles hold back female scientists? How long until women and men are equally represented in science?"

Guest speaker Cornelius Gross, Deputy Head of the EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory) in Rome, presented the actions implemented at the EMBL. Eva Pebay-Peyroula, former Director of the IBS (Institut de Biologie Structurale, Grenoble) compared the situation in education and research over the last decades and questioned the role of models. The invited guests at the roundtable, Christiane Alba-Simionesco, CEA, former LLB Director, Brigitte Plateau, former General Administrator of Grenoble-INP and "Directrice Generale de l'enseignement superieur et de l'insertion professionnelle" at the French Ministry of Higher Education, and Sine Larsen, former ESRF Director of Research, each gave an example of their own experience or actions in favour of gender parity.

During the tutorial on gender parity in science. Photos: ESRF/C. Argoud Some of the invited guests, left to right: Cornelius Gross, Sine Larsen, Brigitte Plateau and Christiane Alba-Simionesco.

ESRF User Meeting 2019 welcomes 41 different nationalities

Monday, 4th February, 2019

The snow never lasts long in Grenoble, and today the sun was shining once again on the User Meeting marquee. ESRF/C. Argoud

This morning, the ESRF opened its doors to welcome almost 300 participants to the 2019 User Meeting. The annual event, which will span three days, draws together scientific users from institutes in 20 different countries. With the ESRF in shutdown to make way for EBS, the Extremely Brilliant Source, this year's User Meeting focuses on the future and the scientific possibilities opened with the new capabilities of the new source.

From 4-6 February 2019, the User Meeting is dedicated to the ESRF user community. It provides users and staff the opportunity to learn about, discuss and experience the science and cutting-edge research made with ESRF synchrotron light. The three-day programme includes tutorials, keynote lectures, dedicated symposia, poster clips and social events.

The ESRF User Meeting aims to attract young users and to inform and train them in more detail about synchrotron techniques and data treatment through a range of tutorials, but also to offer them the opportunity to talk about their research and present their data to the community at the user-dedicated microsymposia. In this 2019 edition, it is important that we use the meeting to keep close links with our user community during the EBS shutdown period, so that their ideas can bear fruit quickly with the capabilities of the new source, says Joanne McCarthy, head of the User Office.

Welcome users! The User Office staff are ready to welcome users for three days of interaction, exchange and rich discussions. From left to right: Stephanie Monaco, Joanne McCarthy, Sonya Girodon, Agnes Carlet and Fabienne Mengoni. ESRF/C. Argoud.

The plenary session, on Tuesday, 5 February, includes a session dedicated to the latest news from EBS. The four keynote speakers will give insight into some of the cutting-edge research which can be carried out at the ESRF with EBS, as follows:

Paul Shearing, University College London, Chemical Engineering, London, UK

"The use of synchrotron radiation for operando studies of performance and failure of advanced batteries"

"The use of synchrotron radiation for operando studies of performance and failure of advanced batteries" Helena Kack, AstraZeneca R&D Molndal, Structural Chemistry Laboratory, Molndal, Sweden

"Synchrotron radiation in drug discovery"

"Synchrotron radiation in drug discovery" Pierre Thibault, University of Southampton, School of Physics and Astronomy, UK

"Phase retrieval with ptychography and X-ray speckles"

"Phase retrieval with ptychography and X-ray speckles" Liu Hao Tjeng, Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Germany

"Core-level non-resonant inelastic X-ray scattering: an extremely powerful method to determine the local ground state wave function"

In the afternoon, the ESRF User Organisation will announce the winner of the 2019 Young Scientist Award. The announcement will be followed by a talk from this year's recipient.

Throughout the day, students will promote their posters in the form of short clips before the poster session scheduled in the evening.

On Monday, nine tutorials will cover a wide range of subjects. The day will conclude with the traditional wine and cheese bistro evening.

On Wednesday, participants can choose between three dedicated micro-symposia on the following subjects:

ID29: Tunable past and time-resolved future

X-ray microscopy in biology: recent applications, challenges and opportunities

Exploiting coherent X-rays at ESRF: robust tools for imaging and dynamics

Get the full programme on the User Meeting web pages.

Follow the activities of the 2018 ESRF User Meeting on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

If you are participating in the meeting and tweeting, dont forget to add the hashtag #UM2019
London: Her story rocked Britain when she and two other teenage girls sold jewels they stole from their families to fund a trip to Syria, via Turkey, to join Islamic State.

But now, 19-year-old Shamima Begum, who is nine months pregnant and no longer in the terror group's dwindling territory, just wants to come home.

In 2015, Amira Abase, Kadiza Sultana and Shamima Begum (right) flew out of Gatwick airport together to join Islamic State. Credit:London Metropolitan Police

The case has divided Britain this week and prompted one prominent politician to renew his campaign for Britain to mimic Australia's tougher counter-terrorism laws.

Britain's Home Secretary Sajid Javid has vowed to prevent Begum's return but the country's intelligence chief said dozens of Islamic State brides have the right to come home.
Beijing: China is taking its renewable energy push to new heights, with scientists revealing plans to build the first solar power station in space.

A solar power station orbiting the earth at 36,000 kilometres could tap the energy of the sun's rays without interference from the atmosphere, or seasonal and night-time loss of sunlight, Chinese media reported.

The sun photographed by NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. Credit:AP

Construction of an early experimental space power plant has begun in the inland city of Chongqing, China's Science and Technology Daily reported on its front page.

A researcher from the China Academy of Space Technology Corporation, Pang Zhihao, said a space solar power station held the promise of providing "an inexhaustible source of clean energy for humans".
Amazon's Alexa was the world's first mainstream product that really felt like talking to a computer, and having a computer talk back. But with rivals from Google and Apple long since establishing themselves, the next step for Alexa is to become even more person-like, being aware of context and learning from experience.

Alexa can now whisper to you if she thinks you're trying to be quiet, or ask you about a light you left on if it has a hunch you did so unintentionally (at least she can in the US; these two features are yet to roll out locally).

Rohit Prasad, vice president and head scientist for Amazon Alexa, told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age this week that the biggest push in computing right now is making it invisible.

By contrast Prasad points to smartphones which he says create a high level of "cognitive overload". Users are required to install specific apps, open and navigate them manually whenever they want something.
The plan as it appears in subcommittee minutes. Credit:North Cottesloe Primary School Traffic Safety Committee "The town is currently working on a new concept plan for the North Cottesloe Primary School car park," a council spokeswoman said. "This plan will go to community consultation soon. "The new concept plan resolves the opposition which was experienced in response to the first plan, which was based on the removal of specific trees. This has been resolved in the new plan." Meeting agenda notes flagged the new concept plan had 64 car bays and a tentative construction date of August 2019. "The proposal for a new car park will create a safer road environment adjacent to North

Cottesloe Primary School and reduce congestion along Eric Street and Railway Parade," the plan said.

"A revised road alignment within a new concept plan has avoided impact on the 24 matured

trees and the nine Norfolk Island pines." However it's understood while the Norfolk pines will remain at the site, a banksia, a peppermint tree, a melaleuca bracteata shrub and a small eucalypt are all at risk of being uprooted as part of the the realignment of the road and adjacent path. Mr Hammond said while losing the trees and canopy cover was still concerning, the make-up of the committee should be looked at. I bet the kids in Balga cant get this sort of money paid into the councils trust account for a car park. Perth lawyer John Hammond "Committee members who have children at school should not vote on the car park," he said.

The town did not respond to questions about whether positions on the committee were advertised, and for how long. "The clear objective is to create a more accessible and safe environment for the school, while attempting to effect improvements for the community," meeting notes said. Mr Hammond also said new plans mapped out by the committee should not go ahead until there was full clarity around the $550,000 payment. "There has been no transparency regarding the payment," he said. "How was this money obtained  in advance, and on what terms  from the department? I bet the kids in Balga cant get this sort of money paid into the councils trust account for a car park."

The Department of Education have not agreed to fund the new attempt at reviving the project and have promised no money towards it at this stage. Lawyer John Hammond. Credit:6PR The Town of Cottesloe said the money was considered a "grant" by the Department of Education. "The Town of Cottesloe received notification from the Department of Education in late June 2017 ... that a grant was being given to the town," a spokeswoman said. "The grant was provided to the town without a specific application, but following representation from the school community."

It's understood North Cottesloe Primary School was not asked to apply for the grant, and other schools did not have the opportunity to compete for the money. A Department of Education spokeswoman said the funding had been a contribution from the department's traffic management program. She said it was included in the department's recurrent funding budget  money given to independent and public schools to help take care of ongoing operational costs. The Town of Cottesloe spokeswoman said transparency concerns had only been aired by one person. "In regards to concerns of the transparency of this payment, the town continues to receive questions from one non-resident only on this matter, which have been answered numerous times before," she said.

However, in correspondence seen by WAtoday, a number of locals have expressed concern over the payment and why it was given to the school over other struggling facilities. One resident wrote they were frustrated the school had been given money for the project while Moora Residential College and Port Hedland Senior High School had been forced to fight for their future. Another said it was concerning the project had not been killed off when Cottesloe had been forced to hand back money to the department after the last attempt. But the council spokeswoman said opposition to the plans due to a perceived "lack of transparency" was not warranted, given the new plan was still being designed and would go out for community consultation soon. The Department of Education spokeswoman said the department was aware other options were being explored to improve safety at the school.
The head of Queenslands corruption watchdog has called for a rethink in the way authorities deal with the drug problem, saying they have been targeting low-hanging fruit.

Crime and Corruption Commission chairman Alan MacSporran, QC, told the regular meeting of the Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee a more holistic approach was needed to target the spread of drugs in the community.

At the moment the drug of choice is ice, and we have a whole range of measures to deal with it, but our main focus is uncovering dealers, Mr MacSporran told the committee hearing on Friday.

CCC chairman Alan MacSporran. Credit:Darren England/AAP

However, at the moment that approach is only scratching the surface of the problem. What we need is a more holistic approach.
Things reached a boiling point when Tracey popped over to a friend's house one day and came back to find that, with no explanation, George had upped and gone. "And he didn't come back," she says. "He literally did not come back." Loading To be close to their children, George rented a granny flat five houses up the road from Tracey. At first, the pair tried to stay amicable. But when Tracey discovered that George had moved in with the woman he'd been seeing while they were married, she was gutted. "It just highlighted how much of a stranger this man had become, and how many secrets he'd kept." For a handful of years, Tracey couldn't bear the thought of being friends with George. "I was jealous that he'd been making my life hell, yet he had all this other life filled with happiness." While George would have liked to be closer to Tracey, he understood her pain. As time wore on, Tracey decided that, for the sake of their children, the pair needed to be on better terms. "My children deserved intelligent and adult parents to get their shit together and get over themselves. So I did."

She was also sick of her anger, and didn't want to use George as a "scapegoat" for why her life wasn't working out as planned. She'd been a stay-at-home mother for the duration of her marriage, she then launched her own business after they split. While it wasn't easy, Tracey made an effort not to pick fights with George about things that had no impact on her and began including him in family events. George readily stepped up to the plate. He was there for Tracey when her sister was dying, has helped her move house, paid for her new car, and spends Christmases with her and the kids. "It's not easy and I don't know too many people who are friends [with their ex]," says George, who believes that just because the relationship ended, their friendship didn't have to be destroyed. The pair chat at least twice a week and have a strong mutual respect for each other. "I know there's stuff he doesn't tell me, but then he doesn't tell his kids or his family, either," says Tracey. "That is George and I accept that is how he is now. For better or worse, I guess. He's a good man with a good heart." "We just get on like a house on fire. We wake up and go to a cafe together."

Jade Kennedy, 38, is a personal trainer and gym owner, and Luke Kennedy, 32, is a motivational speaker. Luke and Jade met when they were both students at personal training college. There was a strong attraction and the pair soon struck up a relationship that saw them moving in together after a few months, with Luke proposing soon after. Jade didn't hesitate to say yes: "We laughed a lot, we got on really well  it was just easy between us." The relationship was smooth, but soon after they married their passion dwindled. The strain of starting a business together, combined with 4.30am starts and financial worries, meant sex took a back seat. The couple tried to reignite those early flames, to no avail. Three years after they wed, Jade and Luke mutually decided to end their relationship. "No one wants to feel like they're failing in a marriage, but when you intuitively know there's something missing, you don't have to ride out these times when you feel it's not working," says Jade. While the conversation was painful, she says she and Luke "left our egos at the door" and spoke honestly.

"There were a lot of tears and crying and hugging," says Luke. But there was no animosity, nor any question about whether they would remain friends. They still loved each other; they were just no longer in love. They both felt that moving past feelings of attachment for each other would enable them to continue as friends. Loading That friendship deepened when they became flatmates a year ago. Living together again has been remarkably easy for the ex-spouses. "We just get on like a house on fire," says Luke. "We eat dinner together, wake up and go to a cafe together." They bring new romantic interests home with no issue, with Jade even likening their current relationship to being like siblings. Mind you, she jokes that she hasn't had many boyfriends since their split, musing that telling potential partners you live with your ex-husband may be off-putting. However, she's quick to add that anyone who meets Luke and sees how their relationship works instantly feels at ease. While there was never any question about the pair remaining on good terms, each fondly regards the other as their best friend. "For us it's been such a nice experience," says Jade. "You hear so many horrible stories, and you've got to get to a stage in this life where you just move past all this bullshit and just let each other be. That's how Luke and I live."

"I'd always hear my mum saying, 'Go on, Pauly, do it for the kids.' " Paulette McCormack, 46, is a university lecturer and business owner, and Mark McCormack, 46, is a retail manager. Paulette was a 23-year-old New Zealander on a gap year in the UK when she met Mark. The pair hit it off instantly and life soon followed a neat trajectory: marriage, then a baby. But everything changed when Paulette's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Devastated, a pregnant Paulette scooped up her young daughter and flew to New Zealand to be with her mother, leaving Mark behind for three months. Within months of Paulette returning to the UK and giving birth to her second baby, she suffered the loss of both her beloved grandmother and her mother. Understandably, she was swamped by grief: "People would describe me as a bit of a robot. I just got through the days as best I could."

While Paulette was in pain, Mark was going through his own battles. He felt the pair had "really grown apart" and ultimately made the agonising decision to leave. Loading "I hated him, I absolutely hated him for what he did," says Paulette. "When I most needed someone in my life, that person walked away." Her anger persisted until she decided to move to Australia five years later. (She chose Australia so she would be as far away as possible from Mark, who had a fear of flying.) At first, the pair only stayed in contact through Skype once a fortnight, when Mark spoke to his daughters. But when Mark did a course to overcome his fear of flying so he could come to Australia, Paulette was impressed. She'd also started toying with the idea it was time to "suck it up" and be more understanding of Mark, for the sake of her children. "I'd always hear my mum sitting on my shoulder saying, 'Go on, Pauly, do it for the kids.' "
Residents in Tabulam, in north-eastern NSW, are being told it's too late to leave as a large bushfire flares up and threatens properties.

While firefighters gained the upper hand on separate fires in Tingha and Wallangarra overnight, a fresh emergency warning was issued for the blaze along the Bruxner Highway near Tabulam on Friday morning.

Scorched earth after bushfires near Tabulam in north-eastern NSW on Wednesday. Credit:AAP

"If you are in these areas you should shelter now as fire approaches. It is too late to leave," the NSW Rural Fire Service said.

The RFS said 37 homes and 94 outbuildings have been destroyed or damaged.
The Trump administration is poised to rule that car imports into the United States pose a threat to national security, clearing the way for draconian tariffs of up to 25 per cent on shipments from Europe and the rest of the world.

A contentious and long-running investigation by the US commerce department is to issue its verdict on Sunday. Trade experts say the broad thrust is already known and the dossier is sitting on the Oval Office desk of President Donald Trump.

"If Trump thinks you are weak, he will push you": Carmarkers are fearing the US President will drive their exports off a cliff. Credit:AP

"We think they will find some kind of national security threat. This was probably predetermined in advance, although nobody will admit that," said William Reinsch, the veteran ex-chief of the National Foreign Trade Council.

The White House will have 90 days to respond, picking from a menu ranging from targeted measures on hi-tech components and electric vehicles all the way up to 25 per cent tariffs on all imported cars, as favoured in the past by Mr Trump.
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Managing Editor

Delphine Luneau is a veteran journalist with more than 20 years of experience. She was the editor of Suburban Life Media when its flagship was named best weekly in Illinois, and she has worked at papers in South Carolina, Indiana, Idaho and New York.
Candlelight celebrated with a Run/Walk event organized by Runner's Depot to honor the 17 victims from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Coral Springs, Florida.
Regional Editor

Derek Draplin is a regional editor at The Center Square. He previously worked as an opinion producer at Forbes, and as a reporter at Michigan Capitol Confidential and The Detroit News. Hes also an editor at The Daily Caller.
Trusted local news has never been more important, but providing the information you need, information that can change sometimes minute-by-minute, requires a partnership with you, our readers. Please consider making a contribution today to support this vital resource that you and countless others depend on.
Washington, IN (47501)

Today

Thunderstorms likely in the morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 86F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Isolated thunderstorms in the evening. Mostly cloudy skies overnight. Low 74F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
The teens are following the lead of 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who in August started skipping school on Fridays as an act of protest. Thunberg in December delivered a defiant speech at a global climate-change conference in Poland: You say you love your children above all else  and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes, she said to a room full of policymakers whose climate negotiations have been largely stuck in political gridlock. Until you start focusing on what needs to be done rather than what is politically possible, there is no hope, she added. We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis.
I normally use the metaphor of sex. Sex is not forbidden like voting is not forbidden. But you cannot do it forcefully. You have to have permission; otherwise, it is rape. Its the same with democracy. Its not just saying we always can vote. You have to apply the law in a democracy.
It wasnt clear whether political motivations also played a role in Calveys detention. He wasnt known as a vocal critic of the government. In a sign of the significance of the case, two of the most prominent figures in Russian finance  the heads of the countrys sovereign-wealth fund and of its biggest bank  both spoke out in support of the U.S. investor on Friday.
Graham, who said he spoke to the president just before he took the stage, has said that an abrupt departure could also benefit Iran. He invoked the name of his former colleague and fellow defense hawk, the late senator John McCain, in asking U.S. allies to say yes when Trump asks them to leave troops in Syria.
Military officials have said new authorities, approved over the last year, enabled CyberCom to be more aggressive  and effective  in what they privately say was an apparent success. Nakasone, who also heads the National Security Agency, stopped short of saying it was CyberCom that made the difference, telling Rounds that safeguarding the election was the agencies number-one priority.
But I think it demonstrates his increasing understanding that the Venezuelan people are rejecting him and his model of governance. And that the interim president, Mr. [Juan] Guaido, is both constitutionally the leader of that country and importantly, will lead Venezuela, and the Venezuelan people, toward free and fair elections which will determine a way forward, which will put the Venezuelans in a much better place and on a path to economic recovery.
The issue caused significant consternation at the White House and the Justice Department, and it nearly led to Rosenstein leaving his job. When CBS previewed its McCabe interview Thursday, old tensions were reignited. The Justice Department again disputed McCabes allegations, saying, As the Deputy Attorney General previously has stated, based on his personal dealings with the President, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment, nor was the DAG in a position to consider invoking the 25th Amendment.
White House lawyers have told Trump he could reprogram money without calling an emergency, according to the person familiar with the discussions who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. But Trump is concerned there is not enough money in those pots to show meaningful progress on the wall and has been determined to declare an emergency, partially for fear of looking weak, the person familiar with the matter said.
The comments came after Pence used a speech in Warsaw on Thursday to deliver the most direct attack to date from a U.S. official on Europes attempts to salvage the agreement. Pence accused European powers of aiding that vile regime in Tehran with a new financial platform intended to allow trade with Iran to continue, even as the United States attempts to choke it off.
Emporia, KS (66801)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low around 75F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low around 75F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's big data sector will maintain speedy growth in 2019, a recent report has said.

Core industries in the sector are expected to be worth more than 720 billion yuan (about 106.3 billion U.S. dollars) this year, according to a report on the sector's outlook released by the think tank CCID.

The report said China's big data sector will register growth between 25 percent and 30 percent, facilitating the transformation and upgrading of regional economic structure.

Following regions in eastern China where the sector booms, southwest China's Sichuan and Guizhou provinces and Chongqing Municipality will become front-runners, the report said.

As part of the development of the digital economy, China is accelerating the integration of big data and the real economy, said Wei Kai, a researcher with the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology.

To maximize the use of big data, the country should make efforts to establish all-in-one big data platforms and effective mechanisms for data management, Wei added.

China's big data sector aims to increase its annual sales to 1 trillion yuan by 2020 from an estimated 280 billion yuan in 2015, said a plan released in 2017 by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The sector also targets a compound annual growth rate of around 30 percent for its sales in 2016-2020, according to the plan.
US-UK-Australia funding to improve global gravitational wave network

A global network of gravitational wave observatories will be upgraded to almost double its sensitivity, the lead science funding agencies of the United Kingdom and United States announced today.

The $US30 million Advanced LIGO Plus (ALIGO+) project will improve the two existing Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatories (LIGO) in the United States, and will be included as standard in the new LIGO India facility from the mid-2020s.

The US National Science Foundation is providing $20.4 million funding for ALIGO+, and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) 10.7 million ($US14.1 million), with additional support from the Australian Research Council.

NSF Director France Cordova said: "This award ensures that LIGO, which made the first historic detection of gravitational waves in 2015, will continue to lead in gravitational wave science for the next decade.

"With improvements to the detectors -- which include techniques from quantum mechanics that refine laser light and new mirror coating technology -- the twin LIGO observatories will significantly increase the number and strength of their detections. Advanced LIGO Plus will reveal gravity at its strongest and matter at its densest in some of the most extreme environments in the cosmos.

"These detections may reveal secrets from inside supernovae and teach us about extreme physics from the first seconds after the universe's birth."

UK Research and Innovation Chief Executive, Professor Sir Mark Walport, said: "In confirming the existence of gravitational waves, the LIGO project generated unique insights into the nature of our universe and fuelled world-wide interest in science. This Nobel-winning project also illustrated the importance of international collaboration in research.

"The UK's technological and scientific expertise will continue to play a crucial role in ALIGO+, which aims to further increase our understanding of the events that shape the universe.The UK investment in ALIGO+ and support for a third gravitational wave detector in India underlines UKRI's commitment to developing existing collaborative research and innovation programmes with partners."

The enhanced capabilities afforded by ALIGO+ are expected to illuminate the origins and evolution of stellar-mass black holes, allow precision tests of extreme gravity, enable detailed study of the equation of state of neutron stars, and permit new tests of cosmology, including fully independent constraints on the Hubble constant.

Technology improvements arising from the project are expected to include quantum optics, quantum information theory, materials science, optical technology, precision metrology and physical standards.

Dr David Reitze is Executive Director of the LIGO Laboratory. "The UK has always played a critical and innovative role in gravitational wave detector development, most recently providing the test mass suspensions, a key component to the Advanced LIGO interferometers. ALIGO+, the next phase of Advanced LIGO, continues in that tradition. The UK-Australia-US partnership will bring Advanced LIGO to a level where we will detect binary black hole collisions on an almost daily basis by the middle of the next decade."

Professor Sheila Rowan is Director of the Institute for Gravitational Research at the University of Glasgow, and chair of the international scientific oversight group for gravitational wave research. She said: "If a normal telescope 'sees" the Universe, LIGO is akin to 'hearing' the Universe. The improved sensitivity from ALIGO+ will allow us to better understand what the Universe is telling us, information that we've been unable to hear until now."

UKRI funding is provided through its Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), from the Fund for International Collaboration.

Gravitational waves are ripples in space caused by massive cosmic events such as the collision of black holes or the explosion of supernovae. They are not electromagnetic radiation, and as a result were undetectable until the technological breakthroughs at LIGO enabled in part by UK technology.

At each LIGO site, twin laser beams are transmitted down two 4-kilometre long tubes kept under a near-perfect vacuum, and arranged as an L-shape. The beams are reflected back down the tubes by mirrors precisely positioned at the ends of each arm.

As a gravitational wave passes through the observatory, it causes extremely tiny distortions in the distance travelled by each laser beam. As a result of the UK-built systems which hold the mirrors in place, a distortion of just one-ten-thousandth the diameter of a proton can now be measured - not only enabling the detection of gravitational waves for the first time, but also making LIGO the most sensitive measuring instrument ever.

In the UK, the ALIGO+ project will involve the Universities of Glasgow, Birmingham, Cardiff, Strathclyde and STFC's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

The UK is also supporting the construction of a third LIGO detector, in India. LIGO-India is expected to become operational at about the same the time as ALIGO+ in 2025, with the design changes included from the start. This will form a global network of five detectors - the others being in Italy and Japan.

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Notes to Editors

STFC is part of UK Research and Innovation, a new body which works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish. We aim to maximise the contribution of each of our component parts, working individually and collectively. We work with our many partners to benefit everyone through knowledge, talent and ideas.

Operating across the whole of the UK with a combined budget of more than 7 billion, UK Research and Innovation brings together the Arts and Humanities Research Council; Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; Economic and Social Research Council; Innovate UK; Medical Research Council; Natural Environment Research Council; Research England; and Science and Technology Facilities Council.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2018, its budget is $7.8 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 50,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards.

LIGO is funded by NSF and operated by Caltech and MIT, which conceived of LIGO and led the Initial and Advanced LIGO projects. Financial support for the Advanced LIGO project was led by the NSF with Germany (Max Planck Society), the U.K. (Science and Technology Facilities Council) and Australia (Australian Research Council-OzGrav) making significant commitments and contributions to the project. More than 1,200 scientists from around the world participate in the effort through the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, which includes the GEO Collaboration. A list of additional partners is available at https:/ / my. ligo. org/ census. php .

This story has been published on: 2019-02-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
RTHK: Trump to declare emergency to fund wall

US President Donald Trump will sign a spending bill averting a government shutdown but will also issue an emergency declaration to fund his controversial border wall, the White House and lawmakers said on Thursday.

Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell told colleagues that he spoke by phone with Trump, who "indicated he's prepared to sign the bill. He will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time."

The White House confirmed the plan minutes later.

"He will also take other executive action  including a national emergency  to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.

Declaring such an emergency, a rare step, would free Trump to seek to redirect federal funds from elsewhere to help pay for a wall along the US-Mexico border.

Trump saying he will sign the spending bill, expected ahead of a Friday midnight deadline, eases some pressure in Washington after he had openly expressed concern about the deal reached earlier in the week between Republicans and Democrats.

The measure includes only US$1.375 billion for border barriers or fencing, far from the US$5.7 billion that Trump has demanded for his long-sought border wall.

Trump's misgivings put the fate of the bill in question. But minutes after McConnell announced Trump's intention, the Senate took up the measure and advanced it overwhelmingly.

A final Senate vote was to follow, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her chamber would vote later on Thursday.

Pelosi, Trump's Democratic nemesis, expressed disdain for the president's upcoming emergency declaration, warning that he was doing "an end run around Congress."

"It's not an emergency, what's happening at the border," she said.

Trump's declaration is expected to be challenged in court.

The compromise package funds until September 30 the 25 per cent of the government whose operations would lapse if the bill is not signed by Trump by the midnight Friday deadline. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2019-02-14. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.